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Myanmar: Students Detained for Commemorating Historical Event · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

On July 7, 1962, the building of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) was bombed by the military in response to the opposition of students to government policies. Many students were killed and injured during the attack.
Fifty-years later, the ABFSU organized an event to commemorate the anniversary of the protest. But the Myanmar government arrested leaders of the group which it claims is not legally recognized by the state.
The arrest instantly educated the online community, especially young netizens, about the historical importance of the July 7 event.
Ma Nandar posted[my] a note explaining the background of the July 7, 1962 event:
ABFSU building that was demolished by the military government. Photo from Wikimedia under CC Attribution/Share-Alike.
Though the words written with blood on the wall could be erased, it would not be possible to erase the history written with heart the blood of brothers from generation to generation.
Ernesto Kee Lin questioned[my] the motives of the government for arresting the students:
For me, just by this point, I even doubt if the current government is stepping towards democracy.
Some netizens expressed their anger towards the government for the unnecessary action which would not benefit any party. Wai Yan De Mo urged[my] the government to release the detained leaders.
Detained ABFSU leaders are not asking for fabricated history like some are doing. They are asking for the building of ABFSU which actually existed in history.
It's not a violent act, it's peaceful ceremony for remembrance.
They are not like those who are lying as citizens. They are true citizens who are sacrificing for the country.
Current situation is like throwing flowers to riot attackers (acting as flowers to enemies) and detaining true citizens who are sketching the country's history (acting as fire to citizens).
I urge the release of all the detained students as soon as possible.
Nway Nay Won defended[my] the ABFSU event:
A number of netizens quoted and posted the words of Min Ko Naing, one of the leaders of the 88 Generation Students:
If there was only one (member), that one person would continue (the event). The detention is an interference in the transition towards democracy and it's also a form of threat to the public
On the other hand, some netizens believe that the July 7 event is not important. May Thingyan Hein, editor-in-chief of Shwe Myit Ma Kha media group, posted[my] a note titled “Don't feel bad just because you can't hold July 7 event”.
Money that would be used for the event could be given to farmers who are facing difficulties with their farms. It would really be effective. Public would really feel thankful. Then there are lots of refugee camps in Myanmar. It would be great if money would be donated there.
For me, rather than those which happened 50 years ago, current issues such as riot victims in Rakhine and Kachin refugee camps are much more important.
The statement above received 145 comments because the people who supported ABFSU were furious about it. Ye Yint Kyaw, a member of the ABFSU committee for the July 7 event responded[my]:
Why did you choose only the cost of this event to talk? The July 7 event is not an event to celebrate and enjoy with food and drinks like other promotional events. For those who feel bad because the event is not allowed, they definitely would feel so, let me explain the value of July 7 first. You would understand that this (ABFSU) building is a historical building if you have ever read that General Aung San (as a student Ko Aung San) led (the university  students) to the chair of chairman in the building that was demolished. Why do we value the museum of General Aung San [Author Note: Museum of General Aung San is his home where he lived.]? It's because of “history”.
ABFSU always donated to (victims of) natural disasters. We always helped the public, the farmers and workers (when they are in need of help). You may have read our efforts as you are an editor. What I wish to mean is that we would donate money when we should and we would do other events when we should. We also spent money for civil war victims in Kachin and acting against the Myit Sone Dam project.
Despite threats from government, ABFSU successfully organised the event. Wai Yan De Mo blogged[my] about it and posted a statement of ABFSU. Kyaw Swar posted[my] a copy of the speech of Aung San Suu Kyi that was given on July 7, 1989 which affirms the importance of the event. ABFSU (Mon Ywa District) uploaded the flag of their organisation in black color to symbolize the sadness and remembrance for the student victims
Most of the detained ABFSU members and leaders had been released on the evening of July 7. Si Thu Maung, who was on of the detained members, explained[my] the process of their release:
They said that we couldn't do such event as ABFSU is not an association that is formed legally. And they didn't use the word “detaining”. They just called it as “discussion”. They promised that they would release us once the event is finished. But they interrogated us till 3 a.m one by one. Those are mainly mental attacks to us.

author: Chan Myae Khine


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Russia: Krymsk Floodgate Conspiracies · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

In the aftermath of flooding in Krymsk that has claimed over 140 lives, bloggers debate whether officials are to blame for water that may have been released from a nearby reservoir. Evgeny Shultz tries to debunk [ru] this theory, whereas local Yulia Andropova claims [ru] that her father was present when the floodgates were opened.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Russia: Krymsk Footage & the Reservoir’s Owners · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Krasnodar environmental activist Suren Gazarian blogs videos from the wreckage in Krymsk, dismissing the theory [ru] that the flooding was caused by water released from the Neberdzhaevsky Reservoir. Marina Litvinovich, meanwhile, provides background [ru] on the reservoir's corporate ownership, including recent criminal charges against members of its board of directors.


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Russia: Parkhomenko Chronicles Krymsk Statements · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

In a widely shared Facebook post [ru], journalist Sergei Parkhomenko lists a series of contradictory official statements by the Russian authorities about the flooding in Krymsk, arguing that the state is flip-flopping and deceiving the public.


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Rwanda: From Colonialism And Genocide to Recovery · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

1 July was a very special day in Rwanda as the country celebrated 50 years of independence and 18 years since the end of the Rwandan genocide. Independence from Belgium was obtained on 1 July, 1962 and the genocide ended officially on 4 July, 1994.
interpeace.org wrote:
This is an important week in Rwanda. It was 50 years ago, on the 1 July 1962, that Rwanda gained its independence. That’s not all, on the 4 July 1994, Rwandans were liberated from the genocidal regime. And it was only last month, the Gacaca courts in Rwanda were officially closed and marked the end of a period of transitional justice.
Unburied bones of victims of the Rwandan genocide at a memorial centre. Image by Flickr user DFID – UK Department for International Development (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
However, as rightly pointed out by President Paul Kagame in his speech to the nation, on the 1 July 2012, it is only in the last 18 years that the Rwandese people:
have regained the dignity and identity that they lost – first, under colonialism and then, ironically, at the time of independence.
To understand the links between these two periods, the website newsofrwanda.com explained:
March 24th, 1957, Grégoire Kayibanda, with the help of Catholic Bishop Perrudin penned the famous Bahutu manifesto, in which, for the first time a political problem was explained in racial terms, demanding the emancipation of Bahutu and a racial quota system in education and employment.
Margee Ensign, currently president of the American University of Nigeria, discussed the genesis of the Rwandan genocide:
Colonial and religious structures and policies helped lay the foundation for the genocide of 1994, when close to one million people were killed. In 1994, while the international community turned away, the Rwandan Patriotic Front stopped the genocide.
In her feature Margee Ensign added:
Here is what the country looked like in 1994:
In these last 18 years, a lot has been achieved both in terms of reconciliation and socio-economic development.
Being aware of the importance of national reconciliation, it was urgent for the new government to show to the survivors and the international community that justice was being done. To prosecute all those involved in the genocide, estimated at around 2 million people, in the modern judiciary system, it would have required many years. The government introduced the traditional courts called Gacaca in 2001.
Jean Kayigamba explained about Gacaca on newint.org:
During these trials, defendants are given shorter sentences in exchange for confessing and are encouraged to seek forgiveness from the victim’s family. The survivors are also able to finally discover how their loved ones were killed and where their remains had been disposed of.
Will Jones delivered his conclusion on Gacaca's work and achievements:
In June of this year, Rwanda completed an experiment in post-conflict justice without parallel anywhere in the world. Since 2001, roughly 11,000 courts in every corner of Rwanda have been meeting to work through the caseload of crimes left by the Rwandan genocide, in which some 800,000 Tutsis and their perceived Hutu and Twa allies were systematically murdered. These courts met weekly. They have processed approximately 1.9 million cases –some 400,000 suspected perpetrators of genocide. They have done so at a cost of roughly $40 million dollars.
Since the end of Rwandan genocide, the country has made noticeable socio-economic development. In the field of politics, Rwanda is noted for being the the only country in the world to have more women than men in parliament.
However, Rwanda records on human rights is not so brilliant. In its annual report, submitted in May 2012 to the UN Committee against torture denouncing the use of torture and other ill treatment around the world, Amnesty International pointed the finger to the President Paul Kagame's regime. Discussing the report, jambonews.net wrote:
The organization documented 18 allegations of torture and other ill-treatments. It also outlined cases involving enforced disappearance, unlawful detention, and lack of access to lawyers, family members and medical assistance in contravention to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).
Post-independence ethnic divisions and tensions resulted in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. It is estimated that over a million people died in a period of 100 days.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Uganda: Netizens Tweet Top Ugandan  Lies · Global Voices
James Propa

The hashtags #TopUgandanLies and #TopKenyanlies trended on 13 June, 2012, where it was all fun knowing the top lies in the region. Here are some top lies in Uganda:
@LostInKampala Reminds about one of the lies back in school where a student would lie others about where his/ her shoe was bought:
@LostInKampala: #TopUgandanLies I got this shoe from UK. My brother sent it to me
@Gladystty tweets about how some guys get ladies’ numbers:
Pinnochio, symbol of propensity to lie. Photo credit: Enrico Mazzanti (1852-1910).
@Gladystty:#TopUgandanLies I don't usually ask for chics numbers but al make an exception for
@RugyendoQuotes tweeets about how some people brag about knowing important figures in government:
@RugyendoQuotes: #TopUgandanLies ‘Wait a second I pick this call. It's State House calling’
@LostInKampala tweets about how some people tend to lie about where they watch their movies from:
@LostInKampala: #TopUgandanLies “at cineplex watching a movie” in real sense dude is at “Jingo's” kafunda [Jingo's ghetto cinema hall]
@SW_Mark tweets about how some people in Uganda deny that they do not take alcohol yet they do:
@SW_Mark: #TopUgandanLies I don't booze …#muslimbabes …guys don't deny
@WaddaMutebi wrote:
@WaddaMutebi: #TopUgandanLies our technicians are working hard to restore network in your area (call center gal)
Ugandan time:
@PhenomenalPPP: On my way, il be there in 15mins. Classic #topUgandanLies
Ugandan politics:
@Aminah_23: #TopUgandanLies M7 [Yoweri Museveni] wont have a 5th term @waddamutebi

author: James Propa


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Zambia: A President’s Joke Gone Too Far? · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

