Human Rights Day updates from SFT USA Regional Coordinators

Region1: ME, VT, NH, MA, RI
Regional Coordinator Tenzin Dadon Ngodup at UMass Amherst, MA
The ‘5 College SFT’ers consisting of UMass Amherst, Hampshire College, Smith College and Mount Holyoke College, plastered their campus dining commons with tent flyers about human rights violations in Tibet. They also held a table and collected petition signatures for Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, Dhondup Wangchen, Kunga Tsangyang and Panchen Lama. The film, ‘Unwinking Gaze’ was also screened on their campus. Check out Dadon’s video message of support!

Region 2: CT, NY, NJ, PA, OH
Regional Coordinator Sonam Dolker in NYC
Sonam Dolker along with SFT USA grassroots director joined the rally of around 50 Tibetans and supporters at the United Nations Assembly building. Informational flyers were passed out to passerbys and petition signatures were collected for Dhondup Wangchen and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. Speeches were given by two former political prisoners, Tenzin Sangpo la and Pemba la.

Sonam Dolker holds Tenzin Delek Rinpoche petitions in front of United Nations Assembly Building

Region 3: DE, MD, VA, WV
Regional Coordinators Hillary Levin in MD, and Tenzin Namdol in VA
Hillary held an “SFT’s Human Rights Day Memorial Celebration” which included an introduction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its significance in Tibet, a power point presentation of Tibetan voices banned in Tibet and China, prepared by SFT grassroots intern Stefanie, an introduction to Dhondup Wangchen, ‘Leaving Fear Behind’ screening with discussion, petition signing, political prisoner prayer flag crafting and a bake sale to boot!
Tenzin Namdol made sure to let her fellow high school community know that human rights violations in Tibet was something to think about this Dec.10th by making an intercom announcement to the whole student & faculty body!

Political Prisoner Prayer Flag

Region 4: MI, IN, KY, WI, IL, MN, IA, MO, KA
Regional Coordinator Nawa Dolkar at University of Wisconsin
Not even a snowstorm could stop the MAD SFT chapter from a fantastic day of action for Human Rights Day! A dramatic “die-in” was staged at their school campus symbolizing those Tibetans who have died in their struggle for freedom. Blindfolded students also wore the names and bios of Tibetan political prisoners who face torture and imprisonment for simply expressing their wishes for a free Tibet and human rights. During the candlelight vigil, speeches were given by MAD SFT members to inspire and motivate the campus community while volunteers passed out fliers and collected petition signatures. ‘Leaving Fear Behind’ was shown along with great Tibetan food served by the local Tibetan community. The night ended with Q&A and good spirit! Don’t forget to friend Madison SFT on Facebook.

Political Prisoner "Freeze"

Region 5: NC, SC, GA, FL, TN, AL, MS, AR, LA
Regional Coordinator Julia Kimmel in Greensboro, NC
SFTers rock!, literally. Greensboro SFTers painted a rock with a hardcore message! According to our SFTers, this rock is known as “the rawk” and it’s a University of North Carolina-Greensboro tradition to use it as a message board. So here it is, standing up for human rights in Tibet. Guilford College also hosted a screening and a discussion of Dhondup Wangchen’s film ‘Leaving Fear Behind.’ Popcorn was served to everyone’s delight!

"The Rawk"

Region 6: OR, WA, ID, MT, WY, ND, SD, NE, AK
Regional Coordinator Choetso Gyalnub in Portland, OR
This high school SFT chapter made their support for human rights in Tibet known in downtown Portland! They put together an amazing Tenzin Delek Rinpoche ‘flash mob’, collected signatures for the release of Tibetan political prisoners, and attended the candlelight vigil organized by the Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche 'flash mob'

Region 7: CA, NV, HI
Regional Coordinator Tenzin Seldon at Stanford University, CA
The Stanford SFTers held an informational, fliering, and petition collecting session on the campus Green Library and then attended an evening program organized by the TANC honoring the 20th anniversary of conferment of Nobel Peace Prize to His Holiness the Dalai Lama as well as Human Rights Day. They wound up their day with a Gorshey, Tibetan circle dance.

