On its last day in Switzerland, the Tibetan Freedom Torch arrived at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne. Together with National Councillor Luc Recordon (member of the upper house for the Canton of Vaud), the Tibet Organizations of Switzerland demanded that the IOC ensures that the Olympic torch is neither carried up Mount Everest nor through Tibet.
One of the 200 Tibetans and Tibet supporters in front of the IOC was Lhazom Pünkang, a team member of Tibet’s Olympic team. She hopes that IOC will finally break its silence and bring about effective measures to end crimes against humanity in Tibet: «The IOC is obliged to remind the Chinese organizers of their promise. I would like to see some action and not the excuses that Mr. Rogge has presented so far. It is scandalous to hold the Olympics in Beijing while people in Tibet are incarcerated and tortured at whim.»
Nearly simultaneously a separate Beijing Olympics flame had already reached the base camp at the foot of Mt. Everest. So far the IOC has shown no willingness to stop the torch passing through Tibet. Tibetans everywhere are disappointed and angry that the IOC has not undertaken any effective measures to convince the Chinese government to guarantee that human rights are respected in Tibet.
After Lausanne the Tibetan Freedom Torch went to Geneva, where it spread the message of freedom and justice at its very last station in front of the United Nations offices.