Contact: Karma Chophel, Namkha Tenzin Tel: 212-213-9240 Fax: 212-475-2629

Additional Contact: John Hocevar Tel: 212-213-5011 Fax: 212-779-9245

An open letter to all our brothers and sisters, fellow citizens of the world:

Today is the ninth day of the six Tibetans' hunger strike in front of the United Nations headquarters. The physical condition of all the six is fast deteriorating. One of them, Ms. Yiga, is becoming critical. The physician who is checking them reports that her blood pressure is dangerously low and that she is in real danger.

The UN's 50th anniversary celebrations have begun, and in two short days they will be over. There has been no response whatsoever from Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to date. It will be a tragedy if a human life is lost before the Secretary General even acknowledges that the hunger strikers' five demands have been made.

While the U.N. and the leaders of the world celebrate their accomplishments, a young Tibetan is dying in an attempt to rectify one of their greatest failures.

The demands are as follows:

1. The U.N. should recognize that Tibet is an occupied country, illegally colonized by China through aggression in 1949 in contravention of international law.

2. The U.N. should mediate between Tibet's true representatives - His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in Exile as recognized by the Tibetan people, and the government of the People's Republic of China for negotiations regarding the future status of Tibet.

And/or

Initiate the conduct of an internationally supervised plebiscite of all the Tibetan people both in and outside Tibet to determine their future.

3. The U.N. should accord forthwith Observer Status to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the General Assembly as the sole representative of the Tibetan people.

4. The U.N. should invite His Holiness the Dalai Lama to address the on-going session of the General Assembly as Nobel laureate and a leader of international standing in the fields of World Peace, Disarmament, Religious Amity and the protection of Environment and Ecology.

5. The U.N. should recall and implement the three resolutions already passed by its General Assembly on Tibet namely -

Resolution 1353 (XIV), 1959

Resolution 1723 (XVI), 1961

Resolution 2079 (XX), 1965