Wed, July 30, 2008
KATHMANDU, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Nepali officials have defended the acts of arresting Tibetan protestors in the past few months in the country, dismissing charges made by a U.S.-based non-governmental organization as "wrong."
Last week, Human Rights Watch accused Nepal of using force and arbitrarily arresting thousands of Tibetan protestors.
"Nepal's law allows arresting small groups whose activities are adversely affecting the general public. We have arrested them to maintain law and order," Chief District Officer of Kathmandu Jayamukunda Khanal told Xinhua in an interview Tuesday.
"The accusation that Nepal has got pressure from Beijing to detain the Tibetans is wrong. We are compelled to arrest them because they are breaking law and order and disrupting general life of the city," Khanal added.
Sarbendra Khanal, Metropolitan Police Range Office chief in Kathmandu, told Xinhua in April that Nepali police were simply performing their duties when assaulted by the Tibetans.
"Nepali police have been displaying utmost tolerance and using minimum force" while dealing with the Tibetan separatists, said Khanal.
"We are facing many disturbances from the continuous agitation. The daily activities in the capital are disrupted. Traffics are halted in the places they protest," said the police chief.
Nepal's capital Kathmandu has been hit by anti-China protests since mid-March.
Police officer Hemjung Chauwan was deployed to control the Tibetan protests in front of the Chinese counselor office last week.
"They are very problematic. It's very difficult to control them," he told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Last Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular press conference that China can not accept the accusations that China exerted pressure on the Nepali government to arrest protestors there.
"Nepal is a friendly neighbor of China. We never put pressure on our friends and neighbors. To impose pressure is not the Chinese government's foreign policy," Liu said.
Our friendly neighbors have reiterated their positions on Tibet for many times that they won't approve any activities within their territories which undermine China's interest. We appreciate the necessary and justified moves taken by relevant countries, Liu said.
Chinese Ambassador Zheng Xianglin said last month that there were criminal acts of beating and smashing in Kathmandu against other Tibetans who either refused to take part in anti-China activities or held different positions from the separatists.
