text:
Terrifying folk rituals from Japan added to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Traditional namahage demon costumes from different villages in Akita prefecture, Japan. Photo by Douglas P Perkins Douglaspperkins/CC 3.0
Together with Jamaica's reggae, Irish hurling and traditional Georgian wrestling, Japan's “visiting deity” folk rituals (来訪神, raihoshin) were added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in November 2018.
The rituals were added to the UNESCO list for a variety of reasons, primarily because by performing the rituals “local people — notably children — have their identities molded, develop a sense of affiliation to their community,” according to UNESCO in its announcement.
Visiting deity rituals are performed in rural communities all over Japan, typically at the end of the year, or when seasons change, especially at summer's end and the start of fall, and the traditional end of winter — according to Japan's old calendar — and the start of spring. The rituals and deities are based on folk traditions with far older roots in Japan than Buddhism or even Shintoism.
According to UNESCO:
Raihoshin rituals take place annually in various regions of Japan — especially in the Tohoku, Hokuriku, Kyushu and Okinawa regions — on days that mark the beginning of the year or when the seasons change. Such rituals stem from folk beliefs that deities from the outer world — the Raihoshin — visit communities and usher in the new year or new season with happiness and good luck.
While the rituals differ from region to region, the visiting deities are best known as namahage, a kind of ogre or demon. The rituals generally involve men or women dressed as namahage demons or other raishoshin using crude costumes and masks — and sometimes armed with knives.
Often the demons enter homes to scare children until placated with sake, beer or a similar offering. In other variations of the ritual, the demons chase children through the streets to scare them.
In this video from Kumamoto, on the southwestern island of Kyushu, a man dressed as a namahage enters a home during setsubun, traditionally the day before the start of spring and now observed each year on February 3.
In some parts of Kumamoto, a namahage visits the household, terrifying the young children. Part of the setsubun tradition all over Japan involves children throwing roasted soybeans at a family member wearing an ogre mask, but in Kumamoto children can throw beans at someone wearing the full ogre costume from head to toe, appearing to be the “real thing”:
There are variations on the tradition throughout the Japanese archipelago. The island of Miyako, in the far southwestern reaches of Japan, performs the Paantu ritual. The local men who play the role of visiting gods wear crude masks and cover their bodies with mud and vines, and then lurch around towns smearing mud on people for good health and fortune for the next twelve months.
The ritual, of course, frightens the wits out of local children:
Other traditional rituals included in the UNESCO visiting deity listing include the Akusekijima God Boze Festival, Kagoshima's mendon ritual, and the don-don ritual observed in the Koshikijima islands off the coast of southwestern Japan, where a visiting demon or ogre, dressed in leaf fronds, admonishes a child to behave in the coming year:
Akita Prefecture in northeastern Japan is perhaps most famous for visiting deity rituals, and there is a museum devoted to the namahage demons at the base of the Oga Peninsula.
After failing to get Akita's namahage ritual added to UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list several years ago, Japan decided to submit all visiting deity rituals as a single group in 2018 and was successful.
Japan's persistence at listing various cultural assets and practices with UNESCO has not gone unnoticed by some observers.
UNESCO Adds Whole Of Japan To World Heritage List To Save Timehttps://t.co/evzpAOjPh1#UNESCO #Waybackwasabi #Japan #WBW
— The Rising Wasabi ? (@therisingwasabi) November 30, 2018

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Macedonia’s former ruling party organized a trolling apparatus for spreading hate speech, threats · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

The headquarters of political party VMRO-DPMNE in Skopje, Macedonia. Photo by Global Voices, CC-BY.
A former Macedonian government official revealed on November 28 that the right-wing populist party VMRO-DPMNE created a ‘system’ for spreading hate speech through organized mass trolling efforts. The VMRO-DPMNE  ruled the country from 2006 until 2017, when it was voted out of power.
VMRO-DPMNE became disgraced in 2015 when opposition politicians revealed that the party conducted massive wiretapping operations that placed tens of thousands of Macedonian government officials, political activists and journalists under unlawful surveillance for years at a time. VMRO-DPMNE is a member of the European People's Party, which received diplomatic support from Russia in their struggle to remain in power during this time. It is also a close ally of Hungary's ruling right-wing populist party Fidesz.
In an interview with national-level TV channel Kanal 5, Nikola Todorov, a former high-level official of VMRO-DPMNE, revealed that the party created and is still actively running online “troll farms”. Todorov held posts as the Minister of Education and Minister of Health, but was later expelled by party management over a tactical dispute.
Никола Тодоров за вмровските ботови со лажни 15-20 акаунти што РАБОТАТ во штаб – така функционира ВМРО ДПМНЕ pic.twitter.com/UYblFWG8oO
— Виктор Стевич (@ViktorStevich) December 1, 2018
Nikola Todorov comments on VMRO bots with 15-20 fake accounts which HAVE JOBS in their headquarters – this is how VMRO-DPMNE functions.
In the video, the former minister, who now works as a lawyer, explains that the party has established a system for incentivizing party members and agents to issue serious threats and use hate speech against people online. He implies that that system has been functioning for a long time.
Тодоров: …Видете сега. Тоа се оние ботови. Партиски ботови, коишто имаат задача да ги спроведат тие негативни или деструктивни идеи на раководството на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ и да шират говор на омраза и да шират невистини… Каква група… Целиот тој систем на линч на социјални мрежи којшто го има изградено ВМРО-ДПМНЕ во овој момент е многу опасен. И би рекол… Се плашам дека ќе ги заглават тие луѓе коишто работат во тој систем. Тоа се млади луѓе, на дваесетина години, коишто седат позади компјутер…
Новинарка: Сега конкретно, во оваа ситуација, тоа е нешто ново, или…?
Тодоров: Не (е ново). Тоа функционира во ВМРО-ДПМНЕ и така ВРМО-ДПМНЕ функционира. Даваат насока „расчерете го Никола Тодоров на социјална мрежа“. И знаете како функционира тоа после? Има дваесетина луѓе којшто седат пред компјутер, имаат по 10 или 15 лажни профили, секој од нив… И почнуваат со закани, навреди, измислици итн. а позади стојат лажни профили. Ако има двесетина луѓе со по, не знам, петнаесеттина лажни профили, се креира некаква перцепција дека огромен број на луѓе, не знам, триста – двеста, триста, четрсто луѓе мислат на еден начин. А тоа не е така.
Ако е тој систем направен да се креира перцепција и да има политичка функција, односно да се стекнат некакви политички поени, можеби можам и да разберам. Ама ако тој систем е ставен на едно (ниво)… Деструкцијата на тој систем е ставена на максимум и се однесува и се служи со закани, со навреди итн. тогаш е тоа hate speech, тоа е ширење говор на омраза. Тоа е забрането и многу опасно.
Nikola Todorov: …Look here. It's those bots. Political party bots, whose job is to promote all those negative and destructive ideas of VMRO-DPMNE management, and to spread hate speech and falsehoods….This whole system for lynching via social networks that was built by VMRO-DPMNE is very dangerous at this moment. I would say… I'm afraid the people who work for that system would end up in jail for obeying the orders of VMRO-DPMNE management. And these are young people, in their twenties, who sit behind computers…
Journalist: Is this something new, related to this situation, or…
Todorov: No [it is not new]. This functions within VMRO-DPMNE and that has been the the way VMRO-DPMNE works. They give an order “tear to pieces Nikola Todorov on social networks.” And you know how that functions afterwards? There are about 20 people sitting behind computers, each with 10-15 fake profiles. And then they start with threats, insults, fabrications et cetera from those fake profiles. If there are about 20 with around 15 profiles each, they create the perception that an enormous number of people, say 200-300-400, think in that way. Which is not so.
If that system was built to create public perceptions for a political purpose, to gain some political points, I might understand. But this system works at a different level… Destructiveness within that system is at a maximum, using threats, defamation and spreading hate speech. Which is a forbidden [criminal] offence and very dangerous.
Todorov is right. Under the Macedonian Criminal Code, spreading forms of hate speech via computer systems is a criminal act, with penalties ranging between one to ten years in prison. Due to the corruption of law enforcement during the rule of VMRO-DPMNE, such crimes were not prosecuted, and perpetrators enjoyed full impunity.
Several Twitter users described their own encounters with members of the party system. Alongside paid trolls situated within communication centers at the party head quarters, it appears that low-level party members are also urged to create multiple profiles of their own and join the effort to spread these messages.
Нема да ја именувам,другарка ми е не навлегувам од кои причини е член на вмро ама се сеќавам кога пред 3-4 години ме молеше да и направам два-три лажни ФБ профили.. за ништо во животот не сум и рекла не ама тоа не го прифатив, ја одбив но сепак сеуште се дружиме без разлика на се
— Германка™?? (@sugaryouknowme) December 1, 2018
I can't reveal her name, but a friend of mine for undisclosed reasons became a member of VMRO-DPMNE. I remember 3-4 years ago she asked me to make 2-3 fake profiles on Facebook for her… I haven't refused anything to her, but I couldn't accept that. Still we still hang out regardless.
Over the years, party members and dependents were ordered to regularly visit certain Facebook pages and click likes and shares, or to add favorable comments to certain party posts.
Who has been paying for this party propaganda machine? The Macedonian taxpayers! Despite Macedonia's struggling economy and high unemployment rate, taxpayers supported a bloated state administration under the VMRO-DPMNE, which included jobs for party trolls, who were hired as civil servants or freelance contractors for government institutions.
In 2015, European Union facilitator Peter Vanhoutte revealed that the total amount paid in personal income taxes by the party in 2014 was about 3,200 euros — the equivalent to employment of one person.
According to my calculations, with this amount of money you can hire one person. So the biggest party in the country formally employs only one person? I see this as a problem and it may imply that the people working in the party are paid by the Government.
Citizens on Twitter corroborated these widespread perceptions with their own examples.
И не само што правеа по 2-3 профила, туку имаа и апликација која им ги броеше лајкови и споделувања рангирани по општински организации. демек да се видат кои биле најактивни. И треба да се признае дека се тоа е за една обична работа во држ.администрација, за просечна плата.
— The Keeper (@Moskopole) December 1, 2018
Not only they were making 2-3 profiles per each member, they also had an app that counted their likes and shares categorized by municipal party branch, in order to see who is most active. We have to admit that in return they got menial jobs in the state administration, for an average salary.
Populist VMRO-DPMNE has nurtured its troll army for several years, and they seem to have received a boost in foreign expertise during the most critical days of the political crisis. An investigative report by BuzzFeed News and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed that at least one member of Russia’s “troll factory”, Anna Bogacheva, charged by US special counsel Robert Mueller for allegedly interfering in the US 2016 elections, took a business trip to Macedonia in June 2015. This was soon after the VMRO-DPMNE appointed president of the country defied NATO solidarity with Ukraine, and paid homage to Vladimir Putin during Moscow Victory Day Parade.
Other right-wing populist parties in the Balkans are also known to have formed troll armies. In Serbia, members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) are known as SNS-bots by the critical public. Although these accounts are informally referred to as “bots”, they appear to be people running multiple accounts and behaving like robots.
Serbian newspaper Danas reported that at a session of SNS Executive Committee held on November 30 in Čačak, “a party official in charge of the internet team announced that SNS has 3,456 bots in charge of meticulous posting of comments on news portals, websites and FB pages.” The official further reported that these “bots” had written approximately 10 million comments over the past year.
After quotes from the interview started to appear on social networks, another former official from the same party, Ganka Cvetanova, reprimanded Todorov for not “respecting” party secrets. This led to further reactions by citizens who commented on her tweet:
According to a former minister of culture, integrity in politics is about keeping mum about the dirty tactics of your former party.
According to most people with integrity, keeping mum about dirty tactics is about omerta, the code of silence in the Mafia https://t.co/szAewVOr34
— “Европеец еден начитан” (@petark) December 2, 2018

