1999 Annual Report
Message from the President, John Ackerly
The International Campaign for Tibet finished 1999 as one of the most effective country-specific human rights organizations in the world. During the year, ICT engaged some of the most powerful and entrenched institutions in the world, and I am proud to say that we have won substantial and historic gains for the people of Tibet.
The highlights of ICT's work in 1999 include:
- ICT filed the claim with the World Bank's Inspection Panel challenging the entire project, and won an initial victory, preventing funding of the project pending the Panels investigation.
- ICT worked closely with the newly appointed Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues at the Department of State, helping to coordinate the first-ever visit of such a high-ranking State Department official to Dharamsala.
- ICT's membership reached 75,000, giving Tibet enormous clout in Washington and beyond and making ICT the largest Tibetan membership organization in the world.
- ICT, in conjunction with Garthwait & Griffin, released "Tibet's Stolen Child" a 60-minute documentary on the current plight of the Panchen Lama.
- ICT, along with Tibet support groups, coordinated intensive demonstrations during Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji's visit to the U.S., resulting in significant media coverage for Tibet.
- ICT opened its first overseas office in Amsterdam, Netherlands to work with European parliamentarians.
1999 marked the 40th anniversary of His Holiness' exile and the 50th anniversary of the Chinese occupation. The challenges for Tibet remain enormous, but there is now an international recognition that the situation in occupied Tibet must be resolved through negotiations. During 1999, though, there was no progress on the negotiation front as major anniversaries for the Tibetan people passed.
Some landmark events occurred in 1999, which will reverberate for years to come such as the dramatic escape of the Karmapa into exile. In addition, the arrest of two Western researchers, Daja Meston and Gabriel LaFitte, and their translator, Tsering Dorje, while investigating the World Bank project marked a turning point in the campaign to stop this destructive project.
As ICT enters the year 2000, the organization is strong and focused and ready to take on new challenges.
Sincerely,
John Ackerly
President
Government Outreach
In January, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright appointed a new U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Julia Vadala Taft, who serves concurrently as Assistant Secretary of Population, Refugees and Migration Affairs. ICT's Director of Government Relations, Mary Beth Markey, worked closely with the Office of the Special Coordinator throughout the year as the State Department prepared its annual reports on human rights practices and religious freedom. In October, Mary Beth traveled with Assistant Secretary Taft to Nepal to survey U.S. humanitarian assistance for new arrivals from Tibet.
This assistance is directed by the U.S. Congress, which also appropriated funding for scholarships to Tibetan refugees, support for training and education of Tibetans in democracy activities through Tibetan NGOs, and Radio Free Asia and Voice of America Tibetan language programs. To demonstrate its objection to the Amdo (in Tibet) component of the China Western Poverty Reduction Project, Congressional appropriators cut funding to the World Bank's International Development Assistance program in the amount of the anticipated U.S. assessed contribution.
ICT was invited to Capitol Hill on several occasions to testify on Tibet, including in hearings on China's admission into the World Trade Organization, the human rights situation, and the status of dialogue between the Chinese leadership and the Dalai Lama or his representatives. In addition, ICT Board Chairman, Richard Gere, co-hosted a luncheon briefing on Tibet for new members of the International Relations Committee with Chairman Ben Gilman (R-NY) and Ranking Member Sam Gejdenson (D-CT).
ICT took advantage of the presidential primary season to build on membership enthusiasm in New Hampshire and launched a campaign to place Tibet on the platforms of Democratic and Republican candidates. With ICT support, New Hampshire Friends of Tibet visited every presidential candidate's office, raised the Tibet issue at town hall meetings and campaign rallies, and otherwise heightened the profile of Tibet to kick off ICT's effort for the 2000 election. Questionnaires were also sent to all presidential contenders, the results of which are posted on ICT's website www.savetibet.org.
ICT also worked with Senator James Jeffords (R-VT) to organize a fundraising dinner in Washington, D.C. on September 14 for the Sonam Deyki Fund. That day marked the 4th anniversary of ethnomusicologist and Fullbright Scholar Ngawang Choephel. s arrest in Tibet. U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Julia Taft, Senator Patrick Leahy, Rep. Bernie Sanders and Mary Beth Markey spoke at the event. The Fund will support Sonam Deyki in efforts to gain her son's release, provide for her welfare, and cover her travel to Tibet to visit her son in prison.
