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García and Toledo: Two Former Peruvian Presidents in Trouble  · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Accusations and investigations have made the last weeks busy for former Peruvian presidents Alan García and Alejandro Toledo. Although both former leaders have always been in the news in one form or another, this time they have coincided with their reason for making headlines.
In the middle of last April, an accusation [es] arose that someone convicted of drug trafficking had become part of the Commission of Presidential Pardons during Garcia's term, in which 5,478 presidential pardons were granted [es] (including common pardons, humanitarian pardons and commutations of penalty). Some of these pardons were granted to people convicted of crimes such as illicit drug trafficking in an aggravated and asset-laundering way. An estimated 800 of those that received pardons repeated their crimes [es].
Then, the congressional commission [es] investigating irregularities in Alan García's term received an accusation that there were charges [es] from prisoners who wanted access to these services. Ex-ministers from APRA, the political party of Alan García, denied [es] any participation in these illicit actions. The ex-president made a statement [es] before the ombudsman that the commission was violating his rights by using the information without telling him details of what topics would be addressed beforehand. Moreover, he declared [es] that Humala's government was following in a Chavez-like model and “looking to destroy their adversaries.”
Alan Garcia, photo from TV Culture on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Ex-president García appeared [es] before the congressional commission several times to respond [es] to alleged irregularities in “Water for All,” a program created to bring drinkable water and sewage systems to populations without this benefit. In addition, he appeared to respond to irregularities detected in the case of the acquisition process of the “Integral system of commercial activities” from the Drinkable Water and Sewage System of Lima (Sedapal), as well as the previously mentioned pardons.
This commission, after unanimously approving [es] a report that found alleged administrative irregularities in a case concerning Sedapal, [es] agreed also by a majority to recommend [es] a constitutional accusation against ex-president Alan García for alleged irregularities in the “Water for All” program, including the passage of the Emergency Decrees exempting the program from the requirement for feasibility studies or technical records.
Shortly after the Public Ministry also approved [es] the lifting [es] of the tax secret of the ex-president, in the course of the investigations for the purchase of a house valuing US $ 830 million in Miraflores, a neighborhood in Lima.
In the blog La Otra Mirada [The Other View], Yorka Gamarra explains [es] the context for the investigative commission and comments on the other investigations, specifically the irregularities in the renovation projects of emblematic schools (large state schools that achieved prestige given their long existence):
One of the most relevant cases given its social implications is that of the emblematic schools. […] the commission has found that support of the Emergency Decrees mentioned [that which created the figure of the Emblematic Schools], would have ordered their approval later. That is to say, they would have sustained a document that in its moment of approval, didn't exist.
On the other hand, the blog Ideeleradio [Ideal Radio] interviewed [es] Fernando Valencio, director of newspaper Diario 16, against which ex-president García presented [es] a defamation lawsuit. In the interview, Valencia said:
¿Por qué es que creo que Alan García está interesado en querellarnos? Porque creo que definitivamente les preocupa el tema de la megacomisión. Y como conté en una de mis primeras columnas, comentando esta querella, coincidentemente a inicios de los primeros resultados de la megacomisión recibimos una oferta, una jugosa inversión publicitaria, y se nos solicitaba que en las portadas no incluyéramos este tipo de temas. Obviamente, nosotros nos negamos y, bueno, ya estamos viendo las consecuencias
Why is it that I believe Alan García is interested in fighting us? Because I definitively believe he is worried about the investigative commission. And as I said in one of my first columns discussing this argument, coincidentally at the beginning of the first results of the commission, we received an offer, a juicy advertising investment, that we were asked not to include in the front pages. Obviously, we refused and, well, we are already seeing the consequences.
But the case of ex-president García was pushed to the side when the relationship between ex-president Alejandro Toledo and the purchase [es] of an office and three parking lots for his mother-in-law Eva Fernenburg, valuing more than US $ 882,000. It should be noted that Toledo is already facing a similar case for the the purchase of a house [es] the exclusive Casuarinas neighborhood, valuing 3.7 million dollars, also for his mother-in-law, as well an investigation [es] into the purchase of a beach house in the Punta Sal resort (Tumbes).
Alejandro Toledo, photo from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The Congressional Fiscal Commission immediately approved [es] the request for full special powers to investigate the ex-president. The Legal Office of Money Laundering requested [es] that the Public Prosecutor block real estate purchased by Alejandro Toledo's mother-in-law. More recently, the legal office for anti corruption announced [es] that it would ask the Attorney to start a preliminary investigation against the former President.
In the blog Política Shit [Political Shit] Oscar P. brings together some of the reactions of sympathizers and members of Toledo's political party, adding [es]:
Quien en este país puede darse los lujos así como se los da la suegra de Alejando Toledo ? ojo que su suegra ya va acumulando casi 4 millones de dolares en propiedades y claro antes de eso Toledo se quedo mudo y un dia antes de conmemorarse una fecha mas de ese trágico incidente como el Holocausto soltó la noticia y se escudo en que su suegra fue una victima y por lo tanto tiene plata guardada.
Who in this country can give luxury like Alejandro Toledo has given his mother-in-law? Look, his mother-in-law has already accumulated almost 4 million dollars in property and it's clear that before Toledo stayed silent and a day before commemorating the anniversary of an incident more tragic incident than the Holocaust dropped the news and was hidden in his mother-in-law was a victim and therefore has silver-plated.
Edu, in the blog Coyuntura Peruana [Peruvian Situation], comes to the defense of ex-president Toledo and writes [es]:
Esta claro que todo tipo de investigaciones no esta demás, sin embargo me parece una exageración ( no el acto de investigar sino el gesto o el trato de la noticia) lo que hacen algunos periodistas sobre la compra que hizo la mama de la ex-primera Dama Eliane Karp. […] O acaso no saben los periodistas que critican este acto(me refiero a la compra) que tanto la ex-primera Dama como el Presidente Toledo no han trabajado toda su vida para tener el dinero que pudieran haber reunido, fruto de su esfuerzo de toda su vida.
It's clear that every type of investigation is not additional, however it seems an exaggeration to me (not the act of investigating but the gesture and treatment of the news) what those journalists report about the purchase that Dama Eliane Karp, mother of the ex-president, made. […] The journalists criticize this act (I'm referring to the purchase) that both the ex-first lady and President Toledo have not worked their entire lives to take the money that might have been collected, the fruit of his effort throughout his life.
For his part, ex-president Alejandro Toledo has declared [es] that this is an attempt to debilitate him politically, and although he said he doesn't exactly know who is behind it, he mentioned fujimorismo. And his ex-minister, Juan Sheput states [es] that the government is responsible for the leak of documents about the investigations of the real estate purchases.
Jorge Muguerza Sotomayor, in the blog Gestypro opined [es] in a similar way but looked in a different direction:
Quién quiere acorralar a Toledo. ¿Nadine o García? A quién le conviene dejar de aparecer en los medios. Nadine está interesada en la elección y Toledo no es contrincante de polendas, además es aliado del gobierno. Toledo ya cavo su propia tumba electoral. AGP quiere desviar la atención sobre sus actos de gobierno relacionados con la corrupción? Ustedes saquen la cuenta. A quién le interesa más, esta cortina de humo.
Who wants to hunt down Toledo? Nadine or García? Who will convince him to stop appearing in the media? Nadine is interested in the election and Toledo is not an opponent of polendas, but an ally of the government. Toledo has already dug his own electoral tomb. AGP wants to divert attention from their own corruption-related acts of government corruption? You remove the account. What interests you more is this curtain of smoke.
Alejandro Toledo arrived [es] in Lima last Thursday, May 23, and arranged a meeting [es] with the Congressional Fiscal Commission for Monday, May 27 at 10 a.m. The topic will continue making headlines.

author: Juan Arellano


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Global Hack for Good: Connecting Refugees with Lost Families · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

Refugees United and Ericsson are hosting a series of hackathons in Cairo, Nairobi and San Francisco to develop new mobile solutions to help refugees locate missing family members.
Refugees United is an online service to connect displaced people with their missing relatives. Nearly 200,000 refugees have registered on the service so far, and their goal is to reach 1 million by the end of 2015.
A jury will select two finalists from each Global Hack for Good location. On World Refugee Day, June 20, 2013, three winners will be selected. The prize is a trip to Kenya to test their prototypes in Kakuma refugee camp.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Solana Larsen


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Human Rights Activists Hone Digital Skills in 2013 Empowerment Lab · Global Voices
Andrea Arzaba

Eleven international human rights activists learned new digital skills and shared experiences in this year's Empowerment Lab in Florence, Italy.
The week-long training program organized by The Robert F. Kennedy Training Institute seeks to empower digital activists who face growing threats of freedom of expression.
Nilantha Ilangamuwa, an exiled journalist from Sri Lanka, wrote about his experience in the “The Sri Lanka Guardian,” an online newspaper he founded.
Nil, as his friends call him, described how he felt when he attended the screening of the documentary “Call me kuchu”, which shows the life-threatening situations that sexual minorities in Uganda experience on a daily basis:
I felt like screaming when I was returning to the place where I was staying, after spending hours watching a documentary on homophobia in Uganda. Uganda is one of the countries in the world, which continuously contributes to nightmares of human in the pages of world’s history.
LGBT activist Frank Mugisha, one of the Lab's participants, appears in the documentary.
Nilantha also shared some of the compelling conversations he had with fellow human rights defenders on issues like social change and censorship in developing nations:
What we are seeing in many countries categorized as “developing nations”, is the common reality of suffering! Institutional collapse! Loss of hope of life while accepting that “social change” is impossible. This is the most common tragedy that we can observer [sic] in our motherlands. In our society, desire to fight against absolute power has been opposed by the culture of silence.
Renowned Italian journalist Luca de Biase wrote a short post for Medium where he expresses how important it is to not take democracy for granted in the western world:
In Florence, at the RKF Training Institute, activists teach us to love our democracy
Luca de Biase also reflected on what he learned from meeting and talking to the international digital activists at the RFK Training Institute:
But as activists learn what can help them in their non-violent fight, we the people living in the “democratic West” are going to learn as much from them. Democracy is not a given, it is a process: and we need to maintain it, we need to care about it. Activists from all over the world help their people. But they also help us.
Digital activism workshops for human rights defenders, held in Florence. Picture by Andrea Arzaba.
Nilantha finished his blog post with a quote that expresses the way he felt when he left the workshop:
Let us unite, as Gloria Reuben, a well-known Hollywood actress pointed out; to make the world for the people who have no space to raise their voice, whose rights have been buried in the slum of absolute power and injustice. Let us sing our song of rights among the communities where people can come up with fresh ideas to change the society currently controlled by the tyrant. It will wipe out our sorrows, and tears of sadness while generating a hope in hapless souls.
You can read the Lab's official blog posts at http://traininginstitute.rfkcenter.org/

author: Andrea Arzaba


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Interview: Cartoonist Slams Forced Evictions in Brazil for World Cup · Global Voices
Pública - Agência de jornalismo investigativo

