Enough! Stand Up For Tibet Campaign puts pressure on G20 leaders

Los Angeles.  As Celebrities, politicians and other prominent individuals joined over 20,000 people in supporting a  campaign calling for coordinated global action to resolve the escalating crisis in Tibet, where 10 young Tibetans have self-immolated since March 2011, Palden Choesto, 35 a nun from Gaden Choeling set herself to fire while the world protested. On the eve of the G20 Summit, Tibetans and their supporters joined a Global Day of Action to launch the Enough! Campaign for Global Intervention to Save Tibetan Lives, an urgent call to world leaders to apply multi-lateral pressure on Chinese President Hu Jintao to ease tensions in Tibet. Unfortunately, for Tibetans in Tibet, they were not afforded the regligous freedom to peacefully protest, and yet another Tibetan needed to selfless self-immolated in protest of China’s brutal oppression. 

Since 2009, 12 young Tibetans have lit themselves on fire in an unprecedented series of actions protesting Chinese rule and calling for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.

"Today, in cities around the world, Tibetans and our supporters are standing up and saying Enough! Enough to China’s violent, military rule over our people, our land, and our culture and enough to world leaders for failing to hold Beijing accountable for its atrocities in Tibet. Inaction now will only lead to the tragic loss of countless more Tibetan lives, and we will not stand by and let that happen." said Tenzin Jigme of the International Tibet Network, a global coalition of more than 180 Tibet Groups, while speaking of yesterday’s protests.



In Los Angeles, Southern California Tibetans, LA friends of Tibet, 100 Thousand Poets for Change and Supporters held a protest and candlelight vigil to join in solidarity. The event was an all day event that began at the Chinese Visa office, and moved to the Chinese Consulate of Los Angeles. "We have pledged to Stand up for Tibet and will continue to call on the international community to take action and press Chinese President, Hu Jintao to lift the crackdown and ease tensions in Tibet" said Pema Dolkar, President of the Tibetan Association of Southern California.

Tibetans and supporters across the globe have set November 2nd, as a day of organized peaceful protests to gain the attention of the world in hopes of pressuring Chinese President, Hu Jintao to relax on the military control in the Ngaba region of Tibet. "We can only speculate on what is really going on in Tibet or the motivations behind the recent self-immolations, but whatever the situation is or the motives, for individuals to be pushed to perform such unprecedented acts of self-immolation, it shows that there are religious and political repressions occurring in Tibet." said Thupten Dorjee, Treasurer of the Tibetan Association of Southern California

During the events, Thousands Poets for Peace joined in the campaign and let volunteers from the crowd read poems. A poem written by Tsoltim N. Shakabpa,was read at the event and summarizes many of the feelings felt by the attendees of the event.