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Bahrain’s Opposition, From Dialogue Tables to Prison Cells · Global Voices
Batool Al Musawi

Bilad Al Qadeem, Bahrain. 30th December 2014 — Marchers in Bilad Al Qadeem demanded the release of Sheikh Ali Salman, the Secretary-General of the Al-Wefaq political society in Bahrain, and main opposition to the current government. Photograph by bahrain14feb bilad. Copyright: Demotix
The Bahraini government is closing in on Al Wefaq Islamic Society, the country's largest political group, whose key members are now in prison. The latest to be arrested is Shaikh Hasan Isa, who was picked up from the Bahrain International Airport, when he returned from a visit to Iran on August 18, and is being accused of funding “terrorism.”
It took the Bahraini Ministry of Interior five days to finally declare his arrest. No information was made public, despite a public outcry, and daily protests calling for his release. On the sixth day, the Ministry of Interior announced that Isa, a former member of parliament, was held for “funding terrorism” — heavy charges that could lock the opposition figure up for years.
Arrest of Former MP and Member of Al Wefaq for Financing Terrorism http://t.co/VMWGnR08e7
— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) August 23, 2015
In a statement released by the Ministry of Interior, it said:
He was arrested on the charge of financing terrorism by funding fugitive terrorists and others linked to terrorist acts.
[..]
The Director-General said the suspect received donations from various sources, including funds from the participants in rallies, and distributed the same among wanted fugitives. He also gave funds to a terrorist group and one of its members even though he was aware of their terrorist activities and helped cover up their crimes. He also provided shelter to members of the group despite knowing about its terrorist goals.
Following the announcement, many protested the accusations brought against the former legislator who won the 2010 elections with a 92 per cent of the total votes in his district in Sitra. His party, Al Wefaq, posted pictures of night protests in his home town.
#Bahrain-is march Sitra streets protesting the arrest of Sheikh Hasan Isa who represented them in 2010 parliament pic.twitter.com/vR7eWMuhYo
— AlwefaqEN (@AlWefaqEN) August 24, 2015
An anonymous Bahraini woman with the nickname Siddiqa highlighted the government's headhunting of active dissidents who demand a democratic rule in the Gulf kingdom:
كان دائما في مقدمة المطالبين بالحقوق فاتمهته السلطة بالإرهاب #bahrain #الشيخ_حسن_عيسى pic.twitter.com/GubStvDe8K
— Siddiqa (@Siddiqa15) August 25, 2015
He was always in the front lines among those demanding rights, so the government accused him of terrorism.
In a prompt response, dozens of people slammed the Interior Ministry with photographs of pro-government figures who openly raised funds and went to fight with militant groups in Syria.
Bahraini activist Hassan Al Sharqi posted the picture, saying:
هم يجمعون المال والسلاح ويصدرونه للارهاب “علناً” فيعتقل #الشيخ_حسن_عيسى بتهمة تمويل الارهاب! سمّعني، الشيعة أي درجة؟! pic.twitter.com/KJmlBLvxE4
— حسن الشارقي (@Hassan_Alsharqi) August 24, 2015
They gather funds and arms and export them to terror (groups) “openly” and Sheikh Hasan Isa gets arrested and accused of funding terrorism! Tell me, what class are the Shi'a?”.
Alsharqi is referring to the Interior Minister's statement that Bahrain's Shi'a are not second-class citizens, which he said during a press conference in response to widespread criticism of state discrimination against the Shia, who make the majority of citizens in Bahrain.
Some of the people in the photograph on the left were members of the Bahraini parliament at the time they went to fight in Syria. They are back in Bahrain now, but the government has not taken any measures against them since they now occupy official positions, enjoying immunity. This is despite the government being part of the US coalition against ISIS.
حبس”المفترى عليه” #الشيخ_حسن_عيسى لن يجلب لكم استقرار او مكسب وترك من ثبت عليه بالدليل القطعي، يجلب للشعب الإرهاب! pic.twitter.com/GBD4EmnyWV
— #FreeSheikhAli (@BahrainUtd) August 24, 2015
Detaining the wrongly accused Sheikh Hasan Isa will not bring you stability or gain. And leaving those whose (crimes) were proven by definitive evidence free, will bring terrorism to the people
For any regular observer of the Bahraini situation, it would not be difficult to link this dangerous escalation against the Wefaq opposition party to the Bahraini regime's previous attempts to suspend the association and criminalize its leaders.
Last June, a Bahraini court sentenced the Secretary-General of Al Wefaq Sheikh Ali Salman to four years in prison. The sentence is to be reviewed by the Court of Appeals on September 15. Salman was charged with publicly inciting hatred, disturbing public peace, inciting civil disobedience of the law, insulting public institutions and promoting a change in the regime through military force, in addition to other charges. The court sentenced him on the first three charges and found him not guilty of the latter which carries the lengthiest jail term. The ruling received wide international criticism. Salman's political assistant, Khalil Almarzooq, was locked up for over one month in late 2013 until the court finally responded to international pressure and dropped his charges. Almarzooq was also accused of inciting violence and terrorism. But the trial to suspend Al Wefaq is still ongoing.
With two of its leading figures, Sheikh Hasan Isa and Majeed Milad, both former representatives, behind bars, alongside their Secretary General, Global Voices Online asked Khalil Almarzooq about what these trials could possibly bring to Bahrain.
“Distorting the image of Al Wefaq could isolate it internally and internationally, this would put the government in a stronger position to run away from real reform,” he said. Yet, he seemed confident that this would not be the case.
“The Bahraini authorities are misleading themselves by accusing Al Wefaq leaders on malicious charges that nobody can believe,” he added.
“That is because there is confidence that Al Wefaq has adopted a national, nonviolent methodology and reform agenda since its formation. This is despite the challenging circumstances over the past four years.”
Many believe that the government wants to shut out Al Wefaq from any political settlement in the future, in order to make the least concessions.
لماذا الآن استهداف قيادات الوفاق في حين أن المنطقة تتجة نحو حلحلة الملفات العالقة و التي تتطلب حواراً معمقاً؟ #الشيخ_حسن_عيسي #البحرين
— Sameyakhalil (@azameel) August 27, 2015
Why target Al Wefaq leaders now as the region moves to settle the problems that need thorough dialogue?
Other law makers of the Wefaq bloc were stripped off their citizenship and/or arrested and tortured since 2011. It all started when the bloc walked out of parliament protesting the harsh crackdown on widespread demonstrations for political and economic rights, at the start of anti-government protests in Bahrain, at the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring.
And it is not only Al Wefaq on the chopping block as the government continues its crackdown on all forms of dissent. Prominent members of other opposition groups also remain in detention whilst being prosecuted over similar charges. Secular opposition figure Ibrahim Sharif is facing charges of attempting to topple the government, promoting political change through force and inciting hatred in a speech he gave last month honoring a 16-year-old boy who was shot dead by police. The list extends to include jailed human rights defenders, journalists, photographers, medics, sport figures and thousands of regular citizens all locked up in overcrowded prison cells.
The Bahraini regime has a tarnished record of “criminalizing dissent“.
Is it surprising that a leading figure in Al Wefaq is slammed with terror-linked charges upon return from Iran? Like Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria, Iran is home to holy Islamic shrines visited by tens of thousands of Bahraini Shia every year. It's also home to famous Islamic universities. Instead of easing its strangle on freedoms, however, the Bahraini government recently announced it is to “regulate” travel to conflict-zones, in particular, with broader travel regulations to individuals under 18.
#Bahrain will regulate travel of it citizens to conflict zones & those under 18-years old – Interior Minister pic.twitter.com/MdvyhoSFdA
— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) August 24, 2015
This could not only mean further tightening on religious freedom and freedom of movement, but it could be seen as an intention to isolate the Bahraini Shia from their ideological counterparts in the region and criminalize any attempt made to break this new barrier.
Human right defenders are blaming the US for being too placate with its longstanding “strategic ally”, Bahrain, which is home to the US's fifth fleet. In June, the US moved to lift its ban on military aid to Bahrain citing “meaningful reforms” even as the political stalemate deepens. With the leaders of the “tolerated” opposition which was once on the dialogue tables now being shoved into jail one after the other, there doesn't seem to be a glimpse of a political settlement in the horizon.

author: Batool Al Musawi


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Brazilian Police Are Preventing Poor Black Teens From Visiting Rio’s Upscale Beaches · Global Voices
Taisa Sganzerla

