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A North Korean Refugee and Cartoonist Draws What Life Is Like for Those Who Escape · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

On the left, one refugee asks, “Are you sure we can really eat as much as we want?” On the right, the other female defector says, “All the food in this restaurant is rotten.” South Koreans use the English word “buffet,” which sounds like the Korean word for “rotten.” A challenge for many North Korean defectors is to learn all of these borrowed foreign words that have become part of the southern vernacular. Credit: Choi Seong-guk
This story by Jason Strother originally appeared on PRI.org on July 6, 2017. It is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.
The escape of around 30,000 North Korean defectors to South Korea might not seem like a storyline rife with laughter. But an online comic strip series created by a North Korean refugee, who now lives in Seoul, attempts to bring some humor to what is an often-harrowing journey and difficult resettlement.
After his own defection to South Korea in 2010, Choi Seong-guk, 37, realized that the two Koreas were no longer the same country — many cultural and linguistic differences have arisen during more than 70 years of division.
For Choi, who had once worked for Pyongyang’s premier animation studio, SEK, one of the first differences that stood out was that cartoons in the south weren’t anything like the ones in the north.
“When I first saw South Korean cartoons, I just didn’t get them,” he says. “There were no stories about patriotism or catching spies or war. They just seemed useless to me.”
Choi has had a knack for drawing since he was a kid, when teachers praised him for his sketches of evil American soldiers that he says he made look “as ugly and violent as possible.”
This is a re-creation of a drawing Choi made as a young student. It depicts an American soldier kicking a South Korean soldier as they prepare to cross the border into North Korea. The caption reads, “Invasion from the South.” Credit: Choi Seong-guk
In 2016, Choi returned to drawing and began an online comic strip series called “Rodong Shimmun,” which means “labor interrogation” — it’s a play on the name of North Korea’s “Rodong Shinmun,” the labor newspaper.
The satirical series follows a group of newly arrived refugees as they spend their first months in South Korea at a government–run integration center. Choi pokes fun at their ‘newbie-ness,’ like their shock about all the food at a buffet restaurant.
He also tells the story of one lovelorn defector, which he says is based on his own embarrassing cultural misunderstanding.
The defector meets a South Korean woman, who says, “Interesting. I’ve never met a North Korean person before. Can I have your phone number?” Credit: Choi Seong-guk
“One time I met a South Korean woman who asked for my phone number and said she wanted to become my friend,” he recalls. “I somehow misinterpreted that as she wanted to marry me.”
The woman goes on to use a term of endearment that’s casually spoken in South Korea. In a subsequent text bubble, Choi explains to his readers how this caused mixed signals.
“In North Korea only romantic partners would say that to each other. Amongst friends, we just call each other ‘comrade.'”
Not all of Choi’s drawings are funny, though. Some depict scenes in North Korea of people starving in the streets.
Throughout Choi’s comic series are glimpses of life in North Korea. In this drawing, the person says, “Hey, you could die. We should eat this grass.” Credit: Choi Seong-guk
Others portray how some defectors made their escape under fire from border guards.
Choi says he hopes his comic series will help change the mindset of South Koreans, who are generally apathetic toward North Korean refugees.
The caption above the drawing reads: “Escaping North Korea is all about survival. Even if one of your family members get shot and falls down, you just have to keep running.” Credit: Choi Seong-guk
And it might be working.
“Rodong Shimmun” now receives tens of thousands of views and some readers leave comments saying it’s helped them better understand the cultural differences between North and South Korea. Others write that they feel more empathetic toward defectors.


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Bahraini Rights Activist Ebtisam Al-Saegh Charged Under Terrorism Law · Global Voices
Gulf Center for Human Rights

International and regional human rights groups, including the Gulf Center for Human Rights and Amnesty International, are urging Bahraini authorities to release Ebtisam al-Saegh. Photo credit: Amnesty International
Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Ebtisam Al-Saegh has been charged under Bahrain's terrorism law. She remains in police custody three weeks after she was arrested for her work with the Geneva-based human rights group, Karama Foundation.
On 18 July, Bahrain's public prosecutor ordered her arrest for six months pending investigation, and accused her of “using human rights work as a cover to communicate and cooperate with Al Karama Foundation.”
Al-Saegh serves as the networking officer at Salam for Democracy and Human Rights, where she documents and drafts reports about rights violations. She is also a member of the umbrella human rights organisation, Bahrain Human Rights Observatory (BHRO). Last March, she participated at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Security officers arrested her for the second time in less than two months, and raided her home, on July 3.
Just before midnight, five cars and a minivan arrived at her home and a group of armed security agents, reportedly belonging to Bahrain's National Security Agency (NSA) raided her home without a warrant. They took her away from her husband and children.
According to reports received by a group of United Nations human rights experts, Al-Saegh is being subjected to ill-treatment, long-term interrogation and held in solitary confinement at the Isa Town Women Detention Centre.
The arrest comes just weeks after Al-Saegh suffered torture and abuse at the hands of the NSA. On 27 May, she was summoned to Muharraq police station for questioning about her human rights activities. She was immediately arrested and reported to the Gulf Center for Human Rights that she was tortured and sexually abused by members of the NSA. The security officers also threatened to murder her and her children. She was released seven hours later, and she had to go directly to hospital due to the trauma suffered.
After her release, Al-Saegh strongly condemned these illegal practices, describing them on Twitter as a “crime against humanity.”
On 26 June, on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, she tweeted:
I was tortured because I am human rights defender,
, I demand Punish to those who tortured me #bahrain pic.twitter.com/gYZDcXjimE
— ebtisam Alsaegh (@ealsaegh) June 26, 2017
Al-Saegh has been harassed, detained and prevented from traveling by the Bahraini authorities because of her peaceful and legitimate human rights activities in the past. When she returned to Bahrain after speaking about human rights violations in her country at the 34th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva last March, she was subjected to a five-hour interrogation at the airport, and then had her passport confiscated.
The authorities have repeatedly asked her not to “go beyond the red lines,” in other words, to stop her rights activism.
Despite the threats and the abuse she has been subjected to at the hands of the Bahraini security apparatus, she has refused to be silenced, and has continued to use her voice to call for freedom and for a prosperous future for all Bahrainis.
The Gulf Center for Human Rights is asking supporters to tweet in English or Arabic calling on authorities in Bahrain to:
Supporters can tweet at Bahrain's Minister of Interior (@moi_Bahrain) and at Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs (@Khaled_Bin_Ali).
The Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental organisation that works to provide support and protection to human rights defenders (including independent journalists, bloggers, lawyers, etc.) in the Gulf region and its neighbouring countries by promoting freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. This post was written by the center's executive director Khalid Ibrahim.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Gulf Center for Human Rights


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El Salvador Rape Victim Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Baby’s Death Despite ‘Inconclusive Proof’ · Global Voices
Melissa Vida

