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Puerto Rico: Second national strike in less than a year · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The student movement and the strike they have sustained for almost a month at the main campus of the state-run University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and in 10 of the 11 campuses has catalyzed a massive social movement that has convened a national strike for today, May 18, 2010.
As recent as October 15, 2009, a national strike paralyzed the Island after governor Luis Fortuño layed-off  about 17,000 government employees (Please see Global Voices’ coverage of the October 15, 2009 strike here, here, and here). Workers and members of trade unions, women, students, environmentalists,  and professors have joined in support of the national strike convened by the coalition Todo Puerto Rico por Puerto Rico. The goal is to paralyze all 78 municipalities of the Island.
In the past days, tension has risen in the Río Piedras (main) campus of the UPR. A special police unit has surrounded the campus. Parents have been legally denied the possibility of delivering water, food, and other basic supplies to their kids: students who are participating in the strike. There have been violent police encounters with parents, students, and other people who have supported the strike.
Activists, members of trade unions, politicians, artists, professors, the LGBT community, and students from all over the Island, with different ideologies, have supported the students by disseminating their message and joining them in their protest at the Río Piedras campus. Students paralyzed the academic operations in order to protest against a $100   million budget cut and the proposed elimination of certain  registration  and fee waivers [EN]. (Please see Global Voices’ coverage of the student strike here and here).
A kiss for a student inside the campus. Photo by Ricardo Alcaraz of Diálogo. Republished under a CC License.
Someone throws a bottle of Gatorade to the students. Photo by Ricardo Alcaraz of Diálogo. Republished under a CC License.
Student strike at the UPR. Photo by Ricardo Alcaraz of Diálogo. Republished under a CC License.
Bloggers have also reacted to the student strike and the difficult economic, social and political moment Puerto Rico is confronting. Marta Aponte Alsina's blog Angélica furiosa [ES] published a post written by the novelist Juan Carlos Quiñones (UPR alumnus, #801-90-5414)  titled “The University Has No Outside.” (For its publication in Global Voices, the original post was translated by Gamaliel Pagán)
Yo digo que cada pulgada del territorio, de éste, sea la universidad. Es difícil acordonar el país entero. No imposible, pero difícil. Que la universidad sea todo Puerto Rico, y su matrícula sea la población entera. Así, le regalamos la torre a quien quiera que sea interino, para que disfrute o sufra con el eco que produzcan sus alaridos. Así, en la parada de la guagua, en la barbería, en Plaza las Américas, yo estoy en la Universidad. Que se haga una Universidad permanente, constante, como la escuela invisible de los rosacruces, que nadie, repito nadie, le pueda quitar a nadie, porque no dependería de nadie dependiendo de todos. Digo, todos a los que les interese. En último caso, que la universidad sea, como en la novela de Orwell, un lugar en la mente de cada uno de nosotros. Así, imposible aniquilarla. Imposible. O que lo intenten.
In Erendiro [ES], Alejandro Carpio locates the Island's situation in a global context:
Es importante recordar que la lucha civil y social es el impulsor de los cambios políticos y, a fin de cuentas, los procesos históricos. Los estudiantes, profesores, padres, y ciudadanos responsables que se han unido en una protesta en contra de los abusos de nuestra reinante administración deben entender que aunque sus esfuerzos tienen metas delimitadas en el espacio y el tiempo, también conforman un movimiento que abarca el mundo entero y que sacude oligarquías, ya sea la tailandesa, la ecuatoriana, la estadounidense o la puertorriqueña.
2 horas en la Huelga de la UPR from Alberto Bartolomei on Vimeo.
Poet and blogger Mara Pastor remembers her beloved years as a student [ES] at the Río Piedras campus of the UPR:
La universidad en la que me formé, crecí como ser humano y animal político, leí todo lo que me hizo amar, llorar, discrepar, valorar, entender, filosofar, escribir, está en huelga. Sus motivos, los más legítimos. Los de todos. Denunciar la injusticia. Sus formas, configuraciones nuevas, barricadas, payasos, interupciones, radios y rizomas. Estamos frente a un acontecimiento. Toda mi solidaridad, mi orgullo, mi apoyo a los estudiantes.
Protests on May 17, 2010. Photos by Ricardo Alcaraz of Diálogo. Republished under a CC License.
Online citizen media has been a vital source of information during the student strike. Professor and blogger Mario Nuñez Molina (@digizen) has  prepared a list of citizen media in Puerto Rico covering the student  strike [ES]. Some of them are: the Río Piedras students blog Desde adentro [ES] and   live radio and streaming of students reporting from Río Piedras through  Radio Huelga [ES].  UPR es un país [ES] is aggregating the digital citizen and alternative media  resources.  Blogger and graduate student Miguel Ríos created another excellent list of resources that includes Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr.
The hashtags #paroUPR,  #huelgaUPR, and  #radiohuelga are  being used to discuss and follow the student protests on Twitter.   Students of the Mayagüez (on the west coast of the Island) campus are   using @luchasrum and the blog  Luchas en el RUM [ES] to inform  about their events. UPR Río Piedras Law professor Erika Fontánez is blogging about the situation. The members of the Association of Professors also have their blog: Cátedra en acción [ES]. Anonymous blogger(s) have been writing critical posts about the students, the UPR authorities and the government in Agenda de la nación puertorriqueña [ES]. The UPR's monthly newspaper Diálogo is also covering the strike. The alternative weekly Claridad is live-streaming the strike (you have to register first in order to have  access). Mainstream media, such as Primera Hora and El   Nuevo Día,  are publishing minute by minute accounts of the   events.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Russia: Berkman Center Experts Visit Moscow  · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Researchers from the Berkman Center for Internet  and Society at Harvard University visited Moscow and met with local journalist and bloggers at the Moscow State University. Lenta.ru writes about the meeting and the research of Russian blogosphere by Harvard University.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Russia: La Russophobe Interviews Mark Adomanis · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

La Russophobe interviews True/Slant Russia blogger Mark Adomanis.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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South Africa: Nation mourns passing of Dr Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert · Global Voices
Prisha Bhoola

The day was July 9 1987. The place was Dakar, Senegal. The participants – members of the then banned African National Congress and a group of 61 influential white Afrikaners. The mission – sketch a new, democratic future for South Africa. Amongst this delegation was a man who would become a giant in South African politics – Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert.
It is no wonder then, that South Africa was deeply saddened by the loss of one of her greatest sons.
But who was the man who is so fondly remembered by so many? Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert was born on 2 March 1940 in Pretoria. He lectured at University of Stellenbosch , Rhodes University  ,the University of Cape Town  and achieved his doctorate at 27. In 1973 he became professor of sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Slabbert ventured into politics in 1974 and joined the Progressive party with Helen Suzman. This would mark his stand against apartheid. However, it soon became evident that this was not achieving his desired result and in 1986 he announced his resignation from both parliament and his party on the grounds that parliament “had become irrelevant to the future of South Africa”.
A year later, he became director of policy and planning for the Institute for a Democratic South Africa and led the delegation to Senegal, as described above, leading to the white government of the day denouncing Slabbert's group as traitors.
In the new South Africa, Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert continued to contribute to finding common ground amongst South Africans and remained committed to identifying a joint future for all until his death on 14 May 2010.
The blogosphere was abuzz with news of his death. It soon became clear that many South Africans realized that a huge debt was owed to the man known as “Van”.
The Daily Maverick describes him thus:
It is a measure of Van Zyl Slabbert’s importance and influence that he helped lead the country’s great change, exposed and out in the open. Teddy Roosevelt would certainly have said of him he was “the man in the arena”.
South African politicians don’t agree on too much, but on the death of Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert, the views were largely unanimous. President Zuma said,
His visionary leadership lives on in our efforts to build and strengthen democracy. He will be remembered as a principled and patriotic South African, who served his country diligently.
OFM reported similar sentiments attributed to the Freedom Front Plus, a political party largely representative of the Afrikaner community and Former President FW de Klerk:
Die leier van die Vryheidsfront-Plus, Pieter Mulder, sê Slabbert was altyd eerlik en het ‘n integriteit getoon wat vandag volgens hom nie meer bestaan nie. Oudpresident FW de Klerk het hom geloof as een van die mees uitsonderlike en briljante persoonlikhede op Suid-Afrika se politieke toneel.
The Democratic Alliance said:
As a politician, academic and businessman, he lived his life in devotion to improving his country. His leading role in opposing apartheid and facilitating South Africa's transition to democracy is testimony to his enduring contribution to the country he loved.
Tributes similarly flowed on Twitter. Anneroselt   tweeted that Slabbert
was an awesome man who will always be rembered (sic)
John Clark stated that,
South Africa is the poorer for the loss of your intellect and humanity.
And perhaps the most poignant of all was from Tinus le Roux who tweeted:
Stil broers. Daar gaan ‘n groot man verby.
It is clear that South Africans owe a huge debt of gratitude to Dr Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert. His legacy will be remembered and celebrated in South Africa for years to come. It is also clear that his beliefs still hold true in present day South Africa. He once said:
When I look towards the future, I am fearful of the long darkness that may await us all. I am saddened by the human potential we have squandered. But we here in South Africa have problems to solve for which the rest of the world has found no solutions. That in itself is a great challenge.

author: Prisha Bhoola


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Taiwan: Expecting Youth Power of New Generation · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Aboutfish, former senior journalist and now the founder of TaiwanGoodLife(online aggregator of citizen media), talks about the moments of democratic enlightenment in her youth life(zht). Like most Taiwanese born before 1980, she did not know any democratic movements and protests ever happened in Taiwan due to media and ideological control by KMT government. She also documents all the recent important social movements initiated by youth, and encourages more young people to get involved in social change.

