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The case for reforming the Sudanese Access to Information Act · Global Voices
Mohamed Suliman

Protestors near the Sudanese army headquarters in Khartoum in April 2019. Photo by M. Saleh (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The month of December 2018 marked a turning point in contemporary Sudanese history. What started as peaceful demonstrations in a few cities outside the capital, Khartoum, morphed into a political revolution that deposed a military regime that ruled the country for 30 years under former President Omar Bashir.
Such a regime did not sustain itself merely through the execution of enemies, civil wars, and corruption — it also legislated and enacted laws that protected and served its interests. One of these laws is the Sudanese Access to Information Act of 2015. The law — still implemented today —places several restrictions on the right to access information. In this post-revolution Sudan period, activists say the law should be amended as part of the country’s long road to democratic and civilian rule.
The right to freedom of information is recognized at the international level through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This right is also enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Sudan is a state party to both the ICCPR and the African charter.
Article 19 of the UDHR states that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
Under Article 9 of the African charter, ‘’every individual shall have the right to receive information.
The Sudanese Access to Information Act is the first of its kind in Sudan, although Article 39 (1) of the 2005 Sudan Interim Constitution — which was recently repealed — enshrined the right to receive and disseminate information.
The Act, which includes 19 sections and eight chapters, has its shortcomings, particularly in terms of which types of information people are allowed to access. When the law was passed in 2015, activists reacted with doubt about the incentives, goals and agendas behind it.
Ali A Khalil, a renowned Sudanese lawyer, in a published paper titled “The Sudanese Access to Information Act 2015: A Step Forward?” criticized the law's adoption as “a mere cosmetic process intended to whitewash the unpleasant record of the Sudanese government on issues of transparency and accountability’’.
Salma Maarouf, a journalist, attacked the timing of the law and the incentive behind it: “[They] are trying to use this law as a quick fix to remove the specter of Transparency International's rankings, which placed Sudan at the bottom of the list of countries as the least transparent.”
Sudanese blogger Usamah Mahmoud slammed the law and the exceptions it places on access to information. “They made it very clear that a lot of information is going to remain classified. They have codified this law so they can go after the press if they cross the line,” he told the Committee to Protect Journalists after the law was passed in 2015.
The law lists 12 types of classified information that are restricted from citizens, including information related to national security and foreign policy. The language of these exceptions is intentionally vague to protect the interests of the government.
Another obstacle to information access is the fee charges. The law states that ‘’the public body may charge fees, upon approval by the Commissioner, to meet the costs of preparing and providing the information”.
While governments may be able to charge those requesting access to information certain fees, these ‘’should not be such as to deter applicants and it should never exceed the actual cost of searching for, preparing and communicating the information”, Article19, a nongovernmental organization, explained. In a country where almost half of its citizens face poverty, such fees represent a real barrier that deters citizens from enjoying their right to freedom of information.
In an apparent attempt to silence those who oppose the regime, the law totally neglected to mention or allude to the protection of those who request information from being tracked or attacked by any governmental body or any other person or organization that could benefit from concealing the requested piece of information. There is also no article that protects whistleblowers who leak information for the public interest. For example, in 2014, former police officer Abuzaid Abdalla Salih was sued for defamation, stripped of his rank, and fined and sentenced to four years in prison for leaking information pertaining to the corruption of the Sudanese police.
The law is very vague in the language used to describe the source of funding for access to information committee that regulates and organize information requests. Article 14 of chapter seven allows the committee to receive grants and contributions from individuals and corporations, and any other source approved by the designated minister appointed by the president. this article overlooked to mention the necessary protections and measures to avoid any conflict of interest, as the donors may have an influence on the policies and activities of the committee,  putting its independency at risk.
By contrast, the law positively acknowledged the right of people with disabilities to access information. However, Alradi Abdalla, a disability rights activist based in Khartoum, pointed out that the law falls short of clarifying how this information will be provided:
The Sudanese Information Law stipulates that the request for information can be made orally by persons with disabilities. Ironically, the same law does not mention information about how the materials will be provided to the requesters who are with disabilities
— alradi abdalla (@alradiabdalla) August 23, 2019
When it comes to the spread of ‘fake news’ and misinformation online, Sudan is no exception. During the recent anti-government protests that sought an end to military rule in the government, journalists and activists documented several cases of mis- and disinformation such as manipulated photos, government-sponsored disinformation campaigns, and even fake accounts on Instagram that hijacked solidarity and donation efforts during the revolution. These incidents reveal the dire need for amendments to the freedom of information law to make it easier for journalists and media groups to counter disinformation. The government, as well as the private sector, should take the lead in sharing information online and making it accessible to the public, a step that would facilitate fact-checking efforts by individuals.
On August 21, Abdallah Hamdouk was appointed as prime minister and the members of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan were sworn in, as part of a power-sharing agreement to guide Sudan’s three-year transition toward civilian rule, in accordance with the Constitutional Charter for the 2019 Transitional Period.
The charter, signed by the Transitional Military Council and the political coalition that represents the protesters, Forces of Freedom and Change, repealed the Transitional Constitution of Sudan of 2005.
Under the new charter, laws that were issued previously will remain in force ‘’unless they are repealed or amended”. Article 56 of the charter states that “every citizen shall have the unrestricted right to freedom of expression, to receive and publish information and publications, and to access the press, without prejudice to public order, safety and morals, as defined by law”.
Indeed, the law referred to in the charter is the Sudanese Freedom to Information Act, which with its shortcomings, was designed not to liberate people but rather to help serve those who rule by making it hard for people to access information.
On the other hand, the charter overlooked to mention the establishment of access to information committee, that was previously stated in the law, in which the president was given the right to name a commissioner for the committee, putting more burden on activists to advocate and push for its creation.
With the appointment of a new transitional government and a transitional legislative council, which will be tasked with amending and enacting new laws, citizens now have the opportunity to discuss, debate and propose a new law that would serve the genuine needs for a new Sudan — a Sudan where freedom of information serves the public’s right to know and enables citizens to hold those in power to account.
Raising public awareness of the importance of amending this law, will be a challenge, but this is the real meaning of revolution: an unending battle for liberty beyond the mere ousting of a dictator from his chair.

author: Mohamed Suliman


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Contrary to Serbian government’s claims, fact-checking initiative shows that journalists are far from being ‘all safe’ · Global Voices
Istinomer

