Two Others Vow to Continue Hunger Strike
New York – Dolma Choephel, one of three Tibetans who have been on indefinite hunger strike outside the United Nations headquarters since April 2nd, collapsed unconscious yesterday evening and was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in an ambulance. She is now listed in stable condition. Sonam Wangdu and Gyatso, the other two hunger strikers, vowed to continue until the United Nations meets their demands.
“After 30 days without food, the hunger strikers are reaching a very critical point,” said Kunga Thinley, President of the Tibetan Youth Congress of NY and NJ, one of the groups organizing the strike. “They have made the decision to risk their lives for Tibet, and the possibility of dying is now becoming very real.”
The hunger strikers published an open letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on April 28th in the International Herald Tribune, asking him to meet with them and discuss their demands. So far, there has been no response. The hunger strike is intended to compel the United Nations to take concrete action to help improve Tibet’s deteriorating human rights situation and to urge the Chinese government to release several Buddhist leaders who were imprisoned for political reasons.
“I am very worried about Dolma, of course,” said Sonam Wangdu from a cot on 42nd Street, just across from the United Nations headquarters. “I hope that her hospitalization will help Kofi Annan understand just how serious this situation is and that he cannot ignore Tibet any longer.”
In their letter to Mr. Annan, the three hunger strikers asked him to respond to what they called the most serious nonviolent means of expressing their frustration with the U.N.’s failure to address the human rights situation in Tibet. They pleaded with him to show the world that “violence and terror are not the sole means of compelling the United Nations to act,” but that he values “peaceful perseverance and nonviolent methods.”
Contact: Kunga Thinley (917) 488-6700
Ngawang Palden (917) 723-4133