Student signs petition for the release of Dhondup Wangchen at Stanford University

Region 8: UT, AZ, CO, NM, OK, TX
Regional Coordinator Tenzin Zangma at University of Utah
Please welcome our newest Regional Coordinator and their super-active SFT Utah chapter! You can friend SFT Utah on Facebook.

SFT Utah board members

NYC Tibetans observe International Human Rights Day

New York- December 10th, around 50 Tibetans and their supporters observed International Human Rights Day with a rally at the United Nations General Assembly Building. Tibetans and their supporters called for the immediate release of Tibetan political prisoners including Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a Tibetan religious leader serving a life sentence in Chinese prison and Dhondup Wangchen, a prominent Tibetan filmmaker detained in March 2008 for interviewing Tibetans about their true feelings on Tibet, China and the Dalai Lama. SFT grassroots intern, Sonam Dolker and Tenzin Dolkar, SFT USA Grassroots Director, handed out flyers and gathered petitions for Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, Panchengave her speech urging all people of conscience to support and protect, and fight for those Tibetans struggling to gain their basic human rights and freedom from the brutal Chinese regime. The rally was organized by the regional TYC of NY & NJ.

The story of Dhondup Wangchen, filmmaker jailed in China

A very moving article by Dechen Pemba, one of the last people to see Dhondup Wangchen (Tibetan filmmaker and citizen journalist) before he was detained on March 26, 2008 for making the film Leaving Fear Behind. Her article was profiled by the Committee to Protect journalists for International Human Rights Day.

Also, check out Dechen’s blog www.HighPeaksPureEarth.com where she translates writings by Tibetans living in Tibet and China.

The story of Dhondup Wangchen, filmmaker jailed in China

By Dechen Pemba In Dharmsala, India, exiled Tibetans hold a vigil for the jailed filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen. (AP/Ashwini Bhatia)On the same day that historic protests started by monks in Lhasa began and were to sweep all over Tibet in the subsequent months, Dhondup Wangchen was nearly 3,000 kilometers away in Xian, in China’s Shaanxi province. It was the last day of filming for his documentary film project that sought to give voice to Tibetans in the run-up to the Olympic Games. As was the case throughout China, Xian was caught up in an Olympic fervor. Big red banners were hung all over the city, the Olympic mascots peered from shop windows in unspeakably bright colors. None of this however, seemed to have the slightest connection to Tibet or the discontent of the Tibetan people.

For many around the world, the protests that began March 10, 2008, were a surprise. International media were suddenly giving unprecedented coverage to a struggle that had been going on for more than 50 years. Journalists, NGOs, governments and even exiled Tibetans were given a stark reminder that a conflict was unresolved and that, in the run-up to the Olympics, Tibetans were still risking everything to be heard. It hadn’t take months of protests and a military crackdown in Tibet, however, for Dhondup Wangchen to be aware of the suffering of his people. It was something he had lived, and it was this that he was seeking to convey through film and simple testimony.

I had travelled 1,200 kilometers from Beijing to Xian to meet Dhondup Wangchen and learn about his film project. It was to be the first and only time that I would meet him. On arrival at the train station, I bought a local Chinese paper; I wanted to remember this day. Later on in the day, we even filmed Dhondup Wangchen with this newspaper as a record. Within minutes of our meeting, I was struck by his determination and drive to accomplish something that he felt was important—to depict the injustice of life as a Tibetan under Chinese rule. As one of his interviewees so eloquently said, “We Tibetans living in the PRC are like stars on a sunny day, we can’t be seen.” Just hearing the sheer scale of Dhondup Wangchen’s project was impressive, traveling through remote areas of eastern Tibet in the Tibetan winter of 2007-08 and recording under the harshest imaginable conditions the views of more than 100 ordinary Tibetan men and women, amassing more than 40 hours of video footage. All this with just a cheap video camera, no professional training in journalism or film-making, and constantly in fear of being detained for his citizen journalism activities.

