May 1, 2012
OTTAWA: Parliamentarians from around the world today adopted the Ottawa Declaration. They had gathered in Ottawa for three days of intensive deliberations on the worsening situation in Tibet at the invitation of the Parliamentary Friends of Tibet, Canada. Legislators from Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Oceania were joined by prominent speakers from China, Tibet, India, the USA, Canada and elsewhere, including the democratically elected Tibetan political leader, the Kalon Tripa, Dr. Lobsang Sangay.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama opened the conference and the Honourable Joson Kenney, Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism welcomed the participants.
The Ottawa Declaration draws attention to the repressive policies of China in Tibet and the serious pattern of human rights vioaltions there and to China’s destruction of the Tibetan people’s identity, as evidenced by the attacks on Tibetan Buddhism, language, culture and the forced relocation of Tibetan nomads, which entail elements of cultural genocide. It expresses deep sorrow for the many Tibetans who self-immolated to protest these policies and calls for Tibetan freedom and the return of H. H. the Dalai Lama.
The Declaration emphasizes the importance of resuming the dialogue between H. H. the Dalai Lama and commends the newly elected Tibetan political leader for reaffirming his commitment to the vision of H.H. the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way Approach as an honourable solution to the Tibet issue.
In the light of the long standing position of H. H. the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile), the Declaration emphatically rejects the persistent allegations of the Chinese Government that H. H. the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan political leaders are seeking to separate from China.
Noting with concern at recent calls by persons of standing and influence within the Chinese Communist Party for the scrapping ofChina’s constitutional and legal provisions on autonomy for Tibetans and other minority peoples in the PRC, the parliamentarians gathered inOttawawarn the Chinese Government and the international Community of the potential serious consequences of such a regressive move.
The Declaration expresses solidarity with the non-violent struggle of the Tibetans and support for the growing movement among the Chinese people to bring about democratic change in China and the release of Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo. At the same time, all the parliamentarians at this conference genuinely extend a hand to the Chinese National People’s Congress to work with China’s legislators to identity ways to honourably settle the Tibetan dispute.
