A/HRC/10/8/Add.1 page 11 30. On 17 March 2008, students of Marthang Nationality Middle School in Hongyuan Xian County, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province, aged between 14 and 20, started a protest inside the school. PSB officials blocked the entrance and beat the students while they were trying to come out of the school. Approximately 40 students are said to have been arrested. Around 700 students then staged a demonstration outside the Hongyuan Xian County PSB office to protest against the detention of fellow students. 31. Subsequent to 10 March 2008, it is reported that raids in the homes of people formerly imprisoned for their political opinions have taken place. Since 15 March 2008, house-to-house searches were allegedly being carried out in Lhasa, with CDs and printed material being confiscated, and people being taken in custody. It is reported that on 15 March 2008, at least 600 people had been arrested in Lhasa, either as a result of a house search or during demonstrations. Three hundred additional people were reportedly arrested on 16 March 2008. 32. Reports indicate that on 13 March 2008, the Lhasa Foreign Bureau Office has issued a warning to non-governmental organisations that any information given to foreigners regarding the protests could result in strict legal action against the concerned individuals and organisations, including the closing down of the latter. On 17 March 2008, the authorities deported approximately 15 journalists from at least six Hong Kong television, radio and print organisations, accusing them of “illegal reporting” and of illegally shooting films of People’s Liberation Army soldiers. The journalists were escorted to the airport and put on a plane to Chengdu in Sichuan Province, and the police is alleged to have looked into the journalists computers and video footages. The authorities allegedly refused to grant permits to allow foreign journalists to travel to the Tibet Autonomous Region as from 12 March 2008, and are reported to have ordered them out of the Tibetan parts of Gansu and Qinghai provinces on 16 March 2008, the police reportedly saying that it was for their safety. Further reports indicate that within the country, video-sharing websites as well as news websites are inaccessible and that international news broadcasts are being cut when showing reports of the events in the Tibet Autonomous Region and surrounding areas in China. 33. On 15 March 2008, the Tibet Autonomous Region High People’s Court, Tibet Autonomous Region High People’s Procuratorate and Tibet Autonomous Region Public Security Department issued a notice, asking that: “1. Those who on their own volition submit themselves to police or judicial offices prior to midnight on 17 March 2008 shall be punished lightly or dealt mitigated punishment; those who surrender themselves and report on other criminal elements will be performing meritorious acts and may escape punishment. Criminal elements who do not submit themselves in time shall be punished severely according to law. 2. Those who harbour or hide criminal elements shall be punished severely according to law upon completion of investigations. 3. Those citizens who actively report and expose the criminal behaviour of criminal elements shall receive personal protection, and granted commendations and awards.” Response from the Government dated 21 May 2008 34. At the time this report was finalized, the Special Rapporteur was not in a position to reflect the content of the reply from the Government of China dated 21 May 2008 as she had not received the translation of its content from the relevant services.