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‘Those Who Tortured Him [Should] Tell Us the Truth’: Tunisian Commission Hears Net Freedom Testimonies From Dictatorship · Global Voices
Dhouha Ben Youssef

Graffiti in memory of cyber-dissident Zouhair Yahyaoui, who was jailed and tortured for running a satirical blog critical of the Ben Ali dictatorship. Photo by Yamen via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Tunisian blogger Zouhair Yahyaoui, who founded the satirical TUNeZINE online forum, was jailed and tortured for publishing “false news”.
His story, and those of many others, are now being brought to the fore as part of a series of public hearings on human rights violations that took place during the rule of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, who governed Tunisia with an iron fist for 23 years before his ousting in January 2011.
Bloggers, activists and relatives of those who were subjected to abuses by the Ben Ali regime for expressing themselves online or accessing banned content, testified about the dictatorship’s violations against freedom of expression and the right to privacy on the internet before Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission.
As part of Tunisia's democratic reforms and transitional justice processes, the Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) was established in December 2013, with the purpose of investigating crimes and abuses dating back to July 1955—just after the country gained autonomy from France—to help build democracy, dismantle the authoritarian system, and end impunity for past crimes and violations.
The authority, which is investigating more than 50,000 complaints, decided to hold public hearings for a number of cases that are of public interest, such as testimonies by women and women’s rights activists, families of protesters killed during the 2010-2011 uprising, those injured during the same uprising, and victims of forced military recruitment. More than 11,000 of the complaints received by the commission relate to violations of freedom of speech, both on and offline.
The commission dedicated one public session solely to internet freedom violations. Broadcast live on national television and streamed online, the session took place two days before the country’s national internet freedom day, which honors the memory of blogger Zouhair Yahyaoui.
The president of the Truth and Dignity Commission, Sihem Ben Sedrine, herself a victim of Ben Ali’s cyber-police, began the session by describing Ben Ali’s information control system which earned Tunisia the title of an “enemy of the internet”:
The repressive system had enormous technical, financial and human means, but also an important network that included the presidency, the ministry of interior, the external communication agency [the Ben Ali regime’s main propaganda agency, now dissolved], the former ruling party with all its branches specialized in monitoring activists’ online content…
In the early 2000s, Ben Ali's repressive system went after Zouhair Yahyaoui, who blogged behind the pen name Ettounsi (The Tunisian), before Tunisian authorities arrested and jailed him. Yahyaoui, a pioneer of cyber-dissidence, founded the TUNeZINE satirical forum in 2001, where he asked his readers to vote on whether Tunisia was a “republic, a kingdom, a zoo or a prison.”
On 4 June 2002, police officers in plainclothes arrested him in a cybercafe, and for four days after his arrest his whereabouts remained unknown. He was later tried and sentenced to two years and four months for “publishing false news.” His sentence was reduced to two years on appeal.
In celebration of the National Internet Freedom Day on 13 March, the Tunisian Post issued two stamps: the first commemorating Zouhair Yahyaoui, while the second is in recognition of the efforts towards a free and open internet in Tunisia.
In a video testimony, journalist Taïeb Moalla told listeners: “I can tell you about Zouhair the victim, but as I knew him he would like to be remembered as a courageous dissident, [for] his satirical writings that weakened the image of Ben Ali.”
For Moalla, who was a friend of Yahyaoui's, the blogger “played a very important role in the Tunisian revolution even though it took place 5 years after his tragic death.” “To those who tortured him, we say that we will not forgive,” he said.
Zouhair’s mother Khadija Yahyaoui also testified about the life of her activist son, and about what he and her entire family were subjected to in government retaliation for her son's activism. “My son was writing only about the truth of what Tunisians were facing, the day he decided to go public and started his blog, he got arrested,” she said. “For a long period, the authorities declined to give us any information about my son….we thought he died in jail! ….all of us were under surveillance.”
Zouhair was released on parole in November 2003. His health was weakened by torture, poor prison conditions, and the several hunger strikes he went on to protest his imprisonment. On 13 March 2005 he died of a heart attack at 37 years of age. “ I’d like to see those who tortured him tell us the truth, then ask us for forgiveness,” Yahyaoui’s mother said at the end of her testimony.
In another testimony, former Global Voices Advocacy Director and founder of the local award-winning collective blog Nawaat Sami Ben Gharbia who filed a complaint against the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) for its internet censorship practices during the dictatorship era, addressed the evolution of internet censorship during the Ben Ali regime. Ben Gharbia remarked:
At the beginning, cyber-censorship in Tunisia was about blocking domain names of blogs like TUNeZINE, Kalima, Nawaat, and so on… then it evolved to keyword censorship, to finally hacking of email accounts and websites, starting from 2008, and through use of Deep Packets Inspection technologies after 2009.
Ben Gharbia, who spent 13 years in forced exile in the Netherlands, also mentioned how the Ben Ali system paid hackers to hack websites of political opponents, human rights defenders and delete their archives. As cyber-dissidents started publishing investigative reports on corruption in the family circles of Ben Ali, on Youtube, DailyMotion, Facebook and Twitter, those platforms were soon to subjected to censorship. Youtube and DailyMotion were entirely blocked until January 2011 in Tunisia, while for Facebook the regime mainly chose to target specific pages and accounts, though the site was blocked for 16 days in 2008.
In his last speech as Tunisia’s president in the evening of 13 January, Ben Ali attempted to appease angry protesters by promising democratic reforms including an end to internet censorship. That night, users in the country were able to access sites like YouTube and DailyMotion without the need to use circumvention tools.
But for Ben Gharbia and other net freedom advocates in Tunisia “it wasn’t Ben Ali who gave back our online freedom of expression,” but rather the reforms that came after, including those initiated by the Tunisian Internet Agency under the leadership of its former CEO Moez Chakchouk. Established in 1996 with the purpose of managing and operating the national Internet Exchange Point (IXP), the Tunisian Internet Agency was required by the Ben Ali regime to host and operate internet censorship and surveillance equipment and software.
Since 2011, the agency has adopted reforms in favor of an open and free internet by taking steps toward more transparency and fighting censorship, most notably challenging and winning a court decision to filter pornography in 2012.
Post-revolution Tunisia further enshrined the principles of freedom of information and expression on the internet, through its new constitution and its adoption of UN Human Rights Council Resolutions promoting and protecting human rights online in 2014 and 2016. But in this new era, attempts to limit online freedoms are still there.
Justified by the several terrorist attacks the country faced, the government in 2013 established new spying agencies, such as the Technical telecommunications agency (ATT), tasked with investigating “ICT crimes” without proper oversight and transparency mechanisms that would ensure protection of user rights.
Today, the internet remains uncensored in Tunisia, and while filtering and blocking of websites and content may not be a concern to users, activists remain wary of surveillance practices. Tunisia is now in need of “a better enforcement of the right to privacy,” and this “obliges us to remain vigilant of the return of old practices of arbitrary cyber surveillance especially as those who work in this agency are, in part, former employees of Ammar404,” Ben Gharbia said, referring to the nickname Tunisian netizens gave to the country’s internet censorship and surveillance apparatus, in reference to the infamous “404 not found” error message that appears when users attempt to access blocked content.
It remains unclear whether and how Tunisia’s transitional justice process will impact future internet freedom policies, but there is no doubt that the public hearing session of 11 March was historic. For a country once described as an “internet enemy”, acknowledging its abusive past is the first step toward genuine reform, even if challenges remain.

author: Dhouha Ben Youssef


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Brazil’s Deadly Prison System and the Internet Comedians Cheering It On · Global Voices
John Razen

Brazil's prison population has grown 161 per cent between 2000 and 2014. Photo: Screenshot of Human Rights Watch's documentary “Brazil: Where Inmates Run the Show”
Brazil is currently experiencing an unprecedented crisis in its prison system. In just two weeks earlier this year, riots in prisons across eight states left more than 130 dead. The situation has not only brought attention to the prison system's violence, but also highlighted a vocal segment of Brazilian society cheering on the bloodshed.
According to the newspaper El País, the recent killings in Brazilian prisons are the result of the collapse of a “peace pact” that's existed for almost two decades between the country's two biggest criminal factions: the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC, First Command of the Capital), headquartered in São Paulo, and the Comando Vermelho (CV, Red Command), based in Rio de Janeiro. To make matters worse, both groups have at their disposal vast constellations of smaller regional gangs.
On Jan. 1, sixty-four detainees were killed in the Anísio Jobim Prison in Manaus. The victims were mostly members of PCC, whose hegemony came under attack by the local group Família do Norte (FDN, Family from the North). Throughout the month, similar attacks followed across Brazil.
In addition to controlling the weapons and drugs traffic in large urban centers in Brazil, the CV and the PCC, which formed inside prisons in 1970 and 1990, respectively, have established themselves as the unofficial administrators of the country's prisons. For 20 years, a pact between the two groups preserved a fragile peace, also bringing down homicides in several cities.
Late last year, the truce apparently broke down, and Brazilian prisons have been a war zone ever since.
Human rights violations, including torture and extrajudicial killings, are not uncommon among the Brazilian security forces. Massacres carried out by police officers, in and out of uniform, have been worryingly frequent on the outskirts of large cities since the 1990s. In 2015, a report by the international organization Human Rights Watch described the Brazilian prison system as a “disaster on human rights.”
Brutal as the prison system is, it has many supporters in Brazil. Extreme rhetoric that used to be limited to the political fringe has surged into in the mainstream and on social media. Some on the right now openly support the “elimination” of individuals deemed to be socially “undesirable.” And they want it made part of the state's official policy on domestic security.
During one recent spike in prison violence, the Facebook page Direita ao Vivo (Live Right) published a spreadsheet ranking prisons according to the deadliness of their riots, calling it the “Correctional Games Champions League.” First place went to the now shuttered Carandiru Penitentiary in São Paulo, the site of the largest prison massacre in Brazilian history, where military police executed 111 prisoners in 1992. Direita ao Vivo satirizes and celebrates the war between the country's two criminal factions, likening it to a game, while subscribers leave comments cheering for more deaths.
Direita ao Vivo's “Correctional Games Champions League.” Image: Facebook
And there are plenty more jokesters online approvingly mocking the extermination of incarcerated people. YouTube star Marcela Tavares, whose audience exceeds 400,000 subscribers, proposed replacing the Brazilian version of the TV show “Big Brother” with something called “Big Brother Bandit,” saying prisons should broadcast their massacres on television for home entertainment. At the end of his video, she told her audience cryptically, “Who says I'm joking?”
Internet comedians aren't alone in supporting violence against Brazil's prison population. National Youth Secretary Bruno Júlio said in an interview, “There should be more deaths. There should be a massacre every week.” He was ultimately pressured to resign, but approval from supporters poured in on Facebook.
Congressman Major Olímpio raised eyebrows, too, when he posted a death count, referring to the Gericinó correctional facility in Bangu.
Olímpio belongs to the National Congress’ so-called “bullet caucus” — a coalition of tough-on-crime conservative deputies who advocate arming the population and boosting the state's policing powers.
When it comes to Brazil's prisons, the national rhetoric has been growing more bloodthirsty for years. With the penitentiary system now in open chaos, some public officials and Internet users are actually encouraging the violence, welcoming it as a necessary “purge.” Criminal penalties are tougher now, too. There are more crimes on the books, and incarceration periods are longer than ever.
Together with the drug war, this crackdown is fueling a kind of “penal populism” that has swelled the prison system beyond capacity.
According to Penitentiary Integrated Information System (Infopen), a research institute within Brazil's Justice Ministry, the prison population grew 161 percent between 2000 and 2014, making it the fourth largest internationally. Also worrying is the fact that roughly 40 percent of these inmates never went to trial.
Despite the explosion of policing and imprisoning, Brazil's crime rates remain sky high. In fact, the country maintains the eleventh highest homicide rate in the world, with an average of 32.4 homicides per 100,000 people. And the chaos of Brazilian prisons may have contributed with the growth of the very criminal organizations that are, today, at the center of this crisis.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: John Razen