In El Salvador, there is a fine line between a miscarriage, an abortion, and the murder of a newborn baby.
[In the sign: “The State must rectify its mistake. Justice for Evelyn”. Salvadoran associations protest, demanding that the court rectify the sentence given to Evelyn Beatriz Hernández. Screenshot from the video report made by CNN.
This conceptual mix is manifested in the country's abortion law, which some consider to be the strictest in the world and recently led to 18-year-old Evelyn Beatriz Hernández being sentenced to 30 years in prison for “aggravated homocide”.
It all began on April 6, 2016 when Evelyn woke with pain in her back and went to her communal outhouse. There she lost two litres of blood, so her mother took her to the hospital. While she recovered, the police went to her home and found a dead baby at the bottom of the latrine. The question: was it an abortion, a miscarriage, or a homicide?
Evelyn is not the only woman to have faced this question in court. According to the Citizens’ Group for the Decriminalization of Therapeutic, Ethical and Eugenic Abortion, 129 women have been tried for abortion or aggravated homicide, and 49 were convicted.
Various groups believe that this recurrent problem has its origins in the country's strict anti-abortion laws. Women who want to procure an abortion legally cannot, so they risk their lives and are then imprisoned. And those who have obstetric complications are suspected of committing abortion or homicide.
According to the prosecutors, Evelyn knew she was pregnant but wanted to hide the pregnancy in order to get rid of the fetus. They first accused her of attempting abortion, but in the end she was convicted of aggravated homicide because the baby, at eight months’ gestation, was full term and the forensic evidence was sufficient to declare that it was alive at birth.
En la Vista Pública a cargo del Juzgado de Sentencia de Cojutepeque, se estableció con suficientes pruebas pericial, documental y testimonial, que la incriminada actuó con [premeditación], en contra de la vida de su hijo, porque incluso después de ingresar con hemorragia al Hospital “Nuestra Señora de Fátima” de Cojutepeque, el seis de abril del año dos mil dieciséis, y de diagnosticarle un parto vaginal intradomiciliar, negó que hubiere estado embarazada.
At the Public Hearing in the Sentencing Court of Cojutepeque, it was established with sufficient expert, documentary and testimonial evidence, that the accused acted with [premeditation], against the life of her child, because even after being admitted to “Nuestra Señora de Fátima” Hospital in Cojutepeque with haemorrhaging, on the sixth of April in the year two thousand and sixteen, and having been diagnosed as having had a home vaginal birth, she denied having been pregnant.
However, Evelyn has another version of the story. She testified that she was not aware of her pregnancy because she did not experience symptoms and her menstruation continued normally. This means that she was unable to prepare for her pregnancy and unknowingly increased the risk of miscarriage. Evelyn also claimed that she had been repeatedly raped by gang members. Nevertheless, these explanations do not carry legal weight as all abortions are prohibited in El Salvador, including for pregnancies resulting from rape.
Those who defended Evelyn, as well as feminist organizations, asserted that she was sentenced without any direct evidence. They pointed out that she was a victim of an erroneous judicial process based entirely on presumptions. They added that the forensic documents were inconclusive as they did not determine with certainty whether the baby died before or after birth. For Evelyn and the Salvadoran prosecution, this distinction is key. The prosecutors maintain the latter, which is why Evelyn was convicted of voluntarily killing her child. Her mother, with the help of the defense, is preparing an appeal.
Evelyn's case is a complex one that has not only divided public opinion in El Salvador, but has also resonated internationally. However, the facts are difficult to clarify and it seems the international media did not help convey the nuance of the case, claiming that the woman was imprisoned for having a miscarriage or abortion. Tim, who blogs about ‘history, culture and analysis of El Salvador and the Salvadoran people’ explains this in his blog:
Most of the English language reporting is written for headlines and misses some of the complexities of the story. (…) Several English language news reports state that Hernandez was convicted for failure to seek prenatal care. Reading the various reports of this case (I was not in the courtroom), I think this is incorrect. There was testimony that a local health promoter came to check on her three different times because local people in the community were saying she was pregnant. She or her mother did not permit the health visit, but this was not alleged to be the cause of the fetal death. Prosecutors said this proved (a) Hernandez should have known she was pregnant, and (b) she refused the visits to cover up the fact that she was pregnant.
This controversy has given rise to the Twitter campaign #JusticeForEvelyn which seeks to revoke the court's decision. It is led by the Salvadoran association Las17 and has international support.
.@berthamariaD explica que el protocolo de autopsia consigna que la causa de la muerte es indeterminada #JusticiaParaEvelyn 1/3
— Las17 El Salvador (@Unaflorporlas17) July 13, 2017
@berthamariaD explains that the autopsy protocol confirms that the cause of death is undetermined #JusticeForEvelyn
Other groups emphasize the poverty of those convicted, the common denominator among the women accused of abortion or homicide in El Salvador. Blogger Virginia Lemus highlighted this in a harsh and sarcastic tone, using the latrine as a symbol of the misery of these girls in her article “sign of the latrine“.
Nadie parece notar que una y otra y otra vez la narrativa de las mujeres acusadas de homicidio –no de aborto, ni lo quiera Dios– en contra de sus fetos tiene como escenario brutalista y vulgar el baño público. No es uno con pastillitas olor lavanda tropical, toallas suavecitas gracias al poder del Suavitel Adiós al Planchado ni duchas con control de temperatura, no. Son fosas sépticas. Estas mujeres-monstruo, inmorales, capaces de matar a sus propios hijos, suelen tener como escenario el piso de tierra, la pared de bahareque, las lombrices reptando al fondo de la fosa.
No one seems to notice that time and time and again the narrative of the women accused of homicide –not of abortion, God forbid– against their fetuses takes place in the brutal and vulgar scene of the public bathroom. It is not a bathroom with tropical lavender-scented air freshener, towels softened by the power of ‘Suavitel No More Ironing’ [fabric softener] and showers with temperature control, no. These are latrines. These monster-women, immoral, capable of killing their own children, have as their backdrop a dirt floor, mud walls, worms slithering in the bottom of the cesspit.
Finally, members of civil society also seek to highlight the fact that Evelyn's rapists continue to walk free. They assert that the prosecution should pursue the perpetrators of these sexual crimes, and not her:
La violaron, parió un bebé muerto que no sabía que tenía y ella va a la carcel, no su violador. #JusticiaParaEvelyn ¡ESTO ES INACEPTABLE! pic.twitter.com/0d1httz1LJ
— Lizarrrg (@athvant) July 8, 2017
They raped her, she gave birth to a stillborn child she didn't know she had and she goes to jail, not her rapist. #JusticeFor Evelyn THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!
Image headline: Rape victim will spend 30 years in prison for losing her baby
Image text: Evelyn Beatriz Hernández Cruz, 19 years old, gave birth to a stillborn baby after months of sexual abuse. She was sentenced to three decades in prison under El Salvador's anti-abortion laws…
Por esto exigimos #JusticiaParaEvelynpic.twitter.com/yLuKQ133lh
— ParoINTdeMujeres (@MujeresEnHuelga) July 11, 2017
This is why we demand #JusticeForEvelyn
Image text: The Salvadoran State asserts that she, Evelyn, killed a human being, and thus convicted her of aggravated homicide. The defense alleges that this is not true, that Evelyn suffered a miscarriage. In the face of reasonable doubt, the State does not listen to reason and convicts her. She, a young woman of 18 years of age, living in poverty in rural El Salvador, where the minimum wage is about 150 dollars a month, who had been raped by gang members, is the only one deemed guilty and criminal.
The impunity of perpetrators of gender-based violence is not unusual in El Salvador, the country with the highest rate of femicide in the world. Most cases of domestic violence, rape and femicide are not reported, and of those that are only one percent result in convictions.

author: Melissa Vida


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French Bank BNP Paribas Accused of Complicity in the Genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Screenshot from the documentary on the role of France in the Tutsi genocide -
Identifying the guilty parties in the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda and bringing them into justice continues to this day despite limited resources and enormous legal and political obstacles. Determining who bears responsibility at the international level, both as far as governments like that of France, as well as supranational bodies, still needs to be cleared 23 years after the genocide.
But last June 2017, three human rights NGOs filed a lawsuit in the high court of Paris against the French bank BNP Paribas for the latter's alleged complicity in committing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Rwanda.
The Rwandan genocide occurred from April 7 to mid-July 1994 and was a mass slaughter of Tutsi by members of the Hutu majority government in Rwanda at that time. An estimated 500,000–1,000,000 Rwandans were killed during the massacre. The genocide ended when the Tutsi-backed and heavily armed Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) led by Paul Kagame took control of the country. During the Hutu majority government, France maintained very close relations with the government and assisted the military of Rwanda against the RPF during the Civil War. During the first few days of the genocide, France launched a military operation to evacuate expatriates from Rwanda but they refused to allow any Tutsi to accompany them.
In a press release published on 29 June 2017, the NGOs Sherpa, the Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda (CPCR) and Ibuka France explained the reasoning behind their legal action against the group BNP Paribas:
The bank would have agreed to transfer in June 1994, one month after the UN had voted an arms embargo and during the genocide, 1.3 million dollars from an account of its client, the National Rwandan Bank (BNR in French) to the Swiss account of a South African arms dealer, Mr. Ehlers.
Mr. Ehlers would have then gone to the Seychelles with a Hutu colonel Mr. Théoneste Bagosora to agree upon the sale of eighty tons of arms, on June 17, which would then have been transported to Gisenyi (Rwanda) via Goma (Zaire). During his testimony in front of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the colonel Bagosora confirmed that weapons coming from the Seychelles via Goma served to “give a hand to Kigali”(Capital city of Rwanda) [1].
Further, the Brussels Lambert Bank (BBL in French) had refused the request to use the funds of the Commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR in French) because of the UN arms embargo. According to the testimony of a person posted by the BBL in Rwanda, the banking sector, who already was under the obligation to inquire that its clients explain the destination of the funds under unusual circumstances, knew “the Rwandan government had a crucial need for fund […] it was clear for everyone that they had to buy weapons and ammunition. That Rwanda was under an embargo”. According to him, the BNP could have been the only bank which had agreed to provide financial resources to Rwanda.
Thus, according to the testimonies and investigation reports, such as the UN International Investigation Commission, the proceedings prove that the BNP knew the destination of the funds and that it could contribute to the ongoing genocide.
This is the first time such a complaint is initiated against a bank in France on such a legal basis.
The NGO TRIAL International summarized the case against Hutu Commander M. Théoneste Bagosora, who was condemned to life in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on 18 December 2008 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes; but whose sentence was reduced to 35 years in prison through an appeal on 14 December 2011:
Bagosora was considered to be the “mastermind of the genocide” and already in 1990, was reported to have developed a plan whose intent was to exterminate the Tutsi civilian population, eliminate all opponents and thereby keep a hold on power. According to the bill of indictment, this plan, made up of several elements, included having recourse to hatred and ethnic violence, the military training and distribution of arms to militias as well as the drafting of lists of people to be eliminated. In the execution of this plan, Bagosora and his accomplices were said to have organised, ordered and participated in massacres perpetrated
The three NGOs are working with SumOfUs, launched an international petition in French, English and German to demand that the financial institutions be held responsible for their role in committing human rights violations in Rwanda. Launched on 29 June 2017, the petition has already collected more than 154,000 signatures addressed to the Macron government and the new members of the French parliament.
If the facts are confirmed, the three NGOs consider that:
this legal action would shed light on the potential responsibility of financial institutions when it comes to war crimes, and also human rights abuses.
France has just elected a new President and legislature. With an international outcry, we can ask the new government to strengthen financial sector regulations for BNP and others. The statute on the duty of care of multinational corporations, voted on 21 February 2017, and which applies to banks, should from now on prevent the involvement of financial institutions in such violations.
The culpability of the banking group must not obscure those of the French government, which was suspected by a number of witnesses at the time of the genocide of having aided those committing the genocide in their activities. In his book “La France au cœur du Génocide des Tutsi”, freely available online, author Jacques Morel writes:
France contributed to training and the international recognition of the government which organised the massacres. It evacuated its citizens and fled. It blocked any action by the United Nations Security Council. It attained a mandate that from it, under the pretext of protecting populations in danger, which allowed the escape of its allies pursued by the Rwandan Patriotic Front. This, in the face of the refusal by UN peacekeepers to intervene to stop the massacres of the Tutsi, take control of arms, and put an end to what the United Nations recognized as the genocide of the Tutsi.
Morel is a mathematician who worked at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. He is known for his extensive research on the role of France in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Morel unpacks in further details the arguments laid out in his book in the video below:
Pope Francis, in receiving President Paul Kagame for his first visit to Vatican, recognised the guilt of certain members of the Rwandan clergy and asked for forgiveness. Will France one day have the courage to do as much? For the moment, it continues to turn a deaf ear. However, that is without considering the determination of the human rights NGOs to fight impunity.
For example, the association Survie recently filed a lawsuit against the politicians and French military alleging “complicity in genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity”.
Even amongst members of the French armed forces that operated in Rwanda and even outside of the country, people are beginning to talk. The former French Army Officer during the genocide, Guillaume Ancel, affirmed on the public news service France Info “that his superiors had clearly asked him to deliver arms to those committing genocide in the refugee camps.”

