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A Ugandan Mayor Has 2 National ID Cards. That Doesn’t Bode Well for Elections · Global Voices
James Propa

Two national identity cards of Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago with the same biometric data but different serial numbers and expiration dates. Image shared of his Facebook page.
Last year, the government of Uganda started the process of registering all Ugandans and issuing them with identity cards as part of the National Security Information System. On April 20, 2015 the Electoral Commission announced that the same cards will be used for the general elections in 2016.
Opposition politicians are against the decision, arguing that during the registration non-Ugandans were registered. There are also suspicions over the strong presence of soldiers in the leadership of the National Security Information System, which some fear means the military could tamper with future elections.
One of the opponents of the National ID project is the Lord Mayor of Kampala city Erias Lukwago. Using his Facebook page, he pointed out the weakness of the system by posting two ID cards he managed to obtain with the same biometric data, but with different serial numbers. He wants the Minister of Internal Affairs General Nyakairima and the Electoral Commission to give him reasons for issuing him with two cards:
It's a unique country with unique systems, otherwise I doubt that the soon-to-be baptised ”Independent Electoral Commission” and/ or the yet-to-be retired UPDF General Nyakairima [Minister for Internal Affairs] would give any valid reason(s) as to why I was issued with TWO National Identity Cards, with the same biometric data but different serial numbers, different expiry dates etc. I also wonder whether my ”votability”(I guess they meant Eligibility) has also doubled?
His post elicited mixed reactions from Ugandans on Facebook.
If a mayor can get two ID cards, said Brian Nandala, he, an ordinary person, should be able to get more too:
haha so Lord Mayor has two ids guess I should get 7
Didas Kisembo was seeing ghosts:
Hehehe… @Erias Lukwago This is how ghost voters make it into the register
Emmy Otim implored the Election Commission to clarify the issue:
This is bad for the credibility of the 2016 election register and the Electoral Commission. An opposition leader issued with two National IDs with Same names and date of birth but different serial numbers and expiry dates. How many more Ugandans have gotten more than on nation ID but are quiet. EC [Electoral Commission] must clarify this ASAP…
Denis Indani joked:
Didn't know The Lord Mayor had his twin bro. sharing the same names as his!!!!!!!!
However, not all who reacted to his post are on his side. Agaba Jebedian Jonan, for example, said the mayor is involved in fraud:
in fact Lukwago should give answer why he's having two identify cards, that means he's involved in fraud
Mugisha Andrew explained how the mayor got two cards, saying that one of them is invalid:
the first card he registered for in 2011 as a VIP duirng the pilot project, you can tell from the serial number…these cards were then declared null n void, the second card is the valid one, even lukwago himself knows that the second card is invali, his just trying to find ground for disrupting the upcoming polls with false claims….if u received your national id compare your serial number with the two ids and tell which is valid and which is not…
Patrick Senyonga asked why the two cards have two different photos suggesting that he registered twice:
And why does he have two different passport photos on the two cards…did he register twice
Cosmas Kabona is not convinced by the mayor's story. He argued that the mayor committed a crime:
I am not convinced.The process of picking that card is lengthy involving a signature and a thumb print in the system.How did the lord mayor know that there were two cards for him in the box so that he presented himself twice?Presenting yourself twice to demand for a card already issued to you tantamount to a crime
The Electoral Commission is currently re-branding, which involves changing its name to “The Independent Electoral Commission of Uganda” in a move to create trust in the election body. It is common after every election in Uganda for the opposition to partly blame the commission for their loss.

author: James Propa


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Whooping Cough Epidemic Looms Over Nanti Children in Peru · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Nanti children. Image on Flickr by user
Lemurian Grove (CC BY-NC 2.0).
The Nantis is one of the semi-nomadic communities that live in Peru. A part of them live in the townships in the upper Camisea river and the central area of the Timpía river. There are isolated families that live scattered in the upper Timpía river and the northern area of the National Sanctuary Megantoni in Cusco in southeastern Peru.
The Nantis are one of the two subgroups of the Matsigenka or Machiguenga people. Nanti is a name that refers to a number of families that are part of this people who call themselves Matsigenka.
In late April, a delegation from the Peruvian Ministry of Education that arrived to the area confirmed that over ten children had passed away due to whooping cough, a highly contagious disease of the airways caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Bordetella pertussis. They also confirmed there were more children infected.
Other outlets mentioned four deceased children. The website Servindi reported:
Los funcionarios del Minedu (Ministerio de Educación) que llegaron hasta el lugar con el fin de realizar un diagnóstico socioeducativo y sociolingüístico […] lo que encontraron fueron aulas con pocos alumnos y una epidemia en su grado máximo.
Estos llegaron a señalar que inclusive durante su estadía, en la comunidad de Montetoni, fallecieron dos niños más, uno llamado Isaías de 4 años y un bebe de 9 meses.
The officials of the Ministry of Education went there in order to carry out an educational and socio-linguistic diagnosis […] found out classrooms with few students and an epidemic at its highest level.
The officials noted that even while they were, in the Montetoni community, two more children died, four-year old Isaías and a nine-month old baby.
Twitter echoed the news:
Peru: crianças indígenas Nanti morrem em epidemia de coqueluche, em reserva contígua aos PN Alto Purus e Manu | http://t.co/lRJ7XPEQpP
— Cassio de Figueiredo (@casdefigueiredo) abril 30, 2015
Peru: Nanti indigenous children die due to whooping cough epidemic, in a reservation next to Upper Purús and Manu.
Confirman muerte de cuatro niños de pueblo Nanti en Cusco ► http://t.co/SFGQuK8Csr pic.twitter.com/PB6IJhF44B
— Perudalia (@perudalia) abril 30, 2015
Confirmed, four children from the Nanti community have died in Cusco.
Perú: “Enfermedad” mata 4 niños indígenas del pueblo Nanti en contacto inicial http://t.co/8WGxFh4QDz pic.twitter.com/q1JKYjsryQ — Andrés Cuyul (@newenweichan) abril 30, 2015
Peru: “Disease” kills four Nanti indigenous children, community in stage of first contact.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Your Post-Election Guide to Cashing in on Nigeria’s Oil Wealth · Global Voices
Eremipagamo Amabebe

In March 2015, Africa's most populous country held its third general election, an historic vote that saw power change hands democratically for the first time since independence. The new government means the coming months will see a reshuffling of political offices, including key positions in the oil industry. Not on the appointment list? Not to worry! Tolu Ogunlesi has a funny, informative guide to how you too can cash in on Nigeria's oil wealth.
Here's step four:
Lower the Bar. This is simple common sense. If you want it easier, you’ve got to make it easier. Again, let’s go back to 2011. Pre-Jonathan, the requirements for qualifying to be issued an oil import licence were quite stringent. You had to prove that you had the capacity to pay upfront for a minimum shipment size of 5,000 metric tonnes of product. You also had to prove that you owned retail outlets for the distribution of the imported product.

author: Eremipagamo Amabebe


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More and More, LGBT Japanese Are Coming Out of the Closet · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Caption: 1 in 13 identify as LGBT (“sexual minorities”). Screencap courtesy NHK
An online survey conducted by international PR and advertising giant Dentsu has found that one in 13 Japanese people (7.7%) between the ages of 20 and 59 identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). The results of the original Japanese-language survey can be requested here.
This number is an increase from the results of a 2012 Dentsu survey, when 1 in 19 respondents identified as LGBT.
The April 2015 survey results come barely a month after several large cities in Japan recognized same-sex civil unions, and as the Japanese Ministry of Education is set to introduce new curriculum promoting diversity in Japanese society.
In another April 2015 news release, advertising agency Dentsu has also identified the LGBT community as an increasingly influential demographic of consumers in Japan with an annual spending power of 5.94 trillion yen (approximately US$50 billion).
To determine that 7.7% of Japanese people identify as LGBT, on April 7 and 8, 2015, Dentsu surveyed 70,000 people over the Internet. The results were reported by age:
自分が当事者かもしれないと気付いた時期については、「１３歳から１５歳」が最も多く１８．６％、次いで６歳以下が１７．２％、「１０歳から１２歳」が１６％、４０歳を過ぎてからという人も９．８％いました。一方で、当事者であることを誰にも明らかにしていないと答えた人は５６．８％に上っていました。
When asked at what age they first realized they identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, 18.6% (the most respondents) said between the ages of 13 and 15. After that, those who identified as LGBT by the age of 6 were the next most common group at 17.2%. 16% of respondents said they first identified as LGBT between the ages of 10 and 12. 9.8% of respondents first identified as LGBT after the age of 40. 56.8% of survey respondents did not reveal when they first identified as LGBT.
Around the same time, Fumino Sugiyama, a transgender man who was a former fencer on the women's national team, commented on news that Tokyo's Shibuya Ward would begin to issue certificates recognizing same-sex unions. Speaking at an April 23 press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, Sugiyama said:
性的少数者が自分たちの隣にもいることを知ってほしい
I want people to know that there are people who identify as LGBT (“sexual minorities,” 性的少数者) who are our neighbors.
Sugiyama, born as a female, says he has known of his male identity since he was in kindergarten and used to cry as a child because he didn’t want to wear a skirt. Sugiyama has gone on to become a successful entrepreneur, fashion model, entertainer and spokesperson for Japan's LGBT community.
Here is the full FCCJ press conference featuring remarks by Sugiyama:
外国人記者クラブでの記者会見模様です。 https://t.co/yaJ6wOwWeN
— 杉山文野 (@fumino810) April 24, 2015
Press conference at Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan – Fumino Sugiyama.

