Richard Gere touts new movie, urges Olympics boycott

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Richard Gere chases a fugitive Bosnian war criminal in his latest movie role, but in real life the devout Buddhist is pursuing China on human rights abuses and says a boycott of the Beijing Olympics could help.

Gere, chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet, told Reuters the 2008 Beijing Olympics were a good opportunity to encourage China to end human rights abuses in Tibet and allow the Himalayan region to decide its future.

Last month thousands of Tibetans marched in New Delhi and New York calling for a boycott of the Beijing games.

"A general boycott to me certainly has value; it's probably impractical, but emotionally absolutely makes sense," Gere, 58, said. "Why should the world reward people who are obviously so bad to their own people, so bad to other people."

"In the same sense, encouragement is really important," he said in an interview to promote "The Hunting Party," opening in U.S. theaters on Friday. "Not one country on this planet has got it all together, including the United States."

Golden Globe winner Gere, star of "American Gigolo" and "Pretty Woman," has long been barred from visiting China for his support of Tibet and in 1993 spoke out about the plight of the Himalayan region at the Academy Awards.

China has ruled Tibet since 1950. About 120,000 Tibetans are exiled in India, including the Dalai Lama -- Tibet's spiritual leader -- who fled after a failed uprising in 1959.

Amnesty International and other rights groups say China is severely restricting the freedom of Tibetan people and suppressing their culture. China says it is helping a historically poor region develop.