text:
The Kyrgyz “Dancing Kelin” Protests Early Marriage By Calling Attention to the Harsh Realities of Rural Brides · Global Voices
Salam Aleik

Instagrammer Saykal Jumalieva, 21, rocks out to ‘Stayin’ Alive’ outside a traditional Kyrgyz yurt, calling attention to the plight of ‘kelins’ or ‘brides’ in Kyrgyzstan. Photo rights via Wikipedia Commons, 2006.
A video of a Kyrgyz rural bride dancing to “Stayin’ Alive,” a classic Western disco song by the Bee Gees, goes viral in Central Asia with nearly 83,000 views to date and thousands of shares on other social media platforms, bringing media attention to the problem of early marriage and the harsh reality of rural brides’ lives in this former Soviet republic.
For licensing contact cd@ruptly.tv По всем вопросам приобретения и использования видео обращаться по адресу cd@ruptly.tv . Когда меня достают распросами о замужестве, в голове происходит примерно это.  #naryn #kg #bishkek #kyrgyzstan #kyrgyz #бишкек #кыргыз #кыргызстан #келин #жайлоо #юмор #танцывбишкеке #танцы #чуй #ош #иссыкуль #нарын #танец
A post shared by  Сайкал и Адилет Жумалиевы???? (@sandrabrave_) on
The woman featured dancing and lip syncing to the classic 70's song is not really a kelin (Turkic languages: daughter-in-law, bride), but rather Saykal Jumalieva, a Kyrgyzstan Instagrammer using social media to protest against early marriage. The “dancing kelin” as Jumalieva was called, is a student of cinematography in her native Kyrgyzstan. According to media interviews and Instagram posts, Jumalieva is only 21 years old yet society views her as an old woman who should get married as soon as possible. In an interview with BBC English, she complains about the hard life of young kelins in rural areas:
“Life in the village is round-the-clock work. Brides finish one chore and start another. They work 24/7.”
Early marriage, although outlawed, is a common problem within Central Asian republics where underage girls, especially in rural areas, are forced to enter arranged marriages. Kyrgyz and Kazakh girls additionally suffer from bride kidnapping. Around 12% of brides in Kyrgyzstan are married before their 18th birthday, and annually nearly 12,000 Kyrgyz girls are kidnapped into forced marriages.
Most of the newly-weds in this region live with the husband’s parents and the majority of the housework, ranging from cleaning to cooking for the whole family and preparing beds, falls on the shoulders of the new bride. Society expects brides to serve their husbands’ families. In doing so, they lose their freedom of movement, the chance to study, and in most cases, the right to work outside the home. Kelins are vulnerable to domestic physical abuse and mothers-in-law especially perpetuate psychological violence against them.
Despite of state-funded national programs and internationally-funded civil society initiatives, attention to the issue has not been effective enough to make a lasting impact on women's lives. Innovative approaches like this Kyrgyz qizi's (Kyrgyz: girl) Instagram dance are far more effective in raising awareness about the harsh realities of kelins in rural Kyrgyzstan.

author: Salam Aleik


text:
The Rise and Fall of a ‘Patriotic Investment Charity’ in China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Zhang Tianming, the founder of Shanxinhui was arrested for suspicious scam. Zhang decorates his office with Chairman Mao's portrait. Image from Twitter @aboluowang
Beijing has seen its biggest protests in recent years after the founder of Shanxinhui was arrested for running an operation similar to a pyramid or Ponzi scheme.
Shanxinhui is a popular investment company that promotes itself as a “patriotic charity”. Despite the government crackdown, many of the company's 5 million investors insist that Shanxinhui is a legitimate patriotic business.
Shanxinhui, which means “kindhearted exchange” in Chinese, was registered as a business in 2013 with a goal of spreading “positive” and “virtuous” culture in China. Through its online investment platform, Shanxihui offers a high return rate to individual investors, and promises donations to charitable causes and government-endorsed programs to help the poor.
Every night at 8:30 pm, Zhang Tianming has a live-streamed video section on its website for its investors, where it reports the company’s commitment to charity work and encourages members to share their kindness by inviting more people to join the investment scheme.
Authorities accuse Zhang Tianming, the founder of Shanxinhui, of defrauding “a huge amount of property” from victims “under the guise of helping the poor and achieving common wealth.”
Earlier this year, Shanxinhui was promoted and featured in a number of official media outlets including the state-owned China.com.cn, China Central Television, Hainan Television and Xinhua News. During the interviews, Zhang Tianming emphasized that the company was an innovative attempt at charity and was meant to help fulfil Chinese President Xi Jinping’s China Dream. Here is the company’s introduction:
“善心汇”以善文化为核心理念，携手各界仁人志士，共同践行社会主义核心价值观，唱响“善心汇，和天下”的前进号角，秉承着“以市场需求为标准，以消费者利益为基石，以国家民族大义为导向”的原则，致力于探索构建新经济生态模型，推动国家精准扶贫和供给侧改革战略落地，打造一个共同富裕的和谐社会，助力国家早日实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦。
Shanxinhui upholds the culture of kindness as its core value, works with all walks of life to practice the socialist core value, advocates “the aggregation of kindnesses for a harmonious heaven and earth”. It’s business principle is “market demand as standard, consumer’s interest as foundation, state patriotism as direction”. It explores a new economic model that helps the country to allocate resources for poverty relief and demand-oriented reform so as to build a harmonious society with common prosperity, assisting the state in the China dream of national revival.
Even after China's public security bureau explained on social media how the company made profits through a Ponzi scheme, members of the investment-cum-charity company believe the crackdown is a result of a “failed blackmailing” of the group.
More than 50,000 people, many of whom carried Chinese flags, demonstrated outside Beijing’s Dahongmen International Convention Exhibition Centre and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on July 24 demanding the release of Zhang Tianming, the founder of Shanxinhui.
For some, the protests was a deja vu of the massive Falun Gong protests in 1999 outside Zhongnanhai. Back then, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responded with a series of crackdowns on the religious group.
Similar to members of Falun Gong in 1999, Shanxinhui's protesters are very loyal to the ruling CCP. Independent media outlet @iyouport posted a video showing protesters peaceful kneed down outside Dahongmen:
据称是传销组织的“善心汇” 头目被抓，消息说 有600万人被骗 #yourchina pic.twitter.com/IyOcetKX2z
— iyouport (@iyouport_news) July 24, 2017
The head of the marketing business “Shanxinhui” has been arrested. Hearsay, more than 6 million people were cheated.
Twitter user @suxinPL talked to one of the members near the protest site:
这位大姐显然是善心汇成员，在外围巧妙的，心静如水的解说他们的诉求，当局的不正当。她严词声明绝不是示威，就是请愿。她严词否认说绝没有组织。都是自发的就到了这里，是他们领导人被非法抓捕的地方。这样的分寸感，这样的理性，我们民主圈有吗？——冬日2017.07.24.21:58 pic.twitter.com/FjHWqtLBoa
— 小札 (@suxinPL) July 24, 2017
This woman is a member of Shanxinhui. She was talking to onlookers near the protest site and explained to them how the authorities had abused their power. She stressed they were not protesting but petitioning. She also said that the gathering was not organized, members just spontaneous gathered at the spot where their leader was arrested illegally. Her presentation is very rational with self-restraint, with is different from the democratic political circle.
Members of Shanxinhui believed that Zhang was arrested for rejecting “blackmail” by the Yongzhou public security bureau. Their version of the story was told in a smaller scale protest which took place in June outside the Yongzhou city government building. The protest scene was recorded by Twitter news outlet @Images from China (即时中国大陆映像) :
善心汇上月永州市政府前抗議 事情发生在今年的6月4日，永州市公安局人员以集团涉“传销”为由向善心汇索要千万元以上的“保护费”，被董事长张天明严词拒绝。当晚， 永州市公安局经侦支队人员将集团大数据中心8名核心技术人员带走，同时被抓的还有几名会员，1.1亿元资金被以敲诈的名义冻结。 pic.twitter.com/OBe8DoMGAE
— 即时中国大陆映像✊✊✊ (@o66071443) July 22, 2017
Shanxinhui members protested outside Yongzhou city government last month. On June 4 this year, Yongzhou public security bureau demanded Shanxinhui to give a “guarantee fee” of RMB 20 million [approximately US$ 2.97 million] as the company was under suspicion of fraud. The company's director Zhang Tianming rejected the payment. That night, an investigation team from Yongzhou public security bureau arrested 8 technical staff members from the company’s data center. A few members of the group were arrested and an over RMB 110 million [approximately US$15 million] investment fund had been suspended.
Since 2015, a number of online peer-to-peer lending platforms have been cracked down on for involvement in financial scams. During the same period, Shanxinhui’s “charitable financing service” business was taking off quickly.
Despite quick deletion of posts about Shanxinhui’s charity work, news and photos about the massive protests and critical comments questioning the police crackdown, Shanxinhui’s supporters keep voicing out on different news threads. Below is a selection of the group’s followers’ comments:
黑公安钓鱼执法，打压民族优秀企业，早晚得到报应
The corrupt police put up a trap to crackdown on the excellent national corporation, it will face retribution.
那么一个大爱的平台，没有一人亏钱，都是受助者，我们善家人都是自愿拿自己的钱去帮助需要帮助的人，请问传什么了，销什么了？ 为什么要不停的删除我们做的好人好事，做好事不是要受到表扬吗！做了那么多好事，你们为什么不报道？试问公安知法犯法也是对的吗
Such a charitable platform, no one has lost money. Everyone is aided. We contribute our money to help those in need voluntarily. What have we sold out? Why keep deleting our posts about the good deeds we have done? Isn’t that we have to praise positive acts? For all the charity work that we have done, why don’t you report on them? The public security officers have committed crime on purpose and are they allowed to do that?
我是大学生，为正义说话！公安为啥删除人家做的好事，封杀所有昨天的10万人上坊事件！捐款事情全被削毁，阻止上坊！殴打天明，如果人家有罪，可以公平公开公正申吗？用脑子想就知道有权有势的人在操纵！！
I am an university student and I am speaking for justice. Why has the public security police deleted posts about all the charity work and yesterday's massive protest incident? All the posts about the group’s donation have been deleted, petitions have been stopped, and protesters have been beaten. If people were guilty, can’t you openly, fairly and publicly present the case? Some powerful people are behind the crackdown.
On the other hand, supporters of the police action criticized members of Shanxinhui for having been “brainwashed” by the group. Some even labelled the group as a religious cult similar to Falun Gong, which has been outlawed by the communist party since in 1999. Below are a selection of pro-government comments:
传销危害巨大，应当提高防范意识不要被高利所诱惑。
Ponzi scheme style marketing is damaging. Don’t be seduced by high interest rate.
贵传销公司的水军，也真是没素质而且不带智商，像你们这种智商还指望能把黑的说成白的咯！
Ponzi scheme company’s online navy are low in quality and IQ. With such low IQ how can you turn black into white?
别说了，他们都让洗脑了。救不了他们了。老大也让抓了，钱打水漂他们也觉得是政府不懂他们，不公正瞎抓人。害了他们的财路。
Don’t argue anymore, they have been brainwashed and you can’t save them. Their chief has been arrested and they have lost money, of course they feel that the government has wronged them and unjustly arrested people. Their path to fortune has been destroyed.
这个SXH比F轮功更可怕！至少当年年轻一代不信F轮功，这个SXH里面有很多年轻人，好吃赖做，天天梦想发大财！长期以往，祖国的花朵和未来就要堕落成社会余渣，不去劳动，没有丝毫创造力，没有劳动价值贡献，社会还有前进的动力吗？传销邪JIAO祸国殃民，8个字是对SXH最恰当不过的定位！不严惩人民不答应！
SXH is more threatening that Falun gong. The young generation does not believe in FLG, but there are so many young people in SXH. They don’t work hard and just dream about making a fortune. The flowers of motherland have fallen to the scum of the society. They don’t work and are not creative. How can the society move on without a work ethic? Ponzi scheme style marketing is an evil cult that destroys the country and the people – this is the best description of SXH. People demand that such evil entities should be punished.
For those who neither stand-by Shanxinhui nor the authorities, they were critical of how the incident was handled. A netizen commented on Weibo:
据说500多万会员，警察早干什么去了，这得多少家庭家破人亡，为什么总是迟到的正义，在这个破公司成立之除，工商部门哪儿去了，忽悠欺骗2年多，政府哪儿去了，现在那么多人被骗那么多钱，政府一句，传销损失不受法律保护，我们需要保护的时候，你们这些人法律卫士又在哪儿？心痛我的国家。
Hearsay, Shanxinhui has more than 5 million members. Why hasn’t the police stopped them from expanding in the first place. How many family have been ruined [because of the crackdown]? Why does justice come so late? This company has been registered under Administration of Industry and Commerce. It started its scheme more than two years ago and the government just took notice? Now so many people have been cheated, the government said: the law would not protect a Ponzi scheme. When we needed protection, where was law enforcement. I feel pain for my country.
Outside the great firewall, Twitter user @lichengyi pointed out that the the appropriation of patriotism for personal gain has become a rather commonly seen phenomenon in China:
前几天善心汇闹大了，北京大红门乌央乌央的人群聚集。你可曾想到，此传销组织头目就打着“慈善”的名义，以及“爱党爱国爱民”的政治正确圈钱骗人。说来我对动不动喊“爱国”，或将个人头像换成国旗的人有警惕，这样的人十有八九是狭隘爱国无恶不作。我们的爱国主义教育失败，主要是没教会人真的爱国。 pic.twitter.com/Hp5sgZdZn5
— 李成义lichengyi (@WNFlSurTe5GX82V) July 27, 2017
Shanxinhui has development into massive protests at Dahongmen in Beijing. No one could imagine that the leader of the Ponzi scheme cheated money in the name of “charity”, “party”, “state” and “people” and all the politically correct rhetorics. For me, those who keep saying that they love the country or those who change the national flag into their leader’s portrait are most likely evil people whose version of patriotism is shortsighted and twisted. The failure of our patriotic education is that we have not taught people how to love the country genuinely.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
A Request to ‘Imagine the World Differently’ One Year After Mass Murder at Japanese Care Home · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Sachiko, a papermaker and a resident of a care home for people with disabilities, cuts up a letter written by the alleged perpetrator of Japan's worst mass-murder since World War II in order to make paper. Screencap from YouTube.
July 26 marks one years since the murder of 19 mentally disabled people in a care home in Sagamihara, about fifty kilometers west of Tokyo. While the suspect in the case, Uematsu Satoshi, has admitted to killing 19 residents of the care home, and wounding 26 others in a premeditated knife attack conducted with methodical precision, the case has still not been brought to trial.
The Sagamihara massacre and the national dialogue—or lack of it—highlights how disabled people are often ignored in Japanese society. Local police have also implemented a publication ban on the names of the victims, all of whom were disabled, making it harder to discuss the murders at the Sagamihara care home.
Uematsu Satoshi, the suspect in the case who admitted to the murders, was a former employee of the care home. The care home came to understand he was a threat to residents, and fired him prior to the attack. Uematsu had actually stated his intention to kill residents of the home in a letter sent to a local politician. In the letter, which can be read in full here, Uetmatsu carefully outlined his plan to kill residents of the care home, and stated “the disabled can only create misery” and that all should be eliminated. The letter was ignored.
As a response to Uematsu's letter, and to mark the one-year anniversary of the Sagamihara murders, L'Arche, an international non-profit devoted to improving the lives of people living with intellectual disabilities, released #As I Am: Nineteen Paper Cranes, a short web video:
The video was produced by L'Arche Japan, which runs a group home for people with intellectual disabilities in Shizuoka Prefecture, which neighbors Kanagawa Prefecture where the Sagamihara murders occurred. The short video features a woman Sachiko, a resident of the home who makes traditional Japanese paper.
Following the shock of learning about the murders on Sagamihara on July 26, 2016, and what motivated the alleged killer Uematsu Satoshi, Sachiko and her fellow care home residents responded by creating 19 paper cranes out of Japanese paper—one paper crane for each person killed in the care home in Sagamihara. Sachiko made the cranes from a paper facsimile of the letter Uetmatsu had sent to a local politician, where he had argued about the uselessness of disabled people.
The video ends with the words, “Imagine the world differently,” and also asks viewers to question their own assumptions about people who live with disabilities.
The video is part of the #As I Am web series created by L'Arche intended to highlight the lives of people living with intellectual disabilities around the world.
In a YouTube comment, a representative from L'Arche states, ” We created this Web Series because we believe that people with intellectual disabilities live in the shadows of a persistent view–present in all cultures–that they are the undesirables. This is one of our world’s significant injustices. It is one we can change.”

