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Tocqueville French Revolution Classic on China’s Bestsellers List · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Thanks to China's top officials, French historian Alexis de Tocqueville’s “The Old Regime and the Revolution”, a 19th-century classic about the French revolution, has become a best seller in China. According to a report on Business Week [zh], after Chinese Communist Party Vice Premier Wang Qishan highly recommended this book, it sold out in many bookstores in Beijing.
Chong Ming, a history professor who studies Alexis de Tocqueville explained [zh]:
Many civil servants read it just to follow leaders’ interests. In China, officials have a big influence on the political culture.
Why did Chinese officials suggest this classic on the subject of revolution? Scholars started heated discussions on the Chinese social media and blogosphere.
French classic The Old Regime and the Revolution has become the best seller in China.
A search of “The Old Regime and the Revolution” on Weibo yields 235,416 results, crackling with quotes from the book:
Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man, socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.
Great revolutions that have happened historically, such as violent revolutions, did not occur during a time of poverty. They occurred when economic situations brought polarization to society. This is because at times like these, conflict between social classes is incited. It is easy for those in the bottom classes of the society to turn the flames of their anger into flames of war.
Some scholars think that the social background at the time of French Revolution is very similar to the conditions in today’s China.
Chong Ming said [zh]
Like then in France, China has been through a lot of wars and revolutions in the past, now China is experiencing a transitional period with a centralized power and booming economy. Perhaps this is why the book has touched the nerves of Chinese leaders. I think they are not recommending this book to express their opinions against the reform, because if they thought the book is just about the danger of reform, they would censor it. It is more likely that they try to make people realize the necessity of reform: it is not to be delayed, otherwise, we will face great danger. To some extent, reform is the best way to avoid revolution.
One netizen echoed on Weibo:
银幕街一号 : 想起《旧制度与大革命》一书，当中对大革命前法国的社会冲突及其发展过程的描写，有太多的地方，如果去掉“法国”两个字，活脱就是中国社会现实的高像素图片。甚至于，由于物质条件的提升和财富数量的增加，无知、自大、贪欲和荒淫、无耻、堕落，比起昔日大革命前的法国社会来说，简直有过之而无不及。
银幕街一号 : In the book “The Old Regime and the Revolution,”  the description of the social conflict in France before the revolution and its development is a lot similar to today's China. If they remove the word “France”, it's like a high resolution picture of Chinese society. Due to the improvement of material life and increase in wealth, the amount of ignorance, arrogance, greediness, dissolution, shamelessness and depravity compared to the old days before the revolution in France is simply greater.
Some scholars think that the book foreshadows contemporary China.
Prof. Chu Jianguo from Wu Han University said:
武汉大学教授储建国：其实托克维尔探讨的问题是为什么以自由为目的的革命让人们丧失了更多的自由？读这本书，我们要意识到行政集权制度对于优良治理的危险性，同时更要意识到腐败的行政集权制度会导致治理溃败。
Tocqueville discusses: why do people lose more freedom after a revolution that is meant to gain more freedom? The book reminds us of the danger of centralized power, it also reminds us that  corruption will lead to failure.
Commentator Cao Yun wrote:
会不会是高层预感到近似玉石俱焚的法国大革命的大规模群体性事件随时都会爆发，借读书发出警示，让全社会早作防备，把托克维尔的《旧制度与大革命》当做一面镜子，防患于未然呢？即使是这个用意也不算坏，这表明在我们这个社会上下都是清醒的，并没有被所谓的“黄金十年”的幻象所迷惑。
Is it because the top officials predict that a similar large-scale incident like the French Revolution will break out in China anytime? So they use the book as a warning to the whole society? Perhaps Tocqueville's “The Old Regime and the Revolution” serves as a mirror? Even so, this is not a bad intention, as it suggests that the leaders are clear-headed and that they are not fooled by the illusion of the so-called “ten golden years” in the past decade.
Commentator Chen Hu explained:
告诫提示一方面是针对各级官员的，如果缺乏危机感，“中国式大革命”同样会在不经意中存在爆发可能性，其针革命的对象会是各级官员。因此，不让民众革官员的命，就必须统一思想，回到坚定推进市场化的经济改革和法治化。告诫提示另一方面是针对全社会的，对于自由和民主的追求，不能一蹴而就，法国大革命后雅各宾专政时期实行的“激进的人民民主”在中国的 “文化大革命”中已有过充分的表现。中国所要选择的民主，应是在中国共产党领导下逐步实行宪政民主。
On the one hand the warning is for officials at all levels: without a sense of crisis, “the Chinese Revolution” might take place. The only way to prevent this is to promote market-oriented economic reform and the rule of law. On the other hand, the warning is for the society as a whole: the pursuit of freedom and democracy can not be done overnight. After the French Revolution the Jacobin dictatorship of “radical people's democracy” can be found in China's “Cultural Revolution”. China's democracy should be realized step by step under the Chinese Communist Party.
Another commentator Nan Manzi concludes [zh]:
其实，与其听其言，不如观其行。
It's better to watch what they actually do than to listen to what they say and try to guess what it means.


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Yemen’s Second Life March Attacked · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

Although Yemen's revolution removed the autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh and hoped it also got rid of his brutality in handling peaceful protesters, the Second Life March was also forcibly dispersed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi's anti-riot forces using tear gas and batons resulting in reported and documented injuries of some protesters.
Protesters who took part in the march, staged a sit-in in front of the presidential palace, demanding President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi to issue a presidential decree and clearly dismiss Ahmed Saleh, son of the former President, and General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, former commander of the First Armored Division, in addition to Major General Ghalib Al-Qamish, head of the Central Political Security.
A video of the attack was posted via Youtube by Youthstand47:
Benjamin Wiacek tweeted with disappointment:
@Nefermaat: Peaceful #Youth protesters attacked in #Sanaa: tear gas, beating up, shots, cars, etc… “new” govt, “new” security, same results! #Yemen :(
Baraa Shabaan, one of the youth who joined the Life March in Sanaa tweeted, a series of tweets explaining what happened to the youth protesting at the presidential palace.
@BaraaShiban: 1. Since 4 pm, no food or water was allowed in, with a heavy presence of riot police … #Yemen
@BaraaShiban: 2. At 6pm, riot police started attacking the youth who came to support the protesters … #Yemen
@BaraaShiban: 3. 8 ppl were injured due to the heavy beating & the others were affected by the tear gas … #Yemen
@BaraaShiban: 4. The riot police started attacking the protesters at the presidential palace at 7:30 pm … #Yemen
@BaraaShiban: 5. Most of the youth got heavily injured due to the severe beating, & 7 fainted due to the tear gas … #Yemen
@BaraaShiban 8. (actually .6) Fahmi, one of the youth protesting at the presidential palace got ran over by the riot police car & got blocked out immediately.. #Yemen
@BaraaShiban: 7. We lost contact with the protesters & we realized that some if them were detained & released an hour later … #Yemen
@BaraaShiban: 8. Fahmi, got transferred to Aljomhoori hospital & still in a dangerous condition… #Yemen
@BaraaShiban: 9. The youth started gathering in front of Hadi's home with a heavy presence of soldiers … #Yemen
The youth called for a Press conference to clearly explain what happened that evening. The conference was held at the Yemeni journalists syndicate and was attended by activists, journalists and news channels.
The Media Center for Change Square posted a photo album on their Facebook page of the Press conference.
Press conference at the Yemen journalists syndicate to reveal the details of the attack on the youth in the Second Life March
A video of the statement that was read in the Press conference was posted on YouTube by mohmmed alyemeni
Sarah Jamal, who attended the Press conference, tweeted:
@Sarah_Sanaa: Life March protesters: we will not stop until president Hadi issues a clear decree 2 sack Ahmed Ali, Ali Mohsen, Al qamish fm army #Yemen
@Sarah_Sanaa:Life march protesters: The organizational committee does not represent us or the revolution, it only represents JMP #Yemen
@Sarah_Sanaa: 2nd. Life March demands a fair immediate investigation in what the protesters faced at the presidency #Yemen
Baraa Shiban tweeted in dismay:
@BaraaShiban: I think the Interior Ministry haven’ t realized yet …. the date is 12/2012 not 2010 … #Yemen
Sadly, the same scene is repeating itself in Yemen – the repressive security forces are once again clamping down on the peacefully protesting youth, who are steadfast and committed to achieving the goals of the revolution.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Noon Arabia


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A Light in Syria’s Internet Blackout · Global Voices
Syria Deeply

As part of our collaboration with Syria Deeply we are cross-posting a series of articles that capture civilian voices caught in the crossfire, along with perspectives on the conflict from writers around the world.
Patrick Hilsman has a light on in Syria’s internet blackout, which cut off the country from the rest of the world on November 29, 2012. The 29-year-old New York native landed in Aleppo to report on the conflict from the rebel-held section of the city, one of the city’s hardest hit neighborhoods. He hopped online and did a Google Hangout with Syria Deeply, describing his journey.
“Shells have been going off all around us today. A school nearby was struck by rockets off a MiG jet overhead,” said Hilsman, speaking on Skype from a safe house in Aleppo.
But while he was online, reporting on the escalation in regime strikes, Syria’s internet blackout was taking hold across the rest of the country. Syria cut off access to internet service, isolating the country from the worldwide web. Internet traffic in and out of Syria dropped to zero, shortly after 12 noon local time. Web-monitoring service Akamai confirmed. “Syria is effectively off the internet.”
Hilsman stayed online through a satellite internet connection, using equipment brought in from Turkey, paid for by a French supporter of the Free Syrian Army.
The internet shutdown is an unprecedented move in Syria, the latest salvo in the cyber war between rebel force and the government of President Bashar Al Assad.
“The regime has tried everything else…they have been increasing surveillance, increasing censorship. That’s why there’s this feel that this is a sign they’re getting desperate,” said Jillian York, an internet freedom expert at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
With the internet blackout, information from Syria has slowed to a trickle. Syrian cyber activist Dlshad Othman estimates that less than one thousand people were online on Thursday in Syria, out of a population of 20 million.
Syria Disappears From the Internet
This graph shows failed DNS queries to Syria Domains, a sign that the world cannot get through to Syrian internet users. (source)
That left journalists unable to report on the escalation in fighting.
“It’s a very serious problem. Journalists who don’t have this uplink are completely blacked out,” said Hilsman. As the blackout took effect, shelling intensified in Aleppo, which mirrored heavy fighting in other parts of the country.
The US government condemned Syria’s internet shutdown and said it is supporting the opposition with communication gear.
“They are all designed to be independent from and able to circumvent the Syrian domestic network precisely for the reason of keeping them safe, keeping them secure from regime tampering, from regime listening, from regime interruption,” said State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
Othman, the cyber activist, says there aren’t enough of those kits in Syria to keep a significant number of people online. Plus, he says there are safety risks in using them to stay online.
“We’ve asked people to turn off their satellite connections,” said Othman.
“The regime may be scanning for those connections, so we’ve asked people to turn off their satellite connections to stay safe.”