Rio de Janeiro's Leme Beach, in the wealthy South Zone area. Photo by Flickr user armandolobos. CC-BY-NC-SA
Nothing beats a dip in the cool waters of Rio de Janeiro's world-famous beaches on a hot Sunday morning. A favorite leisure spot, they appear on Brazil’s most widely recognized postcard — and also offer a less-than-sunny portrait of the country’s strained class and race relations.
While a privileged few live close enough to walk or bike to the sand strips of Copacabana and Ipanema, located in upscale South Zone neighborhoods, most of Rio's residents will spend more than an hour on public transportation to enjoy them. Last weekend, 150 teenagers who were making the trip from Rio's outskirts to the beach ended up spending the day in a police station instead. The reason? They might commit a crime.
According to the story uncovered by local newspaper Extra, police were regularly stopping buses heading from the North Zone to Copacabana beach and hauling teenagers to the police station, where they would fill out a form and wait for a parent or guardian to fetch them. Reporters discovered a group of 15 teens, all but one of them black, detained — none were found with weapons or drugs.
“They think we're thieves because we're black,” a 15-year-old told a reporter. X., 17, explained what happened:
Os PMs entraram no ônibus e selecionaram quem eles queriam que saísse. Fomos nós cinco e mais dois. Achamos que seríamos revistados e depois nos liberariam, mas isso não aconteceu. Um policial disse que essa era a lei aqui de baixo, porque estava tendo muito roubo
The policemen entered the bus and demanded that some get out. It was the five of us and another two. We thought we would be frisked and let go, but that didn't happen. An officer said that that's the law ‘down here’ now because of too many thefts at the beach.
Police said their objective was to “protect minors who are in a vulnerable situation”, but rights groups believe the real reason was to prevent poor youth from frequenting the fashionable South Zone beaches, where they would allegedly commit mob theft — locally known as arrastões.
A public servant from the social welfare department present at the police station, who asked the Extra reporters to remain anonymous, revealed she didn't agree with the policy, as well as the number (160) of detained teenagers over the weekend:
No início, o critério era estar sem documento e dinheiro para a passagem. Agora, está sem critério nenhum. É pobre? Vem para cá. Só pegam quem está indo para as praias da Zona Sul. Tem menores que, mesmo com os documentos, são recolhidos. Isso é segregação.
In the beginning, the criteria was to be without ID or money for the bus fare. Now, there is no criteria. Are they poor? Come over here. They only detain those who are going to the South Zone beaches. Some minors, even with ID, are collected. This is segregation.
Public attorney Eufrázia Souza das Virgens told the press that children above 13 years of age are free to circulate in public spaces without the presence of a parent or guardian. “A risk situation is when a child is on the streets or being exploited. If this is the case an intervention could happen, but conducted by social workers, not the police,” she said.
She and her colleague Rodrigo Azambuja are demanding a formal investigation be conducted by the child and adolescent protection police bureau. “Not even a formal complaint was registered at the station. What happened was the boys were grounded for the day,” she said.
While some were shocked by this policy, Rio de Janeiro state governor defended the police's actions this week and said the operation has been going on since the beginning of summer in late 2014, when the police started to “track” minors who had committed thefts at the beach in the past:
Quantos arrastões nós tivemos, praticados por alguns desses menores? Não estou falando que são todos os que estavam ali, mas tem muitos deles, mapeados, que já foram apreendidos mais de cinco, oito, dez ou 15 vezes, como na Central do Brasil.
How many mob thefts were committed by some of those youths? I'm not saying all of them [who were “collected” over the weekend] are involved, but many have been tracked by us, they have been detained five, eight, 10 or 15 times before.
Rodrigo Azambuja, however, says that the police's actions are still completely illegal if you look at Article 230 of the Statute of the Child and Adolescent, which forbids the detainment of children and teens without a court order or who are not caught in the act of committing an offense.
State legislator Marcelo Freixo, from the Socialist Party, posted on Facebook:
A Polícia Militar do Rio de Janeiro, a mando do Estado, montou uma operação para evitar os arrastões na praia. Para isso, proibiu que mais cem jovens pudessem ir à praia. Com qual devida suspeita estas pessoas foram recolhidas? Baseados em que informações e denúncias? Apenas porque eram jovens, moradores do subúrbio e negros.
É evidente que ninguém quer e concorda com arrastão, mas não podemos condenar toda uma população pobre, negra e que vem do subúrbio para as praias porque eles podem vir a cometer um crime.
The military police, under state orders, carried out an operation to avoid mass robberies at the beach. In doing so, it prevented more than 100 young people from going to the beach. Based on what suspicion were these people “collected”? Based on what information or whose complaint? It was just because they were young, suburban residents and black.
It's obvious that no one wants or agrees with mass robberies, but we can't condemn an entire poor black population that come from the suburbs to the beaches because they might commit a crime.
The so-called arrastões, which translates as “dragnet”, dates back to the 1990s and are an old grievance of Rio's beachgoers. In groups of 15 or more, children and adolescents  — some as young as 10 — sweep the beach snatching bags, phones, jewelry and whatever else they can carry. Sometimes, some of them fake a brawl while others take advantage of the turmoil to rob. From time to time, police respond with major crackdowns on suspects right at the beach, in a dismal scene with chairs and umbrellas flying over people's heads.
Angry reactions from the victims often seem to highlight the racism and segregation in unequal Rio de Janeiro, with white, rich residents of South Zone feeling their territory is being “invaded” by the poor masses. For a while, some of them even advocated that bus lines connecting the North Zone with the beaches be discontinued.
In January, a journalist suggested a “fee” should be imposed for those wishing to sunbathe in Ipanema or Copacabana, as this would be “the only way” robberies could be prevented. “This would sound strange to Cariocas, who are used to go to the beach for free, but overseas this is quite common,” she said in a Facebook post that was later deleted.
In 2001, an artificial saltwater pool known as Piscinão de Ramos (“Ramos’ Big Pool“) was built amidst favelas in Rio's North Zone, generating much controversy. It was seen as a “bread and circus” policy, with its main objective being to keep the poor from heading to the South beaches.
A classic Brazilian TV documentary from 1989, titled “The Poor Head to the Beach” (today often seen as racist in itself), shows white South Zone residents publicly saying that “those people” are not “really Brazilian”, but rather a “sub-race”.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Taisa Sganzerla


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GV Face: Everything You Need to Know About Lebanon’s Massive “You Stink” Protests · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

On August 22 and 23, Beirut witnessed its largest protest in recent history, with 20,000 people gathering to tell the government: “You stink.”
In this episode of GV Face,  Global Voices contributor Faten Bushehri talks to Global Voices contributor from Beirut Joey Ayoub, who has been working closely with the organizing committee of You Stink or طلعت ريحتكم.
Lebanon's trash crisis started on July 17, when residents shut down the country's largest landfill in Naameh city. That landfill catered to areas of Beirut and Mount Lebanon — almost half of the country's population.
The government's inability to resolve the trash crisis resulted in mountains of garbage piling up on the streets, forcing people to walk around wearing masks.
The You Stink movement kicked off calling for sustainable solutions to the waste problem, and got people on the streets, but the situation quickly escalated beyond trash towards addressing larger problems related to corruption within the current government.
Lebanon, which already suffers from poor infrastructure and daily electricity outages, has had no president for more than a year. In 2009, its parliament extended its term until 2017, with no elections, citing instability as a reason.
Here's an excerpt from a piece Joey wrote two weeks before the protests kicked off titled, “Can Talking About Trash Drive Political Change in Lebanon?”:
I’ve been fortunate enough to experience a Lebanon that isn’t tainted by such helplessness. I’ve experienced political happiness, a term broadly defined by the anthropologist David Graeber as the experience of being able to make sense of a situation through a realization of common purpose—a sense that you trust the people around you because you’re all dedicated to solving the same problem.More recently, I experienced it my interactions with طلعت ريحتكم (‘tol3et re7etkom’, meaning ‘You Stink’), a grassroots movement created as a response to the government’s inability to solve the trash crisis.

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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Is Telegram’s Compliance with Iran Compromising the Digital Security of Its Users? · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Telegram is reportedly complying with the Iranian government. Image remixed by author.
The mobile messaging application Telegram boasts over 12 million downloads on Cafe Bazaar, Iran's version of the Google Play store. The app's growing popularity in Iran faces its first test, as the Iranian Ministry of ICT asserts that Telegram has agreed to restrict some of its features in Iran at the request of the Iranian government. These features were being used by Iranians to share porn and satirical comments about the Iranian government. Some users are concerned that Telegram's willingness to comply with Iranian government requests might mean future complicity with other Iranian government censorship, or even allow government access to Telegram's data on Iranian users.
Why did you restricted us @telegram !!? #telegram #iran #banned #adult #bots pic.twitter.com/ZuTY1ZkiKq
— Emad Ghasemi (@emadgh_06) August 24, 2015
Telegram's user base has experienced astronomic growth in Iran in the past year as users recognize that the platform is more secure than other mobile messengers such as Viber and WeChat, and not blocked from use in Iran like other secure applications such as CryptoCat. Many users have also reported widespread disruptions and connection difficulties with Viber, causing users to switch to Telegram. Others argue that the design and interface of Telegram, alongside its unique features are reasons for its popularity in Iran. Among those features are “bots“, automated accounts created by both Telegram and third-party users that Telegram says will “teach, play, search, broadcast, remind, connect, integrate with other services, or even pass commands to the Internet of Things.”
Recently, social media sources have been claiming that Telegram is restricting access to some bots because of the type content users are sharing. On August 24, users claimed that attempts to access a porn bot returned the response “Sorry, this bot is no longer available in your country due to local restrictions.”
While traffic through Telegram bots can be monitored because it is not end-to-end encrypted, blocking is occurring according to the bot's theme, not on the basis of specific content. As such, certain bots are not available inside Iran. This is a decision likely being made between Telegram and Iran, although there is no official statement from either entity regarding the decision process. Reports on social media have been about the blocking of sexually explicit material.
Concerns with Telegram started at the end of July, when users reported disruptions to Telegram's network connections.
Local network providers are limiting Telegram traffic in Iran. We are trying to find out the reasons.
— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) June 29, 2015
In response, Iran's Ministry of ICT denied meddling with the application's traffic. In an interview with Vice, Telegram's founder Pavel Durov explained that the situation was “not 100% clear” and believed the disruptions were not related to censorship, but rather economics. As he told Vice, the issue was due to the fact that Iranian mobile Internet providers had to pay exorbitant amounts of money to buy Telegram's traffic. Collin Anderson later told Vice that Durov's argument fell flat: “Telegram cannot produce nearly as much traffic as applications such as Instagram, which are not restricted.”
The Ministry later explained that assertions that Telegram would be censored were false, but said that the government's concern about immoral communications on the application would be resolved by restricting access to the platform's stickers bots, as the government had found use of rude Persian language jokes. The sticker bot allows users to create their own custom stickers, a feature widely used by Iranians to depict jokes, some the Iranian government has deemed immoral and against the values of the Islamic Republic.
An example of custom Persian language stickers that are used by Telegram's Iranian users. Image from author.
Following the July network disruption of Telegram, Iran's Minister of Information Communications and Technology, Mahmoud Vaezi, reported that Telegram would not be blocked from access inside Iran. The Minister explained that Telegram's management had been in touch with the Ministry to apologize for their sticker features, and to block access to them accordingly. Telegram has not confirmed their compliance with the Iranian government.
پس از این مصاحبه مسئولین تلگرام با همكاران این نهاد تماس گرفته و عذر خواهی و عنوان كردند سیستمی برای همه كاربران دنیا طراحی کرده‌اند كه كاربر بتواند استیكر بسازد، اما نمی‌دانستیم برخی كاربران در ایران از این موضوع سو استفاده می‌کنند بنابراین مسئولان تلگرام عنوان کرده‌اند این امكان را در ایران مسدود می‌کنند تا بتوانند در ایران حضور داشته باشند.
After our interview the administrators of Telegram were in touch with us with regard to this issue and apologized and explained the system was created so all users from around the world could use and design the stickers but we did not know that this would be misused by a few users in Iran. So the managers of Telegram stated that they will disable this option inside of Iran so this app can be used inside Iran.
While the blocking of rude stickers and porn bots might seem minor, these events trigger worries for Iranian Internet users regarding Telegram's relationship with the Iranian government. This worry is compounded by the recent announcement of a new social media monitoring program by the Revolutionary Guards known as Spider, which Vaezi has explained will enable the government's “complete surveillance over social media”.
Telegram boasts secure communications, however security experts have questioned the robustness of its cryptography. Matthew Green, a Professor of Cryptography at John Hopkins University told Global Voices in an email the following, while evaluating the privacy of Telegram:
With regard to Telegram, specifically, I've looked a bit at the crypto and while I think their hearts are in the right place, the system still needs work. In particular, while Telegram provides end-to-end encrypted messaging, this is not the default setting. All messages are always encrypted — but normal messages are encrypted in a manner that the Telegram server can read. Only ‘secret chats’ are actually encrypted so that only the endpoints can read them.
In addition, users have to master a fairly complicated process of comparing ‘key fingerprints’ in order to ensure that they're really talking to the right person. Which means that someone with access to the Telegram server could potentially intercept their connections.
Regarding Green's fourth condition of cooperation with governments, Telegram has agreed to abide by Iran's censorship policies with regard to its porn bots and stickers. Whether or not Telegram would comply with other Iranian surveillance policies is unknown, but is now of concern to some Iranian users.

