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Chile: Students March in the Thousands for Education Reform · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Thousands of students and teachers marched on the streets of Santiago and in other cities on Tuesday August 28, 2012, to demand education reform. This massive march is part of the student movement's ongoing efforts to overhaul the education system in Chile. Earlier this month, students occupying schools denounced [es] excessive aggression by police as they were forcibly removed from school premises.
The Santiago Times reports that yesterday's march “was notably peaceful and good-natured until it officially ended at 2 p.m. and quickly descended into chaos with ‘encapuchados’, or hooded vandals, attacking police […] The police were quick to respond by firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters.”
As in previous protests, citizens were actively covering the march throughout the day via social networks. Most users used the hashtags #YoMarchoel28 (I march on the 28) [es] and #YoApoyoaLosEstudiantes (I support the students) [es] to share pictures, videos, reports, and reactions.
Chilean student leaders pictured on stage as they deliver speeches at a rally demanding an overhaul of the public education system. August 28, 2012. Photo by Mario Tellez Tellez, Copyright Demotix.
Architect and sociologist Daniel Jadue (@danieljadue) [es] wrote:
@danieljadue: Me encantaría que el gobierno organizara una marcha de apoyo a sus políticas para ver cuantos saldrían a marchar. #YoApoyoaLosEstudiantes
Coralito (@krisalid_a) [es] referred to the role of teachers in the student movement:
@krisalid_a: ser profesor/a y no apoyar a los estudiantes es una contradicción pedagógica!! #yomarchoel23 #yomarchoel28
NGO Ciudadano Inteligente (@ciudadanoi) [es] highlighted the difference in numbers reported by the Confederation of Chilean Students (Confech) and the carabineros (police):
@ciudadanoi: Marcha por la educación Stgo: Carabineros cifra en 50 mil los asistentes y Confech en 150 mil ¿Qué tal el margen de error? #Transparencia
YouTube user Gonzalo Afa shared the following video, challenging the figures reported by carabineros:
The government and several politicians praised [es] the peaceful nature of the march. In response to this, Marta Lagos (@mmlagoscc) [es] wrote:
@mmlagoscc: Muy extraña la felicitacion del gob a la marcha pacifica de estudiantes.: Yaaa. Y ahora q? Q responde a las demandas q originan la marcha?
Despite the peaceful nature of this march, citizens [es] and the media [es] reported several clashes between protesters and police. According to reports by carabineros, 200 people were arrested and 13 police were injured.
Riot police pictured as they make an arrest at a rally demanding an overhaul of the public education system. August 28, 2012, Santiago, Chile. Photo by Mario Tellez Tellez, copyright Demotix.
Several netizens, like SebastiánCaiceoBacon (@sebastiancaiceo) [es], criticized the media's coverage of the march:
@sebastiancaiceo: La prensa es increíble, cuando la marcha es pacifica le dan los 1ros 5 minutos de pantalla y chao, cuando hay desmanes los muestran 1 hora.
Supporters of the student movement stress that the government must respond to the student's demands. The Dean of the School of Medicine of the University of Chile, Cecilia Sepúlveda (@decanamedicina) [es] tweeted:
@decanamedicina: Orgullosa x marcha masiva y pacífica de ayer. Ahora el gobierno tiene la palabra ¿q espera para enfrentar la crisis de la educación?
You can see more citizen photos of the march on news sites El Dínamo [es] and Sentidos Comunes [es].

author: Silvia Viñas


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Are Ethiopians the Most Secretive People on Earth?  · Global Voices
Markos Lemma

Prior to official confirmation of the death of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on August 21, 2012, the Ethiopian government spokesman, Bereket Simon, had indicated that the Prime Minister would address the public on September 1, the Ethiopian new year.
In an interview with the Australian Special Broadcasting Service, journalists asked if he was carrying out his task properly and whether he was providing the public with inadequate information. He answered:
We simply state the fact, those who trust us did trust us. But, there those who don’t trust us – especially among the diaspora, residing in North America and Europe, who are ill-wishers. We know they do not trust us and we didn’t bother to convince them.
Meles Zenawi at the World Economic Forum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, May 2010. Photo courtesy of World Economic Forum (CC BY-SA 2.0)
For more than fifty days the Ethiopian public waited without official information about the Prime Minister's whereabouts. The next thing they heard from official sources was that he had died from an undisclosed disease in an undisclosed hospital and in an undisclosed country.
This was not the first time that Ethiopian officials had hidden important information from the public. Are Ethiopians the most secretive people in the world?
The Polish journalist Rysard Kapuscinski once declared “Ethiopians are the most secretive people on Earth”, as highlighted by journalist and blogger Graham Peebles:
Ethiopians are notoriously secretive and distrustful, the great Polish journalist Rysard Kapuscinski in his classic work ‘The Emperor’, regarding the reign of the last Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selasie and his inner circle, states “the Ethiopians are deeply distrustful and found it hard to believe in the sincerity of my intentions,” elsewhere he goes further claiming that Ethiopians are the most “secretive people on Earth.” Having lived in Addis Ababa and worked with Ethiopians for a number of years, my experience certainly bears out Kapuscinski’s comments reinforced by René Lefort, author of ‘Ethiopia. An heretical revolution?’ when he states “given the history of Ethiopia, where secrecy is a cardinal virtue”.
Emperor Haile Selassie I tried to hide the 1973-74 famine. Public domain photo from the G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection at the Library of Congress.
Emperor Haile Selasie even tried to hide the 1973 famine, continued Peebles:
Image and social status is of great importance within Ethiopian society. In 1973, whilst hundreds of thousands starved, Halie Selasie and his government denied that a famine was taking place in the northeast of Ethiopia, known as the ‘Unknown Famine’ and lied to ITV journalist David Dimbleby, who reported the situation in Wollo that Sellasie and his cronies had attempted to cover up.
An even earlier example of Ethopia's need for secrecy dates from the early 1900's when Emperor Menelik II's death was hidden from the public for years. When he died in December 1913, there was no public announcement officially confirming his death and burial:
Another example of the secretive/duplicitous tendency of the Ethiopian people, creating a false or misleading image was the way Emperor Menelik II death in December 1913 was kept quiet. He died and was buried without any public announcements after suffering a stroke and being unable to govern for several years. And this for and of a man regarded by many as the last true Emperor.
Twitter user Tamara, tweeting as @GovezMedia recalled:
@GovezMedia: #WhereisMeles has me recall being told by a proffessor [sic] in Addis that the death of Menelik was hidden for years #africanleaders
As well as the Prime Minister, another prominent Ethiopian figurehead also died recently. Abune Paulos, the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox church died on 16 August, 2012. However, his death was announced immediately, although the public still does not know the cause and who is going to replace him.
This post was sub-edited by Jane Ellis.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Markos Lemma


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Greece: Anti-Nationalists Demand Diversity · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

Anti-nationalist sticker from Athens reads [el]: “We want Albanian classmates, Afghani coworkers, Nigerian neighbours and kicks to fascists.” Source: Facebook page of Europeans against the political system.
From the Facebook group Europeans against the political system, this image has circulated around Facebook and other social media sites, gathering retweets, shares and many comments.

author: Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni


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Hungary: Shantytown Destroyed to Help Real Estate Investment · Global Voices
Atlatszo.hu

Some 45-50 people living in makeshift shacks in the abandoned woods alongside Fehér Road and Terebesi Road in the capital of Hungary, Budapest, were called upon to leave their homes at short notice in June 2012.
Some of the residents, who have been living in their shanties for decades, have built up self-supporting farms, while some have been trying to make their living from collecting and selling scrap-iron. Rumours spread years ago that the city was planning to build a recreational park in the area.
Residents told atlatszo.hu's journalists that social workers from the Red Cross and the Baptists informed them about the eviction and offered places in their shelters. Civil rights movement A Város Mindenkié (The City is for All) criticized the forced eviction as illegal and noted that people would be provided with worse housing than the existing one.
Albert Jónás, a shantytown resident. Photo by Atlatszo.hu.
Kettős Mérce blog wrote [hu] about the case in June:
[…] One after another, the municipalities are announcing various decisions of destroying shanties, meanwhile they can’t provide an alternative to them. These people are not lazy, most of them work and they have built those shanties themselves, where they—even if modestly—live. The homeless shelters offered as alternatives, however, wouldn’t provide them with the opportunity of leading an independent life, but would only integrate them into the system forever. Today in Hungary there’s no such housing policy that offers an opportunity to start an independent life, so people are building these shanties and trying to create [that opportunity] outside of the state frameworks. […]
A Város Mindenkié held several protests in June [hu] against the forced eviction of the people from that area. (They shared photos of the ‘Terebesi woods’ here.)
On their blog, they wrote [hu] that the municipality provided two weeks to local social workers to find a place for these 50 people. They noted that homeless shelters were not proper alternatives, since the homeless can only spend up to two years there and without any income they, again, wouldn't have a place to go to.
Atlatszo.hu’s investigation [hu] has shown that social workers were asked to “solve this problem” by the District X municipality to help a real estate investment. As Deputy Mayor Tibor Weber informed atlatszo.hu’s journalists, investor Sidi Group’s plans to build 900 apartments, offices and some recreational areas are now in an advanced stage of authorization.
Civil rights protests and increased media attention appear to have prolonged the eviction, which now seems to have turned into a lawful and negotiated procedure. Many of the inhabitants have moved out to shelters, some are still staying there, but the process is unstoppable for now.


