South Africans hold peaceful rally in support of Tibet
Tuesday, 22 July 2008, 4:59 p.m.
 |
Pretoria: More than 50
participants, including Tibetans, held a peaceful rally in support of
the people of Tibet in Pretoria, South Africa, on 19 July.
Wearing orange T-shirts with the words ‘Peace in Tibet’, the
participants carried Tibetan National Flags, banners and placards that
read ‘Long Live the Dalai Lama’; ‘ Stop torture & killing in
Tibet’; ‘Release Tibetan political prisoners’ and ‘Hu Jintao must show
sincerity in talks with the Dalai Lama’.
Representatives from the local Amnesty International and Free Burma Campaign also took part in the rally.
The marchers also submitted a two-page memorandum to the Chinese embassy.
 MrAndreas Labuschagne reads out the two page memorandum calling for substantive dialogue between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government |
While offering humblest prayers for the victims affected by the
recent earthquake in China, the marchers urged ‘the Chinese government
to seriously consider to accord genuine autonomy for Tibet, and
implement the freedom of speech and religion as enshrined in the
constitution of the People’s Republic of China.’
In the memorandum, the marchers said, “We deeply feel concerned
with the number of peaceful Tibetan protesters killed, injured and
detained since the unrest erupted in March 2008. We strongly believe
that a conflict can be resolved by the interested parties through
engaging sincerely in peace agreements and dialogues, instead of
cracking down heavily on Tibetan people and subjecting them to harsh
‘strike hard’ and ‘patriotic re-education campaigns'”.
The memorandum further underlined, “that a constructive
dialogue on substantive issues with positive outcome needs to be held
between President Hu Jintao and His Holiness the Dalai Lama to ensure
the welfare of the people of Tibet.”
The marchers also submitted copy of the memorandum to South
African President Thabo Mbeki, Foreign Minister Dr. Dlamini Zuma and
the UN Secretary General.
–Based on report prepared by Office of Tibet, Pretoria, South Africa
