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Sri Lanka: News Editor of Lankaenews Arrested · Global Voices
Rezwan

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka reports that Benett Rupasinghe, a senior Sri Lankan journalist and the News Editor of Lankaenews website, has been arrested on the 31st of March by Sri Lankan police. The office of the Lankaenews was burnt down last month by an “unknown group” of people.


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Thailand: Songkran Festival website · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Thailand government has set up a website in preparation for the Songkran Festival 2011, a traditional New Year holiday in Thailand.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


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Azerbaijan: Chaos as Riot Police Intervene in 2 April Protest · Global Voices
Leyla Najafli

Continuing the wave of pro-democracy protests in Baku, the last being held on 12 March, the opposition's latest “unsanctioned” rally took place yesterday. However, the day was to start with Elnur Majidli, one of the moderators of the 11 March Great People's Day Facebook protest tweeting that a criminal case had been opened against him. The charge is “attempting to overthrow the government.”
As with the previous protests, Twitter was the most popular source of information for those interested with participants and supporters using the #2aprel hashtag to quickly spread information regarding any arrests or the direction the protest was going, especially as Fountain Square, where the protest was supposed to start at 2pm, was under police control from early on.
Fountain Square surrounded by police,2 people sitting in the park (no protesters) has been arrested. #azerbaijan#azerbaycan #2aprel #april2
Fevvareler meydanina boyuk bir polis kutlesi tokubler #2aprel#azerbaijan #baku
Arrests started before the protest did, as reports about activists getting detained in their homes or on their way to the protest from tweeps such as @muntezir flooded in.
#12Mart aksiyasında 8 sutka həbs cəzası alan Müsavat Partiyasının üzvü Niyaz Nəsirov saxlanıb. #2aprel #azerbaycan#april2
Vüqar Qurdqanlı sərbəst buraxıldı. Ölkəm qəzetinin müxbiri İlham və AXCP fəali Dəyanət Babayev isə hələ də bölmədədirlər #2aprel #azerbaycan
18 nəfər Sumqayıtdan Bakıya mitinqə aparan mikroavtobus saxlanıb. Sərnişinlərlə birgə Sumqayıt Polis İdarəsi 4-cü bölməyə aparılıb. #2aprel
Simultaneously, pro-government activists carried out some ‘counter-protests’ of their own.
50-60 nəfər hakimiyyətyönlü gənc Əli Kərimli evi önündə aksiya keçirib. Polis sonradan əraziyə gəlib,aksiya müdaxilə olmadan dağılıb #2aprel
The official site of Azadliq newspaper is hacked. #2aprel#Azerbaijan
http://azadliq.az turned into govt propaganda with photoshop images depicting opposition activists as homosexuals etc. *slow clap* #2aprel
2 April protests in Baku © Turkhan's Blog
Members of what many consider to be the ruling party's youth wing, the Ireli Public Union, also started using the #2aprel hashtag to counter anti-government statements as they had during previous protests. Suddenly there were more pro-government tweets than tweets about the protest.
В Азербайджане будут списаны долги населения за воду http://bit.ly/fkzWjk#2aprel #azerbaijan #protest
Given the content unrelated to the protests being held, some considered the pro-government tweets to amount to little more than spam and suggested blocking them. At the protest itself, however, as the riot police got involved things became more heated. Reports came in of tear gas being used, but photos and videos later showed that it was in fact mace.
There were also reports of unknown individuals breaking windows in nearby shops.
government started to use provocators #2aprel #2april #Azerbaijan some group who is not familiar started breaking window of shops
mulki geyimli polsiler texribat toredir, tikintilerin pencerelerinin susesini sindirir. #2aprel
Aksiya istirakcilarini polis avtobusa basib.Sonra gozyasardici qazi atib iceri. sonra girib yeniden avtobusa baslayib doymeye! #2Aprel
In fact some felt, were it not for the police the protest would have just been “more of the same” from the opposition.
Gözlənildiyi kimi, müxalifət tərəfdən ciddi heç nə yoxdur. Amma “vintovkalı” polisləri nəzər alsaq, hakimiyyət ciddi təlaşda =) #2Aprel
With pro-government activists believing that the police had done a good job, and that reports of injuries were simply opposition propaganda, Rauf Mardiyev of the Ireli Public Union posted the same line in a blog post.
Peşəkarların dili ilə desək polis “təmiz” işlədi. Operativ və səliqəli. Bir nəfərin də olsun burnu qanamadı.
Düzdür, müxalitət propaqandası nəticəsində ayağı “sınan” […] yüzlərlə insan olacaq, bəlkə də Xədicə artıq həmin siyahını qafiyəli formada səsləndirir ya da hansısa local “Al-Kaeda” öz veb səhifəsində yerləşdirib. Həqiqət isə Azərbaycan polisinin davranış və peşəkarlığının əvvəlki illərə nisbətən bir xeyli irəlilədiyini göstərir.
As professionals would say, the police worked “cleanly.” Operative and neat. Not even a nosebleed in sight.
Sure, as a result of opposition propaganda there will be hundreds of people whose […] legs were “broken”, maybe Khadija [Ismayilova, RFE/RL]  is already saying this list in verse or some local “Al-Qaeda” has shared this on its webpage. Reality is that Azerbaijan's police made some real progress in terms of conduct and professionalism.
But, contrary to such claims, tweets about the fate of those detained started to emerge as the protest died down, some of which were graver than usual.
Tazakhan Mirelemli (APFP) eye injured by police at #2aprel protest in #azerbaijan. http://twitpic.com/4g90f1
There were also allegations of forcing opposition activists to admit to various crimes so as to detain or charge them.
Sumgayit police accused APFP activists of murder, made some of them sign protocol. now they're at home, waiting for the prosecutor's summon
reportedly,crime case opened against 2prominent opposition members,1op.member sentenced 2 1month of pre-trial detention, no exact source tho
Opposition member detained during #april2 protest rallies in Baku is accused of illegal weapon possession #Azerbaijan
APFP vice-chairman Hasan Kerimov taken into resuscitation at #4 Hospital#azerbaijan #2april
All in all, there were reports that anywhere between 115-200 people being detained out of a reported 600-1000 participants, although some of them have since been released.

author: Leyla Najafli


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Côte d’Ivoire: State Television RTI Possibly Broadcasting from a Mobile Truck · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

As Julie Owono explained, the battle over the control of Ivorian media is difficult to sort out. A report from Reporters sans Frontières suggests that RTI might be broadcasting from a mobile truck  stationed in a private home (fr).

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Indian Cricket: A Journey Towards Excellence · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sidvee reflects on the past imperfections and the recent journey towards excellence of Indian cricket as India wins the 2011 cricket world cup.

author: Rezwan


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Interview with Milton Ramírez, Global Voices Contributor · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Milton Ramírez [es] is one of the first Latin American collaborators for Global Voices and Global Voices en español [es]. A bit reluctant to be interviewed, he finally agreed to this little chat where he tells us about his diverse activities, in which we can always find a link to his native land of Ecuador and technology.
Hello Milton. Tell us, what is life like for an Ecuadorian in New York?
Like all those interested in coming to the United States, New York is a destination that many and all yearn for, including Ecuadorians. The Ecuadorian nucleus is in Queens, and its presence is so strong that an extension of one of the most prestigious Ecuadorian Universities, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja [es] exists there. What does an Ecuadorian do exactly? Occupations are quite diverse and range from providing services like cleaning, maintenance and construction, to positions in the government, activities in the media and, of course, charity organizations as well as the arts.
You're a professor.  Tell us about your work.
I was a professor for some time while I lived in Ecuador. Nevertheless, it isn't the only thing that I've done or accomplished. I have been a sales agent in half the world and I've also had to experiment with various activities here, among them being a math and Spanish teacher in New Jersey in Saint Mary High School.
My work has always been one of educating and my training shows this. I have been able to link this knowledge, for example, with sales administration, personal management and quality control.  But I was trained to detest technology in schools and to consider it imperialist. To this day, I still can't disagree entirely.
How did you find out about Global Voices and decide to participate?
Among the activities that I touched upon, one of them that I have barely even mentioned is blogging. I had a blog in Spanish for this then and as always, I was on top of what was happening in Ecuador, whether it was because of interest of nostalgia. That's how I began writing suddenly about Ecuadorian blogs [es]. One day I was surfing Google and as any other blogger, I was filled with a huge sense of satisfaction when I saw a link to my blog on one written in English. It was on Global Voices Online (GVO).
A number of days passed and I received an e-mail from David Sasaki, after I had written him about the link to my blog, inviting me to write for GVO. I didn't doubt this, but to my surprise, my work had to be in English and although I didn't feel ready, I took the leap and wrote about the Hispanic Blogger Union, no longer in existence today. Since then, it has been an utter pleasure to contribute to GVO to this very day.
Milton Ramírez
You are one of the few who collaborates as an author and a translator. How did you end up doing both for GV?
I wish I could say I do it perfectly, but more importantly, I do it for the responsibility; I do it because writing allows me to make Ecuador's presence known to the rest of the world, not because the country doesn't have good journalists, but rather because the reports in English are mainly written by foreigners that sometimes don't offer reliable sources.
To me, the translations came as an aspect of learning. The first time that I completed a translation (not professionally), it seemed simple and enjoyable. But at the same time, it gave me the opportunity to learn about other cultures. As a result, I'm very selective when I choose a topic to translate.
Tell us about your personal blog and other sites in which you participate.
For many, blogging is seen as an activity for the unoccupied. For me, it's a form of expressing my ideas and sharing my interests with people surfing the Web. I have had an entire collection of blogs but at the moment there is Voces Lojanas [es], where I write about the happenings in the province and city of Loja, my city of birth. Then there is Spanish Readers Blog [es] about being a bridge between that which happens in the tri-state area on the coast of the United States and Ecuador, and subsequently, the blog that I've had for years, Education & Tech, where I write, or try to write, about my doubts and diatribes against education and technology immersed in this field.
Less than a year ago, I began collaborating as an associate editor for a prestigious blog dedicated to technology: geeksroom.com [es]. And most recently, I've been invited to elportalvoz.com [es] for the ATEI web network. The invitations to write for other sites have also varied, but I should focus on a few for now, as I only write part time.
How do you view the dynamic of technology applied to education, above all in the Latin American setting?
I would like to have a sufficient foundation to be able to voice my opinion about that which happens in Latin America. Unfortunately, my knowledge in closely related to my environment, the United States. Now, that does not exempt me from stating my own criticisms about what I know about education in the rest of the world.
Historically, in Latin America, one of the countries that has distinguished itself in educational material is Argentina. And those who want a first hand example simply have to read Tiscar Lara [es], Rosa María Torres [es] or Diego Leal [es].
Despite many efforts, however, our countries have not been able to liberate themselves from UNESCO and the surplus from the Alliance for Progress. It continues to glorify two tools as though they're some sort of magical cure for all of the problems with technology in our schools: projectors and PowerPoint slides.
Our educators still believe that technology is something imposed upon us by the empire –the United States. This could not be further from reality. Technology and the curriculum are the mediums. The educators are the ones who are called upon to bring this synchronization to life. And in a world that is so high tech, it's a sin that elementary and high schools, as well as universities, do not bring themselves up to date on these materials.
The problem with everything is the funds and with the crisis enveloping every corner of the Earth, the implementation of technology in these centers goes from being extremely limited to totally absent.
Speaking of Loja, what do you miss most from home?
Many things. My family, my friends, and that academic contact that exists solely in Loja. The numbers are relative but if you compare them with the Ecuadorian and Latin American economic flow, three years ago academic tourism made the city of Loja nothing more and nothing less that $7 million USD and this surely has changed today.
This small city in the south of Ecuador enjoys the privilege of being the cradle of writers and artists, among distinguished musicians as well. This is attributed to the various educational centers of superior levels, such as the sited UTPL, the National University of Loja and the Salvador Bustamante Celi Conservatory of Music. This conjunction of good speech and progressive spirit of Loja's natives makes the city attractive not just to Ecuadorians but also foreigners that have decided to come and study here.
Apart from writing about Ecuador, technology and education, what other topics interest you?
I never only dreamt about writing, I didn't even like to do it when I was a student. But I haven't published a book either. There are very few people who have been able to make the writing technique marketable, and as a result, I only do it in my free time.
In the time I have left, I like to read a lot, in the traditional way with printed books. Law truly interests me as well and I wanted to become a lawyer as a second career. This is a closed lens, but I also work and teach myself business management. I still don't have a prosperous and established business, but from a very young age, I have been a salesman and I like to serve people (for money). With all of the laws in place, who knows what I'll become in the link between those who look to build businesses between their countries and the United States.
Is there anything you'd like to add?
Jokingly, I'll tell you what happened to me in New York when I had just arrived in this country. The English that I had was one I learned in Bernardo Valdivieso — a legendary high school in Loja. I had frequently been hearing “good night” and one night, at my temporary workplace, I was repeating these two words over and over. When I did it, the Americans that I spoke to, looked at each other and smiled, which made me wonder if something bad had been going on. Of course, I had used a farewell phrase as a greeting, when the correct thing to say was “good evening.” Now I don't commit such horrors.
Thank you, Milton.