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Jordan: A Black Day to Protest Internet Censorship · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian websites have gone offline today [August 29, 2012] in protest against proposed government censorship plans and new restrictions on the Internet.
Hundreds of websites have gone black, in order to draw attention to the new legislation and its dangers. The sites have a black background, with a note which reads:
You may be deprived of the content of this site under the amendments of the Jordanian Press and Publications Law and the governmental Internet censorship
First, the government gave the go ahead to block websites. Now, a new Publications Law, which allows for more control and censorship over the Internet, has also been approved as a draft.
According to Al Ghad newspaper [ar], the Jordanian government approved amendments to the Publications and Press Law, which now require the owners of websites to register with the government and obtain a license, “just like any other publication.” Owners of websites will also be made responsible for the content of comments published by readers on their sites.
The draft law will now have to be approved by Parliament to become an actual law.
In response, a new blog named 7or ya net (You are free, Internet) [ar] has been launched to protest against the government's attempt to censor the Internet and spread awareness about filtering and freedom of speech. And this Jordan blackout campaign is one of its efforts to draw attention to the state of the Internet should Jordan be allowed to curtail people's freedom online with new laws.
According to 7or ya net:
The draft was swiftly sent to the Parliament, and it was discussed during the extraordinary session on Sunday 25th of August. A second hearing will be held on Thursday the 30th of August. This is why we’re holding this blackout and need your support.
The campaign is having wide support across Jordanian platforms. Jo24.net says [ar] that more than 750 websites have joined the campaign.
On Twitter, web entrepreneur Ahmed Humeid announced at midnight, just as the campaign started:
@humeid: Over 150 sites in Jordan are going black, including the country's top new sites, to protest laws that restrict internet freedom #blackoutjo
He continued:
@humeid: Not just news sites, but major business sites are joining the internet blackout in jordan. #blackoutjo #FreeNetJo
And Aramran Web TV warned:
@aramram: Support #freenetJO or enjoy #blackoutJO the rest of ur life
Screen shot of the Jeeran homepage in black in protest against new laws which aim to restrict the Internet in Jordan
All day, sites advertised their support for the campaign. Here is one example:
@Jeeran: #Jeeran is supporting the blackout and going black against a censored Web in #JO http://jo.jeeran.com #BlackOutJo #FreeNetJo #Amman
And those who didn't join the campaign will face a backlash from activists.
Web/mobile technologist Razan Khatib tweets:
@razano: I unfollowed @khaberni because they didn't join #BlackoutJo #freenetjo
To follow the story, check out the Twitter hash tags #BlackoutJo and #freenetjo

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Macedonia, Bulgaria: Social Media Users Help Expose Forgery · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

A fact-checking intervention – a joint effort by Macedonian and Bulgarian social media users – has helped independent journalists expose forged documents used as lure for suspicious humanitarian donations.
During the previous weeks, Macedonian social media users were agitated after learning about alleged mistreatment of Eva Ilievska, a baby girl with malfunctioning heart, who was a subject of an online donation campaign a few months ago. Dozens of online portals and other media relayed the appeal for more funds, using titles like “Scandalous – Little Eva was Denied Health Care in Bulgaria – Due to Lack of Money for the Operation.”
People were donating money via designated humanitarian phone numbers and to the family's bank account, and indignantly shared such links [mk] via Facebook, calling upon their friends to contribute, too. These articles contained photos of the baby, who was born in April, and a scan of the alleged official document issued by a Bulgarian clinic.
A text message by the Foundation T-Mobile for Macedonia, informing that the user has donated 100 denars for Eva Ilievska's treatment. On top of this sum, the state takes +18% from the citizens as VAT (approx. EUR 2).
However, when a Facebook user from Bulgaria noticed this appeal, she quickly realized that the scanned document contained many factual inadequacies: the name and address of the hospital were wrong, the telephone numbers were strange, and, most of all, the text in Bulgarian looked as if it was not written by a speaker of the language, but appeared to be an automated online translation.
Other Bulgarians (including Global Voices’ Rayna St. and Veni Markovski) confirmed these facts [mk, bg] through Facebook comments, while their Macedonian friends tagged several journalists in order to involve them in the discussion. Over the weekend, the cat was out of the bag on a larger scale.
Immediate further research [mk] by professional journalist Meri Jordanovska from 24 Vesti (24 News), who contacted the child's father as well as the head of the Bulgarian clinic, revealed that the document was indeed a forgery. In fact, the girl's operation had already been completed and she was back in Skopje for further treatment.
Margarita Conzarova, M.D., the director of the Sofia-based Clinic for Child Diseases and Heart Surgery, confirmed that she had not issued such a letter. In fact, the EUR 25,000 had been paid by the Macedonian State Healh Fund (80%) and the parents (20%), presumably using part of the previously donated funds. The Bulgarian surgeon said that a new operation on the child was not to be conducted for at least a year.
Dozens of Macedonian portals and other media relayed the news [mk]. According to unofficial information in Jordanovska's article, over EUR 20,000 had been donated by concerned citizens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3uPSPUtooNA
In the meantime, the Ilievski family members have been issuing contradictory statements. First, they were asking for more money via the this Facebook page [mk], then they were quoted claiming that the page was run “by the community” or that it had been hacked, and that they did not know who was asking for money, using appeals claiming that little Eva was to have a surgery in the next few days, and that EUR 3,000, then EUR 2,100 were still lacking.
“Who Wanted to Get Rich Over Little Eva's Heart?” The story made it to the front page of the Fokus daily.
Articles by another web-savvy journalist, Miroslava Simonovska of the Fokus daily and the Plusinfo portal, complemented the information, and showed [mk] that well after the operation, the father has continued to ask for money from people directly via e-mail. The director of the Skopje Clinic for Child Diseases, Aspazija Sofijanova, M.D., has filed criminal charges and the police started an investigation [mk] into possible fraud.
Macedonian citizens often donate money via text messages, as they believe that the three national mobile operators have checked the claims of the people who beg for money in order to solve health issues. So far, no statement by the mobile operators has been issued to the effect that they would return the money if the investigation proves fraud.
Journalists claim that, to their credit, the operators do not take a cut from the proceedings, but transfer the whole sum to bank accounts of the people in need, and the 18% VAT to the state budget.
One of the participants in the Facebook discussion wrote about the baby:
…Again, the biggest loser is the most innocent person…
Meri Jordanovska concluded her second article this way:
It remains unclear for what purpose did Eva's parents gather money and who is hiding behind the August 23 document, which claims that the Bulgarian clinic is asking for more money for treatment. The Ministry of the Interior is on the move to clear up this case, so that the citizens could regain trust in calls for humanitarian donations.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Mexico: Egg Price Hike Causes Speculation · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

On 22 August, 2012, the Mexican Secretariat of Economy publicly acknowledged the sudden and considerable rise in the price of fresh eggs, a staple food in the Mexican diet. The Secretariat also announced the ceasing of tariffs imposed on the import of eggs, seeking to stabilise the market, reduce the price of the product and ensure supply for the population.
However, the increasing price of such an important food product has generated commercial speculation and malpractice, which, in turn, have led to discontent and suspicion among consumers. Meanwhile, most authorities have limited their response to condemning the facts [es].
The professor and economist Arturo Damm Arnal [es] expressed his disapproval of the strategy launched by the Secretariat of Economy:
Cualquier estudiante de economía que haya cursado Economía I sabe 1) qué son los precios, 2) qué tareas desempeñan, y 3) qué se requiere para que las desempeñen de la mejor manera posible, razón por la cual sabe cuáles son las consecuencias de la manipulación gubernamental de los precios misma que, más allá de las buenas intenciones del manipulador —sin olvidar que de buenas intenciones está empedrado el camino al infierno— siempre termina siendo un tiro por la culata, algo que, por lo visto, no acaban de entender en la Secretaría de Economía, que muchas veces actúa como si fuera Secretaría de Antieconomía, olvidando (lo cual supone que alguna vez lo supieron, lo cual puede implicar suponer más de la cuenta) lo que todo estudiante que haya cursado Economía I sabe: que la manipulación gubernamental de precios impide que, ante los fenómenos de escasez o sobreoferta, los mercados se ajusten hacia el equilibrio.
Furthermore, in his Twitter account (@ArturoDammArnal) [es] Professor Damm Arnal stated:
@ArturoDammArnal: El que el gobierno autorice la importación de huevos es muestra de lo mucho que falta para tener verdadero libre comercio. ¡Qué verguenza!
Photo: J. Tadeo
Moreover, the Head of Government for the Federal District, Marcelo Ebrard (@m_ebrard) [es], announced the distribution of eggs at a regular price in Tlalpan (south zone), the biggest territorial extension area of the 16 areas that comprise the Federal District.  This was done to guarantee the supply of eggs to the capital.
However, this has been deemed to be a populist measure as interpreted [es] by some Mexicans:
@m_ebrard: Hoy trailer de huevo a 20 pesos en Tlalpan
@m_ebrard [es]: Today a trailer with eggs for 20 pesos in Tlalpan
The communicator Diane Pérez (@DraDianePerez) [es] made the following recommendation to those affected by the rise in price:
@DraDianePerez: Si no quieres ser víctima de la especulación y los altos costos del huevo, evita su consumo hasta la estabilización de su precio. Favor RT
Meanwhile, Twitter user @rojomon9 [es] shared with her followers the way in which she heard the news:
@rojomon9: Llevaba dos meses sin ver un noticiero mexicano, le pongo a Lopez Doriga y lo primero que veo es “a este país nunca le han faltado huevos”
Regarding the news that this essential product was imported by the United States of America (once customs duty had been lifted), users like Anonymous Hispano (@anonopshispano) [es] asked the following question:
@anonopshispano: Ingresan a México las primeras 400 toneladas de huevo de EU – http://ow.ly/d9Kvy  ¿Y por qué precisamente tenían que ser de EU?
Twitter user Antonella Torrinco (@TonyTorrinco) [es] noted that the price of a kilo of eggs had almost reached the daily minimum wage, which in the Federal District is $62.33 Mexican pesos (approximately €3.66 or $4.75 US dollars):
@TonyTorrinco: Mientras tanto en México el precio del kilo de huevo esta a punto de igualar al salario mínimo
Finally, the Twitter user Juan Ciudadano (@ZapataMty) [es] took the opportunity to compare the increase in the price of eggs with the resolution about to be declared by the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Branch (TEPJF) about the validity of July's presidential elections, which were contested by one of the candidates that did not win the election.
@ZapataMty: El HUEVO y el TEPJF pueden causar “revueltas” en México. -En los próximos días Pongan atención al precio del Huevo y al fallo del tribunal.
Considering that 46.2% of the Mexican population lives in poverty and that around 12% of the economically active population earn the minimum wage [es], the sudden and excessive increase in price for such a widely consumed product is bad news for millions of Mexicans.

author: J. Tadeo


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Myanmar: Reshuffling the Cabinet · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

In a bold move, Myanmar President Thein Sein reshuffled[my] his cabinet by appointing non-army officers and removing controversial ministers. Among those replaced included the Minister of the Ministry of Electric Power who was criticized for the electricity shortage last summer and the Minister of the Ministry of Information who is strict with censorship.

author: Chan Myae Khine


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Russia: Censorship Law Threatens Children’s Classics · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

After news that Russian television will soon be forced to curtail showings of a classic children’s cartoon “Nu, Pogodi!” [wiki] (the Soviet version of Tom & Jerry but with wolf and bunny instead of cat and mouse) because it is too violent for a new law protecting children from the media, bloggers wonder [ru] what other [ru] cartoons may be affected. Some amusing forecasts include [ru] censorship of Winnie the Pooh for vagrancy and theft, and H. C. Andersen’s Snow Queen for kidnapping. Apparently, some scenes being removed [ru] from “Nu, Pogodi!” are ones where the wolf character is smoking [YouTube].

