Four members of Students for a Free Tibet were detained in Beijing, on the eve of Olympics, after unfurling Tibetan flags and two 140-square-foot banners outside the Olympic stadium. The first read, ‘One World, One Dream: Free Tibet’ in English, and the second read, ‘Tibet Will Be Free’ in English and ‘Free Tibet’ in Chinese. The dramatic action took place hours before the Olympic Torch arrives in Tiananmen Square, and two days before the Olympics opening ceremony takes place at the stadium. The activists were detained by Chinese authorities after displaying their message for nearly an hour; their current whereabouts are unknown.

In the months leading up to the Games, the Chinese government has escalated their crackdown in Tibet, deploying tens of thousands of armed troops across the Tibetan plateau, shutting out media, routinely imprisoning and torturing Tibetans for engaging in peaceful protests, and terrorizing the Tibetan population as a whole.

China has robbed the Tibetan people of every imaginable form of freedom – including their freedom of thought! Chinese authorities have been conducting “patriotic re-education” campaigns in many parts of Kham and Amdo in order to punish those suspected of “believing in Tibetan independence.”

JOIN THE GLOBAL UPRISING

Please join the global protests that are being organized in hundreds of locations around the world, including Beijing.

1. Join the masses of supporters mobilizing during the Olympic period to make the Tibet issue China’s number one priority for the fall/autumn – see here for a full list of places and rotests. Please visit: http://freetibet2008.org/action/find-your-local-team-tibet

2. Make your voice heard by calling the Chinese Foreign Ministry and registering a complaint about their continuing brutal crackdown in Tibet. Phone number: 86-10-65961114.

As Tibetans inside Tibet are silenced at this critical time, Tibetans worldwide and supporters are joining to speak out against China’s oppression.

Let us make this Olympics a true catalyst for change in Tibet.

Students for a Free Tibet

www.sftindia.org , www.studentsforafreetibet.orgIndia

[Students for a Free Tibet(SFT India) is the India National Network f Students for a Free Tibet International, which has over 650 chapters in ore than 35 countries.]