3 Tibet NGOs at Global Forum on Freedom of Expression, Oslo June 1 - 6, 2009

3 Tibet NGOs at Global Forum on Freedom of Expression, Oslo June 1 - 6, 2009
Issued by Norwegian Tibet Committee, Oslo June 3, 200

Oslo, June 2, 2009
Global Forum on Freedom of Expression is being organised by four major international NGOs as mentioned below:
1. International Freedom of Expression exchange,
2. International PEN writers in Prison Committee,
3. FRITT ORD (Freedom Speech foundation

The actual conference begins from June 3 onwards. First two days i.e. June 1 & 2 are dedicated for internal or annual meeting of four respective NGOs as mentioned below:

June 1 - 2, 2009
1. International Freedom of Expression exchange (IFEX business meeting)
2. International PEN writers in Prison Committee (Annual conference)
3. Human Rights House Network (Annual meeting)
4. FRITT ORD - Toda research network on peace journalism (Research meeting)

Two Tibetan delegates from Tibetan Exile PEN took part in first 2 day annual meeting of International PEN.

June 3 - 6, 2009
The actual Global Forum on Freedom of Expression begins from June 3 onwards. It was inaugurated by Norwegian foreign minister Mr. Jonas Gahr Store. Minister for foreign affairs begin his speech with reminding all the delegates with famous incident of Tiananmen massacre. Environmentalist & 2004 Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai gave keynote speech.

Some over 100 eminent leaders, writers, scholars and activists are going to speak during the forum. This meeting will cover over 50 different topics - mainly such as Media in Conflict: Propaganda and counter strategies, Law and the politics of denial, Managing change in the global media economy, Censorship of science, Investigative journalism and corporate accountability, Silenced women's voices, Defending Human rights, Access to information: Know & tell, Engaging local media, Web activism, Campaign strategy, Free speech for sale and Donors Clinic, Monitoring freedom of expression etc.

3 Tibet related NGOs are taking part in this forum. They are Mr. Karma YESHI & Mr. Oystein Alme (Voice of Tibet - an independent radio news service), Ms. Chungdak Koren (Norwegian Tibet Committee) and Mr. Jigme Dorjee & and his colleague (Tibetan exile PEN).

Ms. Chungdak Koren, managing director of the Norwegian Tibet Committee (Tibet support Group) stated that this is extremely good platform to raise the issue of human rights in China and particularly in Tibet. She further stated that "Tibetan people inside Tibet do not enjoy freedom of speech & expression, and it is extremely important to highlight such basic human rights, which are denied to Tibetans by People's Republic of China".

Mr. Oystein Alme, Administrative Director of VOT foundation says that he has great hope from this forum and could raise Chinese jamming issue of foreign broadcast into Tibet and China. He further stated that at this age of internet, it is sad to note that Tibetans in Tibet and Chinese in China fail to get unbiased information due to great wall of China's censorship.

Mr. Karma Yeshi, editor-in-chief of Voice of Tibet (an independent radio news service) says that, "China being signatory to almost all UN related bodies, is responsible for safeguarding freedom expression and so on, but unfortunately China misuses UN platforms and openly violates freedom of speech, right to information etc. And due to China's censorship, people could not get excess to free media and fail to even write freely". He further stated that international conferences like Global Forum on Freedom of Expression are right platform to expose China's censorship and violations of basic human rights etc. to the outside world".

Ms. Chungdak Koren is going to speak with the other panelists on the topic - From Tiananmen to the Olympics: Campaign review. In this panel discussion, panelists will focus on campaigns to promote human rights in the run up to Beijing Olympics. It will also consider the development of China's relationship to media and censorship etc.

Ms. Chungdak Koren further stated that it is also important to note that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been invited as keynote speaker during inauguration of Global Forum on Freedom of Expression on June 3. But due to His Holiness' prior engagement he could not accept the invitation.

There are over five hundred and fifty participants from 120 countries attending this 6 day global conference herein Oslo. All sessions will be held in Arabic, Aramaic, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Den norske TIBET-komité

Den norske Tibet-komité er en partipolitisk uavhengig, landsomfattende organisasjon som er dannet for å arbeide for tibetanernes rettigheter. Tibet-komitéen ble stiftet våren 1989 og har ca 1500 medlemmer. Det finnes tilsvarende støtte-organisasjoner for Tibet over hele verden. Den norske Tibet-komité er en av de største og mest aktive. Våren 1994 arrangerte vi i Norge en konferanse for de europeiske støttegruppene.

Norge og nordmenn har fått en spesiell stilling blant tibetanere etter at deres religiøse og politiske leder, Dalai Lama, i 1989 mottok Nobels fredspris. Flere av de tibetanerne som kom til Norge på 60-tallet, bor her fortsatt, og de er aktive i komitéen. Våren 1996 begynte radiostasjonen Voice of Tibet med sendinger til Tibet, og Norge har igjen styrket sin posisjon i tibetanernes bevissthet.

Tibet ble okkupert av Kina i 1950, og tibetanernes situasjon blir stadig forverret. Fundamentale menneskerettigheter brytes, og den rike tibetanske kulturen står nå i fare for å bli utslettet.

Den norske Tibet-komité har som formål å:

• Få norske myndigheter til anerkjenne Tibet som et okkupert land
  
• Informere om brudd på menneskerettigheter, økonomisk utbytting og diskriminering av tibetanere
  
• Gjøre Tibets rike kultur kjent i Norge