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Chinese Lawmakers Seek to Protect Dead Communist Heroes With New Law · Global Voices
Jack Hu

Lei Feng has been depicted as a national hero since 1963.
China's national parliamentary body recently passed legislation for the country's first expansive civil code, which will help judges decide legal disputes on property, contracts, inheritance, and marriage.
The new code, which is expected to be adopted in 2020, builds on the few existing civil laws in the communist country. Of the current 126 additions tabled by the legislature, the most controversial is to make the defaming of national communist “heroes and martyrs” a civil offence.
Critics are worried the new ‘hero law’ could have a chilling effect on academic and historical inquiry in China. Many academics believe narratives about national heroes have been manipulated or fabricated for the propose of ideological control by the ruling Communist Party. The new rule states:
侵害英雄、烈士的姓名、肖像、名譽、榮譽，損害社會公共利益的，應當承擔民事責任。
Encroaching upon the name, portrait, reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs harms the public interest, and should bear civil liability.
Law professor Fang Liufang raised a series of questions on the hero law:
什么是“英烈”？“英烈”如何证明？哪个政府能颁发有效证明？古代有没有？如果古代也有，“英烈”的名誉保护追溯到哪个年代，春秋战国还是唐、宋、元、明、清、民国？如果古代没有“英烈”，那又为什么？更重要的是，谁能代表“英烈”向法院起诉？
What is a hero? How can you prove that a person is a hero? Which government can provide a certification for that? Did we have that in ancient times? If yes, are we to trace back and protect heroes starting from a particular historical moment? From the Chunqui Period or Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic of China? If not, why not? More importantly, who can represent “heroes” in courts?
China has been trying to write a civil code since 1954. Under Communist rule it made little progress until 1985, when an inheritance law was passed. In 1999, a contract law was passed and a property law passed in 2007. But major gaps remain. China has a civil-law system, which means laws are crucial references for judges. Unlike common-law countries, such as Britain and America, Chinese judges do not have precedent, or previous rulings by courts, to turn to when deciding verdicts.
China hopes the new civil code will provide a stable legal framework for its 1.3 billion rapidly evolving society and its increasingly complex disputes. But for some, the new code is being seen as another tool for government control:
这法 那法改来改去，一切都是为了制民！为了自身权力的稳固而己……只要对权力有利的，任何法都可以改，因为我们百姓没有选举权！
All these changes in law are aimed at controlling citizens! Just for the stability of the ruling power……any law could be changed as long as it’s good for the power because we don’t have the right to vote!
谁有制定英雄的专利？又是政府？
Who has the right to define a hero? The government again?
什么人才算是真正的英雄？什么样的行为属于抹黑？这些问题不解决这类法律条文注定会成为某些人大兴“文字狱”的借口和工具。
Who can be called a hero? What actions can be defined as defaming? Without solving these questions these kinds of provisions could become excuses and tools for literary inquisition.
The most well-known example is Lei Feng. His image, as a role model serviceman, has survived decades of political change in China. Lei and his ‘selfless spirit’ and ‘fanatic loyalty’ to the party’s leader Mao has been promoted by the party.
Many ask how Lei, who was nearly illiterate, could have possibly written the voluminous diaries that are attributed to him. Others question the authenticity of pictures shot by professional photographers of Lei doing good deeds, even though he was a common soldier.
Outside China, many scholars have concluded that the story of Lei Feng is certainly a fabrication.
Against this background, Peking University legal professor He Weifang slammed the new rule as “unacceptable” in an interview with Wall Street Journal last week as there was no legal standard for deciding who qualifies as a hero. Many from the legal sector shared his view.
Even before the amendment was tabled for review, there have been a number of court cases involving “defaming heroes”.
Last year, in August, an editor of historical books, Hong Zhenkuai, was ordered by a Beijing court to apologize publicly for defaming anti-Japanese heroes after he published two articles to question the party’s narrative of the “Five Heroes of Langya Mountain”.
The tale of how the five men fended off Japanese troops atop a mountain peak in Hebei Province, choosing to smash their weapons and leap rather than surrender, has been memorialized in textbooks, museums, paintings and plays. But the editor’s articles suggest the truth may be not as heroic as propagandized.
Hong's insistence to dig into historical fact has been labelled as “historical nihilism” and the ruling China Community Party has considered it a major ideological battlefield. An article from CCP's publication, Red Flag, published a survey on “historical nihilism” in a dozen universities in January 2017 and spelled out its political impact on China’ socialist path:
一些针对革命领袖、民族英雄、爱国志士的恶搞“段子”、恶搞视频，就是历史虚无主义错误言论和历史观、价值观利用各种论坛、博客、微博、微信以及新型视频网站散播的。
Stories, videos mocking revolution leaders, national heroes and patriotic figures are historical nihilism. They spread misinformation and false historical view through forums, blogs, Weibo, Wechat and video platforms.
历史虚无主义思潮在互联网上的传播和蔓延，致使一部分学生接受它的观点，甚至对正确历史观和正确价值观产生了怀疑；高校学术研究中普遍存在重学术轻是非的研究导向，导致师生缺乏辨别、判断历史虚无主义观点的标尺，更缺乏判断理论是非的引导。
The wide distribution of historical nihilism has misled students into questioning the rightful historical view and value. In university academic research, academic questions trump “right and wrong”. Teachers and students have lost their judgement in historical nihilism, and failed to distinguish which are the right theories.
The publication concludes that those who question the Communist Party's historical narratives, are “western tools for sustaining global hegemony.”
对历史虚无主义认同的人，同样比较认同新自由主义。研究苏联解体的历史不难发现，新自由主义与历史虚无主义往往同时在经济、政治、意识形态等多个领域相互影响，相互作用。从根本上看，这两种思潮具有相同的价值取向和政治立场，都是西方国家推行全球霸权战略的工具，它们分别从历史维度和现实维度否定中国共产党的领导，否定社会主义道路…
Those who tend to identify with historical nihilism, also tend to identify with neoliberalism. As found in the studies of the disintegration of USSR, the two sets of ideologies have close co-relation in economic, political and ideological domain. Fundamentally speaking, the two school of thoughts shared similar values and political views and they are western tools for sustaining global hegemony. They deny CCP's leadership and socialist path by reinterpreting history and reality…

author: Jack Hu


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Don’t Make Russia’s Anti-Kremlin Opposition Angry. You Wouldn’t Like It When It’s Angry. · Global Voices
Isaac Webb