author: Mahsa Alimardani


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It’s About Time to End Female Genital Mutilation in the Only Latin American Country Where It Still Exists · Global Voices
Mary Aviles

Members of Embera ethnic group in the town of Crucito in Tierralta Córdoba, Colombia. Photo taken from the Flickr account of Agencia Prensa Rural under a Creative Commons licence.
In Colombia, there are indigenous communities that still practice female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision. This makes Colombia the only country in Latin America where this custom is still in practice, according to some organizations.
En pleno S XXI,la ablación llega a 140 millones de mujeres y a 26 paises en el mundo y entre estos Colombia.NÓ A LA MUTILACIÓN FEMENINA !!
— Pedro serrano (@peter5519toli) July 23, 2015
Well into the 21st century, female circumcision affects 140 million women and 26 countries in the world, among these Colombia. NO TO FEMALE MUTILATION!!
In the indigenous community of Emberá, where female genital mutilation is still practiced, a group of young girls dying as a result of the procedure in 2007. Five years later, a public declaration by the indigenous authorities officially suspended the practice. But that didn't manage to completely wipe out female genital mutilation — last year, four Emberá girls died after undergoing the procedure.
Y donde dejan las noticias de la mutilación femenina que se vive entre las mujeres Embera? Si, aquí en Colombia… https://t.co/B2DdRf6ppX
— PO DRI 2 (@Street66x) agosto 7, 2015
Don't forget the news about female mutilation that still exists among Emberá women. Yes, right here in Colombia…
Alberto Wuazorna, leader of the Emberá Chamí (located in the central and west Colombian Andes), worked for over three years to raise awareness in the community with the goal of eliminating female genital mutilation. Of course, this was no easy task as the practice falls into the realm of women's sexuality. Based on his experience, he declared that “here we face an issue that goes back centuries, a process older than 200 years that we won't be able to eliminate in just three.”
How did female circumcision come to the Americas “swings between history and myth.” Víctor Zuluaga, a retired historian from the Technological University of Pereira who has worked with the Emberá Chamí communities from Risaralda since the 1970s, says:
[…] en el siglo XVII, cuando los colonos ya habían tomado el control de la mayoría de pueblos indígenas, los chamí se mantuvieron indomables. Eran un pueblo casi nómada que vivía más de la caza y de la pesca que de la agricultura o la minería. La salida que encontraron para ellos fue, pues, el camino: los usaron para trasladar carga entre la costa y las montañas. Su trayecto pasaba por Tadó, un pueblecito riquísimo en oro actualmente en el departamento del Chocó, donde trabajaban cientos de esclavos africanos. Cuando coincidían los domingos, a veces también en sábado, los indígenas y los esclavos tenían “un pequeño espacio de libertad” donde compartir costumbres y rituales.
[…] in the 17th century, when the settlers were already in control of most of the indigenous communities, the Chamí remained indomitable. They were a nomadic community that lived off of hunting and fishing more than farming and mining. The way out that they found was the road: They used it to move cargo between the coast and the mountains. Their route went through Tadó, a little town very rich in gold, currently part of the department of Chocó, where hundreds of African slaves used to work. When they met each other on Sundays, and sometimes on Saturdays, indigenous people and slaves had a “small space of freedom” where they shared traditions and rituals.
The slaves mentioned by Zuluaga hailed from Mali and were accustomed to their men spending much time away from home. The Emberá men also could spend two or three weeks hunting animals in the jungle, so the Malis taught them their ‘cure’ for controlling women's sexuality.
The Emberá Chamí are among the 30 indigenous communities from Colombia who are at risk of extinction. Historically, extreme poverty has afflicted many of the community’s members. Victims of exclusion and discrimination in the best of cases, and violence and displacement from their lands in the worst, the Emberá Chamí have also found themselves at times caught in the crossfire of armed groups operating in the area.
Human rights and women's advocacy organizations estimate there are between 100 and 130 million women in the world who have suffered female genital mutilation. And when it comes to Colombia, experts believe that in the Emberá Chamí community, three to four girls die every year due to complications from the “cure”:
“Soy mujer, soy emberá y no practico la ablación”. El mensaje que transmiten ahora Norfilia Caizales, consejera de mujer del Consejo Regional Indígena de Risaralda (CRIR), y otras mujeres de ambos resguardos no puede ser más claro y contundente. “Llevamos desde el año 2007 buscando nuevos procesos para el fortalecimiento de nuestras niñas, y ya es hora de decir, ‘no más a la práctica de la curación’”, añadió Norfilia.
“I am a woman, I am an Emberá and I don't practice female genital mutilation.” The message conveyed now by Norfilia Caizales, women's adviser at the Indigenous Regional Council of Risaralda (CRIR), and other women from both shelters can't be clearer or more compelling. “Since 2007 we are looking for new processes to empower our girls, and it's about time to say, ‘No more practicing the cure,’” added Norfilia.
According to UNICEF data, female genital mutilation is concentrated along a 29-country strip in Africa and the Middle East.

