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What Are We Saying Differently in Our Coverage of Pakistan? · Global Voices
Sana Saleem

A collage of photos from news stories covered by Global Voices over the years. All photos are under Creative Common licence and used with permission,
News outlets cannot cover everything, so priority is given to stories considered relevant to their perceived audiences. In the case of US media, decisions on where and what to report around the world are often based on relevance to US interests — economic, humanitarian or security.
Pakistan often falls into all three.
Ever since US forces went into landlocked Afghanistan 16 years ago, neighboring Pakistan has been a key logistic ally in the war. Before 2001, Pakistan was a relatively peaceful country with an almost non-existent record of militant violence. But since 2001, over 50,000 people have lost their lives to militants attacks in Pakistan. The country continues to face multiple internal and external attacks. Given the law and order situation, a lot of media coverage both inside and outside the country focuses on conflict, which made me, the Global Voices Pakistan editor, wonder: How does our Pakistan coverage compare to that of American and English-language Pakistani news organizations?
In order to try to answer this question we used Media Cloud, an open-source content analysis tool that aims to map news coverage of current events. As part of the NewsFrames project we have partnered with MIT Center for Civic Media and the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society to use Media Cloud for our analysis.
We searched for news stories published between January 30, 2016, and June 26, 2017* that contained sentences with the word “Pakistan” for three different sets: US news outlets, Pakistan-based English-language news outlets, and Global Voices.
The goal was to see samples of the most frequent keywords, and the articles related to them, in coverage of Pakistan (more on how we use Media Cloud is here).
According to our analysis, mentions of “Afghanistan” and “India” alongside “Pakistan” clearly dominated news coverage across all three media environments.
If you set these keywords aside, however, the Media Cloud results show distinct editorial priorities at work: In English-language Pakistani media, politics and economics got the most coverage. And while coverage from both US media and Global Voices focused on security, the two differed in how such stories were framed.
US-oriented media: this word cloud was generated from a sample of 23,999 stories on Pakistan published within the 543 days of analysis. That is 44 stories each day, on average. (View larger cloud)
The analysis reveals that overall US media coverage of Pakistan focused on the security issues like the Taliban, an insurgency in one of its largest provinces, Baluchistan, and attacks by various militant groups.
Some prominent keywords that turn up are “Taliban,” “drone,” “militants” and “Azhar.”
“Azhar” could refer to two different people: Maulana Mehmood Azhar, founder and leader of the UN-designated terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed; and Azhar Ali, an opening batsman for the Pakistan cricket team.
When analyzing “cricket” further, “Azhar Ali” turned up as one of the most prominent words used in reports from both English-language Pakistani media and US-oriented media.
Most frequent words from a sample of 136,529 stories in collections of Pakistan-oriented media (View larger image). Source: Media Cloud
The most popular words that showed up when analyzing how English-language Pakistani media covered Pakistan were “economic,” “cpec,” and “commission,” references to some of Pakistan’s most pressing political issues.
There was a lot of conversation around “economic” development given the collection of infrastructure projects, worth $62 billion, currently being pursued under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The words “Panama” and “commission” refer to the judicial commission that has been formed to investigate finances of the prime minister and his family after the Panama Papers revealed their offshore accounts. Analyzing “commission” further reveals just how extensively English-language Pakistani media covered this story.
There were 153 articles on Pakistan published within the Global Voices collection during the period. That is one story every three to four days, on average (View larger image). Source: Media Cloud
While the country’s security situation featured in Global Voices coverage of Pakistan, stories tended to highlight the people affected by violence.
Coverage also profiled other individual efforts: activists and their campaigns, and writers and change makers who are working on various issues hoping to shed light on the diversity of Pakistan.
Global Voices’ Pakistan coverage lacked consistent reporting on a country that is widely reported by other media outlets. Yet, while acknowledging a feeling of missed opportunities, it affirms our understanding that we aren't trying to keep up with the fast-paced news cycle.
Another contrast in coverage is cricket. Cricket is a massively popular sport in Pakistan and it usually dominates local news coverage and social media feeds. While Global Voices covers some aspects of sports from time to time, we don’t do daily coverage of sports issues.
An example that illustrates this difference in how US media and Global Voices frame security issues is Pakistan-India skirmishes in September and October 2016 after an attack by armed militants in the town of Uri in the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Following the attack, India canceled its participation in the 19th SAARC summit to be held in November in Islamabad, Pakistan. Kashmir has always been a source of conflict for both countries and the attack triggered a diplomatic crisis.
US media outlets like CNN published analysis like “Could India and Pakistan Go to War?” GV’s coverage, on the other hand, highlighted voices for peace from both sides (“As Politicians Beat the Drums of War, Ordinary Indians and Pakistanis Call for Peace”) and the effect of heightened tensions and curfew in Kashmir on ordinary people.
GV’s coverage of the province of Baluchistan also focused heavily on telling human stories and explaining the role of militants as well as of armed forces in the province. When a bombing at a hospital in Quetta killed at least 70 people on August 8, 2016, GV’s coverage narrowed down on the individuals who lost their lives, with stories like “In Hospital Bombing, Pakistan Lost a Whole Generation of Lawyers in Balochistan” and “Killed in the Quetta Bombing, Mehmood Khan Was a Dreamer and the Best of Pakistan.”
When I first started as Pakistan editor for Global Voices, I wanted to strengthen our focus on underreported or unexplored issues. I felt that Pakistan with all its complexity and diversity is too often painted with a broad brush, and that violence is reported in terms of numbers and not the actual humans behind these numbers.
Based on the results of the analysis above, I have come to the conclusion that most of GV’s Pakistan stories covered the same stories as mainstream media in Pakistan and the US, but from an angle that prioritized the voices of ordinary people and the efforts of those seeking to look past jingoism and build bridges.
This extended to our process of reporting stories too. I am reminded of the number of times we had conversations with our Indian authors and our South Asia regional editor Rezwan about how we can shape our coverage, an exercise that helped us reflect on our inherent biases.
Moving forward in the coming year, I would like to continue our cross-regional collaborations. I also feel our coverage on Pakistan could use more consistency. While the framing of GV stories attempts to highlight the diversity of Pakistan, this emphasis needs to happen more consistently — inaccurate mainstream media narratives need to challenged.
For instance, with the Panama Papers case, there was an opportunity to highlight how a country, often painted as “corrupt and dysfunctional” in western media, closely followed and reacted to a case of high-level corruption. Articles showing how, why, and what this framing of the issue says differently about Pakistan might be a meaningful intervention.
All in all, this analysis has encouraged me to think about how I as an editor can best work with our wonderful community of volunteer authors, foster more collaborations within our teams, and encourage a strategic direction for our coverage. I would like to work on these things in the coming weeks.

author: Sana Saleem


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A Conversation With the Founder of the Israeli Legal Clinic for International Criminal and Humanitarian Law · Global Voices
Marie Bohner

Yaël Vias Gvirsman during our interview in Geneva. 28 September 2017. Photo by author Marie Bohner.
As a legal professional, is it possible to reflect on the ways in which court decisions affect populations who have lived together — and continue to live together — after a conflict? How can this awareness of complex social situations influence national and international law? These are just a few of the many questions addressed in current efforts to adapt and evolve the law, specifically, with the introduction of transitional justice, or “judicial and non-judicial measures implemented in order to redress legacies of human rights abuses”.
With this in mind, Yaël Vias Gvirsman founded the International Criminal and Humanitarian Law Clinic — the first of its kind in Israel. The country, which was referred to as an ‘occupying power’ by UNESCO, is at the very least, a territory plagued by conflict. Gvirsman seeks to lend her honed expertise to the international development of transitional justice. Here is our exclusive interview with a woman who isn't afraid to clash with the norm in order to create a better world.
Yaël Vias Gvirsman (YVG): The International Criminal and Humanitarian Law Clinic is based in The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC) north of Tel Aviv, Israel. I founded it in 2014, after returning from The Hague where I worked as a lawyer for the ICC's (International Criminal Court) defense teams. I witnessed a distinct lack of Israeli lawyers there, despite prevalent specialisations in my country in international humanitarian law, conflict law and occupation law. There is extensive legal precedent for the application of international humanitarian law in Israel and, as such, it is important to provide future Israeli lawyers the apolitical and non-partisan judicial tools to be successful. This is a challenge in and of itself. We have to go further than political speeches and reports in the media in order to hone their critical minds. They must ask themselves: what is the law? What are the challenges in pursuing the law? What is certain and what is uncertain?
YVG: We have a weekly core curriculum throughout the year-long program in international criminal law, which focuses on international humanitarian law and transitional justice — the latter being a new project the clinic took on last year. We reflect comparatively on the potential effects that legal and non-legal mechanisms, both international or national, can have on conflict. We also analyze foreign conflicts so that we might discern what information could be useful for our conflict.
YVG: We start by defining the principles, studying the classic examples of Argentina, South Africa etc. We reflect on how these societies have looked to the past in order to take a step forward. How have they left vengeance and blame behind? It is true that injustice exists, that doesn't mean that we don't see it, but instead we look at it in a constructive way. We do this to offer future generations an alternative.
YVG: With regards to transitional justice, [which includes all measures that go towards correcting human rights abuses], we teach our lawyers about the potential effects of their future actions. If the lawyer then finds themselves in a court like the ICC, they will have a better understanding of the affected population. The involved parties live in a territory that was given to them before any ICC action, and will remain there long afterwards. As such, they must be able to continue living together after a resolution.
The practical aspect is that we don't just run a course; It's still a legal clinic. Our students are divided into small groups of between 2 and 4. These groups work with external non academic parties, or practitioners, such as subsidiaries of the ICC, like the International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). These groups could also work with interstate entities like the Internacional Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) — who are one of our most important partners — or other governmental practitioners, like independent lawyers and NGOs, or, finally, civilians and victims. Our students need to be exposed as much as possible to the diverse array of practitioners that exist.
YVG: Certain case files involve a dispute of some sort. For example, we worked with the ICTY‘s defence team on the case of Goran Hadžić. We worked on the problem of the definition and extent of the crime of forced human displacement. Can it be enacted indirectly? Does forcing people into trucks amount to attempted ‘ethnic cleansing’ — which is an abhorrent phrase — or does it simply mean making the living conditions in the area unbearable? Another case we worked on with the ICTY was the Karadzic appeal case, which involved the definition of the most indirect form of genocide; the alteration of living conditions which inevitably leads to the victim group's extermination.
Students also conduct research into the state of law. We're also going to start working closely with victims who appear before the ICC, which is a very long and delicate process. We also conduct research — upon the request of our partners — on the advanced notions of international law, such as the notion of ‘human shields’. Does terrorism fall under the ICC's jurisdiction and, if so, under what conditions can it be tried?
We examine Israel's application of international law in its territories, for example, in the realm of administrative arrest. However, the goal of this exercise is not for Israeli lawyers, who are taking their first steps alongside seasoned international law practitioners, to decide as to whether Israel has violated international law. The most valuable aspect is that Israeli students are exposed to the facts. They are able to read sources in both Hebrew and Arabic and they have access to untranslated case studies. They are therefore more able to decide what has happened. This isn't always easy to achieve given the surrounding noise. Excluding the media, Israel is the country with the most journalists per capita. It's normal that there is outside noise. There is a conflict and there are victims. It is, however, vital that you study the facts by means of both national and international judicial standards.
YVG: Yes. For example, we collaborate with several associations that specialise in psychology. However, we remain for the most part within our field of expertise — the law.
We're starting two new projects this year: the first focuses on the responsibility of entrepreneurial practitioners in the case of severe violations of human rights, the second focuses on the remedies — and not just those of a legal persuasion — for victims in different countries, Israel and Palestine included. International justice is often slow, and doesn't tend to propose remedies for victims. It's often the national courts that fail in this regard, due to lack of volition or knowledge. We will therefore be looking into the possible methods of action for victims.
Blind justice. Statue on former court buildings, Caernarfon (Creative Common License on Flickr, Siaron James)
YVG: We currently collaborate with legal clinics at Emory University in Atlanta, USA, the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and Roma Tre University in Italy. We also operate an exchange program with the Master program at the Geneva Academy, which is a transitional justice clinic. Finally, a few days ago, I met with a woman who founded a clinic for women's rights in Niger. She was very interested in collaborating with us so that she could see how to protect women — her field of expertise — during conflict. Conflict being our field of expertise. It's amazing to think of the impact our clinic might have on operational procedure.
Each legal clinic lends its own perspectives to our collaboration. Our clinic is the only one to be located in a conflict zone. Leiden is the hub of the ICC. We have already worked together on the question of the Israel-Palestine conflict — unfortunately, without the presence of a Palestinian clinic. I plead to all Palestinian clinics to contact me, if they can and/or wish to. We will welcome them with open arms. Naturally, I am in contact with several Palestinian colleagues, but none of them have officially come forward at the moment, due to obstacles, boycotts, etc. I don't believe in barriers, but in bridges. And silence is aggressive.
YVG: I hope that we don't lost sight of our objectives, as hard as they are to achieve. I return to my first point: we must be apolitical and non-partisan in a conflict zone, especially when the conflict is intergenerational — like ours. This makes us face the reality that people are easily categorised by nothing more than the usage of some words over others. We strive to create a safe space for talks, reflection. That is all. We can't always be reactive.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Marie Bohner


