2011: What we’ve achieved together for Tibet

This has been a year of epic change around the world. In spite of the Chinese government’s refusal to acknowledge the inevitable forces for freedom that are steadily building, Tibetans in Tibet are challenging China’s control at every turn.

At SFT, we’re working around the clock to maximize the impact of their actions while pushing the movement forward and achieving milestones for Tibetan freedom.

Thank you for supporting our campaigns and programs. Together, we are giving Tibetans in Tibet a reason to hope. Please make a holiday gift to SFT to support our work into 2012:

https://secure3.convio.net/sft/site/Donation2?df_id=1345&1345.donation=form1

Read below to see what SFT has accomplished in this watershed year.

ENOUGH! GLOBAL INTERVENTION NOW TO SAVE TIBETAN LIVES:
SFT, in collaboration with other Tibet groups, launched the Enough! Campaign for global multilateral action to end the crisis in Tibet, where 13 young Tibetans have self-immolated in protest against Chinese rule. Over 35,000 people  – including Nobel Laureates, politicians, celebrities, and musicians – have signed the pledge at www.StandUpforTibet.org.

On November 2, more than 100 actions were carried out in 65 cities and at the G20 Summit in Cannes, France, SFT and Tibetan Youth Association in Europe members rappelled off the Cannes Railway Station, unfurling protest banners and Tibetan flags. A week later, US Secretary of State Clinton urged China to reform its Tibet policies and other high-level politicians have followed suit. In late November SFT released breaking footage of Palden Choetso’s self-immolation and the story was covered by leading news channels.

NOMAD RIGHTS CAMPAIGN LAUNCH: The Chinese government is quietly pursuing a sinister plan to force all 2.25 million Tibetan nomads off their ancestral land into reservation-style, concrete housing blocks. In September, SFT launched the Nomad Rights campaign to raise the global alarm and to demand an end to China’s forced resettlement. A week of protests coincided with the UN General Assembly, and www.NomadRights.org was launched, along with a campaign video on the plight of Tibetan nomads that has been viewed over 8,000 times.

PROTESTING CHINA’S HU JINTAO IN WASHINGTON, DC:  In January 2011, three days of creative, non-stop protests by SFT and other Tibet groups were widely covered by domestic and international media during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s first official state visit to Washington, DC. During the visit, President Obama publicly raised human rights as a core issue in Sino-US relations, including the rights of the Tibetan people.

LHAKAR: TIBETAN SELF-RELIANCE AND NON-COOPERATION: What began as a campaign to take simple actions on Wednesdays has evolved into a Tibetan self-reliance and non-cooperation movement. Tibetans are engaging in low-risk and sustainable activities — eating only in Tibetan restaurants, buying only from Tibetan shops, not using Chinese words while speaking Tibetan. To promote the Lhakar movement in exile, SFT supported the launch of www.Lhakar.com, and encouraged Tibetans and supporters worldwide to take a Lhakar pledge.

SFT Canada Director Tenzin Lobsang with Canada’s Foreign Minister

GLOBAL TIBET LOBBY DAYS: In March, more than 100 Tibetan-Americans and supporters descended on Capitol Hill to urge greater congressional support for Tibet. The next day, SFT Canada arrived in Ottawa for two days of lobbying the Canadian Parliament for Tibet. National Tibet Lobby Days were also held in Sydney, Australia; London, UK; New Delhi, India; and Tokyo, Japan in what has become SFT’s annual grassroots political advocacy program.

OCCUPATION IS NO VACATION: The St. Regis Lhasa Resort became the first luxury hotel in Lhasa in Nov 2010. Within weeks, the Intercontinental and Shangri-la hotel chains announced plans to open 5-star hotels in the city. This year, SFT contacted the companies’ executives and property owners to express concern over the operation of luxury hotels in an occupied country, posed questions at the companies’ annual shareholders meetings, and SFT’s senior staff recently met with St. Regis’ executives.

FREE TIBETAN HEROES: SFT continued to campaign for the release of prominent Tibetan political prisoners. We released a video featuring Dhondup Wangchen’s daughters writing to their father in an effort to promote his release. During the Kalachakra in Washington, DC, we displayed life-size posters of Tibetan heroes Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, Runggye Adak, Norzin Wangmo, Paljor Norbu, and Dhondup Wangchen and collected thousands of signatures for their release.

