TAR FAO RESPONSES ON SEPTEMBER 2006 SHOOTING AT NATULA PASS

C O N F I D E N T I A L CHENGDU 000086

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM, DRL AND G/STC
BANGKOK FOR USAID/MSTIEVATER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/29/2027
TAGS: PHUM PGOV CH
SUBJECT: TAR FAO RESPONSES ON SEPTEMBER 2006 SHOOTING AT NATULA PASS

REF: A) 06 BEIJING 21638 B) 06 BEIJING 21794 C) 06 BEIJING 22237 D) CHENGDU

77

CLASSIFIED BY: James Boughner, Consul General, United States
Consulate, Chengdu.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary: During a recent Consulate visit to Lhasa, the
Director of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Foreign Affairs
Office (FAO) promised to provide us with a written copy of an
"official statement" on the September 2006 shooting of a Tibetan
nun at the Natula Pass. After our return to Chengdu, the FAO
phoned on March 26 to give a verbal statement that officially
classified actions of the border guards as "self defense" in
compliance with Chinese law. On March 28, the FAO phone a
second time to provide additional new information including the
name of the nun who was killed, the condition of the second
injured individual and the release of the detained children.
End Summary.


2. (C) During a March 12-17 reporting trip to the Tibetan
Autonomous Region (TAR),CG and Beijing Polmincouns raised with
TAR Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) Director Ju Jianhua the
September 30, 2006 shooting death of a Tibetan nun by Chinese
border guards at the Natula Pass (Ref. D). CG asked Ju if he
could provide any information about the government's
investigation (Ref. C) into the incident.


3. (C) Ju said he was not in the country during the time of the
incident and that he was not particularly familiar with the
investigation. He said he believed that the case was one of
illegal border crossers who had been dealt with according to
Chinese law. Ju offered to give CG prior to his departure from
Lhasa a copy of an "official written statement" on the case. He
failed to comply with this offer.


4. (C) On March 26, Ms. Baizhen of the Consular Office of the
TAR FAO contacted Congen to read an official statement on the
"9.30 Incident." She was not willing to fax the document to the
Consulate. A translation of the statement is as follows:

"Before dawn on September 30, during patrolling time, our border
police discovered nearly 70 people illegally crossing the border
at the Sino-Indian border. Our police officers tried to stop
them according to law and advised them to return to the place
they originally came from. However, instead of listening to the
advice, they attacked our police officers, and forced our police
officers to defend themselves. As a result, two illegal border
crossers were injured, and one of them died due to the cold
weather and shortage of oxygen, after receiving emergency
treatment. This was an organized and planned serious illegal
border crossing case. We are going to handle this case
according to the 'Citizen Exit-Entry Management Law of the
People's Republic of China' and other relevant laws. At the
moment, this case is still being handled."


5. (C) On March 28, Ms. Choeyki Drolma of the Consular Office
of the TAR FAO called to provide additional information to the
consulate related to our original request. She read a prepared
statement as follows:

"Among the illegal border-crossers, Chudzom (Chines: Qu Zong),
24, died after emergency treatment. Kesang Namgyal (Chinese:
Ge Rong Lang Jia) was injured, but he has now fully recovered
after receiving medical care. Others, including the children,
have left for home and now live with their families. Some
foreign media have still been broadcasting "untruths" about this
issue, and some international organizations have made
inappropriate responses to these untruths. We think this is
irresponsible behavior. All sovereign states have the right to
take necessary measures to prevent incidents such as this from
happening."


6. (C) Comment: The first statement read to us by the FAO was
"old news" and was similar to statements made to the press soon
after the incident was widely publicized on the internet with
accompanying photographs. When the video footage of the
shooting was posted, press statements from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs dropped the "self-defense" explanation and began
to refer to the incident as "normal border management activity."
It is unclear why the FAO called a second time to provide new
information. This is the first time the government has released
any information about the fate of the children detained at the
border or about the other injured individual. Post notes that
the majority of international press reports, including recent
testimony before the United National Human Rights Council
meeting in Geneva on March 23, identify the nun who died as
17-year-old Kelsang Namtso, which is likely her religious name.

BOUGHNER