text:
Zimbabwe: Update on Zimbabwe’s New Draft Constitution · Global Voices
Pamela Mutamba

Zimbabweans are discussing the proposed draft of a new constitution. This will be Zimbabwe's second constitution. A proposed new constitution to replace the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979 was approved by the Parliament in 1999, but was defeated in the 2000 referendum. Zimbabwe will hold a referendum on the new constitution next year on June 30, the Constitution Select Committee (Copac) has announced.
This is an update of what Zimbabweans are talking about online about the constitution-making process. The Editor at The Zimbabwean, a Zimbabwean online news site,  discusses violence that took place at a constitutional outreach meeting Harare recently:
At the very beginning of the constitutional consultation process, a retired army major launched Operation Chimumumu, with the full backing of the Joint Operations Command – the cabal of generals that really rules Zimbabwe today. It has always been their firm intention that the people of Zimbabwe should not be allowed to exercise their right to freedom of expression.
The generals, he argues, control the means of power in Zimbabwe:
The generals’ control of the means of power is evidenced by the behaviour of the police last weekend. The COPAC consultations in Harare have been suspended because of political violence. The media is full of reports that truckloads of policemen either sat and watched or actively participated in the violence – on the side of Zanu (PF). These reports prove beyond any reasonable doubt that innocent and law-abiding citizens cannot rely on the nation’s police force to protect them, or to maintain law and order.
It is ironic that before the COPAC meetings got underway, the Commissioner of Police, Augustine Chihuri, demanded – and received – millions of dollars to be paid to the force for the specific purpose of safeguarding the consultative meetings.
In future, COPAC would be better off paying for private security guards to provide protection at meetings – rather than wasting money to enable thugs in police uniform to disrupt their meetings, or to stand idly by while Zanu (PF) hooligans disrupt them.
Sokwanele publishes a press release about the violence:
Mandizvidza was one of 11 Mbare residents and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters who were assaulted by ZANU PF youths, supporters and some uniformed members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) on Sunday 19 September 2010 after attending a Constitutional Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC) meeting at Mai Musodzi Hall in Mbare next to Mbare Musika bus terminus. The meeting was aborted after violence broke out.
The Messages From Zimbabwe writes, “Fears of 2008 Bloodbath”, asking if Zimbabwe is headed for another bloodbath:
There are growing fears that Zimbabwe is headed for another bloodbath as President Robert Mugabe pushes for elections next year – with or without a new and democratic Constitution seen as critical to ensuring that any new polls are bloodless.
A defiant Mugabe said last Thursday that he was fed up with the “stupidity” of some of his disputes with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and wanted a delayed constitution-making process speeded up to enable elections to be held by mid-2011. Responding for the first time to the latest dispute with Tsvangirai over the appointment of ambassadors and provincial governors, Mugabe said he wanted a new constitution to be ready by the end of the two-year term of Zimbabwe’s shaky coalition government next February.
“To give it another life of six months or one year no, no, no,” Mugabe said, referring to the coalition government he formed with Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara in February 2009.
Alice Chimora reports that the Amnesty International (AI) is appealing to rival Zimbabwe’s political leaders to abolish the death penalty as the southern African nation is attempting to craft a home grown constitution:
AI (Zimbabwean chapter) says Zimbabwe should join many other countries in Africa that have abolished capital punishment.
To mark the international day against the death penalty, the human rights watch dog said, ’’Amnesty International believes the constitution reform process provides an opportune moment for Zimbabwe’s political leadership to support abolition of the death penalty.
“Abolition of the death penalty in Zimbabwe will bring the country into league with progressive trend in Africa, where more countries are abolishing this inhuman and degrading punishment in defence of human rights.”
Media in Zimbabwe publishes a report released by The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe about the role of public and private media covering constitutional reform process:
However, both the official and private media paid little attention to the
administrative aspect of the constitutional outreach programme. None of them,
for example, asked the Copac to disclose the number of outreach meetings left,
apart from Harare, as well as a breakdown of the number of people who had
participated in the outreach and the figure it had targeted.
Neither did these media seek comment on the consequences of a possible
rejection of the outcome of the outreach programme and the referendum
scheduled for next year.
While the government media dismissed reports of violence in the outreach
programme, the private media quoted another Copac co-chairman Paul
Mangwana confirming its existence (The Financial Gazette, 7/10).
SW Radio Africa (4/10) quoted the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and
the Zimbabwe Students Union (ZINASU) urging Zimbabweans to reject the
outcome of the outreach, which the MDC-T described as “a circus” (Studio 7,
5/10).
Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, a Senior Researcher, South African Institute for International Affairs in South Africa, has written an informative post about the constitution and constitutional making process in Zimbabwe. He begins his post:
Zimbabwe is currently undertaking a constitution making process partly to fulfil provisions of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), partly to afford citizens an opportunity to contribute to the making of a ‘democratic indigenous’ constitution and partly to afford the nation an opportunity to transcend the past of violence, authoritarianism, impunity and arbitrary rule. Since 1980, Zimbabweans have not had an opportunity to actively take part in constitution-making. The constitutional process that ended in the ‘no vote’ in February 2000 was a lost opportunity largely because of the interference of the ruling elites with the views of the people.
Since 2000 civil society organisations particularly the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) has not rested in putting the issue of the constitution at the centre of any possible transition or change of government in Zimbabwe. To win the hearts and minds of the electorate, political gladiators particularly those hailing from the opposition have not stopped promising Zimbabweans a new constitution for a new Zimbabwe if elected as new government. The former ruling party ZANU-PF seemed to be happy with the current constitution that gave its leader President Robert Mugabe sweeping executive powers. It had to be dragged kicking and screaming to accept the current process of constitution-making. This was clearly demonstrated by some ZANU-PF activists who tried to disrupt the first meetings organised to launch the new constitution-making process in 2009.
He concludes by saying that “There is a danger of the ongoing constitution-making process remaining hostage to the friction between partisan politics of the day and the horizon of a new Zimbabwe”:
As the constitutional outreach programme spreads its tentacles into communities to tap into citizens’ views, one is left wondering if finally ‘the people’ have been liberated from the narrow identities of belonging to political parties rather than to the nation of Zimbabwe. This crisis plays into the hands of the political actors in ZANU-PF and MDC who are comfortable with being defined as representing the people. Are there no people outside ZANU-PF and MDC who are loyal Zimbabweans? How can a people defined by political belonging help in crafting a national constitution? In other words, how can ZANU-PF and MDC people come up with a national constitution? How can such a constitution escape the inevitable constraints of partisan opinions? The Kenya example must be avoided where partisan squabbles led to the failure to come up with a people-driven constitution. To transcend this hurdle, Kenyans had to have a select committee of experts standing in for the people to engage in a secondary process of harmonising the divergent views into a draft national constitution that will then be opened to a referendum. Can Zimbabwe escape this route?
There is a danger of the ongoing constitution-making process remaining hostage to the friction between partisan politics of the day and the horizon of a new Zimbabwe. Only a people acting as a national collectivity putting the nation first and political belonging second are able to come up with a new national constitution working closely with their representatives. An aggrieved, injured, unreconciled and unhealed society, can easily misinterpret the constitution-making process for a forum where they have to vent anger and the whole exercise ending up constrained by short-termism.
You may visit Sokwanele's constitution resource page, which is designed to make it easier for Zimbabweans and friends of Zimbabwe to compare different thinking on critical constitutional issues.

author: Pamela Mutamba


text:
Zimbabwe: What does Zimbabwe have to offer children?  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

What does Zimbabwe have offer children?: “Away from personal experience, the law protecting children or, more accurately, the lack of law protecting children in Zimbabwe is shocking. Looking at the current constitution as of February 2009, there is no particular area where the needs of children are addressed.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Africa: Journalists Still Struggling for Press Freedom.    · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Reporters Without Borders published the Press Freedom Index  today (10/20/2010). The section of the report on Africa mentions that Eritrea is last for the 4th consecutive year and that amongst the French-speaking African nations, Rwanda, DR of Congo, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and Madagascar show worrisome signs for press freedom. [fr]

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
Angola: Journalist Murdered: Repression or urban violence? · Global Voices
Clara Onofre

Familiares e vizinhos de Chakussanga encontraram o jornalista caído, baleado nas costas, em um corredor de sua casa no distrito de Viana, em Luanda, na manhã de segunda-feira, de acordo com jornalistas locais. Ele era apresentador de um programa semanal de notícias com participação de ouvintes, em língua Umbundu, na emissora privada Rádio Despertar.
Family and neighbors of Chakussange found him fallen, shot in the back, in the hall of his house in the district of Viana, in Luana, on Monday morning, according to local newspapers. He was presenter of a weekly call-in news program in Umbundu language, on the private station Rádio Despertar [Wake-up Radio].
Two questions arise. Was Chakussanga the victim of the criminality that overshadows the city, or was he silenced for saying what he should not have? The answer remains up in the air. According to what has been told, in the search made in the house of the unfortunate journalist the only thing that was missing was a bottle of gas [for cooking]. The police have made no arrests and apparently, the death of Alberto Chakussanga or any other, is just one more journalist’s death to be investigated.
Also according to the blog,
Chakussanga possuía uma legião de ouvintes entre os Ovimbundu, o maior grupo étnico angolano originário do sul do país, base do antigo movimento rebelde UNITA, de acordo com jornalistas locais. A Rádio Despertar foi lançada em Dezembro de 2006 sob os termos do acordo de paz de 2002 entre o partido governante, MPLA e a UNITA.
Chakussanga had a legion of listeners in Ovimbundu, the major Angolan ethnic group originating in the south of the country, the support base of the old rebel movement UNITA, according to local newspapers. Rádio Despertar was launched in December 2006 under the terms of the 2002 peace accords between the ruling party MPLA and UNITA.
On the blog Universal [pt], reference is made to the case of the killing of journalist Ricardo de Melo. Even today, the case has yet to be resolved.
O assassinato de Alberto Graves Chakussanga é mais um caso em que forças ocultas decidem silenciar jornalistas incómodos. A 18 de Janeiro de 1995, o director da publicação independente, ImparcialFAX, Ricardo de Melo, foi assassinado em Luanda. As autoridades nunca apuraram as circunstâncias da morte de mais esta voz de uma comunicação social não comprometida com o regime no poder.
The murder of the journalist Alberto Graves Chakussanga is yet another case of hidden forces deciding to silence journalist who cause discomfort. On January 18, 1995, the director of the publication independent ImparcialFAX [ImpartialFAX], Ricardo de Melo, was murdered in Luanda. Authorities never found out the true circumstances of the death of this voice of a media source uncompromised by the regime in power.
The author of the blog Em Angola [pt] also writes about the unfortunate journalist, not forgetting to mention that the practice of journalism in Angola is still a risk.
Não tivesse sido morto, o jornalista Alberto Graves Chakussanga talvez nunca ficasse conhecido. Uma busca pelo nome de Chakussanga no Google gera 16 mil resultados. A prática do jornalismo em Angola é delicada, já que o país é governado por um mesmo partido há três décadas, e não há muita liberdade de imprensa.
If he had not been murdered, the journalist Alberto Graves Chakussanga might have never been well known. A search for the name Chakussanga generates 16,000 results. The practice of journalism in Angola is delicate, as the country is governed by the same party for three decades, and there is not much media freedom.
Numerous voices arose to condemn this death, like that of Reporters without Borders and also Mohamed Keita, coordinator of Defense of Journalists in Africa. In the declaration that he made, Keita appealed to Angolan authorities to consider the possible reasons for this murder, bearing in mind the journalistic work of the deceased. Joining these public condemnations is the voice of Irina Bokova, director general of UNESCO. Bovoka regrets the death of the journalist as well as other journalists of other nationalities who lost their lives last month, revealing worry at the global wave of murders of journalists.