This interview, by Marcela Genaro, entitled “O banco imobiliário da Cabralândia” [pt], is part of Brazilian investigative journalism agency Pública's special #CopaPública coverage and was originally published on March 22, 2013, the day of the eviction of the Maracanã indigenous village in Rio de Janeiro.
Cartoonist Carlos Latuff is not optimistic about the transformation that the city of Rio de Janeiro is undergoing to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics:
Vai ajudar exatamente quem? Certamente o Eike Batista, a Coca-Cola, as grandes corporações que estão por trás disso. Mas o Zé Povinho, certamente não.
Exactly who is it going to help? Certainly Eike Batista, Coca-Cola, the big corporations that are behind it, but your average Joe, certainly not.
This 44-year-old Rio de Janeiro native, known for defending humanitarian causes with his simply drawn and dark humored cartoons, gave an interview to Pública in which he analyzed the preparations happening in Rio, which he calls “the ex-Marvelous City”, for the mega-event:
É uma ofensiva da especulação imobiliária. Ela agora pode avançar porque existe esse respaldo, que se trata de uma “coisa justa”, que vai promover a cidade lá fora. Acho que não foi à toa que a prefeitura lançou o jogo que é o Rio de Janeiro como banco imobiliário. Aquilo ali foi o melhor de todos os indicativos. Se a gente está falando de banco imobiliário não se trata dos interesses do cidadão que pega ônibus, que pega barca, pega trem. A gente está falando dos interesses dos players.
It's an onslaught of real estate speculation. It can go ahead now because there is this support, that there is “just cause”, that will promote the city internationally. I don't think it was by coincidence that the the city government came out with the Rio de Janeiro Monopoly board game. That was one of the biggest clues. If we are talking about Monopoly, we are not talking about the interests of the citizen who rides the bus, the ferry, the train. We are talking about the interest of the “players”.
The Olympic City Monopoly board-game, created by the manufacturer Estrela, features recent city construction projects. The city acquired 20,000 copies of the game, at a cost of 1,050,748 Brazilian reais (about 515,325 US dollars) to distribute to public schools. The public prosecutor's office is looking into whether there are irregularities in the purchase of the game, which would promote the government, as a teaching material.
Latuff also talked about the forced evictions of entire communities caused by the World Cup preparations and compared it to the idea of urban renewal promoted by engineer Francisco Pereira Passos, who served as mayor of Rio between 1902 and 1906. His reform was popularly known as “the teardown” and was marked by the “sanitization” of Rio de Janeiro for its removal of communities:
De fato o Rio de Janeiro não é um tabuleiro e nem um brinquedo. Tem sido tratado como tal, mas as pessoas que moram em favelas, nos quilombolas, nas áreas indígenas sabem que isso não é brincadeira. Remoção não é brincadeira, muito longe disso.
Really, Rio de Janeiro is not a board and not a toy. It has been treated as such, but people who live in the slums, in the quilombos (Afro_Brazilian slave descended communities), in indigenous areas know that this is no joke. Removal is no joke, far from it.
The opposition of the cartoonist to the policies applied to mega-events has even earned him a “tour in the cop car” to the police station, when he was summoned to testify after drawing a cartoon that criticized the Pan-American Games of 2007:
Mascot of the 2014 World Cup by Carlos Latuff for Agência Pública. Eike [Batista] is a Brazilian businessman and one of the 10 richest people in the world.
Tinha feito um desenho que era o mascote do Pan, Cauê, segurando um fuzil, dando um tiro para o alto com uma M16, uma favela ao fundo e um caveirão. Sob a alegação de que eu estava usando um desenho que era protegido por direitos autorais, fui chamado para prestar um depoimento numa delegacia. A polícia foi até a minha casa com uma intimação.
I had created a drawing that was the mascot, Cauê holding a rifle, shooting into the air with an M16, a slum in the background and an armored police vehicle. On the grounds that I was using a design that was copyrighted, I was called to testify in a police station. The police came to my house with a subpoena.
Latuff was not intimidated. In the cartoon produced for the Pública agency at the end of the interview, again the protagonist is the mascot, this time of the World Cup.
Check out the video interview with the cartoonist, who continues to push so that Brazilians recognize the other side of these mega-events:
Eu espero que haja um despertar de consciência, que a ficha caia e que as pessoas não comprem esse gato por lebre.
I hope there is an awakening of consciousness, that it hits home and people do not buy this pig in a poke.
The organizations responsible for administering the funds for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics need to take responsibility for their actions, and if there is anything we can do, it is to make it clear now and forever, who they are, and who were the ones responsible.
The testimony of Carlos Latuff is particularly important because it hits a societal sore spot, and even if there isn't a convergence of goals between the parts of society at least each individual opinion is clear and recorded.
Latuff, whose cartoons have illustrated many articles for Global Voices Online, can be found on Twitter (@CarlosLatuff), Facebook, and his blog (all in Portuguese).


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LGBTQ Rights in Puerto Rico Slowly Improve Step by Step  · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

On Friday, May 24, the House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 238, which offers protection against discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation. The measure, approved in its final version, suffered a number of amendments [es] that many believe to considerably weaken it after passing in the Senate. Now, the Senate has to approve the amended version.
One of the amendments eliminated the language that protected citizens against discrimination when applying for and receiving government services,. The law would also not apply to organizations funded by churches. Many reacted on Twitter:
@daisysanchezpr: Pasa el 238 cocido a la medida de los fundamentalistas.Tienen patente de corso para el discrimen en sus iglesias y negocios.
@daisysanchezpr: 238 passes catered to the order of the fundamentalists. They have the carte blanche for discrimination in their churches and businesses.
@g_laborde: Wait. ¿Cómo que el 238 se aprobó para que la empresa privada y pueda discriminar? ¿Qué mierda de proyecto es ese?
@g_laborde: Wait. How is it that 238 passed so that private companies could be discriminatory? What kind of shitty bill is this?
@cecilialaluz: Se acaba de aprobar el 238 con tajos y curitas. Hay q trabajar en el Senado para darle garras!
@cecilialaluz: 238 was just passed with cuts and bandages. You have to work in the Senate to knock it down!
@GissellePR: Yo no necesito 238 razones para saber q todos somos IGUALES!!!! Como está el inepto de prepotencia coja, usando a Dios d bastón!!! #Equidad
@GissellePR: I do not need 238 reasons to know that we are all EQUAL!!!! How inept this crippled arrogance is, using God as a cane!!! #Equality [es]
@ukagreen: No entiendo el estreñimiento mental cuando el asunto es tan sencillo: todos somos iguales.
@ukagreen: I don't understand the mental constipation when the issue is so simple: we are all equal.
@DrOrtizCardona: Este estúpido debate del #PS238 ha dejado meridianamente claro que cualquier pendejo puede llegar a ser legislador o representante.
The massive march on May 16 against discrimination based on sexual orientation on the south side of the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo taken from the Students of the UPR Inform Facebook Page.
@DrOrtizCardona: This stupid #PS238 debate has made it abundantly clear that any idiot could become a legislator or representative.
It was not easy getting the necessary votes to approve the bill. Despite the fact that the party currently in power, the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), made a commitment during the election campaign to expand protections to the LGBTQ community and recognize their rights, various legislators from this very party expressed reservations and opposed the measure, largely because they have bowed to pressure from Christian fundamentalist groups, who have intensely lobbied in recent weeks against nondiscrimination bills discussed in the Legislature. One of the legislators that has opposed the bill is Representative Brenda López de Arrarás, Vice President of the PPD, who is also ironically the President of the House Committee for Women and Equality. A petition to impeach Representative López de Arrarás [es] from her position at the House Committee for Woman and Equality began circulating on social networks. Pressure from citizen groups and other members of her own party forced the Representative to vote in favor of the bill.
The House Bill 488 was also approved, which extends protections against gender violence to same sex couples. The consideration of this bill provoked a march on behalf of Christian fundamentalist groups on February 18 in front of the Capitol in the capital city of San Juan. The bill will now go to the Senate for consideration.
Groups in favor of LGBTQ rights celebrate the passing of the measures in front of the Capitol building. Photo taken from LGBT Puerto Rico‘s Facebook page.
One family's struggle
On the other hand, Puerto Rico's Supreme Court reiterated its decision to deny Ángeles Acosta the right to adopt the biological daughter of her partner, Carmen Milagros Vélez, after they had submitted a petition for reconsideration to the Court [they had their daughter as a couple]. The only way that Ángeles Acosta could legally adopt her daughter would be for the biological mother to give up all of her rights as a mother to her partner. Both mothers have raised their daughter together from birth.
With this last decision from the Supreme Court, the women have exhausted all possible legal appeals. It now remains in the hands of the legislature to decide if it will pass Senate Bill 437 [es], which would eliminate gender distinction as an obstacle for adoption. Joelle González-Laguer, writing about the case in La voz del paseo boricua [es], says:
El caso de Ángeles y Milagros  es extraordinario y altamente humano. Estamos frente a un atropello, donde no existen recursos legales para apoyar el derecho humano y civil que ellas tienen: legalizar su vínculo como familia.
Ángeles and Milagros's case is extraordinary and highly human. We are facing a violation, where no legal means exist to support a human and civil right that they have: legalizing their bond as a family.
The decisions taken in the upcoming weeks will determine whether Puerto Ricans will live in a more equal country or if the vision of some groups based on myths and unfounded fears will prevail. It remains to be seen how the three bills that are currently up for debate in the Legislature regarding equality will be passed and if the Governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla, will sign them [the Governor has already said he will sign the Senate Bill 238]. Daniel Nina, writing for El Post Antillano, described [es] the historic moment that Puerto Rico is experiencing very well:
Al final, no sé aún si en cuanto al proyecto 238 del Senado por el no discrimen en el empleo por razón de orientación sexual, sea avalado por la Cámara de Representantes y luego firmado por el gobernador, Alejandro García Padilla. Lo que si sé es que la comunidad LGTTB ha abierto un debate por la igualdad, con mucha simpatía y creatividad, el cual ha constituido un hito revolucionario en Puerto Rico.
Ultimately, I still do not know if Senate Bill 238 for nondiscrimination in the workplace for reasons of sexual orientation will be supported by the House of Representatives and later signed by the governor, Alejandro García Padilla. What I do know is that the LGBTQ community has opened up a debate for equality, with great sympathy and creativity, which has constituted a revolutionary milestone in Puerto Rico.

