Australian athletes’ rights curtailed

I agree to protect the Aussie athletes during, before and after the games, and i dont think China will keep its promise regarding human rights.

this is bias properganda

Human rights can not even be well protected in Australia, do not even mentioned about China, thousands of aboriginals new immigrants particular from asia, their rights are being violated by different means everyday. I have not seen amnesty had done anything, so far, I suppose there might be some interest groups behind it. In this case, most likely, backed up by anti-china. The problem is not just anti-chinese goverment, but during the process, most of Chinese people would be involved negetively.It is most likely goes from Anti-chinese goverment into anti-chinese. If this is what Amnesty called human rights protection, they can drop it now.

Dear Matt, Amnesty International works to stop human rights abuses all over the world. We are critical of Australia’s anti-terror laws, Australia’s treatment of Indigenous people in this country, of those seeking asylum in this country. We are critical of the USA’s use of torture and approaches to the ‘war on terror’. Our current China campaign asks the Chinese Government to stop abusing the rights of Chinese people. There is nothing anti-China about our campaign.

The claim that the Chinese Government has placed a very narrow interpretation of the Olympic Charter has not really been investigated or elaborated on.

I agree wholeheartedly with Ian. I support Amnesty’s aims...but where is the proof, or some concrete examples, that illustrate the above argument. This article is handwaving and chestbeating! Meaningless. Are we ment to blindly take Sophie Peer’s word for it?

Sue and Ian, more than happy to provide evidence, by no means would I expect you to take mine or anyone else’s word blindly. The right to question and the need for transparency is what this whole campaign’s about.

It’s not the IOC not the Chinese Government who have taken the narrow interpretation - it’s their Charter. Here’s an excerpt from a letter sent by the IOC to all National Olympic Committees:
‘GUIDELINES ON THE INTERPRETATION OF Rule 51.3 OF THE OLYMPIC CHARTER:
3. Rule 51.3 of the Olympic Charter provides that no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas. For the purposes of these guidelines, these areas are defined as every area for which an Olympic accreditation is required. Compliance with this Rule implies avoiding the disply of any sign, banner, poster, piece of equipment or clothing which could be perceived as any kind of demonstration or propaganda.”

more in next blog!

I hit my word limit ...!
Where we have real issue with this, is that the IOC is telling athletes how they can and cannot express themselves. And the vagueness of this, “perceived demonstration” - how far will this go. Religious freedom is denied in China, the environment is considered by the CHinese Government to be a sensitive topic. What ramifications are there for an athlete who wears a pro’environment t-shirt to breakfast, what about the athlete who may be Catholic, Jewish or Muslim and wear a symbol of their faith on a piece of jewlery or as tatoo - what if someone prceives this as demonstration - what happens to these individual athletes. Who protects their rights?

Hey Sophie, thanks for clarifying the issue. It is a huge shame when voices are silenced...perhaps even more so when it occurs during an event of such a grand scale.