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Lebanon Forces Syrian Families to Decide Between Homelessness and Child Labor · Global Voices
Jad Halimeh

Syrian refugee children at a half-built apartment block near Reyfoun in Lebanon, close to the border with Syria. Photo by ‘Trocaire’ on Flickr. CC by 2.0.
According to the United Nations, the Syrian conflict has displaced approximately 6.6 million people in Syria, and forced another 4.8 million to seek refuge in countries around the world.
Due to its proximity to Syria, Lebanon is one of the main destinations for those fleeing the violence. There are approximately 1 million Syrian refugees officially registered with the UNHCR in Lebanon, while unofficial estimates put that figure closer to 1,500,000 people.
The Guardian has pointed out that refugees face tough living conditions. Only permitted to find work in agriculture, construction or cleaning, more than 70 percent of Syrian refugees reportedly live below the poverty line.
Studies suggest that the combined failures of the international community's unwillingness to meet its donation promises and the Lebanese government's policies are fueling poverty and forcing refugees to go “underground.”
An estimated 70 percent of Syrian refugees are living below Lebanon's Extreme Poverty Line: under USD $3.84 per person, per day. This is further exacerbated by the fact that refugee households are increasingly piling up debt, in order to meet their basic needs.
At checkpoints, women and children largely go unchecked, as it is the male refugee population that most concerns officials. With so many children entering the country and then the labor force, some employers have capitalized on the imbalance, hiring minors as  cheaper and more compliant workers. The ILO classifies the treatment of Syrian child workers in Lebanon as some of the worst forms of child labor.
According to the anti-slavery NGO Freedom Fund, about 70 percent of children refugees in Lebanon are forced to work for little to no money in order to provide for their families, with no real way out of this employment. In areas like Lebanon's Beqaa Valley in the east, some children reportedly earn as little as USD $1 per day for their jobs as fruit pickers at local farms. As one Lebanese municipal official put it, “slavery is happening everywhere.”
Some Lebanese policies have only aggravated refugees’ problems. In January 2016, Human Rights Watch found that residency regulations adopted a year earlier deprived most Syrians of their legal resident status. Only 2 of the 40 refugees interviewed in the study were able to renew their residency. This followed the government's decision in May 2015 to order the UNHCR to stop registering refugees entering the country.
These residency rules have an especially strong impact on refugee children, many of whom are not allowed to attend schools due to their lack of proper residence status. As of July 2016, about 250,000 Syrian children in Lebanon were out of school — more than half of the nearly 500,000 school-age children in Lebanon's Syrian refugee population.
Lebanon has, however, made progress on children's education. As Human Rights Watch explains:
Lebanon has taken important steps to include Syrian children in the public education system. Authorities have allowed refugees to enroll in school without providing proof of legal residency, waived school enrollment fees, and opened up afternoon “second shift” classes in 238 public schools to provide Syrians with formal education.
In 2014, Lebanon adopted the Reaching All Children with Education (RACE) policy, which has helped Lebanon increase the number of Syrian children enrolled in public schools to 158,321 by the end of the 2015-2016 school year. In 2016, Lebanon adopted a five-year RACE II plan with the goal of enrolling 440,000 Syrian children in formal education by the 2020-2021 school year.
But figures provided in the UNHCR's new report, “Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon,” highlight the fundamental flaws in the Lebanese government policies, namely the enormous obstacles presented by residency regulations. Only one in five refugee households stated that all members within that household were legal residents within the country — a slight but significant decline from 28 percent a year earlier.
International donors have also failed, falling short of goals set by the UN's Lebanon Crisis Response Plan. As of November 2016, only 50 percent of the crisis-response plan was funded.
Despite all these risks, many Syrian families see no choice, other than to flee their homeland and subject their children to labor abroad. Speaking to Human Rights Watch, Mahmoud, a refugee from Syria, said he had little choice about sending his 12-year-old son off to work. “If he doesn't work, my family will sleep in the streets,” he explained.

author: Jad Halimeh


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Netizen Report: Egyptian NGOs Face Rampant Phishing Attacks, Researchers Say · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

Cartoon by Doaa Eladl via Flickr, Web We Want ( CC BY-SA 2.0)
Researchers at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab exposed a series of at least 92 phishing attempts targeting the digital communications and data of human rights defenders, lawyers, and activists associated with seven prominent non-governmental organizations in Egypt. The attacks were carried out not through highly sophisticated technical means, but rather using social engineering, where attackers effectively masqueraded either as colleagues and confidants of the NGO workers, or as technology companies seeking account verification.
Among those targeted were EIPR, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, and Nazra for Feminist Studies, all groups that have partnered with Global Voices in the past. EIPR has published their own report on the findings, in Arabic, on their website.
In one example, just hours after women’s rights lawyer Azza Soliman was arrested at her home, her colleagues received a message purporting to share with them a Dropbox file containing her arrest warrant. The message in fact led to a malicious software program that sought to infiltrate their devices.
In other cases, NGO workers received account authentication messages from official-sounding email addresses such as dropbox.noreplay [at] mail.com and fedex_tracking [at] outlook.sa, which in fact were malicious. The report contains a full list of harmful domain names and email addresses found in the study, nearly all of which mimic the names of legitimate services such as Gmail and Dropbox.
These attacks come as no surprise to Egyptian civil society advocates and their allies. They appear to target defendants in the so-called “foreign funding” Case 173, which the Egyptian government filed against several NGO workers in 2011, alleging that they had used foreign grant money to “harm national stability, among other accusations. Despite multiple changes in Egypt’s ruling government, the case has worn on. Since spring 2016, courts have imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on multiple defendants in the case, along with other NGO leaders, strictly limiting their abilities to work or even seek refuge outside of the country.
On January 31, Mauritania’s Supreme Court heard the case of blogger Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir, who was sentenced to death for publishing an opinion article critical of the use of religion to justify the country’s caste system. Ould Mkhaitir was first arrested in 2014 and was convicted of apostasy by a lower court for using examples from the life of the prophet Muhammad in the piece. The Supreme Court referred his case back to the appeal court for procedural irregularities, a move that does not bode well for Ould Mkahitir, as the appeal court previously confirmed his apostasy conviction and upheld his death sentence.
Criticism of the caste system, which originally included a “slave” caste, remains an incendiary topic in the North African country. In 1981, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery, but slavery and related practices of forced labor have nevertheless continued in some parts of the country.
A wave of travelers from the Middle East, including two journalists, have reported that border agents demanded their mobile phones and social media usernames over the past five days. This comes on the heels of Donald Trump’s executive order — which multiple legal experts and scholars say is unconstitutional — temporarily banning citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the US.
This practice is not new, nor is it unique to the Trump administration — in June 2016, US Customs and Border Patrol proposed plans to begin asking foreign visitors from visa waiver countries to disclose their social media identities. Since mid-2016, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has documented nine cases of Muslim Americans being asked questions about about their social media accounts, along with questions about their faith and lifestyle, when returning to the US from travel abroad.
As part of an effort to defend the privacy rights of travelers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is soliciting first-hand accounts from individuals who have been asked for social media information and/or had their electronic devices searched at US borders. See here for further details.
Police in Venezuela arrested four bitcoin miners for allegedly affecting the stability of the nation’s electricity supply. The group ran 300 computers in order to mine bitcoins and sell them online, an effort that essentially converts the value of electricity into currency. Bitcoin mining has become an increasingly popular – if dangerous – venture in Venezuela, which has experienced extreme economic instability, with national currency inflation at rates of 50% and higher since 2014.
Journalists in Myanmar are opposing the use of the 2013 Telecommunications Law by authorities, who have used it to file defamation charges against their critics. Forty-eight defamation cases have been heard since the law was passed, with 29 arrests in the last year alone. The law penalizes the use of a “telecommunication network to extort, threaten, obstruct, defame, disturb, inappropriately influence, or intimidate” with three years in prison and a fine. Prominent Myanmar human rights Lawyer Robert San Aung has spoken out against the law, arguing that it is “not appropriate that a citizen who criticizes someone more powerful should face legal action of this kind.”
A new Russian website called MyLinker claims to provide AirBnB-style options for homophobes, thus evading policies issued by AirBnB that are intended to prevent discrimination. Among other problems with the site is a set of highly questionable methods for measuring the number of LGBT people in a city (on the basis of searches for certain types of pornography) and incredibly offensive rhetoric. A Change.org petition is calling on Russian authorities to ban the site for its discriminatory practices.
Afef Abrougui, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Marianne Diaz and Sarah Myers West contributed to this report.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Netizen Report Team


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Russia’s Latest Internet Meme Is a Friendly Dutch-Designed Abomination · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

“Zhdun” by Margriet van Breevoort. Image shared widely on social media.
If you’re like me, yuck, and you probably spend too much time browsing the Russian Internet, where you’ve definitely encountered a bizarre-looking walrus thing sitting on a chair, clasping its hands in quiet anticipation.
That’s Zhdun, or “Waiting Guy,” and he’s been menacing Russian cyberspace for the past week or so, ever since he popped up on the image-board forum Pikabu, where user Leiapingui shared Zhdun’s photo and asked the community to come up with a name for the friendly seeming abomination.
It turns out that the object already had a name: Zhdun.
Zhdun is the work of Dutch sculptor Margriet van Breevoort, who says she designed the creature as a comment on scientific research in the field of medicine. According to her website, Breevoort created Zhdun while thinking of doctors’ reception rooms, where children wait to learn the results of their examinations. Zhgun was built to be a waiting-room companion — hence his name.
As a meme in Russia, Zhdun exists as a play on the theme of “waiting around,” often for something that might never happen.
In one popular tweet, Zhdun perches on the unfinished Kerch Bridge, which will connect Crimea to the Russian mainland. “We’re waiting for the bridge,” a caption reads.
Ждун заглядывал в гости. #ждеммост #крымскиймост #стройкавека pic.twitter.com/uamlykm5JK
— Крымский мост (@Krymsky_bridge) February 1, 2017
Zhdun drops in for a visit. #WereWaitingForTheBridge #CrimeanBridge #ConstructionOfTheCentury
The website Meduza edited Zhdun into a short video filmed inside a courtroom in Kirov, where anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny is currently busy with a retrial of the felony case that once robbed him of the freedom to run for elected office.
Навальный выступает в суде. Ждун слушает pic.twitter.com/8LlFYqCC02
— Meduza (@meduzaproject) February 1, 2017
Navalny speaks in court. Zhdun listens.
The sculpture has also appeared in faux promotional materials for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Kyiv, Ukraine. In the picture below, he’s wearing the competition’s new logo as a necklace.
Фффсссее…этот Ждун сделал мой день …..??????????? pic.twitter.com/60dNqLTg5u
— Русский Код (@RussianCode) January 31, 2017
Despite his lack of feet, Zhdun has even found himself in Vladimir Putin’s shoes. The photo below depicts Zhdun in the commander-in-chief’s seat, “awaiting the end of sanctions.”
Ждун отмены санкций pic.twitter.com/QXrTsqgTeU
— Politicana.ru (@PoliticanaRu) January 31, 2017
You won’t be surprised to learn that there are a lot more Zhdun-related posts on social media. I won’t review them here, but you can check out some of these mashups at Russia Beyond the Headlines, where Alyona Boldyreva and Anastasiya Karagodina collected several.
But the most important news is that the public's infatuation with the creature could be coming to an end, finally.
On Feb. 1, the Moscow Subway’s official Twitter account also shared a Zhdun image, thrusting the meme into the mainstream and hopefully forcing Russia’s Internet subculture to go look for something new.
Ждать осталось недолго! Встречайте #поездМосква уже этой весной на Таганско-Краснопресненской линии #мосметро!#ждун pic.twitter.com/JZYNFpwr5j
— Мосметро (@moscowmetro) February 1, 2017
There's not long left to wait! Come meet “MoscowTrain” this spring on the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line

author: Kevin Rothrock


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After Waiting More Than a Year, Jordanian Journalist Appears Before UAE Court · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

In June 2016, the ‘Their Freedom is Their Right’ campaign called for the release of Tayseer al-Najjar, in prison in the UAE since December 2015.
Awaiting trial for more than a year, detained Jordanian journalist Tayseer al-Najjar finally appeared before the State Security Court in Abu Dhabi, UAE on February 1. His trial has been adjourned to 15 February, at the request of his lawyer.
Al-Najjar stands accused of insulting the Emirati state, over Facebook posts he published in 2014, while living in Jordan. In those posts, Najjar reportedly criticized the Emirati position on the 2014 Israeli war in Gaza.
Under article 29 of the 2012 UAE Cybercrime Law, publishing statements, information, news or rumors “with intent to make sarcasm or damage the reputation, prestige or stature” of the state, its institutions and leaders is a crime punishable by temporary imprisonment and a fine. What is troubling about Najjar's case is not only that he is being prosecuted for merely expressing his opinions, which is not uncommon in the UAE, but also for statements he made before he moved to the country to work as a culture reporter for a local newspaper.
A writer, journalist and a member of the Jordanian Press Association (JPA), al-Najjar used to work for the culture section of the daily newspaper al-Dostour in Jordan. In April 2015, he moved to Abu Dhabi where he started working as a culture reporter for al-Dar newspaper, affiliated with the government-owned center Aljewa for Culture and Media.
UAE authorities detained Najjar in December 2015, after banning him from boarding a flight to Jordan at the Abu Dhabi International Airport to visit his family. He was held incommunicado for nearly two months, and remained in pre-trial detention for over a year.
Enforced disappearances of human rights activists and those who simply express themselves online are a common practice in the UAE. Those detained for their views are often subjected to lengthy and unfair trials. In another similar case, academic Nasser Bin Ghaith, who has been in jail since August 2015 for tweets critical of Egypt, was held incommunicado for nine months. His trial was postponed several times.
Tayseer Najjar's pre-trial detention may have come to end but his trial has only just begun, and no one knows when a sentence in his case will be issued, let alone when he will be reunited with his family and loved ones.

author: Afef Abrougui


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For Nearly Two Months Now, Kenya’s Doctors Have Been on Strike · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

Mothers queuing for treatment at Sindo District Hospital, Nyanza, Kenya, in 2008. Photo shared under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license by UK Department for International Development.
In December 2016, 5,000 Kenyans doctors drawn from all government hospitals countrywide went on strike to protest the failure of the Kenyan government to implement a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which it had entered into with doctors through their union in 2013.
Several weeks later, the doctors are still on strike and the stand-off has yet to come to an end.
The strike has brought the public health care system to a halt. For example, it was reported that more than 100 patients fled from the main psychiatric hospital in Nairobi when the strike began and a security guard at a hospital in western Kenya was forced to assist a woman give birth.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), a union body that governs all Kenyan doctors, called on all its members to stop work in reaction to the government failing to honor its agreement amidst worsening conditions in public healthcare.
Kenyatta National and Moi Teaching & Referral Hospitals are functionally closed. The GOK must implement the CBA they signed in 2013.
— kmpdu (@kmpdu) December 16, 2016
The CBA between the Kenyan government through the Ministry of Health and the doctors’ union was signed on 23 June 2013. It was aimed at repairing the healthcare system in the country which is in deplorable conditions. Most government hospitals lack basic medical equipment and drugs, and the 5,000 doctors are overworked serving a population of 43 million Kenyans.
According to the UN’s 2014 human development report, incomes of the richest 20 per cent of the Kenyan population rose steadily in the past decade to stand at 11 times more than the incomes of the poorest 20 per cent, leaving Kenya as East Africa’s second most unequal society after Rwanda. Although there are private hospitals, they are out of reach for many Kenyans.
The ongoing strike and the terms of the CBA have been misreported by media houses in Kenya, with many saying that doctors are only after a 300% pay raise. However, that is not the only thing contained in the CBA, the CBA proposes the overhaul of the  public health care system by equipping all government hospitals, and providing low cost universal healthcare. Most doctors start off on a salary of US$ 400 per month.  the patient-doctor ratio remains low at 18:100,000.
In a tweet shared when the strike began, KMPDU shared an infographic breaking down the CBA in a way that Kenyans could easily understand, relate with and share widely.
13. That CBA is what will redeem the healthcare of this country for it has the interest of every kenyan in it pic.twitter.com/hEh5EJmlLc
— kmpdu (@kmpdu) January 14, 2017
It is due to this perceived misrepresentation of facts and efforts by the government and some media houses that the union began a strong social media campaign with the aim of sensitizing Kenyans on the actual state of healthcare in the country as well as galvanize the support of Kenyans.
All the media houses have a moral obligation to highlight not only the plight of the patient but that of the doctor too. #LipaKamaTender
— kmpdu (@kmpdu) December 18, 2016
Using their Twitter handle @KMPDU, the union has, for nearly two months, shared infographics, memes, photos, cartoons, videos and stories from their union members telling their personal experiences trying to save lives with no medical equipment, lack of drugs and electricity and the overworking of many doctors who sometimes have to go on 36-hour shifts with little rest.
In a photo essay compiled by the website Courageous Stories, one doctor described how they watched a patient die because the hospital’s ambulance had been given to the local politician to pick tomatoes from the market.
The union’s social media campaign has churned a total of 12 hashtags since the start of the strike: #LipaKamatender (meaning: pay like you pay tenders), #ImplementCBA, #DoctorsOnTrial, #DoctorsStrike, #doctorsarehumanstoo, #CBAismorethancash, #offernotCBA, #HealthCrisisKe, #CBAforKenyans, #healthontrial, #SickAt50, #iamatribelessdoctor.
51 days in! How did we let it reach this point!? We deserve and demand better healthcare! That's just it! #CBAforKenyans pic.twitter.com/j5IKWL58Z9
— Adelle Onyango (@ADELLEO) January 24, 2017
The government has resisted the doctors’ demands. In a live interview on national TV in December, government spokesman Eric Kiraithe said Kenya does not need doctors and the government was planning on importing doctors from India and Cuba.
A few weeks after that statement was made, The Telegraph, an Indian newspaper reported that the Indian prime minister had turned down the request to replace the striking Kenyan doctors with Indian doctors during a visit by the Kenyan president to New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the country's public healthcare system remains at a standstill.

author: Njeri Wangari


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India’s Open Tech Communities Work to Increase Public Knowledge of Online Privacy · Global Voices
Subhashish Panigrahi

Mozilla L10N Hackathon in Pune, India. Photo by Subhashish Panigrahi via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Subhashish Panigrahi is the Asia Community Catalyzer for Mozilla Corporation, a volunteer Mozillian, and a Global Voices author and translator.
Issues relating to internet security and privacy affect netizens all over the world, but they are often especially acute in developing nations like India. It is estimated that 50 million people in India will begin using each year between now and 2020. And while the majority of online interactions happen in English, literacy in English still hovers somewhere between 10-30% in India, and there is a concerning dearth of content online in other dominant languages of India such as Hindi, Bengali and Tamil. These and other challenges leave Indians particularly vulnerable to the online security threats.
Over the past year, free and open source communities in India have built a campaign to increase public understanding of online privacy issues both with online and public outreach events.
This effort began in January 2016 with “January Privacy Month,” an extended celebration of Data Privacy Day, in which they organized an online campaign along with several city-level events intended people about security risks that they might be facing on the Internet, and how to protect themselves from vulnerabilities. Data Privacy Day has gained momentum in India and scores of other countries over the last few years, and plays a great role in educating both individuals and organizations about privacy laws.
Last year, the campaign shared one privacy tip per day for 31 days throughout the month. Mozilla campaign organizer Ankit Gadgil described Mozilla's 2017 efforts:
This year…we have made this campaign more open and global. Mozilla communities from Brazil, Italy and Czech Republic are actively participating….We are educating participants of offline events about marketing Firefox and other Mozilla products so that the users can have hands-on experience of using these tools that help protect their privacy. The third thing is, we are encouraging everyone that participate an offline event to blog about their learning. For instance, there was a Maker Fest in in the Indian state of Gujarat recently where they used Mozilla products to teach about privacy.
The campaign aso ran a hashtag #PrivacyAware post-campaign to engage with the participants. The campaign also sought to make users aware of browser-based security solutions, particularly those that are fully accessible to people with disabilities.

