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China: Prove Tennis Player is Safe and Investigate Sexual Assault Allegations
Responding to increasing concerns for Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who has not been seen publicly since she made sexual violence allegations against a former senior Chinese politician two weeks ago, Amnesty International’s China Researcher Doriane Lau said: “The Chinese government has systematically silenced the country’s #MeToo movement. Given that it also has a zero-tolerance […]
Chinese Tennis Star’s Disappearance Is Warning for Olympics
Peng Shuai Hasn’t Been Seen in Public Since November 2 Three-time Olympian Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai is missing. The hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai is trending globally, and world tennis champions Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, and Novak Djokovic voiced fears about the 35-year-old star’s whereabouts. On November 2, Peng said on social media that she had been sexually assaulted, forced […]
FREE THE FIVE!
2022 BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS AND PARALYMPICS CAMPAIGN In February and March 2022, the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will take place in and around Beijing, China. It will be the second time in history that the Olympics occur in China. The first time was in 2008, when China hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. […]
China: Olympics Sponsors in Spotlight as Games Loom
Address Rights Risks, Press IOC to Adopt Rights Policy (New York) – The International Olympic Committee’s major corporate sponsors should explain publicly how they are using their leverage to address human rights abuses in China ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games, Human Rights Watch said today. Sponsors should also press the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to […]
China: A gold medal for repression
New ITUC research shows the actions of the Chinese Communist Party have made Beijing unsafe for athletes and others involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics, 4 – 20 February 2022. “China: A gold medal for repression” details five repressive policies of the ruling party that make China and the world less safe: repression and imprisonment in […]
China’s Olympic Press Freedom Pledges: Worthless in 2008, Absent in 2022
Prospects for free-wheeling media coverage of the February Beijing Winter Olympics seem increasingly dim, not least because of the attitude of the International Olympic Committee. On October 13, John Coates, vice president of the International Olympic Committee, dismissed out of hand calls from CPJ, human rights groups, and US lawmakers to pressure Beijing over its abysmal […]
Japan: Establish Safe Sport Center
Protect All Athletes as a Legacy of Tokyo Olympics, Paralympics (Tokyo) – The Japan Sports Agency and Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games should establish an independent national body to address the abuse of athletes in Japan, six Japanese and international nongovernmental organizations said today. Japan Safe Sport Joint Letter October 12, 2021 […]
US Paralympian Compelled to Withdraw from Tokyo Games
Sports Federations Need to Ensure Reasonable Accommodation for All Athletes The Tokyo Paralympic Games begin this week with thousands of Paralympic athletes from around the world competing in 539 events in 22 sports. Sadly, one athlete who had earned a place on the United States team won’t be there. Rebecca Meyers, 26, a Paralympic World Record holder who competed […]
Higher, Faster — Harsher: The Olympics Head to Beijing
The Chinese Government’s Human Rights Record is Abysmal As the Summer Olympics in Tokyo wrap up, eyes are turning to the February 2022 winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing, China – a country in the midst of its worst human rights crackdown sincethe Tiananmen Massacre in 1989. The Chinese government is persecuting millions of Uyghurs […]
Belarus Athlete’s Plight Spotlights Olympic Failure
International Olympic Committee Should Adopt Human Rights Policy On Sunday, Belarusian track and field athlete Krystsina Timanovskaya refused to let government authorities forcibly return her to Belarus from the Olympics, seeking instead protection at Tokyo’s international airport. She has since reportedly been offered asylum in Poland. Timanovskaya, a 200-meter sprinter, said she feared for her safety […]
Belarus: Once a Showcase of the Country’s Success, Sport is Now a Battleground for Reprisals
Once national heroes, many Belarusian athletes have sacrificed their careers and their freedom by daring to speak out against human rights violations in their country, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing, part of the organization’s #StandWithBelarus campaign. Earlier today Belarusian Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya asked for asylum at the Polish embassy in Tokyo after the Belarusian authorities tried to forcibly return her to […]
Japan: Olympics Should Benefit Human Rights
Address Abuse of Child Athletes, LGBT Discrimination, Gender Gap (Tokyo) – Japan should address serious rights issues in the country as host of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Human Rights Watch said today in a new reporters’ guide. The Tokyo 2020 Summer Games, which start on July 23, 2021, are advertised as celebrating “unity in diversity” and […]