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Ukraine: Homophobic Legal Initiatives in Sync with Public Attitudes · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Kyiv's first Gay Pride Parade ever, permitted by the authorities, was supposed to take place on Sunday, May 20. Fearing attacks, the event's organizers had kept the venue as secret as possible, but these precautions did not prevent some of their opponents from showing up. Shortly after Svyatoslav Sheremet, head of the Gay Forum of Ukraine, announced the cancellation of the parade, he was attacked and severely beaten by a group of masked men (a video of the attack is here).
Homophobic attitudes are widespread in Ukraine, and two counter-rallies, organized by anti-LGBT groups, did take place at other locations in Kyiv on the day of the failed attempt to hold the first Gay Pride.
In the interesniy_kiev (Interesting Kyiv) LJ community, LJ user elektraua posted a photo report [ru] from one of these events. Slogans there included “Papa mama is good, papa papa is bad,” “Homosexuality is a threat to national security,” and “Love against homosexuality.” A few brides in white wedding gowns were present, surrounded by men carrying Ukrainian national flags.
At the end of his post, LJ user elektraua asked readers to share their views on the idea of holding a Gay Pride Parade. The discussion has 357 comments, some of which are too savage to translate. Below is a small selection from this rather crowded conversation [ru, uk]:
art_e_midde:
[…] I'm very glad that the parade got cancelled. Most of all I'm glad that our people aren't buying [tolerance], which is so popular today, and that the majority still favor traditional family. […]
davert:
Is traditional family where papa and mama are divorced?
***
vana_ta11inn:
I think that the U.S. Army had the best option a while ago: the “don't ask – don't tell” approach. […]
keidere:
[…] The only problem with the ban on gay marriages is, as far as I know, the impossibility of having “legal rights” to one's partner. That is, there are people who've been together for many years […], and then something bad happens and one isn't allowed to visit the other at, say, the emergency room, or is not able to make decisions that are usually made by spouses/close relatives, when the victim cannot decide for himself… This is tragic.
***
gwinplane:
Why show off your sexuality? Heterosexuals aren't holding parades, for some reason… And if you look at [homosexuality] as a deviation, a disease, then there should be parades of oncology, TB, AIDS patients and so on down the medical encyclopedia… As for freedom – is anyone not allowing them? The [criminal code] article [banning homosexual relationships] has been removed a long time ago… The parade is harmful […], if we relax for just a second, tomorrow any of our children, having seen this dirt, may start having doubts about their own nature… […]
***
kikikmor:
What gay parades are you talking about in a country the capital of which is aiming to become the world capital of sex tourism!!!! Ukrainian girls won't allow competition!
***
askai_1:
I think it's simple: some people consider such parades propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations, others think of them as their lawful right to freedom of self-expression. It reminds me of the situation with minarets in Switzerland, where some consider the construction of minarets their lawful right to religion, and others view it as propaganda of Islam. The society is divided, conflicts […] are possible. What did they do in the democratic, European Switzerland? – they held a referendum, and the minority agreed with the decision of the majority, based on the referendum's results.
badevlad:
I don't think we need to hold a referendum here. The attitude is obvious without it. And with such an attitude of the majority, it is suicidal to hold the parades.
***
tv2015:
Today [gays] are demanding equal rights for themselves, and tomorrow zoophiles will declare themselves a healthy part of the society and demand marriages with animals… And some people, just like here, will be [vehemently] trying to prove that they are people like any other, taxpayers, it's just that they are different… [damn], and all this in a country where the rates of population decline are catastrophic!
stanislav_ab:
Population is declining mainly because people are leaving the country where conservatism rules and there are no perspectives. Also, people aren't having children because they [can't afford] to feed them. […] Judge by the deeds and not by convictions – if [gay] communities act anti-socially and aggressively, then they should be treated accordingly. But they are usually productive and creative […].
Olena Bilozerska posted a photo report [uk] from another May 20 anti-LGBT rally, the March of Healthy Youths, which also included some anti-regime, as well as racist and xenophobic slogans and chants. Bilozerska shared her view on the Gay Pride Parade:
[…] I am against any kind of persecution of people of untraditional orientation, but I'm also categorically against gay-parades, as I consider them a sign of degradation of the state in which they are taking place.
She also offered this explanation of why the authorities had not banned the May 20 event in Kyiv:
[…] The reasons there are attempts to hold it are understandable – [President Viktor Yanukovych] would like to keep political prisoners, including [ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko], in jails, by [trading them back from Europe in exchange] for gay-parades. [His goal is] to prove by these parades that Ukraine has a sufficient level of democracy :(. […]
Judging by the recent legislative activity, however, representatives of all major political forces in Ukraine do not seem to care much about what “Europe” might think of them; with just five months remaining before the October 28 parliamentary elections, they appear quite in sync with the conservative-minded segments of their electorate.
On June 20, 2011, MPs from the Party of Regions, the Communist Party, the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc, and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc proposed changes to a number of laws [uk] that would ban “propaganda of homosexuality” (draft law #8711). On May 16, 2012, the parliamentary Committee on the Issues of Freedom of Speech and Information found certain inconsistencies in the submitted document and recommended further work on it in preparation for the second reading.
Volodymyr Ariev, an MP from the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc and, formerly, a well-known journalist, wrote this [uk] on his Facebook page on May 20:
[…] I don't want to watch how two [homosexuals] are kissing in public in front of me or in front of my child. It's unnatural, it's against God's Laws (and I'm a religious person), it offends me – and why is no one taking my voice into account or refusing me the right to [have this opinion]? Does it seem “wrong” to some people? But the voice is there, and my right to voice my opinion is the right of a free person. And also, I'm against allowing homosexuals to adopt children. If you want [to have children], have your own, if you manage to. […]
On March 30, 2012, Party of Regions MP Vadym Kolesnichenko (who is, technically, Volodymyr Ariev's political opponent) submitted a draft law [uk] on “the ban of propaganda of homosexuality aimed at children” (#10290). In the explanatory note [uk], posted both on the Ukrainian Parliament's site and, in an abridged version, on Kolesnichenko's blog on Ukrainska Pravda, the bill's author blamed Ukraine's “moral and spiritual ruin” on “open access to information from abroad and the work of certain foreign organizations […] that are imposing [an alien ideology] on the Ukrainian public”:
[…] One of such negative expressions of liberalization processes in Ukraine is the popularization of homosexuality, its open propaganda in all spheres of social life. […]
Kolesnichenko also mentioned similar anti-LGBT initiatives by legislators in Lithuania, Slovenia and Russia (a GV text on the latter is here), as well as the 2010 anti-Gay Pride riots in Belgrade, Serbia (a GV text on it is here).
On May 23, the parliamentary expert commission published its assessment [uk] of Kolesnichenko's draft law [if the file doesn't open, please change the extension from .rtf to .doc], concluding that the bill should be scrapped due to numerous “grammatical, stylistic and other drawbacks” (among which is a misspelled Ukrainian word meaning “lesbian” in the definition of homosexuality in Article 1: «лісбеянство» instead of «лесбіянство»), and because “if necessary, the issues [addressed in the bill] can be regulated by introducing changes to the existing laws, and not by passing a separate special law.”
This last remark by the expert commission apparently alludes to the aforementioned draft law #8711, a collective initiative by the Ukrainian MPs who are better known to disagree, often quite violently, on a number of other issues. (For example, on May 24, a rather spectacular fistfight occurred in the Parliament [video], starring Vadym Kolesnichenko, who had co-drafted the controversial language law [uk] that was being “discussed” by the MPs that day.)

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Video: Media Portrayals of Cities in the Global South · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

How do international media represent cities in South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East? Is it fair or helpful to development? A symposium of scholars from the London School of Economics in London, United Kingdom explore this topic. See video.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Solana Larsen


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Argentina: Football Fans Call for “Stop” to Violence · Global Voices
Laura Schneider