author: Andrey Tselikov


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Pakistan: Long Road to Peace and Security · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage.
As Pakistan enters its 66 year of Independence, it is a good time to take stock of the security situation within the country – in order to understand the role the nation continues to play in the overall security and stability of the region.
According to the Pakistan Security Report, 2011 [pdf] published by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), though Pakistan continues to rank “among the most volatile regions in the world”, there has been some improvement in the overall security situation within the country, especially since the later part of 2011. The report states:
The last half of the year 2011 was a period of comparative peace in Pakistan in terms of internal armed conflict, acts of terrorism and the consequent casualties. A decrease in the number of suicide attacks and drone strikes were the major contributing factors… the security situation is slowly improving as violence has decreased 24 percent in the last two years.
Given that the country has seen a sharp decline in fatalities caused by suicide attacks and that there have been no significant terror attacks in major cities or in the capital in 2012, the change in the overall security situation seems significant, especially when compared against 2009-2011, which was deadly in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
Flags flying in Pakistan on the occasion of Independence Day. Flickr photo by Ejaz Asi, CC BY-NC 2.0
Yet, it is not a time for complacency. On August 16, 2012, a high value military base right outside the capital Islamabad was attacked by gunmen. Pakistan special forces contained the situation within five hours and fatalities were mostly on the militant side.
Three days later, the government issued a blanket cell phone service ban for 15 hours in four major cities – including Karachi and Lahore  – on the Islamic holiday Eid-ul-Fitr because of credible security threats they had received.
These recent events go to show that despite claims made in May 2012 by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan – Yousuf Raza Gilani, that concerns about the security situation in Pakistan were “exaggerated”, the situation on the ground remains fragile and the improvement in the security situation is not all-pervasive.
‘Target killings’ continue in many parts of the country. Karachi continues to suffer its fair share of ethnic and political violence as a turf war rages since 2010. Violence continues to dog the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) including its capital Peshawar. There areas continue to bear the brunt of Pakistan's engagement in the War on Terror.
Balochistan remains in the grip of an insurgency, with the government yet unable to provide a tenable and acceptable solution to address grievances in the region. Rather, as Pakistani journalist and blogger Malik Siraj Akbar pointed out, the violence escalated in early 2012 after “an unprecedented hearing of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs which voiced deep concern over the appalling human rights violations allegedly committed by the army in the country's largest province of Balochistan”.
This infographic published in the PIPS Pakistan Security Report 2011 provides a visual overview of the country's security situation. Used with Permission.
There is also a growing concern about the rise of sectarian violence within the country, which has seen a resurgence since 2007. In 2012 alone there have been three incidents of Shia targeted killings. While the largest number of clashes have been between the Sunni and Shia sects, there has also been violence occurring within the Sunni community; for example, between the Deobandi and Barelvi Sunnis. Huma Yusuf, who is a well-known columnist for the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, wrote  in her analytical report [pdf] published by the Norwegian Peacebuilding Rsource Center (NOREF.)
Sectarian violence poses a grave threat to Pakistan’s security and stability, primarily because conflict between mainstream religious communities threatens to involve and radicalise greater swathes of the Pakistani population than any other kind of militancy.
Thus it appears that while there is reason for some amount of cautious optimism regarding the relative improvements in Pakistan's overall security situation, the country still has a long road ahead in its struggle to successfully resolve the complexities of its multi-layered sectarian, ethnic and political issues and help enhance the stability and security, not only within its borders but of the region as well.

author: Aparna Ray


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Palestine: Governments are Afraid of the Internet · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian poet and author Mourid Al Barghouti tweets [ar]: “By God, how can governments which fear the Internet scare their enemies?”


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Russia: Chainsaws to the Cross · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

On August 17, the Ukrainian radical feminist group Femen chain-sawed a memorial cross in Kiev to protest the conviction of Pussy Riot. As with all their actions, this one was carried out by a topless woman and covered on their blog [ru].
Three days later, Femen published the following statement, which was soon taken down by LiveJournal:
После ошеломляющего дебюта треш-группа “Крестоповал” планирует свой первый гастрольный тур по очагам православного деревянного зодчества России. […] Пили кресты – спасай Россию!
Femen activists saw down cross in solidarity with Pussy Riot. In Kyiv, Ukraine, 17 August 2012, photo by ukrafoto ukrainian news, copyright © Demotix.
Five days later, on August 25, unknown parties sawed down three wooden crosses, this time inside Russia, in the city of Chelyabinsk, in the Urals. The same night, another cross came down in Arkhangelsk, in the north. All four were so-called “bowing” or “worship crosses,” that is, crosses set outside church grounds as a memorial, or in commemoration. (A good rundown of how and why they are erected can be found here [ru].) The connection of such copycat vandalism to Femen’s earlier performance seemed clear.
Russian bloggers, however, have taken a different approach, labeling the cross-felling a Kremlin project. This comes as little surprise, given Russia's political tensions and the ease with which Russia’s digital opposition adopts conspiracy theories, despite what is often a complete lack of evidence.
Nikolai Polozov, a Moscow based lawyer, tweeted [ru] the following on August 25:
Позитивно лишь то, что взрывать дома они уже очкуют, ограничиваются крестами.
He was referring to the popular (in some circles) theory that the FSB engineered a series of apartment building bombings in 1999, which led to the second Chechen War. Polozov didn’t waste much time moving straight through to Godwin’s Law, soon tweeting that the vandalism of Orthodox crosses is the equivalent of Hitler setting fire to the Reichstag.
His tweet was instantly endorsed by Marat Gelman, Pussy Riot’s lawyer Mark Feygin, as well as Oleg Kashin, who also didn’t mince words [ru]:
Согласен с Полозовым: пиление крестов, конечно, кампания, за кампанией, скорей всего, стоит Кремль.
The idea was stridently repeated in Facebook posts by journalists Sergey Parkhomenko and Andrei Malgin. Both called it a provocation and hinted at dire consequences. Parkhomenko also mentioned the 1999 apartment explosions, while Malgin ominously used the phrase “civil war.” Other bloggers fleshed out the explosion reference. Olga Bakushinskaya recommended [ru] the book “The FSB Blows Up Russia” to those still in doubt, while another blogger conjectured that perhaps the Kremlin would also blow up a church [ru].
Former Kremlin PR wizard Gleb Pavlovsky went further, intimating [ru] that even Femen’s performance was staged by the secret services:
Кто поверит в кресты спиленные в Архангельске и т.п. по указанию Femen (сдающих груди в аренду по договорённости) ? Вонью несёт из московских кабинетов, с прибавлением пары киевских. Схема старая гб-шная […]
Pavlovsky's reading is understandable – after engaging in political scheming for so many years, he probably sees a “political technologist” behind most events.
There is also the vandalism of a recently erected monument to Boris Yeltsin in his home town of Yekaterinburg. The day before the first crosses came down in Russia, someone poured blue paint [ru] all over the enormous statue. Perhaps this, too, is a part of the same Kremlin campaign aimed at passing new anti-desecration laws, muses [ru] blogger fyodorrrrr.
It then comes as no surprise that when one group did finally come forward [ru] to claim responsibility for the cross vandalism, Oleg Kashin and others immediately assumed [ru] it was as a plant by the Kremlin or NASHI. Kashin later wrote [ru]:
Кто-то в Facebook взял на себя ответственность за спиленные кресты — спасибо, конечно, но неужели вы хотите, чтобы мы в это поверили?
The group calls itself Narodnaya Volya, or “Will of the People,” a reference to a populist nineteenth century terrorist organization that managed to assassinate Tsar Alexander II. It describes itself as a movement of “revolutionary-cyberdemocrats” and its Facebook page [ru] is filled with pro-Pussy Riot and anti-government rhetoric.
Screenshot from Narodnaya Volya's Facebook page. 29 August 2012.
The evidence that Narodnaya Volya is responsible for anything is flimsy. Of course, if one spends a few minutes looking at its profile, it becomes clear that the group does not seriously expect anyone to believe its claims. The ironic language of their press releases, the lack of any detail beyond that found in the news, and claims of responsibility for defacing the Yeltsin memorial, in addition to the crosses, are only some of the giveaways.
Much more telling is the formula the group first used to explain [ru] how each case of vandalism was mobilized:
летучие боевые отряды оппозиции под названием «Неизвестные»
The final press release added that the mobile combat squads are the “militant wing of our Movement.”
The use of the word “unknown” (which is simply a different way of translating the word “anonymous” into Russian), in conjunction with the Guy Fawkes masks adorning the group’s Facebook page, makes it clear that their claims are tongue-in-cheek. The mobile combat squads are unknown: in other words, they are anonymous. That is, no one knows who they are, including the authors of the press release.
Attribution of collectively anonymous and unrelated actions to a mysterious organization called Anonymous is the hallmark of Internet hacktivists, one which dupes the media time and again. That Russia’s Internet hipsters have yet to grow hip to this is ironic, though irony is of course popular with this crowd.


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Russia: Police Claim Top Blogger Was Hacked from Germany · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

