ACTIVISM

BEIJING 2008: six requirements for the respect of human rights.
AN APPEAL FOR THE RESPECT OF THE OLYMPIC CHARTER

Samaranch dreamt of it, and the IOC has done it. Beijing has been chosen to host the 2008 Olympic Games. In 1993, as a result of the human rights record of the Chinese government, China lost out to Sydney in the battle to host the 2000 Games. The situation since then has only got worse, but this time with 56 votes Beijing managed to defeat Toronto (22 votes), Paris (18 votes), Istanbul (9 votes) and Osaka (eliminated in the first round). The Associations for the defence of human rights had all spoken out against the candidature of Beijing. The members of the Beijing candidature committee claimed this week that holding the Games in China would lead to greater respect of human rights by contributing to an economical liberalisation.

In spite of these claims, destined to appease the conscience of the West, Beijing has just stifled all hopes of reform by declaring in China Daily that it plans "to crush separatist activities" in Tibet.

Profoundly respectful of the rights of athletes, the France-Tibet Association has no desire to deprive them of medals or to ask them to sacrifice their careers. However, it is appealing for support to put pressure on the Chinese government to ensure the true respect, as soon as possible, of human rights in China and in the occupied territories of Tibet, East Turkestan and Southern Mongolia.

In particular, we call on the Chinese government:

1. To ensure the respect of the rights of man and the fundamental liberties, such as the freedom to hold meetings, the freedom of opinion and confession, the freedom to belong to trades unions, and the freedom of the press.
   
2. To abolish capital punishment in China, as demanded by the First World Congress against the Death Penalty held in Strasbourg in June 2001.
   
3. To allow a delegation made up of leading international figures to visit the youngest political prisoner in the world, the 12-year-old Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, the XI Panchen Lama, and his family, under house arrest in China for the last six years, and to respect their rights.
   
4. To release immediately all political prisoners: Tibetans, Uighurs, Mongols and Chinese.
   
5. To respond in a serious manner to the proposals for negotiations made by the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, in view of a statute of full autonomy with integrity for Tibet.
   
6. To make all efforts to ratify and apply all the international conventions.

We thus appeal to international athletes and representatives of the world of sport, as true ambassadors of the Olympic spirit, to join our Appeal by signing and striving to increase awareness in their delegations, their sponsors, and their family and sporting environments, of the need for the respect of human dignity.

We also appeal to the future sponsor companies of the 2008 Beijing Games to have the courage to make their financial backing dependant on the achievement of real progress in the sphere of human rights, and not to be content with vague promises.

If necessary, when the time comes we will appeal to the public to boycott the Games to denounce the continuing violation of the Olympic Charter in China.

France-Tibet
10 rue Jean Mace
75011 Paris
France
france.tibet@tibet.fr
http://www.tibet.fr

If you know any athletes or other representatives of the world of sport, please send them a copy of this appeal and keep us informed.

No Olympics for China Until Tibet is Free!

Giving Beijing the 2008 Games Would Send a Message That Human Rights in Tibet and China No Longer Matter
China's bid for the 2000 games was defeated because of human rights concerns.  Since that time, persecution in Tibet has drastically worsened, as has religious repression in China.

Money Raised from the Olympics Will Be Used to Fund China's Control Over Tibet
The Olympics would put billions of foreign dollars into he pocket of the Chinese government.  During the recent Sydney Olympics, Australia went from a trade deficit of $1.5 billion to a surplus of $667 million.

Hosting the Olympics Would Help China Whitewash Its Image
without actually changing its human rights practices.  The President of the International Triathlon Union told Beijing, "You've got to find a way of marketing bloody Tiananmen Square so that the only image they have isn't a...tank with a university student."  In order to erase memories of the massacre in Tiananmen Square, China plans to hold the beach volleyball championship there.

The Chinese Government Really Wants to Win This Bid.
By opposing Beijing 2008, we hold China accountable for its occupation of Tibet.  In this way, we sue international pressure to force the Chinese government to FREE TIBET, and give them a reason to improve their treatment of people in both China and Tibet.

Q&A

China is the most populous country on earth, and has had many excellent athletes compete in the games.  Don't the Chinese deserve the Olympics?
The Chinese people deserve to host the Olympics, but more importantly, they deserve respect for basic human rights and political freedoms.  We are not opposed to China hosting the Olympics; we are opposed to China Hosting the Olympics while they continue to occupy Tibet and ignore human rights.

What do the Olympics have to do with politics?  Aren't they meant to bridge political divisions?
They Olympics are meant to be a tool for "world peace through sport."  For more than thirty years, South Africa was banned from even participating in the Olympics because of the racist system of apartheid.  Giving China the distinction of hosting the Games while its government commits genocide in Tibet and violates the rights of its own people would send a clear message that the international community is not concerned about oppression in China and Tibet.

How can we improve conditions in China and Tibet if we don't engage the Chinese government?
Engagement has not worked to improve human rights conditions in China or Tibet.  Since Western governments began expanding trade relations with China while de-linking the issue of human rights from trade, religious repression has drastically worsened and China has refused all requests to negotiate with the Dalai Lama.

CHINA IN TIBET:
A GOLD MEDAL FOR OPPRESSION

"The Tibetan cultural and spiritual heritage is threatened with extinction."-- European Parliament Resolution on Tibet, 2000

"1999 saw the most serious and wide-ranging crackdown on peaceful dissent in China for a decade.  Torture and ill-treatment of prisoners was widespread."-- Amnesty International Annual Report, 2000

"The government continued its 'patriotic education' campaign aimed at enforcing compliance with government regulations and either cowing or weeding out monks and nuns who refuse to adopt the party line and reaming sympathetic to the Dalai Lama."-- US State Department Report on International Religious Freedom, 2000

"Children, even as young as six years old, may be detained for political offenses, held in harsh conditions without charge or access to family, and tortured by beatings, electric shocks and by psychological forms of torture as well."-- The Fabric of Fear: Children's Rights in Tibet, International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet, 2000

This information provided by:

Students for a Free Tibet
735 E. 9th Street, #1FW
New York, NY 10009 USA
Tel: (212) 358-0071
sft@igc.org
http://www.tibet.org/sft