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Russian eDemocracy: There and Back Again · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

A few days ago RuNet Echo discussed [GV] a “schism” that had emerged in Russia's protest movement last winter, when certain leaders of the protest made an allegedly unilateral decision to cooperate with the city of Moscow in planning a December 10, 2011 rally. At the urging of the Moscow administration, the anti-election-fraud rally was moved from a central location within sight of the Central Election Committee to a less central park across the river. A recent New Times article which details the negotiations has rekindled suspicions and incited infighting and bickering in the protest movement. Other Russia leader Eduard Limonov [ru]:
Russian writer Eduard Limonov at the 6 Moscow International Book Festival. 2011.06.13 © Rodrigo Fernandez. CC 3.0
Я уверен, они и сегодня  договариваются и сдают протест. Ничто не свидетельствует об обратном. (Что до беспорядков 6 мая, то в тот день события вышли из-под их контроля). Когда они ухайдокают ваш протест полностью, выпустят весь пар, то  наступит The End , и они перейдут на другую работу. Надо их убирать, вырезать как раковую опухоль из протестного движения.
I am sure they are negotiating and handing over the protest to this day. There is nothing to convince me of the opposite. (As to the May 6 riot, on that day they lost control of the events). Once they snuff the protest out completely, let out all the steam, The End will come, and they will switch to other work. They should be removed from the protest movement, excised like a cancerous tumor.
Such accusations appear to be the proximate cause of a new eDemocracy initiative from the masterminds behind the Coordinating Council elections. The Coordinating Council is in the process of organizing a protest march on December 15th, and opposition leaders are once again involved in negotiations with Moscow city authorities to determine where it will take place. This time, likely in an attempt to preclude appearances of behind the scenes double-dealing, they are asking their online electorate for their opinion.
On December 8th Sergei Parkhomenko, who many still think is to blame for last winter's failures, blogged that the Mayor's Office turned down all march routes proposed by Coordinating Council negotiators (both included marching through Lubianka Square). Now, wrote [ru] Parkhomenko,
Sergei Parkhomenko. 2010. © Anton Nosik. CC 3.0
КООРДИНАЦИОННЫЙ СОВЕТ ОБРАЩАЕТСЯ К ИЗБИРАТЕЛЯМ. Как быть дальше? НАСТАИВАТЬ на своем? или СОГЛАСИТЬСЯ с запретами мэрии? Очень много мы слышим требований – обращаться непосредственно к мнению избирателей по важным, принципиальным вопросам. Вот – первая такая попытка. Прямое обращение к вам. НАША ЗАДАЧА ОЧЕНЬ ПРОСТАЯ: НАДЕЛИТЬ ПРЕДСТАВИТЕЛЕЙ КООРДИНАЦИОННОГО СОВЕТА, КОТОРЫЕ ВЕДУТ ПЕРЕГОВОРЫ (Сергея Удальцова, Евгению Третьякову, Геннадия Гудкова и других), ЯСНО ВЫРАЖЕННОЙ ПОЗИЦИЕЙ УЧАСТНИКОВ ШЕСТВИЯ.
THE COORDINATING COUNCIL IS ADDRESSING THE ELECTORATE. What to do next? INSIST on our approach? or to AGREE with the mayoral restrictions? We hear many demands – to address the voters directly in important matter of principle. This is the first such attempt. Direct appeal to you. OUR TASK IS SIMPLE: ENDOW THE COORDINATING COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES IN CHARGE OF NEGOTIATIONS (Sergei Udaltsov, Evgenia Tretiakova, Gennady Gudkov and others), WITH A CLEARLY EXPRESSED POSITION OF MARCH PARTICIPANTS.
Although this statement is couched in direct democracy terms, it’ is easy to see that the negotiators also want a measure of protection from accusations of collaboration with the Kremlin. The voting is currently taking place using the same infrastructure [ru] that was used in the Coordinating Council elections last month. Although it is unclear whether opposition negotiators can achieve anything by taking a hard-line stance in the matter (they are not likely to publicly support an unsanctioned rally), unofficial protest leader Alexey Navalny has also promoted [ru] the online vote as a solution:
Мы все должны решать это. И у нас есть для этого инструменты. Мы все хотели прямой демократии и возможности для каждого влиять на принятие решений и даже решать самому. […] Поэтому давайте сейчас прямым голосованием и решим […]
We all have to decide this. And we have the tools for it. We all wanted direct democracy and the opportunity for everyone to influence decision making and evening make decisions. […] So let us use direct voting right now and decide […]
So far it looks as though this initiative is mainly soliciting the opinion of previous eDemocracy participants. As explained [ru] by Leonid Volkov, the man in charge of developing the voting system,
Чтобы высказаться, необходимо пройти по знакомой ссылочке https://election.democratia2.ru, и точно таким же образом, как вы это делали во время выборов в КС 20-21 октября, ввести свой телефон и идентификатор избирателя
To have your say, you need to click on the familiar link https://election.democratia2.ru, and, in the same way that you did during the CC elections on October 20-21, input your telephone number and voter ID.
From these instructions it is unclear what someone new to the system would do. Even if it is possible to go through the rigorous registration process in time to vote, the process is certainly simpler for someone who had previously registered. This simplicity has it's own pitfalls. While almost 100,000 users registered to vote during the Coordinating Council elections and so should easily be able to participate in this informal poll, so far just under 11,000 have chosen to voice their opinion. This doesn't spell good things for popular interest in street protest.
Regardless, the overwhelming majority of these 11,000 voters have voted to “insist” on the original protest route. Only 2,124 people suggested that the negotiators should acquiesce to government proscriptions. If ever there was a mandate for collaboration, it no longer exists.

author: Andrey Tselikov


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‘Public Hunger Strike’ in Saudi Arabia for Imprisoned Activist Al-Bajady · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

Saudi human rights activist Mohammad al-Bajady has been getting much attention in the Saudi Twittersphere the last few weeks. Al-Bajady is one of the co-founders of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) and he has been detained since March 21, 2011, after taking part in a protest calling for an end to arbitrary detainment in front of the Interior Ministry building in Riyadh. He was secretly tried and sentenced last April to four years in prison.
On November 14, ACPRA issued the following statement [ar]:
في آخر اتصال هاتفي للناشط الحقوقي محمد بن صالح البجادي على زوجته، في تاريخ 3 ذو القعدة 1433هـ، الموافق 19 سبتمبر 2012م، أخبرها أنه سيضرب عن الطعام فور انهاءه للمكالمة احتجاجا على سوء معاملته، ثم وردت أنباء عن نقله بعد ذلك إلى زنزانة انفرادية وعزله عن العالم الخارجي، ومنذ تاريخ اعلانه للإضراب عن الطعام لم يرد منه أي اتصال هاتفي
In the last phone call from human rights activist Mohammad al-Bajady, which was on 19 September 2012, he told his wife that he would start a hunger strike right after the phone call to protest maltreatment. Our sources told us that he was then taken into solitary confinement. Since he announced hunger strike, no phone call was received.
Yesterday, December 9, @freealbjadi announced a public hunger strike to support al-Bajady on December 10, which marks the international Human Rights Day:
عش تجربة البجادي في السجن وأعلن اضرابك غدا عن الطعام…
@freealbjadi: Experience what al-Bajady is facing in prison and announce your hunger strike tomorrow…
“Save al-Bajady” campaign logo
Tens of reformist figures announced that they will be taking part in the public hunger strike in the hashtag #سأشارك_غدا_بالإضراب_عن_الطعام_تضامنا_مع_إضراب_البجادي (I will be participating in the hunger strike in support for al-Bajady), including activist Mohammad al-Qahtani, ex-political prisoner Matrook al-Faleh, and famous blogger Fouad al-Farhan along with over 200 other people, while the previous public hunger strike in support for al-Bajady, which took place last March, had only 38 participants. This led activists to announce success.
By strictly prohibiting demonstrations, Saudi Arabia invites new methods for public dissent, mostly undertaken by young people.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Anas Soliman


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Searching for Bissau-Guinean Journalist who Disappeared in Angola · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Journalist and university professor Milocas Pereira, from Guinea-Bissau, disappeared from Luanda, Angola, where she lived, more than six months ago. Celina Spencer, President of Guinea-Bissau Community Association of Immigrants in the U.S.A, has recently launched a petition asking for assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in locating her.

