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Eccentric reggae pioneer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry dies at 85 · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Jamaican dub pioneer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. Photo by Preetam Slot on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
The hugely influential, avant-garde reggae music producer, songwriter and singer Lee “Scratch” Perry died on the morning of August 29 at the Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucea, Jamaica. He was 85 years old.
Culture Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange confirmed the news on Twitter:
Officially confirming the passing of musical icon Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. Spoke to his son, Rocky, this morning. My condolences to his widow, Mireille, his children and other relatives. What a man, what a music, what a life, what a genius!
Further details will be announced. pic.twitter.com/ANHUOPKI5l
— Hon.Olivia Grange (@Babsy_grange) August 29, 2021
Prime Minister Andrew Holness paid a heartfelt tribute:
My deep condolences to the family, friends, and fans of legendary record producer and singer, Rainford Hugh Perry OD, affectionately known as “Lee Scratch” Perry. pic.twitter.com/Eec2MEd6yC
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) August 29, 2021
The Office of the Prime Minister later issued a press release, noting that Perry had received a National Honour (Order of Distinction, Officer Class) in 2012. The statement included a personal comment by the prime minister:
Undoubtedly, today Jamaica has lost the rhythm and soul of a prolific music icon who has inspired many … Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry was truly one of the most important and creative figures to have come out of Jamaica.
Opposition Leader Mark Golding tweeted:
Jamaica honours the memory of one of our most original musical geniuses, Lee “Scratch” Perry. His immense body of work, as a producer & artist, underscores his influence. His unique touch & feel enriched some of our most beloved popular musical compositions. RIP Lee Perry. ?? ? pic.twitter.com/0BX9tTIyUd
— Mark Golding (@MarkJGolding) August 29, 2021
Perry was famous not only for his own pioneering dub sound but also for helping to steer Bob Marley’s career in its early stages. Social media tributes came in from Jamaicans and from around the world, including a flood of tweets from Japan, where he was extremely popular.
A New York-based reggae station pointed out that Perry was one of four legendary reggae musicians to pass away in the past year:
LEGENDS FOREVER …great loss to Jamaica & the world, in less than a yr.#TootsHibbert •Sept 11, 2020#URoy •Feb 17, 2021#BunnyWailer •Mar 2, 2021#LeeScratchPerry •Aug 29, 2021
play the music • sing the songs • celebrate them in exhibitions • PRESERVE THE LEGACIES? pic.twitter.com/RfuvTuurIb
— Sound Chat Radio (@IrishandChin) August 29, 2021
He was born Rainford Hugh Perry in 1936 in the rural western parish of Hanover; his mother was a farmer and his father a labourer (who later became a professional dancer). Perry left school early and was not particularly ambitious, pointing out in an interview that he preferred playing dominoes—he became the local champion—to getting a job. Dominoes, he said, taught him to “read the mind of others.” Like his father, he loved dancing, and was well known in dancehalls as the “Neat Little Man.”
In the late 1950s, Perry moved to Kingston and began working as an assistant to music producer Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd, and later as a talent scout and auditioner for Dodd’s Downbeat sound system. After producing some songs for Dodd’s renowned Studio One label, the often irascible Perry felt unappreciated and fell out with Dodd.
During that time, when he helped launch the careers of vocal trio the Maytals and rock steady singer Delroy Wilson, he acquired his nickname, from a hit record called “Chicken Scratch.” Sound systems were culturally influential—and very competitive—during this period. After a stint with Dodd’s rival, Joe Gibbs, Perry finally struck out on his own, founding his Upsetters label—named after his band—in 1968.
Perry established the Upsetter Record Shop on Charles Street in downtown Kingston, and worked with a number of popular artists in the late 1960s and early '70s, including The Wailers, working on famous songs like “Duppy Conqueror” and “Small Axe”. In a 2015 interview with BBC Channel Four, Perry said, “I gave Bob Marley reggae music as a present”—a theme he expanded on in a 2017 interview for Reggae Vibes magazine, in which he was asked about his early mentorship of Bob Marley.
Perry worked with another famous producer and mix master, King Tubby, during the early 1970s, but he wanted his own space. His Black Ark studio, located in Washington Gardens, Kingston, was completed in 1974. Using only basic equipment, he created a remarkable and totally unique sound at Black Ark, stretching the limits of creativity and experimentation. The music he recorded there was remarkable for its diversity, with artists ranging from toasters such as U Roy, to jazz trombonist Vin Gordon, and even the mournful melodica of Augustus Pablo.
Over the next 10 years, Perry would produce an extraordinary range of Rastafarian-influenced music at Black Ark, including the influential “War ina Babylon” with Max Romeo, Junior Murvin’s “Police and Thieves” and many other classic roots reggae songs. A combination of domestic troubles and infiltration by criminal elements resulted in the studio’s decline by the late 1970s, however, culminating in the building being burned down in 1983.
Perry was not well known to many younger Jamaicans since, being without a studio in the 1980s, he spent much of his time overseas, settling in the United Kingdom in 1983. In 1989, he married and moved to Switzerland, where he continued to produce music. Curiously, his studio there also burned down, in 2015—an incident which Perry called his “Second Judgement.”
Described by many as a musical magician whose imagination knew no limits, Perry constantly pushed boundaries, working with musicians from a wide range of genres over the course of his long musical career. Outside of reggae, he had a great love for hip hop. Upon hearing the news of his passing, The Beastie Boys, whom Perry had collaborated with, shared their appreciation for his genius:
We send the most love and respect we can to Lee Perry who passed today, to his family and loved ones and the many he influenced with his pioneering spirit and work. We are truly grateful to have been inspired by and collaborated with this true legend.
– Mike pic.twitter.com/cmdcnI6hHT
— Beastie Boys (@beastieboys) August 29, 2021
Another musician pointed to Perry's influence on hip hop:
Most modern Hip-Hop owes its sonic fingerprint, whether wittingly or no, to the hands of Lee Perry.
The Man has passed into Legend, but his Sound is as close as your music feed.
4/
— ATTACK AND DETHRONE MOLOCH (@BroknHeadphones) August 29, 2021
Tuff Gong Studios also shared their tribute:
We give thanks for the wonderous life of Lee “Scratch” Perry… the ORIGINAL UPSETTER.
“I grew up with revolution in my brain, revolution in my leg, and revolution in my head”~ Lee “Scratch” Perry
JAH LIVE????? pic.twitter.com/Vme5phrHPt
— Tuff Gong (@TuffGongINTL) August 29, 2021
British reggae aficionado and deejay David Rodigan tweeted:
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry has left us and the world of music has lost one of its most enigmatic creators; an amazing, incomparable phenomenon whose sonic sound waves transformed our lives; the ‘Blackboard Jungle’ album alone stands as a beacon of his genius. pic.twitter.com/WgYZ106UNR
— David Rodigan (@DavidRodigan) August 29, 2021
Perry's work was recognised in his four Grammy nominations in the Best Reggae Album category, for “The End of an American Dream” (2007), “Repentance” (2008), “Revelation” (2010), and “Back on the Controls” (2014). He won the Grammy in 2002, for “Jamaican E.T.“
However, “Scratch” will always be primarily known for his brilliant creativity during the Black Ark years, his unconventional, often bizarre fashion sense, and his charismatic persona. In 2001, he did a series of captivating television ads for Guinness, and in 2020, modelled for Gucci, at age 84. Perhaps, most of all, for his influence on a wide range of musical genres, there will never be another Lee “Scratch” Perry. He was a musical giant.


