At the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), held in Geneva from 8 September to 8 October 2025, the situation in Tibet was a focal point of concern among governments and civil society organizations commenting on China’s human rights record.
On 19 September 2025, Canadian outdoor apparel brand Arc’teryx, in collaboration with Chinese pyrotechnic artist Cai Guo-Qiang, staged a promotional fireworks display in Tibet’s pristine mountains, sparking widespread outrage, both within China and globally, for its blatant disregard for Tibet’s fragile ecosystem and sacred cultural significance.
Eleven young Tibetans and Tibet supporters from across Europe gathered in Brussels last week for the 2025 edition of the Tibetan Empowerment Days, a training and advocacy program coordinated by the International Campaign for Tibet, with support from the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
EU Statement at the 60th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council – Item 4 – Human Rights situation that require the Council’s attention
23 September 2025
The International Campaign for Tibet strongly welcomes the formal “Communication” made public over the weekend by United Nations special rapporteurs and working groups to the Chinese government addressing Beijing’s interference in the succession of the Dalai Lama and the enforced disappearance of Tibet’s 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.
This reports highlights the threats faced by Tibetans in Tibet who celebrate the birthday of their Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and urges the international community — including United Nations bodies, national governments, parliaments, and civil society organizations—to call on China to cease its repressive actions.
The People’s Republic of China’s hydropower and dam projects are increasingly leading to massive human rights violations and environmental damage in Tibet. Since Asia’s largest rivers originate in the Tibetan plateau, the construction of hydroelectric dams in Tibet also threaten the water supply, livelihoods and health of up to 1.8 billion people across China, South and Southeast Asia.
This report shows how the Buddhist Association of China (BAC), a supposedly non-political organization, is becoming a key instrument in the Chinese Communist Party’s strategy to assimilate and transform Tibetan Buddhism – particularly in relation to the search for and recognition of reincarnate lamas.
