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Cameroon: Diaspora-driven Cyberspace: A Platform for Civic Engagement or a Threat? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Dibussi asks whether the Cameroon’s Diaspora-driven cyberspace is a platform for civic engagement or a threat to the Biya regime: “Simply put, the Biya regime has never viewed Cameroonian cyberspace as a viable space for civic engagement and public discourse, instead, it sees it as a threat to the regime – a space that must either be controlled, co-opted, contained, or simply coerced into submission.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Chile: Citizens Reject the Hidroaysen Dam Project · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

On Monday, May 9, the Environmental Evaluation Commission, meeting in Coyhaique, a city in the Chilean Patagonia, and composed of 12 appointed officials in President Sebastian Pinera's government, approved the hydroelectric plant Hidroaysen, [es] a merger between Spanish-Italian Endesa and the Chilean Colbun.
The project includes the construction and operation of 5 dams, two in Baker River and three in Pascua River located in the Aisén region in the remote south of Patagonia, Chile and it has an estimated value of 3.2 billion worth of investments.
Where the Baker and Nef rivers meet. Image by Flickr user jpgarnham (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
This video tells us a little about what the project is about:
Video: Hidroaysen is a hydroelectric project that will build and operate five dams in the Chilean Patagonia, two in the Baker River and three in de Pascua River, flooding 5910 hectares equivalent to the surface of the Manhattan Island in New York. To provide energy to Santiago and new mining projects in the north of the country, Hidroaysen is looking to install 3800 towers, each 60 mts. tall, along 2000 kms. becoming the most lengthy electric wiring in the world. It would join the interconnected central system at the Lo Prado Bridge, thus going through half of one of the longest countries in the world.
The project was approved by 11 votes in favour and one against in the midst of a tense atmosphere marked by a protest of about 1,000 people outside the Coyhaique City Hall, where the voting took place.
Pese a las 11 mil observaciones ciudadanas presentadas,  las denuncias de que informes de los organismos técnicos que revisaron  el proyecto fueron cambiados y la inhabilidad de cuatro ministerios, el  apoyo explícito del gobierno de Sebastián Piñera y de los medios  masivos, fue aprobado en medio de un fuerte contingente policial  el  proyecto de Hidroaysén. […]
According to the observations of the online chilean news site El Ciudadano [es].
To which the site radio.uchile.cl [es] added:
La iniciativa energética estaba altamente cuestionada por  una serie de irregularidades que se presentaron durante su tramitación  como cambios sorpresivos y sin fundamento de los servicios técnicos. Sus  detractores además denunciaron un sistemático lobby de las empresas  Endesa y Colbún respaldado por el Gobierno para presionar por la  aprobación de este proyecto.”
The “for” and “against” stances vary in reasoning. However, the majority of the population is against the construction.  On Twitter, the Carbon footprint consultancy @carboambiente commented:
Encuestas online indican que #NOaHidroaysen:@Emol 53%;@laterceracom 66%;@nacioncl 79%; @PublimetroChile 81% que más quieren!!!
Tomas Mosciatti, journalist from Bio Bio Radio explains the reasons for rejecting the Hydroaysen project to CNN Chile:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruls0enMHvE&feature=player_embedded
Video: Tomas Masciatti professes that in his personal opinion, besides it not being environmentally friendly to proceed with this project, there are also very important considerations that were not taken before going ahead with what he calls the biggest project ever undertaken in Chile. He outlines the fact that Chile has no energy policy, that things have not been put in place when taxation, the cable system or consumer's rights are concerned. He also stresses that Chile is not facing such a grave energy crisis to have to resort to making a decision so quickly as this one was made.
He also mentions political implications, such as Chile producing a surplus of energy (and contamination) to be later sold to Argentina. Other problems he says are corruption within the authorities, imperialism and a monopoly created when Hydroaysen rules the energy sector with a whopping 80% production in the entire market. Masciatti says that the residents of Aysen will get no benefit whatsoever from this project since all the energy will be channeled to Santiago, plus they will pay the same rates as the people of Santiago, which isn't fair to them at all.
There have been various publications that contain the disapproval of the project. Among them, there is an ecological group called Verdeseo that published “7 Reasons for a Patagonia without Dams” [es]. Also, Pablo Astudillo of online community El Quinto Poder, wrote “7 Reflections before the eventual approval or rejection of the Hydroaysen” [es], which says, in a nutshell:
Protest for a Patagonia Without Dams. Image by Flickr user International Rivers (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
1. La hidroelectricidad NO es energía limpia.
2. Duplicar la energía no ayuda a superar la pobreza.
3. Duplicar la energía tampoco asegura el bienestar económico.
4. Las energías renovables no convencionales (ERNC) sí son una opción.
5. Las represas no garantizan energía más barata.
6. La legislación ambiental es deficiente.
7. La ciudadanía no recibe información suficiente sobre los efectos negativos de los proyectos eléctricos.
As for the arguments in favour, the company's site mentions [es]:
1. La energía de Hidroaysén es limpia y renovable.
2. Evita la construcción de termoeléctricas.
3. No impacta al turismo
4. Generará empleo y acciones positivas de responsabilidad social en la comunidad.
On the other hand, Sebastian Jordana of Platforma Urbana states in his analysis of pros and cons in a post titled,”Hydroaysen a necessary evil?” [es]:
Todos saben que daños va a hacer, entonces, ¿para  qué construir semejante proyecto? La demanda energética incrementa todos  los años, y por ende, la oferta debe aumentar también. Se estima que de  aquí a 10 años más, Chile no podrá cumplir con esta demanda, por lo que  nuevas formas de producir energía son necesarias. Los detractores de  Hidroaysén hablan de otras formas de producir energía, lo cierto es que  la hidráulica es limpia y rendidora. Por ejemplo, para producir 360 MW  de energía se necesitan aproximadamente 25.000 hectáreas de energía  solar, 15.000 de energía eólica y solamente 3.600 de energía hidráulica.
Activist, blogger and Global Voices author Felipe Cordero (@felipe_cordero) summarized the detractors’ stance in a tweet:
Nadie dice que #hidroaysen no usa energía renovable. Lo renovable ahi es el agua, pero la inundación y el cableado es el problema
Social media reactions appeared quickly after the project was approved. The tweets made against the government and the project propelled at such a speed making the hashtag #nohydroaysen a trending topic for the entire day on May 9. Also, a call to protest  onthe streets was made in all the country. An estimated 10,000 people reacted to this call, according to the online journal El Dinamo [es].
Carolina Santander (@carolinasantan) lamented:
Con mucha rabia, pena y verguenza, estos politicos (todos) son unos vendidos sin escrupulos. #NOAHIDROAYSEN
Travesia La Bermudez (@Kaxorras_Mal) noted:
Porque la gran mayoría de los chilenos queremos una #PATAGONIASINREPRESAS! #NOAHIDROAYSEN //RT!
Actress Leanor Varela (@leonorvarela) also wrote:
Tengo estómago tomado por estar tan lejos.Prefería estar ahí con uds como la ultima vez. Aguante los q salieron a las calles! #noahydroaysen
However, these demonstrations were repressed by Chilean police throwing tear gas and water at protesters, and apprehending 63 people in Santiago alone, according to a report from newspaper El Mercurio [es] in it's online version. According to radio Cooperativa, “The protest was a gathering of 7000 people in Plaza Italia but the Chilean gendarme dissolved the crowd with three water launchers and two gas launchers.  […] The protests were repeated in cities like Coyhaique in front of the Environmental Evaluation Commission- Concepcion, Temuco, Valparaiso and Valdivia, where the police dispersed tear gas on a protest of about 500 people. ” The Facebook page for  El Quinto Poder gathered images and testimonies of the protesters throughout Chile.
March against Hidroaysén in Santiago, Chile May 9, 2011. Image by Flickr user jorgeparedes (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Andres Araos (@andresaraos) commented:
19:00 empieza protesta en plaza italia; 19:05 empiezan a  llover bombas labrimogenas… represion pura en contra de la libre  expresion
Publicist Ivonne Cubillos (@ivocubillos) observed:
la marcha de plaza italia no pudo ser marcha, lacrimógenas y el guanaco la detuvieron, que linda democracia!!!
The force used by the police against protesters was denounced by politicians as well as by the media, and even the General of the gendarme was called upon to testify about the “abuse” [es] (reported by El Mercurio online)
On the other hand, blogger Tomas Bradanovic posted the following comment against the protests with the title “Patagonia with Dams” [es]:
Los seres humanos tenemos una tendencia irresistible a  seguir las modas y ahora que hay más comunicación es fácil masificarlas.  Hoy está de moda ser “ambientalista” lo que es una catástrofe para el  medio ambiente que lo que menos necesita son militantes tontos y  manipulables […]
Daniel Fernandez, executive vice-president of Hydroaysen, also expressed his distaste for the protests in an interview [es]with the online journal El Dinamo, dismissing the citizen resistance as a pitfall for the project just as with Barrancones [es] saying “100 Twitter users isn't a whole community.”
As far as the dissident voices, the protests have only just begun. There have been many other calls to take the streets on the 13th and 23rd of May. The leader of the protestsPatagonia Sin Represas [es] (Patagonia without Dams), has started an online petition and will take the battle to a legal level. In an interview with radio Bio-Bio [es], attorney Marcelo Castillo of Patagonia sin Represas announced with an animated regret that the new battle is starting, that about 20 such judicial, administrative as well as penal resources have all united against Hydroaysen.
Additionally, the director of Greenpeace Chile [es], Matias Asun, criticised the historical responsibility of political representatives of the country in recent years in the same radio station, saying that they have not taken the issue of the environment seriously.
Unlike the 90's, now social media and online communities have helped sensitise people about the repercussions of  energy projects, just like with Barrancones in Punta de Chorros [es], canceled thanks to activism, and now Hydroaysen in the Aysen region. Information and open discussion have raised the voice of the people concerning their opinions on these developments, so that projects that were easily approved before now come under everyone's scrutiny.
1000 Chilean pesos bill with the phrase "Patagonia Without Dams". Image by Flickr user soy elOjo (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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Chileans Bang Pots and Pans in Protest Against Hidroaysen Dam · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Una Mirada de la Realidad [es] shares three citizen videos of “cacerolazos” –protests where participants bang pots and pans– on May 15 in Valdivia, Santiago and Valparaiso against the Hidroaysen dam project approved last week.

author: Silvia Viñas


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China: Shenzhen Cultural Industries Fair  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Mary Ann O'Donnell from Shenzhen Noted blogs about the Seventh Shenzhen Cultural Industries Fair and highlights the debates about cultural creativity and copyright law.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Cuba: Online Challenges  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“By paying in hard currency you can get on the information highway. That’s the good news. Let’s look at the bad. Virtually speaking, Cuba is an island split in two. Outside Havana, Cubans are not allowed to connect to the Internet in tourist facilities that have that service”: Iván García maintains that there are still many challenges for Cubans who want to get online.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Denmark: Controversial Law Re-Introduces Border Control  · Global Voices
Maria Grabowski