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Source: Navalny.com
What started out as a playful response to an attack on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny quickly turned into an online protest on Monday.
Navalny, a Kremlin critic whose Anti-Corruption Foundation has led investigations of some of Russia's most powerful politicians—including, most recently, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev—was sprayed with green antiseptic while on a campaign stop in the Siberian city of Barnaul on Monday morning. Shortly thereafter, Russian oppositioners began posting photos of themselves in green face paint on social media in solidarity.
After being doused outside his campaign headquarters on Monday, Navalny painted his whole face green and called on his supporters to join him in a nationwide protest against corruption on Sunday. “All I wanted to say is that if the Kremlin really thinks that I won't record new videos with a green face, they're wrong,” Navalny said in a video posted on YouTube. “I will keep recording them, because with such a face I'll get even more views. This isn't going to stop me in any way.  I'd like to ask you all to participate in the anti-corruption rallies that will take place all across the country on March 26.”
Within hours, Navalny's supporters began an online “flashmob,” posting photos of themselves covered in green face paint on social media. Vika Navalnaya, the wife of Navalny's brother Oleg, who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for embezzlement in December 2014, posted a picture of her and her son in green face paint on Instagram.
Жена и сын Олега Навального! pic.twitter.com/6zWxdSPUNO
— Соболь Любовь (@SobolLubov) March 20, 2017
The wife and son of Oleg Navalny!
Some supported Navalny using the #зеленыйНавальный (#GreenNavalny) hashtag.
Решили тут @Litvinenko_aa1 поддержать флэшмоб! #зеленыйНавальный #Навальный208 @navalny pic.twitter.com/NiXGfQgyti
— Соболь Любовь (@SobolLubov) March 20, 2017
We decided to support the flashmob here! #GreenNavalny #Navalny20[1]8
Алексей, казанский штаб с тобой! Поддерживаем! #ЗеленыйНавальный pic.twitter.com/7mWTAyWUCb
— Эльвира Дмитриева (@El_Dmi) March 20, 2017
Alexei, the Kazan [campaign] headquarters is with you! We support you! #GreenNavalny
Nikolai Danilov. Source: Alexey Yushenkov, Facebook.
Others, meanwhile, made more public demonstrations of support: the blogger Nikolai Danilov took his protest to the Kremlin, where he was detained by police, who told him he was violating Red Square protest rules by wearing green face paint. Danilov told the website Meduza:
Мне сказали, что со мной провели уважительную беседу, я сказал, что тоже уважаю их мнение, но я 40 минут потратил на то, чтобы покраситься в зеленый цвет. Я вел себя абсолютно нормально, не выкрикивал лозунгов — просто хотел сделать несколько фотографий. Мы нашли в итоге компромисс — я возвращаюсь на ту же точку, где меня забрали, и продолжаю делать несколько фотографий. Что я и сделал
They told me that they had had a respectful conversation with me, and I said that I also valued their opinion but that I had spent 40 minutes painting my face green. I comported myself absolutely normally, not shouting any slogans—I just wanted to take a few photos. In the end, we found a compromise—I returned to where I was picked up, and continued to take pictures.
Navalny, who announced in December that he would challenge Vladimir Putin in the March 2018 presidential elections, has faced hurdles at every turn of his campaign. He was found guilty of embezzlement in December and was given a five-year suspended sentence, meaning that he is legally barred from running for office. In January, federal regulators pressured the PayPal-like service Yandex.Money into blocking political donations from individuals, thereby eliminating one of the Navalny campaign's most significant sources of funding.
Navalny has also been the victim of physical attacks in the past: among other incidents, in February 2016, a protester threw a pie in Navalny's face, and one month later two unidentified men threw pies and condoms filled with a white liquid him. In May of last year, Navalny and his supporters were beaten up at an airport in Anapa, a city in southern Russia. And recently, Navalny's opponents in Ufa, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Kemerovo, and Novosibirsk have thrown eggs at him.
Navalny is not the only politician to have been doused in green: last month, an unidentified man used a syringe to shoot green dye in the eyes of opposition politician Mikhail Kasyanov. Novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya and Igor Kaplyan, the head of Russia's Committee for the Prevention of Torture, have also been attacked with various green substances, though it's unclear if there is any meaning to the color green.

author: Isaac Webb


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Jamaican Activist Arrested Under Cybercrime Law Amid Her Campaign Against Sexual Violence · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The “cutting and clearing” dance during the Tambourine Army's march against sexual abuse and gender violence in Kingston, Jamaica. Photo by Storm Saulter on March 11, 2017, used with permission
Jamaican prosecutors are testing the limits of the country's relatively new Cybercrime Law with a case against Latoya Nugent, an activist who has publicly named alleged perpetrators of sexual violence via social media.
Nugent was arrested last week and charged under Jamaica's Cybercrime Act for “use of a computer for malicious communication.” She has since been released on bail.
Nugent is the co-founder Tambourine Army, a new movement led by women and survivors of sexual violence who are talking openly about their experiences, both online and in public. Triggered by revelations of child sexual abuse by Moravian Church pastor Paul Gardner, the Tambourine Army has garnered support online and off, in a public march in the capital city of Kingston that took place in February. It also has triggered heated debate online in Jamaica.
One of the Army's more controversial tactics is the #SayTheirNames hashtag, where they encourage women to come forward with their stories of sexual abuse by naming the perpetrators before they've had a chance to defend themselves before a judge. Nugent was arrested for identifying several men as sexual predators on social media, some of whom lodged formal complaints with the police.
Campaign supporters reason that Jamaica's laws surrounding sexual violence and domestic abuse (including the Sexual Offences Act of 2009) place disproportionate burden on the victim, a topic of critical concern in Jamaica and elsewhere. Rape and abuse are also massively underreported in the country because of a culture of victim-shaming and stigma.
But the case against Latoya Nugent also raises new questions about the application of Jamaica's Cybercrime Law when it comes to online speech.
Similar to other cybercrime laws around the globe, Jamaica's legislation leaves room for interpretation when it comes to unlawful or “malicious” communication. In an offline setting, Nugent's act of naming and shaming perpetrators of sexual violence would most likely be classified as defamation. In 2013, Jamaica reformed its defamation regime to be treated as a matter of civil — not criminal — law. In short, this means that if a person is convicted of defamation in Jamaica, they can be made to pay damages, but cannot be given a prison sentence.
If she had named perpetrators in a public offline space, authorities may not have had legal grounds for her arrest.
Had the Tambourine Army named perpetrators in a public offline space, authorities may not have had legal grounds for her arrest. But the vague language of the Cybercrime Act appears to have given them just that.
Commenting on the case for the Jamaica Gleaner, human rights lawyer Tenesha Myrie wrote:
The use of the Cybercrimes Act, in particular, Section 9, which makes it an offence to use a computer for malicious communication, appears to be an attempt to criminalise defamation through the back door.
The case is an example of new challenges activists face as speech is increasingly policed by various kinds of cybercrime legislation in the world.
Following Nugent's arrest, Jamaican blogger Annie Paul described her feeling that there were “dark days ahead for freedom of speech” — a perception that had resonance region-wide.
The Tambourine Army march has become part of what is being called a historic, regional protest against gender-based violence. Similar marches have happened in Barbados (through the #LifeInLeggings movement), in Guyana, in the Bahamas and in Trinidad and Tobago, where activist Tillah Willah made a call for solidarity with Nugent:
[…] We all see this for what it really is – a witch hunt for a group of activists who are challenging a society that does not want to confront its problems with child sexual abuse and other manifestations of gender based violence.
In February 2017, after some social media users were circulating gruesome images of female murder victims, Trinidad and Tobago's attorney general said that he intends to bring amendments to The Cybercrime Bill to Cabinet in order to curb such irresponsible online behaviour. The legislation may also apply to “reckless users” who, by sharing unverified information, cause people to panic or be fearful.
Trinidadian Facebook user Shaz Hudson shared the GoFundMe page aimed at raising funds for Nugent's legal expenses, and warned her compatriots to “please be vigilant”:
Please be AWARE of bills being considered in our own parliament about how we use social media and how we speak and what it will mean. When it comes to laws, it pays to be a little bit paranoid and consider the worst case scenarios. Look at the loopholes and how the wording of the law can be manipulated.
Nugent's next court appearance is scheduled for March 22. Until then, the debate will no doubt continue.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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This Is How a Russian School Principal Talked to Her Students About Patriotism · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

