Res. No. 1299

Resolution calling for the removal of the 2008 Olympic Games from Beijing and calling upon all American businesses and corporations who have their headquarters in New York City or do business in New York City to review their financial dealings with China to ensure compliance with international human rights standards, and to withdraw sponsorship or support of the 2008 Olympic Games if they are held in China.

By Council Members Avella, Brewer, James and Nelson

                     Whereas, The People’s Republic of China invaded the independent country of Tibet in 1949-50, and has committed “acts of genocide” according to the International Commission of Jurists; and

Whereas, On March 29, 2000, the New York City Council adopted Resolution No. 802, which recognized the sovereignty of Tibet (including the Tibet Autonomous Region and all Tibetan areas in Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan Provinces) as an occupied country, stated that Tibetan people have the right to control their own economic development, and proclaimed that China should enter into good faith negotiations with representatives of the Tibetan government in exile; and

Whereas, The United States Congress has stated that Tibet, including those areas incorporated into the Chinese Provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan, is an occupied country under the established principles of international law; and

Whereas, Between 1959 and 1965, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolutions 1353 (XIV), 1723 (XVI) and 2079 (XX), calling for the cessation of practices which deprive the Tibetan people of their fundamental human rights and freedoms, including their right to self-determination; and

Whereas, In the past fifty years, China has engaged in systematic human rights violations in Tibet, including actions which constitute genocide or the attempted genocide of the Tibetan people, imprisoning and torturing hundreds of thousands of Tibetans, arresting arbitrarily, detaining without public trials, denying free speech and free press, and engaging in forced or coerced abortions and sterilizations of Tibetan women; and

Whereas, China has not complied with international law, including the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and

Whereas, In 2001, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected China to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games; and

Whereas, China promised to improve human rights conditions in China and Tibet and allow greater media freedom prior to the start of the Summer Olympics; and

Whereas, According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, China has not met its obligations to improve human rights in preparation for the Olympics, and human rights in both China and Tibet have actually deteriorated since China was designated as the Olympics host nation; and

Whereas, Reporters Without Borders has found that China has not allowed greater media freedom as promised, but in fact remains the world’s largest prison for journalists; and

Whereas, In 2006, the United States State Department reported that serious human rights violations have occurred in Tibet, such as imprisonment and torture of political prisoners, denial of freedom of speech, religion and association, the forcing of monks and nuns to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and interference in the selection of Buddhist leaders, such as the Panchen Lama and Gendun Choekyi Nyima; and

Whereas, Other reports from human rights groups have found that China has forcibly resettled thousands of Tibetan nomads without their consent and without adequate compensation; and

Whereas, According to The Office of Tibet and Students for a Free Tibet, China continues to strip Tibet of its natural resources such as gold, copper, iron, timber, and minerals and transport these resources to China; and

Whereas, China has announced plans to divert important waterways from Tibet to China, such as the Yarlung Tsangpo River, which is causing severe environmental problems in Tibet and neighboring states; and

Whereas, The unrestricted influx of Chinese migrants to Tibet, often with government subsidies, is further marginalizing the Tibetan people, especially since the completion of the Gormo-Lhasa Railway, and threatens to make Tibetans a minority in their own homeland; and

Whereas, The IOC rejected Tibet’s request to enter its team in the Summer 2008 Olympics; and

Whereas, Many American corporations with headquarters and operations in New York City sponsor the Olympic games and have financial dealings with China; and

Whereas, The rights of the Tibetan people in their struggle for human rights, economic justice and self-determination must be acknowledged and respected; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls for the removal of the 2008 Olympic Games from Beijing; and, be it further

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon all American businesses and corporations who have their headquarters in New York City or do business in New York City to review their financial dealings with China to ensure compliance with international human rights standards, and to withdraw sponsorship or support of the 2008 Olympic Games if they are held in China.

R.C.

LS#4537

3/4/08