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How ‘Squid Game’ hijacked Halloween and a traditional Kenyan wedding ceremony · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

The groom (in blue blazer) looks for his bride at traditional Kenyan wedding ceremony that was inspired by the Netflix series “Squid Game” (Image source; @ViralTeaKe via Twitter)
“Squid game,” the Netflix hit series that debuted in September has become the most-streamed television program ever and is an internet cultural phenomenon. Its reach has since gone beyond the internet and made its way into popular culture. A recent traditional Kenyan wedding ceremony was themed around the series, similarly, this year's Halloween celebrations in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa spurred an increased Google search for Squid Game-themed costumes.
“Squid Game” is a South Korean survival drama television series that revolves around a contest in which 456 deeply in debt contestants play a series of classic children's games for the chance to win 38 million US dollars in prize money, and face death if they lose.
The series — rated TV-MA for language, violence, sex, nudity, suicide, and smoking — has been streamed more than 111 million times so far. Within days of its September 17 Netflix debut, the series had taken the internet by storm, spawned Squid game challenge videos on TikTok, and inspired thousands of memes on social media.
A few days ago, photos and a video of a Squid Game-themed traditional wedding ceremony, known as a ngurario, began circulating on Kenyan social media. In the photos, young women line up waiting for the groom to identify his bride while wearing the famed Squid Game masks, including the square, circle, triangle, and full-black imagery. They also wore varied traditional attire, as is customary during such events in Kenya.
Originating from the Gĩkũyũ/Kikuyu community of central Kenya, the ceremony is the final part of the numerous Kikuyu Dowry and marriage ceremonies where the groom is expected to gũcagũra mũka — to identify his bride from a group of women whose identities have been deliberately concealed.
The women — often friends, siblings, or cousins of the bride — are wrapped from head to toe with khangas (wrappers) and presented in groups go the groom and the congregation.
The groom proceeds to uncover his wife by removing the head wrapping. When he identifies his bride, the ceremony is marked with loud jubilation. If he picks someone other than his bride, he will be penalized in the form of a cash payment to the bride's family. If stuck, he may request the assistance of his best man.
Wedding emcee Antony Gitau alias Mc Tony, who had taken and shared the video online, told Citizen Digital, a Kenyan media outlet, that he thought the masks each woman wore were especially symbolic. In the show, the circle, square, and triangular shapes each demonstrated the ranking of the guards. The bride aptly wore a mask with a triangle on Saturday, and according to Gitau, this was a symbol that she is always present, round the clock.
You see, from the show, you could tell the ranks and hierarchy of the guards based on the masks they wore.
Workers with square shapes oversee the other workers and the players. The triangle shape masks are traditionally the protectors/enforcers and armed with weapons.
Kenyans online found the video hilarious and ingenious:
When you thought you had seen it all then boom
A squid game themed Ruracio ??????
You gotta love Kenya guys…. pic.twitter.com/5IJ75D2Y04
— Lewis. (@Im__Lewis) October 31, 2021
Mmepeleka Squid Game Ruracio. pic.twitter.com/7RfQhJa186
— Maina | Travel ? (@AdamMaina_) October 31, 2021
You have taken Squid Game to a traditional wedding ceremony
Then there were those who speculated what would have happened had the groom picked the wrong bride:
That squid game at Ruracio — what happens if that man picks the wrong woman?
It’s trickyyyyyyyyy
— mumbi (@miss_mumbz) November 2, 2021
A Citizen Digital reporter opined: “We are just happy that the groom was not shot to death in case he picked the wrong girl in front of her parents and elders.”
Halloween — a holiday primarily celebrated in the US and Western countries on October 31 — has been catching on in some top African cities.
Since the series was released in its entirety on September 17, 2021, Google search trends indicate that interest among Kenyans, Nigerians, and South Africa has been growing steadily until the week before Halloween when searches of Squid Game costumes spiked. Searches for “Squid Game costumes” was the top trend in all three countries,
Kenyans celebrating Halloween over the weekend were eager to showcase outfits from the pop culture sensation, reports Star Newspaper
URGENT: LOOKING FOR A SQUID GAME MASK FOR WEEKEND. ANY SHOP IN KENYA THAT HAS ONE PLEASE DIRECT ME. RT
— ©Sunshyn Mrs. Q ™ (@Siteiya) October 26, 2021
For many celebrating Halloween this year, it became difficult to tell whether they were celebrating the traditional holiday or the Netflix series.
Is this Halloween or squid game day ? What’s really goin on ?
— Christopher ⚡ (@chrisiganga) October 31, 2021
In South Africa, Squid Game was the most popular costume search on Google for Halloween with Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Northern Cape, and Free State generating the most queries.
In Nigeria, data trends show that searches for the term Halloween had been steadily rising over the last 30 days, with Kwara, Oyo, Katsina, Bauchi, and Benue, states generating the most queries. Squid Game Costume, Cinderella Costume, and Father Christmas costumes took the top three search spots.
This year, many struggled to source for the costumes due to Global supply chain issues which made finding Halloween costumes harder for some shoppers.
As Squid Game becomes part of popular culture, some are concerned that children as young as 5 years old are watching the series. In an opinion piece published in The Elephant, as a mother of three, I pondered whether parents should be concerned that children are watching and even mimicking some of the scenes from the show, as reports emerged in Britain, Belgium, and Australia show that children are playing their own version of the show on school playgrounds.
Despite the criticism that the series has received for its violence, which has been described as dark and gory, it has unquestionably become a global cultural phenomenon exporting Korean pop culture to the world.

author: Njeri Wangari


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The Dhimal art of weaving · Global Voices
The Record (Nepal)

Chandra Kala slathers maard, a mixture of rice and water, on the threads to make them stronger. Image by Sudin KC via Record Nepal. Used with permission.
This article by Aishwarya Baidar was first published in The Record (Nepal); an edited version is republished below as part of a content-sharing agreement with Global Voices.
Shaded from the scorching heat of the Tarai sun by a bamboo-and-tin hut, Chandra Kala Dhimal places her glasses on top of her wrinkled forehead as she arranges threads, one string at a time, into a loom’s comb. She slides her feet into an alcove below the loom, tugging at two bamboo poles with her toes. Her hands move in unison, swiftly weaving the threads together. Veins pop like lightning along her slender arms as she presses thread against thread. Every day, the 65-year-old works for hours on her traditional wooden loom, a musical cling-and-clang ringing out across the hut. She is one of the last few weavers from the indigenous Dhimal community of Nepal still keeping traditional wooden weaving alive.
“It’s a difficult process which only a few of us in the Dhimal community can do properly,” says Chandra Kala, the sweat-soaked fabric of her blouse plastered against her back.
As modern weaving machines that are simpler to use and operable all year round become much more easily available, traditional looms for weaving tribal attire, like the kind Chandra Kala operates, are becoming harder to find.
Chandra Kala was 12 when her mother taught her “baojinka”, the process of weaving thread. She was often beaten by her mother if she was disobedient. “If I die, then who will teach you how to weave?” her mother used to say to her.
Her mother passed away soon after Chandra Kala turned 14 but by that time, weaving petani, a traditional Dhimal outfit, had already become her primary source of income as she never received a formal education.
“I learned to weave from my mother more than five decades ago,” Chandra Kala explains, “but none of my children want to learn those skills. They say it's too much effort.”
The traditional Dhimal art of weaving, passed down through generations, is now in danger of dying out. Like Chandra Kala’s children, who are laborers in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, most young members of the Dhimal community have taken up other professions. Even those who do weave have adopted modern machinery.
“I […] prefer the machine because traditional looms are hard to work with and cannot be used during the monsoon as the pits fill up with rainwater,” says 54-year-old Ranga Maya Dhimal, a resident of Dapgachi, an Indigenous village that is home to the Dhimal community in Damak. “Chandra Kala is the only one among us who can still skillfully wield the traditional handloom.”
A photo of Chandra Kala Dhimal in her younger days. Photo by Sudin KC via Record Nepal. Used with permission.
According to Ranga Maya, she was able to weave 10 to 12 petani a year on the traditional loom but is now now able to produce 16 to 20 on her new, mechanized loom.
Dhimal women weave and wear petani, ankle-length black dresses with orange and white stripes representing the tribal pattern of the Dhimals, around the waist. Chandra Kala takes up to five days to weave a single petani and can finish four to five in a month—but she doesn’t work all year round. As most looms are out in the open, the alcoves tend to fill with water, rendering the looms unusable.
Petani woven by traditional methods are better and more durable, says Ranga Maya. Traditionally woven clothes tend to last longer, making them a more sustainable choice to modern alternatives. To the ethnic Dhimal, whose gods reside in nature itself, an aspect of their age-old sustainable coexistence with nature is also being lost alongside their tribal weaving process.
“The process begins by sowing the seeds of the indigo plant, known as solai in Dhimal dialect, which have been passed down to us by our ancestors,” says Ranga Maya. The leaves are harvested once the plant is fully grown, and boiled in water with thread to dye them. The dyed threads are rich in color and stronger. Once dry, they are detangled and made into spools. They become even more durable when slathered in rice water. The whole process can take about four days, after which they are woven into petani.
A portrait of Chandra Kala Dhimal. Image by Sudin KC via Record Nepal. Used with permission.
The entire process, passed down for generations by the Dhimal community, is a sustainable one, utilizing natural resources not just for the weaving but also for the dyeing. Hybrid seeds can be purchased in the market, but Chandra Kala says they make for poorer dyes.
“I have woven many clothes, especially for my relatives,” she says. In the past, Chandra Kala used to earn 200 to 500 rupees (1.7 to 4.2 United States dollars) for a petani. Now, she makes Rs 1,000 (US $8.4) per petani, but old age has caught up with her and she weaves less often due to her poor eyesight.
Ever since her husband passed away, Chandra Kala has taken care of her two daughters and two sons with the earnings she makes from weaving. It is an art that has not just been Chandra Kala’s source of livelihood, but also her way of life. She has handwoven most of the clothes in her family's home.
“Since learning to weave, I only own a few clothes that I didn’t make,” she says. “Why would I buy from others if I have the skills to make clothes with my own hands?”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: The Record (Nepal)