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Apple Removes Apps Offering Virtual Private Networks from Its China Store · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chinese president Xi Jinping is using iphone. Image by political cartoonist Baiduicao via China digital times.
A month after China announced its plan to crack down on companies offering virtual private networks (VPN), United States-based tech company Apple informed its customers that it would take down VPN services from its China store in compliance with the country's new regulation.
VPN is an application that allows Internet users to circumvent censorship by creating a secure and well-hidden connection to another network in a different geographic location.
On 29 July 2017, United Kingdom-based company ExpressVPN published a notification it received from Apple about the removal of VPN apps from its China store “because it includes content that is illegal in China”.
The company's research team also found out that all major VPN apps for iOS have been removed.
Express VPN criticized Apple for “aiding China's censorship efforts” which “threaten free speech and civil liberties.”
We’re disappointed in this development, as it represents the most drastic measure the Chinese government has taken to block the use of VPNs to date, and we are troubled to see Apple aiding China’s censorship efforts. ExpressVPN strongly condemns these measures, which threaten free speech and civil liberties.
Since VPN apps outside China are still available, Chinese users can download and continue using the app if their Apple accounts are registered in overseas app stores with a billing address outside China, as the company suggested:
Users in China accessing a different territory’s App Store (i.e. they have indicated their billing address to be outside of China) are not impacted; they can download the iOS app and continue to receive updates as before
The crackdown on VPNs is supposedly an assertion of Chinese “Internet sovereignty”, but it prevents Internet users from accessing a large number of foreign websites blocked by the government such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Global Voices.
The new regulation could also affect academic and scientific research. In a media interview, a professor from Tsinghua University who uses a personal VPN on his mobile device explained how the removal of VPN services can affect the work of scholars:
First-class research at a truly competitive level can’t go on with researchers cut off from the outside world. It’s truly unthinkable.
Earlier in January, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it would ban “illegal services” that carry out cross-border operations. This ban covered unregistered VPNs, and indicated that they would be banned until March 2018.
The current crackdown on individual use of VPNs is believed to be related to the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in autumn. There have been reports from overseas Chinese media outlets of an internal power struggle within the Politburo Standing Committee, since the majority of its members are expected to retire this year. Authorities do not want sensitive political news smuggled via domestic networks.
Although it may come as a surprise to some, Apple's decision was anticipated. On 12 July 2017, Apple announced that it would partner with a Chinese data management company in opening a new data center in compliance with the Chinese Cybersecurity Law, which requires companies to store Chinese users’ data in China.
Apple stressed that the data center has a strong encryption system that it could prevent any party including the government from accessing the company's user data. But according to China's cybersecurity law, a tech company has to provide technical support to the state for counter-terrorist measures, a requirement that would likely necessitate law enforcement access to user data.
Moreover, law enforcement authorities also have the power to request user data for other kinds of criminal investigations. In 2005, Yahoo handed over the user details of Chinese reporter Shi Tao to authorities even though the data was not stored in China and the company could have rejected the request. The government used the information to prosecute and convict the journalist for leaking state secrets. The journalist spent 8.5 years in jail as a result.
Before Apple announced its plan to open a data center in China, other tech giants such as Amazon, IBM and Microsoft had already begun hosting their data centers in China with local partners in compliance with Chinese laws.
Apart from the crackdown on VPNs, authorities have also applied other measures to stop the Chinese people from connecting with the outside world. Also targeted for blocking are circumvention tools like Shadowsocks, which is an application for encrypted communication that runs on virtual private servers (VPS).
A Chinese netizen who used Shadowsocks to visit foreign websites reported that his Internet connection was cut abruptly on July 17. The next day, a cybersecurity police officer called him to assist an investigation in the district police station, where he was interrogated. He was asked to sign a document (see image below) which obliged him not to use circumvention tools again. His Internet service was resumed on July 19.
The netizen suspects that internet service providers have been reporting irregular Internet connections, like an encrypted communication channel, to the cybersecurity police.


text:
Crisis in Maldives Parliament: Rejection of the ‘No-Confidence Motion’ Sparks Lockdown · Global Voices
Rezwan

