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#Sopacriolla: The Tough Road to ISP Regulation in Peru · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

[Note: All links are in Spanish unless otherwise noted]
In a previous post, talking about internet freedom in Peru and the attempts to restrict it, we tangentially commented about the project known as #sopacriolla, an initiative by the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR in Spanish) purportedly to gather input for the construction of copyright and ISP (Internet Service Provider) standards. So far so good, except for the questions about how binding the final product of that process will be with respect to the actual bill.
Journalist Bruno Ortíz of Vida y Futuro addressed the issue and talked about it to Erick Iriarte, the attorney in charge of the initiative, who stated:
En tres meses, el Gobierno planea tener lista una propuesta legal que permita determinar si los operadores de telecomunicaciones son o no responsables de la piratería online. El Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo (Mincetur), con el apoyo del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), ha iniciado el proceso de elaboración de una norma que determine los niveles de responsabilidad de los operadores de telecomunicaciones y los gestores de contenido (Google, Yahoo, etc.) por la difusión de piratería en Internet,[…] La idea de crear el texto a partir de una convocatoria pública de opiniones, detalló, es no tener un proyecto como el que se propuso en el Congreso de Estados Unidos (Ley SOPA, es decir Stop Online Piracy Act)
In three months, the government plans to have a legal proposal ready that will be able to determine whether or not telecommunication operators are responsible for online piracy. The Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR), with the support of the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), has begun the process of developing a standard that determines the levels of responsibility of telecom operators and content managers (Google, Yahoo, etc.) for the spread of Internet piracy, […] The idea of creating the text based on a public call for opinions, he explained, is to not have a project like the one proposed in the U.S. Congress (SOPA, i.e., Stop Online Piracy Act).
ISP, image from the blog Liberación Digital (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 CL)
However, a few days later, said web was out of service, including social media accounts created as a support. All this amid allegations, both in mass media and on the internet, that the initiative was in reality a pretext for wanting to implement a law in Peru like the North American law known as SOPA [en], with all the bad images that evokes. The scant coverage and difficult hour (8 a.m.) that accompanied the proposed schedule of workshops to gather public input also resulted in an online petition to MINCETUR asking for greater transparency in this process.
From his blog, Chillinfart casts doubts on the way in which MINCETUR handled this proposal:
seamos malpensados, esto pasa a un día de la primera charla sobre la regulación a los proveedores de internet que sugirió el MINCETUR en esa página. ¿Qué pensaban ocultar? […] ¿Con Qué autoridad moral un ministerio piensa hablar de propiedad intelectual cuando desoyó los reclamos al respecto en el TLC [tratado de libre comercio] con la Unión Europea antes de su firma? Y esto sumado a la censura que dio ese ministerio contra sus propias críticas al TPPA, vemos para donde camina el MINCETUR y con quienes piensa reunirse en esas charlas.
We should be suspicious, this happens one day after the first talks about the regulation of the internet providers that MINCETUR suggested on that page. What were they trying to hide? […] By what moral authority does a ministry talk about intellectual property when it rejected complaints about it in the FTA (Fair Trade Agreement) with the European Union before it was signed? Add this to the censorship by the Ministry of its own criticisms to the TPPA (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement), and we see where MINCETUR is going and with whom they plan to meet in those talks.
Professor Eduardo Villanueva takes it a little further, trying to explain and show what is behind the relationship between the state and the telecom companies in the context of copyright:
En el caso de las industrias culturales, el problema principal es que varios estados han optado por tragarse una narrativa falaz sobre protección de los creadores intelectuales a cambio de garantizar modelos de negocios obsoletos. […] Sin embargo, hay una transacción de por medio. […] Efectivamente, las empresas de telecomunicaciones y los proveedores de contenidos pueden ser protegidas de distintas maneras a cambio de ser agentes privados de la vigilancia estatal.
In the case of cultural industries, the main problem is that many states have chosen to swallow a false narrative about protection of intellectual creators in exchange for guaranteeing obsolete business models. However, a transaction is involved. […] In fact, telecom companies and content providers can be protected in different ways in exchange for being private operators of state surveillance [en].
Miguel Morachimo wrote in Blawyer trying to clarify what this project seeks to introduce into Peruvian law with respect to ISPs under the framework of the FTA:
Lo que hay que hacer es incorporar un sistema que señale en qué casos los que provean servicios de Internet (como empresas de telecomunicaciones) o de Internet (como cualquier página web con contenido generado por usuarios) son responsables por las infracciones a los derechos de autor que comenten sus usuarios. Es decir, se trata regular mecanismos de notificación y bajada de contenidos (notice and takedown) similares a los que tienen la mayoría de páginas web. Estos mecanismos permiten a los titulares afectados solicitar que se retire el contenido de la página. En varios casos, si los propietarios de la página reciben estas solicitudes y no lo hacen serán considerados como responsables de la infracción.
What needs to be done is to incorporate a system that indicates in which cases internet service providers (as telecommunication companies) or the Internet (as any page with content generated by users) are responsible for copyright infringements committed by their users. That is, it means regulating notification mechanisms and withdrawing content (notice and takedown) similar to what most web pages have. These mechanisms allow those affected to request the removal of the page content. In some cases, if the page owners receive these requests and don’t honor them, they will be considered responsible for the infraction.
In the following video, we delve a little deeper with Miguel into the FTA and the issue of ISPs:
In the meantime, meetings started, or workshops were scheduled for November and December, in order to elicit opinions, suggestions or questions, both from institutions and concerned individuals. After the second workshop, the organizer, Attorney Erick Iriarte commented on Facebook about the concerns that were being collected:
desde el modelo de aplicacion, hasta temas derechos humanos, libertad de expresion, acceso a la cultura, privacidad, protecion de datos, debido proceso, sumado a integridad de la red, aumentado con temas de no monitoreo ni control previo. Hoy sumaron tambien los temas de en cual “capa” se actuara; costos de transaccion (quien los debe asumir), responsabilidad directa/indirecta/compartida.
From the application model, to issues of human rights, freedom of expression, access to culture, privacy, data protection, due process, coupled with network integrity, added to issues of no monitoring nor previous control. Today the issue also came up of which “layer” would operate; transaction costs (who will pay them), direct/indirect/shared liability.
In spite of these limits, some bloggers attended these workshops, mentioning among other things the small “quorum” they saw. For example, Miguel Morachimo wrote about his participation on Hiperderecho. Chillinfart posted his opinions on Chillinfart and on Facebook about the session he attended (audio here), in which he met with a representative from the telecom company Claro:
de hecho, la posición de Claro es de preocupación: Si esta regulación va si o si, estas deberían ir mediante una notificación judicial, sin otra vía administrativa. De otra manera, se permitirá el abuso de la misma contra el ISP, peor si la cosa no es previa sentencia (si no se hace mediante el poder judicial), pudiendo prestarse para chantajes a la americana.
In fact, Claro’s position is one of concern: If this regulation goes, one way or another, they should go through a subpoena, without other administrative proceedings. Otherwise, it will permit abuse against the ISP, worse if it’s not by previous order (if it’s not done through the judiciary), and may lend itself to American-style blackmail.
However, some objections to the consultation process itself have also been made via Facebook. For example, user Javier Hayashi makes the point, among others:
Quién decidió este tipo de consulta así de abierta e informal? Por qué? Piensa qué es la mejor manera de hacerlo? Cuál es el fin exacto de esta consulta? Recoger opiniones es importante, pero luego qué harán con ellas? […] Por el lado de gobernanza están muy mal y esto tiene la pinta de ser una simple fachada para decisiones que ya están (casi) tomadas. El mero hecho de que participe gente para darle un aire de legitimidad a lo que hace es peor que no llamarla.
Who decided on this type of open and informal consultation? Why? Do they think that’s the best way to do it? What’s the purpose exactly of this consultation? Collecting opinions is important, but what will they do with them later? […] From the government’s side, they are bad and this has the earmarks of being a mere façade for decisions already (almost) made. The mere fact that people have participated gives an air of legitimacy to what they do, it’s worse than not doing it at all.
To get first hand information with respect to the issue, we look to Erick Iriarte, and although at first he said that officially he could not comment about the commission entrusted to him by MINCETUR, we finally were able to talk about it:
It will be a few months until the final product for this issue is produced. Seeing the debate and positions taken on this, it’s doubtful everyone will be satisfied, but in spite of that, discussion and participation are necessary.
One can also hope for more interest than seen so far from the public and from companies who create web content. The issue can be complicated for many people, but the law that waits at the end of this will affect every Internet user in the country.
In closing, a quote from Iriarte himself in January of this year, in a discussion about copyrights, free Internet, and SOPA:
son los usuarios de a pie, los creadores diarios de contenidos (incluyendo sus status en facebook, o sus tweets, sus canciones, sus poemas, sus textos, sus posts, sus comentarios, toda forma de expresión humana) los que habrán de primar.
It’s the ordinary users, the daily content creators (including their Facebook status, or their tweets, their songs, poems, texts, posts, comments, all forms of human expression) who must come first.

author: Juan Arellano


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Tajik City at Night · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

The Tajik city of Kulyab at night. Image by Harsavor, used with permission.
Blogger Harsavor who took this photo asks [ru] angrily:
How is it possible that the country that exports electricity to Afghanistan and builds the world's highest flagpoles, giant (albeit empty) libraries, huge mosques, and super-expensive residences for the rich does not have enough electricity for the ordinary people?
Power-short Tajikistan has had to ration the supply of electricity in winter over the last several years.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Tempers Flare As Court Frees Dagestani Boxer Who Killed Russian Teenager · Global Voices
Aleksandra

