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Peru: MOVADEF – The Return of the Shining Path? · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

In the afternoon of January 20, 2012, the National Elections Board (JNE) issued its decision [es] denying [es],  for the second time, the registration of MOVADEF (Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights) as a political party.  Social networks were immediately teeming with reactions and the next day traditional media reported extensively about the news.  But what is MOVADEF, and why is there so much fuss about it?
If we go along with what MOVADEF's blog says [es], it's about:
[un] movimiento  constituido para aportar a la solución de los problemas de nuestro  país, de la nación peruana, de nuestro pueblo trabajador y explotado  luchando por sus derechos fundamentales y por la democratización de la  sociedad peruana.
But in the section of their blog dedicated to their newspaper General Amnesty [es] one can see a number from the paper with a front page photo of Abimael Guzmán with text asking for his freedom, which is practically evidence that the movement is a façade for the terrorist movement Sendero Luminoso (SL – Shining Path).
Motion to deny Movadef, photo from the Congress of the Republic of Perú, photo under Creative Commons license Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
The probability that the application would be approved, together with the annulment [es] of the first resolution  denying registration gave rise to sit-ins [es] and protest marches. But many Peruvians are asking: How did this happen? How did a terrorist group that caused so much damage to the country obtain more than 350,000 signatures of support? Is it possible that within our democracy, we are embracing these violent movements?”
In the opinion columns of the media, attempts to answer this are varied. While one proposes [es] bringing back a 1990s song that “mixes terrorism, corruption and the mediocracy of political parties with irony and humor,” another compares [es] MOVADEF's denial of terrorism to the Real Madrid football manager José Mourinho, “saying he wasn't interested in the match with Barcelona [Real Madrid's main rival].”
It has also been mentioned [es] that “this incursion into democracy they now claim” is only “a tactic required by the imprisonment of their leader” and reminds us [es] that “at the time, the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation declared that SL has no place in our democracy.”  But as another columnist notes [es]: “What we are seeing these days needs to bring us to a deeper reflection about what else we can do to combat these fanatical ideas.”
However, this isn't something that's come up all of a sudden. As in the 1980s when nobody paid attention to the terrorism until it reached Lima, there have been signals for some time to which nobody has given enough importance. Since 2010 it was already public knowledge [es]  that MOVADEF, whose core is made up of members of the  “acuerdista” (those in favor of the peace accord) [es] faction of SL, would try to become a legal political party.
The blog Apuntes Peruanos (Peruvian Notes) picked up on a couple [es] of facts [es] that pointed towards that decision. More recently, Francisco Canaza, the blogger for Peruvian Notes, noted [es]:
Luego  de años de combate legítimo contra la insanía, ciertos sectores de la  sociedad peruana han terminado por abandonar la causa del Estado contra  el terrorismo e incluso han terminado abrazando a los terroristas. […]  Ese es el marco de pasividad. Una situación en que [se lanza] un panegírico en el que [se] analiza y pondera un supuesto conflicto de “libertad de  opinión” aún sabiendo que el tema de fondo es la participación política  de un grupo antidemocrático. El falso debate de “libertad de opinión y  de ideas” es justamente el argumento de MOVADEF.
On Ideele Radio's blog, the analyst Carlos Tapia is quoted [es] as stating SL's probable motives in asking for the registration of MOVADEF as a political party:
“Una  hipótesis es que al interior del Movadef hayan sectores propiamente  senderistas, porque ojo ellos dicen que no son el Partido Comunista del  Perú-Sendero Luminoso (PCP-SL). De las 350 mil firmas que han  presentado, entre unas 5 mil u 8 mil firmas deben ser de gente seguidora  del PCP-SL y el resto es gente ingenua […] Pero, esos militantes del  PCP-SL están presionando para que [Movadef] diga: ‘cuidado, si no nos  inscriben nos están cerrando las puertas de la legalidad, por lo tanto  –según ellos– se abren las puertas legítimas de la violencia’”
Anotó,  sin embargo que la conjetura principal está vinculada a que el  propósito del Movadef sería ir acumulando fuerzas para presentar su caso  a la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos y argumentar que son una  supuesta fuerza democrática víctima de “la derecha bruta, achorada y  recalcitrante” porque se le impide su inclusión en el Registro de  Organizaciones Políticas del JNE.
One hypothesis is that MOVADEF there are actually senderista factions, because look, they say they are not part of the PCP-SL (Communist Party of Peru-Shining Path). Of the 350,000 signatures that have been submitted, between 5,000 to 8,000 signatures must be PCP-SL supporters and the rest are naïve […]  But these members of PCP-SL are pushing MOVADEF to say: “Careful, if they don't register us, they're closing the doors to legitimacy against us, therefore–according to them–it opens the doors to legitimizing violence.”
He noted, however, that the main speculation is tied to MOVADEF's intention of gathering strength to present a case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and argue that they are a so-called democratic force, victim of “the ignorant, rude and recalcitrant right” because it keeps them from being included in the Register of Political Organizations of JNE.
The journalist Jaime del Castillo reacts [es] in his blog to the media appearances of MOVADEF members:
Y que bueno que hayamos escuchado a la propia juventud integrante del MOVADEF decir que el sanguinario y enloquecido criminal ABIMAEL GUZMAN REINOSO no es un TERRORISTA … afirmación que indigna y que subleva … porque dicha declaración en medio televisivo hace unas horas de la mencionada juventud MOVADEF demuestra el altísimo grado de cinismo y de perversión ideológica que ostentan estos TERRORISTAS-EMBOZADOS que pretenden sorprender al Perú democrático …
Meanwhile, another journalist, Raúl Weiner,  talks about [es] the reasons for the disturbing presence of young people among the supporters and activitists for MOVADEF:
El  error que creo que se comete en primer lugar es que los que dicen que  combaten a Sendero y al MOVADEF, no brindan una explicación creíble  sobre ellos, las distintas caras de la violencia y las vías para  aprender a vivir en paz, y más bien lo que transmiten es que se mueven  en un eterno miedo que quieren que sea el de los demás. […]  Que un  sector político con enormes pasivos por haber encabezado una guerra que  destrozó al país, desorganizó el movimiento popular y engendró una  dictadura, pueda desafiar al sistema con la cara descubierta, después de  una profunda derrota, y hacerse atractivo para un sector de la juventud  peruana, lleva a preguntarse qué fue lo que se construyó en el Perú  sobre la derrota de Sendero. Tal vez ahí haya mejores respuestas de  porqué muchos jóvenes levantan ahora el brazo contra esta democracia.
After seeing their attempt to be registered denied, MOVADEF's representatives have announced [es] they will appeal the decision that was issued.  They have five business days to do this. However, it has now come out [es] that for various reasons, the JNE will not be able to issue its decision until the middle of February, but the debate is far from over.

author: Juan Arellano


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Serbia: The Media War Against Angelina Jolie · Global Voices
Sasa Milosevic

Not so long ago Angelina Jolie was “more concerned” about the reception of her directorial debut movie, ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey‘, in Bosnia and Serbia than in the United States. She was eagerly awating the reactions of local audiences, whom she had portrayed in her war drama, and some of her fears turned out to be justified.
While the Bosnian public has warmly welcomed this war love story of a Serbian policeman and a Bosnian Muslim woman, the Serbian media have launched a war on the American actress, accussing her of spreading hatred toward Serbs.
Serbian daily Kurir initiated a series of articles [sr] that have seriously harmed Jolie's good reputation in Serbia:
Angelina claims in the movie that 300,000 Muslims were killed in the Bosnian war and 50,000 Muslim women were raped. The actress intends to seek the abolition of Republika Srpska as a genocidal creation. All of this was commissioned by the extreme Islamic policies, presenting Serbs as criminals, killers, murderers and rapists, and Muslims as the only victims.
Explaining the reason for Jolie's alleged pro-Muslim bias, the newspaper claimed [sr] that the movie was financially supported by Saudi direct investments of $10 million:
It is generally known that Jolie is very close to politicians in Washington. Maybe she would like the public to think it is an art film, but it is actually pure anti-Serbian propaganda. The director sends a message to the audience that Serbs are crazy wild beasts, while Muslims are innocent victims.
Momir Stojanovic, former director of the Serbian Military Intelligence Agency, also supported Kurir's claim that Muslim extremists had funded Angelina's project, saying “it is very close to the truth.”
The Serbian newspaper has triggered thousands of negative, pro-Serbian votes on  imdb.com, one of the most reputable film rating sites, causing the film's score to drop drastically to 3.3 from an average of 5.4.
A screenshot of Jolie's film page on imdb.com.
Very quickly the page of Jolie's film at imdb.com turned into a virtual battlefield between Serbs and Muslims. (In the past few days, however, 11 pages of comments have somehow been reduced to five).
Sanja_Cancar says:
Angelina needs to stick to the topics she knows about, ei: ruining marriages, stealing husbands, adopting children from around the world, wearing blood. Instead, she chose the ironic path of a “peace-ambassador” that gets involved in politics she knows nothing about and creates movies that will only create more hatred… […]
Vitezbg observes:
Movie is full of political manipulations, lies, false informations etc.[…] Also 50.000 raped Muslim women is very disputed. It is famous case when ‘raped Sarajevo woman’, gave birth of African child. Actually the father in this case was member of UN personal. […]
Johnny NT concludes:
Well done Angie, Goebbels and Hitler would be proud of you and your fascinating work on this movie. […]
rudeedee2 asks:
How could these people dare think to make a movie (“entertainment”) of such a horribly devastating situation ??? Seems only money is important. […] Would Angelina Jolie want to think her family has gone through hell and lost every semblance of normalcy, experienced fear, heartbreak, death and devastation only to find a so-called movie producer sees it as an artistic capital?
psysd3 reminds Angelina of the crimes of her own people:
[…] From the very beginning, by coming to America's soil on which it is estimated that, in 1500s, there were about 12 000 000 Native Americans whose number is reduced to nearly 237 000 by 1900s […]
Alex_Michael  writes:
I guess I expected too much of Angelina. She might have black hair, but the movie sure look like put together by a blonde. Serbian Nazis who don't have problem killing anything from pets to babies on one side, and good Muslims on the other side… Example is Srebrenica where Serbs committed crimes by taking revenge after number of Serbian villages around Srebrenica were completely wiped out, and their inhabitants killed by Muslims from Srebrenica. This was well described in Norwegian documentary “Srebrenica a Town Betrayed”.
The Bosnian Muslim online community opposes the Serbian comments and supports Jolie's movie.
f_s is grateful to Angelina:
[…] Thank you Ms. Jolie for being the voice of the women depraved, humiliated and tortured. I recommend to everyone to see the movie especially women around the globe, to hear the unspoken, to witness the hidden. […]
Sibaak adds:
[…] We, the Bosnians do not hate. We are the most peaceful nation in the world, and thats why the facts of that war are so brutal! Because we didn't believe it could happen. We didn't believe that our friends would turn against us, rape us, kill our children, take over our houses. But they did. We that lived to tell, still, just like me, believe there are good Serbs. But what really hurts is to see how many people, just like on here, people that do not have even slightest idea of the truth, are so blind, and so hateful, because it tells me that they would do it all over again. In a way I feel its good that they are showing their real faces. Showing how ignorant they are. […]
Mela Fatkic expresses gratitude to Jolie on the movie's Facebook page. She writes:
Angelina thank you for this film, but we can not forget what it was. Thank you for the truth which not many people to reconcile, and nobody believes until they see…
Dino Gligic shares this opinion:
Angelina, thank you so much for telling the torld the truth about what Serbs did. It was worse than in that movie…
Nat Taschetti Garcia Angie admits ignorance and asks :
I just graduate on high school and i never learned about Bosnian war as i never learned about refugee camps. Do you feel like something has to be done in education, as a mom and as an activist?
Frustrated by the Serbian furious reaction, Jolie responded on Twitter:
Is it possible that the entire nation believes a concocted story from trash @KurirVesti magazine based on fake email from imaginary person?”
However, a few days later this tweet was deleted, and a new one appeared:
Don't express your love for own nation, race, religion, etc… by hating others.
On other side, Kurir pulled off the article of threatining tone:  “Serbs declared war on the actress: you do not know what awaits for you Angelina” from the newspaper official site published as respond on Jolie's offensive tweet.
Jolie also tweeted this appeal:
Don't believe everything you read… “They kill good trees to put out bad newspapers.”
In an interview with Slobodna Evropa, Jolie expressed her affection for Bosnia, saying that “it is easy to be in love with Bosnia”:
I would not have created this film if Bosnikas hadn't agreed with the screenplay. I would have burned it…
Zeljko Mitrovic, the owner of Pink TV, is one of the most influental Serbs who had initially condemned Jolie because of her anti-Serbian prejudices and had even withdrawn from the movie project. Now, however, he has changed his mind:
It is wrong to attack Angelina now when the movie is finished. We could have changed something before they started making the film. Now it is pointless to generate hostility. That thing cannot be changed by additional antagonisms. She should be invited to Belgrade because people like her can help us in the future to improve the image of ourselves in the world. I invite Angelina to come to Serbia and to be a guest of TV Pink.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Sasa Milosevic


