Nepal police detain 100 Tibetan protestors

AFP | More than 100 Tibetan exiles, mostly young monks and nuns, were detained Friday at a pro-Tibet protest in front of a Chinese embassy building in the Nepalese capital, police said.

“More than 100 Tibetans have been taken to various police stations and will be freed by nightfall,” Kathmandu police officer Hom Jung Chauhan told AFP.

Demonstrators shouted slogans such as “China liars,” “We want a free Tibet,” “We want justice,” an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Kathmandu has seen almost daily protests since unrest erupted in March in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, prompting a crackdown by Chinese security forces.

The US ambassador to Nepal on Thursday voiced concern about the treatment of exiled Tibetans by Kathmandu police who have baton-charged, punched and kicked protesters.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, “Ambassador (Nancy) Powell .. expressed official US concern about the treatment of Tibetans by Nepali authorities,” the embassy said in a statement

She “urged the prime minister to ensure that the right to peaceful protest was maintained and that the human rights of Tibetans in Nepal are respected.”

Nepal officially acknowledges Beijing’s “One China” policy that sees Tibet and Taiwan as integral parts of China.

Nepal is home to more than 20,000 Tibetan refugees and around 2,500 still arrive annually in Kathmandu before heading to Dharamshala in northern India, home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile.

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