Every year, Scotland hosts an event called the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, that showcases military bands from around the world. The prestigious event is attended by 217,000 people and broadcast around the world to a television audience of millions. This year, the Tattoo organizers have invited the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The PLA is responsible for countless atrocities carried out under the Chinese government over the past 55 years - they enabled the invasion of Tibet in 1949, the massacre of protesters in the Tiananmen Square Uprising, and the daily repression of every person living under Chinese Communist Party rule. The Tattoo is billed as a celebration of international friendship and Scottish heritage. This year, it is poised to celebrate one of the most brutal armies in the world. Protests highlighting the PLA's bloody history are planned for the duration of the Tattoo. Today, add your voice to tell the Tattoo organizers not to give the Chinese government international prestige that it doesn't deserve.
What's At Stake:
As the military arm of the Chinese Communist Party, the PLA has a 55-year history of brutality. Its forceful entry into Tibet enabled - and continues to enable - the illegal occupation of Tibet, whilst soldiers were permitted to rape, imprison and kill innocent Tibetans. In 1959, when the Tibetan leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, fled Tibet, the PLA massacred more than 87 000 Tibetans. Since then, soldiers have continued to act with impunity throughout Tibet. In March 1989, after several days of protest in Lhasa, now-Chinese president Hu Jintao declared martial law in Tibet, enforced by the PLA for three years. In June 1989, the PLA carried out orders to suppress pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, using tanks and automatic arms to kill unarmed citizens. Over the past five years, the PLA has detained, beaten and killed thousands of practitioners of Falung Gong.
By inviting the PLA, the Edinburgh Tattoo is providing the Chinese government with international prestige and respectability that it does not deserve. Please join citizens of conscience in urging the Tattoo organizers to respect human rights and Tibet by turning away the PLA.
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/PLA
Campaign Expiration Date:
August 15, 2004
What's At Stake:
As the military arm of the Chinese Communist Party, the PLA has a 55-year history of brutality. Its forceful entry into Tibet enabled - and continues to enable - the illegal occupation of Tibet, whilst soldiers were permitted to rape, imprison and kill innocent Tibetans. In 1959, when the Tibetan leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, fled Tibet, the PLA massacred more than 87 000 Tibetans. Since then, soldiers have continued to act with impunity throughout Tibet. In March 1989, after several days of protest in Lhasa, now-Chinese president Hu Jintao declared martial law in Tibet, enforced by the PLA for three years. In June 1989, the PLA carried out orders to suppress pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, using tanks and automatic arms to kill unarmed citizens. Over the past five years, the PLA has detained, beaten and killed thousands of practitioners of Falung Gong.
By inviting the PLA, the Edinburgh Tattoo is providing the Chinese government with international prestige and respectability that it does not deserve. Please join citizens of conscience in urging the Tattoo organizers to respect human rights and Tibet by turning away the PLA.
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/PLA Campaign Expiration Date:
August 15, 2004
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