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How a Haitian bakery is using the breadfruit tree to foster resilience after the earthquake · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Breadfruit konparèts aplenty in Jérémie. Photo courtesy Trees That Feed Foundation, used with permission.
This story was originally published on Petchary's Blog. An edited version is republished below with the author's kind permission.
Jérémie, a lovely seaside town on Haiti's southwest peninsula—the long toe that sticks out at the western end of the island of Hispaniola, very close to Jamaica—and its population of about 97,000, is one of the areas damaged by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook the country on August 14.
Both Jérémie, to the north of the peninsula, and neighbouring Les Cayes, to the south, were hard hit. Buildings collapsed and people were caught under the wreckage. The earthquake also affected the densely forested Pic Macaya, the nearby national park named after the country's second-highest mountain, causing landslides. Up until a week ago, there were ongoing rescue operations to find survivors in that area.
Beyond many of the headlines’ disaster narratives, however, and despite the country's recent political, social and economic upheaval, life goes on in Haiti. It always does.
Nearly 5,000 residents still suffering from the effects of the recent earthquake received konparèts, including 257 people—some of whom are seen here—at the Jérémie Breadfruit Flour and Bakery on August 19. Photos courtesy Pierre-Moïse Louis, used with permission.
The 2021 earthquake, which was more intense than its 2010 predecessor, has thus far killed over 2,200 Haitians and left many more injured, missing and homeless. It has also put many Haitians in the position of not having access to food, but a local pâtisserie, Jérémie Breadfruit Flour and Bakery, has stepped in to help. Since the disaster, it has been providing tasty and nutritious meals, including breads and konparèts, to the town's residents—close to 22,000 in the week after the earthquake alone.
A dense bread with a cake-like consistency that is a traditional Jérémie delicacy, konparèts are both tasty and filling—but the bakery, which owner Pierre Moïse Louis established just five years ago, has been baking a very special type of konparèts using breadfruit flour. Although his business was also affected by the earthquake, Louis donated the bakery's salvageable stock to local families in need.
Delicious konparèts, fresh out of the oven. Photo courtesy Trees That Feed Foundation, used with permission.
Konparèt baking is a century-old tradition. The delicacy is typically made using root ginger, extract of bergamot, vanilla, almonds, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, grated coconut, cane syrup, baking soda, butter, animal fat, a pinch of salt, and well … flour. So where do the breadfruit trees come in?
The United States-based not-for-profit Trees That Feed Foundation, which was co-founded by Jamaicans Mary and Mike McLaughlin, has been donating breadfruit trees to Haiti for the past 10 years. Wanting “food to be used by Haitians, for Haitians,” the programme encourages the development of other breadfruit products. As the donated trees flourished, locals began to turn the fruit into flour and—at least in Louis’ case—bake konparèts with it. Partnering with Trees That Feed, his bakery has been producing thousands of buns each month to supply schools, children’s homes, and other organisations in need, even before the earthquake. Jérémie Breadfruit Flour and Bakery also runs cooking classes that teach people how to use breadfruit flour in their dishes, and encourages local entrepreneurship.
An employee of the Jérémie Breadfruit Flour and Bakery demonstrates how the breadfruit is peeled. Photo courtesy Trees That Feed Foundation, used with permission.
Of the post-earthquake efforts, Louis says:
We are focusing on konparèts because [they are] very nutritious and ready to eat, so people don’t need to cook. People in Jérémie are living on the streets now because their houses were destroyed and, because of the aftershocks of the earthquake, they are afraid to enter the [remaining] houses, which are not still solid. They don’t have any food and water, so they need ready-to-eat foods, because they don’t have kitchens [in which] to cook.
The Trees That Feed Foundation is a major partner in the Caribbean Tree Planting Project (CTPP), an initiative spearheaded by the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance (CariPhilAlliance) that is taking place across 22 regional territories.
The first Caribbean Tree Planting Week took place in July this year, but since February 2020, the CTPP has planted more than 1.5 million trees across the Caribbean, most of them in Haiti. Its next goal is to plant two million trees between July 2021 and June 2022, region-wide.
In addition to other activities, the CariPhilAlliance and Trees That Feed are working together to help expand the bakery’s production of konparèts:
In addition to being flavourful, these baked goods are made with breadfruit which is rich in iron, potassium, vitamin A, and other vitamins and minerals. These meals are also made from coconut, ginger, and molasses which provide protein, iron, potassium, antioxidants and other nutrients. A single breadfruit tree has been found to produce enough fruit to feed an entire family, and can live up to 80-100 years, providing entrepreneurs in Haiti with professional opportunities for years to come.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Emma Lewis


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#KeepItOn: How the Twitter ban is affecting young Nigerians  · Global Voices
Victoria Audu

A metaphor for the Nigerian Twitter ban? A young Nigerian woman behind a chain linked fence. Image by Muhammadtaha Ibrahim Ma'aji, Pexels, free to use.
Two months into the shutdown of Twitter by the Nigerian government, many young business owners, social media influencers, and activists have been adversely affected, and Global Voices spoke to them to understand the impact of the ban on their lives and businesses. Fears about the possible expansion of the suspension to other social media platforms such as Instagram has excerberated their concerns.
The shock of the Nigerian government’s June 4, 2021 banning of Twitter still reverberates. The Nigerian government banned the social media platform after Twitter deemed harmful and deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari which suggested that the state would use violence against the Igbo ethnic group.
Since then, many have speculated that the government’s suspension of the microblogging platform was also in retaliation for Twitter’s support for the youth-led October 2020 #ENDSARS movement against police brutality.
Nigerians resisted the ban by tweeting with the hashtag #KeepItOn. The #KeepItOn campaign is a coalition of more than 200 research, advocacy, media and organisations, including AccessNow, “located within 75 countries around the world, fighting to end Internet shutdowns globally.” On May 26, 2020, Twitter released a special emoji to support the #KeepItOn campaign:
We hope the new #KeepItOn emoji will animate conversations about the fight against #InternetShutdowns across the world. The design by @AccessNow is universal. It represents openness and empowerment. It also reflects the fundamental importance of access.
— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) May 26, 2020
Different categories of young people have been adversely affected by the Twitter restriction: young Nigerian entrepreneurs who make a livelihood from the platform through marketing their goods and services; those who use Twitter to laugh and meet new people; and those who depend on the platform for issue advocacy.
A Lagos-based owner of a jewelry business (name withheld for security reasons) is one of such young Nigerian business owners who depend on the platform to reach their customers. “I had a very bad anxiety attack the day the news was announced,” she told Global Voices.
Although the Lagos jewelry owner has an Instagram account for her business, most of her sales come through her Twitter account. “Getting followers on Instagram is also very hard. I already had about 400 followers on Twitter,” the 18-year-old told Global Voices.
This young business owner is not oblivious to the value that being present on the platform has added to her sales. The number has helped in crediting her as a business owner in relation to the norms on Twitter. She also expresses how her business had become such an important part of her life as she had something she could dedicate time to and grow.
The jewelry seller and other Nigerians have remained active on Twitter despite the ban, by using VPN circumvention tools. However, the use of VPN to access the platform has not alleviated their plight either. The routing of their tweets through other countries has displaced the audience and market of these young Nigerian entrepreneurs.
This Twitter ban is affecting so many companies customer acquisition strategy digitally, because people’s VPN no longer get turned off for many social platforms.
Ads just dey waste, no solid returns, but some crazy people still think it’s good. Okay oh ?
— Bar Raiser (@unicodeveloper) June 29, 2021
The Lagos jewelry owner is no stranger to VPNs, having to rely on them in the past in order to get simple things for her enjoyment such as accessing movies on Netflix that are not available in Nigeria. She has since tried to use them to access Twitter. She laments, however, that it can get tiring having the VPNs affecting her other apps such as Pinterest where she is forced to view posts in another language.
Nwalema, a young content creator, social media influencer, and model is also feeling the Twitter ban. She discussed the situation in an interview with Global Voices. The country appears to be firmly in the grip of a “dictatorship,” she said. She fears that “Instagram might be next” to be banned by the government, even though the government has not said they would ban the platform She worries that the licensing or even possible ban of all social media platforms in the country will spell doom for her and other influencers, especially students who earn a living from the platform.
Others use Twitter as a platform to express their socio-political opinions and make a difference through advocacy. One of such online activists is Chisom Agbodike, a 19-year-old student studying in Ekiti in southwestern Nigeria. Agbodike advocates for LGBTQ+ rights and uses the platform to express these views. Since the Twitter ban began, many young Nigerians, including Agbodike, have been on edge because of the scary thought of the country slowly becoming autocratic as opposed to democratic.
The Lagos jewelry owner, Nwalema, and Agbodike are just a few examples of the millions of Nigerian youths who have found solace in social media — be it purely for entertainment, to have their voices heard, or to earn a living — and are now being restricted by the government.
One thing that can be sure is that many young people have lost hope in the democracy that Nigeria claims to be practicing. For them, #KeepItOn seems to be their best option for survival.

author: Victoria Audu


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Namibian female sprinters are victorious at World Under-20 Athletics Championship amidst bans over discriminatory tests · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

