What you can do to help Tibet

(from March 22 2008)

Tibet update: from ICT president John Ackley;
“Dear Friend,
In the past 20 years, I have never had such an exhausting, heartbreaking, and exciting week. Exciting because the Tibet issue is exactly where it should be -- on the front pages of our newspapers and high on the agendas of politicians and human rights organizations everywhere. Heartbreaking because Tibetans have taken huge risks to make their voices heard and are experiencing the worst repression and crackdown since the earliest days of the Chinese occupation.

I am sure you have followed events in Tibet this week and have been equally affected. Since my last update, new demonstrations continue to happen daily in towns and villages across eastern Tibet. Please visit http://www.savetibet.org/ to see a map showing where demonstrations have occurred. You will also find in-depth updates that we are posting daily.

As of today, all tourists have been pressured to leave Lhasa and the only Western journalist there had to leave. Many journalists in Eastern Tibet were forced to leave as well. CNN has video of their reporters being forced to turn back on their way to the site of a Tibetan demonstration.

China now has an even freer hand to conduct house-to-house searches and arrests without witnesses. Despite all of this, Tibetans continue to send out images, call relatives, and even talk to reporters. Even these small communications are extremely dangerous and punishable by years in prison.

ICT is known by Tibetans as an organization they know will hear them and make their voice heard. We have received important calls from people in Tibet putting their faith in us and we have not let them down. We have been working overtime to expose the reality of this situation to the international media. And we also received calls filled with anguish. A Tibetan friend of mine received a call from a relative in Tibet so he could say “goodbye” as he expected to be arrested soon.

ICT’s staff have been working around the clock and around the world since last week to maximize this opportunity for the Tibetan people. Already this week, our work with your support has resulted in several extraordinary international efforts:

- U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is visiting Dharamsala today with a delegation of 10 members of Congress to meet with the Dalai Lama in a great show of support from the US government. Accompanied by ICT staff, she has spoken out, harshly condemning China’s recent actions and saying, "We insist the world know what the truth is inside Tibet."
- Two ICT staff traveled to Beijing for three days at the beginning of the week to meet with officials and diplomats at embassies there, and to brief them on the unrest and demonstrations in Tibet.

Soon we will send you detailed information about our upcoming rally in San Francisco on April 8, the day before the Olympic Torch passes through city. In the meantime, please visit http://www.racefortibet.org/ to learn more. In the weeks and months ahead, it is essential we continue to stand together and do everything we can for those inside Tibet risking their lives by peacefully demonstrating.

I hope I can also call on you to take more targeted actions as events unfold in the weeks ahead. We are now gathering names of those arrested in Tibet. Once we have confirmed names, we will begin doing action alerts to demand humane treatment and releases. We know that these actions can often improve conditions and reduce torture.

If you live in the United States, there are two actions you can take today:

1. Call on President Bush not to attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in August. From Steven Spielberg to parlimentarians, many leaders are rethinking their involvement. We call on our leaders to stay away from the opening ceremonies in the wake of the bloody and continuing crackdown in Tibet. You may reach the U.S. President at 202-456-1111 or by email at comments@whitehouse.gov.

2. Urge your Congressional representatives to insist China not take the Olympic torch through Tibet in mid-June. ICT fears on humanitarian grounds that taking the torch through Lhasa will be seen as a provocation to Tibetans and lead to more unrest, arrests and repression. Please click here to find your legislators.

If you can, please make a donation to support ICT’s response during this critical time so we will continue to have the emergency resources we need to react quickly and effectively.”