Australia’s Tibetan communities and Tibet support groups will be using the Australian leg of the Olympic Torch relay to peacefully draw attention to the current situation in Tibet. They are calling on the Chinese leadership to remove Tibet from the Olympic Torch Relay route and to work with the Dalai Lama towards a practical and mutually agreeable resolution of the Tibet issue.

Around 500 Tibetans and Tibet supporters from across Australia will be heading to Canberra for a day of peaceful demonstrations organized by Tibetan communities and the Australia Tibet Council.

The program will commence on Wednesday evening with a candlelit prayer vigil outside the Chinese Embassy in Yarralumla, beginning at 5.30pm. Five Tibetans from Sydney who have been walking to Canberra to meet the Olympic Torch will arrive during the vigil.

On Thursday morning a public rally in support of Tibet is being held on Parliament Lawn to coincide with the torch passing Parliament House. A program with cultural performances and speakers including Senator Bob Brown and Tibetan community leaders will begin at 9am.

‘This is an important opportunity to both raise awareness among Australians of the ongoing situation in Tibet and to send a clear message to the Chinese leadership that they must work with the Dalai Lama towards a peaceful resolution’ said Tsering Deki, president of the Tibetan Community of the Australian Capital Territory and co-organiser of Thursday’s rally.

Paul Bourke, Executive Director of the Australia Tibet Council has stressed that Thursday’s demonstrations are not an attack on the Chinese people or an attempt to mar the Olympics.

‘Our aim is to focus public attention on the situation in Tibet’, said Mr Bourke.
‘With 153 confirmed deaths, over 4,000 in detention and several hundred injured Tibetans unable to seek medical assistance for fear of arrest and torture, the situation inside Tibet remains extremely serious’ said Mr. Bourke.

‘We were deeply encouraged by Prime Minister Rudd’s principled stand on Tibet during his recent visit to China and urge the Australian Government to continue to push for a peaceful resolution of the Tibet issue’.

For further comment:
Paul Bourke, Executive Officer or Simon Bradshaw, Campaign Coordinator
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