Police officers and soldiers in riot gear forcibly dragged out opposition lawmakers from the parliament building and arrested two MPs. Image by Flickr user Dying Regime. CC: BY 2.0
On Monday morning, July 31, the Maldives political scene heated up as opposition members of parliament protested in the People's Majlis, the Maldives’ unicameral legislative body, and soldiers surrounded and secured its speaker, the Honorable Abdulla Maseeh Mohammed. This happened just one week after police officers and military personnel forcibly dragged out opposition lawmakers from the Majlis and arrested two lawmakers on the afternoon of July 24 in the capital of Male.
This was Maldives Parliament Chambers this morning! Millitary officers obstructing opposition MPs. pic.twitter.com/lsQhg6KvrU
— Maji? (@abdulmaajid) July 31, 2017
#Maldives People's Majlis – Military personnel forming a wall inside the chamber. pic.twitter.com/fAQCnaJ4wr
— ? (@Simwarr) July 31, 2017
Soldiers in plainclothes inside Parliament, to remove Opposition. No legal grounds for soldiers inside chambers before session begins. pic.twitter.com/ZI5CJLxkzV
— Eva Abdulla ?❓ (@evattey) July 31, 2017
On July 3, the four-party coalition Maldives United Opposition (MUO) had submitted a no-confidence motion against Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed with 45 signatories from the 85-member house, where 42 signatures are required to move the motion. Speaker Maseeh is a key ally of Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who is battling several charges of corruption against him.
The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) challenged the validity of the no-confidence motion in the Supreme Court, asking whether the former lawmakers of the PPM, who are signatories, would be subjected to anti-defection measures. On July 13, the Supreme Court granted an anti-defection ruling sought by the Attorney General which states lawmakers will lose their seats if the electoral body notifies Parliament that they 1.) left their party 2.) have been expelled or 3.) switched parties.
On the basis of this ruling, four opposition lawmakers were stripped of their seats, which rendered the scheduled July 24 no-confidence vote against the speaker void because the valid number of signatures on the opposition-led motion fell below the minimum number 42. This created an uproar in the country. Opposition MP Rozaina Adam tweeted:
We cannot make a defection law without bringing relevant changes to the constitution. The Constitution doesn't give space 4a defection law.
— MP Rozaina Adam? (@Roxeyna) July 13, 2017
Reacting to the ruling, Maldives United Opposition (MUO) demanded the no-confidence motion must be put to discussion and a vote as scheduled on July 24 and called on supporters to take to the streets. They also questioned the Majlis’ negation of the no-confidence motion and suspension of all meetings until July 31, citing “enhanced security arrangements in the capital for the Independence Day festivities.” In response, the MUO referenced a constitutional requirement for a meeting after 14 days of the submission of the motion.
The Maldivian government locked down the parliament, cordoned off by security forces, and warned of a crackdown on protests. On July 24, nearly all opposition lawmakers marched toward the Majlis, managing to breach the cordon and enter parliamentary premises. The military responded by dragging and removing opposition lawmakers outside, where they continued to protest alongside approximately 300 supporters. Pepper spray was hurled at protesters and several people were arrested including two lawmakers and a number of journalists.
The ordeals of the day were vivid on Twitter:
Opposition lawmakers get in to the Parliament, despite police and military blockade. pic.twitter.com/tuJ9GfIWR4
— Junayd ?? (@mjunayd) July 24, 2017
Maldives Constitution has been suspended while the Parliament is under-siege by Maldives National Defence Force. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/i3wblT5BIv
— Mohamed Musthafa (@Thimarafushi) July 24, 2017
All Mps attacked with pepper spray. pic.twitter.com/0fEztkKlAI
— MP Rozaina Adam? (@Roxeyna) July 24, 2017
MPs @faya_i @MariyaDidi @MohamedAmeeth being dragged out of parliament by @MNDF_Official pic.twitter.com/yhUgUTvxWk
— Munshid ?❓ (@dyingregime) July 24, 2017
A press release by the Majlis Secretariat defended the use of Maldives National Defense Force, decrying “false claims” of a military takeover of parliament.
Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (and half-brother of President Yameen) commented:
Appalled by the way Hon MPs were mishandled both inside parliament & on the roads today. All MPs MUST be respected. #NationFirst
— Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (@maumoonagayoom) July 24, 2017
The Maldives transitioned to a democracy in 2008 but experienced political instability after its first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, was forced out in an alleged “coup” in 2012. President Abdulla Yameen won the controversial presidential election in 2013. The country is tilting toward authoritarianism as growing accusations mount against President Yameen for silencing dissent and imprisoning political opponents, including Nasheed, under allegedly made up charges.
The Maldives United Opposition was launched a year ago by a coalition of opposition parties led by Nasheed, former President and Maldivian Democratic Party leader, who now lives exile in the U.K., evading a jail-term in Maldives. Their main agenda is to restore democracy by removing President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom through legal means and trying him for money laundering and other charges.
Last September, “Stealing Paradise,” an investigative exposé by Al Jazeera, revealed how President Yameen and his associates embezzled millions of dollars, bribed judges and other high-level officials, and used influence to remove government workers who stood in their way. The Maldives government has labeled the investigative report as biased and defamatory.
The United Nations has expressed concern over the crackdown on the opposition and the media after the lockdown in the parliament.
It remains to be seen how President Yameen handles the growing opposition against him, using his influence to activate the judiciary for his political purpose.

author: Rezwan


text:
El Salvador’s ‘Rainbow Crosswalk’ Promotes Pedestrian Safety and LGBTQ Rights · Global Voices
Melissa Vida

Image from a video report made by El Faro TV. Shared under the Creative Commons license.
In El Salvador, more than 20 artists and LGBTQ rights activists painted crosswalks with the colors of the rainbow LGBTQ pride flag between the Boulevard of Heroes and Andes Avenue. This is the first time that a Central American country has authorized support for the LGBTQ community in this way.
To have a permanent work of art in the center of the country's capital city, the Salvadorian LGBTQ community achieved an important advance in their visibility and their normalization in society, something that goes far beyond the Gay Pride Month which is organized in June.
Watch the video report (in Spanish) created by El Faro TV. The report shows the different ways in which artists got together and prepared the art intervention. For Nicolás Rodriguez, an activist for LGBTQ rights and the main organizer behind the idea, the rainbow crosswalk can be seen as a great symbol of respect for both pedestrians and also sexual and gender diversity:
The artists are celebrating since their creation, called “The Big Show in the Sky”, will have a lasting impact on Salvadorian society. In addition to representing the sexual diversity that includes all Salvadorian citizens, the project hopes to keep pedestrians safer.
“Todos somos iguales como personas; la convivencia en paz y armonía contribuye a reducir la violencia, y esta iniciativa contribuye a que el peatón, en especial los de la comunidad LGTBI, no sufran violencia de parte de los conductores”, comentó Nicolás Rodríguez, uno de los organizadores.
“We are all the same as people; coexisting in peace and harmony contributes to reducing violence, and this initiative contributes so that the pedestrian, especially pedestrians who are members of the LGBTQ community, don't suffer from violence caused by drivers”, commented Nicolás Rodríguez, one of the organizers.
El Salvador has suffered an increase in violence against members of the LGBTQ community, especially those who are transgenders or transsexuals. In spite of certain government initiatives to protect the rights of the LGBTQ community, the number of attacks against LGBT persons has not decreased, partially because of problems associated with gang and police violence that has resulted in the murder of over 600 homosexuals, transsexuals, or transgenders since the 1990s. These acts of violence are seen today as well, not only in terms of physical violence, but other cases that include people who suffer from threats, extortions, and those expelled (from their homes and their countries).
In this context, this public work of art is a step forward for the rights of the LGBTQ community in El Salvador.

