Newsletter of the transnational Radical Party's campaigns for the freedom of Tibet

Number 1 of 20 December, 1995

Editors office: rue Belliard 89, Rem 508, B-1047 Brussels

tel +32-2-2304121, fax +32-2-2303670

E-mail radical.party@agora.stm.it, http//:www.agora.stm.it/pr

For more information: Conference Tibet and News Tibet on the multilingual communication system Agora' Telematica (telnet: agora)

THE TIBETAN COMMUNITIES IN EUROPE

THE TIBET SUPPORT GROUPS IN EUROPE

THE RADICAL PARTY

During the course of a meeting in Strasbourg on the 14th and 15th of December 1995, have decided to organize on March 10, 1996 the first European demonstration which will begin in front of the European Parliament and will end in front of the Chinese Embassy. The objective will be to bring at least 5000 people to Brussels from all over Europe.

In order to increase the mobilization from now until March 10, it has been decided to straighten the commitment for the campaign "a flag for Tibet". The minimum goal is to reach 500 towns.

The Strasbourg Seminar has furthermore approved a Platform of program for the demonstration (which, for reasons of space, will be published in the next "Freedom for Tibet - fax").

In Strasbourg it has been decided to elect a European Clearinghouse, with the main headquarter in Brussels, made up of Piero Verni, President of the "Italia-Tibet" Association, Patrick Matton, President of "Les Amis du Tibet - Belgique", Tenzin Emchi, President of the Tibetan Community in Switzerland and Olivier Dupuis, Secretary of the RP, in cooperation with a number of national headquarters (on page two is an initial list of headquarters).

STRASBOURG SEMINAR

On December 14-15 took place in Strasbourg an organizational seminar on the question of Tibet with over 100 participants, representatives of European Support Groups for Tibet, representatives of the Tibetan Communities, of the Transnational Radical Party, of union organizations and numerous Euro-parliamentarians, among whom James Moorhouse and Gianfranco Dell'Alba of the Tibet Intergroup at the EP.

At the working sessions, there were interventions by Tempa Tsering, Secretary of the Tibetan Government for international relations, Dawa Thondup and Chungdak D-Goren, representatives of the Dalai Lama to Paris and Geneva who brought important contributions on the conditions of the people of Tibet. For the working prospectives within the United Nations, there was an intervention by Marino Busdachin, representative of the RP in New York.

The discussions, over the two days, has found numerous points of action for the current campaigns and has underlined the urgency for a maximum increase of everybody's commitment in order to sensitize and inform at all possible levels, from citizens to institutions, on the tragic developments of the situation in Tibet. During the days of the seminar, were announced two important resolutions approved by the EP on the Panchen Lama an on the jailed Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng.

A FLAG FOR TIBET

Up to today, 47 Mayors of 14 different countries have joined the initiative to raise the Tibetan flag on their City Hall. Among the last adhesions, is that of the Mayor of Strasbourg and himself a member of European Parliament, Catherine Trautmann (in the next number of "Freedom for Tibet - fax", there will be the complete list of mayors who have joined).

APPEAL TO BOUTROS GHALI FOR A MEETING WITH H. H. THE DALAI LAMA

More than one hundred Parliamentarians has undersigned the appeal to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Boutros Ghali so that he may receive, as soon as possible, the Dalai Lama in order to devise with him the possible steps for an initiative to reinstate in Tibet the rights and international legality violated.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: RESOLUTION ON THE PANCHEN LAMA

During the working sessions of the Strasbourg Seminar which was taking place at the same time of the working sessions of the European Parliament, the Euro-deputies Moorhouse, dell'Alba announced the vote of an important resolution on the case of the PANCHEN LAMA.

The approved text "condemns the interference of the government of the Chinese Popular Republic in the designation of the candidate to the title of Panchen Lama, the competence of which is of rigorously religious character, in addition, the forced crowning of the candidate imposed by the Chinese authorities" and "asks that the Chinese authorities desist from exercising pressures and likely intimidations on Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family, above all as far as the free exercise of his spiritual role of Panchen Lama is concerned". Furthermore, the EP "sustains that the final decision on the PANAN project, of the EU in Tibet, must not be adopted until all expressed demands have been satisfied (by the same resolution)".

WEJ NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 1996: RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

The efforts undertaken by the "Chinese House of Democracy" of Paris and the Radical Party, continue for the collection of signatures for the candidacy of the jailed Chinese dissident Wej Jingsheng to the Nobel Peace Prize of 1996. Numerous signatures from the European Parliament and the national Parliaments of Rumania, Italy and Hungary have been added for a total of 82.

At the same time, the European Parliament, during the last session of the works on the initiative of the Euro-deputies Mamere (ARE), Moorhouse (PPE), Aglietta (Verdi) and Larive (ELDR) has approved a resolution on the unjustifiable new conviction of Wej Jinsheng, asking for his the immediate release together with that of all other political prisoners.

In the resolution, the EP "insist that the Commission and the Counsel evaluate the best way to initiate a joint action within the norms of the European Union Treaty in order to exercise long term pressures on China on human rights and considers that investments and commercial policies should be regarded as the most suitable instruments for such pressures".