At a school outside Bryansk, about 350 miles southwest of Moscow, the principal sat down last week with a class of students to talk about anti-corruption activist and opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
Principal Kira Gribanovskaya drops some truth bombs on her foolish pupils. Photo: Alexey Navalny
Why the sudden heart-to-heart? Police had just grabbed Maxim Losyev, one of the school’s students, straight out of the classroom for urging classmates to attend an unsanctioned demonstration on March 26 calling for an investigation into corruption allegations against Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Losyev also created a student group in support of Alexey Navalny, whose Anti-Corruption Foundation published an investigation earlier this month accusing Medvedev of masterminding a vast and illicit private empire.
In an effort to prevent further activism, the school’s principal — reportedly a woman named Kira Petrovna Gribanovskaya, referring to herself in the third person — discouraged the class from supporting Navalny, and even questioned the room’s intelligence and patriotism, when students challenged her assertion that Russia is in the middle of a “civil war.”
One of the students recorded the meeting with Gribanovskaya, and leaked the footage on social media. This weekend, the news site Meduza transcribed the nine-minute encounter. You can read the Russian transcript here, and listen to the Russian audio below.
Principal: Raisa Aleksandrova [the homeroom teacher], may I say something? This is for those who have taken an interest in Navalny’s activities: Okay, he proposes that we smear our top leaders. He says, “No to corruption” and so on. But what specific actions does he propose? Assemble for a protest? Tell [Medvedev] what a jerk he is?
Student 1: He just wants answers. He filmed a video about Medvedev, and he wants answers from the authorities.
Principal: And so what?
Student 1: And the authorities are silent.
Principal: No, hold on. If you film a video about Kira Petrovna, and write about how she’s this way and that way, how she’s not doing her job, and how there are cockroaches running around all over the school, and you come out to protest, demanding answers — do you think I’ll come out to have a conversation with you?
Student 2: No.
Principal: And he [Medvedev] won’t, either! It’s a joke! A political platform is about concrete actions: strengthening the economy, developing various plans. What Navalny is doing is a pure provocation. Do you get it? You still don’t understand this. I’ll tell you this straight: right now, our economic situation is very unstable. It’s an economic pit. And why’s all this happening? You’ve taken social studies and all that. You know that we’re basically living under an economic blockade in this country. But I want to hear what you think. What’s going on right now?
Student 2: A crisis.
Principal: And what’s causing this crisis?
[Unintelligible voices]
Student 2: Sanctions, the European Union, this whole blockade.
Principal: One more time — what’s the cause? The European Union, right? And our leader is managing a very stable and very strong policy. He has an enormously high rating on the world stage. Due to what? Due to foreign policy. [Russia’s] domestic policy, of course, is rather weak. Why? Well, because there’s no money. And we’re feeling that now, most of all…
Student 2: And what exactly is our foreign policy? America is against us. Europe is against us.
Principal: And why’s that? Tell me: what’s the reason?
Student 2: Because of Crimea. We basically took it.
Principal: And do you think that’s bad?
Homeroom teacher: But did we really take it? There was a referendum there…
Principal: Okay, tell me what happened, from your point of view. I actually want to know. Tell me. Maybe there’s some side to this that I don’t know.
Student 2: I mean, why did they impose sanctions against us?
Principal: You just answered your own question a moment ago.
Homeroom teacher: As a show of force. Because they wanted to show their strength.
Student 2: Because of Crimea.
Principal: You know why… And why did the whole war in Ukraine start in the first place?
Student 2: Well, because of the revolution…
Principal: Because of the what?
Student 2: The transition of power.
Principal: Kid, you haven’t read anything about this and you don’t know a thing. You’ve got some very superficial knowledge here. What started this whole conflict? Maybe it was because America stuck its nose in?
Student 2: It didn’t intervene openly.
[Unintelligible voices]
Principal: And Crimea up and went where? And how did America react to this?
Student 2: Did you see American troops in Ukraine?
Principal: And did you see Russian troops in Ukraine?
Student 2: Yes. There are videos going around — you have no idea.
Principal: The videos are staged, for starters.
Homeroom teacher: And you shouldn’t believe them…
[Unintelligible voices]
Student 2: I’ve heard a lot of information that friends of certain people are there…
Principal: Guys, I can see that you’re looking at this problem one-sidedly. And that you lack range in your political view. It’s a very narrow problem: you see Navalny, you watch his video, and — boom — you believe it all. You don’t have your own opinion about this issue — only what’s being imposed on you. And so sometimes you embrace sources that are unverified or maybe even outright provocative.
Homeroom teacher: Like puppets…
Student 2: And what if our opinion coincides with his?
Principal: But do you even have an opinion? You go ahead and read. I’m pushing you not just to look at these sources… If they say that, yeah, it’s bad here, then look at other sources.
Homeroom teacher: Challenge every fact!
Student 2: Okay, but we’re not looking at a single source.
Principal: Well, apparently you’re only looking in a single direction.
Student 1: Yeah and our TV networks only show what’s good for the government…
Principal: You’re not listening to Voice of America?
Student 1: They [Russian TV networks] aren’t going to show us anything else.
Principal: I got it. Somehow, we messed up your civic education. In terms of civics, you’ve got big shortcomings. Do you all mean to tell me that there are no patriots in your class?
Student: And what does it mean to be a patriot? That you support the authorities?
Principal: I was speaking to Nikita…
Homeroom teacher: I apologize. [Students], please, organize a neighborhood clean-up group on your streets.
Principal: Guys, raise your hands: how many of you do any volunteer work?
[Silence]
Principal: And what’s volunteering for? There’s your civic position! You don’t need to be looking down from on high at Putin and Medvedev. Look at our neighborhood!
Student 2: And the volunteering that’s organized and supported by United Russia [the country’s ruling political party]?
Principal: Yes.
Student 2: Well, we’re against United Russia.
[Laughter]
Student 2: You see.
Homeroom teacher: Why do you say “we”?
Student 2: Raise your hand, anybody who’s against United Russia.
Student 1: I’m against them.
[Other voices: Is that everyone? Anyone else?]
Student 2: We’re against United Russia.
Principal: And you’re for what exactly?
Student 1: We’re for justice.
Principal: And what exactly is justice?
Student: It’s what we don’t have right now.
Student 1: Justice is when the authorities care about their people, and not just about themselves. When they care about ordinary citizens, and not about their millions [of dollars]. Many people want to live in a free state, in a free country…
Principal: So you think that life in this country got worse with the arrival of Putin and Medvedev?
Student 1: No, but they’ve stayed too long. They’ve just been there [in power] for too long.
Student 2: Yeah.
Principal: Did you live in some other era that I somehow missed? Under whom did you live well? And under Putin and Medvedev things got worse for you?
Student 2: We’ve studied history.
Principal: Naturally.
Student 2: Well…
Principal: What does “well” mean? I’m asking you, specifically you: Under what ruler did you live well? What do you mean “well”?
Student 2: We’ve only ever had one ruler, actually.
Principal: You said that things have become worse. But you never lived through the hard years of the 1990s. When, forgive me for saying this, everyone carried around a blade and a firearm, and the country was in chaos. And this was when I was studying in college! This was when it was scary to go out into the street after eight at night. You didn’t see this.
Student 2: And you want that all over again?
Homeroom teacher: You’re the ones who want that!
Student 2: They just arrested a person for absolutely nothing. They carried him off to the police station.
Principal: This is civil war.
Student 2: This is lawlessness.
Principal: That’s true — it’s lawlessness. Because what is the aim of any protest or any schism?
Homeroom teacher: Political crisis, and then civil war.
Principal: And then civil war. Fratricide.
Homeroom teacher: You want it to be like in Ukraine? Or like it was for us in [19]17?
Student 2: We don’t want these officials.
Homeroom teacher: Tell me: can you actually do this right now? How?
Student 2: Well, just gather together.
Homeroom teacher: And then when?
Student 2: There will be a crowd.
Homeroom teacher: A crowd. And then what?
Student 2: People will at least see. They’ll see that there are citizens.
Homeroom teacher: Citizens. In other words, a bunch of [young] people led by adults with nothing to lose, so to speak.
Principal: Guys, we tried, at least, to warn you about all this, and let you know. What’s happening now is called polemics, and nobody needs it. Regardless, what you need now… I’m advising you, I’m not insisting, but I’m advising that you listen to what we said, and you draw your own conclusions. More than anything, I’m thinking about your future.
Homeroom teacher: Remember that a lot is at stake.
Principal: I put up a fight with these law enforcement officers. I tried to defend Maxim. I said that these were just some juvenile antics that nobody needed. Believe me, he’s not having a good time right now. Not at all. I don’t want any of you to land in a similar situation. Everything that you’ve said here from behind your desks has been empty words. I’m telling you again: get up, grow up, and make something of yourselves. That’s the right thing to do.
Homeroom teacher: Guys, I’ll ask you again: think, think…

author: Kevin Rothrock


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UAE Authorities Arrest One Rights Activist and Extend the Detention of Another · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

In 2011, Ahmed Mansoor was jailed for insulting UAE leaders. Photo by Martin Ennals Foundation, via Citizen Lab.
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have detained prominent human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, and extended the detention of activist Osama al-Najjar despite him having completed his sentence.
Twelve security officers raided and searched the house of Mansoor in the early hours of 20 March. They detained Mansoor without telling his wife where he was being taken, according to Amnesty International. Mansoor's whereabouts remain unknown and human rights groups are concerned that he may be at risk of ill-treatment while in custody.
According to the state news agency WAM, Mansoor stands accused of using social media “to publish false information and rumors as well as promoting a sectarian and hate-incited agenda.”
Mansoor is a tireless human rights activist and an active social media user with more than 17k Twitter followers. He is the 2015 laureate of the Martin Ennals Foundation, which supports human rights defenders who are at risk.
In 2011, he and four other activists were jailed in relation to their connections to UAEHewar.net, an online discussion forum run by Mansoor. Mansoor used the forum to publish a petition calling for democratic reforms in the UAE. He was accused of insulting UAE leaders and was sentenced to three years in jail, but was released on presidential pardon after spending three years in jail. Mansoor is “one of the few voices within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who provides a credible independent assessment of human rights developments in the country,” the Martin Ennals Foundation's portrait of the activist reads.
On Twitter, he regularly posts about human rights violations in UAE, which is an absolute monarchy. Just a few days before his arrest, he tweeted his concern about the continuous and arbitrary detention of Osama al-Najjar, who has not been released despite completing his three-year jail sentence.
#الحرية_لإسامة النجار، فقد انتهت مدة حكمه ولم تطلق السلطات في #الإمارات سراحة في بادرة خطيرة وغير مسبوقة وربما ستشكل نهج قادم لسجناء الرأي.
— Ahmed Mansoor (@Ahmed_Mansoor) March 19, 2017
Freedom to Osama al-Najjar. His prison sentence has ended, but authorities in the Emirates have not released him, in a dangerous and unprecedented step that could represent a future tactic against prisoners of opinion.
Osama Al-Najjar remains in detention, despite completing his jail sentence. Photo Credit: the activist's Twitter account
Al-Najjar was arrested three years ago for posting tweets expressing concern that his father had been tortured in prison, and calling for his release and that of other prisoners of conscience in the Emirates. He has been in prison since March 2014 for expressing himself online, remains in what human rights groups describe as unlawful and arbitrary detention.
Osama's father, Hussain Al-Najjar is one of 94 activists prosecuted en masse in 2013 for calling for political reform in the Emirates on charges related to “harming State Security”. He is currently serving 11 years in prison.
In November 2014, the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court, whose verdicts cannot be appealed, sentenced Osama to three years in jail on a number of vague and draconian charges including “instigating hatred” against the state and “designing and running a website [with] satirical and defaming ideas and information”. Following his arrest the activist was held incommunicado for fours days, during which he was tortured. For six months after his arrest he was denied access to a lawyer.
Although Osama had completed his sentence as of March 17, 2017, he remains in detention. According to the Gulf Center for Human Rights, the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court extended his detention at the request of the Public Prosecution under the pretext that the activist's release “poses a threat”. The court, however, did not determine for how long this detention will last.
In its ongoing clampdown on human rights defenders and political activists, the UAE authorities deploy several repressive tactics including arbitrary and incommunicado detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, unfair trials, deportations, and revocation of citizenships.

