Canada urged to boycott hockey tournament
OTTAWA — Canada’s obsession with hockey and its record as a champion of human rights are set to collide when the repressive former Soviet country of Belarus hosts the world hockey championships in May 2014.
Known as the last dictatorship in Europe, the Belarusian government has been repeatedly criticized and sanctioned by Canada and other countries for rampant human rights abuses, rigged elections and flagrant disregard for democratic principles.
For that reason, pro- democracy groups and Western politicians have called on the world to send a message to Belarus’s hockey- crazy president and boycott next year’s championships.
But with the event playing a key part in deciding whether Team Canada qualifies for the Olympics and other international tournaments, are Canadians willing to stand up for human rights at the risk of hockey glory?
The International Ice Hockey Federation world championships are usually overshadowed by the Stanley Cup playoffs every year as the two events happen at the same time.
Still, they do attract dozens of players from NHL teams not in the playoffs, while the tournament is also a factor in deciding where Canada and other participants are placed in future hockey events, including the Olympics.
“World championship events are part of a complex system of qualifying for the Olympic Games and world rankings that have an impact on where you’re seeded the following year and what events you play in the following year,” said Hockey Canada chief operating officer Scott Smith.
Despite widespread concerns about its human rights record, Belarus was selected the host country for the IIHF World Championships in May 2009.
That represented a major coup for Belarus’s increasingly isolated president, Alexander Lukashenko, an avid amateur hockey player who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1994.
IIHF spokesman Adam Steiss told Postmedia News in an email this week that the decision was made in accordance with the federation’s statutes and bylaws.
But that has been little comfort to human rights groups and Western governments who see Belarus’s selection as an affront to international efforts aimed at ending the former Soviet state’s numerous human rights abuses.
“Belarus is not called the last dictatorship in Europe for no reason,” said David Kramer, president of the Washingtonbased democracy watchdog Freedom House. “Belarus should not be afforded an opportunity to enjoy the spotlight like the ice hockey championships are going to give it.”
Canada has taken a hard line with Belarus and slapped it with tough sanctions since rigged presidential elections in 2006 that included harassment and intimidation of the opposition and a crackdown on protesters.