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Sierra Leone: Say Grace Before Drowning · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Black Looks writes about “Say Grace Before Drowning”, a film by Sierra Leonean/American Nikyatu Jusu: “The film tells the story about a woman’s struggle to overcome the insanity of war as she tries to adjust to a life in exile.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Sierra Leone: Top 5 Revolutionary Election Songs · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This is Switmot's list of Sierra Leone’s top 5 revolutionary election songs: “In 10 months Sierra Leoneans will head to the polls to exercise their right to vote…In the last elections, music played an important role in creating political awareness and also to mobilize supporters for the SLPP, and the APC. The songs of popular musicians became the soundtrack for political rallies and marches.”


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South Sudan: This is Juba · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Learn more about Juba, the capital of South Sudan from Jaja: “Day by day, Juba is growing immensely. There is lots of construction, stores and business coming up. The future of this city is bright, not sure about other cities in South Sudan. People are also extremely honest, well mainly Sudanese not sure about other nationalities.”


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Favourite Proverbs  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I consider them to be expressive and beautiful in a way that is so Caribbean”: Abeni blogs about West Indian proverbs.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Indigenous Portrayal in History  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Review of the Indigenous Caribbean republishes a paper on “the dominant, almost doctrinal assertions made about the history of Trinidad and Tobago–with some attention paid to the ways historiographers diminished and extinguished the Indigenous presence.”


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Video: Online Media by and for Indigenous People · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Intercontinental Cry has a list of 12 recommended films on indigenous issues, some made by indigenous people from Brazil, Australia, Panama, USA, Northern Kenya, Colombia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Azerbaijan: Eurovision as an Opportunity for Change in the Caucasus · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Commonspace comments on news that Armenia will participate in this year's Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Despite a still unresolved conflict between the two countries, the site says Azerbaijan should welcome Armenians at the international music competition and Armenians should respond in the same manner.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Brazil: A View from Aboard on Pinheirinho Eviction · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Jimmy Greer, an activist and sustainability consultant for I-See Global based in London, writes about “the brutal eviction” of Pinheirinho, in Brazil as “another example of a skewed approach to governing that is at odds with an active, connected and changing society that demands more from its elected officials.”

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Brazil: Indigenous Leader Criticizes “Developmentism” Policies · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Brazilian blogger Julio Carignano, from the blog Sítio Coletivo, interviewed [pt] a former indigenous Guarani chief, Teodoro Tupã, who criticizes the policies of progress and “developmentism” towards indigenous peoples – particularly on issues concerned with health and land.


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Brazil: Military Police Asks “Understanding” on Pinheirinho Eviction by E-mail · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Brazilian blogger Conceição Oliveira republished [pt] an e-mail sent by the Military Police of São Paulo trying to explain the actions on what became known as “Massacre of Pinheirinho“. The police complains of  “misleading statements that have been spun by people not involved with the real democratic values”.


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Cambodia: Photos of Urban Poor Village Demolition  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Faine Opines uploads photos of the forced eviction of residents and the demolition of their homes in Borei Keila in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

author: Mong Palatino


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Chile: 15 Songs from 2011 · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Roberto Carreño recommends [es] 15 Chilean songs released during 2011.

author: Silvia Viñas


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China: Kashgar’s City · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Josh from Xinjiang far west China blogs about the future transformation of Kashgar city in Xinjiang. The old city's traditional mud home would be turned into modern buildings according to plan. The blogger asked: will you be still interested to visit Kashgar after the rebuilt?

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Not Worried About Twitter’s Decision to Self-Censor · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Twitter's announcement Thursday that the site will begin censoring content according to the relevant laws, regulations and policies of each country in which it has users, was followed not only by American netizens, but discussed as far away as China.
Although Twitter remains blocked in China, the site's Chinese-language users, an assorted bunch, moved quickly to source people to translate [zh] the company's statement and figure out what it might mean—a Twitter.cn, for example, or, as Ai Weiwei wonders, if the time has come to move on in search of a new platform with more respect for its users [zh].
Wen Yunchao, a well-known Internet activist from Guangzhou now working in a sort of domestic exile in Hong Kong as a producer for a new TV station, posted his thoughts on Twitter's new censorship measures to his Twitter account (@wenyunchao) several hours ago:
Image from Weibo
从推特发布的公告来看，现在是比以前进步了，以前是接到一国政府要求删除推特信息时，全球均不可见，现在是只是该国用户不可见。（1）
推特新的审查政策不会对现有中文用户产生影响。现在翻墙使用推特的用户，推特很难从技术上认定这些用户来自中国，因此亦无足够的依据屏蔽这些信息在中国的显示（无从显示）。（2）
推特想进入中国，至少存在两在不可克服的障碍。一是黑箱的审查机制与透明规则之间的冲突无法解决。除非像谷歌那样以内资公司的方式存在，否则推特屏蔽特定信息将面临用户的诉讼。（3）
二是推特既然有新浪的政府公关能力，亦无法做到像新浪一样巨量的审查投入。对于中国当局来说，不会允许一个比新浪更宽松的类推特平台在中国提供服务。（4）

author: John Kennedy


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Colombia: First Reactions to #TwitterCensorship  · Global Voices
Lully Posada

Colombian journalist Héctor Abad (@hectorabadf) [es] is one of many Twitter users who are alarmed [es] by Twitter's decision to implement “a sort of geolocated censorship”, as Periodismo Ciudadano explains [es]. On social networks in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries users are quoting and sharing related blog posts by Juan Luis Sanchez [es] and Víctor Solano [es], among others.

author: Lully Posada


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Colombia: Rector of University of Tolima Resigns · Global Voices
Lully Posada

Jesus Ramon Rivera Bulla, rector of the University of Tolima, resigned after 11 years holding his position just days after journalist Daniel Condell [es] accused him [es] of nepotism in an article for magazine Semana. Carlos Arturo Gamboa [es] refers to the issue in his blog, while netizens on social networks [es] and blogs [es] are echoing and analyzing the accusation.


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Côte d’Ivoire: The Story of a Cybercrime Victim  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Reacting on an article about the spread of cybercrime in Côte d'Ivoire on abidjan.net ,  Moussa Delafontaine Coulibaly shares his own experience with cybercrime [fr]: “[I think] that these [cybercriminals] ought to be tracked down and persecuted. Because of them, my Paypal account has been blocked since last December and I do not dare to make any purchases online anymore. “

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Cuba: Playwright Passes On  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Havana Times acknowledges the passing of “Cuban writer, playwright and theater director Humberto Arenal”, who passed away yesterday.


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Cuba: The Cardinal Rule  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In the context of the country's upcoming papal visit, Angel Santiesteban writes: “What we Cubans have to achieve won’t come from anyone’s visit, nor from the ‘peace concert’, although it had good intentions, nor from the ‘U.S. blockade.’ It will come the day we demand what belongs to us by our own right.”


