Prague, March 6 – Human rights activists have appealed to the International Olympic Committee (MOV) to concentrate on the observance of human rights in China before the Summer Olympic Games that will be held in Beijing in 2008, Olympic Watch chairman Jan Ruml told CTK today.
The human rights associations Olympic Watch, Reporters Without Borders and two associations of Chinese living in exile sent their letter to MOV President Jacques Rogge, Ruml said.
The Chinese embassy in the Czech Republic said that the Chines government was paying attention to human rights and had achieved great progress in this area. It protested against politicising the Olympic Games.
The decision on holding the 2008 Summer Olympics was made by the MOV that is convinced, according to its website www.olympic.org that Beijing would organise excellent games. The Czech Olympic Committee respects the decision, Jan Martinek told CTK.
According to Ruml, there is a danger that Olympic ideals will be harmed forever. The letter points to human rights violations in China – the persecution of journalists, non-existence of the freedom of worship, torture and executions.
“The fate of Tibet and Taiwan is another long-lasting problem,” Ruml said.
Olympic Watch is an organisation that was established in 2001 in reaction to the decision to organise the Olympics in China and it expresses its positions on the issue regularly.
“We are against anyone politicising the Olympic Games,” the Chinese embassy spokesman told CTK today.
In the letter addressed to the MOV the authors say that human rights in China are trampled on also in connection with the preparation of the Olympics. Authorities are driving people from their homes, prosecuted those protesting against the measure and abuse the youth for propaganda, Ruml said.
“All these problems contradict the ideals of harmonic development of humans, people´s dignity and people of which the Olympic Charter speaks,” Ruml said.
Human rights advocates have pointed to Chinese problems for a long time. The International Campaign for Tibet association pointed to human rights violations during the Winter Olympics in Italy. The prestigious Reporters Without Borders organisations that monitors the state of the freedom of the press in the world has called for a boycott of the games in Beijing.
Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek spoke about the Olympic Games in China during his visit last year when he offered Czech participation in the construction of sports facilities.
