OTTAWA (AFP) — Five protesters briefly chained themselves to the gates of the Chinese embassy in Ottawa on Wednesday, demonstrating for Tibet independence.
Thursday, they were to be joined by former Miss World Canada Nazanin Afshin-Jam, two members of Canada's Parliament, and a dozen pressure groups for causes including democracy in Myanmar, peace in Sudan, and press and religious freedoms in China, the group organizing the protests said.
Activists "never get to go to Beijing and never get to protest there, especially during the Games," Tsering Lama of Students for a Free Tibet told public broadcaster CBC.
"This is our only way of getting our message across to the Chinese government and to the international community," she said, adding Tibet is currently facing its "darkest days."
"The Chinese government is using the Olympics to glaze over (its) human rights abuses and to create a new image. All we're doing is using the Olympic spotlight to shine it back on the reality of the situation inside of Tibet."
An hour after it began, the protest ended.
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