author: Syria Deeply


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Year of Change in Angola, But Everything Stays the Same · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Global Voices coverage of Angola in the past twelve months saw a collision between the path of development of one of the fastest-growing economies of the world with grassroots demands for a better life and a freer voice. Year after year, the history of protests and repression repeats, but the general elections in August didn't bring renovation to the political arena, as President Eduardo dos Santos was re-elected for another 5 years term after 33 years in power.
The economy keeps growing steadily (from 2001 to 2010, the average annual GDP growth was 11.1%) and Angola's rich natural resources have put the country in second place in the production of oil in Africa, just behind Nigeria. 70% of the oil exported by the country is produced in the forgotten Northern lands of the Cabinda enclave, the eighteenth and most disputed province of Angola, which has been waging an ancient struggle for its independence.
Meanwhile, the capital city, Luanda, with a population of 5 million and considered the second most expensive city of the world, has become an El-Dorado for foreign companies and mercenaries. The past of war and history of colonial rule are now giving way to modernization. One of the most iconic developments has been settled in Kilamba Kiaxi, about 30km outside Luanda, where a Chinese company hired by the government started building what will possibly become Africa's biggest ghost town due to the high price of the estate that the majority of the population cannot afford.
Social-economic disparity is huge and the corruption level is one of the highest in the world. While Angolan money circulates inside the spheres of power and abroad, dominating businesses and the economic sectors in Portugal, there is stark contrast with 70% of Angola's population which “is barefoot, have empty stomachs, (and) live in a slum”.
“A guy stands in front of the remnants of a collapsed building of the National Bank of Angola in Kamacupa (Bié Province), destroyed during the civil war. There are people still living inside. — The civil war in Angola, that started in 1975, ended in 2002. Ten years later, in 2012, Angola is growing fast, though wounds from the recent conflict still remains.” Photo by Bruno Abarca copyright Demotix (23/08/2012)
Demonstration rhymes with repression
As in 2011, discontent has taken to the streets throughout the year, but the voices of dissent have been violently repressed.
The latest report came on December 22, 2012, from one of the most prolific digital activism platforms of the country, Central Angola. A rally in protest against the disappearance of two citizens in May (Kassule and Kamulingue) was violently broken by the riot police before reaching its final destination, the Ministry of Justice, as the following video shows:
Something similar took place in March when the State made its strong arm felt repressing a protest “Against Fraud in the Next Elections”. The demonstration ended up with missing activists and police violence.
In early May, the assassination of one of the volunteers of human rights group OMUNGA [pt], Júlio Kussema, threw light again on the rise of “police intimidation and alarming levels of state violence”. Shortly afterwards, Amnesty International reported that as August elections approached, attacks against freedom of speech were expected to escalate.
As in the past against colonial rule, musicians of resistance are now playing an important role on raising awareness about the meanderings of the political elite too. Rappers such as McK, Luaty and Carbono have become favourites of political persecution and attacks by the police.
The year started with McK's new hip-hop album “Proibido ouvir isto” (Forbidden to listen this) on the top. The track “O País do Pai Banana” (The Country of the Banana Father) exposes social disparity and denounces oligarchy and corruption. It also refers to the problem of alcoholism among youth, a plight that became more visible with the elections approaching, as MPLA organized “food and drinks marathons” in order to please and distract the voters. In April, a youth demonstration against alcoholism was violently repressed. Photo by LusoHipHop blog.
Aljazeera's “Angola: Birth of a Movement”, released in November, tells the story of three young activists inspired by Angola's underground rap scene:
(Not many) Angolans go to the polls
Claims that the 2012 election process was strongly biased came out as early as March, with a protest against the nomination of a member of the ruling party MPLA, Suzana Inglês, to head National Electoral Commission.
Throughout the year, while mainstream media painted a festive picture of the electoral campaign, with many public openings by the ruling party, national bloggers reported on what was happening behind the scenes. On the eve of Angola’s elections at the end of August, the opposition party was loud and clear to the media, stating the electoral process was the worst ever.
The day of elections came and citizens reported on lack of transparency around the electoral rolls, problems with polling staff assignments and lack of accredited observers. Besides the high abstention figures, the result was not surprising: Eduardo dos Santos renewed his mandate, and his right arm, Manuel Vicente, former president of the state oil company (Sonangol) and considered one of the world's most influential Africans in 2012, became Vice-President. Vicente is under investigation in the Portuguese courts for cash laundering and tax fraud.
The executive took over on September 26, a few days after another repressed protest, on September 20, which intended to “pressure the opposition not to take their place in parliament after clearly fraudulent elections”.
Press freedom
An article published on Global Voices in November argues that the model of Angolan censorship is getting increasingly sophisticated.
Free information. Photo of a stencil in Lisbon by Graffiti Land on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
In fact, the year started with the controversial decision of RDP (Portuguese Radio Broadcast) to cut off a Portuguese state radio program after the broadcast of an opinion piece on Angola. Bloggers claimed alleged control over the Portuguese media by Angolan economic groups:
The truth about the Angolan “petroligarchy”, in a country where the cornucopia of riches is restricted to some and more than half of the population lives in the most abject poverty, is a line which one simply does not cross.
In February the Angolan corruption watchdog Maka, launched an online campaign petitioning CNN International to stop accepting advertisement from the government of President Dos Santos. The presidential budget for 2012 allocated about US$17 million for promoting a positive image of Angola on CNN International, through a company run by the Dos Santos family.
In March, the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned a police raid at the Angolan independent weekly Folha 8, where 20 computers were confiscated for political reasons, as a “crude act of censorship”. In the same month, Mohamed Keita, Africa Desk Officer at the Committee to Protect Journalists, was interviewed by Global Voices, and stated that Angola is one of the African countries where freedom of expression is most at risk:
President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos and his associates of the ruling MPLA control most of Angola's media outlets and enforce censorship of news and information. only 2 newspapers and 2 radio stations were not controlled by the government. Journalists reporting about official corruption are prosecuted and given prison sentences. Security forces attacked and intimidated journalists reporting on anti-government protests by youths calling for Dos Santos to step down.Angola and Cameroon have introduced legislative measures to combat “internet crime” but the laws punish the electronic dissemination of photos and videos of public events with prison terms.
In May Guinean journalist Milocas Pereira mysteriously disappeared in Luanda, where she lived, and no one has seen her since then. She had reported on the presence of the Angolan military “Missang” deployed to Guinea-Bissau for military reformation, and went missing upon the coup d'etat in April 2012. In November, nine generals and two Angolan companies opened a court case [pt] in Portugal for libel and defamation against investigative journalist Rafael Marques and his publishing house Tinta da China, who edited Marques book “Diamantes de Sangue – Corrupção e Tortura em Angola” (Blood Diamonds – Corruption and Torture in Angola). Marques is the editor for Maka and investigates corruption in Angola.
Keita also added that like in other African countries, “social media in the hands of young citizen journalists is fuelling protest movements in Angola”, though many citizens, such as Carlos Lacerda on Facebook, don't expect many changes in the year to come:
BOM 2013. Em Angola os poucos que têm milhões vão ter ainda mais milhões e os milhões que têm pouco, ou nada, vão continuar na mesma.
[Have a] GOOD 2013. In Angola the few who have millions will have even more millions and the millions who have little, or nothing, will stay the same.

author: Sara Moreira


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Delhi’s Rape Case Stirs Movement for Justice in Nepal · Global Voices
Pradeep Singh

The recent Delhi gang-rape case has not only evoked rage across India but also spread indignation to its neighboring countries. The male-dominating society of Nepal is not very different from India, or most of South Asia, in terms of women facing sexual harassment and assault and authorities failing to address these issues. Delhi’s rape case has brought similar cases to the forefront in Nepal and groups have come forward to form a movement for justice and rule of law in the country.
Protests in Nepal started with the rape case of Sita Rai (name changed) who was robbed and raped by security personnel at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on her way back home from Saudi Arabia last month. Activists in Nepal have been protesting in front of Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar for the past few days demanding justice for Sita Rai. The activists prepared a petition and put it online to be signed and submitted to Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai to seek justice and immediate attention on the recent cases of violence against women.
Students in Birgunj (Nepal) participating in a candlelight rally protesting the gang rape in New Delhi. Image by Manish Paudel. Copyright Demotix (24/12/2012)
Stories of recent rape cases spread to social media after intensive coverage in mainstream media recently. Active users of Facebook and Twitter then poured their views and started comprehending that something needs to be done for change. Some of them took the lead and suggested going for protests to occupy the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar. The movement has now spread as #OccupyBaluwatar on Twitter:
@UjjwalAcharya Expressing solidarity with #OccupyBaluwatar seeking justice for Sita Rai, victim of #TIARape. Please join at PM Quarters at 10am Saturday!
@manjushreethapa Here's hoping #OccupyBaluwatar can focus the state to end impunity on rape and other cases – thousands are still outstanding from the war.
@anitapthapa We ve been assured the PM will go thru petition letters by today and the office will get back to us within 2 days #TIArape #occupybaluwatar
Joining the movement and supporting the petitioners also included this year’s CNN Hero Pushpa Basnet. Here’s an image of her getting involved in the protest and showing her solidarity in the campaign today.
Puspa Basnet CNN Hero 2012 Showing solidarity to the campaign – Image courtesy Ujwal Thapa (One of the Activists in the Campaign)
The government had decided to compensate the rape victim with Nepali Rs 150,000. Protesters however are demanding severe punishment to the perpetrators rather than the mere compensation. The #OccupyBaluwatar protests continue according to tweets and Facebook status of those involved. To sum up, here’s one Facebook status from activist Stuti Basnyet:
The protest #OccupyBaluwatar will carry on – tomorrow, Dec 29, 10 am onwards. Major progress today with the PM promising to raise the issues of both Sita Rai & Saraswati Subedi case for Cabinet decision on Tuesday. Until then, public pressure demanding Government accountability – delivery of justice – needs to keep building. Join the fight!