author: Clara Onofre


text:
Anguilla: End of a Blog  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Corruption-free Anguilla decides to shut down its blog over threats of a lawsuit; Barbados Free Press comments: “Don Mitchell CBE QC learns why anti-corruption blogs in small countries must be anonymous.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Azerbaijan: Visa restrictions ahead of parliamentary vote · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Back in a Bit confirms that new visa restrictions on foreigners wishing to visit Azerbaijan are now in place, and ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 7 November. Having arrived at the airport in the oil-rich country's capital, Baku, without a visa and with no warning from even the airline, the traveler was turned away and says he is not impressed.

author: Onnik Krikorian


text:
Bangladesh: Beware Of The Population Bomb · Global Voices
Rezwan

Recent reports say that the population of Bangladesh has risen to 164.4 million. “Obviously Bangladesh’s biggest problem is over population,” says Fuad Hasan.

author: Rezwan


text:
Barbados: Castle Destroyed in Fire  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Historic Sam Lord's Castle burns to the ground; Barbados Free Press is not surprised.


text:
Bermuda: Open or Closed?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Politics.bm calls “presumptive Premier-in-waiting” Paula Cox's recommitment to term limits “economic suicide”.


text:
Brazil: ten days of media fury · Global Voices
Marta Cooper

Over the next ten days, political blogger Eduardo Guimarães at Blog da Cidadania [pt] will chart the tumultuous role played by Brazilian mainstream media in swaying voters’ choices, as the 31st October date for the second round of presidential elections draws nearer.

author: Marta Cooper


text:
Cameroon: Transforming Piles of Scrap Into Finished Products · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Bill Zimmerman writes about men in the outskirts of Maroua, the capital of the Extreme North of Cameroon who gather together to transform piles of scrap iron into finely finished tools, stoves, replacement parts and other useful implements for sale to the local population.


text:
China: Dairy Wars · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN collects and translates reports about the scandal of Mengnui smearing campaign towards its rival Yili and Shengyuan.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
China: Maoist worker activist in jail · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

JJ from China Study Group looks into the significance of Zhao Dongmin's arrest and imprisonment. Zhao is a lawyer, labor activist and Maoist. He has been put in jail more than a year after his arrest for trying to setup a workers’ watchdog group to combat corrupt and illegal SOE restructuring in Shaanxi Province.


text:
Cuba: Hunger Striker Recognised  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense and Along the Malecon celebrate Cuban hunger striker Guillermo Fariñas being awarded this year's Sakharov human rights prize.


text:
Cuba: On Remittances · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

In Sin Evasión [ES], blogger Myriam Celaya comments on the tremendous amount of money that Cubans receive in the form of remittances from their relatives who have emigrated.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


text:
D.R. of Congo: Food Thursday: Pounded Plantains · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Lituma or pounded plantains can justify a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo: “Lituma is a culinary specialty of the Lokele ethnic group–a tribal cluster of clans of fishers and fishwives along the Congo River and its tributaries in the Orientale Province.That could explain why lituma is usually eaten with fish (fresh or dried, cooked as stew or baked in leaves)–though it is also eaten with meat.”


text:
D.R. of Congo/Guinea: Guinean Presidential Electoral Campaign in Kinshasa  flyer for  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

What are flyers for Guinean presidential candidate doing in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo?: “Yesterday evening, I couldn't believe it when I saw a campaign flyer for Guinean presidential candidate Alpha Condé in a shoe store owned by “Ndingaris”–as all West Africans are called here–at the bustling neighborhood of Place Victoire in the Kalamu Commune.”


text:
Debating Animal Cruelty During Nepal’s Dashain Festival · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

Dashain, Nepal's most widely celebrated festival, will conclude this year on October 22, Friday. The fifteen day long celebration honors the goddess Durga; who is symbol of power, prosperity, motherly love and also destruction of the evil.
Hindu goddess Durga. Photo by Christina Kundu, Wikimedia Commons.
Nepalese around the world celebrate Dashain with gusto as it brings communities and families together. But, lately this beloved holiday has been criticized for a number of reasons but mainly animal cruelty.
As goddess Durga is worshiped as symbol of power and also destroyer of evil, during Dashain animal sacrifice is practiced in temples across Nepal. The sacrifice symbolizes destruction of evil, and devotees hope that it pleases the goddess.
Last year, various groups organized rallies and public meetings urging people to stop sacrificing animals in name of religion. Global Voices covered this in a post titled Towards a More Humane Dashain Festival .
Unfortunately, the practice still continues and this year's Dashain festival too saw numerous animal sacrifices across the country.
Laura Goldman at Change.org suggests that devotees should “Sacrifice Pumpkins, Not Buffalo, During Nepal's Dashain Festival”:
“…Animal Welfare Network Nepal (AWNN) has a better idea for a kinder, gentler puja. Why not slaughter a pumpkin instead of a buffalo? A coconut instead of a goat? It would still get the point across, but be much more humane (and less gruesome).
The network began its Stop Animal Sacrifice campaign earlier this year during the Gadhimai festival in Bara, when 200,000 animals were sacrificed within the span of 24 hours.”
Some are also pointing to the scriptures and calling on devotees that animal sacrifice is not in accordance to the Hindu principles.
AnimalRights Nepal says that  the goddess who is symbol of motherly love cannot be appeased by animal sacrifice, as she would be witnessing her own creatures being killed.
“According to Hindu religious texts regarding animal rights, nothing is mentioned of animal sacrifice to appease Gods and Goddesses, who would never approve their own creatures being slaughtered in their name. Human beings are killing those innocent creatures for their own selfish motive. It is against Hindu religion and way of life, in reality. The respect that must exist for fellow living creatures must be maintained.”
Interestingly, the debate over animal sacrifice during Dashain is a major issue only within Nepal. Nepalese celebrating Dashain overseas are mostly silent on this, mostly because practicing animal sacrifice outside Nepal-especially in Europe and North America is not part of Dashain celebrations.
In spite of controversy over animal sacrifice and growing international media attention over it, Dashain still hold a very special place in hearts and minds of Nepalese all around the world.
Dashain Tika. Image by Flickr user Doll Damned. CC BY-NC-ND
In Afghanistan, British Gurkha troops celebrated Dashain the traditional way, with customary tika (made from vermilion powder, yougurt and rice grains) and blessing from the elders.
“The Gurkhas set-up a small temple in each of their Patrol Bases for weekly worship and blessings. In August the Battalion Pundit (Hindu Chaplain) visited the Gurkhas in Nahr-e Saraj, holding temple services and blessing each soldier with a tikka (red dot on the
forehead).
During the Dashain festival, offerings of fruit are placed in the temples and services held each morning for the soldiers. Many Gurkhas are seen with red tikkas during Dashain – blessings for safety and prosperity as they approach the end of their operational tour and
return home to their families.”
In culturally mixed families too, Dashain is celebrated with excitement. An American engaged to a Nepalese, writes in her blog AmericaNepali about the experience of observing the festival.
As with any religious observation, Dashain also comes with its own set of moral and ethical challenges, but we cannot ignore the immense joy and richness these observations bring to us while we deal with the challenges.

author: Bhumika Ghimire


text:
Dominican Republic: Citizens for Education · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Paquito shares a video [ES], a citizen effort to support education: “The Dominican Republic is the second country in Latin America that least supports education.”


text:
Ghana: Ghana’s Unique Coffins · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Do you know Ghanaian unique coffins?: “On the dusty, honk-echoing, chicken-crossing, exhaust-fumed streets right outside of Accra, the capital of the English-speaking West African country, one tribe called the Ga is renowned for their casket masterpieces.”


text:
Haiti: A Dangerous Balance  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Signifyin’ Woman is “intrigued” by Haitian writer Edwidge Danticat's latest “collection of essays  on writing (mostly) from the stance of exile, or immigrant”; The Caribbean Review of Books publishes an essay excerpted from the book.


text:
India: What’s your culture ? · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Culture is how we were brought up. And how we plan to bring up our children,” opines Ugich Konitari.


text:
Kazakhstan: Governance matters · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Kazakh bloggers keep on discussing their favorite topic – the quality of public administration. Megakhuimyak raises the issue of professionalism of the higher officials and says that often it appears to be secondary to the “family affairs”. Cronyism remains a serious problem in Kazakhstani human resource management both in business sector and in public service. The blogger presents an example of the current minister of information and telecoms – the newly appointed official has been making statements, which looked weird even for non-experts [ru]:
I was wondering what kind of merits he has got to become a minister. Then I looked into the reference book and found out that his wife is Ainura Mami [the daughter of Kazakhstan's General Prosecutor]. Well, shall we wait for new discoveries in the sphere of telocommunications?
Tulembaeva – a university professor and analytical consultant – blogs about efficiency of the government's development programs [ru]:
What we can do well is to invent fancy names for the government's programs – like “The state program of accelerated industrial-and-innovative development”… But when it comes to implementation, the creativity disappears. Because trendy and ambitious words must be backed by the appropriate actions, which don't take place due to a number of reasons – and the funds are being plundered. While research and development sector is in decay, it is impossible to talk about innovations and growth.
Isabekov opines that the financial crisis in Kazakhstan affected only self-employed people – like those who run a small or medium enterprise – and made almost no harm to servicemen (no matter if they work for a state-owned corporation or for the state) [ru]:
I looked at the people in my circle of acquaintance, those who work in the national companies or in public service – and comfortably endure the crisis. I asked them, how important and necessary – in their opinion – are the structures they work in. As soon as the people interviewed by me were not total strangers to me, I received frank answers. They told me that the structures they work for are either fully useless, or their staff can be easily reduced by 70-80 per cent.
Thinking the world continues the topic of low entreprenerial potential of the people and its importance in fighting poverty [ru]:
People are migrating from the rural areas to the cities, where they can get paid. They don't want to earn money autonomously, or they don't know how to do it. Or they may even don't think about such option, because they got used to getting paid […]
Even if only 10 per cent of the people in villages and small towns could be able of setting up their own business to employ 4 to 5 more men and women, then the currently depressive picture of the provinces would receed. It would have been very good for the country, but, alas, we simply don't have that many people, who have skills to run a business. In addition, we lack favorable conditions and incentives for entrepreneurship.
That's why for many enterprising people in our country – as well as for all the other – it is often more advantageous to get a salary. And that is why we witness hyper-concentration of the population in 4-5 cities across the country.

author: Adil Nurmakov


text:
Kenya: The Golden Voice of Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan Poet writes about Salif Keita's tour in Kenya: “He came and with him, brought the message ‘Despite his condition as an Albino, he had beaten all odds to become the Golden Voice of Africa receiving international acclaim'That is why, we had all flocked the Carnivore restaurant to experience his music live…”


text:
Miss Earth Pageant and Vietnam’s environment problems · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Referring to the Miss Earth Pageant which is scheduled for next month in Vietnam, blogger The Fish Egg Tree relates it to the environmental problems of the country.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Nepal: Texting During Dashain · Global Voices
Rezwan

XNepali blog informs that there was a huge surge in SMS greetings in Nepal during the Dashain festival.


text:
Nigeria: Remembering Fela · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Remembering Fela is an interview with the author and close friend of Fela’s, Dr Carlos Moore. Born in Cuba in 1942, Dr Moore is an ethnologist and political scientist.


text:
Panama: Freedom of the Press · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The Panama Digest reports that “Panama fell 26 spots on the annual Reporters Without Borders Freedom of the Press Index published Wednesday.” The post also points out that, “just yesterday, on the day the report was published – journalists picketed against government limits on their freedom of expression.”