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Technology for Transparency Review, Part IV · Global Voices
David Sasaki

In the last post of this series we published our summaries, conclusions, and recommendations for technology projects related to budget and election monitoring. Today we continue our concluding remarks and recommendations with a focus on technology initiatives related to civic complaints. You can see all of the case studies and project listings related to civic complaints platforms by clicking on the relevant filters beneath the map on the Transparency for Technology Network.
Throughout our interviews with project leaders a sentiment we heard over and over again is that they are trying to transform a culture of complaining into a culture of solutions, actions, and accountability. Ory Okolloh, a longtime Kenyan blogger and the co-founder of Mzalendo, remarked in our interview:
I spent a lot of my early blogging career sort of highlighting all the ills of the government in Kenya and all the corruption and problems. One day I asked myself, well you’re sitting here with this voice and this platform and all your complaining is not really doing anything to make a difference then how can you – within this space – try to have a little bit of an impact? And I think that’s what drives me. ‘Look, it’s time to stop complaining and start acting.’
In order to act on complaints, however, it is first necessary to organize and make sense of them. Several projects set out to do exactly that.
In September 2008 four Jordanian technologists developed Ishki to collect and organize complaints from local citizens about the public and private sector. Their goal is to eventually expand the mission of the project so that the complaints lead to conversations, solutions, and, finally, to better policies and responsiveness by companies and government officials. Though dormant for most of last year, the site has since relaunched with new features and remains active today. So far, however, we are not aware of any examples in which a complaints listed on Ishki has been resolved, or even responded to by public officials.
Similar to Ishki, Kiirti serves as a single platform to collect complaints from residents of major cities around India. Unlike Ishki, which is built on Drupal, Kiirti uses Ushahidi to accept complaints via SMS and then visualizes them on a map interface. Project founder Selvam Velmurugan of eMoksha says that the platform has led to the repair of a streetlight in Chennai and also the paving of a dirt road. In an earlier review of the project I pointed out the seeming inefficiency of submitting a complaint to a platform which then forwards it to a government agency, but, in her review of the case study, Aparna Ray suggests that “citizens may actually welcome this buffer which facilitates engagement and gives visibility and weight to their complaints and issues.” Still, she encourages Kiirti to become more transparent about its process in verifying, forwarding, and resolving complaints.
Penang Watch goes one step further than Ishki and Kiirti. In addition to collecting and categorizing complaints from citizens, the volunteers behind the site harass city council officials until the complaints are at least answered, if not resolved. Their persistence has, for example, led to the shutting down of illegal shops in Georgetown's UNESCO world heritage neighborhood. Complaints submitted to PenangWatch.net are first verified by a team of volunteers, and then forwarded to the relevant authority and/or individual to answer or resolve the complaint. If there is no response within a week or two then a reminder is sent out. If the complaint is still not dealt with after two more weeks then a profile of the complaint is featured on the website and the negligent agency/individual is “named and shamed” via emails to all council departments and media organizations. Project coordinator Ong Boon Keong says that “roughly 300 complaints are submitted through Penang Watch per year” and that so far they have “been able to settle 50 percent of submitted complaints.”
Unlike Penang Watch, which serves as a bridge between citizen complaints and city officials, Cidade Democratica aims to motivate citizens to come up with their own solutions to civic problems. It's important to note that online, social platforms don't only offer new ways for citizens to interact with elected and appointed officials; they can also create new frameworks to think about how citizens govern their own communities without relying on traditional government structures. Cidade Democratica is a Brazilian platform – with most activity taking place in São Paulo – where users can submit both problems and solutions to those problems. There have been some policy decisions – such as the creation of bicycle paths in Jundiaí – which resulted from discussions and proposals originating on Cidade Democratica. So far successful solutions have depended on government involvement, but in the future one can envision that communal gardens, walking paths, and even recycling programs can all be coordinated by citizens without government involvement.
Recommendations:
Of all the civic complaint websites we documented, Penang Watch has been the most successful in terms of bringing about government action and response. We recommend to all projects that they implement and document well-defined processes for how to deal with submitted complaints. This includes verification, categorization, prioritization, effective communication with relevant government agencies, ensuring response, working toward resolution, and publicly recognizing the work of responsive public officials. These processes can be seen as chronological stages and platforms can identify the stage of each complaint, similar to software issue tracking systems.
We recommend that, as much as possible, civic complaints websites work with and not against government. Penang Watch coordinator Ong Boon Keong is eager to point out that the website aims to improve the local government's performance by “providing it with both positive and negative feedback.” Some observers, such as Archon Fung, worry that that the adversarial nature of many transparency and accountability websites erodes trust in governments and institutions, and presents the government as more inefficient and wasteful than it really is. Indeed, we have found many websites that strive to highlight the worst actions of corrupt officials, but few if any that reward effective performance and clean track records. In the future it is recommended that transparency and accountability websites strike a balance between criticizing poor government performance and celebrating that which is worth duplicating.
We recommend that civic complaint websites investigate whether an anti-corruption hotline service exists in their country. A working paper by Transparency International offers several suggestions as to how civil society can work more closely with such anti-corruption hotlines. Elaine Byrne, Anne-Katrin Arnold and Fumiko Nagano of the World Bank's CommGAP initiative have published an excellent paper advocating for improved communication between government anti-corruption agencies and traditional media. Their findings, case studies, and suggestions are equally applicable to anyone developing or managing a civic complaints website.
It seems likely that the future of civic complaint websites will be increasingly mobile as internet-capable mobile phones become more common in developing countries. We believe that citizens are more likely to file a complaint if they are able to do so immediately from their mobile phone, rather than waiting to return to their computer. Platforms like FixMyStreet in the UK and SeeClickFix in the United States reveal the potential of marrying mobile applications with web-based map interfaces. The SeeClickFix complaint platform has even been adopted by some politicians, such as Bronx city councilmember Fernando Cabrera, who has put SeeClickFix right on the front page of his website. Other municipal governments including Boston in the United States and Eindhoven in the Netherlands have developed their own mobile applications to collect and act on citizen complaints.
However, the creation of so many disparate platforms to collect civic complaints also presents a problem. The most basic objective of civic complaint websites is to provide the most efficient line of communication possible between the citizen who has observed a problem and the public official who is responsible for resolving that problem. If there are multiple platforms, or multiple channels, through which citizens can make their complaints then public officials will have to spend more time searching, reviewing, and prioritizing complaints on each platform and less time responding to and resolving the complaints. We recommend to developers, activists, and governments that whenever possible they avoid the proliferation of multiple platforms so as to decrease the transaction costs of resolving complaints. If this is not possible, it may be necessary to develop aggregators of complaints filed across multiple platforms.
The city of San Francisco has shown one possible model toward open, distributed complaint tracking by partnering with CoTweet to track citizen complaints via Twitter. The San Francisco city government should be lauded for taking advantage of a channel of information where citizens are already leaving complaints about dirty streets, graffiti, and potholes, but the use of Twitter as a platform for complaint tracking reveals a tension between openness and organized prioritization. It is important to communicate to citizens that while a broken streetlight may be their own personal priority, it is likely not the first priority of an entire municipal government. Twitter is not currently well-equipped to organize messages by their priority and status toward resolution, but there is reason to believe that San Francisco's Twitter-based complaint tracker will improve its organization and prioritization of messages over time.
While San Francisco's residents may be eager to send their local government a photograph of a pothole via Twitter, the same program might not be as effective in other communities where expectations of political representation and responsiveness are lower. Stuti Khemani notes that in very poor countries, people may not link events in their personal lives with wider policies.  He gives the example of a child dying – something outsiders may blame on a lack of immunization or poor health policies, perhaps due to government corruption that prevents funding from reaching target areas.  He argues that local community members may see this death as a fact of daily life rather than as something that could possibly have been prevented by better governance.
This likely helps explain why a SMS-based civic complaint service launched by the municipal government of Pimpri-Chinchwad in India has so far attracted only three to four complaints per day, some of which, officials say, are personal issues rather than civic problems:
Though [Municipal Commissioner] Sharma claims that three-four complaints in a day are not bad, the harsh truth is that every gulli, chawl, building or society in Pimpri-Chinchwad has dime a dozen complaints. Every day, you will bump into groups of citizens discussing a bad road or a cooperative society residents grieving about piling garbage. Stinking public toilets is another major problem. And residents, especially those, living in chawls, have a strong grouse against the state of public toilets where either doors are missing or broken, commodes have been smashed, water is not available or the toilet blocks have not been cleaned for days.
Journalist Manoj More writes that he spoke to a “cross-section of citizens” from Pimpri-Chinchwad and found that “hardly anybody knows that such a system does exist.” Simply building a platform to collect complaints is clearly not enough; such initiatives must organize workshops to educate citizens that they are able to make demands of their elected officials, and that there are concrete processes in place to do so. At the same time, it is crucial that coordinators of civic complaint websites partner with government agencies so that citizens feel they are heard when they participate. We recommend to project managers that they partner with teachers at local high schools and universities to take their classes on “civic complaint finding field trips” so that young people are able to see their community from the perspective of an engaged citizen and prioritize which issues must be dealt with first.
Before donors support the development and outreach of civic complaint platforms, we recommend that they first support more research of how such initiatives can most effectively attract, organize, communicate, and resolve citizens’ complaints by working in partnership with government agencies. We do see evidence that there is utility and rationale for a middle layer of civil society to serve as the broker between citizens demanding better government service and government agencies prioritizing their time and budgets, but there is so far a lack of evidence and inquiry as to how that middle layer can most effectively operate. What incentivizes citizens to participate? How to various government agencies organize and prioritize incoming streams of complaints? How much overlap is there between the priorities of citizens and government agencies? Are complaint services run by civil society organizations more effective than those run by local governments? What are the most effective strategies to inspire response and resolution of civic complaints? What types of complaints must be resolved by government agencies, and what are examples of complaints that have been resolved by citizens themselves? These are just a few of the questions that require more research, ideally from longterm studies that focus on a single municipality over a year.
Finally, while we recognize that software platforms must be adapted and appropriated to function effectively in each distinct environment, we recommend to all activists who are considering the implementation of a civic complaint website in their community to closely examine existing, open source platforms such as FixMyStreet and its sister version written in GeoDjango, which is used by FixMyStreet Canada. Both projects have invested heavily in writing the code to the platforms, which can be used freely by other projects so that they can focus their time and efforts on partnering with relevant government agencies and organizing educational workshops to ensure that the platform is used.
Thanks to Rebekah Heacock for her contributions to this piece.

