Olympics

“We have to empower each other”: Consultation with Survivors of Abuse in Sport
Consultation with Survivors of Abuse in Sport Outlines Need for Global Network (Nyon, Switzerland, 16 May, 2023) — Focus group research and trauma-informed interviews with over 25 athlete survivors and representatives of survivor-led organizations have revealed a widespread need for an international network to connect survivors, share experiences, facilitate learning and empower greater advocacy, the […]

France: Intrusive Olympics Surveillance Technologies Could Usher in a Dystopian Future
French lawmakers must reject any plans to use video surveillance powered by artificial intelligence (AI) at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Such draconian technologies of mass surveillance violate the rights to privacy and can lead to violations of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. This could result into dystopian levels of surveillance in […]

Ban Taliban from the Olympic Movement
Forcing Afghan Women, Girls Out of Sport Violates IOC Charter (New York) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should suspend Taliban-run Afghanistan from participating in international sport until women and girls can once again play sport in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. The IOC should make this decision at its next executive board meeting, which […]

Olympics: IOC Heeds Calls to Embed Rights
Now Must Engage Stakeholders and Add Human Rights to Olympic Charter (Nyon, Switzerland, June 7, 2022) — The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) progress update released on May 20, 2022 is an important step towards adopting a desperately needed human rights strategic framework, the Sport & Rights Alliance said today. The move follows decades of calls […]

Beijing turned female Olympians into objects of nationalism, while Chinese women suffer
There was something deeply discomfiting about the 2022 Beijing Olympics – and it wasn’t just that the festivities covered up severe human rights abuses, including crimes against humanity targeting Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the erasure of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong. As I watched how female athletes have been perceived and how their narratives have […]

China: Olympian’s Gold Medal Gesture Sets Example to Governments Everywhere
Olympic champion Nils van der Poel has set an example to world leaders by giving away his Beijing 2022 gold medal in protest at human rights violations in China. The Swedish athlete handed the men’s 10,000m speed skating medal he won at this month’s Games to Angela Gui, whose father Gui Minhai is a bookseller […]