Description
The Rio 2016 Olympics: a repetition of the 2014 World Cup human rights abuse?
As Brazil prepares itself for yet another major sporting event, the 2016 Olympics, the country is already top of the global league when it comes to a rather sinister discipline: killing. 56,000 people were killed in 2012 alone.
Astonishingly, police were responsible for 15,6% of those killed in 2014 in Rio. Moreover, of 1,275 registered cases of killings by on-duty police between 2010 and 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, 79% were black predominantly young men. These shocking figures are unlikely improve as law enforcement agencies seek to ”pacify” the streets of Rio in the run-up and during the Olympics. Public security policies in Brazil are marked by repressive police interventions in marginalized communities.
Although excessive police violence is a constant feature in Brazilian society, major sporting events such as Olympics and World Cups Football have often times directly led to an increase in human rights abuse. The Olympics in Beijing 2008, the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi 2014 and the European Games in Baku 2015 are cases in point. The question arises what role key stakeholders such as the IOC, local authorities, and contracted business should play in preventing such human rights abuse in the framework of major sporting events?
This public event will touch upon the sport and human rights nexus, address the human rights situation in Brazil as the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro approach, and elaborate on the killing of two young men, Eduardo de Jesus and Johnatha Oliveira, by police in Rio de Janeiro. The young men’s mothers, Terezinha de Jesus and Ana Paula Oliveira, as well as Amnesty Brazil will be present and reveal the dynamics underlying human rights abuse in Brazil.
Program, FRIDAY 13 NOVEMBER
The Rio 2016 Olympics: a repitition of the 2014 World Cup human rights abuse?
| Agenda item | Purpose | Speaker |
| 19:00 – 19:10 Introduction |
– Welcome, objectives and agenda | Nicole Sprokel, Facilitator |
| 19:10 – 19:30 Major sport events and human rights violations |
– Explain the connection between major sport events and human rights violations – Amnesty’s sport and human rights programme in a nutshell: what does Amnesty want? |
Henk Hulshof, Amnesty International Netherlands |
| 19:30 – 20:00 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 and human rights abuse |
– Revisit human rights violations around the World Cup Footbal in 2014 – Share preliminary findings of the risk assesment of potential human rights abuse around Rio 2016 – Share key findings of the “You killed my son” report: excessive police violence and black homicide in Brazil |
Renata Neder Amnesty International Brazil |
| 20:00 – 20:30 Black homicide in Brazil: The cases of Eduardo de Jesus and Johnatha Oliveira |
– Familiarize the audience with the cases of Eduardo and Johnatha | Terezinha de Jesus (mother of Eduardo ), Ana Paula Oliveira (mother of Johnatha) |
| 20:30 – 21:00 Discussion on the role of stakeholders to pre-empt human rights violations around major sport events |
– Open discussion on what the role is of key stakeholders (IOC; governments; business; civil society; athletes) to pre-empt human rights abuse around major sport events? | Nicole Sprokel, Facilitator |
