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‘You can’t run from the truth’: Iconic art protests preface Kazakh presidential vote · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Nursultan Nazarbayev (left) has handed over the presidential reigns to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev but will continue to wield power. Government images.
Art imitates life, and then life returns the favour a thousand times.
The Kafka-esque capacities of the Kazakh state to bungle, befuddle and amuse have been on full display in recent weeks, as authorities smooth the ground for an election in keeping with Soviet traditions.
Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has led Kazakhstan since before the Central Asian country's independence from Moscow in 1991 relinquished the presidency in March, hinting that time had come for a change.
His interim successor Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is expected to win the June 9 vote by a landslide.
But former foreign minister and Senate leader Tokayev's most notable policy so far has been to propose and sign off on the renaming of Kazakhstan's capital in honour of Nazarbayev. The career loyalist has also pledged to continue Nazarbayev's “strategic course”.
Such is the change that doesn't seem to be about change at all.
Artist Saltanat Rakhat's interpretation of the “You Can't Run From the Truth” protest (left) next to a photograph of the protest taken by Tamina Ospanova. Tribute art collected by the Adamdar website and republished by Global Voices with permission.
“#YouCan'tRunFromTheTruth.#ForFairElections.#IHaveAChoice.”
These were the messages of young activists determined to show their profound rejection of an authoritarianism they no longer fear.
The Russian and Kazakh language slogans unfurled on a banner at a city marathon on April 21 earned 34-year-old Asya Tulesova and 20-year old Beibarys Tolymbekov detention sentences of 15 days each.
Tulesova was provoked repeatedly in jail where she staged a hunger strike, while Tolymbekov was packed off for compulsory military service shortly after their release a day early on May 5.
Three friends that filmed and photographed the protest, Suinbike Suleimenova, Aidos Nurbolatov, and Aigul Nurbolatova were also arrested and fined.
From left to right: Aigul Nurbolatova, Beibarys Tolombekov, Suinbike Suleimenova, and Asya Tulesova. Photo by Timur Nurisbekov, co-founder of Adamdar.
But you can't run from the truth.
Hundreds of citizens have been arrested for staging peaceful protests across Kazakhstan since a de-facto currency collapse in 2015 dramatically increased antipathy towards Nazarbayev's regime. In most cases demonstrators are lucky if they have time to gather.
There is a deterrence logic at work here — dissatisfaction is high and if police do not make arrests the protests will grow in size.
But in the case of Tulesova and Tolymbekov, the regime's disproportionate response to the publicity stunt backfired spectacularly.
‘Hold up a banner: 15 days detention. Don't hang up a banner: Life sentence.’ Comic art by Le Shapalaque Comics. Tribute art collected by the Adamdar website and republished by Global Voices with permission.
Almost overnight #Otpravdineubezhish (Russian for ‘You can't run from the truth’) became a meme to rival any other in the country's online history.
People sympathetic to the arrested pair wore t-shirts in homage to the banner at public events. A frame dedicated to the meme soon adorned profile photos across Kazakhstani Facebook.
Solidarity protests sprang up in cities across Europe as well as New York and Los Angeles.
An artistic tribute to Tulesova and Tolombekov by Sreenihai Pouka, an Indian graphic designer based in Milan. Tribute art collected by the Adamdar website and republished by Global Voices with permission.
Then there were the court hearings themselves, where the judiciary's creative interpretation of the law and the behaviour of court officials only produced more fodder for artists and satirists.
In one instance during Tolymbekov and Tulesova's trial, a clerk was asked by the defendants’ legal team to explain why the court protocol referred not to the “You Can't Run from The Truth” banner, but to a completely different one, held up by different citizens at a protest eight years ago.
He called it a “technical mistake.”
In another comic moment, court staff were asked by the judge to display the banner that Tolymbekov and Tulesova had held up at the marathon.
Court spectators giggled as they fulfilled the order, noting the judge had unwittingly succeeded in repeating the pair's protest.
Image on the left by Balnura Nusipova. Image on the right by Pasha Kas and Nadir Saryshayan. Tribute art collected by the Adamdar website and republished with permission.
Peak police state was still to follow.
An anti-protest law that makes holding unsanctioned demonstrations illegal provides Kazakh judges with a useful legal pretext to try protesters, even in the case of very small demonstrations.
Activists complain that the law violates the right to peaceful assembly enshrined in the constitution.
But how could the court possibly justify fining the people that filmed them?
Suinbike Suleimenova's final speech before the court during her appeal on May 16 exposed the absurdity of the charges against her in full.
‘You can't run from the truth’ (left) by Arna Bakhitova. ‘I have a choice’ (right) by Luiza Djapkayeva. Tribute art collected by the Adamdar website and republished by Global Voices with permission.
“When my status changed from witness to suspect the only argument the police made was that I knew who Asya was. For me, this is not an argument, and this only confirms the political nature of the prosecution,” Suleimenova said.
Supporters attended Suleimenova's appeal with masking tape labels across their mouths bearing the Kazakh word for “shame” — “uyat” — and later posed for a photograph in front of the judge's bench.
The Adamdar website called the collective demonstration “one of the most significant art protests in the history of Kazakhstan.”
Photo by Malika Autalipova, co-founder of Adamdar. Used with permission.
But where does the country go from here?
According to another activist, Aslan Sagutdinov, repression “will only get worse” unless things change soon.
Sagutdinov, a video blogger, was briefly arrested in the northwestern city of Uralsk on May 6 for holding up a blank placard in a deeply ironic protest.
Despite his subsequent release without charge, Kazakhstan earned itself mocking coverage from the New York Times and the BBC.
“We shouldn't be surprised by these things,” Sagutdinov told Radio Free Europe's Kazakh service of the police response. “There isn't and endpoint to this.”
Murat Dilmanov jokes that future Almaty city marathons will consist entirely of police. Tribute art collected by the Adamdar website and republished with permission.
The majority of politically conscious youth appear to reject the election as an exercise in false democracy.
This is unfortunate for the ballot's token opposition figure Amirzhan Kosanov, a long-time journalist, whose adoption of “You Can't Run From The Truth” as a title for Q&A sessions on Facebook suggests an attempt to appeal to a younger electorate.
But with no history of free and fair elections in Kazakhstan, what is there to convince this demographic that the change they crave can be achieved at the ballot box?
Rather than any candidate, the new youth's sentiment seems best represented by a recent video that features both Suleimenova and Tulesova. It is titled #менояндым: #Ihavewokenup.

author: Chris Rickleton


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Detention of Gaspard Glanz is a sign of France’s increasingly authoritarian treatment of journalists · Global Voices
Rakotomalala

Capture d ecran d'une video de l'arrestation de Gaspard Glanz le 20 Avril 2019 par Taranis News
On 20 April 2019, video journalist Gaspard Glanz was arrested while filming a demonstration in Paris’ Place de la République. Gaspard runs the photo news agency, Taranis News, which covers social movements in France.
After his arrest, Glanz was placed in custody for “insulting a representative of law enforcement” and “participating in a group in order to provoke acts of violence and destruction.” Glanz was assigned an “S card,” indicating that he is considered to be a serious threat to national security, and may be subject to increased surveillance. He was also banned from entering Paris to cover subsequent Yellow Vest demonstrations, a measure that could leave him unable to do his work and earn a living.
Gaspard Glanz taken by Claude Truong-Ngoc on Wikimedia Commons – CC-BY-SA 4.0
Glanz remained in custody until 22 April, when he was released. Along with his lawyer, he confirmed his intention to contest the ban, which was ultimately annulled by the criminal court of Paris on 29 April, due to insufficient grounds.
Glanz was able to go to Paris on 1 May and on the following Saturdays, when the Yellow Vests hold their protests.
Glanz initially became known in France after his video reporting on social movements and protests such as the demonstrations against the labor law, the Nuit debout (“up all night”) movement, and the Yellow Vest demonstrations, as well as his reporting on the living conditions of refugees in Calais.
According to the police, Glanz was arrested for “participating in a group in order to commit acts of violence and destruction” and for “insulting a law enforcement official,” for giving the finger to a police officer. The former accusation is legally difficult to prove and was withdrawn upon his release.
Glanz described the conditions of his custody on Reporterre, a French news site with a focus on environmental issues:
La garde à vue s’est passée assez mal, j’ai des bleus partout. Quand je me suis fait arrêter, je me suis fait écrabouiller par terre, je n’ai rien mangé depuis samedi. J’ai pu boire, mais ce n’était pas facile, il a fallu se battre, et je pense que par ma notoriété, j’ai pu boire, alors que d’autres, dans ma situation, ne pouvaient pas le faire. Je sens encore l’odeur d’urine qui doit couvrir mon corps, pour vous donner une idée de l’ambiance du commissariat.
My time in custody went pretty badly, I’m covered in bruises. When I was arrested, I was slammed to the ground, I haven’t eaten anything since Saturday. I was able to drink, but it wasn’t easy, I had to fight for it, and I think because of my name recognition, I was able to drink something, but other people in my situation couldn’t. I can still smell the urine, I must be covered in it, to give you an idea of the ambiance at the police station.
He also explained what he saw as the real reasons for his arrest:
Quand il y a eu les attentats de Strasbourg et qu’on filmait leurs unités, ils étaient bien fiers de montrer leurs casques, leurs boucliers, leurs pistolets, là on était journalistes, on faisait leur promotion. Quand par contre, on montre leurs bavures, ce qui se passe dans les rues, la vérité de ce qui se passe dans Paris, alors on est interdit de tourner, parce qu’on pourrait montrer des choses qui ne doivent pas être vues. On a atteint un point de non retour très grave.
When there were the attacks in Strasbourg and their units were filmed, they were so proud to show their helmets, their shields, and their guns. There we were reporters, we were promoting the police. But when we show their mistakes, what’s happening in the street, what’s really happening in Paris, then we’re not allowed to film, because we might show things they don’t want to be seen. We’ve reached a very serious point of no return.”
The national press and media rights organizations have come out in support of Glanz. Many criticisms have been leveled against the ministry of the interior, which has argued that Glanz didn’t have a press card. The card implies that the bearer works for an employer, but French law does not require journalists to carry a press card in order to do their work in public spaces.
Reporters Without Borders and the Sociétés de Journalistes de Libération have criticized “attacks on the freedom of the press.”
#GiletsJaunes : @RSF_inter et @SNJ_national dénoncent des atteintes à la “liberté fondamentale d'informer” https://t.co/zvQnNlAftk #AFPpic.twitter.com/MeJtrFZzFn
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) 21 avril 2019
#GiletsJaunes: @RSF_inter and @SNJ_national denounce attacks on the “fundamental freedom of the press.” https://t.co/zvQnNlAftk #AFP pic.twitter.com/MeJtrFZzFn — Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) 21 April 2019
Attorneys have pointed out the legal inconsistencies of the minister of the interior's arguments:
Justice indépendante? Au-delà de l'atteinte à la liberté d'informer, les mesures du contrôle judiciaire du journaliste @GaspardGlanz interrogent sur l'indépendance de la justice https://t.co/VhcIp9Pjpd
— Le SAF (@syndicatavocats) 26 avril 2019
An independent justice? Apart from the attack on the freedom of the press, the measures against the journalist @GaspardGlanz call into question the independence of the judiciary branch https://t.co/VhcIp9Pjpd — SAF [lawyers’ union] (@syndicatavocats) 26 April 2019
« Je rappelle à #GaspardGlanz qu’il existe dans notre pays une séparation des pouvoirs »
En préjugeant – es qualité de ministre de l’intérieur – de la commission d’un délit à la place d’un juge indépendant.
Quelqu’un pour rappeler à M Castaner la séparation des pouvoirs ? https://t.co/bZUggfy5Zm
— AuPalais (@palais_au) 26 avril 2019
I’d like to remind  #GaspardGlanz  that we have separation of powers in this country.
Passing judgment in advance, as minister of the interior, that a crime has been committed, instead of being an independent judge.
Can someone remind Mr. Castaner about the separation of powers?” https://t.co/bZUggfy5Zm
— AuPalais (@palais_au) 26 April 2019
The solidarity of French mainstream media journalists has been robust. The political editorialist for Radio France Inter gave the definition of a journalist, explaining how Gaspard Glanz fit the definition on every point:
Qu'est-ce qu'un journaliste ?
L'édito de @lofejoma #le79Inter pic.twitter.com/c3q025J9g9
— France Inter (@franceinter) 25 avril 2019
What is a journalist?
Editorial by @lofejoma #le79Inter pic.twitter.com/c3q025J9g9
— France Inter (@franceinter) 25 April 2019
On 24 April, four days after the arrest of Gaspard Glanz, two reporters from the investigative media website Disclose and one Radio-France reporter were called before the DGSI, the intelligence service of the ministry of the interior, for revealing secret defense documents as part of their investigation “Made in France,” on the massive use of French lethal weapons in the war in Yemen by Saudi Arabia and its coalition.
[URGENT] Deux journalistes de https://t.co/aJsaTD26Fz [Disclose] sont convoqués dans le cadre d'une enquête pour “compromission du secret de la défense nationale” suite à une plainte du ministère des Armées. #yemenpapers #madeinfrance @Mediapart @InvestigationRF @ARTEInfo@konbininews pic.twitter.com/heA1zeXML2
— Disclose (@Disclose_ngo) 24 avril 2019
[URGENT] Two journalists from https://t.co/aJsaTD26Fz [Disclose] are summoned as part of an inquiry into “compromising national defense secrets” following a complaint from the Ministry of the Armed Forces.” #yemenpapers #madeinfrance @Mediapart @InvestigationRF @ARTEInfo @konbininews pic.twitter.com/heA1zeXML2
— Disclose (@Disclose_ngo) 24 April 2019
Screen shot from Disclose home page featuring their “Made in France” investigation into the use of French offensive weapons in the ongoing war in Yemen
Once again, journalists were loud and clear in asserting their solidarity. Rue89 Strasbourg wrote:
Aujourd’hui, pour avoir exposé ces informations, trois journalistes se retrouvent sous la menace d’une procédure, pour un délit puni d’une peine d’emprisonnement, dont l’objectif manifeste est de connaître les sources à l’origine de leur travail.
Today, because they exposed this information, three journalists are being threatened with a lawsuit for a crime punishable by a jail sentence, when the goal is obviously to uncover the source of their information.”
37 sociétés de journalistes, de rédacteurs ou rédactions (dont celle de @LaCroix) apportent leur soutien aux journalistes de @Disclose_ngo et @RadioFrance qui seront entendus mi-mai par la DGSI suite à une enquête sur l'utilisation des armes aux Yémen #secretdessourceshttps://t.co/0Rf3ed41kM
— Aude Carasco (@a_carasco) 25 avril 2019
Thirty-seven associations of reporters and editors and editorial boards (including the editors of @LaCroix) are showing their support for the journalists of @Disclose_ngo and @RadioFrance. They will testify before the DGSI in mid-May following an investigation into the use of weapons in Yemen.” #secretdessources https://t.co/0Rf3ed41kM
— Aude Carasco (@a_carasco) 25 April 2019
From the moment he took office, French president Emmanuel Macron and his cabinet have had a distant relationship at best with the press, and a deplorable one at worst. This article from the daily Le Parisien tells the tale of a love gone cold.
Ce n’est pas du mépris ou de la détestation, il veut installer une relation directe avec les Français », analyse un interlocuteur régulier. Raison pour laquelle il est si féru des réseaux sociaux.
He doesn’t hate the press or disdain them, he wants to create a direct relationship with French people,” is the analysis of a regular contributor. That explains why he is so enamored of social media.
France currently ranks at number 32 out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2019 freedom of the press ranking, down one place and 0.34 points from 2018.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rakotomalala


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Indonesian General Election 2019: Unique events from the campaign trail · Global Voices
Carolina

A photo collage of incumbent President Joko Widodo and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, from their respective Instagram accounts. Both of the presidential candidates used Instagram to show their mass support.
On 17 April 2019, 193 million Indonesian citizens simultaneously cast their vote for new leaders at more than 800,000 polling stations spread across the archipelago. According to the Australian think-tank, Lowy Institute, this gives Indonesia the unique distinction of holding the largest single-day elections in a democratic country.
On 21 May 2019, the General Election Commission (KPU) announced that incumbent president Joko Widodo (otherwise known as Jokowi) had won another term. His opponent, Prabowo Subianto, has rejected these results and hurled accusations of systemic cheating at the KPU. In the wake of these dramatic election results, Global Voices delves deeper into some of the other unique events that occurred during this year’s election cycle.
No ink finger, was the icon of abstention this year. Image courtesy of Facebook page Saya Golput. Used with the permission of the owner.
In this election cycle, the color white took on new meaning for voters across the political spectrum. For Jokowi followers, a plain white shirt — which has come to typify Jokowi's style — was the uniform of choice for his supporters. According to some, the word ‘white’ is one of the most frequent words pronounced by Jokowi’s stronghold.
On the opposition's side, supporters of Prabowo Subianto from The Islamic Forum (FUI) and the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), two fundamentalist Muslim groups, urged their sympathizers to also wear white clothing on Election day. Conservative Muslim men from these organizations often wear long white shirts, and the clothing has become synonymous with their group.
The color white can also be seen in the symbol of a white hand that represents ‘no ink’. In Indonesia, ink is applied to a voter's finger once they have cast their vote. This ink is very difficult to wash off and thus helps prevent double voting. The slogan behind this is, ‘Golput’, which is short for ‘golongan putih’ (white group).
In 2014, 30.14 percent of the total registered voters abstained from voting. During this election cycle, the Golput campaign was at the center of debate as different religious factions spoke out against abstention. Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), Indonesia's top Muslim clerical body, forbade abstention. In addition, notable Catholic priest Romo Franz Magnis wrote an impassioned opinion article denouncing abstentions.
However, Indonesian political and military researcher Made Supriatma said that abstention in the election is a political choice:
Berbeda dengan von Magnis yang mendakwanya sebagai immoral, saya justru melihat bahwa pilihan ini sangat bisa dipertanggungjawabkan secara moral. Von Magnis menyebut mereka yang mengambil sikap golput adalah orang yang bodoh, benalu (parasite), dan bermental tidak stabil. Namun benarkah golput adalah sebuah tindakan immoral? Pertama-tama, saya kira kita perlu meluruskan apa yang disebut sebagai golput. Ada banyak kerancuan pengertian tentang ini. Banyak orang memahami golput semata-mata sebagai tindakan tidak memilih (non-voting behavior). Kita perlu menggarisbawahi bahwa ini adalah sebuah tindakan. Bukan sikap. Karena hanya tindakan maka penyebab non-voting behavior ini bermacam-macam. Sebagian besar dilakukan bukan sebagai sebuah sikap, bukan sebagai statemen politik. Di atas saya sudah kemukakan bahwa banyak orang menjadi golput karena pertimbangan yang serius. Ini bukan sikap yang diambil membabi buta. Menurut saya, justru berpartisipasi membabi buta mendukung salah satu capres dan ikut merobek-robek hidup sosial di negeri ini adalah bentuk ketidakstabilan mental. Bukankah itu yang terjadi dengan pendukung fanatik kedua capres?
In contrast to von Magnis who indicted this as immoral, I actually see that this option is morally accountable.
Von Magnis called those who decided to abstain fools, parasites, and mentally unstable.
But is it true that abstention is an immoral action? First of all, I think we need to straighten out what's meant by “golput”. There is a lot of confusion with this term. Many people comprehend abstention merely as abstaining (non-voting behavior). We need to underline that this is an action. Not an attitude. Because it is simply an action, then the cause of non-voting behavior is diverse. Mostly it is done not as an attitude, not as a political statement.
I've pointed out that a lot of people choose abstention out of serious consideration. This [action] is not taken blindly. In my opinion, blindly supporting one candidate and participate in shredding the social life in this country is a form of mental instability. Isn't that what has happened with the ardent supporters of both presidential candidates?
One of the more astonishing incidents that happened during the 2019 election cycle, was the news that more than a thousand election workers fell ill and nearly 300 died due to fatigue-related causes.
Duka cita yang mendalam bagi para Pahlawan Demokrasi Indonesia #IndonesiaElectionHeroes Terima kasih atas dedikasi dan pengabdianmu untuk tegaknya demokrasi di Indonesia #KPUmelayani pic.twitter.com/KqsXgMUAq0
— KPU RI (@KPU_ID) April 25, 2019
Our biggest condolences to Indonesian Democracy Heroes #IndonesiaElectionHeroes Thank you for your dedication and service for the establishment of Indonesian democracy #KPUserved
_ KPU RI (@KPU_ID) April 25, 2019
There is an ongoing debate about whether or not the cause of these deaths is a result of the immense mental pressure or the intense workload demanded of the polling station workers.
President Joko Widodo wrote his condolences on his Facebook account:
Di luar sukses penyelenggaraan hajatan demokrasi ini, kita telah mendengar kabar duka mengenai meninggalnya sejumlah petugas KPPS dan juga aparat Kepolisian RI, karena kelelahan dan sebab lainnya.
Saya, atas nama pribadi, pemerintah, dan negara, menyampaikan duka cita dan belasungkawa yang mendalam kepada keluarga yang ditinggalkan. Para petugas KPPS dan polisi-polisi ini adalah pejuang demokrasi yang meninggal dalam tugasnya.
Semoga Allah SWT menerima semua amal kebaikan mereka, menjadi sebuah keberkahan bagi Indonesia, dan semoga keluarga yang ditinggalkan diberikan ketabahan.
Beyond the success of democracy celebration, we have heard a sad news about the death of a number of KPPS workers and police officers due to fatigue and other causes.
I, on behalf of myself, the government, and the state, express deep condolences to the families left behind. These KPPS workers and police officers are warriors of democracy who die in the line of duty.
May Allah accept all their good deeds, become a blessing for Indonesia, and hopefully the families left behind are given fortitude.
In general, the 2019 election cycle was a success for the oldest political parties. Barely seen in the voter's choices were the new Solidarity Indonesian Party (PSI) which targets the millennial generation, the Berkarya Party chaired by Tommy Suharto (son of former Indonesia president and strongman Suharto), and the Indonesian Unity Party (Perindo) founded by a tycoon close to Donald Trump.
This election season saw (and continues to see) a lot of campaign drama; however, what was lacking on the campaign trail were agendas from both candidates that addressed environmental problems, women’s and children's rights, bureaucracy reformation, the potential return of TNI's dual function, and other issues.
Without a clear agenda, the candidates and politicians involved in the public administration will struggle to overcome sectarian groups, corrupt bureaucrats, and impunity for human rights violations.

author: Carolina


text:
As Afghanistan’s war rolls on, its mental health toll grows greater · Global Voices
Ezzatullah Mehrdad

A patient sits in chains at the Mia Ali Baba Shrine located on the outskirts of the eastern city of Jalalabad. Photo by Ezzatullah Mehrdad.
The Mia Ali Baba on the outskirts of the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad is primarily a pit stop for pilgrims seeking God's blessings, but it doubles up as a temporary shelter for the mentally ill.
Mentally ill people, known locally as “haunted”, are brought here by their families for 40 day-stints in the muddy yard of the shrine that has ten separated rooms. They are kept in chains for long parts of the day by a local caretaker and are made to eat and squat in the same place. Their daily sustenance is a piece of bread, a red chilli and a glass of water.
“Allah is great,” says an optimistic local taxi driver who took me to Amyali. “After 40 days in the shrine, the patients are cured.”
Such practices are not driven by superstition alone. Families with limited budgets face a tremendous burden in caring for their mentally ill relatives. Outside the capital — where it is inadequate — proper psychological care is often simply unavailable.
“If they receive (proper) treatment, their disorders might be controllable,” insists Dr. Jafar Ahmadi, an independent psychologist based in Kabul, who sees centres like the one near Jalalabad as reinforcing a culture of denial regarding mental health.
According to Afghanistan’s Health Ministry, one in two Afghans experiences stress due to the war in their country, while thousands suffer from diagnosable illness including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, schizophrenia, extreme anxiety, and bipolar disorder.
Although some of these conditions can be inherited, beleaguered doctors have little doubt that four decades of armed clashes, suicide bombings and airstrikes have reshaped the country's mental health landscape.
According to a new survey by Big Think, one in five Afghans suffer depression, more than anywhere in the world. The latest World Happiness Survey commissioned by the United Nations places the country as the third most unhappy globally, behind two other countries wracked by chronic violence and insecurity — South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
Ahmadi says that “at least one or two people are under treatment and recovering from suicide in hospitals across Kabul every night.” PTSD is one of the main drivers of suicidal tendencies, he added.
Social stigma is another barrier to accessing health treatment.
Bashir Ahmad Sarwari, who directs Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, complains that poor understanding of mental health infiltrates every level of a system that should be rising to meet this national challenge.
“People do not know about mental health illness and come up with various names for sufferers — idiots, crazy, stupid, or haunted,” he told Global Voices.
“The stigma toward mental health illness is everywhere, not only among ordinary Afghans but also among doctors, staff, politicians, and policy-makers,” Sarwari argues.
The muddy yard of Mia Ali Baba Shrine in the outskirt of Jalalabad city. Photo by Ezzatullah Mehrdad.
Afghanistan's government claims 2,000 hospitals in the country are equipped to treat mental health patients.
The Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Hospital in Kabul, a specialized hospital where 100-150 patients each day come from across the country, is widely acknowledged as the best.
Ahmad Khetab Kakar, the hospital's director, told Global Voices that the hospital offers three core mental health services: hospitalization of mental health patients, outpatient care and prescription services, and ECT-Electronic therapy.
Yet critics say that even here, professional standards fall well short of those in other countries. Due in part to overwhelming demand, patients are often sent home quickly after being given a prescription for psychotropic drugs.
One patient who was able to secure a stay of over a week at the hospital, a 40-year old man from Baghlan province called Faridon, complained to Global Voices that it was difficult to persuade doctors that he needed to stay longer.
“The doctors wanted to discharge me,” said Faridon, who said his mental health problems had been compounded by marijuana use. “I begged them to keep me in longer.”
When I observed Faridon's medical file was mostly blank, staff claimed information about his condition was in “another office.”
The Rehabilitation Center of the Mental Health and Drug Addiction Hospital hosts a session attended by four patients. Photo by Ezzatullah Mehrdad.
Dr. Ahmadi, the independent psychologist, says that a lack of mental health infrastructure in Afghanistan has moved many patients to seek treatment in neighbouring Pakistan and India, where facilities are typically better.
Due to lack of finances, however, they often return to Afghanistan before they can complete treatment regimes.
In Afghanistan, meanwhile, “medicines mentally ill people take can actually worsen their diseases”, because they are not complemented by proper therapy, Ahmadi warns.
“We cannot continue dealing with mental health ill people by writing out an amulet,” said Ahmadi, reflecting a practice popular among religious conservatives.
“Patient therapy is a distinctive process and it must be professionalized.”
Faridon, 40-year old, right, sits next to another patient in a bed of Mental Health Hospital, listening to a song. Photo by Ezzatullah Mehrdad.

author: Ezzatullah Mehrdad


text:
Czechs demand new justice minister’s resignation in nationwide challenge to PM Andrej Babiš · Global Voices
Jan Lockenbauer

The rally from 21th May on Wenceslas square in Prague. Photo by Lucie Šarkadyová, used with permission.
Thousands of people rallied in more than 220 towns and cities in the Czech Republic on Tuesday, May 28, against the controversial appointment of a new minister of justice by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.
Marie Benešová was appointed shortly after the police requested the Public Prosecutor's Office to press fraud charges against Babiš for allegedly using European Union subsidies to build a luxury resort. Benešová used to be an adviser of President Miloš Zeman, an ally of Babiš. The case is known locally as the Stork's Nest affair.
Protesters say Babiš is seeking to interfere with his prosecution. They demand Benešová's resignation as well as new measures to protect the judiciary's independence.
Tuesday's rally was the fifth in a series of demonstrations since Benešová's appointment, and the first that involved multiple countryside cities beyond just Prague. Another demonstration is planned for June 4 in Prague. The association Million Moments for Democracy is the main force spearheading the protests.
Babiš is an agribusiness billionaire who was re-elected in 2017, shortly after the subsidies scandal emerged. He denies any wrongdoing and says demonstrations are part of a political campaign against him. He suggested protesters form a political party of their own if they want to challenge his rule.
During her time as justice adviser, Benešová allegedly prepared a confidential document about the current judicial system in which she supported Babiš interpretation of the subsidies case. PM Babiš has denied the document exists.
Benešová says she intends to roll out judicial reforms that would limit prosecutors’ office term among other changes in the public prosecution system. Protesters fear this is a covert attempt to dismiss the current Supreme Public Prosecutor Pavel Zeman along with the Chief of the High Prosecutor's Office in Prague Lenka Bradáčová, who are both in charge of cases related to the Stork’s Nest affair.
Online discussions on the subject tend to be heated, and name-calling by both sides is frequent. Government supporters tend to call the protesters “sluníčkář,” which literally means “sunny person” in Czech and implies that they're naive and advocate for unrealistic ideas. Even more often protesters are accused of being “Prague Café”, or “from Prague's coffee shops”, meaning they're intellectuals disconnected from real life, with cushy jobs the fields of culture, media, or nonprofit where they earn a lot of money for doing essentially nothing.
Meanwhile, protesters say the PM advocates are “donuts eaters,” a reference to the fact that Babiš distributes donuts in his electoral campaigns. The implication is that Babiš supporters are humble people who vote in exchange for cheap bribes such as snacks.
One user said the PM is correct in ignoring the protests:
Kdybychom měli každou chvíli postupovat podle nespokojených demonstrantů,tak za chvíli by už ani nemusely být třeba volby. Dnes to je Babiš a Benešová, když by to vyšlo, chtěli by zrušit nepohodlné strany,pak soudy,lidi atd atd,zvrhlo by se to v katastrofu.
— Marek Spáčil (@spacil_marek) 21. Mai 2019
If one should act only according to dissatisfied protesters, then there would be no need of elections. Today it concerns Babiš and Benešová, and if it all works out, the protesters will abolish inconvenient political parties, then courts, people, etc. It would be a disaster.
Another user was satisfied with the PM's response to the protesters:
Babiše nemusí nikdo obdivovat, ale vzkaz desetitisícům demostrantů, že si mají založit vlastní stranu a jít s kůží na trh…to je pro ty sluníčkové šmejdy dost silná káva. ?
— Tomáš Trojan (@trojiktom) 23. Mai 2019
You don’t have to admire Babiš, but the message to the tens of thousands of demonstrators that they should form their own political party and put their skin in the game must drive mad those ‘sunny people’ thrash.
Another Twitter user suggested that protesters’ jobs are useless to society and that is why they prefer to protest rather than going on strike.
Pražská kavárna prostě musí demonstrovat, protože kdyby stávkovali, tak se stane co…?
— Petr Městka (@PetrMestka) 22. Mai 2019
The Prague Café has to demonstrate, because if they strike, what would happen …?
On the opposite side of the spectrum, a Twitter user says Babiš's supporters act out of spite:
Podle mě voliči už ANO ani nevědí, proč Babiše volí, a všechno špatné u něj naschvál přehlížejí. Zemanovi a Babišovi se totiž podařilo rozdělit českou společnost tak, že ti lidi, co ho volí, volí ANO jen natruc “pražské kavárně, která pořádně nepracuje a chce náš stát zničit.”
— Terda (@terbecvarikova) 13. Mai 2019
In my opinion, the voters of ANO do not know why they vote for Babiš, and they disregard everything bad he does. Indeed, Zeman and Babiš managed to divide the Czech society so that the people who vote for ANO do it just out of spite to the “Prague café that does not work and wants to destroy our country.”
Another citizen emphasized the fact that Babiš owns the most widely read newspapers in the Czech Republic and alleges that he misuses them to promote himself:
Až zas budou Babišonoviny tvrdit, že na Václavák přišlo pár lidí, tak není to pravda, byly zaplněné az ke kolejím i přilehlé ulice. Až bude Zeman a spol.tvrdit, že demonstrovala pražská kavárna, není to pravda, Hlavni nádraží a vlaky jsou plné demonstrantů.
— Zuzana Hronová (@ZuzanaHronova) 21 Mai 2019
In case Babiš’s media claims, once again, that only a few people came to Wenceslas Square, it is not true. It was filled until the tramway track and the adjacent streets were full too. In case Zeman and his fellows claim that the Prague Café was demonstrating, it is not true. The main station and trains were full of demonstrators.
Shortly before the May 23-26 EU Parliament elections, another user said they've spotted a donut-distributing spot by Babiš’ political party ANO:
2 dny po jedny z nejvetsich demonstraci proti Babisovi stoji na I.P.Pavlova stanek ANO a rozdava koblihy. A lidi si je berou! A cas plyne dal…
— tøny-trøublegang (@TonyFlunkey) 23. Mai 2019
2 days after one of the biggest demonstrations against Babiš there is a ANO promotion stand at the I. P. Pavlova station distributing donuts. And people take them! And the time goes by…
Despite the anti-government protests, ANO won six out of the 21 seats designated to the Czech Republic in the European Parliament — two more in comparison to the previous elections in 2014.

