Dharamshala, 15th December: According to Reuters, a peaceful protest was held outside the International Olympic Committee (IOC) offices in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday by the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe (TYAE) and Students for a Free Tibet. China is being accused by the groups of utilizing the upcoming Olympic Games, dubbed “Genocide Games,” to portray itself in a favorable light.
TYAE campaign director Tenzing Dhokhar was reported as saying, “Despite mounting international criticism of the IOC and China, the Chinese regime’s human rights abuses in Tibet, East Turkestan, and Hong Kong continue unabated; By collaborating with China, the IOC is making itself an accomplice of the Chinese Communist Party’s crimes, which will be sports-washed by the Beijing Olympics.”
Two Tibetan students shackled themselves to the Olympic insignia in front of the IOC building as part of the protest. Other demonstrators held a banner that read “No Beijing 2022” outside the door to the building where officials were meeting. Inside the IOC premises, five people staged a sit-in protest. Local authorities compelled protesters to disperse after three hours, according to the IOC, resulting in the injury of a security guard.
According to Reuters, the IOC responded in a statement: “The IOC always listens to all concerns that are directly related to the Olympic Games. We have engaged multiple times with peaceful protesters and explained our position, but we will not engage with violent protesters who used force to enter the IOC building and injured a security guard by doing so.”
China is accused of indoctrinating 800,000 young Tibetans in boarding schools (78 percent of Tibetan students between the ages of 6 and 18) in order to influence them toward communism and away from Buddhist culture, according to a recent report published by the Tibet Action Institute.
Featured Image via VOA Tibetan