AMNESTY "BIASED"
Human Rights Watch fired another barrage on Tuesday, accusing the IOC of operating in a moral void, undermining human rights in China and flouting the spirit and letter of the Olympic Charter.
Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper fired back, saying the committee was not an activist group or a government.
"We can talk quietly behind the scenes but it's really up to governments to deal with matters of human rights and the NGOs concerned," he said. "Our job is to deliver a great Olympic Games for the athletes of the world and we must keep our focus on that."
In a 2001 pitch for the Games, Beijing Olympic organising chief Liu Qi said the event would "benefit the further development of our human rights cause".
The ruling Communist Party's concept of human rights emphasises basic necessities for the entire populace, like food, clothing and shelter, rather than individual freedoms, which are frequently subjugated.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Tuesday that Amnesty was biased and its report predictable.
"Anyone planning to use the Olympics to threaten China, or planning to put pressure on China, has miscalculated," Jiang told a news conference.
Introducing its campaign mascot "Nu Wa", which means angry young boy, Amnesty said his job was to counter the "Fuwa", the five official mascots of the Beijing Olympics.
"Their overly happy and cute demeanour defies the worsening human rights situation inside China today, Amnesty said. "Nu Wa wants to set the record straight."
