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Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor throttles Twitter loading speeds · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Russian state internet regulator Roskomnadzor announced it was throttling Twitter loading speeds for failing to remove illegal content. Screenshot from Roskomnadzor's own Twitter account.
Roskomnadzor, the Russian state media and internet regulator, announced on March 10 that it would begin to throttle the loading speeds for Twitter, in a bid to punish the microblogging platform for failing to delete content deemed illegal by Russian censors.
In the statement, Roskomnadzor said the move comes after multiple requests to take down offensive content and threats of fines, which Twitter is said to have ignored.
В период с 2017 года по настоящее время не удаляется контент, склоняющий несовершеннолетних к совершению самоубийств, содержащий детскую порнографию, а также информацию об использовании наркотических средств, Роскомнадзором было направлено свыше 28 тысяч первоначальных и повторных требований об удалении противоправных ссылок и публикаций.
In the period from 2017 up to the present, content that constitutes incitement to suicide aimed at minors, contains child pornography, as well as information about using narcotics, has not been taken down. Roskomnadzor has sent over 28 thousand initial and repeat demands for removal of illegal links and posts.
Curiously, Roskomnadzor's statement makes no mention of another category of “banned content”: the convening of unsanctioned protests and mass gatherings. During the recent anti-government protests in support of Alexey Navalny, several social media platforms were asked by Roskomnadzor to take down protest-related content—and some even faced hefty fines for failing to do so.
The internet censor claims that as of March 10, around 3,168 tweets containing illegal information remain on the site. In response, Roskomnadzor said it would be slowing download speeds for users in Russia accessing Twitter on “100 percent of mobile devices and 50 percent desktop devices.” This measure is allegedly in accordance with the “sovereign internet” legislation that came into force in Russia in November 2019, and more recent amendments to laws regulating the Russian internet passed in February 2021 allow for the use of throttling.
If Twitter continues to ignore Roskomnadzor's demands, the regulator says it is prepared to go as far as blocking the platform—and suggests it has the legal grounds to do so.
Some users in Russia have already reported noticeably slower loading speeds when accessing Twitter, according to digital rights group Roskomsvoboda. Experts believe that such throttling is technically possible through the use of DPI (deep-packet inspection) technology that Roskomnadzor obliged all internet service providers in Russia to install as part of the implementation of “sovereign internet” laws. The system is autonomous, so Roskomnadzor has full control of it, without any input from the ISPs.
Artyom Kozlyuk, head of Roskomsvoboda, and Mikhail Klimarev, an expert at Internet Protection Society, explain in a comment to tech news website vc.ru that DPI technology is used by Roskomnadzor as a “technical means to counter threats.” The filtering devices installed on ISP networks check each internet traffic package against several parameters that identify it as coming from a specific website (in this case, Twitter) and then decide whether to block it, limit its loading speed, or let it through untouched.
The DPI technology is expensive, and experts believe it has likely been installed only by the key major providers in Russia, which explains why desktop broadband throttling is only partially possible, as regional small ISPs likely don't have the equipment. In addition, only images and videos in Twitter posts will have reduced loading speeds, whereas text content loading speeds will remain untouched.
Soon after Roskomnadzor's announcement, users reported that a number of websites across the RuNet became unavailable or slow to load, including the main government website kremlin.ru and Roskomnadzor's own rkn.gov.ru. Official sources connected this to a technical fault at Russia's main state-owned internet service provider Rostelekom, but commentators couldn't help but suspect the outages were connected to the sanctions against Twitter.
This… just happened again. Russia's censorship ministry attempted to throttle Twitter but instead appears to have kicked offline most government websites in Russia, starting with https://t.co/hWmhtqnWrO. Incompetence too hilarious for satire. https://t.co/65goZqjM5K
— Alexey Kovalyov (@Alexey__Kovalev) March 10, 2021
The situation also bears a striking resemblance to widespread RuNet outages that were caused by the state's attempts to block the Telegram messaging app back in 2018.
This is the first case of traffic throttling as a technically enabled censorship measure in Russia. The same approach has previously been used in Turkey to control social media platforms, reports tech news website Digital Russia.
RuNet experts differ in their view of which social media platform might be next to face slower loading speeds or other forms of censorship. Sergey Smirnov, editor-in-chief of independent news site Mediazona, believes it could be YouTube, given how instrumental the platform has been in disseminating Navalny's anti-corruption investigations. Mikhail Kolezev, editor-in-chief of another independent outlet, It's My City, disagrees:
Сергей Смирнов считает, что следующим будут блокировать YouTube, но я так не думаю — слишком много пользователей в России, слишком серьезные социальные последствия блокировки или замедления. Да и пропагандисты неплохо себя чувствуют на YouTube, много сил уже туда вложено. Поэтому следующим, думаю, будет Facebook — площадка вечно недовольной либерально настроенной интеллигенции, которой, по опросам, пользуется 9% россиян (твиттером — 3%).
Sergey Smirnov thinks YouTube will be blocked next, but I don't think so—it has too many users in Russia and the social consequences of blocking or throttling would be severe. Plus the propagandists feel quite at home on YouTube and have invested much effort there. So I think Facebook will be next: it's the platform of the always unhappy liberal intellectual public that, according to the polls, is used by 9% of Russians (whereas just 3% use Twitter).
Apparently, the Kremlin agrees with Kolezev: News agency Interfax reports that Russian lawmakers have hinted that Facebook could be next in line for traffic throttling.
Meanwhile, as we await Twitter's reaction, tech experts recommend that users avail themselves of VPN (virtual private networks) services, a stopgap measure that has also worked during the earlier Telegram blocking attempts.


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WATCH: Will Argentina’s ‘green tide’ on abortion rights spread throughout Latin America? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Argentina's historic legalization of abortion in December 2020 triggered a wave of debates on reproductive rights across Latin America. Will Argentina's “green tide” spread throughout the region, bringing legal and attitudinal changes regarding abortion?
This lively Spanish-language discussion on these issues, moderated by Global Voices’ Latin America editor Melissa Vida, was live-streamed on March 9 and featured:

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Egypt’s 2011 revolt barely exists in school textbooks · Global Voices
رصيف 22

