boycotting the Olympic sponsors

We've heard all about boycotting the Olympics. Now what about boycotting the Olympic sponsors? I know these are mega-corporations and emails and voicemails to them might (will?) get trashed, but the monks in Lhasa are still raising their voices, so I think we can, too. highly unlikely that they will pull their sponsorship, but each of us can express our displeasure at their decisions to sponsor the Beijing Olympics.

Lenovo, General inquiries
1-866-45THINK (866-458-4465). Lenovo also has a blog post about the Olympic torch being lit where you can leave comments, but note that they "await moderation." I've left my comment.

The link to Coca-Cola's "corporate responsibility." Ahem. and a link to their page about being the longest continuing corporate sponsor of the Olympics. On their page "Making a Difference" it says: "The Coca-Cola Company supports the Olympic Games primarily because we share the values of Olympism that, in addition to embracing the vision of a better and more-peaceful world, encourage the discovery of one’s abilities and promote the spirit of competition, the pursuit of excellence and a sense of fair play."

A "more peaceful world"? Hmmmmmm.....tell that to the Chinese soldiers who've beat more than few Tibetans lately. Here is the page for "Tell Us Your Thoughts."

Samsung Electronics. Great LCD TVs, highly rated by Consumer Reports, almost bought one, but....

Here is their link to "Contact Us" with a link to "Public Relations."

Telephone numbers are listed on all three sites. be polite. remember metta (loving-kindness.)

It may be too little, too late, but this blog has had over 700 visitors...that's over 700 voicemails and emails to Coke, Lenovo, and Samsung. and if all of you who read this post pass it on to 5, 10, maybe 15 people whom you know...and they pass it on....

remember you're doing it for them.....


Buddhist monks from the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, based in Dharamsala, are leading a peaceful procession on Tuesday, March 18, 2008, to pray for the fate of the Tibetans involved in demonstrations inside Tibet against Chinese rule. The monks chanted peace prayers for the victims of the Chinese crackdown as they marched around McLeod town in Dharamsala. The monks from institute later took over the ongoing chain-hunger strike near the Main Tibetan Temple for the next 24 hours. The monks held the peace march to appeal international community to support Tibetan people’s rightful and nonviolent struggle and help accomplish their goal of returning back to their motherland. (Photo by Tenzin Dasel / Phayul.com)


A Tibetan woman cries inside a police van in frustration after their peace rally being held along with Amnesty International was dispersed by policemen in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday March 24, 2008. Eleven members of Amnesty International along with their country head were also detained. (AP Photo/ Saurabh Das)

the politics of the Olympics: the personal is political

"[T]he Olympic Games as an ideal of brotherhood and world community is passé. The Olympics is so obviously hypocritical that even the Neanderthals watching TV know what they're seeing can't be true. Even Neanderthals know that the Russians stomped the Czechs and that the Jews despise the Arabs and that racists rule the US. So, all of a sudden, the Olympics comes on TV - all this smiling and hand shaking, and even the Neanderthal has to sit up and say, "Hey, what the hell? How can that be? All year I watch nothin' but hate on TV; now they come on with the love! It's gotta be phony. The Olympics gotta be a put-on, man."
-- Harry Edwards, 1968

[emphasis added.]

Once upon a time there was something called the Olympic Project for Human Rights.

The Olympic Project for Human Rights was an organization established by sociologist Harry Edwards. The aim was to protest racial apartheid in the US and South Africa and racism in sport generally. Most members of the OPHR were African American athletes or community leaders.

Human rights? the only rights the International Olympic Committee cares about are television rights. what were they thinking when the awarded the games to China? the Chinese government promised to respect human rights, but the repression in Tibet questions this commitment given to the Olympic committee.

Here is an excerpt from Wrydbyrd's Wyrld about politics and the Olympics:

"Olympic Boycotts** (take special note of number three, below—I thought the PRC didn’t believe in making the Games political?—oh, guess that was then)

1956, Melbourne: Boycotted by the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland, because of the suppression of the Hungarian Uprising by the Soviet Union. Cambodia, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon boycotted the games over the Suez Crisis.