author: Subhashish Panigrahi


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Is Rap Making a Comeback in Uzbekistan? · Global Voices
Eurasianet

Radius 21 – one of the great Uzbek rappers of yesteryear. Screenshot from YouTube clip of the music video ‘Drama’ uploaded by Para Machi.
The following is a partner post from EurasiaNet.org. Republished with permission.
There was a time in Uzbekistan when hip-hop got a bad rap for being insufficiently traditional and was de facto prohibited from the public scene.
Going by a student festival that took place last month, however, officials appear to have changed their tune. The “World Through Student Eyes” festival hosted, among other things, a competitive face-off between DJs and hip-hop artists, according to news website ut.uz.
The driving force behind the project was a fourth-year student at an Uzbek arts college, Abbos Tamatov.
“More than 100 people from various parts of the country expressed their interest in taking part in the competition,” Tamatov told ut.uz. “I’ll confess that I was only half certain that they would even let us hold the competition.”
Tamatov told EurasiaNet.org that his next plan to is bring together all the country’s top rap artists and hold major competition among them, so as to capitalize on the massive popularity of hip-hop among young people. The student’s own favorite acts are Uzbek rapper Shohruh and Russian star Basta.
The event organized by Tamatov is notable for the fact that hip-hop is a genre that has been under an unspoken embargo since around 2011. In February that year, an Uzbek youth channel aired a documentary entitled “Melody and Calamity” that leveled intense criticism at western music, and at rap in particular. The program described the musical genre as “a dark cloud hanging over Uzbek youth.” By way of evidence, the documentary asserted that “rock music originated from African hunting rituals” and that “rap was originated by inmates in prisons, which is why rap singers wear wide and long trousers.”
“Evil forces created this satanic music to bring about the total moral degradation of youth in Western countries,” the documentary claimed.
The documentary served as an implicit signal for the ban of sorts. In April 2011, the government set up a dedicated body for the censorship of rap music. Hip-hop performers were exhorted to ditch their allusions to licentious or even gangster-like shenanigans and sing more instead about state-approved values like loyalty, kindness and love of one's family.
A government council set up to oversee this initiative was tasked with creating a database of rap singers and hold round tables once a month to “coordinate” the musicians’ work.
Shohruh Shadmanov, the 31-year old performer preferred by Tamatov, is probably the leader of the pack on the Uzbek hip-hop scene. His best-known song is the 2008 hit Hato (“Mistake”). Other hot tickets include such acts as Shahriyor and Timsi.
Despite the apparent official anti-hip-hop position adopted by the state, it is clear that the fad has never faded and singers continued to churn out albums, and music videos for that matter — albeit carefully designed not to cause unnecessary offense. Indeed, Timsi does not appear to have borne any grudges against the late President Islam Karimov, whose conservatism is likely to have underpinned the rejection of much western- or even contemporary Russian-inflected music, and went so far as to dedicate a fawning song to him after his death.
Uzbek show business journalist Dildora Halimova welcomed the imminent return of hip-hop performers to the scene and said she was delighted they would be able to perform open in public venues once more.
“They love rap in Uzbekistan and Shohruh is one of the first performers to do it in the Uzbek language. In March this year, there are already plans for a two-day concert in Tashkent on a big stage,” she told EurasiaNet.org.

author: Eurasianet


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Marvel Meets Orishas: A Brazilian Artist Is Turning African Gods Into Superheroes · Global Voices
Taisa Sganzerla

Oxalá, the creator of the universe, by artist Hugo Canuto. Published with permission
Think of The Avengers, the comic series from American publisher Marvel about a motley crew of superheroes who come together to protect the world from the forces of evil. Now, imagine if back in the 1960s, creators Jack Kirby and Stan Lee had found inspiration for The Avengers in Yoruba mythology. Instead of Iron Man, we'd have the warrior Oxaguiã. Taking the place of the blue-eyed, blonde-haired Norse god Thor would be the equally strong and black-skinned Xangô, the ruler of justice — who also happens to carry a hammer. Ant-Man, with his command of insects, gives way to Ossain, who in turn is the king of the forest, the sorcerer and knower of secrets of the plants. And who is Captain America compared with Ogum and his sword, always thirsty for battle?
That's just what 30-year-old Brazilian artist Hugo Canuto had in mind when in August 2016 he reimagined the classic #4 Avengers cover, replacing all the famous characters with Orishas (spelled Orixás in Portuguese), the deities of modern-day Afro-Brazilian religions which trace their origins back to Nigeria and Benin. Hugo is a lifelong fan of Marvel and all-things comic and also a native of Salvador, home to one of the country's largest Afro-Brazilian populations.
He named the title of his spin-off “The Orixás,” mixing both Portuguese and English on purpose, he says. And the day after Jack Kirby would have turned 99 years old if he were still alive, he posted his homage to Facebook.
After receiving positive feedback from his friends (full disclosure: I am personal friends with Hugo), he soon created another The Orixás comic book cover, this time featuring the god Xangô.
The project started when Canuto recreated the classic Avengers comic book cover with Orishas as superheroes. Image by Hugo Canuto, published with permission.
“Then it was a bang. A lot of people got in touch praising the whole idea of bringing those characters to the comic universe,” Hugo told Global Voices. In November, he decided to try his luck with crowdfunding, hoping to raise 12,000 Brazilian reais (4,000 US dollars) to produce two comic books of a series he had named “Tales of Òrun Àiyé” — which means heaven and earth in Yoruba.
The idea of a mash-up between the pop aesthetic of American comics and the religious myths of Africa was tremendously popular, and within a week the funding goal was reached. With more money than expected, Hugo, an architecture graduate who had quit a stable public service job in 2015 to pursue his passion for comics, had to hastily think of ways to expand the project. He invited two veteran comic professionals, Marcelo Kina and Pedro Minho, to help with the production. The team then improved the quality of the material, the number of pages and the finishing touches, as well as set better rewards for supporters.
To date, the campaign has raised more than 40,000 reais (12,000 dollars). While posters, each with a different Orisha, are being sold on a rolling basis, the money will fund a print run of two 90-page comic books, each featuring a different story inspired by the Itan — the collection of myths, stories and songs about the Orishas.
According to Hugo, everything will be published independently, with no established publishers involved for now.
Brazil was at the center of the Portuguese-driven transatlantic slave trade, both before and after Brazilian independence in 1822. Bahia, where the Portuguese settlers first landed in 1500, received alone more than 1.3 million slaves, who came primarily from West Central Africa and the Bight of Benin.
Their rituals and beliefs survived the 300 years of forced labour and extreme violence. Those beliefs now manifest through the modern-day Afro-Brazilian religions of Candomblé and Umbanda, which are an amalgam of various traditions from different African ethnic groups, especially the Yoruba, but also the Fon and the Bantu.
“For someone born and raised in Bahia, the African influence on our culture goes beyond the religious. It affects our habits, our speech, our food. It's part of our identity,” Hugo says. “This is what made me so eager to produce a story inspired by the Afro-Brazilian culture,” he adds.
Xangô, the god of justice. Published with permission
Oxum rules all freshwater, rivers and waterfalls. Published with permission
Oxóssi, the hunter god. Published with permission
But despite being so embedded in Bahian culture, the Afro-Brazilian religions are still little understood by most of Brazil's population — often facing stigmatization and even persecution by radical evangelical Christians.
For Hugo, a major point of the project is to celebrate these religious narratives that survived time and distance and have become such an important aspect of Brazilian culture:
Acredito que é necessário valorizar um dos pilares do Brasil, que infelizmente ainda sofre com discriminação e preconceitos. Acredito que o público entendeu essa ideia, pois temos muitos depoimentos de professores que falaram sobre o tema levando as artes para seus alunos, ou brasileiros vivendo no exterior que desejam apresentar esse aspecto do país. Sejam eles adeptos ou não das religiões de matrizes africanas, há um interesse imenso.
I believe it's necessary to honor one of the pillars of Brazil, which unfortunately still suffers with prejudice and discrimination. I believe the public understood this idea, as we have heard from many professors who have spoken about this topic, taking our art to their students, or Brazilians living abroad who wish to show this aspect of our culture to others. Being practitioners of African religions or not, there is a huge interest.
The African religions sure provide lots of material for a superhero story. Like Santeria and Voudou elsewhere, Candomblé recognizes a host of deities. They're known as Orishas, who rule over the forces of nature and humanity. All of the Orishas — which number more than a thousand, considering practices in both the Americas and in Africa — have human-like qualities, engage in struggle with each other for power, make mistakes and fall in love.
For the first comic, Hugo says the central character will be Xangô, the god of justice. According to the mythology, Xangô punishes liars, thieves and evildoers. He also had, at different points in time, three wives, who are also Orishas: Iansã, Oxum and Obá.
Canuto, who was living in São Paulo at the time he was inspired to make the comic, moved back to Bahia to research the project. “I dove into studies of the Orishas, not only reading books by renowned authors such as Pierre Verger, Edson Carneiro, José Beniste and Reginaldo Prandi, but also visiting terreiros [Candomblé prayer houses] and talking to religious leaders. All because I want to carry this out with the utmost respect and care.”
Ossaim, ruler of potions and remedies. Published with permission
Iansã rules winds and storms. Published with permission
Yemanjá, ruler of ocean waters, mother of all Orishas. Published with permission.