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
Netizen Report: Who else is being silenced in Saudi Arabia? · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

Image licensed to public domain, without attribution.
The Advox Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in Internet rights around the world. This report covers news and events from November 16 – Dec 1, 2018.
The October 2018 murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi — who US and Turkish officials say was killed at the order of Crown Prince Bin Salman — has cast new light on the many human rights abuses that take place in the Kingdom.
One of the most pressing topics for activists in the Kingdom is Saudi Arabia’s antiquated, patriarchal system of male guardianship, under which a woman must have the consent of a male guardian if she wishes to get married, rent her own apartment, apply for a passport or travel outside the country. Multiple prominent women’s rights activists have been arrested for their participation in online campaigns against the guardianship system.
One of them, Eman Al-Nafjan, is the author of the blog Saudiwoman, where she wrote about women's rights, social issues and cultural understanding in the Kingdom. Al-Nafjan has been in detention since mid-May, after Saudi authorities detained and held her incommunicado in an undisclosed location, along with two other activists.
Another is Samar Badawi, a tireless campaigner for women's rights who has been arrested and investigated several times by Saudi authorities and was most recently arrested on July 30, 2018. She has been in detention ever since, without charge. Badawi is the sister of Raif Badawi, a blogger who in 2014 was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes on apostasy charges related to Free Saudi Liberals, a website that he created to foster public debate.
In late November, Amnesty International received testimonies of torture, including flogging and sexual harassment, from activists jailed at Dhahban Prison, where both al-Nafjan and Badawi are held.
Religious discrimination is also a prominent issue for Saudi advocates. Israa Al-Ghomgham and her husband, activist Mousa Al-Hashim, were arrested in 2015 over their roles in anti-government protests in 2011. Both had used online and offline tools to advocate for human rights protections for Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority.
Today, Al-Ghomgham is facing charges including “preparing, sending and storing material that would harm the public order” under Article 6 of the Cybercrime Act. She also stands accused of “inciting rallies and young people against the state and security forces on social networking sites”, and posting photos and videos of these protests online. State prosecutors working on her case are seeking the death penalty.
For Saudi citizens who are speaking out about rule of law, human rights violations and other matters of public concern, the internet and social media services are critical platforms, as it is often impossible, if not incredibly dangerous, to speak about these issues in other spaces. If Israa Al-Ghomgham is convicted under the Cybercrime Act, the cost of speaking out online will be clearer than ever.
In recent months, police in China have been threatening Twitter users and demanding that they remove certain politically sensitive tweets or delete their accounts altogether, according to recent reports by AFP and China Change.
While Twitter is blocked by China’s so-called Great Firewall, a small set of internet-savvy activists and commenters maintain Twitter accounts by using VPNs and other censorship circumvention tools. Among the Twitter accounts deleted was that of Wu Gan, a long-standing advocate for human rights in China, and prominent online civil society organizer.
In a passionate essay describing the importance of Twitter accounts like Wu’s and urging Twitter to reinstate the account, China Change contributor Yaxue Cao wrote:
Twitter became a safe haven for him and other human rights activists. There, they didn’t have to worry about their accounts being deleted, and they expressed their thoughts freely and left a record of their activities and thoughts – Twitter was their open diary.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission began blocking Skype on November 18. The Dhaka Tribune and Daily Star both reported that the block appears to have been triggered by the activities of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The party’s acting chairperson, Tarique Rahman, had apparently been interviewing potential candidates for the party ticket via Skype. Rahman has lived in exile in the UK since 2008, when he fled the country after being convicted on multiple charges of corruption, money laundering and involvement with political violence.
While the block may stop Rahman — and everyone else in Bangladesh — from using Skype, other voice over IP services remain accessible in the country.
Spain's new data protection law, approved by the Senate on November 21, will allow political parties to create ideological profiles of citizens using information taken from web pages and social media. It will also allow them to use private contact information they find on those same sites to send political advertising over private communication channels like email and SMS.
While much of the law is intended to put Spain into compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), provisions like this one fall outside of the GDPR, which applies to private companies and organizations, but not political parties. Speaking with Spanish daily El Diario, free expression advocate Yolanda Quintana said that the law will “convert personal data into electoral merchandise” and that it will effectively legalize practices of companies like Cambridge Analytica.
An Indonesian school teacher was sentenced to six months in prison and a 500 million Rupiah (nearly USD $34,000) fine by Indonesia's Supreme Court in early November for recording a sexually explicit phone call she received from her school’s headmaster, who had been harassing her at work.
After the recording circulated on a WhatsApp group, the headmaster caught wind of the matter and filed a defamation complaint against Nuril, which on appeal led to her conviction under two sections of Indonesia’s Electronic Information and Transactions law, one of which addresses online defamation. The other criminalizes making or distributing “pornographic content” online.
Nuril’s prison term was temporarily suspended following online protests and public appeals to federal authorities, but there is no indication that the sentence will be revoked.
RECKLESS VI: Mexican Journalists Investigating Cartels Targeted with NSO Spyware Following Assassination of Colleague – Citizen Lab
‘Fake News’, Disinformation and Media Trust in Africa: A Comparative Study of Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa – Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid Morales
Afef Abrougui, Ellery Roberts Biddle, L. Finch, Rohith Jyothish, Rezwan Islam, Oiwan Lam, Georgia Popplewell, Elizabeth Rivera and Juke Carolina Rumuat contributed to this report.

author: Netizen Report Team


text:
Remembering LGBT activist Zak Kostopoulos: killed by a lynch mob, slandered by Greek media · Global Voices
Maria Soulis