1972 and 1976, Munich, Montreal: African countries threatened the IOC with a boycott, asking it to ban South Africa, Rhodesia, and New Zealand. The IOC conceded in the first 2 cases, but refused in 1976. Twenty-two countries (Guyana was the only non-African nation) boycotted the Montreal Olympics because New Zealand was not banned.

1976, Montreal: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) pressured Canada to bar the Taiwanese team from competing under the name Republic of China (ROC). The ROC refused the compromise that was suggested and did not participate again until 1984, when it returned under the name “Chinese Taipei.”

1980, 1984, Moscow, Los Angeles: Cold War opponents boycotted one anothers’ games. Sixty-five nations refused to compete at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The boycott reduced the number of competing nations to 81, the lowest number since 1956. The Soviet Union and 14 Eastern Bloc nations (except Romania) countered by boycotting the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984."

In case the photo at the top of this post is unfamiliar to you, it was 1968 when Tommie Smith and John Carlos took their stand at the Mexico City Olympics to raise their black gloved fists in a demonstration of pride, power, and politics. Smith and Carlos were part of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) and they made their stand because of what was happening outside the stadium: the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, the growth of the Black Panthers, the May strikes in France, and the murders of 400 students and workers in Mexico City.

Afterward the International Olympic Committee said it was "a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit."

The actions of the Chinese government in Tibet are a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the human spirit.




BOYCOTT THE BEIJING OLYMPICS AND ITS SPONSORS

FREE TIBET

March 31st, global day of action for Tibet

Monday, March 31, will be a Global Day of Action for Tibet.

Members of Avaaz - the organization that has collected more than a million signatures in the last week calling on Hu Jintao for dialogue with the Dalai Lama - will join Tibet organizations around the world in a Global Day of Action for Tibet. Please go to Tibet Network website to find an event near you.



If you want to see an extraordinary act of defiance, watch the video and you'll see a group of monks disrupt a tightly controlled Chinese government media tour of Lhasa - the only foreign media allowed into Tibet since the national uprising started on March 10th. As dozens of journalists and their government handlers toured the Jokhang temple, thirty monks burst out of a room to tell the journalists that "Tibet is not free" and not to believe China's lies.

As for China's lies, the Chinese government is saying that the Dalai Lama is like Hitler, was a slave owner, and is a serial liar.

Just days after accusing the Dalai Lama of being a slave owner, China's ambassador to Canada is now calling the Tibetan spiritual leader a serial liar.

Lu Shumin also compared Tibet's government -- before the Chinese takeover in 1950 -- to Nazi Germany.

"The Dalai Lama has been telling lies to the world for decades," Lu told journalists at a news conference held Wednesday at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa.

And if all this is not enough, sources at British spy agency confirm Tibetan claims of staged violence,

LONDON—Britain's GCHQ, the government communications agency that electronically monitors half the world from space, has confirmed the claim by the Dalai Lama that agents of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the PLA, posing as monks, triggered the riots that have left hundreds of Tibetans dead or injured.

So Chinese spies dressing like monks. Who's lying now?

Please sign the petition, watch the video, support Tibet.

it's not just about Tibet

(photo originally uploaded: Students for a Free Tibet)

Human Rights in China and the Beijing Olympics

Amnesty International has created a new poster mocking the Beijing's marketing slogan “We are Ready!”.

Do we really need any more reasons to boycott the Beijing Olympics?

Tibet: less talk, more action

Here is another great photo taken by Caroline aka Sirensongs who is in Nepal right now.

She wrote another great post about how to take action in support of Tibet.

I checked out how many American cities the Olympic torch will pass through and there's only one, San Francisco. you can bet if it passed through Chicago I'd be out there waving my Tibetan prayer flags. Hopefully more and more protesters will line up along the torch's route throughout the world.