author: Ángel Carrión


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Brazil: Petition for Slander-Accused Journalist · Global Voices
Thiana Biondo

There is a petition out, in the Brazilian federal state of Bahia, in support of the journalist Emiliano José. Accused of slander by the preacher Átila Brandão for reporting the preach involvement with torture against students during the military dictatorship in Brazil, José published a text in the press in February 2013 and in his personal website. The Justice ordered the removal of the text, already republished on the internet, from José's site and the right of reply to the preacher.

author: Thiana Biondo


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Syria Untold: Raqqa Lessons, From Freedom to Creativity in State Building · Global Voices
سوريا حكاية مانحكت

This post is cross-posted from Syria Untold and translated by Global Voices Arabic.
For Syrians, demanding freedom has extended from struggling against dictatorship, facing murder, jail, detention and destruction of the infrastructure, to trying to establish a new foundation for the country that they long dreamed of. Is it really possible to build from within all this destruction?
If anyone can achieve the impossible, it is Syrians. They have turned the French students uprising´s  slogans – “Be realistic, demand the impossible” – into “Be realistic and make the impossible.”
After the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Raqqa in March 2013, the city suffered a tremendous power vacuum, especially in public services. The streets were filled with garbage and remnants of the regime barricades.
A discussion was started by a group of 35 activists who had remained in the city, which led to the creation of a rally named “The youth of Raqqa”. One of these activists, surgeon Ayman al-Khalaf, has explained to Syria Untold:
The poster reads [ar]: To people who love freedom, know that the factory of heroes is in Syria. Source: Syria Untold
A week after liberation, we started discussing how to solve services problems resulting from the withdrawal of the regime and disabling its institutions. We decided to establish the rally as a civil institution without subordination to any political, religious or military affiliation.
The rally adopted the role of the municipality, cleaning the streets, taking the garbage away from the city center, and removing the regime barricades. In the words of Ayman:
“We have dreamt of living without this regime for so long. Now the dream has come true, so we have to be responsible and turn the city to a real icon of freedom”
Inspired by their newly achieved freedom, campaigns were organized, such as the “Our Streets Breathe Freedom” one. Activists distributed the revolution flag in all public utilities and streets, cleaned the city, neighborhood after neighborhood, covering the streets with creative drawings and graffiti.
Raqqa..:Lessons in state building
Activists also started the “Clean the National Hospital” campaign, which lasted until the city´s main hospital was cleaned from the debris of bombing and destruction; and the “I Will Not Leave my School” campaign aiming to rehabilitate schools so that children could continue their studies as soon as possible.
Activists at the I will not leave my school campaign
Activists did not forget Syrian refugees arriving from all over the country. A relief kitchen was set to provide about 500 meals a day to refugees, despite the lack of bread caused by the shortages. This led to the “Our Bread Campaign”, in which pieces of bread were distributed in small bags with a sign reading “my loaf is your loaf” and the saying of the Prophet Mohammad “None of you will have faith unless you wish for others what you wish for yourselves.”
The youth rally also focused on Syria's children, who are suffering a dire situation since the beginning of the struggle. Campaigns such as “Children´s right to live” aim to defend their rights and help them by engaging them in theatre workshops and other activities focusing on solidarity, cooperation and teamwork spirit, educating children on true values that promote a new sense belonging to the country.
Other campaigns focus on Syrian prisoners of conscience, such as the April 7 “Free Behind Bars” sit-ins.
The sign reads: Freedom for the prisoner we don't know
Solidarity with other Syrian towns has also emerged in Raqqa, through campaigns such as the “Euphrates Candles of Freedom”.
Through their work, the Raqqa youth are doing what the state institutions should be doing. In the words of Ayman, the young activist and doctor:
“We will stay strong, because Raqqa is the capital of liberation and we will continue to work to keep the city live up to its name regardless of the process of militarization.”
This post is cross-posted from Syria Untold and translated by Global Voices Arabic.

author: سوريا حكاية مانحكت


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The Trouble with Counterfeit Medicines in France · Global Voices
Laurent Delors

The fight against counterfeit is a global struggle [Fr]. An opportunity to explore the different areas affected by this modern scourge, from art to leather goods, perfumes, textiles, cleaning products and even headphones. Although counterfeiting has harmful consequences for security, the environment, social law, or even the economy in most of the sectors involved, there is an area in which fakes have even more devastating effects: the pharmaceutical industry. This activity is far from being marginal: the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 10% of medicines manufactured are counterfeit.
Number of incidents caused by fake medicines, per year. Graph by PSI (public domain).
The counterfeiting of medicines affects all countries, without exception, regardless of their state of development. Sometimes it reaches staggering proportions, for instance half the medicines for the treatment of malaria are fake [Fr]. In Europe, the counterfeiting of medicines represents 24% of customs seizures, more than cigarettes. In 2010, it generated a profit of 75 billion dollars. More than the drug trade. It's a serious public health issue, which is being tackled strenuously, using measures that are appropriate and effective to varying degrees.
At the forefront of this battle in France, in 2003 LEEM (the French Pharmaceuticals Companies Association) created an anti-counterfeiting committee. It ensures a continuum linking manufacturers and public authorities (in the areas of customs, justice, etc.). More of a watchdog than a real strike force, this committee is nevertheless at the forefront in the process of modernising anti-counterfeiting techniques. There are all kinds of innovations: sealed containers, barcodes, holograms on packaging, etc.
But the fight against counterfeiting also entails greater cooperation between manufacturers and law enforcement agencies. For this reason, around thirty major pharmaceutical groups are working side by side with Interpol to improve the detection of fakes. These are all necessary measures, but still not enough to eradicate a volatile enemy who, in many cases, is ensconced in the virtual world.
It is no secret to anyone that the Internet is one of the main reasons for the explosion in medicine counterfeiting. In an article in Le Point [Fr], Christian Peugeot, President of Unifab, the association of French companies involved in the fight against counterfeiting, blames the “mushroom-like sites”, quickly set up, and quickly removed, which succeed in “ensnaring consumers”.
Once again, international collaboration has paid off. Last September and October, a large-scale internet crackdown , coordinated by Interpol, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the Permanent Forum on International Pharmaceutical Crime (PFIPC), culminated in a record seizure. In France, more than 427,000 medicines were intercepted. 236 illegal sites were shut down. An excellent result. However, between two lightning raid operations, counterfeit medicines have started to proliferate again on the net. Their production will only slow down if these illicit sites are systematically monitored by Interpol. Certainly, this will be costly, but can you really put a price on people's health?

author: Laurent Delors


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VIDEO: Impromptu Georgian Chorus at Kyiv Airport · Global Voices
Tetyana Bohdanova

A screenshot of the video of the four Georgians singing and dancing at Boryspil
On May 21, YouTube user Yevgeni Melnik shared this video of a group of four anonymous Georgian men doing an impromptu performance of traditional Georgian singing and dancing at Terminal F of Kiev Boryspil International Airport. The video has gone viral among Ukrainian Internet users: as of May 28, it has been watched 47,450 times.

author: Tetyana Bohdanova


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VIDEO: Journalist Who Fled Mexico Speaks · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“I abandoned my investigative work. I will never go back to investigative reporting because of the lack of protection by the Mexican state, which should guarantee my family’s safety and my freedom of expression. Unfortunately, many journalists live with fear as they work.”
Reporters Without Borders has released a video interview where independent journalist Verónica Basurto Gamero explains why she fled Mexico.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Why Parastatals Have Failed in Zambia · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Elias Munshya, a Zambian lawyer and paster, explains why parastatals have failed in Zambia since independence:
Parastatals have never made a profit since 1964. Parastatals have been run not on a business model but on a political model. Parastatals have not had professionals running the boards but they have been staffed with relatives, nephews, nieces and great-grandsons of the politicians
.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Service Sector Salaries in Hong Kong · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The problem of income disparity in Hong Kong has been very notorious. “Hong Wrong” highlighted the average salaries of those who are working in the service sector to help people understand who are the exploited in the wealthy global city.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Campaign to Liberate Oscar López Rivera · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The campaign for the liberation of Puerto Rican independence fighter Oscar López Rivera has intensified. During 32 years López Rivera has been imprisoned in the United States charged with “seditious conspiracy” and “conspiracy to escape” for which he received a 70 year sentence. He is now 70 years old. The objective of the campaign is for Barack Obama to pardon him and put a stop to an unjust incarceration. Follow the hashtags #FreeOscarLopez, #32XOscar and #LibertadOscar, and Facebook pages 32 x Oscar and Free Oscar López Rivera Now. For more information on López Rivera and the campaign please read here [es].

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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35,000 Child Prostitutes in Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Amader Kotha, a site dedicated to women's issues in Bangladesh reports that at least 35,000 children are being exploited sexually on a commercial basis in the country. More than half of them live in the official red light districts of the country and are often forced to enter the profession that their mothers have been in.

author: Rezwan


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13-year-old Girl Publicly Shamed in China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A 13-year-old girl was handcuffed and then paraded on the streets after “accidentally spilling water on a town government vehicle” in Guizhou province. Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated Chinese netizens’ reaction.


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Former Croatian PM Tweets on Parliament’s Discussion on Marriage  · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

Jadranka Kosor, former Croatian Prime Minister and current representative in the Croatian Parliament, decided to use her Twitter account on Tuesday evening to express her dissatisfaction with debate in Parliament over adding a definition of marriage to the country's constitution.
As in many other European countries, same-sex marriages have recently been a hot topic in Croatia's overwhelmingly Catholic society as well. Many users on Twitter and Facebook have related Jadranka Kosor's tweet from last evening to the matter of same-sex marriage, but it seems Ms. Kosor had somewhat different thoughts on her mind.
Around 6 PM on May 28, Jadranka Kosor tweeted [hr]:
Kako bi bilo da u Ustav ugradimo zabranu političarima (osobito demokršćanima) da imaju ljubavnice? Onima koji su u braku, jasno.
How about we install a ban for politicians in the Constitution (in particular for demochristians) from having mistresses? For those who are married, of course
Jadranka Kosor. Photo by Roberta F., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ms. Kosor later gave a statement [hr] to the Croatian news site Dnevnik, confirming that the tweet was indeed hers and explaining that she was merely expressing her “thoughts at a moment when certain changes to the Constitution were being discussed, while the state has much bigger and more important problems.”
Her tweet stirred up quite a bit of support and some trouble on Twitter nevertheless.
Twitter user @Nena_Nic said [hr]:
@_jadranka_kosor opa jadranka,pravo u centar
@_jadranka_kosor wow jadranka, straight on the bullseye
With over 50 retweets in some six hours, many on Twitter supported Kosor's statement, even those who obviously haven't shared her political views in the past, like @hajdarovicm [hr]:
@_Jadranka_Kosor Ne vjerujem sam sebi da cu ovo napisati, ali bravo zastupnice Kosor!
@_Jadranka_Kosor I can't believe myself what I am about to write, but bravo representative Kosor!
User @Implantologia_ says [hr]:
@_Jadranka_Kosor pa kad već predlažu blesave izmjene ustava idemo do kraja, stvarno svaka čast na izjavi…………:)
@_Jadranka_Kosor well since they're already suggesting silly amendments to the constitution let's go all the way, really every respect for the statement………….:)
Others weren't so supportive and questioned Ms. Kosor's motives and intentions. User @anikahahn echoes the sentiment of some other users [hr]:
@_Jadranka_Kosor Vaša ogorcenost sto nemozete biti vise nikome ljubavnica nije dovoljan razlog da mijenjate zakon ili ? Zar se ne sijecate
@_Jadranka_Kosor Your bitterness because you can no longer be anyone's mistress isn't reason enough to change the law or ? Don't you remember
Twitter user @Jela911 poses the question [hr]:
@_Jadranka_Kosor Gospođo Kosor, zašto Vama smeta to što će u Ustavu brak biti određen kao zajednica jednog muškarca i jedne žene?
@_Jadranka_Kosor Mrs. Kosor, why does it bother you that marriage will be defined in the Cosntitution as the union of a man and a woman?
In the end, there are also those who seem to have understood exactly what Ms. Kosor claims to have been thinking when she wrote this tweet, and they are wondering when other topics, like the current economic state of the country will be discussed in Parliament. @CountessBezuhov asks [hr]:
@_Jadranka_Kosor Kako bi bilo da se gradjani i političari u Hrvatskoj počnu baviti ekonmskim pitanjima, umjesto što se bave brakovima?
@_Jadranka_Kosor How about citizens and politicians in Croatia start working on economic matters, instead of working on marriages?

author: Danica Radisic


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Independent Projects of Ecological Solidarity Flourish in Puerto Rico · Global Voices
Yarisa Colon

Ecological solidarity is getting stronger every day in Puerto Rico, thanks to the people working hard to develop independent projects. Here are a few examples that confirm once again that the goal of preserving nature, cultivating non-toxic products and advocating for sustainability isn't an impossible dream.
The Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Eco-orgánica (Puerto Rican Eco-Organic Agriculture Organization) [es] brings together a diverse group of farmers and individuals interested in learning how to cultivate products in a sustainable way. They organize action squads, seed exchanges, and recently established the first Puerto Rican certification for ecologic crops. Their web page distributes free books and videos (interviews) that document the real work of Puerto Rican farmers. Here is a video posted by bartus allen, in which you can listen to Edgardo Alvarado, a founding member of Boricúa:
Desde mi huerto (From My Orchard) [es] is a great family initiative! A couple of ecological farmers, Raúl and Ivonne, have dedicated themselves to teaching people about effective ways to create organic home orchards. From their farmhouse, located close to the Bosque Carite, they plant “all kinds of vegetables, medicinal plants, aromatic herbs and fruit for your use, sales and consumption.” On their web page you can find useful information about organic seeds, orchard care and even listings of land for sale.
The Cooperativa Orgánica Madre Tierra [Mother Earth Organic Cooperative][es] organizes open-air markets on the first and third Sundays of each month in the Roosevelt de Hato Rey square, Puerto Rico. These markets bring together farmers, bakers, masseuses, educators, and organic and natural food lovers, among others, to share their knowledge and resources. The researcher Carmelo Ruiz says that this institution, created by a team of volunteers, is one of the most solid of the movement.
In addition to publishing valuable books and articles about food security in the Caribbean and Latin America, Carmelo Ruiz has since 2004 maintained a blog called Proyecto Bioseguridad de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Biosecurity Project) [es], where he has compiled a wealth of information about the harmful impact of genetically modified foods. He also announces encouraging news about the approval of laws that demand labeling of these types of products, and the successes of organizations working for greater access to healthy food.
La Chiwihna is the first fair trade store, located in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. The founding couple, Joel and Karla, say it's difficult to put into words everything their meeting space has to offer. For those considering a a visit to this urban oasis, we tell you ahead of time that they offer delicious local and international organic products, lunches prepared by contributing chefs, and that they organize an endless number of cultural activities.
Photo by Josué Guarionex
Chef Verónica Rodríguez Ojeda shares her passion for food, art and activism through her private and group cooking classes, community workshops and articles. The graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts co-founded ASIQUESI, a small natural restaurant, and Slow Food Calalú in Puerto Rico. Her experience as a sous chef in the Omega Institute, where she discovered “the biggest, best vegetarian kitchen in the United States,” was an formative part of her path. Now, back on the island once again, she will be coming up with new and exciting ideas.
El Departamento de la Comida (The Food Department) [es] is an eco-business committed to distributing organically-grown food from artisanal seeds. It also offers services for markets, parties and demonstrations such as the Global March Against Monsanto that took place on May 25. To learn more about the extraordinary story of Tara Rodríguez Besosa, who created this project along with Olga Casellas, watch Tedex San Juan: “Food is My Social Network”.
Foto publicada en la página de Facebook.
The Centro para la Recuperación de Artículos para su Uso, Reuso y Reciclaje (ReusArte) (Center for Recovery of Objects for Use, Reuse and Recycling) [es] is a project directed by Wanda I. Rodríguez that aims to support sustainable development. Almost every weekend, Wanda opens the doors of her house to organize bazaars, talks and workshops; and people from every part of the island come together to explore the different ways in which clothing, plastic and other valuable object can be reused or transformed. This communal space, with a view of the Guayama mountains, nourishes the vitality of the artisans, historians, poets and friends who come to share their passions.
La Casa-Tienda Tierra de la Luna (The Store-House of the Land of the Moon) [es] focuses on healing and peace; and it prioritizes products made by local and international artisans “that share their culture, tradition, love and respect for our Mother Earth.” They also use the space, in Caguas, to organize workshops about ecology, spirituality and health. In the most recent activity, participants discussed the symbolism of weaving, feminine wisdom and the menstrual cycle.
In her workshops and books, empirical ethnobotanist and educator Maria Benedetti shares her vast knowledge of medicinal plants and the Puerto Rican curative tradition. ¡Hasta los baños te curan! and Sembrando y sanando en Puerto Rico: Tradiciones y visiones para un futuro verde and Bendiciones botánicas para Boriquén are some of her worthwhile publications. Click here to listen to an interview with her from the radio program “Piedra, Papel y Tijera” (Rock, Paper, Scissors) transmitted by the University of Puerto Rico's radio station.
And finally, Mi Puerto Rico Verde (My Green Puerto Rico), founded by Ernesto Amador and José E. Maldonado, “promotes the knowledge and participation of the community through interactive social media tools.” This is an excellent site to keep up to date with the contributions of these and other important initiatives on the island.

author: Yarisa Colon


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Rebels in Thailand’s Troubled South Make Public Debut on YouTube · Global Voices
Aim Sinpeng

In Thailand's southern borderlands where various rebel groups have led a deadly nine-year insurgency, the majority of the violence has remained anonymous, committed without any one group coming forward to claim responsibility, make demands, or put a face to the conflict.
That is until now.
Shortly before Thailand's government began peace talks with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Patani (BRN), one of the main Muslim insurgency groups in the Deep South, as the area is known, Ustaz Hassan Taib and Abdulkarim Khalib released a rare video [ms] on YouTube on April 26, 2013 introducing the group. BRN seeks to fight for freedom and justice for the people of historic Patani region.
The Deep South of Thailand, encompassing three provinces and a half and a population of roughly two million people, is home to one of the world's most violent conflicts. Since 2004, more than 5,300 people have been killed – roughly 2,000 more fatalities than the Afghanistan conflict. In April of 2013 alone, 45 have been killed and 75 injured in 298 incidents.
Thai Rangers patrolling in Pattani, south of Thailand. Photo by Jack Kurtz, Copyright @Demotix (9/29/2009)
The conflict-plagued southern border provinces of Thailand – Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala and parts of Songkla, are majority Muslims. Many speak Bahasa Melayu Patani, which very few Thais understand. They represent a distinct minority group whose identity, culture, religion and tradition are different from the majority Buddhist Thais.
There are several insurgency groups currently taking aim both at soldiers and civilians in this heavily militarized Deep South. It has remained unclear as to the purposes of these insurgencies other than some broader goal of gaining more autonomy from Bangkok. The very secrecy of these insurgencies makes them bizarre.
On May 24, a second video [ms] on YouTube was released, outlining five key demands. Speaking in Bahasa Melayu Patani, Noor made clear that BRN is a “liberation” and not a separatist movement. The group demands that the peace talks with the Thai government must be observed by third-party organizations, such as the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), and it should be mediated by the Malaysian government.
Prior to this, only exiled members of the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), be they in Europe or the Middle East, have made some demands known to the government. PULO, founded in 1968, sought to re-assert itself as a group capable of negotiating with the government.
Given that there are many insurgency groups and factions operating in the southernmost provinces, it seems the BRN intends to claim that it is “the one” organization that will be negotiating with the Thai government, and not the PULO, or any other group. Moreover, the BRN makes clear it does not trust the Thai government and demands the Malaysian counterpart to mediate in the peace talks.
The Malaysians, on the other hand, are bracing for more waves of violence in the troubled border region, as other militant groups disagreed with the peace talks, sparking a surge of deadly attacks there.
The Thai army took a step further and began discussing building a “border fence” as part of a new surveillance tool that would limit the movement of militant groups. So far, other measures to quell the insurgencies in the Deep South have failed, such as the imposition of an emergency decree and deployment of 60,000 troops.
The video clips elicited some angry response in the Thai blogosphere. Warakorn Boonyakorn reminded the insurgents that religion should be about spreading the message of peace:
No religion teaches you to kill people. And whoever still does this “repulsive” thing… you can't claim it's religion….Religion is not what's wrong with this, it's the people.
MK47 questioned the wisdom of negotiating with the rebels:
You know they are the leaders who ordered the killing of hundreds of Thais? Why negotiate with them?…
David Kim clarified that the rebels are fighting for liberation:
We don't want to be part of Thailand. We are not Thais. Our blood will never become Thai blood…and we want to emphasize we are not separating [from Thailand], but we are liberating ourselves…
Muslim North urged the government to stop talking to terrorists:
Don't negotiate with terrorists.
The violence has not faded since the recent peace talks and the International Crisis Group has warned that insurgent groups are getting stronger and bolder. It seems Thailand is bracing for more storm and perhaps more YouTube clips.

