MASS LOBBY FOR TIBET IN THE HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT
LONDON, 10th March ‘09 – Hundreds of Tibetans and their supporters converged upon Parliament Square and in the Houses of Parliament today from 2 p.m. to urge that the British government takes decisive action to monitor the increasing build up of Chinese military forces and human rights situation inside Tibet. The mass lobby, organised by a coalition of UK Tibet organisations (1), and Parliament Square protest marks the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan National Uprising and the one-year anniversary of the widespread protests that swept Tibet last year. The action is part of an international day of protest at major cities across the world.
China has moved thousands of soldiers and paramilitary police into Tibet in recent weeks, using overwhelming force to try to intimidate and suppress Tibetans as March 10th approaches. Campaigners say that China’s ongoing crackdown in Tibet over the past year demands a strong response from the UK government to pressure the Chinese leadership. "Gordon Brown and David Miliband must apply pressure on the Chinese government to ensure that military force is not used against those Tibetans who call for their rights and freedoms," said Terry Bettger of Students for a Free Tibet UK, adding: "It's imperative that the Chinese leadership allow free access to all areas of Tibet to the foreign media and international human rights observers. Tibetans are living in fear of lethal force from Chinese soldiers if they dare to speak out, they desperately need world leaders with the moral courage to advocate for their safety."
Photos by: Luke Ward
Notes to Editor:
(1) The Coalition of UK Tibet Support Groups consists of Students for a Free Tibet UK, Tibet Society, Tibetan Community in Britain, Free Tibet and Tibetan Youth UK
MASS LOBBY FOR TIBET IN THE HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT
LONDON, 10th March ‘09 – Hundreds of Tibetans and their supporters converged upon Parliament Square and in the Houses of Parliament today from 2 p.m. to urge that the British government takes decisive action to monitor the increasing build up of Chinese military forces and human rights situation inside Tibet. The mass lobby, organised by a coalition of UK Tibet organisations (1), and Parliament Square protest marks the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan National Uprising and the one-year anniversary of the widespread protests that swept Tibet last year. The action is part of an international day of protest at major cities across the world.
China has moved thousands of soldiers and paramilitary police into Tibet in recent weeks, using overwhelming force to try to intimidate and suppress Tibetans as March 10th approaches. Campaigners say that China’s ongoing crackdown in Tibet over the past year demands a strong response from the UK government to pressure the Chinese leadership. "Gordon Brown and David Miliband must apply pressure on the Chinese government to ensure that military force is not used against those Tibetans who call for their rights and freedoms," said Terry Bettger of Students for a Free Tibet UK, adding: "It's imperative that the Chinese leadership allow free access to all areas of Tibet to the foreign media and international human rights observers. Tibetans are living in fear of lethal force from Chinese soldiers if they dare to speak out, they desperately need world leaders with the moral courage to advocate for their safety."
Photos by: Luke Ward
Notes to Editor:
(1) The Coalition of UK Tibet Support Groups consists of Students for a Free Tibet UK, Tibet Society, Tibetan Community in Britain, Free Tibet and Tibetan Youth UK
TIBET: 50 YEARS OF SILENCED VOICES -YOUNG TIBETANS IN THE UK STAGE A PEACEFUL PROTEST IN LONDON’S CHINATOWN
LONDON - Marking 50 years of the peaceful Tibetan struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms, a group of young Tibetans staged a small "die-in" protest in the heart of London's Chinatown today. 6 Tibetans lay on the ground for several minutes, each one holding a "MISSING" poster of a recent Tibetan or Chinese victim of Beijing's repressive policies towards those who speak out on the Tibet issue.
"With this protest today, we are showing how even after 50 years, China is still brutally silencing the voices of innocent Tibetan people, and even it's own people", said Tenzin Jigdal, representing the group Students for a Free Tibet. "We, as young Tibetans, feel so united with our brothers and sisters in Tibet at this crucial time and we share their pain. Here, in our adopted hometown of London, we want to depict the reality of what it means to be a Tibetan in Tibet today and we ask for the sympathy and support of all Chinese people."
The Tibetan MISSING cases highlighted by the protest are Paljor Norbu, an 81 year old Tibetan printer from Lhasa who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for unknown reasons in a secret trial, Norzin Wangmo, a Tibetan government worker sentenced to 5 years in prison for passing on news "through phone and internet about the situation in Tibet to the outside word", Dhondup Wangchen, a 34 year old Tibetan amateur filmmaker whose current status is unknown and Tapey, a monk who self-immolated on 27th February 2009 and whose current status is also unknown. The Chinese MISSING cases are Liu Xiaobo and Hu Jia, both Chinese human rights activists who have been vocal in their support of Tibet and are both currently in some form of detention.
