JOINT OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNMENTS: URGENTLY COMMIT TO A GOVERNMENT BOYCOTT OF THE 2022 WINTER OLYMPICS IN BEIJING
Dear World Leaders
We, a coalition of over 180 global campaign groups, jointly call on governments to commit to a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games to ensure they are not used to embolden the Chinese government's appalling rights abuses and crackdowns on dissent.
At the end of July 2015, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected Beijing as the host city for the 2022 Winter Games. Since then—and despite claims by the IOC and Beijing Olympic Committee that the Games will serve as a catalyst for progress—President Xi Jinping has unleashed an unrelenting crackdown on basic freedom and human rights.
The situation in occupied Tibet has dramatically deteriorated and has been transformed into a surveillance state with over 1,000 political prisoners facing torture and even death; in East Turkistan (Ch: Xinjiang) between 1.8 and three million Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples are arbitrarily detained in “re-education camps,” enduring inhuman treatment and political indoctrination; in Hong Kong, the city’s vibrant community of human rights activists and outspoken youths have been rounded up by the thousands for simply advocating for democracy; in Southern Mongolia, children are being deprived of their right to speak their mother tongue, as the Chinese government has intensified its crackdown on cultural differences. China’s reach extends to extreme intimidation and geopolitical bullying of Taiwan and aggression and expansion across borders in the South China Sea and India-Tibet border, which present a clear threat to regional and global security.
For two decades, our coalition, members of frontline communities, and numerous human rights groups have repeatedly sought to inform the IOC about these conditions, explain the dangers of awarding China the Olympic Games, and caution against accepting any human rights assurances from one of the world’s worst human rights violators.
The IOC refused to listen in 2008, defending its decision with claims that they would prove to be a catalyst for improved human rights. As human rights experts predicted, this decision proved to be hugely misplaced; not only did China’s human rights record not improve but violations increased substantially without rebuke.
Now, in 2021, we find ourselves back in the same position with the IOC who are refusing to act despite the clear evidence of genocide and widespread and worsening human rights failures. It now falls on governments to take a stand and demonstrate that they have the political will to push back against China’s reprehensible human rights abuses.
We therefore call on governments to boycott the Beijing 2022 Games - anything less will be seen as an endorsement of the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian rule and blatant disregard for civil and human rights.
Yours sincerely,
Mandie McKeown - Executive Director, International Tibet Network - on behalf
Dolkun Isa, World Uyghur Congress
Rushan Abbas, Campaign for Uyghurs
Omer Kanat, Uyghur Human Rights Project
Teng Biao, China Against the Death Penalty
周锋锁 Zhou Fengsuo, Humanitarian China
Zoe Bedford, Australia Tibet Council
Enghebatu Togochog, Southern Mongolian Human Rights Center
Dorjee Tseten, Students for a Free Tibet
Frances Hui, WeTheHongKongers
Jenny Wang, Keep Taiwan Free
Mattias Bjornerstedt, Swedish Tibet Committee
John Jones, Free Tibet
Bhuchung Tsering, International Campaign for Tibet
Tashi Shitsetsang, Tibetan Youth Association Europe
Gonpo Dhondup, Tibetan Youth Congress
and the following organisations in alphabetic order:
Adelaide Hongkongers
Aide aux Refugies Tibetains
Amigos de Tibet, Colombia
Amigos del Tíbet, Chile
Amigos del Tibet, El Salvador
Anterrashtriya Bharat – Tibbet Sahyog Samiti
Asociación Cultural Peruano Tibetana
Asociación Cultural Tibetano Costarricense
Association Cognizance Tibet, North Carolina
Association Drôme Ardèche-Tibet
Associazione Italia-Tibet
Atlanta Tibetan Association
Australia China Watch
Australian Uighur community
Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association
AUTWA
Bath District Tibet Support Group
Bay Area Friends of Tibet
Bharrat Tibbat Sahyog Manch, India
Boston Tibet Network
Boston Uyghur Association
Briancon05 Urgence Tibet
Canada Tibet Committee
Casa del Tibet – Spain
Casa Tibet México
Centro De Cultura Tibetana, Brazil
China Aid Association
China Alarm
China Democracy Party
China Labour Solidarity
Circle of Friends Philippines
Citizen Power Initiatives for China
Comite de Apoyo al Tibet
Committee of 100 for Tibet
Comunità Tibetana in Italia
Core Group for Tibetan Cause, India