REFUGEES IN NEPAL: In September, 23 Tibetans detained after fleeing into Nepal were about to be deported to Tibet. SFT issued an urgent call to action. While SFT leaders met Nepal’s Prime Minister Bhattarai in person in New York, our global network engaged in a grassroots campaign targeting Nepal’s embassies. Combining private diplomacy and public pressure we helped persuade the Nepalese government to grant the Tibetans safe passage to India.

TIBET ACTION INSTITUTE: SFT’s most exciting project, spearheaded by Lhadon Tethong, the Tibet Action Institute developed open-source, leading-edge technology and trained and educated Tibetans to be more safe, secure and effective using online and mobile tools in their activism. Tibet Action also launched the Lhakar Academy – Tibetan School for Leadership and Change to bring a new level of knowledge and skill in strategic nonviolent action and secure use of communications technology to young leaders of the Tibetan Freedom Movement. Learn more at https://tibetaction.net

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & TRAININGS: We held leadership conferences in the US, UK, Japan, Taiwan, and Canada and SFT’s flagship Free Tibet! Action Camp in India and Germany. More than 300 students, activists and Tibetan community organizers were trained in nonviolent resistance, online and mobile security, public speaking, grassroots recruitment, media advocacy, and direct action coordination.

ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT: SFT expanded its online action network to over 60,000 people and our facebook network grew to over 100,000. We currently employ 12 staff members worldwide: five in New York at SFT HQ; five in Dharamsala, India; one in Toronto, Canada; and one in London, UK to challenge China’s occupation of Tibet at every turn. Our national networks in India, US, UK, Canada, France, Taiwan, Japan and across Europe continued to grow and new SFT chapters are being started every month.

It’s hard to believe we’ve accomplished so much together in 2011. With your help we will take our activism for Tibet to even greater heights in 2012.

Please donate today to support our strategic campaigns and innovative programs and help us make history for Tibet.

In solidarity and action,

Tendor, Kate, Tendolkar, Stefanie, Evie, and all of us here at SFT HQ

P.S. Please make a holiday gift to SFT. Any amount you give will go a long way to support our work to achieve human rights and freedom for the Tibetan people.

Please note your gift is tax-deductible in the USA. You can also mail a cheque to our office at: 602 East 14th Street, 2nd floor, New York, NY, 10009 USA.

Breaking Point: Understanding the Tibetan self-immolations

This week SFT released rare footage smuggled from Tibet to the international media. The extraordinary video shows Palden Choetso’s self-immolation and the overwhelming reaction by the Tibetan community in response to her ultimate act of nonviolent protest; over 10,000 Tibetans attended a candlelight vigil on the morning of her funeral. View the footage (Warning: video contains graphic and disturbing images): http://sft.convio.net/site/R?i=ecBKyh…

The images have shocked tens of thousands of people around the world this week. As a method of protest that is unthinkable for the average person, the self-immolations have at once devastated and galvanized the Tibetan world, while challenging the global conscience.

Though most of us see images of war and explosions all too often on TV, there is something deeply disturbing and haunting about the image of a human being in flames. It is an act that defies our imagination.

In an attempt to help more people understand the historical context, the political causes, and the motivation behind the recent wave of self-immolations in Tibet, SFT held a panel discussion on Tuesday at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. I facilitated the discussion between two great teachers of our time: His Eminence Kirti Rinpoche and Professor Robert Thurman.

“From a tactical point of view, Tibetans are left with no choice; they have reached a breaking point,” explained Kirti Rinpoche, the abbot of the monastery where most of the self-immolations have emerged from, in response to my question. “Whenever they try to express their opinion through street demonstrations or other traditional tactics of protest, the Chinese police swoop down and arrest them right away. So they feel the only option remaining is to set themselves on fire, taking the ultimate form of nonviolent action.”

Professor Thurman remembered the historic precedent set in 1963 by the Vietnamese monk Thich Quang Duc, who sat down in the middle of an intersection in Saigon and set fire to his body in protest of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime’s persecution of Buddhists. His act was captured on video and seen by millions around the world, irreversibly damaging the legitimacy of the Diem regime, which crumbled soon thereafter.

