BOYCOTT OPENING CEREMONY FOR TIBET, SAY MEPs

10.26.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 11th Apr 2008

A boycott of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games by EU Heads of State should be considered, if there is no resumption of dialogue between the Chinese authorities and HH the Dalai Lama, according to a resolution adopted today by the European Parliament. Nevertheless, MEPs agree with the Dalai Lama that the Games themselves remain a great opportunity for freedom for all Chinese people.

In the strongly worded resolution, MEPs 'firmly condemned' the treatment of Tibetan demonstrators by the Chinese authorities, calls on those arrested and injured to receive legal representation and medical attention, and calls for an independent inquiry into the recent riots.

Speaking after today's vote, Liz Lynne MEP (ALDE, UK), who sits on Parliament's Tibet Intergroup and Human Rights Subcommittee, said:

"Things have been moving politically in Europe since the recent unrest in Tibet. Since the urgency debate two weeks ago, politicians, activists and the public have taken part in demonstrations in London, Paris and Brussels, and today the European Parliament has given the Chinese authorities a strong message: your days of mistreating minorities under your control cannot go on; the eyes of the world are watching.

"Beijing's repressive regime might try to lie about numbers killed and call their crackdown and parading of detainees on TV a measured response, but we all know it is a charade. I strongly hope that Heads of State across the EU and elsewhere can now agree not to go to the opening ceremony of the Olympics, as this would be a strong symbolic measure to Beijing, without sabotaging the spectacle and spirit of the Games."