Campaigns, Awareness & Activism
1999 was a breakthrough year for ICT's coalition work with other prominent Tibet, human rights and environmental groups in the United States and abroad. Building upon the successes of previous years and a commitment to coordinated action, ICT closely partnered with Tibet Support Groups in the U.S. and abroad to push forward key campaigns including the World Bank campaign, Congressional initiatives, the visit of Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji to the U.S., the WTO Initiative and others. The coalition's combination of public demonstrations, talks and conferences, educational materials, media work, and on-line activism, generated an unprecedented number of people taking action for Tibet.
The World Bank
In April of 1999, the Tibet Information Network (TIN) reported that the World Bank was preparing to support a project that would move 58,000 farmers into a Tibetan area of Amdo. On June 18, 1999, ICT filed a claim to the Bank's Independent Inspection Panel on behalf of project affected people, claiming that the project violated several of the most important World Bank safeguard policies, including involuntary resettlement, indigenous peoples, environmental assessment and information disclosure. Days later, the Board of Executive Directors (EDs) agreed to withhold funding for the project component until the Inspection Panel had conducted a full investigation.
ICT worked closely with the Center for International Environmental Law, the Bank Information Center (BIC) and other Tibet groups to convince Bank officials to halt the project. At the same time, ICT worked with Tibet support groups mounting a pressure campaign to draw attention to the project. ICT activated its entire membership and email action alert network numerous times to encouraged people to fax, email and write their Executive Directors demanding the cancellation of the project. Letters began to pour into the ED offices. ICT also kept the media informed about the campaign, and articles and editorials strongly critical of the project began to appear regularly.
While researching the project in August, Daja Meston, Gabriel LaFitte and Tsering Dorje are detained and interrogated for days. LaFitte is deported after 6 days, but Meston is critically injured from a fall while in custody. ICT aggressively pressured the World Bank and the U.S. State Department to demand his immediate and unconditional release, and he was medically evacuated 10 days after his detention. ICT worked with BIC and others to raise nearly $100,000, mainly from ICT members to help cover the medical evacuation costs for Meston. Tsering Dorje was not released until the end of August.
Later that fall, ICT provided the Inspection Panel with thorough information and briefed the Panel members prior to their trip to the region.
Zhu Rongji Tour of the USA
Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji visited the United States and Canada in April 1999. While the purpose of the visit was to promote US-China relations, ICT, working with Tibet Support Groups and Chinese Democracy organizations across the country, led a coordinated campaign of protests throughout Premier Zhu's visit. At every stop on Zhu's tour, he was faced with Tibetans and Tibet supporters, members of Taiwanese solidarity groups, pro-democracy and human rights activists. Thousands assembled and showed Zhu what cannot be done in Tibet, the freedom to assemble. Demonstrators also wanted to remind US and Canadian officials, the media, and the public that China's continued policies of oppression and intimidation in Tibet cause international outrage.
WTO Initiative
ICT staff traveled to Seattle, Washington, to join with hundreds of Tibetans from the Northwest, Students for a Free Tibet, the U.S. Tibet Committee, the Milarepa Fund, the International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet, and the Tibetan Rights Campaign to march with 50,000 other activists against China's entry into the World Trade Organization during the WTO Ministerial Conference in November 1999. The effort included a massive public education campaign on the implications for China's entry into the WTO for Tibet, which set the foundation for the No PNTR (Permanent Normal Trade Relations) for China campaign in 2000.
March 10th Commemorations
March 10, 1999 was the 40th Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising. To commemorate this important day, ICT worked with local Tibet Support Groups and Students for a Free Tibet chapters across the country to organize marches, national talk radio interviews, and mock "refugee encampments" at Chinese consulates and University campuses. Tibet groups coordinated these commemorative actions nationally, serving as a reminder of the perseverance and endurance of the 130,000 Tibetan who have been forced to make their homes in exile.