author: David Sasaki


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Thailand: Red Shirt protesters remain defiant · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

38 people dead. 279 wounded.
The Red Shirts want a truce with soldiers but the government insists the protesters must first disperse before negotiations can proceed. Soldiers are already using live ammunition against protesters which the government justifies as a necessary step to restore order in the capital.
The Red Shirts have been protesting in the streets for the two months already. They are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva whom they accuse of being illegitimate and undemocratic. They also want the Prime Minister to dissolve the parliament and call for new elections. There were negotiations to settle the protest peacefully but they bogged down last week.
Violence erupted when the government ordered a blockade of the protest camps and later a crackdown against the protesters. The government blamed “terrorist-protesters” for the rising tension and violence in Bangkok.
A google map of the protest zones and “war zones” in Bangkok
Liveblog reports about the situation in Bangkok are available through Therelive, Vaitor, and Legal Nomads. Pictures of the standoff in the capital are uploaded on thaireport, The Nation’s State, and Life.
Red Shirts. Photo by potapotypoter.
What happened in Bangkok in the past 24 hours? Here is a timeline of events provided by The Thai Report
00:45 – Explosions and automatic weapons near Saladaeng…
01:40 – Tear gas and M16 fire…
02:00 – Red shirts receiving much needed supplies…
03:25 – 6 new red shirt stages setup…
03:30 – Vehicles turn off headlights to avoid sniper fire…
03:30 – Soldier shot in head at Saladaeng…
09:30 – ‘Official’ death toll rises to 35…
09:30 – Homemade bombs hit Chiang Mai banks in the North…
09:50 – Red leader tells looters to go home…
09:50 – Red leader: ‘Don’t loot, use tires to block snipers’…
10:40 – 106 bank accounts frozen to cut off protest funding..
10:50 – Death toll almost certainly higher…
11:35 – Government: Get out by 3pm today…
13:10 – Thousand of rounds fired last night…
14:25 – Thunderstorms and troops approaching…
14:50 – Red cross blood donations at capacity…
14:55 – Durian shells used to pop tires…
15:10 – Hope of ceasefire dwindling…
15:10 – Protesters refuse to leave Rajprasong…
16:00 – Heavy gunfire on Soi Rangnam…
16:10 – Rama IV erupts in explosions and gunfire…
17:35 – Gas stations closed…
17:50 – Gas truck hijacked…
17:55 – Fire burning next to gas tanker…
17:55 – Grenade hits gas station…
18:15 – 6,000 litres of petrol…
18:20 – Protesters given more time by government…
18:35 – About 5,000 people left in red shirt camp…
18:40 – Huge fires reported at Khlong Toei…
18:40 – Stranded residents can call for help at 02-338-3677, 02-338-3333 ext 7254…
19:15 – Phuket tourism hits new low…
19:15 – Thaksin: “The pictures that I have seen go beyond any nightmares”…
19:30 – Hospitals and ambulances on standby…
19:50 – Troops inch closer…
21:00 – CRES shows videos on national TV of soldiers beaten, looting…
21:05 – Khon Kaen red shirts protest at provincial hall…
21:50 – Satellite stages outside Rajaprasong growing…
22:00 – Yet another new rally site in Latprao…
22:00 – More forces sent to Bangkok…
22:35 – Gunmen dressed as soldiers shot civilians from Cheewathai building…
22:45 – Bangs and shots from Din Daeng…
23:10 – Loads and loads of shots near Ratchaprob…
00:35 – Loudest explosion of the night from Rama IV…
00:45 – 7 satellite protest stages spread throughout Bangkok…
01:00 – Confrontations at Ramkhamhaeng protest…
01:25 – Gunshots reported at Ramkhamhaeng…
Burning tires. Photo by JeabJeab_Mango.
Thailand Crisis writes about the street battles in Bangkok:
It’s amazing. There are fightings in several locations in Bangkok… But those are not skirmishes…
Shootings… light…. heavy… different calibers… single shots…. bursts… grenades… the guy is a military… And it’s going on for 4 hours !
Abhisit and the military apparatus are winning the battle (the massacre)… But they’re surely losing the… future.
An anonymous writer warns about the tactic of the government to label protesters as terrorists
The deaths of score protesters that night somehow were presented as proof of “terrorists” and justified their killings. In the last few days, the indiscriminate killing is justified because there are supposedly “500 terrorists” hiding within the main body of protesters. As a protest leader has said, such a statement is tantamount to the advance issuing of 500 death certificates of protesters, “terrorists” or not.
Photo by freakingcat
The twitter accounts of war correspondent Michael Yon and Thaksin lawyer Robert Amsterdam provide realtime updates of the situation in Bangkok. Here are other twitter reactions
MAVinBKK: I am having trouble with some so called journalists on here – some are very biased and believed with caution.
PeoplePolitic: RT @photo_journ: “I'm not a #redshirt. My government should not kill people”
disambiguated: #redshirt – most shops, restaurants closed in lower Suk. Never seen it like this, even in the wee hours. Few street vendors, even.
rrystrom: The #redshirt morons are even shooting at the Gas Truck….
Red Shirt rally. Photo by newley
Suthichai, Editor-in-Chief of Bangkok broadsheet The Nation, issued an open letter criticizing the “biased” coverage of the CNN. But is CNN really biased?
…quotes and statements seem to have been solely taken from the anti-government protest leaders or their followers/sympathizers. Yet, all details about the government’s position have come from secondary resources. No direct interviews with government officials have been shown; no interviews or witness statements from ordinary Bangkok residents or civilians unaffiliated with the protesters, particularly those who have been harassed by or suffered at the hands of the protesters, have been circulated.
A video was uploaded which shows how Red Shirts used a baby as a human shield against the advancing soldiers. Here is a citizen video of the Red Shirt rally.

author: Mong Palatino


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Trinidad & Tobago: Do So!  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Pleasure highlights the different ways in which to “do so” in Trinidad and Tobago's upcoming general election.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Keeping Promises  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowTnT.com asks: “What methods do we have in T&T to hold the winning politicians to their campaign promises after 24 May 2010?”


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Trinidad & Tobago: LGBT Issues  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

gspottt notes that “of the almost 100 candidates [in the upcoming Trinidad and Tobago general election]…the People’s Partnership candidate for St. Ann’s East…is the only one to date to make positive references to sexual orientation on a campaign platform.”


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Bahamas: Electoral Reform  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Larry Smith blogs about electoral reform in the Bahamas.