Despite painful toothache that day in Xian, Dhondup Wangchen told me that he, together with his friend Jigme Gyatso, a monk, had come up with the idea to make a documentary as early as 2006. The year and a half before beginning filming, Dhondup Wangchen planned how he would make the film, even taking his parents, wife, and four children to India to safety so they would not be at risk when he returned to Tibet to make the film. Having a cousin in Switzerland meant that once the footage was safely out of the country, the documentary could be edited and prepared for an international release in time for the Olympic Games.

On August 6 2008, his documentary film, now edited into 25 minutes and titled “Leaving Fear Behind”, was screened to a select group of foreign journalists in Beijing. But Dhondup Wangchen, along with Jigme Gyatso, had already been in secret detention since the end of March. On completion of filming, they had gone back to their respective hometowns only to find the places in turmoil with almost daily Tibetan protests occurring and a huge military deployment under way. On Jigme Gyatso’s release in October 2008, it was learned that they had both undergone severe interrogations and torture in detention that included electrocution. It wasn’t until a well-known Beijing human rights lawyer took up his case early this year that Dhondup Wangchen’s sister in Xining even learned of her brother’s incarceration, another outright violation of China’s own detention laws.

Dhondup Wangchen’s trial reportedly started behind closed doors in September this year. According to Amnesty International he is being charged for “subversion and incitement to separatism” and has contracted Hepatitis B in prison for which he has received no treatment. After his Beijing lawyer was forced by the Chinese government to stop representing Dhondup Wangchen, local lawyers were appointed, leaving little hope of a fair trial.

I spent less than a day meeting Dhondup Wangchen. When we parted back at the train station, he told me to take care of myself and gave me a little bag containing some drinks and snacks for my journey. A few months ago on YouTube, I saw a video clip of pictures of Dhondup Wangchen in his teens, a casual-looking young man eager to leave behind the constrictions of his village on a quest for adventure greater than he could have known. The Dhondup Wangchen that I had met was older and thoughtful. The many months of constant traveling had clearly been physically exhausting. I had always thought of him as a kind of Tibetan hero, a citizen journalist and human rights activist but last month I was walking down the street in Dharamsala, northern India, with a friend who stopped to talk to the woman who sells bread there early every morning. The bread-seller was Dhondup Wangchen’s wife, Lhamo Tso. After spending time talking with her I suddenly thought about their separated family and of Dhondup Wangchen as a husband, a father, and also a son—and their own personal sacrifices.

Since August 2008, “Leaving Fear Behind” has been screened in more than 30 countries worldwide and translated into five languages, including Chinese. The worldwide campaign for his release continues. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that Dhondup Wangchen, with just a small camera, a motorbike, his blue backpack and the help of trusted friends, found a way of expressing himself truthfully.

The simple truth is that just spending 25 minutes watching “Leaving Fear Behind” gives all the background necessary to see that some kind of uprising was surely inevitable in Tibet. But truthfulness in a state like China is always an act of defiance and can‘t survive without a struggle.

Dechen Pemba has been the spokesperson for “Leaving Fear Behind” since she left Beijing in July 2008. She is based in London.

Join the Global Call: Record your own video message calling for the release of Dhondup Wangchen

SFT has joined other Tibet organizations to press President Obama to raise Dhondup Wangchen’s case with Chinese President Hu Jintao this week. Add your voice to the international call for his immediate release from Chinese prison at FreeTibetanHeroes.org

Record your own video message and upload to the  Gallery of Voices: http://www.freetibetanheroes.org/gallery/submit-your-words-photos-or-videos

Watch TenDolkar’s video here:

CitizenReporter.org Podcast on Brian Conley & Beijing6

Bicycle Mark posts:

The following podcast features an interview with Brian’s wife, Eowyn, who explains what she knows about Brian’s situation, the group, and people who have risked their freedom and well-being in protest of the Chinese government and their disregard for basic human rights. More information can be found here. Please listen to the program and do pass on the link, otherwise all we have is the image of the mainstream press… the picture perfect images of the olympic games and China on television.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

view the original blog post here

FINDING THE LOST HORIZON: Update from the March to Tibet

“When the clouds part, you can see Tibet on the horizon,” said Ven. Ngawang Woeber.