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Guatemala: Former Dictator Efraín Rios Montt Questioned for Genocide · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Human rights activists feared that the presidential victory of former general Otto Perez Molina would mean a step backwards in transitional justice in Guatemala. However, this week, two landmark events have given clear signs that Guatemala's fragile democracy is maturing.
On January 26, the Guatemalan Congress ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, allowing the international tribunal to  prosecute any human rights abusers if Guatemala fails to do so; the same day, after years of being shielded by parliamentary immunity, former de facto President Efraín Rios Montt was questioned for his involvement in the genocide of 1,700 Mayan indigenous people in 1982–1983, during Guatemala's thirty-six-year civil war (1960-1996).
Boy stands in front of the names of the victims of genocide. Photo by Renata Avila under an Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) Creative Commons license.
In the blog SALTLaw, in a post titled “A good dawn for justice in Guatemala,” Raquel Aldana writes about the significance of Rios Montt facing trial for genocide and crimes against humanity:
Today was a historic day for Guatemala. A few hours ago, after a long day of heady hearings, a Guatemalan court opened a criminal case for genocide against Retired Military General Efraín Ríos Montt and ordered him detained under house arrest. Now 85, the retired general must face trial accused of being responsible for one hundred massacres, which produced a death toll of one thousand, seven hundred and seventy one victims. Ríos Montt, who until recently enjoyed immunity after serving nearly two decades as Congressman in Guatemala, had been de facto president during the most brutal 17 months of the 36 year-long civil war, between 1982 and 1983.
She continues reporting on Rios Montt's appearance in court:
When asked in court today if he understood the charges he faced, Ríos Montt said into the microphone “I understand perfectly.” Then, instead of making a formal declaration of guilt or not guilt, he stated a preference for silence. Outside the courthouse today, indigenous Guatemalans laid red rose petals spelling impunity no more. Meanwhile, the Guatemalan Congress ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
On the Council of Foreign Affairs Blog, Natalie Kitroeff lays out Rios Montt's defense.
Ríos Montt has made his defense quite clear. Over the past month, he has repeatedly said that he can’t be tried for any human rights violations because he wasn’t in charge of the military’s on-the-ground operations as the country’s political leader. His lawyer has echoed these claims, telling the press recently, “We are sure that there is no responsibility, since he was never on the battlefield.”
She goes on to explain:
This strategy is a radical new approach in the Guatemalan context. Until now, the military has consistently denied that genocide was ever a part of the civil war. Even the current president, Otto Pérez Molina, said that he doesn’t believe the findings of the UN truth commission, and that he could “prove that [genocide] did not occur,” during the conflict. But Ríos Montt is now arguing not that the atrocities didn’t happen, but that he is not culpable.
While this doesn’t yet amount to an open acknowledgement of genocide, it does suggest that things have changed (if slightly) since the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) first brought charges against Ríos Montt in 1999. The discovery of mass graves by the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) and the tireless work of victims groups in pushing for trials – finally winning convictions for four ex-soldiers this year – has made it untenable for the military to negate the genocide outright, at least in a court of law.
"Wanted. Mejia Victores and Rios Mont for genocide." Graffiti in Guatemala City. Photo by The Advocacy Project under an Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0) Creative Commons license
In the blog Lawyers, Guns and Money, Erik Loomis looks at what Rios Montt's trial means for Guatemala today:
Today, Guatemala faces a new period of instability due to the expansion of drug gangs from Mexico and El Salvador into their country and its unfortunately convenient stop on the drug highway to the United States. Whereas thirty years ago, people wanted to dismantle the police force because of its horrifying repression, today people are putting hope in the police as the one thing that could stand in the way of a new generation of shocking violence. Forcing Ríos Montt to face trial for his crimes is not going to solve any of Guatemala’s enormous problems, but it might at least force the defenders of violence in that nation to think twice about their actions.
Mike, in Central American Politics, reports that Rios Montt was granted bail and will remain under domiciliary arrest during the trial. Mike adds his opinion:
A tremendous victory for the people of Guatemala and a continuation of what I believe has been a pretty remarkable year-plus of human rights advancement in the region.
These two events show that, without turning a blind eye to the past and the terrible atrocities that were committed during the country's civil war, Guatemala seeks to become a country where international human rights standards are respected and enforced. The fact that President Otto Perez Molina, a former Army General, has not interfered with the case and has backed the signing of the Rome Statute gives Guatemalans hope that in the near future justice will arrive earlier, before criminals are dead, or too old or too sick to face trial.

author: Renata Avila


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Jamaica: Gully versus Gaza · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica Salt considers “how Jamaican music superstars, Vybz Kartel and Mavado have taken their different paths”, suggesting: “Kartel [is] more real in a way but when it comes to survival in this life,  he maybe has something to learn from the Gully God.”


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Myanmar (Burma): Betwixt and Between · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees and Myanmar's Rohingya.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees considers the situation of between 110-150,000 Burmese refugees located in camps on the border with Thailand as one of 29 protracted refugee situations globally. And, according to East Asia Forum, there are also an additional 1.5-2 million refugees in Thailand and represent the ‘visible side of human rights abuse.’
Ruled by a military junta from 1962 to 2011, Burma, known locally and by the United Nations as Myanmar, has often been accused of violating human rights and the forcible relocation of civilians. Although an ostensibly civilian government was  controversially elected in 2010, a quarter of seats in parliament as well as three cabinet seats are reserved for the army.
Other concerns include the use of forced labour, among them children, human trafficking and internal ethnic conflict. In an extensive post, Mary Ditton, a Senior Lecturer in Health Management in Australia, looks at the problem of internally displaced people and refugees:
Most of the self-settled migrants from Burma work in the manufacturing, food processing and agricultural industries throughout Thailand […]. Further to the constant fear and threat of deportation, they work in poor conditions with neither basic rights of association, nor employee and health rights. […] Only some forced migrants choose to officially seek asylum and reside under the protection of UNHCR. Other forced migrants decide to earn a living within the informal economy and endure the risks of being deported. This protracted refugee process means the actual refugee camp populations are made up of women, children, the elderly and disabled, as the able-bodied men and women seek work elsewhere. This ‘left behind’ population is prey to corrupt practices such as people and drug trafficking, smuggling, and child labour. The self-settled group is vulnerable to these practices as well, since they have no effective legal protection.
Burmese Refugee Project on Flickr
A group particularly at risk are children, especially from minority communities, as the Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee explains:
Last week the human rights group Arakan Project released a report on children’s rights in Northern Arakan State, in western Burma. Arakan State is home to about 735,000 Rohingya Muslims, one of the most oppressed ethnic minorities in Burma.
The report stated that over 40,000 Rohingya minority children in Arakan State do not have Burmese (or any), citizenship, despite being born and having parents who live in Burma. The children’s stateless status, along with several other draconian laws that discriminate against Rohingya, are in fact severe human rights violations and can have dire consequences on their health.
All Rohingya living in Burma, according to Arakan Project, are required to pay bribes to get permission to travel outside of their villages. Some are forced by the Army or border forces to build roads and guard and clean bases. Rohingya have been pushed off their land, and Arakan Project estimates that only 30% of Rohingyas have access to farmland, with the rest working mostly as casual day laborers.
A study in the United States of 400 refugee children has found that health is a serious concern even when they leave Thailand and Burma:
Some Burmese refugee children heading to the U.S. have toxic levels of lead in the blood, according to a study released this week in the journal Pediatrics. Researchers at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention measured lead levels in Burmese children living in Thai refugee camps. They found that children under age two were at highest risk. Fifteen percent of them had lead poisoning, as did five percent of all children. […]
[…]
Lead poisoning is extremely toxic and can severe health effects on children, including brain damage, mental retardation and lowered IQ levels.
Well-Being For Rohingya Refugee Bangladesh says that changes and reform in Burma might help improve the situation:
While many humanitarian groups have called for more aid for Burmese refugees displaced by years of conflict, there is some optimism now that a series of cease-fire agreements may offer some hope to deliver badly needed food, medicine and shelter supplies.
A recent field report published by Refuges International (RI) focused on two key goals: allowing humanitarian groups freedom of access to refugee areas and the removal of elaborate donor restrictions.
[…]
There are an estimated 500,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Burma, and three million Burmese refugees in other countries, according to their study. There are also some 800,000 stateless Rohingyas in the west of the country, who live in dire humanitarian conditions because of their lack of basic human rights.
With the decrease in fighting now is the time for the humanitarian community – led by the UN Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC) and supported by key donors like the European Union, United Kingdom, and United States – to expand operations in Burma […].
A ceasefire recently signed between the government and rebels, as well as the release of political prisoners, has given some cause for hope. However, Tina McCloughy says more is necessary:
As part of my Fulbright research in Burma,Malaysia,and Thailand,a Burmese ethnic minority boy told me how he held on tight to his father’s back,as his father carried him through Burmese mountainous war zones to Thailand,leaving him alone in a refugee camp across the border. Why? Because the boy’s father saw how the Burmese government military had repeatedly torched his ethnic villages,schools,and never built them new schools. The only help any minority students have gotten in Burma has been from illegal forays by the Free Burma Rangers into Burma,risking their lives to take ethnic minority educators safely through dangerous conflict zones to be trained to start schools. Burmese minority educators shouldn’t have to risk their lives trying to educate their children.
Changing the lives of minority Burmese requires [Secretary of State] Clinton to also pressure Thailand and Malaysia to change their refugee policies,given that refugees continue to flow out of Burma and that it may take many years before Burma becomes safe for minority families. Thailand and Malaysia have deliberately refused to ratify the 1951 U.N. Convention protecting refugees,perhaps because they fear giving education and work rights to such an overwhelming number of Burmese minority refugees.
Following last year's visit by the U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Andrew G. Lim writes on the Huffington Post that now is a “critical moment to press for further changes in the way that Myanmar's government deals with its ethnic minorities,” while Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, released from house arrest in 2010, this week addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in a video message:
The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate acknowledged the changes in her country and urged the international community to do more to support further reform.
This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees and Myanmar's Rohingya.


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Philippines: Blogger House Project · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Baratillo Pamphlet writes about the Bloggers for Habitat YouthBuild Philippines project which aims to gather 2,000 youth that will help rebuild the lives of families whose homes were totally damaged by a typhoon.