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Ghana’s Social Media Scene Opens New Spaces for Public Debate · Global Voices
Kofi Yeboah

Digital media has become really popular in Ghana. Photo By  SandisterTei available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license
During the 2016 Ghanaian presidential elections, amidst the intense jockeying for power, something else was asserting itself. Social media and online platforms became crucial avenues for the electorate. Engaging voters in digital spaces became as important as speaking at a public rally.
It's not just politicians who have awakened to its power. Civil society also are taking advantage of the rise of social platforms, leveraging the popularity of the medium to demand good public services, like access to constant electricity.
Civil society organisation Odekro is harnessing technology to increase transparency in the legislative process. They are working to create a national platform whereby the public can access bills, motions, and parliamentary debates. In 2016, Odekro published online a report on the performance of members of parliament in Ghana to help citizens know how their MPs are faring in representing them in parliament. They used the hashtag #GhParliament to engage online users about their work.
Another think tank in the West African nation has been instrumental in ensuring that citizens are able to use social media to seek accountability from government. Imani Africa helped lead one of the largest protests by middle class citizens in Ghana, demanding better access to electricity, which started with the hashtag #OccupyFlagStaffHouse in 2014. Prior to this movement, citizens in Ghana typically had access to electricity for only 12 hours at that time, but now, Ghanaians have consistent and regular access to electricity.
Imani Africa has risen in prominence ever since. The organisation has carved a niche in Ghana’s policy environment, putting out objective, independent analysis and critique on many issues, such as advocating the privatisation of the electricity company of Ghana to ensure constant supply of electricity to Ghanaians.
Recently, they hosted a forum in the capital Accra to discuss “Governance in the Age of Social Media,” with a particular focus on Ghana and Switzerland.
Founding president of Imani Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, spoke about how the country's citizens are using social media to question acts of corruption and improper accountability:
One bemusing media revelation that was recently made was how the Ghana Minerals Commission reported that Ghana’s total gold receipts for 2016 from all its trading partners was $1.7bn when the Embassy of Switzerland reported that Switzerland alone purchased $2bn worth of gold from Ghana for the same year. Some social media commentators latched onto this confounding story and concluded that this was one of the grand schemes by former government officials to illicitly transfer funds into safer havens. They may be wrong, but the deafening silence from the minerals commission was not helpful.
Today, Ghanaians on social media are quick to make permutations of what number of public schools, hospitals, roads and sanitised water systems could have been constructed had certain amounts of public money not been diverted into private pockets or lavishly spent on the growing number of government appointees. And yes, we also troll our public officials and public figures when they make mistakes. And in this era of fake news on social media, its gotten even merrier.
Swiss President Doris Leuthard also attended the event and spoke at the forum. She gave an example of how her government has created accessible online platforms to enable citizens to identify damaged infrastructure and inform government authorities to fix them:
Zurich has an online tool where citizens can inform authorities on damaged infrastructure -Doris Leuthard [Swiss President] #ImaniSwissEvent
— Imani Africa (@ImaniAfr) July 12, 2017
But there is still progress to be made. Online, @K_amofah tweeted his frustration of how the masses are not doing enough to employ social media during decision making in Ghana:
In the case of Ghana, there is absolutely no way citizen participate in decision making. Win an election and become e wise #ImaniSwissEvent
— K. Amofah (@K_amofah) July 12, 2017
Alhamudulilah (@lilmodulo) also questioned whether Ghana has benefitted at all from being the first African country to get access to the internet:
Ghana was the first country in Africa to be connected to the Internet in 1994. #ImaniSwissEvent I ask how has it benefited our economy? ??
— ALHAMUDULILAH ??? (@lilmodulo) July 13, 2017
In Ghana, out of a population of more than 7 million people, 28.4% have access to the internet, mostly through mobile data plans. Although this puts Ghana ahead of most countries in the region, it still trails behind countries including Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. Ghana's high mobile penetration rate of 128% (a reflection of many citizens having multiple phone plans) may help pave the way for more Ghanaians to gain internet access and join civic conversations on social media.

author: Kofi Yeboah


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Jamaica’s First Woman Prime Minister Retires Amidst Praise, Criticism — and a Contentious Battle to Succeed Her · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Former prime minister of Jamaica, Portia Simpson-Miller, when she attended the ceremony unveiling the winning design for the slavery memorial at the United Nations (in her capacity, as then prime minister). Photo by United Nations Information Centres, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
On June 29, 2017, Jamaica's first female prime minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, made her final speech in parliament. It marked, at the age of 72, her retirement from representational politics.
Simpson-Miller had been under some pressure to step down as opposition leader ever since the People's National Party (PNP), under her leadership, lost the general elections in February 2016. Former finance minister, Peter Phillips, was returned unopposed as party leader, and sworn in as opposition leader on April 3, 2017.
Ms. Simpson Miller was showered with tributes by colleagues on both sides of the house in a joint sitting of parliament on June 27, where she was described as a champion of the poor. With rural roots, her political journey as a woman and her personal resilience in the face of stiff challenges were often topics of praise and admiration. However, her leadership skills were often called into question during her two stints as prime minister, and as she left the political stage she still had her detractors.
Outspoken entertainer Tanya Stephens took to Facebook to deliver a devastating critique of Simpson-Miller's legacy:
Hearing people lament Portia's departure is like seeing people congratulate my rapist for being a ‘good man'…she isn't a good person. SHE knows that. Besides unqualified AND an embarrassing representation who wasn't even of average intelligence as per her public displays, she was also an awful apathetic human who perfected the art of pandering to the hypocrisy of Jamaicans. I'm happy to see her back. I'm not alone. Good riddance.
Stephens responded to the many Jamaicans who were disturbed by her outburst by simply stating:
That it takes ‘audacity’ to criticize a PUBLIC SERVANT is a tragedy.
As a quite unpleasant war of words ensued, community activist Damien Williams shared:
To compare the fanfare & well wishes towards PSM [Portia Simpson-Miller] to that being offered to a rapist is NOT a critique of her capacity, competence or a commentary on her failures but NASTY personal attack, plain and simple. However, to offer a defense of PSM by doing same is equally nasty. Rape is NEVER something you downplay or use to inflict pain/recompense. We certainly can express dissent without ad hominem. We are always so grotesquely excessive and then use as a crutch, freedom of speech. KMT [Kiss my teeth]
Affectionately known as “Mama P,” Simpson-Miller presided over the gritty “garrison” constituency of South West St. Andrew for over four decades. It is an inner city area of the capital, plagued with poor infrastructure, unemployment and poverty. Columnist Martin Henry wrote:
Portia Simpson came to representational politics at the parliamentary level in 1976 when political tribalism and its ugly pickney, political violence, were on the upswing. The state of emergency declared by the Government that year, partly in response to escalating violence associated with the election campaign, assisted the young KSAC councillor to capture what up till then was a safe JLP seat, having never been won before by the PNP since its creation in 1959. Her 76 per cent margin of victory in '76 just kept growing to the point where it equalled the number of voters, even when a few voted for the JLP candidate.
Since 1976, criminal violence, indexed by murder, has progressively increased, with South West Andrew making its above-average contribution.
Within a week or two of Simpson-Miller's resignation as a member of parliament, the party became gradually embroiled in a political tussle over her possible successor in the constituency. This was reported and commented on in detail by both traditional and social media. Jamaicans have a taste for political intrigue, and many (especially those with party affiliations) are following every twist and turn with interest.
The story began with a drama — and a murder — when local Councillor Karl Blake (considered a possible successor) was injured and his assistant shot dead at their constituency office. Blake, who has recovered, is reportedly no longer interested in contesting the seat.
While Councillor Audrey Smith-Facey, who is campaigning under the hashtag #OurAudrey, was expected to be the main contender, the waters were muddied considerably when a video was posted of Simpson Miller endorsing former Kingston mayor, Councillor Angela Brown-Burke, to succeed her. This was a surprise to many, with some questioning whether it was genuine, having come after the nomination period had ended; this threw the party into further confusion.
According to one news report, however, party delegates are firmly rejecting Brown-Burke. Many would like to see the young maverick, Damion Crawford, in the seat. Crawford is apparently not interested, but this has not stopped him from seeing the humour in the situation (he locked horns with Brown Burke on social media in 2015):
UPDATE: the PNP's @DamionCrawford cites campaign slogan for #AudreySmithFacey & appears to take a jab at former Kgn Mayor Angela @brownburke pic.twitter.com/s70KuGP0Li
— Abka Fitz-Henley (@AbkaFitzHenley) July 22, 2017
Crawford himself added:
I don't understand y ppl upset when I nvr ever said I was running https://t.co/DruHfGwkkQ
— Venkatanarasimharaju (@DamionCrawford) July 20, 2017
Noting in fake exasperation:
In moments like these i wish my name wasn't damion crawford it's too easy to call. I'm changing it again to Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta”
— Venkatanarasimharaju (@DamionCrawford) July 18, 2017
Meanwhile, some journalists are enjoying the cut and thrust within the party:
UPDATE: Region 3 Chair @PhillipPaulwell backing Burke. Former Region 1 boss @LisaHannamp supporting #SmithFacey. Hanna chides Executive pic.twitter.com/JxBuBNn5zQ
— Abka Fitz-Henley (@AbkaFitzHenley) July 22, 2017
#OurAudrey shows no sign of backing down, issuing a somewhat sarcastic statement that she expects to be the “standard bearer”. One Jamaican Twitter user was amused:
Loooooooooooooooooooooool. Is which lawyer/PR person write this? Them need to raise them retainer. This was good. https://t.co/jzi7f2banO
— #Cariblue (@ja_cynic) July 20, 2017
Not to be outdone, Councillor Brown-Burke is busy campaigning on her Facebook page, with a photo of herself and “her people” in the constituency. She also wasted no time in updating the cover photo on her Facebook page to read, “I'm thankful for my struggle, because without it I wouldn't have stumbled across my strength!”
After a meeting of the party's executive council, the PNP has now agreed to hold a selection conference to decide between the two women on July 30, 2017.
The question remains, though: does Portia Simpson-Miller want to remain engaged with the people of South West St. Andrew, whom she described in her farewell speech as her “armour of steel”? Perhaps that depends on which woman succeeds her.