Danish nationalist right wing party, The Danish People’s Party (Dansk  Folkeparti/DF), recently announced the re-introduction of controls at the country's borders with Germany and Sweden. The centre-right minority  government in Copenhagen capitulated and the proposal went through.
The  Danish decision came as a surprise to many because it was taken only  few hours before an emergency European Union (EU) meeting focused on immigration and the Schengen Agreement.  The treaty was signed in 1985 and in 2001 Denmark  decommissioned its border control at the German border.
Borderline between Sweden and Denmark on the Øresunds Bridge. Image by Flickr user mollenborg.com (CC BY 2.0).
The border-free  region counts more than 22 EU countries plus Switzerland, Liechtenstein,  Norway and Iceland. It goes from Portugal to Russia's borders on the  Baltic, and from Reykjavik to Turkey's border with Greece.
There  were calls in the European Parliament to cut Denmark out of the  Schengen regime in light of the new border policy. But the Danish government has promised that border and  customs checks will not extend to passport controls, and that this  remains compliant with Schengen.
The European Commission is now working to  find out whether Denmark complies with international law. Meanwhile the  German government has protested that the open border should not be sacrificed for domestic political reasons [da] and Sweden has called it a scandal.
Tight anti-immigration policy
Logo from the Facebook page ‘What about shutting your ass instead of shutting the borders’.
Denmark  has developed extremely tight anti-immigration laws within the last ten years and this increasing far-right discourse seem to have spread  across the EU – to Italy, France and the Netherlands.
It might  also have been triggered by a fear for the migrant consequences of the Arab Spring protests earlier this year.
A Facebook group called ‘Border Police Back in Denmark’  (Grænsepoliti tilbage i DK) [da] has 2,324 members and has supported the  DF border initiative with comments such as “Now we can sleep soundly a night”.
‘What about shutting your ass instead of shutting the borders’  (Hvad med at lukke røven i stedet for at lukke grænserne) [da] is the  name of another Facebook group – one against the proposal – which has 6,263 members and counting.
Here is some of the unsatisfied comments from Facebook and Twitter:
Lars Rosgaard: Symbolpolitik er desværre den eneste form for politik, der i  øjeblikket praktiseres i DK
Lena Olsen: Valgflæsk for DF (…). Jeg er bare så træt af de tosser
Jakob Ellekjær: Det der ødelægger det her land, er dem der styrer det.
@trinemaria: @umbraco Det er SÅ dumt med den grænsekontrol at jeg seriøst overvejer ikke at vende tilbage, hvis jeg slipper igennem!

author: Maria Grabowski


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Ecuador: Three Years After the Factory Tragedy · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

April 19, 2011 marked the third anniversary of the well-known Factory Case: the fire at the Factory discotheque in Ecuadorian capital Quito in 2008, during a Gothic-rock concert. There were 19 deaths as a result of the fire and 24 wounded. Among the deceased were all the members of the rock band Zelestial, and even now some of the survivors suffer repercussions from the tragedy.
Although there was a trial and sentence in the case, the family and friends of the victims continue to meet to plead for justice, and above all, the non-exclusion of rockers of diverse genres, permitting them to come together and perform in any part of the city and not only in secluded places with dubious security.
Banner reads: "Factory no more". Image by Juan Arellano.
At the time various Ecuadorian bloggers were concerned about the subject, like Sick boy on Wild child's Journal, who denounced [es] the sensationalism and the prejudice of society towards those who like Gothic rock:
El contexto de “un show publico cualquiera que terminó en  tragedia” se ha trastocado hacia “una secta que buscaba la muerte”, o  “jóvenes confundidos q adoraban a Satán”, o hasta “piromaniaticos  terroristas”, bla bla bla… […] Un simple gusto musical pasa a ser  prejuicio de unos cuantos que nos creen dementes, y que sin una “ayuda  profesional”  quizás terminemos matándonos entre nosotros o haciéndole  daños a  terceros… así el rockero retratado como antisocial capaz de  cometer  atrocidades cobra fuerza…
Alexis Cuzme of De Ciudad Hecatombe (From Hecatombe City) touches on [es] the same theme, and moreover, signals the difficulties faced by those who organise these type of shows:
Muchos de los organizadores de conciertos rockeros  prefieren hacerlos  subterráneos, en salas más o menos acondicionadas  para albergar a cien o  hasta doscientos espectadores, no buscan los  permisos legales porque es  un trámite donde la burocracia deja ver su  poder, y sobre todo porque  siempre habrán interminables y absurdos  peros para que se evite un  concierto de rock (el prejuicio en su mejor  forma).
Last April 19, there was a great homage at the Plaza Grande of Quito and an effort to sensitise people about this issue by the family and friends of the victims:
One of the activists saw it fit to comment on this:
As part of the activities of the three painful successive years, a rock concert festival was held, Factory nunca más 2011 [es] (Factory no more), and a discussion panel. As well as homage on blogs and videos.
This case [es], like the one involving the República Cromañón club in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the one with the Utopía [es] club in Lima, Perú, and many more, are an evidence of the informality and irresponsibility of the kind that unravels many spectacles and entertainment venues for youths in Latin America, regardless of the social class they belong to.

author: Juan Arellano


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In Remembrance of Paulina Aguilera, Global Voices Author · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The news came in the form of an email from her younger sister Claudia: Paulina Aguilera Muñoz, Global Voices author from Chile, had unexpectedly passed away.
As the Latin America regional editor for Global Voices I had been in contact with Paulina only the day before, working on a post about a blogger that had been detained in Ecuador for alleged offenses against the Attorney General. The news of her passing was shocking and heartbreaking for the Global Voices community.
A journalist by profession and a mother of two girls, Paulina worked in Chile, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Colombia on issues of development, human rights, gender and communications. She blogged, in Spanish, at Varios Mundos Para Vagabundos/as (Various Worlds for Vagabonds) and Kanguro: Turismo Seguro y Barato (Kanguro: Safe and Inexpensive Tourism).
Paulina started writing for Global Voices in September of 2010.
There were countless messages of condolences and love as soon as I shared the news on our community mailing lists. From across Latin America, as well as far away in India, Serbia, South Korea, Sweden, Bahrain, Maldives, Peru, Tanzania, Ukraine, Tunisia, France, Pakistan, United States, she is missed and remembered by friends.
Solana Larsen, Managing Editor for Global Voices, wrote: “I will remember her as someone who was cheerful and funny on the mailing  list and also a blogger who was keen and energetic to defend women's rights and indigenous rights,” pointing to a post [es] Paulina wrote on her personal blog for Blog Action Day, where she wrote about clean water as a right for indigenous peoples.
Chilean author Felipe Cordero said he admired Paulina's dedication in covering human rights issues in Chile and Latin America for Global Voices. Firuzeh Shokooh Valle, our Spanish Language Editor, remembered how much she had enjoyed Paulina's post about Natividad Llanquileo, the indigenous spokeswoman for the Mapuche on a hunger strike in Chile. Ela Stapley, a translator for Global Voices, mentioned Paulina's coverage of a prison fire in Chile: “I liked this post by her mainly because it dealt with people that  society prefers to forget. In writing it she reminded us that prisoners  are people too.”
Paulina was a key contributor in covering a police strike that took place in Ecuador on September 30, 2010. Her work alongside Ecuadorian author Milton Ramirez helped us create a Special Coverage page for the strike.
Her dedication, professionalism, enthusiasm and passion will be greatly missed by everyone at Global Voices. I will personally remember her as an exemplary woman and friend. We send our sincere condolences to her two daughters, her parents, sisters, friends and all those who, like us, had the honor of associating with Paulina.


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Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: More on Bocas · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

More on the Bocas Lit Fest, from Annie Paul.


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Kazakhstan: Next Richest Man in the Country · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

KZBlog reveals the links in the deal that can make a former government official the richest person in Kazakhstan.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kenya: Rest In Peace, Samuel Wanjiru · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

The world woke up this morning to the news of the death of one of the best talents in the world of marathons. Kenya’s Samuel Wanjiru  who won his country’s first ever gold medal at the Beijing Olympics and went on to conquer major marathons in Chicago and London, died after jumping from the first-floor balcony of his house.
Likespor’ a sports blog reported:
Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru has died after a tumble from a balcony, according to reports in his local Kenya. Kenyan military after suggested that a 24-year-old leapt to his genocide shortly after 11pm on Sunday, after evidence with his wife.
Samuel Wanjiru – Beijing Olympics 2008 (courtesy of www.mzungofire.blogspot.com).
The post goes on to quote other marathoners who tweeted about his death. One of them is Ryah Hall who wrote:
So unhappy to hear about Sammy Wanjiru. He was a fable and still so young.
Britain's long distance runner Mo Farah tweeted:
So sad to hear about Sammy Wanjiru. He was a legend and still so young.
Neeraj Bhushan, a blogger and journalist based in India, had this to say:
Only if he could realize life’s a marathon too, and won it. RIP, young boy.
Samuel Wanjiru 2008 SOYA Winner – (courtesy of SOYA).
SportsKenya paid glowing tribute to Samuel, briefly outlining his major achievements:
A brief window into his life show that he had become one of Kenyan's leading marathoners having secured the 2005 Most Promising Sportsman of the Year Award, having won and broken the world half-marathon record in Rotterdam. He went on to become the first Kenyan ever to win a marathon in Beijing Olympics and in the same year came 2nd in the London Marathon sending warning signals to his rivals.
His last major exploit though was the Chicago Marathon which he won in style having run neck to neck in the last few miles with Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kedebe. Other major awards included;
2008 Sportsman of the Year Award – Kenya
2008 AIMS/ASICS World Athlete of the Year Award (sponsored by Asic)
2009 London & Chicago Marathon winner
2010 Chicago Marathon winner
His exploits had seen him secure major sponsorship from Japan and also enjoying attendance fees of upwards of US$ 50,000- 100,000 per race. SportsKenya had ranked him as one of the top earners in sports in the year 2010 in an earlier post. Little did we know this would be our last one of him being alive.
Kenyan blogger Mombasa411 reported that initial investigations indicate the cause of his death as an argument between him and his wife:
Ombati said the athlete’s wife Triza Njeri had come home to find Wanjiru in bed with another woman had locked the couple in the bedroom and ran outside. Wanjiru then leapt from the balcony, he said. Ombati said Njeri and Wanjiru’s female companion are assisting police in investigating the death. Sources indicate that Wanjiru spent the day drinking at a Pub in Nakuru in Kenya’s Rift Valley province and later headed home to Nyahururu. It is further said he took his last meal at  a place called Tas in the town before he took home a prostitute named ‘Martha’.It is said his wife then caught the two lovebirds before an argument ensued between the wife and the call girl.
The news also made headlines on Twitter, easily becoming one of the top trending topics with the hashtag #SamuelWanjiru.
Ethiopian marathon legend Haile Gebrselassie‘s reaction:
I am totally shocked of the news of the death of Sammy Wanjiru.
Other Twitter users commented:
@ggithu: Olympic champ Wanjiru dies after fall ……. So Sad RIP Sammy we will miss you
@Monecillo: Shocked about Wanjiru… He was the future Marathon WR holder RIP
@Lucykims:  RIP #Samuel Wanjiru. An untimely unnecessary death is the worst kind
CapitalFM_kenya: The woman who accompanied #SamuelWanjiru to his home is a barmaid who had gone to pick Sh13,000 for unpaid bill ~ police
@dirtyLuxury (Vivian): Regardless of his personal life, #SamuelWanjiru will be missed, he represented Kenya greatly in his career, RIP
@Enigmah_dj: when everyone talks and everyone listens, its the truth that always comes out missing #SamuelWanjiru
@wamathai: RIP #SamuelWanjiru. You were not perfect but you were amazing
@maikwambo: just a thought, we should honour #SamuelWanjiru with a minute of silence ahead of sporting events this weekend
RIP Samuel Wanjiru.

author: Richard Wanjohi


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Kyrgyzstan: KIC reports stirs controversial responses · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Marat Sartpaev analyzes the reaction of Kyrgyzstani establishment and society to the report by International Inquiry Commission on the inter-ethnic conflict that took place in June 2010.


