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Jordanian Rapper Emsallam Hdaib Talks About LGBTQ+ Rights, Freedom of Expression, and Resistance · Global Voices
Aman Madan

Emsallam Hdaib smokes a cigarette in his studio. Photo taken by the author.
Emsallam Hdaib spends most of his time indoors, lazily vacillating from his canvas, to his computer, and occasionally to his couch. Always, however, one can either find a cigarette dangling between his fingers or resting between his nicotine-stained lips.
He resides on the top floor of his family’s home which they have owned since 1967—the year Israel completed its occupation of the West Bank and the year in which Hdaib’s family was forced to flee their village in Palestine where they lived as “felahyeen”, or farmers.
For the last six years, Hdaib has been a vocal activist, challenging Jordan’s conservative majority and its long-held assumptions on gender, sexuality, and freedom of expression through artwork and rap music.
He has also challenged Arab society to its core with music that so often focuses on Orientalism, Palestinian refugee-hood, and racism—all issues that affect not just his home city of Amman but cities that span from Syria's Damascus all the way to Yemen's Sanaa.
As a 25-year old, Hdaib views himself as someone who isn't constricted by borders, claiming that he empathizes with the suffering of those facing devastating foreign interventions in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Libya. Although he won’t say it, he has a particular aversion to U.S. foreign policy.
Hdaib looks at his artwork in his Amman based studio. Photo taken by the author.
Hdaib denies that his ability to resonate with those hanging on in war zones has anything to do with his identity as a “second generation Palestinian refugee,”—a term he employs to describe his own identity despite being born in Jordan and despite never having visited Palestine.
“I don’t feel this way because of my circumstances,” he insists. “I feel like that because I’m human,” Hdaib says as he pours watered down Nescafe into two cups during the holy month of Ramadan during which Muslims are supposed to abstain from consuming food from sunrise to sunset.
Jordanian law also mandates that the public consumption of food during Ramadan is illegal. It is obvious that Hdaib has an affinity for defying age-old traditions, but drinking coffee on a scorching June day isn't so much about defying Islam. On a more fundamental level, sipping on the lukewarm watered coffee and repeatedly inhaling the fumes from a Kent cigarette is more about breaking free.
Sometimes it feels like Jordan is an open air prison especially when you think of visiting the nearest countries to it. So you just avoid doing very basic rights like drinking water in public when it’s Ramadan [in order to] not to be jailed.
Recently, Jordan’s Interior Ministry cancelled Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila’s upcoming performance, marking it as the second occasion such a decision was made by the government.
Parliamentarians aligned with the Islamic Action Front, the Jordanian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, argued that the band’s lead singer’s sexual orientation – the lead singer, Hamed Sinno, is openly gay – was contrary to the cultural and traditional norms of the country and was the primary reason for the cancellation.
Member of Parliament Dima Tahboub, and former spokeswoman for the Islamist coalition, told CNN that the singer’s sexuality was “exactly” the reason the event was cancelled.
Many have also alleged that the band’s commitment to the Arab Spring, human rights, and to freedom of expression for Arabs stands as dangerous advocacy which threatens the long enshrined legitimacy of authoritarian regimes across the region.
In a statement released to the public, Mashrou Leila deemed the Jordanian people “progressive supporters of human rights” who remain committed to “intellectual and cultural pluralism.” The band’s statement may not simply be rhetorical fluff, but may actually reflect a growing on-the-ground reality in Jordan, as Hdaib’s work clearly shows.
In 2016, Hdaib challenged gender norms by depicting what in his view was the plight of Arab Women if they had engaged in sexual activity before marriage.
The image portrays an unnamed skeleton woman who appears to be trampled and whose limbs are extended into every corner of the canvas.
Around her is a sea of red, which presumably reflects the blood of the countless women who have lost their life to violence inflicted by those they are supposed to trust.
The practice of ‘honor killings’ – or at least, the recorded ones – in Jordan increased in recent years.
According to Human Rights Watch, not only did honor killings reach a zenith in 2016, but Jordan lacks the institutional infrastructure needed to properly take care of its women who are survivors of attempted murder or domestic assault.
According to a 1954 Crime Prevention law, at-risk women can be “indefinitely detained” and their release often requires years of bureaucratic procedures and assurances from the family that the woman will not be placed in danger.
Hdaib’s music has also attracted a large following and has gained a reputation for having no hesitation to address topics long considered taboo in his country. Filled with explicit references to sexuality, freedom, and expression, Hdaib denies that his work is political, but contends that he can’t separate his music from politics.
“I’m Middle Eastern, man. I was fed politics,” he claims.
In a song titled “Edward Sa’ed,” Hdaib deals with the issue of Palestinian identity head on. In “Lawla al 3aib,” and in “Ghareeb,” the focus is on poverty. The list of songs that are at their core political goes on.
In March 2016, Hdaib released a song titled “Santandano.”
In this song, one line is repeated with a disproportionate frequency:
“You are free, and everybody is free as well.”
The song proceeds to describe the world as a market from which, in Hdaib’s words, “you can take what you want”—religion or atheism, straightness or gayness.
He notes that hardly anyone in Jordanian society discusses gay rights, and that well until 2014, comments about equality for LGBTQ+ were highly censored.
In 2014, Hdaib gave an interview to Roya, a popular Jordanian network television show, and later found his comments taken out of context, twisted, and in his view, censored.
“They uploaded it with no cutting on Youtube but stream[ed] it on air edited,” he claims.
Today, Hdaib openly advocates for the Arab LGBTQ+ community and contends that intolerance toward homosexuality is not Islamic.
He mentions Abu Nawas, the eighth century poet who is today remembered for his homoeroticism.
For Hdaib, if Abu Nawas, at one point commissioned by the Caliphs, can openly write about homosexuality in the eight and ninth centuries, why can’t any Jordanian?
The issue, according to Hdaib, isn’t Mashrou Leila or the fact that the concert was cancelled.
Legally sanctioned attacks on free expression and the obstruction of progressive voices in the Hashemite Kingdom have been a re-occurring pattern.
As recently as January 2017, Jordan’s General Intelligence Directorate arrested several former government officials and members of the teacher’s union for social media posts critical of the deep-rooted corruption issues in the country.
For him then, the concert’s cancellation is simply the tip of the iceberg—the deeper issue remains structural changes in the way the next generation of Jordanians think.
For Hdaib, progress is a give and take—Jordan refused to host Mashrou Leila for the second time in a row, but the path towards progress, according to Hdaib, is paved with slow, deliberate, and internal changes—changes, he argues, that are taking place on a daily basis in the heart of Jordanian society.
Ultimately, Hdaib, like millions of other Arabs, dreams of an Arab World free of foreign intervention. From Baghdad to Jerusalem to Damascus, Hdaib dreams of not only bringing his work, but in his own words, “experiencing the land.”
Perhaps then, through music, art, and literature—and not bombs, cluster munitions, and artificial impositions of democracy, the region, at least Hdaib hopes, will progress toward real and substantive openness. In the meantime, Hdaib will keep rapping and by extension, resisting.
This coverage has been made possible by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, for which Aman is a student fellow.

author: Aman Madan


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‘Troll-in-Chief’? Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Admits Hiring Online Defenders During 2016 Election · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Soldiers taking selfie photos with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in an army camp in Mindanao. Photo from the Facebook page of Presidential Communications (Government of the Philippines).
A University of Oxford study has caused uproar in the Philippines for examining the administration of Rodrigo Duterte's efforts to manipulate social media through trolling and fake accounts. The findings confirmed what government critics have long suspected while stirring harsh denials by the president's supporters.
Duterte himself, however, later said in a press conference that he had in fact hired online commenters during the election.
Entitled “Troops, Trolls and Troublemakers: A Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation”, the July 2017 study by Samantha Bradshaw and Philip N. Howard focused on the use of cyber troops or troll armies by governments, the military, and political parties in 28 countries.
The researchers made an inventory of the kinds of messaging, tools and communications strategies used across countries as well as the different organizational forms that were deployed by those in power to manipulate public opinion through social media.
They found that in the Philippines, pro-Duterte trolls were engaged in flooding social media with pro-government comments while harassing and trolling social media users with contrary opinions by using of fake accounts and automated bots.
Evaluating the capacities of specific organizations created for gathering cyber troops, the Oxford study outlined that Duterte’s machinery for the 2016 elections not only relied on civil society volunteers and paid citizens, but also hired a private contractor: Nic Gabunada, former advertising executive and former senior vice-president of TV giant ABS-CBN.
Also assessing the organizational capacity of the Duterte cyber army in terms of staffing and budget, the researchers discovered that it is characterized by ad hoc membership with coordination across teams. As much as 200,000 US dollars or roughly 10 million Philippine pesos has been spent to fund the Duterte troll army, which has a regular staff capacity of 400-500 individuals, according to the study.
And as if to confirm the findings of the study, social media trolls and pro-Duterte bloggers quickly took to social media to condemn the Oxford study and Oxford University, flooding the institution’s Facebook page with acerbic posts.
Screenshot of University of Oxford's Facebook page being flooded with pro-Duterte comments.
In a press conference, Duterte admitted that he did hire online defenders but only for the 2016 election campaign:
P10 million ang gastos ko? Ako? Sa election siguro, sa elections ma'am more than…They were all during the campaign.
I spent P10 million? Me? Maybe during the elections, in the elections ma'am, I spent more than that…They were all during the campaign.
Dismissing the idea that government is bankrolling an online army to dominate social media, Duterte swore that he had no more need for defenders online:
Pero ngayon, hindi ko na kailangan [But now, I do not need it]. I do not need to defend myself against attacks. I stated my piece during my inauguration and my campaign.
To cap his spiel, Duterte, tagged by critics as the country's “troll-in-chief” and biggest bully, also attacked Oxford University, one of the world’s leading higher education institutions:
Oxford University? Eskwelahan sa mga bobo ‘yan ah.
Oxford University? That's a school for the stupid people.
But an official of the president's political party denied that the campaign team hired online trolls during the 2016 election:
For the record, and I am speaking for the party @PDPLABAN, we NEVER hired nor used online trolls.
— Ronwald Munsayac (@RonMunsayac) July 23, 2017
In the end, it would be best to take Duterte’s outbursts with a grain of salt. With his government regularly being hit for spreading falsehoods and the military establishment itself being criticized for propagating fake news in its counterinsurgency wars, what we now know may just be the tip of the iceberg.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Karlo Mongaya


