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China Not Making Olympic Rights Improvements
China is not meetings its human rights obligations, necessary to hold the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, according to Amnesty International. That organization has released a report claiming that people are still frequently held without an investigation, and human rights activists are still subject to persecution. AI also objects to limitations placed on access to the Internet and censorship in the media. AI will urge the International Olympics Committee to demand that China meet its obligations.
It has been reported that China promised to make a number of changes in the country before the Olympic Games, mainly concerning human rights and freedom of speech. An investigation by the human rights group Privacy International has found that China ranks last for respect for personal privacy. That finding took into account the degree of control over citizens and the frequency of violations of their rights by the state or corporations, considering issues such as video surveillance by the government and the level of control employers exert over their employees.
The IOC's decision to hold the Olympics in Beijing cannot be changed now, no matter what level of human rights violations there is in China. Sales of tickets for the event began in the middle of April. Three-quarters of the tickets are reserved for Chinese citizens. Those will be on sale at branches of the Bank of China through the end of September of this year. An individual can buy up o two tickets for competition, but only one for the opening and closing ceremonies. The most expensive tickets are those to the opening ceremony, at 5000 yuan (about $650). The second most expensive are those to the closing ceremony at 3000 yuan (about $390).
www.kommersant.com
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