Submitted by: Diana Takata

New York, NY. December 10, 1996 marked the 48th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. From New York City to Los Angeles to Johannesburg to New Delhi, thousands of people marked the day by asking nations and international organizations to respect human rights, to release prisoners of conscience in Tibet and China, in particular the 7-year old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, and Nobel Peace Prize candidate Wei Jingsheng.

In New York City, a dedicated group of Tibetans and Tibet supporters fasted for the day and made their demands in front of the United Nations. Joining them were individuals representing peoples around the world. Among them included:

Kasur Dawa Tsering, Representative to His Holiness the Dalai Lama of the Americas, Mr. Pema Gashon, President of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of NY & NJ, Ms. Diana Takata, National Director of Students for a Free Tibet, Mr. Xin Ku, Chairman of the Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars, one of the leaders of the 1989 pro-democracy movement and friend of Wang Dan, Mr. Goodluck Diigbo, National President of the National Youth Council of the Ogoni People who has escaped from Nigeria and worked with Ken Saro-Wiwa, Dr. Thaung Htun, Burma UN Service Officer to the National Coalition Government Union of Burma and associate of Aung San Suu Kyi, Mr. Allan Nairn, Award-winning journalist who uncovered the 11/91 Dili massacre in East Timor, Mr. Marco Perduca of the Transnational Radical Party, Ms. Maggie Poe of the National Labor Committee and Disney Campaign.

The rally was symbolic of the need for peoples around the world to join together to voice shared concerns, shared struggles, and shared experiences. Mr. Xin Ku spoke strongly and passionately about the common struggle that Chinese and Tibetans face today, the increased repression in both China and occupied Tibet, and voiced his solidarity with Tibetans in their struggle for self-determination. From the signatories of the student leaders of Tiananmen Square (Wang Chaohua, Bai Meng, Liu Gan, Liu Junguo, Liu Xiang, Li Lu, Xin Ku, Shen Tong, Zhou Fengsuo, Zhou Yongjun, Wuer Kaixi, Feng Congde, Zhang Boli, Zhang Lun, Zhang Huajie, Chang Jin, Chai Ling, Tang Boqiao, Liang Er, and Cai Chongguo) the following statement was submitted.

To People of China and The World

"On October 31, 1996, the Beijing regime charged our good friend the famous student leader Wang Dan with "conspiring to overthrow the government" and handed down the harsh sentence of 11 years in prison. We, the participants in and leaders of the 1989 patriotic movement of students for democracy, were forced into exile. We express out extreme anger and sorrow against the mprisonment of Wang Dan. The spectacular democracy movement of 1989, pioneered by the students and supported by the majority of the Chinese people, was the greatest patriotic democracy movement tin China's history. The communist hard-liners headed by Li Peng crushed this movement with machine guns and tanks. Thousands of innocent students and ordinary citizens lost their lives, thousands more were persecuted. Although we are fortunate to have escaped the reach of the tyrannous regime, we cannot return to our country, nor can we go home. Exile in foreign lands, we miss and feel deeply concerned about our incarcerated friends who fought for fr

eedom.

After four years of imprisonment, Wang Dan was again framed by the Beijing regime and sentenced to a further 11 years of imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. Wang Dan is a role model of our generation, he symbolizes the conscience of Chinese people. The viciousness and ferocity of the persecution of Wang Dan by the Chinese Communist government fully reveals its guilt, its insecurity and its lack of confidence in the future. Although prison can lock up Wang Dan's body, it cannot stop Chinese peoples' longing for, and pursuit of freedom and democracy. We strongly demand that the Beijing regime:

1. Immediately release Wang Dan and all other political prisoners;

2. Respect human rights and permit observation and monitoring by international human rights organizations;

3. Fully guarantee the freedom of speech, association, assembly and press which are granted to citizens by the constitution; and

4. Allow the return of dissidents in exile to visit their families and participate in the political process.

We appeal to, not only all Chinese people, but also to people all over the world, all governments and world organizations. Please support our legitimate demands.

We firmly believe that, the government for the people and by the people shall prosper, while the government against the people shall perish. Freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law will prevail in China and throughout the world."

WBAI Pacific Radio interviewed a number of the speakers. All speakers spoke on behalf of those fighting for freedom in each of their countries, the common struggles between their country and peoples and the people and occupied nation of Tibet, and the urgent need to release prisoners of conscience and respect human rights.

The rally was then followed by a march along New York City's 42nd Street to Times Square whereby approximately 100 people were escorted by 3 police cars and a police van, holding up traffic and proudly waving the many Tibetan flags and placards. The group gathered in the heart of New York City to hold an inspiring candlelight vigil. Onlookers within Times Square watched and asked questions regarding the significance of the day and of the Tibetan struggle. Speakers for the candlelight included Kasur Dawa Tsering and Congressman Benjamin Gilman, Chairman of the House Committee on International Relations and one of Tibet's strongest supporters in Congress. A statement of solidarity from the Tibetan Youth Congress of Dharamsala India was read by Mr. Pema Gashon. In addition, our friends from the Taiwanese Collegian and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) America - East Chapter joined with us.

Representatives of the Tibetan Youth Congress and Students for a Free Tibet spoke with Congressman Gilman, asking questions and updating the Congressman on the recent news concerning Ngawang Choephel. Congressman Gilman, in return, urged Students for a Free Tibet to strengthen its political lobbying network and to educate the 75 Freshman Congress members who will be joining Congress in January.

Text of Congressman Gilman's speech -

I want to thank the Tibetan Youth Congress, Students for a Free Tibet, the U.S. Tibet Committee, and the Tibetan Association for inviting me here to celebrate International Human Rights Day.

Chinese repression in Tibet escalated to new heights this past year. The 7-year old Panchen Lama and his family are still being held against their will. Photographs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama are forcefully confiscated from monasteries and homes, beatings, torture and long prison terms in brutally harsh conditions are normal fare meted out to non-violent supporters of His Holiness.

The Clinton Administration's policy of "constructive engagement" has emboldened Beijing to extend its belligerent behavior for beyond the borders of occupied Tibet. Recently the Chinese dictators threatened the Ministers of Australia and New Zealand if they met with the Dalai Lama. They even warned Germany's leaders not to permit a conference on Tibet to be held on German soil. And now Beijing threatens American-produced movies about the Dalai Lama or Tibet.

We are told by the State Department that too much criticism of the arbitrary detention of dissidents, religious activists or Tibetan nationalists must not be allowed to jeopardize security and trade concerns. To justify this abdication of human rights, the theory of "constructive engagement" was propounded with the claim that continued economic reform would loosen the control of the Communist Party.

But the truth is that in the area of trade and proliferation, things have progressively deteriorated. Recently, Beijing has sold or attempted to sell weapons of mass destruction in nine separate instances to Iran and Pakistan. And Chinese officials even tried to sell stinger missiles to L.A. street gangs.

In response to these outrages the State Department claims that they were independent operations that the Central Government in Beijing did not know about.

Human rights cannot be bought on the cheap. Economic liberalization in China will not bring about political pluralism.

China's leaders have a goal. And I am afraid to imagine what it might be. But if their recent behavior is any indication of what the future may bring, then we all must concentrate our energies and redouble our efforts.

Until there is democracy and rule of law in China, and Tibetans can determine their own destiny, it is not in our economic, security, or moral interests to assist in China's growth. And it is certainly never in our interests to make excuses for China's misdeeds.

I hope that today on International Human Rights Day, supporters of a free Tibet and His Holiness the Dalai Lama will begin to focus their will and attention on one issue that could serve many purposes. We need your help in establishing a special envoy to Tibet. A special envoy would be a spokesman within the highest levels of our government speaking out on the many issues of independence, cultural and religious protection. If we commit ourselves on this day to work together to do just this one thing, then we will have helped Tibet and his Holiness the Dalai Lama more than we ever imagined.

Good luck and God Bless.

Text of Kasur Dawa Tsering -

We are on the threshold of entering the 21st Century, the Century where we all hope to achieve greater peace, prosperity, and happiness. Mankind has made great advances in the fields of science, technology, and we are exploring far beyond our planet, believing that we might find things that will serve for our future needs.

However, if we take stock of the reality as it exists today, mankind is shamefully interlocked in bloody wars, discrimination between race and religion, economic disparities, and many other forms of social injustice, which do not augur well for the future of mankind.

Today, on this Human Rights Day, we have gathered here to speak out for those suffering under various forms of social and political injustice. However tiny our voice may be, we must resolutely condemn those who do not wish to conform to the internationally accepted norms and conducts.

As you all know well, in my country, Tibet, 1.2 million Tibetans died as a direct result of the Chinese occupation. More than six thousand monasteries and places of worship were destroyed. Tibet has been looted of its rich mineral resources, and what remains is a land full of oppressed, impoverished people. With the rapid population transfer, the Tibetans have become a minority in their own country, thereby endangering the survival of the Tibetan Nation as such.

The situation at present is deteriorating as a result of harsh new policies. These include measures such as the Strike Hard campaign to suppress popular movements, and the so-called re-education campaign, in which Tibet's monks and nuns are compelled to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to accept the Panchen Lama appointed by the Beijing leadership. The case of Ngawang Choephel is very clear in our minds. Many more cases of Human Rights violations in Tibet are quite apparent in the reports of international bodies like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Human rights violations and arbitrary detention are serious in China itself. In recent months, we have seen the fate of Chinese democracy activists like Wei Jingsheng, Lu Xiaobo, and Wang Dan, etc., who were sentenced to long prison sentences.

It is tragic that there is continued cooperation by governments and major business corporations with the regimes who perpetrate these abuses. The international community must campaign hard against these practices.

Under serious pressure from Beijing, the United States government delinked human rights issues from trade, and gave Most Favored Nation trading status to China. Now Beijing is flexing its muscles at American corporations, as is quite evident from the recent Disney affair regarding a movie on the life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Today we remember Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet. He was recognized in May, 1995, through religious and traditional procedures of Tibet. Shortly thereafter, Gedhun and his family disappeared into Chinese custody. In June of this year, the Chinese government finally admitted to holding the boy. The Panchen Lama is the world's youngest political prisoner.

Of course, the Tibetan issue is not only a human rights issue. The human rights issue in Tibet is in fact only a symptom of a larger political problem.

Today, Human Rights Day, we pray and call upon the Chinese leaders to immediately release Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, and to install him to his rightful seat at Tashilhunpo Monastery. We call upon the Chinese leaders to release all political prisoners in Tibet and China. We call upon the Beijing leadership to come to the negotiating table and resolve all outstanding issues concerning Tibet.

Lastly, I pray that Peace, Freedom, and Justice will prevail throughout the world.