text:
Macau Authorities Crack Down on Pro-Democracy Activists Who Want the Right to Vote for Their Next Leader · Global Voices
Ronald Yick

Organizers of an unofficial referendum in Macau were detained on Aug. 24, the first day of the referendum. Voting stations in streets were shut down. People can only cast their votes online. Photo source: All About Macau's Facebook. Non-commercial use
Police shut down voting stations for an unofficial referendum on genuine democratic elections in Macau, a special administrative region of China, and detained four organizers for several hours last week.
The city's Office for Personal Data Protection alleged that the collection of personal information for the referendum went against Macau's constitution known as the Basic Law because it does not endorse any sort of referendum. Organizers, who had only just launched the referendum a few hours before, accused authorities of political suppression, arguing that voters voluntarily provided personal data for verification.
Macau, a former Portuguese colony, will elect its chief executive on Aug. 31. The only candidate is Fernando Chui Sai-on, the incumbent running for re-election. A committee of 400 representatives of social and political sectors, including culture, religion, labor, commerce and industry, as well as Beijing's representatives are allowed to vote. The rest of Macau's 270,000 eligible voters have no say in the selection of the city's top leader.
To express their discontent with the current undemocratic political system, three pro-democracy civic groups organized a referendum for the public to express their wish for universal suffrage by 2019 and to assess the extent of public support for Fernando Chui’s re-election. Unlike Hong Kong’s constitutional documents, there is no written promise for eventual universal suffrage of the chief executive in Macau Basic's Law. Pro-democracy activists worry that Macau citizens may never vote for the city’s leader.
Over 7,000 Macau citizens have voted in the referendum so far. The organizers set up an online platform and five on-the-street voting stations to be open from Aug. 24 to Aug. 30.
Fei Te, a columnist from citizen media platform inmediahk.net, argued that police did not have any legal ground for the crackdown:
但奇怪的是，早前澳門終審法院的判辭已指出，儘管民間公投不具法律效力，但法律並無明文禁止，居民是「可以做」的。由此可見，當局完全是當終審法院的判決「冇到」，或純粹藉拉人嚇一嚇公投負責人或欲參與投票的市民，希望儘可能減低投票人數。
Strange as it seems, the judgment of the Macau Court of Final Appeal stipulated that, even though civil referendum is not a right contemplated by the law, the law does not prohibit referendum; residents ‘are allowed’ to do so. Therefore, the authorities disregard the ruling but threaten organizers and potential voters, to minimize voting turnout as far as possible.
Fei believed the Macau government fears that the referendum would evolve into another wave of anti-government mobilization after the campaign against the “bill of greed”, a bill that would have compensated high-ranking officials after they leave office and exempt the head of government from criminal liability during his or her term. Around 20,000 people — about 4 percent of the city's entire population — took to the streets in May 2014 against the bill and successfully forced the government to scrap it:
[…] 特區政府對自身的管治已失去信心。其實公投內的問題只是「你是否贊成2019年普選特首」及「你是否信任崔世安成為下屆特首」，市民完全可以選擇「不贊成」及「信任」；一個有自信的候選人，應該真金不怕洪爐火，但明顯有人非常害怕面對投票的結果，擔心會成為「離補法」後又一場的反政府風波。
[…] the Macau government had lost confidence in its authority. In fact, the questions in the referendum are only, “Do you agree the chief executive should be directly elected in 2019”, and “Do you have confidence in Chui to be the next leader”. People are free to choose “No” and “Yes” respectively. A confident candidate should not be worried. However, some people are not willing to accept the result. They worry that this will bring about another anti-government movement after the “bill of greed”.
Chou Kwok-ping, a scholar and an advocate of the referendum, compared the responses to civic referendums in Hong Kong and Macau and concluded that all rulers supported by an undemocratic system are afraid of any sort of referendum. Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have campaigned throughout the summer for the right to choose the candidates for the city's next chief executive election in 2017, while Beijing insists a committee pre-elect them:
今次公投與香港今年6月舉行的公投一樣，引起建制的鞭撻，原因眾說紛紜: 有的說是北京要避免西方民主理念在港澳地區擴散，有的指希望嚇窒市民、特別是公務員不敢去投票，推低投票數字，影響民間公投的認受性。但有一點肯定的是，中港澳三地的建制派，對「公投」有條件反射式的抗拒： 2007年，台灣民進黨試圖在2008年總統大選，同時舉行公投決定是否加入聯合國。由於決議有台獨色彩，引起中國政府強烈反對，港澳的建制亦步亦趨。自此之後，「公投」成為中港澳建制派的敏感詞。
The pro-government forces from Hong Kong and Macau condemned the civil referendums respectively in both cities. The reason is inconclusive. Some say Beijing does not want Western democratic beliefs to spread across Hong Kong and Macau. Some say they want to deter people, especially civil servants, from voting and thus minimize the voting turnout. This can destroy the legitimacy of the referendum. But one thing is certain: pro-Beijing political forces in Hong Kong and Macau reflexively resist against a referendum because of the history of referendums in Taiwan: in 2007, the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan planned to hold a referendum to ask people for their support in joining the United Nations during the 2008 presidential election. The result of the referendum would imply the de facto independence of Taiwan and triggered strong opposition from Beijing. The pro-Beijing political forces in Hong Kong and Macau followed suit [and condemned the referendum in Taiwan]. Since then, “referendum” has become a sensitive word for Beijing and pro-Beijing political forces in both Hong Kong and Macau.
China considers Taiwan, which is democratic, a territory and not independent.
The police crackdown, however, will only intensify the social and political discontent against the unequal distribution of wealth in the gambling city. The number of protesters keeps increasing in annual rallies on Labour Day on May 1, China's National Day on October 1 and Macau's Reunification Day on December 20 as more and more Macau citizen come to believe that a democratic system is the solution to social injustice.
Ronald Yick is a volunteer editor for inmediahk.net, which is quoted extensively in this post.

author: Ronald Yick


text:
Shame and Outrage in Algeria After Cameroon Footballer Albert Ebossé Is Killed by an Object Tossed from the Stands · Global Voices
Dibussi Tande

A screenshot of Cameroonian striker for JSK Kabylie Albert Ebossé  scroring a goal.
Albert Dominique Ebossé Bodjongo Dika, a 25-year-old Cameroonian footballer who played for Algerian club JS Kabylie, died on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014, after being hit by an object thrown from the stands following his team’s loss to rivals USM Alger. According to a statement by the prosecutor in the city of Tizi Ouzo, Ebossé died from internal bleeding caused by a blunt and sharp-edged object.
His death elicited a flood of condolences for his family and condemnations of the fans’ behavior. Mahfoud Kerbadj, president of the Algerian football league, described Ebossé’s death as a disaster for Algerian football. A statement from Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), called for swift action against the perpetrators.
The YouTube video below shows goals scored by Ebossé in the Algerian league:
In a letter to the Algerian Football Federation, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter wrote that Ebossé's death at the hands of a spectator was “intolerable.” Joseph Owona, president of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), described the footballer's death as an “appalling event…a gruesome and cowardly act” in a condolence message to Ebossé’s family.
Meanwhile, the National Syndicate of Cameroon Footballers (SYNAFOC) of which Ebossé was a member also released a statement in French:
Le Syndicat National des Footballeurs Camerounais (SYNAFOC) exprime son indignation et condamne avec la dernière énergie cet acte ignoble, tenté d’une barbarie machiavélique qui a coûté la vie – sur un terrain de football – à l’un de ses membres.
The National Syndicate of Cameroon Footballers (SYNAFOC) expresses in the strongest terms its outrage and condemnation of this despicable act tainted with Machiavellian cruelty that took the life – on a football field – of one of its members.
SYNAFOC called for calm particularly among Cameroonian footballers in Algeria and promised to do everything in its powers to ensure that the culprits are brought to justice.
Widespread outrage over Ebossé’s senseless death was on full display on social media. Maryse Éwanjé-Epée, a former French and European high jump champion, vented on her Facebook page:
Mort pour sa passion… il rêvait, comme beaucoup de jeunes camerounais de jouer dans le championnat européen… Je ne suis que colère, rage même face à cette indicible violence qui n'intéresse personne ou presque. Des jeux et du pain… Et que continue le spectacle!
He died for his passion… like many young Cameroonians, he dreamed of playing in a European league… I am angry and raging against this unspeakable violence which seems to interest practically no one. Bread and circuses… let the show continue!
Jonathan Fadugba, editor of the Just Football blog, could not come to terms with the manner in which Ebossé died:
Still can't get my head round Albert Ebosse's death. To score for your club & then be murdered by your own fans, at 25. Despicable. Very sad
— Jonathan Fadugba (@JFfutbol) August 24, 2014
Another Twitter user, @heritierduroi, had a thought for Ebosse’s newborn baby:
A cause de la bêtise humaine un enfant grandira sans père. Albert Ebosse venait juste d'être papa… pic.twitter.com/1sSj8BFmQ0
— Prince (@heritierduroi) August 24, 2014
Because of human stupidity a child will grow up without a father. Albert Ebosse recently became a father
Expectedly, Algeria and Algerians found themselves at the center of the international outcry. Kamel Daoud, columnist at the French-language Quotidien d’Oran newspaper, shared his feelings of remorse on his Facebook page:
Mots brisés. J’ai beaucoup dit depuis des années. Là, j'ai la langue morte. Ma nationalité est une odeur mauvaise dans les parfums du monde. Honte.
Shattered words. I have said a lot over the years. But in this case, I am tongue-tied. My [Algerian] nationality emits a nasty odor among the perfumes of the world. Shame.
Zinedine Ferhat, who plays for USM Alger and the Algeria national team, was beside himself:
Aucun goût de reprendre le championnat après la mort de #Ebosse ! #Dégouté Notre vis est plus importante que ce merdique ⚽
— Zinedine Ferhat 7 (@FerhatZinedine) August 24, 2014
No desire to resume the league after the death of #Ebosse! #Disgusted. Our lives are worth more than this rubbish.
Then he followed up with an apology to the Cameroonian people:
Au nom de tous les Algeriens je m'excuse a nos frères #camerounais ! Allah Yerahmou #Ebosse #Triste #dégouté pic.twitter.com/fUIIWpostc
— Zinedine Ferhat 7 (@FerhatZinedine) August 24, 2014
On behalf of all Algerians, I ask for forgiveness from our Cameroonian brothers! Allah Yerahmou! #Ebosse #Sad #Disgusted.
For Hamza Bencherif, an Algerian professional footballer who plays for Lincoln City in England, Ebossé’s death was personal:
#rip my friend , my room mate , may god welcome u to paradise albert ebosse . pic.twitter.com/hnFEyYCtsV
— hamza bencherif (@BencherifHamza) August 23, 2014
Reacting to the flurry of anti-Algerian comments on social media, Twitter user Beghdad Meliza urged the public to be more discerning:
Arrêtez de dire que la mort d'Ebossé est un acte raciste. C'était le joueur préféré des supporteurs. C'était notre sauveur. #Ebossé
— Beghdad Meliza ن (@Folishonne_) August 24, 2014
Stop saying that Ebossé’s death is due to a racist act. He was the supporters’ favorite player. He was our savior.
Another Twitter user, Mohand Yahiaoui, agreed:
@Folishonne_ ça n'a rien de raciste. On voit ce genre de comportement dans chaque match de championnat. Là ça été fatal pour feu Ebossé
— Mohand Yahiaoui (@MohandYahiaoui) August 24, 2014
There was nothing racist about it. We see this type of behavior at every league game. Unfortunately, it was fatal for the late Ebossé this time around.
The Algerian Ministry of Interior has opened an investigation into Ebossé’s death, while Algerian football authorities have announced that they are donating about 100,000 euros to his family, along with his full salary until his contract with JK Kabylie runs out. While waiting for the outcome of the investigation, public sentiment is best reflected in this tweet by Jonathan Fadugba:
I just hope the murderers (let's be clear about that, for these aren't mere ‘hooligans’) are found & brought to justice. #Ebosse #RIP
— Jonathan Fadugba (@JFfutbol) August 24, 2014

