The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced Friday that he, King Willem-Alexander, and Queen Maxima will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Rutte said he would voice concerns about human rights abuses if he gets the chance.
That’s not good enough. Instead of waiting for the right moment, he should proactively speak out.
Russia is suffering the worst crackdown of civil society since the demise of the Soviet Union. Human rights of Russian citizens are being violated. A clear example is the anti-gay propaganda law making it illegal to discuss homosexuality in a positive way in the presence of minors. This law violates principle 6 of the Olympic Charter which makes any form of discrimination incompatible with the Olympic movement.
Make no mistake – the opening ceremony that Rutte will attend is a big deal for President Putin, and the Kremlin has repeatedly said that by hosting the games, Russia is projecting its new image globally. It’s no secret that the games have been a crucial project for Putin.
While Russia is silencing gay people in spite of its promise to adhere to the Olympic Charter, it will be a bad signal if the Dutch are represented at the highest level during the opening ceremony. Unless political leaders speak out, their attendance at the opening ceremony could symbolize endorsement of Russia’s policies. They also undermine the effect of the decision made by some of their allies to stay away. The Germans, the French, the Belgians, the British, the Americans and the Canadians all decided not to be represented at the highest level during the opening ceremony. Viviane Reding, the European Union Justice Commissioner, explicitly referred to the bad human rights situation in Russia to explain why she decided not to go to Sochi.
Now that the Dutch prime minister will attend the opening ceremony, the least he can do is to publicly urge Putin to repeal the anti-gay propaganda law and other legislation that violates the human rights of Russian civil society. Otherwise how are people to interpret his silence?
