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Researchers Around the World Are Learning From Indigenous Communities. Here’s Why That’s a Good Thing. · Global Voices
Ensia

Photo: Jean Polfus / Ensia.com
This post by Ben Goldfarb was originally published on Ensia.com, a magazine that highlights international environmental solutions in action, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
In the rugged Sahtú Region of Canada’s Northwest Territories, a district so remote that in winter only a single treacherous ice road connects it to the outside world, life revolves around caribou. For millennia, the Dene people lived as nomads, tracking vast herds across the Sahtú and harvesting the itinerant animals for their meat, skin and bones. Although the region’s indigenous people today reside in villages, subsistence hunting remains central to diet and culture. The Dene language contains phrases for such concepts as “we grew up with caribou blood” and “we are people with caribou.”
That intimate relationship did not always coexist comfortably with empirical science. Wildlife biologists had long studied caribou by swooping down in helicopters, netting them and affixing them with radio collars, a process that some Dene saw as disrespectful to creatures they considered kin. In September 2012, the Sahtú Renewable Resource Councils passed resolutions recommending that all wildlife research involve local people and respect indigenous values. Biologists could still collar the caribou, but they now had a directive to pursue more respectful, non-invasive methods as well.
The task of developing new techniques fell to a team of scientists that included Jean Polfus, a natural resources Ph.D. student at the University of Manitoba. Polfus’ introduction to the Northwest Territories wasn’t an easy one — “it was completely dark, it was cold and a lot of the meetings happened in Dene language,” she recalls — but, over the course of many conversations with community leaders, she and her local collaborators concocted a visionary project: They would study caribou populations using DNA extracted from scat. Dene hunters and trappers, who regularly cross paths with the herds during their travels on snowmobile, would collect droppings — with each sample that Polfus received earning its finder a C$25 gasoline gift card. “It’s a lot cheaper per sample than collaring caribou,” Polfus says.
Although biologists and indigenous people have worked together for centuries, the relationship has tended toward friction. Scientists often looked askance at traditional knowledge, sometimes with harmful consequences for both science and indigenous livelihoods. In the 1970s, for instance, U.S. federal researchers concluded the Bering Sea’s bowhead whale population was shrinking, prompting the International Whaling Commission, a global organization that manages whale conservation and whaling, to impose drastic hunting restrictions on indigenous communities that depended on the cetaceans for sustenance. Alaska Natives objected, pointing out that, while government scientists only counted whales in open water, bowheads also passed through heavy ice, deploying their massive skulls to crack open breathing holes. When the National Marine Fisheries Service finally used native feedback to guide its surveys in the 1980s, it nearly quadrupled its whale estimate.
“The hardest thing is to sit in a room with scientists who think they’ve discovered something, but their scientific discovery just confirms what our oral histories have talked about forever,” says William Housty, a member of British Columbia’s Heiltsuk First Nation and director of Coastwatch, a science and conservation program. “That’s been the biggest hump for us to overcome, to get people to think about our culture on the same level as Western science.”
Rocky though the transition has been, wildlife biologists like Polfus are today pursuing more respectful and participatory relationships with indigenous people. Scientists have partnered with Aboriginal Australians to study sea turtle populations; relied on Kaxinawá hunters in the Amazon to investigate the abundance of game species like monkeys and deer; and solicited information from Alaskan Yupiks about walrus migrations. Renata Leite Pitman, a Brazilian wildlife veterinarian who’s studied Central and South American fauna for 25 years, has leaned on local expertise to learn the calls, scats and tracks of the elusive forest animals she studies. “I think it’s intuitive — you just learn from what the native people have always been doing,” she says.
Pitman’s latest collaboration involves the Waorani tribe, Ecuadorian natives whose young men catch and release green anacondas, the world’s heaviest snake, as ritual tests of manhood. Since 2014, Pitman has inserted radio transmitters in six anacondas in Ecuador and Peru to study the species’ movements in the Amazon. She also trained Waorani tribe members to tag and track the snakes; indigenous technicians provide her daily updates via Skype. Pitman and her Waorani partners extracted samples from both anacondas and bushmeat, which the scientist tests for contaminants stemming from upstream oil exploration. The giant reptiles have effectively become ecological indicators whose own flesh reflects the health of the Waorani’s homeland.
Pitman’s tracking has not only revealed secrets of anacondas’ wanderings — the snakes appear more territorial than she’d realized, for instance — it also stands to provide valuable knowledge for the Waorani, who draw considerable income from ecotourism. “They want to get benefits from taking people to see the anacondas,” she says. “This could be a long-term help for the economy.”
Collaborative research can yield even more surprising gains. Marco Hatch, a member of the Samish Indian Nation and a marine ecologist at Northwest Indian College in Washington state, studies the Canadian Pacific Coast’s clam gardens — well-groomed intertidal terraces, surrounded by rock walls, in which coastal people have dug shellfish for thousands of years. Hatch’s research, conducted in partnership with the gardens’ native owners, suggests that clams grow larger and more abundant in gardens than in the wild and that other edible species, like crabs and snails, thrive on rock walls. “Nonnative beach owners can manage their beach more effectively using tools and technologies that First Nations people have developed,” Hatch says.
His findings also challenge the long-held notion that the Northwest’s indigenous people were strict hunters and gatherers. “Clam gardens give us these very large and undeniable modifications of the intertidal,” he says. “They show the complexity of indigenous food and knowledge systems.”
Hatch and Polfus aren’t the only scientists to pursue collaborative research in Canada, where a slew of court cases have acknowledged native authority in natural resource management. That’s set the stage for programs like the Heiltsuk’s Coastwatch, an initiative rooted along British Columbia’s Koeye River, where grizzly bears fish for migrating salmon in dense coastal rainforest. In 2007, Housty and other Heiltsuk, with help from conservation groups and scientists at the University of Victoria, set up a network of barbed-wire snares, baited with salmon scent, that snagged clumps of bear hair for DNA analysis. The monitoring program revealed the presence of a grizzly “highway” along the Koeye, and helped the Heiltsuk better manage their own relationship with the bruins — for instance, by moving their youth camps away from the most heavily trafficked areas.
Just as significant as the study’s results were its guiding principles: the Heiltsuk’s Gvi’ilas, a body of traditional laws that shape the First Nation’s relationship with the natural world. Just as the Dene’s cultural values led them to insist upon noninvasive caribou research, so did the Gvi’ilas call for unobtrusive hair monitoring. “Those very fundamental ideas formed the base of everything we did,” Housty says. “One of the biggest ones was respect. If you treat bears respectfully, they’ll treat you the same way.”
There’s a fine line between collaborating with indigenous people and exploiting their labor and knowledge.
Yet that respect isn’t always reciprocated by the powers that be. According to Housty, when the Heiltsuk presented the provincial government with their map of grizzly habitat, officials shrugged off data that clashed with the province’s existing maps. “So we said, to heck with the government — we’ll just go right to industry,” Houst recalls. The Heiltsuk presented their habitat maps to local logging companies, which proved to be more interested than was the province. “They gave a little, we gave a little, and we could show them where it was appropriate to log,” Housty says.
If the Heiltsuk can’t make headway with the B.C. government using hair snares and DNA analysis — tools of Western scientific research — it shouldn’t come as a surprise that native knowledge still receives short shrift in many quarters. Elsewhere in British Columbia, First Nations reports of grizzly bears inhabiting coastal islands were dismissed by the government because the observer “was not a biologist”; subsequent DNA analysis showed that 10 islands hosted resident grizzlies. According to one 2008 caribou study, some scientists remain guilty of using traditional knowledge “only when it fits within current resource management models of thinking.” There’s a fine line between collaborating with indigenous people and exploiting their labor and knowledge.
The technical language of resource management can also thwart authentic cooperation. In a 2004 essay, anthropologist Marc Stevenson detailed how seemingly innocuous words like “harvest” and “quota” can dominate co-management discussions and exclude native people from decision-making. When Stevenson sat on a whale management board in eastern Canada, he observed that Inuit hunters refused to use the word “stock” to refer to belugas — the concept didn’t exist in Inuktitut language. Such utilitarian terminology, warns Stevenson, may be “not only foreign, but antithetical to Aboriginal values, concepts and understandings.”
Cautionary tales notwithstanding, collaborative research is on the upswing, and Polfus’ caribou scat project offers an encouraging example. Though the effort was slow to catch on — as Polfus points out, “When it’s minus 40 out and you’re on your Ski-Doo, who wants to stop to pick up caribou poop?” — word gradually spread. Over two years, Polfus, known locally as Poop Lady, received over a thousand scat-filled plastic bags; her army of bounty hunters included everyone from elders to 12-year-old girls.
Polfus’ DNA tests revealed three genetically distinct forms of caribou — boreal woodland caribou, barren-ground caribou and mountain caribou. Although the three types generally occupy distinct habitat, they often overlap in the boreal forest, bewildering wildlife biologists who aren’t sure where one subspecies’ range ends and others’ begin. No such confusion exists among the Dene, whose language includes separate words for all three types. Dene hunters can distinguish between caribou varieties on the basis of morphology, tracks and even behavior; woodland caribou, for instance, will loop back around on their own path to throw off predators.
That the Dene have developed different terms and hunting tactics for each type, says Polfus, suggests that the caribou diverged in the distant past. Paying heed to indigenous language, in other words, advances science’s grasp of evolutionary history and helps researchers identify subtle but crucial differences between subspecies.Authorities are already taking note: As a result of Polfus’ research, the Sahtú Renewable Resources Board has pledged to use the Dene word for boreal woodland caribou, tǫdzı, in all official correspondence.
In the far North, studying caribou population ecology is anything but academic. Shale-oil development is inexorably coming to the Northwest Territories, and a better understanding of caribou ecology and population dynamics should help biologists and indigenous hunters manage both industry and wildlife.
“When you support the knowledge of people who have a lot of incentive to keep caribou around for their children,” says Polfus, “that’s when real conservation success can happen.”  Code Embed v2.2.1
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author: Ensia