author: Melissa Vida


text:
Greenpeace’s Taiwan Map Error: Oversight or Consequence of China’s NGO Management Law? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Greenpeace took down the map and admitted that it had made an error by including Taiwan as part of China.
Environmental action group Greenpeace is facing a fundraising crisis in Taiwan after it included the island in a map of China.
Taiwan has been a self-ruling political entity since 1950, but China claims the territory and has pushed the international community to break official ties with the Taiwanese government.
Greenpeace apologized and said it was an error, but the public statement didn't stop Taiwanese from making their anger known on the organization's official Facebook page and calling on their compatriots to stop donating.
NGO workers also speculated that the inclusion wasn't actually a mistake, but a consequence of China's foreign NGO management law, which requires groups operating in the country to have a government entity sponsor.
The map of China was part of a report, “Analysis: How cutting China’s coal overcapacity could help tackle its water woes,” released on July 5, and the inclusion of Taiwan quickly caught local attention. Chiu Yubin, former chairperson of Taiwan Association for Human Rights, commented on Facebook two days after the report went online:
綠色和平（Greenpeace）每年在台灣募走一億多，但只在台灣聘了幾個專職，許多本土議題也鮮少看他們發聲。重點是，他們獲得台灣民眾那麼多捐款支持，結果竟然還把台灣納入中國的領土（請見留言欄第一則）。
請轉給身邊更多人知道，可以的話，把Greenpeace捐款轉給更多本地的環保團體，比如說：綠色公民行動聯盟、地球公民基金會、主婦聯盟環境保護基金會、台灣環保聯盟、環境法律人協會等等。
來台灣海撈，然後還踐踏台灣，這樣完全在裝笑維，讓人看不下去。
Greenpeace raises more than 100 million Taiwanese dollars from Taiwan every year, but it only hires a few campaigners in Taiwan. The group is not very vocal in domestic environmental issues. More importantly, they raise so much from Taiwanese and now they place Taiwan within China’s territory.
Please let others know about this. If possible, you can transfer your donation from Greenpeace to local environmental groups, like Green Citizen Action Association, Citizen of the Earth, Homemakers United Foundation, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Environmental Jurists Association and etc.
Come to Taiwan for cash and tread on Taiwan, this is too hypocritical.
His status was shared more than 1,400 times and sparked a social media campaign to withdraw donations from Greenpeace.
In response, Greenpeace East Asia quickly issued an apology, took down the map and explained that it was a mistake. Moreover, they referred to their funding report 2015 and 2016 to show that the funds raised in Taiwan had been allocated for local campaigns.
But the apology didn't cool the outrage. In about two weeks, more than 4,000 people visited Greenpeace’s Facebook page and gave them a one-star rating. Many also left comments such as this one:
Stop donating to this unconscious organization which insults all people living in Taiwan. It can not be trusted cuz it cannot face the truth which Taiwan is never belong to People Republic of China.
An ex-Greenpeace staff Renee Chou explained what had possibly gone wrong on the one hand and defended Greenpeace’s work on the other:
類似的地圖在我任職時就看過無數次，當時我們能做的就是不斷溝通，讓其他國家的同事理解為什麼不能把台灣劃入中國地圖，某種程度上，一次又一次的解釋為什麼「台灣並非中國的一部分」已經成為一種內部倡議與另類外交（誤）。
換個角度想，中國辦公室的同事也因為在綠色和平工作，不斷地被台灣同事提醒並且妥協。之前不是沒有這樣的地圖，而是因為次次都在出版前被擋下，才得以避開這樣的危機。… 綠色和平源自美加，慣於透過行動、輿論、公民力量監督政府與企業，但這些在獨裁極權的中國統統不管用。 在極其有限的政治與言論空間內，將環境工作的影響力最大化，甚至有時冒著自身安危，這些都是我對中國綠色和平同事敬佩不已的原因。
I have encountered similar errors many times when I was working [at Greenpeace]. What we could do was to keep communicating with other Greenpeace offices why Taiwan should not be placed inside the map of China. Such rounds and rounds of explanation about “Taiwan not being a part of China” have become internal advocacy and alternative diplomacy.
If we shifted our position, colleagues from the China office were constantly reminded about the position and compromised. Similar maps appeared but they were blocked before going public and hence we didn't encounter this crisis before… Greenpeace is based in North America and it has been using action, public opinion and citizen power to monitor governments and corporations. Such strategies do not work out in authoritarian China.
Colleagues in the Greenpeace China office tried to maximize the impact of environmental protection work and sometimes jeopardized their own security within the limits of political restriction. This is something that I truly respect.
However, another Greenpeace supporter believed that an environmental campaign should not be defined by borders and accused the current criticism of being too antagonistic:
從台灣募了兩億元，就一定要用兩億元在台灣！這在全球化時代是非常狹隘而且可悲的訴求。以綠色和平前陣子在推的「時裝去毒」來說，目前國際知名的連鎖時裝，總部多在歐美，工廠在中國，買的人穿的人在全世界，包括台灣。要改變時裝公司的原料政策與製程，改用無毒製程，最直接有效的方式除了是在全球發起拒買，更重要的是對總公司進行強力施壓，促使其改變政策。[…] 白話說，專款專用花個兩億請兩萬個走路工包圍H&M台灣台北旗艦店三個月，到最後一點屁用也不會有。因為整個產業鍊早就全球化，而台灣，只是這個鏈子的最末端，但錢，要花在刀口上。
[They said] the 200 million Taiwanese dollars raised in Taiwan should be spent locally! This is a very pathetic and narrow-minded demand in this global era. Let’s take the example of Greenpeace’s fashion detox campaign, most headquarters of chain fashion stores are located in Europe and the US and their factories are in China while their customers are all over the world, including Taiwan. If we really have to detox the manufacturing process of fashion companies, the most effective way is calling for a global boycott. More importantly, we have to pressure the headquarters and ask them to change their policies. […] In other word, even if Greenpeace spent 200 million to hire 20,000 people to protest in front of the H&M flagship store in Taipei, it would not change the policy. The whole production chain has been globalized and Taiwan is at the end of the production chain. The money has to spend on critical spots.
The map error also touched on China's foreign NGO management law that went into effect in January 2017. The legislation says any group operating in China must register with the police and be sponsored by a government entity. Given that Beijing's official position is that Taiwan is a part of Chinese territory, it's likely Greenpeace and other NGOs will face similar conflicts in the future.
NGO worker Sada Chou argued the point on the Taiwan non-profit organization exchange platform, NPOst:
剝去情結、情緒與受傷的情感，綠色和平這次出的「狀況」，實際上是「國家機器」與「非營利組織」這組關係裡危脆的信號：我們從去年開始談《境外非政府組織境內活動管理法》（註 1，下稱「境外法」）的威脅，而今它真實的在現實中發生了，不管身為臺灣人有多麼生氣、覺得自己被矮化被吃豆腐，中國的綠色和平辦公室其實別無選擇（註 2），可以想見未來這樣的「誤植」還會持續發生。[…]
引述某個在中國活動的 NGO 工作者的評論：「在臺灣喊獨立主權很容易，在中國，代價是明天可能整個辦公室 10 幾個人就不見了。」而這樣的兩難帶出的是價值取捨——環保確實是全球性的議題，牽一髮足動全身，中國之大、產業政策、環境政策之鉅幅影響，使它幾乎難以在環境這個議題上被繞過而談，那麼，身為環保組織，你要怎麼辦？身為一個臺灣人，你要怎麼辦？身為一個地球人，你要怎麼辦？即使不涉及國族情感，身為一個厭惡中共政權與暴力的人，你又要怎麼辦？
Let’s put aside [identity] complexes and feelings of being hurt [by the error on the map], the crisis that Greenpeace is facing is a signal reflecting the relationship between the state machine and NGOs: We’ve talking about the threat of mainland China’s legislation on foreign NGO management. It has taken effect now. No matter how angry and how maligned Taiwanese feel, Greenpeace’s China office has no other choice and for sure similar “errors” will continue to happen in the future […]
Here I quote from a NGO worker in China: “In Taiwan, it is very easy for you to chant the slogan of independence and autonomy, but in China, the price is that the dozen people in the office would disappear the next day.” Facing such a dilemma, you have to make a choice concerning your values — the environment is a global issue and everything is connected. China is so huge that it has great impact on manufacturing and environmental policies and any environmental campaign could not avoid China. As an environmental organization, what should you do? As a Taiwanese, what should you do? As a member of the global village, what should you do? Even if we put aside our nationalistic sentiment [of being Taiwanese], as a person who hates the violent and authoritative regime under the Chinese Communist Party, what should we do?
Chou did not provide any answers for those questions, saying it's a value judgment that every single individual has to make on their own.


text:
Tajik Parliament Plans to Monitor Citizens Who Visit ‘Undesirable’ Websites · Global Voices
Salam Aleik

Independence monument in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Photo by Roberts Wilson via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)
Security services in Tajikistan will soon have the right to monitor citizens’ online activities, by keeping detailed records of SMS and mobile messages, social media comments, and anyone who visits “undesirable” websites.
This week, the parliamentarians passed legislation that grants the country's security services the right to monitor and control citizens’ online activities, as part of a set of amendments to existing criminal law.
These have not yet been made public, but local news website Asia Plus has obtained some details from experts and parliamentarians. According to the website, two special cyber security units in the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be responsible for following Tajiks online.
Local MP Saidjafar Ismonov told Asia Plus that for an “inappropriate comment,” a commenter can be fined.  Comments considered damaging to someone's personal honor or undermining national security can be punished with a jail term of two years or more. What exactly qualifies as an “undesirable website” or an “inappropriate comment” is not clear.
A prominent supporter of the legislation is Ozoda Rahmon, who in addition to being the president's daughter, serves as his chief of staff and as a senator in the Majlisi Milli, the upper house of the country’s parliament.
Tajik MP Jurakhon Mahmadzoda first introduced the amendments and justified the call by claiming, without offering evidence, that more than 80% of Tajiks who have internet access visit “undesirable websites belonging to extremists and terroristic organizations.”
Internet technology expert Muhammadi Ibodullev told RFERL's Tajik service that Mahmazoda's claim might have stemmed from a very basic misunderstanding. In one recent conference held in the capital Dushanbe, a speaker said that “80% of Tajik members of ISIS [the fundamentalist militant group that controls pockets of territory in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan] have been recruited by others, including via the Internet.”
Those are two very different statistics, but MP Mahmadzoda was quick to offer a solution to what he sees as an internet out of control.
Reacting to the news, Facebook users expressed concerns over how “undesirable websites” might be determined:
Без опубликованного списка могут интерпретировать что угодно. Зайдешь на сайт, выйдешь. А кто-то после тебя там напишет что-то новое а ты там был…
Without a public list [of websites] they can interpret [undesirable] however they want. You visit a site and leave it. But afterwards the website might publish something new, and you were there.
The legislation also represents a shift in strategy for the Tajik government, which has historically opted to censor controversial websites and services. Now, rather than preventing citizens from accessing online materials, they will use these sites as vehicles for monitoring citizens’ activities.
Indeed, for several years, Tajikistan periodically blocked access to popular social media, such as Russian Odnoklassniki and VKontakte, Facebook, YouTube, and local top news websites. These sites were usually blocked around times of heightened political tension or public unrest, such as military clashes in some parts of country. YouTube was blocked for a week in 2013 after a video of President Emomali Rahmon dancing at his son's wedding went viral.
After a few weeks or months, access was typically restored amid international pressure. But in more recent years, all these websites were blocked wholesale, for no apparent or specific reason.
The government rarely admits that it orders web blocking, but internet service providers have repeatedly confirmed regular ‘verbal’ orders from authorities.
The constant lack of access to social and news platforms has led to widespread use of virtual private networks that have become the main means by which Tajik netizens access blocked websites, and especially social media.
But with the government's new legislation, this may change. It appears that authorities have elected to soon make social media accessible and to use them as a way to monitor citizens, rather than controlling the public by keeping these websites out of reach.


text:
Why Are Russians Indifferent to the Syrian Conflict? · Global Voices
Syria Untold

