John Zarocostas / Human Rights Tribune - China has turned down a request by the U.N. Human Right Commissioner, Louise Arbour, to visit Tibet this month and make an independent first-hand examination of violations in the on-going crisis.

Arbour floated the request with senior Chinese diplomats in Geneva on March 27 but was told on Tuesday "the timing was not convenient now," Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the Commissioner told HRT. The Chinese envoys said "there would be a possibility for Arbour to visit in the future at a mutually convenient time," Colville said. Chinese diplomatic sources said the Commissioner raised the visit request with Ambassador Li Baodong. The same sources said there was "no exact date, yet" when such a visit could take place, but stressed "China has a good working relationship" with the High Commissioner."Its good now, and it will be good in the future."

However, top human rights diplomats and experts were quick to fault China and saw the action as a step backwards. Some considered the snub of Arbour as another incident in the mishandling of the Tibet crisis by China’s communist leadership. "It’s very regrettable they won’t let her in," said a senior diplomat from a G8 power, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"It’s a bad idea. We are surprised. I think the situation in Tibet requires her presence", Ambassador Andrej Logar of Slovenia, which currently holds the rotating Presidency of the 27 member country European Union, told HRT. Logar said the EU will seek to support efforts "to enable her to get there. It’s her decision and it should be respected."

"We’re deeply disappointed that China has not invited the Human Rights Commissioner to visit now," said Peter Splinter, Amnesty International’s Representative in Geneva. "China is losing an opportunity to address the situation transparently and demonstrate their commitment to addressing the situation in Tibet within a human rights framework," Splinter said.

Moreover, Andrew Clapham. director of the Geneva academy for international law and human rights, said governments turn down requests for visits by the High Commissioner all the time, but remarked, "it’s a shame" because a visit by Arbour to Tibet could improve the situation and bring independent facts.

An ambassador close to Beijing, speaking on the condition of non-attribution, said the rejection of the request by Arbour, shows that: "China does not know how to handle the crisis. It’s opening up, but it still has the old reflexes. At the moment its clamping down."

Human rights diplomats, who declined to be identified, said that the line their Chinese counterparts are putting out is that a visit at this time by Arbour could trigger further unrest.

Meanwhile, 6 Special Rapporteurs, including the experts responsible for extrajudicial , summary and arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, and his counterparts, including the independent experts responsible for minority issues;torture,freedom of religion, and freedom of opinion and expression, expressed their concern over the ongoing protests and reports of high numbers of arrests.

They said information received "describes the arrest on 28 and 29 March of over 570 Tibetan monks, including some children, following raids by security forces on monasteries ."

The experts said they are also "deeply concerned" by reports security forces had fired protestors and alleged killings, and called on the Chinese government to lift the restriction on the media. Chinese official media put the death toll from the protests at 19, while Tibetan exile groups at around 140.

They also urged China "to respond positively to outstanding visit requests" by UN experts, including the special rapporteur on extra judicial killings. Alston has asked to go to China on a number of occasions, and his most recent reminder letter was at the end of March 2008, UN officials said.

No agreement has been reached also on dates for a visit by the expert on freedom of religion or belief, and discussions "were on-going" on the request which dates back to 2004, sources said.