author: Juan Arellano


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Iran: Oxford investigates Rafsanjani’s case · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mehdi Hashemi, an oil trader and the son of the former Iranian president Akbar Rafsanjani is being investigated by Oxford University after claims that his successful doctoral thesis proposal was written with the help of others. Khodnevis has published a cartoon on ‘Rafsanjanis’. Read more on Oxford related stories and Iranian regime.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Morocco: Tweet Your Way To Change · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

This post is part of our special coverage Morocco Protests 2011 and Global Development 2011.
The Arab spring has brought about enthusiasm for change. As the walls of fear start crumbling, people feel empowered and have started taking matters into their own hands. Social media is serving as a medium for a public debate which was for long the exclusive preserve of a ruling elite.
In Morocco, one of the central themes for change is Education. Houda C. (@Houdac), a blogger [Fr], initiated a debate on Twitter, under the hashtag #EducMa. She invited people to talk about the reforms they want to see implemented to fix an education system considered a failure by many. Houda C. compiled the responses she received throughout the discussion she helped generate and reported back on her own blog [Fr]. She writes:
Young Moroccans keep on demanding constitutional reform, Rabat, Morocco. Image by Zacarias Garcia, copyright Demotix (20/03/2011).
De fil en aiguille ce ‘débat’ s’est transformé en brainstorming géant, où certains proposaient des idées disparates et autres se construisaient de petits groupes virtuels pour débattre d’une idée particulière.
One of the most controversial points raised was the teaching of languages at school. Darija, the Moroccan dialect, is not taught in classrooms and the Amazigh language, spoken by the large Berber section of the population, is hardly recognized in the educational curriculum.
Houda C. notes:
Les avis ont été très divergeant concernant la ou les langues d’enseignement (…) mais on s’est attelé à faire propositions diverses avec un semblant de consensus :
- La nécessité de proposer plus de choix à l’élève / étudiant en termes de langues secondaires.
– L’homogénéisation de la langue d’enseignement entre le primaire, secondaire et supérieur. L’arabisation partielle a été notamment considérée comme l’une des sources de la faillite du système éducatif.
– Le changement de paradigme par rapport à la langue française. Pourquoi pas l’anglais, par exemple, en tant que deuxième langue ?
Opinions were very divergent over the proper language to use in the classroom, but they were coupled with various proposals upon which there appears to be some consensus:
- The need to offer more choice to pupils/students in terms of the secondary language
– The homogenization of the language of instruction from primary, secondary to higher education. The policy of Arabization of the curriculum was particularly regarded as one of the sources of the failure of the system
– The paradigm shift from French: Why not use English, for example, as a second language?
Here are some of the highlights of that debate:
The debate goes on and more topics are emerging. Houda C. writes:
Il y a quelques bonnes volontés qui se sont déjà proposées pour étendre la discussion, l’étoffer avec de prochains débats sur twitter ou ailleurs, et évidement documenter le tout afin de venir avec de réelles propositions de changement.
This post is part of our special coverage Morocco Protests 2011 and Global Development 2011.

author: Hisham Almiraat


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Nigeria: Parliamentary election postponed for a week · Global Voices
Eremipagamo Amabebe

The Nigerian parliamentary election, which kicks off two weeks of national elections originally scheduled to begin Saturday, has been postponed until Monday. The latest is actually that all elections have been pushed back for a full week. “A 48-hour delay is worth every second of the wait to get things right,” writes Akin. But Adeola wonders why officials waited until Nigerians had already headed to the polls before announcing the delay.

author: Eremipagamo Amabebe


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Nigeria: Tweeps to follow during Nigeria Elections 2011  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This post is part of our special coverage Nigeria Elections 2011.
It is election time in Nigeria. But all scheduled elections have been pushed back for a week because of organizational problems. Presidential election were planned for 9 April 2011. This is our list of recommended tweeps to follow during election in Nigeria 2011 and their reactions to the election postponement.
@MrFixNigeria is Microsoft Internet Safety Ambassador and Nigeria's youngest presidential campaign manager.
@EiENigeria (Enough is Enough Nigeria) is a coalition of young Nigerians working to mobilise youth towards participation in the 2011 elections.
Due to the postponed elections, we'll be launching our final poll (“Who will you VOTE for on April 9″) on Tuesday, April 5. #NigeriaDecides
@toluogunlesi is a columnist with Nigerian newspaper, NEXT, Creative Writing student at the University of East Anglia(UEA).
What a sad day for Nigeria:
Sad day for Nigeria: cancelled elections, Ibori released, and then one of her finest cooks burns boiled egg WTF http://twitpic.com/4gb7yb
@feathersproject is a Nigerian writer, publisher and author at Global Voices Online.
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS: BETTER POSTPONED THAN FLAWED http://wp.me/pfoBI-jq
@TechLoy is Nigeria's leading technology blog, breaking the biggest tech stories, providing local startup and product reviews.
#Jega trending on Twitter:
Interesting to see ‘Jega’ [Attahiru Jega, head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)] trending worldwide on Twitter as #JegaDecides Nigeria's future
@COOL2VOTE:
#BREAKINGNEWS: ELECTIONS HAVE BEEN POTPONED TO APRIL 4TH. CONFIRMED BY INEC CHAIRMAN. #Cool2Vote #NigeriaDecides
@Africanelection is a project that enhances the the ability of journalists, citizen journalists to use new media to monitor and report on elections in Africa.
Nigeria:Movements Restricted Till 6:00 p.m. http://ow.ly/4rHrB #naijavotes2011
@delemomodu2011 is the Presidential Candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP).
What we witnessed today is a clear manifestation of gross incompetence and planlessness. #INEC
@DamiOyedele :
New post: ‘New date of elections not feasible’ says Dele Momodu http://bit.ly/ewGfNh cc @mrfixnigeria
@gbengasesan is a Nigerian social entrepreneur with keen interest in the use of ICTs for development; towards the creation of improved livelihood opportunities. You can read more about ‘Gbenga Sesan here.
Today should not have happened… Read my latest blog, “As Nigeria Decides (6)”, at http://gbengasesan.com #ReVoDa #NigeriaDecides
@forakin is a computer non-geek, blogger and anglo-Nigerian in Amsterdam.
@AsylumAfricana I was a viewer online of the INEC [Independent National Electoral Commission] conference, when they were told no questions the assembled remonstrated quite loudly.
@reclaimnaija  is a broad based national platform for popular, grassroots engagement in promoting electoral transparency and democratic government.
Our reports verify Prof. Jega's assertion that most states do not have polling materials. #reclaimnaija #NigeriaDecides
More tweeps to follow can be found here.
This post is part of our special coverage Nigeria Elections 2011.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Pakistan: A Step Towards Decency, If Not Peace · Global Voices
Rezwan

Naeem Sadiq at Teeth Maestro points out an interesting fact: “each day as the flags are lowered at the Wagah border, Indian and Pakistani guards high-kick and stamp their feet in a vulgar display of aggression, anger and animosity.” The blogger wants this daily dose of hatred to be stopped.


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Pakistan: Suicide Bombing By A Teenager · Global Voices
Rezwan

Adil Najam at All Things Pakistan reports that a suicide bombing attack on the shrine of a 13th century Sufi saint  in District Dera Ghazi Khan in Pakistan killed more than 40 people. The murder was committed by a teenager, who himself is a victim in so many ways.


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Puerto Rico: Controversial Decision on Domestic Violence · Global Voices
César Santiago

Puerto Rico's Supreme Court upheld a decision from a lower court that stated that a victim of violence in an adulterous relationship was not protected by Law 54 of Domestic Violence [es]. The basis of the decision (pdf) [es], according to the opinion of judge Erick Kolthoff Caraballo (nominated by the pro-statehood Republican governor Luis Fortuño), is that the law's intention is to protect family unity, and therefore, adulterous relationships are outside the purview of the law. But feminists have responded that the spirit of the law is to protect victims against intimate partner violence.
The feminist coalition Movimiento Amplio de Mujeres de Puerto Rico published in its blog a press release condemning the decision[es]:
La Ley 54 se creó para erradicar la violencia en relaciones de pareja y no excluyó las relaciones en las cuales una de las partes está casada con una tercera persona. La sentencia emitida hoy por el Supremo, traiciona la intención de la Ley y envía un mensaje incorrecto y tergiversado sobre la aplicabilidad de la misma.
Law professor and blogger Érika Fontánez Torres expresses her dismay for this decision in her blog Poder, Espacio y Ambiente[es] and comments on what she perceives as a step backwards in the fight for equality:
Resulta tan trágico este trato desigual y esta ‘marca’ sobre las mujeres que se hace difícil, por lo insólito, comentar esta opinión. Y es que en algunos asuntos una pensaría que no hay que retomar o re-debatir ciertos temas, aspectos, ideas y entendidos que una creería ya superados, es decir, esos mínimos sobre los que una pensaría que hay un resguardo de consenso.
She adds:
Por eso, no quiero tomar tiempo para comentar  a fondo lo que me parece una sentencia vergonzosa de nuestro Tribunal Supremo, una que me avergonzaría francamente de tener que discutir entre mis alumnos, de comentar con seriedad entre mis colegas en Puerto Rico y de tener que hacer alusión a ella entre juristas y académicos del Derecho con quienes tengo contacto fuera del país.
Feminist performance against domestic violence in Uruguay. Photo by Libertinus. Republished under a CC License.*
Eugenio Martínez Rodríguez, from the blog Pop Juris published a post[es] in which he aims to dispel two conclusions many people are reaching about the decision.
The first conclusion he wants to dispel is that aggressions against adulterous persons will go unpunished (although they will not be protected under Law 54):
Aunque la Ley 54 es el remedio idóneo para trabajar este tipo de agresiones aún existen los artículos 121, 122, y 123 del Código Penal que tipifican la agresión, agresión grave y agresión grave atenuada. La propia opinión de conformidad del juez Erick Kolthoff   (a favor de la decisión del Apelativo)  también menciona la Ley contra el Acecho en Puerto Rico como otro estatuto que podría utilizarse en defensa de este tipo de víctimas.
Martínez Rodríguez also clarifies that an adulterous victim whose husband is the aggressor (not her/his lover) will still be protected under Law 54:
[…]En otras palabras, si el agresor de la víctima adúltera es su cónyuge, ésta sí tendrá protección de la Ley 54 aún cuando sea infiel. No es lo mismo decir “Supremo no protegería a personas adúlteras” que decir “Supremo deniega protección a personas en relaciones adulterinas”.
In the meantime, the Women's Caucus of the Chamber of Representatives has started taking legislative action [es] to address the consequences of the Supreme Court decision. A new bill will explicitly clarify that the law does protect women from aggressions perpetrated by their adulterous partner. The blog from the Movimiento Amplio de Mujeres [es] praised the legislative action and asks for unequivocal support:
Ya el Caucus de la Mujer hizo su parte para proteger la esencia de la Ley 54 y a las mujeres de nuestra Isla. Ahora le toca al resto de la Legislatura dar paso a su proyecto de ley y clarificar de una vez por todas que la violencia en relaciones de pareja NO es aceptable en nuestra Isla.
*Please read the full text of Law 54 here [es].
*Photo by Libertinus and republished under CC License BY-SA 2.0.