author: Sara Moreira


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Setback in President Chávez’s Health Creates Uncertainty in Venezuela  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Venezuelan bloggers are reacting to the latest turn in the health of President Hugo Chávez, who has arrived in Cuba for more cancer treatment.
While Gustavo Hernandez Acevedo and The Devil's Excrement write about a possible transition, Juan Cristóbal Nagel and Alejandro Tarre [es] analyze what this all means for the opposition in Venezuela.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Tropical Storm Pablo Leaves Trail of Devastation in Southern Philippines · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Tropical storm Pablo (international name: Bopha) left a trail of destruction in various parts of the southern Philippine islands of Mindanao, Leyte, Cebu, and Negros after entering the country on December 4, 2012. Pablo is the strongest typhoon to ever hit Mindanao, wreaking devastation that rivalled the calamity caused by Typhoon Sendong in the same island also December of last year. Pablo is now hundreds of kilometers off the coast of Palawan island and continues to move away from the country. As of December 7, Pablo left behind at least 418 dead, 445, injured, and 383 missing.
Hardest hit by the strong winds, heavy rains, landslides and flash floods are the poor peasants along the path of typhoon Pablo who lost much of their homes and livelihood. Especially affected were the provinces of Surigao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley in Mindanao. In the town of New Bataan, 101 residents died when Pablo brought water and mud surging down from the denuded mountains of Compostela Valley.
As in recent disasters like Sendong, many pinned the blame for the ever-worsening scale of the destruction caused by natural calamities on the Philippine government's continued failure to put an end to the plunder of the environment by foreign mining corporations, logging concessionaires, and their local business partners. Quierosaber's Blog points out:
The similarity in the aftermath of typhoons Sendong in 2011 and Pablo in 2012 is very glaring. Most of the death were caused by flash floods and landslides brought about by hours of torrential rains…
Haven’t we seen footages of the devastation caused by denuded forest from illegal logging? What can one say about the countless logs of all forms and sizes coming down the rivers and slopes during flash floods destroying every thing that comes across its way? What can we say about the photographs of tree stumps left on top of the hills from whence the logs cascaded with the heavy downpour?
Meanwhile, the use of new social media to monitor the typhoon's impact and coordinate relief efforts and assistance for the disaster victims has also become a familiar sight. 4253 listed all the map resources on the typhoon found in the web.
The United Nations initiated an effort to collect relevant tweets about Typhoon Pablo for the purpose of supporting the disaster response efforts. This involved identifying the photos and videos shared in these tweets, and then geo-locating, time-stamping, and categorizing this content.
To help minimize the impact of disasters, progressive legislator Teddy Casino introduced House Bill 5660 or the Free Mobile Alerts Act. If enacted, the proposed law would mandate mobile phone companies to provide free text alerts to citizens in calamity-stricken areas.
Here are some more photos and tweets on Typhoon Pablo:
A damaged bridge in Caraga region. Photo from @itsmecelinee
40,000 people have moved into shelters in Mindanao. Photo from @robertolaprade
Strong winds batter Negros Island. Photo from @bbeejjee
Impact of the storm in Compostela Valley. Photo by Len Marcelo Jingco posted on the Facebook page of Maayong Buntag Mindanao
Some twitter reactions about the storm:
@natashya_g: I've never seen anything like the scenes coming out of ComVal in my life. Ever. Corpses among trees, battered buildings. So painful.
@iamsuperbianca: praying for those affected by #PabloPH that they keep warm, dry, safe, and in good health tonight.
@venzie: Sa mga kababayang binayo ng trahedya at pagsubok, nawa'y maging kalinga ng pagdadamayan at sama-samang pagkilos! Mahigpit na yakap po!
@venzie:To all fellow citizens affected by tragedy and trials, hopefully mutual aid and collective action will bring you shelter! Bear hug!
Updates and important information regarding Typhoon Pablo can be followed using the hashtag #PabloPH.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Taiwan is Sick: Student Protesters Tell the Minister of Education · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Last month, Hong Kong based Next Media Ltd. announced its decision to sell its Taiwan print and television operations for HKD4.64 billion (USD 598.7 million) to a number of Taiwanese corporates, including 32% shares to Want Want China Holdings, considered a controversial media giant since its Chairman Tsai Eng-meng has a lot of business ties with mainland China and has been advocating closer cross-strait cooperation through its TV, newspapers and magazines, with their positive reports about China related news.
Foreseeing the adverse impact of the deal, editors and journalists from Taiwan Next Media Group have been demonstrating for editorial independence from the future management, while Taiwanese students have gone on an Anti-Want Want campaign over the past two weeks, to warn the public against the adverse effect of media monopoly.
Protesters, held a press conference outside Executive Yuan on November 27, 2012.  Photo from Facebook Page: I don't Want Want. Non-Commercial Use.
Since November 26, 2012, students started gathering outside the Executive Yuan, demanding [zh] the legislation for Media antimonopoly law, calling for editorial independence agreement within media organizations and against the deal between Next Media Ltd and Want Want China Times. Despite the cold weather and rain, many students stayed overnight and the next day, the students, together with a number of journalism professors and media workers, held a press conference at the protest venue.
Several confrontations between the police and the students took place as the head of Executive Yuan failed to show up and answer their demands; the student activists then decided to hold another gathering on November 29, 2012 outside the Fair Trade Commission. Meanwhile, overseas Taiwanese students have been expressing their support by uploading photos with the following slogans [zh]:
Collage of support photos from Taiwanese students in Europe. Photo from Facebook Page: Taiwan EU Watch. Non Commercial Use.
反對媒體壟斷
拒絕中國黑手
捍衛新聞自由
我在___守護台灣
Against Media Monopoly
Reject the black hand from China
Defend Free Press
Protect Taiwan in_______
Back home, students from eastern and southern part of Taiwan travelled to Taipei to join the November 29 protest. Wang Weilong （黃瑋隆）was among one these students and he made a video to record his feelings and journey:
It turned out that more than 30 universities [zh] had student representatives in the protest and they marched together from the Executive Yuan to the Legislative Yuan so as to put pressure on their representatives to follow up the legislation of anti-media monopoly law.
In reaction to the student protest actions, the head of the Taiwan Education Bureau issued a letter on November 30, 2012 asking various universities’ student affairs offices to pay attention to their students’ health and hand in the list of students who had participated in the protest. The document leaked out and outraged the students who issued a statement [zh] condemning the Education Bureau for being hypocritical in showing their care:
我們要再次呼籲政府勿破壞台灣民主自由的根基。在行政院前，我們面對警棍、盾牌與鎮暴警察；在公平會，我們面對層層拒馬與鐵絲網；回到校園裡，我們又必須被教官、校方關切。我們想告訴蔣偉寧部長：「報告部長，我們有理想，我們想捍衛台灣的言論自由與民主，我們很健康。但是教育部病了，企圖壓制學生運動；而這個國家也病了，她的自由根基正被掏空」。
We appeal to the government not to undermine the foundations of democracy and freedom in Taiwan anymore. We were faced with riot police armed with batons and shields outside Executive Yuan, barricades and iron net outside the Fair Trade Commission. Back to school campus, we have to be cared for by school officers. We want to tell the head of Education Bureau, Chiang Wei-Ling, “Chief, we have a dream, we want to defend Taiwan's democracy and freedom. We are very healthy, but the Education Bureau is sick. It tries to repress the students’ movement. This country is sick, its foundation for freedom has been eroded away.”

author: Oiwan Lam


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The Struggle of 15-Year-Old Hukou Protester in China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

C. Custer from China Geeks told the story of a 15-year-old girl activist, Zhan Haite,  who struggles against the unjust household registration system in China.
Zhan may be an interesting example of what I might term the “dissidentification” of Chinese protesters. I have noticed and mentioned before how people frustrated with a specific issue in China seem to eventually become protesters and advocates in a more broad sense. Six months ago, Zhan was just a student, and shortly after that, she was just an opponent of Shanghai’s hukou policy.


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Uzbek Theater Stages a Multicultural Play · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Ilkhom Theater, perhaps the only genuinely independent theater in Uzbekistan, has staged Henrik Ibsen‘s well-known 1881 play Ghosts. As Sanjar writes [ru] on NewEurasia.net, the staging is a multicultural effort:
Just imagine, it is a classic Norwegian play, staged [in Uzbekistan] by a Turkmen director, featuring Uzbek, Russian, and American actors, staged in Russian, with support from the Indian Academy of Dramatic Arts – you cannot miss this cultural ‘mix'!

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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A Festival to Celebrate Free Software in Nicaragua · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Talks, workshops, and exhibitions are all part of the schedule for the National Free Software Festival to be held in Managua, Nicaragua on December 12, 2012. There will also be a celebration of Creative Commons’ 10th Anniversary with a featured round-table discussion about free licenses and copyright issues.

author: Eduardo Avila


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A Research On Gender Sensitive Speech Online · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Internet Democracy project in India is conducting a research project that looks at how women in India, who are social media users, deal with speech addressed to them online that makes them feel uncomfortable as women. You can also participate – details are here. Deadline 15 December, 2012.

author: Rezwan


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Access Innovation Prize 2012 Recognizes Costa Rican Facebook App · Global Voices
Jenny Cascante Gonzalez

On December 10, 2012, non-profit organization Access.org announced the winners of the 1 Annual Access Tech Innovation Prize Awards. The awards intended to convene initiatives from across the world that applied communication and technology while addressing issues that are important to their community.
The contest was divided into five categories, and besides receiving a monetary reward, winners have the opportunity to be part of ongoing collaboration and integration with Access.
The contest received hundreds of applications from different parts of the world, as the organizers explained:
Across the five categories, we received over 300 applications from 66 countries, and finalist projects stood out for their impact, likelihood, innovation, and measurability.
Costa Rican digital advertising agency BigWebNoise was announced as one of the winners for its online platform FueraJustoOrozco.com [es] (“out Justo Orozco“), sharing the award with other three finalists in the category ‘Access/Facebook’.
BigWebNoise describes the app in the Access blog:
In June 2012, an ultraconservative congressman in Costa Rica became president of an internal entity created to defend Human Rights. His votes subsequently vetoed draft bills that were key for the establishment of civil rights. At BigWebNoise, a digital advertising agency, we developed an online Facebook-integrated app- FueraJustoOrozco.com- in order to channel the population´s widespread backlash against the congressman. In only two weeks, fifteen thousand people “put their faces” to demand his resignation… nearly the same amount of votes that put him in Congress in the first place. We intend to turn FueraJustoOrozco.com into an easily customizable and intuitive open-source application; one that can be replicated, used freely and for free by organizations and social movements in support of causes that require mobilization, peaceful protesting and visibility anywhere in the world.
Netizens from all over the world followed the awards ceremony through Twitter. Such is the case of Andrew Rasiej (@Rasiej), who tweeted from New York:
@Rasiej: At the #techprize12 [event] organized by @accessnow I am struck by how many great new faces are joining battle for #HumanRights online
Neal Ungerleider (@nealunger) also expressed emotion with his tweet:
@nealunger: Just stopped by @accessnow #TechPrize12. So many good tech-4-human-rights projects being worked on
You can find more tweets on the awards ceremony and on the different winners in each category under the hashtag #TechPrize12 and on the @accessnow Twitter account.

author: Jenny Cascante Gonzalez


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Tibet Scholars Appeal to China’s President Xi Jinping · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A group of international Tibetan studies scholars launched a petition addressed to China's Xi Jinping, asking the new leader to adjust its language, culture and religion policy in the Tibetan region:
As specialists in the areas of Tibetan language, culture and religion, we would like to share with you, through this letter, our own concerns about the various measures that jeopardize the continuing viability of this civilization, a civilization that is one of the treasures of humanity and for which the Chinese government has clearly stated its responsibility.
80 Tibet scholars have signed the cause. The Chinese version is at Woser's Blog [zh].


