Local Matters: Olympics and Human Rights

This week on Local Matters, we focus on the Olympic Games in Beijing. Our guest for today was Olivier Pirot, General Director of Amnesty International Luxembourg who is more than concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

In January, the organisers of the Olympic Wintergames in Beijing warned athletes not to violate the “Olympic spirit” or Chinese rules, after human rights advocates expressed concerns about the safety of the athletes. “Any behaviour or speeches that is against the Olympic spirit, especially against Chinese laws and regulations, are subject to certain punishment,” said Yang Shu, deputy director general of Beijing 2022’s International Relations Department, during a press conference in January.

While athlete teams from all over the world compete in the Games, other countries decided to boycott the Olympics sending a clear message: We don’t support nor tolerate the human rights violations in China. Luxembourg is not part of this movement and neither the human rights NGO Amnesty International Luxembourg voiced a call for boycott. General Director Olivier Pirot explains: “A boycott is not enough. If you are there as a partner, it is an opportunity. You should use this opportunity to remind China of its obligations. China is member of the United Nations. So, they have to respect the human rights declaration.”

Olivier Pirot is concerned about the lack of the freedom of expression in the country, and not least about the high number of executions due to the death penalty. “Every year, we launch a report on death penalty. China is not even mentioned in the report with figures because we’re talking about thousands of executions in China. We don’t even know how many.” But Pirot is hopeful: “If you look decades back, there were a lot of countries where death penalty was still ongoing and with this slow pressure, things are changing. Every year, we see improvements. It is long processes.”

Local Matters: Luxembourg at the Olympics

Two Luxembourgish skiers are at the Olympic Games in Beijing right now. We got Matthieu Osch and Gwyneth ten Raa on the phone. In our interview, they told us about the atmosphere in the Olympic village, about heavy snowfalls and their athletic ambitions.

All that Gwyneth ten Raa aimed for at the Olympics, was to ride over the finishing line, wave at her family in the cameras, happy and relieved. But unfortunately, she didn’t make it that far in her first and only Olympic race ever. The 16-year-old skier dropped out of the competition last week. Nevertheless, she enjoys the experience. “It’s amazing to be here. I’ve never been out of Europe. Being at the Olympics in China is very impressive”, she says. These days, she watches sports and inspiring athletes. She supports her team member Matthieu Osch in his training.

For him, the race if not over yet. Last weekend, he participated in the giant slalom that converted into a snow chaos. “The last two weeks that we had been here, we had always nice weather, blue sky, it was sunny; but on Sunday, we had a different situation. We had a lot of snowfall, heavy wind and the sight was not good, so, it was kind of tricky. But I think in the end, it was a fair race.”” Matthieu Osch reached the finishing line 17 seconds after the winner of the race, the Swiss skier Marco Odermatt, at 28th position. “I am pretty satisfied, I made some mistakes I could have avoided. But in the end, I can take this with me for the next race.” Now he is preparing his next and last race for this year, the slalom that takes place tomorrow. Hopefully with better weather conditions.

Photo: IOC/Greg Martin