BAY AREA TIBETANS & SUPPORTERS CONDEMN THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT’S ILLEGAL EXECUTION OF FOUR TIBETANS

San Francisco – Bay Area Tibetans and supporters will join human rights activists worldwide in condemning the Chinese government’s illegal execution of four Tibetans in Lhasa on October 20. The confirmed identities of the executed are Lobsang Gyaltsen, aged 27, Loyak, aged 25, and Penkyi, aged 21. A fourth unidentified Tibetan was also reportedly executed on the same day. Activists call on the U.S. government to immediately respond and denounce this travesty of justice, and ask for concrete action on Tibet by President Obama during his upcoming visit to China. 
 

These individuals were denied their basic legal rights, and their trials were not conducted in accordance with international judicial standards. Despite Chinese law providing that these cases should have been trialed in open court – where independent observers could have attended - these four Tibetans have been prosecuted behind closed doors. These are also the first known executions of Tibetans since 2003, signaling an alarming escalation in the Chinese government's violent campaign to punish any Tibetan who dares to speak out against Chinese rule.

Wei Jingsheng, a well known Chinese Human Rights and Democracy activist and often referred to as "the leader for the opposition against the Chinese Communist dictatorship" said "I support the struggle of all people in China deserving of Human Rights". Wei Jingsheng was brought over to the United States by the Clinton administration. 

"President Obama has declined to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama and succumbed to the Chinese government's pressure... We must not bed him to meet his Holiness the Dalai Lama.. rather our message should be straight... OBAMA DON"T GO TO CHINA, That will make a statement and get progress for Human Rights and Democracy in China and Tibet" said Giovanni Vasallo, President of the Bay Area Friends of Tibet and Committee of 100 for Tibet. 

"These executions are a grave violation of the standards of civilized conduct standards following International Law policies on Human Rights issues world wide".. as Martin Luther King Jr. once said "Sometime silence is betrayal". Said Tsering Dorjee, President of the San Francisco Regional Tibetan Youth Congress.

"Yes, we can certainly make a difference if we all raise our voice in unison. As such, we must join in solidarity with those who cannot speak and continue to suffer under the repressive Chinese government" said Yangchen Lhamo, Board member of the Students for a Free Tibet.

Local Tibetans and supporters will gather with signs and banners with long time Tibet activists playing out an outrageous political theater with a message directed toward PRESIDENT OBAMA and his message of CHANGE. This is taking place outside the Chinese Consulate this friday at 1pm. 

Who: Bay Area Tibetans and supporters

What: Protesting the illegal executions of four Tibetans allegedly convicted for their involvement in the March Lhasa Uprising

Where: Protest at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco

When: Friday, October 30, 12-3pm

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