author: Jan Lockenbauer


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How Beijing uses intimidation to censor the Tiananmen Massacre outside of China · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Louisa Lim / HKFP Kris Cheng
The following post is originally written by Kris Cheng and published by Hong Kong Free Press on 2 of June 2019. The edited version is republished on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement.
Although 30 years have passed since the Tiananmen Massacre, the bloody crackdown has become increasingly sensitive for China-based journalists to cover.
Louisa Lim, a veteran China reporter-turned-scholar, surveyed 60 current and former China-based correspondents and found that three-quarters of those who had covered the anniversary had been on the receiving end of harassment and intimidation. Lim told Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) in an interview:
The party is still terrified by the legacy of Tiananmen and it really tried to limit coverage in all kinds of ways…I think it’s interesting because it shows not just that they are trying to control discussion about June 4 inside China, but they are also trying to control the way that it is portrayed or remembered outside China.
The massacre, which began on 4 June 1989, ended months of student-led demonstrations in China as the military was deployed to crack down on protesters in Beijing. The Chinese Red Cross estimated that 2,700 civilians were killed, but other sources point to a much higher toll. A confidential US government document (unveiled in 2014) reported that a Chinese internal assessment estimated at least 10,454 civilians were killed.
A recent commentary in Global Times described Beijing's censorship around the massacre as a “political success” because it succeeds in turning the incident into “a faded historical event rather than an actual entanglement”.
Lim, who covered China for outlets including NPR and BBC, is now is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne. She also wrote a book on the massacre, The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited, published in 2014.
Respondents of Lim’s survey said that physical access to Tiananmen Square was often blocked around the anniversary, while in some cases, police officers would directly pull journalists away. In other cases, respondents reported that police officers went to their offices and told them not to go to Tiananmen Square.
In 2009, BBC and CNN correspondents were blocked from speaking to their camera by plainclothes police officers wielding umbrellas. In 2013, a Sky News correspondent was detained in the midst of a live segment in the square.
Lim’s survey showed that one in five reporters covering the anniversary had been intimidated or detained, and complaints were lodged against them. She said the intimidation has “an impact on shaping the stories [journalists] tell and the ways that they tell it.”
According to the survey, a key concern when reporting on the massacre was access to sources, as many said their sources were intimidated or detained. In many responses, the journalists said they often dropped anniversary reporting because of the difficulty of finding sources, or the difficulty of securing the safety of their sources.
Lim also said the problem was that many stories leading up to June 4 were not remembered, such as the seven weeks of protests ahead of the massacre and the “Democracy University” on the square. She said:
When you limit the types of coverage in that way, so you are really only telling one story – [it] actually serves to amplify the Chinese government’s message that political activism is dangerous.
The strategy of most journalists, Lim said, has been to begin writing anniversary stories up to six months to avoid many of these issues.
Lim’s survey also asked foreign journalists in China if they felt their reports had any impact. The results shocked Lim: The longer that they had spent in China, the less impact they felt their work had.
The respondents, on average, spent 13 years reporting on China. Some journalists, including many with awards, took the view that there were no new stories coming out of China. Lim said their cynicism may be linked to the challenges they faced in day-to-day reporting. “The oppression becomes normalised”, she said.
A third of the respondents said they did not report on their own intimidation, because they felt it was normal in China. But whether journalists reported on their own difficulties depended on the medium they were using. For television journalists, the oppression itself was the story; print journalists would try to find ways to report on the story; journalists at wire agencies were often not allowed to talk about their experiences.
Lim said journalists may have to change their norms in reporting in authoritarian countries. Many journalists feared increased threats to their visas if they report on something the police told them not to do:
It was surprising to me how many people said ‘I did not want to make myself part of the story. [It is] worthwhile for journalists in China to make an extra effort to enumerate the kind of challenges and restrictions they face when they report stories.
It is useful for readers to understand how stories were constructed and shaped by external forces, Lim said. An example was how foreign journalists had changed their norms in covering the Xinjiang region. She said,
My survey result would definitely point to the importance of transparency – both to help audiences understand how stories are shaped and made, but also as an act of agency by journalists themselves in order to push back against intimidation, repression.
If everybody reports these things, the possibility of reprisal is reduced.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz football team ‘strike hard’ to make history · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

A screenshot from a YouTube video of Jamaica's Reggae Girlz in a pre-World Cup international friendly match against Panama on May 19, 2019. Jamaica won the match 3-1. Video published by JFFLIVE.
The Reggae Girlz, Jamaica's women's football team, are in France to play in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. Ranked 53rd globally, the female counterpart to the country's Reggae Boyz will make their debut appearance at against Brazil, currently in 10th place, on June 9. It will be no walkover match, but the Reggae Girlz have arrived — announcing their presence on the world stage — and that in itself is a remarkable achievement.
The team's story began in 1991, when they played their first international match against Haiti, losing 1-0. Despite this tentative start — and some challenging hurdles over ensuing decades — the Reggae Girlz have emerged to become the first Caribbean women’s team in history to qualify for the World Cup.
They have paid their dues. As a local women’s league that struggled for many years with minimal sponsorship, the national team was abandoned altogether in 2008 when the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) cited a lack of funds.
Then, in 2015, along came an unlikely rescuer: Cedella Marley, whose father, Bob, was a well-known lover of the game, recognised the Reggae Girlz’ plight and persuaded Florida-based coach Hue Menzies to volunteer his services.
After a disappointing World Cup campaign in 2015, leading to Jamaica's second disbandment of its women’s league the following year, Menzies took charge again in 2018, with Marley’s full support. The Girlz vanquished Panama in a dramatic penalty shootout to qualify for the 2019 tournament.
Part of Menzies’ motivation was to help change local attitudes toward women in football:
I took the project, it wasn't really a soccer deal but to try to see if we can change the mindset of how our people perceive females playing football. In my culture, females mainly do track and field and netball and they thought soccer [in general] is a poor man's sport and they didn't see that females could play football. That was the main reason that I took the job. Sometimes when you do something for a different purpose, good things happen.
Marley, who is CEO of Tuff Gong International and the Bob Marley Foundation, tweeted her support after attending the Girlz’ last match in Jamaica before they left for France:
What a lovely time at the @ReggaeGirlzJA last game before we head to The World Cup…and another WIN! #CHO #StrikeHard #Herstory #FootballisFreedom@nanaritamarley @BobMarleyFND @alacrangroup pic.twitter.com/7fE4ov4q1S
— Cedella Marley (@cedellamarley) May 24, 2019
A football Facebook page noted:
The Reggae Girlz would not have become the first Caribbean nation to qualify for a Women's World Cup without the help of Cedella Marley.
The team has now been added to the official FIFA 2019 video game and boasts its own symbolic mascot:
Our Mascot REGGAE TOYA is the replica of the very first TALKING JAMAICAN Patois doll created to empower black kids so they too can feel a sense of self love and self -pride. Thank you Zuree Dolls for partnering with the Foundation in support of Women’s Football in Jamaica. pic.twitter.com/lB2yVuupPH
— Reggae Girlz Foundation (@Reggae_Girlz_F) June 1, 2019
The Jamaican government has begun boosting the Reggae Girlz's prospects now that the team is successful and more high profile. Prime Minister Andrew Holness tweeted:
The Reggae Girlz will debut at the World Cup on June 9, 2019. I congratulate the Reggae Girlz on their remarkable success and encourage all Jamaicans to support the team. pic.twitter.com/dPU9AJkKd9
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) May 31, 2019
Under Menzies’ guidance, the Girlz have been playing and improving their skills mostly in European clubs, although several team members study and play at colleges in the United States. One member of the squad, the highly-rated Jody Brown, from rural Lime Hall, Jamaica, is still in high school.
Statuesque striker Khadijah “Bunny” Shaw, The UK Guardian's Footballer of the Year 2018, is also rapidly gaining star status in Jamaica. Born in the tough city of Spanish Town, she grew up in a large family, learning to play football with the boys, barefoot on the street. She has lost three brothers to gun violence, but stuck to her studies and recently graduated from the University of Tennessee.
Despite such inspiring stories, the question remains: What happens after the World Cup?
Is women’s football in Jamaica (and the wider Caribbean) sustainable? Will local sponsors finally step up to the plate, whatever the results in France? Will the Jamaican public remain fired up about the Girlz, or will the euphoria wear off?
With sustainability for women's football always top of mind, Cedella Marley has launched an online fundraising effort.
Whatever the future holds, Jamaicans are going to enjoy the next few weeks of the competition. Some of the Reggae Girlz’ new-found fans are packing their bags to go and wave the Jamaican flag in France, while others will be cheering them on at watch parties in living rooms, sports bars and clubs across the island and throughout the diaspora.
There's even a song to support the team, with the refrain “Strike hard!”
That's exactly what the team's supporters are hoping the Reggae Girlz will do in France. Jamaica's football focus has always been on its men's team, despite the fact that it has lacked cohesion since qualifying for the 1998 World Cup.
Now, it's time to pay attention to the calibre of the women's game. Thanks to the Reggae Girlz, Jamaica has been listed in the FIFA franchise for the first time since 2006 and the hope is that they will fly the flag just as high as their male counterparts.