author: César Santiago


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Russia: Another Bolshoi scandal · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Two-Zero of Moscow Blog draws attention to another scandal at the Moscow Bolshoi theatre – this time due to hacker intrusion – only adding to its disrepute due to extravagant renovation costs.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Syria: Two Returned Home Safely, Khaled El Ghayesh Still Missing · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
Last week, Egyptian-American Muhammad Radwan (known as @battutta on Twitter) was arrested in Syria and accused of spying, as well as of receiving requests from abroad for photos and videos about Syria.  On April 1, CNN reported that Radwan had been released to the Egyptian Embassy in Damascus.
Yesterday, Radwan announced on Twitter that he'd made it home safely:
just landed in om el donya*, great to be home #egypt
American student Tik Root, who had been studying Arabic in Syria, also made it home safely, after spending two weeks in prison.  Root was arrested on March 18 for taking photographs of a protest.
Egypt-based @Tom_El_Rumi tweeted:
As well as @battutta coming back2 Egypt, American student Tik Root returned home from Syrian custody yday http://j.mp/dYV5jz #FREEKHALED
The #FreeKhaled hashtag in Tom's tweet refers to yet another Egyptian who has gone missing in Syria, Khaled El Ghayesh (@kghayesh on Twitter).  As Hassan El Ghayesh has tweeted, there is no confirmation that Khaled has been arrested; Hassan has suggested using #khaledmissing to refer to the young man.
Hassan El Ghayesh tweets:
thanks to you guys and thanks to @battutta .. the egyptian embassy's only concern right now is finding #khaledelghayesh #khaledmissing
There is also a Facebook page set up to help find Khaled.
Shortly after his own arrival home, Muhammad Radwan shared his own concern for Khaled, tweeting:
The love and support overwhelming. But #freekhaled is my biggest concern right now, please retweet
*”Om el donya” roughly translates to “Mother of the world” and is used to refer to Egypt.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.

author: Jillian C. York


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Yale to set up campus in Singapore · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The National University of Singapore and Yale University announced that they will establish the Yale-NUS College which will be Singapore's first liberal arts college. The new college will begin operations in 2013 and will initially accept 150 students
Yale president Richard Levin defended the idea of offering a program in Asia
We believe that if Yale is to engage the world in ways that may shape the global future, we should recognize that many nations live by different traditions and norms. Despite obvious constraints on the scope of public discourse, our investigation shows that there is real opportunity for robust inquiry and discussion on the NUS campus. The limitations we would need to accept, given Singaporean tradition and law, have to be weighed against the opportunity we have to influence over time the curriculum and pedagogy in a major part of the world.
However, some members of Yale faculty pointed out that Yale’s liberal tradition is not compatible with the ‘authoritarian regime’ in Singapore. Even the student paper, Yale Daily News, is not supportive of Yale’s expansion in Singapore
The new Yale-NUS will look like Yale, but it won’t hand out Yale degrees. Yale appointees will sit on its board, but likely alongside members of the Singaporean government, like those on the NUS board. Its students will take classes taught by Yale professors, but in them, they won’t be able to read banned books about the regime’s death penalty, jailhouse torture, homosexuality prohibition, or its censorship.
Even if local laws do not explicitly limit campus scholarship, self-censorship by students and faculty certainly will. Who would publish a fiery doctoral thesis in a country that metes out caning for minor offenses? A country that slanders and jails academics and authors for running foul of its government?
They added that the University of Warwick in England decided not to set up a branch in Singapore in 2005 because of the perceived lack of academic freedom in the prosperous city state.  Even John Hopkins University closed a research facility when it had a conflict with the Singapore government.
The Kent Ridge Common, a student-baded paper in Singapore, clarified that politics is freely discussed in Singapore schools
Political topics in Singapore, quite frankly, enjoy a no-holds barred discussion in NUS.
Rather then operating in a strictly controlled environment where they have to watch what they speak, and speak only the good things, lecturers often even joke about the inherent flaws or prejudices of ‘sensitive’ topics in the lecture halls or classrooms.
Students — young Singaporeans belonging to a completely different generation, if anything, are even more engaged and rigorous during classroom discussions. Points are often passionately and strongly made in class — whether critical or supportive of Singapore’s system — to show that young Singaporeans really care about the future of their country, and are not merely limited by a myopic and one-sided assessment of Singapore’s system.
Singaporeans have the liberty to speak, and Professors have the liberty to teach.
Koh Choon Hwee thinks that the presence of an Ivy League institution in Singapore affirms the prevailing attitude in society of worshipping the ‘superior’ education of Western countries
Hence, while I do feel happy for the Yale-NUS College, as an NUS student and as a Singaporean, I am aware that this ‘happiness’ exists within a discourse of ‘Western superiority’. My ‘happiness’ quickly dissipates into apathetic jadedness (read: sian) at this point.
Further, after the euphoria of Ivy League novelty subsides, one observes that this is no revolutionary change in substance.
YNC however has the name ‘Yale’ and will have Yale faculty involved in the program – to some that may mean all the difference, to others that may not. In terms of NUS-branding, perhaps this is that crucial difference.
An anonymous commented in the blog of my sketchbook rejects the planned Yale-NUS joint undertaking
whats up with all these tie-ups?! are the universities here in singapore trying (to) gain “instant” credibility by all these? i believe that universities in singapore have the capabilities and the capacity to be excellent institutions by themselves but of course they have to be patient as it will take time…but it will happen…but by doing these tie-ups they are short-changing themselves as when the relationship is over, you are left with nothing….
Joel Chow prefers that NUS develop its own brand rather than gain prestige through a partnership with Yale
While the partnership with Yale is doubtlessly a coup for NUS, the terms of the agreement reflect an unequal burden upon the university that is perhaps too high a price to pay for Yale’s brand name.
Furthermore, the partnership with Yale overlooks the organic development of our own liberal arts college in NUS and suggests a preoccupation with securing big name partnerships rather than looking to our own backyard for viable alternatives.
While we have reason to celebrate the partnership with an Ivy League institution like Yale, perhaps it is also time we seriously start cultivating our own brand name, only then can we really become a leading global university centred in Asia.


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Announcing the Newest Rising Voices Grantees · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Rising Voices is pleased to announce the five newest members to join its global community of citizen media grantees. Each of the selected projects will receive microgrants to implement their proposed project to teach others how to use various citizen media tools. This latest competition round resulted in an impressive amount of interest from around the world. In all, Rising Voices received more than 750 applications from more than 90 countries, and it was a difficult decision narrowing down the selection to just five grantee projects. There were many deserving projects with great ideas that addressed specific needs in local underrepresented communities that we were unfortunately unable to fund. The five projects selected from Brazil, India, Greece, Mali, and Guinea-Bissau are diverse and represent four different continents. We think they will add much to our community, please join us in welcoming them. To read the full announcement, please visit the Rising Voices website.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Azerbaijan: Opposition leader’s son sent to frontline · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

whatwaswritten says that the son of an opposition leader in Azerbaijan serving in the army has been sent to the front line following this weekend's protests in Baku, the capital. The post notes that some are alleging the move is part of an attempt to warn the opposition not to hold any more rallies although the political figure in question says he does not want to politicize the issue.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Brazil: Making the web accessible to the hearing impaired · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Leonardo Leite, on the blog Stoa, writes  [pt] about Poli-Libras – a software developped in the University of Sao Paulo that translates contextualized sentences in Portuguese language to 3D graphics in “Libras” – the Brazilian Sign Language. According to Leite, the goal of this tool is to promote web content accessibility to the hearing impaired.

author: Sara Moreira


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China: Ai Weiwei Detained, Initial Twitter Reactions · Global Voices
Andy Yee