Football, the sport that is watched and played the most in Argentina, has suffered an escalation of violence in recent months, sparking reactions from football fans across the country. While the issue of violence in football has always had a presence on the front pages of sports newspapers, recent events have caused a massive rejection from its fans.
The “barras bravas”
In order to understand the dynamics of Latin American and Argentinian football, it is important to understand “barras bravas“. The blog Tribus Urbanas [es] explains:
El término barra brava se emplea en América Latina para designar a aquellos grupos organizados dentro de una hinchada, respecto de un club de fútbol, que se caracterizan por producir diversos incidentes violentos, dentro y fuera del estadio de fútbol.
Photo: Laura Schneider
The blog continues:
En Brasil se los denomina “torcidas organizadas”, mientras que en otros continentes son conocidos como hooligans o ultras. Generalmente las barras bravas utilizan banderas, lienzos y diferentes instrumentos musicales. También se caracterizan por ubicarse en las tribunas populares, aquellas que frecuentemente carecen de asientos y donde los espectadores deben ver el partido de pie.
Chronology of recent events
One of the electoral promises of President Javier Cantero of Club Atlético Independiente was the eradication of barras bravas, an idea which was not very well received and has brought consequences to the club's leaders, such as personal threats due to the refusal to hold meetings with the barra's leader.
President Javier Cantero [es] began a struggle that has the support of national authorities [es] and other football clubs, according to the blog Cosecha Roja [es]:
Pero el barra no quedó conforme. Subió las escaleras junto a su grupo, atravesó las vitrinas que muestran por qué a ese equipo lo llaman “El Rey de Copas”, y asaltó la oficina de Cantero. Encerrados en esa habitación, pidieron entradas para los partidos y micros para trasladarse. También le reclamaron por la prohibición de guardar banderas en el club. El dirigente había pedido que las retiraran por temor a que allí escondieran armas. Hubo gritos e insultos. Hasta que se fueron dejando atrás el aguijón de la amenaza.
Al revés de la regla que suele aplicar en estos casos, Cantero los denunció. Ese acto lo convirtió en la nueva figura de un fútbol argentino.
But the leader of the “barra brava” was not satisfied. He went up the stairs with his group, went through the windows that show why that team is called “The King of Cups”, and raided the office of Cantero. Locked in that room, they asked for match tickets and buses for transportation. They also complained about the prohibition to keep the flags in the club. The leader had asked to withdraw them due to fears that they would hide weapons there. There were shouts and insults. Until they left, leaving behind threats.
Contrary to the rule that usually applies in these cases, Cantero reported them. This act made him the new figure of Argentine football.
On April 15, 2012, a supporter of the Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro was attacked during a match against the club Colon de Santa Fe, and on May 14, Argentine football took a fatal victim in the city of Rosario after the match between Newells Old Boys and Union de Santa Fe.
Prior to these events, on May 11, the school [es] that is run in the Independiente club received a bomb threat and 1,400 students were evacuated. On the other hand, the leaders of Club Atlético Banfield were physically assaulted by a group of people. Javier Szlifman in Pelota afuera [es] summarizes what happened during the month of May:
La situación vivida en Independiente es una muestra brutal del poder y la impunidad del grupo de hinchas más violento del fútbol argentino. Esta vez, los barras expusieron sus prácticas a la luz del día, a la vista de todos. Sus conductas corrientes no son ya a las sombras, símbolo de su crecimiento en los últimos 30 años.
Police guarding the entrance to the stadium. Photo: Laura Schneider
Until then, players continued their usual performance without considering that they could be directly affected by violent events, but on May 22, Colombian player  Giovanni Moreno, from Racing Club, was threatened by barras bravas from the same club. El Nuevo Herald [es] describes what happened:
Impulsada por las barras bravas, la violencia en el fútbol argentino se incrementó en forma notoria en los últimas días y su última víctima fue un jugador colombiano al que le pusieron un revólver en la rodilla a la salida de un entrenamiento.
Those who have been most concerned about this violence are football fans, who converted the hashtag #BarrasBravas [es] on Twitter into a Trending Topc. For example, Alba Cardenas (@ solo_Alba) [es] says “enough” to the barras bravas, and Luis Fernando (@ GonzalezRozo) [es] tweets:
Las #BarrasBravas son el cáncer del Fútbol Sudamericano.
Another hashtag that has been trending is #Bastadebarras (“Enough with barras“) where Angela Whitman (@AnshuWitman) [es] writes a chant which became very popular:
Si sos hincha del fútbol tenés que gritar, barrabravas, barrabravas nunca mas. No me voy a cansar de decirlo. #BastaDeBarras
Meanwhile, Futbolistas Argentinos Agremiados [es], the professional association of football players, used their webpage [es] to ask that the guilty be punished:
No tenemos las herramientas, pero seguimos insistiendo para que el peso de la ley caiga con todo su rigor y castigue a quienes cometen acciones como la mencionada y como otras que nos han ocupado y preocupado del mismo modo en las distintas categorías del fútbol argentino. En medio de una lucha que ha buscado muchas fórmulas y en la que ojalá los buenos les ganen a los violentos, no vamos a rendirnos.
Similarly, Rodrigo Olabiaga (@RodrigoOlabiaga) [es], asks:
#BastaDeBarras en TODOS los clubes, no es una cuestión de colores. Hay que ponerle fin a estos delincuentes que manchan lo lindo del fútbol.
Pablo Bebote Alvarez [es], leader of Independiente barra brava [es]- considered one of the most powerfull barras in Argentina – writes in his Facebook account on Saturday, May 26:
mañana [domingo 27 de mayo] la barra no va a la cancha hasta que nos dejen entran los bombos,asi el coprocede [Comision Provincial de Seguridad Deportiva] no tiene a nadie que molestar creo que se tiene que ocupar donde SI HAY PROBLEMAS,aca ya se demostro que no hubo amenasas y solo pediamos las banderas que el COPROCEDE le exigio a cantero que las saque asi el se enfrentava con nosotros y la gente en contra nuestra por pedir nuestras banderas
At the closing of this post, Argentine football sees one more victim: Daniel Sosa (from the Lanus barra brava) [es] was killed and five others were injured in a confrontation before the start of a football match.

author: Laura Schneider


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Brazil: SlutWalks Spread Across the Country  · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

This post is part of our special coverage SlutWalks 2011/12.
On May 26 and 27, 2012, a number of cities around Brazil were the scene of the second round of protests known as SlutWalks.
Calling for women's liberty and the right of women to dress as they want without being the victims of violence or moralism, thousands of women, as well as heterosexual men, gays, transvestites and even members of groups such as bikers, skaters, skinheads, punks and anarchists took to the streets in Brasilia, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Florianópolis, Fortaleza and Belém – amongst other cities – to protest against homophobia and in defence of feminism, or rather, in defence of equality.
Manu Baren, from the blog Jezebel, commented [pt] on what he saw while covering the Walk:
Homage to the SlutWalks by the cartoonist Carlos Latuff. Under CC licence
[…] no evento encontrei uma proposta sensata, séria e com objetivos claros alertar e protestar contra a violência contra as mulheres. De todo tipo: desde física até sexual e moral. Fui tocada pela coragem de jovens, mães e senhoras que expuseram para uma multidão as suas histórias sobre abusos que, em alguns casos, levaram à morte.
The SlutWalk originated in Canada, when on April 3rd 2011 thousands of women protested in Toronto against the declarations made by police officer Michael Sanguinetti following a series of cases of sexual abuse in the city, stating that women should avoid dressing like sluts in order to avoid becoming victims of rape.
Since then, similar protests have taken place around the world with women dressed in short skirts or even half-naked and affirming that this does not mean that they would like to or give their permission to be raped or abused.
Following the example of the previous year, Global Voices has selected a series of photos from protests in various Brazilian cities. More than three thousand protestors attended the event in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, more than a thousand in São Paulo, and hundreds in each of the other cities.
In São Paulo the Walk covered 3 kilometres, passing along the famous Rua Augusta, a meeting point for alternative groups and the location of various brothels and artistic venues.
SlutWalk São Paulo 2012. Photo by Renato Batata copyright Demotix (26/05/2012)
Protestors hold placards saying "Freedom and Equality". Photo by Renato Batata copyright Demotix (26/05/2012)
"I didn´t come from your rib, it was you who came from my womb". Photo by Renato Batata copyright Demotix (26/05/2012)
"When I grow up, I want to be whatever I want". Photo by Cecília Santos, used with permission
Two videos of the protest in São Paulo: the first by Manu Barem and Thiago Guimarães contains sections of the speeches made at the beginning of the Walk and scenes of the Walk itself, and the second contains scenes of the Walk and the slogans shouted by the protestors:
In Rio de Janeiro, the protest took place in Copacabana with hundreds of people attending.
Placards at the start of the Walk. Photo by Camila Prott, used with permission
"Don´t teach us how to dress, teach men not to rape". Photo by Camila Prott, used with permission
Video from YouTube user vecosi of the Walk in Rio de Janeiro:
The streets of Belo Horizonte were also taken over by protestors on 26 May.
The crowd marching. Photo by Pedro Rennó, used with permission
Free women, free bodies. Photo by Pedro Rennó, used with permission
There was no shortage of children at the protests. Photo by Camila Xavier, used with permission
Youtube user raquelpinheirocintra recorded this video during the Walk in Belo Horizonte:
In Brasília the Walk passed through the very centre of Brazilian power.
"We are all free". Photo by Lívia Mota, used with permission
Crowd walks through Brasilia. Profile picture of SlutWalk Brasilia, free use.
Many men also attended. Photo by Rogério Tomaz Jr, used with permission
More photos from the SlutWalk in Brasilia on the Walk's official profile on Facebook. YouTube user kyaya1 recorded a series of videos of the Walk: this is part 4.
A small but lively protest also took place in Belém on May 27.
Few in number, but very lively. Photo by Marjorie Begot, used with permission
"I am mine, only mine, I do not belong to anyone who wants". Photo by Marjorie Begot, used with permission
More photos from the SlutWalk in Belém on the official profile on Facebook and a video from Youtube user Zemafarias.
Protests also took place in Fortaleza, São Luis and Vitória.
"Move aside male chauvinism, feminism is coming through". SlutWalk in Vitória. Photo by Adrielley Caliman, used with permission
Children abound in Fortaleza. Photo by Jaci Marques, used with permission
"It´s her body, she´ll give it to who she wants". Protest in São Luis. Photo from the Anel collective, free use.
Youtube user naainai recorded a short video of the Walk in Vitória.
In Recife, more than 1,100 people came out into the streets to protest. Photos of the Walk can be found [pt] on the blog Literatura clandestina (Clandestine literature) and on the Walk's Facebook group. Blogger Lúcio Mustafá recorded a video of the Walk in Recife. More photos on the Flickr account of Leo Cisneiros.
The Walk also took place in Florianópolis.
Protestors gathering for the Walk. Photo by Rodrigo Botarro, used with permission
"My desire is my desire". Photo by Yuri Brah, used with permission
"Jesus loves sluts". The protest passed by the steps of a temple of the Universal Church, a conservative evangelical denomination. Photo by Yuri Brah, used with permission
Finally, on Sunday 27 the SlutWalk took over Porto Alegre.
"Rape has no justification". Photo by Pablo Capilé, free use
Photo from the Fora do Eixo Collective, under CC licence
"A man without a shirt is a) hot or b) asking to be raped, of course. Doesn´t it seem silly the other way round?". Photo by Rodrigo Cardia, used with permission
Youtube users ElbaOliveira1 and mayluka09 recorded videos of manifesto readings in São José dos Campos in the São Paulo province, as did lalgarra in Sorocaba from where photos can be viewed on the Walk's Facebook group. The Foque Collective recorded a video of the Walk in Natal and avmandrade recorded the Walk in Salvador.
This post is part of our special coverage SlutWalks 2011/12.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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China: Chinese Local Official Rapes “Nearly One Hundred” Young Girls Before Capture · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