author: Nevin Thompson


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Israeli Politician Who Called for Genocide of Palestinian People Named Justice Minister · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Ayelet Shaked with Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel in consultations after the elections, March 23, 2015. by מארק ניימן Government Press Office of Israel – Mark Nayman. CC BY-SA 3.0
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, who was recently re-elected as prime minister for the fourth time, has appointed Ayalet Shaked as justice minister. This has raised some eyebrows due to Shaked's ultranationalist views. Indeed, Shaked, a member of the far-right HaBayit HaYehudi (“Jewish Home”) party, made headlines last year after she deemed the entire Palestinian people “the enemy” on Facebook and essentially argued for their extermination “because the enemy soldiers hide out among the population, and it is only through its support that they can fight.” Many condemned her comments as calling for genocide of the Palestinian people.
The Facebook status in question, which she later deleted but which was archived before she did so, was posted one day before Palestinian teenager Muhammad Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and burned alive by Israeli extremists. The status was translated by Dena Shunra for the Electronic Intifada:
The Palestinian people has declared war on us, and we must respond with war. Not an operation, not a slow-moving one, not low-intensity, not controlled escalation, no destruction of terror infrastructure, no targeted killings. Enough with the oblique references. This is a war. Words have meanings. This is a war. It is not a war against terror, and not a war against extremists, and not even a war against the Palestinian Authority. These too are forms of avoiding reality. This is a war between two people. Who is the enemy? The Palestinian people. Why? Ask them, they started.
I don’t know why it’s so hard for us to define reality with the simple words that language puts at our disposal. Why do we have to make up a new name for the war every other week, just to avoid calling it by its name. What’s so horrifying about understanding that the entire Palestinian people is the enemy? Every war is between two peoples, and in every war the people who started the war, that whole people, is the enemy. A declaration of war is not a war crime. Responding with war certainly is not. Nor is the use of the word “war”, nor a clear definition who the enemy is. Au contraire: the morality of war (yes, there is such a thing) is founded on the assumption that there are wars in this world, and that war is not the normal state of things, and that in wars the enemy is usually an entire people, including its elderly and its women, its cities and its villages, its property and its infrastructure.
And the morality of war knows that it is not possible to refrain from hurting enemy civilians. It does not condemn the British air force, which bombed and totally destroyed the German city of Dresden, or the US planes that destroyed the cities of Poland and wrecked half of Budapest, places whose wretched residents had never done a thing to America, but which had to be destroyed in order to win the war against evil. The morals of war do not require that Russia be brought to trial, though it bombs and destroys towns and neighborhoods in Chechnya. It does not denounce the UN Peacekeeping Forces for killing hundreds of civilians in Angola, nor the NATO forces who bombed Milosevic’s Belgrade, a city with a million civilians, elderly, babies, women, and children. The morals of war accept as correct in principle, not only politically, what America has done in Afghanistan, including the massive bombing of populated places, including the creation of a refugee stream of hundreds of thousands of people who escaped the horrors of war, for thousands of whom there is no home to return to.
And in our war this is sevenfold more correct, because the enemy soldiers hide out among the population, and it is only through its support that they can fight. Behind every terrorist stand dozens of men and women, without whom he could not engage in terrorism. Actors in the war are those who incite in mosques, who write the murderous curricula for schools, who give shelter, who provide vehicles, and all those who honor and give them their moral support. They are all enemy combatants, and their blood shall be on all their heads. Now this also includes the mothers of the martyrs, who send them to hell with flowers and kisses. They should follow their sons, nothing would be more just. They should go, as should the physical homes in which they raised the snakes. Otherwise, more little snakes will be raised there.
Her status was followed a week later by Israel's so-called “Operation Protective Edge” in Gaza, which would leave the area devastated. In 50 days, the IDF had killed at least 2,137 Palestinians, including over 500 children, and left over 10,000 wounded. According to the UN, 72 per cent of Palestinians killed in this offensive were civilians. About a third of the wounded children, will be forced to live with permanent disabilities. One-third of Gaza's total population, over 520,000 people, have been displaced, of whom 279,389 were taking shelter in 83 UN-run schools.
While shocking, her statement was not the first time that Israeli leaders have been accused of inciting violence against Palestinians, including genocide. Indeed, Israeli activist David Sheen's testimony at the Russell Tribunal for Palestine revealed a worrying trend within Israeli society.
Here are some of the people Sheen highlighted in his presentation:
Yitzhak Shapira, a rabbi who lives in the Israeli-occupied West Bank settlement of Yitzhar and who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva organization, published a book in 2009 entitled “The King's Torah” in which he wrote that “there is justification for killing babies if it is clear that they will grow up to harm us, and in such a situation they may be harmed deliberately, and not only during combat with adults”. He was questioned for his statements but released within a few hours after protest by supporters and members of parliament.
Shapira was outdone by Ovadia Yosef, the leader of the Ultra-Orthodox Shas party, who has made such statements as “Goyim (non-Jews) were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel”, “the six million Holocaust victims were reincarnations of the souls of sinners” as well as calling Arabs and Muslims words such as “snakes”, “evildoers” and “stupid’. On Arabs in general, Yosef was quoted as saying that the IDF must “send missiles to annihilate them”. After passing away last year, Yosef's funeral gathered 800,000 Israelis to mourn his death. It was the largest funeral gathering in Israeli history.
Shimon Gapso, the mayor of Upper Jerusalem, said about his district that “[Upper Nazareth] is a Jewish city and it’s important that it remains so. If that makes me a racist, then I’m a proud offshoot of a glorious dynasty of “racists’”. David Stav, the chief rabbi of the City of Shoham as well as the founder and chairman of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, wrote an op-ed in the Times of Israel during the war on Gaza calling it a “Milchemet Mitzvah”, or a “War by Commandment”. In other words, a holy war, or as he defined it “a defensive war whose victory is a sanctification of God’s name.”
Moshe Feiglin, the former member of Likud and head of Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction within the party, called for Israel to conquer Gaza and to put its citizens in camps until the whole area was ethnically cleansed of all Palestinians. On the two-state solution, he said: “No two states for two people; there is only one state for one nation.”
Naftali Bennett, the current minister of economy and head of Ayelet Shaked's “Jewish Home” party, has said that “I already killed lots of Arabs in my life, and there is absolutely no problem with that.”
And finally, Rabbi Noam Perel, secretary-general of the World Youth Movement since 2012, called for the IDF “to be turned into an army of avengers which will not stop at 300 Philistine foreskins.”