China’s best known artist and dissident, Ai Weiwei, was detained in Beijing as he tried to board a flight to Hong Kong on Sunday 3 April, 2011. Ai is the latest to join a long list of human rights activists, lawyers and writers who have been arrested, detained or gone missing in the country.
It is commonly held that he is somehow protected from official crackdown by his international reputation and the status of his father, a renowned poet. If Ai is not immune, it is a worrying signal that China’s crackdown on dissent has reached a whole new level.
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Image by Flickr user DigiPub (CC BY-ND 2.0).
Below are selected initial reactions of Ai Weiwei’s detention on Twitter, where some of China’s most liberal minds gather. An online Twitter petition, Free Ai Weiwei, so far signed by hundreds of people, has also been set up.
Mo Zhixu, prominent writer and critic (@mozhixu):
记得元旦时与艾未未对话，我还明确地认为，像艾未未冉云飞这样不党不群的单干户，当局不太好下手，所以应该比较安全；如今看来，北非事态改变了这一态势，有人要提前动手，以免再出现一个乃至更多个刘晓波。可是，没有刘晓波们就万事大吉了吗？
3:11 PM Apr 4th
Chang Ping, outspoken journalist and commentator, formerly with the Southern Media Group (@chang_ping):
中午在香港中文大学新闻与传播学院演讲时提到，@aiww被拘后，纽约客记者称中国舆论进入严寒，令我想到1995年的报刊大整顿，那以后媒体业进入新的爆发期。
11:17 PM Apr 4th
Liu Xiaoyun, Beijing-based human rights lawyer (@liu_xiaoyuan):
艾未未被带走了，工作室被搜查了，不论艾未未的对与错，这都是特大新闻，特大热点。没想到呀，没想到，国内媒体竟然齐患失语症，又装聋来又装哑，悲哀，实在是悲哀！
12:14 AM Apr 5th
Feng Zhenghu, Shanghai-based human rights activist (@fzhenghu):
呼吁释放艾末末、文涛及所有失踪的中国人。就象龙应台所说：如果你觉得别人的不幸与你无关，那么有一天不幸发生在你身上时，也没有人会在意。保护他人的不法遭遇，也是在保护自己。#aiww
11:21 PM Apr 4th
Shi Feike, journalist and activist (@shifeike):
情况已经很明显了，如白天和几个朋友吃饭时所述的一样，此前都只是在扫清外围，抓郭大侠，抓刘晓原，抓李天天，乃至今天抓文涛，目的都是为抓大胖子服务。党和政府精通兵法，深谋远虑。
8:08 PM Apr 3rd
@shifeike: 我理解，艾神的资源、个性、名气以及别具一格的刀法，使得他成为公民维权运动中的钉子户。当局此次，不过是一次针对钉子户的定点清除式强拆而已。
4:05 PM Apr 4th
Ai Xiaoming, feminist literary scholar, documentary filmmaker and human rights activist (@xiaocao07):
艾未未也许很激进，但他也嘲笑茉莉花，他也退出08宪章，他也攻击刘晓波，他还讽刺崔卫平。而艾未未之依然得人望，则在于他干了很多具体的好事，为孩子们呐喊，为冤死者说话，坚持自由表达。现在打压艾未未，就不是针对茉莉花而是针对所有人向往的公平正义和真相了。
8:21 PM Apr 3rd
@xiaocao07: 今天推特上看不到艾未未，今天，你就可以成为艾未未。如果你喜欢他，你就像他那样去生活，像他那样去爱亲人，爱朋友，爱孩子，爱小猫小狗，爱那些受苦的人并且为他们说话。无数个你成为了艾未未，中国就真正达到了幸福高指数。
12:11 PM Apr 4th
Peng Xiaoyun, opinion page editor of Guangzhou-based Time Weekly Magazine (@Pengxiaoyun):
他都算不上政治异见，他所从事的，只是日复一日地记录那些逝去的孩子的生日；他所关注的，只是公民对真相的渴求；他所展示的，只是一个艺术家可能介入社会的方式；他所呼号的，只是个体丰富的想象力和可能性。容不下他，已经是穷途末路了，决策者意图把自己“信息难民”的身份进行到底。
8:46 PM Apr 3rd
@Pengxiaoyun: 至于为什么对艾动手，我想决策机制是“防卫过当”了，也属于信息不对称导致的恐惧，恐惧不独人民才有，合法性问题未能妥善解决的统治者更怕。他们对于艾在网络上一呼百应的状况感到恐惧，但我不得不说，这种网络的弱联系距离社会运动的强联系还差得老远，现在就抓人劳民伤财，维稳经费又冲天价了。
3:47 PM Apr 4th
@Pengxiaoyun: 老艾展示了一个艺术家如何介入社会，他颠覆了中国传统的知识分子形象，少了那股明哲保身的中庸小聪明和酸文人气，他有国际视野，他幽默可爱，他深谙公民运动的边界，他并不是政治革命家，不过现在当局努力在培养一位政治对手。
8:07 PM Apr 4th
Wang Dan, student leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement (@wangdan1989):
如果真的抓了艾未未，而民間沒有抗議的浪潮出來的話，我覺得當局以后會更加動不動就抓人。今天不出來聲援，明天下一個被抓的就可能是自己
9:57 PM Apr 3rd
@wangdan1989: 讓當局停止抓人的唯一辦法，就是太多的人站出來，讓他們無法繼續抓下去。
10:01 PM Apr 3rd
@wangdan1989: 從劉賢斌到冉云飛，從冉云飛到艾未未，當局最近一連串的動作不是偶然和松散的。這顯然是經過最高當局討論批準的一個決策。這個決策是誰做出來的？胡錦濤？周永康？溫家寶？中共一定要有一個人為這次的鎮壓負責。我們要找出這個人來，聲討他，讓他成為歷史上邪惡人物的代名詞。
10:24 PM Apr 3rd
Luo Shihong, Taiwan media academic and public intellectual (@telshl):
一直對大陸進步發展及兩岸和平前景很樂觀，艾未未事件之後，很難不動搖這種信念。大陸這麼一弄，台灣人不怕死了？唉，泱泱大國犯得著和一個藝術家這麼計較嗎？這樣一搞，原來看不懂行為藝術的人都開始看懂了。
8:48 PM Apr 3rd
@telshl: 艾未未不討所有人喜歡，但艾未未代表一種時代精神，一種做公民的精神，這種精神讓中國的空氣變得自由了些，使得人們可以放開恐懼去呼吸，不致窒息。#aiww
9:51 PM Apr 3rd

author: Andy Yee


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China: GFW Founder’s Speech · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Don Weinland from China Digital Times has translated the Chinese Great Firewall founder, Fang Binxing's lecture at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. He asked the students to “meld your own growth and talent with the progress of your country and the revitalization of your nationality”.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Côte d’Ivoire: Humanitarian Aid Via Twitter Hashtag · Global Voices
Julie Owono

This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011.
The last week has been crucial for the West African nation of Côte d'Ivoire. The country has been facing a deep political crisis since December 3, 2010, when the Ivorian Electoral Commission declared Alassane Ouattara to have won the presidential election, whereas the Constitutional Council which proclaimed incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, winner of the ballot.
Internally displaced people in Duekoue, western Côte d'Ivoire, driven from their homes by attacks from pro-Ouattara militias in January 2011. Image by Flickr user Sunset Parkerpix (CC BY-SA 2.0).
After a rapid advance over the south and west of the country, Republican Forces loyal to internationally recognised president Ouattara reached economic capital Abidjan on March 31, 2011, and surrounded the Presidential Residence in Cocody, where Laurent Gbagbo was said to have taken shelter.
Since then, violent fighting has been taking place in the city, and a night curfew has been imposed by Ouattara's government from Saturday April 2, to Monday April 4.
Tweets amidst the turmoil
In the midst of this turmoil, the Twitter hashtag #civ2010 has been providing an essential source of information in the country. However, many Twitter users have raised their voices to complain that the hashtag is fast becoming a virtual means for supporters of both camps to confront each other.
Kojito R. Gossoum, tweeting via @N2_language [fr], expressed this frustration:
Est-il possible d'ignorer ceux qui font dans l'intox et la provocation? S'il vous plait! Nous voulons des info #civ2010
@bish00p [fr] continues:
#civ2010 avant entre 2 insultes, y'avait des infos sur ce fil, now, y'a plus que des insultes quasiment. C d'un laid
This prompted blogger Nnenna to publish a bitter blog post ‘Hashtag or Hate-tag‘, in which she explains what #civ2010 was about when it was created, and what it has now become:
Then the run off on November 28.. and the “the walls came tumbling down”. What a great transformation of the tag. It has gone from citizen watch and reporting space to a kind of association of folks who have something in common: someone or something they hate! Granted, the war is raging on the streets of Abidjan, but the war on Twitter is equally  viral..
#civsocial
In response to this general exasperation, Ivorian Twitter users decided on Sunday 3 April, to create another hashtag, on which humanitarian news and emergencies could be shared.
Edith Brou (@edithbrou) [fr], a community manager from Côte d'Ivoire, explains:
Twittons utiles, twittons efficaces, pour sauver des vies, vi@ le Web ivoirien.#civsocial… Un seul tweet peut faire la difference, le tien
Twitter user Nadira (@Naddah) [fr], a “French with Algerian roots”, adds:
Ivoiriens au lieu de vous insulter sur le fil #Civ2010, rendez vous utile sur le fil#CivSocial
Meanwhile, Twitter user and web developer from Abidjan, cartunelo (@cartunelo) [fr] started spreading the word on humanitarian needs via #civsocial, about a person who had just been shot:
#civsocial, besoin d un médecin à la star 6 la soeur dune amie vient de prendr une balle!si oui,ses contacts svp!très urgent!!!#civ2010
His call was spread on both the #civsocial and #civ2010 hashtags, and in the end the young girl was saved, as cartunelo reported later [fr]:
Grace a votre aide L'hémorragie de la 1ere fille a stoppé. Besoin maintenant de xylocaine. Contactez 40003480/03784354 #civsocial,#civ2010
First Aid Twitter tips
The #civsocial hashtag has also become a place to share advice on how to provide First Aid to the wounded, as @Naddah [fr] explains:
gestes de premier secours http://bit.ly/eKsyUr #civ2010#CivSocial
In a time of war, healthy water becomes rare; Twitter users have also been using both #civ2010 and #civsocial to share information on how to clean water. Patience (@zorociv2011) [fr], a Twitter user in Abidjan shared the following:
#civ2010 #civsocial Eau insalubre? Filtrer avec tissus. 1 cuillère à soupe de javelle pour 6 a 8 lit d'eau. attendre 15 mn ==>ok eau potable
This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011.

author: Julie Owono


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Cuba: Exiled Voice Awarded  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Unmasking the penitentiary system on the island from within its insides was the goal, despite all the limitations attached with being imprisoned”: Pablo Pacheco Avila remembers how his blog was born; Pedazos de La Isla is thrilled that the blog “was awarded a 2011 Mandala Communication Prize.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba: US Contractor Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

According to the Cuban daily newspaper Granma [es], United States Agency for International Development (USAID) subcontractor and United States (US) citizen Alan Gross was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Cuba on March 12, 2011, after being convicted of illegally distributing information technology equipment to Cubans.
Under the court ruling in Cuba, this constituted an “[act] against the independence or territorial integrity of the state.”
Cuban flag. Image by Flickr user pietroizzo (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Cuban authorities arrested Gross at José Martí International Airport in Havana on December 3, 2009, when he was attempting to leave Cuba after his fifth visit to the island. Gross had brought IT equipment to small civil society groups there while working as a consultant for Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), a for-profit international development company that is a frequent subcontractor with USAID. Gross entered the country on a tourist visa (rather than a special visa for aid workers), and did not have government permission to distribute these materials.
He was held in a high-security Cuban prison for fifteen months, without any formal charges, and his March 2011 trial was closed to reporters. Cuban authorities have released only very general statements about the proceedings. Press covering the event have relied on the accounts of different figures involved, which has led to a somewhat uneven public understanding of exactly what Gross was doing in Cuba.
Cuban Triangle author and Cuba policy expert Phil Peters has exposed some of the holes in mainstream coverage of this case. He has directed readers to both USAID and Cuban legislative documents proving that in 1999, the Cuban government made it illegal for Cubans to receive assistance from USAID programs. In a post written shortly after Gross’ arrest, Peters commented on how the Cuban government views these programs:
Havana tends to see [USAID] as part of an off-and-on, 50-year U.S. effort to [affect] regime change…[they] lump the current program in with the embargo, the Bay of Pigs, and a long list of covert and overt [US] efforts to overthrow their socialist government.
He argued that regardless of how good Gross’ intentions may have been, the program he was working for is seen as a force for political subversion in Cuba. He wrote:
It’s one thing to run civil society programs in countries where the local government is unopposed, it’s quite another to do so in a communist country that perceives the program as a national security threat.
Gross is also mentioned in the viral “cyberwar” video released in February of 2011, which featured Cuban cyber security expert Eduardo Fontes describing US efforts to undermine the Cuban government by installing secret WiFi hotspots around the island, as part of a “cyberwar” tactic.
The Cuban government has interpreted this as a threat to national security, but this is contingent upon what they believe about the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in this context. This then raises the question: exactly what did Gross bring to Cuba? On this subject, blogger and Cuba scholar Larry Press notes that different media reported items ranging from “sophisticated satellite communications equipment” (Raúl Castro, quoted in the Washington Post), to “cell phones, laptops and other communications equipment” (The New York Times), to “BGAN Satellite ground stations” (El Progresso). [Note – BGAN stands for Broadband Global Area Network]
Larry Press writes:
[L]et's assume he brought it all — cell phones, laptops, and BGAN ground stations, and that he was doing so on a USAID contract. How much damage could he have done? Cell phones and laptops are increasingly available in Cuba, so those…would not have made a significant difference. What about BGAN ground stations, which can be used for clandestine Internet connectivity? I discussed the limited capability of BGAN equipment in a previous post — a few BGAN ground stations would have no practical impact.
[…]
Without taking a position on the right…of the US and USAID to meddle in Cuban affairs, the efficacy of that meddling or Alan Gross’ motives, it seems clear that what he allegedly tried to do would not have made a difference even if he had succeeded.
Regardless of the potential impact (real or imagined) of what Gross attempted to do, it is clear that the Cuban government chose to prosecute Gross because he represented an example of a program that they see as a threat to national sovereignty. Many Cuba-focused advocacy groups are using this as a case for why such programs should be permanently discontinued in Cuba, but it remains to be seen what difference this will make.
Cuban blogger Iván García remarked that, “[t]he real enemy of the Castros is not Gross. The American is nothing more than a good currency of exchange. It’s not bad for negotiating with the Yankees. Or as a political show. Little more.”
If Gross is lucky, the US will find some way to bargain with the Cuban government so that he can be sent home, and the real issues at hand can come to the fore.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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India: Billions Celebrate Cricket World Cup Victory · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

