text:
Panama: Spanish Journalist Deported · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.
Spanish journalist Francisco Gomez Nadal and his companion Pilar Chato were detained on Saturday, February 26 and subsequently returned voluntarily to Spain, according to the newspaper La Prensa [es]:
The journalist Paco Gómez Nadal signed voluntarily, at the National Immigration Service (SNM), a document in which he accepted his repatriation to Spain.
Gómez Nadal and his wife Pilar Chato, also a journalist, were detained last Saturday 26th February, during the coverage of an indigenous protest against the new Mining Resources Code, in the Plaza 5 de Mayo.
Both were arrested – according to the National Police (PN) – for “disrupting public order” and “encouraging the indigenous protestors to close streets in protest at the Mining Code”.
The measure provoked disapproval among some Panamanians, while others were satisfied with it. In her blog Bla, bla, bla de una panameña [es], Arethusa states her disagreement with the measure which she sees as a way of restricting freedom of expression:
En Panamá hay igualdad, sí, pero de opresión. No sólo mandamos a meter  presos a nuestros periodistas sino que ahora también deportamos a los periodistas extranjeros cuando discrepan con las arbitrariedades de nuestro presidente Ricardo  Martinelli. Antes de deportarlo, debieron contratarlo para darle un  seminario acerca de Derechos Humanos a los custodios y policías de  Panamá. Sí, porque ahora se creen que son HIGHLANDER, gracias a la  excusa barata de que “en el ejercicio de sus funciones” pueden rostizar  gente en sus celdas y a otros los muelen a palos mientras protestan.
The association of teachers from Veraguas also had something to say on the matter in the blog Estudio1panama [es] saying that Paco was “as Panamanian as January 9, 1964, ‘Martyrs’ Day’“:
Paco Gomez Nadal, como lo hemos dicho otras veces, es tan panameño como el 9 de enero de 1964. Alguna una vez dijo en broma pero en serio, refiriendose a la lucha por los Derechos Humanos, que estaba intentando enmendar lo que sus tatarabuelos conquistadores habían arrebatado a los pueblos de Abia Yala, y Paco ha demostrado su nivel de compromiso consecuente en la lucha por las libertades Democráticas, los educadores gremialistas panameños le hacemos ese reconocimiento.
Jairo A. Rojas Garzón (@ombrepajaro) agrees that in spite of what the government says, the true reason for the journalist’s expulsion was the radical content of his articles:
Paco Gómez Nadal Pilar Chato “importunaban los intereses  del Gobierno panameño debido a su postura editorial a favor de la causa  indígena”.
However, other Panamanians, such as Elias Manopla (@eliasman), appear satisfied with the expulsion of the journalist since they consider that his articles and active participation in indigenous rights issues were an intrusion into Panamanian internal affairs:
Adios Paco Gomez Nadal, a joder a otro lado… Ya era hora! […]
Gomez Nadal defines himself in the blog Otramérica as a person who does not believe in the idea of developmentalism and who wishes to collaborate with indigenous and peasant groups.
Soy periodista y en el DNI dice que nací en Murcia en 1971. Ahora, unos añitos después, ejerzo el periodismo de forma independiente (porque no como de él), asesoro a periódicos de varios países de la región (porque me dan de comer) y colaboro con comunidades campesinas e indígenas en la resistencia a los megaproyectos económicos (porque no me como el cuento del desarrollismo).
The deportation upset indigenous groups who agreed to negotiate on the condition that all those detained during the protests are released. In spite of the promise made by President Ricardo Martinelli to repeal the 8th law reforming the Mining Code, some Panamanians such as José X. Martínez (@JXMARTINEZ14) remind us that the issue of the deported journalist remains unresolved:
Derogaron la Ley! pero no se OLVIDEN DE PACO GOMEZ NADAL! LA LUCHA SIGUE! ESTA LUCHA ES HASTA EL FINAL.
This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.

author: Ariel Moreno


text:
Panama: Thoughts on Improving Education · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Panamanian students returned to school on March 1st. Hanna at Contrapunto [es] writes about education in Panama and how to improve it. She argues that Panamanian educators need to realize the need to change and improve; furthermore, she says Panama needs to find a way to encourage more young people to become teachers.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
Russia: Bloggers Celebrate Gorbachov’s Birthday · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

Russian bloggers celebrate Mikhail Gorbachov's 80's birthday by debating his role in history. Notable posts in English on the subject are here and here.

author: Vadim Isakov


text:
Russia: First Guide on Twitter Released  · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

Russian readers can finally enjoy the first guide on Twitter that was released in the country in March, 2011, Veri.ru reported. All sentences in the guide are no longer than 140 characters.


text:
Russia: Mobile Users Prefer Traffic Maps  · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

The most popular Russian online map service Yandex Maps conducted a survey among its mobile users. The survey showed that the most Russian use online maps for traffic updates. Searching for addresses and places comes only second in the list of mobile users’ activities.


text:
Senegal: Relocation of polluting industries · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Papa Mamadou Diéry Diallo [Fr] wrote in pressafrik.com: “On February 22nd 2011, Abdoulaye Baldé, the Minister of Mines, Industry and agro-Industry, visited factories in the suburbs of Dakar and announced the relocation of some polluting industries in some districts of Dakar for the neighboring populations to breathe better.”

author: Abdoulaye Bah


text:
Senegal: Self-immolation on the Rise  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

In a post published in the collective blog Bondy blog , Amara  Soumah writes [fr]: “In February, two Senegalese self-immolated in the vicinity of the presidential palace.  Senegalese people would say that those actions are not really inspired by Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi, because others have committed that act in Senegal before, long before the Tunisian young man.”


text:
South Africa’s Continuous Struggle With Race · Global Voices
Muhammad Karim

