Olympic Games have stirred up violations of human rights in China

Two days before the end of the Olympic Games in Peking the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) drew up on Friday a critical balance. "The Games have not made the People’s Republic any more liberal. On the contrary: they have stirred up more violations of human rights in China”, said the GfbV Asia expert, Ulrich Delius. None of the promises made by Peking before the contests concerning the human rights situation have been fulfilled. The Uighurs and Tibetans are threatened after the Games indeed with a further intensification of the persecution.

But the International Olympic Committee and the sponsors of the Games have also failed, since they did not put any pressure on China’s authorities to bring an end to the violations of human rights. "The IOC merely looked on while the Chinese leaders misused the Olympic Games for political ends”, criticised Delius. The Communist Party used the Olympic torch-run in Xinjiang and Tibet to emphasise their claim to power over both regions. In the organisation of the opening ceremony too the Party had the say, as the organisers have since admitted. These were no games of spontaneous joy, but of government-controlled perfection.

"China has proved itself to be an important nation of sport, but with its frequently breaking its word has lost all credibility in questions of human rights”, said Delius. Thus neither were public protests allowed nor freedom of the press and information granted to foreign journalists. With the setting up of so-called "Protest zones” the world was deliberately duped since the supposed liberalising of the right of demonstration turned out to be eye-wash. Of the 77 applicants, who had to file their protest at least five days in advance hardly anyone in the light of the massive intimidation made use of their right.

Particularly disturbing is the situation in Xinjiang, the home of the approximately nine million Uighurs. "After the finish of the Games mass arrests and new executions must be reckoned with.” Following the outbreaks of violence in the towns of Kashgar and Kuqa hundreds of houses and dwellings were searched by security forces and many Uighurs were arrested. But new repression simply increases the tension in the region. Since the beginning of August 2008 the Communist Party has issued various orders to increase the supervision of Moslem mosques and to forbid party members to attend the mosques. More than 1,500 Uighurs have been arrested in connection with the Games. For fear of protest the freedom of movement of Uighurs has been systematically restricted to prevent them from travelling to the east of China before and during the Games. In neighbouring Tibet also thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns have been prevented from leaving their monasteries to prevent protests.