U.S. Leg of Olympic Torch Relay Dodges Protestors

Heavily guarded Olympic torchbearers were re-routed during the flame’s U.S. run in San Francisco Wednesday to evade thousands of protestors assembled to denounce China’s record on human rights.

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(Photo: AP Images / Carlos Avila Gonzalez, Pool)

Protesters and spectators wait for the Olympic torch along Marina Blvd. at Broderick Street on Wednesday, April 9, 2008 in San Francisco. The Olympic torch played hide and seek with thousands of demonstrators and spectators crowding the city's waterfront Wednesday before being spirited away without even a formal goodbye on its symbolic stop in the United States.

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Under the threat of disruption, the torch trail through the city was shortened and changed to minimize opportunities for protestors to disturb the event as in previous European cities.

After the torch was lit at AT&T Park, runners and the flame went into a security warehouse where they vanished from public view for some 45 minutes, according to CNN. Later, vehicles took the torch to a nearby neighborhood, where torchbearers began the relay.

In addition to the disappearance, the torch’s closing ceremony was also suddenly canceled.

China has been under fire worldwide for its recent crackdown on freedom demonstrations in Tibet; its cozy relationship with Sudan; its brutal treatment of North Korean refugees; and its religious freedom violations among other concerns.

Protestors, although differing in their advocacy, united in demanding that China improve its human rights record to be fitting of an Olympic host before the August Games.

Specifically, some human rights groups have called for China to hold direct talks with Tibet’s political and spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, while others urged China to use its ties with Sudan to press the government to end the Darfur genocide.

Meanwhile, advocacy groups for North Korean refugees are pressing China to stop repatriating them and to allow refugees safe passage to a third country willing to accept them. Religious freedom groups, meanwhile, have demanded that China allow its citizens to worship freely without government restrictions and have spoken out against the persecution of house churches.

But protest against China’s human rights violations is far from being confined to only advocacy groups. The list includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel who has outright said she will not attend the Olympic opening ceremony; Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has called on President Bush and fellow presidential candidates to boycott the event; as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

It is still unclear whether President Bush will attend the Olympic opening ceremony. Bush is slated to attend the Games, but the White House has recently been vague on if the plan still holds.