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Lebanon: A Personal Account from Deadly Border Protest · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“In a nutshell, protesters amassed at the border armed with flags, slogans and rocks from the ground, and Israel responded by opening fire and killing nearly a dozen youths” stated Sean in a detailed post about his personal experience as he took part in the protest held in the Lebanese border town of Maroun al Ras on Sunday, May 15, to mark Nakba Day.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Malawi: Our Old Grumpy President · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Daniso's thoughts about the “old grumpy president” of Malawi: “Our president brooks no criticism and doesn’t tolerate complaints. Dare criticize and in his eyes you’ll be nothing but an unemployable fool. Dare slight his performance on governance and he’ll take to the podium to rant that you're a nkhwezule, an insignificant being.”


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Nigeria: 15 year old Nigerian teenager gets admission to Harvard · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Naija Feed reports that a 15 year old Nigerian girl who has been offered  admission to 13 prestigious universitires in the United States has become the latest media sensation: “She is Saheela Ibraheem, 15 year old daughter of a Nigerian immigrant family living in New Jersey, United States.”


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Peru: Second Electoral Round in Review · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Jacqueline Fowks reviews [es] Peru's presidential elections one month after the first round of voting. Candidates Ollanta Humala (Gana Perú) and Keiko Fujimori (Fuerza 2011) seek to gain voter's support in the second electoral round which will last for another 3 weeks until June 5.


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Portugal: A Proposal to Make Free Culture Illegal · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Luis Alves writes about the Socialist Party proposal regarding privacy copies [pt], which says that authors have the inalienable and non-waivable right to the perception of a compensation for their work. Glyn Moody adds “if Creative Commons licenses become illegal in Portugal, this would presumably mean that contributing to Wikipedia would also become illegal”.

author: Sara Moreira


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South Korea: Clashes Surrounding Fur Fashion Show  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korea's capital, Seoul city  has told Italian fashion house Fendi to pull fur products from a fashion show scheduled for next  month in Seoul as animal rights groups and net users condemned the city government for inviting Fendi for its promotion event. Fendi is trying to negotiate. Korea's citizen/blogger news, Wiki Tree [ko] reported.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Trinidad & Tobago: A Prince Among Wolves?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Plain Talk says that “political wolves are gathering” around the leader of the Congress of the People, noting that the party “needs at its helm a true champion divorced from business as usual, energized and able, armed with vision for Party and country and set on fire with purpose.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: New Politics?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The PP government is establishing a ‘new normal’ insofar as ethics and acceptable standards of behaviour in public office are concerned”: Despite the mixed signals, Afra Raymond welcomes the new direction.


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Man Behind the Allen Prize  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Through The Allen Prize for Young Writers, Lisa Allen-Agostini honours the memory of her beloved father.


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Turkey: Protests Against Internet Censorship · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vimeo user Firat Yıldız posted a short video of the May 15 rally in Istanbul's Taksim Square and Istiklal Avenue, where thousands of people gathered to protest the new internet filtering system, to be introduced in Turkey on Aug. 22. A Turkish-language site with the “Stop Censorship” movement's info and banners is here; Facebook user Zeynep Kaytancı notes on the Stop Internet Censorship in Turkey! Facebook Causes page (13,116 members so far) that the site will soon be translated into English. A Nomadic View offers a roundup of the Anglophone media coverage of the protest.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Uzbekistan: 6th anniversary of the Andijan uprising  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust writes about the sixth anniversary of the Andijon massacre in Uzbekistan, analyzing the recent trends of falsification the tragedy's history and justification of the government's brutality.


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Uzbekistan: The authorities ban American cartoons  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

The authorities in Uzbekistan have started a massive attack on American cartoons and animated movies, available on cable television, citing ‘violence’ and ‘negative pressure’, Avicenna says.


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Zimbabwe: Inclusive Government Watch 2011 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Read Zimbabwe's Inclusive Government Watch for May 2011: “This month, surprisingly, violations in the form of legal harassment of perceived opposition politicians and supporters, rose to our most prominent category of violations, with 46 recorded articles (37.4% of total).”


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Bermuda: New Politics · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bloggers are “energised by the emergence of the One Bermuda Alliance”, saying: “We can’t afford any more ‘professional politicians’ who simply demand respect as our Leaders while wallowing in a constant circus of mismanagement and financial excess.”


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Brazil: Barbeque as Protest in São Paulo · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

A new kind of protest has become an internet “hit” in Brazil, promoted by a new social class: the “different people” who participated in a churrascão (big barbeque).
The protest was in response to the withdrawal of permission by the government of Sao Paulo to build a subway station in Higienópolis [pt], following a petition signed by  3,500 residents from the upscale neighborhood of the capital of Sao Paulo. Note: All the links in this post lead to Portuguese language posts except when otherwise noted.
The news caused outrage among the citizens of Sao Paulo and the case was widely discussed on Twitter, becoming a trending topic with the hashtags #Higienopolis and #GenteDiferenciada (different people). The terms spread on the web after the publication of an interview suggesting that the subway would lead to the arrival of “drug addicts, beggars, a different people, promoting the degradation of its sacred streets and increasing the number of police incidents.”
A communal barbeque in protest against the neighborhood elite [en] was promptly organized on Facebook, and in two days more than 55,000 people accepted the invitation to participate:
Barbecue of the different people
When: Saturday, May 14
Where: In front of Higienópolis Mall
Schedule: 2pm
Dress code: Different
*Bring beach chairs, cachaça [en], farofa [en], portable sound system, and anything you want. Mulata women smothered in tanning oil will be welcome.
José Serra, former governor of São Paulo and former presidential candidate, from the right-wing party Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB), at a Churrascão barbeque. Photo by Flick user Mark Hillary (CC BY 2.0).
The description of the photo on Flickr, questioned the government's decision:
“Prevaleceu o bom senso”, declarou o presidente da entidade Defenda Higienópolis, o empresário Pedro Ivanow.
Como nosso bom senso não é o forte, promoveremos agora um churrascão em frente ao shopping Higienópolis para mostrar que os ricos não chegam aos pobres, mas os pobres sim, facilmente chegam aos ricos.
Leve farofa, carne de gato, cachorro, papagaio, som portátil, carro tunado e tudo o que sua consciência social permitir. Afinal, a rua é pública e o Higienópolis não está separado por muros.
“Common sense has prevailed, ” said the President of the association Defenda Higienópolis, businessman Peter Ivanow.
As our common sense is not too good, we will now put on a big barbeque in front of the Higienópolis mall to show that the wealthy do not reach the poor, but poor people do so easily reach the wealthy.
Take farofa, cat's meat, dogs, parrots, boomboxes, pimped-out cars and everything that your social conscience allows. After all, the street is public and Higienópolis is not walled off.
According to journalist Danilo Saraíva, the creator of the event on Facebook, the idea of a barbeque started as a practical joke against abusive elitism but ended up representing “the response of a population that says enough already!“:
Antes de mais nada: não houve  organização. Outra afirmação que causa contestação aos odiadores de  plantão. Como é possível que um evento tão organizado e pacífico tenha  sido comandado apenas pela iniciativa do povo, que não tem nome?
Eu não faço “pobrismos” – ainda que eu  questione este termo -, nem acredito que aqueles presentes o fazem. O  Churrascão serviu para mostrar que a população paulista quer dizer  basta. Basta ao elitismo, basta de trânsito, basta de violência, basta  de antisemitismo, basta de homofobia, basta de achar que os pobres (ou  os que se acham pobres) serão menos ouvidos do que uma elite  ensurdecedora.
First of all: there was no organization. Just another statement that leaves the haters uneasy. How could such an organized and peaceful event have been controlled only by the people's initiative, with no name attached?
I do not do “pobrismos” [the glorification of the poor] – even though I question this term – neither do I believe that those who went use this term. The Churrascão served to show that the Brazilian population wants to say enough. Enough elitism, enough traffic jams, enough violence, enough anti-Semitism, enough homophobia, enough thinking that the poor (or those who think they are poor) will be heard less than a deafening elite.
Maria Frô blogged as soon as she arrived home:
Manifestação irreverente, criativa, com a cara de uma parcela da juventude paulistana de classe média: bem vestidos, bem-humorados e acima de tudo bem informados e conscientes de que para a cidade melhorar para todos, todos têm de se envolver e lutar por boas causas. […]
Encontrei também muitos moradores do bairro Higienópolis que têm consciência que a cidade é de todos. Conversei com vários deles, uma senhora que vive há 35 anos em Higienópolis, dona Marivone, 80 anos, disse que nunca viu nada igual no bairro e ela estava lá participando da manifestação e se divertindo com a moçada. […]
Já participei de muitas manifestações em algumas fui queimada com gás de pimenta. Mas em Higienópolis não houve qualquer violência e vi jovens questionando os policiais de modo bem incisivo que em uma manifestação da periferia os moradores não ousariam fazer. Mas os policiais permaneceram na maior calma, educadíssimos, como gostaríamos de ver toda a polícia.
An irreverent, creative protest looking like a portion of the middle class youth from Sao Paulo: well dressed, in a good mood and above all well informed and aware that in order to make the city to be better for everyone, everyone must get involved and fight for good causes. […]
I also met many residents of the Higienópolis neighborhood who are aware that the city belongs to everyone. I talked with several of them, a lady who has lived in Higienópolis for 35 years, Ms. Marivone, 80 years old, who said that she had never seen anything like it in the neighborhood and she was there attending the event and having fun with the guys. […]
I have attended many demonstrations; in some I got pepper sprayed. But there was no violence in Higienópolis and I saw the young people questioning police in an incisive way that that in a demonstration in the periphery, residents wouldn't dare to. But the police remained mostly calm, super well behaved, as we would like to see all police.
The event was also broadcasted live online by the citizen reporter Thiago de Araújo:
http://qik.com/video/40096164
A matter of class – and mobility
Journalist Thalita Pires pointed out on her blog Desafios Urbanos (Urban Challenges):
Quando só os cidadãos ricos e influentes são ouvidos, fica clara a assimetria da democracia na cidade.
She writes of her hope that the reaction against the decision to withdraw the construction of the subway station would provide “a counterbalance to the local residents’ expectations”. Following the massive support to the event scheduled on Facebook, the governor's reaction didn't take long:
Com o Churrascão, conseguimos também que o Ministério Público investigasse as intenções por trás do cancelamento da estação de metrô na Avenida Angélica e até um pronunciamento oficial do governador Geraldo Alckmin.
Profile picture of Gente Diferenciada on Facebook showing the hypothetical subway station.
The issue of mobility inside the megalopolis was raised on the Facebook page of the event:
O metrô, hoje, não atende a necessidade de quem mora nesta cidade. O transporte público é risível. Ônibus lotados a tarifas absurdas, veículos em situação precária, falta de corredores, atrasos em obras, acidentes, são apenas algumas das situações que tornam São Paulo ainda mais caótica do que ela deveria ser, graças ao seu número de habitantes.
On the blog Imprença, the petition was compared to the project Movimento Passe Livre (Free Pass Movement), which gathered about 3 thousand people in protest for the reduction of the bus ticket prices in Sao Paulo promoted by students who even got to be attacked by the police, as Global Voices reported early this year.
O resultado? Muitas passeatas, uma audiência pública marcada e desmarcada, prisões, etc. Diminuiu o preço? Não. […] Aí o pessoal do bairro de Higienópolis {{que sim, vem de Higiene}} reuniu 3 500 ASSINATURAS, sem ninguém sair de casa… o governador resolveu fazer o quê?! CANCELOU a estação de metrô do local.
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing and Urbanist, Raquel Rolnik shared her opinion on her blog:
a questão fundamental nisso tudo é a forma como se dá todo o processo de decisão sobre as novas linhas e estações: estas vão sendo anunciadas e desanunciadas sem nenhum planejamento estável – aliado a uma estratégia urbanística pactuada coletivamente na cidade – e, portanto, ao sabor das pressões dos interesses que conseguem ter acesso à mesa de decisão.
Churrasco ambulante (Walking barbeque). Photo by Luís Eduardo Catenacci, shared on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)