author: Emma Lewis


text:
Truths From the Front Lines of Climate Change in Europe’s Far North · Global Voices
350.org

Photo credit: Mose Agestam
This article is based on a piece written by Melanie Mattauch for 350.org, an organisation building a global climate movement, and is republished here as part of a partnership with Global Voices.
The indigenous Saami live in the Arctic regions of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia, at the front lines of climate change. These are four stories of Saami people speaking their truths about what climate justice means to them.
Jonas Vannar, reindeer herder. Photo credit: Mose Agestam
The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average. Since 1900 average temperatures have increased by 3.5 degrees Celsius. Last winter, temperature records led scientist to speak of “Arctic heatwaves.”
Warmer and increasingly unpredictable conditions threaten the livelihoods of Saami communities.
The changing climate poses a huge threat to reindeer that struggle to find enough food when thaw and freeze cover the ground under layers of ice. Recent years have seen mass starvation among reindeer.
These problems are exacerbated by the forestry industry and big infrastructure like wind parks or hydropower that cut off reindeer herding routes and pastures. Mining and mass renewable energy infrastructure expand heavily in Sápmi, with severe impacts on Saami livelihoods.
Jonas Vannar shares his experience as a traditional Saami reindeer herder in the video below. “As a reindeer herder you are very dependent on nature. It is both the biggest challenge and the greatest joy,” he says.
Note: “Sameby,” translated as “Saami village” in this video, is an economic association of reindeer herders that share a certain geographic area. The expression “Saami village” has a colonial heritage stemming from laws for farmers and settlers that the Swedish government imposed on the nomadic Saami people.
Áslat Holmberg, fisherman and politician. Photo credit: Mose Agestam
The number of Saami who still fish in traditional ways is rapidly declining. Áslat Holmberg is one of the few young people that still fish in traditional ways. Fishing has been key for him to gain traditional knowledge and learn the Saami language.
This summer, he won’t be allowed to fish in the rivers his family has always been fishing in. New fishing regulations imposed by Norway and Finland forbid traditional Saami fishing. Even though Saami customs prioritise nature above all else, it’s the traditional ways of fishing that are now most heavily restricted.
Áslat explains how this kind of “green colonialism” makes it harder and harder to keep Saami livelihoods, traditional heritage and culture alive: “…there is a risk for ‘green colonialism’ where vast areas, that often indigenous people like Saami use […], are seen as empty places to be used in other ways.”
Anne-Maret Blind, journalist. Photo credit: Mose Agestam
Saami experience the effects of climate change and exploitation of nature more severely, even though they have done least to cause it. On the contrary, the world can look up to the Saami for solutions to these crises.
Anne-Maret Blind shares what her grandfather taught her about the Saami way of life, their values and perspectives.
“We have 2% old growth forests left in Sweden. That is all we have,” she says:
It hurts in my whole body and soul, in all of me. You will get depressed if you think about it too much. … But I know that there is constant exploitation of nature up here.
Sarakka Gaup, actress. Photo credit: Mose Agestam
Like many other indigenous people, exploitation of nature, racism and rules imposed by profit-driven, colonialist power structures inflict great harm on Saami communities. Climate change and the loss of nature and identity are seen as key factors driving up suicide rates, for instance.
Mio Negga and Sarakka Gaup are on tour with a play to speak their truths about these issues in Sápmi, as a way to heal and move towards a better future. These issues concern all of us, Mio says:
The point is that it should stop being about money. It should be about taking care of what we have left… It’s not only us Saami that pay the price. We will destroy our planet.
Mio Negga, music producer & actor. Photo credit: Mose Agestam
And Sarakka explains:
There is already so much done that cannot be undone. For many people and in many ways it’s already too late. … But as a young person with hope for the future, just choose to believe that things can change… Together we can make it actually happen!
All videos were filmed and produced by Mose Agestam, k13 filmproduktion.


text:
A Final Glimpse of Cambodia’s Iconic Phnom Penh White Building Before Its Demolition · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Bird's-eye view of White Building, July 14, 2017. Photo and caption by Radio Free Asia / Vuthy Tha
This article is reposted with permission from Radio Free Asia. The article featured photos of Phnom Penh's iconic White Building days before it was demolished.
Radio Free Asia
This iconic 54-year-old apartment building with an open sky bridge often caught the attention of artists, dancers, and photographers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. But now it is being torn down.
The government plans to develop the area into a 21-story multi-purpose complex under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) concession with Arakawa, a Japanese company, at a project cost of $80 million.
The White Building was originally called the Municipal Apartments and was inaugurated in 1963 as a low-cost housing complex. Over the years, it transformed into a notorious slum and crime area, where prostitutes, heroin addicts, nuns, students, children and business owners lived side-by-side.
The building was originally designed by Cambodian architect Lu Ban Hap and a Russian-born architect Vladimir Bodiansky as part of the then-King Norodom Sihanouk’s vision for new Khmer urban transformation. Consisting of six blocks where 493 families resided, the building is located in the Tonle Bassac neighborhood along Sothearos Boulevard, just a couple of blocks away from Cambodia’s National Assembly and Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ buildings.
Only trash and some leftover sheets, pillows and tables are now seen inside the building. Nevertheless, seven families who owned apartments in the building remained defiant as they refused to abandon their apartments and accept ‘lower-than-market-price’ compensation, while other residents from four families residing along the right of way within the building complex also decided not to abandon the building before the demolition which began on 17 July, 2017.
View of White Building complex, July 14, 2017. Photo and caption by Radio Free Asia / Vuthy Tha
Piles of household belongings and trash next to a wall bearing campaign material of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, July 14, 2017. Photo and caption by Radio Free Asia / Vuthy Tha
A household shrine with incense sticks stands in front of one of the apartments in the White Building, July 14, 2017. Photo and caption by Radio Free Asia / Vuthy Tha
Defiant residents sleep on one of the sky bridges in the White Building, July 14, 2017. Photo and caption by Radio Free Asia / Vuthy Tha
Defiant residents who refuse to leave their apartment are seen sleeping inside their blocked apartment, July 14, 2017. Photo and caption by Radio Free Asia / Vuthy Tha

author: Guest Contributor


text:
Puerto Rican Newspaper Cans Popular Comic Strip, Raising Concerns Over Censorship · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

