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How new generations are reinventing antifascism in Bosnia and Herzegovina · Global Voices
Balkan Diskurs

Stickers renewing antifascism symbolism from Partyzan Clothing brand. Photo by Balkan Diskurs, used with permission.
This article by Aurora Pinelli was originally published on Balkan Diskurs, a project of the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC). An edited version is republished by Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Seventy-six years after the struggle between Yugoslav partisans and Nazi Germany, new generations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are reinventing the concepts of fascism and antifascism in light of contemporary issues.
Antifascism is usually defined as what it is not, or rather, in terms of the ideology it has tried to fight. Appearing first in Italy in the mid-1920s, strong opponents to the regime instituted by Benito Mussolini coined it to express their disagreement with an ideology soaked in nationalism, discrimination, hierarchy, militarism, and authoritarianism—the ideology whose violent and anti-egalitarian nature would cause the worst conflict of the 20th century.
As Nazi racial theories and fascist ideologies spread throughout Europe, they influenced the Croatian Ustashas and Serbian Chetnik ideologies in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. This resulted in systematic and extensive cooperation with the Nazis in their terror campaigns in Yugoslavia and exacerbated ethnic divisions and antagonisms. In Yugoslavia, the antifascist struggle was led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ), led by Josip Broz Tito, mainly against Chetniks, Ustashas, Nazis, and other fascists. It gave birth to the armed resistance movement composed of the well-known Yugoslav partisans.
Thus, in a way, fascist ideologies have caused antifascism to exist in the first place. In highly militarized societies, sides are defined by the war, life means survival and the fight for the right to have rights. In these contexts, recognizing the manifestation of fascism and antifascism is easier and more straightforward.
Today things have changed. How can we truly recognize manifestations of fascism and antifascism in societies that are free from direct physical conflict, where the definition of the “other side” is becoming progressively more blurry and more complicated to grasp?
Now in BiH new generations of activists are engaged in fighting different forms of fascism and they renew antifascism accordingly. They are working to reinvent concepts that seem too intertwined with a controversial past and have lost their meanings.
Antifa 2.0 Exhibition – Panel on Feminism. Photo by Balkan Diskurs, used with permission.
Their strategy? Understanding the values of antifascism and the worrying features of fascism in light of contemporary issues, keeping an eye on progress and social welfare. The inspiring youth that I have interviewed come from various organizations and initiatives from across BiH, including Omladinski Pokret Revolt (Tuzla), Ostra Nula (Banjaluka), Bh. Povorka ponosa (the organizing committee of the pride march of BiH), Antifa 2.0, Citizen Against Terrorism (CAT), and Partyzan Clothing.
Today fascism is manifested in BiH through nationalist and divisive narratives about the 1992-1995 war. This includes hate speech, human rights violations, and historical revisionism. The latter is defined as the reinterpretation of historically established facts, such as the denial of the Srebrenica Genocide, the glorification of war criminals, and the spread of narratives describing Chetniks and Ustashas as antifascists rather than Nazi co-operators. As mentioned by the president of Ostra Nula, Milica Pralica, these revisionist dynamics are more worrying in Republika Srpska, where generations of kids and university students are told false narratives about their 1992-1995 past and the role of the Chetniks in the Second World War.
When asked about what fascism is today, all the interviewees surprisingly agreed with one another and had the same definition. According to them, fascism is the stigmatization and discrimination of minority groups and the violation of their human rights just for the sake of their alleged difference. They advocate for a non-nationalized version of this perspective, believing that the focus should not be on only Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, but also on the rights of migrants, LGBTQ+, Romani people, people with disabilities, women, and other marginalized identities.
“We just speak about the rights of Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats and we pretend that they are the only ones deserving rights, and for me this is fascism,” says Pralica.
As the executive director of Antifa 2.0, Irena Petrovic discusses how the organization was moved by worrying developments in BiH, which are contributing to young people sympathizing with totalitarian, anti-democratic political solutions. The public’s reluctance towards the concept of antifascism resides in its view of communism and Tito’s regime.
“So, the problem is here: many people, especially in BiH, have very negative feelings towards communism because of its repression of freedom of religion and its neglecting of nationalities and national identities,” Petrovic explains. The only way to work with new generations that were born during or after the 1992-1995 war, she says, is to pressure institutions to foster transitional justice, something which is currently lacking.
These young activists share their experiences of waking up in the morning and being overwhelmed by fascist and nationalist symbolism, hate speech, and propaganda from all three sides, whether in the streets on stickers and T-shirts or on social media. This rhetoric includes references to Ustashas, Chetniks, and the Bosnian Army and the glorification of “great nations.”
Nationalism can easily contribute to other forms of extremism. Starting from 2012, BiH has been seen as a spot of jihadist activism and recruitment for the IS and Al-Nusra Front, which resulted in the departure of Bosnian citizens to Syria and Iraq. This also happened in 2016 when the war in Ukraine broke out. Bosnian citizens left to fight for both the Russian and Ukrainian sides.
Slobodan Blagovčanin from CAT comments on this, “We realized that our environment is very radicalized.” He continues, “We decided to found CAT in 2017, while many of our peers were leaving BiH to fight for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or to combat on the side of Ukraine or Russia … Muslims would go to battlefields in Syria and Iraq, Serbian Orthodox would join Russian forces, and Croatian Catholics would fight on the side of Ukraine. All three entities from BiH would go somewhere else to fight for someone else’s goals.”
Young artists, members of these associations, and other youth initiatives came up with the idea of reviving antifascism and freeing it from its historically negative connotation. A modern interpretation of antifascism is emerging.
The executive director of Antifa 2.0, Irena Petrovic, writing in the whiteboard dedicated to exchange and dialogue, at the end of the exhibition. Photo by Balkan Diskurs, used with permission.
Antifa 2.0 developed an educational exhibition that, through videos, pictures, and interactive spaces, fosters the public’s understanding of the historical roots of fascism and Nazism, as well as its connection to modern forms of fascism. Antifascism is emancipated from its belligerent, communist legacy, as neither the Second World War nor the 1992-1995 war is directly tackled. In this way, existing divisions and the reluctance to discuss the topic are overcome, and the real meaning of antifascism can emerge. Furthermore, this demilitarization of antifascism conveys the idea that antifascism is not only the fight for “your own side’s rights,” but for everyone’s rights.
“New generations need to understand what antifascism means in the first place, the human values that it purports. We want to give them the tools to recognize modern forms of fascism and make them embrace its fight. We want them to understand that the values of antifascism do not exclude all other human rights,” explains Petrovic.
This strategy has proved successful.
The emancipation of the concept from the wars’ legacies has allowed the team behind Antifa 2.0 to be in direct contact with the Ministries of Education of Republika Srpska and with the 10 cantons of the Federation. In this way, they succeeded in expanding their reach and acquiring a public space for the exhibition in the often-impenetrable Banja Luka, the capital of Republika Srpska. High schoolers from Sarajevo, Mostar, Pale, Banja Luka and East Sarajevo attended the exhibition. This is a true accomplishment as history is now interpreted very differently in these cities.
Similarly, members of CAT developed their own approach to past events that they did not experience, as they were born during or after the 1992-1995 war. Young people from Bijeljina, Brcko Distrikt, Gradačac, Tuzla, Mostar, Prijedor, Zvornik, Vitez and Zivinice came together to free a new generation from a sense of guilt related to their ethnicity. Through their 20 million reaches on social media, they act to prevent youth radicalization, to make diversity flourish, and to fight the political instrumentalization of the recent war. Their compass is the legal verdicts and the Dayton Agreement.
“I don’t want a young person to feel guilty about an event that happened before he/she was born, but rather to accept that there were people who committed crimes …speaking about Srebrenica, we don’t feel like we still have to prove to anyone that genocide happened, we have the Hague tribunal for that—we are young activists who want more in BiH for us, more opportunities. I really hope that a recently passed law against genocide denial will finally stop all these rhetorics and narratives—we (the youth) cannot live our lives focusing on these past issues when facts were established,” says Blagovčanin, with a voice full of intensity and pragmatism.
If antifascism means to revolt against all forms of oppression, discrimination, violence, and injustice, then queer people and perspectives should be included in this fight. Antifascism is one of the first values purported by the Pride March of BiH organized by Bh. Povorka Ponosa that took place in Sarajevo on August 14.
“During former Yugoslavia, homosexuality was a crime, it was punishable by law, and it was important for us to emphasize that antifascism is also the guarantee of human rights for everyone, including the human rights of the LGBTQ+,” explains Zagorac from the organizing committee.
It’s not a coincidence that in May this year the strength and originality of their perspective brought the Organizing Committee of the BiH Pride Parade together with the Youth Center KVART from Prijedor to win a grant delivered by the Peacebuilding Network. Their artistic-activist action, “Antifascism is our choice,” happened on May 9, Victory over Fascism Day and Europe Day. It consisted of street actions and online campaigns merging the anti-fascist struggle and LGBTIQ+ rights and symbols. This campaign happened simultaneously in Banja Luka, Tuzla, Zenica, Prijedor and Sarajevo.
Stickers from the ‘Activism is your Choice’ campaign realized by Bh. Povorka Ponosa and Youth Center KVART. Photo by Balkan Diskurs, used with permission.
“We believe these campaigns were a success in all cities. People were happy to come to talk to us in the street and know more about the connection between LGBTIQ+ and human rights and antifascism … I want to highlight that we are activists in several fields; for us, any violation of human rights and inequality is part of the antifascist struggle. We want to empower people to comprehend new forms of fascism because the fight is not over,” Zagorac explains.
“I believe that the environment and natural resources will be the new fight that will unite people beyond their ethnicities, as people from all over BiH and the Balkans are already fighting for their rivers and waters,” says Pralica from Ostra Nula (Banja Luka).
This helps us reflect on the way that people can come together and support each other for the sake of a collective good. However, people’s engagement can only be effective if a common sense of belonging is built. This reflection has pushed Selver Učanbarlić to found Partyzan Clothing, a brand that renews antifascist symbolism and makes people visually connected to the same values.
Partyzan Clothing Designs—Marilyn Monroe and the Sarajevan hero Valter with a background of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. The word ‘Komarade’ represents Mariliyn’s sex appeal. Photo by Balkan Diskurs, used with permission.
“I realized that nationalist and fascist propaganda used symbolism to create a feeling of community. That is why I decided to create a brand that could counter nationalism using the same visual strategy and making antifascism be fashion again! The old symbols of antifascism cannot fit our present society anymore. That is why they needed to be renewed … my designs are a mixture of pop culture (because it is popular, and people understand it) with an antifascist touch,” explains Učanbarlić, enthusiastically.
Fascism in Europe and BiH is changing form and is harder to recognize and fight. However, new generations are rising to the challenge, adapting, and reviving antifascist values according to modern trends, social issues, and necessities. Past, present, and future are combined through youth initiatives. They are overcoming the public’s fear of diversity and embracing human solidarity by creating new artistic symbols, street and online campaigns, workshops, and opportunities to gather and have exchanges.
Their engagement and determination should be an inspiration for all those who believe in a better future for BiH.

