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Serbia: CNN Mistakes Budapest for Belgrade · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Balkan File writes that “CNN has mixed in footage of riots that took place in Budapest, Hungary, with that of the riots in Belgrade”: “Some comments on the web seem to hint that perhaps CNN were deliberately trying to make the protests seem more violent than they actually were – I don't really believe that, but still, how does somebody accidentally edit in footage from an entirely different country and which was filmed over one year ago?”


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Serbia: Karadzić’s Legal Strategy · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Finding Karadzic offers an analysis of Karadzić's legal strategy.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Serbia: “Pop-Art Radovan” Tour · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LimbicNutrition Weblog has found “a local company” in Belgrade that is “offering a half-day ‘Pop-Art Radovan’ tour.”


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Serbia: “Radically Stupid” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Jelena Markovic of Invisible Sights is musing about Karadzic and the recent riots in Belgrade: “About 99% of the people in my city are my political opponents, yet they do not provoke such bare and savage ideas in my head… only this canibal river does it, Radicals phisically joined together in public.”


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Slovakia: Best Castles · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia needs feedback from readers to “compile a list of the top 10 castles in Slovakia.”


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Sri Lanka: 25 years after the riots · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

ICT4Peace on the various commemorative posts on the 25th anniversary of the ethnic riots in Sri Lanka.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Sri Lanka: Ceasefire and SAARC · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

groundviews analyzes the implication of the cease fire declared by the LTTE in Sri Lanka during the SAARC summit.


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Syria: Iraqi Prostitutes in Syria · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Arabian Camel remarks on the plight of Iraqi women who, without the permits to work in Syria, turn to prostitution to make ends meet.

author: Jillian C. York


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The Balkans, U.S.: Holbrooke and Karadzic · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Eric Gordy of East Ethnia explains why he believes that “that maybe Richard Holbrooke did make some promises to Radovan Karadžić.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: A Tale of Two Nations · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Blogging from Trinidad and Tobago, KnowProSE.com tells a tale of two nations – one agricultural, the other suburban – with a chasm of development separating them: “And I'm somewhere between…trying to figure out which way the tide will take me.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Ukraine: Chernobyl · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belatedly, a trip report, photos and video from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, by Darkness at Noon – here and here.


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Ukraine: ‘Judas’s Kiss’ Stolen in Odesa · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

IZO reports that “a painting by, or attributed to, Caravaggio, Judas's Kiss […], has been stolen from a museum in Odessa by a thief or thieves who broke in through a window.”


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Ukraine: ‘Novynar’ Shuts Down  · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

IZO quotes the publisher of a Ukrainian-language news magazine Novynar on the reasons to shut down the publication.


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Ukraine: Patriarch Appeals Against the Division of the Church · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

GUS-News comments on (GER) the appeal of the Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomeus against the division of the Ukrainian Orthodox church on the occasion of the 1020th anniversary of Christianity in Kievan Rus.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Ukraine: Treatment of Flood Victims · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana writes and translates on the treatment of Ukrainian flood victims.


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U.S., Russia: “Dealing with Russia to Rescue Abkhazia from the Brink” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

FP's Russia blog critiques the Atlantic Council’s talk entitled “Dealing with Russia to Rescue Abkhazia from the Brink”: “For those who don’t know or care about Abkhazia, good news!: it was hardly mentioned. Abkhazia wasn’t the point; the point was ‘dealing with Russia’.”


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Uzbekistan: Statement on Behalf of the Political Prisoner · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Libertad posts a text of the speech given to the United Nations by Gulambek Umarov, the son of an Uzbekistan political prisoner.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Albania: Road Trip Photos · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Nevada Yankee in King Zogs’ Court posts pictures and writes about his latest road trip in Albania.


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Angola: Priority for Angolan workers in the labor market · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Kianda [pt] celebrates a recently approved law that ensures employment for Angolan workers in the oil sector through a ban on hiring of foreign staff unless the necessary skills can not be found among Angolan workers. “Good news, I think they should start thinking about extending the law to other sectors, starting with banking, especially those of mixed capital.”

author: Paula Góes


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Armenia: Organized Opposition · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped comments on yesterday's opposition rally held in central Yerevan and the formation of a new post-presidential election opposition congress. The blog notes that while the opposition's demands remain the same, it commends them for toning down rhetoric which in the past has been considered by some observers to be divisive and confrontational.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Belarus: Legal Changes After Minsk Blast · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

LJ user Alcorets posts an amendment (RUS) to the Belarus law on counteracting terrorism, which has been adopted as a consequence of the July 4 bomb blast in Minsk.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Karadžić in The Hague · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