A single change in government and the destruction of an entire political, cultural, social and economic system like that of Apartheid does not necessarily guarantee the destruction of its legacy.  The last couple of months have seen South Africa go through an interesting dilemma and debate with regards to its race relations.
Blogger Constitutionally Speaking sets the stage up nicely with a post titled “A rethink on race?”:
Even if we wish to deny it, race hovers not far from the surface in private or other everyday settings: as an unspoken presence, a (wrongly) perceived absence or as a painful, confusing, liberating or oppressive reality in social, economic or other – more intimate – interactions between individuals or between groups of individuals. In South Africa we (still) cannot escape race.
It will take a concerted legislative, educational and societal effort to dismantle this system of racial hierarchy and race-thinking. That is why the Constitution mandates affirmative action and why legislation like the Employment Equity Act and the Black Economic Empowerment Act was adopted by the ANC government.
…
The problem is that when the law deploys race to address the effects of past unfair discrimination and the ongoing dominance of an ideology of white supremacy, how can this be done without merely perpetuating the very apartheid race categories and the positions of privilege and hierarchical dominance of whiteness implied by it?
The problem is complex. On the one hand, the danger is that the deployment of racial categories in the law can have the effect of perpetuating and legitimising racial categories (and the assumed dominance of whiteness inherent in the deployment of such categories). By recognising these categories and by dealing with them as if they are a given — normal, essentialist, unchanging and unchangeable — and by failing to challenge the hierarchical assumptions underlying the deployment of these categories, the law can do immense harm — even in the name of wanting to do good.
One of the most important stories capturing the minds of the South African public is that of the Reitz 4, a group of four boys (now men) from the Free State who filmed their escapades of “initiating” five black cleaners at their University and creating a racist mockumentary.
A sign from the Apartheid era in South Africa. Photo from Wikimedia Commons released by user El_C
Rooinek discusses the Reitz 4 trial and the judgment in “Ask me how I feel about the Reitz 4?”:
In Bloem there are four young men that wake up everyday thanking the heavens above that they had to pay a R20, 000 fine instead of serving jail time. The Reitz 4 regret the day the decided to film their res cleaners in a mockumentarty that caused consternation and made the front page of newspapers around the country.
I would never condone racism (unless it’s against the French) and to me the idea of racism is one that upsets me. There is uproar across the country that these guys should have been handed down a worst sentence.
This country is very opinionated on hear-say. We have all got an opinion on the Reitz 4 but yet none of us have watched their infamous video. People are basing their opinions on what they heard because their friend’s friend heard from some guy who watched thirteen seconds of it that it is bad.  I’ve also heard these stories and I really thin the media could be blowing this out of proportion, but that’s what they good for. My gosh I hate the media; you can’t trust them as far as you can kick them.
The rest of the post by Rooinek is a bit neither-here-nor-there in terms of what his opinion really is  but another blogger, Pessimist Incarnate, elaborates his opinion in a post titled “I do believe there is hope for South Africans and the racial tensions”.
True to custom, the four boys – now huge men – were there on time, waiting. I studied their eyes and their body language. You could feel the nervous tension emanating from their bodies with their reserved hand-greeting.
So far they had managed to stay out of the public eye, except for the endless replays of the video footage of the entanglement where what appears to be a series of games played by students and workers turned out to be a racist attack on the black staff as a means of protesting racial integration in the campus residences.
But now, after long and complex negotiations between the three parties involved – the university, the former students and the staff – an agreement was reached to settle the matter out-of-court.
The dinner arranged might or might not happen in Room 16, where family and food awaited the outcome of the drama down the corridor in the Rector's seminar room. This seminar room was the site of many difficult dialogues during my 20 months on the campus; it was also the room where the historic meeting between Julius Malema and me took place late in 2009. If that room could talk .
There was a snag. One, then two, of the women workers wanted to first meet alone with one of the boys. This was risky; what if something went wrong, a private confrontation that could demolish months of hard work by the three sides.
When we heard the request it was clear that this was to be a glorious moment. The first woman wanted to meet with the boy whom she knew longest, and whom she expected to defend her dignity among the other boys. She wanted to know how he could let her down. She wanted an explanation before the bigger meeting with all nine participants.
I cannot imagine what pain these two engagements brought, but I remember leaving the room, with one of the workers crying. I called the psychologist to join them.
IOL News, although not a blog as such, covers a story of Cape Town Mayor, Dan Plato's, intent to move away from the current policy regarding racial representation in the workplace, which is a further evidence of the current discussion and debate around race in the country.
Warwick Chapman in his post, “Voters need to bring balance to our democracy”, argues that the current government has not really delivered on the promise of ”a better life for all’ and instead seems to be instigating a reverse policy of the Apartheid regime:
Many South Africans, across the spectrum have not yet experienced a government which is truly good to all. The NP government of white privilege and the ANC government of cadre privilege will be remembered for serving only some South Africans.
The Apartheid government made itself infamous for harnessing the wealth and human resources of a country to enrich a racial minority, and the new government was always going to have a mammoth task transforming it into a government which delivers for all.
But in too many respects, the ANC Government isn’t doing much better than its predecessor. Non-whites in general, and blacks in particular, continue to live in poor conditions, with little real prospect of material improvement. Cadres of the ANC meanwhile have jobs and contracts which they aren’t doing well enough to ensure the required service delivery and economic growth required.
A similar point of view is covered by “Common Dialogue” in his post titled “Zille says ANC is trapped in racial nationalism”…
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille says the well-intentioned promises made at the ANC’s 99th anniversary will come to naught because the former liberation movement and its alliance partners were cannot still caught in a toxic trap of racial nationalism.
“As President Zuma revealed in his speech, the tripartite alliance is still caught in a toxic trap of racial nationalism and Marxist-Leninism (including discredited ideas such as “democratic centralism”, a Communist “vanguard” party, cadre deployment, the conflation of party and state, and the predominance of the ruling party over Parliament.) The ANC needs this ideological underpinning because, without it, the “tripartite alliance” would fall apart. Keeping this coalition together is President Zuma’s “unwavering commitment” and his top priority in an election year. But, ironically, this is also the key reason why the ANC will be unable to adopt or implement the policies that can achieve its stated goals. This will become increasingly apparent, in the form of unfulfilled promises, which will eventually lead to the party’s downfall,” said Zille in her weekly newsletter SA Today.
I,ve always questioned the capabilities of the ANC to pursue capitalism while in bed with the Communist Party and a trade union federation (Cosatu). The jury is still out.
South African singer, Steve Hofmeyer, has also added to the race debate with his recent outbursts. Memeburn has a blog post covering it:
Afrikaans singer and celebrity Steve Hofmeyr has “sparked a racial storm” on his sizeable Facebook Page, reports the Times today. The singer’s anger and outrage over recent farm murders of a white couple and their three-year old child spilled over onto Facebook to his 89 000 fans this weekend.
This is not the first time that Hofmeyr has lashed out using Facebook as a channel — and his status updates continue to walk a fine line between justifiable anger and hate speech.
…
In recent months, Steve Hofmeyr has become more than just an entertainer. The outspoken personality has used Facebook and his blog to represent a segment of the white Afrikaans community who feel marginalised and voiceless.
When Hofmeyr posted an update that read “I don’t know how the world thinks we should transform, integrate and let go of our prejudices and stay nice, tolerant Christians when blacks can shoot a three-year-old child in the head”, over 800 comments and 2000 likes followed, ranging from the thoughtful and measured to the racist and hateful.
Apartheid era sign in Durban, South Africa. Photo released to Wikimedia Commons by user Guinnog
MikeZilla from MyDigitalLife expounds on Hofmeyer's rant:
The problem you see has nothing to do with dead farmers, untalented afrikaners or Irish supergroups. The problem is still the highly polarized society we live in. I listened to Radio 702 on Sunday morning en almal wat n Afrikaner is came out and damned Bono to hell for talking about something he knows sweet F*k*l about. The rage dripped from the speakers, while everyone who wasn't an Afrikaner either jumped to the Irishman's defence each person defending what Bono didn't say.
The problem is no one is effing listening anymore. The Hof, the ANC the public we've all turned into little kids with our fingers stuck in our ears as we sing the stem and “Shoot the Boer” at the top our lungs.
Sure I feel for the unfortunate affluent farmers who are being targeted due to the fact that they have lots of money and live far away from cities. Every victim of crime is one victim too many but The Hof needs to stop banging on about them like they're of some kind of environmental importance. They're not Rhino, they're not an endangered species they're victims of crime in the country and they're being targeted as much as people who are getting hijacked or mugged in big cities.
I implore The Hof to stop acting like a petulant child and focus on singing, the old age home circuit sorely misses you
Other examples apart from Steve Hofmeyer have come a blog post by Urban Ministry Live And Unplugged titled “Those Who Don't Count”, which talks about racial profiling in church:
A minister friend wrote to me this morning about what he called “a racial issue” in the Church: the problem of people who “don't count” because they belong to another racial group. This is a phenomenon that I am continually aware of. Usually, in my experience, it is unconscious rather than overt. For instance, people get overlooked — quite unintentionally — when one draws up rosters, or puts together orders of service, and so on. Here's another example of the phenomenon: a woman in our Church said to me one Sunday morning: “There's no one else here in my age group.” I said: “Look, there are lots,” and I pointed out and named several people. She hadn't seen them. OBSERVATION: In our own Church, I see this at work in various directions. That is, it's not just one cultural group that does it. I think one simply needs to be aware of this, continually seek to avoid favouritism (be no respecter of persons), and continually seek to reveal all those lamps hidden under bowls/candles hidden under bushels. The Holy Spirit does a marvellous work in all.
Country of my Skull covers the racial profiling issue from an ANC policy perspective:
Firstly an advance warning
In view of South Africa’s addiction to racial profiling, I’m going to regularly throw about the words white and black to make my point. I don’t speak or think like this, but I’ll use these terms to show how stupid the ANC’s policies on BEE, BBBEE, AA, and EE really are.
Now take a deep breath
The other day @comradesipho made the point that BEE was necessary to “fix economic discrimination.” I agree with a lot of what he says, but this is just lunacy.
Now I’m all for black people making money so the real question is how to do it? The ANC has tabled a whole gaggle of policies to fix this, but all I can see is a bunch of politically connected black billionaires who were at the right place at the right time. These people are not genuine entrepreneurs or risk takers but opportunists. Meanwhile, a whole industry of consultants and companies has sprung up advising companies on how best to “game” their empowerment credentials so the government leaves them alone. This system is working especially well for all the president’s men.
How long must these policies remain in place? “Look to the US,” says @comradesipho, “memories are long”. Well the US has elected a black president and the African American economy is about ONE TRILLION DOLLARS, which would make it the 15th biggest economy in the world crushing that of any country in Africa. That’s a whole lot of social justice. So how did they get there? Certainly not by government programs.
If you need any more information on the Employment Equity Act of South Africa, the blog “All About Jobs Cape Town” covers FAQ on the act.
And finally,Quid Pro Quo covers a pledge to “take back the racial middleground in South Africa”…
My friend Patrick Madden wrote a call to action in April of this year, which was a period of intense racial animosity and uncertainty in the country. He crafted this pledge as a way of restoring some sanity to the discourse surrounding the national question in South Africa, and it bears repeating. See Patrick's explanation as well as the original pledge here.
* I recognise the feelings of tension and anger felt between people of different races in South Africa today.
* I recognise that nurturing these feelings undermines our mutual best interests and our highest ambitions for ourselves, our communities and our nation.
*I recognise my interdependence with all South Africans. I affirm that South Africans of all races and cultures can work together to improve the conditions of our lives and our environment.  Recognising our common humanity, I pledge to relate to all South Africans with compassion and respect and to work with them in an atmosphere of openness and mutual recognition.
* I aspire to create a South Africa that is safe and caring for all. Therefore, I personally vow to refrain from violence and from violent speech towards anyone, regardless of their race or culture.
Let's hope this period of introspection and debate around racial inequality in South Africa can really lead to racial equality and ultimately a “better life for all”. But it will take hard work and far less talk.

author: Muhammad Karim


text:
South Korea: Jang’s Sexual Service List Brought Up Again · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Korean net users are buzzing angry as the so-called Jang Ja-yeon's list has resurfaced. Actress Ja-yeon Jang, before committing suicide in 2009, left letters revealing the identities of 31 powerful people who are believed to have been involved in the sexual exploitation rampant in the show biz industry. Korea's citizen media Wiki Tree coalesced[ko] tweets urging police to reveal the list.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


text:
Tajikistan: Supreme Court frees convicts accused of terrorism · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

In an unexpected move, Tajikistan’s Supreme Court has commuted the sentences of 29 convicts originally sentenced on terrorism charges — and the decision, one of only two of its kind in the last five years, is very fishy, reports neweurasia’s Alpharabius. “But whatever the intention, the decision reeks of hypocrisy,” he writes.

author: Adil Nurmakov


text:
Turkmenistan: Ashgabat joins TAPI pipeline project · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Christya Riedel says that the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline for Turkmen natural gas line is going to be one of the largest pipelines in the world upon its completion in 2014.


text:
Turkmenistan: Hidden islamists on the Internet · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

The presence of radical Islamism in Turkmenistan is almost a legend, as the government is adamant that the threat is practically non-existent and under thorough control. neweurasia’s Annasoltan goes online to discover the truth, and what she finds is something very unpleasant.


text:
Turkmenistan: Singers jailed for breache of morale · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Annasoltan writes that the Turkmen authorities have sentenced two popular young singers to imprisonment and says that apparently the singers have run afoul of official ideology and the government’s vision of morality.


text:
Uzbekistan: Turkish Business Unwanted  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Avicenna reports that another Turkish shopping and entertainment mall has fallen in Uzbekistan in result of something similar to special operation by the police. He also provides background for the continuing conflict between the authorities and the Turkish businesses.


text:
Yemen: Protesters Vulnerable to Violent Attacks  · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
Protests demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh continue for a successive fourth week in Yemen. Protesters are not showing any sign of backing down and the Yemeni President is still immune to the idea of leaving office before presidential elections in 2013.
Saleh has invited all political forces to talk. The invitation was refused by the opposition. At the same time, attacks carried out by security forces and loyalists to Saleh on peaceful demonstrators continued.
“Yemeni officials and security forces have facilitated attacks by armed gangs on peaceful anti-government protesters in places away from the capital of Sanaa, or stood by while such attacks occurred,” says Human Rights Watch.
On Sunday, Ibb witnessed a massive anti-government demonstration which turned into violent clashes when government thugs, attacked the protesters causing the death of one person and injuring dozens.
Jane Novak writes:
Today’s protest in Ibb is estimated at 200,000 and there’s new violence in Aden. Other estimates of injuries in Ibb go as high as 70.
She adds:
Government supporters wielding knives and handguns attacked protesters in southern Yemen on Sunday, leaving one dead in the latest in weeks of demonstrations demanding the president step down.
Noha Zaki(@Izbella) tweets:
Regime-deployed thugs attack protesters, wounding 52, 6 critically wounded, in the “Gulf of Freedom” Ibb, #yemen.
She adds:
Protesters in Ibb #yemen arrest thugs who confess that they were paid by government officials – very similar to the experience in #Egypt
On March 5, a video was uploaded on YouTube in which a Yemeni businessman named Wahb Eddine Al-Sururi claims that he was attacked by thugs because he resigned from the ruling party and participated in peaceful protests in Al Hodeidah.
On the Facebook page, Yemen Rights Monitors, Ahmed reports:
URGENT | Security forces assault the protesters with electric sticks and confiscate tents at the sit-in #Sanaa #yemen #ArabRev
Aden To Freedom also reports the use of live bullets to disperse young protesters on Monday morning:
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

