“Teens
detained for 'Free Tibet' graffiti in China"
The Associated Press
Published: October 3, 2007
BEIJING: Authorities in western China have detained four
teenagers for about a month on suspicion of scribbling
graffiti calling for Tibet's independence and the return of
the Dalai Lama, a rights group said Wednesday.
A fifth boy was hospitalized with injuries stemming from
beatings he suffered during detention, according to the
Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet.
Dozens of students were initially detained in early September
after the graffiti appeared on walls of a middle school and a
police station in Xiahe county, a heavily Tibetan area in
western China's Gansu province.
All but seven were released after two days, the group said in
a statement, and two 14-year-olds were released about Sept. 24
after their families paid a 4,000 yuan (US$530, €375) fine
and were ordered confined to their villages, the group said.
But four 15-year-olds remain in custody, it said.
Another 15-year-old was taken to a hospital with possible head
injuries resulting from beatings, and it was not clear if he
would be returned to custody after treatment, according to
International Campaign for Tibet.
A man who answered the phone at the Xiahe county government
office called the report "nonsense and rumor."
"No such thing happened," said the man, who refused
to give his name but said he was a county employee.
Phones rang unanswered at the Xiahe public security bureau and
detention center.
The Dalai Lama, Tibet's traditional Buddhist leader, fled the
Himalayan region for India in 1959 amid a failed uprising
against Chinese rule. He remains highly popular among Tibetans,
despite persistent efforts to demonize him by Chinese
authorities.
China claims Tibet has been its territory for centuries, but
many Tibetans say they were effectively independent for most
of that period.
