Report: 2016 Rio Olympics tied to widespread human rights violations
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is connected to widespread human rights violations that include police violence, forceful evictions and bad labor conditions, according to a new report by Comité Popular.
Comité Popular is best known for its activism ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The organization posted a video on Tuesday that calls for the International Olympic Committee and Brazilian mayor Eduardo Paes to pay greater heed to human rights in the Brazilian cities.
The report claims that 4,120 families have lost their homes and another 2,486 may be removed as infrastructure has been put in place for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and some building continues for the Olympics.
A study by Dundee University and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro found that children have started to go missing after “social cleansing” operations took place ahead of major sporting events, according to The Guardian. The Rio city government has denied the allegations.
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“The IOC should ensure that the 2016 Summer Olympics do not cause or exacerbate human and child rights abuses in Rio. It is time that the IOC lives up to the values declared in the Olympic Charter,” Terre des Hommes, a non-governmental organization, secretary general Ignacio Parker told The Guardian.
Brazil is among the countries with the highest homicide rates as 56,000 people were killed in 2012. Many are quick to point fingers toward the police as an August report by Amnesty International found that 8,471 cases of killings by police officers on duty were registered in Rio, including 5,132 that took place there between 2005 and 2014.
Watch the latest video by Comité Popular below:
There are less than 250 days until the opening ceremonies take place in Rio.