author: Elia J. Ayoub


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New Research: Iran Is Using ‘Intelligent’ Censorship on Instagram · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Censored and accessible pages on Instagram. Images mixed by Mahsa Alimardani.
This research was conducted and summarized by Mahsa Alimardani and Frederic Jacobs. Ellery Roberts Biddle contributed writing and editing for this report.
Iran is widely known for censoring all kinds of websites and social networks, but this year it is attempting to revamp filtering with a new technical approach to social media censorship known as “intelligent” filtering. Its first target is Instagram. Why Instagram? Because its technical features make it possible.
Since the 2009 protest movement, the Iranian government has seen the Internet as a space of chronic vulnerability for national security. The unrest that ensued in 2009, with the aid of communication technology devices such as Facebook, active blogs, and online TV streams of opposition candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, resulted in a mandate for heavy centralization of the online space and subsequent shutdowns and censorship of many websites, including Facebook and Twitter. Iranian government statistics show that 70% of Iran’s youth, the largest demographic in the country, are bypassing these filters through circumvention tools.
Saddled with a censorship regime that is both exhaustive and ineffective, Iranian authorities are now trying to regain control of the Internet through “intelligent” filtering, a process whereby they filter select content on a social media platform, rather than the entire site. The first known instance of intelligent filtering on social media platforms in Iran was recently implemented over the Instagram API.
For this small-scale research project, we studied the technical layers of this process as best we could, observing the techniques implemented by Iranian censors to block individual pages and particular types of content on the platform. We also sought to determine where this filtering was happening within the broader framework of Iran’s filtering system. And we compared the blocking of Instagram pages with associated or similar webpages, in order to better understand how threats are perceived across different forms of Internet media.
Contrary to popular western human rights narratives, we found that very few political figures or activists had their pages blocked. Individuals such as Kambiz Hosseini, who is well known for his satirical talk shows Parazit and Poletik, which are viewed on illegal satellites or blocked platforms such as youtube.com or radiofarda.com inside the country, are accessible on Instagram. Pages deemed politically sensitive such as the US White House, or the page belonging to jailed dissident blogger Hossein Ronaghi, are also open on Instagram, while pages for celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber are not. This suggests that Iranian authorities do not see Instagram as a platform for political dissent.
Imprisoned activist Hossein Ronaghi's Instagram page is accessible, while his website is filtered. Screenshot of his Instagram page.
Iran is experiencing a new wave of Internet control where authorities embed themselves in social platforms in order to effectively monitor and censor their content piece-by-piece, rather than wholesale. The case of Instagram does well to illustrate this shift, as it is the first and only known application of intelligent filtering on social media in Iran. In December of 2014, ICT Minister Mahmoud Vaezi declared that the intelligent filtering program was in its pilot phase, blocking immoral and criminal content. Iran’s cyber police, Gerdab, however did state that the intelligent filtering program is not functional on websites that use SSL protocol Hyperlink to definition . In other words, this approach only works when users access a site through HTTP — if they are using HTTPS, which encrypts data as it is sent through the network, the system cannot see what is being sent, and therefore cannot identify problematic content.
The government has indicated that they want to build a stronger national Internet infrastructure and to implement sophisticated technology in the practices of both surveillance and censorship online. One example is a project called Ankaboot – a locally-developed “spider” or crawler tool used to monitor and collect information from the web. Tools like Ankaboot suggest that authorities are resigned to the likelihood that Iranian Internet users will continue to rely on US corporate platforms through circumvention tools, even when local alternatives are available.
In announcing Ankaboot's launch, the Revolutionary Guards explained that the program would identify activities that spread “corruption” and western-inspired lifestyles. Officials say it will extend to Instagram, Viber and WhatsApp, where it will reportedly collect data on “likes” to identify potential offenders. This indicates a general will to keep these platforms accessible for Iranians, as long as authorities can adequately control how they are used.
We wrote a program to facilitate the detection of filtered Instagram accounts based on a list of accounts we knew were filtered. We were able to test a sample of 15,238 accounts, a small but still informative sample. All of the measurements we present here were taken in mid-April, thus results might vary depending on time and location.
We developed our sample group from pages we knew to be blocked, including that of American pop singer @justinbieber,@khatamifans and @therichkidsoftehran, as well as a few popular unblocked pages belonging to Iranian elites. Of the 15,238 pages we tested, a total of 983 pages were blocked. To understand the type of content the Iranian filters were targeting on the Instagram API, we took a sample of 78 of the ‘blocked pages’, and 55 of the ‘not blocked pages’. We then categorized and cross-referenced this list with web pages belonging to the same users.
Our research found that Instagram content was filtered using Deep Packet Inspection on the Instagram website backend that hosts and sends content for Instagram mobile applications. This selective filtering was possible because there is no encryption of data sent between Instagram servers and its mobile application. Without encryption, authorities can easily see what kind of data is traveling through the network, and censor data that they find objectionable.
When we tried to load a blocked account through the Instagram mobile app, it resulted in a loading error. We found ourselves looking at the notorious M5-8 page, which Iranian users encounter every time they try to access a censored website. Accounts appear to be censored based on a unique identifier that is not the account username. Testing proved that changing the username will not circumvent the block. Even when accounts have been removed from the platform, the URL still leads to the M5-8 page. We have no evidence that any keyword or hashtag-based filtering is taking place to filter content on Instagram.
We shared our findings with Facebook Security Team, now in charge of Instagram. Within days of our report, an Instagram update was released that loads user profiles, timelines and content over HTTPS in their mobile applications.
Forty-six out of 78 blocked pages belonged to online fashion magazines, models, photographers and other entities in the fashion industry. Fashion pages for Vogue and VICE were among the blocked online fashion publications. While Vogue's website is also blocked in Iran, VICE’s website, i-d.vice.com appears to be accessible there. We also found a disparity between the official Instagram pages and websites of the designer labels.
One can access websites for Burberry, Gucci, and Jimmy Choo, but their Instagram accounts are blocked. Why some designer labels are blocked, while others are accessible is not outright apparent, but an initial overview of the images shared on these fashion pages indicates that posts shared by Chanel and Michael Kors can be perceived as more conservative in nature. We were perplexed to find that filters allowed access to the Calvin Klein page. The label is notorious for images of skin-bearing models in their underwear – including Justin Bieber, whose Instagram page is blocked in Iran.
Iran's filtering system does not block content from the Instagram pages for Calvin Klein, a label notorious for its skin-bearing models. Screenshot of Calvin Klein's official Instagram page.
Western celebrities were also a popular target. Pages belonging to celebrities such as Madonna, Rihanna, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian and other members of the Kardashian family were all blocked.
Can this be condensed or reduced to a table/chart for post version? (PDF can have full text)
The commonality among celebrity and fashion pages seems to be their focus on women, who were often provocatively dressed. The exception here is Justin Bieber, the only male celebrity whose page is blocked. Celebrities with blocked Instagram pages typically had their websites blocked as well, except in few cases including the website of tennis player Serena Williams.
A handful of other blocked pages featured provocatively dressed women such @boobs_n_vodka, and private pages with Persian language bios such as @khoshtipmr, which translates as “good-looking mister”, and features various Iranian men in different locations in Iran, often shirtless. The description for this particular page has a disclaimer that states “The laws of the Islamic Republic dictate that political comments = block. We do not post photos without hijab.” The page has not been updated since December 2014, perhaps a good indicator for when the page was blocked.
The Instagram page for @khoshtipmr (or “goodlooking mr.”) is now blocked, and has a disclaimer in the bio that says “The Laws of the Islamic Republic dictate that political comments = block. We do not post photos without hijab”
Other blocked pages include Iranian celebrities now living in exile, such as the rapper Shahin Najafi and actress Golshifteh Farahani. Their associated websites are also blocked. We can surmise that these pages are targeted because both individuals are controversial Iranians who have taken opposition to a number of political and social norms inside of Iran.
Within this sample we also discovered four blocked accounts that were operating businesses inside of Iran off of an Instagram page, presenting a direct contact email or Iranian phone number for Iranians to purchase features merchandise. One such account, @tehranmedia sold cellphone cases, available through a Viber number. The account is in Persian, with 61,000 followers and roughly 300-400 likes per post.
The pages for @khatamifans and @therichkidsoftehran were already well-known censored pages on Instagram. The Rich Kids of Tehran was censored in October 2014, when the conservative weblognews.ir explained the page was blocked due to its “vulgar” content. Mohammad Khatami has been blocked since February 2015, when the judiciary announced that any mention of the popular former reformist President would be banned from Iranian media. Twitter users first reported the block on Instagram for @khatami fans on April 5. Again, because of the vocal stance authorities have taken against both Khatami and the Rich Kids of Tehran, we believe these accounts to be another instance of targeted filtering.
Instagram pages for the jailed activist Hossein Ronaghi, the US White House, BBC Persian, the newspaper associated with the Green Movement Kaleme, the American conservative news channel Fox News, and Global Voices were all accessible, despite their websites being blocked in Iran. It should be noted that we discovered for the first time this April that Global Voices’ HTTP version is blocked in Iran.
There were also very few instances of blockages of political figures or activists. Individuals such as Kambiz Hosseini, who is well known for his satirical talk shows Parazit and Poletik, which are viewed on illegal satellites or blocked platforms such as youtube.com or radiofarda.com inside the country, are accessible on Instagram.
BBC Persian, well known for its censored webpage often provides news updates on its Instagram. This page is not blocked.
These findings indicate a general incoherence in filtering policy in Iran. While a number of public figures and companies’ Instagram accounts are blocked, their associated web pages are still accessible. This could be due to the emphasis Instagram has on images, while websites typical feature textual and other materials. In general, the demographic that is typically found on Instagram is young, as such Iranian authorities might worry about the images that youth see, and the potential anti-establishment morals and norms they propagate.
All this suggests that Iranian authorities see Instagram not as a platform for political dissent, but rather as a place where authorities are concerned primarily with harmful and immoral images, often related to the provocative representations, typically of women, and some men.
There has been much discussion regarding the policy on filtering these popular social networks. An article in the Young Journalists Club online newspaper (affiliated with state-run television) quoted local experts who suggested that intelligent filtering was needed to more effectively censor the Internet, as all-out filtering had led Iranians to turn to circumvention tools in mass numbers. The general logic here, according to one of the referenced experts Hamed Alvandi, was to “track the anti-Islam, immoral and anti-government webpages.” In effect, the goal was to create a technology that would crawl the web and censor these individual pages. But at the time of these announcements, there seems to have been little reference to the technical infrastructure needed to implement this new kind of filtering.
The concept of intelligent filtering first arose during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency when a Facebook page was created for the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in 2012. This caused many to speculate that Iranian authorities were rethinking policies regarding the filtering of Facebook and Twitter. Soon thereafter hardline elements inside Iran, such as chief of police Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam, went on to promote the notion of filtering in controlling social networks, rather than censoring them wholesale. This way, as he put it, the “harm of social networking websites would be avoided, and at the same time, people could benefit from their useful features.”
This is not the definition today –this is what they were saying in 2012!
The current administration has made many promises and statements about opening the Internet. The administration of Hassan Rouhani has been successful in deterring decisions by hardline governing bodies outside of the authority of the president, including the judiciary, from blocking popular mobile applications such as WhatsApp, Line and Tango.
With Instagram adopting HTTPS in the latest releases of their mobile apps, we suspect that the intelligent filtering capabilities of Iran will become obsolete. Currently, a few options are still open to them such as filtering on a per image basis (instead of a per user basis) since images are sent over HTTP from Instagram’s content delivery network. This would prevent an offensive image from being displayed within a user’s profile page while the number of followers, biography, likes and comments of pictures would still be able to load, as these are sent over HTTPS. After Instagram shifts all of its activities to HTTPS, Iran’s options will be limited. This will force them to choose between blocking it all, or letting it be.
Mahsa Alimardani is an expert on Internet filtering in Iran and a researcher at the University of Amsterdam. She is also the Iran editor for Global Voices. Frederic Jacobs is a security expert and developer at Open Whisper Systems.
In the coming days, we will publish a comprehensive report on our findings and the technical procedures we used to obtain our data. In the meantime, take a look at some of our samples below. Questions? Contact us on Twitter at @maasalan and @FredericJacobs
Sample findings. For a more complete list click here.
We created 14 categories of blocked content.

author: Mahsa Alimardani


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Leaked Emails Reveal What Vladimir Putin Tells World Leaders at Private Meals · Global Voices
Aric Toler

The mysterious data-leaking group known as Anonymous International has released a new collection of emails allegedly from Kremlin officials describing several lunch and dinner meetings between Vladimir Putin and various foreign leaders.
Edited by Kevin Rothrock.
Anonymous International, often referred to as Shaltai Boltai (“Humpty Dumpty”), has released several troves of emails over the past two years, often concerning media censorship, the Kremlin’s battle with the Russian opposition, and the conflict in Ukraine.
This latest leak might seem inconsequential (it contains only 36 emails) or perhaps even silly (given some of Putin's antics), but the data (assuming it's genuine) does offer some insights into Putin's relationship over the years with leaders such as former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, former Finnish President Tarja Halonen, and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The leaked emails can be sorted into three types of reports: menu options for meetings that Putin attended, summaries of the catering services rendered at Putin’s meetings with foreign leaders, and—most interestingly—outlines of Putin's conversations with his guests. All the emails were addressed to Concord Catering, a company founded by Evgeny Prigozhin, a man who's been described as “Vladimir Putin's favorite restaurant owner.”
(For more on Concord Catering, see RuNet Echo's June 2013 story on “The Kremlin's Kitchen.”)
The bulk of the e-mails are amusing, but unremarkable from a geopolitical standpoint. For example, a report dated on December 28, 2010, from the River Palace boat restaurant describes the late-night tequila-drinking spree spurred by the arrival of a D.S. Peskov, likely referring to Putin's mustachioed spokesperson, Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov.
Гораздо позже, приблизительно в 23.00, приехал Песков Д.С. Все сразу оживились, и активно начали пить текилу. Хочу заметить, что к концу вечера все были изрядно пьяны, в том числе и Песков Д.С. Мероприятие должно было закончиться в 00.00, а закончилось в 02.00. Все гости были довольны и уходили в хорошем настроении.
Much later, at around 11:00 p.m., D.S. Peskov arrived. Everyone suddenly came to life and actively started drinking tequila. I want to note that everyone, including Peskov, was pretty drunk by late evening. The event was supposed to end at midnight, but it didn't end until 2:00 a.m. All of the guests were happy and left in a good mood.
Many remember Putin’s now-(in)famous rendition of “Blueberry Hill,” made popular by the American pianist and singer-songwriter Fats Domino.
According to the leaked emails, two days after Putin's December 10 performance at a charity event, he treated a visiting Finnish delegation, which included President Tarja Halonen, to a private encore:
В Лобби баре Владимир Владимирович попросил музыкантов уступить пианино и исполнил для финской делегации «Blueberry Hill». После чего поблагодарив персонал, музыкантов и всех присутствующих, гости покинули ресторан.
In the Lobby Bar, Mr. Putin asked musicians to let him take over at the piano, and he performed “Blueberry Hill” for the Finnish delegation. Putin thanked the staff, the musicians, and everyone present, and then the guests left the restaurant.
The leaks are filled with small anecdotes about the personal conversations and eating habits of high-ranking Russian officials, including Prime Minister (then-President) Dmitry Medvedev, Chief of the Presidential Administration Sergey Ivanov, and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.
There are also interesting clues about how Putin views the role of the media in his decisionmaking. On September 10, 2010, for instance, Putin and Berlusconi discussed how they interact with the press:
СБ поинтересовался, читает ли ВВ прессу перед сном. Оказалось, что нет. Чтение прессы является одной из причин по которой СБ ложиться спать столь поздно, так как около 01:30 ночи становятся известны «шапки» и содержание основных печатных изданий. ВВ возразил, что прессу не читает не только перед сном, но и вообще старается этого не делать, чтобы его мнение и дальнейшие решения не попадали в зависимость от мнений журналистов и редакторов. Лидер государства, по мнению ВВ, должен самостоятельно принимать решения, и не ориентироваться (оглядываться) на СМИ.
Mr. Berlusconi asked if Mr. Putin reads the news before going to sleep. The answer, it turns out, is no. Reading the news is one of the reasons Mr. Berlusconi goes to sleep so late, as the headlines and content of the media's main stories aren't known until about 1:30 a.m. Mr. Putin said he not only doesn't read the news before going to sleep, but he tries to avoid it entirely, so his opinions and future decisions don't become dependent on the opinions of journalists and editors. The leader of a state, in Mr. Putin's opinion, should make decisions independently, without orienting himself on (or looking back to) the media.
In addition to shedding some light on Putin's meal-time goings-on, Anonymous International also indicated indirectly how it came across these email records. In the past, many have speculated that the group accesses information by hacking user accounts on Apple's iCloud, similar to last year's Hollywood-celebrity photo scandal. One of the final emails in Anonymous International‘s new collection contains a photo of a message received from Apple support, warning of several attempts to access someone's Apple ID. The message advises changing the user's password.
Apparently, it was already too late.