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Bahrain: Why was Al Jazeera’s Office Shut Down?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain announced that it has temporarily shut down the office of Al Jazeera Satellite Channel for “violating professional conventions.” Bloggers and tweeps react to the development in this post – especially after rumours surfaced that the Qatari station's bureau was closed because of a report it aired on poverty in Bahrain. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera says it doesn't even operate an office in Bahrain so what exactly is going on?
Al Jazeera's Logo
Tunisian journalist Habib Toumi, who works in Bahrain, breaks the story on his blog:
“The Ministry of Culture and Information has made the decision to freeze the activities of Al Jazeera Satellite Channel office in Bahrain after the channel violated professional conventions and did not comply with the laws and regulations of the press, printing and publication law,” the ministry said in a brief statement carried by Bahrain News Agency (BNA). “The temporarily freeze will be lifted after the ministry and the channel agree on a memorandum of understanding that defines their relations in a way that preserves the rights of both parties
according to the principle of reciprocity in exercising media activities in both countries,” the statement said. Bahrain in May 2002 banned the Doha-based channel from reporting from Bahrain.
The information minister said that the ban was imposed because the television station was deliberately seeking to harm Bahrain and that it was biased towards Israel and against Bahrain. Arab countries that barred the pan-Arab Al Jazeera station include Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco and Palestine.
In a follow up post, Toumi reports on Al Jazeera's reaction to the news:
“We were surprised and puzzled by news that Bahrain’s culture and information ministry has decided to temporarily freeze the activities of our bureau in Bahrain,” the pan-Arab network said. “While we deeply
regret the decision that had not been officially conveyed to us, we stress that our editorial line and professional policy in covering news and issues whether their locations have not changed or been amended. We remain invariably committed to the motto we have kept since we were launched,” Al Jazeera said on its website.
The Ministry of Culture and Information's decision to shut the station's office down is all the more confusing, since Al Jazeera does not even have a bureau in Bahrain.
According to Ammar Mohammed, who works for Al Jazeera:
Moving on to Twitter, users were left scratching their heads for a ‘logical’ reason behind the move – the second against the outspoken channel in eight years.
Sultan Al Qassemi, from the UAE, tweets:
Bahrain shuts down Al Jazeera channel operation. It may be attributed to the shooting incident of Bahraini sailors by Qatari coastal guards
In response to my question on why the channel's non-existent office was shut, Bahraini SuadAK responds:
In a follow up tweet, Suad AK writes:
On his popular blog, Mahmood Al Yousif, of Mahmood's Den, reacts:
Is it fair to say then that Bahrain’s government strategy to deal with all its problems is to firmly bury its head in the sand? With the various and consistent curbs applied to the media in all its forms it certainly suggests this “strategic” direction.
And I am left wondering what next after SuadAK tweets that Al Jazeera is being requested to ask for “approval” every time they want to air anything about Bahrain:
@SuadAK And where will it stop? Will they ask the Guardian, New York Times and Washington Post to ask for permission too?
Meanwhile, BahrainRights, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights’ account, tweets the links for the videos of the report which allegedly led to the suspension of the Al Jazeera operation in Bahrain. The centre, which has also been shut down by the Bahraini authorities, tweets:
AlJazeera TV report on poverty in bahrain that caused closing their office in #Bahrain PART1  http://ow.ly/1qxVwC
And the second part of the video is here:
PART 2 of AlJazeera TV report on poverty in bahrain that caused closing their office in #Bahrain part2  http://ow.ly/1qxVx0

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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“Black Planet Award” goes to…Formosa Plastics Group, Taiwan  · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

“The Formosa Plastics Group is the world’s largest manufacturer of PVC, its CO2 emissions constitute one quarter of all emissions in Taiwan and with its special dispensations from the government and close cooperation with officials the tax rates for three of the major FPG companies pay less than 10% taxes while one pays nothing at all!”, from FPG Truth.


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Bolivia: New Coliseum in El Alto · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Letras Alteñas [es] posts photos of the new coliseum that is being built in the Senkata neighborhood of El Alto, Bolivia.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Brazil: Using Cleaner Fuels in Ships · Global Voices
Diego Casaes

Ambiente Brasil reports [pt] on the bill nº 7006/10 by the parliamentarian Carlos Bezerra. It intends to prohibit the traffic of ships whose fuels contain more than a thousand parts per million of brimstone in Brazilian waters, reducing the impact of pollution caused by them in cities close to the seashore.

author: Diego Casaes


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Denmark: Flashmob for a Bus Driver’s Birthday · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

A video of a surprise flashmob to celebrate a bus driver's birthday forms part of a professional social media campaign to promote public bus transit in Denmark.

author: Solana Larsen


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Estonia: Green party purges · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa reflects upon how the Estonian Green Party has just expelled leading members and which consequences this has for the party and the country's political landscape, not least in relation to next year's parliamentary elections.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Facebook Is Blocked in Pakistan As It Indulges In A Controversial Campaign · Global Voices
Teeth Maestro

After the outcry surrounding the Draw Mohammed Day Facebook page which is campaigning for the creation of mass cartoon caricatures of Prophet Muhammed [PBUH] on the 20th of May, today the Lahore High Court ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block the entire Facebook.com domain in Pakistan till 31st May.
Reports of blockage had been appearing around the country from the morning, initially the PTA had only blocked the URL of the offending Facebook page on a number of ISP, but by the late evening it had spread throughout the entire Facebook domain. Over 1.8  Million registered Facebook users from Pakistan will not be able to access their Facebook pages for the next few days.
The official PR notification as reproduced by Aamir Attaa at ProPakistani is as follows:
BLOCKAGE OF FACE BOOK WEBSITE DUE TO  PUBLICATION OF PROFANE ANTI ISLAMIC CONTENT ON ITS WEBSITE.
ISLAMABAD: MAY 19, 2010
In compliance with the orders of Honourable Lahore High Court,  Lahore, on the Writ Petition No.10392/10, dated the 19th May, 2010, the  Ministry of Information Technology has issued a directive to Pakistan  Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block the ‘Face Book’ and all other  internet links displaying sacrilegious caricatures of the Holy Prophet.
Ministry of IT has also directed the PTA to  remain alert and watchful and block all such links displaying the  profane caricatures immediately.
Ministry of IT has requested public at  large to contact a dedicated Telephone No.0800-5505 and e-mail address:  complaint@pta.gov.pk , to transmit necessary information, should  anything to the effect of objectionable caricature get  displayed/propagated at any website.
This open ended notification does little to signify that its on an entire domain and also lays no significant directive on the deadline of the blockage.
According to Foud Bajwa, who writes on Internet governance in Pakistan:
13.48% of  Pakistani  Internet Users will not be able to access Facebook.com  starting at 12am tonight on 20th of May 2010.
Adil Najam  at Pakistaniat shares a very valid and compelling argument quite literally blaming the Muslim community to have brought attention to the devious campaign designer in helping him achieve his goal.
I am offended by the idea that page purports and the goals it  seeks to achieve. So, why should I dignify it by a visit? Why  should I publicize it? Why should I give it the attention it was created  to seek. Yet, all of us (now me included, which is why writing  this is uncomfortable) are doing exactly that. And that is what pains me.
They simply could not have done this without us. The only people  who have turned this from nothingness into a huge issue is us. I am  sure that those who set up the page are jumping up and down and thanking  us for making their page such a huge success! And that is what  pains me.
Rumaisa Mohani conversely suggests to condemn this issue:
We have to decide now that “Do we respect ourselves, as mentioned in the words of Iqbal”? …. Because if  we don’t , then we will have to accept what others say about us and do  to us.  The pictures, cartoons and insulting  remarks are increasing day by day , only because we are getting used to  them…. and that is where lurks the real danger !!!
An immediate action can be condemning any  such hurtful act, which is against our religious beliefs peacefully. We  can give them an impression that nobody believes them and make them  believe that they are wasting their time and effort to berate us… show out self-respect ! But, we need to do this  as a unified force.  We should neither deviate from our focus (i.e.,condemning them) nor  getting into petty issues (i.e., our own lacking)… because this is what  they want us to indulge in.
Tehseen Bajwa at Techie Buzz shares his frustration that Facebook did not block the page:
Interestingly, the group inviting people to draw cartoons only has 42,000 members while the group that is asking Facebook to take action against this has 58,000 members. This however, has failed to get Facebook’s attention. After lots of protests and boycott-Facebook campaigns online, people also gathered on the  streets of Pakistan to push Facebook for an action. When disappointed,  users appealed the Government to intervene and as a result the ban was  issued.
Sardar Mohkim Khan writes to say that the facebook page must be banned:
I think Mark Zuckerburg should take notice and give his social network’s Terms of Use a good read. Once done, he must then remove this page or  simply let all hate groups flourish, I mean you have to be just and not  be biased. Again religion is not the major reason, simply put the issue  is with how Facebook has ignored its own rules and making people hate it  more.
Ayesha comments:
by banning Facebook we are giving them financial loss and then they will remove all the nonsense, but what about the real culprits? you think they will stop? NO!, they will definitely find some other platform to harass us
Waqas Kamran at CooL Yar Forums says
We should stop using Facebook until they realize and respect Muslims  and till privacy concerns are solved. We should use our own websites and  support Muslims in anyway.
Meanwhile I wrote on my own blog at Teeth Maestro:
It does little to solve the problem, we as peaceful Pakistanis were  lobbying to force Facebook to block the groups activities, our outreach  was peaceful and with a definite commitment we had condemned this  issue to such a strong degree that we might have possibly been on the  verge of a break through, to be honest no one from the Muslim world was  so emotionally charged lobbying against this group as we were here in  Pakistan, now they have a free reign to celebrate the Draw Mohammed Day.   to have won, while our government simply forced us to keep our eye  closed.
ProPakistani's stance on this issue is:
We are Boycotting the Facebook on May 20th, 2010 and we will abandon  all our activities on Facebook ever after. We have this stance because:

author: Teeth Maestro


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Iran: The Iran-Brazil-Turkey Nuclear Deal · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

In Brazil, Maria Frô describes the deal signed by Iran, Brazil and Turkey as the major victory of the Brazilian diplomacy in recent times [pt]; on the other hand, in India, The Acorn blog considers it as an Iranian attempt to acquire more time and diplomatic space.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Jamaica: “Dudus” Extradition  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

ttgapers.com and Caribbean Camera are following the “Dudus” extradition case with great interest.


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Japan: Buddhist Pet Funerals · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

The Quirky Japan Blog introduces some actions a pet owner can take following the loss of a beloved pet, in a post titled “Buddhist Pet Funerals“.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Lebanon: AUB students’ strike against tuition hike  · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Lebanese Farfahinne reported the students strike that took place at the American University of Beirut (AUB) against a hike in tuition fees.

