May 10 (DP.net).– Among many other violations of the human rights of Tibetans by the Chinese authorities, religious freedom and the succession of the Dalai Lama should be at the top of the human rights agenda the international community should promote in its dealings with China.
When 19-year-old monk Tenzin Ngi-ma –known to friends and family at Tamey– was released from prison, his health was so poor that he could not talk or move. Due to beatings he sustained in custody, he died shortly thereafter. Tamey had been arrested for distributing leaftlets and shouting slogans about Tibetan independence. Sadly, his death is part of a pattern of torture and mistreatment of political prisoners in Tibet. 
Another prominent case involves the successor of the Dalai Lama. Recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as a reincarnated lama in the 1980s, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has been a community leader and a staunch advocate for the protection and preservation of Tibetan culture, religion, and way of life for decades.
In 2002, Delek was arrested on false charges of exploding bombs and distributing separatist leaflets. The only evidence against him was extracted from a relative during torture. However, the relative later recanted his false testimony, clearing Delek of any wrong-doing. But Delek’s trial was held in secret and even though he had no independent legal counsel and the evidence against him was non-existent, he received a death sentence. The sentence was later commuted to life in prison, and he remains there today.
Last January and February, members of the International Campaign for Tibet collected more than 4,700 petitions to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling for an investigation into Tomey's case and the Chinese government's torture of political prisoners.
Tibetan President-in-exile Lobsang Sangay is urging the U.N.'s human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, to visit Tibet to examine rights violations. “We strongly urge her to visit Tibet and press China for unfettered access in order to monitor the deteriorating human rights conditions in Tibet,” he said.
At the US political arena, former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) slammed late last year the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for “seeking to interfere in the succession of the next Dalai Lama, which would undermine the religious freedoms of Buddhist practitioners around the world.”
During his presidential campaign, President Biden mmade a strong statement of his intentions regarding Tibet and he promise to sand up for Tibetans in several key ways, including action to pressure Chinese leaders to resume dialogue with representatives of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.
You may write a letter addressed to "Dear President Biden" stressing your support for the Dalai Lama and asking him to implement the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act and the Tibetan Policy and Support Act, and send it to International Campaign for Tibet, P.O. Box 9005, Waldorf, MD 20604-9005.