BRIEFING ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IN DEGE COUNTY, EASTERN TIBET | APRIL 2024

In late February 2024, Chinese police beat and arrested hundreds of residents of Dege County, including monks from local monasteries, who have been protesting the construction of a large hydropower dam on the Drichu River in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, eastern Tibet. Although most detainees were released after a month, several community leaders remain in prison or otherwise unaccounted for.

If it goes ahead, the Kamtok (Ch: Gangtuo) hydropower station would see several ancient and culturally important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries destroyed, and a number of entire villages submerged, displacing thousands of Tibetans whose livelihoods have flourished alongside the river for many generations.
Dege residents represent hundreds of thousands of Tibetans whose lives are being uprooted and their lands transformed to achieve China’s ambitious goal to build a hydropower network across Tibet to power eastern China. Despite the inevitable military crackdown, information blackout, arbitrary and extralegal detention, and collective punishment that will follow, Dege residents are raising the alarm to alert the international community to what is at stake in their historic home – the loss of Buddhist cultural sites, connection to land and community, the erasure of their place in Tibet, and the absence of any representation or avenues for addressing legitimate concerns.
RECOMMENDATIONS:

We urge governments and China-based diplomats to carry out the following actions:

  1. Urgently seek information from Chinese authorities about events in Dege since 14 February and press China to:
    i) Recognise and uphold the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association to ensure that Tibetans and others can engage in peaceful activities and raise concerns and criticisms, including government relocation and rehousing policies and practices;
    ii) Protect the right to free, prior, and informed consent, right to a cultural life, and the right to enjoy effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy;
  2. Urgently issue public statements expressing concern at the arrests and the ongoing situation and share concerns and information on all available channels;
  3. Immediately request meaningful and unfettered access to Dege County to assess the current situation, including requesting visits to detention facilities and affected monasteries.

The full briefing contains the following information:
I. BACKGROUND TO THE HYDROPOWER DAM AND PROTESTS
II. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LOCATION
III. EVENTS IN DEGE COUNTY SINCE FEBRUARY 2024
IV. HUMAN RIGHTS FRAMEWORK
ARRESTS
LACK OF FREE, PRIOR, AND INFORMED CONSULTATION AND CONSENT
THREATS TO CULTURAL HERITAGE
FORCED EVICTIONS
V. RECOMMENDATIONS

READ & DOWNLOAD THE FULL BRIEFING HERE

EVENTS IN DEGE COUNTY SINCE FEBRUARY 2024  

14 February   Over 100 Tibetans peacefully protest the Kamtok dam
  • At least 100 Tibetans (some sources including Radio Free Asia (RFA) say 300) gathered at the local government office in Dege, calling on authorities to halt the hydroelectric dam. 
  • Protests were non-confrontational, despite a large police presence. Some protesters carried the PRC flag, making it clear they were not criticising the Chinese Communist Party or its leadership. 
  • County officials responded that they lacked the power to stop the planned dam. 
  • Local sources reported several protesters were detained and then released the next day.
20 February   Monks appeal to visiting officials at Yena monastery
  • Local officials visited two of the affected monasteries, Wontoe Monastery and Yena Monastery.
  • Video footage taken at Yena Monastery on 20 February shows monks and locals imploring visiting officials to stop the hydropower dam. They can be seen holding their thumbs up in a gesture used by some Tibetans to show they are pleading and appealing for dialogue. 
22 February  Early news of 100 arrests and some injured.
  • News of arrests was accompanied by videos of police encircling monks and forcefully shoving and dragging them around. Local sources stated that some of the monks needed hospital treatment. 
  • Local sources sent information that approximately 100 people had been arrested.
  • Detainees were instructed by police to bring food and bedding from home. They were held in various places because of the large numbers, including a police station in Upper Wontoe and an old prison in Dege County
24 February Several hundred people arrested
  • RFA had reported at least 1,000 arrests, based on information from two sources. Other monitoring organisations have been unable to verify the estimate and have been more conservative. Human Rights Watch and Tibet Watch report several hundred. 
  • Not all those detained were protesters. Human Rights Watch reported community members who visited the detention centres to appeal for the detainees’ release were also detained.
26-27 February A least 40 monks released
  • RFA reported that around 20 monks from Wontoe Monastery were released on Monday 26 February and another 20 on 27 February. Even after their release, authorities imposed strict restrictions on their contact with the outside world.
28 February  Police deployed in Wonpo Township
  • Footage showing armed police marching through a street in Wonpo Township was shared widely and verified.
  • The size of the deployment is not possible to verify, but there are approximately 200 police personnel in the video alone. The video resembles a similar deployment in nearby Dza Wonpo in Sershul County in 2021, when about 200 security personnel arrived to lock down the local area and then began carrying out checks beyond the scope of simple security, such as investigating locals’ houses and phones for images of the Dalai Lama and leading to further arrests.
7 March Two detained local leaders were transferred to the larger Dege County Detention centre
  • RFA reported that Tenzin Sangpo (the senior administrator of Wontoe Monastery) and Tenzin (a village official), who were arrested on 23 February had been transferred from their place of detention to the larger Dege County Detention Centre. 
25 March Hundreds of detainees were released, but some protestors remain in detention. 
  • RFA cited two local sources who reported hundreds of detainees had been released, with some protesters remaining in detention. RFA’s report mentioned Tenzin Sangpo and Tenzin, who has been reportedly passed on to the government Procuratorate Office, with no further details about their current condition, whereabouts or charges against them.