ear Sergey Brin,

We are writing on behalf of the International Tibet Support Network to express our appreciation for your efforts to run an uncensored search engine on Google.cn, and to applaud your decision to redirect Google.cn to Google.com.hk.

The International Tibet Support Network is a global coalition of 168 Tibet-related organisations, who work collaboratively on strategic campaigns dedicated to ending human rights violations in Tibet and to restoring the Tibetan people's right under international law to determine their own political, economic, social, religious, and cultural status. You are no doubt aware that Chinese-ruled Tibet (encompassing the Tibetan provinces of Kham, Amdo and U'Tsang, now included in the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan autonomous areas in the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan) is one of the most restricted internet environments anywhere in the world. Controls on service providers and varied means of surveillance make it extremely dangerous for Tibetans to exercise the most basic freedom of expression by using the internet to communicate information about the serious human rights situation in Tibet.

Three recent examples of Tibetans sentenced to prison terms for "offences" that include the use of the internet are:

Norzin Wangmo: A Tibetan cadre (Communist Party member), was convicted and sentenced on 3 November 2008 to five years in prison for passing news through the phone and internet about the situation in Tibet. Norzin Wangmo, who is also described by a Tibetan friend as ‘Walza’, meaning ‘courageous’, underwent torture following her detention in April 2008.

Gonpo Tserang: a well-respected expedition guide with considerable experience of leading foreign celebrities on treks in Tibet and for participating in high profile mountain rescue efforts. In October 2008 he was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of “inciting separatism”, for sending information by text during the 14 March 2008 protests in Lhasa. The Dui Hua Foundation obtained documentation about the indictment and verdict, which read that the “defendant Gonpo Tsering used the internet and a mobile telephone to send inflammatory emails and messages that distorted the facts and true situation regarding social stability in the Tibetan area following the “March 14 incident”.

Kunchok Tsephel, an official in a Chinese government environmental department and founder of the influential Tibetan literary website, Chodme ('Butter-Lamp,' www.tibetcm.com), was sentenced to 15 years in prison in November 2009 on charges believed to relate to content on his website, which aims to protect Tibetan culture, and to passing on information about protests in Tibet in 2008.

The Chinese authorities are stepping up efforts to criminalise information-sharing, and to pursue charges of "subversion" for online, email or phone discussions with the outside world about the situation in Tibet. In December 2008 Tibet Daily reported that Beijing had set up a new task force within the Public Security Bureau, specifically targeting the "fabrication and spreading of rumors". According to one of our member organizations, the International Campaign for Tibet, this initiative has led to numerous detentions, and can result in longer prison sentences for Tibetans who receive and impart information and opinions, than for some Tibetans who actually take part in public demonstrations.

The members of the International Tibet Support Network firmly believe that internet freedom in China has the potential to transform the situation for Tibetans and Chinese people. It would allow Tibetans in Tibet to learn about the global support that their non-violent struggle has attracted, about the efforts of their exiled leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama to secure a negotiated settlement to China's occupation of Tibet and about other freedom struggles. In addition, internet freedom would allow Chinese people to learn about the true nature of the Tibetan struggle and read other perspectives on Tibet's history and current situation.

We fully support your desire to make an unfiltered search engine available to users in China, even if China's government blocks some of the sites that a search reveals. We believe that making these links available - or even merely visible - will generate healthy debate among educated Chinese internet users about why their government chooses to prevent certain information being made available, and why the free flow of information is perceived as a threat.

We would very much like to engage in future discussions with you and your colleagues on how we can assist in promoting internet freedom in China and Tibet.

Yours sincerely,

Members of the International Tibet Support Network

2010/3/23 Ani Yeshe Chosdron <aniyeshe@gmail.co