A/HRC/4/21/Add.1 page 26 Armed Police and the Public Security Bureau beat a number of the monks in thier efforts to disperse them. 92. The Special Rapporteurs also brought to the attention of the Government information they received concerning Tsering Dhondup, aged 30, a monk at Sera Monastery, near Lhasa and Changchup Gyaltsen, a disciplinarian at Sera Monastery. According to the information received, in July 2005, the authorities expelled Changchup Gyaltsen from Sera Monastery after he read out a request for prayer, which referred to the Dalai Lama. He was placed under surveillance for a year. Tsering Dhondup, who is alleged to have drafted the prayer, disappeared on the same day. He is thought to be held incommunicado at Gutsa prison in northern Lhasa. He is alleged to have possessed and distributed documents criticizing China and supporting Tibetan independence. Response from the Government dated 12 January 2006 93. The Government indicated that, recently, five monks at the Drepung monastery in the Tibet Autonomous Region were expelled from the monastery by the monastery’s management committee, for having breached the monastery regulations. After announcement of this administrative decision, a number of monks from the monastery came to the management committee to demand an explanation. After hearing the explanation provided by the committee, the assembled monks all dispersed and the five monks who had been expelled also expressed their acceptance of the decision and returned to their places of origin. Drepung monastery remains open to the public and its religious activities are continuing as normal. Throughout this entire process, there has been no instance of any monk being physically or verbally assaulted or detained, nor has any monastery been shut down. 94. The Government also explained that article 36 of the Chinese Constitution stipulates that “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religion and belief.” In accordance with the law, the Chinese Government protects the conduct of normal religious activities by the congregation of Buddhist clergy and laity. Currently, there are more than 40,000 monks and nuns living in more than 1,700 Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the Tibet Autonomous Region and other religious centres, engaging freely in the study of Buddhist scriptures and conducting all kinds of religious activities. The right to freedom of religious assembly and religious belief is fully respected and their religious needs are fully satisfied. The Government affirms that any person going to Tibet and gaining an understanding of the real situation will reach this same conclusion. 95. In the Tibet Autonomous Region, the monks of every monastery elect their own monastery management committees through a democratic process, enact democratic management rules for each monastery and carry out its routine work. Each monastery, acting in accordance with the relevant management rules, carries out an assessment at regular intervals of the monks under its responsibility, the content of which includes such topics as religious regulations and precepts, monastic rules and general knowledge of the law. 96. The five monks from Drepung monastery were expelled by the monastery’s management committee because they had breached the monastery rules and had failed the relevant assessment: this demonstrates that the monastery’s management committee was carrying out its routine duties, according to the internal running of the monastery, acting in accordance with the relevant