"The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games of Peking (OCOGP) must fulfil their promise to ensure ‘full freedom of information’ and give the press uncensored Internet access. Not doing it would mean undermining the fundamental human rights and betraying the Olympic values", stated Mark Allison, researcher on the Far East for Amnesty International, yesterday, about the statements made by the director of the Press Committee of the International Olympic Committee, Kevin Gosper, who had said: "I am sorry that now it seems the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games of Peking announced there will be limited access to the websites during the Olympic Games". "Some sensitive websites" will be cut off, because "they are not regarded as related to the Olympic Games". The foreign journalists who are in the Olympic newsroom, for instance, cannot have access to Amnesty International’s website, and many other websites have been cut off. On many occasions, the International Olympic Committee had reported that the relaxation in restrictions on the foreign press was an example of the improvement of the situation of human rights. "This sensational censorship is one more promise that China has failed to keep and further undermines the statement that the Olympic Games would improve the situation of human rights in the country", commented Allison.