On Saturday, 2nd April 2011, India's men in blue created history in Mumbai's Wankhede stadium when they beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to triumphantly lift the cricket World Cup trophy. No sooner had the Indian skipper hit the last decisive sixer, Indians, both at home and abroad, broke out into celebrations with gusto, savouring every bit of this long-awaited, much-prayed-for victory.
Here are some images from Saturday. Let the pictures tell you their own story.
A crowd watches the match in a shopping Mall in Chennai.
Picture by Flickr user Rakesh Ashok used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Team India are the new Champions!
Collage created by Flickr user Eustaquio Santimano, used under CC BY 2.0
Fans cheer from the back of motorcycles and in cars in Rajkot as they celebrate India's victory. Image by Devarshi Pathak. Copyright Demotix.
Indian fans cheer in the streets of Marine Drive in Mumbai. Image by Arindam Dey. Copyright Demotix.
Delhi street celebrations as India won the cricket world cup after 28 years, defeating Sri Lanka in the finals. Image by Sharbendu De. Copyright Demotix
…and fans cheered in other parts of the world too. From NYC (pic above) to the Trafalgar square (pic below), the Indian fans were seen celebrating jubilantly everywhere.
Picture by Flickr user ccho, used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Indian cricket supporters carry the flag of India during celebrations at Trafalgar Square in London after India's win.  Image by Behzad. Copyright Demotix.

author: Aparna Ray


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India: Logics Against Cash Awards To Sportsmen · Global Voices
Rezwan

Indian state governments have lined up to shower cash prizes and land allocations on the members of Indian cricket team, who recently won the Cricket World Cup 2011. Nitin Pai at The Acorn is against this medieval-style patronage of sportsmen at public expense.

author: Rezwan


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Iran: Protests for a Drying Lake · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Dozens of protesters were arrested on April 2, 2011 in Iran's Azerbaijan region in the cities Tabriz and Urmia (northwestern Iran). This time protests were not for democracy and freedom, but instead demands for the government to protect Lake Urmia, one of the world's largest salt water lakes.
The construction of a dam on part of the lake accompanied by a recent drought has significantly decreased the annual amount of water Urmia receives. This in turn has increased the salinity, repelling many birds.
Protesters cried: “Lake Urmia is burning of thirst”, and “Break down dams and let water flow into the Lake Urmia”.
On the website Tabrizsesi, there are several photos – like the one above of today's demonstration.
Az inavr o Oonvar says[fa]
Today we can say that Iranian Azerbaijani people rose up and protested to save Lake Urmia. Other Iranian citizens in different cities such as Tehran and Shiraz should support this movement as a sign of solidarity.
Urmuiscileri blog writes [fa] that according to eye witnesses, around 300 people attempted to start a demonstration in Urmia, but they were repressed by security forces and several people were arrested.
Lake Urmia has 102 islands, the second largest being, Kaboudi. This is the burial place of Hulagu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, emperor of the Mongol empire. One of the earliest mentions of Lake Urmia is from the Assyrian records from 9th century BCE. See photos of its beauty on Abdolian.com.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jamaica: Senior Citizens Ill-treated · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The accomplishments of a nation meaningless if the weakest of its citizens cannot expect be treated with dignity, be treated as a human, the most basic of rights”: Beyondbee is saddened and angered by news that a senior citizens’ home was mistreating its charges.


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Japan: SOS from a city near Fukushima nuclear plant · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

The mayor of Minami Soma, a small city next to the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, asked for help through a video [en, ja] posted on Youtube. The mayor launched an appeal to the world saying the people are isolated, there is a lack of supplies and the government is not delivering necessity goods to the citizens who were ordered to evacuate.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Maldives: Democracy Failing · Global Voices
Rezwan

Maria Mohamed explains why she thinks that Maldives is a failed democracy.


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Nepal: Frustrated Undercurrents · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

Last week, Nepal's Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal was apparently forced to resign. Known for his straight forward working style and exemplary work ethnic, the news of his departure came as a surprise to many.
Chandan Sapkota, who works for Kathmandu based economic think tank says that Khanal's decision to leave the office was not voluntary:
Rameshore Khanal, an honest civil servant working as finance secretary of Nepal, resigned due to undue pressure from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikary and his cronies (including businessmen who were about to be charged for tax evasion). God knows how much Adhikary and the political parties are being paid by the crooked businessmen to oust Khanal from the finance ministry. This is corruption and dirty lobbying at its height. The morale of civil servants will further go down. The optimal solution right now is to take moral responsibility by Adhikary, resign immediately, and recall Khanal without any preconditions.
Nepali Flags on display and for sale in Basantpur Durbar Square. Image by Sharad Aryal, copyright Demotix (24/03/11).
Khanal now has a Facebook fan page whose only demand is resignation of Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikary. Commentators have posted congratulatory messages praising Khanal for his stand up behaviour and are questioning Finance Minister Adhikari's style of working and his associations.
Screenshot of Rameshwor Khanals' Facebook Fan Page.
One of the persistent questions on Minister Adhikari's associations stems from his proximity with prominent industrialist Binod Chaudhary.
At Mysansar, the speculation is that Binod Chaudhary, along with number of major industrialists share the blame for Rameshwor Khanal's resignation.
“नक्कली भ्याट बिल बनाएर राष्ट्रको राजस्व छल्नेहरुसँग १ अर्ब ३५ करोड रुपैयाँ कर असुल्ने तयारी गरिरहँदा चौधरी ग्रुप सहितका व्यापारिक घरानाको दवाबमा अर्थसचिव बदल्ने खेल भएपछि अर्थसचिव रामेश्वर खनालले राजिनामा गरेका छन्। “
Allegation of  corruption, alleged role of the Finance Minister and accusations of influence peddling are now galvanizing public anger against the government. There are calls being made for grass roots level campaign to keep civil servants safe from political meddling. At Twitter  and on the blogosphere, some young people have already started organizing.
Blogger Ushaft is now leading the call for more youth lead direct action in cleaning up Nepal's work place environment. He is one of the more active members of Nepali “tweeps” who meet on weekends to discuss Nepal's current situation and how a citizen lead civil vigilance movement could benefit the country.
At his blog, he has posted a detailed plan of action for Nepali bloggers and organizers to actually make an impact on the country's politics, on behalf of the frustrated mass. It is interesting to note here that he refers to recent events in the Middle East and says that citizen action can lead to fundamental transformation.
“Well, here’s an opportunity to try to change things a bit.
We might be unsuccessful, but we might gain some momentum, create a critical mass of people for some similar incident in the future, or achieve some other nice goals on the way. We should not forget that people coming together on the internet social networks have achieved wonderful things in the recent times (read Middle East, Wikileaks etc). Let’s aim in bringing the Secretary back to  his office and creating an environment where he can work independently and in his full capacity. Let’s hope that we’ll succeed in teaching the politicians a lesson and that they do not dare to do similar things in the future.”
Krishna H Pushkar at Nepal Officers Blog writes:
We want Mr. Rameshwar Khanal back as finance secretary, though we know that probably he is not coming to rejoin the resigned post.
Adding an interesting spin on the scandal, Binod Chaudhury today published an op-ed at Kantipur Nepali Daily. He completely disassociates himself with the Finance Secretary resignation and also the allegations of tax dodging.
As the public anger gather momentum and the pressure on the government grows, it is clear that Nepali politics has entered a new era where the people are not satisfied just reading about the government's affairs. They are also fed up with the politicization of scandals. With the new technology, people are now organizing and making their voices heard in an clear, peaceful way without any political interference.

author: Bhumika Ghimire


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Nigeria: Bloggers React to Parliamentary Non-Polls · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

