BEIJING, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A human rights group called Saturday on First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to speak out against Beijing's treatment of Chinese and Tibetan women and warned the communist government could interpret silence as condoning the abuses.

Mrs. Clinton, the honorary chairwoman of the 45-member U.S. delegation to the U.N. World Conference on Women, will address the meeting Tuesday and the accompanying Non-Governmental Organizations Forum during her two-day China stint.

"No one who attends the conference will have a louder or more influential voice than you will," William F. Shultz, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a letter to Mrs. Clinton.

"Should you fail to address several critical issues, your silence will speak volumes," Shultz said.

While acknowledging Mrs. Clinton's primary task is to address women's rights issues and not China's overall record, he requested she condemn violations against Chinese and Tibetan women.

"The government could interpret your silence as condoning the brutal treatment of women, such as its forced abortion and sterilization program" to accomplish its single-child-per-family mandate.

China denies an official policy of coercion and insists any abuses are the work of local authorities.

Amnesty also urged Mrs. Clinton to demand the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners of conscience and denounce China's heavy reliance on the death penalty.

Citing 16 executions of criminals and numerous detentions of dissidents in the run-up to the conference, Shultz said, "When people are executed or imprisoned so that a U.N. conference can take place, it should not be the responsibility" of human rights groups alone to protest.

"You must not remain mute when victims of human rights violations have paid such a price," he said.

Last week Mrs. Clinton described the conference as a "celebration of women" and "a celebration of family.

The White House announced the First Lady's decision to attend the conference on the day China released U.S. human rights activist Harry Wu.