AFP: Sports: Human rights group says IOC's 'bet' on China not paying off [Excerpt]

By PETER WALKER, Agence France-Presse

Agence France-Presse

SportServer's Winter Olympics Coverage

BEIJING, China (July 10, 2002 8:46 a.m. EDT) - Far from improving human rights ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, China is cracking down even harder on dissent one year after it was awarded the Games, a rights group charged Wednesday.

At the same time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is simply "sticking its head in the sand" and ignoring the issue, the Free Tibet Campaign said in a scathing report.

China's capital was awarded the 2008 event by an IOC vote on July 13 last year, setting off mass celebration but also prompting condemnation from human rights groups.

[...]

"Time is ticking away," warned Anne Callaghan of the Campaign.

"Of course change doesn't happen overnight, but China isn't even going through the motions of making progress; rather it is striking out even harder against dissent."

The Olympic governing body was refusing to act, she said.

"Instead, the IOC is adopting China's tactics of dealing with international criticism: namely sticking its head in the sand and hoping that the criticisms will fade away."

[...]

Human rights has been a hot issue ever since Beijing won the 2008 Summer Games.

In May, IOC president Jacques Rogge said the organization would take "corrective measures" if the city failed to honor any pledges on hosting the Games, including on rights, although he insisted this would not extend to moving the event elsewhere.

Meanwhile China has shown few qualms about appearing tough on tackling dissent in the wake of the IOC vote.

Just two days afterward, Vice Premier Li Lanqing used the award of the Games as justification for a continued brutal clampdown on the [persecuted] Falun Gong spiritual group.

[...]

In May, Amnesty International said human rights violations had continued on a massive scale around China during 2001, and had even increased in some areas.

"Torture and ill-treatment remained widespread and appeared to increase against certain groups," the rights group said in its annual report.

[...]

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