UN members urged to form Tibet contact group as General Assembly begins

Tibet activists carrying out a vigil outside the UN headquarters in New York on the first day of the 67th UN General Assembly Session on September 25, 2012. (Photo/RTYC NY/NJ) September 26: The 67th United Nations General Assembly Session got underway at its office headquarters in New York Tuesday, hours after the Second Special General Meeting of the Tibetan People began in Dharamshala, north India. Addressing the brainstorming meeting to discuss campaign ideas in response to the critical situation inside Tibet, the elected head of the Tibetan people Dr Lobsang Sangay fully supported the recommendation made by two senior US Congressmen for the formation of a ‘contact group on Tibet’. The global rights group, Human Rights Watch last week had also urged governments concerned about the worsening human rights situation in Tibet to meet on the sidelines of General Assembly to discuss the formation of a Tibet contact group. HRW in a release said a Tibet contact group could “press the Chinese government to consider resuming meaningful negotiations with Tibetan representatives, and visibly demonstrate heightened international concern about deteriorating conditions.” “The response of governments to the Chinese government’s renewed crackdown in Tibet is hardly commensurate to the scope and scale of the crisis,” said Sophie Richardson, China director. “Concerned governments should set aside fears of irking Beijing and press China to respect Tibetans’ basic rights.” HRW also urged governments to express support for the longstanding requests by UN special rapporteurs, as well as diplomats, journalists, and other independent monitors, to have access to Tibetan areas. Since 2009, a total of 51 Tibetans in Tibet have set themselves in fire demanding the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet. HRW said the Chinese government, instead of addressing the underlying grievances of the Tibetan people, has “strengthened its blackout on information and communications into and out of Tibet, increased repressive security operations, and multiplied arbitrary detentions.” The New York based global rights group noted that although several governments have expressed concern publicly about the deteriorating environment in Tibet, “most have limited their calls for action to exhorting the Chinese government to resume meaningful negotiations with Tibetan representatives” – a step, HRW said the Chinese government is “unlikely to take in the absence of significant, coordinated international pressure.” “The many years of restricting Tibetans’ fundamental rights have led to acts of desperation that have escalated a crisis that shows no sign of abating,” Richardson said. “UN member countries should take steps now that could give Tibetans some hope.” Outside the UN headquarters, Tibet activists carrying Tibetan national flags and placards calling for the UN to ‘wake up’ and China to allow media in Tibetan areas are holding daylong vigils and rallies. Organiser of the protests, the regional chapter of the Tibetan Youth Congress, the largest pro-independence group in exile, said that the main purpose of the campaign was to “amplify the voices of our brothers and sisters inside Tibet.” “We are here to deliver the messages of those who have sacrificed their lives for our country’s freedom,” the activists said. The ongoing conflict in Syria as well as the recent unrest in the Muslim world over a US-made film ridiculing Islam and Iran's controversial nuclear programme are expected to dominate the UN session.