#WhereIsPengShuai: Daily Brief

Where is Peng Shuai? And when will sports organizations such as Tennis Australia and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finally stop supporting the Xi Jinping regime strategy of suppression and start prioritizing protecting athletes and upholding its human rights obligations? Pertinent questions, as tennis fans who went to the Australian Open tennis tournament, were asked to remove t-shirts with the text Where is Peng Shuai?, referring to the Chinese tennis player and three-time Olympian who disappeared after stating on social media that she had been sexually assaulted and forced into a sexual relationship with Zhang Gaoli. This 75-year-old is one of the Chinese Communist Party’s former top officials and leader of a State Council working group overseeing preparations for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. 

After weeks of increasing concern and calls for information on the whereabouts of Peng Shuai, the IOC said in a statement that its President Thomas Bach had spoken with Peng over a 30-minute video call and was assured of her safety and wellbeing. As reported by Human Rights Watch, Chinese authorities have continued to impose a media and internet blackout of the case, and words such as “tennis” and “Peng” have been censored or restricted. And now their censorship seems to have been adopted by Tennis Australia, organizer of the Australian Open. Martina Navratilova, one of the greatest tennis players ever, calls the decision on the #WhereIsPengShuai? t-shirts 'pathetic', and says Tennis Australia is ‘capitulating’ to China over Peng Shuai.

In a year that has already been described as annus horribilis for sports and human rights, the Winter Olympics in Beijing, scheduled to begin on February 4, marks the deepest of lows. The IOC and world football federation FIFA (organizer of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar) should reverse course and back athletes and human rights over profits. "If they keep covering up for China and Qatar, their brands will be at great risk. If they acknowledge they can no longer sell games to the highest authoritarian bidder, they might survive 2022 by promising future games will be awarded on the basis of basic human rights and the values that athletes and fans expect them to share," wrote HRW's Minky Worden in this Washington Post op-ed. 

Chemical pollution has reached a dangerous level globally. According to a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology, substances introduced by human activities are interfering with the Earth’s natural systems and may have severe consequences for climate, biodiversity, and human life.

The authorities in Burundi should credibly investigate and provide a transparent and reliable account of the December 7, 2021, fire at Gitega’s central prison. Several hundred prisoners may have died or been injured.

A group of lawmakers in Guatemala has advanced a bill that would stigmatize transgender people and curtail children’s and adolescents’ rights to education, information, and health. Congress should reject the bill and instead address the violence and discrimination that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people face in the country.

As all eyes are focused on growing tensions between the Kremlin and NATO, Chechen authorities seem emboldened to be unrestrained in their use of lawless tactics in their war with dissent.

And today is the International Day of Education. For updates, follow Jo Becker, the advocacy director of HRW's children’s rights division. As the founding chairperson of the international Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, she helped campaign successfully for an international treaty banning the forced recruitment of children under age 18 or their use in armed conflict.

Also make sure you tune in for our Twitter Space today on a related topic: education under attack in Cameroon's Anglophone regions. It begins at 16:00 local time in Cameroon, and you can set your reminder here. A recording will be available via the same link.