An image published by Raseef22 showing how Egypt's national curricula refer to the 2011. In bullet points, the syllabus lists causes behind the revolution as deteriorating economic conditions, the emergency law, and rigging of 2010 parliamentary elections. Very briefly, it sums up the events of the 2011 revolt as people flooding Tahrir Square and other squares acorss the country calling for freedom, social justice and dignity, and that it led to Hosni Mubarak stepping down. In a side note, the textbook also states that 25 January coincides with the national holiday day celebrating police forces. Police brutality and corruption was a key trigger of the 2011 uprising, which textbooks failed to mention.
This piece was first published by Raseef22, an Arabic media platform, on January 25, 2021, and was written by Reem Mahmoud. It is published on Global Voices via a content-sharing agreement.
If we were to browse the history textbooks of high school students in Egypt's state-owned schools today, we’d come across few pages about the events that unfolded during the 2011 revolution.
Including the events of Egypt's Arab Spring in the school syllabi began in 2012, but has changed drastically over the subsequent years in concert with the country's political power.
On the tenth anniversary of the 2011 uprising, Raseef22 captures how textbooks changed from detailing in great lengths all that had happened since the first eruption of the revolution, and how the squares overflowed with Egyptian revolutionaries seeking different social and political goals followed by former president Hosni Mubarak’s removal, to omitting much of the aforementioned specifics, and including “only the breadcrumbs”, as described by several of those tasked with drafting these textbooks.
In the current “Modern Egyptian and Arab history” curriculum taught to secondary level students, we're told that the January 25, 2011 revolution had preludes, which manifested in “the political opposition starting in 2004 to reorganize themselves in the form of political movements and blocs that appealed to the youth in order to bring down the ruling regime at the time, and the hold of the National Democratic Party on Egypt.”
The revolution, according to these textbooks, also had triggers: dire economic conditions, the ongoing state of emergency imposed by law, and the rigging of the 2010 Egyptian parliamentary elections in favour of the National Democratic party.
After a brief segment composed of two sentences about the revolution's events, the curriculum states that one of the outcomes of the revolution — in addition to Hosni Mubarak stepping down and the Supreme Council of Armed Forces’ interventions — is “a state of instability that engulfed the country, as a result of repeated and rapid ministerial changes as part what became known as the ‘transitional caretaker cabinet’.”
In an interview with Raeef22, Alaa Al-Iraqi, one of the most renowned history teachers in Egypt, recalled the varying frequencies by which the 2011 revolution was mentioned in Egyptian curricula from 2012 and onwards.
He said that, following the revolution, the eighth chapter of history books of the third year of secondary schools included a complete narration of the revolution and its triggers. In his opinion, the description was highly-accurate and was well-received by the students, many of whom were first-hand witnesses of the events of that period.
Al-Iraqi added that, following the protests of June 30, 2013, the curricula changed: Mentions of the 2011 revolution were superficial, former President Mubarak's achievements were removed, and the curriculum included the failures of the Muslim Brotherhood’s reign, as well as mentions of “the [2013] revolution, and how the military council — led by President Abdelfatah-Al Sisi — succeeded in getting rid of the brotherhood’s regime.”
Al-Iraqi says that replacing a whole chapter on the revolution with a mere few lines was a big mistake. “It creates a void in students’ minds, especially since some of them observed the revolution and remember its events, and the parents of some of them participated in its events,” he said.
“I hope that the narrative would shift back to the complete version that was there in 2012,” he concluded.
Professor Gamal Shakra, a lecturer at the University of Ain Shams and one of the editors of the history courses in Egypt's curricula, says that these syllabuses do not mention details of the 2011 uprising because of the unavailability of reliable documents on which they can rely on.
He added in his comments to Raseef22 that the narrative offered in school textbooks is within the context that “the revolution's triggers were the increasing poverty rates under Mubarak, and the collapse of the economy which led to the Egyptian uprising, then the corrective movement following Mohamed Morsi’ reign through the [2013] revolution of June 30, and the people’s will represented in the election of Abdelfateh-Al Sisi, the current president.” This narrative can be noticed in both history and national education textbooks, whether for middle or secondary levels.
Shakra says:
حتى نكتب التفاصيل كاملة كان لا بد من الحصول على شهادات عديدة لمن شاركوا في ثورة يناير وهم شباب الميدان، وأن نحصل أيضاً على وثائق من المجلس العسكري، لكن كل ذلك لم يتوفر لنا، فتم اللجوء لرصد الوقائع الرئيسية التي ترسم السياق العام
In order to write all the details we had to obtain many testimonies from those who participated in the [2011] revolution, who are the youth that stormed the squares, as well as obtain documents from the Military Council. But these preconditions were not available to us, hence we resorted to mentioning the clear facts which convey the general context.
He concludes that “mentioning small details on the January [2011] revolt is the best option for now, given the absence of documents that could be relied on and its unavailability to the Ministry of Education. This is what we were taught as university professors and specialists.”
Echoing a similar view, Professor Assem el-Desouki, a lecturer of history in Egypt's Helwan University and the author of the current history curricula, said that he has taken part in writing Egypt's history syllabus since 1992, and that the few details describing the January Revolution had to be simple notes. Citing another example he said: “when the 1919 revolt was written about, we did not write the events in details, but mentioned the causes and outcomes, which is what we did with the [2011] January revolution.”
According to Professor Dessouki's comments to Raseef22, when writing curricula, it is not possible to quote documents that aren’t from the national archive, while media and press contents are considered secondary resources, as the news they offer are not complete.
He added: “This is why it is necessary to cite official news reports, or documents saved in the National Archives when writing the curricula textbooks, and these documents are released to the public only after 30 years of its events occurring, and therefore, all that is written about the 25 Jan revolution is only brief notes.”
Additionally, he said that in adherence to how history is written in curricula, details of the current president's period can not be mentioned, since he is still in office, and history must only deal with past events.
These opinions, according to head of the freedoms committee at the Press Syndicate Amr Badr, are “academic views”. He tells Raseef22 that those who wrote history textbooks, especially the parts pertaining to 25 January 2011, deny the progress made by the press, which impose an impactful reality and shape decisions.
Badr, who participated in the 2011 uprising, asked: “If content published on media platforms were professional and objective, and backed by a lot of evidence, why can it not be used as sources for writing history in syllabus textbooks?” He adds:
“التاريخ في مصر يكتب فقط من وجهة نظر رسمية، وهو أمر بات مرفوضاً خاصة اليوم في عصر مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي. كتابة التاريخ ليست حكراً على أحد، ويجب تعدد وجهات النظر فيه”.
In Egypt, history is written solely from the official viewpoint, which is rejected nowadays in the era of social media platforms. Writing history is not exclusive to anyone, and should include multiple views.
Current and former Egyptian students have varying opinions regarding this topic. Some of  are very keen about the full details of 2011 being included in the curricula they study, and others do not pay much attention to it.
Mohammed Fouad, a student in the final year of the history department in Cairo University's Faculty of Arts, said that he felt great pride when the January revolution was mentioned in his secondary school history books, and added in his comments to Raseef22:
هذه الثورة عاصرناها وعاصرها أهلنا. وإن لم أذهب للميدان للمشاركة فيها كنتُ مدركاً لما يحدث، لذلك فإن ذكرها في المناهج كان فخراً لنا وسهلاً علينا لأننا مررنا بهذه الأحداث.
We observed this revolution and our parents witnessed it. Although I never took part in its events, I was aware of what was happening, and that is why we felt pride at its mention in our textbooks – because we had lived through these events.”
Fouad expressed his hope in teaching the complete events of the 2011 revolt as part of the national syllabuses, alongside 2013's uprising which, he said, enabled the people to get rid of the Muslim Brotherhood's regime. He added that this is the modern history that needs to be taught to current generations.
As for Amr Khalil, a student in the third grade of secondary education, the inclusion of details about the last decade of the country’s history is not of high importance to him, saying that he is indifferent about studying the 2011 revolution in schools’ textbooks, adding that: “If I want to obtain information about it, there are plenty of platforms online for that. As for school, all I care about is to pass difficult exams.”
Meanwhile, Mutaz Moustafa, who is a student in the third year of secondary school, was too young when the revolution happened, and was aware of what was taking place but not in great detail, and therefore thinks that what the history textbooks offer is insufficient, doesn't paint a full picture, and does not capture the youths’ taking to the streets.
“Many of our classmates, if they wanted to know more about what transpired during that year, they get the related information from online sources and not the Ministry of Education's textbooks. This is why I see it is important to address this milestone event in great detail in our history books, in order for the generations to know its modern history, take pride in it and of the Egyptian people’s ability to change its government.”

author: رصيف 22


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Jamaica’s first vaccination day brings optimism, though COVID-19 numbers continue to soar · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

COVID-19 immunisations begin. Photo by Province of British Columbia on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
On March 10, the first anniversary of COVID-19’s arrival in Jamaica, a senior public health nurse who confessed to being “afraid of injections” was the first national to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. She received the vaccine at a faith-based centre for the homeless in downtown Kingston.
The day before the vaccination roll-out began, the Ministry of Health and Wellness announced that there had been 808 new cases reported in 24 hours, considered high for the country of 2.9 million. There have been 463 deaths recorded to date. Jamaica currently has close to 13,000 active cases and with 277 hospitalised, most public hospitals are close to or at full capacity.
On March 7, the beleaguered health minister Christopher Tufton had taken to Instagram with a personal plea for Jamaicans to observe COVID-19 protocols. His post was shared widely on social media.
At a press briefing the following day, Minister Tufton announced that the contagious COVID-19 Variant B117, first identified in the United Kingdom, had been found in Jamaica, after seven of eight samples sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad and Tobago were confirmed.
Under such circumstances, the government made a point of focusing on the vaccines, with junior health minister Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn sharing photographs of Dr. Denise Eldemire Shearer, a high-profile advocate for senior citizens, receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine:
The first Jamaican’s to receive the #COVID19 vaccine are Public Health Nurse Mrs. Marcia Thomas Yettman and Dr. Denise Eldemire Shearer. @christufton @themohwgovjm #GetVax #VaccineJa pic.twitter.com/4WAmPcDQ0g
— Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn MP, OLY (@julietcuthbert) March 10, 2021
Jamaicans were also pleased to see Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, who has received praise for her calm, informative contributions to health ministry press briefings, receiving her vaccine:
So happy for her – she has done so much to protect us. https://t.co/gb86OsBrnZ
— J A Lowrie-Chin (@LowrieChin) March 10, 2021
Other than public health workers, who were top priority in the vaccine roll-out plan, two former prime ministers, P.J. Patterson and Bruce Golding, as well as retired Opposition Leader Peter Phillips, aged 85, 73, and 71 respectively, received their “jooks” (a Jamaican patois word meaning a poke or puncture, which netizens seemed to prefer to the more “foreign” word, “jab”). They urged fellow senior citizens to get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible, with Golding advising people not to pay any attention “to the propaganda [and] conspiracy theories” around vaccination:
Past Prime Ministers P.J. Paterson and Bruce Golding, as well as retired PNP President, Dr. Peter Phillips, were among the first persons to receive the #COVID19 vaccine at the Good Samaritan Inn this morning. pic.twitter.com/ClG68PXGs8
— MOHW JA (@themohwgovjm) March 10, 2021
On the morning of March 10, a small and little-known group of anti-vaxxers called the People's Anti-Corruption Movement stood with placards outside the Ministry of Health and Wellness. The group, which wanted the government to clarify that vaccination is not mandatory and that citizens will not be discriminated against should they opt out, posted a long list of concerns on Facebook, to justify why it felt the protest was necessary. Questions asked included whether the government will assume responsibility “for any damage done to any Jamaican citizen who is given the [AstraZeneca] COVID-19 vaccine,” or any other vaccines supplied from alternative sources.
The highly-anticipated first batch of 50,000 vaccines, a gift from the Indian government, arrived on March 8. Just under 16,000 health care workers are set to receive their first dose in March, with the second dose in May, followed by approximately 25,000 elderly persons and 25,000 members of security forces. This would leave approximately 75,000 seniors waiting until the second phase of roll-out.
The People’s Anti-Corruption Movement, however, advised people to strengthen their immune system “as the basis for dealing with any virus infection.”
Meanwhile, health care workers who took the vaccine posted numerous photos and videos of themselves getting their “jooks” with the hashtags #MiGetDiVaccine #VaccinateJa:
#MiGetDiVaccine #VaccinateJA
I GOT VACCINATED AGAINST COVID 19! Quick! Easy! Painless! pic.twitter.com/ViQOKlrhxh
— #ProtectHealthCareWorkers (@thelaymansdr) March 10, 2021
Another doctor tweeted simply:
I'm still alive! ? pic.twitter.com/YED4bxeCs0
— T I R E D (@TennJC) March 10, 2021
Another shared:
As a medical doctor, especially one that works at a major isolation hospital I have to lead by example so I went out and got my vaccine early.
Get yours too!#vaccinateja pic.twitter.com/5AgffXB6CA
— Michael (@IAMichaelT) March 10, 2021
Many Jamaicans felt relieved and encouraged:
Lawd mi jus feel to bawl seeing all these vaccines being administered this morning #HealthcareHeroes #ISeeTheLightAtTheEndOfTheTunnel
— Swilli? (@swillijamaica) March 10, 2021
Others, like Olympic medalist Yohan Blake, were not convinced. Blake asserted that if attending the Tokyo Olympics required a COVID-19 vaccine, he would not participate.
Explaining that “concern is different from conspiracy theory,” one Jamaican YouTuber responded to the doubters, commenting:
Dear J’cans: It’s a choice, so why the noise? No one is forcing you to roll up your sleeve.
Human rights activist Susan Goffe, however, suggested that the tide of doubt over vaccines may have turned:
As the vaccination process progresses & more people get vaccinated & share their experiences, & the effects of fewer hospitalizations & severe cases of disease are documented, more people who are currently hesitant about being vaccinated will become willing. #VaccinateJA #COVID19
— Susan Goffe (@suezeecue) March 10, 2021
Despite the lifted spirits, sustainable development specialist Dr. David Smith reminded Jamaicans that the country still has a long way to go:
Controlling COVID-19 is not a sprint, its a marathon.. pic.twitter.com/37WfG7ARpD
— David C. Smith (@DavidSm30177024) March 9, 2021
Newspaper columnist Raulston Nembhard added:
There is a glimmer of hope with the arrival of the first batch of vaccines, but it will be some time before vaccines arrive in the quantities desired and for the majority of people to be vaccinated. And we still have to get many beyond the myths that may hamper a robust vaccination of the population […] Sometimes there seems to be some diffidence or timidity on the part of the authorities to tell people the unvarnished truth. They do not want to scare people. But Jamaicans need to be scared right now. If things persist as they are, a lot can get bad very quickly. This is no joke.
Still, that glimmer may grow brighter over the next few days as additional doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive.