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Portugal: State Radio Silenced after Angola Opinion Piece · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages, except when otherwise noted.]
A week after the broadcast of an opinion piece by the journalist and renowned writer Pedro Rosa Mendes, on public radio Antena 1, the RDP (Portuguese Radio Broadcast) [en] announced the end of the show “Este Tempo” (This Time). The piece in question criticized the “coarse exercise of propaganda and mystification” which was broadcast live from Angola in a public TV (RTP) show with the participation of several politicians, governors and business men, including Minister Miguel Relvas.
A new report published on January 24, points to the reason for the end of the program according to Rosa Mendes, “the administration didn't like the last piece about RTP and  Angola”. In the blogosphere and on social networks it did not take long for reactions to the “axing of freedom of expression in Portugal”.
Journalist Helena Ferro de Gouveia, on her blog Domadora de Camaleões, sums up the content of the piece:
Free information. Photo of a stencil in Lisbon by Graffiti Land on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
um retrato em que ninguém fica bem ao espelho, nem a elite portuguesa, nem os engravatados angolanos – incomodaram o “baton da ditadura” e alguns serviçais lusos que vendem princípios a preço de saldo. (…)
A verdade sobre a “oleocracia” angolana, país onde a cornucópia da riqueza é restrita a alguns e mais de metade da população vive na mais abjecta pobreza, é uma fronteira que não se atravessa.
A portrait in which nobody looks too good in the mirror, neither the Portuguese elite nor the suit-and-tie wearing Angolans – [the show] disturbed the “lipstick of the dictatorship” as well as some servile Portuguese who sell their principles for the price of their salary.
The truth about the Angolan “petroligarchy”, in a country where the cornucopia of riches is restricted to some and more than half of the population lives in the most abject poverty, is a line which one simply does not cross.
Mozambican blog Ma-schamba describes the episode as a “detailing of the cue-taking by Portuguese power from Angolan capital”. Angola is better known in Portugal as a destination for those who cannot find jobs in face of the economic crisis, than for the political, economical and social ins and outs pointed out by Rosa Mendes. Moreover, in December 2011, the Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho recommended the unemployed to migrate to Angola (among other Portuguese speaking destinations).
A week before the news, the politician and scholar José Pacheco Pereira revealed his worries with “the progressive control over the Portuguese media by Angolan economic groups who, wherever they touch and enter, end the possibility of saying what was said before.” Even before the announcement on the radio program was made, on his blog Abrupto, he wondered “what is the ‘Information’ of RTP for?”:
o que leva a RTP em aperto financeiro a enviar uma equipa à  cidade mais cara do mundo, gastar tempo de satélite, deslocar pessoas e  bens para acabar por fazer um pífio exercício de propaganda centrado nos  estereótipos sobre a relação entre Portugal e Angola, bem longe de  qualquer realidade? O que leva a tão deprimente e caro exercício de  banalidade absoluta, a não ser dar tempo de antena a um ministro, por  singular coincidência o mesmo que tutela a RTP, acolitado pelos mesmos  de sempre (…)?
More questions about the current state of public broadcasting services were also raised by Raquel Freire, another journalist from “Este Tempo”, who stated in her farewell piece (transcribed on Facebook):
Numa democracia o serviço público serve para ser a voz  das pessoas. Numa ditadura serve para ser a voz do dono, ou seja do  governo. Na nossa situação actual, temos um governo que nos manda a nós  portugueses emigrar, e ataca os nossos direitos fundamentais. Por isso, a  rádio pública ser a voz do governo, não é sequer ser a voz daqueles  senhores que alguns de nós elegeram, porque este governo é a voz da  chaceler alemã, é a voz dos banqueiros alemães.
"Censored" journalists from "Este Tempo": António Granado, Gonçalo Cadilhe, Raquel Freire, Rita Matos and Pedro Rosa Mendes. Poster by Art.21º shared on Facebook together with the transcription of the Portuguese Constitution on Freedom of Information and Expression.
The news came out one day before the publication of Reporters Without Borders’ ranking [en] on international press freedom, 2011-2012. Portugal is in the 33th place, 7 places higher than in the last report published by the end of 2010.
While analyzing the report, journalist and researcher on Angolan issues, Orlando Castro, said on his blog Alto Hama in an ironic tone “this year Portugal and Angola will climb up a few more places, thanks to – especially but not only – the RTP show made in Luanda and RDP's decision to cut off those who don't want to be the voice of the owner”, and added:
Creio que o relatório não refere mas, quanto a mim, tudo se deve ao contributo decisivo dado pelo ministro Miguel Relvas e, é claro, a Fernando Lima, consultor político do Presidente da República de Portugal, e seu ex-assessor de imprensa, para quem “uma informação não domesticada constitui uma ameaça com a qual nem sempre se sabe lidar” [Nota GV: declarações noticiadas a 4 de Janeiro].
“The truth is a poison”, said Rosa Mendes in his last piece, broadcast on January 25. The journalist closed with harsh critiques of an “a  society asphyxiated by the values of silence, cowardice and fawning” after 40 years of democracy in Portugal:
Podemos sempre pensar que apenas em cenários limite – genocídio, a guerra, extermínio – acontecem escolhas-limite; e que é a violência absoluta ou é a humilhação ou o sofrimento absoluto que impõem a revolta, o inconformismo, a coragem; ou não. Tenho para mim que as escolhas-limite se fazem todos os dias, no nosso quotidiano; e duvido muito que quem vive de espinha dobrada em tempo de paz , em tempo feliz (como é já nos esquecemos o tempo democrático) seja capaz de endireitar a espinha em tempos difíceis.
The Regulatory Authority for the Media (ERC)  is already investigating the case, concerning the possible “violation of  rights, liberties and warranties  in media activities”.

author: Sara Moreira


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Questions for China’s democracy opponents · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

David Bandurski from China Media Project introduced a discussion among mainland Chinese public opinion leaders on the Taiwan presidential election and translated a Weibo post which raised a series of questions for China's democracy opponents.


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Singapore: Corruption Scandal in Least Corrupt Nation · Global Voices
Kirsten Han

Over the Chinese New Year, the news broke that the heads of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) are being investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), sparking plenty of conversation about corruption in a country that has been consistently ranked as one of the least corrupt in the world.
Director of the CNB, Ng Boon Gay (pictured right), was arrested on December 19, while Chief of SCDF, Peter Lim (pictured left), was arrested on 4 January 2011. Both men are currently out on bail, pending further investigations. They are being replaced by senior assistant commissioner of police Ng Ser Song and Assistant Civil Defence commissioner Eric Yap respectively.
@skyline2527: #SCDF and #CNB heads suspended and under investigation. Happy new year indeed to these two.#Singapore #SG
Occupy Singapore observes that this news has completely undermined the government's justification of high salaries:
@occupysg: The reason of paying more to prevent corruption just became irrelevant. #SCDF #CNB
It has been reported that the two are being investigated for “serious personal misconduct”, allegedly involving a married senior IT executive. However, the identity of this woman has not been established, and there have been contradictory reports, as Gwee Li Sui observes on Facebook:
How to reconcile the 联合晚报 and The Straits Times accounts: [1] There are 2 IT women. [2] While married in her 30s, the IT woman was petite, meek, and sweet. In her 40s now, she is divorced and vivacious, wearing heels that make her look tall. [3] One or both accounts are dubious.
Mike Loh urges the authorities and investigators to come clean with the public, and let everyone know what is going on:
I know what dad would say, “Rule Number One: Never treat your citizens like they are idiots. Never practice Mushroom Management.”
Huh? Mushroom Management, what the fuck is that?
“Oh,” dad would say, “it means ‘keep them in the dark and feed them bullshit.’”
Lucky Tan highlights newer and more subtle instances of corruption, which may not be as easy to investigate and regulate as straightforward bribery:
In the current case, these top officers appeared to have succumbed to lure of women and allowed a local IT supplier to circumvent standard procurement procedures. The same could have happened if an unhealthy relationship is formed, say, by  the supplier routinely hiring  top officers can result in influence in decision making. For the current case, it is not known who this supplier is right now but once that come to light, check its hiring record – does it routinely hire top people from govt?
The Gigamole Diaries questions the independence of the CPIB in investigations:
The most effective way to stem corruption is to have an independent, transparent and effective CPIB, and a vigilant public who is prepared to whistleblow. Our CPIB has done an excellent job so far, thankfully. But if we want our politicians to be free from corruption, then the CPIB must have the freedom to investigate all officials including the cabinet and even the Prime Minister. That the CPIB reports to the Prime Minister's Office does not give it a freehand in performing this critical function. Perhaps this line of reporting should be reviewed? Since we have an elected Presidency, should not the CPIB report to the President, rather than to the Prime Minister?
However, this has not been the only scandal that broke in Singapore recently. It has been alleged that Yaw Shin Leong, a member of the opposition Workers Party, has been having an extra-marital affair with a woman also from the Workers Party. The timely release of this report has led to some speculating that it was deliberately leaked to draw attention from investigations of corruption

author: Kirsten Han


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Singapore: ‘Ineffective’ Government Online Search · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Otterman Speaks criticizes the “ineffective search tool” embedded on Singapore's government webpages


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Slovakia: Competition to Re-Design the National Gallery’s Site · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

In response to the 25,000-euro “minimalist” website design of the Slovak National Gallery, zajtra.sk started its own competition [sk] for the website's re-design, offering 100 euro to the winner. Authors are mostly students, and they often declare how many hours – and, sometimes, minutes – they spent on their re-design.

author: Tibor Blazko


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Sri Lanka: Black January · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sunanda Deshapriya reports that Media organisations in Sri Lanka have staged a protest titled “Black January” on January 25, 2012 in Colombo against a series of attacks targeting media personnel in recent years.

author: Rezwan


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Taiwan: 2012 Election Sets Example for Mainland Chinese Democratization · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