author: Balkan Diskurs


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Push to stop it: Anti-harassment buttons appear in Uzbekistan’s buses · Global Voices
Paolo Sorbello

A “stop” button on a bus. Photo credit: Patrick Wuske on Flickr. (CC BY-NC 2.0).
An initiative from a women's rights NGO in Uzbekistan aims to tackle harassment against women on public transit, in an effort to spread awareness during a UN campaign against violence.
A special alarm button is now featured on the buses in the capital Tashkent to notify the driver of potential misconduct on board. Upon noticing the anti-harassment alarm being sounded, the driver would call the security forces to investigate the incident.
The campaign was launched on November 25, the international day for the elimination of violence against women, as part of the initiatives of the UN's 16 Days of Activism, which aim to raise awareness on gender-based violence.
Activists from the NGO Sarpa and other organizations reached an agreement with local bus company Toshshahartransxizmat to install the buttons and provide canvassing material to spread the information.
A post shared by Уятное узбекское микромедиа (@sarpa_media)
Notably, perpetrators of harassment would only face a potential fine for “insulting,” since Uzbekistan's legal system does not recognize harassment as a punishable act.
Activists at Sarpa said in an Instagram post that the legislative vacuum continues to be a problem.
Will the buttons even work? After all, buses already have buttons for an emergency stop, which are never used. As long as harassment is not considered a crime, we will feel unprotected by the law. And still, there may not be enough resources to even reach the button.
Activists have coalesced around the so-called Frotterizm campaign, (from French, frotter, “to rub,” which has become jargon for harassment in public transit). The campaign was established with the support of Mashav, the aid agency of the government of Israel, through the Israeli embassy in Tashkent.
In surveys of awareness about harassment and gender-based violence, about 20 percent of respondents said that they do not believe that the perpetrators will be punished, which is frustrating and discourages them from seeking help. Activists hope that the campaign will help raise awareness and prompt the government to act.
Online reactions to the news were mixed. In comments on the Instagram post, one user wished that these buttons were more ubiquitous: “If only [these buttons] were also in the metro.”
Other users proposed a segregation of the sexes on public transit as a solution: “Harassment will be over in this country only when there will be separate buses and metro cars for women.” “We need separate places for women, like in Dubai.”
A major fear among social media commenters, however, is that the button will be misused and therefore lose its important role.
In Uzbekistan's capital city, the problem of harassment in public transit is real. Around 60 percent of a survey's respondents said they were victims of harassment on buses or the metro. Importantly, the issue affects men as well as women.
In the survey, activists also asked if the respondents were aware of measures to prevent or counter harassment, but around 93 percent of them answered “no.”
Laws to prevent harassment and gender-based violence in Uzbekistan are few and largely ineffective. Cultural and social traditions commonly point the finger to the victim in cases of domestic violence and assault.
The Frotterizm campaign could help raise awareness on the issue, but the onus is on the government and society at large to stigmatize and effectively counter harassment and violence.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Paolo Sorbello


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The Uranw of Nepal seek official recognition of their Karma Festival · Global Voices
The Record (Nepal)

Illustration by Nipun Bajracharya via the Record (Nepal). Used with permission.
This article by Aishwarya Baidar was first published in The Record (Nepal); an edited version is republished below as part of a content-sharing agreement with Global Voices.
The indigenous Uranw (Kurukh or Oraon) community of Nepal have been lobbying for the Karma Puja (a religious festival) to be recognized nationally so that community members can get holidays to attend a festival of social cohesion and community bonding.
On the first day of the Nepali month of Bhadra (mid-August), members of the Uranw community gather at their chief's house to plant jamara (barley sprouts). Young girls go to the nearby forest and bring back some soil to the chief’s home while boys play the dhol (the traditional drum). The soil is mixed with barley seeds and wheat for the jamara.
Uranw woodcutters then get ready to harvest branches from the karma (Neolamarckia cadamba) tree. They light up incense and perform a puja (a religious ceremony) before cutting off the branches. Three girls and three boys from the community, specifically chosen for a fasting ritual, are handed the branches to take home in the evening. The branches of the karma tree and the jamara are both placed in a designated space where everyone from the community can worship, pray, sing, and dance. On the final days of the festival, they take the branches and jamara to each house from the Uranw community, and everyone immerses themselves in the nearby river.
Young Uranw boys and girls singing and dancing during the Karma Puja. Image via the Record (Nepal). Used with Permission.
The festival, known locally as a Karma Puja, is a culturally significant ritual for the indigenous Uranw people. It is celebrated with fasting, nature worship, feasts, and prayers. Elders relay folktales to the young and the whole community rejoices in traditional song and dance. But the festival is often marred by the fact they don’t get a formal holiday for the festival.
“If the state doesn’t recognize the existence and significance of our culture then how will anyone respect and value our identity?” said 56-year-old Parvati Devi Uranw of Paschim Kusaha in Sunsari district.
Although celebrating the Karma festival is essential for the Uranw community, many cannot attend the festival because they don’t have the day off.
“It is vital that every Uranw is present during the Karma puja but work prevents many from participating,” said Parvati Devi, whose eldest son, who works in the police force, was unable to attend the most recent Karma Puja.
To Parvati and Saroj, without a national or even regional holiday to commemorate their biggest festival, their culture will continue to face marginalization.
Uranw community members with branches of the holy karma tree. Image via the Record (Nepal). Used with permission.
The origin of the Uranw community dates around 2,500 years ago to the Indus Valley, according to Bechan Uranw, president of the Nepal Uranw Adivasi Janajati Pratisthan.
“There is no recorded history regarding the arrival of Uranw but drawing on oral histories from my parents and grandparents, Sirasita Nal, located in the Indian state of Jharkhand, is the place of our origin,” said Bechan. “Our ancestors migrated from India to Nepal but those who remain in India speak Tamil and Malayalam.”
The Uranw community is also called Urao, Uraon, Oraon, Kurukh, Jhagad or Dhagad, depending on where they are. The community primarily lives in Ilam, Jhapa, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Kanchanpur, Kailali, Saptari, and the Kathmandu Valley. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics Nepal (CBS), the Uranw community is distributed across 43 districts in Nepal, with a population of 41,764. Many members of the Uranw community are uneducated, poor, and marginalized, which has only facilitated the loss of their cultural heritage, says Bechan.
Young girls return from collecting soil from the forest, accompanied by boys playing the dhol. Image via the Record (Nepal). Used with permission.
The myths surrounding the Karma puja, which is called Karam in India and some parts of Nepal, vary from one Uranw to another. Saroj and his family attribute the importance of the karma tree to a legend where the tree hid their ancestors from enemies.
“When our ancestors were being pursued by their enemies, the Karma tree opened up a path between its overgrowth to hide them. Once the enemies had gone away, the tree opened up once again to let them out,” said Saroj.
A documentary produced by the Nepal Federation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities (NFDIN) highlights a different myth about the importance of the Karma Puja. According to the documentary, Uranw women who longed to meet their husbands who were traveling far and wide to earn a living prayed to God underneath the karma tree to be reunited with them. When they were pleading with God, a branch came floating down from the river and they received a premonition to take the branch home and worship it to reunite with their husbands. Peace and prosperity then came to the Uranw community.
The documentary presents Karma Puja as a festival of social cohesion and unity for the Uranw community. However, without a holiday on their significant festive day, many families are separated from each other during a critical time of community bonding.
For many decades, the Uranw lived freely in the forests of the eastern Tarai, fishing, farming, and worshipping nature. But today, they have become more aware of how the lack of education has led their communities to marginalization, says Parvati Devi.
“Our tribe has been tricked for many years by clever people who sweet-talked our ancestors and got them drunk to take their lands,” she said.
It is this realization that has led community leaders like Bechan to lobby the federal and regional governments for a community-specific holiday.
“We require at least two days of holiday in order to finish the fasting and celebration,” said Saroj, who was one of the youths from his community who took part in the important ritual of carrying branches of the karma tree this year.
Although many diverse festivals from a range of ethnicities have been recognized by the state since 2008, it is largely castes and ethnicities with institutionalized power in the federal government who have been able to claim national recognition, according to Jagat Man Gurung, section officer at NFDIN.
“Communities with more political strength and geographic advantages, such as the Gurungs, Magars, Chhetris, Newars, and others in Kathmandu Valley, have more power in legislative bodies,” said Gurung.
But for the Uranw, the festival is a critical part of their community’s cultural identity and must be preserved.
“Many have already lost interest in the festival due to the inability to participate,” said Parvati. “It will be a matter of pride for our community if our festival gets national recognition.”

author: The Record (Nepal)