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Ethiopia’s Parliament Speaker Resigns Over ‘Disrespect’ to Oromo People. Is the Balance of Power Shifting? · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

Final EPRDF rally in Addis Ababa in 2010. Photo by BBC World Service (Uduak Amimo) via Flickr. CC BY-NC 2.0
Recent events indicate that Ethiopia’s multi-ethnic governing coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Front (EPRDF), is at war with itself, and some fear the power struggle could destabilize the country.
Others, however, hope that it could signal the Oromo ethnic majority's growing influence in politics.
The issue came to light in October when Abadula Gemeda, the speaker of the Ethiopian parliament, said he would relinquish his gavel and resign from his position. Abadula followed up with an extensive interview with state-owned television, in which he said he lost interest in the speakership position because “my people and my party were disrespected” and he explained his plans to fight to “regain the respect the Oromo people deserve.”
Abadula is a founding member of the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), one of the four ethnic parties that make up the EPRDF. The remaining three are the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM) and the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
These four parties purport to represent a particular ethnic group, but they share the same ideology, political association, and policy preferences. Of these, TPLF is the predominant party, billing itself as protector of the interest of the Tigryan people. ANDM and OPDO are perceived as willing accomplices of the TPLF, but they portray themselves as representatives of the Amhara and Oromo communities respectively. SEPDM is an amalgamation of political parties of numerous minority ethnic groups. It is usually considered as a dependent of dependents because it was formed  as subordinate to the other three.
The differences in power wielded by the different parties doesn't correspond to the size of the communities they represent. In terms of population size, the Oromos are the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia. According to a census conducted in 2007, Oromos make up 34.4 percent of the country’s population, the Amharas account for about 27 percent and the Southern Ethiopian people account for 14 percent.
Though Tigrayans represent only 6.1 percent of the population, they dominate the most high-ranking military offices who control the nation's security and intelligence.
The marginalization of the Oromo people has in part fueled a large protest movement over the past three years. Daily anti-TPLF demonstrations take place in Oromia, the region of Ethiopia where the majority of Oromo people live, and there's talk that the rallies are covertly endorsed by the rank-and-file members of OPDO.
That's why some saw Abadula‘s resignation as highlighting the growing power of the OPDO, a party that has often been accused of dispensing the TPLF’s political agenda in Oromia. Prominent opposition leader Lencho Bati, who is based in the diaspora, commented on Facebook:
In my opinion, his resignation is like throwing a gasoline to the fire that is already out of control. It is a historical step that signals and symbolizes end of OPDO's submission to Tigreans dominance.
Others theorized Abadula‘s departure was propaganda. Abebe Gelaw, a prominent opposition activist, wrote
TPLF is good at recycling its use-and-throw officials. The “resignation” of Abadula from his ceremonial position in TPLF's rubber stamp parliament is not as significant as some would like us to think. It is to be remembered that the former prisoner of war, whose real name was Menase Wolde Giorgis, was once made a Major General. In 2005, he was made to vacate his position as Minister of Defense and was rebaptized Ato Abadula Gemeda, “President” of Oromia regional state. It is a folly to expect someone who leads a fake life–with fake name given to him by the TPLF, fake power and even fake degrees he bought for cheap to become a champion of the people he has betrayed throughout his adult life. The plain and simple truth is that Abadula is one of these political prostitutes owned and enslaved by the TPLF. This is a reality he has accepted for far too long. His resignation is not even a symptom of the crisis in TPLF's tyranny because the crisis is obvious without a puppet's resignation. We will wait and see what his masters will do with him again.
It does seem, however, that the absolute political dominance of TPLF of the past 25 years seems to be fading, and the ruling coalition is fragile.
The reported resignation of Abbadula, speaker of the house of PR in #Ethiopia, will be the beginning to uncover disagreement within EPRDF.
— BefeQadu Z. Hailu (@befeqe) October 7, 2017
BefeQadu's tweet above turned out to be prophetic, as Bereket Simon, a founding member of an ANDM, stepped down from his position as an adviser to the prime minister less than a week after Abadula resigned.

author: Endalkachew Chala


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The Revolution Will Be Live-Tweeted (Not In Russian, Though) · Global Voices
Christopher Moldes

Collage by Christopher Moldes
October 2017 is more than halfway through, meaning we are getting closer to the centennial of what is often hailed as the most influential event of the 20th century: the 1917 October Revolution, which ushered in the Bolshevik takeover of Russia and the creation of the Soviet Union.
The 100th anniversary has spurred the creation of numerous commemorative projects. Some are lecture series, and others are retrospective articles, though the most interesting are of course from the Russian perspective. Two projects aim to give a day-by-day account of this momentous year: Project 1917, created by independent TV network Dozhd’s editor-in-chief, and #1917Live, from Russian government-funded broadcaster RT.
Whereas Project 1917 presents English- and Russian-language primary sources, #1917Live takes a more interactive approach. This endeavor involves dozens of Twitter accounts posing as organizations and individuals “live tweeting” from the February Revolution on through the October Revolution.
There is, however, something missing from this presentation of the Russian view of events: #1917Live has almost no Russian-language content.
Seeing the October Revolution through the eyes of contemporary Russian society is important. It is, after all, their history and their revolution. Plus, RT being financed as it is by the Russian government, the #1917Live project allows us to see just how the government is approaching this delicate yet momentous period in history.
In September, a crowd of about 100 people gathered at the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C. to attend a film screening marking the October Revolution's centennial. If there is any one place to get the Russian government’s perspective on the events of 1917, this was it.
The film was the 1930s “Three Songs About Lenin,” an homage to Vladimir Lenin who headed the revolution. As the title suggests, the film is made up of three segments, each focusing on particular narratives about Lenin and the October Revolution’s impact on the Eurasian continent. By way of introduction, the embassy’s cultural attaché stressed the need to study and review events and cultural creations in the hopes of “avoiding the mistakes of the past.”
These words echo the sentiments of Russian citizens. In a Levada Center poll from earlier this year, 44% of respondents said that more has to be known about the events of 1917 so as to “not repeat the mistakes of the past.” The second largest group, 34% of respondents, said Russia has to move forward and not stir up the events of that year. Vladimir Putin, who when speaking about the October Revolution last year emphatically declared that Russia is a united country, has taken the middle road, stating:
Российское общество нуждается в объективном, честном, глубоком анализе этих событий… [для] примирения, укрепления общественного, политического, гражданского согласия.
Russian society is in need of an objective, honest, and deep analysis of these events…for reconciliation and the strengthening of social, political, and civil harmony.
So far, the Russian government has not deviated from this course. There are, however, some promising projects, such as the new state TV biographical miniseries on revolutionary figure Leon Trotsky, and of course, #1917Live.
The main lynchpin of #1917Live is the Russian Telegraph (RT) Twitter account, a fictional newspaper that retweets and engages with the milieu of socialist revolutionaries and Tsarist officials that make up the #1917Live universe.
The “canon” of this universe is already established, but that has not prevented RT from having some fun; for example, the Russian Telegraph account will rename itself Revolutionary Times when the October Revolution is carried out. There was even a live Q&A with Vladimir Lenin himself as he engaged with various people within the #1917Live community.
The #1917Live group of Twitter accounts is a thoroughly thought-out worldbuilding undertaking, boasting household names like Lenin and Stalin, lesser-known ones like Alexander Shlyapnikov (profiled here),  and down to the outright obscure, like a bakery owner and street-level Bolsheviks.
Users are even invited to create their own historical personages and join the ranks of this universe as the #1917Crowd.  Renowned Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho has taken RT up on this invitation, personally writing the account of a double-agent dancer.
In its attempts at recreating this revolutionary period, RT even went so far as to make accounts of organizations that still exist, such as the New York Times. This eagerness to reproduce a turbulent world got RT, no stranger to trouble with foreign governments, into hot water, however, after it created an account for the British embassy, hoping to use it to tweet its reactions to Russia’s ever-evolving situation. The British government objected to the use of its official crest and perhaps misleading biography, and had the account suspended.
Nevertheless, RT’s creative zeal continued, and they did not limit themselves to Twitter. A series of promotional videos (in English and Russian) were created, which were recognized in a recent entertainment award competition.
The project’s website also contains a live chronicle of events, along with other media like video clips and a “Lenin Tracker.” On its homepage, it seems the Russian government’s ethos regarding the official treatment of the October Revolution has been internalized, as it states:
We will not pass judgement – instead, we look back at this great, albeit daunting page in the history of the former Russian empire.
Curious phrasing, which perhaps hints at the government’s true assessment: In 2014, Putin blamed the Bolsheviks for causing the disgraceful end of the First World War and for breaking up the Russian Empire.
Despite all these interactive and creative features, the lack of any Russian-language content is a bit jarring; there is no option for Russian visible on the #1917Live’s splash page. By selecting English and substituting “ru” for “en” in the address bar, we can get to the now-defunct Russian version. The month-by-month chronicle stops in April, just after the April Crisis of 1917.
Evidently, there were even plans for a Russian-language version of the #1917Live Twitter accounts.  When reached for comment, RT’s web editor Kirril Karnovich-Valua confirmed this, saying:
We did initially explore the options of running the #1917LIVE in 2 languages, but decided that, in order to engage truly international audience and social media community around this historical reenactment, it made more sense to run #1917LIVE as a single-language project, in English. And indeed, despite running just English-language content, the project has attracted followers and participants from dozens of countries, and has been written about by the media in 14 languages, including Russian. We also look forward to launching a new, Russian-language online portal for the project's multimedia content for the Revolution's centennial in November.
The centennial is almost upon us, and time will tell if the Russian-language project will be as well-produced as the English version of #1917Live. Nevertheless, we should be appreciative that the English-speaking world has had the opportunity to engage with an official Russian government project commemorating the October Revolution. The Russian people have yet to.