author: Emma Lewis


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Tinder now required to share user data with Russian authorities · Global Voices
Alexey Kovalev

Russian security services might now have access to Russian users’ data on Tinder // Ithmus on Flickr, under CC2.0
On March 31, 2019, Russia’s state censorship agency, Roskomnadzor (short for Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) added Match Group LLC, the parent company of the dating app Tinder, to its registry of “organizers of dissemination of information on the internet.” Roskomsvoboda, a Russian internet freedom and digital rights NGO, broke the news on Monday, June 3:
? Роскомнадзор внёс Tinder в реестр по слежке за пользователями в интересах ФСБ https://t.co/LL2vhYXEGn
— РосКомСвобода (@RuBlackListNET) 3 июня 2019 г.
Roskomnadzor added Tinder to its registry for snooping on users on FSB’s [Russia’s domestic intelligence agency] behalf.
In practice, it means that Tinder, like 174 other websites on the registry which also includes most Russian social media services but also messaging apps such as Threema and Telegram, is now required by Russian law to store six months’ worth of its user data and provide it to the Russian authorities at their request. The data that must be stored and shared, according to a 2014 law, includes anything pertaining to “receipt, transfer, delivery and (or) processing of voice information, written text, images, sounds or any other electronic messages.” They must also comply with other Russian laws, such as the ones banning loosely defined “extremist” materials or “exposing minors to harmful information.”
It is also worth noting that being added to Roskomnadzor’s registry requires at least some participation on the service’s end: at the ministry’s request, they must provide relevant company information that will be added to the database, which means that Tinder did respond to Roskomnadzor’s letter and complied with it. A Tinder representative told Kommersant, a Russian business daily, that, although they have indeed registered in the Russian state database following an official request, they had no intention of sharing their users’ data with Russian authorities.
The good news is that these laws lack in enforceability, especially for large international services. Refusal to comply can result in a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles, or slightly above 4,500 USD — not quite enough to put Tinder or its owner Match Group out of business. It is also unlikely that a popular website such as Tinder can be blocked in Russia without a major backlash. Not that Russia’s censorship ministry is quite up to the task: last time it attempted to ban a popular service, it resulted in a major, embarrassing failure which made Roskomnadzor a national laughingstock. The service in question, Telegram, is still online.
Naturally, Russian social media users could not miss an opportunity for a good laugh.
Роскомнадзор внес Tinder в реестр распространителей информации и обязал сотрудничать с российскими спецслужбами pic.twitter.com/7wHW7T0JHk
— Никотинка с Бровями+ (@Yoghikitt) 3 июня 2019 г.
Roskomnadzor added Tinder to the registry of information disseminators and required it to cooperate with Russian special services. [image says: Comrade Major Super Liked You!]
Роскомнадзор обязал Tinder рассказывать ФСБ, кто кого свайпает. Не шутка! Рассказываем подробнее: https://t.co/5f0Ms6mxwO pic.twitter.com/R4HvnObu51
— 59.RU (@59ru) 3 июня 2019 г.
Roskomnadzor required Tinder to inform FSB who swipes whom. Not a joke! More details inside: [image: What a beauty! That’ll do. Yeah, swipe right]
Despite Tinder's public refusal to share user data, the privacy of the dating app's users in Russia is already at risk. According to investigative media reports, a Moscow-based company called SocialDataHub, has been using bots to harvest the data of the app's users.
As Andrey Zakharov, an investigative journalist who works for BBC Russian, noted:
Насчет новости про Tinder, который будет передавать данные ФСБ. SocialDataHub (теневой подрядчиков силовиков) научилась парсить в том числе и Tinder. Людей свайпит бот, определяет местоположение, сличает с данными человека из других соцсетей, все соединяет в цифровой портрет.
— Andrey Zakharov (@skazal_on) 3 июня 2019 г.
About the news that Tinder will now be required to share its data with the FSB. SocialDataHub (a shadow contractor for the security services) has learned to harvest Tinder’s data as well. A bot swipes your profile, learns your location, compares it against against data from other social networks and compiles a full digital portrait.
SocialDataHub provides services to both government agencies and anyone who might be interested in millions of user profiles from a dozen different social media sites. It is just one of several such firms in Russia alone whose activities were investigated in an article by Coda Story in 2018:
One such firm is Moscow-based “Social Data Hub.” It proudly lists the Russian government as a client and boasts that it has a copy of the activity on every Russian social media network going back for the past seven years.
But their online hoovering also includes all the traffic generated by Russian-based users of U.S. and other international online giants such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. The company also covers sites such as the Tinder dating app, and the Airbnb accommodation service. What this means in practice, for example, is that some swipes on Tinder profiles could actually have been made by bots.
Whether Russian security services will have access to the private messages of Tinder users in the future or not, will largely depend on the company's willingness to hand over such data. It is, however, worth keeping in mind that a private firm — one of many — has already been busy hoovering up users’ clicks, swipes and location data and selling them to the highest bidder, which may well be the very same Russian security services.

