Sierra Friends of Tibet (SFOT) is a volunteer
based organization dedicated to raising awareness of Tibet. We
are located in the beautiful foothills the California Sierra
Nevada.
Our Mission
(PHOTO: Paul Maska)
Sierra Friends of Tibet's mission is to raise awareness of
Tibet, to advocate self-determination for the Tibetan people; To
end the illegal occupation, the destruction of the natural
environment, the eradication of the Tibetan culture, and the
continuing genocide of the Tibetan people by the Chinese
Communist government. We promote a peaceful resolution to
these issues.
Membership
SFOT relies on the
generous support from members and donors in our community. No
managing volunteer or member of SFOT receives remuneration.
SFOT meetings are open to everyone and input from the community
is valuable in our work.
In
what has been called by some the worst single human
catastrophe since the Jewish genocide during World
War II, Tibet has been under Chinese occupation for
nearly 50 years. Tibet has often been erroneously
portrayed as a mysterious "Shangri-La";
unfortunately, the harsh reality is that this remote
Himalayan country has been the victim of the worst
of China’s well-documented human rights atrocities,
having faced over four decades worth of
Tiananmen-like agony since the Chinese invasion in
1949. China’s human rights violations were brought
to light to the majority of the world in 1989 due to
the infamous shooting of the unarmed student
protesters in Tiananmen Square.
The following
is a small list of some of the documented atrocities that have
befallen Tibet and its people:
Over 1.2
million Tibetans, or one-fifth of the population, have been
killed as a direct result of the Chinese invasion and
occupation. Most of the Tibetans killed have been unarmed.
China has
been dumping nuclear waste on the Tibetan plateau, polluting
the headwaters of many of Asia’s major river sources. China
has admitted to this, confirming the existence of a 20
square mile dumpsite for radioactive pollutants near Lake
Kokonor, the largest lake on the Tibetan plateau.
China has
established a massive resettlement policy of Chinese to
Tibet, causing the Tibetans to become minorities in their
own country. Chinese is the official language, and Tibetans
are frequently barred from education, or if admitted to
schools, are educated in an attempt to make them "Chinese"
in their way of thinking. Tibetans are regularly subjected
to a dizzying array of Chinese propaganda, including movies,
newspapers, and radio. Tibetans who help to promote The
Chinese cause are rewarded monetarily, and gain rights that
most Americans take for granted.
One out of
every ten Tibetans has been imprisoned, usually for merely
exercising free speech in a non-violent manner.
Religious
freedom has been abolished. More than 6,000 monasteries have
been destroyed, with only a handful remaining, having been
restored for the benefit of tourists. Media people who are
allowed to visit China are taken to sections of Tibet made
to look like a movie set.
Strip-mining in Tibet’s forests, depletion of natural
resources, and the extinction of wildlife are chief results
of China’s environmental policy.