Rasul Mirzaev, a 26-year-old mixed martial arts world champion from Dagestan, is a convicted killer. His victim was a 19-year-old Russian man, Ivan Agafonov, whom he murdered in a scuffle outside a nightclub in August 2011. On November 27, 2012, a Moscow court let him walk free, after a little more than a year in custody.
Opinions among Russian bloggers are largely split between those who believed the sentence was just and those who accuse Russian prosecutors of showing Mirzaev undue leniency.
The Case of Rasul Mirzaev
The incident [ru] occurred when Mirzaev and his girlfriend were exiting a trendy Moscow nightclub. When Ivan Agafonov tried to flirt with Mirzaev’s girlfriend, the two men began to argue and Mirzaev landed a single blow to Agafonov’s cheek, knocking him over. In the fall, Agafonov struck his head against a metallic crate on the street, and died four days later from head trauma.
After roughly a year spent in custody, Judge Andrey Fedin sentenced Mirzaev to two years of limited freedom [ru] for negligent manslaughter. Experts in the case ruled that there was no intent to kill. Judge Fedin explained that he already served his sentence while in pretrial custody (one day of which is equivalent to two days served in a formal prison, according to Russian law), and therefore Mirzaev could walk free. The judge cited extenuating circumstances: the champion turned himself in and plead guilty, he had no prior criminal record, and he is the father of a small child.
Rasul Mirzaev, Russian Combat Sambo Championship in St. Petersburg, 26 February 2011, photo by Roma Yandolin, CC 2.0.
Huge public interest has surrounded the case. Mirzaev is a native Avar from Dagestan—an ethnic republic in Russia's North Caucasus. In the post-Soviet years, hundreds of thousands of predominantly Muslim Caucasians have moved from their ethnic republics into central Russia in search of work, which has sparked an often dramatic cultural clash with local Russian populations, who commonly blame rises in crime levels and drug-dealing on non-Russian migrants. On the day of Mirzaev’s verdict, Russian nationalists (who oppose the influx of non-Russian migrants and immigrants, as well as multiculturalism, on principle) protested in front of the court [ru]. Prominent nationalist activist Dmitri Demushkin was quickly detained [ru] by police.
The truth is on Mirzaev's side?
Immediately after the verdict was announced, social networks and blogs across the RuNet exploded with thousands of often polarized reactions.
Among the voices supportive of the verdict were mostly liberal-leaning commentators, but also some self-described Russian nationalists. Dimitry Bavyrin commented on Facebook:
Как русский националист и человек доброй воли еще раз подчеркиваю: я не просто считаю, что приговор адекватен, я считаю, что Мирзаев наказан даже больше, чем заслуживал.
As a Russian nationalist and a person of goodwill, I stress this again: I do not just think that the sentence is adequate, I think Mirzaev has been punished even more than he deserved.
Before the verdict, on November 15, when it became known that prosecution had asked the judge to sentence Mirzaev to two years, gossip blogger Bozhena Rynska wrote [ru]:
Я совсем не поклонница кавказцев, я считаю, что большинство дагов, чеченов и прочих – плохие соседи. Я считаю, что многие из них – люди дикие, дурновоспитанные, и зверьками их в России называют не случайно, и вообще, пусть не забывают, что они тут в гостях. И – да, – мне не нравится, как нагло они себя ведут в России с русскими женщинами.
Но закон есть закон. Дело Мирзаева это ПРИЧИНЕНИЕ СМЕРТИ ПО НЕОСТОРОЖНОСТИ. Мирзаев прав – его нельзя судить как кавказца. Закон един для всех.
I'm no fan of the Caucasians, [and] I consider the majority of Dagestanis, Chechens, and others [to be] bad neighbors. I consider many of them [to be] wild, badly behaved, and the fact that they are called “zveriaki” [small wild animals] in Russia is not accidental, and generally they should not forget that they are guests here. And—yes—I do not like how arrogantly they behave in Russia towards Russian women.
But the law is the law. The Mirzayev case concerns HAVING CAUSED DEATH BY NEGLIGENCE. Mirzaev is right—he cannot be judged as a Caucasian. The law is the same for everyone.
Some people were openly supportive of Mirzaev’s deed. After all, they reasoned, he was threatened and he had to defend his girlfriend and himself from an aggressive assailant.
Pro-Kremlin blogger Eduard Bagirov (@eduardbagirov) expressed this sentiment in a Twitter reaction [ru] to the verdict:
Когда на предложение отстать от девушки какая-то наглая дичь отвечает, что “сейчас и тебя сниму” – вариантов не остаётся в принципе.
When, on your request to leave the girl alone, some insolent thug answers, “I’ll take you down,” it leaves you no other choice in principle.
Russia is not for Russians?
The majority of RuNet commentators voiced anger about and dissatisfaction with the court's leniency. Many linked Mirazev’s case to another murder that provoked riots in Moscow [ru] in 2010. That unrest exploded after a Caucasian man shot and killed Russian soccer fan Ivan Sviridov. The gunman and his friends were soon arrested, but immediately released [ru] by police, after a visit from local representatives of the diaspora. Mirzaev’s sentencing also came in a wake of a series of high-profile crimes committed in Moscow by immigrants from Caucasus (including shots fired into the air [ru] during wedding celebrations, and a knife attack [ru] on a city tram).
Mirzaev’s release nurtures the commonly held perception that police and other state authorities kowtow to influential Dagestani minorities. As a proof, bloggers cite the fact that—over the course of the trial—the prosecution reduced the charges against Mirzaev from “grievous bodily harm” (which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years) to the less serious crime of “negligent manslaughter.” They point out that Dagestani politicians have called publicly for Mirzaev’s release, giving the trial an indisputable political dimension. Despite a lack of any concrete evidence, many commentators suggest that the Kremlin was involved in negotiating the verdict.
Nationalist oppositionist Vladimir Tor (real name Vladlen Kralin) on his blog [ru] expressed feelings of helplessness against the authorities and predicted that violence would spill out into the streets.
Возможность в России легальным способом отстаивать человеческие права в борьбе с молохом государственной машины и шайтаном “малого, но гордого Канзаса” – исчезающе мала. Власть не стесняют законы – она сама их для себя пишет. Власть ощущает  угрозу своему существованию от агрессивного и нестабильного Кавказа – соизмеримых же проблем на среднерусской полосе для себя она не видит. А слезы и боль убитой русской семьи её не трогают вообще. Россия – она не для русских, как общеизвестно. […]
Воистину, никто не делает больше для розжига “экстремизма”, чем сама же россиянская власть.
In Russia, the possibility of using legal means to defend human rights in the fight against the Moloch [see here, GV] of the State machine and the Satan of the “small but proud Caucasus” is dramatically small. Authorities aren’t constrained by the laws—they write the laws to suit themselves. The authorities feel an existential threat stemming from the aggressive and unstable Caucasus, but they fail to see comparable problems for themselves in central Russia. And they are not touched by the tears and the pain of the fallen's Russian family. Russia—it is not for the Russians, as is well known. […]
Indeed, no one does more to stoke the embers of “extremism” than the Russian authorities themselves.
Some liberal-leaning commentators responded by juxtaposing Mirzaev's sentence with the Pussy Riot conviction. Prominent oppositionist and anti-corruption blogger Alexey Navalny reminded his readers [ru] that (only a couple of weeks earlier) the same judge sentenced Maksim Luzyanin [ru], arrested after an opposition protest that turned violent, to four-and-a-half years in prison for provoking “mass disorder.” Luzhanin, like Mirzaev, admitted his guilt and even paid the dental bill for a police officer injured in the fighting with demonstrators.
Liberal opposition politician Vladimir Milov also believes that Russian authorities often give Caucasians a free ride. Milov warned that such sentences threaten mass discontent. He blogged [ru]:
Ничего себе справедливость такая – убил человека, а тебе 2 года «ограничения свободы». Самое интересное, что это ведь системное явление – мягкие приговоры кавказцам за убийства […]
Власти боятся диаспор, в доле с диаспорами, чувствуют в них свою опору. Не могут пойти им наперекор.
They call it justice: you killed a man, and you get two years of “limited freedom.” What's most interesting is that this is a systemic phenomenon—light sentences to Caucasians who have committed murder […]
Authorities fear the diasporas, they're in with the diasporas, and they sense in them a source of support. They can’t possibly defy them.
Russia's best known liberal blogger, Rustem Adagamov (@adagamov), sarcastically tweeted [ru]:
Я не пойму, Мирзаеву дали Героя России или еще нет? Сколько можно тянуть?
I don’t get it. Did they award Mirzaev the “Hero of Russia” yet? How long can it take?
In another tweet, he added [ru]:
Нет судебной системы в стране, еще один пример. Был бы на месте Мирзаева Иванов или Сидоров — сидел бы лет пять, как минимум.
It’s another example that there’s no [functioning] judicial system in this country. Were Ivanov or Sidorov [common ethnic Russian names] in Mirzaev’s place, they would serve at least five years.
Justice for the well-connected
Some commentators also noted that the court's leniency was due in large part to Mirzaev being a world champion fighter. He was, after all, something of a celebrity in Russia and a household name in his native republic.
As journalist Evgeny Levkovich said on Facebook [ru]:
Плохо вовсе не то, что Мирзаеву дали два года. (…)
Плохо другое. Понятие “справедливо” у нас распространяется исключительно на чемпионов из Дагестана, чиновничьих детишек и жен, и прочей блатной нечисти. Оно никак не распространяется на политических активистов – правых и левых “радикалов”, например.
What is wrong [with this situation] is not the fact that Mirzaev got two years.
What’s wrong is the notion that justice extends solely to Dagestani champions, the wives and children of officials, and other criminal scum. But in no way does this justice extend to political activists—to right- and left-wing “radicals,” for example.
Alexey Lapshyn addressed this point on his blog [ru]:
Приговор Расулу Мирзаеву, конечно же, нужно рассматривать как следствие социального расслоения общества, а не межнациональных отношений. Сколько молодых людей на Северном Кавказе брошены в жуткие тюрьмы по обвинению (или подозрению) в экстремизме, а по сути за свои религиозные и политические убеждения! Правозащитники справедливо причисляют их к политзекам. […] Так что разговоры о каком-то привилегированном положении кавказцев звучат там дико. Как и везде, вольготно чувствуют себя только номенклатура и причастные к миру больших денег.
Rasul Mirzaev's sentence, of course, should be seen through the lenses of the social stratification of society, not inter-ethnic relations. How many young people in the North Caucasus are thrown into a horrible prison not on charges (or suspicion) of extremism, but for their religious and political beliefs! Human rights activists rightly count them among political prisoners. […] So this talk about some privileged status for Caucasians sounds ridiculous over there [to Caucasians living in the Caucasus]. As elsewhere [in Russia], only bureaucrats and those with big money feel safe.
The republics of the North Caucasus host a violent Islamist insurgency. “Anti-terrorist” security forces operating there are regularly accused by human rights organizations of brutalizing the locals [en] with arbitrary detentions, kidnappings, and disappearances that target people suspected of being terrorists or even harboring extremist views. Most bloggers commenting on Mirzaev's case ignored the well-documented abuses of rule of law [en] in the Caucasus. This is perhaps because Russian nationalists typically do not consider the North Caucasus to be a part of Russia. Rather, they see it as a culturally distant and foreign “neighbor.”
At the heart of the problem lies the dysfunctional Russian justice system, which corruption has corroded and nefarious influence has skewed. Few dispute that Russia's courts are a tool of the authorities, which produces a dramatic lack of trust in the impartiality of court decisions. In recent months, Russian investigators and their seemingly arbitrary prosecution of oppositionist political activists has aggravated Russia's trust deficiency. Mirzaev’s case is a stark example of how this absence of trust irreparably damages Russian society by exacerbating ethnic tensions.

author: Aleksandra


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The Ten Biggest Sex and Gender Stories of 2012 in China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

DANWEI has translated an annual roundup done by the Sex and Gender Institute at the Beijing Forestry University on the ten biggest sex and gender stories of 2012 in China.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Xi Jinping: a hardline nationalist in control of China? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

South Sea Conversations looks into the new Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping's political speech, in particular his talk about “the great revival of the Chinese nation”'s implication to foreign policy.
To me it seems equally possible that Xi Jinping’s “nationalist” rhetoric, backed up by already-conspicuous action against corruption, will give him breathing space to lead China to pursue more cooperative relations with the US and/or lower the temperature in its territorial disputes, if and when he decides it is in the PRC’s interests.


