World Tibet Network News Monday, May 11 1998

NEW DELHI, May 11 (AFP) - Around 100 Tibetan exiles marched on the United Nations office here Monday to condemn the world body for doing "nothing" to restore their homeland's independence from China.

Monks and nuns joined other exiles in shouting anti-Chinese slogans before handing over several memorandums addressed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

One statement said that while the UN had done a "commendable job in some parts of the world" it had done "nothing, absolutely nothing, substantial to save Tibet.

"Is it because China, the perpetrator of Tibet's suffering, is a big nation and member of the UN Security Council?" it said, adding: "if the United Nations lets its decisions be influenced by such considerations, the world will lose faith in it."

Another memorandum by a womens' group appealed: "Don't let down the suffering people on this earth. The United Nations is supposed to be the conscience of the civilised world. Do something to live up to this image."

A third letter said it was important to back the Tibetan cause for independence as "many people in the world look to Tibetans for guidance and peace."

Tibetan activists have asked the UN to "promote a peaceful settlement of the question of Tibet and initiate a UN-sponsored plebiscite to ascertain the wishes of the Tibetan people."

They have also called for a "special rapporteur to investigate the situation of human rights in Chinese-occupied Tibet."

Late last month, a Tibetan monk immolated himself in New Delhi in the first suicide protest in India after police broke up a marathon hunger strike by six Tibetans in support of Tibetan independence. Five others have replaced them and were still fasting on Monday.

Chinese troops occupied Tibet in 1951. The Dalai Lama and some 100,000 Tibetans fled to India after Beijing crushed an anti-Chinese uprising in Tibet in 1959.