(September 26, 2014) Update: Read the letter sent by our five Nobel peace laureates early this morning to the organizers of the Summit in Cape Town.

Download the letter: Participation in 14th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates

(September 25, 2014) Update: Nobel Peace Laureates Tawakkol Karman and Mairead Maguire have also decided not to attend the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.

(September 23, 2014)— Nobel peace laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Gbowee and a representative of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) are pulling the plug on their scheduled trip to South Africa to attend the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, being held October 13-15.

This follows South Africa’s refusal to issue a visa to Nobel peace laureate His Holiness the Dalai Lama for an upcoming global summit of Nobel peace laureates in Cape Town, and China’s public declaration of thanks for South Africa’s decision to block the spiritual leader from entering South Africa.

The Dalai Lama advocates a nonviolent, negotiated solution to the Tibet problem—what he calls “the Middle-Way Approach”—and is calling for real autonomy for Tibet under Chinese sovereignty. China has questioned his claims that he does not seek independence, and exerts political pressure on India—where the spiritual leader has lived in exile since 1959—and other countries to limit the Dalai Lama’s freedom of travel and access to political leaders.

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For more information:

Rachel Vincent, Director of Communications, Nobel Women’s Initiative

Mobile: +1 (613) 276-9030

rvincent@nobelwomensinitiative.org