Nebojsa Stefanović, Minister of Interior of the Republic of Serbia. Photo by Zoran Drekalović/Istinomer, used with permission.
This article originally appeared on Istinomer (Truth-O-Meter), a fact-checking initiative of the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA). An edited version is published below as part of a content-sharing agreement.
The team of the fact-checking initiative Istinomer (Truth-O-Meter) proved false the claim by Serbian Minister of Interior that “today all journalists are safe.” Since 1991, Serbia has witnessed killings of journalists ordered by highly-ranked government officials.
According to Istinomer's research, threats against individual journalists or editorial teams have become rather frequent over the past few months. The Independent Journalist Association of Serbia (NUNS) says that from 1 January to 10 April this year, 12 verbal threats were recorded compared to 23 in all of 2018.
Those who threaten (sometimes even by death) are usually using the internet: they leave comments on posts, send messages to journalists’ Facebook inboxes, directly message them on their mobile phones or even mail letters such as the one addressed to the editorial team of independent TV station N1 in February. Journalists working at N1, which is an affiliate of CNN, are often labelled by pro-regime supporters and trolls as “foreign agents.”
The station was also among those targeted in the articles by the website Istraga.rs. The site opened in February 2019, and its authors (unknown and unsigned, while the website also has no Impressum) have published “exposés” of reputable independent media outlets like KRIK and NIN, as well as civil society organizations or high-profile participants of anti-government protests, such as “One in five million” movement.
Some of their articles present information about the organisations’ donors as proof of them being foreign agents, while others dox individuals, especially young women, using their vacation photos from social media to depict them as raveling in luxury with their alleged high salaries. In the Balkan context, this type of article has a twofold purpose: intimidation of the targets, as they are made aware they are under surveillance, and inciting the general public against the media.
A Facebook page called Srbija naša zemlja (Serbia our country) deploys similar tactics, labeling journalists as “extremists”, “Serb haters” and accuses them of demolishing the constitutional order, whereas it also puts the opposition politicians into a negative context.
The impression of the representatives of the Independent Journalists’ Association, a member of the International Federation of Journalists, is that the very atmosphere in the society stimulates threats against journalists. They say there are high state officials who pressure journalists.
Due to the frequent threats addressed against the above-mentioned N1 station, the international and European Federation of Journalists urged the authorities to stop targeting and labelling the journalists in a statement issued on 28 March. Freedom House‘s research chief for Europe and Euro-Asia, Zeljka Caki, said on 23 March that “Serbian politicians should refrain from calling journalists traitors and foreign mercenaries.” She added that “the government has a duty to protect freedom of media and not to stimulate anger and hatred against journalists who are doing their job.”
Despite all of the stated, Minister of Interior Nebojsa Stefanović said that “today all journalists are safe” on 24 March 2019, on N1 TV:
The period from 2002 to 2008 was marked by assassinations of journalists in Serbia, but today all journalists are safe. Anyone who threatens a journalist is automatically and expediently brought to justice. These people are arrested, processed and brought before prosecutors’ offices and courts. Every threat, any violence, each strike. We are making the prescribed penalties more severe.
He said that “the period from 2002 to 2008 was marked by assassinations of journalists in Serbia”. However, there have been no cases of journalist assassinations in Serbia in that period. All reported assassinations occurred before 2002: the owner and journalist of “Dnevni telegraf” and “Evropljanin” magazines, Slavko Ćuruvija was killed in 1999; while “Večernje novosti” correspondent from Jagodina, Milan Pantić was killed in 2001. Suspicions still surround the 1994 death of “Duga” journalist, Radislava Dada Vujasinović, suspected of having been murdered.
In the period mentioned by the minister, there was one serious attack against a journalist, but it was not a murder case — a bomb was thrown through the window of the home Dejan Anastastijević, journalist of Vreme weekly, while he and his spouse were inside. The case has not been resolved yet.
A similar attack occurred in December 2018, when two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the garage of Milan Jovanović, a journalist with the independent outlet Žiginfo.rs. Jovanović had investigated corruption cases involving local authorities in the municipality of Grocka. His entire house was burned down.
The former president of Grocka municipality, Dragoljub Simonović, is the main suspect of ordering the attack. The public prosecutor demanded a maximum sentence for him and three others. The trial for this act opened in May 2019. The accused politician brought a crowd of supporters to cheer him during his first hearing. This local strongman is also suing the journalist and his editor in civil court for defamation and “causing emotional harm.” Jovanović is now escorted 24 hours a day by two plainclothes policemen.
Journalist Milan Jovanović escaped an assassination attempt which included arson of his house, which burned down. Photo by Zoran Drekalovic/Istinomer, used with permission.
In this case, at least the perpetrators and suspects were identified. Journalist Dragana Pećo of the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) wasn't so lucky — more than two years since her apartment was broken into and ransacked, the perpetrators are still at large.
Stefanović also said that every person threatening journalists and attacking them “will be expediently brought to justice.” According to NUNS, however, “justice is not that expedient and, in some cases, it is not even reached.” Marija Vukasović, a lawyer from the Independent Journalist Association of Serbia told Istinomer in April:
Što se tiče prethodnih nekoliko godina, još je veliki broj nerešenih slučajeva koji se i dalje nalaze u postupcima pred tužilaštvom i gde počinioci nisu identifikovani. U poslednjih nekoliko meseci imamo slučajeve gde su policija i tužilaštvo brzo reagovali, ali to svakako nije dovoljno da bi se situacija poboljšala, a pogotovo ne da bi se reklo da se svaka pretnja, svako nasilje i udarac procesuiraju.
Regarding the previous few years, there is still a large number of unresolved cases which are still pending before the prosecutors’ offices and where perpetrators were not identified. In the past couple of months, there have been cases where police and prosecutors acted promptly, but this is certainly not enough to improve the situation, particularly not enough to say that every threat, every violence and strike is processed.
In figures, out of 31 cases of assaults and pressures against journalists that occurred last year, four have been resolved, 16 are still pending before the prosecution and police, and a misdemeanour procedure has been instituted in one case, NUNS data shows.
“In five cases, it was established that there were no elements of a criminal offence for ex officio prosecution, and two cases are in judicial proceedings. Two cases of threats have not been reported, and we have no information regarding one case”, Vukasović says.
In the year 2017, the total number of registered assaults and pressures against journalists was the same as in 2018 – 31. Out of that number, 13 cases are still pending before the prosecution office (in one case the application of opportunity principle is in course).
“In nine cases it was established that there were no elements for prosecution, as in, there were no elements of a criminal offence for ex officio prosecution. Six cases have been resolved – three cases by sentence, two cases by application of opportunity principle and, in one case, another state assumed responsibility for criminal prosecution. In two cases, the procedure is ongoing, and in another, the court rejected the criminal charges” NUNS lawyer explains.
Concerning stricter penalty provisions, which was also announced by the Minister, Vukasović commented that NUNS representatives were not aware of any ongoing amendment of criminal legislation. She said:
If it is ongoing, it would be advisable to involve relevant journalist and media associations, considering that we participate in the work of the Permanent Working Group on Journalists’ Safety and there is also a sub-group for analyzing the Criminal Code, where an analysis has been prepared regarding criminal offences that may be perpetrated at the detriment of journalists. Together with legal experts and lawyers, NUNS has prepared the proposals for amendments of criminal provisions that would improve the status of journalists with regard to their right to safe and undisturbed work.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Istinomer


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Months after pledge to open internet, Ethiopia disrupts connectivity amidst communal violence, tension · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sits with Minister of Defense Lemma Megersa, November 24, 2017. Photo by Odaw via Wikimedia Commons CC BY 4.0.
This story is the second in a two-part series on online disinformation, shutdowns, and rising political and ethnic tensions in Ethiopia. You can read the first part here.
On June 18 of last year, in his second parliamentary address, Ethiopia’s reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced his government would no longer block online publications. Within a day, his then-chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, followed up in a tweet acknowledging the unblocking of more than 250 largely diaspora-based, pro-opposition websites and blogs.
At that time, the move was celebrated as a major step toward internet freedom in a country where the ruling regime, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Front, (EPRDF) had for years controlled the flow of information.
As the political environment relaxed, comedians, journalists, bloggers and opposition activists voiced thoughts and criticisms that had been bottled up for decades. Ethiopia's embrace of civil liberties, however, has deflated as political rifts resurfaced between non-ruling elites of Ethiopia's two main ethnic groups: the Amharas and the Oromos. With ethnic and political tensions between the two groups manifesting online in the form of hate speech and disinformation, the government responded — on a number of occasions — by imposing restrictions on access to networks and social media platforms.
Prior to the political reforms introduced by PM Abiy Ahmed, disruptions of internet connectivity, cell phone services, or social media occurred for reasons ranging from curbing mass protest demonstrations to preventing cheating during examinations.
This time around, although politics is at the center of internet shutdowns, the dynamics are more complicated than they had been prior to the start of the political reforms.
View over Churchill Road in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Photo by Mattias Kiel Nielsen via Wikipedia.
In September 2018, just two months after the government's pledge to open up the internet, deadly communal violence erupted in Burayou, a town located in outskirts of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, following the homecoming of two exiled political groups in competition with each other: Patriotic Ginbot 7 and Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). In response, the government resorted to large-scale, deliberate disruptions of internet connectivity, cell phone service, and social media.
Authorities believe social media — particularly Facebook — played a central role in stoking communal tension, and they are not alone. The fact that communal tension hit a boiling point in Burayou just as social media made inroads in the area drove many to speculate that the violence was stoked by messages shared on social media.
However, a closer look at the violence reveals there are other deep-rooted factors, too.
In recent years, communal tensions have been a fact of life in Ethiopia. Among the many ethnic tensions that dominate Ethiopian politics, perhaps none have been as caustic as the issue of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city, around which conflict and tension have been building for years.
Addis Ababa, geographically located in Oromia, is predominantly Amharic-speaking and continues to expand into Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest administrative region.
In reaction to the persistent expansion of Addis Ababa into Oromia until 2014, a protest movement started in 2015. After years of struggle, these protests slowed down the expansion of the sprawling city.
But the protest movement’s initial claim of halting the unrestrained expansion of Addis Ababa at the expense of Oromo farmers eventually evolved into nationalistic claims defined in terms of ethnic ownership of the city.
In the days leading up to the communal violence in Burayou, the supporters of the two rival political blocks spread an “us-versus-them” philosophy through various means of communication. They hoisted and waved flags and banners of the competing groups in the streets of Addis Ababa. There were even physical confrontations and a few violent clashes in the capital.
While many factors contributed to the communal violence in Burayou, such as ethnic and linguistic divides and a lack of faith in the government, the internet was singled out to blame as the main reason.
This was the second time (as per available information) that internet services were suspended after authorities promised the government would no longer block the internet nor restrict access to specific apps or websites.
Authorities also shut down the internet on grounds of security or public order measure when ethnic violence broke out in eastern Ethiopia in August 2018. Authorities only reversed their decision after a short-lived positive turn — following the political reforms that began in April 2018 under Abiy.
And these shutdowns were all a sign of things to come.
Since then, as communal tension and flare-ups began to proliferate, so did internet shutdowns and restrictions on social media on the grounds of security or public order.
June 13, 2019 was the start of a disruptive run of three major shutdowns that included a preemptive shut down due to a national exam that lasted three days, an unexplained internet blackout the lasted for at least 100 hours and a shutdown due to political violence in Amhara State, Ethiopia’s second-largest region.
These incidents do not reflect cases of bandwidth throttling (lowering the quality of their cell signals or internet speed) and restrictions on access to social media sites or specific websites that lasted several days or still continuing.
The longest of all shutdowns came, on June 23, 2019, in the aftermath of high-profile political assassinations of top military officials in Addis Ababa and the president of Amhara region, along with his two top advisers in Bahir Dar, Amhara region’s capital. Internet was intermittently available in the days following the killings, but the network shutdown was only lifted after 10 days.
It remains unclear which government agencies ordered the aforementioned shutdowns.
Given that there are two major government telecom regulatory agencies, shutdown orders may have come from either the Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency or Information Network Security Agency (INSA).
It is difficult to see Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency as an organization capable of issuing internet shutdowns, as it possesses neither the mandate nor the technical facility to execute internet shutdowns. INSA, on the other hand, — a widely loathed agency for its blatant cyber spying and internet censorship — has been shaken up by political reforms which impeded the organization’s capabilities.
However, circumstances and statements from government authorities suggest shutdown decisions might have actually been made and executed by some sort of ad hoc committee or other bodies that combine members of different government ministries, the country’s top security and military agencies. This approach has no formal legal process to authorize shutdowns and undermines the ability of formal institutions. It also fosters an opaque administrative system rife with irregularities.
Ethiopia has its own peculiar network architecture where its international traffic flows through three international gateways. Such centralized control points have enabled the Ethiopian government to exercise control over the country's internet effectively.
Major social media platforms that have relatively large user bases such as Facebook and WhatsApp remained blocked until August 15, 2019, almost two weeks after tensions eventually subsided.
Government authorities, including Prime Minister Abiy, invariably claim that these deliberate blackouts of internet and restrictions on social media are useful to control misinformation and hate speech. At a recent press conference, Abiy laid out his thoughts about the three major internet shutdowns. When asked how long Ethiopia will continue to disrupt internet connectivity, his six-minute answer covered a lot of ground. He stressed safety, security and public order. He also argued that other countries, such as India, also do it as necessary.
Government officials maintain that such measures help protect national security, but these claims often come without evidence. These shutdowns represent an infringement on Ethiopians’ right to access to information and freedom of expression online.
The shutdowns occurred without official announcements, reasons or projected duration, nor any information about who ordered them or which networks and social media platforms will be affected. This lack of transparency makes it impossible for the Ethiopian public to challenge shutdown decisions.
Whenever there is internet shutdown in #Ethiopia, #Instagram is the last one to be free. Photographers like myself use it as a professional portfolio and gallery. It is an online office. We present our works for potential clients following our page. Fix it #Ethiopia
— Martha T. (@Marthinolly) August 5, 2019