This post is part of our special coverage Nigeria Elections 2011.
The parliamentary election in Nigeria kicked off on Saturday April 2, 2011 but mid-way it was postponed by the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega. The electoral chief in his address blamed the non-polls on logistical problems:
As you know the National Assembly (House of Representatives and Senate) elections are supposed to be taking place as I speak. You would also have noticed that things have not proceeded smoothly as expected with the elections. The reason for this is the unanticipated emergency we have experienced with late arrival of result sheets in many parts of the country. The result sheets are central to the elections and their integrity. .. the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to postpone the National Assembly elections to Monday, April 4, 2011.
Ballot boxes at a voting center in the Ketu district of Lagos on April 2, 2011. Photo courtesy of PressTV (www.presstv.com).
Jega’s reason for the postponement raised the hackles of Nigerians, leading to yet another rescheduling:
The Independent National Electoral Commission announced the rescheduling of the 2011 National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) elections from April 2nd to April 4th 2011 due to late arrival of result sheets. Since that announcement, several representations have been made to the Commission urging it to consult more widely and to ensure that the two-day postponement is enough to address all the logistical issues that may militate against a successful conduct of the rescheduled elections.
Following these representations and subsequent consultations with stakeholders, the Commission has found that the overwhelming sentiment is to further reschedule the elections. …Consequently, the Commission weighed all the options and considered the wide ranging counsel of Nigerians and decided to reschedule all the elections as follows:
As expected Nigerian bloggers have not been silent on the shifting and re-shifting of election dates.
Nigeria political angrily announced:
The 2011 general elections took off on a dismal note yesterday as the Independent National Electoral Commission aborted the first election in the series.  While some of the expected 73 million registered voters were at the polling stations waiting to elect 469 lawmakers to the National Assembly, comprising 109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives, INEC National Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, announced the postponement of the election, citing organisational problems.
Failed Rift claims to have been ‘Jegged’ [Jega is the surname of head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega]:
New Word in English Dictionary: Jega: /v/ je-ga. The act of stupidly wasting the time of a lot of people whilst keeping them under hot sun. E.g. the groom Jegged his bride for another girl! Why are these embassy officials making up Jega without telling us anything? After Jegging for 3 hours I finally got on a bus.
In this Facebook note, Paul Adepoju was bitter:
But from 1pm on Saturday, Prof Maurice Iwu could walk on the streets of his hometown in Imo State a proud man. He has every reason to pomp champagne and have a good laugh after watching and listening to his highly revered successor – Prof Attahiru Jega – announce on international, national and local TVs, radios, websites and blogospheres the rebranded INEC’s “highly regretted” inability to go ahead with what is supposed to be the easiest-of-all-elections in Nigeria considering the fact that most Nigerians are not interested in the National Assembly elections.
Reuben Abati, revered columnist, said that the postponement due to incompetence:
The postponement of the 2011 National Assembly election is an open verdict on INEC’s complete unpreparedness for the assignment. It is so shameful. Many Nigerians would remember this as the first time since 1999 that a major general election would be postponed nationwide due to INEC’s failure.
Adeola Aderounmu called for Jega’s resignation:
Jega has fooled a whole country made up of over 150m people, an aggregation of the largest population of black people in the world. He should resign!
Kunle Durojaiye in his defense of the electoral head, notes that:
Cancelling an ongoing election, due to obvious irregularities and logistics failures is definitely a departure from prior national experiences – the 2007 elections were not cancelled even though they were declared the most disputed and fraudulent in Nigeria’s history. The 2003 elections also had their own fair share of challenges, yet took place without cancellation. Today, perhaps what we see is a glimmer of light in a dark tunnel – Jega has cancelled the elections to uphold the credibility of the eventual results.
Kunle was not a lone voice, Akin pleads that Jega should be given another chance:
I believe Professor Jega was doing the best with the cards he was dealt and I would not be surprised if false assurances he got from his reports about capability and readiness were done to thwart the process, embarrass him and probably bring him to heel so that he gets with the system or he is compelled in exasperation to resign. In my view, Professor Jega should not resign but with the resolution that he has given to tackle this issue of elections do everything he needs to do deliver credible elections with the support of every well-meaning Nigerian.
Feathers Project concludes that a postponement is better than a flawed election:
Nonetheless, methinks it’s too early to condemn Jega or INEC. For one, the INEC boss admitted his mistake; this is something rare in our climes. Besides what do we prefer a flawed election or a postponed but credible poll? It is time we realize that the change we so long desire will not come about without sacrifice. If it will take a shift … to achieve a credible and free election, so be it.
This post is part of our special coverage Nigeria Elections 2011.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Peru: Poll Results One Week Before the Presidential Election · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Peru will hold presidential elections next Sunday, April 10, and Bloggings by boz posts the latest poll results: “The only accurate prediction you can make today is that there will be a second round. Everything else is just educated guessing.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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Russia: Starting the Moscow Metro · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Metro Dream by Russos writes about [RUS] the initial construction work on the Moscow Metro and posts pictures from the period.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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South Korea: Women’s Ministry Gaming Clampdown Backfires · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

The South Korean government's Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Affairs has come under fire for proposing a law clamping down on the online gaming industry.
The Ministry, which usually goes by the name the ‘Women's Ministry’ among the Korean public, has been criticized for over several years now, for both its tepid reaction on serious women's issues such as sex trafficking and sex crimes, and its over-enthusiasm in nitpicking over relatively trivial matters.
Gaming shutdown
Screen shot of Tera, an online game. Image posted by ID: deux9282 in the Tera World site, South Korea's official Tera fan blog on website Naver.com.
The ‘shutdown system’ that the Ministry proposed on March 18, 2011, prohibits kids younger than 16 from playing computer games between the hours of 12 pm to 6 am. It also forces one percent of game companies’ revenue to be injected to a Ministry fund, which will later be used in preventing gaming addiction.
Public backlash to the law was immediate and fierce. Numerous people, pointing out the Ministry's silence over the case of suicide actress Jang Ja-yeon, expressed deep disappointment and even questioned the reason of its existence.
Enraged net users have filed an online petition, blaming the Ministry's decision as neither justifiable nor effective. The first round of the petition filed via South Korea's most visited public form, Daum Agora, gathered 1,000 signatures in just three days, and it has now started its second round of petition [ko]:
1. 여성부는 명백한 월권 행위를 저지르고 있습니다.
2. 사람들이 장자연 사건때 그렇게 도와달라 외쳤지만 아무것도 하지 않았습니다.
3. 게임문화재단에서 중독예방센터를 짖겠다고 말했는데 그걸 무시하고 자신들의 논리로 강제 진행하고 있습니다.
4. […] 명목은 중독 방지를위해 센터기금이지만 자신들의 재원으로 바꾸워 사용할 수 있게 할려는 목적이 숨어있습니다. 게임업계 매출액의 100분의 1이면 여성 가족부 1년 예산과 맞먹을 정도의 양입니다.
1. The Women's Ministry is clearly abusing its power.
2. People have made desperate calls for help to the Ministry over the Jang Ja-yeon [suicide actress] case, but they have done nothing about it.
3. [Regarding the addiction issue] The Game Culture Foundation had planned to build the addiction prevention facility by themselves [to tackle the issue], but the Ministry totally disregarded this measure and instead enforced its [own] measures, with its own logic.
4.[…] They claim that they will use the fund to prevent [gaming] addiction, but their ulterior motive is to switch the fund to the Ministry budget. The one percent of the game revenue amounts to the annual budget expenses of the Women's Ministry.
The petition added that the ministry's official English name, ‘Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Affairs‘, is a misnomer. The Korean name of the ministry is ‘여성가족부’ and its direct translation would be the ‘Women and Family Ministry’, without any hidden message or context on the gender equality.
The petition went on to ridicule the proposed law by suggesting a penalty tax for liquor and cigarette brands, if addiction to these were such a grave issue as to require heavy donations to the government. A game designer going by the nickname @aeoraji tweeted [ko] on March 28:
@aeoraji: 요새 보면 셧다운이고 1%징수고 뭐고 그냥 여성부를 셧다운 하고 싶은데
Kim Young-jin, (@naha77) who works in the product design field, acknowledged the seriousness of the issue, but criticized the Ministry's problem-solving method [ko]:
@naha77: […]게임중독의 심각성이 틀린 말은 아닙니다. 게임사는 게임을 하는 사람이 중독이 되도록 유도하고 있습니다. 맞는 건 맞다고 합시다. 틀린건 중독 기금을 내라는 여성부입니다. […] 게임 속에는 게임중독을 유도하는 장치가 엄청나게 많습니다. 매일매일 출석체크를 하면 선물을 주는 이벤트도 있는가 하면, 매우 장시간을 투자해야 얻을 수 있는 아이템을 내놓기도 합니다. 이 아이템이 없으면 게임을 하기 불가능해질 정도로 패치를 하기도 하죠. […]법적으로 이런 문제점들을 해결해야지 기금을 내라는 게 잘못된 겁니다.
Blogger Haje  wrote [ko] that young people will circumvent the Ministry's censorship by using their parents’ identities. The age verification process in Korea is mostly done by checking one's social security number, which contains a person's date of birth.
저는 개인적으로 전혀 쓸모없는 법이라고 생각됩니다. 오히려 실행된다면 저희나라의 게임산업발전에 지대한 악영향을 주겠지요. 우선 실행된다치면 부모님 주민등록번호로 아이디를 만들면 땡입니다. 그리고 게임못한다고 컴퓨터 끌꺼같습니까? 인터넷만 되면 할수있는게 무궁무진한데 지금 정부는 착각하고있습니다. 왜 게임을 사회악으로 몰아가는걸까요. 문제는 청소년들이 접하는 인터넷환경 자체라는 사실조차 모르는걸까요?
Ministry woes
It seems the harder the Ministry tries, the unpopular it gets. After it censored several songs’ lyrics for being obscene and offensive to women, ludicrous theories have sprang up regarding its operations.
One rumor claimed that the Ministry has tried to ban a particular snack brand because of the snack's resemblance to female sexual organs, whilst others claim that it has tried to block the game Tetris, as it reminds people of ‘penetration’ of a sexual nature.
The practical measures the Ministry had introduced have backfired as well. Steps such as paid ‘menstruation leave’ and other health benefits have started to impact female candidates in the corporate world, and even women themselves have slowly turned against the steps.
Hong Ji-Hye (@hotjihye), a female college student in her senior year tweeted [ko]:
@hotjihye: 여성부나, 각 대학들의 총 여학생회는 남녀 차별을 해소하는 것이 아니라 인정하고 고착화 하는 것 같다. 남학생회는 없는데 여학생회는있고 남성부는 없는데 여성부는 있다는 것은 여자가 차별당하고 있으니 우리끼리 뭉치자 로 밖에안들리는데..
South Korean women are largely well-educated and actively engaged in the economy. Local statistics shows that the overall labor participation of women has increased by 49.2 percent in 2010. Yet a United Nations report in 2009 ranked  South Korean gender eqaulity among the lowest in the developed world, 61st out of 109 countries on the gender empowerment measure (GEM).
Reflecting a majority of public opinion, net user xiky writes [ko] that even though people are fully aware that South Korean women are still underprivileged and suffer from inequality, it is also evident that there has been significant improvement in women’s status in the country.
The blogger stressed that the achievement was made possible by individual woman's efforts and people's shift in conception, rather than the Ministry's policies or intervention.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines:  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeni blogs about a “heinous crime [which] came on the eve of Child Awareness month…”, using the opportunity to make a statement about a society in crisis.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Laughlin’s “Small Husband” · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

almostisland posts links to the poetry of Nicholas Laughlin; Pleasure reviews his work, saying: “Laughlin's poetry is also a deeply Caribbean meditation, in its concern with the geography of self-actualisation and in its subtle echos of processes known so well by those who are scattered throughout the Caribbean diaspora.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: PSC Chair Removed  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad and Tobago News Blog posts a release from the Office of the President, confirming that he has revoked the appointment of the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, following the latter's controversial statement about an ethnic imbalance in the service; meanwhile, B.C. Pires republishes a friend's Letter to the Editor on the subject.


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Ukraine: Entrepreneurs, Tax Code and Civic Initiative · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

GV Author Tetyana Bohdanova of Good Girl Gone Ukrainian sums up the situation with small and medium business in Ukraine in the aftermath of the Tax Code protests of 2010.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ukraine: How to reform the country · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Leigh Turner, British ambassador to Ukraine, recounts expert advise on economic reform in the country.