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Students Have Occupied More Than 300 Schools Throughout Brazil in Recent Months · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Demonstration of students in São Paulo. Photo via Não Fechem Minha Escola and Jornalistas Livres, free to use.
At the end of 2015, a wave of occupations swept public schools in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Goiás at the end of 2015, with hundreds of educational institutions taken over by their own students who were protesting budget cuts.
In the past two months, the movement has resurfaced and spread to other states, including Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Ceará. And in São Paulo, student protesters have the added complaint of an alleged fraud scheme dubbed the “Lunch Money Mafia” involving public servants and politicians.
According to information shared on the occupations’ social media pages, a collaborative map and multiple news sources, more than 300 schools have been occupied at some point between late April and June in seven Brazilian states. That number doesn’t take into account schools, like the Prefeito Mendes de Moraes school in Rio de Janeiro, which came to be occupied earlier in 2016. Authorities have evicted several occupations in that same period of time.
Students are protesting against the dismal state of public schools in Brazil and demanding better teaching, infrastructure and food. A characteristic of the occupying students, who generally are between 13 and 17 years old, is their zeal for public property. They take turns in cleaning and maintaining school equipment, which has led some students to the discovery of brand-new school materials locked away in their schools, according to news reports. Support from the general population has allowed several cultural activities to take place, such as music concerts and classes taught by volunteer teachers.
The movement began in the city of São Paulo between September and December 2015, when 200 public schools were occupied against a “reorganization” proposed by the state governor Geraldo Alckmin that would have forced 93 schools to close. The movement was successful in forcing the government to cancel the plan and ended up inspiring a flurry of occupations in the state of Goiás, where a different plan, aimed to outsource the management of public schools to private organizations, the army and the military police, was on the table. Thirty schools were occupied in Goiás at different moments starting in January; the last occupation was vacated in March.
The movement found new life in São Paulo in May this year after state prosecutors revealed a fraud scheme dubbed the “Lunch Money Mafia“, in which public servants and politicians gave overpriced meal contracts to suppliers in exchange for bribes. The scheme allegedly involved Fernando Capez, a state deputy and president of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo, who is a close ally of Governor Geraldo Alckmin.
School meals offered to students in most São Paulo state schools are notoriously lacking — if there is a meal available at all.
At least 14 schools have been occupied in São Paulo; most of them were vacated a couple of weeks later, according to newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. Students are also mobilizing in different ways, like street protests. In early May, they also occupied the plenary of the assembly demanding the creation of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) to investigate the scheme. Under pressure, deputies filed a request to open it, the first step in the procedure to create a CPI.
A student is detained by military police in São Paulo. Photo: Roger Padula/Democratize, free to use
As in 2015, the students’ activism has been treated violently at times by police. Independent media agency Democratize followed the eviction of three schools on May 13 by military police, done so without a warrant:
“A Procuradoria Geral do Estado de São Paulo, que defende o governo Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB), orientou as secretarias estaduais a, daqui para a frente, fazer reintegração de posse de imóveis públicos ocupados por manifestantes sem recorrer à Justiça.
De forma autoritária e sem mandado judicial, pelo menos três ocupações foram invadidas por policiais de forma truculenta na manhã desta sexta-feira (13).
The Attorney General of the State of São Paulo, defending the Governor Geraldo Alckmin (of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, or PSDB), directed the state departments to from now on make public property repossession occupied by protesters without recourse to justice.
Authoritatively and without a warrant, at least three occupations were raided by police in a truculent manner on the morning of Friday (13).
On the same day, media collective Jornalistas Livres followed the eviction of the Board of Education of the Central West Region (DECO), which also occurred without a warrant:
On 19 May, a march of students toward the Department of Education was violently suppressed by police. At least four students were arrested and several were injured, according to Democratize. In this video, released by the Facebook page O Mal Educado (The Poorly Educated), a student shows the head injury he says he received from police:
After vacating the schools at the beginning of the year, students from Goiás continued to mobilize against the plan to outsource school management. They also adopted São Paulo's original agenda for the improvement of the quality of the meals provided.
A protest on May 19 was repressed by the state's military police, as shown in a video posted by YouTube user Desneuralizador Brazil.
A student from Goiás, Ana Beatriz Tavares, wrote on her Facebook profile about the protest:
Hoje, em um ato pacífico, contra a OS's fomos reprimidos pela PM ( aquela que tem o papel de cuidar da sua segurança, não é mesmo?)
A student is carried by schoolmates during the protest in Goiás. Photo by Desneuralizador, free to use.
Pedimos para o Secretário de Ciências e Desenvolvimento descer e receber nosso documento, com todas a nossas pautas. Ele não desceu, mas mandou a mão do estado pra cima de estudantes que lutam por uma educação melhor. Prenderam, jogaram bombas de efeito moral, atiraram e bateram em estudantes. Enquanto isso, acontecia um ato contra a legalização do aborto organizado pela SEDUCE, que levou ônibus com estudantes de colégios militares para essa “passeata”, mas a polícia não reprimiu esses estudantes, será por quê?
Essa é a “democracia” em que vivemos!
Today, in a peaceful demonstration against the OS's [Organização Social or Social Organisation, name given to private companies that run schools] we were repressed by the military police (the one whose role it is to take care of your security, right?)
We asked for the secretary of science and development to come down and receive our document with all our demands. He did not came down, but sent the state's hand against students fighting for a better education. They arrested, threw tear gas, fired at and beat students. Meanwhile, an act against the legalisation of abortion organized by SEDUCE took place, which took a bus with students of military schools for this “march”, but police did not repress these students, what is that?
This is the “democracy” we live in!
The page Desneuralizador posted a series of photos capturing the scenes of repression and those who were wounded by the military police, as well as a video showing the violence there.
In Rio de Janeiro, according to a collaborative map, 80 schools have been occupied by students — although some of the occupations have already been dismantled.
Besides the general agenda of better teaching and infrastructure, each school occupation also has specific requests. For example, at the Colégio Aplicação, which is linked to Rio de Janeiro State University, students demand that the government provide food free of charge, as the school canteen is outsourced and students have to pay for their own food.
One of the most remarkable episodes of the movement in Rio was the eviction of the Prefeito Mendes de Moraes school on May 16. This was the first school to be occupied by the students, in March, and had been experiencing constant invasions and threats by a counter movement against the occupations, known as Desocupa (De-occupy). One student reported that members of Desocupa stormed and vandalised the school on May 10 and the occupants had to withdraw temporarily from the school to protect themselves.
The final eviction took place peacefully after police received a court order to vacate the building. Students of Mendes de Moraes convinced the State Department of Education to establish a commission to visit each school that was occupied to analyze what each unit needs and issue a document promising emergency reforms in the amount of 15,000 reais (about 4,400 US dollars). Student João Victor told newspaper Folha de S. Paulo:
Estamos desocupando com muita alegria porque podemos passar o nosso poder de organizar, agir. Foram 56 dias de muita resistência, mesmo debaixo de ataques de todos os lados. Grande parte das nossas pautas foi atendida e isso é uma grande vitória. O Mendes foi a chave que abriu a porta para o restante da luta e seria injusto abandonarmos essa causa. Saímos daqui, mas continuamos com os nossos irmãos nas outras escolas.
We are vacating with joy because we can pass on our power to organize, to act. It was 56 days of resistance, despite attacks from all sides. Many of our demands were met and this is a great victory. Mendes was the key that opened the door for the remainder of the fight and it would be unfair to abandon this cause. We leave here, but we continue with our brothers in other schools.
Elsewhere in Rio, students occupied the state Department of Education (SEEDUC) on May 20 and were forcibly removed by the military police the next day, as the video by YouTube user Victor Ribeiro shows:
The SEEDUC was occupied again on May 30.
A student is carried while the military police vacates Rio's Department of Education. Photo by Desneuralizador, free to use.
The movement seems to be spreading nationwide, with new states joining the protests. In Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, there are currently 158 schools occupied — an impressive number for a movement that began on May 16. Those students have faced repression and violence.
In Ceará, in the northeast, 56 schools have been occupied. In both states, secondary school students joined teachers of the state who had gone on strike, according to Democratize.
In the state of Mato Grosso, 14 schools have reportedly been occupied against a private-public partnership that would outsource educational services.
At least one school was occupied in Maringa. Students have also mobilized in the states of Bahia and at the Federal District, and at least two schools have been occupied in the northern state of Pará.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Tanzanian Man Could Face Three Years’ Jailtime for “Insulting” the President on Facebook · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Image shared on Twitter by Tanzanian Member of Parliament Zitto Kabwe Ruyagwa. (@zittokabwe)
Tanzanian citizen Isaac Abakuki Emily was convicted of insulting Tanzanian President John Magufuli on his Facebook page by the Arusha Resident Magistrate’s Court.
Emily may serve three years in prison, or alternatively pay a fine of five million shillings (US $2300), a steep sum in Tanzania, where the GDP per capita amounts to just under US $1000 per year. This was reduced from seven million upon appeal by his lawyer, according to local news site The Citizen. He must pay the fine by August 8, or serve the prison term.
Emily first appeared in court on April 15, 2016 on charges of “insulting” the country's president, John Magufuli, allegedly contrary to Section 16 of Tanzania's Cybercrime Act No. 14 of 2015, which says:
He was accused of posting the controversial Facebook message, written in Swahili, on March 17, 2015, despite knowing that posting false or misleading statements about the country's president is against the law. His comment was in reference to President Magufuli's surprise live call to 360, a current affairs program on Clouds TV. While on the air, the president thanked the presenters and expressed his admiration for the show.
Neither Emily's personal Facebook page, nor the discussion page on which he is reported to have posted the comment, have come up in searches, but his Facebook comment allegedly read:
Hizi siasa za maigizo, halafu mnamfananisha huyu bwege and Nyerere wapi buana.
Theatrics in politics [referring to the live call], how come you compare this imbecile [Magufuli] to Nyerere [Mwalimu Nyerere, Tanzania's beloved first president]?
His conviction comes against the backdrop of Tanzania's relatively new cybercrime bill, which the Parliament passed on April 1, 2015, to address cybercrime issues such as child pornography, cyberbullying, online impersonation, electronic production of racist and xenophobic content, spam, illegal interception of communications, and the publication of false information.
Despite widespread opposition from politicians, social media experts, and human rights activists, the bill was pushed through parliament with relatively little discussion or debate. Former president Jakaya Kikwete signed it into law in May 2015.