He spoke about how self-immolation has become the ultimate statement on China’s illegitimacy as an occupier. “The Chinese have no right. It’s completely illegal. It’s completely false, their claim to ownership over Tibet. And this proves this illegitimacy of their rule.”

By intentionally undergoing the pain and suffering of lighting themseves on fire – in the prime of their lives – these Tibetans are telling the the world how unbearable it is to live under Chinese oppression. They would rather die than go on living. It is the ultimate act of exposing China’s lies while expressing the Tibetan people’s deep suffering under Chinese oppression.

Professor Thurman reiterated His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s comments that if the motivation is pure, then the act itself is taken with good intention; and he hoped these young monks and nuns died without hatred for the Chinese in their hearts. “The altruism and compassion that motivate such a selfless act is beyond our imagination,” he added.

In a thought-provoking scene from the Tawu footage following Palden Choetso’s self-immolation, Chinese armed police entering the monastery compound and Tibetan monks walking about can be seen in the same frame. The monks, with their rosaries, somehow look calm and fearless; the Chinese soldiers, running with their guns, look nervous and fearful: http://sft.convio.net/site/R?i=_aImJh6jiQKq6MRPhVkusw

For many of us, this image represents a new era in the Tibetan struggle, where an ironic reversal of roles is taking place. Tibetans, having lived so long under a climate of fear, are losing their fear. It is this ultimate act of defiance that the Chinese authorities fear most. When the oppressed become fearless, the oppressor becomes powerless.

In hope and fearlessness,

Tendor
Executive Director

Rare Footage of Tibetan Nun’s Self-Immolation Smuggled out of Tibet

Students for a Free Tibet

For Immediate Release
November 21, 2011

Contact:
Tenzin Jigdal, Program Director – India, +91 9736 660 451
Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director, +1 646-724-0748
Kate Woznow, Deputy Director, +1 917-601-0069

***Compilation of footage can be viewed here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6955112/Tawu%20Footage.mp4
High resolution footage can be downloaded here:  http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6955112/Tawu%20Footage.dv

Rare Footage of Tibetan Nun’s Self-Immolation Smuggled out of Tibet
10,000 Tibetans converge in Tawu for funeral, Chinese Forces Seen Entering Monastery

Dharamsala/New York – The most comprehensive footage of protests in Tibet this year, including shocking images of Palden

10,000 Tibetans join a candlelight vigil for Palden Choetso

Choetso, a 35-year-old nun from Geden Choeling Nunnery in Tawu, eastern Tibet, who died after lighting herself on fire on November 3, has been obtained from sources in Tibet. One video shows Palden Choetso standing upright as flames engulf her body. Additional footage shows Tibetans’ response to the self-immolation, including nuns protesting and chanting “Freedom to Tibet”; thousands of Tibetans at a candlelight vigil early on the morning of her funeral; and Chinese security forces converging on Nyitso Monastery. In the past eight months, 11 Tibetans have lit themselves on fire in an unprecedented wave of protest against China’s escalating clampdown in eastern Tibet.

“This footage confirms reports that 10,000 Tibetans gathered at Tawu’s Nyitso monastery in a mass outpouring of support and prayers for Palden Choetso. Her ultimate act of nonviolent protest galvanized the entire community to openly and publicly offer their respects and solidarity in spite of China’s military clampdown in the region,” said Tawu Lobsang Jinpa, a former political prisoner from Tawu who escaped to India last February. “In Tawu, the crackdown continues although many Chinese soldiers are patrolling the town in civilian clothes to stop the world from seeing these images. Surveillance cameras have been installed around the monastery to monitor the monks’ every move.”

“This is an extremely difficult time for Tibetans everywhere. This footage shows not only the desperation but also the determination of Tibetans to fight for their freedom at any cost. We fear the situation will continue to escalate and more Tibetan lives will be lost if the Chinese government does not lift its repressive measures and commit to a just and lasting resolution to this spiraling crisis in Tibet,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet.

Tibetan sources report that following her self-immolation, Palden Choetso’s body was taken to Nyitso Monastery. Her funeral was held early in the morning on November 6^th. Tawu town is located in Kardze prefecture of the Tibetan province of Kham (annexed by China into Sichuan and Yunnan provinces after 1965), an area long known for actively resisting Chinese rule. Following the widespread protests in Tibet in 2008, Chinese forces have been stationed in and around Tawu town.