It was meant to be light-hearted banter between President Michael Sata and visiting former American President George W. Bush, or so Zambians were made to believe in a statement issued by State House when the host reminded his guest of his country’s colonial and slavery past. Many Zambians online have condemned the undiplomatic view of the US relationship with Zambia.
During an open meeting with George W. Bush, President Sata said:
The most interesting thing, previously there used to be four great countries: United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia and France. And you have all drifted away; you have abandoned Africa after taking all our raw commodities, our raw materials and build your cities. I mean, as far as you are concerned Africa doesn’t exist. And when we have a former colonialist like you coming back to pay back what you took out of this country we are grateful.
Bush replied:
Mr. President, I don’t want to be argumentative, but America was never a colonial nation. We broke free like you broke free from those who wanted to colonise us. France might have been a colonial nation, Britain might have been a colonial nation, but not the United States of America.
As the story of the gaffe by the Zambian president whose apparent lack of diplomatic etiquette is being noted at most functions involving foreign dignitaries and Zambians abroad went international, past president Rupiah Banda issued a direct apology to President Bush on behalf of Zambians.
Following the direct apologyto President Bush, the State House responded:
President Sata welcoming former American President George Bush to State House in Lusaka. Picture via State House website.
…my light-hearted conversation with former president Bush should not be an
occasion for cheap political scoring by Mr. Banda. As a matter of fact, this is not the first time that I was hosting former president and Mrs. Bush. And I am very grateful that they chose to pay us two visits in a space of six months, which clearly indicates the cordial relations between the two countries and former president Bush’s personal commitment to our country.
On a Zambian Watchdog story, “Sata Warns RB”, one reader calling himself Unza Dizzy, had this to say:
It’s confirmed. He was just joking. HE CNP [Chimbwi No Plan or Clueless Hyena, a reference that has stuck on the president after an opposition leader called him that] is supposed to be running Lusaka play house and not the county. As the head of state how could he always be joking in the midst of wide spread poverty in the country?
Another reader, Ulemu Niwabwino, wrote:
Oh LOrd save our souls! How can Sata tell RB to behave as a mature adult when his behaviour keeps causing embarrasment to most of us? That behaviour with Bush if it was a joke was ill-timed and uncultured. It was a coarse joke (jesting) which is not befitting for a president. This is bad sense of humour please twapapata [we beg you]. Learn to censor your jokes. Finally threatening RB is uncalled for as the many of us who feel disappointed will speak through the ballot come 2016.
In comments under the link of a UK Daily Telegraph story posted on Zambian Voice Facebook page, Comrade Daaram Simakungwe wrote:
I think someone must remind our president that in his new job as kateka [head of state], his words carry so much weight..He must be reminded that “Jokes” are for off camera talks and not mu [in] public…Every week, there is a blunder involving HE Sata. He is not the first president of Zambia and he is not the last. He must conduct himself like a Diplomat..
George Bush painting a clinic used to screen and treat cancer in Kabwe, Zambia. Photo courtesy of zambianwatchdog.com
In another comment on the same thread, Comrade Daaram Simakungwe, wrote:
How can you joke that USA is giving back to Africa through a small Clinic in Kabwe? USAID has been the pillar of so many projects in Zambia and Health and Education Depts.. Just because China is giving money doesnt mean we should belittle our other sponsors..Even a big chunk of our National Budget is stil foreign sponsored.
One tweep was not lost on the catastrophe of putting two gaffe-prone leaders, Michael Sata and George Bush in one room:
@NicoleJohnston: Bush and Sata in one place at the same time? Surely puts planet at risk of dangerous stupidity overload? @snkowani http://www.zambianwatchdog.com/2012/07/05/sat …
Another tweep writes:
@steadydivine: I really Hope our President doesn’t Land us In trouble with His Mouth, he makes Personal statements, But they… http://fb.me/20DDLmSSe

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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China: Fist-fight Dating · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The argument between two prominent microbloggers, Wu Fatian, a male pro communist party academic and Zhou Yan, a female liberal journalist had ended up in a fist-fight dating in a park in Beijing, attracting many to attend, including artist activist Ai Weiwei. The female has won, then police and web censors stepped in. More from Beijing Cream.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Political Attribution of Next Generation Leaders · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Sinostand evaluates the political attribution or ideological spectrum of the new leaders in the  Politburo Standing Committee after the Chinese Communist Party’ 18th Congress in this fall.


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Colombia: ‘Higgsteria’ in Medellín · Global Voices
Julián Ortega Martínez

After the announcement by CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) last week about the search of the Higgs’ boson, Helena Cortés writes [es] about a conference held at the Medellín Planetarium with local scientists explaining the news, and compiles tweets with “accurate and inaccurate comments” about the ‘Higgsteria’.

author: Julián Ortega Martínez


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Cyprus: Official Opening Ceremony of EU Presidency · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

On July 1, 2012, Twitter users commented on the official opening ceremony of the Cyprus Presidency of the EU Council under the hashtag #cy2012eu. Meanwhile, Peter Spiegel tweeted a photo of a Turkish Cypriot protest poster reading “EU what are you doing ab[ou]t Turkish Cypriots?”. @EUCouncilPress offers a link to the “Faces of the Cyprus Presidency” Facebook photo gallery. Follow the official Twitter account of the Cyprus EU Presidency here.

author: Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni


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Egypt: Mapping Military Staff in Civilian Administrations · Global Voices
Rayna St.

Egyptian independent activists started the mapping initiative el3askarmap [ar] aimed at following what happens to military personnel after their retirement from the army. Very often those senior officers land at influential positions within various civilian  administrations. The map is actually a database: zooming in provides details on every person and his functions. The initiative has its Facebook page [ar] and Twitter account (@el3askarmap).

author: Rayna St.


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Foreign Migrant Workers in China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

French photographer Benoit Cezard has taken a series of photos in which Caucasians pose as migrant workers, such as such as street vendors and sanitation workers in China. Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu translated the story and netizens’ reaction on the photo presentation.


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Global Voices Podcast: Jambo from Kenya! The Global Voices Summit  · Global Voices
Jamillah Knowles

Hello World and jambo from Kenya!
Welcome to the Global Voices podcast. What is the future of online citizen media? In this edition (and the next) you will hear from editors, authors, co-founders and other participants at the 2012 Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Nairobi to discuss the future of how we all work together online.
The Global Voices Summit takes place every two years and there are many topics on the agenda, possibly too many to fit into one podcast but certainly a lot of food for thought right here.
First, let's go way back, a long time in internet years and consider the origins of that thing we call Global Voices. Co-founder Ethan Zuckerman explains how Global Voices came to be, what happens at the Summits, and what he thinks the future holds.
The #GV2012 Summit is a place to meet and find out more about our authors, editors and contributors who travelled from all corners of the world. Everyone was excited, but one of the most thrilled participants was Elaine Díaz from Havana, Cuba. Here she explains a little more about citizens online in Cuba.
It wouldn’t be a Global Voices gathering without smart and vocal people from around the world. Andrea Arzaba is a journalist in Mexico and she collected some observations of the event, starting with her own reflections.
Daudi Were is a Kenyan blogger who writes on Mentalacrobatics. He was also the very entertaining MC during the public Summit meeting attended by 300 people. He explained his connection with Global Voices and how Kenyan technology continues to innovate, particularly in the area of mobile.
A group photo from the Global Voices Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
The impact of citizen media
Through Global Voices, many people who are sometimes overlooked are able to have their views and reports amplified.
Leila Nashawati Rego is a Spanish and Syrian human rights activist. She teaches communications at Carlos the Third University in Spain as well as write for a number of respected outlets. We discussed the growth of online citizen media and the results of that expansion.
So long, but not goodbye
Some bitter-sweet news came out of the Global Voices Summit too. Sami Ben Gharbia from Tunisia told us that he is stepping down from the position of Director of Global Voices Advocacy. So, naturally it was time to take a look at the work that he has done and find out what he will be up to next.
As ever, thanks to all of our contributors, producers and music makers who help to make this happen. You can find out more about the summit by checking the Twitter hashtag #GV2012 and by taking a look at the dedicated Summit pages.
The Global Voices Podcast. The world is talking, I hope you’ve been listening.
Music credits
In the podcast you can hear lots of lovely Creative Commons music. Thanks to Mark Cotton for his fantastic creations and thanks also to all of the wonderful voice over performances and clips that help to glue the podcast together.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

author: Jamillah Knowles


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Guyana: Being Black  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Imran Khan addresses the issue of racism in Guyana, saying: “[It] has become a country in which one is privileged to be Indo-Guyanese and cursed to Afro-Guyanese. It is not just not ok to be black in Guyana, it is a condemnation to a life of less.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Hong Kong: Netizens’ Reaction on New Zealand Infant Milk Powder Shortage · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The resentment towards mainland consumers in Hong Kong keeps alleviating. The Hong Kong netizens’ reaction on infant milk powder shortage problem in New Zealand is probably more intense that the New Zealanders.


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India: Multiculturism and Intolerance · Global Voices
Rezwan

Purba Ray asks whether multiculturalism breeds intolerance.

author: Rezwan


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Kazakhstan: A Bird Eye’s View of Almaty · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Photographer Maxim Zolotukhin believes that Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, best reveals itself at a certain height. On Vox Populi, the photographer presents an aerial view of the city's landmarks captured during daytime and at night.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Kuwait: Stateless Community Continues Protesting · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

This post is part of our special coverage Refugees.
The stateless community in Kuwait (Bedoon) has been protesting for their rights to documents and citizenship since February 2011. The community has been denied, for more than two decades, their rights to health care, education, employment, and all legal documents.
Regularly, the community protests in their isolated areas in Taimaa and Sulaibiya, resulting in countless arrests despite the fact that Kuwait's courts have been acquitting protesters constantly. This Friday, the Bedoon protested again as riot police arrested 12 of them; an action that made the community to continue to protest on Saturday and Sunday too.
Friday protest
Like many other protesters in the Arab World, Bedoon use Twitter to inform the world of the oppression practiced against them. Some Kuwaiti monitors and activists were at the protests too, using Twitter as the only medium to report violations. On Friday afternoon, Kuwaiti human rights monitor Maryam Shah posted this picture before the start of the protest showing riot police vehicles approaching Taimaa area.
The account of “Human Rights News” tweeted this low quality picture of Bedoon journalist Abdullah Mayah getting arrested:
Kuwaiti monitor Hanan tweeted the following updates from the protest:
@Hananesque: Sound and gas grenades were thrown at the stateless protestors in Taima in order to disperse them.
@Hananesque: Security forces randomly arrested three men that were standing in front of Burger King at Taima.
The Bedoon Rights group was also tweeting updates live from the protest. Here are some of the tweets:
@BedoonRights: Taimaa police station is not taking any cases against police men who attacked protesters, says lawyer Mohammed AlOtaibi
@BedoonRights: You can clearly see that authorities gave clear orders to the mercenaries of media to work their propaganda against Bedoon today
Bedoon journalist @AhmedBinsalem posted this TV screenshot of a Bedoon woman getting water cannoned by riot police:
YouTube user ALZIADIQ8 posted this TV report showing Kuwaiti woman activist Fatma Al-Mattar telling her story of how a riot policeman attacked her during the protest as she was trying to stop him from beating a young Bedoon protester:
In reaction, Bahraini prominent activist and head of Gulf Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab tweeted [ar]:
The deputy director of Gulf Center for Human Rights @khalidibrahim12 also tweeted in reaction:
@khalidibrahim12: No nationality no future no jobs no basic rights. That is the exact situation of the Bedoon in #Kuwait so they have every right to protest.
Bedoon Activist Ahmed AlFadhli (@ahmad_xavi) tweeted this picture of Ahmed Najm, one of the Bedoon detainees who was beaten when he gave himself in to policemen:
Bedoon vlogger 7MGAN  posted 15 minutes footage of the Friday protest on YouTube:
On Saturday, as “Bedoon Rights” reported, police cars ran over two protesters, one of whom was 16 years old:
It was shocking for protesters to see riot police chasing them with their cars and actually run over two protesters. 16 year old Khaled Obaid Fadhel Al-Enizi was ran over by police and was taken to Jahraa hospital immediately. The state security police interrogated the bedoon teenager and his brother saying “who made you protest? why did you protest with those Shia?”. On Sunday, Al-Enizi was released when his family decided not to submit a complaint. As for the other protester who was run over by a police car, he immediately escaped without reporting the incident in fear of getting arrested.
This post is part of our special coverage Refugees.