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In Georgia, demonstrators gather in support of jailed former president · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

A screenshot from a video report by Radio Liberty.
In Georgia, hundreds of opposition supporters gathered on November 6, calling for the immediate release of former president Mikheil Saakashvilli from prison. The rally took place in the town of Rustavi, near the prison where Saakashvhilli is currently held.
The former president was arrested on October 1 after returning to Georgia, having spent eight years in self-imposed exile. He was sentenced to six years in absentia on several accounts of abuse of power in 2018. The former president denies charges leveled against him. Since his arrest on October 1, Saakashvili has been on a hunger strike.
Holding banners and flags of Georgia, Ukraine, and the EU, the protesters came together after calls from the United National Movement, an opposition group founded by Saakashvili. The calls came after the second round of local elections held on October 30.
Addressing the crowd of opposition supporters, the leader of the United National Movement, Nika Melia, said, “The government thinks in vain that it won yesterday [October 30]. The Georgian people, will win very soon.” Melia, also called for mass demonstrations on November 7 “different from all previous demonstrations.”
“The whole world will watch the large scale demonstration that will be held on Freedom Square on Rustaveli Avenue on Sunday [November 7],” vowed Melia on October 31.
Addressing the crowd on Saturday, Melia said the party would make the demonstrations outside Rustavi Prison a permanent fixture and continue to protest unless authorities transfer Saakashvilli to a civilian hospital. As thousands of opposition supporters gathered at Tbilisi's Liberty Square on November 8, Melia announced the date and place for the next protest — November 9, outside the Ministry of Justice. According to OC Media, hours before the demonstration on Monday, authorities transferred Saakashvili to a prison facility in the capital Tbilisi with a better medical ward.
In addition to street demonstrations, other opposition parties have focused on less traditional tactics. On November 7 and 8, two opposition parties, Droa and Girchi — More Freedom, who allied with UNM ahead of the second round of votes, staged a nonviolent protest outside the State Security Service building and Ministry of Justice. “On November 7, members of Girchi — More Freedom dumped rubbish in front of the State Security Service and threw paper planes over the fence. The following day, Droa activists brought nutritional supplements in front of the Justice Ministry, which earlier questioned Saakashvili's hunger strike,” reported OC Media. Meanwhile, the chair of Droa, Elene Khoshtariastarted a hunger strike on November 3.
Other opposition MPs have offered an olive branch. On November 8, the Reforms Group and Lelo offered a 7-point proposal to the ruling government. In it, the opposition parties ask to relocate Saakashvili to a civilian hospital; appoint, foreign judges for a fair trail in the case of the former president; and return to reform package set out in the abandoned EU-mediated agreement signed between the parties and the government in April.
Reports of the former president's quickly deteriorating health have had little impact on the ruling government's decision. The Ministry of Justice even said that should the situation significantly worsen, he will be transferred to the prison medical wing, according to Radio Liberty reporting.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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In Turkey, 30 people face investigation over social media posts that ‘insulted the president’ · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

A screenshot taken from news agency Anadolu's video report from October 15, 2021.
Turkish social media users have taken their concerns about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's health to Twitter. But when the hashtag #ölmüş, a Turkish word for “is said to be dead” started trending on November 3, it only took a few hours for the General Directorate of Security to take action against at least 30 people for speculating about the president's health. In addition, the president's lawyer Hüseyin Aydın filed a criminal complaint against Twitter users for using the hashtags #RecepTayyipErdoğan and #ölmüş, alleging that they insulted the president. “It has become necessary to detect the users who made the posts and to demand a public action by conducting an investigation against the perpetrators,” said Aydın according to reporting by the online news platform Diken.
According to Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, it is illegal to insult the president. The accused can face up to four years behind bars. Since being elected in 2014, Freedom House reports that some “100,000 people have been accused of defaming the president” and breaking Article 299 of the Penal Code, a provision rarely used before, according to a 2018 report by Human Rights Watch. Students, artists, journalists, lawyers, and average citizens have been prosecuted or faced trial. According to the Ministry of Justice, General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics, 36,000 people were investigated for allegedly insulting the president in 2019 and 31,297 in 2020. In comparison, only four people were investigated under the article in 2010.
Last month, Europe's top human rights court, the European Court of Human Rights, ruled that the criminal proceedings instituted under Article 299 are in violation of Article 10 on freedom of expression of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Speculations over President Erdoğan's health have increased recently due to his frequent absences from the public eye. On November 3, the president did not attend the ceremony to mark his Justice and Development Party's 19th year in power. On November 1, he canceled his visit to Glasgow for COP26, the international climate change conference, which has drawn world leaders from nearly every nation on earth — reportedly over a disagreement about security protocols. President Erdoğan was scheduled to deliver an address on Monday and Tuesday, laying out Turkey's “plans to meet emission reduction goals it has agreed to under the Paris climate agreement.” Instead, the Turkish Minister of Environment, Urbanisation, and Climate Change Murat Kurum represented the nation.
1⃣ Cumhurbaşkanımız Sayın @RTErdogan‘ın 2053 yılı için ortaya koyduğu net sıfır emisyon ve yeşil kalkınma hedefimiz doğrultusunda iklim değişikliğiyle mücadelemizdeki kararlılığımızla, BM İklim Değişikliği #COP26 toplantıları için Glasgow'dayız. pic.twitter.com/tyHWK58PJv
— Murat KURUM (@murat_kurum) November 1, 2021
We are in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change #COP26 meetings, with our determination to tackle climate change in line with our clear zero emissions and green growth goals set by our President for 2053.
In response to tweets and speculations over the president's health, his aides shared videos such as the one below, showing the president out and about.
Dosta güven, düşmana korku… pic.twitter.com/ljoR6UEAuI
— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) November 3, 2021
Trust for friends, fear for enemies.
Last month,  a video of President Erdoğan playing basketball to tamp down rumors of his poor health was shared on the president's Twitter account.
Sağlık için spor yapmak çok çok önemli. Ben de haftada üç gün spor yapmaya gayret ediyorum. Harekette bereket vardır. ? pic.twitter.com/7sDmQV7MSp
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) October 3, 2021
It is very important to do sports for better health. I too try to do sports three times a week. There is blessing in movement.
On November 3, the General Directorate of Security released a statement saying that the Department for Combating Cybercrime and its affiliated provincial units would carry out 24/7 virtual patrols to find those who speak ill of the president or his health.
Within the scope of the virtual patrol activities, a hashtags #ölmüş referring to the our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was discovered. Evaluating the said hashtag, 30 individuals were identified who have shared offensive, and manipulative content insulting the honor and the prestige of our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Necessary legal action has been initiated against them.
#Turkey General Directorate of Security announces that legal action has been launched against 30 individuals who used the #Twitter hashtag #ölmüş [dead] regarding President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and allegedly spread disinforming and manipulating content? pic.twitter.com/Snw7Pq89Io
— MLSA (@mlsaturkey) November 3, 2021
According to Bianet, “while the hashtag made no reference as to who was ‘dead,’ almost all messages were implicitly or explicitly about the President.” In July, a video where the president appeared to fall asleep during a video address to the ruling AKP party members vent viral.
In its October judgment, the European Court of Human Rights said, “that affording increased protection by means of a special law on insult would not, as a rule, be in keeping with the spirit of the Convention, and that a State's interest in protecting the reputation of its head of State could not serve as justification for affording the head of State privileged status or special protection vis-à-vis the right to convey information and opinions concerning him.” As a result, the Court recommended that Turkey changes its laws and provisions to align with Article 10 of the Convention.
The likelihood of Turkey complying with the recommendation is slim. Days after the European Court's decision, Turkish lawyer Sedat Ata was handed 11 months and 20 days in prison for “insulting” the president based on a video Ata shared on social media in 2014. The European Commission also raised concerns in a country report that Turkey's judiciary mechanisms did not match international and European standards.
In 2014, Emma Woollacott wrote a piece for Forbes about how then-Prime Minister Erdoğan ordering a Twitter block was a prime example of the Streisand Effect. At the time, the decision to block Twitter was triggered by a series of audio recordings of Erdoğan instructing his son Bilal how to hide large sums of cash. Woolacott argued that the decision to block Twitter “only brought more attention to the corruption allegations,” namely the Streisand Effect. Fast forward to 2021, it looks as though President Erdoğan learned little from that experience.


