Students for a Free Tibet

Description

Students for a Free Tibet, SFT, is a chapter-based network of young people and activists working in solidarity with the Tibetan people. It was founded in New York City in 1994 by Tibetans, students and supporters, and its international headquarters remains there. The network has chapters at universities, colleges, high schools and in communities in many countries, with satellite offices in Toronto, Dharamsala and London.

SFT campaigns for Tibetans’ right to political freedom and independence through education, grassroots organizing and nonviolent direct action. Its work covers political, economic and human rights campaigns, pressuring both Chinese officials and its members’ own governments, and it advocates for the release of political prisoners. It trains young people as leaders for the Tibetan movement through workshops and an annual activism training camp.

The organization is known for high-profile direct actions, including protests on Mount Everest, the Great Wall of China and the Golden Gate Bridge, and for demonstrations against Chinese officials visiting other countries. It has organized protests during Olympic torch relays and campaigns urging consumers and companies not to support what it sees as the Chinese occupation of Tibet.