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‘Unmatched’ and ‘irreplaceable’: Jamaica’s iconic bassist, Robbie Shakespeare, has died · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Robbie Shakespeare performing at Australia's Byron Bay Bluesfest in 2014. Photo by Beaver on the Beats on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Reggae music would be nothing without its bass line—and on December 8, one of the genre’s most admired bass players, Robbie Shakespeare, died in Florida at age 68 from kidney-related complications. The musician, considered by many to be the greatest reggae bass player of all time, had reportedly been ailing for a few months.
Shakespeare was most famous as one-half of the Riddim Twins, with drummer Sly Dunbar. Simply known as Sly and Robbie, the duo had a uniquely crisp and energetic style, pioneering new electronic sounds that hugely influenced popular music. The pair were also a driving force behind many successful reggae artists, such as Black Uhuru and Mighty Diamonds, playing with and producing a variety of artists in different popular music genres, including rock and jazz.
Jamaica's culture minister, Olivia “Babsy” Grange, tweeted her sadness at Shakespeare’s passing:
I am in shock and sorrow after just receiving the news that my friend and brother, the legendary basist Robbie Shakespeare has died.
Robbie and Sly Dunbar, the drummer, as Sly and Robbie, have been among Jamaica's greatest musicians. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/l8p9gCcKOV
— Hon.Olivia Grange (@Babsy_grange) December 8, 2021
Robbie Shakespeare playing the bass guitar at Studio City Sound in California, February 19, 2019. Photo by Stephen Cooper, used with permission.
Born Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare on September 27, 1953 in East Kingston, Shakespeare grew up in a musical family and was encouraged to play bass by another celebrated bass player, Aston “Family Man” Barrett, who was then with Lee Perry’s Upsetters record label and later joined Bob Marley's Wailers. By 1972, when he met Sly Dunbar, Shakespeare was already playing in a house band called the Aggrovators with producer Bunny “Striker” Lee, who died in 2020.
In 1975, Sly and Robbie joined the Revolutionaries, the house band at Channel One Studios—owned by Joseph Hoo Kim—which played on numerous dub albums. They went on to work on the hugely influential 1977 album Two Sevens Clash by roots reggae band Culture.
The duo began to make a name for themselves as musicians when they accompanied DJ U-Roy on a tour of the United Kingdom. Subsequently, they became part of Peter Tosh's very successful touring band, Word, Sound and Power, after he left the Wailers in 1976. Back home, they continued to produce and perform on a number of hit records.
From the archives: Robbie Shakespeare in the early days of his musical career. From left to right, Robbie Shakespeare, Donald Shaw, Earl Chinna Smith and Roger Lewis. Photo courtesy the National Library of Jamaica, used with permission.
Sly and Robbie later founded their own label, Taxi Records, with their own house band, The Taxi Gang. From the mid-1980s onwards, they became increasingly innovative in developing musical trends towards more electronic digital music and programming, and were true pioneers in this respect.
Jamaican music mogul Chris Blackwell brought Sly and Robbie to his Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, where they produced records for Jamaican-American singer Grace Jones, as well as Joe Cocker, Gwen Guthrie, and many others. Moving away from their roots reggae and dub style, they produced some funk and dance-oriented music from 1987 onwards, and in the 1990s enjoyed tremendous hits with Chaka Demus and Pliers, in the early days of dancehall—a combination of DJ and singing that became very popular—and they continued touring extensively.
Tributes poured in from Jamaican social media users upon news of Shakespeare's death. Civil society activist Carol Narcisse shared:
This @Channel4News interview's full of gems dropped by #RobbieShakespeare & illustrates the chemistry & genius that made the Sly &Robbie rhythm section unmatched globally & irreplaceable. RIP Robbie Shakespeare #brilliant #kind #noairs #jamaicantodebone. https://t.co/ijkPIHdaBN
— Carol Narcisse (@CarolNarcisse) December 8, 2021
Jamaican radio talk show host Clive Mullings pointed to his global appeal:
Condolences to the family of Robbie Shakespeare. He was a giant not only in Jamaica but in the world of modern music. This is a tremendous loss. https://t.co/v9iDppEUXx
— CliveMullings (@mullings_clive) December 8, 2021
Veteran reggae band Morgan Heritage shared condolences and their appreciation:
This loss is truly unexpected. ? Thank you for your greatness and your contribution to Reggae music. We’ll never forget how you and Sly opened your arms to us back in 1992 and continued to be instrumental throughout our career. #RIP Robbie Shakespeare O.D. #SlyandRobbie pic.twitter.com/Ll5LQZ3PK9
— MORGAN HERITAGE (@morganheritage) December 8, 2021
Editor-in-chief of Rolling Stone magazine, Noah Schachtman, tweeted:
Rest in Power, Robbie Shakespeare. No one — I mean no one — held it down like you did.https://t.co/EF80ME3NkP
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) December 8, 2021
The magazine had placed Shakespeare at #17 in its list of “The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time,” observing:
No other musical entity in the post-Marley era has been so omnipresent in shaping the sound of Jamaica and bringing it to the world.
The Riddim Twins had legions of overseas fans; American writer and reggae lover Stephen Cooper, who has interviewed many Jamaican artists, was one who expressed his sorrow:
I don’t care about any other news today. Robbie Shakespeare has passed. Thinking back on this time when I was blessed to be in the presence of his bass. https://t.co/ZuJaJJutKJ
— Stephen Cooper??⚖ (@SteveCooperEsq) December 8, 2021
Trinidadian cultural activist Rubadiri Victor expressed shock, calling Shakespeare “one of the most influential bass players in modern music.”
In 2015, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare were both awarded gold Musgrave Medals from the Institute of Jamaica for their contribution to music. They also received Jamaica's Order of Distinction, a national honour.
With a somewhat reserved demeanour, especially compared to the more animated Dunbar, Shakespeare plucked away at the bass strings, often in a world of his own. He was quoted in a Radio Jamaica news report as saying:
I don’t like talking about myself. I don’t even like talking about music. I just like playing music.
Shakespeare’s fans around the world certainly liked listening to him play music, which they are likely to treasure even more now that he's gone.
Click here to find Robbie Shakespeare's music on Spotify.

author: Emma Lewis


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International media watchdog digs into the ‘great leap backwards’ of journalism in China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Image from RSF’s press release.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a prominent international press freedom watchdog, released its latest report on China, “The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China,” on December 7.
The report notes that at least 127 reporters are currently detained in China and describes the nation as “the world’s largest prison for journalists.” It presents an extensive account of how China has repressed freedom of expression and the right to information in recent years. In the 2021 RSF World Press Freedom Index, China ranks 177th out of 180, only two spots above North Korea.
In the foreword of the 82-page report, Christophe Delorie, the secretary-general of RSF describes the Chinese censorship and repression model as “terrifying”:
…[it] is all the more terrifying given that the regime has immense financial and technological resources to achieve its goals… the “Great Firewall”, keeps China’s one billion internet users further away from the world while an army of censors scrutinises private messaging, looking for alleged subversive content. In the near future, the ubiquity of surveillance technologies based on facial recognition, artificial intelligence, and social credit threatens to make the confidentiality of journalists’ sources illusory.
The report examines a list of tools and tactics employed by the Chinese regime in suppressing information freedom:
The report said that these tactics have resulted in “a proliferation of red lines” to the extent that all topics, including issues related to health such as the COVID-19 outbreak, are considered national security threats.
RSF describes the Chinese propaganda authority's control over newsrooms and the independent media sector, including citizen journalists and bloggers, as a “war” on investigative journalism. Three legal means including “espionage,” “subversion,” or “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” are frequently used to prosecute independent journalists and writers.
At least 127 journalists are currently detained in China. The report highlights that among the journalist prisoners, 71 are Uyghur and at least 10 are at risk of dying due to heavy jail sentences.
Foreign correspondents have also become targets in the clampdown. According to the report, at least 18 foreign journalists have had their visas revoked and been forced to leave China. Haze Fan, a news assistant from Bloomberg was arrested in December 2020 for allegedly “endangering national security” and currently remains in detention.
The report dedicates a section, “Hong Kong: Press Freedom in Free Fall,” on how the National Security Law (NSL) has impacted press freedom. According to the report, at least 12 journalists and media workers, including Apple Daily’s founder Jimmy Lai and six of the papers’ editors, as well as former journalists Gwyneth Ho and Claudia Mo (also an ex-legislator), have “fallen victim” to the NSL.
In addition to the dismantling of Apple Daily in June 2021, RSF points out that other media outlets including the city’s public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), are under political and censorship pressures that come either directly from the management or indirectly from the public criticisms from government officials — including the Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
The report also mentions that Hong Kong has rejected a number of foreign journalists’ visa applications since 2018. The three most well-known cases are Chris Buckley from the New York Times, Aaron Nicholas from the Hong Kong Free Press, and Sue-Lin Wong from the Economist.
RSF also emphasizes an alarming trend where advanced technology is being used for repression:
Beijing is taking advantage of the latest technological breakthroughs to tighten its control over information and to monitor the flow of opinion, sketching out a dystopian project for a society in which no conversation is beyond the reach of the prying eyes of the Party…
The repressive technologies mentioned in the report include an AI text censor system that can learn and adapt to changes in users’ language, the Sharp Eyes mass surveillance programme that applies facial recognition technology in more than 200 million cameras installed across the country, and spy wares and programs such as the “Study Xi, Strengthen China” mobile phone app. It also noted the questionable social credit system that ranks the trustworthiness of a citizen and their rights to access public and private services according to their online behavior, as well as the development of “smart police,” a crime prediction AI program.
RSF explains that such trends are daunting as many domestic technology companies are working closely with the Chinese authorities to establish and improve repressive systems.
Another worrying trend is the exportation of China’s media model and political propaganda. The report points to the Belt and Road News Network (BRNN) and Belt and Road News Alliance (BRNA) as two major initiatives for exporting China’s media model to developing countries and China’s state-owned media outlets including China Global Television Network (CGTN), China Radio International, and English China Daily which are extending China’s political model and influence overseas.
In addition to China state-funded initiatives, the report said the acquisition of foreign-owned media outlets and networks, the control of Chinese diaspora through WeChat, and coordinated information campaigns launched by nationalistic trolls, commonly called “Little Pinks,” are other means for spreading Chinese propaganda overseas. One example mentioned in the report is a propaganda campaign that involves more than 3,000 “strikingly similar” YouTube videos portraying a positive version of Uyghur people’s lives in Xinjiang.
At the end of the report, RSF urged democracies to establish an international system of reciprocity based on the universal principles of freedom of expression:
RSF called on democracies to guarantee equal treatment in the media market by ensuring that all media, whatever their country of origin and broadcasting channel (satellite, digital, etc.) are subjected to the same obligations, obligations concerning, in particular, the honesty, independence, and pluralism of information and respect for human dignity under penalty of sanction which may go as far as refusal or withdrawal of the authorisation to broadcast.