author: Afef Abrougui


text:
Zimbabwe: Share your solidarity with the 45 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Share your solidarity with Munyaradzi Gwisai of the International Socialist Organisation (Zimbabwe) and the 44 others in Zimbabwe who have been charged with treason for discussing recent events in Tunisia and Egypt.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Are Sub-Saharan Mercenaries Fighting for Gaddafi?  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
From the very first days of the 2011 Libyan uprising, there has been talk of foreign mercenaries, both from Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe, within long-standing leader Colonel Gaddafi's commando units.
A video (warning: graphic images), posted on February 19, 2011, began the first rumors of African mercenaries in Libya. This information subsequently triggered a heated debate in the traditional media [en] [fr] as well as on African blogs.
Military men in Tripoli. Image (original owner unknown) published on the Libyan Youth Movement's public Facebook page.
In West African country Guinea, the blog leguepard.net published an article by Saliou Bah [fr], director of Guinean newspaper Le jour de Conakry [fr] (Daily Conakry) where he states that:
Les présidents Guinéen, Burkinabé, Angolais, Soudanais, Tchadien, Centrafricain et autres ont été contactés par les « émissaires » du guide [Mouammar Kadhafi], tous ont répondu positivement à la demande de sauvetage du patron de la révolution verte.
…
Ils sont des centaines de militaires Guinéens à avoir quitté la capitale Guinéenne au début du mois [de février] pour Tripoli.
…
Joint au téléphone par la rédaction de lejourguinee, un Guinéen résident à Tripoli depuis 18 ans, confirme avoir vu des militaires Guinéens aux cotés des forces « mercenaires » pro Kadhafi dans les rues de la capitale en train de « restaurer » l'ordre. « Il y a bel et bien des Guinéens parmi les forces de répression en Libye » nous dit-il avant de raccrocher son téléphone.
The Guinean, Burkinabe, Angolan, Sudanese, Chadian, and Central African presidents were contacted by the guide's [Gaddafi's] emissaries, and they all have positively responded to the request to rescue the chief of the green revolution [reference to Gaddafi's coup in 1960s Libya].
…
Hundreds of Guinean soldiers left the Guinean capital [Conakry] at the beginning of February 2011 for  [Libyan capital] Tripoli.
…
A Guinean living in Tripoli for 18 years was contacted by telephone by the editorial office of [news site] lejourguinee. He confirms having seen Guinean military men beside the pro-Gaddafi “mercenary forces” in the streets of the capital in the process of “restoring” order. Before hanging up he said: “There were indeed Guineans among the repressive Libyan forces”.
The Chadian government has officially denied [fr] these claims but the editorial office [fr] of Chad news site Tchadactuel has its own  sources:
La Libye a demandé au [président tchadien] Deby de lui envoyer des hommes et mobiliser les  tchadiens de Libye, ce qu'il fait à merveille.Selon des sources  concordantes Kadhafi aurait demandé le même service aux soudanais, mais  ces derniers auraient poliment décliné la demande, par contre, ils  autorisent les soudanais volontaires à se rendre en Libye via le Tchad.
Libyan Omar Libya [fr], who is exiled to London and is an “observer” for the French television channel France24 and currently coordinates the Facebook page of the Libyan Youth Movement, has publicized the rumors circulating amongst Libyans:
Les manifestants ont filmé ces vidéos, non par sadisme, mais pour montrer au monde entier que Mouammar Kadhafi a recruté des mercenaires africains pour s’assurer que la répression soit radicale. Il y a une rumeur selon laquelle ils seraient payés 9 000 euros par Libyen tué [Certains sites libyens parlent de 30 000 dollars (22 000 euros) pour la mission, d’autres de 500 dollars par jour (370 euros). Ces rumeurs ne sont pas vérifiées]. Ce qui est sûr, c’est qu’ils ne parlent pas l'arabe dialectal local. Ils parlent souvent anglais ou français.
The Libyan League for Human Rights (LLHR) published a report [fr], which was republished by the International Federation for Human Rights, in which they state:
La  répression serait menée par les forces de sécurité  avec le soutien de  mercenaires tchadiens, zimbabwéens, et d’anciens  miliciens [libériens]  de Charles Taylor. L’utilisation, par les forces  de sécurité et les  agents de l’État sous son contrôle effectif, de  balles réelles et  d’armes lourdes pour mener la répression et des  bombardements  indiscriminés des populations civiles constituent des  violations graves  du droit international des droits de l’Homme et du  droit international  humanitaire.”
In terms of the International Committee of the Red Cross’ definition [fr], are all those attempting to repress the Libyan revolution to be considered mercenaries? There are at least two categories of men in uniform in the Libyan repression: black Libyans from the Libyan army, and soldiers sent at the request of the “guide” [Gaddafi] by their own governments.
In the forum boubah.com, a Guinean blogger, alpha, explains [fr]:
Les arabes utilisent le mot africain pour désigner les personnes d'origine noire, comme on dit african american aux states. Ils sont d'ailleurs très nombreux dans un des corps de l'armée libyenne qu'on appelle aussi la LÉGION ISLAMIQUE. C'est un corps qui est calqué sur le modèle français de la légion étrangère. Cette armée des mercenaires a été constitué par Kadhafi lors de la guerre contre le Tchad (Bande d’Aozou), [composée] essentiellement d'éléments  sahéliens (Tchad, Niger, Soudan etc).
Disgust and indignation at these actions has been shared by all media. Colete Claraz [fr], commenting on French newspaper Le Figaro‘s website says:
Rien de nouveau sous le soleil. Tous les dictateurs le font. Ex : Chavez. il s'est entouré de miliciens qui ne sont pas vénézuéliens mais cubains. Donc, en cas de contre-révolution, ces derniers sauront quoi faire. On parle même de mercenaires cubains en Libye.
dd lolo [fr] adds:
[…] je doute qu’il y ait vraiment beaucoup de professionnels dans le lot il est facile pour khaddafi d’employer des pauvres bougres d’Afrique subsaharienne ou des pays d’Europe de l’est pour faire le sale travail en compagnie de ses troupes libyennes.
dd lolo urges [fr] the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) to intervene immediately.
The International Organization for Migration is worried about the fate of African migrants [fr] living in Libya without papers who could become victims of the “mercenaries’ psychosis”:
Sur les dizaines de milliers d'Africains subsahariens et de sud  Asiatiques qui travaillent en Libye, seul un petit nombre est parvenu à  atteindre la frontière jusqu'ici.  Cela est probablement dû au manque de  ressources pour payer le transport.
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.


text:
Argentina: The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Erwin in The Latin Americanist features Argentina's Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo on International Woman's Day: “The ‘Abuelas’ were founded in 1977 with the aim of finding babies stolen during the ‘Dirty War’ period. In the 34 years since their creation, the group has reportedly identified over 100 children whose biological parents where either killed or ‘disappeared’ under the brutal military regime.”


text:
Bahrain: Modest Numbers Turn Out in Front of US Embassy · Global Voices
Yacoub Al-Slaise

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.
Small numbers of pro-democracy protesters rallied outside the US embassy on Monday (March 7) calling for the US government to stop supporting the regime.
Here are some reactions from Twitter:
@angryarabiya Why is it that US embassy wants 2 hear from monarchy, n politicians but not from the ppl?? We only want 2 be heard. #bahrain #feb14
@KawtharAlArab protest in front of the #US Embassy in #Bahrain Now http://yfrog.com/h336eprj calling for US admin 2stop supporting dictators #14feb
Protester carrying anti-monarchy in front of US embassy
@MaramAbdulaal Anti-monarchy/pro-democracy protests outside #bahrain US embassy..who chose the location? http://yfrog.com/h8vkeuj
Embassy security looking on at the anti-monarchy protesters
@girlpants29 Jumping up&down outside the US Embassy is so futile. Can't u see ONLY intelligent/practical dialogue will bring change 2 #bahrain so do it!
@foxgluv Extremely low turn-out @ US Embassy in Manama, Bahrain today by anti-gov. demonstrators, 2 dozen max…
@SAIDYOUSIF #Bahrain hundreds are protesting now opisite of #US #Empassy in manama #Feb14 #Lulu
and in reply..
@vickymaus77 @SAIDYOUSIF #Bahrain hundreds at the US Embassy? This is simply wrong! it was not more than 50! I have it first had from s.o. who was there!
This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.

author: Yacoub Al-Slaise


text:
Colombia: Celebrating International Woman’s Day · Global Voices
Lully

In Colombia, the celebration of International Woman's Day has become a tradition, and it is reflected online with netizens sharing different perspectives through websites, Twitter and blogs.
"Colombian Smile." Image by Flickr user marcovdz (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The digital magazine EquinoXio is featuring special coverage on the day with a number of posts [es], among which are a story [es] by Silvana Escobar, an article about women in “the Cínec” [es] (film adaptations of comics) by Dr. Comic, and other posts by Magda Liliana Escobar [es], Eisen Hawer [es], Focvs [es] and  Fabio Villegas Botero [es].
The website of the International Committee of the Red Cross published a report [es] on a peasant woman from the Nariño department in southwestern Colombia:
Su vida se transformó cuando, una noche de un mes de septiembre, varios hombres irrumpieron en su hogar y la violaron: eran miembros de un grupo armado. Su esposo desapareció y Sandra se vio obligada a dejar su casa, su tierra y todo lo que había construido con su familia.
Bloggers have also been active in remembering International Woman's Day. Carlos Arturo Gamboa in his blog Tutor Virtual unveils the issue of displaced women [es]:
Quizás no exista un sujeto en esta dolorosa nación en cuyo epicentro se acumule tanta atrocidad; por eso es inevitable imaginar mujeres valientes abandonando poblados enteros, con sus hijos a cuesta, mientras al mirar hacia atrás el fuego de la barbarie consume sus hogares.
Carlos Armando Cuervo in a post called “March 8, a century of emancipation and equality” [es] in his blog Pulso de Opinión calls  readers to reflect on the struggles and achievements of women in the  Middle East and Latin America. He also writes about the state of women’s  rights and legislation on education, health and political  participation:
De todas maneras al observar el lejano 1911 y el  transcurrir de las décadas hasta llegar a este 2011, son muchos los  cambios y avances que el batallar por la emancipación y la igualdad han  logrado las mujeres con su ardua y valiente lucha; representadas en  Colombia estas conquistas con eventos como el derecho al voto a partir  de 1957 y el actual posicionamiento de la mujer en cargos de altísima  investidura como la Dirección de la Fiscalía General y la Contraloría  General, ya no más restándoles conseguir la presidencia de la república.
For their part, active Twitter users have mostly shared greetings and recognized women, like Juan Galeano (@JuanGaleano666), Camilo Alfredo (@kalicams) and Luis Daniel (@LUISdanielTAB). Luis Daniel says:
Mujeres no solo pueden, estan ya tomando decisiones importantes y fundamentales. En mi Familia, como en la de todos tenemos una Gran Mujer!!

author: Lully


text:
Côte d’Ivoire: A Solution to the Post-Electoral Crisis? · Global Voices
Kanigui

This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011.
The post-electoral crisis across Cote d'Ivoire  is dragging on since two opposing leaders, Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara both claim to have won a runoff vote on November 28, 2010. A sequence of unfortunate events [fr] have followed, and there seems to be no prospect of a viable solution.
Cote d'Ivoire has historically hovered halfway between fragile peace and open conflict. In 2007, an armed conflict between the government of President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel groups of Forces Nouvelles was stilled by Ouagadougou’s peace treaty, but it still took four more years for presidential elections to be held. Meanwhile the country endured a tenuous power sharing agreement.
Burning weapons: an initiative for disarmament in 2007 in Bouke, CI. UN photo/Basil  Zoma on Flickr (CC-NC-ND)
The current post electoral crisis has caused a rise in social tension and violations of human rights. Meanwhile, the African Union's panel of five heads of state is taking its time to reach a concrete solution. Violence committed by “Young Patriots” supporting Gbagbo are picked up again and again on Twitter in eyewitness reports.
@jeanettemallet: #Gbagbo‘s Young “Patriots”  Terrorize #Abidjan‘s  Citizens #IvoryCoast #civ2010 http://ow.ly/48dFD via France24
The experience of Ivorians is mirrored on Twitter in numerous reactions to the massacre of seven women protesting in the city Abobo on March 3, apparently by Gbagbo's security forces. However, supporters of Gbagbo, following the lead of the military and state television, deny this and cast the blame on pro-Ouattara “Invisible Commandos”.
Two sides at odds
Claudus Kouadio relays a video by the state broadcaster RTI and raises suspicions of Ouattara supporters:
@ClaudusIvoire: #civ2010 Marche des femmes à Abobo : Des pro-Ouattara lourdement armés – Abidjan.net Vidéo http://t.co/LDxiuo9 via  @abidjan_net
He was rebuked immediately by Dignity Quest, another Ivorian who posted the link to the video showing the assassination of the women.
In this climate of permanent tension between the two camps, the partisans of the two “presidents” do not forget the essential: to drive out the one who has lost the elections. Thus the supporters of Laurent Gbagbo are asking Ouattara to recognise his defeat. As Greg Parlour says:
@gregoryparlour: @tommymiles What if ADO admits that he lost elections, isn't that simple ? He lost that's  all, we ivorians know that he lost !! #civ2010
Those who support Ouattara, from their side, ask that Laurent Gbagbo simply recognise that he was beaten by Ouattara Alassane in the polls. Ado Gerard K. responds to a supporter of Laurent Gbagbo on twitter:
@nightsnake1975: @mouayoro #civ2010 Et pkoi ne pas  commencer a essayer de faire comprendre a GBAGBO qu'il a perdu les  elections ?
@Fresco68, another Ivorian on twitter who favors Ouattara Alassane directs questions at Laurent Gbagbo in the context of his position after his defeat.
@Fresco68: #civ2010 Tu dis tu es fils  d'élection. Battu aux élections, tu veux faire la guerre. Toi-même tu es  qui maintenant ? On doit retenir quoi?
A third option?
Rejecting the two camps supporting either one or the other of the presidents, one Ivorian blogger suggests a third solution: the departure of both Ouattara and Gbagbo and the arrival of a third man: Mamadou Koulibaly.
Koulibaly is currently the President of the National Assembly and vice president of the Ivorian Popular Front (Laurent Gbagbo’s Party). In a post entitled “And if we left the crisis by this door” on Le Blog de Yoro suggests:
Les médiations ont quasi échoué. Le Panel des Chefs est d’Etat est  obligé de jouer les prolongations parce que le match est difficile. La  fin semble infernale. Jamais en Côte d’Ivoire on n'avait atteint un tel  niveau de violence. Jamais on n’avait été aussi divisé. JAMAIS !  Aujourd’hui, ce n’est plus le Nord contre le Sud, ni les musulmans  contre les chrétiens, comme veulent le faire croire les charognards. La  fissure est partout. Dans les bureaux, dans les communautés, dans les  foyers chez les religieux. C’est grave !
Noting the deep divisions between the citizens and considering the numerous internet followers which each  president has, this blogger cuts to the chase and suggests his solution:
Le débat  aujourd’hui, n’est donc plus de savoir qui a gagné et qui a perdu. Mais  comment on stoppe l’hémorragie. Comment on n’arrête tout ça ? Et nous  pouvons choisir de sortir par le sang ou par le bon sens. Je pense pour ma part,  qu’il faut un troisième homme. Et en le disant, je pense à Mamadou  Koulibaly.
For Yoro, an economist originally from the north of the Ivory Coast, the solution could be to rally the nation and reunite the country in a transition over three years, implement reforms and in particular:
organiser des élections libres, justes et  transparentes. Elections auxquelles il ne se présenterait pas, ni Laurent Gbagbo, ni Alassane Ouattara, ni Henri Konan Bédié, ni Guillaume Soro, ni Charles Blé Goudé.
This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011.

author: Kanigui


text:
Ghana: Photos of mental health  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Fiona blogs about Ghanaian photographer Nyani who has been working on a collection of photographs documenting the conditions faced by people in Ghana who are living with mental health issues.


text:
Hollaback! Mobile Technology Against Street Harassment  · Global Voices
Ernesto Priego

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.
Hollaback! is a crowdsourced platform seeking to harness the power of mobile technologies to denounce street harassment. More than a tool or series of tools, Hollaback! is self-described as a “movement”:
Hollaback! is a movement dedicated to ending street harassment using mobile technology. Street harassment is one of the most pervasive forms of gender-based violence and one of the least legislated against. Comments from “You’d look good on me” to groping, flashing and assault are a daily, global reality for women and LGBTQ individuals. But it is rarely reported, and it’s culturally accepted as ‘the price you pay’ for being a woman or for being gay. At Hollaback!, we don’t buy it.
Based on the premise that “the explosion of mobile technology has given us an unprecedented opportunity to end street harassment,” the project is encouraging women around the world to use the tools available to them to share their stories and geo-locate incidents and reports.
Incorporating a smartphone “app”, YouTube videos, Google maps, a Facebook group, a Twitter account and a multi-blogging platform, Hollaback! is a call to arms that requires an active involvement from the participants, based on the clever and articulate use of web and mobile tools, but above all it is a campaign to change the cultural attitudes towards street harassment.
Hollaback! suggests several ways of getting involved. The project originated in the United States, with presence in several American cities, but local Hollaback! web sites have already been created by women in cities like London, Mumbai and Buenos Aires, and countries like the Czech Republic and France.
Hollaback! is a positive model of citizen journalism, where women with access to mobile technologies can end the silence and have their voices heard. Are you listening?
This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

author: Ernesto Priego


text:
Is Mexico Ready for a Female President? · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Pepe Flores [es] asks if Mexico is ready to have a female president. He argues that Mexico as a society would accept a woman in the presidency, but he wonders if political parties are willing to endorse a woman as their candidate.


text:
Kenya: Interesting websites · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Interesting Kenyan websites: “Chukua.com – yet another directory-type website.The thing that sets Chukua.com apart is that it is not only a directory but a marketplace – whereby you can set up an online “shop” on chukua.com.
Maridadi.co.ke – is an online clothing store. The design is beautifully done. Kudos to the developers on that front.”


text:
Liberia: Women mobilize for peace · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Jenny Hobbs explains how Liberian women mobile for peace after years of civil war: “Few people are aware that a group of women – calling themselves the Peace Women, dressed in colourful lappas (Liberian cloth), bright white t-shirts and white headscarves, were instrumental in bringing peace to Liberia.”


text:
Libya: Debating the No-Fly Zone (Video) · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
Tweeps, bloggers and netizens are continuing their debate the purpose and effectiveness of establishing a no-fly zone over Libya to protect protesters and civilians from air attack.
Debates over some form of intervention began when Libya's nonviolent protests against the four-decade rule of Colonel Muammar Al Gaddafi were met with extreme force and violence. The regime's crackdown on protesters turned many of Libya's armed forces against Gaddafi, pushing the country into open warfare. The bloodshed that has so far killed anywhere between 1,000 and 6,000 people, prompted the International Criminal Court and UN Human Rights Council to investigate possible human rights abuses.
In theory a no-fly zone would prohibit  pro-Gaddafi's forces from mounting bombing raids and using attack helicopters to assault civilians and the largely untrained rebel troops. As Global Voices recently pointed out a no-fly zone remains controversial for a number of reasons: its technical difficulty, its cost in money and lives and worries over real and perceived threats of Western occupation.
Here is a video of an attack helicopter over the town of Misurata during late February.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR9M1VkXt2I&feature=related
After a weekend of more state-sponsored bloodshed, however, the idea has received a boost. On Monday, March 7 the Gulf Cooperation Council called on the United Nations Security Council to establish a no-fly zone “to protect Libyan citizens.” Libyan Interim Transitional National Council, the leadership of the rebellion against Gaddafi, has also pressed upon the European Parliament and the rest of the West to impose a no-fly zone. Avaaz, the US-based digital citizen group, has created a online petition imploring the UN Security Council to put in place a no-fly zone.
As atrocities against civilians continue, the debates regarding the effectiveness of a no-fly zone remain much the same. Here is from a group of Tweeps from outside Libya.
#libya The Libyan Revolution does not “need” a no fly zone. It's just a way to reduce the number of martyrs. Gaddafi will lose, but slower
@ozpink: … if the world waits to long to install ‘No Fly Zone’ how will Gaddafi react to international condemnation of his regime? #Libya
@itchy8me: No fly zone over libya. What do the #libyan people have to say about this international intervention? #feb17
@shradm: How do you solve a problem like the one in #Libya? Why does rest of the world only watch genocide and civil war? Is no-fly zone so hard?
@plemochoe: #libya The real reason to be AGAINST a no fly zone is that the Americans would have to do it, and the people might feel differently then
@Liberationtech: Instead of no fly zone, US could use US Navy ships & aircraft to enable #Libya to maintain net connectivity http://ow.ly/48A6A
@betasam: Will USA interfere in #Libya? Does a no-fly zone present a solution? #randomthoughts
@Machahir123: Libya's air force would pose only a “modest” threat to efforts to impose a no-fly zone over Libya: US marine corps via AFP #libye
The situation is just as cloudy for those inside Libya or with direct ties to it.
@IndyLibya: US NATO envoy: A no-fly zone over Libya won't work – Hot Air http://goo.gl/fb/KJaGN #Libya #Feb17
@OnlyOneLibya: I'm for the NFZ against #Gaddafi & ASAP! It will severely limit his ability 2 massacre Libyan civilians. Libyan TNC wants the NFZ. #Libya
@Proud2bBenghazi: @ArcanisZZ 1st #libya is NOT iraq or afghan 2nd we want desperately need help we r asking 4 supplies needed & noflyzone to win our OWN battle
From the United States, a blogger who is a former Defence Intelligence Officer worries that Gaddafi may hold-on if no one votes for a no-fly zone.
Key to al-Qadhafi's forces military operations is complete control of Libyan airspace. The opposition forces have only older anti-aircraft artillery and possibly some shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. Both systems are limited to relatively low-altitude coverage. When these systems are manned by poorly or untrained operators, they are fairly easily avoided by fighter bombers. While the heavily armed and armored Mi-24 helicopter gunships are more vulnerable to these systems, Libyan air force pilots are making devastating strikes on rebels in the oil refinery and port city of Ra's Lanuf to the west of Tripoli, and in Az-Zawiyah to the east of Tripoli, in each case forcing the rebels to give up hard-gotten gains…
It may come down to this. Either the United Nations authorizes the imposition and enforcement a no-fly zone over Libya, or Mu'amar al-Qadhafi remains in power.
Over at the Ethiopian review, Eritreawi wonders if a no-fly zone would just invite rich Western countries to stay and plunder Libya:
Give me a break! the Arab League enforcing a “no fly zone” in Libya, this is laughable at best and dangerous at its worst. No Arab or African nation has the air power and the technology that goes with it to enforce a no fly zone. What the Arab League is doing is laying the ground work for western powers to dip their dirty hands on Libya so they can install a regime that obeys them, make Libya a basket case like the rest of Arab countries and of course the main target control its oil wealth. That is what at stake in Libya at this moment.
From Israel, Carl in Jerusalem (writing in Israel Matzav) wonders if political considerations make the whole idea of no-fly zone a “bluff” from the NATO powers:
So Britain isn't able to participate and France won't participate unless there is UN approval which is unlikely to come (think “Russian or Chinese veto”). That leaves Obama. Does anyone really believe that the US under Obama is going to go it alone to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya? You've got to be kidding…..
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

author: John Liebhardt


text:
Macedonia: Goverment as “Donor” · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Volan objects [MKD] to using the term “donations” by the government officials, who use taxpayers’ money for photo opportunities that present them as sponsors instead of spenders. The latest example: buying buses from Ukraine for the state-owned public transport enterprise in Skopje.

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
Mexico: Remembering the Women of Ciudad Juárez · Global Voices
Andrea Arzaba

This post is part of our special coverage Mexico's Drug War.
Ciudad Juárez is considered the most violent city in Mexico with more than 3,100 murders recorded in 2010, with an average of 9 homicides per day. Women are not immune to this violence, and cases of femicides committed years ago are still unresolved.
Banner from 'Not One More' anti-femicide campaign, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Image by Flickr user jrsnchzhrs (CC BY-ND 2.0).
Blogger “Fuerzas Colosales” describes the current situation [es] in Ciudad Juárez:
Ciudad Juárez es una ciudad fronteriza, bien al norte de México, que  limita con El Paso, Texas. Es un enclave estratégico para el tráfico de  drogas y humanos y, como tal, ha sufrido una escalada de violencia sin  parangón que hoy por hoy tiene a la población entera completamente  aterrorizada. Estamos, sin duda alguna, ante un caso de emergencia  humanitaria.
Journalist Judith Torrea has been writing from Mexico's border with the US for more than a decade. She focuses on violence directed at women and on drug trafficking. In her blog Ciudad Juárez, en la sombra del narcotráfico (Ciudad Juárez, in the shadow of drug trafficking) she writes about feminicides in the city [es]:
Cada inicio del año -desde que la ciudad se vistió de cruces rosas  en protesta por las muertes y desapariciones de mujeres denunciadas en  una lista, desde 1993, por la pionera activista contra el feminicidio  Esther Chávez Cano, ya fallecida- regresan a esta cruz.
Y en papelitos escriben los nombres de las mujeres que los atan a los enormes clavos que surgen de la cruz Ni una más: el  lema que, al parecer, la poeta Susana Chávez,  de 36 años, creó y  alzó  hasta que la asesinaron el miércoles, cortándole la mano, según la Red  Mesa de Mujeres. Asesinada a pesar de que la Fiscalía General del Estado  no ha revelado su nombre y muchos hoy desconocen que ha sido asesinada.
During each start of a new year –since the city was draped in pink crosses in protest for the deaths and disappearances of women reported in a list, since 1993, by the pioneering activist against femicides Esther Chavez Cano, now deceased– they return to this cross [shown in photos in the post].
And on pieces of paper they write the names of women that they tie to the huge nails that arise from the cross  Not one more:  em the motto, apparently, the poet Susana Chavez, 36, created and raised until she was murdered on Wednesday, cutting off her hand, according to Red Mesa de Mujeres. She was killed even if the Attorney General's Office has not revealed her name and many today don't know she has been murdered.
In Women and Foreign Policy, Cordelia Rizzo wrote about two particular cases:
Marisela Escobedo, who was fighting for the persecution of her  daughter’s murderer, was chased and gunned down at plain sight in front  of the governor’s office, where she was leading a protest. Less than a  month later, Susana Chávez, a poet who coined the phrase “Ni una más  (Not one more death)”, was tortured, killed and left in the street with  her hand severed.
Later, Rizzo reflects on Chavez's and Escobedo's stories of courage:
These women acted courageously despite being abandoned by the state.  They have become symbols both of the responsibilities of citizenship and  of the perils of standing up to power. They were in touch with the most  pressing problems Mexico because they were directly affected by the  lack of progress in transforming general attitudes towards women and the  state’s ongoing forgetfulness of the working class. Both spoke about it  as loudly and openly as they could.
Finally, she talks about the future of activism led by women in Mexico:
After these murders, female protesters now cover their faces, both to  protect themselves and to represent the humiliation that the victims,  their daughters and friends, have endured. The future of activism in  Mexico is grim: A few days ago, the house of Malú García Andrade, who  leads NGO Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa, was burned down while she  was protesting.
Several activities will take place [es] to celebrate International Women's Day in Mexico, including the inauguration of the first museum dedicated to women in the country [es].
This post is part of our special coverage Mexico's Drug War.

author: Andrea Arzaba


text:
Morocco: Women Celebrate International Day · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

This post is part of our special coverage Morocco Protests 2011.
Moroccan women, like their counterparts across the world, have been celebrating the 100th anniversary of the International Women's Day today. They have long been at the forefront of the civil society's struggle for a better and more dignified life. And as the freedom “fever”, inspired by the “Arab Revolutions” continues to sweep across the Middle East and North Africa, Moroccan feminists are also taking to the streets, making sure gender equality and emancipation of women are part of the agenda for change.
In 2004, responding to the repeated appeals and long struggle of the civil society, the Moroccan government passed laws meant to build awareness around women's rights and empower them politically and economically. Seven years after the implementation of the Moudawana, or Family Code, many see little improvement in women's social status. A deadly event acted a dreadful reminder of that alarming reality when in mid-February Fadoua Laroui, a young single mother, self-immolated in a public place protesting her hopeless social situation.
Women marchers took to the streets today and a vigil was organized to celebrate the memory of Fadoua Laroui right at the heart of Casablanca, the largest city in the country, from where these pictures were sent by Feryate Mahjoub via Twitter:
@Feryate: كلنا فداء فدوى الشهيدة http://twitpic.com/47jazi
Vigil in memory of Fadoua Laroui
@Feryate: صورة من الوقفة التضامنية مع فدوى العروي بالبيضاء
Sit-in in memory of Fadoua Laroui
Feryate also posted this picture from the same gathering showing women(and men) carrying placards where their demands were inscribed:
Equality and Parity for Women
On the Moroccan blogosphere, male and female bloggers have been reflecting on this International Day.
Marrokia (Sanaa) is one of the most popular Moroccan bloggers. She had this rather bleak perspective to share:
لا تبحثي أبدا عن المساواة، واستجدي العدل إن وجدته. ابحثي عنه في ذاتك ولا تطمعي إلا في راحة بال تكتفين بها. وكفاكِ هتافات ونداءات ساخرة… فالمرأة مرأة والرجل رجل.
Aghrass is an photographer and blogger. He writes:
Cette journée est à dédier a Fadoua Laroui qui pour des raisons et d’autres s’est donnée la mort en criant son désespoir devant l’injustice des hommes et du système
Citoyen Hmida has chosen to write about Moroccan female painters. He posted the pictures of the work of some of them on his blog. Citoyen Hmida writes:
En ce 8 mars, journée internationale de la femme, j’ai voulu rendre hommage à la femme marocaine, mais sans me lamenter sur son sort et sans  instrumentaliser la misère profonde que vivent au quotidien une grande partie de nos concitoyennes.
On Twitter, Meriem (@meriemk) is triumphant. She tweets:
@meriemk: In morocco, for the #internationalwomensday, The movies are free for women! lol
Indeed theatres are opening their doors for free for women today across Morocco. Happy Women's Day!
This post is part of our special coverage Morocco Protests 2011.

author: Hisham Almiraat


text:
Nepal: The Leadership Qualities Of Nepali Politicians · Global Voices
Rezwan

Blogger Nepali gives 10 reasons showing the shortcomings of Nepali politicians which prevent them from being a great leader.

author: Rezwan


text:
Nepal: Why There Is No International Men’s Day? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Have you wondered why there is no such day called International men's day? Nepali blogger Bhumika Ghimire explains why.