author: Mona Kareem


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Mexico: Berkman Center at Harvard University Hosts Webcast on ‘Narcotweets’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

On July 10, at 12:30pm ET, The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University will host a webcast titled “Narcotweets: Reporting on the Mexican Drug War using Social Media,” with Andrés Monroy-Hernández and Panagiotis “Takis” Metaxas. You can read more about the event and the speakers on the Berkman Center website.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Pakistan: Angry Mob Lynches Alleged Blasphemer  · Global Voices
Kumail Ahmed

In a shockingly outrageous incident in Bahawalpur, a metropolitan city in Punjab, an angry mob attacked an alleged blasphemer and burnt him alive. According to local reports, the alleged criminal was in police custody when a mob of 2000 frenzied people broke into the jail building and demanded the police to handover the prisoner to them. When the police refused to comply with their illegal demand, the mob started a riot and caused havoc. As a result the police was forced to use tear gas to disperse these rioters. Unfortunately, tear gas and shell came to no avail. The mob broke inside the jail, took the alleged blasphemer outside and burned him openly.
The mob says that the person had desecrated the Muslim's holy scripture, The Koran.
A girl reciting the Noble Koran. Photo by YIM Hafiz on Flickr
There is no shred of evidence to proof that the person killed was a blasphemer. According to police reports, the person was mentally ill; he was taken into police custody when some people alleged he desecrated the Muslim holy book.
Nadeem F. Paracha, a notable columnist, considers him to be a vagabond. He had a Sufi background with no sense of the present world and time. He was a follower of the Mansur Al-Hallaj – the famous 10th century Sufi saint, scholar and poet who was put to death by the authorities in Iraq for committing blasphemy.
Can a mentally sick person be called a blasphemer? Is vigilantism a sane behaviour in any civilized society? Can an angry mob be the upholders of God's justice in the present world? Did they think God's ultimate mercy will come to them? Answer to all these question is a simple ‘No’. Nadeem Paracha writes:
“The nation heard and saw its faith and holy texts being ‘avenged’ not by God-fearing men, but by a mob of retarded, subhuman filth.”
The man burning on the street helplessly cried, while hundreds of men saw this barbarianism with their eyes wide open. Wajiha Noor aptly comments:
Maybe I am illiterate or don’t belong to their religion but I know no book of God that preaches such bigotry and brutality.
Blasphemy is a thorny issue in Pakistan. Last year, Mr. Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, was killed by his own security guard on the pretext of committing blasphemy. The governor was killed in broad daylight, while the killer is now considered a hero in Pakistan. He had sympathized with a poor Christian woman who was arrested after being accused for blasphemy when she was forcefully being converted to Islam.
A reason for the continuation on such horrendous acts is the improperly worded Blasphemy laws in Pakistan. An Amnesty international press release says:
Pakistan authorities must also urgently reform blasphemy laws to ensure they cannot be  used maliciously to settle disputes or enable private citizens to take matters into their own hands.
A large proportion of people charged under these laws are Muslims. Mostly, these laws are used to settle down personal feuds and disagreements. It has nothing to do with religion whatsoever.
Secondly, the radicalization of Pakistani society also catalyses such acts. The electronic media is also a source of radicalization in the country. Mumtaz Qadri was inspired to kill Governor Taseer by a cleric's sermon. The government of Pakistan fails to handle media and the clerics in Pakistan, causing nuisance and terrorism everywhere inside the state.
Although words cannot cover up this barbarianism, the incident was condemned vehemently by the society at large.
Zara Mazhar comments:
“I have only got one thing to say – their God is going to burn each and every one of these in the same way.”
Suroor says:
“Islam DOES NOT teach this ,the uneducated barbaric MULLAHS are responsible for brain washing the uneducated!”
The Bishop of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Rufin Anthony, condemned this act in the strongest of words.
HRCP (Human Rights Commission of Pakistan) vehemently condemn this incident:
“HRCP also strongly condemns not only the burning to death of a man in Bahawalpur, who had been accused of desecrating pages of the Quran, but also the authorities’ failure to prevent a horrendous crime that was not at all unexpected
Salman Taseer's daughter, Sara Taseer tweets:
Recieved so many messages after lynching in Bahawalpur, #Pakistan still a chilling reminder of dangers of blasphemy laws @SalmaanTaseer
— Sara Taseer Shoaib (@sarataseer) July 6, 2012
Tufail Malik criticised the crime of silence:
Our electronic media is seen silent in many critical issues like, burning incidence in Bahawalpur ,bus killing in Turbat , drone attacks
— Tufail Malik (@mTufailMalik) July 6, 2012
Fizza Arrehman wants justice:
Came to know about the Bahawalpur incident. Sad enough. Such people should be hanged to death :/
— ChuLLbuLee (@fizzarahman) July 6, 2012
Zafar Malik criticises the role of Islamic clerics:
Mullahs and their brain-washed followers are turning Pakistan into a Nut-House. What a pitty.
As of 6th July 2012, two FIRs (First Investigation Reports) have been filled against the 2,000 people who broke into the jail. Meanwhile, not a single person is yet to be arrested for the crime. An investigation is also need to be done on the role of police.  Feroz comments:
The first matter that needs investigation is the true role played by the Police in this incident and their claim that they put up heavy resistance.
On the other hand, the identity of the alleged blasphemer is yet unknown. Probably, we'll never know it as his family would be afraid to come out in the public.

author: Kumail Ahmed


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Puerto Rico: Bilingual Schools Revive Debate on Language · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

The Puerto Rican government's announcement that starting in the new school year beginning next August, the language in which classes are taught throughout the country's public schools will gradually change from Spanish to English, has provoked strong reactions from supporters as well as critics.
The measure, driven by the Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuño, seeks to have all of the country's public schools teaching classes in English within the next ten years, with the exception of Spanish and history, with the aim of having the population's youth being completely bilingual by the end of this time period.
Teaching classes in English in Puerto Rico's public schools is something that the country already lived through during the first half of the 20th century.  The United States government, which had recently invaded the former Spanish colony in 1898, imposed a law in 1900 [es] that stated that all public schools must teach their classes in English as part of a project for the “Americanization” of the Puerto Rican population.  The project failed from the start, but it was not until 1948 that Spanish was established as the official language in education.
With the memory of those years still alive throughout a large portion of the country's population, the fact that the initiative for bilingual schools has clear political motivations does not come as a surprise.  On his blog, ortizfeliciano [es], Roberto “Pachi” Ortiz Feliciano says:
Fortuño, tras negarlo, busca implantar el “English only” para congraciarse con el Partido Republicano y sometemos que su propuesta es principalmente motivada por sus muy personales ambiciones.
For many it seems as though public schools do not have the capacity to effectively educate people who dominate both languages, and people have talked about how they learned English without the help of any formal classes.  Twitter user @ᶥᵗˢ K! highlighted, as proof of her English fluency without the help of a class, her high score on a standardized test designed to show fluency in English:
@EpicPachi: Series gringas y Videojuegos. Un TOEFL [Test of English as a Foreign Language] mejor que varios de “escuelas bilingües” lo demuestran.
Nevertheless, others are of the opinion that it would be quite advantageous for all students to study in an immersion program of sorts much like the one the government proposes, as Paola Alcazar expressed on Twitter:
@palcazarh: Yo soy fruto de escuela pública y hoy en día desearía haber estudiado en colegio bilingüe.
On his blog [es], Kofla Olivieri is shocked at the idea that people who are not fluent in English would want to impose that on the rest of the public [es]:
…el gobernador Fortuño, decidió implementar Inglés en nuestras escuelas sin consultar con los maestros que son los responsables de educar a nuestros hijos en el contrayao idioma. A pesar que muchos de ellos, nuestros maestros, no saben hablar Inglés. Esto incluye la gran mayoría de nuestros honorables legisladores, los que quieren impulsar esta idiotez, que TAMPOCO saben hablar Inglés.
Héctor Meléndez, writing for online magazine 80 grados, has a different opinion [es]:
La sugerencia de algunos independentistas y autonomistas de que los políticos del PNP [Partido Nuevo Progresista] hacen el ridículo al reclamar la imposición del inglés sin saber inglés sugiere un prejuicio clasista, tal vez insensible hacia el significado que le dan los pobres a poder acceder al inglés. Precisamente porque anexionistas de mayor edad no saben inglés es que desean que sus hijos lo aprendan. Su ignorancia no les resta autenticidad, sino que en cierto modo la expresa.
The consensus among critics of the so-called bilingual schools project seems to be that it is advantageous and necessary to learn English, but not at the cost of the vernacular language and not to merely better compete in markets on the global level.  According to Ed Morales [es], who also writes for 80 grados, bilingualism is good if it is part of a space where cultural exchange is constantly developing:
Es un bilingüismo que nos informa que el gobierno no tiene el derecho de negar acceso a los procesos legislativos ni pegarnos en la cabeza cuando protestamos. Es una expresión de la negritud, como hablan los reggaetoneros y los pleneros sin aparentemente hablar inglés. Es un bilingüismo que acaba con el puertorriqueño dócil (que en realidad nunca existía), que convierte el vacilón en acción.