author: Taisa Sganzerla


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Trinidad & Tobago Says Goodbye to Cherished ‘Virtual’ Historian Angelo Bissessarsingh · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Angelo Bissessarsingh at his home in Siparia, south Trinidad, surrounded by his books and artifacts. Photo by Mark Lyndersay, used with permission.
Angelo Bissessarsingh, who came to prominence in Trinidad and Tobago through his passion for and curation of its rich history, died on February 2, 2017, after a brave battle with pancreatic cancer. He had been in and out of consciousness since late January, so his death was not entirely unexpected. Family members confirmed his passing this morning via the historian's official Facebook page.
Trinbagonian netizens the world over soon began to post their tributes and condolences on social media. Actor Michael Cherrie called Bissessarsingh “the people's historian”, meaning that he took history out of academic spaces and made it relevant and accessible for the average Trinbagonian. Cherrie thanked him for “helping us to understand and re-claim our legacy”.
Historian Angelo Bissessarsingh (L), with editor Judy Raymond and conservationist Geoffrey MacLean at the 2015 NGC Bocas Lit Fest South, Sunday October 11, San Fernando Hill. Photo credit: Marlon James, courtesy the NGC Bocas Lit Fest.
Journalist Judy Raymond, a friend and great supporter of Bissessarsingh who once interviewed him for Caribbean Beat magazine, was “so sorry he's gone–and far too soon–but glad he's at peace at last.” Bissessarsingh was just 34 years old.
Popular sports and politics website Wired868 remembered Bissessarsingh by republishing columnist Sunity Maharaj's post, which examined the historian's value to Trinidad and Tobago:
In the age of Facebook no one has done more […] to popularize our history and excite us about the stories of this place. Told by him, history is an adventure featuring characters that tumble off his tongue like pardners from around the corner. Entire places can disappear when he releases the past from its congealed history into the present.
A historian by passion, Angelo has earned the respect of some of the country’s most esteemed academic historians […] He was surely born for this.
Angelo Bissessarsingh, who founded The Virtual Museum of Trinidad and Tobago. Photo by Mark Lyndersay, used with permission.
Indeed he was. Turned down for the position of curatorial assistant at the National Museum, Bissessarsingh started his own museum by documenting the history of Trinidad and Tobago online. His Virtual Museum of Trinidad and Tobago Facebook page was “liked” by close to 20,000 people — and may have generated more traffic than the bricks and mortar version in Trinidad's capital city. Bissessarsingh's virtual museum was as vibrant as he was; his enthusiasm for the history of his twin islands infectious — his online following mushroomed into a community that felt comfortable lobbying about conservation matters. Bissessarsingh himself, understanding the influence of his voice, would also comment on issues of national interest, often providing valuable historical context.
Maharaj noted that the “greatest power” of Bissessarsingh's life's work “lies in the journey it offers into self-discovery”:
Delightfully gripping, his historical narratives are told with such relish, punctuated by chuckling and exclamations, that you could almost believe he was there and witnessed it all. […]
In developing his online museum, Angelo has given us a prototype for a modern approach to history education which can be expanded and incorporated into the school curriculum.
Laura Dowrich-Phillips agreed that Bissessarsingh's work helped bring about self-awareness, saying, “Hopefully, he did teach us to love ourselves, if only a teeny bit.”
Acknowledging that “he fought a good fight”, journalist Vernon O'Reilly Ramesar, who had interviewed Bissessarsingh on his television show a few times, lamented, “Words can do no justice. Rest in Peace Angelo. One of the loveliest souls I have ever encountered and who I was honored to call a friend.”
Another Facebook user, Niala DB, posted a photo of Bissessarsingh along with the cover of one of the books he authored, saying, “A good soldier has fallen. Inevitable but still very sad. You will be missed by a whole country. Happy to know that you were honoured at a national level for your work. Rest in Eternal Peace. History certainly will NOT forget YOU.”
Historian Angelo Bissessarsingh (R) receives a Citizens for Conservation award from Geoffrey MacLean at the 2015 NGC Bocas Lit Fest South, on Sunday, October 11, at San Fernando Hill. Photo credit: Marlon James, courtesy the NGC Bocas Lit Fest.
Bissessarsingh was presented with the keys to the southern city of San Fernando in 2016. That same year, he was given the national award of the Hummingbird Medal (Gold), for his “loyal and devoted service to Trinidad and Tobago in the sphere of history and education.”
Leslie-Ann Boisselle said, in a public Facebook post, “RIP Angelo Bissessarsingh – you served your country with distinction. Your contribution is etched in the history of our nation. you will forever be remembered for your tireless and passionate dedication to Trinidad and Tobago.”
The heartfelt goodbyes from Trinbagonians were numerous. Derron Ellies was convinced that “death has no dominion over [his] legacy”, while Scott McDonald felt that the historian was “now fittingly interred into the annals of history forever.” Linda Pollard-Lake called him an “excellent human”, and Linzi Jeremiah thought that the best way to honour the historian's legacy was to “stand for what you believe in, rise above the obstacles, follow your dreams, selflessly give back to Trinbago, learn your history and stop taking the arts and what is our culture for granted.”
Robin Foster, who admired Bissessarsingh's courage, bade him a final farewell: “Rip history man. You will now go down in it.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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A Three-Minute Online Video Explains the Essence of Balkan Nationalisms · Global Voices
Marko Angelov

Graffiti in Skopje, Macedonia reading “Nationalism is a disease!” The message vandalizes a small mural featuring a map of ‘Ethnic Macedonia’ (encompassing the Republic of Macedonia and territories in neighboring countries) and the message “I swear to you, you'll be united!”. Photo by GV, CC-BY.
A video clip made by the team of Balkon3 online magazine uses less than three minutes to explain the main absurdities of greater state nationalism in the Balkan region. Its lessons are also broadly applicable to countries suffering from right-wing populism outside the region.
1. Every country in the Balkans believes that it should be bigger than it is. We’d need at least one more Balkan peninsula to satisfy everybody.
2. But none of them considers that as taking something away from the others. Rather they see it as “regaining their own territories”…
The video is part of a series “Let Me Illustrate For You” which is a translation of a Macedonian idiom (да ти нацртам) meaning literally “let me explain this in very simple terms.”
During the last few months the magazine has been making short videos explaining basic concepts such as civic engagement, modern democracy and role of political parties.
The name of the Balkon3 magazine comes from the word “balcony.” Founded by journalists from Macedonia, Greece and Turkey, it offers content in Macedonian, Greek, Albanian, Turkish and English, aimed at fostering a better multicultural understanding. Their motto is “Peek into your neighbor's yard, go out on a balcony.”
If this video whetted your appetite for more local commentary on Balkan mentality and culture, check out the English-language song “No Escape (from Balkan)” by the progressive Bosnian band Dubioza Kolektiv. The song's lyrics refer to regional stereotypes, as explained by a diaspora member to a Westerner.

author: Marko Angelov


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Borders or Bans Can’t Stop Me From Being a Muslim Doctor · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Banksy Mural: ‘Peaceful Hearts’ Doctor. San Francisco, April 2010. Photo by Flickr user Kanaka Rastamon. CC BY-NC 2.0
This commentary by Jalal Baig originally appeared on PRI.org on January 30, 2017. It is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.
The practice of medicine has never been confined by borders or walls. Nor has a doctor’s ability to heal ever been determined by the color of his or her passport.
But now, President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries represents an unprecedented threat to immigrant physicians and to our nation’s patients and health care system. Its persistence and expansion could be ruinous.
Muslims account for 5 percent of total US doctors. While some are foreign-born, others, like my wife and myself, are the sons and daughters of immigrants. My parents are from Pakistan.
Immigrants comprise 28 percent of America’s total physicians and surgeons. Many have come here from countries like Mexico, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran and Syria, to fulfill the universal Hippocratic Oath.
The challenges they have overcome to serve patients are numerous. Aside from leaving behind family, they have sometimes escaped other hardships or persecution. These individuals have spent years taking licensing exams and working just to make themselves eligible for a highly competitive residency position. Only 51.9 percent of international medical graduates matched successfully with positions in 2016.
Despite a process fraught with difficulty and unknowns, they are propelled forward solely by the promise of America’s equal opportunity and a selfless desire to sustain the lives of those suffering from illness.
Their honed skills and compassion will be necessary to keep the country’s health care system afloat as more physicians are needed to provide primary care in underserved areas and as the number of adults 65 years and older doubles, as predicted, by 2030. The changing demographics of America will also benefit from a diversity of doctors who are sensitive to the cultural and linguistic needs of their patients.
In addition, medicine cannot progress without the research contributions of immigrants. Forty-two percent of researchers in the top seven cancer research centers are immigrants. As an oncologist, my efforts to cure a patient’s cancer would be greatly diminished without the drugs their diligent work makes possible. And all six Americans who won the 2016 Nobel prize in science were immigrants.
This all must be reckoned with as President Trump’s misguided immigration ban risks making casualties of those who come to the United States armed with only their stethoscopes and with a sincere desire to see American lives thrive.
There are no terrorists here. There is only humanity.
Jalal Baig is a physician in Chicago and a fellow in the department of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Illinois, Chicago Hospital.

