The International Olympic Committee: The Effects of Olympic Suspensions on Human Rights Reform

Abstract

Can the International Olympic Committee be used as a vehicle for human rights reform? This paper analyzes this question through an analysis of several Olympic suspensions that occurred from 1920 to 2002. The first section focuses on the factors that influence the IOC’s decision to suspend a country. The thesis examines the Universe of cases from 1924 to 2002, which includes 13 total cases (13 IOC suspensions). Then, this research focuses on the effect Olympic suspensions have on human rights reform in countries that are suspended by the IOC due to human rights violations. The two cases this paper focuses on regarding suspensions attributed to human rights violations are South Africa and Afghanistan. To see if the Olympic suspensions had any effect on human rights reform in the two mentioned countries, this research uses a before and after analysis that examines what human rights looked like before the country was suspended, and what they looked like after. This research concludes that in the cases examined, the IOC suspends countries primarily for two reasons: 1) a countries role as the aggressor of a war and 2) a country committing human rights violations. Furthermore, this research also concludes in cases where Olympic suspensions were attributed to a country’s poor human rights records, that the Olympic suspension had a positive impact on human rights reform in the country in the years following their suspension.