author: Christopher Moldes


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Balkan Pride Parades Highlight Growing Support for LGBT Rights (and Politicians Are Taking Notice) · Global Voices
Marko Angelov

Infographic depicting the years of first pride parades in the Balkans, identifying Macedonia and Bosnia as ‘black holes.’ Image by Reflektor, used with permission.
Three pride parades took place in the Balkans in recent months, and hate speech is more often met with legal actions. Support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights is slowly increasing in many of the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Progress has not happened evenly across the region, however, and in some cases, political reasons rather than concern for human rights appear to drive change.
Zagreb Pride takes place every June in Croatia's capital city. After the first such pride suffered a violent attack in 2002, with 32 participants receiving serious injuries, the event had become a traditional feature of the Croatian capital, with thousands in attendance. 2017 was no exception, and the #ZagrebPride march from June 10 was organized as a part of LGBT Pride Month celebrated around the world.
In Serbia's capital, Belgrade Pride took place on September 17, and included the participation of openly gay Prime Minister Ana Brnabić as the “first head of government to attend a Balkan Pride event.”
Belgrade Pride banner “For а Change”. Photo by Subversive Front, used with permission.
Brnabić was appointed in June 2017. Many local analysts regarded Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić's choice of a female and gay prime minister as a sly political move, aimed at impressing the European Union. Brnabić is often portrayed as a figurehead that falls in line with Vučić, who dominates politics, business, and media in the country, instead of advocating reform of her own accord.
For years, Belgrade's pride parades had been met with violence, leading at times to postponement or cancellation. But since 2015, they have been held without incident, prompting some cynics to comment that when the powerful Vučić wants, he can reign in the hooligans that have enjoyed full impunity for violent behavior in the past.
The latest of the three pride parades to take place was in Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo, on October 10 (#PristinaPride). It also had support by the government and passed without reported incidents.
Today was Pristina 1st Pride Parade #InTheNameOfLove #NëEmërTëDashnisë #uImeLjubavi ??no incidents&approx. 500 ppl. #PristinaPride #LGBTI pic.twitter.com/KPrK77DT6F
— Agim Margilaj (@AgimMargilaj) October 10, 2017
However, two Balkan countries have never had an official pride parade: Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. And in Macedonia, homophobic hate speech was openly used by right-wing populist politicians and parties during the campaign for the October 15, 2017, local elections.
The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia, the LGBT Support Center and the Coalition Sexual and Health Rights of Marginalized Communities strongly condemned statements by Stevco Jakimovski, a candidate for mayor in a Skopje municipality of Karposh. Hate speech is a criminal offense in Macedonia, and the three NGOs pressed charges against the incumbent mayor after he accused his opponent Stefan Bogoev of being gay (Bogoev is heterosexual) and claimed that homosexuality is “the most dangerous mafia” bent on infiltrating the municipality.
Two weeks ago, unknown perpetrators also distributed black propaganda leaflets against Bogoev, noting his friendship with a local celebrity whom they claimed to be gay. At the same time, a jeep owned by the friend's father was torched within the confines of the municipality. The leaflets, using similar language to that employed by the mayor in public speeches, warned about the “danger” of holding a pride parade in the area.
In the end, however, most of the citizens of Karposh municipality voted for the liberal candidate. Bogoev got 58% of the votes, against 37% for Jakimovski.
Could all this indicate a return to the more liberal values that characterized the former Yugoslavia (which was made up of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia)? Although Yugoslavia wasn't exactly a leader in LGBT rights, contrary to assumptions it wasn't a leader in the repression of sexual and gender minorities, either, especially when compared to Western countries.
Franko Dota, Ph.D. Courtesy photo used with his permission.
Croatian historian and activist Franko Dota recently defended a Ph.D. thesis on homosexuality in Yugoslavia (1945-1990), with a focus on Croatia. His work showed that the socialist society had addressed the issue in various ways at different time periods. Immediately after World War II, there were several show trials of gay men as exemplars of “bourgeois decadence,” but that stopped by the 1950s. A trend of gradual liberalization resulted in formal decriminalization of homosexuality in Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Vojvodina in the 1980s.
Dota's research also compared the institutional homophobia with that of other European countries at the time, discovering that the East was sometimes “milder” than the West. He revealed that from 1945 to 1977 there were around 1,500 trials against homosexuals in Yugoslavia, resulting in punishments ranging from fines to suspended sentences to prison. During the same period, there were 70,000 comparable actions in Western Germany, 20,000 in Italy (for “offending public morals”) and 50,000 in the UK (including computer science trailblazer Alan Turing).
In an interview with Croatian online magazine Telegram, published on October 12, Dota explained that by the 1980s mainstream medical professionals in Yugoslavia had adopted an informal position that homosexuality was not a disease, way before the World Health Organization came to the same conclusion. And a 1986 book by influential sexologist Marijan Košiček pushed against negative attitudes towards homosexuality within politics, law, religion and communist ideology, considering it a normal and healthy phenomenon.
Dota said:
Jugoslavija u početku nije prednjačila u progresivnim iskoracima, ali nije niti zaostajala. Ne možemo je staviti niti na najcrnju, niti na najsvjetliju listu. U nekim se stvarima zemlja pokazala daleko ispred svog vremena i zapadnoeuropskih trendova. To su mediji, koji su 80-ih mnogo liberalnije od američkih izvještavali o homoseksualnosti, to je dio zdravstvenog sustava, koji je pojavi epidemije HIV-a i AIDS-a pristupio profesionalno, a ne moralizatorski kako se uglavnom događalo u Francuskoj i Americi.
At the beginning Yugoslavia was not at the forefront in progressive initiatives, but it was also not far behind. We can't put it on the list of worst, nor on the list of best examples. In some aspects the country was far ahead of its time and Western European trends. For instance, the media in the 1980s were reporting about homosexuality in a much more liberal manner than those in the USA. A relevant segment of the health care system responded to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in a professional way, without the moralizing that took place in France or America.
But across the region, the situation changed after the break up of Yugoslavia. “The 1990s were a time of strong re-traditionalisation and renewal of some patriarchal and extreme traditionalist and homophobic tendencies in society, due to the war(s) and other factors,” Dota said in his interview.