author: Afef Abrougui


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With Romance and Nostalgia, This Comic Is Taking on Corruption in Mexico · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Image of The Anti-Corruption Book, shared by @AlexPulidoG on his public Twitter profile.
In Mexico, the fight against corruption has inspired the creation of a think tank, throwing tomatoes at corrupt politicians through the #JitomatazoMx campaign, and most recently: a comic book.
Stylized along the lines of the iconic romance series The Cowboy Book, which is set in the “wild west” at the end of the 19th century, the Anti-Corruption Book is quickly getting the reputation of being “The Cowboy Book of Anti-Corruption.” The laboratory of public politics Ethos launched the Anti-Corruption Book in March 2017, and it shows how citizens can avoid becoming victims, or even accomplices, to corruption in everyday situations.
The version created by Ethos is digitized with sound and image effects, which adds a deeper immersive experience than traditional print. Referring to the original cowboy series, Ethos shared the following announcement on their website:
Cabe destacar que el Libro Vaquero tiene sus orígenes en 1978, y alcanza un tiraje de 118,000 ejemplares de manera quincenal. La misma cantidad de ejemplares del Libro Anticorrupción serán encartados en la próxima edición. Otros 20,000 ejemplares de las historietas sobre corrupción serán distribuidos en espacios públicos y universidades con ayuda de integrantes de la sociedad civil.
It seems fit to highlight that Cowboy Book has it’s origins in 1978, and will achieve the printing of 118,00 copies on a fortnightly basis. The same amount of the Anti-corruption Book copies will be included the next edition. Another 20,000 copies of the anti-corruption comic strips will be distributed in public spaces and universities with the support of members of civil society.
The Animal Politico website reported:
Con el objetivo de informar y empoderar a la ciudadanía para evitar la corrupción y denunciar los casos que vean, Ethos Laboratorio presentó el Libro Vaquero Anticorrupción este miércoles 1 de marzo.
En las páginas del Libro Vaquero Anticorrupción, los lectores encontrarán historias que servirán para informar, con lenguaje coloquial, sobre el problema de la corrupción y para explicar cómo funciona el Sistema Nacional Anticorrupción.
With the objective to inform and empower citizens in order to avoid and report any cases of corruption witnessed, Ethos Laboratorio presented el Libro Vaquero Anticorruption this Wednesday 1 March.
Within the pages of el Libro Vaquero Anticorruption, readers will find stories written in colloquial language that will inform them about the problem of corruption and of how the National Anticorruption System works.
The National Anti-corruption System is a framework of public institutions (some existing, others to be created) that looks to prevent, detect and penalize the corrupt actions committed by society and Mexican public servants. It’s creation was announced in May 2015.
On Twitter, users like Antonio T. Carreño welcomed the publication:
La lucha #anticorrupción es responsabilidad de todos, recomendable leer #LibroVaquero de Ethos https://t.co/QwIKi4gUr8
— Antonio T Carreño (@atcarreno) 2 de marzo de 2017
The fight against #anticorruption is the responsibility of everyone, recommendable to read #CowboyBook from Ethos
Alejandro Pulido G. shared the following image:
#LibroVaquero se suma a la lucha #anticorrupción: @HuffPostMexico
Entrevista: https://t.co/mr2yKo2hxk
Historieta: https://t.co/huzD8r1qwMpic.twitter.com/298OWewg3a
— Alejandro Pulido G. (@AlexPulidoG) 2 de marzo de 2017
#LibroVaquero adds to the fight #anticorruption @HuffPostMexico
Interview: http://m.huffingtonpost.com.mx/2017/03/01/el-libro-vaquero-se-suma-a-la-lucha-contra-la-corrupcion/?utm_hp_ref=mx-homepage …
Comic-strip: http://issuu.com/ellibrovaquero/docs/sna_formacion_pg01-164p?e=8638937/45041600 …
On his own behalf, José Luis Chicoma, Ethos Director General, shared the following message:
Nuestro Libro Vaquero Anticorrupción. Contamos con historietas situaciones de abuso y complicidad. @ethoslabmxhttps://t.co/G28bUovvqY
— Jose Luis Chicoma (@joseluischicoma)
Our Anti-Corruption Cowboy Book. We tell of situations of abuse and complicity through comic-strips.
The complete works can be found free of charge on the Ethos website.

author: J. Tadeo


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Angola Is on Its Way to Ban Abortion Entirely and Women Are Fighting Back · Global Voices
Dércio Tsandzana

Hundreds of women protested in Luanda on Saturday 18 March against the criminalization of abortion. Photo: Ondjango Feminista/Facebook, published with permission
Hundreds of women protested in Luanda against a new penal code, which calls for a total prohibition of abortion in Angola–even in cases of rape–and proposes up to ten years in prison for women who have abortions.
If this version of the new code is approved, Angola would join the only six countries in the world which currently ban abortion in all cases: Malta, Vatican, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Chile. In contrast, Mozambique revised its laws and made abortion legal on request, in 2014, joining Cape Verde, South Africa and Tunisia as the only countries in Africa with no restrictions on abortion.
The protest was organized on social media after the National Assembly approved a preliminary version of the code to replace an already restrictive abortion law in place since 1886.
Outside parliament, one of the strongest proponents of the new legislation is the Catholic Church. The spokesperson of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé (CEAST), José Manuel Imbamba, stated that “life must be defended at any stage”.
The old abortion law, a, legacy from Portuguese colonial rule, already prohibited the optional interruption of pregnancy, but left exceptions in cases of rape, malformation of the foetus, or when the mother’s life was in danger. The current version of the new penal code prohibits abortion entirely, and proposes four to ten years in prison for women who have abortions, in contrast to the old sentences of two to eight years.
The final vote could happen at the next parliamentary plenary session on March 23, even though some parliamentary members, following the protests, have requested a postponement.
Carrying banners with the slogans “No coffin, no prison: I am free!” and “Criminalizing kills”, protestors walked in the early afternoon from Santana cemetery to the Largo das Heroínas, in the central region of Luanda.
The collective Ondjango Feminista helped organize the march and posted various videos on Facebook during the protest.
Several women also made speeches at the end of the march:
The subject generated innumerable reactions on social media over the week, including that of Isabel dos Santos, the Angolan president’s daughter.
On Instagram she posted a message from the lawyer Ana Paula Godinho, one of the march’s organizers:
Queridas mulheres Angolanas, hoje é um dia de tristeza para mim. Peço-vos que vejam o que foi aprovado na Assembleia da República relativamente à matéria do aborto no novo código Penal. Antes de fazer qualquer comentário, faço um apelo a todas as deputadas, da situação e da oposição. Olhem com olhos de ver para o que foi aprovado. Lembrem-se que o Código Penal de 1886 era mais favorável à mulher, sobretudo nos casos de violação e de má formação do feto, (aborto eugénico). Agora vamos retroceder? Pensem bem, antes que as mulheres tenham que sair à rua, tal como aconteceu lá atrás, queimar os sutiens. Desta vez terão que colocar cintos de castidade.
Se uma mulher for violada e ficar grávida é obrigada a ter o filho ou se interromper a gravidez arrisca-se a, no mínimo ser condenada a cinco anos de prisão. Afinal é violada duas vezes: primeiro pelo violador e depois pela Lei. Mulheres, Deputadas, estamos a deitar por terra muitas conquistas. Retrocedemos 200 anos. Senti-me humilhada como mulher. Voltarei ao assunto, depois que me passar a estupefacção. Boa semana a todas. Beijinhos✊???
Dear Angolan women, today is a day of sadness for me. I ask you to look at what was approved in the Assembly of the Republic on the subject of abortion in the new penal code. Before making any comments, I am making an appeal to all the deputies, in government and in opposition. Look with your eyes at what was approved. Remember that the Penal Code of 1886 was more favourable to women, especially in cases of rape and of malformation of the foetus (eugenic abortion). Now are we going backwards? Think hard, before the women have to take to the streets, as it happened there before, burning their bras. This time they will have to put on chastity belts.
If a woman is raped and becomes pregnant she is obliged to have the child, or if she interrupts the pregnancy she risks, at a minimum, being sentenced to five years in prison. In the end, she is violated twice: first by the rapist and then by the law. Women, deputies, we are throwing away many accomplishments. We are going back 200 years. I feel humiliated as a woman. I will come back to this topic, after the shock has passed. I wish everyone a good week. Best wishes
The preliminary version is supported mostly by the ruling party, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA), whose representatives all voted in favour of approving it. The opposition counted 36 abstentions and no vote against.
Zenaida Machado, a researcher with Human Right Watch for Angola and Mozambique, also discussed the march:
Abortion march underway in Luanda. No reports of incidents. Police doing their job of protecting the march. pic.twitter.com/kmUE9ppnC3
— Zenaida Machado (@zenaidamz) 18 mars 2017
Aline Frazão, a singer and producer in Angola, made an appeal against the plans of the new penal code, highlighting that the state is secular and its laws cannot be made on the basis of a religion:
Lembrete básico: o Estado é laico. As leis não se fazem de acordo com os princípios desta ou daquela religião. Da mesma forma que o Estado de Direito deve garantir a liberdade religiosa, também deve proteger as escolhas daqueles e daquelas que não são religiosos. Principalmente quando se trata dos direitos das mulheres, gera-se uma imensa confusão entre as leis da bíblia e as leis do Estado.
Pior ainda é quando tanto o Estado como a Igreja pensam que são proprietários dos nossos corpos. Espantem-se, pois, quando nos viram as costas. Está claro que se não marcharmos juntas nunca se conseguirá atingir a igualdade e a justiça. Se não levantarmos a voz, ninguém o fará por nós. É hora de gritar.
#pelodireitoaoabortolivreeseguro
#votoconsciente2017
Remember the basics: the state is secular. The laws are not made in accordance with the principles of this or that religion. In the same way that the rule of law must guarantee the freedom of religion, it must also protect the choices of those who are not religious. Especially when it comes to women’s rights, there is great confusion between biblical laws and laws of the state.
Worse still is when both the state and the Church think they are the owners of our bodies. You will be stunned when they turn their backs on us. It is obvious that if we do not march together we will never achieve equality and justice. If we do not raise our voice, no one will do it for us. It is time to shout.
#fortherighttoafreeandsafeabortion
#consciousvote2017
Mauro Steinway, a young Mozambican artist, considered the Catholic Church’s support to be a “war against women”:
Em Angola, a igreja católica fazendo o que sempre fez, usar sua influência nas mentes alienadas do 3o Mundo para promover sua agenda Cristã e maternidade aos pobres.
Uma autêntica guerra contra as mulheres foi legalizada. Homens dizendo o que mulheres devem fazer com seus corpos.
A igreja católica é a que mais promove maternidade compulsória aos pobres. As mulheres ricas vão sair do país ou subornar os serviços de saúde como forma de obter o aborto, enquanto que as pobres vão morrer tentando obter um.
In Angola, the Catholic Church is doing what it always does, using its influence on the minds of the Third World to push its Christian agenda and motherhood on the poor. A real war against women is being legalized. Men saying what women can do with their bodies.
The Catholic Church is the biggest promotor of compulsory motherhood for the poor. Rich women will leave the country or pay bribes for the health service to obtain an abortion, while the poor will die trying to get one.
A FEMAFRO, a Portuguese organization run by women to defend the rights of black African and African-descent women showed solidarity with the cause:
Solidariedade com a luta das companheiras angolanas da Ondjango Feminista, neste momento difícil em que o seu governo aprovou a criminalização do aborto em quase todas as situações. Esta decisão é um atentado aos direitos humanos das mulheres e colocará a vida e a saúde de muitas em risco, sobretudo as mais pobres.
#PeloDireitoAoAbortoLivreESeguro
Solidarity with the struggle of our Angolan partners of Ondjango Feminista, at this difficult moment where their government approves the criminalization of abortion in almost all cases. This decision is an attack on the human rights of women and will put the lives and the health of many at risk, especially the poorest.
#ForTheRightToAFreeAndSafeAbortion