author: Endalkachew Chala


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Netizen Report: Critic calls Indonesia’s provincial internet shutdown ‘racist’ · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

A protest outside the Papuan governor's office in Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province. Photo courtesy of Arnold Belau of Suara Papua. Used with permission.
The Advox Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in technology and human rights around the world. This report covers news and events from August 22-29, 2019.
Mobile internet access has been shut down in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua since August 21, after protests mounted against military abuse.
On August 16, army soldiers barged into a student dormitory in the city of Surabaya, accused Papuan students of disrespecting the Indonesian flag, and called them “monkeys.”
This is a racial slur commonly used against people from the Indonesian-held regions of the island of New Guinea, who typically have darker skin and distinct features from Indonesians in other parts of the country, most of whom are of Austronesian origin.
The soldiers were reportedly responding to a photo shared on WhatsApp by a youth civic organization, which depicted an Indonesian flag lying in a gutter ahead of the country's independence celebrations on August 17.
An estimated 42 students were detained by police the next day for questioning, but were released soon after. Protests and riots in response to the detentions and soldiers’ use of racial slurs have since followed in both provinces, and in the capital, Jakarta.
On August 21, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology announced that the government would block mobile data service in both provinces until the situation had stabilized.
Speaking to local press, Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation chairman Muhammad Isnur said the government's act of blocking off information is “racist in the context of Papua.” He argued that protests in other provinces have not resulted in internet shutdowns. Throttling has in fact taken place elsewhere, following elections earlier this year.
The Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network also spoke out against the block and led a petition opposing the government’s decision. The petition had amassed more than 20,000 signatures at the time of publication.
The protests also may have prompted government authorities to request the removal of a satirical video on YouTube criticizing the Indonesian and Australian governments’ colonization and aggressive pursuit of natural resources in Papua and West Papua. The video, produced by Melbourne-based satirical news and commentary group The Juice, was geo-blocked in Indonesia at the government’s behest on August 27.
Google suspended 210 YouTube channels that allegedly were part of coordinated network that appears to have been linked to the Chinese government. The company said the accounts were running “influence operations” aimed at protesters in Hong Kong. The move came days after Twitter suspended 936 accounts and Facebook removed several pages, groups and accounts for similar reasons.
In a blog post, Shane Huntley, director of Google's Threat Analysis Group, said his team had found the channels used “VPNs and other methods” to conceal the accounts’ origin, but didn't specify where they were located.
A medical doctor in Kashmir was arrested after giving an interview to the BBC, in which he pleaded with authorities to re-establish internet connections for medical facilities in the region. The Indian-controlled state has been in a near-total communications blackout since early August.
“[The] healthcare scheme is entirely an internet-based scheme,” said Dr. Omar Salim, explaining that patients’ health data and information about their eligibility for free medicines is all stored in internet-based systems. ”Without the landline and internet connectivity, we are unable to provide free medicines,” he said.
Salim was detained shortly after giving the interview and his current status is unknown, likely due to the communications blackout in the region.
A Palestinian student bound for Harvard University was detained and deported by US border authorities on August 26. Although he had obtained a student visa prior to traveling to the US, Ismail Ajjawi was stopped on arrival in Boston, where he says a border agent searched his electronic devices and scanned his social media profile. The agent told Ajjawi that she “found people posting political points of view that oppose the US.” This appears to have justified authorities’ decision to revoke Ajjawi’s visa and send him back to Lebanon, where his family resides.
In a statement repudiating the move, PEN America’s Summer Lopez wrote that “preventing people from entering the country because their friends critiqued the U.S. on social media shows an astounding disregard for the principle of free speech.”
Administrators at Harvard University are negotiating with government officials, hoping to ensure that the 17-year-old can return and begin classes on September 3.
In the Polynesian region of the South Pacific, the government of Tonga is considering a ban on Facebook as a measure against posts deemed ‘slanderous’ toward the royal family.
Tonga, which is a constitutional monarchy, has around 62,000 Facebook users out of an estimated population of 100,000. The monarchy has critics on social media, especially Facebook, where users often employ pseudonyms.
A recent “allegation of a sexual nature” against the king and his daughter angered the prime minister who later formed a multi-agency working group to consider banning the popular social media platform. The prime minister has not indicated whether this will require court approval or a simple executive order to country’s sole internet service provider, Tonga Cable, to block access to the platform.
Feminist organizations are calling on tech platforms — namely Twitter and Facebook — to take greater measures to protect women’s free speech rights and safety on social media. Groups including Article19, Derechos Digitales, R3D and the Association for Progressive Communications issued and signed a statement asking companies to “streamline reporting processes against targeted harassment, intimidation and threats that women experience in the context of a social protest,” and to take action against online harassment while not infringing other fundamental rights online.
The call came after a series of public demonstrations across Mexico in which groups spoke out about violence against women in the country, and Mexico’s rising trend of killings of women or “femicides” — officials estimate that 10 women are killed in Mexico every day. Demonstrators called on public officials to pursue justice and accountability for crimes against women, which are often get impunity. While the events were coupled with positive messages of support online, they were also met with a massive wave of online harassment, prompting the appeal to tech platforms.
Breaking Through the Ambivalence: Journalistic Responses to Information Security Technologies – Jennifer Henrichsen, Digital Journalism
Evolving Phishing Attacks Targeting Journalists and Human Rights Defenders from the Middle-East and North Africa – Amnesty International
Afef Abrougui, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Oiwan Lam, Mohamed ElGohary, L. Finch, Leila Nachawati, Talal Raza, Juke Carolina Rumuat contributed to this report.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Winning a literary award won’t set you free: An interview with author and asylum-seeker Behrooz Boochani · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Screen shot from the movie documenting Behrooz Boochani's life at Manus Camp.
Even though Australia is a country of migrants, its current treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers is cause for both domestic and international outrage. This situation is perhaps best embodied by Behrooz Boochani, an Iranian-Kurdish writer, filmmaker and journalist who is also a refugee. Boochani spent six years in the refugee camp of Manus. While the camp, which is located in Papua-New Guinea, closed in 2017, Boochani was transferred to Port Moresby, his future status uncertain.
Boochani's determination to survive and testify about the conditions in the camp drove him to achieve an incredible feat: he kept a diary and used WhatsApp messages to assemble a prize-winning memoir, No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison, which won the Victorian Prize for Literature and the Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction in January 2019.
According to reports, and to Boochani's own account in his book, at least 16 people lost their lives in detention camps. There are numerous other documented examples suicide, self-harm, and extreme violence. Reports indicate detainees, including women and children, slept in moldy tents with mice and cockroaches and received inadequate health care. This violence is a consequence of Australia's offshore processing policy, which is designed to deter people from coming to Australia by punishing those who have come by boat seeking safe haven.
