With the organization of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in February and March, the Chinese government wants to highlight China’s superpower status and deflect attention from its government’s abysmal human rights performance. As the Olympics are approaching, take action and demand that the Chinese authorities fully respect human rights and sincerely commit to the international human rights system. China should not be allowed to use the Olympics to ‘sportswash’ its human rights record.
We call on the Chinese authorities to drop all charges against and immediately release all those who are prosecuted or detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression, starting with the following five individuals: Zhang Zhan, Ilham Tohti, Li Qiaochu, Gao Zhisheng and Rinchen Tsultrim.
These five individuals all belong to communities that have been particularly harshly targeted in the Chinese government’s continuing assault on freedom of expression, such as citizen journalists, academics, human rights defenders, ethnic minorities and human rights lawyers. They have demonstrated Olympic-level courage simply by peacefully expressing themselves and refusing to give in to repression. Their immediate release is important as a first and public step for the Chinese government to adequately show its sincere engagement regarding better protection of the human rights of all people in China, in line with international human rights standards and the Olympic Charter.
Call on President Xi Jinping to Free the Five
Dear President Xi,
As your country hosts the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, I would like to take this unprecedented opportunity to call on your government to show full respect for human rights and sincerely commit to the international human rights system.
I particularly wish to urge your government to adequately protect the human right to freedom of expression. This right takes up particular importance in the context of the Olympic Games, which is a sports event that embraces international exchange and mutual understanding.
The right to freedom of expression is asserted in Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to international human rights law and standards, no one should be imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
I, therefore, call on your government to drop all charges against and release all those who are prosecuted or detained for solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression, starting with the following individuals: Zhang Zhan, Ilham Tohti, Li Qiaochu, Gao Zhisheng and Rinchen Tsultrim.