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What’s Behind the Success of Satirical Media in Hong Kong? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Screen capture of MostTV's three-minute satirical news program.
For years, Hong Kong's media industry has struggled to turn a profit in the digital age and maintain editorial integrity at a time when free expression is increasingly under pressure. In fact, cases of conventional organizations successfully pivoting toward a digital-first business models has been very rare and the initial public offering (IPO) application of satirical outlet 100 Most is one of the rare cases.
On July 26, Most Kwai Chung Limited, the operator of popular satirical media outlets TVMost, a online video outlet, and 100Most, a Chinese magazine with a Facebook outlet of more than 1.1 million followers, submitted draft listing documents to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The IPO application revealed that between 1 April 2016 and March 31, 2017 the company brought in HK$95 million (approximately US$12.15 million) in revenue — the majority of which originated from digital media advertising — resulting in a gross profit of HK$58 million (approximately US$7.42 million). That represented a 74 percent increase over the 2015-2016 financial year.
The company was founded by three young people, Roy Tsui, Chan Keung and Bu, in January 2010 with less than US$1,000 in start-up funding.
Though the media company positions itself as an advertisement production house, it has accumulated a following through viral content that satirizes current affairs with a pro-democracy or “localist” political slant (localist refers to the movement which promote local values and culture over those of mainland China). In fact, the Chinese name of its two media outlets, “Most” or “Mou Gei” (毛記), is a parody of the city’s mainstream television station Television Broadcast (TVB) or “Mou Sin” in Cantonese. A number of its popular programs, including a daily three-minute satirical newscast, are also parodies of TVB’s programming.
The success of the TVMost and 100Most has stirred some online discussion. Some netizens says that other journalistic sites should learn from Most’s business model to survive in the market. However, others see them as high-quality content farms and are worried that the curation of entertainment and news into viral content could further curb the space for serious journalism.
Investigative journalism platform Initium organized an online discussion about Most’s new media business model. Below is a selection of the comments.
@Lamwaai supported Most100’s satirical news strategy:
我覺得100毛是年輕而有趣的新聞媒體，它給了壓力下生存的年輕人一種全新的可能性吧
I believe that Most100 is youthful and funny news media. It has provided young people who are under a lot of pressure to make it in life with a new possible [career path].
@sixstrings was also in favor of Most100’s satire and explained the socio-political context of its success:
抽水和政治戲仿在香港文化中一直有脈絡，100毛那種一切都可以惡搞的姿態，戲仿香港電台節目的二次創作，很可能是三位創辦人在電台出身時培養的觸覺。他們懂得怎樣切入時事才會有香港人看，懂得找觀眾。
我認為100毛沒有「主導」公共討論，至少100毛沒有表現出這樣的企圖。它只是在政治娛樂找到自己的定位，也許腦細們也沒有預計到這樣的成功。100毛的惡搞受歡迎，背後應是社會無力改變現實，只能在戲謔中找快慰。
The culture of spoofing and political parody has local roots. The three founders had the experience in working at Hong Kong Television and Radio Broadcast [a Hong Kong government-funded broadcaster] in the production of parodies, perhaps there they developed their sense of a popular strategy to engage with current affairs and attract audiences.
I don’t think Most100 has led the public discussion, or at least it does not seem to have such intentions. It just is situated in political entertainment. Probably even the founders had not anticipated such success. The reason why Most100’s parodies are so popular is related to the reality that people cannot change society and so they can only take pleasure in satires.
@Mr Kwan saw the adverse effect of Most100’s satirical news on serious journalism:
現在網絡與手機盛世的時代，似乎大家都覺得內容（content）應該是免費的，不應該像昔日那般（即紙媒主導的年代）是付費的。當一旦看到需要收費才能看的內容，就很下意識地離開尋找其他免費的替代源。[…]
慢慢，整個電子媒體都在爭用戶流量來讓廣告收益作爲媒體營運的主要來源。[…]爲了流量，新聞都娛樂化，標題黨化，情色化，取巧化 […] 而100毛的成功崛起，正是因爲站對了這個大衆品味的風口。[…]
由於100毛的內容成功是基於時事熱話的二次創作，我的觀察是，大衆慢慢地將100毛當作另類時事與新聞去看“新聞” […] 其實對新聞傳播而言，不是一件好事。
We are now in era of internet and mobile communication, people think content should be free and should not be paid for (unlike the conventional newspaper). However, when they come across content that is not free, they look for a substitute. […] Gradually, the digital media sector has come to depend on page views for advertising income. […] In order to boost page views, tactics that rely on entertainment, sensational headlines, pornography among others are used to package news […] The success of Most100 reflects popular tastes […]
While Most100’s content is parody of current affairs hot topics, gradually, the public sees Most100 as alternative news and consumes the content as “news” […] This is not a good development for journalism.
Lam Yin Bong, a media worker, argued in Stand News, a non-profit media outlet, that people should not mix the business of new media production with journalism:
新聞媒體轉型失敗，並不代表100毛的成功，是新聞媒體可以/應該學習的方向。
其一，100毛(及其他類似平台)對「新聞」過份簡化和情緒化的操作方式，就是抽水，休閒笑笑無妨，作為嚴謹的一手資訊來源絕不可取；其二，其集中二次創作、忽略一手資訊的定位，和發掘一手資訊以監察社會的新聞媒體角色，本來就有衝突;其三，又很老土地說，我無法想像新聞媒體，為財團「度橋」賣廣告。
We could say that the news media has not found its way. That does not mean that the success of Most100 is something that news media can or should learn from.
First of all, Most100 (and other similar platforms) has simplified and sensationalized news. We can consume the parody as entertainment but should not see it as a source of news information. Secondly, its marketing strategy of remixing others’ information as content is at odds with news media which positions itself as the watchdog of society by digging up first-hand news sources. Thirdly, being old school, I cannot imagine any news media taking up the role to help corporations develop ideas for selling their product.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Jokes, Hashtags and Fake News: The Story of Social Media in Kenya’s Closely Contested Election · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

It's election season in Kenya. Photo via Pixabay.
Kenyans went to the polls on August 8 to vote for their next government, from county assembly to the country's president. This year’s presidential election was termed as a “two-horse race” pitting incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s first president Jomo Kenyatta, and his long-time opponent Raila Odinga, the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, one of Kenya’s founding fathers.
As of writing, early results show Kenyatta leading Odinga 54.64% to 44.51%, according to data published on the website of the country's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). But Odinga's party is disputing the results.
PRESS STATEMENT: DECLARATION OF ILLEGAL RESULTS @TheODMparty @WiperMovement @anc_party @FordKenyaSimba @MashinaniKe pic.twitter.com/YMhlH54YIP
— NASA Coalition (@CoalitionNASAKe) August 8, 2017
Throughout the election, social media has come to play an important role in the vote, in both negative and positive ways. The Kenyan Internet regulator, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), has on numerous occasions assured Kenyans that it will not follow the lead of other African countries and shut down the internet despite issuing warnings on misuse and threats to WhatsApp administrators in a bid to curb the spread of hate speech.
So with a healthy dose of skepticism, Kenyans are using platforms to discuss and joke, as well as make serious observations about the process.
This election has made history as the most affected by the spread of fake news, according to a recent poll by research firm GeoPoll. In a study carried out in May 2017, 90% of Kenyans said they had encountered deliberately false information regarding the 2017 vote.
Kenya is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa experiencing an internet and social media explosion. There are now 32 million internet users in the country, with an estimated 10 million users of the social messaging platform WhatsApp and 6 million on Facebook. Trust levels among Kenyans for social media as a source of election news are lower than that of mainstream media (TV, radio and newspapers), but about 49% of Kenyans cited social media as their main source of election news anyway, according to the same GeoPoll study.
In the last three months, Twitter has been a hotbed of propaganda and hashtags both organic and sponsored by the two political parties, Jubilee (under which the incumbent is vying for a second term) and NASA (Raila Odinga's party, which stands for National Super Alliance). The two have used bots, paid influencers, and in Jubilee’s case, big data firm Cambridge Analytica to sway the youth vote.
Two of the main hashtags for the vote are #ElectionsKE & #ElectionsKE2017, used by ordinary Kenyans as well as local and international media houses and Kenya's electoral body, the IEBC.
Hours to #ElectionsKE2017
Check your polling station here: https://t.co/4U6uEUA0Xa
and get your ID/PP ready! (the one you registered with).
— IEBC (@IEBCKenya) August 7, 2017
Everything you need to know about #ElectionsKE #ElectionsKE2017 brought to you by @DickensOlewe https://t.co/ET6zItNbos pic.twitter.com/5qgsOKHU74
— BBC Africa (@BBCAfrica) August 4, 2017
On July 25, in a press release shared by Team Ad Dynamo, the ad agency for Twitter in Kenya, the social networking site introduced an emoji for two hashtags #ElectionsKE and #ElectionsKE2017. The special emoji pictures a ballot box with the Kenyan flag draped around it.
Join the conversation around the Kenyan election and unlock the special emoji by using #electionske and #electionske2017 pic.twitter.com/Q9yoz2ZA0J
— Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) July 25, 2017
In the last month, Twitter has become the de facto communication tool for Kenya’s electoral body IEBC as they seek to reassure Kenyans of their preparedness to run a free, fair and credible election. Through its Twitter handle @IEBCKenya, the body has been carrying out voter education as well as responding to queries by Kenyans regarding various aspects of the electoral process.
Find here all 11,155 polling stations affected by the lack of 2g and 4g network coverage. Contingencies are in place. #ElectionsKE2017 pic.twitter.com/wukTRg5GCf
— IEBC (@IEBCKenya) August 6, 2017
On August 6, with just two days until the vote, the IEBC through their Twitter handle shared a list of 11,155 polling stations that would be affected by the lack of 3G and 4G network coverage. Unlike previous elections, Kenya will be adopting technology in voter details verification as well as in the transmission of the results from the polling centers to the constituency, county, and national final tallying centers.
Many Kenyans were caught by surprise, wondering why IEBC would wait till the last minute to share such crucial information. The electoral body had earlier in the year assured Parliament on network coverage during elections.
Network coverage during election was debated in Parliament and assurance given of 100% cover. @IEBCKenya confirmed about it. #IKONetwork
— Mwema (@mwemsjo) August 7, 2017
As soon as the list of the polling stations affected was published, Kenyans started a hashtag #IkoNetwork (Swahili for “There is network”) to dispute the assertion by IEBC on the lack of mobile internet in some regions and to crowdsource information on areas that actually have coverage from the local residents.
Does your polling ?station
have poor or strong network signal ? ?
2G?✔
3G?✔
4G?✔
Tweet using hashtag ?#IkoNetwork
RT??#ElectionsKE
— Digital Humanitarian (@PhilipOgola) August 6, 2017
Kenyans have expressed their fears that this could be a tactic by the government, through the electoral body, to doctor the voting results as presiding offers might be forced to travel several miles away from the polling stations, in some regions, in order to get 3G connectivity that will enable them to relay the vote tallies to the constituency, county, and national final tallying centers.
Kenya has three mobile network operators; Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom. Interestingly, most of the regions indicated as lacking 3G network coverage are the regions where Airtel is the primary provider.
This has led many Kenyans online to speculate on the criteria that was used to decide the primary network operators as it emerged that the regions listed as having no 3G network also happen to be the opposition’s stronghold.
The thing about these counties is that they are either stronghold/swing. @IEBCKenya don't want quick RTS from them. Why? @kenyanpundit https://t.co/pkKFdiZb8k
— Patriotic Kenyan (@254Patriot) 6 de agosto de 2017
“Baba said we don't need you in Canaan. The rivers flow with milk and honey.” pic.twitter.com/Nw0LeYL5EI
— Mwabili wa Canaan (@mwabilimwagodi) July 27, 2017
In April, opposition leader Raila Odinga declared himself the Joshua who would lead Kenyans to the promised land of Canaan. These utterances made during a political rally in the country’s capital city struck a chord with many Kenyans online, and the narrative of Raila as Kenya’s deliverer from Egypt to Canaan took a life of their own when the videos of his speech were shared online.
Kenyans have since then been sharing their vision of how this Canaan will be like through memes, images and videos using the hashtag #CanaanForAll:
Getting ready in case we go to Canaan pic.twitter.com/RCPG1TLFyH
— Waithaka (@DennisWaithaka_) July 28, 2017
The hashtag has created great comic relief easing the tension that has been lingering on social media platforms between the hardcore support from the two political parties.