author: Mary Aviles


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Migrant Filipinos and Their Families Tell the Government: ‘Hands Off Our Balikbayan Boxes!’ · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Activists hold a rally near the presidential palace denouncing the government's order to physically inspect and tax balikbayan boxes. Photo from the Facebook page of Lennon Ying-Dah Wong
A recent order by the Bureau of Customs increasing duties for balikbayan boxes and subjecting them to physical inspection has sparked outrage among Filipino migrant worker communities around the globe and their families back in the Philippines. Balikbayan boxes are packages containing consumer goods and other items sent by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to relatives back home.
Many OFWs expressed their disgust through social media. The Twitter hashtag #HandsOffOurBalikbayanBoxes was used in the past week to pressure the government to recall its order. The campaign succeeded after President Benigno Aquino III instructed the bureau on August 24 to screen the boxes through X-ray.
The balikbayan box is an important symbol of the Filipino migrant labor phenomenon. Through the box, OFWs are able to give their families a taste of life abroad. An estimated 10 to 12 million Filipinos are working or living in other countries.
The Bureau of Customs said the order aims to increase tax collection and to curb illegal smuggling. The agency blamed a loss of 600 million pesos (12.8 million US dollars) annually from non-declared goods that are said to be smuggled in the country through balikbayan boxes. Furthermore, the agency reported that some unscrupulous traders have used the balikbayan box to smuggle goods and contraband into the country.
“OFW boxes, milked for profit
OFW cases, neglected!
Migrante”
The person in the image is President Aquino
But the announcement that balikbayan boxes would be opened by customs officials for inspection drew the ire of OFWs and the public for two main reasons: first, the Bureau of Customs is perceived as a corrupt agency; and second, many felt upset that the government is treating OFWs as smugglers and tax evaders. OFWs are popularly called the country’s modern heroes for keeping the economy afloat.
Blogger and newspaper columnist Tonyo Cruz explains the anger expressed by OFWs:
It beggars the mind that Customs and Malacañang are implying that OFWs are out to cheat government of customs duties and taxes through their balikbayan boxes. Not only is it crazy, but it betrays the government’s total lack of knowledge and empathy on the plight of OFWs everywhere, how much they usually earn, why they flee the country in the first place and the challenges they face abroad.
Ask a domestic helper in Hong Kong, a nurse in the United Kingdom, a construction worker in the Middle East, or a teacher in the U.S. They had to leave the country to find work for themselves and for families back home — while at the same time face rising anti-migrant measures and dwindling job prospects wherever they work. Tax evasion is not in their minds. The implied accusation that they are out to cheat government is an insult they can never forgive and forget.
Sociologist Arnold Alamon explains further the public backlash:
You see, dear government, these boxes mean more than the uncollected revenue that should go into public coffers which you will also steal anyway. These are the private symbols of the hardships and sacrifices of dignified Filipinos who would rather work abroad than wait for things to turn around here under one bungling administration after another. The backlash is searing and fiercely emotional and it places into serious question the already little trust people have for government.
An online petition against the customs directive has reached over 87,000 signatures in less than a week. Migrant activists have organized protests against the bureau. They have also called for a “Zero Remittance Day” on August 28. Progressive legislators have meanwhile filed a resolution to investigate the Bureau of Customs for the balikbayan box issue.
Below are some tweets and Internet memes that supported the campaign against the BOC policy.
“We don't smuggle. We struggle. -OFWs”
dear bureau of customs dugot pawis,puyat,pagod,sakit ang pinagdadaanan ng OFW bgo mka isang #balikbayanbox wag nyo pakialaman ang di senyo!! — -aileena- (@ailhen) August 22, 2015
dear bureau of customs the OFWs go through blood, sweat, fatigue, sickness before making one #balikbayanbox. don't intrude on what's not yours!
Pati ba naman mga #BalikBayanBox ng mga #OFW gusto nyong pagkakitaan? ANG KAKAPAL NG MUKHA NYO! @CustomsPH #BureauOfCustoms ./.
— Yukito Yamamoto (@yukito16) August 22, 2015
You'd like to make money even out of the #OFW #BalikBayanBox? How thick-faced! @CustomsPH #BureauOfCustoms
Customs will now tax Filipino pasalubongs from abroad– like shampoo and chocolates– while it allows toxic garbage in. — Luis V. Teodoro (@luisteodoro) August 23, 2015
In the tweet above, pasalubong means gift. The tweet refers to the Canadian trash issue where large amounts of trash from Canada were allowed entry in Philippine ports.
Dear BOC, The #BalikbayanBox is innocent until proven guilty! — Vencer Crisostomo (@venzie) August 24, 2015
As public indignation reached a boiling point, President Aquino, who earlier urged the public to simply let the customs do its job, recalled the random inspection policy. He also directed the bureau to ensure the presence of representatives from stakeholders when a balikbayan box needs to be inspected by customs officials.
Activists see this as an initial victory. But the struggle for migrant workers’ rights continues.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Mother Nature Hits ‘Nature Isle’ Dominica Hard With Tropical Storm Erika · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dominica's picturesque capital, Roseau, 2005. Photo by Jean & Nathalie, used under a CC BY 2.0 license.
This year's Atlantic hurricane season has begun with dramatic effect with the arrival of Tropical Storm Erika, which has wreaked havoc on the island of Dominica. Experiencing about one inch of heavy rainfall every hour for about 12 hours, the “nature isle” has been facing severe flooding, with landslides reportedly causing several fatalities.
As is often the case during a crisis, social media was the communication channel that people were depending on for information. Twitter was, of course, instrumental in getting information and images out quickly; Robert Tonge, Dominica's minister for tourism and urban renewal, was regularly updating his Facebook page with citizen media videos, photos and updates.
Facebook user Roberts Josie posted a video of the area of Mahaut, in which the river broke its banks and came charging through the town with a fury. The Roseau River, named after the island's capital, was also a frightening sight. There were several photographs of submerged cars; even a car dealership suffered the effects of the storm. Across the island, it seemed, flood waters were raging. Facebook user Reichen Sylvester Faustin posted a photo of the Bayfront area of the capital — it was difficult to tell the difference between land and sea — even the Coast Guard base was under water.
One of the island's airports was also flooded:
.@wxjerdman “8.86” of rain in 6hrs at Canefield Airport.” Major flooding in #Dominica – #Erika Pic: @Twice_VI @AMHQ pic.twitter.com/ywKO9sxNSK
— Anaridis Rodriguez (@Anaridis) August 27, 2015
Downpours from Tropical Storm #Erika have caused flash flooding in #Dominica: pic.twitter.com/hQh0JL70VD (via @TemporadaCiclon)
— The Weather Network (@weathernetwork) August 27, 2015
A portion of the Roseau Rover Church collapsed under pressure from the swirling waters; you can hear screaming as onlookers realised what was happening.
This is breaking my heart to see what is happening in #dominica due to #Erika @weatherchannel pic.twitter.com/QE6JkhddYd
— Deshane (@Twice_VI) August 27, 2015
Large sections of roads gave way and there were a few reports of missing persons.
Dramatic photos surface as deadly TS #Erika unleashes floods, mudslides in #Dominica – http://t.co/6LvxB0BesJ pic.twitter.com/3YHgVvvvFR
— Weather Network US (@TheWeatherNetUS) August 27, 2015
#Erika bringing heavy rain, flooding and mudslides delivering island wide problems to #Dominica. pic.twitter.com/XRZT4lyIUj
— Richard Lewelling (@RLewelling) August 27, 2015
As the scale of the damage became more apparent, there were widespread calls on social media to pray for Dominica. The storm finally subsided at about 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 27, leaving in her wake significant devastation:
From drought to flood. A nasty scene out of #Dominica this morning. #Erika via @Damian_0423 pic.twitter.com/uQMQoAL6SQ
— MarkVoganWeather.com (@MarkVogan) August 27, 2015
In a curious twist, Facebook user Leslie-Ann Boisselle was appalled to discover that some netizens were not getting their geography or their politics right:
I am seeing lots of posts online where people are saying ‘it good for Dominica – they treat the Haitians so bad’ ‘the Haitians wukking Obeah on the Dominican people’ LETS GET THIS STRAIGHT
Dominica is a sovereign island state. Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispanola with Haiti. THEY ARE TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES for the love of mike.
And no one should be reveling in the misfortune of others. That is not right -not right at all
Even as the region's hearts went out to the people of Dominica, there were concerns as to who could be next:
My deep prayers for #dominica #erika We re next abut hopefully it will loose its strength.
— Jessy Schuster (@CaribFrenchy) August 28, 2015
The storm seems to have its sights set on south Florida; there were earlier concerns about it hitting Antigua, but it seems the tiny island towards the north of the archipelago was spared.
Still thankful Antigua was spared from #Erika. My hearts go out to #Dominica. Nature gave the Nature Isle a rough make over
— André Sharpe♍ (@DreMuzik2) August 28, 2015
Netizens across the region continue to keep an eye on the first major storm of the 2015 hurricane season.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Ousted Trinidad & Tobago Minister ‘Gypsy’ Is Singing a Bitter Tune—Literally · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, speaking at the 7th Americas Competitiveness Forum in Panama. Photo by OEA – OAS, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
In the latest split — and there have been a few — in the lead-up to Trinidad and Tobago's September 7 general elections, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced that her minister of community development, Winston ‘Gyspy’ Peters, would not be chosen to contest the seat in the Mayaro constituency of south Trinidad.
In retaliation, ‘Gypsy’ has penned, recorded and released a calypso entitled ‘Kamla’, in which he calls the prime minister a “neemakharam” — a word derived from the Hindi “Namak Harama”. In Trinidad and Tobago, the term has come to be synonymous with an ingrate, especially in a political context.
Peters, who spent much of his public life as a calypsonian and brilliant extempo artist before going into politics, wasn't the first minister to not make the cut for the upcoming polls. Prior to the announcement about Peters, the prime minister revealed that Minister of Transport Stephen Cadiz would not be contesting his seat of Chaguanas East in central Trinidad (the governing party's stronghold).
Cadiz’ reaction, however, was a tad tamer than Peters’. Cadiz put the decision down to a strategic move to win an election, while Peters appeared to take the whole thing quite personally, calling the prime minister an “ungrateful ingrate”. To emphasise his point, he resigned not only from his ministerial post, but also from the government he has been a member of for the past 20 years. Interestingly, his constituents didn't seem too perturbed by the change.
Social media users, by and large, thought it was a case of too little too late, saying that if Peters thought so little of his political leader, he should have spoken up sooner, not just when he had something to lose. In a comments thread on the issue, Vinodatt Lutchman could see both sides of the issue, saying:
I am disappointed in what MP Gypsy has said in his resignation press conference especially as he said that he was asked whether he would have been disappointed if he was not selected at the screening committee stage. He should have expressed his concerns and views then and not now go public. The tone of his resignation is very bitter, smacks of sour grapes and he is obviously very hurt. In spite of reaction the screening committee and party hierarchy have mishandled the decision to use a new candidate without being very sensitive to his 15 years service and involvement as the Mayaro MP and bearing in mind his closeness to former UNC MP, Party Chairman and Minister Warner. His loyalty has not been properly valued and common courtesy has not been extended to him.
Some Facebook users felt that the decision to oust Peters was race-based, while Laura Alleyne had no sympathy for him, saying that he went along with the status quo when he should have been standing up for what was right. Jacqueline Charles agreed:
Ste…..uphs! [Trinbagonian gesture of displeasure] This man stayed for 5yrs see all the corruption he hinting about and it's only because he was rejected …. and now want to come in hindsight to insult de collective intelligence of the nation! Nah Gypsy come better than that! You leave for the wrong reason… #warpedmoral #noethics
Meanwhile, Peters was making nice with two other political parties — disgraced ex-FIFA vice president Jack Warner's Independent Liberal Party and the opposition People's National Movement.
That's as far as the niceties go, however. Remember when we wondered whether the country's electioneering could get any weirder? With the general election less than two weeks away, Peters has used the song ‘Kamla’ as a jumping off point to embark upon an “anti-Kamla campaign”, encouraging voters not to support her and the People's Partnership coalition government at the polls.
In his heyday, one of Peters’ most popular calypsoes was “The Sinking Ship”, which likened Trinidad and Tobago to a “luxury liner” that was being mismanaged by the prime minister at the time, George Chambers, and his People's National Movement. Peters’ clever lyrics, paired with a melody that was almost impossible not to sing along to, solidified his reputation as chantwell of political commentary. With Peters’ latest move, though, some netizens couldn't help but note the irony.
Satirical blog The Late O'Clock News was happy to have the last word on the issue:
Gypsy, disappointed with himself that he remained with the ungrateful leader for five whole years without making a squeek [sic], mounted an anti-Kamla campaign this morning to atone for his guilt. Determined to show the entire world for years to come that Persad-Bissessar is a ‘bad person’, he has petitioned the Oxford Dictionary to change the meaning of the word ‘ingrate’ to be more specific to his experience with the Honourable Prime Minister and for a picture of her to be included next to the new definition.
Gypsy’s proposed definition to the Oxford dictionary […] reads:
ingrate /kam-la/ .n. literary. an ungrateful neemakaram, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, 6th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, a woman who did not give Winston Gypsy Peters a seat in her next government after he helped her rise to power in 2010 – ORIGIN Trinidadian kemler


