text:
Inside the Prisons of Cambodia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Prison overcrowding in Cambodia is getting worse, according to a report published by human rights group Licadho:
Cambodia's prison population is in the midst of an unprecedented population boom. Just seven years ago, the 18 prisons monitored by LICADHO were at roughly 100% of their collective capacity. Today, they are filled to roughly 180% of their capacity, making Cambodia's prison system among the 25 most overcrowded in the world.
The group created a map to highlight the locations of overcrowded prisons:
The group discovered some of the factors which contributed to the problem of prison overcrowding:
The report also highlights three new areas of concern that LICADHO has documented over the past year, including: The practice of imprisoning those who cannot – or do not – pay their criminal fines; a pilot program in which pretrial inmates were transferred to a local drug detention center to reduce prison overcrowding; and the use of prison sentences that are disproportionate to the crimes for which they are imposed. The latter concern is supported by a handful of case studies, including one in which a man was sentenced to a year in prison for stealing a chicken.
Overcrowding in Preah Sihanouk Provincial Prison
The Angkor Post publishes an article that suggests the implementation of non-custodial sentences as a practical reform measure to decongest the prisons:
I strongly support the utilisation of all the sentencing options provided in the Penal Code as alternatives to incarceration. To ensure such measures are viable and effective, the RGC (Royal Government of Cambodia) must provide adequate resources to courts, police and social service providers and those institutions must establish clear processes and procedures for monitoring adherence to non-custodial sentences.
Non-custodial sentences, where appropriate, provide a win-win solution to Cambodia’s prison overcrowding; more effective responses to petty criminal offending and a lower prison population.
The government has promised to draft some policy reforms to improve the prison conditions. Meanwhile, it was reported that an abandoned cinema has been converted into a prison to address the overcrowding problem.
Prison blog
Last month, a blog allegedly written by a foreign inmate in Prey Sar prison was widely discussed in the Cambodian cyberspace. Even mainstream media reported it. Derek Stout notes that “author’s bravado and eccentric use of language are reminiscent of a character in an Irvine Welsh novel.”
Prey Sar prison’s first blogger has been quick to find an eager audience in cyberspace, though some readers have expressed scepticism about the blog’s authenticity.
The first post appeared last Wednesday. By the weekend it had been linked on Twitter and English-language internet forums in Cambodia.
The blog’s author claims to be a western inmate awaiting trial at the notorious prison.
Titled “Life in one square meter”, it details conditions inside a crowded Prey Sar cell. The author’s bravado and eccentric use of language are reminiscent of a character in an Irvine Welsh novel.
Inside a Cambodian prison. Photo from Licadho
The prison blog “Life in one square meter” has been deleted already. Fortunately, LTO Cambodia was able to save a few articles and posted it online:
Offcourse getting this phone in here & having access to internet is the main essentiallity. Being able to follow life on the outside, get information and actively work, makes all the difference!
Just finding ways to smuggle illegal devices such as this, is a challenge & takes alot of effort. Trial and error, loss of cash and time is all a part of it.
The first weeks I was very sick, couldnt eat and was hungry and exhausted most of the time. Several attempts to get to the hospital when the NGOs are here, which turned out to be a big nothing. They are just as useless as the “doctor” in here.
My cellmates managed to get me to the hospital, where they put drip and then tossed me off at a bunk in one of the hospital-cells.
In there the prisoners are the doctors and luckily I was well taken care of, by ine of the inmates, who obviously had seen alot in there.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Jamaica: Block on Ad for Acceptance of Gay Family Members · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The  Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) recently produced a public service announcement aimed at encouraging Jamaicans to unconditionally accept members of their families who are homosexual. The organisation hoped to have had the spot broadcast on national television in August – but as a new month begins, the Jamaican media still appear to be firm in its stance that it will not air the advertisement, which features former Miss Jamaica World and Miss Jamaica Universe Christine Straw and her gay brother, Matthew, sharing their personal story.
Public service announcements are typically aired free of cost in Jamaica, but in discussions, media heads have apparently said that even if it were a paid ad they still would not broadcast it because they reserve the right to decide on content.
The issue has sparked controversy in Jamaica, a country that is widely perceived as being homophobic, thanks in part to this and this.  Much of the debate appears to be taking place through mainstream media – either via the comments section of online newspapers, letters to the editor and talk shows.  There has been some discussion on Twitter, and a few bloggers have commented on the issue, making sure to upload the video of the PSA to their blogs.
Jamaica-based blogger Annie Paul
To examine the controversy more closely, I asked Annie Paul, who lives in Jamaica, and two diaspora bloggers, Kathy Stanley (whose cousin, a prominent gay rights activist in Jamaica, was murdered in June 2004) and Kei Miller (who has written extensively on homophobia in Jamaica), to share their thoughts.
Annie is the Publications Officer at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus and a founding editor of the journal Small Axe.
Kei is an author and educator whose collection of short stories exploring the issue of Jamaican homophobia was shortlisted in 2007 for a Commonwealth Writer's Prize.  He currently teaches Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow.
Kathy is a writer and poet who is also passionate about environmental preservation.  She is about to begin her Master's Degree.
The PSA and the media
Global Voices: To what extent has the media influenced public attitudes toward the PSA (although the spot is available for viewing online) by characterising it as “pro-gay” rather than “pro-tolerance”?
Annie Paul (AP): It’s been on YouTube so the digitally connected have seen it for the most part. There’s such an anti-gay sentiment generally that I don’t think the media would need to do much to further prejudice public opinion.
Kei Miller (KM): I have to confess I can’t speak with any absolute conviction about what happened in Jamaica and how it happened since I’ve actually been in Scotland while this whole thing has been played out. Strangely enough, Scotland is where Matthew (who is at the centre of this controversial ad) lives, and I’ve invited him to dinner to hear his side, but we haven’t met yet. To speak quite frankly, the Observer recently hasn’t seemed to me to be most responsible paper and this kind of sloppy journalism that isn’t interested in nuance but in the most controversial headlines that might stir up trouble and attract a wider and more incensed readership is typical. But in all fairness, I also can’t imagine that subtlety would matter much in Jamaica – ‘pro-gay’ rather than ‘pro-tolerance’. You see, once it got out that there was an ad addressing the topic of homosexuality, and that the ad was not hitting out against it, it was going to be characterized as a pro-gay ad. That seems to me an inevitability.
GV: I understand that one of the dailies has published a pro-gay-rights editorial.  Do you think that some segments of the Jamaican media are more progressive on this topic than others?
AP: Oh yes! It’s not a universal response by any means. Nationwide Radio stayed on the subject for two or three days playing the audio from the PSA and trying to find out what the objections were. Dionne Jackson-Miller who works for RJR also focused on it though her own station didn’t allow her to play any part of the PSA. On Double Standards, which is a Newstalk 93 radio programme hosted by Yvette Rowe and myself, we’ve recorded an edition which will air next month where we discussed reactions to the PSA with the executive director of JFLAG for an hour.  Interestingly he told us that one of the two main TV stations, CVM, had told JFLAG that they wouldn’t be averse to playing it if TVJ agree to air it.
KM: Yes I do think so. The Gleaner at least seems to me to invite a more open discussion on the topic. Their editorials, their columnists and some of the letters to the editor that have been published have really dared to challenge Jamaica’s homophobia. Other newspapers (including the Gleaner’s own sister paper, The Star!) seem interested in titillation more than discussion. Sometimes this easy urge to stir up controversy and outrage and hatred seems irresponsible to me. The topic of gayness is always a sure fire way to get Jamaicans talking without listening, and incensed.
GV: What do you gather is the principal reason for the stations’ refusal to air the ad?  Are broadcasters afraid of retaliation somehow, either unlawful (homophobes who may take extreme action) or “lawful” (the government or corporate Jamaica pulling advertising or viewers boycotting the station)?
Author and blogger Kei Miller
AP: Kay Osborne, head of TVJ, indicated in a Sunday Observer article that the reason behind TVJ's decision not to broadcast the PSA was that “the culture of “good, moral and ethical Jamaicans, does not support homosexuality at this time.” At the same time she called on Jamaicans to be more open to dialogue on such matters which seemed more than a little contradictory.  But yes, it seems to be an irrational fear of advertising dollars being pulled and the generally risk-averse nature of the media here.
KM: Cowardice. Ms Osbourne’s comment seemed to me a strange attempt to have her cake and eat it – condemning the discrimination of the Jamaican public while affirming the station’s position to play into that discrimination.
GV: You see this stance by the Jamaican media as just another example of their spinelessness.  Can you elaborate?
AP: Yes, I do find Jamaican media too willing to ‘plead the fifth’ (to use an Americanism) rather than expose the truth in too many instances. This is especially true when dealing with those who have wealth – and hence power – in this society. I’m dismayed at how quick Jamaican media are to use the admittedly Draconian libel laws here to gag themselves, in the same way that they were only too willing to use the excuse of the buggery laws to keep from airing what is clearly an unpopular message.
Look at how long the media refrained from naming the suspect in the X6 killing recently, on the grounds that the police hadn’t released his name! In the UK the police didn’t release News of the World Editor Rebekah Brooks’s name when they arrested her, referring to her instead as a ‘44-year old female’. Did this prevent the media there from splashing her name all over their front pages? No! Because any media house worth its salt has the investigative capacity to uncover the truth and publish it without benefit of a PR announcement from the police.
But this would never have happened in Jamaica. Brooks’s identity would still have been shrouded in secrecy to this day had her arrest happened in Jamaica. On the other hand, those without power or money are treated outrageously—Dog Paw’s name and image were flashed all over the media with assertions that he had ordered various killings and the case hasn’t yet come to trial.
Religious influence
GV: It appears as if certain religious groups have been very outspoken about the issue.  In the words of the Observer article, why would “the reactions of pastors” be considered such a significant part of public opinion and have such an impact upon whether or not to air the spot?
AP: Oh you don’t know Jamaica!  This is a vociferously ‘Christian’ society with Churches of various denomination holding an inordinate amount of influence.  On the other hand Pastors, Priests and Clerics railed and ranted about the nude weddings at Hedonism years ago and about the nude couple who make up the Emancipation Monument but didn’t gain much traction. Their protests were pretty much ignored and there was no significant fallout so it’s not clear why in this case their opinion seems to count for more.