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Zambian President Orders Killing of “Rebels” No One Can Find · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage.
President Michael Sata, Zambia's Commander-in-Chief. Photo courtesy of Zambian Watchdog.
It remains difficult to confirm the existence of the Barotse Liberation Army, the supposed paramilitary wing of various groups calling for the secession of Zambia’s Western Province. However, if President Michael Sata’s order to the army to kill the rebel activists is anything to go by, the organization is nevertheless considered a serious threat to Zambia’s national security.
The November 30, 2012 order came after it was reported that the rebels were recruiting former soldiers and policemen to serve in the Barotse Liberation Army. Speaking at a Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional Defence Command Staff College graduation ceremony, Sata said:
In Lukulu (Western Province) people have formed a group called Barotse Liberation Army, they are recruiting people. As of today, I am aware that they have recruited 276 people. They are recruiting former army officers, police officers and former poachers they want to rise against us and we have to be prepared… And you the Army Commander I have told you before that I need troop career planes because how can I transport troops to Lukuku?
In a veiled criticism of the army’s lack of preparedness and alleged toleration for unrest in the region, Sata said:
Our soldiers are graduating but some of them, they have never fired a gun since they joined the army until they retire… because it is different to train and to go and do the action. You need to be well trained in order to defend this country.
On a Facebook group, Zambian Voice, Isikanda Wamulwange expressed concern at President Sata’s call:
If military force will be used on the so called “rebels” in the Western province, might this not lead to civil war, is there no better way to resolve this issue.
Chileshe Tayali responded on the same thread:
Surely the President's outburst is not the best way to sort out BRE [Barotse Royal Establishment] conflict. He is declaring war in public. I find his directives very careless.
A local online publication, the Barotse Post, reported that the soldiers sent to the area pulled out after failing to find rebels:
The Zambian troops began their disgraced pull out from Lukulu on Sunday, 2nd December 2012, after failing to find the imagined Barotse Liberation Army activists. Four helicopters were seen flying out with some of the special forces who were sent on what has proved to be a wild goose chase. In order to save face, the disappointed and ashamed Minister of Defense has pleaded for information on BLA from the locals. This only shows how panicky the Zambian Government gets to be whenever it comes to the Barotseland issue.
The same publication accused the Zambian government of allegedly fabricating lies against against Barotse people:
Not so long ago the Zambian people were fed on a lie that the Barotseland Freedom Movement in Kaoma was recruiting retired military personnel. This claim was recently followed by another malicious one, in the wake of Mr Clement Sinyinda's resignation as Ngambela [Prime Minister] of Barotseland, that some Lozi people in Senanga and Sesheke were organizing to dethrone the Litunga [king].
Calls for the secession of Western Province have heated up in the last few years over allegations that successive Zambian governments have ignored the Batrotseland Agreement of 1964 which united the region with the rest of Zambia at independence in 1964.
As an opposition leader, Sata promised restoration of the agreement within 90 days of assuming office but, surprisingly, he has now taken a belligerent stance against it and it seems dialogue is not yet on the horizon.
This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by the International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide. This post was first published on the ISN blog, see similar stories here.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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China Cautioned: “The Internet is Not Outside the Law” · Global Voices
Abby Liu

On December 18, 2012 China's government backed People's Daily published an article on the front page titled “The Internet is Not Outside the Law”. The article said:
the internet is as much a tool of rumor and misinformation as a platform for information sharing, and everyone must be as responsible and law-abiding online as they are offline.
This piece was soon broadcast on China's state broadcaster CCTV. On the next day, People's Daily reinforced its opinion with another piece [zh]: “Internet Supervision in Accordance with the International Practice.”
Screen grab from CCTV news broadcast.
Both pieces are being seen as a warning to Chinese web users. Most netizens feel disappointed by the cautious note and are worried that there will be more censorship online in the future. Many netizens critized the articles with retorts aimed at the government. Below are some comments from well-known commentators and bloggers on Weibo, China's Twitter.
Vanishing hope
韩志国:蜜月期已经结束《人民日报》连续发表评论，矛头直指微博反腐。在一片期待和欢呼声中，我们又听到了磨刀霍霍。对微博上的各种声音，本可根据文责自负原则通过法律途径解决，而不必采取传统思维和传统方式。尽管社科院报告认为微博的可信度高于新闻联播，但微博的发展空间十分有限，不必过度意淫。
韩志国: The honeymoon period has ended, People's Daily pieces directly point at anti-corruption on Weibo. Among the expectation and cheers, we've heard the sabre-rattling. Various voices on the microblogging can be dealt with through the law instead of having to adopt the traditional way. Despite the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report that microblogging is more credible than CCTV news, the development and space on microblogging is very limited, so do not place high expectations on it.
大兵看世界：改革只是开始，还是即将结束！当我们寄托希望的时候，我们就要想到失望，只是希望失望不要来的那么快，微博不是法外之地，但希望不要将微博也变成只能歌功 颂德的平台！网络是新生的社会力量，它寄托了太多太多的希望，如果有一天，所有的希望都破灭了，那么还有什么希望呢？
大兵看世界：Is this the beginning of reform, or has it already come to an end? When we gather our hopes, we have to think of the disappointment and just hope the disappointment doesn't come too soon. Weibo is not outside the law, but I hope it won't become a platform to sing praise! The Internet is a new social force that has had too much hope placed upon it. One day, all hopes are crushed. What else can we hope for?
李庆松：这是要释放什么信号，监管，控制，还是封杀。难道这最后一条普通社会公民参与社会监督的阵线也要被政府无情抹杀。民主，这社会何谈民主，悲哀。
李庆松：What message does it deliver? Supervision, control, or censorship. [The Internet] is the last platform for an ordinary citizen to participate in social supervision. Will this be ruthlessly banned by the government? Democracy? How can we talk about democracy in this society? It's sad.
Aurora-trying_to_balance: 还如何言论自由？！刚有几个反腐案例 就有网络不是法外之地的声音！有几个人出来实话实说 新浪就立刻和谐！如此紧闭森严的新闻媒介和环境 中国人很难真正意义上的言论自由。
Aurora-trying_to_balance: How can we talk about freedom of speech? ! The piece came out right after a few anti-corruption cases online. A few people come out to speak the truth, then Sina immediately tries to harmonize! Under such tight control of news and media, it's hard for Chinese people to gain freedom of speech in a real sense.
Retorts at the Government
许小年: Facebook和Twitter在各国是什么惯例?
许小年:[If you follow international practice], what about the practice of Facebook and Twitter?[Facebook and Twitter are blocked in China]
赵楚 ：不错，按照普世的现代法治原则，没有任何地方应该成为法外之地，但是，我想在 这里告诉央视和《人民日报》：各级党政的办公楼以及各种戒备森严的官家秘密场所，连同你们两家以公帑运营的媒体，更不应该成为法外之地。
赵楚 ：Yes, in accordance with the rule of law, there is no area that is outside the law. But I'm here to tell CCTV and People's Daily: the government office buildings, as well as a variety of the heavily guarded secret places belonging to government officials, together with you two, state-run media, shouldn't be outside of the law.
贺江兵:对人民管治与国际接轨；对官员财产和非法行为讲中国特色；官媒这样如何取信于民？日报之后是不是会发表：《官员财产公开是各国惯例》《官场不是法外之地》。
贺江兵:When it comes to the control of people, they practice international standards; but when speaking of Chinese officials’ property and unlawful conduct, they talk about Chinese characteristics. With the double standards, how can a state run media gain the trust of the public? Will you publish another two pieces: “The Public Disclosure of an Official's Wealth is Accordance with International Practice” and “The Land of Officialdom is Not Outside the Law”?
Another interpretation:
琢磨先生：最近新闻联播和人民日报都强调：网络不是法外之地。意思就是告诫微博小秘书，公民有言论自由，不要轻易删帖，否则必将被追究法律责任。
琢磨先生：Recent CCTV news and People's Daily stressed that the internet is not outside the law, which is a warning to the microblogging watchers and censors: citizens have freedom of speech, please do not delete posts, or you will be held liable.
Although netizens are fully aware that censoring microblogs is a government initiative, they showed support for a satirical interpretation, one netizen wrote:
火星人草帽仔:这个理解真是乐翻天！苦中作乐
火星人草帽仔:Its understanding is so funny. Find happiness in adversity.

author: Abby Liu


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Guinean Journalist Mysteriously Disappears in Angola · Global Voices
Madalena Sampaio

Where is Milocas Pereira? A question echoing through the blogosphere for a couple of weeks, but the response is slow in coming. On social networks a movement sprung up to pressure Guinean authorities to investigate the disappearance, six months ago, of the journalist and university professor in the Angolan capital city Luanda, where she has lived since 2004. On Facebook the group “SOS, STOP! – Queremos a Jornalista Milocas de volta” (We Want Journalist Milocas Back) [pt] already has 5,775 members.
Recently, the President of the Association of Community of Guinea-Bissau Immigrants in the United States, Celina Spencer, also launched a petition directed to the UN High Commission of Human Rights, to try and get support to locate the journalist.
She offered some interviews, analyzing some of the crises currently occurring within Guinea-Bissau. Specifically, the Guinean government's role and presence of the Angolan military “Missang” deployed to Guinea-Bissau for military reformation [on which Global Voices reported upon the coup d'etat in April 2012]. It is unknown whether her disappearance is connected with the interviews or not. It is certain however, she was assaulted by strangers. Afterwards, feeling threatened in Luanda, she considered and confided to a friend that she desired to return back home.
In an interview with Angolan television, at the beginning of January, the professor spoke about the situation in Guinea-Bissau after the death of President Malam Bacai Sanhá. After this, Milocas Pereira said that she began to feel under great pressure [pt].
On last November 3, the Sindicato dos Jornalistas Angolanos (Union of Angolan Journalists) [pt] denounced that the Guinean journalist had been “terrorized” in Luanda:
Milocas Pereira foi agredida no início do mês de Maio por desconhecidos antes de ter comunicado a algumas pessoas com quem falou a sua intenção de deixar Angola, na sequência desta agressão, que foi apontada pela própria como sendo a causa mais próxima da sua decisão.
Milocas Pereira was attacked in the beginning of the month of May by unknown people, before having communicated her intention to leave Angola to some people she had spoken with. She pointed to this attack as the cause for this decision.
According to “Sol Mansi” Radio [pt], the journalist had no doubts that the attack had strong political motivations:
Ela estava a correr risco de vida, pelo que a única solução que tinha era abandonar imediatamente Angola, para regressar ao seu país. Aconselhada pela sua amiga a denunciar publicamente a agressão, MP disse que preferia não o fazer. Aconselhada ainda a ir para Portugal, MP disse que não confiava nos portugueses e que se sentia melhor na Guiné-Bissau com os responsáveis de transição.
She was running the risk of losing her life, and the only solution that she had was to immediately leave Angola, and return to her country. Counselled by a friend to publicly denounce the attack, MP said she preferred not to. Further counselled to go to Portugal, MP said she did not trust the Portuguese and said she would feel better in Guinea-Bissau with those responsible for the transition.
Last October, in statements to the same radio station, the Secretary of State for Communities in Guinea-Bissau, Idelfrides Gomes Fernandes confirmed the news [pt] about the possible disappearance of the journalist for the first time. Four months after her mysterious disappearance, the family decided to contact authorities, but the only response that they got was silence.
In its November 2nd edition, the Novo Jornal (New Newspaper) (Angola) dedicated an entire page to the disappearance of the journalist.
Two months ago, Bartolomeu Capita of the National Movement of Cabinda wrote on the site of the organization Peace & collaborative development network that Milocas Pereira could have been ordered killed in Angola:
Nobody has seen Ms. Pereira or simply heard from her for almost a month now. Yet she was teaching at the independent University of Angola. Concerns have arisen which must be addressed. More and more fellow scholars are discreetly suggesting that she may have been murdered, for having sought to investigate certain matters related to the obscure links between Angola's criminal regime and Guinea-Bissau.
News of the disappearance [pt] of the 58 year old journalist was made public at a time in which the family – that was trying not to complicate police investigations – began to lose hope that Milocas was still alive. The brother of the professor, Carlos Pereira, who lives in Lisbon, said to Voice of America [pt]:
O que nos chega [de Luanda] é isso, está desaparecida desde finais de Julho. Suspeitamos de muita coisa. Que ela tivesse dado com muita coisa e tivesse necessidade de fugir, de esconder ou que tenha havido alguma retaliação.
What comes to us [from Luanda] is this, she has disappeared since the end of July. We suspect a lot. That she could have run into many things and needed to flee, hide or had some could of retaliation.
On the blog Rispito [pt], the Guinean Samba Bari alleges that the disappearance is another challenge for the transitional authorities and that the situation could widen the fissure between the Guinean government not recognized by Luanda and the Angolan government.

