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Tell China to stop attacks on Tibetans
![[photo of monks by David Reid]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/2320312741_ecd4ec85e5_m.jpg)
How maddening to see yet another case of brutal repression of Buddhists in Asia. And yet how uplifting to see that the people of Tibet bravely continue to speak out for democracy and self-determination! The international activist group AVAAZ has started a petition to Chienese President Hu Jintao, calling for "restraint and respect for human rights" and supporting dialog with the Dalai Lama. Sign it now.
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship has issued a strong statement in solidarity of the people of Tibet. Here's an excerpt...
![[photo of protest by nic0]](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/19/110854045_505d03cc2c_m.jpg)
As hundreds of Buddhist monks and ordinary citizens take to the streets of Lhasa protesting Chinese occupation of Tibet, like their brothers & sisters in Burma last September, they have been met with beatings and bullets. Lhasa’s Drepung, Sera, and Ganden monasteries have been closed and surrounded by troops for the last three days. Yet the monks are undeterred, and continue to protest in Tibet’s cities wherever possible.
In solidarity with the people of Tibet, our brothers and sisters in dharma, we condemn the Chinese government’s suppression of peaceful demonstrations, the closing of monasteries, and the broad imposition of martial law. The violent response Chinese security forces only adds fuel to fires that they set many years ago.
The Chinese occupation, in place since 1951, continues throughout Tibet, amounting to de facto ethnic cleansing, destroying indigenous Tibetan culture by a massive Chinese population transfer and economic infiltration, backed up by the barrel of a gun. According to the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), “In Tibet's cities and fertile valleys, particularly in eastern Tibet, Chinese outnumber Tibetans by two and sometimes three to one.”
Tibet
TELL CHINA TO STOP ATTACKS ON TIBETANS
Below in my letter, you will find the mail addresses of the Chinese authorities to whom you may write to express concern on the demonstrations led by Buddhist monks in Tibet as well as my letter to the Chinese Ambassador to the UN in Geneva outlining some broader issues. While I have signed the AVAAZ petition earlier, as I have signed others of their petitions on the Middle East, I think that individual appeals are important and may have more impact than mass petitions on Chinese decision-makers. What is iportant to note in the current context is that protests are not limited to Lhasa as they were in the late 1980s but have been held outside the Tibet Autonomous Region in Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu Provinces as well as at the Central University for Minorities in Beijing.
Dear Colleague,
As the representative to the United Nations, Geneva, of the Association of World Citizens, I have written on 15 March to the Chinese Ambassador concerning the recent protests in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan-majority areas. I stress the need for the rule-of-law, fair trials, the need for representative political institutions where ideas can be freely discussed, and for the development of a pluralistic civil society. Although I have made these points before, I believe that they need to be made again in the light of growing frustration on the part of many Tibetans and the danger of increased political and police repression. The text of my letter is given below.
Letters stressing similar points could be usefully sent to the recently re-elected President Hu Jintao,
The State Council General Office, 2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu, Beijingshi, 100017, China,
The Minister of Justice, Wu Aiying, Ministry of Justice, 10 Nandajie Chaoyangmen, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, China and
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Li Zhaoxing
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyang District, Beijingshi,
100701, China
With all best wishes, Rene Wadlow
March 15, 2008
Excellency :
The Association of World Citizens would like to join in with many others, both governments and non-governmental organizations, in calling for respect for human rights and the rule of law in dealing with the current demonstrations in Lhasa and other Tibetan-majority areas.
World Citizens have always stressed the need for broadly-based democratic institutions through which people may express their ideas and proposals for change. As necessary as fair elections are for good governance, such broadly-based institutions need to be more than periodic elections to government institutions. That is why World Citizens have stressed the role of civil society and the need for a multitude of social groups so that many views can be expressed.
When such institutions of civil society are limited, when the press and the media are not pluralistic, then people will express their views in demonstrations and protests which can become violent both through the actions of protesters and of the police and security forces. That is what we see today in different parts of Tibet. Because of visitors, there is more reporting from Lhasa, but we understand that there have been demonstrations and repression in other Tibetan-majority areas.
/...
H. E. Mr. Li Baodong
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Representative
of the People’s Republic of China
to the United Nations Office at Geneva
Chemin de Surville 11
C. P. 85
1213 Petit-Lancy 2
Switzerland
- 2 -
Many Tibetans feel that their aspirations are not taken into consideration, their culture is not respected, and that they are marginalized in the process of economic development. Many Tibetans believe that the current political structures in the Tibet Autonomous Region do not adequately reflect their views. Thus, aspirations are articulated from the more traditional sources of authority, that is, the monks from the leading monasteries.
The current unrest is a sign that the social order is not healthy. There is Tibetan resentment against Han workers and Hui merchants living in Lhasa.
Thus, we encourage care and respect for all individuals in the restoration of order. However, more important beyond the short-term issues concerning arrests and fair trials, there is the longer-range need to create representative governmental institutions in which Tibetans have the possibility to express their views. There is also the need to develop civil society institutions to carry out social, cultural and economic activities for the benefit of all.
World Citizens responded actively to the Buddhist monk-led demonstrations for the rule of law in Myanmar last September and October. The world is now watching as monks again lead a broad effort for freedom of thought and social justice.
We are sure that the Government of the People’s Republic of China will follow internationally-recognized standards of human rights in the current situation and will also undertake a serious study of the reforms needed in Tibet.
Respectfully Yours,
Prof. René Wadlow
Chief Representative to the United Nations¾Geneva
Association of World Citizens
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