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
Russia: More on the Kremlin Worm · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

More on the Kremlin worm – at Dmitry Sidorov's The Putin State Chronicles. (Yelena Osipova's GV text on the worm scandal is here.)

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Russia: Report on Geography of Russian Internet · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russian Sphinx highlights a report issues by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) on the geography of the Russian internet.


text:
Shintaro Ishihara’s views on China, Japan · Global Voices
Andy Yee

Shintaro Ishihara is a politician, author and governor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government since 1999. He is well known for his critical stance on Japan’s dependence under the US-Japan security alliance. In 1989, he co-authored the book The Japan That Can Say No with then-Sony chairman Akio Morita. He is also critical of the Chinese government, and is known for his controversial support of Japanese nationalism, historical revisionism, and frequent visits of Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead. Generally described as one of Japan’s most ‘far right’ politicians, he is often labelled in the Chinese media as ‘racist’, ‘nationalist’, ‘militarist’ and ‘anti-China.’
Earlier this week, the liberal Southern People Weekly publishes an interview with Shintaro Ishihara, which goes beyond the standardized labelling in the Chinese state media. Entitled ‘The Shintaro Ishihara that you do not know,’ the interview is also published online in the Southern Media Group and Tencent, but is now being deleted. Nevertheless, it could still be found on individual blogs. Below is a translation of excerpts from the interview.
‘I love Chinese culture, but not the Chinese Communist Party’
人物周刊：你一直被相当多的人看作反华人士，甚至有中国媒体称你是“头号反华分子”，是这样吗？
石原慎太郎：我当然是站在共产主义对立面上的。我很喜欢中国的文化，但是不喜欢中国的共产主义。我想随着中国经济的增长、社会的成熟度越来越高，可能有更多的人会对共产主义有不同的看法。
人物周刊：所以你是反共不反华。
石原慎太郎：对。我不反对这个国家，但是只要共产党支配这个国家，那么他对日本就是一个威胁。
人物周刊：你至少在1995年和2002年两次预言中国将会崩溃，现在看来，是不是有点把中国问题简单化了？
石原慎太郎：这个预言是有点偏差了，没有预测对。我当时这个预测主要是从经济上，我和英国一个经济学家对此进行过探讨，为什么预测中国经济会崩溃？是看到中国的金融市场很不稳定，国有企业的经营状况也不乐观，大量资金无法回流。可是后来一看，很多政府官员都成了国企的董事长，而且很快完成了转制和民有化，从结果看我们的预测确实有偏差。
人物周刊：这种预言的失误是否也和对中国的偏见有关？
石原慎太郎：不是偏见的问题。因为我们是按照一般的经济常识来预测中国的，因为中国不是资本主义而是一党制的国家，很多政策超出了我们的想象。当然也可以说是一种成功，对于这种成功我们很惊讶，但也稍微有些戒备。
SPW: Many people view you as anti-China. Some Chinese media even describe you as the ‘number one anti-China person.’ Is it correct?
Ishihara: I am of course anti-communist. I love Chinese culture, but not  Chinese communism. I believe that as China’s economy and society become  more developed and advanced, more people will hold a different view on  communism.
SPW: So you are anti-communist but not anti-China.
Ishihara: Correct. I am not opposed to this country. But as long as it is governed by the Communist Party, it is a threat to Japan.
SPW: You have predicted that China would crash back in 1995 and 2002. Looking back, have you over-simplified the China question?
Ishihara: My prediction is indeed off the mark. My prediction is mostly based on economics. I have discussed in-depth with a British economist on why the Chinese economy would collapse. What we saw were an unstable financial market, pessimistic conditions of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and the fact that financial capitals could not be returned to China. But looking back, a lot of government officials have become CEOs of SOEs, and they have accomplished reforms and privatisations rapidly. As a result, our predictions were wrong.
SPW: Is this mistake due to your prejudice on China?
Ishihara: It is not a problem of prejudice. It is because we use standard economic theory to predict China. It is because China is not a capitalist economy but a one-party state. Many policies are beyond our imagination. Of course, we can also say that China is a success. We are surprised by but also alert to this success.
Anti-American vs. Anti-Chinese
人物周刊：我读了你20年前写的《一个可以说不的日本》，你对美国批判得也很厉害，外界评论说你反美又反华，这两者区别何在？民族主义是不是转嫁国内矛盾的有效手段呢？
石原慎太郎：不是反美，是厌美，也不是反中，是厌中。美国和中国相同之处在用强压的手段对付别人，总之强权是我不喜欢的。日本现在还是处在美国的统治之下，美国声称用核保护伞保护日本，可是对日本来说，周围的中国、朝鲜、俄罗斯这3个国家都有核武器，唯独日本没有，美国如何保护日本？日本最终得不到美国保护，在世界上也没有发言权。可能我说得比较过激，日本也许应该拥有属于自己的核抑制力，来在世界上发言。
尖阁列岛（日本国内对“钩鱼岛”的称呼）问题，可能会成为中美日三方的敏感问题，中国5次召见日本驻华大使，这对日本是一种侮辱。日本也有过民族主义情绪非常高涨的时期，那是在明治维新以后，日俄战争胜利之后，结果后来一步步走向了战争。当然中国和那时的日本情况不一样，中国经济发展很快，年轻人民族情绪高涨，对于中国政府来说也很困难，又要调动这方面的情绪，又要施以控制，以免造成危险。
SPW: You criticize America severely in The Japan That Can Say No 20 years ago. The media says that you are both anti-American and anti-Chinese. What’s the difference between them? Is nationalism an effective way to divert attention away from domestic problems?
Ishihara: It’s not anti-American, it’s hating America; it’s not anti-Chinese, it’s hating China. What’s common between the US and China is that they both apply pressure on other countries to achieve their goals. It’s this authoritarianism that I dislike. Japan is still under US rule. The US alleged that it would protect Japan under its nuclear umbrella. However, Japan’s neighbors, namely China, North Korea and Russia, all possess nuclear weapons, but not Japan. How can the US protect Japan? If Japan loses US support, it would lose voice in the world. Maybe I’m a bit radical, but I think that Japan should possess its own nuclear deterrence so as to establish its own voice in the world.
The Senkaku (Diaoyu in Chinese) issue is becoming a sensitive issue in  China-US-Japan relations. It is an insult to Japan that China has  summoned Japan’s ambassador to China five times in a row. Japan also has  its own history of ultra-nationalism. It was during the Meiji era when  Japan achieved victory in the Russo-Japanese War. The result is that  Japan embarked on a path towards total war. Of course, today’s China is  different from yesterday’s Japan. China’s economy is developing rapidly.  At the same time, Chinese youths are very nationalistic. It is a  difficult problem for China: this sentiment needs to be mobilized, but  properly controlled, so that it will not cause any dangers.
Admirer of Deng Xiaoping
人物周刊：很多中国人认为你在东京都人气非常高，是因为你对中国强硬，他们误解你了吗？
石原慎太郎：可能是吧。我是不喜欢中国的共产主义，但是喜欢中国的文化。我尤其喜欢中国的两个人物，一个是邓小平，一个是《金瓶梅》里的西门庆。（笑）
人物周刊：你怎么评价日本“失去的20年”？假如你是日本首相，要着手做哪3件事？
石原慎太郎：我首先可能效仿中国政府，要让国会3年不动，还要在经济上搞军队式的强硬改革。最重要的是税制，消费税不改不行，对富裕阶层要大量征消费税，但对于最基本的生活开销不应该加税，比如大米就不该征消费税，但便利店里的饭团就可以加上消费税。近些年日本人对金钱的欲望越来越强，对交税纳税都有很大的抵触情绪，可是如果不把消费税问题解决了，日本经济好不了。
人物周刊：你在日本一直是以改革者的形象出现的。难怪有人从学术上分析说，很多改革者都推崇强力，带着点法西斯色彩。
石原慎太郎：学术上很多东西都是不正确的！改革和政治都是需要强力的，改革和一些具体的政策当然有很多界限，但是也必须要追求合理的效率。像邓小平，他虽然是共产主义者，但是在中国第一个提出了对效率的追求，我觉得是很了不起的。我对邓小平这个人物还是很尊崇的，比如他在一些关键时刻的决断。
SPW: Many Chinese think that you are popular in Tokyo because of your tough stance towards China. Have they misunderstood you?
Ishihara: Perhaps. I don’t like Chinese communism, but I like Chinese culture. I especially admire two Chinese personalities: one is Deng Xiaoping; the other is Ximen Qin in The Plum in the Golden Vase (laugh).
SPW: How do you view Japan’s ‘lost two decades’? If you were the Prime Minister, what three things would you focus on?
Ishihara: I will first imitate the Chinese government, and freeze the parliament for three years. I will also implement military-style economic reforms. The tax system would be the focus, especially consumer tax. Consumer tax for luxuries should be raised heavily, but not for basic spendings. For example, there can be consumer tax on rice dumplings in convenience shops, but not on raw rice grain. In recent years, Japanese have stronger desire for money, and are against paying taxes. But if the consumer tax issue cannot be resolved properly, the Japanese economy cannot improved.
SPW: You appear as a reformer in Japan. No wonder some academics assert that many reformers admire power, with a taste of Fascist.
Ishihara: Many things in academia cannot be believed! Both reforms and politics need power. There are many limits in reforms and implementation of policies, but reasonable effectiveness cannot be neglected. Take Deng Xiaoping. Although he is a communist, he is the first person in China to take efficiency seriously. I think he is incredible. I highly admire Deng Xiaoping, especially his bold decisions in key moments.

author: Andy Yee


text:
Tanzania: Be Part of a National Election Monitoring Exercise · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ben asks Tanzanians to be part of a national election monitoring exercise: “Ushahidi comes to Tanzania! It comes in the form of uchaguzi.or.tz, implemented by TACCEO, a group of 16 Tanzanian civil society organizations that have partnered for election monitoring, with assistance from Hivos.”


text:
Tanzania: Follow #uchaguzitz on Twitter · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in Tanzania on 31 October 2010. Follow Tanzania election-related tweets here.