author: Pradeep Singh


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Don’t Mess With Egyptian Women! · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Maryanne Gabbani, a Canadian expat and blogger, wrote a new blog post entitled “Don't Mess With Egyptian Women” to mention two stories she heard recently which, took place in the village she's living in.
She starts her story by noting her observation on women in her village:
The women of my area have my deep and abiding respect. They care for farms, families and homes in pretty tough conditions but never fail to have a smile, a greeting and to lend a hand to others. They are the steel of their families. While this is a very traditional part of the country and one of strong religious conviction, these women are also very accepting and friendly and have always been a source of laughter and joy for me, a very nontraditional aging Canadian.
She then noted the first story she heard from  many of her neighbours, who are in disagreement with Muslim Brotherhood rule, as follows:
One neighbour told me how when buses came to shuttle protesters into Heliopolis for the demonstration at the presidential palace that turned so bloody a couple of weeks ago, quite a few of the mothers around me informed their sons that if anyone wanted to take the bus into town, they were welcome to do so but not to bother to come back.
The next story is about a new small religious group, of eight people, who decided to help locals to behave in a more “proper” manner. Maryanne says:
So apparently a group of Takfir wal Higra (Excommunication and Exodus) moved into our area to help our local population behave in a more “proper” manner. They were seen walking along the roads in their short galabeyas (traditional dress) and had taken a mosque for preaching and an office in Abu Sir for organising.  A week or so ago, eight of the men went into the main souq of Abu Sir and as they were entering noticed one woman sitting by her produce with a little bit of leg showing from her galabeya. Very rudely kicking at her leg, they told her to cover up and be decent. This was a monumental mistake. As it happened, this woman was the head woman for the souq and a member of a very populous clan in the area that number in the thousands. She and the other women in the market attacked the eight men and beat them so severely that they had to go to the hospital. When the men tried to file a report with the police about the attack, the police refused to take the report, saying that they weren't going against these women as well…were the men crazy? So now the youth of Abu Sir are using the office as a tea room and the mosque is no longer being used for their fundamentalist sermons and no one has seen the Takfir group for some time.
She concludes her post by confirming:
If anyone is wondering who to support to get rid of Islamists in Egypt, here is your answer. The women of Egypt are some of the strongest women I've ever seen.

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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Earthling – Sexuality in a British Somali Family · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sokari writes about Earthling, a short story by Diriye Osman: “Set in Peckkahm south London, Diriye explores sexuality and sister to sister relationships in a British Somali family where desires to be married and to live out of the closet are set against each other. Mental illness and death, two familiar themes in Diryie’s work, are explored as Zeytun turns to the internet in search of ways of dying but really its a search for freedom.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Kenya: Teaching Ethnic Tolerance Through Science Fiction · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan children are taught ethnic tolerance through science fiction: “Attack of the Shidas:AKAs Save the Planet” is the story of three communities who live in a desert town which depends on a lone borehole for all their water. But the people are threatened when they discover that the water is mysteriously being emptied at night.”
“Three children in the town discover they have special powers as only they, can see and hear the invisible water thieves that bring with them numerous other problems to the three communities. Yet nobody believes what the children have to say, because these three children possess special powers of equality and tolerance that enable them to see what others in their communities cannot see. Can the children stop the aliens before war breaks out in the town?”


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Looking Back at 2012 in South Asia – Part II · Global Voices
Rezwan

Pakistan's dismal human rights record just gets worse, India's rising rape rates have sent the society into a flux, Bangladesh rejected Myanmar's Rohingya refugees, the regions relatively stable country – Maldives- saw a spiraling political crisis, and protests in post-war Sri Lanka against price hikes were met with police brutality.
It has been a rough year in South Asia. And we have been covering the bad and the good, all year at Global Voices. Here are some highlights from this year's coverage.
Plight of minorities
In Pakistan, we saw the rise of a new wave of terrorism unleashed on minorities. Many Shiites spanning from Karachi to Kohistan have been specifically targeted and killed. In the Balochistan province, where a separatist movement is gaining momentum, we saw extra judicial abductions of Baloch nationalists, separatists and leaders. This year targeted violence against the Shia minority Hazara community by outlawed militant groups also picked up in Balochistan. Additionally, we showed that physically and mentally challenged people in Pakistan are subjected to discrimination everyday.
The Hazara members were travelling by bus before the shooting attack occurred in Quetta. Image by RFE/RL RFE/RL, copyright Demotix (04/10/12).
In Bangladesh, after bouts of sectarian violence between the Rohingya and Rakhine in Western Myanmar, the government restricted the influx of Rohingya refugees crossing borders. An action many netizens opposed citing humanitarian reasons. Religious extremists in Bangladesh attacked Buddhist temples and households on charges a member of their community had desecrated the Quran. However many analysts saw the motives as political rather than communal.
Indigenous students hold placards at a protest rally in Dhaka against the attack on the indigenous people in Rangamati. Image by Firoz Ahmed. Copyright Demotix (24/9/2012)
In Sri Lanka, around 2,000 Buddhist monks and local residents staged a violent protest in Dambulla town in Sri Lanka demanding that a mosque along with a Hindu temple situated in an area designated as a Buddhist sacred zone be demolished.
In India, fighting between indigenous Bodo tribes and Muslim settlers in the State of Assam killed at least 32 people and wounded many more. Social Media was blamed for fueling this unrest. In November, after an intercaste marriage fueled a  2,000 strong mob to attack three Dalit settlements in the Dharmapuri District of Tamil Nadu.
Violence against women
A number of working women had been abducted and raped in the city of Gurgaon, located within 30 kilometres of the Indian capital. The police response was to ask working women to stop working after 8pm to prevent rape incidents which has prompted a heated debate in social media. In May, Kolkata city formally joined the global SlutWalk movement to campaign to stop violence against women.
Rape in the Indian state of Haryana has also increased, with as many as 19 cases reported in one month. As a result of the rapes, women have been advised to avoid going to pubs, using mobile phones and wearing jeans.
Illustration by Samia Singh. CC BY-NC-ND 2.5
A 23 year-old woman was stripped, beaten and raped in a moving bus in South Delhi on December 16, 2012, stirring shock and outrage in India. Shocked at the brutality of the incident, Indians are asking for stricter laws and harsher punishments for violence against women. Stirred by this outrage, a group of activists in neighboring Nepal started protests demanding justice for Sita Rai, who was raped in Kathmandu.
In Pakistan, the blasphemy law has been the focus of a heated debate yet again, after a minor christian girl named Rimsha was accused of blasphemy and sent to jail.
“Eve teasing” has become a disease in Bangladeshi society because of the silence of the citizens. But one blogger stood against one such incident and asked fellow bloggers help in exposing the harassers.
Human Rights and protest
In Pakistan terrorist attacks and sectarian violence was commonplace. It became so overwhelming that we could only cover some bomb explosions and attacks on military bases. Karachi saw incessant sectarian violence which killed more than 300 people in three months.
A number of human and women rights activists were targeted and attacked in Pakistan. Including in the list are Fareeda Kokikhel Afridi, a prominent and tireless rights activist, Ghazala Jawad, a charismatic Pashto singer, Malala Yosufzai, the female education activist and Mehzar, the youngest victim of violence against Shiites.
People and Security officials gather at site after bomb blast near Imambargah Hyder-e-Karrar in Orangi Town in Karachi. Image by Owais Aslam Ali. Copyright Demotix (21/11/2012)
Also in Pakistan, an angry mob lynched an alleged Blasphemer and burnt him alive. The mob broke inside the jail, took the alleged blasphemer outside and burned him out in the open. The lives of 240,000 innocent children are at stake due to the recent ban on polio inoculation by the Taliban in the region of FATA. Recently, health workers administering polio vaccines were shot.
The brutal murder of a journalist couple in Bangladesh has shocked the nation and the inability of the authorities to nab the killers has enraged netizens. Bloggers marched for the Murdered Journalist Couple.
Indian Border Security Forces have killed more than 1,000 Bangladeshis in the last ten years. To protest the killings some bloggers called for a campaign to boycott Indian products and services on March 1, 2012 which got much support online.
Post-war Sri Lanka saw a turbulent economy with price hike and imposition of surcharges earlier this year, which provoked widespread protests. Netizens protested police brutality in enforcing law and order.
Screenshot of the video showing the protest of the evictees of the Omkareshwar Dam project
Opposing a dam, 51 residents of Ghongalgaon village of Khandwa district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh launched a ‘Jal Satyagraha’ protest, by standing neck deep inside the backwaters of Omkareshwar dam on Narmada river.
Power protests
As South Asia observed Earth Hour by turning off its non-essential lights for one hour, netizens argued whether that is an appropriate campaign to address climate change as millions of people in South Asia have no access to electricity.
Koodankulam Nuclear Plant, Tamil Nadu, India. Image by Flickr user Eunheui. CC BY-NC 2.0
Anti-nuclear activists and inhabitants of nearby villages in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, India protested against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP). They want the plant to cease operations.
In Phulbari, Bangladesh, local communities have come together to raise their voices against the proposed Phulbari open pit coal mining project.
Political corridors
Maldives went in to deep political crisis as the police force and some military personnel revolted against the government in a follow-up to three weeks of protest by civilians. Mohamed Nasheed, the president of Maldives most famously known as a climate champion, was coerced to announced his resignation on February 7. The crisis took an ugly turn following his resignation as police brutally beat and injured his protesting supporters, who claimed the move was a coup that removed the island nation's first democratically elected president from power.
Soldiers who mutinied shake hands with public. Image by MUHA. Used with permission
In April in India, a well respected newspaper reported an attempted coup in the Indian capital. Everybody from the government to the common people dismissed the Indian Express front-page story. The Indian State Assembly Elections were one of the most talked about issues in the Indian blogosphere. We saw some interesting news such as draping of statues because they resembled a party symbol. In Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in the country saw an unexpected outcome that shocked everyone.
A religious union of 40 different parties by the name of Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) has emerged as the representative of Pakistan's extreme right-wing parties. In March, Karachi (Sindh) hosted a massive rally for the independence of Sindh from the Pakistani state which was organized by the Long-Live Sindh National Front (JSQM) under the leadership of Bashir Khan Qureshi. Pakistani netizens expressed their reactions on the sudden and untimely death of Bashir Khan Qureshi in the following month.
The Pakistani Supreme Court ruled that Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani had been disqualified ever since April 26, when it gave the final ruling on a contempt case imprisoning him for a few seconds.
Art and culture
In the past decade hundreds of cinema halls have closed down in Bangladesh. A popular cartoon show dubbed in Hindi stirred debate in Bangladesh.
Signboard of the office. Screenshot from the video The Musalman
India's ‘The Musalman’ is probably is the last handwritten newspaper in the world.
A new Indian TV talk show titled Satyamev Jayate (Truth Alone Prevails) hosted by Bollywood actor and filmmaker Aamir Khan is debating taboo and sensational social issues which are engaging more and more Indians.
We took a walk down memory lane with netizens to pay tribute to Ghazal legend Mehdi Hasan from Pakistan, writer and director Humayun Ahmed of Bangladesh.
We also posted stories on the crowning of Miss Nepal 2012, celebrations of Bengali New Year Pahela Baisakh (first day of summer), Dhaka's Hay Festival, Karachi Literature Fest, a social campaign using street theatre in India called Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Pakistan's first Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy.
Part I of this post took a deeper look at the rising role of social media in South Asia.

