Free Jigme Gyatso

Jigme Gyatso was arrested in Lhasa, Tibet on March 30, 1996 under charges of establishing an 'illegal' Tibetan organization.

According to a report by the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), Jigme Gyatso distributed pro-independence leaflets and put up posters and in 1992, he established a pro-independence group named the 'Association of Tibetan Freedom Movement.'

According to the TCHRD report, after Tsering Samdrub, a member of Jigme Gyatso's group, was detained in July 1993 and imprisoned in Drapchi (TAR Prison), Jigme Gyatso eluded capture by police until 1996, when he was detained in Lhasa.


Jigme Gyatso, who is reportedly suffering from very poor health as a result of beatings during detention, was originally sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, but his sentence was extended by two years after shouting "long live the Dalai Lama" while in detention in March 2004.

Currently being held in Chushur prison, Gyatso told Dr Manfred Nowak, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture who was visiting the prison in November 2005, of his prison extension and was subsequently kicked and beaten, including with electric batons.


The Special Rapporteur expressed concern that in some cases prisoners at Chushur (Chinese: Qushui) are only allowed outside of their cells for 20 minutes per day, suffer from extreme temperatures in their cells during the summer and winter months, and a general feeling of weakness due to lack of exercise.

Today, Jigme Gyatso remains in a Chushur prison. He has reportedly been tortured and his physical condition has deteriorated. Therefore...International Campaign for Tibet calls for the immediate release of Jigme Gyatso.

WAYS TO HELP:

• you can sign the online petition at ICT, calling on Mr Wang Guangya, the Chinese Ambassador for the United Nations, for the immediate release of Jigme Gyatso. You can find this petition at: http://www.savetibet.org/action/itemjigmegyatso.php

• You can also call the Office of the Chinese Mission at the United Nations ((212) 655-6100) and request to speak to Ambassador Wang Guangya. If you do call, please request that Jigme Gyatso be freed based on Manfred Nowak's (the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture) findings on prisoner conditions in China.
• If you prefer not to sign the petition online, and would rather collect signatures yourself, then you can print off a copy at the ICT website http://www.savetibet.org/action/itemjigmegyatso.php and send it on to Ambassador Wang Guangya yourself.

It only takes a minute to sign a petition, but you never know the help that such a simple gesture may be able to provide to a cause like this.

Thanks and best wishes to you all!

2008 Olympics in Beijing

Make the 2008 Olympics a catalyst for change in Tibet!

The Olympic Games will open in Beijing two years from today, on 8 August 2008.

China is pulling out all the stops to host an athletic and cultural spectacle so extravagant that the world simply forgets its systematic human rights violations and the situation in Tibet. But you and I know that this approach is inherently flawed - only genuine progress on human rights will allow the spirit of the Games to flourish, free from controversy.

China has a historic opportunity to show the world that it is a worthy host of the 2008 Olympics. But time is critical and the countdown to the Games has begun.

Help make the Beijing 2008 Olympics a catalyst for change in China by joining ICT’s "Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet" campaign!


"Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet" will harness the energy of the Olympics and goodwill of people worldwide to call on China to:

End human rights abuses in Tibet, and
Directly engage the Dalai Lama to find a negotiated solution for Tibet

To take action and learn more, visit www.racefortibet.org.

Update from ICT

The UN's Special Rapporteur on Torture, Dr Manfred Nowak, has released a report stating that 'torture remains widespread' in Tibet and China after he spoke directly to Tibetan political prisoners during visits to the three main prisons in the Tibet Autonomous Region in November last year.

In his report, Dr Nowak details a meeting with a Tibetan political prisoner whose sentence was extended for an additional two years after he shouted "Long live the Dalai Lama!" in prison.

The report documents serious abuses against Tibetan political prisoners and expresses concern about the denial of Tibetan monks' and lay prisoners' rights to practice their religion in detention.

Dr Nowak said that the practice of torture and conditions in prison constituted a "systematic form of inhuman and degrading treatment...incompatible with a modern society based on a culture of human rights, democracy and the rule of law" and called for the release of all political prisoners.


Tsering Jampa, Executive Director of the International Campaign for Tibet Europe, said:

"This thorough report, based on unprecedented first-hand interviews by an experienced UN human rights expert with some of Tibet's most well-known political prisoners, presents a chilling picture of levels of fear, torture and intimidation inside detention facilities in Tibet. We support Dr Nowak's recommendations to the Beijing authorities and his hope that the Chinese government will take them into account in the context of China's stated reform efforts aimed at the eradication of torture and ill-treatment."


ICT Europe, which is responsible for ICT's UN-related activities, delivered a full report to Dr Nowak prior to his China visit and initiated an email and awareness-raising campaign which thousands of ICT members took part in.

ICT Europe will now use these UN findings to press European governments and the EU to actively encourage and monitor China's implementation of the report's recommendations.

Good news!

I received an email today from the International Campaign for Tibet with some great news. It IS worth signing online petitions and sending emails to the appropriate people through these websites... I'll cut and paste what it said here...

"In September, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) pressed the Chinese government to respond directly to questions about the Panchen Lama, urging that independent verification of the Panchen Lama's current status be allowed.
This is a very important signal and your support has proved to be crucial! Worldwide over 200.000 e-mails, letters and faxes have been sent by ICT members and Tibet supporters to the CRC requesting that the Panchen Lama's case be placed high on the UN agenda.