He dipped his face in the river at Baanspatan, and joked that monks don’t need to use soap because they have renounced vanity. A couple of hours later, Ven. Woeber was arrested. A former political prisoner, he is the president of Gu Chu Sum, one of the five organizations coordinating the historic March to Tibet, which started in Dharamsala on March 10th. Along with him, five other leaders of the march were also arrested on Tuesday and formally jailed yesterday afternoon in Haridwar Jail. The other detainees are Tsewang Rigzin, President of Tibetan Youth Congress; B Tsering, President of Tibetan Women’s Association, Chime Youngdroung, President of the National Democratic Party of Tibet, Tenzin Choeying, National Director of Students for a Free Tibet India, and Lobsang Yeshi, Coordinator of the March to Tibet.

The last few days have been tense and painful for the marchers. Hours after the arrest of the march leaders on Tuesday, the police confiscated their trucks and intensified the restriction on movement to and from the site, effectively cutting the marchers off from food and other supplies. The marchers are now considering the possibility of eating only one meal a day so that they can hold the ground for a little longer.

The day before yesterday, nearly one thousand police marched to the marchers’ camp and blocked the entrance. Sensing the likelihood of arrest, the marchers sprung into action, staging a Gandhian style sit-in while chanting prayers and singing the Tibetan national anthem. After a stalemate that lasted about an hour, the police retreated. Yesterday, the same thing happened again. Today, more buses and trucks brought more police reinforcements including a bus full of policewomen.

In the evenings, the atmosphere grows light again. Most Tibetan monks and nuns seem to have an uncanny ability to remain calm and happy even under great pressure. Or may be it’s because most of these marchers are actually Tibetans raised in Tibet who came to India in their late adolescence or early adulthood, and the problems they have faced so far on this march are nothing compared to what they had experienced growing up under Chinese rule in Tibet.

Most marchers and volunteers get to take a little breather in the evening, but one person never stops. Lobsang Army, so called because of his past stint in the military, is busy stitching shoe after shoe under a small blue tent. He is the march’s unofficial shoemaker. When he was in the army he had taken a shoe repair class – a skill he had forgotten and had to relearn once he realized that walking twenty kilometers a day was rough on people’s shoes. Lobsang has so far repaired about 200 shoes.

There is little doubt that the police will eventually arrest them, but the fact remains that no one can stop these marchers. “The police may arrest us today, but we will continue the march tomorrow,” said Tenzin Tsundue, a leading youth activist, who has lost much weight since I saw him last. “I heard that people have set off from parts of India to join us. We can’t wait to see them. The more people we have with us, the stronger our message to Tibetans inside Tibet, to China and to the world – we are committed to return and will never give up our struggle for freedom and justice.”

As the Chinese authorities work overtime to ensure a smooth Olympics, and attempt to hide the reality of their rule in Tibet behind a wall of silence and deceit, the movement of this group of unarmed men and women threatens Beijing’s massive propaganda exercise. They are a nonviolent force dedicated to their people, their nation and the truth. They refuse to be silenced at a time when China’s long arm of oppression and manipulation stretches around the world. Their journey north – towards the border across which so many Tibetans have crossed in search of freedom – demonstrates their commitment.

As the stand-off continues, marchers are calling for Tibetans from throughout India to join them in spirit and in person. And they are appealing for support from people around the world who value freedom, justice and peace. Visit www.tibetanuprising.org to follow news about the March. Send a message of encouragement to the marchers. Tell your friends and family about it. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. And keep the marchers in your prayers.

–dispatch from SFT’s Tendor, writing from Nainital, Uttaranchal, India

China Earthquake Pushes Tibet to Sidelines

A headline in today’s New York Times sums up a worrisome phenomenon that has SFT leaders debating about how to maintain momentum in a political and media atmosphere that has suddenly changed from the last couple months: China Earthquake Pushes Tibet to the Sidelines.