text:
Rwanda: Blogger Invites President Through Twitter · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This is a story of how a Kenyan blogger based in Rwanda invited Rwandan President Paul Kagame via Twitter to visit kids at The Ibirunga Tennis Court in Musanze Town. President Kagame replied and ended up visiting them.
SavyKenya works with Art of Conservation, an organisation that carries out conservation and health education to kids living near the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
SavyKenya explains how it all began:
It all started with a tweet. Rather, two tweets.
Friday morning. My last day at work. Fridays are easy days around here, we report to work at nine in the morning, which means I get up at 8, and on most days, I oversleep till 8.30 and I have to shower, dress, have breakfast and do the 10-min walk to work in 30min! Today at around 4pm, there is a farewell party for me. I don’t really have that much work, so I spend most of the morning tweeting, Facebooking, blog reading and emailing.
Back at the office, Julie told me about the president passing through today and I told her you know what? The president is on twitter, I could tweet him. She was like, why not?
So I tweeted him, and kept checking my replies every few minutes. Finally, 30 minutes later I get a reply:
She tweeted:
@PaulKagame if you'll be passing through Musanze town this afternoon, the tennis kids will be waving at you and they have a t-shirt for you.
Kagame replied:
@savvykenya. O K sure,…I stop by …thank u!
The waiting started:
Apart from his tweet, and the excitement in the air as the tennis kids were told to come in their best club t-shirts, there was little to show the president was going to stop by. But at around 5pm, the commissioner of police in this area (I think) called and started asking all sorts of questions about the club. Then we knew things were getting thick! Later, a few security guys (a part of the presidential guards perhaps) arrive and also start asking questions. We’re called from the office. We (AoC staff) have to leave the party for the tennis court. We tell the guests not to worry, we’ll be back to continue it but for now, well…
More army guys arrive. They surround the tennis court and melt into the shadows. They go into the houses neighbouring the court and command the residents to stay indoors. It’s all very movie-like. They are asking questions. They are polite, because they ask me, “may we please speak to you” and then pull me aside and ask me all sorts of things. Then they call Julie aside and do the same. Then they call me back. Then they call Valerie (another staff member) and do the same. Then back to Julie. It is just so very exciting.
And finally….:
Finally, a car travelling at high speed blazes through, flashing lights and hooting horns. Or maybe a siren. In our excited state, we see and hear things. Off it goes past us. It must be the decoy car, I think. The presidential motorcade finally weaves its way and at the tennis court where we wait by the roadside, a small sleek car stops. Someone opens the door. And Kagame steps out.
President Paul Kagame holding a t-shirt from Art of Conservation. Photo courtesy of SavyKenya
She tells him that she is the one who tweeted:
Julie is the first to greet him and to introduce herself. I shake his hand next. He then greets everyone by hand, paying special attention to the smallest kid here. He speaks with Coach Tony. He says he has a gift for us and hands us an envelope. We thank him and clap for him. We remember the t-shirt we promised him. We give it to him. He holds it up, saying “thank you, it’s my size.” We couldn’t be happier at this moment!
There is a pause in conversation and activity, and I seize the chance to tell him I’m the one who tweeted him. He turns back to some of his entourage and says, “she’s the one who invited me.” Then I tell him am going back to Kenya soon, and he said no, you should stay. I tell him I want to be the president of the EA Republic when it’s formed in 2032.
He donated money to Ibirunga Tennis Club:
We count the money the president gifted the Ibirunga Tennis and Running Club. One million Rwandese Francs (about 2000 USD).
SavyKenya's impression of Paul Kagame:
My impression of him is that he’s a very nice guy. There, I don’t have glowing descriptions. It was humbling for me, for all of us. He’s generous and polite. A great man.
Another Kenyan blogger, Tech Mtaa, says, “This is one great move by the President and will sure win him much support among the techno savvy youth.”
Readers’ reactions at SavyKenya blog:
Mrembo says:
Lazima we make this news/tweetup viral….yani how many people tweet a prsident and that same day the president shows up. Off to spread it the news. Good on you
Kbaab says:
That was the COOLEST thing any tweep has ever done! I’m totally jazzed like you won’t believe. I’ve always like President Paul Kagame, but now I think I love him. That was such a sweet and humble gesture. I’m sitting here, thinking, would our President do that? Really? I don’t think so. Power to you girl! Here’s to more Presidential tweet ups.
jacquendinda says:
This is big!!! for a tweet to turn into something as big..uuuwi! I dont think I would have eaten hio usiku…excitos!!!
I like Kagame because he replies to tweets..that says a lot about a person, especially one who is a leader….
This deserves a congratulations…you did good!!
OtienoHongo says:
Wow, ok, after reading this I am going to tweet Obama! Anyway, nice to know he actually manages his twitter account, I know some public figures get their assistants to do such stuff – what this means is that we shall be twitting him with more confidence now in the knowledge that he will read them! Good to know you enjoyed your stay in Rwanda as well!


text:
Saudi Arabia: “Demonstrations are Forbidden in This Country” · Global Voices
Haifa Alrasheed

Saudi Arabia's council of senior clerics issued a statement  forbidding public protests.
@Almatrafi shares the statement by the body headed by the Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh on Tweetmail [Ar]:
The Council of Senior Clerics affirms that demonstrations are forbidden in this country. The correct way in sharia (Islamic law) of realizing common interest is by advising, which is what the Prophet Mohammad established,
The statement continues:
Reform and advice should not be through demonstrations and ways that provoke strife and division, this is what the religious scholars of this country in the past and now have forbidden and warned against
The announcement caused a storm of reaction from Saudi tweeps, under the hashtags #saudimataleb and #Kebaralolama. Below are some:
@alduaa
لا اعلم ما التعريف الحقيقي لهيئة كبار العلماء والى اي جهة ينحازون ولا اعلم من اي عقليه ينحدرون#saudimataleb
@yaseral
في زمن تساقط الاقنعه وانكشاف الحقيقه ….اتت هيئه كبار العلماء واسقطت جميع اقنعتها وفقدت مصداقيتها لدي الشعب #kebaralolama #saudimataleb
@nouralnour55
الحج اكبر المظاهرات فهل يعنى تحريم التظاهر من هئيه كبار العلماء اليوم تحريما للحج #ksa #mar11 #saudi #Saudimataleb
Hajj is the hugest protest, does that mean it's prohibited too?
@SaHeRManam
#SaudiMataleb #OnlyInSaudi هيئة كبار العلماء وشرايكم تكرمونا بسكوتكم وتاكلون رز بلبن افيد للصحه
@onsaudirights
خسرت كبار العلماء فرصة غالية لاسترداد شيء من مكانتها #saudimataleb
@Sarah_Alshawi
سقطة يا هيئة كبار العلماء و ما اعظمها من سقطة. و ياليتني استطيع القول انها الاولى… الشكوى لله
And finally @SaudiLawyer is questioning:
((والهيئة إذ تؤكد على حرمة المظاهرات في هذه البلاد))!!٠ ممكن أحد يشرح لي لماذا فقط: (في هذه البلاد)؟ #Kebaralolama

author: Haifa Alrasheed


text:
Sri Lanka: Desecration Of Tamil Graves In Jaffna · Global Voices
Rezwan

Groundviews publishes the English translation of a report which claims that all the graves in the LTTE Koppai cemetery in Jaffna were destroyed to erect an army Head Quarter.


text:
Thailand: Total number of coups · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Nicholas Farrelly, writing for the New Mandala, has counted 11 “successful” and 9 “unsuccessful” coup efforts” in Thailand in the past century.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Vietnam: Facebook censorship and civil disobodience · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Despite being regularly blocked by authorities, Viet Tan thinks that Facebook can be a tool for civil disobedience in Vietnam.


text:
Vietnam: Road accidents · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Citing WHO statistics, Andy Engelson is surprised to discover that  “United States’ traffic is as dangerous as Vietnam’s.”


text:
Vietnam: Street vendors · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Vietnam720 posts pictures of street vendors in Vietnam.


text:
Zimbabwe: Zimbabwean arrested over Facebook comment · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Zimbabwe's first Facebook arrest: “39 Year Old Zimbabwean Vivas Mavhudzi has been arrested following a comment he posted on a Facebook page allegedly belonging to Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.


text:
Arab World: How Much Does Internet Access Matter? · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011, Egypt Revolution 2011 and Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Amidst the ongoing debate of the role of social media in revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa lies another question: To what degree does Internet access matter in determining the role of the Internet and social media in these revolts?  In Egypt and Tunisia, many attribute an important role to online tools while others debate their worth; most observers fall somewhere in the middle, recognizing the value of the Internet but remaining realistic about its limitations.
On my own blog, I framed the question slightly differently, asking:
The normative question in relation to the Internet (mobile is obviously a different story) is, then, how much do basic indicators like Internet and mobile penetration affect the effectiveness of such tools for organizational or revolutionary purposes? Or, can a tiny group of Internet users influence a countrywide movement?
But in comparing the role of the Internet in Egypt (where most accounts* put Internet penetration between 20-25%) and Tunisia (which hovers closer to 35%) to the potential role of the Internet in other countries, one must take into consideration the access in that country.  In Libya, for example, access to the Internet is only available to about 5% of the population.  Statistics on individual social media sites are also important when analyzing their role in a protest movement.  CNN has an excellent map of Facebook and Internet penetration in the Middle East and North Africa here.
This chart compares Internet and mobile penetration in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya
Blogger Andrew Trench recently presented a theory on the threshold of when Internet penetration starts to matter, writing:
Social networks have also been given plenty of credit for the revolution unfolding in Egypt.
So I went and had a look at the numbers over on www.internetworldstats.com to see what they could tell us about these two scenarios. Well, fascinatingly, both Egypt and Tunisia have seen a massive growth in internet users and internet penetration over the last 10 years.
Both have now got internet penetration of over 20% and in Tunisia's case it was as high as 34%.
While it is clearly simplistic to over-state this factor and there must be many more drivers contributing to such a rapid political uprising, it is obviously a factor as evidenced by the Egyptian regime pulling the plug on the country's internet access to try and block the rising tide of revolt.
My back-of-napkin theory is this: that a rapid increase in internet penetration in a repressive regime does play an important role as it provides an unfettered channel of communication allowing disaffected citizens to share views – and more importantly – to rapidly organise and mobilise.
If Egypt and Tunisia are valid case studies, it looks like internet penetration of around 20% is the mark.
Geopolitics & Macroeconomics adds:
Internet penetration: Social networking sites were critical to sustaining the momentum in the recent protests.  The internet penetration in Egypt is 16%.  In Libya, it is a meagre 5% [1].  The unrest in Libya has thus far remained concentrated in regions that are geographically distant from the seat of ‘real’ power (see more on this below).  The dependence of momentum on internet communication is far greater in Libya than in Egypt where protests began in Cairo itself.
Taking the conversation to Pakistan, Sabene Saigol writes, on BrandRepublic:
Perhaps one reason for this is that we're still not that used to communicating via the ‘net – maybe we need greater broadband and internet penetration. Personally I think it is more to do with culture – while Pakistani internet users are savvy to using social media to connect with friends, I feel they have not yet ‘crossed over’ to seeing SM as a means for professional communications – or even wider social communications that go beyond their immediate circle. Yes, there are no doubt savvy people – both within marketing and tech circles, and outside – however, these people are likely a tiny proportion of the total number of ‘net and social media users.
One map compares the number of people at university to the number of people online
The role of mobile receives perhaps even less media attention than the role of other technologies.  And yet, mobile penetration is higher across the region than Internet, with only Yemen, the occupied Palestinian territories, and Syria reporting fewer than 50% mobile subscribers.  Several countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE, boasted mobile subscriber rates of over 100%. MobileActive has detailed mobile data by country.
Micah Sifry, writing for TechPresident, has also considered mobile, arguing:
The biggest factor in the unfolding events, to me, appears to be the emergent power of young people, compounded by how urbanized they are and how connected they are by mobile phones.
If you look at the available data on degree of internet penetration, number of mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people, percentage of population under the age of 15 and degree of urbanization, what jumps out is how the last three factors seem to matter more.
Image from Micah Sifry; Sources: MobileActive.org, InternetWorldStats.com, GlobalHealthFacts.org
Sifry adds:
With the exception of Yemen, mobile coverage in the other five countries I've focused on–Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Jordan and Iran–hovers between 98% and 100%.
Finally, the pace of mobile phone penetration has exploded, far faster than internet penetration. With the exception of Jordan, which boasted a 23% mobile phone subscription rate in 2002, in the other five countries mobile ownership was in the single digits–just six percent in Egypt and Tunisia back then. That has skyrocketed in 2007 to 76% in Tunisia and 40% in Egypt, according to MobileActive.org.
Could it be that what we're witnessing is the political coming of age of Generation TXT?
*For those interested in learning more about Internet penetration globally, there are two main organizations which track such data: the International Telecommunications Union, and the World Bank.  Their statistics sometimes differ.  The website Internet World Stats aggregates their data, as well as the data from smaller or more localized institutions.
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011, Egypt Revolution 2011 and Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Jillian C. York