As Sirensongs wrote, "if you're stuck in a torch-less locale, you can at least phone, write, fax or email the International Olympics Committee (who keep insisting the Olympics are not political)." Below are letter-writing guidelines courtesy of Students for a Free Tibet:

Use the following talking points as guidelines when calling your NOC or drafting your own letter:

--Say you would like to leave a message with the President of the NOC.
--If the Torch goes through Tibet it will likely cause further unrest, which would result in another heavy-handed crackdown and consequently more arrests, torture, and loss of life.
--On humanitarian grounds alone, it is inconceivable that the Torch relay pass through Tibet at this time.
--Please urge the IOC to immediately remove all Tibetan area from the Olympic torch relay route.

The Students for a Free Tibet website has current information about the Tibet protests and instructions on how to take action. Here is a list of action you can take via the website:

IOC: Speak Up About the Tibet Crisis
Take Action: Tell your Congressional Representative to Support Tibet
Tell the Indian Government to Release the Tibetan Marchers
China: Allow Journalists Access to Tibet
Support the Protests in Tibet

This is a letter you can send to the IOC:

"I am outraged that the International Olympic Committee has remained silent while hundreds of Tibetans across Tibet are intimidated, imprisoned, beaten and killed by Chinese forces.

Tibetans have suffered greatly for almost six decades under Chinese rule and are now risking everything to speak out. Despite the growing unrest in Tibet, the Beijing Olympics organizers are moving ahead with preparations to carry the Olympic torch through Tibet and to the top of Mount Everest. China must not be allowed to bring its torch to Tibet after the Tibetan people have so strongly denounced China's occupation of their homeland. So far, the IOC has shirked any responsibility for the Chinese government's recent atrocities inside Tibet.

Mr. Rogge, we call on you to take action now and show the global community that you value the principles upon which the Olympic institution was founded. If the IOC allows China to carry its torch through Tibet, it will be complicit in the violent crackdown on Tibetans that will undoubtedly occur.

Unless you want the Olympic Torch to become a symbol of bloodshed and repression, you must immediately withdraw the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the Tibetan provinces of Amdo and Kham - now annexed into China's Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Gansu - from the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay route.

As reports spread of arbitrary arrests, house-to-house raids, killings, and even beatings of schoolchildren, it is unthinkable that the IOC would continue to move forward with "business as usual". Allowing the torch to be carried through Tibet will escalate tensions, giving the Chinese forces an excuse to continue its violent crackdown.

People of conscience worldwide have responded with an outpouring of support for Tibetans inside Tibet and condemnation of the Chinese government's heavy-handed crackdown. Stand on the right side of history and immediately withdraw all Tibetan provinces from the torch relay route."

Those of us in the United States can contact our National Olympic Committee (NOC) to ask them to directly appeal to the IOC. Our NOC speaks not only for American athletes but for the US as well. Here is contact information for the National Olympic Committees.

Lastly, if you want to hear excerpts from a talk by my teacher, Gelek Rimpoche (who escaped Tibet in 1959), go to the Jewel Heart website to listen to MP3s on Karma & Tibetan Uprising, Part 1, Tibetan Uprising, Part 2, and The Collective Karma of The Tibetan People. Great stuff from a Buddhist master (and someone whom I believe is self-realized although Rimpoche would probably deny it!)

Less yakking, more action. please.

for your consideration: Tibet situation

This is an excerpt from a recent talk by Gelek Rimpoche, one of my spiritual teachers. Rimpoche was recognized as an incarnate lama at a very early age and he is from the family of the 13th Dalai Lama. when he escaped Tibet in 1959 he never saw his family again. any time he talks about his old life, he refers to Tibet as "good old Tibet."

"Let's try to understand the current situation in Tibet. This has been going on for fifty years. The Communist Chinese have always been suspicious of monasteries and Buddhism. For example, in Drepung, the monastery where I was educated in Tibet, the Communists openly set up government-sanctioned committees, organizing people to spy on each other. You couldn't trust anybody - your teachers, friends, students, not even your parents. Kids were spying on their parents, students on their teachers, and disciplinary monk officials on their abbots. That is how it has been functioning for fifty years.

Close to two years ago, Communist officials had the idea to ensure that the monks there didn't respect His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They made up a document that basically said: "The Dalai Lama is evil" and wanted everybody to agree by signing it. The monks refused to sign. They said their refusal had nothing to do with politics, but was purely for spiritual reasons.

