July 22 to 28, 1996 - Submitted by Tibetan Youth Congress

On July 22, 1996 the International Union of Socialist Youth World Festival was opened by IUSY President, Nicola Zingaretti. The Festival was attended by over 5000 delegates from 117 countries by waving flag, singing etc and Tibet was represented by Mr. Tseten Norbu, President and Yangchen Dolkar, General Secretary, Tibetan Youth Congress by waving Tibetan National Flags.

In his inaugural speech Mr. Nicola Zingaretti, President, IUSY, has pointed out that support for Tibet, East Timor and Bhutan are among the major shows of this solidarity program. He also stated that the human right violations in those countries are the concern of all and IUSY demonstrates its solidarity and continuous support to those countries.

On July 23, 1996,Tibet solidarity evening was held in Nordic Tent addressed by Mr. Nicola Zingaretti, IUSY President with an introduction on Tibet and Tibetan Youth Congress. Mr. Tseten Norbu, President, Tibetan Youth Congress gave a detailed description on Tibet. He said that," Tibet has a recorded history of over 2000 years as an independent nation. Tibet fought wars with its neighbors and also entered into treaties with them as an independent nation. After the illegal occupation of Tibet by red China more than 1.2 million Tibetans lost their lives and over 6000 monasteries destroyed. Now the Tibetans are fighting a non-violent struggle for the achievement of Independence under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan delegations are here, therefore,to tell you the history of the freedom struggle of the Tibetans and to look for the support of the participants. If this approach succeeds than this will be an example for other nations that are struggling for independence. That is why all of

us who want peace and who do not believe in violence have the responsibility to let this non-violent approach succeed. Then others will follow this path too. Tibetan government in exile and the Tibetan Youth Congress are fighting for this just cause and needs support from around the world to pressure Chinese government so that there will be a solution through dialogue between the Tibetan government in-exile headed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Chinese government. We hope all of you will understand and ultimately support us in this cause and hope to see you all in FREE TIBET".

Yangchen Dolkar, General Secretary presented three traditional Tibetan songs with Khampa costumes and a documentary film on Tibet was shown. Display of photograph exhibition was also organized. A traditional Tibetan tent with prayer flags (Lungta) was erected permanently for the whole of the festival time and an information booth. Among 117 countries only the Tibetan traditional tent stood out unique and traditional in the whole festival.

On July 24, 1996, Asian solidarity evening was held with representatives from Bhutan, East Timor, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Tibet. The representatives spoke about the sufferings of their respective people and their fight against injustice and freedom. Mr. Tseten Norbu, President Tibetan Youth Congress gave brief introduction on Tibet's past history as an independent nation, present struggle for independence and future course of action and the non-violent nature of fight against injustice, human right and independence. He further stated that it is because of this very nonviolent nature of the struggle that Tibetans need the support of international community to built on more pressure on the Chinese government in order to have a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan government in exile headed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

During the Asian Pacific regional committee meeting, Tibetan Youth Congress has strongly opined that the forth-coming Congress Meeting of the IUSY to be held in Kathmandu in November 1996 should specifically deal with the current problems of Asia i.e; East Timor, Bhutan, Burma and Tibet. As such the theme of the coming Congress should reflect the concern of these people. In addition to this the newly industrialized nations (NICs) have demanded to include economic growth. Many of the ruling parties in their respective countries argue that to achieve economic development one should sacrifice certain freedom. As such the final consensus for the" theme" of coming congress meeting has been agreed as Democracy, Freedom and Economic Development!

Tibetan Youth Congress representatives were interviewed by German National television, Hungarian television, German radio, German Youth radio and local newspapers. The one week Festival brought out daily newsletter and TYC received a good coverage.