Feature: Sport and Human Rights
No.48
September 2006
 
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The Wrong Way Around
Keith Gilbert

 

There is a danger that as academics working in sport, we are mistakenly developing the notion that sports are more important than any other aspects of human existence. This is particularly the case with the relationship between sport and human rights. As sport academics, we are often guilty of promoting sport as the panacea for the ills of the world. As a consequence, we may be losing sight of the bona fide relationship between the protection of human rights and sport. As David (2005, p.1) remarks in the context of athletes’ rights:
If we are to understand better how human rights can improve the protection of all young athletes’ rights, the link between human rights and sport must be explored attentively.
This is an interesting point and a clear indicator of the lack of careful research into the links between the protection of human rights and sport, which are backed up by McArdle & Guiliotti (2006, p.1) who argue that:
At first glance, the work of organizations like the IOC suggests that human rights, international development and peace are pivotal to sport.
Sport however, does have strong links with development and peace and not necessarily human rights as this has been proven by the numerous projects being carried out across the world in the name of peacemaking and development. The 2003 Report on the United Nations Interagency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace comprehensively documents a full range of projects that have been pivotal in this regard. However, there is only a brief mention (p. 4) on the topic of human rights and sport, and that section only refers specifically to article 1 of the charter of Physical Education and Sport which was adopted by UNESCO in 1978. This charter states that:
The practice of physical education and sport is a fundamental human right for all. It stresses that every person is entitled to participate in sport, including especially women, young people, the elderly and the disabled.
The Interagency Task Force was a direct result of the UN Millennium Development Goals and generated the impetus for the UN 2006 Sport Development and Peace Report (in print) which highlights the significant projects developed across the world in the 2005 International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE 2005) and which was so successfully developed by the UN Office of Sport for Development and Peace. Out of this push for sport and development came some important issues which were debated at the 2nd Magglingen Conference on Sport for Development, the 2005 United Nations World Summit, The World Conference for Peace, Solidarity and Development in Spain (2005), The UN and L’Equipe Roundtable on the Indian Ocean Tsunami Aid (2005) and the Sport & Development – Economy, Culture and Ethics Conference organized by ICSSPE at Bad Boll in Germany (2005). Along with these initiatives came the important UNESCO Convention against Doping in Sport meeting in October 2005 that ‘adopted unanimously the International Convention against Doping and Sport’.
It is questionable that these conferences directly related to human rights and sport. Although sport has achieved much in the promotion of sport through development and peace, it is difficult to ascertain how sport assists in supporting the ‘Dimensions of Human Life’ which are grounded in human rights theory. These are as espoused by Kalin et al (2006, p.1) as:
  1. The rights of refugees and displaced persons
  2. Political rights and freedom of expression
  3. Fair trial and prohibition of torture
  4. The right to work
  5. The protection of property
  6. The freedom of thought and belief
  7. The right to education
  8. The protection of private life
  9. The right to food
  10. The right to health
  11. The right to housing
  12. Prohibition of discrimination and
  13. THE RIGHT TO LIFE
We may well ask how important is sport in peoples’ lives? After all, over two billion people worldwide live at or below the poverty line - is it not more important to have food on the table than to have access to sport? We could go back to the universal declaration for human rights for answers to these questions because therein lies the foundations of the arguments which we should be pursuing to the questions which we need to answer on the relationship between human rights and sport.
The recent phenomenon of linking sport and human rights by Kidd and Donnelly (2000) currently gives academics clear directions. They argue that:
Social scientists can contribute in important ways to the promotion of human rights through sports, especially at a time when thinking about human rights issues is becoming more widespread. (p. 145)
There is still a tendency for academics to equate human rights issues with those of development and peace. There is however a clear distinction. Other authors have argued similar points between the relationship between human rights and sport. Sidoti (1999, p. 21) argues that ‘sport is really a soft option’ and reiterates the question posed at the beginning of this paper - we have it ‘the wrong way round’. It should not be how human rights are articulated with sport but ‘whether sport affects the promotion of human rights’. Sidoti suggests, and is right of course, that we seem to have lost the meaning of the term and are in danger of promoting sport through the medium of human rights literature rather than coming from a human rights perspective where sport is a small microcosm of the answer to the problems of individuals’ ‘right to life’. I am suggesting that sport academics need to revisit the human rights literature in order to promote a more balanced approach rather than rely on the ‘power of sport’ to try to `patch up` the problems. As Mary Robinson, UN Human Rights Commissioner, argued in 1998 that if we:
Count up the results of 50 years of human rights mechanisms, 30 years of multi-billion dollar development programmes and endless high level rhetoric and the general impact is quite under-whelming …this is a failure of implementation on a scale that shames us all.
What hope is there of sport making an impact on the human rights issues across the world if human rights mechanisms cannot? Maybe it is possible if we know where we are going as a group. For example, it is clear from the work which came out of the 1999 Human Rights Council of Australia Conference in Sydney, Australia, entitled ‘How you play the game: The contribution of sport to the promotion of human rights’, that there is a need for another such conference to discuss the important issues of human rights and how sport can play a part in supporting the rights of individuals. This conference needs to be developed by the UN and the United Nations Human Rights Commission in conjunction with ICSSPE so that there are positive outcomes and a clear definition of the relationship between human rights and sport. David (2005) started this process by producing a book highlighting the relationship between human rights and youth sport. However, other human rights areas such as gender-based violence, poverty, cruelty, torture, racial discrimination, liberty, education, conflict, health, food and genocide have not been linked to sport. Indeed, can we link sport to some of these important issues? I think not in all cases but I am willing to debate the issues further.
Obviously, some quality papers and books have been developed over the past few years. Please see for example (Burke & Roberts, 2005; Corbett: 1999; David, 2005; Guilianotti, 1999; Hums, 2005; Lapchick, 2005; McArdle, 1999; McArdle & Guilianotti, 2006; Miah: 1999). All are seminal and provide examples of the nature of the relationship between sport and human rights. However, I would still argue that we really do have it ‘the wrong way around’ and that the protection of one’s human rights are much more important than sport. As reported by Amnesty International (2004, paragraph 1) in its Human Rights Report on China:
Despite a few positive steps, no attempt was made to introduce the fundamental legal and institutional reforms necessary to bring an end to serious human rights violations. Tens of thousands of people continued to be detained or imprisoned in violation of their rights to freedom of expression and association, and were at serious risk of torture or ill-treatment.
Consequently, for some, the problems of life are insurmountable. For example, in some parts of Ethiopia, Lebanon, Kosovo, Somalia, Rwanda and other war-ravaged countries, the playing of sport is far from important. As I have indicated elsewhere:
The last thing on peoples’ minds when they are homeless and hungry is the playing of sport; the last thing on peoples’ minds when they are fighting for survival against torture is the playing of sport; the last thing on peoples’ minds when women are being mutilated is the playing of sport; the last thing on severely disabled people’s minds is the playing of sport. If you’re a refugee, sport doesn’t matter unless you’re locked in an internment camp and are looking to pass the time. (Gilbert, 2006, p. 22)
Within this context, sport can be classified as a time filler, an aside, nonessential to daily life and a soft option on the human rights agenda and we need to change this perception. Perhaps we need to do more work like the groundbreaking successes that the ‘Right to Play’ organization is achieving. They believe they can ’empower children and communities to look after themselves and each other’ and they ‘emphasize the best values of sport and strive to inspire respect, compassion, optimism, integrity and joy’. This programme has made a difference to enhancing the quality of life of their target groups. As academics, we can make a difference if we better understand what we are trying to communicate when talking about human rights and sport, and focus our attempts towards these unified objectives.
For example, if survival is the key, health should be an objective and if sport can support the development of health for the marginalized (Cook & Gilbert, 2006), then we should use it as one of a series of tools rather than the panacea. We must put sport in the right perspective and not champion its cause above other more important social issues. Indeed, does sport really matter in relation to human rights? We need to try and get it the right way around.

