Exclusion Games

Organizations condemn human rights restrictions and violations during preparations for Olympic Games

With less than a month to go before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Conectas, Justiça Global, Article 19 and ISHR (International Service for Human Rights) today condemned in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva the arbitrary acts and violations committed in Brazil during preparations for large international sporting events.

In an oral statement made this Tuesday, June 28, during a panel discussion on using the Olympic ideal to promote human rights, the organizations showed that the dream of becoming a showcase for the world has been a nightmare for poor communities in Rio de Janeiro and for human rights defenders working to denounce and protest against the violations.

• Click here to read the statement in full

According to the organizations, since 2009, when Rio de Janeiro was chosen to host the Olympic Games, nearly 77,000 people have been evicted from areas of high-value real estate. During the Games, the Army will occupy six favelas and people detained by soldiers will be tried by military courts, without civil procedure.

In addition to the lack of transparency in urban mobility projects, construction and public spending, the government of Rio de Janeiro this month declared a state of financial emergency given its inability to pay the bills that come with hosting the Olympic Games. This prompted the federal government to make an emergency transfer of R$2.9 billion, money that could have been spent on basic services.

The Games will also leave a legacy of restrictions on civil liberties, particularly after the approval of the anti-terrorism law, which could criminalize the work of social movements and human rights defenders.

“Unfortunately, the promised legacy of the Olympic Games has in fact become a heavy burden. We will have new stadiums but at the cost of public bankruptcy and systematic violations of basic rights, such as housing, health and education. Unfortunately, the Olympic Games have thus become the Exclusion Games,” said the organizations in the statement.

Watch the statement in full: