Publyshed by: The Canada Tibet Committee in World Tibet News, Sunday, July 16, 1995

Press Release

From: Transnational Radical Party

ABSTRACT. Press release of the Radical Party concerning the EP vote on the motion about the condemnation of the invasion and occupation of Tibet, including the resolution text.

New York - Strasbourg. Following the initiative of the European Parliamentarians Marco Pannella, Pierre Pradier, Gianfranco Dell'Alba, Noel Mamere and Dominique Saint-Pierre (Radical Party's members, group ARE), James Moorhouse (group PPE) and Adelaide Aglietta (group Green) the Parliament, this morning, has adopted a revolutionary resolution on Tibet.

Besides the groups ARE, Green and PPE, the following political parties have expressed their support in favor of this motion:

The resolution has been adopted with 232 votes in favor, 3 votes against and 10 abstentions.

In effect, for the first time, the European Parliament has gone beyond denouncing violations of human rights to denouncing in very clear terms the illegality of the invasion and the occupation of Tibet by the Chinese Popular Republic.

The European Parliament specifically

a. asks the Chinese Authorities:

- to immediately release Gedhun Chiekyi Nyima, a six year old boy, recognized by the Dalai Lama as the last reincarnation of Panchen Lama;

- to immediately stop the relocation of Chinese people to Tibet;

b. asks the European Institutions:

- to pursue all possible initiatives in order to encourage the resolution of the Tibetan question through a political dialogue;

c. asks the Chinese and the Tibetan Authorities:

- to begin negotiations by political dialogue;

d. expresses its support of the Dalai Lama's efforts to restructure by pacifist means the cultural and religious freedom as well as the political autonomy of the Tibetan people;

e. expresses its support to the Tibetan people and wishes the establishment of formal relations between the exiled Tibetan Parliament and the European Parliament.

RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT on the situation in Tibet and the disappearance of the six-year old Panchen Lama

July 13th, 1995

The European Parliament,

A. gravely concerned at reports of the abduction of a six-year old Tibetan boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, and his parents, by the Chinese authorities shortly after he had been recognized by the Dalai Lama as the latest reincarnation of Tibet's second most important spiritual leader, the Panchen Lama, who died in 1989;

B. considering that, throughout its history, Tibet succeeded in maintaining a national, cultural and religious identity distinct from China until this began to be eroded following the Chinese invasion;

C. reaffirming the illegal nature of the invasion and occupation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China; whereas, before the invasion by China in 1950, Tibet was recognized de facto by many countries and whereas it is an occupied territory according to the principles laid down by international law and the resolutions of the United Nations;

D. condemning the attempt made by the Chinese authorities to destroy the Tibetan identity inter alia by a policy of large-scale settlement of ethnic Chinese in Tibet, forced sterilization of females, abortions, political, religious and cultural persecution and the Sinization of the Tibetan administration;

E. recalling its earlier resolutions on the occupation of Tibet and the repression of its people by the Chinese authorities;

1. Calls on the Chinese authorities to ensure that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family will be immediatly released and allowed to return to their village;

2. Calls on the Chinese Government to put an end to its violations of human rights, ensure respect for the fundamental rights of the peoples and individuals in Tibet and put an end to officially-encouraged population transfers of ethnic Chinese in Tibet;

3. Invites the Commission and the Council to intervene with the Chinese authorities to stress how the continued oppression of the Tibetan people damages relations between the European Union and the People's Republic of China;

4. Calls on the Institutions of the European Union on the one hand to support any move to settle the Sino-Tibetan problem by means of a political dialogue and, on the other, on the Chinese Government and the Tibetan Government-in-exile to begin negotiations along those lines, and, in this context, expresses its support for the efforts of the Dalai Lama to restore by peaceful means the cultural and religious freedom of the Tibetan people, as well as their political autonomy;

5. Expresses its support for the Tibetan people and calls on the European Parliament to establish permanent contacts with the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile;

6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the government of China, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Parliament-in-exile of Tibet and the UN Secretary-General.