Police detain 13 Tibetan protesters at UN in Nepal/ENG

2012. január 24./AP/Tibet Sun/TibetPress

Police in Nepal’s capital detained 13 Tibetans who tried to storm the UN office Friday, demanding the world body help the people in Tibet under Chinese rule.

“Wake up UN Tibet is burning. Stop killing in Tibet,” the protesters chanted as they tried to climb the gates of UN office in an upscale neighbourhood in Kathmandu.

UN guards stopped them and police in riot gear who rushed to the scene were able to push them back to the streets and later load them on a van and pickup truck. They were driven to detention centres.

It was not clear if the 13 would be charged or jailed, but in the past Tibetan protesters are generally held for a few hours and are freed later in the evening.

The police did not use much force or beat them up with their batons. They did grab them and threw some of them on the back of the pickup truck. No one was injured in the scuffle.

Nepalese authorities have made it clear that Tibetans are not allowed to protest against China inside Nepal, saying protests against any friendly nation would not be allowed. Demonstrations still occur, however.

Nepal has allowed thousands of Tibetan exiles to live in the country as refugees, while hundreds more are allowed to pass through Nepal, travelling from Tibet to Dharamshala, India, where their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, lives in exile.

Smothering security is part of life in China’s Tibetan areas, and the heavy policing has driven some Tibetans to radical acts of protest, such as the 21 self-immolations counted in the past year.

Because of the crackdown, the exile government called on Tibetans to shun celebrations for their traditional new year, which started Wednesday.