Published by: World Tibet Network News Saturday, November 21, 1997

The Office of Tibet, New York

On November 19, Secretary Tempa Tsering made a presentation on the gross human rights violations in Tibet, before an audience of staff members of United Nations Missions and Human Rights NGOs. The briefing was hosted within the United Nations Secretariat in New York by the International NGO Committee on Human Rights.

This is the first official briefing on Tibet within the UN Headquarters in New York given by an officer of the Tibetan Government in Exile. Tempa Tsering is the chief officer under the Kalon (Minister) of the Department of Information & International Relations, Tibetan Government in Exile.

Also speaking was Dr. Dhaung Htun, head of the Burma UN Service Office (of the National Coalition Government of Burma), and Sidney Jones, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch/Asia.

Representative Chungdak Koren, who handles UN affairs for the Government in Exile in Geneva, and Representative Dawa Tsering of New York were also present. Kalon T. C. Tethong was unable to be present, as he was preparing for briefings during the APEC Conference in Vancouver.

The annual Tibetan UN Team meeting was also held in New York from November 14 to 16, under Kalon Tethong's leadership. Present in the meeting were Special Envoy Lodi Gyari, Kelsang Gyaltsen of the Office of H. H. the Dalai Lama, and Dr. Michael Van Walt of Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Org, and Representatives Chungdak Koren and Dawa Tsering.

Another new development occurred in the days leading up to the briefing, as statements on human rights violations in Tibet were made in New York by several countries including the European Union, United States, and Norway. In a statement to the UN Security Council, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson said that "Tibet continues to suffer disproportionately from China's harsh repression".