Free Tibet Campaign
Encyclopedia
Free Tibet or Free Tibet Campaign is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, founded in 1987 and based in London
, England
. It stands for the rights of Tibetans
to determine their own future and campaigns for "an end to the Chinese occupation of Tibet and for the fundamental human rights
of Tibetans to be respected."
It is a member of the International Tibet Support Network
(ITSN), a worldwide group of affiliated organizations campaigning for human rights and self-determination in Tibet.
Free Tibet generates active support through public education about the situation in Tibet. It is independent of all governments and are funded by members and supporters. As of December 2010 Free Tibet had around 6,000 members, over 20,000 supporters, around 40 local groups around the UK
and a further 15 around the world, involved in fund raising and letter writing campaigns. Local groups spread awareness in their communities by participating in Free Tibet co-ordinated actions, including staging fundraising events and talks, local protesting,and lobbying their MPs. All local groups are legally and financially autonomous.
Free Tibet issues a 3-time yearly magazine to its members in addition to regular mailings informing its supporters of the organization's activities. In addition, supporters can subscribe to urgent action campaigns. Urgent action campaign subscribers receive immediate information on important cases needing their individual support.
Most notably Free Tibet focuses on the abolition of torture, freedom of religion, the release of political prisoners, and the lobying of the UK government.
Free Tibet has also worked alongside celebrities such as Alan Rickman
, David Threlfall
, Juliet Stevenson
, and Dominic West
to record testimonies of tortured Tibetans. The organisation has used the video testimonies to create more awareness and urge people to take action by writing to William Hague and Chinese representatives to put a stop to torture in Tibet.
has for centuries been the most defining aspect of Tibetan life and has fundamentally shaped Tibetan identity. Before, and especially during, the Cultural Revolution, all but eight of six thousand monasteries and nunneries were destroyed, religious artefacts and scripts burned, monks and religious leaders imprisoned and tortured.
Free Tibet advocates the removal of controls and restrictions that prevent Tibetans practising their religion in a meaningful way. ). Free Tibet urges its supporters to take action by writing to the Chinese representatives in supporters’ countries.
, reducing Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
's sentence from death to life and was possibly influential in ensuring Runggye Adak
's relatively low-length sentence in 2007.
Free Tibet has an extensive list of current prisoners, released prisoners, and those that have received death sentences.
Free Tibet has a number of policy recommendations that it believes will result in a more robust and results-orientated approach to improving the human rights situation in Tibet. These recommendations include a restructuring of the UK Human Rights Dialogue, publicly raising the issue, and consulting human rights organisations.
; protests which Tibet Support Groups (TSGs) continue to gather evidence about today. As the Chinese government routinely bars journalists from Tibet and ensures that political dissent is punished harshly, the work of TSGs in getting information out of Tibet is difficult but vital to the Tibetan cause.
Throughout 2008, Free Tibet and other TSGs have referred to what they claimed was the hypocrisy of China being awarded the Olympic Games
while being one of the world's most serious human rights offenders. They argued that this contradicted spirit of the Games as well as promises made to the International Olympic Committee
[IOC] that China would improve its human rights record in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics. This included the organizing of large scale rallies in central London during the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay
in April, in which thousands of Tibet supporters filled the streets, leading to China and the IOC reducing and re-routing relays in other cities. The protests were supposed to dampen the impact of the Chinese Communist Party's external propaganda that China is a 'harmonious' state.
Following the Olympics, China analysts speculated on the possibility that the authorities would begin dealing harshly with Tibetan dissenters after world attention moved off Beijing. Following the Olympics the Chinese authorities did initiate a state of de facto martial law in Tibet by moving troops into Tibetan areas and handing down harsh sentences for Tibetans who protested against Chinese rule, or reported on the human rights conditions in Tibet.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It stands for the rights of Tibetans
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
to determine their own future and campaigns for "an end to the Chinese occupation of Tibet and for the fundamental human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
of Tibetans to be respected."
It is a member of the International Tibet Support Network
International Tibet Support Network
The International Tibet Network, established in 2000, is a global coalition of Tibet-related non-governmental organisations. Its purpose is to maximise the effectiveness of the worldwide Tibet movement...
(ITSN), a worldwide group of affiliated organizations campaigning for human rights and self-determination in Tibet.
Free Tibet generates active support through public education about the situation in Tibet. It is independent of all governments and are funded by members and supporters. As of December 2010 Free Tibet had around 6,000 members, over 20,000 supporters, around 40 local groups around the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and a further 15 around the world, involved in fund raising and letter writing campaigns. Local groups spread awareness in their communities by participating in Free Tibet co-ordinated actions, including staging fundraising events and talks, local protesting,and lobbying their MPs. All local groups are legally and financially autonomous.
Free Tibet issues a 3-time yearly magazine to its members in addition to regular mailings informing its supporters of the organization's activities. In addition, supporters can subscribe to urgent action campaigns. Urgent action campaign subscribers receive immediate information on important cases needing their individual support.
Campaigns
Free Tibet works on a number of campaigns to create awareness of the situation in Tibet and contribute towards the improvement of human rights for the lives of the Tibetan people. Free Tibet continues to gather information from inside Tibet despite strict Government controls, and to push for international action to solve the current crisis in Tibet.Most notably Free Tibet focuses on the abolition of torture, freedom of religion, the release of political prisoners, and the lobying of the UK government.
