NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Tibetans and those who support their independence
protested in several cities Saturday in India, Nepal and the Tibetan capital
of Lhasa, where death tolls ranging from 10 to 100 were reported in the past
24 hours.
1 of 3 U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday urged the Chinese
government to exercise restraint in dealing with the demonstrations and told
both sides to avoid violence.
Tibetan exiles in India cited unconfirmed reports that at least 100 people
were killed and many more injured in violence that started when Chinese
police blocked a march by monks in Lhasa on Friday. China's state-run Xinhua
news agency, citing the Tibetan government, said 10 were killed.
"The victims are all innocent civilians, and they have been burnt to death,"
an official with the regional government told Xinhua.
Because of the extreme difficulties in getting news reports from Tibet, it
was impossible to independently verify the death toll or the number of those
injured.
Tibetan protesters have been clashing with police in several areas since
March 10, the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.
Rice said she was "concerned by reports of a sharply increased police and
military presence in and around Lhasa."
"We call on the Chinese government to exercise restraint in dealing with
these protests, and we strongly urge all sides to refrain from violence," she
said.
"We urge China to respect the fundamental and universally recognized right of
all of its citizens to peacefully express their political and religious
views," Rice said in a written statement. "And we call on China to release
monks and others who have been detained solely for the peaceful expression of
their views."
In Kathmandu, Nepal, about 100 Tibetan exiles -- including monks, nuns and
children -- began a hunger strike Saturday to protest the deaths of the
demonstrators in Lhasa, a Free Tibet activist said.
"I do not know how long will be the hunger strike," said Thupten Tenzing
Jamphel, a monk who is president of the Nepal-Tibetan Youth Volunteers for
Free Tibet. "It was a spontaneous act and not an organized one."
At least 12 Tibetan refugees, including some monks, were arrested Saturday
for obstructing traffic in front of the United Nations office in Kathmandu,
police said.
"They were arrested because they were obstructing the road in front of the
U.N. office," police spokesman Sushil Bar Singh Thapa said. "They will be
released by evening."
However, Free Tibet activists put the number of those arrested at 48.
"Police hit those on hunger strike with batons and arrested them," Thupten
Tenzing Jamphel said. Watch CCTV's images of the violence ?
About 200 Tibetan exiles held a candlelight march at Kathmandu's most famous
Buddhist stupa Friday evening, and another vigil is planned for Saturday
evening, he said.
Tibetan exiles clashed with Nepalese police Friday as police tried to stop
their rally, he said.
The Nepalese government, which recognizes Tibet as part of China, strictly
controls anti-Chinese activities within the country.
In India's old Delhi, Tibetans gathered at the Jama Masjid, the area's
principal mosque, the only site at which police were permitting them to
congregate.
They hoped to hold another protest late Saturday, despite Indian police
surrounding the Tibetan community in old Delhi on Friday, a spokesman for the
Tibetan Youth Congress said.
Police arrested 61 people at that protest, including four who demonstrated at
the Chinese embassy, said Youth Congress spokesman Komchok Yarphel.
Yarphel also said that protesters planned to restart a march from the
northern Indian city of Dharmsala to the Tibet border that was forcibly
stopped Thursday by Indian authorities. Those 100 protesters have been jailed
for 14 days, but Yarphel said that another 100 will begin the march from
Dehra, where the first attempt ended after only three days and 75 km.
Police have banned the march and are likely to stop it again.
The protesters planned to reach the border for a confrontation with Chinese
authorities in time for the opening of the Beijing Olympics in August.
Dharmsala is home to the Tibetan exile government and the Dalai Lama.
The protests in Lhasa began Monday, when hundreds of monks rallied on the
March 10 anniversary of the uprising, which forced the Dalai Lama into exile.
They turned violent late Friday, and police used gunfire and tear gas to
quell the demonstrators, according to witnesses, human rights groups and
Xinhua.
Protesters set fire to vehicles and shops, including a main market in the
city -- Tromsikhang Market -- said Kate Saunders, a spokeswoman for the
International Campaign for Tibet. The market has many Chinese traders, and
she said Tibetans have been concerned about the influx of Chinese into the
area.
There was no sign of Chinese police in the video broadcast by China's CCTV
Saturday.
Chinese bloggers and U.S.-based human rights groups said Chinese security
forces had sealed off the three main monasteries around Lhasa after the
violence broke out. The bloggers also said police wearing armored vests were
moving toward Lhasa in armored personnel carriers.
Tibet is one of two provinces in China, along with Xinjiang, where the
Chinese government places restrictions on reporters' access. Government
permission is required for foreign media to enter Tibet and Xinjiang, and CNN
has not received permission to go in.
CNN reporting on Tibet was being blacked out Friday in mainland China.
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