Taiwan's presidential and legislative election was held on January 14, 2012.  Incumbent Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT) was reelected as President with 51.6% of the vote. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) challenger Tsai Ing-wen resigned her post as chairperson of the DPP following her election defeat.
Chinese communities around the world were closely watching the results, as Taiwan is the first among the Chinese societies to transition from authoritarian to democratic governance. Many people from mainland China and Hong Kong travelled to Taiwan to observe the political process; they wonder if Taiwan can set an example for the future democratization in mainland China.
Ma Ying-jeou and his winning team giving the victory speech after the 2012 Taiwan elections.  Image by Craig Ferguson, copyright © Demotix (14/01/12).
Beijing based journalist Mark MacKinnon was surprised by Taiwanese enthusiasm for politics:
As a Beijing correspondent, it's so weird to see and hear people talking and shouting – in Chinese – about politics.
Based on the website of the Central Election Commission, 74.38% of eligible voters casted their votes in 2012. Ma Ying-jeou won reelection with 51.60% of the total votes cast, and Tsai Ing-wen gathered 45.63%.
Taiwan sovereignty
Different from the previous election, the usual Blue (KMT) and Green (DDP) antagonism seems absent, yet Taiwanese sovereignty remains the most critical issue.  Karlatheo expressed [zh] expressed her concern after the election:
1月14日，平靜地去投票。與朋友相聚。其實大家並不特別在意哪一黨得勝，但是很在意台灣的主體性是否會失落。…知道中國的因素主宰著這次的選舉，經濟的問題是所有的人都得面對的。…馬總統，請記得您是我們僕人
Nathan Batto was also worried about the future of the Taiwan-China relationship after the election:
With a sizeable 70-43 majority in the legislature, Ma Ying-jeou is not going to immediately become a lame duck president.  Instead, he probably has enough power to do most of what he wants.  He will almost certainly have the power to implement the next stage of ECFA, and it is not out of the question that he could push through the peace agreement that he mentioned during the campaign.
Researcher fellow at the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, Dean Cheng, pointed out:
A strong Taiwan, confident in its relationship with the U.S., is key to peace and security in the region. In the weeks before Taiwan’s election, the U.S. Administration suddenly dispatched several senior officials to Taiwan. As it has been almost 12 years since a visit from a sitting U.S. cabinet member, the re-election of President Ma would seem to present an opportunity to demonstrate that this lack of attention has come to an end.
Example for mainland China
Those who could not fly to Taiwan to observe the election watched the news closely. Lele is from China [zh], but she has observed Taiwanese elections for more than a decade:
尽管不是长在台湾生在台湾，也不是亲哪个党派的政治狂热分子，但台湾四年一次的总统大选开票直播，我一定会观看。这已是第四次看到台湾总统大选了。…台湾民主大选制度逐渐走向成熟，不知大陆何时也能向台湾一样走上这一条路？大陆老百姓也有选举国家领导人的权利？
@darkillzhou [zh] (on Weibo) from China made jokes about the mainland Chinese election when talking to his Taiwanese friend:
刚一台湾朋友结束聊天时对我说，“明天早上我們要去投票了﹐晚上就知道總統是誰了”，我顿时不知如何答复。虽然我们之间的交流没有任何障碍，但在他面前真觉得无地自容。我只好说，“你们太落后了，我们如果明天早上投票的话，今天晚上就知道谁会当选了。。。”
In Hong Kong, columnist 練乙錚 (Lian Yi-Zheng) talked about [zh] how this election may change the future of China:
台灣的故事，如果只看到七八十年代，那是和大陸到目前為止差不多的，但到了八十年代，故事出現政治拐點，五千年文明古國民主化了。其後發展，大家清楚，要點是：台灣經驗是一個近乎完整的立國經驗。政治上，從極權到民主、從專制到自由；經濟上，從落後到富足，從漁農到包含大量高科技。
台灣在國際上沒有話語權，在全球華人當中的政治比重也很低，但一個內容豐富的「台灣論述」正在積聚力量，吸引着全世界大小角落裏正在徬徨焦慮地尋找精神家園的華人；這次到台灣觀選的陸人港客，便是這個論述的吸收者、傳播者。
In China, 水木丁 pointed out [zh] it is an opportunity for people in China to reflect why they do not think democracy is a choice for China:
我看蔡英文的演讲时，一直在想这个问题，不知道那些持如此论调的人，看到这一场总统选举，会有什么样的说辞，所以美国人英国人可以讲民主，我们不配讲民主？所以连一衣带水的台湾人都可以讲民主，我们不配讲民主吗？全世界都素质高，只有我们素质低，不配讲民主吗？
我看到台湾大选的井然有序，内心感慨，因为我知道这些和我们一样的黄皮肤黑眼睛的同胞们正在学习，他们也曾选错人，也曾走过弯路，发生过闹剧，陷入过绝望，但是他们还是继续选择了这条路，不问自己配不配。我看到他们站在大雨中，胜利的人们和失败的人们，因为有信念，知道自己想要一个怎样的世界，所以也就有希望。我突然想到这个配不配的问题，这世界上貌似没有那个国家的人民，是要先证明自己配民主和自由，才被施舍民主和自由的，想到此岸的人们竟然要怀疑自己到底配不配，这真是羞辱。民主的确是要慢慢来，但绝对不是从证明自己配不配开始。
Encouraged by the observers in Hong Kong, mainland China, and other parts of the world old cat believes [zh] the Taiwanese should be strong and help the democracy movement in China:
在這一次大選中，許多同胞憂慮中國透過讓利、市場力量，軟性影響台灣的選舉，而選前大批企業老闆公開支持九二共識，被視為中國影響的證明。這些憂慮當然很合理，但我們只能單向憂慮嗎？我們不能反向送出我們的魅力嗎？
這是台灣的機會…如果台灣對中國的民主化有貢獻，未來我們才有機會贏得十三億人的同理認同…台灣雖小，卻占有舉足輕重的位置，我們不應該再用逃離中國的心態思考未來。
無論幸或不幸，我們就是站在這個奇異的歷史高點上了，華人的民主典範，也許不是我們設定的目標，但卻是我們實實在在擁有的力量。
不應該辜負這樣的力量。

author: I-fan Lin


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Trinidad & Tobago: Child Abuse  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guanaguanare hopes that the story of Josiah Governor, the child who was beaten to death, will “motivate us to be more humane in the way we treat our children”, while TnT River blogs about Everton Vasquez, a minor who “hanged himself after receiving a beating from his grandmother.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Value of Seniors  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

kid5rivers takes the Port of Spain mayor to task for his disagreement with a proposal to offer offer free utilities and transport to senior citizens, asking, tongue firmly in cheek: “Perhaps His Worship confused SCs who are worth their weight in silk with SCs who are waited upon because they wear silk?”


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Video Highlights: Music, Indigenous Initiatives, Indignation and Wonder · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

This section aims to showcase interesting and recent posts in  Global  Voices that show the many ways in which videos are helping  people tell  stories all around the world. You can follow the activity  by regions in  our YouTube channel or by clicking on the regional header links.
Music and Indigenous Initiatives
Brazil: Cultural Debate as ‘Oh if I Catch You’ Song Goes Global
Music has spurred an ongoing debate in Brazil, as netizens realize they have a new cultural ambassador which they may not have chosen themselves. In this case, it is Michel Teló's song ‘Ai se eu te pego‘ which not only became the rhythm played over and over during the end of the year festivities, but has also crossed borders, even getting its own versions in English, Polish and Dutch.
Peru: Cápac Raymi, The Andean Christmas
In Peru, the Incan culture is still alive in most of the Andean region, and Christmas is a time when they have united their pre-Columbian traditions with the later Christian festivities. The festival of Capac Raymi takes place in December coinciding with the Winter Solstice and honors the Sun. Although the holiday is no longer observed as it was during the reign of the Incas, it has transformed into an Andean Christmas, where Christmas choirs sing in Quechua with Andean musical instruments and dances:
Another strong cultural group in Peru is the Afro-Peruvian community and they have also left their mark in how Peruvians celebrate Christmas:
Peru: Afro-Peruvian Christmas Music
The song “Black Christmas” by Cesar Calvo is a lament, where they sing to Baby Jesus who was born in a manger, but with a slight difference, he is black as the people surrounding him:
Washed by the night
Just like you and me
Born among blacks
the Baby Jesus.
Don't come down, Baby,
from your altar,
lest the master
has you whipped.
http://youtu.be/V39J6wN6LAQ?t=41s
Venezuela: The Essence of African Music in Videos
African heritage in Venezuela has also strongly influenced the music, and online video is being used to spread the knowledge of the African Diaspora and Afro-Venezuelan Caribbean culture.
From Canada comes a video journalist with a project: To visit one country per week and to record the stories of under-reported minorities.
Video: One Year, One World and 52 Different Stories
So far she is still raising funds for this one year journey where she would be recording, editing and producing short documentaries from the road.  A short video of her visit with the Embera indigenous communities in Panama gives us a promising look into the type of content she'd be delivering once her project takes off:
Video: Online Media by and for Indigenous People
Check out the list of 12 recommended films on indigenous issues that Indigenous Cry shared.
Indignation
In Guatemala, indignation has overwhelmed citizens after investigative journalism uncovered that the President of the Chamber of Agriculture of that country had children under 14 years of age working in his sugar cane fields. Cane cutting is considered very physically demanding even for adults, and the conditions under which the cane cutters work contrast with the growth of the sugar industry.
Guatemala: Child Labor in the Sugar Cane Fields
The video, made under the guise of a photographic project to make portraits using an old fashioned camera shows the workers, including children who work long days without even making minimum wage:
In Brazil, the indignation has been caused by the violent forced evictions in what is being called a massacre:
Brazil: “Massacre of Pinheirinho” Causes an Uproar
Urbanist and UN Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik reported:
Thousands of men, women, children and elderly residents of the Pinheirinho occupation are surprised by a siege consisting of helicopters, armored vehicles and more than 1,800 armed men of the military police. In addition to the exits of the occupation being blocked, the water, electricity and telephone were cut, and the order was for families to gather to begin the process of retreat. Determined to resist – as the repossession had been suspended on Friday – the residents did not accept the command, initiating a dramatically violent situation that lasted all day and that has resulted in homeless families, people injured, arrests and rumors, including of the existence of fatalities.
Hong Kong residents are becoming outraged: the cultural clashes have citizens and bloggers in a tense situation where any event is cause for fury:
China and Hong Kong: Train Scuffle Ignites Cross-Border Fury
Hong Kong Rethinks its Relationship with Mainland China
While bloggers in Hong Kong complain about their stretched resources and bubble economy, seeing the mainlanders as the intruders and sharing music videos where Mainland Chinese are compared to locusts,  others such as Grey Reporter see both parties as victims of the system:
Actually, Hong Kongers and mainlanders share the same destiny – to end the authoritarian rule of the Chinese Communist Party and the collusion between the rich and the powerful.
Wonder
Jordan: Let it Snow
Snow in Jordan had people whipping out their mobile phones and documenting the long awaited snow fall, even if it didn't stick.
http://youtu.be/jlX7_mEPf8Y
But in case you are in a place where the snow does stick, what about checking out the video tutorial on how to build an igloo with just snow and a knife?
CEE: A “Safe House” and an Igloo


