[wordup] Support Tibetans

[Adam Shand]

Via: Erin Taylor <ela at paradise.net...>
Source: WIMC <wimc at googlegroups.com>

Vigil in Solidarity with Tibetans
Parliament Buildings  - Wednesday 19 March 5.30pm

Dear Friends,

Thousands of Tibetans are rising up against Chinese oppression right  
now. Chinese authorities are cracking down heavily on protests in  
Lhasa that began on March the 10th. This appears to be the largest  
uprising in Tibet since 1989, and if unconfirmed reports are true,  
there may be more Tibetan casualties in the streets of Lhasa than at  
any time since 1959. The protest comes at a time of escalating human  
rights abuses in Tibet, despite China's promise of improvements in  
human rights ahead of the Olympics.  Tibetans in NZ, and all over the  
world, their friends and family, Buddhists, supporters of Tibet, human  
rights advocates, peace lovers, other national governments, including  
the US, Canada and Australia, even Richard Gere and Bjork are calling  
for the Chinese government to stop the oppression now. While political  
leaders in the US, Canada and Australia are speaking out, New Zealand  
remains silent. What message does this send to China, the country  
about to host the Olympic games?

Please attend the Vigil in Solidarity with Tibetans on Wednesday 19  
March at Parliament 5.30pm.

Here's what else you can do if you are looking for ideas:

  * Write a letter to newspapers or your local MPs. Ring up talk back.  
For a template letter see end of this email. Ask that they call on  
China to release detainees, allow international media access to Lhasa,  
and stop violent responses to protest.
  * Use your freedom to find out about what is going on, take an  
active interest, have an opinion and spread the word. Check out  
Friends of Tibet in NZ. Reports of new developments are coming in  
every hour. For latest info, check out:

www.phayul.com  www.savetibet.org  www.rfa.org/english

  * Support Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal – there is expected to  
be a big influx soon. Email tibetan at email.com for details.

  * Check out what the Dalai Lama says about Tibet and the situation.

  * If you know any tourists in Lhasa, or others who may have direct  
knowledge of what is happening in Tibet, contact info at savetibet.org.

  * Join the movement for Tibetan freedom in relation to the Olympics  
– 'Team Tibet': http://teamtibet.org/

  * If you want to donate time or money or anything else useful  
contact tibetan at email.com

  * Pass your knowledge and opinions about the issue to others.

Thanks and hope to see you on Wednesday.

Letter template idea (thanks to our Australian friends) – probably  
good to rewrite it a little – see emails to send to at end:

> It has now been over 50 years since the occupation of Tibet by China  
> 's People's Liberation Army. Since then, over 1.2 million Tibetans  
> have died due to the occupation, while the oppression of the Tibetan  
> people and consistent violation of their basic rights have not only  
> continued but have deteriorated in recent months. Furthermore, the  
> Chinese authorities have intensified the implementation of their  
> coordinated policy of elimination of the unique identity of the  
> Tibetan people through mass migration of ethnic Chinese into Tibetan  
> regions including what China calls 'the Tibet Autonomous  
> Region' (TAR) aided by politically motivated infrastructure  
> developments such as the Qinghai-Tibet Railway line.
>
> Simultaneously, policies demoting the usage of the Tibetan language  
> in Tibetan schools and society, and restrictions on meaningful  
> practice of Tibetan Buddhism are being implemented. These have been  
> coupled with brutal crackdowns on any expression of Tibetan  
> sentiments and concerns.
>
> The typical brutality of the Chinese authorities against Tibetans is  
> epitomised by their treatment of the first Buddhist monks who began  
> peaceful protests on the 10th of March.  Eyewitnesses reported  
> violent beatings and arrests of the monks by overwhelming numbers of  
> security personnel.  Such heavy-handed actions provoked protests by  
> the Tibetan people seen over the last few days but the authorities  
> have only intensified their brutality.  There have since been  
> reports that over a hundred Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese  
> authorities, and many more have been arrested.  There are further  
> reports of tanks on the streets of Lhasa and that houses are being  
> systematically searched for monks to be arrested.
>
> I am tremendously concerned and saddened over the Chinese  
> authorities' excessive and violent suppression of Tibetans simply  
> expressing their sentiments and the killing of so many ordinary  
> Tibetans.  I am also extremely concerned about the welfare of those  
> protestors who have been arrested.  The atrocious record of the  
> Chinese government's mistreatment and torture of Tibetan political  
> prisoners is well-known.
>
> What has become clear from these most recent demonstrations by  
> Tibetans is that even after more than 50 years, brutality by the  
> Chinese authorities has not quashed the Tibetan spirit and it will  
> never solve the Tibet problem.  Only through addressing the concerns  
> of the Tibetan people through dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai  
> Lama who espouses the compromise of meaningful autonomy will a  
> lasting solution to the Tibet issue be found.
>
> I urge the New Zealand government and public to insist that the  
> Chinese government immediately halt its excessive brutality against  
> Tibetans and allow international human rights monitors and  
> journalists into Tibet.

NZ Olympic Committee: office at olympic.org.nz
NZ politician's contacts: http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs
News papers: letters at dompost.co.nz   http://info.nzherald.co.nz/letters/