An open letter was addressed to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who is hosting the 2021 G20 Summit in Rome.

The two-day meeting is scheduled to begin tomorrow, with the event having the motto "People, Planet, and Prosperity."

The G20 features 19 countries and the European Union, comprising the majority of the world’s largest economies.

The letter was signed by Mandie McKeown, executive director of the International Tibet Network, on behalf of 240 groups.

The World Uyghur Congress, Students for a Free Tibet, We The Hongkongers and Keep Taiwan Free are among the signatories listed.

"The attendance of world leaders and diplomats at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games will put Governments at serious risk of being complicit in China’s plan to ‘sport wash’ their human rights abuses and embolden the actions of the Chinese authorities," the open letter reads.

"As you descend on the G20 Summit we urge you to take the opportunity to commit to taking strong multilateral action by way of a joint diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

"The Chinese Government has publicly stated that Beijing 2022 will be 'open and inclusive', create a 'harmonious world' and promote 'social progress' - just as it did ahead of the Beijing 2008 Summer Games, but to no avail.

"For those living under China’s oppressive rule, daily life is anything but; it is instead characterized by a merciless crackdown on individual and collective rights and freedom, an all-out assault on cultural diversity, and a tearing apart of community cohesion through sophisticated methods of surveillance and control."

"The Uyghur people are facing active genocide, with at least two million Muslims - including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Uzbeks - locked in "re-education camps" undergoing systematic torture and political re-education," the letter continues.

"The situation in occupied Tibet has dramatically deteriorated and in 2021 it was ranked by Freedom House as the least free place in the world for civil and political rights, alongside Syria.

"In Hong Kong, where Beijing has implemented a draconian National Security Law that bans acts of "splittism, subversion, foreign intervention, and terrorism", freedom and democracy are under attack, and youth activists are being rounded up and imprisoned en masse.

"In China, the Chinese authorities routinely disappear Government critics, feminists, and academics, as they attempt to stifle all forms of peaceful dissent.

"At the same time, Beijing has intensified its decades-long tactics of bullying and military threats and intimidation of democratic Taiwan."

The letter claims the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has failed to "provide any due diligence" around preparations or "evidence on how to manage the human rights risks connected to the Games."

The organisations say Governments should commit to a joint multilateral diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022.

China has been accused of crimes including using forced Uighur labour, operating a mass surveillance programme, detaining thousands in internment camps, carrying out forced sterilisations and intentionally destroying Uighur heritage.

China has vehemently denied the allegations.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has refused to reference Uighur Muslims by name, even when asked direct questions, and IOC President Thomas Bach previously said the organisation is not a "super world Government".

Bach has insisted that the IOC would "live up to our responsibilities within our area of responsibilities", adding that "Governments have to live up to their responsibilities in their remits."

A diplomatic boycott would see representatives of National Governments remain absent from Beijing 2022, while allowing athletes to participate in the Games.

The United States and United Kingdom were among the nations to conduct a political boycott of the Sochi 2014 Paralympics after Russia's entry into Crimea prior to the Games.

The US has weighed up similar action regarding Beijing 2022, with legislation having been proposed on the topic.

The US, the European Union, Canada and United Kingdom have each sanctioned China this year regarding alleged abuses of human rights in Xinjiang, leading to China issuing similar sanctions in response.

Two G20 members seem certain to oppose a diplomatic boycott, with the first being the host nation itself.

Russia would likely be opposed after its Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova last month labelled a potential US diplomatic boycott as "nonsense."