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Bert Rose, pioneer of Jamaica’s independence-era dance movement, dies at 81 · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Bert Rose, centre, dancing in a seminal piece choreographed by Jamaican cultural icon Rex Nettleford, titled “Dialogue for Three”. Photo courtesy the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, used with permission.
Dancer, choreographer, teacher, designer, and founding member of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) of Jamaica Bert Rose has died at the age of 81. His passing on April 1, at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Kingston, was met with great sadness by the creative and theatre community. Rose had reportedly been ailing for some time.
Rose was among the seventeen founding members of the NDTC, brought together by Jamaican cultural icon, the late Rex Nettleford and choreographer Eddy Thomas. The NDTC was officially launched at the Little Theatre in September 1962, one month after Jamaica gained its independence from Britain. Upon hearing of Rose's death, the NDTC paid him tribute:
Bert Rose dancing in a piece called “The King Must Die”. Photo courtesy the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, used with permission.
Rose was […] capable of emotional intensity and expressive agility of form. He won praise for his portrayal of the plantation owner in Legend of Lover’s Leap (Eddy Thomas) when he was one of the youngest of the Company. The role in which he made a most lasting impression, however, was as the man in Dialogue for Three (Rex Nettleford).
On its Facebook page, the NDTC also noted his accomplishments as a dance instructor. Apart from tutoring at the Jamaica School of Dance, which he co-founded  in 1970 along with Sheila Barnett and Barbara Requa, he had stints at the Tanz Forum, a dance school in Vienna, Austria, and the famous Spellman College at Atlanta University in the United States. Rose had also been a senior choreographer and former principal dancer before teaching at the NDTC, and worked in the extra-mural department of the University of the West Indies, through which he conducted dance workshops throughout the region, including in Dominica, Barbados, Montserrat, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago:
Mr. Rose’s contribution to nation building has created the foundation for others to rise to their own greatness. He has left behind a legacy that will live on for generations. As the Company goes through its period of mourning, the Board of Management, Artistic Director and its members remain grateful for the outpouring of love and support from home and abroad. […] He was truly a remarkable creative luminary. He will be sorely missed. Dance on Mr. Rose …
Bert Rose, right, leaping in a movement for “Celebrations”. Photo courtesy the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, used with permission.
The NDTC repertoire draws on Jamaican folk traditions in narrative dances, exposing audiences to both local and wider Caribbean culture. It continues to host an annual performance at the Little Theatre, and has toured extensively in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland, Germany, Russia, and throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.
Having started out in different locations, Jamaica's schools for creative expression like the visual arts, music, dance, and drama were brought together in 1976 under the auspices of the Cultural Training Centre, an arm of the Institute of Jamaica. They were further consolidated into the Kingston-based, government-funded Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in 1995. The college's well respected dance school now offers Bachelor of Arts and Fine Arts degrees in Dance and Dance Education.
Bert Rose dancing in “Court of Jah”. Photo courtesy the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, used with permission.
At the height of his dancing career in 1973, Rose began to choreograph more seriously, producing 13 pieces, including “Thursday's Child,” “Glory Road,” “Edna M” (dedicated to artist and sculptor Edna Manley) and “Reflections.” He also choreographed a performance of Jamaica’s annual Pantomime at the Little Theatre in 1977.
A distinguished teacher, event organiser, and artistic advisor to the NDTC, Rose received from the Institute of Jamaica a national award (Order of Distinction) and a silver Musgrave Medal, an annual award that recognises achievement in art, science, and literature.
Bert Rose; photo courtesy the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, used with permission.
Jamaica's Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport posted a tribute, noting:
As a dancer, Bert Rose lit up every stage on which he appeared with his energy, faultless technique and enthusiasm…He felt and displayed the pulse of the Jamaican people as he took to stages across the world…Bertie was electric and electrifying.
Bert Rose was also loved by audiences and students for his willingness to give of himself to others…For him, like his many times choreographer, the late Rex Nettleford, the creation of a Jamaican-Caribbean aesthetic must be a part of our definition as an independent Jamaica.
Dancers of Jamaica tweeted:
Jamaica’s dance arena has suffered another tremendous loss with the death of Bert Rose, co-founder of School of Dance @EMCJamaica & founding member @NDTCJAMAICA, which was launched in 1962, one month after Jamaica’s independence.
Condolences to his family & creative colleagues? pic.twitter.com/4MDsIr9o90
— DancersofJamaica (@JamaicanDancers) April 1, 2021
Former opposition leader Peter Phillips and his son Mikael also paid tribute to Rose:
Jamaica has lost one of its great creative personalities. Bert Rose, dancer, choreographer, founding member of NDTC and set designer has passed. His grace, humour and creative imagination will be missed. pic.twitter.com/N46rmJUGju
— Peter David Phillips (@DrPeterPhillips) April 1, 2021
So sad to hear about Bert Rose passing, when I started my business he was very supportive, we worked on a few projects together, he was one of Jamaica best creative minds, Rest well my friend
— Mikael A. Phillips (@MikaelPhillips) April 1, 2021
Cultural activist and university lecturer Sonja Stanley tweeted:
RIP Bert Rose. Condolences to his family and the wider community of dancers and choreographers especially the NDTC family. Nuff dancing in heaven as he meets #RexNettleford #BerylMcBurnie #SheilaBarnett #MariaLaYacona #EddyThomas #BarryMoncrieffe #FitzroyHunte ?????
— Čulture Doctor of Kingston (@SonjahStanley) April 1, 2021
On Facebook, dramatist and founder of Sankofa Arts, Fabian Thomas, expressed his sadness:
Aaaahhh sah.. Uncle Bertie, yuh gawn [you're gone]. I salute you, you fabulous, witty, warm man….icon and outlier. […] Dance in peace…..
Meanwhile, dramatist and broadcaster Fae Ellington shared a heart-warming video of Rose dancing with another veteran broadcaster, Alma Mock Yen:
Bertie Rose dancing with Alma Mock Yen at his 80th birthday party in May 2019.
Gone on to join other NDTC greats. @NDTCJAMAICA pic.twitter.com/rEl9yVIVIW
— Fae A. Ellington (@FaeEllington) April 1, 2021
In his later years, as director of his Rose & Company, he coordinated and consulted on numerous theatrical events, including the popular fundraiser “Powerful Men and Women.”
In a virtual chat celebrating the NDTC’s 58th anniversary in July 2020, “Uncle Bertie” Rose and co-founder of the Jamaica School of Dance Barbara Requa looked back at the company’s history, recalling that dancers from various dance schools, including the Ivy Baxter Dance Troupe, had given a highly successful performance at Howard University in 1961, followed by a show at Kingston’s Ward Theatre.
Rose recalled with some humor that the following year, in August 1962, he danced “as a star apple” in a piece with the Jamaican Dance Company entitled “Fruit Salad” at Jamaica’s independence celebrations. When independent Jamaica was just one month old, the NDTC was formed.
Bert Rose dancing in “And It Came to Pass”. Photo courtesy the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, used with permission.
“A new beginning, a new country, new flag, new anthem …For us, it was the beginning of a new life,” recalled Rose last year, sharing memories of independence. Certainly, he was among those who were instrumental in cementing Jamaica's creative and cultural legacy and an inspiration for future generations of dancers.
Despite Rose's passing, the NDTC will present—for the 40th year—its celebration of dance and song on Easter Sunday morning. It is also sure to be a celebration of the life and contribution of this well-loved Caribbean icon.