author: Aric Toler


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Singapore Shuts Down News Website on World Press Freedom Day · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Screenshot of the website of The Real Singapore
The Singapore government has ordered the shutdown of a socio-political website for publishing “objectionable content” that allegedly undermined public order and national harmony. The order was announced and carried out on May 3, 2015, which coincided with the celebration of World Press Freedom Day.
This is the first time that a website was taken down by the government in relation to the licensing laws under the Internet Code of Practice passed in 2013.
The Real Singapore is a website notorious for using sensationalism to attract readers. Many accused it of publishing articles that promote xenophobia. But on May 3 it ceased operations after receiving an ultimatum from the government ordering it to remove the content of its website and social media postings within six hours. Its editors, Singaporean Yang Kaiheng and his Australian girlfriend Ai Takagi, were earlier charged with sedition.
The Media Development Authority (MDA) said the order was made because The Real Singapore published several articles that sought “to incite anti-foreigner sentiments” in Singapore:
The MDA believes this editorial strategy of deceiving readers and doctoring articles was an attempt to increase traffic to TRS, and thus boost advertising revenue. In so doing, TRS, including its two foreign editors, were seeking to make profit at the expense of Singapore’s public interest and national harmony.
The Real Singapore has angered readers in the past, but its sudden closure worried many bloggers, activists, and media freedom advocates.
FreeMyInternet, a group of bloggers which protested Singapore’s licensing rules in 2013, summarized its objections in two points:
Disproportionate power vested in a statutory board, and unclear guidelines on actions to be taken against objectionable content.
The group asked why the government singled out The Real Singapore when other mainstream websites are also guilty of publishing ‘objectionable content’:
Objectionable, fabricated and plagiarised content is a regular practice in both mainstream and online media, and most certainly undesirable. But what gives MDA the right to stop the operation of a website on this basis? Websites managed by traditional news outlets have also been known to have fabricated content. Does MDA intend to take action against any website that plagiarises or fabricates content?
Braema Mathi from the human rights group MARUAH described the MDA action as an attack on free speech:
The Media Development Authority’s draconian measures are not the best way to do so, as they legitimise excessive intervention by the state and set a precedent for the diminution of our online space.
The sentiment of writer Ng Yi Shu reflected the reaction of many who have low opinion for The Real Singapore:
I hate The Real Singapore. I rarely hate things, let alone express my hate for it.
It was a relief to see it go – but the MDA’s move will not resolve the underlying problems that led to the site’s proliferation.
It would not resolve the close-mindedness of Singaporeans; it would not resolve the latent irrational anger and lack of proper discourse; it would not resolve our cravings for sensationalism.
These are problems only we can solve.
Another writer, Banalysis, questions the excessive action made by the government against a ‘discredited website’:
If a discredited website run by three amateurs could undermine the social fabric of our nation, then our supposedly robust and resilient racial-religious harmony is but a happy delusion. Surely fifty years of nation building can’t be threatened by some second-rate news site.
Journalist Kirsten Han notes that due process was violated since the sedition trial of the editors is not yet over:
It’s not freedom if the state has the power to order a shutdown even before due process at the courts has been concluded, and we’re meant to feel relieved and grateful that they’ve only done it once (so far).
Writing for the Asian Correspondent, Carlton Tan reminds readers about the dangers of sedition law in Singapore. “It has shown how vacuous these vague notions of sedition,” he wrote.
Yawning Bread, a blogger who is under trial for criticizing the judiciary, warns that The Real Singapore is less a threat compared to the broad powers given to the Media Development Authority
That MDA is the greater and more insidious threat to us all can be seen from this very action. Shrouded in a non-transparent process, it goes out to ban a website. It flings accusations without offering proof. More dangerously, it plants the idea that it has the right to adjudicate truth and falsehood.
This case shows that Singapore’s so-called ‘light touch’ policy when it comes to Internet regulation needs to be reviewed again, especially if an agency is given extensive authority to censor and remove websites.

author: Mong Palatino


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The Mexican ‘Corrido’ of Feminist Liberation · Global Voices
Dominic Fernández

Junio del 75 en México no te asombres
Se juntaron mil señoras para hablar mal de los hombres […]
Liberación absoluta es meta de la mujer
Pero aquello de que hablamos
Que no lo dejen de hacer aunque sea por favor
In June of '75 in Mexico don’t be surprised
Thousand of women came together to criticize men […]
Absolute liberation is women's goal
But that thing we talked about
Please don’t stop doing it even if it’s as a favor
Lyrics by Óscar Chávez, Corrido de la Liberación Femenina. (Corrido of the Feminist Liberation)
The popular Mexican corridos usually refer to women as wives, girlfriends or lovers, but there was a time in history when feminist liberation was reflected in their lyrics. Angie Contreras, blogging for Mujeres Construyendo (Women Building), explains the double interpretation of feminism in that age which still continues today:
El corrido puede tener un sinfín de lecturas, […] explicare dos:
La primera de ellas, una cultura machista muy arraigada en el mexicano, donde la mujer debe asumirse en un rol de casa, educadora y sobretodo de cuidado, es donde recae la frase “que no lo dejen de hacer”, se nos da la libertad pero deben de seguir haciendo lo que ya sabemos hacer […]
Y una segunda está idea que el feminismo es sinónimo de odio a los hombres “para hablar mal de los hombres”, y esto es una malinterpretación del concepto […] la búsqueda del feminismo es una “liberación absoluta”, cuando se buscaban cosas concretas como el acceso a la educación, el derecho a votar y ser votada, la igualdad de salarios.
The corrido has unlimited interpretations, […] I'll explain two of them:
The first one, a sexist culture deeply rooted in Mexicans, in which woman should assume the role of a housewife, a teacher and caregiver, that is what the phrase “let's hope they don't stop doing it” refers to, that liberty is given to us but they must continue doing what we already know how to do.
And a second one is the idea that feminism is synonymous with hating men “to criticize men,” and this is a misunderstanding of the concept […] the search for feminism is an “absolute liberation”, when concrete things were requested such as access to education, the right to vote and be voted, equal wages.
Continue reading Angie Contreras’ post here and follow her on Twitter.

author: Dominic Fernández


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Ukraine Is Banning ‘Communist Symbols’ and the Kremlin Is Peeved · Global Voices
Anna Poludenko-Young

