Source: Phayul
In a statement to the Sixth session of the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, 10 NGOs urged Ms. Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, to endorse their call “that the Chinese authorities immediately withdraw the latest measures on the recognition of reincarnations being imposed on the Tibetan people.”
The statement while referring to a section of the report of the Special Rapporteur informed the Council that the measures being implemented by China “strips all the religious rights and authority of Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual teachers on the future confirmation of reincarnations.”
Ms. Jahangir current report to the UN human rights body had stated that “the freedom of religion or belief also protects the conduct by religious groups of their basic affairs, such as the freedom to choose their religious leaders, priests and teachers.”
This morning a delegate of the China in response to the NGO joint statement claimed that the new measures were “elaborated according to the strong request of the people from the circle of Tibetan Buddhism on the basis of in-depth investigation and studies, extensive search for various view points and full respect paid to the succession modalities of the living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism.”