The Moscow police department has determined [ru] that Aleksei Navalny's email and Twitter accounts were hacked in late June from a German IP address. Fellow liberal blogger Andrey Malgin criticized [ru] the announcement, accusing the authorities of disguising their own responsibility for supposedly stealing [ru] Navalny's passwords in a June 11 search [ru] of his home and offices. Germany is the suspected location of the infamous “Hacker Hell,” who took credit for infiltrating Navalny's accounts.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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South Korea: K-Pop Video ‘Gangnam Style’ Goes Viral Internationally · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean singer Psy‘s tune ‘Gangnam Style’ has gone viral internationally, with its YouTube video (below) surpassing 70 million hits as of today since its release in mid-July.
This is the greatest hit in K-Pop (Korean Pop) history, and has got many Koreans talking. The scope of discussions vary from simple praise of Psy's (short for Psycho, real name is Park Jae-sang) success, reviews of his marketing and social media strategies, criticism of other mainstream pop singers heavily invested in by their record agencies, to more detailed analysis of Koreans’ deep-seated insecurity about their country.
Numerous international media, including Billboard, ABC and CNN, quickly covered this sensation, which came as a shock to South Koreans, especially entertainment moguls who have failed to make a significance entry into the American market despite spending lots of money and resources over the years.
South Korean net users, although well aware of Psy's great performance and catchy and satirical songs, are also bewildered by this explosive success not only on the local level, but also on the international level.
International viewers meanwhile comment on this YouTube video that although they love the song, they really don't understand what the song's lyrics are about. And they are not the only ones. Even many South Koreans, such as blogger Gl-Meet, admit they dont fully get the lyrics, because they are disjointed and nowhere close to having a storyline – just like many other catchy pop songs.
The basic commentary people agree is as follows: Gangnam is Seoul's poshest neighborhood and in the video Psy acts in a exaggerated Gangnam man's character who brags about how great he is at impressing girls. It can be interpreted as a satire lampooning rich Koreans’ self-importance, as well as materialistic South Korean society.
Many media outlets have not only interpreted the song but gone on further to dissect the lyrics seriously, such as a this detailed, sophisticated, but slightly over-the-top review by the Atlantic. Blogger Gl-Meet wrote [ko]:
사실 언어의 장벽이 해당되지 않는 나도 가사를 온전히 음미하긴 어렵다. 커피를 원샷하는 사나이랑 옷 입어도 야한 여자 등 여러 인간유형이 중구난방으로 등장하고 틈만 나면 sexy lady가 끼어드는데, 여기서 무슨 깊은 의미를 찾겠는가? 애초에 싸이는 단순히 최고로 신나고 재밌는 곡을 만들 생각이었을 것이다. 가사는 입에 착착 붙게, 비트는 구성지고 중독성있게, 뮤직비디오는 최대한 촌스럽고 웃기게 […] 신문 지면에 좀 안다는 아줌마랑 아저씨들이 이걸 분석하면서 강남스타일이 사뭇 진지해졌다. 촌티나는 싸이가 강남 기득권 의식을 풍자했다는 설[…] 참, 꿈보다 해몽이다. 그들 입장에선 혜성처럼 날아든 싸이와 강남의 존재가 너무 압도적이어서 나름의 분석이 필요했을 순 있겠다. 우리야 뭐, ‘싸이’니까 그러려니 하고 받아들이지만.
Blogger Forever 36 commented [ko] on Psy's strategy to accentuate his own character, rather than trying to blend in the idol-dominated Korean music industry, saying it deserved high praise compared to the over-the-top K-Pop world:
아이러니 하게도 싸이의 선전은 대단해 보였단 K-POP 시장이 얼마나 별 볼일 없었던 것인지를 적나라하게 보여준다. 이제까지의 K-POP 아티스트들의 해외 진출은 아이돌이 대부분이었고, 이들은 소수의 매니아들을 생산해냈을 망정 광범위한 지지를 얻어내지는 못했다. 전문 작곡가를 두고, 잘 짜여진 안무에 정형화된 노래들을 소화해내는 한국의 아이돌들은 사실 정말 ‘아티스트'로서의 역량은 심각하게 떨어지는 수준이다. 노래는 그룹내의 몇명 멤버들만 잘하고, 미모를 가지고 있다고 하지만 그건 우리의 기준의 기준일 뿐이다. 해외진출방법도 딱히 이렇다할 것이 없었다. 그저 해외 레코드사에 찾아가서, 홍보를 부탁하고, 안되면 접는 그런 수순이었던 것이다[…] 싸이는 사실 그렇게 뛰어난 아티스트는 아니다. 노래를 잘 부르기를 하나, 랩을 잘 하기를 하나, 그렇다고 잘 생겼기를 했나. 싸이가 다른 뮤지션들보다 월등히 뛰어난 점이라면 바로 이러한 자신의 위치를 확실하게 깨달았다는 것이다. 그래서 사이는 고상한 취향이나 음악적 능력을 드러내지않고, 오히려 스스로 “싸보이는”음악을 한다.
Social marketing expert and blogger Dasolin approached Psy's success from a social media marketing perspective [ko]:
강남스타일이 개임한 것은 뮤직비디오를 만들고, 유투브에 올린 것 외에는 없다. 컨텐츠가 퍼져나가고 패러디되고, 반응들이 쏟아져나오는 과정에는 전혀 관여하지 않았다. 대게 소셜 마케팅을 하는 기업들이 오해하는 부분이 바로 이 부분이다. 철저하게 개입하려 하다가 역효과를 얻게되는 것이다[…]실제로 원더걸스는 텔미열풍 이후 사람들이 잘 따라 출 수 있도록 노래 가사에 춤 동작을 넣어서 안무를 맞춰서 바이럴이 되도록 개입했지만, 인위적인 유통은 참패하고 말았다.
Blogger SOMDA, in a blog post entitled ‘Don't Over-react’, points out [ko] the fact that Koreans can be overly self-conscious over how others view them. The blogger stressed how Koreans have reacted to Psy's international fame demonstrates their low national self-esteem:
가장 최근의 예라면 싸이의 강남스타일이 해외에서 이외로 뜨고있는데에 대한 반응이다. 반응은 두가지로 갈린다. […]먼저 뜨겁게 응호하는 반응에 대해 설명하자면, 이는 한국이란 나라도 이만큼 한다라는 자부심에서 나오는 반응이다. 하지만 어찌보면 슬픈 자부심이다. 서구에게는 동양으로, 같은 동양안에서도 일본에게 한국으로….끓임없이 타자로 위치되었던 한국이 선진국에게 어필했다는 것에 대해 자랑스러워하는 것이다.
[…] 두 번째로 그런 반응을 냉소하는 사람들이다. 이들은 먼저 순진한 승리감에 빠져있는 사람들을 공격하고 싶어한다. 이들은 선진국들에 비해 낮은 한국의 위치를 지나치게 인식한다.[…] 이들은 냉소적인 위치에 있음으로서 실망하고 싶어하지 않아한다. 그러나 이런 이들의 마인드도 역시 서구에 대한 지나친 열등감으로 나오는것으로서, 사실상으로는 응호하는 반응과 이면은 동일하다.[…] 자기정체성에 대해 불안한 사람은 남의 눈을 통해 그를 확인할려고 한다. 이는 한국인이 자국정체성에 가지는 태도와 유사하다.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Save Syria’s Threatened Heritage Sites · Global Voices
Thalia Rahme

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.
Alongside the mounting death toll, a massacre is being perpetrated against Syria's heritage. Little is being said about this issue in both mainstream and social media.
Did you know for instance that six sites in the country are on the UNESCO World Heritage List? They are the Ancient City of Aleppo, Ancient City of Bosra, Ancient City of Damascus, Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din Site of Palmyra. Also, another 12 historic sites are also on a tentative list.
Since March 30, 2012, UNESCO has been appealing to the world to save Syria's monuments. Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General said:
Damage to the heritage of the country is damage to the soul of its people and its identity.
The city of Aleppo, in particular, has been caught in the crossfire between the rebels and the regime's army. This has prompted once more the UN institution and its affiliate, the World Heritage Committee to raise the alarm.
Destruction, pillaging, looting and illicit trafficking … this is the fate of a treasure which has survived for thousands of years.
In order to document the damage targeting Syria's history,  a Facebook page and YouTube account have been created on under the title ‘The Syrian archaeological heritage under threat’, with information available in Arabic, French, English and Spanish.
No information is available on the real identity of those behind that page but it seems they are a group of Syrian or expatriate archeologists, who have worked in the country.
In one of the notes we can read this plea:
There is not much we can do to help them out of this situation, besides sending them our most sincere wishes of peace. However, there is something we can do. Syrians are witnessing how their cultural heritage is in danger, and how it is suffering important damages. A part of their collective cultural richness could be dramatically lost. Here is what we can do to contribute to the effort of protecting this heritage: We have all sent the archaeological material from our excavations to the local museums, or have left it in our missions’ houses. Much of this material can disappear due to the uncertain situation in many parts of the country. So, dear colleagues, let’s have our archives, inventories and catalogues ready, to help trace the material, should it disappear. When the time comes, this action will contribute to better outline the situation of the excavated archaeological material prior to the troubles.
Here is for instance an example of the destruction at the Historic district of Bab Al Dreib in Homs:
The historical district of Bab Al Dreib in the city of Homs destroyed
This is Bab al Turkman in Homs:
Another historical part of Homs destroyed
And this is the famous Aleppo Citadel, before and after:
The once very famous Citadel of Aleppo
A block of stones, this is what the the Famous Aleppo Citadel is becoming
The ancient souk in Midan also suffered damage:
This is how the old souk in Midan District in Damascus has become
On YouTube, a number of videos show the extent of the damage of some historic sites. Here is a sample:
This is the Mosque of Abu Ubeida al Jarrah in Tell Bysse being bombed:
The state of the old town of Aleppo
Monastery of Saidnaya hit by a shell:
Qalaat Al Madiq Bombing-Apamea Castle
A petition to save Syria's cultural heritage is also available on Avaaz.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.

author: Thalia Rahme


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Thailand: Petition to Stop Mae Wong Dam  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Please stop this crazy dam project and help maintain valuable tiger habitat in Mae Wong National Park.
The statement is from a petition urging the Thailand government to stop the Mae Wong dam project in order to protect a critical tiger habitat

author: Mong Palatino


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Thailand: Police Collect Wedding Fees from Myanmar Workers · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

Htoo Chit wrote [my] about the illegal wedding fees collected by Thai police from Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand.


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Trinidad & Tobago: State of the Nation  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Comedienne Rachel Price used the first anniversary of the State of Emergency in Trinidad and Tobago -which was declared on Sunday August 21st 2011 and ended on December 5th that same year- to reflect on the current of affairs in the country.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Vietnam: Gay Marriage and Human Rights · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The proposal should be cautiously welcomed as a progressive move which grants equality and official acceptance to members of society who have not felt the benefit of these statuses before
Matthew Parsfield believes that the news that Vietnam could soon become the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage should be welcomed despite the poor human rights record of the government


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Brazil: 13 Year-Old Exposes School Problems on Facebook · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Diário de Classe [pt], a Facebook page created by Isadora Faber, a 13 year-old from Santa Catarina, Brazil, has already gathered more than 176,000 “likes”. Aiming to “show the truth about public schools”, Isadora shares photos that show the repairs needed in her own school and reports on other general problems.

author: Sara Moreira


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Central African Republic: Less than 3% have Access to Electricity · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Louis Philippe Wallot writes in Journal de Bangui [fr]:
According to the statistics of the ministry of energy, only  3% of the capital city Bangui  has access to electricity and it is even at times less than 1% in some of the provincial cities. This is unacceptable.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Chinese Weapons Flooding Africa · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Deborah Brautigam from China in Africa provided more background information about the importation of Chinese Weapons in African countries and explained the incentive of arms sale is from private sector:
As we saw in the notorious Libya case, it appears that Chinese companies with their own balance sheets are “going global” and making arms export decisions and deals.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Colombia: Miners Flee from Killings and Attacks · Global Voices
Lully

In his blog “El que piensa gana”, [es] Juan Jose Hoyos talks about the precautions that miners, union leaders and others who oppose illegal mining or mining by multinational companies (like Gran Colombia Gold) are taking after murders and attacks against fellow miners in Antioquia. He adds that union leaders from Sintramienergética [es] report that some workers have fled the region to protect their lives.

author: Lully


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Combatting Cocaine Production in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru  · Global Voices
Pablo Andres Rivero