author: Marko Angelov


text:
Philippines: Human Rights Groups Ask Apple to Reject Games Glorifying President Duterte’s War on Drugs · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Screenshot of Fighting Crime 2 game.
More than 130 organizations from around the world have signed a petition urging Apple Inc.  to remove from its app store a series of mobile games that glorify the “war on drugs” in the Philippines.
Addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the petition was developed and circulated by the Asian Network of People Who Use Drugs (AMPUD), a Thailand-based advocacy organization that promotes health and human rights protections for drug users.
The petition asserts that these games violate Apple's policies, which prohibit games promoting violence against human beings and animals. It urges Apple to conduct a formal review of the Duterte-inspired apps, remove apps that promote violence against drug users, and apologize for hosting these apps.
Since assuming power on June 30, 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has made the anti-drug campaign a top priority.
But the anti-drug operations of the police (known as Oplan Tokhang) quickly became notorious as they led to thousands of killings of suspected drug peddlers. The police recorded 6,000 drug-related killings, but some human rights groups say the number of deaths is much higher, at 13,000. Even the international community has expressed alarm over the spate of drug-related killings in the country.
The Duterte government has been accused by various human rights groups of endorsing impunity by vowing to protect the police, including those involved in extrajudicial killings.
Some of Duterte's loyal constituents showed their support by developing mobile games inspired by Oplan Tokhang. These games featured Duterte and the country's police chief battling criminals and drug personalities.
Some of the Duterte-inspired games available on Apple. Photo from the website of the Asian Network of People Who Use Drugs
Last October 2016, Global Voices reported that one of these games, Fighting Crime, had reached two million downloads. Fighting Crime, developed by Tatay Games, allows the player to assume the role of Rody (Duterte's nickname). The player's objective is to shoot and kill criminals with a variety of weapons and special powers. The game ends if these enemies reach the president before he can kill them.
Another game, Tsip Bato: Ang Bumangga Giba! was developed by Ranida Games with the support of the Police Community Relations Group, a group within the Philippine National Police. Players can assume the role of chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa or of President Duterte driving a police pickup truck and shooting or running down criminals prowling the streets.
The act of running over enemies in the game is eerily reminiscent of the way a police van ran down indigenous and minority protesters in front of the US Embassy last year.
Screenshots of Tsip Bato: Ang Bumangga Giba! app.
Duterte vs Zombies, a game developed by Lemuel Levi Caldito, likens Duterte's war on drugs to a zombie apocalypse. Players control the character “Tatay Digong” (an endearing moniker for the president used by his supporters which literally means “Father Duterte”) battling criminals depicted as a brainless, blood-thirsty crowd of zombies.
Screenshot of Duterte vs. Zombies.
In their open letter, rights advocates pointed to some of these themes, decrying Apple’s complicity in the normalization of extrajudicial killings and impunity. The petitioners reminded the company that the games may be entertaining, but they spread a dangerous message:
These games valorize and normalize the emerging tyranny of Duterte's presidency and his government's disregard for human rights principles….these games may seem harmless and fun, but when they are placed within the context of existing realities, of real murders of people and the impunity of law enforcement, then these games become offensive and distasteful.
[…]
It is unacceptable that Apple is tolerant to making profit out of people’s unjust deaths and misery.
The letter also argues that the games violate Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines against objectionable content depicting violence. Indeed, the guidelines prohibit “realistic portrayals of people or animals being killed, maimed, tortured, or abused, or content that encourages violence” (section 1.1.2). These Duterte-inspired games are also available on Google Play Store.
The signatories of the petition include 131 human rights groups, rehabilitation centers, and other advocacy networks from over 30 countries including Australia, Cambodia, France, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Netherlands, Pakistan, Romania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States, among others.
This campaign against Duterte-inspired gaming apps comes amid rising protests not only against the killings but also the threat of the president to declare martial law if opposition groups continue to mount ‘destabilization’ activities against the government.
Public outcry against the excesses committed under Oplan Tokhang forced the police to declare the termination of the campaign early this month. The anti-drug campaign is now headed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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In Nepal, Every Dog Has Its Day—and That Day Is Called Kukur Tihar · Global Voices
Rezwan

A dog decorated with red tika and garlands on the occassion of Kukur Tihar. Image via Flickr by wildstray. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Did you know that in Nepal and in some parts of India there is a Hindu holiday dedicated to celebrating the special bond between humans and dogs?
It's called Kukur Tihar and is the second day of a five-day-long festival called Tihar, which is marked in part with lamps and firecrackers, similar to Diwali observances in India and elsewhere. On Kukur Tihar, people offer garlands, tika (red dots) and special treats such as milk, eggs, meat, or high-quality dog food to pet dogs and strays alike.
The garland is called “malla,” and signals admiration and dignity. It declares the wearer as a vital possession and symbolizes the prayers that accompany the canine. The tika (red dot) imbues the dog with an air of sacredness and acts as a blessing to people who encounter the dog on this auspicious day.
Pradeep Singh explains on his blog:
Hindus believe that dog is the guard of Yamaraj, who is known as the god of death. Dogs are believed to be Loyal animals and this day celebrates the relationship between humans and dogs.
This year, the holiday fell on October 18, and social media in Nepal was flooded with photos of pampered pups and their happy owners.
Happy dog day ? ?#kukurtihar #festival #diwali #culture #dog #flowers #hindufestival ? ✌ pic.twitter.com/1BzcM5Jm2Y
— Suraj Dangol (@its_me_suuu) October 18, 2017
“Every dog has its day.”#KukurTihar pic.twitter.com/j9zrafyqiJ
— Pujan Shrestha (@p_shrestha1) October 18, 2017
Happy #kukurtihar to everyone celebrating. One of the coolest festivals around. pic.twitter.com/EWuHJX86WA
— Kumud Raj Poudel (@kumudrajp) October 18, 2017
Favorite day ? in the name of their loyalty ?? #KukurTihar #HappyTihar ? pic.twitter.com/V049PxtIvl
— Sristi?Ratan Singh (@ShristiSr) October 18, 2017
People also shared the prayers (“puja”) with the canines:
Video from Todays ceremony of Kukur(Dog) Tihar. #Tihar #nepal #NationalDogDay pic.twitter.com/OL1aAmaj8U
— Himanshu-Kun (@19himanshu) October 18, 2017
Reverence to every creature is the basic norms of Hindu mythology. Today is the day of Dog in Nepal. Happy ‘Kukur Tihar’ (Dog worshiping) pic.twitter.com/BGW1H2OE10
— Girish Giri (@Birgunj) October 18, 2017
Some dog owners from elsewhere in the world also took the opportunity to celebrate with their pets:
My family (@dahalalish @kellyjellymua) celebrates #Diwali – especially #KukurTihar with my puppy niece Pepper! ?❤ #Nepal pic.twitter.com/tlyiyCr9Oy
— Kristi Stark (@krististark) October 19, 2017
Happy Kukur Tihar, the holiday of any nationality, ethnicity, or religion most venerating our canine friends. #KukurTihar @darth @dog_rates
— (((Mathew Helman))) (@MatHelman) October 19, 2017
If only such gestures of love could be shown to dogs all year round, one Nepalese animal welfare project pondered:
Miyu, an abandoned deaf dog, now adopted and enjoying the festival :)
Let us give dogs the love and care they deserve, all year around ❤ pic.twitter.com/LbDljA2vT0
— Project Humane Nepal (@PHNepal) October 18, 2017

author: Rezwan


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Netizen Report: Will Egypt’s Jailed Activists Ever See Justice? · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

Alaa and his wife, Manal Hassan. Photo by Lilian Wagdy via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
On 19 October, Egypt’s highest court of appeal postponed the trial of prominent activist and blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah to 8 November. The 36-year-old father and husband was a leading voice in the 2011 protests that helped to overthrow former president Hosni Mubarak.
Abd El Fattah is currently serving a five-year jail term for violating Egypt’s protest law, which prohibits public demonstrations without prior authorization by police. He has already served 3.5 years of his sentence. In Thursday's hearing, the judge withdrew from Alaa’s case and referred it to another circuit. As the reason, he cited “embarrassment” without providing any further clarifications.
Abd El Fattah is being prosecuted for taking part in a protest denouncing military trials of civilians in November 2013. Although several people were arrested for participating in the demonstration, all of them — apart from Abd El Fattah — have since been released or pardoned.
In a separate case, Abd El Fattah faces an additional jail term for “insulting” the judiciary over a tweet that criticized Egypt’s justice system for its lack of independence. This charge stems from comments he made during a controversial 2013 trial in which 43 NGO workers were sentenced to prison after they were found guilty of defaming the Egyptian judiciary.
In 2016, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has concluded that Alaa’s detention is “arbitrary” and identified several irregularities in his trial. “Mr. Abd El Fattah has not been guaranteed the international norms of due process and guarantees to a fair trial,” the group said.
Since Egypt’s 2013 military coup which ended the rule of elected president Mohamed Morsi, and brought to power general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, thousands of activists, journalists and protesters have been imprisoned. Rights groups say 60,000 political prisoners are languishing in jail under Egypt’s flawed justice system. Violations under the system include ill-treatment, arrests without warrants, lengthy pretrial detentions, mass trials, military trials, and a disturbing rise in death sentences.
In another prominent case in Egypt, the trial of photographer  Mahmoud Abu Zeid (known as Shawkan) was once again postponed. Shawkan, who has been in pretrial detention for five years, will appear before court again on 24 October. He was arrested in August 2013, while photographing Egyptian security officers using undue force against protesters who opposed the ousting of Mohamed Morsi.
While the Egyptian government has taken a harsh approach towards public protest, their tactics for monitoring the activities of human rights and democracy activists extend deeply into the digital realm. Since the protests of 2011, there has been significant evidence that Egyptian state actors have used technical surveillance in order to target activists.
The German government reportedly canceled a security training for Egyptian police in monitoring cyber crimes and extremist content. According to Associated Press, the German government decided to cancel the training for fear that the police would use acquired skills to monitor citizens who have no connection to organized crime.
According to the New Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Centre, more than 23,000 web URLs are currently censored in India. The independent advocacy and research group obtained this information through a Right to Information request, which was fulfilled by the Cyber Laws and E-Security Group under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Group.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) reported at an open meeting last week that telecommunications operators have blocked 5,044 URLs since 2015, at the Commission’s behest. The majority of those websites, according to the Commission were either pornographic, obscene or “seditious.”
And in Pakistan, a group of independent researchers from Islamabad NGO Bytes for All and the Open Observatory for Network Interference documented more than 200 censored URLs using their own technical testing software. Commenting on the findings, Digital Rights Foundation Executive Director and Global Voices member Nighat Dad said,
The filtration technology has been there for a while in Pakistan and I think back in 2011 or 2012 there was a report on Pakistan’s internet exchange gateway and they learnt about the filtration method and how to block websites — it has always been there. It doesn’t come as a surprise that 210 URLs were blocked….I’m sure if you test all of those available in the country there must be several hundred URLs blocked.
The US-based video and voice calling application Skype confirmed that it is blocked in Qatar. In a statement, the service, which is owned by Microsoft, said there is “very little Skype can do about this situation”. Doha News reported that users in Qatar started reporting issues when trying to use voice-over-IP (VoIP) services including WhatsApp, SKype, Viber and Facetime, back in August. Neither regulators nor the country’s two telecom operators, Ooredoo and Vodafone, explained the reason for the suspension of services.
In other countries, regulators have blocked VoIP services in an effort to force customers to pay long distance call fees to local telecom operators, rather than use services like Skype or WhatsApp, which operate on internet infrastructure and typically come at no additional cost to the customer.
A Japanese group known as the Anti-Racism Information Center recently launched a website called the “2017 House of Representatives Election Hate Speech Politicians Database.” The site purports to contain information about dozens of hateful, discriminatory statements made by various active politicians running for re-election.
Iranian human rights defenders and journalists have reported challenges getting help from social media companies when they face harassment and hacking on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Obtaining verified status can provide users additional protections against false reporting and politically-driven flagging of content, but Iranian users told Global Voices researcher Simin Kargar that they faced challenges obtaining verified status even after sending the required documentation. Additionally, there is no information available in Farsi on how to obtain verification or to guide users on reporting and documenting harassment on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
Afef Abrougui, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Mong Palatino and Sarah Myers West contributed to this report.

