[Bloquez l'empire!] Rally on May 30th - Bombardier: Complicit with the cultural genocide of Tibet?

[mary foster]

From: "Anet" <anet.henrikso at gmail.com>

Bombardier: Complicit with the cultural genocide of Tibet?

Rally at Bombardier's Annual General Meeting, Tuesday, May 30th - Montreal

When: Tuesday, May 30th, 8:30 am

Where: Hyatt Regency Montreal (Grand salon) - Complexe Desjardins, 1255
Jeanne-Mance Street,

To read more about the railway and its impacts, see the report, "Crossing
the Line: China's Railway to Lhasa, Tibet," at
http://www.savetibet.org/documents/document.php?id=34

Note: Please contact us if you are shareholder of Bombardier and want to
help Tibetans speak inside the shareholder's meeting.

For more information about the rally, please contact ctcoffice at tibet.ca

Please join us to show your concern about Bombardier's involvement in the
Tibet railway and to demand concrete action by Bombardier to address the
legitimate concerns of the Tibetan people. Please also forward this
announcement on to everyone you know in the Montreal area!

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Background:

On Tuesday, May 30th, Bombardier will hold its annual general meeting in
Montreal. The Board of Directors, senior management and shareholders of
Bombardier - as well as the media - will attend this important meeting. This
is a key opportunity for Tibetans and Tibet supporters to show their concern
about Bombardier's involvement in the controversial Tibet Railway project.

Bombardier - have partnered with Power Corporation of Canada and the
Government of China to manufacture railway cars for this project. Many
Tibetans fear that this first railway to link mainland China with occupied
Tibet represents the final phase in the cultural genocide of the Tibetan
people.

The rally will also provide an opportunity to show support for a
shareholder's resolution by the Corporation des Syndics Apostoliques des
frères mineurs ou Franciscains that asks Bombardier "to draft and adopt a
human rights policy and to produce an independent report on the progress
made in this regard by November 2006." The board and management of
Bombardier have recommended to shareholders to vote against this resolution.
Bombardier said it is "contemplating the possibility of subscribing to some
statement of principles; the Corporation thinks that adopting a very
targeted policy on a single aspect of corporate social responsibility is
inappropriate." Many comparable companies have specific human rights
policies. Despite Bombardier's intention to elaborate an "integrated
approach to these issues", there has been no concrete action to date.

Despite concerns raised directly to Bombardier since 2002, Tibetans feel
inaction by Bombardier is not acceptable and could contribute to the
cultural genocide of Tibet. The Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Global Compact clearly state that
"a company is complicit in human rights abuses if it.knowingly ignores human
rights committed by an entity associated with it."