The authorities arrested the monks who refused to sign and put them in jail and never released them. A few days ago, some Drepung monastery monks went into the market place to demonstrate their request for these monks to be released. They were beaten, tear gassed and jailed. Turn by turn, each day following, monks from Sera, then Ganden monasteries also demonstrated, were beaten and jailed as well as nuns from various monasteries. The sound of their cries and screams were heard all over Lhasa. Everybody was crying. Eventually, some people got angry and started to throw molotov cocktails into Chinese owned shops, so there was a huge amount of destruction. The central government of China declared martial law at three am on March 14. The whole city of Lhasa is now completely filled with soldiers and para-military that were trucked in and the Chinese government said they would violently suppress any demonstrations. The Chinese claim 10 people were killed. Tibetan sources say that more than 200 were killed -- quite a different picture.

It is very clear that the Chinese authorities have had complete control over Tibet for 50 years but failed to win the heart of the people. That is because their policies are not helping the people much. In particular the local government of Tibet is run by lesser educated officials, many of whom are relics of the Cultural Revolution. They are confused and don't understand the true situation. Their reports to the Central government in Beijing are confused and incorrect and that is why the Chinese authorities were taken by surprise by the events of the last weeks.

The local Chinese authorities also can never understand the relationship between the Dalai Lama and Buddhism. They can neither separate the two nor put them together. They are completely confused about the role of the Dalai Lama. Vilifying statements like "The Dalai Lama is nothing but a wolf covered by monk's robes, a demon with human face" clearly show the limit of knowledge and character of those making such statements.

This situation is indeed very, very sad. It really calls for international support. This can be done by people expressing their sympathy and feelings and also urging their representatives, senators and house representatives, as well as journalists in national and local media, to pay attention and try to find out the true situation."

save Tibet now

(Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)
Tibetans throwing stones at army vehicles as a car burns on a street in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, after violent protests broke out on Friday. (NY TIMES PHOTO)



The world screams about Burma, Sudan, and Rwanda, but where are the tears for Tibet? A genocide has been going on since the Chinese marched in over 50 years ago, yet the world does nothing.

Chinese Police Clash With Tibet Protesters
By JIM YARDLEY
BEIJING — Violent protests erupted Friday in a busy market area of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, as Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans clashed with Chinese security forces. Witnesses say the protesters burned shops, cars, military vehicles and at least one tourist bus.

The chaotic scene marked the most violent demonstrations since protests by Buddhist monks began in Lhasa on Monday, the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. The protests have been the largest in Tibet since the late 1980s, when Chinese security forces repeatedly used lethal force to restore order in the region.

The developments prompted the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, to issue a statement, saying he was concerned about the situation and appealing to the Chinese leadership to “stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people”.

Gunshots Fired as Thousands of Tibetans Hold Fresh Protest

"...Around 50 monks from the Labrang Tashikyil Monastery began staging demonstration carrying the banned Tibetan national flag and shouting “Tibet Independence” slogans around 2:00pm today.

Some 600 more monks from the same monastery later joined the demonstration.

The number later swelled up to few thousands when general public continued to join the procession of monks and the protest became more intensive.

The source said police started to fire live ammunitions in the air and started to beat the demonstrators when the procession reached the Sangchu County Public Security Bureau headquarter.

“Public security and armed police began firing shots later as it (protest) became very
intensive. Whether it caused casualties is unclear,” the source said.

“Gradually the number increased and thousands of Tibetans gathered around in the main market. At the police station they shouted more loudly out of control, then the Chinese police started shooting among the protesters, as a result the mass scattered rapidly due to gunfire,” the source said...."

Riot in Tibet as Police Clash with Protesters

"...One resident of the old city near the monastery told The Times: “It’s very dangerous. Tibetans are fighting the Han people in the street outside. I can’t talk because I’m afraid.”

The nearby Tromsikhang market, built in 1993, had been set on fire and a column of smoke could be seen billowing into the sky, one witness said. The market contained shops belonging to Tibetans as well as ethnic Han Chinese and members of the Hui Muslim minority.

