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Russia: Bloggers’ Photo Reports and Reflections on Pro-Putin Rally in Moscow · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
On Thursday, February 23, 2012, ten days before the March 4 presidential election, the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin addressed thousands of people at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The Guardian's Miriam Elder described the event as “a gathering reminiscent of Soviet spectacle both in rhetoric and style”:
[…] Thousands of workers from the provinces were bussed in or rushed on to trains to attend the event. […]
A rally in support of PM Vladimir Putin took place in Moscow on Feb. 23, ahead of the presidential election on March 4. Photo by Irina Firsova, copyright © Demotix (23/02/12).
A number of Moscow-based bloggers attended the February 23 rally, too. Below is a selection of their photo reports and observations, along with some of the remarks from their audiences.
LJ user mi3ch posted 17 photos and wrote [ru]:
Absolutely ordinary people. Trusting. Good. Like my aunt. Like my next-door neighbor. Students, workers, [state employees], pensioners. Seven out of ten – women. Mothers and grandmothers. And they really like Putin. He is so brave and decisive. […]
Their main distinction from [those who attended the opposition's rallies at Bolotnaya Square] are their faces. At Luzhniki, hardly anyone was smiling. And almost everyone walked silently. […]
LJ user otshellnica rebuked the blogger [ru] in the comments section:
At Bolotnaya, you could find the same [unsmiling] faces in the multi-thousand crowd. Just as there were nice and smiling faces at this rally. You, of all people, shouldn't be playing with such cheap arguments.
LJ user maxsytch offered [ru] a different point of comparison between the anti- and pro-Putin rallies:
The difference was in the percentage of the people who came to Bolotnaya and Luzhniki voluntarily.
Ryazan-based LJ user tamrat elaborated [ru] on the definition of ‘voluntarily,’ citing her city's participation in the February 23 rally as an example:
People from Ryazan enterprises came voluntarily – and joyfully. And whether they are for Putin or not is irrelevant. They had a tour of Moscow for free! They were taken there, got fed, listened to a concert. And all this for free! People came back home happy. And nothing will change in our country until a person can be made happy with free food and a trip!
LJ user vova-maltsev posted 14 photos [ru] and recounted his quick conversations with some of the rally's participants:
[…]
- Why are you here?
– We've been brought in here, [damn it].
– Are you for Putin?
– [Screw him], our salary's 17,000 [rubles a month, $580].
[…]
There were [Tajik migrant workers] sitting in one of the buses.
– Are you for Putin?
– [We work as cleaners in Izmailovo, damn it, and we are stuck here now. Will have to do our job all night.]
[…]
Nice [female] school cooks.
– What are you doing here?
– We've been dispatched here.
– To cook porridge [for the rally's participants]?
– Yes.
– Did you go to Bolotnaya?
– No, they didn't send us there.
– Are you for Putin?
– Yes, of course… Are you a journalist?
– Yes. I'm not for Putin.
– (whispering) We are all against him. All our teachers are against, too.
An anonymous reader left this comment [ru] to LJ user vova-maltsev's post:
[They are being drawn there forcefully.] They aren't even getting paid, the motivation is their fear of problems at work + 1 day off. This info is 100% true. Relatives work at a state enterprise, in Moscow.
LJ user panzicov (Alexei Vitvitskiy) posted 48 photos [ru] on his blog. Five of these photos, the blogger claims, show a group of people allegedly being paid for their participation in the rally:
[…] The conscience of the people costs 800 rubles [$27] for two hours, [the money] was being handed out at [Park Kultury metro station] right after the rally. […]
Seven photos in LJ user panzicov's report show a group of young black men carrying handmade banners with pro-Putin slogans on them. Another blogger, LJ user drandin (Igor Drandin), talked with these men, asking them where they were from, and posted the video [ru, en] on his blog and on YouTube; one of the men explained, in English, that they were from Kenya.
LJ user pier_luigi, commenting on LJ user panzicov's post, wrote this [ru] about Putin's Kenyan supporters:
North Korea this is not – not yet… But the representatives of international Putinism are very impressive!
LJ user tushinetc posted 16 photos [ru] taken before most of the rally's participants took their seats at the Luzhniki Stadium. One of the photos shows empty seats with identical plastic bags on them. LJ user tushinetc explained:
[…] Some organizations took good care of their employees, making sure they do not get cold while sitting on plastic [seats]. In each bag placed on the seats there's a blanket, as well as a candy and a tangerine, and on the seat itself, there's [a cloth mat for sitting]. […]
LJ user 2014imeretinka commented [ru]:
How mean! For a candy and a tangerine…
LJ user panfilosoff replied [ru]:
Not mean at all… If you don't attend, you'll have serious problems at work, and if you do attend, you'll get a reward and a tangerine. Everything's simple and logical.
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Sri Lanka: Female ex-combatants of LTTE Are At Risk  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shamila at Groundviews reports that female ex-LTTE members are at great risk as they have to report regularly to the military and their movements are closely monitored.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rezwan


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Bolivia: Disabled Protesters Demand More Welfare Support · Global Voices
Pablo Andres Rivero

For nearly 100 days, a group of physically disabled people held a march from the eastern lower lands of Bolivia to the seat of government in capital La Paz, located 3,600 metres above sea level, demanding a yearly subsidy of at least 3,000 Bolivianos (434 US dollars approximately).
The government of President Evo Morales responded by offering a one-time subsidy equivalent to 145 US dollars, which went into effect the day before the caravan arrived in La Paz. This offer was rejected by leaders of the movement of persons with disabilities, while the Plurinational Assembly (Bolivia's Parliament) is debating a Preferential Treatment for Disabled People Law.
On the afternoon of Thursday, February 23, the march of disabled people attempted to enter Murillo square, the political centre of the country where both the Presidential Palace and the Parliament building are located.
"Evo: We want to live well." Photo by Wayrachaki (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Twitter user @wayrachaki [es], based in La Paz, followed the march and reported live using his mobile phone camera. He also uploaded a set of images on Flickr.
Police did not allow marchers into the square and clashed with protesters, allegedly using tear gas and pepper spray, as well as electro-shock devices.
Karen Gil wrote on her blog [es] a close account of the events:
Cerca de las dos de la tarde de ayer, la marcha llegó a inmediaciones de la plaza Murillo con el objetivo de hacer una vigilia en el lugar y comenzar el diálogo con el Gobierno, sin embargo, a desde dos cuadras del lugar cercos policiales le impedía el paso.
Debido a ello, las personas con discapacidad decidieron romper el primer cerco policial, ubicado en la calle Ingavi esquina Jenaro Sanjinés.
Este hecho duró alrededor de una hora, tiempo en el que se evidenció un forcejeo entre la policía y los protestantes, quienes se defendían con sus muletas y sus sillas de ruedas.
Cuando los marchista comenzaron a ganar terreno, los policías les echaron gas pimienta y comenzaron a golpearlos con sus escudos, incluso, de acuerdo a los testimonios de los discapacitados, se les aplicó descargas eléctricas.
At about 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, the march reached surrounding streets of Murillo Square in order to set a vigil at the place and begin negotiations with the government, however, police barriers two streets away prevented them from walking through.
As a result, disabled people decided to break through the first police barrier, located at the corner of Ingavi and Jenaro Sanjinés streets.
All of this lasted for about one hour, during which a clash broke out between police and protesters, who defended themselves using crutches and wheelchairs.
When the marchers began to gain ground, the police threw pepper spray at them and began beating them with their shields, according to testimonies of disabled protesters, police even used electroshocks.
"March of the disabled" Photo by Wayrachaki (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Blogger Dario Kenner, also based in La Paz, commented on his blog:
Yesterday afternoon the marchers tried to force their way into the main square in La Paz, location of the government palace. A government spokesperson condemned the violence and claimed there were groups present who provoked the clashes leaving 20 police injured. Bolivian media reports the police used tear gas and pepper spray. At least 10 people with disabilities were injured. The Ombudsman office said the marcher's rights were abused and there was evidence they had been injured.
Divided positions can be found on social media platforms after the clash.
On the one hand, many Twitter comments condemned the use of violence by police forces using the hashtag #Discapacitados (Disabled) [es]. There is also a Facebook group [es] called Solidaridad con los discapacitados de Bolivia (Solidarity with Disabled in Bolivia).
On the other hand, there are Twitter users like Juan Carlos Quiroga (@jcrquiroga) [es] who argue that the protesters excessively provoked the police and even destroyed public property. For instance, he Tweeted [es]:
Otro discapacitado rompió el parabrisas de una camioneta de la Policía, con piedras y causó otros daños
According to mainstream media in Bolivia [es], after the clash a group of 300 disabled people started a vigil, and some of them undressed and laid half naked on the streets near Murrillo square as an act of protest. Protesters also threaten to begin a hunger strike.

author: Pablo Andres Rivero


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Cambodia: Network Against Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Established in 2005, Chab Dai (“joining hands” in Khmer) seeks to end trafficking and sexual exploitation in Cambodia through coalition building, community prevention, advocacy and research.

