Since March 10, a tidal wave of mainly peaceful protests against the Chinese government has swept across Tibet. Tibetans have risked their lives to demonstrate that their exiled leader the Dalai Lama represents their interests, and not the Chinese state. This uprising is a result of more than half a century of Communist Party misrule and reveals the breakdown of Beijing’s Tibet policy at a time when China seeks to convey an image of harmony in the buildup to the Olympics.

Hu Jintao's leadership appears to have found itself with no other means than force and intimidation to restore control, and has imposed a brutal crackdown that owes more to the political extremism and paranoia of the Maoist era than to a 21st century would-be superpower. China has dramatically tightened security in Tibet and announced new "anti-terror" plans in order to prevent any possible embarrassment to the ruling Communist Party before a worldwide audience during the Olympics.

In order to hide its repression in Tibet, Beijing has sealed off virtually the entire plateau despite promising increasing openness in the buildup to the Olympics and imposed a news blackout. This report includes evidence gathered at great risk of:

The International Campaign for Tibet is calling for world leaders attending the Olympics to publicly express concern in Beijing about the crackdown in Tibet and the suppression of freedoms that led to the spring uprising. The Chinese leadership must also be pressed for a full accounting of the more than one thousand Tibetans whose status following the spring demonstrations in Tibet is unknown.

President Hu, whose rise to power is linked to his role as former Party boss in Tibet, was involved in drafting the hardline policies that led to Tibet's spring uprising. In order to resolve the deepening crisis now, President Hu must be urged to engage directly with the Dalai Lama - recognized by the world as the pre-eminent representative of the Tibetan people - on Tibet's future.