DHARAMSHALA: The United States and Human Rights Watch(HRW) have condemned Lhasa's Intermediate People's Court's arbitrary decision for sentencing 30 Tibetans for their alleged involvement in the series of peaceful protests in Tibet last month.

The United States said it was "concerned" about reports that China has sentenced 30 Tibetans to between three years and life imprisonment for their involvement in the recent unrest inside Tibet.

"We are concerned. We don't think that anyone should break the law. But we also believe in freedom of expression and assembly." White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

Perino also renewed Washington's appeals for Beijing to open talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama over the recent situation inside Tibet, saying he might be able to "calm the tensions" there.

"We are encouraged the Chinese have said that they would open up a dialogue with the Dalai Lama's representatives. We hope that those conversations are productive," said the spokeswoman.

"We think that it is in China's interest that they continue to have these, because the Dalai Lama is a man of peace and someone that, I think, that if they were open to, could help calm the tensions in the area," she said.

"Guilty or innocent, these Tibetans are entitled to a fair trial. Instead, they were tried on secret evidence behind closed doors and without the benefit of a meaningful defense by lawyers they'd chosen," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for the group.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch groups condemning the decision said that the trials of 30 Tibetans' involvement in the recent protests inside Tibet were not open and public, as claimed by the Chinese government, and did not meet minimum international standards of due process.

The HRW condemned the trials, saying they were held behind closed doors and the defendants were denied lawyers.

"The hearings are no more than a rubber stamp," Sophie Richardson, the group's advocacy director in Asia, said in a statement Thursday.

"This isn't fair and transparent justice. It is political punishment masquerading as a legal process", it added.

It further said the political character of these first convictions raised serious concerns about future trials. A large number of trials of Tibetans accused of involvement in protests across Tibetan areas are expected to be held in the coming month.

TCHRD expressed its concern at the sub-standard legal proceedings in Tibet and fears the worst scenarios for the Tibetan protesters last month who exercised their fundamental human rights of freedom of opinion and expression.

China jailed 30 people on Tuesday for between three years and life for taking part in last month's unrest, a state-run news agency reported earlier, describing the proceedings as "public" trials.

The sentences drew immediate condemnation from Human Rights Watch.