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Cambodia: Blog to promote LGBT welfare · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Cambodia LGBT Pride! is a blog established by volunteers who “work together with NGOs and local businesses to reduce discrimination based on sexuality and co-ordinate events to help nurture and strengthen the LGBT community in Cambodia.”

author: Mong Palatino


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China: Another Failed Grassroots Election · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A retired worker from Jiangxi province, China, Liu Ping, had decided to run an economic justice campaign in the grassroots level election for her local seat in China's People's Congress. In the process, she and her supporters have been harassed by local police and on May 13, 2011, she was forcibly detained. (Update May 18: She was released from police detention at around 1 a.m. today.)
Below is a plea made by Liu's daughter using her Sina Weibo account on May 15 and 16:
翠丝特丽: 我不怎么上微博，我的立场仅单纯站在一个女儿的角度，我希望我母亲不要做这些危险的事情，并且那么久以来我都是不支持的，但是作为一个中国公民，我希望站出千千万万个我的妈妈。什么我都不管，我现在只想知道我妈妈是否安全。
翠丝特丽: [1/2]你们觉得我用一个空号骗人有 意思？有些质疑尽管去好了，不关我的事！我也没心情去解释什么！我只想说我妈妈现在还是没有消息！怎么办？！今天下午我打我妈电话结果一样。关机。你们这 些人关押我妈的人连这点同情都不给么？报平安都不可以！？你们还有良心么？！你们总有一天也会体会到这样的痛苦…
I seldom use Weibo. I speak now as someone's daughter. I hoped my mother would not engage in dangerous affairs, and I do not support her. However, as a Chinese citizen, I do hope to see thousands more people like my mother. All I want now, however, is to make sure my mother is safe.
People have accused me of lying and passing off a fake mobile number as my mother's. What would be the point? I don't want to defend or explain. All I want to say is that I don't have any information about my mother! What can I do? I tried my mother's phone again this afternoon. It has been shut off. For those who have detained my mother, don't you have any conscience? Why won't you let us know that she is safe? One day, you too will suffer from this kind of pain…
Liu Ping under police surveillance
Confession from the enemy forces
Internal documents from the Chinese Communist Party's Jiangxi city committee were leaked on May 14, stating that Liu Ping is supported by enemy forces and had to be investigated. In response to such political labeling, Professor Yu Jianrong wrote a confession [zh] in Sina Weibo to the CCP that he is one of those enemy forces:
自首书。中共江西新余市委书记：据称，你己下令追查支持@刘萍196412 的敌对势力，特自首。本人于建嵘，中国公民，无党派非人士，热爱祖国，坚守宪法，始终支持内退女工刘萍依据宪法和法律规定行使选举权和被选举权的合法行为。如跨省约谈，可派贵市听过我讲座的数位市县公安局长来北京宋庄画家村。
The message was posted on May 14. Within two days, there were more than 6,500 comments from other Weibo users, many of whom proffered confessions of their own.
Liu Ping was a worker in a state-owned steel corporation in Xinyu City, Jiangxi province, until she was forced to retire in December 2009. She then began organizing her co-workers to present their grievances to authorities, efforts which saw no concrete outcome.
In April 2011, Liu Ping decided to run as an advocate for economic justice in the local grassroots level election for a seat on China's National People's Congress. However, she found herself later removed from the election ballot. According to local mainstream media reports [zh], the head of the election steering committee for Xinyu Steel Corporation, Yang Jianyun, stated that Liu was not listed because she did not get enough valid nomination signatures. In addition, he stressed that candidates for the People's Congress should be lawful citizens, whereas Liu made three attempts to petition to Beijing in 2010.
The best way to show the other side of the story is through Liu Ping's campaign dairy in her Weibo. Below is a selected translation of her Weibo updates from April 18 – May 13, 2011
Obtaining the nomination form (April 18 – April 26)
April 18:
刘萍196412 : 我竞选江西省新余市区人大代表。望大家给我力量为我加油！人民代表人民选！人民代表为人民！
刘萍196412: 迄今，年活四十七，居然从未见过选票！我为民请愿，始终奔波在维权前沿，拥有强大的粉丝！可悲的是用了大半生！都是被代表！人大代表选举的路太漫长！呜呼哀哉！
刘萍196412我在新钢厂办公大楼等待人大选举办主任杨剑云，索要属于百姓的人大推荐表，我执著，尽管她让我等待了大半生。让世界关注中国人大选举！路漫漫平和等待中…加油！刘萍！
刘萍196412终于等到杨剑云开完会了，赶紧上前索要人大推荐表，杨剑云回答你到街道办领取，我即可说：市人大选联委易主任要我向你领取的啊！杨说：刚开会决定你到街道办去领，这样吧你下午打我手机…无执著等待下午结果…
I will compete for the People's Congress election for Xinyu city in Jiangxi. I hope you will support me! People's representatives should be elected by the people! People's representatives should be speaking for the people.
Now I am 47 years old and I have never before seen a ballot. I have been running around and petitioning for people on the frontline. I have many fans. However, after all these years, someone else still represents me. This election will be a long and difficult path.
I waited for the chief of the election office Yang Jianyun at the new steel plant office building to obtain a nomination form. I have been waiting for half of my life. I want the world to be concerned about China People's Congress elections. Long way to go… Add oil! —Liu Ping
Finally Yang Jianyun finished his meeting and I asked for the form. Yang asked me to obtain the form from the neighborhood committee office. I replied that the chief of the city election committee Mr. Yi asked me to obtain the form from you! Yang said: we just had the meeting and decided that you should obtain your form from the neighborhood committee office. You can call me in the afternoon… let's see.
Update from April 22:
刘萍196412我要新钢选举办杨领导兑现上午的承诺， 要街道办李书记发给我区人大推荐表。可恶的杨领导电话回复我说。”你刘萍什么人？你怎么可以当然区人大代表？“我回答我什么人并不重要选举法规定只要年满 18周岁，不被剥夺政治权利就有选举和被选举权，新钢选举办杨领导说。”你是什么样人你最清楚！说完挂掉电话
Update from April 26:
刘萍19641218日下午江西省新余市选联委易主任电话说，你必须叫来十人以上签名才能给你人大推荐表，我回答可以，马上就会来签名档，但是市易主任和新钢公司沈书记， 街道办朱主任李书记四人一直要求我第二天早上领表，说；”只要你叫来十人以上立即给你推荐表“尽管我明白他们已经违反选举法了，无奈只能等待明天。
刘萍19641219日早上8.30有20多名自愿赶来 我签名代表的百姓。民心不可违！（事后得知陆续赶来签名的不计其数，都被街道办驱逐拦截了）街道办李书记一看场面说要去开会让我到新钢南村居委会去领表， 为顺利拿到属于我公民权利的推荐表，我在市选联委，街道，居委，新钢总厂。均被他们忽悠来回不断奔波！
On the afternoon of April 18, the chief of the city election committee, Mr. Yi, told me over the phone that I could only obtain the form if more than 10 people came with me to the election office. I said I would do so right away. However Mr Yi, secretary of the new steel plant corporattion, Mr. Shen, and secretary of the neighborhood committee, Mr. Li, all demanded I come to obtain the form the next day. They all said: “Get 10 people here and we will give you the form”. I understand that their demand alone violates the election law, but there is no other way out. So I have to wait until tomorrow.
At 8:30 am on the 19th, more than 20 people accompanied me to pick up the form. How could they fight against people! (Later, I found out that even more people had come that day, but they were barred off by the neighborhood committee.) Mr. Li, Secretary of the neighborhood committee, said he had to call a meeting and asked me to obtain the form from the residential committee of Xingang south village. In order to get an election nomination form, which is entitled to every citizen, I had to run from the city election committee to the neighborhood committee to the resident committee and back to Xingang headquarters.
Nominees harassed (April 27 – 28)
Update from April 27:
刘萍196412: 望各媒体强烈关注；江西省首位区人大推荐表获得者刘萍。19日超过十人联名推荐表上签名！至今都未公布初步候选人名单。。。。
刘萍196412出办公室时沈书记说；”有对夫妻已经删 掉为你推荐名单了，他们都说上当受骗了“回想有这么对老夫妻为我在推荐表上签名，具体怎样赶来签名的，不得而知，但知道他俩在摆地摊，即刻赶到老俩口处， 问询有无受到威胁恐吓等手段强迫他们删除为我，在回话中得知是居委组长找他们说”还没开始选举你就签名“！
I hope media will pay attention to this: Liu Ping – the first person in Jiangxi to obtain a nomination form in a People's Congress district election – had more than 10 signatures to support her on April 19. However, up till now, [the election office] still hasn't announced the candidate list.
Before he left the office, Secretary Shen said that “a couple has removed their names from your nomination form. They said they were cheated.” I tried to recall if a couple had signed my form, and remembered that they were street hawkers. I visited them at once and asked if they had been threatened by the authorities. They said that the team leader of residential committee visited them and told them that “the election hasn't started yet, why did you sign your name?”
Update from April 28:
刘萍196412下午到居委再次递交人大推荐表，上面有20多人为我签名，居委电话要我提供她们的手机号便于联系，我回答除我母亲还有几位知道外其他都一概不详。但基本上都是强迫内退员工，且都在一个社区，你们可以到街道办查询的。
刘萍196412晚上一女同胞找到我说，苗圃居委电话问她为何签字？知道后果的严重性？让她不要搅和浑水！到居委来删除名单，最后还说要自愿来等等。她听后非常担心株连九 族！所以赶紧跑到我这路诉说，我安慰她，不用害怕，如果你担心家人那就删除名单吧，我绝不强迫你没关系唉！想为百姓实实在在做些事是多么的坎坷！
刘萍196412事后有俩女同胞电话说让她们到居委删除 名单，均被她们奚落一通拒绝删名单，好样的同胞权利意识在增加，我就看到看到希望，我敢与参与江西省新余市区人大代表选举，其结果并不重要，参与的过程就 是目的！能唤醒公民权利意识，能震慑遏制腐败蔓延！就是最好的结果，我非常平和地面对一切挑战！加油刘萍！
I re-submitted another nomination form in the afternoon. There were more than 20 signatures on it. The residential committee asked me to leave the signatories’ phone numbers so they could be contacted later. I answered that I only had my mother and a few others’ contact numbers. Most of them were workers also under the forced retirement scheme and they live in the same community. They could get their contact information from the neighborhood committee.
At night a woman colleague told me that she got a call from the Miaopu resident committee asking her why she had supported me. If she knew what the consequences were of such act. They asked her to ‘leave the dirty water’ and voluntarily delete her name from the residential committee. She was very worried that her support for me would affect her family, so she came and discussed it with me. I comforted her and asked her not to be scared. I told her: “if you are worried about your family, then delete your name, it doesn't matter”. It is so difficult to do things for people.
Later, two other female colleagues called and told me that the residential committee demanded they delete their names. They teased them and refused to do so. It is great to see that their awareness of citizen rights is increasing. The result of my participation in the district election for the People's Congress seat in Xinyu City, Jiangxi province is not important. The objective is in the process. It can raise the citizens’ consciousness of their rights, which can monitor and counter corruptive forces. This would be the best outcome. I have to face all the challenges with a peaceful mind. Add oil! Liu Ping.
Election campaign (May 3 – 10)
Update from May 3:
刘萍196412: 30日公榜初步候选人中没有我应有的名字。电话咨询新钢选举办杨主任。“根据你前期表现，认为不适合当选人大代表”。什么逻辑呀？国家选举法明文规定；年满18岁公民，只要不被剥夺政治权利都有选举和被选举权。望媒体强烈关注江西省新余市渝水区首位独立候选人刘萍！
Update from May 9
Liu Ping's election banner
刘萍196412: 我不畏强权，一直是一个长期奔波在维权 战线上的斗士！请相信我为民请命的决心！ 不管我是否当选，我都将一如既往的为民请愿，为百姓发声！ 您给我授权，我为您代言。 希望大家都能够参与人大代表的竞选过程。 我的口号：人民代表人民选！人民代表为人民！我的权利我做主！我们不要被代表！
Update from May 10
刘萍196412: 中午利用吃饭空闲到麻将馆演讲，原本以为反应不是那么强烈，没想到麻友们会一心两用产生共鸣，自选民名单4月15日公榜以来，基本上班，吃饭、下班均不断 演讲，极个别麻木不仁者，不能说没有。但更多的是非常坚决和愤怒的公民在我周围参与演讲都素不相识。下班接一员工电话；“刘姐我们这里都选你”
刘萍196412: 晚上到另一社区苗圃居委演讲，首先面带微笑友善的向大家问好“打扰一下，我是打内退官司的刘萍请问；你们对现在收入满意吗？想通过什么方式提出你的诉 求?”中拉开帷幕一下子聚集很多围观人，“原来你就是为我们递增收入延缓三年内退的刘萍？久仰大名”演讲还未进行10分钟，这里居委民众声浪就盖过了我
I made a speech in the Mah Jong hall at lunch. I did not expect a strong reaction, but the Mah Jong friends were paying attention to my speech during their game. Since April 15, when the election office began accepting nomination of candidates, I have been making speeches during meal times and after work. Of course there were people who did not show any enthusiasm, but there were more people who expressed their anger [towards the current situation] and determination [to make change]. I got a call from a colleague after work: “Sister Liu, we will elect you in our district”.
At night I had another public speech in Miaopu district. I greeted everyone with a friendly smile and said: “Excuse me, I am Liu Ping who have launched a legal action against the forced internal retirement scheme. I would like to ask if you were satisfied with your income. How would you want to put forward your concerns?” Many people surrounded me, they said “So, you are the Liu Ping who helped us defer the forced retirement scheme for 3 years and increased our income? I have heard so much about you.” Within 10 minutes, people were talking louder than me.
Home raid and forced disappearance (May 12 – 13)
Update from May 12
刘萍196412: 5月15-16即将选举，但遗憾的是选举时间并未公示，多个单位和社区迄今未发放选民证，意味着公众基本上就无法知道确切的选举时间，于是印刷些选举时间 通知和明信片，制作一横幅，上书‘人民代表人民选。公民精神万岁!”配合着演讲，大约八点半左右大批警察赶来，抢走我的横幅和选举通知书，未出示暂扣证！
刘萍196412: 局长说“你举横幅已经违法了，这是共产党领导下的选举，不是在美国！你拉选票是违法行为，我现在就传唤你”趁他找车到派出所时间，我回家了。警察很快到家敲门，说要与我谈谈，被我拒绝开门，警察说“你明天不要出来吗？”后发现家里被停电。
The election takes place on May 15 and 16, but an exact election time has not been announced yet. Many units and districts have not distributed voter certificates. The public has no way to know the election time. I printed some postcards to inform people of the election arrangement. I also prepared a banner with the slogan: “People's representative should be elected by the people; Long live civic spirit!” to display during my public speech. At around 8 am, police came to my house and took my banner and election notices. They did not give me any official document for the raid.
The head of the police bureau said, “Your banner has violated the law. This is an election under the leadership of the CCP, you are not in the U.S. Your election campaign is against the law. You've been officially summoned”. As he was looking for the police car, I took the opportunity to go home. The police knocked at my door saying that they wanted to talk to me. I refused to open the door. They said: “So you won't go out tomorrow?” Later I found out that they had cut off my electricity.
Liu Ping's last message in her blog on May 13, 2011, before her forced disappearance:
刘萍196412感谢于建嵘、李悔之、刘安军、老K、江容生、周老师等全国无数公民的关心我于今早2点不到平安回家，虽然电被掐、家被抄、楼下警察保护着，喉咙沙哑、我依然即刻上路演讲，我参选在阳光下！不畏前途太黑暗！我不孤独！身后无数眼睛照亮参选之路
The implications of Liu Ping's participation in grassroots democracy
Many netizens have expressed their support of Liu Ping via forums and microblogs, and they have their own interpretation of the significance of Liu's tiny step:
张之俭: 刘萍由上访专业户变成独立竞选人，这是一个伟大的进步。这个意义，只有当年小岗村分田可以媲美。那个是争经济权利，这个是争政治权力。不知道当世有没有邓 小平，出来肯定并支持刘萍的这一举动，这或许会引起改革开放后三十年的更大辉煌，而这个辉煌，可以帮助中国永远走出其兴也勃，其亡也忽的历史怪圈
民主力量党19900509：刘萍最终未成为人大代表候选人，并不是多数选民的意见，而是个别领导人的个人决定。在媒体的调查中，支持刘萍参选的人高达97%。这从一个侧面说明，基层人大代表选举并不民主，选举是假，集权是真。这是一个谎言和虚假脱光了外衣的年代。
尝孟：江西刘萍的遭遇无疑打了所有支持温和渐进改良者的耳光，再次给唱衰者的声音配了栩栩如生的背景。你说我温和我是想帮你改革我是为你好，你说我想渐进我只是在宪法框架下行事我是公民，可人家干的就是公民，玩儿的就是宪法，人家只要奴才，只想无法无天。
Fang_Han：看一些知名知识分子对待江西刘萍选举事情的态度，感觉很不舒服，你们是不是在支持、鼓励这样一位普普通通的女子去为理想献身？你们自己为什么不能自己也站出来去争取你们自己的选举权利呢？这才是最大的支持呀！！