Reporter Elisabeth Rosenthal writes that the “shift is, partly, tectonic. An earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province killed tens of thousands of Chinese, evoking an outpouring of global sympathy for China and turning it overnight from victimizer to victim.”

The article goes on:

“The protests this spring put Tibet at the forefront of human rights issue — they accomplished a lot — but I think the interest can’t go further right now,” said John Kamm, a leading human rights advocate whose San Francisco-based organization, Dui Hua Foundation, has helped free prominent Chinese political prisoners.

“Now the Chinese people are in a state of mourning,” he said. “I’m not suggesting that we stop putting pressure on China, but we should use judgment in where and when to direct the fire.”

Ms. Rosenthal goes on to write about the eternal difficulty of how underfunded grassroots movements maintain momentum and morale. She notes that since the historic events beginning with the latest March 10th popular uprising against China’s occupation, and followed by the Tibet solidarity protests that overshadowed China’s Olympic torch relay, Tibet groups have:

become more emboldened, forming new alliances and finding themselves deluged with volunteers and donations. About 200 new chapters of Students for a Free Tibet have been started in the past six months, in places like Estonia, the Czech Republic and the state of Montana.

But sustaining that momentum has been difficult. “It is a challenge to keep people engaged,” said Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, which operates on a budget of about $400,000 a year from a ramshackle office above a dry cleaners in New York’s Alphabet City. “There’s no substitute for China bringing the Olympic torch into your neighborhood.”

More on SFT with a thoughtful quote from Tendor (nice job, man) that I think perfectly encapsulates the sentiment that many SFTers dedicated to rangzen – particularly young Tibetans – have towards the Dalai Lama and his leadership:

With its guerrilla style “actions,” Students for a Free Tibet has little in common with the far more established International Campaign for Tibet, which shares a staid Washington townhouse with the Dalai Lama’s representative to the United States.

The International Campaign for Tibet accepts the Dalai Lama’s limited goal of greater autonomy and religious freedom for the Tibetan people. But the students’ group wants more. “Yes, we want independence for Tibet — that is what the Tibetan people want,” said Tenzin Dorjee, vice director of Students for a Free Tibet, who tried to unfurl a banner on the Eiffel Tower during the Paris torch relay and last year achieved that goal at Everest Base Camp. “We have the utmost love for His Holiness and respect for his leadership, and we know where Tibet would be now without him.

“But we are inspired not just by his divinity, but also his humanity. So we can disagree with some of his ideas.”

And back to Dui Hua’s John Kamm, who has put his negotiations with China for the release of political prisoners before the Olympics on hold “during the relief efforts:”

…he hopes that the earthquake may provide a face-saving exit for China from a torch relay that has often been more embarrassment than celebration. Already, the relay has recently been scaled back in response to the disaster.

“The Dalai Lama said he’s praying for the victims,” said Mr. Kamm, noting that many of the hard-hit areas had large ethnic Tibetan populations. “Maybe this will give the government the opportunity to cancel the relay in Tibet.”

Ah yes, the torch relay through Tibet. Chinese officials put the torch relay on hold for three days to mourn the earthquake’s victims but it seems there’s no intention to let such an important propaganda display as carrying the torch through recently riot-scarred Lhasa slip away. We of course agree with Mr. Kamm that the torch relay must be canceled. Before the IOC even authorized China’s Olympic Committee’s plans for its torch relay, our SFT troublemakers were up at Everest base camp saying “IOC: No Torch Through Tibet.” This remains a critical issue and we can’t let the sensitivity around criticizing China in the wake of the earthquake’s horrific human toll scare us away from pressing on with our campaign to demand the IOC do the right thing.

In concert with other Tibet support groups, SFT is ramping up our efforts to pressure IOC Executive Members before their last meeting in Athens (June 4th-6th) before the torch is scheduled to enter Tibet on June 9th. It goes to Gyalthang in far southeastern Tibet (an area now annexed into Gansu Province) and then comes back to central Tibet, including Lhasa, June 19th-24th.

