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Mali: A War, a Declaration of Independence and Conflicting Objectives · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Things have been moving rapidly in the civil war that is tearing Mali apart. On Friday, April 6, 2012, Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA)  proclaimed [fr] the “Independence of Azawad” [fr]. In this crisis that threatens to sweep across the entire Sahel region, several actors with conflicting objectives are playing a dominant role.
In a post published on camer.be, Valère MBEG presents the issues [fr] behind this war:
Le Mali est un vaste pays de 1.241.238 km² et une population galopante de 15.000.000 d’habitants selon le recensement de 2009, la région de l’AZAWAD couvre les 2/3 de la superficie pour une population ne représentant que  10 % des habitants avec d’énormes richesses naturelles qui sont actuellement peu exploitées en raison de l’absence de financement en infrastructures de transports qui renchérissent le coût des exploitations. Le Mali est également le troisième producteur africain d’or après l’Afrique du Sud et le Ghana, de quoi aiguiser les appétits des multinationales qui verraient bien dans l’AZAWAD un nouveau Sud Soudan avec peu de populations pour beaucoup de richesses naturelles ….
Territory claimed by the MNLA by @twitafrika on twitpic
Sabine Cessou wrote [fr] about the military situation on Slate afrique:
La donne est complexe dans le désert: les rebelles touaregs du MLNA disent ne pas poursuivre les mêmes objectifs qu’Aqmi. Ils ne se battent pas pour une République islamique de l’Azawad, mais pour la création d’un État laïc.
In a posting on malijet.com, Nouhoum DICKO reviews the situation  and introduces the actors [fr] on the ground:
Le mouvement islamiste Ansar dine, (l'Armée de la religion), est l'un des autres groupes armés de la région  dirigé par Iyad Ag Ghaly, principal artisan de la prise de Kidal, dont il est originaire. Celui qui fut le principal chef de la rébellion touareg des années 1990, aurait subi l'influence des islamistes pakistanais. Ansar dine serait composé de jeunes radicalisés au contact d'Al-Qaïda au Maghreb islamique (Aqmi).
Un nouveau groupe islamiste a fait irruption en décembre 2011, le Mouvement pour l'unicité et le jihad en Afrique de l'Ouest (Mujao). Se présentant comme une dissidence d'Aqmi, il serait dirigé par des activistes maliens et mauritaniens. Il avait revendiqué l'enlèvement des trois humanitaires européens dans un camp de réfugiés sahraouis. Ce groupe revendique sa participation à la prise de Gao, le samedi dernier.
The Islamist movement Ansar Dine, (The Religion Army), is one of the region's other armed groups, led by Iyad Ag Ghaly, main architect of the capture of Kidal, his home district. This man, the principal leader of the Tuareg rebellion of the 1990s, would have been influenced by Pakistani Islamists. Ansar dine would be made up of of radicalized young people who have come into contact with Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
A new Islamist group, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Afrida (Mujao), sprang up in December 2011. Describing itself as a breakaway faction of AQIM, it would be run by Malian and Mauritanian activists. It had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of three European humanitarian workers in a Sahrawi refugee camp. The group also claims to have participated in the capture of Gao last Saturday.
The blue men of the desert by Aysha Bibiana Balboa on Flickr ( License CC-NC-BY)
The leaders of Ansar Dine wasted no time in displaying their true colours. Indeed, maliactu.net reports  [fr] that:
Le leader d’Ansar Dine, Iyad Ag Ghaly, ex-figure des rébellions touareg des années 1990, a rencontré lundi soir les imams de Tombouctou, une ville d’environ 30.000 habitants où il compte instaurer la loi islamique, selon un fonctionnaire de l’agglomération. A la faveur de l’avancée foudroyante des rebelles touareg dans le nord du Mali, le groupe Ansar Dine et des éléments d’Al-Qaïda au Maghreb (Aqmi) ont pris lundi le contrôle de Tombouctou, aux portes du Sahara, à environ 800 km au nord-est de la capitale Bamako. Tombouctou, grand centre intellectuel de l’islam et ancienne cité marchande prospère des caravanes, surnommée “la perle du désert”, est inscrite sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco.
Ibrahima Lissa FAYE, in a post entitled “Mali: Tuareg Rebels and Ansar Dine Islamists Each Claim Control of Timbuktu,”  wrote [fr] on pressafrik.com:
Le chef du mouvement Ansar Dine, Iyad Ag Ghali, semble en effet contrôler la ville après avoir fait reculer les rebelles touaregs du MNLA qui étaient entrés les premiers dans Tombouctou dimanche. Alors contrairement au MNLA qui ne s'intéresse qu'au nord du Mali, dont il réclame l'indépendance, Iyad Ag Ghali, lui, veut imposer la charia, la loi islamique, à tout le pays et à Tombouctou on signale même la présence de dirigeants d'Aqmi.
There are major concerns among Malians regarding the respect for human rights. Rape and looting are reported in several towns under rebel control. According to a post on afriquinfos.com, at a special general meeting held in Bamako, Malick Alhousseini, president of the Collective of Residents of Northern Mali (COREN) said [fr] that:
cette rencontre se tient à un “moment douloureux de notre histoire, avec notre pays occupé, notre terroir natal aux mains des envahisseurs et des terroristes”.
Il a rappelé que depuis dimanche dernier, le Mali est un pays coupé en deux, de fait que les assaillants et les terroristes ont tout dévasté dans les localités qu'ils occupent : banques cassées, administration pillée, centres de santé vandalisés, entre autres.
this meeting was held at a “painful moment in our history, with our country occupied, our native lands in the hands of the invaders and terrorists”.
He recalled that since last Sunday, Mali has been a country divided in two, because the assailants and terrorists have destroyed everything in the communities they occupy: banks broken, administrative buildings looted, health facilities vandalized, among others.
The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), indicating that its objectives were achieved, put an end to hostilities for a few days before proclaiming its independence.
But there is proof of the differing objectives of the groups who participated in the fighting: according to atlasinfo.fr (the Algerian consulate in Gao, one of the conquered cities), while the MNLA made these statements, another movement and six of its officials  were abducted and taken [fr] to an unknown location:
L’attaque s’est produite en fin de matinée. Un groupe armé a attaqué le consulat. Il a remplacé le drapeau algérien par un drapeau noir avec des écritures arabes, emblématique des mouvements salafistes.
Condemning the abduction and all acts of vandalism and attacks against civilians in the liberated towns, the MNLA, in a press release signed by [fr] Bakaye Ag Hamed Ahmed, Communications, Information and Media Relay Officer, made the following statement:
Le Mouvement National de Libération de l’Azawad se désolidarise de toutes les organisations mafieuses s’étant introduite ces jours-ci dans l’Azawad, contribuant à instaurer un climat de chaos et de désordre, après la libération du territoire.
This imbroglio is complicated by the fact that severe sanctions have been imposed upon Mali by the Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and the United Nations, following the military coup that overthrew President Amadou Toumani Touré and helped precipitate events.
Beyond Mali, there are all the neighbouring states where Tuareg populations threatened with collapse are found. The demographic structures are identical: a Sahelian area in the north where the Tuaregs and other black minority populations dwell, many of whom are nomadic, and a more hospitable area inhabited by sedentary populations. In all countries, this second area is the one that absorbs the most investment and is inhabited mainly by blacks, causing resentment on the part of the first area's inhabitants, who believe that the distribution of resources is inequitable.
This complex situation is a threatening one for the civilian population, and is further complicated by Boko Haram‘s [fr] potential to do harm, the flow of arms from the Libyan arsenal [fr], the chronic shortage of water and the risk of famine.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Pakistan: Immediate Reactions on the Death of Sindhi Nationalist Leader · Global Voices
Aamir Raz Soomro

On 23rd of March, Karachi (Sindh) hosted a massive rally for the independence of Sindh from the Pakistani state. The mammoth rally was organized by the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (Long-Live Sindh National Front) under the leadership of Bashir Khan Qureshi who campaigned for the rally to get support from people across Sindh.
The purpose of the rally, as described by the JSQM, was to express to the world that Sindh wanted freedom from Pakistan, which it joined as an independent state in the year 1947. The rally was, obviously, anti-Pakistan and was sure to stir the Pakistani state and its machinery.
However, at around 3:00 AM (PST) today, entire Sindh and Balochistan became sad and grieved when they received the news of sudden, untimely death of Bashir Khan Qureshi at Sakrand, a small town in Sindh.
Members and sympathizers of JSQM and Sindhi nationalist movement took to the social media to express their grief over the sad demise of Mr. Qureshi. Here is what I tweeted on the next moment of the news:
@AamirRaz #JSQM chairman Bashir Qureshi succumbs to death due to heart attack, in a hospital at Sakrand | a powerful blow to #Sindhi natioalism!
Twitter was literally flooded with tweets mentioning his death. Here are the glimpses of the same:
@AkChishti JSQM Chief, Bashir Qureshi just expired because of a cardiac attack. #Sindh
@Senator_Baloch #Shocking very sad day for oppressed people of Sindh and Balochistan. We lost a legendary friend #BashirQureshi RIP
@FahadLaghari Today Sindhi national struggle has been orphaned. An era has ended #JSQM #SINDH
@SherM_BRP Bashir Qureshi was a Great Leader of #Sindh. very Sad day for people Sindh. #RIP
@AbdulNishapuri Our deepest condolences on #JSQM chairman Bashir Qureshi's death. A sad day for Pakistan, Sindh in particular.
@MirShoaib You had to live Sain.. #RIPBasheerKhanQureshi a sad day for the people of Sindh and #Balochistan
Similar status updates popped up instantly on Facebook as well. Iffi Raj was probably the first to give the update and wrote on his wall:
بشير خان قريشي دل جي دوري سبب انتقال ڪري ويو ….ٽي وي نيوز
Bashir Khan Qureshi dies of heart attack…. TV news(Sic)
Vishnu Bux:
a ver sad news, bashir qureshi no more with us…. (sic)
Aijaz Ali:
Very sad news…Bashir Khan Qureshi of ‘Jeay Sindh’ died of a mysterious death today.
Fahad Nizamani:
Shocking news, Sindh's brave leader chairman JSQM Bashir Khan Qureshi passed away due to heart attack.
Jaddam Sindhu:
اسين جسقم چيئرمين محترم بشير قريشيء جي لاڏاڻي تي ڏک جو اظهار ڪريون ٿا.
We express our deepest sorrow over the sad demise of JSQM Chairman, Bashir Qureshi.
Murad Khan:
Bashir khan qureshi,a hardline Sindhi nationalist, passed away.
Iffi Raj came up with another emotional remark on the death of the leader of large Sindhi nationalist party, JSQM:
حقيقت ۾ سنڌ ختم ٿي وئي
In fact, Sindh has perished (Sic)
However, part of Pakistani politics since ages now, the sudden death of Mr. Qureshi — and that, too, shortly after a successful anti-state rally in the heart of Karachi, demanding independence of Sindh — raises many questions about the authenticity of the news of him dying of a heart-attack. Many would not buy the news item since, according to the party's general secretary, Mr. Asif Baladi, they could sense conspiracies revolving as a serious threat to them. He was speaking to a Sindhi news channel just after the news of the death of Mr. Qureshi was aired.
RIP – Bashir Khan Qureshi
Those who support the nationalist movement of Sindh and Balochistan could see something fishy behind the ‘mysterious’ death.
@VeengasJ #BasheerQureshi is martyred, it is not natural Death. #sindh #balochistan #pakistan
@BalaachMarri Something fishy, surely. #Sindh
Sher Mohammad Bugti tweeted:
The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins#JSQM
AK Chishti, summing up the life-long struggle of Mr. Qureshi, tweeted:
Bashir Qureshi's last statement was “Tunjho Desh, Munjho Desh, Sindhu Desh, Sindhu Desh!”
As a politician, Mr. Qureshi definitely has many friends and many foes! Yet, what they all agree on something is the point that his death is a blow to the Sindhi nationalist movement. His life — from being a leader of the Jeay Sindh Students Federation, the student-wing of JSQM, to being the central leader of JSQM — was full of political agitation, struggle and fight for the freedom of Sindhudesh (proposed name of independent Sindh). This message was quite loudly given by him at the successful Freedom March in Karachi on 23rd of March, 2012, which reiterated their party's demand of independence of Sindh from Pakistani state.
The aforementioned were quite initial reactions to the death of JSQM leader — as the story unravels, many new perspectives would be revealed.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Aamir Raz Soomro


