F1 urged to speak out on human rights situation in Azerbaijan - The Guardian

Formula One has been urged to "improve its image" by speaking out on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan, which will stage its inaugural grand prix on 19 June .


Sport For Rights – an organisation established to draw attention to Azerbaijan's human rights record – has urged Bernie Ecclestone to take a stand.


"We have called on Formula One [chief executive] Bernie Ecclestone to publicly speak out on human rights issues in Azerbaijan and to call for the release of political prisoners," the Sports for Rights campaign co-ordinator, Rebecca Vincent, said. "We wrote him an open letter and there has not been a public response yet.


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"Mr Ecclestone is in a position where he could really do good. This is an opportunity to improve Formula One's image and to help people in Azerbaijan, rather than just profiting and helping some very corrupt people."


However Vincent, who was backed up by Phil Bloomer, executive director of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, made it clear that she did not want the race airbrushed from the busy Formula One schedule.


She said: "We're not asking them to cancel the race, we're not calling on people not to go. We are asking Mr Ecclestone to use it to make a stand instead of enabling repression. He said last year that there was no big problem with human rights in Azerbaijan, and people seemed happy. It takes just five minutes on Google to see what is really going on."


Vincent revealed that the campaign group had been to the London offices of Formula One Management on Monday and spoken with two high-ranking F1 officials, with further talks planned later in the year.


Sport for Rights has also approached representatives of the pop stars Pharrell Williams, Enrique Iglesias and Chris Brown, asking them to cancel their performances over the grand prix weekend, but are still awaiting a response.


Bloomer found room to praise Formula One when he said: "F1 should be commended for developing their human rights policy. It is a decent, modest policy on human rights which follows quite religiously the United Nations' guiding principles of business and human rights.


"But we all know too many cases where human rights policies have been developed and not owned by the leadership, and I think Bernie Ecclestone's comments demonstrate that."


The London conference was launched with a Sport for Rights booklet, entitled A Full-Throttle Attack on Human Rights: What Reporters covering the F1 Baku Grand Prix should know. The booklet highlighted what the campaign groups say is the plight of political prisoners, human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers and activists.


Bloomer added: "Azerbaijan has got form. We had the European Games there last year , which was a highly expensive vanity project. These mega sporting events act as a sanitiser and also promotes the image of a modern economy. Formula One also has form in this area. In Bahrain the government used the grand prix to project a very different image to what was happening in the streets, where demonstrators were being bludgeoned, where protesters were being imprisoned."


Bloomer also warned that there was a growing impatience among sponsors. He said: "There is rising evidence that major sponsors are running out of patience with major sports who are constantly putting their events in highly oppressive states. They've said they can't abide to be associated with the ugly, polluted, poisonous, toxic brand of Fifa. And when sponsors start to speak the governing bodies somehow have to reform."


Ecclestone did not respond to attempts to contact him on Tuesday. However, an Azerbaijan embassy spokesman said: "We welcome constructive dialogue, but the call for artists not to perform is not helpful. Should we hold all sporting events in flawless western democracies?"

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