Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning,

             My name is Shinjilt Sonomdorj. I’m a Mongolian, from Inner Mongolia (aka Southern Mongolia).

              First of all I thank you for giving me this opportunity to address our concerns about Inner Mongolia. The Beijing Olympics Game 2008 will start in less than 2 months. The Olympics Game symbolize the freedom and the equality of the humanity through the sport competitions. It is humanity’s greatest festivity since people from all over the world are involved.

              However, the Beijing Olympics Game is organized by one of the biggest communist governments and its human rights violations are well documented. This is why Beijing Olympics Game will be another tool of oppression against Tibet, Inner Mongolia (Southern Mongolia) and East Turkestan. China has been occupying these countries since right after WWII. The political situation before the OS-08 is very tense. In order to stabilize the situation, the Chinese authorities arrested and persecuted thousands of dissidents.

             The Southern Mongolia has an area of 1,18 million square kilometer. It’s twice the size of Sweden. It’s home to 4,6 million people who ought to be called Mongolians in their passports instead of Chinese.

              Southern Mongolia was occupied by the Chinese communists since 1947. It has been more than 60 years under the Chinese communist regime. (dictatorship). During these 60 years, Chinese communists have made so called “Political Movements” at several occasions which directly caused tens of thousand of Inner Mongolians to be either tortured or killed. More than 150,000 Mongolians were killed by the Chinese communists during the “Cultural Revolution” between 1960s and 1970s.  During these years, the Chinese authorities have transferred more than 20 million Chinese to Southern Mongolia. Consequently we became the minority in our own homeland.  We are losing our rights and our voice in Southern Mongolia. Many natural resources were exploited and transferred to inland China, meaning the natural environment was severely degraded due to the ruthless and short sighted Chinese mining companies. According to the source, 64% of the steppe was degraded into desert. The persistent and backward cultivation by the Chinese immigrants is also another reason for environmental degradation. As a consequence, the sandstorm is not only affecting the environment of Southern Mongolia, but also affecting the environment of the Beijing Olympics Game.

              Since the 1990s, more and more Mongolian herders were forced to give up their traditional way of life and transferred to the city where the Chinese immigrants are overpopulated. Through this way, Mongolians were deprived of their possibilities of earning their own living and lost their land. These political movements are threatening the very existence of Mongolians in Southern Mongolia. The Mongolian culture and the language may disappear in Southern Mongolia.

              The cultural heritage which historically has been preserved from generation to generation is today running the risk of disappearing in Southern Mongolia.

              The cruel communist government is violating the basic human rights of the Mongolians. The basic rights of expressing one’s own opinion, and group gathering do not exist for Mongolians.

               Mr. Hada was arrested for establishing SMDA (Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance) and protecting the Mongolian culture and interests of Mongolians. Mr Hada is now serving his prison sentence of 15 years since 1995. For years he has been suffering the tortures by the guards in the prison. His health condition has deteriorated drastically and he’s dying in prison.

               HRIC (Human Rights in China) reported that Mr. Hada has systematically been abused in the prison, been isolated in dark rooms and tortured by his arms and legs being tied while he was lying on an iron bed. He is not allowed to talk to others, may not see his family and could not receive medical care despite his serious health condition. According to the same source he may not be exposed to daylight or read books or newspapers and he always is followed by 2 persons who are controlling everything he does. The Chinese authority is still ignoring the international organizations’ demand to release Mr. Hada.  Instead the Chinese authorities are tormenting him even more and are limiting his family members’ freedom even further. Even though Mr Hada has spent 13 years in the prison and still has to endure torture there, he has never admitted guilt toward the Chinese government. On the contrary he is holding on to his views.

               Mr Hada was my teacher, when I was 19 years old and a freshman at the university.  I was also a member of the SMDA. On December10, 1995,  seventy members of the SMDA were illegally arrested by the Chinese government in the city of Huhhot in Inner Mongolia. The students of Huhhot were protesting against the arrests and organized protest twice. The Chinese government sent police and soldiers and stopped the protest with harsh violence. Mr. Hada was the chairman. He was sentenced to15 years in prison and Tegsh who was vice president, was also sentenced to 10 years in prison. Most of the members were university teachers; their teaching licenses were revoked by the authorities. A book store owned by Mr. Hada and his wife which was specialized in Mongolian studies was closed and all the books and inventories were confiscated. The wife of Mr. Hada, Mrs.Shinna was arrested for three months, his only son was also sentenced in prison for two years (2002 – 2004).

             I was sentenced for three months and accused of being a member of SMDA, and for having organized the protest. After my release I was dismissed from school, and was forbidden to travel. I was also supervised and controlled wherever I went. My human rights were seriously limited for several years.

             During preparations for the Beijing Olympics Game, the Chinese authorities have enforced their oppression in Inner Mongolia. Many dissidents have been arrested secretly.  In August 2007, some members of the “Inner Mongolian Independent’s Union” were arrested and today there is no information about them.

             On January 6, 2008 Mr. J. Soyolt who is an activist of human rights, and a citizen of Mongolia was arrested at the international airport of Beijing. The Foreign Ministry of Mongolia has repeatedly sent demands regarding this citizen without receiving any response from the Chinese authorities. In March 2008 the well known Mongolian journalist and cultural worker Mr. Naranranbilig was secretly arrested. Today he is under house arrest.

             Discrimination based on nationality, religion and political opinions is not compatible with the spirit of the Olympics game. Should people who respect human rights and justice accept an Olympics Game that violates the human rights and limits the freedom of people? Doesn’t the Olympics Game in Beijing 2008 oppose the true spirit of the Olympics Game, just like the Olympic Games of Berlin did in 1936?

            What I would like to ask is not only to boycott the Olympics Game, but also ask the Swedish government to push the Chinese government to hold on to the promises they made when they were applying for the 2008 Olympics Games. I am here to ask the Swedish government to push the Chinese government to immediately stop the political assimilation of Inner Mongolians and the colonialization of Inner Mongolia. I also ask the Swedish government to demand an immediate release of the political activist Mr. Hada who has been held in prison for 13 years and also to release the political dissidents Mr. J Soyolt and Mr. Naranbilig.

 Thank you very much for your attention!