author: Rezwan


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Mauritanians Find a Voice Online in 2012 · Global Voices
Thalia Rahme

Few people know about Mauritania, that African state. Even fewer know that it is a member of the Arab League, thus part of the Arab World.
But too much has happened in 2012 in Mauritania – the latest being the shooting of President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz on October 13 and its implication on the internal scene.
Despite the low rate of internet penetration, young people and activists are resorting to social media platforms in an attempt to say: “We exist” and to draw the world's attention to their country.
According to Nasser Weddady, a US based Mauritanian activist (@weddady) “Facebook is at the center of the new e-dissent” in Mauritania, where opposition groups and human rights movements as well as independent activists are expressing themselves. Twitter is also gaining importance among Mauritanian netizens.
Yearning for the Arab Spring
Fed up with a military regime and dictatorship, coupled with dire socio-economic conditions, Mauritanians saw in the Arab Spring, a fresh breath for them.
They seized the opportunity to call for reforms and demand for the end of Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz‘s rule.
Sit ins, marches, rallies and protests were held by the opposition, spearheaded by the 25th of February Movement [ar, fr].
They were met by brutality and repression by the regime, who naturally support other dictatorships like Syria.
Opposition sit-in in Nouakchott on May 2. Image by Twitter user @ahmedj85.
Suppression of the protests on May 18. Image from the Facebook page of the ‘youth bloc’ – used with permission
A blog post by Ahmed Jedou explains the state of affairs in the country [ar]:
“Today it is obvious that the military look at us as if we are a ball they are playing with. Our war should be for the establishment of a civil state which fights all the remnants of military rule and French guardianship, through a transitional period, which should be lead by civil society forces.”
Photo of a protest held on June 23, 2012. Used with permission from the page “Latest News “ آخر خبرا
The February 25 Youth held a symbolic burial of the Constitutional Institutions on November 12.
Tah Ould Habib posts this photo and tweets:
February 25 youth stage a symbolic funeral of Mauritania Constitutional Institutions
هنا ترقد المؤسسات الدستورية برحمته المولى تغمدها
@tahabib: Herein, lay the Constitutional Institutions, May the Lord have mercy upon them
A gloomy record in human rights
The year 2012 was also marked by the arrest of various activists and journalists.
The regime even tried to bribe students so as to convince them to stop their activism.
Blogger Dada Ould Sheikh Ibrahim wrote about the case:
فجر الطالب: ألمين ولد حمادي عضو المكتب التنفيذي للإتحاد الوطني لطلبة موريتانيا حقائق قوية عن إغرائه بالتوظيف والمال من طرف مدير ديوان رئيس الجمهورية ورئيس جامعة انواكشوط السابق السيد إسلك ولد إزيد بيه لشق صفوف الاتحاد الوطني بإشراف مباشر من العضو السابق بنفس الاتحاد السيد إطول عمر.
Almeen Ould Hamadi, member of the executive office of the National Union of Mauritanian Students, surprised everyone. He revealed that Isselkou Ould Izidbih, the president's chief of staff and the former president of the University of Nouakchott, had offered him a job and money to split the union, under the direct supervision of a former member of the same union, Mr Itwal Omar
Mauritanian journalist Obeid Ould Amegn was detained on April 29. His health is said to be deteriorating.
Obeid Ould Amegn- photo source: boutilimit blog
But if one is to speak about Mauritania's violation of human rights, then we can definitely not omit slavery. Despite it being abolished by the government since 1981 and considered as a crime in 2007, slavery is still rampant in the country.
On December 10th, Mauritania was elected Vice President of the UN Human Rights Council which outraged various associations and prompted UN Watch to slam that decision. Also, discrimination is a daily fact of life for black Mauritanians.
“It is obscene for the U.N. to use the occasion of Human Rights Day, when we commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to elect the world's worst enabler of slavery to this prestigious post,” said Hillel Neuer, UN Watch executive director. According to a recent report by the Guardian, “up to 800,000 people in a nation of 3.5 million remain chattels,” with power and wealth overwhelmingly concentrated among
lighter-skinned Moors, “leaving slave-descended darker-skinned Moors and black Africans on the edges of society.”
Foreign Interference
Mauritania was once a French colony. Despite its independence in 1960, strong ties still exist between both countries, angering Mauritanians who demand an end to the French guardianship over their country.
Mauritanian journalist and blogger Dr Elycheikh Bah Ahhmedtolba explains the reasons behind this feeling of resentment:
The question of French-dependency exists since the advent of colonization and reached its peak during the so-presumed “independence”, since then there has been a generation living on its rewards. [..] It is our duty as the young generation to, at least, discuss and share ideas about the doubtful positioning of the “Old Political Guardians” within the French negotiation with the military junta about the possibilities of keeping the disappeared Aziz on the top of the state or to push forward another accomplice for the looming war in Northern Mali
Poster for February 25th Movement “No to Guardianship” (”Yes to Partnership”) via Ahmed Jedou used with permission
Mauritania is a country rich in mineral resources.

author: Thalia Rahme


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MENA: Acclaimed Authors’ Favorites of 2012 · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

M. Lynx Qualey, blogger, who is interested in Arab and Arabic literature, wrote a series of posts introducing acclaimed Arab poets, novelists, and short-story writers’ favorite Arab reads of 2012. She started with a list of nonfiction books, then followed by a list for poetry [En] and fiction [En].


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Opposition NPP Takes Ghana Presidential Election Results to Court · Global Voices
Kofi Yeboah

The New Patriotic Party (NPP), the strongest opposition party in Ghana has challenged the recent Presidential election results, claiming electoral fraud. Refusing to accept the results declared by the electoral commission, the NPP has decided to take the matter to the courts.
According to Ghana Decides:
The largest opposition party in Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has challenged the results of the 2012 Presidential election, accusing the Electoral Commission of Ghana of colluding with the incumbent, National Democratic Congress (NDC) to steal votes.
The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, has denied the allegations saying the the NPP can challenge the results in Ghana’s courts according to the electoral laws of the country.
The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, declared President Mahama winner by 50.70% of the votes, beating his main challenger Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP who polled 47.7% of the votes.
NPP's projected the results online. Photo source: Nana Ado (NPP's presidential candidate) Facebook page.
NPP's projection on their Facebook page showed that they have won the elections according to the results they received from their polling agents. Ghana Decides reports:
The NPP maintains that results on the “blue sheet”, which they received at polling stations and collation centres across the country, where slightly change to favour Candidate Mahama of the NDC.
Party gurus of the NPP have been holding a crunch meeting over the matter whether to consider a court action.
Ghana Decides reports:
Following this, the NPP has resolved to take the issue to court and has vowed to use all available legal means to seek justice. Meanwhile, numerous supporters of the NPP have poured onto the streets of Circle, ostensibly to listen to party leaders who are assembling near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to address the teeming crowd.
Many observer and monitoring missions, including the African Union and CODEO have endorsed the results of the Electoral Commission and have called for calm.
These are some of the views of Ghanaians on Twitter:
@nosivid: Nana Addo goes round repeating bogus allegations of electoral fraud with the claim of having evidence and calls it EXPLANATION #GhanaDecides
@kwasireports: “I'll go2 court”-Nana Akuffo-Addo reaffirms as NPP preps evidence 2 back claims of electoral fraud by rulin NDC #GhanaDecides #amaniee
@nfaoforiatta: It is clear they know they lost. May Ghanaians stand by the truth when it is revealed. Tis our destiny to protect. #GhanaDecides
@Kwabena: Ah well, I thought they wouldn't file. Let the Supreme Court decide now. #GhanaDecides
@sam_btw: Ghana's opposition NPP discovered >10% irregular votes in presidential election 2012. Fraud? Now it's up to the supreme court. #GhanaDecides
Lawyers representing NPP formally filed a petition at the Supreme Court on 28 December, 2012. The NPP only has 21 days to protest against the election results by law or else the incumbent will still be sworn in on 7 January, 2013.

author: Kofi Yeboah


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Saudi Activist Trial Hearing Concludes · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

This post is part of our Special Coverage:  Reformists on Trial in Saudi Arabia
The last hearing session of one of Saudi Arabia's rare public trials of two prominent human rights activists Mohammad Al-Qahtani and Abdullah Al-Hamid was held today [Dec 29, 2012] at the Riyadh Criminal Court. In the last hearing session, the defendants were questioned by the judge, and today, the questioning continued. The number of attendees was about 70, including three women. Correspondents from Al Jazeera, Sky News and some national newspapers were also present, well, besides Global Voices!
At the beginning of the session, Dr. al-Hamid gave the judge copies of his books, including one titled “Words are more powerful than bullets,” saying that some human rights activists have been convicted for possessing this book. The judge then said that he had a report that he wanted to discuss with the two activists. Dr. al-Qahtani said he needed to have a look, and he discovered that the content of the file was previously published by an anonymous Twitter user who claimed that Saudi Civil and Political Rights and Association (ACPRA) members had ‘suspicious’ ties:
التقرير الذي أتى به #القاضي_حماد_العمر في #محاكمة_حسم هو التقرير الذي نشره معرف الداخلية قبل مدة في #تويتر وقد ذكرت بأن ما ورد فيه كذب صريح.
@MFQahtani: The report that Judge Hamad al-Omar brought to court today was published a while ago by an Interior-Ministry-operated Twitter account, and I said it was full of lies.
When Dr. al-Qahtani asked the judge about the source of this report he said it was an anonymous “philanthropist,” and that he found it on his disk.
al-Hamid (right) handshaking a handicapped supporter after the session via @alajmi01
The two activists then continued by citing the ways they have been interrogated with. Dr. al-Hamid said that before the interrogation started, a secret police agent came to his house and said that they had got a “huge file” against him and he advised al-Hamid to remain silent. Dr. al-Qahtani said that the interrogator asked him whether he had ties with an “outcast” royal family member, when he insisted that the interrogator name a person, he said Talal bin Abdulaziz, a prince who played a major role in the Arab-nationalist oppression in the 60s. Dr. al-Qahtani said that this proves that the royal family is fighting, and that state institutions are being used in the battle.
When the judge asked the two activists about their refusal to obey the king when he appointed the former Interior Minister a crown prince and whether they consider this legitimate disobedience, al-Hamid asked the judge to give him two-week period to provide written answers for questions that the ruling is likely to be based on. He aslo said:
أنت متعود يجيك المتهم خايف يحاول يتنصل. حنا ما عندنا شيء نخبيه
You are used to seeing accused people fearful and trying to get away with what they had done. We have nothing to hide.
Furthermore, Dr. al-Hamid asked the judge to hold an additional hearing session so he can “provide eleven new evidences” to defend himself and to prove that the polices of Interior Ministry are responsible for causing counter-violence, but the judge refused and insisted that this had to be the last hearing session.
When Sky News correspondent left the courtroom to film a report, a policeman arrested him and the cameraman and they were transferred to a police station. They were asked to provide a governmental license to report the public trial, even though they were already licensed journalists. They were released after a few hours after signing a pledge that they will not film within the court building, even though they did not do such a thing.
The next session in which the verdict will be announced is January 16.
This post is part of our Special Coverage:  Reformists on Trial in Saudi Arabia