Street art at the UN General Assembly, September 2013, portraying Syrian refugees looking on to Presidents Putin and Obama sitting at a table over a map of Syria. Art by Eduardo Relero. Photo by Oxfam. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Sergei Davidis is a Russian opposition politician and rights defender. He is a member of the council of Memorial Human Rights Center, and a member of the Federal Coordination Council of the 5th of December Party.
SyriaUntold sat down with him to understand how Russian civil society positions itself on the Syrian conflict. This dialogue is the outcome of a partnership between SyriaUntold and openDemocracy Russia (oDR), and is republished here as part of Global Voices’ own partnership with SyriaUntold.
SyriaUntold: Syrian civilians have been subjected to unprecedented violence for more than six years. Why is Russian civil society silent about it? Are there underreported solidarity initiatives?
Davidis: I don’t think there are any particularly significant solidarity initiatives that the world doesn’t know about. Sometimes there are solitary pickets, sometimes there are slogans of solidarity at general opposition demonstrations — particularly those regarding Ukraine.
After the Kremlin decided to deploy troops in Syria [in 2015], there was a demonstration against it [in Moscow], two to three thousand people attended. There was an attempt to hold a solidarity demonstration at the height of the storm of Aleppo in November 2016 — this had a certain resonance in society, but the city authorities didn’t allow it to go ahead. Back then, there were some protest actions in a few Russian cities, although they didn’t get much in the way of numbers. There’s some solidarity with the Syrian people on Russian social networks, but it’s quite quiet.
The reasons why Russian society is silent on this issue are complex, and probably can’t be explained exhaustively. I suspect that the following factors are at play:
– the coverage of the situation in Syria by media outlets under state control. If this coverage mentions violence against civilians, then it will be acts of violence committed by IS [also known as ISIS, Islamic State, or Daesh] or the [US-led] Coalition. Russia is presented as the defender of the civilian population;
– the conflict in Syria doesn’t fit into the dichotomy of the battle between the democratic west and the autocratic Putin regime;
– the general lack of information on the situation in Syria, and the complexity of this situation for Russian citizens — to figure out what is going on, especially on the basis of fragmentary and unbalanced information, and therefore understand who should be supported and why, is very difficult;
– the Syrian context itself is culturally alien and incomprehensible for Russian citizens (in contrast to Ukraine), and the level of empathy for the Syrian people is low;
– the threat of Islamic terrorism and, in first place, Islamic State, is seen as real, and the Russian public finds it hard to distinguish the fight against IS and other military conflicts in Syria.
Sergei Davidis. Photo from the 5th of December Party.
SyriaUntold: What about the Russian opposition to the current government? Where does it stand on the Syrian conflict?
Davidis: The real opposition to the Russian authorities — the non-system opposition — views Putin’s war in Syria negatively. This concerns the so-called “liberal” opposition too, as well as a considerable section of the Russian nationalist opposition and the Russian left. But the main theses of Russian opposition groups are pragmatic rather than humane — Russia is using funds for a distant and unnecessary war, funds that are needed to solve the numerous internal problems at home.
Nevertheless, the idea that the Putin regime is waging war in Syria to support Bashar Al-Asad, to oppose the west and satisfy his own geopolitical ambitions, rather than really confronting IS and other terrorist groups, is seen as more or less self-evident by the opposition.
SyriaUntold: Is indifference towards Syria somehow related to the poor status of civil liberties in today's Russia?
Davidis: It’s difficult to judge the connection between the two exactly. But there’s definitely something. At a minimum, the numerous problems with rights and freedoms in Russia suck up a lot of time from the section of Russian society that is, in principle, ready to express its concern with these domestic issues, which doesn’t leave energy for problems taking place far from Russia. Moreover, the constant limitations on freedom of assembly and expression make getting your position across to the rest of society all the more difficult.
SyriaUntold: To what extent can apathy towards the Syrian cause be ascribed to general indifference towards remote conflicts and to what extent is it a signal of widespread support for the Russian government’s policies in Syria?
Davidis: Both factors are present here, but to understand their contribution, a comparison with the annexation of Crimea and aggression towards Ukraine is telling. According to polls, these actions by the Russian authorities had far more support from society. However, the protest against state aggression and solidarity with the Ukrainian people was significantly more noticeable in Russian society. So, in terms of Syria, support for the Russian authorities’ actions is extremely passive. Indeed, it is precisely indifference to a distant, foreign and incredibly complex conflict that is key here.
SyriaUntold: To what extent are reliable and diversified sources of information on Syria available in Russian in the country? What is the general perception of the Russian media’s coverage of Syria? What about the prevailing view on how western media are covering the conflict?
Davidis: It’s hard to say, at least in Russia, what sources of information about events in Syria are absolutely reliable. But of course, it’s impossible to talk about diversification of information resources in Russia. In official media, which are more or less the main source of information for the majority of Russian citizens, the coverage is purely propagandistic and prejudiced. In the few oppositional media and the internet, diversification comes down to refuting official information, drawing attention to the Russian casualties, expenditure of funds on the war, foreign policy and military failures of Putin and Assad, rather than an attempt to paint a real, holistic picture of what’s going on in Syria.
The picture of the Syrian conflict, which you can see in the mainstream western press, is practically inaccessible to the Russian viewer — the kind of information paradigm (not only in its relationship to Syria, but in terms of attention paid) isn’t available in Russian, including in opposition media. The picture you see in Russia’s official and pro-government media is principally different, opposite, from its western counterpart — and it’s the same in the alternative press.
SyriaUntold: Is there any Syrian civil actor, intellectual, or artist who has managed to reach the Russian audience? Because of the historical relations between the Assad regime and the USSR-Russia, a significant number of Syrians have lived in Russia, and some of them even speak Russian fluently. What is the role of this Russophone Syrian community in Russia and abroad? Does it have any impact on how the narrative on Syria is shaped in Russia?
Davidis: I can’t think of any successful examples where Syrians have appealed to the Russian public, or any role played by Russian-speaking Syrians. The only instance I can think of is, perhaps, the statements made by Muhammed Fares, the first Syrian cosmonaut. Fares, who conducted a mission on the Mir space station in 1987, joined the opposition in 2012 and eventually fled to Turkey. In November 2015, Fares called on the Russian people to support the fight against Assad — and this had a certain resonance in society.
SyriaUntold: Some have argued that Islamophobia has played a role in decreasing empathy for the Syrian cause (especially in comparison with the Ukrainian cause). If so, do Russians look at Syria in the same way they look at Chechnya, therefore sharing the same prejudices on an allegedly Islamic cause? What about Russian Muslims? Are they vocal about Syria or is mobilization limited to Islamist hardliners?
Davidis: I don’t think that Islamophobia is crucial to understanding the indifference of Russian citizens to Syria. It plays a certain role. Society doesn’t want to understand the internal confrontations or waste energy on distinguishing IS terrorists and other groups fighting in Syria, thereby risking the possibility of being wrong.
But a comparison with Chechnya shows that Islamophobia isn’t key. The level of empathy for the Chechen people during the first and even second Chechen wars was far higher. This was probably connected to the geographical, cultural and historical closeness of Chechnya (and the casualties, terror attacks, mass involvement in military actions from across Russia, and because the war was so physically close).
I’m not well informed enough about how Russian Muslims feel about this situation, but what I do know tells me that their positions are defined by their relationship to the Russian authorities. Supporters of the regime tend to support its position, including Syria, whereas opponents are more likely to sympathize with IS. But as far as I know, there’s been no actions in support of Syrian civilians, actions against Asad or Russia’s role in the war, by Russian Muslims.
SyriaUntold: In Europe, siding with the Syrian regime has become a common trend among wide segments of the traditional left (under the guise of “anti-imperialism”) and the far right-wing (for Islamophobic reasons and in the hope of curbing the unwanted waves of refugees through stable “secular” dictatorships). A growing number of decision-makers are also rehabilitating the Assad regime under the pretext that, in their view, it’s the lesser of two evils (the latter being Sunni jihadism) and its collaboration is helpful in restabilizing global security. Are there any similarities with the Russian political landscape and, if not, how does it differ from Europe with regards to Syria?
Davidis: The Russian authorities, and the “experts” and media who support them, use elements of similar rhetoric. But with the absence of public politics and public discussion in the western understanding, these arguments remain instruments of building support for the authorities’ actions, rather than a subject of substantive political and civic debate.
The support for the Assad regime and the military operation in Syria is based on the public position of the Russian authorities, which is passively shared by a significant section of Russian society. This position can be explained as follows:
– This support is the most effective and natural means of fighting IS and terrorist groups like it, and a chance to stop them far from Russia’s borders;
– The Assad regime, which is a legal, democratically elected regime that is realizing Syria’s sovereignty, defending it against external aggression, international terrorism and color revolutions from outside, is legally and morally justified;
– Participation in the military operation in Syria, the support and maintenance of a friendly regime in the Middle East allows Russia to oppose its geopolitical enemy — the west, and, in particular, the US, as well as to show the might and importance of Russia, test new military equipment, and give practical military experience to the Russian army.

author: Syria Untold


text:
Young Kyrgyz Music Star Rejects Appointment to Head Museum After Online Backlash · Global Voices
Salam Aleik

National Historical and Archaeological Museum Complex Sulayman. Photo by Dave Proffer. Wikipedia (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
Twenty-six-year-old music star Samara Karimova was appointed director of a popular museum in Kyrgyzstan, but she was forced to refuse the position after receiving online backlash about her alleged lack of qualification and experience for the job.
On 28 July 2017, the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Culture appointed Ms. Karimova as director of Sulaiman Too museum which is part of the Sacred Mountain Complex listed by the UNESCO as a world heritage site. The museum is located in the southern city of Osh which witnessed a bloody ethnic violence seven years ago.
After the appointment was announced in public, many social media users quickly pointed out the singer's lack of experience and educational background. Some also raised the issue of conflict of interest since Ms. Karimova’s husband is a high-level official at the Ministry of Culture.
Below are some comments on Facebook citing the reasons why Ms. Karimova is not fit to become the director of the museum:
И как говорил великий Ленин “каждая кухарка может управлять государством”!!! Её назначение – это тоже самое, что лечить людей поставили талантливого повара, а собирать ракеты – артиста т.к он “талантлив”… Никто не спорит, что она талантливая, но ведь петь на сцене одно, а управлять музеем в одном из сакральных мест это не песенки петь!!!???
As Lenin the Great said “any kukharka (Russian: A female cook, who cooks at home) can rule the government”. Appointing her is equal to let a talented cook to {be a doctor and} treat people, and let a singer to make rockets, as she is a “talented”. No one argues that she is a talented {singer}, but singing in a stage is different from managing a museum in a sacred place.
“В музее должен работать настоящий специалист историк этнограф или научный работник нужно проводить научно исследовательские открытия”
A real expert on history and ethnography or an academician should work in a museum, as it requires doing researches.
“И всё таки министр поступил как заинтересованное лицо, мог назначить не супругу представителя министерства по Югу или в противном случае должен снять с должности мужа чтобы не было конфликт интересов”.
The Minister of Culture acted as a partisan party. He could appoint not a wife of his official responsible for the south {The museum is located in the south part of the country), or fire the husband to avoid conflict of interest.
Samara Karimova immediately reacted to the online backlash by refusing to accept the position. In a short interview with news website “Sputnik Kyrgyzstan”, she said:
“Я вчера читала, что писали об этом в соцсетях. Многие говорили, что я слишком молода для такой работы, поэтому я решила не занимать эту должность. Наше общество, видимо, не готово к молодым управленцам, хотя у меня было очень много планов развития музея”
I have read yesterday what people wrote about this on social media. Many said I am too young for this job, therefore I decided not to take it. It seems that our society is not ready for young managers, although I had a lot of plans for the museum promotion.
?
A post shared by  ?Самара Каримова (@samarakarimova_official) on
Many Kyrgyz social media users responded that the deeper issue is about relatives of officials getting top positions in government:
“Кыргызстанское общество устало от токолок и детей чинух, которые садятся на руководящие должности”.
The Kyrgyz society is tired of officials’ tokols (wives) and kids, who get into managing positions.
It is not uncommon for young members of local elite families in Central Asian republics to get top appointments in government. Particularly in Kyrgyzstan, two presidents who were ousted from power were accused of committing nepotism.


