The first genocide Games were conveyed in grainy black and white photos in 1936, complete with the Nazi salute at the Opening Ceremony. This time, the Opening Ceremony will be broadcast in full color across the globe. NBC Universal, the IOC, and corporate sponsors will forever have their names and logos linked with this shameful event. They have made their choice: silence in the face of genocide.
In December 2021, when asked about China’s crimes against the Uyghurs, IOC member Dick Pound told a German reporter, “I don’t know enough of the facts.” This is an IOC official, a decorated lawyer no less, asking us to believe he is mostly unaware that one of the globe’s most urgent human rights crises is happening in the host nation of the Olympic Games. Pound’s statement is undeniably “economical with the truth.” It also tells us that genocide is no longer a red line and that the Olympic Charter is worthless.
