The Only Winner Of The 2022 Beijing Olympics Will Be The Chinese Government

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(OPINION) The 2022 Beijing Games are surrounded by many controversies, and the artificial snow is the least of the concerns. The Chinese government stands accused of perpetrating genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. According to growing evidence, the Uyghur people are being held in concentration camps, forcibly sterilized and subjected to forced labor, torture, rape and sexual violence, among many other examples of abuse.

The publicly available information indicates that the Chinese authorities have caused serious mental and bodily harm to members of the Uyghur community through “the forced sterilization of Uyghur women; the forced placement of IUDs; the detention of members of the Uyghur community; the physical abuse of detainees; the forced separation of Uyghur families, including children, whether by transfer or detention; and the forced labor extracted from Uyghurs held in detention as well as those recently released or otherwise not detained.” Further, reports indicate the use of rape and sexual violence as yet another way of causing serious or bodily harm upon the members of the community.

A few governments and parliaments have made formal determinations that the atrocities constitute genocide, including the U.S. State Department and the parliaments of the U.K., France, Lithuania, Belgium, Canada and the Czech Republic. Several more have raised the issue of severe human rights violations in Xinjiang, China, without calling them by their names. Fifty U.N. experts have done so too. 

However, these allegations and the growing evidence did not impress the International Olympic Committee, and the Beijing Olympics are proceeding as planed.

While the atrocities continue to this day, a new concern has arisen: What will happen if any of the athletes raise the human rights situation and criticize the Chinese government? Because of the high risk of repercussions, human rights organizations have been urging athletes at the Beijing Olympics to avoid criticizing China, as they could face prosecution as a result. 

The Olympic Charter prohibits political protests, stating, “During the entire period of the Olympic Games, including all ceremonies, no speeches of any kind may be held by any representative of any government or other public authority, nor by any other politician, in any venue placed under the responsibility of the (organizing committee).”

The Olympic Charter further states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” However, these are not the most concerning provisions, despite limiting freedom of speech. The attendees are required to follow “applicable public law or regulations.”

While in a democratic country, this would not be a problem, following applicable Chinese public laws or regulations may prove to be a severe limit to freedom of speech, among others, or may result in investigations or prosecutions. It is questionable why the committee would allow the Olympics to happen in a country where athletes may face investigations and prosecutions for anything they may say in an interview or elsewhere.

Furthermore, allowing the Olympics to take place in a country standing accused of genocidal atrocities may also be the end of the International Olympic Committee as we know it. This failure in judgment suggests that the IOC, in its current form, is not fit for its purpose. The IOC cannot continue to ignore its human rights obligations.

While it failed to adopt the “Recommendations for an IOC Human Rights Strategy,” as produced by independent experts — including the former high vommissioner for human rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad — it does not mean that the IOC is not bound by international human rights standards. The report clearly raised the issues surrounding the Beijing Olympics, stating that in the authors’ view, “the human rights impacts that could be connected to the Games are severe — as our consultations with expert civil society stakeholders also confirmed.” Despite these concerns, the IOC has not done anything to address them.

Proceeding with the Beijing Olympics despite the allegations of atrocity crimes in the country goes against all rules and values of the IOC. The Olympic Charter, in Fundamental Principle 2, states, “The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.” Turning a blind eye to the allegations of genocide in Xinjiang goes against this very fundamental principle of the IOC.

Furthermore, Article 1.4 of the IOC Code of Ethics recognizes that the foundation of Olympism includes “respect for international conventions on protecting human rights insofar as they apply to the Olympic Games’ activities and which ensure in particular: respect for human dignity; rejection of discrimination of any kind on whatever grounds, be it race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status; rejection of all forms of harassment and abuse, be it physical, professional or sexual, and any physical or mental injuries.”

These rules cannot be divorced from the situation in the country where the Olympic Games are taking place.

The IOC has many questions to answer. Having allowed the Olympics to proceed in Beijing, despite the serious allegations of genocidal atrocities and mounting evidence, the IOC will never be able to credibly criticize other states wishing to host the Olympics or make any demands to improve the human rights situation there.

The 2022 Winter Olympics will be a show that many will watch. However, there is only one winner of the Olympics, and it is the Chinese government. The show that is the Winter Olympics is the very manifestation of how they can get away with genocide and profit from it.

Ewelina U. Ochab is a legal researcher and human rights advocate, doctoral candidate and author of the book “Never Again: Legal Responses to a Broken Promise in the Middle East” and more than 30 U.N. reports. She works on the topic of persecution of minorities around the world. This piece was re-published from Forbes with permission.