author: Emma Lewis


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Connecting the dots: ‘Motus’ programme uses technology to track migrating birds in the Caribbean · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Graphic for the Caribbean Motus Collaboration, courtesy BirdsCaribbean, used with permission. Motus receiving stations function similarly to automated toll booths on a highway; every time a bird passes over the station, it’s recorded, just as automated toll booths record license plates. The stations have a range of about nine miles (15 km). Photo of the Ruddy Turnstone by Maikel Cañizares.
Across the Caribbean, thousands of birds of all sizes and species are busy preparing for their long journey to return to their northern breeding grounds. It’s migration time, marked by the celebration of World Migratory Bird Day, an event created by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center in 1993. It has been observed ever since by North American bird lovers each May, while birders in the Caribbean, Central and South America celebrate in October.
One of the questions on conservationists’ minds is how to determine which of the approximately 200 migratory species are on the wing at a particular time? Where might they be heading? Is their journey hundreds or thousands of miles? Where do they stop for rest and food? Now, an innovative programme could help shed some light on bird migration.
Designed with the objective of enabling conservation and ecological research by tracking the movement of animals, the Motus Wildlife Tracking System is a powerful collaborative research network developed by Birds Canada. Named after the Latin word for movement, Motus uses automated radio telemetry to study the movements and behaviour of flying creatures, such as birds, bats and insects, that are nano-tagged and tracked by Motus receivers.
A Kirtland’s Warbler fitted with a lightweight nanotag. These tiny transmitters, which weigh as little as 0.2 g, allow researchers to track the movements of small animals with precision across thousands of miles. Photo by Scott Weidensaul, courtesy BirdsCaribbean, used with permission.
The system consists of hundreds of receiver stations and thousands of deployed nanotags on over 236 species, mostly birds. Scientists’ understanding of birds has already expanded because of data from this network, including pinpointing migration routes and key stopover sites, as well as movements, habitat use, and rituals during breeding and non-breeding seasons. This new technology and growing network of partnerships and data sharing hold great potential in bird and animal conservation.
The technology is also a valuable educational tool with the power to advance conservation education, both in and out of the classroom. Birds Canada and the Northeast Motus Collaboration have developed a curriculum that combines interactive classroom activities with Motus tracking tools, which can be used to teach local children about birds, migration, and conservation.
Although Motus is a widely established platform in Canada and the United States and is beginning to spread throughout Central and South America, there are currently no active receiver stations in the Caribbean. The greater the number of established Motus stations, the greater the understanding of where tagged birds are moving. In addition, many endangered and vulnerable species that either live in or migrate to the region have not yet been tagged.
It is a critical geographical gap that BirdsCaribbean, a regional non-governmental organisation, is keen to fill. It will be spearheading the Caribbean Motus Collaboration (CMC) in an effort to expand the Motus network regionally. The plan is to install and maintain receiver stations in strategic locations throughout the islands, deploy nanotags on priority bird species, and implement a specially adapted Caribbean educational curriculum.
The insular Caribbean is a global biodiversity “hotspot,” home to over 700 species of birds. Roughly half of these are regional residents, including 171 that are endemic to the Caribbean. The other half are migratory, splitting their time between temperate and tropical habitats in the Americas, and making appearances in multiple countries along the way.
On this Motus receiver station map, the yellow dots represent active stations, while the white box outlines the parameters of the insular Caribbean. A few Motus stations that were put up in several islands have been damaged by storms and hurricanes, and need repair. Image courtesy BirdsCaribbean, used with permission.
For some migratory birds, the Caribbean is the perfect winter retreat—they arrive in early fall and stay until spring. Others use one or more islands as stopover sites to rest and refuel as they fly between their breeding and wintering grounds further south. Whether they stay or move on, they are much-loved visitors, reflecting the passage of the seasons and inspiring the region's cultural expressions, from folklore to music.
However, bird populations are declining: 59 Caribbean species are at risk of extinction, with 30 listed as vulnerable, 24 endangered and five critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A recent study found that nearly 30 per cent of the bird populations in North America since 1970 have been lost, and Caribbean species are among the many that are in trouble.
Caribbean birds face an entire suite of threats, including habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution, and invasive species. In addition, the climate crisis has become a constant danger to the region, not just to people, but also to wildlife, with the region experiencing increasingly intense hurricanes, long droughts and dramatic changes to the marine environment.
While research on Caribbean birds has progressed considerably in recent decades, there is still a lack of basic information on many species. Knowledge gained from Motus collaborations is essential to safeguarding birds throughout their full life cycles and reversing population declines.
Caribbean natural resource managers and environmental organisations will use information from the Motus network to identify the key places where the region's resident and migratory birds live. Once identified, those in the Caribbean network and beyond will be able to focus their work on these areas, alleviating threats and protecting these sites.
The initiative will also contribute to the development of local research and environmental education programmes, through which it is hoped that local knowledge and appreciation for birds will multiply, a win-win situation for both the birds and those who work to conserve them in the region.
It is a hope that was buoyed by a recent announcement from the Joe Biden administration that it will revoke a highly controversial rule initiated by former U.S. President Donald Trump to weaken the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Act had protected birds since 1918, making it illegal to pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect migratory birds, their eggs or nests—or attempt to do so, without a permit. Although the contentious rule went into effect on March 8, it will shortly be replaced by new guidelines. Ornithologists and wildlife advocates across the Americas are counting this development as a major win.
It is unclear at the moment which Caribbean island will be the first to establish a receiving station to track the movements of its fragile bird populations on their south-north round trips, but the hope is that the programme will spread quickly and densely throughout the archipelago.

source: news-globalvoices

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


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Latina organizer: The word we need is ‘Thrive’ not ‘Survive’ · Global Voices
Melissa Vida

Cropped book cover of ‘Thriving in the Fight: a survival manual for Latinas on the front lines of change.’
Activist and author Denise Padín Collazo, of Puerto Rican descent, has released her book “Thriving in the fight: a survival manual for Latinas on the front lines of change.” After 25 years of activism for economic policy change in the U.S. in the “fight for racial, political and economic justice” at the faith-based organization Faith in Action, Padín Collazo supports the leadership of women of color through mentorship and writing, especially, as she says, so many drop out of activism due to exhaustion.
I sat down with her over Zoom to talk more about her book. The interview has been condensed for length and clarity.
Melissa Vida (MV): You say that “we need to do the things that we need to do in order to thrive, not just survive.” What do you mean by this?
Denise Padín Collazo (DPC): My experience over the years as a social justice leader is that there have been many times where I really just put my head down and get the work done. You would “stay in the fight” for racial, economic, and political justice or you might be winning a victory, but you're just exhausted. After surviving, you are surrendering, which is the step right before leaving. And surrendering is that place where you've lost the joy, the energy, the creativity. You're doing the work, you're bearing a heavy burden, but you're not showing up as the most brilliant, most effective, most badass version of you that you could.
MV: What is the secret sauce for thriving, then?
DPC: There are three keys. I think we need to lead into our vision when we see something in our minds that does not exist yet. Sometimes we find ourselves implementing someone else's vision and that's not where we're at our best. Then, it is to live into your fullest self and not shrinking down in the corner of the room and waiting for answers and permission to come from others. My inspiration for this is how, as Latinas, or people from Latin American countries or Caribbean culture, there's just a way of being when we're all together, we're just “more.” We're bigger, we're louder, we're happier. And the third key is to remind ourselves of the love for our people, love for the work of change, love for our own self, which is enough to help propel us past all the negatives like the messages we've been taught as young girls as to the way women are supposed to be in the world.
Photo courtesy of Denise Padín Collazo
MV: What does the opposite of shrinking look like?
DPC: As a Latina, I was brought up to serve humbly from behind the scenes and never have any expectation of recognition—no rewards, none of that. I've had to get up my courage and get courage from my sisters to help me lead from the front. That's not the place I feel the most comfortable leading from, but since there are so few of us Latinas in leadership, we don't have a choice. You don't have to do it in the egotistical way that was modeled for us before, we can lead as a collective. Our people whom we are working with need for us to be at the front. And that doesn't mean we have to work more. Sometimes it means we have to work less so we have time to breathe, rest, get sunshine, refresh our own bodies because we spend so much time pouring out.
MV: This leads to my next question: what is “the culture of emergency?”
DPC: In the book, I lay out a number of symptoms of white supremacy that exist in organizations. One of those is the culture of emergency. In many of the places I work with, there's just this grind that never stops. We work for racial, political, and economic transformation, and that is not easy work, and it really never stops. It's very hard as an advocate to take a breath and stop. So some things are urgent, like earthquakes, hurricanes, shootings. But some things aren't. I want us to notice it and push against it. For example, time is measured differently across the world. And here in the U.S., you might do a 30-minute phone call with someone and that's just it. But we cannot be our full selves in half an hour. So I've learned to not think that way and to leave myself open for the magic that happens when you take more time to do something, or to be with people and listen to them.
MV: You dedicated a whole chapter to denouncing anti-Blackness. Why?
DPC: 2020 was a year where we were all challenged by the young, brilliant, amazing leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement, who have been creating a moment all over the world which is making us have to ask ourselves: how is our silence being complicit to the system as it is? I've watched as conversations happen, at least in the U.S., and it ends up being a black or white construct, and Latinos lean back in spaces where race is discussed. If you talk to a [non-black] Latino person and you ask them if they have ever noticed anti-blackness in their own community, some would say, “Yes, but it's all in good fun ….” It's not good. It's about the saying in Latin America mejorar la raza (“improving the race”) that is about making the race more white. It's about your tía (aunt) saying, “Don't marry this person because he's darker than you.”
As Latinas, we have this opportunity to build really good relationships with our Afro-Latina sisters and our sisters who identify as Black or from African descent. What would it look like if we have real conversations among the Latino community about anti-Blackness and start to really challenge it? It's everywhere in our culture. It's not enough for me to be a fighter for racial justice, I gotta work on our people—go talk to your tíos (uncles) and cousins.
MV: We have been talking about “Latinos,” but aren't Latinos all different? What is the common link?
DPC: In the U.S., anyone who comes as being of Latin American descent is put into one category. But the fact is, we don't all speak the same language, we don't eat the same food, we don't all look the same. There is so much diversity. But the one thing that links us all together is a shared history of oppression, colonization and extraction of natural resources that is continuing to happen today. We have been taught by the church and violent systems like slavery, and sometimes extermination, to believe that whiteness is the right thing. Some Latinos who are in the middle, between white and black, sometimes get confused. The goal is to really understand that we are all being oppressed. Our liberation, including white folks, is achieved through Black liberation. If we can't really understand that, we are only going to see part of the picture.
MV: How do you envision the future of social activism?
DPC: I'd love to see a future in which women's leadership is centered, that the idea of leading “with” and not “over” becomes the norm and not the exception. We have enough in this world. We have enough money, water, fresh air. There is enough. We just have to center the attitude of love and leadership that is about everyone and not some people. And I'm not saying that women are perfect, but I have a tremendous amount of confidence in our leadership. If there's that dream that you have in your head and you haven't seen it yet? Go get it. It's yours to get.

