Rev. Danny Fisher

The Washington Post reports today on the Chinese government’s efforts to control the Tibetan nomad population through relocation. The Chinese claim their efforts will “improve the nomads’ living standards and…protect rivers and grasslands from overgrazing,” but relocation is also “an increasingly important tool to contain Tibetans and counter the influence of [His Holiness the Dalai Lama].” Either way, though, “a culture that embodies Tibetan identity is at risk.”

Over at Phayul, Larry Gerstein and Elliot Sperling write a lengthy, highly informative remembrance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s recently deceased eldest brother Taktser Rinpoche. Take a look.

Gerstein is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center of Peace and Conflict Studies at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. He is also president of the International Tibet Independence Movement, which he co-founded with Taktser Rinpoche. Sperling, an expert on both Tibetan history and Sino-Tibetan relations, is Associate Professor of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he worked with Rinpoche.

Via Precious Metal: The BBC tells us that the U.S. State Department’s annual report on religious freedom around the world has stated (not surprisingly) that repression of religious freedom has intensified in the Xinjiang province of China and in Tibet over the past year. The report also criticized Iran, Burma, Egypt, North Korea, Jordan, and Algeria. It further noted improvements in both Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

This from Amnesty International:

Despite the current UN ban on weapons to Darfur, arms continue to find their way into this conflict-torn region, helping prolong the conflict and contribute to the loss of life and home for thousands of innocent civilians.

An October 2007 United Nations’ Panel of Experts report highlighted, for example, the Sudanese government’s use of Russian supplied Mi-24 helicopters for attacks in Darfur. Sudanese armed opposition groups committing grave human rights abuses in Darfur have also allegedly received arms from Chad.

It has become undeniably clear that the current UN arms embargo on the Darfur region of Sudan cannot effectively restrain the arms flow into Darfur. Please call on your U.S. Senator(s) and Representatives today to encourage him or her to support S. Res 660 and H. Res. 1462, which call for an expansion of the UN arms embargo. Let’s help put an end to the violence in Sudan.

Send letters to your members of Congress by following this link.