Here is the trailer of a documentary movie produced on a mobile phone by Behrooz Boochani showing the Manus camp:
I was recently able to speak to Boochani in Farsi using WhatsApp. Here is a translated and edited version of my interview:
Fred Petrossian: Many consider that refugees and asylum seekers were treated as criminals in these detention camps while committing no crime. You believe it was far worse. Can you explain?
Behrooz Boochani: It is very important to emphasize that people in these camps had no rights. While criminals in prison enjoy certain basic rights, even in the worst systems, such as the right to make phone call, refugees and asylum seekers in these camps were deprived of those basic rights.
Time is the most important thing to describe this system. People who are sent to prison know how long their sentence is, but we did not, and we do not know when can we leave this place. This creates real mental torture. Besides, there is only one season on this island. This is really disturbing, because you do not feel time passing.”
FP: In such conditions, how was resistance even possible?
BB: There are two categories of resistance. One is individual, such as the hunger strike. People have different personal forms of resistance: I started to write, another person cultivated a one square-meter garden, one sang. Self-harm is also a form of resistance: using your body as your only weapon because a body is a political subject. I can count over 100 times when people did that to themselves. And it has been reported as a practice common among refugees in several reports.
Another category of resistance was collective, group action against the system. The most significant rebellion in this prison was in February 2014. Both sides, camp guards and detainees, used violence, leading to the death of one refugee, Reza Barati. For two weeks, detainees conducted peaceful demonstrations. The second action took place in January 2015, when 800 people went on hunger strike for two weeks. The camp authorities started to use violence, moving some leaders to prison, attacking two camps and beating many people. The third action happened in 2017 when detainees did not want to move to new locations. This lasted 23 days and was peaceful, but in the end we were attacked and many were injured. The fact that we are attacked as refugees by locals is motivated by Australian propaganda that describes us as a danger to society.
FP: You wrote that Australia used the “fear factor” to divide refugees and locals. Refugees were presented as criminals and locals as barbarians. Did this discourse ever stop impacting people?
BB: This system is based on fear, and from the early days, it created distrust and hostility among locals and refugees. Both groups became victims of this system. But when the refugees started going outside and got in touch with locals, this discourse faded, while suspicion remained.
FP: Why did Australia refuse New Zealand's offer to relocate 150 refugees and called it “a marketing opportunity for smugglers”?
BB: This is because Australia's Liberal party never wants to end the detention camps, for several reasons: first, the Liberal party uses this detention policy to scare people in its competition with the Labour Party, basically saying ‘if we are not around, boat people will come back’. This argument is false. Boats are not coming because they are forcefully turned away. The Manus and Nauru camps have had no deterrence impact. There are also large sums of money involved in this detention policy, with billion of dollars spent in corruption schemes. Finally, one of the reasons why people suffer is racism and sadism.
FP: Recently, a refugee from Manus said while receiving a human rights award in Switzerland, that he was amazed at how public opinion is unaware of Australia's detention camps. How is this possible? What can we do to raise awareness?
BB: I kept writing for six years, day and night. The most important challenge is that we are facing a liberal Western government and this creates a kind of positive image in public opinion. There are some art and literature creations in Manus that will find their way out and can raise awareness. For example my book will be published in 25 countries, and my film will be screened in several international festivals. Through the language of art, people can understand the system better than through the media.
In Australia itself, the debate around the camps is raging. The Labour party claims that Peter Dutton, Australia's home affairs minister, has lost control of Australia’s borders, saying 80,000 people have arrived by plane to claim asylum since 2014. There are also accusations of corruption, as this policy requires billions of dollars in spending and also creates jobs.
While a number of international stars and organizations, including Hollywood star Russel Crowe and Amnesty International, have denounced the abuses taking place, some politicians have also hailed Australia's model. Matteo Salvini, Italy's former deputy prime minister, long cited Australia’s migration system as a global ideal. Some argue Trump's attack on asylum-seekers was conceived in Australia.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Alphonse Mucha’s surprising influence on Japanese manga, anime and “light novels” · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Detail from “Moët and Chandon“, (1899) by Alphone Mucha. Image widely shared online.
In Japan, manga, anime and even “light novel” creators all claim early an 20th Century Czech Art Nouveau artist and illustrator as an influence, according to Japanese pop culture blog Ichi-Up.
100年前に活躍した海外のイラストレーターが、近代の日本のクリエイター界に多大な影響を与えています。 その名はアルフォンス・ミュシャ。
A foreign illustrator who worked one hundred years ago has influenced Japanese creators in a variety of ways. His name was Alphonse Mucha.
According to Ichi-Up, popular Japanese creations including Record of Lodoss War (ロードス島戦記), Video Girl Ai (電影少女), GOSICK and Gundam are all influenced by Alfons Mucha (1860-1939, known in English as Alphonse Mucha). His influence frequently surfaces elsewhere in Japanese pop culture as well.
『#ロトの紋章』@kamuif
ドラゴンクエスト列伝[ロトの紋章]〜紋章を継ぐ者達へ〜33巻は2019年08月24日の発売予定です。アルフォンス・ミュシャ風ルビス様が目印！24巻のクインゾルマと対のイメージで描きました。紙は今回パール紙を使う予定です。 pic.twitter.com/xGq2qR4RtD
— 藤原カムイ (@kamuif) July 27, 2019
[…] A new series of Dragonquest will be released shortly. Look for the comics featuring an Alphonse Mucha-esque portrait of Rubisu! […]
A reason for Mucha's influence on contemporary Japanese culture can be found in the Art Nouveau movement, of which Mucha was a part, which was itself influenced by the Japonism fad that swept the European art world in the late 1800s:
アール・ヌーヴォーという言葉は、フランスのとある美術商が開いたお店の名前「アール・ヌーヴォーの店」に由来しています。この美術商が大の日本芸術ファンで、主に取り扱っていたのが日本の浮世絵版画や工芸品、それに影響を受けた美術家たちの作品だったのです。
The name ‘Art Nouveau’ comes from the name of an art gallery in France (sic). The Art Nouveau art gallery was supportive of Japanese art, particularly Japanese ukiyo-e prints and crafts, as well as the works of (European) artists who were influenced by Japan.
Markéta Hánová the Czech National Gallery's Director of Oriental Art Collections notes (in French):
Du fait d’avoir vécu à Paris, Mucha était aussi influencé par le style d’art japonais. Sur ses affiches, nous pouvons voir le motif de l’iris qu’il faisait en très grand. On peut voir à travers ces iris comme à travers une grille un autre objet à l’horizon, c’est une composition très typique des estampes japonaises.
Having lived in Paris, Mucha was also influenced by the Japanese art style. On his posters, we can see he made the pattern of the irises (in this illustration) quite large. We can see through these irises as through a grid another object on the horizon — a very typical composition found in Japanese prints.
Besides anime, manga and light novels, Mucha pops in up in other parts of Japanese culture as well:
ちりめん黒羽織　羽裏はアルフォンス・ミュシャ　黄道十二宮柄　ご予約受付中　https://t.co/3CNvDnjHGJ pic.twitter.com/4T4g4Pnfss
— ゴフクヤサン：デジタル捺染のオリジナル生地を使用した浴衣や帯を販売しています。 (@gofukuyasan) October 23, 2018
A black crepe ‘haori’ (traditional Japanese long kimono-style jacket) where the ‘haora’ (a hidden pattern on the inside of the garment) features an Alphonse Mucha design. […]
In the Czech Republic, Mucha and Art Nouveau's influence on Japanese creative culture is still remembered and celebrated. In 2014 there was a large exhibition in that country about Japonism among Czech visual artists, including Mucha.
Besides his ongoing influence on Japanese pop culture, Japan is also home to one of the largest collections of work by Mucha in the world as part of the Ogata and Doi collections at the Sakai City Museum, near Osaka in western Japan.
Currently, Mucha's works are display in Tokyo at Bunkamura until the end of September, 2019. The exhibit, “Timeless Mucha: The Mucha to Manga — The Magic of Line“, features not only a number of Mucha's illustrations, but also a range of works by artists who were influenced by Mucha. Organized by the Mucha Foundation, the exhibition with tour various cities throughout Japan in 2020.

