130+ Olympic Athletes and Advocates Call for Beijing and UN to Implement the "Olympic Truce" for Darfur
As UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon Visits China for 3-Day Visit
'06 Gold Medalist Joey Cheek Releases Letter from Athletes
Washington, DC – July 1 – More than 130 Olympic and other athletes invoked the ancient Greek tradition of "Olympic Truce" today by co-signing a letter to Olympic host China and other international leaders to demand that the government of Sudan cease all bombing and ground attacks on civilians in Darfur for, at least, the 55-day period surrounding the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The athletes and other advocates made this call on the first day of a three-day diplomatic trip by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to Beijing where he will meet with President Hu Jintao and other senior officials. By precedent, the Olympic Host nation, as well as the United Nations, can invoke the Olympic Truce.
As athletes released their letter, Dream for Darfur released a report entitled The Olympic Truce: 55 Days of Peace – And More – for Darfur, which documents past diplomatic uses of the Olympic Truce.
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Read the report.
