Shame on the International Olympic Committee for calling protests against the torch relay “a blasphemy of the Olympic spirit.”

Although the Communist Chinese government claims to support basic human rights, its track record shows that it will use any means necessary to quell the rights of free speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and freedom of the press.  What’s worse, the government of China manipulated the institution of the Olympic Games, claiming it would grant extraordinary freedoms leading up to the games.  And yet, the cultural genocide in Tibet and other non-Han majority areas of China continues to this very day.

Why wouldn’t Tibetans and their supporters in free countries like the United Kingdom and France use the opportunity of the Olympic Torch Relay to engage in acts of civil disobedience?  In their home country, they would likely be tortured or executed for taking such a stand.

Is the world going to standby while the voiceless try to elevate their issue to the global stage?  Is that blasphemy?

I repeat, shame on the International Olympic Committee — they let the Chinese government pull a fast one by granting them the Olympic games on empty promises.  If anything, the repression of basic human rights, and the concerted effort afterward to cover it up, is blasphemy against the Olympic spirit.