IOC made human rights promise to Tibetans on hunger strike

11 days into the hunger strike, the Tibetans finally succeeded in extracting a promise from Mario Pescante, Executive member of IOC and President of the European Olympic Committee, that the IOC will follow up on the concerns expressed by the hunger strikers.

The hunger strike began on 14 February and ended on 27 February and is one of many campaigns expected from human rights activists and others who find the IOC’s decision to award China the Olympic Games controversial because of China’s human rights record.

The campaign organised by the Tibetan Youth Congress attracted a fair amount of media attention in Italy and eventually also the attention of the IOC.

On Friday 24 February, Italy’s Undersecretary of State for sport and Executive member of IOC, Mario Pescante, paid a visit to the hunger strikers’ tent in Turin accompanied by a number of journalists. Here he listened to the plight of the Tibetans and according to the website of the Tibetan Youth Congress, Pescante said that he had been instructed by IOC president Jacques Rogge to convey the message that their appeal had been heard by the IOC.

Pescante also said that the IOC will be taking up the cases highlighted by the hunger strikers and “continue to follow up as appropriate within their respective mandate.”

The question is, however, how deep that commitment goes. According to the Associated Press, Mario Pescante himself and the IOC insisted that his visit to the hunger strikers took place in his capacity as an Italian official, not because he was a member of the IOC.  And IOC president Jacques Rogge did not want to confirm the commitment in writing as requested by the hunger strikers.

Nevertheless, the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) decided to call off the hunger strike even if the IOC had not addressed all their demands.

“TYC respects the assurances given by the IOC as a step forward in the IOC giving consideration to the plight of the Tibetan people,” TYC writes on its website and promises further activities and campaigns on this issue.

One of the hunger strikers was the 72-year-old Buddhist monk, Palden Gyatso. Gyatso spent 33 years in prison in Tibet after he was arrested for participating in a demonstration and putting up a poster.  Here he was tortured and lost all his teeth when an electric cattle prod was inserted into his mouth. When he was freed, Gyatso bribed the guards to hand over the instruments of torture so he could show them to the world. He now lives in exile in India and is the author of a book about his experiences that has been translated into 19 different languages.

Gyatso called the hunger strike a responsible act.

“We ask the the IOC to take the opportunity to push the Chinese government to improve human rights,” he told the Associated Press.