The petition
Dear High Commissioner Arbour,
During your recent visit to China, the 'International Herald Tribune' reported that you had delivered to Chinese authorities a list of ten longtime political detainees of concern to the UN Human Rights Commission. On the list was the name of the missing 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.
On Friday 30 September 2005 the independent UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) released its 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of China to the CRC'. During questioning at the CRC's session on China at Palais Wilson on 19-20 September, the Chinese delegation reiterated the repeated claim of the PRC that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was well and leading a normal life and did not want to be disturbed. In its Concluding Observations, the CRC noted that it 'remains concerned that it has not yet been possible to have this information confirmed by an independent expert' and recommended that China 'allow an independent expert to visit and confirm the well-being of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima while respecting his right to privacy, and that of his parents.'
The case of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima has now lasted over 10 years with the full knowledge of the United Nations. China is fully aware of the international concern for this young boy. The time for waiting must surely be at an end.
I would like to respectfully urge you to be uncompromising in your efforts to ensure that both your own request for information and the recommendations of the CRC lead to an appropriate response from the government of the PRC in a timely manner. In this year of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations, a resolution of this issue would be an important signal to the Tibetan people that their faith in the UN matters.
Yours sincerely,
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