Several hundred Tibetan supporters participated in the Flame of Truth Relay – a walk of solidarity – marching from San Francisco’s United Nation Plaza to the Chinese consulate on Saturday.

The international relay is a campaign created by Tibet’s Parliament-in-exile calling attention to the “worsening human rights and military crackdown” by China in Tibet, according to Central Tibetan Administration.

After visiting 21 U.S. cities, the Flame of Truth, represented by a plastic Olympic-style torch, concludes its North American appearance in San Francisco.

“Human Rights – In Tibet! Free Tibet, Free Tibet!” could be heard from blocks away as demonstrators holding Tibet independence flags and signs blocked intersections on Van Ness Avenue.  The demonstrators, most of them of Tibetan decent, say the U.S. could be a moving force towards a freer Tibet.

“The United States is the number one power who can do something and in my opinion the number one government that is in a position to do something,” said Giovanni Vassallo president of Bay Area Friends of Tibet.  “So it must do something. The United States is still the most powerful country in the world. So, they need to set an example and really truly advance liberty and freedom.”

Vassallo says if the U.S. puts pressure on China, “other countries around the world [will] follow the United States’ lead.”

At least 70 self-immolations have occurred in Tibet, 57 of them this year alone with the most recent occuring Saturday morning, according to Somantso, who wished her last name remain anonymous to “protect her family members in Tibet.” The coordinator for Students for a Free Tibet say it is the right time to speak up.

“I hope there is increasing support right now [for Tibet] with the increasing amount of self immolations and also the recent change of president within China,” said Somantso, who is a UC Merced student activist. “I really think it’s a great time for us to stand up and start coming together and rising as a community.”

Upon arriving at the abandoned-looking Chinese consulate on Laguna Street, marchers prayed, sang the national Tibetan Anthem and held a moment of silence to the millions who have lost their lives in Tibet and listen to speakers.

“I was born in 1954 in Tibet and in 1959 the Chinese Communist invaded our country,” says Thepo Tulku of Santa Barbara’s Summit for Tibet. “And on March 10, 1959 I was five-years-old, so I was exiled to India with my uncle.”

China took over the territory after British rule ended 60 years ago. Tulku says he has not seen his parents since his exile in 1959.

Now over 100,000 Tibetans are exiled in India and 6 million still left in Tibet, he said. “Between 1949 to 1979, 1.6 million Tibetans were killed by Chinese military and Chinese government. Strictly, because of cultural revolution and because of the invasion in Tibet.”

Tulku says 6,000 monasteries were destroyed while the genocide was taking place. He explains 11 monasteries still remain.

Petitions against Communist China’s presence in Tibet are traveling alongside the torch, according to the Central Tibetan Administration. Organizations have been collecting hundreds of thousands of signatures that will be turned in on Dec. 11 when the relay ends. The petitions will be sent to the UN headquarters in New York City, UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and UN information office in New Delhi.

Unfortunately, even if the United States does garner support within the United Nations, action is improbable with China likely to veto. China, one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council has veto power over any resolutions that may pass, according to the UN Security Council.