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Dibussi Tande


text:
Ukraine Blows Up Twitter with News of Russian Invasion · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Reports of Russian military moving across the border into Ukraine caused a Twitter avalanche. Image from Twitter.
On Wednesday Russia expanded its push across the Ukrainian border, apparently sending troops and armor into the town of Novoazovsk in Donetsk region, in what the media described as a stealth invasion. Ukrainian social media users replied with thousands of posts, calling the world's attention to the alarming news.
As the first reports of Russian troops taking over new frontiers along the border appeared, Twitter and other social networks started sounding the alarm as users tried to decide how to raise awareness of the incursion. The situation clearly called for a hashtag, and one enterprising Belarusian user @belamova came up with just the thing:
Нужна 1000 ретвитов, чтобы вывести хештег о вторжении Рашки в мировые тренды #RussiainvadedUkraine
— РБ головного мозга (@belamova) August 27, 2014
We need 1000 retweets to get the hashtag about Russia's invasion into the world trends #RussiainvadedUkraine
The hashtag #RussiainvadedUkraine and its companion phrases spread like wildfire, with users providing directions for making them go viral to reach both Russian-speaking and Western audiences:
Пишем твиты на иностранных языках с хэштэгами #UkraineUnderAttack #RussiainvadedUkraine MAX RT
— Хуёвый Кривой Рог (@krivorozhanin_) August 27, 2014
Let's write tweets in foreign languages with hashtags #UkraineUnderAttack #RussiainvadedUkraine. MAX RT
The call to action was clearly taken up by Ukrainians on Twitter—in the first hour after the hashtag #RussiainvadedUkraine was born, it racked up over 100 thousand tweets and retweets, topping 350 thousand tweets later in the day. On Russian social network VKontakte, 3-5 posts tagged with the same hashtag popped up every second at the height of the flashmob. Netizens posted in Russian, Ukrainian, English and other languages, addressed various officials and international organizations, and of course, shared evocative art in order to draw attention.
HELP UKRAINE NOW #UkraineUnderAttack #RussiainvadedUkraine pic.twitter.com/47ypFLklrF
— Поміркований бандера (@mr_untitle) August 27, 2014
#russiainvadesukraine pic.twitter.com/Hr6pqKZ95h
— Civic Sector (@maidan_go) August 27, 2014
Along with regular users, official accounts also joined the hashtag flashmob, including the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
#UkraineUnderAttack #RussiaInvadedUkraine RT PLZ pic.twitter.com/KMM9ezqAfv
— MFA of Ukraine (@MFA_Ukraine) August 27, 2014
Since the Ministry's tweet only contained the hashtags, some users, like KyivPost journalist Christopher Miller, wondered at how to interpret the message.
Is this the #Ukraine government's official announcement of a #Russia invasion, with hashtags? https://t.co/rH0JQkjkfU
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) August 27, 2014
With news of the invasion spreading, the hashtag #RussiainvadedUkraine was soon trending in Ukraine, and then went to the top of world Twitter trends, as seen in this screenshot posted to Twitter.
#UkraineUnderAttack #RussiainvadedUkraine #UkraineUnderAttack #RussiainvadedUkraine #UkraineUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/KGad3iPjq0
— Дно где-то рядом (@stabilizec) August 27, 2014
Although most of the tweets protesting Russia's border breach came from Ukrainians, some Russian social media users also joined the wave of outrage. A tweet by user Dmitry Monakhov, in which he announced he was going to protest Kremlin's actions on Manezhnaya square in Moscow, collected over 1700 retweets.
Я россиянин. Не быдло. Не убийца. И не оккупант. Мне стыдно что Путин мой президент. В 9.00 я иду на манежку против войны.
— Dmitry Monakhov (@dmtrmon) August 27, 2014
I am Russian. I am not a thug. I am not a killer. And not an occupant. I am ashamed to have Putin as my president. At 9:00 I am going to Manezhnaya [square] to stand against war.
Monakhov's tweet was at least in part made viral by a retweet from Mustafa Nayyem, a Ukrainian-Afghani journalist credited with catalyzing the Euromaidan protests in November of last year with a Facebook post.
RT! Давайте поможем нашим российским коллегам. @dmtrmon pic.twitter.com/J9HSZtVJfe
— Mustafa Nayyem (@mefimus) August 27, 2014
RT! Let's help our Russian colleagues.
Other users in the RuNet, like opposition activist Ruslan Levyev, also called Russians to come out and protest to their city's central square.
Никакого «назначенного времени» и места нет! Это бессрочная акция, выходите когда можете и где можете! Ближе к центру. Манежка, Красная
— Руслан Левиев (@RuslanLeviev) August 27, 2014
There's no “appointed time” or place! This is an action with no deadline, come out when you can and where you can! Closer to the city center. Manezhnaya [square], Red [square].
The hashtag storm on Twitter and other social networks undoubtedly caught the attention of Ukrainian and Western media and officials, and solicited expressions of solidarity among Russians. It is unclear if it results in any discernible action on the part of Ukrainian authorities or new sanctions for Russia from the West. Will the US and EU continue to simply be “deeply concerned”? As the situation escalates, Ukrainians turn to social networks to campaign for some kind of reaction, but the real answers might be harder to come by than a spot in the Twitter world trends.

author: Tanya Lokot


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Three Years After the Arab Spring, Tunisian and Egyptian Musicians Continue to Fight Censorship · Global Voices
Victor Salama

