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DHARAMSHALA, India: Tibet’s government-in-exile on Saturday
demanded the United Nations intervene to end what it called
“urgent human rights violations” by China in the region
following deadly protests.
The exiled government in Dharamshala in
northern India, home to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama,
also said it had received “unconfirmed reports about 100 people
had been killed and martial law imposed in Lhasa.”
“The Tibetan parliament urges the UN to send
representatives immediately and intervene and investigate the
current urgent human rights violations in Tibet,” the
administration said in a statement.
Tanks and armored vehicles were out in force in
the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Saturday, a day after the worst
protests against China’s rule in the vast Himalayan region in
nearly 20 years, witnesses said.
China has said 10 people were burnt to death in
the protests.
The exiled Tibetan government said it was
“deeply concerned” by reports “emanating from all three
regions of Tibet of random killings, injuries and arrest of
thousands of Tibetans peacefully protesting against Chinese
policy.”
The protests reflect “the true sentiments of
Tibetans inside Tibet and the yearning to be free from the
repressive Chinese regime,” it said.
Samdhong Rinpochehe, the government-in-exile’s
prime minister, urged China to “deal with this situation
compassionately and with wisdom.”
“The use of force by China has caused great
disturbance to the Tibetans and we fear the Tibetans will lose the
direction” of what has been a mainly non-violent freedom struggle,
he told AFP.
Late Friday, the Dalai Lama had expressed
“deep concern” over China’s crackdown and urged Beijing to
“stop using force” there and address the “resentment of the
Tibetan people through dialogue.”
“I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort
to violence,” said the Dalai Lama, who has stuck by his call for
“cultural autonomy” rather than independence for Tibet despite
ramping up his criticism of China in recent days.
A spokesman for the 72-year-old Dalai Lama
denied Chinese charges that groups allied to the spiritual leader
had “organized, premeditated and masterminded” the unrest.
“We can categorically say these kind of
accusations are absolutely baseless and without any truth
whatsoever,” said the aide, Chime R. Chhoekyapa. “As far as we
can see, these protests are spontaneous,” he said.
Meanwhile, some 300 Buddhist monks, nuns and
other Tibetan protesters took to the streets on Saturday in
Dharamshala for more protests, police said.
-- AFP
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