text:
Thailand: Worst flooding in decades · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Heavy rains in the past weeks produced flooding disasters in the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. This post will focus on Thailand which recently experienced its worst flooding in many decades.
Since October 10, flooding hit 13 provinces of Thailand. The most serious flooding was seen in the rural northeast. Agricultural crops were destroyed, hospitals were evacuated and even second storey homes were flooded.
Aside from the google map showing the flooding in various parts of Thailand, a map of flood risk areas in Bangkok is also available online. Check the Thai Flood Situation and Thai Flood for disaster updates.
Tweet Yourself Thai didn’t expect a flooding disaster this year
Well, what I thought was just going to be a rather exuberant wet season has turned into one of the biggest environmental disasters of the last few years. The rains have not ceased over the past number of days and weeks and this has meant tribulation for many, particularly rural, residents of Thailand.
Ladprao 64 notes the worsening flooding even in Bangkok, the country’s capital
This seems to be a particularly bad year for natural disasters and the monsoon season is far from over (the rain goes on and on even here in the sheltered central part of the country).
Here in Bangkok we are waiting to see if the river banks will burst ad inundate us too – the level of the Chao Phraya is rising and floods have been reported as close as Ayutthaya.
The long-term trends, of course, re for Bangkok to be under a metre of water by the time I finish paying the mortgage. This is because of a combination of rising sea levels and sinking city as the underlying levels are being extracted.
A Postcard from Thailand writes that the flooding in Thailand is the worst in half a century
It’s been raining almost non-stop for the last five days, the result of Typhoon Megi. In Isaan the flooding has been the worst for half a century.
Mens Asia writes how stranded passengers were evacuated
This is a Video of us trying to get out of Nakornratchasima Thailand during the current flood. My Visa was going to expire and we had been trying to get out for days, this was the last day I had to get out cause my visa was going to expire on this day. We went out thinking we were going to have to wade through the water for hours to meet our driver waiting for us on the other side of town. What we found was The Thais had organized a truck ferry back and froth trough the flooded area. Thanks to all the Truck drivers, Thai Army and the local Thai government who planned and organized all of it cause without the truck driving us we would have never been able to get out. It was well organized and planed, great job!!
Mens Asia also uploaded this youtube video
Thai netizens are using the #thaiflood hashtag on Twitter. Here are some twitter posts, reactions,tips and news stories
seacorro: RT @juarawee: Flood situation: Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyapoom, Lopburi provinces are facing critical disaster/@ThaiKhuFah
juarawee: Taksin tweets: Thaicom Foundation donated 5Mln Bht to Thai Red Cross to help flood victims. Asks all sides to leave politics behind & help (Author’s note: Thaksin is former Prime Minister)
igeorge_heroes: RT @TAN_Network: INN: Flood waters have caused temporary suspension of train services from Bangkok to Northern Thailand
fishmyman: RT @MCOT_Eng: Chaiyapum, Lop Buri still face severe floods; flash flood at Kamphaeng Phet; Northern region -Bangkok train services suspended
bicphotographer: recalled that there is no warning of flood in thailand …. only heard that thailand will be colder, longer winter.. #thaiflood
Kaite_Sasa: Morning Thursday, wake up with hope and will pray for all us … Thais help thai flood ♣
pracob: Thailand needs more natural & realistic flood control, distrbuting water for agriculture, better road & rail designs to be more flood-free.
Donations and relief efforts are also announced online
wondergoffie: ☂ Another easier way to relieve flood victims by typing “Namjaithai”& send to 4567899 ฿10 each SMS no matter what network are you in. Pls RT
cloc67: RT @tulsathit: Flood donation point at Dusit thani will still receive “packing” volunteers till midnight, and will reopen tmmrw. – via @aunonline
And a Facebook event:
Fundraising Party in Aid of Flood Victims in Thailand


text:
The Balkans: Angelina Jolie’s Bosnian War Movie · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Greater Surbiton writes about “Angelina Jolie's Bosnian imbroglio”; Belgraded reviews “anti-Serb” movies.


text:
Vietnam: Price control · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Charvey reacts against the imposition of a price control mechanism in Vietnam and suggests other ways to deal with rising prices of goods in the market.


text:
A journey through the unheard voices of Haiti’s reconstruction · Global Voices
Eleonora Pantò

Giordano Cossu from Italy and Benoit Cassegrain from France are two web-reporters managing Solidar'IT in Haiti, a web project created in the footsteps of the Paris Crisis Camp aimed at using the Internet and other technologies to help Haitians affected by last January's earthquake.
As an independent, multimedia non-profit project, Solidar'IT in Haiti is a journey through the unheard voices of Haiti’s reconstruction, documenting the current post-earthquake situation by giving exposure to local citizens mostly excluded from the reconstruction process and still living in an emergency state.
In an interview via Skype, Giordano Cossu explains that he and Cassegrain lived in Haiti for about two months last summer, talking with people and shooting videos for their documentary:
“There is a lot of frustration on the ground, not only by those still living in tents (often filled with holes) in camps, but also on the part of volunteers and organizations trying to offer help and provide solutions. Our plan is to give visibility to these voices, to avoid that information from and about Haiti [which] is being provided only by the NGOs on the ground with their own agendas to pursue, as is the case today 95% of the time.”
Refugee camp in Haiti (photo by SolidarIT in Haiti, under CC)
While the material gathered in Haiti will be finalized in a full web-documentary by year end, the current multimedia website hosts a variety of content in English and French:
Our multimedia blog is a way to expose our work-in-progress and enable people to directly access the most important testimonies we collected so far.
We decided to provide only short summaries online, leaving unfiltered and strong content directly in video and audio footage. Only by listening and watching these images can people actually understand the reality in Haiti — at least much deeper than just by reading the news!
As for the web-documentary format, it has only been around for about two years and provides very creative opportunities for viewers to arrange – in their own way – the various videos available.
The current living conditions in most tent camps still have few humane aspects, and the situation is especially challenging for the more vulnerable, such as women, children, and sick people.
Even before the earthquake, violence against women was already a problem, but after the earthquake it just blew up, despite local institutions trying to minimize it: in most camps at night there is no electricity and often there are only shared bathrooms for both men and women, thus creating a dangerous situation and heightening the feeling of frustration and insecurity.
With images and voices, Solidar'IT in Haiti explains how local women's organizations are dealing with these problems:
In the so-called “box of grief“, women put anonymous, handwritten letters telling their stories of violence and abuse: from being denied food to being raped by their relatives. Once a week that box is opened and those letters read in a public ceremony, thus creating hard but necessary moments of revelation and acting as communal therapy — and also increasing women's awareness about their own rights.
Box of grief (photo by Solidar'IT in Haiti, under CC)
Marie Sofonie is 25 years old and determined to break the silence about these abuses. She got involved in the AYITI SMS SOS project, which allows victims or witnesses of abuses to send an SMS text-message to a free number (3803 0303). Messages are then mapped geographically and classified based on the type of crime or help request, location and so on – by using  the crowd-sourcing platform Ushahidi and the Frontline SMS service. The AYITI SMS SOS initiative is being supported by Survivors Connect, an organization closely related to Fondation Espoir, as well as by other groups of local women.
Marie Sofonie is in charge of reading and indexing those text-messages (already well over a thousand) and also contributes to the Solidar'IT blog: that's how her voice is becoming global.
Ralph is a young Haitian journalist hosting “A camp per day”, a 20-minute feature within a radio program called ENDK (“Enfomasyon nou dwe konnen”, meaning “Useful News”), produced by the NGO news organization Internews. He visits a different camp each day, and talks to the people to understand where the major problems are. His reports represent a direct line for the displaced people living in the camps to express their feelings and needs, and receive news about the other camps.  ENDK is then broadcast daily by a network of 35 radio stations in Haiti. Ralph's story is another voice gathered and relaunched worldwide by the Solidar'IT in Haiti documentary.
The project website includes many other stories, including one about Radio Boukman, the community radio of Citè Soleil, a dangerous neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince, which also manages a hurricane prevention program without any international support. And there is also the The Koute Ayiti (Listen to Haiti) caravan, created to travel to the different provinces affected by the earthquake and to spread health and other vital information information to support reconstruction.
Today more than 1,5 million people still live in tents, the reconstruction process has barely started, and almost nobody covers Haiti anymore. In the streets and refugee camps there are already many malnourished children, easily identified by their orange hair. The United States promised more than a billion dollars in help, but that money has never been released, nor has it reached Haiti thus far.
Until last August,  the only help that actually materialized were goods from Norway, Estonia, Australia and Brazil. Today, many people can live in a tent only because they could afford to buy one.
Most Haitians feel excluded by the same NGOs that are managing the refugee camps, with scarce information provided to them; an 18-24 month waiting period for a final home transfer is a long time in a hurricane-infested area. And while the government remains largely absent, civil society is trying to step in. One example is the 50 refugee camps (from a total of about 460 camps in the Port-au-Prince area alone) that are entirely managed by the independent youth organization FNJD, by sharing the little resources available.
The second part of the web-documentary is scheduled for this November, when Giordano Cossu and Benoit Cassegrain will again travel to Haiti to delve deeper into the reconstruction process, producing interviews and footage with and about local citizens.
To find out more about the Solidar'IT in Haiti project, you can visit their website/blog, follow their Facebook page or Twitter account. For direct donations, people can use Ulule, a crowd-funding platform.

author: Eleonora Pantò


text:
Africa: Africa Rural Connect 3.0 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Lisa reports that African Rural Connect 3.0 is live: “After months of hard work, the National Peace Corps Association's Africa Rural Connect team has launched additional interactive tools and features in order to maximize the collaborative experience for members of Africa Rural Connect.”


text:
Africa: Linking African Securities Markets · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Linking African securities markets: “Technology is the driver of securities exchanges around the world – currently there are big battles for supremacy in a range of markets and disclosure and clearing and settlement after the trade are also coming to the fore. Africa should be no different.”


text:
Argentina: Protester killed in confrontation between labor unions · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

"Plaza de Mayo." Sign in the middle reads: "judgment and punishment for the murderers of Mariano Ferreyra." Image by flickr user Beatrice Murch, blmurch, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license
A confrontation between the members of the Ferroviaria Union (Railroad workers union) and workers that were protesting against layoffs along with militants of left-leaning parties, ended in the killing of Mariano Ferreyra, a student of the University of Buenos Aires and member of the Partido Obrero (Worker's Party). He was shot. By the time this post was written, his murderer had not been identified yet. Demonstrations condemning this event were quickly organized. The most important one took place this Thursday at Plaza de Mayo, a traditional space for protests in Buenos Aires, but there were also several mass meetings in other areas of the city.
Bloggers quickly reacted to the killing of Mariano Ferreyra. At the blog Todos Gronchos [es], the author says,
Al chico Mariano Ferreyra, hijo de una compañera mía del Magisterio Técnico de Avellaneda lo mató la corrupción, la complicidad entre los organismos de control; las policías bonaerense y Federal y los perros rabiosos de la Gendarmería kirchnerista, muy parecida a la de De la Rúa. Lo mató la ausencia del Estado, que se retira para que sus sindicalistas amigos se hagan más ricos y no le rompan las pelotas
At Mendieta El Renegáu [es] they focus on who came out to seek political benefits from the murder:
Todos salen a opinar tan rapido. Tan rápido. Insisto, opinan en la tele, en la radio, en tuiter y parecen contentos, todos parecen morbosamente contentos. A mí me dan asco. En especial aquellos que son dirigentes y que debieran dar el ejemplo al resto
Newspaper "Prensa Obrera" (Worker's Press) reads: "A crime against the working class." Image by flickr user archivo redeco, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license
At El Buen Salvaje [es], blogger Mariano condemned the reaction of some government supporters:
Sí me sorprendió y me alarmó la reacción de mucha gente simpatizante del kirchnerismo que en twitter rozó el mal gusto, el revanchismo y la especulación sobre ‘la verdad oculta’ que se escondía detrás del asesinato de Mariano
A political evaluation in the same style can be found at Revolución Tinta Limón [es].  There were also references to attempts of manipulation from some official media in the blog Señales [es].
On Twitter there was no specific hashtag to organize the tweets, but you can search for “Mariano Ferreyra” to find tweets on the subject.