Lebanese rapper El Rass captured in a screenshot while performing at the TeMA Rebelle Festival in February 2014, uploaded by YouTube user campurr15
While some Arab countries saw political changes in 2011 – president Ben Ali was ousted from power after ruling Tunisia for 24 years, Hosni Mubarak was deposed after ruling Egypt for 30 years – many cultural and political boundaries still remain in place for artistic freedom.
In 2012, Egyptian authorities censored a song from a major blockbuster film. The music style was ‘electro chaabi’ – a new wave of electronica coming from Cairo’s poor suburbs and slums.
The Tunisian rapper Weld El 15 has been imprisoned twice since the Arab Spring. In 2013, another rapper, Klay BJJ, was imprisoned for six months in Tunisia for “insulting authorities in his songs”.
In 2014, French-Tunisian journalist Hind Meddeb started the TeMa Rebelle Festival as a way to bring together young socially conscious musicians from the Arab world – such as Cairo’s electro chaabi musicians, Weld El 15 and Klay BBJ – with their European counterparts, in the hope that they would meet and collaborate.
The 36-year-old journalist is a renowned urban contemporary Arab music specialist. She is also a veteran of the Arab underground music scene. Since the 2011 Arab spring or revolution, when tens of thousands of young Arabs marched across Tunisia, Egypt and other countries in the region, demanding more rights and rejecting dictatorships, Hind Meddeb’s work as a filmmaker dedicated to exploring difficult issues and amplifying marginalised voices has become significant.
J’en ai ras le bol que les médias occidentaux ne nous présentent le monde arabe qu’avec des femmes en Niqqab, des types qui se font sauter et des salafistes à barbe. Je montre cette jeunesse comme elle vit.
I'm fed up with Western media always portraying the Arabs with a niqab or as bearded terrorists. I want to show this youth as it is, with [Egyptian electro chaabi] songs like ‘I've Always Lived in Sin,’ which tells the life of those who don't fast during Ramadan or don't do pilgrimage in Mecca.
Under the slogan ‘From punk to rap – independence and freedom of speech’, the festival strove to highlight Tunisian and Egyptian artists who were pushing the boundaries of freedom of expression in their work at the FGO Barbara Cultural Centre in Paris on 21 February 2014.
TeMA Rebelle festival poster
Missy Ness, the first Tunisian female DJ, performed at the festival along with nine other artists, including Weld el 15 and Klay BBJ. Their performances were complemented by screening of film documentaries such as ‘Pussy Riots’, and ‘Electro Chaabi’, and panels discussing topics such as ‘Rap & revolutions’ and ‘The history of punk through the story of a punk’.
Hind was inspired to start the festival after she met Weld El 15 while covering his arrest and his trial over the song Boulicia Kleb (Cops are dogs).
In 2012, Weld El 15 was beaten by the police and jailed for nine months, allegedly for smoking cannabis. In 2013, he wrote the song ‘Boulicia Kleb’, which then got him a two-year prison sentence. Thanks to media campaigns all over the world, he was released from prison in December 2013.
Hind Meddeb took this case to heart. She attended the trial and, when the verdict was out, she screamed: “Shitty country! Now I really understand what Weld said in his song.” This did not go well with the Tunisian authorities. Hind was expelled from court by police officers.
In November 2013, Hind Meddeb was sentenced to four months in prison – a comparatively light sentence, which was eventually suspended due her status as a French journalist.
Backstage before the TeMA Rebelle Festival started, on 17 February 2014, I conducted audio interviews with artists who sat around discussing the issues at hand in French.
Freedom of artistic expression has been touted the primary indicator of progress made since the Arab Spring in the Middle East. When the subject was mentioned, the tired but still mocking eyes of Tunisian rapper Don Emino shined. Smirking he said:
What revolution? They killed the revolution. Weld took two years for his song. It's the same old thing as during Ben Ali’s dictatorship.
The conversation became animated. It shifted to politics and also shifted from French to Arabic.
Weld el 15 noted:
Le sujet favori des Tunisiens, c’est désormais la politique : c’est déjà un gain important en terme de liberté d’expression.
We still have the same taboos. Freedom of expression hasn’t really improved. Well, a bit. Tunisians’ preferred topic of conversation now is politics, and that itself is a huge accomplishment.
The 2003 terrorist attacks in Casablanca were a shock to Hind. She went to Morocco and directed her first film – ‘De Casa au Paradis’ (‘From Casa to Paradise’) which told the story of one of the suicide bombers. She then spent time in Lebanon, working on how political factions use music a propaganda tool. Most recently, she spent time in Tunisia and Egypt, where she had just finished a documentary about the music style electro chaabi:
Hind Meddeb came across this music in 2011, a couple of months after the Egyptian revolution. One of her Egyptian friends introduced her to an electro chaabi keyboard virtuoso named Islam ‘Chipsy’. He spurred her interest and she started meeting other figures from the less privileged parts of Cairo, talking to artists and audiences who were who were not usually covered in the media, due to their lower socioeconomic standing.
Hind was surprised by the freedom of tone and the variety of topics tackled. The music explored social taboos such as drinking which is forbidden in Islam, and also prominently featured political and social commentary, taking bold stances which were seldom expressed by other artists at the time.
The documentary helped to introduce electro chaabi musicians to bigger audiences. But as electro chaabi began gaining visibility on the mainstream stage, they found their work vulnerable to censorship. The 2012 Egyptian blockbuster ‘Abdo Mota’ featured an electro chaabi video clip as part of the soundtrack. The film had made the censorship cut. However, some talk show hosts pointed out that a line in the song mentioned Muslim saints, and that it was inappropriate to mention their names while bellydancers were dancing lasciviously. The producer and the musicians had to drop the line and create an edited version:
Missy Ness  shares the same interests and the same sense of curiosity as Hind. The pioneering DJ borrows deftly from many different music styles. When she first started mingling with the Tunisian musical underground scene in 2006, she soon discovered the Tunisian hip-hop. Since then, she has been busy working with Tunisian rappers and promoting them outside of Tunisia. She has been making history by being the first female DJ in a region, a country and an industry which are not reputed for promoting equal female presence.
At the festival in Paris, Missy Ness spoke frankly to me about the current state of freedom of expression in Tunisia:
On est passé de la dictature mafieuse à la dictature un peu religieuse. Le curseur va bien finir par trouver un juste milieu un jour ou l’autre. Le fait qu’il y ait une répression sauvage et une saga judiciaire sur Alaa Weld El 15 nous a vraiment montré où est la limite de la liberté d’expression. C’est là qu’on doit taper.
We went from a mafia-type dictatorship towards a religious one. We will find the right path somewhere between these two extremes. The fact that Weld el 15 has been detained for his song showed us the current limits and taboos in Tunisia. [Talking about] the police is clearly one of them. But at the same time, it gave us a target: we now know that this is where we should aim.
The taboos and subsequent targets have become a bit clearer indeed: freedom of religious speech and unaccounted-for police violence are among them.
Meanwhile, underground artists continue to push boundaries and illuminate blind spots in the cultural conversation. During Ben Ali’s presidency, no one would have heard about a detained rapper. Weld’s song went quicker and further than the political process: it showed the limits and to that extent has crafted a new and bigger space for freedom of expression.

author: Victor Salama


text:
Ukraine Asks Facebook’s Zuckerberg to Discipline Kremlin Bots · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Ukrainians are appealing to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to stop Russian trolls. Images mixed by Tetyana Lokot.
Ukrainian Facebook users have complained to Mark Zuckerberg himself that their accounts are being blocked on the site in droves—and they're blaming the Kremlin's bot army.
A group of Ukrainians has had enough of what they say is politically-motivated blocking of prominent Facebook users. Several well-known pro-Ukrainian activists who are critical of the Kremlin and the pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine have had their Facebook pages blocked in recent weeks. Users believe the pages, which in no way violate Facebook's terms of service, were blocked due to an unusual amount of complaints filed by what they call “organized pro-Putin groups of Russian users.” The Ukrainians, incensed at these attempts to shut them up, have composed a letter addressed directly to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. The letter has been circulated on the social network, and has been shared over 900 times during the past 24 hours.
In the letter (composed in English), Ukrainians remind Zuckerberg of the importance of sites like Facebook in the information war waged between Ukraine and Russia.
Among total informational blockade and aggressive pro-Russian propaganda, Facebook remains probably the most important channel for delivering the information about the events at hotspots of this war, as well as the only way of communication between those Ukrainians, who reside on the territories, currently occupied by the Russian military forces.
The authors of the letter also address several recent cases of blocking, like that of Sergii Ivanov, an outspoken blogger from Lugansk, whose account was blocked after he posted an appeal to the mothers of Russian soldiers, asking them not to let their sons participate in military activity against Ukraine. Ivanov's account was blocked three times during the month of August alone. On August 26, another popular Ukrainian blogger Alex Zavodyuk also discovered his page was blocked. These netizens, like dozens of others, have been posting outspoken and provocative critiques of Russian involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, as well as exposing evidence of Russian presence on Ukrainian soil.
The group behind the appeal to Zuckerberg believes the blockings are a direct result of Russian intervention and are perpetrated by mass complaints from “organized groups of fake users, registered on the territory of Russian Federation.” This is a reference to the infamous “Internet Research Agency,” a Russian base for worldwide internet troll operations, exposed in a Novaya Gazeta investigation in 2013, and later corroborated by leaked emails from whistleblower collective Shaltai Boltai.
Speculations are rife about the scale of Russian meddling, and some users suggest there is evidence in the form of newly registered Facebook accounts with IP addresses traced to the office of the Russian troll army headquarters, “Internet Research Agency,” in Saint Petersburg. Ukrainian user Mykola Voskalo on FB quotes his ‘intelligence sources’ and says these accounts have little to no personal information, but, strangely, list Ukrainian cities as places of residence. He adds that the network's administrators are currently monitoring these pages for suspicious activity.
The increasing abuses of Ukrainians’ free speech on Facebook, the letter notes, are enabled by the fact that the Ukrainian segment of Facebook is currently managed out of the Russian office, headed by Yekaterina Skorobogatova. This situation, Ukrainian users say, invites manipulation and censorship, since the managing party might have conflicting political interests.
We have found out, that the Ukrainian segment of FB is administered by a person with Russian citizenship, the country, that is killing dozens of Ukrainians on a daily basis using heavy weaponry operated by Russian military. It is widely known, that Facebook corporation is a social network aimed at the freedom of speech and not propaganda. And to the best of our knowledge, Facebook’ activity is based on respect for dignity, civil rights and freedom of all people, regardless of their social status, racial or political affiliation. We are currently observing severe violation of these principals by the Russian administration of Ukrainian Facebook.
Ukrainians are now asking that Facebook appoint a different administrator for the Ukrainian segment of the network, ostensibly from a neutral country, which, unlike Russia, “has no vested interest in further escalation of the conflict.”
If the scale of complaint-enabled censorship of Ukrainian accounts is as massive as the letter suggests, it would merit a thorough investigation by Facebook. How exactly Zuckerberg or other Facebook functionaries will respond to the Ukrainian appeal is still unclear (at the time of publication, Facebook did not respond to a request for comment on the letter), but ignoring the allegations would go some way to undermine Facebook's purported reputation as the champion of free speech.


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As Bombs Go Silent, Testimonies Mount That Israeli Soldiers Used Gazans as Human Shields · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Abdul Rahman tells journalist Max Blumenthal that Israeli troops forced the Wahadans to stay home before bombing their house.
(Photo tweeted by Max Blumenthal from his Twitter account on Aug. 27)
One of Israel's most repeated official claim during the latest war in Gaza was that Hamas was using Palestinian civilians as human shields. Now, several independent journalists, human rights organizations and the United Nations are accusing Israel of using Palestinian civilians as human shields.
On August 26, Israel and the Palestinian factions agreed to halt fighting indefinitely, putting an end to seven weeks of catastrophic destruction and loss of life in Gaza.
At least 2,137 Palestinians were killed, including 577 children, and 10,870 wounded, since Israel launched a massive offensive called Protective Edge against the 40-kilometer-long coastal strip on July 8.
This was Israel's third military operation in Gaza in the last six years. Excessive restrictions from Israel in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank aggravate conditions in areas that most of the world and the United Nations considers occupied by Israel.
Seventy-two percent of Palestinians killed in this offensive were civilians, according to the UN. About a third of the wounded children, will be forced to live with permanent disabilities. One-third of Gaza's total population, over 520,000 people, have been displaced of whom 279,389 were taking shelter in 83 UN-run schools.
When American journalist Max Blumenthal went back to Gaza following the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, he interviewed several of Gaza's residents. Here's his report for AlterNet.
Mahmoud Abu Said said Israeli soldiers used him as a human shield as they hunted his neighbors http://t.co/jxuayILtYE pic.twitter.com/hbogrETZ2k
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) August 27, 2014
One particular incident is worth quoting:
Mahmoud said the Israeli troops dragged him back into his house, blindfolded him and wrapped him in a blanket on the floor as they began to blow holes in the walls to use as makeshift sniper slits — what US troops in Afghanistan called “murder holes.” Then the soldiers stripped Mahmoud to his underwear, handcuffed him, slammed him against a wall and began to beat him. With an M-16 at his back, they forced him to stand in front of open windows as they hunted his fleeing neighbors, sniping directly beside him at virtually anything that moved. When they were not using him as a human shield, Mahmoud said, the soldiers left him alone in the room with an unleashed army dog who was periodically ordered to attack him.
Defence for Children International – Palestine reports the story of 17-year-old Ahmad Abu Raida from Khuza'a, who claims to have been used as a human shield. But the use of human shields during the Khuza'a Massacre were not limited to Abu Raida. His story echoes two testimonies of a 32 year-old and a 56 year-old man from Khuza'a collected by the American-Jewish news site Mondoweiss.
The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights also gathered testimonies from Gazans claiming to have been used as human shields. The man featured below explains how his father was killed:
“My father made a step forward, came closer and spoke to them in Hebrew. And said: we are a peaceful people, we love peace. He kept repeating it in Arabic several times. We love peace. My father was an elderly man and holds a Spanish traveling document. My dad made one step forward, hardly a step on the stairs. As he put his foot on the step, he was shot twice in the heart.”
Before himself and three children were taken to be used as human shields:
“They ordered us to take off our clothes and tied our hands up. They took us to one of the rooms and used us as shields, making us stand at the windows as if we were looking outside. I was at one window and three children from my family at another. The soldiers then began firing around us.”
It is important to note that using Palestinians as human shields is not a new Israeli practice. As early as 2002, both international and Israel NGOs reported of Israel's use of Palestinians as human shields. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reported of its use during the Battle of Jenin as part of Israel's Operation Defensive Shield during the Second Intifada. Israeli Human Rights NGO B'TSelem reported in 2006 of a particular incident in which six civilians, including two minors, were used as human shields in Beit Hanun:
After seizing control of the buildings, the soldiers held six residents, two of them minors, on the staircases of the two buildings, at the entrance to rooms in which the soldiers positioned themselves, for some twelve hours.
The IDF admitted to using Palestinians as human shields at least 1,200 times during the Second Intifada (2000-2005). Despite the fact that the practice was banned by the Israeli High Court in 2005, it continued during the 2008-2009 war in Gaza (Operation Cast Lead). Following the war, the UN Human Rights Council condemned Israel's use of Palestinians as human shields.
Breaking the Silence, the Israeli NGO composed of IDF soldiers and veterans collecting stories of their experiences in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as Amnesty International, accused Israel of continuing to use Palestinians as human shields by forcing them to stay in their homes. After invading Palestinians’ homes, Israeli soldiers forced civilians, including children, to stay in one room of the house while they used the remaining rooms as military positions.
In 2013, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child accused Israel of “continuous use of Palestinian children as human shields and informants”.
Also see our in-depth 2014 coverage on war-battered Gaza.

author: Elia J. Ayoub


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Azerbaijan’s President Doesn’t Really Get Twitter. He Doesn’t Really Get Azerbaijan, Either · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

Image from @presidentaz Twitter account.
Whatever country Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev is tweeting about, it can't be Azerbaijan.
In Azerbaijan, innocent men and women are thrown into jail on trumped up charges. Corruption is so ingrained that the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting project named Aliyev as its Person of the Year in 2012. Public morale is low, people live in a constant state of fear, and the dominant regime rigs its way to victory at every election. Nor are things good with the neighbors: the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, more than two decades old, isn’t about to resolve itself any time soon.
But one man sees Azerbaijan through a different lens. Ilham Aliyev, who inherited the position of Head of State from his father, Heydar Aliyev, is not only of the opinion that Azerbaijan is doing well, but that it is winning on every front – politically, economically, and most importantly, militarily. To share his opinions Aliyev takes to Twitter where one can find him under @presidentaz. For anyone familiar with Azerbaijani realities, the presidential feed is bitterly ironic, if at times darkly entertaining.
A Twitter user speculates as to what Russian President Vladimir Putin is telling Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
The persons in charge of President Aliyev’s Twitter account seem to have little knowledge of the platform and its aim. The president's tweets often end in (cont) and a link to the “Twit longer” app, more or less defeating the purpose of Twitter. Elsewhere in the post-Soviet world, authoritarians have figured out that succinct means success in social media. But Aliyev's feed reads like one long speech regularly interrupted by a pesky 140 character limit. Often the tweets on his English-language feed lack grammar and appear to contradict themselves.
Most problematically of all, though — the feed is full of lies.
Azerbaijan is probably the freest country in the world
One of the topics Aliyev is happiest to tweet about is freedom and how much of it Azerbaijan has. Apparently, plenty:
The freedom of assembly is fully guaranteed in our country. The freedom of religion is also fully provided in our country.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) June 16, 2014
Religious rights organization Forum 18, disagrees, noting: “freedom of religion or belief and related human rights such as the freedom of expression and of assembly remain highly restricted” in Azerbaijan.
We`ve put a lot of efforts to develop democracy, rule of law, provide fundamental freedoms.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) June 30, 2014
Again, the ongoing crackdown in Azerbaijan paints a different picture.
We stand for the freedom of the media because freedom of the media means democracy. The media help the (cont) http://t.co/DreFvHbvlf
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) June 27, 2014
Aliyev's critics maintain the country’s leadership has ensured no such media exists. So-called “linkages between the government and society” come in the form of cheap shows about dating, marriage, and news segments that have very little respect for journalism.
Reporters Without Borders rated Azerbaijan 160th out of 180 countries in its 2014 Press Freedom Index.
We love peace but we are always ready for war. Always.
Only the peace-loving policy of the Azerbaijani state is a guarantor of stability in the region.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) June 28, 2014
It is hard to say which stability @presidentaz is talking about and what is meant by the general reference to the “region”. The conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh has simmered since before independence, boiling over in sporadic border fights between the two countries.
In early August @presidentaz caught the attention of the world media by threatening to reignite war with Armenia after the deaths of Azerbaijani soldiers in contested territory.
The war is not over. Only the first stage of it is. But the second stage may start too.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014
Just as we have beaten the Armenians on the political and economic fronts, we are able to defeat them on the battlefield.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014
We will restore all of the occupied and destroyed cities. We will return to this land, we live and will live with this idea.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014
We will restore our sovereignty. The flag of Azerbaijan will fly in all the occupied territories, including Shusha and Khankandi.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014
Our position is based on justice and international law. Our principled stance has earned us further respect both in the region and the world
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) May 28, 2014
A global role model
As the country develops @presidentaz believes “the reputation of Azerbaijan is gradually enhancing”. In fact, his government is doing so well, it can serve as an inspiration for other states around the world.
In fighting corruption:
Azerbaijan`s experience which completely eliminates corruption and ensures transparency in provision of (cont) http://t.co/6KOXiZXRWo
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) July 1, 2014
“Collecting money”:
If transparency had not been provided, we could not have collected so much money.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) June 4, 2014
Providing housing:
By the end of this year the number of handed out apartments will reach 500.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) June 28, 2014
And ensuring equality:
Equitable distribution of national wealth is one of the major achievements of our country. As a result, the (cont) http://t.co/Afs0wdCd1q
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) June 27, 2014
Finally, if any of that seems like fantasy, @presidentaz reminds readers:
Our words never differ from our actions.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) June 30, 2014
For more continue reading directly from his Twitter account @presidentaz.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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Bahraini Activist Maryam Al Khawaja Denied Entry to Her Country, Goes On Hunger Strike · Global Voices
Nada

Bahraini human rights activist Maryam Al Khawaja has been denied entry to her country – and has gone on a hunger strike at the airport.  Photo by:  Julia Reinhart. Copyright: Demotix
Maryam Al-Khawaja, a Bahraini citizen and the Co-Director of the Gulf Center For Human Rights, was denied entry to her country today [August 30, 2014].
According to the organisation, she was planning to visit her father, prominent human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who is in prison and on his sixth day of a hunger strike. Her father was jailed during the harsh government crackdown which followed pro-democracy protests which swept Bahrain, starting on February 14, 2011. He is sentenced to life imprisonment. This is his second hunger strike. His first lasted for 110 days and ended after he was force-fed by authorities.
After the authorities detained Maryam Al-Khawaja on unknown charges and confiscated her Danish passport (she holds both Danish and Bahraini citizenships), she announced on Twitter that she would go on hunger strike:
I'm being detained in airport. Telling me I don't have Bahraini citizenship. I'm asking for proof.
— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 29, 2014
I'm denied entry. I'm starting a water-only hunger strike. I won't voluntarily leave. My only demand is to be let into my country. #Bahrain
— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 29, 2014
Tomorrow, I will be taken to court in #Bahrain on unknown charges. I'm being held at the airport until then.
— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 30, 2014
She will be facing trial on August 31, someone close to the Al-Khawaja family is now updating her Twitter account:
To clarify: this account is temporarily being run by someone close to the Al-Khawaja family.
— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 30, 2014
The latest update on her account, at the time of writing this post, reads:
Maryam called her family. She is being taken to the public prosecution now.
— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 30, 2014
It is not clear when Maryam Al-Khawaja stopped tweeting in person but the Gulf Center For Human Rights’ website confirms the hunger strike:
Maryam Al-Khawaja having witnessed on her arrival that her rights have been violated by authorities in Bahrain declared:
“I have decided to launch a water-only hunger strike and to refuse to leave the Bahraini airport. I will continue the hunger strike until I am allowed in to Bahrain to see my father. I want to make it clear that I refuse any and all food or treatment during my hunger strike.”
Latest reports received by the GCHR suggested that Maryam Al-Khawaja is refusing to leave Bahrain voluntarily. However, authorities are insisting that they will deport her in a clear violation of international human rights law.
The GCHR condemns both — not giving Maryam Al-Khawaja entry to her country Bahrain and also her detention at the Bahrain International Airport. The GCHR believes that this forms part of an ongoing trend of systematic targeting of human rights defenders by the government of Bahrain.
Al-Khawaja will be taken to court tomorrow [August 31]. Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab alerted Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard:
.@martinlidegaard Fears for HRD Maryam Al Khawaja who landed in #Bahrain last night, was immediately detained & faces court tmrw.#Denmark
— Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB) August 30, 2014
Lotte Leicht, the European Union advocacy director and director of Human Rights Watch's Brussels Office, asked if Denmark would assist Al-Khawaja:
Is #Denmark @martinlidegaard assisting @MARYAMALKHAWAJA who is detained in #Bahrain airport & reportedly will be taken to court tomorrow?
— Lotte Leicht (@LotteLeicht1) August 30, 2014
This is not the first time Al-Khawaja is denied entry to Bahrain. Last year, she was prevented from boarding a British Airways flight from Copenhagen to Manama by the airlines staff. Since a popular uprising in 2011 to demand greater civil and political rights, the government has been violently cracking on political dissidents. This includes monitoring online activities, arbitrary detention, torture, and stripping Bahrainis of their citizenship.

