Press statement from the organisers of The fourth International Conference of Tibet Support Groups

Prague, 18 June 2003 – The fourth International Conference of Tibet Support Groups will be held in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, from 19-21 October 2003. Representatives of over 250 Tibet Support Groups (TSGs) worldwide will attend this three-day meeting.

The conference is organised by the Department of Information and International Relations, Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) based in Dharamshala, India, in collaboration with the Friedrich-Naumann Stiftung, Germany, and the Forum 2000 Foundation, Prague. Mr. Petr Pithart and Mr. Jan Ruml, the President and the Vice-President respectively of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic will be the patrons of the conference.

The conference is convened to offer an opportunity and platform for all the TSGs to meet and exchange experiences with each other and with the CTA in order to forge more effective ways of supporting the Tibetan people and to bring China to the negotiating table in resolving the Tibet issue. The TSGs are non-governmental organisations formed voluntarily to support the non-violent freedom movement of the Tibetan people. Through their campaigns and activities, the TSGs hope to motivate China to relax political controls in Tibet and to pursue a human rights policy in line with international standards. All the participants to the proposed conference are individuals who are dedicated to expanding the areas of civil liberties and who are inspired by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s uncompromising non-violent struggle to restore dignity and happiness to the people of Tibet.

The CTA’s policy is not to demand independence but a genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people. It has been pursuing this policy since 1979 for the simple reason that non-violence and dialogue with the Chinese authorities is in the best interest of both the Tibetan and Chinese people. The CTA believes that the worldwide Tibet supporters have an important role to play in promoting the process of dialogue and negotiations for a speedy resolution of the Tibet issue. In particular, the CTA strongly believes that the work and assistance of the TSGs will be essential for the reconstruction and development of Tibet when the Tibetan people are in a position to exercise genuine autonomy after finding a mutually acceptable solution to the complex Tibetan issue in the spirit of reconciliation and compromise.

The organisers hope that the conference will facilitate the various TSGs to jointly strategise the campaign in order to give a new momentum to the Tibetan leadership’s efforts to start dialogue with China. If the Tibet issue were resolved through dialogue, this would convey a very potent message to the violent movements in the world. It would tell them that non-violence has better prospects of success than violence. It would also be an indication that the world does care for peaceful and non-violent movements.

The third International Conference of Tibet Support Groups was held in Berlin, Germany, in May 2000, and was attended by 282 representatives of Tibet support organisations from 52 countries all over the world. The first and second conferences were held in Dharamshala (India) and Bonn (Germany) in the year 1990 and 1996 respectively.

CONTACT:
conference patrons: Mr. Petr Pithart, President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic(Tel: +420-257 072 327)
Mr. Jan Ruml, Vice-President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (Tel: +420-2-57 072 769)