Activist and LGBTQI advocate Zak Kostopoulos. Photo widely circulated online.
On September 21, well-known Greek LGBTQI activist Zak Kostopoulos was lynched in Athens in a case that shocked and divided Greek society, and whose repercussions are still being felt.
The case first became known to the public through a series of three citizen videos [trigger warning: disturbing content] showing a man being beaten up by two others on Gladstone Street in Omonoia Square as he attempted to escape from a jewellery store. His identity at that point was unknown. One of the videos shows two police officers kicking and then handcuffing the victim as he lied unconscious on a pool of blood on the ground.
One day after the videos circulated, the man's identity was released: he was Zacharias Kostopoulos, 33, better known as Zak or Zackie Oh, an LGBTQI and HIV-positive activist, writer, and drag queen.
While the two perpetrators — the jeweller himself and a neighbouring shopkeeper — were arrested soon thereafter, the revelation of Zak's identity turned out to be a pivotal moment in the story — it unleashed both overwhelming demands for justice from LGBTQI communities from across the country, as well as hate speech against such communities and Zak himself.
Inflaming that hate speech, in particular, was Greek mainstream media, who portrayed Zak as a “junkie robber” and the perpetrators as the victims who were merely trying to protect their businesses.
For example, while the media reported the cause of death as “undetermined“, the initial forensic notes actually said “cannot be determined yet” — meaning that a definite conclusion could only be made after the histological and toxicological exams had been cleared.
The “junkie” narrative was echoed by many on social media, where it latched on homophobic views as well. In September, journalist and author Vassilis Kasimatis posted on Facebook an opinion that resonates with that of many other Greeks:
Ζακ Κωστόπουλος. ΑΠΟ ΚΑΚΟΥΡΓΟΣ ΛΗΣΤΗΣ… ΗΡΩΑΣ!!
[…]
Το γεγονός ότι αυτός ο αλήτης ο Ζακ ήταν gay δεν θα πρέπει ουδολως να επηρεάζει τη κρίση μας. Κι αυτό γιατί υποσυνείδητα στοχοποιούμε και παλι την gay κοινότητα δίχως ουσιαστικό λόγο. Τα ίδια και με τις αισχρες παρελάσεις των gay. Ο στόχος – και μόνο – του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ είναι να προκαλέσουν το μίσος ανάμεσα μας. Το γεγονός ότι έχουν διορίσει ως διοικητή του τμήματος αντιρατσιστικής βίας, ένα δημοσιως δηλωμένο ομοφυλόφιλο, ο οποίος κατά καιρους προβαίνει σε απαράδεκτες ανακοινώσεις, (οπως η τελευταία δήλωση αλληλεγγυης στον ληστή Ζακ) υπηρετεί τον ίδιο αυτό σκοπό. (Θα πρέπει να μετατεθεί ΑΜΕΣΑ!!)
[…]
Ένας gay (ο Ζακ) έπραξε το κακούργημα της ληστείας. Ορθώς αμύνθηκε ο κοσμηματοπώλης. Τέλεια και παύλα. Μέχρι εκεί.
Θέλω να πιστεύω ότι θα αθωωθεί πλήρως στο δικαστήριο ο νοικοκύρης ιδιοκτητης και θα τελειώσουν όλα εκεί.
Μην απορήσετε αν κάνουν άγαλμα τον Ζακ όπως έκαναν και με τον Παύλο Φύσσα.
[…]
Zak Kostopoulos. FROM A CRIMINAL ROBBER… [to a] A HERO!!
[…]
The fact that this tramp Zak was gay should not influence our judgement. Because we subconsciously target again the gay community for no real reason. Same with the unscrupulous gay parades. The only aim of SYRIZA [the ruling political party] is to provoke hatred among the people. The fact that they have appointed an openly declared homosexual as director of the Anti-racist Violence Department, who makes casually unacceptable announcements (such as the latest solidarity call with the robber Zak) serves the same purpose. (He must be moved IMMEDIATELY!!)
[…]
A gay man (Zak) did the felony of robbery. The jeweller rightly defended himself. End of story. Enough.
I want to believe that the “landlord” will be fully acquitted in court and all will end up there.
Do not wonder if they make a statue to Zak as they did with Pavlos Fyssas [an antifascist Greek rapper murdered in 2013].
[…]
Meanwhile, the investigation into Zak's murder was fraught with delays and shortcomings.
Besides the apparent use of excessive force on a person who was unconscious, police officers failed to collect evidence from the crime scene in time, nor did they obtain testimony from eyewitnesses — the owner even managed to tidy up the store afterwards.
However, police trade union officers have lauded their colleagues’ behaviour. The president of the union, Dimosthenis Pakos, told TV station ANT1:
Όλες οι αστυνομικές πρακτικές λένε τα ίδια πράγματα. Πάνε σε ένα συμβάν στο οποίο καλούνται να αντιμετωπίσουν ένα άτομο οπλισμένο σε αμόκ. Αυτό γνωρίζουν. Τίποτα άλλο. Για να χειροπεδηθεί και να μην τραυματιστεί διερχόμενος πολίτης ή ο ίδιος, αυτή είναι η πρακτική. Σ’ όποιον αρέσει.
All police practices say the same thing. They are going to an incident where they have to deal with an armed and running amok person. That's what they know; nothing else. In order to be handcuffed and not to injure a passing citizen or himself, the practice is the same. Take it or leave it.
The attitude of National Emergency Center's staff was also questioned — one video shows two EKAB men standing aside as the police kick the victim.
On November 20, the final postmortem's results were released: Zak has suffered ischemic-type myocardial lesions due to the multiple injuries in his body, which caused intense stimulation and consequently his death. The results of the toxicology tests were also clear.
But Faye Karavasili made a reflection on her Facebook page: what if the victim was a “junkie”?
So, there goes the “junkie robber” theory.
His tox screen was clean and he died as a direct result of the lynching he received. He didn't overdose. He didn't catch a cold.
But that is not the scary part. What really scares me is the need for the side of the victim to prove they were a “good guy” after all, as if “bad guys”” and “junkies” and “petty criminals”, none of which was the case for Zak, can have their rights revoked and their lives removed without due process or trial by any crowd at any time. I know that if I didn't know him, maybe I wouldn't have been so vested into finding out what happened to him. All the same, I refuse to live in a society that justifies the mob killing of a weakened man of less than 50 kg in the middle of the day in the middle of Athens at the hands of a crowd. If that really were a junkie, we would not be having this conversation now and it is a bloody crucial conversation to have. You can't both love law and order AND applaud such suspension of BOTH. You can't complain about the violence if you are the one justifying it or inflicting it directly. Every day, Greece disgusts me more.
A moment from a protest dedicated to Zak Kostopoulos in Athens, October 2, 2018. Photo by FB public timeline of photojournalist Marios Lolos. Used with permission.
On October 2, LGBTQI organisations, anti-racist collectives and non-parliamentary left-wing organisations held a mass protest in central Athens. On October 6, activists visited the President of the Hellenic Parliament and filed a petition demanding the case to be investigated. Soon afterwards, the attorney general opened an investigation of a possible racist motive behind the murder of Zak Kostopoulos.
Over 200 Greek journalists and photographers signed a statement critiquing the sensational and accusatory way Greek media covered the story. Dozens of artists have also signed an open letter demanding clarification of the circumstances under which Zak lost his life.
About a month after the incident, Zak's mother, Eleni Kostopoulou, sent a letter to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras calling for the “fair punishment” of those who participated in the murder of her son. The Prime Minister replied two days later saying that her loss shall not be forgotten by those who are committed to the struggle for a society where human life is the ultimate value.
On November 20, the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, a 2011 speech by Zak was screened for a mass gathering in Athens. Afterwards, the participants marched towards the Greek Parliament while holding candles. A similar event was also held in Thessaloniki.
The Forensic Architecture Research Center has announced its support to Zak's family and for this reason, it has established an exclusive platform for the collection of audiovisual material about his case, and submission of content can be made anonymously.
A volunteer initiative, Justice 4 Zak/Zackie, was also set up to bring justice to Zak Kostopoulos.
Zak's Facebook profile, which is now a memorialised account, is flooded with thousands of messages of solidarity.

author: Maria Soulis


text:
This epic poem describes the grief of Yugoslavs over the death of John F. Kennedy · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

John F. Kennedy’s book, “A Nation of Immigrants”, on a bookshelf. Photo by author.
An epic poem written in 1965 expressing the grief of Yugoslavs over the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy was posted on Twitter by a historian last November 2018, which reminded many of the close relations between the former Yugoslavia and the United States during the Cold War era.
Milorad Lazić, а PHD candidate at George Washington University, tweeted about an epic poem titled “Death in Dallas” which reflected the popularity of Kennedy in Yugoslavia.
#JFK ‘s death shocked Yugoslavia. A folk song commemorated the fallen hero:
Наша Влада и Извршно вјеће
болно своје шаљу савучешће.
На пол копља све наше заставе,
свуд су боли изражене праве.
Пријатеља неста Кенедија,
жалила га сва наша нација pic.twitter.com/LHAhRhbIGf
— Milorad Lazić (@LazicMilorad) November 22, 2018
#JFK ‘s death shocked Yugoslavia. A folk song commemorated the fallen hero:
[Lyrics translation – they rhyme in original]
Our government and Federal Executive Council
full of sadness send their sympathy.
All our flags are at half mast,
everywhere people express true grief.
Our friend Kennedy is gone,
our whole nation mourns.
The epic poem narrates some of the events leading to the assassination
“Death in Dallas”described the drama on 11/22/63:
Tek što prođe povožnjačić mali
a gusarska snajperka opali.
S lica nesta razdraganog smješka
tragedija dogodi se teška
Prvi metak Kenedija gađa
ne sluteći šta se sve događa
Žena kriknu: ubiše mi muža!
Krv poteče po buketu ruža #JFK pic.twitter.com/UvRGNtxjAR
— Milorad Lazić (@LazicMilorad) November 23, 2018
“Death in Dallas”described the drama on 11/22/63:
As they passed through the underpass
villain's sniper rifle started shooting.
The gleeful smile disappeared
as the hard tragedy unfolded.
The first bullet struck Kennedy
with a dark surprise for everybody.
The wife cried out “They've killed my husband!”
as his blood flew over her bouquet of roses.
The full 17 minutes of the epic poem sung by Jozo Karamatić, an ethnic Croatian singer from Herzegovina, released as 7″ single record by Zagreb company Jugoton in 1965, is available online in several YouTube versions.
Oral epic poetry, or the retelling of the deeds of mythical beings and heroes in long verse form, has been a trademark of the cultures of the Balkan peoples since the time of Homer who wrote Iliad and Odyssey. In the 19th century the poetry of the South Slavic peoples received much attention by Western scientists as a living embodiment of ancient practices that had vanished in the rest of Europe. Many of the folk singers sung their rhyming tales of resistance to invaders accompanied with a one-string musical instrument called gusla or gusle in the manner of medieval bards.
The tradition continued well into the 20th century in the mountainous parts of Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. After World War II it became part of Yugoslav pop culture, as folk music enjoyed revival through the development of vinyl record industry.
Besides the old classics, some of these folk singers also composed their own pieces based on the traditional styles. One of these records include the epic poem ‘Death in Dallas’.
After a period of cooling down of relations between the United States and socialist Yugoslavia in the late 1950s, Kennedy’s administration worked hard to ensure that it would remain independent i.e. it would not become part of the Soviet Bloc. This included reinstating Yugoslavia's Most Favored Nation status to re-enable trade and economic aid, as well as boost the prestige for Yugoslav leadership which kept balancing between the West and the Soviet Republic.
Kennedy, a World war II veteran, also already had a favorable reputation in Yugoslavia because of his support to the anti-fascist cause.
He even visited the country once during a European tour when he was still a senator.
Members of the US Army 8th Evacuation Hospital in Skopje, following the earthquake in 1963. The unit was flown to the disaster site to provide medical care to the victims. Public domain photo via Wikipedia.
Moreover, Kennedy achieved hero status among ordinary Yugoslavs thanks to the speedy US aid reaction after the earthquake that devastated Skopje in July 1963, killing over 1,070 people and leaving around 200,000 homeless. Just two days after the tragedy struck, the US Army delivered hospital services that helped tend to the thousands injured. Kennedy’s administration kept providing many kinds of aid including temporary housing.
Improvement of relations culminated with the first visit by Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito to the White House in October 1963. The gracious meeting between the two leaders is amply documented by the Kennedy presidential library. In Yugoslavia, it served as proof of the greatness of its leader and by association, the importance of the country on the world stage in spite of its small size.
All of the above factors contributed to the intensity of the shock and mourning after the assassination of Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
In its own peculiar way, the epic poem “Death in Dallas” had provided a record of the feelings that resonated among ordinary people from Slovenia to Macedonia.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the singing of epic poetry become less popular, as the public turned to shorter song forms. However, some of the nationalist factions which started the Balkan wars in the 1990s promoted it as part of their propaganda as a way to show that they are defenders of tradition. It is still practiced, albeit almost exclusively within the framework of preserving folklore tradition.


