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IOC asked to monitor Olympic hosts' human rights

October 05, 2009, 04:35 AM Post Comments
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Lobbying group Human Rights Watch is asking the IOC to create a permanent mechanism to monitor human rights in countries that host the Olympics _ both before, during and after the games.

The New York-based group has been intensely critical of the rights abuses that occurred in China in the run-up, during and in the wake of last year's Beijing Olympics.

They included the imprisonment and harassment of dissidents, censorship and Internet restrictions, forced evictions to make space for Olympic venues and the crushing of protests in Tibet.

The group is now warning of potential abuses in Russia as the country readies for the winter games in Sochi in 2014.

"Everyone in this room should know that there have already been death threats against journalists who are reporting on Sochi preparations," Minky Worden, media director for Human Rights Watch, said during a debate Sunday at the International Olympic Committee's Congress in Copenhagen.

"Host countries which violate human rights contravene the spirit and the letter of the Olympic Charter," she said. "We hope that the IOC and members of the Olympic movement could work with members of the human rights community as we seek to turn (IOC president) Jacques Rogge's vision of the games as a force for good into reality."

The group wants the IOC to prevent abuses by forming a permanent committee or similar body to monitor human rights in Olympic host nations.

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COE CALLS FOR YOUTH MOVEMENT: Sebastian Coe wants the IOC to bring young people closer the Olympic Movement by creating a commission dedicated to them.

Four years after leading London's bid team to win the 2012 Summer Games hosting vote in Singapore, Coe made his fresh appeal to IOC members during their Congress.

"If the 20th century was about bringing sport to the world then the 21st century must be about reconnecting young people of the world to sport," the two-time Olympic 1,500 meters champion said.

Youth issues are a central theme of the three-day Congress _ the first such gathering for 15 years.

IOC members believe sport has an important role in teaching values and tackling obesity in young people.

Coe's mission was backed by 89-year-old Juan Antonio Samaranch, the IOC's honorary lifetime president. Samaranch became IOC president in 1980, the year a 23-year-old Coe won the first of his gold medals at the Moscow Games.

It was the second new commission proposed at the weekend.

IOC President Jacques Rogge's Congress-opening speech Saturday called for a Trainers Commission to look more closely at entourages working with athletes in all sports.

The IOC already has upward of 20 commissions _ including Finance, Medical and the Olympic Philately, Numismatic and Memorabilia Commission.

Coe has a busy week scheduled in Copenhagen.

As chairman of the London 2012 organizing committee, he will update on preparations for the games when the three-day IOC Session opens Wednesday.

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BUBKA BACKS ISINBAYEVA: IOC member Sergei Bubka thinks Yelena Isinbayeva can beat his record of world records.

Bubka broke the men's pole vault world record 35 times, outdoor and indoor, in a career that included six world titles and one Olympic gold medal.

Isinbayeva has broken the women's world outdoor and indoor marks 27 times and says that eclipsing Bubka's total is her career goal.

Bubka thinks she can do it.

"No problem, if she wants I think she is able to do this, she can break it," said Bubka, speaking at a congress of the International Olympic Committee, of which he is a member.

Bubka's world record is 6.14 meters, set in July 1994 in Sestriere, Italy.

Isinbayeva's record is 5.06 meters, set in Zurich in August.

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LOBBY EARLY, LOBBY OFTEN: Goodbye host cities, welcome bid sports.

No sooner was one Olympic vote completed Friday _ awarding the 2016 Summer Games to Rio de Janeiro _ than lobbying began in Copenhagen's Bella Center for another poll next Friday.

Golf and rugby sevens are seeking approval from IOC members to join the party in Rio as the 27th and 28th sports on the program.

Their bid teams are operating on the sidelines of the IOC Congress, because ethics rules prevent the bid teams from holding official media activities at the convention center or the IOC's designated hotel downtown.

Golf's case is being pressed in the flesh by Ty Votaw, the International Golf Federation's executive director, and Peter Dawson, chief executive of Royal and Ancient club at St. Andrews.

Rugby sevens' team is led by the International Rugby Board's president Bernard Lapasset and secretary general Mike Miller.

Each sport will be put to a separate vote Friday with a simple majority required for approval.

In another election scheduled Friday, former Belgium rugby international Jacques Rogge will stand unopposed for a four-year term to continue as IOC President, and complete a mandate begun in 2001.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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