Permanent Surveillance of Tibetans is the New Normal

By Sam Ferguson / January 23, 2016;

China’s controversial surveillance campaign, Benefit the Masses, will continue indefinitely in all villages within the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).

In a report this month by Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York based human rights group, China director Sophie Richardson described the campaign as “nothing less than a continuous human rights violation”.

The surveillance began in 2011 when 21,000 communist cadres were sent to live in teams of four or more in every village within the TAR. Originally, the campaign was due to end in 2014.

Chen Quanguo, Party Leader of the TAR, described the team’s priority as turning each village into “a fortress” in “the struggle against separatism”.

This was achieved by construction of communist party buildings in each village. Using the slogan All villages become a fortress, and everyone is a watchman, local organisations and security schemes were established to gather information about the villagers. Additional measures included political and ideological re-education for villagers. According to HRW, the original campaign cost more than 25% of the regional government’s budget.

The teams also act as dispute mediators, settling any disputes among villagers or families to lessen the chances of escalation. Another objective is to prevent Tibetans from petitioning higher level officials.

Despite the original 2014 end date of the surveillance campaign, the departure of a “fifth batch” of cadres was announced in November 2015 at a meeting to award outstanding and progressive village and monastery-based cadres.

Sophie Richardson said “China’s surveillance scheme openly and massively infringes upon the basic rights of Tibetans protected under Chinese and international law.” Richardson urged China to end the scheme immediately.

Separate reports from official media detail construction plans in TAR villages. Over 32,000 buildings will be constructed by the end of 2016. The buildings will be used by the cadres as offices and accommodation. Each village will receive on average six new buildings. This is the largest and most expensive construction project of its kind in the TAR, with costs running to 5.265 billion yuan (US$810 million or £573 million), and drastic changes planned for villages in the TAR.