FIFA And IOC Not Exempt From Upholding Fundamental Rights

UN Expert: FIFA And IOC Not Exempt From Upholding Fundamental Rights

NEW YORK (Oct. 28, 2014) – UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai today called on international sports bodies, including FIFA and the International Olympic Committee, to respect universally recognized human rights at their events, especially the right to peaceful assembly.

Kiai’s remarks were delivered on Oct. 28 to the UN General Assembly in New York, where he delivered his latest thematic report on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. The report centered on multilateral organizations and their effect – both positive and negative – on assembly and association rights.

“I am … alarmed at the policies of private multilateral bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA – both of which wield enormous social and economic power to pressure countries hosting their events. The International Olympic Committee Charter bans demonstrations at their events altogether, and FIFA executives openly express with apparent impunity that less-democratic States make better hosts for World Cups.”

In his report to the General Assembly, Kiai asserts that bodies such as the IOC and FIFA “are not exempt from the responsibility to respect, if not promote, universally recognized human rights. … The Special Rapporteur is of the opinion that the requirements for transparency and accountability of multilateral institutions, whether private or public, expand as power and influence increase.”

He also called the failure to encourage and facilitate peaceful assemblies “a lost opportunity for engagement.”

The IOC agreed last week to include human rights protections in future host city contracts, according to Human Rights Watch. While this step is commendable, Kiai said, the extent of these protections is not yet clear. Further, the Olympic charter still states that “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”

Kiai is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, a position he has held since May 2011. He is a lawyer, writer and human rights activist from Kenya.

A transcript of Kiai's statement to the UN General Assembly is available here: http://freeassembly.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/UNGA69-statement-final1.pdf

Kiai's full report to the UN General Assembly is available here: http://freeassembly.net/rapporteurreports/report-multilaterals/

A summary factsheet of the report is available here: http://freeassembly.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Multilaterals-factsheet-final.pdf

ENDS

© Scoop Media