David Wertime from the Tea Leaf Nation blogs about a serial rape crime committed by a local official in Henan province who had raped “nearly one hundred” young girls. So far the local police have identified a doze victims the youngest was born in 2001.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Netizens Want Confucius to Return Home · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A new visa policy recently announced by the U.S State Department has put the Confucius Institute under the spotlight in the Chinese blogosphere. The new directive, issued on May 17, 2012, demands that university based institutes obtain American accreditation in order to continue to accept foreign scholars and professors as teachers. The new regulations may result in the termination of visas for hundreds of teachers, as more than 60 universities in the US play host to the Confucius Institutes. On the other hand, Chinese netizens wish that the Confucius could return home to teach poor Chinese kids.
The Confucius Institute is a government sponsored cultural outreach program which aims at promoting China's Soft Power globally. It is affliliated with China's Ministry of Education and run by the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language or Hanban. The first overseas Confucius Institute was established in November 2004 and by August 2011 there were more than 826 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms worldwide.
Please come home to teach, Confucius! Cartoon by Da Shi Xiong from Sina Weibo
Although the Chinese government is unhappy about the directive, the majority of Chinese netizens are in celebratory mood. Da Shi Xiong's cartoon is the best expression of the online popular sentiment, with the children in the picture begging Confucius to return home to teach.
Many ordinary netizens like @湘客游侠 voiced their approval [zh]:
政府搞那么多钱在海外办什么孔子学院，明的暗的让某些人捞钱，咋不把这钱办希望学校，发展提高义务教育呢
An anonymous message offering netizens’ explanation to the government's education policy has been circulated in major Chinese online forums and social media platforms. Below is a portion of the text quoted from BlogChina [zh]:
当屁民为孔子学院的教师将要被美国驱逐而愤愤不平时，不妨看看设立在美国的孔子学院都在玩些什么猫腻：红官二代利用孔子学院向国内申请官方办学经费，然后让高官子女在里面任教。目的只有一个，用我们纳税人的钱帮他们拿到绿卡。明修孔夫子的栈道，暗度他们红二代的陈仓，孔子2500多年后又被强奸了一回，还是红二代牛逼啊。我感谢美国人喊停孔子学院，不为别的，只为我们的血汗钱。
Blogger Cai Shenkun provided more background about the resentment that people feel towards the Confucius Institute in his blog at ifeng [zh].
根据官方报道，每所孔子学院建设费用50万美元，每个孔子课堂6万美元。身居美国的薛涌先生估算，在美国建一所“孔子学院”起码要几百万美元。孔子学院不但提供文化课、太极课、汉语水平考试，甚至提供带补贴的“中国之旅”。学院和课堂建成后还需要运营，国家汉办会为每所孔子学院提供5-10万美元的启动资金。据估计，这方面的总投入达到了2500万-5000万美元。此外，还有4000名专职教职工和每年3000名外派志愿者的费用。每位志愿者国家都会补贴1000美元/月，通常任期一年，国家每年在志愿者身上投入约3600万美元。最后，尚有金额不明的专项活动经费。孔子学院一年要耗费中国人多少血汗钱？现在看不到权威的统计数字，2008年光预算就高达16亿，近些年应该是一年更比一年多。
希望工程搞了20多年，才募集到50多亿。而政府却很慷慨的大把撒钱到国外去办学，其数额远远超过了希望工程的善款，这叫纳税人情以何堪？更不可思议的是，2010年，被誉为“史上最贵网站”的网络孔子学院进入公众视线，采购人国家汉办的中标金额高达3520万元的网站运营费用让人大跌眼镜。据媒体调查，中标的“五洲网络”法人代表是王永利，而王永利的另一个身份是国家汉办副主任。国家汉办自己招标、自己中标，3000万元就进入了个人腰包。如果不是财政部网站公布这个中标消息，天价的维护费永远无人知道。
This post was sub-edited by Jane Ellis.


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Honduras: US State Department Releases Human Rights Report · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Honduras Culture and Politics looks closely at the United States State Department report on human rights: “There's been a blind eye to certain kinds of human rights abuses in Honduras that happen, but don't seem to warrant action by the Secretary or her employees, including the Ambassador. So, we turned with some trepidation to the country report on Honduras.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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India: Kolkata Joins the SlutWalk Movement · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

This post is part of our special coverage SlutWalks 2011/12.
On 24 May, 2012, Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, formally joined the global SlutWalk movement, with over a hundred young men and women marching for the cause in the sweltering heat of summer. The organizers explained the need for a SlutWalk in the city on their Facebook Page.
SlutWalk has become a global protest. Not only have we seen SlutWalks in London, Paris, Chicago, we have also seen SlutWalk in Delhi, Bhopal and Bangalore! Can we deny the fact that victims of sexual harassment and rapes are not taunted, judged and vilified in our own ‘City of Joy’? Are we perfectly at peace, sitting and complaining about the system and then going back to our own ways of life? This is why we thought of organizing a SlutWalk Kolkata.
Poster – SlutWalk Kolkata
On his blog Insight, blogger Khusnud wrote:
… it’s high time for Kolkatans to come out for “slutwalk” on 24 may. Although, my ordinary mind couldn’t understand the purpose and relevance of slutwalk in India but women safety and rights in India is always a ponderable question for me. Is skimpy clothes of gals or women articulate the message to rape her? If yes, then how will we justify the rape of 3 month’s infant? If some psycho says that provoking cloths stimulate him to rape or molest a girl then how will we react if someone says,” Her perfume was incredibly provoking that’s why I raped her“! The message is whatever cloths women wear, however slutty it is, it shouldn’t be thought as an invitation to rape her.
Sharib Ali, on the youth platform Pul-E-Jawan, described the event:
In Kolkata, around 300 women, mostly college students walked to demand the right to dress they want, without being labelled a slut or ‘khanki’ as the bengali word goes. They walked, cordoned by the police through crowded streets and amused onlookers. Probably the ‘Bhodrolok’ sentiment was a little hurt. But it was worthwhile I guess.
SlutWalk Kolkata 2012. Image taken from Facebook Group Page. Used with permission
Kaustav Sengupta at Ingene, pointed out that the SlutWalk Kolkata was not only about women but saw active participation from men, some of whom were themselves victims of sexual harassment.
The SlutWalk saw men marching alongside women. Said Somek, an aspiring actor, who took part in the event, “It is not about gender. It is about sending a message that please don't judge us by what we wear.”
SlutWalk Kolkata 2012. Image taken from SlutWalk Kolkata Community Page. Used with permission.
The organizers too wanted the event to be inclusive and had posted on their Facebook Page:
we do not intend to cater to the male-female binary…..this movement is not only against attrocities towards women……it is an inclusive movement…..by constantly posting or debating about how ONLY women are being marginalised…..you are talking about nothing regarding equality but a MERE TRANSFER OF POWER…..we are not organizing this march with that in mind….we wish to bring to light about gender misrepresentation, slandering/harassing/molestation of anyone of any gender on the basis of one's looks, about marginalised sexualities and their stereotyping.
The rally was peaceful and well-managed. It was led from the front by students and teachers from Jadavpur University and saw activists, members of NGOs as well as members of the general public joining the rally that started from the Jadavpur University campus and made it's way down to Triangular Park where it ended with recitation of protest poetry and performance of street plays.
SlutWalk Kolkata. Screenshot from a video clip uploaded on Rediff iShare by Dipak
The original video can be found here.
Some on the comments on Twitter were as follows:
@suyashpiyush: ‘Slutwalk’ organized in Kolkata and people collectively came together to support freedom in dressing.
@UsamaKhilji: SlutWalk Kolkata: College students take to the streets against rape culture.
@potato_wingd: wish the #kolkata episode of the  #slutwalk had more coverage.
Others tweeted about photos from the event:
Responsible Charity (@secularcharity): I posted 25 photos on Facebook in the album “SlutWalk Kolkata 2012″ http://fb.me/2922lhulT
You can see more photographs from SlutWalk Kolkata here.
This post is part of our special coverage SlutWalks 2011/12.

author: Aparna Ray


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Iran: ‘Cultural programs’ in social networks · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

Iran's Revolutionary Guardians'would hold cultural programs in Facebook and Twitter’, an official in IRGC says. This two major social networks are blocked in Iran and users can check them only with circumvention tools. Iranian authorities blame such websites for ‘promoting regime change’ in this country.

author: Hadi Nili


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Kazakhstan: Parliament a “Weird, Expensive and Absolutely Useless Toy” · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Blogger Gulnara Bazhkenova explains [ru] why MPs in Kazakhstan are rarely taken seriously by the general public. In her words, the country's rubber-stamp parliament is widely seen as a “weird, expensive and absolutely useless toy”.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Malaysia: Petition for Free and Fair Access to Media · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Bersih, an election reform movement in Malaysia, identifies key reforms that the government can implement to ensure free and fair access to media during elections

author: Mong Palatino


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Philippines: Budget Transparency Portal · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Philippine government has recently launched the Budget ng Bayan website to promote transparency and good governance in the country. Budget documents and state expenditures are uploaded in the site.


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Qatar: Deadly Blaze in Shopping Mall  · Global Voices
Salah Almhamdi

On May 28, 2012, a fire broke out at Doha's Villaggio Mall, leaving 19 dead, 13 of whom were children. Another 17 were injured.
The children were trapped in a nursery within the mall, and they and four teachers died of smoke inhalation. Two firefighters died as they attempted to rescue them.
Those who died came from various countries including France, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa and Spain.
What happened?
Qatar's Ministry of Interior reported:
@MOI_QatarEn: The Minister said that the Rescue Police reached the spot within a minute of information and Civil Defence team reached after two minutes.
@MOI_QatarEn: But lack of floor plans, thick smoke and heat and malfunctioning sprinkler systems hindered rescue efforts at the Villaggio.
@MOI_QatarEn: It was alerted lately only that children were trapped inside and finally Firefighters had to go in through the ceiling.
Smoke coming from Villaggio Mall. Image posted by @LivinginDoha.
Doha resident Kirsty Rice offered more details on her blog:
Today may well be remembered as one of Doha's darkest. For those who have announced to friends and family that Doha is a wonderfully safe place to raise our children, today will perhaps be remembered as the day that innocence was lost. As a community, we are, as my friend Erika said this evening “numb with grief”. […] Thirteen children were trapped inside the nursery, it is believed their exit, a staircase, had collapsed from the heat of a fire. Where exactly the fire began is yet to be confirmed. The nursery was in the interior of the mall, meaning you walked through a virtual rabbit warren of corridors to get there. From what I understand, when the firefighters arrived at those corridors they were considered impenetrable and too dangerous to enter, it was decided the only other way to get there, was through the ceiling. By the time the hole was cut, it was too late, they were gone. Thirteen beautiful children, four teachers and two firefighters. Smoke inhalation meant that their little bodies were carried lifeless from the building.
In this video journalism student Usama Alony (usamaah2290) interviewed witnesses and filmed rescue efforts (he notes that some viewers might find it upsetting):
What about safety requirements?
Witnesses reported that there were neither alarms nor sprinklers in operation at Villaggio Mall.
Nano expressed his surprise:
@fermoreno: It's unbelievable that Villagio has the best luxury shops one could ever imagine, but fire protection systems didn't work #Villagio #Qatar
Raed Al Emadi tweeted angrily:
@Ra_ed: I am a Qatari and selfish business that does not take into account the safety of consumers does not represent me! #Qatar #villagio
The following video by TheVanishforever features an interview with a restaurant employee, in which she says that in the four years she had worked in Villaggio she couldn't recall any fire drill or training:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kRQ2bLtsTg
Where were the local media?
Doha residents were furious that local media seemed to be ignoring the fire, and were not providing updates.
South African Bilal Randeree criticized the absence of coverage on local radio:
@halalcomedy: Stuck in traffic cos of the #Villagio fire and forced to listen to #QBSradio talk cheating husbands kissing mistresses! #occupyqbs
From Libya, Hamid asked about the Qatari network Al Jazeera:
@2011feb17: Oh dear, with the thousands of reporters Aljazeera have around the world they forgot to appoint one in Doha? #VillaggioFire news blackout!
Al Jazeera English online producer Ben Piven gave credit, like many others, to the blog Doha News for its coverage:
@benpiven: @dohanews only source with real info on #VillaggioFire. Huge lack of local media coverage after public safety failure in massive mall blaze.
Qatar newspaper The Peninsula acknowledged the role of citizen media played in reporting the fire in an article entitled “New media trumps the traditional”.
Mourning the dead as #OneCommunityDoha
There are plans for a public gathering at Aspire Park in Doha on May 29 to support the families who lost loved ones in the Villaggio fire. While those who died were all foreign residents of Qatar, Qataris have been quick to offer their support.
Twitter user Qataria78 tweeted:
@Qataria78: Good morning, a day has passed but ur always on our minds, Mothers we feel the pain ur going through :( #villaggio ##VillaggioFire
Abdulla Ali Almannai asked:
@abdullaalmannai: If u know how to reach the families who lost loved ones please share//qatari people want to go to these families #حريق_فلاجيو #VillagioFire
And Fatima Al Kuwari tweeted:
@fkuwari: Every soul on this land is one of us, Qatari or non Qatari, we are all one society. RIP #VillagioFire victims

author: Salah Almhamdi


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Singapore: Food Bloggers’ Portal · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Opinioneated is an “interactive map of where to eat in Singapore, based on the reviews of popular food bloggers.”


