Nobel Peace Laureates and Others Offer Statement on Tibet, China and the Dalai Lama

by Danny Fisher

Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Image via The Community.
This from The Community:

    “We the undersigned Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, human rights leaders and concerned individuals wish to express our concern at the current deterioration of the human rights situation in Tibet, and the apparent breakdown of the talks between the Chinese government and emissaries of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We are dismayed at the lack of any concrete progress toward resolving the conflict over the autonomy and religious freedom of the Tibetan people, and urge all parties involved to redouble their effort to achieve this vital goal.

    “To our dear friend His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we say: we stand with you. You define non-violence and compassion and goodness. Clearly China does not know you. It is our sincere hope that they will. We call on China’s government to know His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as we and so many others have come to know him during the long decades he has spent in exile.

    “We ask the esteemed Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Tibet, and request that she be given access to assess and report to the international community the current state of affairs for the Tibetan people. The High Commissioner should be allowed to travel with journalists and other observers and, working with all parties involved, assist in bringing these decades of struggle to a peaceful resolution.

    “China is uniquely positioned to impact and affect our world. We ask you to please use this position to improve our world by listening to the voices of the Tibetan people, and creating a new solution for Tibet that allows this culture to flourish.

    “This will help not only Tibet. It will help China. It will demonstrate to us that China is willing to be a responsible partner in international global affairs.

    “Finally, we ask that China stop naming, blaming and verbally abusing one whose life has been devoted to peace. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is not simply a holy man. He is recognized throughout the world as one of our few true moral authorities. He is a teacher who has shown us all how to live our lives with compassion, non-violence and love.”

    In Ernest,

    Archbishop Desmond Tutu

    SIGNATORIES:

    Harrison Ford

    Christy Turlington

    Naomi Campbell

    Gwyneth Paltrow

    George Clooney

    Ashley Judd

    Gillian Anderson

    Her Majesty Queen Noor

    Peter Gabriel

    Richard Gere

    Jeff Skoll

    Graham Nash

    Maria Bello

    Melissa Mathieson

    Mia Farrow

    Adam Yauch

    Barbara Kopple

    Kerry Kennedy

    Mia Kirschner

    Jack Healy

    Anne Archer

    Hans Zimmer

    Mark and Donna Isham

    Phil Noyce

    Scilla Elworthy

    NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATES:

    Elie Wiesel

    Shirin Ebadi

    Jody Williams

    John Hume

    David Trimble

    F.W. de Klerk

    Mairead Maguire

    Betty Williams

    Adolfo Perez Esquivel

    OUR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS:

    International Campaign for Tibet

    Artists for a New South Africa

    Artists for Amnesty

    Artists for Human Rights