Image by Oscar Alonso and taken from the Facebook page of Pepito.
For Puerto Rican Congresswoman María Milagros “Tata” Charbonier, comic strips are no laughing matter.
On July 11, the celebrated local comic strip Pepito made light of Charbonier's political career by comparing her to a trashcan:
Image taken from the Twitter account @UPRestudiantes, one of the many social media accounts to have taken pictures of the canceled strip and shared them widely.
Mother: What's wrong with your father? He's arguing with the trash can.
Pepito: Oh dear! I've already told him it isn't Tata Charbonier.
The comic was published as usual in Primera Hora, a leading daily newspaper in Puerto Rico.
The next day, Speaker of House of Representatives Carlos “Johnny” Méndez wrote a letter to María Luisa Ferré Rangel, president of Primera Hora's parent company, GFR Media. He complained that the strip referred to Representative María Milagros “Tata” Charbonier in a “derogatory, insulting and discriminatory manner.”
Primera Hora suddenly found itself in the awkward position of having to fire the cartoonists whose work it had approved of just hours earlier.
Pepito is known for its sharp critique of the government and of elected officials in both the governments of Puerto Rico and of the United States. During the 10 years it was published in Primera Hora, it earned accolades from UNESCO, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, the Latino Book Review and the Photojournalists’ Association of Puerto Rico, among other distinctions.
This wasn't the first time Rep. Charbonier, from New Progressive Party (NPP), was the brunt of a joke. She is known for her extremely conservative views on marriage, sexuality and religion. A lawyer by profession, she presides over three committees which include the Judiciary Committee and the committees that oversee revisions to the civil and penal codes. She has opposed legislation that decriminalized the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and that granted protections and rights to people in same-sex relationships. Among the many outlandish statements she has made, she has gone on record saying that pedophilia and bestiality are sexual orientations.
Pepito's creators, Harold Jessurun and Aníbal Quiñones, expressed their dissatisfaction with Primera Hora's decision in an article published in 80 grados, a collective news and commentary site:
No estamos satisfechos con la decisión. Especialmente porque no se nos otorgó el espacio de discutir lo sucedido. Grupos de presión relacionados con el estado han hecho campaña para ponerle fin a este proyecto acusándolo de fomentar la violencia contra la mujer. Acusación que se aparta de la trayectoria histórica de denuncia activa a favor de mejorar las condiciones de vida de la mujer puertorriqueña y salvaguardar sus derechos.
We aren't satisfied with the decision. Especially because we were not given the space to discuss what had happened. Groups affiliated with the state have campaigned to put an end to this project, accusing it of encouraging violence against women. Their accusations are a far cry from our history of calling attention to the importance of improving the living conditions of Puerto Rican women and safeguarding their rights.
Indeed, the New Progressive Party (NPP) isn’t known for supporting feminism. In past and current NPP administrations, women’s issues have consistently ranked low on the list of priorities—if not ignored completely—and women’s rights have not been safeguarded. If it wasn’t for the hard-won victories of the feminist movement, Charbonier would not even be occupying a seat in the House of Representatives.
It should be noted that the accusation of misogyny by Speaker Méndez also comes across as disingenuous. The week before, Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz referred to Ana Matosantos, a member of the Fiscal Control Board imposed by the US Congress last summer on Puerto Rico, as “sir” on more than one occasion while being interviewed on radio. Ana Matosantos has been open about her sexual identity as a lesbian since her name was mentioned for the first time as a possible member of the Fiscal Control Board. Thomas Rivera Schatz has been publicly criticized for his unabashedly homophobic comments, but no other politicians have spoken out about his unkind treatment of Matosantos due to her sexual orientation.
The Journalists’ Association of Puerto Rico (Asociación de Periodistas de Puerto Rico, or ASPPRO) lamented the decision of Primera Hora's editors to fire Pepito's creators and reminded readers that Rep. Charbonier is a public figure and thus, a natural subject of satire.
They went on to explain why, in their view, the strip shows no hint of misogyny:
Con su comentario Pepito cualifica las expresiones y posturas de Charbonier como carentes de valor, insustanciales, inservibles, y por lo tanto desechables. Es por eso que el personaje le advierte a su papá que el zafacón “no es Tata Charbonier”, en metafórica referencia a que, aunque en el receptáculo se encuentra lo desechado, allí no se encuentran los señalamientos y posturas de la representante, como tampoco ella misma.
With his comment Pepito qualifies Charbonier's expressions and postures as lacking in value, insubstantial, useless and thus, disposable. This is why the character warns his father that the trash can “isn't Tata Charbonier,” in metaphorical allusion to the fact that, though the trash can contains things that are discarded, it isn't where the representative's expressions and postures can be found, nor she herself.
Because Primera Hora's decision to fire Pepito's creators was widely seen as an act of censorship, social media users photographed the strip as it appeared in print and shared it extensively on social media.
Amnesty International released a statement denouncing the reasons for the cancellation of the strip on its Facebook page:
La cancelación de la tirilla cómica Pepito por parte del periódico Primera Hora es un acto de censura y coacción a la libertad de expresión. El derecho a recibir y compartir información e ideas sin temor a represalias es esencial para nuestra educación, acceder a la justicia y disfrutar de todos nuestros demás derechos humanos.
The cancellation of the Pepito comic strip by Primera Hora is an act of censorship and coercion towards freedom of speech. The right to receive and share information and ideas without fear of reprisals is essential for our education, to have access to justice and to be able to enjoy all of our human rights.
Other cartoonists expressed their solidarity with Pepito through their art:
Pepito is shown here being sequestered by two men, presumably government agents, one with a dollar sign and the other with a blue palm tree, the emblem of the New Progressive Party (NPP), to which Rep. Charbonier and Speaker Méndez are both affiliated. In the background is a limousine with Speaker Méndez's head calling out: “Relax, Tata. This is a democracy. Good thing we don't live in Venezuela!” (N.B. Some people in Puerto Rico use Venezuela in a pejorative way as an example of what independence would mean.) Image taken from the Facebook page De la Nada.
The garbage heap holds up a sign that says “I'm not Tata.” The quote by Paul Klee at the bottom reads: “Art does not reproduce that which is visible, but rather sheds light on that which is not always visible.” Image created by El Alastor and taken from the Facebook page of Pepito.
George Rivera (@ElGeorgeRiveraR), in an opinion piece for the online magazine Qiibo, questioned whether the press in Puerto Rico is really free to do its job:
Si un periódico canceló una simple tirilla porque “Tata” se ofendió, ¿qué queda del resto? De ahora en adelante, ¿qué confianza se le puede tener a un medio que le coge miedo a la presión del estado? ¿Qué pasará con el medio cuando quiera publicar una noticia seria que involucre a alguien de estado?
De izquierda o derecha, extremo o moderado, ningún Estado o individuo debe tener poder sobre lo que la prensa quiera decir. Mucho menos el humor, que de por sí está corriendo peligro en esta era de vigilancia absoluta.
If a newspaper cancels a simple comic strip because “Tata” felt offended, what's left? From now on, how can a news outlet that is scared of pressures from the state be trusted? What will happen to that outlet when it wants to publish a serious story that involves a statesperson?
From the Left or the Right, extreme or moderate, no state or individual should have power over what the press wants to say. Even more so with humor, which is already in danger in this age of absolute surveillance.

author: Ángel Carrión


text:
The Case of Fabiola Antiqueo and Police Violence in Chile · Global Voices
Ricardo Martínez