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Syria: Ambassadors Expelled in Protest at Houla Massacre · Global Voices
Rayna St.

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.
The brutal massacre committed in the district of Houla has prompted a wave of horrified reactions around the world. A number of governments have taken the decision to expel Syrian ambassadors in protest at the escalation of violence.
On May 26, UN Observers finally arrived in Houla and confirmed 108 victims, among which were 48 children. In a press conference after an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, it was made clear that “outrageous use of force” against civilians was used by the regime, meaning that most of the victims were actually executed.
Australia was the first country to announce the expulsion of a Syrian diplomat. French President François Hollande then announced the expulsion of the Syrian ambassador in France, and Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy and Bulgaria followed suit, as well as the USA and Canada.
From Paris, journalist Ammar Abd Rabbo commented:
Embassy of Syria, London. Image by Flickr user Yersinia (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
@AmmarParis: Some are happy because Baath ambassadors are expelled frm European countries… I'll be really happy when they'll be expelled frm #Syria !!!
Issandr El Amrani said:
@arabist: All these Syrian ambassadors being expelled must be dreading to being going back home. Time for some defections!
Shakeeb Al Jabri responded:
@LeShaque: They can't. Their families were forced back home last August and are held as hostages to ensure continued loyalty.
Leila in Lebanon noted:
@LSal92: I bet all these countries kicking out their Syrian ambassadors all possess Israeli ambassadors.
Amani made a similar point:
@Amani_Lebanon: I expect Israeli ambassadors to be expelled from different parts of the world next time it commits massacres on Gaza. Yeah right. #Syria
London-based Karl Sharro tweeted:
@KarlreMarks: The expulsion of Syrian ambassadors from Western countries is empty posturing by governments that have no clear policy towards #Syria
He also joked:
@KarlreMarks: So three Syrian ambassadors walk into a bar… no, scratch that, it's a travel agent.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.

author: Rayna St.


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Why Are Governments in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan Afraid of ‘The Dictator’? · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Tomyris explains why the authorities in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have banned The Dictator, Sacha Baron Cohen‘s latest spoof blockbuster, and writes about Western media's reaction to the ban.


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Zambia: Mixed Feelings Greet Big Brother Eviction · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

The eviction of Zambia’s representative, musician popularly known as Mampi, from the on-going Big Brother Africa seventh series, has been received with mixed feelings from netizens.
Big Brother Africa: StarGame is the seventh series of the Big Brother Africa reality television series which will air for 91 days and the winner will walk home with $300,000. Produced by Endemol in South Africa, the show has become the most popular reality TV show in Africa.
Mampi, real name Mirriam Mukape, lasted three weeks in the house before she was nominated for eviction by other housemates. While a lot of people felt that the musician, well known for her raunchy stage antics, was a let down to the nation for her conduct in the reality TV show, others thought that her experience in the house enhanced her “relational capital.”
When Zambian Watchdog broke the news of Mampi’s eviction, most of the readers did not hesitate to condemn the musician.
A TV screen shot of Mampi in the BBA House. Picture courstesy of Paramaunt Spit's Facebook Page
One reader, Gloria, did not mince her words, comparing to another Zambian contestant who won the inaugural BBA series, Cherise Makubale:
She is a big very big embarassment, the opposite of Cherese, listen to her words on this youtube She is a big very big embarassment, the opposite of Cherese, listen to her words on this youtube She is a big very big embarassment, the opposite of Cherese, listen to her words on this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2w0EjH15q8
Another reader, Violet wrote:
Yippee im so glad shes gone, she’s a hater and a gossiper. i wonder if she was aware of that…..Jooo Mampi we wont miss uuuo….Now Maneta must follow her shes one irritating little bee BZZZZZZZ….looks its not all that…. Manner and dignity they both dont have…..Byeeee
Said Ras-Kadafi of Mampi’s eviction:
Is it so surprising, honestly? u pipo u dnt get it, jst like most of us, Mampi ni mwana wamukomboni [Mampi is a child of high density and poor residential areas], u can’t tel me u had hope 4 Mampi, in fact 2-3 weeks was jst too much 4 Mampi, she is used to showing her private parts in public and yet u expert the most such a one, i mean they are pipo who know the difference between acting and real life, but not Mampi, She’s part time AN musician and part time A public stripper, Thanks God we did not see more before she could come back home. ” […]
One reader, Ndumeleti, came to her aid:
Which show are these guys watching? Surely Mampi in the big brother house behaved far much better than some of the housemates e.g. Zainab, Lady may and even maneta. Talk of the dance yes, but nudity….it reminds me of the Chansa kabwela saga! Zambians learn to support your own. She lost because you Zambians tagged her as a bitch and a bad person and didn’t vote for her. In the house she tried to be as descent as possible given the circumstances, she never even took alcohol. Have you seen Zainab take off all her clothes or dance in her underwear on camera! come on wake up!
But it is her fellow musician, Saboi Imboela, studying for a Masters’ degree in New Zealand, who defended Mampi’s appearance on BBA on her Facebook wall:
Congrats to Mampi (mwanenu) for increasing your ‘relational capital’. Being on the BB show is like going to university in the academic world. Before, only the 13million people of Zambia knew you but now the whole of Africa does. Its not the degree or the relational capital a person has that makes them big, its what they do or plan to to with it that separates the boys from men, women from girls. Life will never be the same for u again just by exposing yourself to Africa in the past few weeks so what you do with that capital is all up to u. Lastly, i personally would do all i can to convince hubby and our sponsors to have u play the lead role in our upcoming project. We are spending so much to bring in the Nigerian actors becoz we didnt have a Zambian star who was known to the whole continent. Now we have u and we can sell a product to other countries with u in it coz your ‘relational capital’ has grown…. So people that rejoice when a person does not go as far in a competition of this magnitude only do so becoz they are limited in their thinking and have no idea just how many ways a person can gain a lot more from such an experience- so chimbwi ni ndani [so who is a hyena]?…. Im ever so proud of u mwanenu- u r made of steel.
Another netizen, Isaac Mwanza, also on Facebook, added a political dimension of Zambian women not supporting a fellow woman:
Mampi Mukape rejected by her own people and Zambian women were in forefront of decampaigning her. I think its an illusion to support women in Zambia when they cant support each other. Let us all rally behind Roki of Zim or Prezzo of Kenya for BBA prize!
On another citizen media news website, Tumfweko, snr pastor wrote:
Please my fellow zambians lets try to give support to whoever is trying to represent our beautiful nation Zed.I for one was actually very disappointed to note that ONLY 1% accounted for the votes that were sent by Zedians,but take a look @ SA regardless of the nonsence their housemate pours everyday,they still rally her 100% behind.That simply explains how much those guys are united.The same applies to Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana to mention afew. So please, my fellow zedians lets emulate other countries and do the rest for our surviving BBA stargame inmates. I equally aware that Zedian housemates are currently feared because of their potential.
May God Bless Zed!!
Equally on Twitter, netizens expressed varied views:
@ChibuyeK: RT @skrypted: Dear haters, mampi actually did something and got a wider coverage while u wasted work hours watching her<she got some cash too
Another tweep, still hopeful about another Zambia BBA participant, tweeted:
@DJLBCZambia: Now that mampi is out, my interest in BBA has dwindled, but wait, we still have Paul Ngozi[a Zambia musician who died over 20 years ago]'s daughters in the game.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Bangladesh: Shawpno Rath – A School For Slum Children · Global Voices
বিজয়