Opponents of the Cybercrime Act argue that the law gives too much power — without meaningful oversight — to police, bestowing upon them the ability to search the homes of suspected violators of the law, seize their electronic hardware, and demand their data from online service providers. They have also cautioned that police or the state could use their power to harass online activists or social media users.
In October 2015, two Tanzanians became the first victims of the new law. Benedict Angelo Ngonyani, a 24-year-old student at Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology, was charged for publishing materials which are “false or not verified by relevant authorities.” It is alleged that he posted a Facebook post claiming that Tanzania's Chief of Defence Forces, General Davis Mwamunyange, had been hospitalized after eating poisoned food.
That same month, another netizen, Sospiter Jonas, was arraigned in a primary court in Dodoma Region and charged with “misuse of the Internet” after he posted a message on Facebook saying that Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda “will only become a gospel preacher.”
In November 2015, four Tanzanians — Leila Sinare, Godfrey Soka, Deo Soka and Monica Gaspary Soka — were charged under Section 16 of Cybercrime Act 2015 for publishing false, election-related information on the social messaging platform WhatsApp. The four appeared before a Magistrate's court in Dar Es Salaam on November 6, 2015. Public prosecutors alleged that the accused published audio information on a WhatsApp group called the “Soka Group”, that was intended to mislead the public during the October 2015 Tanzanian general elections, which were plagued by accusations of vote-rigging.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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US Church Members Stage Roadside Vigil Amid Outrage Over Japanese Woman’s Murder · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Members of the Okinawa Neighborhood Church congregation offer condolences to passing motorists on Route 58 in Okinawa on May 28, 2016. Caption from English-language narration: “We're really trying to overcome the evil that has come upon this island right now… the tragic events that have taken place.” Screencap from YouTube.
The suspected killing of woman in Okinawa in May 2016 by an American military contractor has strained relations between the United States and Japan, while prompting members of a local American church congregation to publicly offer condolences about what had happened. The case also likely contributed to an election win by an anti-US military base coalition in Okinawa.
Okinawa resident Shimabukoro Rina (島袋里奈), 20, disappeared on April 28 after informing a loved one she was going for a walk. Her body was found on Thursday, May 19. Shortly afterward, a civilian employee of a US military base in Okinawa allegedly admitted to observing and following the woman, sexually assaulting her, and then murdering her.
Shimabukuro's murder, allegedly at the hands of an American working for one of Okinawa's many US bases, generated outrage in Okinawa. The isolated prefecture in Japan's far southwest has long endured regular violence and mayhem at the hands of US service personnel stationed there.
Okinawa residents protest against murder of 20 year Rina Shimabukuro by US Marine in front of gate of Camp Foster pic.twitter.com/AZod3VDEnp
— Earthman Journalist (@Intprofessor) June 7, 2016
About 20 percent of Okinawa is devoted to military installations, a legacy of Okiniwa’s postwar status as an American “trustee” territory that was only returned to Japan in 1972. Plans to destroy coral reefs for yet another military base has fueled a protest movement that dominated Okinawa prefectural elections held on June 5, 2016, while the news of Shimabukuro's murder was still raw.
Adding fuel to the fire, several days after Shimabukuro's remains were discovered, a US Navy sailor was arrested for drunk driving in Okinawa; the Navy responded by banning all alcohol consumption in Japan for its sailors.
Some American news organizations focused more on the difficulties the United States will likely experience in Okinawa going forward rather than on the fate of the victim and the effect her murder has on the host community. There are more than 100,000 Americans present in Okinawa, whose population is 1.4 million; they mostly are either military personnel and their dependents or Department of Defense civilian employees.
#PrayforOki placard used during vigil. Translation of Japanese: “We mourn together with the people of Okinawa.” Image from public post on Sylvia Ruyon's Facebook page, widely shared on social media.
The Neighborhood Church Okinawa, a Christian congregation serving military personnel based in the prefecture, decided to stage an event in Okinawa in order to “observe a period of unity and mourning” with local residents.
The “Silent Memorial” was held on a busy thoroughfare May 28. Congregation members held up homemade placards and signs to offer condolences to the residents of Okinawa and show their sorrow for what had happened. The event was well organized, with professional photographers and a public archive of 149 photographs, and hashtags, including #prayforoki, for easy sharing on social media.
Silent Memorial- #PrayForOki　沖縄の事件を受けて米軍人、家族、軍属らが行動に出た。写真149枚　https://t.co/KTkaymil5a pic.twitter.com/NZopwJpR0v
— yukko (@fu_yukko) May 30, 2016
Silent Memorial – #PrayForOki Following the incident in Okinawa in April, American military personnel, their families and civilian employees of the military organized an event. 149 photos can be found at this link: https://t.co/KTkaymil5a pic.twitter.com/NZopwJpR0v
Although Okinawa is never ever referred to as “Oki” by Japanese people, social media users in Japan took notice of the memorial effort. In a tweet shared more than 57,000 times, one Japanese business traveler noted:
ホテル出て58号線に入ったら炎天下の中アメリカ人が頭下げて来た。
胸が痛みますな。
いい人もたくさんいるのに。 pic.twitter.com/0vgwUrTEcd
— hajiuson 2016 (@hajiuson_0118) May 28, 2016
When I left my hotel and started driving down Route 58, there were Americans standing under the torrid sun with their heads bowed. They seem to be in deep pain. There are lots of good people out there.
Neighborhood Church Okinawa also produced a video of the event that has been uploaded to Facebook and YouTube. The US Marine Corps in Japan provided accurate Japanese-language translations.
The video is notable not only because it is professionally produced and ready to be shared on social media or even run as part of a news cast, but also because of the language the narrator uses. The rape and murder of Shimabukoro Rina allegedly by an American employee from one of the bases in Okinawa is never explicitly mentioned.
Instead, her killing is referred to obliquely as “the tragic events that have taken place” or “the evil that has come upon” the island of Okinawa. It's also suggested the way to resolve the problem is to “pray for Oki”, rather than more concrete proposals, such as revising the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to formally allow Japanese authorities to prosecute American service personnel accused of a crime. Currently, crimes are handled on a case-by-case basis, and accused American service personnel sometimes are not handed over to Japanese authorities.
Although the silent vigil was limited to prayers, throughout the process of developing a response to the murder Neighborhood Church Okinawa apparently struggled to conform to the official US Forces Japan stance on American bases in Okinawa.
It also faced concerns that the vigil could be understood as a political statement. According to the Los Angeles Times in a story republished in the Okinawa edition of Stars and Stripes:
Christian Siangco, the pastor [of Neighborhood Church Okinawa], said he fielded numerous phone calls warning him that his plans for a silent memorial could be construed as being anti-base, and suggesting it might be better to lie low.
Ultimately, the church's silent memorial was successful, not only in conforming to US military policy and coordinating with with the PR arm of the US Marine Corps, but also in reaching out and connecting with Japanese citizens.
The discovery of Shimabukuro Rina's body, combined with the confession by the American suspect, occurred in the lead-up to the May 27 G7 meeting in Japan, and US President Barack Obama's historic trip to Hiroshima. The Abe government called US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy in for questioning, and lodged an official complaint.
It’s important to understand how deep & how big an issue this is here. — @CarolineKennedy on Japanese girl's death pic.twitter.com/XA281Ogpzn
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 26, 2016
The Abe government's decision to do so was likely in part an attempt at damage control before local Okinawa elections scheduled for early June.
Nevertheless, Okinawa's anti-base coalition won a stunning majority in the prefectural elections on June 5, while anti-base Governor Onaga Takeshi was re-elected.
知事「大勝利」、辺野古阻止へ重ねて決意　沖縄県議選結果受け https://t.co/HH5kD3ug7o pic.twitter.com/BtCztCkvzR
— 琉球新報 (@ryukyushimpo) June 5, 2016
Re-elected Okinawa governor: “This is a big victory.” Strong support for stopping plans for Henoko base's relocation. Okinawa election results: https://t.co/HH5kD3ug7o
In September 2015, Onaga spoke before United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to “sound an alarm” about the relocation of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa to Henoko.
Following Onaga's election win, Japan's central government promised to send more police to Okinawa to help oversee American forces there. What Onaga and his allies hope to do is revise the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to give local governments more control over US military personnel.
At the moment Onaga and his allies are enjoying momentum. Unfortunately, it was provided by the murder of a Japanese woman allegedly by an American man.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
What Stereotypes Do Europeans Have of Japan? Google Autocomplete Offers a Clue · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Google autocomplete suggestions for “Europe.”
Nick Kapur is back with a new series of “stereotype maps” based on search engine autocomplete results. Notably, he has created a map showing “European stereotypes of Japan and the Japanese, based on each nation's search engine autocomplete results.”
Previously, Kapur, a United States-based professional historian specializing in Japan, made a map of Japanese stereotypes of European countries, based on Japanese Google autocomplete suggestions.
Here's Kapur's newer map of “European stereotypes” of Japan:
I made a map of European stereotypes of Japan/Japanese, based on each nation's search engine autocomplete results. pic.twitter.com/QbZEDXBc9m
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 5, 2016
To create this map, Kapur says he used anonymized searches in the local language using localized versions of Google, as well as yandex.ru for Russia.
In terms of common European stereotypes about Japan, based on Google autocomplete results, Kapur notes:
By far the top result in most languages was “wear surgical masks.” The second most common was “do not shave their pubic hair.”
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 5, 2016
The “European stereotype map of Japan” and the original “Japanese stereotype map of Europe” are not Kapur's only maps based on Google autocomplete suggestions. He also has a map of Japanese stereotypes of the United States:
I made a map of what Japanese Google autocomplete knows about every US state (plus DC). pic.twitter.com/8O1zFWGYCx
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 16, 2016
He's also created a map that shows what Japanese people supposedly think of Latin America and the Caribbean (if you take Google's search autocomplete suggestions at face value):
I made a map of Japanese stereotypes of Latin American/Caribbean countries, based on Japanese Google autocomplete. pic.twitter.com/nXrnrF4Pdo
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 3, 2016
There's a map of Japanese autocomplete suggestions for the Middle East and Central Asia too:
I made a map of what Japanese Google autocomplete thinks about Middle East and Central Asian countries. pic.twitter.com/GBJJQKp191
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 23, 2016
One of Kapur's latest maps is Japanese Google autocomplete suggestions for different regions of Asia:
I made a map of what Japanese Google autocomplete thinks of various places in East, Southeast, and South Asia. pic.twitter.com/tvXoRZg0yK
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) June 9, 2016
Some Twitter users had questions about Kapur's methodology:
@nick_kapur Isn't Google autocomplete always individualized, based on your region, search history, browser, etc.?
— Morgan Pitelka (@mpitelka) May 23, 2016
Kapur responded by saying:
@mpitelka While my English autocomplete results definitely seem tailored to my location and past searches, these Japanese searches don't.
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 23, 2016
Kapur is a professor of Japanese and East Asian History at Rutgers University in the United States, and has studied and taught at Harvard University and Stanford University.


