The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said on January 14 that the visit by representatives of the Dalai Lama and releases of some high-profile Tibetan prisoners opened a new chapter in China-Tibet relations, but that there was "little" change for Tibetans in the year 2002.
Three Tibetans refugees, including two teenagers, who were arrested while attempting to transit through Nepal to India, were each given three-year prison sentences by a Nepalese court on January 8, 2003.
Tibetans gathered at the traditional site of Buddha's enlightenment for their largest prayer ceremony of the year have taken advantage of the crowds to campaign for a boycott of Chinese products.
A Chinese court was expected to have a second hearing Jan. 10 for two Tibetans convicted and sentenced to death for allegedly bombing and inciting separatist activities in Tibet in April, 2002.
Amnesty International Local Group 133 in Somerville, MA, is organizing a Get on the Bus (GOTB) trip to New York for a day of human rights action on April 14, 2003, during which they will highlight the case of the 14 Tibetan nuns in Drapchi Prison.
The three-day preliminary teachings of the Kalachakra puja began yesterday in the afternoon at the Kalachakra Maidan in Bodh Gaya. Over a hundred thousand devotees from all over the world attended the teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which continued this afternoon.
A section of neo-Buddhists sitting on a "fast-unto death" here protesting the alleged "pro-China" bias of Dalai Lama and 17th Karmapa Ugyen Trinley were taken into custody last night even as the 28th Kalchakra puja began here today amidst tight security arrangements.
Amid threats and allegations of spying and sacrilege, the Dalai Lama led Tibetan Buddhists' highest worship ceremony on Sunday, calling for the rejection of materialism, greed and violence.