author: Nada


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Between Bombs and Rebuilding in Gaza, Palestinian Activists are Fighting for the Environment · Global Voices
350.org

Tweeted by @BoothWilliam, Washington Post correspondent close to the Israeli border in Gaza on August 10.
This interview with Muna Dajani, a Palestinian environmental activist in the West Bank was conducted by Sarah Rifaat for 350.org, an organization building a global climate movement, and is republished on Global Voices as part of a content sharing agreement.
This week Israel ended a 7 week-long military operation in Gaza, one of two Palestinian territories occupied by Israel. Some estimates say 40 percent of Gaza's urban area has been reduced to rubble. This was Israel's third military operation in the area in six years.
While Gazans’ rebuild their war-battered homes, for most Palestinians it is difficult to think beyond physical and economic survival. But there is a growing climate movement in Palestine that understands so much about the occupation of 4.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza has to do with resources and environment.
To find out more about climate activism in an occupied territory that is frequently in conflict, 350.org‘s Sarah Rifaat spoke to Muna Dajani a Palestinian environmental activist in the West Bank.
Palestinian environmental activist Muna Dajani, at the Global Power Shift march in Istanbul, June 2013. Photo credit: 350.org
What was the idea behind the Palestine Climate Camp you were organising and had to postpone following the recent assault on Gaza?
Muna Dajani (MD): After attending the Global Power Shift Phase I held last year in Istanbul, many groups started organizing around how to tackle climate change issues in their country. With Europe and the US taking the challenge of confronting big issues such as fracking, coal industry, and oil drilling, my challenge as a Palestinian participant was different.
The climate movement in Palestine is almost non-existent, the activism around environmental issues is limited and always confined to certain individuals and organizations. Under decades of Israeli occupation, that has forcibly controlled land, water and natural resources, it was difficult to see an environmental movement evolving. Most Palestinians’ priorities are economic stability and survival against a brutal occupation, leaving little room for activism and advocacy on environmental issues. Politics still plays a very big role in shaping the actions of individuals and groups but not environment.
Nevertheless, there has been a growing awareness amongst Palestinians to the interconnections between environment, politics and occupation. This is what we aim to build on with our proposed activity of carrying out a climate camp; to connect people who are active politically, socially and build a network of political activism that includes and builds upon environmental justice principles. Our aim is to focus on energy independence, as we are fully dependent on Israel, the occupying power, for our energy use and this has to change if we are seeking to establish a sustainable and viable community.
The camp will tackle the energy issue in Palestine and through interactive facilitation will provide a comprehensive campaign that deals with strategic campaigning, creative activism, policy, and popular resistance. Bringing activists from the Arab World is seen as a great opportunity to also network on a regional level and start building collaborations on bigger regional environmental issues such as food sovereignty and water rights.
How has the situation in Gaza affected you and your work?
MD: Our most active environmental activists are Gazans, who have been vocal in local and international conferences. Today, they are witnessing brutal assaults and have had their lives threatened by missiles and air strikes that have left more than 2000 dead, most of them women and children. The activists in Gaza have been an integral part of the climate camp, and have organized many events such as Earth Hour, despite the fact that Gaza suffers from a severe electricity shortage caused by the seven-years siege on the strip.
We have been working hard to advertise for the camp, but with the possibility of our Arab activist friends reaching Palestine declining and the high security and emergency alert we are going through, our event has been postponed to quieter and more just times. All the advocacy work, whether environmental or political, has shifted and intensified to focus on Gaza, where the un-livable conditions before the assault have worsened, leaving more than 1.8 million people without access to clean water, sanitary services, and electricity.
What do you want people to know about climate activists in Palestine and the work they do?
MD: Palestinian climate activists, although occupied with local environmental justice issues, share a passion and determination to stand with international campaigners and movements. It’s a daily struggle to include environmental activism in the overimposing political mobilization, but it’s a struggle worth taking. Activists are becoming aware of how our struggle for freedom and justice is very much linked to our natural resources and rights to these resources as indigenous people. We are building alliances with indigenous communities worldwide as the struggles are identical in their core and require global networking and advocacy. Our contribution to the climate change movement worldwide only empowers us to learn, evolve and link our local struggles to global ones worldwide.
On July 26, Reporter with the Washington Post @BoothWilliam tweets, “Whole blocks of apartment houses destroyed in Shijaiyah. Scale is far far greater than previous Gaza wars.”
What kind of support can people offer to you, to the people of Gaza and to Palestinian climate activists?
MD: To empower the grassroots environmental justice movement growing in Palestine. To not separate politics from the environment, as they are interlinked and dependent. Support in spreading the message that Palestine is abundant with stories of resilience and steadfastness, and can set an example for successful popular struggle to safeguard land, water and livelihood. We need to build alliances, networks and collaborations with coalitions and groups that share the values of justice, equity and resilience. Help raise advocacy efforts to expose environmental rights violations. Empower local communities to advocate and raise their voices together with international organizations and individuals. Educate, advocate and mobilize.
If you’d like to support humanitarian efforts in Gaza, you can support organisations through these links, shared by Muna: Project to Rebuild Gaza Sustainably, Medical Aid to Palestine, Emergency Water and Sanitation Hygiene in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Arab Youth Climate Movement’s chapter in Palestine, also shared a donation link for a local organisation called Natuf, that is working on rebuilding destroyed infrastructure in Gaza.


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13 Photos by an Exiled Iranian Photojournalist of People Caught in Conflict in the Middle East   · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Inside the camp for Komala, the Kurdish branch of the Iranian communist party, in Sulaymaniyah province, a group of men and women peshmerga who have recently finished their military training test their guns in late 2012. All photos were provided by Maryam Ashrafi and used with permission.
Maryam Ashrafi is an Iranian living in exile in Paris. She left behind a country rife with human rights and ethnic struggles to journey to different parts of the world and photograph the stories of people living in crises.
Ashrafi's portfolio spans Iran, Iraq, Turkey and protests in Paris. Her latest project took her to Iraqi Kurdistan to document the stories of female Kurdish peshmerga (armed fighters) in their training camps. The following is an interview conducted by Global Voices with Ashrafi about her photojournalism, with a selection of 13 photos she chose to share as she explained her work.
Global Voices (GV): Can you still travel back to Iran? If not, please explain what the situation is for a political photographer like you.
Maryam Ashrafi (MA): Following my recent projects, I have found it quite unsafe to travel back to Iran. As hard as it was for me, a while ago I made the decision to fully dedicate myself to stories I believe are worth telling and events that are needed to be captured. These projects never factored in the effect on my chances of travelling back to Iran, and these stories sometimes involve people fighting or demonstrating for human rights and issues that are not acceptable by the Iranian authorities. My last trip to Iran was during the last year of Mr. [Mohammad] Khatami's presidency [in 2005]. At that time I began to follow the stories of Afghan refugees and their lives in Iran. This was a project which was nipped in the bud when I was arrested visiting some Afghan families, which is why I have no photos to show from that project. When they realised I am a photojournalist living outside Iran, they automatically charged me with espionage and it took me a month of back and forth to the courts to prove my intention. That is when I decided to work with an NGO (named Persepolis) which helps drug addicts overcome their addictions.
Ashrafi captures a recovering addict's portrait in Tehran’s Persepolis drop-in centre in 2005. She explains, “ She was forced to use drugs which she believed was her husband's intention to keep her dependent on him. It took her years to realise the road she was drawn into. Determined to stop, she ran away from her husband and asked for help. Persepolis was amongst the few NGOs in Iran that helped drug addicts overcome their addiction through a step-by-step recovery using methadone.”
Also my other projects in Paris (especially those dealing with Iran’s Green Movement) and Kurdistan have made it harder for me to go back. There are many photojournalists living in Iran who are bravely capturing social and political issues still, but that is of course possible only to some extent, and with serious limitations. The best example of this can be the great amount of images and footage captured during the Green Movement in Iran by both professionals and amateurs, namely citizen journalists. This placed many lives in danger, leading some to flee Iran while others were arrested. This shows the incredible power of photography, and the threat those in power feel by it.
The Iranian ambassador to France, Mehdi Mir Abu Talebi, and his entourage as they are restrained by the French police at Neauphle-le-Chateau on the outskirts of Paris. The ambassador tried to confront the protesters on the day to commemorate the founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Iran on Jan. 31, 1979, at the Ayatollah's former place of residence.
French police stand by as Iranians protest in front of the Iranian embassy in Paris on May 9, 2010 against the executions of five Iranian and Kurdish prisoners in Evin prison by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
GV: According to a France 24 report, you participated in protests against the Iranian embassy and their diplomats in Paris in 2010. Do you believe there's anything exiled Iranians can do to improve the situation for human rights inside the country?
MA: I was partaking in the protests in Paris as more of a photographer. And yes, I do believe the role of those living outside Iran is really important. At some level, we in the diaspora are a great support to those inside Iran, but more than that, we can send a message to the world and show them what is befalling Iranians, and what people are struggling with and fighting for. Sometimes issues related to human rights cannot freely be spoken about inside Iran. This becomes the responsibility of those who are living outside Iran. This is perhaps the best way the world can understand the Iranian government and people are two different things. The system in Iran doesn’t represent the nation as a whole.
Iranians gather in Paris on June 12, 2010, to mark the first anniversary of the Green Movement, on the day protests erupted against the government's election fraud.
GV: Can you tell me how you came upon the topic of female Kurdish peshmerga?
MA: The stories of Kurdish people is not new. Throughout history they've endured calamities and injustice, and that goes beyond the Kurds of Iran, but in Syria, Turkey and Iraq too. What drew me to this subject was the role of women within Kurdish parties, where they fight shoulder to shoulder with men.
Ashrafi captured male and female Kurdish peshmergas learning to use their guns inside the military training camp of the Komala party of Iranian Kurdistan in late 2012. Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan.
Their battle, I believe, is even harder compared to their male counterparts, as they are not only fighting for their basic rights as Kurds, but also as women in rather male-dominated societies. My interest in their story came in two layers. First to know their role and part in political parties like the Komala [an Iranian communist political party] or PJAK [Party of Free Life of Kurdistan], and on the other hand to learn more about societies which push them out and make them join such groups. I wanted to learn more about their intentions, the problems they face, not only politically but also culturally, problems such as early age marriage, domestic violence, female circumcision, right to education and so forth.
Kurdish peshmergas during their politics theory training course inside the military training camp of the Komala party of Iranian Kurdistan. This was during Ashrafi’s 2012 stay in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan.
GV: You captured some intimate photos of these women. How were you able to gain their trust and get their permission to photograph them? And how long were you with them?
MA: I've made 4 trips to Iraqi Kurdistan between late 2012 and 2014, spending about two weeks each time with these women. During my last trip in June 2014 I met the Kurdish female Peshmergas of the 2nd Battalion who are the only female official branch of the Kurdish National Army.
As a female journalist, I was able to join them in their private moments, and gain their trust to share their stories. As they told me several times, we all fight for women and human rights. While their weapon was their guns, mine was my camera, so they said.
Portrait of Tina, a Kurdish peshmerga inside the camp of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran. Like many other girls her age, following the social pressures in Iran she fled to Kurdistan to join the group. While fighting for Kurdish rights, Tina explained to Ashrafi that she also learned about her rights as a woman. Taken in Kurdistan, near Erbil in 2013.
We connected with each other on that level. It was important for me to share only what they were comfortable to share given their conditions, duties and commitments. I believe their role and problems have largely been missing from news headlines and sometimes lost in everyday news. Having said that, I dedicated myself to a long term and in depth reportage of their lives.
Zilan, a female PJAK guerrilla, binds her hair before starting her daily routines inside the camp located in Qandil, Kurdistan, in 2012.
GV: What sense did the women give about the dangers of life on the battlefield?
MA: These women saw their role in the Peshmerga as a way to assert their equality with men in society in general. For them fighting is not only with a gun. Part of their responsibilities lie in informing their societies about the rights of women. They work with the media through their television and radio programs to inform women about their rights as women. During the time I spent with them, these women were preparing to defend their lands from the Iranian regime and fight for Kurdish people's rights in Iran. On the other level, the Kurdish female Peshmergas of the 2nd Battalion were also ready to defend Kurdistan against ISIS, side by side with men who are fighting on the front lines these days.
Kurdish female peshmergas of the 2nd Battalion during their daily military training. The 2nd Battalion comprises exclusively of 550 female peshmergas and is the only official female branch of the Kurdish National Army. This battalion is responsible for defending Kurdistan against ISIS, alongside male battalions. Ashrafi captured this image in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, in July 2014.
GV: Do you struggle with what photographers often face when capturing individuals in crisis — that it is exploiting or victimizing subjects in condescending ways?
MA: I believe that is the case for many photographers, and I should admit there have been instances where I questioned whether or not photographing certain moments are appropriate. These moments are when I have to remind myself why I’m there in the first place, and why it’s important for those lives and situations to be captured. Of course if I know my physical help and reaction is more appropriate or needed, that's when I put down my camera to help.
Ashrafi captured Syrian children at a UN refugee camp in the Iraqi Kurdistan Arbat camp, July 2014.
The moment that comes to mind is when I started watching two Syrian girls from a distance. The older girl was trying to make a shelter for her little sister. At some point she gave up and when I approached them she was curious, presuming as a grown-up I could help her. My intention was to show their condition in the Arbat refugee camp, but then I thought to myself what is more important to them at this very moment? Me staring at them with my camera or joining them during their game? I joined them.
GV: What kind of impact do you hope your work to have on the subject matter you cover? Is there a particular project you have worked on that has affected you the most?
MA: I believe that photographs are capable of creating awareness for events and situations afar, and help towards social change as the problems of each society are illustrated. For example we can no longer stay ignorant and pretend we don't know what effect the Syrian conflict has on it's people. The photos I took of Syrian refugees in Turkey and Kurdistan were meant to demonstrate this.
Portrait of a young Syrian refugee in Istanbul, February 2014.
Out of the 600,000 Syrians who have fled the unrest in their country and have taken refuge in Turkey, 100,000 went to İstanbul and are living in places with poor, unsanitary or dangerous conditions. Although some of the Syrian refugees have been sent to the camps in different parts of Turkey, many still prefer to live in big cities, in the hope of finding work and better conditions for their families. The future of their children is uncertain and fragile. Similar conditions intensified for Iraqis with the invasions of ISIS.
By being a witness and sharing my photos from these situations I hope to make people think deeper and take action, while questioning what’s missing within mainstream media.
Ashrafi captured Zahra, an Iraqi girl who fled Mosul with her family a few days after ISIS took over the city. They are among as many as a million internally displaced people throughout Iraq. Captured on June 23, 2014 in the Khazer refugee camp for Iraqis, in Kurdistan.

