at the memorial in April 2000. On 9 May 1999 a
Soviet War Memorial was unveiled by the
Secretary of State for Defence George Robertson, and the Russian ambassador Yuri Fokine. The date of the unveiling was significant as 9 May is marked as
Victory Day in Russia. Since its inauguration the memorial has been the site of commemorations of Victory Day,
Holocaust Memorial Day and
Remembrance Sunday. Also in May 1999 the
Dalai Lama opened a Tibetan Peace Garden, commissioned by the Tibet Foundation, in the park. The garden features a bronze cast of the
Kalachakra Mandala, contemporary western sculpture, and a pillar inscribed with a message from the Dalai Lama in English,
Tibetan,
Hindi and
Chinese. On 30 October 2004, two
Araucaria araucana ('monkey puzzle') trees were planted near the park's eastern gates in memory of two Chileans who were
forcibly 'disappeared' in 1974 following a
military coup in Chile. The plantings were part of the Chilean Human Rights International Project's 'Ecomemoria' campaign. == References ==