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China: Must-see websites for learning Chinese  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Charlie from Chengdu Living introduces 5 must-see websites for readers to advance their Chinese language ability.


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China: Shake the Country · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Olivia from China Hush explains how the Forbidden City Palace Museum first lost their exhibited art pieces and then their face because of wrong spelling in their thank-you banner to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. To defend one's country has turned into to shake one's country as a result of the use of wrong word.


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Colombia, El Salvador: Outlook for Coffee Exports · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“How many of you know where your coffee comes from? And does it make a difference to you?” asks Colleen O'Brien in a post about the outlook for coffee exports in El Salvador and Colombia.


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Cuba: Uncertain Internet Future  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Cuban civil society is looking forward to what will happen in July when the network structure of the island is connected to to the fiber optic cable that came in early February to Cuba from Venezuela”: Still, Laritza Diversent says that “the future of the Internet in Cuba has a question mark hanging over it.”


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Egypt: Online Campaigns to Release Arrested Protesters Underway · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian cyber activists went back to their keyboards to demand the release of protesters and bystanders arrested on Sunday 15 May, 2011, for being at a protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Cairo to commemorate the Nakba (‘Day of Catastrophe’, as it is known in the Arab world) which marks the day the State of Israel was created in 1948.
Numerous blog posts, Facebook pages and Twitter hastags have sprung calling on the military to release the detainees.  Ahram Online announced  that the military prosecutor has released 17 protesters “due to their young age and schooling situation” and detained 119.
Detained blogger Tarek Shalaby. Photo by Hossam El Hamalawy.
Blogger and Twitter user Tarek Shalaby was among those arrested. One of the last tweets Tarek posted before his arrest was:
Shit! We've been ambushed! Army coming from other side. Ran into side street…
A ‘Free Tarek Shalaby‘ page has been set up on Facebook.
The information on the page reads:
Tarek Shalaby was detained by the Egyptian Army last night for protesting in front of the Israeli Embassy in Giza. He was taken along with tens of other people, and we are still trying to find out his whereabouts! Please join this page to help support his release from Military custody in Egypt!!
@mosaaberizing: Protesters running towards Cairo Uni. Tens of ambulance cars carrying injured ones. #IsraeliEmbassy
Twitter user Mosa'ab ElShamy was also arrested. A ‘Free Mosa'ab ElShamy‘ page was set up for him on Facebook, and it reads:
Mosa'ab (@mosaaberizing), young activist who participated in the Jan25 revolution, was also taken last night by security forces at the Israeli embassy in Cairo along with Tarek Shalaby.
Kuwaiti Twitter user Mona Kareem writes a touching tribute in honour of her detained friend and calls for his release in a post entitled ‘Bring My Friend Back':
It hurts me so bad when I think that this 20 year old friend of mine got caught and might face the militant court. Some have already been there, it is inhumane, and some have been sentenced to years in prison for speaking out or for being in a protest. Egypt had a revolution but the army cannot understand that; the army is a machine good in killing, arresting, and punishing. The army does not see youth, hope, dreams, and memories in those men and women they arrest, they do not appreciate their courage giving up what people of their age should live, just to build a better place for the coming generations, who most probably will deal with jan25 as a boring subject, just the way we dealt with our fathers and mothers’ revolutionary memories as boring and superficial.
‘We are all Mahmood Al Sadati’ is a page set up on Facebook for Mahmood, who was also detained during the clashes outside the Israeli Embassy. The page administrator writes [ar]:
يوم الثلاثاء 17/5 خد 15 يوم إستمرار فى السجن الحربى
الحرية لمحمود الساداتى
On Tuesday, May 17, he was sentenced to another 15 days in the Military prison
Freedom for Mahmood Al Sadaty
On Facebook, another page calling for the freeing of 17-year-old Omar Hani Farouk Albstawisy has been formed.
His uncle Hesham writes:
Blogger Rowan El Shimi posts [ar] a testimonial written by video journalist Mohamed Effat, who was with those arrested from in front of the Israeli Embassy. In his harrowing testimonial on how the protesters were arrested, Effat explains:
The soldiers and army officers then started shooting in the air from both ends, in a manner which cannot be described. It was enough to terrorise us and make us surrender. The soldiers surrounded us on the sidewalk and forced us to fall on our knees and put our hands on our heads, while some were pointing their guns at us and the others continuing to shoot in the air. They then made us sleep on our stomachs, with our heads to the ground and our hands behind our heads – all while pointing their guns at us and firing shots in the air.
A child, who wasn't older than eight years old, was next to me and he was crying hysterically from fear. They forced him, like us, to sleep on his stomach. After two minutes, they transferred us to the next pavement, and we remained in the same position. Whoever raised his head was hit on his head and verbally insulted. The policemen then came and they started dragging us, one at a time, forming us in a column, and then took us to the Corniche, near the Embassy. (Note: We had to crawl as they moved us from one area to the other and whoever stood u was beaten and kicked, until he fell down.)