author: Jorge Gobbi


text:
Azerbaijan: Free Expression under Attack · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Global Voices Advocacy features a guest post from Rebecca Vincent, Article 19's Advocacy Assistant for Azerbaijan. The post details the situation with freedom of expression in the oil-rich former Soviet republic and the case of imprisoned video blogging youth activist Adnan Hajizade.


text:
Bangladesh: On Secularism · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Being a secular state should be a unique nationalist stand point of Bangladesh,” opines Nayeem Hossain at E-Bangladesh.


text:
Bangladesh: Qubee Or Banglalion? · Global Voices
Rezwan

CasCade at Youth Thinkers blog compiles the discussions in the forums and blogs about which Wimax broadband internet service is the best in Bangladesh.


text:
Benin: One of the Most Affected by the Floods in Western Africa · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Blaise Aplogan posts a photo of floods in Benin [fr]. He adds a table that summarizes the number of casualties and people affected by the floods in several western African countries, noting that Benin was one of the most severely hit [RFI report in French].


text:
Brazil: Jose Serra ‘struck’ by paper ball · Global Voices
Marta Cooper

Earlier this week, Brazilian presidential candidate Jose Serra was struck by a ball of paper during a rally in Rio de Janeiro. Eduardo Guimarães at Blog da Cidadania [pt] has accused mainstream media outlets of representing Serra as a “victim” at the hands of the ruling party (PT), and laments how the run up to Brazil's second round presidential elections has turned all the more sour.


text:
Cameroon: Cameroonian Blogs Roundup · Global Voices
Innocent Chia

We begin our roundup of Cameroonian blogs with Dibussi Tande who takes us the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania. He discusses the myriad challenges facing the tribunal- specifically the charge that the court dispenses winners’ justice. The ICTR, he argues, means different things to different people:
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, is different things to different people. To some, it is merely a tool to assuage Western guilt for not doing enough to stop the 1994 Rwandan genocide; to others, the ICTR is a victor’s court designed to give a veneer of ICTR Arusha2
legality and legitimacy to the Rwanda Government’s one-sided narrative of the events leading up to and during the genocide – a narrative that makes a black-and-white distinction between the Tutsi victims on the one hand and the Hutu perpetrators on the other; still, there are others who believe that the tribunal’s mandate is a just and necessary one, i.e. to prosecute “persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994”. And there are yet others who view the court’s mandate and performance thus far in shades of grey.
Whatever their views about the ICTR, most people think of the tribunal in very abstract terms, i.e.,  a faceless and amorphous international bureaucratic behemoth chugging ever so slowly and unemotionally towards the fulfilment of its mission. Even though I have a good number friends, acquaintances and family working in the court as interpreters, translators and legal officers, etc., I must admit that I also viewed the ICTR in these abstract terms, that is, until last week when I had the privilege to visit the Arusha International Conference Center, home of the ICTR. This brief trip to the ICTR, which included a stopover at the very vital Language Services with its huge, if not predominant, Cameroonian contingent, revealed a very real institution with hundreds of dedicated international functionaries working hard, within the limits of international law and (real)politics, to unravel the Rwandan puzzle, while laying the foundations for a more responsive international human rights law for the 21st century; functionaries who have to deal with the emotional toll of reliving the gory details of the Rwandan genocide day in day out – an experience which can sometimes be as traumatic as the real event itself..
He finishes his post by asking, “The ICTR: Was it worth the trouble?”:
Since its creation, the ICTR has faced many challenges, including the ambivalence of the Rwandan government and large segments of the Rwandan public towards the courts due to contentious issues such as “the failure to locate the tribunal within Rwanda, the lack of a provision for capital punishment… the over one billion dollars spent on the ICTR while Rwanda's domestic system struggles to try thousands of suspects.” Add to this the prevailing feeling that ICTR is dishing out victor’s justice and one can begin to understand growing concerns about the tribunal's legacy.
True, the ICTR has promised more than it delivered, but it was a necessary legal instrument, given the need to bring the architects of the Rwandan genocide to justice, and to establish the jurisprudence required to deal with similar events in future.
The chilling details of the Karemera et al case clearly demonstrate how the quest for political power and/or ethnic hegemony, particularly in Africa, can easily slide into crimes against humanity and genocide. The accused in this case were probably fairly regular folks who, in their quest for power, allowed themselves to be swept away by an ethno-political maelstrom which transformed them into architects of one of the most barbaric events of the 20th century. What is so frightening about it all is that this could be the story of any African country. This could be the story of Cameroon. In fact, some will argue that this was indeed the story of Cameroon during the “années de braise” or the “smoldering years” of 1990-1993, when hardliners unleashed the infamous “operation mygale” very similar to the ideology and politics of “Hutu Power” which culminated in the Rwandan genocide. Since this can happen anywhere, the ICTR by its mere existence, and in spite of its imperfections, serves as a warning that perpetrators of such inhumanity will be brought to book.
Even HRW, which has been one of the staunchest critics of the ICTR’s one-sided system of justice, concedes that “The tribunal's jurisprudence has been immensely important in defining the indescribably horrific crimes committed in Rwanda and creating a solid body of jurisprudence.” In my opinion, this alone makes the ICTR worth all the trouble.
Less than a year away from the 2011 Presidential elections in Cameroon, the leading opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), has been rinsing its laundry in the public sewer. In effect, the Electoral District of Douala 1 in the Littoral Region is indicting the highly opinionated and resolute SDF Strategic Committee President, Ms Kah Walla for “unilateral and opaque management of funds for the 2007 elections” and “making comments in the media against the interests of the party”.
Ms Kah Walla’s rebuttal in ICI Cemac is unequivocal and steadfast:
First and foremost I want to say that I am feeling energized and ready for the major battles we have ahead.  These preliminary skirmishes are enabling us to work out our muscles and test our strength for the  real fight  ahead.  I want to thank all of you who have already begun fighting the battle alongside with me.  All of us feel energized and ready for action.  With this attitude I am certain, together we are going to win this battle for change in Cameroon in 2011.
Now, for an update on the skirmishes, I would like to give you certain facts and figures to clarify the vast quantity of information that has been thrown at you in the last few days.
If anything, the foregoing only confirms what The Chia Report captures as “Battle Lines” by Philip Acha. Philip argues  that the concept of incumbency in Cameroon should be applicable to the opposition as it is to the party in power. He states:
Power alternation in Cameroon among presidential hopefuls ignores a crucial observation. Incumbency should be applicable to the opposition as it is to the party in power because, since 1997, the actors and consequent results are the same. If absolute power corrupts absolutely, then absolute powerlessness surely renders imbecile. All political parties are good enough! There is no difference between UPC, UNDP, CDU, CPDM or SDF, but there is a huge difference between the people whose ideas and objectives dominate these parties.
From “Power to the people” to “Power”:
If you bellowed “SDF!” in 1991, the response was “power to the people”. By the turn of the century, the response was “power”. Presently there is no response since there is no rally call.  From “power to the people” to “power”: was that a simple contraction, or a psychological overhaul from the quest of a group, to an individual’s quest? Power is essentially speculative. We think we are powerful because we compare ourselves to adversaries, potential and actual.
Confrontation on the other hand is empirical and absolute. Only through confrontation can power be realized. Cameroon is on a collision-course to a generational confrontation whose victims are obvious. Challenging with novel ideas, plausible goals, verifiable solutions and an average age of 45years are Dr. Matthias Eric Owona Nguini, Kah Walla, Joshua Osih, Prof. Pius Ottou, Charles Ateba Eyene, Dr. Fomunyoh and Hilaire Kamgang. On the incumbent bench are Paul Biya and  Augustin Koddock (born at beginning of WW2 – 1933), John Fru Ndi and Adamou Ndam Njoya (born in 1941 and 1942 respectively), Bello Bouba (born in 1947) and cronies with an average age of 70years. These are the battle lines for 2011. A whole generation may not be sacrified for the personal comforts of a gerontocracy. As in chess game, a threat is more formidable than its realization. The messages from the younger generation herald the first shot in this epic battle. Where do you stand?
Readers’ response to Philip's post:
Asafor says:
My brother Acha i have the impression some of us are not ready.Most often we use our keyboards to analyse the political temperature and minds in Cameroon without actually knowing what transpired in the field.I am a young man of 30's,we faught hard in the 90's stood firm behind SDF, supported change in Cameroon to no avail. 20 years i had never fail to cast my vote in an Election in Cameroon called it rigged or free, fair election.
Make no mistake Acha, i want to state with a fair degree of certainty that i am not ready to vote in any Election in Cameroon in the present state of things. During the last Parliamentary Election i worked in a polling station,personally counted the votes and was shocked with the out come of the result.Am not ready for any heart break. I will tell you i rang my friend Njoya in Buea who disclosed the result of a polling station to me and quest what? The result later came out to be fake.
Acha, Paul biya ammended article 6 sub 2 of the constitution stipulating the term of office from 7 to 5 in order to stay in power, that for sure. That is where the rigging machinary started.
A bottle of Amstel beer is what you need to change young people in Cameroon!:
Phillip with a bottle of Amstel you can succesfully change the mind of a youth in Cameroon to vote for CPDM. The SDF convention will soon be up i expect people like Osih’ Nyncheu, Christoper,F. etc to challenge Fru Ndi. For your information i will never cast a single vote in favour of any fellow from the center, east,north,South. I believe the direction of hegemony has to shift.
Bob Bristol says:
This is what I think:
1) Cameroonians were prepared to fight to the last drop of their blood if the opposition had sent in single candidate for the 2004 presidential election. The coalition failed.
2) Cameroonians would still be ready to fight Biya if the SDF tables the candidature of one of its resourceful militant. They could even project 2 candidates ( excluding Fru Ndi ) as a new political orientation
If you surprise an SDF supporter in the street by asking him what Fru Ndi stands for, he would probably be dumbfounded before giving a vague answer such as – improving the lives of Cameroonians or shifting power to the people. If they could clearly define their economic and political agendas, people could have logical reasons for being behind them.
Biya's obvious failure is a fantastic opportunity for Anglophone politicians to make political gains in favour of the Southern Cameroons’ struggle. They have preferred to handclap at the fake assembly and others think Democracy can place them in Etoudi.
Neba-Fuh posts an article that was originally published in 2008, which argues that Southern Cameroon has no independence day:
If historical facts are indisputable, then October 1 is a day no true Southern Cameroonian would  like toFlag_2  ‘celebrate’ positively. 1st October 1961 was the worst day in Southern Cameroons history! It's the day Southern Cameroons was ‘forced’ to become part of La Republique du Cameroun. It was that day Southern Cameroonians became slaves under a regime which was a by-product of colonial brewing. Southern Cameroons was annexed on 1st October. Southern Cameroons never gained independence on October 1!
Therefore, activities  of October 1 are suppose to be somber, reflective,  and resistive! It is suppose to be a waking call to those lukewarm skeptics who have always tried to situate the Southern Cameroons struggle in a closet, unconvincingly distorting historical facts and myopically refusing to leap beyond the blame game involving Foncha,Endeley, Muna,Mbile and Co. in the 1960s British- UN  fiasco.
The Southern Cameroons issue is not an idealistic battle, it is a realistic one  ! Historical facts intimidate the Yaounde regime. La Republique pretends to despise the struggle but spends sleepless nights planning to forestall any move concerning the cause. They downplay the cause but secretly admit its inevitability. If only the  Yaounde oligarchy were wise enough to face the Southern Cameroons problem head-on, we won't have been where we are now.
It should be recalled that the All Anglophone Conference(AAC )  of 1993 primordially  had limited secessionists’ tendencies on its agenda. At that time when Southern Cameroonians  had braved through  sub human treatment from La Republique, when their common heritage had been hijacked , and their commonwealth plundered; ‘secession’ was still looked upon as a last resort,  even though the radicals thought otherwise.
1993 was a missed opportunity for La Republique to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the think tanks and even the Southern Cameroons players of the 1961 fiasco who happened to have been still alive then.
He concludes:
No other time has the Yaounde regime been so panicky than now. They are losing control! That's  why basic human rights are at its worst now since the early nineties. There is increased censorship, meetings are banned,  intimidation is a daily tool, the regime is facing its greatest opposition from inside its own house. Generals are suspects. Insecurity is on its highest-banks are robbed even in the presence of an abundance of military men- these same men who will not resist to release their triggers on innocent unarmed citizens. The centre is no longer holding!
Destiny of time is calling the struggle to be more engaging. We cannot control what happens in La Republique, but we can coordinate what happens in our land. That's our unalienable  right. The route to freedom is never an easy ride. If you are scared of the ride, then the freedom seed has not been planted in you. Freedom's hurdles are always the next stepping pads for a higher goal in the quest of it , and except we reach that top, we will call no day  our Independence Day!
Finally, Bill Zimmerman writes a post about the metalworkers of Maroua in Northern Cameroon:
On the outskirts of Maroua, the capital of the Extreme North of Cameroon, is a place quite unlike any other in the country. Here a community of les forgerons—blacksmiths, or metalworkers—practice their craft in the relative cool of a tree grove. Several dozen men with specialized skills are gathered here for a single purpose: to transform piles of scrap iron into finely finished tools, stoves, replacement parts and other useful implements for sale to the local population. Young apprentices learn the craft while operating bellows or shaping wood for tool handles. The production here is performed entirely by hand and on a scale which must be seen to be fully appreciated. The finished goods here include agricultural tools; hoes, rakes, pick axes, shovels, wheelbarrows, John Deere-green painted plows, pry bars and machetes; household items such as cook stoves, sieves, pans, watering cans, buckets and cutlery; down to the smallest personal items, like precision tweezers.