author: Mahsa Alimardani


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NGO Organizes First Interview via Twitter · Global Voices
María Romina Mascareño

NGO Dominemos la Tecnología (Let's master technology) invites to the first #TweetInterview “From softactivism to thinking of a network as a space to protest”, to be held on September 1 from 11 to 13 hs (local time, -3 UTC). The event will take place on Twitter with the participation of political expert and journalist Natalia Zuazo (@nataliazzz), who is currently writing the book “Wars on the Internet”.
This collective cyberdebate aims to reflect on the impact of cyberactivism, how digital disputes counter disputes on public space, among other topics. You can submit your questions and opinions to @DominemoslasTIC.
The NGO was created on 2006 by a group of women from different parts of the world that advocte for online collaboration for social change and the empowerment of women by using information and communication technologies. Their objective is to raise awareness in internet users (especially young and adult women) to control ICT to end violence against women.

author: María Romina Mascareño


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Stop Complaining About the Government! Instead, India Wants Citizens to Help · Global Voices
Alka

The homepage of the MyGov website.
There's a new website in India called “MyGov” that invites citizens to participate actively in the country's governance and development. MyGov is the work of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who's well known for his 3-D-hologram election speeches and general tech-savviness.
“We would like your expert advice, thoughts, and ideas on various topics that concern India. Join the discussions to share, debate and add value,” says the homepage. “There is work to be done and a nation to be built. Find little tasks that interest you and do your bit for India.” Indeed, India's exploding Internet-user population—currently estimated to be about 243 million people, trailing only China and the United States—is fueling the government’s efforts to tap into this latent talent pool and engage in crowd-sourcing.
The portal is meant to serve as a platform where citizens can present the government with initiatives and solutions to state problems, as part of the Modi Government's new citizen-centric push. An introductory video in Hindi and English informs first-time visitors of the site’s purpose.
MyGov currently features seven state projects: Clean Ganga, Digital India, Girl Child Education, Green India, Job Creation, Skill Development, and Swachh Bharat (Clean India). Each group hosts discussions, and anyone who signs up with the site (by surrendering their mobile number and home address) can participate. For example, the Girl Child Education group invites visitors join in an open discussion about improving schooling opportunities for young women:
With an aim to study the discussions and ideas to improve girl child education in the country, whether it be facilities or economic assistance, the ‘Girl Child Education’ group on MyGov provides the platform for the necessary debate.
The objective of this Group is to prepare a policy framework and gather suggestions that can help increase education among girl students and give them livelihood opportunities.
Groups also try to motivate the public by inventing specific tasks. The “Clean Ganga” group, for instance, challenges users to “suggest 10 actionable policy measures towards the cleaning of the Ganga.” Every task has a deadline and estimated time required for completion. As an added bonus, the government might even offer the most active users a chance to meet the Prime Minister in person.
The portal is obviously a hit with many Indians. Digital Journal reports that over 100,000 people signed up between the site’s launch on July 21 and the first week of August. The estimated traffic in July stands at 1.4 million visits. Quite likely, the prime minister's posts on Twitter, where he urged Indians to get involved, helped attract so many people.
A special Open Forum has been created on MyGov for suggestions on the new Institution. Let the ideas flow! http://t.co/zojklP70KT
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 19, 2014
The Twitter account MyGovIndia picked up over 3,000 followers in the last month alone. The account follows Modi’s lead, using social media to encourage citizen participation in India.
Join groups, accept tasks of your interest and use your skills to contribute towards Good Governance. Login to http://t.co/Subru43pey
— MyGovIndia (@mygovindia) August 22, 2014
One open-source activist tweeted:
For MyGov site of India, I demand logo design files also be acceptable in GIMP; inkscape. Text in OpenOffice. #FOSS http://t.co/uxCzeKTe5C
— Niyam Bhushan (@niyambhushan) August 27, 2014
Others lauded the government's efforts:
Excellent idea of GOI to reward 50,000 Rs for useful suggestions sent on http://t.co/FQVAFp35yK This will encourage people's participation
— Kiran Bedi (@thekiranbedi) August 1, 2014
Indeed, many Indians are extremely enthusiastic about the opportunity to help develop the country. G Siva, one blogger who signed up at MyGov, writes:
I have personally signed up for the Clean Ganga campaign. Frankly speaking, I have always complained about it and whined about how no one is doing anything to save our environment and cultural heritage. I think it is time to stop whining and start doing. I think many others are going through similar thought processes. It's a smart move for the government to tap into all this and offer a platform for concerned citizens.
Scarcely 100 days into Modi's new administration, both officials and citizens in India seem ready to welcome the citizen-centric governance model on a national scale.

author: Alka


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Keeping Inuit Culture Alive Through Video · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Canadian hamlet of Arviat, Nunavut has become a hub for videomaking thanks to the work of its Film Society. This Inuit community has also been a launching pad for some of its youth to find opportunities elsewhere to practice their craft.
One of these videomakers is Jordan Konek, once a member of the Arviat Film Society, who is now living and working in Iaqluit, where he works as a video journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation North. In addition, he is one of the founders of his own video company Konek Productions, which also allows him to highlight Inuit culture and language.
His YouTube channel is a mix of daily happenings around his community. His channel also contains music videos that he produced for local artists, many of whom cover popular songs translated into the Inuktitut language, such as this version of John Lennon's “Imagine”. The video posted above produced by Konek provides a list of some of the ways that Inuit culture can be kept alive from his point of view.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Mexican Cartoonist Compares James Foley’s Execution with Presidential Interview · Global Voices
Osiris Jasso