author: Mong Palatino


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China, Koreas: Netizens Express Humanitarian Concern Over North Korean Refugees · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.
Since February 8, 2012, the Beijing government has arrested more than 20 North Korean refugees whom it plans to repatriate.
The news has been widely reported in South Korea, prompting President Lee Myung-bak to demand that the Chinese government deal with the refugees in accordance with international standards. Lee also promised to provide citizenship to the refugees, and is prepared to raise the issue with the United Nations.
An online petition to UN was set up last week with Change.org, and the UN Refugee Agency has also urged [zh] Beijing to process the North Korean refugees in a humanitarian manner.
North Korean refugees in China. Photo from Change.org
The spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), however, has argued [zh] that the “North Korean runaways” are not refugees, and that they entered Chinese territories illegally for economic reasons. While extreme nationalists support the government's foreign policy, many concerned Chinese citizens have criticized Beijing for being an accomplice to the murder of innocent civilians, if the refugees are to be deported back to North Korea.
Weibo user ‘Freedom of Speech 85′ posted some background information [zh] on the consequences for those in North Korea who attempt and fail to flee:
言论自由85：据考证，脱北者脱北失败后会受到严厉的惩罚。如送去集中营羁押受虐，甚至被判为“叛 朝鲜国罪”而受到极刑，其在北韩家庭往往也受到牵连。因此联合国敦促中国政府停止遣返难民，给与他们难民身份。根据2005年的一个消息来源，60%到70%的在华脱北者是女性，其中70%到80%成为人口贩卖的受害者。
Shanghai resident Ms. Chen points out that [zh] the destination of North Korean runaways is South Korea, another reason why the Chinese government should not send them back to the North:
程蕤姐：脱北者＂是为什么才离开朝鲜？稍微懂点政治的人都明白！为什么我国要把朝鲜难民送回必死无疑的地方！世界上除了朝鲜'别人枪都是打偷偷非法私进国界线的'朝鲜是自己人民偷偷靠近国界就开枪！其实绝大多数的＂脱北者＂来中国只是为了借道去韩国！中国的官员知道这个女人和孩子走到门另一边的下场么！
Extreme nationalists from the Tiexue (“Iron Blood”) forum, however, support the Beijing government in repatriating the refugees from a strategic point of view [zh]:
（一）中国不会以牺牲朝鲜为代价取悦韩国。中国和韩国、朝鲜都保持战略合作关系。从维护东北亚安全稳定的角度看，朝鲜比韩国更重要。
（二）中国边境地区不可能成为一个国家对付另外一个国家的战略飞地。中国一向反对某些国家为别国的分裂主义势力提供政治庇护和活动场所。“脱北者”不是难民，而是有着“梦想”的主动的叛逃者。中国是主权独立国家，任何外国公民进入中国，都必须得到中国的同意。对待非法越境者，按照国际法准则，中国当然一要暂扣，二要劝返，从那里来回到哪里去。否则，必然会导致中国“有边无界”，主权利益受损，且引起当事国的不满，引发不必要的国际争端，对中国有百害而无一利。
（三）真正的国际人道主义不是格外关注“脱北者”，而是要支持朝鲜稳定、取消对朝鲜的封锁和制裁。
Yet, a lot more ordinary Chinese citizens are speaking from a humanitarian point of view. Below is a selection of comments [zh] in the news thread of the MFA's press conference on Sina Weibo:
哥1985：中国遣返脱北者违反人道。想想文革前后的历史吧，遣返以后他们还有生的可能吗？
元宝天成：那些脱北者九死一生的跑到你这里来，不管吃不管住，你多少要可以有点同情心。大家都是人，不要为了讨好那个胖子，让我们再蒙羞了。
Eremita-L：把叛逃者遣送回去等同于亲手杀了他们。
哥1985：The repatriation of North Korean runaways is inhumane. Just recall the history of the Cultural Revolution: can they still survive upon repatriation?
元宝天成：The North Korean runaways risked their lives to come here. Even if you don't feed them, you should sympathize with them. We are all human beings. Don't bring shame upon us just to please the tiny fatty (Kim Jong-un).
Eremita-L：To send the runaways back is like killing them with your own hands.
This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

author: Oiwan Lam


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East Timor: Oil and Politics · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Silas Everett writes about the impact of rising oil revenues on the politics of East Timor


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Indonesia: Should Government Censor ‘Rude’ Tweets? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Reacting to the report that Indonesia's Information Ministry plans to target ‘rude anonymous’ tweets, Unspun reminds authorities to focus on more important things like fixing the digital divide in the country


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Lebanon: Questions to Expats · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

Lebanese blogger Liliane asked Lebanese expatriates some questions about their stories of how and why they left their country. Check the questions at her post and the answers in the comments.

author: Layal Al Khatib


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Pakistan: Karachi’s Third Literature Gala · Global Voices
Kumail Ahmed

The Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) was a unique event of this month. It gave an opportunity to authors and book lovers to join together and celebrate book-reading. Literature from Sindhi, Punjabi, Urdu, English, Seraiki (a fusion of Sindhi and Punjabi), English, French and German was discussed in the two day long event from 11-12 February, 2012.
The annual KLF was first launched in 2010 with a joint collaboration between British Council and Oxford University Press. The festival started with roughly 5,000 participants in 2010, but this year the number rose to a massive 15,000.
Bina Shah comments:
The third Karachi Literature Festival is over, and by all accounts, it was an unmitigated success. Fifteen thousand people enjoyed two days of panel discussions, book launches, readings, writing workshops, theatre and musical performances; a hundred and fifty authors participated in the festival.
Karachi Literature Festival logo
A sense of enthusiasm was observed in the participants, and likewise, in the blogger community. Madiha Ishtiaque aptly commented that the festival allowed Karachi to convert into a “litropolis” (a city of literature). Nadir Hussian calls it an “entertaining and well-organised” event.
A wide spectrum of authors from around the world visited this festival. There were many rounds of discussion, criticism and analytical (question and answer) sessions. Jahane Rumi -  an activist and also a moderator at KLF – aptly summarises:
This year, Vikram Seth, William Dalrymple, Hanif Kureishi, Shobha De, Anatol Lieven and several others attracted much attention by their readers, fans and critics. There were a few sessions on Urdu and regional languages’ literature but it was obvious that the attendees were not always the same.
Contemporary political issues were also debated. The participants broached on ‘ostensible political topics’. Umair J complains about political discussion intermingling with literature. He writes:
There were roughly 15 sessions on ostensibly political topics like honour killings, civil war in Balochistan, minority rights, Bangladesh, and nuclear weapons. Yet almost all were conducted in the same sterile, art-for- art’s-sake context reserved for the festival’s literary discussions.
Eminent speakers also took part in a discussion pertaining to women's rights:
A session of writers signifying women’s voices through their writing captivated quite a bunch of women, with Maniza Naqvi, Bina Shah, Nafisa Haji and Marilyn Wyatt sharing their experiences as writers and also readers, evocative through their own and other literary works.
Students from schools, colleges and universities also visited this book lover paradise. Here is a photo gallery showing different aspects of the event.
But no event ends without criticism. People commented that KLF is an elite show with no space for the common people:
@saoodhasan: Zubeida Mustafa rightly called Karachi literature festival as annual gathering of English speaking elite beyond the reach of *commoners*
But tagging KLF as an ‘elite show’ would be a mistake as Muhammed Haneef – an author, journalist and political activist – says:
Reading itself is an elitist activity. In fact, any art — music, painting, theatre, literature — and most intellectual pursuits can be regarded in the same light. Does that mean we shouldn’t indulge in them at all?
There was also criticism that Urdu, Pakistan's national language, wasn't given its due share; English language overwhelmed all other languages. Bina shah aptly responded by telling such critics that this event was an international event rather than a local one. English being an international language has an intrinsic character to overwhelm other languages.
Another set of criticism, by Hamdan Malik, labelled KLF as “confused, anxious, even shivering slightly – and – Ego, anger, compassion and conclusion”. To such a criticism, Aristotle's (a Greek philosopher) likely reply is worth mentioning. He said:
To escape criticism – do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
Karachi Literature Festival was an event worth visiting by all book lovers around the world. I end by quoting Yaqoob Khan Bangash. He writes:
The KLF has shown, for the third year, that Pakistan has an amazing range of people who want to get together, talk about their work, learn from others, and help others realise their potential and hidden talents. All we now need is about a thousand KLFs.

author: Kumail Ahmed


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Puerto Rico: 365 Photographs · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The photographer José Rodrigo Madera [es] shot one photograph a day during two years, as part of his project “365.” His photos were only visible to his friends on Facebook, until the magazine Revista Cruce [es] published 20 of them for everyone to enjoy.
José Rodrigo Madera describes himself as:
…fotógrafo de profesión y nunca estudió Artes. Estudió Comunicaciones en la Universidad Interamericana y quiere enseñar fotografía. Cree en el matrimonio y se considera de izquierda. Dedica todo su trabajo al hombre de su vida, Emil Alejandro, y a la mujer de su vida, Penelope.
Here is a selection of some of his beautiful photographs.*
Pitcher: 1. Individual who, for one reason or another, does not follow through with an obligation or commitment proposed by himself. 2. Person who does not return calls.
Watch.
Child in red pants.
Breakfast.
Agostini prepares for a shot.
Ghost cloud.
Sorely laughs.
Spiral.
Eye.
The mother of "azul."
*All photographs are republished with the permission of the photographer and Revista Cruce. The captions have been translated from the original (except some that were English).

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Tunisia: Police Use Tear Gas and Batons to Disperse Labor Union Protest · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Police used tear gas and batons to disperse protesters showing support to the Tunisian General Union for Labour (known by its French acronym, UGTT), in the capital Tunis, yesterday (February 25, 2012). The union, which has accused members of the ruling party Ennahdha of defacing its offices, organized the protest.
Protesters, who numbered 3,000 people, raised anti-government slogans like “People want the fall of the government” and “Ennahdha get out.”
Protesters gathering in Habib Bourguiba Avenue, downtown Tunis. Photo shared by @Lechatquirit , via Twitpic
France24 correspondent, David Thomson tweets [fr]:
A #Tunis grosse manif du syndicat UGTT et de la gauche devant le MI pour dire “Dégage Ennahdha”
Author of Le Blog Boukornine describes the situation [fr] on her Facebook page:
Des images dignes d'une guerre au centre-ville… des hordes de policiers dont certains sont cagoulés armés de bâtons et de matraques, lançant du lacrymo.
Une férocité incroyable. Des blessés, des femmes et des enfants transportés en urgence à l'hôpital Charles Nicole… Atmosphère étouffante.. Les affrontements se poursuivent à l'heure qu'il est par les bourreaux de la république qui répriment gratuitement et illégalement une manifestation pacifique autorisée dans cette Tunisie post-révolutionnaire. #ACAB
The protest turned violent when police ordered protesters to leave, but they refused to do so. Sameh B.A writes [fr]:
les flics nous ont demande de partir. l'autorisation de 12 a 14h. ensuite il ont attaque
Activist Araoua Barakat was assaulted by police during February, 25 protest photo shared via twitpic
Several people were injured in Saturday's protest. Emine M'tiraoui, reports [ar] for the collective blog Nawaat:
Journalists assaulted
During yesterday's protest, police physically, and verbally assaulted journalists. Around 10 police assaults on journalists were registered. In a Press release, the National Syndicate for Tunisian journalists, condemned the assaults, and said it is planning to lodge a complaint against the Tunisian Interior Ministry.
Radio Kalima reports [ar] on its Facebook page:
The same radio says [ar] in another report:
Nearly, 14 months after the fall of the regime of strongman Zeine El Abidin Ben Ali, protesters are still being assaulted for raising anti-government slogans, and journalists are still being abused for doing their job.
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Afghanistan: Internal displacement risingInternal displacement rising in Afghanistan Internal displacement rising in Afghanistan Internal displacement rising in Afghanistan  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nick Fielding says more than 100,000 forced to leave their homes between January and June last year due to the spreading conflict in Afghanistan.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Afghanistan: Useful database of Afghan personalities · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nick Fielding writes that the most complete database of prominent Afghans and Afghan political groupings can be found on a site called Who is Who in Afghanistan.


