The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) members has urged the United States Olympic Committee to take a stand on human rights, in view of the forthcoming Summer Olympics in China.
They recalled that after the 2008 Olympics in China, a wave of oppression washed over Tibet, exposing the falsity of China’s promises of reform. As hosting the Olympics is an international privilege, ICT deplored that the IOC’s decision to award the 2022 Winter Olympics to China is a grave mistake that turns a blind eye to the downward spiral of human rights violations inflicted on the Tibetan people.
Unless the USOC takes meaningful, concrete steps to hold China accountable, ICT cautioned that it is making itself complicit in those crimes. ICT members urged the United States Olympic Committee to fully support the Biden Administration’s diplomatic boycott, secure concrete, verifiable evidence that the Chinese government has and will cease its atrocities, and to provide full support to American athletes who call out China’s crimes in Tibet and elsewhere.
The USOC should also use its voice to publicly speak out against Tibetan human rights abuses and declare that the CCP must be held accountable. They said that mass atrocities deserve a more profound reaction.
“You have an obligation and a tremendous opportunity to send a message to the world that the Olympics are about global engagement and celebration, not condoning violence and oppression? ICT members added.
In the face of crimes against humanity, everyone has an ethical responsibility to confront the atrocities or become culpable. Standing up for Tibetans has nothing to do with politics or sports. It has to do with basic human rights, they said.
It may be recalled that the Biden Administration has implemented a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics—a strong condemnation of the CCP—and the US House of Representatives passed legislation denouncing the Chinese government for its abuses against Uyghurs, Tibetans and others.
