World Tibet Network News Wednesday, March 18, 1998

NEW DELHI, March 16 (Reuters) - Six Tibetan activists seeking the independence of their Himalayan homeland from China vowed on Monday to fast to death unless the United Nations reopened a debate on the future of Tibet.

The exiles, members of the Tibetan Youth Congress, began their hunger strike in New Delhi on March 10.

``Unless and until the U.N. gives assurance to look into the matter, the Tibetan freedom fighters will not end their death fast,'' Pema Lhundup, joint secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress told Reuters.

He said the congress wanted the U.N. to appoint a special envoy to initiate a U.N.-supervised plebiscite to allow Tibetans to decide their own future.

Tibetan agitators also want the U.N. to appoint a special rapporteur to investigate the human rights violations in Tibet, which has been controlled by China since 1950.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, said, in a statement to mark the 39th anniversary of a Tibetan uprising earlier this month, that Tibet had made some economic progress but human rights continue to be violated.

Beijing rejects criticism of its human rights record.