The International Campaign for Tibet is opening an office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The director of the office will be Tsering Jampa, formerly with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.

“We are very excited to begin working more closely with European groups and are extremely fortunate to have someone as experienced and talented as Tsering Jampa to head this initiative,” said John Ackerly, President of ICT.

In its initial phase, ICT will be exploring how to best assist efforts in Europe to promote human rights and self-determination for Tibetans. ICT envisions work in the following areas:

  • fostering better communication and coordination between the U.S. Congress and European Parliaments;
  • working on high-profile campaigns (such as the World Bank campaign and the Panchen Lama campaign);
  • monitoring events of the European Union, especially the EU-China dialogue on human rights;
  • providing support to TGIE’s efforts in Geneva for the Human Rights Commission and Sub-commission.

The initial Board of Directors consists of Lodi Gyari, Richard Gere, Tsering Jampa and John Ackerly. Michael van Walt will soon be joining the Board. ICT will share office space with TSG Netherlands. Tsering Jampa is also working for TSG Netherlands one day a week.