For Immediate Release            
June 13, 2008

Contact:     [name and contact information here]

[Your City Here] – Tibetans and their supporters will gather on Wednesday, June 18th to protest China’s parading of the Olympic torch through Tibet and call for immediate media access to Tibetan areas. The protest is part of a Global Day of Action being observed by Tibet activists in cities and communities from Vancouver to London to Delhi. China has announced that the Olympic torch will arrive in Lhasa on June 18th or 19th.

Along with  Tibetan community members, activists with Students for a Free Tibet and other organizations will gather at [location of protest here] for a protest, speakers, political theater, and a dramatic head-shaving ritual.

[example from planned New York protest – In front of the Chinese Consulate, a group of New York-area Tibetan high school and college students will ritualistically shave their heads in solidarity with Tibetan monks and nuns who have borne the brunt of China’s brutal crackdown on a popular, and predominantly peaceful, uprising against China’s occupation that swept across Tibet beginning in March.]

Dramatic political theater including Chinese soldiers, Tibetan monks, bloody Olympic torches, tanks, and guns, will highlight the ongoing clampdown in Tibet, and the repression against Tibetans that activists assert has taken place to prevent protests during the torch relay. China's Governor in Tibet has promised that Tibetans who protest will be “treated harshly and with no leniency.”

When:       Wednesday, June 18th, [TIME] (call for complete program details)

Where:      [Location of your action]

Speakers:  [Names of Speakers]



Tibetans and their supporters worldwide have appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to allow China to parade the Olympic torch through Tibet. Last week, Tibet activists were detained by Greek police in Athens for protesting outside the last IOC meeting before August. In addition to appealing for the cancellation of the Tibet leg of the torch relay, activists are demanding that the IOC hold Beijing accountable for the commitment to press freedom it made during its bid for the Games, and immediately open Tibet to international media.