author: Melissa Vida


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Artists ‘raise three fingers’ in support of Myanmar protesters · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A collage of artworks featuring the three fingers icon for democracy. Photo from the Raise Three Fingers website.
A campaign named “Raise Three Fingers” has been mobilizing artists around the world to show support for Myanmar’s anti-coup protesters.
Myanmar’s armed forces grabbed power on February 1 but this is being fiercely resisted by citizens who want to pursue the country’s democratic transition. Cartoonists, poets, and other artists are among those who have braved the streets to defy the junta.
Protesters have been using the three-finger salute as a symbol of resistance. This was taken from the Hollywood film Hunger Games which was also adopted by pro-democracy protesters in Thailand.
The online page Art for Freedom (Myanmar) initially gathered 6,000 members who shared artworks like posters and graphic materials which can be freely distributed and used by protesters. Many artists incorporated the three fingers icon in their protest designs.
This led to the collaboration of Art for Freedom Myanmar, Latt Thone Chaung, and the Professional Cartoonist Organization which became the Raise Three Fingers campaign.
It enjoined artists to submit artworks featuring the three fingers icon and share these on social media. The campaign aims to promote more awareness and deliver direct support to Myanmar’s democracy movement.
Our collective influece will create mass awareness and drive urgently needed support and funding for the democracy movement in Myanmar.
As of March 29, the campaign has curated 954 works from 23 countries.
A collective artwork of over 100 painters with the same heartbeat.. I’m very proud to be part of it!
Please feel free to copy & share
❤ ❤ ❤#collective #CollectiveArtwork #acrylic #painting #art #artist #PeacefulProtestContinues #whatishappeninginMyanmar #militarycoup pic.twitter.com/bM3KrKGYAO
— Emily Htun (@tmyatnoe) February 8, 2021
Myanmar artist Nyi Maw is part of the campaign and explained the importance of the icon in a press statement issued by the organizers:
When we see somebody, and we raise three fingers, we know the movement is still alive. There is still hope.
Given the incredible unity of the people, the outpouring of art, and support that’s coming to us without anybody asking, I think we’re already winning this revolution.
Nyi Maw's statement also quoted Raven, another Myanmar artist, who highlighted the motivation of many protesters:
There are a lot of things that have been robbed from us, for over 60 years. I don’t want to go back there. I don’t want my children to be a victim of that. So I did it for myself, and for the children I haven’t even had yet.
Myanmar artist Nobel Aung wrote of the role of global solidarity in sustaining the resistance:
We need our people to know that the world is with us and to know we are on the right side and to know we are not alone.
Incredibly strong & creative campaign on #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar@Raise3Fingers #ThreeFingers : a campaign hub by artists & creatives in #Myanmar to bring global art community together & highlight unfolding human rights & humanitarian crises.
See/submit:https://t.co/VoRCA7ghfF pic.twitter.com/2V0mtX6bW7
— Pierre Peron (@pierre_peron) March 29, 2021
PEN Myanmar made an earlier appeal to fellow artists outside Myanmar:
We know that the situation must ultimately be solved by the people of Myanmar. But we call on the international community to do what they can to support us in our fight for democracy. As creative professionals from Myanmar, we call on our creative brothers and sisters across the world, and from all artistic communities, to stand up and show solidarity with us in our struggle and support those in need!
in response to @Raise3Fingers call. I intended to post yesterday but was stunned into silence. How could you shoot children and set people on fire? Inhuman!
It's hard not to lose hope. But if you do, they win.#MilkTeaAlliance #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/tn3Oq9a9od
— Tams Lu (@tamyumkung) March 28, 2021
Indeed, many artists in Myanmar have risked their lives in challenging the junta. Many have joined the ranks of protesters aside from sharing their art as a weapon of the resistance. Campaigns like the Raise Three Fingers are a reminder of the continuing need for greater global collaboration in extending solidarity and help to Myanmar’s struggle for democracy.

author: Mong Palatino


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‘Aurat March’ organizers face intimidation and threats of prosecution in Pakistan · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

Aurat March 2021 in Islamabad. Image via Facebook group Aurat Azadi March, used with permission.
The Aurat March (Women's March) in Pakistan has faced severe resistance since it was started in 2018. This year was no different as organizers faced tough opposition in the form of disinformation campaigns, accusations of blasphemy, and even threats from the banned terrorist outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Hum Aurtein feminist collective organised marches across Pakistan on March 8, International Women’s Day, that included public art displays and presentations to highlight challenges faced by women. The March also focused on the damage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in Pakistan naming it a “Pandemic of Patriarchy.”
Pictures from Islamabad Aurat March showing a French flag among the placards prompted accusations that the events were part of a ‘foreign agenda'; the Women Democratic Front, responded in a tweet:
The WDF flag represents grassroots feminism in Pakistan and has nothing to do with the French flag. We, at WDF, stand against all forms of imperialism and the accusation that we would ever wave the flag of a former colonial power is ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/oZIjDB8XGu
— Women Democratic Front #AuratAzadiMarch2021 (@wdf_pk) March 10, 2021
A #Metoo blanket in Lahore featured testimonials of victims of harassment and sexual abuse, one of which said, “I was 9, he was 50. I was silenced. But his voice is still heard as he delivers the call to prayer.” This was construed as blasphemous and insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. Hashtags #Blasphemy_at_Aurat March, #BanAuratMarch went viral. Condemning the slander campaign, Aurat March tweeted:
Statement by Aurat March Lahore condemning slander against the march.#AuratMarch2021 #AuratMarchLahore pic.twitter.com/Mq0IFNTe6I
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 10, 2021
A video from Karachi's Aurat March showing participants chanting slogans went viral with the wrong subtitles. Karachi Aurat March responded by sharing the original video and with the exact words chanted, so people could understand that they were calling for azadi (“Freedom”) from patriarchy.
Journalist Ansar Abbasi, a strong critic of the Aurat March, and known for his sexist views, also retweeted the video, spreading disinformation, and demanded the government take note. Later when it was shown to be fake, Abbasi and others tried to backtrack, but it was too late. Karachi Aurat March tweeted:
We demand @AnsarAAbbasi & @ovaismangalwala to apologize to Aurat March for spreading fake & heinous allegations. As journalists, they are responsible to verify facts & report. Apologize to women & trans women of Pakistan for attacking their movement with false propaganda. https://t.co/188dAuFvzM
— Aurat March – عورت مارچ (@AuratMarchKHI) March 11, 2021
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also commented on the malicious attacks:
HRCP strongly condemns the deliberate, vicious campaign against @AuratMarch, incl. by sections of the media. Once again, allegations of blasphemy have been weaponised, this time against women who bravely drew attention to the harassment & sexual assault they had experienced. 1/2
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) March 12, 2021
and demanded action against the perpetrators:
HRCP strongly condemns the deliberate, vicious campaign against @AuratMarch, incl. by sections of the media. Once again, allegations of blasphemy have been weaponised, this time against women who bravely drew attention to the harassment & sexual assault they had experienced. 1/2
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) March 12, 2021
This is not just repugnant, it is an incitement to violence. We demand that action be taken against all such persons. A mere apology is not enough. Indeed, it is a matter of great shame that such a backlash has become a recurring feature of @AuratMarch. 2/2
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) March 12, 2021
The organizers had arranged media passes for those who registered for the event, but some YouTube admins managed to get into the crowd and pestered and harassed the participants, asking provoking questions and forcing them to speak; they even called out names of participants who refused to comment:
AURAT MARCH LAHORE’S STATEMENT ON MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY
We are naming and shaming the YouTube channels that harassed participants of the #AuratMarch and endangered lives with their disinformation. We will not stand on the sidelines & let lives be ruined:https://t.co/Z4lNNswEJv pic.twitter.com/aqvRNTlO8H
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 21, 2021
Aurat March Lahore released a statement condemning the lax and harmful standards of social media companies, and saying that their inaction has endangered the lives of organisers and participants of the March and damaged the feminist movement in Pakistan:
AURAT MARCH’S STATEMENT AGAINST BIG TECH – COLLECTING SIGNATURES
After getting a significant number of signatures, we plan to circulate these endorsed statements amongst big-tech companies. You can endorse the statement through this google form:https://t.co/ZxuWlnVEB5 pic.twitter.com/P6MBjkQIJg
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 29, 2021
Threats and arrests
A few days after the Aurat March 2021, religious groups blocked roads in the capital, Islamabad, demanding registration of the First Information Report (FIR)—a report that stems from complaints to police—against organizers and participants of the Aurat March. The administration promised action would be taken against organisers within two days.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned militant outfit responsible for many terrorist activities in Pakistan was not to be left out. It warned the marchers: “Fix your ways, there are still many young Muslims here who know how to protect Islam and the boundaries set by Allah.”
The Shuhada Foundation filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking a ban on the Aurat March, claiming that NGOs were sponsored to promote a secular Western agenda in Pakistan. The Foundation requested the court refer the matter to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), to examine whether women were deprived of legal rights, as the marchers were claiming, and that the Aurat March was in line with Islam and the Constitution. (The CII is a constitutional body that gives legal advice on whether any existing parts of any proposed law are repugnant to Islam.)
While Islamabad police had earlier refused to open a case because the allegations were baseless, a judge in the local court of Peshawar ordered police to start an investigation against the organisers of  Aurat March in Islamabad for blasphemy. A court in Karachi made a similar order, even though last year, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed a petition seeking to stop the Aurat March.
The Blasphemy Law carries punishment for saying or doing anything against any recognized religion, with penalties ranging from a fine to death. This part of the penal code was made harsher by including elements from Muslim Sharia law during the 1980s, making it one of the strictest anti-blasphemy laws.
Support of Government, Civil Society
Despite the threats, the Aurat March gained support from over 1,000 journalists, politicians, academics, intellectuals and activists. Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, promised to support the Aurat March provided it did not “trample on Pakistan's honour,” though she later said some slogans were against the values of Pakistani society.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri said the authorities were taking note of those who falsely vilified the Aurat March: “We will expose the culprits involved and register cases against them,” he said, adding that those who shared photoshopped Aurat March banners online will also be punished.