Czechs Support Tibet
Daily HongKong
Defend Democracy
Dream for Children, Japan
Dutch Uyghur Human Rights foundation
EcoTibet Ireland
Étudiants Pour Un Tibet Libre
Foundation for Universal Responsibility of H. H. the Dalai Lama
France-Tibet
Free Dogu Turkistan
Free Indo-Pacific Alliance
Free Tibet Fukuoka
FREE TIBET ITALIA
Free Uyghur Now
Freedom Ummah
Friends of Tibet in Costa Rica
Friends of Tibet in Finland
Friends of Tibet New Zealand
Friends4Tibet
Germany Stands with Hong Kong
Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities
Grupo de Apoio ao Tibete, Portugal
Hong Kong Australians Political Alliance (HKAPA)
Hong Kong Committee in Norway
Hong Kong Social Action Movements in Boston
Hong Kongers in San Francisco Bay Area
Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan
India Tibet Friendship Society
Indiana Tibetan association
International Society for Human Rights- Sweden
International Society of Human Rights, Munich Chapter
International Tibet Independence Movement
Israeli Friends of the Tibetan People
Japan Association of Monks for Tibet (Super Sangha)
Japan Uyghur Association
Japan Uyghur Association
Jewish Movement for Uyghur Freedom
Justice For All
Justice for Uyghurs
Le Club Français, Paraguay
Les Amis du Tibet – Belgium
Les Amis du Tibet Luxembourg
Lions Des Neiges Mont Blanc
Lungta Association Belgium
Maison des Himalayas
Maison du Tibet – Tibet Info
McGill Stands with Hong Kong
National Campaign for Tibetan Support, India
National Committee of Democracy Party of China
National Democratic Party of Tibet
Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association, Portland
Objectif Tibet
Ottawa Tibetan Community Association
Passeport Tibetain
Phagma Drolma-Arya Tara
RangZen:Movimento Tibete Livre, Brazil
Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts
Roof of the World Foundation, Indonesia
Sakya Trinley Ling
Santa Barbara Friends of Tibet
Save The Mongolia Language NGO
Save Tibet Foundation
Save Tibet, Austria
Sierra Friends of Tibet
Society for Threatened Peoples International
Southern Mongolia Congress
Stand With Hong Kong Vienna
Stichting Europa oost turkistan Educatie sentrum
Students for a Free Tibet – Canada
Students for a Free Tibet – UK
Students for a Free Tibet Denmark
Students for a Free Tibet India
Students for a Free Tibet Japan
Swiss Tibetan Friendship Association
Taiwan Friends of Tibet
Tashi Delek Bordeaux
Tatar Association of South Australia
Tenzin Tsokyi
The Gorphwysfa Club
The Norwegian Tibet Committee
The Norwegian Uyghur Committee
The Youth Liberation Front of Tibet, Mongolia and Turkestan
Tibet Action Group of Western Australia
Tibet Action Institute
Tibet cesky (Tibet in Czech)
Tibet Committee of Fairbanks
Tibet Group, Panama
Tibet Initiative Deutschland
Tibet Justice Center
Tibet Lives, India
Tibet Mx
Tíbet Patria Libre, Uruguay
Tibet Rescue Initiative in Africa
Tibet Society of South Africa
Tibet Support Committee Denmark
Tibet Support Group Adelaide
Tibet Support Group Ireland
Tibet Support Group Kenya
Tibet Support Group Kiku, Japan
Tibet Support Group Netherlands
Tibet Support Group Slovenia
Tibetan Alliance of Chicago
Tibetan Association of Boston
Tibetan Association of Germany
Tibetan Association of Idano,USA
Tibetan Association of Ithaca
Tibetan Association of North America
Tibetan Association of Northern California
Tibetan Association of Philadelphia
Tibetan Association of Santa Fe
Tibetan Association of Vermont
Tibetan Community Austria
Tibetan Community in Britain
Tibetan Community in Denmark
Tibetan Community in Ireland
Tibetan Community of Italy
Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey
Tibetan Community of NY & NJ
Tibetan Community of South Australia
Tibetan Community of Victoria
Tibetan Community Sweden
Tibetan Community, Queensland
Tibetan Cultural Association – Quebec
Tibetan Cultural Society of BC
Tibetan culture society of Vancouver island
Tibetan Programme of The Other Space Foundation
Tibetan Women’s Association (Central)
Tibetan-American Community of Connecticut
Tibetans of Mixed Heritage
Tibetisches Zentrum Hamburg
TIBETmichigan
Toronto Association for Democracy in China
Torontonian HongKongers Action Group
U.S. Tibet Committee
Uk Uyghur community
United Nations for a Free Tibet
US Hongkongers Club
Uyghu Education Association in Sweden
Uyghur Academy Australia
Uyghur Academy Europe
Uyghur American Association
Uyghur Association of Victoria, Australia
Uyghur Refugee Relief Fund
Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement (VSSDM)
Vietnamese Community in Australia/ SA Chapter
Voces Tibet
Wisconsin Tibetan Association
World Citizens Against Tibet Occupation
World League for Freedom and Democracy
台灣永社 Taiwan Forever Association, TFA
民主中國陣線日本分部
芝援香港 Global Solidarity with Hong Kong - Chicago