Windhorse Opens Nationwide
Windhorse, the politically charged film by filmmakers Paul Wagner and Thupten Tsering, opened nationwide on February 12, 1999. By using ICT's large database of Tibet supporters, ICT worked closely with the film producers to build crowds and generate publicity for a series of screenings across the country.
Tibet's Stolen Child: Film and Website
Tibet's Stolen Child was released in December of 1999. The 60-minute documentary contains interviews with many Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mairead Maguire (Ireland), Jose Ramos Horta (East Timor), Elie Wiesel (United States), Desmond Tutu (South Africa), and others. ICT co-produced this film with Garthwait & Griffin and plans to promote it over the years as an educational outreach piece. The film's release coincided with the launch of the new Free the Panchen Lama site on ICT's main website www.savetibet.org. The site includes in depth information and educational tools about the film, the 11th Panchen Lama, the history of the Panchen lama lineage, and action for members to take to help free the Panchen Lama.
New ICT Action Kits Released
The latest version of ICT's Action Kit was released in fall of 1999 to generate awareness and to recruit members. The newly designed Action Kit builds upon the successful educational brochure that was first released for the Kundun and Seven Years in Tibet movie releases in 1998. The brochure highlights the Panchen Lama campaign and provides readers with action postcards. One hundred thousand copies were printed.
Human Rights Action Camp
For the second consecutive year, ICT supported the Ruckus Society in their efforts to explore and instruct international human rights activists in the techniques of non-violent direct action and civil disobedience.
Charles David Campaign
In an innovative corporate collaboration, ICT worked with the Charles David Shoe Company on a series of ads promoting the release of political prisoners Ngawang Choephel and the Panchen Lama.
Tibetan Freedom Bracelets
ICT partnered with Dolma Ling Nunnery, the Tibetan Woman's Association and Gu Chu Sum, an association of former political prisoners, to produce 60,000 freedom bracelets to help carry the message of political prisoners who were profiled on hang tags attached to each bracelet and distributed to ICT members and others in the U.S.
Chinese Outreach
An important aspect of ICT's work is to arrange for meetings between prominent Chinese leaders and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as well as between Chinese and Tibetans of all walks of life. In 1999, ICT invited a Tibetan/Chinese expert from Dharamsala, Dawa Tsering, to work on this project full-time in Washington, D.C. for several months. In February of 1999, ICT organized a brainstorming session of Chinese-speaking Tibetans in the Washington, D.C. area to discuss Chinese outreach. In August, ICT organized a session for a group of Chinese leaders, including Wei Jingsheng, with the Dalai Lama in New York.
Membership
ICT is acknowledged to be one of the largest and most effective country-specific human rights groups in the world, and much of our strength comes from our diverse membership. ICT members make their voices heard consistently and effectively on Capitol Hill, in the U.S. Administration, at the United Nations, in company boardrooms, at the World Bank and elsewhere.
In July 1999, ICT surpassed our goal of 50,000 members by the year 2000 and finished the year with 75,145 members. This is a 30 percent increase from 1998. The majority of ICT's funding comes from donations of $100 or less and 90% of all revenue received is directly from individual members. In 1999, no funding was received from corporations.
Through effective direct mail campaigns, ICT reaches members with up-to-date changes in legislative, economic, and human right issues directly effecting Tibet. In 1999, ICT continued to look for innovative ways to reach members and mobilize them to take action. ICT's website [www.savetibet.org] and the internet has now become an important tool in this purpose.
Website
In 1999, ICT began reaching many more people through its award winning website www.savetibet.org. ICT's website averaged more than 71,000 hits per week. The most significant surge in website activity occurred during August when the World Bank campaign hit its climax. Tibet supporters emailed and faxed World Bank officials to such an extent that several of their fax machines broke and many World Bank staff people complained directly to ICT that their work was significantly disrupted by the voluminous emails, calls and letters.
ICT also reached a record number of people through our Email Action Alert, quickly resulting in actions to pressure government officials and industries. Nearly 15,000 people have signed up for the Action Alert by the end of 1999. In 2000, ICT will continue to look for innovative website and internet tools.
Publications
ICT published 5 issues of the Tibet Press Watch (TPW) in 1999 and 2 issues of the Tibetan Environment & Development News. In addition to being the largest circulated journal of its category within the Tibet movement, the TPW has also established a name for itself among the international media. ICT published 15,000 copies of its annual wall calendar, which this year also featured a Tibetan prisoner of conscience each month.
1999 Light of Truth Awards
The 1999 Light of Truth awards were presented to Madame Danielle Mitterrand, Mr. Hugh Richardson and Mr. Richard C. Blum. The award ceremony took place at the Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles with His Holiness the Dalai Lama who gave a short address.
* Mrs. Mitterrand, former first lady of France, has been an unwavering advocate for Tibetan human rights and continues this through her foundation, the Foundation Danielle Mitterrand.
* Hugh Richardson, a British diplomat in Tibet from 1936 to 1947, is a leading authority and author on Tibetan religion, history, politics and social conditions. Due to his advanced age, he could not be present and Frederick Hyde-Chambers accepted the award on his behalf.
* Mr. Richard C. Blum is the Chairman of the American Himalayan Foundation and has dedicated himself to the culture and well being of the people of the Himalayas.
Staff
In 1999, ICT had a strong and motivated staff: Lodi Gyari, Executive Chairman; John Ackerly, President; Bhuchung Tsering, Director; Mary Beth Markey, Director of Government Relations; Lesley Friedell, Development Coordinator; Theresa Perrone, Communications Coordinator; Mojgone Azemun, Grassroots Action Coordinator; and Tenzin Dhongthog, Office Manager. We had little staff turnover during 1999 except for the leaving of Theresa Perrone and the hiring Joel Gysan as a Membership Coordinator. Later in the year, Melissa Carlson joined ICT as a Program Associate and Ayako Akado as a Project Assistant.
ICT Europe
In October 1999, ICT opened an office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its goals are to foster better communication and coordination between the U.S. Congress and European Parliaments; work on high profile campaigns (such as the World Bank campaign and the Panchen Lama campaign); monitor events of the European Union, especially the EU-China dialogue on human rights; and lobby in Geneva at the Human Rights Commission and Sub-commission.
In 1999, the ICT Europe Director, Tsering Jampa, coordinated a successful membership drive in advance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit to the Netherlands. She also met with key people on World Bank campaign including the newest addition to the Bank's 3-member Inspection Panel, a Dutch former member of the European Parliament.
Tsering Jampa is formerly with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. The initial Board of Directors consists of Lodi Gyari, Richard Gere, Tsering Jampa and John Ackerly. The Board will soon expand to include Michael van Walt. ICT will share office space with TSG Netherlands.
Tsering Jampa
Netherlands Stichting ICT
Keizersgracht 302
1016 EX Amsterdam
NETHERLANDS
Tel: 31 20 330 82 65
Board of Directors, Advisors & International Council of Advisors
Board of Directors
- Mr. Reed Brody
- Mr. Harrison Ford
- Mr. Richard Gere
- Dr. Gail Gross
- Venerable Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen
- Mr. Lodi Gyari
- Mr. Marvin Hamlisch
- Mr. Mark Handelman
- Mrs. Bette Bao Lord
- Ms. Melissa Mathison
- Mr. Joel McCleary
- Mr. Amit Pandya
- Mr. Keith Pitts
- Ven. Sogyal Rimpoche
- Mr. Mark Rovner
- Mr. Steve Schroeder
- Mr. Gare Smith
- Ms. Grace Spring
- Ms. Erica Stone
- Mr. Paljor Thondup
- Mr. Adam Yauch
Board of Advisors
- Ms. Michele Bohana
- Mr. David Breashears
- Ms. Alex Butler
- Mr. Victor Chen
- Mr. Rinchen Dharlo
- Ms. Lia Diskin
- Mr. Peter Kedge
- Dr. Blake Kerr
- Ms. Nancy Nash
- Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi
- Mr. Abdullah Ommidvar
- Ms. Alison Reynolds
- Ven. Gelek Rinpoche
- Mr. Galen Rowell
- Ms. Lynn Russell
- Mr. Thubten Samdup
- Ven. Geshe Sopa
- Lama Sopa
- Mr. William Sterling
- Bro. Wayne Teasdale
- Mr. Tenzin Tethong
- Prof. Robert Thurman
- Dr. Michael van Walt
- Mr. Sonam Wangdu
- Mr. Harry Wu
- Mr. Xiao Qiang
- Ms. Kunzang Yuthok
International Council of Advisors
- The Honorable Rodrigo Carazo Odio
- The Honorable Hideaki Kase
- Mrs. Kerry Kennedy Cuomo
- Dr. Jeane Kirkpatrick
- The Honorable Bernard Kouchner
- The Honorable Vytauas Landsbergis
- Dr. Fang Lizhi
- Mrs. Mairead Maguire
- Mr. Aryeh Neier
- Mrs. Jetsun Pema
- The Honorable Adolfo Perez Esquivel
- Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta
- The Honorable Rabi Ray
- Professor Samdong Rinpoche
- The Venerable Sulak Sivaraska
- Mrs. Yukita Sohma
- Bishop Desmond Tutu
- The Right Honorable Lord Weatherill
- Dr. Elie Wiesel
Income and Expenses
Highlights of Events in Tibet in 1999
- The 14-year old Karmapa Lama makes a dramatic escape from Tibet in December to seek religious teaching in India.
