The Prague Post Online: Opinion: Censored!

November 23rd, 2008

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Censored!

China's human rights situation is far from OK, and the Olympics impede action near and far

August 6th, 2008 issue

By Dáša Van Der Horst

Early this year, it was cold with heavy smog and I was feeling depressed after having learned that my one-year contract in Beijing with the Czech Cultural Centers would not be extended. The very same day, a friend of mine showed me a magazine with an advert reading “Amnesty International Czech Republic is looking for a director.” “Isn’t it something for you?” she asked. I did not have to think long before submitting an application, and it was then that my personal battle with censorship in China began, something native Chinese confront daily.

Quite aware that Web sites from the Western press could not be opened in China, I wished to learn more about the Czech section of Amnesty International (AI) — the main site of which was also blocked. So how to break the great Chinese firewall?

A temporary solution came from my husband in Holland; he opened the pages and read them aloud to me via Skype (for added conspiracy, we switched between speaking Czech and Dutch). I asked for the most interesting pages; he downloaded, zipped and sent them. Seeing as it was neither healthy nor practical for a husband on the other side of the world to be treated as a secretary, I sought a more elegant way: through a friend at a foreign embassy and their secured network.

The whole story had a nice happy ending, as a few weeks later I got the job. For the Chinese people, however, things are not so fortunate. Not only are Web sites censored, but Chinese are also harassed, jailed and held in custody for attempts to circumvent restrictions or exercise other forms of freedom of expression. We at AI sought to bring such things to the attention of departing Czech Olympians recently — an idea initially endorsed by the Czech Olympic Committee (ČOV). Our attempts met with restrictions of their own.

ČOV Chairman Milan Jirásek initially proposed that we distribute information as Czech Olympians collected their uniforms, a proposal we gladly accepted. Our leaflet — “We cheer freedom and human rights in China” — briefly described 10 reasons China should have a bad conscience regarding human rights. Only later did it become clear that distributing materials in the eyes of ČOV meant a “dignified” table without any volunteers, and materials “preferably without any catchwords.” In this way, a table sidelined somewhere in the large O2 Arena without anybody from AI to explain the situation in China to interested athletes did not serve our goals, nor was it an effective way to educate people about human rights conditions in China. It furthermore could have served as an alibi for the ČOV in front of the media with the message, “We actively promote awareness of the human rights situation in China!” I find this a shame and a missed opportunity for the ČOV. It is through actions or inaction like this that the ČOV tacitly endorses or looks the other way on the Chinese human rights situation.

For a prime example of conditions in China, one need not look further than the case of Hu Jia, a human rights activist sentenced to three and a half years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” Hu began as an AIDS activist in 2001. He is the co-founder of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute of Health Education and of Loving Source, a grassroots organization dedicated to helping children from AIDS families. Due to his activities and outspokenness, Hu Jia was repeatedly harassed and beaten by police, spending long periods under house arrest. Later, Hu broadened his focus and began reporting on wider human rights violations and giving interviews to foreign media. In November 2007, he participated, via webcam, in a European Union parliamentary hearing in Brussels speaking on how China had failed to fulfill its promises to improve human rights in the run-up to the Olympics. His own blog became evidence of “subversive thinking.”

After his arrest in December 2007, Hu was denied access to a lawyer, members of his family and medical treatment — including necessary daily medication for liver disease. His wife was held under house arrest with their newborn baby. Hu is an example to other activists in China, part of a government campaign of fear targeting those who might dare to voice human rights concerns publicly. Unfortunately, his case is not unique. General human rights violations in China abound, including the death penalty (there are more executions annually in China than in the rest of the world combined), sentencing without trial for up to four years of “re-education,” torture, the denial of minority rights and much more.

Clearly, the primary responsibility lies with the Chinese authorities themselves. But, since the very same authorities made the pledge to improve the human rights situation when bidding to host the Olympics, world leaders and members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) cannot look the other way on human rights violations perpetrated in preparation for the games. The IOC has had considerable influence with Chinese authorities in the run-up to the Olympics, and it is in the interests of both China and the IOC that the games are not tarnished by ongoing reports of serious human rights abuses, especially those linked specifically to the hosting of the Olympics.

Shortly after awarding the games to Beijing in 2001, Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC publicly voiced the expectation that hosting the Olympics would improve China’s human rights record, adding that the IOC would act if human rights conditions were not improved to its satisfaction. Since then, the IOC has continued to maintain the public line that China is making progress on human rights. Unfortunately, all the reports of AI, including the most recent one from July 29, point to the complete opposite. The human rights situation in China has worsened in key areas related to the core values of the Olympics in the period preceding the games. In preparation for the event, Chinese authorities have locked up, put under house arrest and forcibly removed individuals they perceive to threaten the image of “stability” and “harmony” that they want to present to the world.

I am very disappointed by the collusion of both the IOC and ČOV. Both accuse various human rights organizations of politicizing the games. Human rights are not “political” but universal fundamental principles that unite all people around the world and promote human dignity. AI worldwide has made very clear that it does not oppose the games as such: We support the athletes in their efforts, but we cannot turn a blind eye to unfulfilled promises. Such human rights issues are not only compatible with but help to promote the goals laid out in the Olympic charter.

The IOC purports to use quiet diplomacy toward the Chinese authorities. Having been a diplomat and a Sinologist myself for quite some time, I do not doubt this. Yet the IOC diplomacy by definition was too quiet as it did not bring any concrete results. In recent weeks, we have witnessed a dance: One can access the BBC site, but only in English and not Chinese; one day you hear that human rights Web sites cannot be accessed even in the Olympic Village or the international press center; a day later it is possible but only in these two venues. The reality is that there are around 30,000 cyber policemen specially trained to catch Internet “criminals.” For now, some Chinese Web sites — especially those dealing with AIDS — are shut down. Chinese journalists are jailed or put under house arrest.

There is still pervasive censorship in China. The little that has changed for the sake of foreign guests will undoubtedly fall back into the previous patterns once the games are over. My battle with Chinese censorship continues. Where silent diplomacy on human rights fails, strong public pressure can have an effect. In this regard, I say to the IOC and CNOC: Censored!

— The author has been the director of Amnesty International Czech Republic since April.

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