author: Anas Soliman


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South Africa: Local Device for Selling Prepaid Mobile Services · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Zafir Khan shows how cloud computing is enabling entrepreneurship in Africa: “Nomanini, a startup based in South Africa, built a device that enables local entrepreneurs like Vuyile to sell prepaid mobile services in their communities. The Lula (which means “easy” in colloquial Zulu), is a portable voucher sales terminal that is used on-the-go by people ranging from taxi drivers to street vendors. It generates and prints codes which people purchase to add minutes to their mobile phones.”


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Yemen: A Year of Assassinations, Explosions and Drones · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

After a long year of revolution in Yemen, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was “toppled” and replaced by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on February 27, 2012, through a one-man-election. Nevertheless, Yemen witnessed a year of instability and violence. The year 2012 was a year of unprecedented numbers of suicide bombs, explosive cars, targeted killings, explosions of gas pipelines and electricity cables, besides the constant and frequent US drone attacks. Below is a month by month account of the major events that shook Yemen.
January:
* Five killed as Yemen police, protesters clash in south. The protesters were calling for secession and rejecting a Gulf-brokered plan granting President Ali Abdullah Saleh immunity from prosecution when he steps down. Three protesters were killed and 18 others were wounded, in addition two policemen were killed and five others were wounded.
* Overnight drone strike in Yemen kills 15, including ‘at least four Al Qaeda leaders’. Up to 15 militants, including four Al Qaeda leaders, were killed in an overnight airstrike in the city of Loder in Abyan province, southern Yemen.
February:
* Yemen army kills two anti-election protest. Yemeni troops killed two people when they opened fire on a rally in the southern province of Dalea calling for boycotting the election to replace outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
* Yemen's One Man Election
Many Yemenis believe that taking part in this election is pointless since the election results are pre-determined, as was the imposed GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] deal and the immunity it granted Saleh. They doubt that it will bring about any real change in Yemen in the foreseeable future with Hadi, another military man replacing Saleh, and thus that there is no prospect of the civil state which the revolution demanded, especially with Saleh's family still controlling the military apparatus and his regime still intact.
March:
* Suicide bomber kills four Yemeni soldiers. At least four Yemeni soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle full of explosives near a checkpoint in the southern city of al-Bayda.
April:
* Gunmen attack Yemen’s major airport. Gunmen loyal to Yemen’s ousted president blasted buildings at the country’s main airport with anti-aircraft guns, forcing authorities to shut it down. A day after Yemen’s new President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi fired key security officials appointed by ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, including his half brother, the air force commander Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, and his nephew, Tariq, who headed the presidential guard.
*Yemen electricity supply hit in power plant attack Tribesmen attacked a main power plant in Marib causing the capital Sanaa and cities Taiz, Hudaida and Ibb to suffer reduced electricity due to the attack.
May:
*Suicide blast on eve of Unification Anniversary, nearly 100 people were killed and at least 200 were injured.
*Anger at expansion of US drone war
The use of drones on Yemeni soil to kill “suspected” al Qaeda leaders, the unjustified killing of a teenager and many other innocent civilians commonly referred to as “collateral damage” and the illegal detention of a journalist, has fostered more animosity towards the US. […] The US clearly needs to re-evaluate its counter-terrorism policy in Yemen by addressing the socio-economic underlying causes that produce terror, rather than focusing its aid solely in the fight against al “Qaeda” and continuing with the drone attacks which kills innocent people, alienates, angers and aggravates the general Yemeni public, giving extremists a motive to join militant groups.
*Yemeni al-Qaeda leader ‘killed in drone strike’. Fahd al-Quso was hit by missiles fired from an unmanned drone. His death and another man's was confirmed by al-Qaeda and Yemen's embassy in the US. At least 20 soldiers had been killed by militants in revenge for the attack.
June:
*Attacks on Southern Yemen jeopardize National Dialogue
While a National Dialogue is under way to discuss many of Yemen's issues, central security forces attacked Mansoura's square, where separatist activists staged sit-in protests for over a year, destroying their tents and using live ammunition to disperse them, killing and injuring some.
*Electricity Woes in Yemen
Electricity, food and water are basic human needs and have been the main demands of the majority of Yemenis long before the revolution started and still continue to be so. Nothing seems to have changed with the overthrow of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and living conditions only seem to get worse under the new National Consensus Government. Most Yemenis are living in dire conditions due to the daily and long hours of electricity cuts that have been affecting most areas of Yemen, from the north to the south.
July:
*Another suicide blast rocks Sanaa. A suicide bomber detonated himself at the southern gate of the Ministry of Interior killing nine and injuring 15.
August:
*Yemen Republican Guard in deadly clashes in Sanaa. Five people were killed and at least nine were wounded, near the defence ministry.
September:
*Yemen minister survives assassination attempt. Maj Gen Muhammad Nasir Ahmad, Yemen's defense minister survived an assassination attempt, which killed seven bodyguards and five civilians in the heart of the capital, Sanaa.
*Anger as 13 civilians killed by US drone strikes A US drone missile missed it's target and according to local reports 13 civilians, including three women, were killed as a result.
*29 Dead in 8 Days as U.S. Puts Yemen Drone War in Overdrive. Not even the killing of 10 civilians over the weekend seems to have slowed the pace in the United States’ secretive, undeclared war.
*Yemenis march demanding prosecution of ex-leader.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of the capital Sanaa demanding the prosecution of Saleh, who stepped down in February after a year-long uprising, demonstrators marched also in other Yemeni cities.
October:
*Deadly blast rocks Yemen military base. Militants drove a vehicle loaded with explosives into the base in Abyan province. At least 15 Yemeni troops were killed and more than a dozen injured.
*Yemen security officer at U.S. Embassy killed in Sanaa The attackers, on a motorcycle, opened fire on Qassem Aqlannear his house in the center of Yemen's capital, Sanaa.
*Yemeni counter-terrorism official shot dead. Ali al-Yamani was shot by two gunmen on a motorcycle in Damar province where he was leading counter-terrorism efforts.
*Yemen to Investigate Explosions at Weapons Store Bombings at the headquarter of the first armored division were a result of a fire inside a weapons store that included missiles and tank rockets, no casualties were reported.
*Yemen LNG gas pipeline blown up again. The 320-km (100-mile) pipeline supplying the $4.5-billion plant has been attacked several times this year.
November:
*US drones hit Yemen a day after Obama won the elections. The strike was less than 40km from the capital Sanaa and in the hometown of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Adnan al Qadhi, a former AQAP member, and two of his bodyguards, Rabiee Lahib and Radwan al Hashidi, were confirmed to have been killed in the strike.
*A Ashoura celebration was attacked in Sanaa Four people were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in an explosion that targeted a Shiite Ashoura Celebration in the capital Sanaa.
December:
*New attacks on electricity lines, Air Force foils pipeline bombing Unknown elements attacked electricity transmission lines again, in Wadi Abeeda district of Mareb Province.
*Intelligence Officer Shot Dead in Eastern Yemen Colonel Ahmed Baramada, deputy intelligence office in Hadramout, was shot dead, by gunmen on a motorbike near his home in Mukalla.
*Airstrikes in Yemen kill 6 Al-Qaida suspects. Yemeni security officials say six al-Qaida suspects have been killed and 12 others wounded in army attacks on militant positions around the country.
*
Yemen LNG gas pipeline blown up again. The pipeline was last blown up about 295km north of gas liquefaction plant on Oct. 30. It was repaired in November and loaded a few cargoes of super cooled gas in early December.
*Yemen Says Artillery Rockets Behind Explosion at Gas Pipeline Yet another explosion hit the natural gas pipeline in southeastern Shabwa province. The pipeline was bombed by two artillery rockets as an act of sabotage.
*Assassination campaign continues against intelligence officers
Yemeni intelligence chief escapes assassination Col. Mohammed Hajeb, the military intelligence chief in the areas of al-Wadi and Sahara escaped an assassination attempt.
The assassinations and violent attacks have often been attributed to the usual suspect “Al-Qaeda, although no investigations have proven their involvement, others accuse Saleh and his loyalist for the volatile security condition that Yemen has been experiencing since his handover of power.
*Yemen's Long Awaited Army Restructure A number of long awaited decrees were issued, including restructuring the armed forces into four major units – land forces, navy, air force and border forces, and abolishing the Republican Guard and the First Armored Division and with them the dismissal of Saleh's relatives and Ali Muhsen from the military leadership.
Yet even that didn't seem to grant their final dismissal from the military as news surfaced of their possible appointment in the new restructure.
*Two US Drone Strikes in Yemen for Christmas five suspected militants were killed in both attacks.
*17 killed as Yemen army, tribesmen clash: tribal sources Yemen's army launched an offensive against tribesmen suspected of repeatedly sabotaging an oil pipeline in Marib, 10 tribesmen and seven soldiers were killed in the clashes.
*Three Westerners kidnapped in Yemen's capital, Sanaa In an unprecedented and further deterioration of the security situation in Yemen, masked gunmen seized three foreigners at a shop in Sanaa's city centre.
*Gunmen kill two high-ranking officers in Yemen Colonel Salem Gorbani and Brigadier-General Fidel al-Zahari were killed by gunmen on motorcycles within a 30 minute interval.
So for Christmas in Yemen, 2 US drone strikes killed 5, heavy clashes in Marib killed 17 and a brigadier an officer were assassinated in Sanaa.
*Protesters March for 270km in Yemen's Second Life March Yemen's youth commemorated the martyrs of the 2011 Life March by walking in their footsteps all 270km from Taiz to Sanaa and staged a sit-in at the presidential palace, demanding the dismissal of Saleh's relatives from leading positions in the army and intelligence.
*Gunmen attack Yemen oil pipeline after repairs according to official sources lost production because of attacks on pipelines in the east cost the government more than $1 billion dollars in 2012, while oil exports fell by 4.5 per cent.
*Two suspected al Qaeda-linked insurgents were killed in a drone strike in Yemen Two menriding a motorcycle west of the coastal town of al-Sheher, in the eastern region of Hadramout, were fired at by the pilotless aircraft.
Gunmen in Yemen kill intelligence officer Officer Mutea Baqutian, was heading to work Saturday in Hadramawt province when he was stopped by gunmen stopped his car shot him and then fled.
Meanwhile, Yemen is preparing for a six-month National Dialogue Conference, which has been challenging to organize, resulting in it's postponement several times. The shares of political parties and other groups participating was finally reached and the conference is due to start sometime early next year. Many Yemenis hope that a fair constitution addressing the needs and aspirations of Yemenis will be drafted and voted on in a referendum before the upcoming presidential election in 2014. Yet to the dismay of many, ousted president Saleh plans to head the GPC (General People's Congress Party) delegation at the National Dialogue shaping Yemen's future!
The year 2012 in Yemen has been a year full of assassinations, explosions, kidnappings and US drones. Yemenis hope that the coming year will bring the long and much awaited stability and security the country needs.
Thumbnail image :US Air Force General Atomics MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Image by Flickr user james_gordon_los_angeles (CC BY-NC 2.0)