author: Ángel Carrión


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Russia: Caucasus Stereotypes in Film · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Global Chaos comments on a recent video report by Radio Free Europe examining changing stereotypes of the Caucasus in Russian cinema. The blog asks whether the caricatures often adopted for public diplomacy purposes are counterproductive or not.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Russia: Netizens Respond Online and Offline to Devastating Krymsk Floods  · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On July 6-7, more than 170 people died and 35,000 were injured or lost their property [ru] in the floods in Krasnodar region (photos and video in these PublicPost reports [ru] – Day 1, Day 2, Day 3). The death toll is likely to grow, as rescuers and emergency services continue their work in the affected areas. The hardest-hit town is Krymsk: water rose to over 3 meters there within minutes and late at night, when many people were asleep and did not have time to escape.
In the blogosphere and on the ground, there is no consensus as to what caused the Krymsk catastrophe. Some claim it was a natural disaster; others for a while believed the water in the nearby Neberdzhayevskoye Water Reservoir had been released towards Krymsk in order to keep the port city of Novorossiysk from being flooded; and there are also those who blame the tragedy on the unfortunate combination of extreme weather conditions (about four monthly norms [ru] of rainfall within one day), the unsatisfactory state of the reservoir, the town's vulnerability due to its location at the foot of the mountains and with several rivers nearby, and the authorities’ failure to warn and evacuate the residents.
Most of these online discussions are politicized, too: bloggers who subscribe to the view that there was no human factor involved in the disaster are clashing with those who hold local and federal authorities responsible for deliberate actions and negligence that, in their opinion, resulted in severe damage and numerous casualties.
Official statements have been inconsistent, and a lot of people, both online and in the affected region, are not convinced by the messages that the authorities are trying to convey.
The blogosphere hasn't been the most reliable source, either: many bloggers were basing their theories on the information that later turned out to be false. The Neberdzhayevskoye Reservoir, for example, does not have floodgates, so the authorities could not have opened them to let the water out; there is a mountain range that separates Novorossiysk from the Neberdzhayevskoye Reservoir, and its waters couldn't have flown towards the city; the other reservoir, Varnavinskoye, mentioned in some of the earlier post-disaster blog posts as a possible source of flood water that hit Krymsk, is located at a lower altitude than Krymsk, not above it.
All this adds to the general confusion and makes it even harder to understand what really happened in Krymsk. As Masha Gessen wrote on the New York Times’ Latitude blog, “Thus in addition to the tragedy of the people who died in Krymsk, there’s the tragedy of having no hope of ever knowing what really happened to them.”
Flooding in Krymsk, Krasnodar region, Russia. Photo by Vladimir Kotelnikov (Flickr user Kotelnikov). Used with permission.
A number of bloggers have analyzed the situation, drawing on the photos, maps, infographics and other data available.
LJ user eugenyshultz, in a lengthy post that has generated over 2,500 comments, offered this explanation [ru]:
[…] The flooding in Krymsk is the result of an extremely heavy rain in the mountains, which caused a massive deluge of water from the mountains, and because of that ALL mountainous streams as well as the rivers Bogago, Neberdzhay and Bakanka merged into a catastrophic torrent that went along the Adagum River, which flows through the center of [Krymsk]. And the reservoir must have overflowed, too, but the water from the reservoir ALONE could not have done this much damage. […]
LJ user abondarcev, an engineer specializing in bridge construction, concluded [ru] that the Neberdzhayevskoye Reservoir's drainage system was inadequate and unlikely to be able to prevent an overflow caused by heavy rains:
[…] This [the Reservoir] is not really a bathtub, it's a swimming pool 50×50 meters with a drain opening [the size of] that of a bathtub. […] How can you build a city and not inform the people living there? And they live there until the first serious rain in the mountains. A normal water reservoir has to be constructed, with a normal drainage system, and a canal bypassing the city has to be dug out in case some overflows occur […].
[…] The authorities hold responsibility for the town's location and for the lives of the people who live in a place that is so unfit for life – it starts to rain and the town is washed away… […]
Suren Gazaryan, a local environmental activist (LJ user gazaryan-suren), wrote this [ru]:
[…] I drove up along the rivers Bakanka and Neberdzhay, as far as I could. Came to a conclusion that the release of water from the Neberdzhayevskoye Reservoir could not have been the cause of the flooding, even though the locals support this version. Water level was up in all the tributaries of the Adagum River, not just in the Neberdzhay River, on which the Reservoir is located.
LJ user moshkow did some calculations [ru], estimating that some 3-10 million cubic meters of water must have entered Krymsk at the speed of 1,000-3,000 cubic meters per second (while, normally, the water in the Adagum River moves through Krymsk at 10-30 cubic meters per second), and it was exiting Krymsk too slowly, at 150-500 cubic meters per second, due to the insufficient width of the “exit canyon” outside Krymsk:
I became curious about the reasons of the flood in Krymsk. Things written by “the opponents of the regime” and by “the defenders of the regime” are turning into a crazy mix of [deliberate disinformation], lies, meaningless as well as real facts.
So let's just count […].
[…]
Moral #1. With water inflow of 3,000 cubic meters per second and water outflow of 500 cubic meters per second – Krymsk was doomed to sink.
Moral #2. There was no wave or tsunami. But there was a rather quick flooding of up to 5-7 meters high – as in a bathtub whose drain opening is ten times narrower than the entry opening.
Moral #3. The Neberdzhayskoye Reservoir made its contribution to the flooding [65 cubic meters per second through its drain opening]. […]
Moral #4. Neberdzhay gave us 65 cubic meters per second, but Krymsk was getting over 1,000 cubic meters per second. The rest of it came from the unblocked streams and rivers […], which carried all the water […] into the plains […] and into the Adagum River.
Moral #5. The flooding alert system has to be different from what it is now in the places like the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus (and it appears that there was almost no warning).
Moral #6. When you live in an area that allows more water in than out – you must listen very carefully and know how much [precipitation] has fallen on the mountains above you.
Roustem Adagamov (LJ user drugoi, @adagamov) tweeted:
I think that, most likely, they simply failed to give warning to the residents in #krymsk, treated it as [something unimportant]. That's why so many died inside their houses.
While some RuNet users are trying to figure out the cause of the tragedy in Krymsk, others are either on their way to the affected region or already there, as volunteers or journalists. Much of the current online discussion focuses on the relief effort, too.
On Twitter, hashtags #крымск (“Krymsk”) and #поможем (“let's help”) are being used, and among those tweeting from Krymsk and the surrounding areas now are Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder – en, ru), Konstantin Dikhtyar (@konstantinmsk – ru), Suren Gazaryan (@Suren_Gazaryan – ru), Roman Pereverzev (@RomanPomych – ru), Danila Lindele (@dlindele – ru), Alyona Popova (@alyonapopova – ru), Ilya Ponomarev (@iponomarev – ru), Anastasia Karimova (@aakarimova – ru), @Cockroach_brain (coordinates volunteers; her July 8 photos from Krymsk are here – ru), Dmitry Maletin (@eMaletin – ru).
ITAR-TASS photographer Sergey Karpov posted this mini-report [ru] on his Facebook page last night:
Life is returning to Krymsk: electricity and, partially, gas have been turned back on. There are many volunteers from all over [Kuban]. They are constantly bringing food, clothing, water. Still, do bring more, it won't go unneeded. Old people have been relocated to the kindergarten, there are tent camps for victims and those who are now homeless. […]
Some of the citizen media tools, platforms and initiatives [ru], whose goal is to coordinate the relief effort, are: the Ushahidi-based Kuban/Krymsk Help Map (launched by RuNet Echo's Gregory Asmolov); the Floods sections of Rynda.com (Virtual Alarm; a GV text about this initiative is here); krymskhelp and this post on Krasnodar Live! on LiveJournal; Facebook groups “Help for Kuban” (1,333 members) and “Aid for Victims of Kuban Floods” (606 members); VKontakte communities – here (583 members) and here (4,637 members); this message board at Kuban.ru.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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South Africa: Chinese Account of Attacks on Foreign-Owned Businesses · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

On June 27 riots started in Botshabelo, east of Bloemfontein, in reaction to the Mangaung Municipality's decision to remove makeshift stalls and evict street vendors from a site in central Botshabelo. The rioters’ anger then turned towards foreign-owned businesses, and more than 13 shops owned by Bangladeshis, Somalis and Ethiopians were attacked and looted.  In the following days the looting spread to nearby Thaba Nchu.
Shen Beilei, a Chinese employee of a factory in Thaba Nchu, provided her eyewitness account of the rioting and looting on Sina Weibo [zh].
Such riots are taking place more and more frequently due to high unemployment amongst South Africans. The official unemployment rate in South Africa was above 25% in the first quarter of 2012.
The following clip posted by SABC News on June 29 reports on the violence and looting at Botshabelo, which were the catalyst for the attacks in Thaba Nchu:
Shen Beilei's account reveals much about the life of Chinese immigrants in South Africa, and shows how racial stereotypes have been reinforced through such conflicts with South Africans. The following is a translation of her micro-blogs from July 3 to July 6 [Beijing time]:
July 3, 2012
南非自由州Free State Thaba Nchu发生骚乱，众多黑人从周日晚上就开始打砸抢烧中国人和印巴人商店，今天早上10点多开始有几十个人冲击我们工厂和附近工厂。经过我们抵抗黑人没有得逞。隔壁印度人开的家具厂因为缺少警卫已经被半空。黑人town上我们的中国人客户开的店，昨夜已经被抢空。
骚乱目前没有结束，本地警力根本不够应付，白天打电话报警，据说有附近中国人店及印巴人店到处被抢砸烧，警察不够。只来了一辆警车。厂区过大，厂里的人只能分成几批看守各处。有人纵火。现在我们厂妇女儿童先撤离到Bloemfontein市区，男同胞仍留在厂里和保安公司的人以及几个警察一起守在厂区。
骚乱由部分黑人带头，绝大多数的附近黑人区的人闻讯乘火打劫。骚乱起因是南非本地政府取缔街头黑人小摊，黑人迁怒于中国人和印巴人开的店，然后波及到附近工厂。不知南非政府何时能控制住这个局面。在我带家人和同事撤离的时候，看到一辆可以押送大量犯人的囚车抛锚在高速公路上。骚乱的人暂时没有枪。
#南非小镇黑人骚乱，华人受难#希望能够找到帮助我们的人，转发也是力量，大使馆目前没有做出明确回复。我们只能靠一己之力对抗，情势不容乐观，目前骚乱地区的黑人仍然大量聚集，现在是南非时间晚上11点。
会的，现在暂时有保安公司持枪警卫和几个警察，因为骚乱的人群暂时没有枪，拿着铁棍砖头等威胁，早上被攻破一次，抢了点东西。当时我们没有足够防备，我都懵了，后来来了一辆警车，于是我们组织起来抵抗。暂时我们准备抵抗等待情势好转。
早上事发时我们听到外面喧哗，本以为是普通劳工问题，结果我走出去才发现比较严重，来人都手拿铁棍，见中国人就要打。我当时被抓住无法逃脱，因办公室当时全是女的，我把钥匙扔给同事让她赶紧关门。对方拿砖头恐吓让我开附属小店的门，并砸了办公室玻璃门，一名同事因担心我站在门口被碎玻璃击伤面部。
玻璃门被砸碎后我怕抢匪会冲进办公室去，无奈之下我只好让同事从破损的门里把钥匙给我，然后开了边上的小店店门，他们几个人手拿铁棍板砖拉我进去，问我钱在哪里，我说我们是给员工设的小卖部没有现金，然后他们拿出大的袋子开始装香烟等贵的东西，这个时候远处已经有警车声，他们就匆忙带着东西跑。
现在工厂外多了4辆防爆警车，隔壁被抢空的家具厂厂主今天早上到达，问我们借铲车把剩余的东西通过警车转运出去准备撤离。我们厂里到目前大家都还安全。咨询了当地警察和保安公司，现在如果有黑人暴力冲击我们可以开枪。目前是警察和私人保安公司持枪防卫。目前的情势允许我们抵抗。
回复@只争昭羲: 隔壁厂被抢空了，就是因为缺乏防守。我们还一直防卫着，现在情势没有恶化，目前不能这么轻易放弃，因为那么多人根本没地方去。在工厂里团结起来还好一些。我们昨天联系使馆，使馆也没再联系过我们，我们联系了上海商会，在条件允许下现在不能放弃。准备去买彩弹枪
回复@只争昭羲: 恩，工厂里每个厂区边上都有高压水龙头，厂里也有灭火器，严阵以待。我们只所以不放弃，一个骚乱人群不是武装抢劫，如果是武装抢劫我们肯定全撤了，而且还要考虑以后，毕竟工厂这么大，如果不抵抗一下，我们更怕黑人会习惯性来抢劫。
July 5, 2012
本来准备今天回工厂去，结果回程路上接到工厂来的电话，办公室的黑人员工听说骚乱的人因为在我们工厂遇到抵抗没有抢成功，可能准备再次聚集来抢。不过今天一天过去目前还没有再次骚乱的迹象。现在厂外有警察，场内有中国员工和保安公司人员日夜守护，应该没有问题。我们准备明天回厂。
周一的南非新闻说本地警方抓了150多个犯罪嫌疑人，同事说目前抓了300多人
据昨天在Bloemfontein中国餐厅打工的朋友说，昨天来吃饭的福建商人说，在本周一晚上的骚乱中，有福建商人为了捍卫自己的商店，向骚乱人群开枪示警，并没有伤人。结果警察局不去抓抢匪，反而反过来追究是哪个中国人开的枪。听到这样的新闻我们也很无奈，不知道大使馆是否会出面妥善交涉处理。
July 6, 2012
俺们今天回工厂了。路过黑人区街道时，看到零星的黑人，不知为何他们每个人在我眼里看上去都像罪犯。虽然还是有各路传言，但回到家里还是让我感到放松。办公室被打破的门已经用铁皮补上了。晚饭时间大家聚在一起，体验了一把彩弹枪、大小气枪的不同手感，学了如何上膛。并且我开始很认真的考虑想学枪了