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AMLO, Mexico’s new pacifist president, will create a militarised police force to fight street crime · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Illustration published by www.terceravía.mx. Top sentence: “Everything points to perpetuation of the failed military strategy for public security carried out by Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Neto”, followed by “Why do we say this?” Square one: “It would involve the naval, military and the federal polices.” Square 2: “It would oversee crime prevention, public security, peace recovery and fighting crime”. Square 3: “In order to achieve its objectives, fifty thousand additional soldiers would need to be recruited, and they would be deployed on the streets.”
Mexico's new leftist president Andrés Manuel López Obrador was sworn in on December 1st amid pledges to transform the country on behalf of the poor, but one of his proposals have startled his supporters and the broader civil society: the creation of a national guard made up of divisions of the armed forces, which would be in charge of public security.
AMLO, as he's known in Mexico, won the July's presidential elections by a landslide on a pacifist platform — he's promised demilitarization of urban spaces and ending the armed conflict. He has also secured a comfortable majority in the legislative. With this amount of power, he is well placed to roll out broad institutional reforms.
He hopes that the national guard will help fix Mexico's long-lasting public security problems — a “war” against organized crime initiated by ex-president Felipe Calderón has claimed 250,000 lives over the course of twelve years.
The announcement was made on November 15 and wasn't well received by human rights organizations. The Mexican army has been accused many times of serious human rights violations such as with the Tlatlaya case, when military personnel reportedly gave orders to execute 22 civilians in the municipality of Tlatlaya, Mexico state, in June 2004.
The director of Amnesty International in Mexico, Tania Reneaum, says that AMLO should amend the proposal so that it focuses on strengthening and professionalizing civilian police forces instead. She said: “The new government should break with the military paradigm and establish a new model”.
Human Rights Watch has issued a statement calling the creation of a national guard a “worrying strategy” and a “wrong and potentially dangerous policy” to solve the security crisis in Mexico.
For many people, attributing police responsibilities to the armed forces amounts to a broken promise by the newly-inaugurated president.
Analyst Diego Petersen claims the president has apparently bent due to pressure from the armed forces, which has long exerted influence in the country's politics. He writes on SinEmbargoMX:
La militarización de la seguridad se venía fraguando desde mediados del sexenio de Peña. Si el Ejercito tiene ya listos varios miles de efectivos para formar la Guardia Nacional es porque son años de trabajo en este cuerpo de policía. Las fuerzas armadas terminaron imponiendo su visión y sus condiciones.
The militarisation of security has been creeping in since the time of [former president Enrique] Peña [Nieto]. If the army has thousands of personnel to spare for the National Guard, it is only because they have spent years working to make it possible. The armed forces, in the end, are imposing their vision and their conditions.
The escalation of the military's involvement in public security is largely an effect of the ‘Interior Security Law,’ passed by the previous administration and recently declared unconstitutional by the Judiciary. The law aimed to legitimize the use of armed forces in public security, which is similar to what the AMLO is proposing now.
On Twitter, user Lucía Riojas, a legislator from the opposition and an activist in defense of sexual diversity, for example, noted the cases of abuse by those institutions which will make up part of the national guard:
No hay evidencia de que más militares en las calles haciendo tareas de seguridad pública se traduzca en menos violencia. Todxs recordamos #Ayotzinapa, #Tlatlaya, #Palmarito, #Ostula, el asesinato de Jorge y Javier en el Tec.
— lucía (@LuRiojas) 15 de noviembre de 2018
There is no evidence suggesting that a larger military presence on the streets doing a public security role will translate into less violence. We all remember #Ayotzinapa, #Tlatlaya, #Palmarito, #Ostula, the murder of Jorge and Javier [two university students killed by armed forces who took them for criminals during a clash with gunmen in 2010].
Political commentator Rodrigo Ezarrás claimed that the creation of police forces is something that other Mexican presidents have been doing for years:
Zedillo tuvo la PFP, Fox creó a la AFI, Calderón creó la PF de la PFP de Zedillo, Peña quería su Gendarmería a la francesa, y ahora AMLO tendrá su Guardia Nacional.
¿Qué es evidente?
No tenemos proyecto policial claro. Puras ocurrencias en más de 18 años.
— Rodrigo_E (@rodaxiando) 16 de noviembre de 2018
Zedillo had the PFP [Federal Preventive Police], Fox created the AFI [the Federal Ministerial Police], Calderón created the PF [Federal Police] out of Zedillo's PFP, Peña wanted a French-style Gendarmerie, and now AMLO will have his National Guard. What's evident here? We don't have any clear police project. It's been 18 years of hasty decisions.
A Twitter user under the name of “Madame Déficit” pointed out that this reform was not part of the president-elect's campaign platform:
Militarizar al país no es lo que el santo patrono @lopezobrador_ le ofreció a sus devotos. Desplegar ejército y marina para funciones de policía es un ERROR.
¿Lo van a dejar salirse con la suya?
— Madame Déficit (@Alessia_mx) 19 de noviembre de 2018
Militarizing the country's police force was not among the things patron saint @lopezobrador_ offered his worshippers. Moving army and navy personnel into police roles is a mistake. Are you going to let him get away with it?
Another Twitter user, Alejandro Madrazo Lajous, also proclaimed on Twitter that the militarization of the country should be avoided:
Hoy más que nunca es importante dejar en claro que los juegos de palabras no nos engañan.
Ya lo intentaron los promotores de la #LeyGolpista y quedaron exhibidos
Por una #SeguridadSinGuerra NO a la Guardia Nacional. Firma por la paz. #SeguridadSinGuerra https://t.co/k49uXdJkyA
— Alejandro Madrazo Lajous (@BuenMadrazo) 19 de noviembre de 2018
It is important, now more than ever, to make it clear that this war of words will get us nowhere. The promoters of the #LeyGolpista [a law for interior security declared unconstitutional in November 2018] already tried and they were exposed. For a #SecurityWithoutWar NO to the National Guard. Sign [the petition] for peace. #SeguridadSinGuerra [The image reads the same message]
Filmmaker Epigmenio Ibarra, who is a supporter of López Obrador, said that the announced security plan does not necessarily mean militarization of the country:
Hablan de militarización cuando, de hecho, la propuesta de @lopezobrador_ va en sentido contrario. Retira a fuerzas de combate,las sustituye con la policia militar y crea la Guardia Nacional con jóvenes reclutas que habrán de transformar a fondo a las fuerzas armadas.
— epigmenio ibarra (@epigmenioibarra) 15 de noviembre de 2018
They talk about militarization when, in fact, the proposal by @lopezobrador_ is actually going in the opposite direction. It retires the armed forces, replaces them with a military police and creates a National Guard with young recruits who will deeply transform the armed forces.
Another López supporter, Ixchel Cisneros, shared her personal thoughts in a column for the HuffPost, in which she reminds readers of the people who have personally suffered from the consequences of militarization:
Yo voté por Andrés Manuel y por varios representantes de Morena y lo hice principalmente por su postura en contra de la militarización del país […] Presentaron su estrategia de seguridad, la cual incluía crear una Guardia Nacional formada por un grupo de fuerzas armadas de “élite” y fuerzas civiles que estará coordinada por la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional. Es decir, el orden civil subordinado al militar. Es decir, continuar y reforzar la estrategia fallida de Felipe Calderón y Enrique Peña Nieto. Estrategia fallida que nos tiene con casi 250 mil personas asesinadas y más de 37 mis desaparecidas.
I voted for Andrés Manuel [López Obrador] and various representatives of Morena, and I did it mainly for his stance against the militarization of the country […] They presented their national security strategy, which included the creation of a National Guard made up of a group of ‘elite’ armed forces and civil forces that would be led by the secretary of National Defense. That means that the civil order will be directed by the military. It is continuing and strengthening the failed strategy of Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto. A failed strategy that has left us with nearly 250,000 people killed and more than 37,000 forced disappearances.
Expectations of the Lopez Obrador administrations are high as, for many people, he represents the leftist populist side of Latin American politics that presumably had waned in recent years. It remains to be seen what the next steps will be, or to what extent these strategies will address the political needs of the Mexican people.

author: J. Tadeo


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Sri Lankan Court temporarily bars disputed Prime Minister Rajapaksa from office · Global Voices
Rezwan