text:
Bangladesh: Banning Fatwa · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Unfortunately, in Bangladesh, some people are trying their best to fetter their women further in the name of religion,” comments Jerome D'Costa at Bangladesh, Canada and Beyond on the recent protests by some Islamic clerics, who are resisting government's efforts to ban Fatwa.


text:
Côte d’Ivoire: Abandoning the CFA? · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Papa Keita [fr] wrote on the Dakar Bondy blog [fr] :”  Isolated by the International community and by the Uemoa, Gbagbo  continues to play tricks. His entourage is stirring up the launch of  Ivory Coast's own currency, and even worse – this would mean leaving the  UEMOA, which encompasses some West African countries (8 in total).”

author: Abdoulaye Bah


text:
Cuba: Satellite Situation  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uproar over satellite dishes in Cuba, here and here.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Guyana: Child Abuse  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“When I look into the dark eyes of some chil’ren here, I see things I can’t put a name to”: Guyana-Gyal shivers at some of the things that go on in the dark.


text:
India: The Dictionary – An Obituary · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Every Bengali home had an English dictionary,” comments Anirban, but now many people use embedded dictionaries in their devices or online dictionaries instead. Is it time to say goodbye to paper dictionaries?


text:
India: Why We Let Someone Beat His Wife? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Domestic Violence is very much prevalent in India and husband beating wive is one of the common phenomena. Shilpadesh questions how can the other family members ignore such abuse?


text:
Jamaica: Political Satire  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica and the World posts updates on the Manatt Commission of Inquiry, while Active Voice notes that “political satire is alive and well in Jamaica”, thanks in part to the Twitter debut “of someone tweeting as if they’re the imprisoned don, Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, languishing in a New York prison.”


text:
Japan: Plum blossoms · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Photographer and blogger Buddihka Weerasinghe just published a set of pictures titled Ume (plum) blossoms. The photographs were taken in Katsuyama and capture the beginning of spring in Japan.

author: Scilla Alecci


text:
Kuwait: Hundreds Rally for PM Change  · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

A few hundred people gathered in Kuwait today calling for “a new government, with a new Prime Minister, and a new approach.”  While some would say that Kuwait is catching up with the spirit of change raging across the Arab World, others would deny that, saying the Kuwait protests have nothing to do with the rest of the region. Nonetheless,  Kuwait is an Arab country, where young people are trying to effect change.
Turn out to the protest, which ran smoothly with no incident, was lower than anticipated.  @Sultan7879 posts a photograph from the protest:
Kuwaiti protesters calling for a new government, with a new Prime Minister
He commented:
On Twitter, many people announced their intention to take part in the protests. @al_tariq2009  tweeted:
In an unexplained move, The Ministry of Interior announced today the closure of the Safat Square, where the protests were originally planned, but that did not deter the people calling for the gathering.
@LeKoweit explained:
And if you are wondering where the Square of Change is, as you will not find it on any map, here is an explanation from @eL_aldstor :
@ShagranQ8 tried to reason why the Safat Square was closed to the protesters:
@walladah explained why he protested:

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


text:
Libya: Gaddafi Forces Continue to Shell Zawiya  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
Intense reports of tank and artillery shelling of Al Zawiya, in the north western part of Libya, are making the rounds on Twitter.
With little information coming out of Libya as reporters were holed up at Tripoli Hotel waiting for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to make an appearance, Sky News reported the carnage, saying that the people of Zawiya are fighting for their lives, as tanks shell residential buildings. Meanwhile, the Libyan state propaganda machine announced that Zawiya has been “liberated” from the rebels.
Here are some of the reactions from Twitter:
@ChangeInLibya: Reports that Gaddafi troops in Zawiya are turning against each other and arguments are rife because they can't capture it #libya #feb17
@ChangeInLibya: Zawiya will forever be an inspiration for all Libyans, just like #benghazi They single handedly fought back all of Gaddafi's army #libya
@libyafreedomnew: Gaddafi troops have orders to capture #Zawiya by wed. They rely on tanks and artillery only, as they know they can't capture it using mercs.
@Shnesh: #Libya #Zawiya shows a key weakness of #Gaddafi. He's using mostly tanks- Shows he has little infantry+he fears defection thru human contact
@YAFA1948: Gaddafi troops continue to strike Zawiya by air and land. #Libya
@NicRobertsonCNN: #Gadhafi forces continued to pound #Zawiya today. Reliable source tells us 2 doctors shot in main square by Army & 2 med clinics shut down.
@NicRobertsonCNN: Reliable source says Injured civilns n #Zawiya not being treated, r being shot by army — but Libya Dep FM denies there r civiln casualties.
@jan15egy: This courageous coverage of #Libya from a SkyNews team is impressive. Refuted #Gaddafi's claims of controlling #Zawiya http://goo.gl/YQBO9
@libya_Horra: http://bit.ly/dPLh5h When I read this #SKYNEWS report from #Zawiya i started crying, #Libya truly have #WARRIORS!! #Feb17 #gaddaficrimes
@mandaproud: 2nd time I have watched the report from Zawiya on SKY. We have to do something the people are so so brave they must not lose.
@jacinta_p: Journalists in Tripoli waited eight hours for Gaddafi today. His forces were busy shelling Zawiya. It's like a Beckett play, but sadder.
@ibntarabulus: Gaddafi wants to thank the international media & community for staying silent while he destroyed the city of Zawiyah #Libya #Gaddafi
@AminBenzriouil: while #Zawiya and #RasLanouf were attacked, journalists were waiting for #Gaddafi's speach…sounds like a strategy that obviously worked!!
@malvernchela: Night night, tweeps. I can feel victory for #Libya coming very soon. Much strength to the brave ppl of #Zawiya; you are so brave!
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
Mexico and Afghanistan Border Conflicts Juxtaposed · Global Voices
Deborah Esch