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Zambia: When Wikipedia Entry “Kills” a President · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

On the morning of 22 January, 2012, Zambians woke up to a statement from State House rebuking news websites for spreading a rumour that President Michael Sata had been assassinated. From the look of things, a lot of Zambians had not seen the story on any of the usual new websites.
The State House released a statement denying that the President had been assassinated. Part of the statement issued by President Sata’s spokesperson, George Chellah stated:
STATE HOUSE is saddened with the malicious, sadistic and unfounded story, which is circulating that His Excellency Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata, President of the Republic of Zambia has died.
This follows the publication of an insensible and sickening article by a named uncouth website, claiming that the Head of State was assassinate…d in the early hours of today, January 22, 2012.
As a matter of fact, State House is aware that such horrid stories are being perpetrated by certain rogue elements, with a bulk of them being investigated for gross misconduct and corruption in the ongoing crusade against graft.
It was only later that it emerged that the rumour stemmed from a Wikipedia entry about Michael Sata giving an obituary of the veteran politician, in office for four months after the September 20 elections which saw the defeat of the MMD, in government for 20 years since 1991.
Although the Wikipedia entry was removed as soon as it was realized to be a hoax, WiredProject316 captured it:
Michael Sata was assassinated in the early hours of the 22nd of January. He was killed through a single shot to the chest, which proved to be fatal…
The location of the person behind the rumor has already been revealed:
The alteration appears to have been done in the United Kingdom town of Crawley by unknown persons using the IP Address 82.11.64.177 through the domain name virginmedia.com with Virgin Media Limited as Internet Service Providers.
The falsified alteration was sent through a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Digital Subscriber Loop – a family of technologies that provide internet access by transmitting digital data over the wires of a local telephone network.
The coordinates for the altered post appeared to be 51°6’48″N -0°10’58″W while the weather station code for the alter was UKXX0816, signifying that it was done in the England region of the UK.
Suspicion soon fell on the Zambian Watchdog, which has been at loggerheads with President Sata since his days as an opposition leader. The site has been alleged to be linked to opposition United Party for National Development Party (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema. Hichilema himself denied the allegations of his links to the website on a blogtalkradio show.
The Zambian Watchdog, however, hit back when it turned out that the source of the assassination hoax was in fact Wikipedia:
Front page of The Post, Zambia's leading independent newspaper. Image courtesy of @luchi7
Obviously enemies of online media and particularly the Watchdog are disappointed that the story that President Michael Sata has been assassinated was not carried by any Zambian website.
On Sunday, someone, maybe a government operative, altered Sata’s biography on Wikipedia and entered new information that he died on Sunday after taking a single but fatal shot.
Now, Wikipedia is not a Zambian online publication. It is not even a news website.
It is an information website that anyone can edit and post whatever information they want.
The website is hosted in USA but can be edited even from Lundazi (a rural district in eastern Zambia).
President Sata’s spokesperson, George Chellah, has come under fire from a Zambian journalist based in the US, Field Ruwe, who has been writing a series of artices titled “Hunt for a Successor”. Field Ruwe has called for Chellah's dismissal for committing what he called “one of journalism’s deadliest sins”:
President Sata must fire his special assistant for press and public relations George Chellah for committing one of journalism’s deadliest sins—drawing from an unreliable source.
Wikipedia is not a credible and authoritative source!
Chellah should acquaint himself with the Seigenthaler Incident also referred to as the Wikipedia Biography Incident.
Ruwe continued:
The job of special assistant demands a qualified, proficient and skillful operative who plays a major role in bringing notability and decorum to the office of the president. He is a liaison between the government, the public, and the media. Major requirements of a special assistant include the ability to perform extensive research and maintain poise in high-stress environments. The president should have shopped better.
The whole assassination prank does not make sense. When the news came to Chellah’s attention he should have first weighed the gravity of the matter. Before briefing the president and informing the press, he should have checked with Reuters, AP (Associated Press), UPI (United Press International), and couriers BBC and CNN to see if anyone was carrying the story. At the same time he should have kept his ear to the ground for any reaction from the Zambian people.
President Sata recently ordered his government’s Attorney General to have all Zambian “based” news websites registered but  it is not known how far the exercise has gone. The former Minister of of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism Given Lubinda once challenged news websites to disclose their physical location.
Rumors of Michael Sata's death were rampant during last year's election campaigns.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Africa: How Africa Tweets · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Young people Tweeting from mobile devices are driving the growth of Twitter in Africa, according to How Africa Tweets, new research launched by Portland: “In the first ever attempt to comprehensively map the use of Twitter in Africa, Portland and Tweetminster analysed over 11.5 million geo-located Tweets originating on the continent during the last three months of 2011.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Australia Day: Fury Follows Aboriginal Tent Embassy Protest  · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Australia Day ceremonies are usually the dullest of events. But not when Australia’s political leaders are together just walking distance from a gathering at the contentious Aboriginal Tent Embassy. When the crowd there heard a report that earlier in the day Opposition leader Tony Abbott had suggested its removal, a spontaneous protest took place at the Lobby restaurant where Prime Minister Julia Gillard was awarding emergency medals.
The fracas quickly turned to farce. Developments have included: that Mr Abbott’s remarks were misreported; the original tip-off came via Tony Hodges, one of the PM's media advisors (who has since resigned); accusations of a media beat-up of violence; a shoe lost by Ms Gillard was returned after suggestions of an ebay auction; a go-between was named followed by strong denials. At least that’s the best guess at the moment.
Preston Institute knew who to blame in Silly Advisers, Silly Media – This is Canberra, Today:
Yesterday’s “outrage” involving the PM and Tony Abbott has been one of the more diverting stories doing the rounds of our media. It appears to tell us more about the media and contemporary politics more than it does about Australia’s protesting spirit.
The story itself, of an escape from a Canberra restaurant besieged by unarmed protestors, provided some great footage for the TV print media to run around the world and back.
…The reality seems to be more prosaic, with Gillard and Abbott under little substantial threat.
In a very detailed analysis at the The Conscience Vote Marian Dalton argued that:
If no one remembers anything else from Australia Day, they’ll remember the footage of Prime Minister Julia Gillard being dragged to safety…
It was an ugly display, and it did nothing good for the cause of the Tent Embassy.
What remains, then, is a shameful display of behaviour that did nothing but harm the cause of indigenous rights, and the Tent Embassy in particular.
Skepticlawyer couldn’t resist the imagery of the abandoned shoe in her post When one’s IQ is less than one’s shoe size, and we’re only talking one shoe…
Tony Abbott gives me the screaming heaves, he really does. He’s the worst sort of godbothering big government conservative. But he did not call for the tent embassy to be ‘torn down’ and he did not ‘incite a riot’. Any rioting – as is usually the case – was the responsibility of the rioters.
There is speculation in the media that Tony Hodges misquoted Abbott, making his comments more aggressive. In a perverse way, I hope that’s true, because to respond to the above with violence suggests that at least some people in Australia have made their way into political cloud-cuckoo-land.
In the post, Australia Day 2012: Evil prevails, when good men say nothing,  Gladly the cross-eyed bear defends the need for the tent embassy but not the manner of protest:
Indigenous Australians have every reason to be angry. They have every reason to defend their embassy. But this is Australia and, whatever our history, whatever the mistakes of the past, here, today, we do not fight political battles with physical violence.
…I am sickened and appalled at what appears to have been an attempt by some Aboriginal activists and their cohorts to bully and frighten Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday.
In the latest twist, johnboy revealed on RiotAct’s open forum that:
In the Canberra Times the Secretary of Unions ACT, Kim Sattler, is denying she was the one who riled up the Tent Embassy with news from the Prime Minister’s Office that Tony Abbott was in the nearby lobby restaurant.
When contacted by the Sunday Canberra Times this morning, Ms Sattler said she had been at the tent embassy but she was not the go between.
“I heard it from the crowd,’’ she said.
This is a bit tricky as The Age  reports that Prime Minister Gillard is saying it was Ms Sattler.
Who knows the truth at this stage.
Mike Stuchbery captured the spirit of things on his self-titled blog:
There’s the soundbite, the outrage, the money shot and what’s left is for the carrion-eaters to blog and crow about.
Nobody comes away from today’s events in Canberra looking good.
Least of all, the protesters
He even has an eyewitness in his “little brother”, if you’re interested in an alleged firsthand account.
Perhaps modern politics is more about image than about reality. And a contest amongst both media and commentariat to be the most outraged. Ironically too many were ready to chastise the tent embassy crowd for reacting hastily to incorrect information, only to do the same thing themselves to media reports.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Bhutan: Promoting National Language · Global Voices
Rezwan

Penstar protests against the tendency of some Bhutanese newspapers to undermine Dzongkha language and suggests that the national language needs to be promoted everywhere.


