The Australia Tibet Council today appealed to Australian Olympics Committee President John Coates to do everything in his power to have the Tibetan leg of the Olympic torch relay cancelled.

ATC President George Farley said today: “It would be a travesty of everything the Olympics stands for to carry the Olympic torch through Tibet despite the recent widespread protests and the current military crackdown.”

Mr Farley said that carrying the torch through Tibet in the current situation was likely to provoke more protests and another heavy-handed response from the Chinese authorities, leading to further imprisonment, torture, and even loss of life for Tibetans.

Many National Olympics Committees, including the AOC, are meeting in Beijing early next week (April 7th to 9th), and will meet with the International Olympics Committee’s Executive Board next Thursday (April 10th). The IOC has previously refused requests from Tibetans and human rights organisations to withdraw Tibet form the torch relay route, stating that: “The Olympic Torch is a symbol which inspires people from all over the world to overcome their differences and come together in mutual understanding in anticipation of the Games which it heralds. The IOC’s expectation is that the 2008 torch relay will go ahead as planned”.

Mr Farley said: “China’s brutal crackdown in Tibet and its vicious attacks on the Dalai Lama over the last three weeks are the antithesis of ‘overcoming differences’ and ‘coming together in mutual understanding’. We are hoping that Mr Coates and the other members of the Australian Olympics Committee have a better appreciation than the IOC Executive Committee of the mood in Australia about this issue. Mr Coates should speak bluntly to the IOC about the need to change the torch route before the reputation of the Olympics is irrevocably tarnished.”

The Olympic torch is currently scheduled to be taken up Mount Everest next month and to pass through the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, in June as part of its 130-day worldwide relay.

Further comment:
George Farley
ATC Chairman
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it