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Olympics a disaster for free speech in China

By Sudip Kar-Gupta | Reuters

A Chinese policeman stops photojournalists from taking pictures of pro-Tibet demonstrators near the the main Olympic stadium in Beijing on 13 August 2008. China has cracked down on dissent for the Olympic Games and failed to honour public pledges to allow broader freedoms during the event, human rights groups and dissidents said.AFP/Jewel Samad/China

In a statement, the Paris-based group said China had placed restrictions on the activities of scores of human rights and pro-Tibet activists and some foreign journalists.

Reporters Without Borders spokesman Benoit Hervieu told Reuters there were ‘absolutely no grounds for optimism’ that the Beijing Olympics would help improve human rights in China.

The group said 47 pro-Tibet activists had been arrested and at least 50 human rights activists placed under house arrest, harassed or forced to leave Beijing during the games.

At least 15 Chinese citizens were arrested for seeking permission to demonstrate, the group added.

Hervieu said there had been no serious physical attacks on journalists but reporters had been pushed around and harassed by police to stop them covering certain events.

John Ray, a journalist from British news organisation ITN, was manhandled by police as he tried to cover a pro-Tibet demonstration.

Reporters without Borders Secretary General Robert Menard said in a statement that the treatment of journalists during the Olympics would leave a bitter taste.

“This repression will be remembered as one of the defining characteristics of the Beijing games.”

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, editing by Janet McBride)

Copyright © 2008 Reuters

Published in Reuters.com