Tibetan Youth Congress of NY/NJ commemorated the Human Rights Day at UN’s Dag Hamersjold Park with Fasting and demonstration. There were 21 people who sat on the fast which includes Geshe Palden Gyatso and the TYC executive members. The fast began with prayers and then followed by demonstration with more people who joined in for the rally. There were around 75 people which included Lhadon and Freya from SFT and somewhere around seven students from La Guardia International High School. They were motivated and inspired on how Geshe Palden Gyatso survived the tortures. They felt the need on writing about Tibet on their school newspapers by bringing exposure to their school mates.
Geshe Palden Gyatso, Kunga Thinley (President), Karma Tsering (Vice President), Ngawang Palden (General Secretary) and Sonam Topgyal (Joint Secretary) from TYC of NY/NJ were facilitated for a very special event.
We submitted our memorandum addressed to Kofi Annan to Mr. Craig G. Makhiber who is the Deputy Director, a.i. New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. He promised us that he will hand over the memorandum to the General Secretary and discuss our issues. It was a rare opportunity for the TYC and we hope that UN will pressure the Chinese Government to withdraw Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s execution in particular and other issues to live up with UN’s moral obligation.
We ended the fast and demonstration by our National Anthem. The fast was broken with tea, donuts and muffins which were sponsored by Tsering Lhamo and Lakshey. Tibetan Youth Congress would like to thank all those participants who braved the cold and freezing wind.
The copy of the memorandum
His Excellency Kofi Anan
Secretary-General
United Nations
New York
We, the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress in New York, would like to draw your attention to the issue of Tibet, a country roughly half the size of Continental Europe, which has remained under the Chinese occupation since 1959.
We are deeply concerned with the Chinese government’s policy to wipe out our distinctness as a people and culture. This policy is pursued through a systematic transfer of Chinese population to our country. The on-going Western China Development Program and its component, namely the construction of a railway to Tibet, are aimed precisely at making Tibet more easily accessible and liveable for the Chinese migrants. Employment opportunities generated by the development programs in Tibet are monopolized by the Chinese migrants while the Tibetans find themselves marginalized as second-class citizens. Naturally, the Tibetan people are becoming increasingly resentful of Chinese rule.
To make the matter worse, the people of Tibet have no means of expressing their grievances. Anyone who speaks against the government policy is charged with counter-revolutionary propaganda and jailed for years, many suffering torture in captivity for their refusal to toe the official line. Testimonies of former prisoners of conscience, some of whom have spoken in the United States, bear this out.
We are also concerned over the fate of existing political prisoners in Tibet, the most prominent of whom are Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and Panchen Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is a highly respected spiritual teacher in Karze (Chinese: Ganze). He is well-known for his humanitarian service to the people in his region. The Chinese government viewed him with suspicion only because he made no secret of his loyalty to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. According to reports from Karze, the authorities tried to detain him several times in the past. A few months ago, the local authorities in Karze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture accused him of having masterminded bomb blasts in the region. Rinpoche was secretly tried and summarily sentenced to death with two years’ suspension. Tibetans all over the world have asked the authorities to give him a fair and open retrial, a plea which went unheard as the authorities know that they do not have real evidence to support the accusation.
Panchen Choekyi Nyima is now fourteen years old. He and his parents were removed from scene when the boy was only six years old. His only crime was to have been recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama, one of the most well-known spiritual leaders in Tibet. He is the world’s youngest political prisoner. As of now, no one knows his whereabouts. The Chinese government has turned down repeated requests from the international community to let the world know where the boy is detained.
On this very important day for human rights, we request Your Excellency to raise these issues with the Chinese authorities.
We request Your Excellency to ask the Chinese government why the Tibetan people can’t get jobs in economic projects undertaken in our country. We request Your Excellency to ask the Chinese government why the Tibetan people should live as second-class citizens while the Chinese settlers are given preferential treatment in jobs, education and business licensing policies.
We request Your Excellency to ask the Chinese government to release the Panchen Lama recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
We request Your Excellency to give Tenzin Delek Rinpoche a fair and open retrial.
The Chinese government’s action in Tibet over the past five decades amounts to the worst form of crime against humanity. And, every government, whether of a big or small country, should be held equally accountable for the crime committed against humanity.
If the United Nations is to remain a relevant guardian of world peace, it must earn the respect of all peoples, including the weak and oppressed.
And, it is all the more important to support the cause of Tibet since this is the only struggle which has remained peaceful right from the beginning. The UN support to the people of Tibet will show all other movements in the world that non-violence is more viable than violence as a means of freedom struggle.
With the assurance of our highest respect,
Yours sincerely,