text:
As an Economic Crisis Grips Turkmenistan, the President Sings and Bikes · Global Voices
Salam Aleik

A pop song written and performed by Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and two of his grandchildren is attracting attention after independent media outlet Chronicles of Turkmenistan posted video of it on their Facebook page.
It's not quite at the level of worldwide smash “Despacito”, but still some fans appeared to enjoy the music:
Голос отменный, молодец, культурный досуг всем необходим, от песнм душа расцветает!
A very good voice. Cultural leisure is necessary for everyone. The soul is enriched by this song!
Turkmenistan has an abysmal human rights record and is experiencing a difficult economic situation, with unemployment and shortages of basic goods on the rise. But Berdimuhamedov, who in February 2017 “won the hearts” of 97.69% of voters in the country's presidential election, prefers not to publicly say a word, instead propagandizing the “great achievements of the country and a successful life of his people.”
Many of those achievements are his own: “Yadimda” (Turkmen for “I Remember”) is not the first number written and sung by the Turkmen president, and writing songs and singing are not his only talents.
Berdimukhamedov, deemed “one of worst world dictators” by the Foreign Policy magazine, is the author of more than 40 books on different topics. A work of his on tea last year, for example, was received by his compatriots with almost religious reverence:
A dentist by education and a lifelong sportsman, he once forced his ministers to join him at the fitness club:
And at the end of July, in anticipation of the country's hosting of the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in September, the president took part in a bike ride that shut down private motor vehicle transportation in the capital.
The 60-year-old Berdimuhamedov climbed to power at the very end of 2006 after his predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov, who had been in power since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, died. Niyazov, who named himself Turkmenbashi (Father of Turkmens), fostered a personality cult around his rule. Among other things, he changed the alphabet in the country to the Latin, changed the names of the months (April was named after his mother), changed the names of the week (Saturday was changed after his spiritual book “Rukhnama”), and implemented many other eccentric ideas. His “Rukhnama” became the second sacred book for Turkmens after the Quran and everyone had to learn it by heart, while around 15,000 monuments of him, including several golden ones, were built around the country.
Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov poses during a 2009 visit with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Photo by Lawrence Jackson. Public domain.
After Niyazov’s death, Berdimuhammedov, whose official titles (that he awarded to himself) include “Leader of the Nation” and “Arkadag” meaning “protector”, destroyed the personality cult of his predecessor and built up his own.
His regime kept up the restrictions on freedoms. Turkmenistan is home to the world's fourth biggest gas reserves, and is suffering from a serious economic crisis – yet will soon host the Asian Games.
Given the context, a commenter under a January 2017 news clip on YouTube of the president singing criticized him:
Вот что бывает господа, когда у человека очень много денег и он пользуется богатствами и ресурсами страны в личных целях. Не удивлюсь если завтра он захочет свой космический корабль или еще чего, ракету баллистическую например. Страна в ж…, люди голодные холодные, экономики никакой, производства никакого, живут только за счет газа и великой воли великого святого Гурбангулы.
This is what happens when someone has a lot of money and uses the country’s wealth and resources for own private purposes. I won’t be surprised if tomorrow he wants his own spacecraft or ballistic rocket. The country is in big trouble, people are hungry and cold, and there is no economy, no production, living only because of gas sales and the great will of Saint Gurbanguly the Great.


text:
Ethiopia’s Anti-Graft Campaign is Rife with Ethnic Tensions · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

Locals refer to this building on the outskirts of Addis Ababa as “Steal Display.” They allege a mid-level government official openly looted public funds to build it. Photo sourced from Syoum Teshome's blog.
Last week, the Ethiopian government announced the arrests of ‘top officials’ accused of ‘misdirecting public funds’ to ‘maximize their private interests,’ employing favored euphemisms for corruption. The names of those arrested were held back until later in the week, however, with one writer on Facebook comparing the delay to a suspenseful drama series.
Ultimately, when a state-backed media website revealed the list of ‘top officials’ as 48 junior government bureaucrats, middlemen and investors, the news was less groundbreaking.
On Twitter, some complained that the government had overhyped the corruption story with ‘breaking news,’ noting the list of names released did not include a single top official.
Ruling party affiliated FanaBC reported detention of top officials who are suspected of corruption in #Ethiopia. Names aren't mentioned yet.
— BefeQadu Z. Hailu (@befeqe) July 25, 2017
The highest official called out so far is the former chief executive officer of Capital Roads Authority (Addis Ababa), a position that is nowhere near as powerful as claimed by government media.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn launched a highly publicized campaign targeting government and state-owned company officials suspected of corruption. The campaign has led to the arrest and prosecution of hundreds of officials since January 2017.
Even though the government regularly publicizes these kinds of corruption cases, it has not convinced Ethiopian citizens of its sincere interest in ‘cleaning house.’ According to Transparency International’s most recent Corruption Perceptions Index, Ethiopia is listed among countries whose public perceive the pervasiveness of rampant corruption in the public sector.
Online public cynicism regarding the ongoing anti-corruption campaign shares an overwhelming opinion summarized in Seyoum Teshome's blog:
There are practically no non-corrupt officials. Those arrested are corrupt, and most of the top officials who are leading the anti-corruption campaigns are also corrupt. There’s no difference between the corrupt and non-corrupt officials. The only difference is that those who were arrested have not secured the loyalty of senior functionaries that can shelter them.
One factor fueling public cynicism is that infrastructure projects are often delayed or stagnate while contractors, subcontractors, and government cronies grow wealthier.
Arresting and prosecuting junior officials won’t change anything said Seyoum Teshome in a post on his widely circulated blog.
Another writer on Facebook recently pleaded with the Ethiopian government to stop the anti-graft campaign. He sarcastically warned that if authorities do not stop, Ethiopia will soon become a stateless society. In his view, Ethiopian corruption has permeated so many fields that it is a feature of the Ethiopian condition.
The pressure to launch an ongoing anti-graft campaign was driven by protests that began in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest region, over alleged expropriation of farmlands around Addis Ababa. Tsegaye Ararssa wrote:
“Who said that the Oromo demands are about arresting a select few corrupt and depraved officials or their (questionable, because nepotistic) connections? The indictment of the #OromoRevolution is directed at the system, not some junior officials, or their wives, whom the system is disposing of as collateral damage in its combat with the Oromos.”
Corruption and Ethnic Politics Intersect
Some observers believe Ethiopia’s crackdown on a few mid-level officials is politically motivated. Many have complained about the discriminatory application of Ethiopia’s anti-corruption laws.
Such kind of charges have been used to settle within-party division in the past.
— BefeQadu Z. Hailu (@befeqe) July 25, 2017
Ethiopia is a one-party state in which the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) monopolizes power. The EPRDF, however, is a coalition of four ethnic-based parties. The four parties purport to represent particular ethnic groups, but they share the same ideology, political association, and policy preferences.
Authorities from these four parties – Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM) and Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) – are currently Ethiopia’s top leaders. However, the TPLF is the core of the EPRDF, holding absolute power over the last quarter of a century.
In terms of representation, Oromos make up 35 percent of the country’s 100 million people, Amharas account for about 30 percent of the population and the Southern Ethiopian region accounts for 14 percent. While Tigrayans represent only six percent of the population, they are among the most high-ranking military officers who control the nation's security.
Outdoor advertising campaign billboard against corruption. Photo by Alan via Flickr. CC BY 2.0
The TPLF makes vast fortunes through the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray-EFFORT, a party- affiliated conglomerate with business interests in various sectors (mining, manufacturing, service, and media), while the remaining three ethnic parties participate as a ‘patronage network,’ trading the needs of their people for political influence.
One commentator has noted that while the EPRDF frequently targets non-Tigrayan party members, they often spare Tigrayan senior members despite their alleged guilt for much more egregious corruption.
During the reign of the late prime minister Meles Zenawi, some core members of TPLF were imprisoned for corruption even though many believe they were likely locked up because of a power struggle.

author: Endalkachew Chala


text:
Global Voices Honors the Life of Open Web Activist Bassel Khartabil, Executed by the Syrian Regime · Global Voices
Global Voices

Bassel Khartabil. Photo by Joi Ito via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
We are deeply saddened to learn about the death of our friend Bassel Khartabil. We mourn his loss and send our deepest condolences to his family, friends and all those who knew and loved him.
A Creative Commons leader in Syria who was active in projects including Mozilla Firefox and Wikipedia, Bassel Khartabil (aka Bassel Safadi) played a pivotal role in extending online access and open knowledge to the public in Syria. He was a close friend of many in the Global Voices community and participated in our 2009 Arab Bloggers Meeting.
In November 2015, Bassel's wife reported that she was contacted by people who identified themselves as Assad government insiders. They told Noura Ghazi that her husband had been sentenced to death, but offered no further information. Bassel's whereabouts and condition were unknown until today, when Noura learned from Syrian officials that he was executed in 2015.
Today and beyond, we honor all of Bassel's work as a leader in the open web movement. And we honor the efforts of many individuals and organizations that advocated for his release over the past five years.
Since the beginning of the protests against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in 2011, more than 65,000 people have disappeared, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
Untold numbers of those who have been arrested or forcibly disappeared by the regime have faced torture and even executions. As of 2016, at least 17,723 Syrians had died in custody since 2011, according to the international human rights group Amnesty International. The stories of many more people remain unknown.

author: Global Voices


text:
Some in Kenya Point to a Recent Hailstorm as a Sign of Climate Change · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

