Thousands rally for Tibet
The Tibetan community in Switzerland on Saturday marked the 53rd anniversary of the 1959 popular uprising with a march through Bern attended by around 2,000 people.
After a minute’s silence, speeches and musical contributions, a memorandum to the embassy of China was read out and subsequently passed by the police to the Chinese embassy.
A memorandum to the Swiss government was also read out. The document, submitted on Thursday, called on Switzerland to intervene with China over human rights violations in Tibet.
Speaking in front of the federal parliament, vice-president of the Tibetan community, Lobsang Shitsetsang, said Tibet was currently experiencing the worst times it had ever known.
Bern cantonal police estimated that 2,000 people took part in the march, with the organisers speaking of 3,000.
On March 10, 1959 the Tibetan people rose up against the communist Chinese government. Around 86,000 Tibetans are estimated to have died in the uprising.
Tibet has been under Chinese rule since 1950.
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