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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MENA: International Day Against Homophobia Celebrated  · Global Voices
Katharine Ganly

May 17th marks the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).  Despite homosexual acts still being punishable by law in all of the Middle East and North Africa with the exception of Israel, there are nevertheless many initiatives throughout the region to mark the day, along with more established organisations building on the successes of previous years events.
A placard from the Beirut demonstrations. It reads “Mithly Milthlak”; a play on words indicating that homosexuals are no different from anyone else.
According to GayMaroc, 2010 marks the second year of local celebrations.
This year the programme of events was organised by KifKif, a Moroccan gay rights organisation which was established in 2004.
The programme of events included informative talks, such as the following:
La réalité contre les mythes:
“Tous les gais ont le sida, les homosexuels sont des pédophiles, les homosexuels sont un danger pour la continuité de la race humaine …”
Ces exemples et bien d'autres mythes et réalités manipulées intentionnément circulent par le Maroc quand on parlera de l'homosexualité. Dans cette conférence, Maryam Abdallah (ex coordinateur de Kifkif) essayera de répondre à beaucoup de ces questions.
Along with a theatre piece, entitled “ma mère aime les femmes!” (“my mother loves women!”) addressing lesbianism in Morocco, a film dealing with homosexuality and how it is experienced in conflict zones was screened.
Meanwhile, in Beirut, Lebanon, the activities extended over a number of days, and were covered by Al-Akhbar newspaper in a positive light.
Helem, Beirut-based LGBT Association, organised events this year under the title أنا شاذ (I'm queer).
تنظم حلم هذه السنة اليوم العالمي لمكافحة رهاب المثلية والتحول الجنسي تحت عنوان :أنا شاذ!
قد تحمل تلك الكلمة في مضمونها معانٍ استفزازية للكثيرين، إلا أننا اخترنا أن ننضم إلى مَن يعتبرهم المجتمع بأطرافه الحاكمة شواذاً. أحرار الجنس في لبنان اختاروا واخترن التضامن.
LGBT activism in Lebanon is the most active in the Arab World, spanning 10 years.
The events listed included the following:
عرض وثائقي عن النشاط السياسي للم.م.م.م.م. خلال العقد الأخير
منتدى مسرحي حول رُهاب المثلية والتحول الجنسي, الجنسانية, التضامن, عمّال وعملات الجنس, إلخ..
ندوة حول التمييز، والتضامن: غسان مكارم, رشا مومنة, نرمين الحرّ, نادين معوّض
اعتصام في شارع الحمرا, مسرح المدينة
Activists in Al-Hamra, Beirut, on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
A set of photos of the day can be seen here.
Nadz, who attended the activities, remarks on the progression of events at Meem‘s online magazine, Bekhsoos:
The event raised many questions in my head – and in the heads of many in the audience who posed things like: “Where do we go from here?” “What now?” “What have we really achieved in the past decade?” Examining the faces of the 80-something people in the audience, I recognized many as either activists or familiar faces from the LGBT community. And I see we have fallen yet again into the same cycle of preaching to the converted
The post is followed by a lively discussion on how to move forward with the movement in a Lebanese context.
Meanwhile, in blogospheres from the rest of the Arab World, discussion of any celebrations or events have been silent;- perhaps a reflection of the LGBT rights situation in this region, and the need to maintain privacy.
The group Iraqi LGBT, who states their aim as the following:
Our immediate, urgent priority is to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans Iraqi's facing death, persecution and systematic targeting by the Iraqi police, Badr and Sadr Militia and to raise awareness about the wave of homophobic murders in Iraq to the outside world.
and operate out of the UK, are however holding talks on Wednesday 19 May, in London, from where the group can securely work, and are offering a programme of events with a special focus on gays in Iraq.

author: Katharine Ganly


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Moldova: Overaged population problem · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Zimbru of Morning in Moldova comments on a recent demographic report about Moldova's ageing population and makes a few suggestions of how to deal with the problem.


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Poland: Annual flood causes annual problems · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Michał of the Polski blog reflects upon the annual spring flood in Poland again submerging tracts of the country, and Polandian posts pictures from Kraków, the country's second city, illustrating the situation.


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Russia: More Victory Day Commentary · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Good Treaty reviews selected blog and media commentary on Victory Day’s 65th anniversary in Russia: “My own feelings on Russia’s WWII past are far from settled, so let me take a moment to express my gratitude to the aforementioned writers, who made an effort to speak coherently about a subject that is, in the end, rather absurd. And what else indeed can be said about the slaughter of almost thirty million people?”


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Russia: Photos of Grozny · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user greedyspeedy posts the first installment of photos of Grozny, Chechnya, taken in April, and writes (RUS) in the comments: “This photo report is about the glossy Grozny; I'll show the other, gloomy, side of Grozny in part two. […] Compared to Gudermes, Argun – the largest cities after Grozny – the capital of Chechnya looks like a pearl.”


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Russia rises as nuclear exporter · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Eberhard Rhein of EU Blogactiv writes about a recent agreement between Russia and Turkey on construction of a nucelar power plant, and how Russia is becoming a leading exporter of nuclear power technology.


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Russia: RT’s Gay Pride Coverage · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Julia Ioffe writes at True/Slant about RT's coverage of the upcoming gay pride parade in Moscow.


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South Africa: 32 teams and 40,000 prostitutes for 2010 FIFA World Cup? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

If you are going to South Africa to watch the 2010 FIFA World Cup, you should probably be prepared to meet 40,000 prostitutes from around the world who are expected to flock to South Africa…well, that is if you believe in rumours!
Street art in Cape Town, South Africa by candinski on Flickr (2005)
An article that appears on Hindustan Times website reads,
Believe it or not, atleast 40K prostitutes from around the world are making their way to South Africa hoping to make a fortune from soccer fans at the World Cup that kicks off next month, suggest reports.
Savious Kwinika of Nehand Radio writes about Zimbabwe's sex workers moving to South Africa as the World Cup draws near:
Zimbabwe’s sex workers are deserting their country for greener pastures in South Africa as the World Cup 2010 draws nearer, causing human rights and church groups worldwide to call for measures to curb human trafficking and prostitution. But the economic promise offered by the arrival of some 500,000 World Cup foreign fans is already attracting impoverished workers.
Somewhere in the post the magic figure appears:
The event is no stranger to the sex trade. The 2006 World Cup in Germany, where brothels and prostitution is legalized, brought on an additional influx of an estimated 40,000 sex workers – plus a lot of criticism from rights groups. South Africa’s Central Drug Central Authority has also estimated that 40,000 sex workers will come to Johannesburg for the 2010 World Cup, though the agency gives no reasoning for this figure.
Another similar story (with another magic figure – a billion comdoms!) reads, South Africa World Cup: A Billion Condoms And 40,000 Sex Workers:
Arguably, the soccer World Cup is to the sex industry what the holiday season is to candy shops. A temporary surge of excited people feeling collectively festive, willing to pay for a bit of extra indulgence.
South Africa's Drug Central Authority estimates 40,000 sex workers will trickle in for the event from as far as Russia, the Congo and Nigeria to cater to the wide taste spectrum of some 400,000, mostly male, visitors and their apres-soccer needs.
Brett Davidson, a blogger and independent media consultant, separates facts from fiction. Apparently, the figure (40,000 prostitutes) is a complete fabrication. It is a lie:
I have been puzzled and annoyed by the ongoing repetition in our media, that 40 000 ‘prostitutes’ are set to be trafficked into South Africa ahead of the World Cup.
This figure is continually repeated (and in one instance, an anti-trafficking video featuring several South African soapie stars, inflated further to 100 000). This despite its being a complete fabrication, with no basis in fact, and no evidence available to substantiate it.
Brett says that fabricated figures were also thrown around ahead of the last World Cup in Germany:
The exact same claims were made ahead of the World Cup in Germany — but afterwards, an investigation by the Council of the European Union (documents  5006/1/07 and 5008/7) found a grand total of just 5 cases of trafficking — yes, just 5.
These fabricated figures have doubled every few years, we are told:
The online publication Spiked, drew attention to this, way back in February 2007. This week, Spiked again takes a look at the ongoing circulation of these nonsense stories. Fascinatingly, the author, Brendan O’Neill, looks at how the imagined numbers have doubled every few years — starting with estimates of 10 000 sex slaves for the Australian Olympics, then 20 000 in Athens in 2004, 40 000 in Germany in 2006, and on to South Africa (80 000 anyone?).
But wait…where do the figures come from?:
So where do the figures come from? Well, let’s look at what exactly David Bayever, the CDA deputy chair is actually supposed to have said. As reported by IOL, Bayever provides no evidence for this figure and indicates that he is passing on unubstantiated, second hand information. He says the CDA had been warned by the Durban Municipality of the possibility of huge inflows: “Someone informed the Durban municipality,” he says, “They got wind of it.” So — it’s not the CDA issuing these figures, not even Durban municipality. It’s just something somebody got wind of, and passed on. But now that Bayever has mentioned the 40 000, in subsequent reports suddenly it’s the authority of CDA that is now quoted as being the source of these figures.
Even more interestingly, the rumours speculate that these women are likely to be imported from Eastern Europe. Now surely any journalist or any reader with half a brain should realise this is nonsense. Given the price of sex on the streets of Hillbrow, how is any trafficker going to make a profit, after having to pay at great expense to import thousands of women covertly from Eastern Europe?
His conclusion:
It places a huge burden on those of us who do have access to accurate and rigorous research, to ensure that we get our messages out clearly and effectively, so that public policy is not distorted by undiluted mis-information.
In the case of sex work, the unfounded hysteria about trafficking is diverting attention from the real issue — the need to ensure that the human rights, health and safety of sex workers in South Africa, and indeed in our neighbouring countries, are respected and protected.
Chandré Gould addresses the same issue in his article posted at TheAfrica.Org titled Human Trafficking and the World Cup: How big is the threat?:
Before the 2006 World Cup in Germany similar fears existed that human trafficking would massively increase during the event and it would be spurred by the demand by fans for paid sex. The same concerns emerged before the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Indeed, just as we have seen in South Africa, media reports in Germany during 2006 claimed that they would see an increase of 40 000 prostitutes of whom a large percentage would have been trafficked.
Yet, an investigation by the International Organisation for Migration shortly after the 2006 event found that there was no increase in human trafficking during the World Cup and that the estimates of 40 000 sex workers were “unfounded” and “unrealistic”. Indeed, the report (of September 2006) concludes that there is no credible data to link trafficking [for sexual exploitation] and major events. Similarly, neither the IOM nor the Greek police noted cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation during the Olympic Games. Indeed, the four victims of trafficking that the IOM assisted in Greece in 2004 did not occur during the sporting event.
There are reasons why there was no increase in human trafficking/prostitution during in past sporting events:
There were several reasons offered in the IOM report as to why there was no increase in trafficking during the month-long German World Cup. On the one hand, NGO and police experts who were interviewed argued that the measures put in place, including awareness raising campaigns and increased law enforcement during the event might have played a role in preventing trafficking. On the other hand, the demand for sexual services was much lower than had been expected. This was explained by the fact that fans typically attended the world cup in family groups thus reducing the opportunity for men to purchase sexual services. Furthermore, most fans were travelling on restricted budgets and so there was not extra cash for buying sex. It was also argued that due to the short duration of the World Cup there was little chance that traffickers would be able to realise a return on their investment, given the costs involved in bringing victims across borders and keeping them in bondage.
What about a billlion condomns? Bloggers haven't discussed this one yet.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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South Korea: The 30th anniversary of the Kwangju Uprising · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of the Kwangju uprising in South Korea, matt from Gusts of Popular Feeling has a roundup post on historical resources about the incident.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Soviet History: “The False Charges of Treason Against the Crimean Tatars” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl writes about his new article (.pdf) – “The False Charges of Treason Against the Crimean Tatars” – which was published at the International Committee for Crimea website on the 66th anniversary of the 1944 deportations.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Sri Lanka: Notable Twitter Accounts · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sanjana Hattotuwa at ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace) shares a list of notable Twitter accounts from Sri Lanka.

