Mr. Jacques Rogge
President, International Olympic Committee
Dear Mr. Rogge,
My name is Lhadon Tethong. I am the Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet, a worldwide organization of Tibetans and their supporters. I am here in Beijing and would like to meet with you to discuss the ways that the Chinese government is attempting to use the glow of the Olympics to blind the world to its violent oppression and occupation of my homeland.
On July 13, 2001, the day that Beijing was awarded the honor of hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, the then International Olympic Committee Executive Director Francois Carrard said, “Bet on the fact…that the situation will be improved. We are taking the bet that seven years from now we will see many changes.”
You stated yourself in a 2002 BBC interview that the IOC was “convinced that the Olympic Games will improve human rights in China.” But according to a report released by Human Rights Watch last week, “the Chinese government shows no substantive progress in addressing long-standing human rights concerns.”
Not only has the IOC failed to secure improvements in human rights in China but it has abetted suppression of dissent by Chinese authorities. At an IOC meeting in Guatemala last month, Hein Verbruggen, the IOC’s chairman of the 2008 Olympics co-ordination committee, said, “The way in which the Games are being used as a platform for groups with political and social agendas is regrettable.” Such statements only embolden a
notoriously repressive Chinese regime, further endangering those inside China and Tibet who advocate for freedom and human rights at tremendous risk already.
With the Games just a year away, the Chinese government has not only shown no commitment to ceasing its systemic violations of fundamental human rights, it has used the Olympics to promote a false image of progress on a number of fronts where it has in fact regressed. Just last week in eastern Tibet, hundreds of Tibetans were rounded up after a peaceful protest calling for the return of the Dalai Lama. Crackdowns like this are commonplace.
Most disturbing to Tibetans and their supporters worldwide is the way that the Chinese government has made Tibet a central theme in its Olympics-related public relations blitz, in an attempt to legitimize its brutal occupation of Tibet once and for all. Having traveled around Beijing and seen the Olympics propagada firsthand, it is obvious that China is politicizing these Games and yet the IOC has remained silent, enabling the Chinese authorities to continue its oppression of my homeland while wrapping themselves in Olympic colors.
We demand that the Chinese government not pass the Olympic torch over Tibetan soil, and that the opening and closing ceremonies contain no references to Tibet: its land, its culture or its people. We are calling on the IOC to publicly oppose these propaganda efforts, and use its influence to affect substantive progress on human rights in China and a meaningful resolution to the occupation of Tibet.
Mr. Rogge, you must do something. Without public censure from the IOC in the coming months, the Chinese government will continue to abuse human rights in Tibet and China, and will only be emboldened to brutally silence peaceful opposition during the Games themselves.
It is in your own interest to take measures now and use your influence while you have it. Otherwise, the IOC will only have itself to blame when the Beijing Games become synonymous with human rights abuses and crackdown on dissent as we are already seeing in the lead up to the one-year countdown.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Lhadon Tethong
Cc: Hein Verbruggen, Chairman, IOC’s 2008 Olympics Coordination Committee
Liu Qi, President, Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games
Lhandon La
I am proud of the effort and passion that you bring to your movement. However, what has not been said is not just a ‘Free Tibet’ but what, in fact, a free Tibet entails-we as a people have spent such an effort in raising awareness that we have neglected-or at least not have marketed it to the masses-the next level of action. What will be the plan if there is a Free Tibet? I am for a Free Tibet-but in may seem strange and horrifying at first-I am not for one right now. We are at a crux in our development and we must use the time, especially the blessed diaspora who have become wealthy (in comparison to most of our bretheren still within occupied Tibet) and educated-we have an obligation to mould our education into forming a concrete plan of action for an Free Tibet-I pose some questions here
* Who is to run the power grid?
* What is the election process going to look like
* Who will run the police force, will it inlude previous party members? If not see what has happened with de-baathificaiton in Iraq
*What about the TIbetan Chinese issue?
*Is Tibetan, in a Free Tibet, going to be purely ethnic? Or will it be a National Title?
*If there is a Free Tibet-why is it that many of the pushes is to follow a feudal past, model (I would hazard to most Tibetans this would be as harsh as current regime)
If we look at the recent past, as well as the formation of other governments namely the America’s we can use them as blue prints-mostly of what not to do.
And I would suggest that the Tibetans do this Nation building. If we use the post Taleban Afghanistan as a model of what can happen to a nation that becomes ‘free’ before it is ready-then our current holding pattern becomes a blessing-we can get our ducks in order so to say-Afghanistan had 8 days in Bonn to gather a plan on how to run and police their New country. The West strongly inluenced this. If we are to live up to our capabilities, to our chance, then we must, must-progess beyond, ‘media’ events, and spectacles for ‘getting the word out’ because that in itself is admitting the impotency of our movement. WE must plan all the minutae and intricacies of government, we have not yet planned even the overt forms of it; accounting (GAAP-hopefully and transparency), checks on governing, security, taxation, representation, and even before this-how to run an interim government, to implement strategies to institute said government etc.
Our current Hippyish-sit in, love in, even protest movement must grow up into pragmatic approaches toward governing, and a Free Tibet. Or, at the very least, at least hand in hand-with as much effort (hopefully more) placed into the cultivation of governing- If Tibet were Free in 24 hrs-I would hazard an educated guess that it would fall into chaos and a warlord or two would take over-modeled more closely to Mogidishu than Shangri-la…Free Tibet takes massive effort in order to be something worthy of existing, that does not model itself after the already failed examples-or examples that do not live up to our cultural heritage both in the west and in Beijjing (which is just modleing itself after the west and its deeds which makes it odd that we go to the west asking for acceptance)
I am sorry it is so long, Achak-but I thought it would be read by those better than I-so that they can do a thing or two. I have written proposals, sent them to the Kashag-but I have yet to hear anything. It is greatly possible it is because it did not have the acumen necessary.
Be well
Remember
Thup Shae
Guru
If you need help getting Jacques Rogge top meet with you, Lhadon, maybe you should make a call to action- tell SFT activists to email/call him en masse and pressure him to cave in and speak to you! Give me his contact information, and I’ll be happy to harrass him.
Go to the Museum in Shanghai; you will see very clearly the Tibetan coinage as part of the Qing Dynasty coinage.
This group of people had no understanding of the history of Tibetian Lamas and their history as part of China. When a spiritual leader like Dalai tried to be the political leader. his ultimate punishment should ne exile. It is just like having some Christian bishop to run Canada or USA.
This group of shallow young people are ignorant and simply bullshitters.
Why don’t we righteous Americans/Canadians set a good example for the Chinese by reliniquishing our established statehood towards Native American Independence? First Nation Independence?
Of cours not, we are hypocrits. We want to keep our stolen land and demand Tibet Independence.
Proverb goes “people living in glass house should not throw stones.”
Also, what’s your connection with PM Harper’s advisor Tenzin Khangsar?
http://www.google.com/search?q=Tenzin+Khangsar+Students+For+Free+Tibet