Ukrainian government tries to abandon its Soviet legacy by banning the symbols of the communist regime. Images mixed by Anna Poludenko-Young.
Ukrainian authorities have moved to restrict the propaganda of Communist and Nazi regimes and their symbols in a bid to part with the country's communist past. Some Russian politicians believe this step is a big mistake.
The Ukrainian Parliament passed the legislation with a 56% majority vote on April 9, and the so-called “de-communization” bill, already signed by speaker of Parliament Volodymyr Groysman, is now waiting for final approval from President Petro Poroshenko.
What is being banned?
The law bans the propaganda of Nazi and Communist regimes and the use of their symbols in everything from street names and flags to monuments and plaques. More specifically, though, it is only the Soviet Communist regime of 1917-1991 (along with Hitler's Nazi regime) that will fall under the ban. This means the current Communist party of Ukraine, as well as the images and mentions of the founders of the communist ideology, Marx and Engels, will not be banned.
The “de-communization” legislation also declares the Communist government that ruled Ukraine during the Soviet era a criminal regime that “engaged in a policy of state terror.” However, despite some rumors, it doesn’t call for the destruction of monuments to the victims of World War II. The Ukrainian government has pledged to continue to take responsibility for and protect war memorials, military cemeteries, and historical marks that honor the memory of the war. Use of communist symbols is also allowed in history books and research papers.
First reactions
Russian officials have called the law an affront to history and a tool in the “struggle against the heroic past of the people of Ukraine.” At the same time, supporters of the bill insist that it is a part of Western-oriented reforms and that it doesn’t contradict international norms.
Not everyone shares that opinion. The opponents of the new law, a group of almost 50 western scholars, as well as a few Ukrainians and one Russian, published an open letter to President Poroshenko calling on him to veto the bill. They argue that the content and spirit of the law contradict the right to free speech.
Over the past 15 years, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has invested enormous resources in the politicization of history. It would be ruinous if Ukraine went down the same road, however partially or tentatively. Any legal or ‘administrative’ distortion of history is an assault on the most basic purpose of scholarly inquiry: pursuit of truth.
Among other things, the new law also provides for opening the previously secret KGB archives stored in Ukraine. Markian Lubkivsky, an advisor to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said that the SBU is prepared to give almost a million communist regime documents to the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, a state-sponsored historical research body, for further investigation under the new open access policy.
Служба безпеки України не буде хранителем таємниць комуністичного режиму або будь-якого іншого режиму. Згідно із законом, який був прийнятий, СБУ передасть близько мільйона документів репресивних органів комуністичного режиму […] для того, щоб інститут досліджував, обробив і надав відкритий доступ до цих документів всім, хто бажає ознайомитися з цими документами.
The Security Service of Ukraine won’t be the keeper of the communist regime’s or any other regime’s secrets. According to the new law, the SBU will give approximately one million documents created by the repressive organs of the communist regime […] so the Institute can study, process and make them openly available to everyone who wishes to see these documents.
Ukrainian response
Some members of the Ukrainian online community took the news about the new legislation as a call for action. They started creating Facebook and Vkontakte de-communization watchdog groups for their geographic regions. There they encourage people to share information about the street and town names that relate to former Soviet or communist leaders and thus, according to the new legislation, might have to be changed.
Joining the online de-communization discussion, Yuriy Lutsenko, a Ukrainian politician and former Minister of Internal Affairs, published an old photograph of a woman taking down a street sign reading “Adolf Hitler Street” on Facebook.
This photo was taken in 1944—I dedicate it to all the opponents of the new de-communization law. […] The old “song” about rewriting history is a favorite tool of those who raped this history. Stalino became Donetsk, Zhdanov was renamed to Mariupol, Voroshylovograd to Luhansk. These cities were renamed and it didn’t result in the end of the world. […]
Russian and pro-Russian opinions
Russian state-controlled media and political figures often present the Soviet communist past as a time of economic stability, social wellbeing, and military strength. Not surprisingly, the Kremlin’s reaction to Ukraine’s “de-communization” bill was highly critical.
Sergei Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the law would have a highly negative effect on the peace-keeping negotiations around Eastern Ukraine and suggested that further “glorification of Nazis and deglorification of the real heroes of the Great Patriotic War” risked ruining the Minsk peace deals.
Lavrov was likely referring to the part of the law that provides “public recognition” to anyone who fought for Ukrainian independence in the 20th century, which would include veterans of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). These were partisan armies that at various times fought both Nazi and Soviet exploitation. The bill expands the scope of war veterans being celebrated to everyone who fought the Nazi forces during World War II, which means members of the old Ukrainian Partisan Army are now to be honored alongside Soviet Army veterans.
It didn’t take long for pro-Russian leaders from the separatist-controlled Eastern part of Ukraine to express their criticism of the new law. Alexander Zakharchenko, the head of the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic, has called the “de-communization” bill a farce that could set an “irreversible process in motion which could lead to the complete collapse of the country.”
The path forward
One of the amendments in the “de-communization” bill renames the Great Patriotic War (the name used in the Soviet/post-Soviet space for the past 70 years) to the Second World War (as WWII is commonly known in the West). As Ukraine tries to sort out its history as a sovereign state, the new bill is yet another step by the post-Maidan Ukrainian government to part with Soviet legacy which they believe inhibits the country's European future.

author: Anna Poludenko-Young


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What Happens When Japan Goes on a Week-Long Vacation? · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Golden Week at Osaka JR station, May 4, 2007, photo by Chris Gladis. CC 2.0.
There are mixed emotions as Japan's “Golden Week” extended holiday wraps up. Some are sad to return to work, while others are happy that family is out of the house and life will return to normal.
Golden Week is a cluster of holidays in Japan that falls at the end of April and the beginning of May, and many Japanese workers get about a week off. In 2015, the “week” began on April 29.
Since it is common in Japan for most people to go on vacation at the same time, the beginning and the end of Golden Week means massive numbers of people out on the roads, on the trains, and in airports. The end of a Golden Week, known as the “U-Turn” rush, as millions of people return home, is a favorite topic of newscasts:
[Caption] Final day of Golden Week: U-Turn rush causes crowds to pour through airports and train stations.
Golden Week is typically the longest vacation stretch enjoyed in Japan during the year. Unlike other extended holidays such New Year's at the beginning of January and O-Bon, the festival of the dead in mid-August, which are gatherings for extended family, Golden Week can be celebrated as one pleases.
The Golden Week holidays originated in the postwar era as a way to allow urban dwellers to return to the countryside to help plant rice on small family farms. Even to this day, as a matter of fact, such small farms still dominate Japan's rural landscape:
GWは鳥取の実家で田植えでした。疲れた～。(^o^;) pic.twitter.com/CnG61RwxJG
— まっさん (@kmasuda4) May 5, 2015
This Golden Week I went back home to plant rice. I'm bagged… (^o^;)
However, for many people in Japan, Golden Week means at least a week away from work. Like anyone else, Japanese people often dread returning to work after such an extended vacation:
G　W　終　了 pic.twitter.com/qzf5civJIa — 全日本もう帰りたい協会 (@mou_kaeru) May 6, 2015
GOLDEN WEEK IS OVER
Of course, there is the typical problem of an overflowing inbox:
受信メール1158通をみてGW終了を実感。
— だるく@中身は抜け殻星野さん。 (@dalk99) May 7, 2015
The reality that Golden Week is over sets in when I notice I have 1,158 unread emails in my inbox.
On the other hand, some people are relieved to return to the comfort of life's routines:
GWがやっと終わった。夫は仕事に行きこどは幼稚園に行き、やっとこれでゆっくりトイレに入れる…
— 佐々宝砂 (@pakiene) May 7, 2015
Golden Week is finally over. My husband is going back to work, and the kid is going back to kindergarten. Finally I can go to the bathroom in peace.
The opportunity to enjoy so much time away from work can ironically become a source of stress:
やっとGW終わったなー。 今日明日と有給とって9連休にした夫氏は、未だ夢の中である。ええなあ。 9連休もするとね、最初は「9日も休みがある～♪」だけど半ばを過ぎると「あと3日…」「あと2日…」とカウントダウンするのが切ないらしい。 さて、バイト行く準備しよ。夫以外は平常運転。
— はるか (@pinoco8216) May 6, 2015
Golden Week is finally over. My husband also used some of his vacation days to take a total of nine days off, and he's been totally zoned out the whole time. What a treat. At the beginning he was all “I have 9 days off in a row!” but by the halfway mark it became a depressing countdown: “Just 3 days left… just 2 days left.” Anyway, I have to get ready for my part-time job. For the rest of us life is back to normal.
For homemakers, Golden Week can actually mean more work:
にしても、やっとGWが終わった。旦那は、GW入って38度過ぎる高熱出して後半はずっと寝てたし。。私は看病＆娘の世話でてんてこ舞い。普通の平日よりずっと疲れた(ｰ ｰ;)はぁ。私も高熱で4日くらい寝ていたいわ…無理やけど。
— りんご (@xiangzhi27) May 7, 2015
Golden Week is finally over. As soon as Golden Week began my husband came down with a 38 degree fever, and spent the second half of the holiday in bed. I spent the entire time nursing him and looking after our daughter. I'm way more tired than I would be on a regular day. (ｰ ｰ;) *whew* I wish I had a high fever so I could sleep for 4 days, but that would be out of the question.
Not everyone was happy to see the end of Golden Week.
本日GW最終日は妻の誕生日でもあり夕食は本人希望の焼肉屋へ。昨日もBBQでがっつり食べたばかりのはずなのに相変わらずな肉食妻☆ pic.twitter.com/MrAsE5JWIj
— WholeMind (@wholemind_jp) May 6, 2015
Today we celebrated the end of Golden Week by celebrating my wife's birthday. We went out for Korean BBQ – her choice, even though we ate a ton of BBQ yesterday. That's my wife.☆
Others are already waiting for the next extended holiday, “Silver Week”, in September.
GWは終わったけど！ 大丈夫だ！俺達にはまだシルバーウィークがある!! pic.twitter.com/kAcWeIfgum
— mami (@mami_seh) May 6, 2015
While Golden Week may be over, never fear! Silver Week is just around the corner!


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Philippines Deports Thai Worker for Insulting Filipinos on Facebook · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

From the Facebook page of Koko Narak
A Thai worker in the Philippines was deported after he posted racist and anti-Filipino statements on Facebook. Many cheered the deportation but some also described it as an attack on free speech.
Prasertsri Kosin, known as Koko Narak on social media, angered many Internet users in the Philippines after he called Filipinos “pignoys”, “stupid creatures”, “low-class slum slaves” and “useless race in this world”. His insulting remarks went viral last week. Koko Narak was eventually fired from his job in Taguig City, located in the Philippines’ central business district.
The Bureau of Immigration also reacted quickly by issuing a deportation charge against the Thai national for “undesirability” over his offensive posts on Facebook. Koko Narak surrendered and opted for voluntary deportation. He was included in the agency’s blacklist, barring re-entry into the country.
Koko Narak in handcuffs at the office of the Bureau of Immigration:
Thai national Prasertsri Kosin, who called Filipinos “pignoys,” in handcuffs, facing deportation. pic.twitter.com/LsU2fuZ7uT
— Jun Veneracion (@jun_veneracion) May 6, 2015
A commissioner of the agency defended the deportation charge:
While the Philippines respects freedom of expression, we in the Bureau cannot tolerate or allow abusive and foul language, especially coming from foreigners as against our own people.
Before his deportation, Koko Narak wrote an apology to Filipinos:
This is my great sorrow to inform you that I am very sorry what I've done or posted the racist comments whether on the Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] page or my personal Facebook.
I didn't mean to hurt your heart Filipinos. Surprisingly, most of my debates on the page hurt you because of my immaturity.
This is my sincere apology to all of you Filipinos.
He wrote another letter of apology during his custody at the Immigration office:
Koko Narak, gumawa ng handwritten apology sa mga Pilipino (Photo c/o BI) @DZMMTeleRadyo pic.twitter.com/TMNJn2cz7z
— Zhander Cayabyab (@zhandercayabyab) May 6, 2015
Despite his apology, Koko Narak was still deported.
Some expressed concern over the decision to deport a person for making a racist statement. Scholar Antonio P. Contreras wrote on Facebook:
If you a) at one time bannered the hashtag #jesuischarlie and b) now agree with the deportation and handcuffing of the Thai national, then…
You are one confused person
Meanwhile, 51 Filipino workers in Thailand signed a statement urging the Philippine government to “exercise maximum tolerance before punishing non-criminal acts of foreigners.” The statement emphasized that the deportation charge undermines the country’s commitment to protect free speech:
But offensive, hateful and downright irresponsible as they are, they were not criminal. If the authorities believed that his statements were recognizably criminal in character, they should have charged and prosecuted Mr. Kosin using applicable penal laws and respecting his right to due process of law. This did not happen in this case.
The response of the Bureau of Immigration has jeopardized the right to freedom of expression itself. Mr. Kosin has already issued a public apology. Let’s accept the apology and move on.