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Argentina: The Sarmiento Train Crash, an Accident Waiting to Happen · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Simon Kofoed says that the train crash that took place last week in Buenos Aires, Argentina, “is the worst train accident in Argentina since the 1979 head on collision of two trains near Benavidez station when over 140 people lost their lives.” He adds: “Anyone who travels on the Sarmiento, and many of the other train lines in Buenos Aires, will testify that this was one of many accidents just waiting to happen.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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Bahrain: #Hungry4BH Trends Worldwide · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.
The number of Bahrainis active online has increased significantly since the start of the country's uprising on February 14, 2011. A year on, people still turn to their keyboards, assuming the role of citizen journalists, to documenting the continuing violations committed by the regime against protesters, activists, and others who speak up and demand freedom and equality.
Abdulhadi Khawaja, a Bahraini human rights activist, is considered to be a prominent figure for his people considering his long struggle against the regime. He was imprisoned several times, went into exile, established both the Gulf Center for Human Rights and Bahrain Center for Human Rights, which are both now headed by his fellow activist Nabeel Rajab.
Khawaja brought attention to the struggle of his people and the government's decision to give him a life sentence ‘for attempting to overthrow the regime’ was faced with condemnation from the international community.
#Hungry4BH trends worldwide on Twitter
Parallel to their online efforts to draw international attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in their country, Bahrainis have also conducted a series of hunger strikes to demand the release of all those arrested, brutalized, and sentenced to jail for their support and participation in the pro-democracy movement.
The medics have previously done it and were bailed out yet still face trials, where they are set to serve between five to 15 years in prison if charged. Their crime, as they admit, was treating protesters attacked and maimed by the government forces.
Khawaja, and several other detainees, went on hunger strike and this Saturday marked his 16th day of hunger strike. Twitter users reported that Khawaja was transferred to the hospital as his health status worsened.
To show solidarity with detainees on hunger strike, Bahrainis planned for several days to tweet using the hashtag #Hungry4BH aiming to make it trend worldwide and thus shed light at the plight of the country's detainees. It sounded impossible considering the small population of Bahrain but the international tweeting support helped in making it happen.
Here are some of the tweets posted:
Sign protesting for Khawaja back in 2004 posted by @almatrook94
@angryarabiya: 1st months of detention my dad was tortured severely, he went on hungerstrike demandin they stop torturing other prisoners.
Blogger @angryarabiya joins a protest near UN demanding to release her father (posted by @lady_7oor)
@ba7rainiDXB: He didnt discriminate,he asked 4 universal rights,he believed in no sects whether religious or political Free Abdulhadi
Protesters wearing t-shirts with Khawaja's picture (posted by @Shearer84bh)
@HayatKhalaf: Its my 3rd day of hungerstrike on a school day, its tiring yet I won't stop until the release of Alkhawaja!
@KhawajaStrike: Today #Alkhawaja was transferred to hospital for treatment but doctors had difficulty putting IV for him as his veins have shrunk
Front Line Defenders posted the following video saying:
At the 6th Dublin Platform hosted by Front Line Defenders, over 130 Human Rights Defenders from more than 80 countries protested at the Saudi Embassy in Dublin demanding the freedom of their colleague and former Front Line staff member Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, who is facing a life sentence in a Bahraini jail. Abdulhadi was detained after Saudi forces entered Bahrain and were in control of the country's security forces.
You can watch the video here:
This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.

author: Mona Kareem


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China: Capitalizing Social Network · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jin Ge from China Bubble Watch reports on how star micro-bloggers capitalize their social network by merging their influence with e-commerce.


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China: Young Girl Burned & Disfigured By Son of Government Official · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated some Weibo and forum posts about a brutal crime in Anhui, in which a young girl was burned and disfigured by the son of a local government official after she had rejected his love. [Warning: the link contains distressful photos.]


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Colombia: Using an Earthquake to Advertise  · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

Geek The Planet writes about an earthquake in Colombia which took place during the morning of February 24 and the recklessness of some Community Managers who used the quake to come up with advertising material. The post criticizes what various companies published on Twitter [es], and the writer posts some tweets that were deleted after the controversy they caused. “Some brands realized they were not being funny at all with their tweets and decided to delete them”.

author: Cati Restrepo


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Cuba: More Sunday Detentions  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense blogs about yet another Sunday of repression as members of Las Damas de Blanco were again detained by authorities.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba: Working for “The Enemy”?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Havana Times reports that “the leading Cuban government website…unleashed a front page attack on blogger Yoani Sanchez…with an article accusing her of working for the enemy (USA) for pay”; Sanchez herself sees a news report “in which the blogger Miriam Celaya and other acquaintances appear, surrounded with epithets such as ‘mercenaries’ and ‘traitors'” and asks: “Why not invite this woman, an anthropologist and magnificent citizen journalist who was born in 1959, the year of the Revolution itself, to some public center to relate her experience in working in the digital press, rather than relegate her to some locale provided to her by ‘others?'”


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Haiti: Legislative “Assault” Against Civil Service · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Back in May 2011, undistracted by Haiti’s 4.5-million dollar presidential inauguration, I sounded the alarm about a brewing legislative coup d’etat“: Haiti Chery explains.


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Hong Kong, China: Visual Presentation of Why Hongkongers are Unhappy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu translated an InfoGraphics published by Southern Metropolis Weekly that seeks to visualize Hong Kong people discontent.


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Hong Kong: Scandals at the Eve of Chief Executive Selection · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Cyril Pereira from Asia Sentinel has an update of the latest development of the selection of Chief Executive (city mayor) in Hong Kong. All candidates picked up by the power bloc are tainted with corruption scandals.


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Iran: Female blogger was released from prison · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Parastou Dokouhaki, a female jailed blogger was released on bail on Sunday. She was accused of collaboration with foreign based media.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iranian News Agency “Improves” Oscar Speech by Asghar Farhadi · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranians are overjoyed with the news that Asghar Farhadi's film “A Separation” was awarded an Oscar for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards in Hollywood on February 26, 2012. It is the first Iranian film to win an Oscar.
Iranian bloggers participated in an outpour of celebration, and some fans also created posters for “A Separation” for different tastes.
Several bloggers such as Faryad Zier Ab and Raze Gole Sorkh have published translations of Farhadi's speech (or excerpts) in Persian. It is a speech that popular American website Slate has  described as “the best of the night.”
Farhadi's speech attracted even more attention after Fars News, a semi-official news agency of Iran added their own words to the transcript.
In his speech, Farhadi said:
At this time, many Iranians all over the world are watching us and I imagine them to be very happy. They are happy not just because of an important award or a film or filmmaker, but because at the time when talk of war, intimidation, and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country Iran is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics. I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, a people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment.
Tavalode Sabz says says [fa] Fars News embellished on Farhadi's speech and changed his words to:
Iranian people respect all cultures despite the western hostility with Iranian nuclear program.
Meanwhile, Iranians are celebrating the victory in all corners of the world, including students at Texas A & M University's Iranian Students Film Club, shown cheering in this video:
The blogger Band writes [fa] that Iranian cinema has experienced “an unforgettable night” that less than one year ago would have been hard to imagine.
A Separation has been a serial award winner internationally since its release in 2011, reaping awards from the Golden Bear to Golden Globe. The title in Persian is ‘The Separation of Nader from Simin’ and the story follows the difficult separation of a middle-aged couple in Tehran.


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Jamaica: “Intellectual Ghetto”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica Woman Tongue feels the backlash “for daring to suggest that [the late radio talk show host Wilmot Perkins] had feet of clay.


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Jamaica: Lenten Songs · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp posts a poem about Lent.


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Kenya: Kenya Blogger Wins  Annual World Media Awards · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan blogger Collins Mbalo is the winners of the first Annual World Media Awards in Best African Blog category: “Collins Mbalo tells the African story from a different perspective. This blog covers issues and topics concerning the everyday African person. A recent interview of ” Sue” a Kenyan prostitute inspired a story on Al Jazeera.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Latvia: Flagging for Free Speech · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Juris Kaža of Free Speech Emergency in Latvia reports that Latvian security police has closed an investigation into an Internet call to desecrate the Latvian flag, which is illegal in the country. The case was closed as there was no evidence of any victim of flag burning.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Myanmar: Visiting the Kachin Refugee Camp · Global Voices
tan

Nang Nyi wrote about her experience when she and her friends visited a Kachin Refugee camp near the Shan State borders of Myanmar and China. Over 1000 Kachin people have been staying at this refugee camp ever since fighting broke out between the government army and the Kachin Independence Army

author: tan


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Peru: Problems with Access to Information and Forestry Transparency  · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

The Peruvian Press Council reported on a “Public Hearing: Access to Information and Transparency Forest,” accompanied by a training workshop on related issues in the town of Nueva Cajamarca, San Martin. Journalist and blogger Juan Carlos Lujan, who was one of the trainers, recounts [es] the problems faced due to slow internet signal in this area of the Peruvian jungle.

author: Juan Arellano


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Portugal: Web Users Debate Portuguese Private Copying Bill · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