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Venezuela, Japan: ‘Estudiantina Komaba’ Music Bridges ‘Distant’ Countries · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

This post, written in collaboration with Tomomi Sasaki, is part of a series on music as a bridge between Venezuela and Japan.
Have you ever wondered what interests Venezuelans and Japanese could have in common? If manga and sushi were your first guess, we invite you to explore how Japanese musicians have taken Venezuelan traditional music as the center of their interest, and how Venezuelan fans support and connect with these musicians using citizen media.
We kick off a short series of posts around this subject with some impressions coming from Japanese blogs about Venezuelan music. We will point out some conversations around the Estudiantina Komaba [jp], and continue with what bloggers in both Venezuela and Tokyo are saying about them. We will also explore conversations about other music artists using their blogs to share music and a lot more. At the end, we will see how music connects two countries that, until now, were believed to be far away from each other.
Image from Facebook group ‘Estudiantina Komaba Fans in Venezuela’, used with permission.
A video of the Estudiantina playing the very traditional Venezuelan song “Alma Llanera” became the center of conversation in blogs and tweets. Francisco Toro, in his blog “Caracas Chronicles”, got curious enough to contact the group and interview them online. Here's a piece of the interview [es] in which professor Jun Ishibashi, leader of the group, shares the story of the initiative :
[La] Estudiantina Komaba nace el 1 de agosto de 2009, al culminar el primer concierto de fin del Curso “Introdcción a la interpretación de la música latinoamericana” […]
Estudiantina Komaba la forman los egresados de la clase y los que tienen ganas de seguir tocando la música venezolana durante todo el año. […] La idea de dar clases de la prática de la música venezolana en una universidad japonesa nace tras más de 25 años de actividades del profesor Ishibashi para la difusión de la música venezolana fuera de su territorio original.
A partir del 2006 la Universidad de Tokio ha sido visitada músicos altamente prestigiosos de Venezuela así como El Cuarteto con Huguette Contramaestre, Ensamble Gurrufío, Ricardo Sandoval y Mattias Collet, Leonard Jácome, Rafael “Pollo” Brito, Marco Granados y VNote Ensamble, Caracas Sincrónica, etre otros, en el marco de la Semana Cultural de Venezuela, organizada por la embajada venezolana en Tokio
The Estudiantina Komaba was born on August 1, 2009, after the year-ed concert of the course “Introduction to Venezuelan and Latin American Music” […] The Estudiantina is made up by musicians coming out of that course and also by those that wanted to keep playing Venezuelan music all year long […] The idea of teaching Venezuelan music in a Japanese university came after 25 years of professor Ishibashi's work in expanding Venezuelan music out of its original territory.
Since 2006 the University of Tokyo has been visited frequently by Venezuelan musicians of high prestige like El Cuarteto con Huguette Contramaestre, Ensamble Gurrufío, Ricardo Sandoval y Mattias Collet, Leonard Jácome, Rafael “Pollo” Brito, Marco Granados y VNote Ensamble, and Caracas Sincrónica, among others. It all happened inside the Venezuelan Cultural Week organized by the Venezuelan Embassy in Tokyo.
Furthermore, in Venezuela, fans of the Estudiantina created a Facebook group [es] where they share comments, videos, articles and pictures of the Estudiantina Komaba. In the bio, they explain the story of the group and some of its dynamics:
Los estudiantes aprenden unas 6 piezas cada semestre – joropos, valses, calipsos y orquidea, etc. Las piezas que aprenden en la clase son un punto de partida para la afición a la música venezolana para ellos.
The Estudiantina is not the only one interested in Venezuelan music. In his blog Café y Cuatros [jp], professor Yasuji Deguchi shares music sheets, tips and lyrics for those interested in playing Venezuelan traditional music.
Estudiantina Komaba with Venezuelan artist Cheo Hurtado. Image from Facebook group ‘Estudiantina Komaba Fans in Venezuela’, used with permission.
The exchanges taking place are growing and being shared on social media. Thanks to these conversations, we discover more and more Japanese artists taking Venezuelan music as their main repertoire and a Japanese public opening to Venezuelan sounds.
In our next post we'll explore what the Japanese blogosphere has said about Yoko Yoshizawa, a Japanese harpist specialized in Venezuelan “arpa”. For now, let's resume this exchange with Takuya Suzuki's post [jp], written during the Venezuelan cultural week. In the post, we can see how a local politician discovered sounds that ended up coming from an unexpected place :
素朴な音楽？なんて想像していたのですが、とんでもない。民族音楽とジャズが混ざり合い高い洗練度。リード楽器のマンドリンは広がりある旋律を紡ぎます。私は、ロック音楽をいつも聞いているので、米英に目が向きがちですが、世界は広い、豊かだな、と自らの視野の狭さを反省しました。

author: Laura Vidal


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Africa: London 2012 Olympics – We Are Coming! · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

A little less than 17 days to go for the 2012 Olympics and the whole world is revving up for this sporting bonanza to be hosted by London – for the second time in their modern day history. For Africa, there are many prospects and for some countries, these games will be a culmination of years of preparation as well as renewed rivalries.
Afritorial gives a historical perspective of how African countries have progressed since the first time they were represented in 1908:
Africa’s countries are long time members of the Olympic family with the continent’s nations participating in the modern Olympiad since 1908, when South Africa was the lone sub Saharan team participating in London.
The second participant was Egypt in 1928 in Amsterdam. The level of participation changed in 1960 with the onslaught of African countries gaining independence from colonialism; Africans participated prior to this date, but generally as team members of their respective colonial powers. African nations are now successful participants on the world Olympic stage.
Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya Nigeria and Ghana probably have the best chance of winning the most medals at the 2012 Games. Their athletes are phenomenal, their Olympic programs run deep and they rule the long and middle distance events while countries like Togo are only sending 2 athletes to London because they can’t afford to send more even if they qualified.
Kenyans at the Olympics. Image source: sportskenya.blogspot.com
ECAD Forum reminds us of old rivalries such as the one between the Ethiopians and Kenyans in the athletics middle and long distance races:
Kenya and Ethiopia are set to continue their traditional role as the strongest African medal contenders at the Olympics.
While South Africa may be unable to match the men and women from East Africa in podium appearances, they are desperate to better a dismal showing in Beijing four years ago when 253 athletes delivered just one medal between them.
Nigeria are another country who must believe the only way is up after a one silver and three bronze return from the 2008 Games and there are bound to be surprises from African unknowns preparing under the radar.
Some Africans have gone to the ends of the earth to try and secure places at the July 27-August 12 Games with the South African men’s and women’s hockey teams and the Angolan basketball side displaying indomitable spirit.
Racial, gender and religious prejudices are noted by some of the participating countries such the Arab state of Saudi Arabia which finally allowed its women to participate in the Games for the first time:
Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the Modern-Day Olympics, wrote these words more than 90 years ago. And yet only this weekend did Saudi Arabia make the decision to allow women to compete in the Olympics for the first time. (Don’t expect to see any athletes competing in a bathing suit or leotard, though.) Qatar, excluded from consideration for 2020, announced it would submit another bid for the 2024 Olympics. Yet 2012 will be the first year that it also has fielded an Olympic team that includes women.
BA Haller links to a story about the first ever double amputee to participate in both the Paralympics and Olympics ever. And guess what, he’s African:
Oscar Pistorius is set to be the first double amputee runner at the Olympic Games after being picked by South Africa for the 400m at London 2012. The 25-year old has also been selected for the 4 x 400m relay squad. “ Today is truly one of the proudest days of my life,” said Pistorious, who will also compete in the Paralympics. “It is a real honour and I am also pleased that years of hard work, determination and sacrifice have all come together.”
Finally, enjoy a bit of Kenya’s Olympic history at the Olympics from SportsKenya.

author: Richard Wanjohi


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Angola, China: Netizens Discuss New Development Ghost Town  · Global Voices
James Propa

