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Over 100 Tibetan protestors arrested in Kathmandu

Other News Materials 21 April 2008 17:07 (UTC +04:00)

(dpa) - Nepalese police on Monday broke up anti-Chinese demonstrations in the capital Kathmandu and detained more than 100 Tibetan protestors.

The Tibetan exiles were arrested as they tried to march towards the United Nations building in Kathmandu as part of their protests against the recent Chinese crackdown in Lhasa.

Nepalese police said they had detained about 120 protestors after they tried to break the police line near the UN building.

Anti-Chinese protests by Tibetan exiles have become a daily affair despite the Nepalese government's crackdown.

On Sunday, US-based Human rights Watch urged the Nepalese government to stop arresting Tibetan protestors.

"As protests over China's abuses of Tibetans intensify in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, police continue to arbitrarily arrest, detain, and mistreat record numbers of Tibetans in violation of their rights to freedom of expression and assembly," HRW said.

The protests first erupted on March 10 and since then hundreds of protestors were arrested, HRW said.

"Over the past five weeks, police arrested more than 2,500 Tibetans for protesting peacefully, or simply because they appeared to be Tibetan."

HRW said it had documented ill-treatment of many Tibetans in detention, including beatings, repeatedly being denied access to medical care, or being given inadequate medical care.

It also accused the Nepalese police of using excessive force during arrests and sexually assaulting Tibetan women.

Nepal is home to more than 20,000 Tibetan exiles, the second largest after India.

The Nepalese government has said it will not allow anti-Chinese protests in the country.

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