Report: IOC Turning Back on Human Rights in China

(ATR) A coalition of Tibetan activist groups has submitted a report to the IOC protesting a potential Beijing 2022 Olympics.

The report titled "Losing the bet on human rights: Beijing and the Olympic Games,"says that China "has brought no positive changes in human rights" to Tibet after the 2008 Olympics.

"China’s leaders have chosen instead to follow a policy of violence and intimidation in Tibet," the report states.

"China’s performance between 2001 and 2008 makes it abundantly clear that the award of the Games itself will have no positive impact on its performance regarding human rights in China or Tibet."

The coalition contains 175 activists groups under the guise of the "International Tibet Network."

In the report the group calls for the IOC to "reject China’s bid and consider with extreme caution the bid of Kazakhstan."

Large-scale protests erupted in Tibet in March 2008, five months before the Games, and many of the international legs of the 2008 Olympic torch relay were protested.

"The IOC wanted to believe that China would get all dewy-eyed and idealistic under the influence of the 2008 Games," Alistair Currie, and activist with the group Free Tibet, said in a release.

"Thomas Bach’s recent comment that the IOC doesn’t see awarding the Games as an endorsement of country’s political systems simply doesn’t reflect how host countries see it."

Written by Aaron Bauer

Homepage photo: Getty Images

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