The World is Watching, China!!!

(I received this recently)

Dear SFT members and supporters,


*** Before you read this, please keep in mind that the safety of
people like those I'm about to mention is in the hands of people like
us. We have worked to open up space for people in Tibet to speak out,
and now Tibetans are taking that risk, built on the hope that the
world is watching. Now we must fulfill that role. We must be watching
and making others to watch, so that China has no favorable course of
action, so that China must back down and refrain from violence as
Tibetans tell us the real story. ***


This year's Uprising Day brought with it the largest protests in Lhasa
in nearly 20 years. Details are still coming out but scarce. It seems
there were at least 3 major protests:

- On March 10 itself, a large number of Tibetans gathered in the
Barkor square, perhaps around 100, encircling police as a smaller
group staged a demonstration. 16 people were arrested, 14 of them
monks and one as young as 15 years old.

- Also on M10, 300 monks marched from Drepung towards central Lhasa.
Reports indicate they intended to protest in front of the Potala for
the release of others detained in October at the time the Dalai Lama
received the Congressional Gold Medal. 50-60 from the march were
detained.

- On March 11, 500-600 people, mostly monks, marched from Sera
monastery to the police station to demand the release of those
arrested at the Barkor. They were attacked by police with teargas;
it remains unknown how many were arrested.

Both Sera and Drepung monastery have since been sealed off, converting
them into a sort of prison themselves.

An eyewitness report of the first protest can be found on this travel
blog

Latest news

News updates are coming in frequently, this is the best place to keep up with them


Please:
- WATCH the events in Tibet as they unfold.
- TELL all of your friends and family members what's going on and ask
them to do the same. If you use Facebook, etc., post the news
articles there!
- Write to local and nationwide news media and ask them to cover the
story in Tibet.
- Contact me to volunteer in coordinating and mobilizing for Tibet.



Never forget, our eyes watching DO MATTER. 20 years ago, the tear gas
police fired would have instead been bullets and hundreds of Tibetan
patriots might be dead. But while treatment may be lighter on the
surface, China still aims to do the same violence behind closed doors,
through beatings and torture of those arrested, if they can get away
with it. We're here to see to it that they can't. It's that simple.

Join Tibetans in making history in 2008.
ONE WORLD. ONE DREAM. FREE TIBET 2008!


In solidarity,

Rich Felker
Students for a Free Tibet
Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator