Dear friends,
Tibetans who refuse to fly the Chinese flag above their homes risk being beaten or shot in the latest attempt to break their spirits. But now is the best moment in ages to bring hope to Tibet’s proud, but desperate people.
China’s leaders are mounting an intense campaign to draw a veil over their rights abuses and persuade governments to vote them onto the UN Human Rights Council. So if enough of us shine a light on what’s going on in Tibet — squashing an ancient religion, banning journalists, dawn arrests — we can get China to back away from its hard-line policy to be sure of getting the 97 votes it needs.
Let’s show the Tibetan people that the world hasn’t forgotten them. China is feeling the heat as 13 governments just called them out on human rights in Tibet. Sign to stand with Tibet, then share this with everyone. When one million have signed we’ll deliver it to critical UN delegations, and make it massive in the media:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_tibet_loc/?tgSLceb
Pressure on China is mounting. In an unprecedentedly strong show of support, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, US, UK, Switzerland, Sweden, Iceland and Austria just called on China to protect freedom of assembly, religion and association in Tibet. This request arrives just days after a Spanish court indicted China’s former President for genocide in Tibet!
The situation is really dire. More than 120 people have taken their own lives by setting themselves on fire to protest the suffocation of the Chinese occupation and hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have been wiped out. China’s ongoing policies systematically suppress the Tibetan language, force people from their homes, and strictly control the Tibetans’ movement and religion.
China’s failed policies hurt China too, but having dug themselves in this deep, they need pressure to change course. This is the week that change can start. If enough of us speak up while China is under the global microscope, we can make sure our governments know we haven’t forgotten Tibet. Sign now and tell everyone — let’s build the biggest petition ever for Tibet and demand they hold China to account:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_tibet_loc/?tgSLceb
Proud Tibetans are struggling against China’s brutal rule and long for change, but they can’t do it alone. No one can create changes that big alone.
That’s why we’ve come together for Tibet before. Let’s make this the moment where the whole world commits to the survival of the Tibetan people.
With hope,
Ben, Alice, Patricia, Alex, Ricken, Emily, Sayeeda and the whole Avaaz team
SOURCES
UN criticises China’s rights record at Geneva meeting (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24611657
Dalai Lama Says China Has Turned Tibet Into a ‘Hell on Earth’ (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/world/asia/11tibet.html
Spain probes Hu Jintao ‘genocide’ in Tibet court case (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24490004
Four Tibetans Shot Dead as Protests Spread in Driru County (Radio Free Asia)
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/shoot-10112013200735.html
China denounces Spanish court’s Tibet case against ex-president (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/14/us-china-spain-tibet-idUSBRE99D09120131014
I signed, will you?
Yes I will:)
Thank you! 😀
I did 🙂
Thank you! 😀
Thanks for sharing this, I signed the petition.
Thank you, Indira!
Your posts are always informative and inspiring.
You’ve made my day! Thanks!
done. Thanks for keeping us up to date with what is happening in the world.
Thank you, seeker!
Reblogged this on theseeker and commented:
Please help free Tibet from China and sign the petition. Thank you.
Wonderful!
Signed.
Thank you! 😀
Reblogged this on The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap and commented:
Tibet needs our help.
Signed.
Thank you! 😀
Wonderful!
Thank you for highlighting this. Signed and shared!
Thank you for signing and sharing, Jas! 😀
I so easily signed. For years I have felt for the Tibetan people. China is TOO WRONG.
I’m with Avaaz, so I really don’t understand why I didn’t get an invitation to sign through them? Glad then, to have found this post.
Glad to meet an Avaaz supporter. Thanks for signing!
I remember that there was a high military presence in Tibet when I was there in 2010. *sighs*. Hope for change!
When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible but in the end they always fall. Think of it – always.
– Mahatma Gandhi
True. To play the devil’s advocate, the Tibetan people weren’t all that well off under the monks either. The feudal culture there was not to the advantage of everyone and it was very much power politics in the everyday life of some monks too…
That’s interesting, I didn’t know that. Thanks!
Wonderful for you to shine attention on this atrocity –
Thank you for your support.
Oh God please no more. This is why I can’t read the news. Yes I will do what I can. Thank you for this painful post~
Cindy, I know your pain and I’m sorry. Thanks for signing!
Cannot be ignored, so whatever helps!
Thank you; every little bit helps, I think.
I’ve signed.
Thank you, Clowie.