12 December, 2007  

COC accused of neglecting human rights issue

The head of a human rights coalition is calling on Canadian athletes and the country's Olympic Committee to speak out on human rights abuses in China ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Michael Craig, the chair of the China Rights Network, will be organizing a small demonstration in front of of Canadian Olympic Committee's Toronto office building on Monday, according to a report this week in the Globe and Mail.

Craig said the Chinese government has not made good on a promise it made when awarded the Games to improve its human rights record. The coalition is comprised of members of several groups, including Amnesty International, Falun Gong and a few Tibetan associations.

Chris Rudge, the chief executive officer for the COC, has gone on record as stating he doesn't think it's appropriate for Olympic athletes to become political activists.

Rudge also said he's seen progress over the course of six visits to China.

"There is increased human rights activity," Rudge told CBC News. "It's not a perfect world, but it's moving more and more in that direction."

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"Most people would suggest there are many good things happening there ... notwithstanding many of challenges they still face," he added.

Craig has met with the Rudge on several occasions to express his concerns but has come away unsatisfied.

"I think the COC is derelict in its duty when it paints a totally positive picture of China and lets athletes buy into that, and therefore, encourages everyone to ignore problems," Craig said.

Former Olympic champion swimmer Mark Tewksbury recently told the Ottawa Citizen he doesn't expect a change in the COC's position anytime soon.

"I don't think the (Canadian) Olympic committee dares speak out because the International Olympic Committee isn't speaking out," Tewksbury said.

This week, the Swiss-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions claimed that nearly 1.5 million people will be displaced by the time the Games start on Aug. 8. The Chinese government shot back that the number was grossly exaggerated and that those evicted had been compensated.

The group Reporters Without Borders wrote an open letter in late November to IOC President Jacques Rogge, expressing concern over the potential surveillance of foreign and Chinese journalists.

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