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Pakistan: Media Silence On The Death of Ahmadiyya Activist · Global Voices
Rezwan

Rashid Zafar at Pak Tea House questions the silence of Pakistani media over the recent death of Master Abdul Qudoos Ahmad, an well known member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, while he was in police custody.

author: Rezwan


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Panama: Netizens Urge President to Sign Law to Protect Animals · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

Update (12 April, 2012):
President Ricardo Martinelli decided to veto Law 308 that protected domestic animals. According to the President the veto is simply to correct some interpretations. He tweeted (@rmartinelli) [es] that, “only an article of the bill has been vetoed so that students can continue to carry out experiments in schools. Everything is O.K.” This, however, takes the law back to the National Assembly and domestic animals still don't have a law that protects them.
Panama's National Assembly passed a new law to protect domestic animals. The Animal & Nature Friend Association of Panama [es] celebrated the new law with an emotional post on its website:
Después de muchos meses, mucha persistencia, mucha constancia el Proyecto de Ley 308 es un hecho. Nos unimos, discutimos, se negoció, lloramos, reímos y en el día jueves 15 de marzo de 2012 se hizo historia, el Proyecto de Ley 308 que ampara a los animales domésticos, es un hecho.
Angels of Animals, a group dedicated to picking up animals from the streets and finding them a new place to live share with Internet users the complete law on their webpage [es]:
Que contiene las modificaciones y adiciones introducidas al Proyecto de Ley No. 308, “Por medio de la cual se dictan medidas de protección a los animales, reforma normas penales y dicta otras disposiciones para mantener un trato digno a los animales domésticos”.
Netizens are also sharing this video to inform about the law:
However, nineteen days after the law was passed by the Assembly, it still hasn't been sanctioned by the president. In Panama, the signature of the President is necessary in order to pass or veto a law.
On the March 31, President Ricardo Martinelli (@rmartinelli) [es] wrote an enigmatic tweet saying that he could partially veto the law 308:
Aun en legal de la presidencia la ley 308 Tan pronto finalize analisis se firma entera o se veta parcialmente. Igual con seguros, minera.
The issue didn't go unnoticed in social networks, causing a lot of reactions against the president and requests to pass the law as soon as possible. The hashtag #ley308 [es] was created and Twitter users encouraged each other to write to the president as a measure of pressure.
Edward Allen (@DjEdwardAllen) [es] uses the president's campaign slogan, “los locos somos más” (“we crazy people are the majority”), to request the ratification of the law:
Los que estamos Locos por los Animales somos Mas! Porfavor firme ya la #ley308!! @rmartinelli @angelesanimales
Elisa Sánchez (@Elisa_TaoTao) [es] promises to keep on writing to the president until he signs the law:
NO ME VOY A CANSAR DE ESCRIBIR AL PRESIDENTE HASTA QUE NO FIRME LA#LEY308 COMPLETA NO QUEREMOS MAS CRUELDAD DE NINGUN TIPO
Amie Lurie (@AmieLurie) [es] wonders which are the reasons that prevent the president from signing the law completely and she reminds him that his presidency is in a constant evolution:
Pq tanta vuelta le da para firmar?Q se lo impide??@rmartinelli no todo es jumboferias y el metro tambien hay cosas mas importantes #ley308
But not everybody shares the same urgency about the ratification of the law. In the blog Chrisfaw [es] blogger Chris Faw confesses that he thinks that there are more important and urgent issues in Panama, such as stopping the increasing violence in the country, although he clarifies that promoting the law is an honest, worthy and important effort.
Me parece crítico que pongamos tanto empeño en aprobar esto, tomándolo como un problema fundamental y viendo cómo tanta gente se involucra con esto, mientras que muchos panameños pierden la vida a causa de la violencia a manos de otro ser humano. Dice mucho de nosotros como sociedad que haya más interés no provocado* para con la prevención de la violencia contra los animales que para la prevención de la violencia entre las personas.
This law is still waiting to be passed or vetoed while the people keep on discussing the topic on a lot in the social networks. Even international organisations are involved; Humane Society International asked Panama's president to pass the law, as La Estrella de Panamá (The star of Panama) [es] informs:
“Instamos al presidente Martinelli a promulgar esta ley para proteger a muchos animales de la crueldad”, dijo Alexandra Rothlisberger, directora de programas en América Latina para HSI, en un boletín de prensa.

author: Ariel Moreno


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Peru: Rains Overflow Rivers and Flood Loreto · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

The rain in Peru has not stopped. Due to the heavy rains during the months of February and March [es] in much of the highlands [es] and Peruvian jungle, now there are floods in the lower parts of Peru, mainly in the regions of Loreto and Ucayali. Several weeks ago, the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (Senamhi) of Loreto gave warnings [es] of the high levels that the Huallaga, Ucayali, Marañón and Amazon rivers had reached.
And although some authorities had taken [es] measures, it wasn't regarding the expectations of flooding. The Regional President of Loreto only requested [es] a state of emergency when the list of injured persons had reached 40,000. The central government finally declared [es] a state of emergency when the number of people affected rose to 100,000.
The floods have affected [es] the normal development of classes in schools situated in the lower zones of the region. Classrooms have had to be improvised and now take place in local neighbourhoods and residences where the students arrive to class in small boats known as peque-peque. This is shown in the following photo which was shared by Twitter user @PacoBardales [es], and which belongs [es] to reporter David Gonzales. The photograph was taken at the school N·601536, in the country house Nuevo Campeon, Itaya river, Belén.
Fuerte: Así están estudiando los niños en Belén-Iquitos luego de las graves inundaciones http://twitpic.com/931bx2 8:13 AM – 30 Mar 12 via TweetDeck
Flooded school, Belén, Iquitos, Peru
More recent figures have shown [es] that those affected by the floods are somewhere around 200,000 in the Loreto region alone. These figures aren't surprising, given the level that the Amazon river has reached [es] in the last few days, causing many regions of Iquitos to be flooded. The height of the rivers has even surpassed its last record of 118,59 metres above sea level in the year 1986. Such areas are visible as in this photograph, shared by Twitter user Sebastián Faura (@SebastianFaura) [es]:
es necesario declarar el estado de emergencia en la ciudad de Iquitos. http://pic.twitter.com/DNtmALue 10:04 AM – 2 Apr 12 via web
Iquitos flooded
On the Civil Defense page [es] on Facebook, several pictures of the floods have also been shared. The Diario de IQT blog [es] also shares pictures, while Paco Bardales comments:
En Iquitos han sido los ríos Itaya y Nanay quienes más han generado embates contra las riberas. Las zonas más afectadas han sido las comunidades rurales del distrito de Belén, el barrio, Prolongación Putumayo, Bellavista-Nanay, Av. La Marina, Bellavista-Nanay. Además, se han colocado carpas en primera cuadra de Ricardo Palma para atender a los afectados en Puerto Salaverry, debajo del Boulevard de la ciudad.
Flooded neighborhood in Iquitos (Photo: Revista CETA)
Reporter and blogger Ramiro Celis from Loreto writes [es] in his blog Iquitos News about the inefficiency as well as the indifference of the local authorities in Iquitos with regards to preventing these states of emergency that have had to happen over the years:
En época de vaciante caminar por Belén zona baja es una experiencia única. Las casas son de madera y tienen techo de palma. Se ubican a unos metros de la superficie y no gozan de servicios básicos como agua o energía eléctrica de calidad, ya que las conexiones son por pequeños tubos que suben hasta las casas y la electricidad es abastecida por cables que parecen telarañas. […] Aunque su existencia data del siglo pasado, ningún alcalde belenino ha hecho un plan o un proyecto de modernización de esta zona en la que se incluya la construcción de viviendas dignas e incorporación de servicios básicos.
Punchana e Iquitos son los distritos más afectados cuando crecen los ríos y definitivamente se debe pensar o elaborar un proyecto que evite el gasto excesivo de recursos en apoyo a los ciudadanos afectados, ya que, ciertamente, existen alternativas de solución a estos problemas. […] Aunque en algunas jurisdicciones, como en el caso de Punchana, el alcalde manifestó que no era su problema si aquellas personas habían optado por vivir en las zonas periféricas, siendo duramente criticado por los medios y la población en general.
To walk in the lowland area of Belén during the dry season is a unique experience. The houses are made of wood and have roofs of palm leaves. They meet several metres from the surface and the people do not enjoy the basic necessities such as running water or quality electricity. The electrical connections are by small tubes that go up into the houses where the electricity is supplied by cables that resemble spider webs. […] Although its existence has been outdated since the last century, no mayor of Belen has ever made a plan or project of modernization for this region in terms of the construction of decent houses or the need for basic services.
Punchana and Iquitos are the most affected regions when the rivers overflow. Therefore, one must think of a project that, for once and for all, evades the excessive expenditure of resources in support of affected citizens. Certainly, there must exist a solution to these problems. […] However in several jurisdictions such as Punchana, the mayor is being harshly criticized by the media and the population in general for declaring that it isn't his problem if some people have chosen to live in peripheral regions.
While the level of the Amazon River threatens [es] to keep growing, in Iquitos the population is suffering from power outages [es]. Cutting the electricity was a precaution measure in order to avoid possible short circuits that could be caused by the flooding. In addition, some people are becoming alarmed by the the appearance [es] of strange aquatic animals, while others have had to be relocated and are now complaining [es] that they are so far away that they have been forgotten by authorities.
A TV program in Iquitos sent out this information regarding the floods [es]:
Finally, the following video shows various shots taken in the flooded city if Iquitos [es]:

author: Juan Arellano


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Russia: Watching News of Patriarch Kirill’s Watch Travel · Global Voices
Donna Welles