KM: Pastor Reaction would be considered a significant part of public opinion because it really is. I’ve been writing about this recently in a more academic context, about how the public sphere in Jamaica is constructed. And religion is a huge part of that space. It would be a mistake to think of fundamentalist religious opinion as something separate from the public sphere and that only a small subsection of society buys into that discourse. But of course the public sphere is always a space for discussion and contestation and what we must object to is this feeling that some ideas can’t even be discussed, challenged or debated.
Diaspora blogger Kathy Stanley had a slightly different take:
Diaspora blogger Kathy Stanley
Kathy Stanley (KS): It is incomprehensible to me why pastors, who are unfortunately very lacking in real knowledge about homosexuality, are held up as wise men to be consulted for their reactions.  Sadly, they tout ridiculous beliefs that homosexuality is a “lifestyle choice.”  And that if you accept gays then it means they will take over society.  These views are almost laughable if it wasn't so deadly serious and if it didn't cause people to get killed.  Homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice. That is a widely known fact. To say otherwise is to prove your ignorance in this issue.  These types of backward and uninformed opinions are partly the reason that there is still so much serious misinformation and so much intolerance…unfortunately the pastors do have influence. As do the appalling musicians who tout anti-gay lyrics in their music.  There is a systemic lack of information driving the intolerance.
The battle for equal rights
GV: Is it a losing battle to be fighting for equal rights for homosexuals in the Jamaican context, or do you think these are the opinions of the vocal few?
AP: It’s going to be a long, uphill struggle, JFLAG would be fooling itself if it thought otherwise but things ARE slowly changing. When we interviewed Dane Lewis, Executive Director of JFLAG, on Double Standards he acknowledged that 10 years ago radio stations wouldn’t even have agreed to air any discussion on the matter in the way that they have today. The Observer has devoted quite a lot of column space to these debates even carrying stories that highlight the plight of homeless homosexual men.
KM: No I don’t think it’s the vocal few at all. You know – sometimes you think things aren’t so bad in Jamaica. It matters where in the country you are – what circles you move in. If you are part of some university circles for instance it’s easy to think that Jamaica’s attitudes are changing and becoming more nuanced, but it takes a situation like this to remember what the overwhelming and prevailing feeling is, the lack of thought that is out there, and why there is still need for activism.
KS: I think that regardless of the battle, one must always stand up for human rights.  Because that is what this fight is for. It's a human rights issue.   We don't give up on other battles for human rights.
GV: It seems as if people are confusing homosexuality and buggery, homosexuality and paedophilia, homosexuality and criminality.  Thoughts?
AP: Yes, that is routine here. The problem is that because of the buggery laws, anyone who is an acknowledged homosexual is viewed as a lawbreaker. And unfortunately, in most societies the rape of a young boy is considered far worse than the rape of a young girl—it’s a double standard. Then again, Jamaican society is quite tolerant of rampant criminality, so again, it's not clear why people here feel so strongly about consensual anal sex between adults—even if it’s a crime on the books—when they love Buju Banton, Jah Cure, Dudus and others who have been found guilty of or charged with far more serious crimes.
KS: Lack of knowledge is pervasive.  Yes, they are confusing homosexuality with criminality. But Jamaica's buggery laws and government have not helped. The Prime Minister famously said that he would not have gay people in his government.  How does he know who is gay and who is not?  The Government of Jamaica and its own intolerance and unwillingness to deal with the antiquated and backward laws is part of the problem here.
GV: Annie said in this post that “the status and well-being of its homosexual citizens continues to evolve in a one step forward-two steps backward manner.”  The issue of homosexuality in the Jamaican context is so interesting and complex: How does an organisation like J-FLAG advance?  How do gay Jamaicans function within this oppressive and complicated structure?
KM: Oh I don’t know about J-FLAG and I would actually really like to meet some of the activists there to get a better sense of their history, and their past and present fights, and if they have a sense of moving forward or backward.  Gay Jamaicans function within the society in the way that I imagine all oppressed groups function – by subterfuge, by inventing their own language, by finding those miraculous ways of being simultaneously visible and invisible, flamboyant and camouflaged, loud and silent. So sometimes you see it in the oddest of places – in the church choir, or in parts of folk culture like Jonkanoo, and you think how incredible.
AP: I actually think that Jamaica’s bark is far worse than its bite. IF you examine the actual number of people killed here JUST because they were gay or different, the numbers wouldn’t add up, especially in relation to the general murder rate. At the same time, it is unnerving to live with a dog that is constantly showing its teeth, growling and barking even if it only occasionally actually bites anyone.
For anyone interested in more nuanced readings of Jamaica’s much vaunted homophobia I recommend Kei Miller’s blog Under the Saltire Flag and posts such as Contradictory Instructions: Elephant Man’s 2001 hit ‘Log On’ or On Effeminacy.
I also highly recommend his latest book of poetry A Light Song of Light, and in particular, the prose poem A Smaller Song, which directly addresses the way gay Jamaicans not only get by here but also enjoy their lives.
There is also Fiyu Pikni, who runs the blog Gay Jamaicans United. He has written several illuminating pieces on the subject.
The role of social media
GV: Can Jamaica’s big problems (in this case, homophobia) really be solved without the media as a responsible partner?  And what role does social media have to play?
AP: No, I don’t think without the media’s help we will make much headway. Jamaican TV stations’ reluctance to support what is indisputably a worthy cause makes a hard task that much more difficult. You don’t kowtow to iniquitous, outdated laws and inhumane customs in the name of some dubious public morality or local tradition–if changing a situation requires that you break an absurd law whose expiry date passed over a hundred years ago, then you follow the example of the legion of great women and men throughout history who have shown us how to do that–Rosa Parks; Marcus Garvey; Mahatma Gandhi; Nelson Mandela to name merely a handful–they all went against the culture of their times, and rebelled against what was considered “good, moral and ethical” in systems we consider unethical and inhumane today.
The funny thing is that many of the talking heads on TV and radio, in the print media even, ARE gay but they dare not admit it. I also don’t think anything can really change until powerful homosexuals take their courage in their hands and step out of the closet. Right now, it is poor young homosexuals who refuse to remain covert who are subjected to abuse. That’s not fair.
Social media provides excellent opportunities for launching educational campaigns and clever advertorials, but I’m not sure these are being fully utilized.
KS: I think social media does have a vital role to play. The comments I have seen on Twitter have all been disparaging towards TVJ for not airing the ad and have been supportive of gay people.  Citizen journalism is very important here and moves the culture and public opinion forward even while the mainstream media fails.  We see this in issues of human rights across the globe.
External influence
GV: Something that’s striking is the idea, explicit or implied, that “outsiders” don't have the right to express an opinion or take any action when it comes to homophobia in Jamaica.  It often gets compared to neocolonialism.  What’s your take on this?
AP: Well, I do think that some outsiders have been insensitive to the realities on the ground here and insufficiently attentive to the particularities of Jamaica. There is a tendency to self-righteousness, and an arrogant assumption that they know the right way in the same way that missionaries two hundred years ago felt so certain about their ‘rescue missions’ in relation to various so-called ‘heathen’ populations. Kei captured the problem superbly on his blog recently.
KM: I have a complicated take on this. I mostly agree with ‘outsider’s’ take on it, but I don’t generally find it helpful. I’ve written about this before, and it’s about attitude. I think too often the attitude of outsiders comes across as a kind of self-righteousness – as a validation of their own morality and I guess the savagery or backwardness of Jamaicans. And when Jamaicans pick up on that contempt we react in a really unfortunate way. We affirm our right to homophobia and so I think it ends up fortifying our hatred rather than challenging it in a helpful way.
KS: Sometimes it takes a light being shone on an issue from the outside for some change to come.  Was it neocolonialism when the Allies took it upon themselves to rescue Jews and Europe from Nazism?  Is it neocolonialism for Western writers and human rights organizations to speak out and advocate on behalf of prisoners of torture, Chinese dissidents, Tibetan people who are occupied?   Was it neocolonialism when the West spoke out against apartheid in South Africa?  Is it neocolonialism for human rights advocates to be speaking out against corporations like Shell who are large polluters in Africa?  All around the world, people speak out for others who are disadvantaged, disenfranchised and persecuted.  We are all human beings and our hearts open to those who are suffering.   Jamaicans can take all the time they want, debating it and fussing about what to do or what not to do, but the world has left them on this issue.  It is a human rights issue.  As a Jamaican and someone who lost a dear family member due to this hatred and intolerance,  I am proud of JFLAG and other Jamaicans who are taking a stand.
Race and class
GV: Finally, when it comes to the ad itself, do you think the ethnicity of the Straws (mixed race but clearly light-skinned) has anything to do with the way people have reacted, given the line of rhetoric in some parts of the Caribbean that portrays homosexuality as a “foreign” thing or a perversion of the upper classes?
AP: Of course that is also playing into all this. But matters of race and colour are taboo in the Jamaican public sphere so no one has so much as mentioned it, but of course in private these must be bones of contention as well.
In relation to the view that there has been an ‘invasion’ of the Jamaican body politic by ‘foreign’ interests, there is a way in which the ravages of globalization are mapped onto the body of the homosexual. There is much talk of ‘the gay agenda’ that supposedly underlies initiatives such as the PSA we’re discussing. This comes from the fact that relations with the ‘developed world’, on whom countries such as Jamaica depend for aid and other kinds of assistance, are now contingent on accepting a hegemonic human rights discourse that is viewed as being antithetical to Jamaican culture. The cultural changes that forces of globalization engender sometimes provoke intense resentment and anxiety, and ironically are perhaps perceived as a violation as traumatic as being buggered–I don’t know, this is just a theory—maybe this is why the unfortunate connection is made to male homosexuality? I don’t know, I do know that until that reflex association with the evils of globalization is broken it will be hard for homosexuals in Jamaica to find this a hospitable place to be. This is why this is a battle that has to be fought here–on home ground–by Jamaicans, for Jamaicans, without any overt external pressures or interference.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Kenya: The Terrible Truth About Kenyan Drivers · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Learn the terrible truth about Kenyan drivers from Luke: “The police are yet to release figures for this month but the old ghost of tragic road accidents seems to be rearing her ugly head yet again. Statistics for this year so far show that in Nairobi county alone 3 people are killed daily in road accidents! Particularly on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, Thika Highway and Mombasa road where up to 20 people are killed weekly!”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Mexico: Fighting Drug Trafficking With ‘Magic Wands’ · Global Voices
Issa Villarreal