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China: Fake RMB Donations Triggers Online Debate  · Global Voices
Abby Liu

On December 8, foreign consulates in Guangzhou, Southern China held a Christmas charity bazaar to raise funds for disabled children. The event raised 330,000 RMB (about US$53,000), but the Belgian consulate found out that  5,000 RMB turned out to be fake currency. The news led to a heated discussion online. TeaLeafNation covered the news with details.

author: Abby Liu


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China’s Disempowered Urban Planners Build Support Through Weibo · Global Voices
Abby Liu

China is experiencing major urban expansion and urban planners should shoulder greater responsiblity in development. However, urban planners in China have little freedom or final say on projects, as the government and the developers are the main decision makers.
Since 2011, urban planners have found a new way to make their voices heard: they use Weibo (China's twitter) to communicate their work to the public and to criticize improper planning strategies forced upon them by the government. They are essentially attempting to transfer Chinese urban planning from a closed government establishment into an open public participation platform.
Frustrations of Urban Planners:
According to Southern Weekly [zh], there are around 16,000 registered urban planners in China, theoretically responsible for everything from the layout of the city to the planning of a small road. However, according to a recent interview in Southern Weekly, most city planners admit that their work in China is often compromised. One urban planner stated:
Government leaders usually have a strong opinion about the projects, although sometimes their ideas are not scientific. For example, leaders like wide roads and large squares.
Huang Hu, a urban planner with 8-year work experience complained to Southern Weekly:
We sometimes have to go through 20 assessment meetings for one project, the meetings will never end until the developer and the government say yes. Since the planning concerns the interests of many parties, we often have to go to a lot of meetings during the daytime, and work on our draft at night. As a result, there's not enough time to focus on real work. Compared with western city planners, we only use 1/3 or less of the time to finish the project. Real research is also a luxury.
Another problem is the lack of public participation. Although public participation mechanism was introduced to China by the end of last century, it still remains  just on paper instead of in practice. Urban planner Mao Mingrui also told the Southern Weekly:
There's no technical tools to evaluate public opinions, and it's very hard for city planners to make their voices heard through drawings
Wang Peng from Planning and Design Institute of Tsinghua University added:
“The leaders have the final say, there's no opportunities for ordinary citizens to voice their opinions.”
Building change through Chinese social media
Since 2011, more and more city planners have found a new platform to communicate with the public by using Weibo, which helped urban planning become more transparent and involving.
According to Southern Weekly, 80 percent of Chinese city planners are using Weibo(China's twitter). A screen shot of Weibo front page.
According to Southern Weekly, 80 percent of city planners use Weibo. They are the most critical group towards urban planning in China. For Ma Xiangming, chief engineer of Urban and Rural Planning Institute in Guangdong Province, his tweet changed the fate of the old buildings in Guangdong. In 2011, Ma tweeted about the demolition of old buildings on a street in Guangdong. Little did he realize that his post was soon retweeted thousands of times before it elevated into a public debate. Media[zh] also reported on it. Within 7 days, the city planning bureau decided to keep the old building due to pressure from the public.
This might be the first time a planner has realized the power of public opinion. Yin Zhi, Dean of Urban Planning and Design Research Institute from Tsinghua University, told the journalist: “A good urban planning is the joined effort by government, planners and the public.”
City Planner Wang Peng wrote on his Weibo calling for more public participation:
It's more effective to use social media to hear all citizens’ voices to ensure their right to protect the city they live.


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China’s Weibo Guru Kai-fu Lee Talks About Higher Education Issues  · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Prominent figure in Chinese internet sector Kai-Fu Lee pointed out the problems in China's higher education. He tweeted on Dec 10[zh], translation here:


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Croatia’s EU Negotiation Model: A View From Turkey · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

At BlogActiv.com, Kader Sevinç shares highlights [en] from her interview [hr] with the Croatian daily Slobodna Dalmacija, in which she talked about Turkey’s accession to the EU and the Croatian model for the EU negotiations – “a multi-party model overcoming deep political fractures over the EU membership target.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Deadly Storm in the Philippines: “Everything was flying. It was surreal.” · Global Voices
Julius Rocas

As tropical storm Pablo (International name Bopha) dissipates over the waters off the shores of northern Philippines, survivors, volunteers and government agencies struggle to recover and rebuild from its destructive and deadly rage after sweeping through the island of Mindandao last December 4.
The latest government figures are heart-breaking: 647 are dead, 1,482 are injured with 720 are still missing. On top of which thousands of families have been displaced. With the damage to property and agriculture running into the billions of pesos, typhoon Pablo has become the most destructive storm to ravage the Philippines this year.
Ninorey recalls the day his family endured in the eye of the storm:
A house was completely destroyed in Baganga, Davao Oriental. Photo from @flippy0721
Typhoon Pablo (Int. name Bopha) made landfall at Davao Oriental on December 4, 2012, at around 8-9am. initial reports show footages of strong winds and rising waters. We were bracing for the worst. Then at 9am, the power went down. Immediately, everyone in the family kicked of in emergency mode, stocking all empty containers with clean water, what with the past experiences of Typhoon Sendong.
Winds start to stir so bad that trees were swaying wildly. I tried installing a makeshift wind vane and at least two of them were blown. The last one was made of strong string and light plastic so it withstood the mighty winds. Rain was pouring wildly, and the radio is reporting gradual rise in water levels around rivers and streams in the provinces.
When I was fixing some leaks in our balcony, the wind blew so hard that it was hard to hold the door without being pushed away. The iron roofs started to dance and bounce. (It does sound funny, but when you hear it for real, you'll wet your pants. It is freakin scary). My mom went around the house panicking, and while we tried to calm her, the wind started to whistle. A whistle so deep and horrifying it almost brought us to tears. I thought, man, I only hear those in the movies, and I can't believe I'm hearing it now. I stood as I watched the tarpaulins, the leaves and torn branches blown across the road in front. Everything was flying. It was surreal.
Marie recalls her experience of living through the storm:
Yes, I did experience Typhoon Pablo's strength even if I am here in Davao that sad day of December 4. We're placed under Storm signal Number 2. In here, I heard the rumbling of the winds. I've witnessed the movement of the roofs nearby and also the slamming of the doors. I kept thinking how the typhoon might be like in my hometown where Pablo made its landfall.
Another Filipina blogger ‘Kaloka’, found it hard to believe that typhoon Pablo has ravaged through her hometown while in the past, she was happy that storms rarely visited their place:
All my life, I am always bragging that even if I live and grow up in a tropical country where a least 20 typhoons are expected visitors in a year, my hometown has always been typhoon-free. Isn’t it very liveable? But what happened to the world? Is this now the effect of drastic climate change?
Filipina blogger ‘Gagay’ feels a sense of guilt that she was far from her family when they lost their roof as typhoon Pablo swept through their town:
More than a thousand people were staying in this basketball court-turned evacuation center when the roof blew off during the storm. Photo from @imogenwall
It’s pretty worrisome to think that, whether you believe it or not, the family had the very first ever roofless night in the midst of typhoon just an hour or two after it started pouring out heavy rains and whispering winds. It has washed out the house’s concrete roof. Just imagine how the waters came inside the house after the roof were detached. Though there were no flooding, but the interior of the house, all of our stuff were truly wet. From clothes kept at the shelves in each bedrooms, kitchen wares and to all electronic gadgets at home which include even my father’s mobile phone, they all were bathed by rain waters.
Knowing that incidence and the fact that I am far from my family really caused me to feel guilty. I couldn’t do anything to comfort my family. And because there were no electricity, I can’t call and talk with them on phone as often as I wanted to. I really feel sorry.
In the aftermath of Pablo's destruction, Filipinos from all over the country have mobilized to help out the victims. The internet and social media once more plays an instrumental role in the relief efforts and not just with documenting the horrendous effects of the storm.
Father Joel Tabora, S.J. from the Ateneo de Davao University recounts what they've seen during their relief efforts:
Entering the Municipality of Compostela was like entering a warzone, its hectares and hectares of banana and fruit trees flattened. Even concrete houses were demolished. The GI-sheets of a warehouse for rice were strewn over the fields, its trusses and beams twisted grotesquely. The Assumption Academy of Compostela was 80% destroyed. Its newly built-gymnasium lost its roof. Library books were totally obliterated. Computers and sewing machines had been inundated by waist-high floods. All the school’s administrative records are gone. The convent of Sr. Erlinda Factura, FMA, was similarly destroyed. There, the floods were neck high. Only rooms on the second floor could still be used to provide emergency shelter for teachers. CRs however were not functioning. People there have no food. No potable water. No signal. Electricity is expected to return after at least two months.
Other netizens have joined the call for help, tweeting, blogging and updating their Facebook accounts with messages of support and information on how to help the victims of typhoon Pablo. As the year comes to an end, Christmas of 2012 will definitely be celebrated with a mark of sadness and reflection.

author: Julius Rocas


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Egypt: “Which Article of the Constitution Are You Objecting?” · Global Voices
Rayna St.

Recent events in Egypt have demonstrated the deepening rift between the ruling Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and an increasing proportion of the population. President Mohamed Morsi first issued a decree making him the almighty ruler of the country which granted him the kind name of Morsilini (a portemanteau of “Morsi” and “Musolini”). The decree also shielded the Constitutional Assembly, the 85-member entity with Islamist majority writing the Constitution, from possible dissolution by a court order.
After a few resignations from the Constitutional Assembly, the ruling Brotherhood appointed replacements. A Constitution voting marathon followed, resulting in all of the 243 articles of the constitution being voted nearly unanimously in one night. President Morsi next imposed the Constitution to be voted through a referendum on December 15, 2012, which only amplified the outcry. Opposition groups have been asking for a delay, a demand the MB and the President kindly turned a deaf ear to.
Since then, calls for boycott or — more importantly, — for a ‘NO’ vote have been gaining force. A great number of documents have flourished, outlining the “32 reasons to vote ‘NO’ to the Constitution draft” [ar], a 2-page flyer [ar] and a collaborative Google Doc [ar] explaining why the current Constitution is dangerous and damaging have been widely circulated through social media.
Even more worryingly, Egypt's Supreme Electoral Commission asked for the annulment of a 1956 law allowing people to vote on public referendums regardless of their home constituency. In another decree — definitely, one of Morsi's fortes, — the President has agreed upon the Electoral Commission's demand which bans people from voting outside their electoral district, a move denounced as a way to restrict people from voting. Not respecting this new rule will be punished by a fine of LE500 (~ USD80 ). Egyptian video producer and blogger Mohamed Abdelfattah ironically joked:
@mfatta7: Before agreeing on a constitution, Egypt's political forces should have a binding article calling everything off on weekends.
Fostering the current political uncertainty was defined by some as ‘the point of no return’, and in a disturbing follow-up of the violent clashes having unfolded last week, the army was also granted an exceptional authority to arrest civilians during the referendum.
Meanwhile, a great number of pro-MB Twitter accounts have blossomed, all surveying the Twittersphere for critics [ar], asking them the same question: “So, which article of the Constitution are you objecting?”, then trying to justify the draft denounced as contrary to human rights:
@ibrahimbassion1:  الدستور الفرنسي الحالي الذى يعد من افضل دساتير العالم،نتيجة التصويت عليه 63%،المواد المعترض عليها تفوق بكثير المختلف عليها في الدستور المصري
The current French constitution which is considered one of the best constitutions in the world was voted for by 63% despite having far more articles that were disputed.
Egyptian blogger Moftasa shows how much room for discussion is left featuring an image from one of the numerous footages from last week's violence:
“So which article do you oppose?”
While people discuss the participation to the referendum, and do their best to amplify the ‘NO’ vote voice, Wael Abbas from the independent blog Misr Digital published a leak [ar, en] from an upcoming interview of Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil. On the widely-decried Sharia'a law clause of the Constitution, Qandil is supposed to answer:
The new constitution will incorporate a longstanding section that incorporates some of the “principles” of Sharia law. At the same time it will make Copts and Jews abide by their own religious laws regarding their personal matters, as well as it will be broad enough to satisfy the secular concerns.
The Prime Minister is also seemingly trying to reassure the international community on the fears that Egypt is slowly turning into Iran:
Egyptians have special nature, they are moderately religious, welcoming and accepting other cultures, religions, nationalities. The fact that the President and the majority of the people’s assembly are from the freedom and justice party – the political arm of the Muslim brotherhood — doesn’t necessitates that Egypt will be a theocratic state, on the contrary Egypt is a civil state and is experiencing a democratic transition, which aims at achieving development in various fields.
Qandil also supposedly dismisses the “illogical” stance of the opposition:
Actually, we welcome negotiations with other political and opposition groups however they wanted it to be “conditional negotiations” based on rolling back the constitutional declaration as well dissolving the constituent assembly before starting negotiations. This is illogical.
Blogging for the Foreign Policy hosted ‘Transitions’, Egyptian blogger Mohamed ElDahshan timely concludes:
Painting society as a pro-Islam vs. anti-Islam binary choice isn't a political dispute — it's a civil one. Because there isn't a region, a street, a family where people don't disagree about politics; if this kitchen table conversation is transformed into one about faith, then we're lost. And the damage will reach all the way to the deepest threads of the society that we love to compare — mostly thanks to a Christian minority that throws in some diversity — to a complex, tightly woven tapestry.
This is a fabric that the Brotherhood is now working overtime to unravel. Is this deliberate or is it a terrible miscalculation? The latest government fiasco (decreeing new taxes and then rescinding them hours later) suggests that there is remarkably little thought going into critical decisions.
Morsi is probably not the only decision-maker. The hydra's two other heads have a mind of their own — and they are not shy about expressing it, either. (Both Khairat Al Shater and Mohamed Badie held press conferences justifying the government's response to the clashes, even though they have no official government positions whatsoever.) All this makes me feel that pessimism is justified.
The ball is now in the president's six hands. And this does not bode well.