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The Happiest Countries in the World Are All in Latin America · Global Voices
Global Voices Latin America

The happiest (and least happy) countries in the world, ranked http://t.co/4EccwDNBp7
— Quartz (@qz) August 27, 2015
Gallup interviewed 150,000 adults in 148 countries, asking such questions as, “Did you smile or laugh yesterday?” and “Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday?” to build a positive-experience index. Surprisingly, the leading countries in terms of positive emotions were all in Latin America, from Paraguay to Nicaragua, according to Quartz.
The survey used a scale from 0 to 100 and found that the world’s positive-experience index average for 2014 was 71/100—”the same as 2013, and just about what it’s been since 2006.”
The country with the least positive emotional score was Sudan (47/100). Happiness levels are also low in Tunisia, Serbia, Turkey, and others, apparently thanks to war and other forms of political instability.
In Bolivia and El Salvador, for example, 59 perecnt of respondents replied “yes” to all of the questions about both positive and negative emotions, which gives these nations particularly high “emotional” scores.

author: Global Voices Latin America


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The Lebanese Get Creative in Their Protests Against the Trash Crisis · Global Voices
Faten Bushehri

Some trash should not be recycled. This is a modified version of a sign held up in a protest in Lebanon shared on Twitter by @Beirutspring. It shows Lebanese politicians across the political spectrum
Grassroots movement Tol3et Re7atkom (You Stink) has managed to rally around 20,000 people and get them into the streets not only protesting against the trash crisis in Lebanon, but also demanding the resignation of the government for its continuous practice of corruption.
On August 22 and 23, Beirut witnessed its largest protests in recent history, with people of all ages and classes gathered to tell the government that they basically stink. Lebanon's trash crisis started when on July 17, the country's largest landfill in Naameh city was shut down by residents of the area. That landfill catered to the areas of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, which together house almost half of the country's population. The government's inability to resolve the trash crisis resulted in mountains of rubbish piling up on the streets, forcing people to walk around wearing masks.
The pictures below were taken from the official Facebook page of “You Stink” movement:
Mountains of trash in Beirut. Photograph from the the official Facebook page of “You Stink” movement
Lebanon's garbage disposed in a hazardous manner, which harms the environment. Photograph from the official page of the You Stink movement
This problem has only added fuel to the already existing political flames in the country. Lebanon, already suffering from a poor infrastructure and daily electricity cuts, has had no president for more than a year. In 2009, its parliament extended its term until 2017, with no elections, citing instability as a reason.
In addition to people carrying political signs, some came up with creative ways to draw attention to the cause.
Saudi journalist Ahmed Al Omran tweeted a photograph of a guy who wished the government's characteristics were reflected in his love life:
Best sign in Lebanon’s protests so far? #طلعت_ريحتكم pic.twitter.com/9WD5nsP17A
— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) August 23, 2015
Rana Harbi shared a couple of photographs she thought were funny and “typical Lebanese”. Some men wore costumes to the protest in attempt to relay the message:
Some funny shots from today's protest. Typical Lebanese. #Beirut #طلعت_ريحتكم pic.twitter.com/zonevY37eg
— Rana Harbi (@RanaHarbi) August 22, 2015
This man really wanted to express how intense the smell of piled up trash spreading across Beirut was, so that's how he showed up:
Some funny shots from today's protest. Typical Lebanese. #Beirut #طلعت_ريحتكم pic.twitter.com/zonevY37eg
— Rana Harbi (@RanaHarbi) August 22, 2015
A protester made a bold comparison between the Lebanese politician and Lebanese porn star Mia Khalifa, saying she has more honor than the politicians.
“Mia Khalifa has more honor than our politicians” 😂 You hear that @miakhalifa ? #Lebanon #Beirut #طلعت_ريحتكم pic.twitter.com/rchHQPM6Rp
— Rana Harbi (@RanaHarbi) August 23, 2015
On other social media platforms, people exchanged more creative photographs like these:
“Either you leave, or we won't give birth. #YouStink” (Source: Unknown)
Yasmine Ballout shares a picture of a sign she deems as creative. The sign reads: “We have chicken and garlic sandwiches, would you let us in?”
HAHAHAHAHAHA I swear I love the creativity of our people ! #طلعت_ريحتكم pic.twitter.com/ECDorepUpt
— Yasmine Ballout (@yasminebal) August 22, 2015
When they say everyone joined the protest, they really meant everyone, including movie characters:
Batman joined us at one point. #Beirut #Lebanon #طلعت_ريحتكم pic.twitter.com/petM7iqCeL
— Joey Ayoub جووي أيوب (@joeyayoub) August 22, 2015
Stay tuned for more coverage from Lebanon as it gears up for more protests tomorrow.

author: Faten Bushehri


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Uncovering Attempts to Hide Oil’s Footprints in Peru · Global Voices
Convoca Perú

Environmental impact of Pluspetrol’s oil activities at Jose Olaya community, located in the province of Datem del Marañon, Loreto. Photo: Julio Angulo – La Republica (used with permission)
The oil and gas industry has left deep scars in Peru, which the authorities themselves have acknowledged. After 40 years of oil exploitation in Loreto, the government has declared an environmental and health emergency in four basins located around lot 192 (ex 1AB) in the Amazon region, where the company Pluspetrol Norte operates. For years, indigenous populations have complained of a silent and resounding impact on their lives.
Convoca, an investigative reporting outlet in Peru, has gained access to hydrocarbons environmental monitoring reports, which were not made public and were ignored by the last three governments in spite of the seriousness of the evidence. After reviewing more than 20,000 pages of documents and building a record covering 21 regions, authors Gabriela Flores and Milagros Salazar bring you the story. It was originally published on Convoca and republished on Global Voices with permission.
Wilson Sandy follows the oil footprints in the Peruvian Amazon with the cleverness of a detective and the determination of those protecting their home: the Achuar territory of Loreto. He is 39 years old, and for over ten years he has dedicated his life to gathering evidence of pollution by the oil companies that operate in the Amazon region with the largest number of environmental scars in the country. Why is he doing it? “To defend my brothers, to document what happens, so that others do not say that we lie,” says Sandy with the same confidence with which he makes his way through the forest, rivers and black oil lakes to record evidence among wilted plants and dead fish. Sandy locates the affected sites with GPS, and takes photos and videos to reveal what he has found.
Sandy is the leader of 19 environmental inspectors of the Corrientes River in Loreto. But he is not the only witness to what he calls in the Achuar language nunka nemeskamu: the contaminated soil. Indigenous populations live among oil spills, gas leaks and other environmental incidents that often are buried in the dense jungle for decades. It is a chain of silent stories that can overcome any suspicion.
“We found hundreds of unprocessed monitoring reports in cardboard boxes,” explained lawyer Maria Luisa Egusquiza, who is responsible for the Enforcement, Sanctions and Incentives Directorate of the Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (Organismo de Evaluación y Fiscalización Ambiental, OEFA), in an interview with Convoca in mid-2014. She was referring to evidence of potential environmental infringements that were never evaluated by the authorities to punish the responsible companies. Which companies were they, and what did the documents say?
Since then, Convoca has sought to answer these questions and to find out what was in those stacked boxes in a corner of OEFA's offices. Egusquiza assured that her institution asked the Comptroller of the Republic to investigate the responsible officials, but did not provide any further details on that interview in which Hugo Gomez, the president of OEFA, was also present. Today, after a year, we reveal the first part of this story.
What we found were approximately 20,000 pages of alleged environmental violations primarily by oil and energy companies. Convoca had access to over 1,000 complete documents, including environmental monitoring reports, internal letters and photographs that were not public.
Convoca analyzed and developed a record to determine the severity of the cases, the operators, and those responsible. As a result, it was identified that over 70 percent of these cases involved oil and gas activities in 21 regions of the country and that the company that benefited the most was Argentinian Pluspetrol, which is the main oil operator in Peru and the top violating company.
Jose Olaya Village (Loreto). Photo: Julio Angulo – La Republica.
All these cases were archived in 23 days between August 2013 and September 2014 through 1,101 resolutions from the Division of Instruction and Research of OEFA, not for lack of evidence, but because the authorities allowed them to exceed the legal four-year deadline for initiating a disciplinary procedure after the initial evidence is collected. This requirement is called the statute of limitations.
The inspectors presented their reports to the Supervising Agency for Investment in Energy and Mining (Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión en Energía y Minería, Osinergmin) between 1998 and 2009, as stated in the documents obtained by Convoca.
These reports were finally archived between 2002 and 2013 during the governments of Alejandro Toledo, Alan Garcia and Ollanta Humala. In early 2011, OEFA received these reports from Osinergmin when it took over the hydrocarbons environmental enforcement.
Resident of Jose Olaya village. Photo: Julio Angulo – La Republica.
While Osinergmin was in charge of this work, it allowed 98 percent of the cases to lapse within two to 13 years. OEFA did the same with 20 cases that lapsed in the two years when it assumed the environmental monitoring of this sector. No administrative penalty process was initiated, although the experts consulted found cases of possible serious violations.
One such case was the spill of 50,000 gallons of oil from the North Peruvian pipeline of PetroPeru, of which 25,000 ended up on the Marañon River, a habitat for 100 species of animals, located between Jaen and Amazon. The incident occurred the morning of May 8, 2006, because a 25-ton rock fell on the pipeline; it ended up affecting a stretch of the Fatima and Chingaza villages. According to the report No. 79426-1, the company did not report “the damages on the riverbanks, downstream of the Marañon River,” and allowed the villagers to collect contaminated material without protection.
Evidence of the oil spill on one of the sections of the North Peruvian pipeline of PetroPeru in 2006, included in an archived monitoring report.
For this reason, inspectors recommended evaluating “the physical, biological and social damages,” “identifying landslide-prone areas” and a remediation plan. It was not just any incident. For toxicologist Ruben Loayza from Cayetano Heredia University, this spill qualified as an “environmental catastrophe” due to the amount of oil spilled into the river, but the report was forgotten for five years and in 2013, it was archived by OEFA along with 1,100 reports because the deadlines to investigate and punish had expired.
To be continued.