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China’s Biggest Criminal Cases of 2012 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Barry van Wyk from Danwei has written a round-up summary of the top ten biggest criminal cases in China in 2012.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Delhi Gang Rape Victim’s Death Prompts Vigils Across India · Global Voices
Lakshmi Sarah

The victim of a gang rape on a bus in Delhi died yesterday in a hospital in Singapore.
The Delhi gang rape occurred on the 16 of December after the victim and a friend attended a movie. After boarding a bus, they were assaulted by five other passengers. On 26 December, the victim was sent to Singapore for further treatment and she passed away on 29 December, 2012.
Mumbai’s vigil, in memory of Delhi gang rape victim, took place on Saturday December 29, with attendees marching from the Gandhi statue at Juhu beach to Kaifi Azmi Park.
According to Zee News, the day is being called ‘Black Saturday’ with people all over the country protesting against the injustice.
Mumbai vigil. Image courtesy Molly Anderson. Used with permission.
Set off by a tweet from actress Shabana Azmi this message was retweeted 405 times:
@AzmiShabana: Citizens of Mumbai including theatre, film personalities lead silent march at 5.30 pm today from Juhu Beach gandhi statue 2 Kaifi Azmi Park.
I wrote in Policymic about the vigil I attended:
The vigil maintained a somber mood. Signs ranged from “My body, my city, my rights” to “It’s not her shame it is ours” and “Girl child, boy child, our child”
According to police, the crowd consisted of about 1,500 people. The marchers included women and men, as well as Bollywood stars such as Kailash Kher and director Satish Kaushik, famous lyricist Javed Akhtar, in addition to others.
As Aruna Prakash, a radio jockey for 90.8 Jaaga Mumbai said, “I’m a women, I was a girl, and I am a Delhite.” Prakash was “enraged, angered and sad,” at the news. She remarked that in the past girls were safe, but now that is not the case.
Sonam Revanker a young professional in Mumbai came to the protest with her brother. As she said, “It’s time someone takes some action.” Revanker heard of the vigil through facebook and twitter and decided to come with her brother. [..]
As Bollywood actor Sameer Kochhar said, “I’m here to show solidarity and support. As an Indian and a Delhiite, I am saddened.” He walked in order to “show that we do care and we need a change to happen.”
Mumbai Vigil. Image by Molly Anderson. Used with permission.
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women called on the Indian government to:
do everything in their power to take up radical reforms, ensure justice and reach out with robust public services to make women’s lives more safe and secure.
Newspaper articles and opinion pieces have ranged from calling for castrating the perpetrators to calling for speedy action when it comes to rape cases. Some state governments are calling for all women teams to deal with crimes against women.
Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Aruna Broota, is quoted in The Hindu saying said that to counter the rising fears among women and girls there is a need to educate boys and men.
“They have to begin with some kind of workshops and therapy in schools and they must include the boys. There is an absolute need to involve the boys and men and to address the hierarchy in gender relationships.
Additional responses on twitter have focused on a need for education:
Indian activists lights candles and hold placards during the protest in Agartala, India. Image by Arindam. Copyright Demotix (30/12/2012)
Matthew Ward was retweeted 1988 times:
@HistoryNeedsYou: Listen to the women of India: Don't stop your daughter from going out. Teach your son how to behave. #Delhigangrape pic.twitter.com/OvmlArpQ
Harsha Walia says:
@HarshaWalia: best twitter response to headlines like “india has a woman problem” –> “the world has a patriarchy problem” #delhigangrape #delhiprotests
Author Anand Giridharadas tweeted:
@AnandWrites: Gut-punched to hear #DelhiGangRape victim has died in Singapore. #RIP. Will she be #India‘s Tunisian vendor, or will complacency prevail?
Today’s vigil will be followed by a protest on December 31st from Colaba to Gateway of India.

author: Lakshmi Sarah


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Japan’s Independent Film Theaters are Disappearing · Global Voices
Mari Wakimoto

One after the other, independent movie theaters are going out of business in Japan. In this post we will look at the situation in Tokyo, which has the largest number of theaters in Japan [ja].
In 2011, two theaters were closed in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. This year, on January 29, Ebisu Garden Cinema [ja] and on February 27, Cinesaison Shibuya [ja] were shut. Ginza Theatres Cinema [ja] will follow suit in May 2013.
In the Asakusa area, which is home to Denkikan, Japan's first dedicated movie theater, built in the early 1900s and a symbolic place for Japan's motion picture, the last three traditional cinema houses Asakusa-Meigaza [ja], Asakusa-Chuei Gekijo [ja] and Asakusa-Shin Gekijo [ja] were forced to shut down on October 21, 2012.
The Chuei Corporation [ja] which ran the three theaters explained “the deterioration of the buildings” had forced them to close.
Quite a few people were shocked by the news:
@e_dynamic
マジか・・・俺の青春が・・・　>>浅草から映画館が消える…中映劇場など5館が閉館へ　建物の老朽化のため http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20120801-00000016-flix-movi …
@e_dynamic
darn…my days of youth…>>The theaters will disappear in Asakusa…5 Theaters including Cyuei Theaters are to be closed…due to deterioration of the buildings http://…
@o_nagayoshi
昭和2年築といえば重要文化財荷指定されている日本橋髙島屋よりも古い建物。
二重の意味で残念です。　>>　浅草から映画館が消える…5館が閉館へ
建物の老朽化のため http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20120801-00000016-flix-movi …
@o_nagayoshi
The building, built in 1927, is older than Nihonbashi-Takashimaya which is designated as one of the important cultural properties. It’s regretable in that sense as well.
>>The theaters will disappear in Asakusa…5 Theaters including Cyuei Theaters are to be closed…due to deterioration of the buildings http://…
The downtown of Asakusa sixth street in Tokyo in 1937.
Many theaters stood side by side and attracting crowds of people.
Image originally appeared in “Sekai Gaho” in December 1937 (Public Domain)
On April 24 2012, a Japanese film director Koji Wakamatsu, who passed away on Oct 17 this year, made a proposal on Twitter about the country's grant system on arts and cluture, which has been retweeted 5,927 times as of November 27, 2012:
@wakamatsu_koji
若松孝二監督よりの提言：文化庁は映画製作に助成金を出す必要はない、製作に金を出してもろくな映画はできやしない。それより苦労しているミニシアターに助成金を出すべきだ。映画をいくら作ったってかける劇場がなければ始まらない！　拡散希望！！
@wakamatsu_koji
Proposal by Director Wakamatsu : The Agency for Cultural Affairs need not to provide grants for film making, which will only result in poor production. Instead they should support the suffering small theaters. It is meaningless to make films if there’s no theater to show them! Please amplify my message.
Meanwhile, @Dol_Paula tweeted in reply to this question on 2channel, a Japanese textboard, “What makes you avoid going to theaters?”
@Dol_Paula
入場料がまったく変わらないのに完全入れ替え制になったこと。半年後どころか公開三ヶ月でDVD化するから。カーズ2もうDVD化かとCM見てぶったまげたｗ??α：どうしてみんなは映画館に行かなくなったの？映画館に閉館の波 http://alfalfalfa.com/archives/4904904.html …
@Dol_Paula
Because the ticket is valid for only one show. It used to be okay to stay and watch the same show again with the same fee. Also, now DVDs are available in three months after the film comes off the theater, far shorter than six months. I was surprised to see a TV commercial announcing the release of the DVD version of Cars 2
@guitarkids2010 thinks that it is because films themselves have lost their appeal:
@guitarkids2010
惜しい気もするが、名画座にかける名画なし、というのも事実。
無味乾燥なシネコンでテレビの拡大映像を見るだけのような大味な映画を見るのも時代の流れか。
→発祥の地からも…　浅草の３映画館が老朽化で閉館 http://www.asahi.com/culture/update/1021/TKY201210210248.html …
@guitarkids2010
I feel we are suffering a real loss [with theaters disappearing] , but I also feel there’s no great film that is worthy of being showcased in traditional cinema houses. It can be said that we are in a temporal trend  where people are just going to dry, cinema complexes with enlarged versions of TV screens
→ 3 theaters were closed… even in the birthplace of Japanese cinema, due to dilapidated buildings http://www.asahi.com/culture/update/1021/TKY201210210248.html …
The entrance of Cinepathos Ginza (to be closed in May) is in an underground restaurant area
Image by Flickr user jun560 under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
The tide of closing cinemas has changed the look of Tokyo's streets. People who used to get together and spend time there have lost their place.
@IMAO_S worries about elderly fans of traditional cinema houses.
@IMAO_S
寂しいっすね・・・あそこにたむろしていたオジさん達とかどうするんだろう？
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20120801-00000016-flix-movi …
@IMAO_S
It's a sad thing….where will those men who always hang out there, go?

