Perspectivas / Perspectives

Forced disappearances … physical abuse … prolonged detentions without trial of monks, nuns, and other persons.”

These are excerpts from the US State Department’s latest report on religious freedom in Tibet. The details are dire, flagrant, and shocking:

• China’s authorities have forced Tibetan Buddhists to replace images of the Dalai Lama with pictures of CCP leaders like Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping.
• Nearly one million Tibetan children have been separated from their families and sent to state-run schools where they learn “patriotic education” in an effort to cut them off from their native Tibetan culture and language.
• In a disturbing overreach, China’s authorities have systematically collected DNA from one-quarter to one-third of the Tibetan Autonomous Region’s Population.

The State Department released its 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom, chronicling a comprehensive view of freedom and belief around the world—including in Tibet. The report’s Tibet section calls out multiple human rights violations, including the unjust detention of peaceful protestors, the abduction of the Panchen Lama, the separation of children from their families into residential schools, DNA sampling, and evicting thousands of monks and nuns from Buddhist monasteries.

Geneva, May 23.– The 15th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy was an outstanding success attended by over 700 dissidents, diplomats, journalists, and students from around the world and thousands more who followed along online.

The Summit presented its 2023 International Women's Rights Award to Shima Babaei, an exiled Iranian women's rights activist and former political prisoner, in tribute to the courageous women and girl protesters of Iran: "The victory is ours. Woman, Life, Freedom."

Leading Nicaraguan opposition politician released this year after being subjected to 611 days in prison and solitary confinement, Félix Maradiaga, received the 2023 Courage Award. He left the audience with a message of hope for Nicaragua and the global movement for freedom: "Together, let us band and banish the darkness of injustice."

United Nations, May 23.– It's been six months since the start of the protests in Iran which shook the foundations of the country's ruling theocracy. Calling for women’s rights, freedom, and democracy, protestors continue to be met with senseless violence from the Islamic Republic. According to a recent briefing by the UN, the scale and severity of such violence carries evidence of crimes against humanity. The allegation arrives amidst news that the Islamic Republic plans to enforce mandatory hijab, a “divine decree” at the origin of the protests.

Nevertheless, Iranian resilience remains steadfast. "The people have made their decision to topple the Islamic Republic and they will not back down from their goal," asserted human rights champion Masih Alinejad. On her twiter account, she is showing a testimonial video of two brave girls:

Según el último Informe sobre el Estado de los Derechos Sociales en la isla, realizado por el Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos (OCDH), la inseguridad es el séptimo problema social en el país.

«De hecho, esa preocupación aumentó del año 2021 al 2022», explicó a Radio y Televisión Martí, Yaxys Cires, Director de Estrategias del OCDH. «Las informaciones que nos llegan todos los días de Cuba van en la línea de que esa percepción se corresponde con la realidad», puntualizó.

«Obviamente hay un factor económico, pero ni es el único ni el determinante. El aumento de la violencia se debe principalmente a causas más profundas y sistémicas, relacionadas, por ejemplo, con el sistema educativo comunista en el que ha primado el adoctrinamiento y no el cultivo de valores; con el ataque constante a la familia como institución; y con un sistema político que ha visto al discrepante como un "gusano" al cual hay que destruir, marginar, incluso empleando la violencia extrema», consideró Cires.

Cires señaló, por otra parte, que «aunque el régimen cubano mantiene intacto su aparato represivo estatal y jurídico, para responder a quien ejerce sus derechos humanos, está teniendo problemas para manejar administrativamente el país y enfrentar problemas como el aumento de la marginalidad o la delincuencia común».