This week a controversy that began in the Russian blogosphere concerning an altered photograph of the Patriarch's watch on the official site of the Russian Orthodox Church spread to Western blogs, as well as the West's mainstream media.
The timing of these events is remarkable for two reasons: (1) The Russian Orthodox Church is in the middle of Great Lent (with still another week before it celebrates its Easter holiday on April 15), and (2) The Church is in the process of finding its post-Soviet identity, as discussed in a January Global Voices post titled, “The Russian Orthodox Church Re-Enters Politics.”
The Russian-language v_n_zb LiveJournal blog provided [ru] details about the photo alterations in an April 4 post:
Nikolai Pravdorub contends that [staff] on the official site of the Russian Orthodox Church altered photographs in which the Patriarch of Moscow and all the Rus’ Kirill was depicted wearing a Breguet watch worth 30,000 Euros.
After a statement last week by Patriarch Kirill that he owns a Breguet watch but has never worn it, the Orthodox Church's official site, patriarchia.ru, spent the past weekend revising all photographs archived between April and July, 2009.
Specifically, the site removed all of photographs that showed a Breguet watch on the Patriarch's wrist.
In addition, one of the photos where a Breguet is visible on the Patriarch's wrist was crudely retouched in Photoshop and replaced in the old bulletins section of the official site. In the [retouched] image, the watch's reflection remained on the varnished surface of the table, and, although the photograph was taken and published in 2009, the metadata attached to the EXIF file was dated March 31, 2012.
In other words, we have evidence on the most official site of the Russian Orthodox Church that the Patriarch not only wore the watch repeatedly and for quite a long time, but also that a team was dispatched after his recent public statement to conceal this very fact and remove from the Church's site any photographs that included the watch.
The post went on the illustrate how there was a period of time when the church was in the process of returning the images to their original forms, and therefore some of the original links still do not work:
P.S. On the site, they quickly removed the altered photo, but the old photo doesn't open, either: http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/684785.html. And here a third photo has yet to be removed — where the reflection of the watch is also visible, but the watch [itself] has been retouched.
Gazeta.ru's screenshot of the altered photo on the Patriarchy's website, widely circulated online.
By April 5, the story caught the attention of the Western media, including Western mainstream blogs.
Fr. Stephen Smuts, a TAC Priest in South Africa, quoted on his blog an article from The Telegraph. Reuters ‘Faith World’ blog published an article titled, “Russian Orthodox apologise for photo after bloggers rap Patriarch Kirill over watch”:
The Russian Orthodox Church apologised on Thursday for doctoring a photograph of Patriarch Kirill to remove what bloggers said was a luxury wristwatch following accusations that he lives a lavish lifestyle. […]
The Church made no reference to a watch in a statement, but said a ‘rude violation of our internal ethics’ had been made and removed the doctored 2009 photo from its Website, replacing it with a version showing a watch on his wrist.
‘Employees of the press service’s photo-editing desk made a silly mistake while working with the photo archives,’ the statement said, promising they would be punished.
‘We apologise to all the users of the website for the technical mistake,’ it said. ‘One of the basic principles of our work is the fundamental rejection of the use of photo editing programmes to alter images.’
ABC News blog published an article titled, “Russian Orthodox Church Apologizes for Photoshop Stunt,” which included a quote from Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin — a church figure no stranger to controversy:
‘There will be a thorough investigation to determine why in this instance there was a crude violation of our internal ethical code,’ the patriarch’s press team said in a statement. ‘The guilty ones will be punished severely.’
[…] The patriarch’s press service responded, saying, ‘The person simply showed stupid initiative, not justified by anything and not agreed with superiors. It is clear that it is a mistake. We do not want to hide anything, we have nothing to be ashamed of,’ according to the Moscow News.
The Moscow News also said that Vsevolod Chaplin, the church’s head spokesman, told the Russian blog Slon.ru, ‘I do not care what watch he has; moreover, I do not remember what watch I have on my wrist, I would have to look. I am not interested in this side of life.’
In addition, the Russian blogosphere has surged with humorous posts referencing the indicient.
Typically pro-Kremlin blogger Fritz Morgen published a satirical post [ru] titled, “Ten Reasons to Defend Patriarch Kirill”:
1. The Patriarch represents a great country and should look respectable.
2. Wearing an expensive watch, the Patriarch defiantly rejects the cult of sleaze that plagues the psyche of so many Russians. […]
4. The Patriarch is teaching us how to cope with envy, which (unlike wearing watches) is a deadly sin.
5. The Patriarch socializes with wealthy and influential people, and for them to take his moral teachings seriously, he should dress on their level. […]
7. Wearing the watch and knowing that he would draw criticism for it, the Patriarch behaves bravely and independently, as befits a leader of his rank.
8. With the help of the watch, the Patriach [sic] avoids the sin of pride and reminds himself that he is not a saintly ascetic, but a man of flesh and blood. […]
10. The church thinks in terms of centuries. However much the watch is worth today, it will be worth a hundred times more in 200 years, as an historical relic that raised a scandal in the Russian state.
Activist blogger Alexei Navalny chimed in via his Twitter account:
Теперь это Мастерство Фотошопа РПЦ будут вспоминать при каждом удобном случае. Навсегда прилепится
Other Russian bloggers posted irreverent photos of the Patriarch with even more farcical alterations.
Patriarch Kirill on the mock cover of Photoshop for Dummies (an anonymous photo-parody widely circulated online).
Galludo's LiveJournal blog posted a selection of these photo-parodies, including a picture of the Patriarch on the cover of a “Photoshop for Dummies” book, in an April 5 post.
Monk Blog included similar pictures in a post [ru] from a Ukraine-based blogger, with the following insightful summary of the week's events:
Many have heard in the news the story of Patriarch Kirill's watch. When the Orthodox Church on its website displayed a photograph from a meeeting, where the Patriarch wore an expensive watch. Later the photos were crudely photoshopped, [but] the reflection of the watch remained in the table. Bloggers noticed the alterations, and the original photo was restored. Amusingly, [others] on the Internet have started playing with the idea of the watch.
Yet, what remains unclear is the purpose of [the Church's] attempts to feign an ascetic lifestyle. After all, those who believe will continue to believe, and non-believers won't have any more respect [for the Church].

author: Donna Welles


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Sri Lanka: The White Van Adbuctions Continue · Global Voices
Rezwan

Groundviews reports that twenty nine disappearance have been reported in Sri Lankan media between February and March 2012, and so far little has done to find/rescue those people and end these alleged abductions.


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Video: Community in Spain Gives up Easter Processions to Help Three Families · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

A religious community in Malaga, Spain have decided to forego the Easter Week processions and celebrations so they could donate the money destined for flowers and music to three families in need, saving two of them from homelessness as shown on this video by 20minutos.tv [es].

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Israel: Tweeting the Passover Seder · Global Voices
Elizabeth Tsurkov

The Jewish holiday of Passover began on the night of Friday April 6, and millions of Israelis gathered with their family for the Seder, the traditional ritual feast. The feast is preceded by reading the Haggada, which (among other things) describes the Exodus of the People of Israel from Egypt. The Passover Seder is notorious for being lengthy, and if followed according to the rules, eating commences after hours spent around the dinner table, reading from the Haggada and singing. The Seder, which is traditionally done with the extended family, is also infamous, much like American Thanksgiving, as an occasion when one is forced to spend time with disagreeable family members.
Table set for the Passover Seder. Image by Gilabrand, Wikimedia Commons.
Israeli Twitter users, known for their sense of humor and cynicism, could be counted on to tweet their Passover Seder experiences.
Lior Oren wrote:
Rotem wrote:
Avishay wrote:
Amir wrote:
Referring to the strict religious prohibition on consumption of leavened bread during the week of Passover, and the great effort religious/traditional Jews make to clean their homes and remove all bread prior to the start of the holiday, DKapuchino joked:
Musician Mux 2000 reported:
The blogger Gal Chen wrote:
And, of course, there were the political tweets:
Noa Dror wrote:
There is a tradition of leaving an empty chair for Prophet Elijah at the Passover Seder table, to express the hope for his return along with the Messiah. In recent years, Israeli families added an empty chair for the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, to also signal the hope for his return. Referring to this practice, Journalist Yair Tarchitsky mocks the Israeli public for not caring about Ouda Tarabin, an Israeli Bedouin who is imprisoned in Egypt for accidentally crossing the border into Egypt.
Israeli blogger and social justice activist Haim Har-Zahav wrote:
And then there were the tweets discussing the non-stop tweeting of the Seder itself:
Dudi Rosenthal joked:
Liron wrote:

author: Elizabeth Tsurkov


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Lebanon: Palm Sunday and Easter Celebrations · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

In Lebanon two Christian celebrations took place on April 8, 2012 as churches following the Gregorian calendar celebrated Easter Sunday and churches following the Julian calendar celebrated Palm Sunday. This means that some Christians are celebrating Easter next Sunday, on April 15. In 2013 the two Easters will be much further apart, on March 31 and May 5.
Sietske, a Dutch woman married to a Lebanese man, describes the family's Easter celebrations:
There is the annual Easter lunch with the Easter Egg Hunt attached to it in the garden of the father of the wife of the brother of my husband.  And everyone is coming, whether they're Christian or not, or whether it's their Easter or not (the Orthodox celebrate Easter next Sunday). I have mentioned before that in Holland, that connection would qualify them as strangers. Here, it’s direct family. And the cousins of the wife of the brother of my husband come as well, and so do the wives of the brothers of the father of the wife of the brother of my husband. Still with me? And the parents of the wives of the brothers of the wife of the brother of my husband are there as well. In Lebanon they have names for family connections like that. In Holland you would never ever meet these people, save for an isolated wedding or funeral. Here I meet them every year. And the group is growing, as children get married, and so their extended family gets added. We were ranging from age 96 (3 were in their 90’s) to 4 months old; a bit like an Italian family. But I assume most people that live around the Mediterranean share these characteristics; large families, lots of celebrations and parties. And if you take into account that most Lebanese families have about half of their family members living abroad (on my husband’s side alone – and he is from a very small family) there are already 3 uncles, an aunt, and 11 cousins living outside), you can imagine what kind of celebrations we’d have if everyone were to be in town.
Sietske's Easter family photo. Image from sietske-in-beiroet.blogspot.com.
Tarek Joseph Chemaly writes that the egg hunt is not a Lebanese tradition:
In Lebanon we do not do egg hunts but rather “egg matches” whereby boiled eggs are struck against each other until the last standing egg is the winner… And damn cholesterol levels – because you have to eat them eventually right?
Painted eggs for Easter. Image by Twitter user @tarekfeghali.
Meanwhile, Orthodox Christians celebrated Palm Sunday.
Bishop Audi celebrating Palm Sunday, St George's Orthodox Cathedral, Beirut. Image by Twitter user @LebanonEguide.
Palm Sunday celebration at St George's Orthodox Cathedral, downtown Beirut. Image by Twitter user @antoine_haddad.
Palm Sunday celebration in Ashrafieh, Beirut. Image by Twitter user @rimamaktabi.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Tunisia: Anger at Protest Ban on Main Street of Tunis · Global Voices
Salah Almhamdi

