Recognizing the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day of March 10, 1959, and condemning human rights violations related to the hydropower dam construction project in Derge.

Bill: 118-hres-1072
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2]
Introduced: 2024-03-11
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2024-03-11
text: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2024-03-11
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p>This resolution (1) recognizes the 65th anniversary of the flight of the Dalai Lama from Tibet in response to Chinese military aggression; (2) confirms longstanding support for human rights and self-determination for the Tibetan people; and (3) condemns China's persistent efforts to erase the Tibetan people's distinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical identity, most recently through a proposed hydropower dam in eastern Tibet.</p>

tv_txt: IV 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1072 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 11, 2024 Mr. McGovern (for himself and Mrs. Kim of California ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Recognizing the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day of March 10, 1959, and condemning human rights violations related to the hydropower dam construction project in Derge.

Whereas for more than 2,000 years the people of Tibet have maintained a distinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical identity; Whereas 2024 marks the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day of 1959, ensued by the flight from Tibet to India of the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people, Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, who was forced to flee due to fear for his safety as the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army prepared to commence an assault on his residence; Whereas, upon his arrival in India, the Dalai Lama declared that he could do more to champion the rights, including the right of self-determination, of the Tibetan people in exile than by remaining inside territory occupied by the Armed Forces of the People’s Republic of China (PRC); Whereas in the intervening years the PRC has persistently sought to erase the religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical identity of the Tibetan people; Whereas this attempt at erasure includes separating up to 1,000,000 Tibetan children from their families and forcing them to enroll in schools that teach principally in Mandarin, seeking to undermine the transmission of Tibetan language and alienate Tibetan youth from their culture, which if successful would contribute to the erosion of the identity of the entire people; Whereas, as a result of PRC policies, at least 1,800,000 Tibetan nomads have been forced into concentrated settlements without compensation nor guarantees of income or employment, contributing to their vulnerability to coercive labor programs; Whereas the Government of the PRC routinely interferes with religious practices of the Tibetan people thus violating the right to freedom of religion which is vital to Tibetan spiritual education and expression; Whereas Freedom House’s Freedom of the World 2024 report scores Tibet as 0 out of 100, the worst rating in at least 8 years; Whereas a notable and recent instance of Chinese suppression of Tibetan rights is the decision of the PRC to undertake a hydropower dam construction project in the eastern Tibetan area of Derge that would reportedly cause the displacement of approximately 2,000 Tibetans from their homes and destroy 6 historical monasteries holding numerous artifacts of religious significance, including murals that date back to the 13th century, prompting mass protests against the project; Whereas in response to the protests in Derge, on February 23, 2024, Chinese authorities forcibly detained more than 1,000 Tibetans; Whereas the judiciary in the PRC is not independent; Whereas cases of arbitrary detention, disappearance, and torture of Tibetans are frequent and well-documented; and Whereas, over the years, Congress has consistently and strongly condemned the Chinese Government’s repression of the human rights of the Tibetan people: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1) recognizes the 65th anniversary of the flight from Tibet of Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, in response to the People’s Republic of China’s military aggression; (2) confirms its longstanding support for the human rights, including the right of self-determination, of the Tibetan people; (3) condemns the People’s Republic of China’s persistent efforts to erase the Tibetan people’s distinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical identity, most recently through the proposed hydropower dam construction in the eastern Tibetan area of Derge that would reportedly cause the displacement of approximately 2,000 Tibetans from their homes and destroy 6 historical monasteries and artifacts of religious significance; (4) condemns the arbitrary detention on February 23, 2024, of those protesting the hydropower dam construction project in Derge; (5) expresses grave concern for the well-being of the protesters and those who provided video and photographic evidence of the events as they unfolded; (6) demands that the People’s Republic of China immediately release all prisoners of conscience in China, including those detained in the February 2024 protests against the hydropower dam construction project in Derge; (7) demands that the People’s Republic of China publicly apologize for the violations of the rights of those who protested against the hydropower dam construction project in Derge, provide immediate redress for physical and emotional trauma, and expunge from the detainees’ official records any mention of the arrests or charges; (8) calls upon the Biden administration to urge authorities of the People’s Republic of China to halt the hydropower dam construction project in Derge until the views of the local Tibetan residents are taken into account in accordance with the provisions of autonomy provided to Tibetans under People’s Republic of China law, and to cancel construction unless authorities obtain the genuine consent of local Tibetan residents; (9) calls on the Biden administration to insist that the Government of the People’s Republic of China abide by its commitments to safeguard cultural heritage made at the February 2023 review of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; and (10) calls upon the Biden administration to fully implement the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 ( 22 U.S.C. 6901 note), including the Tibet Project Principles which require Tibetan input into development projects, to ensure that the People’s Republic of China fully respects all the human rights of the Tibetan people.