As the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games approach, some dissenters are less than enthused that China is playing host. In response, protestors have embarked upon the Human Rights Torch Relay.
Organized by the Global Human Rights Relay, an organization formed to oppose and publicize the abuse of Falun Gong members by the Chinese government, the HRTR is designed to mirror the ceremonial Olympic torch carrying ceremony.
The HRTR will stop in 150 cities, including Toronto in May. At 1 p.m. this Sunday, Oct. 28, GHRR will stage a meeting in front of the Chinese Consulate on St. George St. From there, participants will walk to Yonge-Dundas Square for a concert and a film screening at 7 p.m.
Organizers said the event is meant to hinder what they called the Chinese Communist Party goal of legitimizing their governance through the Olympic Games. Featured guests are to include former Olympic athletes.
“It’s not a political campaign, the focus is really on human rights,” insisted U of T student Pierre-Arnaud Barry-Camu, a Falun Gong practitioner and HRTR organizer.
Barry-Camu said HRTR’s methods, such as a boycotting, were to similar actions taken by some countries during the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He added that the “core values of the Olympics” are at odds with the CCP.
Active with Falun Gong at U of T, Barry-Camu began practicing in 2001. He expressed hope that the international relay will be able to sufficiently push the regime towards changing some of its policies towards Falun Gong.
While the Human Rights Torch Relay focuses on persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, organizers have announced their wish to shed light on the issues facing Chinese ethnic minorities, religious groups and pro-democracy organizations who have claimed ill-treatment at the hands of Chinese authorities. The Chinese government has continually rejected the merit of such claims.
In regards to Falun Gong, the Toronto-based Chinese Consulate- General has given an official statement that declares Falun Gong detrimental to Chinese society and accuses it of pushing such ideas as ritualistic suicide and rejecting doctors and medical treatment. The statement contends that the CCP had no choice but to ban the group nationwide.
