{"id":13178,"date":"2025-10-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/dr-sophie-richardson-and-geshe-lobsang-monlam-receive-international-campaign-for-tibets-snow-lion-human-rights-award-from-richard-gere\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T23:00:00","slug":"dr-sophie-richardson-and-geshe-lobsang-monlam-receive-international-campaign-for-tibets-snow-lion-human-rights-award-from-richard-gere","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/dr-sophie-richardson-and-geshe-lobsang-monlam-receive-international-campaign-for-tibets-snow-lion-human-rights-award-from-richard-gere\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Sophie Richardson and Geshe Lobsang Monlam receive International Campaign for Tibet\u2019s Snow Lion Human Rights Award from Richard Gere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Berlin<\/strong> \u2013 This weekend, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) bestowed the 2025 Snow Lion Human Rights Award on long-time human rights defender Dr. Sophie Richardson and Tibetan Buddhist scholar Geshe Lobsang Monlam. More than 150 guests gathered at the Berlin Environmental Forum, where long-time ICT Chairman and Tibet advocate, the actor and global humanitarian Richard Gere, presented the human rights award to the two winners on behalf of ICT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the guests were many Tibetans living in Berlin, numerous representatives of other human rights organizations, and representatives from politics and the media. Host Christine Adelhardt welcomed Gere to the stage to introduce the award recipients. \u201cIt\u2019s good to be a troublemaker in this world and tell the truth,\u201d he said, addressing the audience with a wink, before reminding them of the motto of the Snow Lion Awards ceremony: \u201cMay your good deeds be good to all living beings forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTibet is not just about Tibet; it is a valuable part of our global civilization,\u201d declared Michael Brand, Parliamentary State Secretary and Chairman of the Tibet Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag, to begin his keynote speech. Referring to the Chinese regime, he added, \u201cDear friends, the world must not forget Tibet, and Tibet needs greater support from the world.\u201d He further promised, \u201cWe will not tire of demanding the release of the real Panchen Lama.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the award, ICT President Tencho Gyatso paid tribute to Sophie Richardson\u2019s decades of tireless commitment to human rights in a laudatory speech. \u201cEither Tibet is open or it isn\u2019t\u2026 The Olympic torch must not become a smokescreen to cover up human rights violations,\u201d Gyatso said, quoting the award winner, who, as then Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, sent a \u201cloud and clear message to the world\u201d in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat has always impressed me most about Sophie is her tenacity\u2014her unwavering determination to keep pushing, to keep speaking out, and to keep challenging indifference. \u2026 What also impresses me is Sophie\u2019s fearlessness and her deep sense of responsibility toward the people whose stories she tells,\u201d Gyatso continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Snow
Dr. Sophie Richardson and Geshe Lobsang Monlam with their Snow Lion Awards.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo be recognized in the company of so many remarkable people\u2014activists and artists, diplomats, scholars, and parliamentarians\u2014is deeply humbling,\u201d said Sophie Richardson, thanking the many long-time companions who attended. \u201cTibetans have demonstrated breathtaking resilience in the pursuit of basic human rights: the ability to live their identities\u2014their beliefs, their languages, their cultures, their traditions, and their livelihoods\u2014without fear. We can, we must, and we will\u2014together\u2014show this determination and solidarity in the pursuit of a human rights-respecting regime in Beijing and in the pursuit of a free Tibet,\u201d Richardson continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the evening\u2019s second laudatory speaker, Tulku Tenzin Thoesang, Managing Director of Tibet House Germany, honored award winner Geshe Lobsang Monlam. \u201cDr. Lobsang Monlam\u2019s life is not just a biography\u2014it reflects the Tibetan spirit itself: resilient, innovative, and eternally compassionate. With monumental projects such as the 223-volume \u2018Great Tibetan Dictionary\u2019 and the visionary Dalai Lama-KI, he ensures that Tibet\u2019s voice continues to resonate clearly, powerfully, and timelessly in the future,\u201d Thoesang emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you for the recognition of our work,\u201d Monlam said, also on behalf of his team, who had supported him in his projects for many years. \u201cWe must find a way for our language and culture to survive in this rapidly changing world,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Snow
Richard Gere speaks at the Snow Lion Award ceremony.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exiled Chinese writer and musician Liao Yiwu\u2019s musical contribution generated both enthusiasm and contemplation. Yiwu dedicated his first piece, \u201cSong of Self-Immolation,\u201d to the numerous Tibetans who have self-immolated in protest. Liao Yiwu\u2019s performance was accompanied by commentary and translations by author Angela Hsu and a poetry recitation by Berlin-based author Malte Kiessler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Snow
Exiled Chinese writer and musician Liao Yiwu performs during the ceremony.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Campaign for Tibet awards the \u201cSnow Lion\u201d human rights prize in recognition of outstanding achievements in politics, society, and culture relating to Tibet, China, East Turkestan, Southern Mongolia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The prize is awarded to individuals and organizations that demonstrate civil courage, engage in civil society or political advocacy, promote and protect human rights and democracy, or advance the preservation of their threatened culture. The prize was presented for the first time on October 15, 2022, at the Umweltforum Berlin and previous recipients of the \u201cSnow Lion\u201d award are Dr. Adrian Zenz, the Tibet Film Festival, Lhadon Tethong, and the organization \u201cFreedom for Hong Kong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The International Campaign for Tibet bestowed the 2025 Snow Lion Human Rights Award on long-time human rights defender Dr. Sophie Richardson and Tibetan Buddhist scholar Geshe Lobsang Monlam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13179,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[691],"news_tag":[],"class_list":["post-13178","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDr. Sophie Richardson and Geshe Lobsang Monlam receive International Campaign for Tibet\u2019s Snow Lion Human Rights Award from Richard Gere - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/dr-sophie-richardson-and-geshe-lobsang-monlam-receive-international-campaign-for-tibets-snow-lion-human-rights-award-from-richard-gere\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr. Sophie Richardson and Geshe Lobsang Monlam receive International Campaign for Tibet\u2019s Snow Lion Human Rights Award from Richard Gere - 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