author: Dércio Tsandzana


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Hong Kong’s Hottest Fake News Headlines Target Refugees, Foreign Domestic Workers · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Pro-Beijing Political Party and newspapers are working together to create the “fake refugee” problem and advocate for close camp. Image via HKFP, used with permission.
This post is a version of a news feature written by Jon Leung in Hong Kong newspaper Sunday Mingpao, on 1 January 2017. Global Voices translated, edited and published this version as part of a partnership agreement.
“Fake” or falsified news stories have played a significant role local politics in Hong Kong since 2014, when tens of thousands of demonstrators occupied three downtown areas calling for citizens’ rights to nominate the city's top leaders.
With Hong Kongers largely divided into two major camps — pro-establishment (i.e. pro-Beijing) and pro-democracy — it became commonplace for opposing sides to attack one another with fake news, falsified information, and re-mixed images.
While the massive protests of 2014 have ended, fake news has not. One prominent recent example was a news story about a pregnant woman who had gone into labour, but was unable to reach Ruttonjee Hospital due to protesters blocking roadways. Pretty soon, it was pointed out by a netizen who cared to make a call to the Ruttonjee Hospital which confirmed that the hospital does not have maternity ward.
In some cases, fake information quickly morphs into “real news” reported by conventional news outlets.
Confronted with an increasing number of false and unverified reports online, a group of media activists created the Facebook page Kau Yim (meaning “verification”) to verify important information and identify fake news. For two years, the group and their followers have worked together to point out suspicious information and news circulating online, and to speculate on the motivations of fake news promoters.
The page releases an annual “top ten fake news stories” roundup to alert the public and urge netizens to be careful when sharing news and information online. But in a recent comment, the team expressed concern that the trend can no longer be reversed:
謠言或錯誤信息的轉載量龐大，單靠我們這個小規模專頁，根本無法抗衡或扭轉錯誤資訊所造成的破壞。
The rumors and unverified informations always have a much wider circulation than the verification from our page. There is no way to counter or undo the damage done.
There are various issues in play, including misleading news circulated through content farms. According to the page administrator:
他們在facebook上的包裝跟一般新聞網站無異，加上『爆料』、『記者證實』、『突發有圖』等字眼。
[These content farms] package themselves ordinary news sites on Facebook. Usually, they would use words like “breaking news”, “reporter verified”, “breaking news with image” to attract readers attention.
Some online news sites are also irresponsible, the administrators pointed out:
從前傳媒的做法是If in doubt, leave it out，不把不肯定的資訊發布，今天似乎是If in doubt, 加一句『網傳』，然後print it out or share it out。
In the past, media outlets’ principle is “if in doubt, leave it out” and they would not share information that they can’t verify. Today, the principle seems to be “if in doubt, add circulated online and print it out or share it out”.
The Kau Yin group selected and published a set of influential — and indeed fake — news headlines from 2016. Here are some of the highlights:
1. Hong Kong Red Cross sends blood donations to PRC
[請廣傳] 香港紅十字會已經被揭發，將香港人捐出的血液送上中共國
[Please Share] Revelation shows Hong Kong Red Cross has been sending blood donated in Hong Kong to PRC.
This fabricated revelation has gone viral via content farms, mobile messages and social media in Hong Kong. No evidence has been attached to the accusations, and Hong Kong Red Cross issued a statement rebuking the report. Yet the news continues to re-emerge online, likely due to the escalating tension between Hong Kong and China.
2. Immigrant woman uses social security assistance to buy Gucci handbag
元朗新移民綜援婦領錢買Gucci手袋，攞屋租津貼不交租，綜援婦『香港政府批得好少錢比（畀）我買野（嘢）』
New immigrant woman in Yuen Long uses social security assistance to buy Gucci handbag, refuses to pay rent despite housing subsidy, and then complains to government for giving her too little money to shop.
The “news” was circulated by a content farm in December 2016. However, the photos used in the “news” were recycled from a news report in 2008 and the woman featured in the original story was not a new immigrant.
3. Illegal immigrant obtains one-way visa to Hong Kong
(突發）懷仔終獲單程證居港權 施麗珊「如果唔係中國政府，你班香港人會有得食? 唔好再攪住懷仔生活」
（Breaking) Wai Zai eventually obtains one-way visa [a documentallowing residents of mainland China to leave the mainland permanently to settle in Hong Kong], Sze Lai Shan: Hongkongers could not survive without Chinese government, do not disrupt Wai Zai’s life.
The “news” about Wai Zai, a 12-year-old boy who had been living in Hong Kong for nine years as an illegal immigrant, has been recycled again and again since 2015 when his grandmother decided to reach out to a pro-Beijing politician, Chan Yuen Han for help. She wished that Chan could help his grandson to obtain document so that he could receive proper education.
As local media outlets dug into the background of Wai Zai and found a number of inconsistencies with what’s been presented to the public, the grandmother decided to bring boy back to mainland China to his parents. Many see the grandmother as a liar who wanted to win public sympathy in order to get citizenship for her grandson.
After community organizer Sze Lai-shan, who has been advocating for social security for new immigrants in Hong Kong, visited Wai Zai and his grandmother in Shenzhen after they left Hong Kong, her name was attached to a series of fake news stories about Wai Zai. Despite the headlines, there is no evidence that Wai Zai has returned to Hong Kong with a one-way visa.
4. Civic group condemns pan-democrats for helping fake refugee
團體悼便利店死者譴責泛民政黨助假難民
Civic group mourned for Seven-11 shop keeper’s death, condemned pan-democrats for helping fake refugee
On 7 March 2016, a shopkeeper of a 24-hour store was severely injured by a Canadian Vietnamese man when he confronted the man for shoplifting. The shopkeeper died in the hospital on 14 of March. With no evidence to support their claims, local media outlets quickly labelled the suspect a refugee. Pro-establishment civic groups then staged protests, with banners urging “deport fake refugees, put the torture claimants in closed refugee camp.”
The protest was again widely reported by many mainstream media and pro-establishment media outlets without clarifying the fact that the suspect was not in fact a refugee.
5. Foreign domestic worker slapped baby 42 times
外傭1分鐘狂摑嬰兒42巴短片瘋傳網民籲全城緝兇
Video showed foreign domestic worker slapped baby 42 times in one minute, went viral. Netizens urged a city-wide manhunt for the criminal.
The video went viral in Hong Kong in through mobile instant message groups and was then picked up by mainstream media outlets as news feature. Later, it was revealed that the video was taken from Kazakhstan and the woman in the video is reportedly the baby’s mother.
From the above few examples, one can see that many fake news stories are built upon stereotypes and prejudices, as well as xenophobia and antagonism towards Beijing's economic and political influence. Marginalized social groups, including new immigrants, foreign domestic workers and refugees are often the real victims of fake news.

author: Oiwan Lam


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If You Really Want To Know What’s Happening With Tech in Cuba, Read Beyond the Headlines · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

Women gather around a mobile device at a wifi hotspot. Playa, Havana. Photo by Ellery Biddle.
“Cuba slashes Internet costs”
“Cuba signs deal with Google for faster internet access”
“Will Cuba embrace the Internet revolution?”
These recent headlines from AFP, Al Jazeera and BBC, respectively, paint a picture of a society that after nearly six decades of dictatorship and nearly two of “digital isolation”, is finally bursting onto the global Internet scene. But the articles that follow, all published by reputable news organizations, offer a much more sobering and realistic image of a country where Internet access is fleeting, connection quality is poor, and the costs of getting online are astronomical.
Another recent example came from an Associated Press article that bore the headline: “Cuba sees explosion in internet access as ties with US grow.” The Spanish version of the same article, published on the same day, offered a different and much more accurate version of the story with this headline: “Cuba has unique ways of getting online”.
Screenshots of English and Spanish versions of Andrea Rodriguez's AP story. “The Spanish headline plainly introduces the topic of focus; the English version does something very different.”
Written by Associated Press’ Andrea Rodriguez, who is originally from Argentina and has worked in the AP Havana bureau for more than ten years, the piece offered a well-researched description of the pilot, including a series of detailed anecdotes about the different ways Cubans get online or use networked technologies for work, education and communicating with friends and family. It also points to a new state telecommunications program that will allow Cubans to pay for at-home Internet connections for either $15 or $115 per month, for 30 hours of service.
The texts of the story versions in English and Spanish mirror one another—this is a direct translation. But while the Spanish headline plainly introduces the topic of focus, the English version does something very different, likely reflecting the work of a web editor whose primary concern is to attract readers. Perhaps headlines need a little more pizazz if they want to capture English-language audiences—a purported explosion in Internet use would surely attract clicks from Cuba-curious Americans.
And in keeping with other recent headlines on tech in Cuba, the headline on the English version of the AP story supports the idea that Cuba's renewed ties with the US may be helping to drive the island's would-be “Internet revolution.”
Since the December 2014 rapprochement between the US and Cuba, US media outlets have buzzed with intrigue about the perceived role and uses of technology in what remains a mysterious country for many Americans. Silicon Valley companies like Google, AirBnB and Netflix have experienced impressive PR bumps from stories that essentially say “our services are now accessible in Cuba.” Some US media coverage of these developments is sensational, but innocuous. And some of it is outright misleading.
In late 2016, when Google began offering caching for Google sites in Cuba—a standard service worldwide for users to access Google sites like Gmail and YouTube—multiple major media outlets ran a Reuters story with headlines boasting that the Google agreement would improve Internet access wholesale, including the above from Al Jazeera. (To Reuters’ credit, their original headline focused on the agreement and made no mention of “better Internet.”)
The view from outside Kcho's studio and adjoining art space, the Museo Organico Romerillo. The Google logo now appears beside Kcho's name. Photo by Ellery Biddle.
When Google partnered with Havana artist and Cuban Communist Party loyalist Kcho to create a new access opportunity at the artist's studio on the outskirts of Havana, global media flattered the company with headlines like  “Google helps offer vastly faster Internet in Cuba” and “Google opens state-of-the-art technology studio in Cuba”.
Yet from what I could see, and from what various employees at Kcho's studio told me when I visited the place last year, it appears that Google essentially gave them 20 Acer Chrome books, 20 Google cardboard sets and a generous set of promotional materials, including several prominent “Google + Kcho” flags that adorn the otherwise advertisement-free roadway outside the art space. The studio itself has existed for several years, and the WiFi connection was opened to the public by Kcho, with the government's blessing, in 2015. The connection, contrary to (later corrected) reports of a whopping 70 megabytes per second download speed, is not especially fast.
In my own experience writing on these topics, I've struggled with editors at various reputable news and policy organizations who seem determined to put forth a narrative about the US “saving” Cuba with technology, even when the story I've written doesn't support this idea at all.
When Elaine Diaz and I wrote about the irony of Netflix launching services in a country where Internet connectivity is fleeting and no one has a credit card, we were glad to see the story republished by US outlets, in accordance with Global Voices Creative Commons license, which allows for headline changes. But when we saw the piece republished with headlines like “How the Netflix move will help Cubans,” we realized that the actual story was no match for the power of the “Cuban Internet revolution” trope.
This and other US media coverage of the recent shift in US-Cuba relations reflect a longstanding popular narrative in which the United States sees itself as the patron or colonial parent of the underdeveloped Cuban state. And as with so many other countries less developed than ours, we imagine our government—and now our technology companies—acting as the savior to the people of the country, empowering the disempowered through the (sometimes) democratizing effects of our multi-billion dollar tech innovations.
With the collective hysteria about false information in news media in the background, these headlines reflect a small but important problem that arises when we try to write our news for clicks. When we combine our hunger for web traffic with entrenched biases about the United States as a patron of what too many Americans still imagine to be a forlorn Communist island, we land on a path to increasingly misleading, poorly researched narratives about a place that is indeed knowable and deeply connected to the US, in culture, intellectual history, and much more.
At a moment when human beings—Cubans included—are more connected to one another than ever before, editors can and should strive to do better by their readers.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Kathmandu’s Pollution Is So Bad, Even Gods Need Masks · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

