Human Rights and the Olympics

I love the Olympics. I love the over dramatized footage of athletes' lives, cheering for countries that I forget exist most of the time, and watching athletes jump up in down for coming in third. However, my love of this international spectacle is tainted by the knowledge that with every Olympics comes a slew of human rights violations.

In this article, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/27/AR2010022703315.html , the author blames the IOC for not doing enough to prevent and/or rectify the human rights violations, pointing out that they managed to rebuke the Canadian women's hockey team for drinking champagne on the ice while not acting against rights violations. This article http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/02/12/olympics-dont-skate-over-rights-violations also urges the need for more focus on human rights reform. I find it interesting that both authors mention China and Russia as human rights violators but do not say much about Canada, even though both articles were written recently. It makes me wonder if Canada is doing well in the issue of human rights or if problems are being covered up until later.

Naturally, the question arises of whether these human rights violations are typical in these countries, or if they are something caused by the Olympics. This article, written about the problems with the Olympics in Beijing, suggests the latter: http://www.euractiv.com/en/sports/olympics-triggering-human-rights-violations-china/article-171524 If that is the case, can the IOC really do anything about it? If people see the Olympics as an opportunity to protest their cause before an international audience, is it really the fault of the host nation for wanting to repress the demonstrations and therefore save face before the world? It's no wonder that countries do not allow journalists to report things such as unrest in their countries in a time when everyone in the international community is watching. The Olympics are supposed to breed understanding and camaraderie, but in reality they create a huge stage for people to show off their message to the world. Of course people want to use that opportunity to complain, and of course their countries don't want them to. It's a cycle that can't really be stopped as long as the Olympics remain as they are. I love the Olympics, but I don't see how the cycle can be broken.

Of course, if the people had nothing to complain about there wouldn't be a problem, but we do not live in a perfect world. Someone will always be unhappy, and want to tell people about it. I just wonder what has been going on in Canada during these Olympic games, and if we will hear anything about it.