Published by: World Tibet Network News Monday, December 22, 1997

GENEVA: December 22, 1997 (AFP) - International jurists has accused Beijing of intensifying "repression" in Tibet and asked it to authorise a UN-supervised referendum there on self-determination.

In a 365-page book, Tibet: Human Rights and the Rule of Law, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said Tibetans had become a "people under alien subjugation" since communist forces occupied the territory in 1950.

The ICJ, which is based in Geneva and represents jurists from many different judicial systems, says international law entitles Tibet to decide its political status.

The study explains that since 1996, there has been a ``further escalation of repression in Tibet''. This has involved intensive political instruction in the monasteries, widespread use of torture against prisoners and a "total war" against the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.

The commission calls upon Beijing to hold discussions with the Dalai Lama, who resides in northern India.

The jurists also recommend that the UN Commission of Human Rights nominate a special rapporteur on Tibet.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan should also designate a special envoy to "promote a peaceful settlement and a United Nations supervised referendum to ascertain the wishes of the Tibetan people".

Such a referendum, to include Tibetans abroad, could point to the restoration of an independent state, to a real form of autonomy or to keeping the status quo, say the jurists.