South Africa's Caster Semenya (third from the left) and Kenya's Wambui (second from the left) were two of the four African female athletes affected by the 2018 female eligibility regulations. Photo by zeetha is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
The World Under-20 Athletics championships took place in Nairobi from August 17–22nd at the Kasarani Sports complex. Coming on the heels of a delayed Summer Olympics Games in Tokyo, the world athletics meet was a showcase of young talent looking to move up the age bracket to match — if not better — their older peers.
While Kenya largely dominated at this year’s World Under-20 Athletics Championships, two Namibian sprinters, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi stole the show. The duo bettered their Olympics performance achieving a 1-2 finish at the Championships in Nairobi to give Namibia a Gold and Silver in the women’s 200m sprint. Mboma won the 200m race with a new championship record of 21.84 seconds, with Masilingi second in a personal best time of 22.18 seconds.
The championships in Kenya were held against a backdrop of controversy after the World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), which governs international athletics, implemented the Difference of Sex Development -DSD Eligibility Rules (DSD Regulations) published in 2018 targeting women athletes with high testosterone levels. World Athletics petitioned the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to uphold the new rules and created a set of briefing notes to support their motion. The court released the following ruling:
The Panel found that the DSD Regulations are discriminatory but that, on the basis of the evidence submitted by the parties, such discrimination is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of achieving the legitimate objective of ensuring fair competition in female athletics in certain events and protecting the “protected class” of female athletes in those events.
The briefing notes explained the rationale behind excluding high-testosterone female athletes from some events, including the single-lap 400m, 800m, and the 1500m races. The notes explained the “frequency of DSD individuals in the elite athlete population is around 140 times higher than you will find in the general female population, and their presence on the podium is much more frequent even than this.”
Though the policy has just recently been implemented, concerns were raised in 2016 at the Rio Olympics after South Africa’s Caster Semenya won gold in the 800m and was diagnosed with hyperandrogenism, a medical condition characterized by high levels of androgens in women.
In April 2021, World Athletics introduced new rules for female classification, which meant that four female athletes would be disqualified from the 800m and 1500m races; South Africa’s Caster Semenya, Kenya’s Margaret Wambui, Nigeria’s Aminatou Seyni, and Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba — all from Africa. All four athletes were middle-distance runners. At the Tokyo Olympics, Niyonsaba chose to switch to both the 5,000 and 10,000m races before being disqualified on a technicality after stepping out of her lane.
In July 2021, at the Tokyo Olympics, Christian Mboma went on to win a Silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in the 200m women’s race, with Masilingi placing sixth. This was only the second time that an athlete from Namibia ever won an Olympics medal (the first being Frankie Fredrick‘s silver at the 1996 Summer Olympics). After this resounding victory from the Namibian women's team, they remained favorites to win in the under-21 event held in Nairobi.
Under the controversial World Athletics rules, the two sprinters are classified as having differences in sexual development (DSD) with naturally high testosterone levels. This rare physiology is deemed to give them an unfair competitive advantage in track events from the single-lap event of 400m all the way to the 1500m race.
Scott Cacciola and Jere Longman discussed the new rules in a New York Times article;
Mboma’s silver medal raised a question: Does the supposed significant physiological advantage gained by intersex athletes begin after 399 meters? Or is the science relied on by World Athletics to institute its restrictions flawed and in need of re-evaluation or expansion to include other running events?
‘It shows this is not an evidence-based regulation,’ said Roger Pielke Jr., a professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado who has long questioned the scientific basis of the restrictions. ‘It’s about World Athletics’s perception as to who is properly a woman and who is not.’
“Tokyo 2020 Olympics/Paralympic Games” by kndynt2099 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
In early July, before The Olympics Games began, the Women’s Leadership Centre (WLC) in Namibia released a statement supporting the two Namibian sprinters, Christian Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, accusing World Athletics of sexism and racism. This came after the athletic body decided to exclude the two female athletes from the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The Women’s Leadership Centre objected to the tests conducted on women athletes and accused them of targetting women from Africa. In the statement, WLC's program manager Liz Frank questioned why men did not have to undergo the same tests:
It is sexist as there is no testing of male athletes to check for high levels of testosterone. Surely not all men have the same level. Surely there is an ‘average level’ for men. Then why are male athletes whose testosterone levels are much higher than this level not excluded from competing until they artificially bring their levels down.
The female eligibility regulations released in 2018 had stated that “any athlete who has a Difference of Sexual Development (DSD)…and who is androgen-sensitive” would have to meet certain criteria to be eligible to compete in restricted events in international competitions. These include providing legal recognition that the athlete is either female or intersex (or equivalent); reducing her blood testosterone level for a continuous period of six months; and maintaining the low testosterone levels during and out of competition. The latter is possible with hormonal contraceptives, which most of these athletes, including Caster Semenya, have refused to comply with.
These rules have meant that women athletes need to have lower testosterone levels (below five nanomoles per litre) if they want to participate in events between 400m to 1500m in any international meet. Because of this, Namibia’s two sprinters Mboma and Masilingi were ineligible to compete in their specialities — the 400m — opting instead for the shorter 200m.
The rules and gender verification regulations have been called discriminatory, especially since they only target women. Human Rights Watch details this in a 2020 report titled “‘They’re Chasing Us Away from Sport': Human Rights Violations in Sex Testing of Elite Women Athletes.” The 120-page report reveals discrimination, privacy and dignity violation, as well as increased surveillance both on and off the track. The report documents the experiences of women athletes from the Global South who have been affected by the new sex-testing regulations.
Human Rights Watch found that “global regulations that encourage discrimination, surveillance, and coerced medical intervention on women athletes result in physical and psychological injury and economic hardship.” The report also gives detailed recommendations to each of the stakeholders — the World Athletics, IOC, national health and sports ministries, and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

author: Richard Wanjohi


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Digital Campaign in Bangladesh gains momentum as women speak up against misogyny · Global Voices
Samaya Anjum

A Rajshahi University student signs a pledge prevent violence against women in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Image by UN Women via Flickr. 2018. CC BY-NC-ND
Media trials and unethical reporting are common in a number of South Asian countries. In recent months, after the arrest of a few high profile actresses and celebrities, various Bangladeshi media resorted to discussing their social lives in an ugly media trial. Television, print and social media competed with each other to feed the patriarchal societies of Bangladesh with the insinuating prefix “raater rani” (prostitute) when talking about these women as if they are “nosto” (sullied) and their main job was to act as a pleasure object for men. Meye Network, a social media–based feminist grassroots network in Bangladesh has started an innovative campaign on Facebook to protest against media trials and moral policing, and the use of sexist language by the media and society.
Meye Network wants to draw attention to the fact that, when a woman is accused of something, the language that emerges to talk about her is a manifestation of the misogyny inherent in patriarchal society. The media labels them “whores,” “sluts,” “queens of the night,” to imply that her character is bad because she doesn't conform to patriarchal expectations of behaviour, which must make her guilty. This serves to keep women who do not commit these “sins” in line because she doesn't want those insults attached to herself, and thus she remains within the limitations that patriarchal society places on her. A man, however, is never subjected to such slurs when he is suspected of something.
Women and girls in Bangladesh are subject to increasing domestic violence and delayed justice and the country's culture of misogyny and toxic masculinity makes the lives of career women and aspiring women workforce even harder.
Flower of epiphyllum oxypetalum (queen of the night). Image via Flickr by MAK, Wing Kuen. CC BY-SA 3.0.
‘Raater rani’ (রাতের রানী in Bengali)  refers to the flower of a species of the cactus “queen of the night” (epiphyllum oxypetalum) which usually blooms once in a year during the night and wilts at dawn. However, due to the rampant violation of media ethics in Bangladesh while reporting about female celebrities, the word has become synonymous with prostitute.
On August 13, 2021, Bangladeshi grassroots feminist organization Meye Network hosted a virtual meeting as a platform to share hidden grievances that women hold within themselves, as well as discuss the ongoing situation about the arbitrary arrest of Bangladeshi actresses and models and the attendant media trial.
One of the most sensational cases among these was that of actress Pori Moni, who had been arrested from her Banani residence on August 4, 2021, for the alleged unlicensed possession of liquor bottles, Yaba (a type of methamphetamine) pills and LSD blots. The story made it to the front pages of national dailies during that week in problematic language, inciting debates on social media platforms about moral policing and the misogynistic treatment of women.
Trishia Nashtaran, the founder and organizer of Meye Network, created a Facebook profile frame to bring attention to the stories of women, shared by women, by means of digital campaigning. On August 14, a frame for Facebook profile pictures with the label “Raater Rani” was unveiled on their Facebook page. It accompanied the two hashtags #raater_rani and #রাতেররানী, which would allow the movement to be highlighted and shared widely.
As happened with the #MeToo movement that was initiated by American activist Tarana Burke, Bangladeshi women of all ages have since then come forward with their stories of growing up surrounded by the ceilings and fences of being a woman in a conservative society. It was not rare to find posts that described their encounters with sexual harassment in its many forms.
Nashtaran also shared her feelings in a post. Describing an incident from her university days, she explains to her readers how policing and prejudices against women are present in nearly all aspects of their lives.
Here is an excerpt from the story:
আমি চাই এই পৃথিবী নারীকে দোষেগুণে মানুষ হিসেবে গ্রহণ করুক, তার প্রতি সংবেদনশীল হোক। আমি চাই নারীরা নির্ভয়ে বাইরে যাক, দিনেরাতে যখন খুশি যেখানে খুশি যেতে পারুক, ভুল করতে পারুক, নিজের শর্তে বাঁচতে পারুক। তার জন্য যদি নারীকে ‘রাতের রানী’ বলে অপমান করা হয়, তাহলে আমিও রাতের রানী।
I want the world to accept women as human beings, to be sensitive to them. I want women to go out without fear, to go wherever they want during the day and night, to make mistakes, to live on their own terms. If a woman is insulted with the term “raater rani” (queen of the night), then I am also “raater rani.”
Shila Rafia, a member of the Network, commented on Nashtaran's post:
আমাদের দেশের (মেয়েদের) রাতের লাইফ মানে মানুষ শুধু অনৈতিক কাজই বোঝে৷ এইটা একদম অস্থি মজ্জায় ঢুকে গিয়েছে সবার।
In our country, women going out at night is synonymous with engaging in immoral acts. This notion has invaded everyone to the bone!
In the first week of the campaign, more than 1100 people were recorded using the “Raater Rani” picture frame.
Feminist educator Nafisa Tanzim Nipun wrote:
An excerpt:
আমাদের “ভালো মেয়ে” হয়ে থাকার দিন শেষ। আমরা সবাই রাতের রানী হবো। ঘর থেকে বের হবো। পাবলিক স্পেস আমরা ক্লেইম করবো। তবে পাবলিক স্পেস ক্লেইম করার দায়ভার শুধু আমাদের মেয়েদের একার না। পরিবার, মিডিয়া, ধর্ম, সরকার, রাষ্ট্রযন্ত্রকে এগিয়ে আসতে হবে। কলুষিত সিস্টেমগুলোকে ভেঙে নতুন করে ঢেলে সাজাতে হবে। #raater_rani #রাতেররানী
The days of us being “good girls” are over. We will all be “queens of the night.” I will get out of the house (fearlessly). We will claim public spaces. However, the women and the girls are not the only ones responsible for claiming public spaces. Our families, media, religious institutions, government, all the state apparatus must come forward. The corrupted systems need to be dismantled and rebuilt.#raater_rani #raaterrani
The repeated use of sexist language and the media trial
In two separate but similar cases, models Faria Mahabub Priasha and Mou Akter were arrested under narcotics charges filed at Gulshan and Mohammadpur police stations. The police commissioner in charge of the arrests informed the media that the models had been found with alcohol, drugs and shisha and that they were found to have taken “objectionable” photos of themselves with guests, which they used for blackmailing.
A leaked personal video of Pori Moni and a police detective also went viral and the officer was reprimanded after facing media trial.
Renowned Bangladeshi anthropologist, writer and activist Rahnuma Ahmed notes the sexist, derogatory language directed at models Priyasha and Mou that a senior police officer had markedly used when talking about their arrest.
Senior police officer uses sexist language “raater rani” (ladies of the night) while framing allegations against 2 models accused of enticing & blackmailing rich kids. #Bangladesh #crime pic.twitter.com/stHJrw2zCZ
— rahnuma ahmed (@AhmedRahnuma) August 2, 2021
Many activists and members of civil society protested her arrest and deplored the negative portrayal in the media and society. Student leader Lucky Akter tweeted:
This is absolutely the violation of human rights! We want justice for Porimoni. We want immidiate bail for Porimoni!
?Zahidul Islam/Protest from Shahbag pic.twitter.com/9iZkiWAE0B
— Lucky Akter (@Lucky_akter) August 22, 2021
In an interview with Voice of America, Nashtaran mentioned that, in the conservative societies of Bangladesh, the easiest way to humiliate a woman is to attack her personal character and sex life. Such moral policing not only violates the rights and dignity of women as human beings, but also makes their lives full of struggles and impediments.