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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El Salvador: Government Program Seeks to Improve Lives of Low-Income Women · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Tim's El Salvador Blog comments and shares information on ‘Ciudad Mujer,’ a government program “creating a series of regional centers which to address specific needs of poor women […] Violence against women is a serious problem which the country is only starting to address. Discrimination against women in employment is common according to the UN. Much needs to be done.”


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Equatorial Guinea: A New Blog is Born · Global Voices
Ana Lúcia Sá

A new blog was born in Equatorial Guinea: The Colectivo de Jóvenes de Guinea Ecuatorial [es]. The Colectivo is  a youth organization born clandestinely that uses a digital platform to protest against Teodorin Obiang’s dictatorship. Their firts posts debate and analyze issues of sovereignty and the right to unionize.

author: Ana Lúcia Sá


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Guatemala: Brutality and Impunity: Over 28 Decapitated in Petén · Global Voices
Renata Avila

This weekend in Guatemala was the bloodiest of 2011. Citizens in El Petén, the northernmost department (state) of Guatemala bordering Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua and Mexico, are in the middle of one of the worst armed encounters between the Army and one of the most dangerous drug cartels: the Zetas.
The conflict is out of the hands of the authorities. Not only were at least 28 peasants brutally killed, but also a school, a police station and other public places were bombed.
“Worst massacre in modern times”
Erwin C. in The Latin Americanist reports:
Guatemalan flag. Image by Flickr user olaf141 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
In an incident described by a Guatemalan police spokesman as “the worst massacre we have seen in modern times,” at least twenty-seven people were killed on Saturday at a ranch in the northern part of the country. Forensic doctors identified fifteen of the victims and among those killed were three minors and two women. All of those killed in the gruesome incident were bound with rope before being decapitated by the cold-blooded assassins.
There is little content published on blogs, but witnesses – people based in Petén and journalists who fled there to cover the news – have shared information about the situation:
@Tekandi: Todas las habitaciones de la finca en #Peten estaban de cabeza, las puertas forzadas, zapatos tirados, ropa y mucha sangre. Horror total
@Tekandi also links to pictures [WARNING: strong content] showing the brutality of the perpetrated crimes. @AnaLu185 also links to an image.
In the following tweets, Mauricio Vinicio Matta (@maurinho6), based in Petén, shares with a radio journalist [es] that there is a lot of activity: he can hear helicopters, patrols, and people are scared. He affirms that it is the first time something like this happens in Petén, that streets are deserted [es] and that they can hear gun shots from different points of the center of the city:
@maurinho6: @KarlaCalvillo hay mucha actividad de helicopteros y radio patrullas y todo el mundo asustado por que jamas habia sucedido esto en Peten
@maurinho6: @KarlaCalvillo Karlita soy de Peten y t comento que las calles estan solitarias y se oyen disparos en diferentes puntos del area central
Young and poor peasants
The victims were humble peasants, very young and poor, who were living as migrant workers after they left their homes in Izabal, a neighboring department. According to a tweet by the Ministry of Interior (@mingobguate), the victims were not involved with the Narco [people involved in organized crime relating to narcotics].
The Black Box, an economic and political blog from Central America, describes the complex ongoing armed conflict over there and provides context to better understand both the region and the violence taking place there:
El Departamento del Petén es el más extenso de la República de  Guatemala, con casi 36 mil kilómetros cuadrados –su territorio es mayor  que El Salvador y Belice, y solamente las Regiones Autónomas del  Atlántico nicaragüense rivalizan en extensión como unidades  sub-nacionales. Su población apenas supera los 600 mil habitantes, por  lo que es la 9ª región menos densamente poblada de toda Centroamérica,  incluyéndose los distritos de Belice, pues apenas llega a los 17  habitantes por kilómetro cuadrado. [1]
Con relación al resto de los departamentos guatemaltecos, la violencia  homicida en Petén en el 2010 le situó en el puesto 7º de 22 (el más  violento fue el departamento de Guatemala con 78 por 100 mil).
The Department of Petén is the biggest of the Guatemalan Republic, almost 36 thousand square kilometers. Its territory is bigger than El  Salvador and Belize and only the Nicaraguan Atlantic Coast competes with its size. Its population is barely 600,000 inhabitants and it is only the ninth least populated region of all Central America, with only 17  inhabitants per square kilometer.
When compared to other Guatemalan  departments, homicide violence in Petén rates in the 7th place out of  22. The most violent place is Guatemala City with a rate of 78 homicides  per 100,000 inhabitants.
The attack comes a week after former President Alfonso Portillo was found “not guilty” of corruption by a criminal court, leaving many members of the organization Civil Society and the Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) speechless. The former presidential candidate was also cleared of extrajudicial execution charges. Mike comments on the verdict in Central American Politics:
CICIG and the Mutual Support Group (GAM) expressed their dissatisfaction with the court's ruling and the prosecutor's office is appealing the case. “The Monday ruling “reflects the true state of justice in  Guatemala,” said the International Commission Against Impunity in  Guatemala (CICIG), an office created by the United Nations to clean up  the country's legal system”.
Mike also added that the Alfonso Portillo and Alejandro Giammattei  cases were supposed to bring an end to  impunity in Guatemala.  Convictions would have sent a former president  and former presidential  candidate to jail on corruption and murder  charges.
In this context, the war against drugs is leaving a legacy of blood  and it is clear that Guatemala is not winning it. As LuisFi [es] said:
Es un mito ese   de que la guerra perdida contra las drogas acaba con la delincuencia y   la violencia relacionadas con el narcotráfico.  Lo cierto, sin  embargo,  es que la guerra contra las drogas genera violencia y que los  muertos,  en esta guerra ajena, los ponemos nosotros.  Lo cierto es que  Guatemala  no tiene recursos para combatir la criminalidad, y que muchos  de  aquellos recursos escasos se van por el caño en esta guerra perdida.    Pero eso no es lo peor.  Lo peor es que como en toda guerra, las   peores pérdidas se cuentan en términos de cádaveres.  Y en este caso, en   términos de cadáveres decapitados.
Por las experiencias de Colombia y México -y por la de Petén- ya   tenemos una idea de qué es lo que nos espera en esta guerra.  Y   seguramente es tiempo de repensarla.
It is a myth that the failed war on drugs will end with narco-related crime and violence. However, it is true that drugs lead to  violence and the dead, in this war, are ours. And it is also true that  Guatemala lacks resources to combat criminality and many of the limited  resources we have are wasted in this lost war. But that is not the  worst part. The worst part is that, as in any war, the greatest losses are  counted by counting the number of deceased persons. In this particular  case, the people beheaded.
If we follow the  experiences in Colombia, Mexico and Petén, we know what to expect in this  war. Certainly, it is time to rethink this war.
Rampant impunity and a weak state have opened the doors to drug  traffickers  and other criminals. In the crossfire there is a terrified  and shocked  civil society who has stopped looking for solutions and is  only praying  to not get killed and return home safely, one day at a  time.

author: Renata Avila


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Jordan: Debating a Possible GCC Union  · Global Voices
Betsy Fisher

The announcement that Jordan and Morocco might join the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) caused an immediate shockwave of reactions.
The GCC was founded in 1981 by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait in order to encourage economic integration and security coordination between Gulf states.  Stock markets across the GCC reacted positively to news of GCC expansion.
While reactions from citizens of GCC countries were often against the potential addition of Jordan and Morocco, many Jordanians were elated at the news.  Ghada al-Kurd described potential economic benefits:
Flags of the original Gulf Cooperation Council GCC members. Image by Flickr user abcdz2000 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
@Shusmo Supply #JO & demand #GCC, market penetration &reach, emplymnt, venture invstmnts #Amman #JO, better Economy part of #ReformJO
Amar Majali, after a series of jokes, concluded:
Joking aside, this could be really good economically. No taxation is the GCC way. Jordanians can do with no taxation. #JOGCC
Not all were so convinced.  7iber.com, a social dialogue site, asked its readers to post their thoughts on the idea.  Responding to those commenting on economic benefits for Jordan, Mahmood wrote:
umm seriously ! so you dont think this move is just a stunt by KSA to balance the scale and set egypt back ! KSA hates the idea that EGYPT is back as the leader of arabs !
bottom line they the GCC is shopping for voting power and we happened to be the cheapest on the market as usual !
Mohammed Husa wrote, in part [ar]:
من ناحية استراتيجية وعمق استراتيجي دول الخليج هي المستفيد الاكبر لمواجهة النحدي الايراني ولاعادة صياغة محور الاعتدال بعد الاهتزازات الكبرى وخصوصا في مصر
2-من ناحية اقتصادية انا متأكد انه ستكون هناك تحفظات وشروط تعجيزية من ناحية حرية الحركة للاردنيين كما هو الحال مع موضوع تركيا للدخول للاتحاد الاوروبي
In terms of strategy and strategic depth, Gulf states are the biggest beneficiary in the the face of the Iranian threat and strengthening the moderate allies after major reverberations, especially in Egypt.
Secondly, in economic terms I am sure that there will be reservations and burdensome requirements in terms of freedom of movement for Jordanians, as with the issue of Turkey's accession to the European Union.
Rasha Khalifeh tweeted sarcastically [ar]:
انتهت مشكلة اردني فلسطيني صرنا كلنا خليجي #GCC #JOGCC
Lina Ejeilat wrote humorously:
who needs good governance, democracy, and human rights when you can have oil money? Woohoo! #JOGCC
And some were undecided.  Photographer EHamdallah commented on her need to learn more about the situation:
I need to know more about this whole #JO joining #GCC thing! I am not getting it! #ReformJO #JoGCC #GCCJo
Hanan Abu-Shamat jokingly reprimanded those who said that Jordan's addition to the GCC would not bring the GCC any benefit:
Now a country of the #GCC has snow in winter! This is something and you say #Jordan adds no value! Tsk tsk tsk! Hehe. #JOGCC #GCCJO
Maha Mousa remained undecided in her post on 7iber:
It is still up in the air and there is still a lot of work that needs to be done… by the way for those who were asking why the Jordanians were not consulted: I believe that the GCC people should have been consulted of what they think about this issue… don't you think so??
For more reactions to Jordan's possible entry to the GCC, follow the hashtag #JoGCC on Twitter, and read comments on 7iber.com.

author: Betsy Fisher


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Jordan: Marches to Palestine  · Global Voices
Betsy Fisher

Salem Husseini posted a Storify article on the Jordanian marches in honor of Nakba, or catastrophe, on the anniversary of the founding of Israel.


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Lebanon: Against Homophobia · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

LebIDAHO is a new initiative by seven Lebanese LGBT bloggers in preparation for Lebanon’s International Day Against Homophobia. It calls on its readers to write about their personal experiences regarding homophobia.


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Lebanon: Getting Typical Directions in Beirut · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“Meet me by the church next to the mosque across from the nightclub in Downtown” is a typical direction that you may get in Beirut, according to This is Beirut.


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Lebanon: Home Delivery Shisha · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“In Beirut, you just pick up the telephone and order a shisha, or so I discovered!” writes Mich in a post detailing the booming business of delivering shishas (hubble bubble smoking pipes) to homes in Lebanon.


