ABSTRACT: Upon the completion of the International Conference on Tibet, held in London from the 6th to the 9th of July 1990, the participants, coming from 35 countries of the world, from all continents, approved a solemn declaration which establishes the goals of the international action in support of the Tibetan cause.

London 6th to 8th July 1990

This Conference of Government Ministers, former Ministers, diplomats elected Members of Parliaments, eminent academics, jurists, Non Governamental Organisations, and religious leaders from 35 countries in all continents of the World,

ENCOURAGED

by the recent dramatic advances in freedom and democracy, decolonisation and self-determination, peace and human rights in many parts of the World -including Southern Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and in Asia including Tibet's neighbours Mongolia and Nepal;

by the Conferences and Hearings held to address the question of Tibet in Bonn, New Delhi, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Dharamsala and Tokyo in the last two years;

by the presence of distinguished representatives from many countries some of whome have struggled in their own history for freedom.

NOTING WITH DEEP ANXIETY THE CRITICAL SITUATION IN TIBET

where the Tibetan people's inalienable right to self-determination continues to be denied and where the fundamental individual human rights and freedoms of the Tibetan people, including both civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights continue to be violated by the People's Republic of China;

AS EVIDENCED BY

the massive transfer of Chinese settlers to Tibet and China's sinification policies in respect of, for example, language and education, employment and economic opportunities, health-care and the law, which threaten the continued existence of the Tibetans as a distinct people and nation and amount to acts of cultural genocide;

the continued violation of human rights through killings, torture, and political imprisonment;

the continued military occupation of Tibet by vast numbers of Chinese troops and armed police deployed throughout the Plateau and the presence of Chinese nuclear missile sites, both of which pose a threat to regional peace and stability;

the destruction wrought on the unique natural environment of Tibet by the gross and unlawful exploitation of the country's natural resources, which has resulted in major deforestation around the upper reaches of Asia's greatest rivers wwith catastrophic implications for the future of Asia;

MINDFUL OF

the inalienable right of all peoples to self-determination, the full exercise of which is a prerequisite to the full enjoyment of other fundamental human rights and freedoms;

the affirmation of the right of self-determination of all peoples in the United Nations Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which state in Article One of both Covenants:

"All peoples have the right to self-determination.

By virtue of this right, they freely determine their

political status and freely pursue their economic,

social and cultural development"

the manifest determination of the people of Tibet to fully exercise this right, recognised with respect to Tibet in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1723 (XVI 1961), re-affirmed in 2079 (XX 1965), and to re-build their unique cultural and spiritual heritage in a free and democratic Tibet

SOLEMNLY DECLARE THEIR SUPPORT

for the full implememtation of the rights of the Tibetan people throughout Tibet, non only in the recently created "Autonomus Region of Tibet" but in all areas historically part of Tibet;

for the acknowledgment of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Head of State, as the sole legitimate representatives of the Tibetan people;

for the Tibetan Government's commitment to the establishment of a free and democratic government in Tibet in accordance with the wishes of the Tibetan people;

for the Tibetan effort to regain freedom by means of non-violent action under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1990;

for the Five Point Peace Plan presented by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1987 which calls for:

- the transformation of the whole of Tibet into a Zone of

Peace

- the abandonment of China's population transfer policy

- respect for the Tibetan people's fundamental human rights

and democratic freedoms

- restoration and protection of Tibet's natural environment

and the abandonment of China's use of Tibet for the

production of nuclear weapons and dumping of nuclear waste

- commencement of earnest negotiations on the future status

of Tibet and of relations between Tibetan and Chinese

peoples

CALLS UPON

the Government of the People's Republic of China:

to start, without further delay, genuine negotiations with the representatives designated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a peaceful transfer of power leading to independence for the Tibetan people in accordance with their inalienable rights aaaaaaaand based on the Five Point Peace Plan;

to cease all practices which deny the Tibetan people their individual human rights and freedoms, including the right of life, movement, religious belief, free speech and assembly;

to cease all practices which violate the rights of the Tibetan people to self-determination and in particular to the policy of population transfer of Chinese into Tibet and all other practices which amount to cultural genocide

URGES

The Governments of countries represented here at the International Consultation on Tibet and other Governments to:

Call for the cessation of all executions and the release of all political prisoners;

Take the necessary measures in their bilateral and multilateral relations with the People's republic of China to advance the demands set out in the above paragraphs of this Declaration to secure the implementation of the Tibetan people's rights;

Actively pursue the question of the rights of Tibet at the United Nations and in the European Community, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organisation of African Unity, the Organisation of American States, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SARC), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other appropriate international fora in support of those rights;

Acknowledge and where consistent with state practice, recognise the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the sole legitimate representatives of the Tibetan people;

Adopt other appropriate measures to support the non-violent Tibetan struggle;

RESOLVES

To establish effective means to enhance and coordinate the efforts of Parliamentarians and interested groups throughout the world in support of the principles, aims and objectives set out in this Declaration;

To create a Standing International Commission of distinguished persons to promote the principles, aims and objectives set out in this Declaration;

To encourage and assist the organisation of independent and parliamentary fact-finding missions to Tibet and the communication of their findings;

To transmit this Declaration to governments and parliaments, inter-governmental agencies, regional organisations and non-governmental organisations throughout the world.