Relatives of Fabiola Antiqueo show support for the lawsuit brought up against the Carabineros (Chile's national police force). Photo used with permission.
It was about 7 a.m. on Friday, May 12, 2017, when the national police of Chile, or Carabineros, broke into a Mapuche student residence in Temuco, the capital of the Araucanía region. Roommates of 18-year-old Fabiola Antiqueo, who studies visual arts at the Catholic University of Temuco, had participated in a protest that morning to support Mapuche political prisoners. After they got back home, her student residence was attacked with tear gas without warning.
Like other students in the residence, she had to dodge several tear gas bombs, but luck was not on her side. She took a direct hit in her left eye. While she bled, her companions called for an ambulance twice, but it never arrived, and she had to get a taxi to take her to the hospital. That weekend, she lost her eye.
Fabiola Antiqueo. Photo used with permission.
In an interview with Global Voices, Fabiola stated that:
En ningún momento, [desde el hospital] hasta el día de hoy; nadie se ha acercado por parte de Carabineros. Nada. Ahora, lo que tenemos certeza, es que van a tratar de sacarse esta culpa. Van a decir que todo fue mentira, que fue un accidente, que estaba de noche, por la luz, que no se fijaron. Eso van a tratar de hacer.
To obtain justice, she will have to face Carabineros, one of the most powerful institutions since the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who ruled Chile for 17 years until 1990 together with the three branches of the armed forces.
And though the incident that Friday was not like the recurring confrontations instigated by Carabineros in rural communities of Araucanía — like the one that took place this past June 14 when military vehicles barged into a school with tear gas — it seems to denote a modus operandi of police forces in the region.
Even the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, expressed his concern this past March 29, 2017  “about the reports of the use of excessive force and other abuses against indigenous group members”.
Tenemos la necesidad de avanzar en la superación del conflicto entre el Estado chileno y el pueblo mapuche.
Araucanía is an important region for the country’s major timber companies, which the Mapuche community want out from their ancestral land, known as Wallmapu, in their native Mapudungún language.
The land conflict with the largest indigenous group in the country has gone on over dozens of years and is facing one of its worst moments. The current president, Michelle Bachelet, classified it as “errors and horrors” this past June 22 after asking for an apology and announced a new socioeconomic plan to help the indigenous community.
Como Presidenta de la República, pido humildemente perdón al Pueblo Mapuche y a las víctimas de la violencia rural. Hemos fallado como país.
— Michelle Bachelet (@mbachelet) June 23, 2017
As President of the Republic, I humbly apologize to the Mapuche people and to the victims of rural violence. We have failed as a country.
— Michelle Bachelet (@mbachelet) June 23, 2017
Former president and the winning candidate in Chile’s primaries this past July 2, Sebastián Piñera — who according to local media has strong links with the companies that lead the timber industry in Chile — said that “we need much more than gestures” and affirmed that Bachelet “has not been capable of putting a stop to terrorism”, remarks that he has made on several occasions. (Even as the most disastrous forest fires in the history of the country at the beginning of the year unfolded.)
Frente terrorismo en araucania el gobierno debe definir en forma clara y categórica de qué lado está: con los terroristas o con sus victimas
— Sebastian Piñera (@sebastianpinera) January 8, 2017
Facing terrorism in Araucanía, the government must decide clearly and categorically which side they are on: with the terrorists or with their victims.
Also on social media, some people concluded that it was an alleged Mapuche terrorist group, which together with “ex members of Farc [sic]” among others, intentionally set fire to privately-owned eucalyptus and pine plantations.
Me da vergüenza que un buen número de chilenos, sin ningún antecedente, culpen a los mapuche o extranjeros de los incendios.
— Néstor Aburto ?? (@NestorAburto) February 5, 2017
I am ashamed that a good number of Chileans, with no proofs, are blaming the fires on the Mapuche community or foreigners.
However, neither a socioeconomic plan nor a new president will be able to give Fabiola back her eye. “And I don't know whether to expect justice, because here in Chile it is difficult to find justice, above all with this topic”, explains the young visual artist.
Meanwhile, the Undersecretariat of Human Rights, a government body recently created in September of last year under the Ministry of Justice, is limited to promoting public policy.
In an interview with Global Voices, Lorena Fries, the body’s Undersecretary, reveals that the main complication within the legal framework to address human rights issues is that they “can't be in charge of the protection of rights, because we are, obviously, part of the government and the Executive branch.”
In her opinion, however, there have been great advances in terms of human rights since Augusto Pinochet was ousted in a referendum, despite the fact that many of his laws continue to be the norm.
And although paintball munition was taken out of Carabineros’ protest control tactics after a young man lost an eye some years back, Fries considers it very unlikely that the use of tear gas will be limited, despite it being classified as semi-lethal and although studies point to its dangerous after effects, including miscarriages.
In regard to Fabiola's case, Carabineros will begin an investigation to determine how tear gas was used and if it was in accordance with protocols. And if norms were not followed, they will be sanctioned, adds the Undersecretary.
Currently, its use is very common in the country and affects both protesters and bystanders in practically any protest, whether it has been approved or not — in Chile, people still have to obtain permission to protest.
Additionally, Chile’s Anti-Terrorism Law created in 1984 to combat leftist movements that rose up against the iron fist of Pinochet — despite being modified over the years — has been invoked an innumerable amount of times in conflicts in Araucanía during both of the last administrations, President Bachelet’s and presidential hopeful Piñera’s. But according to Fries, the Mapuche people are not considered terrorists.
And even though cases similar to those in the Pinochet era are still recorded, Fries does not consider it “acceptable to compare the current situation with that of the dictatorship”. And explains:
Una cosa es cuando los crímenes se cometen en un contexto de generalidad y sistematicidad y otra cosa es cuando, en la práctica, personas o funcionarios públicos violan los derechos humanos, que en este caso, las instituciones deben funcionar.
However, Fabiola, who is still recovering, thinks that things have not changed much.
Hace más de 10 años que esperamos justicia. Siempre se repite y han muerto tantos. Es tanta la represión que se vive, que no sé cómo decirlo.
Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, reported feeling appalled at hearing atrocious cases of abuse in his Chile mission summary in September of 2015. These include cases sexual abuse, in which nobody had been prosecuted.
El sistema actual y la impunidad que abriga, es una de las partes más visibles del legado de dictadura en Chile. La transición fue gradual y no un quiebre radical con el pasado, dejando así trazos del pasado que no caben en el Chile de hoy.
To date, there are many post-dictatorial cases of abuse in the country that portray a different reality that contrasts with the Undersecretary’s views. Maina Kiai detailed several cases, including sexual harassment of women by Carabineros, in which they were not able to prosecute the perpetrators.
Without being at war or in an internal conflict, the Chilean military expenses per capita are higher than Colombia in recent times and ranked third just after the United States and Canada for many years in the last decade. The annual budget of Carabineros in 2016 at CLP 988,828,000,000 (aprox. USD$1,500 millon) is almost the same as the amount for the Army, Navy, and Air Force combined, or the entire Ministry of Justice. (Design: Ricardo Martínez)
In an interview with Global Voices, Jonathan Hidalgo and Sebastián Painemal, Fabiola's lawyers, say that the District Attorney of Araucanía has processed the requested proceedings for their report “satisfactorily” and that they are part of an investigation that is being led together with the Investigations Police. “Only two reports are needed: an expert report and some witness testimonies”. The crimes that are being sought are for “serious to very serious injuries”.
Similarly, the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) which has the capability of filing complaints directly against Carabineros, applied appropriate human rights protocols right after the incident.
But the lawyer for the INDH headquarters in Araucanía, Marcos Rabanal, explains in an interview with Global Voices, that despite the unobstructed actions of the public prosecutor, “a high-ranking Carabineros official in Araucanía hinted at a worrying theory about the case in front of the media: Fabiola's injury could have come from her own companions that had participated in the protest.”
Rabanal affirms that greater urgency is needed for these type of investigations and that there should be a stronger commitment to accuse Carabineros officials of crimes. And though he celebrates how the proceedings have been taken care of to date, he considers that it is necessary to stay on top of Fabiola's case. His experience with previous cases in the region has demonstrated that speed does not guarantee that the accused will be charged.
Tenemos el caso del joven Brandon Hernández Huentecol, que resultó gravemente herido en diciembre del 2016 por una escopeta antidisturbios y estuvo a punto de costarle la vida. Las diligencias se hicieron rápidamente, pero al día de hoy no se ha formalizado la investigación a pesar que la identidad del funcionario está establecida desde los inicios. Tratándose de funcionarios policiales, creemos que se demora demasiado si se compara con delitos que se imputan a personas naturales o personas Mapuche.
And he added:
No podemos quitar la presión del caso de Fabiola. Mientras no exista determinación de responsabilidades, esto no queda concluido. Esperamos que [el caso de Fabiola] se traduzca prontamente en una imputación concreta a funcionarios determinados y no se diluya en el tiempo.
The INDH lawyer states that, while the investigation is not formalized, the victim has no rights to assert, and the crime remains unpunished. And even if this important step has been achieved, other questions open up before obtaining definite justice.
And although Fabiola is not a lawyer, her point of view is the same as Rabanal.
Nos gustaría pillar a la persona que me disparó. Aunque obviamente la institución [Carabineros] lo va a encubrir y todo, yo sé que se va a saber quién fue la persona. Pero tampoco voy a esperar a que le den de baja, porque aquí en Chile pareciera que a cada Carabinero que mata le dan una medalla. Los protegen.
For Rabanal, there is a need to assign special prosecutors within the Public Ministry solely for these types of cases because conflicts of interest have already occurred when investigating Carabineros. He also reveals that there is “an excess of caution or fear” when judging the police institution.
Until a few years ago, the jurisdiction for judging a carabinero in a case like Fabiola's was under total control of the Military Courts. Though in theory it’s now a thing of the past, the dictatorship legacy seems to continue blocking judicial processes in practice.
For Fabiola, though, her priority is to go back to get her Visual Arts degree.
Prefiero preocuparme por eso más que por lo otro. Y estar tranquila. Tengo que tomar la batuta nomás como persona, como artista y como víctima. Es momento de concientizar realmente a la gente.
And though she feels supported by her whole family, companions and friends, Fabiola does not know what will become of her assailant. “I can't wait for justice, because I know that it's not going to come”.
Poster of the campaign that seeks justice for Fabiola Antiqueo. Shared on social networks.

author: Ricardo Martínez


text:
This Jamaican Scientist’s Marijuana-Based Anti-Cancer Drug Has Been Approved by the FDA · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Sativa; photo by Dank Depot, CC BY-NC 2.0.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted orphan drug approval for Chrysoeriol, a cannabis-based drug used to treat acute myeloid leukaemia, which was developed by Jamaican scientist Dr. Henry Lowe.
Dr. Lowe founded Medicanja Ltd  — described as “Jamaica's first medical cannabis company” — in 2013. Its distinguished board of directors includes two former prime ministers and a former governor general.
The US Orphan Drug Act gives special status to a drug or biological product to treat a rare disease or condition upon the request of a sponsor. Under the act, Dr Lowe will qualify for some development incentives, including tax credits for some clinical testing.
After presenting his research findings at the 2017 Global Health Catalyst Summit at Harvard Medical School in April 2017, Dr. Lowe made the announcement at a July 12 press conference at his wellness resort in Kingston, which both Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Science and Technology Minister Dr. Andrew Wheatley attended.
The prime minister congratulated Dr. Lowe, while injecting a note of caution when he promised that the government will ensure compliance with international standards, “because cannabis and the (medication) that could potentially come from it are still not recognised in many countries, and some countries still consider it illegal”.
Chrysoeriol was developed by Dr. Lowe's Maryland-based company, Flavocure Biotech LLC; he insists that he will not allow “big pharma” to purchase the drug, which he says would “park” it, despite the $15 million to $50 million (USD) such a sale would potentially earn him.
Rather, he is hoping to make enough money — US $3.5 million to be exact — to continue his research and ready the drug for the retail market in about two to three years’ time. While he is hoping to raise the necessary funding locally, Jamaican banks have not been as supportive as he would have hoped.
Science and Technology Minister Dr. Andrew Wheatley supported Dr. Lowe's stance, reiterating that it is important for Jamaicans to “own the rights to our research…and not become second-hand users or owners of the products”.
Not all Jamaicans agree, however, agree with this approach. On Facebook, Ronnie Sutherland suggested:
Dr Henry Lowe take the US$50 million and use it to research some other drugs or go enjoy yourself on the beach. Your talent is in research. You do not have the capital or what it takes to bring this drug to market. That's where the big pharmaceutical companies that you are resisting come in. You seem to want all and may lose all in the process.
For his part, Dr. Lowe took the opportunity to call for more financial support for scientific research in Jamaica, explaining that if the country procured even a fraction of the lucrative global pharmaceutical and nutraceuticals industries, it would help economic growth. Jamaica is currently doing quite well under an International Monetary Fund Precautionary Stand By Arrangement , but still struggles with low growth.
Jamaicans responded positively to the news of one of their own — and a scientist at that — making such an important contribution to cancer treatment:
Public relations guru Jean Lowrie-Chin tweeted:
Big news from our brilliant #Jamaican scientist #DrHenryLowe!! Congratulations!! pic.twitter.com/2eQaeFQFCr
— Jean Lowrie-Chin (@souldancing) July 14, 2017
On the other hand, the news prompted some to return to a widely held belief that Jamaica has not taken sufficient steps to regulate or profit from marijuana (locally known as ganja), whether medicinal or recreational.
Journalist Owen James noted:
It has been a long journey for Dr. Lowe. I vividly recall our interview re the attempts to patent another drug and how it faltered.
— Owen James (@owenjamesja) July 15, 2017
The Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 2015, also referred to as the Ganja Reform Law, created the framework for the decriminalisation of offences under the Act, making possession of less than two ounces of ganja only a ticketable offence and no longer a crime.
The legislation also created the framework for the development of legal medical marijuana, hemp and nutraceutical industries, and for the establishment of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) to oversee the implementation of regulations for licences, permits and other authorisations for the cultivation, processing, distribution, sale and transportation of ganja.
One Jamaican felt that Dr. Lowe would not be given credit by some politicians, because they don't want to address the issue:
Looking out for the politicians who going rally round Henry Lowe and him newly approved ganja based drug
— Dr Aujaé K Dixon (@Aujae_Dixon) July 22, 2017
The point of my tweet is that they should all shut up about anything Lowe achieves until they start doing something abt ganja. From PM down
— Dr Aujaé K Dixon (@Aujae_Dixon) July 22, 2017
This, even though there is potentially money to be made from recreational ganja in Jamaica:
We're already counting down to the next #CanEx #Jamaica #Business #Conference and #Cannabis #Expo! https://t.co/93eh9uCYKB pic.twitter.com/mCSMdDu1kL
— High Vibes Jamaica (@highvibesja) July 15, 2017
One Jamaican thought that the country should get with the times:
https://t.co/1aAV6YyrmW – – – just leaving this here… Wake up
— Delano Seiveright (@DelanoSeiv) July 13, 2017
Others weren't prepared to wait. Grammy-nominated Jamaican reggae band Raging Fyah, currently on tour in the United Staes, announced its own brand of marijuana, to be sold in Colorado:
Raging Fyah Jamaica's First Band to Enter Multi-Billion Cannabis Industry with Own Strain… https://t.co/pAYk6QVYSM pic.twitter.com/euwIaOpHoN
— The CaribbeanCurrent (@thecaribcurrent) July 21, 2017
While many Jamaicans remain impatient, the Jamaican government is taking tentative steps towards embracing the potentially profitable nutraceutical business — including a closer look at medicinal marijuana. At the same time, Health Minister Christopher Tufton has just announced that the National Council on Drug Abuse will be launching a full-scale public education programme on the dangers of ganja smoking among adolescents.


