As Chinese military forces increase their crackdown across Tibet, Tibetans and supporters worldwide are increasing pressure on the International Olympic Committee to immediately withdraw the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Tibetan provinces of Amdo and Kham (now annexed into China's Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Gansu provinces) from the Olympic torch relay route. Despite growing reports of arbitrary arrests, house-to-house raids, killings, and even beatings of schoolchildren, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee (BOCOG) has stated that preparations for the Mount Everest leg of the torch run were "proceeding very smoothly and according to schedule."

In a letter faxed on the same day to the International Olympic Committee and hand-delivered last week by Tibetans during a rally in Lausanne, Switzerland, 150 Tibet support organizations - under the umbrella of the International Tibet Support Network - demanded that the IOC "immediately remove Tibet from the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay route." They also called on IOC President Jacques Rogge to make a public statement of concern about the current situation in Tibet.

The Chinese government will undoubtedly escalate its repression in Tibet to ensure the smooth running of the torch through Tibet and to the top of Mount Everest. The global community must not allow China to use the Olympic torch to try and legitimize its rule in Tibet while continuing its military crackdown against innocent Tibetans. Please speak out now and demand the IOC immediately withdraw Tibet from the Beijing Olympics Torch Relay route.