Tibetan organisations and support groups in the US Friday appealed to President Barack Obama to raise the Tibet issue, including the human rights condition there with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, during the latter’s upcoming State visit.

As many as 39 Tibetan Associations, organisations and support groups in a letter, appealed to Obama to make Tibet a substantive part of the agenda when he meets Chinese President Hu Jintao at the White House.

“President Obama understands the Tibet problem as a trespass against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a challenge to China’s peaceful rise,” said Mary Beth Markey, President of the International Campaign for Tibet.

“He should use the opportunity of this summit to tell President Hu that a peaceful solution for Tibet is not only possible, but a prerequisite for China attaining the status and legitimacy it seeks,” he added.

The International Campaign for Tibet also joined nine other rights groups and China-specialist groups in calling Obama to use the upcoming State visit by Hu Jintao as an opportunity to demonstrate America’s commitment to human rights in China.

“As you are aware, for the past six decades, the Tibetan people have been denied their fundamental human rights,” the letter said.

“President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington is a unique opportunity to engage him meaningfully on the Tibet issue and showcase the ideals and values cherished by Americans, including openness, democracy and individual liberty.

“These principles underlie your remarks about rights that are universal to all human beings,” it said. Observing that Tibet is an integral part of the US-China relationship for moral, historical and strategic reasons, the letter said the position the US has adopted on Tibet, creates an incumbent duty on this administration to continue to raise the issue with Chinese leaders at the highest levels.

“Tibet must be on the agenda of your summit with President Hu,” the US-based Tibetan organisations demanded.