author: R Umaima Ahmed


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Can the Eurovision Song Contest change Russia’s views on migrants from Central Asia? · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Screenshot for Manizha's song “Russian Woman” on Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.
Russia has nominated Manizha, a female singer of Tajik origin, as its representative for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. The major cultural event that has gathered dozens of millions of viewers across Europe every year since 1956, was postponed last year by the pandemic, and in Russia, it has sparked an early debate since not all Russians have welcomed a singer from Central Asia, where most migrant workers in Russia come from, as the chosen face of their country at such a high-profile event
Manizha is a 30 year-old singer who was born in Central Asia’s Tajikistan but had to flee the country with her family as a result of the devastating civil war that brought chaos to the country from 1992 to 1997. Growing up in Russia, she embarked on a career in pop music and hip-hop, singing in English, Russian, and Tajik, often mixing all three languages with street slang.
What sets Manizha apart from other pop artists in Russia is that she openly tackles issues that remain taboo for mainstream Tajik or Russian society: the rejection of the patriarchy, the appropriation of ethnic and national identities, the acceptance of LGBTQI+ persons, and the recognition of the key role played by millions of Central Asian migrants who remain largely invisible in Russia.
For a popular 2019 song, watched by over one millions viewers on YouTube, she invented a word “Недославянка” that can be translated as “[she is] not-quite-Slavic”. The music video mixes visuals from Russia, her native Tajikistan, as well as references to Bollywood and Ninja movies, and features strong female characters.
The lyrics portray her views on identity. In the beginning she says:  “Я недославянка, я недотаджичка /  Живу по Корану в стенах церкви”, which means: “I am not Slavic enough, not Tajik enough / I live by the laws of the Quran within the walls of a church.” Later in the song, she adds:  “На земле родной /  Я уже чужой / А на земле чужой /  Ещё не родной,” which translates as: “In my native land / I am already an alien / And in this alien land / Not quite a native yet.” She ends the song with lyrics in English: “ I've been made by mama Russia and my Tajik papa / Listen, listen, you Россия [Russia] , Miss Manizha is mestizo [mestizo refers in English to persons of mixed-race origins].
But the song that propelled Manizha to the top of the music charts with over six million views on YouTube alone, is “Russian Woman”, that came out in 2021. The song has an English title, but the Russian original includes a subtle nuance that gets lost in translation.
In Russian, the term “Russian” when referring to people can take two forms: “российский” (pronounced rassiyski) and “русский” (pronounced russki). The first emphasizes being a citizen of the Russian Federation, while the second is an ethnic marker (as the Russian Federation is home to over a hundred different ethnic groups). In the Russian version of her song, Manizha uses the ethnic version, thus implying that she is also embodying ethnic Russian women, in sharp contrast to the stereotype of blue-eyed, blond women that Russia likes to portray as the “typical Russian woman.” Indeed, at the beginning of the music video, Manizha wears traditional Russian shawls, very much associated with rural ethnic Russian dress code:
Mid-song, she switches from Russian to English, singing: “Every Russian woman needs to know / You're strong enough to bounce against the wall.”
The song launched a heated debate on March 8, which marks International Women’s Day, when Russian officials announced that following a popular vote of nearly 40 percent of the public, “Russian Woman” had been officially chosen to represent Russia in the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest.
Given that the last Eurovision contest gathered 182 million viewers in 2019, and is seen as a symbol of a country’s international cultural profile, the reactions to Manizha’s selection were immediate–and quite polarized. Internet users have been discussing everything from Russia’s representation in the West, racial and ethnic diversity in Russia, to traditional roles of women in Russian society. As Polina Panzina, one netizen who left a comment under the official video for the song on March 28, says:
Россия буквально разделилась на два лагеря по признаку принятия этой песни?
Russia has literally divided into two camps as to the acceptance of this song.
A large segment of the Russian blogosphere has reacted with abuse and hate speech aimed at the singer, such as this Twitter user:
Манижа едет на Евровидение. Ее номер вызывает всеобщее возмущение. Но со всех каналов нам говорят: она хорошая, талантливая девочка! Может, и так. Но зачем везти на конкурс это говно?? Чтобы сказать “Привет, Европа, я из России! Мы такие же долб@ебы, как и вы!” ??
— Григорич (@bernowsky) March 25, 2021
Manizha is going to Eurovision. Her song is causing general outrage. On all TV channels, they tell us: she is a good, talented girl! Perhaps. But why take part in the competition with this piece of sh*t? To say: “Hello, Europe, I am from Russia! We are just as f*cked up as you!” ??
The barrage of hate speech has even led to an official investigation. On March 18, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced it would investigate the lyrics of the song, following a complaint by conservative civic activist groups claiming that the words in Manizha's song represent “an insult to the honor of Russian women.” At the time of publishing, no official conclusion had been reached, but on Wednesday March 31, the Chairwoman of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, made a public statement describing the song as “какой-то бред” (“some sort of nonsense”) and calling for an inquiry into the voting process that allowed Manizha's song to be selected.
At the same time, progressive voices have expressed their support, indicating it is time mainstream Russian society revisited its views on identity, patriarchy, feminism and embraced the fact that Russia is a multicultural nation. In this article published in the Russian-language intellectual magazine Nozh, Russian sociologist Daniil Zhayvoronok explains:
В России о проблемах, связанных с расизмом и национализмом, из популярных исполнителей открыто говорит только Манижа. И после того, как она победила в национальном отборе на Евровидение с номером «Русская женщина», в российском онлайн-пространстве появилось множество хейтерских комментариев о певице… Эти комментарии наверняка писали те же самые люди, которые утверждают, что в России нет дискриминации по признакам расы, нации и этноса…Рассказывая историю русской женщины, певица не просто делает видимыми не русских женщин, она делает видимой саму их исключенность и невидимость, а также и гибридность.
Manizha is the only pop artist who speaks openly about racism and nationalism in Russia. After she won the national competition for Eurovision with her song “Russian Woman,” the Russian online sphere filled with hateful comments about her… Those comments were probably written by the same people who claim that in Russia, there is no discrimination based on race or ethnicity… By telling the story of an [ethnically] Russian woman, the singer is not only making women who are not [ethnically] Russian visible, she is making visible their exclusion and invisibility, as well as their hybridity.
Debates are still ongoing on Facebook, Vkontakte, Twitter and Club House, and will likely heat up again on May 18 as the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest start before the winner will be announced on May 22.

author: Filip Noubel


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Digital resources are the key to saving the ‘definitely endangered’ Nepalbhasa language · Global Voices
Laila Le Guen

Dr. Subhash Ram Prajapati, an ethnomusicologist and a passionate advocate for the promotion of Newar culture. Photo courtesy of Dr. Prajapati.
Now in its third edition, the @AsiaLangsOnline campaign supported by Rising Voices, the Digital Empowerment Foundation and the O Foundation, welcomes a new set of language activists who will be hosting week-long Twitter discussions on revitalization and promotion of minority languages in Asia.
To inaugurate the 2021 edition of the social media initiative, Rising Voices spoke to Dr. Subhash Ram Prajapati (@jwajalapa) over email about his extensive experience developing digital tools for the Nepalbhasa (Newar) language. A prominent advocate for this language classified as “definitely endangered” by UNESCO, Prajapati has authored half a dozen books on the Newar language and culture and wrote his Ph.D. dissertation in ethnomusicology on Newar music.
After founding and participating in numerous initiatives around cultural preservation, including a news portal and a language learning club on Facebook, Dr. Prajapati is currently leading a Nepalbhasa digitization project. Most recently, the group launched an online dictionary containing close to 30,000 entries to date, making it the largest repository of linguistic data for this language, whether digital or in print.
With the COVID-19 pandemic hampering in-person learning programs, community efforts are underway to teach Nepalbhasa online, but this won't be enough to fill resource gaps. As Dr. Prajapati's research has shown, language advocates and educators have their work cut out for them:
I found this visual framing of the issues around Nepal Bhasa preservation/promotion in @jwajalapa‘s presentation today very useful. #NepalBhasa #WNOConference pic.twitter.com/IZh8xAXo4N
— Supriya Manandhar (@patansoup) December 30, 2020
This tension around waning language use isn't new. Nepalbhasa speaker numbers have been in decline for at least several decades, because of a range of oppressive language policies in the past, and communities have reacted by developing learning resources and courses, as Dr. Prajapati highlighted in our email exchange:
Nepalbhasa was once the national language of Nepal, however, the number of speakers and the use of the language has been declining significantly recently. According to the 2011 National Census of Nepal, there are 1.3 million Newars whose heritage language is Nepalbhasa. […] From 1952 to 2011, the percentage of the language speakers dropped from 75% to 22% in the Kathmandu Valley, which is considered as the origin place of the language.
The decline has been elevated in modern times but there have also been various efforts around the world to promote and revitalize the language. Many people are now working on creating different study materials and resources online to promote the language. Some municipalities in the Kathmandu valley have also started developing local courses in Nepalbhasa to teach in the schools.
Rising Voices (RV): What do you think are the biggest challenges facing your language community when it comes to digital communications or creating digital content in their mother language?
Subhash Ram Prajapati (SRP): Many people these days do not have the opportunity to learn and use the Nepalbhasa language in their home, school, or at work. Even fluent speakers find it hard to read and write in Nepalbhasa. Because of this, communication and creating digital content in the language has become very limited. There is only a small circle of content creators, and the audience is small, too.
Besides, Nepalbhasa is written in Devanagari script these days. There are not sufficient resources and technologies available to write in the traditional scripts such as Nepal Lipi, Ranjana Lipi. Available tools are also limited to certain devices and platforms. The unequal pace of digital development of various languages leads to digital language endangerment. If the tools and resources are not available online, even the fluent Nepalbhasa speakers will gradually stop using the language on the internet.
RV: In your opinion, what are some of the steps that could be taken to encourage increased use of Nepalbhasa on the internet?
SRP: I think many things could be done by organizations and individuals at different levels. For instance, if we can advocate for the government to publish their news or other informational websites also in local languages, or if we can request to make documents such as forms available in local language over the internet, people will get the opportunity to use their mother language in daily life.
During the pandemic, while people were mostly staying home, some people started online Nepalbhasa language and script classes. Some also started story and poetry recitation and others started developing online games and language tools as well. People started all of these voluntarily. If we can manage some funds at least to cover the development of such materials and make them sustainable, I think people will be motivated and it would increase the use of the language on the internet.
RV: What is your primary motivation for working on making your language and culture available on the internet?
SRP: In the short period of my life, I’ve seen a sharp decline in Nepalbhasa use. I feel that if we don’t do anything to preserve and promote it, the language will be gone forever in a generation or two. The loss of language is also a considerable loss of cultural and human knowledge. For me, the urgency of keeping the Newar language and culture alive and thriving is the primary motivating factor for working on making language and culture available on the internet.
You can follow the AsiaLangsOnline campaign on Twitter from April 7 onwards.