author: Rayna St.


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Global Voices: Where Every Voice Counts · Global Voices
Sana Saleem

Every year Human Rights Day provides an opportunity, to many of us, to highlight issues that matter to us and to advocate  human rights for all. This year the spotlight is on the rights of  people – the poor, the  marginalized and the disingenuous, women and  youth and those across the gender spectrum. Every one has the right to be heard and the right to participate.
The idea that every voice counts is one that is very close to the  notion of Global Voices as a platform and as a community. As netizens unite to have their voices heard when the world's authorities argue  on who should run the internet, we decided to ask our  diverse community to participate and speak out on issues that matter to them and look back at issues we have covered over the year bearing in mind that every voice counts.
Global Voices community members make their #VoiceCount. Image collage by author.
With Syria and Gaza plunging into information by pulling the plug on the internet, the right to access remained one of the most pertinent issues. Our special coverage included Syria,archiving online reactions to Syria's internet blackout and the resurgence as parts of Syria regained connectivity, protests in Bahrain and Yemen amid media blackout, conflict voices from Caucasus and Sudan revolts, in-depth coverage of Russia's protest movements,bearing witness to Egypt's historic presidential elections and the aftermath and the intense elections in Venezuela, seeking indigenous voices representing 370 million people that speak more than 4000 languages, a spotlight on the forgotten voices of Myanmar's Rohnigya, keeping an eye on the worldwide #occupy movements and SlutWalks a new protest movement defending women's rights and  most importantly monitoring and defending internet freedom,  free speech and freedom to access with Global Voices Advocacy evolving in to a community determined to take a stand.
Then there were other stories that needed the world's attention as we stood true to the notion that we are reminded of today; every voice counts.Qatar's life imprisonment of a poet that praised Arab spring,Russia's crackdown on online satire, women being barred and penalized from using mobile phones in villages in India, stricter SIM card registration process hampering communication in Zambia, Pakistan's consistent pursuit to replicate the great firewall of China, Tajikistan blocking of facebook and summoning Mark Zuckerberg – a move startlingly similar to that of Pakistani authorities, Internet companies overlooking user privacy, the fight for free expression as authorities muscle in more control, we continued to speak out against impunity and for justice for threatened voices, these are the few issues global voices as a community has been able to bring attention to. As we move forward towards the end of the year, there will be a more comprehensive overview of the year through the eyes of the networked.

author: Sana Saleem


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Human Rights Issues in Singapore · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

We call on the government to recognize, respect and fulfil social and cultural rights of all Singaporeans and to review its developmental mindset that overvalues economic growth to the detriment of our society's identity and disappearing heritage.
Think Centre identifies several human rights issues in Singapore.

author: Mong Palatino


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Independent French Data Journalism Website OWNI Under Threat of Closure · Global Voices
Rayna St.

[All links point to French sources unless otherwise stated]
News of the imminent demise of OWNI (OWNI.fr), an independent French data journalism media outlet, surfaced last week. Famous for its close collaboration with WikiLeaks, OWNI (a french play on words that could be translated into “Unidentified Web Object”) developed the WarLogs application and conducted a great deal of analyses on the SpyFiles among others, and has been consistently reporting on surveillance, internet governance and freedom online. The debate on how to make independent online news media outlet sustainable has been raging for a few years now in France.
According to reports, muddy internal reorganization efforts threaten a number of OWNI's journalists. There are a total of 17 employees 11 of whom are journalists, and it is unclear how many of them would be pushed out during the current restructuring limbo. Tensions between investors and the director of publication pushed the latter to leave the ‘flying saucer’, as OWNI afficionados kindly name the media.
Here is a video presenting the OWNI team by Rage Mag :
Under the hashtag #OWNIoupas (another french play on words that translates into “to OWNI or not”, referring to Hamlet's “to be or not to be”), journalists launched a wiki where the discussion is engaged with netizens under the leitmotif: “OWNI ne ferme pas. OWNI est à vendre” (“OWNI is not closing. OWNI is for sale”).
#OWNIoupas, screenshot of the home page of the website.
The initiative aims at establishing a new economic model for the media and sustaining its unique position in the media scene. In order to give people enough time to contribute with ideas, OWNI journalists set up a 72-hour break:
@OWNI: Vous pouvez nous écrire sur demain@owni.fr On vous répond après la pause de 72h #OWNIoupas Propositions sur le wiki http://bit.ly/TMd86p
You can drop us a mail at demain@owni.fr. We'll answer back after our 72-hour break #OWNIoupas For ideas, use the wiki http://bit.ly/TMd86p
The goal of the conversation is stated by a cryptic tweet:
@OWNI: #OWNIoupas. Donc. http://owni.fr
#OWNIoupas. Therefore. http://owni.fr [A somewhat encrypted way to say that the question is not whether to shut down the website but to come up with sustainable ideas to make it live]
Many netizens spoke out in support of the “pure player” outlet:
@ParisMagik: C'est un mélange de démocratie et de liberté qui se meurt. Pendant que les autres continuent leur spectacle. #OWNIoupas
It is a mixture of democracy and freedom that is about to die. Meanwhile, all the others continue their show.
@JM_De_Marchi: #OWNI met son site en pause, lance un appel à contributions sur owni.fr et Twitter avec #OWNIoupas et cherche des investisseurs
#OWNI gives the site a break, kicks off a call for participations through owni.fr and Twitter with #OWNIoupas, and searches for investors
@RodolpheBaron: A travers @OWNI la question du modèle écode la #Presseweb se pose avec honnêteté mais aussi brutalité. http://owni.fr/ #OWNIoupas
Through @OWNI, the question of [sustainable] economic models for web media outlets is addressed with honesty but also brutality. #OWNIoupas
@micro_ouvert: Cher père Noël, tu veux bien amener un investisseur (pas con) sous le sapin d’@OWNI ? Steuplé. #OWNIoupas
Dear Santa, would you be so kind to bring an investor (not a dull one) under @ONWI's Christmas tree? Please. #OWNIoupas
@MorganeGB: WTF ? Open home — Avis aux amateurs, “Owni ferme donc on l'ouvre” http://owni.fr/ #OWNIoupas
WTF? Open home — Calling all amateurs, “Owni shuts down, thus we open it” http://owni.fr/ #OWNIoupas
OWNI's @manhack curated a Storify with a lot of heartening reactions in support of the endeavour, and interesting suggestions.


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India: The Menace Of Eve-Teasing · Global Voices
Rezwan

Main Toki at The Broken Scooter highlights the challenges to tackle Eve-teasing, sexual harassment of women in public places. In India the law exists but it does not define eve-teasing in proper terms and the fines are negligible.


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Japan’s First Live Streamed Political Debate · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

Campaign season has begun in Japan. On December 4, 2012 the government officially announced that the House of Representatives general election would be held on December 16. Now each party is eager to get the right attention from the media, as they desperately try to defend themselves from criticism.
Japan's popular live streaming platform Nico Nico Douga hosted the country's first live streamed political debate on November 29, 2012. Presidents from ten different political parties joined the debate.
image captured from live stream of Nico Nico Douga hosting cross party talk on November 29, 2012 (with comments on) at live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv117108126
Pre-debate controversy
Nico Nico Douga had asked 14 parties to join the debate but the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) initially showed concerns, calling the site “extremely biased” and that it would “destroy the good tradition of political debate”.
In response, the president of Dowango, the company that runs Nico Nico Douga, released a document [ja] on November 26, in protest to DPJ for the remarks made by Jun Azumi from DPJ, the acting party secretary-general. DPJ, later accepted their offer with a proposal, which Jiji news reported was that Jun Azumi (DPJ) suggested that an editorial writer from a major newspaper who is neutral should moderate the discussion [ja].
The president of Dowango's original letter of opposition was later withdrawn on December 3 and was replaced with following comment [ja]. (Note: You can read the original document along with netizen's reactions translated in English on japanCRUSH's website.)
11月26日、民主党に提出した抗議書については、提出後、民主党との会談を持ち、
11月29日のネット党首討論会に野田佳彦代表が出演した事実をもって、取り下げることとした。
I decided to withdraw the letter of opposition submitted to DPJ on November 26 because talks were held with DPJ after submission, and because Yoshihiko Noda decided to join the online debate on cross party talks on November 29.
Nico Nico Douga Live
Over 1.4 million people watched the debate live on Nico Nico Douga and mirror broadcasts were also available on other Nico Nico channels and also on Ustream.
Here are selected tweets from the cross party talks hashtag #党首討論 about the debate:
@batatetsu ニコニコでやってる党首討論、登壇してる党首たちが「ネットユーザーのみなさん」って呼びかけてるけど、まるで特殊な集団がいるみたいだな。ただの国民だろ。 #党首討論
@batatetsu At the cross party debate on Nico Nico, presidents of political parties are calling us “Internet users” as if we are a special group of people. Come on, we are just any other citizen here. #党首討論
@yosdady 今回のニコ生は、どの党がどうって言うより、「偏った司会者や、評論家は、いらない」ってことだよね。それをTV好きの人に気づいて欲しいな。 #党首討論
@yosdady The livecast on Nico Nico Douga made us realize that “we don't need a biased host or professional critics”, rather (we need to know) which party we should vote for. I hope people who are only concerned about what's on television, realize this. #党首討論
The moderators check the comment on white monitor in front of him. image captured from live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv117108126
Live comments?
While Nicofarre is designed to showcase live comments on its 360 degree surrounding monitor, it did not showcase the live comments during the discussion but only showed comments briefly from time to time when the host decided to break the discussion and move to another topic.
@emu0n 普段のテレビから比べたら開かれた #党首討論 だったけど普段のニコニコから比べたら閉じられた党首討論だった気がします。コメントくらいずっと表示して欲しかった。
@emu0n I think the debate was much more open compared to conventional television broadcasts, but it was not as open as how Nico Nico livecasts normally are. I wish they had shown comments [on surrounding monitors] the whole time.
@ikeda_seitaro うわ、このイベントひどいわ。リアルタイムに視聴者のコメントを流さなきゃ意味ないだろ……。 ( #党首討論 live at http://ustre.am/RfAg )
@ikeda_seitaro Yuck, this event is terrible. It doesn't mean a thing if they don't showcase the live comments from online viewers in real time. (#党首討論 live at http://ustre.am/RfAg )
@sedaikakusa コメントの紹介はいらない。見ていて恥ずかしい ( #党首討論 live at http://ustre.am/RfAg )
@sedaikakusa Please. No need to show these comments. It's embarrassing just seeing them. ( #党首討論 live at http://ustre.am/RfAg )
Comments from online viewers of Nico Nico, showcased on monitors behind the politicians. image captured from live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv117108126
There were active discussions on 2channel‘s [ja] online bulletin boards, about the comments on Nico Nico live and its feature that allows bans on particular words. Besides an existing banned word list, the broadcasters of Nico Nico live can set additional words not to appear on the comments stream. Some users complained about this additional banning function, saying that they couldn't post jeering comments during the debate. The default banned word list can be found here* [ja] The archive of the debate can be watched here.
*Please note that the link to NG words includes offensive terms and inappropriate terms in Japanese.