Like many African countries, most people in Angola hardly earn $2 a day. The government of Angola took a step in trying to develop the country such that it could match other countries in the world. This time it selected developing apartments in Kalimba, about 30km outside Luanda, the capital.
The government hired a Chinese company, China International Trust and Investment Corporation to do the job and it paid back by giving it the country's natural resource, oil.
The new apartments at Nova Cidade Kalimba. Photo courtesy of constructiondigital.com
The Chinese company did the job pretty well and built 750 8-storey apartments where each apartment would go for 75000 Euros a price that cannot be afforded by locals even in 20 years.
Blogger Francois-Xavier thinks the government had to use oil to develop local industries, which would provide employment for citizens:
Or how the exploitation of Africa’s natural resource benefits only banks and multinationals! Its quite a shame for an African government to go for such a move. Oil and natural resources revenues must be used to develop heavy industry, the main engine of any economy and which is sorely lacking in Africa. This will allow access to employment and a fair redistribution of wealth and thus increase the purchasing power of brave Africans. Africans are not needy for luxury. That’s a sheer lie that is being publicized by western corporatist media working with the tiny yet heavily corrupted African elite.
Talking about the price of the apartment, he says:
That will take 20+ years to a man that has a wife and 4 children to pay up. A crazy one will ask:”Why does he have 4 children?” and I will answer him “Go to h***”. Do not drag Africa in your crisis spiral.
This is Africa tries to explain why there are ghost towns in China and Angola:
It would be easy to condense the real reason for this craziness into one word, namely: “Communism!” – or maybe four words: “Communism and Marxism-Leninism” – considering that the one-and-only ruling party in the People's Republic of China is officially committed to these socio-political ideologies, but my gut-feeling tells me there’s more to this weird phenomenon of building cities well in advance than meets the eye.
History has proven that in almost every single country in the world where revolutionary socialist movements have taken root, and more so when the people are ruled by a one party state, that there is always a massive misallocation (legalized theft) of capital by the ruling government.
So what are these ‘Masters of Darkness’ planning now with the numerous, largely uninhabited, structures that are popping up in strange remote places, mainly in countries controlled by communist forces? These new cities with their tarred roads, patches of green lawn, and neat rows of apartment blocks surely cannot be for the benefit of the working classes, as the cost of purchasing an apartment in any one of these new developments is well out of reach for the average working-class family. The communist manifesto that claims, “…we represent the interests of the working classes,” is thus complete and utter bullshit!
UChinaTravel blog writes:
It is believed to be one of the largest new building projects on the entire African continent.
However, the reason this story received so much attention is the fact that the new development has been portrayed as a “Ghost Town,” as almost all 12,355 acres of the property are seemingly vacant. Nearly an entire year since the first round of 2,800 properties hit the market, only 220 have been sold.
Fauna posts translated Chinese comments from Chinese netizens on chinaSMACK website. Below is a sample of the comments:
Those bunch of stupid losers have hyped/speculated the housing market all the way to Africa?
[Head of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences's Africa Research Office] He Wenping says, “This a construction project that benefits everyone, as well as the foundation for African economic growth”. ＝＝ Sounds familiar!
Domestically [the country] keeps trying to tax us and raise the retirement age while squandering money abroad!!! China, I’m proud of you, I feel such pride!!!
The residential area is meant to help improve the people’s livelihoods —— Whether that’s the case there I don’t know, but over here its used to exploit us [with usury]!
A bunch of unscrupulous businessmen who after cheating people out of their money in China have now gone to Africa to lose face for Chinese people.
However, one netizens disputes the use of the term “ghost town”:
BBC, this time you really have got it wrong, a “ghost town” according to China is a neighborhood where not a single person lives, and this new residential district in Angola no matter what still has a few people living there, so how can you guys say it is a “ghost town”????
Will the Angolan people be able to access these apartments that were constructed using the country's money and natural resources?

author: James Propa


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Brazil: Activists Support Civic Framework for Internet · Global Voices
João Miguel Lima

Internet activists are discussing the civic framework (“marco civil”) for internet in Brazil, to be voted on National Congress today. Mega Yes Movement [pt] says the framework will establish fundamental rights online, and urges netizens to read [pt], tweet (#MarcoCivil), and petition about it. Mega Yes activists previously engaged on a Mega No to the Digital Crimes Bill.

author: João Miguel Lima


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Bulgaria: Budget Expenses in Open Access · Global Voices
Rayna St.

On July 3, the Bulgarian government voted [bg] for a national roadmap compliant with the Open Government Partnership Initiative requirements. As an integral part of this action plan, the Ministry of Finances launched its transparency plan [bg] and started publishing budget expenses details on an everyday basis.


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Bulgaria: How to Become a Prostitute in 1888 · Global Voices
Rayna St.

The blog “Живот Мой” (“My Life”) published [bg] the 1888 local legislation on how to become a prostitute in the Black Sea coastal city of Varna. The bill contains the requirements for women willing to become prostitutes; regulations on brothels; health requirements before, during and after being a prostitute; and legal proceedings in case of violation of the above rules. These documents are in striking contrast with the current Bulgarian legislation on prostitution: a tolerated gray area that allows the country to be a big player on the international sex trade scene and was estimated to generate 1 billion euros income.


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Bulgaria: “I, the Bulgarian from Macedonia” · Global Voices
Rayna St.

The Bulgarian news outlet Fakel published [bg] a review of a new book entitled, “I, the Bulgarian from Macedonia.” The book is described as “a terrible, breaking, disgusting story that not only shakes up, startles and stirs our sleeping national conscience, but shifts, collapses and splits with tectonic force all the strata of our minds, all our live images about what modern civilization is and what it's like to be a Bulgarian in Bulgaria's most brotherly country: Macedonia.” Above all, the book tells about the battle for identity the two countries have been engaged in for decades.


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Colombia: Concern About Contamination at Santa Marta Bay · Global Voices
Julián Ortega Martínez

José D. Pacheco M., of the blog Tras la cola de la rata, writes [es] about a study [es] and a report [pdf, es] on the contamination of the bay of Santa Marta, an important tourist destination in the Colombian Caribbean, because of the “poor handling and inadequate control of solid and liquid wastes”.

author: Julián Ortega Martínez


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East Timor: Photo Report of Vote Counting in Dili · Global Voices
João Miguel Lima

Besides providing numbers of international observers and media correspondents on site for the July 7 elections, the Technical Secretariat of Electoral Management (STAE) used its Facebook page to share photos of personnel counting votes on paper ballots, in Dili. The procedure was followed by observers, members of political parties and citizens.


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Guyana: Editorial Ethics  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Ruel Johnson responds to a recent controversial Guyana Chronicle editorial which asserted that black youth in Guyana were socialised to be resentful of Indians : “First of all, editorials are the highest form of journalism and basic journalism calls for the citation of sources of information – generalisations in editorials therefore usually point to verifiable data, something which the Chronicle editorial does not. “

author: Matthew Hunte


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Iran: Alef, a conservative site was filtered · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Alef [fa], a conservative site, was filtered.Alef belongs to Ahmad Tavakoli, a conservative MP who has criticized Iranian government's policy for several years. Several conservative sites supported [fa] Alef.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Lives of several imprisoned journalists and netizens in danger · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says lives of several imprisoned journalists and netizens are in danger in Iran.


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Iran: Public wear influenced by social networking websites · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

A report from a state-run institute says 20 percent of women and 10 percent of men in Iran, choose their wear and public appearance due to the photos they see on social networking websites like Facebook, a deputy at Iran's ‘IT and digital media development center’ presented this report in Iran News TV.

author: Hadi Nili


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Israel: Netizens Respond with Ridicule to No Occupation Report · Global Voices
Elizabeth Tsurkov

A legal panel that was appointed by the Netanyahu government to appease the settlers and examine the legality of outposts built in the West Bank submitted a report to the Prime Minister. The report, which was submitted on June 21 but not publicized until yesterday, stated that Israel is not an occupying power in the West Bank, and therefore, the Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply to the West Bank, which means Israel is within its right to build settlements and outposts in the area. The finding of the panel headed by former Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy were met with ridicule by legal scholars and Israeli netizens alike.
Some voiced their opinion on Twitter:
Activist and blogger Itamar Sha'altiel quipped [heb]:
Filmmaker Omer Shapira wrote:
Alex posted a clever pun:
A fake profile of the Israeli Prime Minister posted:
Others posted memes ridiculing the finding of the report, many of them using photos of Edmond Levy, the right-wing judge who headed the panel.
We Won't Be Silent, a campaign of the New Israel Fund, posted:
Justice Edmond Levy: “There is no occupation”. Palestinian women at a checkpoint: “We have to disagree”
Popular leftist meme producer, Amir Schiby posted these images:
Mickey Jerby posted:
Justice Levy to Netanyahu when handing him the report: “Two plane tickets to the Hague”, “the stay and dry cleaning is covered by them [the ICC]”
“There's no occupation”
The Israeli facebook page The Selfish Meme showed Edmond Levy as Neo in Matrix:
“There is No Occupation”
Blogger Ami Kaufman posted a doctored photo of abusive soldier Eden Abargil:
“Listen, I'm gonna take off the blindfold. Tell me if you still see the occupation”
Leftist activist John Brown posted:
“You see? I told you there's no occupation”

author: Elizabeth Tsurkov


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Kyrgyzstan: Caught Between Nationalists, Court Fines Journalist · Global Voices
Atai Muratbekov

On July 3, 2012, a court in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek rendered a long-anticipated verdict in the controversial case of journalist-cum-blogger Vladimir Farafonov. The court found [ru] the ethnic Russian journalist guilty of “inciting national hatred” by insulting ethnic Kyrgyz in a series of online articles written in 2010 and 2011. Farafonov who did not attend the court session amid fears for his safety was ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 soms (about 1,100 US dollars).
Judge Almazbek Moldobekov explained [ru] that he decided to impose a fine on the journalist instead of sentencing him to eight years in jail – as the prosecution had demanded – because it was Farafonov's first ever conviction. However, observers believe that the verdict has been designed to balance the competing demands of nationalist-patriots in Kyrgyzstan, who wanted the journalist jailed, and ethnic nationalists in Russia, who demanded [ru] his release.
Vladimir Farafonov outside the Pervomaiski court in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Image by Kloop.kg, used with permission.
Farafonov was accused under article 299 of the country's Criminal Code, which applies a charge of inciting “national, racial, religious, or inter-regional enmity” via mass media. While the journalist denies that any of his articles were meant to encouragd enmity, they did actually provoke [ru] a stern counter-reaction in the Kyrgyz-language press. In Russia, meanwhile, the ultra-nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky threatened [ru] to demand the deportation of Kyrgyz migrants from the country if Farafonov was handed a prison sentence.
The outcome of the contentious trial that had lasted over four months has triggered different reactions among netizens in the Kyrgyz and Russian segments of the internet.
A reader of the korrespondent.net news site, Lugan’, felt [ru] that the court ruling has restored a modicum of common sense:
Киргизы молодцы. Не словом а делом.
Yet, some netizens have spoken out against the ruling. One of them, Quazy, considered [ru] the punishment farcical:
Маргиналы и нацики включились, конечно такое смешное наказание…
Many commenters on .ru listed websites , such as Andrey Yakovenko, even elevated [ru] Farafonov to the status of a hero:
Кто правды боится, тот пусть вешается. Фарафонов не испугался, поэтому он – ГЕРОЙ! Рот заткнуть и запугать можно, кого угодно, но жизнь лучше от этого не станет… Если некоторые господа-националисты надеятся, что таким образом можно закрыть “Глас народа”, то они очень ошибаются,
But commenters on .kg listed websites such as Knews have suggested the journalist deserved a harsher punishment. Mirbek, for example, said [ru]:
А вообще,надо было все таки ему дать срок,что бы неповадно было больше провоцировать целые народы на негатив
While another reader, Vym argued [ru] for something far more draconian:
Фарафонава нужно на народный суд!!!!  На площадь Ала Тоо и камнмями закидать!
The co-founder and president of Kloop Media, Bektour Iskender, offered [ru] perhaps the most insightful comment on the case:
Мда. Интересное решение. Посадить Фарафонова побоялись – всё-таки за ним есть поддержка, особенно со стороны России. Оправдать тоже побоялись – тогда национал-патриоты возбудились бы. Приняли какое-то среднее решение. Мне не нравятся статьи Фарафонова. Я их считаю жуткими, односторонними и слишком агрессивными. Но я крайне против в принципе идеи того, чтобы человека наказывали за слово, даже очень противоречивое. И очень жаль, что наши власти создали этот дурацкий прецедент. Потому что любого можно назвать разжигателем межнацрозни или кем ещё угодно и влепить штраф в 50 тыс. сомов.
This “precedent” may prove to be particularly relevant for online content. After becoming the first author in Kyrgyzstan to be punished by court for material posted on the internet, Farafonov has given [ru] his own take on Almazbek Moldobekov's verdict in a statement released through a lawyer on July 3:
Впервые за много лет я оказался в логическом тупике и не могу найти ответ на один простой вопрос: для чего понадобились четыре месяца судебных разбирательств по делу. Очевидно, для того, чтобы показать, что в Кыргызстане действительно разжигают межнациональную рознь в СМИ……Получается, что русскоязычные сайты не имеют права голоса даже в пределах российского информационного пространства. А кыргызские газеты, печатающие откровенно провокационные статьи, неприкосновенны.
Note: This article is a follow up to Global Voices’ April 2, 2012 report on the Vladimir Farafonov case, The Internet on Trial.
This post is part of the GV Central Asia Interns Project at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