author: Madalena Sampaio


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Honduras: “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

La Gringa, from La Gringa's blogicito shares her sentiments about so long anticipated December 21, 2012:
Today is December 21, 2012, the last day of the Mayan calendar. Enjoy it as if it is the last day of the world! […] My last meal is going to be ice cream just in case. ;-)
She shares images and some shady predictions.

author: Gabriela García Calderón


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Hungarian Protesters Occupy Bridge, Three Students Arrested · Global Voices
Marietta Le

Three protesters were arrested Wednesday night when students occupied a Budapest bridge. The grassroots student union HaHa confirmed [hu] they were students moderating a forum held on the Chain Bridge. Dozens of protesters waited at a Budapest police department for their release until 2 AM on Thursday. The students were released after a civil infraction proceeding, receiving a formal warning.
On Wednesday, high school and university students protested in Hungary against the cut-backs in higher education admission quotas; at many high schools, students held sit-in strikes, observed minutes of silence and protested for their future. X Communications Centre (XKK) published [hu] a map and list of the events; below is a screenshot:
The day of the protests in Budapest ended with two student events’ participants marching to the Chain Bridge, where they held a forum, inviting [hu] the Minister of Human Resources and the Prime Minister to guarantee that the students’ demands are met. When the protesters started to leave the bridge the police accompanying the march arrested [hu] three students who had earlier moderated the conversations with megaphones.
A student using a megaphone while shouting slogans at a protest in Budapest on Wednesday. Photo by Peter Nemeth, copyright © Demotix (19/12/2012).
Although they were released a few hours later many netizens pointed at the ‘fun fact’ that the Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had once also been arrested for fighting for democratic rights at the time of Hungary's transition to democracy. One Million for the Freedom of Press in Hungary, also known as Milla, shared [hu] this meme using a photo of Orbán being arrested in 1988 and the photo of one of the students arrested now:
The Hungarian government seemed to be willing to comply with the students’ demands, as on Wednesday at noon it was announced that the 2013 undergraduate admission quota for tuition-free higher education would be set back to 55,000 students [hu] instead of the 10,480 published before the protests. Students made clear on many platforms that they were aware of the need to roll out tuition fees in the Hungarian higher education, but they stressed that the fast-pace decision-making was not professional and the restructuring of Hungarian higher education needed a thorough preparation.
HaHa demanded [hu] that the government make decisions with the involvement of all stakeholders and come up with a better financial plan to ensure the sustainability of universities after the quotas are set back to a higher level.
A government spokesman said on Wednesday that the admission point requirements would be published before Christmas [hu]. Admission points are calculated for each high school student on the basis of their grades, final exams and other obtained qualifications. On Thursday afternoon, however, the Ministry of Human Resources announced [hu] they wouldn't publish the requirements this year. Adult education, applied economic studies, communication and media studies, human resources studies, international economics and law are still not the government's favorites; there would be no tuition-free slots [hu] allocated for them.

author: Marietta Le


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Massive Police Presence on “Friday for Detainees” in Saudi Arabia · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

Shortly after the arrest of Suleiman al-Rashoudi, the head of independent human rights organization Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), anonymous activist group @e3teqal [which translates to “detainment”] announced that today, December 21, will be a “Friday for Detainees” and called for country-wide sit-ins.
In a statement, the group said [ar]:
فإننا مجموعة من المشايخ والنشطاء المهتمين بقضية معتقلي الرأي ندعوا لاعتصامات في كل مناطق المملكة أمام مساجد محددة بعد صلاة الجمعة يوم 8 صفر 1434 الموافق 21 ديسمبر 2012 وقد دعانا للجوء للاعتصامات أن كل الوسائل الهادئة السرية لإطلاق سجناء الأي لن تكن مجدية.
We, a group of clerics and activists who are concerned by the issue of prisoners of conscience, call for country-wide sit-ins outside certain mosques after Friday sermon on December 21, 2012.  What made us call for sit-ins is the fact that all calm and secret methods for releasing prisoners of conscience have failed.
The Saudi Arabian government strictly prohibits all kinds of demonstrations and sit-ins.  The rule, however, has been challenged many times over the past two years by relatives of arbitrarily-imprisoned people, and by the activists behind @e3teqal.  Arbitrary imprisonment is the top human rights issue in Saudi Arabia. ACPRA's estimate of the number of arbitrary detainees is over 30,000, many of whom were arrested during the massive, post-9/11 “war on terrorism”.
Logo of the event
On Thursday night, the group announced three major mosques for the planned sit-ins in Riyadh, Jeddah and Buraidah.  Outside these mosques, there was very heavy police presence today in anticipation of the protests.  Ex-political prisoner Thamer al-Khodhor tweeted:
من رأى جامع العميم في بريدة يعرف معنى الثكنه العسكرية
@thamaer14338 Those who saw Ameem mosque in Buraidah know what a “military battalion” is.
In Riyadh, heavy police presence was not only around the announced mosque, but also around other large mosques.  Saudi Twitter user Yaser al-Mehlib tweeted from Riyadh's largest mosque, al-Rajhi mosque, saying:
الآن هيلوكبتر تحوم فوق جامع الراجحي ! أصلحوا ماأنتم خائفون منه
@yyeessrr: A helicopter is now flying above al-Rajhi mosque!  Fix what you are afraid of!
Ironically, Twitter users also reported police presence around the building of the governmental Human Rights Commission:
تعزيزات أمنية الان عند مبنى هيئة حقوق الانسان وعند جامع الراجحي
@SALEHTAREG: Police presence in front of Human Rights Commission building as well as al-Rajhi mosque.
@e3teqal published a video of tens of young men who choose a different location to protest. The chants in Arabic echo the all too familiar Arab Spring cry, with a Saudi-specific demand: “The people demand the liberation of prisons”:
A banner held at today's protest which reads: Our captives are in danger; release them now. Photograph shared on Twitter by @BahiaAlrushoody
Also activist al-Rashoudi's daughter Bahia, uploaded photos of the signs they had and tweeted:
أسرة الرشودي مع عشرات النساء تجمعن وهتفن بالحرية للمعتقلين رغم الإستنفار الأمني وأدين الواجب والحمدالله
@BahiaAlrushoody: al-Rashoudi's family members and tens of women gathered and shouted for freedom of the detainees despite police presence.  Thanks God, we did what we should do.
The hashtag of the sit-in (#جمعة_المعتقلين) [The Friday of Detainees] was filled with identical pro-government tweets by newly-created accounts.  In the screenshot, all tweets are read: “God bless Saudi Arabia's security and prosperity”:
via @Amer_Bas
When a new hashtag was announced (#جمعة_الرعب, Friday of fear), the newly-created accounts filled it with tweets that demand the release of Hamaza Kashgari, the very controversial Saudi columnist who is accused of insulting Prophet Mohammad:

author: Anas Soliman


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Mexico: “Mayans Didn’t Predict the End of the World” · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

According to the Mayans, what we are about to celebrate is the beginning of b’ak’tun 14. Very similar to us about to celebrate the beginning of 2013, or as happened some years ago, when we celebrated the beginning of 21st century.
Group blog Pedazos de carbono [es] weighs in and gives reasonable explanations about the alleged Mayan predicitions.


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Russians Prepared for the Post-Apocalypse with Parties, Stockpiling, & Orgies · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

That the world failed to come to an end today, “21-12-2012,” must come as a relief to many Russian bloggers who have spent the past several weeks obsessing over the coming apocalypse prophesied by the Mayans. Of course, as with many things, Russia's take on Armageddon had its own peculiarities.
Take, for instance, the fact that the Russian phrase “Конец Света” (Konets Sveta), or “the End of the World,” also means “the End of Light” (from the dual meaning of svet). Some interpreted this quite literally, as LiveJournal user markela reported [ru]:
Какой-то лама пророчествует, что 21-го на несколько дней погаснет электричество, будет кромешная тьма, то есть буквально свет закончится. Надо сделать запасы, сидеть в деревне в доме и не вылезать. Топить печь, жечь свечи и есть запасы.
Some kind of lama is prophesying that, on [December] 21, the electricity will go out for a few days, [and] there will be complete darkness, so literally it will be the end of light [svet]. People should stockpile food, sit in their country homes, and stay put. Start a fireplace, burn some candles, and eat the supplies.
LJ user mutantkhamon also noted [ru] the trend:
Судя по количеству спичек и свечей, сметамых с полок магазинов, народ воспринимает Конец Света как аварийное отключение электричества. Также умиляют закупки продуктов. Наши люди, безусловно, верят в Конец Света, но также безусловно они верят, что произойдёт он, конечно, не с ними.
Judging by the amount of matches and candles being swept from the stores, people are looking at the End of the World like an emergency electrical outage. The food purchases are also touching. Our people undoubtedly believe in the End of the World, but also undoubtedly believe that it won't take them with it.
Older people were perhaps more affected by the hype. Julchita tweeted [ru] yesterday:
еще и Мама пишет… “заряди телефон.завтра могут электричество отключить.” – “почему?” – “конец света.”
Mom wrote… “charge up the phone. tomorrow they can turn off the electricity.” – “why?” – “it's the end of the word.”
But others were also not immune. Svetlana Martynchik, the author of the Max Frei novels, transcribed and published [ru] to her LJ the following overhead conversation:
- Сын моей подруги умный такой, инженер, а все равно решил к концу света подготовиться. Купил дрова, свечи, продукты. На неделю запас, ходит теперь довольный.
– А почему на неделю? Говорят же, что электричество отключат аж до весны.
– А у них кладовка очень маленькая. И сарая нет. Некуда складывать. Поэтому он говорит – что до весны, это все бабские глупости. За неделю все починят.
- My friend's son, who is smart and an engineer, still decided to get ready for the end of the world. He bought some firewood, candles, food. Supplies for a week, [and] now he walks around satisfied.
– Why for a week? They say the electricity will be off until spring.
– They have little storage space. And no shed. Nowhere to put things. So he says—until spring, that's female stupidity. They'll fix it it within a week.
People got ready in their own ways. Blogger Sergey Stillavin received the following letter [ru] from one of his readers about a conversation between two drunks on the train.
[…] один приглашал другого сие событие отметить в каких-то пещерах в МО […] перед этим событием нужно соблюсти 2 правила: 1) одеться вещи, которые не жалко – ибо в пещерах такая грязь, что одежду придется потом выкинуть 2) […] запастись спиртным, а именно спиртом по 5 литров так сказать “на лицо”, т.к. конец света – вещь непредсказуемая и случиться может всё что угодно
[…] one invited the other to mark the occasion in some kind of cave in the Moscow Region […] before the occasion one should follow 2 rules: 1) dress in clothes that you don't care about—it's so muddy in the caves, that the clothes will have to be thrown out 2) […] stock up on alcohol, that is, pure alcohol at 5 liters per person, since the end of the world is an unpredictable thing, and anything could happen
Idlers riding trains weren't the only ones to use the coming end as an excuse to have some fun. A VKontakte group [ru] in Nizhny Novgorod (a similar group [ru] was started in Krasnoyarsk) invited all interested parties to participate in an End of the World orgy with this lighthearted message:
Короче собираем много народу и ебёмся последние сутки до конца света =)))
Cutting straight to the chase, we're getting a bunch of people together and f*cking for the last 24 hours before the end of the world =)))
So far, over 1,000 people have joined the group (most of them male). It isn't clear whether any of the orgies actually took place.
Other revels scheduled for Armageddon were less risque, but just as other-worldly, journalist Rovshan Askerov wrote [ru] on Facebook:
Сегодня рассказали в одном ивинт-агентстве, как заказчик специально поставил корпоратив в ночь с 20 на 21 декабря и ровно в 0.00 по сценарию у него – в разгар веселья – полное отключение света. И огненные шары с потолка падают.
Today, at one event-planning agency, they told me that a client specifically scheduled a corporate holiday party from December 20 to 21, and—at 12:00 AM sharp, according to his script (in the middle of the party)—the lights go off completely. And fiery balls fall from the ceiling.
Not to be outdone by the Russians in doomsday prep, Ukrainian journalists managed to locate a woman named Светлана Григорьевна Конец (Svetlana Grigorievna Konets, in other words “Konets, Sveta”) and interview her as an authority on what's coming. A photograph of her passport [ru] has gone viral on the RuNet, to much hilarity.
Alfa-Bank's Doomsday Loan website, complete with count-down. Screenshot. December 21, 2012.
Marketing departments also couldn't let the opportunity pass by. Alfa-Bank, for example, advertised a special “End of the World” loan in the first weeks of December:
Самое время насладиться оставшимся временем: поехать на Бали, прыгнуть с парашютом, выпить бокал Вдовы Клико, а для этого можно взять кредит, ведь эти деньги не нужно будет отдавать никогда! Альфа-Банк дает такой кредит, который МОЖНО НЕ ВОЗВРАЩАТЬ, если конец света наступит!
It's high time to enjoy your remaining time: travel to Bali, skydive, drink a goblet of Veuve Clicquot, and for this you can take out a loan, since you never have to return the money! Alfa-Bank is giving out a loan, which you DON'T HAVE TO RETURN, if the world comes to an end!
Judging by the pre-apocalypse behavior online, there were probably more than a few takers among RuNet users.