Nyahururu town in Laikipia County via Google satellite images, a site of recent hailstorms that mistook thought for snow.
As world leaders made travel arrangements to meet for the annual 2017 G20 summit which took place July 7 and 8 in Hamburg Germany, signs of one of the major topics of discussion at the summit, climate change, was being felt in East Africa.
Residents of a town lying on the equator in Kenya experienced a strange phenomenon: a hailstorm. The white frozen stuff became the subject of heated debate by Kenyans on social media on July 4, as pictures of what appeared to be snow started appearing online having been taken and posted by residents of Nyahururu town in Laikipia County located in Kenya’s Rift Valley region.
Snow in Nyahururu, Kenya. This is a rare occurrence. pic.twitter.com/nSWUpfWvrv
— Ahmed Mohamed (@Asmali77) July 4, 2017
Kenya, specifically Laikipia County where the hailstorm was witnessed, lies on the Equator and such an occurrence has never been witnessed in modern memory. The only place in Kenya where such extreme temperatures are seen is on Mount Kenya, East Africa’s second highest mountain after the famous Kilimanjaro in neighboring Tanzania.
Wonder how these guys felt stuck in traffic in Rimuruti Nyahururu road.Don't envy them at all.Climate change effects are here&real. pic.twitter.com/sfktYOS2vA
— Max Mash (@Max1Mash) July 4, 2017
Following the viral nature in which the photos and videos from excited commuters were spreading and causing all manner of excitement and speculation on the authenticity of the images and what exactly was being witnessed, Kenya's Meteorological Office, which maintains an active Twitter page, sought to provide clarification on the “snow” folks were witnessing.
The event in Nyahururu is a hail storm. Such storms occurs when there is abrupt convection and rain clouds form too fast.
— Kenya Met Department (@KenyaMetService) July 4, 2017
And some officials at the Met Office, suggested that the unusual occurrence may be as a result of climate change.
Despite the weather department issuing a statement, Kenyans were not having any of it. To some of them, it was snow.
Statement on the Nyahururu ‘snow’. #nyahururu #snowinkenya #hail pic.twitter.com/NOEf51Dyw5
— Kenya Met Department (@KenyaMetService) July 5, 2017
According to Kenya Meteorological Department, the Nyahururu meteorological station recorded the lowest daily minimum temperature of 4.6°C on June 27. This is the lowest temperature they have ever recorded from that area and for most parts of the country. According to their frequent weather forecast updates, even in the month of July when Kenyans experience the coldest temperatures, the temperature does not fall below 8°C.
Parts of Central, Western, Coast and Northwestern are expected to receive rains between 15th to 19th July. pic.twitter.com/i5eL6BvfH2
— Kenya Met Department (@KenyaMetService) July 15, 2017
Many Kenyans took this an opportunity to “make snow while the hail fell”, so to speak, by sharing all manner of memes with some even linking the hail storm occurrence to the current politically charged climate that has seen the two main political parties, Jubilee and NASA, competing in the coming presidential election, try to outdo each other on their achievements.
I don't know how but it is just a matter of time before this Nyahururu hailstorm get politicized. pic.twitter.com/yPwe38Unsl
— Kamle (@Kamlepeter04) July 4, 2017
#snow
Skiing classes Now available
Nyahururu branch???
Contact @ElvoKibet for more info pic.twitter.com/DLKCse4TUp
— Wilcox (@__wilcox_) July 5, 2017
Nyahururu men people be like…#GainWithXtianDela pic.twitter.com/PyYWivCQMb
— Tsombe Francis (@tsombe_francis) July 4, 2017
Image translation: Buy five kilograms of meat I am coming with the fridge.
Although most of the tweets on the Nyahururu hailstorm were of excitement, there are those who did not see the joke, especially when it came to the implications of the incident.
In Europe, as the G20 summit came to a close, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel ended the summit with a rebuke to US President Donald Trump who declined to commit his country to the Paris Climate Change agreement signed by all the other member countries.
According to the Climate Change Vulnerability Index for 2015, seven out of the 10 countries at the highest risk due to climate change are in Africa.
Africa has seen a decrease in rainfall over large parts of Southern Africa. According to environmental movement 350Africa.org, there are eight ways in which climate change is already affecting Africa: changes in weather patterns, water supply and quality, agriculture and food, human health, shelter, vulnerable populations, national security and on ecosystems.
The withdrawal by the US from the G20 summit means that the world’s largest economy will not commit to lowering carbon emissions to prevent the imminent effects of global warming. Africa is expected to bear most of the brunt of these emissions with climatic conditions such as the ones experienced in Nyahururu serving as warning signs of the drastically changing temperatures in the tropics. The worst, many experts say, is yet to come.

author: Njeri Wangari


text:
‘My Freedom Is Mine’ — Caribbean Netizens Discuss Emancipation Day · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Redemption Song Statue, Emancipation Park, Jamaica. Photo by Mark Franco, used with permission.
On August 1 each year, several Caribbean territories — including Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica — commemorate Emancipation Day in honour of the day in 1834 when the British emancipated enslaved Africans. The day sparked passionate dialogue on the holiday's meaning and the manifestation of enslavement in contemporary society.
On Twitter, Jamaica's governing party remembered its significance:
183 years ago, on August 1st, Jamaica made strides towards #EqualRightsAndJustice. 311,000 slaves in Jamaica were freed. #Emancipation pic.twitter.com/o8N5wEn7dx
— JLPJamaica (@jlpjamaica) August 1, 2017
Others shared this focus on a way forward:
August mornin’ come! Freedom, to chart our own destiny. To aspire, to build, to become. #Emancipation #Jamaica #OneLove #1st1000Matter pic.twitter.com/om8jL59OBE
— Early Childhood JA (@ECCJA) August 1, 2017
#Jamaica celebrated 183 yrs of #Emancipation today. But the legacy of slavery still affects my home today. Its time to move forward together
— Rachael Minott (@rachaelminott) August 1, 2017
Cultural appropriation immediately came to the fore in online debates about Emancipation Day. Facebook user Rhoda Bharath shared a link to an article pleading with Black America to “stop appropriating African clothing and tribal marks,” noting that “if we are ignorantly using a culture that is not ours, we are appropriating.” In the comments thread Bharath added, “To me, the thing to remember is which culture had power and which culture was dominated […] Appropriation occurs when a dominant culture takes over or lays claim to a subordinate culture.”
In the same vein, Bharath bristled when she read a news report quoting Khafra Kambon, chairman of the Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) in Trinidad and Tobago, who said, “It is important to recognize the unexploited value of the Emancipation product.” Bharath countered:
Was Khafra Kambon quoted correctly here in today's Express?
I just got a nosebleed.
Product? For whom?
Unexploited? For who to come and exploit? And turn it into a commercialised pappyshow?
Emancipation celebrations should not be a product.
Netizens also discussed the enduring effects of slavery. On Facebook, Trinidadian playwright Tony Hall linked to an interview with Black American attorney Bryan Stevenson, who summed it up by saying, “I don't think slavery ended in 1865. I think it has just evolved.”
Journalist turned filmmaker Kim Johnson posted an article he wrote a few years ago, triggered by a picture he kept, which details the history of the abolition of slavery and how Emancipation Day came to be marked in Trinidad and Tobago:
When I first came across the photograph of the slave it felt white-hot with meaning, as if it would burn the New York Times page on which it was printed. […] Neither the subject nor the photographer was named, only the date and the place: 1863, a Louisiana cotton plantation. And the fact that the man was a slave who had been flogged by his ‘owner’. […]
On the Holocaust Monument in Israel, dedicated to the victims of the Nazis, is the inscription:
‘This must never happen again.’
We in the Caribbean have been more ambivalent towards the horror and shame that was plantation slavery. The sons and daughters of both slaves and slave-owners must live together, and indeed have gone far towards building a civilisation from the charnel house of history. Our monument is ourselves, our society and culture. Its inscription: ‘Do you remember the days of slavery?’ […]
It is a memory which changes over time and which, according to UWI Professor of History Barry Higman finds ‘its most complete expression in the celebration of the anniversary of emancipation’.
Deeply affected by the injustice of slavery, Johnson remembered a trip he made to the slave port of Badagry in Nigeria, which highlighted the complicity of Africans in the Transatlantic Slave Trade:
Chief Bowei explained, ‘The descendants of the slave masters talk with so much pride and they show you the graves of the slavemasters, their ancestors and show you the grave of this man, he was a slave master and they are so proud and I get so disgusted, that’s me. My very first time to Trinidad I just laid low to study the people in Trinidad. To see if they had any bitterness in them especially toward pure Africans as a result of the slave trade and all that.’
Jamaica-based blogger Annie Paul curated tweets about the type of monuments used to mark emancipation in various parts of the world. It was inspired by the following tweet from Samuel Sinyangwe, who, on a trip to Barbados, was enthralled with a statue depicting Bussa, who led a slave revolt in 1816:
First day in Barbados and we drove past this monument three times. I've never seen anything like it. (1/x) pic.twitter.com/ZwJ3GKAprz
— Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) July 2, 2017
In a follow-up tweet he explained:
In my entire life I've never seen any monument that symbolized the power of black liberation in the way this statue does. By design.
— Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) July 2, 2017
Paul found this Twitter thread “fascinating because in Jamaica the curatoriat was dead set against what it considered clichéd representations of the enslaved bursting out of chains. This directly influenced the selection of Jamaica's Emancipation Monument.”
Sinyangwe added:
The statue I remember seeing growing up in Orlando was this one. It celebrates confederate soldiers fighting to keep black people enslaved. pic.twitter.com/FETR0mu7c9
— Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) July 2, 2017
It was taken down ONE MONTH ago. And they'd never replace it with a statue like the one in Barbados.
— Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) July 2, 2017
Twitter users from all over the region soon began posting photos of monuments commemorating emancipation in various countries, such as this one of Cuffy in Guyana:
This is Cuffy in Georgetown, Guyana. He led a slave revolt starting on Feb. 23, 1763, a day which Guyana still recognizes as Republic Day pic.twitter.com/5g8Dj28nBq
— Randy ?? (@BiGuy_1) July 2, 2017
…another depicting a slave revolt scene in Curacao:
You'll find this one in Curaçao. It's about the Slave Revolt in 1795 here on the island pic.twitter.com/vA5AxfSmgK
— Jbe⠗na⠗d ?? (@Jbernardoo) July 2, 2017
…a beautiful shot of Le Marron Inconnu in Haiti:
Haiti's “Neg Marron”. pic.twitter.com/Za1YAP3mTJ
— ?Ayizan✨ (@TiFamnNwa) July 2, 2017
…and of course the iconic statue at the entrance to Jamaica's Emancipation Park:
‘Redemption Song’- at Emancipation Park, Jamaica. Shows full freedom. pic.twitter.com/6HWDXmgDOI
— The Stoic One ? (@PinkGia7) July 2, 2017
Emancipation Day also prompted discussion about the importance of claiming hard-fought freedoms. Activist Tillah Willah said:
What Emancipation mean, we still enslaved, who is a born again African and cote ci cote la and guinea hen bring ram goat.
Hear nah, my grandmothers’ knees were too bruised by prayers and cleaning people floors for me to do anything else but be who I am.
My freedom is mine. I choose to give thanks. And do work. And help people. And weep. And dance. And remember joy. I choose to question myself everyday and put down other people's loads that are no longer mine to carry. That is my freedom. What is yours?
Journalist Wesley Gibbings summed it up by saying that the freedom of emancipation belongs to all of us:
The way I see this is like living in the same village with other people. Do we say ‘one third is yours and another his and one third for me?’ Or is it that all of the village or town is for all of us?
I therefore do not lay claim to a quarter this and a quarter that when it comes to my mixed heritage. I am a quarter nothing! All of them are all of me.
I don't feel compelled to do something ‘African’ to commemorate our emancipation. I listen to the music every day and I have been there (more than once) so I know there is no monolithic version of ‘African’ dress and, especially today, of ‘African music’. Most of all, it is who I am in totality.
So much to explain to the man who once warned me about ‘allyou’ being at the Emancipation Village in Port of Spain. Too much to explain on this important day. I lay as much claim to this freedom as anybody else. It is mine.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Bulgarian Wikipedia Announces National Entries for ‘Wiki Loves Earth’ Photo Contest · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) in Persina Nature Park, Bulgaria. Photo by Borilei via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Bulgarian Wikipedia announced the top 10 photos that will represent the country in the international photo contest of nature protected areas, “Wiki Loves Earth.”
The photos were presented August 2, 2017 via a widely shared special Facebook post which featured the top 10 photos and links to the original versions. The post also included special thanks to the members of the jury, which include prominent academics from the areas of botany, zoology, geography, ecology and astrophysics, as well as members with experience in natural photography.
Strumeshnitsa river, in Natura 2000 protected zone Rupite-Strumeshnitsa. Photo by Georgy Palpurin, ShareBulgaria team via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0.
This year, nine of the Central and Eastern European countries are organizing the national stages of the “Wiki Loves Earth” photo competition. This photo contest complements the regional article writing contest “CEE Spring,” which aims to support content creation about the region and includes a category dedicated to nature and geography.
In Bulgaria the “Wiki Loves Earth” competition was organized for the third time in a row, from June 1 to 30.
Participating Countries Wiki Loves Earth 2017. Image by Saqib, CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The basic aim of the competition is to collect photos of natural heritage sites – such as nature reserves, landscape conservation areas, national parks, scenic/landscape areas, remarkable gardens, etc. – to illustrate articles in the worldwide free encyclopedia Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation projects,” states the official announcement of the global competition.
The 2017 edition of the “Wiki Loves Earth” contest includes participants from a total of 37 countries on five different continents. Organizers and contributors have been using the hashtag #WikiLovesEarth to publish photos and promote a spirit of sharing.
Over 137,000 photos have been collected on a global level so far, with India, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil and Pakistan as top contributors.
Vlahinski Waterfall in Pirin National Park. Photo by Marioshumanov via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Pied avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta). Photo by Borilei via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The winners of the international stage of the “Wiki Loves Earth” competition will be announced September 15.