author: Mari Wakimoto


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New GV e-book: African Voices of Hope and Change · Global Voices
Bernardo Parrella

Here is a perfect gift to salute the new year: our new e-book dedicated to Africa's Sub-Saharan region. “African Voices of Hope and Change,”  gives you an intimate perspective into the stories and people of Sub-Saharan Africa through our best English-language posts from 2012. From a total of about 800 posts produced over the year from the region, we hand-picked 13 posts to feature from Senegal, Uganda, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mauritania, Kenya, Angola and other countries.
You are welcome to download it here. You can even send a copy (in PDF, ePub or Mobipocket format) to your relatives or friends across the world, maybe as a present for their donation to GV. Most important, please spread the word in your global circles, social networks and anywhere you deem fit!
African Voices of Hope and Change is more evidence of the power of we‘, a collective effort focusing on places and people too often ‘forgotten’ by mainstream media worldwide, despite Africa’s diverse but promising growth in the upcoming years. As stated in the ebook introduction, “At the start of the new millennium, it felt as though the African continent was essentially written off by the international community… [but] recent statistics suggest that nine of the fastest-growing economies in the world are in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
And while many experts actually believe that new technology's most lasting influence will be on a broadening field of education, “also important is the potential for leveraging technology towards a more general transparency and accountability, as shown by initiatives based on social and citizen media for monitoring local elections or making government data available on the Internet.”
Aimed at providing a larger context and fostering the Global Voices mission, this collection of 2012 posts will try to parse out such complex framework and open up the horizon for the upcoming year. These voices tell us about moving forward in hope and change, their accounts reveal a path infused with struggle and collaboration.
Thanks to Mohamed Adel for technical support and to those who variously contributed to articles selected for this new e-book: Afef Abrougui, Ahmed Jedou, Anna Gueye, Eleanor Staniforth, Endalk, James Propa, Kofi Yeboah, Lova Rakotomalala, Nwachukwu Egbunike, Richard Wanjohi, Sara Gold, Sara Moreira, and Ndesanjo Macha.

author: Bernardo Parrella


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Promiscuity: The Image of Brazilian Women Abroad? · Global Voices
Yohana de Andrade

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise noted.]
On the television program “Justiça Cega?” (Blind Justice), which airs on the Portuguese network RTP, the president of the Portuguese Bar Association, Marinho Pinto, claimed “one of the things Brazil has most exported is prostitutes, among other things.”
This statement was made as part of Pinto's comment about the case of Catarina Migliorini, a Brazilian woman who sold her virginity for nearly 600,000 euros to Japanese business man Natsu. Marinho Pinto claimed the Brazilian government “is charging the young woman for prostitution,” but the Attorney General's Office is actually looking to charge the organizer of “Virgins Wanted” for human trafficking and prostitution.
There has been no shortage of reactions of indignation to Pinto's statement on Facebook and Twitter under the hashtag #justicacega. Messages have been left on the Facebook wall of Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Relations asking that both the ministry and the Association of Immigrants and Feminists take a stand.
The Brazilian Association of Lisbon (CBL), together with the Lusophone, Cultural and Civil Association (ALCC), the CommuniDária Association and the Women's Union – Alternative and Response (UMAR), published an article in response:
A infeliz perpetuação desta imagem redutora e hipersexualizada da mulher brasileira, através de pessoas que ocupam cargos de responsabilidade, como o Dr. Marinho Pinto, tem implicações graves para a vida de cada uma das brasileiras vivendo em Portugal. São frequentes os casos de assédio sexual, discriminação no emprego e na vida social, bem como dificuldades no acesso ao alojamento e interrogatórios abusivos nos aeroportos e nas esquadras de polícia.
The unhappy perpetuation of this reduced and hypersexualized image of Brazilian women by people in high positions, like Dr. Marinho Pinto, has severe implications for each of the Brazilian women living in Portugal. Cases of sexual assault, job and social discrimination, difficulties to gain access to housing, and abusive interrogations at airports and police stations are frequent.
The Office of the Secretary of Women's Policies, one of the presidential cabinets responsible for drafting and coordinating public policy concerning Brazilian women, reacted by stating that the ambassador of Brazil in Lisbon had already expressed the Brazilian government's indignation over the statement to the president of the Portuguese Bar Association.
In a written response, Marinho Pinto said the repercussion of his statement “was only shocking because it is the truth” and he claims his comment was addressed to the Brazilian prostitutes who are victims of female trafficking in Portugal.
A Google search for “Brazilian women” reflects the stereotype the country's women face.
Marinho Pinto's statement brings us back to the polemical discussion about the image of Brazilian women abroad. It is not uncommon to find Brazilian women minimally clad and photographs from Carnaval or a beach.
“Journalists and the foreign media in general tend to represent Brazilian women with a certain degree of maliciousness, an excess of prejudice and overgeneralization,” reads an article published in Observatório Mídia & Política (The Media and Policy Observer) by Katia Belisário, professor at the School of Communications at the University of Brasília and a doctoral candidate in journalism and society:
Representações estereotipadas e preconceituosas por parte da imprensa podem gerar consequências nefastas, tanto para a imagem da brasileira no exterior, quanto para o Brasil como um todo.
Stereotypical and prejudiced depictions by the press can lead to disgraceful consequences both for the image of Brazilian women abroad and for Brazil overall.
In her blog, Brazilian Melissa Rossi wrote [en] about her experience in Italy and how the local media was prejudiced in its treatment of her fellow Brazilian women:
I have never read one single article [in] the Italian media that does not play down the image of Brazilian women, often resorting to offensive stereotypes, which portray them as pretty but stupid.
Performance art entitled “Carimbada” (Stamping) by graphic designer Janaína Teles in her blog Corpo des-mapeado (Unmapping the Body): “I use the stamp as an object that brands and marks the bodies of others just like our own…. It is witness to an act of self acknowledgement by this branded and stereotyped woman clearing a path for a chance to ascribe new significance and identity.”
In February 2012, Claudia M. Vieira, an attorney and professor for students pursuing a master's degree in international law and international relations at the University of Lisbon, wrote on the site Sair do Brasil (Leaving Brazil) about the effects of prejudice and discrimination against Brazilian women abroad:
É tão grave a situação que as próprias mulheres brasileiras estão mudando o comportamento. As que ja vivem mais tempo fora do Brasil, já nem sorriem naturalmente, não brincam, não usam as roupas que gostam, tudo isso, por medo de sofrer preconceito. No curso de Mestrado da Universidade de Lisboa, constatei algumas alunas, falando com o sotaque português para serem aceitas, com a desculpa de que assim eles, os portugueses as entendiam melhor.
The situation is so severe that Brazilian women themselves are changing how they act. Those who have been living outside Brazil for some time do not even smile naturally, do not joke, do not use the clothes they like, all because of a fear of suffering prejudice. In the master's course at the University of Lisbon, I found some female students talking with a Portuguese accent in order to be accepted, citing that this way the Portuguese women understand them better.
Meanwhile, in September 2011 while working on her doctorate about the depiction of Brazilian women in Portuguese social media, Mariana Selister started the Brazilian Women's Manifesto (@MBrasileiras) as a rejection of the prejudice faced by Brazilian women in Portugal:
O estigma da hipersexualidade remonta aos imaginários coloniais que construíam as mulheres das colônias como objetos sexuais, escravas sexuais, e marcadas por uma sexualidade exótica e bizarra. Cita-se, por exemplo, a triste experiência da sul-africana Saartjie Baartman, exposta na Europa, no século XIX, como símbolo de uma sexualidade anormal. Em Portugal, esses imaginários coloniais, infelizmente, ainda são reproduzidos pela comunicação social.
The stigma of hypersexuality goes back to the historical concept of women in the colonies as sexual objects, sexual slaves, marked by an exotic and strange sexuality. Note, for example, the sad experience of South African Saartjie Baartman, exposed in Europe in the 19th century as a symbol of abnormal sexuality. In Portugal, these images developed back in colonial times are still perpetuated in social media today.
Ending with an appeal that is still current and ever urgent:
Exigimos, das autoridades competentes, que se faça cumprir a “CEDAW – Convenção para a Eliminação de Todas as Formas de Discriminação Contra as Mulheres”, da qual tanto Portugal, como o Brasil, são signatários. Destacamos, também, o “Memorando de Entendimento entre Brasil e Portugal para a Promoção da Igualdade de Gênero”, no qual consta que estes países estão “Resolvidos a conjugar esforços para avançar na implementação das medidas necessárias para a eliminação da discriminação contra a mulher em ambos os países”.
We demand that the authorities comply with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which both Portugal and Brazil are signatories, as well as to the Memorandum of Understanding Between Brazil and Portugal for the Promotion of Gender Equality, in which the countries “agree to join forces to advance in implementing measures needed to eliminate discrimination against women in both countries.”

author: Yohana de Andrade


text:
Sri Lanka’s Judiciary-Executive clash · Global Voices
Rezwan

Law and Other Things has updates on the proceedings that were initiated in the Sri Lankan Parliament to impeach the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Dr Shirani Bandaranayake.


text:
They Murder Trees in Egypt  · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Michael Hanna, an Egyptian blogger and pharmacist, continued his series of mourning the murder of trees, as well as demolishing antique villas in Heliopolis suburb in Cairo, and wrote an ode to a palm tree [ar].
Three months ago, he took a photograph of what is perhaps the oldest palm tree in the region. He blogs:
An old palm tree on Al Ahram Street, in Heliopolis suburb
Hanna continues:
A hole, where people throw trash, where a palm tree once stood


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Who Wants to Overthrow Central African Republic President François Bozizé? · Global Voices
Julie Owono