Lead Dreamer of Shawpno Rath – Shamima Nargis Shimu, with her students. Image taken from the Facebook group Pathshishu
In the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, when a group of children leave their homes every morning to go to school, another group of children come out onto the streets, to work for a livelihood. The streets to them represent an opportunity to earn a living. Some of these children collect garbage, others sell various items – tea and cigarettes included among them.
For these children, school is something unattainable – something that they can only dream about, because where they come from, there is a huge gap between their dreams and the harsh reality of their day to day lives. However, a group of youth have taken it upon themselves to fulfill the dreams of at least some of these children. They have started a school for the disadvantaged children from the slums. The school is aptly named “Shawpno Rath” (Chariot of Dreams).
This is how their journey began:
অফিসে আসার পথে একটি মেয়ে প্রতিদিন কিছু শিশুকে দেখতে পেত, যারা রাস্তায় আবর্জনার বাক্সে কি যেন অনুসন্ধান করছে। মেয়েটার মনে হত তারা যেন সেখানে স্বপ্নের সন্ধান করছে।
তাদের জন্য কি করা যায় তাই নিয়ে সে তার সহকর্মী এবং বন্ধুদের সাথে আলাপ করল। প্রথমে ঠিক করা হল, সপ্তাহে তারা একদিন এইসব শিশুদের একবেলা খাওয়াবে এবং তাদের কোথাও বেড়াতে নিয়ে যাবে।
While on her way to office, a young women regularly noticed some children searching for something in the garbage heap. The young woman felt that perhaps they were searching for a dream.
Wanting to do something for these children, she discussed with her friends and colleagues as to what they could do. At first, it was decided that once a week, they would provide these children with a meal and then take them for a fun outing somewhere nearby.
Not in any office but the discussions about this venture started in a park – the Chandrima Udyan (park):
আর এর জন্য বেছে নেওয়া হল চন্দ্রিমা উদ্যানকে। কারণ এই পার্ক অনেক শিশুর কর্মস্থল। এরা সবাই, পার্কে বেড়াতে আসা নাগরিক কিংবা প্রেমিক প্রেমিকার কাছে ফুল, চকলেট, বাদাম, চা, সিগারেট ইত্যাদি বিক্রি করে। এই উদ্যোগে ভালোই সাড়া পাওয়া গেল। দিনে দিনে শিশুর সংখ্যা বাড়তে শুরু করল। সপ্তাহের একটি শনিবারে এদেরকে গল্প শোনানোর জন্য নিয়ে আসা হত বই, তারা কেবল নেড়ে চেড়ে দেখত। বইয়ের জগতে ঢুকতে গেলে যে শিক্ষা লাগে, আর শিক্ষার জন্য লাগে কিন্তু তাদের জন্য স্কুল যে ভিন্ন এক পথের যাত্রা। তাই তারা কেবল অক্ষর আর ছবিতে হাত রাখত। পড়ার প্রতি শিশুদের উৎসাহ দেখে এই সব তরুণেরা একটি স্কুল করার উদ্যোগ নিল, ঠিক করা হল এই স্কুলের নাম হবে স্বপ্নরথ।
A school under a tree
In order to start a formal school, one needs many things – a school building, classrooms, books, notebooks, teachers, blackboards, dusters and students. However, for this school, all these conditions could not be fulfilled. Nevertheless, every Saturday, classes were held under a tree in the park. Children left their work and came to attend the classes, though it meant loss of earnings for them. They enjoyed these classes thoroughly. Gradually, the number of students began to increase. And soon, there emerged the need to find a classroom.
The school gets a new address
The school was moved out of Chandrima Udyan (park) and housed in 10 Mirpur Road, where a room was taken on rent for running the school. Here, the school was open five days a week and students started attending classes regularly. The school started with 30 students and 2 teachers. As more children from disadvantaged families, from nearby slums joined the classes, the number of students continued to increase.
Shawpno Rath – an adult education center too
Seeing their children attending school, some of the parents too began to wish that they could avail the opportunity for getting some formal education. So now Shawpno Rath has extended its work to include adult education as well. At present, the school has 20 adult students – those who did not get the opportunity in their childhood to go to school.
The Shawpno Rath vision
On their Facebook Page, Shawpno Rath has said about it's vision and objective:
স্বপ্ন রথ হচ্ছে একটি অলাভজনক প্রতিষ্ঠান, যা ২০১০ সালে প্রতিষ্ঠিত হয়েছে। এর উদ্দেশ্য হচ্ছে সমাজের সুবিধা বঞ্চিত শিশুর শিক্ষা এবং স্বাস্থ্যগত উন্নয়ন।
আমাদের মত বেশীরভাগের নাগরিকের জীবনে মৌলিক চাহিদাগুলোকে নিশ্চিত করা হয়েছে, আর সেগুলো হচ্ছে, খাদ্য, পানি, বাসস্থান, স্বাস্থ্য, শিক্ষা এবং পরিবার। কিন্তু আমাদের দেশে এমন লক্ষ লক্ষ শিশু আছে যারা এই সব মৌলিক চাহিদা বঞ্চিত, যাদের ভবিষ্যতের কোন আশা নেই। আমাদের লক্ষ্য দেশ জুড়ে দরিদ্র শিশুদের জন্য জীবনের এই সমস্ত প্রয়োজনীয় উপাদান সরবরাহ করা এবং সংযুক্ত এক উন্নয়নের প্রতি মনোযোগ প্রদান করে দারিদ্র্যের মূলে যে সমস্ত বিষয় সেগুলোর পরিমাণ কমিয়ে আনা।
“Shawpno Rath” is a non-profit organization was founded in 2010 with a view to improve the educational and health conditions of the underprivileged children in our country.
Most of us take for granted the basic necessities of life: food, water, shelter, health, education and family. But there are millions of children in our country who do not have these essential necessities, who do not have any hope for the future. our goal is to help provide these necessities for impoverished children throughout the country and focus on integral development that seeks to reduce the root causes of poverty.
The vision of Shawpno Rath is a poverty – free Bangladesh. They have started their journey with this vision, knowing fully well that they have a long way to go.

author: বিজয়


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Bhutan: Learning About A Stone Bath · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sabrina from USA continues her adventure in Bhutan and learns about a stone bath.

author: Rezwan


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Brazil: Questions Surrounding Rio’s ‘Pacifying Police’ Units · Global Voices
Thiana Biondo

This post is part of our special coverage International Relations & Security.
The 18th Rio UPP was launched in November 2011 in the Mangueira neighborhood which has 20,000 inhabitants. Image by SEASDH on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
In recent years, the state government of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has adopted a security policy based on the installation of Pacifying Police Units (Unidades de Polícia Pacificadoras), known as UPPs. The aim of the UPP strategy [pt] is to place permanent police units in favelas (shanty towns) to tackle crime and promote social policies.
Since December 2008, 18 different favelas out of almost 1,000 in the capital city of Rio have received UPPs. In an article for Rede Brasil Atual [pt], Maurício Thuswohl  argues that the UPPs have been placed in strategic areas:
“O desenho traçado pelas UPPs no mapa do Rio evidencia a intenção do governo de criar um cinturão de segurança nos bairros com maior poder aquisitivo e nas áreas da cidade onde ocorrerão eventos e concentração de turistas estrangeiros durante a Copa do Mundo de 2014 e as Olimpíadas de 2016.”
The attempt to establish UPPs in Rocinha, however, which is Rio’s most populated favela, has so far been unsuccessful. In order for UPPs to be established in this part of the city, the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE, in Portuguese) has had to undertake a heavily armed operation. This operation has been ongoing in Rocinha since 13 November 2011, but has still not been able to clear the way for the UPPs.
According to an article published by Mundo Real, an organization that is active in the community, widespread corruption and social inequality are ultimately the reasons why the UPP strategy will not work in Rocinha.
The video below shows the ‘occupation’ of Rocinha, posted to YouTube by BlogdaPacificacao on 22 November, 2011:
Some degree of success?
Nevertheless, UPPs have achieved a degree of success. Official data [pt] reveals a drop in Rio’s crime rate and UPP officials have managed to engage with the community. One such example is policewoman Rafaela Malta [pt], who teaches ballet to 70 girls from the Cidade de Deus favela, as shown in video below uploaded on March 7, 2012:
A complementary project known as UPP Social [pt] has also been launched to strengthen  ties between such communities and the state. Corinne Cath, however, in an article for the organization RioOnWatch , argues that the priorities of the state are not the same as those of the favela’s residents:
“A second conflict that arises is the difference in priorities held by UPP Social and the community. UPP Social has determined that the focus should be on improving garbage collection, the formalization of payments for electricity (whereby residents now pay their electricity and other utility bills), and the improvement and renovation of public space.
The three primary demands of the community, however, are education, access to health care and a change in the attitude of the police towards the inhabitants of Vidigal and Chácara do Céu. Several representatives of the community described the attitude of the UPP police officers as being the same as that of the ‘normal’ police that interacted with the community when it was still controlled by drug gangs.”
According to Rafael Nunes in an article for Agência de Notícias das Favelas (Favela’s Agency Press) [pt] the state’s strategy is to promote law enforcement together with private activities and services, and these measures have already affected residents:
“…O problema é que uma conta de luz social, que no início não passava de quinze reais e de repente saltou para trezentos reais, pode determinar se uma pessoa vai poder ou não continuar vivendo num determinado local com dignidade.. A coerção e a intimidação por parte de agentes do governo municipal, com a ameaça de prejuízos jurídicos e materiais, nos foram contados como uma constante para pressionar a saída desses moradores e a entrega dos terrenos, que na maioria das vezes não passa as indenizações dos vinte mil reais.”
Self-determination
Rogério Dias points out in his blog No Foco em Debate [pt] that favela residents are often not heard by the media:
“No que diz respeito à cobertura da grande imprensa, me parece que um lado muito importante da história não foi ouvido e, se foi, me parece que foi sub-valorizado: o lado dos moradores. O que eles acham? Com certeza estão felizes com a saída dos traficantes, mas a presença permanente da força de repressão do estado também não é incômoda? Saem homens armados e entram outros homens armados, e realmente não sei o que é pior para aquelas pessoas…”
Because the UPP approach is a security policy that is treated as an ‘intervention’ or ‘pacification’ measure, it could also compromise the right of self-determination. Eduardo Tomazine Teixeira raises this possibility in an article for Passa Palavra [pt]:
“…(se nota) o fim da presença ostensiva da criminalidade armada nos espaços ocupados. Evidentemente, ainda é cedo para tirar conclusões mais definitivas, mas, a manter-se este quadro, as condições de vida da população destes espaços terão mudado significativamente, e terão mudado também as condições de luta pela autodeterminação sobre os seus espaços e de mobilização política de maneira geral.”

author: Thiana Biondo


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Ethiopia: EPRDF’s Anniversary: What is There to Celebrate? · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

