UN Human Rights Observers Requested for 2010

By Stephanie Levitz (Canadian Press) – July 31, 2009

An Olympic watchdog group is asking the United Nations to send human rights observers to the 2010 Winter Games.

The Impact on Communities Coalition also filed two new complaints to the UN over civil rights and housing in the hopes of finding a way to hold organizers accountable for the way the Olympics affect those two areas.

While the complaints won't be heard until after the Games, group spokesperson Am Johal says they could be used to open up a much-needed international dialogue.

"Our ultimate aim is to see a reform in the Olympic bid process. It's flawed from the front end and we tend to see a recurrence of the same pattern in the cities hosting these Games," he said in an interview from Geneva after filing the two complaints.

The group is concerned that tenancy laws are not strong enough to prevent people from being evicted from their homes to make way for Olympic tourists.
While the city of Vancouver has established a permit system for Games-time rentals that could thwart some of the problem, critics say there's no way to police it.

Meanwhile, the group is also concerned that the confluence of Olympic-related city bylaws and rules the organizing committee has at venues will sharply curtail the right of free speech. Activists are also claiming they are being harassed by police who are seeking to meet with them to discuss protest plans for the Games.

The presence of observers could allow the Games to be a true case study for how an Olympics affects a community, Johal said.

Vancouver's city council recently amended its Olympic bylaws over concerns that language designed to protect the commercial rights of sponsors could be interpreted as prohibiting political protest.

At the same time, the security agency in charge of the Olympics continues to work with its civil rights advisory panel and has promised not to interfere with legal protests.

The IOCC was formed by a group of academics and activists after Vancouver won the bid in an effort to create a community organization that could work with organizers and the city on how to avoid some of the historically negative social impacts of an Olympics.

The organizing committee and government officials had signed a commitment to 14 areas, including accessibility, education and transportation, as well as housing and civil rights.

Activists say few of those guarantees have come to pass.

"By filing a complaint, it doesn't change the situation on the ground but it does take one small step in holding to account (Vancouver and international Olympic organizers) and the different government partners in terms of how they are organizing the Games and what if any impacts there are going to be on housing and civil liberties," said Johal.

Vancouver organizers point to a number of steps taken to try and mitigate the impact on the Games, including providing money for temporary housing to compensate for pressure on city shelters and supporting job training programs for venue construction.

A persistent issue is a concern that police are issuing thousands of tickets in the Downtown Eastside for infractions such as jaywalking in order to be able to jail the people who can't pay the fine during the Games.

City councillors promised to try and reverse some of those tickets after activists disrupted a council meeting last week.