Brussels, 22 May 2014 – The pledge “2014 for Tibet” launched by The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) has gained the support of 73 candidates to the European Parliament (EP). There are 41 re-running Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and 32 candidates, who have promised to stand for the rights and freedoms of the people of Tibet during the upcoming mandate.
ICT EU Policy Director Vincent Metten emphasized that signing up to “2014 for Tibet” is strong commitment and a clear indication that the next EP continues to draw attention to ongoing human rights violations in Tibet and insist addressing this issue with the Chinese authorities.
“ICT is very pleased to have such a number of outstanding MEPs and candidates stating their concern over the situation in Tibet and promising to take action within their mandate,” said Vincent Metten explaining that the signatories to the pledge support re-establishing the Tibet Intergroup in the European Parliament. “As a result of various efforts made by the Tibet Intergroup, the European Parliament has become the main base of support for Tibet within the European Union,” he pointed out.
There were signatories from 16 EU Member States and from all the political groups in the European Parliament. More than a half of the signatories of “2014 for Tibet” are affiliated with the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, among them all the re-running Écologie Europe MEPs from France. “We can’t accept the way in which Tibetans are treated today. The EU has an important role to play, defending vigorously the rights of Tibetan people,” they stated in their joint address.
When commenting on the pledge, current president of the Tibet Intergroup Thomas Mann from the European People’s Party said: “The manner, how we treat the Tibetan question, holds a mirror to the EU and tells the world how serious we are about our own values.”
A list of MEPs and candidates, who signed the pledge, is available on the campaign web-site http://www.2014fortibet.eu/who-signed/. After the EP elections the ICT will continue reaching out to the elected MEPs with the objective of collecting more signatures to the pledge and increasing support to Tibet in the EP.
Contact:
Joel Hirv
Campaign Coordinator
International Campaign for Tibet
15, rue de la Linière / 1060 Brussels / Belgium
P: +32 (0)2 609 44 12
epelections@savetibet.eu
www.2014fortibet.eu