28 May is a ‘National Day’ for some Ethiopians while others consider the day as a celebration of replacement of one oppressive regime with another. 28 May marks the collapse of the oppressive Derg regime, which governed the country from 1974 to 1991 after the ousting of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1975.
The Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Front (EPRDF) has been in power for 21 years. EPRDF is a former rebel group that took power after the fall of the government of Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Netizens have reflected about the day on Ethiopian blogs and Facebook.
Facebook image calling for the release of all political prisoners in Ethiopia. Image courtesy of Ethiopia Mitmita Facebook page.
Bisrat Gebre, a blogger residing in Addis Ababa, urged both Ethiopians and Eritreans to get united. In an open letter, which he wrote on 21st anniversary of the fall of the Derg regime, Bisrat used Kibede Mikael’s famous poem as an anecdote. He wrote [amh]:
…መች ነው የምንገናኝ ከምወዳት እህቴ
አልቆልኝ የማየው የአምሳ ዓመት ናፍቆቴ፡፡
However, Mesfin Negash noted striking similarities between Ethiopia and Eritrean regimes and posted a press release of Ethiopian Foreign Ministry on his Facebook:
The following lines are excerpts from the Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs weekly brief. Read and admire how the two regimes are identical twins despite their mutual hatred. MoFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] is in delusion to forgot that the entire statement holds true to Ethiopia except the name of the country and the title of the leader.
“Eritrea at 21: still in President Isaias’ unyielding grip” [Really?!]
Eritrea celebrated its 21st independence day yesterday with President Isaias making his address to the nation in a manner that befitted his penchant for conspiracy theories. There had been a number of recent rumours suggesting he was seriously ill after he failed to appear in public for a month.
It is customary for leaders around the world send congratulatory message for Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to mark the fall of the Derg. In this year’s anniversary US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlighted the achievements of the Ethiopian government in a press statement.
Befeqadu Z Hailu, a blogger resides in Addis Ababa, does not agree with the content of the press statement. He listed ten disappointments that are visible  after the fall of the Derg Regime [amh]:
10ሩ የድኅረ ግንቦት 20 ኪሳራዎች
1. ዴሞክራሲያዊ ተቋማት አለመገንባታቸው
2. ከተፅዕኖ ነፃ የሆነ የፍትህ አካላት አለመገንባታቸው
3. ብሔራዊ ስሜት መናዱ (ኢትዮጵያዊነት መኮሰሱ)
4. የብሔራዊ ጥያቄ ምላሽ አለማግኘቱ
5. ፍትሐዊ ያልሆነ የኢኮኖሚ ተጠቃሚነት መስፈን (corny capitalizm)
6. የሙስና መስፋፋት
7. ስርዓቱን የሚተቹ አካላትን ማፈን
8. ነፃ የሲቪክ ማሕበራት አለመጠናከራቸው
9. የነፃ ፕሬስ – ሐሳብን በነፃ የመግለፅ መብት አለመከበሩ
10. ሀገሪቱ በአንድ ጠቅላይ አምባገነን መሪ ስር መውደቋ
(ነብዩ ኃይሉ – ፍኖተ ነፃነት)
1.	Failure to build independent democratic institution
2.	Failure to have free judiciary bodies
3.	Collapse of patriotic feeling amongst Ethiopians
4.	Failure to answer major national questions
5.	Unbalanced economic growth
6.	Prevalence of corruption
7.	Muffling dissidents
8.	Failure to reinforce open civic society
9.	Gagging free press and freedom of expression
10.	The country remains under strong fist of a one dictatorial prime minster
An exiled satirist Abe Tokichaw wrote [amh]:
እንግዲህ ኢህአዴግ አሁን በደንብ ጎረመሰ ማለት ነው። ይህ ወቅት ጡንቻ የሚፈረጥምበት ጢም የሚቀመቀምበት ከመሆኑም በላይ እግዜር ላልባረከው፤ ልብ የሚነፋበት ጆሮ የሚደፈንበት አስቸጋሪ ወቅት ነው። በዚህ ዕድሜ ላይ ያለ ያልተባረከ ጎረምሳ ኮረዳዎች “ሳመኝ” ሲሉት እንጂ አዋቂዎች “ስማኝ” ሲሉት ጥሪ አይቀበልም። ከላይ ከላይ መናገር እና ከኔ በላይ ላሳር ማለት ልዩ ባህሪያቱ ናቸው። (አይ ጉርምስና!) እናም ኢህሃዴግ አሁን ዋናው የአፍላ ጉርምስና ወቅቱ ላይ ይገኛል። በአራዶች ቋንቋ “ፍንዳታ” ሆነ የሚባለው ማለት ነው። ወደ ጨዋታችን ዘልቀን ከመግባታችን በፊት “ኢህአዴግዬ ጉርምስናውን በቅጡ ያድርግልህ” ብለን እንመርቀዋለን!
Finally, Markos warned Ethiopians in the Diaspora on his Facebook page:
Sorry to say this, but most Ethiopian diasporas lack all the social intelligence on Ethiopia. They are usually full of empty shouts. They feel the only connection they have to Ethiopia is blindly express their hatred to the government, or blindly love it. Every time Ginbot 20 comes, they call the government Devil or using other cheap words which don't have meanings. Democracy requires engagement and acceptance – not hatred

author: Endalkachew Chala


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Greece: Citizens Protest Against Major TV Station · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

Greek netizens via Twitter and other social media organized a protest on May 17 before the MEGA TV station in Athens, under hashtag #oloimega (All to Mega). The station has been accused of allegedly displaying government driven propaganda. Stathis Kalligeris released a photo collection on Demotix, while Peru21.pe offers [es] a small report about the event, sharing tweets from users @IrateGreek [el] and @northaura [en].

author: Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni


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Iran: LGBT, an online reality?  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

“LGBT Republic of Iran: An Online reality?” a new  study  published  by “Small Media”,a London based non profit organization, shows how Iranian's LGBT communities use internet in their daily lives.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Top figure hails Facebook · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

Iranian former president and now head of The Expediency Council, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani who is close to reformists says: ‘Today we see that a simple free page on Facebook is effective more than a set of TV and radio stations… And this is good for the world even if some people don't like it’.


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Kazakhstan: Where Central Asia’s Bread Comes From · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

On Vox Populi, photographer Kanat Beysekeev presents an annotated photo report [ru] on wheat sowing and the everyday life of farmers in northern Kazakhstan. Much of the wheat flour consumed in Central Asia comes from this area.


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Lesotho: Peaceful Elections You Did Not Hear About · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Lesotho held peaceful parliamentary elections on Sunday. The ruling Democratic Congress of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili won most votes but fell short of the required majority. Lesotho opposition parties have formed a coalition in order to form government.
Why is Western mainstream media not telling you about Lesotho's peaceful election? JohnsonJJ says you should not be surprised. He explains how Western pundits decide what is newsworthy in Africa:
It’s unsurprising that this has garnered little attention. In fact, the country receives very little international media attention except in the form of poverty porn that stresses how horrible, destitute and AIDS-ridden Lesotho is.
A voter in Lesotho supporting Prime Minister Phakalitha Mosisili. Photo courtesy of Simon Allison&dailymaverick.co.za
Lesotho, he argues, is too insignificant to sell in the United States:
The media establishment knows us pretty well. It knows that simplistic – sensationalized – stories sell in America. We’re not so great with nuance. This is why we were so sold on the idea, for example, that the Rwandan genocide was the result of “ancient ethnic hatreds” rather than geopolitical context. It’s also how we learned that failed state Somalia failed mainly because of its hordes of angry terrorists obsessed with killing Americans. And it’s how we came to learn that all African children have distended bellies and flies on their faces all day. It’s also how we learned from (the ever-obtuse) Nicholas Kristof that most African women suffer from “female genital mutilation” and that FGM poses the greatest threat to women on the entire continent.
—
It’s that Lesotho is too small and insignificant to warrant our attention, and in any case, a tiny country with a burgeoning civil society? That’s never going to sell in the United States. If our uncritical engagement with media is any indication, we’re not even particularly engaged with our own.
Zachary Rosen notes that even when Lesotho receives media coverage, the articles are usually about AIDS and poverty:
The little coverage it does garner often assumes readers are completely ignorant and takes great pains to emphasize dismal statistics about rates of HIV/AIDS and poverty.
Overall, few articles have attempted to move beyond superficialities and actually delve into the complexities of the local political atmosphere and the implications of the election outcome.
Well, even South African media ignored Lesotho elections. Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa.
@fanamokoena: It's embarrassing that SA media gives us daily updates on French elections but fail to do the same for sister country Lesotho. Irresponsible
@BelindaaPheto: Saddening to see SA's media houses showing little or no interest on the Lesotho elections.
@simonallison: Strange but true: I was the only journalist from any SA print or online pub. covering Lesotho elections. All other content from wires. Crazy
@sheofnations: @simonallison Makes sense for Int'l content,but it's highly problematic that news about the continent is filtered through Int'l media houses
@simonallison: @sheofnations yep, almost everything we read about Africa in SA is handpicked by European and American editors for their audiences…
Lesotho is a landlocked country completely surrounded by South Africa. It is a constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister is head of government while the king has ceremonial function. The name Lesotho translates roughly into the land of the people who speak Sesotho.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Sri Lanka: Cast As A Mother · Global Voices
Rezwan

One year ago – 13 Sri Lankan women of the Stage were invited to look at their experiences of motherhood, through the lens of theatre and write about them. At the Passing Stage blog you can follow their progress.


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Tajikistan: Hospitals as “Machines for Sucking Money” out of Patients · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Blog Avestiyca writes [ru] about health care facilities in Tajikistan, portraying the country's ill-planned and graft-ridden hospitals as “machines for sucking money” out of patients.


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Afghanistan: Will Kabul Follow in Washington’s Federal Footsteps?   · Global Voices
Vulanga Akhmedova

In January 2012, several members of the US House of Representatives met in Berlin with a group of prominent Afghan opposition leaders, including ex-vice president Ahmad Zia Massoud, chief of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan Abdul Rashid Dostum, and head of the People's Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan Mohammad Mohaqiq.
Last year, the three opposition politicians founded a new political party, the National Front of Afghanistan (NFA), which represents the largest ethnic groups in northern Afghanistan and retains significant military capabilities. The meeting in Berlin was organized as an informal follow-up to the December 2011 international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn, from which the three NFA leaders had been excluded. The meeting had not been sanctioned by officials in Washington and Kabul and was, therefore, held on “neutral” soil.
During the meeting, Afghan opposition leaders and United States (US) lawmakers called for a more decentralized political system than is currently in place in Afghanistan. Calling for revision of the country's new constitution and the introduction of a federal political system, their statement reads:
[The] centralized power has led to massive corruption, disenfranchisement of a large segment of the Afghan people, obstacles to economic development, massive abuses of power, increasing political instability, poor governance, and a vast undermining of law and order.
This proposal runs counter to the unitary and highly centralized political structure that Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, has ardently sought to preserve. Hence, the meeting in Berlin was condemned by Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Karzai has also dismissed the call for decentralization.
Speaking in early May, he said the new strategic partnership agreement with the US was signed on the condition that the current centralized system of government stay intact:
Some US congressman [sic] started intervening in Afghanistan several months ago and asked for the regime in Afghanistan to change to a federal system. I clearly told the US government that we will only sign the agreement with you if you respect the central government of Afghanistan.
Similarly, some Afghan parliamentarians claimed that the meeting in Berlin had aimed to divide the country. They also remarked that a federal system was not in the country's interest because it could result in a north-south split and prove “poisonous” over time.
A map of Afghanistan's provinces and regions. Could a federal system hold them all together? From Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
On May 5, Kankash, a popular show on Afghanistan's commercial TOLO TV, asked [fa] people through its public page on Facebook to share their views on the proposed reform of the country's political system. Below are some of the responses by Afghan Facebook users submitted in May.
Ruhullah R. Afg says [fa]:
افغانستان در گذشته هم بعضی نظام ها را تجربه کرده ولی آنچه مهم است نظام نه بلکه کسانکه در رأس نظام قرار
قرار میگیرند عاری از فساد،غارت و نژاد پرستی باشند و درد و رنج مردم افغانستان را درک کنند
مردم افغانستان به یک نظام سالم،روشنفکر،مردمی وفکر به پیشرفت
بسوی آینده بهتر نیاز دارند
Abdul Hakim Haidary, however, suggests [fa] that reforming the current system is the only way to solve the country's problems:
فکر میکنم دو نوع مردم کاملا متفاوت در افغانستان امروزی وجود دارد. یکی مردم طرفدار تمدن و تغیر بطرف مثبت و یکی هم مردم طرفدار قبیلوی ماندن و ضد تغیر بطرف مثبت.پس یگانه راه حل نظام فدرالی است انهایکه تغیر طلب اند تغیر و آنهایکه نمیخواهند در حالد ابقا شوند تا در مورد مزایایی تغیر به طرف مثبت پی برده به آنها ملحق شوند.با تشکر از کنکاش
Another Afghan Facebook user, Abdul Rahim Lodin, claims [fa]:
ز آنجایی که افغانستان در ردیف کشورهای فقیر جهان قرار دارد و نظام فدرالی نیز با وجود مزایای که دارد یک نظام پر مصرف است مثلا نیاز به پارلمان جداگانه دارد و امثالهم, بنا نمی تواند یک نظام کار امد ومفید واقع شود, و از طرفی هم کشور های همسایه همیشه در پی این بودند که افغانستان را پارچه پارچه ساخته تا افغانستان همچنان ضعیف بماند تا انها از این کشور سود بیشتری ببرند.
و از طرفی دیگر کسانی امروز در افغانستان دم از نظام فدرالی میزنند وباخارجها مذاکره و نشست میکنند که به نحوی در نظام کنونی منافع شان در خطر افتاده یا هم در خطر میبینند.
بنا به نظر من تا اینکه در پی تغییر نظام باشید بهتر است در نظام کنونی اصلاحاتی بیاورند, و این کشور را از فساد اداری پاک سازند که هر روز دامنش گسترده تر میشود.
Also commenting on Facebook, Ahmad Zubair Shahzad does not think [fa] a federal system would improve the situation in Afghanistan:
به نظر من تغیر نظام درد افغانستان را مداوا نمی کند. ما در طی این سدۀ خورشیدنی نظام های زیادی (شاهی، جمهوری، کمونستی، اسلامی…) اما آنچه که مردم افغانستان نیاز دارند یک نظام سالم است، عاری از چپاول، دستبرد مافیایی و فساد که دلش به حال این ملت رنج دیده بسوزد، درد مردم را احساس کند.به جای مصلحت ها به پیشرفت فکر کندنیاز داریم