author: Rezwan


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St. Lucia, St. Vincent: New Imprint · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

St. Lucia's Caribbean Book Blog highlights “SFI Books, a new publishing imprint based in the Eastern Caribbean island of St Vincent, [which] has opened a new door of opportunity to writers from the region.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Election Predictions · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Mark Lyndersay predicts the results of the upcoming elections in Trinidad and Tobago based on “nothing more than a casual remembrance of who these people are in public life, the general public perception of them and, frankly, what they look like in their photographs.”


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365 Great Stuff from the Philippines · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

365 Great Pinoy Stuff makes “a random list of Filipino stuff that makes Filipinos proud, happy, nostalgic, elated, high, inspired, hungry, hopeful, confident, comforted, excited, intrigued, entertained, mystified, homesick–  you name it, all the feel  good experiences we ought to have.”

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Bangladesh: Colours Of Water – Leather Tanneries · Global Voices
Rezwan

Daniel Lanteigne posts a photo essay on the environmental impacts of the approximately 200 leather tanneries in Hazaribagh district of Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh.


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Bulgaria: Update on Arevik Shmavonyan’s Case · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Maya's Corner posts a detailed update on the case of Arevik Shmavonyan, a pregnant Armenian citizen who is still being kept at the Special Centre for Temporary Accommodation of Foreigners in Busmantsi, and on the legal status of David Arutyunyan, Arevik's boyfriend.


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Caucasus: Armenian-Azerbaijani coexistence · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Georgian “Maybe” Time, a new blog from the Caucasus, comments on the experience of a friend from Azerbaijan who was recently chastised for her cooperation and communication with Armenians. Meanwhile, despite the still unresolved conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, Scary Azeri recounts meeting Unzipped, an Armenian blogger in London, as well as posting an aborted video interview with Global Voices Online's Caucasus Editor that will otherwise not see the light of day.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Colombia: Presidential Candidates Answered Questions Asked on Youtube · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Colombian political website La Silla Vacía [es] (The Empty Chair) with the support of TV news channel NTN24 organized a presidential debate where candidates answered questions people submitted through online video platforms, emulating the CNN YouTube debate that some say [es] put Obama in the White House.
Juanita León, Editor and Director of The Empty Chair published a behind the scenes post [es] explaining why they decided to do the debate with a television counterpart, how they selected the video questions, what made them decide on a 10 second limit for answers and what happened during the extra half an hour that was tacked on to the debate at the last minute, where candidates were forced to answer questions for which they hadn't had the chance to prepare. She writes about that last point:
La capacidad de reacción de los candidatos fue impresionante, y también  su buena actitud. Someterlos a responder en directo, en televisión,  preguntas tan complejas a la velocidad del rayo fue un irrespeto con  ellos. Sobre todo teniendo en cuenta lo mucho que está en juego a 15  días de las elecciones. Y ellos, trataron de hacer lo mejor que  pudieron. En realidad, es muy bueno para Colombia tener la oportunidad  de escoger entre candidatos tan buenos y tan variados.
In order to guarantee that the debate would include questions from all walks of life, the readers of La Silla Vacía send in dozens of questions,  NTN24 also provided many questions and Jurgen Kaiser, the person who originally proposed the idea of the YouTube debate went out with his camera to interview people who don't usually have internet access.
In the Empty Chair's website, they have published a review on the best and worst moments of their debate [es], including the 10 second limit and the mess at the end of the debate. They also refer to a video in one of the categories;  tagging it  as “The Weird” they single out the question sent in by Adriana Baen y Juliana Castro [es], where a marionette in a falsetto voice asks in rhyme about child labor.
Dos usuarias, Adriana Baen y Juliana  Castro, enviaron un vídeo donde en cambio de salir preguntando,  disfrazaron a una muñeca de vendedora ambulante. Con una voz fingida de  niña la muñeca preguntó,  “Bolita,  bolita a doscientos, señor candidato cómo me podría ayudar. Yo quiero  estudiar pero me toca trabajar”. Esto parecía una buena idea,  pero como no funcionó la pantalla donde los candidatos veían la imagen,  repitieron el video tres veces. La voz fingida y chillona de la niña  molestó a los usuarios del set y del Twitter. Y los candidatos en su  afán por responder en 10 segundos, para cumplir con la regla, no dieron  ninguna solución concreta para el trabajo infantil. En fin, un desastre.
However, it seems that for people on microblogging site Twitter, the doll was the most memorable character from the debate. Tagged as #bolitabolita not much time had to pass before an “Instant Bolita” was born, where the rally cry for the absurd is just a button push away.
But not all was absurd. Some questions and plans reflected many of the viewers concerns. When a young woman asked the candidates [es] what could be done for University students who can't afford the cost of transportation to get to their classes, candidate Santos answered with an attractive and ambitious plan:
Cuando una de las ciudadanas que se había retirado de la universidad, pues no tenía recursos para el bus, le preguntó a Santos que podía hacer por ella el candidato de La U salió con una propuesta que no se le había oído. “Vamos a dar una beca crédito a todos los bachilleres que salen de la educación pública para que puedan financiar su educación superior y también financiar su mantenimiento durante los años de estudio. Crédito subsidiado a los estratos más bajos, cero interés real y ese crédito sólo será pagado cuando ese muchacho o muchacha tenga un ingreso estable. Eso saca de raíz entre 300 mil muchachos que todos los años van a engrosar las filas del desempleo”, fue la propuesta de Santos.
You can view more of the Colombian Presidential Debate's questions and answers on the Empty Chair's blip.tv channel: La Silla Vacía.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Czech Republic: Update on the Flooding · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Czech Daily Word links to photos and news updates on the floods in the Czech Republic.


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Russia: Crisis and demography in Eurasia · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Anatoly Karlin of Sublime Oblivion discusses the relationship between economic and demographic crisis in Russia and Eurasia.


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Kenya: Linking banks and mobile payments · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Erik writes about linking banks and mobile payments in Kenya: “People are excited about M-Kesho (money for the future) which launched yesterday, where Safaricom has linked their mobile payments service Mpesa as a joint venture with Equity Bank in Kenya.”


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Madagascar: Video of Gun Battles between Rival Armed Forces  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Malagasy blogger MyDago posted a video of the clash between the army and dissident police forces in Antananarivo today (May,20th 2010).