author: Oiwan Lam


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In photos: Could the mountains of the Caribbean be an opportunity for sustainable tourism? · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Blue Mountain peaks, Jamaica, one of the best known mountain ranges in the Caribbean. Photo by Devin Crain on Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.
If you live in the Caribbean, you might often find yourself climbing uphill—and, of course, down again. While many who visit the region think only of beaches, the inland scenery is often rugged, with many spectacular mountains and hilly ranges to be enjoyed and explored. For added excitement, there are even a few volcanoes!
The theme for International Mountain Day 2021, which falls on December 11, is “Sustainable Mountain Tourism”, with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations noting that mountain tourism accounts for around 15 to 20 per cent of global tourism:
Sustainable tourism in mountains can contribute to creating additional and alternative livelihood options and promoting poverty alleviation, social inclusion, as well as landscape and biodiversity conservation. It is a way to preserve the natural, cultural and spiritual heritage, to promote local crafts and high value products, and celebrate many traditional practices such as local festivals.
The FAO tweeted:
#Sustainabletourism can help preserve the cultural heritage of mountain peoples and destinations.
Learn more about this year's International Mountain Day theme – Sustainable tourism in mountains!
?https://t.co/985r9buOER#MountainsMatter @UNmountains pic.twitter.com/m5CJVdh8WV
— FAO Forestry (@FAOForestry) December 8, 2021
Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) that manages the Blue and John Crow Mountains World Heritage Site and National Park, will celebrate with online updates about several activities reflecting this theme, including Maroon Community Tourism, Indigenous Knowledge and Protected Areas (a joint research project with South Africa), and a Threatened Tree Project.
If you're ready for a climb—or even a hike—we'll take a quick tour of the region's mountains, starting with the region’s tallest peak, on one of the largest islands, Hispaniola.
Pico Duarte. Photo by El Serrano on Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0.
Pico Duarte in the Dominican Republic is 3,098 meters tall (10,164 feet) and named after Juan Pablo Duarte, one of the country’s founders. For some time it was called Pico Trujillo, after the tyrannical dictator, who was assassinated in 1961. It will take you a couple of days to hike to the summit.
In neighbouring Haiti, Pic Makaya is the second tallest mountain in the country, at 2,347 meters (7,700 feet). Situated in the important Makaya National Park, it is a cradle of biodiversity and the last primary forest in Haiti, which has suffered from considerable deforestation. It is also part of the Massif de la Hotte, which was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2016.
Heat haze on Jamaica's Blue Mountains. Photo by Liam Byrnes on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Like Jamaica's Blue Mountains, Pic Makaya and its environs were a refuge for Maroons, and has considerable cultural and historical value.
Now for a quick geography lesson: the mountains of the larger Caribbean islands (the Greater Antilles, comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico) are old and “folded” mountains, meaning they're made of sedimentary or metamorphic rock. They are larger, higher, and quieter than their Eastern Caribbean counterparts.
Take Grenada, for instance: its highest point, Mount St. Catherine, which rises to 841 meters (2,759 feet), is volcanic in nature, though it has not erupted recently. It's reportedly a long and difficult hike, but with lovely waterfalls along the way.
Rocks off of Ronde Island—A few miles behind and to the left of these rocks is Kick-‘em-Jenny, an active underwater volcano. Photo by Jason Pratt on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
The Grenadines have an interesting mountainous feature as well—an underwater volcano known as Kick ‘Em Jenny, located just eight kilometres (just short of five miles) north of Grenada, and rising 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) from the sea floor. Boats, including the ferry from Grenada to the small island of Carriacou, avoid this area, as it tends to be rough. Kick ‘Em Jenny made news headlines in 2015, when it erupted, but it has been declared restive again since 2017.
St. Vincent's La Soufrière volcano. Photo by David Stanley on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
One Caribbean peak that did make its presence felt in 2021 was La Soufrière, an active volcano on the island of St. Vincent. Scientists from the Trinidad-based University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre recently left the island, as the volcano has calmed down since its violent eruption in April this year.
Gros and Petit Piton, St. Lucia. Photo by Alex Booker on Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.
Saint Lucia also has a Soufrière volcanic area with sulphur springs, along with its iconic Pitons, which rise dramatically from the island's coastline and are practically synonymous with the country, featured on almost every tourism brochure and postcard. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Gros Piton (798 meters or 2,618 feet) and Petit Piton (743 meters or just under 2,438 feet) are volcanic plugs or spires.
Years have passed since another volcano, on the tiny island of Montserrat, decided to cause some trouble. The Soufrière Hills volcano—there's that name again—woke up in 1995, and its impact was dramatic, smothering the capital, Plymouth, which remains covered in ash. Chances Peak is 915 meters (3,002 feet) high. It remained active for five years, completely transforming life on the island.
A view of the city of St. Pierre in Martinique, sitting at the base of the active stratovolcano, Mt. Pelée. Photo by Larry Syverson on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
There are a number of mountains in the Eastern Caribbean that have the potential to erupt. Mount Pelée (1,394 meters or 4,573 feet) in Martinique became the deadliest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century in 1902, completely burying the town of Saint Pierre, and has been a little more restless than usual this year.
Morne Diablotins, Dominica. Photo by Alexandra Stevenson on Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0.
Morne Diablotins (1,430 meters or 4,691 feet) in Dominica—an island known for its nature tourism—and Nevis Peak (985 meters or 3,231 feet) in St. Kitts and Nevis, are both the highest points on those islands; they are also volcanoes that are, for the time being, dormant.
The Gilpin Trace Rainforest Trail in the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve. Photo by Aivar Ruukel on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
A little further south, the picturesque island of Tobago is another prime area for eco-tourism. The Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve, as it is known officially, was first established in 1776 and is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Oranjestad, Aruba, with Hooiberg (Haystack) in the background. Photo by Roger W on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The islands of the Dutch Caribbean do not have dramatic mountains and are largely flat. Aruba has its Hooiberg (Haystack), a cone-shaped granite formation that you simply cannot miss on the island, 165 meters (541 feet) high. On Curaçao, it's a short hike up to the highest point, Mt. Christoffel (372 meters or 1,220 feet), situated in a national park. From their peaks, the views are quite delightful.
Aerial shot of Kaieteur Falls, Guyana, which forms part of the Pacaraima mountain range. Its highest peak is Mount Roraima, at over 2,800 meters above sea level. Photo by amanderson2 on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
The contrast could not be greater, however, than the landscape even further south, on the South American mainland. In Guyana, the highest peak is Mount Roraima, an extraordinary, tabletop mountain some 2,800 meters (9,186 feet) high on the border with Brazil and Venezuela. The stunning Kaieteur Falls drop for a total of 251 meters (823 feet) and is one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world, in terms of sheer volume.
On that dizzying note, our virtual tour of Caribbean mountains comes to an end, but the next time you visit the region, remember to look to the horizon—you might be pleasantly surprised. Happy International Mountain Day!


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Zagreb protests: Croatians divided around COVID-19 certificates · Global Voices
Rafaela Landikusic

