< TIBET: GENEVA 1997 - #5 >

Newsletter of the European Coordinating Committee

Issue No. 5 - February 25, 1997.

Editor: Rue Belliard 89 - REM 5.08 - 1047 Brussels (B)

Tel: +32-2-2304121 - Fax: +32-2-2303670

Published in English, French, Italian

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EVERYONE IN GENEVA FOR THE FREEDOM OF OCCUPIED TIBET

As you may have read in issue #52 of "Tibet-China Fax," we only received permission for the manifestations from the Genevan authorities on Monday, February 24th. In this issue of "Geneva Fax," the final issue before the manifestation of March 9-10, we publish the logistical program of the "two days" in Geneva and the new schedule for the manifestation.

There have been many problems, many difficulties to overcome, and often much to do in extreme isolation. We beg your pardon for the lateness with which we convey this information to you, which was due, as you know, to forces beyond our control. Now is the time to act. After March 10th there will be other necessary assessments to be made.

A wish for good work to everyone and we will meet in Geneva!

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MANIFESTATION IN GENEVA FOR THE FREEDOM OF TIBET

- NEW SCHEDULE -

- Sunday March 9:

* 1:00 PM: Meeting at the Place des Nations, on square in front of the

main entrance of the United Nations.

* 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Speeches and music. Food and beverage stands will be

available in the square, as well as information booths.

* 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM: Non violent march from the Place des Nations

to the lake side. Distribution of the candles and organization of the

participants for the candle light vigil (from 6:00-7:00 PM).

* 7:00 - 8:00 PM: Candle light vigil by the lake side.

- Monday March 10

* 11:00 AM: Non violent sit-in in front of the gates of the United

Nations (Place des Nations).

< TECHNICAL INFORMATION >

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DIRECTIONS TO THE PLACE DES NATIONS

1). For those arriving by car or bus:

Regardless of the direction from which you arrive, you must use the "Geneva-Airport" exit to get off the highway. After the exit follow the signs labelled "United Nations." The street which leads to the Plaza of Nations is Rte de Ferney.

2). For those arriving by train:

Once you arrive at Geneva's Central Station, you can take either the No. 8 or No. 5 bus destined for "Nations" from the Place de Montbrillants (behind the Central Station). You may also take the F or Z bus lines from Rue de Montbrillant (also near the central Station).

Note: due to the proximity of the Central Station to the United Nations, the plan to use shuttle buses between the two has been cancelled.

3) For those arriving by plane:

Take the shuttle train from the International Arrivals to the Geneva Central Station. Follow instructions of No. 2 from this point forward.

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INFORMATION STAND ON RUE DE MONT BLANC

An information stand will be open close to the Central Station, near the city's center, to provide information for marchers. The stand will be open from 8:00 AM until 9:00 PM. It will be located at the intersection of Rue de Mont Blanc and Rue de Berne at about 400 yards from the entrance of the Central Station.

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WHERE TO PARK BUSES AND CARS

The Geneva Police have assigned Avenue de la Paix as a location for the parking of vehicles used to transport marchers. Avenue de la Paix is a long street that opens onto Place des Nations. Directions and information can be found at Place des Nations.

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FOOD AND BEVERAGES

A free refreshment stand organized by the Swiss Tibetan community will be opened at Place des Nations. It is highly recommended - especially considering the high restaurant prices in Geneva - that all participants in the manifestations bring their own food to Geneva.

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NON VIOLENT MARCH FOR PEACE ON THE LAKE SIDE

A non violent march that will bring the marchers to the lake side will begin at the Place des Nations at about 4:30 PM. The march and the organization of the marchers for the vigil along the lake side will take approximately two hours.

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VIGIL INSTRUCTIONS

The candle light vigil will begin at exactly 7:00 PM. The candles will be distributed along the path of the march, as well as along the lake side and at the Place des Nations. The marchers will be organized along the lake side so that they extend from the lighthouse to the fountain on the other side of the lake.

Note: it is important that the candles not be lighted before 7:00 PM.

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AT 8:00 PM ON MARCH 9TH

At the end of the candle light vigil, which is scheduled to end at 8:00 PM, the program of the day will conclude. The marchers will return by buses and to their sleeping accommodations for the night.

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WHERE TO SLEEP: 822 INEXPENSIVE BEDS HAVE BEEN FOUND.

All of the hotel information for Geneva 1997 was published in Geneva Fax No. 4. Thanks to our friends at "Porte du Tibet" in Geneva, many inexpensive places to sleep were located for the night of March 9th.