author: Convoca Perú


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A Week Before a Huge Vote, Demonstrators Fill Guatemala’s Streets, Calling For President to Step Down · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Guatemalans have been protesting since mid-2015 against government corruption. Photo: Flickr / Surizar / Creative Commons License.
Update ( September 2, 2015): Guatemala's Congress voted Tuesday to strip President Otto Pérez Molina of his immunity. The decision paved the path to a possible prosecution against him as part of a corruption investigation that sparked protests calling for his resignation.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
A “citizenship celebration” was underway on the streets of Guatemala City as of Thursday. The pro-democracy demonstration, which has been peaceful, is being compared to the rallies that helped overthrow dictator Jorge Ubico in 1944 and launched the country's so-called Ten Years of Spring.
University students, peasants, families, indigenous groups, artists, cities, towns, hospitals, and more are rapidly joining calls for President Otto Pérez Molina to step down.
The trending hashtag #RenunciaYA (#ResignNow) has given way to #YoNoTengoPresidente (“I do not recognize the President”). Now this week's demonstrations have inspired a new hashtag: #27A.
President Pérez Molina's public support appears to be at its lowest point ever, just two weeks ahead of the country's general elections. The military, which has been a pillar of Pérez Molina's political strength in the past, has remained silent about the demonstrations sweeping the nation, so far.
Investigative journalist Allan Nairn argued on Twitter that Molina is finally paying the price for his alleged complicity in a genocide reportedly committed by his regime during the course of a 36-year civil war that ended in 1996:
82)Perez Molina got the CIA $ while running G-2,th army intel unit implicated in torture, disappearance&assassination http://t.co/UOYwxuz0XG
— Allan Nairn (@AllanNairn14) August 26, 2015
92) …Francisco Goldman cites evidence that Perez Molina had a role in the '98 assassination of Guatemalan Archbishop Gerardi.. #JuicioTito
— Allan Nairn (@AllanNairn14) August 27, 2015
The demonstrations began on April 16 when the future of the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) was suddenly put in jeopardy after President Pérez Molina refused to renew its mandate for the third time.
The rallies that began at that time were geared around the question of extending CICIG’s mandate beyond September.
After an intense political battle, the commission was allowed to continue its work, which gradually exposed a massive corruption ring in the presidency called “La Linea,” where top officials cut deals with importers to evade customs duties.
On August 26, the real bombshell came, when officials transferred Pérez Molina's former vice president, Roxana Baldetti, to a high security prison, ahead of her trial. This marked the first time in Guatemalan history that someone so powerful had been stripped of pretrial privileges and subjected to such harsh incarceration.
A prisión preventiva ex Vicepresidenta Roxana Baldetti | http://t.co/LuwZMVPzsD pic.twitter.com/aGlElNTRFD
— CICIG Guatemala (@CICIGgt) August 26, 2015
Preventive prison for former Vice President Roxana Baldetti
Worries of corruption during the transition
After the country's most powerful business lobby, CACIF, demanded Pérez Molina's resignation, most of the President's cabinet hurried to resign, leaving their posts vacant. Well-known lobbyists soon took their places, leading to a host of new concerns about the country's executive branch.
Among the causes for concern reported by Nomada.gt is Guatemala's 4G communications network, which the outlet says is now at risk of ending up under the control of a monopoly. Similarly, it was reported that dubious medical supply contracts have been extended.
Other top officials have begun fleeing the country, but not without being noticed by ordinary citizens at the airports:
Se fuga la rata de bonilla @An0nymousGT pic.twitter.com/ycKbGFjQXk
— Efrahernandez (@efrahd) August 27, 2015
That Bonilla rat (former Interior Minister, Mauricio Lopez Bonilla) flees
Demonstrators at today's rally, which participants are calling “Dignity Day,” included Nobel-Peace-Prize-winner Rigoberta Menchu:
Con las y los compañeros de la Fundación, caminaré con toda la esperanza del mundo. #A27 #ImpunidadJamas pic.twitter.com/bKl8dPVyPz
— Rigoberta Menchú Tum (@RigobertMenchu) August 27, 2015
With the colleagues of the Foundation, I will walk with all the hope of this world.
Multinational fast food chains like McDonald's hedged their bets:
McDonald's apoya a Guatemala y cierra sus restaurantes el día de hoy. pic.twitter.com/ExySYaAKwD — McDonald's Guatemala (@McGuate) August 27, 2015
McDonald's supports Guatemala and will close its restaurants for today.
As Guatemalans of all ages and colors take to the streets, their elected officials in the Guatemalan Congress have initiated a process similar to impeachment that would strip President Molina of immunity from criminal prosecution.
If lawmakers cannot complete this process by the end of next week, Molina could enjoy another four years of immunity as a representative of the Central American Parliament, a regional association of which Guatemala shares membership with El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.
Pérez Molina would become a representative of the regional body automatically after his presidency.
Organization and random acts of kindness during the crisis
Anonymous in Guatemala has taken a very active and sensitive role during the demonstrations, even distributing water to police:
Un integrante de Anonymous regala agua a elementos de @PNCdeGuatemala pic.twitter.com/lJggcI2oIC
— MinGob (@mingobguate) August 27, 2015
A member from Anonymous gives water to police officers.
The demonstrations, so far, have been massive, peaceful, and scattered across the country. Young people and youth groups have played a leading role in the rallies, as the Congress moved to take from President Molina his legal immunity.
As Insight Crime explains:
Dirty money and lack of transparency has allowed corruption to fester throughout Guatemala‘s political landscape, regardless of the party in power.  Addressing these systemic issues will be painful for elites and businesses who benefit from the status quo, which makes it all the more telling that the governments of Honduras and El Salvador recently rejected the possibility of creating their own version of the CICIG.”
Elections will take place on September 6, with enormous implications for the country.
The International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) has warned that Guatemala's political parties are significantly compromised in terms of party financing, calling into question the legitimacy of the entire election.
What happens before and after September 6 will be vital to shaping the country's foreseeable future.

author: Renata Avila


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Google’s Optical Character Recognition Software Now Works with All South Asian Languages · Global Voices
Subhashish Panigrahi

A step-by-step process to use Google's Optical Character Recognition software that supports almost all major South Asian languages. Image by Subhashish Panigrahi, freely licensed under CC-by-SA 4.0.
The Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software by Google now works for more than 248 world languages, including all the major South Asian languages, and it's easy to use and works with over 90 percent accuracy for most languages.
OCR software has been extremely beneficial for the study of language, helping to extract text from images of virtually any printed text—and sometimes even handwriting, which opens the door to old texts, manuscripts, and more.
Ketan Pratap at NDTV Gadgets writes:
Users can start using the OCR capabilities in Drive by uploading scanned document in PDF or image form after which they can right-click on the document in Drive to open with Google Docs. After choosing the option, a document with the original image alongside extracted text opens, which can be edited. Google notes that users will not be required to specify the language of the document as the OCR in Drive will automatically determine it. The OCR capability in Google Drive is also available in Drive for Android.
On Twitter, many users have welcomed and even celebrated this new feature from Google:
Optical Character Recognition #OCR in Google Drive recongnizes many indic languages including #Kannada give it a try http://t.co/99UkCJQ6gb
— Omshivaprakash (@omshivaprakash) August 28, 2015
@shylobisnett if you have access to a scanner, you can do OCR through google drive. works a bit faster.
— Whet Moser (@whet) August 27, 2015
Wow. Searching Google Drive for a keyword also returns results for images containing that keyword in the image. Didn't realise it did OCR.
— Mark Osborne (@mosborne01) August 25, 2015
Typically OCR software has difficulty reading the text on old documents or pages with blemishes and ink marks, spitting out gibberish instead of legible text.
Google's support page on this project shares additional details about character formatting, like its ability to preserve bold and italicized fonts in the output text:
When processing your document, we attempt to preserve basic text formatting such as bold and italic text, font size and type, and line breaks. However, detecting these elements is difficult and we may not always succeed. Other text formatting and structuring elements such as bulleted and numbered lists, tables, text columns, and footnotes or endnotes are likely to get lost.
For some of the languages, like Malayalam and Tamil, the OCR works with almost 100 percent accuracy, and includes support for formatting things like like auto-cropping, separating text by discarding images, and ignoring color backgrounds, explains Tamil user and Wikimedian Ravishankar Ayyakkannu on Facebook:
[…] Google Tamil OCR works with 100% accuracy ! Keep testing with various samples and comment here. Performance has been the same for many other Indic languages too. […] Auto crops, discards images and colored background. Recognizes different layouts. I could find only 1 mistake in whole page. Testing latest Vikatan – https://docs.google.com/…/1OXre4…/edit.. […]
(Bangla, Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Tamil, and Telugu-language users have commented in the same post with feedback after testing the updated OCR software. For a few scripts, like Gurmukhi (used to write Punjabi), it turns out that the output after OCR is quite poor, resulting largely in gibberish, when testing a screenshot image from Punjabi Wikipedia.)
Issues with Gurmukhi script after OCR using Google's OCR. Screenshot from Punjabi Wikipedia.
This is quite a large leap for the languages with lots of old texts that are not yet digitized. Old and valuable texts in many languages could now be digitized and shared over the internet using platforms like Wikisource and could be preserved and made available for sharing knowledge.
Google's OCR partly uses Tesseract—an OCR engine released as freeware. Developed as a community project between 1995 and 2006 (and later taken over by Google), Tesseract is considered to be one of the world's most accurate OCR engines and works for over 60 languages. The source code is now hosted at https://github.com/tesseract-ocr. Check this link for the OCR outputs in various South Asian scripts.

author: Subhashish Panigrahi


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India Has a Less-Than-Rosy Track Record on Media Freedom · Global Voices
Sourabh