The year 2012 has placed on the tips of everyone's tongues a number of acronyms that, in short, wish to establish legal means to enforce compliance with intellectual property and anti-piracy legislation, from the U.S. anti-online piracy bills, SOPA and PIPA, to the multi-national Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, ACTA.
Portugal has its own, somewhat related acronym, namely PL118 (Projeto de Lei 118/XII), which is a bill intended to tighten restrictions relating to Cópia Privada (private copying) and Direito Autoral (author's rights).
Presented to the Portuguese parliament by the Socialist Party on January 4, PL118 proposes new levies on the sale of any equipment or software capable of recording, copying or storing analogue or digital content. The aim is to guarantee revenue for holders of intellectual property rights which constitutes “fair and reasonable compensation for the damages caused by the social practice of private copying.”
The response in the blogosphere was immediate, with the hashtag #PL118 duly trending on Twitter.
Infograph outlining the most hotly debated questions surrounding PL118. By Catarina Lourenço on Tumblr Designarium (with permission).
The origins of PL118
The Blasfémias blog writes [pt] about the background of lei da cópia privada brought in in 1998 so that, in the name of author's rights, “every time someone in Portugal bought an old video or cassette tape, a roll of camera film, a recordable CD or DVD, video camera, or any other related item, 3% would go directly to authors’ representative organizations.”
The current bill [pt, .pdf] aims to extend the reach of the existing law to digital platforms “by extending the legal framework governing Cópia Privada and by altering article 47 of the Código do Direito de Autor (Author's Rights Code) and Direitos Conexos (laws relating to author's rights).”
"A copyright will protect you from pirates. And make you a fortune." Photo of a promotional flyer by Ioan Sameli on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Such a measure, which would tax manufacturers and importers a certain amount based on the capacity of a piece of equipment, could push up prices [pt] for the consumer, as programmer Carlos Martins [pt] explains:
fazendo com que um disco de 1TB pague mais 20,48 euros (…)
Também os telemóveis ficariam sujeitos a uma taxa de 0,50€ por GB, e nem as impressoras multifunções se livraram… aí passando a ser taxadas em função da velocidade de impressão e do peso, podendo oscilar entre os 8 e os 227 euros.
According to an article published [pt] on the Portuguese culture and current affairs website P3, the revenue generated is managed by the “Portuguese Association for the Management of Cópia Privada (AGECOP), which brings together the Portuguese Society of Authors (SPA), Audiogest and the Portuguese Association of Editors and Booksellers (APEL), amongst others, who subsequently distribute the money amongst their respective associates.”
So how exactly is the money distributed [pt]? Nelson Cruz, from website PC Manias, did the calculations [pt]:
a AGECOP, que colecta e gere a coisa, pode usar em despesas até 20% do montante angariado. Do montante liquido, reserva 5% para um Fundo Cultural do Min. da Cultura e 10% para “acções de natureza cultural ou social, de incentivo à criação cultural e à divulgação e estudo da propriedade intelectual” . Portanto por cada 100€ recolhidos, 60€ sairão da AGECOP. O PL118 divide então “40% para os autores, 30% para os artistas, intérpretes ou executantes e 30% para os produtores de fonogramas e de videogramas”. A parte dos autores e artistas, creio que será gerida/distribuída pela SPA, cujo presidente diz gastar até 10% em despesas. Pelo que temos:
Autores: 24€ – 10% = 21,6€ efectivamente distribuídos
Artistas: 18€ – 10% = 16,2€
Editores/produtores: 18€
Despesas AGECOP/SPA: 24,2€
AGECOP which collects and administers the funds reserves 20% for its own expenses. After this, 5% goes to a Cultural Fund belonging to the Ministry of Culture and 10% is reserved for “cultural or social activities aimed at stimulating cultural production and increasing the study and spread of information on intellectual property”. So for every €100 collected, €60 will leave AGECOP. Of these remaining funds, “40% goes to authors, 30% to artists and performers and 30% to music and video producers.” The proportion set aside for authors and artists will probably be managed and distributed by SPA, whose president has said 10% of which will be set aside for SPA's expenses – which leaves us with the following:
Authors: €24 – 10% = €21.6
Artists: €18 – 10% = €16.2
Editors/producers: €18
AGECOP/SPA expenses: €24.2
On February 5th, following a controversy at the end of January over the falsification of signatures, SPA revealed that more than 200 artists [pt] had signed a petition in favour of the new law. Prior to this, it had released a document entitled “Ten things you should know about the Lei de Cópia Privada”, which was subsequently countered, point by point, by activitist Maria João Nogueira.
Resistance to PL118
#PL118 – image created by Rui Seabra (CC BY-SA)
Maria João, on her blog Jonasnuts and a dedicated Facebook page, has been keeping an extensive log of everything that has been published in the blogosphere [pt] and on mainstream media [pt] about PL118. She was also one of the organizers of an online petition [pt] launched on January 29th entitled “Prevent Taxation of the Information Society”.
The counter-arguments of that petition focus on the origins of the proposed law, which was drawn up exclusively by those “entities which will profit, either directly or indirectly, from the imposed taxes”. They also criticize its content, which is based on “false pretexts”, and take issue with its “inescapable” and “inalienable” nature, as well as the “extreme rise in prices” and the “negative consequences” it implies.
Within a few hours the petition had gained over 1000 signatures and now numbers close to 8000, which means it has already passed the 4000  [pt] signatures minimum which enable it to be used in an official capacity.
In response to pressure from the numerous groups who have come out against PL118, a Parliamentary Working Group was set up under the supervision of the Education, Science and Culture Comission. One of those at its 4th public session [pt] was Rui Seabra, president of  ANSOL [pt] – the National Association for Free Software – who, in a letter sent to the parliamentary groups at the beginning of January, has backed the existence of:
um calendário a nível Europeu, que se inicia já no início do ano com a negociação entre várias partes interessadas, e que tem como data informal de término durante o Verão de 2012, para debater exatamente este tema, com o objetivo de delinear uma diretiva e homogeneizar as medidas relativas à Cópia Privada no espaço Europeu.
A new version of PL118 is already being outlined, however a date has not yet been fixed for a vote on the law. Despite this a few “pro” groups, and many of those “against”, remain in open debate over the subject, on Twitter and in the blogosphere.

author: Sara Moreira


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Russia: The “Big White Circle” Protest in Moscow · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
On Sunday, February 26, 2012, thousands of people gathered in central Moscow for the Big White Circle protest, forming a human chain along most of the length of the Russian capital's 15.6 kilometer/9.7 mile Garden Ring road, protesting against corruption and demanding a fair presidential election, which is to take place in one week, on March 4.
The Big White Circle protest for fair election: people stood along the Garden Ring in Moscow, holding hands and waving white ribbons, flowers and balloons. Photo by MARIA PLESHKOVA, copyright © Demotix (26/02/12).
According to the Q&A note [ru] posted on the Facebook page [ru] devoted to the protests in Moscow, the idea of the Big White Circle does not have a specific author:
[…] The idea is on the surface: hundreds of groups of people were doing this in the 20th century when they wanted to show solidarity with each other regarding certain issues. The best-known action of this kind is [the Baltic Way] of 1989, similar actions took place in Moscow in the late 1980s, and this is being done in Europe nowadays. […]
In the same Q&A note, there is an explanation of why one of the protest's slogans – “Let's encircle the Kremlin” – shouldn't be taken literally:
[…] We can now be sure that if we choose to surround the Kremlin on Feb. 26, we'll definitely have detentions, beatings, arrests and trials. […] Are you sure that we have 5,000-6,000 people who are prepared to be jailed for participating in this story? We are not sure […]. […] Some of us are probably prepared to play the game of “a 70% chance of getting [a 5-year sentence]” – but this, of course, is a game for heroically courageous people. Our courage, just like yours, has its limits. We respect those who are prepared for such a self-sacrifice. And we also respect those who aren't prepared for that. […]
There's been no lack of international media reports on the Big White Circle protest. One post on the Moscow protests Facebook page reads [ru, en]:
The whole world has learned about the White Circle! Here are some of the headlines from the world's leading news agencies and mass media: Thousands join human chain protest against Putin || Anti-Putin protesters form ‘ring around Moscow’ || Impressive anti-Putin demonstration in Moscow || Moscow's Big White Circle || Nine mile human chain encircles Moscow in anti Vladimir-Putin protest || Moscow surrounded: Holding hands ‘for fair elections’ || Muscovites link hands to protest Putin's grip on power || Putin protests cause a ‘chain reaction’…
In a comment to this post, Ekaterina Vizgalova wrote [ru]:
The whole world has noticed, while the [state-owned] Channel One hasn't.
RIA Novosti, a state-owned Russian news agency, did notice the Big White Circle protest, however, producing this fast-motion video of a car ride around the Garden Ring at the time of the protest:
A popular Russian blogger Roustem Adagamov (LJ user drugoi) also took a ride around the Garden Ring, pausing to take photos. He wrote this [ru] in the intro to his photo report:
A few tens of thousands of Muscovites have gathered at the Garden Ring today, to take part in the Big White Circle civic action. I rode all around the Garden Ring in an hour and a half, with brief stops – it all looked very cool and fun. The way it always does at genuine gatherings of free citizens who come there of their own free will and not on the orders from their bosses. Cars with white [symbols of the protest] were riding along the [Garden Ring], honking, and people were waving white ribbons, flowers, and balloons. An excellent action, very upbeat and cheerful. […]
The Big White Circle protest. Photo by MARIA PLESHKOVA, copyright © Demotix (26/02/12).
Another popular blogger, Oleg Kozyrev (LJ user oleg-kozyrev/@oleg_kozyrev), also drove around the Garden Ring, taking photos and shooting a video (which he hasn't posted yet). Following this ride, Kozyrev tweeted [ru] that initially he had doubted that the Big White Circle protest would succeed:
Now I'll confess that I didn't expect success and was feeling pessimistic :)
In the introduction to his photo report – a “photo-circle” – Kozyrev wrote [ru]:
[…] A white circle, a live circle. It is becoming more and more obvious that the angry [PM Vladimir Putin] has already lost. He can no longer stop this avalanche of positive resistance.
Will the smile be able to stop the rough force? This is what we'll have to find out in the coming days. […]
The Big White Circle protest. Photo by MARIA PLESHKOVA, copyright © Demotix (26/02/12).
“Moscow in the circle of friends” is the title of LJ user vova-maltsev's photo report from the Feb. 26 protest. He wrote [ru]:
Some people were saying that we wouldn't be able to close the circle around the Garden Ring. Aha… We have closed it, in two rows. The first one – with the pedestrians, the second – with the drivers.
If you want to see what people who love their country and wish it well look like, here [they are]. […] I haven't seen so many kind, happy and smiling people in a very long time. At the [regular] rallies, everyone are piled together, while here you are walking down the street and enjoying it. […]
The Big White Circle protest. Photo by MARIA PLESHKOVA, copyright © Demotix (26/02/12).
More photo reports can be found in the live_report LJ community (by LJ users tushinetc and semasongs), as well as in the namarsh-ru LJ community (by LJ user belial_68).
The next opposition rally is planned for March 5, the day after the election. Moscow city authorities, however, have rejected the opposition's request to hold the rally on Lubyanka Square.
Serguei Parkhomenko, one of the most active participants of the protest movement, wrote this [ru] on Facebook about the significance of the Big White Circle protest – and the wider meaning of March 5 for Russia:
[…] I think we all understand that our today's initiative is not only the last and very powerful event in the history of the past three months […]. It is also the beginning of a new stage, a new long and difficult conversation that we will all have to be engaged in. Much patience, resilience and strength will be needed. […]
[…]
We need to avoid making a mistake as we search for the right decision for March 5. […] History is again offering us a strange and powerful rhyme. It is hinting on something important.
March 5 is the anniversary of the day on which the country got rid of one tyrant [the day on which Joseph Stalin died in 1953]. […]
March 5 isn't just a random day for all of us.
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Singapore: Reactions to the Proposed 2012 Budget · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The highlights of the proposed 2012 budget of the Singapore government include the commitment to lower the country’s dependence on foreign workforce, greater assistance to the elderly, the disabled and the lower-income families, and boosting the capacity of public transport and public hospitals.
Simeon Ang notes there are no significant stimulus measures in the budget:
Pragmatism, an attribute that our government is known to propagate in all of its policies, is clearly evident in this year’s budget. Analysts were right to tone down expectations about the possibilities that Budget 2012 would pump a huge stimulus into the economy on a short term basis.
… it is imperative to note that the government has not taken too kindly to stimulus measures, opting instead, to invest on a long term basis. However astute as it might be, this leaves the short and medium term vulnerable to exposure to an external shock.
Singapore budget government logo
Musings from the Lion City criticizes the proposed budget and calls it “The Redundant Budget”:
The title I would give to this budget is “The Redundant Budget”. As many of you would probably had guessed, I find several things in the new budget to be redundant.
It is as if the Singapore government knows what is needed by Singaporeans but is unsure how much to push to give the benefits needed by the disadvantaged. So the budget is filled with half-hearted measures that don’t do enough.
Ng E-Jay questions the lack of targeted assistance programs to poor sectors:
A concern I have for Budget 2012 is the lack of economic stimulus provided to the nation, given the grim global economic outlook triggered by the worsening financial crisis in Europe.
As Singapore is expected to be caught in the maelstrom, it is puzzling why the government has chosen not to provide more targeted assistance to lower income workers and families. Is this a sign of complacency at the darkening economic clouds that are looming over the horizon?
After writing a two-part article about the budget, Leong Sze Hian concludes by reminding the government to cut the rhetoric:
Need to cut rhetoric, and do something, anything, if the government wants to regain some credibility.
My Little Corner suggests a better indicator of productivity:
The benefits in this budget again does nothing in enhancing work-life balance for all Singaporeans. All the benefits are mostly in monetary terms. There is still no definition of how the productivity is to be measured. Labour Productivity (average output per worker-hour) should be emphasized instead of general productivity. Labour Productivity will show the true picture that the increase in productivity is not due to the exploitation of workers. This is sadly, not mentioned.
Ravi Philemon recommends more funding for sectors with very little productivity:
There are quite a few similar sectors where there can be very little productivity, innovation and skills growth.
Budget 2012 could have identified such sectors and increased funding for such sectors, specifically aimed at increases in income growth, which may have induced more Singaporeans to take up jobs in these sectors.
The National Solidarity Party describes the budget as well balanced:
…this is a well balanced budget, hard-nosed in some areas and compassionate in others. We welcome the greater emphasis in fostering a more inclusive society and the slew of measures introduced to make life better for Singaporeans. We hope that more could be done in future budgets.
Reacting to the provision in the budget that gives incentives to seniors who will give up their spacious flats for a smaller housing unit, Singapore Notes thinks it won’t work:
No one is looking forward to a lower standard of living, not after a life-time of toil. Others may have to hang on to their older, more spacious units for other pragmatic reasons. Their children have just started work and savings, and economic propects, are just not enough to commit to a 30 year mortgage. If every cloud has a silver lining, this ain't it.
Guanyinmiao recognizes the budget support for persons with disabilities:
The Budget, in the previous years, has been criticised for neglecting Singaporeans with disabilities; in the past (here), the assistance was perceived to be inadequate, and not comprehensive enough. This time round, the assortment of proposals does help Singaporeans with disabilities become more independent, with the providence of tools – not handouts per se – to empower individuals for the fulfilment of ambitions.
The Singapore Democratic Party has an alternative ‘shadow’ budget. Terence Lee lists the programs in the budget that would benefit entrepreneurs.
A controversial expenditure item is the $1.1 billion for the purchase of 550 buses to decongest traffic in the city state. Many are opposed to this proposal. Goh Meng Seng questions the use of public money to help private companies:
If the government is to spend over a billion on these companies, it must well nationalize these companies! Else, how could it account for the taxpayer's monies spent on private companies for them to make more money?
Lucky Tan also criticizes the item:
This move has sparked concerns among Singaporeans because the govt is giving money to a privatized profit oriented company and it is not clear if they will just end up helping the company to enhance its profits as the company can now save some of its own money that it would have had to spend to meet the minimum standards.
This whole episode shows the constraints and limitations the govt faces when it tries to upgrade a public transport system it now no longer controls.
The money should be given as a loan, suggests Scrutinizing the Singapore government:
I don’t see the rational to give these privatized companies such a huge amount of money for free. With more bus comes greater operating cost. Will the transport companies then again cite operating cost increase to justify their fee hike? If the money is to be loaned to the companies with interest, the returns from the loan can be put to better use that benefit the general public.