author: Innocent Chia


text:
China: My father is Li Gang! · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

“My Father is Li Gang!” has become the most popular catchphrase in the Chinese Internet in the past few days.
First of all, you may ask, who is Li Gang? Li Gang is the deputy director of the police department in the northern district of Baoding city, Hebei province.
On October 16, a car accident took place in Hebei University, which led to the death of a female student. According to eyewitnesses, the car knocked down two girls who were riding roller on the school campus, but the driver did not stop and continued to drive to the female dormitory to drop off his girl friend. In the end, the school security guards and students blocked the entrance of the school gate and demanded the driver to get off the car. Instead of showing any sign of remorse, the driver, Li Qiming, yelled out to the angry crowd, “Go ahead and sue me, my father is Li Gang!”. Below is a photo showing the car accident scene:
What is the underlying meaning of the sentence: “My Father is Li Gang!”? Many netizens believe it reflects the arrogance of the offsprings of government officials (the so-called G2-official) that they could easily get away with any mistake or crime that they have committed. They are outraged by such inherited corruption and expressed their anger online. The greatest hit about this incident is the following music video:
The lyrics is written by 司文痞子, a user in a popular forum, MOP:
横行路中央 轿车轻飞扬
黄土地里养育着咱那霸道的爹娘
平凡的模样 可咱爸是局长
只手遮天的大树 还有神秘的力量
我爸叫李刚 公共安全专家局里副局长
撞死人了又怎样
谁让我爸是局长 我爸叫李刚
撞死人都不用离岗
这是为什么呢 因为我爸是局长
撞人后的那个鲜血哟 红个艳艳个艳
如果飙车能够带走我的校友 就让她随风飘远
The writer explains his idea and motivation in writing this song in MOP:
昨天看到河北官二代撞死人的新 闻非常气愤，前有富二代七十码，后有官二代爹救驾，当肇事者撞死人之后并没有去管被撞的女生怎么样而是还在责怪把他的车撞成什么样，看到这里我愤怒了，一 条鲜活的生命在他的眼睛里还比不上一辆没有生命的汽车，可见那个官二代感情淡漠到已经不在人类范畴之内了，更可气的还是撞死人之后竟然可以淡定的继续去接 自己的女朋友，当保安拦住时竟又脑残地高喊：“我爸是李刚！”，这让我想起了《西游记》里那句喊出“齐天大圣”就可以逢凶化吉的咒语，可惜你爸不是孙悟 空，你爸只是个某局的副局长，能够在这样危机时刻喊出这样咒语的我们应该想象得到以前这句话是多么的威力无比，你喊这话因为那是在你爸的地盘，但是你低估 了舆论的力量，这不知天高地厚倒霉的孩子，你的一句可笑的话不仅断送了你自己，你爸也是在劫难逃，若是你能低调的形势也许你这句咒语还能再用上个三年五 载，但是至你喊出来之后你的这句密语已经失效了，别说你爸只是个副局长，就是再大的官职在强大的舆论面前也保全不了你，全国人民一人一口唾沫足以淹死你， 这句话也有可能能成为今年最流行的一句网络语言。
On Wednesday October 20, MOP user, Asshole wetman, made a public call for poetry writings with the catchphrase “My Father is Li Gang!”. So far there are more than 350 submissions. The most circulated ones are reiterations of Thoughts in a Still Night, poem by Tang dynasty poet Li Bai. Below is one of the reiterated versions:
床前明月光
疑似地上霜
举头汪保安
我爹叫李钢
Apart from songs and poems, there are short stories and pictures based on the catchphrase. One example is an imagined conversation between two people in a buffet queue:
Give me more rice, my father is Li Gang!
God damn it, why my father is not Li Gang!
Another widely circulated photo is a software generated advertisement Government official father for sale!
While the incident keeps spreading across the internet in various media forms, the Hebei University school authority started pressuring students to keep quiet. According to a famous journalist microblogger, Wang Keqin, many student eyewitnesses of the incident have been summoned by the school authority. Now it has become very difficult for the reporters to follow up on the issue and dig out the truth. However, he still managed to collect some students’ comments:
河北大学同学的声音之一，有同学给我的留言如下：“现在学校不让我们说这件事情，所以目击者很难找，因为他们一旦向记者透漏什么事情，学校知道后肯定会对说的学生做出处分的，谁都会害怕，所以学校里的目击者都只能什么也不说。”
河北大学同学的声音之二，同学给我留言：“我妈已严令禁止我再管这事，但我没办法让自己的良心受煎熬！晓凤惨白的脸一直在我眼前晃动，我若不管，我怕我会 夜夜被噩梦缠绕！晓凤晶晶都是我所在社团的部员，她们甜甜的叫过我学姐，我没法坐视不理！但，我真的没办法要求那些仅仅是目击人的同学太多”
河北大学同学的声音之三，同学留言说：“我觉得您根本不太清楚现在大学黑暗城什么样了，学校领导就像地方一霸，他们的一句话影响同学考研，入党，毕业，奖学金，答辩等几乎所有问题，有人说高考决定一生，其实大学的校领导更能决定一个人的一生吧。”


text:
China: Unhappy Chinese after surprise rate hike · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

George Chen from Have a news day comments on the sudden rate hike by the China central bank.


text:
Cote d’Ivoire: Reports of Violence as Elections Approach  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

West Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch Corinne Dufka says:”While politicians and foreign diplomats have wrangled over election preparations, residents in western Côte d'Ivoire are consumed by fear of violent robbery or of being pulled from a bus and raped.” NGO Akendewa has set up a citizen reporting platform to monitor elections using the Ushahidi platform [Fr].

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
Cuba: Awarding Courage & Humility  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“There is no name more appropriate than that of this journalist and psychologist whose main characteristic is humility, to be included in a list where we find Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and Cuba’s Ladies in White”: Generation Y and Iván's File Cabinet blog about Guillermo Fariñas’ award of this year's Sakharov human rights prize.


text:
Cyclone Giri hits Myanmar · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Cyclone Giri struck Myanmar's west Arakan State. The cyclone is stronger than the deadly Cyclone Nargis which hit Myanmar two years ago.


text:
Haiti: Cholera! · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As a cholera outbreak hits Haiti, bloggers discuss this latest assault on the already besieged country.


text:
Haze envelops Singapore · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Haze in Singapore and south Malaysia! They blame it on the burning of trees in Sumatra, Indonesia where farmers are preparing for the crop planting season. The Singapore government describes it as a “transboundary haze situation arising from the land and forest fires in Sumatra.”
Hundreds of Malaysian schools were ordered closed because of the haze. Health authorities are reporting a spike in respiratory illnesses. Below is the October 21 update and advisory from Singapore
The smoke haze situation has worsened since yesterday
The latest satellite pass today detected 6 hotspots in southern Sumatra. Hazy conditions are expected to persist as the prevailing winds will continue to bring smoke haze from Sumatra to Singapore.
In view of the current haze situation, persons who feel unwell are advised to consult their doctors. Those with existing heart or respiratory ailments are also advised to reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities.
Since it is a regional problem in Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Haze Online was established to monitor the situation. A Facebook page, Haze-Free Singapore, was created encouraging netizens to post pictures and reports.
Haze in Singapore. Photo from the Facebook page of Haze-Free Singapore
Singapore-Lighthouse wonders about the funding given by the Singapore government to assist Indonesia in helping prevent the spread of forest fires
As I was typing this blog, I was coughing like hell and was in a bad shape.
So how much money was given to Indonesia to keep their forest or really how much ended up in the pocket of the Indonesian officials? Can we really buy clean air with money?
Via The Online Citizen, Georgia Tong doubts the effectiveness of ministerial meetings to stop the haze
Every year for many years already, we have the haze. All these Asean ministers have been meeting up and talking for years…the outcome is still the same.
Inspite of the health hazard and economic impact due to the haze, there has been little or no improvement to the situation.
Asean countries are just too ‘polite’ and lack the will power to resolve the issue.
Limsimi.com reports the impact of the haze in Malaysia
You could almost SMELL it.
Besides the reduced visibility which greets you as you step out of your air-conditioned office, you could almost detect the burnt smell in the air you breathe. The fires in Sumatra, caused by irresponsible clearing of private plots, had not subsided and the Pollution Standards Index (PSI) is on the rise. You worry about your children getting asthma attacks and the exacerbation of cough on your grandparents.
Noel Boyd describes the haze situation in Singapore
Seriously what's up with the haze? I was in Orchard Road yesterday for most part of the day and the haze was really bad! Singapore just looked so gloomy and it sure smelt like Singapore was on fire. And at night, we could hardly see the moon!
If you aren't from Singapore, I would like to assure you that this country isn't on fire. The haze is from the forest fires in the Riau Province of Sumatra, Indonesia. That's 894 kilometers away from Singapore!
Twitter reactions from Singapore
XavierInsanity: As a typical singaporean, I'm gonna say I'm so amazed by the haze!! It's so hazy!!
casterteoh: I'm swaying not ‘cos I drank but that I'm tired. And this haze is blurring me so much I almost couldn't recognise ze way home. It's just me
iStraven: Haze is making me headache, soar throat and tired.
josh_oh: Just hate the haze!!! My eyes just feel uncomfortable!!!
haifaaj: wat shall i wear on the first day of school?…. maybe a mask becoz of the haze
icecreamfortea: I like how the haze makes the view outside look different.


