Other violations


CHAPTER 6


A. VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT OF THE FAMILY BY SPYING

The family is considered the core of society. Children are dependent on their parents and family not only for the satisfaction of their physical needs but also for emotional support and mental development. In the family children are cared for and guided towards adulthood. The fundamental role of the family in a child's well-being receives special protection in the Convention on the Right of the Child which states:

Art. 16: No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation. In violation of this provision, Chinese school authorities in Tibet deliberately attempt to upset the private family life of Tibetan children. Students reported that they were asked by their teachers to spy on their parents and to report back as to whether the parents talk about political issues or the Dalai Lama, or whether they have Dalai Lama pictures in their home. Sometimes children were promised rewards and given money if they related negative information about their parents. Such actions are capable of destroying the child's family structure.

    "After 4.30 p.m. there were no more classes and we had to sit idle in the classroom. Three or four times a week we were asked during this time whether our parents talked about Tibetan politics or the Dalai Lama. When the children admitted that their parents spoke about these things, they were rewarded with presents - money or food. The parents were later called to meetings and sometimes then fined or put into prison." (A 1)

    "My Chinese teachers regularly asked me to go home and spy on my parents. I was supposed to see if my parents were talking about Tibetan policies or religion. I would pretend to walk home and then turn back after 3 hours in order to tell the teachers that I had not heard any talk from my parents about Tibetan matters. Or I would walk home, play around for a couple of hours and then go back to school and tell my teachers that there was no proof against my parents. In both cases the teacher would beat me because he did not believe me... They promised us 200 yuan if we found any evidence against our parents that proved they talked about subjects relating to Tibetan culture, history or religion." (A 10)

    "I remember that when I was about 10 years old my teacher asked me to go home and see if there were any pictures of the Dalai Lama hanging in our house. I couldn't find any and had to tell the teacher the result of my search." (A 34)

B. COMPULSORY NON-EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

The Convention on the Rights of the Child attempts to protect as many aspects of a child's life as possible. Understanding that free time, leisure and play are very important to a child's full development the CRC guarantees the right to such activities:

    Art. 31(1): States Parties recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child...

The CRC also acknowledges in article 32(1) that a child requires protection from economic exploitation.

Most schooling involves some non-academic activities. Children may be involved in sports and exercise, community work, social activities and similar activities that do not form part of the child's "lessons" but nonetheless contribute to a child's overall development. However, where such activities amount to exploitation of the child or cause detriment to the child's mental or physical well-being, this constitutes a violation of the Convention's principles.

Reports of being made to clean drains, wash teachers' clothing and clean industrial areas were received from the interviewed students. In some instances the demands came not from school authorities but from the Chinese military and not just school children but the whole town had to obey.

    "Three times a week our village was inspected by Chinese soldiers. At these inspections the Chinese soldiers told the small and bigger children of our village to clean the drains. If we did not clean the drains the Chinese soldiers would hit us and the small children were hit on their back. Sometimes I had to clean the drains with my parents." (A17)

    "The Chinese soldiers came by our village and made discipline announcements. They told us that we had to split up into groups for distribution and then took us to a place where we had to clean the drains. Our whole village had to do this. So after school time our whole school was made to clean the trains and if we did not, they would beat us up." (A18)

    "On Sunday, about twice a month, the school told us that all the students had to clean the teachers' rooms, the factories and the streets." (A42)

    "On Sunday sometimes we had to wash the clothes of the teachers." (A43)

    "Our school was surrounded by four soldier camps. During the weekends after lunch the teachers told us that we had to clean the rooms of the soldiers or we would be punished." (A 44)

    "The Chinese authorities inspected our village. They were soldiers and they told the children in our village that we must come with them and practise the work of a soldier. They made us dig and clean channels in the ground." (A 45)

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Last updated: 29-Sept-97