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Indonesian court allows internet blocking amid social unrest · Global Voices
Sydney Allen

A protest outside the Papuan governor's office in Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province. Photo courtesy of Arnold Belau of Suara Papua, based on a Netizen Report post
On October 27, Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled that it is constitutionally acceptable for the Indonesian government to block and throttle the internet in times of social strife. The ruling ended a more than two-year-long dispute over the government's decision to block internet access on the island of Papua amid protests and demonstrations. The decision is part of a larger pattern of Indonesia's diminishing speech rights in recent years.
Activists say the ruling further erodes digital freedoms in the archipelago and sets a dangerous precedent for free speech in Southeast Asia. Reporters also note that the decision makes it difficult for journalists to report on conflict or spread relevant information.
SURAM. Sejumlah jurnalis yg brtugas di Papua saat blokir internet dilakukan menyebutkan, kesulitan melaporkan peristiwa yg trjadi dn byk harta dn nyawa manusia yg hilang krn mrka trlambat mendapatkan informasi. Sayang, yg bgni @dewanpers abai https://t.co/UbIrRyTpvE
— AJI SURABAYA (@aji_surabaya) October 27, 2021
Gloomy. A number of journalists who were on duty in Papua when the internet was blocked said that it was difficult to report the events that occurred and a lot of property and human lives were lost because they were late in getting information. Darling, what a great one @dewanpers ignore
Prominent Papua activist and journalist Febriana Firdaus notes the government regularly uses internet blackouts to control information dissemination and disrupt dissent in the region.
Latest work, the internet situation in West Papua, caused anger among West Papuans. Lack of trust towards the government. Even tho the ministry has already said that it caused by a broken underwater cable.
Almost none of them that I talked with, buying it. https://t.co/p9Q8wWOIcn
— Febriana Firdaus (@febrofirdaus) May 20, 2021
In August 2019, numerous civil society groups, including the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) Indonesia and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), filed a lawsuit after the government throttled internet access amid pro-independence protests and demonstrations in Papua. Ministry of Communication and Information Technology officials claimed the move was intended “to speed up the process of restoring the security and order situation in Papua and its surroundings.”
During this period, the government also deployed military and police personnel and restricted social media and news coverage of the conflict. Some worry the choice to enact an information blackout in the region during times of unrest is meant to cover up human rights violations by the Indonesian police and military.
In many ways, the move backfired as criticism poured in from all over Indonesia. During the internet blackout, the Jakarta Post Editorial Board published an article calling it an “Illegal internet ban” and urging “Never again,” calling on the government to stop using such authoritarian tactics. Others discussed the dangerous implications of the internet blackout, as Ika Karlina Idris noted in the Jakarta Post.
By shutting down access to means of online communication, not only has the government disregarded the right of Papuans to freely express themselves and inform the entire country about the events happening in their region, but also the right of all Indonesian citizens to know what’s happening on the ground.
The lawsuit was intended to challenge article 40.2b of Indonesia's Electronic Information and Transactions Law, which states, “The Government shall protect the public interest from any type of threat as a result of misusing Electronic Information and Electronic Transactions that offends public order, in accordance with provisions of Rules.” The coalition hoped to create stricter regulations and restrictions around internet blocking.
Damar Juniarto, Executive Director at SAFEnet expressed his disappointment with the court's decision in an interview with Global Voices.
We were unhappy with Constitutional Court decision that neglected our request over article 40 point 2b of EIT Law in Indonesia. We requested for a better regulation where there are limitations for the govenment authority to block Internet content and to cut access to illegal content and this limitation should follow international human rights standards. Without that limitation, we were worried the Indonesia government will implement more Internet restrictions based on this Constitutional Court decision that not follow or address human rights standards like their previous actions.
In June 2020, the Jakarta State Administrative Court ruled that the government's actions were unlawful, though this most recent decision overturns that ruling.
Seven out of nine judges voted in favor of the government in the ruling — which is irreversible. The court explained that the government has a responsibility of “preventing the dissemination and use of electronic information and/or electronic documents that have prohibited contents in accordance with statutory provisions.”
Indonesian communications ministry spokesman Dedy Permadi said the government would use the ruling to “prevent the spread of internet content that violates the law.”
Any content that violates the law, disturbs the public, disrupts public order, or informs others how to access prohibited material is illegal in Indonesia.
The resource-rich island of Papua in Eastern Indonesia has long sought independence which has consistently drawn reproach, violence, and censorship from the Indonesian government. Many note that the conflict with Papua also has racist and colorist undertones as Papuans are ethnically Melanesian and can have slightly darker skin, while the majority of  Indonesians are Austronesian.
Indonesian authorities also regularly restrict foreign media and NGO access to Papua in order to preserve “national security.”
But Papua is not the only target of government-sanctioned internet blackouts. After violent protests erupted nationwide following the 2019 Presidential election, the internet was cut in Jakarta. And more recently, the internet was cut amid protests over the controversial 2020 omnibus law, which many saw as expanding economic privileges at the expense of workers’ rights and environmental protections.
Some NGOs warn that under the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic, the Indonesian government has been slowly eroding freedom of speech and digital rights in the country.
In May 2021, Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent a letter to Indonesia's minister of communication and information technology criticizing the recent Ministerial Regulation 5 (MR5), which came into force in November 2020. According to HRW, the regulation “requires all private digital services and platforms to register with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and agree to provide access to their systems and data as specified in the regulation. Those that fail to register by May 24 will be blocked in Indonesia. The minister should suspend the regulation before this deadline.”
The Lowly Institute, an Australian research think tank, has described the bill as a major “authoritarian threat” as it essentially forces digital companies to provide the government backdoor access to all systems and data. The government now has the power to block or restrict any online content it deems offensive, based on vague “elastic laws” that prohibit everything from “damaging someone’s reputation” to “threatening public decorum.”
Linda Lakhdhir, Asia legal advisor at Human Rights Watch, said:
Ministerial Regulation 5 is a tool for censorship that imposes unrealistic burdens on the many digital services and platforms that are used in Indonesia. It poses serious risks to the privacy, freedom of speech, and access to information of Indonesian internet users.
With the increasingly tight free speech policies, one thing is for sure, as the third-largest global democracy and the freest nation in Southeast Asia according to the Freedom House Index, Indonesia and President Joko Widodo are headed down a precarious path that could have widespread ramifications for freedom of expression in all of Southeast Asia.

author: Sydney Allen


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The EU and Armenia, partners in reform? · Global Voices
OC Media

“EU-Armenia Cooperation Council – May 2017” by European External Action Service – EEAS is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
This article by Ani Avetisyan was first published on OC Media. An edited version is republished here under a content partnership agreement.
This summer, during an official visit to Yerevan, the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi announced a 2.6 billion Euro aid package to Armenia to support five flagship initiatives over the next four years. The package is the single largest aid package ever given to Armenia by the European Union. The five initiatives include “transport connectivity, resilience and recovery of the Southern provinces, energy efficiency and renewable energy, the digital transformation and the support for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.”
The support package also comes hot on the heels of the Armenia-European Union Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which came into effect on March 1. The agreement contains clauses deepening cooperation between Armenia and the EU on institutional reform, economic investment, and the lifting of tariffs on imports and exports between Armenia and the 27-member bloc.
One of the explanations behind increased funding was the political performance of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government and its victory over Armenia's pre-revolutionary authorities in the June snap parliamentary election.
Pashinyan rose to power after leading a revolution in 2018, promising economic reforms and ousting the previously dominating oligarchs and monopolies. However, his popularity suffered in November 2020 when the country lost the Nagorno-Karabakh war with its neighboring Azerbaijan. The war ended with a Moscow-brokered ceasefire which restored Azerbaijan's sovereignty over a swath of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts and was largely seen as a failure for Pashinyan.
In the following months, as recriminations grew over the PM's handling of the war, he stepped down, as required by law, to allow an election to take place while remaining the country's leader. Polls ahead of the vote predicted Pashinyan's victory despite his tarnished popularity. As Pashinyan addressed his supporters rallying in Yerevan at the city's central Republic Square on June 17, the former PM said, “The people of Armenia will certainly and undoubtedly win with a crushing percentage [of votes]. And yes, everything is decided because the people of Armenia have already decided everything in their minds, hearts, and souls.”
The 2.6 billion Euro package was given “based on past achievements,” Andrea Wiktorin, the Ambassador of the European Union to Armenia, told OC Media. “At the same time, it will, in the end, depend on the maturity of projects and how quickly we can implement the flagships.” The EU identifies “flagships” as “concrete priority projects with tangible results that have been identified jointly with the partner countries.”
In the case of Armenia, flagships include direct economic support for up to 30,000 small and medium enterprises; up to 600 million Euros for a north-south transport corridor; up to 300 million Euros in loans and grants for Armenia's tech sector; up to 80 million Euros in economic and infrastructure investment in the southern Syunik Province to develop “resilience”; and up to 120 million Euros in investments for a more “energy-efficient” Yerevan, including the modernization of public transport in the capital.
Wiktorin said that the EU “took good note” of the OSCE election observation assessment report published following the June election. The report concluded “that the elections were competitive and generally well-managed within a short timeframe.” She added that the EU also supports Armenia's “strong commitment to further pursue its reform agenda.”
Lithuanian Ambassador to Armenia, Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė, also praised the snap elections as proof of the Armenian people's “trust in democracy” and the “resilience of democracy in Armenia.” The ambassador also said, in addition to the assistance package and the implementation of the CEPA agreement, “another direction Lithuania would enthusiastically support [Armenia] is related to further progress towards visa liberalization.”
Lithuanian Member of European Parliament Rasa Juknevičienė told OC Media that for EU-Armenia cooperation to truly flourish, Armenia must first “overcome the war legacy, however painful” and “focus fully on social and economic development.”
Viola von Cramon, a German Member of the European Parliament, told OC Media that the EU “can be more involved” in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
One avenue for further EU involvement, according to von Cramon, would be if the 27-member bloc replaced France as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk group. The current co-chairs of the group that has been tasked with helping resolve the conflict are France, Russia, and the United States.
At the same time, von Cramon said she sees “a reluctance of some of the EU leaders to act and to see themselves as a political player.”
“War is never a good solution. I recognize efforts by Russia in negotiating a ceasefire, but that is not a long-term solution,” Estonian MEP and chair of the EU's South Caucasus Delegation, Marina Kaljurand, told OC Media.
Kaljurand urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to come to the “negotiating table under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group to find a peaceful and negotiated solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
“The people of Armenia and Azerbaijan deserve peace and prosperity,” she added.
With its deployment of 2,000 peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia is seen by many observers as a “winner” of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. The EU, meanwhile, is seen as one of the “losers,” with its influence vis a vis Russia decreasing.
Meanwhile, Russia has been increasingly active in Armenia. In October, Armenian media reported that Russian company Metrogiprotrans was awarded a contract to develop the new metro station in Yerevan. Also, in October, “the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a decision to establish the Armenian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church in Yerevan,” according to reporting by News.am.
But according to Viola von Cramon, growing Russian influence in the South Caucasus is primarily based on the presence of military “boots on the ground” and not on a “commitment to conflict resolution.” Taking into account the increased Turkish influence in Azerbaijan, “it's becoming hard for the EU to have political influence,” von Cramon said in an interview.
EU and Russia share different roles in the region as well. According to von Cramon, the EU does not seek to make Armenia or any other country in the region “dependent” on them, unlike what “Russia is doing and has done in the past.”
Despite Russia making advances into Armenia, for Stanytė-Toločkienė, the EU remains Armenia's key “reform partner.” But also, Armenian does not have to choose between looking north or west, according to the EU Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin. Eastern Partnership countries are free to “shape the breadth and depth of their relations with the EU and other international players,” added Wiktorin. CEPA, for instance, is “fully compatible” with Armenia's membership in the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union trade bloc.