[All links forward to french articles unless otherwise stated]
While an alliance of rebels, assembled under the name of Seleka (which means alliance in Sango, the national language), is marching ahead unhinged towards Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), demonstrations have been held since December 26, 2012 to request an intervention from the international community, specifically France, to stop the rebels’ progress.
Screenshot from Al Qarra TV's report on Rebels in CAR posted on Youtube
Who are the rebels?
At the beginning of December the Séléka Alliance began its progression within the country. According to Alain Lamessi, contributor on Centrafrique Presse, it is a diverse group devoid of a clear political agenda:
Le Séléka est une coalition hétéroclite de factions rebelles dissidentes qui écument l’arrière-pays depuis quelques années déjà. (…) Pas de ligne politique conceptualisée, ni structurée, pas d’idéologie claire et cohérente, pas de revendications précises. Tout cela finit par convaincre que Séléka, dans sa forme actuelle, n’est pas et ne peut pas être une alternance crédible au régime de Bozize.
Seleka is a diverse coalition of dissident rebel groups that have been roaming the back country for some years. (…) No conceptualized nor structured political line, no clear and coherent ideology, no specific claims. At the end of the day,  this ought to be convincing evidence that Seleka in its current form, is not and cannot be a credible alternative to the Bozize administration.
In reality, there are four main armed groups, which have been fighting in the North and East of the country for many years now, interspersed with peace agreements with the national government. A statement posted on the Central Press website, signed by Seleka on December 17, 2012, mentions three of these groups:
CPJP  – General Nouredine Adam's Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace general Nureldine Adam
CPSK  – Patriotic Convention of Kodro's Safety led by General Mohamed Moussa Dhaffane
UFDR – Union of Democratic Forces for Unity led by Michel Djotodia and backed Chadian rebels of the FPR, which will be discussed later.
This article mentions the last member to have joined the alliance: the FDPC – The Democratic Front of the Central African People led by Abdoulaye Miskine.
The group's recent claims are related mainly to non-compliance, according to Seleka, with a peace agreement signed in 2007 between the rebels and the government of President Bozizé. These claims include:
La régularisation des 15 millions de francs CFA par combattant selon l'accord conclu avec le Général François Bozizé afin de laver la Dignité centrafricaine de ce genre de revendications malencontreuses mais tout de même légitimes,
Regularization of 15 million CFA francs payment per fighter according to the agreement with General François Bozizé, in order to restore the dignity of the Central African Group and satisfy their claims, which are unfortunate but nevertheless legitimate
In 2007, the first two peace agreements were signed in Sirte, Libya, then in Birao with the FDPC and UFDR. In May 2008, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of Libreville would pave the way to an inclusive political dialogue between the government, opposition political parties, rebellions and civil society for sustainable peace.
The rebels of Seleka have been accused of exactions in the regions of the country they control. The  Network of Journalists for Human Rights in Central African Republic (RJDH-RCA) in partnership with Internews agency put in place a Ushahidi crowdsourcing platform that lists the critical events in the country since March 14, 2012.  Alleged accusations against the rebels have appeared in these reports. For instance, on  September 3, the inhabitants of the town of Sam-Ouadja (northeast) complained of certain activities of UFDR:
Deux femmes soupçonnées de sorcellerie ont trouvé la mort les 28 et 30 mai à Sam-Ouandja  après avoir été battues par des éléments de l’UFDR et deux autres femmes ont subi les mêmes traitements, mais ont  survécu.
Two women suspected of witchcraft were killed on May 28 and 30 in Sam-Ouandja after being beaten by the elements of the UFDR and two other women were subjected to the same treatment, but survived.
On September 11, 20 people from the sub-prefecture of Kabo in the north, were robbed by suspected elements of the FDPC.
The Shadow of Islamism?
Two names seem to come up often when talking about the rebellion that is currently progressing towards the capital of the Central African Republic: Abdel Kader Baba-Laddé, former member of the Chadian forces and that of Chadian rebellion of which he was a leader for a long while, Popular Front for Recovery (FPR). The group claims to belong to the Islamist movement according to this article on RJDH-RCA‘s platform [fr], and wishes to unite all Islamic groups. Because of the porous borders between Chad and the Central African Republic, the FPR has at times occupied the north and north-central region. In September 2012, an agreement was signed between Chad, CAR and Baba-Laddé to end the rebellion and allow the return of its leader in his country, Chad. Baba-Laddé would be received with honors if all agree as this article states on September 5, 2012.
However, in a press release dated 21 December 2012, the RPF announced on its blog [fr] its total support to Seleka:
The FPR, our movement, which operated at the Chad-Central Africa border states to the attention of the national and international opinion that:
1 – FPR openly declares war to the government of Chad for its direct involvement against “Seleka”, the coalition of Centralfrican rebellion that is claiming nothing less than the legitimate right of a people battered and tortured by the regime imposed in CAR by Deby himself;
2 – FPR from this day will support militarily and politically the coalition of UFDR, CPJP and CPSK so that the two puppet regimes fall;
3 – the FPR declares at the same time that his valiant revolutionary fighters will launch attacks against essential positions of the Déby's militia in their positions in Chad until N'Djamena falls into the hands of the revolution;
Some Central African officials also fear Islamist incursions in this region of Africa. The RJDH-RCA reported [fr] on July 2, 2012 that the Minister of Security and Public Order had referred to the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram:
Le groupe islamique Boko Haram a été pointé du doigt par le ministre de la Sécurité et de l’Ordre public, Claude Richard Ngouandja, le vendredi 29 juin, au cours d’une audience avec le chargé d’affaires de l’ambassade du Nigéria et les représentants de la colonie nigériane en Centrafrique.
Compte tenu de la montée des violences du groupe Boko Haram, le ministre de la Sécurité et de l’Ordre public a invité les ressortissants nigérians au respect de la loi, en leur demandant de régulariser leurs documents de séjour en République centrafricaine.
The Islamist group Boko Haram has been singled out by the Minister of Security and Public Order, Claude Richard Ngouandja, Friday, June 29, during an audience with the chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of Nigeria and representatives of the Nigerian colony in Central Africa.
Given the increasing of violence from the group Boko Haram, the Minister of Security and Public Order urged Nigerians to respect the law, asking them to regularize their documents to stay in the Central African Republic.
If these trails are confirmed, it could lead to the opening of a second Islamist front in the South of Chad, and it would result in limiting the range of actions for Idriss Deby Itno, President of neighboring Chad, already taken up by his involvement in trying to resolve the crisis in Northern Mali.
Suspicious Timing of the Attacks?
The 2008 agreements did not secure the sought after peace. The disputed reelection of François Bozizé at the head of the country in 2011 has aggravated the tense atmosphere. Some, like Alain Lamessi on Centrafrique Presse [fr], questioned the timing chosen by the rebels to launch attacks on the country's capital and attempt to overthrow the President:
Est-ce par hasard que cette rébellion s’active dans le Nord et le Nord-Est de la république Centrafricaine au moment où l’exploration du pétrole centrafricain paraît de plus en plus prometteuse?
Is it by chance that this rebellion is bursting out in the North and North-East of Central African Republic when the exploration of Central African oil seems suddenly very promising?
In recent months, the licensing of oil exploration has been underway. Africa Energy Intelligence, quoted by Centrafrique Presse, revealed in March and April 2012 that the South African company DIG Oil had been awarded two exploration contracts and that a Chinese company had also obtained such authorization. Cooperation with China had already strengthened with the announcement in August 2010 by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nyala in neighboring Sudan, Pr Abbaker Ali Idris, of the construction of a Chinese university in Central Africa. On November 13, 2012, the government announced the re-opening of oil exploration in the village of Boromata, located 120 km from Birao.
President Bozizé in his December 27, 2012 speech suggested that he was being attacked because he decided to grant oil exploration contracts to a Chinese company:
Pourquoi on les a poussés, car nous avons maintenant le Ciment, si on nous laisse tranquille, dans 2, 3 ou 4 mois, les Chinois vont exploiter notre Pétrole. Quelle faute j’ai commise ? Pas de prisonniers politiques actuellement, la presse est libre. Pourquoi ils ont commencé à violer, à tuer et faire du mal à la population centrafricaine ? (…) On leur a tout donné. Avant de donner le Pétrole aux Chinois, j’ai rencontré à Paris Total et leur ai dit de prendre le Pétrole, rien, j’ai donné aux Chinois et c’est devenu un problème sur moi. J’ai envoyé le Conseiller Maidou à Paris pour le dossier de l’Uranium, ils sont refusé. J’ai finalement donné aux Sud-Africains.
Why were they pushed, because we now have cement, if they leave us alone, in 2, 3 or 4 months, Chinese will harness our oil. What mistake did I make? No political prisoner at the moment, the press is free. Why did they start raping, killing and hurting the Central African population? (…) We gave them everything. Before giving oil to the Chinese, I met Total in Paris and told them to take the oil, nothing happended, I gave oil to the Chinese and it became a problem. I sent counselor Maidou in Paris for the Uranium dossier, they refused. I finally gave it to the South Africans.
Request for French intervention
Since December 26, protesters have gathered in front of the French Embassy in Bangui. They have been seeking help from France and his intervention to stop the rebels’ progress. A similar appeal was launched this Thursday, on December 27 by President François Bozizé to the U.S. and France. An approach that has not failed to elicit reactions in the African twittosphere. Alain Kiana [fr] for instance thinks that such an approach is not appropriate:
@jovial987: C'est ridicule, quand on sait plus gérer sa maison, facile d'accuser les autres! #Bozize sa gestion mediocre est responsable
@jovial987: This is ridiculous, when you don't know how to manage your house anymore, it is easy to accuse others. #Bozize his mediocre management is responsible for all this
Aaron W. M. [fr] continues:
@Aarwan: #Bozizé F.n'est pas 1 démocrate.  Son pouvoir est issu de coup d'Etat contre #Patassé. Il ne peut récolter que ce qu'il a semé. #Centrafrique
@Aarwan: Bozizé F. is not a democrat. His power comes from a coup against Patassé. He can only reap what he sow. Centrafrique
Defense agreements bind France to the CAR. In 2006, 200 French militaries from the force Boali, created in 2002, had provided air support, and supported the defense lines of the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) in the region of Birao. This is what you can read on the website of the French Minstry of Defence:
En vertu des accords de défense et de sécurité liant la France à la RCA et à la demande des autorités centrafricaines, les militaires français ont apporté à plusieurs reprises aux forces armées centrafricaines et à la FOMUC un soutien renseignement et logistique, un appui feu aérien, une aide à la planification et à la conduite des opérations visant à reprendre le contrôle du Nord-Est du pays occupé par des éléments armés rebelles.
Under the defense and security agreements between France and the CAR and at the request of the Central African authorities, French soldiers helped FACA and FOMUC with information and logistics support, fire missile support and assistance in the planning and conduct of operations to regain control of the North-East of the country occupied by armed rebels.
Later, France stated through President François Hollande that its forces were not there to protect a regime, but to protect its citizens and its interests in the Central African territory.
Following a meeting of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in Ndjamena, Chad's capital city, on December 21, the Heads of State of the subregion recommended the opening negotiations in Libreville, Gabon, between the rebels and the government. If he is still in place and the time of these negotiations are held, will President Bozizé take the risk of flying to Libreville, leaving the country in the hands of Seleka?

author: Julie Owono