author: PRI/PRX's The World


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China Starts Arresting Internet Users for Insulting the Police · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Qu Yuquan. Photo: Harbin police Weibo.
This post was written by Catherine Lai and originally appeared on Hong Kong Free Press on Feb. 2. The version below is published under a partnership agreement.
In recent weeks, police in China have been arresting Internet users who share messages that insult law enforcement officials. According the Radio Free Asia, at least six people have already been detained. Two of these individuals were reportedly arrested on Jan. 28, for mocking a police officer killed the night before in the line of duty.
Qu Yuquan, a 38-year-old police officer in Harbin, was attacked while responding to a bar brawl on Jan. 27, according the local police station's Weibo social media account. After being taken to the hospital, he later succumbed to his injuries.
After the news went out on Weibo, a user named lukehcen0 posted a message that officials say “insulted the police officer who sacrificed his life and incited violence against the police,” according to the Legal Evening News, a newspaper published by the Communist Party.
“His actions violated the country’s Public Security Administrative Punishments Law,” the report said. The Weibo user was taken in for questioning, in a coordinated effort between police in Beijing and Guangzhou, under the direction of the Ministry of Public Security.
Another man with the Weibo handle “Changchun Social Sister” also posted comments insulting Qu. Police arrested him on Jan. 30, and he's already confessed to the act, according to reports.
Lukehcen0's offensive comment was a response to an unofficial announcement of Qus’ death on the Harbin police department's Weibo page, which read as follows:
經過反復核實，在馬上開播春晚時，我們分局某所民警出警時被5名男男女女活活打死，還不到四十，他是我一批兄弟的師傅，是孩子的父親，是父母的兒子，不知道他們對警察有什麼深仇大恨？此事詳情目前我不能說，請大家等待哈爾濱巿公安局官微消息，只是作為一個民警真的很想哭！走好，我的戰友。
I double-checked. […] a police officer from the [Harbin] station was beaten to death by five men and a women while on duty. He wasn't even 40 years old. He was a police instructor, a father, and a son. I don't understand why they hate cops so much. I can't reveal too much now, please wait for the official press release by the Harbin Public Security Bureau. As a police officer myself, I really want to cry. Farewell, my fellow officer.
Lukehcen0 shared the text above, adding this comment:
凡打殺公安者皆為英雄，點贊
Anybody who beats or kills police are all heroes?
Weibo user “Changchun Social Sister” added her two comments respectively after two posts, one written by a state-affiliated journalist, one written by Qu's fellow officers, Webio user “Kangde-Crazy”:
每次放假回來都對我特別好的叔叔，女兒才三歲… 大年三十晚上發生這種事，剛才在醫院看到他父母哭到幾次昏厥，老太太抱著我一次次的哭孩子，我心裏真的難受的特別厉害！希望各位理解警察這個高危行業，不要給自己和社會添麻煩！同時保護好自身安全，人好健康比什麼都重要！
[His] daughter is just three years old… how can such tragedy happen during a family holiday? [He has in mind the Lunar New Year] I just saw his parents crying in the — they almost fainted. The oldest cried while holding me. I felt so bad. I hope the public understands that working in the police is a very risky occupation. And please don't cause problems for yourself or for society. Please be careful. Wellbeing is what's most important.
Changchun Social Sister commented:
啊哈，太好了，他的女兒沒人保護了，大過年的，遭報應沒？：）
Great, his daughter has no one to protect her. It’s New Year's, haven’t you gotten your retribution? [note: Chinese believe that when bad thing happened during happy event means the heaven is punishing the person for his/her wrong deed.]
In another post, Zhang Ye, a state-affiliated journalist, criticized public intellectuals for not mourning for Qu:
大年三十的夜晚，一個民警在出110警務時，被暴徒殺害了。絶大多數人發出譴責的同時，公知沉點了，少數噴子則幸災樂禍。這些泯滅基本良心的人想過沒有，舞廳鬥毆警察該不該出警？如果是自已被欺，是不是第一個想到110？沒有秩序的混亂社會，有安全嗎？
Before New Year's, a police officer was beaten to death while on duty, responding to an emergency call. Most people condemned the act, but public intellectuals were silent. Some bad mouthed and even made fun of the incident. Did they ever consider that the police needed to respond, even the call came from a bar? If you were bullied, wouldn't you also call 110 [China's emergency hotline]? If society has no order, how can there be safety?
Changchun Social Sister responded:
得了吧，報警根本沒用。這年頭，少在給警界美化啦。不要自己給自己洗白，這充其量就是黑吃黑，火拼！這麼急著洗白，是不是想多撈些撫恤金？
Enough bullshit. There is no use calling the police these days. Stop making excuses for the police. Don't whitewash yourself — the incident was a crossfire between dark forces. Are you whitewashing for higher wages?
The disrespect for the fallen police officer outraged many Chinese social media users, and police in Guangzhou and Nanning launched immediate investigations into the outbursts, after various individuals alerted the authorities, according to reports in China's mainland media.
The two Weibo accounts responsible for the offensive comments are no longer accessible.
A Weibo user named Wu Bin told Radio Free Asia, an international broadcasting agency funded by the U.S. government, that he thought the controls in China on online speech are becoming stricter.
There is no feeling of safety when speaking on the internet, a police car could come to your door and take you away at any moment… I don’t think he [lukehcen0] was inciting violence against police, he was expressing his own viewpoint, he felt that the police are not good – everyone has the right to express their own viewpoint.
Public anger over police brutality in China flared last April, following the death of a young environmentalist in police custody.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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These Classic Cartoons That Took on Dictatorships Are So Relevant Today · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Title pages of comics books “De Smurführer” , the Duch version of the “King Smurf,” and “Lucky Luke versus Joss Jamon.”
One challenge for parents raising kids at times of social and political upheaval is how to talk to them about issues affecting their society and possibly their lives without overburdening them with adult responsibilities. One solution is isolation, as proposed by Roberto Benigni in his dark comedy Life is Beautiful. Another is to educate them by using content that they can relate to. Here are several animated classics that might be helpful, especially if accompanied by conversations during and after.
In “King Smurf,” the Smurfs argue who should be in charge during Papa Smurf's absence. One of them takes power, and, through flattery and empty promises, fashions an authoritarian regime. As a result, instead of taking care of real problems (the leaky dam, for instance) the Smurfs are forced to build a grand palace for their new leader. The regime attacks freedom of expression, by throwing regular humorist Jokey Smurf in jail. A small group of dissident Smurfs start a resistance movement before some of them are exiled and the situation escalates into full-blown civil conflict.
As with other Smurf cartoons from the 1980s, this is just an approximation of an excellent Smurfs comic book that pre-empted it by two decades. The comic book deals with additional topics that may be familiar to followers of certain recent election campaigns.
Unlike in the cartoon, which sees Brainy Smurf take power, the Smurf that takes charge in the book is a an unnamed, cunning and populist Smurf, who discovers that one can acquire power by telling others what they like to hear.
The link with fascism is far more explicit in the Dutch-language version titled De Smurführer, or the Smurf Fuehrer.
Autocrats famously surround themselves with toadies; ‘yes-men’ who simultaneously flatter them and deceive them into thinking they are performing well in their role. Such ‘loyalty’ takes precedence over competence, and these leaders in turn remove civil servants who report unpleasant news of the type that impacts on their self-image.
Autocrats also sow conspiracy theories and panic in order to stay in power. Because their rule is based largely on different kinds of deception, they distrust everyone around them and subject political opponents and loyalists alike to surveillance.
An archetype of this kind of behaviour is the gloriously paranoid and scheming vizier Iznogoud, who is the eponymous hero of a French comic series that was later turned into a cartoon for television.
Over time, dictators become so removed from reality, that they start believing their own propaganda. The disconnect between their desires and the real world occasionally causes them to alter not only the ‘software’ of society, (by controlling speech and thought) but to reconfigure its ‘hardware’, (by implementing policies that directly affect people's bodies, or dramatically alter the physical environment).
In “King Smurf,” after the ruler has built his grand palace, he builds a wall around the village, in order to keep undesirables out, and others in.
In “Out of Scale” (1951) Donald Duck takes this stereotypically authoritarian obsession with construction a phase further, building a new model town on a property he has acquired, assembling little houses on the lawn and ‘planting’ fake trees in place of real ones.
As he wants complete control of the territory he claims as his own, he attempts to drive out the indigenous chipmunks, who lived in one of the trees on the property. But the chipmunks hold firm, enduring Donald's sociological experiments in order to secure themselves a place in “his” world. In the end they even manage to get their tree back. The moral of the story? Determined resistance forces compromise!
In the age of fake news and deepening attacks on freedom of speech across the world, the old-fashioned commitment to the truth of publisher and journalist Horace Greeley and “The Daily Star” is heartening.
This classic was a Lucky Luke comic published in 1983 before it became an animated cartoon.
While the story is fictitious, Greeley is based on the real-life New-York Tribune founder of the same name who, as irony would have it, also played a key role establishing the Republican Party.
In this episode Greeley does battle with a gaggle of prominent entrepreneurs who react angrily to him printing the facts about their dubious business practices.
Dictatorships are typically costly, as public funds are spent on wasteful projects and siphoned through ‘legalized’ corruption.
Unless tethered to vast natural resources (for instance, oil) such economies are not sustainable. When they start to crumble, they resort to taking loans from domestic, rather than foreign banks, and increasing taxes and other mandatory payments. The final phase is state-sanctioned criminal activity. That can include acts of violence towards citizens in order to confiscate their assets, scapegoating ethnic and religious minorities and political opponents, or starting wars of conquest.
Many of these tactics are on display in the classic Disney cartoon Robin Hood (1973), wherein the cowardly, superstitious and spoiled Prince John has taken over government and harasses the population with arbitrary taxes and fines. Taxation mostly targets the poor, who are suppressed by medieval versions of the police and judiciary. Only the brave dissidents Robin Hood and Little John, supported by a revolving cast of collaborators, take a stand against this rule by fear.
In the 1958 comic book Lucky Luke versus Joss Jamon, a group of “democratically elected” thugs capable of manipulating media manages to take over a community and persecute the human rights defenders living there. In effect they achieve state capture, a situation in which state institutions, including the judiciary, became subservient to a mafia. The comic book offers more pointers as to how this form of political corruption emerges — advocating citizen engagement as the way to solve the problem — but the cartoon also manages to get the basic point across.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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‘Mad Dog’ Mattis Wins Some Japanese Hearts, Infuriates Others · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (left) and Japanese Defense Minister Inada Tomomi (right) shake hands. Caption: ”Mutual Defense Treaty targets Senkakus,” confirmed by head Japan-US defense agreement. Screencap from official ANN News YouTube channel.
Following a week where US President Donald Trump managed to effortlessly alienate some of the United States’ oldest allies and partners, new US Defense Secretary Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis the “warrior monk” made his first overseas trip since taking office, visiting Japan and South Korea.
Beyond an attempt to help smooth over differences between Japan and South Korea following a diplomatic row in January over a statue, Mattis was attempting to reiterate an American commitment to providing security and stability in the region. In Japan, at least, besides provoking outrage, Mattis also prompted admiration — especially when compared to an unhinged President Donald Trump.
Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, has a new prop for its 7 o'clock news program pic.twitter.com/AONJpND9VC
— Stephen Stapczynski (@SStapczynski) February 1, 2017
At a time when Trump and a hard-nosed White House appear to be reassessing all of the United States’ existing alliances with potentially catastrophic consequences, Mattis’ remarks about the US-Japan alliance were welcomed by many observers in Japan.
#UPDATE Meeting with Shinzo Abe, US Defense Secretary James Mattis reaffirmed US commitment to Japan's security https://t.co/hEm7bBMJ2W
— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 3, 2017
Besides making typically formulaic diplomatic remarks about the good relations between the United States and Japan, Mattis also made bold comments that removed lingering ambiguity about two key issues affecting the US-Japan relationship: whether or not Japan is paying its fair share for American bases in Japan, and whether or not the United States will support Japan's claim to the Senkaku Islands.
The uninhabited islands, rocky outcrops known as the Senkakus by Japan and the Diaoyu Islands by China, lie in the far western reaches of the Japanese archipelago. The islands are claimed by Japan, Taiwan and China. A long-simmering conflict erupted in 2012 when the Japanese government nationalized the islands by buying them from a private Japanese citizen.
Ever since then the Japanese and Chinese coast guards have played a high stakes game of cat-and-mouse as protesters from Taiwan and mainland China attempt to come ashore and somehow claim the islands from Japan.
The potential for a military clash escalating out of control remains high, and there were doubts in Japan about whether or not the previous administration under Barack Obama would back up Japan's claim to the islands, since America support for Japan might lead to all-out war with China.
In his remarks to the Japanese government, Defense Secretary Mattis was unequivocal about American support:
BREAKING: Jim Mattis says United States will aid Japan in defense of the contested Senkaku Islands https://t.co/iiM3ekvU1f
— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) February 4, 2017
Mattis was, however, careful to stress that a diplomatic, rather than a military solution, would be best for dealing with the issue of the islands, as reported by NPR News Asia correspondent Elise Hu, who covered Matthis's meetings in Korea and Japan:
#Mattis on #SouthChinaSea: “No need for military moves at this time … Best solved by diplomats.”
— Elise Hu (일리스 후) (@elisewho) February 4, 2017
China, nevertheless, was infuriated by Mattis’ comments. The Chinese foreign ministry reportedly responded by saying the United States is putting regional stability in East Asia at risk, and American support for Japan “impairs China’s territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights.”
The Japanese government likely felt greatly reassured by the Mattis visit, especially after President Trump complained loudly of various allies, including Japan, “not paying their fair share” for shared defence commitments in his pre-election campaign.
There are approximately 55,000 US military personnel stationed at 85 bases across Japan, whose presence theoretically guarantees the country's safety in a region troubled by growing militarization.
According to NPR's Hu:
US SecDef #Mattis splits from Trump on cost of bases in #Japan:
“I believe Japan has been a model of cost-sharing, burden sharing.”
— Elise Hu (일리스 후) (@elisewho) February 4, 2017
Still, at least one Japanese official — the governor of Okinawa Prefecture, Onaga Takeshi — was left unimpressed. The tiny prefecture bares most of the burden of the US military presence in Japan, and Okinawa's governor complained that Mattis did not address any of the outstanding issues related to bases that dominate his community.
Onaga also condemned Abe and Mattis’ stated agreement to continue with plans to relocate a Marine base in Okinawa to an ecologically sensitive location:
翁長沖縄県知事、自らの訪米中に安倍・マティス氏の合意は「失礼」と批判https://t.co/IJBlrQ3YHl　#翁長知事 #マティス国防長官 pic.twitter.com/2O2o8edfmf
— 産経ニュース (@Sankei_news) February 4, 2017
Okinawa Governor Onaga Takeshi criticizes Abe/Mattis agreement [over base relocation within Okinawa] during visit as “an insult.”
For the moment, the new American Defense Secretary seems to have regular Japanese folk onside. A Japanese professional wrestling fan took to Twitter to laud Mattis’ nickname and reputation as a “warrior monk.”
マティス米国防長官。あだ名の「狂犬」はやはりプロレス感がすごいなw ディック・マードックだし。今日新聞読んだら「戦う修道士」とも呼ばれてるらしい。それはそれでやはりプロレス感www.
— radioradio (@radioradio526) February 3, 2017
Defense Secretary Mattis’ nickname “Mad Dog” has a real professional wrestling feel to it… Sounds like [the name of another professional wrestler] Dick Murdoch. Mattis also has a reputation as a “warrior monk.” It's just like professional wrestling, lol
Indeed, the Japanese media made much out of Mattis’ reputation as a “warrior-monk”, using a literal translation of the term, tatakau shuudoshi (戦う修道士), or “fighting monk” in dozens of news stories.
One Twitter user considered the actual historical connotations of the term “warrior-monk” from a Japanese perspective.
「戦う修道士」って日本で言うと「僧兵」だよね！？
と言ううことでマティス国防長官は「アメリカの僧兵」ということになりますな
— ヤシン@チョコレートバー (@2429wataru5512) February 4, 2017
The literal translation may be “warrior monk”, but in Japan wouldn't the proper word be “sohei”!? [Note: in Japan's medieval period, different religious denominations hired private armies of mercenaries to protect their land and their property; such mercenaries were dressed in monk's garb, and were called souhei (僧兵)] So, I guess you could say Defense Secretary Mattis is a hired American mercenary.