author: Atai Muratbekov


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Macedonia: Quoting Havel · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

The link to the famous open letter – “Dear Dr. Husák” [en, cz] (1975) – written by the then-dissident Václav Havel to the Czech Communist Party leader, has been shared by many Macedonian Facebook users, accompanied by excerpts such as this one: ”The number of people who sincerely believe everything that the official propaganda says and who selflessly support the government's authority is smaller than it has ever been. But the number of hypocrites rises steadily: up to a point, every citizen is, in fact, forced to be one.”

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Madagascar: Enjoying the 2012 Africa Cup of Rugby  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Madagascar is playing host to the Confédération Africaine de Rugby (CAR) Championship Division 1B competition from July 4 to 11.  The other nations in the group are Morocco, Namibia and Sénégal. While the country has been marred in severe economic  and political crisis since the 2009 coup, the Malagasy population is trying to escape their daily struggles by getting behind the Malagasy National Rugby Team also known as the “Makis de Madagascar” (The Maki Lemurs of Madagascar). The CAR competition also serve as qualifiers for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.
Entertaining matches
All the matches between the 4 nations were played at the national stadium of Mahamasina in the capital city Antananarivo. The matches drew a bit of a crowd, with an estimated official attendance of 40,000 for the saturday game between Namibia and Madagascar (although attendance seems lesser to local observers.)
The Mahamasina stadium as seen from the hills of Antananarivo during the Morocco Madagascar match. Photo taken by the author
The national team brought out national unity and pride that have taken a serious hits with the current political situation. Probably taking a cue from the All Blacks, the Makis of Madagascar performed their own version of the haka before games:
Their victory against Namibia was a high-scoring affair (57-54). The match was an epic battle with a plethora of tries. Rémi Lestang sums it up [fr]:
Il a fallu attendre la fin des prolongations (43-43 à la fin du temps règlementaire) pour qu’un vainqueur se révèle. Grâce à un essai dans les dernières secondes, Madagascar s’est offert le scalp de la Namibie. Une victoire au goût de montée dans le groupe A et de progression au classement IRB : Après la rencontre, la sélection de Madagascar a gagné 14 places pour pointer désormais au 42ème rang mondial.
Here are the highlights of the game courtesy of Madagate:
Unexpected memes related to the games
The games were high on entertainment and malagasy citizens online are also buzzing over satire surrounding the games. The following photo taken during the game between Morocco and Madagascar was widly shared and attested to the tightness of the game.
Madagascar national team players pulling all strings to stop Morocco from scoring via Théo Rafenitisoa on Facebook
Another meme that had the Malagasy blogosphere talking was the interview of Namibia's captain conducted by a national TV reporter. On the following video after the game, the reporter is clearly conducting her first interview in English. While she meant to ask what troubles Namibia faced during the game, she instead asked the Namibian captain: ” What is your problem ?” Credit must be given to the captain for playing along and not taking offense even after a close defeat. He answered the question that he guessed was meant to be asked.
Malagasy bloggers had various reactions to the interview ranging from light humor to an extrapolation on the quality of journalism in Madagascar:
TheNickCartman wonders [mg] :
To tsisy nanao traduction
Andrianary Jean Daniel gives credit to the captain for not missing a beat even though he was expecting another question [mg]:
Ilay bandy ary mbola miandry be ilay fanontaniana manaraka
tonga dia borkena fotsiny hoe thank you. Raha izaho aloha ny mpanao gazety ka mpilalao alemà ny eo raha tsy haiko ilay teny tsy hanon-tany zavatra@ teny alemà izany eh ny kiana ho entina mantsara zavatra
Thierry Ratsizehena believes a reporter should be held to higher standards [mg]:
Amiko, mpanao gazety io. Izany hoe matihanina, tokiny mahafehy tsara ny asany. Raha nanolo-tena hanao interview olona amin'ny teny anglisy dia mahafehy tsara ny “conversation” amin'io teny io izany izy (jereo ry Nelson Monfort amin'ny France Televisions). Kanefa, teto dia “risible” ny zava-niseho hoy ny vazaha. Ary olona maromaro no nahatsikaritra izay fa sao misy miteny indray hoe vao noforonina. Mila mahataty tsikera raha te handroso. Ny an'ny vazaha aza mbola mafy lavitra
Zewizewi thinks the comparison is unfair at this stage of malagasy journalism [fr]:
C'est ridicule de comparé ça à Nelson Montfort,  déjà France télévision et TVM c'est dix milliards d'années d'écart à mon avis ce genre de personne n'aurait mm pas dû apparaître à l'écran (..) en tout cas la TVM n'est pas la seule chaîne à connaître ce genre de problème, zéro maîtrise du direct.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Myanmar : Jackie Chan Visits Orphanage · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

Myanmar netizens discussed[my] Jackie Chan's visit to an orphanage in Myanmar in his capacity as a UNICEF Ambassador. Some are wondering why he didn't take off his shoes in Dhamma Hall in front of a Buddha statue.

author: Chan Myae Khine


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Myanmar, Malaysia: Football Fans Debating about Overaged Players · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

Football fans from Malaysia and Myanmar are intensely debating about Myanmar's U-22 National Team which was accused of fielding overaged players in the AFC U-22 Championship Qualifiers 2013.


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Myanmar: Netizens Cheer Release of more Political Prisoners · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

Myanmar netizens welcomed[my] the release of more political prisoners on July 3, 2012. About 24 activists/politicians were released and some believed that it boosted the country's transition towards democracy.