author: Aim Sinpeng


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Little PSY and his Vietnamese Heritage · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

After learning that Korean child actor Hwang Min-woo or Little PSY of Gangnam Style fame has been receiving hate messages for being half-Vietnamese, James Bao wrote him a letter urging him to be proud of his Vietnamese roots:
Wear your heritage proud. We hope you’ll one day get a chance to explore your Vietnamese roots. Until then, find your Vietnamese mother and give her a hug.

author: Mong Palatino


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Mozambique’s Health Care Workers Strike for Higher Pay · Global Voices
@Verdade Newspaper

Francisco J. P. Chuquela, a collaborator of Global Voices’ partner @Verdade Newspaper in Mozambique, reported this story for Global Voices
Health professionals in Mozambique have been on strike for ten days leading to the halt of operations in many medical units throughout the country. The dispute with the government is based on demands for wage increase and standardisation, as well as the readjustment of the emergency room prices throughout the country's hospitals.
It is the second strike of the sector to take place in the country in 2013, only this time the protest of the doctors has expanded to more health professionals and has extended now for a second week.
Emotions peaked on Sunday night, May 26, 2013 when the President of Associação Médica de Moçambique, Dr. Jorge Arroz, was arrested by police under accusation of sedition (incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government). The release of Arroz a few hours later was fueled by massive popular mobilisation in front of the police station combined with the presence of mainstream media and the intervention of jurists.
Tomás Queface, a student of sociology, summarised on his blog [pt] Política e Tecnologia how Mozambicans immediately questioned on social media the reasons behind Arroz's detention and commented on the lack of freedom of expression in the country.
On Monday morning, May 27, health professionals met at the Cineteatro Gilberto Mendes, holding empty plates on their hands. Photo by Canal Moz.
Government's counter-information
Analysts believe that the arrest of Arroz has increased the participation [pt] of health professionals in the strike. “Reports on the percentage of participating strikers range from 90 to five percent of the medical workforce”, Aljazeera's The Stream reported on May 28.
On May 28, a citizen reported that health professionals were meeting in Beira's Central Hospital.
Throughout the first week of the strike, as the spokesman of the Ministry of Health said that all health units had returned to normality, citizen and independent reporters stated that there were many restrictions in some of the major medical units.
Citizens and journalists in Maputo sent their reports from several hospitals and health unites: consultations were delayed, and patients were being received and screened by students, military doctors, foreigners and international organisations such as the Red Cross. Other professionals, who usually occupy positions of leadership outside the units, were performing more specialized services.
Acts of intimidation
Hospital directors tried to mobilize health professionals to work, but to no avail. An audio recording [pt] shared by the Medical Association of Mozambique on Facebook on May 21 revealed the Director of Mozambique's largest hospital threatening and intimidating healthcare professionals:
…no dia em que o Ministério da Saúde começar a usar toda a máquina que tem por trás, vocês vão chorar …
On May 22, the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) accompanied by the Rapid Intervention Force (FIR) forbid access to the Nangade garden, a public space in the capital of Mozambique, where health professionals intended to meet.
Access to Nangade park blocked by the police.
The strike goes on, what about health?
While the Ministry of Health remains unable to resolve the problem of doctors, nurses and servants, healthcare conditions are becoming more and more precarious.
In a liveblog created by @Verdade to gather citizen reports about the health sector strike, there are testimonies of lack of hygiene, medicines, and other basic needs. On the morning of May 28, a citizen reported via SMS:
Numa reunião serviço esta manhã Hospital Central #Maputo “nao ha roupa,comprensas,anestesico. Assim esta impossivel trabalhar.
Patients admitted with TB at the Mavalane General Hospital in the capital of the country have not received medication since the first day of the strike.
The Medical Association of Mozambique and the Commission of Health Professionals reiterated that the strike will only cease when the government stops intimidating health professionals and other staff who joined the cause, as well as when their demands are met. The health workers protest the way wage adjustments are being done, in violation of the memorandum agreed between the association and the government in January.
The government, through the national director of strategic management of human resources in the Ministry of Public Function, said that they have already reached the capacity limit in terms of availability to the salary adjustment. The Ministry of Health accused the association of not being open to dialogue.
But @Verdade has copies of official correspondence exchanged between the association and the Ministry of Health where one can read, in a letter dated of May 21, that health professionals express their openness to the continuation of the negotiations, in response to a letter from the Ministry.

author: @Verdade Newspaper


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Peruvian Physicians Separate Conjoined Twins · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Peruvian physicians accomplished an unprecedented medical achievement in the country: for the first time they separated two female conjoined twins who were born united by their abdomens and shared a little part of their livers. Baby sisters Shadya and Shandell Vásquez Vargas were born on February 26, 2013 and the surgery that separated them [es] was possible because they didn't share bile ducts nor their vascular systems.
Yuri Nakazaki (@YuriNakazaki) cheerfully shared the news on Twitter:
@YuriNakazaki [es]: :) Cute little girls! “#siamesas [Siamese] born at Almenara Hospital were successfully separated” http://elcomercio.pe/actualidad/157… via @elcomercio

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Chinese Activist Protests School Molestation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ye Haiyan: Principal, if you’re getting a hotel room, get one with me. Leave the children alone. via Nanfang Insider.
In the past few weeks, a number of school child molestation cases have been exposed in mainstream media in China. The molesters are school principals and teachers. To challenge the principal's authority in school and raise public awareness, sex worker's right activist Ye Haiyan demonstrated with a banner outside a primary school in Hainan in which the principal took six girls to a hotel.


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Alleged South Korean Tax-Evaders Revealed · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korea's independent investigative journalism site, NewsTapa, together with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), released its initial list containing names of South Korean corporate moguls who allegedly have founded paper companies in the British Virgin Islands to avoid tax. Net users in Daum Agora filed an online petition [ko] calling for severe punishment on those suspected to have illegally evade tax.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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The “Brave” Democrats of Russia’s Growing Civil Society · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

