In recent years, certain foreign forces have accused the Chinese government of violating Tibetan human rights. The Dalai Lama, the largest estate-holder and the top ranking person in old Tibet, has also talked glibly about human rights and called for their restoration. What is the past and present state of Tibetan human rights? This article, from the changes in the legal relationship and position of Tibetans in old and new Tibet, provides a factual answer to the question.--Ed.

Whether or not people can enjoy legal equality is a direct reflection of the basic state of human rights. Under the feudal serf system in old Tibet, the lawful relationship between the 5 percent of estate holders and the 95 percent of serfs and slaves was one between the oppressor and the oppressed, and the exploiter and the exploited. There was no equality to speak of.

From Inequality to Equality

The law of old Tibet classified people into different ranks with strict delineation between the nobles and the commoners to protect the feudal hierarchy. The 13-Article Code and The 16-Article Code clearly stated that "the people are classified into three ranks-upper, middle and lower; each rank is subdivided into three grades-top, middle and bottom." In the upper rank were the Tibetan monarch, major and minor Living Buddhas, and the nobility. Merchants, office workers and herds owners filled the middle ranks, while in the bottom rank were the peasants, blacksmiths and butchers. In corresponding to this, the law also stipulated that the "price of life" for persons in various ranks was different. "Since people are classified into different ranks and grades, the prices of their lives are set to be high or low." With regard to the price of a king's life, the law stipulated, "If a Hor killed a Yazi king, his life shall be compensated with gold measured in terms of the weight of the dead body. If a peasant should assassinate King Gesar, compensation for the life of the dead is incalculable." It is thus clear that the price of the lives of the upper class was unlimited. The law also stipulated that the life of someone in the middle rank was worth 300 to 400 taels of gold (15-20 kg). But as for those in the lower ranks, the law said, "If hunters, blacksmiths and butchers are killed by their masters, the compensation should only be equivalent to a straw rope." Under this feudal system of three ranks and three grades, the lives of a vast number of serfs, slaves and those at the bottom grade were the least valuable in society. Such a law, in fact, completely negated the rights of life of serfs,slaves and people at the bottom grade, and equality was out of the question.

Under the criminal law, not only the price of life, but also convictions and penalties varied for people of different ranks. The law stipulated severe punishments for offences by serfs, slaves and people at the bottom ladder against those at the upper rank; however, members of the upper grade who injured low ranking people were dealt with as quite another case. For instance, the law stated: "The plebs who quarrel with the elite will be arrested." (see Article 3 of The 13-Article Code) However, justice was quite different for the nobility who harmed others. "A civilian who harms an official will have his hands and feet cut off, to a level depending on the seriousness of the injury; a master who accidentally wounds a servant is only responsible for treating the injury and will not be prosecuted. A master who beats and wounds a servant is not required to compensate." (see Article 8 of The 13-Article Code)

In old Tibet, the criminal laws not only punished serfs, slaves and the lowly who offended the upper rank by committing only slight offences or no crimes at all but were given cruel and brutal penalties. The corporal punishment of felony as stipulated in Article 4 of The 13-Article Code includes "eye gouging; chopping off of the feet, tongue and hands; and capital punishments in forms such as drowning and hurling from cliffs." The lives of countless serfs and slaves were brutally taken. Undoubtedly such shocking stories have been rare in other parts of China and the world.

Following the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet in 1951 and the Democratic Reform in 1959, a large number of serfs and slaves were emancipated. Under the socialist law system of New China, they enjoy legal equality. Article 33 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China clearly declared that "all citizens of the People's Republic of China are equal before the law." This stipulation holds true for all nationals, including those in Tibet, regardless of their ethnic status, sex, family background, religious belief, education, property status and length of residence. Every citizen is equally protected under the law. All acts that violate the legal rights and interests of citizens will receive judicial punishment.

Freedom of the Person

Under the feudal serf system in old Tibet, the serfs and slaves had no personal freedom. They were completely under the control of the estate-holders and were known as vassals. The estate-holders who included the aristocrats, officials and lamas could use, exchange, sell and buy, beat, persecute, or even kill the serfs at will.

One illustration of the lack of personal freedom of the serfs and slaves was that they were freely exchanged as goods or transferred with or without compensation under a contract among estate-holders. These vassals were completely dependent on their new masters. Marriages of single women were decided solely by their new squires. The contract was often attached to the deal with each estate-holder holding a copy. The transferred serfs should square their burden with the bailiff or pay unconditional taxes to the new masters. The contract of the transfer was valid in line with the laws of old Tibet. Transferees had no choice but to submissively obey the will of the master.

In old Tibet, serfs and slaves were also used to clear the debts of their estate-holders, another reflection of their lack of personal freedom. When serfs could not afford to pay back debts by other means, they were obliged to hand over their relatives as compensation. Contracts were also signed for these transactions.

In addition, serfs served as part of the dowry for women from the families of estate holders. The practice was sanctioned by the common law. The laws of old Tibet stipulated that serfs and slaves who were presented as part of dowry had no right to refuse or protest. These serfs who had no personal freedom had to apply to their masters if they wanted their children to become the servants of an official or become engaged to a merchant family. For this, they had to pay a large amount of "remission money" to the estate holders or satisfy the latter's other irrational demands.