References
Amnesty International. (2004). China. Retrieved from http://web.amnesty.org/ report2004/chn-summary-eng.
Burke, M., & Roberts, T. (1999, September) Drugs, sport and human rights. Paper presented at the Human Rights Council of Australia Conference, How You Play the Game: The Contribution of Sport to the Promotion of Human Rights. Sydney, Australia.
Cook, K., & Gilbert, K. (2006). Life on the margins: Implications for health research. French’s Forest, Sydney, Australia: Pearson Education
Corbett, D. (1999, September). Ethics and moral behavior in sport: A human rights issue, Paper presented at the Human Rights Council of Australia Conference, How You Play the Game: The Contribution of Sport to the Promotion of Human Rights. Sydney, Australia.
David, P. (2005). Human rights in sport: A critical review of children’s rights in
competitive sports
. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis.
Gilbert, K. (2006). Sport, peace and development. Keynote Speech,
Conference on Sport & Coaching, Johor Bahru Sports Council,
Johor, Malaysia.
Hums, M.A. (2005, October). Sport as a human right: The role of the Olympic Movement. Presented at the annual conference of the North American Society for Sport Sociology, Winston-Salem, NC.
Kalnin, W. Muller, L., & J. Wyttenbach (2006). (Eds.) The face of human rights. Baden, Switzerland: Lars Muller Publications.
Kidd, B. & Donnelly, P. (2000). Human rights in sport, International Review for the Sociology of Sport 35(2), pp. 131-148
Lapchick, R. E. (1999, September). The new racial stereotypes of the 1990’s. Paper presented at the Human Rights Council of Australia Conference, How you Play the Game: The Contribution of Sport to the Promotion of Human Rights, Sydney, Australia.
McArdle, D. (1999). Beyond a boundary: sexual harassment in sports employment. Paper presented at the Human Rights Council of Australia Conference, How You Play the Game: The Contribution of Sport to the Promotion of Human Rights, Sydney, Australia.
McArdle, D., & Giulianotti, R. (2006). (Eds) Sport, civil liberties & human rights. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis.
Miah, A. (1999, September). The human rights of the genetically engineered athlete. Paper presented at the Human Rights Council of Australia Conference, How You Play the Game: The Contribution of Sport to the Promotion of Human Rights. Sydney, Australia.
Robertson, G. (1999). Crimes against humanity: The struggle for global justice. Allan Lane, The Penguin Press.
Sidoti, C. (1999, September). Rules beyond the game, Paper presented at the Human Rights Council of Australia Conference, How You Play the Game: The Contribution of Sport to the Promotion of Human Rights. Sydney, Australia.
United Nations. (2003). Sport for development & peace: Towards achieving the Millennium Goals. Report from the United Nations Inter- Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace. New York: Author.
United Nations. (2006). Report on sport development & peace (IYSPE 2005) (in print). New York, NY: Author.


Contact
Dr. Keith Gilbert
University of the West of England
Great Britain
gilbert.keith@gmail.com




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