As Vladimir Putin “turns the screws” on Russian public life in his third presidential term, Russian civil society is increasingly a repository for the ideologists and movers-and-shakers of an earlier age of Kremlin statecraft. Weeks ago, after the ouster of Vladislav Surkov (Moscow’s “grey cardinal”), observers from all over the globe proclaimed the end of an era in Russian politics. Last week, on May 22, 2013, when Surkov-ally Alexey Chesnakov quit United Russia and publicly criticized the party, few in the English-speaking world noticed, but the event could just as easily represent an important moment for Russian society.
Amidst a growing crackdown on foreign-funded NGOs and show trials either underway or looming against leaders of the protest movement, it’s easy to assume that Russian civil society is little more than a patchwork of persecuted activists and scholars. In fact, changes in the Kremlin have actually furnished the country’s public sphere with a fresh supply of former apparatchiki, whose fall from grace has pressured them out of formal politics, into the nebula of public policy research and advocacy. (Indeed, Mikhail Rostovsky has mocked [ru] this very phenomenon of Kremlin functionaries transforming into “brave democrats,” upon losing favor.)
When your outside's in, and your downside's up
Alexey Chesnakov at a meeting between PM Vladimir Putin and political scientists, 6 February 2012, photo by Government.ru, public domain.
Chesnakov is a case in point. Throughout Putin’s first two terms as president, he led the Administration’s information-analysis division, and later helped manage the Kremlin’s internal policy. Since 2008, Chesnakov has been a member of Russia’s Civic Chamber, held different leadership positions at the Center for Current Politics (TsPK), and served as a deputy secretary in United Russia’s General Council. (He also had a brief stint as a Kasimov city council member, in a failed bid [ru] for a seat in the national Senate, for which bloggers [ru] thoroughly condemned him.) In other words, Chesnakov has participated in public life on both the inside and outside of government, albeit always with a foot in the door, should he want to return either to public service or party work.
After leaving the party so loudly last week, Chesnakov appears to have shut the door on United Russia. (The metaphor he later used [ru] was “burned bridges.”) In four separate interviews (all on May 22), Chesnakov laid out “stylistic differences” with United Russia, which it turns out involve ostensibly procedural gripes about how the party goes about drafting legislative initiatives. In all the interviews, he stressed the need for a two-party system that would subject United Russia to competition he says is necessary to preserve its vitality.
Some of his other statements, however, lack a general coherence. For instance, Chesnakov argued in comments to Kommersant [ru] and Moskovskii Komsomolets [ru] that the Kremlin’s micromanagement hamstrings United Russia, but he told [ru] Slon.ru that one of the party’s most poorly handled legislative efforts (the ban on U.S. adoptions) was engineered exclusively by United Russia Secretary General Sergey Neverov.
The RuNet Bees Nest
The day that Chesnakov announced his exit from United Russia, LiveJournal users added to the controversy with two separate (albeit dubious) allegations. First, blogger Mikhail Antonov obtained and published [ru] screenshots of Chesnakov’s friends-only Facebook posts from May 22. What caught the public’s attention was a long and flowery description of a culinary experience at a Paris restaurant. While Chesnakov later claimed this post referred to a past visit to France, some of his critics were quick to compare his resignation to Surkov’s foreign trip to the London School of Economics, where Surkov criticized federal investigators, possibly instigating his own ouster. “This is probably some new trend, making political announcements from abroad,” Olga Batalina (Chesnakov’s UR deputy secretary successor) joked [ru] to the media.
In two posts on May 22 and 24, blogger Viktor Levanov explored Chesnakov’s prospects [ru] as an independent political force, postulating that he would need to compensate for his public obscurity by attracting wealthy sponsors. Going a step further, Levanov floated a few admittedly tenuous connections [ru] between Chesnakov and Dmitri Kuznetsov, the general director of SkyJet airlines. After this speculation apparently flooded Levanov with phone calls and written inquiries, he soon published [ru] reader-submitted screenshots of stockholder data on SkyJet and another business called SkyPoint, showing that Chesnakov seemed to own part of the companies. (Chesnakov responded [ru] on May 24, denying an ongoing role in Kuznetsov’s airlines, explaining that Levanov’s figures were over a year old and that he no longer owns SkyJet shares.)
Civil society versus siloviki
Chesnakov’s think tank, TsPK, used to publish on its website weekly memos about Russian domestic politics. Those briefs often created waves [ru] among Russia’s chattering classes, such as an August 2011 memo [ru] speculating that Putin was moving to weaken his chief silovik, Igor Sechin. (All evidence suggests that things turned out otherwise.) The Center’s last weekly memo went live [ru] in early October 2012. Shortly thereafter, the website closed down [ru] for “reconstruction,” where it remains today. On May 22, 2013, Chesnakov told Kommersant that he would welcome his new nonpartisan status by publishing through TsPK a series of political papers about risks facing Russia’s political system over the next year of Putin’s presidency. Earlier today, May 28, he announced [ru] the upcoming release of 12 articles addressing problems facing United Russia. That content, however, will appear in TsPK’s side-project electronic periodical [ru], Topical Commentary.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Video: Citizen Journalists Capture Hong Kong’s Captive Dolphins Harming Themselves · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Footage of dolphins at Hong Kong Ocean Park appearing to self-harm by slamming themselves against the pool wall, recorded by citizen news outlet inmediahk.net, has created a wave of online backlash against the marine mammal center.
During a two-hour visit at the park, which has a marine mammal breeding and research center as well as a marine mammal theme park and amusement park, reporters from inmediahk.net witnessed  various abnormal behaviors of the dolphins, including one of the animals throwing itself into the side of the pool with force, making a loud popping sound.
Ocean Park insisted that the slamming act is a “unique” habit and that “no injuries or deaths have been sustained as a result of the behavior depicted.”
(Video: reporters from inmediahk.net witnessed various abnormal behaviors of the dolphins.).
Dr. Samuel Hung, the chairman of the non-governmental organization the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, explained [zh] in a follow-up interview with the inmediahk.net reporters that the abnormal behavior, however, is a reaction to the enclosed artificial environment of the breeding center:
Dolphin slamming itself against the wall of the pool. Image from inmediahk.net. Non-commercial use.
雖然我們無法知道海豚想法，但這次海豚撞牆是十分罕見，至少我是第一次見。困養動物的行為很難理解，天性扭曲導致有異常行為，很難判斷海豚是否自殘。怎樣明確判斷為自殘行為，就好像沖繩海洋水簇館，海豚在表演途中跳出水池，這罷演行為正是自殘或自殺的表現。
Although we do not know what's in the dolphins’ mind, such behavior is very rare, in fact it is my first time to see such thing happen. It is very difficult to understand the behavior of a captive animal. Usually they would develop abnormal behavior when their nature is distorted [in an artificial environment]. It is yet too early to say that the act is self-harming and suicidal. What happened  in the Okinawa Marine Museum was suicidal. The dolphin jumped out of the pool during the show. The suicidal act was like a “strike”.
Indeed, the “working conditions” of the dolphins are very disturbing, the reporters observed during the park's annual special program “Animal Month – In High Definition” [zh]:
劇場的四條海豚，長期處於高噪音環境下，劇場表演前為了娛賓，公園會派出樂隊作半小時的表演，另外14條海豚在研究中心也受到濾水器噪音長期折磨。海豚靠聽力覓食，發出聲響後可捕捉100米以內食物，聽覺頻率為1-150kHz 而人類聽覺頻率為 0.02-17kHz ，而最高可聽到40-100kHz。就算是一個普通人也抵受不了，何況是一條聽覺靈敏的海豚！
The four dolphins in the Ocean Theater are working in a very noisy environment: a live band usually performs on stage to entertain the tourists before the dolphins appear on stage. As for the 14 dolphins in the research center, they are also tortured by the water filter system round the clock. Dolphins rely on hearing to capture fish in the sea within 100 meters. Their auditory frequency is 1-150kHz., while human hearing frequency is 0.02-17kHz and the highest frequency audible to human is 40-100kHz. When human find the sound annoying, the sensitive dolphins would find it a torture!
海洋劇場的狹窄水池住上4條海豚，其中3條在出場前，還在不斷複習表演動作，另一條海豚則在半米深的水池進行「豚聚一刻」節目，在訓練員的指示下，做出不同動作去娛樂遊客，同時訓練員使力按壓海豚頭部同身軀，避免海豚一旦掙扎弄傷遊客之餘，亦方便遊客接踵上前拍照留念。海洋劇場表演每日公演四次，每場大約30分鐘，由於近年入場旅客増多，難以估計海豚除應付劇場表演所帶來的工作壓力外，還得要承受多少場「豚聚一刻」及「親親海豚」等特備節目的心理折磨。
Four dolphins were all together in the tiny pool of the Ocean Theater, three of them were constantly reviewing the performance routine before the show started; and the other one was forced to stay in a half-meter deep pool for the tourist program “Dolphin Encounter”. Under the instruction of the trainer, the dolphin had to entertain the tourists with different postures. While the tourists were lining up in queue to take a picture with the dolphin, the trainer had to press the dolphin's head and body to make sure that it would not struggle and hurt the tourists. Ocean Theater provide performances four times a day, about 30 minutes per session. As in recent years, the number of park visitors keeps increasing, apart from the pressure of performances, it is difficult to estimate the psychological torture derived from special tourist programs such as “Dolphin Encounter” and “Kiss the Dolphin”.
The Ocean Park was initially a government-initiated project set up in 1977 and funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club to “assist in the understanding and practice of wildlife conservation”. The park ceased to be a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Jockey Club in 1987 and became an independent statutory body, the Ocean Park Corporation, with a board appointed by the government.
The amusement park also operates observatories, laboratories, an education department, and a whales and dolphins fund. The world's first dolphin born by artificial insemination was born in Hong Kong back in 2001. But the death of dolphin babies usually goes unnoticed because of the lack of a public monitoring mechanism [zh]:
打從2012年出現夭折或出世不久後死亡的海豚數目究竟有多少, 園方從沒設立公眾監察機制，亦沒對外公佈資料，因此海豚死亡數字一直成疑。再者園方從無公佈一些「敏感」資料，如雌雄海豚比例、海豚年齡、親疏關係、每年的死亡數字、海豚來源、繁殖記錄等等，巿民一概沒有知情權，一所聲稱開放的研究中心卻欠缺透明的監察機制，罔論擔當真正教育公眾的角色，試問一間漠視生命基本權利的機構，談何保育？又談何教育？
Since 2012, how many babies dolphins have died in the park? There is no public monitoring mechanism and no public report. The number remains a mystery. Moreover the park has not announced any “sensitive” information such as the ratio of male and female dolphins, ages, relations, origins, death records, and breeding records. As a public research center, how can it play the role of educator without basic transparency? How can it educate people about conservation if it does not respect life?
On social media, people expressed their concern for the animals at the center. Doris Woo, a secondary school student, commented in Facebook:
將心比己 如果將你成日困喺屋企個浴缸到 應該唔會再想生存落去
海洋公園其實一早已經變左做商業用地
Just imagine that you were locked in the bath tub at home, you would not want to live. The Ocean Park is now commercially run.
Lam Chet Yan, a local university student, pointed out:
海豚的聽覺非常敏銳，光是濾水器的聲音就足以讓他們壓力大到死亡，更別說表演時觀眾的喧囂聲早已讓他們崩潰。別再去觀賞動物表演，雖然海豚都笑瞇瞇的，但其實每一隻都壓力大到胃潰瘍在吃藥，也不要再去動物園，看著被囚禁的動物到底能學到什麼？還是單純因為人的「娛樂」就足以剝削動物到如此地步？
Dolphins have very sensitive hearing. The noise comes from the water filter system has already created too much pressure for them. The noise of tourists during their performance will make them crazy. Don't watch the show. Although they look as if they are smiling, their stress is immersive. Don't go to the zoo. What can you learn from the captive animal anyway? Or you think we can exploit animal like this for pure entertainment?
A petition calling for Ocean Park to phase out cetacean captivity had 809 signatures on Change.org as of May 28, 2013:
Please add my voice to those opposed to the Dolphin exhibit at Ocean Park. Concrete tanks cannot replicate the expanse of the ocean, nor can they fulfill the physical or psychological needs of these bright, social creatures.
Marine amusement park spectators see animals in captivity, where instinctive behaviors are lost in a made-for-profit world. Dolphins belong in the ocean, where they normally swim 100 miles a day. Swimming around a tank 500 times just to cover 50 miles is cruel punishment. […]
No matter how “state of the art” your facility may be, it simply cannot duplicate natural habitat. Wild dolphins live to 50; those in captivity rarely survive their teens. The National Marine Fisheries Service states that over half of all captured dolphins die in under two years. Survivors average 5.8 years in captivity. Socially bonded dolphins go insane when attempts to communicate through bouncing sonar waves create “boomerang” reverberations that literally bounce back at them. Many aquariums stock Pepto-Bismol to treat stress ulcers. Chlorinated tanks can cause dolphins to go blind and suffer skin disorders. Many succumb to pneumonia, ulcers or other stress-related illnesses.
Please consider diverting funds for this project toward local conservation efforts or other educational alternatives such as real-time videos of rehabilitation efforts broadcast into an “aquarium theater”, on to the internet, or into classrooms.
Trapped marine mammals are sad caricatures of the real thing. Please do not subject more creatures to pain and suffering for the sole purpose of public amusement.


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VIDEO: How Two Men Worlds Apart Fought Injustice and Won · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Mkhuseli “Khusta” Jack is from South Africa and Oscar Olivera is from Bolivia; they come from different continents but they share one common story: they both challenged injustice and won.
In 1985, Khusta helped end racial apartheid by organizing a consumer boycott in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Fifteen years later, in 2000, Olivera played a key role in a resistance movement that stopped the privatization of water in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
These two struggles, years and continents apart, are a testimony of the power of strategic organizing and non-violent civil resistance.
This year, Khusta and Olivera met in Mexico at the School of Authentic Journalism. A group of scholars and professors from the school produced a video with their stories, which was recently released by Narco News TV.
Lawyer and human rights advocate Rumbidzai Dube, who helped produce the video, adds more detail about the two struggles:
Young and energetic, Khusta led an economic boycott of downtown white-owned businesses in Port Elizabeth to leverage black people’s demands for better treatment -humane treatment by the apartheid government of South Africa.
In the dizzying heights of Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 2000, Oscar Olivera together with others waged a popular resistance that came to be known as the Cochabamba Water Wars- a struggle against the privatisation of Bolivia’s water; including its rain water.
She concludes:
Both men mobilised, they rallied their people to take a stand, they stood their ground. They took a risk; their activities were daring, after all they were dealing with life and death matters. But what choice did they have? Was a life without water a choice? Was a life without freedom, dignity and justice a choice? And so they sacrificed; not only their time and energy but their lives; and they both won.
Journalist Arzu Geybulla also met Khusta and Olivera. She writes in her blog that both men are “inspirational just like their story.”
Mexican blog Hazme el Chingado Favor [es] posted a short commentary encouraging their readers to share the video:
Este video no es una comedia como las otras que hemos hecho, pero creemos tanto en su mensaje que estamos motivados para compartirlo con todo el mundo y quisieramos pedir su apoyo con su difusión. El tema del video se explica por si solo.
This video is not a comedy like the others we've done, but we believe in its message so much that we are motivated to share it with the world and would like to ask for your support in spreading it. The theme of the video is self-explanatory.


