THE INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF PARLIAMENTARIES FOR TIBET
CALLS TO CELEBRATE
THE DAY OF PARLIAMENTARY SOLIDARITY FOR TIBET
In light of the human rights crisis facing the Tibetan people, the International Network of Parliamentarians for Tibet (INPaT in its acronym in English) calls on parliamentarians around the world to 20 of June 2012 “Day of Parliamentary Solidarity for Tibet” is celebrated”. For such an occasion, All parliamentarians who aspire to freedom are invited to wear a khatag, the white silk tibetan scarf, world symbol of nonviolence, peace and solidarity with the Tibetan people.
INPaT calls on all democratic parliamentarians to take advantage of the opportunities offered to them by their respective countries through parliamentary procedures and political praxis, to influence the plight of the Tibetan people. This action may include, raise motions of order, ask questions to the government, propose interpolations, make statements, propose motions with or without notice and make speeches.
INPaT calls on all parliamentarians who believe in a democratic China and that human rights are respected in Tibet, fundamental freedoms and true autonomy, to hold a press conference on 20 June 2012 to highlight in their respective countries the global dimension of this parliamentary mobilization on Tibet through the different initiatives that have been planned.
INPaT suggests the following topics for the above-mentioned parliamentary activities and press conferences:
• Call on China to recognize and respect cultural differences and freedom of expression, of association and religion in Tibet and elsewhere in its territory.
• Call to international public opinion and the media to highlight the six decades of struggle for freedom of the Tibetan people and the current wave of atrocities and human rights violations perpetrated in Tibet by China, including arbitrary arrests and forced disappearances.
• Call to international public opinion and the media to highlight the deterioration of the situation within Tibet since the Uprising 2008 to the alarming and increasing cases of self-immolation that add up 38 Tibetans since 31 of May 2012.
• Call on democratic governments to request Chinese authorities to enter into good faith negotiations with the Central Tibetan Administration to provide political autonomy, cultural and religious to Tibet, that respond positively to the Memorandum on True Autonomy for the Tibetan People presented at the 2008 and his Notes 2010 and to reject threats to repeal the nominal minority status for Tibetans provided for in the Chinese constitution, repeal that would eliminate the basis for negotiations of real and fundamental autonomy.
• Call to the respective governments to include the protection of human rights within their agendas, in all bilateral and multilateral discussions, in meetings or commitments with China, so that China maintains the same standard of human rights protection as any other country without reducing the degree of human rights protection expected of China as an economic power, financial and commercial.
• Call to all democratic governments to ask China to:
o End the harsh measures you have taken after the self-immolations in Tibet.
o Comply with Amnesty International's call that security forces bring relevant criminal charges against people arbitrarily detained in Lhasa since 27 of May 2012, when two young Tibetans set themselves on fire outside the Jokhang, 2012 or they must release them immediately. This also includes the release of 600 Tibetan residents detained, many of whom are held at the Tsel Gungthang detention center and elsewhere in Lhasa.
o Comply with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch's call that Chinese authorities conduct a comprehensive review of the human rights situation and end the policy of legal and political restrictions that violate human rights in the region.
o End the increase in maximum security in Lhasa where, after the first self-immolation in the Tibetan capital, more of 3.000 security agents were deployed, including armed police, soldiers and special forces, in the short term of 24 hours, they registered 11.731 vehicles and 28.046 personas.
o End the policy of violating the right to travel by requiring a permit and forcing people who do not have one to return to their places of origin, included 13 monks and nuns.
o End the controls and censorship imposed on the internet and telephone lines.
o Release political prisoners, incinyyyyyy and Gedhn Cedly Cedocky you are the, the Eleventh Panchen Lama of Tibet.
• Motions in memory of the 38 people who self-immolated, including the latest self-immolation committed by a Tibetan mother of three on 30 of May 2012 in Sichuan Province (29 people of these 38 self-immolations have died as a result of their protest).
Finally, INPaT calls on all parliamentarians to urge the Chinese authorities to receive the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights so that he can carry out a fact-finding mission in Tibet, including the Tibetan areas where many of the self-immolations have taken place. It also urges parliamentarians to, during the twentieth session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on 18 June 2012, call on your governments to raise their concern about the chronic violations of human rights in Tibet.
Issued by INPaT Working Group Members
Hon. Thomas Mann (European Parliament)
Hon. Matteo Mecacci (Italian Parliament)
Hon. Birgitta Jonsdottir (Icelandic Parliament)
Hon. Santosh Kalyan (South African Parliament)
Hon. Mario Oriani-Ambrosini (South African Parliament)
Hon. Son Chhay (Cambodian Parliament)
Senador Consiglio Di Nino (Canadian Senate)
Hon. Michael Danby (Australian Parliament)
Hon. Teli (Indian Parliament)
Email: info@inpatnet.org
Translated by Nuria Fenollar
