One of the traditions for anyone hosting the games is the creation of separate protest areas. Well, they sure did that part, didn't they? Of course locking up old people for asking for a protest permit may not have been exactly what the Committee had in mind, but what the heck, the athletes had fun.

China never should have been allowed to host the games. NEVER!

>I really don't understand purpose of this message.
>Olimpics were great, that is all that matter. Human Right Watch took it little bit to far by criticising Rogge for not inserting politics where they do not belong (Olimpic games). If you ask me he did the right thing, and so did sportsmen/woman who refused to
>get entagled in issues of (Free)Tibet.
>There is time and place for everything, and this was clearly not one of them, Olimpics by their very nature should have nothing to do with politics.
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>BTW Congrats on your historic Olimpic success! Mike Phelps 8 gold meddals is really something worthed talking about :)
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>>http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/24/asia/close.php
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>>There lots of wonderful events, medals, and comradeship. However, let's not forget:
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>>"The reality is that the Chinese government's hosting of the games has been a catalyst for abuses, leading to massive forced evictions, a surge in the arrest, detention and harassment of critics, repeated violations of media freedom, and increased political repression," said Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch. "Not a single world leader who attended the games or members of the IOC seized the opportunity to challenge the Chinese government's behavior in any meaningful way."
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>>Rogge and the committee were criticized by human rights groups for their reluctance to challenge the Chinese publicly as controversies arose over media freedom and detention of dissidents.
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>>Rogge acknowledged that China, despite promises of press freedom during the games, continued to block access to numerous politically oriented Web sites, including those related to Tibet and the outlawed spiritual movement Falun Gong.
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>>Athletes shied away from making political statements, and "protest zones" established in Beijing went unused as the authorities refused to issue permits for them.
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>>No mention of the stabbing.
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>>More here:
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>>http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/chinas-thin-veil-of-compliance/1252780.aspx
>>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121946293833966137.html?mod=googlenews_wsj