author: OC Media


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Access to healthcare will no longer be denied to Mozambicans because of their clothing · Global Voices
Global Voices Lusofonia

End of lack of access to health facilities due to clothing | Citizen Observatory for Health Photo (used with permission, November 2021)
For years, little was said about hospital rules that barred patients because of their clothes or appearance in Mozambique. The situation began to change in June 2020 when a civil society organization called the Citizen's Observatory for Health (OCS) published a petition demanding equal access to healthcare for all Mozambicans — regardless of their appearance.
Until then, people wearing short skirts, simple shoes, shorts, gym clothes, revealing outfits, or even those who had their hair braided in dreadlocks could be turned away by hospitals and healthcare providers.
The OCS published research on the topic, arguing that barring access to health units due to clothing was a clear human rights violation. The move violates Mozambique's Constitution of the Republic and other international treaties for the protection of Human Rights, such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
According to the OCS, in October 2020, the Ministry of Health (MISAU), through the National Directorate of Medical Assistance, issued a circular discouraging health professionals from prohibiting user access to Health Units due to their clothing.
However, just one year later, in October 2021, a measure took effect officially prohibiting discrimination, which was publicized in hospitals around the country. The OCS called the act an important achievement, especially during the coronavirus pandemic:
É proibido que os profissionais de saúde impeçam o acesso aos serviços de #saúde em função da roupa pic.twitter.com/od4P5I1Tjg
— Observatório do Cidadão para Saúde (OCS) (@DoObservatorio) November 4, 2021
It is prohibited for health professionals to prevent access to #healthservices due to clothing
— Citizen's Observatory for Health (OCS) (@DoObservatorio) November 4, 2021
O Observatório Cidadão para Saúde (OCS) iniciou com a fixação de cartazes, nas Unidades Sanitárias da cidade de Maputo, contendo mensagens que anunciam o fim da proibição de acesso às unidades de saúde em função da indumentária pic.twitter.com/wbKF2WdubU
— Observatório do Cidadão para Saúde (OCS) (@DoObservatorio) October 20, 2021
The Citizen's Observatory for Health (OCS) has started posting posters in Health Units in the city of Maputo, containing messages announcing the end of the ban on access to health units due to clothing
— Citizen's Observatory for Health (OCS) (@DoObservatorio) October 20, 2021
Iva Mugalela, a dance teacher, exulted on her Facebook page, saying that the decision was a long time coming:
It was a lot of struggle, but it was worth it…I hope it spreads to other institutions….but dreads anyway???? Clélia Francelina, I know this is part of your job, well done… Julio Messa, that's it, at least you can wear shorts, without stress (although the best thing is not to go).
I'll walk with this pamphlet in my bag and a photo here on the phone…
I still fight within my family to make people understand that the fact that someone has Dreadlocks does not make them different in their way of being, being and thinking about society. This stigma not only comes from the street but from the house itself. We still need to decolonize minds.
It should also be prohibited for health professionals to ask unnecessary questions to patients with urgent care needs…. I was very sick, I was between life and death and they didn't want to see me before filing the process.
The clothing restrictions do not have any legal foundation in Mozambique, and the COH assumes that the ban emerged organically on the corporate level based on local customs and practices.
However, the organization's study noted that it was not possible to extract precise data or numbers on how many people have actually suffered due to the prohibitive measure. Thus, the COH hopes to gather results on how the recent changes impact Mozambique's health services.

author: Global Voices Lusofonia


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COP26: Kenyan sports personalities call for decisive action to combat the climate crisis · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

Eliud Kipchoge, a Kenyan professional long-distance runner and the greatest marathon runner of all time, is among the 50 Olympians who called for climate action during the COP26 conference in Glasgow Image  by MichaelGubi is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
In August 2021, Athletics Kenya became the first national athletics body to join World Athletics as a signatory of the United Nations Climate Change (UNCC) Sports for Climate Action Framework — a collaborative initiative by the UN aimed at reducing carbon emissions associated with the sports industry. This came two months before the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26)  in Glasgow.
Over 50 Olympians and Paralympians from around the world have called on world leaders to deliver climate action in a video campaign titled “Dear Leaders of the World.” Among the 50 athletes was Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya's most renowned marathon runner. The release of the video coincided with the start of the summit in Scottland. In the video, athletes called COP26 “the Olympics of Climate Summits.”
While announcing the decision to join World Athletics as a signatory to the sports for Climate Action Framework, Athletics Kenya President Jack Tuwei noted that Kenya has already witnessed devastating effects from the climate crisis in Kenya and other African nations.
He added that Kenya has a rich tradition for environmental advocacy, such as Kenya's first Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai, who contributed to sustainable development, democracy, and peace through her tree-planting initiative, the Green Belt Movement. Kenya also banned single-use plastics in 2017 and was an early signatory to the Clean Seas initiative.
At this year's COP26 event in Glasglow, nations are expected to outline their plans to meet the climate action pledges made during the 2015 Paris Accords. One of the major pledges included reducing carbon emissions to limit global warming below 2 degrees Celcius.
The sports industry is a multi-billion dollar sector with widespread reach and engagement. Through its inclusiveness and ability to appeal across cultures, athletes believe it can be a strong tool in communicating about and addressing climate change.
In April 2021, Kenya's martial arts star, Faith Ogallo, argued that athletes should learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and come together, “acting as champions to raise issues around climate change.” She highlighted the need to be mindful of how athletes engage with the environment, particularly regarding the disposal of training materials. She called for athletes to come together and champion the betterment of the climate.
The UN recognizes the power of sports messaging and created the Sport for Climate Action Framework, which asks sports bodies to follow five fundamental principles, including taking systematic efforts to promote greater environmental responsibility, reducing overall climate impact, and advocating for climate action through communication.
The climate crisis is having a tangible impact on sports globally and is becoming a cause for major concern for sports personalities and governing athletic bodies.
In September, the Aspen Institute of Sports and Society program gathered a group of international experts including David Goldblatt, author on environmental issues and sport, Tim Leiweke, CEO and developer of the new Climate Change Pledge Arena in Seattle, and a US Olympic biathlete Susan Dunklee, for the conference Future of Sports: Climate Crisis and the Role of Sports.
Goldblatt said that the sports industry's output is 5–6 billion US dollars annually and generates more transport emissions than other sectors, creating approximately 0.6–0.8 percent of all global emissions. He urged the global sportswear industry to reach carbon neutrality within the next decade and become more transparent about the carbon it produces. He asked:
What will it be like playing futbol outdoors in Africa in ten years? It might not be possible.
Climate Change Rally. Photo by Oxfam International is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Dunklee, the Olympic biathlete, noted that one of the biggest challenges is fans who travel to see a sport.
How do we convince them to come by more sustainable means? Long term, we need to think about ways to maintain and grow our fanbase while encouraging them not to travel.
One of the latest sporting events directly affected by climate change was the marathon event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which was delayed because of concerns about extreme heat. Competitors complained of the brutal conditions in the “hottest ever Games.” Other major sporting events impacted by climate change include the Sochi Winter Olympics, where organizers were forced to use artificial snow to supplement the melting snow at the Olympic venues.
The World Health Organization has predicted that heat stress linked to climate change could cause 38,000 deaths a year between 2030–2050.
In 2018, major sports personalities were affected by the heat in their events. Tennis player Novak Djokovic struggled with the humidity during his match at the US Open. Four other players had to retire due to the extreme heat.
Similarly, the world's biggest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup, is scheduled to take place in Qatar in 2022. Though it typically takes place between June and July, it has been moved to November to avoid the excessive summer heat in the Middle East. Though even with the change from mid-year to the end of the year, stadiums will have to be air-conditioned to keep the field and stadium temperature around 26 degrees Celcius.
Cricket, one of the world's most popular sports, is also being affected by increasing heat. As early as 2016, 13 games in the Indian Premier League were moved from the Indian city of Maharashtra due to severe drought. Similarly, in 2018, the South African city of Cape Town experienced the worst drought in over 100 years, leading to reduced sports events due to low water supplies at most sporting venues.
Andrew Simms from Rapid Transition Alliance, a group of academics and campaigners who are promoting a faster global response to climate change, said, “A first step would be to bring an end to sponsorship from fossil fuel companies and products promoting fossil fuel-intensive lifestyles.” He added:
If players also speak out and say they believe clean air and a stable climate matter, millions more will see the possibilities for change. It will not only send a message of hope for the wider world, but it will help to guarantee a planet that is safe for sport.