author: Andrey Tselikov


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The Sinai Peninsula: Egypt’s “Wild West”? · Global Voices
Rayna St.

This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage.
In April of this year, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dubbed the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt a “kind of Wild West” after rockets fired from there targeted the resort town of Eilat. According to Netanyahu, the peninsula is exploited by Islamist militants helped by Iran to smuggle weapons and stage attacks on Israel. In August, 16 Egyptian border guards were killed in an attack by Islamist militants who then crossed the border. This is one of a string of violent incidents since Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi was elected president of Egypt in June.
Since the fall of the Mubarak regime, Egypt has had to recalibrate its interactions with Israel and Palestine. The August attack exposed a particular set of vulnerabilities in Egypt’s security policies. The country was already shaken by riots and sectarian violence challenging Morsi’s presidency, and the border incident placed the spotlight on the messy question of who actually controls the country’s national security policy.
Is it the President jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or the intelligence services, or the military… or all of the above? Before, active involvement of the presidency in the joint activities of the armed forces (SCAF) and intelligence agencies used to be the rule.
From the series “Sinai's most wanted militants”, by Mosa'ab Elshamy. Image used with permission.
In response to the Sinai aggression, Egypt closed the Rafah Crossing indefinitely, a move denounced by Hamas in Gaza as “a collective punishment for all Palestinians…” Mubarak-era Minister of Foreign Affairs Amr Moussa called for the revision of the Camp David Agreements whereas many observers argued in favor of improved interactions with the Bedouin tribes or even the redeployment of forces in the Sinai region. This idea would not be far-fetched, as sending Egyptian forces into Sinai is part of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty anyway.
The whole process of Sinai's remilitarization further questions the crucial – and thus far, discrete – role of the USA in this region's dynamics.
In a series of tweets [Ar], Egyptian analyst Ezzedine Fishere explained the need for a transparent policy highlighting that a much clearer stance towards both Israel and Palestine has to be adopted.
Given the complex context and the obscure rationale behind August’s attack in Sinai, “all sorts of conspiracy theories are afloat,” argued Egyptian blogger The Arabist, continuing:
… Egypt needs to act to reimpose itself strongly in the area: through a zero-tolerance for criminal gangs and armed groups, Bedouin or foreign, and through a genuine policy of development, job-creation and integration of Sinai into the national economy. It's not easy, it's long-overdue, and it needs to start sooner than later even if strong-arm tactics that will probably be involved may cause more trouble in the short-term.
Highlighting a recently published photo essay by Mosa’ab Elshamy, the blog ‘This Ongoing War’ points out:
Needless to say, given its physical proximity to Israel, Sinai is not only an Egyptian challenge. That it gets such a small degree of media attention is a puzzle.
Morsi’s beginnings in office were marked by a widely decried crackdown on freedom of expression, and the sacking of until-then almighty military officials making the President what many defined as the ‘new dictator’. Is the media silence politically motivated in the name of “balancing security and civil liberties”? While events in Sinai go underreported and the power structures of Egypt are still unsettled, it’s difficult to make estimations about how ‘wild’ this ‘west’ is.
Egyptian photographer Mosa'ab Elshamy has a few series of photos on Sinai, featuring not only Sinai militants, but also archeological treasures in the region.
This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by the International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide. This post was first published on the ISN blog, see similar stories here.

author: Rayna St.


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Transparency in Extractive Mega Projects in Mozambique  · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

With the discovery [pt] of further reserves of hydrocarbons and mineral resources in Mozambique, the country has seen its land become one of the most attractive on the African continent for large international investors. Although the country's economy is growing at a rate of 7% per year, Mozambique maintains one of the lowest positions [pt] in the UN Human Development Index. How can more opportunities be created for the country's citizens to get closer to, participate in and benefit from the development boom in Mozambique?
The group Terraço Aberto (Open Terrace) [pt], created by the Swiss Association for International Cooperation, Helvetas, organises monthly popular assemblies for “reflective, critical and open debate” about the country's socio-economic development, especially in the Northern region, in Cabo Delgado. The 11th meeting which took place in November focused specifically on the subject of “Transparency in (Mega-)Projects for Resource Extraction” [pt]:
A transparência devia existir em todas as fases dos Megaprojectos para facilitar a sua aceitação e o encaixamento harmonioso na sociedade.
Como é que as informações são divulgadas? São suficientes?
O facto de Moçambique fazer parte da “Iniciativa de Transparência na Indústria Extractiva” [ITIE] é conhecido? Sabemos de que se trata e quais são os mecanismos de controlo?
Quais são os benefícios da transparência a todos os níveis?
Somos apenas espectadores ou sabemos o que se passa nos vários níveis e componentes dos (Mega-) Projectos?
Transparency must exist in all phases of the mega projects in order to facilitate their acceptance and harmonious embedding into society.
How is the information made public? Is sufficient information given?
Is the fact that Mozambique forms part of the “Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative” (EITI) known?
Do we know what the initiative is about and what the control mechanisms are?
What are the benefits of transparency at all levels?
Are we just spectators or do we know what is happening at the various levels and components of the (Mega) Projects?
Photo by Terraço Aberto (Public Debate in Cabo Delgado) on Facebook
The presentations made at the opening of the session by the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP) [pt] – about the framing of Mozambique in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) -, by the Catholic University of Mozambique (UCM) [pt] – about the contribution of the universities towards greater transparency in the mega projects -, and by the thematic group Management of Natural Resources and the Environment [pt] were shared on Terraço Aberto‘s [pt] Facebook page.
The contributions made by citizens present during the session were also transcribed for the Facebook page. The questions raised tackled the necessity for the training [pt] and education [pt] of the community, the creation of networks [pt], the social responsibility [pt] of the companies and the way in which the resettlement and compensation [pt] of the population has been carried out, the environmental impact [pt] of the works, the lack of equipment [pt], conflicts of interest [pt], and also the lack of information about the charges and taxes paid by the prospecting companies.
On this last point, Dionísio Nambora from the CIP, began by deploring [pt] the lack of information about the multinational ENI, later adding:
Outras empresas tenho informação que pagam por volta de um milhão de dolares. (…) Olhando para a Kemar por exemplo, tem isenções fiscais para 10 anos, impostos fiscais reduzidos foram e apenas paga 3%, tem isenção no IVA, e outras taxas que tem impactos sérios sobre o ponto de vista de comprimento de acções fiscais. Depois de 10 anos não haverá algum impacto do aparecimento da Kemar.
I have information that other companies pay around a million dollars. (…) Looking at Kemar for example, they have tax exemption for 10 years, their fiscal taxes were reduced and they barely pay 3%, they are exempt from VAT and other taxes which have a serious impact from the point of view of the performance of fiscal shares. After 10 years there will be no impact on the emergence of Kemar.
António Macanis, director of the Programme for Decentralised Finance in Cabo Delgado, questioned how it could be guaranteed that the social funds channelled to the National Institute for Petroleum would benefit local populations, and added [pt]:
temos tantas universidades na Provincia de Cabo Delgado. Porque é que estas náo podem fazer modulos pequenos para poder capacitar as pessoas que estão naquelas zonas, como pequenos empresários para que possam tomar proveito.
we have so many universities in the Province of Cabo Delgado. Why don't they create short modules in order to train the people living in these areas, such as small businesspeople so that they can take advantage of them.
To which the representative of the UCM [pt] replied:
Está comprovado que a maior parte dos países que tem os megaprojectos de Industria Extractiva que o rácio de empregabilidade é menor. Como universidade perguntamos se empregam poucas pessoas, destas quantas são moçambicanas?
It is proven that the majority of the countries which host mega projects run by the Extractive Industry are those where the ratio of employability is lower. As a university, we ask if they employ few people, how many of these people are Mozambican?
Ersílo Zacarias, television presenter, says that [pt] “in the areas where the resources are located, the population is getting poorer and poorer”:
Por exemplo em Tete as pessoas estão a sofrer porque foram tiradas das suas zonas onde tinham riqueza para outras zonas onde não têm o que tinham.
O custo de vida nesses lugares aumenta e a população local continua na miséria. Em Téte encontramos Brasileiros a fazer limpeza enquanto a população local continua mais pobre. Onde está o Governo para fiscalizar isso?
Recentemente em Montepuez, Namanhumbir deparei-me com policia a disparar contra pessoas, que se dizem ser garimpeiros ilegais. Tudo bem, mas nem este polícia conhece quem é o dono desta terra em que vai baleando os nativos.
For example in Tete, people are suffering because they were removed from the areas where they had wealth to other areas where they do not have what they had before.
The cost of living in these places increases and the local population continues in poverty. In Tete we find Brazilians cleaning while the local population gets poorer. Where is the Government to control this?
Recently in Montepuez, Namanhumbir I came across a policeman shooting at people, who it was said were illegal prospectors. Ok, but this policeman doesn't know who owns the land where he's shooting at the natives.
Meanwhile, for Ismael, an economist, the mega projects also have a positive impact [pt]:
Olhemos Pemba em 2005 e vejam Pemba em 2012. Algumas despesas destas empresas e seus trabalhadores criam um impacto indirecto. Já há pessoas que compraram motas e outros bens que não era notável antes. (…) Por exemplo fala-se da terra. Quem está a vender a terra aqui. somos nós os Moçambicanos. Só que mais tarde reclamamos que não temos terra ora isto mais aquilo. A iniciativa dos petróleos, dos grandes negócios é bem vinda mas cabe a nós seguir o ritmo de desenvolvimento.
Look at Pemba in 2005 and look at Pemba in 2012. Some of the expenditure of these companies and their employees has an indirect impact. There are already people who have bought motorcycles and other goods which weren't notable before. (…) For example, let's think about land. Those who are selling land here are we Mozambicans. It is only later on that we complain that we don't have land and this, that and the other…. The initative of the oil companies, of the large businesses is welcome but we must keep up with the rhythm of development.
Alberto Domingos, UP Montepuez, suggests [pt] that more must be done in terms of social responsability, with the creation of offices for District Services of Economic Activities:
Se por exemplo se impusesse como condição que cada uma destas empresas pudesse construir uma Escola, Estradas, portos, um hospital ou uma outra infraestrutura o benefício seria mais sentido pela população local.
If for example the condition could be imposed that each of these companies should build a school, roads, ports, a hospital or some other infrastructure, the benefit would be felt more greatly by the local population.
Photo by Terraço Aberto (Public Debate in Cabo Delgado) on Facebook.
On a final note, a participant in the session who was not identified, questioned [pt] the lack of debate and information, both from the media and politicians – “who is responsible for controlling the activities of the mining companies and of the other mega projects which are being undertaken?” Public debates such as the ones provided by Terraço Aberto point without a doubt to new responses [pt]:
É possível atingir um nível em que a sociedade civil é a essência de governação participativa impulsionada pela integração com o governo e o sector privado. Tudo isso, por uma comunidade transparente e inclusiva.
It is possible to reach a point at which civil society is the essence of participative governance driven by integration with the government and the private sector. All this, for a transparent and inclusive community.
Another participant, Jorge Tadeu, suggested [pt] that the debate should not end when the terrace closed, and that more citizens should take up the commitment [pt] of the young lady Lucia Jofrice, inspired by the public debate and its participants:
a lista é enorme e inclui entre outras entidades publicas e privadas, sociedade civil, a mim propria e a ti que nao estamos a exercer a cidadania na plenitude apesar de conhecermos e termos as ferramentas necessárias.
the list is long and includes, amongst others, public and private entities, civil society, the me and the you who are not fully exercising our citizenship despite knowing about and having the necessary tools.