author: Alexey Kovalev


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Trinidad and Tobago registers Venezuelan asylum-seekers to legalise their status · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Venezuelan asylum-seekers line up outside the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain on the first day of the government's registration process, which would give them legal status within Trinidad and Tobago and allow them to work for one year. Screenshot taken from a YouTube video published by TTT Live Online.
The registration process that the Trinidad and Tobago government promised to introduce in an effort to regularise Venezuelan asylum seekers is officially underway. The two-week-long initiative, which began on May 31, 2019, will afford undocumented Venezuelans amnesty so that they can be put on the record and legally recognised in Trinidad and Tobago.
Registering will also allow asylum-seekers the ability to work for one year, a measure that should minimise the exploitation that many currently face.
Venezuelans have been fleeing their country to neighbouring territories as a result of their country's political problems, which has given rise to violence, exacerbated poor living conditions and increased shortages of critical supplies like food, toiletries and medicine. At its closest point, the Caribbean twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago lies just 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) north of Venezuela.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, estimates that Trinidad and Tobago's “population of concern” comprises more than 10,000 people — among them, 800 refugees and 9,985 asylum-seekers, most of whom are from Venezuela.
However, Rhonda Maingot, head of Living Water Community, a UNHCR implementing agency that handles the resettlement of Venezuelan asylum-seekers, wonders how many will actually participate. Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of National Security, Stuart Young, has already said the process is not a “get out of jail card,” and many people who have fled the country feel vulnerable.
Erika Guevara Rosas, director of the Americas with Amnesty International, issued a statement two days before the registration process was due to begin. While the organisation welcomed the initiative, it questioned whether the allocated period of two weeks was sufficient:
Amnesty International […] would like to receive further information about how your government proposes to process all the applicants in such a limited period of time, and how it plans to safeguard the confidentiality of those that register and ensure that it does not fall into the hands of the Venezuelan authorities.
Journalist Soyini Grey took offense to Amnesty's use of language and tone. In a private Facebook status update (republished with permission), she said:
I try to be a mature thinking adult, but Lord if I didn't say that Amnesty International was a trigger I lie.
They could have a point with which I agree, but always with a superior tone, that makes me see red.
‘…while it welcomes the Government’s plan to register Venezuelans in this country, it wants assurances that the confidential information received will not fall into the hands of the Venezuelan Government.’
I mean, why would you need to say that? You feel that we are savages who don't know what the word ‘confidential’ means? […]
It is not the first time that Trinidad and Tobago has been chastised over the issue. The country's repatriation of 82 Venezuelans in April 2018 drew harsh words from the UNHCR, which called the move a “forced deportation” that breached international law.
Although Trinidad and Tobago's cabinet adopted a national policy to address the pressing issue of refugees and asylum-seekers in 2014, they have not put it into practice. In a statement to the UNHCR, the government said that although it had acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and is signatory to both the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, a lack of legislation “has hindered the application of proper protection principles for refugees and asylum-seekers.”
As a result, asylum-seekers, displaced and stateless people, and even those with UNHCR refugee status end up being treated as undocumented migrants, with little or no protection and — according to a January 2019 Refugees International report — “forced into illegality”.
The registration process will give Venezuelans who have fled the opportunity to claim a level of protection that extends far beyond the terms of Trinidad and Tobago's Immigration Act, which holds that undocumented migrants can be detained, fined and deported.
Local reactions to the registration process have been mixed. While some noted that most citizens of Trinidad and Tobago were migrants, some have fears that the country will not be able to withstand the economic burden.
Following a recent incident in which a boat filled with Venezuelans traveling from the Venezuelan city of Guiria to Trinidad sank, some say that news of the registration process may encourage asylum-seekers to take risks.
The irony of such a response was not lost on Facebook user Joseph Drayton, who posted:
[On May 30, on which Trinidad and Tobago celebrates Indian Arrival Day] we celebrated the #Arrival of a people seeking a better life. They came with different names, cultures, physique and language. We are who we are because they came.
24 hours later our offsprings shouting ‘#sendthemback … to others coming.
Meanwhile, local authorities say they are well prepared to accommodate large numbers of registrants over the two-week period. The process ends on June 14, 2019.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Turning ‘likes’ into rewards: Hong Kong citizen media outlets launch ‘Civic Likers’ campaign · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Civic likers campaign launched on May 21, 2019. Image from the Stand News.
As the Internet becomes flooded with more and more information, the issue of media sustainability is a major challenge for the journalism sector. In the case of Hong Kong, the majority of independent online media outlets depend on both citizen donations and advertisements for revenue to support their daily operations. In response to what many see as the unsustainability of this model, four major citizen media outlets in Hong Kong have joined a Civic Liker Campaign to look for alternative income sources.
Under the current business model, citizen media outlets have to spend extra manpower for fundraising and the majority of their writers contribute to the platform without receiving an honorarium. At the same time, in order to attract more advertisements, they also have to boost up visit rates and insert advertisements in their content. Some independent media outlets, such as Initium Media, have had to shift to a subscription model in order to generate enough revenue for high-quality content, and more and more bloggers make a living by creating promotional content.
To address the problem, four major citizen media outlets including inmediaHK, Matters.news, the Stand News and Citizen News have collaborated with LikeCoin Foundation to launch a campaign known as Civic Likers.
The campaign encourages individual citizens to make use of a new cryptocurrency, LikeCoin, to show their appreciation for original online content through donations. As written on LikeCoin's official site:
讚賞公民是一場回饋優秀內容的運動。讀者每月付出一杯咖啡的價錢，就能成為讚賞公民，從此每個點讚，都會化成對創作者的實質支持。
讚賞公民每月付出的 USD $5，金額將不扣除任何行政成本，全數分配予創作者，支持創作*。基金會只負責分配，支持哪位創作者，回饋哪筆作品，百分百由你的點讚決定。你亦可隨時查閱資助分配，細至一分一毫，盡在掌握。
Civic Likers is a campaign to support original online content. One only has to spend an amount equal to a cup of coffee per month to get registered as a civic liker. After that, you can turn your “likes” into monetary support for online content creators.
The monthly USD$5 you spent would be allocated solely to the authors to support their work. By clicking the LikeCoin button, you can distribute your coins to the works and authors you like. The foundation will not take any administrative or transaction costs. You can login anytime to trace where you have spent the coins.
The foundation launched the campaign on May 21 with a public forum entitled “The future of online media: Alternatives to free content and subscription”.
Kin Ko, the founder of LikeCoin Foundation, took aim at Facebook's like button during the launch (via Citizen News’ report):
就算網紅都好，其實都無喺Facebook攞過一分錢，Facebook like button最大功能就係令Facebook知道應該派咩廣告俾你，即係話唔係幫創作者創造收入，而係幫Facebook派精準的廣告。
Even if you are an opinion leader, you could not get a penny from Facebook. Facebook's like button is just to help the company's AI to attach advertisements to your post. It doesn't generate any revenue for the authors.
On the other hand, he wants the Civic Likers campaign to turn “likes” into rewards for the authors (quote via the Stand News):
設計虛擬貨幣 LikeCoin 和讚賞公民計劃，目的要在現時「免費」和「訂閱」兩個商業模式的極端之間，找尋一個保持內容開放，但創作者仍能獲回報的商業模式，實行真正「化讚為賞」…依賴廣告或訂閱的商業模式，各有不理想之處，例如作者撰寫文章時要避重就輕，或阻礙財政緊拙的讀者接觸優質內容，希望讚賞公民計劃未來會成為一個可持續，「各盡所能，各取所需」的生態，讓公民支持創作者。
The main objective of LikeCoin and the Civic Likers Campaign is to find a business strategy alternative to the free content with advertisement model and subscription model. By turning “likes” into “monetary rewards”, the content can remain open for public access while the authors can get their revenue from “likes”… both advertisement models and subscription models have disadvantages. If the writers have to insert advertisements in their work, they can not be critical. As for the subscription model, if one can't afford to pay the fee, they can not access high quality content. Civic Likers is a campaign to support an ecosystem in which those who can afford to pay for content can support good quality open source content for public consumption.
Raymond Wong, Chief editor of Madman Monologue, a Facebook page founded in 2013 that tailor-made social media advertisements for their clients, echoed Ko Kin's view. He confirmed that content circulated online cannot be critical under the advertisement model. Wong cited from his own experience:
以前我敢言啲，接咗廣告之後避重就輕，我嘅做法就係開多個Facebook group，我喺嗰度仍然敢言，講自己想講嘅嘢，Page變咗係維生⋯⋯如果新聞網站向廣告主妥協，問題大啲。
I was more outspoken in the past. But after I adopted the advertisement business model, I could only express my views in a Facebook [closed] group. Pages are for making a living… if such model is adopted in news site, it would be an even bigger problem.
Many feel that the free content model has generated a passive consumption culture among the young generation. Donna Chu, associate professor at the School of Journalism and Communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, hopes that the Civic Likers campaign can encourage more active online participation:
青少年雖然浸淫在社交媒體的世界，但只會看留言、不like、不share，避免留下「數碼足印」（Digital Footprint），又習慣了接收免費資訊，不會主動篩選資訊，譬如到YouTube看影片就會看「Trending」的片…讚賞公民計劃[…]做到實質的參與，有充權作用，亦相信這個可以是有意義討論的起點，或可帶來移風易俗的效果。
While the young generation grew up in a social media environment, a majority of them are in passive consumption mode. They don't even like or share the content in order to avoid leaving digital footprints. They are so used to receiving free information to the extent that they would not search for meaningful information. For example, when they visit Youtube, they just watch the trending videos. The Civic Likers campaign can encourage participation with real effects, it is quite empowering. This can be a starting point for more substantial change of the current online culture.
Damon Wong, editor of inmediaHK, hopes that the LikeCoin mechanism can help to tackle the “free labour” and “exploitation” problem:
以前創作人都抱怨，（供稿）去網媒的話好似做免費勞工。」就算想付稿費，也不知道應怎樣付、付給誰、付多少，而如今讚賞公民計劃是一個解決方法，讓讀者決定付費、作者收到回報。
Authors have complained that writing for online media is like “free labour”. Even if we have a bit of resources to give an honorarium to some of our writers, we don't know how to allocate the resources fairly. The Civic Liker campaign is a potential solution. Let the readers decide and reward the writers directly.
While Wong is hopeful that the Civic Likers campaign can address potential self-censorship problems under the advertisement model, Poon Chekman, the advertising manager in the Stand News, worries that the pool of Civic Likers will not be big enough to support the independent sector:
成日遇到一些贊助人話『我要cancel你嗰個（捐款）喇，因為我覺得仲有啲更加需要我幫助的，我錢就得咁多，我仲需要幫助其他的』。非建制的支持者，選民來講百幾萬，但實質上掏錢出來支持非建制媒體的，真係未夠多去支撐晒我們咁多間。可能好熱心、好肯畀錢的人，來來去去都係那些人。可能眾新聞呢期做眾籌，咁資金就會從我們或者其他媒體抽走。未來就要諗點樣做呢班畀錢的大支持者。
We frequently get feedback from our individual donors that they have to cancel their donations because they have to give the donations to others. They only have this much of money and they have to help others. Although there are more than a million voters giving their votes to the pro-democracy parties, but those who are willing to give money to media outlets critical of the establishment are only very few and they could not possibility support all of the media outlets. For example, when Citizen News was launching their crowdfunding campaign, some of our donors would leave us. The most important issue is to expand the pool of citizen media supporters.
Currently, about 360 individual bloggers and news sites have installed the LikeCoin button and 130 individuals have joined the Civic Likers campaign. Ko Kin says he is aiming to recruit 10 thousand Civic Likers by the end of 2019.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Publisher of Macedonian edition of Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ releases book by former PM Nikola Gruevski · Global Voices
Metamorphosis Foundation

Gjurgja's booth at the Skopje Book Fair 2019 featuring their latest releases, including a book by Gruevski (top left) and Hitler (center). Photo by Meta.mk News Agency, CC-BY.
This story originally appeared on Meta.mk News Agency, a project of Metamorphosis Foundation. An edited version is published below as part of a content-sharing agreement.
A publisher from North Macedonia that is known for printing Nazi-themed books caused controversy at Skopje Book Fair on May 8, 2019, for publishing a book by the country's former prime minister — and current fugitive from justice — Nikola Gruevski.
The publishing house Gjurgja has printed Macedonian translations of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and “My New Order,” as well as collections of his and Benito Mussolini’s speeches under titles such as “The Jewish Question, Race, and Christianity,” or “Fascist Revolution.”
Those are works that often promote the extermination of groups of people based on their ethnicity, religion, and other characteristics. Hate speech is a crime in North Macedonia as well as in many countries in Europe.
Nikola Gruevski led the right-wing authoritarian government that ruled North Macedonia between 2006 and 2017, a period of sharp democratic decline and erosion of institutions. At that time, state propaganda praising him as an economic genius was widespread. He was re-elected MP in 2016, but resigned as party leader after the VMRO-DPMNE failed to win the majority in parliament.
Gruevski's new book is titled, in translation, “Experiences for the Future – economic effects of the various types of international flows of capital including a particular look at the Republic of Macedonia” and is mainly based on his doctoral thesis.
In June 2018, he received a Ph.D. title in economics by the University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje — mere weeks after he had been sentenced to two years in prison for an illicit purchase of a Mercedes worth 600,000 euros when he was prime minister. In November 2018, he fled to Hungary, where he was granted political asylum.
The book “Experiences for the Future…,” by Nikola Gruevski sandwiched between translations of “The Age of Innocence” by Edith Wharton and “The Psychopathology of Everyday Life” by Sigmund Freud at Skopje Book Fair 2019. Photo by Meta.mk News Agency, CC-BY.
Gruevski has repeatedly said he's facing political persecution back home and has fled to save his life — a claim he repeats in his book's foreword.
According to media reports from the Book Fair, the publisher claims that Gruevski's book has become a bestseller and that they plan a second edition soon.
Even while on the run abroad, Gruevski appears to still exert influence over his political party VMRO-DPMNE. He still holds the title of honorary party president and allegedly has been receiving frequent visits by high party officials in his Budapest hideout.
Gruevski now risks losing his seat as government MPs work to invoke a Constitutional provision that says MPs absent for more than six months without reasonable justification could have their mandates relinquished. A plenary vote on the matter is scheduled for June 7.
At Skopje Book Fair, Gruevski's book was displayed back-to-back with the rest of Gjurgja's portfolio, which overwhelmingly consists of self-help guidebooks, memoirs by controversial figures, and conspiracy theories.
Another of their recent releases is a collection of speeches and statements by Vladimir Putin called “Words That Change the World.” Here are some of the books displayed on the same booth:
The Macedonian version of Adolf Hitler's book “My New Order,” published by Gjurgja, displayed on a stand at Skopje Book Fair 2019. The photo shows a paragraph calling for war against Jews. The caption in Macedonian above the picture says: “Example of hate speech that enabled the Holocaust — genocide over Jews, Roma and Slavic peoples, and mass murder of all political opponents of Nazis and fascists. Such hate speech was the basis for the Second World War, the bloodiest conflict in the history of humanity, which has led to the loss of over 60 million lives.” Photo and caption by Meta.mk News Agency, CC-BY.
Publishers of fascist literature around the world tend to claim they are exercising their right to free speech, or that they publish these books as mere historical resources for study.
However, the editions from North Macedonia we've cited don’t contain any information about the consequences of the exposed claims besides brief (and sometimes ambiguous) disclaimers. By conveying Nazi propaganda in its original form, without qualifying it as hate speech, and lacking critical analysis and historical context, those publications could be easily seen as endorsements.
Meanwhile, organizers of the Turin book fair, which took place in the Italian town between May 9 and 14, disinvited a self-proclaimed fascist publisher from the event after several writers, including one Holocaust survivor, threatened to boycott it.