text:
Women Are Speaking Up About the Sexual Harassment They’ve Experienced in French Politics · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Screenshot from a sexual harassment video by the Equality in Law Association
It seems strolling through the halls of government can be just as upsetting as walking down the street for women in France because of the sexual harassment, workplace discrimination and gender-based violence they experience there. And until recently, silence was preferred over the stigmatization that often went with going public.
That appears to be changing. Seventeen French female ministers of government from all political sides have decided that they aren't going to keep quiet any longer. Under the slogan of “We will not be silenced”, they have condemned sexism in French politics in an open letter.
One of the reasons that propelled the women to speak out were revelations made about the behavior of Denis Baupin, an elected minister from the Europe-Ecology – The Greens party, before his resignation in mid-April. A total of eight women from that party told news outlets France Inter and Mediapart that Baupin had subjected them to sexual harassment.
Baupin denies the allegations, but nonetheless submitted his resignation as deputy speaker of the National Assembly.
Elen Debost, assistant to the mayor of the city of Le Mans and member of Political Party Europe-Ecology – Les Verts (The Green Party in France), reported that she had received nearly one hundred harassing text messages from Baupin, while Europe-Ecology – Les Verts minister Isabelle Attard said she also received dozens of messages from Baupin before leaving the party.
In a message published May 9, 2016 on digital documents hosting site YouScribe, Debost explained the reasons which pushed her firstly to keep silent and then to publicly condemn the humiliation she was subjected to. Her post has received more than 35,000 reads and has been re-posted and commented on by a number of other sites..
She said Baupin's elected position offered certain powers which enhanced his ability to do harm:
Le 11 mars dernier je découvrais une photo où 8 députés masculins, paradaient, barbouillés de rouge à lèvre en soit disant soutien, à la journée internationale des droits des femmes. Parmi ces 8 hommes, figurait le député Denis Baupin, prise de nausée j'ai vomi.
Pourquoi cette nausée?
Automne 2011, un peu en amont des désignations internes des candidat-es aux législatives sur les circonscriptions “réservées”, Monsieur Baupin m'appelle pour me demander de le soutenir lors du vote interne de notre motion pour la désignation des candidat-es. J'accepte, flattée… S'en ai suivi plusieurs mois de harcèlement sexuel, par SMS. Des messages à caractères sexuels, des avances, des propos obscènes.
L'image de cet homme barbouillé de rouge à lèvre est comme un crachat, une provocation à toutes ses victimes, un “regardez bien comme je vous emmerde”. Cette image provoque la nausée, elle démontre le sentiment d'impunité et de toute puissance qui est le sien.
On March 11, I discovered a photo in which eight male ministers were parading around, smeared in lipstick, supposedly in support of International Women's Rights Day.  Among these eight men was Minister Denis Baupin; suddenly nauseous, I vomited.
Why it makes me feel so nauseous?
In autumn of 2011, somewhat snowed under from internal appointments of candidates to parliament in “special” districts, Mr. Baupin called to ask me for help during the internal vote for our motion for the nomination of candidates. I accepted, flattered…soon to be followed by several months of sexual harassment by text message. Messages of a sexual nature, propositions, all obscene. The image of this man smeared in lipstick was a spit in the face, a middle finger to all his victims. “Take a good look as I'm pissing you off.” This image provoked the nausea, because it demonstrated the feeling of impunity and all the power he holds.
In no political party are women safe from such harassment. Not long after, Roselyne Bachelot, former minister in the right-wing government during the Jacques Chirac's administration from 1995 to 2007, revealed in an interview in the weekly journal l’ Événement du Jeudi, that “sexism is without a doubt the most shared trait between political parties.”
This is not something Aurore Bergé is going to deny, either. Indeed, this elected official from Yvelines, a member the Républicains party, published a message on Facebook, just hours after the revelations about Baupin went public, revealing an experience she had at a meeting. Her post was titled “A scene from everyday political life“:
Je suis accueillie par un “quand je te vois, j'ai envie de te faire une Baupin.” J'ai passé la journée à lire les témoignages de celles qui ont osé parler. A les relayer. Et à espérer que cela participe à changer les comportements.
Et je me trouve navrante dans mon incapacité à réagir.
Un autre élu enchaîne avec un “quand on voit Aurore, on a le bâton de Berger”. C'est gras, c'est vulgaire, c'est grossier. C'est pathétique. Il a l'âge d'être mon père (ils en ont un peu tous l'âge)…
Mais quand ça t'arrive, tu ne sais pas comment réagir. Tu es sidérée. Bloquée. Tu lui fous une claque ? Tout le monde te regarderait. Tu ne ris pas ? Tu n'es décidément pas faite pour la politique. Et puis, c'est drôle, non ? C'est un bon mot après tout. Tu te regardes.
I was welcomed by one colleague with a, “When I see you, I want to pull a Baupin on you”. I spent the day reading testimonies of those who had dared to speak. To pass on their stories. In the hope that it will help change behaviors.
I thought myself pathetic in my failure to react.
Another elected official followed with, “When we see Aurore, she gives us a “baton de berger” [baton de berger being a brand of sausage, rhyming with Aurore Bergé's surname]”. It's slimy, it's vulgar, it's crude. It's pathetic. He's my father's age (they're all about his age)…
But when it happens, you don't know how to react. You're stunned. Frozen. Do you give him a slap? Everyone is looking at you. Why are you not laughing? Then you must not be cut out for politics. I mean, it's funny, isn't it? It's a good joke after all. You end up questioning yourself.
On French news site Rue89's Facebook page, the accusations against Baupin and the revelations of other women political figures fueled conversation on sexism in French politics and ordinary life in France.
Some were quick to complain that men also experience workplace harassment, like Gregory Gege, who wrote:
Je suis un homme et on me prends aussi pour un coincé de service …. Par les femmes de la boîte. Je ne supporte pas qu'on traite un gars “d'avion de chasse ” ou qu'on vienne me dire que ce serait cool qu'on arrive tous en kilt …. Sans culotte bien entendu ….Résultat : je ne parle plus aux femmes mis à part au niveau professionnel…
I am a man and also taken for the token prude …. By women in the office. I can't stand being treated like a “stud” or when they tell me it'd be cool if we all wore kilts…without underpants of course… The result: I no longer speak to women in the office apart from professional topics.
This provoked the following reaction from Stéphanie Bodo, who seemed puzzled:
Gregory Gégé, auriez vous un probleme avec les femmes?… entre passer pour le “coincé de service” et se faire peloter par un vieux libidineux dans un metro ou dans un ascenceur, il y a un monde, non?
Gregory Gégé, maybe you have a problem with women in general?… Between being taken for the “token prude” and being groped by a lecherous old man in a subway or elevator, there is a big difference, don't you think?
Another reader, Nathalie Schmitt, reminded that women are not the only victims of sexual harassment:
Effectivement je ne nie pas contrairement à pas mal de féministes que l'inverse existe aussi. J'ai assisté à des attitudes professionnelles dérangeantes de la part de certaines femmes. Je me souviens avoir eu une discussion avec un collègue masculin en lui disant de faire attention. Le harcèlement sexuel et moral n'a pas de sexe… De même qu'il ne faut pas nier qu'il existe bien des hommes battus et des femmes violeuses ou incestueuses. Merci Gregory Gégé pour votre commentaire.
Indeed, I do not deny, unlike many feminists, that the reverse also exists. I have witnessed disturbing professional attitudes coming from women. I remember having a discussion with a male colleague telling him to be careful. Sexual harassment and bullying has no gender…Just as there is no denying that there are many battered men, raped women, and incest victims. Thank you, Gregory Gégé, for your comment.
Emilie Jedrzejczak pointed the finger at the sense of impunity which might explain the reprehensible behavior of certain male politicians towards women:
Tant que les politiques se sentiront au dessus de tout le monde et des lois, à tous les niveaux, le pays n'avancera pas d'un millimètre… A quand des gens normaux pour nous gouverner ?! Qui ont de l'expérience, qui ont du transpirer pour gagner leur vie ! A part nous faire vomir ils servent à quoi ?
As long as politicians feel above the law and everyone else, at every level, the country will not advance one centimeter….when will we be governed by normal people?! One who has experience, who sweats for a living! Except for making us vomit, what purpose do they serve?
According to the French Journalists’ Syndicate, Baupin via his lawyer tried to stop the publication of the sexual harassment allegations against him twice:
Que s'est-il passé dans l'esprit d'un élu de la nation pour qu'il s'attaque directement à un principe démocratique fondateur de notre République : la liberté de la presse ?
What happened to the spirit of an elected official of the nation, that he directly attacks a founding principle of our republic's democracy: freedom of the press?
Some had harsh commentary for Emmanuelle Cosse, minister of housing and the partner of Baupin. Sylvain Chazot, a blogger on Europe 1-Le Lab Politique, reports that Cosse tried to hush the story at first:
Quand il y a eu des allusions à ça, assez récemment lors d'un conseil fédéral, à la surprise générale, la personne qui est montée à la tribune pour demander qu'on arrête de discuter de ça, c'est sa compagne, c'est Emma Cosse qui a dit : ‘stop, j'ai interdit qu'on poursuive ce débat. On réglera ça ailleurs et dans d'autres conditions
When allusions are made to it, recently enough at a federal council, to general surprise the person who approaches the podium to ask that we stop our discussion is his partner, Emma Cosse. She says: Stop, I've forbidden continuing this debate. We will settle this elsewhere and under different conditions.
Baupin certainly isn't the first male politician to be accused of harassment. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin recently admitted to “inappropriate behavior” with a journalist. She said the he had snapped the waistband of her underwear while on the job; he denied this, but said he did touch her lower back.
Lamourere Odile thought of the women who are not so lucky to be the attention of the world in their search for justice, but who suffer from harassment each day or other inappropriate behavior:
Ca commence à bien faire…..pensons aux femmes au smic qui n'ont pas le pouvoir de réagir… et pour qui dénoncer équivaut a être sur la paille.. Les femmes qui montent au créneau actuellement ont les moyens de se défendre…Signé: une féministe 1ère génération !
I have just about had it with this behavior …Let's think of the women on minimum wage who don't have the power to react…and for those who to accuse, is to go broke…Women on the front lines right now have at least the means to defend themselves. Signed, a first-generation feminist!
Not all female politicians applauded the women for speaking out. Elected official Christine Boutin was one of them, which got Twitter user Guillaume Blardone's attention:
Voila sans doute pourquoi le sexisme a encore de beaux jours devant lui… pic.twitter.com/9R9TE0hUDB
— Guillaume Blardone (@gblardone) May 15, 2016
Christine Boutin's tweet: I am officially ashamed of these former ministers that suggest men are only obsessed with sex. Enough is enough.
Guillaume Blardone's tweet: Probably why sexism still has good days ahead of it.
It will take time to finally eliminate this inappropriate behavior by men in power, but at least by condemning these despicable acts, the victims can see their abusers face the full measure of the law.  In the case of Baupin, prosecutors have opened an investigation.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


