[Dharamshala] – Tibetans and supporters joined a day long campaign organized by five major Tibetan NGOs for the release of Dhondup Wangchen, a Tibetan filmmaker charged with “inciting separatism,” and whose trial could take place any day now in Siling in Eastern Tibet [Chinese: Xining, Qinghai province].

Photo: Lobsang Wangyal

Dhondup Wangchen was detained in March 2008 by Chinese authorities for making the film ‘Leaving Fear Behind’ which documents Tibetans’ views about the Beijing Olympics, the Dalai Lama, and Chinese government’s policies in Tibet. His Beijing based lawyer hired by his family has been barred from representing him and he is in very poor health after being beaten and tortured in prison.

“My husband is not a criminal. He was arrested for making a film, interviewing Tibetans about the 2008 Olympics, the Dalai Lama and their lives under Chinese rule. None of our family has been allowed to speak to him since his arrest” said Lhamo Tso, Dhondup Wangchen’s wife, who resides in Dharamshala. “My husband is an innocent man but the Chinese government is trying to silence him for exercising his right to freedom of Expression. I urge the international community to take action for my husband’s release.” (more…)

Press Release

24th June, 2009

* Photos available on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/studentsforafreetibet-india/sets/72157620447881434/

TIBETANS AND SUPPORTERS DEMAND HUNTER DICKINSON TO PULL OUT MINING OPERATION IN TIBET

Dharamshala – Tibetans and supporters staged a die-in protest at the main Mcleod Square, Dharamshala this evening to protest mining in Tibet by Hunter Dickinson’s subsidiary Continental Minerals. The action is a part of the global campaign demanding Continental Minerals to immediately cease all mining operations at Shethongmon [Ch: Xietongmen] in central Tibet.

“We are here to call for the immediate withdrawal of HDI/Continental Minerals from Chinese-occupied Tibet.” said Tenzin Choedon, Program Director of Students for a free Tibet – India (SFT-India), “Under Chinese occupation, Tibetans are denied the internationally recognized right to determine the use of their own land and resources.”

The developments in the few years have raised huge concerns amongst Tibetans and Tibet support groups throughout the world. With a lot of junior mining companies engaging in mining operations in Tibet, it poses threat to the highly fragile ecosystem of Tibet, destroying vast regions of grazing land for animals, and polluting water sources.

Tibet has the source of 10 of its major rivers, including the Yarlung Tsangpo/ Brahmaputra, the Sutlej and the Indus. Most of the mining sites falls along these major rivers and its tributaries. Chemicals from the mining sites are released in these rivers, poisoning the water and has already shown its effect on the livestocks in Tibet. (more…)

Activists stage a street play showing Panchen Lama in Chinese custody in Dharamsala, India, Saturday, April 25, 2009

Kolkata, Apr 27 (ANI): Tibetan exiles took out a candlelight vigil here last evening protesting against the alleged atrocities by Chinese authorities in their homeland.

The march was organised by the Students of Free Tibet in memory of the victims of Lhasa riots last year and in support of the missing 11th Panchen Lama, Gendhun Chockyi Nyima.

“The reason behind this candlelight vigil is that we are remembering all those people who lost their lives in Lhasa riots last year and yesterday was Gendhun Chockyi Nyima’s birthday. He has been kidnapped by the Chinese and till now we don’t know about his whereabouts. So, we are demanding his release and simultaneously we want our country to be free,” said Kheysang Choden Bhutia, spokesperson of the Students of Free Tibet. (more…)

The Tibetan Government-in-Exile released rare footage this morning of Chinese forces brutally beating Tibetans in Lhasa following the unprecedented protests that took place in March 2008. The graphic footage also shows the fatal wounds inflicted by Chinese authorities on a young Tibetan man, Tendar, who was detained after attempting to stop Chinese police from beating a monk in Lhasa on March 14.

The graphic video footage is available at: Tibet.Net

“This extremely rare and shocking footage confirms our worst fears about the horrific pain and suffering Tibetans are experiencing at the hands of the Chinese authorities in the wake of last year’s uprising,” said Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “The brutality of the Chinese authorities towards Tibetans in this footage is not the exception to, but rather the rule of, Beijing’s treatment of the Tibetan people over the past 50 years.” (more…)