The Olympics in Beijing, has perhaps become the most politicised games since the Moscow Olympics in 1980, boycotted by the US, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The issue of human rights has suddenly come to the center stage with questions on the right credentials of China in hosting the Olympics after the violent uprising and brutal crackdown and deaths in Tibet.

The trigger for the added intensity to the human rights issue was sparked by the ire of the international community, for the brutal force used in Tibet. Soon the ire of the international community spread to all parts of the world and the journey of the Olympics torch faced violent protests, leading to an even abrupt extinction of the Olympic flame in Paris.

The Olympic Charter and Code of Ethics explicitly uphold the concept of human rights and dignity as a precondition to the success of the Game. But critics argue that the continuing evidence of persecution and human rights abuses by the Chinese government in Tibet not at all reconcile with the Olympic Spirit set out in Article 1 of the Olympic Charter, which seeks “respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.”

The debate has become shrill, even as moderates and sports enthusiasts affirm that the Olympic is pure sports and any infusion of politics is dangerous. Prima facie this may be true, but Olympic spirit is all about upholding ethics in sport and respecting human rights.

The recent unrest in Tibet and heavy crackdown on Tibetan protesters in Lhasa by Chinese forces certainly galvanised the issue further. As far as China is concerned, there is nothing illegitimate in being the core of the debate on human rights, as it is burdened with the additional responsibility of living up to a promise it made while agreeing to host Olympics. Interestingly, it is spearheading the games with the slogan “one dream, one nation.”

IOC Chief Evasive

Jacques Rogge, IOC Chief, in a candid media interaction in Canada stated, “the Games are a force for the world that will promote the social evolution in China and become a catalyst for change in China. At the same time, it must be noted that Games are not the panacea for all the ills of the world.”

Speaking about the limitations of IOC in imposing human rights codes, he said: “We have limitations in that we are not a political organisation. We are a sports organisation, with strong values and based on the total respect for the individual. I believe that the Games will be a revealer of what China wants to show at the Games.”

China’s Defence

Meanwhile China is unfazed and even mounted a brazen defence of its much maligned human rights record as the clock ticked ever nearer the Beijing Olympics. Putting the critics on the defensive, China accused Western countries of ignoring problems of their own and maintaining double standards.

Luo Haocai, deputy head of a largely ceremonial top government advisory body and in charge of the government affiliated China Society for Human Rights Studies, said China had made “huge strides” in improving human rights.

Luo did not touch upon the anti-China protests, which have dogged the global tour of the Olympic torch relay. He recalled that its own dissidents and foreign human rights groups like Amnesty International, and the United States and European Union regularly pillory it for everything from the suppression of peaceful protests and freedom of speech to the death penalty.

“Chinese citizens’ rights and political rights are fully guaranteed,” Luo told a forum in Beijing, according to a transcript of his remarks carried on a government website (www.china.com.cn).

“Chinese people enjoy unprecedented freedom of every kind and basic human rights, including freedom of religious belief and the right to political assembly,” Luo said.

Though his remarks did not mention explicitly on the Tibet crackdown, or problems in the mainly Muslim far western region of Xinjiang, Luo claimed adequate protection for the cultures, languages, religions and customs of minorities.

In his view, the actual problems included the growing rural-urban divide and social security issues such as medical care, which Luo added the government was committed to tackling. “Some Western countries have double standards when it comes to human rights, constantly criticising China and other developing nations, turning a blind eye to their own human rights issues,” he said.

China Sees it Differently

China insists that it has a different concept of human rights unlike the West. In China’s priorities, the right to development, able to feed and shelter people, comes ahead of individual rights. “Only if all of society advances can there be real individual rights,” Luo said.

“The most important reason for China’s national stability, social harmony and people’s freedom is that China puts great store on guaranteeing individual rights as well as the rights of the group,” he added.

Amnesty International Report

Repudiating China’s defence of its human rights record, Amnesty International noted that the current wave of repression occurring in China is not in spite of the Olympic Games, but because of the Olympics. In its April report, Amnesty International regrets that defenders of freedom of expression, journalists and human rights continue to be targeted by the Chinese authorities.

Censorship and tight control of information are common practices there and those who criticise the government face prosecution and imprisonment, the human rights’ watchdog asserted. As the Games draw nearer, protests against the China government have multiplied, reveals the report. The ‘clean up’ of ‘undesirables’ and control of the media has intensified to muffle the voices of demonstrators during the Olympics, the report claimed.

Amnesty International further urges the international community, and in particular the IOC and national governments, to adopt a stronger position on the issue to bring an end to the ‘rights abuses’ being perpetrated by the Chinese authorities.

Echoing similar thoughts, The British Olympic Association (BOA) too went hammer and tongs despite the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) soft line that “the Games can act as a catalyst and contribute to the opening of a society.” The BOA concluded that the Games have not made substantial reform in China.

With many calls for boycott of the Olympics and many heads of state already on record of staying away from inaugural ceremony, the Beijing Olympics is set to be a stormy one. American filmmaker Steven Spielberg made news when he resigned his post as artistic adviser for Beijing’s opening and closing ceremonies to protest China’s refusal to use its influence to help the ongoing genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Evoking History Comes True

It may sound ironical that going by what Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games said, “Holding an Olympic Games means evoking history”. If that is the case, then the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games has certainly internationalised the issue of Tibet and institutionalised the issue of human rights; be that involves the persecution of media personnel or killing of cinnamon-robed Buddhist monks who are followers of Dalai Lama.

Sponsors

This is not to say that only the Chinese government faces the flak. Some sponsors are also under fire from rights groups; they include Adidas, McDonalds, one of the International Olympic Committee’s 11 “worldwide partners”. Other partners include Coca-Cola, Panasonic and Kodak. The top commercial sponsors of the Beijing Olympics specifically are Volkswagen, Adidas, Johnson & Johnson, and nine well-known Chinese companies, including China Mobile and oil major Sinopec.

There is certainly a systemic failure; the governments that should host the Olympic games must undertake that they would scrupulously respect the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter. That rights abuses and anxiety in China continue to stalk Olympic Games raises serious concerns about commitments and actual practice. Without due mechanisms to address the human rights situation, the ethics of Olympic Games based on “the spirit of humanism, fraternity and respect for individuals which inspires the Olympic ideal” stand vitiated.