The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile has urged governments, parliaments, the United Nations and the international community to closely monitor the implementation and human rights implications of China’s new Ethnic Unity and Progress Law and ensure sustained international scrutiny.
In an open letter, the Dharamshala-based Parliament-in-Exile, a democratically elected legislative body representing Tibetans across the world, called on the international community to act with urgency in response to China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Law, which came into force on July 1.
The Parliament said the law further entrenches policies that threaten the Tibetan people’s language, religion, culture, identity and fundamental human rights.
They have appealed to the governments to raise the issue in bilateral engagements and multilateral forums, including the United Nations and other international institutions. Besides, urging them to publicly express concern regarding the implementation and consequences of the Law.
Also, the Parliament has called upon the international community to strengthen measures to counter transnational repression and protect Tibetan communities, human rights defenders, and advocates living within your country and also to recognise that Tibet was historically an independent nation, prior to the forceful invasion and occupation of Tibet.
“The implementation of the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law is not solely a Tibetan concern. It is a test of the international community’s commitment to protecting cultural diversity, freedom of religion or belief, linguistic rights, minority protections, and the rule of international human rights law. When the identity of a people is threatened, the principles upon which the international human rights system is built are also put at risk,” the Parliament-in-exile said.
{{/usCountry}}“The implementation of the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law is not solely a Tibetan concern. It is a test of the international community’s commitment to protecting cultural diversity, freedom of religion or belief, linguistic rights, minority protections, and the rule of international human rights law. When the identity of a people is threatened, the principles upon which the international human rights system is built are also put at risk,” the Parliament-in-exile said.
{{/usCountry}}“Impress upon the leadership of PRC to engage in peaceful dialogue to resolve the conflict between Tibet and China supporting the peaceful, non-violent aspirations of the Tibetan people in accordance with the vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” the open letter by the Parliament states.
Notably, the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile in March passed a resolution rejecting the law, terming it as legally illegitimate and condemned it as a tool of forced assimilation aimed at eroding Tibetan language, religion, culture, and identity. It further stated that the law violates international human rights standards and contradicts provisions in China’s Constitution and its regional ethnic autonomy laws.
The leadership of the Tibetan exiled community has denounced the law and described it as a legal assault on the survival of the Tibetan language, culture, and identity.
In April, a group of UN Special Rapporteurs from the United Nations (UN) also raised serious concerns about China’s ethnic unity law, warning that it may undermine fundamental human rights, especially for ethnic minorities.