author: Netizen Report Team


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How One Verification Team Worked to Debunk Misleading Information About the Japanese Election · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Campaign photo first shared on Twitter by Kan Hideki, Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan candidate for Osaka District No.13. The image was subsequently shared dozens of times on Twitter claiming Kan was being helped by “foreigners” during the election. Banners and placards read “Constitutional Democratic Party” and “Let's take back government for everyone.” Image source here.
On Sunday, October 22, Japan went to the polls and re-elected the government of Abe Shinzo. The snap election, called on September 25, saw the disintegration of one opposition political party and the birth of two new ones, and was threatened at the last minute by a super typhoon.
And, like in many election campaigns, there was no shortage of misleading and inflammatory information shared on social media.
To help identify misinformation, the Japan Center of Education for Journalist, or JCEJ, launched an online news verification project to highlight some of the most prominent false stories, judging them as “debunked” (フェイク判定).
In a series of short posts, members of the JCEJ verification project team identified and disproved several instances of widely shared false information that emerged during the election campaign, from supposed backroom deals made by opposition politicians, to reports of Russian involvement in the election.
One example of widely shared false information that received JCEJ's “debunked” judgement was a popular pair of tweets that claimed it is illegal for “foreigners” or non-Japanese residents in Japan to participate in Japanese elections.
One of those tweets was first shared by “Gekko3569“, a Twitter account with more than 28,000 followers that typically publishes and discusses content that appeals to a far-right audience. The tweet read:
在日外国人に政治活動を行う権利無し！
選挙運動（ビラ配りやポスター貼り演説など）も違法！
公職選挙法第百三十七条の三、第二百五十二条又は政治資金規正法第二十八条 の規定により選挙権及び被選挙権を有しない者は選挙運動をすることができない！
外国籍の選挙運動は違法行為にあたる！ pic.twitter.com/5hk2BjeOlU
— 月光3569 (@gekkou3569) 7 de octubre de 2017
Foreign citizens residing in Japan have no right to participate in elections. Participating in elections (such as leafleting and putting up posters) is illegal! According to Article 137, Section 3 and Article 205, Section 2 of the Public Offices Election Law, as well as Article 28 of the Political Funds Control Law, (non-Japanese persons) may neither assist nor hinder Japanese elections!
Foreigners participating in Japanese elections are breaking Japanese electoral law!
The other tweet that JCEJ identified was first shared by Wada Mizuki. Wada's Twitter bio identifies him as the general secretary of the Osaka-based ultra-nationalist Japan First Party, itself headed by far-right figure Sakurai Makoto. Besides leading Japan First, Sakurai also heads infamous far-right group Zaitokuai, and has been implicated in promoting hate speech against ethnic Koreans in Japan.
During the election campaign, Japan First's Wada seemed to notice that a campaign photo by Kan Hideki, a candidate of the progressive Constitutional Democratic Party, included Lee Sinhae, a journalist and “zainichi” (or non-Japanese) ethnic Korean activist who has long been relentlessly targeted by Sakurai and other ultra-right figures.
拡散希望
かん英紀立憲民主党大阪13区の選挙事前運動に李信恵がいる。
外国人が選挙に参加してる！
これあかんでしょ！ pic.twitter.com/Iv5Y0qqPLs
— 和田瑞季 (@mizuki_84) October 9, 2017
We hope this gets shared widely -
Lee Sinhae is participating in election campaigning for Kan Hideki, Constitutional Democratic Party candidate in Osaka District No. 13. Foreigners are participating in the election! This is way wrong!
After Wada claimed the Kan campaign in Osaka violated election laws, he encouraged others to share his tweet, and widely. So far, Wada's original tweet has been shared nearly 2,000 times. As a result, the image from Kan's original tweet shows up dozens of times in search engine results, along with claims that his campaign is breaking the law:
Reverse image search of the image first posted by Kan Hideki's campaign, and then by Wada Mizuki.
The JCEJ verification team found that it is, in fact, not illegal for non-Japanese people to participate in Japanese elections:
衆院選挙に関して、「外国人が選挙に参加してる！これあかんでしょ！」「外国籍の選挙運動は違法行為にあたる！」などの書き込みがツイッターに投稿されています。フェイクニュース確認プロジェクトの参加者は、 公職選挙法などに外国人の選挙運動を制限する規定はないことから、これらの書き込みを「フェイク」と判定しました。
＜フェイク判定をした記者：5人＞
During the election there have been tweets posted that say “Foreigners are participating in the election! This is way wrong!” and “Foreigners participating in Japanese elections are breaking Japanese electoral law!” Since the Public Offices Election Law places no limits on the participation of non-Japanese in Japanese elections, members of the JCEJ verification project have judged these posts as “fake.”
<Debunked as “fake” by 5 journalists>
Foreign nationals and permanent residents in Japan may not, however, make political donations or run for public office.
The JCEJ article also linked to Bengoshi Dotcom News, a legal news site in Japan. Bengoshi Dotcom News reviewed one by one the election laws identified in Gekko3569's widely shared tweet from October 7 that supposedly prohibit non-Japanese people from participating in Japanese elections.
They found that none explicitly ban non-Japanese people from taking part in Japanese elections, and concluded:
関連している法律は、公職選挙法、政治資金規正法、入管法が考えられるが、総務省、法務省ともに、「外国人の選挙運動を規制するものはない」としている。
Taking into consideration the Public Offices Election Law, Political Funds Control Law Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, neither the Ministry of Justice nor the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications [responsible for elections] place any limits on the activities of non-Japanese people during elections.
The Bengoshi Dotcom article also reviewed the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, which sets guidelines for when non-Japanese people may be denied entry to or even deported from Japan, and, once again, there are no limits placed on how non-Japanese people may participate in Japanese elections.
The JECJ's efforts to debunk the false information seem to be working. Recent Twitter searches for “foreigners participating in the election” (外国人が選挙に参加してる) result in many recent tweets calling out the tweet first posted by Wada Mizuki as “fake” or as “false rumors” (“dema” or “demagogi”, デマゴギー):
外国人の選挙運動は禁止されてないよ。なんだろね、こういうデマを流して気持ちいいのかねえ・・・ https://t.co/2csx3iQyW7
— 巨椋修 (@oguraosamu) October 23, 2017
Hey, non-Japanese are not prohibited from participating in Japanese elections, okay? I wonder why they do it. Does it feel good to spread such false rumors?
More information about JCEJ in English can be found on the organization's website, including principal team members, current projects and new research.

author: Nevin Thompson


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Some Kashmiris Think Indian Authorities Are Behind Braid-Chopping Attacks Against Women · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kashmiri protestors raise slogans during a protest against the killing of a civilian on the outskirts of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Image from Instagram by Ieshan Wani. Used with permission
Over the past two months, at least 200 women in Indian-administered Kashmir have reported being attacked by masked assailants who cut off their braids. According to many of the victims’ accounts, the perpetrators ambushed the women inside or nearby their homes, and some allegedly sprayed chemicals to render them unconscious before chopping off their hair.
A woman's long hair is associated with her honor, and so forcibly cutting it short is not only an attack on her person but considered an attack on her honor as well. Despite their number, the incidents remain unsolved, and protests are getting fiercer by the day. The situation has highlighted the dangerous distrust that exists between locals and authorities in the already volatile region.
Over the past three decades, the people of the Kashmir Valley have demanded the right to hold a referendum on their independence. In that time, more than 68,000 people have been killed in sporadic uprisings and subsequent crackdowns. The Indian military has been accused of numerous human rights violations, including enforced disappearances of over 8,000 people.
Many Kashmiris, who live with a strong military presence in their region, are skeptical that security forces are truly in the dark about who is behind the attacks. Some even accuse the state of orchestrating the braid-chopping assaults as a way to frighten the population into submission.
Seema Mustafa explained at The Citizen independent online daily:
It is difficult to believe that these persons can strike at will, enter homes, and get away in Kashmir where even the movements of birds and leaves are tracked. Intelligence agencies that can flush out militants from thin air, have “no idea” about these persons who have the locals chasing shadows, and each other, at any time they so wish.
The “rumor milling and conspiracy theories” being tossed around are many, said Raees –ul-Hamid Paul at Kashmir Reader:
Some people believe that it is the revival of old tactics of New Delhi, creating fear and psychosis in the public to divert them from the sentiment of freedom. But a counter question can be asked, what was the need to use this tactic at this juncture when there was a relative calm on the streets of the valley and people were doing their normal business?
While certain others believe that the motive behind such incidents is to create a soft corner for the police and the mainstream politicians to whom the scared people report and narrate these horror tales. The other theory being propounded is to squeeze the space for the militants in the valley who take refuge in the houses […] because every alien person would be looked upon with doubtful eyes by the local population […] The [Director General of] Police, on the other hand, blamed separatists for exploiting this situation to stoke unrest in the valley.
The distrust in the authorities and fear surrounding the attacks in Kashmir has led to sometimes deadly instances of mob violence. A 70-year-old man mistaken for a “braid chopper” was lynched by his own neighbors in Anantnag. Migrant laborers, non-locals and even foreign tourists have been harassed by crowds suspicious of their motives for being there.
Some have linked the series of braid-chopping assaults in Kashmir to instances of women's braids being mysteriously chopped off in a number of other Indian states earlier this year.
In many of those cases, locals said it was the work of supernatural forces, or psychiatrists blamed mass hysteria: “From the available evidence, the women are cutting their own hair either consciously or in an altered sensorium, likely to seek attention,” the former head of the department of psychiatry at New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences told the Hindustan Times in August.
There's been pushback, however, to framing the Kashmir braid-cutting as such. As Mustafa wrote for The Citizen:
And of course there is a third explanation that was hinted at initially, but now is not really heard of as the ghosts have overextended themselves. That the Kashmiri women are hysterical and braid chopping is a figment of their fertile imaginations. But this seems to have been scorched by the widespread of such incidents […] Besides, if this was the case one would expect the authorities to prove it so, and thereby bring the braid chopping inspired terror to an end.
The chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir warned that what was happening in Kashmir was meant to “create mass hysteria”:
Braid chopping incidents are attempts to create mass hysteria and undermine the dignity of the women in the state. pic.twitter.com/gwsTv5UTAH
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 12, 2017
But for the moment, Kashmiris remain without answers. Some residents have created night patrols in response. The police have registered dozens of First Incident Reports (FIRs) against alleged braid-choppers and rumor-mongers in Kashmir. According to the police, all the suspects detained so far turned out to be innocent and had no connection with braid-chopping. They are clueless and yet to capture those actually responsible and threatened legal action against those spreading braid-chopping rumors. Cash rewards also were announced to encourage people to report the culprits.
The situation has seriously impacted Kashmiri women's sense of security, wrote one Twitter user:
We Kashmiri girls feel insecure in our home now ,it's horrible .
— Maham (@buttmaham1) 12 de Octubre de 2017
It also threatens to reduce the space for women to go without hijab and travel where they please, wrote Arshie Qureshi in Feminism in India. She described the “patriarchal responses” she has experienced since the braid-chopping began:
In the past one week, on numerous occasions, I was asked, rather dictated, by random men and women on streets to cover my head and when I refused, the usual response was that it was women like me who had brought about this infliction of braid chopping on the entire society. Saying this not only depicted their dislike for me not covering my head, but also a certain degree of support for braid chopping of women who refused to cover their heads.
[…] My parents have started becoming uneasy with my movement outside the house in early and late hours when the streets are mostly deserted. I observe most school going females waiting at bus stands accompanied by their parents, especially males. […] So not are their braids just being chopped, the already limited participation of women in public life is gradually shrinking.
Protests have spread across Kashmir region:
Kashmir university students hold protest against braid chopping incidents in Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/2L5R8FsOsJ
— BASIT ZARGAR (@BASIIPJ) October 12, 2017
The local government in Kashmir has formed a committee to address the attacks and offer medical assistance and counseling to victims. But tensions remain high. Without credible answers, women's place in the public space, as well as peace in the region, seems more and more at risk.