author: Samaya Anjum


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Quilombola communities lament environmental damage of industry around Aratu Port, in Brazil’s Bahia State · Global Voices
Agência Mural

Eliete Paraguassu, in Pecém, in Ilha de Maré | Photo: Eduardo Machado/Agência Mural
This text was written by Eduardo Machado and originally published in February 2021, by Agência Mural. It is published here via a content partnership between Global Voices and Agência Mural.
One of the largest industrial ports in Brazil’s northeastern Bahia state, Aratu Port, has been impacting the life of the community in the area.
Fishers, shellfish gatherers, and quilombolas in Ilha da Maré are concerned about the environmental and socio-economic impacts to the region. They worry that the contamination of the sea, rivers, and mangroves has prevented these families from producing their own food and selling it.
The term quilombola refers to people who are part of communities of African descendent that date back to enslaved Brazilians who escaped and created spaces of resistance, known as quilombos in Brazil. These communities maintain a strong connection with their history and heritage, preserving customs and cultures from their ancestors. There are more than 500 quilombola communities in Bahia alone.
Eliete Paraguassu, 41, a quilombola counselor and shellfish gatherer from the Porto dos Cavalos village, says that the local communities have been suffering for decades from contamination by chemicals produced by the companies that lease the port of Aratu.
Paraguassu said that several complaints against the pollution in the area were made and sent to agencies such as the United Nations, Amnesty International, and the government's Human Rights Commission, in Brazil.
“This pollution is an invisible monster. We have several documents, a report, and several partners that help us, but the pandemic led to a non-response to the problem,” she explained.
Among the impacts listed in the report are the loss of medicinal plants, such as aloe vera and the Brazilian pepper tree (known as aroeira); environmental contamination, especially of water; and the disappearance of fish, such as the Maria Preta fish, and shellfish, such as chumbinho.
The residents also point out that trucks dump waste on the road, encroaching on the mangroves and killing the animals.
According to the Centre for Liquid Effluent Treatment (Cetrel), a private company in charge of managing contaminated areas in large industrial complexes, several chemical substances, which are classified by Brazil's National Environmental Council (Conama) as dangerous or very dangerous, were detected.
Inaugurated in 1975, Aratu Port is an extension of the Aratu Industrial Centre and the Camaçari Industrial Complex. It is one of the country's most important outlets for chemical and petrochemical production, accounting for 60 percent of regional profits, as well as handling cargo for the Bahia State Docks Company (Codeba).
According to the company, the port manages a wide variety of goods, simultaneously handling products such as iron ore, manganese, copper, urea, fertilizers, naphtha, propylene, and copper concentrate.
Oil platforms in Pecém, off the Ilha de Maré | Photo: Eduardo Machado/Agência Mural
According to local residents, chemical waste from local industry is disposed of through pipes in the waters of Aratu Bay.
For Maria de Fátima Lima Pereira, 63, a fisherwoman and president of the collective restaurant Tempero do Quilombo (Quilombo’ Spice), in Alto do Tororó, which works as a kind of cooperative enterprise, the industrial developments in the area have worsened the quality of life there and transformed the place from a rural to an urban community.
She grew up in Maré and recalled that this began when she was 10 years old. “The mangrove was damaged. It became sandy. The mud that was pure, medicinal, turned into rotten mud,” she said.
Pereira blames the companies for destroying Matuím, a fenced-off mangrove forest that is an important habitat for various animals such as shrimp, fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.
“They chose this place to dump their waste because what they call evolution, I call destruction. Nobody cares about the communities. They make money and the people get sick, waste away, and die,” she said.
Marcella Gomes, a biologist and educator living in Ilha de Maré, highlighted the possible consequences and risks to the region’s Quilombola and fishing communities. “A lot of these contaminants are carcinogenic,” she observed.
Alex Santos collecting shellfish in Pecém, Praia Grande district | Photo: Eduardo Machado/Agência Mural
Gomes also pointed out other environmental changes. “The polluting substances, especially in the long term, cause impacts to the marine ecosystem with alterations in water quality and in the dynamics of the trophic chain, as the death of some of the more vulnerable organisms unbalances the entire food chain.”
Alex Santos da Silva, 19, a shellfish gatherer and resident in the quilombola community Bananeiras near Aratu's port, is one of the few men in the shellfish industry in Pecém, Praia Grande district. For him, these impacts are already noticeable in the local flora.
“The mango, lemon, and jackfruit groves are all dying because of pollution. I don't know the substances, but Aratu port has been devastating them,” he said.
The quilombola communities of Ilha de Maré and Alto do Tororó have been fighting for the recognition of their ethnic identity and the demarcation of their traditional lands since the early 1990s.
Around 400 families of the traditional communities of Ilha de Maré in the districts of Bananeiras, Martelo, Ponta Grossa, Porto dos Cavalos, and Praia Grande were officially recognized between December 2004 and September 2005, by the Palmares Cultural Foundation, an agency linked to the Ministry of Citizenship, responsible for registering and issuing official documents for quilombola communities.
However, Incra (National Institute of Settlement and Agrarian Reform) has yet to demarcate the quilombola lands that have already been recognised and certify them.
The Ilha de Maré Quilombola Territory, which covers 644.7 hectares, is in the metropolitan region of Salvador. The history of these communities is entwined with the known and unknown histories of Brazil, as it is located where Portuguese colonization began — a safe haven of fertile lands for production on land and water.
With the killing and displacement of the Indigenous peoples and the trafficking of Africans, enslaved Black people who fled from the sugar mills made this their “place on the Island.”
Fernanda Bianca Gonçalves Galo, a history graduate with a Master's degree in Ethnic Studies from the Centre for Afro-Oriental Studies (Ceao), questioned the violation of the quilombola right to prior consultation. Despite the land area being recognised by the Palmares Foundation and the territory being an Environmental Protection Area (APA), she argued that there are industrial centres which have developed in the region at the expense of this “sacrificed zone.”
She stated that none of the quilombola or fishing communities in the region were consulted. “One of the factors that contribute to this non-recognition or silencing is the large companies that are here in the surrounding area. There is development, but the communities are not listened to, and, obviously, because they are populations that are of no interest,” she said.
In a statement, the Institute of Environment and Water Resources (Inema), an organization from Bahia's state government, said that it monitors water quality through its Technical Directorates in Aratu Bay, working with various environmental activities to monitor the companies operating in the region.
The institute also said that it is currently carrying out studies on the region, as well as verifying compliance with the regulations that it issues.
Codeba claims there are no “petrochemical industries” operating within the Aratu-Candeias Organized Port, and so there is no “processing” of chemical products.
Understanding that the environment belongs to the public, to be safeguarded and protected, the company says it systematically takes action in line with good environmental practices in the Aratu Port area, including Ilha de Maré, in compliance with the legal standards established for port activities.

author: Agência Mural


text:
Train attack in Japan exposes misogyny and gender violence · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