author: Njeri Wangari


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Rights Group Website and Columnist’s Blog Become Latest Targets of Egypt’s Censorship Campaign · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

Photo by Flickr user Turinboy (CC BY 2.0)
The Egyptian authorities have continued to block websites, this time targeting the site of a human rights group as well as a columnist's blog.
Over the weekend of August 5, the government blocked the website of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), which documents and reports on human rights violations in Egypt and across the Arab region.
In August 6 statement published on Facebook, the rights group slammed Egyptian authorities for the measure, while pledging to continue its work in support of human rights in the region:
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information – in spite of this attack, which is a mockery of the Egyptian law and constitution by the authorities, who are supposed to respect and uphold the law – remains committed to its mission to defending freedom of expression, human rights in the Arab world, exposing the violations in this part of the world, and speaking up for the victims, which is a role that now comes at a very high price more than ever, yet it also became more important than ever before.
[…] ANHRI confirms that it will seek all technical means to overcome the blocking and will not give in to it, and insists that it will continue to do its role.
ANHRI is the first website belonging to a human rights group in Egypt to be censored, since authorities blocked 21 websites more than two months ago, including the independent news site Mada Masr, the Arabic-language edition of the Huffington Post, and the website of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network, for allegedly “supporting terrorism”.
#Egypt : 1st human rights org to get swept up in wave of website blocking – @anhri – major source of human rights info in Arabic https://t.co/NIZmOpDS5K
— ARTICLE19 MiddleEast (@article19mena) August 7, 2017
In addition to ANHRI, the blog of columnist and human rights researcher Ahmed Gamal Ziada is no longer accessible in Egypt. Ziada has been using his blog to disseminate the columns and articles he writes for websites and media blocked in Egypt. Now the blog he set up to bypass the censorship machinery of the Egyptian government has itself been targeted. The blog-publishing service Blogger, which hosts Ziada's blog, remains accessible.
A former photojournalist, Ziada spent nearly 500 days in prison after he was arrested in December 2013 by Egyptian security forces while covering a student protest and taking footage of police beating two students. His articles mainly address politics and the human rights situation in Egypt.
On Facebook, he reflected on the government's blocking of his blog and what it means to him:
موضوع حجب المدونات قديم جدًا، لكنه سابقة في عهد عبد الفتاح السيسي، وبعيد عن إن حجب المدونة شئ لا يهم هذا العالم إلا إنه يهمني لسببين:
1 – إنهم قدروا يحسسوني إني بالفعل محاصر؛ اعتقال، محاولة قتل، استدعاءات أمن وطني، حجب مدونة، بالإضافة لحجب كل موقع أنا اشتغلت فيه.
2 – أثبتوا إني مكنتش بكتب على مية، يعني كلامي مؤثر حتى لو لقطاع صغير من القراء.
* عايز أقول إن المدونة بالنسبة لي كنت بأرشف فيها شغلي مش أكثر، وكنت ابتديت أنشر المقالات عن طريقها تفاديًا للحجب، لكن بعد حجبها وخوفهم من الكلام، إيه المانع إني أغير اللينك بتاعها عشان تشتغل أو اعمل مدونة تانية، والجدع يكمل للآخر.
The [tactic] of blocking blogs is very old, but it is a precedence in the era of [President] Abdelfattah al-Sisi, and apart from the fact that the blocking of the blog may not be of importance to the world, it does matter to me for two reasons:
1) They have made me feel that I am indeed under siege; an arrest, an attempted murder, national security summons, blocking [my] blog in addition to every single website I worked for.
2) They have proved that I was not writing for nothing, in other words, my words have an impact even if it is for a small audience.
I want to mention that the blog was an archive for me. I started using it to post articles to bypass censorship. But, now that they have blocked it, and [shown] that they fear [its] words, I can still change the link or create a second blog. The brave continue till the end.
From May 24 to August 6, Egyptian authorities blocked 133 websites, according to the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), which conducted technical tests on the networks of various Internet Service Providers (ISPs) including Orange, Vodafone and Etisalat. AFTE also documented the blocking of services aimed at bypassing internet censorship and browsing the internet privately, known as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The association reported in its research:
On Monday the 12th of June, we noticed the beginning of blocking websites that provide VPN services. Such practice points to the intent of the Government to continue blocking and filtering the content that Egyptian users could access.
What makes the situation worse, is that these blocking decisions are taken behind closed doors and without a due process that gives Egyptians the possibility to challenge them in court. Now the question is how far is the Egyptian government willing to take its internet censorship campaign and who is it going to target next.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Thousands of Families Face Forced Eviction From Their Homes Over Sardar Sarovar Dam in India · Global Voices
Rezwan

The massive Sardar Sarovar Dam project being built in 2008. Image from Flickr by Reinhold Behringer. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Indian authorities are moving ahead with the inauguration of a controversial dam, and thousands of families who have refused to leave their homes in areas that will be submerged stand to be forcibly evicted.
The government says about 18,000 families are affected, and 6,724 live in the submergence areas, although activists and academics put that number much higher and accuse officials of fudging the count to lower costs and avoid litigation.
Residents are supposed to be offered a “rehabilitation” package, including compensation for land lost and resettlement to a new home. However, many have refused to leave their villages, complaining that the compensation is unjustly low and resettlement sites lack drinking water, sanitation, primary medical centers, schools, electricity and even roads.
The main purpose of the state-initiated Sardar Sarovar dam project is to generate hydroelectric power and supply water for drinking and irrigation to the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
But from the start of construction in 1987, protesters have said it will come at the expense of local people. The World Bank initially approved a loan to the Indian government of $450 million toward the $6 billion project, but withdrew the funding in 1993 following immense criticism and protests. Works were temporarily halted as per a Supreme Court ruling from 1995 to 1999, but resumed thereafter.
Over the years, the dam's proposed height has been increased little by little from the planned 80 meters to the current 138.68. This means that the dam will affect even more people. Social entrepreneur Siddharth Agarwal tweeted a Google Earth video he made to illustrate how the areas will be submerged:
A lot of my friends don't know about @NarmadaBachao Andolan & Sardar Sarovar Dam. Used Earth Engine by Google to show submergence area: 1/n pic.twitter.com/MgUxraucUf
— Siddharth Agarwal (@sidagarwal) August 3, 2017
In February 2017, the Supreme Court gave a directive that the rehabilitation of affected families be completed within three months, and that the valley must be vacated by July 31. On June 17, 2017, the Narmada Control Authority gave the final go ahead to the Gujarat government to close the Sardar Sarovar Dam gates, making the project “officially” complete.
The grand inauguration of the Sardar Sarovar Dam project in Gujarat by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled on August 12, 2017 and the dam is likely to be filled to capacity by August-end, leading large areas to be submerged. The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had a recent update on Twitter:
98% construction work on R&R sites of Sardar Sarovar Dam has been completed. 12,500 out of 18,023 families have vacated the affected areas.
— CMO Madhya Pradesh (@CMMadhyaPradesh) August 1, 2017
Those affected who stayed now face forced eviction.
Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), a group of indigenous people, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists who for three decades have been resisting against the installation of large dams across the Narmada River, has been leading the charge in defense of these dam victims.
On July 27, 2017, Medha Patkar and about a dozen other activists from NBA started an indefinite hunger strike in the Dhar district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh to demand proper compensation and rehabilitation for those affected.
However, on the 12th day of the hunger strike, on August 7, Patkar was forcibly removed from the protest site by police and shifted to a hospital in Indore.
After heavy police deployment, beating up, breaking the pandal @medhanarmada arrested by police, 12 fasting protesters left untouched pic.twitter.com/wKiGNM9FmX
— NarmadaBachaoAndolan (@NarmadaBachao) August 7, 2017
Social activist Medha Patkar. Image from Flickr by Joe Athialy. CC BY-NC 2.0
Patkar and NBA have their critics, however, who argue they're impeding vital development in India.
#MedhaPatkar should be put behind bar for her role in anti national activities by creating hurdle in development of India.
— krishna kumar (@krishnakaswan) August 8, 2017
SC had ordered removal of ILLEGAL encroachments adjacent to Sardar Sarovar dam. Why is Medha Patkar being portrayed as a ‘Social activist'? https://t.co/xlSpChqqsZ
— Priti Gandhi (@MrsGandhi) August 8, 2017
There are also online trolls who appear to be posing as victims of the dam thanking the government for resettlement with, suspiciously, the same exact message each time:
See how BJP creating fake trend on twitter on Sardar Sarovar Dam
Medha Phatkar is on hunger strike since 13 days.
Shavraj shud release her. pic.twitter.com/CbbsiHbCx8
— Kamran Shahid (@iKamranShahid) August 8, 2017
But people in other parts of the country have also mounted their own protests in solidarity:
#Narmada supporters hold protest at Jantar Mantar in solidarity with #MedhaPatkar & people of #NarmadaValley sitting on Indefinite Mass Fast pic.twitter.com/VB300nVok7
— Avik Saha (@aviksahaindia) July 27, 2017
#MadhyaPradesh: ‘Jal Satyagrah’ by displaced locals in Narmada river against the Sardar Sarovar Dam, at Barwani's Rajghat pic.twitter.com/ChUufPPiox
— India TV (@indiatvnews) July 29, 2017
On August 8, the Supreme Court rejected a plea by NBA seeking an extension to the July 31 deadline to rehabilitate families affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam. For the moment, it seems those Indians who live in the submergence area are destined for the forced eviction from their homes.

