=46rom The TimesApril 25, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/s****t/olympics/article3811650.ece
Olympic chiefs prepare their lines in case protests turn to
tragedyAshling O=92Connor, Olympics Correspondent
Olympic chiefs are prepared for deaths along the torch relay route,
The Times has learnt.
In a confidential memorandum, the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) has drawn up possible scenarios including incidents where people
are hurt or killed during demonstrations in China and cities around
the world that are hosting the torch.
The IOC, which approved the route through Tibet, has also prepared
=93response protocols=94 for its 205 national committees. The =93suggested
statement=94 in the case of a fatality is: =93We extend our deepest
sympathies or condolences to anyone that was injured or killed, and
their families.=94
The torch will be in Tibet in June when it will be taken to the summit
of Everest, in what the memo calls a =93particularly bold segment=94 of
the relay. It is the most contentious leg of the Olympic flame=92s
=93journey of harmony=94 before the Beijing Olympics.
Pro-Tibet campaigners have demanded a rerouting. They expressed anger
that the IOC is refusing to intervene despite its private admission
that protests could turn violent and lead to loss of life. =93Either the
IOC and Olympics sponsors want to avert bloodshed or they don=92t. It is
in their power to avert a humanitarian catastrophe,=94 Matt Whitticase,
of the Free Tibet Campaign, said. =93If they insist the torch goes
through Tibet they will only have themselves to blame when it ends up
drenched in Tibetan blood.=94
The IOC defended its memo as good governance. =93Part of any robust
crisis management preparation is to take the worst-case scenarios. We
don=92t want them to happen but we have to prepare for everything,=94
Giselle Davies, communications director, said. The IOC =93understood the
emotions=94 over Tibet, she added, =93but it was always the case that the
torch would go to all regions of China=94.
Bejing officials this week cancelled the press trip covering the
ascent of Everest, blaming adverse weather. The IOC had said that
media could cover the relay =93in its entirety=94 but the Chinese are in
charge of accreditations. No foreign journalist has operated freely in
Tibet since March 14 and the region is closed to tourists.
Vincent Brossel, from Re****ters Sans Fronti=E8res, a press freedom
group, said: =93The restrictions are in complete contradiction with
Chinese promises to the IOC. Re****ters should be allowed to go to
Everest freely.=94
Protests have followed the torch since it was lit in Athens last
month, creating a public relations nightmare for organisers and
sponsors.
For Japan this weekend, the three official torch sponsors =96 Coca-Cola,
Samsung and Lenovo =96 have scaled down their involvement by cancelling
advertising floats, over security fears.
In an open letter to Coca-Cola this week, more than 150 Tibet groups
asked the US soft drinks group to use its influence to force a
rerouting. Predicting violence, they cited the warning by Jampa
Phuntsog, governor of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, that the Chinese
authorities would =93without doubt deal with these persons
severely . . . we will not be merciful=94.
The IOC=92s Athletes=92 Commission condemned the protests as =93counter to
the values the torch stands for=94 and said it had =93not had the peaceful
passage it deserves=94.
Olympic sponsors came under more pressure when human rights activists
gave warning that they faced a summer of protests outside their
headquarters, starting this weekend. Dream for Darfur, which is
campaigning for China to end its sup****t for the regime in Sudan, said
that sponsors were =93silently complicit in the genocide=94.
=93We extend our deepest sympathies or condolences to anyone that was
injured or killed, and their families" From the IOC=92s suggested
statement
=93Either the IOC and Olympics sponsors want to avert bloodshed or they
don=92t. It is in their power to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. If
they insist the torch goes through Tibet they will only have
themselves to blame when it ends up drenched in Tibetan blood" Free
Tibet Campaign
=93Part of any robust crisis management preparation is to take the worst-
case scenarios. We don=92t want them to happen but we have to prepare
for everything" IOC communications director
|