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Hell on Earth in Chittagong: Floods Wreak Havoc in the City · Global Voices
Rezwan

Screenshot taken from YouTube.
Heavy rains plagued Chittagong, last weekend, a major coastal seaport city and financial center in southeastern Bangladesh, disrupting the day-to-day lives of its citizens. Almost half of the city became waterlogged in the past week, after incessant rain and tidal surges flooded the city: roads lay under knee-deep to waist-deep water, houses and offices flooded, electricity lines were disrupted. It was overwhelming for local residents and there seemed to be no respite. Some used social media to share images of the “hell” they were living through.
The Chittagong Patenga Meteorological Office recorded 200.6 mm rainfall over a period of 24 hours until 3 pm on Sunday, 23th of July, 2017. Moreover, the spillways of the dam at Kaptai lake were opened after excessive rain filled up the lake and poured into the Karnafuli river that runs through Chittagong, causing the water level to rise. Heavy rainfall and tidal surges also continued on Monday and is reported to continue until Tuesday.
Chittagong Flood 2017 ! pic.twitter.com/NrmQj8ITBe
— পথিকTravellerالمسافر (@Dilir123) July 25, 2017
Five people including three children have been killed in a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Chittagong, #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/Mrk6PE68Ti
— Suresh C (@SrshC) July 22, 2017
The two port city commodity centers, Khatunganj and Chaktai, which house about 3,000 businesses and more than 5,000 warehouses, remained submerged in up to 5-feet of water since Sunday. Businesses suffered heavy losses as most of their stocks were damaged. The Geological Survey of Bangladesh in Chittagong, has asked people living on hill slopes to move to safer places for fear of landslides.
Waterlogging is a persistent problem for the port city in the past few years, occurring whenever there is excessive rain. Experts blame the waterlogging on the breakdown of the city's drainage system due to mismanagement and a lack of coordination between the concerned authorities. Furthermore, many of the canals which crisscross the city, have been clogged with garbage, sediment, and unplanned building development limiting the flow of water during monsoons.
People shared images of the recent floods on social media:
Chittagong – Venice of the East :) pic.twitter.com/gPVl6p1M7k
— পথিকTravellerالمسافر (@Dilir123) July 25, 2017
Heavy rain in Chittagong pic.twitter.com/lzRnh76yeT
— ▪ (@Ezelis4ever) July 25, 2017
পানির নিচে চট্টগ্রাম!!
পুরাতন চাঁদগাও এলাকার এই মুহুর্তের অবস্থা pic.twitter.com/RBrEzOaG2J
— Babul (@bub8g) July 25, 2017
Chittagong under water. The old areas of Chandgaon at this moment!
বৃষ্টি হলেই কেন তলিয়ে যায় চট্টগ্রাম?https://t.co/UWFakIigJm pic.twitter.com/6pl71RECYT
— Abu Sufian (@sufian_reporter) July 24, 2017
Why does Chittagong go under water whenever it rains heavily?
This video uploaded to YouTube by Mohammad Salah Uddin & Rezuanul Islam Shaikat shows the water receding:
The Chittagong tax office (Zone 4) has bought a boat for its officials to commute through the streets during the recent rains, as the water can often be waist-deep in many places.
Fardin Hossain uploads another video on YouTube:
Dr. Anjan Kumar Das, a medical professional, writes on Facebook:
চট্টগ্রাম আগ্রাবাদে জলাবদ্ধতার অবস্হা আজকে ভয়াবহ আকার ধারণ করেছে। মনে হয় দেখার কেউ নেই। সৃষ্টিকর্তা সকলকে রক্ষা করুন।২৪.০৭.২০১৭।
The waterlogging in Agrabad, Chittagong has worsened today. It seems nobody cares. God save everyone. 24.07.2017
Mahbub Arif Kintu writes on blogging platform Amarblog:
অতিবৃষ্টির কারণে কাপ্তাই জলবিদ্যুৎ প্রকল্প যেন হুমকির মুখে না পরে তাই প্রতি সেকেন্ডে ৬২ হাজার কিউসেক পানি কর্ণফুলী নদীতে ছাড়া হয়েছে সেই সাথে সৃষ্টি হচ্ছে কর্ণফুলীতে উর্দ্ধমুখী সাগরের জোয়ারের পানির চাপ, পাহাড়ি ঢল ও জোয়ারের পানিতে টইটম্বুর চট্টগ্রাম শহর। [..] টানা বর্ষণে প্রতি বছর চট্টগ্রামের পাহাড় ধ্বস এখন বর্ষাকালে একটি নিত্য দিনের ঘটনা হয়ে দাঁড়িয়েছে, বিকল্প নিজস্ব জায়গা না থাকায় ঝুঁকিপূর্ণ ওই পাহাড় নীচেই হারিয়ে যাচ্ছে শতশত প্রাণ । প্রশ্ন করি চট্টগ্রাম কি এতটাই অবহেলিত, সামান্যতম করুণা দেখাবার কি কেউ নাই ?
চট্টগ্রাম আজ বহু বছর উন্নয়নের প্রতিশ্রুতির উপর নির্ভর করে আছে, চট্টলা বাসী আজও সেই দুর্ভোগ থেকে মুক্তি পায়নি, প্রতিশ্রুতির উপর খুব বেশীদিন বেচে থাকা যায় কি?
To save the Karnafuli Hydropower Station from rising water level at the Kaptai lake, 62000 cusec water was withdrawn via the Kaptai dam spillways into the Karnafuli river. Add to that the tidal surges from the sea and the excess water from the mountain streams. And that's how most of the Chittagong city was submerged. [..] Landslides due to excessive rain has become a special feature of the monsoon days in Chittagong. As people are not being moved to safer places, many lives are being lost. Can I question is Chittagong this much neglected? Will nobody do anything to stop these?
Chittagong is living up to false promises of development for years. The citizens have not relieved from these miseries. Can people live long depending on empty promises?

author: Rezwan


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Menstrual Hygiene Products Are Not Luxury Goods: Indian Rural Women Speak Out · Global Voices
VideoVolunteers