text:
Health in Venezuela Remains in the Hands of its Citizens · Global Voices
Jessica Carrillo

The medication shortage, which has already hit the Venezuelans hard for some time now, has become even worse within the last few months. In response, the citizens, networks, and support systems try to confront a problem that affects a group, which progressively includes more and more of the population. In the image, a patient from the children's division of patients with cancer in Maracaibo, a city located in the west side of the country.  Wikimedia Commons image.
The health crisis in Venezuela has been thoroughly raked over by international media and is one of the most turbulent debates taking place inside the South American country at present.
The Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela estimates that the medication shortage is approaching 85%.
Faced with these numbers, the Venezuelan Parliament passed an agreement that declared a humanitarian crisis in the country, with the purpose of forcing the tottering government of President Nicolás Maduro to accept international aid.
So far there have been conversations between lawmakers and the World Health Organization, but without the executive branch of government involved little progress can be expected.
The stark reality is that Venezuelans continue to resort to social media and the support of others in order to obtain medication.
Twitter accounts like Servicio Público Vzla (@spvzla), Akistá (@Akiztapp), Ayuda SOS Venezuela (@AyudaSOSVzla), Medicinas Venezuela (@SeBuscaSeDona), DonaMed Venezuela (DonaMed_VE),  (@DONANDOTRATAMI) and the hashtags #medicinas (medicines) #ServicioPublico (public service) #SOSsaludVe y #MedicinasVenezuela (Medicines Venezuela) are among the most used for locating and donating medicines.
Some of these accounts require a doctor's prescription as a way of preventing those who do not need the medicine from obtaining it and reselling it.
Furthermore, the names of the medicines are published in accordance with the city or state in which they are found, since shipping them through private mail service or via other delivery methods is not possible.
Since the national government prohibited the shipment of medical treatments via mail in 2014, the geographic location of the patient, with respect to medicine, can be yet another barrier to obtaining medication through these means.
Ivonne Capecchi is a Venezuelan artist who lives in the city of Valencia, located 172 km away from the country's capital.
From the beginning of April Capecchi has been weaving a network of help into her Facebook profile for children at the Central Hospital of Valencia.
Capecchi started to get involved with the families after visiting Gerald, a child with cancer, and confirmed the great shortages within the hospital.
In addition to Gerald, other children were also suffering from serious limitations.
Due to a lack of resources, some of the children in Gerald's ward could not go home.
One of the other babies suffers from hydrocephaly and needs certain medication which is not affordable and which the hospital still has not obtained.
Part of this experience was narrated in a public message on her Facebook wall:
Hola amigos …ya he escrito tanto sobre Gerald … Que el teléfono lo pone sólo.
Les conté que ayer fui al hospital a conocerlo. Sali consternada del Hospital , hay una camineria que es un largooo pasillo para acceder a una de las áreas del hospital [y no cabe nada para que los familiares puedan acompañarlo…] Les diré algo, involúcrense, vayan conociendo las páginas de donación por que en este desatre de país NO HAY NADA y en cualquier momento les puede tocar y entenderán que la verdadera desgracia de este país (aparte de sus gobernantes claro) es la CRISIS DE SALUD!!! Por allí explotara este país…
Hi friends… I have already written so much about Gerald …. That the phone basically writes it for me now.
I told you that yesterday I went to the hospital to get to know it. I left the hospital in dismay. There is an entrance which is a long hallway to access one of the areas of the hospital (there's no room for family members to accompany you…). I'll l tell you something, get involved, get to know the donation websites because THERE IS NOTHING in this disaster of a country, and at any moment it could happen to you and then you will understand that the true misfortune of this country (besides, of course, its government leaders) is the HEALTH CRISIS!!! It's a bomb ready to blow…
Since then, some of Capecchi's friends have joined her in her weekly visits to the health center.
Thanks to help and donations they received (some from outside the country) by posting on social media, many children have been able to survive.
Caso LUISITO nene que fue operado gracias a la Donación desde el Perú del Botón Gástrico luego de tres años esperando […] Recuerden que perdió el esófago por ingerir ácido para limpiar aires acondicionados . Les cuento todo amigos [porque] las cosas buenas también hay que contarlas. Hoy el Dr Jiver Morillo lo vio gratuitamente y le realizaron en la Clínica La Viña en Valencia, también gratuitamente su estudio con contraste ,el cual nunca había podido hacerse por falta de dinero…
In Luisito's case, a child who was operated on after three months of waiting, thanks to the donation of a gastric tube from Peru […] Remember that he lost the oesophagus by ingesting an acid used for cleaning air conditioners. I tell you all of this friends [because] the good things also need to be told. Today Dr. Jiver Morillo saw him, free of charge, and the Clínica La Viña in Valencia, also examined him free of charge, which they had never been able to do before due to a lack of money…
Currently, Ivonne Capecchi and the other people who have joined her in her effort to provide help to these families of limited resources, are considering forming a foundation in order to organize work along with the donations.
However, these efforts arrived too late for seven children who lost their lives while waiting for treatment or due to complications associated with the poor state of the hospital facilities:
Se murió Moisés está tarde misma buscábamos EPAMIN logramos conseguirlo pero se murió […] Saben que? Ahora son 7 los nenes muertos ,no puedo con tanto en menos de tres días he visto dos familias destrozadas, arrasadas,muertas de dolor y pena.
Moisés died this afternoon while we were looking for EPAMIN. We were able to get it, but he died […] You know what? That makes seven dead children.  I can't take it any longer with so many in less than three days.  I've seen two families destroyed, devastated, dead from the pain and sorrow.
A report from the Venezuelan digital media, El Pitazo, also describes hospital conditions and limited access to medication.
The report corroborates Capecchi's descriptions (a subtitled version of this video can be found here):
In the Venezuelan health crisis, those who are most affected are those who can't afford private health centers or buy medicine overseas.
These groups not only include low income families, but also the indigenous population.
Reporter and Global Voices contributor, Minerva Vitti, reported on this topic in December 2015. Her post shows how for some time already the conditions of the Warao community have been extremely hard.
The community either lacks access to the country's health network, or to the electricity that powers hospitals and clinics:
Los generadores eléctricos del hospital están dañados desde hace varios meses y los repuestos para su reparación no pueden conseguirse en Venezuela debido a la crisis de importación de diferentes equipos eléctrictos. Esto hace que el lugar dependa de la planta del pueblo que brinda un servicio muy irregular.
Hace varios días uno de los habitantes de la zona denunciaba que tenían 20 días sin luz. Los médicos deben atender muchas de las emergencias con velas y más de un niño ha muerto, especialmente por síndrome de meconio, en el que los recién nacidos mueren al inhalar sus primeras heces durante el parto, pues muchas veces al momento del alumbramiento se ha ido la luz en el hospital.
The hospital's electric generators have been broken for months now and they can't get the parts to repair them in Venezuela due to the import crisis of different electrical equipment. This means that they depend on the town plant, which provides a very inconsistent service.
Several days ago, one of the residents in the area reported that they were without electricity for 20 days. The doctors have to attend to many emergencies with candles and more than one child has died, specifically from Meconium Syndrome, in which newborns die from inhaling their own feces during birth. The electricity at the hospital has gone out many times at the time of birth.
La ambulancia fluvial del hospital también está dañada. En una ocasión debieron trasladar a un bebé de seis meses con un cuadro diarréico fuerte hasta el hospital en Tucupita, a cinco horas de navegación dependiendo de la potencia del motor y la marea. El traslado fue imposible. El doctor y los familiares tuvieron que resignarse.
The river ambulance is also broken. On one occasion they needed to transport a 6-month-old baby with severe diarrhetic symptoms to the hospital in Tucupita, a 5-hour boat trip depending on the power of the motor and the tide. The trip was impossible. The doctor and the family members had to give up.
Meanwhile HIV/AIDS carriers, living in indigenous communities have it even harder than urban dwellers who have already been strongly affected by the medication crisis within the indigenous communities.
Vitti reported last year on alarming prevalence of the disease which seems likely to continue its destructive path in parts of a country where public healthcare long ago ceased being an attainable goal:
En 2007 la Cruz Roja Venezolana había identificado 15 casos de VIH en la comunidad […] . Hoy hay presencia de VIH en 26 comunidades warao. La comunidad que está al frente de Jeukubaca desapareció hace dos años.
In 2007 the Venezuelan Red Cross identified 15 cases of HIV within the community […]. Today there is presence of HIV in 26 Warao communities. The leading community, Jeukubaca, disappeared two years ago.

author: Jessica Carrillo


text:
Let Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul Region Inspire You · Global Voices
Akhal-Tech Collective

Flickr image uploaded by Maximus Shoots.
The sapphire-blue ‘eye’ of Kyrgyzstan's Tien-Shan mountains and the rugged landscapes that surround it have long been a favoured  destination for holiday-makers in the former Soviet Union. Now they have an appropriate promotional video.
Issyk-Kul, an eastern region of Kyrgyzstan that is home to the second largest mountain lake in the world behind Lake Titicaca, continues to be most loved for its beaches and chill waters during the wafer-thin swimming season stretching from early July to early September.
But as a video produced by a Kazakhstan-based creative collective creative Photosafari.KZ shows, there is much more to the region than that, particularly if you are on two wheels. Enjoy!