author: Emma Lewis


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Personal attacks follow Burundi human rights defender into exile in Uganda · Global Voices
CIVICUS

Burundian activist, Chantal Mutamuriza. Image used with permission.
Women journalists, feminists, activists, and human rights defenders around the world are facing virtual harassment. In this series, global civil society alliance CIVICUS highlights the gendered nature of virtual harassment through the stories of women working to defend our democratic freedoms. These testimonies are published here through a partnership between CIVICUS and Global Voices.
A political crisis was triggered in Burundi in 2015 when former President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office. During his tenure—which ended with his death shortly before the official close of his term in 2020—his government embarked on a systematic crackdown on media, journalists, civil society organizations and human rights defenders. Journalists have faced judicial harassment, while media outlets have to deal with stifling regulations and closures.
Under the regime of Nkurunziza's successor, President Évariste Ndayishimiye, journalists and rights defenders continue to face challenges. The arrest of political activists and the recent public announcement of the sentencing of 34 exiled people—including journalists and human rights defenders—to life imprisonment on charges of attempting a coup against the former president, illustrate the obstacles to free expression in the country. Activists such as Germain Rukuki remain in prison for their human rights work, while many others are in exile or still missing.
In light of these violations, in 2017 the United Nations Commission of Inquiry’s report on Burundi called for the International Criminal Court to open an investigation. However, the Burundian government rejected the report, saying it had “no credibility.”
Chantal Mutamuriza is a feminist, human rights defender, and founder of the NGO, Light For All, an organization that tackles the issue of economic resilience and livelihoods among Burundian refugee women and children in Uganda. She had previously worked for high-level human rights organizations in Burundi, The Gambia, Geneva and Mali. She was targeted as part of a sexist smear campaign denigrating the UN commission’s findings.
This is Chantal Mutamuriza story:
It’s the mental stress.
You wake up, you use your telephone, you see tweets trying to delegitimize your work:
“UN scandal #ChantalMutamuriza maneater girlfriend.”
The harassment started in September 2017. The first UN Commission of Inquiry report on human rights abuses in Burundi was released, and it was hugely damning. Out of the blue, I was someone who was singled out as being involved.
The Burundian government said the report was biased because the head of the commission was involved in a relationship with a young Burundian woman—me. I can imagine the gossip: “She’s having an affair with the President of the Commission of Inquiry!”
They even said I wrote the report:
?Scandal Onusien#ChantalMutamuriza femme fatale petite copine #Ouguergouz ancien employée #Ngasou est élément moteur d rapports?? @unhrcpr pic.twitter.com/0TyLZ6PDSj
— Renegade Giana (@GianaRenegade) September 24, 2017
#Chantal Mutamuriza femme fatale girlfriend #Ouguergouz former employee #Ngasou is driving force of reports ??@unhrcpr
In an attempt to discredit the commission’s findings, they built up a story. Given my employment history and my human rights activism in Burundi, I was a good catch.
Screenshot from Twitter.
They created photographs, putting me together with the President of the Commission. They searched my CV and LinkedIn profile. They even found out that I had worked for the African Commission, as a legal assistant to one member of the Commission of Inquiry, and for the African Union as a human rights observer. My boss at the time was Pierre Buyoya, a former president of Burundi. The ruling party didn’t like him because they thought he was involved in the attempted coup in 2015, and accused him of trying to seize power:
“She works with a former President who fermented the coup!”
They said I was Buyoya’s “groupie,” a “charm commando” that he put into the arms of the President of the commission, so the UN could criminalize Burundi.
I was in total shock and unable to think: I didn’t even meet the commissioners; I didn’t even meet the investigators; I did nothing at all.
Screenshot from Twitter.
The accusations started in a conversation on a radio station based in Brussels, considered at the time a sounding board of the ruling party. But as soon as the radio recording was broadcast, the tweets started to flow: one day, I had 2,000 tweets about me.
I was scared. Would action be taken against me?
The Burundian regime harasses human rights defenders, some women have even disappeared. Was someone following me? These people are ruthless, they can do anything. I was afraid to go out, I lost sleep. It went on for more than three weeks.
I felt powerless. Human rights organizations I contacted didn’t know what to do—they said it wasn’t physical, it was a mental threat. They said if we take action on this we will be amplifying the issue; they said as long as your physical security is assured, let’s keep it as it is. So how do you tackle this? At the time, with the help of friends, we wrote to the office of the President of the Commission on the Inquiry and posted the letter on social media; it was an attempt to cover myself against the unfounded accusations, as you never know what can happen in the future.
But I know if you retaliate or reply you just give them the floor to say more, so I mainly kept quiet.
It was hard, really hard. Because it’s online you don’t know what to do and you don’t know exactly the person who is doing this. Some rights defenders from Burundi checked and the proxy owners of the Twitter account seemed to be affiliated to the ruling party and even to the office of the president. But how do you tackle this? What legal basis do you have for this? And how can you follow this up if you are being harassed by the government who is doing more serious things, like killing people? It’s hard to know.
Some people said to me, “Why don’t you switch off the phone?” I said, “No, I need to build up evidence.” At least in 10, 20, or 30 years, if someone comes to me and says, “You were involved in an affair,” I can say, “No, I have evidence.” In Africa, very few countries have adopted laws to protect human rights defenders, so maybe this is something they can include, a clause on online security.
To this day, when I dare to tweet something about Burundi, I immediately get a reply. Sometimes I think they have forgotten me but whenever I post something, they retaliate immediately.
Women get attacked on a different level than men because of their gender and the best way to attack a woman is through her sexuality. Since 2015 in Burundi, some women human rights defenders have disappeared, while others have been killed. Most of us are now in exile.
Chantal Mutamuriza with women of the Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda on March 8, 2020. Photo by Light For All, used with permission.
Burundian civil society used to be one of the most vibrant in Africa, and women were included. But now I feel they have been silenced. You add that to the harassment from the government, and it’s very difficult.
I left Burundi a long time ago and I am hesitant to go back. As a women human rights defender maybe I wouldn’t be safe.
Now I am scared to go home. I cannot; I don’t know what will happen to me. This has had the biggest impact on me—not knowing if I will be safe or not.

author: CIVICUS


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Trinidad & Tobago minister declares ‘safest time for sea turtles’ despite spike in poaching · Global Voices
Cari-Bois News

Leatherback turtle; photo by Alastair Rae on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The following post by Nicole Vallie was originally published on Cari-Bois News. An edited version is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement with Global Voices.
Leatherback turtle nesting season in Trinidad and Tobago, which runs from February to August each year, is well underway, but turtle conservation groups are up in arms after being blocked from doing nightly beach patrols to protect nesting sea turtles. Many of the groups were hoping they would be granted special exemptions from the country's COVID-19 restrictions which currently prohibit anyone from visiting beaches outside the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Minister of Health Terrance Deyalsingh justified the government’s stance at a press conference on March 8, at which he noted that the turtles should be sufficiently safe since “no one is allowed on the beach to poach eggs or to kill the turtles or ride on their backs.”
However, groups like the Turtle Village Trust, Las Cuevas Eco-Friendly Association, Nature Seekers, all located along Trinidad's north coast, and Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville, based in Tobago, all insist that active patrolling is still necessary to protect the Leatherback turtles, as well as other species. Incidents of poaching, they say, increased during the 2020 nesting season, and because turtles nest at night, those intent on harming them are unlikely to be deterred by COVID-19 restrictions.
In explaining the scope of the threat, the turtle conservation umbrella group Turtle Village Trust said that feedback they received from the communities of Manzanilla and Fishing Pond on Trinidad's east coast, and Las Cuevas, Blanchisuesse, Sans Souci, Grande Riviere and Toco on the north, reveal increases in incidents of poaching. The group was one of several that requested exemptions from the public health [2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)] (No. 4) regulations, which stipulate that beaches are to remain closed to the public from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Arlene Williams, president of the Las Cuevas Eco-Friendly Association, noted that the Las Cuevas beach, which usually reports no poaching incidents for the entire nesting season, recorded eight in 2020. She is concerned that there may be even more this year and fears Minister Deyalsingh's statement may serve as an invitation to poachers. Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville president Aljoscha Wothke confirmed that there has been a significant increase in reports of night poaching in Tobago since 2020 when all-night patrol activities ceased because of the pandemic.
Chairman of Nature Seekers, Kyle Mitchell, explained just how much is at stake:
Trinidad and Tobago is the largest nesting site for the Leatherback turtles in the northwest Atlantic. Such global proclamations cannot be made without the data to back it up. We have a significant place in the turtle world and we need to have rigorous conservation efforts in place to determine if the population is increasing or decreasing and what interventions are required. With local data collections efforts being stalled for another consecutive year, we are not in a position to do that.
In 2020, Nature Seekers, as an “essential partner in conservation,” received permission to collect data on the Las Cuevas and Matura beaches as part of a collaborative project with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. However, because of the additional public health regulations that have been put in place since the start of 2021, its role in the project is up in the air.
In a letter to the minister of health dated March 9, the non-profit Fishermen and Friends of the Sea noted that communities across Trinidad and Tobago have, for decades, voluntarily engaged in nightly patrols to deter poachers. The group also sought to remind the minister that these groups often fall well below the prescribed limit of 10-person gatherings, and that their visits to the beach are critical in preventing the killing of an environmentally sensitive species.
The letter also noted that the Ministry of Planning and Development, cognisant of the gap in enforcement at state level, established the National Sea Turtle Task Force in January 2021. The move brought together government and civil society organisations to advise on the protection of marine sea turtles.
Under the condition of anonymity, an officer of the forestry division of the Ministry of Agriculture Land and Fisheries spoke to Cari-Bois and said that there are currently fewer than 20 game wardens responsible for the island of Trinidad. He suggested that designating honorary game wardens from local conservation groups would render much-needed assistance for patrolling the nation’s beaches.
The importance of a community presence on beaches was also highlighted by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) in a March 10 press release, in which it stated that a “combined strategy of community-based patrols, presence of researchers, tour guides and the public during the nesting season worked well to stave off poachers.”
There are five species of marine turtles that nest on Trinidad and Tobago’s shores annually: the Leatherback, Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead and Green Turtle. In 2014, the EMA deemed all five Environmentally Sensitive Species (ESS), a designation that is supported by legislation under which the penalty for causing damage to sea turtles is 100,000 Trinidad and Tobago dollars (approximately 15,000 United States dollars) plus a two-year jail term.
There is currently an online petition circulating, which appeals to Prime Minister Keith Rowley to grant permission for nightly beach patrols. At the time of publishing, the petition had received almost 4,000 signatures. In the interim, conservation groups are urging concerned people to report any poaching activities to the police, game wardens, or the environmental police unit of the EMA.