A commuter railway station in suburban Tokyo. On August 6, 2021, a man attacked 9 people on a train in Tokyo. Photo by Nevin Thompson, adjusted slightly to protect privacy.
Content warning: This story contains details of targeted violence against women.
A knife attack on a train in Tokyo in August has highlighted a culture of misogyny in Japan, while leaving some women fearful for their own safety on their daily commute.
On August 6, a 36-year-old man was arrested and charged with attempted murder after allegedly attacking passengers with a knife on a train on Tokyo's Odakyu commuter line. Four women and five men were injured in the attack, with one woman transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
When arrested, the suspect allegedly stated his motivation for the attack was that he was targeting women:
6年ほど前から幸せそうな女性を見ると殺してやりたいと思うようになった […] 誰でもよかった。
For the past six years, whenever I saw women who looked happy I wanted to kill them… Anyone would do.
Women in Japan regularly experience sexual assault in everyday situations, such as commuting. Following the attack, many women on social media expressed fear about their own commute in Tokyo and in other parts of Japan.
In the last year alone I’ve had a man grope himself on the train in my face, multiple men approach me on the street for sex, several follow me through stations and on roads, a man rub his genitalia on me on the crowded train. 14 years of stories I don’t have enough characters.
— Ebby (Spooky Baphomet Prophetess ) (@anitapam22) August 8, 2021
Various news outlets including wire service Kyodo and the Japan Times reported the alleged assailant “suffered” rejection in past relationships with women. In the days following the attack, more evidence came to light that the suspect had allegedly considered or planned even more attacks before being apprehended.
This is the guy certain publications wanted us to feel sorry for yesterday. hm. https://t.co/0aCrFRVP6y
— B² (@whocares876) August 10, 2021
Rather than focus on the suspect's lack of success in human relationships, some media commentators instead called out the attack as a “crime of misogyny” (ミソジニー犯罪), and as a “hate crime against women.”
Writing for Yahoo! Japan News, Ito Kazuko, a lawyer and secretary-general of Japan-based Human Rights Now, classified the attack as an (attempted) “femicide.”
被疑者が逮捕され、これから真相が究明されることになりますが、報道される被疑者の発言を前提とすれば、女性を狙った憎悪犯罪(ヘイトクライム)、フェミサイドという性格が色濃いことが懸念されます。
While more details will become clear, assuming the remarks of the suspect are as reported, there are strong concerns that this is a hate crime against women and an [attempted] femicide. Women are growing more and more afraid.
“The common trait among mass shooters, serial killers, and other serial perpetrators of gendered violence is an intense hatred of women,” said Julia DeCook in an interview with Global Voices. DeCook is Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at Loyola University Chicago, whose research focus includes online hate groups, and race and gender, particularly male supremacism and masculinity.
“I don’t think [the Tokyo train attack] is an example of far-right extremism towards women, but rather a harrowing example of how violent and fatal misogyny and backlash against feminism and women’s rights is for women,” said DeCook. “The violent misogyny that women are subjected to in everyday circumstances and day-to-day is an example of how patriarchy exerts political control through these (often private) fear tactics and terror.”
Japan generally enjoys a reputation for personal safety, with 73 percent of people responding in a recent survey that they feel safe walking alone at night.
However, historian Sayaka Chatani questioned this categorization:
日本は治安大国だと思ってるのは、大概なmythなので。女性が毎日のように痴漢や変態行為や殺傷被害にビクビクしながら生きる社会で、どの口が治安良いって言うん。
— Sayaka Chatani (@SayakaChatani) August 8, 2021
I think it's mostly a myth that Japan is a “safe country.” In our society, every day, women must live in fear of groping, sexual harassment, and the threat of being murdered. Who exactly is saying that “Japan is safe?”
In a 2019 report by the Japanese government, 65 percent of women who responded reported experiencing groping, unwanted touching, and similar kinds of sexual assault, commonly experienced on crowded trains.
By some estimates, over 95 percent of incidents of sexual violence in Japan are not reported to the police. A 2019 report by the Japanese government found that sex crimes continue to be significantly underreported in Japan, with just 14 percent of women who experienced sexual assault reporting the incident to police.
According to statistics published in 2021 by Japan's National Policy Agency, the number of reports of gender-based crimes, such as stalking and domestic violence, has increased in Japan over the past twenty years. This increase in reported crime has occurred since legislation was enacted to address stalking in 1999, and domestic violence in 2001.
For example, there were 2,280 complaints about stalking in 2000, compared to 20,189 in 2020. The peak of these complaints was in 2017 at 23,079 cases reported. In 2000, there were 3,608 formal complaints about domestic violence to police in Japan, compared to 82,643 formal complaints and nearly 120,000 calls to domestic violence hotlines in 2020.
Some forms of violence against women still go officially unreported by the National Police Agency — as of 2021 there is still no law criminalizing non-consensual sex (in contrast, “forcible sexual intercourse”  and similar offenses are only recognized as such under Japanese criminal law if they are committed through “assault or intimidation.”)
As well, not all women will report their experiences to the police.
“In Japan, women tend to not report the abuse that they suffer in, and police are notoriously not that helpful in these kinds of cases,” said DeCook.
This is not unique to Japan, but rather an experience that women all over the world face, according to DeCook.
“We can see this in cases of rape and domestic violence where perpetrators are given laughably short sentences, just face fines, or are even still allowed access to weapons and firearms even after being charged with domestic and sexual violence,” she said. “These are all influenced by the logic and terror of misogyny. All of these things combined deter women from being able to fully live and participate in all areas of life.”

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Azerbaijan extends special quarantine regime · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

“Flame Towers of Baku” by wilth is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Azerbaijan's government announced on August 28 that it will extend the special quarantine regime introduced last year, as part of government efforts to curb the rising number of COVID-19 infections. In addition, new regulations will come into force as of September 1.
According to the new measures, citizens without proof of vaccination and valid COVID passports will not be allowed to enter indoor venues, including restaurants, cafes, and malls. The restrictions will apply to all citizens 18 years and older. The recent announcement has resulted in long queues at vaccination centers. The measures that will be implemented on September 1 also grant law enforcement officials the right to inspect citizens’ vaccination cards and fine those who violate the new measures. Citizens who violate the rules can be subject to a fine of up to 400 manats (235 US dollars) or arrest, according to reporting by Jam-News.
Some restrictions are already in place, including weekend bans on public transportation use, mandatory use of masks indoors, and vaccination requirements for wedding ceremonies. As of August 13, citizens with mild symptoms have been banned from subway transportation.
Azerbaijan has witnessed a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections since early August. According to the most recent numbers, Azerbaijan confirmed 3,788 new cases as of August 31, while on August 2, the country recorded just 431 cases, according to Turan News Agency.
Currently, four different vaccines are being administered in Azerbaijan — SinoVac, Sputnik V, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer. As of August 31, a total of 6.8million of vaccines had been administered, with a little over 2.9 million people receiving both jabs and 4.1 million receiving at least one dose.
The authorities have also cracked down on fake COVID-19 vaccination passports. In a briefing on August 20, Shahmar Movsumov, the head of the Department of Economic Issues and Innovative Development under the Cabinet of Ministers, said the authorities are aware that some doctors were issuing fake vaccination cards to patients. Movsumov said those responsible will be held accountable:
We received information that those citizens who were allegedly vaccinated and then contracted coronavirus have fake COVID passports. Now they are in critical condition in special hospitals. The doctors who issued fake COVID passports are now being held accountable.”
In an interview with Turan News Agency, radiologist Aydin Aliyev said the increase of fake passports might be related to the government announcing new restrictions effective September 1.
Although Azerbaijan has done well in vaccination rates compared to its neighbors, the sharp increase in new infections is a sign of concern. The region was mentioned recently in a statement by the Europe Director for the World Health Organisation, Hans Kluge, who warned that the steep rise in cases in the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the Central Asian republics could result “in an increased burden on hospitals and deaths.”
So far, Azerbaijan officials have expressed confidence in the health infrastructure and its ability to cope with rising numbers. Speaking at a briefing on August 20, Yagut Karayeva, the head of the Department for Disease Control and Prevention of the Association for Management of Medical Territorial Subdivisions, said the government is prepared to increase the numbers of special facilities for incoming infected patients. That said, Karayeva noted that 96 percent of admitted patients were not vaccinated. Meanwhile, Shahmar Movsumov assured that the authorities do not envision introducing additional restrictions.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


text:
Disinformation campaign intensifies as Afghan refugees arrive in North Macedonia · Global Voices
Metamorphosis Foundation