author: Akhal-Tech Collective


text:
Pakistani Senator Threatens Activist With Rape on Live Television · Global Voices
Sana Saleem

Senator Hamdullah, Barrister Masroor, and Marvi Sirmed during the argument. Image: Dawn News
During a TV talk show this Friday, June 10, Pakistani Senator Hafiz Hamdullah verbally abused Marvi Sirmed, an analyst on the program and a human rights activist, even threatening the woman with rape. Hamdullah, a representative of the religious political party Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), has spoken abusively on live television to political opponents before.
Shortly after the program was recorded, Sirmed wrote about the experience on Facebook, triggering an uproar, and leading to a police report and calls for Senator Hamdullah to be prosecuted:
I've just undergone a very traumatic experience at a News One program (Nadia Mirza Show) when Hafiz Hamdullah of JUIF got angry on a comment by Barrister Masroor. When my turn came, I started my comment by saying “I agree with Masroor sahib to the extent that…” and here Hamdullah cut me and went on and on with his arrogance and rudeness. I responded in almost the same coin. And that's when he started abusing me with worst possible expletives. Called me a whore and said “tumhaari shalwaar utaar dooN ga aur tumhaari maaN ki bhi” (I will take off your trousers and your mothers). I returned this to his own family women. And then he tried to beat me. All of this recorded in camera. Fayaz ul Hassan Chauhan held him so his punches don't reach me. He had to be taken away by the News One security.
And this religious merchant was fasting while he did all this.
Ironically, the incident took place while taping a show dedicated to the debate in Pakistan about so-called “honor killings” (the practice killing of a relative, especially a girl or woman, who is perceived to have brought dishonor on the family) and the silence on the issue from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII)—a 20-member constitutional body, created in 1962, that provides non-binding advice to the government about the religious aspects of the law and society. The CII has also been faulted for failing to acknowledge violence more generally against women.
The Council of Islamic Ideology recently came under criticism for drafting legislation that would permit husbands to “beat their wives lightly.” Hamdullah, incidentally, chairs the Senate’s Religious and Interfaith Harmony Committee.
On the TV show, panelist Barrister Masroor suggested insultingly that CII Chairman Cleric Maulana Sherani and Senator Hamdullah were “pee k soey hue hain’” (sleeping after becoming intoxicated). Masroor went on to criticize the CII for condoning violence against women. The anchor then turned to Sirmed and asked for her opinion about the CII's position on women's rights and its failure to condemn honor killings. Sirmed sided with Masroor, enraging Hamdullah, who began shouting. The argument escalated to such a degree that Hamdullah ultimately threatened Sirmed with rape.
Fight Between Hafiz. Video: Shoaibvideos
The edited video clip omits the rape threat and verbal abuse. Sirmed shared details of the attempted physical assault on her Facebook page and on another TV show, after pressing criminal charges against Hamdullah. While the video footage showing the attempted physical assault hasn't been released yet, Barrister Masroor tweeted in support of Sirmed and corroborated her story:
Appalled to witness gruesome verbal (attempted physical) abuse by Hafiz Hamdullah upon @marvisirmed in @10pmwNadiaMirza today @nadia_a_mirza
— Barrister Masroor (@BarristerMShah) June 10, 2016
After Sirmed shared her story, several others came forward to speak about the abuse they've faced from Hamdullah.
Parliamentarian Dr. Arif Alvi spoke out in support of Sirmed and shared his own experience:
I am appalled.This abusive guy once threatened me on air کہ میں تمہاری زبان کاٹ دوں گا (I'll chop your tongue off)  Shameful.Shud be banned on TV https://t.co/BwWR0jxK5D
— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) June 10, 2016
Internet user Rana Waleed listed others who have faced abuse from Hamdullah in the past, including several TV anchors:
So till date,ppl that Hafiz Hamdullah hs threatened or talked rubbish include
1) @AamirLiaquat
2) @ArifAlvi
3) @Fereeha
4) @marvisirmed
— Rana Waleed (@_RanaWaleed) June 10, 2016
Sirmed has been on several shows with Hamdullah before, and she's never concealed her many disagreements with his politics. This time, however, he refused outright to let her speak, resorting even to violent threats. Despite the footage from the TV studio, many people online claim that Sirmed provoked the fight. Her supporters, meanwhile, are pushing back:
Can't believe ppl blaming victim in the Marvi Sirmed vs Hafiz Hamdullah showdown when footage shows clearly she didn't provoke it. Sick!
— Talat Aslam (@titojourno) June 10, 2016
You mean therefore @marvisirmed can be degraded in an inhuman and un-Islamic manner by a Hafiz Hamdullah https://t.co/JsLs0RI2Yf
— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) June 10, 2016
@marvisirmed اپ نے جواب بھی دے دیا اب معصوم بنے کی کوشش کیو کر رہی ھو مرد عورت برابر
The end
— haroonrashid abbasi (@haroonrashidabb) June 10, 2016
You responded to him so now why are you pretending to be innocent? aren't men and women equal?
He was aggressor not me. It was he who hurled rape & death threats not me. It was he who pounced to punch, not me https://t.co/rQJeWB4OVc
— Marvi Sirmed (@marvisirmed) June 10, 2016
Senator Sherry Rehman condemned the incident and echoed the public's demands for action against Senator Hamdullah:
Yes @marvisirmed I have sent Chairman Senate a message already. No senator should be allowed to just walk away https://t.co/WnG8Cnt71j
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) June 10, 2016
The renowned women's rights activist Gulalai Ismail has demanded that Senator Hamdullah face legal penalties for threatening Sirmed. In a Facebook post, Ismail shared her anger and frustration about the senator's behavior:
Mullah Hafiz Hamdullah has not just used “derogatory sexist language”, through his statement he has given rape threat to Marvi Sirmed and to her mother. Through is statement, he is reinforcing that being a man having the power of a religious political party at his back, he can rape women and beat women at his disposal. He should not just be banned from media, he should be put in jail for life time because he is a threat to all women.

author: Sana Saleem


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Quarry Workers in Myanmar Suffer Health Problems, No Compensation · Global Voices
The Irrawaddy

Workers at a quarry in Ohn Chaw Village off the Mandalay-Lashio road, near Mandalay. Photo and caption by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
This article by Zaw Zaw is from The Irrawaddy, an independent news website in Myanmar, and is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
At private quarries in a village off the Mandalay-Lashio road, workers risk their health to make ends meet.
Many workers reportedly suffer from serious lung diseases as a result of inhaling stone particles daily at quarries in Ohn Chaw village, near Mandalay.
There, quarry workers earn a maximum of 4,000 kyat [about US$3] a day, and underage workers earn just over $2—an amount too little to take proper care of their consequential health problems.
As daily wage earners the workers cannot afford to take sick leave because it means they will not get much-needed money to sustain their lives.
Despite the fact that the job involves high health risks, there is no compensation plan in place for the workers.
Most of the workers are internal migrants who return to their homes for treatment when their health problems become unbearable.
Some workers have died from working in the mining quarries, but none have received compensation, according to the workers.
See more photos of workers at the quarry site below:
Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Quarry land in Mandalay. Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Workers’ housing center at the quarry site. Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

author: The Irrawaddy


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‘The Day I Became Just a Stupid Number’: One Syrian Refugee’s Journey to Europe · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Zozan Khaled Musa
A lot has been written about refugees in the last two years. But rarely do we hear from the refugees themselves in more than just soundbites. GlobalPost, an international news organization within the PRI family, commissioned essays from five young Syrians who all made the difficult decision to leave their homes — and undertake a menacing journey out of the country, to Turkey, to Greece and across southern Europe.
This essay by Zozan Khaled Musa, 25, was originally published on PRI.org on May 31, 2016, and is republished here with permission.
After a long dark journey in the Aegean Sea, I arrived to the small Greek island of Nera at about 3:30 on the cold morning of Oct. 3, 2015. There were many local fishermen who helped us after the boat landed. They wanted to have the boat’s engine, which was valuable to them.
It was an unbelievable relief to see our feet on land again. We decided to rest in a small room near the beach. There was not enough room for all of us. So only the women and children stayed inside. I made my bag a pillow and my jacket a blanket, but it was so cold that I couldn't close my eyes. When there was enough light, we walked to the local police station. It was about two-and-a-half miles away.
Many boats arrived to the island that night. Hundreds of people were standing in a line waiting their turn to be registered so they could take another boat to the main island of Kos. In Nera, when my turn came to get inside the office, they wrote the number “17” on my hand. I will never forget the day that I became just a stupid number on a long inhuman list. How shameful for humanity that so many people became nonhuman in that single helpless moment. I did all the procedures as best I could and headed to Kos, where the authorities waited for us with a paper with each one of our names on it. That paper allowed us to get on a ship going to Athens. It was a 12-hour journey. I made it to Athens the next morning and parted from my husband's friend’s family and met a Greek friend who was helping me get on a bus to the Macedonian border. It was 11 p.m.
“In Nera, when my turn came to get inside the office, they wrote the number '17’ on my hand. I will never forget the day that I became just a stupid number on a long inhuman list.”
I arrived at the border at 6 a.m. I had a small argument with a security guard at the border because he was not being fair. Some people had been waiting for a long time, but he was letting the new ones in before them. “You seem nervous. If you want, you can go back to your country and stay there,” he told me. I would not have kept silent, but a friend calmed me down. Being a refugee or a war victim doesn't mean I have to shut up when I am treated badly. I fled Syria not to have Europe's money or financial benefits. I fled because the whole world became suddenly and intentionally blind, deaf and mute toward our human made disaster in Syria.
We paid 25 euros ($27) each to board an old trash pile they called a train. No words can describe its dirt and terrible smell. Then, when everyone was piled in, it moved as if walking on eggs. That’s what we say in Syria about slow things. But finally I was on the Serbian border. It was then that I began to wish I never had started this journey. I had the worst experience after walking a long way, about four miles, to the first town where the registration center was. I can't remember the name of the town. I was so tired. But I wish I knew it so I could tell the world how bad it was there. It was supposed to be a place for people to have some rest. But refugees were out in the streets and were allowed only to get in for a few minutes to put their details on papers and to become a number again. It was a shock to see thousands of people waiting and pushing each other, and how badly everyone was being treated by the Serbian police. It is an experience you would never want to go through unless you are truly desperate. Some people I met there said they had been sleeping in the street for days while waiting for that silly registration paper.
Nothing in such a journey is rational or human.
After the hopeless waiting, I got to know a Serbian journalist. She was a nice lady and she helped me get in faster. She even managed to help me get permission to take the bus to Croatia for a few hours so I could see a completely different place, where people behaved differently. I saw real humans with real compassion. They were amazingly respectable people. I was given some hot tea and some rest. That same day I took the train to Hungary. On that train, I finally got some sleep.
In Hungary, I didn't see anything since I arrived at night and immediately got on the train. But I did see the new fences on its borders with Croatia, which would be closed only a week after my arrival in Germany. Another door closed in the faces of refugees. In a few hours I was in Vienna, Austria. I spent a night in a sports complex that had been turned into a place for refugees. That night I slept as if I had never slept before, although it was an open place where all people there can see you.
In the morning I went to the main train station and booked a ticket to Germany. I was so afraid that I would be caught in Passau, the town in Germany that is on the Austrian border. I wanted so badly to see my husband, who was already in Germany. On the way I didn't speak a single Arabic word so that no one would know that I was a refugee. I met some Americans on the train. They were tourists. I had a small chat with them about their trip. We also talked about the refugees. The woman was not happy with them at all. They both didn't know that I was myself a refugee until we arrived at the border. I saw the German police waiting to get on the train. I pretended to be sleeping. But I could hear what was going on. I closed my eyes for about a half an hour, a moment that felt endless. Migrants and refugees were caught and brought out of the train. As for me, maybe my ability to speak some English and the fact that I don’t wear a hijab — most of the other women were wearing it — helped me not be spotted.
After the train doors closed, I sighed in relief. I opened my eyes from my fake sleep to see from the windows hundreds of children, women and men — old and young — standing in a row with the police surrounding them. That was my first experience in Germany. I was happy that I could pass safely but it was not nice to see those helpless people out there as if they were criminals, especially those who were not wanting to stay in Germany. I put myself in their shoes. It's hurtful when you see others look at you in a certain way, assuming that you came because of poverty. That's what most people think of the word “refugee.”
Zozan is Yilmaz's wife. She is now living in a tiny town of about 5,000 people in northern Germany, close to the Netherlands. She recently was scheduled to have an interview with the immigration office. Then she will have to wait for approval to get her three-year residency visa. Then she will be able to move to Berlin, where she will reunite with Yilmaz.