Why is this good news? Because for the first time an international committee with great authority has taken a strong position towards China and delivered a clear message to the Chinese government about the case of the Panchen Lama. Also in September, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Louise Arbour visited China and delivered to the authorities there a list with the names of ten political prisoners of concern to the UN. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima's name was on that list.
At this time, the welfare and whereabouts of the Panchen Lama remain unknown, but the conclusions and recommendations of the committee are a step in the right direction. In the coming months ICT will do everything to make sure that the CRC's recommendations are implemented by China.

To ensure that momentum to resolve this issue within the United Nations remains high, we urge you to send your concerns to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by clicking here:
www.savetibet.org/action/plarbouraction.php
I am very grateful for your support for our actions and hope you will continue to support us with other actions in the future."


SO there we are. A step in the right direction.

sign the online petition

there are many ways to register your protest for the chinese government's kidnapping of the 11th Panchen Lama and I urge you to utilise as many as possible. We want the Chinese government to be aware that human nature is stronger than they think and their plan will never succeed...

One way to protest is to sign this online petition accessed through this site:
http://www.panchenlama.info/

if you can sign and pass on this message, then we will have already succeeded.

Many thanks!

more about Panchen Lama's kidnapping

this text is from www.savetibet.org...

On 17 May 1995, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the six year-old boy identified by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, disappeared. Suspicions that he had been kidnapped were confirmed in 1996, when the Chinese government admitted to holding the boy and his family in "protective custody." He has now been missing for 10 years.

Despite repeated appeals to gain access to the boy, no international agency or human rights organization has been granted contact with the young Panchen Lama or his family. To date, their well-being and whereabouts remain unconfirmed.


Furthermore, in an attempt to establish their pre-eminence in all "internal affairs" of China, political or otherwise, in November 1995 the atheistic Chinese government nominated and selected a different boy and proclaimed him to be the 11th Panchen Lama. China’s chosen boy is overwhelmingly rejected by the Tibetan people and is commonly referred to as the “Panchen Zuma” (literally "fake Panchen Lama"). China increasingly uses this boy as a mouthpiece for its calculated policies in Tibet. Both boys are victims in China’s plan to undermine and control the Tibetan people, religion and culture.

Show the world that China's actions and silence is not acceptable! Take part in the Global Vigil for Tibet’s Panchen Lama on May 17, 2005 at locations world-wide.

(see www.savetibet.org for locations of vigils. The one in London is opposite the Chinese embassy from 6pm to 8pm. Closest tube stations Oxford Circus and Great Portland St)

the facts about tibetan refugees

The text in this post has been taken from the website www.savetibet.org

Almost a half a century ago, Chinese troops invaded Tibet, bringing to a sudden and violent end Tibet's centuries old isolation beyond the Himalaya's. Tibet's unique brand of Buddhism formed the core of Tibetan culture and society, a radical contrast to the atheistic and materialist dogma of the Chinese communists.

In the wake of the invasion, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and temporal leader, and around 80,000 Tibetans fled into exile in India. In the years after, Tibet's remarkable culture, and its inhabitants, have been systematically persecuted. Alexander Solzhenitsyn described China's rule in TIbet as "more brutal and inhuman than any other communist regime in the world."

The flow of Tibetans fleeing Chinese oppression continues to this day, principally through Nepal into India.

The escape into exile is a daunting one. The most commonly used route is over the Himalayas, through the Nangpa mountain pass that rises nearly 19,000 feet above sea level west of Mount Everest. On this crossing, Tibetans risk hypothermia, snow blindness, frostbite and the possibility of falling. For some, a twisted knee cap or sprained ankle can mean being abandoned by the group or guide. From Nangpa-la, the journey forward to Kathmandu cannot take several more days and puts the Tibetans at further risk of arrest and refoulement by border police or robbery from bandits and Maoist forces.

The UNHCR office in Kathmandu each year processes some 2,500 Tibetans as "of concern," a designation that provides some measure of protection while they receive immediate care in Nepal and continue on their journey to India.

The International Campaign for Tibet monitors the situation of Tibetan refugees, gathering first-hand information and bringing this information to interested parties in Nepal, including foreign embassies and His Majesty's government, and the UNHCR.

why?

In case you're wondering how an aussie girl with nothing but english/celtic heritage could become so passionate about the cause of Free Tibet... it happened after I saw a movie depicting the Tibetan situation in the early 20th century. I'm not one to blindly follow any so-called 'fashionable' cause... but this one definitely is so worthy of the world's notice.

I can never quite believe it when I see peaceful cultures, so steeped in heritage that we should be revering and cherishing them... being destroyed by the worst aspects of human nature.

So, I may not be Tibetan, but I do believe in the basic power of good people around the world to help stop atrocities taking place. We see people in trouble and we want to help them.
The plight of Tibet may not be plastered all over the news every day, but if was maybe it would be solved that much faster.

As it is, the more people know and care about this... the more we can help and show our support. It DOES matter, and anything you do to help this... whether it is write an email or sign a petition... it DOES make a difference.

another way of helping to free the Panchen Lama

Dear Friends,

I have just read and signed the online petition: "FREE THE PANCHEN LAMA!!!"hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petitionservice, at:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ftpl/

I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you mightagree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and considersigning yourself.

Best wishes... keep standing up for what you believe in...