Published by: World Tibet Network News, 96/06/05 23:00 GMT

Submitted by Kunzang Yuthok, TRC

ISTANBUL, June 5, 1996

TIBET WORKSHOP:

Today, the Tibet Delegation held its first of three workshops. This workshop was titled "Habitat - The Situation in Occupied Tibet" and was organized by the Tibet Bureau for UN Affairs, Geneva.

The audience of over 100 was welcomed by Mr. Ngawang C. Drakmargyapon of the Tibet Bureau and the program was chaired by Mr. Arslan Alptekin, a leader of Eastern Turkestan living in Turkey. The audience included some members of the Chinese delegation including one Tibetan man.

Topics presented by the speakers (in order of delivery) were:

"Habitat- The Situation in Occupied Tibet: An Overview" by Mr. Tenzin P. Atisha, Joint Secretary, Department of Information and International Relations, Tibetan Government in Exile, India.

"Urbanisation, Development and Population Transfer in Tibet" by Mr. John Ackerly, Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington DC.

Video screening of "Demolition of Traditional Buildings in Lhasa" by BBC.

"The destruction of Holy Lhasa: A case study" by Ms. Eva Herzer, President, International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet, USA.

"Tradition as the Best Practice", by Ms. Tsering Tsomo, President, Tibetan Women's Association, India.

"Urbanisation, Housing Rights and Forced Evictions in Tibet and International Law", by Mr. Scott Leckie, International Expert and author of "Destruction by Design: Housing Rights Violations in Tibet".

After the presentations, the floor was open to questions. The first person to take the floor was a Chinese delegate from the Chinese Society for Sustainable Development. Rather than pose a direct question, he began by making a statement. Chairman, Mr. Alptekin was diligent in keeping to the guidelines of audience members posing questions and not taking the microphone to make statements.

As expected, the Chinese delegates tried to disrupt the proceedings, however, they were unsuccessful. The audience of about 100 which included about 30 Eastern Turkistanis was overwhelmingly supportive of the presenters and Tibet.

Mr. Alptekin kept to the guidelines of the workshop and invited the Chinese delegates to organize their own workshop if they wanted to engage in a debate with Tibetan and Eastern Turkistani delegates. The Chinese delegates did not respond to his suggestion.

The Tibet Delegation's next workshop is scheduled for June 7. Titled "Death of a Sacred Lake", it is organized by the Tibet Support Group - UK.

CONFERENCE:

THE HABITAT AGENDA

This afternoon, language proposed by the Tibet NGO Delegation regarding "preservation of cultural heritage" was adopted by the Working Group dealing with the Habitat Agenda. This is of particular significance to Tibet because of the massive destruction of Tibetan monasteries and heritage sites by the Chinese government.

This principle, which was not previously articulated in the Habitat Agenda, was proposed by the United States and was supported by Canada and Norway. Final language was presented by the European Union.

The particular sections of paragraph #49 read as follows:

"49. To integrate shelter policies with macroeconomic, social, demographic, environment and CULTURAL policies, Governments, as appropriate, should:

(c) Strengthen the linkages between shelter policies, employment generation, environmental protection, PRESERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE, resource mobilization and the maximization of resource efficience, and strengthen the stimulation of and support for sustainable economic development and social dvelopment activites;

(e) Integrate land and shelter policies with policies for reducing poverty and creating jobs, for environmental protection, PRESERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE, for education and health, for providing clean water-supply and sanitation facilities, and for empowering members of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, particularly people without shelter;

The Tibet NGO Delegation's success in the inclusion of their proposed language in the Habitat Agenda so early in the negotiations, is a direct reflection on the early lobbying of governments prior to Istanbul. In April, the Tibet NGO Delegation drafted their proposed amendments to the Habitat Agenda and distributed it to governments and other international NGOs participating in Habitat II.

Another principle of importance to the Tibet NGO Delegation is the recognition of the vulnerability of "peoples living under foreign occupation". Although similar language was included in the Beijing Platform for Action, it is going to be more difficult to include it in the Habitat Agenda. The Tibet NGO Delegation has identified those countries who were supportive of this language in Beijing and will be continuing to lobby them for such language in the Habitat Agenda.

THE ISTANBUL PAPER

The Tibet Caucus has submitted language for the NGO Statement for submission and adoption of the Istanbul Paper. This paper will be based on the submissions from the member states and partners who are defined as local authorities, business, community based organizations, labor groups and NGOs. The NGO paper will be presented on June 10th.

PRESS:

In one of the Habitat daily papers, there was a picture of some of the Tibet delegates and Mr. Alptekin with the floral wreath that commemorated yesterday's June 4th Tiannanmen Square massacre.