def parse_args(args):
    """Decodes UTF-8 encoded argument values.

    Parameters
    ----------
    args : dict
        Maps arbitrary keys to UTF-8 encoded strings / byte-arrays

    Returns
    -------
    dict
        Maps keys from args to decoded strings
    """
    rv = {}
    for key in args:
        rv[key] = []
        for value in args[key]:
            rv[key].append(value.decode(encoding='UTF-8'))
    return rv
