Tibetan Genocide

What is the Tibetan Genocide?

Historical and geographic context

Tibet spans today’s Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan. Armed takeover (1950–51) and the 1959 Lhasa uprising were followed by decades of repression, mass deaths, and the near-eradication of monastic life during the Cultural Revolution. Freedom House notes that by the late 1970s, an estimated 1.2 million Tibetans had died as a result of the occupation; thousands of monks/nuns were jailed, and most of the ~6,200 monasteries were destroyed. (Refworld)

International recognition

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) concluded that acts of genocide had been committed in Tibet “in an attempt to destroy the Tibetans as a religious group,” analyzing patterns of killings, torture, and destruction of religious life (1959/1960 reports). International Campaign for Tibet International Commission of Jurists
In 2023, UN Special Procedures warned that around one million Tibetan children are separated from families in state-run residential schools aimed at cultural assimilation. (UN Human Rights Office)

Eight core patterns of harm

Historic mass deaths (1950s–1970s). Large-scale killing, famine, and prison deaths devastated the population; estimates place total Tibetan deaths by the late 1970s at ~1.2 million. (Refworld)
Destruction of monasteries & religious life. During the Cultural Revolution, nearly all monasteries were destroyed; monastics were jailed or expelled, and sacred texts burned. (Refworld)
Criminalization of belief & clergy control. ICJ documented coercion, surveillance, and attacks on religion that met genocide thresholds against a protected religious group. (International Commission of Jurists)
Language suppression in schools. Policies have eroded Tibetan-medium education, replacing it with Mandarin and undermining cultural transmission. (Human Rights Watch)
Mass child separation (current). ~1 million Tibetan children attend residential/boarding schools away from families and language environments. (UN Human Rights Office)
Closure of community schools. Authorities have shuttered Tibetan-run schools that promoted language and culture. (Human Rights Watch)
Forced relocations & urbanization. Large-scale “relocation” programs pressure pastoralists and rural Tibetans into urban settlements, disrupting livelihoods. (AP News)
Arbitrary detention & tight surveillance. Religious leaders, language advocates, and activists face detention and intense monitoring. (Human Rights Watch)

Major crimes & features (at a glance)

A historic genocide targeted Tibetans as a religious group (killings, destruction of monasteries, criminalization of belief), followed by a contemporary campaign of cultural erasure centered on children’s separation, language replacement, and forced relocations.

Quotes

“Acts of genocide had been committed in Tibet in an attempt to destroy the Tibetans as a religious group.” — International Commission of Jurists. (International Campaign for Tibet)

“Around a million children of the Tibetan minority [are] affected by policies aimed at assimilating Tibetan people culturally.”

— UN experts, 2023. (UN Human Rights Office)

“By the late 1970s, an estimated 1.2 million Tibetans had died as a result of the occupation… nearly allmonasteries were destroyed.”

— Freedom House. (Refworld)

Reports & resources

ICJ (1959/1960): Tibet and the Rule of Law; The Question of Tibet and the Rule of Law. (International Commission of Jurists)
Freedom House (1998/2001): Country profiles noting 1.2M deaths and monastery destruction. (Refworld)
OHCHR (2023): UN experts on ~1 million Tibetan children in residential schools. (UN Human Rights Office)
HRW (2020/2025): Tibetan-medium schooling under threat; closures of community schools. Human Rights Watch)