author: Rezwan


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Young Peruvians Trade Weapons for Shears and Razors · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Photo by Fadi El Benni, shared on Flickr by Al Jazeera English, under Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 2.0.
Physical appearance or grooming have seldom been so relevant. In this case, they’re helping keep Peruvian youth away from crime and promoting a legitimate profession like barbering.
El Callao – the main port in Peru, located on the shores of the Pacific Ocean not far from the Historic Center of Lima, the Peruvian capital – is a region with high crime rates, where street robbery and the sale of illegal drugs have a higher incidence. A survey released in April 2017 revealed that 51.5% of the area's inhabitants do not feel safe.
At the same time, Peru − like other Central and South American countries − has experienced an increase in the demand for aesthetic services for men. The trend of mirroring the physical appearance of sports stars with outlandish hairstyles like Paolo Guerrero (Peru), Arturo Vidal (Chile), Pedro Gallese (Peru), or Neymar himself (Brasil) has led ordinary citizens to more frequently seek the expert hands of a barber capable of emulating these elaborate hairdos.
The unprecedented demand for looks that push the envelope in terms of imagination and creativity has even inspired an annual event, “The Battle of Barbers,” which has taken place since 2014. At this event, experts compete to show who can achieve the most eccentric style, which you can see in the following video (more videos of recent editions of this competition can be found on the public Facebook profile Battle of Barbers):
That’s where educational institutions such as the Augusto Salazar Bondy school, located in El Callao, found the opportunity to persuade young people to trade weapons for hair styling tools; to receive training instead of bad advice; to work, thanks to the doors that will be opened to them once they learn the art of barbering.
Motivated by this occupation and the opportunities it could bring, dozens of young people have seen they can start working in a profession that is currently very much in vogue.
The school announced technical training workshops before the start of the school year in March, and also reported on some of its achievements:
Ya en 1995 nos convertimos en el único colegio técnico de la comunidad, así como del mismo distrito del cual nos sentimos orgullosos por el amor hacia sus hijos y tener así una comunidad educativa.
In 1995, we became the only technical school in the community, as well as the district, a fact we are very proud of, out of the love we have for your children, we’ve built an educational community.

author: J. Tadeo


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India Bans the Internet Archive and More Than 2,600 File-Sharing Websites to Protect Bollywood · Global Voices
Rezwan

Internet Archive servers. Image from Flickr by John Blyberg. CC BY 2.0
It seems Bollywood is the reason why the Internet Archive (archive.org), an online digital library that allows people to find archived versions of webpages via a free service called the Wayback Machine, is blocked in India.
Since August 8, 2017, many Indians have reported they've been unable to access the Internet Archive. Users have received this message when attempting to go to the site:
Your requested URL has been blocked as per the directions received from the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. Please contact administrator for more information.
No reason was cited by local internet service providers (ISP) or authorities about the ban.
On August 10, 2017, however, BuzzFeed reported that the ban is the result of two court orders issued by the  Madras High Court in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (accessible here and here). The ruling, issued on August 2, 2017, is based on the petitions of two prominent Bollywood production houses, Red Chillies Entertainment and Prakash Jha Productions, to stop file-sharing websites from distributing pirated copies of two recently released Bollywood movies, “Jab Harry Met Sejal”, and “Lipstick Under My Burkha”.
The Internet Archive is a San Francisco-based non-profit and an advocate of free internet. It has been been archiving the web for over 20 years and has preserved “billions of webpages from millions of websites” with the help of its bots that crawl sites regularly.
Blocking @internetarchive is like locking up a library. We need to fight this. #unblockArchive https://t.co/01UftTu0QV
— Thejesh GN (@thej) August 8, 2017
The ban was first reported by Indian technology news website MediaNama. According to MediaNama, the Internet Archive contacted the Indian government regarding the block but received no response. The report also mentioned that http://web.archive.org is blocked, but not https://web.archive.org.
Aside from Internet Archive, more than 2,600 file-sharing websites have also been affected by the court decision. The Bollywood film industry has stepped up the fight against piracy, especially the illegal online streaming of movies.
Real culprits are @LipstickMovie @RedChilliesEnt and Madras HC which ordered blocking of 2650 websiteshttps://t.co/a3BYoKGYQG
— Anivar Aravind (@anivar) August 9, 2017
Really? *This* is the reason behind the bumbling banning of the @internetarchive?? https://t.co/fVMSTHIyPO pic.twitter.com/VHNQcTODBw
— Rohin Dharmakumar (@r0h1n) August 9, 2017
According to the site Internet Live Stats, India has 462.1 million internet users out of a general population of 1.3 billion people in mid-2016. Given those figures, a blanket ban on websites like Internet Archive has immense reach.


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Paddling Against Pollution: One Man’s Mission to Protect Iraq’s Rivers for Future Generations · Global Voices
Ensia

This post by Todd Reubold was originally published on Ensia.com, a magazine that highlights international environmental solutions in action. It is republished here as part of a content sharing agreement.
For the past seven years, Nabil Musa has been traveling — often times on a paddle board or in a raft — around the Kurdistan region of Iraq on a one-man mission to promote the importance of clean waterways for the current and future generations.
In this documentary by Emily Kinskey, we follow Musa as he explains his relationship to the rivers in his region and the effect pollution has in his community.  “I really wanted to do something about the river we lost when I was a child,” Musa said.
Experts throughout the country fear that decades of war, pollution, uncharted development and damming mean a water crisis in Iraq is imminent.
Musa is part of the NGO Waterkeepers Iraq — an affiliate of Waterkeeper Alliance — which advocates and works “to protect the rivers, streams and waterways of Iraq and support local communities in the sustainable use of these natural resources.”
Toward the end of the video, Musa sums up the urgency at the heart of his work by asking, “If we don’t have this water, how can we survive?”  Code Embed v2.2.1    End of Code Embed code
This video was produced, filmed and edited for Ensia by Emily Kinskey, a documentary filmmaker and multimedia journalist currently based in Erbil, Iraq. Her work focuses on underreported and persecuted subcultures, and is characterized by collaborative videography and innovative multimedia techniques that assists oppressed communities in framing their narrative.
.postContent

author: Ensia


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She Dared to Say Pakistan’s Most Popular Politician Harassed Her. Then Came the Abuse. · Global Voices
Annam Lodhi

