Tashi Delek, Welcome back to a new school year sure to be filled with SFT’s hard-hitting worldwide action for Tibetan freedom. A lot has changed here at HQ in the past few months. Freya Putt, SFT’s Program Coordinator, resigned in July after five years of full-time service to begin graduate studies at Columbia University. Lucky for us, she’s staying in New York and will finish her degree just in time to work on the final stretch of the Olympics campaign (isn’t that right, Freya?). And in other good news, Matt BrownerHamlin, a member since his high school days in ‘99, has joined the staff in the essential new role of SFT Operations Director. Matt is now running the office, the intern and volunteer program, and taking care of our growing tech and logistical needs, all of which allows us to go about our work— kicking the Chinese government’s butt out of Tibet— more efficiently and effectively. In June, we held SFT’s sixth annual Free Tibet! Action Camp for the first time in Europe (see page 4). Taking this unique leadership training program to Europe marks a major milestone for SFT. As China tries to paint international support for Tibet as simply a “U.S.-China issue,” SFT’s worldwide activities— like camp in Europe— have become even more critical. On this note, we’re thrilled to announce that SFT Canada and SFT India now have National Coordinators! Long-time grassroots leader Kate Woznow is working part-time in Vancouver and in India, Tenzin Choeying, a founding member of SFT at Delhi University, is in the process of setting up an office in Dharamsala from which he will work fulltime. I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Kate and Choeying to the team and say thanks to the SFT members and supporters in those countries for their dedication and commitment to helping take SFT’s work to the next level. As you will see in the pages that follow, China’s repression in Tibet continues, as does the noble battle for Tibetan self-determination. Perhaps one of the clearest indications of all that is wrong can be seen in the Inside Tibet section on this page. For the Chinese authorities to beat and imprison Tibetan youth for protesting racism and job discrimination speaks not only of the political repression in Tibet, but also the glaring social inequality, the existence of which Chinese authorities so vehemently deny. By engaging in political and economic campaigns to raise public awareness about such abuses, we are keeping the international spotlight on China’s actions inside Tibet. In this way, we hold the Chinese authorities’ feet to the fire and force them to change their policies on the ground in Tibet. Our actions are causing an ever-increasing understanding amongst Chinese citizens that the embarrassing protests of their leaders and demonstrations at their embassies abroad will not stop until the human rights abuses stop and Tibet is free. While this may not always be obvious, it is happening. Slowly but surely, we are making a difference.
“The pleasure is all yours!” Outgoing Program Coordinator Freya unloads the burden onto SFT’s new Operations Director Matt.
CHANGE OF STAFF AT SFT HEADQUARTERS: This has been a summer of mixed emotions for all of us at SFT HQ. Freya Putt, our long time Program Coordinator, went back to school after five years of dedicated service to the Tibetan cause. During her tenure Freya not only went on protest missions in such risky places as Beijing, but also toiled away at her desk through countless nights. On a more cheerful note, we’re very happy to announce that Matt BrownerHamlin, former SFT chapter contact at The Johns Hopkins University, joined us as Operations Director this past May. Matt is a veteran of the World Bank campaign and is working hard with Han and the Board to bring SFT to the cutting edge of activist technologies.
TECHNOLOGY NOTE: BLOGGING COMES TO SFT Though SFT’s blog “Tibet Will Be Free” has been around since this past February, it has really hit stride this summer. With eight regular contributors and dozens of others posting their comments on the site, “Tibet Will Be Free” has become a critical tool for communicating with and to our members and supporters. Every chapter should have a blog: they’re easy to use, free, and fun. Once you’re signed up, email a link to matt@studentsforafreetibet.org and we’ll post it on our site. Stay tuned at tibetwillbefree.blogspot.com for more opinion pieces, news stories, photos, videos, and general chicanery brought to you by the SFT staff and Board of Directors. Don’t forget that we want to hear from you, too – comment on our posts!
INSIDE TIBET Tibetan Graduates Protest for Jobs, Eight Said To Be Arrested
Dozens of ethnic Tibetans staged protests this week outside government offices in the Qinghai provincial capital, Xining, in western China, accusing authorities of favoritism and discrimination in filling the few jobs available. Some 70 Tibetans from Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, including many college graduates, launched a protest July 11, in front of the Qinghai Provincial Government office in Xining, asking for jobs, witnesses told RFA’s Tibetan service. All but eight were sent home late Wednesday, July 13, the sources said. According to an unconfirmed eyewitness account, police arrested and beat up eight Tibetan youths on July 13. They included a youth identified as Dukar Kyab from Karing, whom police were said to have identified as a ringleader and beaten badly. No further information was immediately available.
Bod rangzen. Tibet will be free.
Sources in the region said Tibetans believe young Tibetan graduates are disproportionately represented among the unemployed in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, mostly since 2000. Of 100 government positions opening this year, only 17 went to Tibetans, while ethnic Salars and Han Chinese filled the rest—many of them having completed only a high school education, the sources said. The Tibetan college students have accused authorities of discrimination and nepotism in hiring, and they say most local officials are Salars or Han Chinese.
Lhadon Tethong Executive Director
This article was excerpted from a piece written for Radio Free Asia by Sarah Jackson-Han on July 15, 2005. 2