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Kallxo.com: Crowdmapping Corruption in Kosovo · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Responding to this discussion on the impact of crowdsourced anti-corruption initiatives, Alexis Franke of UNDP's Voices From Eurasia writes about Kallxo.com, “a project that encourages citizens to report cases of corruption in Kosovo via a Ushahidi-based platform.”


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Land Grabbing for BioFuel in Madagascar  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

The Association for the Protection of Malagasy Lands and its representative Mamy Rakotondrainibe bemoans [fr] the manner in which the Tozzi Green group is approaching the development of jatropha exploitation over 100 000 ha of lands in Southern Madagascar. Local farmers are quoted as saying [fr] :
We, small farmers, are forced to leave the land by armed people. The lack of lands for our Zebus to feed on have already caused the deaths of our livestock. They have also already desecrated the holy land where our ancestors were born with their tanks.
Tozzi Green Group strongly denies [fr] all the accusations stated by the farmers association.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Lao Startup Wins ASEAN Award · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Lao IT Dev, a startup based in Laos, has won the 1st Asean ICT Award in the Digital Content category. It publishes the e-corner magazine which is the major source of IT-related news in Laos.


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Mexico: “What is it like to live in Monterrey, really?”  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The city continues to have several positive and unique aspects to it. But what has changed? We are not caught between crossfire, held at gunpoint or witness beheadings on a daily basis, but the difference from years back is that now is the presence of fear for these things actually happening and our conduct adapting accordingly.
Arjan Shahani in the Americas Quarterly blog shares his experience living in Monterrey, Mexico, focusing on “how daily life has changed for middle-class citizens as a result of the violence and how societal interaction today is less regulated by a rule of law and more so by a rule of fear.”


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Movement to “Respect The Constitution” in Ethiopia · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

A group of young Ethiopian bloggers and activists based in Addis Ababa teamed up with Ethiopian netizens to demand their government to start respecting the Ethiopian Constitution. The #RespectTheConstitution campaign features both on Facebook and Twitter and it gives information about how the Ethiopian government is violating its own constitution.
On Facebook the group created a fan and event page which are growing rapidly. The campaign has called upon the ruling party not to instill fear among Ethiopians rather to inspire citizens to say ‘no to unconstitutional fear’ Befeqadu, a Global Voice Amharic Editor sharedthe following message which has become viral on Facebook:
Facebook banner saying “Respect the Constitution” [amh]. Image source: Respect the Constitution Facebook page.
ፍርሐት ሕገ-መንግሥታዊ አይደለም፤ የአንድን አገር የሰብኣዊ መብት ጥሰት ባሕል እና ታሪክ መንሰራፋት የሚያረጋግጥ እውነታ እንጂ! ፍርሐት አርቆ አሳቢነትን ይገላል፣ ብሎም የተሻለ ነገን የመፈለግ እና የማለም አቅም ያሳጣል። ፍርሐት እንቅፋት ነው፣ ፍርሐት መንፈስን ሰብሮ ሐሳብና ምናብ ያሳጣል፤ ነጻነት ግን ፈቃድ ላይ የተመሰረተ ነው፣ ነጻነት ያበረታታል፣ ነጻነት ሰላማዊ ነው፣ ነጻነት ይታገሳል፣ ነጻነት ፍቅር ያቃል፣ ነጻነት ከሁሉም ይልቃል፣ ነጻነት ማለቂያ የለውም/ዘላቂ ነው፡፡ ራዕይ የሌለው ሕዝብ ይባክናል ይባላል፡፡ ኢሕአዴግ ሕዝቡን በፍርሐት ግድግዳ በማጠርና ሐሳብን በነጻ የመግለጽ ተፈጥሯዊ መብታችንን በመገደብ ሕዝባችንን እያባከነው ነው፡፡ ሕገ-መንግሥቱን በማክበር እና ኢሕአዴግም እንዲያከብረው በመጠየቅ ኢትዮጵያን እናድን፡፡ ሕገ-መንግሥቱ ይከበር
FEAR is unconstitutional and evidence of the entrenched culture and history of gross human rights violations in our country. Fear kills imagination and inhibits the potential to aspire and envision a better future. Fear is limiting and discouraging. Fear cripples the spirit and shatter ideas and ideals. Freedom is allowing, Freedom inspires, Freedom is peaceful, Freedom tolerates, Freedom Loves, Freedom transcends, Freedom sustains. They say without vision people perish. EPRDF is driving the nation to perish by creating a wall of fear and denying our inherent right to freedom of speech and expression. Save Ethiopia by Respecting and Demanding EPRDF to #RespectTheConstitution! ሕገ-መንግሥቱ ይከበር!
Meanwhile, Ethiopian Muslims after Friday’s prayers staged a peaceful protest named after Article 27 of the Ethiopian Constitution which is about freedom of religion, belief and opinion. They have shared their peaceful protest in pictures.
Ethiopians muslims protesting on 7 December, 2012 at Grand Anwar Mosque against government interference into their affairs. Number 27 refers to the freedom of religion article in the Ethiopian constitution . Photo courtesy of Dimtsachin Yisema Facebook page.
On Twitter the #RespectTheConstitution hashtag created a buzz. CPJ’s Africa Media program observed:
@africamedia_CPJ: #Ethiopia's twittosphere buzzes with #RespectTheConstitutionechoing #protests for religious & other freedoms #socialmedia #FF@BillGates
Almost all the Provisions/Articles of the Constitution are being changed into tweets. Kirubel Teshome tweeted:
Freedom of thought, speech and expression are the most inflated and expensive commodities in #Ethiopia today.#RespectTheConstitution!
Daniel Beyene tweeted:
@DanielBeyene: The media have the right to report freely and to criticize any action of the government #FreeMedia #RespectTheConstitution #Ethiopia
KweschnMedia has also tweeted:
@KweschnMedia: Art. 29:5 “media controlled by gov shall b organized in a manner suitable 4 accommodation of differences of opinion”#RespectTheConstitution
Mahlet Solomon tweeted:
@MahletSolomon: Dec8th ,FDRE will mark the 18thyr of the adoption of the constitution while having 1000s in prison for exercising their right #RespectTheConstitution

author: Endalkachew Chala


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Netizens “Bow Farewell” to Guyanese Writer Jan Carew · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Guyanese writer Jan Carew passed away at his home in Louisville, Kentucky on December 5th. He was 92. One of the most prominent West Indian writers of his generation, Carew was a poet, playwright, novelist and scholar. He was best known for his 1958 novel “Black Midas” and his 1964 polemic “Moscow Is Not My Mecca”. In addition to his literary work, Carew was a noted political (he was a staunch Pan-Africanist) and environmental activist. Carew is survived by his wife Dr. Joy Gleason Carew, two daughters and a son.
Demerara Waves noted that Carew's daughter Shantoba described her father's career as a mission:
He had a unique perspective on what it is to have a mission in life because every decade he seemed to have a new career but the goal is always the same to have done something in life.
Black Left Unity shared a old profile of Carew written by his friend and fellow activist Eusi Kwayana:
Many Caribbean writers and in English thinkers have overcome the undignified foster mothering of  their mother-deprived subjected populations and have sparked stream of thought and consciousness in the world's thinking. Carew stands out as the one who restlessly fought in the English language to restore the personality of ancient American civilisations and their descendants. Grenada also left a picture of the communications network which the indigenous  people enjoyed even after Columbus, of their long boat journeys, their conferences, and federations in the interest of the sovereignty.
Marvin X. Jackmon remembered meeting both Jan Carew and Barbardian writer Austin Clarke:
We shall always remember the great Guyanese writer Jan Carew! I met him while in Toronto, Canada, 1967, having gone their as a draft resister to the war in Vietnam. I first met Austin Clarke, the Barbadian novelist, then he introduced me to Jan Carew. The three of us met several times during the six months of my Canadian exile. We had lively discussions because Jan and Austin were at opposite ideological poles, maybe I was in the middle, although I would say I was closer to Jan's position as a revolutionary. Since both these men were my elders, I would do a lot of listening, for Austin had published novels and so had Jan, plus Jan had been around the world, one of his novels was Moscow is not My Mecca, about the experiences of a black man in the Communist camp.
Jackmon remembers Carew telling him how hard it was to be an activist:
He talked about the ineluctable energy needed to maintain revolutionary consciousness, to transform oneself from the oppressed man to the brother man. Jan Carew, thank you for the wisdom you shared with me during that special time in my life as a young writer/activist.
Professor Norman Girvan linked to a tribute by Ourstorian from the beginning of the year:
Okay, at the risk of giving the false impression it is exhaustive, here is a list of labels that also help to delineate the portrait of the man—poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, painter, historian, critic, journalist, educator, editor, publisher, cook. I threw that last one in because anyone who knows Jan appreciates his skills in the kitchen. It is yet another attribute that is part of the Carew mystique and charm. Undoubtedly, such talents and abilities make for an extraordinary individual by any measure. Yet it is Jan’s personal characteristics and qualities—his warmth, humility, generosity and courage—that have made him a man who is respected, admired, and beloved by all.
Patrick French, V.S. Naipaul's biographer, shared Naipaul's impression of Carew in the sixties:
“A mulatto from Guiana, a tall and handsome man with pretensions to be a writer.”
Carew's memories of Naipaul from that same period were more generous:
We would do broadcasts at the BBC and then go to a pub nearby. Vidia was a very good companion, very witty. Cruel wit. Some West Indians used to work at the back of the kitchen at the BBC cafeteria. He called them ‘the blackroom boys’. He had an underlying sense of compassion for the less well-off West Indians in London, which later he was accused of not having. People of my generation spoke about race in a way that was full of jokes; there was no animus, we would joke about each other’s background – race and class. Vidia didn’t hold himself apart.
In an interview from July 2011, Carew reflected on his life as an writer and intellectual:
Looking at what’s happened in the last three decades, it seems that the world has changed, but when one thinks seriously about it, one realizes that it is we who have changed. Importantly, we, Caribbean people, have come to appreciate the value of shaping our own destinies, which sometimes means going against tradition, but also can mean taking the opportunity to refashion models to suit our purpose.
Leonard Dabybeen, who like Carew, grew up in Berbice, Guyana, wrote a poem in his honor:
From the mud-banks
of our coastal belt
through washing waves
of our sea shores
his voice echoed
with the wind
earthy and musical
resonant and breath-taking
we listen
we share
we sit under coconut tree
reading page after page
and now we take
one last look
at his name
to bow farewell
but never to leave
his work alone.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Online Tools for People with Disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