- According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, 2,903 Tibetans fled to exile during the year.
- The Chinese Government admits that Ngawang Choephel, a Tibetan ethnomusicologist sentenced in 1996 to 18 years in prison on charges of espionage, had bronchitis, pulmonary infection, and hepatitis.
- Unconfirmed press reports indicating that Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama who in 1999 enters into a 4th year of detention, died and was secretly cremated appeared to be unsubstantiated. However, Beijing continues to refuse international observers access to confirm his well-being.
- Chinese officials announce a vigorous expansion of the atheism campaign in Tibet.
- Wangchuk Meston, Gabriel LaFitte and Tsering Dorje are detained while researching a World Bank resettlement project.
- Ngawang Sangdrol, a Tibetan nun first imprisoned at age 13, was beaten badly on several occasions because of repeated participation in protests at Drapchi prison. Phuntsog Nyidron, a Tibetan nun who reportedly tried to shield Ngawang Sangdrol from the beatings was also beaten severely.
- Chinese authorities expelled scores of monks and nuns from Jonang Kumbum monastery and Rakhor nunnery.
- A new report by the Tibet Information Network finds that female political prisoners since 1987 have died at a rate of 1 in 22 while in prison as a result of torture, beatings or other harsh treatment.
- Local authorities closed an orphanage in Lhasa that housed more than 60 Tibetan children, ranging in age from 1 to 14 years.
Chronology of World Bank Proposed Resettlement Project to Tibet
April 27, 1999 - Tibet Information Network published an investigative piece about a proposed World Bank (WB) project to move 58,000 farmers into Dulan county.
June 8, 1999 - WB makes project information publicly available through its public information center, six months after it should have been released.
June 18, 1999 - The International Campaign for Tibet files a claim to the WB Inspection Panel on behalf of locally affected peoples. One local Tibetan described the project as "ethnic cleansing"; another said "we have no alternative but to defend our land."
June 24, 1999 - WB Board of Executive Directors approves project but withholds funding until the Inspection Panel completes its review.
August 15, 1999 - Researchers Daja Meston, Gabriel LaFitte and Tsering Dorje are detained by Chinese police in the project area and interrogated without consular access. Meston (American) and LaFitte (Australian) went to the project area based on China's public assurances of access.
August 21, 1999 - LaFitte deported after many days and nights of intensive interrogation.
August 24, 1999 - WB Inspection Panel recommends that there be an investigation of the project.
August 25, 1999 - Meston is medically evacuated after breaking his back, pelvis and heels in a fall from a third story window while under detention.
August 30, 1999 - Hundreds of Tibetans and Americans demonstrate in front of the World Bank demanding that the project be canceled.
Late August - Tsering Dorje is released from detention.
September 9, 1999 - WB Board of Executive Directors authorizes the Panel to investigate the project.
October 1999 - WB Inspection Panel travels to the project area to conduct its investigation.
November 29, 1999 - Foreign Operations Appropriations Act signed by President Clinton reduces funding to the WB by approximately $8 million, the amount slated as the U.S. contribution to the project once approved.
You can download the PDF version of the 1999 Annual Report here.