author: Cari-Bois News


text:
Abortion in Argentina: The struggle continues · Global Voices
Lucía Leszinsky

Screenshot from France24/YouTube, of a ‘pro-life’ protest on November 29, 2020.
On December 30, 2020, Argentina joined the short list of countries where abortion is a right without restrictions on motive, that is, without the pregnant person having to specify a reason for requesting termination, within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The bill, approved in December after receiving 38 votes in favour, 29 against, and one abstention, was formalized on January 14, 2021.
Although in some regions of Argentina abortions have already been carried out, the passing of the law on Access to Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy (IVE) has sparked what seems to be the next historic struggle—to ensure its implementation.
Less than a month before the new law came into effect across the country, Judge Marta Beatriz Aucar de Trotti, the head of the Civil and Commercial Court No. 19 of the city of Resistencia, in Chaco province, accepted an appeal filed by a group of citizens arguing that life begins at conception and that the law is contrary to this. As a result, at the end of January 2021, Aucar de Trotti implemented a precautionary measure that suspended the implementation, in Chaco province, of the IVE law.
The ruling was immediately appealed by the civil society organisation Unidos por la Diversidad on the grounds that it was a federal and not a provincial law, then by the ministry of health calling for the case to be heard by a judge with national jurisdiction, and finally by a Chaco State prosecutor, Cecilia Fernández Almendra. However, the precautionary measure remains in force; so although the right to legal abortion is valid throughout the country, its application is currently suspended in Chaco.
As well as the ruling in Chaco, an appeal and a legal action have been filed in Córdoba province against the Argentinian president, Alberto Fernández, and the parliamentarians who voted in favour of the law. The action filed by the civil society organization Derechos Humanos y Violencia de Género (Human Rights and Gender Violence) includes a request for an impeachment trial against the president and argues that the law is unconstitutional.
The use of various tactics to get the IVE Law declared unconstitutional and the request for precautionary measures do not come as a surprise, as groups opposing the law said on social networks that “No unconstitutional law is going to discourage us.”
Seguimos luchando en contra del aborto, seguimos defendiendo al inocente, seguimos empoderando a la mujer con educación, con herramientas, con amor, en una sociedad rota.
Ninguna ley inconstitucional nos va a desarmar. Ninguna ley inconstitucional va a cambiar nuestra postura. pic.twitter.com/W3D5rFrS7F
— Unidad Provida ? (@unidadprovidaok) December 30, 2020
We continue to fight against abortion, we continue to defend the innocent, we continue to empower women with education, with tools, with love, in a broken society.
No unconstitutional law is going to discourage us. No unconstitutional law is going to change our stance.
In December 2019, a year before the law on abortion was passed, the Medical College of Misiones Province announced the creation of a Register of Conscientious Objectors, “in order to protect the right of those who, for moral, ethical, philosophical, cultural, religious or ideological reasons, consider themselves exempt from performing medical acts that are in contradiction with their convictions.” The request to be included in the register is voluntary, personal and confidential.
“The provincial decree in force establishes that the medical institution cannot object, and the doctor, in any such case should immediately refer [the patient to another doctor],” explained Luis Flores, president of the College of Doctors of Misiones, and he recognized that “the law is clear about the doctor's obligation to refer [a patient], and there is no discussion about that”.
In contrast to the provinces of Chaco, Cordoba, and Misiones, the law is being implemented smoothly in other regions. According to statements by the Minister for Women, Gender and Diversity, Elisabeth Gómez Alcorta, the city and province of Buenos Aires, and La Pampa, are among the districts that are best implementing the law.
After the law on abortion came into force, Estefania Cioffi, a doctor, feminist activist, and member of the Network of Health Professionals for the Right to Decide, shared an image on Instagram of the first prescription of misoprostol (one of the most commonly used drugs for abortion) in Argentina, with her stamp and signature.
“Social justice is being able to decide,” Cioffi wrote next to the image she uploaded from the poor 1-11-14 neighbourhood in the middle of Buenos Aires city, where she works as a general practitioner.
A post shared by Estefania Cioffi (@teficioffi)
First VOLUNTARY Termination of Pregnancy ?
Today the right to decide is a reality after years of feminist organizing. Emotion overwhelms my body.
We are here to safeguard Law 27.610, to lovingly support, to ALWAYS support.
Social justice is to be able to decide
YOU CAN COUNT ON US
Furthermore, the national law decriminalising abortion took precedence over provincial laws limiting access to misoprostol. Mendoza province, where the sale of misoprostol was restricted, is an example. Mendoza's Ministry of Health, through a decision published in the official Gazette, announced the updating of its regulations in accordance with the legalisation of Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy (IVE).
Another example of adaptation to the new law is the Program for Strengthening the Right to Abortion made by IOMA, a healthcare insurance scheme in Buenos Aires province founded on a solidarity-based healthcare system. The program, which proposes to cover 100 per cent of the procedure, is the first insurance in Argentina to institutionalise the right to decide.
The ups and downs since the approval of Law 27.610 show that the freedom to decide is not guaranteed only by the passing of a law. Even though in some parts of the country the struggle to ensure the right to abortion continues, the law is clear, and professionals in charge of telephone or face-to-face consultations in health centres must guarantee this right from the first contact.

author: Lucía Leszinsky


text:
What International Women’s Day looked like around the world in 2021 · Global Voices
Melissa Vida, Belen Febres-Cordero, Juliana Harsianti, Carlos E. Flores, Romina Navarro, Ardita Osmani, Kpénahi Traoré, Andrea Mendez, Samea Shanori, Dahlia Kholaif, Sevgi Yagmur Bulut, Luis Carlos Diaz, Anette Eklund, Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman, Elisa Marvena, Janine Mendes-Franco

