The International Campaign for Tibet Germany today handed over more than 7200 signed postcards to Kerstin Muller, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office. The postcards are addressed to the Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and call on him to take action for Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s release.
“We call on the German government to explicitly raise this case and to act for the rights of the Tibetan people on the official visit to China in December. Tenzin Delek is one example of the human rights abuses being carried out on the roof of the world by the Chinese government”, said Dr. Gudrun Henne, Executive Director of ICT Germany. “Substantial negotiations with the Dalai Lama that bridge the differences and gain common ground are essential to permanently resolve the question of Tibet and to save Tibetan culture. This needs the explicit and wholehearted support of the German government, in particular German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.”
The 7269 signed postcards were collected during the Wall of Hope tour through Germany for Tenzin Delek Rinpoche in just three weeks. “We are overwhelmed by the support for Tibet amongst German citizens”, said Dechen Pemba, ICT Germany’s campaigns coordinator. “Over 80 volunteers worked together and helped on the nationwide tour”.
Geshe Lobsang Tenpa, student of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, spoke of his teacher and appealed to the German government to intervene to prevent his execution and ensure his release. Geshe Lobsang Tenpa gave Kerstin Muller a copy of the Human Rights Watch report ‘Trials of a Tibetan Monk: The Case of Tenzin Delek’.
The Wall of Hope concluded in Berlin after a three week tour of Germany to Bremen, Bonn, M?nster, Heidelberg, Freiburg, Nurnberg and Jena.