China’s imprisonment of climate activists violates both human rights and climate change agreements, claim the Norwegian Tibet Committee.

The three brothers – Rinchen Samdrup, Karma Samdrup and Chime Namgyal – were previously regarded by the Chinese authorities as model citizens and were acclaimed in the state-run media for their environmental and cultural work.

Now, as the People´s Republic of China extends its security clampdown to intellectuals, writers and any prominent Tibetan citizens, all that has changed.

Karma Samdrup (left), a well-known environmentalist and philanthropist, was given a 15-year sentence on 24 June on trumped-up charges of “grave robbing”; elder brother Rinchen Samdrup was sentenced on 3 July to a 5-year sentence for “incitement to split the country” (his lawyer says he was accused of posting an article mentioning the Dalai Lama on his website) and youngest brother Chime Namgyal is serving a 21-month re-education-through-labor sentence for “harming national security”.  

Where Asian rivers begin
The three international prize-winning brothers wanted to protect the ecosystem around the area at the confluence of the Yellow, Yangtze and Mekong rises.

The world refers to this area as Asia’s water tower. A few years ago there were 4077 lakes in this area. Today about 90 percent of these lakes dried up and there is again some 300 lakes.

More than 300 million people in China rely on water from this region. In addition, the UN stated in a report from 2007 that the desertification of the Tibetan Plateau has a speed of approx. 2300 square kilometers per year.

New tendency
“It is not unusual new to us that the Chinese have arrested a number of human rights defenders. What makes the imprisonment, torture and the punishment of 15 years of Karma Samdrup stand out of this tendency, is precisely that he was not a human rights activist in the classic sense. He was a filantropolog and an environmentalist,” – noted the NTC.

The NGO believes a question one should ask after this episode is whether the People´s Republic of China should be considered a partner to rely on when it comes to environmental and climate solutions.

“Verified agreements including local participation, which the Chinese government has signed, are worthless in practice”, the NGO stated.

Avoided political activity
Karma Samdrup, Rinchen Samdrup and Chime Namgyal founded the award winning ‘Three Rivers Environmental Protection’ group and have long campaigned for the conservation of the source region for the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang (Mekong) rivers.

The Group had previously worked closely with the authorities, and won several awards including the Earth prize, administered by Friends of the Earth Hong Kong.

Karma was careful to avoid any involvement in political activity. 

Rinchen Samdrup and Chime Namgyal were detained on 7 August 2009 after their efforts to conserve wildlife in their home area of Chamdo (Changdu) Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region clashed with the local authorities.

On 3 January 2010, Karma Samdrup was detained by the Chinese police on charges of robbing graves dating back to 1998. It is widely believed that the real reason for Karma’s detention is his unsuccessful effort to secure the release of his two brothers.

Since Karma’s detention he has been badly beaten and tortured.

Interest shared by the People´s Republic of China and Tibet
According to the The Third Pole, a joint initiative by a number of organizations to support Tibet, including International Tibet Support Network, Tibet Justice Center, and the Norwegian Tibet Committee, “at this time of environmental crisis and given Tibet’s importance as the source of Asia’s ten largest rivers, the conservation and protection efforts of individuals like Karma Samdrup and his brothers are essential – for the People´s Republic of China as well as Tibet.”

In an alert following the conviction of Karma, The Third Pole stressed the environment is one of the common areas of interest between Tibetans and Chinese.

The initiative authors believe it could provide an opportunity for the People´s Republic of China “to demonstrate progress and understanding by encouraging the implementation of environmental protection instead of clamping down on individuals who are working for the protection of their environment and culture.  

“Environment and climate can not be addressed without fully accepting human rights. <..> Climate solutions require justice. the People´s Republic of China should immediately release the three Samdrup brothers,” – finalises the Norwegian Tibet Committee in its statement.

Based on www.tibet.no and www.savetibet.org.