The Olympic flame began its journey around the world this week after a brief stop-over in the Chinese capital Beijing, where it was rekindled in a heavily guarded ceremony, offering various groups a platform to deliver their message to a global audience.

Three cities in particular to be visited at the start of April are expected to serve as the stage for protests against China. Rights groups in London, Paris and San Francisco have announced plans to disrupt the Olympic torch relay to bring attention to causes ranging from Tibetan independence, to the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region, Associated Press reported. The relay will pass through the three cities between April 6 and April 9.

Earlier monk marches in Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, turned into city-wide rioting on March 14, which saw Beijing order thousands of troops to Tibet in what supporters of the region’s independence saw as a crackdown on opposition to its rule. Chinese authorities claimed that 20 people died, with its opponents saying the number was closer to 140.

The unrest was the worst in nearly two decades and brought the issue back to the attention of Western countries, prompting calls for boycotting the opening ceremony or the entire games, especially given Beijing’s less-than-spotless human rights record.

China, which is treating the Olympics as one of the symbols of its rising status in the world, is keen to avoid any shadow over the games and has blasted boycott talks. “Sensational as they are, the calls to politicise the Olympics are a blasphemy against the Olympic spirit,” government-run China Daily said in an editorial on April 1. Chinese officials have so far avoided explaining how the situation was different to 1980, when the country joined with the United States to boycott the Moscow games after Soviet troops entered Afghanistan.

The International Olympic Committee, much criticised for its decision to pick China as the location of the 2008 games, has refused to be drawn into the debate, saying on March 23, the day the fire was lit in Olympia, that it was “neither a political nor an activist organisation”.

“The Olympic Games are a force for good. They are a catalyst for change, not a panacea for all ills,” its statement read.

The Olympic torch will make short stops in 19 cities outside China in April, returning to the country via Hong Kong and Macao. For the next three months, from May 4 to August 6, it will weave across mainland China, passing through more than 100 cities before returning to Beijing. It is scheduled to pass through Tibet over three days in mid-June, with Chinese authorities saying that they were confident that there would be no security breaches.