Blogger Juan Antonio [es] uses reliable sources to report on the situation of the GT200 in Mexico, a drug and explosive detector recognized as ineffective by several countries. Despite warnings from the British government, Mexico has spent more than 250 million pesos ($20 million USD) in these devices.

author: Issa Villarreal


text:
Mexico: ‘Twitter Terrorists’ Face up to 30 Years in Jail · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“Gilberto Martínez Vera (@gilius_22) and María de Jesús Bravo Pagola (@maruchibravo) face up to 30-year jail terms for ‘terrorism and sabotage'”, Tim Johnson reports in his blog Mexico Unmasked, and explains: “The prosecutor accused the two of sowing panic last week […] by suggesting in tweets that gangsters were attacking public schools in the district and killing kids.”

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
Moldova: “Our Romanian Language” Day Protest · Global Voices
Diana Lungu

This post is part of our special coverage Language and the Internet.
Moldova is one of the few countries in the world that celebrates Language Day, a holiday usually marked by nations that have fought for the right to speak their native language.
Twenty-two years ago, on August 31, 1989, while still a part of the Soviet Union, after fierce deliberations, Moldova adopted the Romanian language as the state language and returned to the Latin script. During the Soviet rule, the country had been forced for almost 50 years to use the Cyrillic script, and the Soviet Union continuously propagated the existence of the Moldovan language as a distinct entity from the Romanian language.
"Our language Romanian"
Twenty years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the official language is still disputed in Moldova, whilst the Constitution calls it Moldovan, the educational system teaches Romanian, and the ethnic minorities insist on formalizing the Russian language as a second official language.
Ahead of this year’s celebration of Our Romanian Language Day, the Moldovan netizens organized via Facebook [ro] a protest demanding the authorities to replace the phrasing “Moldovan language” with “Romanian language” from the highly disputed 13th Article of the Moldovan Constitution.
The initiative's organizers motivated the attendees with the following slogans:
DEMAND WHAT BELONGS TO YOU; DEMAND THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE ROMANIAN LANGUAGE!
For 20 years, an injustice has been written down in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, it harms the Historical Truth of our nation. Those from yesterday, from today and from tomorrow are living this injustice every day, they tolerate and decry it, and they revolt and conform to it, but what will we leave for our offspring and how will we be able to look into their eyes with the shame of our cowardice?
Our parents fought to leave the Soviet Empire, what do we do to carry on with the dignity of their names?
Netizens used Facebook to organize a protest under the slogan: "COME! to protect the LANGUAGE and the HISTORY"
This call to protest ended with the following message:
The affirmation of the Romanian identity does not affect the attitude towards the identity of the ethnic minority groups (Ukrainians, Russians, Bulgarians, Gagauz) who live next to us in the Republic of Moldova. We have to respect each other.
Sergiu Scarlat wrote [ro] on the event’s Facebook page:
We have to fight against the invaders (Russian friends) and to clearly demonstrate that we are at home and here we speak Romanian or at least Moldovan, if anyone spots the difference…
Around 200 people, from more than 1000 who had signed up on the Facebook page, actually turned up at the protest held on August 30 in capital Chisinau.
The protesters carried signs saying:
Without language, without history. We are left with bread and circus?
20 years of “Moldovan language.” How much longer will we endure?
Moldovan language – an invention of the invaders?
Romanian language is my motherland!
The event has made it into mainstream media coverage. The buzz in the blogosphere portraits the still fragile and controversial status of the Romanian language.
Traian Vasilcau decries [ro] the status of the Romanian language existent nowadays in Moldova:
Put on the wall of infamy, the Romanian language sees in front of its eyes a sea of darkness, so big that one could easily slap someone.
He goes on:
From the declaration of independence of the Republic of Moldova, know that only 1 percent of the Bessarabian aliens have learned the pseudo state language.
“Pseudo,” because the eternal problem of the name of the Romanian language is part of science fiction novels.
It is Moldovan for the unconscious populations and for the pro-Communists, and it is Romanian for the conscious population of [Bessarabia].
Alex Cozer assesses [ro] the situation in the same manner:
Still, just like in the case of “independence,” our “Romanian” language is a fake celebration, because, in fact, the Romanian language, just like the independence, is trampled down and not respected.
The blogger appeals to the Prime Minister to keep his promise of levying the main – and the monopolist – chain of cinemas to dub or subtitle movies in Romanian. In the main cinemas of the Moldovan capital, one can only watch movies in Russian.
On the other side of the barricade, blogger Nicolae Pascaru engages [ro] in a debate [ro] where he argues that the language name should be Moldovan, because Moldovan is written down in the Constitution.
Comments to his viewpoint have been mainly critical. A user calling himself Infinit says [ro]:
I am sorry to let you know, but there is a problem with the Constitution. I am afraid several mistakes have slipped in there. The Moldovan language is one of them and is not even the most serious one. I have not seen the Moldovan Constitution mentioning that Smirnov [the self-proclaimed leader of the secessionist entity of Transnistria] has to control Transnistria from 1990, nor that the military units of other states have to be stationed on the territory of Moldova.
Tudor Darie deplores [ro] the fact that certain members of the Moldovan Parliament cannot speak the Romanian language. According to him, the solution is this:
The Government and the Parliament need to create the necessary conditions to protect and promote “the state language” and we (those who follow the historical truth) must not beg, but impose respect for the Romanian language!
Corneliu Gandrabur goes back in his blog post [ro] to the date of August 31, 1989:
On August 31, 1989, I was 2 years and 9 months old; possibly I was still speaking Romanian. On that day, when probably I was playing in the sand in front of the house, on Lenin Street, there were many people who were demanding in one voice the Romanian language and the Latin Alphabet. They got what they demanded, but with the right to only speak it once a year.
[…]
How many more years will we speak Romanian only one day per year? A tough question even for me, I am not even going to write anything about those who are in power now!
Alexandru Tanase writes [ro] on his Facebook wall:
In ’89 I was in the square [National Square] together with thousands of people who were fighting for the adoption of the Romanian language as the state language and the return to the Latin script. In fact, the fight was taking place not only for the return of the Romanian language to public life. In ’89 we were fighting for dignity, which is the basis and the sum of all human rights and values. Congratulations everyone!
This post is part of our special coverage Language and the Internet.

author: Diana Lungu


text:
Mozambique: Remembering the Bread Riots With Video · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

One year after the Mozambican “bread riots”, Global Voices author Amanda Rossi shares a video with images from the unrest.

author: Sara Moreira


text:
Nepal: Will The New Prime Minister Be Any Different? · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

Nepal has been on a rollercoaster ride since the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections. Public verdict on political leadership was fractured – the Maoists emerged as the largest party, but far from a secure majority. Establishment parties such as Nepali Congress, Nepal Communist Party (United Marxist and Leninist) (UML) were severely restricted and regional parties managed to secure only some seats; this weakened traditional power bases and created forced alliances.
As a result the country has had three Prime Ministers in last four years and the promised new Constitution is nowhere near completion.
Lack of stable leadership and constant struggle amongst the parties have affected Nepal's young democracy and the country has a new leader, yet again. Senior Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai was sworn in as Nepal's 34th Prime Minister last week. United We Blog for Democratic Nepal  commented on Dr. Bhattarai's election and noted that unlike past leaders, he has support from across the political spectrum:
People across the political divide have supported BRB for the for prime minister mainly because of his impressive performance as finance minister in Prachanda cabinet and because of his liberal, intellectual image that has made him darling of media and middle class.
The news of his election aroused largely positive feelings at Twitter too. Anil Ghimire at Aakar Post has compiled reactions from Nepali twitter users.
Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai. Image by Krish Dulal. (CC BY -SA 3.0)
During his tenure as Finance Minister, Dr. Bhattarai solidified his position among the cash-strapped Nepali public when  he decided to forgo expensive foreign cars for cost-effective “made in Nepal” vehicles.
Journalist Benjamin Graham noted in his blog:
Never has a simple SUV attracted as much attention as did the four-door Mustang Max that drove through the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal on Monday. Riding in the vehicle was Nepal’s newly elected Prime Minister, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, who chose to drive the Nepali-made car to his swearing-in ceremony and his new office at Singha Durbar, Nepal’s parliamentary building. Bhattarai’s choice of transportation breaks a long standing tradition among Nepali Prime Ministers, who usually opt for expensive, foreign-made luxury autos.
The discreet SUV, which lacks air-conditioning and power windows, much less bullet-proof glass, brought crowds of interested citizens to the streets and caused a firestorm of chatter on social networking sites.
But not everyone is impressed. Former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and noted Nepali intellectual Kul Chandra Gautam says that Bhattarai's overly ideological stance does not inspire confidence in his government:
But Bhattarai also carries a baggage as a dour and dogmatic ideologue. While recently he has tried to brand himself as a progressive moderate who stands for peace, democracy and constitution, he has not hesitated to make strategic alliances with leaders of the most hard-line faction of the UCPN-Maoist. Whether he can liberate himself from the clutches of the hardliners, and rise above his own Leninist opportunism, will determine his success and, to some extent, the future direction of the country.
Crimes committed during the Maoist insurgency may come back to haunt the new Prime Minister. NepalNews.com reports that a group of noted human rights activists and intellectuals has released a statement denouncing the Maoist proposal to grant mass amnesty for crimes committed during the insurgency:
We condemn the Maoist party's proposal to withdraw and cancel all court cases regarding crimes committed during the conflict, and to provide general amnesty to those who have been found guilty by the courts. This proposal of the Maoist party goes against all national responsibilities under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the Interim Constitution and international humanitarian law,” a statement signed by 13 members of the group said.
No doubt the new Prime Minister faces steep challenges. But he has shown skills by mixing in populist moves to strengthen his position. If he can keep his coalition partners and party hardliners happy, and create a workable environment within the government, he might just break the cycle of disappointments.

author: Bhumika Ghimire


text:
Nicaragua: Blog Carnival to Focus on Migration · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

From September 1-10 Nicaraguan bloggers will participate in a blog carnival [es] focusing on the subject of migration. On the carnival's site you can find a directory [es] of the participating blogs. You can also follow the carnival on Facebook [es].


text:
Russia: Bromine Leak in Chelyabinsk City (Video) · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Blogger piligrim67 publishes [ru] photos and video of a bromine (toxic halogen) leak at Chelyabinsk railway station. According to Chelyabinsk.ru [ru], due to the leak of 10,000 liters of bromine 2 persons hospitalized, about 100 reported signs of intoxication.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Alice Yard Turns 5 · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

This month, “Alice Yard will celebrate its fifth anniversary as an independent space for creative experiment.”  See how they plan to celebrate the occasion, here.


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Debate on SoE Tomorrow · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowTnT.com says there are “a few things that [he'd] love to hear come up” when the State of Emergency comes up for debate in Parliament tomorrow: “The specific grounds on which the decision to declare a State of Emergency was based” and “the details of the planning for the period after the State of Emergency while realistically looking at what has been accomplished since the State of Emergency began.”


text:
Blog Carnival: Mexico – Is There a Solution to This Violence? · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

This post is part of our special coverage Mexico's Drug War.
One cannot deny the existence of the numerous reflections that have emerged as a result of the historical consequences of violence; the key question being how to avoid it. One of the strongest discussions has been that of ‘non-violence’, lead by well recognized figures such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Their approaches encouraged people not to use violent means to protest or to respond to violence.
This implies a life decision and years of work, so in this fifth installment of the Blog Carnival: Mexico – Citizenry, Violence and Blogs, rather than focus on large scale ideas such as non-violence, we will look at more immediate actions, like local debates (in this case in Mexico) or governmental decisions.
"For the peace of Ciudad Juárez by Flicker user laap mx (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Is there a solution to this violence?
Putting it in another way: What is being done to stop the violence? Juan Tadeo, for example, comments [es] on the comprehensive proposal recently presented by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a document [es] that recognizes the gravity of the situation and that identifies the problems of the current public policy on security. Juan concludes:
acepto que el documento en cuestión no  representa una “cura milagrosa” ni la solución a todos los problemas del  país en materia de inseguridad, sin embargo no me queda duda de que es a  través de propuestas similares, provenientes de todos los sectores de  la ciudadanía, que se podrá combatir a los problemas que aquejan a  México. Nos queda el reto de analizar a detalle y  de manera exhaustiva la propuesta en comento, difundirla, cuestionarla y  enriquecerla, para después exigir a nuestros representantes  (legisladores) que pongan manos a la obra y demuestren si su lealtad y  compromiso son con México, o con intereses personales y de partido.
Omar Rábogo Vital and Lucía Bergara publish a post on the Altoparlante blog of Article 19 in Animal Político [es] where they analyze Mexican President Felipe Calderón's discourse against violence. They summarize their impressions in this manner:
La violencia es una realidad en México. Las cifras oficiales y los  testimonios de las víctimas no mienten. No se puede permitir que bajo el  discurso de seguridad nacional se sigan perpetrando violaciones a los  derechos fundamentales. No hay seguridad nacional sin respeto a los  derechos humanos. La estrategia del Gobierno Federal para legitimar su  guerra contra el crimen organizado y el discurso que ha utilizado el  presidente Felipe Calderón en varias ocasiones se contradice. Es  obligación de los gobiernos informar a la ciudadanía de las acciones y  estrategias que se implementan. Un discurso que intenta encubrir  violaciones a los derechos humanos y reflejar una realidad inexistente  no ayuda a la construcción democrática de un país.
Epriani in #SinLugar touches upon the same theme of governmental security policies briefly in his post “The agreement that no one remembers” [es].
Han pasado casi seis meses desde la firma del Acuerdo para la Cobertura Informativa de la violencia promovido en el marco de Iniciativa México. Hasta ahora, el acuerdo no es más que un evento mediático, una mera ocurrencia política sin consecuencias. El observatorio de medios creado en el marco del acuerdo no ha emitido ningún resultado (tendría  que haberlo hecho al tercer mes). El sitio web no reporta ninguna  actividad distinta a la difusión del acuerdo. Los medios continúan  actuando exactamente igual que antes del acuerdo.
Sofia López Olalde, from the blog En busca de ciudades sustentables, comments [es] on recent statistics that contradict the official triumphalist discourse, indicating that Mexico is more impoverished and more violent.
Sería  mejor que el gobierno volteara a ver, leer y escuchar de verdad a la  ciudadanía que ya no sólo se queja, a la ciudadanía que ahora propone  cambios de fondo, reformas políticas, estructurales, estrategias para  salvaguardar la integridad de la gente, a la ciudadanía que hoy mueve  conciencias a través de palabras cargadas de verdad. O ya por lo menos que el Gobierno Federal deje de enriquecer a las  televisoras pagando cantidades estratosféricas de dinero por la  aparición de anuncios que publicitan el buen trabajo del gobierno; que  aseguran que en México se puede hoy “vivir mejor”, que “a Michoacán le  esta yendo muy bien” y que “el Gobierno Federal trabaja por tu  seguridad”. Basta ya de seguir defendiendo lo indefendible.
Alejandro Galicia writes [es] on his blog Uno en la Red about this “violated citizenry”, analyzing Mexican democracy and society as well as the State's use or misuse of violence:
La sociedad mexicana per se no es violenta, ha sido violentada tanto por carencias como por el tipo de respuesta del Estado a la violencia, esta depende de factores estructurales o de satisfactores presentes o ausentes. Primero, México arrastra problemas de pobreza estructural que inhiben el crecimiento económico, pero muy especialmente, por la distribución de la riqueza, […] lo que ha llevado a la concentración de la riqueza en pocas manos […] En segundo lugar, ha creado un sistema político parasitario que congela toda iniciativa de cambio estructural  dentro del propio sistema de poder político, son los mismos gobernantes los que están muy conformes con el actual sistema de corrupción, […] por ello, la urgencia de una verdadera Reforma Política a la que todos los partidos se han adherido pero sin decir qué tipo de reforma y para cuando, esta apatía y largas es clara cuando estamos a un año de un nuevo proceso electoral en 2012, de aquí la falta de un real interés por llevar a cabo dicha reforma.
Mexican society per se isn't violent, it has been violated as much by deficiencies as by the type of response of the State to violence, this depends on structural factors or on present or absent satisfiers. First, Mexico brings problems of structural poverty that inhibits economic growth, but especially due to the distribution of wealth […] that has concentrated wealth in the hands of a few […] In the second place, it has created a political parasite system that congeals all structural change initiatives within the public power system, these are the same leaders who are very satisfied with the current corrupt system, […] therefore, the urgency of a real political reform to which all parties have signed but without saying what kind of reform and when, this apathy is clear when we are one year away from a new electoral process in 2012, hence the lack of a real interest in carrying out such reform.
Enrique shares a couple of short posts with examples of citizenry in action, the first from Father Alejandro Solalinde [es] and the second [es] referencing the site of the Movement for Peace [es]. In another post [es] he also explains the important civic expression that resulted from the March for Peace and the National March led by the poet Javier Sicilia:
Hay muchas opiniones encontradas de lo  que ha sido la discusión sobre el movimiento que encabeza Sicilia. Si  bien ya han habido otros que le han precedido, cierto es que en esta  ocasión el gran valor de Sicilia ha sido darle voz y cara a los caídos y  a los dolidos. […] Leía por ahí que alguien preguntaba irónicamente: ¿Dónde estuvo Sicilia durante cuatro años y medio en que la inseguridad no tocó su soberanía personal? Contestaba yo: En el mismo lugar donde hemos estado todos los demás que hemos tenido suerte de no ser afectados… […] es  evidente que la lejanía y desvinculación que tenemos los unos de los  otros evita que este título (‘Todos somos Juárez’) sea del todo cierto. Es ahí, en ese momento,  cuando la movilización de Sicilia cobra la importancia que ha tenido. Nos ha vinculado, de forma muy dolorosa, al dolor de los otros; porque no estamos excentos como probablemente no pensó tampoco el poeta antes de la muerte dolorosa de su hijo.
There are many opinions around the discussion of the movement that Sicilia leads. Although there have been others who preceded him, it is true that this time the great value of Sicilia has been to give a voice and face to the fallen and to the hurt. […] I read that someone asked ironically: Where was Sicilia for the four years that insecurity did not touch his personal sovereignty? I answered: In the same place where all of us have been that have been lucky enough to not be affected…[…] it is evident that the distance and decoupling that we have prevents this title (“We are all Juarez”) from being true. It is then, in that moment, when the mobilization of Sicilia takes the importance it has had. It has linked us, very painfully, to the pain of others; because we are not exempt as the poet probably also didn't believe before the painful death of his son.
We conclude this sample of the Blog Carnival with another post by the prolific Enrique Figueroa, this time about hope [es] and the passivity or proactivity with which we can deal with things. A great theme to end with.
La esperanza debe de servirnos como motor para lo que queremos lograr, no como simple anhelo que evadimos cuando nos toca actuar y tomar al toro por los cuernos. […] Eso sucede por ejemplo cuando abordamos el siempre difícil tema de la violencia en México. No todo se acabará con un cambio de presidente,  que si bien está equivocado en su estrategia (la mejor muestra es el  número de muertes acumuladas), […] también hay muchos males que  llevamos arrastrando desde hace muchos años. […] Podemos esperar, esperar a que nuestras acciones tengan efecto, o simplemente esperar, esperar y esperar sin que nada cambie…
Hope should serve as a motor for what we want to achieve, no as a simple longing that we evade when it touches us to act and we take the bull by the horns. […] This happens for example when we tackle the always difficult theme of violence in Mexico. Not everything ends with a change of president, who although is wrong in his strategy (the best example is the cumulative death toll), […] there are also many ills that we carry, dragging them with us for many years. […]We can hope, hope that our actions have an effect, or simply hope, hope and wait and nothing changes…
By Flickr user Tu Ciudad Mi Ciudad (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
We are very thankful to all those that were excited about participating in this Carnival, taking time away from other activities (for something that was born so far away  [es] from Mexico it wasn't so bad); also to those who supported us with the publicity, of who I would like to especially mention Pepe Flores of Vivir México for the interview [es] on the blog allowing us to reach more people, to Ernesto Priego of #SinLugar for the circulation [es] (and participation) on the site, and to the people of Mujeres Construyendo, who helped to promote [es] the event. Equally to the Twitter users who retweeted our call and the participating posts as they were published, above all @rabanovengador and @ernestopriego who until now maintain the hashtag #vocesmx. Thanks guys!
This post is part of our special coverage Mexico's Drug War.

author: Juan Arellano


text:
China: Guangdong Model Making a Comeback? · Global Voices
Andy Yee

Back in July this year, the two ‘cake theories’ articulated by the Communist Party of China (CPC) chiefs of Guangdong province and the Chongqing municipality stirred a public debate about different social development models in China.
During the tenth Guangdong Provincial CPC Congress in July, Wang Yang said, ‘Building up the society now has an important place. We need to emphasize on people’s well being. But we need to focus on the economy if we are to make a bigger cake. In other words, our focus is on making a bigger cake, not how to divide the cake.’
This is exactly opposite to what Bo Xilai, CPC chief of Chongqing, said earlier when he emphasized the importance of achieving wealth distribution and common prosperity, ‘we need to divide the cake properly while making the cake bigger.’
Guangzhou's Canton Tower by Flickr user Colin Zhu (CC BY-SA 2.0)
As a promising contender in the 2012 leadership succession, and with his big push of socialist values and revolutionary culture earlier this year, Bo Xilai and his Chongqing model has attracted much attention in media and political circles for a while. But Wang Yang has spoken out more freely in recent months on the more liberal Guangdong model, with his speech above being one such example.
In fact, there are many differences between the Guangdong and Chongqing models. In an earlier post on Global Voices, Oiwan Lam has highlighted a detailed feature from China’s Public Consensus Net, which compares the two models in areas of politics, economics, culture and public policy. As one of the earliest provinces to reform since 1978, Guangdong has a relatively liberal and democratic tradition. The Guangdong model is seen as an ideological alternative to the state-centric Chongqing model.
As the Guangdong model is making a comeback, a number of commentators have criticized the Chongqing model for its authoritarian and non-democratic characteristics.
Hu Ping, a New York-based human rights advocate, thinks that without political liberalization, the Chongqing model’s claim to solve social inequality is an illusion. In an article [zh] written for the Human Rights in China Biweekly, he first provokes readers with two fables:
俄国大文豪托尔斯泰讲过一个小寓言：两只小熊得到一张饼，不知怎样才能分得公平。狐狸走过来说：让我帮你们分。狐狸把饼一撕两块，一块大一块小，分给两只 小熊。一只小熊叫起来：他那块大，不公平！狐狸看了看说：嗯，那块是大了点。狐狸于是把那块大的拿过来咬了一口。这下，另一只小熊又叫起来了：我这块小 啦，他那块大，不公平！于是，狐狸又把那一块拿过来咬一口。就这样，左一口，右一口，一张饼让狐狸吃去了一半；到头来，两只小熊都只分到了差不多大的一小 块。这则寓言告诉我们：千万别以为专制政府能替我们把饼分得公平，因为它首先会趁机把大块的饼吃到自己的肚子里。
英国哲学家哈灵顿也讲过一个关于分饼的小寓言：两个姑娘得到一张饼，商量怎样才能分得公平。一个姑娘建议说：“我来分，你来挑；或者，你来分，我来挑。”这则寓言告诉我们：公平的秘诀在于分权。
He then explains why political liberalization is necessary before the debate about efficiency and fairness can proceed in China.
按照那些学者专家的看法，做蛋糕与分蛋糕之争就是效率与公平之争。其实不然。我们知道，很多西方经济学家谈到经济公平时，他们主要关心的是收入差距。毛时 代的中国，收入差距不大，那是否意味着毛时代的中国做到了经济公平呢？答案当然是否定的。因为所谓经济公平，其不言而喻的前提是制度的公平，是权利的平 等。在毛时代，中共是用非法的手段剥夺富人的合法财产，因此当然是极不公平的。
必须看到，今日中国的贫富差距，不但在程度上很悬殊，而且在性质上尤其恶劣。中国的贫富悬殊问题与众不同，它既不是历史造成的，也不是市场造成的，而主要 是专制权力造成的。在中国，穷人之穷，在很大程度上是因为他们的财产被权势者所强占；富人之富，在很大程度上是因为他们利用权力抢走了别人创造的财富。重 庆政府主张通过强化税收建立社会保障系统来解决贫富悬殊问题，但这种做法的前提是承认富人拥有的财产基本上是合法的，来路是清白的。
然而尽人皆知，在中国，那些先富起来的人，尤其是那些权力集团中先富起来的人，其财产基本上是不合法的，来路是不清白的。中共先是以革命的名义抢劫，然后 又以改革的名义分赃。这分明是对人民的两次大掠夺。所以，要在今日中国实行经济公平，主要还不是通过强化税收建立社会保障系统，而是把权势集团掠夺的财产 归还给被掠夺的人民。重庆模式的分蛋糕理论，恰恰是对两次掠夺的肆意否认，充其量是略有节制的榨取而已，哪里谈得上公平呢！
Suisheng Zhao, China specialist at the University of Denver, writes at the public policy blog East Asia Forum that the Chongqing model finds support among the Chinese leadership because it is an affirmation of the China model of state capitalism, in contrast to the Western model of liberal democratic capitalism. However, it is not a solution to China’s intensifying social problems because it neglects the building up of democratic and legal institutions based on liberal values:
For all its glitter and shimmer, the China model has some clear faultlines that are responsible for China’s many social and political problems. For example, without accountability, the authoritarian state’s ability to make quick decisions has often come with high economic and environmental costs, leading to irrational and distorted investment, waste of resources and environmental deterioration. In addition, without an opposition party to keep watch on privileged state officials, a combination of authoritarian politics and the market economy has produced corrupt crony capitalism (权贵资本主义) in which power and money are closely connected. Acting to protect and enrich specific interests, the state has come to infringe upon ordinary people’s rights. Arbitrary land acquisitions are prevalent and workers have to endure long hours and unsafe conditions, causing discontent within society.
This is not to say that the Guangdong model is a significant departure from the China model. Nevertheless, with more emphasis on market and civil society, Juntao He thinks that it should be more open-minded and rational than its rival model. Recalling his commentary back in June on China Elections and Governance, run by the US human rights group Carter Center:
Rapid economic growth and relative social stability under an authoritarian regime constitute the “China model”, for several years a hot topic in academia and media circles. Ding Xueliang, a sociology professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, explicates six pillars supporting China’s pathway: Leninist party, party-led military forces, authoritarian regime, Chinese-style social control system, state-manipulated ideology, and a regulated market economy.
The Guangdong and Chongqing models do not differ significantly from this definition. They share the same  structure but weight each component differently. In Guangdong, the market and civil society often manage social issues. But in Chongqing, even the smallest matters are government matters.
In the China model, market norms and authoritarianism are closely intertwined, at some times supporting and at other times undercutting each other. The market requires equality, rule of law and democracy. But authoritarianism centralizes all power into the government. The contradiction between the two mechanisms is the origin of Chinese social tension. The Guangdong model unites both sides of the coin. It makes innovations to the current system against existing tensions, with the goal of eventually reducing government involvement and enhancing the role of the market in social progress. Under the current political atmosphere, the Chongqing model will prevail for a while. But in the long run, the Guangdong model helps China adapt better to a global market economy.

author: Andy Yee


text:
Honduras: Artists and Intellectuals Sign Declaration on Violence in Bajo Aguán · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Honduran artists and intellectuals have come together to sign a statement on the violence taking place in Bajo Aguán. Adrienne Pine translated the declaration into English. You can also read the original version in Spanish.


text:
Iran: Protect Iranian Users · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Protect Iranian Users is a campaign to raise awareness of Iranian netizents dangerous situation especially after Diginotar scandal. Read more here.

author: Fred Petrossian


text:
Iran: Smile, the Regime is Reading Your Emails · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

A growing number of Iranian bloggers expressed their anxieties after learning that their Gmail inboxes may have been an open book for the Iranian state to read and target dissidents for the last two months.
RedOrbit says:
The rogue SSL certificate is used to digitally “sign” HTTPS connections to any Google site and was issued by a Dutch company called DigiNotar on July 10. In particular, political dissidents who put their trust in Google’s systems for their security may have been targeted in the attack.
Google reacted on August 29, 2011, saying:
Today we received reports of attempted SSL man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks against Google users, whereby someone tried to get between them and encrypted Google services… Google Chrome users were protected from this attack because Chrome was able to detect the fraudulent certificate.
Human rights organisation, Arseh Sevom warns that Tor, Yahoo and Mozilla are targets too.
Here is Ali Borhani's (an Iran-based IT student) conversation with Google:
Hi,
Today, when I trid to login to my Gmail account I saw a certificate warning in Chrome .
I took a screenshot and I saved certificate to a file.
this is the certificate file with screenshot in a zip file:
http://www.mediafire.com/?rrklb17slctityb
and this is text of decoded fake certificate:
http://pastebin.com/ff7Yg663
when I used a vpn I didn't see any warning ! I think my ISP or my government did this attack (because I live in Iran and you may hear something about the story of Comodo hacker!)
Iran Online Security  writes that internet users got the warning when they wanted to access their Google Docs.
While several bloggers offered advice for secure internet use such as using proxies to login to their emails, Nima Rashedan, a cyber security expert, published a video explaining to Iranian users what happened.
Nima Rashedan told me via email that most Iranian media ignored the importance of this attack. Hackers got their hands on passwords, files, archives and unfortunately it is not limited to Google, since Yahoo, Firefox were targeted too. Diginotar still keeps silent although it was hacked by a group that called itself “Iranian hackers”. Rashedan says the damage is beyond imagination and nothing to compare with Comodo hacking.
A new campaign was launched to protect Iranian users where we read:
Our campaign is aimed at raising awareness for the dangerous situation for  Iranian netizens, especially since the Diginotar scandal.


text:
Lebanon: “Live For The Moment” Attitude? · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“The only thing that came to my mind is how can we be labelled as people who live for the moment, while at the age of 22-23, the young Lebanese is compelled to think about buying an overly expensive house which he/she has to pay in installments for, for 20 or 30 years, and that is in order to secure their future with a future partner,” writes Liliane as she questions the conclusions of this video by CNN which highlights Lebanese nightlife and claims a Lebanese “live for the moment” attitude.

author: Moussa Bashir


text:
Lebanon: Saad-eddine Al-Hariri the Cab Driver · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Salman Andary interviews (Ar) Mr. Saad-eddine Al-Hariri in Beirut! But this interview is with Mr. Saad-eddine Al-Hariri the cab driver and not the ex-prime minister of Lebanon (who is known as Saad Hariri and who has not been in Lebanon for months now).


text:
Macedonia: Authorities Keep Ignoring Protesters’ Demands · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

This post is part of our special coverage Macedonia Protests 2011.
The legislative and executive branches of the Macedonian government continue to ignore the demands of protesters against police brutality. During the past three months, the protesters have employed various creative tactics to draw the attention of the public and break the ban on reporting and even discussing the protests imposed by the ruling party on the media under its control, as well as on its cronies and members.
Up until mid-July, the protesters continued to meet near the monument of Mother Teresa every day at 6 p.m. Unlike the first few weeks of the protests, during this later period the marches did not take place every day. Instead, the protesters self-organized into thematic bodies to take part in different kinds of activities.
Hugging the parliament
On Saturday, June 25, the protesters held a huge event of hugging the Parliament: they surrounded the building of the Macedonian Assembly, where  the inaugural session was taking place at the time. Vnukot provided a comprehensive report of the day, which included performance art by the protesters. More info is available via several photo galleries.
The protesters had several run-ins with politicians, who used the lunch break to visit the headquarters of the ruling party situated near the Parliament. These included booing some of the acting ministers – among them Gordana Jankulovska, the Minister of the Interior, whose resignation the protesters demand on account of command responsibility.
During this event, the legal body submitted a civic initiative [mk] to the Parliament with demands to establish an independent system of control over the police. The Parliament ignored the issue, and has not provided any kind of response so far. The Minister of the Interior remained in her post – she was re-appointed upon the forming of the new government.
Day 30 March
On July 7, the evening of the 30th day since the murder of Martin Neshkovski, the protesters marched the streets of Skopje again. Vnukot covered  this manifestation as well:
In contrast to previous weeks, the protest was relatively small, numbering a little over 100 people. Most of them held photographs from protests in the last month, making a mobile open air exhibit.
The crowd gathered at the Mother Theresa memorial house as usual, then went to the Parliament, after which they tried to get to the Ministry of Interior. The attempt was unsuccessful, because the police cordon was once again located at the intersection that cannot be passed.
There, Martin's brother called out to every citizen of Macedonia with a conscious to show support for the protests. Then he told his side of the story of the death of his brother, after which he asked for punishment for everyone involved.
http://vimeo.com/26082892
30 days of protests in Skopje, Macedonia from Dejan Velkoski on Vimeo.
Exit Festival
On July 7, a group of representatives of the protesters took the opportunity to spread the word on the activist stage during the Exit Festival in Novi Sad (links in Macedonian, Serbian).
Also, during the performance of the Macedonian ska-punk and reggae band Superhiks, the band members wore t-shirts with the logo of the protests and explained about them (a photo gallery).
Video statements
Protesters also initiated an action for recording and publishing video statements, available at Justice for Martin YouTube profile. People from all around the world joined in, including Greece, Poland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Ireland, England, Australia, the USA, Croatia, New Zealand, Kosovo, Ukraine, Germany, Latvia, Kenia, Russia, Moldova, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Romania, Georgia, Italy, Indonesia,  Serbia, Mexico, South Africa, the Phillipines, Syria, France.). The popular Macedonian comic actor Sashko Kocev also joined the initiative with his impromptu skit [mk] on the search for justice in a garbage dumpster, and Boris Kaeski made a video of his public performance in Vienna.
Antigone Theatre Performance
On June 18, the art group had a public performance of the theatre play [mk] Antigone by Sophocles. The subject matter of the ancient play fits within the context of the protest, as it concerns an effort of a young person who opposes the powers that be to pay respect to a dead youth.
Media silence
After closing of A1 TV on July 30, the remaining electronic and print media obeyed the informal embargo on reporting on the protest events. In early August, Fokus weekly, one of the few newspapers that dare publish critical coverage of the current events, ran a feature story on the protests that included an item in which their journalist phoned an editor of the public broadcaster MTV and asked him about the ban. He did not deny it, but said that it was not a topic he would speak about over the phone.
The Birthday Protest
On August 16, the day the late Martin Neshkovski would have turned 23, and upon the call of his family, around 200-300 people attended the so-called “Birthday Protest.” The protest featured a procession and manifestation in front of the Parliament, and featured a controversial birthday cake in the form of a dead human body. Using this prop caused a lot of negative comments on social networks, by people who supported the protests but did not appreciate the shock value of something they considered too morbid.
http://vimeo.com/27804961
A Birthday Protest from Dejan Velkoski on Vimeo.
Alongside people who posted photo galleries and video [mk], Vnukot provided multimedia coverage of this event, too.
The atmosphere was tense, and tears appeared on many faces. When the cake arrived, a few words were spoken about how the cake should be tasted by the people in parliament, so that they know how bitter it is. The lit candles were placed in a circle around the table with the cake shaped like a human corpse, with a plastic bag over its head.
Aleksandar Neshkoski, Martin's brother, gave a statement for the media: “On this day, Martin should have turned [23], but unfortunately, he went to that fatal celebration, where his life was taken in an awful manner; they kept it a secret a long time, also in an awful manner… Today, everybody was invited, from the government and the opposition, and all of Macedonia, to come and show support, to unite as one so that this case can be solved. But, there's nobody from the government nor the opposition, the people are left to their own will… May god help us all.”
Then, it was decided that the cake with the plastic bag over its head to be placed in front of the building of Parliament. Everybody headed towards the barricades, along side the cake. But there, the police stood in the way and stopped them from entering the yard of the state institution.
After a brief verbal confrontation and some shoving, the policemen decided to allow the cake to be placed in the lawn. At that point, the people carrying the tray took advantage of the situation and lack of attention and ran to the desired spot.
At the end of the protest, the police did not allow photo journalist to come close enough to photograph the cake. That's when the crowd started shouting: “Freedom of press!”
The people who have participated in the protests during these three months claim that the actions will continue. #protestiram (“I protest”) is the Twitter tag still used for discussions and announcements.
This post is part of our special coverage Macedonia Protests 2011.

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
Madagascar: Wikileaks Cables Reveal Foreign Diplomatic Divergence after Coup    · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Sam Ganegie analyzes the dozens of newly published wikileaks cables related to Madagascar. He notes that the former mediator of the Madagascar crisis Mr Chissano believed that France unilateral support for the Rajoelina-led government [fr] after the military takeover prevented an exit to the crisis.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
Malaysia: Video salutes Generation 709 · Global Voices
Andy Yee

Following the formation of Generation 709 by young Malaysians to call for free and fair elections in the country, the Cantonese-speaking Malaysian music group EVYbody has created a video (with Chinese and English subtitles) to salute everyone who dares to stand up for their rights.


text:
Myanmar: Human Rights Report · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, released a statement which recognizes the positive steps taken by the government to improve the human rights situation in the country; but at the same time reminds the government to be more aggressive in fulfilling its international human rights obligations.


text:
Myanmar: Monitoring of Parliament Sessions · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Altsean-Burma releases a summary of what transpired in the parliament sessions of Myanmar which resumed this month. The report cites the questions, issues, and proposals raised by Parliament members.


text:
Myanmar Train Crash · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Blogger Htootayzar posts pictures and videos of a train crash which took place near Hledan in Myanmar.


text:
Sing Out from Japan · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Musicians from the earthquake-hit areas united and gave life to a project called Sing Out From Japan [en,ja]. They have released two songs so far: Let's go home/lawblow  and One love/I shall walk looking up, which are both cover versions of popular songs. The videos were shot in the regions devastated by the magnitude 9.0 tremor and tsunami.

author: Scilla Alecci


text:
South Korea: Police Detained Dozens of Activists and Villagers in Jeju Island · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Police  have detained about three dozen activists and villagers who have been protesting against the construction of a naval  base at the scenic Jeju  island on September 1, 2011. Twitter user @duddus58 posted photos of crackdown on protesters.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


text:
Thailand: Lese Majeste Trial of Webmaster · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

CJ Hinke of the Freedom Against Censorship Thailand or FACT writes about the resumption of the Lese Majeste trial of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, webmaster of Thailand’s independent news website Prachatai.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Venezuela: Judge Lifts Ban on Weekly ‘6to Poder’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“A judge in Caracas, Venezuela, lifted an injunction against the weekly 6to Poder prohibiting its publication and distribution […] The publication had been closed since Aug. 20 after publishing a photo montage portraying high-ranking female government officials as cabaret dancers on the magazine's cover”, Natalia Mazotte reports for Journalism in the Americas. Furthermore, Reporters Without Borders is calling “for the revision or withdrawal of the charges against Leocenis García, the editor of the weekly Sexto Poder, and Dinorah Girón, its publisher”.


text:
Zimbabwe: Changing Young Lives Through Theatre · Global Voices
Madalitso Mwando

Boyce Chaka is a 27 year-old poet and stage actor in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city. Since last year, he has been investing his time towards teaching high school kids about Shakespearean works and poetry as part of what he says is an attempt to “keep them off the streets.”
Boyce Chaka
With few amenities to go around for extra curricular activities, tutoring young high school children acting and poetry has become one of the activities Chaka says will fill what would otherwise have been idle hours.
This is his own way of bringing school children into the “wonderful world of Shakespeare” and also encourage them to read at a time when there are concerns in Zimbabwe that there is no culture of reading among young people.
Chaka says:
These are stories they can easily relate to outside pulp fiction. There is always something to be learned in Shakespeare and if I can encourage these youngsters to master these texts at an early age, they could take it up to wherever they want. For example, many say they want to be lawyers, and in Zimbabwe to be accepted at the university to study law you must at least have aced English literature. So this is one the reasons why I am doing this. I teach at a number of schools in the city [Bulawayo] and the response has been great. It is not just about knowing the plays by Shakespeare, but I am also giving acting classes.
Chaka tells me he wants to connect the “township street theatre” with Shakespearean stage plays and see how children from different backgrounds can learn from each of these genres. It is from this passion that he set his ambitions on creating this rich cultural mosaic in Bulawayo, which is already celebrated as Zimbabwe’s cultural hub.
Merchant of Venice? Saturday morning market by Bulawayo city hall. By Sokwanele on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA)
His is an initiative based on a desire to contribute towards creating not just a reading culture among young school-going boys and girls, but effectively to open their eyes to other career opportunities.  Zimbabwean youths are the largest demographic group in Zimbabwe, and opportunities for school leavers remain few.
Chaka says he wants to open these young people to other career possibilities after they leave school. “I believe if taken seriously, they can become professional stage actors as theatre is gaining popularity across the country,” Chaka says.
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." – Romeo and Juliet. The national flower of Zimbabwe, Gloriosa Superba, in Bulawayo by The Botser on Flickr (CC BY-SA).
Chaka has also been invited to teach literature to university students and says it feels great knowing that what he is doing is being taken seriously. “I will be teaching literature and stage acting to some university students as part of a course they are doing and this is one thing that I have wanted to do for a long time,” he says.
As the world population grows to hit the 7 billion mark, and bleak stories are beamed by international news agencies, citizens of the world such as Chaka have found other means to make this a better place and contribute towards making a difference in their own small but very significant ways.

author: Madalitso Mwando


text:
Angola: Personalized video call to protest · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

A number of political activists made a video call to protest against lack of freedom in Angola for today, September 3. The “32 [years] is a lot” video shows faces and names, unlike March's protest against the government of José Eduardo dos Santos, convened anonymously on the internet.

author: Janet Gunter


text:
Iran: New Protests to save dying lake · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several bloggers reported new demonstrations in Tabriz and Urmia in Iran's Azarbaijan's region on Saturday to call on Iran government to save dying Urmia Lake.


text:
Kazakhstan: Bloggers Denounce Repeated Blockage of LiveJournal · Global Voices
Sergey Park

On August 19, 2011, the largest Russophone blogging platform LiveJournal was blocked in Kazakhstan, less than a year after access to it was re-opened in fall of 2010. According to a decision passed by the Sary-Arka District Court in Astana, this web-resource disseminates materials that have signs of terrorism propaganda, religious extremism, public appeals to staging terrorist acts and forging explosive devices.
This intrusion of the state into virtual life, has stirred up the blogosphere. On the same day, all leading news sites, social networks and blogs featured articles voicing criticism of the state's decision. An online petition [ru] for un-blocking LiveJournal (LJ) has been created. Activists are sharing information on the Facebook group [ru].
The court ruled for the blockage of LJ and a lower profile Russian blogging platform, LiveInternet (which nevertheless has quite a lot of subscribers), along with a dozen of other websites for three months, until November 20.
LiveJournal blocked. Picture by blogger emarat, used with permission.
It was three years ago that Kazakhstani users were denied access to Livejournal for the first time. Then none of the state officials took a responsibility to explain the reasons for filtering, but it was widely believed – unofficially – that the reason was in the blog of Rakhat Aliyev, the former president's son-in-law and media tycoon. He was posting online wire-tapped telephone conversations of the higher  government officials there.
Prominent Kazakh Internet enthusiast Constatine Gorojeankin held an investigation [ru] into the matter and concluded that:
… the prosecutor's office failed to mitigate the issue in pre-trial procedures. I am pretty sure that if they asked LiveJournal to suspend an [extremist] blog, it would have been done. Why would the prosecutors demand blockage of the whole resource, not a single blog?
… there are reasons to believe that the judge did not even visit the resources to make sure they really have anything on “extremism and terrorism propaganda”. Otherwise three sites out of fourteen would have been deleted from the court decision simply because they don't exist.
… the Ministry of Information made a grave mistake and blocked the whole website instead of one troubled blog, which is mentioned in the court decision – islamunveiled.livejournal.com.
The news provoked a whirlpool of opinions. Kukayeva says [ru]:
There is a feeling that the Judiciary still sees the Internet as a sort of inconceivable monster. It looks like they don't understand that websites – especially such big fishes like LiveJournal – have management, whose work is to solve problems in a civilized way.
Nikk also points at [ru] the lack of attempts to solve the problem peacefully without a trial:
Strange. Wouldn't it have been easier for the government to email the LiveJournal admins and ask them to remove an illegal account?
AXE is not happy [ru] with the methods of Kazakh officials:
In normal countries […] the authorities fight extremism in a different way. Here goes an extremist blogger, police captures him, the guy gets jailed and his blog is removed. We have an innovative approach. Why so laborious? Just cut the cable.
Another blogger, megakhuimyak, speaks [ru] about legal vulnerability of the users:
From the point of view of the Kazakhstani legislation, users of any [online] service are do not enjoy legal status. User agreement is not a service provision contract […] In this case we all are deemed as information content consumers, “readers”. State bodies build relationships with the media owners, not taking us into consideration.
Finally, a well-known Twitter user – and also the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan KarimMassimov laconically promised [ru]:
I will sort it out with LJ.
But still, LiveJournal is not accessible from Kazakhstan.

author: Sergey Park


text:
Libya: First Football Win as a Free Nation · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
Libya beat Mozambique 1-0 in the African Cup of Nations qualifier, its first victory since the fall of the Muammar Gaddafi regime. Twitter is abuzz with joy as Libyans taste their first win for a free Libya.
Libyan Ibn Omar sums up the sentiment in a tweet saying:
@IbnOmar2005: GAME OVER! #LIBYA WINS FIRST GAME AS FREE NATION!
During the match, played in Egypt, Ismael Zmirli, who is behind ChangeInLibya, reminds us of the draconian rules imposed on football during Gaddafi's era:
@ChangeInLibya: I can't believe I'm hearing a commentator on Libya TV say the football players’ names – used to be 100% illegal under Gaddafi lol #libya
He also reminds us:
@ChangeInLibya: Most of the Libyan players that defeated Mozambique today were at the front lines fighting against Gaddafi forces only weeks ago #libya
Ibn Omar shares this photograph of a Libyan family watching the game in Tripoli:
@IbnOmar2005: #Libyan family watches game in #Tripoli. If that was me I might have shot the screen a few times lol yfrog.com/nybqosj
Tripoli family watching match
The win resulted in celebratory gunfire and lots of jubilation across Libya.
Libya-Horra reports:
@libya_Horra: Just called friend in #Tripoli, he said city is upside down with celebrations, all types of celebratory gun fire, ud think fighting returned
Akram, who tweets as flyingbirdies from Tripoli, notes:
@flyingbirdies: we need fireworks now. plz no more gunfire celebration :( #Libya #football
Celebrations were also reported in Benghazi, where Kelvin Brown tweets:
@kelvinbrownnews: Benghazi is going bonkers as Libya wins against Mozambique in the cup of nations football qualifier.
Tristan Redman, a reporter for Al Jazeera English, confirms:
@TristanAJE: Benghazi goes bananas after #libya football team wins in Cairo. Wear a helmet if you're out tonight: lots of falling rounds.
Septimius-sever says that even Gaddafi did not want to miss the party in Tripoli and posted this photograph:
Libyans watch Libya's football victory with Gaddafi
Meanwhile, Shabab Libya, the Twitter account for the Libya Youth Movement, are already plotting for their next victory.
@ShababLibya: Libya must now beat Zambia away next month to book a place in the 2012 African Nations cup #Libya
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
Myanmar: Interactive Prison Map · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

An interactive prison map of Myanmar was created in support of the ‘Free Burma’s Video Journalists campaign. The map identifies the locations and gives a brief description of Myanmar’s 43 prisons
Burma is home to 43 prisons and around 100 labour camps. Conditions in these jails are notoriously poor – inmates suffer regular physical and psychological abuse from officials, while medicine is scant and overcrowding common. The majority of political prisoners are held in Rangoon's Insein prison, although many are sent to remote jails hundreds of miles from their families where they are forced to battle extreme weather conditions and malaria.
Myanmar Prison Map
Insein prison is most notorious for being the detention center of Myanmar’s most prominent political prisoners.
Insein prison known as the ‘darkest hole in Burma’ is located in Rangoon division in lower Burma. The total prison population is between 9000 and 10,000 prisoners including over 300 political prisoners with only 3 doctors. It is a top security prison where Aung San Suu Kyi spent time.
Insein Prison
The 300 political prisoners in Insein have been given extremely long jail punishments even for minor political activities
Among the political prisoners are 225 monks, 11 MPs, 12 lawyers, eight doctors, 157 women, and nearly 30 media workers. Burma has been known to sentence people as young as 14 to years in prison for seemingly minor political activities such as the distribution of leaflets. One man, General Hso Ten, the chairman of the Shan State Peace Council, is serving a 106-year sentence for high treason.
The website also includes testimonies from former political detainees who bravely shared their prison experiences. Wai Moe was one of the prisoners who were tortured
Once I had shackles placed on my ankles, and they didn’t remove these for seven months. They weighed more than 10 kilos, and became part of my body. Other times you were forced to clean the iron bars on cell door with cloth for four hours a day – 8-10am, and 2-4pm. This is physical and mental torture – there’s no reason for it, but if you refuse, you are beaten. And another punishment was being forced to catch flies with a plastic bag. If you can’t catch them, they will beat you or tie you in shackles.
There are 17 jailed video journalists for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). One of the video journalists currently under detention is Hla Hla Win. She had been detained under the Import/Export Act for using an unregistered motorbike but her jail sentence has been extended to 20 years
During the first weeks of her seven year sentence, she was interrogated and eventually admitted to being a DVB reporter. On 20 December 2009  her jail term was extended by 20 years for violating the Electronics Act, which prohibits downloading or uploading data from the internet that is considered damaging to the security of the military regime. This is a tactic often used by the regime to imprison video reporters. She was handed a further 20 years and offered no legal representative.
A protest action demanding her freedom has been scheduled next week in front of the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok.


text:
Panama: Government Alliance Breaks · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

The governing period of Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli has been turbulent. The president of the republic and founder of the CD (Cambio Democrático, or Democratic Change) party came to power with 60% of votes (a historic event for Panama) in an alliance of opposing parties while also receiving strong backing from the traditional Panameñista party, also known as the Arnulfismo party.
The “Alliance for Change,” the name given to the joining of four parties, intended to reach the 2014 elections in which the current Vice-President Juan Carlos Varela would run as the presidential candidate. But true to his volatile and indecisive style, Ricardo Martinelli changed course a few months ago, stating that his party (CD) would run with its own candidate and if the Arnulfismo wanted Juan Carlos Varela to run with the Alliance, there should be inter-party primaries. The president would later retract his words, attributing it to a “light burn,” a term used in Panama to refer to infidelity between couples.
Citizens and the press watched the breakdown of the Alliance for Change in a series of events that reached its climax when registration opened up for the pro-government party this past weekend. The nation’s president reiterated that they would run with their own candidate, as he announced through his Twitter account (@rmartinelli):
Cambio Democrático ira con candidato propio a presidente en el 2014. Si hubiera una alianza se escogeria en una primaria interpartidaria
Juan Carlos Varela, from OEA-OAS on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Members of the Arnulfista party said they would also run with their own candidate but decided to maintain the alliance for governing. Nonetheless, yesterday afternoon the president called for Juan Carlos Varela to step down as Secretary of International Relations, a position he has held since coming to office 26 months ago. El Panamá América [es] reported:
El pedido a Varela es a título personal y no significa el rompimiento de la alianza de gobierno. El comunicado de la presidencia advierte que  “Varela descuidó su función de Canciller por tener 4 sombreros, canciller, vicepresidente, presidente de un partido y candidato”.
This was a personal request made to Varela and does not mean the governmental alliance has broken. The president’s report warns that “Varela failed in his role of Chancellor because he was playing four different roles: Chancellor, vice-president, party president, and candidate.”
The reactions on Twitter didn’t take long to appear. The hashtag #siyofueravarela [es] (if I were Varela) was created almost immediately, where Panamanians commented on what they would do if they were the dismissed chancellor. Manuel A. Perez, (@ManuaPerez), for example, wrote:
#siyofueravarela dejaria que el loco me destituya pa que el pais veaa que esto es solo un capricho politico y no una alianza
#ifiwerevarela I would let that fanatic dismiss me so that the country would see that this is just a political whim and not an alliance.
Hermes Ramirez (@TotoPunx) also commented on the issue referring to the principal opposition party PRD [Democratic Revolutionary Party]:
#SiYoFueraVarela me uno al #PRD y demuestro que aun existe gente de palabra en Panama, y que los sucios no llegan a ningun lado #Martinelli
#Ifiwerevarela I would join the #PRD and show that there are still people of their word in Panama and that people that play dirty don’t get anywhere #Martinelli
Juan Carlos Varela (@Jc_Varela) himself began a series of messages on Twitter. He first clarified that the President had not yet personally requested that he step down:
En este momento el Presidente de la Repulica , no me ha solicitado personalmente la renuncia a mi cargo de Canciller.
At this time the President of the Republic has not personally requested that I step down from my role as Chancellor
He later noted in a series of Tweets:
El tiene la facultad de destituirme como Canciller de la Republica.
Soy respetuoso de las opiniones de el Presidente, pero sera en su momento el pueblo el que juzgara mi actuacion como Canciller.
I respect the President’s opinions but it will be up to the people to judge my work as Chancellor at the appropriate time.
He would later allude to the controversial granting of a piece of property the past week as a possible cause for his dismissal.
Debo reconocer serias diferencias con el Presidente la última semana por el manejo de el terreno de Paitilla.
I must recognize serious differences with the President last week for the way he dealt with the land in Paitilla.
Panamanian blogger Joao Q writes on the topic in his blog Medio Cerrado [es], in which he points to Varela himself as being responsible for his dismissal, saying that Varela did not know how to value himself first as a presidential candidate and later as a vice-president.
El hecho de tener una alianza no significaba que Varela tenía que permitir tantos vilipendios. El solo hecho de que el Partido Panameñista fuera por primera vez en la “historia democrática” sin un candidato propio a las elecciones del 2009 ya era todo un escándalo y su alcahuetería, su silencio y su poca valentía (vuelvo y repito, por no decir otra cosa) lo han hecho merecedor al la destitución
Having an alliance did not mean that Varela had to allow himself to be so humilliated. The mere fact that the Panameñista Party was in “democratic history” for the first time without its own candidate for the 2009 elections was a real shock and his gossiping, his silence, and his lack of courage (I say it again to not say something else) caused him to bring about his own dismissal.
Varela assured in a press conference that that the governmental alliance had ended and promised to remain in his role as vice-president, but now as the opposition, which causes concern among Panamanians. The dismissal consequently also brought about a series of resignations from state secretaries and assistant secretaries of the Arnulfista party, as the La Prensa [es] newspaper informs:
“Creo que es claro: la alianza terminó”, dijo Varela a la prensa local a su salida de la sede del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores -entidad que dirigió por 26 meses-, donde estuvo acompañado de los ministros Alberto Vallarino, de Economía y Finanzas; y Carlos Duboy, de Vivienda y Ordenamiento Territorial, funcionarios que presentaron su renuncia al cargo tras conocer de la destitución de su copartidario.
“I think it’s clear: the alliance has ended,” Varela told local press while leaving the Department of Foreign Relations headquarters-the organization he directed for 26 months-as he was accompanied by Alberto Vallarino, the Secretary of Economy and Finance, and Carlos Duboy, Secretary of Housing and Land Regulation, officers that had presented their resignations upon learning of the dismissal of their fellow party leader.
The Presidente (@rmartinelli) has not made any statements to the media but has only issued a few sentences on Twitter:
Lo que nos toca a todos es seguir trabajando MAS por un mejor Panamá. Paso la página.
What we all must do is work MORE towards a better Panama. The page has turned.
And later he posted:
Me he dado cuenta en estos dias que es cierto que la politica es el arte de hacer falsos amigos y verdaderos enemigos.
I have realized these past days that it is true that politics is the art of making false friends and true enemies.
The political situation undoubtedly continues to generate reactions and uncertainty over the repercussions that will follow this breaking of the alliance.
Erasmo Prado Rosas, in his blog Retrato del ser [es], sees an outcome that may reflect the sentiment of many Panamanians:
¡Gracias Sr. Presidente por dejarnos sumergidos en esta incertidumbre, en esta inestabilidad política, gubernamental y económica. Este país no es su hacienda privada, no es su supermercado, ni ninguna de sus cuentas millonarias. Recuerde siempre que este país no olvida y en algún momento usted pagará por todos estos malos ratos que nos hace pasar!
Thank you Mr. President for leaving us wallowing in this uncertainty, in this political, governmental, and economic instability. This country is not your private home, your grocery store, nor one of your millionaire bank accounts. Remember that this country never forgets and one day you will pay for all the bad things you’re putting us through!

author: Ariel Moreno


text:
African Women Striving to be Heads of State    · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf paved the way in 2006 when she was elected President of Liberia, the first African woman to reach the top level position. Since then, several other African women have decided to run for presidency, most recently in Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger. The outcomes of their campaigns have had various degrees of success so far, although not many expect them to follow in the footsteps of Johnson-Sirleaf just yet.
Yet many African countries are scheduled for elections in 2011-12 and the increase in female candidates is undoubtedly a step in the right direction for a continent that still struggles at times with fair representation of minorities in their political systems.
Clarisse Juompan-Yakam has written an in-depth article [fr] on the subject where she notes that the candidates share many similar traits: they are often highly educated, tenacious politicians who first got involved in the public debate as civil rights activists.
Niger
Juompan-Yakam writes that Mariama Bayard Gamatié, who lost in the recent Presidential elections in Niger, was unhappy with the lack of media coverage her campaign received:
Première Nigérienne à briguer la magistrature suprême, cette fonctionnaire des Nations unies attribue en partie à l’indifférence des médias sa contre-performance à la présidentielle de janvier dernier : 0,38 % des voix au premier tour, le pire score du scrutin.
Gamatié views her candidacy as a stepping stone for other women in the region to follow.
Bénin
Marie-elise Gbedo, presidential candidate in Bénin. Image by Benin-diaspora.com
One of them was Marie-Élise Akouavi Gbèdo in Bénin whom Mrs Gamatié joined on the campaign trail earlier this year to show her support. Mrs Akouavi Gbèdo did not win the election but she is now Minister of Justice. She helped make polygamy unlawful in Bénin.
Madagascar
In Madagascar, the actual date for the Presidential elections is not yet set. However,  Mrs Saraha Georget Rabeharisoa is one of the first to submit her candidacy.  Mrs Rabeharisoa is the head of the Green Party in Madagascar. The uncertainty about the electoral calendar [fr] does not agree with her:
L’Etat a fait des dépenses faramineuses pour les membres du gouvernement qui étaient descendus sur le terrain pour sensibiliser les gens à s’inscrire dans les listes électorales… Si actuellement, on décide de ne pas procéder aux élections pour permettre aux citoyens d’exprimer leur choix, on a fait des dépenses pour rien.
Saraha Georget Rabeharisoa, head of the Green Party in Madagascar. Image by http://hasinimadagasikara.mg
The environment, evidently one of the main themes for her  political party, is one of the main headlines in Madagascar because of the infamous illegal logging of rosewood from the rain forests. Mrs Rabearisoa weighs in on the scandal [mg]:
Tsy ekena ny fitrandrahana tsy manara-dalàna rehetra eto madagasikara. Mikasika ny fitrandrahana ny andramena, dia efa nanomboka ny taona 2001 no nisian’izany voalohany. Tokony hisy hatrany ny fandraisana andraikitra manoloana izany
Democratic Republic of Congo
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angèle Makombo-Eboum is running for the presidential elections of November 2011.     She explains that if a woman is good enough to run a household, she ought to be good enough to run the country [fr]. She boasts a Master of Law from the Sorbonne.
Pourquoi le Congo ne ferait-elle comme le Liberia, la Thaïlande, le Brésil ou l'Allemagne où le pouvoir d'Etat est exercé des femmes. Les femmes sont capables de changement . La vie à Kinshasa donne bien l'illustration la plus patente…Ce sont les femmes qui nourrissent les familles. Elles font étudier les enfants.
Cameroon
Cameroonian Édith Kah Walla believes women have to overcome higher hurdles to convince their countrymen that they are competent for the job. Owona Nguini agrees with her  [fr] but he also thinks that being a woman can be an important asset:
Le fait que Mme Kah Walla soit une femme peut jouer dans les deux sens..parce que c’est la première fois qu’une femme se présente et c’est rare d’aller jusqu’au bout de la compétition électorale. Ça peut aussi être un handicap compte tenu de la prévalence d’un certain machisme politique qui fait que la grande partie de la société ne voit pas nécessairement une femme à sa tête.


text:
Angola: “The General’s Advice” on Facebook · Global Voices
Ana Lucia Sa

An Angolan general who who feels the “need to moralize society, [as the] the ordinary citizen feels betrayed by politicians”, has created a profile and a page on Facebook called “The General's Advice”. In one of his most recent notes, he offers advice to political power while addressing current affairs such as the bilateral relations with China.

author: Ana Lucia Sa