author: Richard Wanjohi


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Meet the Pacific Islanders fighting for climate action at COP26 · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Climate activists from the Pacific during a protest action in Glasgow. Photo from a 350 Pacific Twitter post
Young climate activists from Pacific Island nations were among those who joined protests at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. From speaking in front of world leaders to marching with fellow environmentalists in the streets of Glasgow, young Pacific Islanders were able to highlight the destructive impact of climate change in their communities. This year, only three Pacific leaders were able to travel to Glasgow, which made the participation of young Pacific activists in COP26 more meaningful.
Pacific Island leaders have identified the climate crisis as the single biggest threat in their region as many small islands are at risk of disappearing due to rising sea levels. They are calling for bolder commitment and global action to address climate change.
Selina N. Leem from the Marshall Islands delivered an opening statement for the World Leaders Summit. She talked about the need to link the climate crisis with other social problems such as unemployment, poverty, and deterioration of public health.
Opening statement for the World Leaders Summit at the COP26. Video as promised. ?
Thank you Karen for cutting this video for me. ??? pic.twitter.com/uFity9yOA2
— Selina N. Leem (@_lipuppy12) November 5, 2021
Brianna Fruean from Samoa reminded global leaders about the power of words to reframe the world. She also echoed the “warrior cry” of climate justice advocates in the Pacific: “We are not drowning, we are fighting.”
Pacific Climate Warrior @Brianna_Fruean of @350Pacific spoke at the #COP26 UN climate conference today.
“We are not drowning, we are fighting. This is my message from earth to COP.” ?✊? pic.twitter.com/8EtgGOfnXO
— 350.org Europe (@350Europe) November 1, 2021
A manifesto signed by young environmentalists in the Pacific was presented to the Secretary-General of the Pacific Island Forum and the Prime Minister of Fiji.
This evening in Glasgow, the Pacific Climate Warriors presented the #Youth4Pacific declaration on Climate Change to the Secretary General of the Pacific Island Forum, H.E Henry Puna and the Prime Minister of Fiji, Hon. Frank Bainimarama at the high level PIFS Oceans event. #COP26 pic.twitter.com/j8GWphWZLS
— Cherelle Fruean (@CherelleLeilani) November 4, 2021
Dylan Kava from Fiji was among those who joined a forum organized by the UN Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. He wrote about what he felt and said during the event:
I have to constantly remind myself that I am here to represent young Pacific voices and I need to push past being uncomfortable and be able to hold space for our people who are here in spirit.
Young people are capable of mobilizing themselves, and it really is the optimism that drives this—Optimism, not as a privilege, but as a necessity for our survival!
If leaders can’t do it, young people will. https://t.co/PVkwFTTjBB
— Dylan Kava (@dylan_kava) November 5, 2021
During the first day of COP26, Dylan Kava wrote about the importance of listening to the stories of Pacific Island communities:
Pacific voices are so important in spaces like COP. It is our stories that links the science and projections behind the climate crisis to REAL LIFE consequences and experiences.
We are resilient people, but we recognise the need for other countries to build their resilience as well if we are to have a fighting chance!
The young activists from the Pacific were also part of the street marches in Glasgow:
Together, we marched through the streets of Glasgow calling for climate justice & representing the many Pacific Islands & voices that were unable to make it here. Heads were definitely turned when we all showed up TOGETHER.
“We are not drowning, we are fighting” ✊?✊?✊? pic.twitter.com/4yBiIxFZC7
— Dylan Kava (@dylan_kava) November 6, 2021
Observers noted the powerful symbolism of young Pacific Islanders uniting for climate justice:
I was recently asked ‘what is the Pacific’s greatest contribution on the global scale?’ I replied: Our YOUTH!!! And this right here explains why this was my answer ☺☺☺ #Pacific #Youth #YouthCan https://t.co/WImX11s5ah
— Artivist Bano (@artivist_ishh) November 6, 2021
Lorenzo Raplili represented Vanuatu in the COP26 events
I'm the only Ni-Vanuatu citizen made it to Glasgow for #COP26. I joined the Pacific youth warriors calling for Climate Justice and Action Now!
We marched through the streets of Glasgow representing many Islands & voices that were unable to make it here like my country Vanuatu. pic.twitter.com/tegacg5XGh
— Lorenzo Raplili (@LRaplili) November 7, 2021
Tishiko King represented the Kulkalgal Nation to talk about how Australia’s Aboriginal communities are suffering from dirty development projects.
I have seen the impacts of our islands being washed away from rising sea levels, exposing the bones of my ancestors. Likewise, many Aboriginal communities on the frontlines of dangerous gas fracking, and are fighting to protect their country, culture and water and our future.
A post shared by Seed Mob (@seedmob)

author: Mong Palatino


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Poland reinforces border with Belarus as migrant crisis escalates · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

The standoff on the Polish border with Belarus, November 8, 2021. Screenshot from video by RFE/RL/Polish Defense Ministry.
Polish authorities have accused Belarus of an “attack” on its eastern border and of orchestrating a “migration crisis”. The accusations come as an increasing number of migrants from the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa have been gathering at the border between the two countries and attempting to gain entry into Poland, as well as Lithuania and Latvia.
On November 8, the Polish government posted videos online allegedly capturing several attempts by groups of migrants to break through the razor wire fencing on the border, according to RFE/RL.
Following the escalation, Poland convened an emergency session of the parliament, where officials condemned the actions of the Belarusian state and border forces. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Belarus’ actions have “a mastermind in Moscow” and blamed Russia's President Vladimir Putin for supporting Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
“The Belarusian regime is attacking the Polish border, the EU, in an unparalleled manner”, Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a news conference in Warsaw on November 9.
We currently have a camp of migrants who are blocked from the Belarusian side. There are about 1,000 people there, mostly young men. These are aggressive actions that we must repel, fulfilling our obligations as a member of the European Union.
The EU had previously accused Lukashenka of flying in migrants from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia and bringing them to the EU's borders through Belarus as a transit zone to retaliate against the sanctions imposed by European leaders over the authorities’ brutal crackdown since last year’s disputed presidential election.
Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya reacted to the latest escalation on Twitter, saying the crisis in Belarus was now impacting other countries around the world.
Let's remember: the migrant crisis on the Belarus-?? border didn't start yesterday or a month ago. It started with the polit. crisis in Belarus last year. The regime terrorizes Belarusians & now also ??,??,??,??, other democratic countries. Don't let the dictator blackmail you. pic.twitter.com/9YfZl5rAvT
— Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) November 9, 2021
Thousands of migrants remain on the Belarus-Poland border, experiencing freezing cold temperatures, with little food, water or warm clothes. Though they are blocked from entering Poland, they also cannot return to Belarus, as Belarusian border guards prevent them from entering back into the country. A Polish special services spokesperson also accused Belarusian border patrols of “helping migrants to destroy the border barriers”.
#Polish border guards filmed large group of #Belarus officers who were approaching migrant camp #Belarus #Kuznica #MigrationCrisis #EU Video: #Poland‘s MoD https://t.co/T17f5KndZP
— Belsat in English (@Belsat_Eng) November 9, 2021
The Belarusian Ministry of Defense has called the Polish accusations “unfounded” and has denied manufacturing the migrant crisis.  Lukashenka's government instead has accused Poland and the rest of the EU of violating human rights by refusing to let the migrants apply for asylum.
On November 9, Lithuania declared a state of emergency at its border with Belarus and at the location of the camps hosting migrants who arrived from there. Earlier in September 2021, Poland became the first EU country to declare a state of emergency on the territory of Podlaskie and Lubelskie voivodeships, citing “threat to citizens and public order”. As part of the emergency measures, Poland has increased the number of soldiers and guards at the border with Belarus to 20,000. Polish lawmakers have also approved the construction of a $407-million wall on its eastern border.