author: Sara Moreira


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Two Coins for the Boatman · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

From Guatemala, Fe de Rata‘s blogger Juan Pablo Dardón, lists his plan [es] for the end of times:
I woke up early and put two golden coins
one for each shoe […]
two coins I'm telling you
when meteorites fall down and all this gets open as an orange […]
I'll put one in each eye
as I put my armas behind my head
that gets open as an orange […]
the boatman has work to do
and deserves to be tipped


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Veteran Director Raises Curtain on China’s Arbitrary Film Censorship Policy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The screening of the previously banned film V for Vendetta, on the state broadcaster China Central Television has stirred up hope for censorship reform in China.
On December 15, 2012, 70-year-old film director Xie Fei, a heavyweight in China's film industry and professor at the Beijing Film Academy, published an open letter [zh] on his micro-blog, advocating for replacement of China's film censorship with a rating system.
Outrageous film censorship practices
Fei worries China's development of cultural and creative industries will meet a dead end if the censorship system remains arbitrary and secretive. Similar reform proposal was raised in 2004 but was rejected by the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) in 2010.
Cartoon on SARFT's role published in china.cn.org, a Chinese government portal site. Public domain.
Fei's letter, addressed to the SARFT, points out that the current censorship system is against China's constitution which protects citizens’ freedom of expression and freedom of press. He also discloses [zh] many outrageous censorship practices:
遠的例子：1994年3月12日，廣電部下文《關於不得支持、協助張元等人拍攝影視片及後期加工通知》，處罰張元、田壯壯、王小帥、吳文光等7位電影導演七年內不許拍攝影片，因為他們導演的影片《北京雜種》、《藍風箏》、《冬春的日子》等未經審查參加了國外電影節。由於這一決定，田壯壯導演七年沒有導演新作品，其他人則去拍攝不經審查的所謂「地下電影」，如《東宮西宮》等。以後許多年中，姜文、婁樺，賈梓柯等電影導演也陸續受到過同樣的剝奪文學藝術創作權利、禁止拍攝電影多年的行政處罰。我當時問詢過電影局幹部：「這個決定不是違犯憲法嗎？為什麼許多小說、美術、音樂、戲劇作品出國發表、展覧、不需要國家有關部門審查批准，電影出展卻成為違規犯法了呢？」此官員回答說：「我們認為所有電影都是代表國家的。」這個觀點不僅今天看來很荒謬，當時也難自圓其說。
Past example is: On 12 March 1994, SARFT issued a notice “Do not support Zhang Yuan and others in filming and post-production” to punish Zhang Yuan, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Wang Xiaoshuai, Wu Wenguang, and four other directors; they were banned from making films for 7 years because their productions – “Beijing Bastards“, “The Blue Kite“, “The Days” – were listed in overseas film festivals without going through domestic censorship. Because of this Tien Zhuangzhaung did not produce any movie for 7 years, others were forced to produce “underground movies” such as “East Palace, West Palace“. For many years, directors such as Jiang Wen, Lou Ye and Jia Zhangke have also been deprived of their rights in creative works and banned from making movies because of administrative punishment. I questioned the authorities: “Aren't such decisions against the nation's constitution? While novels, artworks, music and theatre performance is released outside the country without censorship, such practice has become illegal in the film sector?” The official replied: “We regard all movies to represent the state.” Such perspectives are unreasonable and ridiculous in today's time.
Quoting a more recent censorship case Xie writes [zh]:
關於此片，某廣電總局的領導曾對我說，「同性戀不能在電影中表現，有領導人說過話。」影片中，女主人公在文工團愛上的男舞蹈員有同性戀傾向，影片有分寸地涉及了這一現象，我以為，同性戀是人類社會中存在的事實，公眾與法律均應尊重其存在。影片對此並無褒貶，怎麼不能表現？領導人的講話是代表法律，還是代表個人？這些年，一些電影立項、審查時，不時傳出的不見法律法規的要求，諸如「現代題材不許有鬼」、「不許穿越」、「不許婚外戀」、「不許寫某些政治歴史事件」等等，說明現在實行的審查制度不是「法治」，還是我們早就想結束掉的「人治」。
A SARFT official told me: “Homosexuality cannot be shown in a movie – a leader's instruction.” In the movie, the main female character falls in love with a male dancer who has homosexual tendencies but the film handles the subject delicately. Homosexuality is a social phenomena, the law and the public should acknowledge its existence. The movie does not make any judgement on the practice, why should it be banned? Is a leader's instruction, personal opinion or law? In the past few years, there are so many unwritten laws when censoring movies, such as “ghosts are not allowed in contemporary settings”, “extramarital affairs are not allowed”, “certain political incidents are not allowed” etc. The censorship system is not based according to [defined] “law” but according to [arbitrary] “individuals”.
Film censorship kills artistic exploration
Xie proposes replacing the current censorship system with a ratings system:
現行的國家以行政方式統一管理的電影立項與審查制度，早已沒有了實質性的社會、經濟、思想、文化意義，而是一個制約文化娛樂市場繁榮、扼殺藝術思想探索、浪費行政管理資源的成規陋習。
去年電影局審查通過的影片號稱791部，實際能進入影院見觀眾的不到200部，熱門的更少。有多少立項與審查工作是無意義的行政資源浪費？而現實中，通過碟片、電視、國內外各類影展放映的未經「審查」的所謂「地下電影」數量很多，加上正在興起的數量眾多專業或非專業人士拍攝的網絡電影、微電影，國家行政部門能夠去全部審查嗎？
The current administrative censorship on film is counterproductive to the development of our society, economy and culture. It wastes administrative resources, restricts the development of the cultural and entertainment market and kills artistic exploration.
Last year, SARFT claimed that it has reviewed 791 movies, but eventually less than 200 movies managed to make their way to the cinemas. Blockbusters were a lot less. How many administrative resources have been wasted? In reality, we have a large number of “underground movies” which haven't gone through the censorship system being circulated via satellite TV, DVC, and film festivals. In addition, internet movies, micro-movies produced by non-professionals are prospering online, can SARFT review all these?
So far more than 35,373 micro-bloggers have retweeted Xie's letter and there are more than 5,627 comments under the discussion thread. There are quite a few pro-censorship nationalistic comments, but they are likely coming from the so-called 50 cent party as they flooded in after the letter was quoted by overseas Chinese media outlets.
The pro-censorship nationalistic argument
潇洒静静7：问一下导演，那些色情暴力非正常的边缘情感诸如此类的影片题材对你们那么有吸引力吗？以个人小众的审美趣味来代替大部分人的审美倾向，行为本身就不道德。你喜欢的某些题材非要放到大众的环境中来传播，就牵涉到法律道德教育世俗伦理等诸多的问题，选择权不应由你们电影人小圈子的利益来决定。
潇洒静静7：Ask the director, are you that attracted to violent and pornographic content? It is immoral to replace the majority's aesthetic tendency with the minority's taste. To distribute topics of your liking in a public platform will touch upon issues related with law, education, morality and ethics and should not be decided by a small circle of movie producers.
自由的爱在春夏秋冬：什么叫文化自觉？中国导演（非针对谢导）应该搞清楚这些问题再来拍电影，免得浪费社会资源：以自我为中心还是为历史负责？取悦观众还是取悦欧美评审团？输出文化还是向外来文化跪拜？宣扬英雄主义爱国主义还是靠色情暴力赚钱？批判现实批判人性还是撕裂人心分化民族？再现历史还是糟践历史？
自由的爱在春夏秋冬：What is the meaning of self-awareness of the culture? Chinese directors (not only director Xie) should develop a clear notion of culture and the following issues before they produce movies, or else they will be wasting social resources: whether they should be responsible to history or be ego-centered? Whether they should appeal to an audience of western judges? Export our culture or kneel down to alien culture? Propagate patriotic heroism or earn money with violent and pornographic culture? Should they be critical towards reality and human greed or tear apart national unity? Represent history accurately or tread on history?
旅美丸子: 费导谢导去好莱坞拍吧，可以专拍中国和中国人变态，中国人是怎么被西方暴力色情牵着鼻子走的，美国人喜欢看。 中国人还是要看点积极向上的。在西方亚文化非主流色情暴力意识形态里打转，不会有有好作品。
旅美丸子: Director Xie should make a film in Hollywood. Then he can produce a sick China and some sick Chinese characters. The Americans like to watch how the Chinese are being led by western violence and pornography. Chinese should strike for better. They can't produce a good movie in western violent and pornographic sub-culture.
芥末丝儿-戎：个人觉得中国影迷和导演的素质太低，开放限制，中国的电影将香港化，滑向低级趣味，下流浅薄的深渊，中华民族的文化将遭到毁灭性打击。
芥末丝儿-戎：Movie fans and directors are low in quality in China. Once the restriction is lifted, Chinese movies will be Hong Kong-ized and turn vulgar and banal. Chinese culture will be ruined.
Anti-censorship opinions
Fortunately, the majority of opinions support Xie's proposal:
红叶紫花：政府管得太多，管政府的太少
红叶紫花：Too much control by the government, too little control over the government.
痒痒-挠儿：早该分级，支持！。但审查这事儿与分级无关，这完全是政治的需要，电影工作者与之抗争了N久而未果，在这种体制下也实属无奈。
痒痒-挠儿: Support ratings system. However, censorship has nothing to do with ratings. It is serving a political need. The film sector has been struggling with censorship for many years without any improvement. It is frustrating to work in such a political system.
四不清：大陆的文人有两种政治选择，一是投靠，变成一只宠物，摇头摆尾，过人上人的生活。一是拒绝，变成一只困兽，我行我素，过担惊受怕的日子。
四不清：Intellectuals in mainland China only have two choices. One is to surrender and become a tamed pet, pretending to be cute and begging for a living. One is to reject and be locked in a cage, living in fear but free.
狂奔的阿立：97年经济危机后，韩国取消了多年的电影审查制度。10多年后，韩国的文化产品已经在全球广受称赞。我不是想长他人威风，扇自己耳光，但现在韩国电影已经超过中国中国电影不是一星半点，这已是很多电影人的共识。如果内容制作需要这么多的审查，中国想要振兴文化产业，基本等于是放空炮。
狂奔的阿立：After the financial crisis in 1997, South Korea abolished its movie censorship system. Within 10 years, Korean cultural production has gained global recognition. I am not building my argument by glorifying other examples. But Korean movies are far ahead of China and all movie producers recognize this fact. If censorship of content prevails in China, the revival of Chinese culture will just be empty talk.
匹夫有责之道：支持！放飞梦想，解放思想，解脱束缚，文化才能大发展。希望“新政”、“新风”能够吹到文化领域，给艺术家们更多的想象空间，更好的创作环境。
匹夫有责之道：Support! Free our dream and free our thought. Only freedom can enhance our culture. Hope for the best that the “New Policy” and “Fresh Wind” will reach the cultural sector and give the artists more space for imagination and creative work.