‘The next one will be me.’ A performative action from @vibramujer and the visual artist Julia Bronstein, based on Jean René’s @insideoutproject. March 8, 2021, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo by co-author Romina Navarro.
International Women's Day celebrated on March 8 has become a day of marches for women's rights and equality throughout the world. Although COVID-19 dampened participation in many countries, women still raised their voices on the streets on different continents, especially as the pandemic has worsened inequalities faced by women in terms of labor, household chores, and gender violence. In 2021, women and LGBTQ+ people marched against political and gender violence and for reproductive and sexual health. Here is a wrap-up from Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe on March 8, 2021, based on tweets and contributors’ photos.
In Trinidad and Tobago, 15 local civil society groups, which included feminist, human rights, LGBTQ+, and social justice organizations, conducted a “Walk-Out for Women” on March 8. Protestors demanded immediate actions against gender-based violence and commemorated recent femicide victims.
In as well as other cities in Argentina, women and trans people gathered to protest against gender violence and the state's failure to prevent femicides, despite reports previously made by the victims.
Left: ‘I, too, like women, but I don’t harass them.’ Right: ‘Being alive should not be an accomplishment.’ Photo by co-author Romina Navarro.
In El Salvador, women marched on March 7 for women’s rights and abortion rights. They performed the song and dance of the Chilean feminist song “The Rapist is You.”
Y la culpa no era mía
Ni dónde estaba
Ni cómo vestía pic.twitter.com/xq1zUd6tZS
— Virginia ?? (@huishte) March 7, 2021
And the fault was not mine,
Nor where I was
Nor how I was dressed
In Ecuador, Blanca Chancosa, a leader of the indigenous movement of Ecuador, performed an ancestral ceremony before the National Electoral Council of Ecuador in Quito. Amazonian women issued a collective statement and various communities and organizations marched in several cities of the country.
#CoberturaFeminista8M
Blanca Chancosa, lideresa del movimiento indígena del #Ecuador, realiza introducción a la ceremonia ancestral en las afueras del @cnegobec en #Quito.
¡Por los derechos a la tierra, la educación, la salud, a vivir, nadie se cansa! Es el grito de las mujeres pic.twitter.com/fdPfBiABZT
— Wambra (@wambraEc) March 8, 2021
#FeministCoverage8M
Blanca Chancosa, leader of #Ecuador's indigenous movement, performs introduction to ancestral ceremony outside @cnegobec in #Quito.
For the rights to land, education, health, to live, no one tires! It is the cry of women
In Mexico, women turned the fences around the National Palace, placed days before International Women's Day, into a monument to the victims of femicide throughout the country.
#AlMomento
Las consignas #MexicoFeminicida, #AbortoLegalYa y #UnVioladorNoSeráGobernador vistieron Palacio Nacional una noche antes del #8M. Las murallas para proteger los inmuebles fueron intervenidas con nombres de víctimas de feminicidio de todo el país.
Fotos: @Maria_Efemere pic.twitter.com/TsJvgXc5DB
— Pie de Página (@PdPagina) March 8, 2021
#RightNow
The slogans #MexicoGuiltyofFemicide, #LegalAbortionNow and #ARapistWillNotBeGovernor dressed the National Palace the night before #8M. The walls that protect the buildings were plastered with names of femicide victims from all over the country.
Young feminists, unable to take to the streets on International Women's Day, protested and staged a sit-in at the Central American University (UCA) in Nicaragua. They protested against gender violence and for the liberation of political prisoners.
Photo by co-author Andrea Méndez.
In Venezuela, women's rights are deemed to have been left behind in the Bolivarian revolution, so several feminist groups on either side of the current authoritarian rule of Chavismo, have come together to demand action. Femicides and impunity around them have increased in the past year, along with poverty.
Photo by co-author Luis Carlos Díaz.
In, expressions of support, appreciation, and solidarity with women’s fight for liberation and their rights flooded social media platforms. Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces raided an event organized by Palestinian women to celebrate identity and heritage on March 8, arresting two participants.
Israeli occupation forces raided an exhibition under the name of “Our Heritage is Our Identity” organized by Palestinian women in the #InternationalWomensDay pic.twitter.com/MwBOP3ONAk
— PALESTINE ONLINE ?? (@P_ONLINE9) March 8, 2021
In North and East Syria, precisely in the Hassakah province, Syrian Kurdish female fighters from the Women's Protection Units (YPG) celebrated March 8 with song, traditional attire, and displays of physical strength and military training.
Women fighters from the YPJ celebrated International Women's Day on 8 March in the Al-Hasakah province of North and East #Syria.https://t.co/pElhxMYTst pic.twitter.com/tcPSUqm4Wm
— MedyaNews (@medyanews_) March 8, 2021
In , a rally of women protested the country’s Family Code, which is seen to treat women as second-class citizens, took place in Algiers to mark International Women’s Day.
قانون الأسرة à la poubelle
Rue Didouche Mourad
« Code de la famille à la poubelle »
“قانون الأسرة إلى المزبلة”#Alger pic.twitter.com/y8eo2JkA05
— Khaled Drareni (@khaleddrareni) March 8, 2021
“The Family Code belongs in the trash”
At Didouche Mourad street
In Pakistan, the Aurat March (Women’s March) took place in various cities of the country as the third wave of COVID-19 hit the country. The tweet below was filmed in Lahore, and the shirts depict the ages of rape victims as well as the relationship they had with their abuser. The Aurat March also presented a feminist health manifesto this year to raise awareness about women's health.
Trigger Warning
Every year #auratmarch comes forward with great ideas to highlight women issues, pains, blood and loss… this display speaks of all that babies, girls women have gone through…. #WhyIMarch #WomensDay @AuratMarch #Lahore pic.twitter.com/2fFKwMIgDX
— Umaima Ahmed (@UmaimaBlogger) March 8, 2021
In , Rada Akbar, an Afghan artist and activist, began her 2021 “Abarzanan” exhibition to celebrate the achievements of Afghan women by giving a tribute to those lost to violence in Afghanistan. Also, Afghans gathered for a street art exhibition at Rebel Art Cafe on March 8.
When we started @abarzanan 3 years ago I had never imagined we would go through this, holding the exhibition for the deceased but I think everything impossible is possible here; in the absence of justice, in the absence of peace. #IWD2021 pic.twitter.com/AuSKfMCznf
— Rada Akbar (@RADAAKBAR) March 8, 2021
In Kyrgyzstan, the gathering paid tribute to women who have fought for gender equality.
Это было невероятно. Вот как прошли марши в Бишкеке и Оше, почитайте: https://t.co/EjK4JcEbtz
Фото: @LexTitova / @kloopnews#InternationalWomensDay pic.twitter.com/XwpiC9IHzg
— Bektour Iskender (@bektour) March 8, 2021
It was unbelievable. Here's how the marches in Bishkek and Osh went, read it here
Photo: @LexTitova
As goes through a military coup, women used variations of the hashtag #htamineResistance (SarongResistance), alluding to the fact that the civil disobedience movement protestors hang women's sarongs to block the military, as it is believed that men would lose their spirituality if they touch the sarong. Women have also been on the frontlines of the protests.
“HtaMain” Resistance, Yangon and Mandalay March 4, People are hanging women sarongs at the front lines of strikes to delay and deter the military junta security forces from entering. It is a wide spread superstition that walking under the HtaMain will loose men’s power/influence. pic.twitter.com/RngTSdj8KO
— Than Htaik Aung (@ThanHtaikAung20) March 4, 2021
In Jakarta, Indonesia, women and non-binary people gathered under the rain to head towards the Presidential Palace. Yet, they could not reach their destination as the police blocked the main road and people got arrested.
Selamat Hari Perempuan Internatsional untuk para puan & trans-nonbinary seperjuangan✊?✊?#InternationalWomensDay pic.twitter.com/aXCPJt9JCa
— Cabut Omnibus Law! (@Lini_ZQ) March 8, 2021
Happy International Women's Day to the ladies & trans-nonbinary alike ✊?✊?
Meanwhile, in Jayapura, West Papua, indigenous women initiated a rally. This march was also stopped by the police.
8/3/21 Jayapura, West Papua
A peaceful #IWD2021 ￼ rally is blocked by police, 9 Indigenous people were briefly arrested. pic.twitter.com/pzyagluKbz
— Veronica Koman (@VeronicaKoman) March 8, 2021
In Istanbul,  thousands of women came together for the traditional March 8 Feminist Night Walk. They chanted, “We are not silent, we are not afraid, we do not obey,” and demanded the implementation of the Istanbul Convention. The next day, 18 women were taken from their homes at night by the police and detained for participating in the march along with anti-presidential slogans; they have later been released on bail.
Karaköy’e yürüyüşümüz başladı. Gelmeyen kalmasın! #8MarttaTaksimdeyim pic.twitter.com/pG5XCPkZ7n
— 8 Mart Feminist Gece Yürüyüşü (@8MartYuruyus) March 8, 2021
In , feminists and transfeminists organized strikes in the main cities’ squares. They organized pickets, read poems, sang songs, danced flash mobs, and put up banners.
Photo by co-author Ardita Osmani, taken in Venice, Italy.
In Zaragoza, Spain, the demonstration was made under strict social distancing rules. In 2020, March 8 demonstrations were severely criticized for transmitting COVID-19, and demonstrations were banned in Madrid in 2021.
?
Si nos quieren hacer callar, sólo conseguirán que hagamos más ruido ???#Todohasalidofeminista ♀#8MZgz  #8M2021  ? @Dune Solanot
Posted by 8M Zaragoza on Monday, March 8, 2021
In Paris, France, there were no physical demonstrations. However, a giant artwork portraying a clitoris was put in front of the Eiffel tower by feminist activists, entitled “Gang du Clito” (clitoris gang).
On a installé un clitoris géant face à la Tour Eiffel, avec @gangduclito ! #JourneeDesDroitsDesFemmes pic.twitter.com/Zo0wtprmdk
— Simone Media (@simonemediafr) March 8, 2021
We put up a huge clitories in front of the Eiffel Tower with @gangduclito! #InternationalWomensRightsDay


text:
In the streets and online, Myanmar’s citizens unite in creative opposition to the military junta · Global Voices
Global Voices South East Asia

