FOR staff member arrested in Beijing during Tibet protest

8/19/08 in BeijingShortly before midnight this evening in Beijing, China, at the Olympic Park, five U.S. human rights activists were detained for holding an impromptu and unauthorized gathering in support of Tibet. One of the five individuals was Liza Smith, the national organizer for the Fellowship of Reconciliation's Colombia program.

Liza is a dedicated practitioner of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and decided to take action in China because she believes in the global struggle for human rights and that all struggles to live in peace, whether in the U.S., Colombia, or Tibet, are deeply interconnected.

At the time of this writing, the whereabouts and status of Liza and her four colleagues -- Jacob Blumenfeld, Samantha Corbin, Amy Johnson, and Lauren Valle -- are unknown. Please keep them in your thoughts.

You can watch a 20-second video of the protesters holding their "Free Tibet" banner and the arrival of the Chinese authorites online, and see photos as well. Click here to see these images, to read bios of the five protesters, and to read a press release issued by Students for a Free Tibet.

UPDATE 8/20/08: Liza's action has been mentioned in the New York Times. Please help increase their impact by spreading the word.