author: Nevin Thompson


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Hong Kong police conducts massive and unprecedented arrest of leading anti-extradition activists · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow from Demosisto were arrested on August 30. Image by The Stand News. Used with permission.
As the People's Republic of China is getting ready to celebrate a major event, the 70th anniversary of its foundation on October 1, political pressure to restore order in Hong Kong is mounting. Against such background, the Hong Kong government has shifted its crackdown tactics from detaining demonstrators on protest sites to arresting a wider network of pro-democracy activists and leaders.
On August 29, Andy Chan, the leader of the banned pro-independence Hong Kong National Party, was detained at night as he tried to board a flight to Japan. The police told the press that Chan was arrested on suspicion of rioting and assaulting a police officer.
On August 30, pro-democracy student activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow of Demosisto were arrested and detained for inciting, organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly outside Wan Chai police headquarters on June 21.
Wong was pushed into a private vehicle on his way to a subway station at 7.30 a.m. and escorted to the Wan Chai police headquarters in downtown Hong Kong. Chow was arrested at her home in Tai Po. Both were released on bail, but will have to observe a curfew between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., and report to the police twice a week.
Demosisto Chairman Ivan Lam was also charged with inciting an unauthorised assembly. Yet Lam has been out of Hong Kong since August 28.
Althea Suen, a former president of the University of Hong Kong’s student union, was arrested on August 30 on suspicion of conspiracy to destroy or damage property under the Crimes Ordinance, as well as “entering or remaining in precincts of the Chamber” under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance on July 1.
The arrest list on August 30 also included Sha Tin district councilor Rick Hui Yi-yu and lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai.
Also on August 29, two protest organizers were attacked by people who most likely belong to Hong Kong triads. Jimmy Sham, convenor of the Civic Human Rights Front (CHRF), a key organization in the anti-extradition campaign, was attacked by two masked men with a knife and a baseball bat. While Sham escaped the sudden attack, his companion was hit by the baseball bat several times and hospitalized.
Prior to the attack, several dozen people had organised a protest outside the office of an affiliate of the CHRF over the organization's involvement in the protests. Sham confronted them verbally on the spot.
Chung Kin Ping, the applicant of Yuen Long march on July 27, was also attacked by four men with metal rods and umbrellas at around 4 p.m. on August 29. Chung was then hospitalized.
Police crackdown and arrests have failed to deter protesters from taking disruptive acts in the past. Almost every day, there are smaller-scale protests and assemblies taking place in districts. Very often, those peaceful gatherings end up in clashes with the police force. Since June 12, tear gas, rubber bullets and bean bags rounds have become a regular feature of weekend marches.
The CHRF has applied for a police permit to hold a rally on August 31 demanding the withdrawal of NPC's election framework, the complete withdrawal of the extradition bill, and an independent inquiry into the anti-extradition saga. Those demands are shared by most protesters.
Yet the police has rejected the application on August 28. This means the rally will be illegal and would very likely end up in city-wide violent clashes and chaos, as the police force has the authority to arrest anyone who shows up in the protest.
Proposal to activate Emergency Regulation Ordinance
While the majority of arrested protesters are not affiliated with any political groups, Beijing and Hong Kong government believe that the anti-government protests have been manipulated by foreign and local political forces. For example, after the peaceful human chain demonstration of “The Hong Kong Way” on August 24, a Beijing party-affiliated mouthpiece denounced the symbolic action as “a poisonous path to Hong Kong independence” and demanded a throughout crackdown on pro-independence forces.
Three days later, on August 27, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who previously claimed that she wanted to resolve the political crisis through dialogue, stated that she could not accept the protesters’ demands and would not rule out the possibility of activating the Emergency Regulation Ordinance. This law could empower the government and police authority to arrest suspects, extend detention, control transportation, appropriate and search private properties, impose censorship, and interrupt communication including blocking websites among other measures.
The proposal was discussed among government top officials in preparation for the upcoming massive protest on August 31, which marks the fifth anniversary of the decision of the steering committee of the National People Congress to impose a political screening mechanism of candidates for Hong Kong universal suffrage of the Chief Executive in 2014.
On social media, people were outraged by the massive arrest and the attacks. However, many underline that such fear tactics are ineffective as the protests are mobilized in a leaderless decentralized manner. @Lam Ching's tweet has reflected the common sentiment among pro-democracy citizens:
對於大搜捕，我只係可以話：「You can’t kill us all」
無論拉邊個拉幾多個人，我都一定會企出黎，夠膽你咪拉哂200萬人。
— 林澄 Lam Cing (@LamCing44) August 30, 2019
Concerning the big arrest, all I can say is “You can't kill us all”. No matter how many you have arrested, I will continue to come out. See if you have the balls to arrest 2 million people.
In response to the police action, a number of pan-democratic lawmakers slammed the arrest as fear tactics and vowed to stand with people during the August 31 rally.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Kazakhstan pauses interception of encrypted traffic, but for how long? · Global Voices
Yevgeniya Plakhina

The Kazakh authorities have backtracked on their latest intervention in cyberspace — for now. Photo: Maxim Edwards
In late July, mobile network providers in Kazakhstan started sending out SMS messages demanding that their clients install a “national security certificate” on all personal digital devices with internet access. These messages claimed that the certificate would protect citizens from cyberattacks. They also assured users who did not install the application that they would encounter problems accessing certain websites (particularly those with HTTPS encryption.)
This news came one and a half months after Kazakhstan’s government blocked access to internet and streaming services on June 9, when the country held presidential elections. The victory of Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, the intended successor to Elbasy (“Leader of the Nation” in Kazakh) Nursultan Nazarbayev, came amid mass protests calling for fair elections. Meanwhile, an internet blackout prevented protesters from coordinating their actions, helping police to arrest them.
These moves led some observers to fear the beginning of a wider crackdown on digital rights in Kazakhstan. So while Tokayev called off the introduction of the controversial “national security certificates” on August 6, there are grounds to doubt that this will be the government’s last attempt to intrude on cyberspace.
“In the first days [after receiving the SMS messages] we faced lots of panic. People were afraid that they would indeed be deprived of access to certain websites without installing the security certificate,” Gulmira Birzhanova, a lawyer at the North Kazakhstan Legal Media Centre, an NGO based in the capital Nur-Sultan, told GV.
However, few users rushed to obey the SMS messages. “I didn’t install [the application]. I don’t even know if any of my acquaintances did,” added Birzhanova.
Nevertheless, the demands to install an unknown security tool caused a wave of distrust and outrage on social media. Yelena Shvetsova, a civic activist and executive director of Erkindik Kanaty (an NGO whose name translates as “Wings of Freedom”) described the measure as a government attempt to access personal information. “I am sure that interception of our correspondence and total access to our phones will follow. And then arrests and prosecutions!” she wrote on Facebook.
An SMS from mobile service provider Kcell shared by Irina Sevostyanova on Facebook, demanding that she install the “digital security certificate.”
Irina Sevostyanova, a journalist based in Nur-Sultan, called the national security certificate a “big brother,” and wondered if would limit access to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), tools that allow users to circumvent censorship and to browse the web privately. Daniil Vartanov, an IT expert from neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, was one of the first people to react to the launch of the certificate and confirmed users’ suspicions.
“Now they can read and replace everything you look at online […] Your personal information can be accessed by anybody in the state security services, ministry of internal affairs, or even the illicitly hired nephew of some top official. This isn’t an exaggeration; this is really how bad it is,” wrote Vartanov on Facebook.
On August 1, Kazakhstan’s prosecutor general issued a statement reassuring citizens that the national security certificate was aimed to protect internet users from illicit content and cyberattacks, stressing that the state guaranteed their right to privacy.
IT experts proved otherwise. Censored Planet, a project at the University of Michigan which monitors network interference in over 170 countries, warned that the Kazakh authorities had started attempting to intercept encrypted traffic using “man in the middle” attacks on July 17. At least 37 domains were affected, including social media networks.
“Man in the middle” or HTTPS interception attacks are attempts to replace genuine online security certificates with fake ones.
“Normally, a security certificate helps a browser or application (for example, Instagram or Snapchat) to ensure that it connects to the real server. If a state, [internet] provider or illegal intruder tries to intercept traffic, the application will stop working and the browser will display a certificate error. The Kazakh authorities push citizens to install this certificate so that the browser and application continue to work after the interception is spotted,” explained Vartanov in an interview to GV in early August.
This was the authorities’ third attempt to enforce the use of a national security certificate. The first came in late November 2015, right after certificate-related amendments were made to Kazakhstan’s law on communication. The law obliges telecom operators to apply a national security certificate to all encrypted traffic except in cases where the encryption originates from Kazakhstan.
“The law doesn’t oblige users to install the certificate; [internet service] providers are the ones responsible for it. Failure to do so may lead to a fine of approximately 250,000 tenge [about $645],” explained Birzhanova.
That same month, service providers announced that a national security certificate would come into force by January 2016. The announcement was soon taken down, and the issue remained forgotten for three years. The second attempt came in March 2019, and was barely noticed by the public until they started to receive the aforementioned SMS messages in July.
After two weeks of turmoil on social media, Tokayev called off the certificate on August 6.
КНБ по моему поручению провёл тестирование сертификата безопасности в рамках программы Киберщит. Доказана защищенность информационного пространства РК и возможность использования сертификата только в случаях вторжения извне. Неудобств пользователям интернета нет. Благодарю КНБ.
— Qasym-Jomart Toqayev (@TokayevKZ) August 6, 2019
On my order, the KNB [state security service] conducted a test of the security certificate as part of the “Cybershield” programme. It demonstrated the security of the information space of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the possibility of using the certificate only [against] cases of intrusion from without. It presents no inconvenience to internet users. Thanks to the KNB.
— Qasym-Jomart Toqayev (@TokayevKZ) August 6, 2019
Why did Tokayev put the initiative on hold?
Dmitry Doroshenko, an expert with over 15 years of experience in Central Asia’s telecommunications sector, believes that concern about the security of online transactions played a major role.
“In case of a man in the middle attack, an illegal intruder or state can use any decrypted data at their own discretion. That compromises all participants in any exchange of information. Most players in online markets would not be able to guarantee data privacy and security,” said Doroshenko. “It’s obvious that neither internet giants nor banks or international payment systems are ready to take this blow to their reputation. If information were leaked, users would hold them to account rather than the state, which would not be unable to conduct any objective investigation,” the IT specialist told Global Voices.
It is also worth remembering that a scandal concerning leaked data has made the issue of privacy particularly sensitive in Kazakhstan in recent months. During June’s presidential elections, the personal details of 11 million Kazakh citizens became publicly available. On August 9, an investigation found employees of the central electoral committee responsible for the accident.
Citizens of Kazakhstan also appealed to tech giants to intervene and prevent the government from setting a dangerous precedent. On August 21, Mozilla, Google, and Apple agreed to block the Kazakh government’s encryption certificate. In its statement, Mozilla noted that the country’s authorities had already tried to have a certificate included in Mozilla’s trusted root store program in 2015. “After it was discovered that they were intending to use the certificate to intercept user data, Mozilla denied the request,” explained the company.
The companies’ separate statements each included promises to develop unique technical solutions allowing each browser to better protect users’ privacy.
“No-one has ever tried what Kazakhstan is trying to achieve nationwide. The only example, on a smaller scale, would be the Chinese authorities’ installation of spyware on the mobile phones of tourists travelling to Xinjiang,” remarked a Russian IT expert who asked to remain anonymous.
Indeed, Kazakhstan is hardly the only country where the right to digital privacy is under threat. The British government wants to create a backdoor to access encrypted communications, as do its partners in the US. The Kremlin wants to make social media companies store data on servers located in Russia.
Some journalists and experts compare Kazakhstan’s national security certificate to the “Great Firewall” of neighbouring China.
Vartanov dismissed this comparison, saying that Kazakhstan simply does not have the resources to launch Chinese-style “internet sovereignty.” “The Chinese internet market has enough capacity to have its own clones of Facebook or Twitter, while Kazakhstan’s does not,” he explained. Another important difference is that Kazakhstan is attempting to make internet users themselves responsible for giving up protection from government intrusion.
Many questions remain unanswered since Tokayev’s announcement about the certificate. How many people have installed it? Once installed, did they manage to delete it? Will the law on communication be changed to free service providers from the responsibility of making users install it? And why did Tokayev call the national security certificate a “test”?
“I don't understand why the government didn’t say it was a test from the beginning. I think they either decided to wait for better timing to launch the certificate, or they are solving technical problems that arose during the test,” concluded Birzhanova, who is certain that Kazakhstan’s authorities will try again.