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Madagascar: Violence Erupts Between Army and Dissident Police Unit   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

On May, 20th 2010,  sustained gun battles between rival armed forces lasted for an hour in the capital city of Madagascar, Antananarivo. The ongoing political crisis has once again erupted into violence as a report from the local Red Cross states that at least three people were wounded in the clash (fr). A gathering composed of hundred civilians and backed by a dissident faction of the police (Forces d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale: FIGN) was surrounded by a unit of the army (état-major mixte opérationnel régional: Emmo-Reg), then fires were exchanged. The FIGN leader colonel Raymond Andrianjafy explained that the reason for the gathering at Andrainarivo-Mausolée, was to allow civilians to voice their disapproval of the current situation and try to find a solution to the crisis (fr). The FIGN was there to prevent the gathering from being repressed, he said.
Update:  Madagascar Tribune reports that there were a total of four fatal casualties from the gun battles (fr). Preacher Rivo Arison Ranaivo was among the victims as a communique from the Association of the Protestant Churches confirmed (fr).
The clash comes a few days after a local radio was attacked by a special unit of the army on May 17th while an opposition leader Ambroise Ravonison and another on-air guest, Harrison Razafindrakoto were interviewed on a live broadcast.
Bloggers and twitterers in Madagascar were first to report the gun shots in the morning:
Pierre Maury in Antananarivo tweeted that the gun shots started at 9:42 am local time  were intense and lasted for at least 45 minutes.
InvestGasy reported that three military trucks were seen approaching the meeting point and that a few stores downtown have closed.
Jentilisa who was at the gathering posted the following update at 11 am local time (mg):
Tsy tafiditra Mausolée intsony ny olona saiky hankao taorian'ny fanafihana teo. Manohy ny hira sy ny vavaka izay efa tafiditra Mausolée
Ranjachrys, also on site, confirmed that the group prayers have continued while the clash occurred. He also reports that a preacher has been arrested afterwards.
Tomavana, a blogger residing in Geneva, has amplified the updates from local bloggers on different social media platforms and compiled an extensive timeline of the events as told by twitterers:
archives of twitter updates from Madagascar
Twitterers Tomavana, Sameganegie and Dotmg are urging people to be aware that a lot of the so-called information that are heard on various radios and twitter updates should be taken with cautious skepticism.  Many of those were proven to be either inaccurate or pure propaganda. They have coined the hash tag #fvtm ( short for: filazana vaovao tsy marina that translates to “signaling false information”) on twitter to highlights false information.
The situation is still developing and we will provide updates here as more reports are confirmed.
Here  are real-time twitter updates that contain #Madagascar.


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Malawi: The world reacts after sentencing of gay couple · Global Voices
Haute Haiku

A day after the world marked International Day against Homophobia, a court in Malawi sentenced Malawi gay couple to jail for fourteen years.
The gay couple, Steven Monjenza and Towonge Chimbalanga, hosted an engagement ceremony December 27 last year. They were immediately arrested and thrown in jail. They were denied bail for safety reasons, forced to go for psychiatric evaluation and a compulsory medical examination to confirm charges of sodomy.
Nyasa Times reports that they have been found guilty on charges of homosexuality “unnatural offenses” (Sections 153) and “indecent practices between males” (Article 156) of the Malawi Penal Code, a day after Malawi being declared a point of interest by IDAHO organisers:
Blantyre Magistrate Court has found guilty gay couple Steven Monjenza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, on charges of homosexuality.
Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa convicted the two when he pronounced his verdict on Tuesday.The couple could be imprisoned for up to 14 years.
The two male adults were arrested on 27 December, a day after they performed a public traditional engagement, the first by a Malawian same sex couple.
The  African Activist says in addition to being denied bail, they were humiliated in court and Tiwonge was forced to clean up his vomit despite being ill. They were held in protective custody when the judge said that they were safer inside prison than out:
In addition to the humiliation of forced medical exams, there have been several reports of the couple suffering humiliating treatment in court, including being mocked for their relationship by trial observers and forced to clean up vomit after one became ill. Since their arrest, Monjeza and Chimbalanga have been held in Chichiri Prison in Blantyre under “protective custody,” despite the fact that they and their lawyers have argued that they were unsafe in prison. The two were repeatedly denied bail, a decision condemned by the Malawi Law Society. The Malawi Law Society said in an interview “We feel that the reasons for [their] being denied bail were not meritable … It's like saying that let's keep them here until they get convicted. Really the reasons for refusing them bail are not in line with the Constitution”
This news has caused mixed reactions to people all over the world, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)has written a letter to the Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika expressing  their disappointment of the ruling especially coming after he aired homophobic comments by saying homosexuality was “Un- Malawian, evil and disgusting” and linking it to corruption, violence, theft and prostitution. The letter pleads with the president as the head of African Union to revoke the verdict  and  ensure human rights for all Africans:
This ruling comes shortly after your recent comments on homosexuality and the recent harassment of a conference on the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in HIV/AIDS programming. As the President of Malawi and as the Chairperson of the African Union, we ask that you reaffirm that all Africans are entitled to enjoy the human rights laid out in the African Charter and other domestic, regional and international documents, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity. […]
IGLHRC is alarmed that today's verdict and your comments do not reflect a deep commitment to protecting and promoting these guarantees either in Malawi or within the African Union. We ask you to swiftly and publicly reaffirm the human rights of all Africans – including LGBT Malawians – to privacy and freedoms of assembly, association, opinion, and expression. We also ask that you demonstrate your commitment to those rights by investigating police harassment of the recent conference in Liwonge, reprimanding any wrongdoing by the police, pardoning and releasing Monjeza and Chimbalanga, and repealing all discriminatory laws which target LGBT Malawians and deprive them of their fundamental rights.
Mia Kirshner the Director of I Live here whose first project is in Kachere Juvenile Prison Malawi  expresses herself here:
Malawi is a beautiful country and is rich in culture and diversity. This ruling will be a stain on its beauty and richness.
Please. I ask that the international community of activists, the United Nations, politicians in Malawi and international human rights lawyers speak up and help these men.
By doing this, protection of individual rights will be served and precedent set to in order to open the doors for other couples to be able to stop living in fear.
As for me, I will continue to work in Malawi and continue to speak up and out. No one can stop me.
I won't give up on this beautiful country because I know that these draconian laws betray the great beauty of this country I love so much.
Alex Engwete, considers this case as a sign of madness spreading throughout Africa:
As I’ve been saying all along, there’s only one way that Western donors, who fund these African feudal and obscurantist governments, can rein in this madness spreading throughout Africa like bushfire: cut off aid to these banana republics… NOW!
Amnesty International has dubbed them as prisoners of conscience:
Amnesty International considers both men prisoners of conscience, imprisoned solely for their perceived consensual same sex relationship, and has urged the Malawian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the two men.
Anengiyefa was one of the bloggers anxiously waiting for the verdict. He says the Malawian government is unable to protect the children of the country but are on the front line to persecute harmless homosexual men:
I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Malawian government for failing to protect the children of the country. And yet it is this same government that will enthusiastically pursue and persecute harmless homosexual men. I eagerly await the verdict next Tuesday and the fallout thereafter if the couple are jailed. […] The Malawi Law Society (MLS), the professional body of the country's 200 lawyers, has spoken out in favour of the couple, saying that they are “not a threat to the society” and should be freed. This is an about-turn from a few months ago when Malawian lawyers proclaimed that the couple broke the law and deserve to face justice. It is a clear example of the effectiveness of the efforts of rights campaigners worldwide, who since this saga began in December 2009, have ceaselessly stressed the injustice that is inherent in the continued detention of the couple and how unlikely it is that they will get a fair trial in the face of such massively hostile public opinion.
Tiwonge thanked the world for their support and here is the killer quote:
“I love Steven so much. If people or the world cannot give me the chance and freedom to continue living with him as my lover, then I am better off to die here in prison. Freedom without him is useless and meaningless.”
“We have come a long way and even if our family relatives are not happy, I will not and never stop loving Tiwonge.”

author: Haute Haiku


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Middle East: “Blood Borders” · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Martin W. Lewis from GeoCurrent Event blog reviews Ralph Lewis’ “Blood Borders” article on the idea of a complete reshape of Middle East borders in order to fit more appropriately the ethnic and religious affiliations of the region.


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Nigeria: A debate on pedophilia, Sharia law, and the ‘two’ Nigerias · Global Voices
Eremipagamo Amabebe

