For Immediate Release

Contact: Rachel Lostumbo John Ackerly

202.785.1515

Senate Hearing on Tibet

ICT, September 6 - The United States Senate will hold a hearing on Tibet on September 7, 1995 focusing on the human rights situation there and the efforts of the Dalai Lama to achieve a peaceful, negotiated solution to the Tibetan problem. Among those testifying at the hearing will be Gendun Rinchen, a prominent former political prisoner from Tibet, Harrison Ford, Melissa Mathison, and Lodi G. Gyari, Special Envoy of the Dalai Lama in Washington, D.C.

Gendun Rinchen escaped from Tibet early this year after being in prison for over a year. He had been arrested by Chinese authorities for trying to contact a delegation of Beijing-based European ambassadors who were on a visit to Tibet in May 1993. Amnesty International and other organizations launched a massive campaign for Gendun's release. In 1992 Gendun had been a tour guide for Harisson Ford and Melissa Mathison during their trip to Tibet. Ford and Mathison played an active role in the campaign for Gendun's release, which included an op-ed by Mathison for The New York Times entitled "Where is Gendun Rinchen?"

The hearing will take place during a high-profile visit of the Dalai Lama to the United States. The Dalai Lama will be in Houston on the day of the hearing, where he will be making a major address to U.S. business leaders on business and ethics. He will be in Washington, D.C. from September 11 to 13, 1995.

A panel of experts on the Tibetan situation will also be testifying at the hearing. The panel includes Dr. Jeffrey Hopkins of University of Virginia, Dr. Ron Schwartz of Maritime University of Newfoundland (Canada), and Ms. Dinah PoKempner of Human Rights Watch/Asia.

The Senate hearing will take place at 2:00 pm in SD-419 at the Dirksen Senate Office building.