Flags of different ethnic nationalities of Myanmar during an anti-coup protest march in Yangon. Used with permission.
This article originally appeared on the blog of a Global Voices contributor who doesn't wish to be identified. It is published here as a three-part series.
Much of the energy behind the protests taking place in Myanmar since the military coup on February 1, 2021, has been provided by young people—members of so-called Generation Z—who have harnessed their creativity, tech skills, and determination to push back against military rule.
The protests have also been highly inclusive, welcoming people representing a diversity of professions and identities, including people from a range of religious faiths and from the LGBTQ community. Civilians have supported protesters by providing food, drink, printed placards, and transportation. Others have contributed by cleaning up the streets during and after protests to help maintain the protesters’ good image.
On February 11, the General Strike Committee of All Nationalities (GSCN) emerged, uniting 27 of Myanmar's ethnic nationalities—an extraordinary show of unity against a common enemy. GSCN sent out a strong message in favor of federal democracy and the abolition of the 2008 Constitution drafted by the previous military junta.
Ethnic activists call on the people to join the protest tomorrow
✊To end dictatorship
✊To abolish 2008 constitution
✊To establish a Federal Democratic Union of Burma
✊To demand the release of all political prisoners #WhatshappeninginMyanmar #MilkTeaAlliance #GSCN pic.twitter.com/SUI10mxitd
— Zoya Phan (@zoyaphan) February 27, 2021
In uniting people across ethnic lines, the anti-coup protests have even prompted some to rethink their stance on the embattled Rohingya. The Rohingya, a minority Muslim ethnic group living in the western border area of Myanmar, have long been oppressed by the military and are not recognized citizens by the government of Myanmar.
We, #Rohingya completely understand your pain. Together we will win this fight. We all are with you to get rid of military regime from #Myanmar. Our common enemy is #MinAungHlaing. #Feb28Coup #myanmarmilitarycoup #MilkTeaAllianceMyanmar #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/fohhxIEAgd
— Tun Khin (@tunkhin80) February 28, 2021
Many Rohingya youth have joined the fight against the dictatorship.
The protesters have employed a number of creative campaign methods.
On February 18, young protesters in Yangon walked back and forth over pedestrian crossings after police told them not to block the roads. The tactic designed to mock the words of a military spokesperson who had said two days earlier that the coup had been carried out lawfully. The protesters, in response, crossed the streets again and again in ‘lawful’ fashion to block the flow of traffic.
People have used any means they can think of to fight against the dictatorship. This includes the use of cursing rituals based on folk beliefs in cities like Bagan, Pathein, Yangon and Kyaukse; the emblazoning of messages such as “We want democracy” in large letters on city streets across Myanmar; the projection of protest imagery on building walls at night; graffiti; and prayer sessions on the streets by Buddhists, Muslims and Christians.
The anti-coup movement also issued a call to boycott military-owned businesses and their products. A mobile app called “Way Way Nay” (Stay Away) is one of several digital platforms compiling information on businesses with links to the military. Military-owned telecommunications provider MyTel's earnings were reportedly down two weeks after the coup, as were those of Myanmar Beer.
Whistleblower organization Justice for Myanmar leaked secret documents from the military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) detailing allegedly illegal money that was channeled to the military.
Taking place alongside the boycotts is public shaming of supporters of the military council. Since the second week of February, many vendors in different cities have posted signs indicating their refusal to sell to military and police families; some even refuse to sell to civil servants who did not join the civil disobedience movement. Conversely, some shops have offered discounts to help those participating in the CDM.
Another tactic protestors have used in Yangon and other cities is to stick photos and images of the coup's leader, General Min Aung Hlaing, on the ground or on their shields as a way to discourage soldiers from advancing—stepping on or assaulting even an image of their leader would be considered a sign of disrespect in Myanmar culture.
But the fight has not just been on the streets—“keyboard fighters” have been working online to attract international attention and keep the protesters engaged. The hashtag #WhatshappeninginMyanmar has been widely used on both Facebook and Twitter.
Also prevalent on social media are public shaming and calls for social punishment of military supporters and violent police. Anti-coup social media users have published names of the military personnel who have harmed protestors as well as exposed information about people who made fun of those incidents.
Myanmar's hackers have warned that they plan to target all military websites, including those of the Myanmar Central Bank and the military council. On February 18, the international hacker group Anonymous announced on Twitter that they would help the citizens of Myanmar, and on February 23 declared cyberwar on the Myanmar military.
Anonymous supports Myanmar. (?@AntiGovAnon) #OpMyanmar #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #Feb18Coup pic.twitter.com/VowY7dj00l
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) February 18, 2021
Content ridiculing the military and police on the internet has also kept the population entertained. Facebook pages like Generation Z have been posting images and memes based on incidents taking place during the protests, while also drawing attention to gestures of support and the creative strategies used by younger generations both to get attention and avoid arrest.
Social media meme widely share with the caption: Find Min Aung Hlaing. The senior general (on the slightly left bottom in the picture) is often ridiculed for his short stature.
A collage meme making fun of paid junta supporter demonstrators. Since the coup began, the junta has been hiring people to demonstrate in support of the junta. There is a public belief that they are being paid 5,000 kyats (3.50 US dollars) per day and thus, they are nicknamed ‘5000 kyats’.
Meme making fun of riot police featuring a paratha flatbread, a reference to the raid on the township of Tarmwe, Yangon on February 25, where soldiers seized and ate paratha from the cart of a street vendor who ran away. The original photo was taken by the journalist Sit Htet Aung, who captured the image as were police running toward him to hit him.
Meme making fun of camouflage soldier deployed as riot police in Yangon. The post caption said “Don’t go stingy on [computer] graphic cards”

author: Global Voices South East Asia


text:
‘Aurat March’ 2021 presents feminist healthcare manifesto in Pakistan · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

Aurat March 2021 in Islamabad. The banner says ‘Free women means free society.’ Image via Facebook group Aurat Azadi March, used with permission.
Women protested on International Women’s Day in Pakistan to reclaim their space in society, speak up for their rights, and demand justice from the system that has failed them because of patriarchal structures. This year, the Aurat March (Women’s March) protests also focused on the damage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in Pakistan. Calling it a “Pandemic of Patriarchy,” the protesters demanded the government increase the health budget to 5 per cent of GDP so that women may get better healthcare.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Hum Aurtein feminist collective organised the protests across Pakistan, which took the form of marches, public art displays and performances highlighting challenges faced by women.
Among the issues the protests drew attention to was the significant increase in domestic violence and child abuse worldwide as families are families confined to their homes during the pandemic, with women deprived of proper healthcare or help—and that Pakistan was no different.
Each city chapter of the Aurat March (Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Multan, Bahawalpur, Hyderabad) wrote separate manifestos.
Lahore's manifesto concentrated on women's healthcare.
Aurat March Lahore is incredibly proud to share its #AuratMarch2021 manifesto, a “Feminist Manifesto on Healthcare”.
Access here: https://t.co/iLsYn1u9Vo
This document is a collective effort, put together after months of research & LISTENING. 1/5#PatriarchykaPandemic
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) February 23, 2021
Karachi's manifesto centered on gender-based violence inflicted upon women, transgender and non-binary people.
Saada haqq
Aithay rakh!
Here is our 15 point agenda for this year! It is a condensed version of our complete charter of demands & focuses broadly on the theme of gender-based violence inflicted upon women, transgender & non-binary persons.#AuratMarch2021#PatriarchyKaPandemic pic.twitter.com/TApDaKfmz5
— Aurat March – عورت مارچ (@AuratMarchKHI) March 7, 2021
(Sada haq, Aithay rakh – Put our Right Here. Aurat Dharna – Women sit-in.)
Islamabad focused on issues ranging from healthcare, economic justice and patriarchal violence to disability justice and the climate change crisis.
AURAT AZADI MARCH 2021 CHARTER OF DEMANDS
Our demands are linked to this year's theme of the crisis of care in the coronavirus pandemic. The issues we have highlighted range from healthcare, economic justice & patriarchal violence to disability justice & climate change crisis. pic.twitter.com/AeD9V9XJ2b
— Aurat Azadi March Islamabad (@AuratAzadiMarch) March 7, 2021
The Aurat March always touches upon pressing issues in Pakistan. Every year people come forward with personal accounts of friends and family who have been the objects of the male-dominated society.
It is easier to sit in cozy drawing rooms and nitpick on the social causes, in reality you can't even imagine stepping into the shoes of the victims rallying for justice!
At #AuratMarch2021 Karachi, heard Neha share horrifying account of her forced conversion & marriage (1) pic.twitter.com/q4DI7iTSp8
— Sukhdev (@SukhdevHemnani_) March 8, 2021
This young man is from Chitral. He says Kalasha women are forcibly converted and married off. This is why he marches today. #AuratMarch #Karachi pic.twitter.com/uokFxGKADQ— Samaa Life&Style (@LifestyleSamaa) March 8, 2021
Innovative protest — slogans on hanging clothes, Aurat March 2021 in Lahore, Pakistan. Image by the author.
The Aurat March Lahore set up an art installation depicting the “patriarchal stains” on women's clothes, calling it “dirty laundry.” Messages from women and girls, mentioning the age at which they first encountered violence, harassment, emotional abuse or denial of freedoms, were displayed.
Trigger Warning
Every year #auratmarch comes forward with great ideas to highlight women issues, pains, blood and loss… this display speaks of all that babies, girls women have gone through…. #WhyIMarch #WomensDay @AuratMarch #Lahore pic.twitter.com/2fFKwMIgDX
— Umaima Ahmed (@UmaimaBlogger) March 8, 2021
Artists and designers from across the country made feminist public art that told the stories of women, their ordeals, how they have suffered in society, highlighting the crux of the manifesto.
A #MeToo red cloth panel, with stories of abuse, harassment, violence, exposing the system that has failed them for ages, was also displayed.
TRIGGER WARNING// RAPE AND ASSAULT #AuratMarchLahore is unfolding its #metoo blanket. Women have shared their experiences of sexual violence and abuse. We're sharing small snippets from the blanket being carried by the marchers right now. (1)#PatriarchykaPandemic pic.twitter.com/cPZbhRJYyd
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 8, 2021
The protesters in Lahore also sang the Chilean feminist song “You are the Rapist” in Urdu, and Alina, a transgender woman, danced to a Sufi (mystic) folk song.
Women, girls, transgender and non-binary people, and also men of all ages, attended the march in Lahore, carrying anti-patriarchy slogans on placards.
Literally the best day ever!! pic.twitter.com/heXj3tp72U
— idk i suck ( ꈍᴗꈍ) (@yaarlybawhy) March 8, 2021
At the #AuratMarch2021 pic.twitter.com/dFaVMzc6d4
— Ailia Zehra (@AiliaZehra) March 8, 2021
Just days before the Aurat March was to be held, social media trends opposing it began going viral. One hashtag claimed that the Aurat March was foreign-funded and promoting Western agendas. People also said that the march was contrary to religious beliefs and that women already had rights in Islam.
Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar, a drama writer and director tweeted (the tweet was later deleted):
Aurat March is name of shamefulness. It is run by Western NGOs who are working against Islam. Agenda of feminists are to manipulate thought of Muslims women in the name of freedom, but we should need to reveal their real faces and people who are behind it #ForeignFundedAuratMarch
— Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar (@KRQ_Official) March 7, 2021
Conservative and right-wing organizations are aggressive opponents of the Aurat March feminist collective. Last year's Aurat Azadi March in Islamabad,  was disrupted when participants were pelted by bricks and stones by people at a counter-protest, the “Haya March.” This year, the women's wing of the Jamaat e Islami, a religious political party, organized a march in various cities across Pakistan. Their slogan was Familialism, not Feminism.
Jamaat e Islami Women Wing holds a rally at Press Club Karachi with a slogan of Strong Women Strong Family & Strong Families make Strong Nation. JI women wing firmly believes that #OurStrenghtIsOurFamily & #Familism than #Feminism pic.twitter.com/nFwyd1Hwvl
— Jamaat Islami Karachi East (@JIKarachiEast) March 8, 2021
Media coverage of the Aurat March is usually limited to showing selective slogans and placards aimed at disparaging the movement. This year the organizers asked the media to register the names of reporters, preferably female, to cover the march. But this did not go well and YouTubers who wanted to cover the event called it as being “against freedom of the press.”
Being a woman & a journo, I disagree with this bar. Movements must let their natural course flow which also includes -ve propaganda against them. Never in history successful movements have put barriers. OTOH, journalists must exercise objectivity not sensationalism to cover #AuratMarch https://t.co/kO7oqKal3B
— Gharidah Farooqi (@GFarooqi) March 8, 2021
Since the march, several social media posts have called out citizen journalists (self-proclaimed journalists, YouTubers, local content creators, etc.,) for how they treated protesters, asking insensitive questions to make them uncomfortable.
This (hyper) journalist with Daily Pakistan is threatening a volunteer of Aurat March Karachi. After he was seen asking insulting, controversial questions to the participants, he was politely asked to leave.
His name is Osama and has worked with various media outlets. pic.twitter.com/f8DcsGPkCv
— Fawad फ़वाद ?? (@FawadHazan) March 9, 2021