Indian women making menstrual pads by hand. Image from Flickr by Morgan Schmorgan. CC BY-NC 2.0
This post was written by Madhura Chakraborty and Shradha Shreejaya and originally appeared on Video Volunteers, an award-winning international community media organization based in India. An edited version is published below as part of a content-sharing agreement.
At the stroke of midnight on July 1, the Indian government rolled out what is being touted as the biggest tax reform in 70 years of independence — the Goods and Services Tax (GST), an indirect tax applicable throughout India that aims to replace multiple taxes levied by the state and central governments. With this, menstrual hygiene products will be taxed in the same category as ‘luxury’ commodities, while Vermilion (applied to the forehead of Hindu women to indicate married status), mangala sutra (a necklace worn by married women) and bangles not made out of precious metal (also a sign of marriage) will not be taxed. If this was a move to appease women, it backfired massively. There has been a surge on social media of articles and online petitions regarding the taxing of sanitary napkins. Female students in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, even  mailed crate loads of sanitary napkins with the message ‘bleed without fear, bleed without tax’ to the finance minister.
One Twitter user asked:
Tax*
Condoms don't get taxed, then why sanitary pads?
There's nothing goddamn luxurious about periods
— Lidia ? (@iamlidia_) May 24, 2017
According to National Family Health Survey, NFHS 2015-16, the number of women using hygienic methods for managing menstruation in India is at 78% in urban areas, 48% in rural areas and 58% overall. The rest, who cannot afford hygienic products, use unsafe alternatives like rags, ashes, husk and even sand.
While the mainstream media focused on the women from the urban, middle class who are taking to the social media to air their grievances, voices of rural women remain unheard. This video by Video Volunteers captures some of those voices.
“When I have to go far or go for an exam I use sanitary napkins but at home I use cloth. This is because I cannot afford to use sanitary napkins every time. It’s expensive,” says Sonam Kumari, a high school student in a remote, border village of the Champaran district in the northeastern state of Bihar, who also works a tailoring job from home. “It’s good to use Stayfree (brand) for hygiene and it comes in a packet so it is easy to carry around,” her neighbor Kismat adds. While many rural women cannot afford sanitary napkin products, in northern India, over 30% of girls interviewed report that they dropped out of school after started menstruating.
“On the one hand the government promotes ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ (Save and Educate the Girl Child), but on the other, it is so regressive that it forgets that each girl child needs access to menstrual hygiene products every month. The 12% GST on menstrual hygiene products denies the physical realities of bodies and the needs of almost half the country’s population”, says Nivedita from Goonj, an NGO that works with the women in rural Bihar.
Costs that are prohibitively expensive for some women, taboos, and lack of health information, result in women using dirty rags during their menstrual cycle, despite most of them having scope for accessing clean cotton cloth. “There is no proper advice or education given to these girls or women in villages about clean cloth usage. Their mindset is that having a period is a dirty process and why waste money by purchasing clean cloth or sanitary napkins that are only to be thrown away, ” says SM Shabir, a medical practitioner from Bihar. As conversations with women from rural Bihar reveal, the stigma associated with periods means that the women have to hide the cloth they use for periods and clean and dry it away from public eye, often in very unsanitary conditions.
Pieces of cloth used for periods are often left out to dry in unhygienic conditions. Screenshot from the YouTube video.
This, if left unattended, can lead to vaginal infections. An even more shocking picture emerges in the video from the testimony of Anita Devi from another part of Bihar. Still in her 30s, she has undergone a complete hysterectomy. The doctors recommended it because she had a severe reproductive tract infection. Doctors believe this is because she used dirty cloth for her periods. She still uses cloth for her periods but clearly says “If I could afford it, I would prefer to use sanitary napkins. I know several other women who had to undergo hysterectomies.” But the question remains, is a hysterectomy even the right intervention in such cases?
There has been a steep rise in the number of hysterectomies performed on women in rural India. Reports indicate that the procedures, mostly performed on women between age groups 30-35 years, are mostly unnecessary. Scams in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Karnataka over such malpractices have been making rounds in media since 2010. Dr. Meenakshi Bharat, a leading gynecologist from Bangalore, explains that sanitary napkins do not prevent infections that are otherwise caused by Uterine Tract Infections (UTIs) or Reproductive Tract Infections (RTIs). Neither should it lead to hysterectomy solely on the basis of infection, unless the condition is untreated for fairly long periods.
Most importantly, the interviewed women in the video think that their health issues can be solved only by using sanitary napkins or getting a hysterectomy. But this is not the overall picture. The idea of sanitary napkins as the only ‘proper’ way to manage menstruation, was promoted beginning primarily in the 60s by corporate actors in India. Even today there are a few large multinational corporations that manage the entire sanitary napkin market. Advertisements for the products repeatedly highlight words like, ‘hygiene’, ‘comfort’, ‘fresh-smelling’, thereby promoting the idea that menstrual blood is dirty and prone to diseases and should be hidden (absorbed).
As Nikita Azad from the #HappytoBleed campaign aptly puts it across through her Facebook post, the corporate way has been to transform periods into a problem with its attendant discomforts and embarrassment — adding to the stigma– and marketing their products as the solution to said problems for upper class/caste women. Along with this, traditional menstruation management methods have been branded as backward and unhygienic.
With traditional roles of women transforming, and younger women going out more for work/education, most of them are only aware of sanitary napkins and think of them as the sole means for healthy menstrual care. Multinational corporations selling sanitary napkins have almost no accountability to help the local bodies in sanitary waste disposal in a safe, sensitive and environmentally friendly manner, despite mandates in Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. Sanitary napkins that are made of 95% plastic components are difficult to recycle with any other waste stream. At least in urban India, conversations around alternative menstrual hygiene products like cloth pads and menstrual cups are growing, keeping in mind that sanitary napkins in themselves pose disposal issues and health risks that are not widely known.
In the coming days, we will find out if the product brands, mostly owned by multinational corporations, will hike their price to make up for increased taxes. What is certain is that it is ultimately women, particularly poorer women without access to adequate information or financial resources, who will be the losers in this situation. In a country of paradoxes, we now face a question that brings the right to life at a crossroads with the larger issues of sustainability. Meanwhile, young girls like the ones in Champaran are left in the lurch–stigmatised for their natural body processes and caught between government taxes and corporate interests.

author: VideoVolunteers


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Syrians Fleeing the War Seek Refuge in Brazil Where the Assad Regime Has Some Powerful Supporters · Global Voices
Willemjan Vandenplas

The Brazilian flag with the revolution's flag in the center. Mixed by an anonymous blogger for Global Voices.
Syrians fleeing the country's civil war are finding a place in Brazil they can call home.
Between the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011 and 2015, 3,340 Syrian nationals have applied for asylum in Brazil. Of those, 2,298 had their refugee status recognized.
Syrians make up the largest proportion of recognised refugees in Brazil which, as of April 2017, stands at 9,552 people. Most have been granted refugee status in the past five years, when the country saw a sharp increase in asylum applications — it spiked from only 966 in 2010 to more than 28,000 in 2015.
After a decline in 2016, when just over 10,000 asylum seekers applied, Brazil is seeing another surge of refugees in 2017, this time primarily by Venezuelans crossing the border to flee the economic and political crisis in their country.
Most migrants benefit from Brazil's “open door” policy: anyone who applies for asylum in Brazilian territory are eligible for documents like a social security number, passport and an employment record book, which allows them to freely reside and legally work.
For Syrians, there is an additional advantage: the National Committee for Refugees, CONARE, created in 2013 a special humanitarian visa for those escaping the Syrian conflict, which can be obtained in Brazilian embassies prior to departure. According to an LA Times report, 8,450 of such visas had been issued as of June 2016.
Indeed, to many, it is cheaper to fly to Brazil than to be smuggled into Europe, which is also notoriously dangerous.
Meanwhile, a new migration law approved in May this year will further expand the rights of refugees and migrants in Brazil. The new law, which came to replace the military dictatorship-era “Statute of the Foreigner”, will allow foreign nationals to take part in political activities, ensures easier access to paper work and regulates migrant's rights to humanitarian visas.
However, President Temer vetoed several provisions of the new law, like the general amnesty to all undocumented migrants.
Syrian Refugees in an Old Syrio-Lebanese World
Starting around 1870, Syrio-Lebanese refugees, born in the then-Ottoman territories that are now Syria and Lebanon, fled to Brazil to escape the turmoil and decay of the Ottoman Empire.
In the early 1900s, they began to open shops in São Paulo's March 25th street setting the stage for what would become one of the most iconic shopping thoroughfares in the city.
In the 1930s, the Syrio-Lebanese community was organized around cultural centers with many members associated with doctors and lawyers. These ties have continued up to the present.
An often-cited symbol of this elite status is the renowed Syrio-Lebanese Hospital (Hospital Sírio-Libanês). In 2010, Syrian president Bashar Al Assad visited the hospital during an official visit to the country and awarded its director, Dr Riad Younis, with the Syrian Order of Merit.
This allows us to view the context which recent Syrian refugees found themselves in. As they flee to Brazil, the new wave of Syrian refugees might find that the already-established Brazilians of Syrio-Lebanese descent may not all be opposed to the Assad regime.
Brazil's Socialist Party of United Workers (PSTU), a small Trotskyist party, produced a documentary about Brazilian leftwing allies of the revolution, which contrasts with other small leftists parties in Brazil that have showed support to the Assad regime.
Syrian activist Ehad al Tariri, speaking with BBC Brazil in 2012, said that around 40% of the Syrian-Lebanese community in Brasil is against Assad, but that any estimate is no more than speculation.
Lawyer Eduardo Elias, a grandchild of Syrian migrants, is a long time member of Club Homs, one of the most traditional clubs in Sao Paulo, founded in 1920. He is also the current president of the Federation of Arab Entities in São Paulo who was part of a delegation of 14 prominent Brazilians of Syrian-descent that visited Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus in September 2016, only two days after an airstrike in Aleppo hit a convoy of Red Crescent trucks carrying UN-supplied food, killing 12 aid workers.
The delegation donated seven ambulances and 150 wheelchairs to the Syrian regime, funded by contributions of Syrian-Brazilians.
Speaking to Al Jazeera in 2012, Elias described a meeting with Assad in 2010:
When Assad came here to Sao Paulo, he made a speech, and he gave us a big responsibility. He said, ‘each one of you is an ambassador to Syria, be good citizens to make Syria bigger.’ I had a private conversation with him, and it didn't seem to me that he was evil or the devil that everyone now is making him out to be.”
While these issues have complicated the lives of many Syrian refugees, it is also true that many Syrian refugees are calling Brazil home, with many finding established communities helping them integrate.

author: Willemjan Vandenplas