author: Laila Le Guen


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In another blow for Japan’s Summer Games, male chauvinist “Olympig” is forced to resign · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

‘Tokyo 2020 Olympics/Paralympic Games.’ Image by Dennis Amith on  Flickr. (CC BY-NC 2.0)
On March 17, Tokyo Olympic creative director Sasaki Hiroshi was forced to quit after making misogynistic remarks, becoming the second high-ranking official to be pushed out of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 because of overt sexism. Sasaki's resignation marks yet another setback for the 2020 Olympic Games, already postponed a year because of the pandemic, and plagued with gaffes, low public support and the ongoing problem of COVID-19.
Sasaki Hiroshi, who until March had been responsible for the opening and closing ceremonies of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, had been seconded to the position from giant advertising and public relations firm Dentsu. Sasaki stated he proposed the idea a year ago that popular comedian and entertainer Watanabe Naomi, a woman, dress up as a pig as a play on words taking the last three letters of “Olympics.” Sasaki was forced to explain his comments after investigative news magazine Shukan Bunshun broke the story on March 17.
In February, the president of the Japan Olympic Organizing Committee, Yoshiro Mori, had already been forced to resign after making and doubling down on misogynistic comments. Amid national protests, at least 1,000 Olympic volunteers quit before Mori was forced out.
Chelsea Szendi Schieder, historian and faculty member at Aoyama Gakuin University, remarked:
Proposing to cast Watanabe Naomi, the most charismatic talent working in Japan today, as the “Olympig” in the opening ceremonies is insulting, and sadly on-brand for Tokyo 2020.
Others noted that Sasaki's proposal seemed to exemplify an out-of-touch gerontocracy that is in charge of both the Olympics and Japan itself, a country recently ranked 120th in the world for gender equity. Freelance journalist Thoton Akimoto said:
渡辺直美さんにブタの恰好をさせて、「私はオリン”ピッグ”です」と言わせたら開会式が盛り上がると思ったのでしょうか。直美さんに失礼だし、体型を気にしている人は不愉快になるだろうし、女性差別と受け取られる可能性もある。五輪を昭和のお笑い番組と勘違いしてませんか？https://t.co/Utwn7tNObT
— Thoton Akimoto (@thoton9) March 17, 2021
Who on earth could think dressing up Watanabe Naomi as a pig, and then making her say “I'm an Olympig” would ever be a good idea for the opening ceremony of the Olympics? It's not only demeaning to Watanabe, but also to anyone self-conscious of their own appearance. The idea could also be perceived as being anti-women. It's as though Sasaki confused the Olympics with a vulgar variety television show with a 60s or 70s sensibility.
In an official statement, Watanabe said there were no plans for her to participate in the opening ceremonies after the Olympics had been postponed last year, and that she was unaware of Sasaki's remarks.
Watanabe also said:
As Naomi Watanabe, a person in the public eye, it is true that there are times when people have told me my physique is large, and I have been working with the understanding that there will be times when I will be taunted for it.
In reality, I am very happy with my figure. Therefore, I want to continue to express myself not only as someone who is large but as ‘Naomi Watanabe.’
However, as one human being, I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that the world can become a joyous place where each person’s individuality and ideas are respected and accepted by all.
Amid ongoing controversies, celebrities and other prominent people continue to pull out of the torch relay, which kicked off on March 25 in Fukushima prefecture. Most celebrities, such as beloved entertainer and television host Shofukutei Tsurube and gentleman crooner Itsuki Hiroshi cited “scheduling conflicts” when pulling out of the torch relay.
They are likely responding to public sentiments about the Games. A recent poll by news agency Kyodo found that 80 per cent of Japanese people think the Olympics should be either canceled, or postponed again due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The poll was conducted following Mori Yoshiro's earlier misogynistic remarks in January and February, which also prompted the exodus of Olympic volunteers.
Despite the setbacks and seeming low public support for the Tokyo Olympics, organizers have insisted the Olympic torch relay will continue as planned  (a “men-only” stage was canceled after public outrage) even as COVID-19 cases continue to increase in cities along the route, including Osaka and Tokyo.
Meanwhile, Japan, with a population of 126 million people, has entered its “fourth wave” of COVID-19. More than 1 million COVID-19 cases have been identified in the country since the start of the pandemic in February 2020, and infection numbers in some parts of the country continue to increase week over week.
By the beginning of April this year, the seven-day average in Tokyo, with a population of 15 million people, identified 440 new cases of COVID-19 per day, compared to 376 and 303 on the previous two Fridays.
On April 1, Osaka prefecture, with a population of 8.8 million, logged its highest daily case count of COVID-19 since January 23, with 559 new cases. Japan's central government, which retains overall control over regional COVID-19 management measures, has been forced to re-enact stronger measures to reduce infections.
Rising numbers of infections have alarmed not only the Japanese government but others as well. The U.S. military, which itself was implicated with the initial spread of COVID-19 throughout Japan, has identified “red zones” in the country:
It's interesting to contrast what the US Marine Corps regards as Covid “Red Zones” in Japan with the much more casual approach taken by the Suga government. You might think that they are talking about two different countries. (MP) #USMarines #Covid #Japan #YoshihideSuga pic.twitter.com/H1UZ2C0O8v
— SNA Japan (@ShingetsuNews) April 2, 2021
Vaccines may not offer an easy exit from COVID-19. While speeding up, Japan's vaccination program is off to a slow start, with less than one per cent of the population vaccinated so far. The government has signed deals with vaccine providers, and is focusing on healthcare workers and seniors first.
In the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese government has decided to host an “athletes-only” Olympic Games. Theoretically, this would limit the number of overseas visitors to just 15,000. However, the rule would also allow families, coaches, media and sponsors—potentially 100,000 to 200,000 people—to enter Japan from overseas.
Japan's decision to close its borders to anyone but its citizens has left some foreign residents of Japan stranded overseas. The situation is especially difficult for foreign students, many of whom have been unable to enter Japan for more than a year. While re-entry restrictions have been relaxed, it can still be difficult for students and some workers to receive permission to enter the country.
There are fears Japan will not admit foreigners, including students, visitors, and visa-holders until at least September 2021—after the Olympic Games have concluded.
The Japan Olympic Organizing Committee appears unwilling to acknowledge howregular gaffes, a pattern of outright misogyny among senior leadership and the sense the COVID-19 pandemic is being ignored have all resulted in low public support for the Games.
Instead, after news magazine Shukan Bunshun reported on the Sasaki Hiroshi's “Olympig” comments that resulted in his resignation, Hashimoto Seiko, who replaced Mori Yoshiro on the new Organizing Committee, demanded the publication retract the story and pull all physical copies from circulation.
Shukan Bunshun bluntly refused, causing yet a new controversy for the Tokyo Olympics. Besides noting that it is in the public interest to report on a taxpayer-funded event, Shukan Bunshan concluded its response with this question:
東京オリンピックは、誰のためにあるのか。組織委員会や電通、政治家など利益を得る一部の人々のために、オリンピックがあるのではないか。
Who are the Tokyo Olympics for? It shouldn't just be an “Olympics for some people,” such as the organizing committee, Dentsu, and politicians.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Fresh attack in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado kills dozens and evacuates town · Global Voices
Global Voices Lusofonia

