Tibetan DNA
Source: The Tibet Netwrok
Tibetan activists and advocates from around the world have joined forces to demand that Thermo Fisher stop selling DNA kits to the Chinese government, which steals Tibetan DNA and violates Tibetan human rights. They have expressed concern about how Thermo Fisher kits are being used to further China's mass surveillance by collecting DNA from Tibetans as young as five years old.
Tibetan non-governmental organisations, including Students for a Free Tibet, International Tibet Network, Tibetan Women’s Association, Tibetan Youth Congress, National Democratic Party Of Tibet, Free Tibet, Chushi Gandruk, and Tibetan National Congress etc, have launched a global week of action from January 30 to February 5, 2023, to fight for the human rights of Tibetans in Tibet and to demand that Thermo Fisher do their due diligence by investigating their work under their ethics policies and asking the company to stop selling DNA kits to China that steal the DNA of Tibetans as young as five years old.
Activists are leading a global action to protest against the Chinese government’s violation of the human rights of Tibetans in Tibet and Chinese embassies in countries around the world. The handwritten letter “Hands off Tibetans’ DNA” is in the hands of activists and other supporters. They also make the following calls: “Stop selling Thermo Fisher kits to China, Thermo Fisher, stop supporting human rights violations, Tibetans and Uyghurs deserve justice, (China), stop collecting blood without consent.”
They are also launching petitions demanding that Thermo Fisher's CEO and Communications Officer stop selling DNA kits to Chinese police in Tibet.
Join the Global Protests on Thermo Fisher: Hands Off Tibetan DNA Today, February 3, 2023. Tibetan non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women's Association, National Democratic Party of Tibet, and Students for Free Tibet will protest calling for Thermo Fisher to stop selling DNA kits to Chinese police in Tibet at Main Square in McLeod Ganj at 10:30 a.m.
Today, at 11:45 a.m., the Swedish Tibet Committee will hold a protest in front of Thermo Fisher's office at Lindhagensgatan 76 112 43, demanding that Thermo Fisher stop selling DNA kits to China. Similarly, at 1 p.m., Student for a Free Tibet’s Tibetan activists will hold a protest at 180 Oyster Point Blvd, South San Francisco.
Global Protests by the Canadian Tibetan Association, Tibetan Women's Association of Ontario, Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Chushi Gangdruk, and Students for a Free Tibet will take place at 3 p.m. at Thermo Fisher Office 28846, Argentia Road in Mississauga.
“The Chinese government is building the world’s largest police-run DNA database with the help of key industry partners in the West. One such partner is Massachusetts-based Company Thermo Fisher Scientific. Thermo Fisher is a key supplier of DNA profiling technology in Tibet. This is not the company’s first involvement in the Chinese government’s dystopian programs of mass surveillance and repression. Thermo Fisher has been criticized in the past for selling DNA equipment to the police in East Turkistan (Ch: Xinjiang),” the activists explained.
Edited and collated by Team TRC