Elder Tibetan woman praying wearing face mask to protect against the dust, Tharlam Monastery, Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal. Image from Flickr by Wonderlane. CC BY-NC 2.0
Nepal’s capital Kathmandu is witnessing its worst air pollution in recent history. With dust particles everywhere, respiratory disease climbing, and the government blissfully apathetic to the situation, a group of students decided to protest by putting masks on iconic statues across the city.
Finally ! The statue wears a mask by youth to show symbolic protest against air pollution in #Kathmandu Nepal pic.twitter.com/LgGcc5ZhAr
— SMRITI DHUNGANA (@aesmriti) March 20, 2017
Residents joined in, by tweeting hashtags with mash-ups of ‘Kathmandu’ and ‘dust'; and ‘mask’ and ‘Kathmandu’. Even gods at a performance arranged by Baha and Bahi of Nepal, a well-known Buddhist monastery, wore masks.
Even #gods need a #mask here! #Maskmandu #dusty #kathmandu #airpollution PC: Baha and bahi of #Nepal pic.twitter.com/rK7oacmkLm
— Krity Shrestha (@Dankrity) February 17, 2017
Images of an iconic statue of Nepal's former prime minister Juddha Shamsher wearing a mask were widely shared.
I am against the vandalizing of public property, but this to poke government regarding duskmandu #duskmandu #kathmandu PC:Facebook pic.twitter.com/p5obIM1yHx
— Sabin Rimal (@rimalsabin) March 18, 2017
The level of pollution in Kathmandu has surpassed the minimum acceptable level of the World Health Organization. Reconstruction work following the 2015 earthquake, road widening projects and pipeline work associated with the much anticipated Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has added to the pollution already emitted from hundreds of brick kilns around the city and the vehicles that congest the roads of Kathmandu.
The bowl shape of the Kathmandu Valley also restricts wind movement and helps trap pollutants in the atmosphere, making it more vulnerable to air pollution during the winter, according to Clean Air Network Nepal.
A Nepal Health Research Council official explained that Kathmandu's air contains particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), which are known to be carcinogenic. Particles less than or equal to 10 micrometers in diameter, which is less than the width of single human hair, are so small that they can get into the lungs, potentially causing serious health problems.
Valley Pollution Index | https://t.co/yTmGtZWlaM pic.twitter.com/c9kEkk9urH
— myRepública (@RepublicaNepal) February 2, 2017
This Instagram post shows #Dustmandu.
#Dustmandu ! #Ringroad section at #Gausala, filled with #dust !  #melamchi #kathmandu #Nepal
A post shared by KinG Ashoka (@ashokpillar) on
Upendra Shrestha shared this cartoon:
Reality of #dustmandu Kathmandu pic.twitter.com/csMkPlzhGC
— Upendra Shrestha (@upensth) February 3, 2017
While the government could have taken steps to avoid this perfect dust storm, it is now slowly responding to the pollution crisis.
The government recently banned 20 year-old public vehicles in the capital and its surrounding valley. The Environment Protection Committee of the Parliament has also instructed the water authority to spray water to reduce dust pollution; and ten brick kilns have adopted a new technology that is set to bring down pollution by around 60%, according to a BBC report.
However, for the time being, Kathmandu residents have no option but to put masks over their faces, just like the iconic statues in the city.

author: Sanjib Chaudhary


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Rio de Janeiro Is Caught Between a Yellow Fever Scare and Press Censorship · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Demonstration in support of Caio Bezerra. Photo by Thiago Dezan/The Intercept Brasil, used with permission
A reporter was fired from a newspaper in Rio de Janeiro, soon after he wrote a story critical of the municipal administration's response to an outbreak of yellow fever. The city's mayor, Marcelo Crivella, is being accused of directly requesting his termination.
On March 16, the newspaper O Dia published Caio Barbosa story on the long queues and insufficient yellow fever vaccines at Rio's public health clinics. There has been a surge of yellow fever in the neighboring state Minas Gerais. So far, 117 have died prompting panic among citizens in Rio de Janeiro and pushing them to urgently seek vaccines for themselves and their children.
Barbosa's dismissal has caused anger among Rio's residents. Following the termination, Police Chief Orlando Zaccone remembered Brazil's military rule, which lasted from 1964 to 1985. Zaccone wrote on his Facebook page:
O que resta da ditadura? Tudo, menos a ditadura.
[…] Temos que nos mobilizar urgentemente para produzir uma vacina contra o arbítrio do poder político em nosso país, democratizando os meios de comunicação.
What's left of the dictatorship? Everything except the dictatorship.
[…] We must mobilise urgently to produce a vaccine against the will of political power in our country, democratising the media.
The first to come forward with the news on Barbosa's dismissal was journalist Cid Benjamin, who says he spoke with the fired journalist on the phone. Benjamin published a series of posts on his Facebook page in which he says, quoting Barbosa, that Crivella had directly asked the owner of the newspaper to dismiss Barbosa because of that story, which has now been taken down from O Dia's website.
According to Benjamin, still quoting Barbosa, the piece had already been altered from its original version, before it was taken down. While the original piece had run in O Dia's print edition, the altered version was republished by other media outlets, such as Agência Brasil. Facebook user Mariana Claudino, however, accessed the original version through Google cache and posted some screenshots on her Facebook page.
Cid Benjamin (left) and Caio Barbosa (right) surrounded by protesters in Rio de Janeiro. Photo by Thiago Dezan/The Intercept Brasil, published with permission,
Marcelo Crivella was a former Senator for Rio de Janeiro state and was elected as mayor of the city in 2016 from a party that has strong ties with the Universal Church, Brazil's largest evangelical congregation. Crivella is an ordained minister of the congregation. On Sunday, Crivella released a note denying any wrongdoing:
“É falsa a informação divulgada nas redes sociais atribuindo a mim o pedido de demissão do jornalista Caio Barbosa do Jornal O Dia. Jamais faria isso. Declaro de forma veemente que respeito os profissionais de comunicação e a liberdade de imprensa. Repudio, tenho desprezo e nojo a perseguições políticas, e no meu primeiro discurso depois de eleito, roguei a Deus que nos livrasse da praga maldita da vingança.
It is false the information divulged in the social media networks attributing to me the request of dismissal of the journalist Caio Barbosa of the O Dia newspaper. I would never do it. I vehemently declare that I respect media professionals and freedom of the press. I repudiate, I despise and am disgusted by political persecution, and in my first speech after being elected, I prayed to God to deliver us from the damned curse of vengeance.
Barbosa responded to Crivella's note on his Facebook page:
A nota oficial do prefeito é uma mentira. Não apenas sobre mim. Sobre ele. Mente do início ao fim. Uma pena. Mentir é pecado. Deve ter sido escrita por um assessor. Espero.
Errar e reconhecer o erro é virtude que Deus perdoa. Insistir na mentira é feio.
The official note from the mayor is a lie. Not just about me. About him. He lies from start to finish. A shame. Lying is a sin. It must have been written by an aide. I hope.To make a mistake and acknowledge it, is virtue that God forgives. Insisting on the lie is ugly.
Mayor Marcelo Crivella. Photo by Midia Ninja, free to use.
Support for Barbosa poured in on social media and blogs throughout the weekend and an emergency protest, with about 50 people who supported him, took place in front of the offices of O Dia in central Rio on March 20.
Among the supporters, professor Mauricio Santoro said on Facebook:
O prefeito do Rio de Janeiro mandou demitir um repórter do Dia, Caio Barbosa. O jornal seguiu a ordem. Ambos os gestos são inaceitáveis e perigosos em país que se esforça em ter maior transparência e prestação de contas de políticos, mas cujos líderes insistem em não entender essas demandas sociais.
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro had a reporter of O Dia dismissed, Caio Barbosa. The newspaper followed the order. Both gestures are unacceptable and dangerous in a country that strives to have greater transparency and accountability of politicians, but whose leaders insist on not understanding these social demands.
Journalist Cecilia Oliveira, playing with Crivella's campaign slogan [Let's take care of people] added:
Vamos cuidar das pessoas, desde que elas digam o que vc permite. Certo, Marcelo Crivella?
INADMISSÍVEL.
Let's take care of people provided they say what you allow them to say. Right, Marcelo Crivella?
INADMISSIBLE.
Newspaper O Dia has been immersed in controversy since a large chunk of its shares were acquired by the Portuguese group Ongoing. The media conglomerate used its president's wife's Brazilian nationality to circumvent Brazil's limit on foreign capital investment in media companies. Ongoing is currently facing a financial crisis, and O Dia is now on the verge of bankruptcy.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Woman in Mexico Copes With Sister’s Femicide by Fighting the Patriarchy · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