“We urge world leaders to respond to the crisis in Tawu immediately with bold multilateral pressure on the Chinese government. The Tibetans in these videos have risked everything to have their voices heard. Their actions must be a wakeup call that China’s repression will only stop if the world intervenes now,” said Tenzin Jigdal, Program Director of Students for a Free Tibet India.

Images that Will Shock the World

In my citizen journalism workshop, I often start by asking if anyone can think of powerful images which changed the world. More often than not participants mention the image of Vietnamese monk Thich Quang Duc.

In 1963, when the international community saw photos of Thich Quang Duc sitting cross-legged while engulfed in flames, global consciousness shifted to Vietnam. Today, his protest is widely credited as a catalyst to the fall of the Diệm regime in Vietnam.

Similarly, when Tunisians saw the shaky footage of Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation this year in Tunisia, his countrymen took to the streets in what became the Tunisian Revolution and sparked the beginnings of the Arab Spring.

Our generation’s powerful images may not come in high resolution but the pixelated cell phone photos, screenshots from internet chat applications, and shaky mobile video are no less historic and no less powerful.

It is our responsibility to view them, to glimpse at the brutal repression and desperate measures Tibetans inside Tibet are taking as their voices are silenced. However difficult it may be to gaze upon the images of the twelve monks and nuns who have self-immolated since 2009, it can’t compare to the unimaginable hardships that those individuals have endured to bring them to commit such shocking acts.

If we can do anything, we can share their stories. Please talk about them, write about them, blog about them, tweet about them, post their images on Facebook and Twitter. We cannot let the desperate sacrifices of Tibetans inside Tibet be forgotten.

The following is a collection of the known images of self-immolation which have been bravely smuggled out of Tibet.

For background information on these desperate acts please read Tendor’s Tibetans have reached breaking point, world must step in.

Dharmashop Fundraiser for SFT

Shop Not Made in China this holiday season, and support the Tibetan Freedom Movement while you’re at it!

From now until Sunday, Dharmashop.com will donate 15% of all proceeds to Students for a Free Tibet. Likewise, 100% of proceeds from this exclusive Students for a Free Tibet logo pendant will benefit SFT, specially designed by a Tibetan jeweler in Nepal. 

Started in 1999, Dharmashop’s mission has been to build an online community that supports Tibetan and Nepali artisans in their traditional crafts.  Founder Sander Cohen was inspired to support Tibetan artists living in exile after a trip to Nepal. He now travels to Nepal and Thailand each year to visit Buddhist holy sites and oversee products and designs, and he and his wife, Christy, ensure that third and fourth generation Tibetan and Nepali artisans are paid fair wages for their crafts. Read more about Dharmashop’s history

TIBET ACTIVISTS TO PROTEST CENSOR BOARD’S REMOVAL OF TIBETAN FLAG FROM UPCOMING FILM ‘ROCKSTAR’

For Immediate Release
7 November 2011

Contact: Dorjee Tseten +919805941166
Tenzin Jigdal +919736660451

TIBET ACTIVISTS TO PROTEST CENSOR BOARD’S REMOVAL OF TIBETAN FLAG FROM UPCOMING FILM ‘ROCKSTAR’

Dharamsala – Activists with Students for a Free Tibet are planning rallies and actions in several cities, including Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Calcutta and Dharamsala, to protest the controversial decision by Censor Board of India to remove the Tibetan flag and ‘Free Tibet’ banners from the film Rockstar, which comes to theaters this Friday. In a shocking move by the Censor Board, director Imtiaz Ali was told to either delete or blur the visual of the flag.

“It is extremely disturbing that such a grotesque violation of free speech is occurring in the world’s largest democracy,” said Dorjee Tseten, National Director of Students for a Free Tibet India. “By caving in to Chinese pressure, the Censor Board is allowing China to threaten the freedom and liberties that Indians enjoy.

“Tibetans are dying for freedom. In the last eight months, eleven Tibetans in Tibet have set themselves on fire in protest of Chinese rule,” said Dorjee Tseten. “At this critical time – when Tibetans are suffering so desperately under Chinese repression – one would expect India to be promoting and protecting the Tibetan people’s basic human rights, not censuring their struggle in a free country simply because China demands it be done.”

