Human Rights Abuses in Russia

This article is about the upcoming Winter Olympics in Russia, and how the torch relay preceding the games will draw attention to the human rights abuses in the country's history. The article also talks about the recent restrictions on LGBT members of the community. Recently, I read another article talking about how Vladimir Putin was restricting the rights of athletes at the Olympic Games based on sexual orientation.

If we were to think about the human rights violations on the people before the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, there are some comparisons. The International Olympic Committee did not pay attention to Hitler's anti-Semitist campaign during that time. Hindsight may be 20/20, but the whole point of studying human rights violations in history is to make sure they do not repeat again.

This makes me think of the human violations I've heard concerning the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. There are many renovations happening to hold the event in stadiums around the country, and the people are complaining about the allocation of money. There is a lot of money spent on preparations for the World Cup while it could be used to handle some of the everyday concerns of the people.

In a way, when you spotlight one country for a positive reason such as the Olympic Games or the World Cup, you are bound to see the negative of the policies of the respective countries. You can think about how the media exploits the lives of celebrities. Maybe their lives are no more messed up than the lives of ordinary people's, but you see the negative aspects a lot more because it's in the media. In a way, it is good that we have these worldwide events to focus attention on particular discrepancies in countries because otherwise, we might not hear about it as much.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/10/06/russia-beyond-olympic-torch-s-glow