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Tunisian netizens have expressed their anger at a ban on protesting on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis, the capital's main street and the Tunisian equivalent of Cairo's Tahrir Square.
On March 28, 2012, the Tunisian Ministry of Interior banned any kind of protest, claiming complaints had been received from commercial and touristic businesses located on the avenue. Recently skirmishes between Islamists and liberals occurred when two protests took place at the same time on the same street.
Habib Bourguiba Avenue. Image by Flickr user Tab59 (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Slim Amamou, Tunisian blogger and former Secretary of State  for Youth, tweeted:
He went on to call for a protest:
The blogger and Wikipedian Habib M'henni responded to Amamou's tweet saying:
Prominent blogger Azyz Amami, imprisoned during the Tunisian Revolution, also responded to Slim Amamou's tweet:
@Azyyoz: C'est pas la première fois qu'ils le font, ces salauds
Blogger Tounsiahourra reported that a vigil for Land Day had not been allowed:
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Salah Almhamdi


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Tunisia: Police Use Tear Gas and Batons to Disperse Jobless Protesters · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
On April 7, 2012 the Union for Unemployed Graduates staged a protest in downtown Tunis. When the protesters attempted to break a ban on demonstrating on Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the capital's main avenue, police used tear gas and batons to disperse them. A number of injuries were recorded.
In a communiqué released on April 7 the Interior Ministry said that protesters threw rocks at the police, and that they tried to get to the avenue “by force”.
Injured protester. Image from Albadil.org
The following YouTube video by TunisiaTalks features the police intervention. The video shows passers-by getting suffocated by tear gas, and some injured protesters.
Déjà vu?
Police using batons to disperse protesters. Image by Ali Garboussi.
The police violence reminded Sameh of the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali era. She tweeted:
@sameh_b: #Tunisie dictature en marche… Av. Habib Bourguiba!!! Des milices avec des bâtons qui tabassent les manifestants!! Un air de déjà-vu!!!
She was not the only one who felt that way. Zarzouki tweeted:
@ja3far2012: Raisons bidon “pr proteger les commercants et ne pas gener la circulation” le meme language que ZABA #tunisie
Oppression a solution for unemployment?
An injured protester. Image by Ali Garboussi.
“Employment, freedom, and national dignity”, was a slogan used during the 2011 Tunisia uprising. Fifteen months after the end of the 23-year rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, employment is still a key popular demand. Despite the promises of the interim government, led by the Islamist party Ennahdha, to create 400 000 jobs, the uneployment rate is not decreasing. According to a recent study, published at the end of February 2012, the unemployment rate has now reached 18,9 %.
Blogger Bassem Bouguerra published a post entitled the Tunisian way to face unemployment, and argued that the government resorted to oppression to solve the problem of unemployment:
Desperate and angry, 400 unemployed graduates took the streets on April 7th to show their dissatisfaction with the government’s performance towards solving the unemployment issue. They decided on starting their protest from the Tunisian General Labour Union UGTT’s HQ and make it all the way to Avenue Habib Bourguiba […] The government parallelised with this overwhelming challenge of unemployment, can’t face the protesters with new more promises. Tunisians had enough of that. They  also can’t sooth them with solutions since they got none. So they chose the easy solution: Oppression. As the protesters walked towards Habib Bourguiba ave, the police used the familiar tactics of Ben Ali’s era, to oppress and disperse the crowd.
An assault on the dignity of the unemployed
In a blogpost [Fr] published on April 8, Salah Ben Omrane argued that assaulting an unemployed person is assaulting his or her dignity:
taper sur quelqu’un qui ne demande qu’un emploi, c’est s’attaquer à sa dignité!  Aucune raison ministérielle ne peut le justifier et aucune morale ne l’approuve .
The unemployed: a real threat?
Before the famous slogan of “Ben Ali Get Out”, protesters shouted “Employment is a right, you gang of thieves [the Ben Ali clan]”, and “Employment, freedom, and national dignity”. Unemployment was at the heart of the 2011 Tunisia uprising, which was ignited by the jobless youth, who were the first to take to the streets and face police brutality. Are the unemployed still a threat? Do they represent a danger to the current interim government, appointed four months ago?
According to Zarzouki:
@ja3far2012: Simple: Ils ne repriment que ceux qu'ils trouvent dangeureux!
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Worldwide Concern Over Critical State of Bahraini Activist · Global Voices
Salah Almhamdi

Netizens around the world have expressed their great concern over the deteriorating state of Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja. The Bahraini authorities sentenced him to life imprisonment last year, and he has been on hunger strike since February 8, 2012 to draw attention to his detention. Bahrain has ruled out his extradition to Denmark as he is also a Danish citizen.
Netizens have been tweeting for his release using various hashtags, such as #StopKillingKhawaja.
A banner calling for the release of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, September 14, 2011. Photo from Flickr by William Murphy (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja's daughter, Maryam Alkhawaja, tweeted:
@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: today, 8th april, is one year since Abdulhadi Alkhawaja's arrest, when he was beaten unconscious in front of his family #bahrain
Another of his daughters, Zainab Alkhawaja, tweeted:
@angryarabiya: At this time last year my father was taken to the same military hospital he lies in now #bahrain
@angryarabiya: He had to undergo a 4 hour surgery in his face, they took bone from his skull to reconstruct his jaw #bahrain
@angryarabiya: And today, again… my father lays in one of their hospital beds. Starving to death for freedom #bahrain
Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American journalist and activist, tweeted:
@AliAbunimah:#StopKillingKhawaja Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is a man of conscience and courage. He deserves to live free.
Professor and political activist John C. Berg has called for Americans to put pressure on Bahrain:
@jcberg: Time for US progressives to pay attention to #Bahrain; leading HR leader in prison, hunger strike, nr death
Rasha Abdulla, a professor of journalism and mass communication at the American University in Cairo, tweeted from a protest at the Bahraini Embassy in Cairo:
Ruwayda Mustafa, a British-Kurdish writer and feminist, announced a protest in London:
@RuwaydaMustafa: We will be protesting in Solidarity w/Abdulhadi al Khawaja in London on Tuesday. Please join us! #StopKillingKhawaja
On April 8 activists hacked the Facebook page of Bahrain’s national airline, Gulf Air, and replaced its logo with a picture of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja.


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Brazil: Contemporary Slavery and Proposals to Fight the Practice · Global Voices
Richard de Araújo

In our first few years at school, we learn that slavery in Brazil was abolished with the signing of the Golden Law by the princess Isabel on 13th May 1888.  In theory, it became illegal on that day to exercise ownership over another human being in Brazil: in practice, however, the exploitation of slave labour persists on Brazilian territory, albeit in a new guise.
Slavery in Brazil: from its origins to the present day
The practice of slavery is as old as human civilisation itself. Peoples conquered in battle were generally enslaved by their vanquishers or sold to third parties; on other occasions, people were forced to work to pay off their debts in a regime also known as servitude [pt].
The Slave of Paraty, Anderson – The only live statue of a slave in Brazil. Photo by Mario Crema on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
In the first case, the racial element is combined with force to justify the superiority of the victor as master. In the second, the worker was not the master's property and his freedom, at least in theory, could be re-purchased once the debt to his creditor had been paid off.
Contemporary slavery in Brazil is akin to servitude and is present in both rural and urban areas. In the countryside, procurers hired by ranchers in areas of agricultural expansion recruit workers to clear the jungle and to sow seeds. Among the false promises used to persuade workers are offers of free transport to the ranch, a decent salary, and accommodation and food paid for by the employer. Workers then find themselves in an entirely different situation from that described, as reported on the website of the NGO ‘Repórter Brasil’, which describes [pt] how people come to be enslaved in the countryside:
Ao chegarem ao local do trabalho, eles são surpreendidos com situações completamente diferente das prometidas. Para começar, o gato [aliciador] lhes informa que já estão devendo. O adiantamento, o transporte e as despesas com alimentação na viagem já foram anotados no caderno de dívida do trabalhador que ficará de posse do gato. […] despesas com os emporcalhados e improvisados alojamentos e com a precária alimentação serão anotados, tudo a preço muito acima dos praticados no comércio. Se o trabalhador pensar em ir embora, será impedido sob a alegação de que está endividado e de que não poderá sair enquanto não pagar o que deve. Muitas vezes, aqueles que reclamam das condições ou tentam fugir são vítimas de surras.
Upon arriving at the place of work, they are surprised with conditions which are completely different from those promised. To start with, the ‘gato’ (as the procurers are known) informs them that they are already in debt. The advance, transport fees and subsistence costs paid during the journey have been noted in the worker's debt book to be held by the procurer. […] expenses for the dirty, impromptu accommodation and the substandard food will also be noted, all at prices much higher than those normally charged. If the worker thinks about leaving, he will be prevented from doing so with the allegation that he is in debt and will not be able to leave until he pays his dues. Often, those who complain about the conditions or attempt to escape are beaten.
The study “Profile of the Principal Actors Involved in Rural Slave Labour in Brazil” [pt], published in 2011 by the Brazilian office of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) shows the seriousness of the current situation in Brazilian rural areas. In the report, the ILO states that from 1995 (the year in which the Brazilian government recognised that slave labour existed on its territory) to 2011, more than 40,000 workers were rescued from slavery.
Policies to tackle contemporary slavery
Although far from an honourable admission, the government's recognition that slavery continues to exist in Brazil has at least allowed the creation of governmental structures to combat the practice, such as the Executive Group for the Repression of Forced Labour (GERTRAF) and the First and Second National Plans for the Eradication of Slave Labour, which aim to prevent slavery as well as financially target those keeping slaves. Incidentally, it was as a result of the murders of three labour auditors on 28th January 2004 in the rural area of Unaí (Minas Gerais) that this date was chosen to commemorate the National Day to Combat Slave Labour.
National Day To Combat Slave Labour, 28th January. Photo: Verena Glass in Brasil Atual (CC BY 3.0)
Among other efforts to fight slave labour is the Proposal for Constitutional Amendment (PEC) 438/2001, which foresees that ranches where slave labour has been used will be expropriated and subject to land reform. The ‘PEC for Slave Labour’ was approved by the Brazilian senate in 2001 and forwarded to the House of Representatives, where it faces pressure for change from the “rural bench”.
André Alves Fernandes, a student of Public Administration, says on the blog “Direito em Questão” [“Law in Question”] that expropriation – in combination with other punishments – is the best way of preventing [pt] the exploitation of slave labour:
A expropriação das terras onde ocorre o uso de trabalho escravo é perfeitamente cabível como forma de fazer o agente criminoso pagar pelos danos infligidos aos trabalhadores. […] No caso de crimes contra a liberdade, como é o caso de reduzir alguém à condição análoga à de escravo, a multa deve ser aplicada sem prejuízo das medidas penais cabíveis, em vista do tratamento degradante aos quais os trabalhadores estão submetidos.
Image by Francisco Mendes (@metalogis) on Tumblr, related with denouncements of slave work in Zara (August 2011)
But it is not only in the countryside that people in slave-like conditions can be found. Large cities also provide fertile ground for those seeking to exploit the vulnerability of individuals who have no alternative but to accept jobs which are degrading to human dignity. Amongst these individuals are Brazilians who have migrated from poorer regions or irregular migrants from countries experiencing severe poverty or armed conflict.
In his blog, Washington Araújo recalls the work of the Brazilian anthropologist Gilberto Freyre, “‘The Masters and the Slaves’”, when talking [pt] about the treatment received by some domestic workers:
[…] muitas dessas moças são praticamente forçadas a realizarem trabalhos domésticos, sem qualquer contrapartida financeira, vivendo em celas improvisadas, aqueles cubículos de apartamentos, geralmente conhecidos como “dependência da empregada”. É triste constatar que ainda temos –e muito– a transferência da Casa Grande e Senzala dos campos para os centros urbanos.
The fight against slave labour is being led on various fronts, including the economic and social development of the populations at risk and government monitoring and control. But this alone is not enough: the involvement of the Brazilian population in eradicating this degrading practice from the country is essential. One of the ways to help is to keep up to date, as it is through the indifference of ‘free’ men and women that the criminals enslave vulnerable individuals. Keeping up to date also means boycotting companies who use slave labour, and to this end, the Ministery of Work and Employment has made available a list [pt] of employers caught using slaves, who once prosecuted lose their right to loans from public banks and find the commercialisation of their products restricted. Finally, it is important to put pressure on politicians to make the punishments for this offence as exemplary as those which exist for crimes such as drug trafficking and kidnap-murders.