Students for a Free Tibet is demanding that the Censor Board reverse its decision before the release of the film and Dorjee Tseten will be seeking a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer, Pankaja Thakur, this week.

Students for a Free Tibet, India (SFT India) is the India National Network of Students for a Free Tibet International, which has over 650 chapters in more than 35 countries, and is a non-profit organization funded entirely by donations from members and supporters.

#30#

PRO-TIBET ACTIVISTS UNFURL BANNER ON NICE LANDMARK TO CALL FOR GLOBAL INTERVENTION IN TIBET; RALLY AND POLITICAL THEATRE TO FOLLOW

For Immediate Release
November 4, 2011

Contacts:
Migmar Dhakyel: Tibetan Youth Association in Europe +33 762 068 590
Norzin Dotschung, Tibetan Youth Association in Europe +41 788 247 270
Pema Yoko, Students for a Free Tibet, +44 7949 104 021

PRO-TIBET ACTIVISTS UNFURL BANNER ON NICE LANDMARK TO CALL FOR GLOBAL INTERVENTION IN TIBET; RALLY AND POLITICAL THEATRE TO FOLLOW

Nice – This morning 8 pro-Tibet activists from Switzerland, Germany and the UK, unfurled a huge 12 x 4.5 metre banner on the Tower Bellanda reading “ENOUGH!” with Tibetan flags lining the bottom. The action – the third in a series of pro-Tibet demonstrations at the G20 Summit ­– is part of a global campaign to pressure the Chinese government to withdraw troops from Tibet and to end the military occupation. 16 Tibetans and their supporters have been detained over the past three days in Cannes for pro-Tibet actions. A large rally with Tibetans from across Europe will also take place today from 10am to 1pm at the Place d’Ile de Beaute.

“Tibetans and our supporters from around the world are here at the G20 Summit to say Enough is Enough! Enough to China’s violent and brutal repression in Tibet, and enough to the failure of our world leaders to hold the Chinese government accountable for its atrocities in Tibet,” said Migmar Dhakyel, a 20-year old Tibetan woman with the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe.

Yesterday, a 35 year-old nun, Palden Choetso, died after she lit herself on fire in Tawu, eastern Tibet. She was calling for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet and for Tibetan independence. Eleven Tibetans have self-immolated in Tibet since March this year; 9 since September 26th. At least six have died, including two nuns. Chinese authorities have responded by pouring security personnel into Tibet.

“Yesterday’s desperate act by a Tibetan nun to call for the return of the Dalai Lama is a cry for help and a clear sign that Tibetans have been pushed to the brink under China’s merciless rule,” said Norzin Dotschung, President of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe. “Strong diplomatic action now to pressure China to stop the crackdown in Tibet will help save Tibetan lives.”

Tibet campaigners around the world have launched ‘Enough! Campaign for Global Intervention to Save Tibetan Lives’, which has garnered support from celebrities, politicians and other prominent individuals including Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, actor Richard Gere and the musicians of Radiohead. They have joined over 24,000 others in calling for multilateral pressure on Hu Jintao to resolve the growing crisis in Tibet.

“It is time for the G20′s leaders to stand up and recognize that by acting collectively, courageously, and with principle, they can help to resolve one of the world’s longest-standing injustices – China’s occupation of Tibet.” said Pema Yoko, Students for a Free Tibet UK’s National Director.

PRO-TIBET ACTIVISTS HANG BANNERS IN CANNES AS G20 LEADERS ARRIVE; NINE DETAINED

For Immediate Release
November 2, 2011

***Photos and video footage of the action will be available shortly at http://www.flickr.com/groups/stand-up-for-tibet/

Contacts:
Pema Yoko, Students for a Free Tibet (in France) +33 6 87 163 354
Kate Woznow, Students for a Free Tibet (in France) +33 658 974 236
Tenzin Dorjee, Students for a Free Tibet (in India) +91 973 651 4721 or +1 646 724 0748
Norzin-Lhamo Dotschung, Tibetan Youth Association of Europe (in Switzerland) +41 788 247 270

PRO-TIBET ACTIVISTS HANG BANNERS IN CANNES AS G20 LEADERS ARRIVE; NINE DETAINED

Global Actions Call for Diplomatic Intervention to Stop Chinese Repression after 10 Tibetans have Self-Immolated in Protest this Year