Viviana Muciño. Photo used with permission.
This article was originally published by Yenn in Voces de Mujeres (Women's Voices) and is republished in Global Voices with the author's permission.
Nadia Muciño was murdered by her husband, Bernardo, and her brother-in-law, el Matute (the Smuggler) on February 12, 2004. At twenty-four, she left behind her sons, Carlos and José, her daughter, Fernanda, her parents, friends, and siblings. This, however, is not her story. This is the story of her youngest sister, Viviana, who lived through her sister's femicide — a form of violence that's now terrorizing women throughout the State of Mexico.
Last February, Viviana abandoned her undergraduate studies and her dream of becoming a chef for financial reasons. Her son, Jaciel, had recently turned two years old, and she had to work to support him.
On the day of Nadia's murder, Viviana suffered severe pain in her abdomen that spread throughout her body. That morning, she went to the market. On the way, she saw her brother-in-law, Bernardo, on a bus headed for the Toreo metro station. Shortly afterwards, she made her way to the city to submit an assignment.
On her way home, she realized that Bernardo's bus was being driven by somebody else. She found it strange and when she arrived home at around 8 p.m., it dawned on her that only her brothers and sisters were there — her mother, Antonia, was absent. Half an hour later, Antonia came home and, bewildered, explained what had happened to Nadia. Viviana wanted to go to see her sister but her mother stopped her.
No me dejó ir a su casa. Yo la volví a ver hasta que me despedí de ella cuando la trajeron para velarla.
She wouldn't let me go to her house. I didn't see her again until I said goodbye at a vigil they held for her.
Before closing the casket, Viviana placed a photograph of herself with Jaciel and some of those colored thread bracelets they liked so much.
Along with Antonia, Nadia was Viviana's main support during her pregnancy and the baby's first few months. Nadia was always a pillar of support for her and the whole family.
Nadia es mi hermana, éramos cómplices, éramos todo. Por ella soy lo que soy. Nadia para mí es todo.
Nadia is my sister, we were partners in crime, we were everything. I am who I am because of her. Nadia is everything to me.
A few days later, Antonia and Viviana decided to adopt Nadia's three children. Since then, Viviana's workload and responsibility have been tremendous — she has to prioritize not only Jaciel, but her younger brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews, too.
As in many Mexican homes, Viviana's alarm clock goes off at six. With her hair tied up in a ponytail that hides her beautiful waves, she heats up last night's dinner while Jaciel prepares his chocolate milk. At quarter to seven, they dash to school.
Back home, she does the housework and begins to sew, just as Antonia taught her, twenty years ago. The magic happens in a 3 x 1,80 mts. workspace. Her hands shape corsets for hundreds of dresses, she creates lines, combines colors and textures, giving life to beads, sequins, and gems. Delivering each corset or fabric has her running around the city with her little yellow tin, backpack over her shoulder, and her tote bag. The pay is just enough to survive.
Vivi's embroidery. Photo used with permission.
Vivi, as her friends call her, unhesitatingly describes herself in a single song: Let it Be. In her spare time, she enjoys painting ceramic figures like fairies and angels.
Viviana Muciño rarely smiles, but her joy is evident whenever she shares her experience as a mother and activist. At 32, she is the founding member of the Civil Association for Women of Influence, Mobility, Empowering, and Deconstructing Minds. In 2014, with various other groups, she helped coordinate a series of actions after the State of Mexico triggered its Gender Violence Alert, also visiting the 11 most-dangerous municipalities in the state.
In what she describes as “agony,” coupled with the realization that she's not the only one dealing with the country's patriarchal system, Viviana has organized street demonstrations to present demands to the government. Over the years, she has gotten to know the relatives of victims of femicide and missing women. She advises them, accompanies them, keeps an eye on them, with the belief that unity is the way forward. Viviana says “this could have saved Nadia,” and she firmly believes that that working together can save lives.
Viviana and her family are no strangers to the State of Mexico's troubled justice system. Nadia's case, she says, has been plagued by corrupt public officials who have both excluded and fabricated evidence. This experience, she says, made her familiar with the legal system and its flaws, leading her to feminist groups and organizations that help survivors of violence against women. This exposure convinced her to become a feminist activist herself, also working as a women's human rights advocate for the state.
En estos once años nos ha quedado claro que no pararemos hasta obtener justicia para Nadia. No sólo por ella hacemos esto, no queremos que ni una mujer más pase por esta situación.
In the last eleven years, it has become clear to us that we will not stop until justice is served for Nadia. We don't do this just for her. We don't want this to happen to even one more woman.
Viviana says that she expects justice in her sister's murder, despite the government inaction, so far.
Que la memoria de Nadia nos aliente para seguir y seguir. Sé que en donde quiera que esté, nos está echando porras para que sigamos en este camino y por ella vamos a seguir haciendo cosas por las mujeres.
Nadia's memory motivates us to continue and carry on. I know that, wherever she is, she is spurring us on to continue on this path, and we will continue to help women because of her.
The bond she shares to other women and the moral support she gets from Jaciel, whose name means angel of kindness and reconciliation, are what keep her going, Viviana says.
Ese angelote ha hecho que me haga más reflexiva, más importante, la experiencia de ser su mamá ha sido hermosa. Él todo lo ha hecho fácil, no ha sido complicado, salir de viaje con mi niño, verlo contento, estar con él es lo que más me hace feliz, el amor de mi hijo es lo más grande que tengo al igual que el de mi familia.
This little cherub has made me become more thoughtful, but more importantly, the experience of being his mother has been a privilege. He's made it so easy, it hasn't been difficult, going out with my child, seeing him happy. Being with him is what makes me happiest. Love from my son is the strongest love I have, as well as from my family.
Between sequins and beacons of light, Viviana says she won't stop until justice is served for Nadia. Travelling from one place to another, she thinks that one day women will be better off, living in a safer country.

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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Activists Cry Foul as Lebanon Imposes a Tax Hike Right Before Postponing Elections, Again · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Protesters wave Lebanese national flags during a demonstration against proposed tax increase, in front of the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon. March 19, 2017. Photo by Hassan Chamoun.
Days after two thousand protesters gathered in front of the government palace in Beirut on March 19, to protest against proposed tax hikes, the Lebanon's Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri announced that elections will be delayed, again.
Hassan Chamoun, a videographer and member of the widely successful anti-corruption ‘You Stink’ Movement, argued that the proposed tax hike is an attempt to distract the Lebanese people from the election extension. Speaking to Global Voices, he said:
Ruling politicians are bringing attention to this issue on purpose, to eclipse the parliamentary extension and political deadlock between them regarding a new electoral law.
Elections should have taken place in June of 2013, but the parliament extended its own term for 17 months citing ‘security concerns’. Then, in November of 2014, citing the need to decide on a new electoral law before voting, the parliament delayed elections to 2017. This time, the government is saying the extension is for ‘ technical reasons’, in reality the parliament has reached a deadlock on the new electoral law.
To put this in perspective, a 28 year old Lebanese citizen has yet to vote for their parliamentarian of choice despite being legally allowed to vote since they turned 21. Popular blogger Elie Fares sarcastically thanked the government or dawleh for the extension on Facebook:
I’m 27 year old, moving to Philadelphia in 2 months, and I’ve never – nor will I ever at this rate – voted for parliament. #ThanksDawleh
Ramez Dagher, a blogger at Moulahazat, said that he joined the protests because the government is imposing taxation without representation. Speaking to Global Voices, he said:
They cannot raise taxes without giving the people the right to have a say about it. It is pure hypocrisy especially since they are leading the country towards a third cancelled parliamentary election. Lebanese politicians made us live in garbage for a year in a half, deprived us from electricity for decades, breathe corruption, and now want to raise taxes that will eventually feed that corruption in a way or another. Enough is enough.
The government is arguing that increased taxes are needed to finance the salaries of public sectors employees. Both Dagher and Chamoun agree that Prime Minister Saad Hariri appeal to protesters on Twitter was a publicity stunt and a strategic step meant to distract the public.
ادعو منظمي التظاهرة الى تشكيل لجنة ترفع مطالبهم لمناقشتها بروح إيجابية
— Saad Hariri (@saadhariri) 19 March 2017
I ask the organizers of the protesters to form a committee to raise their demands and discuss them positively.
His tweet followed his appearance, surrounded by security forces, at the protest, seemingly attempting to talk to to protesters, who greeted him with chants of ‘thief!’ and throws of water bottles.
Dagher said that this made him “look as cool, friendly and caring” and “indirectly threw the responsibility from the government to the opposition, while also giving something for the protesting groups (who have nothing in common) to argue about: whether to negotiate with the PM or not”. Chamoun said that Hariri “wanted to look like the victim.”
Public discussion organized by Nasser to bring together activists and anyone concerned to discuss ways of tackling governmental corruption. March 20, 2017. Photo Source: Zeina Nasser Facebook Page.
GV contributor Zeina Nasser, who has been involved in the protests as both a journalist and an activist, points out that protesters’ demands are already very clear:
Personally, I think that our demands are clear enough, and were announced in the protests. There is no need for a committee and we know that this takes a lot of time in Lebanon. We're with raising employees’ salaries but not from the pockets of other Lebanese citizens who can barely make a living. We're with finding new ways for financing that such as a tax raise on maritime public property or projects that cost millions of dollars.
Marina Chamma, a writer, activist, and blogger at ‘Eye on the East‘ argued that a tax increase isn't justified because the government refuses to tackle existing problems:
Believe it or not, yachts that are larger than 15 meters are exempted from customs and not a single penny enters the treasury of the state through them. Furthermore, a foreign national owning a yacht, in addition to not paying custom duties, unlike Lebanese owners, does not pay the Value Added Tax (VAT), which prompted many Lebanese owners to use several tricks by registering their yachts as foreign to evade paying the VAT.
But activists have more obstacles ahead of them. Not only do they have to find a way to maintain the momentum and fight against ‘protest fatigue’, but some are finding difficulties including more sections of society to make the protests more inclusive. Nasser is among those trying to organize the movement from the bottom up. She explains that there is a need to include disenfranchised groups in Lebanon such as the illiterate, the poor and migrant workers.

author: Elia J. Ayoub