Screenshot of Ayesha Gulalai speaking on a popular political TV show Capital Talk
When 26-year-old Ayesha Gulalai was elected to Pakistan’s National Assembly in 2013, she became the country’s first tribal woman to be elected to parliament and one the country's youngest parliamentarians.
In early August 2017, Gulalai resigned from the political party she represented, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and shared her reasons for doing so at a press conference. Among them were corruption, misogyny and the most damning of all—allegedly inappropriate text messages sent to her in October 2013 by the party's chairman, the cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.
Khan is extremely popular, especially among younger voters, and Gulalai's very public allegations triggered a flood of threats and vicious trolling from his supporters on social media, including this widely-shared audio threat on Twitter from a female PTI supporter, which starts with a series of curse words in Urdu:
Response to Ayesha Gulalai for her lies & chutiapa. pic.twitter.com/5NLmQ1m8ZW
— Mariam's Madness (@mariamsmadness) August 2, 2017
The smear campaign against Gulalai has been especially fierce on Twitter. In the past week, even her family, including her sister, an international squash champion, have been attacked. The tone of the comments point to the nasty and insidious problem of misogyny in Pakistan.
And this is IK defenders mentality – calls on supporters to throw acid on my face. But I am not afraid! pic.twitter.com/qs6EDhASqZ
— Ayesha Gulalai (@AyeshaGuIaIai) August 3, 2017
And outright disbelief of her allegations and victim-blaming has been a constant theme, as in this tweet from a popular female TV presenter:
When you get harassed on text by a man in 2013 you don't report his crime in 2017 ALL the while supporting/working for him. It's disgraceful
— Anoushey Ashraf (@Anoushey_a) August 1, 2017
#Gulalai you want to leave, leave PTI, it's not an honourable way for a Wazir Pashtun woman to talk badly about a person who made you an MNA
— Asad Munir (@asadmunir38) August 1, 2017
I'm happy #Gulalai is getting nailed &insulted In each &every Tv prog.
Enough of Woman Card
If u r wrong should be No Gender Discrimination!
— Zar Taj Gul PTI (@Zar_Taj1) August 3, 2017
Gulalai’s case is not unique, but by speaking out against one of Pakistan’s most powerful men she did set a precedent.
After resigning from the party, Gulalai made a bold and articulate speech at the National Assembly, while female PTI members chanted loudly against her.
In the speech she said, “If you are in the PTI, then you are a good person. But as soon as you leave the party, you will start receiving threats of acid attacks and murder.” She went on to explain that by speaking up she had done what women's rights organizations had not been able to do, by giving a voice to women facing exploitation. She added that “Imran Khan is not a god.”
Earlier this year, Zubaira, a journalist, wrote on her blog about being harassed by her boss, who made inappropriate advances to her on multiple occasions. In her blog post she shared screenshots of conversations between them.
While many lauded Zubaria’s actions, more people seemed interested in moral policing, asking on social media why she kept working for and engaging in conversations with a man whose his intentions were clearly not right.
While saroor ijaz aka Salman masood's conduct seems far from professional, it must be noted that zubairajan is also guilty of playing along
— Arayb (@Na_chees3) January 10, 2017
I deny all allegations as false, malicious and frivolous. A legal course of action is being taken by my lawyer.
— Salman Masood (@salmanmasood) January 8, 2017
“People don’t realize that calling out your boss isn’t that simple. In Gulalai’s case, he is the chairman of the party she works for, she couldn’t outright give him a shut-up call,” said Umer Ali, a journalist whose work involves social media analysis. “Even I as a male would think twice before I make any complaints about my boss.”
Umer explains that the targeting and slut-shaming of independent, strong-minded female public figures like models, actors and politicians is an increasingly common trend.
Gulalai is a Pashtun from South Waziristan, which is part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Even though her own family is progressive, the Pashtun community in Waziristan is conservative, and there are many stigmas attached to actions like the one she took against Imran Khan.
In a country where court cases can last for decades even when there’s sufficient evidence for a conviction, harassment cases are even more impossible. For Gulalai to come forward as she did took a lot of courage on her part.
“We have constantly seen racial profiling of Pashtuns,” says Gulalai Ismail, founder of Aware Girls, a women’s rights NGO in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. “I think people are surprised when they see a Pashtun woman speaking up and immediately link it to conspiracy theories, as if the woman doesn't have a mind of her own. Morality has become a measuring stick which is used to shun women who speak up. Morality, culture, and religion are used against women who dare.”
What has happened to Ayehsa Gulalai provided a teachable moment for Pakistanis, and highlighted that a woman’s morality is always open to question and public debate, which is the very reason many women choose to remain silent about harassment. But in patriarchal Pakistan, where it’s not only men against Gulalai but also women, the lesson may get lost in the chaos.
Some of her female colleagues in the PTI have dismissed her allegations on the basis that they themselves have never experienced anything similar at the hands of their male co-workers, and because the party stands for women’s rights. Harassment, in this case, is being treated as an organizational issue rather an individual crisis, eroding the little protection women enjoy against misogyny and sexism. There are Pakistanis who are speaking out for Gulalai's right to a safe space to speak up against harassment:
Another educated woman exits the PTI. MNA Ayesha Gulalai's rebuke adds to the disquiet about a woman's place in the party. Not good https://t.co/2jJiIraLtV
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) August 1, 2017
Given history of violence against women in name of honor it would be prudent for all including PTI to request security for Aaisha Gulalai
— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) August 3, 2017
#AyeshaGulalai issue highlights the very real issue of gender harassment and shaming of women who speak out. Issues that must be addressed.
— beena sarwar (@beenasarwar) August 4, 2017
And social networking platforms are making it even harder. “Internet gives us a voice, empowers us and our opinions,” says Nighat Dad, founder of Digital Rights Foundation. “But at the same time gives power to hate speech, cyber bullying and harassment. This will only grow until the state takes charge.”
The Amount of severe hate #AyeshaGulalai has Received from the society shows how Intolerant Pakistan's society is Against women.
— Noor (@noorBeeps) August 4, 2017
This Twitter user took on a popular TV presenter who accused Gulalai of fabricating the charges.
Kamran Shahid, women don't fabricate sexual harassment charges. You're misogynistic if you feel #Gulalai‘s allegations are false! pic.twitter.com/3xlLCrRuvG
— Sabah Alam (@AlamSabah) August 3, 2017
There are provisions in the cybercrime law and also under Pakistan’s penal court section 509, which dictate that anyone who talks against the modesty of a woman is punishable by law. “I don’t see the inhumane trend of running smear campaigns against women who have been harassed and are coming out about sexual harassment against powerful men changing anytime soon,” says Nighat Dad.
But victim-blaming is a by-product of discrimination and sexism, and the targeting of Ayesha Gulalai and the reducing the situation to a discussion of morality and not her agency in the matter, shows the long road Pakistan still has to travel towards equal treatment for all its citizens.

author: Annam Lodhi


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A Young Engineer From Niger Is Taking on Industrial Air Pollution With His Invention · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Screen capture of documentary by SciDev Afrique on the anti-pollution invention from Niger.
You might have heard of Boyan Slat, a young Dutch inventor and entrepreneur who created a system using the circulating ocean currents to clean the ocean of trash and other pollutants. His project, The Ocean Cleanup, received a lot of attention after Slat gave a TEDx Talk in 2012 about it, attracting more than $31.5 million in donations from sponsors including Salesforce.com and philanthropist Peter Thiel.
The next young inventor seeking to help the environment just might come from Niger. Meet Abdou Barmini, 22, who invented an anti-pollution device that cleans the air from industrial fumes. Barmini says the device, called the APFI Barelec, will clean 80% of the air impurities coming from factory chimneys. If his claim is correct, his invention could prove to be particularly beneficial for low-income countries.
Here is how it works as explained by the Barmini himself in the following video  (in French) produced by SciDev Afrique, the african portal of the news site on science and technology for global development:
In the video, Barmini details the process of his invention:
The prototype is to be installed at the base of the chimney of factories expelling the fumes. The T-shaped device captures the CO2-containing heavy substances from the fumes via an affinity-based chemical assay that binds CO2 particles. The purified fumes are expelled via the other branch of the T-shaped structure.
Screen capture of Barmini standing next to his prototype via Africa 24
He adds that it is still at the prototype level, so a lot can be done to optimize the device. His colleague Garba Boubacar, a researcher in physics and environmental studies at the University of Niamey, Niger, suggests that:
les particules en suspension dans l'air ne sont pas constituées que de gaz carbonique ; il y en a d'autres que son invention devra fixer, pour atteindre un taux de purification à 100%
The heavy particles found in the fumes are composed of more than carbon dioxide; there are others particles that his invention will have to fix, in order to achieve a purification rate closer to 100%.
Barmini says he worked tirelessly for two years, funding his research with his own income to achieve the prototype. His motivation for developing it was to find a solution to his growing concerns about air quality and climate change in his country of Niger.
The World Health Organization reports that ambient (outdoor) air pollution in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 3 million premature deaths worldwide in 2012 and that 88% of those premature deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries. By reducing air pollution levels, countries can reduce the burden of disease from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases.
Niger is a landlocked country in Western Africa that is consistently one of the lowest-ranked in the United Nations‘ Human Development Index. Furthermore, the West Africa region has been drastically affected by climate change in the recent years. Niger's economy relies heavily on mining of which uranium and coal are the largest exports.
Open pit uranium mine near Arlit, Niger by David Francois – CC-BY-NC-2.0
Therefore, air quality is an urgent and immediate issue for the nation that is already suffering from an extremely hot and dry climate, severe drought and recurrent famine.
You might ask, how is Barmini's invention different from other air purifiers? Here is his explanation when probed by the Organisation de la Propriété Intellectuelle (African Intellectual Property Organization):
Par ailleurs, en faisant l'état de la technique dans ce domaine, M. Abdou Barmini a souligné que les purificateurs ambiants existants sont des appareils électroniques qui sont utilisés pour nettoyer l'air. Ils le font en réduisant ou en éliminant complètement le nombre de particules nocives dans l'air (mais ils ne se focalisent  pas à la source de l'émission).[..] Les purificateurs domestiques se font souvent via un filtre.  Essentiellement, cela rend l'air sortant de la machine plus propre et plus sain. Mais cette technique présente des insuffisances. Elle provoque l'obstruction des mailles et ne peut faire l'objet d'une utilisation sur les cheminées industrielles.
When he presented the state-of-the-art in the air purifier industry, Mr. Abdou Barmini stressed that 1) the existing ambient (or outdoor) purifiers are usually electronic devices that are used to clean the ambient air surrounding a factory. They do this by reducing or eliminating completely the number of harmful particles in the air in the vicinity of the emitting source (but they do not target the source of the emission itself). […] 2) Domestic (or indoor) purifiers are often performed via a filter. This technique efficiently cleans the air coming out of the machine. But this technique has also its shortcomings. It can cause blockage of the filter's mesh and cannot be efficiently used for industrial chimneys.
Barmini's APFI Barelec does not use a filter. The prototype was built with local materials that Barmini recycled, adapted and assembled to his needs. Barmini hopes that his invention will be noticed by climate change organizations that will help him finalize his project.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
Amid Efforts to Clean Up Corruption, Uzbekistan’s President Calls Prosecutors ‘Trash’ · Global Voices
Salam Aleik