text:
‘Super Typhoon’ Threatens Japan, Japanese Elections · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

The location of Typhoon 21, a “super typhoon”, as of Thursday evening, October 19. Screencap from official ANN YouTube Channel.
As Japan heads to the polls this weekend to vote in a general election, the hashtag #超大型台風 (“super typhoon”) is trending on Twitter. After a year in which unrelenting torrential rains have left dozens dead across the country, Japan is bracing for a powerful late-season typhoon and there are fears the election on Sunday, October 22 will be disrupted.
気象庁「早く期日前投票に行け！超大型台風が来るぞ！」 https://t.co/a927kxvWYr pic.twitter.com/Uyb8lBPTcf
— A-Zアンテナ (@AZ07988830) October 21, 2017
Japan Meteorological Agency: Make sure you vote early! A super typhoon is approaching!
http://www.sankei.com/politics/news/171020/plt1710200056-n1.html
The super typhoon is the 21st in the 2017 season as recorded by the Japan Meteorological Agency, and is known as Typhoon Lan in English-language media. By early in the morning on Saturday, October 21, the typhoon was making its way north from the Philippine Sea towards the Japanese archipelago.
A Twitter user who goes by the handle “Solo Trip to Korea” (@韓国ひとり旅) posted an updated image of the latest storm track, and how the menacing typhoon has affected their plans:
来週の週明けに訪韓しようと思っていたら超大型台風の来襲だと。
こりゃあいかんと思いキャンセルし、改めて数日後の予約が完了しました。 pic.twitter.com/5lIED6SkuA
— 韓国ひとり旅 (@momotaro18661) October 21, 2017
I was thinking about visiting South Korea next when a super typhoon reared its ugly head. “This is gonna be bad,” I thought and canceled my plans, rebooking for several days later.
According to forecasts, the typhoon should make landfall somewhere to the southwest of Tokyo, and then proceed northward along the Pacific coastline.
“Super-typhoon” itself is a term used for typhoons that reach maximum sustained 65 m/s (150 mph), and is the equivalent of a strong Saffir-Simpson category 4 or category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic.
In September, two category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria struck Dominica, St. Martin, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and other territories in the Caribbean, causing significant damage and devastation. There are fears the same devastation may be in store for Japan.
A graphic first published by the Okinawa Times has been shared a number of times on Twitter, and explains just how big a super typhoon is—the storm has the potential to cover Japan from one end to the other:
【朗報】台風21号、2年ぶりの『超大型』へと成長。超大型台風の上陸は6年ぶりの快挙。
台風情報＝気象庁予報部（位置）　 https://t.co/UwIF2Zpx51 pic.twitter.com/VBh8GY2jhm
— 台風ナマズんJC2号? (@NAMAZUrx) October 20, 2017
Left image: “Large typhoon – radius of 500 km”
Right image: “Super typhoon – radius of 800 km”
Typhoon 21 is the first “super typhoon” to appear in two years. It has been six years since the last super typhoon made landfall.
While the main impact from the typhoon is expected on Monday, October 23, there are fears the massive storm will already affect voter turnout on Sunday's election.
Miserable weather expected across much of Japan for Election Day, possibly depressing vote even further.
— SNA Japan (@ShingetsuNews) October 21, 2017
In this election, Japan's fledgling opposition parties need to generate all of the voter turnout they can get. There are two entirely new opposition parties contesting the election on Sunday.
One of the parties, the progressive, left-leaning Japan Constitutional Democracy Party, which has rocketed to second-place in the polls, has made a plea for potential supporters to get out and vote while they still can:
お早めの投票をお願いします！お気をつけてお出かけください。#立憲民主党
気象庁が異例呼びかけ「事前に投票を」　超大型台風接近：朝日新聞デジタル https://t.co/96FAQObZzR
— 立憲民主党 (@CDP2017) October 21, 2017
We are asking everyone to get out and vote early. And please be careful on your way to the polls. #Constitutional_Democracy_Party
Article: Japan Meteorological Agency issues extraordinary alert: “vote early” as super typhoon approaches.


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The Femicide in Mexico by a ‘Cabify’ Driver That Shook Latin America · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

A photo of Mara Fernanda Castilla, murdered by a ‘Cabify’ driver. Photo shared widely on social media.
The case of teenager Mara Fernanda Castilla whose life was cut short after taking a taxi ordered via the app Cabify has caused public outrage in Mexico and surrounding countries.
On the night of September 7, Mara Castilla was out having a good time with friends at a nightclub in San Andrés Cholula (in the state of Puebla, eastern Mexico). By the early hours of September 8, when Mara was ready to go home after the party, she ordered a taxi through Cabify but never arrived home.
Several days after her family reported her missing, it was confirmed that Mara's body had been found on a highway in Puebla, wrapped in a sheet and towels bearing the logo of a nearby motel. Shortly before the discovery, the taxi driver in question had already been detained by local authorities. The Governor of Puebla announced the development on Twitter, via a couple of tweets:
Con profundo dolor envío mi pésame a los familiares de #MaraCastilla. QDEP. El presunto responsable está detenido y pagará por este crimen. pic.twitter.com/88k05Z1ryl
— Tony Gali (@TonyGali) 15 de septiembre de 2017
With deep sadness I send my condolences to the family of #MaraCastilla. RIP. The alleged perpetrator has been detained and will pay for this crime.
Todo el peso de la ley a los responsables del crimen de #MaraCastilla. Revisaremos con rigor los estándares de seguridad de @Cabify_Mexico.
— Tony Gali (@TonyGali) 15 de septiembre de 2017
The full weight of the law against the perpetrator of this crime against #MaraCastilla. We will rigorously review the safety standards of @Cabify_Mexico.
Global Voices (GV) has recently reported from Mexico on Uber and Cabify services being flagged by many users for poor quality and the crimes against passengers.
Following the discovery of Castilla's body, which showed signs of sexual violence, demands previously made in Mexico to address gender-based violence against women have resurfaced. During the barrage of #SiMeMatan (#IfTheyKillMe) tweets in May of 2017 — a campaign which aimed to ridicule the double victimization faced by women today — Castilla herself tweeted:
#SiMeMatan es porque me gustaba salir de noche y tomar mucha cerveza…
— MAPI (@MaraMiranda25) May 5, 2017
#IfTheyKillMe it is because I liked to go out at night and drink a lot of beer…
This same Twitter hashtag was revived on social media to remember Castilla and the hundreds of femicide cases in which victims are often blamed:
#SiMeMatan se considerará “crimen de pasión” no feminicidio, dirán que andaba de provocadora, me fui con el novio, soy “puta”, drogadicta,..
— Andrea Noel ϟ (@metabolizedjunk) 16 de septiembre de 2017
#IfTheyKillMe it will be considered a “crime of passion” not femicide, they will say that I was being provocative, I left with my boyfriend, I'm “slutty,” a drug addict…
Detrás de cada mujer tuiteando #SiMeMatan hay una mujer indignada y buscando que #NiUnaMas vuelva a ser asesinada. pic.twitter.com/JIXQ9fWkaH
— Elena Ramírez ® (@SoyElenaRamirez) 18 de septiembre de 2017
Behind every woman tweeting #IfTheyKillMe there is an outraged woman hoping that #NotOneMore ends up being killed.
#SiMeMatan seguro sera por haber ido a un concierto o al teatro de noche, seguro es mi culpa por disfrutar de mi vida.
— Sarita con S de sad. (@Sara_morcas) 18 de septiembre de 2017
#IfTheyKillMe I'm sure it will be for having been to a concert or to the theatre at night, I'm sure it will be my fault for enjoying my life.
In March 2016, GV reported on gender-based violence in Mexico including the government's “solution” to the problem, further complicating the bureaucratic system. In May of that same year, GV interviewed an expert lawyer on the subject who confirmed that Mexican women have gotten used to “living with this constant impending fear.”
Protest marches against gender-based violence, as well as the inability of authorities to prevent and sanction it, have been held in 11 federal entities in Mexico.
Mara Fernanda Castilla's murder case was also publicized in Peru where the media kept up to speed with developments until it was disclosed that her body had been found.
The activist group Ni una menos Perú: Tocan a una, tocan a todas (Not one less – Peru: They touch one woman, they touch all) streamed the #NiUnaMás protest march on its Facebook page:
Screenshot of the ‘Ni una menos – Peru’ group Facebook page. The #NiUnaMás protest was held in Mexico City on 17 September 2017.
The case also appeared in daily newspapers in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, and even the United Nations condemned femicide via Castilla's case via ONU Mujeres México (UNO Women Mexico):
.@ONUMujeres y @ONUDHmexico condenamos el feminicidio de #MaraCastilla.
Más información: https://t.co/GMRMEHtGBUpic.twitter.com/4kr9ea3ZiS
— ONU Mujeres México (@ONUMujeresMX) 18 de septiembre de 2017
@ONUMujeres and @ONUDHmexico condemn the femicide of #MaraCastilla. More information: https://t.co/GMRMEHtGBU
Through the work of activist groups such as Ni Una Menos Peru and social media campaigns, pressure is mounting to tackle gender-based discrimination and challenge the underlying apathy toward these horrific crimes against women.