Image via Facebook page of Groundviews. Used under a content sharing agreement.
The power struggle between ousted Sri Lankan Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the newly appointed Prime Minister Rajapaksa has reached a new level. On 3 December 2018, a Sri Lankan Appeals Court issued an interim injunction restraining Rajapaksa from his office as prime minister until the petition challenging his appointment is heard.
Ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and 121 other Parliamentarians went to court last month seeking a writ of Quo Warranto, which would require Rajapaksa to show what authority empowers him to exercise the office of prime minister. They declared that Mahinda Rajapaksa was not entitled to hold the office despite the fact that President Maithripala Sirisena rejected two no-confidence motions against Rajapaksa.
The Appeal Court issues an interim injunction restraining PM Mahinda Rajapaksa & the Cabinet functioning until the petition is heard.Also issues notices for the 49 member Cabinet, including PM,to appear before courts on Dec.12 for the hearing of petition#ConsititutionalCrisisLK
— Kishani Samaraweera (@imsweetpotato) December 3, 2018
#Srilanka: The damage that may be caused by temporarily restraining a lawful cabinet from functioning would in all probability be outweighed by the damage caused by allowing a set of persons not entitled in law to function as PM/ministers, said Judge Surasena #lka @the_hindu
— Meera Srinivasan (@Meerasrini) December 3, 2018
Many Sri Lankans rejoiced at the verdict:
What a difference it can make to a country when its courts function, and when they are efficient! ? Biggest victory thanks to #CoupLK : and if they stand right to the end, I would think its worth this struggle & coup. Some shake ups/messes, leads to greater good! #SriLanka #LKA
— Fayaz Mahroof (@fayazmahroof) December 3, 2018
The last several weeks has seen a vibrant judiciary in action-not only the higher courts but also the original courts- in public law cases as well as criminal cases. It is a proud moment for all those who value the Rule of Law and the Independence of the Judiciary in our country
— Saliya Pieris (@saliyapieris) December 3, 2018
Rajapaksa tweeted that he would go to the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict. In another statement, he called for an early election to settle the battle, confident in his chances because his party swept the local elections in February 2018.
“We do not agree with the decision given by the Appeals Court as Constitutional matters are finally decided by the Supreme Court. We will be filing an appeal tomorrow.” pic.twitter.com/g6im1auDsJ
— Mahinda Rajapaksa (@PresRajapaksa) December 3, 2018
Patali Champika Ranawaka, ex-Minister of Megapolis & Western Development in Sri Lanka, lashed out at Rajapaksa's call for an election:
Mahinda Rajapaksa need not keep on issuing statements and asking for General Elections to resolve this crisis, which they themselves created. Just resign your Illegitimate Premiership! A five minute job! @PresRajapaksa #lka #srilanka
— Champika Ranawaka (@pcranawaka) December 3, 2018
As the process to decide which PM will ultimately hold office drags on, citizens are still protesting:
At Rise Up #Negombo we spoke to a group of young seminarians all under 20 years. We asked them why they came. They had just one answer – “Because of our love for our country”.#RiseUpSL pic.twitter.com/8c5BSZ6h5f
— Rise Up Sri Lanka (@riseupsrilanka) December 3, 2018
Inspiring images of citizen protests coming from #SriLanka as civil society resists unconstitutional power grab by Rajapaksa.
Women march under the rain, unfurling a long saree that becomes a banner with democratic slogans. #CoupLK pic.twitter.com/KSSxSeValf
— Eduardo Gonzalez (@elfjcgc) November 28, 2018
Rohan Samarajiva terms this crisis in Sri Lanka a head-on collision between Constitutionalism and Feudalism. In a blog he writes:
It appears that the political elite’s dalliance with Constitutionalism has about run its course, sixty years after Independence. We are reverting to our native Feudalism: not just the ruling family but large swaths of the populace, including opinion leaders and intellectuals.
Sarmini Serasinghe calls all Sri Lankans to rise up before it's too late.
The time has come for each and every citizen of Sri Lanka, irrespective of social and professional status, to rise in peace and defend the sacred institution of Democracy in our country before it’s too late. It’s our right and moral duty as its citizens.
Meanwhile, practical questions have begun to arise — like how to refer to Rajapaksa:
This post indicates the #Sinhala, #Tamil & #English press reportage from 01 – 03 December on reference to the post held by Mahinda Rajapaksa. Several newspapers continued to identify #Rajapaksa as the PM. What do you think? #CoupLK pic.twitter.com/RD7klhQ7C4
— Ethics Eye (@EthicsEye) December 3, 2018
After parliament passed a NCM on Nov. 14, on Nov 16, Speaker published an official statement that the motion was passed & the cabinet was dissolved. Is it suitable for newspapers to continue referring to #Rajapaksa as PM? #CoupLK #mediaethicsSL #SinhalaPress pic.twitter.com/2sgSLghQFS
— Ethics Eye (@EthicsEye) November 23, 2018

author: Rezwan


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Trinidad & Tobago court rules Olympian’s dreams were killed by ‘biased’ gymnastics federation · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A screenshot taken from a YouTube video showing Trinidad and Tobago gymnast Thema Williams as she begins her floor routine during the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
When people talk sports in Trinidad and Tobago, football or cricket typically dominate the conversation — but in February 2016, all anyone could talk about was gymnastics. The Rio 2016 Olympic Games were close at hand, and then 20-year-old gymnast Thema Williams was widely considered to be the country's best hope in the sport — until things began to unravel.
As Williams was preparing for the final qualifier for the Olympic Games, a topless Instagram photograph she posted more than a year prior was brought to the attention of the Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation (TTGF). And suddenly, Marisa Dick, a Canadian-born gymnast whose mother is Trinidadian, was vying for the Caribbean nation's single Women’s Artistic Gymnastics spot in the Rio Olympics instead of Williams.
In the end, the TTGF pulled Williams as the country’s representative, citing alleged substandard performances in her training.
The whole fiasco had more twists and turns than a gymnastics routine, but many believe that Williams’ forced withdrawal was illegal and her attorneys have been fighting for justice ever since.
On November 26, 2018, Williams was vindicated, winning her lawsuit against the TTGF. High court judge Frank Seepersad ruled that the decision to replace Williams at the Olympic test event was “biased” and “premature”, explaining that the TTGF failed to verify claims that Williams was injured before sending a substitute.
However, Williams’ financial award was significantly less than she requested, as the judge said there was no evidence of the loss of promotional and scholarship opportunities that may have resulted from Williams’ Olympic appearances. She did receive an award of $150,000 Trinidad and Tobago dollars (approximately US $22,250) in exemplary damages for the loss of her chance to represent her country at the Olympic Games, as well as for the anguish she experienced as a result of the controversy.
Interestingly, while the judge ruled that former TTGF president David Marquez, his vice-president Akil Wattley, and board members Ricardo and Donna Lue Shue held a bias against Williams, he did not hold them liable in their personal capacities due to lack of evidence of a conspiracy.
While some social media users were pleased that Williams won her legal battle, others, like Facebook user Janelle Barker, felt that the settlement was too paltry:
This rulings [sic] shows up the incompetence by so-called big lawyers. So they didn’t know they had to justify the compensation they asking for … that amount is lawyer fees only, waste the girl damn time. The population should sue the gymnastics federation for not sending the best person to represent us … I’m so upset.
Marcia Tinto agreed, adding in a public post:
[…] the psychological wounds of this injustice will take quite some time to heal. I am skeptical to say congratulations but I will definitely send her blessings for peace and success as she continues to excel as the best T&T gymnast.
But Keith Scotland, one of Williams’ attorneys, believed that justice had been served, noting that the suit was “never about the money … this was always about the process and the principle.”
In an ironic twist, the TTGF displayed apparent disregard for both process and principle when the officials who were named in Williams’ lawsuit attempted to argue that the gymnast should pay their legal bills. On December 3, Judge Seepersad promptly dismissed their claim.
The TTGF was roundly criticised on online platforms thereafter, with many Facebook users echoing the statement of the judge:
The second to fifth defendants are rather fortunate that they were shielded from personal liability primarily because they acted in their capacity as bona fide members of the first defendant. However, their conduct was unacceptable and should be accompanied by a sense of shame.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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France seeks three high-ranking Syrian officials in the deaths of French-Syrian nationals · Global Voices
Maria Mattar

