The following memorandum on Tibet was adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union's 12+ Group on 19 September 1996 during the 96th Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Beijing. The 12+ Group consists of the delegations from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States. The memorandum was tabled by the 12+ Group's Ad Hoc Group on the Tibetan Issue which has now been renamed the Friendship Group on Tibet.

"Memorandum on the Tibetan issue Prepared by the IPU 12+ Group

The 12+ Group at the 96th Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Beijing on 16-21 September 1996.

Deeply concerned about the violations of human rights of the Tibetan people and recognizing their right to preserve their cultural and religious identity: thus urging the Conference to include a paragraph in this respect in its resolution on the item 4 of the agenda.

Call on all Parliamentarians of the Union, to support the efforts of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people to solve the Tibetan problem non-violently, including urging the Chinese Authorities to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama without preconditions and at a neutral site, to join the 12+ Friendship Group on Tibet, which meets during conferences and to establish similar friendship groups at a national level."

Note: Item 4 of the agenda of the 96th Inter-Parliamentary Conference was "Promoting greater respect and protection of human rights in general and in particular for women and children". It is not yet clear whether the proposal to include a paragraph on Tibet in the IPU resolution on item 4 was followed.

Submitted by the Tibet Support Committee, Denmark, anders@cybernet.dk