author: Nevin Thompson


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Greece Reaches for the Stars: Trolling Peaks After Greek Space Agency’s Inauguration · Global Voices
Elaine Rigas

Is this a chance for Greece to spread the culture of frappe coffee outside Earth as well? Image illustration by author Elaine Rigas.
An announcement by the Syriza Greek government was enough to set the Grecophone Internet on fire last week. The announcement concerned the inauguration of the Greek Space Agency. Specifically, the Ministry of Telecoms and Digital Policy noted “the Agency will be a public limited company called National Center for Space Applications (EKDE in Greek), aimed at making up for the country’s huge deficit in this area.”
Minister Nikos Pappas argued that the formation of the Agency was a necessity:
It's self-evident to do such thing. It's unthinkable that Greece doesn't have a space agency so far. It's unimaginable that, up to the recent past we bartered away our rights to outer space and previous governments were responsible for that.
As expected, Twitter “got lost in space” with numerous humorous tweets under the trending hastag #greek_nasa. Some of the best ones were as follows:
Government policy à la Star Wars:
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away..#greek_NASA pic.twitter.com/2Cc7lKDJIs
— Marquis Akindynos (@MSandion294) January 30, 2017
A parody profile of Greek PM Alexis Tsipras explains another reason the program might be unnecessary. (The incorrect wording for “astronaut” satirizes PM's questionable knowledge of English).
We are putting an end to the unemployment of astronafts. #greek_NASA
— Alexis International (@Tsipras_int2) January 30, 2017
While user @tbarbatsalou proposes some alternative naming initials, using the word “Hestra”, which means “shitter can” in Greek:
HE. S. TR. A. = Hellenic Space Travel Agency #greek_NASA
— Tina Barbatsalou (@tbarbatsalou) January 31, 2017
“Run for your lives”, because…
the Greeks are coming! #greek_NASA pic.twitter.com/VIeWQTsimA
— Gina D. (@Gina8_12) January 30, 2017
If you are wondering what happened to Greece's ex-Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, there is some reassuring news. He got promoted to a Spock-like role in the cosmos:
They could always ask this guy to run the newly announced Greek space agency. #greek_NASA pic.twitter.com/0euZpAxY2z
— Damian Mac Con Uladh (@damomac) January 30, 2017
User @VasilisXtM reveals the true reason for the inauguration of the Greek Space Agency:
Επιτέλους θα ψάξουμε για μνημόνια στο φεγγάρι #greek_nasa
— Δραχμend (@VasilisXtM) January 30, 2017
At last, we will search for memoranda [agreements with creditors] on the moon.
If the Greek astronaut doesn't drink frappe coffee for breakfast, he cannot wake up:
Χιουστον γουι χαβ ε προμπλεμ.. Δε κοφι φινις.. #greek_NASA pic.twitter.com/RciTtXbTsq
— Ένας Γιώργος (@ggkriniaris) January 30, 2017
“Houston, we have a problem. The coffee finish” [sic]
Something like “Armageddon” comes from space:
Νταούλια στο διάστημα. Οι δανειστές έκαναν το λάθος να τους πιέσουν. Οι συμμαχίες ήρθαν από μακριά. #greek_nasapic.twitter.com/cW8UnveNiG
— Το Παρατηρητήριο (@Paratiritirio_) January 30, 2017
Hubbub and problems in space. The [owners of Greek debt] made a mistake putting pressure on them. Alliances came from far away.
However, there were several tweets that offered more irate commentary on the issue, with users generally viewing the foundation of the Greek Space Agency as a futile provocation.
Just heard that we are funding Greek Space Agency while my school has zero heating budget. Insanity level infinity ???. #greek_NASA
— Dimitris Strantsalis (@dstrants) January 30, 2017
Listening to #Tsipras in the Parliament, makes you realise why they want to create the #greek_NASA They live in a parallel universe #Greece
— Liana Spyropoulou (@LSpyropoulou) February 1, 2017

author: Elaine Rigas


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How to Crack a Joke in Trump’s America · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Comedian Hari Kondabolu grabs audiences with sketches on race, identity and politics. Credit: Kyle Johnson/Courtesy of Hari Kondabolu
This story by Sarah Birnbaum originally appeared on PRI.org on February 1, 2017. A slightly edited version is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.
Comedian Hari Kondabolu has an evil plan. He can end US President Donald Trump's ban on travellers from Muslim-majority countries by deploying a secret weapon: the English-Irish boy band One Direction.
The first step? The band would have to reunite as a five-man ensemble and bring back Zayn Malik, who left the band to pursue a solo career. “Then they have to plan a worldwide tour, including every major city in the US. But here's the problem though … Zayn Malik is a Muslim. And that means One Direction can't come to America. That's going to disappoint and anger millions of teenage girls. … Teenage girls are like the most powerful and underutilized political voice in this country! If activated, there would be chaos!”
Kondabolu originally unveiled his plot in December 2015, long before Trump was elected, but after the then presidential candidate had called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” On January 27, 2017, Trump as president signed an executive order banning nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — from entering the country for 90 days as well as suspending the refugee program for Syrians indefinitely.
But the comedian says the idea could still work. “I feel like nothing is over the top anymore. Donald Trump, a reality TV-star billionaire, is the president of the United States. My plan seems very mainstream right now.”
Since the elevation of the former “Celebrity Apprentice” host to leader of the free world, Kondabolu has been thinking about the role of humor in politics; namely, the moral ambiguity of turning horrible news into a punchline.
“There's something about it that seems inappropriate in some ways, considering the severity of the kind of stuff we're talking about,” he says. “We're talking about mass deportations and comparing this to other fascist regimes early on, and the cost to peoples’ lives, and the separation of families … and that's heavy stuff.”
That leaves humorists in an awkward position. “If you [as an audience member] are informed, you're not going to laugh because this is hard to hear. And if you aren't informed and I'm the one who's informing you, that's a lot to take in.”
Comedians have another challenge these days: Audiences are more polarized. At a comedy show in Boston in November, Wanda Sykes was booed off stage after making jokes at Donald Trump's expense.
Kondabolu says he isn't getting booed, but the political divisions are evident as he tours around the country. For instance: “I was doing a random spot in Seattle, and the second I got into politics, everyone froze up. Whatever it was … it was just too much.” Another time, Kondabolu recalls, he was doing a bit about abortion and women's rights, and someone in the audience told him he was going to hell.
“I haven't gotten that in a while,” he says with a resigned chuckle. “It was retro. It was vintage. It was the kind of feeling I had on stage that I haven't felt in a decade. People just not wanting to talk about those things and not liking someone aggressively sharing their point of view. It was strange.”
Kondabolu has considered tweaking his onstage persona to appeal to tough crowds. “I've often thought about — how do I make myself more accessible? I have a family. I have things that are certainly relatable to the majority of people that I don't generally talk about. I should talk about them! Because in addition to it being a tactic, it's good comedy. It's good comedy for the audience to see you as a full person. And I think I'll need to deploy that more.”
One comedian who brings accessibility to his comedy is Aziz Ansari. Kondabolu says he watched Ansari's recent monologue on the TV show “Saturday Night Live.”
Ansari navigates a fine line in the SNL routine. On the one hand, he skewers Trump supporters. He compares them to fans of American hip hop artist Chris Brown who like Brown's music but don't support his “extracurriculars” (among other legal issues, Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to felony assault of his girlfriend at the time, singer Rihanna). But Ansari also tries to reach across the aisle, warning Americans to “be careful. We can't demonize everybody who voted for Trump.”
Kondabolu says Ansari's conciliatory style is one way to go. But it probably won't work for him.
“I don't think that's my tack,” Kondabolu says. “I think for Aziz on ‘Saturday Night Live’ he's in a forum speaking to all of America. I'm a lot more aggressive. I tend to be on the side of rallying cry, you know? I don't want to find a middle ground.”


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In Bangladesh, a New Online Platform to Ensure Parliamentary Accountability · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bangladesh national parliament house. Image from Flickr by Joe Coyle. CC BY-NC 2.0
Although Bangladesh is a populous and formally democratic country, internet penetration remains low and many politicians and legislators do not use social media or other forms of instant communication, making it difficult for common people to reach out to them.
A new platform containing all the information of the members of parliament and different means for communication with them is giving Bangladeshis the option of contacting their local elected representatives, however. Some lawmakers have already begun responding to public queries.
A frequently used phrase in Bangladesh these days is ‘Digital Bangladesh’, which is the idea that IT can be used in administration and governance to ensure transparency, accountability and answerability at all levels of society and state.
Although there is visible progress in terms of Bangladesh's digitization in other areas, many elected MPs and government officials are still not using digital means to make themselves accountable to common citizens.
According to recent news reports, although many of the MPs have Facebook IDs or pages, they are not official, and are mostly run by fans. Only seven Facebook profiles and two Twitter accounts belonging to MPs are verified. Most MPs therefore are not active on popular social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter while many citizens complain that MPs are not reachable via the official contact phone or email provided on the Bangladesh Parliament website.
Blogger Chandra Bindu wrote on Facebook:
অনেক অনেক বছর আগে আমার এমপি সাহেবের সাথে দেখা করতে গিয়েছিলাম। এলাকার সমস্যা নিয়ে। ঢাকার বাসায়। উনি এলাকায় থাকেন না। মানুষও বহিরাগত। ঢাকা ছাড়া পাওয়া কঠিন। সকাল ১০টার দিকে গিয়ে শুনলাম উনি ঘুমাচ্ছেন। বেশ কিছুক্ষণ অপেক্ষা করে দেখা না পেয়েই ফিরলাম।
Some years ago I went to the local MP's house to discuss some issues in our neighborhood. He lives in the capital, nowhere near the electorate. It was already 10 am and I was told that he still was asleep. I waited for some time more but could not meet him.
Blogger Saifur R. Mishu writes:
বলতে দ্বিধা নেই, আমাদের দেশের জনপ্রতিনিধিবৃন্দের অনেকেই নিজেদের জনপ্রতিনিধি কম, রাজা বেশী ভাবতে শুরু করেন সাংসদ নির্বাচিত হবার সাথে সাথে। অথচ হবার কথা ভিন্ন। জনপ্রতিনিধিরা জনগণের নিকট সর্বদা জবাবদিহি করার কথা।
I have to say that many elected members of Parliament of our country think of themselves as kings, rather than representatives. Whereas they should be totally accountable to their electorates.
Screenshot of Amar MP website.
Amar MP (My Member of Parliament), is a volunteer-based, non-profit, non-partisan initiative created by a group of Bangladeshi online activists and spearheaded by expatriate blogger Sushanta Das Gupta.
The over-arching mission is to make MPs aware of their responsibilities and try to ensure their accountability to the electorate.
The platform lets users find out who their representative in their area is and all about the MPs themselves including their publicly filed statement of wealth. They have the option of contacting them via different contact numbers and social media accounts listed on the website.
Moreover, if they fail to contact them through these means, they can also pose questions to MPs directly through the platform.
Users will have to register to the website (they can also register with their Facebook ID) to be able to contact an MP. This will prevent trolling, and any abuse will be filtered by the Amar MP website before reaching the MPs.
The website has been up for a few months now and has already generated a buzz. People are sending questions about the cleanliness of towns, making MPs aware of the infrastructure needs of villages and complaining about local drug problems.
Some MPs have already started answering some of the questions. Abdur Rahman Badi, MP of Cox's Bazar-4 constituency replied to a question by Mohammad Tareq about the drug problem in Teknaf, for instance:
He said:
আপনাকে ধন্যবাদ এই প্রশ্নটি করার জন্য। আপনার জ্ঞাতার্থে আমি জানাতে চাই যে, ইতোমধ্যে টেকনাফ উপজেলায় মাদক ব্যবসায়ীদের তালিকা প্রস্তুত করার নির্দেশ দেওয়া হয়েছে আর তাদের বিরুদ্ধে ব্যবস্থা নেওয়াও শুরু হয়েছে। আশা করছি আগামী ১ বছরের মধ্যে টেকনাফ উপজেলায় মাদক অনেকাংশ নির্মূল হবে।
Thanks for sending this question. I would like to inform you that a list of the known drug dealers is being prepared by the relevant authorities and steps will be taken against them. I hope that we can eradicate the drug problem in this region within the space of the next year.
People are excited about the responses:
বাংলাদেশে সামাজিক যোগাযোগ মাধ্যমে কোনো এমপি এই প্রথম ভিডিও বার্তার মাধ্যমে ভোটারের প্রশ্নের উত্তর দিলেন।
আমার… https://t.co/eMDvyisA61
— Pushpita (@romenjuthi1971) January 31, 2017
For the first time an MP in Bangladesh answered questions from a voter through a video message on YouTube.
Abul Khair Shahjahan wrote on Facebook:
জনগনের যে কত উপকার হচ্ছে তা বলে বুঝানো যাবে না, সাথে সাথে এম পি মহোদয়গন ও এই সাইটের কারনে অনেক সচেতন হওয়ার চেস্টা করছেন, নিজেরা এই সাইটের কারনে সোস্যাল নেটওয়ার্ক এ নিজেদের সম্পৃত্ব করার চেস্টা করছেন।
I cannot imagine how the citizens are not being helped by this. Many MPs are becoming aware of the electorate and active on social media, becoming inspired by this website.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP tweeted:
@amarmpbd @sajeebwazed @albd1971 @zapalak MPs being connected digitally should be the norm, not the exception these days.
— Saber H Chowdhury MP (@saberhc) November 25, 2016
The website has called for applications from volunteers to become ambassadors of constituencies who will liaise with the relevant MPs regarding queries submitted through the platform. Many MPs are vetting the ambassadors designated for their electorates.
A commenter, Sisyphus, talked about potential training for MPs on social media use:
এম্পিরা যাতে টুইটার, ফেসবুক বা ই-মেইল ব্যবহার করতে পারে সে ব্যাপারেও প্রশিক্ষণ দরকার। আমার মনে হয়, সকল এম্পির জন্য সামাজিক যোগাযোগ মাধ্যমের প্রশিক্ষণ হওয়া দরকার, যাতে করে এধরণের প্লাটফরর্ম ব্যবহারে তারা অভ্যস্ত হন এবং জড়তা কাটাতে পারেন।
I think MPs should be trained on how to use Facebook, Twitter or even email. Every MP should do it, so that they become comfortable using these media and become prolific.
Following its trial run, the website will be formally launched in March. Its Facebook page has more than 36k followers and helps users deal with any problems they encounter using the website.

author: Rezwan


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In Kazakhstan, Police Detain a Man Handing out Free Money · Global Voices
Akhal-Tech Collective

