Update: Tibetan Independence Activists Released
Five Tibetan independence activists were released early Friday morning by Chinese authorities in Tibet. Tenzin Dorjee, Kirsten Westby, Laurel Mac Sutherlin and Shannon Service were detained on Wednesday for protesting China's plans to take the Olympic torch over Mount Everest and through Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games. American Jeff Friesen was taken into custody on Thursday for suspected involvement in the protest; all five arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal at 8:30pm local time/10am EST.Visit the Students for a Free Tibet website for more information
TIBET ACTIVISTS PROTEST BEIJING 2008 OLYMPICS ON MT. EVEREST
FSTV Producer and Activists Held by Chinese Authorities
Free Speech TV producer Shannon Service, one of three Tibetan independence activists, remain in detention today after demonstrating at Mount Everest's main base camp in Tibet on Wednesday, unfurling a banner reading "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008" in English, and "Free Tibet" written in Tibetan and Chinese.
"In working to bring attention to Chinese human rights violations, Shannon's activities in Tibet exemplify her exceptional history as both an activist and an international journalist willing to put her safety on the line to bring to light the stories of the people most affected by misguided policies," said Free Speech TV General Manager Jon Stout.
The protest was held on the eve of the International Olympic Committee's announcement of the final Beijing 2008 Olympic torch relay route and as a Chinese team of climbers prepared a trial ascent of the mountain. If approved, China will take the torch over Mount Everest and through Tibet, a move that Tibetans and their supporters decry as offering international approval to China's brutal occupation of Tibet.
"The Chinese government hopes to use the 2008 Olympic Games to conceal the brutality of its occupation of Tibet and win the international community's acceptance as a modern power on the world stage," said Lhadon Tethong, the Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet (http://studentsforafreetibet.org), from Kathmandu. "Mount Everest is not in China, it's in Tibet, very near where Chinese border guards shot and killed unarmed Tibetan refugees last September. The International Olympic Committee has no business promoting the Chinese government's political agenda by allowing the torch to be run through Tibet".
According to an eyewitness report, Chinese authorities detained the three activists, including Tenzin Dorjee, a Tibetan-American, who was wearing a t-shirt that read "No Torch through Tibet". Prior to his detention, he lit a symbolic torch of Tibetan freedom and sang the Tibetan National Anthem. Tenzin Dorjee is the first known exiled Tibetan to stage a protest inside Tibet. At least one other American has also been detained in conjunction with the protest.
"Tibetans worldwide are looking to the 2008 Beijing Olympics as an unprecedented opportunity to expose the truth about Chinese rule in Tibet," said Tenzin Choeying, the National Director of Students for a Free Tibet India. "The torch of freedom continues to burn brightly in the hearts and minds of Tibetans everywhere and China can expect more protests of this nature in the months leading up to and during the Games."
The high altitude demonstration coincided with the eighteenth birthday of the Panchen Lama, Gendhun Choekyi Nyima - Tibetan Buddhism's most important spiritual leader after the Dalai Lama - and a political prisoner of the Chinese government. He and his family have been held since 1995, when he was only six years old. China has denied all requests by foreign diplomats and United Nations representatives to see him. Tibetans and supporters are staging protests for his release at Chinese embassies and consulates worldwide today.
Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) is a network of young people and activists campaigning for Tibetan independence, with 650 chapters in more than thirty countries worldwide. SFT is based in New York, with offices in Vancouver, London, and Dharamsala, India. SFT is working to shine the Olympic spotlight on China's occupation of Tibet.
"Shannon's commitment to human rights has been an inspiration to activists and audiences around the world," says Free Speech TV's Jon Stout. "As a journalist for Free Speech TV, she covered the Bush Administration's drumbeat of war, from the days immediately following the September 11th tragedy through the occupation of Iraq. She fearlessly broadcast the voices of dissent in the dark hours before the bombing of Afghanistan. She challenged the Administration's lies for targeting Iraq, while the rest of the media remained silent or served as the Pentagon's mouthpiece. Covering the occupation itself, Shannon braved the streets of Baghdad to bring home the stories of the American soldiers and Iraqi citizens left victimized by the President's illegal and unjust war"
Stay tuned to Free Speech TV for updates on this ongoing situation, and visit http://studentsforafreetibet.org for more information.