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Russia: A Great Firewall to Censor the RuNet? · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Earlier today, the Russian language section of Wikipedia repeated past protests against American and Italian Internet laws by shutting down its service and posting in the place of its main portal a public announcement [ru] condemning a draft law now under review by the Russian parliament. Law 89417-6 [ru], “On the Protection of Children From Information Harmful to Their Health and Development,” entered the Duma in early June with endorsements from members of all four of the represented political parties, but has since generated rising controversy, with critics portraying the legislation as an attempt to copy China's “Great Firewall.”
Screenshot of ru.wikipedia.org's blacked-out homepage, 10 July 2012. Text reads: “Imagine a world without free knowledge.”
What Would the Law Do?
The law would create a registry (or “blacklist”) of any online materials containing illegal information relevant to children (specifically child pornography, drug paraphernalia, and instructions about self-harm). Once a website appeared on the list, the site's hosting-provider would have 24 hours to notify the site-owner, who must then delete the offending data. If the owner fails to act, the hosting-provider is required to shut down or delete the site itself. In the event that the hosting-provider fails or refuses to act, it joins the registry and then web-providers must cut off access to that entire hosting-provider. Anyone included on the blacklist then has three months to appeal the decision in court.
The draft law owes its origins to the “League for a Safe Internet” [ru], which prepared a blueprint for the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications this past spring. At that stage, the plan was to limit the registry to URLs (excluding DNS filtering and IP blocking), and delegate authority over managing the list to a non-governmental organization. The League's director, Denis Davydov, explained that concerns about Internet society's fear of “excessive state control” motivated this design. Duma deputies and the General Prosecutor, however [ru], had other plans, and the registry's reach was expanded, and the likely candidate for oversight is now Roskomnadzor (the Federal Supervision Agency for Information Technologies and Communications).
Much of the controversy surrounding Law 89417-6 focuses on worries that its language is intentionally vague, opening the door to future expansions of the registry's application. For instance, lawyer Evgeny Arievich, a partner at Baker and McKenzie, says [ru] that the blacklist could grow to include other types of information illegal under other criminal codes (such as those governing extremism, state secrets, personal data, and so on), and that it could be used to limit access to political information and social mobilization tools. The most sensitive section of the law seems to be Article 5, Point 4, Sections 1 and 2, where the bill delineates what online information can be added to the registry without a court order and what requires judicial approval. The following materials (pulled from the draft law after its first reading [ru]) fall within the former category:
[…] информации с порнографическими изображениями несовершеннолетних, а также информации содержащей пропаганду употребления наркотических средств, писхотропных веществ и их прекурсоров, информации, побуждающей детей к совершению действий, представляющих угрозу их жизни и (или) здоровью, в том числе к причинению вреда своему здоровью, самоубийству […]
Conversely, the draft law introduces the need for court oversight in the following circumstances:
[…] иной размещаемой в сети Интернет запрещенной к распространению в Российской Федерации информации – на основании вступившего в законную силу решения суда о признании информации запрещенной к распространению.
Journalist Andrei Babitskii has criticized [ru] this language as intentionally vague, arguing that “information compelling children to commit acts that threaten their lives” could include websites dedicated to any host of dangerous recreational activities (such as skydiving or rock-climbing). He cites the Federal Drug Control Service's past record of extra-judicial online “repressions,” asserting that any circumvention of the courts can only increase the misuse of police powers.
Who Are the Law's Supporters?
‘Just Russia’ Duma deputy Elena Mizulina, on the other hand, contends [ru] that “nobody but pedophiles and drug lords has anything to fear from this law.” As one of the bill's chief proponents, Mizulina dismisses the idea that the parliament is imposing excessive controls on the Internet. “The mechanism is built on self-organization,” she explains, meaning that the registry is intended to function passively, with providers and suppliers doing most of the work, and the state remaining largely aloof. Unsurprisingly, Mizulina is not alone in the Duma, where the bill is expected to pass its second reading sometime today.
Ilya Ponomarev, State Duma Deputy, at a rally for Sergei Udaltsov, 29 December 2011. Photo ALEXEY NIKOLAEV, copyright © Demotix.
Readers might experience a minor shock, however, to learn that Ilya Ponomarev, another ‘Just Russia’ deputy and (more recently) a darling of the anti-Putin opposition movement, has come out in support of the bill. “I am convinced,” he announced [ru] after the law passed its first reading, “that today we have found a very good compromise between government intervention and self-regulation.” Addressing concerns that the law is uninformed by Internet expertise, Ponomarev even nodded to the involvement of the League for a Safe Internet, saying, “The law was actually written by an Internet-society — it was written by people who themselves come from this sphere.”
The same day, the League's director, Davydov, authored an op-ed [ru] in RBCdaily.ru, defending the law's effectiveness (arguing that an incomplete system will still shield the youngest and most vulnerable), claiming that a public discussion about this legislation has been going on for more than seven months already (citing forums in December 2011, February 2012, and so on), and investing the federal government with certain paternal rights:
[…] если каждый родитель вправе самостоятельно настраивать ограничения на доступ в Интернет для своего ребенка, оберегая его от вредоносного контента, то и государство, заботясь о своих гражданах, вправе и должно ограничивать противоправный контент […]
The Presidential Council Raises a Red Flag
Davydov's comments appear to target the concerns raised by the Presidential Council on Human Rights, which publicized its opposition to Law 89417-6 in a statement [ru] issued on July 3, 2012. (Vladimir Legoida, the Russian Orthodox Church's representative on the Council, dissented and wrote a separate opinion [ru] that shares much in common with the arguments present in Davydov's article.) The Council's declaration (signed by 22 members, though at least six have since resigned) centered on the threat of online censorship, and followed with five specific reasons to reject the bill in its current form. These reasons can be summarized as follows:
Legoida's dissenting opinion is a point-by-point rebuttal against the Council's objections. His response to the censorship claim, for instance, addresses the nature of banned information:
[…] цензура, по Конституции России, — это ограничение доступа граждан к законной информации. В то время как информация на сайтах, которые включаются в реестр, упомянутый в законопроекте, — незаконна и является результатом преступной деятельности.
Dogs Under the Carpet
Winston Churchill is said to have compared Russian politics to watching bulldogs fight under a rug. Beneath the declarations and reservations about the “Internet blacklist law,” the drama conforms to a widening conflict between the Presidential staff and the Prime Minister's government. Indeed, before Russian Wikipedia's publicity move today, Internet companies have been largely silent [ru], and much of the focus on Law 89417-6 has concerned the Duma's clear disregard [ru] for Dmitri Medvedev's perceived opposition to the bill. (Indeed, Medvedev's Minister of Communications and Mass Media, Nikolai Nikiforov, tweeted [ru] this morning that the law in its current form is problematic.)
Members of the parliament appear to be sending a message: they take their lead from the President, not the Prime Minister. Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya and others have noted [ru] the emergence of what is effectively a parallel presidential government, meant to shadow and eclipse the duties and powers of the formal ministerial government. (This effectively reverses the institutional trends during Vladimir Putin's temporary absence from the presidency.) The most visible example of this usurpation has been Igor Sechin's new role [ru] in a presidential commission on the fuel and energy industry — an appointment that directly challenges the jurisdiction of Medvedev's man in this field, Arkady Dvorkovich. The doppelganger effect repeats elsewhere — in pensions management, in research and education policy, and other spheres.
Arch villain of the anti-Kremlin opposition and current Deputy Prime Minister of Economic Modernization, Vladislav Surkov, is rumored [ru] to have authored a report endorsing Law 89417-6, provided that deputies remove the idea of a blacklist. (What would be left of the law after such a revision is another question.) In the face of this hesitation and opposition from Surkov and Nikiforov, Putin at the end of June added [ru] a new office to his presidential staff that would seem to compete with their authority. That office, “For the Application of Information Technology and the Development of e-Democracy,” has yet to issue a public statement about that “Great Firewall of Russia.”

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Russia: Pussy Riot Members Remain in Jail · Global Voices
Rayna St.

Amnesty International started a sms action campaign calling for the release of three jailed members of the punk band Pussy Riot. The women — Nadezhda, Maria and Ekaterina — were detained after performing an anti-Putin song in a church in Moscow  back in February. An announcement on their blog [ru] said an anonymous source from the presidential administration confirmed the three women would be set free on July 9. The outcome, however, was very different: the women remain in detention [ru] after the Court refused to consider a letter in their support. Amnesty considers them “prisoners of conscience.”

author: Rayna St.


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South Asia: First Pakistan-India Social Media Summit · Global Voices
Faisal Kapadia

Pakistan has seen a hyperactive social media community making its presence felt in the past year in activism, online campaigns as well as discussion. In line with this, a social media summit between Indian and Pakistani netizens titled the “Social Media Mela 2012″ has been announced and scheduled for the 13th and 14th of July 2012. By expanding its footprint across the border, the Social Media Mela 2012 aims to nurture dialogue, thought leadership, and critical engagement with entrepreneurs, journalists, activists, and creative professionals. The Summit will feature sessions that explore the creative arts, the changing face of media and politics, pop culture, slacktivism versus activism, education, innovation in the interruption economy, crowd-funding, and the business of social media.
Director of peace niche “sabeen mahmud”
Reactions on this summit/mela (fair) have been mixed in the Pakistani social media diaspora. As tempers flare and with seats being limited to 300 everyone, the netizens are divided trying to either get into the summit or shoot it down.
Taimoor malik tweeted about a session featured in this summit
@Taimoor Malik : #gvfk There will be an open mic session called “Dil Ki Bharaas” Interesting antics can be expected. #socmm12
Abdullah soomro thought the idea of a summit is crucial in his tweet
@soomro_abdullah: Much needed initiative to encourage collaboration and dialogue among social media fraternity of two countries. gvfk #socmm12
Saj Shirazi was hopeful as per his past experience on twitter
@sajshiraji :  Given my last year's experience, I feel excited about #SOCMM12
The Logo Of Social Media Mela 2012
Samra muslim is looking forward to this media mela as per her tweet
@samramuslim:  should be extremely interesting to listen to both India and Pakistan success stories on social media and meet the ppl! #gvfk
As in any social media summit, a key element is its live streaming and coverage. Although Peace Niche has committed to live twitter feeds as well as a flicker stream, live streaming of this event has not been confirmed as yet due to the obvious security issues with our Indian friends visiting.
Puruesh Chaudry from Islamabad points out the necessity of live streaming as well.
@puruesh (Puruesh Chaudry): would love the hear the indian perspective #gvfk, will it be live webcast? #socmm12
With 3 days left and the invites just going out, Peace niche, the organization that is arranging this summit in the port city of Karachi was a beehive of activity today.
Panelists on both sides of the border featuring in this summit cannot control their excitement and were heard expressing it on social media as well.
Onir the independent film director said
@IamOnir: looking forward …. been a dream for many years to visit your city and country
Sabbah Haji, another panelist from India, is equally thrilled as she tweeted
@imsabbah: Faasla na rakhein…Pyaar honay dein… *giggle* Honoured to be one of the speakers at SOCMM12 in Karachi
Nighat of Bytes for all is all for unity as she tweets!
@nighatdad: BIG YES! RT @faisalkapadia: @nighatdad #pakindiasmbhaibhai :) this summit we can show the world tht pak and india can collaborate #socmm12
The schedule of this social media mela is provided here and by the looks of will be the talk of new media in Pakistan for some time to come. Whether or not it will lead to more controversy or actually bridge the teetering divide between India and Pakistan even if limited to its netizens still remains to be seen. Do follow on twitter for live updates with the hashtag #socmm12!!

author: Faisal Kapadia


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St. Lucia: Making Music  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

At I and Iyanola, Nkrumah Lucien discusses Saint Lucia's rock music scene with journalist/actor/musician Jason Sifflet : “Playing rock from a Caribbean island is a trap, like playing reggae. It’s not indigenous to your culture, so every in and out of your culture sees you as a fake. But when you incorporate your culture into a bigger sound (or vice versa), you create something new which is not exactly rock, alienating everyone except the most open-minded listeners.”


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Tunisia: Online Platform to Monitor Police Abuse · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

Yezzi [translated as “enough” from Tunisian dialect], is a “cop watch map in Tunisia” which seeks to document and report police abuse ranging from taking bribes, physical or sexual abuse to racism and death threats. The platform was launched by the Tunisian Association for Digital Liberties [known by ATLN from its French Acronym], which deploy new technologies to create online platforms like Yezzi as a way to “help build a democratic, free and open society in Tunisia”.
Last April, Yezzi came first in the National Contest for Free Softwares, which this year rewarded the most innovative open source projects.
ATLN defines Yezzi as follows [fr]:
Basé sur la plateforme Ushahidi, Yezzi est destiné à collecter les témoignages de violence envoyés par mobile, web, email et SMS, et les placer sur une Google Map. Yezzi utilise le concept de crowdsourcing au service de la cartographie sociale en mobilité, combinaison d’activisme social, de journaliste citoyen et d’information géographique…
Nous pensons que la transparence peut aider à résoudre bien des problème ainsi qu’à mieux les appréhender.
Yezzi.info Cop Watch in Tunisia
Transparency against Violence
For so many years, Tunisia stood as a country where police corruption and abuse passed unnoticed – and unpunished. People would talk among themselves about such wrong doings, but only few would dare speak about them in public, or resort to justice. Yezzi, offers those who experience police abuse, or witness police officers involved in wrongdoings the chance to report on such incidents, and anonymously if they so wish. The users of this platform can also upload videos and pictures illustrating police abuse.
Yezzi Welcomed by Netizens:
Tunisian netizens welcomed Yezzi. Here are some of their reactions via Twitter.
@Da7dou7a: tn.yezzi.info Bonne initiative, quoique purement informative : un site pour dénoncer les dépassements de la police, #Police #Enahdha
@Azyyoz: J'ai posté “Admin pub SVP tn.yezzi.info/reports ” sur la page du Ministère d'Intérieur => immédiatement bloqué :D
@JasminTN: Yezzi.info , ça pourrait être utile, enfin, je ne l'espère pour aucun d'entre vous ! tn.yezzi.info/main

author: Afef Abrougui


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USA: Macedonian Blogger Climbs Denali in Alaska · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Mountaineer and artist Ilina Arsova blogged [en, mk] about her climbing the Alaskan Denali (aka Mount McKinley), the highest peak in North America. She previously covered her expeditions to Kilimanjaro in Kenya & Tanzania, and to  Ama Dablam in Nepal.