Cabo Delgado boundary bridge, north of Mozambique, August 4, 2009. Photo by F. Mira via CC BY-SA 2.0.
Yet another attack has hit Mozambique's northernmost province, Cabo Delgado. On the afternoon of 24 March, a group of armed men attacked the town centre of Palma, located close to the site of the largest natural gas processing operation in Africa, and that is run by the French company Total.
The attack left dozens of civilians dead, and the town was evacuated. There are no official casualty figures yet as fighting with the armed forces is still ongoing.
It was confirmed that at least one foreigner, a South African national, working for the gas operation, was killed.
For more than three years, the northern Cabo Delgado province has suffered attacks that have been attributed to the self-proclaimed Islamic State. It all apparently began in October 2017, when a police station was attacked by armed men.
Since then, the attacks have left more than 2,000 people dead and over 700,000 internally displaced, many now in Cabo Delgado's capital city, Pemba. UNICEF estimates that half of those displaced are children.
Like with other attacks, this too was claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS).
On 10 March, the United States officially added two extremist Islamic groups to its list of terrorist organisations – one operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the other in Mozambique. The United States government accused both organisations of having links with the ISIS.
Nearly a week after the blast, precisely on Tuesday 30 March, private-owned television channel STV announced that the town had been recaptured by the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces, but a few minutes later it backtracked when it noted that more attacks were taking place.
Esta terça-feira, depois de garantias das FDS de que a situação estava controlada, equipas de reportagem que estão no terreno, a acompanhar a situação, testemunharam situações de trocas de tiros, mostrando que a situação continua fora do controlo.
This Tuesday, after assurances from security forces that the situation was under control, news teams on the ground monitoring the situation witnessed exchanges of gunfire, showing that the situation remains out of control.
After the events of the 24th, several civil society organizations called on the president to publicly explain what had happened. The organizations demanded that the president make a request for international support to help combat the armed groups in northern Mozambique:
Exigimos informação regular e atempada pelo chefe de Estado sobre a situação de Cabo Delgado, informação exata e desagregada por género e faixa etária das populações afetadas, entre deslocadas, assassinadas e raptadas.
We demand regular and timely information from the head of state on the situation in Cabo Delgado, accurate information broken down by the gender and age groups of the affected populations, including the displaced, assassinated and kidnapped.
In response, President Filipe Nyusi made a statement on Wednesday in which he urged the public not to get carried away, stating that there have been bigger attacks recorded in the province. Nyusi also said that any kind of distraction should be avoided:
Foi mais um ataque. Não foi maior do que tantos outros que tivemos, mas tem esse impacto por ter sido na periferia dos projetos em curso naquela província.
Não percamos o foco, não fiquemos atrapalhados. Vamos abordar o inimigo como temos estado a abordar, com alguma contundência, como as Forças de Defesa e Segurança estão a fazer, porque a falta de concentração é o que os nossos inimigos internos e externos querem.
Nós temos que nos concentrar, abraçarmo-nos e avançarmos. Temos estado, segundo a segundo, a seguir o trabalho que os jovens no terreno estão a fazer.
It was another attack. It was not bigger than so many others we have had, but it has this impact because it was near the operations underway in that province.
Let's not lose focus, let's not get stuck. We will tackle the enemy as we have been doing, with forcefulness, as the Defence and Security Forces are doing, because lack of focus is what our internal and external enemies want.
We have to focus, hug each other and move forward. We have been, second by second, following the work that the young people on the ground are doing.
In support, Portugal has sent 60 soldiers to train Mozambique's armed forces in the coming days.

author: Global Voices Lusofonia


text:
Fact-checking in Nepal in the time of pandemic · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

A screenshot from the South Asia Check Website.
From exposing the misleading social media photos about the recent wildfires to discrediting COVID-19 hoaxes, the South Asia Check group has been actively challenging the spread of disinformation in Nepal.
Officially launched on 9 September 2015, the group is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit initiative committed to battling the circulation of disinformation on social media and other online platforms.
In an interview with Global Voices, South Asia Check editor Deepak Adhikari highlighted the importance of fact-checking:
There's a tendency to cherry-pick facts and present them to suit a particular agenda. Politicians, bureaucrats, business leaders, public intellectuals and others tend to make unsubstantiated and false claims. They often mislead people. So, our job is to present accurate information to the public. We practice journalism in the public interest. Fact-checking is needed to debunk falsehood and help people get accurate and evidence-based information.
This role was recently affirmed when the group debunked the widely shared photos of the wildfires that engulfed Nepal.
Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, saw an unprecedented rise in pollution level in the last week of March 2021. Experts attributed the rise in pollution to the wildfires engulfing the forests and the smoke arising from them.
While people flooded the social channels with news, information, images and videos of wildfire, some shared old photos from other countries to highlight the situation. South Asia Check fact-checked the pictures and found them misleading and sourced from the forest fires in the US, Canada and Indonesia.
The air quality index (AQI), crossed 600 on 26 March – 20 times above the safety level recommended by the World Health Organization. The AQI used to be below 150 even in the most polluted afternoons during this time of the year.
The high level of the AQI was attributed to hundreds of wildfires burning across Nepal, which sent smokes and ashes to localities. An unusually dry winter with only 15% of the normal precipitation in January and February aggravated the wildfire situation in March which destroyed over 700 hectares of forest.
Wild Fire all over #Nepal #AQI is going to be bad for days. pic.twitter.com/MujRWy0Vfs
— Pawan Adh (@KathWatch) March 26, 2021
South Asia Check noted that Nepalis resorted to Twitter and Facebook to draw the world’s attention to the wildfires. The #PrayforNepal hashtag trended on Twitter for several days in Nepal, but some of the photos of wildfires shared on social media were misleading and inaccurate.
Image from Unsplash created by Ruth Burrows. Submitted for United Nations Global Call Out To Creatives – help stop the spread of COVID-19.
This is not the first time that South Asia Check conducted a major fact-checking campaign. The year 2020 was significant for the team which actively demystified hoaxes and “fake news” related to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The spread of the virus opened up a floodgate of misinformation,” said Deepak Adhikari. “And, it wasn't surprising because conspiracy theories and falsehoods thrive in an environment of uncertainty.”
Focusing on the misinformation related to COVID-19 in the beginning, they debunked the news on World Doctor’s Alliance’s video, a purported government text message about snap curfew, claims that COVID-19 test kits predated the pandemic, the Nepali prime minister’s claim about WHO guidelines on COVID-19 deaths verification, an old India toilet photo circulating as a photo of a coronavirus hospital in Nepal, and WHO revising coronavirus risk level for Nepal among others.
In Nepal, the National Penal (Code) Act 2017 prohibits the spread of rumors and any person committing it or causing to commit it can be sentenced to a term not exceeding one year or fined not exceeding ten thousand Nepali rupees (85.2 US dollars) or can be both sentenced and fined.
Responding to the rampant spread of misinformation related to COVID-19, Nepal Police headquarters urged the public not to spread fake news about COVID-19 on social media.
Nepal Fact Check is another initiative that was launched on April 2, 2020. Both South Asia Check and Nepal Fact Check have been fact-checking information circulating in social media as well as news published in media in Nepal.
However, fact-checkers alone can’t check all information circulating online. Readers too can use simple techniques to confirm the validity of news and images before liking or retweeting the content, and helping them go viral.
Happy International Fact-Checking Day! Check out our new series of short videos explaining simple fact-checking techniques, starting with reverse image search #FactcheckingDay pic.twitter.com/nPyrIDT7lB
— AFP Fact Check ? (@AFPFactCheck) April 2, 2021

author: Sanjib Chaudhary


text:
Ghanaian digital activist pushes for more online visibility for the Dagbani language · Global Voices
Adéṣínà Ọmọ Yoòbá

Ghanian digital activist, Sadik Shahadu. Photo provided by Sadik Shahadu and used with permission.
Editor's note: From April 6-13, 2021, Sadik Shahadu will be hosting the @DigiAfricanLang rotating Twitter account which explores the ways in which technology can be used to revitalize African languages.
In early 2021, over 4,000 Dagbani words were recorded and uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a campaign to raise the visibility of the language.
Mole-Dagbani languages are a group of languages spoken across West Africa that includes the Dagbani language spoken by approximately three million people in northern Ghana.
One of the coordinators of that project was Sadik Shahadu based in Accra, Ghana. In addition to being a co-founder of the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group, a Mozilla Open Leaders X fellow and a Mozfest wrangler for Mozilla Festival 2021, he also serves as a regional ambassador for indigenous communities at Art and Feminism.
Rising Voices’ Adéṣinà Ọmọ Yoòbá spoke with Shahadu to find more about his work promoting the Dagbani language on the internet.
Adéṣinà Ọmọ Yoòbá (AOY): What is the current status of your language offline, as well as online?
Sadik Shahadu (SS): My language (Dagbani language) status is deficient on the internet, and it is almost impossible to get information written in Dagbani. For example, when you take Google, you can access Google in other languages like Hausa and Akan. There is nothing like that for Dagabni yet. Most media stations in northern Ghana do not have most of their TV and radio programmes available in Dagbani. Even with print media, I am yet to see any local newspaper written in Dagbani.
Even though there are offline Dagbani resources and learning materials in most public libraries in some schools from the north, getting access to them is somehow difficult. In a nutshell, many people don't like writing in their local languages like Dagbani.
(AOY): What do you think are the biggest challenges facing your language community when it comes to digital communications or creating digital content in their mother language?
SS: Many challenges exist when it comes to local language communities in Ghana. For the Dagbani language, I think the style of teaching and learning, especially at the basic school level, is appalling, If the foundation is weak, it will definitely affect all other levels. For example, children who perform best in Dagbani as a subject don't get recognized, unlike those that perform well in other subjects. How do we expect them to develop more interest? So I will say the approach to teaching the Dagbani language is unattractive.
Another reason could be technology and platform support. There is currently no free iOS keyboard for the Dagbani language, making it difficult to type any special Dagbani letter on an iPhone.
(AOY): In your opinion, what are some of the steps that could be taken to encourage increased use of the language on the internet?
SS: To increase the use of the Dagbani language or other local languages on the internet, the government or the Ghana education service (GES) must revise the course materials used for teaching. Some of these resources are old fashioned and unattractive.
Second, more resources (funding) should be channelled into creating more digital educational materials or online resources for easy access. Offline resources like the internet-in-a-box device can also be useful to people with limited access to the internet.
Finally, we must develop more interest in contributing to the Dagbani Wikipedia.
(AOY): What is your primary motivation for working to see your language and culture available on the internet?
SS: As an ambassador for indigenous communities, I am more interested in promoting my culture and the Dagbani language on the internet. It is important to do so by contributing contents from Ghana to Wikimedia projects like Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. I want to make information and knowledge more accessible in Dagbani so people who cannot read and write in English will also have access to them.