One Tibetan, covered in blood, was seen carried away from the scene by about five or six other people. Witnesses said dozens of ambulances and police cars had raced to the city’s 102 People’s Hospital but it was not known how many people were hurt or how seriously.

Dozens of paramilitary police vehicles were seen patrolling central Lhasa to try to restore order. However, crowds of Tibetans and monks were still demonstrating in the afternoon. One witness wept as he spoke and said he was too afraid to say anything...."

Here are the faces of protest...



(photos from Phayul.com)

Monasteries Under Lockdown

"Conditions are said to be increasingly tense within the three major monasteries in Lhasa, which are under lockdown and surrounded by troops following peaceful demonstrations over the last three days by hundreds of monks from Drepung, Sera and Ganden monasteries on the outskirts of the capital. Ganden monks demonstrated yesterday, marking the third day in a series of protests unprecedented in recent years that have now rippled through the Lhasa area, while others are reported in at least two remote rural monasteries and towns in areas of central and eastern Tibet.

All three monasteries are closed off to tourists according to several tourism operators. Two Drepung monks are said by Radio Free Asia to be in serious condition after stabbing themselves in a possible attempt to commit suicide, while monks at Sera are refusing to attend classes and are on hunger strike in a bold act of protest despite the crackdown at the monastery...."

of course the Chinese are blaming His Holiness the Dalai Lama for all of this.

I am beyond words when I read these stories. it disgusts me that the world screams in horror when these atrocities occur in other parts of the world but does nothing about Tibet. the world's leaders, and especially American politicians, are spineless and gutless when it comes to China. from the New York Times story: "The White House responded with expressions of concern, but not direct criticism, although it urged the Chinese authorities to use restraint." the word I'm thinking of right now starts with the letter "P".

Below is the letter I received from Barack Obama (he is my senator) when I wrote to him via his website...just a bullshit canned response from one of his staffers....

"Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about human rights in the People's Republic of China. I appreciate your perspective on this issue.

As the world's most populous nation, China's influence and power has been growing steadily over the past several decades. This is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, and presents America with challenges and opportunities to seek change.

In particular, China's treatment of ethnic and religious minorities and political dissidents, as well as its relationships with Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet are very troubling. Despite progress over the last few decades, China must do much more to comply with modern human rights norms. I look forward to working with my colleagues on these difficult issues and am deeply committed to promoting human rights in China and other countries.

As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the East Asian Subcommittee, I will keep your thoughts in mind as the discussion on this subject continues.

Thank you again for contacting me. I hope you will continue to keep in touch on this or any other subject of importance to you.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator"

"I will keep your thoughts in mind as the discussion on this subject continues." yeah, right.

I am Buddhist and my teacher, Gelek Rimpoche, escaped Tibet in 1959. you can read about Tibet and Rimpoche here on my sister blog.

If you care, read The End of Tibet, a Rolling Stone story.

"The small concrete room smells of urine. In the corner, a young woman lies on a metal cot, moaning softly and vomiting up blood. A former Buddhist nun, she is recovering from an operation on her stomach to fix internal injuries caused by beatings from Chinese guards. Her roommate, Lhundrub Zangmo, speaks in a whispery monotone. Zangmo's head is no longer shaven, and her straight black hair falls over her tight sweater emblazoned with the words The Coolest Boy. But even though she has left the clergy, Zangmo remains deeply religious. She has plastered the walls of the tiny room with photos of Buddhist deities and the Dalai Lama, leader of Tibetan Buddhists."

I sponsor a Buddhist nun who fled Tibet and who now lives at a monastery in India. if I went to Tibet and wore my Dalai Lama pendant, at best it would be taken from me, at worst I would be thrown in jail -- images of His Holiness are forbidden in Tibet, his birthplace.

The Rolling Stone story contains a link for the International Campaign for Tibet that lists six things you can do to help make the 2008 Beijing Olympics a catalyst for change in Tibet.

I will not watch any part of the Olympics this year. the monks that the Chinese have captured will still be in jail when the Olympics begin. as you sit down in your comfortable living rooms to watch the opening ceremonies, they will still be in jail, if they are not already dead.

FREE TIBET

BOYCOTT THE 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS

boycotting Chinese products

People say that boycotting the Beijing Olympics would only hurt the athletes and that's certainly a valid point. but if tainted toothpaste, pet food, and toys with lead paint aren't enough to stop you from buying stuff made in China...

From the Tibetan news website:

Latest threat from China: Toxic Clothes?

Here's a good reason to wash new clothes before putting them on infants and children: A New Zealand television station is reporting that "scientists found formaldehyde in woolen and cotton clothes at 500 times higher than is safe."

UK trading standards are on alert after Chinese-made clothes in New Zealand were discovered to have up to 900 times the safe level of formaldehyde in them. Formaldehyde is used to protect clothes that have to be shipped great distances against mildew. However, long-term exposure to high levels can be harmful, causing problems ranging from minor skin rashes to some types of cancer.

The latest safety alert over cheap Chinese goods was sounded in New Zealand. It has been passed on to trading standards officials in Britain.

"Any consumer worried about harm caused by clothes they have bought should contact the retailer or report their concerns to trading standards," a spokesman for the Government's new department for business, enterprise and regulatory reform said.

For more information you can visit the No More Made in China website


Find more photos like this on No More Made in China


and



Not China Made.net has a list of China-free shopping:

* American Apparel
* American Plastics Toys
* Blessed Nest
* Born Free Baby Products
* Buy American.com
* Corelle (Kitchen-ware)
* Crayola Crayons
* Holgatetoy
* ImagiPlay
* Justice Clothing
* Made In USA Products
* Maple and Mark
* Shop for America
* Still Made In USA .com
* Story Board Toys
* Toys Made In America
* Uncle Goose Toys
* US Made Toys
* Whittle Shortline Railroad
* Zebulon USA
* Zebulon USA- Toys

My reason for boycotting Chinese products is purely political -- I support a free Tibet. Mommy Zabs, who started Not China Made.net, says, "Not everyone may feel led to ban or boycott China. But I am asking you to be aware, read labels, pay attention to just how much we as parents buy from China. It’s alarming."

Yes, it is difficult not to buy things that are made in China, but that's no excuse. I read the labels of EVERYTHING that I buy. I have always said, BE AWARE, READ LABELS, LIVE MINDFULLY. If you think one person can not affect change, you are wrong.

It IS possible not to buy products made in China if one shops mindfully and not automatically. Don't mindlessly hop over to Wal-Mart -- #3 on the Top Ten Corporate Villians of the Planet list -- just because it's "easy" or "cheap." unfortunately, many people sleep-walk through life and don't THINK. they just drink any kool-aid that's handed to them.

Live mindfully, shop mindfully. is that really so hard to do?

do no harm

three simple words that can change us and change the world.

many of us talk about how things need to change in this world, but how many of us talk about changing ourselves -- first?

from the Do No Harm website:

"We seem to be living in a world that is getting less hospitable every day. Look closely at any endeavor our species has engaged in and it appears we are unaware of the harm we do, we ignore the harm we do, we intentionally do harm for our own gain, or sadly in some cases we do harm for our own pleasure and enjoyment.

Has no one taught us to do no harm?

If we haven't been taught to do no harm, we see no harm in doing harm. We cause harm and shrug it off. We cause harm and laugh about it. We cause harm and brag about it.

Sadder still, our children bear witness to our actions and never learn to do no harm themselves. Above all else we must teach our children, by example and instruction, this basic moral principle of life.

We must begin to make better choices and treat each other, the other creatures who share this planet with us, and this planet we call home with greater respect and compassion.

We believe that the first and most basic moral law is, "Do no harm." Because we can feel pain and suffering, we can imagine the pain and suffering of others, and we can act accordingly to minimize the harm we cause."

