For Immediate Release: June 22, 2010
TIBETANS DEMAND FREEDOM DURING CHINESE PRESIDENT’S VISIT
Rallies Planned in Ottawa as Hu Jintao make official visit
Contact: Maude Côté (English/French), Students for a Free Tibet Canada
Thupten (Tibetan), Students for a Free Tibet Canada
[TORONTO] – Tibetans and their supporters will demand an end to China’s occupation of Tibet as Chinese President Hu Jintao makes his first official visit to Canada since Prime Minister Stephen Harper came into leadership more than four years ago.
“Tibetans continue to face arbitrary arrest, detention and torture for nothing more than peaceful expression of their religious and political beliefs,” said Maude Côté, a member of the Board of Directors of Students for a Free Tibet Canada. “We urge the Prime Minister who has shown support for human rights and Tibet in the past to take this opportunity to publicly offer to facilitate a face-to-face meeting between the Chinese government and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Such a meeting would truly be a step forward in ensuring human rights and freedom for the Tibetan people.”
Hu Jintao was Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee when he imposed martial law to crack down on demonstrations for Tibetan independence in October 1989. Hundreds of Tibetans were killed or injured as a result and many more were imprisoned.
WHAT: Rallies and protests in Ottawa against Chinese President Hu Jintao to call an end to the illegal occupation of Tibet
WHO: Tibetans and supporters
WHEN: Thursday, June 24, 2010
WHERE: Rideau Hall, 10:00AM-12:00PM
Parliament Hill, 12:30PM-3:30PM
Westin Hotel, 4:00PM-9:00PM
*Locations/times are subject to change
Students for a Free Tibet Canada, the Tibetan Youth Congress of Toronto, the Canada Tibet Association of Ontario, the Tibetan Women’s Association, the Canada Tibet Committee, and Chushi Gangdruk are organizing the Tibetan protests in Ottawa.
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