Tibetans urge BRICS leaders to talk Tibet with Xi in Brazil

DHARAMSALA, July 15: A group of Tibetan NGOs urged leaders of Brazil, South Africa, Russia and India to formally discuss the critical situation in Tibet with Chinese leader, Xi Jinping when they meet him for the sixth BRICS summit to be held in Brazil from July 15 to 16.

The NGOs in a press conference held today in Dharamsala said they had delivered an open letter to President Dilma Roussef of Brazil, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to tackle Xi Jinping over his Party’s ongoing failed Tibet policies and appalling human rights abuses.

The group of NGOs said Xi’s elevation to the top of Chinese leadership over a year ago has led to increased repression and tension in Tibet.

“Since Xi Jinping’s elevation to the top of China’s Communist Party over a year ago there has been a significant escalation in China’s hard-line response to dissent in Tibet, with a heightened military presence and widespread and systematic detentions. A campaign to ‘criminlize’ family members of self-immolation protesters has led to ordinary Tibetans being threatened with guilty by ‘asociation’ and a number of long prison sentences. These actions and China’s anti-Dalai Lama propaganda are exacerbating tensions in Tibet,” the group said in a statement released today.

The group comprising of NGOs and Tibet campaigners from Brazil, Russia, South Africa and Dharamsala-based Tibetan Women’s Association, Gu-Chu-Sum, Students for a Free Tibet, Bharat Tibbat Sayog Manch demanded the leaders to:

1. Make a public statement during the Summit in support of the people of Tibet, calling on the Chinese President to resolve the Tibet issue swiftly and peacefully.

2. Urge Xi Jinping to resume dialogue with representatives of the exiled Tibetan leadership, to advance discussions towards a lasting solution to the issue of Tibet.