The Secretary General
United Nations
New York, USA

Subject: Urgent Appeal to redress the crisis in Tibet.

Your Excellency,

We, the Tibetan Community all over the world, are extremely concerned over the disruptive situation going on in Tibet in the aftermath of the recent breakout of peaceful demonstrations in different provinces of Tibet. These demonstrations marked the 49th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising in Lhasa, Tibet. We, hereby, draw your kind attention towards the fact that, in the most conservative calculation, some 80-90 casualties have been confirmed in Lhasa alone under heavy Chinese military clampdown , whereas another 400-500 have been detained with no information, whatsoever, available about their conditions. This is not inclusive of widespread demonstration in other parts of Tibet like Amdo and Kham regions. Altogether, not less than 400 are feared killed, 1000 injured and much more detained.

Immediately after the initial breakout of protests, the Chinese Government evacuated the foreign tourists and NGOs from Tibet, and imposed total blackout on mass media and restrictions on movement of press. This warrants our concern and fear that the Chinese Government is intending to deceive the international community on the gravity of the current situation, while at the same time coming down heavily upon the innocent native Tibetans. Therefore, we, the exiled Tibetans all over the world, are highly concerned about the safety of the Tibetans in Tibet.

On top of all these, we are highly disturbed by the baseless and irresponsible accusations being made by the top leaders of Peoples Republic of China towards the sincere political stand of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. As though this is not enough, they have even charged him with instigating the recent protests. The whole world is witness to the fact that His Holiness stands firm on his non-violent principles and has long been calling for an open dialogue with the Chinese counterparts.

In view of the above current critical situation prevailing in Tibet, we urgently appeal to the Indian Central and State Governments, and all the other international communities to extend their solidarity and support in realising the following objectives:

1. To send UN, governmental, human rights groups or other independent fact-finding delegations to assess the situation in Tibet and let the world know the truth;
2. To put concrete pressure on China to immediately stop further killings and brutal suppression on Tibetans for exercising their fundamental right of expression through peaceful means;
3. To appeal to the international medical community such as the Red Cross, and medicine sans frontiers to provide immediate medical help to the injured Tibetans in Tibet;
4. To urge the international community to help release all the innocent detainees immediately, who could otherwise face severe jail terms and inhuman tortures.

We, the Tibetan Community, hereby remain united with firm determination to show our solidarity with our Tibetan brothers and sisters in this critical time, and we trust that the Indian Central and State Governments, and the international communities will not fail us in this joint struggle for the cause of Truth and Justice.