author: Mong Palatino


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Tajikistan: Culture and history conservation via a book · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Tomyris reports that the “Book of The Historical Monuments of Tajikistan” was presented in Dushanbe, the capital of the Central Asian nation, by Tajik government and the diplomatic mission of the United States to Tajikistan.


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Tajikistan: Energy Loss Reduction project continued · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Avicenna writes about the Energy Loss Reduction Project in Tajikistan, which has just received additional financing of $18 million from the World Bank Board.


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Tunisia: McCain’s Visit Stirs up Anti-US Feelings · Global Voices
Ahmed Medien

Senator John McCain's visit to Tunisia on Thursday, February 23, 2012, left Tunisian Internet users angry over what they called Ennahda‘s ‘double standards.’ Hundreds of Facebook comments, dozens of tweets and many pictures filled social media platforms frequented by Tunisians after a controversial picture of Tunisian Prime Minister, Hamadi Jebali, (who was Ennahda's secretary general) hugging the Senator.
It seems the act of government officials angered many Tunisians because of McCain's Zionist affiliation as Zionism is not welcome in Tunisia like other Arab-Muslim countries. McCain was in Tunisia as part of a senatorial delegation, which took part in the Friends of Syria conference, which was held in Tunis, and which sought support for the Syrian opposition.
On YouTube, Tunisian netizens edited a video of the warm reception McCain received:
This video generated a buzz as many Tunisians said that Jebali welcomed McCain more warmly than he should have.
Comments erupted on satirical Facebook page “Hidden Facts.” Most of them expressed outrage at what they called “hypocrisy” from the Prime Minister, who is a leading figure in the Islamist party Ennahda.
One of the comments on the page reads [ar]:
Another comment reads:
The conversation even escalated to hostile comments against the United States of America and the state of Israel.
Nevertheless, the discussion also included opinions from Tunisians who thought that Jebali's act was a purely calculated and political move [fr]:
Il est ou le problème? la politique c'est ça. Cette photo rassure l'occident et fait voir que les musulmans ne sont pas des terrorristes comme ils le disent et un gouvernement islamlque n'est pas dangeureux, et fait ouvrir les portes du tourisme , et pas mal d'autre avantages.
The spat drew almost 200 comments and more than 100 shares.
Another Facebook page, Ennahda's Gags, reacted to the visit of Senator McCain with the following photograph:
The caption of this photograph was a criticism to Ennahda's policy which – according to many Tunisians – lacks clarity and riddled with a double standard.
The following comment explains the point:
Tunisians didn't lose their reputed sense of humor and very soon, the same Facebook page released a new picture of Jebali holding the British potato chips brand, McCain.
The Tunisian twittersphere wasn't impartial either. Tunisian Twitter users’ reactions started trickling with the news of the visit.
Mohamed Ali Chebâane tweets:
@MedAliChebaane: Senator John McCain to Visit #Tunisia to discuss the southern border security issues :D Here we are Boys! shar.es/gt1Q7
The “hear we are Boys” comment refers to many opinions in Tunisia that the U.S. administration is using the Arab Spring to reform its foreign policy in the Middle East.
Then after the video of Jebali and McCain was aired on State TV, Tunisian tweeple changed their tone. @Arabicca1 led the series of tweets first with [ar]:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=234704163291176 الشعب يريد تحرير فلسطين غير ان الوزير يستقبل الصخيوني بالعناق
@Arabsta1 then added to the commentaries with the following ironic tweet:
@Arabasta1: : بصراحة النهضاوي اللي ما يفيقش على وضعو اليوم ماعادش فيه أمل حتى يوم الدين!”
The tweets in fact resemble most of the comments on Facebook in which Twitter users highlighted their disagreement with the visit of the U.S. delegation to Tunisia and the double standards of Ennahda before and after the elections.
@Ooouups:Mais le parti #Ennahdha doit être sympa avec ses maîtres si non ils coupent les robinets !!! #Jbali #McCain
With the escalation of violence in Syria, Tunisia's has taken a leading decision in foreign policy in the Middle East. Yet, Tunisia's involvement to help the Syrian people determine freely the political path of their nation is under-represented in a bewildered Tunisian media. But, as always, social networks remain the main platform for Tunisians to express their views and opinions regarding the latest decision of their government.