UNDP's Voices From Eurasia writes about the new web-based tools aimed at promoting the rights of people with disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina:


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Mehzar – Pakistan’s Youngest Victim of Violence Against Shias · Global Voices
Kumail Ahmed

Syeda Mehzar Zahra is one of the youngest victims of the ongoing assault on Shia Muslims by terrorists and extremists organizations in Pakistan. The 12 year-old girl – who has been called Pakistan's Anna Frank – was shot while her father, Syed Nazar Abbas, was taking her to school.
It was the morning of November 30, 2012 when bullets were fired at their car reportedly by the radical-sectarian militant organization Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan. Her father died on the spot and Mehzar survived with severe bullet wounds.
Mehzar Zahra – screenshot from a video courtesy ShiaKillng.com
Mehzar Zahra was rushed to the doctors, and now she is battling for her life at a local hospital in Karachi.
Ali Mehdi tweets:
@dosra_janum: #Mehzar: Spinal cord damaged, stomach ruptured, one kidney failed. She is completely paralyzed and cannot move her legs. Please pray for her!
Syeda Afrin Abbas tweets:
@Afrin_Abbas: Next 24 hours are very critical for #Mehzar. Doctors are losing hope! #PrayForMehzar @>Darveshh < @AbdulNishapuri @TahirImran
It was unfortunate that Pakistan's broadcast media did not make this a trending story. This important issue was not even discussed in the days following the horrendous attack. Many twitter users were upset and shocked by the silence from the broadcast media (as well as print media) about the incident:
Yusra Askari tweets:
@YusraSAskari: Where are the media and the so-called civil society and human rights activists? http://bit.ly/VsIDCE  #Mehzar  #ShiaGenocide
Also, social activism for Mehzar was close to zero when compared with the world-wide support Malala's shooting managed to gain. (See this Global Voices Report ) from October.
A Shia Hazara girl tweets:
@ShiaHazara1: If not equal important to, an inch of sympathetic wishes to #Mehzar should have been forwarded. She is not #Malala, because of her faith!
Mahwish Raza complains:
@jkitsmawish: “Much as the #Malala […] #Mehzar was also doing the same […] where are the #media&the so-called civil society& #humanrights #activists?”
It was mostly prayers and sighs that were registered at twitter. That's simply what can be done if terrorists are running free without being punished. Pakistan's Ambassador for the United States Sherry Rehman, tweets:
@sherryrehman: Praying for the little girl @MehrTarar: Humbled,F @faisalsubzwari: Hats off 2 ur passion abt the issue n poor #Mehzar (Link)
Mehr Tarar tweets:
@MehrTarar: #Mehzar in ICU. Please pray for her.#Mehzar needs prayers of the entire#Pakistan. She is 12; she is fighting for her life. #PrayforMehzar
Recently, President of Pakistan, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, traveled to visit Malala, who is currently under treatment in an UK hospital. A similar presidential visit was demanded for Mehzar Zahra in Karachi.
Abdul Nishapuri tweets:
@AbdulNishapuri: “Prez Zardari to visit Malala in UK on Saturday.” That's good news. Also please visit #Mehzar in Karachi when you return to Pakistan.
Ali Natiq and Ali Abbas Taj started a new hashtag[ur] called #iammehzer. Unfortunately, it could not become a “buzz word” in the community. Only 113 people shared it across the community this month.
Shia muslims make up about 10% to 15% [pdf] of Pakistan's total population. While sectarian violence is a longstanding problem in Pakistan, attacks against Shia muslims have increased in recent years. According to the Human Rights Watch, in 2012, at least 320 members of the Shia population in Pakistan were killed in targeted attacks.
Brad Adams, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch recently said:
Deadly attacks on Shia communities across Pakistan are escalating. The government’s persistent failure to apprehend attackers or prosecute the extremist groups organizing the attacks suggests that it is indifferent to this carnage.

author: Kumail Ahmed


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Rare Protest in Beijing Against Express Train Catches China by Surprise · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A rare protest took place in downtown Beijing on December 9, 2012 against the construction of the Shenyang-Beijing Express Rail line which cuts across the downtown area of Chaoyang district. Although freedom of assembly is protected by the Chinese constitution, in most circumstances authorities suppress citizen-initiated demonstrations. This time, however, the protest seems to have been approved by Beijing's authorities and the story was even widely reported in major media outlets. Sina Weibo, a government endorsed social media platform for public deliberation, even initiated a “topical discussion forum” on the issue. Some netizens wonder if this is a sign of political reform following the 18th CCP Congress new leadership.
Around 300 protesters demonstrated in Chaoyang district demanding the route of the Shenyang-Beijing line be changed. The protest was in reaction to a report by the Ministry of Environmental Protection [zh] which claims that 37.27% Beijing residents supported, while 24.01% opposed the planned express train route which cuts across a number of highly dense residential districts in Beijing's downtown area. Many residents claimed that they had not done any survey and were outraged by the result.
Below is a copy of the video at Tecent QQ video platform [zh] showing the orderly protest scene, which was quite organized with common slogans such as, “Against fake environmental assessment”, “Forced to agree”, and “Against the Express Rail passing by people's front door”.
Major domestic media outlets picked up the news quickly as described by Weibo user Sohu74 [zh]:
两个白天一夜之间，京沈高铁沿线居民理性维权的新闻和图片成了国内各大媒体争相转载的焦点，这变化突如其来，就好像你突然中了大奖有点儿不敢想象，不知所措。昨天听到维持秩序的一位民警说到这样一句话“戴眼镜的也能搞这事儿？”另一位民警则劝说维权群众“按序通行，别真的把路堵了，那就违法了。”
Within one night, the rational defense of the rights of residents along the Shenyang-Beijing railway line has become the focus of major domestic media outlets. The change is so sudden as if you have won a lottery. It is really hard to imagine and give response. Yesterday I overheard some conversation among police officers. A police officer asked “How come those with glasses [meaning those with good education background] also joined the demonstration?” Another police officer told the protesters: “please keep  order, don't block the road or it will be illegal.”
Manipulating surveys is quite common in mainland China. What most people found surprising is that Chaoyang residents were allowed to protest in downtown Beijing. Reymon a finance analyst exclaimed [zh] on his micro-blog:
在首都北京，抗议高铁项目的集会，竟然获得批准并举行。意义不一般！
In Beijing, the capital of China, a public assembly against Express Train project was approved. This is something really significant!
His brief comment has attracted more than 2000 comments [zh], some echoed, some doubted:
心安得理：如若真实党国还有一丝转机，好！
心安得理：If this is real, the party-state maybe able to transform. This is good.
亚洲陶瓷商城：十八大其中一个主要的议题 就是 “自由”吧？
亚洲陶瓷商城：A major topic in the 18th National Communist Party Congress is “freedom”, right?
帝都日记：十日，晴。帝都再开先例。坊间传，有民众申请集会抗议高铁线路，竟获衙门准许。天朝集会，一向只分官方公开组织和官方私下组织两种。民众自发集会，无论缘由，历为所禁。此乃群体事件不断之根由。胡同苏秀才道，如若公民集会合法化常态化，将成官府真正制约，为民主进程重大一步，对国之未来影响深远。
帝都日记：December 10th. Sunny. First time for the empire. Story from the street: the police has approved the anti-express railway protest. According to the empire tradition, there are two kinds of assemblies, one is publicly organized by the government, one is privately organized by the government. Spontaneous organization is banned regardless of its nature. That's why there are so many mass incidents. Public intellectuals say, if citizen's assembly is becoming a norm, the government's authority will be restrained and this is a step towards democracy. It will have big impact to the future development of the country.
渴学家：好事来的太多, 注意反弹.
渴学家：too many good things happen will result in bounce back.
未曾顿悟已经年：￼￼￼进步但愿不会昙花一现！
未曾顿悟已经年：hope such progress will not vanish quickly.
老虎啸山林：我们因拆迁集体上诉，游行申请五年了也未获批啊。
老虎啸山林：We applied for demonstration against forced demolition five years ago, nothing has been approved yet.
livelife在唱歌：太阳从西边出来了。
livelife在唱歌：The sun rises from the West.
亮中华之剑：中央关于宪法的实施表态了，看来政府真的开始了改革，应该坚决捍卫宪法的尊严！
亮中华之剑：This is a gesture made by the central government on the constitution. It seems that the government is ready to reform and protect constitutional rights.


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Romania’s General Election Results “As Expected” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Economist's Eastern Approaches and Bucharest Life comment on the results of the Dec. 9 parliamentary elections in Romania.