Cannes, France – Two pro-Tibet activists, including one Tibetan, abseiled down the front of Cannes Ville Station and unfurled banners reading “Enough! Global Intervention Now to Save Tibetan Lives” in French. The dramatic action took place as world leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao, arrived in Cannes for the G20 Summit, and was part of a global day of action in over 65 cities worldwide to demand global intervention to stop China’s repression in Tibet. The nine activists are Norbu Gyanatshang (Germany), Martha Graugnard (France), Lobsang Dhondup Reichlin (Switzerland), Guillaume Guilpart (France) Phil Kirk (UK), Pema Yoko (UK), Gyamtso (France), Kate Woznow (Canada) and Jyotsna George (India).

“Today the world is standing up for Tibet. We are calling on global leaders to take coordinated action now to pressure Chinese President Hu Jintao to withdraw Chinese troops and armed police from towns and monasteries in eastern Tibet,” said Pema Yoko, Director of Students for a Free Tibet in the UK, who was detained following the action.

Since March 2011, ten young Tibetans have lit themselves on fire in protest of China’s policies; 8 since September 26th. At least five have died, including one nun. Chinese authorities have responded by pouring security personnel into Tibet. Before being forced out of Ngaba, the town at the centre of the crisis, Agence France Presse journalists documented machine-gun toting riot police in the streets, armed personnel carriers used as checkpoints and police stations in one of Tibet’s major monasteries.

“China’s military stranglehold over Tibet has pushed Tibetans to the breaking point and this unprecedented wave of self-immolations is a desperate cry for help. Tibetans are dying for freedom and today we are saying enough to China’s occupation of Tibet and enough to the failure of world leaders to hold China accountable for its atrocities,” said Kate Woznow, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet International, one of the detained activists.

Tibet campaigners around the world have launched the ‘Enough! Campaign for Global Intervention to Save Tibetan Lives’, which has garnered support from celebrities, politicians and other prominent individuals including Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, actor Richard Gere and the musicians of Radiohead. They have joined over 21,000 people in calling for multilateral pressure on Hu Jintao to resolve the escalating crisis in Tibet. “We have received overwhelming support for the Enough! campaign from Nobel Laureates, celebrities, politicians, and people of conscience in dozens of countries worldwide. Today we’re taking this groundswell of support to the G20 leaders here in Cannes to demand coordinated, global action for Tibet, because international diplomatic pressure will save Tibetan lives from China’s growing crackdown,” said Norbu Gyantsang, a German-Tibetan member of Tibetan Youth Association of Europe, who was one of the climbers on the action.

Campaigners are calling for a coordinated, multilateral approach, including a joint démarche and the urgent creation of an appropriate and effective multilateral mechanism through which longer-term diplomatic measures to resolve the situation in Tibet can be pursued. See www.StandupforTibet.org.

Tibetans have reached breaking point, world must step in

Statement by Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet International
Wednesday, November 2, 2011

In the last six months, ten Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule. What is driving Tibetans to such drastic measures? What are they trying to tell the world?

Self-immolation is the ultimate expression of outrage, despair, faith and courage. Buddhism forbids monks from taking lives, including their own. There is no religious incentive for those who self-immolate. There are only two reasons for these actions: China’s unbearable repression and Tibetans’ burning desire for freedom.

Tibet ranks among the world’s least free nations, alongside North Korea, Sudan and Burma, according to a 2011 report by Freedom House. In the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, gun-bearing Chinese soldiers are perched atop the nation’s holiest temples. In places like Kardze and Ngaba in eastern Tibet, every street corner is punctuated with checkpoints and surveillance cameras.

The string of self-immolations is a clear indication that Tibetans have reached a breaking point. China’s repression and Tibetan’s desperation in Ngaba is a microcosm of a nation-wide crisis in Tibet, engineered by the China’s repressive and tyrannical rule.

The deplorable conditions at Kirti Monastery, where Buddhist monks are living in a virtual prison and being mercilessly targeted and oppressed by the Chinese authorities, has become so unbearable that young monks are being driven to take truly drastic action, previously unheard of in Tibetan culture.