1) Youth Hostel (with breakfast)

The following rooms were reserved at these prices:

- 5 rooms of 4 beds each (99 CHF per room)

- 4 rooms of 2 beds each (60 CHF per room, private bathroom)

- 8 rooms with 2 beds each (70 CHF per room, with bathroom and shower)

- 2 rooms with 3 beds each (85 CHF per room, with bathroom and shower)

- 2 rooms of 5 beds each (125 CHF per room, with bathroom and shower)

- 4 rooms with 8 beds each (23 CHF per person)

- 1 room with 14 beds (23 CHF per person)

- 18 rooms with 6 beds each ( 23 CHF per person)

Total number of places available in the Youth Hostel: 214

The selection of rooms is at the discretion of the organizational Committee and based upon the reservations that have arrived.

2) Civil Protection Shelter: 15 CHF per night (without breakfast)

The civil protection shelters at our disposal are six, for a total of 608 persons subdivided in the following way: 68, 62, 112, 80, 146, 140. The service includes sheets and blankets.

A shelter of 146 places has also been reserved for the evening of March 8th.

Note: in order to reserve a place, you must fax the organizers the following information: last name, first name, the complete address of every person who intends to use the facilities. For groups of more than five people a leader must be designated among its members in the reservation fax.

Please note that the civil shelters are windowless bunkers and are under strict control concerning nightly re-entry.

Fax your information to: 0041-22-740.45.44

(Address it to the attention of Lapkha Tsering.)

Note: All of the information concerning addresses, method of payment, and hours will be available to marchers at the information stand on Rue de Mont Blanc and that of the Committee on the Place des Nations.

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MONDAY MARCH 10

At 11:00 AM on Monday, March 10, a non violent sit-in will take place before the gates of the United Nations on Place des Nations (the same square as that of the previous day) A reading will take place, during which the representatives of the Tibetan government in exile will read a prepared statement by the Dalai Lama on this, the thirty-eighth anniversary of the Lhasa uprising. Tibetan Minister of Foreign Affairs Kalon Tashi Wangdi is expected to attend.

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SECOND PAGE

What follows is the text of the article that appeared in the Genevan daily newspaper "Le Courrier" on February 25th, 1997 concerning the problems the city officials faced when granting permission to the marchers to demonstrate.

The March for Tibet re-structured by the Automobile Exposition

< Le Courrier, Tuesday, February 25th, 1997 >

by Michael Roy

The militants who support a free Tibet see their march in a new light. The cause: automobile traffic.

Do Geneva's police venerate automobiles to the point that they will refuse to deviate traffic for a couple of hours? This is the question that the European associations who support the people of Tibet are asking themselves, as they have been organizing this march of solidarity for a very long time. The march will be held in Geneva on March 9-10. The second day commemorates, on one side, the 38th anniversary of the non violent uprising in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, against the annexation of the "roof of the world" on behalf of China. On the other side it coincides with the inauguration of the UN Human Rights Commission's work session, where, for many years, militants in favor of fundamental rights have called for a condemnation of the Chinese regime.

In Geneva, the organizational committee of this massive European march in support of Tibet has been sent from one police office to another for three weeks. As of today, they had not yet obtained authorization, not even for a reduced path for the march. It has reached the point that Olivier Dupuis, European Deputy and Secretary of the Transnational Radical Party (1), addressed a letter last week to all of the interested parties in which he asks whether Geneva has renounced its responsibilities as host of the highest organization of the international community.

Automobiles and Human Rights

Tiziana Falletti, a member of the organizational committee, did not hide her bitterness yesterday: "Last year, at the first major European march in Brussels, we were able to resolve all of these problems, despite the fact that our march coincided with a large union rally. Maybe Geneva is more concerned with the rights of cars than it is with human rights."

This, in fact, is the essence of the question. Sunday's march coincides with the first weekend of the automobile exposition, and there will be more cars and buses in the city, and especially in the vicinity of the United Nations, where the march will begin.

Eric Balland, the vice-secretary of the Department of Justice, Police, and Transport, has declared his dislike for this coincidence of dates, noting that the organizers of a march that will bring thousands of people to the city should have begun the process a little sooner: "For what regards us, we could not revise our traffic plan one month before the exposition." He adds: " We made a compromise, that the manifestation will take place in one section of the square in front of the United Nations. But it was impossible to provide for a march beginning at the center of the city."

It is a minimalist solution, and one which forced the organizational committee of the march to accept it, since few alternatives remained. The schedule remains to be revised....

(1) The Transnational Radical Party (TRP) is not affiliated in any way with the Swiss Radical Party. The TRP is an association of citizens and Parliamentarians from many different nations. Its members do not run in elections in the name of the TRP. The TRP is, in fact, a non-governmental organization with consultative status at the United Nations. It affirms a non violent philosophy in the spirit of Ghandi, civil disobedience, and democracy. Among its concrete objectives are the institution of a Permanent International Criminal Court, the universal abolition of capital punishment, the adoption of a neutral international language (Esperanto), the anti-prohibitionist revision of drug laws, and the freedom of Tibet as well as democracy for China.

Contact: Transnational radical Party, rue Belliard 97-113, 1047 Brussels.

Tel: 0032-2-230.41.21.