author: Richard de Araújo


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China: Struggle to Remember Fang Lizhi · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chinese intellectual Fang Lizhi, who inspired a whole generation of student activists during the 1980s, passed away on April 6, 2012, at the age of 76. Fang had been in exile in the United States for 22 years.
As if the time he spent exiled wasn't enough, Chinese authorities were also quick to ban the news of his death from appearing online in China, and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece media declared that Fang has been forgotten.
Born in 1936, Fang joined the CCP underground network when he was just 12 years old, entering the Beijing University School of Physics in 1952, following which he became an astrophysics professor. Similar to the fate of many intellectuals of his generation, Fang was prosecuted during the Anti-Rightist Campaign in the 1950s and again during the Cultural Revolution for expressing his opinions.
Fang Lizhi (right) and Wang Dan (1989 student activist). Photo by Wang Dan
In 1986, Fang openly supported the student's democratic movement and was expelled from the CCP and removed from his position as vice president of the University of Science and Technology of China. Nonetheless, Fang remained politically active and even criticized then statesman Deng Xiaoping‘s Four Cardinal Principles when interviewed by foreign media in 1988, following that with an open letter in January 1989 urging Deng to release political prisoners of the 1978 Beijing Spring.
After the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989, Fang and his wife, Li Shuxian sought asylum in the U.S embassy in Beijing and went into exile the following year.
As a well-respected teacher who lived his life in defense of his beliefs, Fang is recognized for having inspired a whole generation of university students. Chinese authorities, however, would rather see him forgotten. As news of his death spread out in the Chinese speaking world, the name, “Fang Lizhi” became blocked throughout the Chinese internet, leaving netizens only able to use “Mr. Fang” to express their condolences and feelings. At the same time, Hu Xijin, chief editor of Global Times, another CCP mouthpiece, has apparently been granted the privilege of writing Fang Lizhi's full name in Sina Weibo, and to propagate that Fang has been forgotten in China [zh]:
方励之先生在美去世，享年76岁。说实话，我挺同情他个人的。 他的追求和用力没有同中国的进步合上拍子，他实际上已被遗忘。希望中国知识分子未来更理性。中国不应再出现一些精英受外国支持保护，同国家政权对抗的局面。那属于旧时代，是往回走。达赖受的支持最多，但都是过眼浮云，他的成功机会是零。
Hu's comments left many infuriated and has drawn thousands of angry replies. Below are some of the typical ones:
孙弘武的博客：胡锡进自封为国家的看门狗？你很可能是特权阶级的看门狗。你是被特权者喂了肉包子，疯狂咬向推进国家进步改革的民主先驱人的疯狗
柳絮飞扬spare：假惺惺的，有的人死了，却还活着（如方先生）;有的人活着，却已经死了（如胡编辑）。
只配抬杠：#胡锡进#，很多官员合上拍子了，贪到好多钱，很多言不由衷的小人合上拍子了，上位当了主编。你的逻辑无非还是因为现状就是这样，所以这样就是合理的，因此所有指责现状的都是不合理不合拍子，你还能更脑残一点么？一个国家的精英要外国来保护，是这个国家的不幸，指责精英受到了保护，是你的不幸。
Human rights blogger Mo Zhixu explained the political meaning behind Hu's statement:
@mozhixu 胡锡进的想法，其实反映了体制内得势群体的主流意见，不正视这一点，成天意淫政改，须吃胡锡进的耻笑。
@mozhixu 胡锡进的所有观点其实都可以归结于一句话：“老子吃定你们了，请识相点！” 对此，我也只有一句话：走着瞧，你Y不就是有几辆坦克吗。。。。
The social media censor machine's filtering of the name “Fang Lizhi”, and the removal of condolence messages as many netizens are struggle to remember him, reflects how threatening Chinese authorities find the spirit Fang represented:
宅哥的世界：方先生走了，客死他乡。有家不能回，精英被流失，这是一个国家的耻辱。
深绿仙人掌这种鲁迅式的知识分子，以我区区几年的成长生涯，完全没见过，或者都蹲在监狱里了。方先生逝世的消失，居然隔了那么久，也还是被大陆全面删除。历史会证明你是对的。

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: The Uyghur Human Rights Project · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A new blog Xianjiang Source interviewed Henryk Szadziewski about the Uyghur Human Rights Project, which aims at promoting human rights and democracy for Uyghurs and others living in East Turkestan.


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Cuba: Unholy Actions · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Pedazos de la Isla reports on the “wave of terror” that plagued the island's dissidents over Holy Week, here and here.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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El Salvador: Photos of Holy Week Carpets · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Hunnapuh shares photos [es] of the carpets (“alfombras” in Spanish) made for this year's Holy Week in El Salvador. Tim explained more about these carpets in his blog back in 2008: “The alfombras are made by families, groups or organizations with salt and sand and make intricate, and temporary, works of beautiful art where Holy Week processions will soon pass.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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Greece: #Police_Victims · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

Following the serious injury of photojournalist Marios Lolos at Thursday evening's demonstrations in Athens, Greece, in memory of 77-year-old #Dimitris_Christoulas who committed suicide in Syntagma Square on April 4, Greek netizens have been posting the names of people who have suffered, been injured or killed by Greek police under the hashtag #police_victims.

author: Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni


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Grenada, Barbados: The Fallout over Journalist’s Firing  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

As another regional journalist pays the price for standing by his story, bloggers are wondering about the state of press freedom in the Caribbean.  Rawle Titus -veteran journalist and president of the Media Workers Association of Grenada since 2008- was dismissed from his post as editor of the Grenada Advocate after he refused to retract or apologize for a front-page story in the March 9th edition of the newspaper headlined “Prime Minister Makes Fresh Moves.” (The Grenada Advocate is owned and published by the Advocate Publishers (2000) Inc, based in Fontabelle, St. Michael, Barbados.)
According to the story, leader of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Prime Minister of Grenada, Tillman Thomas, held a caucus where candidates for the upcoming elections were selected, without informing senior members of the now fractious party. Government press secretary (and former journalist) Richard Simon wrote to the management in Barbados twice, seeking a retraction for what were deemed to be inaccuracies. After the 2nd letter, Titus was dismissed by General Manager Sandra Clarke, effective March 30th, 2012.
According to the MWAG, the Advocate was pressured into firing Titus and added:
We have growing concerns about increasing incidents that will suggest that those guarantees are coming under attack. This latest incident follows a series of other developments we have been monitoring in the past.
Titus and Richard Simon each made an appearance on Day Break Grenada, a morning program aired on the Grenada Broadcasting Network (GBN), to express their side of the story.
On Sunday, April 1st,  Titus, Simon and Information Minister Glen Noel were interviewed on the current affairs radio program “Sundays With George Grant” (starting at the 84:00 minute mark.)
On Monday, April 2nd, Titus’ staged a one-man protest in front of the Office of the Prime Minister at the Botanical Gardens, St. Georges. The  text and video of Titus’ full statement were posted on the blog of Nicole Best, the General Secretary of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (which also released a statement). After reading the statement, Titus explained some of his on the concerns raised and answered some questions.
Hamlet Mark, a friend of both Titus and Richard Simon, shared some thoughts on his own blog :
It is one thing for anyone to point out inaccuracies, which any responsible journalist must correct if it is found beyond doubt to be such.
But since when do you demand ‘an apology and retraction’ in two letters about some perceived ‘inaccuracy’, without it being seen as undue pressure when it comes from an office as powerful as the Prime Minister’s?
And when the reporter says he is satisfied with his information – after cross checking it again – you still insist on an apology – to the point where he had to standup not just for his dignity but his manhood – so that a frightened Barbadian team – unschooled in Grenadian political realities – got cold feet and sent a man home they concede that they never had to question his professionalism before.
If the letters from the Prime Minister’s office were not meant to be used as undue pressure – why the demand for an ‘apology’ – if you said it was just some inaccuracies?
And if the reporter decided to stand by his story, isn't the normal thing in that circumstance to release your version of events – and let the public decide?
On March 27th, The Government of Grenada released a statement denying responsibility for Titus’ firing:
Neither the Prime Minister nor his office, sought directly or indirectly, the termination of Mr. Titus, and is unaware of the reason or reasons for his termination by the newspaper’s management.  The Grenada government has never, over the past three years, attempted to pressure or intimidate any business or media house to ‘tow the government’s line’ or to influence the dismissal of any journalist, as previous administrations have done.
Hamlet Mark offered some comments on the statement from the Prime Minister’s office:
It was a timely and useful assurance, and everyone should take the administration at its word, without ever letting their guards down.
While the statement went on to give the assurance, it tainted it with – well – at least one inaccuracy; that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) never asked for ‘an apology nor retraction.’
Having seen the e-mail sent to ‘Advocate’; and having determined it is authentic; then the claim in the press release that it did not happen is bogus.
A colleague of mine calls it a blatant lie. But I’ll be kind. It is just an innocent inaccuracy.
While as Prime Minister, the buck will always have to stop with Tillman Thomas, I have this sneaky feeling that his soldiers let him down on this issue.
Whatever you may think about the man – and having seen him operate up close and personal through the years – I believe that he genuinely believes in the issue of freedom of the media, almost to a fault.
He is a man of considerable faults, but some admirable strengths as well – and I firmly believe on that issue – this is one of his strengths.
Richard will have to correct me, if it’s an “inaccuracy” (and unless someone in the PMO is trying to set me up too), that the whole hullabaloo about the Advocate report was not an idea of the PM.
Reporters Without Borders released a statement calling for Titus to be reinstated and also made reference to the liquidation of the Grenada Today Weekly, which was forced to shutdown after the owners were unable to pay damages to former Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell after he successfully sued them.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Guatemala: Photos of Holy Week in Antigua · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

AntiguaDailyPhoto posts a slideshow with photos of Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala taken by Leonel [Nelo] Mijangos.


