WASHINGTON, March 11 (AFP) - A nonpartisan group of US lawmakers Tuesday announced two initiatives to condemn China's human rights practices and seek the freedom of a Tibetan scholar jailed in China for espionage.

Forty-four members of Congress sent a "strongly-worded" letter to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that calls on Washington to support a resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission, which is currently meeting in Geneva, that condemns China's human rights violations, said a statement by Vermont Representative Bernie Sanders.

The letter also urges Albright to work to secure the release of Ngawang Choephel, a Tibetan former Fulbright scholar and former student of ethnomusicology at Middlebury College in Vermont.

Cheophel returned to Tibet in 1995 to make a film about Tibetan music and dance. He was arrested in 1996 for alleged spying, and a China court sentenced him to 18 years in prison in December 1996.

In the letter to Albright, the lawmakers said they were unaware of any evidence that supports Cheophel's conviction.

"In light of these circumstances, we are dismayed to learn that the State Department is considering a hollow approach to the China resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission. ... China's abysmal, increasingly harsh, human rights practices must be met with an appropriate response," they wrote.

In addition, Sanders, an independent; Republican Representative Ben Gilman of New York; and Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi of California introduced legislation which also urges US support for a China resolution at the UN commission and condemns Cheophel's imprisonment.

The House resolution is similar to a resolution under consideration in the Senate.