CanWest News Service
National Post, Published: Friday, August 10,
2007
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=ce32a196-d43d-4c2d-a8a2-3ce7cbce9e20&k=43957>
At the birthplace of the Olympic movement, a former Canadian member of Parliament will today ignite what he hopes will become a global movement to boycott next year's summer Games in Beijing.
Calling the 2008 Games the "Bloody Harvest Olympics," former Edmonton MP David Kilgour is inviting the media to Athens, Greece, to cover a Global Human Rights Torch Relay. Once lit in Athens, the torch will travel through 100 cities around the world.
The year-long relay is designed to draw attention to allegations of crimes against humanity committed by the Chinese government against practitioners of Falun Gong.
The relay comes as China faces increasing scrutiny over human rights in the run-up to the Olympics. On Wednesday, China expelled three Canadians who had been detained after unfurling a banner on the Great Wall in protest over the occupation of Tibet.
Canada's Green Party on Wednesday called on the government to exert diplomatic pressure on China to keep the Games from being tarnished by human rights violations.
While today's torch-lighting is unlikely to spark a widespread boycott of the Games, it will help establish Mr. Kilgour's reputation as a leading voice for Falun Gong practitioners in their ongoing campaign against the Chinese government.
Followers describe Falun Gong as a peaceful belief system that preaches compassion and tolerance.
China considers it a dangerous cult that has led devotees to resist needed medical attention and, in rare cases, to self-immolate in protest.
Mr. Kilgour, who once served as secretary of state for the Asia-Pacific region, has a long record as a human rights advocate. In 2005, when sitting as an independent MP, he threatened to withdraw support for then-prime minister Paul Martin's narrow minority government if Canada did not do more to help the people of Darfur, in the Sudan.
Mr. Kilgour made international headlines last year with a report on the persecution of Falun Gong, co-written with Winnipeg lawyer David Matas.
While much of their work has been embraced by international human rights experts, others have raised doubts about some aspects of the report and its methodology.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa dismissed it as "groundless" and "based on rumours and false allegations."