author: R Umaima Ahmed


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Could the Venezuelan oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea still pose an environmental threat? · Global Voices
Zico Cozier

Gary Aboud, corporate secretary of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS), visits the FSO Nabarima on October 16, 2020. Screenshot taken from FFOS video, posted on YouTube by guns21111.
This article was originally published on Cari-Bois News. An edited version is republished here with permission.
In October 2020, the Trinidad and Tobago-based non-profit Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) drew public attention to the fact that a Venezuela-flagged oil tanker, estimated to contain as much as 1.3 million barrels of crude oil, appeared to be leaning to one side off a remote stretch of the country’s coast in the Gulf of Paria in the Caribbean Sea, potentially posing a threat to both ecosystems and livelihoods.
By October 20, the Trinidad and Tobago government had sent a three-person team from its Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI) to assess the status of the FSO Nabarima, which concluded that the risk of an oil spill was minimal, but that the transfer of the crude on board should be hastened. The experts also recommended a subsequent assessment, which, at a press conference held after their report was released, line minister Franklin Khan said would “make sure everything remains stable so that there will be a continuity of monitoring”.
Nearly five months later, Trinidad and Tobago officials have not yet reinspected the tanker, despite their own recommendation that a follow-up should have been done within a month of their October 20 visit, prompting FFOS to take legal action. On March 10, the environmental whistleblower group issued a press release asking:
Why is it taking our Government so long to meaningfully communicate with a neighbouring country? Why has there been this silence and secrecy in a matter of such grave public and environmental concern?
When Cari-Bois News contacted the MEEI's senior communications officer Choy Felix, he said that the ministry was still waiting on the necessary approvals to be granted from Venezuelan authorities—permissions that were being pursued through diplomatic channels in the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM [Caribbean Community] Affairs.
According to FFOS, however, the “slow and disjointed” response of both governments in this matter is “representative of the failure” of the Bilateral Oil Spill Contingency Plan (1989), an agreement that outlines the parameters of a joint response to oil spills in the Gulf of Paria, and supposedly stipulates conditions under which either party may intervene across maritime borders according to the level of risk.
Via a Freedom of Information (FOI) application, FFOS requested a copy of this plan in order to determine whether the government of Trinidad and Tobago had truly explored all available avenues in seeking the interests of its people. However, according to the press release, its FOI request was denied by the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs so as to avoid prejudicing Trinidad and Tobago’s relationship with Venezuela. As a result, FFOS will now go to court in an attempt to gain access to a copy of the Bilateral Oil Spill Contingency Plan:
FFOS have taken the decision to instruct our Attorneys to serve onto the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a pre action protocol letter in the hope that the Ministry will release a redacted version of the document. FFOS do not wish to engage in litigation; however, we have a duty to do what is right to protect our natural capital inventory and so we will persist in fighting for the public interest regardless of the sacrifice or danger.
The FFOS statement also accuses the government of misrepresenting to the public the facts surrounding the offloading process, citing a Bloomberg report indicating that the oil removal process had begun in January 2021, as opposed to October 2020 as claimed by the ministry.
The FSO Nabarima has been operating on the Venezuelan side of the Gulf of Paria for the past decade, storing oil procured from the Corocoro Field through a joint venture between Venezuela’s state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PVDSA) and the Italian energy multinational Eni.
FFOS first sent a letter to the MEEI on August 24, 2020, raising concerns about the integrity of the vessel and demanding it take action to prevent a potential ecological disaster. Members of FFOS had visited the vessel on October 16, triggering a whirlwind of international coverage as the footage appeared to show the vessel listing, contradicting the Venezuelan government’s stance that the vessel was stable.
Months after news of the FSO Nabarima has faded from the headlines, several questions surrounding its integrity and the offloading process remain unanswered. On March 9, Cari-Bois News reached out to the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago requesting an update on the status of the offloading process; at the time of publication, there had been no response.

author: Zico Cozier


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Sri Lanka reverses decision to bury COVID-19 victims on remote island after protests · Global Voices
Rezwan

A section of people from Iranaitivu island, located in the Gulf of Mannar in northern Sri Lanka. Image by Ruki Fernando via Groundviews, used under a content-sharing agreement.
On March 2, the Sri Lankan government announced that it would allow the burial of COVID-19 victims from Muslim and Christian communities at one location—on the “thinly populated” island of Iranaitivu in the Gulf of Mannar, 300 km from the capital, Colombo.
This decision came after the country lifted an 11-month ban on the burial of COVID-19 victims, on February 26. The ban had been in place partly on the premise that burying those who had died from the disease might lead to contamination of the groundwater, but it went against religious practices of the Muslim and Christian minorities in the majority Buddhist country.
However, the islanders of Iranaitivu, home to around 360 families, protested against the government’s decision to use the island as a burial site, many claiming that this would create a division in the solidarity between the ethnic Tamil and Muslim communities — the government had ignored areas suggested by the Muslim community, choosing instead a Tamil area, that is still reeling from the effects of prolonged military occupation and the Sri Lankan Civil war.
Dr Kumaravadivel Guruparan, Former Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Jaffna tweeted in agreement:
Correct. The intention is to divide the new found solidarity between the Tamil and Muslim communities on the very same issue that brought them together. https://t.co/iLQDwOlLds
— K. Guruparan (@rkguruparan) March 2, 2021
On March 5, Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda came out in support of the villagers saying that the Iranaitivu island was not suitable for the burial of COVID-19 victims. Three days later, he confirmed that the government had suspended the decision to bury victims of the disease on the tiny twin-island.
On March 8, government authorities stated that they were no longer considering Iranaitivu as a burial site and started burying COVID-19 victims at Oddamavadi, a town located in the Batticaloa district in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.
Location of Iranaitivu Island in Sri Lanka. Screenshot from Google Maps.
Iranaitivu (or Iranaitheevu) is a double island, and its north and south parts (Periyathivu and Sinnathivu) are joined by a small piece of land. During the 30-year long Sri Lankan Civil War (1982-2009), the island, mostly inhabited by a community of ethnic Tamil fishers, was within the area of military conflict. In 1992, a naval base was set up there and the islanders were relocated, forced to abandon their homes and cattle.
In April 2018, a predominantly female group of about 300 former islanders accompanied by Roman Catholic priests, fishers, local journalists and civil rights activists in a 40-strong fishing boat flotilla had arrived on Iranaitivu to re-establish residence there. But they were sent back by the navy. However, after a month, the government allowed the former inhabitants, even those without land titles, to stay. During the following years, the government and the navy began to rebuild some infrastructure for the population.
The locals raised several concerns in their protest against the decision to use the island as a COVID-19 burial site.
Citizen journalism portal Groundviews tweeted:
The people of #Iranaitivu appeal to the Govt to withdraw the decision to bury Covid-19 victims on the island. They state this would destroy the land which they rely on for cultivation & cattle breeding and raise concerns over transporting infected bodies 20km across the sea. #lka pic.twitter.com/B6YTkmOW8H
— Groundviews (@groundviews) March 3, 2021
The villagers continued their protests even as the navy started digging the graves.
Following the govt circular, Navy personnel dug new grave patches on #Iranaitivu island. The villagers landed on the island at midnight & rang the church bell in protest. They continue to stay in temporary huts without basic needs protesting Covid19 burials. #lka #srilanka pic.twitter.com/lopb1lkFgv
— Groundviews (@groundviews) March 5, 2021
Mari tweeted:
Graves dug in #Iranaitivu by #lka #Navy to bury victims of COVID-19, are being closed up by local villagers today, in protest of the Govt. decision to bury COVID victims on the island. pic.twitter.com/LQd2cpZtyI
— Mari (@EmDeeS11) March 2, 2021
Journalists and activists were prevented from visiting the island amid the protests.
Ambika Satkunanathan, the former commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, asked:
1) Why were journalists & civil society activist prevented form visiting Iranaitheevu? 2) What is legal basis upon which they were prevented? 3) How was Capital TV able to visit though other journalists were prevented from visiting? Watch video from 4.15 https://t.co/zo66Zr5fab https://t.co/G0b8qqlNpk
— Ambika Satkunanathan (@ambikasat) March 5, 2021
Human rights activist Ruki Fernando visited Iranaitivu on March 9 and tweeted:
Happy to visit #Iranaitheevu today & join residents in protest (day7) against using the island as a graveyard for COVID dead. “We will jump into holes dug to bury COVID dead bodies” said some women. They await official notification COVID dead will not be buried in the island pic.twitter.com/77lHz7eISr
— Ruki Fernando (@rukitweets) March 9, 2021
Fernando also highlighted the withholding of basic infrastructure development on the island by successive governments in a photo story published in Groundviews.
The Holy Family Convent is now in ruins. Image by Ruki Fernando via Groundviews, used under a content-sharing agreement.
Despite opposition from the Muslim community (10 per cent of the population), Sri Lanka amended the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance in April 2020, to make cremation compulsory for those dying from COVID-19. Some health officials cited the fear of groundwater contamination behind the decision. Leaders from the Muslim communities and the civil society pointed out that Islam prohibited cremation and the decision contravened the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on COVID-19 deaths which allowed both cremation and burials.
In January 2021, Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch tweeted:
Sri Lanka's requirement to cremate anyone who dies from Covid-19 goes against public health guidelines and discriminates against the Muslim community, whose tradition requires burial. @WHO guidelines dispute the government's claim of a health threat. https://t.co/P20CyGtrka pic.twitter.com/I1vTtRYVu4
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) January 18, 2021
There were numerous online and offline protests in the country demanding burials be allowed. Blogger Amalini De Sayrah tweeted about one such protest in December 2020.
THREAD: Today a group of 30 people—masked and distancing as best as possible—tied white cloths on the gate of the Borella Kanatte crematorium, asking GoSL to #StopForcedCremations and in solidarity with Muslim families whose loved ones were forcibly cremated. #lka #srilanka pic.twitter.com/kOk8DI84hi
— Amalini (@Amaliniii) December 21, 2020
After months of pressure from local and international communities and the U.N., the government reversed the controversial order on February 25. Amnesty International said in a statement:
“The decision (reversing the burial ban) is a testament to the tireless struggle of families of victims, activists, and members of the Muslim community.”
Over 500 people have died from COVID-19 in Sri Lanka so far, around 300 of whom were from minority communities.