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Standing Up for Stalking Victims in Japan  · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

Forty-nine different groups that campaign to end violence against women came together and made a joint statement [ja] on November 19, 2012 calling for concrete measures to support stalking victims and prevent homicide by stalkers.
The statement was made after an incident on November 6 in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, where a woman was stabbed and killed by her ex-boyfriend, who later turned out to be a stalker.
The website of Network to Create Sexual Violence Prohibition Act [ja] writes about the case:
報道によれば、神奈川の事件の被害女性は、事件前に計４回警察に相談し、2011年9月、加害者は脅迫罪で懲役1年執行猶予3年の有罪判決を受けていたということです。しかし、今年3月下旬、約20日間に1089件ものメールが届いたことで被害者が再相談した際には、
・ストーカー規制法にメールを禁じる明文規定がない
・メールの文面に「殺す」というような文言がなかった
ということで、逗子署は、ストーカー規制法違反にも脅迫罪にも当たらないと誤った判断をして、捜査を終了したということです。
According to the report, the victim had asked police for help four times before she was killed. Prior to the incident, the perpetrator was convicted for 1 year imprisonment and three years probation on charges against intimidation. However he continued to stalk her after was suspended out. When the victim asked the police for further investigation in late March this year, after receiving 1089 emails in 20 days, the police turned down the victim's request for the following reasons;
For the above reasons, the police had decided not to investigate the stalker since it neither meets anti-stalking laws nor intimidation charges.
The groups seek fundamental change in recognition of stalking activity by police in the following statement:
１．全ての警察官を対象に、ストーカー事件を始めとする女性に対する暴力事案について、犯罪の本質を理解するための特別研修を実施すること。研修の実施に当たっては、被害当事者や支援者など、警察外部の講師を招聘すること。
２．ストーカー事件を始めとする女性に対する暴力事案について、被害者の安全を守るための具体的で実効性のある捜査マニュアルを作成し、全ての警察官に携帯させること。
３．つきまとい行為にメールを明文化することはもちろんのこと、被害者が申し立てることによって接近禁止命令が出されるようにするなど、被害者の安全を守ることができるようにストーカー規制法を抜本的に改正すること。
４、ＤＶ防止法の対象を「配偶者等」と拡大し、恋人、元恋人などの交際相手を含めること。ストーカー事案についても、保護命令及び緊急一時保護の制度を活用できるようにすること。
５、「探偵業の適正化に関する法律」の第六条（探偵業務の実施の原則）「この法律により他の法令において禁止又は制限されている行為を行うことができることとなるものではないことに留意するとともに、人の生活の平穏を害する等個人の権利利益を侵害することがないようにしなければならない」について、ストーカーやＤＶ加害者からの依頼によって被害者の居所を探してはならないことを徹底すること。
When the murderer was arrested for intimidation in June this year, the police read the full name of the victim (who was now married) as well as her new address out loud, which could have possibly helped the murderer trace her home after marriage. (In Japan, most women change their family name to that of their husband's family name after marriage.)
The murderer used an online forum to ask more than 400 questions using three different accounts. Some of his questions [ja] included “where can I buy a sharp kitchen knife“, ” what happens if a murderer commits a suicide before being arrested“, “how do I get to Kotsubo area in Zushi city by bus?”
The murderer hanged himself after he stabbed the victim to death.


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Trinidad & Tobago: How the Grief Stole Christmas · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Christmas just isn't the same when you've lost someone close to you.  Outlish discusses grieving at this time of year.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Vietnam: Hùng Kings Ritual Recognized by UNESCO · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Le Minh Khai discusses some issues surrounding the decision of UNESCO to recognize the worship of the Hùng Kings in the Phu Tho province of Vietnam on its “List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.”


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Voices of Dignity – Women Survivors of Colombia’s Armed Conflict  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Voices of Dignity, a multimedia project by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), tells the story of Yoladis Zúñiga and Petronila Mendoza, two Colombian women who fled their homes after paramilitaries killed their husbands and raided their villages.
The project, released in late November 2012, includes three photogalleries and a 22-minute video which can be watched in full online.
Marta Martinez, producer of Voices of Dignity, wrote a guest post for Witness as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign, where she explains:
Yoladis Zúñiga and Petronila Mendoza survived an attack of right-wing paramilitaries on their villages, in which women and girls were raped, homes burned and a number of people killed, including their husbands. The two women fled with their children to Baranquilla, a city on Colombia’s Atlantic coast, joining almost four million displaced by the civil war.
Yoladis Zúñiga. Photo by Camilo Aldana for ICTJ, used with permission.
Marta also highlights the intended message of Voices of Dignity:
As the government of Colombia enters new rounds of peace talks with leftist guerrillas Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), there has been much speculation on the prospects for sustainable peace. ICTJ’s research and comparative experience clearly show that sustainable peace cannot be reached without ensuring justice, accountability, and victims’ rights.
In the words of Maria Camila Moreno, head of ICTJ’s Colombia Office, “Victims are not numbers. They are people with flesh and blood, with great dignity, who have a clear view of the steps that Colombia must take to respond to their right to compensation.”
Petronila Mendoza. Photo by Camilo Aldana for ICTJ, used with permission.
Through the powerful testimonies of Yoladis and Petronila, Voices of Dignity provides an intimate look into the lives of the victims of Colombia's armed conflict. An article by ICTJ on Voices of Dignity adds:
In telling the story of Yoladis and Petronila, Voices of Dignity breaks the stereotype of women victims of conflict as passive actors in a transitioning society. Instead, it shows them as active participants and leaders; for their families and communities, they are not victims, but heroes.
Marta states that the goal of this multimedia project is to “reaffirm the fundamental rights of victims in Colombia and elsewhere: the rights to truth, acknowledgment, and redress.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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What is Web Mapping? · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

As we indicated previously, the regional hackathon Developing Latin America 2012 (#DAL2012) held a workshop highlighting Open Street Maps. The workshop, which was outfitted with live streaming [es] allowing it to be remotely broadcasted [es], featured MapBox data expert Alex Barth. More information, including a video of the weekend, can be found here [es].
But first, what exactly is web mapping? According to Wikipedia, “web mapping is the process of designing, implementing, generating and delivering maps on the World Wide Web and its product.” The article adds:
“The use of the web as a dissemination medium for maps can be regarded as a major advancement in cartography and opens many new opportunities, such as realtime maps, cheaper dissemination, more frequent and cheaper updates of data and software, personalized map content, distributed data sources and sharing of geographic information. It also implicates many challenges due to technical restrictions (low display resolution and limited bandwidth, in particular with mobile computing devices, many of which are physically small, and use slow wireless Internet connections), copyright and security issues, reliability issues and technical complexity. While the first web maps were primarily static, today's web maps can be fully interactive and integrate multiple media. This means that both web mapping and web cartography also have to deal with interactivity, usability and multimedia issues.”
Which is to say, the backstory of each map you see on the internet likely represents a fair number of challenges but more assuredly a tremendous amount of work.
In order to better understand the process, we talked with MapBox engineer Ian Ward who provided this insight:
While it's worth noting that there are numerous mapping applications, the following specifically highlight those produced by Open Street Maps.
In a post published by Development Seed, Ian describes an initiative in Ayacucho, Peru, which sought to map the city's public transportation routes.
Previously, this transit data only existed in AutoCAD files, accessible to only a handful of people. Now it is publicly available in open formats ready to be used in maps like this and for any other purpose. […]
Looking at just transit data, it’s now possible to assess city traffic, identify where traffic lights are needed, and simply show tourists how to get to the best local restaurants. New information can be cataloged, such as intersections with heavy pedestrian traffic, allowing city planners to better direct changes and new traffic and pedestrian signals.
Note: The information on this map is from 2009, the start of this project.
In a  guest post written for Development Seed, InfoAmazonía's Juliana Mori explains a similar project in Brazil:
InfoAmazonia now maps deforestation data for the entire Amazon basin dating back to 2004, revealing how forest loss patterns play out in different countries. When O Eco, Knight-ICFJ, and Internews first launched InfoAmazonia ahead of the Rio+20 earlier this year, deforestation data was only available for Brazil. This addition brings deforestation data from all nine Amazonian countries into one map, using data from Terra-i. Now journalists and others can locate deforestation information across the region in diverse political, social, and environmental contexts.
InfoAmazonia. Image via Development Seed
To further solidify the point, Jue Yang, Development Seed team member, recounts a map specifically developed for Amnesty International:
We designed a narrative map for Amnesty International’s new Campaign for Global Justice calling for international support and legal action against perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
With built-in navigation, the map shows a comprehensive picture of Amnesty’s current work around the world and countries’ support of the International Criminal Court – shown through map layers visualizing data on support of action, justice, and reparations. Twitter and a YouTube video are embedded into the map, encouraging viewers to pass the site on and follow Amnesty’s call to demand justice.
Amnesty International. Image via Development Seed.
The relevance of web mapping is not solely limited to the aforementioned examples. Ian Ward believes the future of mapping will expand to include various fields, not the least of which is journalism, for example.
For those interested in this topic, we recommend visiting OpenStreetMap's wiki page (also available in Spanish [es]). If you are in Peru, click here [es] to find a community near you.
Furthermore, if you are part of any institution with open data you would like included on a map, visit the hackathon's Developing Latin America 2012 [es] page and contact developers and experts in web mapping!
Related posts:
Developing Latin America 2012
What Exactly is a Hackathon? And What is Open Data?
Hackathons in Droves: How is a Hackathon Organized?
Developing Latin America Hackathon Draws Near!
Brazil: Rio de Janeiro Demands Better Sanitation
Perú: Crowdmapping Water Contamination in Peruvian Indigenous Communities

author: Juan Arellano


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When a Coup is not a Coup in Mali  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

This is not a coup. The president is still in place but the prime minister was no longer working in the interests of the country
Bakary Mariko, spokesperson for the former military junta, explains why [fr]the army has arrested the former prime minister of Mali Cheikh Modibo Diarra who resigned shortly after along with his government. A diplomat states that: “Sanogo is pulling at the strings. Until we have a real transitional government in place, we will keep having these problems”. Disagreement between the army and the government over international military intervention in Northern Mali was mentioned as part of the reason for the arrest.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Analysis on Water and Enviromental Bloggers in China · Global Voices
Abby Liu

China has serious water shortage problems due to the population and landscape. How many Chinese are talking about this issue on the internet? Check out this interesting analysis on water and environmental bloggers on Twitter and Weibo (China's Twitter) by ChinaWaterRisk.


