Olympic sponsors ignore human rights abuses

Twelve leading Olympics sponsors have failed to speak out against Olympics-related human rights abuses in China as stated in their principles of corporate social responsibility, Human Rights Watch says.

HRW called on the sponsors to press for the establishment of a permanent body inside the International Olympic Committee to monitor rights abuses at future Olympics, including in Russia, which will host the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

The New York City-based human rights group in a statement criticized all 12 "The Olympic Partner" companies, who spent a combined $998 million "to gain status as "TOP sponsors."

HRW said they failed to speak out individually or collectively against human rights abuses linked to the Beijing Games.

It cited a list of "documented" abuses included "ongoing media censorship, the abuse of migrant construction workers who built the Olympic venues, and the unlawful forced evictions of hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens from their homes to make way for these venues."

HRW singled out the US giant General Electric as an example of failed social responsibility, contrasting the company's policy statement that it "seeks to advance human rights by leading by example" to GE's behavior on the ground.

"Increasingly, General Electric's customers are Chinese citizens, who face systematic abuses," HRW said.

HRW said it was able to meet with only five of the 12 TOP sponsors, recommending that they adopt a series of "specific steps in line with their commitment to corporate social responsibility."

The steps include certifying that their operations in China do not entail labor abuse or other violations, ask Chinese authorities to fulfill their human rights commitments, urge the release of jailed human rights activists, and support an independent investigation of the March 2008 crackdown in Tibet.

HRW said it found "no evidence that any of the Olympic sponsors has followed up in any meaningful way on any of these recommendations."

"Being a good corporate sponsor of the Beijing Games has sadly not meant being a good corporate citizen," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

"The sponsors' silence has only emboldened the Chinese government and allowed the IOC to ignore the human rights standards it claims to uphold," she added.

The 12 TOP sponsors are Atos Origin, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Manulife, Johnson & Johnson, Kodak, Lenovo, McDonald's, Omega (Swatch Group), Panasonic, Samsung, and Visa.