The 10,000 tenge note, worth $30. Wikimedia commons.
In Kazakhstan, a man stood on a pavement in the biggest city Almaty with notes of the country's tenge currency taped to his person and a sign saying that anyone who needed them could take them. The end result of what appeared to be a social experiment in this Central Asian police state was depressingly predictable.
Police may have been responding to a complaint from a passerby, or acting on their own initiative when they detained him. The police radio featured in the recording uses the Russian words “caught him” as if “catching” a man standing on the street handing out money were difficult.
The police talking to the man towards the end of the clip ask if he has documents to prove he is helping people and whether or not he is a member of a sect. The man replies: “What sect? Do I need documents to help people?”
Media has not followed up on the aftermath of the detention, but YouTubers were mostly supportive of the man:
менты всего боятся….Ну и завидуют тоже)
The cops fear and envy everything
Ironically, a major chain in Kazakhstan was recently lauded for giving away free bread and other flour products to poor people on the same “take as you need” basis. Kazakhstan continues to endure an economic downturn on the back of depressed prices for oil which lost half its value in 2014, as well as other key commodity exports.

author: Akhal-Tech Collective


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Kenya’s First Lady Tangled up in Healthcare Scandal · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

Kenya's First Lady Margaret Kenyatta (in white cap) waving. Photo source First Lady's Half Marathon Twitter page.
In politics, timing is everything.
On January 26, amidst an ongoing doctors’ strike, and on the same day that six officials from the union that represents all Kenyan doctors were facing possible jail sentences, organisers of an initiative begun by Kenya’s first lady launched a social media campaign encouraging Kenyans to sign up for a fundraising marathon.
The Beyond Zero initiative founded by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta aims at eradicating infant mortality and maternal deaths by providing every county with fully equipped mobile clinics for community engagement and outreach. The irony of the organisers calling for Kenyans to fundraise for healthcare in the middle of the strike that the six helped organise (and against the backdrop of massive corruption in the Ministry of Health) was not lost on Kenyans.
Kenyan doctors are protesting the failure of the Kenyan government to implement a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which it had entered into with doctors in 2013. The CBA proposes the overhaul of the  public health care system by equipping all government hospitals, providing low cost universal healthcare and raising doctors’ salaries. Most doctors start off on a salary of US $400 per month.
As soon as the call for participation in the marathon began under the #BeyondZero hashtag, Kenyans online turned their frustrations and anger on the First Lady and the organisers, tagging their handles @beyondzeroKenya, @FirstLadyKenya and, in some instances, even the official Twitter handle of President Uhuru Kenyatta, @UKenyatta, in critical tweets.
Dr. Chao observed that it was illogical for the Beyond Zero Campaign to fundraise for the same resources that the doctors were agitating for in the strike that the government, in turn, was cracking down on:
#BeyondZero would be trying to raise the same resources that Drs went on strike for lack of? Counterintuitive and illogical much?
— Dr Chao (@evangelinechao) January 27, 2017
“Wanjikũ Revolution” asked:
A few years ago I asked why first lady was starting #BeyondZero instead of her husband investing in public healthcare #BoyCottBeyondZero 1/2
— Wanjikũ Revolution™ (@WanjikuRevolt) January 26, 2017
While Derick Ongeri wrote:
“Dear First Lady” on a scale of 1 to 10 your husbands score card reads #BeyondZero
— Derick Ongeri (@ongeri_derick) January 28, 2017
Elijah Tei Matolo, a medical doctor, said:
No enlightened Kenyan would run the #BeyondZero marathon. The whole stunt is a mockery to our public healthcare sytem! #BoycottBeyondZero
— Elijah Tei Matolo (@jahzville) January 26, 2017
Kimani Mwangi remarked:
I have in the past participated in the #BeyondZero PR, but now no more. Pay the docs. We don't need parallel healthcare programmes!
— Kimani Mwangi (@KimaniKarumbi) January 26, 2017
The effectiveness of the campaign in achieving its stated aim of equipping every county with a mobile clinic was also called into question. Users blasted inadequate personnel, sub-par drugs and a lack of financial transparency within the organization:
Take a photo of Beyond Zero Clinic in your County and tag @FirstLadyKenya @UKenyatta @BeyondZeroKenya.Lets verify the #BeyondZero statistics pic.twitter.com/AehSAfqgxv
— #BMUnBounded (@bonifacemwangi) January 26, 2017
If only the GOK implemented the CBA, we would get all that #BeyondZero is purporting to achieve & more without having to run around every yr
— Raymond Churyai (@churyai) January 27, 2017
In January 2017, a Kenyan court handed down a one-month suspended jail sentence to seven officials of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union over the doctors’ strike. The court wants the officials to call off the strike.
The Beyond Zero call for a fundraising marathon appears to have been the last straw for many Kenyans, who could not hide their anger at the audacity of the First Family. In addition to the government continuing to ignore the doctors’ demands, pushing public healthcare towards collapse, Kenya is suffering from an ongoing drought that has put a strain on society and the economy.
In 2016, an expose by Kenya’s leading newspaper revealed that Kenyan taxpayers had lost US $48 million through a graft scandal at the Ministry of Health. Among the funds that were diverted from the ministry were funds slated for free maternity care.
The current director of Beyond Zero, Nyokabi Muthama, who also happens to be president Uhuru Kenyatta’s younger sister, was among the owners of companies suspected to have irregularly pocketed millions of shillings from the scandal involving the health ministry.


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As Burundi’s Political Crisis Simmers, Critics Are Silenced · Global Voices
Liam Anderson

Burundians living in Nairobi, Kenya and friends of Burundi says no to third term for president Pierre Nkurunziza. — by Vincent Munga for Demotix.
Since mid-2015, when Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza declared his intention to run for a third term in office, the government has faced criticism of broad crackdowns against insurgents, but also protests and opponents. Despite international tensions and serious economic decline, though, it has seemingly asserted its control inside the country, restricting critics and civil society monitoring the situation.
International and national rights groups, journalists, UN officials, and diplomats have accused security agents and Imbonerakure (ruling party youth-wing) activists in Burundi of committing crimes, including sexual violence and forced disappearances, with “lawless” impunity. Many opponents have fled, especially Bujumbura’s “rebellious” districts, leaving exiled opposition divided, and the total refugee population recently passed 328,000.
A November 2016 report by the International Federation for Human Rights and Ligue ITEKA, described political repression changing over 2016 from public crackdowns to violence “behind closed doors”, such as secret detentions. Officials reject these criticisms, charging that they are biased and based on rumours.
Ex-guerrilla, pro-President Nkurunziza hardliners — skeptical of the post-war peace agreement and power-sharing — have gradually taken control of party and state, in a process that accelerated after a failed coup in May 2015.
President Nkurunziza recently hinted at constitutional changes that would allow him to remain even for a fourth term in office, independent newspaper Iwacu reported. Jean Minani, spokesperson for opposition coalition CNARED (National Council for upholding the Arusha Accord for Peace and Reconciliation and the Constitution) said – worryingly evoking a potential escalation of confrontation:
Devant  un homme déterminé à enterrer l’Accord d’Arusha et la Constitution pour s’éterniser au pouvoir, il me semble qu’il n’y ait aucun autre choix que celui d’user de tous les moyens pour contrecarrer son plan.
Faced with a man determined to bury the Arusha Accord [post-war peace agreement] and the constitution, to remain in power forever, it seems to me that there is no other choice than to use all means to foil his plan.
Many reporters and activists have fled the country, and some are even missing, like journalist Jean Bigirimana, who was last seen in July. RSF’s petition to investigate fully his disappearance was delivered to Burundi’s Paris embassy in October, with little response.
Those journalists who remain in Burundi must now register with the National Communications Council in order to do their work. State officials have also arrested WhatsApp users on defamation charges, in what critics say is part of a crackdown on freedom of expression.
Several independent radio stations have remained closed since the failed coup. Radio Isanganiro returned to the airwaves earlier in 2016, but under certain conditions, and a call-in show was suspended for broadcasting a Kirundi song that celebrated journalists’ rights. SOS Médias Burundi also reported in December that a minister intervened to block coverage, first aired in Kirundi, by Radio Isanganiro of legal changes to armed forces, apparently for security reasons.
The Burundian Musicians’ Association, approved by National Communications Council, recently announced that it intended to censor broadcasted songs that “undermine peace.” The culture minister then objected to this, however.
“Politicized” civil society organizations — especially the “Halte au troisieme mandat” movement — face tough obstacles as well. Five organizations were de-registered on Oct. 19, including the well-known Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Incarcerated Persons (APRODH) for “perturbing security” and “tarnishing” Burundi’s image. On Oct. 24, the Burundian Journalists’ Union and several rights organizations, including Ligue ITEKA, were also suspended.
Government investigations of some civil society groups have ended, but SOS Médias Burundi reported one director’s pessimism about being able to work freely.
The National Assembly also recently adopted a law that strictly monitors international NGO activities and limits their ability to receive funding. Added to the government cutting cooperation with the International Criminal Court and UNHCR, this indicates it is distancing domestic and international bodies monitoring the situation.
Attempts to control dominant narratives have also surfaced in schools. Last summer, teenage students were arrested for scribbling on the president’s image in textbooks. This was criticized for disproportionately turning a school discipline matter into a criminal one. SOS Médias Burundi reported over 200 students sent home from one school and that, by 16 June, the “scribbling phenomenon” had affected at least 580 students across 4 schools. Regional governor Emmanuel Niyungeko argued strong punishments were justified because the students had made a “grave error”, as Nkurunziza is “second to god.”
Officials also announced a census of state employees’ ethnicity to enforce post-war ethnic quotas intended to ensure both Hutus and Tutsis are well-represented. However, as they were not designed to extend to all public sector employees, some were concerned for underlying anti-Tutsi bias.
Burundi's government appears to have largely established authoritarian control over the crisis, but the recent assassination attempt on Communications Minister Willy Nyamitwe and killing of Environment Minister Emmanuel Niyonkuru shows that security and peace are still elusive.
As the political-security crisis grinds on, food shortages and economic hardship worsen. Goodwill gestures, though, by ‘radical’ opposition and government, like reopening independent media, could yet help to soften confrontation and move towards productive compromise.

author: Liam Anderson