IOC: Hold China to its Olympic Promises

China was awarded the Beijing Games in 2001 in part because of a commitment the bid team made to media freedom in the lead up to and during the Olympics.

Now, the 2008 Games are just around the corner...and rather than having increased freedom, journalists are facing a media blackout on Tibet as Chinese leaders scramble to hide what's happening there. Except for a handful of government-organized, tightly controlled trips, reporters haven't been allowed access to Tibetan areas since late March.

In its recent report on China, Amnesty International said, "It is increasingly clear that much of the current wave of repression is occurring not in spite of the Olympics, but actually because of the Olympics."

Sadly, that is the situation in Tibet right now. The Olympic torch will be paraded through Tibet from June 21-24, in areas that are under military lockdown after a popular uprising swept through Tibet in March. The Olympic symbol is leading to even more repression as authorities use intimidation, arrests, and restriction of movement to try to prevent any protests while the torch is there.

The International Olympic Committee has stood by and watched while the Chinese authorities use brute force to smooth the way for the torch in Tibet. Despite much talk about its achievement in securing commitments from the Chinese leadership about media freedom, the IOC has done nothing to ensure that those commitments are kept.

Tell IOC President Jacques Rogge and Kevan Gosper, the head of the IOC's Press Commission, to keep their promises and ensure that the Chinese government allows full media access to Tibet now.

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ]:

(Edit Letter Below)

I am concerned to learn that journalists are not being allowed free access to Tibet even when the Olympic torch goes through from June 21-24, despite the Chinese government's commitment to media freedom when it bid for the Games and your own promises to ensure that journalists would have access throughout China in the lead up to and during the Beijing Olympics.

As you know, independent journalists were expelled from all Tibetan areas in late March - in defiance of the temporary media regulations that the IOC helped institute - and have not been allowed in since except for a handful of government-organized trips that were tightly controlled and only available to a small number or media outlets. Such a trip has been organized for Lhasa when the torch is there, but once more, the trip is expected to be rigidly controlled and a far cry from either China's own laws or international standards. Journalists reporting from Kashgar when the torch was just there were not even allowed to speak with people on the street as the torch went by.

The increased repression now occurring in areas along the torch route in Tibet is directly linked to the Olympic torch and the Chinese authorities' desperate attempt to create a peaceful and harmonious national image ahead of the Olympics - an image that is not marred by human rights protests.

By failing to hold the Chinese government accountable to its own commitments on media freedom, the IOC is standing by as the Olympics lead to more human rights violations on the part of the Chinese government, and is permitting those violations to happen behind closed doors.

I urge you to hold the Chinese government accountable to its promises and use your influence with BOCOG to immediately ensure that journalists are granted free and unfettered access to all Tibetan areas.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

Take Action on this Issue

Send this message to:

President Jacques Rogge
cc: Mr. Richard Kevan Gosper

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