Three human rights activists were arrest on Oct. 18 after they snuck into an archaeological site in Ancient Olympia, Greece, to protest China holding the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The activists entered the Temple of Hera to disrupt the lighting of the torch ceremony and held up a banner that read “No genocide games.”
Police quickly stopped the protesters by throwing them to the ground and detaining them. Their reasoning for sneaking into the ceremony was to question why China is holding the Winter Games despite poor treatment of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region.
Uyghur Muslims have faced harsh punishment from Secretary General Xi Jinping since 2016. Praying, having too many children, constantly turning a phone on and off, using foreign social media, and being born after the 1980s has resulted in the Muslims being put into re-education camps, according to For the Martyrs.
Uyghur women who are put into these camps face sexual assault, starvation, forced abortions and torture from the Chinese men who watch over them. However, the Chinese government denies the allegations despite the United Nations asking for access to assess these camps to determine if it is a human rights violation.
According to For the Martyrs, there have been roughly two million Uyghurs detained by the Chinese government, causing human rights activists from different parts of the world to protest anything significant to do with China, such as the 2022 Winter Olympics.
“How can Beijing be allowed to host the Olympics, given that they are committing a genocide against the Uyghurs” a protestor told the Associated Press.
Despite the disruption, the lighting of the torch ceremony proceeded as planned with the flame being carried off on a mini torch relay.
The Winter Olympics will be held from Feb. 4-20 in Beijing, making it the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics at some point.
