Free Tibet Campaign condemns IOC for failing to prevent Olympic torch being paraded through Tibet

Free Tibet Campaign today condemned the announcement by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge that the IOC sees no reason to object to the Chinese government’s plans to parade the Olympic torch through Tibet (1).

Anne Holmes, acting director of Free Tibet Campaign said: “We have warned the IOC repeatedly (2). They will have no one but themselves to blame if there is blood on the Olympic symbols used by the Chinese government on this ill conceived leg of the torch relay.”

The situation inside Tibet remains critical as protests continue and thousands remain detained or missing as a result of the crackdown that has been sweeping across Tibet since March. Western journalists continue to be banned from reporting events, including intimidation of Tibetans and the harsh suppression of religious and other freedoms.

The Chinese authorities are carrying out house-to-house searches, detaining people without charge and forcing Tibetans to engage in displays of ‘patriotism’. Last week three nuns were arrested for calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and a 21-year-old female protester was fired on by security forces in eastern Tibet.

Holmes continued: “It beggars belief that the IOC - and torch relay sponsors like Coca Cola - are prepared to have the Olympics associated with the atrocities being committed in Tibet. It is too late for them to protect these Olympics, to pretend that everything is fine.

“These Olympics have already been branded the Games of Shame. The only way the IOC and sponsors can prevent themselves being permanently besmirched is to speak out against the crackdown and media blackout in Tibet.  

“To do anything else is to accept the appalling situation in Tibet.”

- ends -

For more information contact Anne Holmes on +44 (0)20 7324 4605 or +44 (0)7798 666 658.

Notes to editors:

(1)   On the day of the IOC executive meeting in Athens (the last executive meeting before the Beijing Olympics), IOC President Jacques Rogge defended China's plans to pass the torch relay through Tibet, saying: "The Chinese have expressed the wish to pass the torch in all their provinces and regions. Tibet is a part of China and a region of China so it is normal that they pass through Tibet."

(2)   Tibetans and their supporters worldwide have been pressuring the 15 individual members of the IOC Executive Board to withdraw authorisation for the Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) to carry the Olympic torch through Tibet. The torch is scheduled to arrive in Gyalthang in Yunnan province (former Tibetan area of Kham) on June 11^th. From June 18^th or 19^th it will be paraded until June 23^rd through Lhasa and cities in the Tibetan area of Amdo, now the Chinese province Qinghai.