International Olympic Committee Executive Members are meeting right now in Athens. They have the power to stop the Chinese government from taking the Olympic torch through Tibet. At a time when Tibetans are living under under a climate of fear and being detained, beaten and killed for peaceful protests, parading the torch through Tibet will only provoke tensions and lead to further suffering

Please send the email below to the IOC Executive Committee members and ask them to do the right thing by immediately withdrawing all Tibetan areas from the torch relay route. 

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I join people of conscience around the world in calling on you to withdraw all Tibetan areas from the Olympic torch relay route.

As I'm sure you know, the Governor of Tibet has promised that Tibetans will be "treated harshly and with no leniency" for protesting during the torch relay. And yet we have heard from sources inside Tibet that Tibetans are unequivocally opposed to China taking the torch through their lands and are determined to protest such an act.

Given the current situation in Tibet - an intense military presence, house-to-house searches, arbitrary detentions and arrests, beatings, disappearances, and a horrific climate of fear - it is the height of irresponsibility for the IOC to allow China to parade the Olympic torch through Tibetan areas, a brazen provocation that will likely result in protest and bloodshed.

We note that a recent internal IOC memo recognizes this likelihood and suggests IOC staff and leadership express "deepest sympathies or condolences to anyone that was injured or killed, and their families."

Why are you preparing a public relations strategy to respond to a tragedy that is still in your power to prevent?

For over a year, Tibetans, their supporters, and people of conscience around the world have appealed to you not to sully the Olympic movement by allowing the Chinese Communist Party to employ the torch as a political tool in its attempt to use the 2008 Games to legitimize its rule in Tibet and China.

All politics aside, it is now clear that allowing the torch through Tibet will likely exacerbate an already desperate situation for Tibetans. The IOC's zealous defense of China's plans for the Tibet leg of the torch relay has already encouraged Chinese authorities to escalate their repression as they attempt to prepare the ground for a successful propaganda exercise.

The time to act is now.

Will you choose to abet a successful propaganda exercise by the Chinese government which will likely lead to further suffering and death, or will you choose to defend the Olympic movement's goal of "building a peaceful and better world?"

Your decision will make history and will reflect permanently on the reputation of the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic movement. The whole world is watching; on which side of history will you choose to stand? Please, do the right thing now by withdrawing authorization for China to take the Olympic torch through Tibet.

We await your decision in favor of the true universal values of Olympism.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
June 03, 2008