Show March rJ a arch rc To Toy 0 Free re e Tibet i tJ J Free Tibet Shame on China Tibetan pr protesters testers march arch in in- r downtown Salt Lake City By Allison Johansen Staff Writer SALT LAKE CITY Those CITY Those were were some of the words that were chanted Sunday morning at Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City at 1000 am a.m. on Sunday February There were well over people protesting protesting protesting protest protest- ing the next Olympics being held in China 2008 The Tibetans and protesters alike wish China would improve their human rights improve the democracy and most importantly free Tib Tibet t. t Not only were there Tibetans and monks but Americans America and the Utah Community as well supporting the protest a 22 year old Utah resident five of-five of five years was born in India and his parents are ate fr from m Tibet They left Tibet to escape the political sion has been to many protests and says that most protests are shout outs however this is only a peace march said the purpose of this protest is isto isto isto to make everyone aware of the Tibetans' Tibetans situation He and the Tibetans are happy people are supporting them because the the whole purpose of the protest is to give people knowledge and make them aware of this issue The Tibetans are upset that Tibet is is' still not free There are 62 million million million mil mil- lion people in Tibet and mid of them are prisoners From what the Tib ten speakers speakers- had to s say y The Games Beij Games in 2008 offers the international Tibetan movement an excellent opportunity to present the Tibetan violent non-violent struggle with the government of the Peoples People's Republic of China The international community including the US U.S. Congress has determined that since the China has illegally occupied Tibet committed committed committed com com- genocide and violated the religious religious religious reli reli- freedom and other human rights of the Tibetan Mongolian and U gher peo peo- ples The Dalai Lama the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader was awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for his commitment commitment commitment commit commit- ment to a violent non-violent solution to this situation situation situation situ situ- including his point five-point peace plan Ed Firmage a Professor of Law at the University of Utah is a close personal personal personal per per- friend of the current Dali Lama The Dalai Lama wants to bring freedom to all said Firmage The main reason to bring the issue of Tibet to the public is to show that Chinese human rights are very bad Firmage also discussed the aims of the rally which are to bring the issue of Tibet to the attention of the world to put political pressure on China as host of the 2008 Olympics through peaceful means and to find a peaceful solution in Tibet in including luding a UN-supervised UN dum I j After the Tibetan speakers flyers flyers flyers fly fly- ers stickers and candles with prisoners' prisoners names written on them were passed out The protesters were asked to join the Tibetans in a peace march which started at Pioneer Park went to West Temple then circled back to Pioneer Park 1 The peace walk caught a lot of peoples people's attention because of all the people people people peo peo- stopping traffic the big signs and the loud chants that everyone was yelling People were yelling Free Tibet Shame on China and Tibet belongs to Tibetans After the peace march the protest included one more speech and some Tibetan songs while the candles were being lit The Tibetans ended the event with the Tibetan national anthem and by saying thanks for the attendance and support They urged everyone to spread the word and to write to congress and President Bush to help with the issue You can go to for more information 9 S r S. S Lf 4 D f K f d t kiML I 9 ki tl tlC C 4 N y 1 F FC C LV pj JI H HUMAN VM Ii f RIGHTS RIGHTS' TS i IN J T tIBET jf U 0 h x 0 7 I idl M ftP t r W d ml fy Sy Tibetan Protestors at the Olympics photo by Dan |