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Rules Committee forwards human-rights resolution ahead of Beijing Olympic torch stop
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee advanced a resolution urging city representatives to welcome the Beijing 2008 Olympic torch in a manner consistent with human-rights principles after public testimony highlighted alleged abuses in China, including claims of organ harvesting and staged violence.
The San Francisco Rules Committee on Thursday forwarded a reintroduced resolution urging city representatives accepting the Beijing 2008 Olympic torch to welcome it "in the explicit spirit of Olympism" and in keeping with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Chair Chris Dailey, who reintroduced the measure after changes to an earlier version, said the resolution highlights human-rights concerns raised during a lengthy prior hearing and named a range of alleged abuses cited in the text, including persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, limits on press freedom, and China’s actions related to Darfur, Burma and Tibet. Dailey noted related events in April: the Human Rights Torch Relay on April 5, the Tibetan Freedom Torch on April 8 and the Beijing Olympic torch on April 9.
"If people don't weigh in, it never stops," Supervisor Tom Ammiano said in supporting the resolution, urging that protests remain nonviolent. "Silence equals death," Ammiano added, invoking a phrase he said reflected a history of advocacy.
The committee heard more than a half-dozen public commenters during a dedicated public-comment period. Maria Daley, identifying herself as the San Francisco coordinator for the Human Rights Torch, invited supervisors to local events and said an official involved with the Beijing organizing committee had been "found accountable for crimes against humanity," as she characterized it. Tatiana Costanian, a member of the Commission for the Investigation of Falun Gong, said she was "a dialysis patient on life support" and asserted that "over 40,000 lives and more have already been harvested" for organs in China; that figure was presented as the speaker's claim.
Other public speakers displayed news images from Tibet, cited findings attributed by them to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (including claims about website shutdowns and large numbers of displaced or affected people), and alleged that some violent incidents had been staged or involved disguised security forces. Those allegations were presented by members of the public and were not adjudicated during the committee meeting.
Committee members and several guests framed the resolution as symbolic but meaningful. The committee chair and supporters said the item had already prompted administrative moves to clarify protest and route-planning for the torch events. After discussion, Supervisor Tom Ammiano moved to forward the resolution to the full Board of Supervisors with a committee recommendation; the committee agreed to transmit the item without objection.
The action taken by the Rules Committee sends the resolution to the full Board for consideration and does not itself change city policy. The Board of Supervisors will consider the resolution at its next available meeting; the committee did not record a roll-call vote at this session.