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Iran: Electronic Curtain in Animation · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

Here is a video cartoon, portraying what Iranian users face in Iran for connecting to the Internet. The video invites online users around the world to follow #ConnectIran tag on twitter.

author: Hadi Nili


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Kenya: Young Man Invents Wooden Extension Cable · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan young man invents wooden extension cable, AfriGadget reports: “A young man from Kiandutu slums in Thika had always wanted to be an electrical engineer, but lack of fees denied him a chance to further his studies. And yet this has not dampen his resolve to put his mark on the world of electrical engineering.For starters, he has devised a way of making wooden extension cables, which as NTV’s Jane Ngoiri reports, is causing quite a stir in his neighbourhood.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Myanmar: Continuing Press Freedom Violations · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The International Freedom of Expression Exchange lists five concerns that highlight the continuing press freedom violations in Myanmar

author: Mong Palatino


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One Day on Earth: Worldwide Collaborative Music Video Released · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

A new music video has been released in preparation for the worldwide screening of the Global Collaborative film One Day on Earth, which will take place in locations all around the planet on Earth Day (22 April, 2012).  The video features musicians, poets and dancers captured on film all during the same 24 hour period in 10 October, 2010, artfully recut and remixed by Cut Chemist.
The collaborative film One Day on Earth was filmed all on the same day, October 10, 2010, with more than 3,000 hours of footage sent in from all corners of the world, showcasing the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occurs in one day. The Global Screening will take place on Earth Day (April 22, 2012) in every country of the world, with the assistance of World Heritage Sites and the United Nations.
The music video includes footage from India, Papua New Guinea, Benin, Burkina Faso, USA, China, North Korea, Mongolia, Kenya, Afghanistan, Jamaica, Spain, Taiwan and many other locations.
You can read more about the upcoming screening on our previous post One Day on Earth: Global Screening of Worldwide Collaborative Film and you can sign up for a screening in your city or town on the One Day on Earth site.


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Overseas Chinese Students Bring Changes to China? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ali from Offbeat China discussed the impact of overseas Chinese students to China upon their return. The discussion in major overseas Chinese student web forums indicate that rather than the assumption that these students would be exposed to fundamental value changes and help China to develop political reform, many take advantage of the social capital stemmed from current system to better their lives.


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Overview of Buddhism in Vietnam · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

tomosaigon provides a brief introduction of the various Buddhist sects in Vietnam.


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Pakistan: Stop Dumping On Us · Global Voices
Faisal Kapadia

Globalization is often touted as the solve it all solution of the problems this world faces today. However there are several very highly toxic effects of globalization as well. For instance these seemingly dissipating borders means that the western world has been and even now is engaged in dumping its plastic and medical waste to third world countries. They are able to do so as there is a lack of whistle blowing as well as checks and balances in countries like Pakistan, which has been subjected to dumping for the last 30 odd years.
Skeptic life reports:
As it is, there is no systematic method of medical waste management in Pakistan. Not all medical facilities have incinerators and it is not uncommon to find possibly contaminated waste in open trash heaps. The last thing we need is hazardous waste from other countries adding to the problem, especially when this waste can be infected and cause diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS.
Untreated medical wastes are drained into the sea. Image by Raja Islam. Copyright Demotix (1/11/2010).
Uroos reports on her visit to a garbage heap in Lahore:
On my visit to Lahore two days ago I along with some other media friends of mine took a drive down to Shadran which is the scrapyard heaven in Lahore. I see crushed plastic, piles of medical waste, IV tubes and infusion bags lying on the ground in warehouse and people coming to buy them, I caught hold of one of the kids who works there, to my utter shock he tells me that local manufacturers who make plastic products even down to utensils come and buy this scrap to reuse!
Green action reports on the dumping of plastic waste in Pakistan:
At present, there are hundreds of importers and buyers in Pakistan who are trading different used plastic items and materials. Definitely these types of used items are economically cheap and very cost effective, especially for the average buyer in the Pakistani market. But, the overall hazards resulting due to the unrestrained and uncontrolled usages of these used plastic items outweigh the so-called benefits and advantages.Sipping water from a used pet bottle would not be an ideal option for any health-conscious individual living in any part of the world, but there are a number of traders in Pakistan rejoicing the economic benefits offered by the treasured rubbish, that is discarded by the more developed countries of the world
One begins to wonder, how are Pakistan’s authorities allowing this dumping of hazardous materials on our soil? The case though is a multilayered one with many of these materials being passed off and misdeclared in our customs under “plastic scrap” and other categories to be cleared and sold off by importers. What they cannot sell off they dispose, so they are hand in hand with the whole process. Many of our hospitals too are often found disposing medical waste in their own backyards or adjacent rubbish heaps, to the extent that several unborn fetuses have been routinely popping up all over Karachi in waste heaps.
Day and night news reported on just such an incident on their blog:
In a what comes across as callous disregard for public safety, around 900 kg of bio medical waste(BMW), including used syringes, blood-stained cotton gauze and bandages packed in plastic disposable bags, has been dumped in the open in the compound of the UT administration’s flagshiphospital, GMCH-32.The fact that the hospital is one of the most frequented and trusted institutes of the region only add to the culpability of those who allowed this. With this, thousands of people including the staff, patients and their attendants have been rendered vulnerable to deadly infections.
Non-degradable plastics in a garbage dump in Karachi. Image by Syed Yasir Kazmi. Copyright Demotix (15/12/2009).
Pakistan today also discussed in detail the joys of importing plastic waste borne diseases in Lahore:
In Pakistan purchasing diseases is quite an easy task. In fact if you want to purchase an infection from an operation theatre of Germany or Japan all you have to do is to go to any one of the bulk traders of post consumer hazardous plastic scrap in Shahdara market and tell him to sell you HIV, Hepatitis C or Tuberculosis. The rates vary with good infections fetching from Rs 100 to 150 per kg. You might be wondering what this is all about. Day in and day out we all talk about the lack of accountability in Pakistan. The authorities that are responsible for ensuring accountability are those working in connivance with plastic scrap traders of Lahore to ensure clearance of containers carrying thousands of tones of infection into our local market.
Although a strengthening and overhaul of customs law as well as more diligence on control of such imports will prove useful. It is of utmost importance that local communities get involved in keeping our country clean of such products. For this purpose reporting such waste piles are key, too long have we been exposed to harmful diseases due to lack of vigilance. The effort will require us to not drive past burning heaps of open air rubbish in our city and stop to ask why and who is exposing us to these hazardous materials. More can also be achieved by organizing community cleaning drives and not restricting them to beach fronts.
Only if we ourselves show care for the environment around us can we effect change in keeping it safe and livable here in Pakistan.

author: Faisal Kapadia


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Portugal: Police Prevents Workers From Writing a Banner for the General Strike · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Francisco da Silva, on his blog Artigo 58, shares a video [pt] that shows a group of domestic workers in Lisbon preparing a banner for the general strike (March 24, 2012). The police enter the scene and put an end to the freedom of expression in a public square, preventing the workers from writing their slogan.

author: Sara Moreira


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Syria: Activist Rima Dali Arrested in Damascus for Calling for End to Killing · Global Voices
Leila Nachawati Rego

UPDATE: 10 April: Friends have confirmed that Rima Dali was released at 2 pm on Tuesday. Saffana Baqle and Assem Hamsho, who were with her at the time of the arrest, are still missing. Two other activists, Ali Dahna and Hussam Zein, were arrested today for holding the same banner during a sit-in near Qasr el-Adli, in Damascus.
9 April: To protest Rima´s detention and that of all Syrians imprisoned since the beginning of the regime´s brutal crackdown against all forms of opposition, activists have opened a Facebook page called “Stop the killing. We want to build a country for all Syrians” , where they call on people from Damascus to concentrate in front of the Parliament at 6 pm (the time when Rima held the banner calling for an end to killing):
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“Stop the killing. We want to build a country for all Syrians.” These were the words on the banner that Rima Dali held in front of the Syrian Parliament in Damascus on Sunday, April 8. Activists say she was arrested right after that. The following video shows Rima bravely holding the banner in front of cars while a group of women applaude her gesture.
Activists have denounced her arrest and that of Saffana Baqleh, who was with Rima at the time of her arrest. Saffana was arrested for trying to stop the authorities from taking Rima.
Rima Dali in a candle-lit vigil for Syrian martyrs  in Damascus. June 2011. Image source: Facebook
Rima Dali, 33, is from the port city of Latakia. She graduated with a degree in Law at the University of Aleppo. She is currently a Training and Capacity Building Associate for the United Nations Development Program and a volunteer with the Red Crescent. She is well known for her work on the campaign “Homs is in our hearts” to bring humanitarian aid to Homs.
Quoting Martin Luther King, this was Rima's last update on her Facebook profile:
“The means we use to achieve our goals must be as pure as our goals”

author: Leila Nachawati Rego


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Thailand: Internet Freedom Threats and Violations · Global Voices
Aim Sinpeng