text:
Jamaica: Rain, Rain, Go Away · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Phoenix in a Gas House lists her top 5 reasons to avoid getting caught in the rain in Kingston.


text:
Myanmar: Lighting Festival · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Buddhists in Myanmar will celebrate lighting festival during Thadingyut. The festival is a celebration of the descent of Buddha from heaven. The Myanmar Youth in Action will organize a “Lighting Festival” at the Aein Daw Yar Pagoda.


text:
Myanmar: Water problem · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

dawn_1o9 from Myanmar blogs about the water shortage in Dala Township which is located just across the Yangon river.


text:
Pakistan: Marriage Of Convenience · Global Voices
Rezwan

Tamashbeen at All Things Pakistan finds it disgusting that 23-year old Azhar Haidri of Multan, Pakistan has become a media celebrity by marrying two women within 24 hours – the woman he was engaged with and the woman whom he claims as “his true love”.


text:
Serbia: Children Get Military Training in Russian Camps · Global Voices
Sinisa Boljanovic

Serbia is a deeply divided country regarding the main orientation of its foreign relations: while some political parties and approximately half of its population would like to see Serbia in the European Union as soon as possible, other politicians and citizens look toward Russia and would like their homeland to become a Russian province, as Tomislav Nikolic said in the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia in 2007.
The latter ones belong to the extreme political right and include various associations of nationalists, Serbian Orthodox Church  and some social groups whose members call themselves “patriots” (such as hooligans who have recently demolished the center of Belgrade, expressing their “attitude” towards the Belgrade Gay Pride Parade, and made riots in Genoa, confirming their “love” for the national football team and a high level of patriotism.
In the prime of the newest public discussion on patriotism and the origin of violence in the Serbian society, daily Belgrade newspaper Danas wrote on Oct. 19 that two years ago, several groups of Serbian children, aged 11 to 15 years old, had spent 16 days in scout camps in Russia, where they were being trained to assemble and dismantle weapons, to throw bombs, and to fire rifles.
These children were sent to Russia by the Patriotic Front, an association of 1990-1999 Serbian war veterans (the civil war in ex-Yugoslavia, including the war against NATO).
Zoran Vranesevic, general secretary of the association, said to Danas that the two groups, which consisted of 20 children of war veterans, had attended the scout camps in Russia in order to learn about Russia’s traditions, culture and religion, to develop their patriotic spirit and to learn to fight against their vices.
The main goal of the Patriotic Front was not to train children in marksmanship but to make sure that the children didn’t inherit the complexes of their fathers, the veterans, who are marginalized by the society, Vranesevic added.
During the unusual and unique sojourn in Siberia, the children got a chance to take part in a writing competition on a simple topic – “My stay in Russia” – which had been announced by the hosts (primarily, the Russian patriotic association Kosovo’s Front).
U. L. (13) wrote that Russians had given them knowledge about weapons, they had been training them in fencing and throwing knives, teaching them how to become skilled and persistent. He added:
We experienced a baptism of fire in the first camp where it was the most difficult. We lived there close to nature, eating the new, very simple and unusual dishes with much fruit, bitter cheeses, washing our dishes in the river, taking baths in it, taking part in battles, had exercises on the firing range, assembling and dismantling rifles, like in the real army, riding horses…”
M. K. (15) described his experience in one of the three camps in which they were staying:
In this camp, we had various trainings over the day, such as surmounting of the firing range, riding horses and coming down from trees on ropes. When we finished those exercises we had lunch but no one liked it. However, we ate because we were hungry. In the evening, we were dancing traditional Cossack dances. The next day, we went to the rifle range where we were firing rifles and throwing bombs. That day I was firing so much that my ears were ringing for the next three days.
Psychologist Zarko Trebjesanin says that children should not be trained to use weapons, but to communicate tolerantly. Military training could have very negative effects on children who are unstable emotionally and insufficiently socialized.
Sociologist Ratko Bozovic said this, among other things:
Throwing bombs and firing rifles are an attraction for the children and they find self-confirmation in such acts of violence.
Tamara Lukšić-Orlandić, Serbia's Deputy Ombudsman for children's rights,  said to Danas that children should not be trained to use weapons because it is not adequate for their ages to behave “like guerrillas.” She reminded that Serbia had international obligations to protect children, because it is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. According to her, any contact of children with weapons is not desirable, because it could have negative effects on the development of a person.
The web site of Abrasevic Media, which is mainly focused on the analysis of society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country where the biggest war crimes were committed by some ethnic Serbs, who were later sentenced in the Hague Tribunal, published a commentary article, an excerpt of which is below:
Serbia, an eternally peaceful, tolerant and friendly country, always gives us nice surprises: after the clerically-fascistic celebration on Belgrade’s streets in regard to the Pride Parade and the art installation in Genoa, we have found out that something calling itself the Association of War Veterans of all Serbian Countries 1990-1999, the Patriotic Front, freely exists in this country. […]
[…] For the orthodox children, the Serbian Patriotic Front organizes stays in Russian camps, where kids can learn everything connected with weapons: how to  fire a rifle, how to approach the enemy from the back, how to love Putin more than their own parents, how to become proper Serbian fascists and help your country in the fight against a lot of its enemies […]
Below is a selection of comments that readers left on the forum of the website vidovdan.org, mainly devoted to Serbian traditions and the so-called “national question.”
Tragalac:
[…] If children went to the gays to learn how to use vaseline under all circumstances, that would be OK.
zorajde:
[…] People are sending children to reconnaissance camps to be trained to use weapons, and I would make it obligatory, because, in a few years, if people would like to survive in this democracy, they would have to start hunting […]
Zlatni Bogdan:
If only our army and country organized such camps.
The website B92 re-published some pieces of the article from Danas, and readers left more than 70 comments to it. Here are just three of them:
1.
Instead of sending children to visit the Museum of Chocolate in Brussels in order to enjoy the best chocolate in the world, they are sending them to Moscow to go through training to become little terrorists.
2.
I don’t see what the drama is about. In Britain, you have the right to join the army if you are 16 years old, and many British people do. If these things are controlled by adults, I don’t see what is bad in that case.
3.
Someone was training children in firing and using various kinds of weapons and in that way they committed a criminal act of terrorism and sabotage according to the Criminal Statute…
According to Danas, Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia will check the information about the case, and if he finds any criminal elements in it, he will act in accordance with the law.

author: Sinisa Boljanovic


text:
Sri Lanka: Political Satire Is No Laughing Matter · Global Voices
Rezwan

Nalaka Gunawardene reviews a collection of political satires by Wimalanath Weeraratne and discusses its implication in Sri Lanka.


text:
Taiwan:Typhoon Megi Breaks Rainfall Record · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Zhong Sheng-siung (鐘聖雄) on citizen media “88news.org” is now reporting and uploading first-hand photos from Su-ao in Yilan county where Typhoon Megi has brought more than 1400 mm in just two days. In his post are photos of flooded Su-ao town and rescuers trying to find missing people in a buried temple[zht].

author: Portnoy Zheng


text:
Uruguayans Mourn Death of Musician José Carbajal, ‘El Sabalero’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Singer and composer José Carbajal, nicknamed “el Sabalero,” was found dead in his house in Villa Argentina, Uruguay on October 21; he died of a heart attack at age 66. José Carbajal is considered an icon of Uruguayan “canto popular” [popular song], as Martin Charquero (@MartinCharquero) explains via Twitter. Throughout the day, Uruguayans have been reacting to the news of his death on social networks; and, as Mariu (@mariu070) said on Twitter,
La musica Uruguaya de luto por el fallecimiento del Gran Sabalero
Image on Wikimedia Commons, posted by user Zeroth and used under an Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license
José Carbajal [es] left Uruguay in the 70s during the military government. He lived in Argentina, Spain, Mexico, France, and finally the Netherlands. He returned to his native country in 1984, but left for the Netherlands again in 1992; he had been traveling back and forth between Uruguay and the Netherlands for the past 14 years. In his song “Borracho pero con flores” [Drunk but with flowers] he sings:
Soy cantor, cantándole a mi pueblo voy
de país en país
dejo en versos lo mejor de mí
y me llevo su calor
In the same song he wonders about Montevideo, “so distant and so loved”:
Twitter users have been remembering this and other songs by Carbajal. Fernando Francia (@fernandofrancia) wrote:
Haganme un favor… ríndanle un homenaje a EL SABALERO, trovador y luchador (youtube: angelitos, no te vayas nunca, a mi gente)
Pablo Olivera (@pabli31) recommends one of El Sabalero's most famous songs, “Chiquillada”:
hoy los uruguayos estamos tristes se nos fue un grande de nuestra musica se nos fue el sabalero . Chiquillada – Jose Carbajal.vía @youtube
In the blog Pensamientos… [thoughts], Fiaris briefly reflects [es] on the passing of José Carbajal, naming the song “Chiquillada”:
Nos dejo muchas canciones que sabemos todos desde que eramos muy jóvenes qué son vivencias Uruguayas como esta que se llama “Chiquillada”y relata la niñez de antaño.
This citizen video shows El Sabalero singing part of the song “Chiquillada”:
José Carbajal and Plan Ceibal
This year, José Carbajal was working alongside other Uruguayan artists in a project called “Ceibal Canta” [Ceibal Sings]. The project is part of Plan Ceibal, the One Laptop Per Child initiative that gives a laptop to every child attending Uruguayan public schools. In January, the site 180 [es] interviewed José Carbajal and asked him about the project “Ceibal Canta.” The site describes the project:
Se trata de una serie de más de 120 conciertos que dará para todos los alumnos de cuarto, quinto y sexto de las escuelas públicas. El proyecto se inscribe en el Plan Ceibal ya que el espectáculo estará disponible en ese portal.
Carbajal explained what the project is all about from his point of view:
Vamos a hacer una especie de estampa del Uruguay  geográfico: ríos, montes, arroyos, barriadas, pueblos en canciones y  palabras. Además, vamos a dar datos de la producción de cada región,  proyectando cosas, con buena iluminación. […] Es una especie de aula abierta.
[…]
Vamos a hablar de todo un poco. En cada región de Uruguay cambia la  producción y entonces le vamos a contar a los chiquilines las cosas de  su lugar. Hacemos una pintura del Uruguay, de todo el territorio, y  también del lugar donde estamos.
We are going to do a sort of stamp of the geography of Uruguay: rivers, hills, streams, neighborhoods, towns in songs and words. We are also going to give them facts on the production in each region, projecting things, with good lighting. […] It is a sort of open classroom.
[…]
We are going to talk about a little bit of everything. In each region of Uruguay the production changes and so we are going to tell the children things about their place. We make a painting of Uruguay, of the whole territory, and also of the place where we are.
The Plan Ceibal website has created a page called “Homenaje al Sabalero” [es] [tribute to El Sabalero] that provides information on José Carbajal that children can access through their OLPC laptops.
Musicians Washington Carrasco and his wife Cristina Fernández were working with Carbajal on “Ceibal Canta”; on the day of Carbajal's death, Carrasco said [es]:
Quien escuche al Sabalero, está escuchando al Uruguay, el lenguaje uruguayo, sus costumbres.


