Fires in Tibet's capital, Lhasa after protests, 14 Mar 2008

As the United Nations prepares to hold hearings on China, the Tibetan government in exile has submitted a report detailing alleged cases of Chinese torture against Tibetans.

The report says China has violated an international torture convention through the widespread use of physical and mental torture against Tibetans as an instrument of political control.

The Indian-based government in exile submitted the report this week to the U.N. Committee Against Torture in Geneva for consideration ahead of the hearings in early November.

The report says 218 Tibetans were killed and nearly 7,000 were detained during China's crackdown on Tibetan protests that began in March.  It provides details of alleged cases of torture of Tibetans by Chinese authorities in

China has not acknowledged any deaths of Tibetan civilians at the hands of security forces.  But Chinese authorities say Tibetan rioters killed 22 people.  Dozens of people accused of involvement in the riots were given jail sentences ranging from years to life in prison.

According to the Tibetan government in exile report, hundreds of monks are still being detained in Qinghai province and the whereabouts of many other detainees are unknown. 

Several human rights groups also have submitted reports to the Committee Against Torture ahead of the November sessions on China.

Last week, London's Daily Telegraph published excerpts of what the newspaper said were questions from the committee about China's handling of the Tibetan protests.  The questions include requests for China to provide more information about Tibetan detainees, sentencing and deaths during the crackdown.