Uzbekistan's president Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Russian government image. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev rained his anger upon his country’s public prosecutors on August 2, accusing them of being “thieves” and corrupt.
Mirziyoyev has been ruling the country since last autumn, when iron-handed Islam Karimov, the first president of independent Uzbekistan, died after 25 years of being in the power.
The US-funded Radio Ozodlik, which broadcasts from Prague, obtained uncensored audio of the president’s video conference with Uzbek prosecutors, in which he said:
“Мен ўзи прокурор деган одамни, кечирасизлару, жуда ёмон кўраман. Буни очиқча айтяпман, нимага десангиз мен район ҳокими бўлганман, вилоят ҳокими бўлганман, бу ноинсофларни ғўддайишини ”.
I am sorry, but I don’t like prosecutors at all…. I was a district chairman, a province chairman and I know very well how these unscrupulous people behave.
With average monthly salary of $100-$150 in Uzbek government offices, officials live a comparatively luxurious lifestyle. According to Transparency International, corruption is widespread and systematic in the Central Asia, involving all spheres of lives of people and especially empowering security agencies’ staff to use their office positions and power for own enrichment. Particularly, Uzbekistan ranks 156 out of 176 countries in Transparency International perceptions of corruption index:
The government’s response to widespread and systemic corruption has been weak, with extensive emphasis given to anti-corruption training. Legal and institutional reform is needed to ensure meaningful separation of powers and adequate public accountability of government bodies.
That seems to fit with the reactions of Uzbek users of Facebook to the news coming out from the meeting:
“Молодец наш Президент! Сказал многое, что народ долгое время не осмеливался говорить. Реально человек узнает какой это карательный орган ( хуже чем НКВД, я отвечаю за свои высказывания и готов обосновать их) только после того, когда сталкивается с ним”.
Well done, our President! He said what people did not dare to say for years. Really, only after you face it, you find out what a punitive agency this is.
Recently, two of Uzbekistan's neighbours (both geographically and in the Transparency International Index), Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, shook their societies with the unprecedented move of arresting and jailing high-ranking security services officials on corruption charges. Millions of US dollars worth of luxurious homes, vehicles, gold, and cash were also seized from them.
Similar news came out of Uzbekistan when the Prosecutor-General's Office announced Gulnara Karimova, who is the daughter of the late President Islam Karimov and often referred to as the country's “princess,” was arrested on accusations of corruption involving billions of dollars.
In the audio of the meeting, Mirziyoyev spoke of the efforts to weed out corruption:
“Мана биз янги Бош прокурор қўйдик, 80 фоиз одамни ўзгартирдик, олдинги қолган ахлатдан, тизимдан, менга бош прокурор қолдирган ўғри тизимидан 20-15 фоиз одамлар юрибди”.
We appointed a new attorney general, cleaned the Prosecutor’s Office of former trash, changing 80% of the staff. Anyway, there are 15-20% remaining from the former thief system….We will clean it up fully.
If only something would be done to “clean up” the country's tarnished human rights record.

author: Salam Aleik


text:
Record-Breaking Action Movie ‘Wolf Warriors 2’ Takes Chinese Nationalism to a New Level · Global Voices
Jack Hu

Widely circulated poster for “Wolf Warriors 2″ with the movie tagline: “Whoever offends China will be terminated no matter how far away they are.” Via Twitter
Chinese action movie “Wolf Warriors 2″ has dominated the summer box office, setting a country record with 3.5 billion yuan (approximately 525 million US dollars) in ticket sales in just 13 days since it opened on July 27.
Directed by and starring Wu Jing, the movie is a sequel to 2015's “Wolf Warriors.” It tells the story of Leng Feng, a Rambo-like soldier played by Wu, who ventures into an African war zone and saves hundreds of lives from Western bad guys.
The plot will feel familiar to anyone who has seen a Hollywood action movie, but this time it's a Chinese man upholding justice and keeping the world safe, a formula that has won the film praise — but also criticism. Numerous moviegoers have complained that the Chinese nationalism in the film is heavy-handed and comes at the expense of the story.
“Wolf Warriors 2″ was privately funded and has outperformed “The Founding of an Army,” the much-hyped state propaganda film about the establishment of the People's Liberation Army. A participant of a online roundtable hosted by in the investigative journalism platform, the Initium, argued that the movie’s huge success was not organic, but the result of authorities’ careful manipulation:
根据猫眼的专业评分，战狼是一部品质至少合格的电影，这样的爆米花战争大片本就容易被大众所接受口碑好就会不断传播，再加上同期的国产电影质量普遍不高…，以及处于国产片保护月，没有好莱坞大片竞争，战狼2取得高票房是可以预见的。只是谁也没想到，战狼2上映之前中国举行了盛大的阅兵，激起了大多数中国人的爱国热情，相当于国家做了个大大的宣传，自然票房超越了常理，疯狂飙升。某种意义上，战狼2的票房反映了中国电影市场的扭曲，中国政府大力的爱国和民族主义的宣传能直接影响电影，而为了追求年度票房的大幅增长和影院自己的业绩，整个电影市场都在推波助澜造就传奇，某种意义上不是市场的力量，更多的是行政的力量在操…
According to the film rating from [online ticketing platform] Maoyan, “Wolf Warriors 2″ is an OK movie. It's a blockbuster war movie that caters to popular tastes and more easily becomes a talking point. Moreover, the quality of domestic movies during the same period [it was released] is not high… In addition to that, this month in the domestic movie protection period [or the so called Hollywood movie blackout period – during the six to eight weeks foreign movies are barred from mainland theaters in order to open up more screen time for Chinese movies], so it is predictable that “Wolf Warriors 2″ would have high ticket sales. What was not anticipated is the  military parade that took place [on July 30 to commemorate China's Army Day on August 1] just before the movie was released. The parade stirred up people’s nationalistic feelings. It is a huge government-funded advertisement for the movie, the box office surged like rocket. The box office record set by “Wolf Warriors 2″ is a reflection of a distorted Chinese film market. Nationalism advocated by the government has affected the movie industry, promotion from the film's production team and the entire film industry has further boosted the box office and created a legendary success, which is not a result of the market, but government administration…
In fact, a large number of government and army-affiliated media outlets have published positive reviews about the movie, claiming that the protagonist who appears unbeatable represents soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army and that the movie elevates Chinese nationalism to a new level. The tagline of the movie poster is “Whoever offends China will be terminated no matter how far away they are” (犯我中華者 雖遠必誅).
Netizen reviews of the movie vary. On Weibo and WeChat, social media platforms which are heavily censored in China and occupied by patriotic discourse, the majority of the comments are positive. For example, under one of the most popular film review threads on Weibo, the following two comments have more than 10,000 likes:
看了战狼你会觉的生在中国多幸运
After watching “Wolf Warriors 2,” you feel very fortunate that you are born in China.
妈的，太好看了，刚看好，看得我热血沸腾。吴京吊炸天一定要看，国产剧中算得上超级好看的。
My god, the film is so good. My heart was burning while watching it. Wu Jing is so cool and you must watch it. This is a super film among domestic films.
While on Douban, a popular art consumption and rating website, there are also critical reviews alongside comments that praise the film:
首映礼看的。太恐怖了这个电影，不讲道理的，完全就是吴京在实现他这个小粉红的英雄梦。各种装备轮番上场，视物理逻辑于不顾，不得不说有钱真好，随意胡闹
Watched the premiere. This movie is horrible and unreasonable, a dream of idiotic patriotism. A display of military equipment, jeopardizing all physical logic. I have to say those who have the money can act recklessly.
吴京让人看了不舒服，为了主旋律而主旋律，为了煽情而煽情，让人觉得他是个大做作、大谎言家。片子整体不如湄公河行动，1.整体不够流畅，编剧有毒，台词尴尬；2.刻意做作的主旋律煽情显得如此不合时宜而又多余。
Wu Jing’s [style of hyping] is awkward. The purpose is to push the main theme and trigger [nationalistic] feelings. It makes people feel that he is pretentious. The movie is not as good as “Operation Mekong” — first of all, the flow is not smooth, the story plot is poisonous and the script writing is embarrassing. Secondly, the orchestration with the main theme and the sensational presentation is outdated and excessive.
吴京的冷峰在这部里即像成龙，又像杰森斯坦森，但体制外的同类型电影，主角总是代表个人，无能的政府需要求助于这些英雄才能解决难题，体现的是个人的价值，所以主旋律照抄这种模式实际上是有问题的。我们以前嘲笑个人英雄主义，却没想到捆绑爱国主义的全能战士更加难以下咽。
Leng Feng, played by Wu Jing, seems like Jackie Chen or Jason Statham. But in other films in the same genre, the protagonists represent the value of individualism. So copying the genre to serve the main theme [of nationalistic ideology] is problematic. We used to scorn individual heroism, but binding the all-powerful superhero with patriotism is more repulsive.
《血战钢锯岭》中国人也会觉得好看，因为它歌颂的宗教情怀是超越政权的；但当你只想歌颂一个政权时，很明显就低了一个层次，甚至充满了现实乃至投机的考量，高下立见
Chinese audience like [US-Australian war film] “Hacksaw Ridge” too. The movie shows how religious faith goes beyond politics. But a film that just aims to hail a regime is in a lower league. It is a product of [political reality] and opportunity.
都说吴京打得精彩，看得我无精打采。用弹簧床接火箭炮，绝对是义和团用肉身挡子弹的升级版
People keep saying that Wu’s combat scenes are excellent. I found the staging artificial. Using a spring bed to catch a rocket-propelled grenade is absolutely a version of the Boxers [from the Boxer Uprising in China], who claimed they could block bullets with their bodies.
政治无比正确，剧情毫无逻辑，全场热血沸腾，个人英雄崇拜加集体主义
It's a movie that is absolutely correct in its politics, with illogical plot lines. It makes the audience feel a burning in their hearts and combines personal heroism and collectivism.
The movie is also showing in overseas markets and we can find more coherent, professional and uncensored film reviews from Western sources. This one from the site TL;DR reviews judged the film as such:
Wolf Warriors 2 brings Chinese propaganda films into the 21st century, however, it fails in presenting a solid story and in the production of many of its effects.
And it looked into how Africans are represented in the movie to prove that China is strong:
So what is the main theme of Wolf Warrior, well the film puts it as ‘China and Africa are friends’, a phrase that gets used so often that I wished I would have taken a tally of the times it was spoken. But it goes further than that, it feels more like China is Africa’s protector, and only hope for the future, and more so it is a film giving the middle finger to America and trying to capture a new future for China. Once again, there is nothing wrong with that, if you can also create an engaging film, but this is where it doesn’t work for Wolf Warrior… the film comes off less as an uplifting narrative of China in Africa, but more of a condescending critique. It treats its audience, as well as the people of Africa as children, it almost revels in the slaughter of civilians, Leng leaves people to be slaughtered because it is inconvenient to the plot, indeed when researching this review I struggled to find any of the African actor’s names.