This post is part of our special coverage Mexico's Drug War.
A broad swathe of netizenry has mobilized in response to several reports that juxtapose the violence taking place along the Mexico/U.S. border with the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. While uncoordinated and apparently disparate, these updates have served to crystalize problematic aspects of American foreign policy in Mexico and the Middle East.
Reuters correspondent Matt Robinson wrote from Sharana, Afghanistan that U.S. military commanders in that country are now talking openly about “looking to their own country's heavily monitored border with Mexico as part of efforts to stem the flow of Taliban fighters crossing from Pakistan to wage a growing insurgency.”
U.S. forces say they are considering employing sensors and radar systems of the kind used on the U.S.-Mexico border to control the insurgent “rat lines” (escape routes) straddling Afghanistan's porous 2,430-kilometer (1,510-mile) border with Pakistan.
[…]”The southern border of the United States has a system, and it's been there for decades.  We're actually looking back to an individual that works with that system to see if that would be beneficial.”
Robinson's report goes on to specify that “U.S. authorities use mobile surveillance systems, unmanned drones and 20,000 border agents with trucks and horses to stem illegal immigration, drug-trafficking and the spillover of drug violence along 3,140 km (1,950 miles) of border that the United States shares with Mexico.”
On the day of its publication, the article was swiftly circulated on Twitter, tweeted and retweeted with and without comment by @AfghanNews24, @ghost22sas, @mexicoreporter, @5lem1, @FZMexico, and a host of others. After providing a link to the report, @SanhoTree asked,
Why not look to Charlie Sheen for ideas on how to win hearts and minds?
Blogger Vikas Yadez, was more expansive, and more scathing.
This article demonstrates some of the utter nonsense that reigns supreme in the US military.  The US-Mexico border is hardly a model for how to conduct effective control.  With over 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US, the idea that the US knows how to police its own border is completely absurd.
There is a technophilia that has infected the minds of the defense department which leads them to believe that drones and computers are the solution to every problem.
"Mexico/US border near Campo, California" by Flickr user qbac07 (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Two days later, a report by Edwin Mora for CNS News appeared, inviting juxtaposition with the Reuters story. Under the title “One U.S.-Mexico Border Town Had More Civilian Casualties Last Year Than All Afghanistan,” Mora did the math:
More civilians were killed last year in Ciudad Juarez, the Mexican city across the border from El Paso, Texas, than were killed in all of Afghanistan.
There were 3,111 civilians murdered in the city of Juarez in 2010 and 2,421 in the entire country of Afghanistan – the majority of them by anti-government forces including the Taliban.
About one out of every 427 civilian inhabitants was killed in Juarez last year, while about one out of every 12,029 civilian inhabitants was killed in Afghanistan.  (There are 1,328,017 people in Juarez, according to Mexico's 2010 census, and 29,121,286 people in Afghanistan, according to the CIA's World Factbook.)
Mura's brief report drew comments that were mostly pragmatic in tone, like those of Bonnie Joslin: “Drugs make a lot of money for our government. Why would they do anything about it?” and S14: “The only differences to the liberals is that the Afghans are not potential voters and the illegals are…. So nothing will be done about the border.” Links to the report ricocheted around Twitter, accompanied by diverse opinions.
Kevin Eder (@keder) prefaced the link with the virtual expletive “Security!”. The Texas Farm Bureau (@TexasFarmBureau) wrote:
It's not #Iraq or #Afghanistan but the dangers for Texas farmers and ranchers near the Mexico border are just as real
The right-wing blog Wooden Dentures exemplified a view prevalent north of the border in question.
If one were to think about the most violent places on earth, Afghanistan would no doubt come to mind, but a city, just a single city on the southern border of the U.S., is far more violent than the entire country of Afghanistan…. With our open southern border, there is little doubt that the Mexican violence will eventually spill over into Texas, resulting in innocent American deaths on American soil.  How much longer can the federal government shirk its duty to protect U.S. citens by ignoring the security along our southern border?
On The New Normal, blogger “Say It Ain't So” coined a new place name – Mexghanistan – and wrote:
You'd think this would be shocking news, but only if you believed for a moment that the Obama administration and its department of information and propaganda, the mainstream media, cared about either Mexico or Afghanistan, which they don't.  Imagine, a town right across America's own border is far more deadly and dangerous for civilians than an entire war zone!
Mexico-based tweeps put two and two together. Hector Guerra (@hrguerra), from Monterrey, wrote:
Siempre bromeo que Afghanistan es mas seguro que Mexico, gracias por quitarme material, mundo
Later the same day, @hrguerra responded to the second report:
Y a riesgo de senalar lo obvio, Ciudad Juarez es una ciudad de 1.5 millones de habitantes, Afghanistan es un pais de 30 millones.
Meanwhile, as reported by El Universal [es], UNESCO affirmed that Mexico is experiencing “intense violence” and that, though it is not technically in a state of armed conflict, violence involving government forces and organized crime in recent years has caused more civilian deaths than those reported as of 2008 in Afghanistan.
Although most strident responses to these reports come from the fringes of American public opinion, and in many cases from the southern edges of that country, there are notable exceptions. One of these is a post by blogger Kristin Bricker for Borderland Beat, which affords, not reactionary and racist opinion, but research, analysis and insight, beginning with the vaunted death tolls.
In the prologue to his new anthology, Pais de Muertos (Country of the Dead),  renowned journalist and Monterrey native Diego Enrique Osorno writes, “It's not  the same to count the dead as it is to recount our dead's stories.”
Osorno has joined the growing number of Mexican journalists who  criticize the ejecutometro or “execution-meter,” which refers to the running  tallies of drug war dead kept by the government and newspapers. Thanks to the  public's obsession with the execution-meter, Mexico's murdered citizens are  metaphorically heaped together into the drug war's mass grave.
With an  average of one person killed every hour in the drug war (and eight per day in  Ciudad Juarez alone), newspapers don't even bother to report the dead's names,  let alone the circumstances of their lives and deaths. They simply report the  gruesome manner in which the bodies were found….
Mexico's skyrocketing homicide rate means that the bodies are  dumped in the metaphorical mass grave with increasing frequency. Journalists  find it more and more difficult to keep up with the death toll, let alone carry  out a serious investigation into individual murders. Moreover, argues Proceso  reporter Marcela Turati in her new book Fuego Cruzado (“Crossfire”), “When  violence competes with itself and habitually breaks its own record, it stops  being news.”
Still, by all accounts, reporting and commentary on the devastation along these contested borders continues in the full range of media, from traditional news outlets to far-flung tweeps including the likes of Fritz (@Copydechocolate):
OK, ya llevamos mas muertos en Mexico que en Afghanistan, alguien quiere defender a nuestro gobierno? #yodigo
This post is part of our special coverage Mexico's Drug War.

author: Deborah Esch


text:
Mexico: Documentary ‘Presumed Guilty’ Back in Theaters · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

David Sasaki updates a thorough post on the legal actions against the documentary ‘Presumed Guilty‘: “An appellate court has ruled that the movie can again be shown in movie theaters in Mexico. The ruling claims that removing the movie from theaters would damage social interest, and violates the public’s right to access public information, according to Article 6 of the constitution.”

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
Nigeria: Top Women in Web and Tech Entrepreneurship · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

To mark the International Women’s Day celebration, Loy Okezie presents remarkable and influential Nigerian women in web and tech entrepreneurship.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Paraguay’s Digital Divide · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Juan Edgardo Lezcano [es] writes about the digital divide in Paraguay. Juan reports that there are few educational institutions focusing on information and communication technology (ICT), and that low-income citizens can't access the scarce opportunities to learn these skills.


text:
South Korea: Suicide Actress’s Memoirs Claim Sex Exploitation · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean netizens are busy discussing deceased actress Ja-Yeon Jang's memoirs, which contain claims that she was a victim of career-related sexual exploitation.
The struggling 26-year-old actress who committed suicide in March 2009, left about 50 letters listing the names of 31 people who she alleged exploited and abused her.
The letters, which amount to several hundred pages, divulge that she had been forced to provide ‘sexual services’ [direct translation] to powerful figures in order to get acting roles or to merely please powerful individuals within the industry. They unveiled the real names of four corporation executives, two financial industry executives, two newspaper company heads, six entertainment management agency representatives, seven television producers and eight movie directors, and more have also been mentioned.
Ja-yeon Jang's funeral. Still from video posted by Youtube user BAKANEKO99.
An unofficial version of Jang's list is already circulating online and tweets urging the police and media outlets to leak the documents have soared over few days.
Desperate Cry for Help
It has been over two years since the public first heard about the existence of Jang's documents. After her death, huge public attention was given to the issue but police soon dropped the case due to lack of hard evidences and doubts as to the credibility of the letters.
Although her desperate cry for help gradually faded from the public memory, on March 5, 2011, one of South Korea's major television broadcasters, SBS (Seoul Broadcasting Station), made a special documentary in which experts confirmed the authenticity of Jang's letters.
She is believed to have left the letters with former manage Mr Yu, pleading for revenge on her behalf.
Jang wrote that she had been dragged to meet them those authority figures mentioned in the documents over a hundred times; she also claimed that other aspiring teenage actresses had often accompanied her.
South Korea's Kukinews revealed several paragraphs from the letters [ko] where Jang described how she had been deceived, exploited and abused.
The head of Jang's management agency has come under fire after it was belatedly revealed that three other female entertainers, even South Korea's national sweetheart, Choi Jin-shil, committed suicide while they were under contract with his company.
“31 Devils”
South Korean tweeps, referring to the 31 people from the list as the “31 devils”, have urged the police to re-investigate the case more thoroughly. Twitter user Jo-young Hwan(@bluedragon1376) says [ko]:
@QuoVadisKorea 악마31명 이름을 밝히고 악마31명도 법에 처벌을 받고 사건을 은폐하고 축소한 것이 있다면 관련 경찰도 엄중히 처벌 해야 합니다 고위층 성매매은 범죄가 안되고 평범한 시민이 성매매하는것은 범죄라고 하는 처벌하는 경찰 처벌하라
On 6 March, 2011, Twitter user Doa (@doax) has encouraged [ko] people to retweet and promote an online petition demanding further investigation into the case. The petition posted on Daum Agora, South Korea's most visited public web forum, gathered about 800 signatures in the first two days:
모두 서명하세요. 온라인 서명이 안되면 오프 서명이라도 합시다 RT @sunykwon: RT @jjicksa: 고 장자연의 한을 풀어줍시다!! 아고라에서 재수사요청 청원 서명을 받고 있습니다.! http://t.co/ADUt2gu 무한 RT부탁합니다!
Another Twitter @givenjoy tweeted [ko]:
장자연 리스트 명단을 공개를 요구하는 트위터리안의 반응을 포스팅 하였습니다.http://j.mp/fLLrUM[링크된 글에 게제된 내용] 박상민(@miniwangja): 고 장자연씨에게 성접대를 받은 더러운 자들의 명단이 공개되어야합니다.31명의 그들은 사회의 구성원이 아닙니다.더러운 힘을 자신의 쾌락을 위해 사용한죄 분명하게 물어야 합니다.명단공개 릴레이 RT요청합니다.
Twitter user @Social_Holic, after retweeting similar messages, reasoned [ko] that:
이런 인간들을 처벌 안하면 반복됨[…]
Public Anger
What has fueled the already heightened public anger is a suspicion that the police have tried to conceal the case. When Jang's former manager Mr Yu, now the head of an entertainment agency, first presented Jang's letters to the police, they disregarded his testimony as invalid after claiming he had mental problems.
Twitter user Jay H. Lim (@Narciman) tweeted [ko] about the tendency of South Korean authorities to discredit whistleblowers:
RT @hcshin: 김용철 변호사가 이건희 비리를 폭로했을 때 삼성의 첫 반응은 “그는 정신병자다”라는 거였다./// 장자연 제보자에 대해 경찰은 “정신병 치료받는 사람”이라고 했는데 알고보니 그 정신병이란게 우울증이었다.
The full publication of Jang's list is unlikely to occur. Many netizens have predicted that full and unedited disclosure is improbable because it will induce libel suits, and any investigation will be hampered by presumed political pressure from those authority figures concerned. The process could be dragged out  for several months.
Twitter user mojito (@mojito0) retweeted [ko]:
RT @newspresso: S뉴스는 필적 감정을 마쳤다고 보도. 그런데 문서의 진위 가지고 날 샐지도 모르겠음.
Prudent net users raised suspicions on the timing of the event. Jang's list, when it came to light two years ago, was treated lightly as bit of a showbusiness gossip.
Twitter user Yoo Won Sang(@9hiro) brought up [ko] a Korean movie, ‘Unfair Trading‘, which is about power figures using celebrity scandals to distract the public:
영화 ‘부당거래'가 생각나네요..거기선 연예인마약건을 터뜨려 무마시키면 된다고 그랬었죠[…].RT @_nu: […]2년이나 지나서 누가 왜 공개하는지 궁금치않다. 유명인 섹스 동영상이 나올 시기고, 상황이다.
Whether it was motivated by political interest or not, most people feel the urgent need to address the issue in order to end this and other exploitation of young women by South Korea's ruling classes.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


text:
Taiwan: How to Get Your Facebook Back · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Recently, Facebook suspended or closed many Taiwanese users’ profiles or pages, including some celebrities’, due to claimed misuse or using pseudo/nicknames. Billy Pan explains his experience in 2009 and how he got his account back.

author: Portnoy Zheng