"These 6 cases make me feel immensely sad about the plight of both Tibetan and Chinese people who are not free to speak out", continued Tenzin Jigdal, "The Chinese government needs to respect Tibetans and their wishes as well as those of their own people and listen to their voices instead of detaining and imprisoning them. We demand to know the fate of these 6 individuals and indeed all the Tibetans and Chinese who have gone missing in the last year."
Photos: Luke Ward and Tom Swain
photo captions:
protesters performing a die-in
protesters holding missing posters of chinese and tibetan dissidents
TIBET: 50 YEARS OF SILENCED VOICES -YOUNG TIBETANS IN THE UK STAGE A PEACEFUL PROTEST IN LONDON’S CHINATOWN
LONDON - Marking 50 years of the peaceful Tibetan struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms, a group of young Tibetans staged a small "die-in" protest in the heart of London's Chinatown today. 6 Tibetans lay on the ground for several minutes, each one holding a "MISSING" poster of a recent Tibetan or Chinese victim of Beijing's repressive policies towards those who speak out on the Tibet issue.
"With this protest today, we are showing how even after 50 years, China is still brutally silencing the voices of innocent Tibetan people, and even it's own people", said Tenzin Jigdal, representing the group Students for a Free Tibet. "We, as young Tibetans, feel so united with our brothers and sisters in Tibet at this crucial time and we share their pain. Here, in our adopted hometown of London, we want to depict the reality of what it means to be a Tibetan in Tibet today and we ask for the sympathy and support of all Chinese people."
The Tibetan MISSING cases highlighted by the protest are Paljor Norbu, an 81 year old Tibetan printer from Lhasa who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for unknown reasons in a secret trial, Norzin Wangmo, a Tibetan government worker sentenced to 5 years in prison for passing on news "through phone and internet about the situation in Tibet to the outside word", Dhondup Wangchen, a 34 year old Tibetan amateur filmmaker whose current status is unknown and Tapey, a monk who self-immolated on 27th February 2009 and whose current status is also unknown. The Chinese MISSING cases are Liu Xiaobo and Hu Jia, both Chinese human rights activists who have been vocal in their support of Tibet and are both currently in some form of detention.
"These 6 cases make me feel immensely sad about the plight of both Tibetan and Chinese people who are not free to speak out", continued Tenzin Jigdal, "The Chinese government needs to respect Tibetans and their wishes as well as those of their own people and listen to their voices instead of detaining and imprisoning them. We demand to know the fate of these 6 individuals and indeed all the Tibetans and Chinese who have gone missing in the last year."
Photos: Luke Ward and Tom Swain
photo captions:
protesters performing a die-in
protesters holding missing posters of chinese and tibetan dissidents
Edinburgh marks 50 years of Tibetan resistance
MSPs, Edinburgh residents, Tibetans and students all congregated outside St John's Church on Edinburgh's main shopping street for the opening of a new mural this Saturday to mark the 50th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day.
The mural depicts a Tibetan Monk being shot for calling 'Free Tibet'. Last year a similar mural depicting a monk in Tiananmen square was defaced with a spray can. The painting marks 50 years since the Dalai Lama was forced into exile and one year since the unrest and crackdown in Tibet in March last year.
Iain Thom, Edinburgh resident and board member of Students for a Free Tibet UK who hit the headlines before the Beijing Olympics by scaling a floodlight outside the Bird's Nest stadium and unfurling a pro-Tibet banner, will be present and said,
“Last March we saw a brutal crackdown by the authorities in Tibet. This March marks 50 years of resistance and struggle for Tibetans. We want our politicians to take a stand and call on the Chinese Government to stop the violence against peaceful protest and allow an independent UN delegation into Tibet.”
Mike Pringle MSP said, “Tibetans have been fighting for their freedom for 50 years. I sincerely hope that Gordon Brown managed to talk about Tibet and human rights with Barack Obama at his meeting this week.”
This event is timed to mark 'Tibetan Uprising Day' which remembers March 10th 1959 when thousands of Tibetans took to the streets of the capital Lhasa to protest the invasion of their country by China. Within weeks, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government escaped to safety exile in India and thousands of Tibetans were killed in the aftermath of the Uprising. This year is the 50th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day and the one year anniversary of last years protests and uprising.
News coverage: http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Mural-marks-anniversary-of-Tibetan.5046465.jp
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