author: Yevgeniya Plakhina


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Mass tree-planting in Ethiopia broke world records, but its impact will take time · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

People plant avocado trees in Katbare, Ethiopia, on June 23, 2011. Photo via Trees for the Future on Flickr CC BY 2.0.
Editor's note: This story was written by guest contributor Sheila Halder, farm systems coordinator at Send a Cow.
There’s no doubt about it — trees are good for the planet. The power of trees has dominated headlines all summer.
In late July, Ethiopia claimed to have set a world record by planting 350 million tree saplings in a single day. The initiative was part of a wider tree planting policy launched by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, whose administration aims to tackle deforestation and climate change by planting 4.7 billion trees by October this year.
Also in July, The Crowther Lab of ETH Zurich published a study which found that planting billions of trees across the world was the most affordable and effective way of tackling climate change.
Not only do trees clean our air and help fight climate change — but they also promote biodiversity. A study carried out in Costa Rica found that planting a single tree could boost the number of bird species from near zero to 80.
Trees also offer infinite, tangible benefits to farmers. They improve soil quality, reduce soil erosion, and provide shelter for livestock and crops. This is important considering how much fertile land farmers own globally – that’s a huge amount of tree planting potential.
Planting 350 million tree saplings in a day is an incredible achievement, but it takes time for trees to mature and reach their full carbon-capturing potential.
Working across six African countries, Send a Cow, a nongovernmental organization, encourages smallholder farmers to plant multi-purpose trees that offer more than one output. For example, growing tree species that provide fruit to eat and sell but also provides firewood or introduce nitrogen into the soil. These benefits give farmers more reasons to plant and maintain trees, even where space is limited.
Ethiopia follows in the footsteps of other mass tree-planting initiatives in China and India. Mass tree-planting projects are exciting, but the solution is never as simple as it seems. During this precious time of growth, trees must be protected from removal or destruction while also safeguarding existing, mature forests.
Other ecosystems, including trees, are critical in terms of carbon retention. Burning fossil fuels and deforestation have resulted in an alarming amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, resulting in rapid, irreversible changes to the climate.
Trees remove carbon dioxide from the air, storing it within trees and soil, and release oxygen into the atmosphere. But permafrost (a thick subsurface layer of soil that remains below freezing point), peat and grasslands, (which are found in both mountainous and arid regions of Ethiopia), are also effective in capturing carbon and need to be preserved and rehabilitated, too.
Some critics of Ethiopia's “Green Legacy” mass tree-planting initiative have warned of the dangers of planting non-native tree species which can actually destroy ecosystems rather than improve them.
Historically, Ethiopia has used eucalyptus, native to Australia, to quickly reforest areas that have been cleared for agriculture. The tree was introduced at the end of the 19th century and over a dozen eucalyptus species have been planted in Ethiopia during the last century — mainly for use as a source of fuel and for construction. Though fast-growing, the commonly used species drain water resources, enhance soil erosion and actually deplete the soil of nutrients.
This time, however, citizens reportedly planted tree seedlings of indigenous species as well as non-indigenous eucalyptus and avocado trees. Indigenous species have evolved in their countries of origin over millennia and have built up a resistance to current diseases. The Ethiopian government's approach seems to reflect a shift away from simply planting more eucalyptus.
However, sometimes non-native species make sense. For example, a species of shrub called calliandra, originally from Central America, is highly effective in producing high protein animal fodder in East Africa. Calliandra seed is widely available and affordable for small-scale farmers. Likewise, when people need trees for wood, the most suitable, and fastest-growing trees may not be local ones. In these cases, farmers must consider the purposes of the trees they are planting and their local environments while also relying on good ecological planning.
Flood-prone valleys where trees absorb the water prevent unfavorable conditions for other plants. The resilient eucalyptus can also be coppiced — a management technique that involves felling trees at the base and allowing them to regrow. Therefore, it's a popular choice for firewood because of its continuous, replenishing supply.
There is no silver bullet to the climate crisis, but tree planting is a part of the solution.
Protecting existing forests and other ecosystems is just as important as planting new trees. City planners can also play a part by limiting urban sprawl and preventing the land from being turned into man-made structures. Young people in rural East Africa must see a viable future in farming and stay committed to protecting the land.
Reducing the use of carbon-based fuels such as coal, oil and gas is also a must.
Reforestation can profoundly impact the world: One pro-active community group in Ethiopia recently volunteered their time and donated funds to regenerate eight hectares of land. Group members spent hours toiling the land and collectively planted 5,000 trees and 1,200 grass cuttings with plans to introduce fruit trees soon.
Imagine the impact if this community spirit was harnessed across the world.

author: Guest Contributor


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Tanzania’s first and only classic car club pays homage to Remmy Ongala, old school musical legend · Global Voices
Amanda Lichtenstein

