(New York, July 4, 2008) -President George W. Bush's decision to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games at a time of worsening human rights violations in China sends the wrong message to the Chinese government, Human Rights Watch said today. The White House confirmed yesterday that President Bush will attend the opening ceremony of the Games on August 8 in Beijing.
While Human Rights Watch does not back a boycott of the Beijing Games, the attendance by foreign leaders of the opening ceremony is a needless stamp of approval for Chinese government policies.
"President Bush's attendance at the opening ceremony betrays those who believed the Chinese government's pledge to improve human rights ahead of the Beijing Games," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "This decision undermines the administration's claim to make human rights concerns in China a priority."
In an open letter to heads of state and government leaders on April 9, 2008, Human Rights Watch urged them to defer accepting invitations to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing until the Chinese government made key human rights improvements. The Chinese government has failed to meet any of the three key conditions spelled out in the letter:
- Permitting an independent international investigation into the protests and crackdown in Tibetan areas in March;
- Fulfilling media freedom pledges made while bidding for the Olympics;
- Ceasing the silencing of peaceful government critics and protestors through house arrest or politically motivated prosecutions.
To read Human Rights Watch's April 9 letter to heads of state and government leaders, please visit:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/09/china18484.htm
Further information on human rights issues related to the Beijing Olympics:
