IOC must condemn violations of human rights in Tibet

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) appealed on Friday to the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, no longer to keep silent on the violent suppression of the protests of Buddhist monks in Tibet. "Looking the other way and ignoring it all cannot be the solution for organising the "Games of Joy” in five months in Peking”, said the GfbV Asia expert, Ulrich Delius. The IOC is faced with a debacle if China’s authorities take up arms in August against unarmed Buddhist monks. Rogge’s calculated optimism, of which he makes such a show, is becoming steadily more unrealistic in the light of the recent repression in Tibet and China. The IOC President had on many occasions stated that the human rights position in China would undergo a lasting improvement thanks to the Games of 2008.

Following protests by monks in Tibet’s capital of Lhasa on the occasion of the 49th anniversary of the general rebellion against the Chinese rule over Tibet on 10th March Peking closed off with security forces on Wednesday the three most important monasteries in Lhasa. Tourists are no longer allowed to visit these institutions. In the monasteries the monks are being questioned by the security forces in order to punish all those taking part in the public protests. In spite of the Gleichschaltung (forcing into line) of the monasteries, which has been carried out systematically in recent years and the appointment of abbots who are faithful to the regime there are some monks who have begun hunger strikes against the violent crushing of their non-violent protests.

Athletes from Belgium and the Netherlands have in the past few days called on the IOC to speak up clearly on the violations of human rights in China. So, for example, the swimming champion from the Netherlands, Pieter van den Hoogenband, who has won three gold medals, called on sportsmen and sportswomen throughout the world to raise their voices and to demand from China’s leaders that they show more respect for human rights.