MADRID, 26 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Amnesty International has launched a campaign to free five people imprisoned in China for “expressing political opinions” and “defending human rights” under the slogan ‘Beijing 2022 blows freedom of expression through hoops’, for which it calls the movement Olympic to “not be an accomplice of the repression in China”, as reported by the organization itself on Wednesday.
“The organization calls for the release of five people who exemplify the machinery of censorship of dissent carried out by the Chinese authorities. The international community cannot be an accomplice in this attempt to whitewash image through sport and the IOC must better protect the rights of athletes after the case of tennis player Peng Shuai. Amnesty International will organize fake opening ceremonies and medal ceremonies in 14 cities in Spain,” the organization said in a statement.
Amnesty International refers to the imprisonment of a journalist who reported on the start of the pandemic in Wuhan, a Tibetan monk who expressed political opinions on his website, a human rights defender who denounced cases of torture, an academic who proposed measures to end with discrimination based on his ethnicity and a lawyer who has been missing for three years.
On February 4, the Winter Olympics will begin in China and Amnesty International calls on Federations and athletes and the international community to “take this opportunity to remind the Chinese government of the obligation to respect human rights, in particular that of freedom of expression”.
The director of Amnesty International in Spain, Esteban Beltrán, pointed out that the Chinese authorities are seeking with these Games “to reinforce their status as a superpower and divert attention from the terrible situation of human rights in the country.” “They try to whitewash their international image this way. But not even the Olympic rings can cover up the tragic history of repression in this country,” he defended.
For his part, Amnesty International’s China researcher, Alkan Akad, pointed out that the global audience for the Games “cannot deliberately ignore what is happening in China.” “There are lawyers and activists jailed for their peaceful work; survivors of sexual assault who are punished for coming forward; it is estimated that thousands of people are executed every year,” he added.
For this reason, in 14 cities in Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia, León and Vitoria, Amnesty International activists will organize various acts of denunciation in public spaces starting today. Thus, simulations of opening ceremonies and awarding of medals will take place.
In addition, Amnesty International is calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ensure that demonstration guarantees are met during the event and to publicly disclose its human rights policies and practices before and during the Games.
Likewise, the Spanish section of the organization asks the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) not only to protect the right of athletes who want to express their commitment to human rights, but also, as the statement says, to inform the entire national delegation about the human rights situation in China.