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Argentina: 29 Years Later, Argentinians Remember Heroes of Falklands War · Global Voices
Laura Schneider

April 2 is commemorated, once again, as the landing of Argentine troops in the Falkland Islands 29 years ago, which marked the start of a war that lasted 74 days between Argentina and the United Kingdom.
During the act led by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez [es] in the city of Rio Gallegos, a blog entitled La verdadera intención [es] (The Real Intention) transcribed the President's speech, in which it is worth highlighting the following paragraph:
Siempre, las Malvinas son argentinas y no cejaremos en nuestro reclamo y convocar a todos los argentinos a la buena memoria, a la memoria de los que dieron sus vidas, a la memoria de los que luego no pudieron superar los traumas de la posguerra y perdieron también la vida. Esta vez, tal vez, de manera más terrible y más trágica: de mano propia, no de manos del enemigo en combate.
Image by Doug Letterman (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
After 29 years, the wounds are still open, especially for the surviving soldiers and the family members of the fallen throughout the war, to whom homage is paid during these days, as Carlos comments in his blog Mirada Mágica [es]:
Lo que estos veteranos de guerra necesitan son respuestas tangibles a sus problemas y necesidades. Aunque cueste creerlo esos mismos que arriesgaron sus vidas en una lucha inútil y desigual no paran de mendigar una respuesta a sus justos reclamos y derechos.
It's not enough to announce a national holiday and celebrate it, filling your mouth with a few speeches and all of these useless, nonsensical things that don't serve any purpose other than to show off.
What these war veterans need is tangible answers to their problems and necessities. Although it may cost us to believe this, these very people who risked their lives in a pointless and unequal fight do not stop begging for an answer to their just claims and rights.
In the blog Arte y Brujeria [es], Laura, in addition to writing an account of the history of the Falkland Islands, analyzes the political and economic aspects of the war:
¿Por qué reclamar en aquél momento soberanía sobre unas islas que pertenecieron a nuestro territorio por 13 años solamente? Porque el modelo neoliberal implementado desde el golpe de Estado de 1976 (modelo que continuó hasta el 2001) había desgastado económica y políticamente al gobierno de la junta. Fue un “manotazo de ahogado” para salvarse y continuar en la presidencia.
In her blog, Gianna [es] also remembers the flaws of the war and the Argentine heroes with the following words:
La Guerra de Malvinas es una historia plagada de desventuras personales, errores políticos, ignorancia diplomática e improvisación militar.
Sin embargo, la sumatoria de errores y horrores no logran empañar la entrega, abnegación y valor de quienes entregaron con sacrificio sus vidas defendiendo la soberanía territorial argentina. Un reconocimiento al honor, que perdura por sobre las circunstancias y la temporalidad del hecho histórico.
The Falklands War is a history plagued with personal misfortune, political errors, diplomatic ignorance and military improvisation.
Nonetheless, the sum of the flaws and horrors will never tarnish the delivery, selflessness and merit of those who sacrificed their lives defending Argentina's territorial sovereignty. A recognition of the honor that endures all of the circumstances and temporality of this historic event.
Newspaper cut outs from 1982 – photo: Laura Schneider
Regaining these islands or not is something that is always on the minds of the Argentinians. The social network Facebook turns out to be a medium for the demands of some, but not others, as Mariano Sosa, in the group called, “England, give the Falklands back.  They're Argentina's” [es], says:
no sean ilusos! se piensan q nos van a devolver las malvinas por un grupo q se hace en el face.. no sean ilusos, por favor..

author: Laura Schneider


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Azerbaijan: Novruz Bayramı · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Novruz, a holiday celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan and other countries, was once again also observed in Azerbaijan on 21 March although festivities started weeks before as previous posts on Global Voices here and here detailed. This year was no different and Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in the former Soviet republic once again commented on the event. ALOINK IN AZERBAIJAN, a PCV based in the regional city of Lankaran,  introduces its readers to Novruz.
Happy Novruz, everybody! March 20th and 21st are the two days that Novruz is officially celebrated to bring in the new year. There are a lot of traditions that go along with this holiday, and lots of fun as well. A lot of families grow a kind of grass that kind of look like sprouts, each year and plant them in their yard for new beginnings. […] The grass is grown kind of in a similar way as a Chia Pet, with the seeds placed on some soil in a dish, covered with a thin piece of cloth, and watered until they have grown. The main difference, of course, is that this isn’t grown in the shape of an animal or anything like that. Just the shape of the dish, usually kind of roundish.
Another tradition that you can probably guess at is the food. As I may have mentioned, Lankaran has a famous dish called lavangi which is like stuffing for chicken or fish. It’s very delicious and one of my favorite meals, if not the favorite. So they cook a bunch of rice with sweet raisins on it and serve fish and chicken lavangi, and some other stuff that I’m not sure the name of. It’s all good, although I tend to stay away from the fish if given a choice. Just a personal preference. They also cook a bunch of sweets and cakes for dessert that are always good and I do believe I ate myself stupid with all the chicken, rice and desserts that I ate.
[…]
This is one of the biggest holidays and everyone gets all geared up for it, which makes it a lot of fun. Also, we don’t have work for four days, and who doesn’t enjoy that? […]
Ethnic Azeri child in traditional costume for Novruz © Onnik Krikorian
The Labors of Other Men also notes some similarities with traditions back home such as Easter and Trick or Treet during Halloween.
This Azeri holiday is a reminder of the culture's Zoroastrian roots – a celebration of new life through the worship of water, fire, earth, and wind. The unofficial celebrations begin the first Tuesday of March with plov (a national dish – mainly rice) and fire jumping – literally. That continues each Tuesday until the fourth week (20th – 28th), during which everyone is off of work and there are family and community celebrations. Some of the traditions of Novruz are: the growing of samani (wheat grass) to symbolize the coming of new life with the beginning of Spring, “Spring” cleaning to get rid of the old and start clean and new, egg dying – after which you play a little game where two people bash their boiled / dyed eggs together and whoever has the dud (the one that gets crunched) loses their egg, door-to-door candy collection – boys go around to their neighbors houses, take off their caps and put them on the doorstep, knock on the door and run…the caps are filled with candy, and the boys come back to pick them up after the door is closed again – sound familiar-ish? I'm sure there's plenty I'm leaving out, but you get the picture..
East Meets West Meets Girl touches upon the preparations.
With the weather being so nasty, the electricity is also being finicky coming and going without a moment’s notice. The fickle electricity has the women in town in a panic as they try to bake for the upcoming holiday: Novruz – the celebration of the new year/spring. Novruz is this week; and it is a holiday which you cannot ignore nor want to ignore it. Novruz combines all elements of Azerbaijani culture and places them prettily on a khoncha. A khoncha is the centrepiece of the Novruz table. […] Everything in the khoncha has meaning and despite how random, odd, or contradicting an item may seem, they find a way to be together. Family is a central to Azerbaijani culture. They take care of each other, and once adopted into an Azerbaijani family, you will always be family. According to Azerbaijanis, those who are not home/in a home for Novruz/the New Year will be homeless for seven years. The growing grass and dyed eggs point to Azerbaijan’s Zoroastrian past. Jumping over the bonfire seven times comes from Islamic tradition. Sweet making becomes neighbourhood activity with the women spending hours helping each other make hundreds and hundreds of sweets. Nuts, which are ridiculous to crack, symbolize the hardness of life here from time to time, but there is a reward to persistence. And of course, the hardworking women and girls of Azerbaijan do most of these preparations.
It also wasn't just among Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan where Novruz was celebrated. Are you there, Marina? It's me, Jefferson commented on the holiday in the mainly ethnic Azeri town of Marneuli in Georgia where it was also recognized as an official holiday.
So Monday is Novruz Bayram, the Azeri celebration of spring and the New Year. […] A famous Azeri pop singer, Manana, is coming, along with the Georgian and Azeri presidents to my town! They’re doing a sneak-peek at the new sports complex, funded by the Azeri government, along with celebrating this holiday. They have been trimming all the trees, repainting road markings and anything else that needs painting, and cleaning. Slowly, my town is getting a little facelift. I talked with one of my students, and I’m so stoked to possibly get a membership to this new gym, if it will be affordable!
[…]
There is only so much time in a day, and I’m glad to say that I feel like I’m maximizing it. Happy Novruz to you all!
Global Voices Caucasus’ Editor would especially like to thank the last blogger for his hospitality while visiting Marneuli to photograph Novruz. Some of the images are below.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bahrain: Blogger “Emoodz” Detained · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.
On March 30, 2011, Bahraini blogger Mohamed El-Maskati, better known in the blogosphere as “Emoodz” was arrested.  According to Reporters Without Borders, El-Maskati's arrest came after threats from a member of the royal family occurred on Twitter, where El-Maskati is known as @emoodz as well.
On Twitter, Bahraini residents and friends from around the world are calling for El-Maskati's release.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (@BahrainRights) tweets a link to the Arabic version of Reporters Without Borders’ report, commenting:
Muhammed El-Maskati's public Facebook profile photo.
Afaf Al-Dawar (@Pearl14Feb) states:
Mohammed Almaskati @emoodz is a Bahraini blogger who has been arrested for expressing his opinion #FreeEmoodz #Bahrain #feb14
Also on Twitter, Muhammed Abdulla (@mabdulla88) writes:
I surely consider @emoodz as one of the best sources of news in Bahrain, Now he's in prison and we all want him free #FreeEmoodz
@Zanoob11 shares a video recorded by El-Maskati back in 2007:
In the ten-minute video, El-Maskati discusses blogging and Islam, switching back and forth between English and Arabic.
El-Maskati's sister, @Moooly85, tweeted on April 4, her brother's fifth day in prison:
Day 5: it's been 5 days since they arrested my brother ! #FreeEmoodz
Prominent blogger Mahmood Al-Yousif (@Mahmood), who was detained the previous week, has expressed his support as well:
I miss the free spirit of my friend @emoodz and look forward to shaking his hand again soon. I know he will be free. #FreeEmoodz
Reporters Without Borders has noted that Mohd Al-Khalifa, the member of the royal family accused of threatening El-Maskati on Twitter, tweeted threats to El-Maskati's supporters before deleting his account:
Khalifa meanwhile continues on Twitter to threaten anyone calling for Makati’s release: “#FreeEmoodz anyone that’s living in Bahrain and is supporting the terrorist emoodz, will have his IP address taken and will get arrested!”
Tweeted threat from Mohd Al-Khalifa, a member of the Bahraini royal family to El-Maskati's supporters before his account was deleted.
This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.

author: Jillian C. York


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Belarus: Sickening statement on homosexuality · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Ihar Ivanou of Belarus Digest reports from a medical conference in Minsk where homosexuality once more has been characterized as an illness that needs treatment, despite the fact that same-gender relations are not prohibited in Belarus.