Ahmad Sani Yerima. Source: Wikimedia commons
The headline is tabloid-esque: Nigerian senator marries  13-year-old girl. Like so much of the recent news from Nigeria, it seems more worthy of a Nollywood script than the political landscape of Africa's most populous country. And, also like so much of the news from Nigeria, the lurid drama making the rounds of international headlines is only the tip of a complex political iceberg.
The details of the story are as follows: Ahmad Sani Yerima, senator and former governor of Zamfara State in Northern Nigeria, was accused several weeks ago of marrying a 13-year old Egyptian girl.  More details quickly emerged –  Yerima reportedly paid the girl's parents US$100,000 in dowry, the girl's father was Yerima's cab driver, the marriage had to be performed in Nigeria to avoid legal repercussions in Egypt. Bloggers, activists, lawyers and medical professionals protested vehemently as the story developed. Women's rights organizations feared for the girl's health, saying she would be exposed to vesicovaginal fistula (VVF). Human rights groups pointed to the incident as a case of child trafficking.
In an era when the “clash of civilizations” has captured the public imagination and  terrorism dominates the international agenda, it can be difficult to disentangle the personal from the political. Yerima has long been controversial for straddling this divide: he was among the leaders that re-introduced Sharia law in Northern Nigeria, and in 2006 came under fire for marrying a 15-year-old girl, whom he divorced two years later. Nigeria's population is roughly divided between a Muslim-majority North and a Christian-majority South, a balance which has been strained by several incidents in the past few months. Yerima's marriage has played into this divide, he justifies the union as being sanctioned by Islam. “I don't care about the issue of age since I have not violated any rule as far as Islam is concerned” he told the BBC – a provocative claim in Nigeria's already charged atmosphere.
Expressing the sentiments of many bloggers, Adeola wrote that religion should not be pulled into what is essentially a question of children's rights:
Let us not hide under any form or religion or culture to deprive children from living or leading their lives normally.
Akin, too, saw religion as a distraction from the real issue:
Should Islam suffer a battering because one man had to satisfy his lust for young flesh [?]
Yerima's actions function, albeit unintentionally, as a sort of activism for his particular interpretation of Islam. Many Nigerian politicians are unwilling to confront the cleavage between the northern and southern parts of the country, despite evidence of increasing tension. In what was widely seen as a gaffe, Ayogu Eze, spokesman for the Senate, initially said the Yerima affair was a private one. But the public thought otherwise and, whether Yerima intended it or no, the union has certainly gotten Nigerians discussing the implementation of Sharia law in Northern Nigeria.
Writing in This Day, Funke Aboyade responded:
Did you think you could, as you had done for eight years in your fiefdom in Zamfara imposing your peculiar brand of the Shari'a on your impoverished citizenry, transport same to the national arena without sanction? Well, here's some news for you, Senator: you've breached a law, a law you swore to uphold. And you will be sanctioned in accordance with that law.
Sokari wrote:
Women Empowerment and Legal Aid [WELA] is demanding that the Federal Government arrest and prosecute Yerima for trafficking but not for forced marriage and rape. Why – because Yerima married the young girl under Sharia law and the age of consent in Northern Nigeria remains 13. This is so typical on all levels. No one has the guts to come out name the man and his crimes and challenge a law, religious or otherwise, which violates the rights of children as agreed by all international and African human rights legislation.
A country with two major religions, three major ethnic groups and more than 500 indigenous languages, Nigeria presents an interesting case study in multiculturalism. But, as in other hybrid societies, integrating diverse cultures under one legal code is often a difficult task. Nine of Nigeria's 36 states, including the senator's own Zamfara state, follow Sharia law which puts the age of consent at 13. But in Abuja, where the marriage was carried out, 13 falls far below the age of consent. Adding to the confusion is the fact that the Federal Government has ratified the Child Rights Convention as well as other child protection treaties which would seemingly override state law and place the legal age of consent at 18. It is in this context that Yerima used Islam to justify the legality  marriage.  Speaking to the BBC, he said:
I consider God's law and that of His prophet above any other law. I will not respect any law that contradicts that and whoever wants to sanction me for that is free.
Funke Aboyade had a caustic reply:
Really? Why then, Senator, are you in the Senate? Did you or did you not swear to uphold the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?
Sokari concluded:
The two issues are the rights of children and secondly the fact that at this moment there are two Nigeria’s – the northern Sharia states and the rest of the country and the former is increasingly removing itself from the Federal structure and picking and choosing which Federal and international laws it will uphold and those it will ignore.
Since the news broke, an investigation into the matter has been launched by the Senate. But Boma Tai-Osagbemi was critical:
Nothing will ever come out of the ‘investigation'…. I suspect this man will still be untouched and unscathed!”
Whether the investigation will yield any results remains to be seen. Whatever the outcome, the incident stands to set an important precedent, at the very least reigniting the the debate on federalism in Nigeria.

author: Eremipagamo Amabebe


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Pakistan: Facebook Ban And Productivity · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Watch out India, Pakistani productivity is about to spike!” – comments one reader at Sepia Mutiny's post on the ban of Facebook in Pakistan.


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Revolutionizing the Indonesian music industry · Global Voices
Juke Carolina

Blogger Wibisono Sastrodiwiryo believes that in the  near future, accessible broadband connection will revolutionize the Indonesian music industry to a point where major labels can't stick to their old anti-piracy tunes [id].

author: Juke Carolina


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Russia: Another Web site Closed For Extremism  · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Alleng.ru, one of the largest educational portals in Russia, has been turned off by the provider Peterhost due to the hosting of the electronic copy of the book “Basics of the Muslim Creed,” which is acknowledged by the Orenburg city court as “extremist,” blogger r_li reported.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: “Is Khodorkovsky a Dissident?” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vadim Nikitin shares his thoughts on whether Mikhail Khodorkovsky can be considered a dissident.


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Russia: Kid Sets Up Lego Video Blog · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

A 7-year-old boy set up a Lego video blog “Lego News” presenting his Lego people as news anchors. Pilot series can be found here and here.


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Russia: Provider “Accidentally” Blocks Opposition Web Site · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Web site sineevedro.ru dedicated to “Little Blue Buckets Society” (online community against law nihilism on the roads) has been shut down along with other resources at the Moscow-based hosting, ru_vederko reported. The incident might be connected to another recent road accident involving high officials.


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South Korea and Thailand’s Cold War Context · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

John P. DiMoia from Korea History Group looks into the common historical context (Cold War) of the economic and political development of South Korea and Thailand.


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Sri Lanka: When To Settle The Political Score? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Dayapala Thiranagama at Groundviews attempts to make some observations on the difficulties of political resolution of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and wonders when it will be settled.


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Taiwan: In memory of Chao-Jung Hsu, a Taiwanese WWII veteran · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

Today is the 2nd anniversary of Chao-Jung Hsu's death,  a Taiwanese WWII veteran. His tragic fate reflects the complex history of Taiwan which have been governed by various colonial powers in the last century. Hsu was born in Taiwan on 13 of November 1928 and committed suicide on 20 of May 2008 in a political protest. He was forced to fight for colonizers of his country land, first Japan and then Republic of China (ROC). When he finally was able to make his choice, he devoted his life for his fellow veterans’ welfare.
Taiwan was Japan's colony during the WWII, and Hsu was drafted into the Japanese army. When Republic of China (ROC) claimed the sovereign over Taiwan after WWII, the the Chinese Civil War was resumed, and he was drafted into the ROC army again to fight in mainland China. He retreated back to Taiwan in 1949 when ROC lost the battle. He was lucky comparing to many of his colleagues who died in the battle.
However, during the White Terror Period (1949-1987), Hsu was prosecuted by Guomingtang and imprisoned for 10 years for possession of a book on Taiwan independent movement. He was released in 1968 and became a political refugee in 1980. He eventually settled in Toronto, where he started searching for his army colleague's remains in China through the Taiwanese Association in Beijing. Hsu returned back to Taiwan in 1992 after the Taiwan government abolished the “black list” of political dissidents, since then, he devoted all his time to the welfare of overseas Taiwanese veterans. He found out that there were many Taiwanese veterans left behind by the ROC army in China after the the Chinese Civil War. Some of them were captured by the People Liberation Army (PLA) and fought for them in the Civil War and later in the Korean War.
All these veterans were forced to fight for the powers that enslaved them, michaelcarolina sighed,
一代台灣青年，從一九三七年九月，台灣總督府強徵第一批軍夫「白襷隊」，…一直到一九五三年韓戰結束止；短短十六年間，台灣兵穿遍日本皇軍、國民黨軍，和人民解放軍的制服。
Being the ultimate victims of the War, many overseas Taiwanese veterans could not return back to their home in Taiwan due to the tension across the Strait. Hsu decided to organize a campaign to to bring these Taiwanese WWII veterans back home.
當年(一九八九年)三月，許昭榮在北京發起「滯留大陸台籍老兵要回家」簽名運動，獨自一人拿著白布條，走過煙台、長山島、青島、上海、杭州、廈門，親訪這些滯留中國的老兵.
As a result of the campaign, Hsu found out that most of the overseas Taiwanese veterans in China and other Southeast Asia countries (those drafted by Japanese army deployed to the Southeast Asia) were in very difficult and miserable situation politically, economically, and psychologically. They were left behind in an alien land during the WWII, became political exiles and did not receive any pension from the ROC army nor Japanese army even though they had fulfilled the duty as a solider.
In order to fight for the rights of his fellow veterans, Hsu organized talks, held a number protests and hunger strike and eventually founded the Association of Taiwanese Veterans in 1994.
引起社會重視…政府也因此不得不正視。返鄉探親、定居，條件相繼放寬…國防部也同意將「陣亡台籍英靈」入祀台北圓山忠烈祠，並研擬撫恤事宜。
Apart from material compensation, Hsu felt the need to remind Taiwanese people of the WWII history from the life history of Taiwanese veterans. He decided to build a memorial for his fellow veterans.
一九九七年起，許昭榮與協會開始與一些地方政府接洽提供建碑用地，但始終未能如願。一九九八年六月廿八日起，許昭榮等人以接力絕食靜坐方式，終於獲得當 時高雄市長吳敦義的同意協助，最後因此取位於高雄旗津海岸約三千八百坪的國有公園用地，計劃興建紀念碑及公園。
由於沒有經費，紀念公園曾經有很長一段時間就這麼一直處在「計劃興建中」。…許昭榮再次向親友募款湊足卅二萬元，二○○六年十一月廿八日豎立一塊約廿噸重「戰爭與和平紀念公園」石碑…二○○七年下半年，中央撥下第二期工程經費，卻因高雄市議會的掣肘而動彈不得；最後，議會竟決議要將「戰爭與和平紀念公園」更名為「八二三砲戰紀念公園」。
In a protest against the Kaohsiung City Council's decision on 20 of May 2008, Hsu burned himself to death. One year later in 2009 May 20, the “War and Peace Park” was open to the public and below is a video clip (produced by TWIMI) on the Opening:
The Association of Taiwanese Veterans he founded continues to collect life stories of Taiwanese veterans and help Taiwanese understand the history of Taiwanese soldiers in WWII. Every May 20th, people gathered in the War and Peace Park in memory of Taiwanese veterans and Chao-Jung Hsu.

author: I-fan Lin