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Brazil: Movement Calls for March Against Law on Construction in Salvador · Global Voices
Thiana Biondo

The Movement ‘Desocupa Salvador’ – which recently claimed rights for public space during carnival -, is now calling [pt] people to march towards the City Hall on February 1. Major grievances include the illegal approval by the Mayor of amendments in a law that threatens the Enchanted Valley Ecological Park, an Atlantic Forest reserve, and allows tall constructions next to the  beach.

author: Thiana Biondo


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Brazil: ‘Vale’ is Elected the World’s Worst Corporation · Global Voices
João Miguel Lima

Researcher Telma Monteiro wrote on her blog [pt] about the election of the Brazilian mining company Vale as the world's worst corporation of 2011, with over 25,000 votes on the Public Eye Awards. She attributes the victory to Vale's involvement with the construction of Belo Monte Dam, in the Brazilian Amazon. Movement Xingu Vivo held a page “supporting” Vale's candidacy [pt].

author: João Miguel Lima


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China: Girl and Boyfriend Rental for Chinese Lunar New Year · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jacky Huang from ChinaHush introduces a shopping item, girl/boyfriend rental for Chinese New Year, in Taobao, a most popular online shopping website in China.


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China: Redpad for Government Official Only · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Bubble Watch blogs about the introduction of Red-pad, an electronic device similar to i-pad but sold at a price (RMB9,999) twice as high as an Apple i-pad exclusively to Chinese government officials.


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China: US60,000 Per Month Postpartum Recovery Service · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu translated a local report and netizen reactions on Shanghai's postpartum recovery service which costs around US60,000 per month.


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Equatorial Guinea: A Story Idea for Journalists Covering the Africa Cup of Nations · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Shelby Grossman shares a story idea for journalists covering the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea: ” There is a fear among those who have been in the country for a while that after the tournament the government will conduct raids and crack down on illegal immigration.  The harassment of foreign West Africans is already awful.”


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Ethiopia: Standing With Ethiopia’s Tenacious Blogger · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Standing with Ethiopia's jailed blogger: “It would be hard to find a better symbol of media repression in Africa than Eskinder Nega. The veteran Ethiopian journalist and dissident blogger has been detained at least seven times by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government over the past two decades, and was put back in jail on September 14, 2011…”


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India: Right To Education vs. The Right Education · Global Voices
Rezwan

Vijay Menon   points out that the education in India mostly means passing examinations and earning degree certificates and the issue of the quality of education is being ignored.


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Indonesia: Promoting E-Commerce Among Small Businesses · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Google partners with Indonesian private and government sectors to bring 100,000 Indonesian small and medium businesses online by the end of 2012. The initiative is called Bisnis Lokal Go Online

author: Mong Palatino


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Iran: ‘Hostages in Syria are not military’ · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

Free Syrian Army says it has taken hostage seven  Iranians, five of whom were allegedly soldiers complicit in the Syrian  government's crackdown on protesters. But an Iranian in Friendfeed  writes [fa]: “They show a card as a document to show that this people were affiliated with military but that card is a proof that you did the military service which is mandatory for every Iranian man. They might be killed for that  simple card which means nothing”.

author: Hadi Nili


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Pakistan: Hate Campaign Against Ahmadis In Rawalpindi · Global Voices
Rezwan

Naeem Shamim reports that “Banners and posters containing hate content and threats against Ahmadi Muslims are being displayed at many significant places” in Rawalpindi city near the Pakistani capital Islamabad.


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Singapore: Greening Initiative · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Singapore Sojourn mentions the programs of the government and initiatives from the private sector to make Singapore a greener city.


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Slovakia: More News on Overly Expensive Website Design · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

Aktualne.sk reports [sk] that, following the initial financial inspection by the Ministry of Culture, the Slovak National Gallery is now required to pay 140 euro back, from the 25,000 euro that it reportedly spent on its new website (more on this here and here). Meanwhile, according to the World Association of Slovaks Living Abroad, the organization's new web page (still under construction) will cost over 32,000 euro and will be paid for by the state-funded Office for Slovaks Living Abroad, whose head, according to reports [sk], has already hired his friend's company for over 55,000 euro.


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Slovakia: Roma “Apartheid” – and New Housing? · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

According to this report [en], a US-based Hindu group was shocked by the “maltreatment” of the Roma in Slovakia, calling “to end Roma apartheid.” At the same time, the Slovak government announced [en] a new wave of social housing construction for the Roma, expecting that “the number of illegal Roma settlements should drop by 25 percent within the next eight years.”


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South Sudan: Urgent Steps Needed to Counter Inter-Communal Violence  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Urgent steps are needed to counter inter-communal violence in South Sudan: “Inter-communal violence in Jonglei and throughout South Sudan, while traditionally cyclical in nature, is not inevitable. The causes of this violence go beyond the retaliatory nature of cattle raiding and touch upon broader issues of accountability, reconciliation, political inclusion, state effectiveness, development, and the proliferation of arms among the civilian population.”


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Citizens Policing Traffic Violations in Sarajevo · Global Voices
Jasmina Babic

Using the Facebook page [bs] “Moj grad, moja sigurnost, moja odgovornost” (“My city, my security, my responsibility”), Sarajevo residents are uploading pictures of illegally parked cars and reckless drivers, trying to convince the authorities to take action and protect pedestrians. According to the administrators of the page, there has been enormous response from the people who decided to take the problem of transport culture into their own hands.

author: Jasmina Babic


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Hungary: “We Voted For Orbán, Not For Goldman Sachs” · Global Voices
Marietta Le

Last Saturday, after several protests organized by citizen movements and opposition forces against the politics of the ruling Fidesz-KDNP government, Hungarians supporting those in power decided to express their opinion at a rally called Peace March.
According to the Hungarian Interior Ministry's report [hu], some 400,000 people expressed their support for the government at the peaceful – and cheerful – event.
‘We are the Hungarian people and we stand for Orbán's government!'. Photo by Redjade, used with permission.
Those who thought Fidesz-KDNP had lost the trust of the Hungarian citizens, drawing the consequence from the extensive foreign media coverage of the opposition protests in Budapest, were challenged this time by the fact that the government elected in 2010 with a two-thirds majority still enjoyed the support of many. Fidelitas, a youth group derived from Fidesz, shared some 360-degree panoramic photos of the march.
The protesters marched from Heroes’ Square to Kossuth Square by the Parliament, where brief speeches were delivered. The main organizers of the event were Zsolt Bayer, author of opinion pieces at the conservative daily Magyar Hírlap, Gábor Széles, a wealthy Hungarian entrepreneur and owner of Magyar Hírlap, and András Bencsik, editor-in-chief of Magyar Demokrata [hu], also a Hungarian conservative daily.
The right-leaning blog Mandiner has been very critical of the government recently, and, at first, their blogger, Dobray, who visited the Peace March, also had some doubts regarding the event [hu]:
[…] Compared to what I had anticipated, the march came off even better: the mass of 400,000 (probably fewer than that, the protest maths [competition of whose protest had more attendees] was started by Bencsik at Kossuth Square when he said, referring to a television report, that they were 1 million, which was evidently an unreal figure) walked the distance, and, as no other options were listed on the program, no lame events happened. The puritan minimalism goes hand in hand with a portion of boredom well known from the first, eventless left-wing rallies. But it's hard to pick at that. And that there were some groups with Arpad's striped flags [a symbol of the far right] was not a big deal, we are used to that, they don't do any trouble. We will worry about some Arpad stripes protesters in a mass of a couple of hundred thousands if the left wing expels from their community the comrades parading in the USSR and Che t-shirts. […]
The fact that describes the complex situation in Hungary best is that the government's supporters oppose the talks and future agreements on the bailout from the EU and the IMF, while the opposition is in favor of reaching the agreements as soon as possible, in order to strengthen Hungary's volatile economy.
Pro-government protesters criticized EU/ECB/IMF for pressure on the government to take more bailout loans. Photo by Redjade, used with permission.
Many protesters arrived from outside the capital. The blog of the city of Ócsa wrote [hu] about why they considered it important to participate in the march:
People set off from almost every settlement of the country to express their solidarity with the government elected with the two-thirds majority, with its leader Viktor Orbán and with everyone who has been attacked in the past days. The marchers stand up for the sovereignity of Hungary and stick to the achievements of democracy, they can't stand that foreign politicians, businessmen, banks are willing to administer their lives. […]
Véleményvezér pointed out [hu] that most of the protesters were elderly:
[…] it was very striking that most of the marchers were aged 50 or older. They are the ones whose private pension savings were not taken away, almost none of them has a foreign currency loan, and the government specifically tried to support them, through measures like the one-time 8-percent pension makeup or by implementing the institution of securing employment for older persons. […]
'We voted for Orbán and not for Goldman Sachs'. Photo by Redjade, used with permission.
Dobray hints at the rumours about paid protesters and organized travel to the rally location, the accusations raised by opposition members:
[…] So now we are even, now really each and everyone has brought politics to the street. And it's funny that at any sort of protest the actual side opposing the protesters tries every method to discredit the other's event; and tries to find those whose travel has been paid for, who were paid to come and who were cheated, etc. Everyone is generous when it's about their protest, but if it's about the other's, they turn petty and suspicious. The neighbour's lawn is always wilted. I also would be happy if the Peace March didn't get listed among the ultimate arguments of Fidesz government allowing them to knock down all the opposing opinions. […]
Zoltán Ruzsbaczky of Mos Maiorum blog published a guest post [hu] on Konzervatórium blog, noting that the huge number of the pro-government supporters may signify the arrival of a new stage of democracy in Hungary, with a lot of people daring to stand up for their opinion:
[…] Of course, this needs a government that applies this trust and successfully navigates the tempestuous sea of international politics and with its economic policy it sets Hungary on the track of growth. Besides this, one can't get by those masses who still oppose the politics of the government. We will learn only later what the long-term effects [of this march] will be, [and whether there will be any].

author: Marietta Le


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India, Bangladesh: Cattle Trade And Border Killings · Global Voices
Rezwan

The New Horizon thinks that cattle trade is the major root cause behind the regular border killings at India-Bangladesh border.


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India: Jaipur Literature Fest Fashion · Global Voices
Rezwan

Jaipur Literature Festival, the largest literary festival in Asia-Pacific, has recently ended. Wearabout blog posts some pictures of festival fashion among the eclectic mix of men from all over; artists, poets, writers, intellectuals, pseudo-intellectuals, serious journalists, idlers, socialites etc.


