Protests during UN climate talks have “shocking level of censorship”

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Protesters at the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit are demonstrating for several causes, but all are limited in what they can say, where they can go and what their signs can portray. Demonstrators carried signs Saturday bearing the image of Emirati activist Ahmed Mansoor and Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah. It’s part of incredibly limited, but still-unprecedented protests being allowed to take place within the UAE. Just before the event, activists still had to cover the signs after being told it would guarantee the safety of the event. Joey Shea, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said it showed “a shocking level of censorship.”