This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage.
The coca plant is native to the Andes. Its bush has been cultivated and traditionally consumed by locals for centuries. Many products and the leaves themselves can be legally purchased in Peru and Bolivia.
However, coca leaves are also the raw material for the production of cocaine. As a result, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia are the three largest illegal cocaine producing countries in the world.
According to the UNODC World Drug Report 2012 there has been an overall decline in global production of cocaine between 2006-2010. This was in part due to the reduction of coca bush cultivation in Colombia. In spite of this, the report also underlines that in the same period coca bush cultivation and cocaine production has increased in Bolivia and Peru.
Destroying coca plants in the lush mountains in Medellin, Colombia. Photo by Viewpress. Copyright Demotix (05/30/2012)
Drug production and trafficking is a major issue in Latin America that governments are constantly trying to deal with. And at last April’s Summit of the Americas, many were of the opinion that the US-led war on drugs has failed.
Plan Colombia
Ricardo Vargas, a TNI researcher [es] and a leading expert in drug trafficking in Colombia, states that the Plan Colombia, the anti-drug strategy funded by the US, spent more than 8 billion US dollars in strenghthening the army and conducting military actions against insurgent groups linked to drug trafficking.
Vargas argued in an interview that beyond violence:
El gran problema es que la oferta y el tráfico son los grandes temas ausentes en estos debates. Y Colombia es un país básicamente de producción, de procesamiento y de tráfico. Lo que quiere decir que el país aún no ha entrado a analizar a fondo la dimensión más importante que le compete. Con el agravante de que la dimensión de la oferta y el tráfico termina siendo reemplazado por un tema de seguridad.
Bolivia's new ecological battalion
Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, recently declared that drug trafficking is one of the major challenges and also announced a new Ecological battalion, a task force that aims to prevent illegal coca cultivation in National Parks.
However, journalist and blogger based in La Paz Andres Gomez claims a deep contradiction [es] in the president's discourse:
la ONU alertó que el 93 por ciento de la hoja de coca del Chapare se va al mercado ilegal (por no decir narcotráfico), e informó que en el país hay más de 30 mil hectáreas.
Recientemente, una investigación del Centro Latinoamericano de Investigación (CELIN) certificó que el país apenas requiere alrededor de 8 mil hectáreas para el consumo tradicional (acullicu y uso medicinal) de la hoja de coca. Según la Ley 1008, que todavía rige, en el país debiera haber apenas 12 mil hectáreas, pero hay más de 30 mil.
el presidente Morales reconoce que el narcotráfico es un problema para el gobierno de Bolivia, pero el presidente de las federaciones cocaleras, que es la misma persona, defiende la producción de sus bases, cuyo destino principal es el mercado ilegal.
(The) UN warned that 93 percent of the coca leaf from the Chapare region goes to the illegal market (not to say drugs), and reported that the country has more than 30 thousand hectares.
Recently, a Latin American Research (CELIN) investigation certified that the country only requires about 8 thousand hectares for traditional consumption (“chewing” and medicinal use) of the coca leaf. According to Law 1008, which still rules, in the country should have only 12 thousand hectares, but there are over 30 thousand.
President Morales acknowledges that drug trafficking is a problem for the government of Bolivia, but the president of the coca growers federation, which is the same person, defends the production of their unionised (coca), whose main market is the illegal one.
Peru, a traffic corridor
Since the year 2010 Peru, is the largest pure cocaine producer in the world. One of the major challenges for Peruvian authorities are the increasing number of cocaine trafficking roads.
According to analyst Alfredo Palacios Dongo, former Commander in Chief of the Peruvian Army, and owner of the blog Planteamientos Peru [es]:
Las rutas internacionales de la cocaína desde el Perú, además de hacia el corredor entre Centroamérica y México hasta EE UU, está aumentando sus envíos hacia Brasil, Argentina, Chile y Bolivia. […] Brasil, país con gran demanda de droga –segundo consumidor mundial con 11 millones de consumidores, después de EE UU, con 22,6 millones–, y que además tiene una epidemia de “crack”
Andean community and joint initiatives
The Andean Community is currently implementing the Anti-illicit Drugs Programme (PRADICAN), a European-funded project seeking to standarise statistical information about production, trafficking and consumption of drugs in the Andes, as well as coordinating the responses of member-states.
The Andean Community states [es] that an integral approach is needed, targeting primarily the following measures:

author: Pablo Andres Rivero


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Controversial Tibet Theme Park Project Launched · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Last month, the Chinese government announced that it will launch a RMB 30 billion (USD 4.7 billion) theme park project in Tibet to attract tourists. The park will first be used as a shooting location for the movie Princess Wencheng, a story about the niece of a Tang-dynasty emperor who married a Tibetan king.
It is located on the outskirts of the city of Lhasa and will occupy 800 hectares of land. Tibetan dissidents have described the project as the “Disneyfication of Tibet” rather than a genuine sharing and preservation of Tibetan culture.
Putting aside the political and ideological debates, even within circle of Han Chinese, the development project is highly controversial. Sina Weibo user @1690737580 posted some photos [zh] she took from the designated theme park construction site and confessed she felt great pity for the loss of such an environment to the development:
Cijiaolin Village. Photos taken by Sina User @1690737580
次角林沟,距拉萨城区只有2公里，相传曾是文成公主进藏后随行人员的聚居地，是藏民过林卡的绝佳去处。有山有水，有大片平整的草地，可以远眺布达拉宫。三年内这里就要建什么文化旅游创意园，要建文成公主主题公园，还要盖四星级酒店~~发展旅游肯定有这样那样的好处，但其实我倒希望保持这样，该有多好。
At the Netease micro-blog, a forum [zh] has been set up to collect netizens’ opinions on the issue. In support:
况勇 ：我支持下拉萨，必定是一个不错的投资项目，政府只是推动者不可能拿很多钱出来，这是招商引资啊，多好！不但对本地旅游很有帮助还可以围绕这工程建设很多相关配套的基础建设如：马路啊大桥啊，对人民也是不错的。还能为拉萨造势使其成为国际旅游圣地。
bayniwffg ：提倡文化传承是好事，但是就不敢保证这些款项是否能落到实处，杜绝铺张浪费，因为我国还有很多孩子吃不饱，睡不暖，上不了学的。
Below are some opinions from netizens who are against the project:
Potala Palace in Lhasa has always been a touristic attraction in Tibet. Photo by Flickr user Jamie Barras (CC: NC-SA)
行色匆匆 ：不应该建主题公园。拉萨本身就具有良好的原生态自然资源、民族风情和人文气息，不需要再搞神马主题公园这种人为景观、风情来招客，如果搞了非但招不了游客，还将拉萨、西藏原本在人们心目中的良好印象给破坏掉，游客反而会减少，而且还造成投资浪费。
乌云遮不住太阳 ：做正事一分钱都没有，到处哭穷，乱七八糟的事，哪都不差钱
老鼠皇帝首席村妇 ：去西藏是为了离天堂和灵魂更近一点，是希望感受那里的纯净的山水和执着的信仰，我们要看的是真实的活着的西藏，而不是这些打着文化的牌的恶俗的无风格不气质的人造景观。300亿？还是省下来为改善民生做点实在的事儿吧。


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Egypt: Are Tomatoes Christian?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Are tomatoes Christian? Check out Angie Nassar's blog post on Now Lebanon Blog, where she comments on news that a Salafist group in Egypt has posted reservations on tomatoes on Facebook.


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Tracking Counterfeit Medicines in the Developing World · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), counterfeit medicines are found everywhere in the world. They include mixtures of toxic substances, and inactive, ineffective preparations; 700,000 people die annually from fake malaria and tuberculosis drugs alone. The WHO also reports that the annual earnings from substandard or counterfeit drugs stand at about $200 billion USD.
Many innovative solutions are being proposed to help tackle the spread of counterfeit drugs in developing countries.
Technological innovations to track counterfeit drugs
Ashifi Gogo from Ghana is an entrepreneur with an innovative solution involving mobile phones. In simplified terms, the idea is to place a scratch-off label on the products; the label contains a unique code, which the consumer sends via SMS and then receives a reply as to whether the product is authentic or not.
In this TEDx Boston talk, Ashifi Gogo explains how his solution works by combining cell phones, community, and the cooperation of governments and pharmaceutical companies:
After the Duo-Cotecxin incident in Kenya, Holley-Cotec, the company that manufactures the antimalarial, introduced a new technology to make the tablets tamper-proof. James Nyikal, director of Medical Services in Kenya explains :
New packets of the drugs will have three-dimensional hologram seals and other features to indicate the drugs are authentic.
“Is this drug real or counterfeit? SMS text with Pharma Secure to find out.” Image by Wayan Vota on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay reviews the solutions currently available to identify genuine medicines. He shares some surprising anecdotes:
The screening first consists of a close visual inspection. Inspectors scrutinize the packages, because they need to be certain that an intention exists to deceive the consumer. “If you just have the tablets or the capsules, even if they have no active ingredient, it still could have been an innocent mistake in the factory. […] Some of the packaging errors on counterfeit drugs are quite comical. On one, the expiry date was before the manufacturing date, so we knew something wasn’t quite right!”
He also mentions the challenges of screening in poor settings:
Challenges in developing countries mean that investigators have to think creatively and come up with effective analytical techniques that cost pennies and are robust. “We found out that many of the fake artesunates, posing as a particular brand produced in China, contained calcium carbonate,” says Green [Michael Green from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]. Since the authentic brand did not contain calcium carbonate, he and his colleagues were able to distinguish counterfeits from the genuine tablets by adding vinegar to bits of the tablets.
A growing challenge for the developing world
More important than their economic impact, counterfeit medicines pose a significant global public health problem. Not only do they endanger the lives and the well-being of patients, they also undermine confidence in healthcare systems and health professionals.
The following chart by the Pharmaceutical Security Institute (PSI) details the geographical distribution of confirmed counterfeiting incidents in 2011; the issue is increasingly challenging to tackle for the developing world because of the growing volume of fake drugs and the required  infrastructure.
Total counterfeit drug incidents by year. Graph by PSI (available in public domain).
To the point, PSI notes:
The regions that are more frequently linked to incidents are not necessarily those with weak enforcement and inspection programs. Rather, countries in these regions are effectively identifying pharmaceutical crime through law enforcement activity and inspections by drug regulatory agencies.
Despite the innovation mentioned earlier, detecting counterfeit drugs is still a very difficult task and requires both advanced technology and the capacity to strictly enforce international regulations.
For instance, many defective and counterfeit antimalarials were reported in developing countries [fr] this year but only after patients had been treated. In 2012, a study showed that one-third of antimalarial medications in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa failed chemical analysis, packaging analysis, or were falsified. In 2007, the Ministry of Health in Kenya issued a warning about counterfeit antimalarial medication Duo-Cotecxin being sold in Nairobi and how to detect it.
Lawrence Evans, a researcher who has conducted a study in Guyana and Suriname on the quality of antimalarial drugs says:
Besides the presence of medicines not included in the World Health Organization malaria treatment guidelines, the ease with which medications were procured without accurate diagnosis poses another major risk to patients’ safety. In addition, this could have serious implications for the development of drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium parasites, particularly Falciparum, as novel treatments are not foreseeable in the near future.
Prisca in Madagascar explains [fr] why people do not go to pharmacies anymore and venture into the informal market:
des personnes n'hésitent plus à revendre des produits pharmaceutiques sans ordonnance. Selon Fara, propriétaire d'un commerce prospère ” Les médicaments que nous vendons sont les mêmes qu'en pharmacie, puisque je les achète chez un grossiste agréé. Mais comme je n'ai pas autant de charges qu'une pharmacie, ils sont deux fois moins chers “. Le problème des consommateurs est donc le prix.
While it is important to determine the circuit of counterfeit drugs to fight efficiently against this trafficking, many countries warn that this cannot overshadow the need to innovate in other areas as well to fight diseases. Henry Neondo writes for African Science News that malaria must be fought more effectively in Kenya, including the search for a vaccine:
Kenya has been selected among nine other African countries that will benefit from a new multi-billion shillings drive in search for an anti-malaria vaccine. [..] “New malaria drugs and a vaccine are urgently needed in Africa, where malaria has grown resistant to the cheapest and most widely-used treatments. As several promising new drugs and vaccines move through the research pipeline, there is a need to build African capacity to conduct large-scale clinical trials of these drugs and vaccines over the next decade,” said Prof Binka [Indepth Network Executive Director].


