In an effort to inform the public of the anniversary of International Human Rights Day and the culture of the Tibetans, Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), a registered student organization, will have a Culture and Dance performance on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.

The event will also commemorate the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual and political leader who received the Novel Peace Prize in 1989.

Ngawang Choephel, Middlebury College and Fulbright student, will also be commemorated at the event. Choephel was imprisoned in Tibet after the government of the People’s Republic of China charged him with spying and engaging in ‘splittist’ activity, and sentenced him to 18 years imprisonment. Choephel was documenting traditional music through film.

Choephel’s Middlebury advisor, Jay Pillay, is now a professor at Hampshire College and will be speaking at the event, along with a brief video.

Food and beverages will be provided by People’s Market.

Several events leading up to the Dec. 10 performance have been held. Street theater in front of the Student Union and a banner of Choephel were two of the steps taken by SFT members to draw attention to their cause, as well as a student gagged, handcuffed, silent and sitting in a chair. This resembles what Choephel is currently facing in prison.

Student for a Free Tibet believe that “in order to resolve the situation in Tibet, there must be negotiations without preconditions between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Leadership. Only through substantive dialogue can meaningful progress be made on this critical issue,” according to their literature.

The nation of Tibet was invaded by China in 1949, the Dalai Lama fled in 1959 and established the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala, India. Over 120,000 other Tibetans have since followed their leader to the area.