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India: New Challenges to Fight Tuberculosis Worldwide · Global Voices
Christine Mehta

This page is part of our special coverage Global Development.
The Indian media and blogosphere have been locked in fierce battle over two words: “extensively,” and “totally.” If you’ve been following Indian news at all, you know that it is about the global health community’s tuberculosis debate.
India’s media sphere exploded last week with reports from Mumbai of a tuberculosis strain completely resistant to all known treatment. The Indian newspapers coined it “totally drug-resistant tuberculosis” or TDR-TB. But just a few days later the Government of India released a statement refuting the term TDR-TB, saying that the World Health Organization has no clear definition for TDR-TB, and that the TB emerging in Mumbai, India is merely another strain of extremely drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). They’re now calling it XXDR-TB, or “extensively drug-resistant TB.”
Electron microscope image of mycobacterium tuberculosis, responsible for tuberculosis. Image by Flickr user Sanofi Pasteur (CC BY-NC-ND).
The blogosphere and headlines erupted with experts and Indian citizens wondering why the Government of India and the big players in TB treatment were arguing over what to call it, rather than what to do about it.
Bharati Ghanashyam, a blogger for Journalists Against TB, summed up the outrage that erupted in the global health blogosphere following the Indian Ministry of Health's statement, “Call it any name but banish it.”
Ghanashyam commented that the TDR-TB fiasco arose on the heels of the news that India had been declared polio-free for an entire year. His question: how could India achieve such a milestone but drop the ball so badly with TB? He then noted that there was “considerable debate, denial and discussion on whether this new form can be termed TDR-TB.”
As per a report in the Indian Express, “The doctors from Hinduja have unnecessarily raised a panic alarm. The term TDR is not recognized by the WHO or the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). As of now, they are only slotted as XDR-TB cases,” said an official from the Directorate of Health Services.”
Twitter user TBVI_EU agreed with Ghanashyam:
@TBVI_EU:  “So true! @bghanashyam It makes little difference what we call different forms of TB. What matters is people are dying,”
Blogger Alanna Shaikh, an expert in health consulting, got some attention from the development community for her blog post on End the Neglect: and calling the new form “TDR-TB.”
TDR-TB is exactly what it sounds like. Doctors have not yet been able to identify a treatment for this TB that will work,” she wrote. “This is a bad, bad development for global health.
The WHO claims on their website, that there is no way to determine whether strains of TB that appear resistant to drugs in the laboratory, are actually resistant to the drugs in the patient. This may seem counter-intuitive since the 12 patients suffering from a particularly virulent form of tuberculosis in Mumbai have obviously show they are not susceptible to the available drugs, the WHO is simply attempting to state that it lacks a standardized test to determine just how effective different combination of the drugs are in the laboratory vs. treating real patients.
Incidentally, India’s Ministry of Health issued a report on January 20, 2012, stating that nine out of the twelve reported patients were stable on their current treatment while three had died, confirming that the strain is susceptible to some antibiotic treatment.
One thing remains certain, the #tuberculosis Twitter stream and TB online advocacy community are adamant that tuberculosis needs to remain a high-priority for donor governments and international donor organizations like the Global Fund and the United Nations.
This page is part of our special coverage Global Development.

author: Christine Mehta


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India: Tiny Travel Tales Contest · Global Voices
Rezwan

Clay, the travel and holiday blog of Club Mahindra, is organizing a short story contest on travel. The last date of submission of posts is February 5, 2012.


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India: Videocast on Pongal Celebrations · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kamla Bhatt features Dr. Geeta Vasudevan of Chennai, who describes the significance of Pongal (harvest festival) celebrations in Pondicherry & Chennai in a videocast.


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Iran: Military applause for death penalty · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Revolutionary Guards) has appreciated [fa] the death penalty for Saeed Malekpour, a web developer accused of running porn websites. The “center against organized crimes” at this army announced there are some other cases for porn website administrators in near future.


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Malaysia: Temiar Blockade and Indigenous Rights · Global Voices
Cindi Loo

This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.
Eight Temiar indigenous people (also known as Orang Asli) in Malaysia were arrested by the police for attempting to set up a blockade and prevent loggers from entering their village in Gua Musang, Kelantan.
The villagers are against the agricultural project of the local government which would require the cutting down of forest trees in their ancestral land. The blockade, their second attempt at doing so, was made after attempts to negotiate with the state government have failed.
The police also refused to negotiate who removed the barricades and arrested the community residents and their lawyer, Siti Kasim. They were released later that night.
The Temiar community is setting up a blockade to prevent loggers from entering. Photo by SITI KASIM, published on Center for Orang Asli Concerns
Lawyer Edmund Bon lists the violations made by the police during the arrest:
@edmundbon: #TemiarBlockade Arrest of @sitikasim is to prevent lawyers fr rep OA arrested fr legal rights under s28A. She is kept apart fr them too
@edmundbon: Noting Police Act has been repealed and #PAA2011 is waiting assent, under what law is police using ? #TemiarBlockade
@edmundbon: #TemiarBlockade With repeal of Police Act note that it is not an offence per se just to gather without actually holding the rally.
@edmundbon: #TemiarBlockade @alisonghani Note: s113 has been abolished.@PDRMsia has no right to take statements fr suspects under that or s112. Release
Others have chimed in on the lack of comments from politicians from ruling party Barisan Nasional (National Front) or the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat (People's Alliance) which controls many state governments, including Kelantan:
@MamuNakHabaq: While we are watching football, some Orang Asli are being treated like shit. Woi! Watdehek is going on la????? #TemiarBlockade
@shakirameer: sometimes with situations involving #kuin5 and #TemiarBlockade I wonder if our votes would make any difference… #frustrating
@edmundbon: #TemiarBlockade Ask yourself if our system of representative democracy is working? How many OA MPs are in Parliament? How many are ADUNs?
@lilunumlock: wakil2 rakyat diam saja? Mana ni geng @NajibRazak @anwaribrahim. kata memperjuangkan Hak rakyat? Rakyat diutamakan? #TemiarBlockade
Independent journalist Anil Netto thinks this will not reflect well on Pakatan Rakyat in terms of pushing for more progressive policies:
I would have thought Pakatan state administrations would show a more enlightened, progressive approach to native land rights. Remember how the Pakatan state government in Selangor was lauded – and rightly so – for supporting the Orang Asli in their struggle there.
So what’s happening in Kelantan then, Nik Aziz? This coming so soon after Kedah MB Azizan’s disturbing support for the use of the UUCA on five college students. Not very encouraging.
The hashtag #TemiarBlockade has also triggered discussion about the treatment towards the indigenous people and the lack of awareness on their native land rights
@edmundbon: #TemiarBlockade is an eg of nonsense being spouted about more freedoms and demo space via #PA2011
@fifarahman: Reading tweets on the #temiarblockade – horrible tt Orang Asli protesting logging have been treated so badly.
@vangeyzel: Hopefully what happened at the #TemiarBlockade is publicized. Awareness matters. O/wise next week all forgotten.
@Ambiga_S: Enuff bullying of the OA. Well done Siti Kassim HR lawyer who stood with the OA in claiming what is rightfully theirs. #TemiarBlockade
@ladymissazira: When you remove Orang Asli from their ancestral lands, you eradicate an entire culture, belief system & wisdom. #temiarblockade
@VersedAnggerik: OAs are not myth of the past, ruins of the jungle. They are ppl who has got rights wants their rights to be respected #temiarblockade
@MalaysiaforAll: Until const is revisted&re-applied, whatever law enacted will always side the majority leaving the minority 2fend themselves
This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.

author: Cindi Loo


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Saudi Arabia: A Family Living in a Cemetery · Global Voices
Haifa Alrasheed

Away from the political scene and on a more human level, a short movie shot by young Saudi filmmaker Bader AlHomoud named “Almagbarah,” which translates to cemetery in Arabic, has changed the life of a Saudi family. Bader describes the montage phase in his tweet [ar]:
The three-minute movie, posted below from YouTube, shows a Saudi family living in a cemetery. It has no script, nor a dialog. It features members of the family and their children playing around the cemetery and the abject poverty they live in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlYFGVmr1Po
Saudi tweeps were emotionally touched by the movie and below are some of their reactions under the hashtag #ma8barah.
@MarwanAlrouqi describes the logic behind the location [ar]:
A screen shot from the movie
@hayaalshatti asks [ar]:
هل أصبحت خيارات الحياة تقف عند أنني يجب أن أفضح ملامحي وأنشر فقري في فلم .. حتى أحصل على كرامة .. تباً لمن سلبهم كرامتهم ! #ma8barah #KSA
And in reaction to the video, which has been watched more than 148,000 times on YouTube, smartman7779 says [ar]:
Three hours after publishing the movie, Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel, who is Vice-Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees and Head of the Executive Committee of the Al-Waleed bin Talal Foundations, announced on her Twitter [ar] account:
الحمد لله، ستقوم مؤسسة الوليد بن طلال الخيرية بتأمين سكن دائم لهذه العائلة وتم التواصل مع بدر الحمود وسنبدأ من الغد إن شاء الله #ma8barah
@malsahli [ar] comments:
and @essamz stresses on the power of the social media:
فيلم مدته 3 دقائق يؤدي لحل مشكلة عائلة خلال 3 ساعات من نشره. إنها قوة الإعلام الجديد. #ma8barah
Two days later, @BaderAlHomoud announces:

author: Haifa Alrasheed


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Slovakia: Protesting Corruption, Protesting “Gorilla” · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

The Economist's Eastern Approaches blog writes about Slovakia's corruption scandal caused by the leaked info from the 2005-06 wiretapping operation codenamed “Gorilla” (more – here). On Friday, Jan. 27, an anti-corruption rally – “Protest Gorila” [sk; Facebook page]- took place in the capital Bratislava (photos are here, videos – here). The media reported “hundreds” to 4,000 of protesters at the rally, while blogger Ján Gašo counted [sk] at least 2,375 people on a photo taken at the time when people were still arriving at the rally.


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Sri Lanka: Kala Pola (Art Mart) Sunday · Global Voices
Rezwan

The 17th annual Kala Pola (Art Mart), the biggest open air gallery for paintings in Colombo, took place on Sunday, January 29, 2012. Dee and Indi shared their experiences and posted photos.