Reunited in Amsterdam, Jonge Democraten (JD) of Netherlands and
Movimento Liberal Social (MLS) of Portugal deeply deplore the IOC’s role in
what promises the world to be the Olympics of the Broken Promises.
At the eve of the
2008 Summer Olympics, JD and MLS met in Amsterdam’s
own Chinatown, the Nieuwmarkt neighbourhood,
to assess the current Olympic spirit with the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) and the Chinese authorities.
The Olympic Games
were awarded to Beijing
in 2001 by the IOC on the condition that the Chinese authorities would improve
their human rights record and warrant media freedom, including unfettered
internet access. Even though the Chinese Constitution was amended in March 2004
to include the phrase “the State respects and protects human rights”, recent
events have proven otherwise.
It has been with
great disbelief and sympathy for the Chinese people that JD and MLS have been
following the statements by Amnesty International, who report to have seen
crackdowns on domestic human rights activists, media censorship and increased
use of re-education through labour as a means to clean up Beijing and surrounding areas.
As journalists
started arriving in Beijing
to cover the Olympics, they found some sites, including news websites and those
of human rights groups, were blocked at Olympic media centres.
Miguel Duarte, MLS president
stated “Shortly after awarding the Games to Beijing in 2001, Jacques Rogge, President of the
IOC, publicly stated that the IOC would act if human rights were not acted upon
to their satisfaction. However, the IOC has neglected to follow up on its statements
in the run-up to the Games. It looks like both the Chinese regime and the IOC
have broken their promises”
Instead of keeping
its promises, the IOC entered into dubious negotiations behind closed doors
with the Chinese authorities and seemed content with the result as a number of
websites that were unobtainable earlier in the week, including Amnesty
International's website, became available to journalists. In the meantime,
restrictions remain. For instance, the website of the Falun Gong, a spiritual
movement banned in China,
is still blocked.
Floris Kreiken, JD
president, added: “It is clearly inexcusable for the IOC to show such
clandestine behaviour. Freedom of information and expression are fundamental
freedoms that are vital for all humans and therefore no topics for horse
trading. We call upon the Dutch national parliament to question prime-minister
Balkenende on the role of crown prince Willem-Alexander, Dutch IOC member, in
the process.
--//--
The Young Democrats
(Dutch: Jonge Democraten; JD) is the social-liberal youth organisation of the Netherlands,
founded in 1984 and counts with over 1850 members. Although independent, the
Young Democrats are affiliated with the Dutch social-liberal party D66.
--//--
The Liberal Social
Movement (or MLS for short) was founded in 2005 and has as objective to promote
social liberalism in Portugal.
The movement is a platform of individuals who believe that the old left/right
dogma make little sense today, and that it is possible to have a different and
constructive type of politics in Portugal.