Introducing Wheelchair Curling this Coming Weekend

Last year, the Luxembourg Paralympic Committee decided to make wheelchair curling the first Luxembourg winter paralympic sport. And this coming weekend, together with Curling Luxembourg they are organising a Wheelchair Curling Induction event at the Patinoire de Kockelscheuer.

Ara City Radio talked to Karen Wauters, head of curling development at Curling Luxembourg. She told us there are only 400 hundred registered wheelchair curlers in the entire world at this moment. And with the Beijing Paralympics just around the corner, there is no better time to try out this exciting and noble winter sport.

Karen Wauters of Curling Luxembourg

And while we were at it, we chatted about curling at the recently concluded Beijing Winter Olympics. If nothing else, two things became apparent: preparation still counts, and curling is no longer that weird sports where Canadians yell at each other.

Local Matters: Olympics and Human Rights

This week on Local Matters, we focus on the Olympic Games in Beijing. Our guest for today was Olivier Pirot, General Director of Amnesty International Luxembourg who is more than concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

In January, the organisers of the Olympic Wintergames in Beijing warned athletes not to violate the “Olympic spirit” or Chinese rules, after human rights advocates expressed concerns about the safety of the athletes. “Any behaviour or speeches that is against the Olympic spirit, especially against Chinese laws and regulations, are subject to certain punishment,” said Yang Shu, deputy director general of Beijing 2022’s International Relations Department, during a press conference in January.

While athlete teams from all over the world compete in the Games, other countries decided to boycott the Olympics sending a clear message: We don’t support nor tolerate the human rights violations in China. Luxembourg is not part of this movement and neither the human rights NGO Amnesty International Luxembourg voiced a call for boycott. General Director Olivier Pirot explains: “A boycott is not enough. If you are there as a partner, it is an opportunity. You should use this opportunity to remind China of its obligations. China is member of the United Nations. So, they have to respect the human rights declaration.”

Olivier Pirot is concerned about the lack of the freedom of expression in the country, and not least about the high number of executions due to the death penalty. “Every year, we launch a report on death penalty. China is not even mentioned in the report with figures because we’re talking about thousands of executions in China. We don’t even know how many.” But Pirot is hopeful: “If you look decades back, there were a lot of countries where death penalty was still ongoing and with this slow pressure, things are changing. Every year, we see improvements. It is long processes.”