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Vietnam and Same Sex Marriage · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Writing for Tuoitrenews, Valentine Vu explains why Vietnam is not yet ready for the legalization of same sex marriage:
…majority of the population still holds prejudice against homosexuality being a disease, in fear of it being contagious, and afraid of losing face value if a friend/family member is gay


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New Blog Celebrates Sri Lanka’s Diversity · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mixed Rice is a new blog, which aims to celebrate Sri Lanka's diversity and provide a platform for thoughtful discussions about the forces that threaten unity.


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Blackout Mapping in Cambodia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Urban Voice, a Phnom Penh-based crowdsourcing initiative, has mapped the blackouts which have become frequent in the city and other parts of Cambodia. In the past two months, Urban Voice has received over 110 reports of power cuts with some districts experiencing ten-hour long power cuts.
Last May 22, a power failure in south Vietnam plunged Phnom Penh into darkness. Vietnam provides Cambodia with some 40 percent of its power supply. The massive blackout sparked online discussion about the country’s power supply situation. Citizens are demanding explanation about the recurring blackouts in recent months.
Although power returned around 8pm, Phnom Penh’s residents remain disgruntled. The mass outage follows a month of severe power cuts around the city, resulting in extensive socio-economic costs due to their unpredictability.
Blackout mapping in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Image from Urban Voice
My Sovann of Urban Voice presented the mapping result to Electricité du Cambodge, the country’s electricity provider:
The issue at stake here is thus not that power cuts occur, it is their unpredictability. Not knowing when, where, and for how long power cuts will take place, imposes socio-economic costs on businesses, organisations, and individuals. These could easily be avoided if Phnom Penh residents knew when to expect power cuts, and would hence be able to make alternative arrangements.
Urban Voice urges the company to publish the schedule of the power cuts:
Here’s our message to the Electricité du Cambodge (EDC): Publish the Power Cuts, or give us a better explanation for why disclosing a schedule is supposedly “impossible.”
Here are some reactions on Twitter about the blackouts in Cambodia:
Image from Urban Voice
@CarrieJeanneJ Longest blackout in my Cambodian history. I'm sitting on our roof with a (slight) breeze,listening to geckos “geck-o”-ing&crickets chirping.

@C_Panhavion and it's raining, let it pour down and frozen the earth. damn hot recently since the electricity usually cut off.
@Sokly543 Electricity is cut off. I can't do anything now


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VIDEO: Brazil’s Police Intimidate Indigenous  · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Video [Audio and subtitles in Portuguese] recorded by the native Paygomuyatpu Mundurukku shows soldiers of the National Force verbally intimidating his tribe on the area of Belo Monte dam.
170 indigenous people returned to occupy [pt] the construction site of the Belo Monte dam [pt] this week. They demand the Brazilian government to suspend the construction of hydroelectric power plants in the Amazon region as well as complain about the government lack of willingness to negotiate over their land rights. Previous  occupation [en] was on 6 May, 2013.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Cheat.org: What’s Wrong with Russia’s Online Petitions? · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

The Russian government-sponsored initiative [ru] to increase public participation in policy-making through an online petition process [GV], was met with suspicion even before its launch [GV] in April. Now, almost two months later, opposition bloggers are crying foul, claiming that the process has already been corrupted.
Anonymous users of the Russian Public Initiative (RPI) forums [ru] first drew attention to the alleged falsifications, and the accusation was later picked up by e-Democracy specialist Leonid Volkov [ru], his friend Alexey Navalny [ru], and  major online news outlets [ru]. Specifically, forum users noticed something odd about the way votes were being accrued to a popular public initiative. With 48,000 votes, the initiative, which calls for an end to zero-tolerance Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) regulations, is currently second in popularity only to Alexey Navalny's initiative to ban bureaucrats from purchasing luxury cars. Although it has enjoyed this position since the very start of the process, bloggers claim that this popularity is at least partially contrived.
Volkov and Navalny at a 2011 rally. YouTube screenshot. May 29, 2013.
The claim was first made on the RPI forums. A guest user wrote [ru] on May 16, 2013:
Между прочим, на сайте roi.f1p.net видно накрутку голосов по инициативе с отменой нулевого промилле (по моему предположению). Там видны очень четкие ступеньки, чередующиеся с ровными участками. […] Ступеньки идут достаточно периодично, чтобы средняя скорость добавления голосов за час была без резких скачков.
By the way, on the roi.f1p.net website you can see the falsification on the initiative to repeal the zero BAC (in my opinion) [note: “in my opinion” was added later by the forum administrator]. You can see very clear steps, followed by flat portions. […] The steps are fairly periodical, so that the average speed of vote accrual per hour does not jump around.
The website the user was referring to, roi.f1p.net [ru], is a public endeavor to monitor the RPI voting process, and keeps track of the top initiatives by recording vote data every 10 minutes. It allows users to graph this data in any degree of detail they want, and indeed, if one looks closely at a 24-hour period of data for the anti-BAC initiative, it sometimes exhibits odd patterns:
A look at what anti-BAC vote accrual looked like on May 4, 2013. From roi.f1p.net
The “steps” clearly visible above are not present in the graph of votes for Navalny's anti-luxury car measure, over the same period:
May 4, 2013 votes for luxury car ban petition. From roi.f1p.net
What are these mysterious steps? They lose all mystery when the data are graphed on a per-10-minute basis, rather than in aggregate, which is precisely what the anonymous Svetlana S. (presumably the same anonymous guest user that first called attention to the issue on the RPI forums) did earlier this month, sending her results to Leonid Volkov, who blogged [ru] about the story on May 28:
Screenshot of a May 4 graph posted by Volkov in his blog. The blue bars are votes for Navalny's initiative, the red bars are votes for the BAC initiative. The x-axis is on a 10 minute scale.
This chart makes it clear that the “steps” in the aggregate graph from roi.f1p.net are associated with a relatively large number of “extra” votes for the BAC measure, which take place all at once, roughly once per hour. (What is less clear is why Volkov decided to omit the axis with the actual number of votes the bars represent. I downloaded the data, available here, and corroborated this and other charts posted by Volkov. On May 4, 2013, the highest BAC peak was 26 votes. In general, if vote injections did take place, they numbered 20 votes each time. The same pattern holds true for an almost two week period that roughly coincides with the so called May-holidays in Russia, i.e. from May 1 to Victory Day on May 9. During the past week the “steps” have largely disappeared from the BAC-repeal initiative, although the data continue to exhibit a much higher degree of variance than the luxury car data.)
While something clearly shady is happening with the BAC petition, the big question is why. Both Volkov and Navalny generally agree with the original whistle-blower on the RPI forums, who wrote [ru]:
Вероятно, хотят побыстрее продвинуть эту инициативу, т.к. вопрос по отмене уже решен и можно безболезненно показать, как они учитывают мнение народа (по моему предположению). А заодно уязвить Навального, который хочет, чтобы именно его инициатива первая набрала 100000 (по моему предположению).
They probably want to push this initiative along, since the question of the repeal is already decided and they can painlessly show how they are listening to the voice of the people (in my opinion). And at the same time to stick it to Navalny, who wants his initiative to be the first to make it to 100000 (in my opinion).
In particular, Volkov is of the opinion that the push for falsifying happened after President Putin signaled a willingness to address the BAC question in his direct line Q&A session on April 25, 2013. Volkov also stated that the BAC petition is catching up to the luxury car petition, in percent terms, making it seem like Navalny's initiative is in danger of being overtaken. Both Volkov and Navalny used this fact as a way to drum up more interest in voting for Navalny's initiative.
Unfortunately, these arguments are faulty. First, if there is an ongoing attempt at inflating the vote for the BAC petition, it appears to only pursue the goal of matching the luxury car initiative growth rate, rather than its overall numbers. In fact, as you can see on the graph below, the relationship between the two appears to be fairly constant from before April 25, with a gap of approximately 15 thousand votes which does not grow or shrink (Volkov's point about the gap shrinking in percentage terms is thus misleading. In this case the smallest percentage a gap of 15,000 votes can “shrink” to is 15%.) On the one hand, the relationship is almost too constant — the two curves follow each other with uncanny precision, even given the fact that some people who vote for Navalny's petition also vote for other petitions — but on the other hand there is no evidence of an attempt to somehow beat Navalny to the punch:
Graph of votes for initiatives to ban luxury cars (orange) and repeal BAC laws (blue) trending together. From roi.f1p.net.
In response to a Twitter comment describing this issue, Volkov said [ru] that “maybe” the perpetrators are trying to keep the gap narrow in preparation for some kind of last minute push.
The other problem with Volkov's argument is also data related. It just so happens that the initiative to repeal BAC laws isn't the only one that exhibits the same strange stepwise curves we saw above. In fact, out of the top nine initiatives that the roi.f1p.net website keeps track off, all (aside from Navalny's) have the same issue. These initiatives include such disparate causes as burying Lenin:
May 4 data for initiative to bury Lenin.
and banning all cars besides for emergency services from using flashing sirens:
May 4 data for initiative to ban bureaucrats from using sirens on their cars.
Assuming that roi.f1p.net data are not faulty, the fact that all of the top initiatives (except for Navalny's) share this characteristic makes it less likely that the falsifications were undertaken because of Putin's tacit approval of the BAC repeal. Of course, one could argue that the other initiatives are merely there to make the BAC repeal initiative appear to be within a general trend. This line of thinking is probably closest to the truth — the most likely scenario is that Russian Public Initiative (a government contractor), faced with a relative lack of interest in its product, is trying to fudge its own statistics to appear more successful than it actually is. Navalny's superstar initiative provides them with a baseline which they can use to simulate organic growth for other initiatives, and this is what they have been doing. The remaining question is — why so sloppy?

author: Andrey Tselikov


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Chinese Motherland or Otherland? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A web postcard designed by @weicombo in Sina Weibo.
The micro-blogger explained the meaning of otherland as: You thought it is motherland, in fact it is otherland; this country belongs to foreigners and those whose offsprings are living overseas. You are the stranger of motherland.