author: Ahmed Medien


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Yemen: Hadi President After 33 Years of Saleh · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
After 33 long years of Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule, Yemen finally inaugurated today a new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, for the transitional phase, following a whole year of protests. Hadi had assumed his position as president according to a GCC-brokered power deal which made him the sole consensus presidential candidate in the one man election, in which he won 99.8 per cent of the votes.
The inauguration ceremony was held today Monday (Feb 27th), in the Presidential Palace in Sanaa, and was attended by the Arab League head Nabil ElAraby, UN special envoy to Yemen Jamal Ben Omar, foreign diplomats, ministers, MPs and journalists. It was also televised live.
Journalist @ionacraig tweeted:
Off to the palace today to see Saleh hand over at Hadi's inauguration. What a difference a yr makes. Last there Feb. 2011 for a Saleh speech
Journalist @adammbaron tweeted the links to the two speeches delivered by Saleh and Hadi:
outgoing prez saleh's speech from today: youtube.com/watch?v=ytYf_G… incoming prez hadi's speech from today: youtube.com/watch?v=SLb7Z3… #yemen
Saleh's delivered his speech in a husky voice, understandably after 33 years of rule, he never expected this moment to come. He described the past year in Yemen as a destructive crisis and pledged his support for the new leadership, stating that Yemen's security was part and parcel of the security of the region and hence called on neighboring countries and friends to stand by it and continue the projects that were frozen in Yemen due to the revolution. He also greeted the steadfast Yemeni people and the army for standing together as one, and especially thanked the army, describing them as the safety valve of the revolution, the republic, the unity and freedom, as seen and heard in this video posted by motamarnet.
UN correspondent Casey L Coombs noticed and tweeted:
@Macoombs: Saleh appears & sounds frail at podium speech inaugurating new Prez Hadi #Yemen
He adds:
@Macoombs: Evident from rewatching #Saleh's speech at #Hadi inaug that one thing 34 years of dictatorship did not prepare him for was this moment.
Hadi delivered a shorter speech, with a hesitant pause before addressing Saleh as Brigadier without the usual 33 year title of president. He stated that today established a new basis for a peaceful transfer of power and that the people were the source of power according to the constitution. Yemen, he said, was facing a difficult and complicated crisis, and Yemenis voting in millions reflected the desire for security and stability and change for the better. He also described the past year as a crisis, and called everyone to collaborate with the new leadership to pass the transitional phase, and finally he hoped that in two years there will be a similar handover of power.
The video of his speech can be watched here.
As @abubakrabdullah pointed in his tweet:
Calling the revolution a ‘crisis’ is not a good start President Hadi #Yemen
The ceremony ended with a symbolic handing of the Yemeni flag from Saleh to Hadi as tweeted by Fazli Corman, Turkey's new Ambassador to Yemen, who has also recently joined Twitter:
@FazliCorman: Former President Saleh hands over “revolutionary flag of Yemen” to the new President Hadi in Sanaa today. pic.twitter.com/I84NVMUU
Saleh hands over the flag to Hadi at the ceremony. Photograph by Turkish Ambassador to Yemen Fazli Corman, shared on Twitter
Iona Craig tweeted her summary of the inauguration scene:
@ionacraig: Bizarre and chaotic ceremony this morning at the palace. Noted Saleh now wearing a hearing aid.
and got the following response:
@olireports: @ionacraig Maybe that was the problem all along. A hearing aid… Couldn't hear his people.
The success of Yemen's revolution and Yemen's challenging future are certainly as uncertain as Saleh's plans. There are speculations as usual regarding his next move. Whether he plans to stay in Yemen and head the GPC ruling party as he has stated several times before, or unlikely, go into exile in Ethiopia is not confirmed yet.
While @alguneid tweeted:
Aides: #Yemen's Saleh to seek exile in Ethiopia – صالح، سيعيش في أثيويا USATODAY.com usat.ly/zg6yOp#.T0tt-O… via @USATODAY
@tomfinn2 tweeted:
Reliable gov. source says ain't true. RT @abuaardvark: Confirmed? RT @SultanAlQassemi: Yemen's Saleh will go into self exile in Ethiopia.
The military reform and the role Saleh's family will play in Yemen's politics is also another big question mark, especially after the recent interview that journalist Tom Finn had with US ambassador in Yemen, Gerelad M. Fereistein, which he tweeted last week.
@tomfinn2:
Transcript of my interview last week with Gerald M. Feierstein, US Ambassador to #Yemen. bit.ly/A8erQL
And this photo which Yemeni Facebook pages and tweeps have been circulating as tweeted by @samwaddah shows who Yemenis believe is really ruling the country.
@SamWaddah: US Ambassador in #Yemen is a real multi-tasker! Reality in Yemen! twitpic.com/8orn89
The photograph, posted below, shows the US Ambassador casting a ballot, dressed as a tribal leader and also as the commander of the armed forces.
Who really rules Yemen? Sam Waddah shares this image showing the US Ambassador to Yemen in a different light
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

author: Noon Arabia


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Africa: Vote for the Most Influential African Thinker Alive · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Who is the most influential African thinker alive? Africa is a Country blog wants readers to vote for one influential African thinker from a list of 12 candidates.
Sean Jacobs writes about the origin of the idea:
At the end of 2011 we contemplated asking you, dear reader, who you think was the most influential African thinker alive. We abandoned the idea for a while because of our thing against lists (except our end of year lists, of course). I got the initial idea from the British blog, Left Foot Forward, which had run a contest to determine “the most influential leftwing thinker of the year 2010/11.”
He explains how they came up with the list of candidates:
So here we are. To start things of, we came up with a list of candidates we canvassed internally. Not everyone will be happy with the list, but we tried thinking of a range of intellectuals representing different parts of the continent, not just from one country. As South African writer Zakes Mda recently tweeted: “Zimbabwe compares only with Nigeria in the per capita production of African intellectuals (scholars, writers, scientists, economists etc.)” In fact, an earlier draft of the List was heavily South African and Egyptian. (That draft was not supposed to be up and one reader responded in kind. It’s been corrected.)
We confess this list is subjective and that is why we have a second round where your suggestions will make up the choices.
Others wanted to know why we’re not including people on twitter: Our response is that we are not sure 140 characters make you “an intellectual.” A lot of stuff on twitter, including our own tweets, is half-baked and amounts to what Americans call “carnival barking” (in the service of traffic or attracting followers), so it is better to leave that alone.
African thinkers. Image courtesy of http://africasacountry.com/.
The polls will be open until 5 March, 2012:
Once polls close, we will arrive at a shortlist of five. Then it gets interesting: We will have a second, separate round of voting based on your recommendations. That is while you vote in round one, we’ll compile a list of ten names from your suggestions in the comment section, on our facebook page and on Twitter. Candidates who are already on the first list, won’t be included on the second. A second vote/poll will proceed and we’ll announce the result. We will then combine the top five vote takers from the second list with the top five vote takers from the first list. There will then be a third and final round of voting based on the new combined list that will take one week. After that we will announce the overall winner.
The candidates are: Samir Amin, academic, activist (Senegal/Egypt), Jean and John Comaroff, academics (South Africa/United States), Chinua Achebe, writer (Nigeria), Mahmood Mamdani, academic (Uganda), Mamdouh Habashi, academic, politician (Egypt), Kwame Anthony Appiah, academic, philosopher (Ghana/United States), Achille Mbembe, academic (Cameroon/South Africa), J M Coetzee, writer (South Africa/Australia), Issa Shivji, academic (Tanzania), Nawal el Saadawi, writer and activist (Egypt), Wole Soyinka, writer, activist (Nigeria) and Virginie Toure, activist (Cote d'Ivoire).
Africa is a Country is a group blog:
The media blog that is not about famine, Bono, or Barack Obama. For that, go to Newsweek. Frequent contributors are media expert Brett Davidson; academics Sean Jacobs (he started AIAC), Neelika Jayawardane, Kathryn Mathers, Marissa Moorman, Lily Saint, Melissa Levin and Dan Moshenberg; writer and health advocate Caitlin L. Chandler; filmmaker Dylan Valley; writer and academic Abdourahman Waberi; and graduate students Boima Tucker, Anni Lyngskaer, Sophia Azeb, Tom Devriendt, Loren Lynch, curator and filmmaker Basia Lewandowska Cummings, writer and journalist Elliot Ross, writer Orlando Reade; Hinda Talhaoui; and Mikko Kapanen.
Go here to vote for the most influential African alive.


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Australia: Prime Minister Julia Gillard Wins Big in Leadership Dogfight · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

There have been very mixed reactions to Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s decisive victory over former PM Kevin Rudd in the leadership challenge. The vote amongst Australian Labor Party parliamentarians (the caucus) was 71 – 31, despite opinions polls showing Rudd having much higher popularity with voters.
Can she unite the party and make sure that her only opponent is Opposition leader Tony Abbott?
Image courtesy: Jon Kudelka
The blogosphere has been active in assessing whether it will be a fresh start for Gillard’s government. On his progressive blog Public Opinion, Gary Sauer-Thompson is pessimistic:
All the rhetoric about healing should be taken with a grain of salt. The wounds are too raw and deep, there is a fundamental disconnect between the Gillard Government and the broader Australian electorate, the Gillard Government faces the existential threat of being destroyed in the 2013 election, and the Abbott-led opposition will only increase the grenade throwing.
This is a government under siege. It is fighting issues of authority, legitimacy and trust in difficult times amidst the angst stirred up by its policy reforms.
At The Drum, former secondary teacher Malcolm Farnsworth sees it as a case of “sink or swim” together for the Australian Labor Party:
The Labor caucus has bound itself to Julia Gillard. It is impossible to imagine a Rudd revival.
… The message to the electorate is also stark and direct. Forget Kevin Rudd, he's not coming back. June 2010 was then. Now it's Gillard or Abbott. Make your choice.
Do not sell Julia Gillard short is the warning from government opponent Steve Kates at ‘libertarian and centre-right’ Catallaxy Files:
She wins, and is now the most powerful Prime Minister this country has had in years. There is nothing she wants that is beyond her grasp being in cahoots as she is with her soulmates in the Greens.
… I fear people misjudge Julia’s competence. She has shown herself incredibly able at the job of leading a party and it is she who is Prime Minister…
Cosimina, ‘Personal and Corporate Image Branding’, is aware of the dangers of highlighting a female politician’s appearance but does it anyway:
In order for her to successfully win the next election the Labor party must work extremely hard in rebuilding the Gillard Brand & Image.
…The changes in her appearance need to be subtle and continuous. julia needs to dress with authority…
… Julia needs to work on tone, speed, and breathing techniques. One comment I always get is “she is stiff” so body language and motion definitely need attention…
Politician should not be about clothes and fashion but unfortunately we are a society that judges – so accept it and work with it.
Business Spectator’s Rob Burgess is full of optimism in Gillard is now a real threat to Abbott, hoping a policy debate will replace personality politics:
So let the contest of ideas, and the communication of those ideas begin. If Abbott really rises to that challenge, Gillard is finished.
But if something like serious political debate emerges in this country in the next 17 months there's a good chance Abbott has a problem.
As a member of Abbott’s Liberal Party, The Red and the Blue’s Yale Stephens sees a glass less than half full for Labor:
People don’t like her; they don’t trust her; they don’t believe anything she has to say; and they certainly don’t support her.
There has been a lot of rhetoric from Labor types today about the imperative to all come together; to “heal;” and to “unify.”
All of that is noble sentiment, but the problem remains: Rudd might have been a disloyal troublemaker, but ultimately the government’s problem is its leader.
In contrast, Catching Up poses the question Do you know who our PM is?
I believe most do not.
Many do not know her, but they all know she is bad, sly and a liar.
The answer:
What we do know: Those who know her personally and are close, have nothing but praise for her guts, ability and loyalty.
Law professor James Allan, writing for the conservative think tank Centre for Independent Studies, is Looking for an analogy:
Then there is the federal Labor brand. If anyone thinks there can be unity after this, that the party can re-unite and get on with things, then I’d like to smoke what he’s smoking.
And how can Gillard deal with the Liberal election campaign when it repeats all the accusations first made by Labor people themselves?
Finally, the inevitable sports satire came from the White Maggot (the name refers to umpires who traditionally wore white) in Rudd set to challenge Gillard as Bulldogs Number 1 Ticket Holder. The Western Bulldogs is an Australian Football League club located in Footscray, part of Julia Gillard’s electorate. The prime minister will be hoping that her bark is at least the equal of her bite.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Azerbaijan: The Caspian Sea in ice · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Sheki, Azerbaijan posts photographs showing the Caspian Sea, generally considered the largest lake in the world, encrusted with ice. An earlier post also depicts Baku, the capital, covered in snow.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Brazil: Visually Impaired Dancers Become Ballet Professionals · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Pierre Larose, on his blog Discovering São Paulo, shares a video report on ‘a ballet school in São Paulo which has developed a method of “teaching by touch” in order to develop professional ballet dancers who are blind or visually impaired’. He adds that in 12 years approximately 300 dancers have graduated from the school.