Protest in Zagreb, 10 November 2021. Screenshot from YouTube video by AFP News Agency.
Following a record-high number of daily COVID-19 infections recorded in early November, the Croatian National Civil Protection Directorate has decided to apply EU digital COVID certificates in the public sector, in an effort to minimize the renewed spread of the disease.
Launched by the European Union, the digital certificate is accepted in all member states, as well as in some non-EU countries, with the purpose of demonstrating that a person is vaccinated, has recovered from COVID-19, or has tested negative. It was designed with the aim of facilitating free and safe movement throughout the EU.
On November 5, the Croatian government decided that, starting November 15, all public sector employees and citizens who wish to enter public service institutions need to show such a certificate.
Since then, some employers have refused to implement the policy, claiming that it could lead to divisions among workers, while the capital city of Zagreb faced multiple anti-vaccination protests.
Croatia:
Chants of “We are not giving you our children” as anti Coronavirus passport and mandate protests hit Zagreb.
Credit: Telegram pic.twitter.com/ykuhM6hf3O
— Jo ?? (@pimpmytweeting) November 20, 2021
At the first big anti-certificate protest that took place on November 20, several thousand people from all over Croatia gathered in Zagreb’s central square and called for an end of the measure, saying it violates their constitutional fundamental freedom of choice regarding the vaccination. The vast majority of participants didn't wear masks and didn't maintain any distance between them, increasing the potential for spreading the disease.
Croatia against Covid pass. pic.twitter.com/Mw41pSb68X
— Ivan Vilibor Sinčić MEP (@SincicMEP) November 20, 2021
According to Radio Free Europe, the protest was not registered, and a couple of journalists were verbally and physically attacked.
Safety of Journalists Platform reported that RTL TV journalist Goran Latković was attacked while covering the COVID-19 protest. “He was attacked from behind by two unknown individuals, who slapped him twice in the face, while a third hit him in the ribs with his elbow. Latković was knocked to the ground, but was not injured.” Latković later said protesters continued to insult him and his crew and the crowd at some point chanted “RTL is leaving.”
Afterwards, a large number of social media users targeted Latković with death threats and insulting accusations that he fabricated the story about the incident. After he reported this, police offered him physical protection. “They accuse me of lying, but I won't hide, I am not scared!” he stated for daily newspaper Jutarnji list.
Goranu Latkoviću policija nudi zaštitu: ‘Optužuju me da lažem, ali neću se skrivati, nije me strah‘https://t.co/RfntlOFWxe pic.twitter.com/sk498tjwyL
— Jutarnji List (@jutarnjihr) November 24, 2021
Police offers protection to Goran Latković: “They accuse me of lying, but I won't hide, I am not scared!”
Both sides of the dispute have been quoting the Article 16 of the Croatian Constitution, which prescribes the following:
“Freedoms and rights may only be curtailed by law in order to protect the freedoms and rights of others, the legal order, and public morals and health. Any restriction of freedoms or rights shall be proportionate to the nature of the need to do so in each individual case.”
The protesters, calling themselves the Bijeli tihi marš (Silent White March) on social networks, continued protesting on December 4 as well, with around 200–300 participants shouting and calling for the overthrow of the government. Furthermore, they announced another protest later in December.
Okupljeni protivnici covid mjera najavili da će 18. 12. srušiti Vladu! @DNEVNIKhr pic.twitter.com/xHP6b4Ws0B
— Dino Goleš (@dgoles) December 4, 2021
Opponents of the measures against COVID-19 who gathered today announced that they will topple the government on December 18!
Addressing the public on November 23, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković stated that mandatory vaccination will not be implemented. In addition, the prime minister announced legislation that would result in fines for heads of public institutions and municipalities that fail to apply the measures that require employees to present their COVID-19 certificates when coming to work, as well as the measures adopted by the National Civil Protection Directorate.
However, Most (The Bridge), one of the opposition conservative parties, is also swiftly turning its back on Plenković’s center-right government by initiating a petition calling for a referendum on the matter of the abolition of COVID-19 certificates.
When asked about the alternative, Most’s representative Marija Selak Raspudić suggested following the usual epidemiological measures and testing vulnerable groups in all institutions. She said that part of the money used to buy vaccines that are not used in the country and need to be donated abroad should be redirected to purchase tests.
So far, the Ministry of Justice and Administration has announced that they need to collect 368,446 signatures to initiate the referendum, which is 10 percent of Croatian citizens with residence in the Republic of Croatia.
In contrast to many big cities, Sali, a small island village and municipality located in Zadar County, with a total population of 1,698 inhabitants, is currently the municipality with the highest vaccination rate in Croatia — close to 70 percent of its population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Considered to be one of the safest destinations in the coastal part of the country, it’s closely followed by another small municipality, Saborsko, located within Karlovac County, the continental part of Croatia.
Last summer, Sali was in the red zone on the ECDC map, and the locals claim it was that situation that made them seriously consider vaccinating as they wanted to safeguard public health, but tourism, on which they heavily rely economically, plays a big part in the decision. Ante Mihić, the local librarian and theologian, proudly shared his thoughts on this rare case in Croatia:
“Ima burnih glasova protiv cijepljenja, ali Saljani su osluškivali što kaže znanost i to uvažavali, pa se velika većina ljudi cijepila! Eto, to se dogodilo na mom otoku. Rekao bih ovo: za dobro ljudi, Bog djeluje i kroz znanost.”
“There are loud voices against vaccination, but the people of Sali listened to the science and respected it, so the vast majority of them got vaccinated! Well, that is what happened on my island. And I would add this: for the good of the people, God acts through science, also.
In continental Saborsko, which is located near the Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, the mayor and residents credited the efforts of a local general practice physician and nurse for achieving vaccination rate of 61 percent for the 631 residents.  In a statement for RTL TV, Senija Bilić, MD, in turn modestly responded that it was a joint  achievement, based on providing open and thorough information about all available options regarding the vaccines.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people, seven-day rolling average for Croatia, European Union and Europe. Graph by Our World in Data, CC BY 4.0.
At the EU level, statistics show that around 50–55 percent of Croatians are fully vaccinated, which is below the EU average of some 75 percent.
At the time of writing this article, there are 4,751 new cases of infection daily reported in Croatia.

author: Rafaela Landikusic


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Agroecology, Nepal’s answer to climate change · Global Voices
Nepali Times

Agriculture is one of the largest contributors to climate change but it can also be one of the most significant solutions. Photo by Zachary Barton via the Nepali Times, used with permission.
This article was originally written by Zachary Barton and was published in the Nepali Times. An edited version is republished by Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
As a farmer and educator living in Nepal, I was not part of the dialogue at the UN climate summit (COP26) that concluded in Glasgow in November 2021. None of us here were.
And as world leaders, climate scientists, and corporate lobbyists return to their respective countries from Glasgow, here in the mountains of eastern Nepal I myself wonder what, if anything, have they accomplished in terms of real change? And what the implications will be for “the rest of us.”
I wonder if these state bureaucrats and business representatives are the right people to look to for guidance and innovation to address the climate catastrophe? Which voices are clearly represented at the table? And which are conspicuously absent?
The Nepali delegation has already returned home setting itself ambitious targets and timebound pledges to achieve them. Nepalis have to cope with the impact of climate change, for which farmers here were not responsible. Yet, we are asked to implement solutions that, similarly, come from afar.
Agriculture is part of the Himalayan landscape. How we manage land will determine how resilient we can be to climate change. Photo by Zachary Barton via the Nepali Times, used with permission.
This is not to say reforestation, net-zero carbon emissions, and providing some level of protection and support for vulnerable populations are not important. In fact, they are precisely what Nepal (and all other countries) should be working towards to minimise the impact of climate change. The real questions are: How? Who should get it done? And on what scale?
Solutions at conferences such as COP26 invariably tend to lean towards high-tech possibilities, international policy agreements, and large-scale restructuring. There is, however, another approach: small-scale, local, and grassroots agriculture.
While local regenerative agriculture is rarely discussed at the high table, such an approach may prove to be much more in line with Nepali culture and economy—a home-grown solution that returns political agency and innovation to local people on the ground.
Almost Heaven Farms permaculture research and development centre. Photo by Zachary Barton via the Nepali Times, used with permission.
Healthy soil grows healthy plants which leads to healthy humans and communities. It is the basis of all civilization and life on earth. Photo by Zachary Barton via the Nepali Times, used with permission.
Agriculture has become something of a dirty word for climate activists, and with some justification. It is estimated that agriculture accounts for roughly 23 pre cent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. That makes it comparable to big industry, transportation and electricity production, which means it significantly contributes to climate change.
But not all “agriculture” is equal. Regenerative agriculture has the potential to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and redistribute it to soils where it could have various positive impacts. Unlike many other industries, agriculture has the potential to transition from being a Big Problem to a Big Solution.
How we relate to land today is our most egregious lapse in judgement. Whether it is razing jungles for timber, draining precious wetlands, overfishing sacred waters, or converting grasslands to large-scale, chemical-based agriculture, we seem to have forgotten the most basic natural law: reciprocity. We cannot extract and drill and harvest and mine with no thought of giving back.
An integrated farm system including animals, grasses, perennial crops, fruits, vegetables, grains and forest. Photo by Zachary Barton via the Nepali Times, used with permission.
Fortunately, there is a way to approach agriculture that maintains a reciprocal relationship with the local ecosystem. Agroecology, to put it simply, is farming that incorporates the principles of ecology so that agriculture becomes a means of giving back.
A local jungle is a source of natural foods, medicines, fibres, and energy sources, but instead of automatically clearing and putting it to the plough, we must recognise that it also cleans and conserves water, soils, regulates temperature, and provides a habitat for other living beings. And, to circle back to climate concerns, importantly, that jungles capture carbon.
Managing land, under the auspices of agroecology, entails revitalising a different kind of relationship with the soil. It starts with understanding the principles of ecology and how nature works. Diversity, recycling, systems thinking, interconnectivity, and that the sun is the ultimate source of energy, are just a few.
Almost Heaven Farms is a full-fledged permaculture training and design firm focusing on developing agroecology across Nepal. Photo by Zachary Barton via the Nepali Times, used with permission.
What does that look like on a farm? A diversity of plants being grown together in what is known as a polyculture, animals moving across the landscape as happens in nature.
An integrated growing system including tea gardens, vegetable production and forest. Photo by Zachary Barton via the Nepali Times, used with permission.
Let’s start with the soil. We put a man on the moon 62 years ago, but we still know nothing about the world below our feet, the soil in which all life comes from. Through over-ploughing, mono-cropping, and the use of chemical fertilisers, we have effectively killed all the life in the soil, from beneficial microbes to worms and all other life that presides there.
Trees integrated into a rice-growing system in Jhapa. Photo by Zachary Barton via the Nepali Times, used with permission.
In killing the soil, we released massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and compromised its ability to capture the carbon back. And in this dead soil, we grow plants that are chronically sick and are not able to ward off pests and disease. Plants are completely dependent on chemicals for their survival. We then eat these sick plants which give us little nutrition, and we become sick ourselves.
Aerial shot of the Almost Heaven Farm. Photo by Zachary Barton via the Nepali Times, used with permission.
So, while others look to the sky for solutions, let us take a glance down at the most important ecosystem of all, the soil below our feet. If farmers in Nepal can step up and lead the change, the politicians will come stumbling after.
Zachary Barton is a permaculture designer, activist and teacher who has been living in Nepal since 2003. He established Almost Heaven Farm in 2013, where he researches, demonstrates and trains local farmers and international visitors in permaculture design, earth-based building and ecological restoration.

author: Nepali Times


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Namibian activists maximize social media to expose unlawful jurisdiction and homophobic legislature · Global Voices
Lisa Plank

Protesters marched the streets of Windhoek, demanding equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community. Image by Equal Namibia, used with permission.
In March 2021, the twin daughters of a Namibian same-sex couple were born via surrogacy in South Africa. Even though one of the fathers, Phillip Lühl, is a Namibian citizen, the authorities refused to issue the necessary travel documents to bring the twins home. Instead, they demanded Lühl to undergo a DNA test to determine the children's parentage, causing outrage within the Namibian LGBTQ+ community and beyond.
Namibian activists raised national and international attention by making the case public on social media, which put the Namibian legal system and government under significant pressure, reaffirming that social media remains an important space for raising the voices of groups that can otherwise be silenced.
In a video message, Phillip Lühl made his case public. The video went viral and the daily newspaper The Namibian shared it on Twitter account:
FAMILY SEPARATED: Two newborn baby girls are unable to travel from South Africa to their parents’ home in Windhoek, after the home affairs ministry refused to issue travelling documents to them. Their parents are a same-sex couple, married in South Africa six years ago. pic.twitter.com/sbgzCvMt5Z
— The Namibian (@TheNamibian) March 21, 2021
Lühl took the Ministry to court, arguing that the request for a DNA test contravenes both Namibian and international law. The Namibian Constitution promises citizenship by descent to anyone whose parents are Namibian citizens. Furthermore, the first paragraph of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” — thus the requirement to prove parenthood attacks the dignity of the couple. Yet, in the end, he had his petition denied.
As the newspaper The Namibian reported on April 19, judge Thomas Masuku ruled that it would be “judicial overreach” to obligate the authorities to issue the travel documents to the two girls. That didn’t stop the couple from demanding equal rights. “Now it was time to make noise,” their lawyer Uno Katjipuka told Global Voices on Zoom. “The idea was to put pressure on the government to change their position on the girls coming in, which worked and didn't work.”
After the social media furor, the story of the Namibian twins stuck in South Africa was covered by media outlets in Namibia and abroad. “The case really went international,” said Katjipuka. “But even with all the noise, the court took the easy way out trying not to piss off the government in the first round.” After two months, the authorities finally issued the emergency travel documents allowing the twins to enter Namibia. “I brought a second application, and then the government didn't oppose it. And I think that was because of the pressure and the international exposure,” asserts Katjipuka.
Still, even though the family was reunited, the children’s citizenship by descent remains undecided. Ordinarily, children of Namibian citizens automatically get Namibian citizenship as well, but this has not been the case for the twins, nor for the family’s first-born son who was also born in South Africa via surrogacy.
For a short period of time, it seemed like the family was winning its battle: On October 13, the High Court declared their first son a Namibian citizen. Not only media outlets reported the verdict but also Equal Namibia, a group of activists focusing on LGBTQ+ and women's rights.
?BREAKING? WHK High Court has declared Yona a Namibian citizenship by descent, directed @MHAINamibia to issue a certificate of citizenship in 30 days & dismissed home affairs requirement of a DNA test. Democracy wins. Equality prevails. #WeBelong
?????⚧ pic.twitter.com/0hu7wJAetK
— Namibia Equal Rights Movement (@EqualNamibia) October 13, 2021
But even though the Windhoek High Court declared Lühl and his partner's first-born son a Namibian citizen, the Ministry of Home Affairs then announced an appeal to the ruling of the high court. According to the ministry, “the High Court erred in law and in fact,” causing an immediate reaction both online and offline.
?CALL TO ACTION?
On Monday, we stand against homophobic policies in our Born-Free Nation. @MHAINamibia can not continue to abuse taxpayer funds and public policy to target LGBTQ+ families and children. Join us as we fight for what’s right.
?⚧????#NoHateInMyState #WeBelong pic.twitter.com/gHx8KsbqiY
— Namibia Equal Rights Movement (@EqualNamibia) November 12, 2021
Social media continues to be an important tool for LGBTQ+ advocacy in Namibia. This is not the first time Namibian activists have used social media as a tool to reach a broader audience and put pressure on their government. “Last year, there was a critical moment that started on social media activism,” affirms Namibian author and activist Ndiilokelwa Nthengwe in an interview with Global Voices on Zoom, referring to activists launching and disseminating an online petition and social media campaign calling for the legalization of abortion.
Similarly, later in 2020, protesters marched the streets of Windhoek demanding immediate political action on sexual gender-based violence, which in the Namibian context includes sexual assault, rape but also femicide. These protests were met with tear gas and rubber bullets, and 27 participants were detained. In the face of these incidents, the Minister of Home Affairs Frans Kapofi apologized for the police brutality and the Ministry of Gender Equality invited protesters to a consultative meeting.
Yet, the case of the twin daughters attracted even more international attention than these mobilizations. “We had activism before. Obviously, every civilization has. But this one was very specific,” says Katjipuka. Many twitter users declared their solidarity with the hashtag #bringpaulaandmayahome, and tweets about the case have been shared in huge numbers.
“Usually, you only get pockets of society, but the population at large is ambivalent. No one really cares because it doesn't affect them directly,” says the lawyer. But even though most Namibians were not affected directly when it came to the twin daughters, many people stood in solidarity. “After we lost round one, I don't know how many people came to me to express that I must do better, and I must bring those twins home.”
“I think that when we had the court cases, it definitely brought more attention to the people because it is a case that's not been heard of before in the media,” says Nthengwe. But it’s not only the novelty of the case that caught people’s attention; the activists’ campaign was also set up in a different way, as Nthengwe explains. “We said: Okay, let's try a different angle when we go to the court cases. We started with activism online and continued to bring more content to people that were onlookers. And I think in that way we continued the momentum online.”
Eventually, the twins were allowed to enter Namibia, but interest in the case did not diminish even then. The question of whether they and their brother will be granted citizenship remains open.
And the conversation continues online. When the Ministry of Home Affairs appealed the high court's ruling and thus the children's right to Namibian citizenship, activists prepared themselves for state-sanctioned homophobia on Twitter. As such, the Delgado-Lühl family remains a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community’s fight for equal rights.
Meanwhile, lawyers like Katjipuka continue to challenge the Ministry of Home Affairs on the decision to deny citizenship to a child of a same-sex couple born via surrogacy. “Putting pressure on the government worked,” she says. “But our government is very special. We have a president who is open minded when it comes to equal rights, and we have a first lady who is very open minded and very outspoken. But our minister of home affairs doesn't care, and the cabinet largely also doesn't care.”
Social media has also been a platform where leaders like First Lady Monica Geingos frequently call out homophobia and sexism, beyond calling it out in real life. Geingos doesn’t shrink from criticizing the current legislature in Namibia, for example the outdated sodomy law that prohibits men from having sex with men that hasn’t been enforced for more than 20 years. This creates room for activists to continue to challenge the status quo both legally and socially.
“It's not so much about whether or not people are aware” according to Nthengwe. “People hold on to their own ideology according to their values, according to their perspective and according to their community and how they grew up as people.” The challenge for Namibian activists and lawyers therefore goes beyond using social media to create awareness. Instead, Nthengwe insists that activists must challenge the legal system as well, ensuring that they do not “lose sight of our jurisdiction, of our judicial system.”

author: Lisa Plank


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St Lucia announces it will host a ‘vaxxed’ Carnival in 2022, but is it realistic? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A Carnival costume in St. Lucia. Photo by Gary J. Wood on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The decision of the St. Lucian government to stage a physical Carnival—dubbed “The Vaxxed Mas”—in 2022 is making Carnival enthusiasts sit up and pay attention. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic reached the shores of the Caribbean in March 2020, regional Carnival celebrations have taken a hit: Anguilla's annual Summer Festival, Barbados’ Crop Over, Junkanoo in the Bahamas, and Carnivals in various islands—like Antigua and Jamaica—that take place later in the calendar year.
Trinidad and Tobago's street festival, arguably the largest and most well known, managed to get in a “last lap,” since its 2020 Carnival took place before the country's index case of the virus was confirmed. Its 2021 celebrations were cancelled, however, despite the efforts of soca music artistes, who did their best to keep the Carnival spirit alive with new, pandemic-relevant releases. Nevertheless, musicians and other creatives, heavily dependent on Carnival for income, suffered even as they tried to adapt.
For many, adaptation included the concept of a virtual Carnival, something that was already happening in small pockets at diaspora Carnivals like Britain's Notting Hill. Thus far, however, regional governments do not seem convinced of its viability, with Winston “Gypsy” Peters, a calypsonian-turned-politician who chairs Trinidad and Tobago's National Carnival Commission, saying that the festival is “a contact sport” that needs to be “peopled.”
In October, Miami Carnival, one of the most popular of the diaspora Carnivals, managed to stage an in-person event despite the state's high COVID-19 numbers. While many were concerned about the wisdom of hosting such a large, potentially “super-spreader” event in the midst of a pandemic, others who attended maintained that the organisers’ “no mask, no mas” policy was successful.
St. Lucia is the first of the regional Carnivals to announce its intent to proceed as normal in July 2022, though other islands have hinted at the possibility. St. Lucia's minister of culture, Ernest Hilaire, made it clear that in order to take part in the festivities, all patrons and service providers must be fully vaccinated. He added, “We have to ensure that we preserve the health of St. Lucia while creating an economic activity for our people to benefit from.”
Apart from potential economic benefits, however, the government's statement about the event also points to a hope that the initiative will have a positive effect on the country's vaccination rates:
Strict guidelines and protocols will be implemented and the authorities will ensure strict adherence in an effort to safeguard the health and wellness of all participants. The guidelines will be announced in due course following further working consultations between the Ministry of Health and stakeholders.
Let’s get vaccinated and let’s enjoy the ‘Mas’!
With St. Lucia's population of 184,838 as at December 12, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that a total of 103,092 vaccine doses had been administered up until December 3—about 55 per cent of the populace, though some reports claim the vaccination figure is lower, around 30 per cent.
Meanwhile, Dr Merle Clarke, president of the Saint Lucia Medical and Dental Association (SLMDA), has said that the only way for the event to be a success is to significantly increase the country's inoculation rate. At the time of publishing, St. Lucia had confirmed 13,067 COVID-19 cases, with 283 deaths.
If social media comment threads are a gauge of how people are responding to the news, however, the overriding reaction seems to be one of scepticism. One Facebook user, Fabie Jay, added:
St Lucia is on 2022 but the government makes no sense with their nonsense ?. Will there be doctors checking everybody? I already see labour party going to lose the next election 2026 ?
On Twitter, meanwhile, Carnival designers were already promoting their bands:
? L E G E N D S ? @legendsCarnival
.
Ready for the 2022 legendary experience?!
.
Keep posted to our social media platforms for updates and legendary mail.
.
Vibes currently L O A D I N G…….?#legendscarinival #stluciacarnival #legends #stlucia #carnival #carnival2022 pic.twitter.com/jvHrPMJcEn
— Legends Carnival Band (@LegendsCarnival) July 20, 2021
Whether the vaccination rates increase enough to allow the government to proceed as planned remains to be seen, as does whether or not other Caribbean islands will follow in St. Lucia's bold footsteps.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Arrest of activist Khurram Parvez shows ‘a new hostility towards civil society in Kashmir’ · Global Voices
Ather Zia

Screenshot of Khurram Parvez from an interview on YouTube by VideoVolunteers. Fair use.
On November 22, 2021, Khurram Parvez, a globally acclaimed Kashmiri human rights defender and civil society activist was arrested by the Indian government. Charged under the much-criticized Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for “terror-funding” and “conspiracy,” Khurram’s internationally acclaimed body of work is being tarnished by allegations of terrorism. His arrest has caused global outrage, and the United Nations and other human rights bodies have called for his unconditional release.
Khurram’s arrest must be understood within the frame of a new hostility towards civil society in Kashmir. India’s national security adviser Ajit Doval recently called civil society the “new frontier of war” or the “fourth-generation warfare.” Since Khurram is one of the most visible icons of Kashmiri civil society, and this statement foreshadowed his arrest merely two weeks later, he has been made a representational threat for all forms of democratic dissent.
This summer, Khurram and I shared a video call after almost two years. His gleeful, guttural laugh ignited hope as we watched the sunrise over the Colorado mountains. For Kashmiris, the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated the deep-rooted political persecution that had been increasing since August 5, 2019, when India legally removed Kashmir’s autonomy, kicking into high gear the policies of settler colonialism. Activism, dissent, or resistance to Indian rule, which have always been criminalized, are even more so now. Media censorship is law and journalists are being charged under the UAPA for merely doing their jobs.
Khurram has been unflaggingly vocal against the extremely authoritarian policies of the Indian government. In 2016, he was charged under the controversial Public Safety Act. Arrested en route to Geneva to attend the 33rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Khurram was released after 176 days when the Kashmir High Court called his detention illegal.
Fast forward to 2021, and the Kashmir situation has taken a turn for the worse.
Speaking to me, Khurram, always true to his name, stayed upbeat. He talked about children—his two young ones, and those of our friends. He was especially proud of a friend’s teenage daughter who had taken to reading “big subjects” like philosophy, literature, physics, and anthropology. In a characteristic Khurram manner, rather than just allowing me to simply savour this news, he set me the task of mentoring the young teen and spent the next half an hour planning it. He even factored in the impediments of the oft-imposed internet shutdown in Kashmir. This is a small example of  Khurram’s sensitivity to addressing needs, improving, and forging connections and solidarities. I laughed at the sweet predictability of his habit of thinking of every little detail. It is Khurram’s meticulous attention to exigencies, context, and nuance that has proven critical in professionalising the human rights work in Kashmir—against all dangers, and as a compassionate team builder if I might add.
Khurram’s work is not limited to Kashmir. He is the chairperson of the Manila-based Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD). In 2006, he received the Reebok Human Rights Award. The Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), both of which Khurram spearheads, have trained and mentored a new generation of Kashmiri, Indian, and Western human rights researchers and practitioners. He has forged solidarities with global organizations like the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International. Under Khurram’s leadership, the JKCCS has become an institution known for pathbreaking research and reporting on human rights violations. The discovery of the unmarked mass graves in Kashmir that brought world attention to the gravity of the human rights violations committed by the Indian forces in Kashmir is credited to the JKCCS under Khurram’s astute supervision.
A balanced mix of activist and engaged research, Khurram’s work is lauded in academia. He also serves as a distinguished scholar at the Political Conflict, Gender and People’s Rights Initiative at the University of California, Berkeley.
In the early 2000s, in a toxic environment ridden with Indian client politics and censure, Khurram fearlessly tried to build a culture of democratic dialogue between various Kashmiri stakeholders. He also co-initiated processes to build bridges between the estranged Kashmiri Muslim and Pandit communities. Khurram never wavered from his chosen path, even when, in 2004, he lost his leg and three close colleagues in a mine blast that was allegedly state-orchestrated. Instead of giving up, Khurram joined the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Even though India has not signed the mine ban treaty, Khurram successfully campaigned for the militant groups to stop using landmines.
Over the last two decades, I have watched Khurram grow in stature personally and professionally. As a young teen in 1990, he decided to become a human rights defender when his grandfather was killed in a massacre committed by the Indian army. Instead of taking to arms, as many Kashmiris have done, Khurram saw his path in human rights praxis. His activism started as a student when he founded a counselling project for young people affected by the turmoil. Khurram never allows despondency to set in. During the height of the pandemic in May 2020, his ailing father passed away. In October, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) of India conducted a series of simultaneous raids on civil society activists, including Khurram. The NIA confiscated documents, other records, and electronic devices including phones from his office and home. This was a time when Kashmir was still reeling from the aftermath of the suffocating military siege that followed the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution in August 2019. JKCCS’s work was severely impeded, but Khurram, believing adversity is part of the job, kept team morale high.
As the sun fully rose over Colorado I recall his words at the end of our call. He hoped our children “see the beauty world had to offer” and not the “dedwan” (a burning fire), and that “we must do better for their sake.” And that in sum is Khurram’s creed. He always does better in addressing the conflagrations of political violence. I know prayers and perseverance never leave Khurram. Even as he is imprisoned in Tihar, India’s maximum-security prison, where many Kashmiri political prisoners languish, his faith in just peace will stay strong.
In a decolonising world, which is increasingly questioning India about Kashmir, icons like Khurram Parvez cannot be brazenly tarnished and imprisoned. As the “memory keeper,” as Khurram calls himself, no law can jail him and, if it does, it cannot be law but only lawlessness. For two decades, Khurram has unflaggingly served human rights globally. Those seeking Khurram's unconditional release from illegal imprisonment by the Indian government must not relent. We must prevail to ensure his freedom to defend the human rights of the most vulnerable.

author: Ather Zia


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In the midst of floods and climate change, these are the local systems that hold the fabric of Assam together · Global Voices
Anumeha Verma

Dhemaji, Assam, India. A villager looking at a road washed away by water at Hesuli village of Dhemaji district, Assam in September 2020. Image via Flickr by Climate Centre. CC BY-NC 2.0.
The Brahmaputra River and its tributaries have shaped the landscape of India’s northeastern region for centuries, but this year once again, monsoon season brought with it massive flooding in the Assam Valley. Swelling rivers inundated several parts of the state, causing populations living alongside the river basin to shift multiple times.
Now, in the face of failing flood management and protection structures, local village communities and volunteer groups are stepping up and helping themselves when it comes to relief and rehabilitation efforts.
The environmentally focused news site Down to Earth published a story on the plight of Mas Dihiri village, located in the Dhemaji district of Assam. Here, the Kumutiya River, one of the Bramhaputra’s tributaries, is given to shift its course rapidly — with devastating results. The river has shifted course by as much as three kilometers since 1960, and stories like these are not standalone but, rather, scattered across the length and breadth of Assam. When the village of Majdolopa, for instance, experienced another sudden flood surge in July 2020, people found themselves trapped as the Brahmaputra swelled after incessant rains.
The change in rainfall patterns and the resulting floods point towards an interconnectedness with climate change. In October, the  Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) released a report titled, Mapping India’s Climate Vulnerability – A District-level Assessment, based on its analysis of 646 districts across India. It ranks Assam among five states that are most vulnerable to calamities such as floods, droughts and cyclones, with four of its districts — Dhemaji, Nangaon, Darrang and Lakhimpur — featuring amongst the 20 most vulnerable spots in the country.
The predominant reason for global warming and interlinked climate change has been laid at the doorstep of CO2 emissions. India is one of the prominent contributors to this problem, owing to rapid industrialization and urbanization. According to Nature Climate Change journal, India emitted 2.65 billion tonnes CO2 between 2016 and 2019.
Climate change means that snow melts faster, adding to the volume of water in snow-fed rivers at their origin itself. In addition, the total number of rainfall days during the monsoon has decreased, but the intensity of rainfall on these days has increased. Cloudbursts and intense rainfall result in flash floods with little to no warning.
Citizens and policymakers alike have acknowledged the evident crisis in the valley:
Nagaon hon'ble MP @pradyutbordoloi sir's fierce speech in the parliament, raising voice for the climate refugees of Assam who settled down near by the river sides of Assam and being attacked by natural calamities, which has been worsen due to climate change(1/2) pic.twitter.com/jrzPyp0PXJ
— Adv Mumtaz Begum (@i_am_mumtaz) December 4, 2021
Flash floods in Assam, Cloud bursts in Kerala, heavy rain in Uttarakhand, rains in Delhi. And there is NO climate change. Get real, read the writing on the wall. Act.
— Vimlendu Jha विमलेंदु झा (@vimlendu) October 17, 2021
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are affected by these floods, losing their lives, homes, crops and livestock. By September 2021, the floods had already affected more than 600,000 people across several districts, claiming five lives in the process. People who live along the river basin are often forced to take refuge in relief camps for weeks on end, before returning to the shambles of what once represented their lives.
From 2020 to 2021, the narrative has hardly changed; micro-blogging sites like Twitter are littered with tales of the misery of flooding in Assam, and noting its painful effects — from displacement to food insecurity:
Upto 3.41 lakh people affected due to heavy rainfall &floods in #Assam #India
40 deaths reported.
Sincere request to all the leaders to plz take #ClimateChange
seriously &withdraw all dilutions of norms that r meant for environmental conservation.@narendramodi @GretaThunberg https://t.co/s7G427lKhM pic.twitter.com/82n8DOZHkd
— Fridays For Future India (@FFFIndia) July 11, 2020
Increasing temperatures, variable rainfalls and loss of agricultural land due to flash floods are expected to reduce crop yields thereby causing food scarcity. #DRRday #OnlyTogether #OXFAM #ASDMA #climatechange pic.twitter.com/yulLBmG26m
— Assam State Disaster Management Authority (@sdma_assam) October 23, 2021
As the crisis in Assam has deepened, so has people's commitment to finding new ways of adapting. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has found itself buoyed by village communities and volunteer groups like the Majdolopa Village Disaster Management Committee, which have emerged to take charge of the situation. Established in 2015, the group has about 23 young volunteers who saved lives and helped stranded citizens when the river swelled earlier this year.
Several such committees dot the geography of Assam today. The village of Chomoni Chapori also has a disaster management committee, with volunteers catering to the needs of not just their own community, but also those of nearby villages — and these citizen-based initiatives are both logical and systematic in their approach. The Chomoni Chapori village committee has four groups: the first acts as an early warning system, the second supplies first-aid workers, the third deals with sanitation and hygiene once disaster strikes, and the fourth provides search teams to look for missing persons and possible survivors.
Assam flood in 2015. Image via Wikipedia by Pradip Nemane. CC BY-SA 4.0
Citizens are also leveraging the power of whatever technology they have at their fingertips, using WhatsApp groups to send out early flood warnings. In 2019, when incessant rainfall broke river banks, one of these initiatives, the Friendship Association, routed messages on the approaching floods — from Bhutan all the way to Assam — through their friends and India-based NGOs.
However, while people rise to the occasion every single time to lend support to their villages and communities, these informal measures require fortification through more formal means. In November, during a parliamentary session, the failure of India's flood management system was cited as one of the reasons for the dire situation in Assam — but whether this will trigger additional measures to alleviate the sufferings of the area's residents remains to be seen.

