13 March 2008 :

Marco Pannella’s hunger and thirst strike reached the seventh day, done to gain respect for promises made and for international rights. The non violent leader received support from Dharamsala (India), where the President of the Tibetan Parliament in exile, Karma Chopel, and the Vice President Dolma Gyari, said: “We believe that it is a moral and civil obligation to support anyone who is intent on fighting for the state of rights through non violent means. We are convinced that the full respect of freedom, democracy, justice and the state of rights in a democratic society is the only way to fight for these principles wherever they come to be systematically negated."
Meanwhile, in an urgent request addressed to the Foreign Affairs Minister, Radical Parliamentarian Sergio D'Elia raised the case of the brutal repression by the Chinese authorities of non violent demonstrators in Tibet on the anniversary of the revolt of the Tibetan people against the Chinese occupation on March 10, 1959.
News of the Non Violent Radical Party delegation (Sergio D'Elia, Hands Off Cain secretary, and Matteo Mecacci and Marco Perduca, PRT Vice Presidents) meeting with the Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in exile, Sogyal Rinpoche, in Dhramasala, allegedly resulted in monks being brutally beaten and arrested by the Chinese authorities.
D'Elia asked what the Minister intended to do to get information on the condition of those arrested on March 10 in Tibet and what does the Minister think of raising the issue of the respect of minorities’ human rights in China according to what is foreseen in the Constitution.
Regarding the arrest by the Chinese security forces in Lhasa of almost 50 monks, the Radical Europarliamentarians Marco Pannella and Marco Cappato sent a request to the Commission and the Council to ask the European Union to monitor the situation and raise the question of minorities’ rights in China at the first bilateral EU-China meeting.
At the conclusion of the third stage of the "March To Tibet" that the Non Violent Radical Party delegation is participating in, the Tibetan Youth Congress President, Tsewang Rigzin, answered a request by Marco Pannella for solidarity. In the name of the organisers and next to Rebya Kadeer, leader of the Uiguro people and Non Violent Radical Party member, he publicly expressed solidarity by participants of the March for the arrest and maltreatment of his two sons by the Chinese authorities in the East Turkestan region: 'Our march is also for the respect of political and civil rights of the Uiguro people, the same rights taken from the Tibetan people,' Tsewang Rigzin said.
Amongst the first signatories of the document in support of the Uiguran non violent leader were Cesare Salvi, President of the Senate Justice Commission for Sinistra Democratica and Hands Off Cain member, and Benedetto Della Vedova, Forza Italia parliamentarian and PRT member.