George Joseph Msambure, founder and CEO of Oldschool Rides Tanzania, pictured in front of a row of classic cars outside of the Ongala Music Festival 2019, Bagamoyo, Tanzania, August 24, 2019. Photo by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein, used with permission.
On a dusty road in the sleepy, coastal town of Bagamoyo, Tanzania, a row of vintage cars attracts festival-goers on their way to the 2nd annual Ongala Music Festival, held this year at the Bagamoyo Arts and Cultural Institute (TASUBA).
“Our elders, they had great cars! We're trying to restore a love for the classics,” says George Joseph Msambure, the founder and CEO of Oldschool Rides Tanzania, a club devoted to restoring and celebrating vintage cars in Tanzania and the region. With 109 members and counting, those with a passion for vintage cars get together and talk shop about their 51 classic cars, including a 1938 Škoda. The group also organizes meet-ups and showcases their cars at various events, like the Ongala Music Festival — named after legendary Tanzanian musician Ramadhani “Remmy” Ongala, who died in 2010, at the age of 63.
“Remmy loved classic cars, and we want to respect that,” Msambure said. That's why the club rolled up to the three-day music festival to showcase a few of the gems in their collection, from old school Volkswagen Beetles to the 1979 Volkswagen Kombi camper van and a 1970s BMW.
A group of about 10 Oldschool Rides members drove the cars from the bustling city of Dar es Salaam to  Bagamoyo, a town also steeped in history.
A green 1979 Volkswagon Kombi van and a blue 1977 Volkswagon camper van on display at the classic car show at the Ongala Music Festival, 2019, organized by Oldschool Rides Tanzania. Photo by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein, used with permission.
A 1973 Volkswagen Beetle on display at the Ongala Music Festival, 2019, organized by Oldschool Rides Tanzania. Photo by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein, used with permission.
Ongala himself used to drive a white Renault around Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's cultural capital, Msambure said. Ongala, lovingly known as “Doctor” for his epic Congolese rumba music with a message, wrote lines from his most popular song, “Mambo Kwa Soksi,” (Matter of Socks) on the back of his Renault, promoting the use of condoms to prevent HIV, according to the festival's Facebook page.
This picture was taken of Remmy Ongala in the late 80s with his old Renault. On the boot of the car, this message was painted: “Sukari yetu imeingia sumu mambo kwa soksi” or “Our poison has entered our sugar, wear a condom!” — lyrics from his most popular and controversial song. Courtesy of Ongala Music Festival via Facebook.
Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ongala moved to Tanzania in 1978 and joined his uncle's band. He went on to become Tanzania's most beloved rumba musician, taking political punches at elites in power while healing those in pain with words of hope in his lyrics.
A screenshot of Remmy Ongala with his blue Renault as seen in the documentary “Bongo Beat,” directed by Jan Röed and shot in 1995/1996 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Ongala was a man of the people whose charisma and soulful songs took him from the tiniest dancehalls and pubs of Dar es Salaam to the international stages of World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) in the United Kingdom, with songs like “Songs for the Poor Man,” and “The Poor Have No Rights,” which called attention to Tanzania's widening gap between rich and poor in the once-socialist nation.
Screenshot of Remmy Ongala in the streets of Dar es Salaam in the documentary, “Bongo Beat,” directed by Jan Röed and shot in 1995/1996 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
For Msambure, who organized the Oldschool Rides car show at the Ongala festival 2019, showing off these cool classics is about changing perceptions of value, worth and status:
“Before, these classic cars were ignored — they were considered cars for poor people who couldn’t afford the new ones. I want to remove that idea from the heads of the people. I want to say these cars are actually the most valuable in the world!” — George Joseph Msambure, Oldschool Rides Tanzania
In fact, vintage cars are making a comeback in Tanzania, where cruising around in a restored classic is a new kind of status symbol. That mint-green, 1979 VW Kombi? Msambure said it may look familiar because it appeared in a recent music video called “Nishikilie” (“Hold Me” in English) with Tanzanian music stars Ali Kiba, Willy Paul and Omi Dimpoz.
Screenshot featuring the VW Kombi in the music video “Nishikilie” by Ali Kiba and other Tanzanian musicians via YouTube.
“To get [a classic] to be roadworthy, you have to put money into it, get parts from the United Kingdom, United States, Kenya. Some of the cars, we also order from Libya or Egypt. The cost of getting them here is one thing, maintenance is another. Not every mechanic knows how to fix an old classic. It’s expensive!”
Msambure says 98 percent of the cars sourced are from Tanzania, though club members also import cars from South Africa, where Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) agreements make tax and importation duties lower for member states. The VW Beetle, for example, was imported for 23,000,000 Tanzanian shillings ($10,454 USD) from South Africa. They also import cars from Japan and Canada.
Msambure, who remembers loving vintage cars since he was a kid, said he's thrilled to see his passion bring so much joy to those who appreciate these restored relics of history.
“Even the ladies — Before, they wouldn’t mind much about classic cars. But now, they convince men to take a classic car for a day for a photo or video shoot, you know, for their weddings. Right now, it’s becoming like a fashion.”
Oldschool Rides has a huge following on Instagram with over 20,000 followers, attracting those who are passionate about all things vintage — not just cars but antiques like musical instruments and cameras. The club intends to expand with big plans for a classic car drive to Arusha and special events in Dar es Salaam.
A post shared by OLD SCHOOL RIDES ??LTD (@oldschoolrides_tz) on
“Vintage cars —it's an ongoing fashion that will never die,” Msambure said.
These classic cars are portals to Tanzania and East Africa's past. “It's because of [our elders’] great work that we are here today and [these cars] are an [example] of their hard work,” Msambure said.
“We believe in legacy, that old is legend and legends are forever — immortality is their fate,” he added.
While festival-goers celebrated Remmy Ongala as a legend in his own right, viewing these vintage cars restored to their full glory tapped into a collective nostalgia for the past, transporting us back to the sounds and songs that shaped us.

author: Amanda Lichtenstein


text:
As Jamaica seeks the return of Taino artefacts from Britain, relics at home may not be safe · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

A Taino bone flute, 7.5 inches in length, from the White Marl in Jamaica. Photo courtesy Paul Banks, used with permission.
Jamaica’s indigenous Taino people (once known as the Arawaks) have a somewhat shadowy existence in the national psyche, partly because there are very few historical records about them. Today, only artefacts and archaeological findings remain — and although there are Jamaicans with Taino heritage, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus’ arrival on the island in 1494 practically decimated the Taino population.
Yet, there is a resurgence of interest in Taino history. For the first time in 500 years, Jamaica has its first Taino chief or cacique, who was installed in June 2019. A month earlier, the Institute of Jamaica celebrated Taino Day with talks and activities and a new illustrated children's book, “Boianani: A Taino Girl's First Adventure,” was launched.
Most significantly, on July 23, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, said in parliament that the government is working — via the National Commission on Reparations — to have world-renowned wooden Taino artefacts returned to Jamaica. These include the carving of a “birdman” spirit, a “boiyanel” (rain giver) and a “canopied cemi” (a representation of a spirit or ancestor), all of which were found in a cave at Carpenter’s Mountain, Vere (now part of Manchester) in 1792.
In her speech, Minister Grange noted:
They are priceless, they are significant to the story of Jamaica, and they belong to the people of Jamaica.
A spokeswoman from the British Museum, which currently curates the artefacts, said on August 13 that they had not yet received an official request to have them returned. Many Jamaicans agree that the artefacts should be returned, but it may not be that simple.
In a two-part post that dealt with issues of restitution as it relates to items of artistic, cultural, or historical value, former curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica, Veerle Poupeye, noted on her blog that Caribbean museums need to adhere to higher international standards. Poupeye, who currently works as an independent curator, researcher, and writer, noted:
None of the Carpenter’s Mountain carvings have […] ever been exhibited in Jamaica or, for that matter, elsewhere in the Caribbean. […] The National Gallery of Jamaica (NGJ) has requested the loan of these carvings on two occasions […] the loan was declined or not even responded to […]
Jamaica is certainly in a position to make a restitution claim for the Carpenter’s Mounting carvings, or at least inquire whether they would be loaned for an exhibition today — they have after all been loaned internationally. […] It is high time for Caribbean museums and relevant authorities to do an inventory of relevant holdings in overseas museums, to consult with local and international stakeholders and articulate clear policy positions on these matters, nationally and on a shared regional level — this is something for the Museums Association of the Caribbean (MAC) to look into. This also means, however, that there has to be a greater effort in the region to meet international museum standards, not only to be able to negotiate such loans, or restitutions, but also for the benefit of the requesting institutions, their general collections and the mandates they serve.
At the very least, these carvings should be readily available for exhibition to Jamaica, sooner rather than later, and some form of compensation could also be requested, either monetary or in the form of technical assistance to the local museum. […] The Caribbean also needs to get its house in order with how cultural property is traded and collected within the region.
Despite this newfound interest, there is currently no museum in Jamaica dedicated to the Tainos. A surge in criminal activity resulted in the closure of the only Taino museum in White Marl several years ago. However, numerous stone, coral, ceramic and wooden “museum quality” artefacts — found primarily by woodsmen — are now either part of private collections or removed from Jamaica, and most of them lack adequate documentation to establish their provenance.
Many of these sites are currently endangered: some, such as a series of caves in Cambridge Hill, St. Andrew, have been destroyed and more recently, roadworks and other construction activities like limestone and gypsum quarrying have damaged others and continue to threaten their survival.
A Jamaican avocational archaeologist and collector (prehistoric and early-contact period Jamaican culture), Paul Banks, told Global Voices that at least 280 sites have been mapped, observing:
White Marl is probably the most documented site currently facing imminent destruction [due to highway expansion]. Various sites were destroyed by the Edward Seaga Highway [a North-South toll road]. An apparently very significant site (probably including burial caves) was destroyed during the first phase of the PJ Patterson toll road [on the St. Catherine-Clarendon border], and it is possible (indeed highly probable) that the pending highway to Morant Bay will threaten both known and unknown sites. Several sites have also been destroyed, or are being destroyed by unfettered squatting and uncontrolled urban spread – for example, Dallas Mountain [on the outskirts of the capital, Kingston].
Sites include caves with Taino petroglyphs (rock carvings) and pictographs (paintings made from natural pigments and animal fat). In a recent article in the Jamaica Journal, Joanna Ostapkowicz, a research associate in Caribbean archaeology at the University of Oxford's School of Archaeology, described these sites as “significant places of deposit and belief” that were used for burials, religious shrines and safe depositories.
The Jamaica Gleaner reported, for example, that an apparent solitary burial shelter cave containing several bones, a clay zemi (Taino spirit) and ceramic pottery fragments, was found during mining activities at a limestone quarry in the Hellshire Hills. While those artefacts were given to the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, mining subsequently resumed.
The impending expansion of the Nelson Mandela highway at White Marl, in the parish of St. Catherine, will also impact important sections of that site, which  — according to the University of Leiden — comprises “one of the largest and densest pre-colonial settlements on the island, with large mounded middens, numerous human burials and a rich array of material remains including greenstone axes and decorated shell adornments”.
Recent archaeological excavations in the area, a collaboration between the Nexus 1492 group, the department of history and archaeology at the University of the West Indies’ Mona campus in Kingston, and the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, have been a concerted salvage effort.
The irony of it all is that Jamaica’s Coat of Arms, created in 1662, portrays a Taino man holding a bow and a Taino woman carrying a basket of fruit, accompanied by the national motto: “Out of Many, One People” — but is the country doing its best to preserve what is left of its indigenous legacy?