author: J. Tadeo


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Come Together: Mexico’s Recovery from Double Earthquake Devastation in Photographs · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

This is not a victory gesture. A raised fist is a sign that rescuers make to invite those around to hold silence and listen for signs of life from survivors. Image by Santiago Arau.
The strong earthquakes that shook central and southwest Mexico September 2017 (one on the 7th and another on 19th) have brought out a real strength and solidarity in the country's people. This has been visible not only in terms of the waves of volunteers who have taken to the streets of the capital to remove debris and donate supplies, but also in terms of netizens capturing and sharing images from an event that has left the country in shock.
Several people collaborated on a collection of photos documenting the devastation and subsequent aid effort. Among them are photographer Santiago Arau and mountain climber Raul Morales.
Arau has shared numerous photos via Instagram, also left photos for those who wish to use them through the site WeTransfer. Raúl Morales has shared the images through Google.
Below Global Voices reviews some of the most evocative and representative images captured by the pair.
In this photo taken during the first hours of the disaster, Raúl Morales shows civilian volunteers along with members of Mexico’s Navy starting rescue work at a collapsed building .
Earthquake on Sept. 19th. Image  shared by Raúl Morales, with permission.
On Twitter, Santiago Arau announced that he would openly share his work:
Medios, personas o instituciones pueden usar mis fotos para difundir, informar, obteniendo los archivos originales. https://t.co/vaPXvh649A
— Santiago Arau (@Santiago_Arau) September 22, 2017
Media, people or institutions can use my photos to spread and inform, using the original files. https://t.co/vaPXvh649A – Santiago Arau (@Santiago_Arau)  September 22, 2017
Here, Arau shows some of the citizens taking to the streets to remove debris.
A human assembly line removes debris. Image by Santiago Arau
Day and night the rescue work was carried out at the destroyed buildings, as shown in this image of a property in the south of Mexico City.
Fallen building in the south of Mexico City. Image by Santaigo Arau
Another view of the same collapse. Image by Santaigo Arau
The material destruction has still not been quantified yet. Not only are homes effected, but also hundreds of automobiles.
Destroyed automobiles after the earthquake on September 19 in Mexico City. Image by Santiago Arau
“Anonymous Heroes”, is perhaps the best way to describe the citizens who took responsibility for starting rescue work after the tragedy.
Covered faces of anonymous heroes that took to the streets of Mexico City. Image by Santiago Arau
This image gives us an idea of the sea of people that came to the collapsed zones, the majority with the intention of helping, others just as spectators, but all sharing hurt and shock over the scenes they were witnessing.
Hundreds of people gather at the same collapsed area after the quake on September 19 in Mexico City. Image by Raúl Morales, used with permission
You can follow Santiago Arau and Raúl Morales on Facebook.


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Over 1,000 Chilean Films, Documentaries and Short Films Available Online · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Cinema “Metro” in Santiago de Chile, 1937. Photo taken from the Flckr account of SantiagoNostalgico under Creative Commons licence (CC BY-ND 2.0).
The website Cinechile has put together a list of 1,171 Chilean productions, including short films, full-length features, documentaries and animations from different genres and periods of the country's history. The films have been made available online by their producers and archived by Chilean organizations devoted to the development of the audiovisual arts.
The website explains:
En este lugar agrupamos 1171 largos de ficción, documentales y cortometrajes que han sido subidos para verse online de manera oficial, según los sitios que los han puesto a disposición. En este sentido, destacamos la gran labor de los sitios del Archivo Digital de la Cineteca Nacional, Cinetecavirtual.cl, Cinépata.com y el Archivo Patrimonial de la Universidad de Santiago. Además, se suman los vínculos de numerosos realizadores que suben sus propios trabajos en la red.
On this site we group 1,171 feature films, documentaries and short films that have been put online officially, according to the websites that have made them available. That said, we would like to give recognition to the great work of websites like the Digital Archive of National Film Library, Cinetecavirtual.cl, Cinépata.com and the University of Santiago's Patrimonial Archive. Also, we have added films from many filmmakers that have uploaded their work onto the web.

author: Laura Vidal


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Serbian Artists Arrested Following Anti-Authoritarianism Art Museum Protest · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

“We don't want a culture of clones!” – a screenshot from the announcement before the artist performance on October 20, with participants wearing masks with the face of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
Police in Serbia have sparked outrage by arresting artists Vladan Jeremić and Uroš Jovanović for ‘insulting’ the country's President Aleksandar Vučić during the ceremonial re-opening of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade.
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) staged on October 20 a reopening ceremony that marked half a century since the museum received its first visitors during communist times. The MCA has been closed for the last 10 years. As Serbian authorities hosted the lavish political event, a group of artists staged a performance protesting autocratic influences on the arts and popular culture.
The two artists were detained for several hours in the police station and subjected to interrogation. According to one of the detainees, Vladan Jeremić, the state prosecutor told the police to let them go. Jeremić said he believes the state will not press charges against the pair.
The art blog Boem was among the first to report on the incident:
The first demonstration was staged on October 20, on the occasion of the re-opening of Belgrade’s Museum of Contemporary Art that has been closed to the public for the last ten years, due to [delayed] reconstruction. The visitors were invited to put on a paper mask resembling the portrait of Serbia’s president and to hand out flyers with sandwiches printed on them to the museum's guests.
The demonstration reflects the current situation in Serbia, where, although almost everybody is unsatisfied with financing, party pressures, amateurism among leading officials and (self)censorship, only a few speak about this in public. Media control and political surveillance have led to a situation where most cultural workers, out of personal interests and fear of losing their job or financial support, are silent about the economic and mental repression they are exposed to.
After the performance ended, security checked the identity of one of the visitors, who still had some props from the demonstration in her hands. Vladan Jeremić, one of the organizers…asked police what had happened. He was checked as well, and flyers bearing an announcement [by the creative activist collective] the Unbribables and other props from the demonstration were confiscated. [Jeremić] was arrested and brought to the police station for interrogation.
Half an hour later, another artist, Uroš Jovanović, was arrested in front of the museum after he tried to enter the museum with a giant framed photograph of the Serbian president featuring the statement: “Vučić – the Best Artist”.
The printed flyers featuring sandwiches hinted at the common practice among ruling political parties in the Balkans of supplying participants at rallies and counter-protests with sandwiches and other treats.
Image of the sandwich that was distributed during the performance. Courtesy of the Unbribables.
These establishment supporters are often transported by buses around the country, and sometimes carry large photos of political leaders at public events.
Recently, Serbian authorities began promoting the idea of displaying the president's image in public institutions, including army barracks, “to strengthen the cult of the state.”
Journalist and author Biljana Lukić commented:
Priveli čoveka koji je delio sendviče s maskom Vučića i pretili mu zatvorom zbog “uvrede predsednika”.
Pravna država šljaka kao švajcar.sat.
— Biljana Lukić (@BiljanaLuki) October 21, 2017
They've detained a man distributing sandwiches while carrying a mask of Vučić's face and threatened him with prison for “insulting the president”. Rule of law working like a Swiss clock.
During the afternoon of October 20, hours before the protest, The Unbribables published a video clip announcing the demonstration, and invited citizens to join them at 7 pm in front of the museum.
The video clip shows activists wearing the paper masks with President Vučić's face. The clip is titled “We don't want a culture of clones.”
Artist Uroš Jovanović announced his stunt titled “Importation of the Painting of the President of Serbia into the Museum of Modern Art” via a public Facebook event.
Some of the witnesses used the discussion section of the event to post their videos of the event filmed on mobile phones.
Part of the performance included distributing flyers for the Salon of the Unbribables, a series of events staged by the Unbribables collective from October 20 through October 28 aiming “to unveil the real state of culture in Serbia”.
U posledno vreme se u Srbiji dešava svojevrsni puč u kulturi, koji vodi ka potpunoj komercijalizaciji i etnifikaciji kulture i umetnosti. Kao manifest tim procesima figurira Nacrt strategije razvoja kulture u Srbiji do 2027. godine. Na Salonu želimo okupiti “nepotkupljive” pozicije, koje jasno i glasno kritikuju nastalu situaciju u Srbiji.
In recent times, Serbia is experiencing a sort of putsch in the cultural sphere, leading towards a total commercialization and ethnification of arts and culture. The manifest of these processes is the [government] Strategy for Cultural Development in Serbia until 2027. By creating The Salon we wanted to bring together “unbribable” positions, that offer a clear and loud criticism of the situation in Serbia.
Opposition MP Vesna Marjanović was one of the many Twitter users who commented on these developments:
Ovo je strategija razvoja kulture u Srbiji. Ministri uživaju u spektaklu, umetnici u zatvor! https://t.co/zcvX940Vhs
— Vesna Marjanović (@marjanovic_v) October 21, 2017
Tweet: This is the strategy for development of culture in Serbia. Government ministers enjoying a spectacle, artists go to jail!
Domestic and international news agencies reporting on the re-opening of the Belgrade MCA did not include information about the arrests of the artists and their demonstration in their reports.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Ukrainian Wikipedia Awards National Winners of ‘Wiki Loves Earth’ Photo Contest · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Rock-cave complex “Dovbush Rocks”, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, photo by Pavlo Pivovar, via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA.
Ukrainian Wikipedia has given awards to the top 11 photographers in the national segment of the international photo contest “Wiki Loves Earth” which celebrates natural monuments and protected areas.
The award ceremony took place October 7, 2017 at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Kiev, and included an exhibition of winning photos.
The Ukrainian section of the worldwide competition received over 15,000 photos depicting over 1,860 natural heritage subjects by 356 participants during the month of May. About a thousand of these pictures are already used to illustrate Wikipedia articles in different languages.
Participants in the award ceremony for Ukrainian portion the “Wiki Loves Earth 2017″ Competition in the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Kiev, October 7, 2017. Photo by Anna Kondratyuk via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA.
All winners received memorial diplomas and other prizes: souvenirs with the competition logo or gift certificates for online stores.
The prizes went to the authors of the 11 photos that received the highest jury scores, as well as contest participants who photographed the most objects and received the most points in the overall score.
Several other awards were handed out by other organisations who linked up with the competition. For instance the staff of Holosiivskyi National Nature Park, which is located within the Kiev metropolitan area, selected the three best photos submitted to the competition made within the confines of the park.
In addition, the national contest also included several special award categories:
Lightning over n ature site Kamyana Mohyla in Zaporizhia Oblast. Photo by Anatoliy Volkov via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA.
Wikipedians from 36 countries took part in the “Wiki Loves Earth” photo competition worldwide. The top winning photos of natural heritage sites – such as nature reserves, landscape conservation areas, national parks and scenic/landscape areas are featured in a joint gallery on Wikimedia Commons.
Organizers and contributors have been using the hashtag #WikiLovesEarth to publish photos and promote a spirit of sharing. They managed to gather over 137,000 photos in total.
Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) in Danube Biosphere Reserve, photo by
Sergey Ryzhkov via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA.
About one fifth of the participating countries are from Central and Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria whose national competition was covered in a previous Global Voices post.