author: Rezwan


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Sunday’s death toll rises to 71 in crackdown on anti-coup protesters in Myanmar · Global Voices
The Irrawaddy

Rescue workers carry a civilian wounded by the security forces firing at anti-regime protesters in Mandalay on Sunday. Photo and caption by The Irrawaddy
This article was originally published in The Irrawaddy, an independent news website in Myanmar, and is edited and republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
UPDATE: Thirty-two more deaths have been reported from Sunday, bringing the total to 71, and making it the bloodiest day since the February 1 coup, as Myanmar’s regime steps up its crackdowns on protesters. The total death toll reached 167 on Monday afternoon (March 15).
Myanmar saw another record-breaking day of protest-related deaths on Sunday as more than 39 anti-regime protesters were killed across the country by security forces, pushing the total death toll since the coup was launched last month to 134.
The previous bloodiest day the Southeast Asian country experienced was March 3, when 28 people were slain by soldiers and police across the country during anti-junta street protests.
In Sunday's series of deadly crackdowns on sit-in protests against the regime in Yangon’s western Hlaing Thar Yar Township, security forces used live rounds, tear gas and stun grenades to attack anti-regime protesters. Security forces opened gunfire from 9:30 a.m. to late evening.
According to the Facebook page of a doctor who cared for the injured at a township hospital, 18 protestors were shot dead and several others wounded on Sunday evening. She said that one of two protesters who were shot in the head is in critical condition. The death toll is expected to climb higher as some were seriously wounded during the police shooting.
In South Dagon Township in eastern Yangon, three civilians, including a 15-year-old girl, died after being shot in the head and abdomen. According to one of the protesters, police and soldiers began shooting at demonstrators at 6:00 p.m. and continued to 11:00 p.m. The protester said 15 people had been critically wounded. In all, about 50 people were wounded in South Dagon.
Makeshift barriers placed by residents at Bayintnaung Junction in #Yangon’s Mayangone were burning on Monday morning. The barriers were to prevent police and soldiers from sending reinforcements to Hlaing Thar Yar, where at least 30 anti-coup protesters were killed on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/F0MMn7MeY4
— The Irrawaddy (Eng) (@IrrawaddyNews) March 15, 2021
Security forces also cracked down on an anti-regime protest by students at Bago on Sunday morning. During the crackdown, a young boy was shot dead, while three more people were injured. On Sunday afternoon, a woman was shot dead by security forces, and her body left in a drain after she was killed.
In Hpakan, the jade-mining hub in Kahcin State, a 30-year-old man was shot dead and six others were wounded when live rounds were fired at protesters on Sunday morning.
One woman was shot dead and six other people were wounded in Myanmar’s second largest city, Mandalay, in similar action by police and soldiers on Sunday afternoon.
Yangon saw the most severe level of crackdown yet on Sunday. Apart from the 18 people killed in Hlaing Tha Yar, 17 other protesters were reportedly killed during police attacks against protesters in several of Yangon’s townships including Shwepyithar, North Oakkalapa, South Dagon, Insein, Hlaing, Thingyangyun and North Dagon.
A protester who took part in the demonstration in Yangon’s Hlaingtharyar Township where several protesters were killed, told The Irrawaddy:
These shooting are totally unacceptable. They are not dispersing the protests. They are just murdering the people with violence.
In Yangon’s Tamwe Township, a junior medical student was shot by security forces from the township police station. Video records showed policemen dragging away the young man’s wounded, bloodied body while kicking and beating a woman who was trying to save the student. She was taken away by the police. As of Sunday evening, the student was still in critical condition, according to close friends.
Anti-regime protests have erupted across Myanmar for more than a month following a coup on February 1. Since mid-February, the junta has been intensifying bloody crackdowns against the protesters across the country while claiming that “minimum use of force” was being applied for crowd control.

author: The Irrawaddy


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Syrian humanitarian aid: It’s time to shift from assistance to long-term sustainable programs · Global Voices
Dr. Hany Elbanna

Islamic Relief aid being delivered to Syrian refugees, used with permission.
The author of this post is the founder of Islamic Relief and The Humanitarian Forum and Muslim Charities Forum, and is a board member of the Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty.
March 15, 2021, will mark a grim milestone—the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the popular uprising that led to the civil war still engulfing Syria. As we all grapple with the deadly crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world’s attention for the past year, we must not forget the death and destruction that have torn Syria asunder and continue to haunt that nation.
Injected into all the turmoil that has persisted in Syria for the past decade is the international pandemic, which has impacted Syria greatly, as well, exacerbating an already grave situation and further hampering efforts to alleviate the massive disruption of housing, education, and health in the country.
Statistics can be overwhelming at times, but a few stark ones for the end of 2020 in Syria need to be emphasized: more than 11 million people, including 4.8 million children, still required humanitarian assistance; and 6.1 million people remained internally displaced.
Added to these figures are the over 2.4 million children out of school, nearly 40 per cent of them girls, statistics that don’t likely account for further disruptions to education caused by COVID-19. Furthermore, one in three schools in Syria can no longer be utilized because they have been destroyed, damaged, or have been taken over by the military. Even in schools that still operate, classrooms are overcrowded and are in buildings with insufficient water and sanitation facilities, electricity, heating, or ventilation, problems also faced daily by the general population in the country. The year 2020 was an especially brutal one for children in Syria, as seen by the considerable number killed or injured.
When it comes to housing in Syria, far too many internally displaced people (IDPs) still remain in camps such as Al-Hol in the Kurdish-held northeast, where more than 70,000 Syrian nationals and foreigners live, with more than 90 per cent of them women and children. Many Syrians have attempted to return to their homes but only to live under appalling housing conditions.
Although a great deal of worldwide humanitarian aid has been raised for and implemented in Syria during its civil war, it has never been enough, nor has it always assisted those who need it most.
A growing consensus has arisen to rethink aid programming and funding over the next five years, not only in Syria but wherever populations face chronic humanitarian crises. Recently, a Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus has been proposed going forward in Syria and other crisis nations. As an Oxfam discussion paper issued in June 2019 outlines, such a nexus “focuses on the work needed to coherently address people’s vulnerability before, during, and after crises. It challenges the status quo of the aid system, which is overstretched and operates with little coordination between project-based development and humanitarian interventions, resulting in it not effectively meeting the needs of the most vulnerable people.”
For Syria, there are five keys to this new way of thinking: a reinvigorated focus on long-term sustainable programmes that empower beneficiaries to shift to self-dependency to achieve better impact as well as better value for money raised; an increase in funding for formal and informal education; new ways of dealing with the severe housing shortage in order to reduce and eventually eliminate the overreliance on IDPs camps and the necessity of short-term arbitrary housing strategies; a strengthening of local response by way of funding to local actors and investment in meaningful building and development programs; and greater access to humanitarian efforts in all parts of the country across conflict lines and borders.
There have been some attempts by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to build long-term solutions such as new housing developments in Syria, a case in point being Turkey whose NGOs are doing so, especially since Turkey, already hosting more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees, refuses to allow any more to cross its borders. A great deal more of this kind of aid is needed, linking it more integrally with the very people who require it.
However, one substantial roadblock to this is the refusal of the United States and its allies to engage in reconstruction because it might end up in the hands of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad. This inaction extends to the United Nations, which had no problem rebuilding more than 25,000 residences in Iraq destroyed in the war against ISIS, or the World Bank, which is funding major infrastructure projects in Iraq. Like the United States, neither of those organizations has done anything comparable to that in Syria. President Biden must shift US policy to ensure humanitarian support be given to all Syrians in need, regardless of where they are displaced or live.
The projections for 2021 in Syria, as laid out by a UN Global Humanitarian Overview, indicate that the number of people still in need will be 13 million out of a total population of 17 million. At the same time, the appeal for funding will increase from US$3.3 billion in 2020 to US$4.2 billion in 2021. The only way that international funding, which decreased dramatically in 2020 largely due to the economic implications of COVID-19, will be able to meet the increased need in Syria is if we begin to look at the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus, bargaining with all the involved parties to achieve long-term solutions for Syria.

author: Dr. Hany Elbanna