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Reporters Stand By as Biswajit Das is Brutally Murdered in Bangladesh · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

On Monday, 10 December, 2012, Bangladesh celebrated Human Rights Day with the aim of highlighting [bn] rights related issues pertaining to women, youth, tribal, poor and marginalized communities and bringing them to the mainstream discourse and policy related discussions. However, on that very day, the news that captured the nation's imagination and made the headlines across all the major newspapers, magazines and TV channels was the the brutal murder of 24 year-old Biswajit Das [bn], under full view of the public and media.
Perhaps he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Biswajit was stabbed to death after falling prey to violent clashes between the student wing of the political party in power and that of the opposition. It has been alleged that taking him to be a member of the opposition party, the cadres of the government's youth wing beat up Biswajit and then repeatedly stabbed him with sharp weapons in broad daylight and full public view. Later, the youth died on the way to the hospital. The shocking event took place on 9 December, 2012, during an 8 hour road blockade programme organized by the opposition.
Images and video footage of Biswajit getting stabbed has gone viral on Facebook and Twitter. Many Facebook users from Bangladesh have condemned the incident and uploaded these disturbing images on their homepage as a mark of protest. The images have been widely shared, leaving netizens with a feeling of alarm that such a thing could easily happen to them as well.
The countrywide road blockade program by the 18-party opposition alliance ended after clashes left four people died and vandalism and arson spread across different parts of the country. Image by Ibrahim. Copyright Demotix (9/12/2012)
Pavel Mohitul Alam's Facebook status reads [bn] as follows:
অবরোধ চলাকালে বিশ্বজিৎ কুমার দাস নামের এক পথচারীকে ধারালো অস্ত্র দিয়ে কুপিয়ে হত্যা করেছে ছাত্রলীগ কর্মীরা।
আমিও একজন পথচারী। বিশ্বজিতের জায়গায় আমি নিজেকে কল্পনা করেছি। বিশ্বজিৎ আর আপনার-আমার মধ্যে তো কোনো পার্থক্য নেই। আজ বিশ্বজিৎকে কুপিয়ে হত্যা করা হয়েছে, কাল রাস্তায় হাঁটতে গিয়ে যে আপনি বা আমি খুন হবো না, সেই নিশ্চয়তা কে দিবে?
স্বাভাবিক মৃত্যুর অধিকার বিশ্বজিতের ছিলো না, আপনার বা আমারও নেই।
During the blockade, Biswajit Das, a pedestrian who was passing by that area was stabbed to death by Chhatra League cadres. I too am a pedestrian; there is no difference between Biswajit and you or I. Am alarmed to think that you and I could so easily face the same brutal end – who is there to reassure us that it will not be so? Biswajit did not have the right to a normal death – it's the same for you and I. [Translator's Note: Chhata League is the student wing of the current ruling party in Bangladesh – the Bangladesh Awami League]
Prior to this, many others have lost their lives in violent political conflicts in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, none of the murders have found justice. Blogger Russel Pervez rued [bn]:
… বিশ্বজিতের মতো মানুষগুলো জনসংখ্যা শুমারীতে নিছক একটা অঙ্ক হিসেবে বেঁচে থাকে আর এমন রাজনৈতিক অপমৃত্যুতেও শুধু মৃতের ঘরে একটা বাড়তি টালির দাগ হয়ে মিলিয়ে যায়।
People like Biswajit spend their lives as a mere a number in the population census and their untimely, accidental death simply adds a tally mark to the death count and disappears.
Media Criticized
When Biswajit was being stabbed, many reporters from both print and TV channels were present there, but none came forward to save Biswajit. Rather, they were all busy taking pictures and videos of the incident. Their actions have been strongly criticized  on social media, especially on Facebook.
Murtala Ramat wrote [bn]:
একটা মানুষকে কোপানো হচ্ছে, মারতে মারতে মেরে ফেলা হচ্ছে আর সংবাদকর্মীরা ক্যামেরা নিয়ে ছবি তুলতে ব্যস্ত!রক্তাক্ত মানুষটার জন্য অ্যাম্বুলেন্স ডাকারও সময় নাই! শেষ পর্যন্ত এগিয়ে আসতে হলো এক রিক্সায়ালাকে! প্রশ্ন জাগে সাংবাদিকতা কী মানবিকতার উর্ধ্বে উঠে গেলো নাকী!
A person is getting beaten and stabbed to death and news reporters are busy clicking photos. They had no time to call an ambulance even. In the end, it was a rickshaw puller who came forward. The question that one is forced to ask is ‘has reportage become a greater priority than humanitarian response'?
The photographers and TV crews filmed the atrocities and nobody took the initiative to protect the victims. Image by Ibrahim. Copyright Demotix (9/12/2012)
Ali Sayed Mahbub commented [bn]:
… মঙ্গলবার ও হরতাল। আমাকে অফিসে যেতে হবে। পথচারী আমিও হবো। মিছিলের মাঝে পড়বো। ককটেল ফুটবে। ভয়ে দৌড় দিবো। তখন ছাত্রলীগ বা ছাত্রদল বা ছাত্র শিবির অন্য পক্ষের মনে করে আমাকেও এভাবে চাপাতি দিয়ে কুপিয়ে লাশ বানাবে।
২০টা টিভি চ্যানেলের ৪০ জন কর্মী, ২০টা নিউজ এজেন্সির ৪০ জন সাংবাদিক, অসংখ্য পুলিশ, অসংখ্য জনতা আমার মৃত্যুবরণ দৃশ্য দেখবে, ভিডিও করবে। ১০টা চাপাতিধারী পশুর বিরুদ্ধে ১০০ জন মানুষ দাঁড়াবে না। তারা ভিডিও করবে-হত্যা নিয়ে নিজস্ব প্রতিষ্ঠানের কাটতি বাড়াবে। আমার মত অধমের মৃত্যুর মূল্য বেড়ে যাবে বহুগুণ।
On Tuesday there is another political protest planned. I will have to go to the office. I will have to pass through the rally. Bombs will be thrown and I will run in fear. Then Chhatra League or any other student wing of political parties will mistake me for being a member of the other party and hack me to death.
Forty journalists from twenty TV channels and a similar number of print journalists, a large contingent of police personnel and general public will stand by and witness, photograph and take video footage of my brutal murder but even a hundred people will not stand up against a mere ten sword-wielding ruffians. The media will be busy garnering TRPs of their channels and increasing sales of their own newspapers and magazines. The price of my death will go up manifold as an enabler of their business advantage.
Ekramul Haque Shamim has posted [bn]:
পুরান ঢাকার জজকোর্ট এলাকায় চাপাতি দিয়ে কুপিয়ে, রড দিয়ে পিটিয়ে, লাঠির বাড়িতে রক্তাক্ত করে মারা হয়েছে বিশ্বজিৎ দাসকে। বার বার সে চিৎকার করে নিজেকে নির্দোষ দাবী করলেও তাকে রেহাই দেওয়া হয়নি। আশেপাশে এতো এতো মানুষ তা দেখছে, এতো এতো মিডিয়া ব্রেকিং নিউজের জন্য ফুটেজ সংগ্রহ করছে, এদের কেউ বিশ্বজিৎ দাসকে বাঁচানোর জন্য চেষ্টা করলো না!
In Old Dhaka Judge's Court area, Biswajit Das was beaten with iron rods and repeatedly stabbed, to death. He kept screaming that he was innocent and merely passing by but still he was not let off. There were so many people around, so many media personnel recorded the event as their breaking news but not a single person came forward to try and save Biswajit!
Activists of the BNP-led 18-party alliance set fire to few vehicles at Kanchpur in Narayanganj during countrywide blockade program. Image by Ibrahim. Copyright Demotix (9/12/2012)
Photojournalist Hasan Bipul has however protested against the criticism being levelled against the media in this incident. He commented [bn]:
কোনোমতেই একমত পোষণ করতে পারছি না শামীম। যার যা কাজ তারই সেটা করা উচিৎ। এই ছেলেটিকে রক্ষা করার প্রথম দায়িত্ব রাষ্ট্রের এবং রাষ্ট্রের পক্ষ থেকে রক্ষার প্রথম উদ্যোগটি আসা উচিৎ ছিল পুলিশের কাছ থেকে। মিডিয়ার কাজ জন নিরাপত্তা দেয়া নয়।
I am sorry Shamim, but I simply cannot agree with you on this. Everyone should do their job. It is not the duty of the media to offer protection to the members of the public. That is the duty of the State and as an enforcer of the State, it was the duty of the police force to come forward to save the youth.
However people like PsychoSaika are not willing to buy this logic and has tweeted [bn]:
@princess_saika: “তুই মানুষ, না সাংবাদিক?” – এই সময়ের জন্য একটা ভালো গালি হতে পারে এটা!
“Are you a human or a reporter?” – This can become a good, modern day phrase for berating someone.

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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Bolivian Cyber Activists Uncover Potential QR Code Patent · Global Voices
Pablo Andres Rivero

Bolivian cyber activists worked collectively to unfold a potential unlawful patent over the use of Quick Response Codes, known as QR codes, in the country.
Earlier this month, Bolivian netizen @hermany [es] sparked curiosity when he enquired on Twitter about the alleged patented use of QR codes in Bolivia:
@hermany: ¿Alguien la Paz me puede decir si Advice Marketing Ltda. patentó los QR y hay que pagarles a ellos por el uso? #Boliva #Tech #fraude?
@hermany: Can anyone in La Paz tell me if Advice Marketing Ltda. patented QR codes and one must pay this company for using them? #Boliva #Tech #fraude?
Photo by Lydia Shiningbrightly (CC BY 2.0)
The company’s website has withdrawn the patent announcement from its website, but activist Daniel Cotillas (@danicotillas) [es] captured and shared a screenshot [es].
Following up with the collective enquiring under the hashtag #QRBolivia, blogger Mario Durán from El Alto got in touch with the Intellectual Property National Service [es] (SENAPI in Spanish) and representatives of the company.
Mario has been posting regular updates on the case in his blog [es] under the question, “Can the use of QR codes in Bolivia be patented?”
According to the information gathered by Mario, Advice Marketing officially states [es, pdf] that QR codes can be publicly used just by notifying them in advance. Meanwhile, officials from SENAPI confirmed [es] that the company applied for the patent back in September 2012; however, SENAPI has not issued a resolution on the matter (the legal term to reach a decision is 18 months). Therefore, such patent or restriction may not be applicable.
Bolivian cyber activists will surely keep a close watch on the issue as the case develops in the coming months. You can follow their discussion under the hashtag #QRBolivia.

author: Pablo Andres Rivero


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Chinese-American Children Left Behind in China · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Left-behind children is a term to describe a special group of children who are left in rural areas while their parents work as migrant workers in big cities in China. However, in Fujian province in Southern China, there are about 10,000 left-behind foreign children whose parents are illegal immigrants to other countries (primarily the US) with low-paid jobs. The children are sent back to China when they are only a few months old because their parents cannot afford to raise them in the foreign countries. OffBeat China picked up the story from Chinese media[zh] with lots of pictures.


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Corruption Perceptions around the World · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Two-thirds of the 176 countries assessed in the 2012 Index received a score of less than 50, on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (almost no corruption). This shows that public institutions should be more transparent and senior officials more accountable.
On December 5, Transparency International released the Corruption Perceptions Index 2012, which measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 176 different countries and territories around the world.