Mazen Dabbagh (right) and his son Patrick (left). Widely shared photo on social media. Used with permission.
In a rare move touted as a harbinger of a new era of justice for victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, French judges issued arrest warrants in November 2018 for three Syrian high-level intelligence officials on charges of ‘complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity’.
The three officials are wanted in connection with the detention and subsequent disappearance of two French-Syrian nationals: Mazen Dabbagh and his son Patrick. The pair were arrested by the Syrian Air Force Intelligence agents in November 2013 and held at Mezzeh military airport.
The Dabbagh family later were notified that Mazen and Patrick died in custody in Nov 2017 and January 2014 respectively.
The Syrian war has left a grim trail of death and destruction. Estimates put the number of those who have disappeared since March 2011 at over 95,000, more than 80,000 of whom are believed to have been forcibly disappeared by the Syrian regime. Many have died in custody due to brutal torture in government notorious prisons and detention centers.
French judges have released arrest warrants for Major General Ali Mamlouk, Abdul-Salam Mahmoud, and Jamil Hassan.
Major General Ali Mamlouk was born in Damascus, Syria in 1946. Mamlouk is a household name for Syrian oppression used to quell the popular 2011 uprising in Syria.
He served as Director of the Air Force Intelligence between 2003-2005 and rose through the ranks during the late Hafez Assad reign and his son Bashar Al-Assad's ascendence to power.
In 2005, Assad appointed him head of the General Security department during a politically charged era following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, widely believed to have been at the hands of the regime.
Human rights organizations link him to overseeing Syria's chemical arsenal and using it against political prisoners in Palmyra prison between 1985-1995.
In the wake of the ‘crisis cell’ bombing in Damascus in July 2012, Mamlouk was appointed Director of the National Security Bureau, replacing Hisham Bakhtiyar who died of wounds sustained in the bombing.
A former Lebanese information minister, Michel Samaha, confessed to receiving funds from Mamlouk to assassinate Lebanese political figures. Lebanese officials issued a warrant for Mamlouk's arrest on February 4, 2013.
In 2015 rumors had it that he was planning to defect and was put under house arrest. There had also been rumors about his health condition saying that he was dying in a hospital in Damascus. Quashing these rumors, he visited Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Muscat, Oman. He also visited Rome, Italy, in late February 2018, brushing off European Union (EU) sanctions from May 2011 which imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on him related to charges of orchestrating violence against Syrian anti-government protestors.
Abdul-Salam Mahmoud was appointed the director of the Air Force Intelligence branch in 2010. He is involved in killing Syrian civilians including victims of the Saida massacre in April 2011, among them Hamza al-Khatib, a 13-year-old boy whose body was mutilated after his arrest and later became a symbol of the Syrian revolution and the face of the regime's brutality against protestors. Mahmoud has been under EU sanctions since 2012.
Jamil Hassan was born in Qarniya in rural Homs, Syria in 1952. He was appointed the director of the Air Force Intelligence in 2009. Prior, he managed the Air Force Intelligence branch in eastern Syria during 2009 and served as the Air Force Intelligence officer at Mezzeh military airport since 2007.
Hassan's name is closely linked to the violent repression of protests in 2011. He was once quoted as suggesting in a rare press statement that Bashar should have copied the brutal tactics his father used in Hama massacre in the 1980s.
Last June, Germany also issued an international arrest warrant for Hassan. German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that prosecutors accused him of overseeing crimes committed by the Syrian security including torture, rape and murder of hundreds of people between 2011 and 2013.
Mohammad Al-Abdullah, a human rights activist and executive director of the Syria Justice & Accountability Centre, told Global Voices that these warrants serve as a tool to pressure regime officials:
These warrants are symbolic up to a point. They serve more as a tool of pressure than a means of criminal prosecution, as the possibility of the three officials visiting Europe is very unlikely. Some opine that the warrants would diminish their role in Syria’s future and spell an end for their political life, and that negotiations shall exclude them from security posts during the interim phase. There are no guarantees that this would be the case, though. Until now, these opinions are mere wishful thinking.
Syria is not a signatory to the Rome Statute and therefore, attempts to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court have been repeatedly vetoed by Russia and China — two veto-wielding powers at the UN Security Council and Assad's staunch allies — blocking the possibility of an investigation into war crimes in Syria and bringing perpetrators to justice.
Victims’ families are left with few options aside from extraterritorial jurisdiction, defined as the legal ability of a government to exercise legal authority beyond its national borders. Syrian activists and families of victims have been launching cases outside of Syria in their countries of residence, including Germany, Sweden and France.
In August 2010, the French parliament adopted a law that gives French courts jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in another country. Under French law, any suspect found on French territory can be prosecuted and tried in France on torture charges. Therefore, victims of torture and enforced disappearance can file a complaint with the French prosecutor irrespective of their country of residence.
However, hope has dwindled for obtaining justice and redress. In July 2018, the Syrian government issued death notices for political detainees at an unprecedented rate, attributing the cause of deaths to “heart attacks.”
The arrest warrants may shake off a sense of apathy over the fate of tens of thousands of Syrian war victims. Accountability is crucial to stitch war-torn Syria back together and many hope the warrants are a bold step in this direction.

author: Maria Mattar


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Major drug bust highlights the no-nonsense style of Trinidad & Tobago’s top cop · Global Voices
Flora Thomas

On Tuesday, December 4, 2018, the Special Operations Response Team (SORT), a new arm of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, made a multimillion-dollar drug bust in a gated community in Westmoorings, an upscale residential area in Trinidad's capital, Port of Spain.
Screengrab from a video by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, showing the country's Commissioner of Police, Gary Griffith, talking with reporters outside the gated community in northwest Trinidad, where a special unit of police officers made a drug and weapons haul alleged to be worth millions of dollars.
Led by the no-nonsense new Police Commissioner Gary Griffith, officers recovered illegal firearms and several rounds of ammunition and arrested five people in connection with the haul. Griffith's appointment in August of this year was welcomed by citizens who have grown weary of escalating violent crime.
Krystiana Sankar, the former step-daughter of Stuart Young, a member of parliament who holds two major portfolios as the country's minister of national security and minister of communications, was one of the five arrested in the raid.
When local media began referring to Sankar as the minister's “relative”, Young was quick to put out a statement:
No relative of mine has been arrested. A young lady who has been arrested is a relative of my former partner.
I have no connection or relation to the young woman in question.
I will emphasise that no one is above the law and anyone who breaks the law will face the consequences.
Talking to reporters on the scene of the drug bust, Griffith said, “Regardless of who the individual is […] if it is you break the law, I will deal with it.” He added that he intends to cripple the illegal drug trade in Trinidad and Tobago, and had a message for all those involved — “Happy hour is over.” The phrase soon blew up on social media.
The twin-island nation, located at the southernmost end of the Caribbean archipelago, has been plagued for many years now by its reputation for playing a role in illegal narcotics trade.
Griffith has touted himself as a man of action, and he certainly has the talk to go along with it. He challenged those issuing death threats, for example, to “come for him”, as their idle bluffs were “getting boring”. His swagger has boosted his popularity and earned him a bit of a cult following, even inspiring a dancehall-style song titled “The Commissioner”.
Prior to being named top cop, the country's police service operated for years with an acting police commissioner. Under Griffith's leadership, the police have successfully solved several serious crimes, including three kidnappings.
But there has been controversy too.
In one of the kidnappings, the police released photos of suspects before they were charged. The officers’ rough handling of student protestors also caused Griffith's style to be criticised as “aggressive”.
In an incident in October, after five young men were killed in an alleged shootout with police, citizens raised questions as to whether or not the officers acted extrajudicially. Even as the Police Service Commission asked witnesses to come forward to aid the investigation into the incident, Griffith said that the evidence supported his officers’ version of events — they were fired upon.
Although Griffith made it clear he would not condone any flouting of the law by members of the police service, his approach caused journalist Sunity Maharaj to suggest:
As much as we may wish it to be otherwise, Gary Griffith is not the answer to our prayers but the symptom of our failure. In our greatest moment of fear, we have manifested and brought him to life as protection against the very forces we have created. Like Phoenix, he has risen out of the debris of our collapsed institutions, as powerful and as large as the fear stalking the land. […] Cornered by criminals, we have at last found national unity in a leader promising to deliver us out of the valley of death into which we had happily walked with our eyes wide open, looking for profit.
Indeed, some social media users — from Facebook to WhatsApp — are concerned that the crime-fighting effort has become too focused on Griffith as saviour, rather than on strengthening the police service as a whole.
People also want to know when Griffith will begin going after the “big fish”, though one criminologist, Daurius Figueira, was of the opinion that this particular bust was nothing more than “a single, independent operator being brought down.”
In a post at Wired868, Keston K. Perry explained:
What happens by our lack of active participation in our democracy is that it creates space for populist figures like Griffith to emerge and quickly garner unwarranted legitimacy — remember, he has been police commissioner for a short four months.
No one, no matter how energetic and outspoken they may be, can make substantial and meaningful change in one of the most dysfunctional institutions in our country in such a short time. Systemic change requires a much more thoughtful and strategic approach.
Until then, though, Trinbagonians seem content to do what they do best: find humour in a difficult situation. The memes came fast and furious and targeted both Commissioner Griffith and Minister Young.
But the ripple effects of Griffith's modus operandi in general — and this drug bust in particular — may very well turn out to be no laughing matter.

author: Flora Thomas


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New internet laws in Russia — and US tech giants’ acquiescence — spell trouble for dissenting voices · Global Voices
Christopher Moldes

Rally against online censorship in Kaliningrad, Russia. Sign reads: “Respect the Russian constitution.” Photo by Alexandr Podgorchuk, Klops.ru. (CC BY 4.0)
A 2017 law regulating online activity and anonymous speech went into effect in Russia at the beginning of this month.
The law “on information and information technology” stipulates what content search providers are legally allowed to show. Russia's Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor, known as the “censorship ministry”) already maintains a registry of banned websites, created in 2012. The list of banned sites range from online gambling to extremist material and information on the use of narcotics. Search engines are now prohibited from showing these sites in their search results.
To facilitate the implementation of the registry, Russian agencies created the Federal State Information System to act as a bridge between the registry and search providers. These search providers are now legally mandated to connect to this system through an API so that banned websites will automatically be filtered out. Yandex, Russia's largest search engine has connected to the API, but Google has so far not complied with these new requirements, which may leave it subject to a petty fine (by Google's standards) of up to 700,000 rubles, or about USD $10,000.
The law also dictates when and how a user can anonymously use the internet, such as through VPN (Virtual Private Networks) software that allows users to mask the origin of their traffic through servers in other countries, thereby avoiding locally-based content restrictions and censorship.
Google has been censoring search results in Russia on the basis of local laws for quite some time. Links to popular Russian torrent sites disappeared over a year ago from both Yandex and Google as Roskomnadzor deemed the sites illegal. As RuNet Echo reported earlier, Google has also been accused of over-complying with censorship requests from the Russian government, such as removing YouTube videos posted by opposition figure Alexey Navalny, and most recently, blocking a controversial rapper’s music video.
Several years ago, Google moved some of its servers to Russia in accordance with laws compelling companies to store their data on Russian citizens on Russian soil. With some servers now in Russia, the authorities have a more direct means of forcing the company to comply with local law.
Users have long suggested using VPNs to go around these types of measures, but the law’s provisions took this into account as well: VPN providers must block the sites, or face being blocked themselves. But this may be easier said than done. The Russian government banned Telegram earlier this year, but the app is still up and running and being used all across Russia without a VPN. Similar attempts to block VPN services could meet limited success, due to their decentralized infrastructure. This leaves the threat of a fine as the most salient option at Roskomnador’s disposal against VPNs and search providers that do not connect to the new federal system.
While the proposed fine may seem paltry from the perspective of massive tech companies like Google, sources close to Russian tech operations have said that amendments are in the works to drastically increase fines. Rather than capping the fines at 700,000 rubles, the new rules allegedly peg the fines at 1% of the company’s earnings.
While regular internet users don’t have to worry about such excessive fines, they too could soon face other repercussions for anonymously using the internet. Roskomnadzor has spearheaded new rules that require messaging apps to identify users based on their mobile provider. This in effect ties a user’s phone number to their personal identity.
Apps like Signal and Telegram pride themselves on allowing a user to communicate practically anonymously if they so wish. By obligating such apps to verify a user’s identity with their service provider, the Russian government is attempting to crack down on dissent and what they see as criminal activity. Telegram voluntarily registered with Roskomnadzor in 2017, which makes them liable under the new law. Signal does not keep servers in Russia and may run the risk of being banned there for non-compliance with the rule, but it also has a relatively small user base in Russia.
Aleksandr Zharov, head of Roskomnadzor, stated plainly:
Возможность анонимной коммуникации в мессенджерах затрудняет деятельность правоохранительных органов при расследовании преступлений. Нынешнее постановление правительства – необходимый шаг к созданию безопасной коммуникационной среды как для граждан, так и для государства в целом
The ability to communicate anonymously on messaging apps makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes. The government’s current decree is a necessary step in creating a safe communication environment for both citizens and the state as a whole.
In many instances, the ability to post content online anonymously is a major draw for users. Being able to express an opinion or expose injustices without using one's identity is now more important than ever, seeing as how people have been facing criminal chargers simply for posting memes.
And the consequences of de-anonymizing a user have been seen in various scenarios. After last month’s suicide attack at an FSB (Federal Security Service, Russia's domestic intelligence agency) office, the administrator of an anonymous Telegram channel was arrested for spreading messages glorifying the attacker. It is unknown if Telegram cooperated with law enforcement to expose this user, but if messaging apps start to follow these new rules, more prosecutions can be expected along with an outright drop in dissenting voices online.
These new laws and rules, along with the plethora of other laws regulating the collection of online users’ data, make it difficult to use online platforms to voice discontent in Russia. At a time when both online and public spaces face increasing limitations on expression in Russia, further restrictions should worry Russians and non-Russians alike. Though individual users can take measures to protect their accounts, such as using two-factor verification, there is little they can do to protect themselves from backdoor transmission of their data to the authorities.