author: Vulanga Akhmedova


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Africa: Young Farmers Idea Contest · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Through the Young Farmers Idea Contest, the African diaspora and volunteers alike are invited to share their ideas on new ways to engage youths in sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 18 through educational projects, community-building initiatives, and social programs, all centered around agriculture and farming.


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Armenia-Azerbaijan: Eurovision Propaganda Fail · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Global Chaos takes a look at the government-led publicity and international media attention surrounding this years Eurovision Song Contest held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Public Diplomacy blog also notes the propaganda deployed by arch-foe Armenia's Public TV against Azerbaijan during the final, including re-inventing elements of Novruz as Christian even though the Zoroastrian festival pre-dates Christianity by hundreds of years.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: Justice For The Rape Victims Of The Liberation War · Global Voices
Rezwan

Anushay Hossain writes that Bangladesh should not hide its scars of the rape of hundreds of thousands of women during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, bring justice for them and move forward.


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Bangladesh: Questions Over Indian ‘Tourism City’ Investment Proposal · Global Voices
Kowshik Ahmed

The story of a 10 Billion Taka (US$120 million) investment in Bangladesh has made it into the country's headlines, following a visit by Subrata Roy Sahara, chairman of Sahara India Pariwar, one of India's largest business conglomerates. The group is planning to develop a 40 square kilometre ‘tourism city’ housing project situated approximately 50 kilometres from Bangladesh's capital Dhaka. US$  for a township-housing scheme near the capital Dhaka.
Though it is a significant investment commitment for the country, the proposed project has been widely criticized by Bangladeshi bloggers. Armanuzzaman [bn] raised the point at blog.bdnews24.com:
বাংলাদেশে কোন বৈদেশিক বিনিয়োগ নিঃসন্দেহে চমৎকার ব্যাপার। কিন্তু মজার বিষয় হল আবাসন প্রকল্পে বিনিয়োগ কতটা জরুরী। বাংলাদেশের মত ছোট দেশে অসংখ্য দেশী কোম্পানী আবাসন প্রকল্পে বিনিয়োগ করছে।
সবচেয়ে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ যে বিষয়টি এই খাতে বিনিয়োগে প্রডাক্টিভ কিছুই নেই। আবাসন প্রকল্প তৈরী করে পরবর্তীতে তা বিক্রি করে প্রচুর পরিমানে বৈদেশিক মুদ্রা নিয়ে যাবেন।
Foreign investment in Bangladesh is always exciting, but the important point in this proposal is how productive it is to invest in housing projects. In a small country like Bangladesh the housing industry is already saturated by many local investments!
The point to be noted is that this type of investment is not productive for the country (but profitable). The investors will develop housing projects which will be sold at a premium and they will take home a huge profit.
Prominent blogger Arif Jebtik [bn] expressed his fears about this investment and the engagement of an influential member of parliament's son as the CEO of Sahara Group's newly formed subsidiary in Bangladesh – Sahara Matribhumi Unnayan Corporation Limited. He wrote in his blog:
Logo of Sahara Matribhumi Unnayan Corp Ltd.
আজকে সাহারা গ্রুপের প্রধান ব্যক্তি সুব্রত রায় সাহারা হোটেল রূপসী বাংলায় তার বাংলাদেশী কোম্পানির শুভ উদ্বোধন করেছেন। বাংলাদেশে তার ব্যবসায়িক স্বার্থ দেখবেন শেখ সেলিমের সুযোগ্য পুত্র শেখ ফাহিম। এই নিয়োগ আবার আড়ম্বরের সঙ্গে হয়েছে, অনুষ্ঠানে বিজনেস কার্ড তুলে দেয়া হয়েছে ফাহিমের হাতে। এ থেকে বুঝা যাচ্ছে যে এদেশে সাহারা গ্রুপের গতি শুধু চলা শুরু করবে না, রীতিমতো দৌঁড়াবে।
Incidentally Sahara group became sponsors of Bangladesh Cricket Team after offering $9.4 million over four years.
Arif also pointed to the issue of infilling sections of a river to prepare the ground for Sahara Group in the chosen areas. His major concern however, was about the environmental effect to be caused by the proposed tourism draw of the new city located near the protected Sundarbans mangrove forest, as he quoted from the statement of Sahara Group's chief:
বেশিরভাগ পরিবেশবাদী শুধু শুধুই ঝামেলা করেন, তারা সমাধান দেন না। শুধু ঝগড়া করেন। তাই সুন্দরবনে পর্যটন সিটিতে তারা বাধা দিলেও সমস্যা হবে না। কারণ তারা অনেকেই তো দোকান খুলে বসে আছেন।
Blogger Lenin Rahman [bn] commented on Arif's post, showing the decline of housing industry during the worldwide recession. He added:
বর্তমান পৃথিবীতে অর্থনীতিতে সারবত্তাহীন জিডিপি বৃদ্ধির সবচেয়ে সহজ উপায় হলো আবাসন সেক্টরে ইনভেস্টমেন্ট। কিছু কিছু খাবারকে যেমন Empty calorie বলা হয় যেগুলো খেলে ক্যালরি ইনটেকই হয় শুধু কিন্তু কোন পুষ্টিগুন যোগ হয় না। আবাসন সেক্টরে ব্যাপক ইনভেস্টমেন্টে অনেক চাকরী তৈরী হয়, অনেক টাকার আদান-প্রদান ঘটে কিন্তু দেশের অর্থনৈতিক স্বাস্থ্যের কোনো উন্নতি হয় না। একসময় চাহিদা কমা শুরু হলে বেলুন ফেটে পুরো দেশকে দশ বছরের জন্যে কাহিল করে ফেলা। আজকে ৪-৫ বছর ধরে আমেরিকা-ইউরোপের অর্থনীতি রুগ্ন হয়ে আছে কেবল আবাসন সেক্টরের বেলুন ফাটার জন্যেই।
There have also been opinions favoring the investment, though few in number. One netizen commented on the post of Armanuzzaman [bn], that some competition among the local companies would do good:
আপনার কি আমাদের দেশীয় প্রতিষ্ঠান গুলোর সার্ভিস সম্পর্কে সামান্যতম ধারনা আছে । প্লট কেনার কত বৎসর/যুগ পরে প্লট দেওয়ার নিয়ম ৷ দেশের টাকা বিদেশে চলে যাবে এই যুক্তি দিয়ে আমাদের দেশীয় প্রতিষ্ঠান গুলোকে শোষন করার একচেটিয়া অধিকার দেওয়া কি ঠিক ? সত্যি করে বলতে গেলে আমাদের অতি লোভী ব্যবসায়ীরাই আমাদের খাদ্য,ফলমুল,শিক্ষা,চিকিৎসা সহ যাবতীয় ক্ষেত্র সমুহ নষ্ট করেছে ৷ তাই আমাদের বোধ করি উচিৎ নয় দেশীয় শোষক প্রতিষ্ঠান গুলোর পক্ষে যায় এমন কিছু করা৷
These sentiments come from the mistrust of people due to several unresolved problems between both the countries (see for instance 1, 2, 3). Only time will tell whether the investment planned will become a boon or bane for Bangladesh.

author: Kowshik Ahmed


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Brazil: More TV Humiliation of Young Man · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Brazilian journalist Rodrigo de Almeida denounces [pt] the existence of a longer video of that shown in the GV post (from May 26, 2012) about the TV humiliation of a young man. The video shows the host of the TV show Brasil Urgente, Uziel Bueno, going further in the humiliation of Paulo sérgio, the same way as did journalist Mirella Cunha.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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China: Weibo Censorship Pattern · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Andrew Phelps from Nieman Journalism Lab looks into Chinese micro-blogging platform, Sina Weibo's censorship pattern and offers explanation on why and when tweets are deleted.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Cuba: Bloggers Discuss Mariela Castro’s US Visit  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