author: Metamorphosis Foundation


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Record crowd commemorates Tiananmen Massacre at Hong Kong candlelight vigil · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

2019 June 4 candlelight vigil at Victoria Park. via inmediahk CC: AT-NC.
Thousands of Hong Kongers attended a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre at Victoria Park on Tuesday night. This collective act of remembrance has turned into a ritual for the past 30 years, as many Hong Kongers keep honoring the spirit of China's democratization, as well as the high price some paid for it on June 4, 1989.
The Chinese government continues to claim that the democracy movement led by students in Beijing in 1989 was a riot manipulated by foreign forces. The 50 day-long peaceful protest ended with a military crackdown on June 4, 1989. According to a Chinese Red Cross estimate, 2,700 civilians were killed, but other sources point to a much higher toll. A confidential U.S government document unveiled in 2014 reported that a Chinese internal assessment estimated at least 10,454 civilians had been killed.
Within China, the June 4 incident, as it is described, has been a political taboo for 30 years. The majority of the young generation has never heard about the military crackdown, as it has not been reported on in newspapers. Similarly, online discussions about the events have been and remain censored. This year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) affiliated news outlet Global Times described such censorship practice as a “political success”, as it has turned the June 4 incident into “a faded historical event rather than an actual entanglement”.
Photo from the candlelight vigil taken by Georgia Popplewell. Used with permission.
Hong Kong has been the most significant site within China in preserving the memories of June 4. The organizer of the annual candlelight vigil, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, has also established a June 4 Museum in the city in 2014.
Every year, the organizer also provides an update on the actual documentation of the victims of the Tiananmen Massacre, given that the Chinese government blocks any inquiries. The update is done by the Tiananmen Mothers — a civilian group composed of families of the victims. Despite ongoing harassment, surveillance and threats, the group has so far collectively identified and documented 202 individuals killed in the June 4 crackdown.
Members of Tiananmen Mothers vowed that they would continue seeking the truth in their video message to Hong Kong people during the candlelight vigil. image via inmediahk.net CC: AT-NC.
Former reporters and students who were in Tiananmen Square during the crackdown also shared their testimonies. During the candle night vigil, former student activist Liane Lee gave her first public testimony on stage (Chinese transcript via the Initium):
在救護站，死傷枕藉，有個大學生後頸被槍傷，傷得一片血肉模糊，全身癱瘓，但仍不停的說：「堅持到底，不要放棄。」
救傷車不停響號，穿梭往來救護站與醫院。有一架救傷車來到，在人群中，有人突然大聲說：「香港的學生上救護車。」我們愕然，我們說，我們沒事，不需要去醫院，不需要上救護車，我們會留在廣場。
第二架救護車來了，更多的人群，更大的聲音說：「香港的學生上救護車。」我們堅定不肯上車。於是，一個女醫生上前握著我的手說：「孩子，你聽我說，你要上救護車，你要離開天安門廣場，安全的回到香港，告訴全世界的人，今晚所發生的一切。告訴他們，我們的政府是如何對待人民！」
於是，我就是這樣，佔了救護車的位置，離開天安門廣場！
三十年來，我要求自己記住每一個細節，記住他們每一個人的臉容，他們的聲音，他們的汗水，他們的淚水，甚至記住他們生命最後的體溫！
但我不知道他們的名字！三十年來，他們的唯一名字，就是中國共產黨以人民的名義，以中國的名義稱他們為暴徒。
In the medical station [at Tiananmen Square], there were many dead bodies and injured people. I saw a student who was shot in his back near his neck. His body was covered with blood but he kept saying: “Carry on. Never give up.”
The ambulance kept running between the station and the hospitals. One ambulance came, someone in the crowd cried out: “Hong Kong students, get into the ambulance!” We said we are fine, we don’t need to go to the hospital, we don’t need the ambulance, we will stay on the square.”
Another ambulance came, more people yelled at us: “Hong Kong students, get into the ambulance!”. We insisted not to get on it. A female doctor came forward and grabbed my hands: “Kid, listen to me, you have to get onto the ambulance, you have to leave Tiananmen Square. Be safe back to Hong Kong, tell the world what happened here tonight. Tell them how our government treated their own people!”
That’s how I occupied a space in the ambulance and left Tiananmen Square!
For thirty years, I remind myself to remember every detail, every face, their voices, their sweat, their tears, and even their body temperature as they were passing out.
But I don’t know their names. In the past 30 years, the Chinese Communist Party, which says it acts in the name of the people and in the name of China, has called them only one name: thugs.
Lee Lan Ko via inmediahk.net (CC: AT – NC)
In mainland China, the official political narrative describes the June 4 military crackdown as a necessary step to preserve the One-Party system, as reflected in the Global Times’ latest commentary:
The Chinese government's control of the incident in 1989 has been a watershed marking the differences between China and former Eastern European socialist countries, including the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Since the incident, China has successfully become the world's second largest economy, with rapid improvement of people's living standards. The policy of avoiding arguing has served as a contributor to the country's economic take-off.
In such political context, the people’s memory of June 4 has become a “crime”, as depicted by lyrics of the song, Memory is a crime composed by local pop singer Anthony Wong to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.
回憶即使有罪
真相怎麼敢無言
歷史假使有人定被發現
Even though it is a crime to remember
The truth will find its courage to be told
The history that has happened will be revealed
Anthony Wong performed on stage during the candle vigil and urged the people of Hong Kong to speak up against the amendment of the city's extradition law and to join an upcoming protest on June 9.
The spirit and the courage to remember are well preserved by the sea of candlelight. According to the organizer of the vigil, 180,000 people came to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre, breaking the record set in 2014.


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Tiananmen commemorations: an inconvenient truth for Beijing, a dire warning for Hong Kong and Taiwan · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

A young man takes a selfie in front of a billboard depicting the events of June 1989 before the start of the 30th-anniversary rally in Hong Kong. Photo by Georgia Popplewell (CC BY SA).
Some images seem to engrave themselves in the collective memory: the film footage of a man armed solely with his courage and two shopping bags stopping a column of tanks on Tiananmen Square in Beijing in June 1989 is one of those.
But today this memory endures only outside of China, as Beijing has spared no effort in eradicating any mention of the pro-democracy movement of students and workers protesting that ended in bloodshed on the night of June 3rd to June 4th, 1989. Any allusion to those events, either direct or indirect, offline or online, is severely punished, resulting in interrogations, arrests, deletion of online content, and freezing of social media accounts.
Outside of mainland China, however, and particularly in Hong Kong and neighbouring Taiwan, the memory of those events remains alive. And this year's commemorations marking the 30th anniversary of Liu Si—or “6.4” as it is commonly referred to in Chinese—comes at a time of heightened political sensitivity in these two Chinese societies where citizens still enjoy partial or full democracy.
In Hong Kong, which, since the 1997 handover, falls under the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) jurisdiction and the One Country, Two Systems principle, the local government is discussing a bill on extradition to the mainland that would further erode the safety of activists or politicians critical of Beijing’s policies. In Taiwan, there is growing concern about the island's economic dependency on the mainland on the eve of key presidential elections in 2020. Polls show that the opposition Kuomintang party,which is considered more favorable to increased economic and possibly political ties with Beijingis, is gaining ground against the current president, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
This may explain why both Hong Kong and Taipei registered record attendance at their annual commemorations of June 4th.  while other cities around the world also marked the event.
June 4 candlelight vigil at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, marking the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Image via inmediahk CC: AT-NC.
As Oiwan Lam notes on Global Voices, “Hong Kong has been the most significant site within the China regime for preserving the memories of June 4.” Media reports put the number of people gathered in Victoria Park yesterday for the annual observance, which has been taking place for 30 years, at anywhere from 100,000-180,00. This included many political parties and activist groups, who also seized the opportunity to promote opposition to the proposed extradition bill.
Hong Kong activists seized the opportunity to promote opposition to the proposed extradition bill and the rally against the measure taking place on June 9. Photo by Georgia Popplewell (CC BY SA)
The programme included music by a local rock band, video presentations, speeches and ceremonial torch-lighting, laying of flowers, and burning of books of condolence. As the text provided by the rally organizers, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, said: “Your resistance has, for thirty years, continued to inspire resistance at home and abroad. The love and peace you showed have, for thirty years, given power to subsequent movements. The truth that you guarded at all costs has, for thirty years, been transformed into our persistence. It is what you see now: the candlelight in Victoria Park that threatens those in power.”
The June 4th commemoration took place at Taipei’s Freedom Square in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the traditional spot for larger public events named in honor of Taiwan's transition to democracy in the 1990s. A few hundred people gathered around a stage to listen to speakers, including direct witnesses and activists from June 1989, government officials, and Taiwanese pro-democracy activists. Several Hong Kong activists delivered stern warnings to Taiwanese citizens not to trust Beijing's motives, noting that they “speak from experience”, having witnessed a rapid erosion of freedoms in their own territory. A replica of the iconic Goddess of Democracy was prominently displayed on stage.
Commemoration of Tiananmen 30th anniversary on Taipei's Freedom Square, with a copy of the Goddess of Democracy on stage. Photo by Filip Noubel, used with permission
Also present were activists supporting Tibetan independence and advocating for international action regarding the mass imprisonment of Uyghurs in Western China, an issue mentioned by almost all of the speakers on stage.
Several documentaries relating the June 4th events, including the fight of the Tiananmen mothers, were screened. Art played a major role in the commemoration. The Tsai Jui-yueh Dance Research Institute performed a dance to honor the Tiananmen Mothers.
The Tsai Jui-yueh Dance troop performs an emotional rendering of June 4th. Photo by Filip Noubel, used with permission
Closer to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, an inflatable installation by Taiwanese artist Shake depicting the famous scene of the tank man has stood since mid-May. The artwork is itself inspired by a caricature by artist Badiucao, who decided to reveal his real identity on this 30th anniversary, despite genuine security risks.
Inflatable Tank man installation in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Photo by Filip Noubel, used with permission
France, which offered asylum to several of the leaders of the pro-democracy movement in 1989, held a commemoration in Paris on Place de la République, a popular spot for demonstrations. A 2-D image of a tank was installed by the French human rights organization ACAT to remind Parisians of the events of June 4th, 1989.
A tank stands on Place de la République. Photo by Jade Dussart, used with permission.
Commemoration and speeches by French, Chinese and Taiwanese activists. Photo by Michel TD, used with permission.
As many witnesses and activists asked: when will Beijing finally acknowledge historical facts? When will it apologize to the families of the victims?