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Colombia: Speaking Spanish is Hard and There is a Song About It · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Brothers Juan Andrés and Nicolás Ospina
The song and video Speaking Spanish is Hard has received close to 1.5 million views in six days: the response was so great, although unexpected, that brothers and musicians Juan Andres and Nicolás Ospina had to come up with a new website in response to interest and requests of other songs and lyrics.
The song reflects the issues most Spanish speakers, even native speakers, have when they move from one region to another, where words mean completely different things depending on where someone is. In the song, a foreigner decides to learn Spanish, and then faces the frustration of realizing that no matter how much he studies, he fails to understand basics whenever he moves from one place to the other.
For example, this part referring to the word pana, meaning a type of fabric but is also a way to call someone your friend, and the word porro which is a song rhythm as well as a way to call a marijuana cigarrette. The lyrics are from their site [es]:
En Venezuela compré con mi plata una camisa de pana,
Y mis amigos me decían ‘Ese es mi pana, ese es mi pana!’
Y en Colombia el porro es un ritmo alegre que se canta,
pero todos me miran mal cuando yo digo que me encanta.
Most of the song is a play of words based on the confusions that arise from words that sound the same but mean different concepts, or words that are completely different but mean the same things, and the different meanings that a same word can have:
En Chile polla es una apuesta colectiva, en cambio en España es el pene. Alguna gente en México al pene le dice pitillo, y pitillo en España es un cigarrillo y en Venezuela un cilindro de plástico para tomar las bebidas. El mismo cilindro en Bolivia se conoce como pajita, pero pajita en algunos países significa masturbacioncita, y masturbación en México puede decirse chaqueta, que a la vez es una especie de abrigo en Colombia, país en el que a propósito una gorra con visera es una cachucha, y cachucha en Argentina es una vagina, pero allá a la Vagina también le dicen Concha, y Conchudo en Colombia es alguien descarado o alguien fresco, y un fresco en Cuba es un irrespetuoso! YA ESTOY MAMADO!
The video with captions in Spanish is up in Universal Subtitles, for people to pitch in and add their own translations. From the song's chorus:
Que difícil es hablar el español,
porque todo lo que dices tiene otra definición.
Que difícil entender el español,
yo ya me doy por vencido “para mi país me voy.”

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Cuba: Dialogue with the Opposition?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It might be paranoia. In totalitarian states, suspicion and the absurd become habit. But it isn’t insane to think that to give the dissidents a space if circumstances force their hand, could become a part of the island’s mandarin’s calculus”: Iván's File Cabinet puts forward a compelling theory.


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Egypt: Mahliat, popular initiative to improve local councils · Global Voices
محمد عادل

This short video highlights the role of local councils in the community. It is made by mahliat [Ar] or “local councils” – an Egyptian movement founded by Moustafa Shoman. You can also follow the movement on Twitter and Facebook.

author: محمد عادل


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El Salvador: Hunnapuh, a Pioneer of the Salvadoran Blogosphere · Global Voices
Silvia Vinas

[Translator's note: All links are in Spanish unless otherwise noted.]
Omar Nieto is a pioneer of the Salvadoran blogosphere. His blog Hunnapuh is one of the oldest and longest-running in this Central American country.  In his first post, published February 5, 2005, Omar explained that there he would post his “ideas, contributions and comments…until for reasons beyond my control I quit doing it.”  During these 7 years, the blog has changed its web address but there haven't been any reasons for Omar to stop blogging. In fact, what began as a personal blog has become a community platform for other Salvadoran bloggers to post their own stories, analyses and opinions.
In this interview, Omar talks to us about his blog and about the Salvadoran blogosphere. He also gives some advice to achieve consistency and quality in a blog.
Global Voices: How and when was Hunnapuh born?
Omar Nieto: Hunnapuh como personaje nació en 1995 como participante en las primeras comunidades de foros hispanoamericanos. Mientras me adaptaba a esta forma de interacción, se me ocurrió hacer una página de orígenes pipiles que titulé “El Arbol Pipil” y con la ayuda de uno de los contertulios que también era salvadoreño (Galileo y su Telescopio). La puse en Geocities y pasó ahí hasta que este hosting de Yahoo cerró. Entonces era algo complicado tener una página propia, pues había que hacerla y editarla uno mismo en html con todo su contenido o utilizar unos editores bastante primitivos.
Los foros originales cerraron, nos mudamos a otros y un día por casualidad vi un sitio llamado Blogcindario que facilitaba el mantenimiento de una página sin más trabajo que escribir contenido con un editor de texto bastante simple y publicarlo, encargándose el mismo sitio de administrar todo lo demás; el concepto me encantó y ahí nació el blog Hunnapuh – Comentarios, en febrero del año 2005.
Hunnapuh as a character, was born in 1995, as a participant in the first Hispanic community forums. As I got used to this form of interaction, it occurred to me to start a page with Pipil roots that I called “The Pipil Tree,” and with the help of one of the forum members who was also a Salvadoran (Galileo and his Telescope). I put it on Geocities and it stayed there until that Yahoo hosting closed. It was somewhat difficult to get one's own website, having to do it and edit it oneself in html with all of its content or using some rather primitive editors.
The original forums closed, we moved to other ones and one day by chance I saw a site called Blogcindario that facilitated maintaining a web page without more work, creating content with a fairly simple text editor and publishing it, while the same site handled everything else; I loved the idea and the blog  Hunnapuh – Commentaries was born in February of 2005.
GV: Tell us a little about the name. What does it mean and why name it that?
Omar Nieto. Foto usada con su permiso.
ON: Hunnapuh es una versión modificad del nombre del personaje hunapú o junapú, que aparece en el libro de origen Maya Quiché: Popol Vuh, que es una recopilación de relatos supuestamente de la cosmogonía de los pueblos Maya Quiché que habitaron parte de Centroamérica. Hunapuh junto con Xbalanqué son hijos de Hun Hunapuh y de Ixquic y a lo largo del libro se convierten en protagonistas de muchas aventuras, descendieron a Xibalbá (inframundo) venciendo a los Ajawab, y se convierten en el Sol y la Luna.
El personaje nació porque no encontraba un buen Nick o Tótem que en el foro identificara mi procedencia como aborigen de Centroamérica, y no conocía ningún referente Pipil que hubiese sido más exacto a mi nacionalidad salvadoreña, pero Hunapuh estaba bien y añadí las letras para dejarlo como Hunnapuh, con el objeto de que no se confundiera con ningún otro que tomase el mismo nombre.
Era natural para mí que el blog se llamara del mismo modo que me auto nombraba en los foros.
Hunnapah is a modified version of the name of the character hunapú or junapú, who appears in the creation story of the Maya Quiché: Popol Vuh which is a collection of stories allegedly about the cosmology of the Quiché Maya people who inhabited part of Central America. Hunapuh together with Xbalanqué are the sons of Hun Hunapuh and Ixquic and throughout the book are the protagonists of many adventures–they descended to Xibalbá (the underworld), overcame the Ajawab, and turned into the sun and the moon.
The character was born because I couldn't find a good nickname or symbol that would identify me in the forum as a Central American aboriginal, and I didn't know of any Pipil reference that would have been more precise about my Salvadoran nationality, but Hunapuh was good and I added the letters to make it Hunnapuh so that it wouldn't be confused with anyone else who might use the same name.
It worked for me to name the blog the same as I called myself in the forums.
GV: Who contributes to the blog?
ON: Al principio lo hacía yo solo, pero logré entusiasmar a Jjmar (Juan Martel). Luego se fueron añadiendo otros personajes de los cuales solo conocemos personalmente a MArjuna, quien es sicólogo. Tuvimos un poeta, Demander, que hacía versos satíricos del acontecer nacional; emigró a los Estados Unidos y no hemos vuelto a saber de él, lo conocíamos solo virtualmente.
Actualmente colaboran activamente:
Raul Fuentes: Creo que es licenciado en filosofía, que escribe excelentes artículos formadores en esa disciplina madre.
Mariposa: La legendaria locutora de la Radio Venceremos, una de las radios clandestinas del FMLN (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional) durante el conflicto armado, que trabajó junto a Santiago Consalvi, actual director del Mueso de la Palabra e Imagen en San Salvador.
Deux ex Machina: Un joven iconoclasta y de ideas muy claras y definidas que nos colabora también con relativa frecuencia.
Francisco Quintanilla: Un profesional de la educación que también toca muy buenos temas en el área de la gestión educativa.
Joralgue, que nos colaboraba mucho con recopilaciones y referencias muy puntuales y útiles a interesantes artículos internacionales.
No conocemos personalmente a ninguno de ellos.
Tuvimos espacio para otros reconocidos blogueros Salvadoreños, como Virginia, Víctor, Queith, Aniuxa y Ligia (Placebos), quienes tienen sus propios blogs pero ocasionalmente escribieron en Hunna.org
ON: At first it was just me, but I managed to interest Jjmar (Juan Martel). Later other people were added, of which we only know personally MArjuna. We had a poet, Demander, who did satirical verses about national events; he emigrated to the United States and we never heard from him again, we only knew him virtually.
Currently actively posting:
Raul Fuentes: I think he has a degree in philosophy, and writes excellent articles based in that original discipline.
Mariposa: The legendary presenter for Radio Venceremos, one of the underground radio stations of the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front) [en] during the armed conflict, who worked with James Consalvi, current director of the museum of the Palabra e Imagen (Words and Images) in San Salvador.
Deux ex Machina: A young iconoclast, who has very clear and definite ideas who frequently contributes.
Francisco Quintanilla: An education professional who also touches on very good themes in the area of educational management.
Joralgue, Collaborates a lot with us on very useful and timely information and collections of international articles.
We don't personally know any of them.
We had room for other well-known Salvadoran bloggers like Virginia, Víctor, Queith, Aniuxa y Ligia (Placebos), who have their own blogs but occasionally wrote for Hunna.org
GV: What is Hunnapuh's mission?
ON: Realmente no tenemos como que una misión o visión formalmente definida. Al principio la idea era rescatar la lengua pipil y eso se ve en los primeros post, pero luego el espacio se convierte en un lugar para expresar nuestros pensamientos y sentimientos sobre la situación actual de cualquier tópico que nos interese. Al final buscamos tener un espacio en donde podamos expresarnos sin restricciones, pero respetando los derechos de los demás.
Hunnapuh-http://hunna.org/
GV: What do you think about the Salvadoran blogosphere? What are its strengths? What needs to be improved?
ON: La blogósfera salvadoreña es variada y de gran calidad, predomina la creatividad, la calidad de contenido, la coherencia de su mensaje ya sea que defienda una ideología o que exprese la visión particular de sus editores acerca del arte, la cultura, la televisión, el cine, la música, la política, etc.
Quizá lo único que necesite mejorar es la constancia y frecuencia de publicación. Pero lo cierto es que para hacer un buen post, un bloguero puede tomarse varios días en escribirlo, revisarlo y corregirlo porque no tenemos “blogueros profesionales”, es decir, a nadie de los que yo conozco personalmente le pagan nada por escribir en un blog, todo se hace por puro corazón y ganas.
The Salvadoran blogosphere is varied and of high quality, creativity prevails, quality of content, consistency of its message whether it defends an ideology or whether it expresses the particular vision of its editors about art, culture, television, film, music, politics, etc.
Perhaps the only thing that needs improvement is the consistency and frequency of publication. But the truth is that to create a good post, a blogger can take several days to write, review and correct it because we don't have “professional bloggers”, that is to say, nobody I know personally gets paid to write a blog, it's all done for love and the desire to do it.
GV: You publish Hunnapuh almost daily, and sometimes more than once a day. What advice would you give other bloggers to achieve the consistency and quality of Hunnapuh?
ON: Para lograr la constancia, solo es de fijarse la meta de postear algo diario. En nuestro caso resulta sencillo ya que son varios colaboradores o lectores que nos envían sus escritos y los distribuimos en al menos una publicación diaria. Una forma sería preparar más de un post y programarlos en días diferentes y horas diferentes que es como lo hacemos, dedicamos un rato en la noche a prepararlo y que se publique en horas predeterminadas.
En cuanto a la calidad, no creo que pueda dar ningún consejo ya que eso es algo muy relativo y depende de la percepción del lector. De tanto escribir se llega a tener cierta soltura para expresar ideas, pero eso no necesariamente devuelve un producto de calidad. Los amigos que escriben en el blog cuidan un poco su redacción y revisan antes de postear, pero siempre se escapa uno que otro error. Es normal, no somos un periódico y no tenemos jefes de redacción, ni de edición. Creo que el único consejo que puedo y me atrevo a dar a los blogueros es que escriban sin presión, ni temor; las críticas son gratis y no solicitadas, no hay problema en eso, siempre deben ser bienvenidas.
To achieve the consistency, one just has to set the goal of posting something every day. In our case, that's easy since we have several collaborators or readers who send their writings and we distribute them in at least one publication daily. One way would be to prepare more than one post and schedule them for different days and times which is how we do it. We spend awhile at night preparing them to be published at predetermined times.
As far as the quality, I don't think I can give any advice about that since it's very relative and it depends on the perception of the reader. Writing for so long gives one a certain freedom to express his ideas, but that doesn't necessarily produce a quality product. Friends who write on the blog do some drafting and review it before posting, but errors always manage to get through. I think the only advice I can and I dare to give other bloggers is to write without pressure or fear; critiques are free and unsolicited, there's no problem there, and should always be welcomed.
GV: What keeps you motivated to keep up the blog?
ON: Las ganas y la necesidad de decir algo son un gran impulso a seguir. Pasan tantas cosas en nuestro entorno que es difícil no tomar postura y para nosotros es la forma perfecta de expresar nuestros sentimientos o los de los amigos que nos colaboran. Pero creo que la parte más motivadora para continuar son nuestros amigos lectores que fielmente siguen el blog y sus publicaciones, gracias a ellos es que decidimos tener dominio propio y un formato más adecuado.
Omar has also contributed on Global Voices. You can find a list of his articles on his profile on Global Voices en Español. You can also follow Hunnapuh on Twitter and Facebook.