On the heels of United States (US) President Barack Obama's support for gay marriage, Mariela Castro, the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro and Director of the country's Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual (National Center for Sex Education), is visiting the United States; during her stay, she has been addressing gay rights activists, but her trip has not gone over well with some bloggers.
Diaspora blogger Alberto de la Cruz, writing a babalu, felt:
That Mariela Castro claimed that Cuba, under the tyrannical boot of her father and brother for more than five decades, is a free and democratic country during her remarks in New York this past Tuesday is not a story. The Cuban dictatorship has been spewing that lie for as long as it has been a dictatorship. The real story here is how the New York Public Library lent itself to assist Mariela Castro and her family's dictatorship to promote their lies and propaganda.
He was also irritated by the fact that:
…Not even one person who opposes the Castro regime was allowed to enter [the New York Public Library, where Castro gave her speech this past Tuesday]. 177 seats, and each and every one of them either empty or filled by a Castro regime sympathizer.
The blog Cambios en Cuba (Changes in Cuba) [es] focused on the fact that Castro referred to herself as a “dissident” during her address:
«Los revolucionarios somos disidentes, somos incómodos y sufrimos la discriminación por nuestro proyecto histórico por una ideología que intenta experimentar la emancipación plena del ser humano», añadió la hija del presidente cubano ante un auditorio de más de un centenar de personas.
But Havana-based dissident Yoani Sanchez countered:
I understand her. She carries on her shoulders an ancestry that perhaps many times she would have liked to shake off, deny, erase from her life. I am just the upstart, the intruder, without pedigree, without a worthy family tree to show off. My parents didn’t fight in the Sierra Maestra, the slogans that were forged inside her house were regularly rejected in mine, the speeches delivered by her exalted uncle fell on the skeptical ears of my clan. She is entitled to the microphones, appears on national television to be interviewed and praised, while my face is only seen surrounded by adjectives such as ‘enemy,’ ‘cyber terrorist,’ without offering me — of course — the right to respond.
Sanchez ended by making the point that:
She has been making her tour of the United States and the Cuban news has not labeled her a mercenary for it. She has said, ‘I would vote for Obama,’ and — surprise! — the national press does not accuse her of being ‘pro Yankee.’ She is a prisoner of her lineage and I barely have a past to look at, right now I just wake up thinking about tomorrow. She and I, although it scares her and she denies it, are part of this country… very different daughters of this land, the fruits beloved and not beloved of the process. She will have to recognize that I exist, I am, that this Sanchez demands her right to criticize the follies of its windmills.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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El Salvador: Documentary Planned on Women of the Civil War · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

A crowdfunding campaign for Women of the War aims to bring the stories of the women who took part of the Salvadorean Civil War (1980–1992) and who are now leading their communities for peace, equality and justice.
Through IndieGoGo, Lyn McCracken and Theodora Simon are raising part of the funds needed to make Women of the War, a full length documentary featuring the stories of 28 different women, publish a photo essay book and hold photography exhibits in El Salvador and the USA. So far, they've raised $4,000 of their $12,000 goal for that particular site and more than a month remains for people to make their donations.
The teaser video shows a sample of a couple of women telling their stories of survival and active engagement in the Civil War.
The Voices on the Border blog wrote about the documentary project including sections of the stories told by these women in their own words. Maria Yolanda Garcia Vigil had to flee from her home and witnessed the torture and assassination of family members by the government military forces during the Civil War during the 1970's and 1980's. Today, she works as a community leader, working with women and as an elected official in the city council:
I think we have achieved things for women. Maybe there are places where that’s not true, but in our community, it is. Here, women participate. Women are very active, and today, there is more awareness. The goal is to empower women and feel equal in work, in decisions. I think that as a community we’ve achieved a lot.
We are in favor of justice, and it hasn’t happened yet. Justice hasn’t come. So we have to keep fighting. That’s the challenge. We need to strengthen our organization. Because it’s a lie that things will happen just because, or because the big people want them. The effort has to be from the people.
On the Indie Go-Go site updates page,  Theodora Simon writes about the importance of completing this project and being able to share it with the people of El Salvador:
A través de un documental largo-metraje, exposiciones fotográficas en los EEUU y El Salvador, y un libro, queremos contar las historias inspiradoras de estas mujeres, y compartir su dedicación y esperanza con el mundo. Mujeres, especialmente mujeres pobres, de color y campesinas, no tienen donde hacer escuchar su voz, una manera de compartir sus experiencias y sabiduría con el mundo. Esperamos que Mujeres de la Guerra será esta oportunidad, y estamos comprometidas a compartir esta obra con audiencias estadounidenses y salvadoreñas con trabajo binacional y bilingüe.
Jenni for Women of the War photograph by Lyn McCracken
All the money that is raised for the project will be destined to make Women of the War a reality. Donations can be made through the fundraising page where updates are being constantly published.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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India: User’s guide to Indian free speech · Global Voices
Rezwan

Nila at Akhond Of Swat lists some controversial subjects the Indians should not write about to avoid offending someone (and going to jail).


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Kazakhstan: 12 Border Guards Found Dead After a Blaze · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Following reports that 12 border guards have been found dead in a burnt-out frontier post in southeastern Kazakhstan [ru] and the lack of immediate reaction from the authorities, local blogger Almazinho1978 writes [ru]: “At the very least, they could have declared a period of official mourning… My condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased [border guards]”.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Lesotho: Lesotho vs Corruption · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Help make a documentary about how Lesotho, a small country, took on Big Corruption and won. An African success.


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Nepal: Will Presidential Rule Work? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Most Nepalis have lost their patience with the present political leadership because of delays in resolving the current constitutional and political deadlocks. Dr. Divas at ABC proposes that Nepal should adopt presidential rule because a democratic autocrat can steer the nation out of trouble.


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North Korean Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur Dishing up Dollars?  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Diana van Oort wrote a post on North Korean restaurants in Kaula Lumpur in one travel site. After explaining her general impressions of food, service and atmosphere, the author included some context on how the North Korean regime use chains of restaurants to earn foreign currency.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Pakistan: The Hazara Killings – Why Is The World Silent? · Global Voices
Omid Bidar

In the past decade many Hazaras are being singled out and murdered cold-bloodedly in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. They are subjected to an ethnic onslaught by extremist Islamist and religious networks roaming over-freely across the city.
A group of Hazara Children in Daikundi Central Afghanistan. Photo: Iqbal Ahmed Oruzgani, used with permission
The Hazara minority are Hazaragi/Dari speaking people. They are ethnically Hazara and religiously Shiite Muslims. However, there are considerable number of Ismaili and Ahmadi Muslims among them. Mainly they live in the central highlands of Afghanistan called Hazarajat or Hazaristan. They make the third largest ethnic minority in the country.
Hazaras have faced numerous ethnic cleansing attempts from various rulers and they escaped the genocide from Afghanistan and migrated to the neighboring countries including Iran and Pakistan.
The Hazaras mostly live (approx 700,000) in Quetta, Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan, along with the Balochs & Pashthons. In recent times at least 700 members of Hazara community have been gunned down mercilessly and thousands left permanently disabled.
Mohammad Zia Sultani, a Hazara social activist, writes in Hazara People blog:
They are law abiding citizens. [..] Today this community being in minority is to be retaliated and has to pay the debt of their sincerity and services for the achievement of today’s Pakistan.
Hazaras have been suffering from sectarian violence by the extremist terrorist outfits Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) during the past decade. These terrorist organisations are Anti-Shi’a and, aim to transform Pakistan into a complete Sunni state, essentially through violent means. SSP and LeJ have claimed for having part in almost all of the incidents occurred on the Hazara minority in Quetta.
These terrorist organisations don’t even attack anonymously, they also publish videos of the scene of tragedy while slaughtering the Hazara community and send open letters to frighten the community members even more. The banned terrorist outfit LeJ published an open letter addressing the Hazara community, in the letter they stated that: ‘Hazaras are worthy of killing and we will rid Pakistan of these unclean people.’ These fears have made many Hazaras flee the country in recent years.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi also published horrible videos of the massacre of Hazara pilgrims in Mastung District- where passengers were forced off a bus, and sit on the ground. Seconds later the terrorists opened fire with Kalashnikovs, with the resulting carnage being graphically recorded.
The Pakistani government have failed to provide the citizens security. While talking to the media outside Parliament house, Balochistan’s chief minister (CM) Aslam Raisani said: “I will send the victims family, a truck load of tissues to wipe their tears!” In April 2012, the security forces in Quetta managed to arrest some terrorists.
Hazara Democtratic Party's leader, Abdul Khaliq Hazara believes that, “Some negative elements in government are, who support the terrorists.”
Hazara minority scheduled a worldwide protest demonstration in October 2011 as the killings increased. They demonstrated in different European, American and Australian cities, to ask the Pakistani government take serious actions for ending the series of Hazara target killings.
But, once again the series of killings continues in Quetta. In March, 2012 more than 40 innocent members of Hazara community were gunned down in at least a dozen different attacks.
The Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) scheduled worldwide protests to condemn the Hazara killings, for the second time. According to the schedules thousands of Hazaras demonstrated in London, Hamburg, Canberra, Newyork, Toronto and many other cities around the globe.
Hazaras protest to condemn Hazara Genocide in Quetta, Pakistan. Photo by author
The protests were held in front of Pakistani Embassies to ask the Pakistani Government to take actions for preventing Hazara killings. They also aimed to draw the attention of the world and media to the on-going Hazara killings. The Resolution for the worldwide protest produced by Hazara People can be read here.
Aziza Zafari, a social activist and blogger writes:
The Pakistan Government and the United Nations apparently do not wish to be held accountable for the barbarianism and discrimination directed towards this small and defenceless group of people who just want to get on with their lives without the daily fear of being threatened by guns and other violent methods of attack.
Abdul Hekmat a Human Rights advocate and youth worker stats in his article posted in On Line Opinion:
The plight of Hazara maybe invisible to the world as they are not in the headlines but what is unfolding in Quetta is genocide with the implications for peace far beyond Pakistan. Hazaras stretch out their hands to the world and hope the human rights groups, governments and peace loving people will act soon before it is too late.
Asmatullah Yaari a Human Rights activist writes:
Whatever, the game would be, the innocent, minority Hazara nation of Quetta is put to knife edge, owing distinct Mongoloid features.
#HazaraKilling, #HazaraGenocide , #Hazara, #Quetta and #ShiaHazaraGenocide hashtags are being used on Twitter to share the information:
@Aushpaz (Haider Changezi) : 800 killed, 0 ARRESTED! “Police hav failed 2 apprehend single suspect in incidents, alegations continually being made against FC&ISI”~CJP #Hazara
@Sajjad_Changezi (Sajjad H. Changezi) :  A commoner #Hazara can't travel, run a shop, a #Baloch activist can't campaign while #banned outfits enjoy liberty.
@AhmadShuja : Quetta ppl are unsure how to protect themselves or who the enemies are, which means anyone could be enemy for furious, gun-toting young men.

author: Omid Bidar


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Portugal: Police Evicts Squatted Building in Lisbon · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Going against an injunction approved by the Supreme Court of Lisbon, the police evicted today, May 31, the collective São Lázaro – “the only public squat in the capital” of Portugal. There are reports [pt] of detentions and violence. The activist platform Tugaleaks is sharing updates on its Facebook wall.

author: Sara Moreira