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Macedonia: Report on Sexual & Health Rights of Marginalized Communities · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

The Coalition for Protection and Promotion of Sexual and Health Rights of Marginalized Communities has recently published [mk] its annual Report on sexual and health rights of marginalized communities in the Republic of Macedonia for 2010, available for download as a single e-book with Macedonian and English text documenting over 40 cases of discrimination. ILGA Europe index, published on May 16, marks Macedonia & Turkey as EU candidate countries with the lowest ratings (-2).

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Mexico: Teachers March on National Teachers Day · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Aguachile reports: “During the National Teachers Day in Mexico this Sunday, more than 10,000 teachers, most of them from the dissident teacher union Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE), not to be confused with the SNTE, marched in Mexico City demanding that [Elba Esther] Gordillo resign.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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Morocco: Brave Young Woman Stands at the Forefront of Change · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

The blog Moroccans for Change interviews Selma Maarouf, a leading figure in the Moroccan youth movement for change. Selma explains what motivates her to stand at the forefront of every major pro-democracy protest in her country.

author: Hisham Almiraat


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Russia: Navalny Called In For Questioning On Rospil Logo · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Kevin Rothrock (@agoodtreaty) reports that anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny (LJ user navalny) has been called in for questioning about the logo of his Rospil [ru] anti-corruption project: “[…] Does it desecrate Russia's state emblem?” Navalny's post [ru] about the investigation, launched at a United Russia MP's request, has so far generated 1,200 comments.


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Saudi Arabia: A Woman Challenges the Law by Driving in Jeddah · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive. One Saudi woman recently claimed that right when she drove her children to school in Jeddah. Netizens debate the move, with many applauding the woman, Najla Hariri, for her heroic feat.
The debate to allow women to drive cars has been ebbing and flowing in the oil-rich conservative kingdom for many years. The religious authorities have always viewed this right, if granted, as something that will ruin women and the whole of society, while liberals, along with a lot of Saudi women, say it is a basic right that women should naturally have, especially those who cannot afford to employ a driver.
A picture of Najla Hariri taken from her Twitter account @hariri65.
Najla Hariri‘s feat stormed the Internet, and on Twitter, the long debate continued between those who refused what Najla had done and those who praised her courage and struggle to prove that society is wrong in banning women from driving cars. Hariri reacted kindly to the praise she got in comments through her Twitter account saying [ar]:
أعزائي، جعلتم مني رائدة ورمز، أنا لست أي من ذلك، انا أم وجدت نفسها في احتياج لأخذ زمام المبادرة، ففعلت من غير بطولات ولا انجازات
Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan wrote a comment [ar] on what Mrs Hariri had done, saying:
ما قامت به الأستاذة نجلاء حريري من قيادة سيارتها يوم أمس في جدة وتوصيل أطفالها هو حق حلال ومشروع ومصادرة الحق ظلم
Another Saudi tweep, Abdulrahman Kattoa, praised what Najla did, describing [ar] her as another Rosa Park, the African-American civil rights movement activist:
ما يكسر حاجز الخوف إلا الشجعان زي ما كسرت الأمريكية في الباص الاضطهاد العنصري في أمريكا
A Saudi male doctor, Rami Niazy, expressed his feelings of disappointment to see Saudis still debating the issue of allowing women to drive cars. He wrote a tweet [ar] saying:
كلما تذكرت أننا لا زلنا نناقش المرأة تسوق ولا لأ في سنة ٢٠١١ ٬ اشعر بإحباط شديد. الناس طلعوا القمر من ٤٠ سنة
Saudi columnist Essam Al-Zamel wrote in his Twitter account a side comment on the debate of women driving saying [ar]:
أتمنى أن لا يحول التيار الإسلامي قيادة المرأة إلى صراع بين الاسلاميين والليبراليين. فقيادة المرأة تخص المرأة وليس الليبراليين
Kuwaiti columnist Abdullah Zaman wrote a tweet in English to Mrs Hariri praising her courage:
Najla, I envy you for what you did today. You got the guts to be a symbol of the will in the women’s world.
Saudi political activist Waleed Abu Alkhair pointed out [ar] the importance of what Mrs Hariri had done:
باختصار سياقة نجلاء حريري لسيارتها في وسط جدة ووقت الذروة ولمسافة طويلة دون أي مضايقات يبدد ما يشاع عن مجتمعنا أنه سوف يؤذي المرأة إن ساقت

author: Mona Kareem


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Spain: Thousands of People Take the Streets  · Global Voices
Leila Nachawati Rego

Thousands have taken to the streets this week in Spain to protest against corruption, unemployment, and a political structure that favors a two-party system.
“We're not merchandise in the hands of bankers and politicians,” was the motto of tens of thousands who demonstrated all over the country on May 15, 2011, a few days before the upcoming regional elections.
It did not stop there. The demonstrations were followed by a peaceful sit-in on May 16, with hundreds camping at Madrid's main square, la “Puerta del Sol.” The movement, mainly coordinated by the youth organization Democracia Real Ya [es], has been extremely active online.
Demonstrations in Spain. Image by Juan Luis Sánchez.
Ignacio Escolar in Público [es] reports:
Es una noticia preocupante la increíble distancia que se está creando entre los políticos y el resto de los ciudadanos. El 15-M no es el único síntoma de que esta democracia está enferma, de que no podrá sobrevivir si se mantiene la injusticia, la corrupción y la impunidad. Que los políticos aparezcan en las encuestas del CIS como uno de los principales problemas del país es otra evidencia más que los partidos no deberían ignorar si no quieren que la sociedad les pase por encima.
Periodismo Humano [es] reports:
Varios miles de personas no dejaban de comentar la sorpresa de ver tanta gente manifestándose para pedir trabajo especialmente, sí, pero también mecanismos de participación más democráticos y adaptados a las posibilidades que la tecnología ofrece hoy, relaciones internacionales justas y basadas en las personas, no en las multinacionales, justicia y la erradicación de la pobreza en el mundo… “Hartos de estar hartos”, “Los políticos mienten, los banqueros roban, los ricos ríen”, “Estamos cabreados y muy indignados”…
#15m, #15mani and #democraciarealya were the most actively used Twitter hashtags associated with the protests on May 15, used to share thousands of links to photos and videos of the demonstrations in 50 cities, and news on the upcoming elections and citizen demands.
Later on, when demonstrators camped at Puerta del Sol main square, #acampadasol (camping at Sol square) turned into the most visible tag, flooding Twitter with thousands of messages and becoming global trending topic.
This was one on the most retweeted messages on May 16:
@Anon_Leakspin: Primero te ignoran. Luego se ríen de ti. Después te atacan. Entonces ganas» Gandhi #acampadasol #spanishrevolution @policia
Youth protest in Madrid, Spain. Image by Guillermo Martinez, copyright Demotix (15/05/11).
Some users have called this movement the Spanish Revolution, in reference to the Arab Spring as an inspiration for Spanish youth.
@rujiki: Ya está aquí! es la Spanish Revolution http://t.co/g7cRCdx ¿en cuántos puntos coincidimos? hay que apoyar #15m #spanishrevolution #nolesvotes
Mainstream media like ABC have made the same connection:
Como si se tratara de la plaza Tahrir, en Egipto, escenario de las protestas populares [es]. El caldo de cultivo del derrocamiento de Hosni Mubarak. Esto es distinto pero puede ser el embrión de algo. Quién sabe.
Some users expressed concern that Spanish #15M may not have well defined strategy and goals.
@dequant: El problema de #15M y similares es que esto (desde mi punto de vista) si no encuentra pronto un objetivo claro y medible no llegará a nada.
To define their strategy, goals and legal framework, demonstrators have counted with the help of some of the most renowned lawyers in Spain. David Bravo (@dbravo) and Javier de la Cueva (@jdelacueva) have been sharing legal advice [es] on the right of association and reunion [es].
More sit-ins are announced for today all over the country. The Democracia Real Ya [es] website was inaccessible on May 17, apparently because of the number of visitors, but users are organizing and sharing the locations of demonstrations through Facebook and Youtube. The next one: Tuesday May 17 at 8 pm.
Mobilizations can also be followed through live streaming.

author: Leila Nachawati Rego


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Women & HIV · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeni writes a thoughtful post about HIV awareness, saying: “The judgmental stances do very little to help the issues at stake which is HIV transmission/infection.  The reality is that women are the ones most affected by this disease and the onus is on them to protect themselves.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Dangerous Dogs & the Bigger Picture  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Globewriter posts an interview he did with the President of the T&T Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  Against the backdrop of a recent spate of dog attacks, they discuss the existing law as it pertains to dangerous dogs, as well as responsible pet ownership, animal welfare and local attitudes to animals.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Manning Suspended  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad and Tobago News Blog reports that former Prime Minister Manning has been suspended from the House of Representatives, having been found guilty of contempt of Parliament.