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A Look Back at the Great Potential of the Internet  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Ginisty wrote [fr] the following on his blog:
We are part of the Generation X, a generation that knew the world before there was such thing as the internet. We saw the internet blossom and spread to almost all population group and because of that, we might be better suited to grasp its full potential. Not unlike that person who knew what hunger was and therefore appreciates the simple joy of satiety.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Art Quake in Kerala – The Kochi-Muziris Biennale · Global Voices
Inji Pennu

Ever since the first public display of an abstract art painting by Czech painter Frantisek Kupka in 1912 to the era of  Damien Hirst(s) and Andy Warhol(s) commercialization and mass production of art, contemporary art world has set new blazing routes exploding into the senses of both the art lover and the laywomen influencing and stretching the limits of her aesthetic and intellectual senses.
Determined to secure a prominent place in art history, a tiny state in southern India has opened herself up to the world of contemporary art hosting a three month long Biennale festival, India’s first, from 12/12/12. The sleepy suburbs of Fort Kochi in Kerala is witnessing an explosion of contemporary art through various mediums including graffiti, installation, painting, music, films, sculpture, and performance art by Indian and international artists. The three month long festival encompasses talks, seminars, screenings, and workshops.
Artists from forty countries are participating in the Biennale, the list include Subodh Gupta, Ariel Hassan of Argentina, Ai Weiwei of China, Ernesto Neto of Brazil to name a few. Kochi-Muziris Biennale is curated by India’s two famous artists Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu, incidentally from Kerala.
As with many first time ventures, controversy courting, debate loving Keralites in Social Media are involved in discussions about the pros and cons including the controversy surrounding the allocation of state funds for the Biennale.
UN on his blog elaborates on the necessities of Biennale:
യൂറോപ്പിലും മറ്റു പലയിടങ്ങളിലും സ്ട്രീറ്റ് ആർട്ട്, ഗ്രാഫിറ്റി തുടങ്ങിയ പബ്ലിക് ആർട്ട്  രൂപങ്ങളിലൂടെ കല കൂടുതൽ ജനകീയമായിത്തീർന്നിട്ടുണ്ട്.  പബ്ലിക് ആർട്ടിൽ ഇരുദിശകളിൽ നിന്നുമുള്ള ഇടപെടലുകൾ കൂടുതലാവാതെ തരമില്ലല്ലോ. നിരന്തരമുള്ള ഇത്തരമുള്ള ഇടപെടലുകളിലൂടെ സമൂഹത്തിലെ വിവിധതരം സംഘർഷങ്ങളും സംവാദങ്ങളും പ്രതികരണങ്ങളും രേഖപ്പെടുത്തുന്ന ഒരു വ്യവഹാരമണ്ഡലം രൂപം പ്രാപിക്കുകയും സമൂഹത്തിൽ ഒരു കൾച്ചറൽ സ്പേസ് രൂപപ്പെട്ടു വരികയും ചെയ്യുന്നു. കൂലിപ്പണിക്കാരനും വഴിവാണിഭക്കാരനും കൂടെ ഇടം നൽകുന്ന (നേരിട്ട് കലാനിർമ്മിതിയിൽ ഭാഗവാക്കാവുന്നില്ലെങ്കിൽ തന്നെയും) ഒരു സ്പേസാണ് അത് സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്നത്. തന്റെ ചുറ്റുവട്ടത്ത് പലരൂപങ്ങളിൽ നിറഞ്ഞു നിൽകുന്ന കലയെക്കുറിച്ച് അവർ ബോധവന്മാരാണ്. പാശ്ചാത്യരാജ്യങ്ങളിൽ ഇപ്രകാരം രൂപപ്പെട്ടുവന്ന ആ ഒരു കലാസംസ്കാരത്തിലേക്ക് നമുക്കും നീങ്ങേണ്ടതുണ്ട്.
In Europe and other countries, art has been popularized and revolutionized through graffiti, street art etc.  The constant conversations and interchange through art in public spaces has given an outlet to active public discourse, protests and opinions and forms a cultural space amidst the general populace. Thus art seeps into the sensibilities of a street vendor to a blue collar worker.
A screenshot of the album http://www.facebook.com/KochiMuzirisBiennale
Chandran TV in a lengthy blog post questions the crass commercialization behind such festivals and art in general:
വൈചിത്ര്യമാര്ന്ന വസ്തുക്കളും വര്ണപ്പൊലിമയും ചേര്ത്ത് ആശ്ചര്യജനകമായ കാഴ്ചകള് സൃഷ്ടിച്ച് വിനോദസഞ്ചാര ഭൂപടത്തില് ഗണ്യമായ സ്ഥാനം നേടിയെടുക്കുക എന്ന ലക്ഷ്യമാണ് കൊച്ചി ബിയനാലെയുടെ പ്രധാന ആശയകാണ്ഡമെന്ന് സര്ക്കാരിന് സമര്പ്പിച്ച അതിന്റെ പദ്ധതി നിര്ദേശത്തില് പലയാവര്ത്തി വ്യക്തമാക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. അതിന്റെ ഭാഗമായി, മഞ്ഞുരുകുമ്പോള് നദിയുണ്ടാകുന്നതുപോലെ, സ്വാഭാവികമായും, കേരളത്തിലെ കലാരംഗം അഭിവൃദ്ധി പ്രാപിക്കുമെന്നൊരു വിശ്വാസം മാത്രമാണ് വെച്ചുപുലര്ത്തുന്നത്. അത്തരമൊരു വിശ്വാസം അതിശക്തമായി വെച്ചുപുലര്ത്തിയ മറ്റിടങ്ങളില് ബ്ര്യഹത്തായ കലാപദ്ധതികള് പലതും തകര്ന്നടിഞ്ഞതിന്റെ ഉദാഹരണങ്ങളുണ്ട്. പ്രാദേശിക കലാരംഗം അഭിവൃദ്ധിപ്പെടുത്തുവാന് നടത്തിയ പ്രത്യേക ശ്രമങ്ങളില് നിന്നാണ് ഫ്രാന്സിലെ മെഴ്സേയ് ലെയും സ്പെയിനിലെ ബില്ബാവോയും ഇംഗ്ലണ്ടിലെ ലിവര്പൂളും അതാതിടങ്ങളിലെ തലസ്ഥാന നഗരി കഴിഞ്ഞാല് രാജ്യത്തെ രണ്ടാമത്തെ പ്രധാന കലാകേന്ദ്രങ്ങളായി വളര്ന്നുവന്നത്.അവയ്ക്ക് സമാനമായ ഗൌരവമാര്ന്ന യാതൊരു പദ്ധതിവിചാരവും കൊച്ചി ബിയനാലെയുടെ ആശയകാണ്ഡത്തില് സ്ഥാനം നേടിയിട്ടില്ല.
Through an array of colorful and strange displays termed as art, the state government uses Kochi Muziris Biennale to enchant the laymen and hence create a safe space in the tourism map. As a result, just like ice breaks into water, the people behind the scheme thinks Kerala’s art culture will develop and thrive. Such kind of commercial short visions have gone amuck in many other countries. If the intentions are to really showcase and elevate Kerala’s art space, then one need to follow France’s Marseille, Spain’s Bilbao or England’s Liverpool. Nothing of that sort has even been envisioned in Kerala's Biennale
Riya Ad asks on his Google Plus space:
കൊച്ചി-മുസിരിസ് ബിനാലെ പൊതു ജനത്തിനെ കല പഠിപ്പിച്ച് മനസ്സിലാക്കാനാണെന്ന് വിശ്വസിക്കുന്നവർ എത്ര പേരുണ്ട് ?  ദുർഗ്രഹങ്ങളായ സംജ്ഞകളിലൂടെയും മറ്റും ചിത്രകലയെ ഒരു എലൈറ്റ് ക്ലാസിൽ പെട്ടവർക്ക് മാത്രം മനസ്സിലാകുന്ന തരത്തിലെക്കാക്കുകയും അവയെ സാമാന്യ ജനത്തിനു മനസ്സിലാക്കിക്കാനുള്ള ഒരു ചെറു വിരൽ ശ്രമം പോലും ഇത്രയും കാലം  നടത്താതെ  പൊടുന്നനെ ഒരു ബിനാലെ നടത്തുനത്  പൊതുജനത്തിന്റെ കല ബോധത്തിനെ വളർത്താൻ തന്നെയായിരിക്കുമൊ..?
Is the Kochi Muziris Biennale really for the public? Until now no such thing has been done by the state to explain the finesse or the complexities of any kind of art to the public, then why suddenly this Biennale is conducted? Is it really for us?
Another active blogger Niraksharan (Manoj Ravindran) espouses the necessity of such events:
ബിയനാലെയെപ്പറ്റി വിവാദങ്ങൾ ഒരുപാടുണ്ടാകാം. അതിനെയൊക്കെ മൂന്ന് മാസത്തേക്ക് മാറ്റി നിർത്തി, ബിയനാലെ കാണേണ്ടതും അനുഭവിച്ചറിയേണ്ടതും ഓരോ മലയാളിയുടേയും ഇന്ത്യക്കാരന്റേയും എല്ലാ കലാകാരന്മാരുടേയും അവകാശമാണ്. കാരണം, വിവാദങ്ങളിൽ പറയുന്നത് പോലെ ക്രമക
്കേടുകൾ നടന്നിട്ടുണ്ടെങ്കിലും ഇല്ലെങ്കിലും ഇതിനായി ചിലവഴിക്കാൻ സർക്കാർ നൽകിയ കോടികൾ നമ്മൾ ഓരോരുത്തരുടേയും നികുതിപ്പണം തന്നെയാണ്. അതിലെ ഓരോ രൂപയ്ക്കും പകരമായി നല്ലൊരു കലാവിരുന്ന് ഒരുക്കിയിട്ടുണ്ടെങ്കിൽ അത് പോയി കണ്ട് മുതലാക്കേണ്ടത് നമ്മുടെ അധികാരവും ധർമ്മവുമാണ്.
There might be a lot of controversies surrounding this Biennale. But, we need to keep them aside for three months and each of us, every Indian or artist has the right to enjoy this art spectacle. Even if the controversies are true, the state government has spend millions on this collecting from our taxes and hence for every paisa of the tax, we would need to take advantage of this art spectacle.
Amidst all the conversations, the daily pictures from the Biennale represents school kids and youngsters actively involved in enjoying the displayed installations and graffiti, thus depicting that a different world of sensibility has opened up for them.

author: Inji Pennu


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Hungarian Radio Employee Defends Government on Hidden Camera Video · Global Voices
Atlatszo.hu

Atlatszo.hu published [hu] a hidden camera video of Fruzsina Tóth, a protester representing the students (she is also a first-year sociology student), talking to a woman who claimed to be a journalist of the Hungarian Radio. At the Dec. 17 protest, students demanded the Hungarian Radio to read their 5 + 1 points live. The hidden camera video was recorded when Ms. Tóth entered the building to hand the students’ petition to the radio's presenters. The woman on the video was defending the Hungarian government's decisions. Among other things, Ms. Tóth and she talked about the recent setback of university admission quotas; Ms. Tóth mentioned that due to the lack of funding many universities were closed for two weeks to save money for heating. As Global Voices reported, eventually the students’ demands were not announced on air, but the presenter talked about the protest in front of the Radio and about the petition as well.


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Mayan Priests Denied Access to Ceremonial Places in Guatemala · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Guatemala, the heart of Mayan culture, has started their festivities for the 13 Baktun – the last cycle of the Mayan calendar, due to end on Friday, December 21, 2012. But sadly the celebrations were dominated by staged government shows which were neither led nor shared by indigenous communities or spiritual leaders.
On stage, non-indigenous peoples were wearing indigenous clothes in a folklore show while non-indigenous attendees from the Guatemalan elites were in the most important ceremonial Mayan center, Tikal, waiting for the new era to arrive. Indigenous peoples were left outside, were they were demonstrating, playing the traditional instrument marimba.
Tikal Gran Jaguar Temple by Graeme (under a Creative Commons Attribution License)
The Guatemalan Federations of Mayan Radios [es] reported early in the morning of December 20 that authorities from the Mam – Mayan council were not allowed to enter the central plaza of the National Park Tikal, one of the places for 13 Baktun celebrations. Authorities from the Guatemalan Institute of Tourism denied them access, arguing that the area of ceremonies was cut off for the stage show.
Men and women coming from each corner of the country arrived early to start their traditional ceremonies but were left out until 11:45 pm when the religious authorities were allowed to practice their ancestral ceremonies. Indigenous attendees were in minority as they were neither invited nor allowed inside the main area. The audio can be downloaded here [es].
This is not the first exclusion Mayan people have suffered. Concerns were expressed earlier by the Western Peoples Council:
Oxlajuj B'ak'tun is the time to strengthen ancestral wisdom and the practice and never-ending search for balance; it's a moment in which we must transcend, raise the consciousness of human beings and recognize ourselves as such in order to reach a collective understanding. This means we must ensure that human beings be “truly human in balance with the cosmos and Mother Earth”, through interweaving and respect between cultures and the valuing of identity in every community. Lacking this, the link between the individual and their own reality is already impossible.
It is offensive for the Maya people to see the economic power and government institutions promote the FOLKLORIZATION of Oxlajuj B'ak'tun, commodifying this important event, creating a political image out of tourist promotion and the presentation of spectacles, in a way that does not appropriately interpret the Maya cosmovision.
It is shameful on the part of the Guatemalan government to make the international community believe it is promoting the Maya culture, when it continues to develop an aggressive policy of appropriation of our natural resources. This manifests itself in hundreds of concessions and imposed mining projects, hydroelectric dams, oil extraction, monoculture crops for transnational companies, all in the name of false development as a method of domination and racism in Guatemala.
Racism is rampant in Guatemala State – institutionally, interpersonally, and structurally.  And it adopts new forms, such as the exclusion reflected in the new Mayan era celebrations. Let's hope the Mayan priests will be allowed in and celebrate according to their traditions and beliefs in the following days, as the festivities end on December 30 and that their voices and demands are finally heard by the international community.

author: Renata Avila


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Assad Airforce Kills Syrians Waiting in Breadline  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.
The Syrian government conducted a deadly airstrike against Syrians – standing in line waiting for bread in a bakery in Halfaya, in Hama. Estimates put the number of those killed between 90 to 300 people in the attack on the town, which rebels say they have recently liberated from Assad forces. Online, activists are livid that the world continues to watch as innocents are being massacred.
Graphic photographs of mutilated bodies, as well as videos of the aftermath of the attack, are being circulated online, showing the devastation. [Journalist Erin Cunningham tweets links to the videos here.]
Leila Nachawati Rego writes:
@leila_na: The Syrian regime´s new strategy is to bomb bakeries. 200 people killed today in Hama. A civilian massacre. Devastating. #Syria
Syrian Rafif Jouejati tweets her exasperation:
@RafifJ: Waiting for world leaders to find something to top “We condemn in the strongest possible terms..” #Halfaya_Massacre #Syria
and adds:
@RafifJ: Let history books show that #Assad committed genocide while world watched, paralyzed, and did little more than use strong language. #Syria
And an angry Razan Ghazzawi blogs:
Look into Halfaya martyrs’ eyes and dare to tell me you’re worried about “Islamists” in Syria. Dare to tell me, you piece of shit, that you’re worried about “FSA human rights violations,” worried about “civil war,” about Qatar and KSA, and that’s why you won’t support people’s revolution.
So you’re worried. I see. That explains a lot. Of course.
Newsflash: the minute you have forsaken the people of Syria, the Syrian people have also forsaken you and what you worry about habibi: you and your civilization doesn’t exist in our time and space. It’s over, you and I aren’t fellow human being anymore.
Also, peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Syria today as part of his mission to “broker a solution” in the country.
Hassan Hassan notes:
@hhassan140: Halfaya massacre, celebrating Brahimi's arrival to Damascus, shames all those who still hope Assad understands anything other than force.
and he adds:
@hhassan140: History: on this day, Lakhdar Brahimi visits Damascus to talk to Assad who spoke loudly in Halfaya by killing 300 ppl lining up for bread.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Fatwa Against Santa Stirs Passions in Australia · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Online outrage has followed news reports of a fatwa against Christmas allegedly issued by an imam at Sydney’s Lakemba Mosque. There have also been touches of humour from those tired of the seasonal hard sell. The original message has now been removed from their Facebook page:
The fatwa, which sparked widespread community debate and condemnation, warned that the “disbelievers are trying to draw Muslims away from the straight path”.
It also says that Christmas Day and associated celebrations are among the “falsehoods that a Muslim should avoid … and therefore, a Muslim is neither allowed to celebrate the Christmas Day nor is he allowed to congratulate them”.
At the Punch blog, journalist Anthony Sharwood has taken the matter seriously, despite a flippant tone:
Talk about a load of ding-dong delivered merrily from on high.
…The thing about Christmas in Australia, as in much of the western world, is that it transcends religion.
Anthony is not alone in believing that that a fatwa is something that is “declared on…” rather than being a religious opinion or ruling. Some even seem to believe that it is a death sentence or jihad.
While the rest of the blogosphere has been simply reposting the mainstream media reports, twitter is aflutter.
m.m. is clearly angry:
@mar5mac: The further into this article I get, the more I seethe. >>MT @theage Lakemba Mosque's #fatwa against #Christmas http://ow.ly/1QtVTO #auspol
There are a few ‘go back where you can from’ tweets such as this one from Jenko Schmidt:
@JenkoSchmidt: Why does this country let the sort of people live here who declare war on Christmas Day? #lakemba #fatwa #christmas
Some have offensive anti-multicultural messages. The other f-word has been thown around quite a bit. You can find them on the #fatwa hashtag if so inclined.
Nick O'Brien welcomed the removal of the Facebook fatwa:
@NickOBrien999: Great reaction from the wider Muslim community. Lakemba Mosque removes Christmas ‘fatwa’ post: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/lakemba-mosque-removes-christmas-fatwa-post-20121223-2btaj.htm …
Quite a few tweeters thought the whole story was a media beat up, Andrew Zammit among them:
@Andrew_Zammit: A headline saying “fatwa against Christmas” makes it sound like a big deal when it isn't.
Anyway, calls for Muslim leaders to disown the fatwa have brought a swift response. Michael Byrnes is pleased:
@MichaelByrnes: Good to see Muslim leaders have come out to condemn the “fatwa” RT @smh Lakemba Mosque issues a fatwa against Christmas http://ow.ly/gjdMd
Perhaps the best expression of this was captured by ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
Journalist Lucy Carter posted this pic to twitter:
@lucethoughts: My cameraman Grant Wignall took this of the Christmas message written above the Lakemba Mosque pic.twitter.com/IFDfFKo8
Response to Fatwa: Merry Xmas over Lakemba Mosque (Twitter pic: Lucy Carter @lucethoughts)
Apparently, the “Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, says the comments were taken out of context and the group harbours no anti-Christmas sentiment” according to ABC News. They have been replaced with a message of good will.
It seems that Santa will not be joining Salman Rushdie just yet.

author: Kevin Rennie


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China’s Environment in 2012 · Global Voices
Abby Liu

From mass protests to trade wars, shale-gas drilling to hazardous cosmetics, chinadialogue has reviewed China's major environmental events in the past 12 months.


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How the Chinese Government Uses Social Media in China · Global Voices
Abby Liu


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How to Say Singapore Correctly? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Is it Sing-GAH-Pore, Sing-GUH-pore, ‘sing-GUH-pawr’, ‘Singgah-pura’, Sinkapore? Blogger gdy2shoez reviews various interpretations on how to correctly pronounce the name of Singapore.

author: Mong Palatino