Washington Post

Letter to the Editor: Sen. Rick Scott

January 12, 2022

Regarding Minky Worden’s Jan. 4 op-ed, “ ‘Sportswashing’ will cost the Olympics and World Cup”:

In March 2020, the International Olympic Committee released a 42-page report on the state of human rights within the IOC, which included a recommendation that the IOC work with trade unions to identify and address human rights risks associated with the Olympic Games. So why is it that the human rights director for the IOC is refusing to meet with the Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region, a coalition of human rights groups and trade unions? In 2017, the IOC added a human rights clause to host city contracts, requiring governments to “protect and respect human rights” in the host country. But why did the IOC exempt China from signing the human rights clause? And why did the IOC play coverup for China after it forcibly disappeared tennis star Peng Shuai after she made allegations of sexual assault against a former Chinese Communist Party official? The answer is simple: The IOC would rather stay in the good graces of a genocidal regime than stand up for human rights or protect the athletes who are entrusted to their care during competition.

Every freedom-loving country must do what IOC President Thomas Bach is too cowardly to do: Stand up to Chinese President Xi Jinping and punish him for his genocide in Xinjiang and his gross abuses in Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong.

Rick Scott, Washington

The writer, a Republican, represents Florida in the U.S. Senate.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/the-ioc-and-human-rights/2022/01/12/7c9df9d6-7246-11ec-a26d-1c21c16b1c93_story.html