Refugees from Afghanistan arriving at Skopje International Airport on the night of August 30, 2021. Photo by Meta.mk, used with permission.
This story is based on original coverage by Meta.mk. An edited version is republished here under a content-sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation.
The first group of 149 Afghan citizens arrived in Skopje International Airport late in the night of August 30, coming via Tbilisi, Georgia. Immediately after their airplane landed, medical emergency vehicles transported a pregnant woman and her husband and child to the Skopje Gynecological Clinic, while one other person  who fainted was also taken to hospital.
Afghans evacuated from Kabul have been welcomed by the government of  Republic of North Macedonia and local civil society, with some expressing solidarity and empathy. However, since the Taliban takeover, right wing extremist political parties and affiliated media have intensified their xenophobic propaganda against helping the refugees.
Upon the arrival of the  actual refugees in Skopje, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani stated that they include associates of Open Government Partnership (OGP), an international network for good governance, as well as employees of other international or nongovernmental organizations, accompanied by their spouses and children. He said:
Со овие луѓе делиме заеднички вредности за слобода, за демократија, за мир и за еднаквост. За жал, не по нивна волја, на овие луѓе денес, но и на нивните семејства им е загрозена безбедноста, загрозени им се нивните животи, и затоа ние одлучивме да им помогнеме сега, денес, веднаш – т.е. кога им е најмногу потребно.
We share the common values of freedom, democracy, peace and equality with these people. Unfortunately, and without their fault, their safety and safety of their families has been endangered, their lives are in danger. Because of that we decided to help them now, today, immediately, when they need help the most.
Accepting the latest wave of refugees in North Macedonia has been a subject of public debate for more several weeks. This included the issue of the expenses of their stay, which was settled after it become clear that US and private donors would be covering them.
The profiles of the people arriving are also known, with Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, stating that there will be “peacemakers, human rights activists, women, children, persons working on democracy issues and assisting our armed forces,” since the army of the Republic of North Macedonia was also part of the NATO coalition forces in Afghanistan for two decades.
Right wing parties, in particular the opposition VMRO-DPMNE, a member of European People's Party, opposed the aid operation, even though in the past they have often taken pride in the country's military participation in the mission in Afghanistan (when they were in power).
Similar behavior was observed in right-wing circles in neighboring Serbia too, whose political and media establishment has significant influence across the whole of the Western Balkans.
Ne znam koliko je potrebno mrzeti Ameriku da bi se sa simpatijama gledao uspeh talibana, ali su u Srbiji mnogi očigledno dostigli taj nivo.
— Ivan Živkov (@izivkov) August 16, 2021
I don't know how much one needs to hate America to express sympathies for the Taliban success, but in Serbia it's obvious many reached that level.
After North Macedonia, alongside Albania and Kosovo, announced its readiness to accept Afghan refugees, a distinct increase in attempts to manipulate local populations and incite resentment was seen.
Macedonian nationalists went from making an issue out of the number of refugees to spreading disinformation about the timing and the nature of their stay. This included reviving old conspiracy theories peddled by fugitive former prime minister Nikola Gruevski about replacing the Macedonian population with an “invasion” of Muslim immigrants. Propagandists also revived an old scare about  the gender of the refugees, with false claims that only fighting-age men are coming to form terrorist sleeper cells. A very common misconception misrepresents the victims of the Taliban as an advance troops of their oppressors.
While troll armies amplified such Islamophobic messages via social media, there were also many people who opposed the panic-inciting wave of hate mongering and disinformation that exploited the plight of the refugees.
Human rights expert Mirjana Najchevska, PhD, commented:
Од Авганистан во моментов не бегаат крадци и насилници и религиозни фанатици.
Бегаат пред се интелектуалци, слободномислечки и еманципирани луѓе.
Во Македонија изгледа баш од тие се плашиме.
— Мирјана Најчевска (@ibogovitelicno) August 17, 2021
Those who now flee Afghanistan are not thieves or violators or religious fanatics.
Those who flee are intellectuals, freethinking and emancipated people.
It seems that that kind of people is scary for some in Macedonia.
The arrival of Afghan refugees in North Macedonia was also preceded by disinformation coming from the US, weaponized to undermine the current administration in front of American audiences.
One such piece of disinformation went viral: American conservative political commentator, conspiracy theorist, radio host, and television producer Glenn Beck published a tweet containing a snippet of his interview with the Arkansas senator Tom Cotton featuring a false claim that the US government asked their Macedonian allies not to accept refugees.
I've heard reports that OUR State Department told Macedonia to stop taking Afghan refugees. @SenTomCotton tells me he's heard similar reports. If our govt won't save these people, WE WILL. But the State Dept. must stop standing in the way. pic.twitter.com/gYzYBzR8N4
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) August 26, 2021
In the video Beck says that “they [it is unclear who the “they” are] were looking for places to fly people in just to hold them and Macedonia was one of them and our ambassador … or the ambassador of Macedonia was called by the State Department and told not to take any of these people.”
The fact-checking service Truthmeter debunked these claims. Its journalists contacted the government of the North Macedonia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking  if it is true that they received this kind of request from the US authorities. The response made it clear that the claims in the tweet and the video excerpt are untrue:
This is not true. The government has approved accepting 780 Afghan citizens in order to save their lives. The complete humanitarian mission by the Government is implemented in complete cooperation with the United States.
Contrary to Beck’s claims, the Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, the same day (August 26, 2021), just a couple of hours before the publication of the tweet, reiterated his policy of accepting Afghan refugees:
If we save only one person, I think we are saving the world. We are providing solidarity, we called and offered together with our strategic partners as a country, in accordance to our capabilities and capacities, to share this responsibility, promote principles and values with the democratic world, when it comes to accepting people from Afghanistan under threat of losing their lives.
Glen Beck, during his career as commentator and media personality promoted various conspiracy theories about American liberals from President Barack Obama to philanthropist George Soros, even falsely claiming that Holocaust survivor Soros as a boy helped “send the Jews to the death camps.” While Beck later apologized for these statements, some considered it was too little, too late.
“Taking all of these arguments into consideration, we are rating this claim of the conservative commentator Glenn Beck, stated on his media network The Blaze, as untrue,” Truthmeter.mk writes.
This post was updated on September 5 to reflect developments and additional information received.

author: Metamorphosis Foundation


text:
Khaby Lame exposes Italy’s citizenship flaws and the plight of Black content creators on TikTok · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

The TikTok black and white jigsaw puzzle. Illustration by Christoph Scholz is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Khabane Lame, better known as Khaby Lame, a 21-year-old Senegalese man living in Chivasso, Italy, became the first TikTok creator in Europe and the second in the world to hit 100 million followers on August 10, 2021.  Lame's ascent highlights the plight of Black content creators and has also exposed the frailty of Italy’s citizenship and immigration laws
Lame began using Tiktok last year in March 2020 after he lost his job as a factory worker due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his videos, he typically doesn't say a single word. Instead,  he uses facial expressions and hand gestures to poke fun at other internet stars. This is has been lauded as perhaps the key to his success because his movements and expressions bypass cultural and language barriers, making his messages universal.
During an interview with The New York Times in June this year, Lame, popularly known as “the Italian TikToker,” revealed that he still uses his Senegalese passport despite living in Italy since he was one year old.
I love how people are just now discovering TikTok is propped up by cultural appropriation #BlackTikTokStrike pic.twitter.com/WkbVXwmFnx
— Dr. Shanté (I’m Speaking) (@DrShanteSays) June 26, 2021
Lame’s rise to stardom comes just a few months after Black creators on TikTok went on strike in July speaking up about content appropriation and their struggle to gain proper credit. Many Black Tiktokers report meager gains for the online trends they produce, while their white counterparts cash in on the same trends to achieve great success.
For each Black TikTok sensation like Lame on the app, there are several white “influencers” on the app that are making tons”, notes Afrotech.com
Although content creators don't get a share of TikTok’s advertising revenue, the top TikTok performers make substantial amounts of money on the platform. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the most obvious way is by influencer marketing which requires creators to build a sufficient following of dedicated viewers, then market themselves to brands to sell products to their audience.
Tiktok has carved a niche as the premier destination for dance trends and funny videos. Many of the most popular dances come from young Black creators. However, many do not receive due recognition or compensation for their viral videos. On the flip side, often, when White TikTokers replicate the same trends, challenges, or dance moves, they not only receive fame but sometimes huge fortunes soon follow.
This was the case with the “Renegade” dance move created by 14-year-old Jalaiah Harmon from Atlanta, Georgia, who struggled to get the credit from social media influencers who made the dance a viral phenomenon not just on Tiktok but across Youtube and Instagram.
A post shared by Jalaiah S. Harmon?✨ (@jalaiah)
The hashtag #BlackTikTokStrike created in June has been viewed more than 6.5 million times on the app and has since been trending on Twitter and other social media platforms. Black users are promoting the hashtag to call out what they say is preferential treatment.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Erick Louis, a Black TikTok creator who helped organize the strike, said:
Even in the spaces we've managed to create for ourselves, [non-Black] people violently infiltrate and occupy these spaces with no respect to the architects who built it.
Asked about the strike and its content-moderation practices, a TikTok spokesperson told Washington Post:
We care deeply about the experience of Black creators on our platform, instilling a culture where crediting creators is the norm, and fostering a safe and supportive community environment.
In a widely shared TikTok video, Louis wrote:
The strike is about recognition and giving credit where it is due.
Looking at the potential earnings from creating content on TikTok, it’s understandable why Black content creators are bitter.
According to  Influencer Marketing Hub’s  TikTok Influencer Engagement and Earnings Calculator, Charli d’Amelio potentially earns 56,000–94,000 US dollars per post. D'Amelio is an American social media star and dancer who currently has 122 million followers. Lame is the second person ever to reach 100 million after D’Amelio.
A screenshot of a video on TikTok's Youtube channel Life at TikTok
In April 2020, Tiktok displaced Facebook-owned apps to become the most downloaded app in the world.
TikTok has been particularly successful in Africa — even more so in Senegal, Lame's birth country. TikTok currently ranks as the third most downloaded social media app among Nigerians in the Google Play Store and sixth among Kenyans.
In July, TikTok announced a cash grant for 20 South African creators. However, many argue that more needs to be done to ensure fair play and an inclusive environment where unfair practices such as cultural appropriation or reported cases of racial discrimination are dealt with decisively.
Afrotech.com shared some words of caution about Lame's success:
While we certainly need to celebrate wins like Lame’s, we also need to remain vigilant about the wage gap between Black and white influencers, especially on such a popular app as TikTok.
Lame's fame has also drawn attention to his citizenship status in Italy, which he describes as a long and difficult process. Though he has lived in the country since his family emigrated when he was one year old, he is still not a recognized Italian citizen. Italy has notoriously strict naturalization laws.
Italian Nationality Law state that to gain Italian citizenship:
A person who has been legally resident in Italy for at least ten years may apply for and be granted naturalisation as an Italian citizen if he or she does not have a criminal record and has sufficient financial resources. The residence requirement is reduced to three years for grandchildren of Italian citizens and for foreigners born in Italy, four years for nationals of EU member states, five years for refugees or stateless persons, and seven years for someone who was adopted as a child by an Italian citizen.
A screenshot of Khaby Lame's Instagram page
Lame hopes that his newfound fame and recognition will encourage officials in Italy to finally embrace him as their son as he reaches for the stars.
As he told The New York Times, his lack of Italian Citizenship was never a problem before until he began getting invitations to visit the United States by other social media influencers. Lame is now an international star, and this lack of European citizenship is likely to inhibit his chances of gaining international endorsements and partnerships with global brands beyond Italy.
“Maybe I can change the laws with my popularity,” he optimistically told New York Times.
Lame, popularly referred to as the Italian TikToker by his fans, is the most followed personality on TikTok and Instagram in Italy with 100 million followers and about 33 million followers (in June 2021, he had about 25 million) respectively.
Abdoulaye Bah contributed to this article.

