From DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.orgMon Sep 4 09:21:29 1995 Date: Sat, 02 Sep 1995 08:10:00 +0100 From: Debra Guzman Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org To: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org Subject: WCW: Solidarity Protest for Tibetan Women [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] ## author : fourniel@ERE.UMontreal.CA ## date : 01.09.95 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Friends, I hope you have all been following the events at the UN Conference in Huairou. In view of the obstacles encountered by Tibetan women at the conference, Tibet Support Groups in the Netherlands have banded together to demonstrate their solidarity with our delegates struggling to be heard in China. I enclose their heart-rending letter below. I feel it would send a strong message of support to those at the conference as well as to the outside media if other Tibet Support Groups around the world could organize similar demonstrations while the conference is being held. Please Keep us informed of your plans, and we will forward the news to the Tibetan representatives in China. Thubten (Sam) Samdup President Canada Tibet Committee National Office ****************************************************************************** Letter from the Netherlands September 1, 1995 Dear friends, To our courageous delegates in Beijing: We, all Tibetans and Tibet supporters in the Netherlands follow the events unfolding in Beijing with utmost attention, almost at hourly base. Despite the impossible situation you are facing, your courage and determination is not going unnoticed and is a great source of inspiration to all of us back home. On behalf of the above mentioned, I would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere admiration and gratitude for your defiant actions against all odds at the hands of the ruthless Chinese police and constant surveillance. So, keeping in mind the difficult circumstances you are to operating in and with full confidence in your courage, capability and wisdom: "KEEP UP YOUR GREAT WORK". Our numbers are few, but our hearts is steadfast. As a token of solidarity, Tibetans living in Benelux, representatives from Dutch Political Youth Organizations, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organizations and members of Tibet Support Group Netherlands gathered outside the Chinese embassy in The Hague, the Netherlands braving only a cold fall windy evening on 31st of August. The evening was started with the recitation of the Prayer of Truth followed by a minute of silence in honor of those struggling for freedom in the world. A joint statement of UNPO and Tibetan Organizations and Tibet Support Organizations within Europe, protesting against the Chinese Governments, the denial of visas to several Tibetan women in exile, was read out. This was followed by a quarter of an hour shouting slogans. In her concluding speech, Tsering Jampa challenged the government of PRC to start a constructive negotiations with the Tibetan people and to find a peaceful solution to the severe problems facing the Tibetan people today. She further reiterated that it would be a mockery of the UN Human Rights Conference, if the participants fail to recognize and address the host country's intensification of the current clampdown on Tibetan people in Tibet in general and women in specific. As always, the embassy staff looked out of windows, very busy making pictures. Seeing this enthusiasm, we tried to hand them out the statement, but somehow they were all too shy to come out and accept it. We appreciated the emotion and it was discretely slipped into their mailbox instead. The evening was concluded with the singing of Tibetan national anthem. Strength and many Tashi Deleks, Tsering Youdon Jampa Deputy General Secretary UNPO, Chairperson Tibet Support Group-NL P.S. Press coverage has been very good, including interviews by Associated Press (AP), a well known Swedish daily newspaper and several Nation-wide newspapers.