TIBETANS APPEAL FOR ATHLETE SUPPORT AT BEIJING OLYMPICS

Athlete Outreach campaign launched in Eugene during U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials

For Immediate Release: June 27th, 2008

Contact: Jamphel Dorjee, 971-XXX-XXXX
Han Shan, 917-XXX-XXXX

Eugene – Hundreds of Tibetans and supporters from across the United States are gathering in Eugene, Oregon to appeal for support from American athletes competing at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. Organizers say they hope to identify athletes who will demonstrate their solidarity and support for the Tibetan struggle for freedom in Beijing during the upcoming summer Games August 8-24th.

Tibetans have organized a series of outreach events including a peace march, leafletting, and a cultural concert to bring the plight of the Tibetan people to the attention of the athletes. Tibetans and their supporters will gather on Saturday, June 28th at University of Oregon’s EMU East Lawn, beginning at 10:30am, and the program will begin at 11am with the singing of the Tibetan National Anthem.

“We are here to appeal to the athletes to show their support for the Tibetans inside Tibet who are denied their freedom and fundamental rights,” said Jamphel Dorjee, a Portland Tibetan community leader. “We believe athletes who compete in the Olympics do so not just for themselves and their countries, but because they believe in the universal values of liberty, justice, and human dignity that the Olympics represent. These are the ideals that Tibetans are struggling and dying for at this moment.”

Tibetans across the Tibetan plateau continue to suffer under a massive clampdown by Chinese authorities in the wake of protests that began in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on March 10th, anniversary of the 1959 uprising against China’s occupation, and rippled across the Tibetan plateau. Tibet remains closed to most foreign tourists and journalists, with the exception of reporters invited to join four small, tightly-controlled government tours since the uprising began. Hundreds of Tibetans were killed in China’s violent crackdown against Tibetan protests, and at least one thousand Tibetans remain detained, according to a recent Amnesty International report, though statements by Chinese officials suggest the numbers are likely much higher. Buddhist monasteries and nunneries have been sealed off, and Chinese officials have touted political indoctrination campaigns designed to break Tibetan resistance to Chinese rule.

Just last week, at the closing ceremony of the torch relay in Tibet’s capital of Lhasa, Zhang Qingli, Communist Party Chief in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, declared that China would “totally smash the splittist schemes of the Dalai Lama clique,” a move that prompted the International Olympic Committee to write to Chinese authorities in protest.

“At every Olympics, there is one athlete who ends up inspiring the world with their courage and character,” said Tsering Palden, President of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress and Youth Congress of New York and New Jersey. “At the Beijing Games, we believe this athlete could be the one who is an example not only of determination and athletic skill, but also of standing up for what is right by speaking out for Tibet.”

This weekend, a coalition of Tibet groups launched a global “Athlete Wanted” campaign to appeal to Olympic athletes from every participating nation to stand up for Tibet at the Beijing Games. At www.AthleteWanted.org, athletes can find ideas and resources for showing support for Tibet in Beijing this summer. The website suggests raising a Tibetan Flag, wearing ‘Team Tibet’ clothing, and other nonviolent statements of support.

Tibetans inside Tibet continue almost daily protests against China’s ongoing clampdown. Most recently, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported that on June 8th over 200 nuns from Samten Ling Nunnery were arrested in Kardze County of Kham Province [Ch: Ganzi, Sichuan Province] after they took to the streets to protest the earlier arrest and brutal beating of a fellow nun.

“The Chinese government has been using the Olympics as a propaganda tool in an attempt to whitewash its human rights record and legitimize its rule in Tibet,” said Han Shan, Olympics Campaign Coordinator for Students for a Free Tibet. “We are searching for an athlete to show the Chinese government the Olympic principles of friendship, solidarity and fair play by standing up for Tibet at the Beijing Olympics.”

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