Czech government accepts call for help to Tenzin Delek Rinpoche

15.12.2003
PRAHA [Olympic Watch]
Autor: Olympic Watch

Six human rights organizations have called on the Czech government to help the Tibetan political prisoner, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. They did so through a letter that was handed over to Vice-Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Cyril Svoboda by Jan Ruml, Vice-Speaker of the Senate and Chairman of Olympic Watch (Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games in a Free and Democratic Country) and Lubomir Sklenka, Chairman of the Lungta association, at the Foreign Affairs Ministry on today.

The letter, which – apart from the chairmen of Lungta and Olympic Watch – had been signed by representatives of Amnesty International Czech Republic, Confederation of Political Prisoners of the Czech Republic, Czech Helsinki Committee and the People in Need foundation, calls on the Czech government to "request from the government of the People's Republic of China an immediate and unconditional commutation of the death penalty and a new, fair trial for the Tibetan political prisoner Tenzin Delek Rinpoche". The letter is part of a world-wide campaign to avert the execution of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a buddhist teacher, sentenced to death in a closed trial in the PRC a year ago. The execution has been postponed, but may be carried out as early as April 2004.

Olympic Watch and Lungta coordinate the campaign in the Czech Republic.

Lungta is a non-governmental non-profit organization of people with an interest in Tibet, Tibetan culture and Tibetan way of life. It was founded in 1997 and has always been based solely on the work of volunteers. Lungta s aim is twofold: to provide financial and material support to different projects inside Tibet and in Tibetan communities in India and to raise awareness of the Czech public about the current situation in Tibet and all aspects of the Tibetan issue.

Olympic Watch (Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games in a Free and Democratic Country) was established in Prague in 2001 in response to the IOC's decision to grant the organization of the 2008 Olympics to Beijing. Its mission is to monitor the human rights situation in the People's Republic of China in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games and to campaign in order to achieve positive change in the lives of the people in China.

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