author: Tanya Lokot


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A dive into young people’s discontent through the Hong Kong indie band, My Little Airport · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Screenshot from Sabina 之淚 in My Little Airport's YouTube Channel.
Since the 2019 anti-extradition protests in Hong Kong, many citizens from around the world have shown solidarity through social media hashtags such as #standwithHK. However, very few really understand what the anguished young people in the streets are going through.
A dive into the songs and lyrics of My Little Airport (MLA), a 17-year-old indie band in Hong Kong, offers a perspective into young people's discontent in the city. Global Voices created a YouTube and Spotify playlist to catalog the band's impressive musical journey.
MLA was founded by two journalism students Ah P Lam and Nicole OuJian in 2004. The duo's music style has been described as twee-pop, a subgenre of indie-pop characterized by its raw, childish, and pure presentation. The indie band also has very strong Cantonese folk and indie-punk themes in its music.
The uniqueness of the indie band, however, is in its acoustic presentation and lyrics. Nicole sings as if she is murmuring or talking to herself and the lyrics are poetic presentations of everyday conversations through the narrator's stream of consciousness style.  Their songs are embodiments of Hong Kong culture: a mixture of Cantonese, English, and other foreign expressions, such as French and Japanese, full of colloquial foul language and local jokes.
Since the release of their debut album “The OK Thing to Do on Sunday Afternoon Is to Toddle in the Zoo” (2004) (在公園散步才是正經事), they have been beloved by young people discontented with the mainstream and those in power.
Their second album “Becoz I Was Too Nervous At That Time” (2005)  (只因當時太緊張) resembles the twee-pop style of the first and addresses youthful subjects such as puppy love, idols, and leisure activities.
The songs “Coka, I'm Fine (2004)” and “Spring is in carriage (2005)” (春天在車廂裡), for example, discuss the highs and lows of teen love.
In Hong Kong, space for a proper date is considered a luxury as most families have very limited living space, and the city is generally crowded with people, leaving young people with little privacy.  It is not uncommon to see teenagers having dates in subways or bus carriages.
In their next album, “We can't stop smoking in the vicious and blue summer” (2007) 我們在抑鬱和炎熱的夏天無法停止抽煙, the mood has changed. The band's signature sweetness turns bitter toward the exploitative working environment in the city. “Sad Purchase” (2007) 悲傷的採購 and “Who invented jobs?” (2009) 邊一個發明了返工? lament being enslaved to capitalism:
Soon political motifs appeared in their work. In the album “Poetics – Something between Montparnasse and Mongkok” (2009) 介乎法國與旺角的詩意 the songs “Splitting Stephen Lam's $300,000 Payroll” (瓜分林瑞麟三十萬薪金) and “donald tsang, please die” lambast the city's top government officials. Both Donald Tsang and Stephen Lam were politicians responsible for key conservative legislation in 2010.
The political message in “Otaku girls, take to the streets!” (宅女，上街吧), released on YouTube in 2010, is even more strident. The song lists major local protests and urges “Otaku girls” — a Japanese term for female comic lovers who are apolitical and prefer fantasy over reality — to resist:
你錯過了反高鐵
你錯過了保衛天星碼頭
你錯過了包圍禮賓府
你錯過了反世貿
宅女，上街吧
這個政府靠得過嗎？
宅女，上街吧
你要未來繼續任由人魚肉嗎？
You have missed the anti rapid rail protests
You have missed the star ferry preservation protests
You have missed protesting outside the government house
You have missed the anti-WTO protests
Otaku girls, take it to the streets
Can you trust this government?
Otaku girls, take it to the streets
Do you want the future to be exploited and manipulated?
In 2010 there was a split within the pro-democracy party as moderate democrats in the Legislative Council voted in favor of the government's controversial electoral reform proposal. The split was characterized as a generational divide, a prominent theme in MLA's 2011 and 2012 albums “Hong Kong is a big shopping mall” 香港是個大商場 and “Lonely Friday” 寂寞的星期五.
For example, in “To those on the train at Admiralty 2011″ (給金鐘地鐵站內車廂的人), the indie band turns a common scene in a subway platform into an allegory of generational conflicts:
入了車廂你們就不再行入啲
歷史不會原諒你們
渣滓 你們曾經是夾在月台上有理想的人
理想是什麼？
人們說理想是在彼岸
但你知道理想就是逼前面啲人行入啲
入啲再行入啲
After you are in the carriage, you don’t move on
History won’t forgive you
Scumbags, you were once a person with a dream waiting in the platform
What is a dream?
Some say it is in nirvana
But you know that the dream is to push those who stand in the front to move on
Move on and move on
Against the backdrop of the Occupy Wall Street protests and the Arab Springs in 2011, the indie band expresses hope for change in Hong Kong. In “Young Men of Ngau Tau Kok” (2012) 牛頭角青年 they question why young people in Hong Kong were not rioting like the rest of the world. Ngau Tau Kok is an old industrial and residential district in Hong Kong, on the outskirts of the city. Young people of Ngau Tau Kok represent the most marginalized sector in the financial center:
A new motif on the hegemony of the real estate economy emerged in MLA's 2014 album “The right age for marriage” 適婚年齡. Since the late 1990s, Hong Kong's economy has been mainly driven by the real estate industry. After three decades of growth, many young people have been deprived of opportunities for social mobility thanks to excessive rent-seeking.
In “I am saving the downpayment secretly 2014″ 我在暗中儲首期, the narrator talks about the preparation for buying an apartment as an expression of love because in Hong Kong, getting married often implies buying a home to build a family:
Political motifs are also dominant in MLA's 2014 production, which coincided with the pro-democracy Occupy Central protests in Hong Kong. The three-month sit-in protests were triggered by Beijing's political overreach into Hong Kong's Chief Executive election framework.
“Let's sleep on Connaught Road Central tonight 2014″ 今夜到干諾道中一起瞓 depicts the mass sit-in protests while in “Brand new Hong Kong 2014″ 美麗新香港, the narrator subtly expresses her frustrations about Beijing's control over the city, complaining “this Hong Kong no longer belongs to me” 這香港已不是我的地頭:
Political frustration was a consistent theme after the Occupy Central protests and MLA's 2016 album “Fo Tan Lai Ki” 火炭麗琪 expresses the sense of bitterness, dissolution, and suffocation through motifs related to cigarettes, weeds, and sex, as in “the Tenth cigarette” (2016) 第十支煙:
The feeling of frustration carries on in the duo's 2018 album “You said We'd be back” 你說之後會找我. Most of the songs are about traveling out of and within the city while being haunted by memories as shown in “Night flight to Amsterdam” 阿姆斯特丹夜機 and “A Good Trip One Night Along Nathan Road” 彌敦道的一晚:
The 2019 anti-extradition protests can thus be viewed as a collective outburst of infuriation and frustration. In “Miss Ng 2019″ 吳小姐, MLA depicted how an ordinary office lady ended up protesting on Nathan Road:
The latest album, “Tears of Sabina” (2021) 之淚 contains more songs about the 2019 protests, including “Classmate K” 同學, which depicts exchanges between protesters, and “Could use some ice-cream tonight” 今夜雪糕 which is about the arrest and prosecution of protesters.
The mood of the album is melancholic. The sorrow and sadness are expressed through motifs such as separation of lovers in “Every time you left” 每次你走的時分 and missing someone in gloomy weather in “Rained two days” 下了兩天的雨. These themes emerged partly because many Hongkongers have left the city after the introduction of the National Security Law on July 1, 2020.

author: Oiwan Lam


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An all-women coral conservation team is helping to revive Indonesia’s world-famous Gili reefs · Global Voices
Sydney Allen

Coral Catch Gili Air's all-women coral restoration team. Photo courtesy of Coral Catch, used with permission.
There has been no shortage of alarming articles and videos in recent years about the imminent and inevitable destruction of the world's coral reefs — one of the key components to a healthy ocean and marine ecosystem. Heartbreaking images of bleached, broken corals have been the bellwether of the climate crisis for many coastal communities.
These images paired with messages of hopelessness have made many apathetic and fatalist about the plight of our coral reefs. Luckily, some grassroots environmental groups have looked past the despair to find solutions.
In Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, one such group, Coral Catch Gili Air, is working to regrow the island's coral reefs and launch a training program to teach other citizens to do the same.
The organization is based on Gili Air, part of the Gili island chain in central Indonesia. The group recently received a grant to fund an all-women conservation team to train women from all over Indonesia how to plant, breed, graft, and garden corals.
Though Gili still has a flourishing reef, some parts have been negatively affected by dynamite fishing, coral bleaching, coastal development, inefficient waste management, anchoring, boat traffic, and earthquakes.
For the group's founder Rose Huizenga, a long-time Indonesia resident from the Netherlands, the group offers an opportunity for both sustainable development and women's empowerment. She shared her vision in an interview with Global Voices.
I believe that empowering women and promoting gender equality is crucial to accelerating sustainable development. To truly learn to live in harmony with our environment, women need to be as much a part of shaping our collective destiny as men. For me, female empowerment is not about excluding men, but about raising the voices of women.
Rose noted that, like many scientific fields, the ocean research and conservation fields have historically been dominated by men, with gender imbalances that continue to this day. A recent study by Women in Ocean Science showed that 78 percent of the women respondents had experienced sexual harassment in marine science.
“Although we've made great strides in the gender representation in ocean research and conservation, we still have work to do,” said Rose.
For the eight participants, the program offers an opportunity to bring coral conservation methods from Gili Air to their hometowns. One of the program participants, Aulia Zeintrinanda, told Global Voices that the program “[teaches] us to plan the restoration project from zero, so we could do our own coral restoration.” After the program, she plans to move to Nusa Lembongan, Bali, so she can partner with some NGOs to start her own coral restoration project.
Likewise, participant, Delya Pamela Anggridani, hopes to use her newfound skills to revive tourism on her home island of Lombok, a major diving tourism hotspot in Indonesia. “I like the sea and want to preserve the sea around where I live, because my area is quite famous for the beauty of the sea and I want to inspire other women to love the sea.” She hopes  to “create a program that invite local women, especially those in Lombok to preserve or restore coral reefs, because we are in a promising tourism area which have many dive sites.”
Cynthia Fildza Radiputri, another member of the program, agrees, arguing that environmentalism should extend past identity and divisions:
After completing this training I want to share all my knowledge, my experience, my story to all my friends, my colleagues, my social media friends, influence them to do the same thing to [promote] sustainable marine life and environmentalism. Empowering and inspiring more women from various backgrounds: job, statuses, skill, ability, competency, religion, etc. No matter [who] they are, they can collaborate and contribute to the protecting ocean project.
Coral reefs are vital for coastal communities as they protect coastlines from erosion, provide jobs, food, medicines, and resources, and are a significant tourism driver worldwide. The Coral Reef Alliance explains:
Coral reefs support over 500 million people around the world by providing food, income, coastal protection, and more. They provide over $375 billion per year in goods and services. And despite only covering 0.1% of the earth's surface, they contain the highest number of species of any ecosystem besides rainforests.
A coral reef landscape in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Photo by Sonja Geier — Flowave Films, used with permission.
Corals can be planted and gardened just like land-based plants, though, according to Pacific Standard Magazine, it can be slow and quite challenging.
The process begins by trimming a fragment of healthy coral from a living polyp and growing it until it is mature. There are two methods to grow corals: lab- and ocean-based nurseries. The first involves growing corals in a lab until they reach maturity and then transplanting them into the ocean reefs. The second process, similar to grafting plants, involves directly planting the coral fragments into the sea by attaching them to underwater metal structures. They are maintained and grown here for about 6–12 months and then transplanted to existing reefs.
Corals can grow anywhere from 1–20 centimeters per year.
Lab-based nurseries allow scientists to grow corals faster and avoid the unknown variables of the ocean, but they are also more space- and resource-intensive, not to mention expensive.
Underwater gardening has its own risks as corals can be picky and fickle plants — they are very sensitive to water temperature, pH levels, and water current, so coral gardening may involve a lot of trial and error to find a location where the corals can thrive.
Some researchers believe that coral gardening could be essential to preserving coral ecosystems long-term as it would allow scientists to prioritize resilient corals that would be able to withstand rising ocean temperatures due to the climate crisis.
Currently, there are local coral restoration efforts all over the world, from Fiji and Tahiti to Miami and Hawaii.
As thousands of scientists, oceanographers, environmentalists, and politicians meet for the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) this November, the plight of our coral reefs will be a major discussion point. Can local initiatives like these solve one of the most alarming effects of the climate crisis? Only time will tell.