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Tunisia: Internet Censorship Makes a Comeback · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Internet censorship is making a comeback in Tunisia, much to the annoyance of many cyber activists across the country.
During the rule of ousted Tunisian president Zein El Abideen Ben Ali, the government exercised a harsh censorship policy by blocking all web pages and websites that criticized the regime, including websites such as those of Al Jazeera, Amnesty International, WikiLeaks, YouTube, Nawaat and DailyMotion, as well as dozens of Facebook pages.
On January 13, 2011, Ben Ali addressed the Tunisian people and promised to put an end to Internet censorship, in an attempt to absorb the rage of the masses, especially the youth. Ben Ali kept his promise but it was too late for him to remain in power and, ever since mid-January, Internet users in Tunisia have started to enjoy an unprecedented uncensored web access.
This page was filtered to put into practice a requisition made by a magistrate in the Permanent Military Tribunal of Tunis.
Recently, however, the Tunisian Agency of Internet censored four Facebook pages [fr], following a military order. On its official website, the Ministry of National Defense explained why such a decision was taken:
لوحظ في الآونة الأخيرة تعمد بعض المواطنين إحداث صفحات خاصة بهم على شبكة الأنترنات قصد الإساءة إلى المؤسسة العسكرية وقياداتها من خلال نشر مشاهد فيديو وتداول تعاليق ومقالات مغرضة ترمي إلى زعزعة ثقة المواطن في الجيش الوطني وبث البلبلة والفوضى بالبلاد.
وأمام هذه السلوكيات المنحرفة والمخلة بآداب التعامل مع شبكة الأنترنات، بادرت وزارة الدفاع الوطني بعد أن تحصلت على تسخير صادر عن حاكم التحقيق بالمحكمة العسكرية الدائمة بتونس بإخطار الوكالة التونسية للأنترنات لحجب الصفحات التالية:
-  “Jalel Brick”
–  “Youssef patriote”
–  “Takriz
It has been recently noticed that some citizens have deliberately created personal pages on the World Wide Web  in an attempt to damage the reputation of the military institution and, its leaders, by the publishing of video clips and, the circulation of comments and, articles that aim to destabilize the trust of citizens in the national army, and spread disorder and chaos in the country.
In response to this deviant behavior that goes against the ethics of using the Internet, the Ministry of Defense and, after obtaining a request from the Magistrate of the Permanent Military Tribunal, took the initiative to ask the Tunisian Internet Agency to filter the following pages:
-  “Jalel Brick”
–  “Youssef patriote”
–  “Takriz
The move has outraged Tunisian bloggers, who consider the military decision as a step backward. Tounsi7orr (@tounsi7orr) tweets [fr]:
priver un peuple déjà censuré non pas 23 ans seulement mais tout un demi siècle de parler et de critiquer est de la pure anarchie #tunisie
He adds [fr]:
quelle démocratie veut on la construire si on ne respecte pas l'autre…et on censure ceux qui brise le mur de silence #tunisie
Ammar 404 caricature on seifnechi.blogspot.com
“Ammar 404″ is the nickname that Tunisian bloggers gave to censorship.  “404” is derived from “404 Page not Found” while “Ammar” is a male Tunisian name.
The adjacent caricature represents Ammar 404 dressed in military clothes, holding scissors to cut Internet access from a number of pages on the web. The caricature is entitled “Ammar has been recruited by the military.”
Zied Mhirsi writes [fr]:
Avec la révolution du 14 Janvier et la presence de Slim Amamou au sein du gouvernement, on aurait pu penser que la page de la censure a été définitivement tournée[…] Deux semaine avant la celebration de la 1ere année de la journée “Nhar ala Ammar” (contre la censure qd Slim 404 a été arrêté), voila que Ammar refait surface et cette fois ci habillé en militaire et ce placant derriere une décision de la court militaire.[…]
Les blogueurs ne peuvent rester silencieux devant cette “CENSURE” (et pas filtrage). Affaire à suivre…
After the revolution of January 14, and the presence of Slim Amamou within the government, we would have thought that the page of censorship has been finally turned over. Two weeks before celebrating the first year of “Nhar ala Ammar” Day (against censorship when Amamou was arrested), here is Ammar floating on the surface again, but this time with a military look and following a decision by the military court. […]
Bloggers cannot remain silent against this “Censorship” (and not filtering). Story to be followed
Among the pages censored are “Takriz” and “Jalel Brik”. The two pages have on several occasions promoted violence against the security forces.
The Facebook page “Tunisie: Contre les rumeurs post-révolution” [fr] published an article endorsing the decision taken by the military court [fr]:
Questionné sur la cause de cette agitation, l'on m'a expliqué que le tribunal militaire n'a pas le droit de s'immiscer dans telles affaires. J'ai répondu que ces deux pages ont appelé ouvertement, de manière flagrante, explicite et très claire à la violence. Pire encore, le dénommé Jalel Brik a incité carrément à brûler les postes de police, y compris les policiers
Aymen Ouerghi tweets [fr]:
Non à la censure, mais condamner diffamations, haine et violence n'est pas censure, ni atteinte à la liberté d'expression non plus #tunisie
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Ukraine, U.S.: Chornobyl Songs Project · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Maria Sonevytsky writes about the Chornobyl Songs Project: “To mark the 25th Anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, raise awareness of the continuing environmental damage created by the nuclear disaster and stimulate efforts to prevent such catastrophes from occurring in the future, a group of singers based in New York City will reinterpret traditional songs from the Chornobyl region.”


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Why East Timor should join ASEAN? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

José Ramos-Horta, the President of Timor-Leste, lists the country's accomplishments to convince ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) leaders to include Timor Leste as one of its members


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Zambia: Whistle-Blowing Or Personal Vendetta? · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

In Zambia, it is very rare for politicians holding ministerial positions to resign on their own without a hint of scandal. George Mpombo, the defence minister appointed under the presidency of the late Levy Mwanawasa shocked the nation in July 2009 by standing down under the new administration of former Vice President Rupiah Banda, who took over from Mwanawasa on his death from a stroke.
His sudden resignation was not explained at the time; however, within a few days Mpombo started criticising the new administration, accusing President Banda of abandoning Mwanawasa’s vision, notably the fight against corruption.
Zambian President Rupia Banda at World Economic Forum on Africa 2010. Image by Flickr user World Economic Forum (CC BY-SA 2.0).
President Banda abolished the Task Force Against Corruption shortly after taking over office, which had been investigating corruption involving former president Frederick Chiluba and his close aides. Chiluba was quickly acquitted and the prosecution was ordered not to appeal the acquittal.
It is for this reason that Mpombo, a veteran politician, became critical of the Banda administration. His outspokenness, however, rubbed President Banda the wrong way. Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) party cadres started condemning Mpombo for his critical stance and calling for his expulsion from the party.
Set up
A trap was being set up for Mpombo to shut him up. Within a short time, a transaction with a senior provincial MMD official in the Copperbelt Province where Mpombo was a member of parliament was leaked to the press. A Zambian kwacha 10 million (about US$ 2,500) cheque Mpombo paid had bounced. A law had been passed meanwhile, not to long before, criminalising the bouncing of cheques. As far as the nation knows, Mpombo was the first person, or at least the first prominent person, to be arrested for bouncing a cheque. He was subsequently convicted in August 2010 and fined for the offence.
Mpombo then became even more critical of the government believing, as many Zambians did, that he was merely targeted for his stand against President Banda because at the time he was appearing in court for the offence, another minister was exposed as having bounced a cheque. The other minister was quickly cleared and blame was shifted to the payee.
In yet another twist, Mpombo was arrested following the publication of the Auditor-General’s report which cited the minister as having failed to retire imprest. Strangely enough, no one has ever been arrested for financial impropriety arising from the Auditor-General’s findings. The annual Auditor-General’s reports gather dust year after year even in cases where clear abuse of state resources involving billions of kwacha have been reported.
Mpombo eventually reached the end of his tether. He disclosed the reasons for his resignation. He was allegedly being pushed by President Rupiah Banda to enter into a US$10 million arms importation deal in which one of the president’s children was involved.
This matter attracted the attention of both the government, whose officials deny it calling Mpombo a liar, and the opposition who called for further investigations. Blogger MissBwalya however, questions Mpombo’s motive for the exposure of the arms deal in a post entitled “whistleblowing or personal vendetta.”
These days when I read news stories about self-proclaimed whistleblowers who were once part of the ruling elite spilling their proverbial guts, I just shake my head with incredulity and have to control a slow rage from consuming my being.
If these political pariahs were witness to wrongdoing during their time in office why the deafening silence at the time? Is our system really bereft of checks and balances that these “selfless” Zambians had no confidence in speaking up? And if that’s truly the case, what benefit is there to speaking up now?
Perhaps I would take some of the allegations seriously if real evidence was forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions office or even one of the newspapers for a detailed exposé when other avenues are closed, instead of the daily verbal volleys we’re being subjected to in the media. It’s classless and self-defeating.
A short exchange between me and MissBwalya in reaction to the blog went like this:
Gershom:
Our system does not protect whistleblowers. Even the DPP himself would not only not protect the whistleblower, but, most disappointingly, hevwould not pursue the matter if it involves the president and his cronies. What we need is serious institutional change. Nomenclature change is just cosmetic.
MissBwalya:
You are correct, whistleblowers do not have protections and that is an indictment of our systems that continue to be weakened by political maneuvering. I also think we are hampered by high profile cases where it's all about character assassination and not really about telling the truth. Just look at Mpombo & Mulongoti (a nominated MP who was fired as minister and nomination withdrawn for differing with President Banda).
These two were insiders for quite a while and are well positioned to uncover shady dealings but without decorum or even thought, they come across as nothing more than scorned housewives whose benefactor has found a younger mistress.
We do need institutional change that allows for people within public & private organizations to speak up when needed and add that extra layer of oversight.
The debate about the former’s minister’s disclosures has continued on various fora and intensified after he was challenged on a TV show if he had proof, according to Zambian Watchdog (an underground online news site), for the allegations against President Banda and his son to which he said he didn’t. The following are some of the comments to the story on the Zambian Watchdog (the site does not provide permanent links for individual comments):
Olympia Extension Chick! argued that Mpombo should have produced evidence:
Ba Mpombo, you have definitely shot yourself in the foot on this one. When you made those allegations, my thoughts were that there was evidence to support your claims. But it looks like you were shooting blanks, unfortunately for you, your word is not enough to exonerate you. Best of luck in your fight with the court system.
Mr Hamiyanze wrote:
Cage Mpombo, this guy is not normal, how does he open his dirt mouth and fail to prove his allegation especially when he is accusing the innocent Head of State. What are people from state intelligence doing when characters like George are breaching the orth? Something must be done.
catch22 said that Mpombo is in a Catch-22 situation:
Catch22 situation. If he discloses, he will be charged with bigger criminal offence of state secrets, and if he does not, MMD cadres bark as are Mr. Hamiyanze and Extensions are doing. Wait for elections and things will unfold through the paper that digs deeper.
shi mushicita panono agreed:
@ Catch 22. U are correct. Mpombo cannot be foolish to produce a classified document because of the obvious sanctions that go with such offences. The onus really is on RB to explain Mpombo’s assignment in RSA
CS asked:
How do you expect Mpombo to produce the documents? They are of course at the ministry of De fence Offices where Mpombo doesn’t have access now. The government delayed to respond because they needed time to eliminate all manner of evidence. Thats why they can boldly challenge Mpombo because they know by now that the evidence no longer exist because they have done a good job, no will find it
BMC wrote:
Simple question. Did RB send Mpombo to South Africa? All those people who are saying Mpombo has fabricated the whole story should answer this simple question. Don’t just condemn Mpombo. Was Mpombo sent to South Africa with the named personnel he has referred to who are still serving? Why are people dodging this very simple grade 7 question? Was he sent & for what.? A minister cannot go out of the country with the President’s approval please!!!
The MMD government has reported Mpombo to the police and if he is arrested, he is likely to face a charge of breaking the ministerial oath of office, but if the MMD loses the presidential and parliamentary elections, President Banda is likely to face a criminal investigations when he vacates office.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Armenia-Azerbaijan: Eurovision Diplomacy? · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Global Voices’ Caucasus Editor rounds up opinion to the possibility that winning this year's Eurovision Song Contest could contribute to change in Azerbaijan. The post looks at the situation in terms of LGBT and political rights, in addition to the ongoing conflict with Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, on the same day that another Facebook activist was jailed.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Azerbaijan: Eurovision-induced sexual revolution?  · Global Voices
Pervin Muradli

Turkhan's blog [AZ] posts video and photos of a woman celebrating Azerbaijan's Eurovision victory in a less than expected way considering the otherwise traditional and patriarchal nature of local society. Stripping to her waist in the center of the capital, Baku, the blog wonders about the likelihood of a sexual revolution in Azerbaijan given that the images and video were shared widely on Facebook.

author: Pervin Muradli


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Barbados: Sir Hilary’s Gaffe  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Sir Hilary Beckles recently compared cricketer Chris Gayle to Jamaican drug don Christopher “Dudus” Coke, provoking action from WICB Expose and causing Barbados Underground to comment: “Sir Hilary has engineered a gaffe of colossal proportion…the decent thing to do is to press home his apology with a resignation letter from the WICB Board of Directors.”


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Bermuda: Gay Rights = Human Rights  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Wishful Thinking says that “discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation” is a human rights issue and asks compatriots to “send a message that we've waited long enough and leave no doubt in the minds of our parliamentarians that we expect action now.”


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Bhutan: Why The High Tourist Fee? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bridge To Bhutan explains the reason behind Bhutan’s unique and long-standing system of requiring tourists to spend at least $200 a day.

author: Rezwan


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Brazil: Alert as 473% jump in deforestation is confirmed · Global Voices
Paula Góes

“Events are moving quickly in Brazil's epic battle over a new national Forest Code. The struggle has has reached a critical stage full of both danger and opportunity. Please take action“, asks Lou Gold, as Brazil's national monitoring agency confirms 473 percent jump in deforestation.

author: Paula Góes