“France, which presents itself in the world as a legal, democratic state that stands by the "oppressed peoples", is preparing for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. France, which cannot prevent the panic within itself, how can it guarantee the safety of athletes, coaches, and especially hundreds of athletes from Muslim countries?”, Chairman of the "Baku Human Rights Club" Public Union told APA.
Rasul Jafarov, who started a petition regarding the boycott of the Olympic Games in France, noted that it is unacceptable to hold the Olympic Games in France, especially in Paris: "Because the protests in Paris, which are the factors that caused these protests, that is, national, religious, racial, ethnic, discrimination issues are a clear example of this. In a country where these factors exist, how can they guarantee the safety of athletes and delegations in general?"
He emphasized that it is best to boycott the Olympic Games to be held in Paris at the international level: "During the past period, we observed and witnessed that the problems we raised during that period are not being resolved. There are problems of security, xenophobia, Islamophobia, discrimination, and tolerance based on religious and ethnic factors, and we believe that all these problems must be eliminated before the Olympic Games are held in Paris next summer. Both by the sports community and by people in general, citizens, and those who are not indifferent to this issue.
We are currently implementing this campaign on our side. At the moment, a specific action plan has been prepared and works are being continued according to that action plan."
Rasul Jafarov recalled that they started a petition regarding the boycott of the Olympic Games in France: "That petition is open, and by the way, it is still ongoing. In the initial period, several thousand people immediately signed the petition. This shows that the people who signed the petition are also of the opinion that it is impossible to hold the Olympic Games in Paris in this situation. If those problems will not be solved, the Paris Olympic Games should be boycotted."
Rasul Jafarov also noted that, as a second step, they will carry out intensive actions about 6 months before the Olympic Games, either starting from the end of this year or from the beginning of next year, with what is more commonly called the planning phase: “Those intensive actions are also in different directions. Meaning, that there are public events too, and there also will be appeals to the sports community, delegations, the International Olympic Committee, and other national Olympic organizations and institutions both in Azerbaijan and outside Azerbaijan. For example, establishing contact with organizations dealing with tolerance problems, discrimination problems, or environmental problems and making those organizations join this campaign are planned. We will maybe provide detailed information regarding this in the near future. The human rights organizations of other countries have already been informed about the launched campaign.”
Rasul Jafarov, also pointed out that they are exchanging letters with certain organizations: “There was primary correspondence. We are a human rights organization. Our partner organizations are human rights organizations from different countries.
Those organizations also share the same opinion that this problem should be solved regardless of where it is, regarding the problems that I mentioned more or less, and if there is a problem, that problem must be solved, the problem must be voiced.”
The human rights defender also noted that 5,000 people participated in the petition, which was launched within a short period of time.
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