Madison, Wisconsin – Members of Students for a Free Tibet, the Wisconsin Tibetan Association and supporters of international human rights will demonstrate at the Capitol Building in Madison, Wisconsin in response to the brutal killings of Tibetan refugees attempting to escape from Tibet into Nepal. Protesters will assemble at the Capitol Building in Madison at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 28, 2006.
Video footage shot by foreign mountaineers at Cho Oyu advance Everest base camp, shows Chinese border guards opening fire on a group of approximately 70 Tibetans attempting to cross through the Nangpa La Pass into Nepal on September 30th. This video can be accessed at www.studentsforafreetibet.org.
It has been confirmed that the shootings killed at least two Tibetans including a young nun. At least nine Tibetan children who were part of the group were captured by Chinese soldiers at gunpoint; their whereabouts remain unknown. More than 40 of the original group are reported to have safely made it to Nepal.
“The Chinese government in Beijing has tried to cover this incident with lies and propaganda,” said Hilary Edwards of Students for a Free Tibet.
“Only when faced with photographic and video evidence from the international community do they begin to back paddle. For over 50 years, Tibetans have been subjected to illegal occupation of their country by the Chinese government. In the midst of this cultural genocide, when Tibetans seek to flee in search of hope, they face instead an impromptu execution.”
The foreign mountaineers who witnessed the incident from nearby Cho Oyu advance base camp described soldiers taking careful aim and fired repeatedly at the defenseless Tibetans, even as they attempted to escape uphill through deep snow at 19,000 feet. One climber explained, “I saw a line of Tibetans heading toward the start of the Nangpa La Pass-a common sight. Then, without warning, shots rang out, over and over and over.”
“I strongly condemn the brutal killing of innocent Tibetan refugees by the Chinese army,” stated Lobsang Tenzin, President of the Wisconsin Tibetan Association. “This action calls for full criminal investigation and also the immediate release of those Tibetans still in Chinese custody”.
“Everyday Tibetans in Tibet make the most difficult of choices, to leave their families and homeland in their quest for basic freedom and human rights,” said Rinzin Dolkar of the Tibetan Womens Association of New York and New Jersey “This shooting of defenseless Tibetan refugees epitomizes China’s brutality and blatant disregard for Tibetan life.”
This is a critically important issue for Tibetan exiles, including the thousands of Tibetan refugees who themselves escaped from Tibet in a similar fashion. Tibetans and supporters of Tibetan independence and human rights have already staged protests in Washington D.C., San Francisco, London, New York, Toronto and Vancouver.
Similar protests are planned for New Delhi,
Zurich, Paris, Hong Kong and Dharamsala.
For footage and more photos of the Nangpa-la Pass Shooting go to:
www.studentsforafreetibet.org
www.wistib.org
www.savetibet.org
Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) works in solidarity with the Tibetan people in their struggle for freedom and independence. A chapter-based network of more than 650 schools worldwide, SFT campaigns for Tibetans’ fundamental right to political freedom through education, grassroots organizing, and nonviolent direct action. For more information about Students for a Free Tibet at UW-Madison, go to http://sft.rso.wisc.edu or email wahorembala@wisc.edu.