author: Adéṣínà Ọmọ Yoòbá


text:
Israeli phone hacking firm stops sales to Belarus and Russia · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Digital rights activists claim Cellebrite tools were used by repressive states to crack down on opposition and protesters. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Cellebrite, an Israeli digital intelligence company known for making software tools used to extract data from smartphones, has announced it will halt sales to Russian and Belarus state and law enforcement.
The decision comes on foot of revelations that the company's technologies were used by state officials to persecute and pressure minority groups and opposition activists in both Russia and Belarus, as well as Hong Kong and Bangladesh.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz, whose July 2020 report first shed light on the questionable hacking practices exposed by civil rights activists, reports that Yossi Carmil, Cellebrite's CEO, announced a change to the company's export policies on March 18, 2021 and said this was to ensure the company operates “according to accepted international rules and regulations.”
Back in July 2020, human rights activist and lawyer Eitay Mack, along with dozens of other activists in Israel and Hong Kong, blew the whistle on documents linking Cellebrite's software with state persecution of political opposition, ethnic minority and LGBTQI+ activists, and rights defenders in Russia. They also circulated a petition calling on the digital intelligence company to stop exporting their tools to repressive states. Earlier, Mack had successfully pressured Cellebrite to stop selling its wares to Chinese and Hong Kong law enforcement.
The human rights lawyer campaigns to prohibit Israeli military aid from reaching authoritarian regimes.
He told the I-Unit that Belarus and Hong Kong have used the services of Cellebrite to gain access on protestors’ phones. pic.twitter.com/fgcVT8XuWs
— Al Jazeera Investigations (@AJIunit) March 8, 2021
One of Cellebrite's most popular tools is UFED, a software solution used to force entry into and automate data extraction from smartphones. Russia's Investigative Committee has openly disclosed its frequent use of this tool in the past. Russian independent news outlet MediaZona reported in March 2021, that the use of UFED was mentioned in the case file of Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer at the Anti-Corruption Foundation and political associate of Russian oppositionist Alexey Navalny.
In December 2020, Sobol was detained after attempting to visit one of Navalny's alleged poisoners at home. State investigators confiscated her phone and attempted to break into it. She is currently under house arrest in the wake of mass protests in support of Navalny in January 2021.
Belarusian de facto president Aliaksandr Lukashenka's regime has been putting increasing pressure on the country's opposition actors and activists since the disputed election in August 2020, and has also cracked down on the mass protests in the country.
Though Cellebrite has denied selling its solutions to Belarus in the past, Mack claims the Belarusian regime has used Cellebrite tools to hack into the phones of detained protest participants. Belarusian IT news website dev.by found 17 records on the Belarus state procurement website indicating that between 2013 and 2019, the regime's Investigative Committee and Forensic Analysis Committee had purchased the UFED software, renewed licenses, secured technical support and other services from Cellebrite.
In the past year, Cellebrite also has been pitching its phone spying and tracking capabilities to governments around the world to assist with contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Privacy advocates have cautioned that authoritarian regimes may use the pretext of the unprecedented public health crisis to significantly expand citizen surveillance, data collection without consent, and location tracking.
A recent report by Pandemic Big Brother, a joint initiative of Russian digital rights organization Roskomsvoboda and Belarusian human rights center Human Constanta, that tracks pandemic surveillance measures in the region, found that such unchecked surveillance can present “a threat to privacy, freedom of movement, choice of residence and freedom of assembly, and can undermine public trust in authorities.”

author: Tanya Lokot


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China’s Xinjiang-cotton debacle unleashed fierce patriotism and ethnic policy support · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Illustration describing the boycott of Xinjiang cotton by political cartoonist Badiucao, used with permission.
In recent years, China has witnessed waves of patriotism that have extended to the economy. Today, several foreign brands are being targeted in a fierce boycotting campaign over their decision to suspend the use of Xinjiang cotton in their products, as evidence by human rights organizations and media outlets has shown the use of Uyghur forced labour in the production chain.
In response, Beijing has mobilized its online patriots to support the use of cotton produced in this western province of China that is the homeland of the Uyghur people. Indeed Chinese authorities continue to brush off allegations of forced labour and other human rights violations as false information.
Since Chinese president Xi Jinping established ideological struggle as the key to maintaining a one-party system in 2014, it is not uncommon to see Chinese online patriots calling for boycotts of celebrities and foreign brands when they perceive them as a threat undermining China's positive image.
Here are just a few examples – in 2018, a video released by the Italian fashion brand D&G showing a Chinese model eating pizza with chopsticks was perceived as racist and triggered a severe backlash in China. In 2016, the cosmetic giant Lancôme cancelled Hong Kong singer-activist Denise Ho’s concert following an online call for boycott. In 2019, luxury brands such as Versace, Coach and Givenchy were forced to apologize over product designs which depicted Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan as separate regions from the People's Republic of China.
The majority of the previous boycotts were motivated by a populist sentiment around the notion of Chinese “national pride” which is often constructed through an imagined image of the West as an enemy, and accompanied by expressions such as “hurting the feelings of Chinese people”.
The latest boycott campaign, however, is different from previous online uproars as it has placed China’s repressive Xinjiang policy, which is considered a political taboo for public deliberation, at the core of Chinese patriotic performance. As noted by Reuter’s correspondent Cate Cadell on Twitter,
At China Fashion Week in Beijing, we heard feverish support for Xinjiang cotton, mostly echoing a key dictum in recent propaganda: If you don't love China's ethnic policy, you don't love China. https://t.co/XiV4IhXh5b
— Cate Cadell (@catecadell) April 1, 2021
The online boycott of Western brands refusing to use Xinjiang cotton was initiated by the Chinese Communist Youth League on March 24, as the body pointed its finger at the European fashion brand H&M, accusing the company's statement that was published in September 2020 of spreading false information about forced labour in Xinjiang.
H&M's statement was in fact in alignment with Better Cotton Initiative’s suspension of license issued to Xinjiang cotton in March 2020. This non-profit group, which promotes environment and labour standards in cotton farming, counts over 2,000 members from retailing and manufacturing industries in 27 countries. Its decision was “based on the recognition that the operating environment prevents credible assurance and licensing from being executed”.
The Chinese boycotts were eventually extended from H&M to other BCI members including Nike, Adidas, GAP, Hugo Boss, Uniqlo, and others.
The timing of the storm has raised brows among China observers. As highlighted by Ola Wong, it emerged just after coordinated sanctions were brought by the European Union, the United State, the United Kingdom and Canada against a list of Xinjiang officials who are considered being responsible for the massive arbitrary detention and severe human right violation of Uyghurs in the region:
The timing of this sudden “grassroots” reaction, led by celebrities who've been happy to take H&M money in exchange for endorsement, is down to a wave of sanctions imposed by the UK, US and EU Nike, H&M face China fury over Xinjiang cotton ‘concerns’ https://t.co/z3LN9ThL1z
— Ola Wong (@olawong) March 25, 2021
The escalating tension surrounding China’s Xinjiang policy is now more likely to jeopardize the investment deal signed in December between the European Commission and China, a document which is still waiting for a final approval by Brussels. Meanwhile, the European Parliament passed a resolution expressing concern about Xinjiang forced labour in December  2020, and yet another resolution criticizing the EU-China investment deal for giving up human rights value in January of this year.
Tellingly, when the boycott campaign against foreign brands kicked off, the Chief editor of the China's Communist Party-affiliated Global Times Hu Xijin stated that:
Some members of European parliament wanted to make China ending the sanctions as a precondition to advancing China-EU investment deal. Ridiculous. The CAI [Eu-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment] is a mutually beneficial deal, not a gift that EU grants China. Stability of Xinjiang is much more important than that deal. pic.twitter.com/96IyCz2Xdj
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) March 24, 2021
Since the “stability of Xinjiang is much more important than that deal”, Beijing apparently took action to push back in its wolf warrior highly assertive diplomacy style. On March 26, its foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying showed a 1968 image of prisoners working in a Texas cotton field, and referred to it as a proof of black slavery in the U.S.
As a result of the Beijing-orchestrated narrative, a dozen of popular stars have since ended their contract with foreign brands, and e-commerce platforms are also being weaponized: the majority of Chinese online shopping platforms have taken down certain Western brands, and H&M stores have vanished from online maps.
Overall, the message is very clear, as described by China Daily reporter Chen Weihua on Twitter:
Wrong phrasing. It should read: H&M and Nike should learn the lessons of trying to meddle in Chinese politics and disrespect Chinese consumers.
— Chen Weihua （陈卫华） (@chenweihua) April 4, 2021
Media is also being activated in the campaign against Western brands with the state-funded CGTN television describing allegations of human rights violation in Xinjiang as lies. Recently, it backed its argument with an investigation conducted by a French independent reporter whose identity remains unclear, and commentaries coming from a China-based British video blogger.
The TV station also released a documentary on terrorism in Xinjiang, accusing a number of former officials and educators of being “double-face” agents who incited religious extremism and separatist thoughts through textbooks.
Such official narratives are echoed and amplified on Chinese social media. A large number of videos showing happy faces of Uyghurs have flooded Chinese social media platforms including Douyin and Weibo. Here is one viral video posted on Twitter:
Hi everyone. We are Uygur sisters from #Xinjiang.Welcome to Xinjiang. @zlj517 @Jingjing_Li pic.twitter.com/qW87ztCbRq
— Story of Xinjiang by Guli 古丽讲新疆 (@XinjiangGuli) April 1, 2021
Regina Ip Lau Suk Yee, a pro-Beijing politician based in Hong Kong  describes allegations of genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang as lies, and tweeted photos of pretty Xinjiang actresses as evidence against allegations of physical abuse:
Look at these poor Uygur and other minority women from Xinjiang – so badly treated by the CCP – they are so skinny, nothing to eat and nothing to wear! pic.twitter.com/nz3N9QnI9s
— Regina Ip Lau Suk Yee (@ReginaIplau) March 26, 2021
For foreign brands relying on the Chinese consumer market, this outburst of online patriotism is a tough wake-up call: what is the appropriate choice between business interests and moral values?

