Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 14:55:20 -0800
From: Bhuchung Tsering International Campaign for Tibet
To: Multiple recipients of list TSG-L (Tibet Support Group List)
Dear TSGs (US),
Here is the letter which members of the US House of Representatives intend to present to Secretary of State Albright. The letter, initiated by Representative Bernie Sanders, asks the US to sponsor a resolution in the UN Human Rights Commission and also to come out with a strong statement concerning Ngawang Choephel.
The following have so far signed the letter.
1. Bernard Sanders
2. John Edward Porter
3. Tom Lantos
4. Benjamin Gilman
5. Maurice Hinchey
6. Frank Wolf
Please ask your Congressman to join them so that Secretary Albright sees that there are many members of Congress who are concerned about Tibet. The deadline is February 26.
Bhuchung
Fberuary 28, 1997
The Honorable Madeleine K. Albright
Secretary of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Dear Madam Secretary:
We have been heartened by your statements on human rights in recent weeks. We write to draw your attention to a particularly egregious violation of human rights in Tibet, and to urge a strong response from the State Department.
Ngawang Choephel is a Tibetan former Fulbright scholar whom the Chinese have convicted of engaging in American-sponsored espionage. As you may know, Mr. Choephel studied ethnomusicology at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont in 1992 and 1993. In the summer of 1995 he returned to Tibet to make a nonpolitical film about traditional Tibetan music and dance. Sometime in the fall of 1995, he was arrested by Chinese authoritiies, and on December 26, 1996, he was sentenced by the Shigatse Intermediate Court to 18 years in prison and four years subsequent deprivation of political rights for espionage.
We are not aware of any evidence which supports Mr. Choephel's conviction or his extraordinary 18-year prison sentence, and we take strong issue with the Chinese Government's assertion, made in a letter to several Members of Congress last October and again on Chinese state-sponsored radio, that American citizens suborned espionage by Mr. Choephel.
In light of these circumstances, we are dismayed to learn that the State Department is considering a hollow approach to the China resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Commission. We believe that "strengthening those around the globe who are working for human rights" should be the policy of the United States. As such, China's abysmal increasingly harsh, human rights practices must be met with an appropriate response.
We are aware of the importance placed by the administration on strengthening the U.S.-China relationship, and share your desire to have strong and productive relations between the U.S. and China, in full recognition of human rights and international law. To that end, we respectfully request that you keep faith with your commitment to vigorously pursue human rights in China and Tibet, and that you reexamine your plan of action for the Commission.
A New York Times editorial recently opined that "diplomatic realism does not require Washington to mute its distaste for provocative and repressive policies, as it has most conspicuously done in the case in China. Overlooking such behavior weakens American credibility abroad and feeds cynicism at home. The American people expect their foreign policy to reflect American ideals."
We urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to lead a multilateral effort for successful passage of a China resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, the legitimate forum to examine the human rights practices of U.N. member states. We further urge you to raise with your Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Qian Qichen, the case of Ngawang Choephel and other victims of China's vicious crackdown in Tibet. Finally, we ask that the State Department issue an appropriate public statement of condemnation regarding the case of Mr. Choephel.
We look forward to hearing your views on human rights in China and Tibet, and the rationale for your timetable in Geneva as well as the specific issues you will be raising with the Chinese. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
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The International Campaign for Tibet
1825 K St. N.W, Suite 520
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone: +1 (202) 785-1515 / Fax: +1 (202) 785-4343
E-mail: ict@peacenet.org / Internet: http://www.peacenet.org/ict
Non-profit, Tibet advocacy group
Happy Fire Ox (Bull) Year. Should we be Bulls in China's shop?
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