ABC Regional Online, Australia - Olympics should go to Athens, say human rights protestors

By Jacqui Peake

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

A group protesting human rights abuse in China is urging next year's Olympic Games are moved from Beijing to Athens.

Jan Becker swam in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, and is travelling the world as the ambassador for the Human Rights Torch Relay. Starting in Athens, the relay has made its way to Victoria to promote not only an athlete boycott, but a complete move of the 2008 games.

According to the group's website, it is opposed to human rights abuse in China and the persecution of practitioners of [the] spiritual movement Falun Gong.

"Because of the humans rights abuse in China, they promised in 2001, when they got the Olympics, to improve," explains Becker on the group's stop in Ballarat. "I was assured by International Olympic Committee officials that that would happen, and it hasn't; it's actually become worse. They haven't adhered to the Olympic charter or the code of ethics and with what they're doing, both inside and outside of China; a lot of people are calling for a boycott [but] I feel that they just shouldn't have the Olympics. It's just not in the Olympic spirit."

Being a former Olympian herself, Becker knows about the training and preparation that goes into competing at the elite level. But she says, if competing today, she would throw away the years of training to boycott the Beijing Olympics.

"Eight years of training to get to the Olympics; I know what it's like," she says. "And I thought, 'How can I ask these athletes to boycott?' Then I saw some words that said, 'The sanctity of life and respect for human beings takes precedence over any sporting event.' It really hit me, that we can't treat people like this [for the sake of] two weeks. They should just transfer the Olympics to Athens, where it's neutral, and they have the infrastructure there to do it."

Despite her stance, she understands why athletes are not stepping up opposition to China. "A lot of them don't know what's really happening," Becker says. "A lot of them have [heard of it], but most of them won't [join the relay] because they sympathise with the cause, but they're scared of losing their sponsorship, of the IOC not looking upon them as fondly as usual...If no one does anything, no change will happen."

Members of Parliament and councillors have been supportive of the group's cause on its tour through regional Australia, says Becker. The relay remains in regional Victoria for the rest of the week.

http://www.abc.net.au/southwestvic/stories/s2103314.htm

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