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A literary landscape in flux: Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s take on Congolese and diasporic literature · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Portrait of Fiston Mwanza Mujila by Jürgen Fuchs, used with permission
The 2021 Nobel prize in literature went to Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah — it looks like African literature is finally getting the attention it deserves. However, Congolese-Austrian author Fiston Mwanza Mujila, asserts that visibility for African authors, particularly the Francophone ones, still remains a challenge inspiring a new generation to explore new linguistic environments.
It seems 2021 is the year of African literature. Besides the Nobel for literature, other prestigious prizes have been awarded to African and Afropean authors. The 2022 Neustadt Prize, which is announced the year before, 2021, and has in the past pointed to numerous future Nobel Prize winners, went to Senegalese novelist Boubacar Boris Diop. The Camões Prize was won by Mozambican Paulina Chiziane. The Booker Prize for Fiction went to South African Damon Galgut, while the International Booker for Translated Fiction was won by French-Senegalese David Diop. The Prix Goncourt, arguably France’s most prestigious literary prize, went to Senegalese Mohamed Mbougar Sarr.
But could this be the case of the tree that hides the forest?
The last time an African author won the Nobel was John Coetzee in 2003. The last time a black or mixed-raced author was awarded the Goncourt was Patrick Chamoiseau in 1992 and Marie NDiaye in 2009.
To hear what Francophone African writers experience themselves, Global Voices talked to Fiston Mwanza Mujila, an author who grew up in Lubumbashi in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo (also called Congo-Kinshasa or the DRC). Mujila was educated in French, his second language after Swahili, and now lives in Graz, Austria’s second largest city, where has has founded the transnational literary festival Weltwortreisende. He writes theater in German and his plays, which are rooted in the tradition of Peter Handke and Elfriede Jelinek, are performed in Vienna and Berlin. His fiction is produced in French: his first novel “Tram 83,” published in 2014, was translated from French to over a dozen languages and awarded several prizes, including the German International Literature Award. His latest novel “La Danse du Vilain” (The Villain’s Dance) was published in 2020. He also writes poetry, and his collection “Le Fleuve dans le Ventre” came out in 2013 and is translated in English. He describes himself foremost as a poet who happens to write plays and novels.
According to Mujila, unlike their Anglophone peers, Francophone African authors face a number of challenges, the first being the nature of the French literary scene:
Alors que le Nigéria qui est une grande nation littéraire a des portes d‘entrée dans les maisons de renom aux US ou en Grande-Bretagne, l’écosystème littéraire est plus complexe pour les littératures francophones: Paris reste le seul centre de gravité et, souvent, de légitimation. Bruxelles et Genève sont plus au moins à la traîne.
While Nigeria, a large literary nation, has a door open into all major publishing houses in the US and the UK, for Francophone literature, the literary ecosystem is more complex: Paris remains the only center of gravity, and often, of legitimacy, while Brussels nor Geneva are more or less left in the back.
The situation is also difficult in Francophone Africa itself, according to Mujila:
En Afrique anglophone, le Nigéria, le Kenya et l'Afrique du Sud sont les grands pôles littéraires avec leurs revues comme Kwani? et Chimurenga, des maisons d’édition comme Cassava Republic. Pour l’Afrique francophone, le Sénégal et le Cameroun jouaient jadis ce rôle, par l’entremise des Nouvelles Editions Africaines du Sénégal et les éditions Clé. Au Congo-Kinshasa, nous payons les pots cassés de nos turbulences politiques. La littérature demeure encore un objet rare et désirable même si des initiatives d’ordre privé essaient de palier à la carence d’une politique culturelle nationale. L’institution de prix littéraires, tout comme la création des bibliothèques et des maisons d’édition sont une nouvelle espérance. Mais seuls la décoration et les bâtiments ne suffisent pas. Je suis persuadé que la matrice littéraire d’un pays dépend pour beaucoup de la qualité de son enseignement et du niveau de vie.
In Anglophone Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa are the main literary hubs with their own magazines such as Kwani? and Chimurenga, as well as publishing houses such as Cassava Republic. For Francophone Africa, Senegal and Cameroon played that role in the past, thanks to publishing houses such as Nouvelles Editions Africaines du Sénégal and éditions Clé. In Congo-Kinshasa, we pay the price for our political instability. Literature remains a rare and desirable object even if private initiatives try to compensate for the lack of a national cultural policy. The creation of literary prizes, libraries and publishing houses brings hope, but just having buildings and the decor is not enough. I am convinced that the literary matrix of a country depends largely on the quality of its educational system and of its living standards.
For many writers from post-colonial societies, the choice of the literary language is often an existential dilemma. This choice sometimes comes with accusations of cultural betrayal by certain parts of those societies. Some exophonic writers opt for an original solution: writing in a third language, usually unrelated to their home or colonial history, such as Bengali-American author Jhumpa Lahiri who now writes fiction in Italian. Here is how Mujila describes his own questioning and possible new direction:
Si j’ai réussi à vivre en Autriche, c’est aussi parce que je viens de Lubumbashi au Congo, donc un endroit où la capitale Kinshasa ne joue pas de rôle important, et où Lusaka ou Johannesburg jouent un rôle plus grand car plus proches. Les gens du sud du Congo ne vont pas forcément en France ou en Belgique quand ils quittent le pays, et ne s’associent pas forcément aux communautés congolaises de l’étranger qui sont majoritairement lingalophones. Au sud on parle d’autres langues, comme le swahili.
J’ai parfois l’impression d’avoir trois ou quatre vies en même temps, car même si j’écris en français je ne le pratique pas au quotidien, j’écris en allemand qui est ma sixième langue, en dehors du swahili, du lingala et du tshiluba qui la langue de mes grands-parents. Quand j’écris en allemand, je dois me préparer, pareil en français, c’est le même rituel de préparation, c’est toute une expédition, je note des mots qui viennent à l’esprit, je recopie une page de Camus pour me replonger dans le bain linguistique. Mais depuis deux mois je me demande si je ne devrais pas changer catégoriquement de langue et ne plus écrire qu’en allemand. Je n’exclus pas d’abandonner le français.
The reason I managed to survive in Austria is that I do come from Lubumbashi, a place where the capital Kinshasa does not play a key role; Lusaka or Johannesburg are more important because they are closer. People from southern Congo do not necessarily go to France or Belgium when they leave, and do not always get together with the Congolese diaspora who speak mainly Lingala. In the south we speak other languages, such as Swahili.
Sometimes I have the feeling that I lead four lives at the same time, because even if I write in French, I do not practice that language daily. I write in German which is my sixth language, besides Swahili, Lingala, and Tshiluba, the language spoken by my grandparents. When I write in German, I need to prepare myself; the same with French, I have rituals to get prepared, it is like an expedition. I note down words that come to mind, I write down an entire page from Camus to reenter the linguistic environment. But for the past two months, I started asking myself if I should not switch categorically and write in German only. I do not exclude completely abandoning French.
Mujila notes that the Congolese literary tradition is embracing multilingualism: certain writers, such as Richard Ali, write in Lingala. In the diaspora, authors write in local languages: Daniëlle Zawadi writes poetry in Dutch, JJ Bola in English, Kayo Mpoyi in Swedish.
This has led him to define his identity as in constant flow, as he explains:
Un écrivain a comme outil principal la langue. Quand je me suis installé dans la Mitteleuropa, je me devais pour survivre comme auteur non seulement d’apprendre la langue allemande mais d’échafauder une généalogie littéraire. J’écris en français et en allemand mais ce dernier prend souvent le dessus. Je suis habitué à parler de littérature dans cette langue.
Quand je suis en France, on me définit comme écrivain autrichien. À Vienne on m’identifie comme écrivain de Graz, et en Allemagne comme écrivain autrichien. Au Congo on m’identifie comme écrivain congolais mais vivant en Autriche. Mon identité est polyphonique et mouvante. Mudimbe, philosophe congolais, parlait d’expérience ou de subjectivité africaine. J’ajouterais à cela une subjectivité autrichienne. Graz et Lubumbashi sont mes points de ralliement et d’observation, lieux à partir desquels j’élabore mon discours.
For a writer, language is his or her main tool. When I settled in Mitteleuropa, as we call Central Europe in German, I had not only to learn the language but to establish a literary genealogy. I write in French and German but the latter is taking over. I am used to talking about my  writing in that language.
In France, I am defined as an Austrian writer. In Vienna, I am identified as a writer from Graz, and in Germany as an Austrian author. In the Congo, as a Congolese writer living in Austria. My identity is polyphonic and on the move.  Mudimbe, a Congolese philosopher, used to say talk about African subjectivity or experience. I would add to that the Austrian subjectivity: Graz and Lubumbashi are my points of connection and observation, places from where I build my discourse.
One term that has emerged more prominently in the past years is the concept of Afropean, a contraction of African and European. Here is Mujila's take on this notion:
En Autriche, je me considère comme congolais, africain ou encore écrivain black autrichien, parce qu’être écrivain noir en Autriche n’est pas la même chose qu’être noir en France ou en Belgique. Je respecte ceux qui utilisent le terme d’Afropéen, mais chacun peut se définir à sa manière. L’Europe est grande, je préfère donc me référer aux termes d’Afrofrançais, Afrobelge, Afroautrichien pour mieux contextualiser.
In Austria, I consider myself as a Congolese, an African, or as a Black Austrian writer, because being black in Austria is not the same compared to France or Belgium. I respect those who embrace the term Afropean, but everyone can define themselves as they wish. Europe is large, I thus prefer to use the terms Afrofrench, Afrobelgian, Afroaustrian to provide more context.
But in the end, the strongest identity marker might simply be literature itself, as Mujila concludes by saying, “in fact, literature is my sole and unique language,” something he masterfully displays in his latest novel:
Ce qui m’intéresse est le dynamisme interafricain, ainsi que la porosité des frontières héritées de la Colonisation. Mes deux romans sont des réflexions sur la gestion (post)coloniale et urbaine de l‘espace africain. “Tram 83″ met à nu la fragilité des états nés de la colonisation—c‘est-à-par par hasard— où le discours sécessionniste se décline comme premier et dernier recours contre un nationalisme doublé d‘autoritarisme. “La Danse du Vilain” poursuit la même réflexion en mettant en lumière le devenir de la ville blanche, occupée aujourd‘hui par les enfants de la rue et autres marginaux.
What interests me are inter-African dynamics, and the porosity of borders inherited from the colonial period. My two novels reflect on the colonial and postcolonial urban management of the African space.   “Tram 83″ discloses the fragility of the states born out of colonisation — born by chance — where secessionist discourses develop as a form of resistance against nationalism and authoritarianism. “La Danse du Vilain” extends the same theme by showcasing the future of the city of white people, currently occupied by street kids and other marginal people.
Mujila concludes with a note of irony on the future of African literature:
J’ai comme l’impression qu’on demande beaucoup à cette littérature. D’ailleurs, elle n'est même pas centenaire. Il faudrait peut-être la laisser en paix et revenir après 3 siècles. Je pense que notre regard sur l’Afrique et les littératures africaines va changer quand on s’attachera sûrement aux oeuvres.
I have the impression a lot is required from African literature, which, by the way is not even a hundred years old. Perhaps we should leave it in peace and return in three centuries. I think our understanding of Africa and African literature will change once we focus on the literary works themselves.

author: Filip Noubel


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More voices call for the release of Zhang Zhan, a citizen journalist who could die in a mainland Chinese prison · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A screenshot from Zhang Zhan's YouTube channel.
For months, international human rights groups have been urging China to release jailed citizen journalist Zhang Zhan. The US government joined the call on November 9 as Zhang's health is deteriorating, and she may not survive the coming winter in prison.
In February 2020, the 38-year-old citizen journalist uploaded more than a hundred video clips taken from Wuhan, China, during the early weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak. She was arrested in May 2020.
At the start of the pandemic, Wuhan was in lockdown for more than three months. Only state-affiliated media could report on the government's pandemic policies, resulting in fairly one-sided coverage that exclusively praised the authorities. Therefore, reports from citizen journalists were a crucial way for the public to understand what was really happening in the city. At least three citizen journalists, including Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin, were arrested for their work, but thus far, Zhang has progressed to trial and received a sentence.
Zhang has been on an intermittent hunger strike to protest her arrest for about 18 months. In December 2020, a Shanghai court sentenced her to four years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” — a common charge against protesters and political dissidents in China. According to the prosecution documents, the “trouble” included spreading fake news and accepting interviews from foreign media outlets.
According to Amnesty International, she was tortured for more than three months as punishment for her hunger strike and was force-fed with a feeding tube before the trial. She was brought to court in a wheelchair on December 28, 2020.
According to her lawyer, Zhang refused to appeal the court's decision as she has no faith in the Chinese legal system. Instead, she has chosen to hunger strike intermittently to demonstrate her innocence. She was hospitalized for 11 days in August 2021 due to severe malnutrition. On October 30, Zhang's brother Zhang Ju broke his silence and wrote on Twitter that his sister would not survive the winter if she remains in detention:
Zhan is 177cm tall, now she has less than 40kg wt. She may not survive the coming cold winter. I hope the world remember how she used to be. pic.twitter.com/6hJ5AxBH88
— Ju Zhang (@Jeffreychang81) October 30, 2021
Though Chinese authorities warned the family against speaking to the press, they have kept the media updated about her condition. Zhang's mother told a reporter from Radio Free Asia:
She can't walk unassisted now, and her head keeps drooping as she speaks. She will be in huge danger if they don't release her on medical parole. I cried for several hours straight after I got out [of a call with her].
Currently, Zhang's family is seeking medical parole. Yet, when lawyer Xie Yang tried to visit Shanghai to offer his legal assistance to the family on November 6, his health code suddenly turned red, and he was forbidden to take the domestic flight. The three-color health code system is part of a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 by restricting individual movement according to the person's health condition and contacts. Some dissidents have claimed that the authorities have abused the system for political control.
Since last December, many international organizations have called for Zhang's release. Amnesty International recently launched an online petition, and in the group's November press statement, campaigner Gwen Lee noted that Zhang's imprisonment goes against international human rights guarantees.
Zhang Zhan is a victim of the Chinese government’s zero-tolerance approach to criticism and opposing views. She has been imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression, and she must be immediately and unconditionally released
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also been closely following Zhang's case. After Zhang's brother raised concerns about his sister's health, HRW highlighted the brutal conditions and high death rates in many Chinese prisons:
Conditions in China’s detention facilities and prisons are poor, usually with minimal nutrition and rudimentary health care. In recent years, a number of prominent dissidents in China have become seriously ill in detention, been denied adequate care, and died either in detention or shortly after being released.
The deceased activists listed in the Human Rights Watch's statement are Tibetan activist Kunchok Jinpa, Fujian-based activist Ji Sizun, Islamic scholar Muhammed Salih Hajim, Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo, revered Tibetan lama Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, and human rights activist Cao Shunli.
Reporters Without Borders's early November statement called for a concerted global effort to press for Zhang's release:
We call on the international community to apply pressure to the Chinese regime and secure Zhang Zhan’s immediate release before it is too late. She was only performing her duty as a reporter and should never have been detained, not to mention receive a four-year prison sentence.


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Antigua and Barbuda says polluters ‘must pay,’ as climate change remains existential threat to Small Island Developing States · Global Voices
Zico Cozier

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda, and António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, greet one another on arrival at the COP26 World Leaders Summit of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference at the SEC, Glasgow. Photo by Karwai Tang/UK Government via the COP26 Flickr page, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
This post was originally published at Friedrich Ebert Stiftung through Climate Tracker‘s COP26 journalism fellowship. An edited version is republished here with permission, as part of Global Voices’ coverage of COP26.
In 2017, Hurricane Irma reduced the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda to “literally rubble,” forcing the entire population of 1,400 residents to be evacuated to their sister island, Antigua. The recovery needs assessment led by World Bank Group concluded that Irma, combined with another hurricane, Maria (which struck Antigua shortly afterwards), would cost the twin-island nation 377.2 million United States dollars in damages, losses and recovery needs—a bill amounting to 25 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) that year.
The destructive capacity of Irma, which made landfall in Barbuda as a Category 5 storm, was likely intensified by warmer waters in the Atlantic Ocean caused by climate change.
Antigua and Barbuda—together with all the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the world—emit less than one per cent of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs); yet, there is no active mechanism in place for holding the world’s largest emitters accountable for recovery efforts through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
What is more, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) rules stipulated that Antigua and Barbuda was too rich to qualify for most aid grants needed to rebuild and repopulate Barbuda post-Irma.
“Immoral and unjust” is how Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, branded the failure to deliver critical loss and damage funding to small islands, when addressing the participants of the World Leaders’ Summit at COP26. She added that the toll of the climate crisis for SIDS was being measured in “lives and livelihoods.”
With current emissions trends, small islands face an existential threat. The Emissions Gap Report shows that even if each country met its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, the world’s average temperature would still increase by 2.7°C, compared to pre-industrial levels, by the year 2100. A separate special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) demonstrates that this half-a-degree difference is, indeed, a matter of life or death for SIDS.
In light of this, Antigua and Barbuda decided to kick off COP26 with a big, bold move made in collaboration with Tuvalu, a Pacific island nation that is disappearing as a result of sea-level rise and coastal erosion. The two islands announced a platform to hold big emitters legally accountable for loss and damage from extreme weather.
With Barbuda still reeling from the effects of Irma five years later—a fact acknowledged by President of COP26, Alok Sharma, during the opening plenary—its prime minister, Gaston Browne, came to COP26 with an ambitious plan: to hold polluters accountable.
On the day of the World Leaders Summit, he joined the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Kausea Natano, to launch a commission that would investigate legal ways to hold large emitters responsible for the loss and damage experienced in their home countries and other SIDS.
“The polluter must pay,” he said, clarifying that the statement was not intended as an act of aggression. Discussions about loss and damage, however, are a sensitive topic for small islands, experts said.
“For a long time, developed countries have resisted any effort to recognise loss and damage, because of the liabilities and potential claims for compensation that might emanate from that,” said Colin Young, Executive Director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC).
He credited the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and Caribbean negotiators for the inclusion of Article 8, which addresses the issue of loss and damage, in the Paris Agreement. However, the absence of any mention of developed nations accepting liability was a result of compromise.
According to Young, the critical issues at COP26 for small islands are limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels; securing climate finance for adaptation; finalising the Paris rulebook, and creating a loss and damage fund.
Speaking at a high-level COP26 side event at the AOSIS Pavilion, Tuvalu Minister of Finance, Seve Paeniu, said that such a fund would need to be accessible to the most vulnerable countries on the frontline of the climate crisis. “This is critical because even with the current funding mechanisms, such as the Global Climate Fund, a number of the SIDS have taken years just to access that global fund,” Natano said.
One developed country that has taken a public leadership role in advancing loss and damage is Scotland. At COP26, the country announced a donation of 1 million pounds (US $1,340,990) to a prospective loss and damage fund.
“It’s an issue of climate justice,” Young said. “We [SIDS] are not the cause of this problem we're suffering. So when a country like Scotland shows global leadership and is a first mover in putting a million pounds to loss and damage, it is significant,” he added.
As small as this amount may seem, according to the largest conglomerate of climate NGOs, Climate Action Network (CAN), it was the first time that a developed nation had embraced the term “loss and damage” and the associated implication of liability. Scotland is “setting a precedent that the richer nations must follow,” CAN said in a statement.
This sentiment was shared by Caroline Mair-Toby, director and founder of the Caribbean Institute of Small Islands, who considered the gesture noteworthy, especially considering that Scotland is not an independent country. “The fact that they are not obliged to do this starkly highlights the reluctance of countries that are wealthy and fully capable,” she said.
Professor Payam Akhaven, the lawyer who will lead the commission on behalf of Antigua and Barbuda and Tuvalu, told Climate Tracker that this step by Scotland was a “reflection of the growing recognition that climate change is the consequence of deliberate conduct causing harm.” This, he said, was proof that climate change must be framed in terms of damages.
Antigua and Barbuda currently serves as chair of AOSIS; however, the commission launched with Tuvalu is independent of AOSIS and will seek to garner support from other AOSIS members over the coming months.

author: Zico Cozier