Having a democratically elected government is no guarantee for achieving net freedom. Thailand is a case in point.
The rise in internet censorship took place despite the pledge of the newly elected government to “restore democracy” and bring the country toward national reconciliation after years of protracted political conflict.
The number of blocked URLs, and the number of computer related crime cases  have been on a rise, while the Yingluck Administration vowed to not only maintain the internet censorship legal frameworks – legacy of the authoritarian days – intact, but have also increased its budget for the Ministry of Information and Communication (ICT). Since taking power, the government boasted a record of 73,000 blocked sites.
It was not a surprise to close observers of Thai politics then that the Yingluck government became the first to endorse Twitter's new ‘censorship tools.’ Else where in the world netizens protested such move from Twitter to limit the freedom of expression online. Yet in Thailand, such tool has come at an opportune time when net censorship is part of the new government's policy agenda.
Anudith Nakornthap, Thailand's Minister of Information and Communication Technology welcomes Twitter's new policy.
“It [the policy] matches up with the government's approach to protect net users from violating laws and regulations. Real freedom comes when you don't violate other users’ rights nor the laws of the country.”
Through its Cyber Scout program, the government recruits volunteers to search for 'harmful' and illegal online content
The government, according to the Bangkok Post, had contacted Facebook to take down 10,000 pages that were deemed to have violated its laws last year. Last month, Two Thai netizens had their homes raided, their computers confiscated and their rights stripped in a recent cyber crackdown. They're lucky they were freed but they knew their lives were forever changed.
In a climate of pervasive fear and deep mistrust of the authorities, conviction that one has done nothing wrong is simply not enough. One of the accused revealed she was more worried the police would tamper with “evidence” and put her behind bars not for what she did, but for what she didn't do.
When she received her seized belongings back from the police, she found that the name of one partition in her external hard disk, which she used to store documents and articles about politics, had been changed.
‘I didn’t stay to watch them while they were making a copy [of the hard disk], as I was confident that I had not done anything risky or hidden anything.  I just posted my personal comments as usual.  But when I saw this, I suspected whether the police had tampered with my data,’ she said.
She told Prachatai that she had closely followed politics through the internet, but had never joined any rallies by any groups.  She also insisted that she had largely read comments by others, and had never posted any offensive comments.
Not all net users were outraged by Thailand's new Twitter policy, however. Ohreohcorner wrote on Blognone.com web board
“Thailand seems to like censorship so much that it had to take a stance by embracing new Twitter censorship policy.”
Meanwhile Tleknight Kmutt tweeted “It's OK I can take this.” Domoku SAd wrote
“Personally all net users have the responsibility to ensure that they abide by the laws of the country. We [net users] need to recognize our boundaries.”
The continued onslaught of internet freedom in Thailand is very much tied to the overall tension with regards to the debate over the possible reform of Article 112 of the Penal Code, known widely as the “lese majeste clause” which prohibits defamation of the royal family. The Yingluck government has made clear it will not seek its amendment and has since stepped up its crack down on netizens, claiming its duty to enforce the law. Yet given the opaqueness of the law and the lack of transparency in computer crime related cases, the government is effectively breeding fear.
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) took the government's Twitter endorsement in stride by immediately finding ways to circumvent censorship tools. Likewise Thai Netizen Network responds to the growing net repression from the state by fighting back. The group issues regular updates to Thai net users on how to “unblock” the blocked sites.

author: Aim Sinpeng


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Trinidad & Tobago: Madness in the Ministry · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The curious case of Cheryl Miller, an employee of the Ministry of Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development who reportedly got into an argument with a senior official and, as a result, found herself being taken from her place of work to the St. Ann's Psychiatric Hospital despite protests that she is “not mad”, has caused a commotion in the Trinidad and Tobago blogosphere.
Political blogger Rholda Bharath, who writes at The Eternal Pantomime, made sure to emphasize the gravity of the incident:
The country has been on fire all week in several ways, but the most important issue has been Cheryl Miller. A woman whose story affected many because it hit home just how vulnerable we are to the whims and fancy of any state body that wishes to abuse its power. The ease with which Cheryl Miller was locked up, the ease with which her family were denied their right to their own kin, the ease with which the authorities justified their actions and the ease with which they are now twisting the story away from their abuse of rights and inability to follow protocol and instead making it about whether Cheryl Miller is mentally ill or not is not just disgusting, it is downright scary.
According to the mental health act, a person being committed involuntarily must have prior certification and certain protocols must be followed. The state failed to fulfil (sic) their part in its entirety. Yesterday the Psychiatrist’s Association of Trinidad and Tobago came out and defended the procedure, saying that due process was followed. Today’s story in the Express belies that press release and one wonders if the Psych Association isn’t involved in politicking as well…
Miller was eventually sent home last Friday – and while The Eternal Pantomime is relieved that at least part of her ordeal is over, Bharath suggested that the political manouevres are not:
Already in some circles it is being whispered that Miller’s commitment to St. Ann’s has a political slant to it…and in a desperate show at defending the choices made by his Ministry Fuad Khan has come out making statements that can only be described as tasteless, judgemental (sic) and dangerous. Perhaps Khan is aware of the amount of anti-government sentiment that Miller’s predicament has created in the society and this is his form of damage control…but homeboy, you don’t go accusing people of politicking and then do the same thing yourself. In your comments Fuad, you imply that Miller has a serious condition. You indicate that she is an ‘ill patient’, but don’t reveal the diagnosis…you say too that she can look normal and  and be triggered by a negative reaction, you imply by your comments that she has a personality disorder…
Your comments, in my opinion have totally violated Miller’s privacy, because you have subtly brought up details of her diagnosis, without naming the specific condition leaving the public to speculate as to her mental state. You’ve now put more fodder out there, and diverted the public away from the REAL ISSUE…which is not Miller’s mental state, but DID THE STATE ABUSE MILLER'S RIGHTS BY NOT FOLLOWING PROPER PROCEDURE!
Don’t let Fuad’s politicking distract you folks…this matter was never about Miller’s mental health…it was about whether the state had abused its power in dealing with a public servant.
In another post, Bharath added:
While most of the country has been embroiled in diagnosing Cheryl Miller from the safety of their web browsers, my interest has never been whether she is mentally unstable or not. In my mind that’s an issue for Cheryl and her medical practitioner. My issue has always been, was proper procedure followed….the trial will clearly shift away from whether Miller is insane or not, to one of either breach of Human Rights or breach of Industrial Regulations.
The blogger also accused the Minister of Health of “insidiously attempting to get Cheryl Miller to be judged by the public with the information about her mental health that keeps slipping out of [his] mouth”:
Even the Psychiatric Association got in on the politicking this week, without looking at the details of the case, they issued a statement saying that proper procedure had been followed…then we find out on Friday that Cheryl Miller, who had been sitting at her desk writing a letter was detained under the section of the act that refers to people found wandering on roads and highways. I can only assume from this that Tower D does lean onto Wrightson Road.
Meanwhile, over at Outlish, GIRL THRIVING WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER explained that she could be Cheryl Miller:
When I wrote my article  about my ambivalence toward going public about my mental illness, last year, I never thought that I would have to write something else about the issue, using a pseudonym again. I thought that the next article I wrote would have my byline standing proud. And then the bacchanal about Cheryl Miller happened.
Even though the reports indicate that she has no prior illness, she was involuntarily committed to mental hospital, at the behest of her employers at the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development. It took legal action for her to be released to the care of her family, and the full facts of what happened are yet to come out.
She continued:
As this incident happened in the workplace, it hit home for me on so many levels, it isn’t funny.
The fact that I, as a person with a mental illness, was attending university was unthinkable for many people…You see, I am about to graduate in a few months with a degree in hand from The University of the West Indies (UWI), and go looking for a job. And yet, part of the discourse I heard surrounding this incident was that if she was mad, she would not be attending UWI.
The threat of employment discrimination is a very real one for anyone known to have a mental illness, whether it is treated or untreated, because of the high levels of stigma and ignorance surrounding the illness. What kicked me in the gut with Cheryl Miller’s case is that I put myself in her shoes. The thing is, before this, I would have been more likely to seek employment in the public service, because I felt that they would be a bit more likely to adhere to labour relations and mental health practices than the private sector – even in this situation. Now, I am not so sure.
Were I to be employed in the public service today, I feel under the present circumstances, that there just might be a chance that what happened to Cheryl Miller could happen to me, if my diagnosis was known to my superiors. It could take just one vindictive boss or colleague to do this, and I would not have a leg to stand on because of my prior diagnosis.
It makes me disgusted and sad that there are such low expectations for persons with mental illness from the society we live in, but it has not deterred me from pursuing my goals. Now a decade later, I stand poised to fly and achieve with diploma in hand. I am equipped for life, and employment; but after seeing this incident play out, I wonder…is society is ready for me?
The story also grabbed the attention of regional bloggers; Barbados Underground said:
It seems incredible that in 2012 a government employee could be whisked away by authorities and committed to a mental institution. Yet this is what happened to Cheryl Miller, an employee of the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development. Rational thinking would suggest if there is a problem at the office that the next of kin would be alerted to determine next steps. Thankfully by a court order Cheryl Miller was released from St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital.


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Uruguay: Documentary on Jewish Immigration in Uruguay · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

A documentary [es] on the development of Jewish Town in Montevideo, Uruguay was shared by the Latin Americanist  in honor of  the recently celebrated Passover.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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US War Drones in the Philippines · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

A Radical's Nut looks at how US war drones or “unmanned aerial assault crafts” violates Philippine sovereignty and endanger the lives of ordinary Filipino civilians.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Vietnam: Videos About Hanoi · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Travelfish recommends several YouTube videos about Hanoi, Vietnam. The list includes videos about Hanoi tourism, music, and food


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Africa: Access to Water and Sanitation Services Still a Burden  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Babatope Babalobi, Secretary General WASH-JN [Water, sanitation and Hygiene journalists network (WASH)] discusses two meetings on water and sanitation held in Marseilles last month: “It seems that the organisers of the two events wrongly assumed that all citizens are able to access water and sanitation services through public or privately owned or managed conventional water system which unfortunately is not the case particularly in most parts of Asia and Sub Saharan Africa.”

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Bolivia: Activists Push for Better Internet Connectivity · Global Voices
Pablo Andres Rivero

Bloggers and activists are advocating for universal access and “minimum acceptable speeds” for Internet connections in Bolivia.
As previously reported on Global Voices, the first National Meeting to Promote Connectivity in Bolivia [es] took place in late January 2012. After the event, a group of activist continued to advocate, like blogger Mario R. Durán from Palabras Libres [es], who met [es] with Bolivia's upper Chamber President, Ms. Gabriela Montaño.
The campaign is also seeking to inform and raise awareness on the issues and limitations of the current connectivity conditions.
The group is gathering support at the site Más y mejor internet para Bolivia [es] (More and better Internet for Bolivia). The website “seeks equality in Internet access for Bolivians […] Do not dream of super speeds but do demand the minimum acceptable speed”.
Wanted – Better Internet Access for all Bolivians. Image by IICD on Flickr, CC BY 2.0
An infographic [es] that has been circulating on social media platforms shows that Bolivia is among the last places in connectivity and bandwidth in Latin America. It also shows that in Bolivia, one Mbps costs between 6 and 11 times more than in neighbouring countries including Paraguay, also a land-locked country.
Electric Engineer Sergio Toro, a Bolivian expert on ICT for development, comments on a post by TIC para el desarrollo‘s [es] blog:
el costo de una banda ancha superior a un megabyte es de 700 bolivianos, eso significa el 98% del salario mínimo, mientras que en Corea del Sur –por ejemplo- el mismo servicio cuesta un 0,2% del salario mínimo
Among those advocating for Internet connections is Edgar Yana from Nuestra Cultura Primero. Edgar is a blogger based in the indigenous community of Chaguaya, 3.5 hours by bus from El Alto city. He attended the first National Meeting to Promote Connectivity in Bolivia, and the event's concluding report [es] underlines his situation:
Edgar Yana, comunario de Chaguaya menciona que tiene que viajar a El Alto para subir contenidos a su blog y que tener internet en su casa es una necesidad.
The activists are gathered on the Facebook group ADSL Bolivia [es], the Facebook page Más y mejor internet YA [es] (Better Internet NOW) and also comment on Twitter using the hashtag #mejorinternetYA [es].
The main goal of the campaign is summarised by Mario R. Duran in a post for El Eco de los Pasos blog [es]:
la meta es que en el 2014, todos los hogares bolivianos tengan acceso a 1 mbps (como velocidad mínima) a un costo menor a 20 dólares

author: Pablo Andres Rivero


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Chile: Short Film on Kayaking ‘Shows Chile at its Best’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“Breathless in Chile” is a short film that has been submitted to the 2012 Kayak Session Best Short Film of the Year Awards. Blogger Robert L. Funk says that the film “shows Chile at its best.” You can watch the five-minute film on Vimeo.


