China Using Olympics As ‘Pretext’ For Crackdown: Amnesty

Amnesty said China’s crackdown in Tibet earlier this year, and restrictions on reporting there, highlighted the authorities’ ongoing censorship. It urged the IOC and the international community to express concerns publicly and press China to fulfil its obligations on human rights and dissent.

HONG KONG – China is using the Beijing Olympics as a pretext to pursue — and in some cases tighten — a crackdown on human rights, notably ridding the capital of “undesirables,” Amnesty International charged Monday.

Reporting 11 days ahead of the August 8 opening ceremony, the rights group said that despite some minor reforms, authorities had stepped up repression of activists and lawyers to present a picture of stability and harmony.

Amnesty urged the International Olympic Committee and political leaders to do far more to challenge China, warning of even more repressive measures once the spotlight on the Games has faded away.

“Unless the authorities make a swift change of direction, the legacy of the Beijing Olympics will not be positive for human rights in China,” it warned.

“In fact, the crackdown on human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers has intensified because Beijing is hosting the Olympics.”

Amnesty’s report, citing specific cases, said activists who had tied their cause to the Games had been singled out for the pre-Olympics “clean-up,” while many others were being detained, imprisoned or placed under house arrest.

“Authorities have used the Olympic Games as a pretext to continue and in some respects, intensify existing policies and practices that have led…

Posted by ShiftShapers
Warning: Anyone who takes this blog seriously will be shot. Anyone who does not take it seriously will be buried alive by a Mitsubishi bulldozer. Welcome to (A)utonomous Resistance, GNN’s exclusive one-stop infoshop for radical resources and information....

RELATED ITEMS

• China is Hip to the "Protest Zone" Fad
  Posted by ShiftShapers on Tuesday, July 29th 2008