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Kyrgyzstan: Facebook Post Spurs Row with Belarus · Global Voices
Asel Tursunbekova

A photo taken by a Minsk-based democracy activist, Mikhail Pashkevich, has sent relations between the former-Soviet republics of Belarus and Kyrgyzstan into a nosedive.
The snap, which was posted on the Facebook profile of the group “Говори Правду“, or “Tell The Truth”, has so far managed to spark an extradition request, the withdrawal of an ambassador and the storming of a diplomatic embassy. Mikhail additionally claims to have received a napkin with a threatening message from the photo's subject, Janysh Bakiyev.
A series of pictures of a person resembling Janysh Bakiyev, detested brother of ex-Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek, surfaced on Pashkevich's personal Facebook profile and the public profile of Tell the Truth on August 17. After online discussions filtered through to the mainstream media, Kyrgyzstan demanded [ru] the extradition of all Bakiyevs on Belarussian territory.
Such attempts had been made before and ignored, but faced with a public inflamed by the sight of Janysh ambling around the streets of Belarus’ capital, where his brother has long been thought to be taking refuge, Bishkek decided to take a stand, withdrawing [ru] its ambassador to Belarus on August 24, when the latter failed to respond to the request. On August 28, around 20 protesters stormed the Belarussian embassy in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, in order to force a response from the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.
Wanted
Misha Pashkevich took this picture of the ousted Kyrgyzstani president Kurmanbek Bakiyev in the capital of Belarus. Image is used with permission.
So why are Janysh and his brother such wanted men? According to Eurasianet.org's Inside the Cocoon blog:
If Kyrgyz prosecutors are to be believed, there is good reason to demand Janysh’s extradition. Stories about him read like something out of Mario Puzo's The Godfather. For example, besides being a main suspect in the murder of Kurmanbek’s one-time chief of staff, Medet Sadyrkulov, Janysh is accused of sending a cautionary message to Sadyrkulov in the form of a severed nose and ear. Testifying in court on August 10, one of Janysh’s former bodyguards claimed that his then boss had threatened to “rip his head off” if he ever told anyone of his connection to Sadyrkulov’s demise.
Moreover, the blog adds, as the ex-head of the security forces, Janysh is personally thought to have ordered the presidential guard to open fire on protesters during the April 7 revolution that overthrew the Bakiyev family in 2010. Over 80 people died in clashes between people and state.
According to Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Internal Affairs, the men Janysh Bakiyev was pictured with are no random acquaintances either. They say Bakiyev is accompanied by two former employees [ru] Rustam Saiduev and Tahir Rysaliev, also wanted in connection with Sadyrkulov's murder.
In this second photo taken by Pashkevich, Bakiyev is accompanied by two former employees who are wanted in Kyrgyzstan in connection with a murder investigation. Image is used with permission.
The publication of the pictures led to immediate reactions among netizens in Kyrgyzstan. Asan comments [ru]:
Нашим чиновникам не выгодно арестовывать ни Бакивых, ни Акаевых! Представьте себе, что они приехали и дают показания!!! Пол Кыргыхстана надо будет расстрелять, а другую пересажать… Кто ж на это пойдет?
And Mirsuljan Namazaliev tweeted [ru]:
Герой недели – Миша Пашкевич! Инструмент героя – Facebook! Антигерой недели – Жаныш Бакиев. Инструмент антигероя – минивены и салфетка…
“Minivans and a napkin” refers to Mikhail Pashkevich's own claim that having uploaded the photos on Facebook, he received a napkin which read: “Mikhail, hello from Mr. Bakiyev.” Pashkevich says that the note [ru] was passed to him via a waiter in one of the restaurants in Minsk. He subsequently uploaded a photo of the napkin:
This napkin, which Pashkevich claims he received in a cafe in Minsk, reads in Russian: “Mikhail, hello from Mr. Bakiyev”. Image has been cropped and is used with permission.
Mixed reactions
On the public group “Tell the Truth”, Facebook users were divided. Some showed genuine concern for his safety, others were confident that the napkin was a cruel joke, while another camp thought the note was the activist's own invention. Dzmitry Tectus Stepanec comments  [ru] that the hand writing appeared unnatural:
Ок.
Сравнить все букавки, ну ладно)
Человек, преднамерено хотел изменить почерк, наклон изменился с каждой строчкой, Заглавные буквы, всегда писались прописью, а сейчас четежным шрифтом, нажим на частях букв ( заглавных) ясно виден). Буквы “а”
не соответствуют друг-дружке в слове Вам и Бакиева, попытка соответствовать одна одной – лажа ( нажим разный), поправление
Мое мнение, мое – самопал!
Kiyalbek Kyrgyz is [ru] of a similar opinion:
Миша не притворяйся а? Бакиев плевать хотел на твои фотки
Still, the majority of the commenters shared the opinion that Bakiyev was sending a threatening message to the activist and that he had reason to be afraid.
Taciana Reviaka exclaimed  [ru]:
я бы, Миша, на твоем месте ноги уносила, и желательно не в одиночку.
News editor Eldiyar Arykbaev assessed [ru]:
Вот и началась возможная слежка за Misha Pashkevich, который сфотографировал Жаныша Бакиева в Минске. Надеюсь не дойдет до того, что ему будет присылать отрезанные части тела на Новый год, как это было с Садыркуловым.
Michail Pashkevich himself strongly believes that the note was genuine. In his interview with Kloop.kg, the activist stated [ru]:
Это вообще было случайно выбранное кафе, куда спонтанно приехали на машине. И записку нам передали уже через пару минут как мы сели. Это значит что ехали за нами по всему маршруту по городу
Whatever the truth, the Pashkevich-Janysh sub-plot has gripped netizens, who are eagerly awaiting another installment on Facebook. As cocerns the bigger picture, Bishkek's diplomatic relations with Minsk are under a heavy strain. While Belarus has belatedly agreed to respond to Kyrgyzstan's latest extradition request, Kyrgyz protesters took matters into their own hands [ru], wreaking havoc in the Belarussian embassy on August 28, reportedly breaking windows and furniture.
The general reaction to the attack on the embassy has been one of shock. Kloop.kg reader Ruslan Shylov summed up [ru] the current situation succinctly when he said:
Это не хорошо…

author: Asel Tursunbekova


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Morocco: Jail Sentence for Ramadan’s Public Eater · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

A court in Rabat has sentenced a young man to serve three months in jail for failing to fast in public during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. “[Individual freedom,] a right we are not likely to see protected anytime soon,” laments Yabiladi [fr], who reports the news.

author: Hisham Almiraat


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Russia: “The Sissy Conspiracy” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On his Tumblr blog, Michael Idov, editor-in-chief of GQ Russia, writes that “pop conspirology, a favorite Russian pastime, is a projection of discomfort with slackened gender roles.” He explains: “It’s not just about the ‘Jews’ or the ‘world government’ any more. It’s about weird semiotic clusters organized around degrees of perceived masculinity.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Venezuela: Political Polarization Trumps Amuay Oil Refinery Tragedy · Global Voices
Jessica Carrillo

[All links lead to Spanish language pages, except when otherwise noted.]
Following the Saturday, August 25 explosion [en] of the Amuay oil refinery in the state of Falcón, the political climate in Venezuela became even more tense, which was clearly evident on the web. Citizens that support and oppose Chávez, as well as those pleading not to turn the fatal accident into a battlefield, have pushed the tragedy aside in order to talk politics and place blame.
The tragedy inside the oil refinery has left at least 48 dead [en] and has been classified as the biggest refinery explosion in the world.
Evelio Román (@sentenciador2) asserts that opposition groups in the country are responsible for the explosion:
@sentenciador2: Asciende a 39 víctimas fatales por incendio en la Refinería Amuay causado por saboteadores criminales escuacas
Esteban Trapiello (@TrapieLLo) asserted that this had been planned ahead of time and is reflected in a video game:
@TrapieLLo En este VideoJuego: MERCENARIOS2: http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2006/05/27/actualidad/1148680801_850215.html … ¡Explota Amuay! ¡Que casualidad! ¡¡¡(Y vean la fecha de la nota de prensa)!!!
Photo taken by photographer Gil Montaño (@gilmfoto), used with permission
César Rebolledo (@cesarurr) wrote on Twitter that this event will take its toll on October 7, in the next presidential elections:
@cesaurr: @rhm1947 si sta gnte sta llamando a pasar factura el 7 d oct,nsotros ahora mas q nunca tnems q psar facturÁ con la mas contundente victoria [sic]
Meanwhile, the political scientist Nicmer Evans presented an analysis in his blog where he states that the Venezuelan opposition is seeking to sabotage the Bolivarian revolution, and that a few careless mistakes inside of the revolution are facilitating the process. He also demands that those responsible be found.
No es sólo que la oposición anda provocando o buscando situaciones extremas para lograr acabar con la revolución bolivariana, es también que las torpezas, descuidos o negligencias a lo interno de la revolución bolivariana pueden estar facilitando el camino para que la oposición se acerque a su objetivo.
On the issue of establishing blame, some citizens are waiting for the results of the investigation and also requesting that the accident not be politicized. Such is the opinion of Oliver Reina (@oliv22), who published on his Twitter account:
@oliv22: Si lo de Amuay fue accidente o atentado lo dirán las investigaciones, pero debe cesar el irrespeto al buscar crédito político de la tragedia.
Photo taken by photographer Gil Montaño (@gilmfoto), used with permission
Others, like Javier Belisario (@javierbelisario), do not approve of how the government acted during the events in the refinery.  Javier criticises those who have a different view on the performance of the authorities:
@javierbelisario: Da ASCO ver los tweets de algunos dando “gracias a Dios que tengamos un gobierno tan eficiente” refiriéndose a la tragedia en #Amuay
There was also criticism within social networks of the economic support that Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) gives Venezuelan Formula 1 racecar driver Pastor Maldonado. The controversy started when several newspapers published the Report and Accounts for 2011 of the state-run company. Within, PDVSA itself states that it could not carry out maintenance because of the lack of materials.
Broderick Zerpa (@Beisbologo) wrote on his Twitter account:
@Beisbologo: La refinería explota por falta de manteniemiento, pero PDVSA tiene 60 millones de Dólares para romper carros en Los Proceres #GoodChoice
Photo taken by photographer Gil Montaño (@gilmfoto), used with permission
When President Chávez made a public appearance after the tragedy, the internet response became even more tense. The president on two occasions said that “the show must go on”, after which Naky Soto responded with a post on her blog that  “Amuay is not a show that must go on”:
Sólo le advierto que nadie resucitará por la victoria de la patria, que usar a los fallecidos como estrategia de campaña no funcionó; que a pesar de postergar su aparición 38 horas mientras le construían una estrategia idónea, no pudo capitalizar el evento y todo porque ya está desacostumbrado al debate.
Comments were also seen from users that requested unity and rejected the politicization of the tragedy. Rafael Sin Mordaza (@rafavalbuena) requested on his Twitter account that the political propaganda decrease:
@rafavalbuena: Como habitante de Paraguana pido a PDVSA: menos afiches, puntos rojos y politiqueria, mas prevencion, capacitacion y mantenimiento #Amuay
In addition, some offered ways to help out those affected by the explosion, and the journalist Floralicia Anzola (@floralicianzola) explained how to help through social networks.
@floralicianzola: Amuay: ayudar desde las redes sociales http://shar.es/74QIp  through @0800flor#Amuay Aquí #centrosdeacopio
Others lamented the political times in which the country lives, and the political campaign that makes the polarization more evident, comparing it to the behaviour of Venezuelans during the tragedy in the state of Vargas [en] in 1999 when landslides and floods left thousands dead. Nitzia Álvarez (@nitzialvarez) said:
@Nitzialvarez: Creo que el deslave de Vargas nos encontró menos divididos. Parecíamos mejores. Amuay nos sorprendió atrincherados…