author: Silvia Vinas


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France :  Who is French and who is not? · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

Abdellali Hajjat, author of the book The Boundires of National Identity: The Injunction to Assimilation in France and its Territories, explains in an interview [fr] on the blog Contretemps the ideological seeds of Islamophobia and the institutional logic that reinforces it. “Racism needs a crutch to provide the principle of separating national/foreign” he concludes.

author: Suzanne Lehn


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Haiti: Joining the African Union · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Mackendie Toupuissant writes [fr]: “The news went almost unnoticed. Until now,  Haiti was a mere “observer” in the African Union.  Since early February, the first black republic in history became  a” full associate member “of the African Union (AU).  This decision, the first of its kind for a country of the African Diaspora will be formalized at the next AU summit scheduled for June-July in Lilongwe, Malawi's capital city.”

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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India: Cheap Tablet, Unaffordable Mistake · Global Voices
Rezwan

Nitin Pai at The Acorn posts an in-depth analysis on the controversies related to the $35 Aakash tablet PC.

author: Rezwan


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Iran: A blogger and journalist was released · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

Marzieh Rasouli, an Iranian blogger and journalist who was arrested 6 weeks ago, got free on bail.Marzieh writes stories and narrations of her daily life in ‘3 Rouz Pish‘ [fa]. Earlier the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has accused [fa] her of serious charges including ‘espionage’. Reporters Without Borders says [fa] Iran has arrested two other web activists in last couple of months; Mohammad SoleimaniNia and Simin Nematollahi.

author: Hadi Nili


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Jamaica: Inmate Beatings  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Following reports that several high-profile inmates are being beaten, Active Voice wants to know “what’s going down at the Horizon Adult Remand Centre”, which seems to be “a virtual Guantanamo Bay.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Pakistan: Congratulating Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy · Global Voices
Rezwan

Hina Safdar At Chowrangi celebrates the Oscar award winner, the internationally renowned Pakistani documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. She won the award for her documentary ‘Saving Face, which is based on the story of acid attack survivors.


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Pakistan: Fighting the Great Firewall · Global Voices
Sana Saleem

Internet freedom and communication technology in Pakistan has struggled with numerous attempts of censorship, surveillance and at times a blanket ban. The recent spate has been the announcement by ICT R&D Fund under the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT), in newspapers and on their website, of a request for proposal (RFP) for national “URL filtering and blocking system”.
Ironically, the National ICT R&D Fund that describes it's core focus as a fund that promotes “Use ICT as a tool for wealth creation and upward mobility for economically challenged groups of citizens and spread the ICT activities on a true national level”, is willing to spend $ 10 million on a “URL filtering and blocking system” able to  “handle a block list of up to 50 million URLs (concurrent unidirectional filtering capacity) with processing delay of not more than 1 milliseconds.”
The RFP as seen in Pakistani newspapers. Image courtesy EFF
Authorities have in the past used national security, blasphemy and obscenity as a pre-requisite for blocking content online. However, the process lack transparency, civil rights groups demanding transparency have been met with deafening silence. Several petitions have appeared online demanding the government reconsider its decision and put an end to censorship, people have used the platform to register their protest.
On the petition titled, Pakistan to stop the firewall, stop the blanket ban, put an end to censorship, citizens have registered their protests demanding the government to reconsider the decision:
Mirza Abeer from Karachi, Pakistan writes:
Freedom of information is our right! Take that away and people will finally revolt!!
Usman Masood from Lahore, Pakistan:
Do not put restrictions on the internet. We do not trust your members to be competent enough to know what is important.
Hamad Dar  from Islamabad, Pakistan:
By saying no to blanket ban, we're not only putting an end to censorship, encouraging freedom but also helping in saving Pakistan both technologically and politically.
For a country of 187 million people with only 20 million with Internet access, spending $ 10 million on a filtering and blocking systems could be extremely damaging:
Fazal Khan, Costa Mesa, CA, signed the petition and registered his protest:
Stop wasting the country's resources on useless things and actually do something for the benefit of the people who you represent.
Tariq Khan, Pakistan:
The Govt. should take into account the fact that it has been democratically elected and any ban on the Internet regardless of the pretext will only strengthen non-democratic and obscurantist forces in this country which will ultimately make the Government and political class more insecure and prone to any extra-constitutional threat. The answer to creating a more pluralistic democratic society lies in more access to information rather than blanket bans.
Other's have found humor and satire as a way to register their protest:
Haroon Riaz, from Rawalpindi, Pakistan:
Dear Sir Blocking internet is not a good thing for anyone. If you consider yourself democratic, put a ban on bans. Sincerely yours. A citizen.
Shehryar Hydri, Islamabad, Pakistan:
Instead of filtering URL's why not just shut the internet. We were fine with letters and trunk calls to America. As it is, media freedom was a curse brought upon us by Musharaf, the enemy of PPP. Please ban all TV and Radio channels as well and just have the PTV Channels for us patriotic Pakistanis.
Mariam Bilgrami, Karachi, Pakistan:
I have a a request for proposal for a hack to the national “URL filtering and blocking system”. If we can't stop them, think one step ahead.
The deadline for the proposal is March 2, 2012, besides actively signing and tweeting the petition entrepreneurs and citizens have registered their protest on twitter comparing the URL filtering and blocking systems to SOPA:
@rrafiq:Clay Shirky: Why #SOPA #PIPA is a bad idea http://on.ted.com/APkO >>conversely why #Pakistan MoiT #censorship proposal is a bad idea #TED
@rahmamian: Headed China's way? A national firewall is absolutely dangerous for Pakistan. #internet #censorship #digitalactivism
@thekarachikid: Because Democracy is the Best Revenge, Pakistan seeks to build the Great Firewall of censorship http://ow.ly/9g3hU
@fouadbajwa: Great #Firewall of #Pakistan under construction to ban millions of websites urls #censorship http://ictrdf.org.pk/RFP-%20URL%20Filtering%20&%20Blocking.pdf #netfreedom #infopolicy
Civil society organizations have also suggested (see petition) that people should engage with international companies providing surveillance and censorship tools and get their CEOs to commit to to apply for the proposal, in the light of human rights violations.
The fear that this system will be used to curtail political dissent is not unsubstantiated. Pakistani authorities regularly block and filter out Baluchistan related content and sites run by Baluch activists under the notion of ‘national security’.
There has been no official list of the number of websites currently blocked by the government, except for data crowd-sourced by activists. Needless to say if the authorities succeed in implementation of the filtering and blocking system, a considerable number of voices will be silenced.

author: Sana Saleem