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
‘Despacito’ Deemed Too Racy by Malaysia’s State Media Networks · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A dance club in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Flickr photo by Loren Infeld (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Pop song ‘Despacito’ is no longer on the playlist of Malaysia’s state-owned radio networks and TV channels after an evaluation by the Ministry of Communication and Multimedia found the song’s sexually-explicit lyrics unfit for public broadcast.
‘Despacito’, the reportedly most streamed song of all time, is by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi and rapper Daddy Yankee, with a remixed version featuring pop star Justin Bieber. The Spanish word ‘despacito’ translates to ‘slowly’ in English and the song is about a romantic relationship.
Calls for banning the song came from the women’s wing of the opposition party, Parti Amanah Negara, which seeks to be known as more progressive compared to some of the Islamic hardliners from the ruling coalition. The party's arts and culture chairperson, Atriza Umar, explained their position:
We respect the right to be entertained but there should be clearer guidelines so that the entertainment does not spoil people but makes them better.
However, the party didn't mention which part of the song offended them.
After Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak announced that Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) will no longer play ‘Despacito’ on its programs, Atriza Umar's party welcomed the decision as positive news for the women and mothers of Malaysia:
…the people in this country are not anti-entertainment by doing so (calling for the ban), but we do not want unhealthy elements to fester and become a norm for the younger generation today.
In recent years, conservative voices from the ruling coalition in the Muslim-majority nation have become more aggressive in pushing for the strict application of Islamic beliefs in governance. These same conservative voices also succeeded in pressuring the state to censor films, songs and books that they believe can cause ‘harm’ in society. Early this month, a book promoting a moderate version of Islam was banned by censors.
Other political parties also supported the women’s wing of the Parti Amanah Negara. Zuraida Kamarudin, of the People's Justice Party (PKR), even contemplated the idea of screening songs to protect the children from ‘improper meanings':
Songs should be screened just like movies. This will ensure all songs aired do not carry improper meanings. If it's aired in a private sphere, that's fine. What I'm talking about is when the song is aired publicly. Children will then be listening to these types of songs.
The decision to ban ‘Despacito’ from state media was criticized by many artists and netizens. John O, the lead vocalist of the band Paperplane Pursuit, questioned the rationale for removing a song “which nobody understands”.
When due process is ignored in favour of knee-jerk reactions to people playing up public sentiments whenever it suits them, every single industry stands to lose.
Twitter user, @00Nuza, also questioned the logic of the song ban:
That moment when Malaysian enjoyed Despacito without understanding it just because its a great song till RTM let everyone know its ‘dirty’.
— Nuza (@00Nuza) July 20, 2017
Philip Golingai, a columnist for The Star newspaper, wrote about how his generation listened to songs from the 1980s and 1990s which also contained lyrics that can be interpreted as vulgar yet this didn’t lead to any harm.
Some pointed to the hypocrisy of banning a song when so many others with similar messages were allowed on the air:
20 Songs We Should Stop Playing On The Radio Because They're Totally About Sex: https://t.co/fKXsRQTHVq #Despacito #RTM #Malaysia #censor pic.twitter.com/GDsrb2gtE0
— Latest on SAYS (@saysdotcom) July 21, 2017
Let's not forget Maroon 5's Animal.
“Baby, I'm preying on you tonight Hunt you down eat you alive”
— NZMN (@arsnzmn) July 19, 2017
The parties which complained about ‘Despacito’ belong to the opposition and many question whether or not they are trying to get the support of conservatives. Media analyst Niki Cheong laments the position taken by these opposition groups:
Re: tweets yesterday about RTM’s ban on Despacito, very sad that Amanah playing these political games. Where is the opposition M'sia craves?
— Niki Cheong (@nikicheong) July 20, 2017
For the record, the song annoys the crap out of me. But censorship does nothing to help a country progress …
— Niki Cheong (@nikicheong) July 19, 2017
‘Despacito’ is still being played in privately-owned media networks which dominate the airwaves of Malaysia

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Japan Reacts With Alarm to Venomous Fire Ant Invasion · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Captions: Fire ant found in Honmokufuto (a container port in Yokohama, Japan); Nationwide fire ant surveys begin, to be implemented in 68 ports across Japan. Screencap from ANN official YouTube Channel.
Japanese authorities have launched a campaign to search for, trap and destroy non-native fire ants in 68 locations across the country after the insects were discovered near several container ports in different parts of Japan.
The hunt for the non-native South American fire ants (Solenopsis invicta, also known as the red imported fire ant, or RIFA) began when the ants were discovered at Kobe's container port in June, 2017.
ヒアリの調査 対象の港を６８か所に拡大 #nhk_news https://t.co/LMp9vg5Ziw
— NHKニュース (@nhk_news) August 2, 2017
Tweet: Hunt for fire ants expands to 68 ports across Japan
Article caption: As highly venomous fire ants ants continue to be discovered in ports across Japan, search activities have been launched at ports.
Fire ants have never been observed in Japan before. Native to South America, the insect gained notoriety after successfully colonizing much of the southern United States. The ants can thrive in just about any environment, are notable for their painful sting, and have the potential to take over outdoor public spaces in Japan such as parks and playgrounds, while destroying crops.
By July 5, fire ants—including, for the first time, a queen—were discovered in a container port in Osaka, to the east of Kobe. Fire ants were next discovered in Nagoya, another major container port on Japan's Pacific coast, and by July 11 fire ants were found inland, away from the immediate vicinity of a container terminal, in Kasugai, an industrial city neighboring Nagoya.
At the same time, dozens of what may be fire ants were found and exterminated in the city of Nagaoka in Niigata, on the Japan Sea coast. Although not confirmed as fire ants, the insects in Nagaoka were said to have been found in a cardboard box shipped from the Philippines to Tokyo port’s Oi pier and then transported to Nagaoka by land.
By the end of July it was apparent fire ants were present in port facilities in Yokohama, just outside of Tokyo, as well as in two locations in Kyushu, in western Japan.
In the different locations across Japan, some ants had been found in shipping containers, while other ants were found in earth exposed by cracks in the asphalt at the port facilities.
【#神奈川新聞】強い毒を持つ南米原産の「ヒアリ」が横浜港・本牧ふ頭のコンテナターミナルで見つかったことを受け、国土交通省は２５日、コンテナ置き場の亀裂をふさぐ緊急工事を報道関係者に公開した。https://t.co/a3FUEgwjlO pic.twitter.com/qkJXimOfwG
— 神奈川新聞横浜みなと支局 (@kanagawa_minato) July 26, 2017
(#Yokohama Shimbun) After highly venomous “fire ants” from South America were discovered at the Honmokufuto container terminal in Yokohama Port, the Ministry of Transportation announced to news organizations an emergency plan to seal all exposed earth in the port.
With each new discovery in July, fire ants were discovered in shipping containers that had originally come from China, which has also been colonized by fire ants since at least 2005. As a result, Japan's Ministry of Transportation has ordered extermination measures at more than 60 ports with regular cargo shipments from China. The ministry called for similar measures at 870 other ports if they accept container cargo from China.
In the meantime, fire ants, thanks to the regular stream of news reports throughout June and July, have also become a small part of Japan's 2017 summer season. For example, one Twitter user noted that fire ants have made an appearance in the Aomori Nebuta Festival, a major summer event in northern Japan that features giant paper floats:
ヒアリもいるよ。#弘前ねぷたまつり2017 pic.twitter.com/OOomrHGGiG
— たまさんはりんご農家だっちゃ (@isao_sawada) August 1, 2017
There's fire ants here, too. #HirosakiNebutaMatsuri2017