text:
Zimbabwe: Last Chance to Complete Constitution Survey · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Last chance to complete Sokwanele's online constitution survey: “On August the 6th 2010, Sokwanele launched a constitution survey, available to complete online and via MS Word for those who preferred to work through the questions offline. We have had a very good response, and we thank everyone who has taken part.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Zimbabwe: Minister of Commerce and Industry Uses Twitter to Air Frustrations · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The Zimbabwe Minister of Commerce and Industry and also the MDC Secretary General Professor Welshman Ncube uses Twitter to air his frustrations.


text:
Angola: Update on Press Freedom – “Repression or Urban Violence?” · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

One day after Global Voices published an article about the murder of journalist Chakussanga, on October 22 another Angolan journalist from “Radio Despertar” – Antonio Manuel “Jojó” da Silva –  was injured in stabbing, as Committee to Protect Journalists reports.

author: Sara Moreira


text:
China: Looking at Xi Jinping, possible future ruler · Global Voices
John Kennedy

No shortage of congratulatory mob comments [zh] are to be found following the news last week of Xi Jinping‘s appointment as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, but not much else.
Even Sima Nan, voice of the establishment sensibility, had his blog post on Xi's upgrade harmonized. As an indication of some of the hopes and aspirations already being projected onto Xi, it reads:
习近平担任中央军委副主席标明了中国政治的健康稳定，说明中国的发展在可以预见的将来依然会按照既定的中国模式或者中国经验在向前延伸，说明我们现在政治体制承袭党指挥枪的原则没有改变，说明他某些人贩卖了很多年的那一套所谓普世价值的货色，在中国最高决策层及其继任者那里没有市场。这件事情对那些做梦都在遏制中国、妖魔化中国的势力来讲，是一个令他们恐惧的消息。
我强调，中国人要建立自己的文化自信和政治体制自信，十七届五中全会传来了令我们坚定文化自信和政治体制自信的正面信息。我们的政治体制在发展，我们的社会文明在进步，中国最高权力的交接掀开了一个新的篇章。
I want to emphasize, the Chinese people want to build confidence in their own cultural information and political system, and the positive information coming out of the 17th Central Committee's fifth plenary session leaves us resolute with confidence in our culture and political system. Our political system is developing, and our civilization and society are advancing; this transition in China's highest powers is the start of a new chapter.
Going further down that road, Maoists look at Xi and see his red-bred roots, and Xi's drunken stunt in Mexico last year has won over the nationalists, no doubt useful allies for the future battle against universal values, noted in this piece from well-known Party economist Zhang Hongliang, ‘China finally has a leader who's tough on foreigners‘:
去年，习近平在访问拉美期间对那些“吃饱了了没事干的外国人”的痛斥，的确让多年来一直窝囊憋屈的中国人出了一口气。只是这口气还没有完全发出来，习近平副主席的讲话和视频就被删除了。习近平是中共中央政治局常委和国家副主席，连他的讲话和视频都会遭到删除，再次证明了此前我们一直坚持强调的一个基本判断，就是中国的媒体和金融，早已不在党中央控制之中，完全受控于美国和中国的普世价值派。
有些人对此很不理解，总是形而上学地从职务高低上来看待问题，认识不到代表外国资本集团、国内贪腐集团和买办集团的普世价值派的强大力量。可以说，目前中国普世价值派的强大力量，要远远超过文革前夕官僚集团的强大力量，那时官僚集团控制的《人民日报》就敢拒绝发表毛主席的文章，而当时毛主席在全国人民心目中的崇高地位无与伦比。在举国欢呼“毛主席万岁”那样一种情况下，在毛主席担任中共中央主席、中央军委主席的情况下，他们都敢封杀毛主席的文章，今天删除一个国家副主席的讲话，还有什么职务大小的障碍吗？习近平副主席痛斥那些“吃饱了没事干的外国人“的讲话，之所以会遭到删除，就是因为触犯了美国资本集团的利益，触犯了仰仗美国势力的国内买办集团的利益。习近平副主席这个讲话受到老百姓的欢迎，同样也是因为这个原因。
Xi is also well on his way toward building his own Marxist theory legacy, with Four Haves [zh], Six Hopes and Two Inconsistencies. He even picks up where Wen will leave off, discussed here by agricultural law blogger The Cultivater:
从实际效果看，即将登台的中共第五代领导人习近平，于9月1日出席中央党校秋季学期开学典礼并讲话时，强调“权为民所赋，权为民所用”的权力观，可以看成温家宝力推新思想解放运动的回声。应该看到，自1978年5月开始的全国范围内的真理标准大讨论，所带来的思想解放运动，成功推动了中国改革开放走了近30年的旅程。此次温家宝所领导的新思想解放运动如果真能开花结果，那将推动中国未来100年，甚至500年的发展。唯有如此，中国才有可能与当今一流世界强国美国并驾齐驱。
Caijing blogger Simon Zhou (西蒙周) has also taken a look at Xi's much-discussed Central Party School address, finding one particular nuance in the language used subtle, but highly significant:
2002年底，新任中共总书记的胡锦涛，提出了被称为“新三民主义”的“情为民所系，利为民所谋，权为民所用”。相对而言，习近平的新论，实质上是为“新三民主义”的“权为民所用”增加了一个“权为民所赋”的前提。这是一个非常关键的前提！人民是国家的主人，执政必须经过人民的授权，政府必须民选，领袖必须民选，这是宪政民主的根本要义。早在2003年，已逝的前中共中央宣传部部长朱厚泽在肯定“新三民主义”的同时，就强调“一定要补充一条‘权为民所授’，这一条还是前提。”可惜的是，朱厚泽的建议一直未被采纳。
现在，作为第五代领导人之一的习近平明确提出了“权为民所赋”，这是一个静悄悄的巨大进步，实际上也是接受了朱厚泽的主张。“赋”是“赋予”，“授”是“授予”，意思相当接近。在讲话的全文中，习近平只强调“权为民所赋”是指明了权力的根本来源和基础，没有再做深入的分析。虽然就是这样两句话，但已经证明习在思考执政党权力合法性的问题，预示着中共启动政改的日期不会太久远了。
Now, fifth-gen leader Xi Jinping has unambiguously brought forth the premise that “power is bestowed by the people”, a subtle but huge step, but one which in fact was advocated for by Zhu Houze, with the meanings of “confer” and “bestow” being relatively similar. In the text of his address, Xi Jinping merely emphasizes that “power is bestowed by the people” demonstrates that which is the root source and foundation of power, and he provides no deeper analysis. While it was just a couple lines to this effect, it does nonetheless prove that Xi is considering the problem of the ruling party's legitimacy and indicates that the day when the Communist Party of China launches its political reforms cannot be too far off.
Xi Jinping and company on a visit to a Buddhist temple in Zhejiang province in 2003, leaving the blogging monk who took this photo impressed with Xi's knowledge of Buddhism and willingness to offer up some incense.
A perfect leader for a free market authoritarian system? Yazhou Zhoukan reporter Wu Muluan looks back at Xi's years as head both of coastal Fujian and Zhejiang provinces:
如果说福建职业生涯影响了习近平的为人风格，而浙江的从政经历最能体现习近平的施政风格。一九九零年代初，浙江的经济远远落后于福建省。但是，现在浙江的经济综合竞争力在中国仅靠上海、北京、广东和江苏之后。最知名的是浙江的民营企业。二零零七年五百强民营企业排名中，浙江有二百零三个企业进入，足足比江苏省多了一百家，数量排内地第一。而浙江最出名的经济形态就是温州模式。在中国的三十年的改革过程中，温州的知名度一直不低，但早期是以造假闻名的。按以往中国共产党官员的统治逻辑，这种地区最简单的转型模式就是下猛药，「整顿治理」，让大批企业关闭。但是，浙江的处理方式却不是这样，而是让市场自发调整，下温和的药方。学者们将此归因于习近平的「放活」私营经济政策及「无为而治」的施政方式。而习本人在浙江时更是明示认同亚当斯密《国富论》。
In 2007, former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew made headlines when he compared Xi to Nelson Mandela; several media dug up that story this week and comments on this Phoenix article include some of the few of any substance to be found:
dylw5493：积重难返啊！习接手的将是一个历史上极端腐败的官吏队伍。
晓壬武：李光耀局外人根本不懂，当时知青下乡的重要性。更不可拿习近平跟曼德拉相比习的下乡是对本人的磨练，曼德拉是政治迫害是完全不同的两种性质。这种貌似长者的人物 坦率讲居心叵测。
法官2012：希望下一届领导人能够推进政治制度改革，在改善民生，惩治腐败方面在这一届政府的基础上做出更多的工作。老百姓需要公平和正义。
LL5096：习仲勋是中国共产党的优秀党员，伟大的共产主义战士，杰出的无产阶级革命家，我党、我军卓越的政治工作领导人，陕甘边区革命根据地的主要创建者和领导者之一。他一生实事求是，坚持原则，立场坚定，顾全大局，曾五次受到毛泽东的盛赞。
希望您向父辈学习！
手机用户：期待习主席不要再让国人失望！反腐最重要！
江苏句容：习还行！李光耀先生虽然是新加坡国父！但是为人却不怎么的！
不吐不快我：李光耀是一个不甘寂寞的政坛老油条
wmy702：中国的希望就在习近平身上了
Does Xi offer hope for long-awaited reforms to the political system, a signal on which many expected would come out of the the Central Committee plenary earlier this month? Writing on that is military affairs blogger and veteran Liu Jun:
这次，中国的政治体制改革也提上台面，也在为下届领导人铺路造势，在军事领域来说，中国的军事力量属于中国共产党，不管怎么改变不会离开党指挥枪这个概念，党的主要领导人就是军队的统帅者，从这次党的代表会明显看出，习近平也即将成为下一届的军事委员会主席。

author: John Kennedy


text:
Indonesia: Torture video · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A video shows Indonesian soldiers torturing prisoners in West Papua. Human rights groups describe the footage as “Indonesia's Abu Ghraib.”


text:
Mexico: Blog ‘Words of Resistance’ Publishes Stories of Teenagers from Oaxaca · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The blog Words of Resistance is “a space for stories written by students from Zapotitlán’s  middle school (grade 7-9) who are transforming their reality word by  word.” The students live in the Mixtec area of the state of Oaxaca, “one of the areas of Mexico with the highest rate of migration to the United States.”