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China: An Insider’s Reflection on Keyword Filtering Programs · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A computer programmer, under the pseudo name ‘smilings’, has written a reflective article at my1510.cn [zh] about his experience in developing a program for keyword filtering on mobile devices. The blogger's account informs readers about the nature of filtering – that which entails active monitoring of individual privacy. Below is a full translation of his reflection:
刚毕业的第二年，部门经理让我和同事一起做一个短信关键词过滤的功能，也就是说在收到用户发来的短信之后，判断这条短信是否包含关键词，如果有，就直接拒绝，并且呢又要模拟一条发送成功的状态报告返回。后来客户提出进一步的要求，在拦截了包含关键词的短信之后，需要将这条短信的源号码、目的号码和短信内容记录下来。当时的我，正处于懵懂的积极工作期，欣然接受了这个任务。
Error sending message. By Keso (CC: BY-NC-SA 2.0)
我和同事一起，认真地做需求分析、设计、实现和测试，在测试时发现增加这个功能之后短信处理速度下降了将近30%，两个人又一起加班将它的性能提高到比原来还高的水平。这样还不够，为了增加客户使用的友好性，我们做了一个管理界面，让用户可以在界面上修改配置项、增加修改删除关键词、查询被过滤的短信内容和号码。很快地，这个功能在原系统上升级使用了，客户也非常满意。而当我登录上这个系统做维护的时候，意外地发现，被捕获的短信各式各样，黄色的、敏感的、私隐的，心里有一点点的不安。但是，我并没有去深究，很快地忘记了这件事情。
直到后来，见的东西多了，看的东西多了，自己的思维也发生了变化，回想自己曾努力投入地实现的那个尽善尽美的短信过滤功能，心里既不安又自责。我时常会想，会不会有人因为我们曾经实现的那个功能，而遭遇不幸呢？会不会有人因为这样而泄露私隐呢？如果我们不做这个功能，又会怎样呢？
这几个问题，我一直没有找到答案，但偶尔间想起，内心依然感觉不安。虽然知道，在那个时候，自己并没有这样的意识，也没有太多的选择，而且，即使我们不做，排队要做的也大有人在。
这个推断很快得到了印证。不久前，产品经理将一个类似的功能交给我们，我很本能地、非常激烈地拒绝。产品经理很困惑地找我聊天，问我为什么会拒绝，当他听完我的理由后，哭笑不得。他说：“这是我们产品打入中国市场的最好机会，中国的移动市场将会给我们带来丰厚的利润，这你应该很清楚。但是，缺少这个功能我们无可能会有机会获得入场券，你知道，现在的市场竞争是那么的激烈。”当我反过来尝试说服产品经理拒绝这个功能的时候，他像看外星人一样看着我，半天不说话。我们之间，谁也无法说服谁，而最终折衷的方法是他将这个功能交给了另一个同事。
在同事实现这个功能之后，我自告奋勇地提出承担这个功能的性能测试任务，在意料之中，性能下降了25%，内存使用率和CPU占用率却是增高了32%，我将这组数据写进测试报告，在测试报告的总结中，加上这样的一句话：“这个功能因为XX等原因，占用资源较多，处理速度也会相应下降，建议不要启用。”产品经理看到这样的报告，皱着眉头问：“将性能提高回原来的水平，需要多大的effort？”同事面露难色，我在旁边插了一句：“恐怕会比较大的代价。”其实，对于容不得产品有明显瑕疵的专业测试人员，我又陷入了另一种矛盾中。莫名地，在那几个瞬间，为了稍许的心安，违背了自己的专业，虽然明知这改变不了任何事情。
在产品的生存和利润面前，我们很少会去考虑它是否值得做、是否应该做，我们所做的功能，是否会给他人、甚至自己带来了不公正的待遇。我们也很少去考虑，为了利润的我们所做的事情，看似是很正常的，但实际上却成了别人利用来对付我们这些普通百姓的工具。就算意识到了，也很难去拒绝，在碗饭面前、在利润面前，是否又真的能说不？是不是只要有利润，就一定会有人做？如果是这样，那最后呢？
很多时候，在我们抱怨某颗树上结出来的果子太苦涩时，我们没有意识到，其实是因为在果树开花的季节我们自己不问对错地喷了本来不该喷的药。


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Controversy on North Korea’s Satellite Launch · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

North Korea invited foreign reporters to its satellite launch facility, asserting that the launch is peaceful in purpose. North Korea Tech blog wrote about the ongoing controversy and suspicions surrounding North Korea's space program.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Greece: A Poem and a Song for Dimitris Christoulas · Global Voices
Asteris Masouras

“He has the touch of history / And white hair / Mister Dimitris”. On April 6, the anniversary of the German invasion in Greece during World War 2, Stamatis Kalogeropoulos posted a poem [el] and a song on his blog, Ποίηση κι Αφήγηση (Poetry and Narration), written in memory of 77-year old Dimitris Christoulas, whose public suicide on April 4 in Syntagma square, Athens, opposite the Greek parliament, shocked the country. In a note left behind (translations in several languages here), Christoulas accused the “occupation government” of eliminating his right to a decent living.

author: Asteris Masouras


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Greece: Abbot Released Over Ecclesiastical Real-Estate Scandal · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

Mixed online reactions have met the news that Elder Ephraim, abbot of Vatopedi monastery on Greece's Mount Athos, who was implicated in a scandal arranging land swaps between Vatopedi and the state, has been released from jail after only four months of detention. The scandal cost the Greek government millions of euros.
The court's decision defines as the release penalty [el] 300,000 euro and includes restrictions regarding Elder Ephraim leaving both the country and Mount Athos.
Elder Ephraim, abbot of Vatopedi monastery in Mount Athos. Profile picture from Twitter account @GerontasEfraim.
Abbot Ephraim had been jailed on December 2011, pending trial for alleged fraud and embezzlement. The infamous Vatopedi real-estate scandal in 2008 meant high-value state property was traded for less valuable land held by Vatopedi, in a deal with the New Democracy government of previous Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis.
Abbot Ephraim, as a person of the Church, is respected and “worshipped” by many faithful Christian believers, who all this time have expressed their solidarity and support through social media, as this page on Facebook, this blog [website is currently down] and the Twitter account @GerontasEfraim [no longer existing] demonstrate. Following is a video [el] by YouTube user GeronNektarios, that shows the warm greeting of Ephraim outside Korydallos jail in 2011, where people were shouting “Axios!” [He is worthy!].
However, the fact that he, as the head of Vatopaidi monastery, was implicated in such a political, social and economical scandal has brought forth turmoil and a real outcry from the public.
This scandal underlined the firm bonds between the Orthodox Church of Greece and the Greek state and is another argument for those who demand, firstly, the distinction between state and religion and, secondly, the taxation of the Church, as its properties are exempt from the recent austerity measures.
The Russian Orthodox church and country's President Vladimir Putin, had reportedly lobbied the Greek government to reconsider the imprisonment of Abbot Ephraim. The Russian Federation Embassy in Athens tweeted [el]:
@RFEmbassyGr: Στο Άγιο όρος έφτασε χθες το βράδυ ο Εφραίμ, όπου του επιφύλαξαν θερμή υποδοχή στο λιμανάκι των Καρυών οι μοναχοί sportdog.gr/article/95683/…
Here are some bitter reactions from Twitter [el]:
@eddie_kappa: Έχουμε μια “δικαιοσύνη” που αποφυλακίζει τον Εφραίμ και θεωρεί τροχαίο ατύχημα τη δολοφονική επίθεση του δελτά πάνω σε διαδηλώτρια.
@FragileAlex: Θερμή υποδοχή για τον Εφραίμ στο Άγιο Όρος! Δεν είναι δα και ο πρώτος απατεώνας που χαίρει εκτίμησης… Βρίθει ο τόπος.
@eVaN_GiAn: Σε ένα λεπτο βρήκε τα 300.000€ ο Εφραίμ για την εγγύηση του. Αυτο ως απάντηση σε όσους λένε ότι περνάει κρίση ο κτηματομεσιτικός τομέας
@Mythodea_g: @eVaN_GiAn είχε το θεό μαζί του
@Moggoloss: Και την 90η μέρα εμφανίζεται ο Θεός στον Εφραίμ και ρωτάει: Πως μπορω να σε βοηθήσω τέκνο μου; Παντοδύναμε χρειάζομαι 300.000€. Και Εγένετο.


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India: Illegal Asphalt Plant’s Pollution Causes Cancer in Villagers · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Video Volunteers’ India Unheard project exposes the problems faced by a community in Rajasthan where the pollution caused by several illegal asphalt factories is causing breathing problems in 10% of the population as well as affecting the crop production.
Sunita Kasera, who lives in a neighboring community, documents the residents’ complaints against the pollution caused by these factories which have caused many of them to fall sick from cancer or respiratory diseases. Those sick need money for medication but at the same time their farms, also affected by the pollution, are yielding less produce. Meanwhile, the factory owners state that the residents benefit from the employment and wages and no complaints have reached them.
From the video‘s description:
The very air of the village of Asthal in Karuali district, Rajasthan has turned against the inhabitants. Crops wither before harvest and the trees have stopped to bear fruits. One in ten villagers suffers from cancer or falls victim to a serious strain of tuberculosis. All fingers are pointing at the 5 asphalt factories that have been churning out toxic fumes and black dust almost every single day for the last ten years.
Community efforts are being undertaken to prove the illegality of these factories and move them away from the village.


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Indonesia: Promoting Sexual Rights · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Irin tackles the difficulty of promoting gender and women rights in Indonesia. In particular, sexual violence victims are unable to seek redress because of ‘archaic’ laws and traditions in the country


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Iran: Instagram users to lose access · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

A few hours after announcement on Facebook acquisition of famous mobile application Instagram, Iranian users are complaining about losing access to their older photos on the service. Mehrdad, based in Tehran, says [Fa]: ‘I can not load any image older than a couple of days without anti-filter tools’.


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Mali : Opinions of a Blogger on the Military Coup · Global Voices
Anna Gueye

On his blog Askia Mohamed [fr] reviews the military coup of March 21, 2012 and in a post entitled Un peuple-Un but-Une foi [fr] (‘One people – One Aim – One Faith’), following a brief summary of the current situation, puts the Tuareg rebellion in an historical context.

author: Anna Gueye


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Myanmar: Suspended Dam Project May Reopen Again · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Democratic Voice of Burma reports about a leaked government document which suggests the reopening of a suspended dam project in Myanmar. The dam construction was suspended after it was actively opposed by local communities.