Help Ensure Relief for all Earthquake Victims

 The whole world has been saddened by the devastating impact of the earthquake that struck China and Tibet last week. On behalf of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), I wish to express my deepest condolences to the millions of victims of this natural disaster. Click here to read SFT's full statement.

What most people may not realize is that the epicenter of the earthquake was in the northeastern region of Tibet and that many Tibetans have been affected by this natural disaster. This is a region where a large number protests have recently taken place, and the suffering experienced by thousands of Tibetans as a result of China's brutal crackdown is now being compounded by the earthquake.

Please send the letter below to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao calling on him to ensure that Tibetan victims of the earthquake are given equal access to assistance and relief. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected.

Lhadon Tethong
SFT Executive Director

Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Premier Wen Jiabao

Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Appeal for Tibetan victims of the earthquake

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

My deepest condolences go out to the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Tibet and China on May 12th. Tibetans in Tibet and around the world have been offering prayers and raising funds to support the millions of Chinese people who have been impacted by this tragedy.

As you are aware the epicenter of the earthquake is the "Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture," a Tibetan area in the northeastern Amdo province of historical Tibet. Chinese authorities have been engaged in a brutal crackdown in this region since the popular uprising against China's occupation of Tibet spread across the country in March. Thousands of Tibetan monks, nuns, and lay people have been arbitrarily arrested, beaten or disappeared in China's attempt to suppress the Tibetan people's cries for human rights and freedom. Since the earthquake struck, over 100 Tibetans, mostly nuns, have been arrested and beaten in Kardze county, just a day's drive from the earthquake's epicenter.

While it has been encouraging to see your commitment to the rescue efforts and the increasingly open media reporting taking place in China, almost no information about relief efforts in the affected Tibetan areas has been reported. Considering the Chinese government's history of systematic oppression and disenfranchisement of Tibetans, I fear that Tibetans impacted by the disaster will not receive equal consideration and assistance.

I am particularly concerned about the thousands of Tibetans who remain detained or missing as a result of China's crackdown on Tibetan protests. I was disturbed that on the day the earthquake struck, the regional government issued an urgent official document entitled "Combining work on anti-separatism and safeguarding stability with disaster relief work." If you want to show that you equally value the lives of Tibetans and Chinese, you will reject this kind of politicization of relief efforts.

The international community has rightly condemned the heinous efforts by the Burmese junta to block aid and relief to minority and dissident populations affected by the cyclone in Burma. I am joined by thousands around the world in calling on you to ensure similar practices are not used by Chinese authorities in Tibet. Furthermore, I call on the Chinese government to immediately allow international media and observers unfettered access to all regions affected by the earthquake.

Sincerely,

aouinet myriam

Le prochain rendez-vous ciné-débat Survival aura lieu le lundi 2 juin à 20h à la Filmothèque du Quartier Latin avec la projection du film de Kumaré Ikpeng et Mari Corrêa
 
Le jour où j’ai vu l’homme blanc
 
En présence de Patrick Menget, ethnologue, président de Survival International (France) et de Mari Corrêa, coréalisatrice.
 
Quatre siècles et demi après l'arrivée des Portugais, certaines tribus indiennes du Brésil n'avaient jamais eu de contact avec les Blancs. À partir des années 1940, les frères Villas Boas décident de créer le contact avec ces Indiens pour les sauver de la menace que la politique expansionniste d'alors fait peser sur elles. En 1961 ils créent la réserve du Xingu et y installent des tribus en péril. Du premier contact avec les Villas Boas en 1965 aux démarches entreprises depuis quelques années en vue de retourner sur leurs terres d'origine, ce film se propose de faire raconter leur histoire aux Ikpeng, une des tribus "déménagées" dans le Xingu. Les Indiens ont fait l'objet de nombreux films dont le point de vue est toujours celui de réalisateurs blancs et l'angle ethnographique ou journalistique. La spécificité de ce film est que le point de vue est tout autre. Narrateurs-acteurs du récit, les Ikpeng seront filmés par Kumaré, un cinéaste Ikpeng.
 
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Tél. 01 43 26 84 65
 
La Filmothèque du Quartier Latin et Survival se sont associées pour présenter tous les premiers lundis du mois des films de fiction ou documentaires, historiques ou contemporains, sur les peuples indigènes, en présence des réalisateurs ou de spécialistes.
 
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