author: PRI/PRX's The World


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The Number One Thing We Can Do to Protect the Earth’s Oceans · Global Voices
Ensia

Shadow bands and light bands during a tropical sunset. Photo by Flickr user NOAA Photo Library. CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0
This post by Liza Gross was originally published on Ensia.com, a magazine that highlights international environmental solutions in action, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
When New England fishers complained of working harder and harder to catch fewer and fewer fish, Spencer Baird assembled a scientific team to investigate. Though a fishery failure would once have seemed inconceivable, Baird wrote in his report, “an alarming decrease of the shore-fisheries has been thoroughly established by my own investigations, as well as by evidence of those whose testimony was taken.”
The report was Baird’s first as head of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. The year was 1872.
Baird recognized the ocean’s limits. A decade later, however, his British counterpart, Thomas Huxley, took a decidedly different view. Calling the sea fisheries “inexhaustible,” Huxley deemed regulations useless, since “nothing we do seriously affects the number of fish.”
Over the next century, as fishing became increasingly mechanized, Huxley’s notion that oceans are infinitely bountiful persisted even as evidence mounted that they are not. Today, 80 percent of global fish stocks have been fished to the limit or beyond, and our failure to protect the ocean — not just the fish in it — as a finite resource now threatens its ability to recover, argued an international commission of government and business leaders in a 2014 report.
“Habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, overfishing, pollution, climate change and ocean acidification are pushing the ocean system to the point of collapse,” the Global Ocean Commission co-chairs warned.
Scientists know how to cure many of the ills plaguing the high seas — that is, ocean waters farther than 200 nautical miles from shore, beyond the jurisdiction of nations. Restricting industrial activities like fishing, shipping and deep seabed mining in biodiversity hot spots would go a long way toward restoring ocean health, they say. But there is no room for such measures in a regulatory structure created to manage consumption and commerce, not conservation.
It’s a system that’s stubbornly clung to Huxley’s tunnel vision, even in the face of evidence so alarming Baird could scarcely have imagined.
The primary international framework for regulating the ocean’s bounty is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. UNCLOS, which went into effect in 1994, was set into place to fill in gaps left by earlier U.N. agreements, which regulated shipping (through the International Maritime Organization) and fisheries (through the Food and Agriculture Organization).
The treaty was soon supplemented by the 1994 Implementation of Part XI of UNCLOS, which governs deep seabed mining of nonliving resources (through the International Seabed Authority), and the 1995 U.N. fish stocks agreement, which depends on 10 regional fisheries management organizations, known as RFMOs, to implement its sustainability guidelines.
UNCLOS depends on 166 countries to ensure their own citizens and vessels comply with the treaty in areas beyond national jurisdiction — two-thirds of ocean waters. Countries tend to sign on to intergovernmental agreements – called “sectoral” agreements because they govern different  business sectors — that reflect their national interests. These sectoral agreements create authoritative bodies to ensure the equitable use and exploitation of marine resources among nations. Although the sectoral bodies represent the interests of the fishing, mining, shipping and other industries they govern, they can pass conservation measures if they want to. And some have: One sectoral body, the International Whaling Commission, for example, introduced a moratorium on whaling in the 1980s under pressure from non-whaling member countries. In contrast, the RFMOs, sectoral bodies that mostly include only fishing nations as parties to the agreements, have generally resisted conservation measures.
UNCLOS also protects the economic interests of nations with provisions that give coastal countries exclusive rights to marine resources within 200 nautical miles offshore. Most offshore oil and gas exploration, for example, is overseen by countries within these exclusive zones. But inadequate national regulations can lead to disaster, as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill — which left 11 dead and dumped nearly 5 million barrels of oil into U.S. waters in the Gulf of Mexico — made painfully clear. The only way to prevent similar disasters, the Global Ocean Commission panel argues, is through a binding international agreement on safety and environmental standards that holds corporations liable for environmental damage.
One of the biggest problems for ocean conservation, many scientists say, is that the sectoral agreements rely on binding measures for compliance, while conservation pacts, such as the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals and the Convention on Biological Diversity, depend almost exclusively on voluntary measures.
There’s no overarching or even regional conservation agreement that can protect the high seas, says Jeff Ardron, adviser on marine governance at the Commonwealth Secretariat, an international public policy coalition in London. So scientists have to go through sectoral bodies one by one to protect a vulnerable ecosystem with mixed results, says Ardron. “It’s inefficient and frustrating and slow,” he says, “but they’re all we have right now.”
Take, for example, the case of the Sargasso Sea, a massive stretch of ocean in the North Atlantic  named after the sargassum seaweed that supports a diverse community of turtles, fish, snails, crabs and other animals. The Sargasso provides spawning and nursery habitat for scores of species, including endangered American and European eels, which travel thousands of miles from rivers and streams to spawn in the itinerant mats of vegetation.
It’s the only sea bounded by currents, not land, yet that has afforded little protection from human impacts. The currents concentrate pollution, plastic and other debris. Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute suspect these pressures may have contributed to significant declines in biodiversity since the 1970s, which they reported in a 2014 Marine Biology paper.
In 2010, Kristina Gjerde, high seas policy adviser for the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Global Marine and Polar Programme, helped set up the Sargasso Sea Alliance to protect this vulnerable ecosystem. Gjerde and her colleagues made the scientific case for recognizing the Sargasso as an important ecological area that warrants protection to the U.N.’s Convention on Biological Diversity. Delegates at the 2012 U.N. biodiversity talks agreed that the Sargasso meets the criteria for protection. But the authority to manage marine protected areas beyond national jurisdiction lies with the intergovernmental sectoral organizations that share a stake in the area. So the Sargasso team had to appeal to each in turn.
First they approached the fishing body with jurisdiction over tuna fisheries in the Sargasso Sea, the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna. Representatives told the Sargasso team they didn’t see the rationale for protecting a region that doesn’t have much fishing. Next, the team approached the International Maritime Organization, which regulates shipping pollution. Officials wanted proof that sewage, ballast water discharge (which can carry alien species as well as pollution) or ship transit was harming the sargassum.
“Proof is a very hard level to surmount in any issue,” Gjerde says. That’s why scientists have been trying to convince the bodies governing industrial ocean activities to embed precaution into their activities, she says. Finally, after years of negotiations, Gjerde and her allies won at least some protection for the Sargasso. Last year, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization agreed to outlaw mid-water trawling gear that could harm the seabed, report any vulnerable indicator species caught in the trawlers and declare all seamounts in its jurisdiction off limits to bottom trawling through 2020.
The Sargasso team has not yet reached similar agreements with the International Maritime Organization or the International Seabed Authority, which governs mining of the sea floor. And that illustrates one of the most frustrating flaws in existing regulatory structures. The lack of a comprehensive regulatory framework means that ocean advocates can protect a sensitive area from one type of exploitation only to find it at risk from another.
The open oceans cover nearly half the Earth, harbor some of its most environmentally important regions, and provide employment and food security for tens of millions of people. Yet, with conservation bodies powerless to issue sanctions, it’s possible to exploit the ocean’s resources until there are no more resources to exploit.
Marine species at risk from overfishing must also contend with pervasive pollution from plastics, sewage, industrial chemicals, agricultural runoff and other contaminants. Ships release about 1.25 million metric tons (1.4 million tons) of oil each year, and cruise ships alone release as much as 30,000 gallons (100,000 liters) of sewage every day. Scientists estimate that plastic waste kills more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals a year.
Adding to these stresses, scientists have documented evidence of climate change’s impacts on marine life. Cod and other deep-sea fish are moving toward the poles in search of colder waters. Coral reefs unable to tolerate warmer waters made 30 percent more acidic by excess carbon dioxide are experiencing widespread bleaching. And because warmer waters absorb less oxygen, species like tuna and marlin, already under intense pressure from fishing, are spending less time hunting in deep waters.
“Political will is at the heart of everything.” – Michael OrbachAs serious as these effects are, many scientists believe that controlling pollution and overfishing while protecting habitat can buy enough time to help species recover from climate change’s impacts. They say recent advances in satellite and remote sensor technology can now spot vessels that fish illegally, which could help keep millions of tons of fish off the black market. Interpol, the international police watchdog, recently established a fisheries crime unit to help countries apprehend pirate fishers when they come to port. But success depends on countries working together to hold illegal fishers accountable.