When the Holocaust is discussed, people say that the Germans did nothing when they watched the trains roll by that carried the Jews to the concentration camps. but how many trains are rolling by each of us today and we do nothing?

change begins with us.

why there's blood on the Olympic rings

The Nangpa La Shootings


From Wikipedia:

"On September 30, 2006 75 Tibetan refugees, among them many young children, and their 2 guides were trying to enter Nepal illegally via the Himalayan Nangpa La pass (5,700m). Chinese Border Security soldiers opened fire on the group and killed Kelsang Namtso, a 17 year old nun, just before the pass. Kunsang Namgyal, a 23 year old man, was hit in the leg twice, then taken away by the Chinese borderpolice and is believed to have died later. The Chinese claimed that their soldiers fired in self defence. Only 41 survivors reached the Tibetan Refugee Transit Center in Kathmandu, Nepal. Two weeks later they arrived at their destination in Dharamsala, India....

The following list of people were part of the original group and have been missing since the shooting. It is believed they are held by Chinese authorities. The names were forwarded by Students For A Free Tibet.

* Tenwang, age 7
* Lhakpa Tsering, age 8
* Dhondup Lhamo, age 9
* Dechen Dolma, age 10
* Wangchen, age 11
* Tsedon, age 12
* Sonam Wangdue, age 12
* Ming Shomo, age 13
* Lodoe Nyima, age 15
* Jamyang Tsetan, age 16
* Karma Tsetan, age 16
* Lodoe Namkha, age 16
* Karma, age 19
* Samten, age 19
* Sonam Palzom, age 20
* Dhondup Palden, age 21
* Kusang, age 22
* Lobsang Paljor, age 35"

Chinese officials have yet to release information about the detainees' whereabouts or well-being.

Look at the ages of these prisoners and think about what it would be like if your child was detained by soldiers after witnessing a woman being shot in the back.

And this is what happens when you try to do the right thing.

"Luis Benitez, who had grown increasingly disturbed by the silence, broke the news via an e-mail sent to an expedition news Web site. Luis, a mountain guide working for the commercial outfit Himalayan Experience, had watched the chilling event unfold days before. His began his e-mail with "The story not being told here in Tibet," and went on to describe the killing. Understandably, he asked his name not be used....

Benitez confided to fellow guide Paul Rogers that he was the one who broke the news. Rogers immediately informed their boss Russell Brice, owner of Himalayan Experience, of what Benitez had done.

Benitez claims Brice, Rogers and Henry Todd, a guide from another commercial outfit, angrily confronted him at base camp. Todd went so far as to make mafia-style threats....

Confronted with the choice of protecting business verses reporting human rights violations, they've chosen money. Ironically, the clients of these companies, who are generally very sympathetic to the culture of Tibet, are now unknowingly helping to destroy it.

In contrast, Benitez put his career on the line instead of selling his silence for blood money. Even if Benitez is allowed back into China, he's likely to be blacklisted by guiding companies, many of whom operate around the world. He has made some powerful enemies while trying to do the right thing."

The world was outraged over the events in Burma....Sudan...Rwanda...

Where is the outrage over Tibet?

from Tibetan Monks Warned to Return to Monastery...

"A 14-year-old monk, Tsering Gyaltsen, was wearing a photo of the Dalai Lama around his neck when he was detained, and police beat him severely after he refused to denounce the exiled Tibetan leader.

He was denied medical attention and left in the courtyard of a government building in Baikar town..."

from the website March10.org:

"One World, One Dream: Free Tibet

March 10th 2008, marks the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising when tens of thousands of Tibetans rose up against China's illegal invasion and occupation of their country. Despite China's best attempts to destroy the Tibetan spirit, Tibetan resistance has continued for nearly half a century inside Tibet and in exile communities worldwide.

This year, with all eyes focused on the Olympics in China, Tibetans and supporters worldwide are protesting the Chinese government's use of the Olympics as a political tool to legitimize its illegal occupation of Tibet.

Join the Global Uprising for Tibet! Help us draw attention to the worsening human rights situation inside Tibet. Help us use the Olympics spotlight to shame and embarrass the Chinese government and show them that until Tibet is free, China will never be never be accepted as a leader on the world stage."

BOYCOTT THE 2008 OLYMPICS IN BEIJING

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