Human rights groups have united to call for a full boycott of next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Activists said the Games going ahead in February next year would be the equivalent to “endorsing China’s genocide against the Uyghur people”.
Representatives from the World Uyghur Congress, Campaign for Uyghurs, Tibet Action Institute, Students for a Free Tibet and China Against the Death Penalty have come together to put pressure on Beijing 2022 officials and the International Olympic Committee.
In a joint statement, they said: “Participating in the Beijing Olympics at this time would be tantamount to endorsing China’s genocide against the Uyghur people, and legitimising the increasingly repressive policies of the totalitarian Chinese regime.
“We believe athletes are people of conscience who have the power to use their platforms to stop injustive. We call on them and those who believe in the right of all people to exist and to live free from fear and oppression to join our movement.”
The Beijing Olympics are scheduled to start on February 4 just six months after the year-long-delayed Summer Games in Tokyo.
The call for a full boycott comes ahead of a US Congress hearing on the Beijing Olympics in light of China’s human-rights record.
The IOC has held a series of calls with campaigners to hear their concerns but have repeatedly said they must remain “neutral” and out of politics.
Some Governments have threatened a diplomatic boycott of the Games with China hitting back accusing some nations of a “politicisation of sports”.
