#Beijing’s Olympics are not business as usual. They take place against a backdrop of Chinese government crimes against humanity targeting ethnic Uyghurs, repression in Hong Kong and Tibet, and risks to athletes unprecedented in the modern Olympic era.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists @pressfreedom, China remains the worst jailer of journalists in the world for the third straight year.
Athletes participating in the #Beijing2022 games will be surveilled, and their rights to free speech and protest severely curtailed.
Yang Shu, deputy director general of the #Beijing2022 Organizing Committee, warned all athletes against speaking out: “Any behavior or speech that is against the Olympic spirit – especially against the Chinese laws and regulations – are also subject to certain punishment.”
It's the kind of threat against athletes that should send a chill down the spine of the International Olympic Committee (@IOCmedia)...
The Chinese government’s threat is real, coming soon after one of China’s best-known athletes & Olympians, Peng Shuai, was silenced after making a sexual assault complaint against a former top Chinese government and Olympics official on social media. hrw.org/news/2021/11/1…
That the IOC has done nothing but help #China use the games to sportswash the country's appalling human rights record may not be very surprising, but the IOC's complete disregard for Olympic athletes' rights is still shocking.
The IOC says that the Olympics “celebrate humanity.” But even before the athletes arrive, it's clear #Beijing is intent on celebrating inhumanity by denying them their basic rights - and the IOC is going along with it. hrw.org/news/2022/01/2…
What's happening in #China is appalling, and no stadium, no #Olympics games and no PR support from the IOC changes that.
We must not let the world forget the brutality of this regime.
The IOC (@iocmedia) says it’s committed to human rights. Yet it ignores serious violations by #China's authorities, including #CrimesAgainstHumanity...
✅ Condemned 7/10 killings by Palestinian armed groups;
✅ Questioned legality of some Israeli airstrikes;
✅ Condemned Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians & called for targeted sanctions on those responsible;
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Belgium has also:
✅ Expressed support for the International Criminal Court’s role and its ongoing investigation on the situation in Palestine, which includes jurisdiction over the current hostilities between the Israeli government and Palestinian armed groups.
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In addition, the Belgian federal parliament has introduced a bill to ban trade with settlements in occupied territories.
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Convincing people that they have fundamental rights takes no effort at all.
Convincing them that others have fundamental rights is the hard part.
I want to write about these things in ways that might encourage new people to warm to the idea of universal human rights.
I don’t feel you can do that by using language and tropes that immediately spark “culture war” reactions - those cliché phrases that close minds instantly.
That’s been the purpose of my newsletter over the past year: to find language that brings people closer to understanding the fundamental rights that bind us together.
Dans l'après-midi du 2 octobre 2018, l'éminent journaliste #saoudien et chroniqueur du Washington Post Jamal Khashoggi s'est rendu au consulat saoudien d'Istanbul pour obtenir les documents nécessaires pour son mariage. C'est la dernière fois que sa fiancée l'a vu.
Des agents saoudiens l’ont assassiné à l'intérieur du consulat et ont découpé son corps en morceaux.
Il ne s'agissait pas simplement d'une opération véreuse. En 2019, une enquête de l'ONU a mis en évidence "une coordination, des ressources et des finances gouvernementales importantes" derrière l'assassinat.