Brussels, October 26 - This afternoon after a heated debate with the participation of thirteen Members of the European Parliament, condemning Chinese People's Armed Police for its brutal murder of an unarmed seventeen year old nun crossing the border, the European Parliament adopted unanimously a resolution on Tibet, noting in particular of the incident happened at Nangpa Pass.

The members thanked the Finnish EU Presidency for issuing an official statement condemning the Chinese Government on 20 October 06 and rejected the official Chinese version of the incident as a self defence after seeing the evidence of a video footage filmed by the Romanian TV cameraman, showing the refugees being shot in the back.

Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development reads out a statement on behalf of the European Commission External Relations.

Following is the full text of the Commission and the adopted EP resolution:

The Commission fully shares the concerns expressed by the honorable members of the Parliament regarding the recent shooting of the China’s People’s Liberation Army of Tibetan refugees at the border between the people’s republic of china and Nepal, the subsequence death of one and the following imprisonment some of these refugees. This matter has formally taken up by the EU in the framework of the last session of the EU-China dialogue on HR held in Beijing on 19 October 06 as rightly mentioned by the Finnish Honorable Member. On this occasion the EU refuted the claim by China the shooting have been done by self defence and urged the Chinese Government to undertake a thorough investigation of this incident and insisted that the imprisoned refugees to be treated in compliance with international humanitarian standards. More generally the Commission is very concerned about the Human Rights situation in Tibet and in particular the preservation of the cultural, religious and linguistic identity of the Tibetan people. This issue has been regularly addressed in the framework of the bilateral dialogue on Human Rights as well as the highest level such as the bilateral summits. The EU is particularly concerned about the number of Tibetans from religious backgrounds, who are in Prison on political reasons and has repeatedly asked for their immediate release. Several of these persons are on the lists of individual cases which are regularly submitted to the Chinese authorities on the margins of these dialogues. The Commission finds that the Chinese policy in Tibet is not consistent with the provisions of the international covenant on the civil and political rights. The early ratification by China of this covenants ranks among the top priorities of the EU in the field of HR and we have left China in no doubts as to the need once it has been signed and even it was before ratified to fully respect its spirits as part of its overall policy vis-à-vis Tibet, the EU has consistently taken the view that establishing a direct dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities was the only realistic way to find a peaceful and lasting solutions to the questions of Tibet. We have therefore followed very closely and welcomed the five rounds of talks which have taken place up to now between the special envoys of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Government. The Commission urges both sides to continue this dialogue and use these talks to try to make a substantive progress.

EP Resolution on Tibet

The European Parliament,
• having regard to its previous resolutions on Tibet and the human rights situation in China,
• having regard to its resolution on EU-China Relations of 7 September 2006,
• having regard to the lack of progress in the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue,
• having regard to the United Nations (UN) Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials,
• having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights,
• having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,
• having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas on 30 September 2006 more than 70 Tibetans were attempting to cross the glaciated Nangpa Pass in the Himalayan region of Tibet, approximately two hours walk from the Nepalese border, in order to seek refugee status in Nepal,
B. whereas against the rule of international law the Chinese People's Armed Police (PAP) fired upon unarmed Tibetan civilians, including women and children; whereas video and photographic evidence from the incident shows that the Tibetan group was moving slowly away from the Chinese forces firing upon them, did not approach Chinese forces nor represent a threat to Chinese forces,
C. whereas Kelsang Namtso, a seventeen-year-old nun, was killed during the shooting by Chinese PAP; whereas there are unconfirmed eyewitness accounts of more than one death; whereas a group of Tibetans including children were arrested after continuing to flee,
D. whereas Chinese State Media, Xinhua, has reported an incident in the region as ‘self-defence’ despite video and photographic evidence to the contrary; whereas the Chinese authorities have thus far not officially recognised that the incident at Nangpa Pass took place nor that any individual was killed by Chinese forces,
E. whereas since September 2002 formal contacts have been re-established between the Chinese authorities and the Representatives of the Dalai Lama in order to restore mutual trust and confidence,
F. whereas despite these contacts and the importance attached to these meetings by the central Chinese authorities, there have been over the past years frequent cases of abuses and violations of human rights perpetrated against the Tibetan population and in particular against Tibetan monks,
1. Condemns the excessive use of force by the Chinese People's Armed Police (PAP) in firing upon unarmed Tibetan civilians, including children;
2. Strongly condemns the killing of an unarmed civilian who, being below 18 years of age, was also considered a child under international law;
3. Expresses its dismay at the imprisonment of Tibetan civilians whereof 9 of them are children;
4. Urges the Chinese authorities to guarantee that the Tibetans detained during the incident will not be ill-treated in detention, and that international human rights and humanitarian law standards are being respected;
5. Urges the Chinese authorities to immediately release all children detained during the incident;
6. Urges the Chinese authorities to conduct a full investigation into the events at Nangpa Pass and ensure that those responsible for any crimes committed there are brought to justice;
7. Calls on the Council and the Commission to closely monitor, through its representations in Nepal, the situation of those Tibetans from the group who have reached Nepal and to make strong representations to the Chinese authorities on this issue within the framework of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue;
8. Calls on the Council and the Commission to reiterate its position that only dialogue between the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Representatives of the Dalai Lama can contribute to a peaceful and sustainable settlement for Tibet that both sides agree upon;
9. Calls on the Government of the PRC to continue the dialogue with the Representatives of the Dalai Lama in order to improve the respect of religious, cultural, linguistic and political rights in the Tibet Autonomous Region;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN Secretary General, the Government of the People's Republic of China.