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Russia’s Indefatigable Absurdists · Global Voices
Will Wright

Monstration 2015 in Novosibirsk. Top left, clockwise: “A Platypus Will Save the World,” “We are made from a different kind of dough,” “Soon it will be Sunny,” “We aren't Monsters,” “From Communism to Idiotism,” and “Bees Against Honey.” Images from VKontake.
Every year on May 1, thousands of Russians stage a public celebration of absurdity in a handful of cities across Siberia. This year, the slogans and costumes were as delightfully ridiculous as ever.
This unusual tradition, the brainchild of a small group of radical artists, originated in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk in 2004. One member of the group, Ivan Dyrkin, coined the term “Monstration” by dropping the “de” from demonstration, a prefix he associated with negative connotations. Invitations to the first Monstration were signed by the Contemporary Art Terrorism group, borrowing the title assumed by another of the artists, Max Neroda, for his acts of “art terrorism,” which involved him showing up at exhibitions and hanging his own paintings on the wall without invitation.
One of the original organizers, Artyom Loskutov, who has since become known as the leader of Novosibirsk's annual Monstration, elaborated on the event's meaning in an interview with Calvert Journal:
Monstration was an experiment in rethinking the city environment and particularly the May Day demonstrations, which had long lost their original meaning. I’d gone to several May Day demonstrations before and they seemed like a weird ritual. You’re supposed to take part but hardly anybody knows why. It seems like complete nonsense. That’s what we wanted to emphasize. Monstration is both a critique and a concept. We wanted to bring the May Day demonstration back to life but we also wanted to create a cultural event. But as there weren’t that many of us, we didn’t feel as if we could accomplish something on our own so we decided to work with the demonstration, integrating ourselves into it and transforming it from the inside.
The first Monstration in Novosibirsk drew a crowd of less than a hundred people, but the concept has since gained popularity while spreading to dozens of other cities. This year, several thousand Russians took part in Novosibirsk's march of absurdity.
“Monstration 2015: The limits of democracy, or SWAT vs. children”
Novosibirsk Mayor Anatoly Lokot, a member of the Communist Party, does not appear to appreciate his city's strange tradition, however. In the lead up to the May 1 holiday, Lokot wrote on VKontakte to promote the official Workers’ Day march. Lokot's post heralded the importance of labor in Soviet-like style, even quoting Karl Marx for good measure.
Then, on May 1, the “Monstrators” arriving to crash the city's official parade were reportedly met by police who informed them they were not authorized to participate. The angry demonstrators marched in the opposite direction, and police later arrested organizer Artyom Loskutov.
Меня задерживает центр э
— артём лоскутов (@kissmyba) May 1, 2015
I'm being detained by Center E [the anti-extremism police]
Loskutov was subsequently sentenced to 10 days in jail and hit with a small fine. Amnesty International has declared the Russian artist to be a “prisoner of conscience” and demanded his immediate release.
Loskutov has credited his arrest at a Monstration in 2009 with helping to make the concept famous beyond Novosibirsk, and this year's run-in with police has already drawn a lot of attention. It appears, however, that future Monstrations will be forced to navigate Russia's increasingly restrictive environment for public assembly, despite the event having little to do with politics or even reality.

author: Will Wright


text:
‘Their Freedom Is Their Right’: A Campaign for Prisoners of Conscience in the Arab World · Global Voices
Faten Bushehri

Edited by Kevin Rothrock.
A coalition of human rights organizations this week launched a campaign to raise awareness about prisoners of conscience in the Arab World and to promote the Internet as a space for open discussion.
The campaign, titled “Hurriyatahum haqahum” (“Their Freedom, Their Right”), is the collaboration of Egypt's Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Maharat Foundation in Lebanon, and IFEX. The campaign hopes to put pressure on governments and promote protection and acceptance for the exercise of public criticism.
Among political prisoners in focus for the campaign are individuals who have been jailed for criticizing authorities online. One is Bahraini human rights defender and President of Bahrain Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab, who was arrested for tweeting about Bahraini police authorities. Another is Raif Badawi, the founder of the Saudi Liberals online discussion forum who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes for apostasy. And there is Mauritanian blogger Mohamed Sheikh Ould Mohamed Omkhtir, who was sentenced to death for “insulting Islam” on social media.
ANHRI describes the campaign as follows:
The Arab citizen’s right to expression is a right not a grant, and it is our duty to defend it, whether we agree or disagree with that opinion.
One of the project's chief aims is making sure people don't forget about the region's political prisoners, whose stories provide the material for public outreach:
كي لا يسقطوا في النسيان: حملة الدفاع عن سجناء الرأي في العالم العربي http://t.co/fm8fbuypk5 | @MaharatNews @anhri #حريتهم_حقهم
— IFEX (@IFEX) May 5, 2015
So they don't fall into a margin of oblivion: A campaign to defend prisoners of conscience in the Arab world
The project asks willing and able citizens and journalists to share stories about prisoners of conscience on Twitter and Facebook, using the hashtag حريتهم_حقهم# (#TheirFreedomTheirRight). These social media posts should mention a political prisoner's name and the demand that the authorities either release the individual or change the conditions of their incarceration. This can include calls for an end to torture, advocating proper medical care, or providing prisoners with a fair trial. The campaign also highlights a single prisoner of conscience every month, posting photos of that person online in various media.
May's “prisoner of the month” is Mahmoud Mohammed in Egypt, who was jailed for wearing a T-shirt that read “A Nation Without Torture.” In addition to the main hashtag, campaigners tweeted the personalized message الحرية_لمحمود_محمد# (#FreedomToMahmoudMohammed).
On his way home, Mahmoud arrested for wearing “Nation w/t Torture” T-shirt, #حريتهم_حقهم http://t.co/9f1BoJjVDQ
— ANHRI (@anhri) May 4, 2015
محمود محمد اكثر من٤٦٣يوم حبس احتياطي حتي الان لم تحال القضية والتهمة تيشيرت وطن بلا تعذيب #حريتهم_حقهم pic.twitter.com/lKvVDvD0mo @MaharatNews
— يسقط حكم العسكر (@titotarek8) May 4, 2015
Mahmoud Mohamed has been detained for 463 days and until now his case has not been referred to court. His charge is wearing a T-shirt with A Nation without Torture written on it
يعني طالب صغير يتحبس اكتر من ٤٥٠ يوم عشان لبس تيشرت مش عاجب السلطهً …. قولي يا سيسي تيشرته خطر عليك ازاي #الحرية_لمحمود_محمد
— mariya (@drsalmataha) April 23, 2015
A young student gets detained for more than 450 days because he wore a T-shirt that doesn't live up to the authorities’ tastes…. Tell me Sisi, how does his T-shirt threaten you?
Executive director of ANHRI ranked the Gulf Nations according to online free expression:
حرية التعبير على الانترنت بالخليج ، الافضل #عمان #الامارات #قطر #الكويت #البحرين الأسوأ #السعودية http://t.co/wYdnTtqtKS #حريتهم_حقهم
— Gamal Eid (@gamaleid) May 4, 2015
Freedom of expression on the Internet in the Gulf: the best is Emirates, then Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the worst is Saudi Arabia
الحقوقي نبيل رجب من البحرين، حبس 6 أشهر بسبب تغريدة #حريتهم_حقهم pic.twitter.com/ucrpzLdarw
— #FreeSanaa (@Bakkar_74) May 4, 2015
Rights activist Nabeel Rajab from Bahrain, 6 months imprisonment because of a tweet
لما يقولوا رأيهم بالكلمة الحرة وبالقلم يبقي #حريتهم_حقهم والعار والخزي لكل الأنظمة اللي بتحبس أصحاب الرأي
— malek adly والي مصر (@malekadly) May 4, 2015
When they say their opinion through free speech and writing it remains their freedom their right, and shame on all regimes that jail people of opinion.
Huda. 17 year old imprisoned in Sisi's #Egypt and suffering from mistreatment. Nothing new, move on. #حريتهم_حقهم pic.twitter.com/I6KbFtb200
— Somia. (@SomiaAabed) May 4, 2015
Human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch say it's difficult to assess Middle Eastern and North African governments’ compliance with international human rights laws because most of these states refuse to allow independent monitoring committees to visit their prisons. Many of these countries withhold even the most basic information about their penitentiary systems. In March, Egypt rejected a UN protocol that would have permitted independent observers to inspect jails for inhuman treatment.
That same month, Reuters reported that security forces tear-gassed and beat prisoners in Bahrain's Jaw prison in an attempt to “quell clashes that erupted during family visits.” Human Rights Watch called for an independent investigation into allegations of severe prisoner abuse. An article on Middle East Monitor reported that the Syrian Network for Human Rights had documented at least 108 people tortured to death in Syria's prisons last month alone.
These practices fall in clear violation of international human rights doctrine. Article 7 of the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) mandates that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.”
Article 10.1 states clearly that “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.”
Nevertheless, despite UN recommendations and media coverage, torture and mistreatment in prisons are ongoing, possibly on a daily basis, all over the Arab World.
ANHRI has put together a set of suggested ways to support and participate in the campaign. Visit their website to learn more.

author: Faten Bushehri


text:
A Han Musician’s Song Slams Stereotypes of China’s Xinjiang Region · Global Voices
Patrick Wong