author: Guest Contributor


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Jamaicans agonise, politicians seek solutions after another young woman is killed · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Jamaica's ‘Clothesline Project’ was part of 2016's 16 Days of Activism, symbolising the hanging of ‘dirty laundry’ in public to advocate for an end to violence against women and girls. Photo by UN Women/Khristina Godfrey, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Jamaicans are anxious. Over 600 people have died from COVID-19 since the country announced its index case of the virus on March 10, 2020 and the rate of infections remains high amid lingering economic uncertainty. Then, on the eve of the first of three planned weekend lockdowns, news that a young woman had been found murdered two days after she went missing hit a raw nerve.
Police have charged a 50-year-old man, a neighbour, with the murder of 20-year-old accounting clerk Khanice Jackson, who left her suburban Kingston home on the morning of March 24, but never arrived at her workplace. The suspect would reportedly give her a lift in his car quite regularly, as their workplaces were close to each other.
News of Jackson's murder came against the backdrop of a record number of murders on the island which, according to one 2020 survey, had the highest homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, at 46.5 per 100,000 people. According to police statistics, as of March 2021, there have been 328 murders, a seven per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
Both the government and the private sector are looking at several initiatives to stem the bloodshed. The National Consensus on Crime, made in October 2019, was an agreement among political leaders, civil society and the private sector, which identified specific goals, and is monitored by a private sector oversight committee—one that has expressed concern over the fact that the promised legislative action to combat crime has been too slow in materialising.
Meanwhile, netizens were overwhelmed with shock and grief over Jackson's murder. A week after she was found, the cloud of gloom had hardly lifted, especially among young women, one of whom shared her feelings of insecurity for herself and others:
Today just feel heavy from morning…cried while driving… got home and just made sad again. Hug and hold tight to the ones you love… Call them, check in…just do what you need to. A lot of people are hurting
— TWill?????? (@TWill876) March 31, 2021
One television station that had reported on Jackson’s case shared a widely circulated video, this time citing the disappearance of a visually impaired student, the death of a woman during a security forces raid, and the murder of a schoolgirl—all high profile cases, all unsolved:
But who is next? or Can we stop this trend? #SaveOurWomen #SaveOurWomenJA #protectourwomenJA #justiceforkhanice #jasminedean #JusticeForSusanBogle #ChooseToChallenge #CVMTV #CVM pic.twitter.com/qr0NmNA9ta
— CVM Television (@CVMTV) March 30, 2021
In an effort to offer condolences, Prime Minister Andrew Holness visited Jackson's mother (who has lost her only child) and boyfriend, both of whom are calling for severe punishment for the murderer:
JUST IN: Prime Minister @andrewholnessjm in conversation moments ago with the mother & other relatives of 20 year old Khanice Jackson who was found murdered yesterday.
The PM & DCP in Charge of Crime, Fitz Bailey, met with Khanice's relatives.https://t.co/VcrCJhhR1V pic.twitter.com/f6wkBnEjNd
— Nationwide90FM (@Nationwideradio) March 27, 2021
Many were sceptical about the gesture, however, suggesting that the Jamaican government and security forces were not doing enough:
jamaican women are not safe. the violence we endure at the hands of men is not taken seriously by a complicit government and police force. my heart goes out to Khanice’s loved ones #JusticeForKhanice pic.twitter.com/Q3pLGiHz8S
— asia (@acmack_) March 26, 2021
Well-known figures, like dancehall deejay Beenie Man, added their condolences:
THE REAL PANDEMIC IS THE CRIME & VIOLENCE IN JAMAICA.
WE ARE NOT OK!!! OUR HEARTS ARE BLEEDING, OUR CHILDREN & WOMEN ARE NOT SAFE! This Nuh right Iyah! This nuh right. We need justice and a that we need. #JusticeForKhanice
— Beenie Man (@KingBeenieMan) March 26, 2021
However, while dancehall artists expressed shock at the “madness,” Prime Minister Holness was pointing fingers at the role of popular music, a regularly recurring topic on which Jamaicans seem eternally divided. Are the often violent dancehall lyrics merely a reflection of society, or are they actually influencing young people to act criminally?
Twitter user Wayne Chen reminded social media users that the prime minister also repeatedly decries the continued prevalence of corporal punishment in Jamaican families, which he believes helps fuel a culture of violence:
When will we agree..that if we beat our children mercilessly we are teaching them that the only way to resolve conflict is with violence..that a person’s body is inviolable..that I have a right for you not to touch me..that every woman has a right to say no?
- PM Andrew Holness
— Wayne Chen (@wcchen) March 31, 2021
In that vein, concerns about parenting and family structures also resurfaced. Olympic medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce commented on the way that boys are raised in Jamaica:
Stop raising boys like they are entitled to women or it’s ok for them to “get away with things because they are boys.”
— ShellyAnnFraserPryce (@realshellyannfp) March 26, 2021
But why are women targeted? The perception is that many fall victim to jealous, abusive (and sometimes estranged) partners. Victim blaming after instances of femicide also surfaces from time to time. Jamaican women feel they have seen and heard it all before. Earlier this year, the women's organisation WeChange, in a newspaper op-ed, pointed to the endless cycle of outrage, promises and inaction, challenging Jamaicans to “call femicide by its name”:
When will they stop talking? When will they act? Importantly, when will we stop normalising the toxic nature of relationships and the idea that entering into a relationship means we become the property of our partners? Our society continues to cling to these harmful justifications for men's violence; from controlling women's ability to making personal choices to using jealousy to justify dangerous actions and defining gender roles in the household where the man is ‘king of the castle’.
In a heated parliamentary sitting on March 30, one Member of Parliament railed against sentencing practices. In Jamaica, convicted criminals receive a reduction in their sentence if they plead guilty (an attempt to clear a huge backlog of cases in court). Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, however, said that this practice was not appropriate in all cases and that the matter would have to be revisited.
One television station reported that the prime minister, in an interview, said that “extraordinary and emergency powers” may have to be implemented to curb crime, while respecting citizens’ rights. However, he provided no further details:
Prime Minister Andrew Holness says more States of Public Emergency and Zones of Special Operation will have to be implemented to curtail crime in Jamaica. #TVJPTN pic.twitter.com/wIvUycnqyU
— TVJ (@televisionjam) April 1, 2021
Such strategies are not new—and often cause the state great expense down the line, both financially and in terms of public opinion, when commissions of enquiry are necessary to determine whether people's rights have been trampled upon.
So, how can Jamaican women defend themselves? The legalisation of pepper spray was raised by Opposition Leader Mark Golding, although it appears that its use remains contentious. A petition on the Office of the Prime Minister's website to make pepper spray legal quickly gathered signatures and will now be considered by parliament.
Even as more women go missing, many Jamaicans are publicly expressing their dismay at the crime situation.
Columnist Jean Lowrie-Chin reminded the nation of another pending case:
Meanwhile, the courts are in the process of sentencing Jermaine Miller, who is convicted of the murder of his former girlfriend, Nevia Sinclair, at her parents’ home last year. What is it about these men who will not allow a woman to go in peace if she wants to end the relationship?
Despite all the hand-wringing, genuine grief, and heightened fear, will anything change? One Jamaican woman believes that, as was the case with other victims before them, the outrage will blow over and it will be back to “normal” for most:
Tomorrow when the dust settles and the uproar quiets, we’re right back to square one. We’ll all go back to our lives, women will continue to live in fear and men will continue to be predators. We’ve been here one too many times, nothing will change. That’s heartbreaking?
— Toni J.T. (@ToniTownsend_) March 26, 2021
This time around, it is hoped that the situation will not be “business as usual”, and that citizens and state can work together to cauterise the crime and violence, once and for all.