TIBETANS OBSERVE HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
STUDENTS FOR A FREE TIBET
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Video link available at: www.BeijingWeAreReady.org
December 10th, 2007
Contact: Lhadon Tethong, +1 917-418-4181
Kate Woznow, +1 917-304-4250
TIBETANS OBSERVE HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
Call on IOC to Speak Out on Human Rights in Lead-up to Beijing Olympics
New York –Tibetans and their supporters marked Human Rights Day by protesting at the International Olympic Committee’s headquarters in Switzerland and at Chinese Embassies and Consulates worldwide today. In New York, hundreds marched from the United Nations General Assembly building to the Chinese Consulate and delivered “failed” human rights report cards to Chinese officials. Students for a Free Tibet released a new video and website: www.BeijingWeAreReady.org calling on people of conscience to help spotlight China’s brutal occupation of Tibet in the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“The International Olympic Committee promised the world that the Olympics would bring improvements to the human rights situation in China,” said Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “Now we see China is clearly back-sliding on human rights and yet the IOC has refused to take any action to hold the Chinese leadership accountable”.
More than one hundred Tibetans and supporters in Switzerland protested at the IOC Executive Committee’s meeting today. IOC officials met briefly with members of the newly-formed National Olympic Committee of Tibet for the first time and rejected the Tibetans’ application to compete in the Olympic Games.
“It’s time for Jacques Rogge to live up to the commitment he made in 2002 that the IOC would take action if the Chinese government did not improve its human rights record,” said Kate Woznow, Campaigns Director of Students for a Free Tibet.
Chinese authorities have intensified their crackdown on freedom of religion, assembly, and expression in Tibet. Last month, Runggye Adak, a nomad and 52-year old father of eleven children, was sentenced to eight years in prison for publicly calling for the return of the Dalai Lama during a popular horse racing festival in Eastern Tibet. Chinese troops temporarily sealed off Drepung Monastery, near the capital city of Lhasa, following the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for the Dalai Lama in October.
For more information, please visit: www.BeijingWeAreReady.org