author: Jessica Carrillo


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Zambian National Football Team Coach Granted Permanent Residence · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

Zambia has had many expatriate national football team coaches. The most well known of them is Croatian Ante Buselic, who took the country to the African Cup of Nations finals in 1974, but Frenchman, Herve Renard, who led the team in scooping the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 has swept all previous coaches off the perch. In recognition of his success, the Zambian government recently accorded him permanent residence.
Announcing the granting of Renard's new immigration status – so that he does not have to renew his work permit – Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili said:
If he wants to become a permanent resident, the Zambian Government is willing to do that for him and that is why we have decided to give him a resident permit as a way of our appreciation for his contribution to football development in the country.
Herve Renard showing off a scarf in Zambian flag colours. Photo used with permission from UKZambians website.
On one citizen media website the issue of granting permanent residency to a coach who once deserted Zambia for neighbouring Angola, has assumed political overtones. Dual citizenship is controversial because most Zambians abroad want it included in the new constitution being drawn up, but Renard's status has effectively short-circuited the procedure.
Clearly misunderstanding what permanent residence and dual citizenship are, user canadian wrote:
Do these politicians check their records before they utter anything to the media? This is a contractiction [contradiction] to what Sata has been saying about Dual Citizenship. Zambia needs this clause to be implemented because the benefits outweigh what people without any idea of what they are talking about. It is more than contracting a soccer coach when it comes to the Zambians abroad and the investments they will bring to the country.
A reader going by the name harold wrote:
Such privileges without procedures are worrying.Renard purely came here for employment as a coach, as many of other people have come, supposed all who are in Zambia do the best are we going to adopt them,
He was bought a car worthy 350m [about US$ 78,000], with this poverty in Zambia should we worst money serving one person. we know government pay his rentals and all sorts of expenses.
Sometimes i fail to understand why we still separate ba zungu [white people] to Zambians. Honestly we as youths we lost completely no direction what we learn and what is happening contrary to section in our brain act no foresigh
One reader, Jay Jay, raised the issue of a Catholic Priest who was deported from Zambia, apparently because he did not have legitimate papers:
You know what the law has an annoying habit, of coming back to bite you especially for those politicians who like cutting corners like buffoon Kambwili, remember this is the month in which a Rwandan priest was deported for not having a permit; if the priest’s Zambian members of his congregation in Chipata asked the PF [Patriotic Front] gov’t [government] why they didn’t waive that and let him stay; how would Kambwili answer that question
Expressing good wishes for Renard, Ndanji Wayaya wrote:
Well Done HR for the AFCON. Please do it again in 2013. With permits, citizenship etc you won our hearts stay in Zambia for as long as you want. Just formalize your stay. Forget about people`s comments. Human beings will always complain.
Even when we won the AFCON 2012. They complained that it went into penalties. It was just a lottery. They wanted goals in regular play.
HR, HR.HR!!!!!!!!
The story also attracted attention on Twitter.
@ZibaniZambia: Government Gives Herve Renard Resident's Permit and New Car. Read it now at http://tinyurl.com/8nde5vb
Another user reported the honour:
@modoubeyai: Frenchman Herve Renard has been given permanent residency in Zambia in recognition of his 2012 Africa Cup success.
One user went further by giving Renard a Zambian middle name:
@DJLBCZambia: So have decided, ladies and gentle Herve ranard's Zambian middle name is “Madalitso” [Blessings]

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Angola: Before Polls, Serious Questions Arise · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

On the eve of Angola’s elections, the country’s largest opposition party UNITA, was loud and clear to the media, stating the electoral process was the worst ever. A newer opposition coalition, CASA-CE, was protesting the imprisonment of one of its youth leaders.
The main concern as of the end of Thursday was the lack of transparency around the electoral rolls, which had still not been published as mandated by law.
Electoral officials continue to maintain that everything is ready. The National Electoral Commission’s site was last updated on Wednesday, August 29. Its featured news item reads [pt]
CNE quer perfeição mas como qualquer humano ainda não conseguiu chegar ao grau máximo da sua satisfação
“Opposition supporters demand a transparent election”. Photo by Zenaida Machado (@zenaidamz) on Twitter (used with permission)
Meanwhile complaints flowed into the crowdsourcing site Eleições Angola (Angola Elections) [pt] via SMS and Facebook. Most are related to the electoral lists and polling station assignments.
Somos moradores do Camama ao lado do colégio Antonino e atualizamos os nossos registos para votar neste colégio. Mas até ao momento não se vê nada, nem assembleias, nem listas, nem polícia, absolutamente nada. Como faremos para votar amanhã? David Alberto, Camama
Barra do Dande, cerca de 1000 eleitores não encontram seus nomes nos cadernos eleitorais afixados na área. Sr. Cabolombo, Barra do Dande
Eu sou cidadão eleitor, mas a assembleia onde iria exercer o meu direito de voto não existe. Ajudem-me. Aníbal da Paixão, Luanda
Vim ontem de Benguela, mas particularmente no município do Bocoio há uma tremenda recolha de cartões. (cartões eleitorais) Daniel Pedro, S. Pedro da Barra
Manos para ajudar e denunciar. Haverá muita abstenção porque alguns eleitores de Viana, mesmo pedindo para votar em Viana, o nome saíu na ilha e alguns até no interior, no Bié. Não assinado
Moreover, young people trained to be polling staff complained that they had been substituted by mysterious replacements, people who did not attend the week long training. Citizen journalist Herculano Coroado filmed this interview with one
Another problem has been accreditation of observers. Anthropologist Claudia Gastrow wrote on the eve of the vote in her post “Beer and Circuses No Longer Enough”
Most credible local civil society groups have been not been accredited, and the EU is not sending an official mission, meaning that observation is left to SADC [Southern African Development Community] and the AU [African Union].
Competition, apathy
On Saturday, a large opposition march in the city of Huambo was held to protest “repeated manipulations and violations by the National Electoral Commission, an institution attached to the MPLA [ruling party]”
CASA-CE candidate Abel Chivukuvuku was filmed campaigning on foot in the unpaved streets of Cazenga, outside of Luanda. His campaign went through the streets asking people if they had ever seen incumbent President José Eduardo dos Santos do that. (All said no.)
The campaigning period was not without drama either. On the eve of the vote, blog Maka Angola published an account of an incident involving an armed man approaching UNITA’s candidate in Benguela on Tuesday.
For Gastrow “the widespread belief that the results will be fraudulent works in favour of the MPLA as it leads to voter apathy”
Angolans suspect that the MPLA has manipulated the voter lists and will control the release of results so that an MPLA victory is predetermined. […] Angolans have little faith in the international community, not only because its presence will be thin on the ground, but also because they believe that most countries, more interested in protecting their oil interests than promoting democracy, will rubber-stamp the results. One of the biggest dangers to Angolan democracy is the widespread belief that given the power of the MPLA, democracy is simply not possible in Angola. Nevertheless, an MPLA whitewash is unlikely to be accepted as complacently as previously.

author: Janet Gunter


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Armenia: Ties With Hungary Severed Over Prisoner Row · Global Voices
Liana Aghajanian

Following Hungary's release of an Azerbaijani army officer convicted of murdering an Armenian soldier, Armenia has severed diplomatic ties with the Central European country. Lt. Ramil Safarov, who was serving life in prison, confessed to killing 26-year-old Lt. Gurgen Margaryan when both were in Hungary for a 2004 NATO language course.
The Hungarian government released Safarov after being informed by the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan that his sentence, which was life in prison, would continue to be enforced.
However, EurasiaNet's Tamada Tales blog reports that Safarov, who beheaded Markarian with an axe while he was sleeping, wasn't exactly treated like a man who had committed murder:
Extradited from Hungary, Lt. Safarov is not only walking freely, but also taking bows in front of the cameras.
Upon arrival in Baku, he spoke of his sufferings “in a prison in a foreign land” and thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for pardoning him.
The release caused fury to erupt in Armenia, where tomatoes were pelted at the Hungarian Consult as a crowd shouted “Shame, Shame!” in Armenian:
Meanwhile images emerged of Safarov as he surfaced in Azerbaijan:
@vgratian: This is sick: RamilSafarov honored in Azerbaijan
Photo via Twitter/@vgratian
And on an unofficial Facebook page, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's cover photo was changed to an image of Safarov soon after:
@Haroutoin: Azeris openly celebrating the pardon of ax murderer Safarov shakes my faith in humanity. Armenia Azerbaijan Hungary
@KevorkO: The release of a racist killer is always disgusting. Armenia Azerbaijan Hungary Safarov
@remy_g: Well, Azerbaijan has just sparked my facepalm of the year…
After a press release was posted to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's website followed the release, where he warned “we will not tolerate that and have to decide on our future steps,” Armenia severed ties with Hungary.
Hungary claimed the Azerbaijani government had lied to them about ensuring Safarov's sentence would be upheld:
@ralakbar: Hungary: “Azerbaijan lied to us” – BBC Azeri http://www.bbc.co.uk/azeri/azerbaijan/2012/08/120831_safarov_hungary.shtml … (It's in Azeri thougth) SouthCaucasus Azerbaijan Armenia
@Babken: Really Hungary? Azerbaijan lied to you?Pathetic. Is this what passes as an independent judiciary in an EU member state? Safarov Armenia
The row adds new fuel to the nationalistic fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan, who are still essentially at war  in a “frozen conflict” over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region, while diminishing hope that the two countries can ever reach any type of agreement.
The release and subsequent discussion of the murder managed to conjure up past crimes both countries have committed against each other and rhetoric on what the future holds for the South Caucasus, an area ruled more by the past than anything else.
@TurallM: @GoldenTent how come you so sure it was a crime? Yes, if it was me and a guy would try to abase my flag and abused my nation I would do same
@arzugeybulla  @VusalAlisoy i know we are at war. i know innocent people die. but we must reconcile. atrocities bring only more atrocities
Though some of the exchanges on Twitter were polarizing, many engaged in discussion that seemed to unite both sides in agreement:
@arzugeybulla  @VusalAlisoy unfortunately we have same people against peace on both sides, and thats why people like me will be called prostitute & traitor
@Taniel_Shant  @arzugeybulla saddened to hear that, stay strong, hate cannot penetrate truth
@PhilGamaghelyan @arzugeybulla you & a few others today helped everyone to see the human face of Azerbaijan, which is tarnished by the likes of @Cerrard113

author: Liana Aghajanian


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Bolivia: Consultation on Hold as TIPNIS Communities Reject Militarization · Global Voices
Pablo Andres Rivero