Bazaar in Hotan, Xinjiang. Photo from Flickr User Evgeni Zotov. (CC: AT-NC-SA)
The region of Xinjiang, where ethnic tensions between China's majority Han Chinese and minority Uyghur Muslims have at times erupted into violence, has been a sensitive topic across Chinese social media ever since riots shook the regional capital Urumqi back in the summer of 2009.
Recently, a new song titled “What Has Xinjiang Done to You?” has broken the silence and triggered discussion about stereotypes and inter-cultural misunderstandings on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform. The song is written by Liu Shuang (Weibo screen name: “Call me Mr. Leon”), who graduated from People’s Republic Security University and now describes himself, with a hint of self-mockery, as a “part-time folk police singer”.
Many Han Chinese in the region are descendants of “sent-down youths” or “zhiqing” who were sent from urban cities to live and work in rural areas and “develop the frontier” between the beginning of the communist era in the mid-1950s and the end of Cultural Revolution in the mid-1970s.
Since 2000, another round of Han Chinese migration to Xinjiang has taken place under the government's ‘Western Development’ policy.
The Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking Muslim community predominant in Xinjiang, many of whom resent the mass influx of Han Chinese and the over-development of ancient cities such as Kashgar.
They also view the secularism promoted by authorities as a threat to their religion and culture, and a vicious cycle of violent protests and police suppression has only fuelled the mistrust. The unrest has culminated in a number of deadly “terrorist attacks”, as Chinese authorities label them, which in turn has contributed to a decline in tourism in the region.
Meanwhile, the government has been trying to impose a series of restrictions in the name of security, including banning long beards and niqabs from public places, with those violating the orders facing potential sentencing. Minors in Xinjiang are moreover prohibited from participating in religious activities, which is not the case elsewhere in China.
Liu, a Han Chinese who was born and brought up in Xinjiang, wrote the song to express his love for Uyghurs and his frustration over outsiders’ biases and distortions of his homeland:
小时候我妈妈常给我讲 这里的民族热情善良
祖祖辈辈参军支援边疆 架起了高楼守卫边防
可长大一切都变了模样 有事没事就特么诋毁新疆
笑眯眯 打招呼问我哪儿人 我说新疆你语气一落千丈
看见维吾尔你就上下打量 侧过身包儿你就往怀里面藏
恐怖主义残忍烧杀砍伤 你想都没想罪名加我们头上
五年前七五事件是场空城灾难 五年了心灵都无法疗伤
我们也目睹过尸横街头 没蜡烛没祈福只有肮脏
虽然我是一个汉族小伙儿 可毕竟是生我养我的地方
就算有天这儿变成坟场 也永远都是我的故乡
新疆怎么你了 我说新疆怎么你了
新疆怎么你了 都是同胞何必呢
我说新疆怎么你了 我说新疆怎么你了
新疆怎么你了 你要这样伤害她呢
摘下你们的有色眼镜 说话能不能不要带着刺儿
新疆怎么你了 你要这样伤害他呢
新疆怎么你了 我说新疆怎么你们了
新疆怎么你了 你要这样伤害他呢
When I was a child, mum always told me ethnic groups here are hospitable and virtuous.
Older generations joined armies aiding at the frontier of the country, where they built towers to defend borders.
Everything has changed since I've grown up, people are now fond of smearing Xinjiang.
Every time I'm asked in friendly conversation about my birthplace, when I mention Xinjiang their tone chills me at once.
Uyghurs are always treated with suspicion, when you see them you tuck your bag into your armpit.
Terrorism means deaths and injuries, but you blatantly accused us of absurd charges.
The Urumqi riots were a catastrophe five years ago, and the wounds have not healed.
We all witnessed corpses in streets, with no candles nor prayers but only filth.
Even though I am an ethnic Han, I was born and live here.
Even if one day it is a cemetery, the region would still be my home.
What has Xinjiang done to you, what has Xinjiang ever done to you?
What has Xinjiang done to you, why do we despise one another as we are all countrymen?
What has Xinjiang done to you, What has Xinjiang done to you?
What has Xinjiang done to you, why do you hurt her?
Put your stereotypes aside, can't you stop squabbling?
What has Xinjiang done to you, why do you hurt her?
What has Xinjiang done to you, What has Xinjiang done to you?
What has Xinjiang done to you, why do you hurt her?
Despite “ethnic unity” being a core theme of authorities’ propaganda, people beyond Xinjiang often stereotype Uyghurs as an untrustworthy minority, a trait mentioned in Liu's song. These prejudices deepen antagonism between the Han Chinese and Uyghurs and make it impossible for constructive dialogue on resolving tensions in the region.
Liu's thought-provoking question “What Has Xinjiang Ever Done to You?” has encouraged Han Chinese to rethink how they characterize the region and its people.
Aixiong Baobao, a Han Chinese in Xinjiang, exclaimed on Weibo:
哎～我是汉族，我也想说那一年的7·5死了几千人，我们的同胞为我们祈福没有？有的只是新疆停网半年和后遗症，请大家停止歧视和误解，正确去认识新疆你也会爱上这片热土，要明白歧视和误解才是引发暴乱的原因，我也憎恶如何支持独立的人，不要为了他人的私欲而做盲目的愤青。
Alas. I, as an ethnic Han, want to say that thousands of people died on July 5th that year, but have any compatriots prayed for us? The region's Internet was cut off for over half a year with amnesia left behind. Please everyone stop discriminating and misunderstanding. You will love this land as you get to know Xinjiang. Prejudice and misunderstanding trigger riots.
Paopao Shuijing believes outsiders are missing out on Xinjiang's unique culture, in particular Xinjiang music:
我是新疆人，我是汉族人。我们新疆的歌曲，你们或许听都没有听过。
I am a resident of Xinjiang, and also an ethnic Han. You may never have heard the songs from Xinjiang.
After listening to the song, Gui Yao, who has never been to Xinjiang concurred:
虽然没去过新疆 但我讨厌所有种族歧视 民族歧视 地域歧视新疆河南等等地方都饱受这些苦难 真的很不公平 我相信大部分人都是善良的
Although I have never been to Xinjiang, I hate all forms of discrimination – racial, ethnic and regional discrimination. Xinjiang, Henan and many other regions have suffered from that and it is really unfair. I believe that most people [in these regions] are good and kind.

author: Patrick Wong


text:
A Tribute to Espíritu Bautista, Defender of the Yanesha Language and Culture · Global Voices
Rising Voices

The following tribute to the late Espíritu Bautista was written by Anna Luisa Daigneault, Latin America Projects Coordinator at Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages on her Facebook profile. It is republished here with permission. Bautista participated in the Enduring Voices: Digital Media Workshop for Speakers of Endangered Languages in Latin America held in Santiago, Chile, in early 2013, in which Rising Voices also took part. There, he actively worked with his son to revitalize the Yanesha language through the production of the Yanesha Talking Dictionary. The above video shows some of this work.
My friend and colleague Espíritu Bautista passed away several weeks ago. He was a very charismatic and wise person, and he will be missed by his community, the indigenous Yanesha people of the southcentral Amazon in Peru, and he will be missed by everyone who got a chance to work with him. Espíritu was one of the last people in his tribe who had in-depth, detailed knowledge about all of the ancient Yanesha music and oral history.
Espíritu Bautista. Photo by Anna Lazuli
I had the immense privilege of working with Espíritu every year in Peru between 2008 – 2013 and help build the Yanesha Oral History Archives, a digital project that catalogued over 300 hours of traditional music and stories, recorded by Espíritu Bautista and Richard Chase Smith.
Espíritu loved eating fish (he would sometimes remark, “my people prefer to not eat birds”) and always had helpful advice to offer, and intriguing stories to tell. He would describe Yanesha music and stories in a vivid, meaningful way. Here are a few excerpts from his catalog (in Spanish, with English translations below) so you can learn a little bit about Yanesha heritage:
Mellañotheñrexh | Este canto fue originado por los dioses de la naturaleza. Ellos cuando nos concentramos para buenas cosas, siempre ellos nos compadecen.
Mellañotheñrexh – Song of the Mountain Gods | This song originates from the gods who reside within nature. When we concentrate and focus on good things, they are always compassionate towards us.
Rrartsorexh | Este canto fue originado de la madre yuca. Lo cantamos cuando sembramos la yuca para que se produzca buenas yucas de calidad.
Rrartsorexh – Yucca's Song | This song originates from Our Mother Yucca (aka cassava root). We sing this song when we plant yucca so that high-quality yuccas will grow.
Yachor Pallá | Esta es la historia de nuestra madre Palla, esposa del Inca. Ella nos trajó el algodón lo que hiló nuestra hermana personaje araña para que nosotros podamos tener nuestra vestimenta típica, la cushma.
Yachor Pallá – Our Mother Pallá | This is the story of Our Mother Pallá, wife of the Inca. She brought us cotton, which was woven by Our Sister Spider Woman, so that we could have our traditional robes, the cushma.
Espiritu's work is preserved in the Yanesha Oral History Archives.

author: Rising Voices


text:
Amidst the Trauma of the Great Earthquake Nepalis Celebrate Unprecedented Conservation Successes · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