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New «Squadron» of Exorcists for the Archdiocese of Madrid · Global Voices
Lourdes Sada

[All links lead to Spanish language pages, except where otherwise noted]
A few days ago, a news item appeared in ReligiónenLibertad.com, a Catholic website. The news could be described as astonishing, even by conservative estimates:
(…) la gran demanda [de] ayuda para liberarse de posesiones demoníacas, o bien de influencias maléficas (amarres, magia negra de brujas y quiromantes, mal de ojo, echadores de cartas […]), ha llevado al cardenal Rouco Varela a nombrar, de golpe, a ocho exorcistas para atender esta enorme avalancha de peticiones.
(…) due to the high demand [for] help in being freed from demonic possession and other evil influences such as love spells and black magic cast by witches, palm readers, the “evil eye,” and fortune tellers […], Cardinal Rouco Varela has hurriedly assembled a team of eight exorcists to meet the avalanche of requests.
As the archdiocese of Madrid explained to the above-mentioned website:
(…) los nuevos exorcistas están estudiando a marchas forzadas el “Ritual renovado de Exorcismos”, aprobado por Juan Pablo II en 1998.
Algunos de los neoexorcistas también se han sumergido en la lectura del antiguo Ritual, el Rituale Romanum, que data de 1614, o, sobre todo, del ritual de 1952, y que en opinión del Padre Amorth “es mucho más eficaz que el actual, y que continúa siendo válido”.
(…) the new exorcists are on the fast track in their study of the “revised Rite of Exorcism”, approved by Pope John Paul II in 1998.
Some of the neo-exorcists have also immersed themselves in the reading of the more ancient rite, the Rituale Romanum, dating back to 1614, or, more commonly, the rite of 1952, which in the opinion of Padre Amorth “is much more efficient than the current one, and continues to be valid.”
The digital media caught on to this news, as one would expect. The website eldiario.es elaborated on the information with sarcasm:
La presencia de exorcistas en las diócesis españolas es bastante escasa (…). Sólo una de cada cuatro dispone de este personal especializado. El potencial de creación de empleo es, por lo tanto, considerable.
Exorcists in the dioceses of Spain are fairly uncommon (…). Only one diocese in four makes this type of specialized personnel available, so the potential for job creation is considerable.
Ligeia responded in this article:
es broma, no?? en serio?? han publicado esto?? … muda, muda me he quedado…
seriously?? they published this?? it's some kind of joke, right??  …i'm speechless, absolutely speechless…
For the most part, internet users found humor in the news, leaving hilarious posts on the original news sites as well as on Twitter. Eleana left this comment on The Huffington Post:
Cardinal Rouco Varela as a ghost hunter. Photo montage published on Twitter by McNultyRulez
Desde ya lo advierto: como vea a alguno acercárseme blandiendo crucifijo con la intención de protegerme del Maligno y ser sustraída de su dominio, va a recibir algo más que buenas palabras. Hombre,… no lleva una todos estos años esforzándose por ser dominada por el Maligno para que venga ahora un Rouquenator cualquiera a sustraerme.
I'm warning you right now: if I see some guy come walking up to me waving a cross, trying to protect me from The Prince of Darkness by pulling me out of His Kingdom, that guy will get something he's not expecting. Geez…I've been trying for too long to get the Evil One to dominate me in the first place! I'm not gonna just let some Rouco-nator walk up and yank me away.
On Twitter, salvador serrano offered Monsignor Rouco this advertisement to help him attract qualified exorcists:
@SalvaguitarSs: Se buscan exorcistas para combatir al maligno, horario flexible, fijo más comisiones, vehículo de empresa, con mala leche. #rouco varella
@SalvaguitarSs: WANTED: Exorcist to battle the devil, flexible hours, salary plus commission, company car. Must be a real bastard. #rouco varela
Meanwhile, Luis Carlos Sánchez, José Manuel Ribeiro and Rubén Terrón Sánchez caustically focused on the number of positions the archdiocese is offering:
@oloragasolina: No os metáis con Rouco, que ha creado más puestos de trabajo que Rajoy en todo su mandato. Concretamente, ocho puestos. Sí, de exorcista.
@oloragasolina: Let's not badmouth Rouco; he has created more jobs than Rajoy has during his entire term of office. Eight positions altogether. Okay, so they're for exorcists…so what?  [Mariano Rajoy Brey is the current Prime Minister of Spain.]
@ongdirect: Mira tú la formación que te puede sacar del paro: ¡exorcista! http://www.elplural.com/2013/05/23/rouco-prepara-un-cuerpo-de-exorcistas-para-madrid-ante-la-enorme-avalancha-de-peticiones/ …
@ongdirect: Who knew? Get some training in exorcism and you're back in the job market! http://www.elplural.com/2013/05/23/rouco-prepara-un-cuerpo-de-exorcistas-para-madrid-ante-la-enorme-avalancha-de-peticiones/ …
@Terron67: Nosotros quejándonos de que no hay trabajo y en la Comunidad de Madrid está el pobre Rouco sin exorcistas… #HayTrabajoDeSobra
@Terron67: Here we are complaining about the scarcity of jobs, when in the Community of Madrid poor Rouco is short of exorcists… #HayTrabajoDeSobra
JM Mulet made some ironic remarks about the job description for an exorcist:
@jmmulet: ¿Alguien sabe si los exorcistas de Rouco también son cazavampiros o eso requiere otra titulación?
@jmmulet: Does anyone know if Rouco's exorcists can double as vampire hunters, or would they need extra qualifications for that?
On a more serious note, Agustín Martínez and Paco Herrera commented on the ramifications all of this has for public life:
@Agus_Martinez58: Me quedo más tranquilo sabiendo que Rouco destinará parte de lo que reciba de dinero público a pagar exorcistas. http://www.cadenaser.com/opinion/audios/telegrama-rouco-varela/csrcsrpor/20130524csrcsropi_7/Aes/ …
@Agus_Martinez58: I can rest so much easier now knowing that Rouco has earmarked a portion of the money he gets from the public purse to pay exorcists. http://www.cadenaser.com/opinion/audios/telegrama-rouco-varela/csrcsrpor/20130524csrcsropi_7/Aes/ …
@PacoHerrera77: La contratación de exorcistas por la Iglesia hace un gran bien a la Marca España. Amén. #saldesucuerpo #exorcistas #empezadporRajoyoAznar
@PacoHerrera77: The Church's hiring of exorcists is doing wonders for Brand Spain. Amen. #saldesucuerpo #exorcistas #empezadporRajoyoAznar
The article from ReligiónenLibertad offers helpful information for potential users: «we have set up a switchboard in the Curia from Monday through Friday, 2:30-5:30 pm.» Ramón speculates on the way this service will function:
«The Exorcist» movie comes to Moncloa [official residence of the Spanish Prime Minister] to exorcise the government from Rajoy. Photo montage uploaded to Twitter by FelinoTigreton.
@klf129: #rouco creará un teléfono de atención al poseído. Si vomita verde pulse 1, si levita pulse 2, si habla lenguas muertas pulse 3
@klf129: #rouco is going to open a customer service line for the possessed. “If you're vomiting green, press 1. If you're levitating, press 2. If you're speaking in ancient tongues, press 3.”
Quique Chust and franga Díaz have their suspicions about the origins of this entire story:
@quiquechust: Quitadle a Rouco el CD de Tubular Bells, que lo está oyendo del revés..
@quiquechust: Somebody take away Rouco's “Tubular Bells” CD. He's been playing it backwards…
 @FrangaDiaz: Rouco Valera dice que en Madrid hacen falta exorcistas. Otro que se pone ciego a porros y encima sin avisar. #fumatablancaRouco
@FrangaDiaz: Rouco Valera says that Madrid needs exorcists. Here's another guy who's constantly high on weed and won't share. #fumatablancaRouco
PATU-SALUD sees the sad reality:
@SanidadEnLucha: RT @livantuan: Despedimos médicos especialistas, contratamos exorcistas. #España
@SanidadEnLucha: RT @livantuan: We're firing medical specialists and hiring exorcists. #España
And Daniel Martín sees the same reality, but with a touch of sarcasm :
@MartinDaniel73: Los #exorcistas nos echarán agua bendita y diremos: “Y yo todo este tiempo pensando que eran gases. Alabado sea el Señor”.
@MartinDaniel73: When these #exorcistas sprinkle their holy water on us, we'll just say, “Wow!…and all this time I thought it was gas. Praise the Lord!”
Manuel García places the archbishop's initiative firmly within a 21st-century context:
@Candeliano: La creación de nuevas plazas de exorcista es una clara apuesta de la iglesia católica por el I+D, en la línea renovadora del Papa Francisco.
@Candeliano: The creation of new posts for exorcists shows the Catholic Church's clear support for I+D [Spain's Research and Development initiative], and lines up with the program of renewal called for by Pope Francis.
The Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, Monsignor Rouco Varela
It seems certain that this issue carries undertones of a more sinister type. In 2011, the British Medical Journal [En] published the case of a schizophrenic woman in Madrid who had several exorcisms performed on her:
Informamos del caso de una paciente de 28 años, diagnosticada 5 años antes de esquizofrenia paranoide (…) La paciente fue inducida por sacerdotes a creer que sus síntomas psicóticos se debían a la presencia de un demonio. (…) algunos de los sacerdotes pertenecían a la archidiócesis de Madrid y conocían la situación clínica de la paciente; no obstante, creyeron que sufría posesión demoníaca y la sometieron a múltiples exorcismos, alterando su respuesta al tratamiento clínico.
(…) nos sorprende que en el siglo XXI y en Europa, aún existan expertos y clérigos que creen que ciertos tipos de esquizofrenia se deben a la posesión demoníaca.
We reported on the case of a female patient, age 28, who had been diagnosed five years earlier with paranoid schizophrenia (…) The patient was misled by priests to believe that her psychotic symptoms were due to the presence of a demon. (…) some of the priests belonged to the archdiocese of Madrid and were familiar with the patient's clinical condition; nevertheless, they were convinced that she suffered from demonic possession, so they subjected her to multiple exorcisms, theerby altering her response to clinical treatment.
(…) we are surprised that in 21st century Europe there are still experts and clergy alike who actually believe that certain types of schizophrenia are the result of demonic possession.
Manuel Casal expresses his opinion on Casa L:
Ayer nos reíamos con esta ocurrencia de los demonios y los exorcistas. Y es lógico que a estas alturas estas ocurrencias nos hagan reír. Pero hoy más bien me da una mezcla de pena, de miedo y de asco. El daño que pueden hacer en las mentes más débiles es enorme. Desde hace mucho tiempo pienso que estos curas oficiales han perdido la fe. Hoy creo que, además, han perdido la razón.
Yesterday we were laughing about this whole business of demons and exorcists, and it was logical for us to laugh about it at that point. But today, instead of laughing, I have  mixed feelings of sorrow, fear, and disgust. These people can do a great deal of damage to more sensitive individuals. I've thought for a long time that our church officials have lost their faith. Now I think they've also lost their minds.

author: Lourdes Sada