United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has urged Chinese authorities to promptly address the longstanding grievances and alarming escalation of desperate forms of protest, such as self-immolations, in Tibetan areas. She said she was disturbed by “continuing allegations of violence against Tibetans seeking to exercise their fundamental human rights of freedom of expression, association and religion,” and pointed to “reports of detentions and disappearances, of excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators, and curbs on the cultural rights of Tibetans.”