author: Emma Lewis


text:
Hurricane Dorian ambles through the Caribbean, but The Bahamas may still feel its wrath · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

An edited ISS060 image of Hurricane Dorian off the Dominican Republic on August 29, 2019. Image edited and uploaded by Stuart Rankin, CC BY-NC 2.0.
As Hurricane Dorian, the first major storm of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, strengthens to Category 4, much of the Caribbean is breathing a sigh of relief that the storm was not as powerful when it travelled through the U.S. Virgin Islands and skimmed Puerto Rico on August 28. Meteorologists have predicted that the storm could ramp up to Category 5 as it heads for Florida:
This is about as perfect as a hurricane gets in the Atlantic Ocean.
Hurricane #Dorian is a strong Category 4, and possibly will become a Category 5 later today.
This is a looming catastrophe for the northern Bahamas. pic.twitter.com/oG3c0hkz15
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) August 31, 2019
Since its journey through the region, Dorian has grown in both strength and intensity. The Bahamas has hunkered down and is bracing for rough weather, as the storm's path is expected to continue along the northwest of the archipelago. Hurricane-force winds are estimated to extend outward up to 30 miles (45 km) from the storm's centre, bringing 10 to 15 inches of rain to the northwest Bahamas and 2 to 4 inches in the central Bahamas—conditions which have the potential to cause flash flooding and loss of life.
Holly Bynoe, curator at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, posted on Facebook:
The Bahamas is not ready for any storm–much less a significant cat 3/4 hurricane–we are not even ready for a few inches of rain. The northern islands and its people cannot go through this trauma, again. At this point, it seems unending and relentless.
She went on to detail the storms the archipelago has suffered, the billions of dollars worth of damage as a result, and deferred attempts to invest in green energy and hardier infrastructure, concluding:
I know we rebound quickly and in the Caribbean, it is our nature to do so. […]
However, we must be asking ourselves other questions now, more in-depth inquiries about our futures, the countries we want to occupy, the spaces that we want to build, the peace we want to inhabit and the WHOLE citizens we aspire to be. If we do not, we fall into the trap of being generationally traumatised peoples moving into a future of rising sea levels, mounting temperatures and being re-colonised by systems of embedded failure.
Meanwhile, Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has put an evacuation order in place for parts of Grand Bahama and the Abaco Islands, saying that this was not a storm to be trifled with.
Bynoe responded to this news by saying:
I am on my goat knees praying for the safe passage through the tempest for the people of the Abacos and Grand Bahama. I just watched the evacuation notice and my heart and mind can not fathom what the next 48 hours will look like for them. Gut wrenching terror as they prepare for landfall.
Nassau will not be in the direct path of Dorian but we are in the cone and will experience tropical storm conditions. To say this is fortunate feels unfair in the face of what’s to come.
The might of the storm has not deterred American hurricane chaser Josh Morgerman, though, who was determined to get to The Bahamas before access was shut down:
Goin' for it. Last flight into Abaco Islands #Bahamas before it shuts down. I passionately hate Island Roulette. But I hate standing on my hind legs for three days to lick the bland edges of an unraveling recurver even more. I may go down in flames on this chase. Oh well. #DORIAN pic.twitter.com/eIt41DIJny
— Josh Morgerman (@iCyclone) August 31, 2019
Dorian appears to be turning farther north even with The Bahamas in its sights. But the fact that it is a lumberingly slow-moving storm has some suggesting that it could be the most violent system to hit the east coast of the United States in 30 years.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Rendition of Trinidad & Tobago’s national anthem strikes wrong note with the country’s president · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Screenshot taken from a YouTube video rendition of Trinidad and Tobago's national anthem, uploaded by JR Videos.
Trinidad and Tobago have just finished hosting the Caribbean Festival of Arts, more popularly referred to as Carifesta, which took place at various locations throughout the twin-island republic from August 16-25, 2019.
The event was created in 1972 as part of an effort to bring people of the region together through art and culture, music and literature, film, crafts, dance and heritage exhibitions. The event received a warm public reception, but the biggest point of discussion has been the delivery of Trinidad and Tobago's national anthem during the closing ceremony.
Shortly afterward, the Office of the President issued a media release, which took issue with the rendition. President Paula Mae Weekes stated:
Between August 16 and 25, 2019, we […] were reminded of the things that bind us and the possibilities that exist, through culture, for harmony among nations. […]
However, a discordant note was struck at the closing ceremony, when an unacceptable rendition of our National Anthem was performed. The National Anthem must be sung in its original music; no introduction or coda can be added or other artistic licence taken in its rendition. The offence is compounded when it occurs at an official function, as was the closing ceremony of CARIFESTA XIV.
The president added, “Our National Anthem, like our National Flag and Coat of Arms, identifies us as a nation and must at all times be accorded the utmost respect.” The website of the Office of the President addresses the issue of protocol regarding the national anthem, which was composed by Patrick Castagne in 1962, the year Trinidad and Tobago achieved its independence from Great Britain:
The National Anthem should be accorded the respect due to it when played, and on no occasion should it be treated with scant courtesy. While it must be played in the original music, the pitch, speed and tone can be changed.
“Pitch” is defined as a standard measure of highness or lowness, “speed” refers to the pacing of the rendition and “tone” describes the pitch, quality, and strength of a sound.
The reaction on social media was split: Some felt that the president was simply fulfilling her role in reiterating the protocol for national emblems; others — among them, musicians — believed that her stance was unprogressive.
On Facebook, musician Denny Ablack wrote:
As a musician and musical curator of a 5,000 member T&T music network myself, I would say that personal aesthetic musical opinions of officials ought not to become the official state legal position based on their rank. I'm defending our musical sistren from charges of disrespecting the anthem…take a look, this may be unusual but it is a very respectful performance…the musical variation preceding and post anthem are not disrespectful either…aesthetically, it is fair to criticize if you don't like the rendition but not to assign disrespect to her intentions […]
He continued:
If the national anthem is played on [steel] Pan for example, it won't be standard or original either, but it's not inherently disrespectful to vary from the original […] take some time to look at artistic reinterpretations of other countries anthems at sporting events, whether hit or miss. In art, the creative door must be open and not closed…
In a telephone interview with Global Voices, music educator Patrice Cox-Neaves noted that every instrument — including the voice — has its own unique tonal quality which is often shaped by performance. She was cautious about the inference that there should be strict adherence to the anthem's original score, since many renditions veer away from it. The line “islands of the blue Caribbean Sea,” Cox-Neaves explains, should be sung with an even rhythm, but deviation from this is quite common, as is including a fermata at the end, which is not part of the original composition.
“Music is a living thing,” Cox-Neaves says. “If Her Excellency had said that the rendition didn't appeal to her stylistically, that would be a different conversation, but I can attest to the fact that quite often when the anthem is played on the steel pan, or played in another genre of music, ‘artistic license’ is taken.”
However, musician and teacher Chantal Esdelle, who also spoke with Global Voices by phone, said that this instance was not a case of melodic paraphrasing and that the way Danielle Williams sang the first line (even though she sang it correctly a second time) “misrepresented the anthem”.
This perspective was echoed even by non-musical observers like Rose-Marie Lemessy-Forde, who said in a closed Facebook discussion (republished here with permission):
I actually agree with the president. If the anthem is not supposed to be embellished in that way, then respect that. When she first started singing, my initial thought was, “who anthem she singing? ?”. Her voice is lovely, she didn't need to pad the anthem with that intro. It seriously took away from the performance.
While some commentators used the opportunity to take issue with other aspects of the composition, Patrice Cox-Neaves summed up the whole debacle by saying, “We cannot be objective about music because it is as personal as each one of us.”