Today, February 4th, 2022, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) joined Rep. Mike Gallagher (WI-08) to introduce the Guaranteeing Enemy Nations Omit from Criminalizing, Impeding, or Detaining Exceptional Global Athletes Magnifying Exploitation during Sporting Events (GENOCIDE GAMES) Act. This legislation would impose Global Magnitsky sanctions on International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials if athletes, fans, or other participants at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics or Paralympics are detained, disappeared, or otherwise deprived of their freedom of speech or other internationally-recognized human rights by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“With the Winter Olympics and Paralympics beginning in Beijing we must be able to ensure the safety of those involved. The human rights atrocities committed by the CCP are well documented and unacceptable of an Olympic host,” said Miller-Meeks. “The CCP has a long history of unjustly detaining those who speak out against the regime. The Olympics has long been a safe haven for free expression and holding the IOC accountable would be a needed step should anyone be imprisoned or disappear. I am proud to join Congressman Gallagher’s efforts to protect our athletes, coaches, and supporters in China.”
Background:
On February 2nd, Miller-Meeks spoke on the House floor condemning the gross human rights violations and oppressive actions taken by the Chinese Communist Party over the decades ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing, China.
The Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson–Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a bipartisan bill passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in December 2012, intending to punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009 and also to grant permanent normal trade relations status to Russia.
In 2016 Congress passed the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. The bill, which applies globally, authorizes the U.S. government to sanction those it sees as human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and ban them from entering the U.S.
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