BEIJING, Sept 1 (AFP) - A Swiss delegation raised human rights and justice issues with Chinese authorities in the Tibet during a visit to the Himalayan region, a Swiss embassy source said here Monday.

"We put forth all the relevant issues, including human rights and justice, and we got responses to all questions," the source said, adding the tour's primary goal was to research education and health in Tibet.

"A one-week stay is not enough to get an impression on these issues," he said.

The delegation, led by foreign ministry ambassador Urs Ziswiler, included three members of parliament, three journalists and a scholar specialising in China.

It met with with numerous officials in Lhasa and Shigatse and inspected Swiss-supported medical projects, the source said, adding its conclusions would be released on Thursday in Switzerland.

The delegates found no reason to end participation in the projects, which he termed "quite modest."

According to the official Xinhua news agency, politburo standing committee member Li Ruihuan urged them after the visit to criticise any aspect of Tibet's government but only if they first recognise that Tibet is part of China.

"Starting from this stand, it will be easy for us to achieve a common understanding, either speaking of the progress there or criticising as you deem necessary ... the more shortcomings you point out in our work, the more helpful it will be to us," he said during a meeting here on Saturday.

He said religion a key issue in Tibetan culture was a long-term and complex issue that must be handled with great care.

"We are atheists, and there are differences between we atheists and theists, but such differences should not mean antagonism between people.

"Under the common task of building a prosperous, democratic and civilised modern China, differences in religious beliefs are secondary," Li said.

Criticism from a string of recent visitors to Tibet has put its Chinese rulers on the defensive.

An independent European fact-finding mission recently said in a report that Tibet fit the bill as a colonized society.

The three-member team, which spent five days in Tibet in late April, urged Beijing to negotiate as early as possible genuine autonomy for the region.

"Tibet is a society of fear. There is no freedom in Tibet. It is suffocating and Tibetan religious culture is strangled," said Cees Flinterman, a law professor and former head of the Netherlands delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission.

US Congressman Frank Wolf, who visited the territory disguised as a tourist, also accused China of "swallowing" Tibet and wiping out its indigenous language and religion through violent repression.

Seven German members of parliament are due to arrive in Tibet this week to urge Chinese authorities to stop human rights violations in the region.