author: Njeri Wangari


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One step towards inclusion in Kazakhstan · Global Voices
Guldana Khamzina

Aidar on the left, with friends enrolled in the project in which he was trained to be a waiter. Photo courtesy of Aidar.
Grassroots organizations in Kazakhstan are taking action with policies for mental disability and one young man's story illustrates the progress made so far.
At 25, Aidar is about to embark on a new journey. He is set to take a state exam to get his secondary education diploma, taking him one step closer to his dream of becoming an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. In an interview with Global Voices, Aidar said his plans include applying to a college to study law.
Сейчас я добиваюсь своей цели. Я в прошлом году писал в управление образования так как мне надо получить аттестат.  У меня экзамен в понедельник. После получения аттестата я хочу отучиться на юриста и поварa.
Now I am achieving my goal. Last year I wrote to the Department of Education because I needed to get a diploma (secondary education). I  am taking the exam next Monday. After receiving the diploma, I want to become  a lawyer and a chef.
Aidar wants to know his rights as a citizen of Kazakhstan and as a person with a mental disability. That is why he goes by the nickname of prokuror (prosecutor) among his acquaintances and people who have been assisting him in his rehabilitation and empowerment program:
Я знаю что иногда мои права ущемляют. Я – гражданин Казаxстана. Моя цель – хочу помогать другим.
I know that sometimes my rights are violated. I am a citizen of Kazakhstan. My goal is to help others.
Aidar was born with cognitive impairments and grew up in an orphanage for special kids. In 2015, he joined a pilot project by a local NGO, Psychoanalytic Association, which advocates for supportive employment and living for people with intellectual and mental disabilities.
The Psychoanalytic Association, Rukh, and Daryniana are the group of activists who have challenged the current public policies and practices in the psychiatric health care system in Kazakhstan. The work these NGOs do to advocate for personalized care and services for the people with mental disabilities as part of their social rehabilitation is a new practice in psychiatric health care in Kazakhstan. Along with the provision of care and services, these NGOs incorporate employment as part of social empowerment. In collaboration with government institutions, they aim to bring sustainable and positive change in the lives of marginalized groups and make them visible in society.
Kazakhstan ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities to ensure social and economic inclusion in 2015. This was a starting point for grassroots organizations such as the Psychoanalytic Association and Rukh to advocate for a better quality of life, the inclusion of people with psychosocial disabilities, and bring in better practices to replace the Soviet legacy of mental healthcare, which is still a common practice in Kazakhstan.
Outdated Soviet psychiatric care mainly focused on a medicated approach, with hospitalization in overcrowded boarding houses, which kept the patients segregated from society and did little to change the social stigma around people with mental disabilities. This form of care also did not include further social rehabilitation outside of the institutions. That is where initiatives such as Rukh and the Psychoanalytic Association are doing important work, by dismantling this old system of institutionalized stigmatization so that people with mental disabilities receive care and services in a community-based environment.
When he turned 18, Aidar was deprived of his legal capacity by the local court, which meant he was dependent on his state-assigned guardian at all times and decisions were not his to make. The existing legal norms prevented Aidar from doing such basic things as opening a bank account, scheduling doctor’s appointments, or even choosing his personal treatment program. He could do these things only with assistance from his legal guardian.
According to Article 26 of the Civil Code of Kazakhstan a person can be deprived of legal competency based on a medical diagnosis of mental illness or mental disability. In the case of improvement or recovery later, a person can be recognized as capable by the court. The Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Accounts of the General Prosecutors indicates that the number of people found legally incapable is over 35,000, and local initiatives such as Daryniana estimate that in practice there are fewer than 100 people diagnosed with mental disability who have been granted legal competency by the courts.
The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan states that human dignity and rights are inviolable. However, among all types of disabilities, people with psychosocial disabilities face bigger hurdles as there are no clear guides or regulations on how people deprived of legal capacity can advocate for their rights and needs.
The Law on Social Protection of Disabled Persons is also outdated. Although the law ensures the provision of services for people with disabilities and determines legal, economic, and social inclusion, it is mostly based on an outdated Soviet system.  In practice, this means that many of these services and kinds of care are provided in overcrowded facilities with limited possibilities for personalized care or to address concerns for further social and economic inclusion. Also, a person found legally incapable cannot enter the labor market—which contradicts what the Law on Social Protection stipulates on economic inclusion. Such grey areas in law and how they play out in implementation are among the concerns raised by activists from Rukh and similar initiatives.
After spending seven years in the project, Aidar left in July as he finally gained his full legal competency. He has acquired social skills and can now live independently, relying on less assistance than before. During his time in the project, Aidar was able to secure government housing, which also played to his advantage in his court hearing to establish his legal competency.
У меня есть квартира, своя работа и я сам принимаю решения.
I have my apartment, my own job, and I make decisions myself.
Aidar’s journey to his independence, as he called it,  sets a precedent for psychiatric rehabilitation programs in Kazakhstan. His success is a pathway and the beginning of further systemic changes in mental health care in Kazakhstan.

author: Guldana Khamzina


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Transnistrian election fraud ‘a slap in the face of Moldovan democracy’ · Global Voices
Transitions Online

Voters from Transnistria waiting to cast their ballots in the Moldovan elections. Image courtesy of Ziarul de Garda.
Several voters from the breakaway region of Transnistria say they received money to vote for the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists in the Moldovan parliamentary election held on 11 July. Some received the money before exercising their right to vote, and others after returning from the polls and presenting the ballot with the “voted” stamp on it. Others received the money they were promised from election observers.
In Moldova’s snap elections on July 11, 2021 the pro-Western Action and Solidarity Party founded by current President Maia Sandu won comfortably, gaining 63 of the 101 seats in parliament. The Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists (BECS), led by former presidents Vladimir Voronin and Igor Dodon, in a serious setback, won just 32 seats.
Transnistria (or Pridnestrovie) is a breakaway state on the border of Moldova and Ukraine that separated from Moldova in the early 1990s amid an armed conflict. The global community and Moldova do not recognize the de facto state of Transnistria, but consider it an autonomous territorial unit within Moldova with special legal status. In September 2016, the authorities of self-proclaimed Transnistria held a referendum, as a result of which they began preparations for joining the Russian Federation. Russian peacekeeping forces have had a long-standing presence in the republic, and the situation around Transnistria is often characterized as a “frozen conflict.”
The special missions that monitored last month’s electoral process also took note of allegations concerning other material rewards, and the organized transportation of voters, especially at polling stations open to citizens of the Transnistria region.
The scheme is already well known from past elections. After being put on a list, the people (whose votes were bought) were transported to polling stations by private car or taxi. The money was distributed on the way to the polling stations, while the people were in the cars, or as they left polling places. Some people openly admitted that they had sold their vote.
Groups on messaging apps that include people from the left bank of the Dniester river (Transnistria) say employees of private and public bodies  in Transnistria were urged to vote for the Communist and Socialist bloc in exchange for money. There are also allegations that lists [of people willing to sell their votes] were drawn up all over the breakaway region at the suggestion of managers of such institutions.
The early parliamentary elections had a turnout of 28,000 people at the 41 polling stations open to voters on the left bank of the Dniester. Sixty-two percent of them voted for the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists. Many who voted for Vladimir Voronin and Igor Dodon took part in electoral tourism in the form of organized trips to polling stations on the right bank of the Dniester (Moldova proper). Along the lines of a scheme applied in past elections, some voters sold their vote in exchange for 200, 400, or even 500 Moldovan lei ($11–$28).
On election day, Dumitru Iancev, who lives in Tighina (a city in Transnistria, also known as Bender), said he learned of a group of people involved in voting fraud. In a video Iancev recorded in front of a store in Tighina, a man asks someone if “there will be a bus,” with the reply that “it will be only a taxi and only on registrations,” a hint at electoral tourism. The woman who made the lists of potential vote sellers, Vera, says she called everyone whose phone numbers she had from the last elections: “I called everyone’s number.”
Iancev, a former judge who worked in courts in Tighina and Taraclia (a city in southern Moldova), became aware of the scheme during the 2020 presidential election. For the July elections, he managed to be put on the lists [of people willing to sell their votes], was part of an organized transport to a polling station, and received 200 Moldovan lei ($11) for his vote.
Iancev reported the situation to the police, offering as proof the 200 lei and an invitation to the polls bearing the BECS logo. A criminal case was opened based on his complaint.
Also in Transnistria, there were cases of voters leaving polling stations outraged because they didn’t receive the promised amount for their vote. One woman emerged from the polling station in tears of disappointment.
Another voter from Causeni district (in central Moldova) was also in search of the promised 500 Transnistrian rubles, the equivalent of about 550 Moldovan lei ($30), which he was promised in exchange for a vote for BECS. He said the money was supposed to come from a veteran of the Dniester war (conflict between Moldova and Transnistrian separatists, 1990-1992), who pretended to be an organizer of electoral tourism.
Compared to the 2019 elections, when voters were transported by bus, this time, voters reached the polling stations by car or by taxi. Just like the voters, the drivers of the cars were also remunerated for the service they provided.
Information about vote-buying and transportation of voters from Transnistria began to appear on messaging apps both and after before election day.
People wrote that in exchange for money, many employees of private and public entities in Transnistria were urged to “vote with Igor Dodon.”
According to these posts, management of these entities gave the “order” for their employees to be included on certain lists of people willing to sell their votes. The messages seen by Ziarul de Garda say that such lists were drawn up on the entire territory of Transnistria, and mention certain enterprises including the Department of Public Education in Rabnita, the Moldovan Steel Works, the shops of the Sheriff sports group, and some hospitals.
Sheriff’s representatives refused to talk to ZdG and asked not to contact them again because “no one will answer these stupid questions.”
Another incident that indicates possible voting fraud took place in Russia, where an electoral observer notified the Moldovan Central Electoral Committee about voters being offered vouchers when leaving polling stations.
Three days before the elections, Dar pentru Moldova (Gift for Moldova), a bus company that runs between Russia and Moldova, announced it would offer free vouchers worth 1,000 Russian rubles ($13), to those who showed up on 11 July at certain addresses. Coincidentally or not, those were the addresses of polling stations open to Moldovans living in Russia.
During last year’s Moldovan presidential election, Dar pentru Moldova posted messages on its social media channels urging people to vote for “a president who will strengthen Moldovan-Russian relations,” a position embraced by Dodon. At that time, the company’s social media also reprinted Dodon’s electoral leaflets, a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin supporting Dodon, and leaflets with fake news about the candidate of the Action and Solidarity Party, Maia Sandu, who won the presidential election.
When asked by ZdG, Mihail Cornea, a representative of the company, said the idea of distributing vouchers “was meant to wake up the Moldovan diaspora in Russia, to urge it to go out in large numbers to vote. That was my message, it didn’t have a political bias, in the sense that it didn’t say ‘Go out and vote for a certain party or a certain candidate.’”
On the evening of 11 July, Marin Maxian, deputy head of the Moldovan General Inspectorate of Police, announced that police had received 562 complaints about electoral violations during the electoral period, including 236 complaints on election day. In 187 cases, the complaints came from representatives of parties on the ballot, including 177 regarding the transportation of voters to certain polling stations and attempts to persuade people to vote for a certain candidate.
According to Moldovan legislation, voter corruption is punishable by a fine ranging from 27,000 to 42,000 Moldovan lei, or imprisonment from one to five years. Legal entities can be punished for the same offense with fines ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 lei with further punishments including liquidation of the entity.
Promo-LEX, an NGO which has been monitoring Moldovan elections for years, reported 17 instances of “rumors, attempts, or even situations of material or monetary rewards” to influence voters within 100 meters of polling stations. Promo-LEX observers also noted 29 instances of organized transport of voters in coaches, minibuses, or other means of transportation.
Nicolae Panfil, director of Promo-LEX programs, says the association’s observers found multiple instances of voter transportation, frequently associated with cases of voter corruption. The clearest clues, he says, came from the Transnistria region. “This phenomenon is at odds with democratic norms and laws, and those who organized it should be identified and punished regardless of the number of cases that were reported,” he says.
The relatively small number of instances of apparent corruption that his association reported might not have been important for the final result, he adds, but they still represent “a painful slap in the face of Moldovan democracy.”

