By RIA Novosti,
New York : Hundreds of Tibetan exiles and Buddhist monks held a rally in front of the United Nations building in New York on Tuesday demanding an independent investigation into the March protests in Tibet.
Protesters carried 140 coffins to the UN headquarters to represent the number of people allegedly killed during anti-Chinese protests in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Beijing says only 19 people died and 623 were injured in the riots, many of them Han Chinese murdered by Tibetan separatists.
The unrest in Tibet started on March 10 when Buddhist monks held a demonstration to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule, which erupted into widespread protests on March 14.
China deployed troops to the region and allegedly brutally cracked down on protesters attracting international criticism for their handling of the riots.
Chinese authorities accused the Dalai Lama of organizing the violence, but Tibet’s spiritual leader has denied the claims.
The crackdown has led to worldwide protests by pro-Tibet activists, and groups critical of China’s regime. The protests have also dogged the Olympic torch relay in London, Paris and San Francisco with hundreds of protestors causing chaos and forcing the relay route to be changed.