Saturday May 24, 2008 www.MeYuL.com

By Nick Gulotta (By Email)

New York- Tibet activists today took part in the dynamic campaign to pressure Coca-Cola over its sponsorship of the 2008 Olympic torch relay route through Tibet. The Tibet activists gathered in New York’s crowded Times Square to mount public pressure on the corporate giant.

The protest in Times Square followed an attempt by young Tibetans to meet with Cathleen Black, Coca-Cola’s board member responsible for social issues earlier this month.

The activists called on Coca-Cola to use its influence to call on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to cancel the Tibet leg of the torch relay.

As a signatory to the U.N. Global Compact, Coca-Cola has promised to “support and respect the protection of international human rights” and ensure that Coca-Cola is “not complicit in human rights abuses.” By doing nothing to address the preventable tragedy that will likely occur if the Tibet torch run is allowed to proceed, Coca-Cola becomes complicit in China’s ongoing human rights abuses against the Tibetan people.

China’s Governor in Tibet has promised that Tibetans will be “treated harshly and with no leniency” for protesting during the torch relay. Tibetan exiles have heard from sources inside Tibet that Tibetans are opposed to China taking the torch through their lands and are determined to protest.

Similar protests took place in several U.S. cities and will continue as part of the global campaign to pressure Coca-Cola to use its influence on the IOC to stop the Olympic torch relay from running through Tibet.

More information can be found at: www.Notorchintibet.org, www.StudentsforaFreeTibet.org

To take action on the Coke Campaign, go to http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/black

Posted: 05|24|08 at 12:40 pm. Filed under: News.
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