100 people participated in a protest
organized by Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), the Organisation for Global
Nonviolent Action (OGNA) and the Coalition for Tibet Aotearoa on Friday the 4th of
August in the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand.
The protest was called in light of the
current situation in Tibet, which is at its worst since the Chinese invasion in
the 1950's.
“In the last year alone there have been
47 self-immolations in Tibet in protest to the Chinese government's rule and
oppression”, says Joe Llewellyn, co-leader of SFT and OGNA.
Starting from the Peace Pole in front of
the Otago Museum, the crowd marched, with a banner saying "Tibet is burning - end the oppression of: Tibetans, Uyghers, Mongolians and Chinese", to the front of the Meridian Shopping
Centre, blocking off George Street traffic to perform a ‘die-in’ – a symbolic
lying down to symbolize the lives lost in the conflict that is ongoing in
Tibet. The group then progressed to the Octagon lawns where speeches
were made, and the printed faces of the 51 self-immolators were lined up to
emphasize the tragedy of the situation.
The march and die-in were well received
by the public, the die-in deliberately held only for a few minutes to minimize
disturbances to traffic. People from the sidewalks began joining the
march as the crowd progressed and many cars showed their support by
honking.
“Since the Beijing Olympics the
situation has become increasingly worse, with an increased military presence
and regular media blackouts”, says Joe Llewellyn.
The Chinese Government has a track record
of silencing political dissidents, Liu Xiaobo, Ai Wei Wei and Chen Guangcheng
are recent examples, though many more remain unreported. Mr. Llewellyn says
“There are now hundreds, if not thousands, of political prisoners- reports
indicate the latest self-immolations have lead to 600 more Tibetans being
incarcerated”.
Speaking about a recent report from the
Washington-based Human Rights Watchdog, Freedom House, he said: “Freedom House
have just upgraded Tibet in their 'Worst of Worst list' together with countries
such as Somalia, Saudi Arabia and North Korea. It's a list of the top nine
countries in terms of human rights violations”.
He says, “We are protesting to raise
this under-reported issue. It also gives people a chance to have their say on
it”.
“We are planning future action including
a nation-wide petition and protests before the Dalai Lama's visit to New
Zealand next year”.
Mr. Llewellyn says “The Free Trade Agreement New Zealand has with China should not be to the detriment of Chinese minorities”.
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