Indian social activists hold placards during a protest against the hanging of 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon, in the Capital. Image by Himanshu Sharma. Copyright Demotix (30/7/2015)
Last month, three Indian news channels were issued separate show-cause notices by the government. ABP News, NDTV 24×7 and Aaj Tak allegedly showed disrespect to the judiciary and the president of India by airing content criticizing the decision to execute Yakub Menon, convicted of the 1993 Mumbai bombings.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has asked the channels to explain why the government should take no action against them for broadcasting the controversial content. The ministry even threatened to cancel their licenses.
Shocking & upsetting moves by #Modi Govt to curb media freedom: 1st, notices to 3 TV channels; now, troubling All India Radio for criticism
— Kaushal K Vidyarthee (@vidyarthee) August 13, 2015
The content in question included phone-in interviews with Chhotta Shakeel, a Mumbai underworld figure who is believed to be one of the masterminds behind the bombings. In his interview, Shakeel claimed that Yakub Menon was innocent and that his execution was a “legal murder”.
The ministry's actions were viewed in many parts of the media as questionable and a form of censorship. But others disagreed, taking issue with the sympathetic tone that they perceived in the media's reporting on Menon's case and execution.
@rupasubramanya @madhukishwar since India media is still not mature & misuses freedom of speech, it needs to be regulated. Hurts nation
— Akshay Ohri (@akshayohri) August 8, 2015
In the op-ed at Business Standard, Jency Jacob claimed the media had “done irreparable damage” by portraying Memon as innocent to advance their own anti-death penalty agenda. Jacob also argued that media had acted irresponsibly when it broadcast Shakeel's warning that there will be “consequences” for Memon's death. It's all part of why Indian audiences are distrustful of media, he said:
Whenever any attempt is made by the government to regulate the media, the industry is up in arms, and rightly so. But when you lose the trust of your readers and viewers, you pave the way for the government to bring in curbs. That most newsrooms, high on the ‘exclusive’ interview with a fugitive living overseas, are not able to perceive this distrust is a reflection of the disconnect today’s media has with reality.
Media sins aside, press freedom in India is indeed lacking. India ranks a dismal 136 out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. In March, the Economic Times reported that the Narendra Modi's administration is planning to spend Rs200 crore (US $32 million) to set up a new journalism university modeled on Beijing’s government-run Communication University of China. It is needless to point out that such a journalism university and its products would be a government mouthpiece.
One doesn't have to look too far back in history to find examples of officials meddling with the press and other forms of media (including social media). Banning online access and distribution of BBC’s “India’s Daughter“, a documentary on the Nirbhaya rape case, was one such instance in which India’s online censorship looked inspired from China. The documentary was banned from release in India and then removed from YouTube too at the request of the Indian government.
We have this Ostrich Mentality Banning #IndiasDaughter is like putting your head in the sand so no one can see me..
— anurag basu (@basuanurag) March 5, 2015
There is an evil out there, an evil which is stamping out all free speech and silencing independent journalists: journalists unite!
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) February 7, 2014
Update Sept. 1, 2015: Recently, the Indian censor board refused to certify a documentary based on the 2014 election campaign in Varanasi, saying that it “pokes fun” at the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The documentary which shows poll rallies and public speeches given by several candidates from the constituency at the time, was rejected by the censor board as they felt that the contents of the documentary showed “Modi in a bad light and mocked him”.
In June, journalist Jagendra Singh was killed in northern India after he was set on fire, allegedly by local policemen and goons under the direction of the Uttar Pradesh state minister for dairy development, for writing Facebook posts accusing the minster of having links to corruption.
More recently, the Department of Telecommunication issued a secret order to ban 857 websites thought to contain pornographic content. After public outrage, authorities announced that the ban was temporary, except for sites that contained child abuse or pornography.
India takes another historic step going prehistoric. Proud to be an Indian! #PornBan
— Priyank Sharma (@priyank_sharma) August 3, 2015
India prides itself as the world’s largest democracy. If a free press is truly the cornerstone of democracy, it appears that India still has some work to do to live up to that title.

author: Sourabh


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Puerto Rico Organizes From the Bottom Up in the Face of Economic Crisis · Global Voices
Carlos Esteban Cana

Photo by author.
Representatives from Puerto Rico's civil society have organized to fight against austerity measures being put in place by the government in the face of a growing economic crisis.
Many of the measures come from the so-called “Krueger Report“, prepared by the former deputy managing director of the IMF, Anne Krueger. The report recommends reducing government spending, continuing to increase taxes, and reducing the minimum wage, among other measures.
Several members of the civil sector convened various events this past summer. Some have come out with banners to the financial district of Hato Rey in the capital San Juan, while other groups have gathered in amphitheaters, parks, or bookstores.
Global Voices spoke with the #A12J group that pushed for the July 12th assembly and was part of the People's Action meeting, which took place at the Capitol on July 24th.
The individual members of the group agreed to speak as a single voice.
“The assembly was called for by a group of artists of all kinds interested in detonating the collaborative aesthetic/political/poetic processes in an open and decentralized manner,” the group said of the meeting's objectives.
Purpose, form, structure and lines of communication moving forward were all addressed following the group's first meeting:
#A12J's diversity of participants aspired to “carry out concrete projects, direct actions, and other interventions.”
The method of organisation would be “autonomous, from the bottom up. The assembly in and of itself is not an organization,” the group said.
At the initial meeting, they highlighted the importance of using non-traditional methods to express themselves:
Fue una asamblea convocada, en parte, por y para una comunidad que usualmente está en minoría frente a procesos políticos tradicionales. Es una que se dedica a generar nuevas formas de relaciones sociales, nuevas economías, nuevas maneras de educarse; que incluso piensa su trabajo artístico como un trabajo político.
It was a meeting convened, in part, by and for a community that is usually in the minority when facing traditional political processes. It is one that is dedicated to creating new forms of social relations, new economies, new ways of educating; that even thinks of its artistic job as a political job.
Regarding the results of the first meeting:
La asamblea produjo una serie de grupos de trabajos: uno anti-carcelario; sobre recuperación y acceso a espacios; de guías gráficas para un nuevo país; sobre la industria del cannabis; de acción directa; uno de medios, y otros 4 o 5 grupos. Estos se formaron y reunieron por primera vez en la asamblea y están estableciendo próximas reuniones presenciales.
The assembly produced a series of working groups: anti-prison; recovery and access to spaces; graphic guides for a new country; the cannabis industry; direct action; the media; and four or five other groups. These formed and met for the first time at the assembly and they are setting up future meetings.
They clarified that they did not intend to force a consensus through the meeting, but one came about spontaneously:
Sabemos que estamos convocando a gente que ya se educan en cuanto lo político y tienen muchas ideas sobre acciones que se pueden o deben tomar, si es que no lo están haciendo ya. A una comunidad diversa, inteligente, alérgica a los discursos y los modos de organización jerárquicos e impositivos. A las mesas de discusión de expertos, no se le puede convocar para llegar a consensos ni ofrecer una posición política de antemano. Ofrecimos una estructura para la auto-organización. La asamblea le pidió a cada persona una manera de tomar acción; da la oportunidad para que el ‘consenso’ se produzca mediante la acción de los participantes.
We know that we're bringing together people who are already educated in terms of politics and have many ideas about actions that can or should be taken, if they're not already doing so. A diverse, intelligent community allergic to the hierarchical and imposing speeches and ways of organization. It is impossible to come together to reach a consensus or offer a political position in advance of the experts’ discussions. We offer a structure for self-organization. The assembly asked each person for a way to take action; it gives the opportunity for a “consensus” produced by participant action.
They said they were not expecting the state to be receptive to the proposals produced by the assembly:
No estarán receptivos, pero ellos tienen muy poco poder ahora mismo. Y el poco que tienen no lo ejercen a favor de los ciudadanos, sino a favor de los acreedores. Posiblemente los administradores gubernamentales no tienen ni una silla en la mesa de esta discusión. Estamos entre acreedores y procesos políticos más amplios y globales. Tenemos que reconocer nuestro propio poder como ciudadanos, organizarnos, encontrar los puntos de presión reales y proponer nuevas relaciones sociales y formas de vivir, que no dependan de todo tipo de saqueo e injusticia para ‘funcionar’.
They will not be receptive, but they have very little power now. And the little power they have they do not exercise in favor of the citizens, but in favor of the creditors. It's possible that the governmental administrators don't even have a seat at the table of this discussion. We are between creditors and more broader and global political processes. We have to recognize our own power as citizens, organize ourselves, find the real pressure points, and propose new social relations and ways of life that do not depend on any kind of looting and injustice to “function.”
In terms of the future of the assembly, they reiterated that they do not exist as an organization.
“For now, the groups are doing their jobs and organizing through a platform/network. Anyone can join any group. If a set of groups thinks it is important or necessary, we may come together in the future to talk about the different groups and make plans, which can only be done in person.”

