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| Axis of Evil |
| Group accuses Iraq of torturing athletes |
| 2002-12-05 |
| A human rights group formally demanded that the International Olympic Committee expel Iraq's national Olympic committee because its chief -- Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday -- tortured and jailed athletes who failed to please him. It's nice to have a hobby. The group -- Indict, based in London -- said Wednesday it had lodged a complaint against the Iraqi body with the Ethics Commission of the International Olympic Committee. The group said it included witness statements from exiled former Iraqi athletes and United Nations reports to build its case. "Iraq has violated every single provision of the IOC Code of Ethics," said Charles Forrest, chief executive of Indict. "The IOC should have investigated this on its own. Now I hope it will be forced to." IOC officials said they were aware of the complaint but were unable to comment because they had yet to receive the document. Indict said the Iraqi leader's son once made a group of track athletes crawl on newly poured asphalt while they were beaten and ordered that some be thrown off a bridge. It also alleged he ran a special prison for athletes who offended him. "The Iraqi committee is the only Olympic committee in the world with its own prison and torture chamber," said Ann Clwyd, a British lawmaker who also is chairwoman of Indict. "To allow (it) to participate in the Olympic movement is to mock all of the Olympics' high principles." Such as bribery, kickbacks and rigging the judges. Iraq was investigated in 1997 by FIFA, the international soccer governing body, following allegations that members of the Iraqi national team were tortured because they lost a key match. FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said two officials were sent to Iraq, where they interviewed members of the Iraqi Football Association. Twelve players also were interviewed and physically examined. "They weren't able to find any evidence or any witness to confirm those allegations," Herren said. Nobody wanted to talk? Gee, I wonder why? |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 Somehow I don't think an organisation that allows old fascists,a former secret police chief during South Korea's years of military rule and an ex-Stasi officer amongst it's ruling body is going to be bothered much about that.If you want to know more about IOC,check out the great book "The Lords of the Rings" by Andrew Jennings and Clare Sambrook. |
| Posted by: El Id 2002-12-06 00:58:50 |
| #1 I wonder what happened to their Saudi Arabian counterparts, losing 3 World Cup matches by a combined 12-0 score... |
| Posted by: Raj 2002-12-05 16:09:27 |