20 November 2007 (Update on Urgent Action of 8 August 2007)

Ask your MP to sign the EDM NOW!

Runggye Adak was sentenced to eight years imprisonment on 20 November 2007 after calling for the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet.

After contacting Norman Baker MP (a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Tibet), he has put forward an Early Day Motion about Adak’s sentencing and about the situation in Tibet generally.

You can read more here.

For the EDM to become meaningful, we need at least 200 MPs to sign.

Write to your MP NOW. Express your support for Runggye Adak and ask them to sign the EDM.
This is the link you should quote to your MP:

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=34467&SESSION=891

You can find your MP's e-mail address here.

If you require a sample text for your e-mail, you can cut and paste the following paragraph:

Dear (MP NAME)

I am writing with concern regarding the case of a Tibetan nomad who is currently awaiting his sentence on charges of 'provocation to subvert state power.'

Runggye Adak faces up to 15 years imprisonment and possibly the prospect of death in jail merely for stating publicly that he would like the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet.

In support of Runggye Adak, and in the spirit of the free speech which China has claimed it will offer in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics of 2008, Norman Baker MP has set up an Early Day Motion.

I hope that you will join Mr. Baker in condemning the actions of the Chinese police during Runggye Adak's arrest by signing the EDM, which can be found here:  http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=34467

Yours sincerely,
ENTER NAME

PLEASE ACT NOW TO HELP A BRAVE MAN TODAY

Background On The Case

Runggye Adak and Adak Lopoe

To read our press release on the sentencing of Runggye Adak, please click here.

According to Hong Kong based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Runggye Adak has been charged with "provocation to subvert state power". A Chinese state-run media report from August 3rd also alludes to charges of "inciting separation of nationalities". Adak's nephew, Adak Lopoe, a monk at the Lithang monastery, has also been detained.

Adak Lopoe has been reportedly singled out by police as being the splittist force behind Runggye Adak's protest. Adak Lopoe was arrested on 21 August 2007 in Lithang but was transferred to an unknown location. He is respected in the Lithang area and is well known for his opposition to deforestation, lumbering, wildlife hunting in Kardze and a proponent of education for the young. The locals believe that his calls on these issues might have infuriated the local authorities.

Adak Lopoe was born in 1962. At the age of eight he became a monk and joined Lithang Monastery where he excelled in Buddhist Studies and became a chant master. He also worked as disciplinary master at Yonru Rabgyling Monastery, one of the smaller monasteries affiliated with Lithang Monastery. At the height of the patriotic re-education campaign in 1997/98 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Democratic Management Committee (DMC) of Lithang Monastery, an administrative body implementing government policies. The patriotic re-education campaign, called 'Love Religion, Love Country' is directed at cementing allegiance to the Communist Party, denouncing the Dalai Lama and stamping out political dissent in monasteries. Adak Lopoe resigned from the post as he deemed the position contrary to his spiritual beliefs.