author: Carlos Esteban Cana


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You Stink Movement Gives Lebanese Government 72 Hours to Meet Protesters’ Demands · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese protesters at Martyrs’ Square in Beirut earlier today. Photo credit: You Stink Movement official Facebook page
Lebanese protesters today gave the government a 72 hour ultimatum to meet their demands or face further protests on Tuesday. The demands include the resignation of Environment Minister Muhammed El-Machnouk and a permanent, sustainable solution to the garbage crisis, which initially took the people to the streets.
Earlier today, up to 250,000 protesters turned up at Martyr’ Square, where they continued to protest for a sustainable solution to the country's mounting garbage problem.
The demands, published on the Tol3et Re7atkom (You Stink) Facebook page, were shared on Twitter by Lebanese blogger and activist Joey Ayoub, who is also a Global Voices Online author and a You Stink movement member:
Reminder of #طلعت_ريحتكم demands. YouStink movement has given them 72h to meet them, or Protest on Tuesday. #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/xPME2twJBr
— Joey Ayoub جووي أيوب (@joeyayoub) August 29, 2015
Other demands are holding accountable all those who have wasted public funds during the last period and holding accountable the minister of interior and all those who gave orders to open fire at the protesters.
Rami Khouri described the demands as “reasonable” but warned that failure to ensure them would mean the end of the You Stink movement. He warns:
Success of these reasonable demands will boost power of this protest movement and expand its base. Failure is fatal. https://t.co/734TAzl7c6
— Rami G. Khouri (@RamiKhouri) August 29, 2015
Ayoub says close to 250,000 people attended the protest:
You Stink movement announces over 250,000 protestors today in Beirut. #Lebanon #طلعت_ريحتكم pic.twitter.com/3M9F6BaUKG
— Joey Ayoub جووي أيوب (@joeyayoub) August 29, 2015
Blogger Habib Battah says over 200,000 people attended:
Massive crowd, organizers say over 200,000 #beirut #youstink pic.twitter.com/rsXjzC8xdZ
— Habib Battah (@habib_b) August 29, 2015
And Mohamad Najem gives a more modest estimate of the turn out:
100K protestors went down to the street, it's a historic victory says @Ma3louf, asked people to go to Martyr Square #youstink #طلعت_ريحتكم
— Mohamad محمد (@monajem) August 29, 2015
Regardless, the Secular Club of the American University of Beirut shares those photographs from today's protest, saying “no picture will do justice to the size of the crowd here.”
No picture will do justice to the size of the crowd here. #طلعت_ريحتكم pic.twitter.com/DAuPz7Pc46
— AUB Secular Club (@secular_club) August 29, 2015
And back to Battah, this was also the most eco-friendly protest he has ever witnessed:
As crowd clears, volunteers collect a pile of bottles for #recycling. This also most eco-friendly protest I've seen pic.twitter.com/0G1g0ASn0U
— Habib Battah (@habib_b) August 29, 2015
According to Najem, Lebanese protesters stayed put, even after the protest officially ended and organisers announced their demands. He shares this video:
Many protestors r still in Martyr Square, Riad Solh is still full. Nobody wants to go home tonight :) #youstink pic.twitter.com/qRsIGStgTf
— Mohamad محمد (@monajem) August 29, 2015
You Stink has broadened its focus beyond officials’ mishandling of the refuse problem following the closure of the country's largest landfill in July. Members are now calling for the government's resignation, an end to corruption and fresh parliamentary elections, among other demands. Lebanon, already suffering from a poor infrastructure and daily electricity cuts, has had no president for over a year. In 2009, its parliament extended its term until 2017, with no elections, citing instability as a reason.
Stay tuned for more coverage from Lebanon.
Videos Show How the Lebanese Security Forces Violently Dealt With ‘You Stink’ Protesters
‘You Stink’ Protesters Call for the Resignation of the Lebanese Government

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Lebanese-French Trumpeter Reimagines ‘Alice in Wonderland’ as a Hip-Hop Opera · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

This article and radio report by Betto Arcos for The World originally appeared on PRI.org on August 24, 2015, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Ibrahim Maalouf says he always loved the story of “Alice in Wonderland” because it's all about the freedom to imagine.
“Alice in Wonderland is like a hymn to creativity,” he says. “There's nothing that is less logical than the story of “Alice in Wonderland.” Lewis Carroll wrote something completely out of this world. He invented a story that doesn't have any meaning if you just read the story the way it is, but then everything has to be analyzed so that you understand why is he talking about this and it's like he didn't forbid himself anything, while writing.”
So when Maalouf was offered the chance to compose a piece for the Festival d'ile de France in 2011, he decided to re-imagine Alice.
The recording of Au Pays d'Alice features Maalouf's jazz band, a classical orchestra, and a children's choir. It follows the same storyline as “Alice in Wonderland” with the same characters. But Carroll's fantasy world is updated to modern-day France through the lyrics of Malian-French hip-hop artist Oxmo Puccino.
Ibrahim Maalouf says even though Alice was written 150 years ago it still resonates for him. “I think we live in a society where more and more things are forbidden and that scares me,” he says.
In the past few years, Maalouf says he's been thinking a lot about the climate of intolerance in Europe, and the growing anti-immigrant mood. Particularly in France. “You cannot wear this, you cannot wear that, you cannot think like this, you don't have the right to say this. They try to find solution to the problems and to the crisis through things that divide people, instead of finding solutions with things that unite people.”
Ultimately, Maalouf says he wanted to use the story of “Alice in Wonderland” to make a point about the right to express yourself. And in a world after the Charlie Hebdo slayings, it's even more important, he says.

author: PRI/PRX's The World


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Tanzania General Elections 2015: A Defeat for Africa’s Longest Ruling Party? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Will the former Tanzanian Prime Minister and main opposition presidential candidate Edward Lowassa unseat the ruling party? Photo by TZA One and released under Creative Commons.
The October 30 General Elections will be the most tightly contested election in Tanzania’s history since the introduction of multiparty politics in 1992. That is because of a sudden twist in the otherwise predictable plot of the country's domestic politics which saw a number of high profile defections to the main opposition party, Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).
Two former Prime Ministers, Edward Lowassa, the presidential candidate for the opposition bloc Ukawa, (made up of four political parties, including Chadema) and Frederick Sumaye, both left the comfort of the ruling party this summer. The hugely popular and charismatic Lowassa defected in late July after he was eliminated from the list of presidential candidates for CCM.
The high profile defections have presented the opposition with a real chance of crushing CCM, which having been in power for the last 51 years is the longest-ruling party in Africa.
In an article written for the Huffington Post, the President of the opposition party Chadema Freeman Mbowe says that the CCM’s fear of losing has led the party and its government to resort to increasingly dictatorial methods to maintain its grip on power:
Moved by fear of losing, the ruling party is now resorting to undemocratic methods to maintain its grip on power. First, they passed a Draconian election expenses act which forbids the importation of any campaign materials, including flags, vehicles and finances, 90 days before the polling date. This deadline fell three weeks before the party's official nomination day. How can any candidate purchase materials before they know they are the official nominee?
On Monday, the police arrested 19 Chadema youths who were signing up supporters. They were arrested for the simple act of public campaigning. When the former Home Affairs Minister Lawrence Masha went to the police station to request their release, they arrested him, too.
The next day, the police ruled that our candidate Lowassa could not meet with the public. CCM was shocked by the public reception the former prime minister received when he drove on a bus to bring attention to the desperate need for better public transportation in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city.
Increasingly, the police are blocking our campaign's travel routes and disallowing our campaign plane from using airports. They have refused to grant our rally permits in the very grounds CCM held a rally only a few days before.
Finally, the government announced on September 1st, they will begin enforcing its free-speech suppressing “Cyber Security Act,” which makes it a crime to criticize the government in emails or across social media.
However, looking at the elections in general terms, Frank Charnas noted that the pre-vote competition shows Africa is becoming “more at ease with democracy”. He also pointed out that the outcome of the election will not only affect Tanzania:
Put together, the upcoming Tanzanian elections are indicative of a continent becoming more at ease with democracy, and realising the power of a united and organised opposition. It will take a concerted effort to unseat the CCM, but momentum appears to be behind Lowassa and his coalition, thus setting up what are expected to be the closest elections in the country’s history, the outcome of which is sure to affect not just Tanzania, but the region and the continent as a whole.
It is no wonder that Twitter is abuzz with election-related opinions and insights:
For one, this will undoubtedly be the most “tech-savy” election in Tanzanian history, wrote Robert Kasenene:
These elections will be the most tech-savy #Tanzania has had yet. Right now its the battle of airial drone photography. Who's winning?
— Robert Kasenene (@RKasenene) August 24, 2015
In reference to the conviction of the son of Senegalese president, Karim Wade, for corruption, Marielaura observed:
While in Tanzania mafisadi wanaachiwa watembee & even compete in elections #TanzaniaMlioitupa # https://t.co/zoe8b6tdo4
— Marielaura (@Mankalaurie) August 24, 2015
While in Tanzania corrupt politicians get off scot free and even compete in elections
Tanzanian blogger Jeff Msangi considered this year’s election to be a “wild card game”:
Tanzania 2015 Elections are slowly turning out to be the “wild card” games.Whoever plays it well,carries the advantage posture.
— Jeff Msangi (@BongoCelebrity) August 26, 2015
While some took note of the rise of a politically engaged youth in the country:
Whoever gets the Youth vote in #Tanzania October elections will win https://t.co/YL9dQxMSdr
— African (@ali_naka) August 23, 2015
Political awareness is high this time around, wrote Straight Talk Africa:
RT @saidimsonga: We expecting to see very challenging historical election in Tanzania. Awareness is too high compared to previous elections
— Straight Talk Africa (@VOAShaka) August 19, 2015
But who will be to blame if the ruling party loses? Many think incumbent President Jakaya Kikwete:
If @ELowassa trounce @MagufuliJP in Tanzania's oncoming elections,the blame will squarely be on @jmkikwete,a legacy of isolation,confusion,
— Blamuel Ndiema (@blamuel_ndiema) August 14, 2015
This is the first time that Penny Kims has seen the ruling party scared:
for the first time since Independence i have seen the ruling party (CCM) being scared of losing elections…#2015election #Tanzania
— Penny kims (@PennyKims) August 27, 2015
Barak Bob and Penny Kims advised voters:
To make a good vote in October #Tanzania elections you have to take the two top rated candidates and analyze their personalities @jmkikwete
— barakbob (@barakbob1) August 13, 2015
Elections determine who is in power, but they do not determine how power is used…. Be careful who you vote for #Tanzania #Uchaguzi2015
— Penny kims (@PennyKims) August 27, 2015
Corruption has taken center stage in pre-election campaigns:
Corruption takes center stage in campaigning for #Tanzania Oct elections – a positive sign although few candidates have clean hands. #Africa
— James Hall (@hallaboutafrica) August 11, 2015
While the high profile defections have given birth to ‘democrazy’ according to one tweep:
#Tanzaniaelections Is it CCM-CCM that will win or is it CCM-CHADEMA? Welcome to democrazy
— Lloyd Muriuki Wamai (@muriukiwamai) August 27, 2015
Ma Mary would like to see the ruling party and the opposition form a government together:
Tanzania 2015 October 25th elections should produce a government of national unity, not one divided along regional,ethnic &tribal sympathies
— Ma Rary (@dmarari) August 24, 2015
Will this be the re-making of Tanzanian and African political history?

author: Ndesanjo Macha