July 31, 2008
Executive Summary
Seven years ago, on 13 July 2001, the Chinese government was triumphant when Beijing won the award of hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. The international kudos of hosting an Olympic Games is immense, as are the potential profits.
But the selection of Beijing was controversial, especially in light of China’s human rights record both within China itself, and in Tibet, which China has occupied since 1950. Upon being awarded the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese government swiftly made a number of promises regarding the promotion of human rights across China for the seven years leading up to the Beijing Olympics, as well as promising freedom of movement and access for the thousands of journalists who would be in China covering the Olympics in Beijing before and during August 2008.
The head of the 2001 Beijing Olympic Games bidding committee, Wang Wei, promised that being awarded the 2008 Games would “enhance all social conditions, including education, health and human rights” in China.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) claimed that awarding Beijing the Olympics would lead to improvements in human rights across China. “Some people say, because of serious human rights issues, ‘We close the door and say no [to China],’” said Francois Carrard, IOC Executive Director, on 13 July 2001. “The other way is to bet on openness … we are taking the bet that seven years from now we will see many changes [in China],” he added.
Seven years later, in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, this Tibet Watch report examines the reality of China’s Olympic promises. Focusing exclusively on human rights in Tibet, this report reveals how, contrary to improving its human rights record, China has systematically continued to violate cultural, religious, educational, and political rights in Tibet since it was awarded the Games in 2001. Today, following the uprising in March April 2008, thousands of Tibetans remain imprisoned in Chinese administered detention, religious restrictions have intensified, and peaceful protests have been brutally crushed. Tibetans are living in a culture of fear in their own country, whilst being deprived of education and development opportunities by the Chinese regime.
By analysing up-to-date statistics and Chinese laws, policies and official statements, as well as corroborated eye-witness accounts from inside Tibet, this report details the nature and intensity of human rights abuses in Tibet over the last seven years. These abuses culminated in a mass violent crackdown in March 2008, when protests against the Chinese occupation erupted in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. This report examines the March 2008 protests, including the international protests that followed on from the protests across Tibet.
These international protests blighted the controversial 21-country tour of the Beijing Olympic torch, which relayed through the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on 21 June 2008.
Broken promises documents the extent of China’s broken Olympic promises as regards the people of Tibet, the IOC and the international community. Whilst the people of Tibet continue to live in a culture of fear under Chinese military occupation, the Chinese government has treated the IOC, and its Olympic Charter, with contempt. Having promised to introduce, and promote, human rights and freedom of the international press to report from China before and after the 2008 Beijing Games, the Chinese government has instead continued to censor and intimidate foreign journalists. In addition, the Chinese government’s systematic abuses of Tibet and its people continue to violate the Chinese Constitution and international human rights law, as well as the spirit of the Olympic Games.
