World Tibet Network News Wednesday, June 10, 1998

Tibet Bureau, Geneva

Geneva, 10 June - For your information, the following statement was made by Dr. Heinrich Neisser, the Second President of the Nationalrat and on behalf of the Austrian Parlaiment, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama was received in the Parliament this afternoon:

The Statement by Dr. Heinrich Neisser

10 June, 1998

Your Holiness,

It is a great honour to me of welcoming you in my capacity as Second President of the Nationalrat and on behalf of the Austrian Parliament.

Indeed, it is for the third time that you pay a visit to this House during your stay in Austria. Different things find expression in this: On the one hand, that you are appreciating the openminded and pluralistic political and social atmosphere of this country and that you have repeatedly accepted our invitations. On the other hand, you may realize how much the Human Rights' concerns are esteemed by the parliamentary parties.

Your Holiness, I would like to stress in this connection that Tibe today has become a worldwide smybol of this universal importance of Humna Rights and self-determination. In your personality and in your biography are reflected the sufferings of your people and your country since late forties.

You had to go into exile in order to give a voice to your people. Those who stayed behind were honorable men of your country and a great number of them became martyrs of their cause. That nothing changed up to now became apparent by the fate of the Pantschen Lama, the second highest religious dignitary. Deported at the age of five years, despite of many interventions by governments and human rights organizations all over the world nobody knows the fate of the young man you designated for the second highest religious office of your faith.

Your Holiness, your way of non-violent resitance became an example for generations, particularly of young people all over the Western World. Your efforts to fight for freedom and Human Rights in your country by peaceful means led to the fact that today you are worldwide appreciated as a man of peace. Among themany international recognitions for your life work the Peace Nobel Prize is standing out. Moreover, you have the reputation of being the leading representative of dialogue and of improvement of the relations between the big religions of the world.

As Second President of the Nationalrat I would like to underline that personal freedom, religious freedom and the freedom of spiritual and cultural selfdetermination of a people belong to the central elements of a modern human rights doctrine. Champoining worldwide these fundamental rights without regard to any political or economic utilitarian thinking will always be a moral imperative for my activity as freely elected parliamentarian of a country professing without reservation the principles of pluralistic democracy and Human Rights.

Last but not least, in my opinion it is also necessary to put through the international legal system to function as a system of conflict resolving mechanism in the sense of the peoples' right to "persuit of happiness" all over the world.

Your Holiness, in this sense may I thank you for your visit and welcome you in my name and on behalf of the Austrian parliamentary parties.