author: Christopher Moldes


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Massive farmers’ march highlights India’s stark inequality · Global Voices
Rezwan

Farmers protesting at the #KisanMuktiMarch in Delhi on November 30, 2018. Image from Flickr by Joe Athialy. CC BY-NC 2.0
On the night of November 29, 2018, as many as 100,000 farmers from all over India arrived, via trains and tractors, in New Delhi, the country's capital. The next day, tens of thousands more marched to the parliament to draw the Central Government's attention to the deepening agrarian crisis and resulting farmer suicides.
Farmers from ACROSS INDIA march demanding their Rights, Facilities and MSP for Crops.#FarmersMarch is a Sad Reality of India.
We, Citizens of India, Support our Farmers and Their Demands.#RamlilaMaidan
Share Maximum pic.twitter.com/Hk13ghJRKL
— Vikas Pandey (@vikasspandey) November 30, 2018
Among other things, the farmers are asking for loan waivers and better prices for their produce.
The two-day long protest, called the Kishan Mukti March (Farmer's Freedom March), was led by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a joint platform of about 150 farm organizations, formed in June 2017. A press release published on the website Dilli Chalo (Let's go to Delhi) explained that successive governments have failed to address the demands of millions of farmers. The group accused the authorities of ignoring the farmers’ plights, saying their apathy has turned into increasingly brutal antipathy.
Farmers from various parts of India at the #KisanMuktiMarch in Delhi on November 30, 2018. Image from Flickr by Joe Athialy. CC BY-NC 2.0
The farmers’ charter of demands includes the passing of two bills in parliament, which have the potential to relieve their predicament — the Farmers’ Freedom from Indebtedness Bill, 2018, and the Farmers’ Right to Guaranteed Remunerative Minimum Support Prices for Agricultural Commodities Bill, 2018.
They also want the Minimum Support Price (MSP) — a form of market intervention by the government to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices — to be fixed at the market rate. The current MSP, as determined under the 2018-19 Union Budget, is 40 per cent less than the recommended price.
In a protest in March, 35,000 farmers walked 182 km — barefoot — from Nashik to Mumbai, to demand land rights and fair prices for their goods.
Over the past two decades, several hundred thousands of farmers have committed suicide in India. Suspected push factors include poverty, climate change, increased health costs (in the absence of insurance), and debt following the failed harvests.
In solidarity, photographers started an innovative support campaign; hashtagging it #PhotographersForFarmers, they encouraged people to share images of the protests to raise awareness of the farmers’ challenges.
‘TamilNadu farmer displays the skulls of colleagues who have committed suicide, during a farmers march in New Delhi, India. Tens of thousands of farmers march towards parliament demanding debt waivers and remunerative prices for crops’ #photographersforfarmers @Karvaan_2018 pic.twitter.com/FUuT9X1OG2
— Suchitra Sebastian (@suchitraseb) December 2, 2018
The fact that farmers had to come here or to resort to theatrics only shows the insensitivity of India's society and political class. #KisanMuktiMarch #Delhi #FarmersMarch #PhotographersForFarmers pic.twitter.com/tX5111VQP0
— Ankit Agrawal (@ankitagrawal87) November 30, 2018
Nearly half of India's 1.3 billion people, especially in rural areas, work in the agriculture sector, though it contributes only about 17 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Since 2014, during the tenure of the present government, India has witnessed a period of low food inflation, thanks to proactively managed food supplies and prices. However, the move also decreased rural incomes and burdened farmers with larger debts.
In a symbolic protest last month, Sanjay Sathe, an onion-grower from Nashik district in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, sent the sales proceeds from 750 kg of onions — at Indian Rs 1.40 per kg, this amounted to a mere Rs 1,064 (US$ 15) — to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's relief fund.
Is this what Modi means by taking care of farmers?
Shocking and painful.
After 4 months of toil farmer gets Rs 1,064 for 750 kg of onions!
Angry, donates it all +Rs54 by money order to PM Disaster Relief Fund @ArvindKejriwal @SanjayAzadSln @pbhushan1 https://t.co/uIiSO7MPSb
— Main Hoon Na (@neo_pac) December 5, 2018
Other onion farmers soon launched their own brand of protests:
Failed to get returns of even production cost, on Wednesday, Nov 28, Onion Producers at Devala in #Nashik district protests thus by pouring quintals of onions on road, which caused traffic mess @eSakalUpdate #SaveOnionFarmers @ChhaganCBhujbal @NCPspeaks @dhananjay_munde pic.twitter.com/e51FdHwiqd
— Shrimant Mane (@ShrimantSakal) November 28, 2018
Nitin Murade Patil suggests a political interest in the Ram Mandir issue.
Farmer's of #Nashik district in #Maharashtra throwing Onion on road through trollies.
This news was not covered by media. Condition of farmer's is worst in MH. Leaders of MH are interested in #RamMandir issue rather that of giving MSP declared by Govt.#FarmersProtest @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/cx2FVgZtD4
— नितीन मुरादे पाटील (@nitinmurade143) November 29, 2018
But are these low prices reflected in the consumer markets elsewhere in India? In an op-ed in News Laundry, Author Vivek Kaul wrote:
‘The supermarket in Mumbai I buy onions from is selling them at ₹28/kg while the farmer in Nashik is unable to sell his produce for even ₹2/kg. Someone somewhere is making a huge profit of 1900% on this transaction. It is clearly not the farmer.’https://t.co/z3xK5kjqCK
— शिक्षित बेरोज़गार (@kaul_vivek) December 5, 2018
He continued:
The ability of the government to influence prices of agricultural crops (even the ones that it buys) is basically very limited. [..] Over the years, by not diversifying the crop procurement operations, the government has basically ended up promoting inequality across the country.
The prices of agricultural inputs have inflated over the past decade. The cost of items like chemicals and seeds, agricultural equipment — even labor — have all gone up.
Moreover, almost 60 percent of farmers are selling their produce below the minimum selling price set by the government, which is not enough to cover their higher total input cost.
“This is our fate… we will die struggling to manage a meal for our family:” Girdhari Lal (55), MP farmer who sold his onions @Rs 1.2 per kg, or 1/5th of cost. “It does not even cover what I owe my workers, let alone my family’s expenses.” https://t.co/KjivEX7zOl via @IndiaSpend
— Samar Halarnkar (@samar11) November 30, 2018
With increased liability added to the mix, the situation has become untenable. Siddharth Tiwari, writing at Youth Ki Awaaz, explained:
According to the data from All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS), more than 70% of the rural population has one or more standing loans. Decreasing farm income, the rising cost of production, and uncertainty of the market has led to the crippling debts in the farm sector.
Yet, in 2018, the farmers organized and successfully staged two big protests — and their most recent march attracted support from a few opposition party leaders.
Farmers’ protest: An apology for ‘inconvenience’ issued by farmers, reports @jeelanikash https://t.co/DK9u4DcMHb pic.twitter.com/58d9z5YUra
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) December 1, 2018
We are farmers. We do not intend to annoy you. We are upset. We have come from distant places to make you and the government listen to our voices.
The question remains, though: will any of this really change the future of India's farmers?


