Geneva — More than 80 demonstrators, including Tibetans, members of the Suisse Romande Tibet Support Group, and Chinese Christians from The House Church and The Church of Almighty God, gathered in Geneva on the opening day of the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to draw the attention of diplomats from member states to the continued deterioration of the human rights situation in Tibet.
According to the Office of Tibet, Geneva, the protest took place in front of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 23, 2026. It was organised by the Tibetan Community in Switzerland and Liechtenstein (TCSL).
More than 80 particiapted in the protest, including Representative Thinley Chukki, Office of Tibet, Geneva, TCSL President Ngedun Gyatso Drongpatsang, Vice President Kalsang Namgyal Kangrang, and members of the Executive Committee, along with executive members of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe. From the Tibet Bureau Geneva, UN Advocacy Officer Phuntsok Topgyal and Chinese Liaison Officer Sangay Kyab attended the event.
Addressing the protesters, representative Thinley Chukki said, "the purpose of the demonstration was to remind the international community of the deaths of more than one million Tibetans since 1959, the destruction of approximately 6,000 Tibetan monasteries and, more recently, the forced enrolment of more than one million Tibetan children, as young as four years old, in Chinese colonial-style public boarding schools. She emphasised that these policies systematically disconnected Tibetan children from their cultural and linguistic heritage. She insisted that the protest reflected the Tibetan people's peaceful and sustained struggle for justice and fundamental rights. Though progress may be slow, our efforts will ultimately bear fruit."
Representative Thinley Chukki also expressed grave concern over the People’s Republic of China’s restrictions on religious freedom in Tibet and condemned interference in the issue of the reincarnation of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Speaking at the protest, UN Special Rapporteur Nicolas highlighted reports of the forced enrolment of large numbers of Tibetan children in state schools, describing this policy as part of a wider movement of repression and systematic cultural erosion in Tibet.
The 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council will be held in Geneva from February 23 to March 31, 2026. It will bring together representatives of Member States and civil society organisations to discuss pressing human rights issues around the world.