author: Filip Noubel


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‘Everything is destroyed’: Inside the ruins of Marawi City in the Philippines · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Two years since the siege of Marawi from May to October 2017, much of the predominantly Muslim city located in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao still stands in ruins while thousands of residents remain displaced.
Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Arlene Brosas, who represents marginalized women in the Philippine Congress, shares photos of her visit to Marawi City from March 21, 2019, in a public Facebook post. She observes:
Sa laki ng pinsala ni wala halos clearing na nagawa. Mga binombang bahay at establishments plaza simbahan mosque sirang sira ang lahat. Malayong malayo sa richness at vibrant na lugar noon.
Despite the scale of the destruction, almost no clearing has been done yet. Bombed homes and establishments, plazas, churches, and mosques — everything is destroyed. A far cry from the richness and vibrancy of the place before the siege.
Marawi City was leveled in five months of intense urban warfare, artillery bombardment and air strikes by government troops that attempted to quell a Moro extremist group who occupied the city and fought back after the military tried to arrest its leaders.
The Marawi attack by the Maute extremist group was used to justify Duterte’s imposition of martial law on the entire island of Mindanao in order to restore public security and ensure progress. Two years on, Marawi residents are still waiting to return to their homes and rebuild their lives.
The Philippine military’s siege forced over 100,000 residents to flee from their homes to escape the fighting. A UN report said about 66,000 remain displaced in cramped evacuation centers or in their relatives’ homes in different parts of the country.
Mindanao used to have a predominantly Muslim population. The struggle for self-determination of Muslims in Mindanao has been a protracted struggle for many decades, with some groups waging an armed challenge against the Philippine government. So far, peace agreements have succeeded in getting the support of big rebel groups to work for an autonomous set-up. But some groups like the Maute have continued to push for the establishment of a separate Islamic state.
During and even after the siege, access to Marawi has been restricted. Only some media groups, local officials, and select residents were allowed to enter the city. The photos below provide a rare glimpse of the extent of destruction in the city, the hardships faced by displaced residents, and the enormous challenge of rebuilding the community.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
The visit conducted by Brosas as a member of Congress confirmed earlier reports of the deteriorating situation of residents in evacuation centers. Brosas shares:
Nasilip din ang ilan sa mga bakwit area. Napakahirap ng kalagayan nila. Matapos ang 2 taon ang mga lumang tents ay nagdeteriorate na. Butas butas na napakainit pa. Kawawa ang kalagayan ng mga pamilya at mga bata. Walang tubig o malayo ang igiban. At may balita pang titigil na ng tuluyan ang rasyon ng tubig. Walang kuryente. May solar na naitulong ang kasama ko kaya may kaunting ilaw.
Got a glimpse of the refugee areas. Their condition is very hard. After two years the old tents have deteriorated already. They are not only full of holes but also very hot to stay in. The situation of families and children is very poor. There is no water and water sources are far. And there is even news that water rationing would be stopped indefinitely. There is no electricity. Our colleagues helped setup solar power so there is some light.
The central business district – called “ground zero” – is the most devastated area of Marawi City. Its residents have yet to be allowed to return to their properties, whose rebuilding President Rodrigo Duterte declared would be made at their own expense.
The Duterte government has rejected accusations that it is not doing anything, with the Task Force Bangon Marawi charged with rebuilding the city saying perceived delays can be credited to the many technical protocols involved for clearing operations as well as consultations with residents.
Below are more photos of the evacuation centers in Marawi:
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.
Photo by Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas. Used with permission.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Police raids on major media organisations expose lack of press freedom in Australia · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Australian Federal Police raid on ABC – Screenshot ABC TV News
Raids by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on members of two of the country's largest media organisations have caused a furore down under.
On 4 June 2019, the home of Annika Smethurst, the national politics editor of the Sunday Telegraph and other newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp Australia, was searched as part of an investigation into the publication of a leaked plan to expand government surveillance in 2018. A whistleblower had revealed the proposal to give an intelligence agency, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), new powers to spy on its citizens within Australia. Smethurst reported on the secret plan for the Daily Telegraph (original article behind a pay wall).
The following day, a warrant was served at the Sydney offices of the Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), an independent national broadcaster funded primarily by the Federal government, naming three of its journalists. It concerned the publication in 2017 of leaked documents alleging possible unlawful killings by members of the Australian special forces in Afghanistan, the so-called Afghan Files. Federal Liberal Member of Parliament and government backbencher Andrew Hastie, then a SAS officer, was mentioned in the report. He is the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
The warrants were issued under sections of the Crimes Act dealing with classified information. The Act does not have ‘public interest’ safeguards or exceptions for journalists or whistleblowers. Whether the controversial data retention and encryption laws have also been used by the AFP is unknown. Last year, the Australian parliament passed a law allowing law enforcement agencies to access encrypted communications. The data retention law, which came into effect in 2017, requires telecommunication service providers to store metadata for at least two years. Government agencies are capable of requesting access to the metadata without providing a warrant.
The AFP denied that there is a link between the raids and the Australian government denied any knowledge or involvement in them. However, the government itself made the original referrals of both cases to the AFP through its “agency heads”.
Reactions online have been overwhelmingly negative:
These continued attacks on press freedoms in Australia should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Freedom of the Press to scrutinise the Govt is crucial to liberal democracy.
No Australian should accept these raids without clear oversight. #ABCRaid #AFPRaids
— Australian Progressives (@AusProgressive) June 5, 2019
The irony that this crackdown on #PressFreedom is happening on the 30th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre. #AFPRaids pic.twitter.com/xd9POE0vBK
— Dan Ilic (@danilic) June 5, 2019
A number of issues have been raised. The government has been accused of hypocrisy:
Serious questions are being raised about why leaks that support the government's position aren't referred for investigation, but those exposing government misconduct are consistently risking prison time. https://t.co/VC8pewbPLZ
— Alice Drury (@AliceDrury) June 6, 2019
Australian journalist Peter Greste who spent 440 days imprisoned in Egypt in 2013 -2015, called for urgent legislation to protect journalists:
Earlier this year, I laid out the case for a Media Freedom Act to protect a fundamental pillar of our democracy. Now, in the wake of AFP searches of @annikasmethurst, @BenFordham and now ABC, it seems vital. @4JournoFreedom https://t.co/sSktwOLzbv
— Peter Greste (@PeterGreste) June 5, 2019
Australia does not have a charter or bill of rights guaranteeing press freedom or freedom of speech.
In a wide-ranging article on The Conversation Rebecca Ananian-Welsh explained that ”Australia has more national security laws than any other nation.” She added:
It is also the only liberal democracy lacking a Charter of Human Rights that would protect media freedom through, for example, rights to free speech and privacy.
She also raised questions of source confidentiality and “the chilling of public interest journalism”.
Social media played a major role in spreading the issues. After the ABC raid began, seven of the top ten Twitter trends in Australia concerned the unfolding events:
Screen Shot: Twitter 2019-06-05 at 6.06.25 pm AEST
As the raid on ABC's Sydney headquarters was unfolding, John Lyons, Executive Editor of ABC News & ABC Head of Investigative Journalism, was live tweeting:
AFP: I’m still staggered by the power of this warrant. It allows the AFP to “add, copy, delete or alter” material in the ABC’s computers. All Australians, please think about that: as of this moment, the AFP has the power to delete material in the ABC’s computers. Australia 2019.
— John Lyons (@TheLyonsDen) June 5, 2019
He resisted attempts by the AFP to stop his tweets during the raid:
AFP RAID LIVE: The AFP have just realised I’m live tweeting the raid and raised it with me. I’ve said I think ABC staff and others have a right to know about a raid on our premises. I’ve said I won’t use any names of alleged sources or confidential material. They’ve accepted this
— John Lyons (@TheLyonsDen) June 5, 2019
Many online believe that the raids were meant to deter whistleblowers such as David McBride who was charged in relation to the Afghan Files leaks:
Whistleblower protections ‘a sham’, says lawyer whose leaks led to ABC raids https://t.co/fFsSDtG0yF
— lynlinking (@lynlinking) June 6, 2019
There are currently several whistleblowers before the courts. These include Witness K and his lawyer Bernard Collaery who revealed illegal Australian spying on Timor Leste in 2004. Their trial is masked in secrecy. Another is Richard Boyle who exposed unethical behaviour such as aggressive debt collection practices at the Australian Taxation Office.
Emily Howie, Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre, defended whistleblowers and journalists:
Without a free press, we don't have democracy. We don't know what our government is doing behind closed doors. These people should be lauded for revealing the truth but instead they face the real possibility of prison time.
The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison supported the AFP’s actions but tried to strike a conciliatory note, suggesting a review of relevant laws is a possibility.
Marcus Storm, media section president of the journalists’ union, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), described the raids as an ”attack on press freedom”:
“Suddenly, just days after a federal election, the Federal Police launches this attack on press freedom. It seems that when the truth embarrasses the government, the result is the Federal Police will come knocking at your door,”- #MEAAMedia President @strom_m.#PressFreedom pic.twitter.com/6qtj5XUMCa
— MEAA (@withMEAA) June 5, 2019
Meanwhile the acting AFP commissioner Neil Gaughan warned that reporters and media organisations may face charges for publishing secret government information, emphasising that The Crimes Act applies to both the leaking and publication of material. He also added that “it is an offence to actually have that particular material still on websites”.
Veteran journalist and current chairwoman of the ABC Board Ita Buttrose condemned the raid on her organisation as “clearly designed to intimidate”. She continued:
[..]legitimate journalistic endeavours that expose flawed decision-making or matters that policy makers and public servants would simply prefer were secret, should not automatically and conveniently be classed as issues of national security.
Smethurst, national politics editor of the Daily Telegraph, responded to the raids with this mocking tweet:
Apparently AFP members have been “subjected to unprecedented scrutiny” this week. pic.twitter.com/6wV6zjxSe8
— Annika Smethurst (@annikasmethurst) June 6, 2019
There is bound to be some lively debate when the Federal parliament resumes in a few weeks’ time.

author: Kevin Rennie