Tibetans have endured unimaginable suffering under 60 years of Chinese occupation but even during the horrors endured under China’s Cultural Revolution there were no known case of self-immolation.

These self-immolations are a desperate cry calling for the world to intervene to help stop Tibetan’s deep suffering. This tragedy could spiral even further if the Chinese government feels it can continue imprisoning, torturing, disappearing and killing Tibetans with impunity.

We are calling for a global intervention, for a coordinated international response by our world leaders to condemn China’s repressive measures in Ngaba and across Tibet.

Strong diplomatic action is urgently needed to save Tibetan lives. China must withdraw security forces from Kirti Monastery and across Tibet, and stop the ongoing harassment and torture of our monks.

We need a global intervention that will hold the Chinese government accountable, and give the Tibetans the protection and security they need to continue to build their remarkable non-violent resistance movement for freedom.

Today in 60 cities around the world, Tibetans and supporters are organizing rallies and protests and vigils to demand the world intervene in Tibet to stop the crisis that China has exacerbated.

We will succeed in fulfilling our vision of a free and democratic Tibet – as has been achieved in recent months in Egypt and Tunisia — but we need global help and support.

www.studentsforafreetibet.org / www.standupfortibet.org

Thousands of Exiles to Help Artist Dismantle Tibet Soil Exhibit

Press Advisory
October 27, 2011

*Photo opportunity / Photos available upon request

Contact: Tenzing Rigdol +91.9958259723 / Tenzin Dorjee +91.9736514721

THOUSANDS OF EXILES TO HELP ARTIST DISMANTLE TIBET SOIL EXHIBIT
20 tonnes of soil from Tibet to be distributed to refugees, ending 3-day installation

Dharamsala – On Friday 28 October, starting at 10am, thousands of Tibetan exiles will be invited to help leading Tibetan artist, Tenzing Rigdol, dismantle his installation “Our Land, Our People”, by taking the soil away with them. The 20,000 kilograms of soil, transported from Tibet to Dharamsala, home of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan government in exile and more than 10,000 Tibetan refugees, is currently displayed on a massive stage. Over the course of two days, around 6,000 Tibetan and local residents of Dharamsala have visited the installation.

The Dalai Lama blessed some of the soil at his residence on the opening morning. “His Holiness took one look at the soil, and then proceeded to write the Tibetan word for “Tibet” in the soil,” said Rigdol. “It was incredibly uplifting to see His Holiness carve the most simple and powerful message on the soil, unequivocally claiming it as Tibet, his and our beloved homeland.”

Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the recently elected Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile, was the first person to step on the soil during the opening event Wednesday morning. Many Tibetans offered prayers and prostrations on the soil, while others read poetry, delivered impromptu speeches, and sang traditional Tibetan songs. Elderly Tibetans, some of whom have been separated from their homeland for over five decades, wept as they touched the soil and prayed to an altar with the Dalai Lama’s photo built by the public.

“If merely walking on Tibetan soil here generates such an emotional response, how would it be to walk on Tibetan soil in Tibet,” said Tenzing Rigdol, who is a Tibetan exile educated at the Tibetan Children’s Village, where the site-specific installation is being hosted.

Through Rigdol’s work, Tibetan refugees living in Dharamsala, who have been separated from their families and are forbidden from returning to their homeland, had a chance to step on Tibetan soil. For some, it was the first time in more than fifty years that they have walked on Tibetan soil; for many, born in exile, it was the first time in their lives.

In 2007 when Rigdol’s father fell ill while living as a refugee in New York. His only desire, to visit Tibet just once before he died, went unfulfilled. It was in his father’s dying wish, exemplifying the exile Tibetans’ longing to return to their country, that Rigdol found the inspiration to pursue the project.

About the artist: Tenzing Rigdol is a Tibetan contemporary artist whose artwork ranges from painting, sculpture, drawing, collage, digital, to video installation, site-specific and performance art. He has extensively exhibited his artworks throughout the United States in various museums, and also in London, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Israel, Madrid and Mumbai. Rigdol’s artwork is held in museums and collections worldwide and is represented by Rossi & Rossi gallery in London. Additionally, he is also a poet. His poetry books titled “R”—the Frozen Ink (2008), Anatomy of Nights (2011), Butterfly’s Wings (2011) were published by Tibet Writes. He lives in New York.

#30#