MetaFilter posts tagged with olympics and HumanRights

China's plan to tame Tibet

homunculus — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:56:02 -0800

China's secret plot to tame Tibet. "Internal Communist party documents have revealed that China is planning a programme of harsh political repression in Tibet despite a public show of moderation to win over world opinion before the Olympic Games next month." Meanwhile, the military has sealed off several monasteries in Lhasa, keeping over 1,000 monks locked up. Another 1,000 monks have mysteriously disappeared, and may have been sent to prisons in a neighbouring province to keep them silent through the Olympics.

China's Olympian Human Rights Challenges

homunculus — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:45:19 -0800

Beijing 2008: China's Olympian Human Rights Challenges. This website was set up by Human Rights Watch to monitor human rights issues in China during the run-up to the Olympics. "This is a historic opportunity for China to show it has the confidence to make tangible and sustainable progress in ensuring basic human rights for its 1.3 billion citizens." More resources from other human rights groups: Amnesty International: China: Olympic Legacy The Committe to Protect Journalists has updated their report from last year: Falling Short: Olympic Promises Unfulfilled as China Falters on Press Freedom Reporters without Borders: Beijing 2008 Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy

Woeser

homunculus — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:05:29 -0800

A Lone Tibetan Voice, Intent on Speaking Out. Woeser (previously mentioned here) is a Tibetan writer and poet living under house arrest in Beijing, from where she blogs about the recent unrest in Tibet (there are English translations of her posts at China Digital Times). Last year she was awarded the Norwegian Authors Union Freedom of Expression Prize, but she was not allowed to travel to Oslo to collect the prize.

Genocide Olympics

homunculus — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:30:29 -0800

The Genocide Olympics. The human rights group Dream for Darfur is trying to use the Olympics to pressure China to change its policies on Sudan and the genocide in Darfur. Here's Mia Farrow's original editorial.

One World, One Dream, Four Mascots

homunculus — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:30:52 -0800

China Praises Its Progress Toward Olympics. With one year to go before the 2008 Olympics, China still has many challenges ahead, like dealing with Beijing's terrible air pollution. There is still much criticism over China's record on human rights and freedom of the press, and some protests. But perhaps the most embarrassing public relations setback is that one of the official mascots, Yingsel (aka Yingying) the Tibetan Antelope, has defected from China's Olympic team and gone underground to campaign for a free Tibet. [Some links via BB and MoFi.]

dwivian — Fri, 13 Jul 2001 08:01:28 -0800

And the winner of the 2000 metre evasion of a tank is.... Well, you'll have to wait until 2008, when Beijing hosts the games. Maybe in seven years their human rights stance may have shifted a bit.

will — Sat, 24 Feb 2001 03:56:31 -0800

Don't look behind that wall , Mr. Olympic inspector. In advance of the ongoing assesment by 17 Olympic inspectors, thousands of unwanted people have been tossed into a detention center in China, without trial. For a month, 500 to 600 people a day have been tossed in. Human Rights in China interviewed former inmates of the detention centre, and they reported

"There were no bathing facilities, food was poured from buckets and fought over by mice, and beatings with leather belts were common."

Is this what China does to "put on its game face"?

will — Thu, 22 Feb 2001 07:08:30 -0800

17 International Olympic Committee inspectors are in China reviewing its bid for the 2008 Olympic Games. Should human rights concerns be a factor in their decision? Does a sporting body have a duty to use compliance with the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights as a gauge to measure hosting worthiness for any country (not just China)?