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Why Is the US Celebrating an Iranian Socialist Wrestler? · Global Voices
Arash Azizi

Gholamreza Takhti in Tehran. Image from Namnak.com and distributed with the intention to share.
Listen in on a group of young Iranians talking about sports and you are most likely to hear about football. The global fever over ‘the Beautiful Game’ has for decades captured the Middle Eastern country and Lionel Messi is just about the biggest global celebrity here (if slightly hated for a goal he scored against Iran in the last World Cup). But Football has always had a serious rival in Iran: wrestling.
If in football, Iran remains something of a middle power (and that in the biased estimation of this writer), in wrestling, the country is objectively among the best in the world. Of the 69 medals that Iranian athletes have ever scored in Olympics, 43 were gained in wrestling. Three of those medals were won by Gholamreza Takhti, probably Iran’s best-loved athlete of all time.
As the fiftieth anniversary of Takhti’s death (On January 7, 1968) approaches, plans are already underway to commemorate him. He was recently honored by a bust installed in United States Sports Academy, a regional institution in Daphne, Alabama. At a time when the US government has adopted an ever more bellicose attitude toward Iran, events like this remind us of important people-to-people contact between Iranians and Americans.
Sculpture of Legendary Iran's Wrestler Takhti Unveiled at Alabama's American Sport Art Museum and Archives https://t.co/pzU4jgi74Z pic.twitter.com/PZy3uYZiBz
— Alireza Taba (@alirezat) October 8, 2017
The news of Takhti being honored in the US was widely shared by Iranians. This foreign recognition generates much pride as Takhti's historical significance goes beyond athletics. He is something of a modern-day saint, a mythical figure about whose life many fantastical stories are told, few of which are based on fact. But the stories do reflect the main trends of Takhti’s life and how he, inside and outside the ring, encapsulated values that many in Iran today feel nostalgia for.
Takhti was born in 1930 in a working-class district of southern Tehran. His parents were also born in the capital, although they descended from Turkic peoples of the old city of Hamedan. He competed in the Helsinki 1952 Olympics, and became one of the first Iranian athletes to win a medal in the global games. Four years later, during the 1956 Melbourne games, he would become the very first Iranian to win an Olympic gold together with fellow free-style wrester Emam-Ali Habibi, who won his gold later that same day.
Takhti in the 1956 Melbourne, winning Iran's first-ever Olympics gold — Photo from Fars News Agency
Takhti’s athletic achievements are considerable, however not central to his legend in Iran. Central to his hero status is a quality best described by an old Iranian concept: Pahlevani. Strictly speaking, Pahlevani refers to a traditional athletic ritual, now recognized by UNESCO as part of the world’s “intangible cultural heritage“. The ritual used to train warriors of the ancient Persian Empire, centuries before the birth of Christ. But Pahlevani has also come to mean sportsmanship, fairness and devotion to people. The belief that Takhti was a Pahlevan par excellence is exemplified by the nickname he was given: Jahan Pahlavan, or in English, the Pahlavan of the world.
In the ring, Takhti was thought to always be fair to his opponents. Aleksandr Medvev, a Soviet wrestler known as being among the best in history, once told a story of how Takhti had refused to touch his right leg because he knew it was injured. But it is the stories outside the ring that have defined much of Takhti’s legacy.
Growing up in the most tumultuous era of Iranian politics, Takhti was a committed socialist and political activist. He was 20 years old when the anti-colonialist Mohammad Mossadegh was elected as the prime minister of Iran. Backed by a large coalition, including the Iran’s strong communist Tudeh Party, Mossadegh nationalized oil assets and began standing up to the British and American-backed Shah. In 1953,Mossadegh was overthrown in a coup organized primarily by the CIA. Takhti was among the millions of young Iranians who had been actively supporting the prime minister.
In the aftermath of the 1953 coup, as the left and nationalists tried to organize a resistance, Takhti joined the Socialist Party founded by Mohammad Ali Khonji, a Bahraini-born lawyer who had left the communist party in 1947, along with many others who defined themselves as socialists not aligned to Moscow.
Already well-known as a national champion and an Olympian, Takhti was among the Socialist Party’s most popular figures. He was picked as its deputy general secretary. Takhti also sat on the Athletes Committee of the National Resistance Front, the umbrella anti-coup organization formed by comrades of Mossadegh, who had been put under house arrest after the putsch. In 1962, the congress of Mossadegh’s National Front elected Takhti as a member of its Central Council.
Takhti’s devotion to democratic and socialist values was reflected in his social life. He was known to be down to earth, organizing help for the poor and always taking time to speak to people who approached him. When a massive earthquake hit cities and villages in the plain of Qazvin, killing 20,000 and leaving many homeless, Takhti spearheaded fundraising efforts. The sporting giant hit the streets with a box around his neck and a megaphone at his mouth, raising unprecedented sums.
Takhti's vocal criticism represented a particularly dangerous threat to the establishment and he was put under enormous pressure by the imperial government. His death in 1968, at the age of 37 is shrouded in mystery.
His body was found in a room in Tehran’s Hotel Atlantic and the official cause of death was registered as suicide. Some support for this version of events is offered by the fact that he had registered his will two days before his death, giving the guardianship of his son, Babak, only a few months old, to Kazem Hasibi, a well-known anti-Shah socialist.
But in the politically charged 1960’s the deaths of anti-Shah figures were inevitably linked to the Shah’s powerful secret police, the Savak. Takhti had been arrested many times and the Savak had interrogated him regularly for years.
Jalal Ale Ahmad, a prominent anti-Shah intellectual, was speaking for many when he said: “Not even for a moment did anyone believe the suicide story.”
Even if Takhti's death was a suicide, many say he was driven to it by a brutal government.
Dariush Ashoori, a critical intellectual, saw something bigger in the demise of Takhti, “a man who was destined for defeat.” Just a few days after his passing was reported, Ashoori spoke of the death as symbolizing the fall of Iran’s traditional values:
Takhti was the highest reflection or the last glimmer of the light of our traditional Pahlevani tradition. That his light has died with suicide is decisive and meaningful. Takhti represented a moral behavior, a tradition, a universe of values with deep and ancient roots and in intense contradiction with the status quo.
Takhti’s legacy was to outlive the monarchical regime he opposed. After the 1979 revolution, he was celebrated by the new revolutionary regime, although his non-islamist background was erased. Recently shared on social media was a picture of a commemorative plate sold in an antique shop in Tehran which featured Takhti next to Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, as well as Ayatollah Shariatmadari, the popular cleric from the northwestern city of Tabriz who was quickly suppressed after opposing Khomeini’s power grab in the early years of the revolution.
Many tournaments were named after Takhti and almost every city has a stadium or more named after him. He came to represent all the values that the decadent monarchy had forgotten and that the new republic said it would reclaim.
Takhti alongside Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, and Ayatollah Shariatmadari, the popular cleric from the northwestern city of Tabriz, among others. Photo from Iran-based Telegram channels.
Looking at the Iran of 2017, few citizens would agree that the heroic values of the socialist Pahlevan are reigning today in a society that is undemocratic, capitalistic and ever more consumerist. But his remains an example of model behavior for athletes and others. Masood Shojayi, the Iranian footballer who was barred from Iran’s national team because he took part in an European club game against an Israeli team, recently posted a picture of him, citing him as a role model.
Babak Takhti, in a widely shared message on social media, compared Shojayi with his father and lamented his exclusion. Half a century after an untimely death, Takhti’s shadow reigns over a society that has struggled over values for decades. That an institution in the US celebrates such a central Iranian figure shows that there is much more to relations between the peoples of these two countries. Beyond the fuming speeches of Khamenei or Trump, lies a mutual respect for the legacy of someone of Takhti's stature.

author: Arash Azizi