SAN FRANCISCO—The Beijing Olympic Torch route was released last week after intense public pressure applied on the city government. On the day of the event, the planned route was completely scrapped, leaving even police and security in the dark about its route.
Thousands who had come to see the torch, many coming from far away, had been chasing through the streets of San Francisco, in hopes of catching a glimpse of its passing. But they never did see it.
In the morning, before the torch relay began, representatives of many human rights groups had assembled in the Embarcadero area. The torch relay's closing ceremonies were supposed to take place there.
Supervisor Chris Daly said: "I'm here to expose and protest Beijing's poor human rights record: obviously, a brutal crack down last month in Tibet, persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, China's military support of genocide in Darfur, propping up a bloody dictatorship in Burma…
"As the Olympic torch makes its only North American stop today in San Francisco, we are responding with alarm and protest, and as the eyes of the world are watching us, we are going to highlight China's abysmal human rights record and we are going to ask the IOC to keep the torch out of Tibet.
"Their use of the Olympics to try to gloss over their poor record, is unconscionable to us here in San Francisco, which is known for democracy, free speech, and protest."
Rabiya Kadir, a renowned human rights activist for Uyghur Muslims in China, who was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize, said: "China does not qualify for such a humanitarian event … such a sports event should represent harmony and peace, and China does not have that. They have been persecuting and brutally killing our people."
When asked to remark about the Chinese government calling her people terrorists, she replied, "We are not terrorists, because we are just demanding our basic human rights. China has been killing innocent people—from Turkistan, Tibet, and their own people, who belong to Falun Gong…the Chinese government is the real terrorist."
Rachel Biale is a regional director of Progressive Jewish Alliance which focuses on social justice, particularly sweatshops. "But we are not addressing that today, because there are more burning issues on the forefront. We are actually very concerned with the lack of democracy in China."
She added that they "attempt to really press the Chinese government to take account of the unbelievable tragedy in Darfur, and use its economic power and its stature to influence the Sudanese government to finally take real action to end the genocide there."
Ms. Biale is aware of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and considers it "a part of the issue of human rights, freedom of religion and freedom of speech; all of them are areas that we work on."
Dana Micklewaig, 34, came with her young baby from Los Angeles. Her husband, Sonam, is from Tibet.
"My husband's father was jailed for a long time by the Chinese government. Many of his relatives perished during the Chinese occupation [of Tibet.] He's got a relative, a monk, who has been arrested just two days ago for a peaceful protest at the monastery, so his family is very scared; they don't want to talk to Sonam about what is going on."
She said that Tibetans have been protesting very peacefully and that they are being silenced and not allowed to express their rights and their religion, which is a real tragedy.
At the end, when it became clear that the Olympic Torch would never arrive at the announced location, one lady, who appeared very upset, commented: "By using communist tactics of hiding from and misleading the people, San Francisco dishonoured itself today. I saw so many disappointed young children, who came to see the Olympic Torch.
"I was also shocked, watching the following scene. While protesters were chanting, 'Stop the killings in Tibet!' one Chinese man, with a huge red Chinese flag, was laughing and loudly yelling back, 'Kill more! Kill more!'"
She said that she did not see any non-Chinese people shouting in support of China, but there were thousands of people of all races, protesting against China's human rights violations.
Another woman in the crowd irately told a TV news reporter, "They can pull this crap in China, but this is America, for God's sake! We have a right to exercise our first amendment rights."
Magnus, visiting from Sweden, called the clandestine arrangement of the torch's route "cowardly. If they carry the torch, we should be able to see it."
Dr. Ellen Morrison, who is a sociologist from San Carlos working in San Francisco, said: "I felt it was important to be one of the voices that brought the world's attention to the abuses in China, and even though in my regular life what I do is very specific and requires expertise, today, I was very happy to take a day off and get here. But I am frustrated, understandably so, with the number of times the route has been changed, and being given the feeling we are being played like cat-and-mouse, with the torch."
She expressed that "to some extent, it seems that they were trying to make fools of the protesters, by having us chase this way, and chase that way."
She felt that those responsible for the event were not considerate about the thousands of people present there.
"We as San Franciscans, as Californians and as Americans, need to make this statement."
Feeds