[…] the consultation process on the Bolivian government’s proposed highway through the Isiboro-Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park (TIPNIS) has ground to a halt.
Emily Achtenberg from NACLA blog Rebel Currents reports.
Indigenous communities reject the ecological battalion that the Army has placed in the heart of the TIPNIS and report militarization of the territory. Further analysis can be read on Emily's post.


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‘Free’ Kyrgyzstan Marks Independence · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

…[D]espite being generally underdeveloped as a state, I am the freest of all other countries that were also born in 1991!
Blogger Ilya Karimdjanov offers a ‘Monologue of Kyrgyzstan‘ [ru] which celebrates its independence today.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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India: Dowry And The Boys · Global Voices
Rezwan

Dowry is a big social problem in India. Nitisha Pandey at Youth Ki Awaaz discusses the current market rates for grooms in India and asks:
Does a boy’s parents’ give him good education only to get a handsome dowry?

author: Rezwan


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Macedonia: Demanding Triumphal Welcome for Paralympics Champion · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Olivera Nakovska-Bikova. Promo photo, via On.net.
Macedonian social media users are calling [mk] for a state-sponsored celebration for Olivera Nakovska-Bikova, who won a gold medal in shooting at the Paralympic Games finals in London, after setting a world record during the qualifications.
So far, successful athletes in individual sports, especially female, such as the 2011 European karate champion Natasha Ilievska, haven't received a heroes’ welcome granted to the national team that came in 4 at the EuroBasket (defeating Greece along the way).
Many (1, 2) say it's shameful that none of the TV stations began their evening news with Nakovska-Bikova's achievement. While Macedonia has a very modest Olympic showing, its paralympians won [mk] gold (in 1992) and silver (2004) medals.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Mali: Can Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Be Stopped? · Global Voices
Julie Owono

This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage.
A solution to the Mali crisis seems to be vanishing as time goes by. It has been five months now that the country has been divided into two parts: the South is ruled by a fragile [fr] government while the North, which includes the historic cities of Timbuktu and Gao, is the theater of the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb‘s (AQIM) expansion in the Sahel.
North Mali indirectly in the hands of AQIM
In April 2012, after the cities of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal had fallen, the Tuareg rebellion group National Movement for Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) unilaterally proclaimed the secession of the northern part of the country.
Mali begins Touareg dialogue. Image by Flickr user Magharebia (CC BY 2.0).
Currently, the region is under the influence of four [fr] different groups: the MNLA, Ansar Dine, which defines itself as Salafist, the Movement for the Unity of Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), and AQIM.
However, a report [fr] by AFP, suggests that it is actually AQIM that coordinates and funds the three other organisations; this suspicion is reinforced by the alleged presence in Mali of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a founding member of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (SGPC), which became the AQIM.
In March 2012, israeldefense.com wrote about Belmokhtar's visits to Libya, and already reported fears of a possible AQIM expansion in the Southern Sahara:
According to Mali’s security sources, the leader of al-Qaeda's North African branch, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, has been in Libya for several weeks with the goal of procuring arms. (…) Malian security sources claim that Belmokhtar's activities in Libya confirm the premise that AQIM intends to extend its sphere of influence and that “terrorists will do anything to create a sweeping network in the Sahel and the Sahara.”
Political and diplomatic deadlock
It appears that AQIM is consolidating its grip on Northern Mali.  On August 9, Koaci.com reported that members of the Mujao cut the hand [fr] off of an alleged thief in the city of Ansogo. This followed the July 30 stoning of an unwed couple in the region of Kidal.
To date, regional response  to the crisis have been muted. While West African leaders appointed Blaise Compaoré, President of Burkina Faso, as a mediator [fr] in this crisis after the March 22 Mali coup, the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) has yet to send military forces to restore the territorial unity of Mali.
And while Afrik.com [fr] reports that the de facto Malian government and ECOWAS have reached an agreement aimed at resolving the crisis, military intervention remains the preferred option of many netizens. Thierno A. Diallo from neighboring Guinea writes on his blog [fr]:
Ce qui se passe au Mali est grave. Notre pays, frontalier au sud et pas tellement éloigné de cette zone de non-droit a tout à perdre d'une victoire des fanatiques à nos portes. Le landernau politique guinéen, la tête dans le guidon des interminables législatives voulues par Alpha Condé, risque d'avoir un réveil en sursaut très douloureux. La zone la plus proche géographiquement et donc  la plus menacée étant la Haute-Guinée.

author: Julie Owono


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Pakistan: Conflicting Reports in #SaveRimsha Blasphemy Case · Global Voices
Sana Saleem

The blasphemy law in Pakistan has been the focus of a heated debate yet again, after a 14 year old girl was accused of burning pages of Noorani Qaida, a lesson for Quran. Rimsha Masih, was arrested on August 17, 2012, after an angry mob of over a hundred brought her to the local police station. The news was first reported by the website Christian in Pakistan, which routinely published news regarding persecution of the christian community in Pakistan. As the news broke several people used twitter to verify the news and reach out to authorities to take action [see Global Voices report]. Mainstream media coverages followed and online petitions have been filed since.
But activism aside, there have been a quite few conflicting reports about the case. The most significant one being a picture of a girl, that has become the face of the #SaveRimsha campaign.
Photo Courtesy: Sunny Gill- Citizens for Democracy – People of all ages in solidarity with Rimsha, Karachi.
The issue of her name and picture
When the news first broke several mainstream media outlets referred to her as “Rifta’ instead of “Rimsha’ the name initially reported by the website Christian in Pakistan. Popular media outlets like Dawn, Express, the Guardian and even human rights group Amnesty International referred to her as Rifta in their official press release demanding her release and the repeal of the blasphemy laws.  Meanwhile, another case, of an 11 -year old Christian boy burnt to death was also reported, while it remained unclear whether this was a hate crime based on religion, a few readers reacted to the mainstream media's  error in reporting facts:
Raza Rumi (@Razarumi): RT @junaidqaiser: @rezhasan BTW name and Samual's age is not correct in ET's report.bit.ly/OwDAjH #Pakistan (August 22, 2012)
Halima Mansoor (@Hmansoor): @razarumi @junaidqaiser @rezhasan Rimsha was reported as Rifta by many, inc ET at first. Dnt knw if its poor reporting or poor systems (August 22, 2012)
Junaid Qaiser (@JunaidQaiser): @hmansoor@razarumi@rezhasan Reporting without cross checking facts. And no proper editorial check. (August 22, 2012)
The last report using the name Rifta was perhaps the 23rd of August. It is also interesting to note that news outlets have since corrected the name to Rimsha, but there has been no acknowledgement of the factual error in reporting; a standard rule in reporting. As numerous petitions and calls for protests appeared, many of them used picture of a little girl as Rimsha's picture.
Having seen the picture of the girl being used for several campaigns in the past, I decided to do trace the picture source in order to discourage people from using the picture for Rimsha. Google Images drag and drop feature was really handy to determine the source of the image, first published in April 2006 the image is of a girl in a temporary school camp in Balakot, Kashmir, taken after the 2005 earthquake (by Maciej Dakowicz).
The image of the girl has also been used by reporters and websites without verification. The Examiner.com, Huffington Post and France 24 carried the picture, but Huffington post later removed the picture.
Sunil Dixit (@sudixitca): @raushenbush @huffpostrelig -Could you please confirm/verify that this picture is indeed of Rimsha Masih? Thanks – twitter.com/sudixitca/stat… (August 22, 2012)
Paul B. Raushenbush (@raushenbush): @sudixitca I don't know, we didn't have a foto of the girl in our coverage (August 22, 2012)
Sunil Dixit (@sudixitca): @raushenbush – Sir this where I saw this picture. huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/mu… (August 23, 2012)
Naeem Shamim @naeemshamim: Even marxist poets like #Faiz remained silent when State & Mullahs were persecuting #Ahmadis ! (August 27,2012)
Maham Ali (@Mahamali05): The girl in your profile picture is not Rimsha Masih @naeemshamim (August 27, 2012)
Umer Arain (@UmerArain): Indian channel running the Rimsha/blasphemy story with picture of the earthquake victim. @cyalm speaks too.youtu.be/SGwMBcQNnP8 #FAIL (August 29,2012)
A video from protests in London, shows people carrying placards with the girl's picture:
Radio France International used the picture while interviewing author Irshad Manji over the issue
@sanasaleem the author of a HuffPo article mentioned to one of my team that the pic he/she used was “some random girl”. Disappointing.
— August 25, 2012
Despite the picture being used by multiple news sources, only one advocacy group – Citizens For Democracy issued a clarification and an apology to discourage the use of the image:
CFD apologises for using a misleading photo with the visual earlier posted on this blog regarding the demonstration in Karachi on Aug 25. We realise that there is a need to be more thoughtful with the visuals we use with our campaigns. Please read the note below, sent to the petition owners of the Free Rimsha campaign, from a health professional in Lahore: “The photo being used with the Rimsha Masih campaign is fake and misleading. As a member of the healthcare professionals community, I can assure you the child in the photo clearly lacks any of the characteristic facial features of Down’s Syndrome [..] It is unfortunate that this photogenic-but-normal child’s picture has also been snapped up to make press club banners and illustrate other articles without appropriate verification, almost unchanged and with the incorrect labeling still intact…”
Unless mainstream media outlets recognize the error on their part it will become increasingly difficult to limit the use of the picture. Given the risks involved in cases of blasphemy, publishing a misleading picture and identity can put many people in danger.

author: Sana Saleem