author: Jack Hu


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Jamaica Police Review Absolves Officers in Tivoli Gardens Incursion · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) uniform detail taken during Jamaica's 2010 state of emergency. Photo by the BBC World Service, CC BY-NC 2.0.
Just over seven years ago, Jamaican security forces entered the troubled West Kingston community of Tivoli Gardens, in search of alleged drug don Christopher “Dudus” Coke, who was wanted for extradition to the United States.
During the security operations — which raised major concerns among human rights groups — at least 72 Jamaicans lost their lives and about 35 more were wounded. It was the highest number of casualties in a single incident since the brutal suppression of the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865.
On May 23, 2010 Jamaica was placed under a limited 2010 state of emergency for Kingston and St. Andrew, which ended nearly two months later on July 22. Coke was eventually captured and deported to the United States on June 24, and is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for racketeering.
The government-appointed Commission of Enquiry into the “Tivoli incursion” (as it is known locally) published its report and recommendations on June 14, 2016. More than a year later, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (itself created by colonial powers soon after the Morant Bay Rebellion) released its own administrative review of the Commission's report, which Police Commissioner George Quallo shared on Twitter:
I just uploaded Final – West Kingston Admin Review Report to @Scribd #ReadMore https://t.co/DXyLYUau9q
— George Quallo (@GeorgeQuallo) August 8, 2017
Among other recommendations, the June 2016 Commissioners’ Report noted that five senior members of the police force should not be put in charge of future internal security operations, after credible claims of dereliction of duty and extrajudicial killings. However, the police review committee, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Wray Palmer, rejected this recommendation, going further to say that the Commissioners engaged in speculation, were biased and sometimes confused. The three Commissioners who were appointed in August 2014 included international crime expert, Professor Anthony Harriott; retired judge of the Court of Appeal of Jamaica, Mrs. Justice Hazel Harris; and former Chief Justice and Attorney General of Barbados, Sir David Simmons, who chaired the enquiry.
The response from Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry was swift and emphatic. She called the police review “contemptuous” of the quasi-judicial Commission, which she noted was properly constituted under the laws of Jamaica by the Governor General. She also called on the Jamaica Constabulary Force to withdraw their review, promising to write Attorney General Marlene Malahoo Forte on the matter. Meanwhile, Quallo says he “stands by the report”.
Human rights advocate Susan Goffe observed in her blog:
Since the release, there has been increasing discussion of the report, with expressions of criticism and concern. I have been among those expressing concerns as, having read the report, I believe it raises questions of process, substance and tone. I think that beyond the report itself, there is also the consideration of its wider impact on issues of post-Commission of Enquiry processes and of police accountability.
In the final account, the Committee found that the JCF [Jamaica Constabulary Force], its systems, performance and members were ‘appropriate’, ‘adequate’, ‘clear’, ‘effective’, ‘effective’, ‘adequate’, ‘effective’, ‘adequate’, ‘rose to the occasion’, without basis to ‘be cited for misconduct and/or dereliction of duty’. The report and its findings give little indication of the kind of self-reflection that would be valuable to the police force following the events of 2010 and the report and recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry.  There is a sense of the-JCF-did-nothing-wrong-time-to-move-on.
There are points at which the Committee’s tone seems to be defensive and dismissive in a manner that is not appropriate or useful.
There was more criticism from retired Deputy Commissioner of Police Les Green, who took offence at the way the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), which he headed at the time, was characterised. In an open letter to Commissioner Quallo, Green commented:
I respectfully request that the false and misleading statements are promptly addressed in this publicly circulated review document (published on the JCF website page and widely reported in the media) as any delays will continue to cause distress, alarm and harm to the reputations of nearly 1,500 members of the JCF, who were members of the CIB in May 2010.
I was honoured and privileged to have served in the CIB and I can personally vouch for numerous CIB personnel, who during this period, demonstrated beyond the call of duty at the very highest standards of professionalism, discipline and dedication and this JCF internal review document has tarnished us all with an injustice that must be immediately addressed.
The day after the release of the administrative review, George Quallo shared a press release:
I just uploaded Aug.09f.17-No Place for Misconduct Amongst Law Enforcement Officers to @Scribd #ReadMore https://t.co/7fQdDWV7Jc
— George Quallo (@GeorgeQuallo) August 9, 2017
The release quoted the Police Commissioner's pointed words:
There are more decent, honest, hard-working men and women in our midst than there are unscrupulous members…
We have no place for individuals who decidedly run afoul of the law. As keepers of this democracy we are held at a higher level of moral conduct than the average citizen. Therefore, I call on the decent members of this organisation to stand up and be counted, denounce any act of misconduct or corruption that is likely to impact our image.
As a result of the review findings, Jamaicans have been regularly commenting on police matters of late:
Instead of helping #JCF to learn from made mistakes and shortcomings in Tivoli, the Administrative Review is unfortunately causing cynicism
— sonofportie (@sonofportie) August 11, 2017
In general, Jamaicans hold a low opinion of the police. Those participating in the Gleaner newspaper national poll in 2014 believed that 80% of police were corrupt. One tweet echoed this view:
@AndrewHolnessJM #JCF is institutionally corrupt and needs gutting! We need police services: 1 per county. #JCF 2 top heavy!
— Mark Antony (@circa1838) August 11, 2017
Another tweeted a drastic solution:
@findpatria @RashawnAnthonio @suezeecue Solution: disband the JCF and start over. Sounds radical? Well….
— Kevin Barker (@DrKevinBarker) August 11, 2017
Radical perhaps, but many still believe that the Tivoli Gardens incursion was just as extreme.

author: Emma Lewis


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Music Group Bokanté Serves Up Songs in the Key of Creole · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

The band members of Bokanté hail from four continents, and their music draws influences from Caribbean rhythms, West African music, and Mississippi Delta blues. Credit: GroundUP Music
This story by Sonia Narang originally appeared on PRI.org on July 24, 2017. It is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.
The Vancouver Jazz Festival recently drew musicians from around the world to Canada’s West Coast. One band brought a distinctive sound flavored with Caribbean rhythms, West African music, and Mississippi Delta blues to the stage. They call themselves Bokanté, which means “exchange” in the Creole language of the Caribbean.
The musical group’s lead singer and songwriter Malika Tirolien grew up on the French-Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. She now lives in Montreal, and sings mostly in her mother tongue of Creole, which is a hybrid of French and her island’s local language.
“For me, the Creole is very, very important, and I’m very proud of it,” Tirolien says. “That’s why I put a lot of it into my music. And Creole is such a beautiful language,” she adds.
“I’m bringing that Caribbean flavor, and also I’m bringing a little bit the rhythm of gwo ka, which is a rhythm from Guadeloupe,” she says, and explains how the band’s recent album “Strange Circles” was a collaborative effort.
“In all the songs, the exchange is taking place. Every time somebody’s playing, they’re bringing who they are into the music,” she says.
One song off the new album is “An Ni Chans,” a title in Creole that means “I’m Lucky.” Tirolien says it’s a classic example of how the band fused an array of influences on a single track.
“I wanted to have a rhythm that is from Guadeloupe,” she says. “But the fact that everybody comes from different places, that changed the rhythm a little bit. Everybody is putting in a line, everybody has something to say musically. So, it’s like a multicultural discussion and exchange.”
Tirolien says this song is “about being very lucky to be surrounded by community and a family that loves us and gives us strength.” She herself comes from a supportive, artistic family — her grandfather was a poet, her grandmother a pianist, and her father plays multiple instruments.
During her youth on Guadeloupe island, Tirolien found herself drawn to soul, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, and, one of her favorites, Michael Jackson. She later moved to Canada to study jazz at the Université de Montréal, and began fusing urban hip-hop with jazz and Caribbean beats.
Bokanté’s lead singer Malika Tirolien stands backstage before her recent Vancouver show. She’s originally from the French-Caribbean island of Guadeloupe and now lives Montreal. Credit: Sonia Narang
As the front woman for Bokanté, Tirolien now uses music to create an exchange with her audience as she sings in both French and Creole.
“Not a lot of people know about Creole, and it kind of puts Guadeloupe on the map a little bit,” she says, and laughingly adds, “Well, that’s what I’m hoping.”
She was especially excited to come across a video of students in Malaysia singing one of her songs in Creole.
“It’s such an example of how this language can be sung by people so far away,” says Tirolien. “It makes me feel very, very happy, very proud, very humbled, very grateful to have people from far away singing in Creole.”