Flowers laid for American journalist James Foley, Arlington Cemetery. Photo by Cynthia Rucker. Copyright Demotix (20 August 2014).
On August 21, Mexican cartoonist Francisco Calderón raised controversy after publishing on his daily cartoon section on Grupo Reforma, an image depicting president Enrique Peña Nieto wearing an orange jumpsuit and kneeling down in front of a masked executioner. The image is a clear reference to the brutal murder of reporter James Foley in Syria, on August 19, by the jihadist group Islamic State that was later published on video as a warning to the United States.
Jueves 21 de agosto de 2014 LA ENTREVISTA QUE HUBIERA SATISFECHO A LOS TERNURITAS: pic.twitter.com/xFOiml9mqt
— PacoCalderónCartones (@CartonCalderon) agosto 21, 2014
Thursday August 21, 2014 THE INTERVIEW THE ALL THE TERNURITAS WOULD'VE LOVED.
The title of the cartoon plays with the idea that an execution like the suffered by Foley would have been the kind of “interview” the “ternuritas” (cuties) would've loved. Ternurita is the name some people use for Peña Nieto government opponents.
Some Twitter users reacted to the cartoon:
@CartonCalderon su cartón es una total falta de respeto a la vida de James Foley https://t.co/mMnJJvX0Hz ojalá sólo sea su ignorancia.
— Juan, el gato nerd. (@emejuan) agosto 21, 2014
Your cartoon is a total disrespect to the life of James Foley. Let's hope it's just your ignorance.
@CartonCalderon Porque cuestionar con firmeza es lo mismo que degollar ¿Verdad monero de la derecha?
— Guillo (@GuillodeClio) agosto 21, 2014
Because being firm when questioning is the same thing that beheading. Right, right winger cartoonist?
Que pena que @CartonCalderon haga una caricatura de una decapitacion.hara una de los ninos muertos en gaza @monerohernandez ?
— Septimus Heap (@3Septimus) agosto 21, 2014
It's a shame that Francisco Calderon makes a cartoon with a beheading. Will he make one about dead children in Gaza?
Sólo México reúne la dosis necesaria de insensibilidad e hijoputez para burlarse de la muerte de James Foley pic.twitter.com/VruWNaRdTT
— Osiris Jasso (@typgrph) agosto 24, 2014
Only Mexico can gather the necessary dose of insensitivity and numbskullness to make fun of James Foley's death.

author: Osiris Jasso


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A Home-Grown Campaign in Bhutan Is Giving Refurbished Shoes to Thousands Who Need Them · Global Voices
Rezwan

Volunteers concentrating on how to recycle the shoes accumulated during the collection drive. These will soon be sent to corners of Bhutan for distribution. Image by Help Shoe Bhutan. Used with permission.
A campaign in Bhutan led by a Bhutanese entrepreneur is collecting used shoes and cleaning them to distribute the footwear to those who cannot afford a decent pair. Help Shoe Bhutan has so far given shoes to nearly 1 percent of the country's population of 740,000.
The story begins with Sandeep Gajakas, an engineer from India, who founded the concept of shoe laundry. Gajakas saw that some people did not make an effort to clean their shoes. If they expect someone else to do it for them, then it is certainly a feasible business model. In 2003, he started India's first professional footwear laundry and refurbishing service for all types of footwear in Mumbai. So far, its ShoeVival franchise has expanded to 10 cities in three countries.
Young Bhutanese entrepreneur Dawa Drakpa brought ShoeVival to Bhutan in 2011. Bhutanese blogger Passang Tshering narrates what happened next:
His parents had sent him to get a degree in BSc Nursing from Bangalore [India], but to their disappointment he returned from Mumbai with a shoe laundry franchise, and without the degree. Unimaginable, but that's the strangeness of destiny. [..]
Overnight he turned what was earlier perceived as ‘dirty job’ into a sexy profession.
Dawa Drakpa writes in his blog about the initial struggles and how his venture started the social business called Help Shoe Bhutan. Drakpa saw a lot of shoes in a trash yard and thought a good portion of them could be recycled and reused. In rural Bhutan, many children walk for miles without decent shoes to go to school. Farmers often work the field without wearing shoes because they cannot afford footwear.
The old shoe collection campaign began in September 2011. In Drakpa's words:
The intention was clear-
1. Collect as many old shoes.
2. Revive them.
3. and finally distribute them among the people who cannot afford a decent pair of shoe.
Help Shoe Bhutan distributed 500 pairs of shoes in Merak, a settlement in the far east of Bhutan, in Trashigang District. Image by Help Shoe Bhutan. Used with permission.
Drakpa recalls how many Bhutanese organisations, businesses and individuals came forward to help the effort by providing funding or just a helping hand. The cleaning and repairing of the shoes cost as little as Nu. 80 (US $1.30) per pair, a service Drakpa's Shoe Laundry business is providing. Bhutan Dragons Motorcycle Club joined as a distribution partner to deliver the shoes to rural areas that needed them. He narrates how its members rode together in a charity ride in cold and foggy weather to distribute the footwear and other items in Samtse district in southwest Bhutan.
A little girl with a pair of recycled shoes during a distribution. Image by Help Shoe Bhutan. Used with permission.
The first distribution was in March 2012. Drakpa writes:
The distribution team reached there around 3pm. And the children started standing in queue. Even at this moment, i was not very sure how those shoes will be accepted. […] There were different kinds of shoes- adults, kids, flip flops, boots, leather shoes and the list goes on. […] Help-Shoe Bhutan took 221 pairs of cleaned and repaired shoes.
Kids came one at a time to try out shoes… They were very excited, we could clearly see that the kids and adults as well were choosing their shoes even before their turn came to try out their shoes. Soon kids and adults rushed towards the shoes and the view looked more like a fish market. Having said that, it was indeed a honor for us, the distributing team.
The joy of getting a pair of shoes to walk in during distribution in Zhemgang district, one of the poorest regions in Bhutan. Image by Help Shoe Bhutan. Used with permission.
The Help Shoe Bhutan team also distributed shoes to Zhemgang, the poorest district in Bhutan. Drakpa recalls:
We made it a point not to miss a single person leave the room without getting a pair of shoes. The distribution began with Bardo Tshogpa calling the names according to the house hold names. There are 68 households in Bardo gewog. And approximately 300 people. The charity goods include shoes, clothes, toys, New blankets, sweets, biscuits etc.
The first campaign, which ran until May 2012, distributed about 1,300 pairs of shoes. Help Shoe Bhutan's second campaign was launched in June 2012 by Her Royal Highness Princess Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck with a plan of distributing 2,000 pairs. The initiative is ongoing, with the total number distributed as of May 21, 2014, standing at 5,996.
Distributing partner Bhutan Dragons Motorcycle Club had distributed 742 pairs of shoes in Pemagatshel. Image by Help Shoe Bhutan. Used with permission.
Whats next for the campaign? According to its Facebook page, the team is going to high schools to train the students how to clean and recycle shoes. A post on July 24 mentioned:
We are just trying to empower the students themselves to take care of their own shoes.
It is often said “give a man fish, he will feed for a day. Teach him how to fish, he will start a fish shop and feed his neighbourhood”
You can follow the project via its Facebook page.
Happy kids with recycled shoes. Image by Help Shoe Bhutan. Used with permission.

author: Rezwan


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China Will Let Hong Kongers Vote for Their Next Leader — But Only If a Pro-Beijing Committee Selects the Candidates · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Hundreds of protesters attended the Occupy Central assembly against the NPC standing committee's narrow framework on universal suffrage in Hong Kong's next chief executive election. Photo taken by Facebook user Wan Hoi Wing.
For pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, China's promise to let the people have a say in the election of the city's next top leader is looking rather hollow.
The standing committee of China's National People Representative Conference (NPC) announced on August 31 that candidates for the 2017 election of Hong Kong's chief executive must obtain at least 50 percent support from a nominating committee. That nominating committee will be formed just like the current chief executive selection committee, meaning the majority of the members will be pro-Beijing.
China promised Hong Kong, a former British colony that enjoys a certain level of autonomy from the mainland as a special administrative region, a direct vote in 2017 instead of election via the 1,200-member committee. But having only pro-Beijing tickets to choose from defeats the purpose of an election, pro-democracy activists say.
Committees packed with “patriot” members have smothered pro-democracy candidate's chances in the past. The majority of the current chief executive committee selection committee members come from pro-Beijing civic groups, either directly nominated by the organizations or elected within a small circles of some 20 companies or individual voters. In the 2012 selection of the chief executive, pro-democracy candidate Albert Ho only managed to get 188 nominations (less than 16 percent) and 76 votes (less than 7 percent) from the members.
The NPC, which met for a week in the mainland capital, also ruled the number of candidates will be restricted to two or three.
Protest group Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP), which has said it will hold a massive sit-in in Hong Kong's financial district if Hong Koners aren't allowed to choose the candidates, organized a public assembly outside the Hong Kong government building attended by hundreds in response.
The group said in a press release that the NPC's decision dashed people’s hopes for change and will intensify societal conflicts. More than 500 members were arrested earlier this summer at a rehearsal sit-in for Occupy Central following a rally of a half a million people on July 1, a day that traditionally sees pro-democracy demonstrations.
Current affairs commentator Lam Shui Bun drew a political cartoon – “Door opened to Chief Executive candidacy”, on citizen media platform inmediahk.net on Beijing's framework for Hong Kong's chief executive election.
Organizers urged in their assembly statement:
如今制度裡只有強權，沒有公理，我們呼籲全民起來為自己發聲，他們聽不見不代表我們不存在！
公民抗命行動即將發生，而且不會是一次完結，欺壓人民的政權將要面對一個公民全面抗命的時代！
為此請召集屬於這個時代的公民走出來，帶上可發聲之物，向全城發出最後警號，宣告列陣！
風起了，我們要勇敢走下去。
What remains in the system is authoritative power; there is no space for reasoning. We urge all Hong Kong citizens to stand up and speak out. The fact that they refuse to hear us does not mean that we don't exist.
The act of civil disobedience is about to take place and it won’t end as a single action. The suppressive ruler has to confront an era of massive public disobedience.
Please call upon citizens who belong to this era to the assembly and have them bring any material that can make a sound, ring the warming siren throughout the city; declare battle.
The wind has blown. We have to continue down our path with courage.
As students’ summer break ends the first week of September in Hong Kong, the Federation of University Student Unions called for a student strike when the new semester started:
[…] 對我們學生來說，罷課就是我們對政權的不合作。
我們在學院裡學習，為的就是將來的生活，以至整個社會變得更美好。但是，現在我們的生活空間越來越窄，我們的社會千瘡百孔，面對地產霸權、官商勾結等種種暴政的惡果，只埋首學習課堂上的知識，並不能改變集體的命運。我們需要的，是停下日常的生活節奏，把學習重新放回社會裡，去探討我們心目中的香港應如何發展，並與所有關心香港命運的人共同為之而奮鬥。
[…] 如果我們不甘自己的未來由權貴壟斷，就要在這個重要時刻站出來，為包括罷交稅、罷課、罷工、罷市等行動的不合作運動揭開序幕，展開抗爭的新一頁！
[…] For students, boycotting classes is our act of disobedience.
We study in the university to improve our lives and society. Yet, our living space has been shrinking and our society is sick. The collusion of government and corporations, in particular in the property development sector, is destructive to our society. We can’t change our fate by focusing on our study. What we need now is to suspend our daily routine and learn from our society. We have to ask ourselves, what do we want for our society and then act together with those who care to realize our dream.
[…] If you don’t want to see our future being determined by the privileged ruling class, we have to step out and join citizens’ disobedience — resistance to paying tax, boycott of classes, workers’ strike, market strike. We have to turn a new page for our struggle.
“Hong Kong government said: Take whatever is available. Will you take the rotten orange?” A poster by fluid occupiers.
Beijing's framework for the 2017 election not only imposes a high threshold for the candidate, but also leaves no room for the democratization of nominating committee. All candidates would be pre-selected, undermining Hong Kong's long-awaited universal suffrage.
The framework also leaves almost no room for further negotiation, so pro-democracy legislators will likely exercise their veto power in Hong Kong's legislative council on the government's political reform proposal on universal suffrage. The Hong Kong government will table an official draft on the arrangement of the 2016 election of the legislative council and the 2017 election of the chief executive early next year.
To explain to Hong Kongers why it is matters to vote down “fake” universal suffrage, a group calling themselves Fluid Occupiers have begun offering rotten oranges to passersby. The political demonstration spoofs a government advertisement asking Hong Kong's people “to accept whatever is available.” Are you willing “to eat whatever is available?” the Fluid Occupiers ask.
Follow our in-depth coverage: Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution

author: Oiwan Lam


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Indian Security Forces Open Fire on Peaceful Protestors in Manipur · Global Voices
Rezwan

Protests in Ukhrul on August 30, 2014 defying govt ban on rallies and sit-ins. Image courtesy Facebook page of the Protest Against SEC 144 Crpc Promulgation in Ukhrul.
At least two persons were shot dead and more than 10 injured after Security Forces opened fire on protestors in Ukhrul, a district nearly 85 kilometres from the capital of the Indian state of Manipur, on Saturday, August 30, 2014.
The current unrest in Ukhrul dates back to mid-July, when an unidentified gunman assassinated Ngalangzar Malue, a member of the local Autonomous District Council. No one has claimed responsibility of the murder.
On July 13, the Government of Manipur sent hundreds of Manipur Police Commando (MPC) and Indian Reserved Battalion (IRB) into Ukhrul, where officers arrested eight cadres of the Naga separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM). The government also imposed “Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973,” which empowers a magistrate to prohibit an assembly of more than ten people in any single area. Until this summer, a “ceasefire” between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) had been in place since 1997.
According to the Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), the imposition of Section 144 has suspended the freedom of movement for the people in and around of Ukhrul District Headquarters, harming local businesses and interferring with everyday life. The people of Ukhrul have protested the imposition of Section 144, demonstrating peacefully on several occasions. A timeline of the rallies can be found here.
On a dedicated Facebook page, activists have documented the protests since the middle of August.
Protests to stop militarisation at Ukhrul. Image courtesy the Facebook page of the Protest Against SEC 144 Crpc Promulgation in Ukhrul.
On August 11, 2014, police disrupted sit-ins planned in more than 20 places across Ukhrul.
Protesters met with resistance by security forces. Image courtesy the Facebook page of the Protest Against SEC 144 Crpc Promulgation in Ukhrul.
Over five hundred Naga students in India's capital also joined the protests near the Manipur Bhavan in Delhi and shouted slogans such as “Go Back IRBs and Commandos” and “Revoke 144 CrPC”. Phungshok Khonreiwoshi, the president of Tangkhul Student’s Union, Delhi told the press:
The chronic hostility of the Government towards the hill tribes and the constant weakening of the constitutional provisions safeguarded for the hill people are absolutely unacceptable. The attempt of the government is nothing but to usurp the right of the hill people and in particular the Naga’s right to free practice of customary law, ownership of land and civil autonomy.
Some protestors in Delhi were beaten up by police on August 17, 2014.
Protesters outside Manipur Bhavan beaten by Police Curfew in #Ukhrul (Manipur) since 34 days,CrPC section 144 imposed http://t.co/enBPUFJ8iY
— letsbehumane (@lets_be_humane) August 19, 2014
The United Naga Council, an apex organisation of the Nagas in Manipur, declared that mass rallies will be held on August 30 in four Naga-dominated district headquarters of Tamenglong, Senapati, Ukhrul and Chandel in Manipur. Demonstrators’ primary demand is that the national government expedite the resolution of an acceptable and honourable settlement of the Indo-Naga issues and expediting the peace process. The rallies also oppose the alleged militarisation of the Ukhrul district, which ostensibly violates the Indo-Naga ceasefire. On the evening of August 29, however, the district's local government stationed loudspeakers throughout the area, announcing that police would not allow any public gathering, as Section 144 was still in force in the area. With protesters already committed to the next day's demonstration, clashes on August 30 became sadly inevitable.
Naga people protesting on August 30, 2014. Image courtesy Facebook page of the Protest Against SEC 144 Crpc Promulgation in Ukhrul.
The next day, on Saturday, August 30, thousands of Nagas from nearby villages came out in Ukhrul town in support of the rally from 11 am defying the bans. At around 2:20 pm, protestors forced through police barricades and gathered at a nearby ground to read out a memorandum to be submitted to the Prime Minister of India. Soon disturbance broke out and the Manipur State Commandos and Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) opened fire on peaceful demonstrators outside the Ukhrul district headquarters, killing two persons and injuring many. The deceased were identified as Ramkashing Vashi (age 26) and R. Mayopam (age 31). Online, Facebook users posted photographs of the protests and the victims. Kahorpam Horam shared still more photos from the scene of the mayhem in Ukhrul. (Warning: hyperlinks contain graphic images.)
Twitter users Philachui Sareo and Binalakshmi Nepram described the shooting as it occurred:
Injured being treated after Police Commandoes & India Reserved Battalion opened fire on Protestors killing 3 #Manipur pic.twitter.com/FR5x3EWvUR
— Binalakshmi Nepram (@BinaNepram) August 30, 2014
Innocent live lost #Ukhrul pic.twitter.com/Hxehpa1XAY
— Philachui Sareo (@SareoPhila) August 30, 2014
The militarization of #India‘s democracy must end.This not what founders,nation envisaged. #RepealAFSPA Remove CrPC 144 in #Ukhrul #Manipur
— Binalakshmi Nepram (@BinaNepram) August 30, 2014
RT @khanthing Apart from the District police, other 2 units that fired upon protesters in #ukhrul , Manipur were counter-insurgency units.
— Philachui Sareo (@SareoPhila) August 30, 2014
As social media exploded with news of the carnage in Ukhrul, India's mainstream media remained largely silent. Ngathingpei Khayi, for instance, pointed out the lack of coverage in India's mass media.
Two #shot #dead n many #injured in #Ukhrul my homtwn by #police at a #PeaceRally. Nowhr in #news. #Shame #Sad @ndtv @cnnibn @timesnow
— Ngathingpei Khayi (@nkhayi) August 30, 2014


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Afghanistan’s Ice Bucket Challengers Ask Presidential Rivals to ‘Be Cool!’ · Global Voices
Samea Shanori

Screenshot from video uploaded on the Be Cool Facebook Group.
A public Facebook group called ‘Be Cool’ posted a video August 30 in which a pair of Afghans completed the phenomenal Ice Bucket Challenge in the name of political peace.
Presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani have been at the heart of political deadlock in the country since July 7, when Ghani won a presidential runoff amid allegations of massive voter fraud. With a vote audit under a political cloud the ice dunkers requested both politicians to accept the outcome of the audit — whatever it may be — in the name of stability and ensuring the first democratic transition of power in the republic's history.
The video has been shared over a hundred times.
Another screenshot taken from the video. The script reads “Honorable Afghans, Be Cool!!!”
The clip on the group's page is prefaced by the following missive written by Wahid Rahimdil:
We are fed up with the current political uncertainty of our country. We ask our leaders to accept the results of the second round while keeping it cool. We give this challenge to all Afghans and encourage them to make the same demand! We hope you like our take on the Ice Bucket Challenge! Wa hamesha Khoonsard bashed! Enjoy!
Wahid Rahimdil's video post attracted supportive responses from other Afghans:
Be cool Wahid Jan. John Kerry does not have to come again. I hope they [Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani] listen to you.
Masood Babak commented:
Great idea Rahimdil saib. Teaching the basics of leadership in a short phrase “khoonsard bashid” [Be cool].
Negative replies were put on ice by supporters of the event. Said Osmani wrote:
اين كارها ديوانه كي است اين چي كار است كه شما انجام ميديد
These acts are nothing, but stupidity.
To which Mir Hasibullah replied:
!!خونسرد باش برادر عزیز
Be cool, my brother!!
Tareq Osmani criticized the initiative, posting:
Wow, Its THE ALS Ice Bucket challenge. The main purpose is to simulate how you feel when you have ALS. Its not the Cold-Blooded challenge. get it right
Amanullah Nuristani's rebuttal:
Mr. Tareq Osmani, This is not the ALS Bucket challenge. This is a localized version relevant to your own issues. We don't want people to be “cold-blooded” we want them to be cool which is a totally different thing. I salute your support for the ALS foundation but we have far greater issues that need urgent interventions. Khoonsard Bashed! [Be cool!]
Currently the political heat is emanating from Abdullah Abdullah's camp. The former doctor and Northern Alliance resistance fighter almost won the presidential elections in the first round, only to have his lead turned upside down in the second. On June 27 his team released a recording they say proves fraud took place on behalf of Ghani when votes were cast again. Abdullah has now walked out of an ongoing UN audit of the vote, his team alleging the audit “lacks teeth”. It was this new moment of heightened tension in the standoff that triggered the Be Cool challenge.
While Karzai has already packed and is ready to leave the Presidential Arg, there is no successor yet to take over his responsibilites. According to John Kubis, the UN special representative to Afghanistan, the winner of the elections will be announced by September 10.

author: Samea Shanori