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.