Is this Tibet’s big chance?‏

Tibetans who refuse to fly the Chinese flag above their homes risk being beaten or shot in the latest attempt to break their spirits. But now is the best moment in ages to bring hope to Tibet’s proud, but desperate people.

China’s leaders are mounting an intense campaign to draw a veil over their rights abuses and persuade governments to vote them onto the UN Human Rights Council. So if enough of us shine a light on what’s going on in Tibet — squashing an ancient religion, banning journalists, dawn arrests — we can get China to back away from its hard-line policy to be sure of getting the 97 votes it needs.

Let’s show the Tibetan people that the world hasn’t forgotten them. China is feeling the heat as 13 governments just called them out on human rights in Tibet. Sign to stand with Tibet, then share this with everyone. When one million have signed we’ll deliver it to crucial UN delegations, and make it massive in the media:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_tibet_loc/?bsrdMdb&v=30949

Pressure on China is mounting. In an unprecedentedly strong show of support, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, US, UK, Switzerland, Sweden, Iceland and Austria just called on China to protect freedom of assembly, religion and association in Tibet. This request arrives just days after a Spanish court indicted China’s former President for genocide in Tibet!

The situation is really dire. More than 120 people have taken their own lives by setting themselves on fire to protest the suffocation of the Chinese occupation and hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have been wiped out. China’s ongoing policies systematically suppress the Tibetan language, force people from their homes, and strictly control the Tibetans’ movement and religion.

China’s failed policies hurt China too, but having dug themselves in this deep, they need pressure to change course. This is the week that change can start. If enough of us speak up while China is under the global microscope, we can make sure our governments know we haven’t forgotten Tibet. Sign now and tell everyone — let’s build the biggest petition ever for Tibet and demand they hold China to account:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_tibet_loc/?bsrdMdb&v=30949

Proud Tibetans are struggling against China’s brutal rule and long for change, but they can’t do it alone. No one can create changes that big alone.

That’s why we’ve come together for Tibet before. Let’s make this the moment where the whole world commits to the survival of the Tibetan people.

Our community was made for this moment.

With hope,

Ben, Alice, Patricia, Alex, Ricken, Emily, Sayeeda and the whole Avaaz team

SOURCES

• UN criticizes China’s rights record at Geneva meeting (BBC)
• Dalai Lama Says China Has Turned Tibet Into a ‘Hell on Earth’ (New York Times)
• Spain probes Hu Jintao ‘genocide’ in Tibet court case (BBC)
• Four Tibetans Shot Dead as Protests Spread in Driru County (Radio Free Asia)
• China denounces Spanish court’s Tibet case against ex-president (Reuters)