Nepal's Chitwan National Park is home to the second largest population of greater one horned Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis), an endangered species. Image by Sanjib Chaudhary
Amidst the gloom and tragedy caused by the April 25 earthquake that killed 8,000 people and caused damage affecting millions of people, conservationists in Nepal have a reason to celebrate. This year’s rhino census has highlighted incredible strides in rhino conservation with the number of one horned rhinoceroses in Nepal reaching 645: a 21% rise from the last count four years ago.
The conservation organisation WWF UK tweeted:
Great news! Nepal rhino numbers increase by 21% as we mark another 365 days of Zero Poaching of rhinos #EndWildlifeCrime pic.twitter.com/xKmgjxPqAa
— WWF UK (@wwf_uk) May 5, 2015
With three consecutive years of zero poaching, rhino numbers have increased to 605 in Chitwan National Park, 29 in Bardia National Park, 8 in Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve and 3 in Parsa Wildlife Reserve.
National #Rhino Count completed. Nepal has 645 wild rhinos (chitwan 605, Bardia 29, Shukla 8 & Parsa 3). 111 Rhinos increased in 4 years #fb
— बाघ हेरालो (@_BabuG) May 5, 2015
Rhino Horns and Rhino Census
The greater one-horned rhinoceros, also called Indian rhinoceros, weighs up to 2.2 tonnes and is poached for its prized horn. Believed to contain aphrodisiac and healing properties, the horn is in high demand in Asian markets. Besides this, the horn is also used to make the handles on daggers in the Middle East.
Ancient Persians believed that rhino horn cups had the ability to detect poison in liquids — also a popular belief in the royal courts in Europe. Likewise, the Vietnamese believe that the horn's powder has cancer-curing properties, while young people use it as a cocaine-like party drug.
In spite of the high demand and constant threat from poachers, Nepal’s conservation efforts have revived a rhino population that had dwindled down to 100 in 1966.
The rhino census, conducted by the government’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and Department of Forests in collaboration with conservation organisations, is essential to inform conservation policy.
The count is a tedious task conducted using a sweep operation involving trained observers and Nepal Army representatives riding on elephants. Observers systematically comb through the rhino habitats and record individual rhino information including the sex, approximate age and individual markings together with GPS* locations on data-sheets accounting for the unique and special characteristics of each rhino: horn size and shape, folds present on the neck and rump, and body markings.
Other Reasons to Celebrate Conservation Success
A wild yak, spotted by researchers in Limi of Humla district in Far-Western Nepal, gave conservationists another reason to smile. Thought to be virtually extinct bar a small presence in remote regions of China and India the animal was sighted for the first time in almost 50 years in the country.
Kashish Das Shrestha, a sustainable development policy advisor, tweeted:
Wild #Yak, thought #extinct since 1970s from Nepal, spotted in Humla district in June 2014. (News released yesterday) pic.twitter.com/ZCUwksiNN3
— Kashish Das Shrestha (@kashishds) April 21, 2015
The species once found in abundance throughout the Tibetan Plateau, had been viewed as having disappeared from Nepal and Bhutan according to recent studies. These animals, larger in size than their domesticated counterparts, weigh between 500-550 Kgs.
In addition to this find, ornithologists found two new species of birds during nest counting in Nepal's Chitwan National Park and surrounding areas last month. While one of the new species belongs to the Robin family, another one is a very rare species: the Kashmir flycatcher (Kashmir Arjunak). Chitwan National Park is home to 24 out of the planet's 36 endangered bird species.
Thus, while the country is healing from the trauma and pain of the great earthquake, these conservation successes represent bright lights in the fog of its aftermath. Such gains in the face of adversity, it seems, can offer a powerful inspiration for Nepalis looking to rebuild and recover.

author: Sanjib Chaudhary


text:
Are Peruvian Police and Press Conspiring to Criminalise the Tia María Protests? · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

The polemic photo taken by Julio Angulo to falsely condemn a demonstrator who was protesting against Tía María, extracted from Portal Perú and widely shared on the Internet.
The police force of any country should exist to protect citizens while its press should impart objective information, but unrest surrounding a strategic mining project in Peru has forced people to question whether either institution is fulfilling its role.
Protests at the $1.4 billion Tia Maria development in Islay province, Peru, have been ongoing since March, claiming the life of a protester and a policeman this week and another protester in April.
Farmers in the region believe Tia María will hurt water supplies and have blocked roads and held rallies in an attempt to kick the project — owned by the Southern Copper Corp company — out of their community. But the police and media, they say, are doing the company's bidding by trying to demonise them.
Correo Arequipa, a local daily newspaper, set off a storm in the Peruvian blogosphere with its coverage of the anti-mining protests towards the end of last month.
In one photo the daily ran on April 24, a protester was pictured being arrested clutching a small iron contraption in his hand. The caption to the photo referred to him as “a detainee who was wielding a sharp-pointed iron construction weapon” and added that the weapon “could be lethal for the unfortunate person on the end of a blow from the irritable protestor”.
Yet a few hours later the small local TV channel MollendinosTV-Islay TV disseminated a video titled “Complicity between Police and Press (CORREO) against Antonio the Farmer”, that showed the photo was not what it seemed.
The outlet's video clearly shows police approaching the protestor, later identified as Antonio Coasaca, with the iron contraption and forcing him to hold it as Correo Arequipa's photographer took a photo.
Once the video emerged, Correo Arequipa covered it and then erased the original image from their website.
EL CORREO- PRENSA AMARILLA, VENDIDA Y CON CARENCIA DE ÉTICA Y NI QUE DECIR DE LA POLICÍA. #TiaMaria @diariocorreo pic.twitter.com/nh2Jl371ek
— Claudia Tenorio ᴬᴸ (@clau_elgato) April 24, 2015
Correo – yellow press, sellouts with a lack of ethics and where to start with the police.
The video of MollendinosTV-Islay TV gathered traction on social networks prompting a discussion about police and press ethics.
Of the more than one thousand comments on the video, user balletperu.blogspot.com sums up the feeling of the great majority:
Qué vergüenza, policía y fotoperiodista haciendo porquería de su labor. Soy de Mollendo, sí me gustaría proyectos y progreso para mi ciudad natal, pero no de esa manera, con injusticias y engaños […]
What a shame, police and photojournalist doing rubbish in their mission. I am from Mollendo and yes I'd like progress and projects for my hometown, but not in this way, with injustice and deceits […]
Journalist and anthropologist Alberto Niquen thinks that “what happened in Mollendo is another demonstration that the criminalising of the protests is a state policy which has been increased”:
He reflected:
Te informan o te desinforman, o simplemente te mal informan. ¿Qué hacer cuando un fotógrafo y un redactor de un diario de tiraje nacional asumen como verdad lo que dice la Policía Nacional del Perú (PNP) y permiten la publicación de una noticia incriminadora? Es más, ¿qué pensar cuando lo hacen sabiendo que se está ‘sembrando’ algo que no es? Como no indignarse cuando descubres que una noticia es consecuencia de una ‘siembra’, de una ‘falacia’, de un plan de criminalización.
You are informed or misinformed, or just wrongly informed. What to do when a photographer and an editor of a national circulation newspaper assumes as true what the National Police of Peru (PNP) says and allows the publication of an incriminatory news piece? Even more, what to think when they do it consciously knowing an untruth has been ‘planted'? How not to be outraged when you find out that this news is a result of a ‘planting’, of a ‘fallacy’, of a plot to criminalise?
Political fallout from the scandal was swift. Peru's Ombudsman to the Minister of the Interior successfully pushed for Coasaca's release, while National Police Director, General Jorge Flores Goicochea, announced an extensive investigation into the official who was seen ‘planting’ the weapon on Antonio.
Under pressure, Correo Arequipa newspaper finally apologized to readers and reported an internal investigation to determine responsibility for the incident.
Journalist Gustavo Gorriti of IDL-Reporteros analysed the compromised nature of the ‘Dinoes’ (National Direction of Special Operations) police squads that get sent to deal with mining conflicts:
[…] tanto la Dirección como sus efectivos, trabajan buena parte de su tiempo como seguridad privada de las minas, ganan dinero por eso, el policía y sus jefes, y en muchos casos terminan dependiendo de él. De manera que cuando son movilizados frente a conflictos como el de Tía María, actúan como una inestable combinación de agentes del Estado y fuerza de choque de las mineras. […] ¿Queremos ley, progreso y una lucha eficaz contra el crimen? Empecemos por ser un Estado serio. Un Estado serio no tiene a la Dirección de Operaciones Especiales de su Policía trabajando como huachimanes de las minas, para luego reprimir a los que se oponen a ellas.
[…] [The Dinoes] as operatives, work a lot of their time as private security for the mines. They make money from this, the police and their bosses, and in many instances end up depending on it. In this way when there are mobilizations in conflicts such as that surrounding Tía María, they act as an unreliable combination of agents of the state and a strike force for the mining companies […] Don't we want law, progress and an efficient battle against crime? Start by being a serious state. A serious state does not have the Direction of the Police Special Operations working as private security for mines, who then repress those who oppose them in their role as police.
Increased public attention led to the identification of the photographer who shot the controversial image:
¿Quién es el fotógrafo de #TíaMaría? (2) @elcomercio reconoce que Julio Angulo trabajó con ellos como freelance http://t.co/5mfkWJLOv8
— Luis Yáñez (@Luiggiox) April 27, 2015
Who is Tía María's photographer? El Comercio [Peru's oldest newspaper, based in Lima] recognizes that Julio Angulo was working with them as a freelancer.
Julio Angulo was forced to face facts and  give his version of the story behind the image. According to him he was covering the protests and when he heard the policeman call him he approached and took pictures without really knowing what was happening:
I run because I heard his voice, come, look, I did not knew what he had in his hands, then I just looked everywhere, seeking to protect my integrity, without losing the photos […] It was all very confusing, I could have never realized that fact.
Angulo apologised to Coasaca and said he regretted how the photo was used. He added that he does not know how the Correo Arequipa newspaper published the photos considering that he was working for El Comercio at the time and he sent pictures taken on the day straight to them.
Juan Carlos Fangacio, a journalist, noted that Angulo's statement that “a photographer in this situation reacts taking photos, and it does not stop at anything else” points to the ethical dilemmas inherent to on-the-ground journalism where speed wins the day:
Lo que dice, da para la discusión. ¿Realmente un fotógrafo solo dispara su cámara en una situación como esa? ¿Las cuestiones éticas o editoriales vienen después? ¿O pueden evaluarse durante el calor del trabajo? Con esa línea tan delgada entre lo que es correcto e incorrecto, la única verdad yace en la conciencia de Angulo.
What he says provides enough of a basis for discussion. Does a photographer really only shoot with his camera in a situation like this? Do ethical and editorial issues come later? Or can they be evaluated in the heat of the work? With such a fine line between what is right and wrong, the only truth lies in Angulo's conscience.
He concludes:
Angulo ya ofreció disculpas y dio su versión (creerle o no es cuestión de cada uno). Lo cierto es que la cuerda siempre se rompe por el lado delgado. Y en ese caso, todavía hay muchos que deben explicaciones. Sobre todo los de arriba.
Angulo has offered apologies and gave his version (to believe him or not is a personal question). The truth is that the rope always breaks at the thinnest point. And if so, there are still many who must give explanations. Especially those at the top.
Southern Copper, whose ultimate beneficiary is Mexican billionaire German Larrea, says it plans to begin the project by 2017 despite the death of a protester and policeman in the latest round of clashes this week.
Peru remains one of the world's largest producers of many minerals, such as copper, gold, silver and zinc. But violent protests sparked by environmental fears on the part of activists and local residents have put a number of projects on hold.
This post is a version of the original post published in the Globalizado Blog.

author: Juan Arellano