Politicians and world leaders guilty of abusing human rights may be barred from the 2012 Olympic Games due to be held in London, stated Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne on Wednesday.
In a written statement to British Parliament, the Minister of State at the Foreign Office stated,
"Entry will be refused where an individual's presence at the Games or in the UK would not be conducive to the public good.”
"Where there is independent, reliable and credible evidence that an individual has committed human rights abuses, the individual will not normally be permitted to enter the UK."
"Anyone who is currently subject to a European Union or United Nations travel ban will not be able to come to the Games."
Current leaders such as Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad already face travel bans from the European Union, but Britain has also in the past turned away politicians including the controversial right-wing Dutch official Geert Wilders.
See our earlier post: New UK immigration rules will exclude human rights abusers (30 April 2012)
Responding to the statement, Former Foreign Office Minister Mr MacShane went on to call for Russian president Vladimir Putin and Bahrain's King Hamad, to be barred from this summer’s Games. He accused the two, who were present at Windsor Castle last week for lunch with the Queen as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, of grievous abuses, saying,
"We have reliable and credible evidence that President Putin in Russia and the King of Bahrain have allowed officials under their authority to commit human rights abuses.
"If they have any sense they will simply not come to the Olympics as the British people do not want sport to be sullied by those responsible for torture and deaths being given a red carpet welcome in London."
"I am not sure the FCO has realised the full consequences of its new policy which will be tested first of all in connection with the London Olympics."
The Queen’s lunch last week caused uproar and protests after the Kings of Bahrain and Swaziland were present, both overseeing regimes charged with abusing human rights.
See our earlier post: Rajapakse’s planned UK visit criticised (14 May 2012)
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