Olympics organizers and city officials swear the 2010 Games won’t hurt free speech, but their written documents suggest otherwise, a prominent civil rights activist said Monday evening.
“If you just look at the public statements of the security forces and the city of Vancouver you would have no cause for concern around civil liberties and the Olympics,” said B.C. Civil Liberties Association executive director David Eby. “The true story is actually more complicated.”
Eby referenced several official – and publicly available – documents during a well-attended Olympics civil rights forum at Simon Fraser University’s Harbour Centre.
The city and Games organizers must ensure “no propaganda or advertising” is captured on sports broadcasts inside or outside official venues, according to Vancouver’s 2003 “Host City Contract”.
Local politicians who would distribute pamphlets during the Olympic torch relay are a “high concern” for VANOC, says a brochure mailed to every city on the route.
No demonstration or “political, religious or racial propaganda” will be allowed inside Olympics sites or venues, reads rule 51 of the IOC’s Olympic Charter.
And an omnibus package of bylaws passed by Vancouver city council last July sets the stage for a civil rights clampdown, Eby claimed.
“The rights of sponsors and the [International Olympics Committee] will be protected and the free speech rights of everyone else will play second fiddle,” Eby said. “That message is unwavering.”
Vision Vancouver councillor Geoff Meggs called for a “reality check” on civil rights concerns in a Vancouver Sun editorial last July.
All Olympics-related bylaws passed by the city are temporary changes that don’t deviate from existing practice, he wrote.
2010 Integrated Security Unit head Bud Mercer consistently stresses any legal demonstration is fine during the Games – inside a designated protest zone or not.
And all free speech decisions inside Olympics venues will be made on a case by case basis, VANOC's executive vice president Dave Cobb said at a recent teleconference.
“If somebody has some slogan on a t-shirt it’s very unlikely to get our attention,” he said.
“If you get a big group of people holding up signs that are obstructing the view of other people in the audience or distracting the athletes in some way then it would likely be something we looked at more seriously.”
Geoff Dembicki reports for The Tyee.
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The Blackbird
2 years ago
What's in Writing is What Counts ...
and no amount of bafflegab by Mr. Cobb and Counsellor Meggs will change the wording of section 51 of the Olympic Charter which not only prohibits political, religious or racial propaganda inside Olympic Sites and venues - as the article points out - but in "other areas" also. These "other areas" are not specified.
All of the talk is salesmanship. It's what's in the contract that counts and right now it is being sold to Vancouverites as less threatening than the Easter Bunny.
We'll see.
RafaelU
2 years ago
olympic
Do we have sycopanthic athletes?! Occasionally we see the word sycophants in print- and the word has more than two syllables, which means that most people and definitely country music fans have no idea what it means. Sycophants, or a sycophant, are people that suck up – in lay terms – because they're getting something out of the deal. A synonym is obsequiousness. Celebrities who have an entourage – the entourage are sycophants. Congress and the White House, those are sycophants. Check that – those are parasites. The word has gotten in the news because of Wayne Gretzky's support staff – supposedly he just got a bunch of his buddies to run a professional hockey team. Sycophants aren't worth blowing any money, payday loans or otherwise on. Pls. click this http://personalmoneystore.com/Payday-Loans/ for more details.
Jeffrey J.
2 years ago
Upsetting
Very upsetting and disturbing. Have any of these supporters of authoritarianism read history?
Do they not know about 1933 Italy and Germany, when similar policies were implemented and justified for the same reasons. And the next day, nothing changed. Nor the next. But then slowly, things get worse. And more surveillance is required. People push back, and more enforcement is required.
"The floggings will continue until the morale improves!"
Insane.