At present, Tibetans, like other Chinese citizens, enjoy the right of personal freedom under the law. Article 37 of China's Constitution stipulates, "Freedom of the person of citizens of the People's Republic of China is inviolable. No citizen may be arrested, except with the approval of or by decision of a people's procuratorate or by the decision of people's count, and arrests must be made by a public security organ. Unlawful detention or deprivation or restriction of citizens' freedom of the person by other means is prohibited, and unlawful searches of the person of citizens is prohibited." In accordance with this article of the Constitution, the Criminal Law and the Law Governing Criminal procedures formulate detailed regulations on the protection of personal rights of citizens. For the protection of the inviolable right of personal freedom, the Criminal Law stipulates that all crimes that violate personal freedom shall bear the relevant legal responsibility. The criminal code stipulates that any individual who illegally deprives or restricts the personal freedom of citizens by any means shall be examined according to the law. All these stipulations of the Constitution and laws are conscientiously implemented in new Tibet so that the personal freedom of the Tibetan people is fully protected.

The laws of China also protect the rights of citizens to maintain their personal dignity, portraiture, reputation, residence and correspondence. All the above-mentioned rights are also safeguarded for the Tibetan people.

The Right to Subsistence

In old Tibet, the economy was backward and the Tibetan people had long suffered from cold and hunger. Many serfs sold their sons and daughters; their families were broken up; they were obliged to wander destitute far from home and fell as beggars when they could not bear the heavy corvee and taxes of the government, lamaseries and nobles who were protected by law. When escaped serfs were arrested, they would be forcibly sent home under escort by local governments and severely penalized. Due to the flight by the huge numbers of slaves, the Tibetan population became increasingly scattered and reduced. Early in this century, there were so many of these escapees that it was impossible to send them back to their owners. As a result, the local governments of Tibet had to set up specific organs to administrate these homeless vagrants and registered their residences in order to allocate labour and levy poll taxes on them. Under the oppression and exploitation of the feudal aristocracy and administrations, the basic rights to subsistence of serfs and slaves were not guaranteed, let alone other human rights.

After the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, and especially following the Democratic Reform, the serfs and slaves who were called "speaking cattle and horses" in old society and constituted a large proportion of the total population of Tibet became, the masters of the new society and established the socialist economic system based on public ownership. Besides various political rights, the Tibetan people also enjoy the rights to enterprise management, work, rest, a secure life, material aid and education.

When China entered a period of reform and opening to the outside world in 1979, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council formulated a series of special policies and flexible measures for Tibet. These vigorously promoted the development of the productive forces in the region.

During the decade, Tibet obtained great achievements in industry, agriculture, culture and education. The lives of the people improved markedly. The Tibetan people have won reliable material guarantees for their right to subsistence. In 1990, for instance, the grain output in Tibet reached 555,000 tons,, an increase of 3.57 times over that of 1952, and total livestocks were 22.8 million head, 3.4 times those in 1959. The agricultural and grazing output value was 130 million yuan, a hike of 2.34 times of that in 1952.

Modern industry has started from scratch and developed steadily. In 1988, there were 260 industrial enterprises and more than 40,000 enterprises in tertiary industry. Statistics for the main industrial products in 1990 were as follows: electric power production was 310 million kwh; cement reached 130,000 tons; logs, 200,000 cubic metres; knitting wool, 75 tons; carpets,25,000 square metres; and chromium ore, 87,000 tons. During the past four decades, the national financial allocation and investment for infrastructure construction totalled 17.77 billion yuan. Nowadays, the Tibetan people live and work in peace and contentment and are undertaking construction in their homeland.

The system of regional national autonomy for minority ethnic groups implemented by the Chinese government plays an important role in the guarantee of their rights to subsistence and development. In accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy, the Tibetan people enjoy extensive rights of regional autonomy. They can enact self-determination or separate regulations; use and develop their own spoken and written languages; foster and employ a contingent of Tibetan cadres, including specialists and technicians; organize local public security troops to maintain public order on the spot; arrange and administer the local economic construction business; independently manage local finances; self-administer local education, science, culture, public health and sports; and handle other local affairs including the population and environment. The implementation of regional national autonomous rights guarantees the rights to subsistence and development of the Tibetan nationality. Over the past four decades, the Chinese government has trained some 35,000 Tibetan cadres, who make up 66.6 percent of the total number of cadres in Tibet or about 71.7 percent on an autonomous region level. Tibetan cadres are appointed as the main leaders of the autonomous region's people's congress and different levels of government. In the course of exercising autonomous rights on behalf of the whole Tibetan people, they have made important contribution to the subsistence and development of their ethnic group.

The Tibetan population increased from 1.1 million in 1951 to 2.09 million in 1990, while the average life-span in Tibet rose from 35 years to over 65 years. The educational level of the Tibetan people has also improved. In old Tibet, the school-age enrolment rate was less than 2 percent. Now, an educational network from preschool education to higher learning has been built up. There are 2,484 schools of various levels in the autonomous region with an enrolment of 175,000. The school-age enrolment rate has been lifted to 54.5 percent. During the past 41 years, some 10,000 students have graduated from colleges and universities; about 130,000 from high schools and polytechnic schools; and 350,000 from primary schools. A number of Tibetan doctors and masters have been trained by New China.

All the above facts demonstrate that the nature and contents of Tibetan human rights have changed fundamentally since the 1950s. Human rights are no longer privileges for a few estate-holders, but are equally enjoyed by the great mass of Tibetan people. The situation of Tibetan human rights has improved, not deteriorated. Some foreigners are blind to these facts and make unwarranted accusations that the Chinese government violates Tibetan human, rights.

As for "the restoration of Tibetan human rights" asserted by the Dalai Lama, people cannot help questioning what human rights he wishes to restore in Tibet? It seems obvious that what he wishes to bring back is the privileges of a few estate-holders enslaving the bulk of the Tibetan people. The emancipated Tibetan serfs who have become masters of the new society will never accept this and all just-minded people in the world could never consent to it.

(This article appears on page 20, No. 8, 1992)