On Thursday (June 10), the Senate of the Czech Republic passed a resolution to boycott the Winter Olympics scheduled to be held in Beijing in China next year.
As per reports, the Czech Senate has called upon the government to snub the Winter Olympic games due to human rights violations against Tibetans, Uyghurs, and others. “The government and other political representatives of the Czech Republic to reject the invitation to participate in the Olympic Games in the PRC, as their presence could be misused to legitimize further discrimination, violence, and suppression of fundamental rights,” the resolution said. The resolution was presented before the Senate by Chairman Pavel Fischer and approved by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Security.
It raised concerns about human rights violation, genocide, ethnic discrimination, suppression of cultural and religious identity, and crimes against humanity committed by the Communist Party of China (CPC). The resolution also pointed out the failed commitments of the 2008 Olympics. It also noted China’s failed commitments to the 2008 Olympics. The Senate has also urged the government to take up the issue with the UN bodies. Meanwhile, the Czech Olympic Committee has been asked to oversee that China complies with the principles of the Olympic Charter and not use the event for political propaganda.
Observations made by the Czech Republic Senators
In this regard, Senator Pavel Fischer remarked, “China continues to violate international human rights conventions, and reports of constant repression of the Uighurs or a hermetically sealed Tibet are just the tip of the iceberg. Care must be taken to ensure that China does not politically abuse the Olympics to legitimize further discrimination, violence, and the suppression of fundamental rights.”
During the debate on the resolution, Senator Přemysl Rabas emphasised that the Czech Republic is an ally of the newly elected President of the Central Tibetan Administration Sikyong Penpa Tsering. “I believe that a similar stand as the Czech Senate will be taken by other democratic institutions all over the world. As I recently assured the new Tibetan [President], Penpa Tsering, Tibetans will always have allies in the Czech Republic, and this Resolution is a demonstration of that commitment.”
In the 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang County in South Korea, Czech Republic had won 7 medals, that included 2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals.
Uyghur detention camps run by China
The Xinjiang autonomous region in China is facing the worst kind of cultural and ethnic genocide. There is a long history of dissonance between the indigenous ethnic Uyghur and Chinese authorities. The Chinese government refuses to categorize Uyghurs as an indigenous population and describe Uyghurs as a regional minority.
China is facing criticism and worldwide condemnation over its unkind and harsh treatment towards the Uyghur Muslims. A Uyghur-Kazakh citizen, Gulbahar Jelilova reported that she was ruthlessly beaten and raped while in custody. Stew Chao, a journalist working with Aljazeera reported that Abduveli Ayup-prominent Uighur writer, activist and Uyghur language defender was put in a detention centre and later brutally tortured.
There is also ample evidence that suggests China is systematically targeting Uyghur Muslims through a state-planned birth control process. Zumrat Dawut and Kalbinur Sidik who survived from Chinese detention camps narrated that Uyghur women who conceive more than three children are forcefully sterilized. Women survivors from these camps narrated that they were beaten, raped, and given mystery injections.
