Tibet Justice Center (TJC) is a Berkeley, California based nonprofit that advocates, through legal action and education, to promote self-determination, human rights, environmental protection and peaceful resolution of the situation in Tibet.

In 1989, Dr. Michael van Walt van Praag brought together a group of human rights lawyers in the San Francisco area to work on international law issues related to the Tibetan people and formed the International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet. They recently changed the organization name to reflect the people in other fields (environmentalists, psychologists, doctors, nurses, teachers, business people, journalists, anthropologists, etc.) who were assisting the organization.

All projects are geared towards helping the Tibetan people become prepared to take advantage of the opportunities for freedom that will come in the future.

Projects of the Tibet Justice Center include:

Human Rights - TJC advocates for the Government-in-exile before the United Nations, national governments and other organizations around the world and conducts its own fact-finding missions to report on religious persecution, human rights abuses, political imprisonment, refugee treatment and other issues.

Environment and Development - TJC works to promote sustainable development and protection of Tibet’s environment, such as projects to promote Tibet’s watersheds that affect over 1-billion people in the region.

Asylum and Immigration - TJC manages a clearinghouse of information for Tibetans and attorneys representing Tibetans in asylum matters. TJC can also provide, whenever possible, expert affidavits on country conditions in Tibet and conditions for refugees in India or Nepal.

Democracy Building - TJC has assisted in the training of the Tibetan legislative counsel and has assisted Tibetan and American lawyers to better understand and learn about each other’s legal system. In 1997, at the request of the Tibetan Government in Exile, TJC assisted in rewriting the Tibetan Constitution for internal consistency and consistency with Indian law (the host country of the Tibetan government). Exiled Tibetan communities around the world are also being educated on issues of self-governance and issues related to the Tibetans.

Donation opportunities, Tibetan news, and other program information and resources are available on their website.