An earnest appeal from Tibetan Women’s Association to Navanethem Pillay
October 17, 2008
Ms. Navanethem Pillay
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
An earnest appeal from Tibetan Women’s Association to Navanethem Pillay
Your Excellency,
Today on the occasion of the first anniversary of the awarding of U.S Congressional Gold Medal to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Women's Association would like to congratulate you on your appointment as the High Commissioner for Human Rights. We very much appreciate your lifetime of work upholding human rights around the world. We are certain that you will excel in your duties as the High Commissioner.
The Tibetan people stand at an important crossroads as we head close to the 50th commemoration of the March 1959 uprising against China’s occupation of Tibet. After 49 years of Chinese occupation, Tibet today is still in shambles: the people are silenced violently; there is no freedom of faith; the developmental and economic plans introduced by the State do not benefit the Tibetan people. The once serene and rich environment of Tibet is now on the verge of annihilation; and the cultural, linguistic and religious identity of a race is under threat. The world witnessed a series of demonstrations and protests inside Tibet since March 10 this year by the Tibetans who are striving towards freedom and autonomy. The Chinese authorities are still disallowing the presence of journalists and reporters into the country, and so a fuller picture of events from over the past few months has been difficult to obtain. Since March, however, we do know the sweep of protests across Tibet resulted in the death of 203 Tibetans, 1000 injured Tibetans and more than 5,715 Tibetans who either remain detained or have been missing.
Since 2002, six rounds of talk between the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Chinese leadership have taken place without any foreseeable developments in Tibet. Amidst such paradigm, the Chinese government in its paranoia, clamped down hard on the fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people in Tibet.
We are confident that during your tenure as the High Commissioner for Human Rights, you will deem the human rights situation inside Tibet as crucial and of one requiring immediate attention and that you will address our concerns to stop the debacle of International Human Rights Law in Tibet and significantly seek to avert the looming threat and danger that befalls Tibet and Tibetans. Tibet as a nation needs to survive and thrive. We earnestly request you to see the possibility of allowing a team of independent observers to travel to Tibet to assess the situation in the aftermath of the protests this spring. The restoration of a free and peaceful Tibet as envisioned and outlined by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the Middle Way approach will benefit the whole of Asia politically and environmentally and will undoubtedly contribute to world peace.
Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) has 49 regional chapters and over 15, 000 members outside Tibet. Today, TWA is the second largest Tibetan NGO and the only women’s NGO in our exile that advocates human rights for Tibetan women in Tibet and empowerment of Tibetan women in exile, particularly the new refugee women from Tibet.
With sincere regards
B.Tsering Yeshi,
President,
Tibetan Women’s Association.