(TibetanReview.net, Mar12’21) – Sixteen cities and 1,424 venues in 8 Central and Eastern Europe countries flew the Tibetan national flag on Mar 10, the 62nd anniversary of the Tibetan National uprising against Chinese occupation rule, said the Tibet Bureau, Geneva, in its Mar 12 update report.
The cities were started to be Geneva, Zurich, Bern, Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Rome, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Sofia, Budapest, Bratislava and Šamorín. And the eight countries were stated to be Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia.
In Switzerland, the Tibetan community of Switzerland and Lichtenstein (TCSL), Swiss Tibetan Women Association (STWA) and the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe (TYAE) have jointly organised demonstrations in three cities: Geneva, Bern and Zurich.
The Geneva event coincided with the ongoing 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council. Among those who addressed the Geneva gathering was Emmanuel Deonna, Geneva Cantonal Councilor from the Social Democratic Party. A joint petition was stated to have been submitted to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet calling upon her to break her silence on atrocities in Tibet.
In Germany, Vice-President Claudia Roth of the German Parliament has said in her social media posting: “The day is a reminder of the targeted destruction of Tibetan culture, daily oppression and discrimination faced by the people of Tibet.”
In Rome, the Tibetan Community of Italy, Italia-Tibet, the Tibetan Women’s Association, along with 16 organizations, have held a demonstration. Several parliamentarians were stated to have taken part in the event. They reportedly included the President of the Italian Intergroup of Parliamentarians Luciano Nobili, as well as Matteo Luigi Bianchi, Antonella Incerti, Augusta Montarulli, Federico Mollicone, GIGLIO VIGNA Alessandro, and Yana Ehm. The report said Paolo Grimoldi, member of the Italian Parliament, and Anna Cinzia Bonfrisco, member of European Parliament, tweeted their strong support for Tibetans.
In the Czech Republic, the Tibetan flag not only flew over the parliament building in Prague but also Lungta, a Tibet support group in Czech Republic, placed 155 of them before the Chinese Embassy for the 155 Tibetans who had self-immolated in occupied Tibet since Feb 2009, the report said.
In Austria’s capital Vienna, Tibetans and supporters were stated to have marched towards the Chinese Embassy.
In Bulgarian an appeal letter accompanied by an article titled “Time to Break Silence on Tibet” written by international law scholar Michael Van Walt Praag & Miek Boltjes was reported to have been submitted to the Foreign Ministry in Sofia, with translated copies to the diplomatic institute at Foreign Ministry, Foreign Policy Commission at Bulgarian National Assembly, Foreign Policy Adviser for the President and the political parties in Bulgaria.
In Slovakia, Members of the Slovakia Parliamentary Group for Tibet were stated to have displayed the Tibetan national flags inside the parliament building in Bratislava.
In Hungary, an appeal letter accompanied by a copy of the commemorative statement of the President of CTA was reportedly delivered to the Chinese Embassy in Budapest.