author: PRI/PRX's The World


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Thailand’s Broadcasting Authority Suspends TV Network That Called Junta Leader a Dictator · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Peace TV network is suspended for one month. Image from the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, used with permission.
Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has suspended for one month the license of a TV network which has been criticizing the policies of the military-led government.
Signed on August 9, 2017, the NBTC order will take effect once the letter is delivered to the Peace TV network.
Peace TV is affiliated to the United Front Against Dictatorship for Democracy, a group also known as “red shirts” whose prominent leaders are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Some “red shirts” are also known critics of the Lese Majeste (anti-Royal Insult) law, which the government has been using to prosecute activists and anti-junta politicians.
Thailand’s army grabbed power in 2014 and has remained in power through a constitution it drafted. It vowed to restore civilian rule once political and electoral reforms have been implemented. Since 2014, the junta has strictly regulated the media and arrested Internet users accused of defaming authorities.
NBTC said Peace TV violated the law when it aired two programs in July that undermined the constitutional monarchy, national security and “good morality.” However, it didn’t specify which parts of the programs have incited the public to oppose the government.
This is the third time that Peace TV has been suspended by the NBTC. It was previously suspended in April 2015 and July 2016 for allegedly threatening national security.
Some believe Peace TV was suspended because it dared to call former army chief and now Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha a dictator:
#Thailand authorities slap @peacetvnews with 30-day ban for calling #junta leader Gen Prayut “dictator”. #censorship pic.twitter.com/32RaKf8wDy
— Sunai (@sunaibkk) August 10, 2017
The Southeast Asian Press Alliance questioned the harsh ruling of the NBTC since it will affect all programs and employees of the TV network:
We see the suspension order as too severe, given that the NBTC has identified specific programming on specific dates that it deemed violating Thailand broadcasting laws. The order punishes the entire station including all programs regardless of content, and all personnel regardless of role.
The group also warned that the NBTC order will lead to the further curtailment of press freedom in Thailand:
Such broad and sweeping powers, especially under a regular law must be used with restraint and proportionality, considering that it can set precedents to be used to potentially infringe on freedom of the press and the public’s right to know and hear all sides of the political discourse in Thai society.
Peace TV officials insisted that the program episodes cited by NBTC didn’t incite the public to rise up against the junta. They added that during the month-long suspension, Peace TV programs will still be aired through Facebook Live.
They also questioned the timing of the suspension order, which coincided with the August 25 corruption hearing of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. But Prime Minister Prayut denied that the TV network was suspended in order to silence supportive “red shirt” media during Yingluck’s trial. He said that it this were the intention of the government, then all media networks should be suspended by NBTC.

author: Mong Palatino


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2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Winner Trinidadian Ingrid Persaud Talks Writing · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Writer Ingrid Persaud; photo used with her permission.
With a humourous, tender and engaging story about a father-son bond, Trinidad and Tobago-born writer Ingrid Persaud copped the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Caribbean region; she was also this year's overall winner. In “The Sweet Sop”, she masterfully explores the difficult themes of love and death without getting maudlin, and deliciously sweetens a sour relationship with all manner of chocolate.
Global Voices chatted with her about her win, her writing and Caribbean literature in general.
Global Voices (GV): Congratulations on winning this year’s Commonwealth Short Story prize (Caribbean). The narrative around your success has been that you are a “first-time author” and that you pretty much came out of nowhere to win this prize, but you have been honing your craft for a long time now. Can you tell us about your journey?
Ingrid Persaud (IP): The notion of a writer emerging fully formed is simply a version of the genius myth. I have been writing for the past five years persistently trying to understand how words slide and fall and play. I’ve written a novel and [am] working on another. I haven’t been writing short stories and the prize incentivizes me to look at this form more seriously.
My journey to writing has been circuitous. I have had two other lives. [I was] an academic lawyer and later I trained as an artist. Looking back, the thread that binds it all is the power of words.
GV: The beauty of “The Sweet Sop”, your story that so impressed the panel of judges with its originality, strength of characterisation and humour, is that it spoke of universal experiences with a distinctly Trinidadian voice. How did you accomplish that?
IP: Caribbean voices are as distinct and as easily understood as, for example, the Irish or Scottish voices we unquestioningly accept. I think this generation of writers is making a stand against the othering of Caribbean
voices as ‘patois’ or ‘first nation language’. Good stories and poems will always find a space because they speak to our common humanity. Trini humour warms my heart and I am delighted it touches others.
GV: Has blogging been useful in honing your writing skills, especially with regard to the short story format? What has it taught you as a writer?
IP: I am not a regular blogger but starting the blog was crucial to making writing a more central part of my life. We had moved from London to Barbados and I set myself the task of writing a 900-word weekly essay on this new life. It doesn’t sound like much but it provided structure, discipline and forced me to be more observant. Notes From A Small Rock gave me the space to experiment and get feedback from readers. I really ought I to feed that beast more often.
GV: Not only are you a writer, you are a parent, too. How did your family react when you won the prize, and how do you balance being a wife, mother and writer?
IP: The whole family was proud. Even our teenaged twin boys muttered something about my prize being cool. The boys are my first obligation and until they leave for university in the next year or so my world is determined
by their needs. That is my choice. The time and head space I reserve for writing is also sacred but what that looks like depends on whether it is holiday or term time or if the boys have exams. My husband is incredibly supportive of my writing as I am of his work [he's an economist]. We struggle on as a team — compromising and firefighting.
Ingrid Persaud; image used with her permission.
GV: How has social media factored into your ability to share and promote your work and connect with other Caribbean writers?
IP: I spend far too much time on Facebook and Twitter and excuse it because I live on an island that is 14 by 21 miles. It is my portal to interacting with other writers worldwide as well as my interface with news services and various publications. But I never confuse a virtual friend with the kind that turns up for lunch and you are both still talking and laughing as the moon is rising.
GV: Speaking of other writers, who inspires you?
IP: I read widely to catch a glimpse of the zeitgeist and I read strategically depending on the challenges I am trying to overcome in my own writing. For craft, Olive Senior’s work is inspiring. I re-read Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying more often than I care to admit. This summer’s best find has been The Story of a Brief Marriage by Anuk Arudpragasam.
GV: How do you notice Caribbean literature evolving and where does your voice fit into it?
IP: The Caribbean has a proud tradition of producing world class literature and we are continuing to do so with the authentic and unique voices of writers and poets such as Kei Miller, Vahni Capildeo, Marlon James, Barbara Jenkins, Jacob Ross and Sharon Millar. In time, when I’ve produced more work, my voice might find a space. But that is the critic’s job. My task is to keep writing.
GV: Any practical advice for aspiring regional writers, particularly female ones?
IP: Treat yourself with respect and kindness. Make your writing time sacred. When you are not writing, you should be reading. Writers are never off duty because material can come from anywhere — a chance remark or when buying bread. Maybe it is just my sieve of a memory but I recommend note taking on the go. And don’t wait for the muse. That woman woke up late this morning and is stuck in traffic. She’s coming but best you start writing now. She’ll join you later.
GV: Finally, what does winning the Commonwealth Short Story prize mean to you and how do you expect it might change the trajectory of your career?
IP: The prize has brought me in contact with some fantastic writers from around the Commonwealth — people I hope will be in my life for a long time. It has given me greater confidence and resilience to meet the demands of a writer’s life. But it also makes me a little scared that maybe the next thing I write won’t be as good.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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China’s Taobao Faces Storm For Selling Personalised Messages Delivered by African Children · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Screen shots from Taobao via HKFP.
This post was written by Jun Pang and originally published on Hong Kong Free Press on August 9, 2017. The version below is published on Global Voices under a partnership agreement.
Chinese Taobao vendors engaged in the sale of customised online photo and video messages that feature African children have faced a storm of criticism from commentators who view the practice as exploitative and racist.
The services are advertised on China's most popular online shopping platform, Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace, as a “meaningful” way to deliver a personal message. Listed by multiple vendors, the videos feature children from unspecified countries in Africa reciting custom-ordered messages in Mandarin while holding aloft signs.
The video messages target birthdays, anniversaries and even marriage proposals. Sample photos on vendors’ profiles also show children reading out advertisements for businesses such as dental practices, home refurbishment companies, and the Chinese search engine Sogou.
Screen capture of the search result of “Kids holding placards” on Taobao marketplace. Via HKFP.
The controversy over the clips feeds into broader concerns over the nature of China's role in Africa. Beijing took over the United States as the continent's largest trade partner in 2009, but some Chinese companies have been accused of echoing the exploitative practices of European powers during the colonial era.
Prices for the video clips range from RMB 10 to RMB 220 yuan (approximately US$ 1.5 – US$ 35 dollars). Buyers who opt for the higher price bracket receive a 10-20 second video featuring around ten children reading out a message in Mandarin, responding to instructions from the videographer. Those who purchase cheaper packages receive a photo of a child holding a sign with a handwritten message. Videos are usually completed within 24 to 72 hours of being ordered.
One vendor’s put up a disclaimer in the product description and stressed that the children were acting voluntarily:
Children are not merchandise. You can't choose from different video clips. Thank you for understanding.
HKFP has copied some samples of the video advertisements:
One vendor advertised their videos as a form of “charitable activity.” Posing as a potential customer, HKFP asked whether the price of a video would cover compensation for the children involved in its production.
The vendor said:
I am doing this out of the goodness of my heart. I’m not sure – I am asking someone else to take the video for me. I don’t know how much money is given to the children. Sorry.
Another vendor said the children “are considered to be employed”. When asked about how young the children were, the vendor said that he did not know the details of the production, but that the children were “definitely reimbursed” for their participation.
The practice sparked controversy online with one commenter on the US-based Sixth Tone platform saying:
Contemporary China’s first experience with neo-colonial racism? This is all kinds of messed up.
Another commenter on The Paper, a Chinese digital media outlet, said:
Stupid, cheap, disgusting. I recommend they put these people in jail.
Another said:
Brazenly disgraceful! Taobao should not only put an end to these shops, it should also investigate the vendors for false advertising and malicious anti-black racism – they are ruining the image of our country.
Some, however, defended the practice:
I feel like this is not a bad thing. The children get compensated, factories get to be advertised. This is reasonable.
Another added:
All the children had to do was to hold a sign, and then they would get a few dollars. Now that you have made a mountain out of a molehill, they don’t even have that.
Beijing Youth Daily spoke to a Chinese photographer who had previously produced similar video messages in Zambia. The photographer said that the children who featured in videos were only compensated with small snacks, or a few dollars each.
The people filming the clip received approximately RMB 90 (approximately $15) per video, which were then sold on Taobao by a vendor for double the costs of production.
Taobao has said it had received complaints regarding certain vendors using African children for suspected violations of Chinese advertising law, which state that advertisers may not use “superlative expressions” in their promotional materials. The company said that it would take down the products if the complaints were valid.
Users had previously criticised the vendors for allowing custom-ordered messages to include inappropriate content, including promotional phrases such as “the best,” “the most well-loved,” and “even the Africans know it!” as well as advertisements for pornographic live streams.
Some vendors note in their descriptions that custom orders cannot include swear words, sexual innuendos, mentions of gambling and drugs, or superlative advertising.
As this article went to publication, there remained multiple vendors offering their services on the online marketplace.

author: Hong Kong Free Press