Torture
In 2008 Free Tibet submitted evidence to the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva detailing the deteriorating record of abuse inside Tibet. Subsequently the UN Committee concluded that torture in Tibet is 'widespread and routine'.Free Tibet has also worked alongside celebrities such as Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, David Threlfall
David Threlfall
David Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show.-Early life:...
, Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE is an English actor of stage and screen.- Early life :Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth , a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every...
, and Dominic West
Dominic West
Dominic Gerard Fe West is an English actor best known for his role as Detective Jimmy McNulty in the HBO drama series The Wire.-Film and TV:...
to record testimonies of tortured Tibetans. The organisation has used the video testimonies to create more awareness and urge people to take action by writing to William Hague and Chinese representatives to put a stop to torture in Tibet.
Religion
ReligionReligion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
has for centuries been the most defining aspect of Tibetan life and has fundamentally shaped Tibetan identity. Before, and especially during, the Cultural Revolution, all but eight of six thousand monasteries and nunneries were destroyed, religious artefacts and scripts burned, monks and religious leaders imprisoned and tortured.
Free Tibet advocates the removal of controls and restrictions that prevent Tibetans practising their religion in a meaningful way. ). Free Tibet urges its supporters to take action by writing to the Chinese representatives in supporters’ countries.
Political Prisoners
Free Tibet seeks the release of political prisoners through lobbying, petitions, and its Urgent Action Campaigns. This approach has been successful in securing the early release of prominent political prisoners such as Phuntsog NyidronPhuntsog Nyidron
Phuntsog Nyidron is a Tibetan Buddhist nun and a former high-profile prisoner in Tibet. In 1989, she and eight other nuns traveled from her hometown to the provincial capital of Lhasa when it was convulsed by Tibetan independence protests and riots, and handed out leaflets and shouted anti-Chinese...
, reducing Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Lithang Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche or Tenzing Deleg is a Tibetan Buddhist leader from Garze, Sichuan. He was arrested on April 7, 2002 during a raid on Jamyang Choekhorling in Garze, Sichuan, China...
's sentence from death to life and was possibly influential in ensuring Runggye Adak
Runggye Adak
Runggye Adak is a Tibetan man who was arrested and charged with state subversion against the People's Republic of China after making a series of public political statements at a festival in eastern Tibet, on August 1, 2007.Runggye Adak, said to be a respected local figure and the father of eleven,...
's relatively low-length sentence in 2007.
Free Tibet has an extensive list of current prisoners, released prisoners, and those that have received death sentences.
Lobbying the UK Government
In the run up to the 2010 elections Free Tibet lobbied MP's, with the help of their supporters,to pledge to promote human rights in Tibet and China. Over 200 candidates pledged. In addition Free Tibet has a number of MPs that are championing human rights in Tibet and China.Free Tibet has a number of policy recommendations that it believes will result in a more robust and results-orientated approach to improving the human rights situation in Tibet. These recommendations include a restructuring of the UK Human Rights Dialogue, publicly raising the issue, and consulting human rights organisations.
Protests against Olympic Torch Relay
In March 2008, the group reported extensively on the unrest and large series of protests in Tibet2008 Tibetan unrest
The 2008 Tibetan unrest, also known from its Chinese name as the 3•14 Riots, was a series of riots, protests, and demonstrations that started in Tibetan regional capital of Lhasa and spread to other Tibetan areas and a number of monasteries including outside the Tibet Autonomous Region...
; protests which Tibet Support Groups (TSGs) continue to gather evidence about today. As the Chinese government routinely bars journalists from Tibet and ensures that political dissent is punished harshly, the work of TSGs in getting information out of Tibet is difficult but vital to the Tibetan cause.
Throughout 2008, Free Tibet and other TSGs have referred to what they claimed was the hypocrisy of China being awarded the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
while being one of the world's most serious human rights offenders. They argued that this contradicted spirit of the Games as well as promises made to the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
[IOC] that China would improve its human rights record in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics. This included the organizing of large scale rallies in central London during the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay
2008 Summer Olympics torch relay
The 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from March 24 until August 8, 2008, prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the theme of "one world, one dream". Plans for the relay were announced on April 26, 2007, in Beijing, China...
in April, in which thousands of Tibet supporters filled the streets, leading to China and the IOC reducing and re-routing relays in other cities. The protests were supposed to dampen the impact of the Chinese Communist Party's external propaganda that China is a 'harmonious' state.
Following the Olympics, China analysts speculated on the possibility that the authorities would begin dealing harshly with Tibetan dissenters after world attention moved off Beijing. Following the Olympics the Chinese authorities did initiate a state of de facto martial law in Tibet by moving troops into Tibetan areas and handing down harsh sentences for Tibetans who protested against Chinese rule, or reported on the human rights conditions in Tibet.
External links
- Free Tibet's official website
- Tibet Watch's official website
- 'Revealing the Truth': Free Tibet report on China's Anti-Dalai Lama campaign
- 'Forked Tongue': Free Tibet's report on the forced decline of the Tibetan language
- Free Tibet's alternative travel guide to Tibet
- 'The Tortured Truth': From Free Tibet's report to the UN