author: Transitions Online


text:
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party turns 20 · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

“Election Campaign” by Travel Aficionado is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
In August, Turkey's Justice and Development (AK) Party marked its 20th anniversary since it was formed in 2001. The Party has secured victory in almost all major elections since 2002, narrowly escaped being closed down in 2008, and has enjoyed wide support and popularity over the years. One of the AKP’s founders, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, served three terms as the country’s Prime Minister and since 2014, as the President of Turkey.
Twenty years later, looking back at nearly two decades of AK party rule, the party’s popularity is dwindling and its ties with Western governments have deteriorated significantly as the country is facing an economic and democratic precipice.
Much of AKP’s popularity in its early years was directly related to the economic stability that the ruling party delivered after winning the parliamentary election in 2002. Despite the global financial crisis between 2008–2009, the Turkish economy experienced a 4.5 percent average annual growth.
In 2004, Turkey received a formal invitation to kick off negotiations over its accession into the European Union. Triumphant Erdoğan, who was prime minister at the time, was determined to showcase that democracy was possible in a Muslim country.
This lasted only a few years.
In the spring of 2007, the Turkish military released a statement saying they were not in favor of the next presidential candidate (who was appointed by the parliament at the time according to national legislation) favored by the AKP. Somehow, police in Istanbul uncovered a network of plotters planning to overthrow the government. Among many members of the group were military, intelligence, business people, journalists, and academics. Known today as the Ergenekon case, and the Sledgehammer investigations, the operation led to the prosecutions of several senior military commanders. Years later, evidence emerged, suggesting that both the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer were fabricated.
After these controversies, Turkey witnessed an emboldened party, arrests of government critics, and power consolidation in the hands of the ruling party and its leader.
It was a downhill journey on the democracy front after that. The constitutional referendum in 2007 replaced the election of the president by the members of the parliament with a direct national vote. The referendum in 2010, granted both the legislative and the executive branches of the government broader powers over judicial appointments. As a result, the AKP leadership was able to gradually erode the judiciary and the military branches of the government, ending any potential barriers to the government's preferred policies.
In 2013, Erdoğan’s AKP was faced with its first popular unrest and graft scandal. Known today as the Gezi Park protests, anti-government protests spread across 83 cities. Scores of people were arrested during and in the aftermath of Gezi Park protests for questioning police brutality, crony capitalism, and power inequality, all the while riot police used water cannons and tear gas across cities to quash the unrest.
That same year, three government ministers resigned as a result of a corruption scandal. Erdoğan, who was prime minister at the time, claimed the allegations were orchestrated by foreign powers.
And yet, despite the mishandling of the protests, the corruption allegations, and signs of a lagging economy, in 2014, Erdoğan was elected, as the President of Turkey. But AKP’s biggest selling point — the economy — was weakening. Unemployment and inflation were reaching double digits and the Turkish Lira was losing its value quickly. According to reporting by Reuters, the Turkish Lira, “shed 75 percent of its value against the dollar since 2013, more than half in the last three years.”
But the party continued to enjoy relative support. In 2015, AKP secured another landslide victory. Three years later, Erdoğan won his second term as president and his party secured an absolute majority in parliamentary elections that same year, as a result of AKP’s alliance with the far-right Nationalist Movement (MHP) party.
The following year, Turkey went through its fourth military coup. Turkey’s president rallied behind his supporter base, calling on them to take the streets, promising to “clean up” the military. “This attempt, this move, is a great favor from God to us,” Erdoğan said as he arrived in Istanbul from Marmaris where he was reportedly on vacation. “Why? Because this move will allow us to clean up the armed forces, which needs to be completely clean.”
Then the purges began. From the military and academia to the business world and media, thousands were rounded up and arrested in Turkey. These arrests continue to this day.
In 2018 Turkey officially switched from a parliamentary system to a presidential system which AKP argued would make the government more effective, though experts disagree. Instead, they say the change has led to a weaker parliament, undermined the separation of powers, politicized the judiciary branch, crippled institutions, and prevalent authoritarian practices.
Meanwhile, the country continued to suffer a currency crisis and sharp recession. The ongoing political and economic turmoil resulted in AKP losing five of Turkey’s six largest cities in the 2019 local elections, including Istanbul and the capital Ankara. There was also rampant corruption, including 128 billion US dollars going missing from the Central Bank reserves that, until last year, was headed by Erdoğan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak. Not surprisingly, Turkey’s ranking in the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency has dropped 33 places in the last seven years, ranking 86th among 180 countries in 2020.
Turkey's corruption index is not the only score that has declined under the AKP rule. Many international human rights and press freedom organizations have highlighted how in the aftermath of the failed coup in 2016, a systematic crackdown on rights and liberties has negatively impacted the country's score on their annual country performance reports. Turkey was ranked “not free” on Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2021 report. PEN America’s 2020 Freedom to Write Index said Turkey was the world’s third-highest imprisoner of writers and public intellectuals, right behind China and Saudi Arabia. Reporters Without Borders, ranked Turkey 153rd out of 180, describing the country as a place, where “all means possible are used to eliminate pluralism.”
The current leadership also announced this year, its decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, an internationally recognized doctrine protecting women's rights, and has cracked down against the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) including ordering its closure and targeted LGBTQ+ community during Pride month this June. Erdoğan‘s government also dismissed binding European Court of Human Rights judgments ordering the release of some high-profile activists and politicians who have been behind bars on questionable terrorism charges. When students at the prestigious University of Bogazici protested against government-appointed rector earlier this year, they too were targeted.
Nearly eight years after the Gezi Protests, a court in Istanbul reopened a trial, with 16 defendants, some of whom were already acquitted, questioned on various charges including an attempt to overthrow the government.
In July of this year, the government announced plans to regulate foreign-funded media and misinformation. Last year, a new social media law came into effect that will have a lasting impact on digital rights and freedom of expression in Turkey.
With a new election just two years away, all eyes are on the ruling party and President Erdoğan as the party is experiencing a decline in support and potential challengers to the AKP.