To conclude with Tendor’s quote from yesterday’s SFT press release that I think sums it all up:

“In the wake of a natural disaster that has devastated many Tibetans as well as Chinese, the IOC is threatening to add a man-made disaster in the form of the torch relay through Tibet, a preventable tragedy which will compound the suffering of thousands of Tibetans who continue to face the Chinese authorities’ violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrations for freedom.”

China Begins Sentencing Protesters

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reports that the Chinese government has begun to hand down public sentences for Tibetans “tried” in connection to protests in Lhasa.

China’s state media today morning announced that 17 Tibetans have been sentenced between three years to life imprisonment in connection with the Lhasa revolt in March 2008. It is the first instance of a group of Tibetans handed down with harsh prison terms since protests broke out in Lhasa and various Tibetan areas under Chinese administration beginning from 10 March 2008. The state media did not reveal whether the current group of Tibetans sentenced to harsh terms were part of those who gave in before the official surrender deadline issued by the authorities.

The Xinhua report stated, “Two men, including a Buddhist monk identified as Basang (Passang), received life sentences… Basang was accused of leading 10 people, including five other monks, to destroy local government offices, burn down shops and attack policemen… Of the five monks, two were sentenced to 20 years, and the other three to 15 years in jail.” “The other man who received a life sentence was identified as Soi’nam Norbu (Sonam Norbu), a driver for a Lhasa real estate company”. No details were given on the 10 other people sentenced.

The Chinese authorities have arbitrarily arrested thousands of Tibetans following the pan-Tibet protests in March 2008. While the official media claims 2300 Tibetan protesters were arrested, The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) fears the actual number of arrests can be manifold.

We don’t know exactly how many Tibetans have been detained and may well never know the exact figure, though I have seen estimates as high as 24,000 (according to RFA).

“The Real China and the Olympics”

This week, a Beijing court sentenced human rights activist Hu Jia to 3.5 years in prison for subversion. He was arrested in part for co-authoring, with Teng Biao, this open letter on human rights.

The letter includes a section on Tibet (below):

On July 13th 2001, when Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese government promised the world it would improve China’s human rights record. In June 2004, Beijing announced its Olympic Games slogan, “One World, One Dream.” From their inception in 1896, the modern Olympic Games have always had as their mission the promotion of human dignity and world peace. China and the world expected to see the Olympic Games bring political progress to the country. Is Beijing keeping its promises? Is China improving its human rights record?

When you come to the Olympic Games in Beijing, you will see skyscrapers, spacious streets, modern stadiums and enthusiastic people. You will see the truth, but not the whole truth, just as you see only the tip of an iceberg. You may not know that the flowers, smiles, harmony and prosperity are built on a base of grievances, tears, imprisonment, torture and blood.

We are going to tell you the truth about China. We believe that for anyone who wishes to avoid a disgraceful Olympics, knowing the truth is the first step. (more…)

Chinese troops parade handcuffed Tibetan prisoners in trucks

As we wrote before, the terror has started. 

Chinese forces have begun to systematically terrorize the Tibetan population.  From parading shackled prisoners, to house-to-house searches, the aim is as much to terrorize the people as it is to find protesters and dissidents.

From the Times (UK):

The Chinese Army drove through the streets of Lhasa today parading dozens of Tibetan prisoners in handcuffs, their heads bowed, as troops stepped up their hunt for the rioters in house-to-house searches.

As the midnight deadline approached for rioters to surrender, four trucks in convoy made a slow progress along main roads, with about 40 people, mostly young Tibetan men and women, standing with their wrists handcuffed behind their backs, witnesses said.

A soldier stood behind each prisoner, hands on the back of their necks to ensure their heads were bowed.  [...]

Soldiers began house-to-house searches, checking all identification papers, residents said. Anyone unable to show an identity card and a household registration permitting residence in Lhasa was being taken away.

They described people laying out all their papers on a table in their homes. One said: “The soldiers come in and check that the number of people in each house equals the number of identity cards. Anyone extra may be taken away.”

At government offices and work units, leaders were required to do a roll call of all employees and to account for anyone missing, as the authorities tried to track down those involved in the violence.