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Japan Times backtracks on editorial policy redefining ‘comfort women’ and ‘forced labor’ · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Comfort Women rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, August 2011. Photo by Claire Solery. Image license: CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
After angry emails from readers, condemnation by the international press and pushback by some of its contributors, the Japan Times has backtracked on an editorial policy that changed how the newspaper would refer to wartime forced laborers and so-called “comfort women.”
The controversy and subsequent walkback were sparked by an editor's note appended to a November 30 article in the Japan Times about a South Korea Supreme Court ruling that ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay compensation for wartime forced labor.
Check out the Japan Times editor's note on comfort women and forced laborers. https://t.co/ohcBHTMNRX
— Motoko Rich (@motokorich) November 30, 2018
The November 30 editor's note, which can still be read at the end of the article, states that the term “forced labor” and the way “comfort women” have been described in the Japan Times in the past could have been misleading:
Editor's note: in the past, The Japan Times has used terms that could have been potentially misleading. The term “forced labor” has been used to refer to laborers who were recruited before and during World War II to work for Japanese companies.
However, because the conditions they worked under or how these workers were recruited varied, we will henceforth refer to them as “wartime laborers.”
Similarly, “comfort women” have been referred to as “women who were forced to provide sex for Japanese troops before and during World War II.”
Because the experiences of comfort women in different areas throughout the course of the war varied widely, from today, we will refer to “comfort women” as “women who worked in wartime brothels, including those who did so against their will, to provide sex to Japanese soldiers.”
Women from colonized, conquered and occupied countries from across Asia were conscripted and enslaved by the Japanese military during World War II, euphemistically called ianfu (comfort women) by Japanese military authorities, have long been a source of political controversy. As well, more than half a million Koreans were conscripted by the Japanese government to work in the war effort, including mining coal and in agriculture, often under harrowing conditions.
Since the end of World War II, the Japanese government has made various efforts to move on from both issues. For example, an agreement between the governments of Japan and South Korea in late 2015 was intended to “finally and irreversibly” resolve the issue of “comfort women”, but ended up provoking widespread protests in South Korea. As well, a vocal constituency in Japan also seeks to revise historical understanding of war crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese government.
The Japan Times editor's note quickly sparked international criticism. The Guardian, American public broadcaster NPR, German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle and the South China Morning Post were quick the call out the Japan Times for what appeared to be its embrace of historical revisionism. The New York Times, which has a content partnership agreement with the Japan Times and operates a bureau in Tokyo, so far has not reported on the story.
There are also hints that journalists and staff within the Japan Times itself pushed back at the change in editorial policy. Longtime contributor Arudou Debito, whose controversial columns have driven large amounts of traffic to the Japan Times since 2002, criticized the new language for “comfort women” and forced laborers in a blog post.
But it was likely a flood of email and comments from readers that forced the Japan Times to issue a full-page statement that attempted to clarify the newspaper's position on sexual slavery and forced labor on December 7, signed by executive editor Hiroyasu Mizuno:
We are informed by Sven Saaler that the Japan Times apology ran on a full page of the print edition. He gave us this snapshot. (MP) #JapanTimes pic.twitter.com/7pqpMPalvr
— SNA Japan (@ShingetsuNews) December 7, 2018
In the note, Mizuno stressed that the Japan Times had not changed its previous editorial policy about wartime slavery and forced labor, saying, “Given the complexity, the brief note was insufficient, and therefore led to a number of assumptions about the direction of The Japan Times.”
Mizuno later said in a separate comment that what is written in the editor's note does not mean the newspaper is banning phrases such as “comfort women” or “forced labor” and such descriptions will be used when they describe an issue in general. Style rules on whether to use the phrase or the descriptions referred to in the note “will have to be applied on a case-by-case basis” going forward in the Japan Times.
While major Japanese-language dailies all publish English editions, the Japan Times is Japan's oldest independent English-language newspaper. Ownership of the newspaper changed in 2017 when the previous publisher died. The Japan Times was acquired by digital marketing company News2u Holdings.
While the new owner has put new resources to improve the scope and quality of digital reporting and storytelling as part of a restructuring process at the Japan Times since 2017, there have been questions about the publisher's relationship with the Abe government, which is often perceived as championing a historical revisionist approach to Japan's role in World War II.
Twitter commentator Ask a Korean suggests it is myopic to focus on the nuance of words while ignoring the reality of what Koreans and others all over Asia experienced at the hands of Imperial Japan until the end of World War II:
It's a mistake to mix up factual nuance and moral clarity. We can discuss nuance all day long, but at the end of the day, it was Japan that invaded Korea and used slave labor. The discussion on culpability begins and ends with that irrefutable fact. https://t.co/XT2WmbBcuA
— T.K. of AAK! (@AskAKorean) December 7, 2018


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Buju Banton, controversial dancehall star, comes home — but is Jamaica ready? · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Buju Banton on stage in Coventry, Jamaica. Photo taken by Pedro Kwezi, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
On a warm, cloudless Friday evening, curious onlookers gathered at the arrivals gate, as dancehall star Buju Banton's plane touched down at Kingston's Norman Manley Airport. Jamaicans were waiting, but received the news at rather short notice: the popular musician who served time in a U.S. prison for the last seven years on drug charges would return to the island on December 7, 2018.
Many who felt that Banton was unfairly treated by the American justice system rejoiced, while others had qualms about the celebrations. Either way, Banton returned as a deportee — a fact that didn't seem to bother most Trinidadian fans, who celebrated his homecoming with a street parade in anticipation of his first concert, reportedly to be held there in April 2019.
Banton was found guilty of conspiracy to traffic cocaine in February 2011. The 45-year-old singer, who grew up in inner-city Kingston, is a Grammy Award winner who has courted controversy ever since recording “Boom Bye Bye”, the lyrics of which advocate killing gay people. He wrote the song as a teen in 1988 and released it in 1992, resulting in many canceled overseas tours due to its violent content.
The backlash continued up until the time he was arrested, although many claimed that he had “moved on”. Most of his subsequent recordings expressed socially conscious, spiritual sentiments as he embraced Rastafarianism.
After seven long years away, Jamaica was ready to embrace its prodigal son. Journalists stirred up excitement on Twitter by posting video clips and photographs, and radio talk show host Emily Shields provided running commentary from the airport:
NOW – an unplanned turn out for the arrival of #Buju…
All standing still awaiting his exit #BujuReturns pic.twitter.com/sr0R0vQkXX
— Emily Shields (@emilymshields) December 8, 2018
When Banton finally emerged, dressed in white, wearing glasses, sporting a greying goatee and looking heavier in build, he had an almost studious air about him as he posed for smartphone photos with excited airport employees and fans:
He's finally home
Looking happy and unbothered
?????????
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤#OneLove#Buju#Gargamel#Jamaica pic.twitter.com/MqMQegTm8F
— Jevaughnie Graham (@iamjevaughnie) December 8, 2018
Soon afterward, Banton left via a cargo exit, disappointing the crowd outside, but the media caught up with him at his recording studio:
Buju Banton stops to greet fans on the outskirts of his Red Hills Road studio pic.twitter.com/VGc2lhLRcu
— Jamaica Star (@jamaicastar) December 8, 2018
While there was no question of a hero's welcome for Banton, some Jamaicans were unforgiving — and unwilling to celebrate the return of a convicted criminal:
Am I the only one who doesn't understand the celebration of #Buju‘s release?
He was found guilty of an unconscionable crime; particularly so for rastafarians.
I'm not damning him. He's paid his debt. But how is he a hero now?#BujuBanton
— ras_foul (@ras_foul1) December 7, 2018
On Facebook, one social activist deemed such condemnation hypocritical, in light of current political scandals:
A cultural icon was prosecuted, punished and has been released. Let people celebrate his return and navigate their relationship with the artist as they please. If you’re looking to cast judgement please visit the numerous reports by the Auditor General and note that no public official, especially the celebrated ones, have done time for the serious crimes committed against the poor and working class of this country. Thank you.
Many Jamaicans were just happy to see Buju home for Christmas, but controversy erupted on Twitter when British LGBT rights activist Peter Tatchell commented:
One-time ‘kill the gays’ singer #BujuBanton returns to Jamaica this weekend, after serving 7 years in a US prison for drug offences. Will he put his past ‘murder music’ behind him & shift to songs that uplift & empower? I hope so. Then we can all move on https://t.co/n9s3ZkiFuQ
— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) December 7, 2018
After receiving what he alleged was a torrent of abuse and threats on Twitter, Tatchell commented:
I apologise if my tweet about #BujuBanton was unclear. I agree he has made uplifting, empowering songs since Boom Bye Bye. But BBB did not end in 1990s. He publicised that ‘kill the gays” song as recently as a decade ago. I'm ready to move on if Buju continues to shun homophobia pic.twitter.com/k2q2DGAZzy
— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) December 7, 2018
Many Jamaicans, including LGBT rights group J-FLAG, sprang to Banton's defense, pointing out that he wrote the song while in his teens. Banton was said to be one of a handful of dancehall figures who signed the Reggae Compassionate Act in 2007, eschewing homophobic lyrics — although subsequent reports suggested he did not. The initiative was part of a campaign headed by Tatchell and supported by J-FLAG.
In a long thread, J-FLAG's Executive Director Jaevion Nelson tweeted:
The approach to Buju and Bom Bye Bye by global gay rights activists will bear little fruit I believe. They lost that opportunity in 2009. Going forward, they have to find other ways of talking about homophobia and Jamaica. It's not necessary to mention Buju every time.
— Jaevion Nelson (@jaevionn) December 8, 2018
Influential columnist Gordon Robinson wrote a “common sense” tweet:
We need to get a grip. Buju was 19 when he recorded Boom Bye Bye. He's now 45. His subsequent recordings have been powerfully positive&nothing like that horrific song. y r we still haranguing Buju about THAT song? How many of us think the same now as we did@ 19?
— Gordon Robinson (@TheTerribleTout) December 8, 2018
Twitter user Ayesha Constable added that the song simply reflected societal attitudes at the time:
#Boombyebye was more of an indictment on #Jamaica and not just #Buju. I'd like to think that as a society we would no longer have an appetite for such lyrics. #icouldbewrong #butihopeimnot
— Ayesha Constable (@EshaSensei) December 9, 2018
Indeed, Jamaica's taste in dancehall has changed a great deal since Banton's arrest, and some are wondering whether his music will, too. Will he simply be revered as a dancehall veteran whose time has passed, or will he become a refreshing wind of change?
Banton himself had the last word:
A message from BB #bujureturns pic.twitter.com/XWd3ktRhBz
— Buju Banton (@BujuOfficial) November 15, 2018

author: Emma Lewis