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China: Student Consultation or Thought Control? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Peking University, a major research university located in Beijing and a center for progressive thought in modern China, will introduce a consultation program in May 2011, which claims to be aimed at helping its students.
Targeted students will be those demonstrating a range of behaviors: radical thoughts, psychological fragility, eccentricity, Internet addiction, job difficulties, serious illnesses and discipline violations, as well as poverty and academic registration changes. The University has explained that the program is designed to help students, but many believe that it aims to blacklist radicals.
Peking University, Beijing, China. Image by Flickr User SimonQ (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
According to the official explanation, the objective of the consultation program (會商) is:
when students encounter difficulties hard to overcome by themselves and even teachers engaged in the students’ work, the schools and departments should invite teachers from teaching and educational administration, counseling, and logistic service or even specialists off campus to make a comprehensive analysis and scientific assessment of their academic performance and prepare support programs with a clear target.
Shen Bin from DFdaily.com, however, raises question over the categorization of the targeted students [zh]:
校方表示：會商制度是主要針對學業有困難的學生，那麼何以要「摟草打兔子」，把「思想偏激」的學生一併作為管治對象？更有意思的是，「生活獨立」也是一項 罪名。難道北大的教育目標是讓學生生活不能獨立？表面上是針對「生活獨立」，實際的靶子是「思想獨立」吧？這叫提出「兼容并包、思想自由」的蔡元培校長情 何以堪？他只能默然含淚，說一句：學工部強大！
[…] 容不得「偏激者」的北大，還是那個國人共同景仰的思想家園嗎？試問今日之北大，竟是誰人之天下？
The school explains that the consultation program is to help those with learning difficulties. However, why do they take the “radical students” as their object of governance? More interestingly, being “eccentric” has become a sin, as if the objective of Peking University's education is to make sure that students do not develop independent lifestyles. They use the term “eccentricity” but their real intention is to mentally cripple students from developing “independent thought”. I wonder how the founder of Peking University Cai Yuanpei who had devoted his life advocating “diversity and freedom of thought” would feel? If he were alive, he would probably exclaim with tear in his eyes: How great the student work section is! [The student Work Section is the Chinese Community Party's unit in the university for student political education].
[…] A Peking University that cannot include “radicals”, can it still be the garden for nurturing thinkers? Who actually rules the school nowadays?
Apart from academic freedom, many people are worried about the labeling effect of the consultation program. In Chinese history, labeling has been frequently used as an excuse for political persecution. A Peking University's alumni, Sun Yusheng, is very uneasy about the new policy [zh]:
对于我们国家来说，弱势群体在反右时期，是指那些被扣上“右派”帽子的人，在文革时期，是那些被扣上“现行反革命”的人，年纪大一些的人对这些定是不陌生 的，我们国家的朱镕基总理也是右派出身，国家主席也曾被活活虐死，不少中共的高级官僚对曾经的惨状与浩劫至今都是历历在目的。
实际在我看来，会商制度就是为了你设计的——可爱的思想偏激者。…当然这是我的诛心之论，大家忽略就好。与心灵脆弱者一样，你会发现自己抱怨涨价，关心正义公平的言论不知何时便早已上达天庭，被确定为会商对象。众所周知，这 种同学在学校是比较招人恨的，吃饱没事关心公平正义，在这片土地本来就是一种罪过。对你最大极限的同情，不过是“胳膊拧不过大腿，何必呢”。所以，我相 信，对于你的任何帮扶，都不会有人同情你，等待你的，将是无可拒绝的帮扶建议。当然，我希望这仅仅是组织你学习人民日报，定期上交思想报告，或者监视周围 同学而已，不至于取消奖学金，记过或是开除。
Reports from state media have suggested that [zh] many Peking University students support the consultation program. However, in the Sina Weibo forum, the majority of the comments are critical of the University.
Internet criticism
Nanfeng Chuan's microblog “Who is radical, the students or Peking U?” [zh] is one of the most popular discussion threads in Weibo concerning the consultation policy. Below is a selection of comments in the thread:
微博热点新观察 CAO，在天朝呆着，闷得慌。小时候在家，大人不让随便说话；长大了上学，老师不让随便说话；走上了社会，国家不让随便说话。我就想问中国人干嘛要长嘴 啊，难道就只是为了吃吗？偏激往往与天才关联，我看北大不配，北大独立自由思想已死，基本沦为工具。不思己之过，反倒全怪学生，这叫为人师表吗？(今天 17:09)
爱听disco的猫 人都有一种强烈的控制欲，想把自己的价值观加在别人头上，所以，才有所谓“失足”丶“不良”丶“非主流”“荒诞”标签的出现，有所谓“挽救”(今天 14:06)
越夜越美丽吧 这里的用词是“思想”偏激 而不是“言论”或者“行为”偏激 现在连“思想”一下都要干涉了么~~ 呃~学生一思考 北大就会商(今天 13:17)
晨风926 北大就是个壳！她的灵魂正在被诅咒！(今天 13:02)
散魔 不止北大有这个现象.她是社会的缩影，员工愤怒加班，学生愤怒加课,公务员愤怒不让他们蹭公家的光,总之，这个社会“愤怒”了,思想的偏激后面是经济政治的问题，其实北大要解决这个问题，只从制度下手,针对表象,我不太看好噢(说错了请您指正呐)(今天 12:33)

author: Oiwan Lam


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Costa Rica: Video Game Based on Real Time Tweets Seeks Funding  · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Six young video game designers in Costa Rica are looking for crowd-sourced funding for TweetLand, their real-time twitter powered games.
the TweetLand team
The games are called Route 140 and LoveCity and both use real time twitter updates to influence actions that take place during the game. In Route 140 cars race to get to the finish line, but if someone writes an update on twitter about zombies, meteors or car crashes (among others) beware! It will be reflected in the game.  In Love City, an Anti-Care Bear feeds on different “hate” updates to increase power and get new weapons but loving and caring tweets will power its enemies.
Costa Rican blogger Cristian Cambronero of Fusil de Chispas interviewed the creators asking them about their decision to crowd-source funding for the games:
Para reunir el dinero decidieron recurrir al sitio de crowdfunding KickStarter.com. Pero ¿por qué no recurrir a inversionistas? “TweetLand es un proyecto que se alimenta de experiencias de la comunidad web de una forma colaborativa. Es decir, no es sino gracias al apoyo de todos, que la plataforma de juegos funciona. Nos pareció que lo más coherente, era que un proyecto de naturaleza colaborativa como este, fuera fundado de la misma forma, con la colaboración de todos”, dice Néstor Villalobos.
It's not the first time a Costa Rican initiative has used Kickstarter.com to raise funds. A recent successful use was for the movie The Return by Hernán Jiménez, which managed to raise far more than their original goal of 40, 000 US dollars (USD) needed to edit and make the movie ready for theaters and distribution.
On their Kickstarter.com site for TweetLand  they explain their vision and what use they'll give the 7,000 USD they are trying to raise. The 6 young designers have previously won awards and recognition for previous projects in their daytime jobs, and are now turning to the web to make their independent project TweetLand a reality. They tell more about the game in their promotional video:

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Côte d’Ivoire: Diaspora in France demonstrate against French military intervention · Global Voices
Julie Owono

On YouTube, Talentscom posted a video on April 4, 2011 showing people demonstrating at 11pm in Paris against the intervention of the French armed forces in Côte d'Ivoire (Operation Unicorn) in a military assault launched against Laurent Gbagbo and his forces. The motto is “Sarkozy, Killer”.

author: Julie Owono


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Côte d’Ivoire: Is Foreign Intervention Legal? · Global Voices
Julie Owono

This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011
The struggle for power in Côte d'Ivoire may soon reach its conclusion in Abidjan, where The Republican Forces (FRCI) loyal to Alassane Ouattara have started an offensive against the positions controlled by forces of Laurent Gbagbo on Monday April 4. Both men claim rights to the presidency, after a disputed election in November 2010, but Ouattara is internationally recognized to have won.
As the assault began to force the ouster of Gbagbo, the involvement of foreign forces, officially as a measure of protection for civilians, was brought up and debated at length on the web.
Screenshot from citizen video (below) showing bombardment in Abidjan from a distance (April 4, 2011)
Earlier in the afternoon, Choi Young-jin, special representative of the UN Secretary General in Ivory Coast, told the BBC that United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) would intervene in Abidjan. He said:
We are planning action, we can no longer condone their [Mr Gbagbo's forces] reckless and mindless attack on civilians and the United Nations blue helmets with heavy artillery.
The Twitter account of the French Presidential Office confirmed:
@Elysée: Conformément à son mandat, l'#ONUCI vient d'engager des actions visant à neutraliser les armes lourdes contre les populations civiles.
@Elysée: Le Secrétaire général des Nations Unies a demandé le soutien des forces françaises à ces opérations.
@Elysée: Le Président #Sarkozy a répondu positivement à la demande & autorisé les forces françaises à participer aux opérations conduites par l'ONUCI.
Witnessing the intervention
According to @Lord225 on Twitter, the operation began at 5.22 pm GMT:
@Lord225: L'assaut est effectif, 17h22 bombardement de plusieurs positions du camp gbagbo, épaisse fumée dans l'air #civ2010
Soon after the announcement of the beginning of the operation, Ivorian netizens said they sighted military equipment of the type used by French Special Forces. Israël Yoroba, an Ivorian journalist, currently a correspondent for TV5 Monde in Abidjan, posted on his Twitter account:
Je confirme que les camps d'Akouédo sont en train d'être pillonés par deux hélico. 1 Puma et 1 Mi 24. Faites le savoir au monde entier
A puma is one of the standard assault helicopters used by French Special Forces, as this video posted on Dailymotion shows.
Yoroba invited inhabitants of Abidjan to leave their testimonies on his Facebook Page on the current situation:
Pendant que que la force française bombarde à Abidjan, des populations racontent en direct comment elles vivent ces tirs http://lnp.sn/Zwj
Here are some reactions:
Sedrick Ngotta who is in Abidjan says:
Je confirme c est pas les rebel mais les blancs qui nous pillone oh mon dieu!
Peter Zéphirin Wahi in Abidjan confirms:
Bombardements des helicos des forces licornes du camp d'akouédo, et l'onuci vient de tirer sur la residence du Chef de l'Etat à cocody et la Présidence au plateau à partir d'helico.
On YouTube AfricaWeWish posted a video showing what they describe as “the bombardment of the Akouédo camp by UNOCI and French forces”:
MLDoss1 also shared a video shot near the Akouédo camp:
Reactions to foreign involvement
From all over Africa, netizens commented on this international intervention :
On the Facebook Page of “La majorité Présidentielle” (Gbagbo's political party), which is “liked” by 7,231 individuals, people describe how ready they are to fight for their country.
Vakaba Diaby:
j'ai pu me rendre près d'un camp et j'ai suivi et subi les bombardements, mais ma foi en la victoire de la Côte d'Ivoire ne fait que grandir
Anicet Bidza who lives in France adds:
Nous devons nous mobiliser ici en France pour interpeller l'opinion publique Française!!! Ce qui se passe est extrêmement grave et le silence assourdissant des autres pays Africains est un crime contre la cote d'ivoire!!!
On the Twitter hashtag #civ2010, dedicated to news on Côte d'Ivoire, some share their doubts on the benefit of this international involvement:
Kaya-Mangan Cissé says:
@freerci: Je suis pour le depart de Gbagbo mais contre l'intervention de la france et de l'ONU.
Is it legal?
Bruno Ben Moubamba, a Gabonese politician, former candidate to the 2009 presidential election in Gabon, wrote on his blog [fr] on April 4, 2011 that Nicolas Sarkozy was committing an act of war in violation of international law. French Armed Forces have been stationed in Côte d'Ivoire as part of a peacekeeping operation called, Operation Unicorn (Opération Licorne) since the beginning of the Ivorian Civil War from 2002-2007. Moubamba writes that two United Nations resolutions recalled the use of heavy artillery on the civilian population by these forces, specifically United Nations Resolution 1726 of November 1, 2006 and Resolution 1975 (PDF) of March 30, 2011.
He concludes that the French government exceeded the mandate of Operation Unicorn by intervening with bombardments in Abidjan:
Il s’agit ni plus, ni moins, de la part de la Présidence de Nicolas Sarkozy, d’UN ACTE GRAVE d’Agression. Cet acte engage à son insu le peuple français
This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011


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Cuba: Carter’s Visit  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Different perspectives on former U.S. President Carter's Cuba visit, here and here.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco