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WORLD NEWS Friday 13 January 2023

Rights group: Litany of crises in 2022 but also good signs

By EDNA TARIGAN and DA- President Luiz Inácio Lula
VID RISING da Silva over far-right Jair
Associated Press Bolsonaro.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) “Courageous people time
— Widespread opposi- and again still take extraor-
tion to Russia’s invasion dinary risks to take to the
of Ukraine demonstrates streets, even in places like
the strength of a unified Afghanistan and China, to
response against human stand up for their rights,”
rights abuses, and there HRW’s Asia director Elaine
are signs that power is shift- Pearson told reporters at
ing as people take to the the report’s launch in Ja-
streets to demonstrate their karta.
dissatisfaction in Iran, China In China, Human Rights
and elsewhere, a leading Watch said the U.N. and
rights group said Thursday. others’ increased focus on
A “litany of human rights the treatment of Uyghurs
crises” emerged in 2022, and Turkic Muslims in the
but the year also pre- Xinjiang region has “put
sented new opportunities Beijing on the defensive”
to strengthen protections internationally, while do-
against violations, Human mestic protests against the
Rights Watch said in its an- government’s “zero-COV-
nual world report on hu- Relatives of soldiers from the Azov Regiment and protesters hold banners against Russia in Lviv, ID” strategy also included
man rights conditions in Ukraine, on Aug. 18, 2022. broader criticism of Presi-
more than 100 countries Associated Press dent Xi Jinping’s rule.
and territories. bring the same spirit of soli- have happened if they with the government late As many Western govern-
“After years of piecemeal darity to the multitude of had taken such measures last year in hope of ending ments turn away from Chi-
and often half-hearted ef- human rights crises around after Russia’s annexation the conflict. na on trade toward India,
forts on behalf of civilians the globe, and not just of Crimea in 2014, or ap- The New York-based or- however, Pearson admon-
under threat in places in- when it suits their interests,” plied the lessons elsewhere ganization highlighted the ished them not to ignore
cluding Yemen, Afghani- she said. like Ethiopia, where two demonstrations in Iran that Prime Minister Narendra
stan, and South Sudan, the Following Russia’s invasion years of armed conflict has erupted in mid-September Modi’s own human rights
world’s mobilization around of Ukraine, a broad group contributed to one of the when Mahsa Amini died record.
Ukraine reminds us of the of nations imposed wide- world’s worst humanitarian after being arrested by “India, under Prime Minister
extraordinary potential ranging sanctions while ral- crises, Hassan said. the country’s morality po- Modi, has also seen very
when governments realize lying to Kyiv’s support, while “Governments and the U.N. lice for allegedly violating similar abuses, the system-
their human rights respon- the United Nations Human have condemned the sum- the Islamic Republic’s strict atic discrimination against
sibilities on a global scale,” Rights Council and the In- mary killings, widespread dress code, as well as pro- religious minorities, espe-
the group’s acting execu- ternational Criminal Court sexual violence and pillage, tests in Sri Lanka that forced cially Muslims, the stifling
tive director, Tirana Hassan, both opened investigations but have done little else,” the government of Presi- of political dissent, the use
said in the preface to the into abuses, HRW said. she said of the situation in dent Gotabaya Rajapaksa of technology to suppress
712-page report. Countries now need to ask Ethiopia, where Tigray forc- to resign, and the demo- free expression and tighten
“All governments should themselves what might es signed an agreement cratic election in Brazil of its grip on power.”q

EU court: Tourists may get refunds over COVID measures

BERLIN (AP) — Travelers tion in the price because The EU court found that “a failures to perform or im- the contract by the tour
whose package tours were of restrictions that were im- traveler is entitled to a re- proper performances” of organizer.q
ruined by the imposition of posed there two days later duction in the price of his
restrictions to combat the and their early return. or her package where a
COVID-19 pandemic may When the restrictions were lack of conformity of the
be entitled to at least a par- imposed on March 15, travel services included in
tial refund, the European beaches were closed, a the package is due to re-
Union’s highest court said curfew put in place and strictions that have been
Thursday. The European the plaintiffs were allowed imposed at the travel des-
Court of Justice weighed to leave their hotel room tination to fight the spread
in after being asked for its only to eat, the EU court of an infectious disease,
opinion by a court in Ger- said. On March 18, they such as COVID-19.”
many. The Munich court were told to be ready to It said it doesn’t matter if
is considering the case of leave at any moment, and similar restrictions are im-
two people who bought a two days after that they posed at the traveler’s
two-week package vaca- had to return to Germany. place of residence or in
tion for the Spanish island The tour operator refused other countries. The Ger-
of Gran Canaria starting on the requested reduction on man court will now have to
March 13, 2020, just as the the grounds that it couldn’t assess whether the restric- Travelers wait in line outside the terminal building to check in
and board flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Netherlands,
pandemic hit Europe. They be held liable for a “gen- tions in the specific case on June 21, 2022.
are seeking a 70% reduc- eral life risk.” at issue “could constitute Associated Press