Activists slam China, IOC
Dancers perform during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathinean stadium in Athens, Tuesday. The flame will be transported by torch relay to Beijing, China, which will host the February 4-20, 2022 Winter Olympics. [AP]
Human rights activists Tuesday called on governments, sponsors and athletes to boycott what they called China’s “genocide games.”
Speaking at a press conference in Athens before Tuesday’s handover of the Olympic flame for the 2022 Winter Olympics, groups accused the International Olympic Committee of legitimizing rights abuses by allowing the Winter Games to go ahead in Beijing.
“[The IOC is] handing over the Olympic torch to a host government that is so far removed from holding any of [the Olympic] ideals that it seems we’re living in a kind of warped reality,” the International Tibet Network’s executive director Mandie McKeown said.