author: Anumeha Verma


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Mozambican government reacts to conflict by imposing its own digital narratives · Global Voices
Dércio Tsandzana

Cabo Delgado boundary bridge, north of Mozambique, August 4, 2009. Photo by F. Mira, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Since October 2017, Mozambique has been experiencing armed conflict in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. Several explanations have been offered about the causes of the conflict, but most remain unverified. Despite claims that the Islamic State is behind the attacks and intends to occupy the gas production areas in Mozambique, neither the perpetrators nor the origins of the violence have been identified. The absence of information creates a context conducive to continued violence because there is no one to hold accountable.
Indeed, lack of information remains a major challenge in Mozambique’s conflict. Government, media and civil society all blame one another for the silence, claiming that there is no information. Civil society has accused the executive arm of government of failing to protect the media, while the media has been labeled a vector for the dissemination of fake news by the government.
As a result, activists and human rights defenders launched a campaign in 2018 to raise awareness of the conflict, denounce human rights abuses, using hashtags and short publications to highlight the humanitarian crisis.
The right to information has been violated during the ongoing conflict resulting in a chilling silence. Journalists have been arrested — and some disappeared — for their work including Ibraimo Mbaruco who has been missing since early 2020. Before his disappearance, he warned through family sources that he had been questioned by both police and military. In February 2021, British journalist Tom Bowker, who had been covering an insurgency in northern Mozambique, was expelled from the country and banned from returning for 10 years.
The Mozambique branch of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), an organisation defending press freedom, contested Tom Bowker’s expulsion:
Right, that's it then! Expelled from Mozambique and banned for 10 years. A politically motivated move, without legal foundation. Thanks to everyone who helped us fight it, and who made the last 6 years so wonderful. Até! pic.twitter.com/X8eEdVSgbA
— Tom Bowker (@TomBowk) February 16, 2021
Similarly, activist Cidia Chissungo got together with Activista Mozambique Movement — a civil society movement — and initiated the Hands for Justice online Twitter campaign:
Are you there?
Can you help me with this campaign?
You Just have to write somewhere #FreeAmade and share it. @FNyusi everyone have the right to know everything going on in the north of the country because #CaboDelgado is also Mozambique.
Lets demand together for JUSTICE pic.twitter.com/L7bKBXhPP9
— Cídia Chissungo (@Cidiachissungo) February 25, 2019
And the violations are not solely concentrated in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. In April 2021, police officers detained in the capital Pemba briefly Hizidine Acha, a journalist for the largest Mozambican private media group SOICO, forcing him to delete images on his phone and camera allegedly showing the officers beating people.
These attacks on journalists represent an escalation of violations to the right to information in Mozambique. Since 2015, the country has dropped 19 places on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index. And the violations are not solely concentrated in Cabo Delgado.
On December 8, Mozambique was downgraded from “obstructed” to “repressed” in a new report by the CIVICUS Monitor, a research collaboration that rates and tracks fundamental freedoms globally. According to the report, the downgrade springs from unwarranted restrictions on freedom of expression and a deteriorating environment for human rights defenders and civil society. Physical attacks and the intimidation and harassment of journalists and activists have increased all over the country.
But Cabo Delgado remains the region of most concern. In October 2021, Human Rights Watch denounced the lack of access to information during the conflict in Mozambique, saying:
International media groups continue to report unnecessary restrictions in getting permission from state institutions to access districts in northern Cabo Delgado, and local journalists continue to suffer harassment and intimidation from government security forces. We urge the Mozambican government to stop silencing the media in Cabo Delgado, and immediately allow public scrutiny of the military operations in the province.
Internet access is a challenge for many Mozambicans. Only 7 million (21 percent) people of the total population of 31 million use the internet. 3 million are users are on social networks, representing a penetration of 9.5 percent.
However, the internet is frequently used for services like banking and mobile money. Despite their importance to ordinary Mozambicans, these mobile services have been a target for government retaliation, for example, accused of being sources of terrorist financing in Cabo Delgado.
In November 2020, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi  challenged the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) to restore normalcy to conflict affected parts of the country. Notably, he attacked the use of social media to spread disinformation in Cabo Delgado.
“We lament the growing trend towards disinformation and the attempts to manipulate public opinion by inventing facts, which are then publicized by using the platforms provided by social media,” Nyusi said in a YouTube video.
After Nyusi’s pronouncement, the State Information Office created a platform called Credível (credible in English) to monitor the online publication of information. The office said that the verification platform aims to ensure the authenticity of content disseminated by the press or on social networks.
Access to the platform is free, and citizens can share content to this page and quickly expect a response from the person who created the information confirming its veracity. However, so far Credível's inner workings remain secret.
Screenshot of the ‘Credible’ platform. Taken by the author (December 2021). It illustrates news publications with ‘truth’ or ‘lie’ stamps that demonstrate how the government manages its own narrative.
It is important to note that Nyusi’s warning against misleading online propaganda comes roughly two weeks after the launch of a new Frelimo (ruling party) website, called Frelimo 1962. This site was established by Defesa MZ, the same organization that in 2020 set up a website called Notícias de Defesa, which publishes news about the war in Cabo Delgado, alongside official statements from the Mozambican ministries of the interior and defence.
The government promotes these two platforms but also uses them to spread the government’s own narrative about the conflict, even while still using and criticising other social media.
In response to the president’s declarations, MISA Moçambique, a regional civil society organisation working on the protection and defence of information said that it feared that such statements may be interpreted as an order to persecute all media organisations offering views not aligned with the official narrative. “This order poses a threat to press freedom,” said their statement, “especially in a context where journalists in Cabo Delgado have been victims of persecution, including arbitrary arrests and kidnappings.”
The civil society group Center for Democracy and Development (CDD)  condemned the media-related attacks and advised journalists to continue performing their duty of informing the public. The organisation further challenges the state bodies responsible for ensuring the independence of the media to publicly condemn threats to silence journalists through extra-judicial means.
In the absence of verifiable information, citizens fear a proliferation of misinformation regarding the conflict, warning on social media:
Mais um exemplo dos disparates do @nrogeiro: https://t.co/GbpsBFxYTX [arquivo: https://t.co/5uIGoQiCLb]. Nenhuma das fotos é de #Awasse #MocimboadaPraia #CaboDelgado ou sequer #Moçambique! #factcheck #verificação pic.twitter.com/mgXJupU7qX
— Luís Galrão (@LGalrao) August 11, 2021
Another example of @nrogeiro's nonsense: https://twitter.com/nrogeiro/status/1425224802600722432 [archive: https://archive.ph/iCTkl]. None of the photos are from #Awasse #MocimboadaPraia #CaboDelgado or even #Mozambique! #factcheck #verification
These concerns are not unfounded. In 2018, Mozambican national television station Televisão de Moçambique aired a video claiming responsibility for the attacks in Cabo Delgado. On the TVM broadcast, a group of men assumed responsibility for the murder of 10 local citizens at the administrative post of Ulombe (also spelt Ulumbi, Olumbe or Olumbi) in the district of Palma.
The individuals in the video had covered their faces and brandished AKM-type weapons, claiming admiration for Allah. They were presented by TVM as the organisers of the barbaric attack. However, it turned out that the video was fake, even though it circulated on social networks in January 2018, according to the Facebook page of Borges Nhamire, a researcher at the Centre for Public Integrity.
Misinformation endorsed by official sources, combined with government-imposed narratives, have turned the situation in Cabo Delgado is denying Mozambicans their right to reliable information.

author: Dércio Tsandzana