Convincing nations to collaborate on international conservation measures has proved a heavy lift, says Michael Orbach, professor emeritus of marine affairs and policy in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. “Political will is at the heart of everything,” he says.
Countries need resources for monitoring and enforcement, but they also need the will to use those resources for conservation. “That’s a big requirement,” Orbach says.
If it were up to Orbach, all human activities on the high seas would need a permit from a regulatory body with the authority to monitor and sanction violators. That would solve the problem of relying on fisheries, shipping and mining organizations to police themselves.
But getting such a system up and running would require a mass outpouring of public support, Orbach says. And that’s not likely. “It’s very difficult to get the public behind ocean conservation,” he says. “It’s just not something most people know about.”
That’s why ocean advocates have been working behind the scenes for years to build biodiversity protections into the law of the sea. Finally, their efforts are paying off.
Last year, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution to expand UNCLOS to protect marine biodiversity and genetic resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The resolution, which calls for developing marine protected areas and environmental impact assessments, lays the groundwork for creating stronger high seas conservation measures. The first of four “preparatory committee” sessions to hash out what those measures should look like took place this past spring.
Gjerde, who participated in the meetings, says the agreement shows that countries finally recognize that it will take an international legally binding agreement to ensure meaningful protections.
With just 2 percent of the ocean protected — and some scientists recommending 30 percent to safeguard biodiversity — creating marine reserves is a top priority.The agreement aims to create a regulatory body with the authority and infrastructure to enforce conservation rules and sanction misconduct. It also provides a process for designating marine reserves that restrict any activities that could harm habitat from the deep seabed to the top of the water column.
With just 2 percent of the ocean protected — and some scientists recommending 30 percent to safeguard biodiversity — creating marine reserves is a top priority.
The committee expects to deliver recommendations to the General Assembly at the end of 2017. Then the hard work of building international consensus on the new biodiversity agreement begins, a process that could take years.
But a lot could happen before then. There’s nothing stopping sectoral organizations from setting up protected areas right now, says the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Ardron. “They just have to be convinced that there’s a need to do it.”
And that’s where the public can play a role. Consumers can influence the fisheries, for example, through the power of the pocketbook, or pressure their governments to enact emission controls on ships, a source of largely unregulated greenhouse gas emissions.
Ultimately, good ocean governance lies beyond what individuals can accomplish.Social media can also be useful, says Gjerde. While scientists and conservation groups were urging the International Seabed Authority to open its mining decisions to public scrutiny, a Twitter campaign helped get nearly 800,000 signatures on a petition calling for the same thing. If enough people voice concern about the oceans, scientists can use the outpouring of support as leverage at the preparatory committee’s next UNCLOS marine biodiversity meeting in August, says Gjerde.
Ultimately, good ocean governance lies beyond what individuals can accomplish. And Gjerde believes the new U.N. biodiversity agreement will finally give scientists the framework they need to set oceans on the path to recovery. She found reason to be optimistic at the first round of talks in April. Rejecting Huxley’s insistence 130 years ago that humans could never harm our planet’s expansive oceans, delegations came prepared to grapple with what they had to do to ensure sustainable management of the seas.
And that, says Gjerde, “is a huge step forward.”  Code Embed v2.2.1
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Liza Gross  is an independent journalist and PLOS Biology editor who specializes in environmental and public health, ecology and conservation. Her work has appeared in diverse outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Discoverand KQED. She tweets from @lizabio.
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What Sparked the Yan Zhou Unrest? China’s Information Deficit in the Spotlight · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Photo circulated on social media (via Epoch Times)
The video below shows angry crowds turning over two police vehicles while police officers from Yan Zhou city in Shandong province escorted a woman from a crime scene June 8.
What made hundreds of people so angry? Why was their rage directed towards police?
The Shandong police released a report via their official Weibo and major state-affiliated media outlets, saying the uproar was caused by a misunderstanding related to a quarrel between two women, while the majority of Chinese netizens had a different explanation of events.
The popularly accepted version of the story runs somewhat like this: Around 9 pm on June 8, four “kidnappers” attempted to steal a three-year-old kid from his mother near a residential neighbourhood in Yan Zhou.
Residents thwarted the “kidnappers”, detaining one woman on the spot while they awaited police.
The crowd quickly determined that the woman suspect, a Han Chinese, was from Xinjiang, a region often associated with criminal activity and separatism in public discourse.
In one of the viral videos of the incident that surfaced on social media, a woman can be heard being questioned by an aggressive crowd and saying: “I haven't yet stolen [the kid]” (我又没偷成).
The video was widely cited as evidence the incident the crowd was responding to was a failed kidnapping. It was later deleted.
(New York-based Chinese-language broadcaster NTDTV used footage from the video clip in their news report).
According to NTDTV's report the crowd was angry that it took police more than 40 minutes to arrive at the scene and some of them expressed their frustration by flipping over two police vehicles.
The police had to phone in backup to suppress the riot and eventually arrested some 17 people.
The below Weibo post quoted by many news outlets reflected the sentiment of the angry crowd:
就家鄉濟寧兖州搶孩事件，可以總結幾點結論，1、人民群眾為人民，百姓的事情還得靠百姓；2、110只是個熱線電話，服務執行看心情；3、警察很忙，都在設陷阱抓「嫖」立功呢！孩子丟了沒錢拿，抓「嫖客」有提成；4、國家應該從此出台法律，處決人販子就直接人民群眾自行解決，就不勞「人民警察」出動了，一個小時出警和不出警一個結果！5、以後警察的職責就是抓「嫖」護官就好，人民不再依賴！
I draw a few conclusions from the kidnapping incident from my hometown Yan Zhou city: 1. Ordinary people help each other out, because they can only rely on each other;
2. 110 [emergency number] is just a hot line, whether they deliver the service depends on their mood;
3. Police are too busy putting up traps to catch “prostitution”! They can't make money when a kid gets lost, but get a share of the take when arresting clients of prostitutes;
4. The state should introduce new law so that people can execute kidnappers themselves, so they don't have to bother the “people's police”. There is no difference between late deployment of police and no deployment of police;
5. In the future, the police's duty should be specified as arresting [participants in] prostitution and protecting government officials, ordinary people don't need to rely on them.
However, police from Shandong province categorized the incident as a misunderstanding.
The woman suspect was trying to stop a mother from hitting her child, police said, and the two women entered into a verbal argument.
People passing by believed that the woman was a kidnapper, surrounded her and beat her up.
In the process, another man, who was mistaken as a kidnapper was also beaten up.
These two “suspects” were escorted to the hospital by the police.
Many netizens found the official report delusional, with one blogger called “Tea-leaf should stay in water” criticising the official version as follows:
官方版本的永远都在歪曲真相，把舆论指向平头百姓误导群众，偷孩子的变成好心劝解拉架的，黑的粉成白的，大反派秒变大英雄，从新疆跑大半个中国，几天换一个落脚窝点迂回到山东劝架，请问到底是有多闲？是兖州人民傻是管媒傻？视频里那个女人亲口说我又没偷成，那前排得人谴责她别人的孩子也敢抢，那女低头默认，不知道是兖州人民聋是管媒聋？警察40分钟出警不作为你不谴责不关注，偷孩子的不谴责不关注，只把关注忠心和谴责对象指向救人维护正义的人民群众，不知道是兖州人民瞎是管媒瞎。
The official version twists the truth and accuses ordinary people of being easily misled. The kidnapper becomes the good fellow who tried to stop a fight, black is washed into white and a bad guy has turned into a hero who travelled across the country from Xinjiang and ended up in Shandong to stop a fight. Who is the ignorant one, people from Yan Zhou city or the state-owned media? In the video, the woman said “I hadn't yet stolen [the kid].” People surrounding her were saying how dare you steal someone else's kid. The woman did not say anything to defend herself. Who is playing dumb? People from Yan Zhou city or state-owned media? You have not condemned the police for their 40 minute-late deployment, you have not condemned the kidnappers. All you have condemned are the people who came to the rescue. Who are the blind ones? People from Yan Zhou or state-owned media?
The above view was echoed by many in the comment thread of the news item:
“我又没偷成” […] 说是暴民的看看那个视频吧。人贩子可恶，警察40分钟才来到现场。掀翻是因为太生气。如果40分钟前孩子被偷成功，人贩子早逃出兖州了。只能说兖州人团结，没有冷漠的对待这个社会。官方嘴里的暴民救了孩子。
“I haven't yet stolen” […] Please take a look at the video clip. The kidnapper was wicked and it took the police 40 minutes to arrive at the scene. They turned the vehicles upside down out of rage. If the kid had been stolen, the kidnappers would have left Yan Zhou with 40 minutes grace. People from Yan Zhou have stood by each other and the so-called “rioters” have rescued the kid.
But whichever account was the truth, the episode reflected deep-seated distrust in both local law-enforcement and state media, a point well made in a popular Weibo comment.
可怕不是误会，可怕的是不再信任，这些类似的事，其实是心头压抑已久的一次爆发。国内百姓生活不易，低收入高税率，生活没安全感，还要低声下气面对各种人民公仆。这只是国内百姓的一个缩影和常态。长久下去只怕会有更大爆发。到时候就别指望转移矛盾到反日之类的上面了。
What's terrifying is not the misunderstanding but the distrust. This is another outburst [like] similar incidents. Life is difficult – low incomes and heavy taxes. There is no sense of social security and yet [people] have to face humiliation from all levels by the authorities. The incident is just a reflection of their condition, and, in the long run, larger scale outbursts are likely to take place. By that time, rage will not be so easily channelled towards anti-Japanese sentiment.

author: Oiwan Lam