h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Five Tibetan monks and nuns have been jailed for protesting against China's control of Tibet and demanding that the 2008 Beijing Olympics be called off. Sentences range from 18 months to three years.

The websites of several Tibetan NGOs, including Tibetan Centre for Human rights and Democracy, have been attacked by hackers and destroyed.

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NewKerala.com, India - 10 Mar 2006

By Baldev S. Chauhan, Shimla: Tibetan websites have been the target of hackers this week with a majority of them hacked and damaged, leaving surfers agitated.

According to one estimate at least 30 Tibetan websites have been hacked.

The hacked websites include nearly all the Tibetan non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other Tibetan-related sites, some of which have been vociferous about the Tibetan cause.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), an NGO monitoring the human rights situation in Tibet, has been destroyed by hackers.

"We are naturally disturbed by the hacking of our site. In a way the web is our world as we don't have our country. But now we are being denied even this freedom," said Tenzing Norgay of TCHRD.

The server owners of the hacked sites told their subscribers that they are trying to cope with the damage to their systems and get it repaired. They have no clue about the offenders.

The servers include World Bridges of the US. Jeff Leboy, the owner of the server, is a keen supporter of the Tibetan cause, say Tibetan refugees.

Lobsang Wangyal, owner of Lobsang Wangyal productions and organiser of the Ms Tibet website, also had his site hacked.

"I am in the process of repairing my website. Luckily, I had a lot of back up data," Wangyal told IANS on phone from the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exi le in Dharamsala, 280 km from this Himachal Pradesh capital.

"Most of the hacked sites are owned by NGOs and individuals who also highlight the Tibetan cause," Wangyal said.

Many suspect the hacking could have been the handiwork of the Chinese government, which has imposed censorship on Internet giant Google and left out or distorted topics like 'democracy' and on the Dalai Lama - the Tibetan spiritual head.

But the Tibetan government-in-exile's official website hasn't been hacked so far due to better security measures.

Thousands of Tibetans fled Tibet over 45 years ago after a failed uprising against the Chinese communist regime.

India is home to around 100,000 Tibetan refugees.

China hosts World Buddhist Forum. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Holiness the Karmapa and many other important Tibetan Buddhist figures were not invited. The Chinese government appointed Panchen was largely shunned by other delegates. The whereabouts of the real Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima remains a mystery.

China is building a huge statue of Chairman Mao in Tibet. The statue, which will stand 7m atop a 5m pedestal, will be located in a square in Gonggar County, south of the capital, Lhasa. At a time when giant statues of despots are being torn down from the Baltic to the Persian gulf, China is building new ones.

The Canadian House of Commons has voted to give honouurary Canadian citizenship to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Nelson Mandela and Raoul Wallenberg are the only other honourary Canadian Citizens.

The following is from the House of Commons release:

39th Parliament, 1st Session
Edited Hansard o Number 046

Thursday, June 22, 2006
The Speaker: [English]

We have a request from the hon. member for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet

Mr. David Sweet (Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, CPC): Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the various parties and I believe that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That, whereas Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, has been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize as one of the world's leading champions of peace and non-violence; and

Whereas His Holiness the Dalai Lama will visit Canada from September 9th to the 11th of this year; and

Whereas this House has previously acknowledged historic visits to Canada by other leading champions of human dignity, such as Raoul Wallenberg and Nelson Mandela, by adopting motions granting them "honorary Canadian citizenship";

Therefore, this House resolves to bestow the title "honorary Canadian citizen" on His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet.

The Speaker: Does the hon. member for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

Some hon. members: Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

A monk named Gedun has been sentenced to four years in prison for telling a group of students that there is no freedom of expression for Tibetans. Gedun is a teacher of traditional dance.