A few days after Radovan Karadžić's arrest in Belgrade was announced on the 21st of July, his supporters started protesting against his transfer to the ICTY in The Hague, both in the streets and in Facebook (in various groups such as Free Radovan Karadžić, Freedom for Radovan Karadžić or many others). On the 29th of July the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) organized a rally that was attended by around 15,000 people and that ended up in violent clashes between some of the demonstrators and the riot police leaving 47 people injured.
LimbicNutrition Weblog liveblogged the protests and posted a series of photos of the aftermath of the riots and the damages caused by it. He described the clashes as follows:
It all happened very fast, with a group of hooligans spotting a relatively isolated unit of riot police, putting on masks and attacking.
I think the incident could have been prevented by a more organised police response. The police were deployed side-on to the advancing hooligans (lining the road), and it took their commander way too long to order them to redeploy as a phalanx (lined up across the road).
Eric Gordy of East Ethnia considered the protests to be “a failure in every respect”:
The turnout was low, the speeches were bad, the goals were not clearly stated, and the organisers failed to control the crowd. This is probably also why speakers were chosen from the D-list of Serbian politics: luminaries like Kosta Čavoški and Bora Đorđević.
[…] the only element of the meeting that made news was the violent confrontation between skinheads and police, who this time around did not have orders to let the hooligans destroy anything they wanted.
Whilst the protests were taking place in the streets of Belgrade, the Serbian government was preparing to fly Radovan Karadžić out of the country to The Hague. According to Byzantine Blog, his transfer was to take place at 10pm but was delayed until around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday because the “pilot of the Serbian Government's air fleet assigned the task to fly Dr. Karadžić to be delivered to the Hague, refused to fly the plane and assist in delivering” him.
Radovan Karadžić's initial appearance in the ICTY for an arraignment was scheduled for Thursday 31st at 4pm, during which he confirmed his identity and heard the judge read the charges against him, as described by the Srebrenica Genocide Blog:
Gaunt and visibly shaken, Karadzic listened as the Dutch UN Judge Alphons Orie read out a chilling list of atrocities contained in a lengthy 25-page indictment of war crimes, including including: genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity, extermination, violation of the customs of war, murder and the taking of hostages. Karadzic declined to enter a plea to the 11 charges against him.
Besides deferring to enter a plea, in this initial hearing Karadžić indicated that he would represent himself (like Milošević did).  He has a further 30 days in which to enter a plea, and Judge Orie set the 29th of August for the next hearing. Moreover, the prosecution indicated that it intends to file an amended indictment, because of changes to the law and to the evidence available since the original indictment was last ammended in 2000.
Fedja of the blog Rants of a hyphenated researcher didn't appreciate this postponement:
Even though they had 13 years to prepare a polished, proof-read indictment against Karadzic, the prosecution said today that it would “amend” the indictment, giving Karadzic 30 extra days to enter a plea! Just to enter a plea! And this was not even something Karadzic had orchestrated. It was the prosecution handing him extra time on a golden plate.
Karadžić also claimed that he had been seized and held by “unknown civilians” three days before the official arrest date given to the court, and referred to an alleged deal made with Richard Holbrooke, the former US ambassador to the United Nations. Eric Gordy of East Ethnia, describes Karadžić's claims:
[…] he felt he had been protected by an agreement he had made in 1996 with Richard Holbrooke, who was then the US envoy overseeing the negotiation and implementation of the Dayton agreement in Bosnia-Hercegovina. As the story goes, the offer was made to Karadžić that if he were to withdraw from public life, in return for this the United States would either (in some versions) see to it that he would not be pursued and arrested or (in more dramatic versions) see to it that the charges against him would be withdrawn.
The US State Department denies that there was an agreement, as does Richard Holbrooke. But of course denials do not tell us anything about factual states, merely what somebody would prefer for us to believe. All the same, there is as yet no convincing evidence (say, a copy of the signed agreement) that would definitively tell us there was an agreement.
And, after analyzing some of the known facts about the ending of the war, Gordy concludes:
So my conclusion is that maybe Richard Holbrooke did make some promises to Radovan Karadžić. If he did, it was a mildly clever way of influencing a gullible megalomaniac. It never could have any legal force, neither in preventing Serbia from arresting Karadžić nor in preventing the UN from trying him.
Although the judge interrupted Karadžić's allegations as not belonging to the initial hearing, he advised him to submit them in writing. The 4-page letter that Karadžić submitted with the title “Irregularities linked to my arrival before the tribunal,” was then published on the ICTY's website.
By bringing up the alleged “Holbrooke deal,” the blog Finding Karadžić analizes Karadžić's litigation strategy to be the following:
Karadzic's claim is one of de facto immunity, where an accused asserts that they took action to their detriment in reliance upon a promise not to prosecute them.
Karadzic will be entitled to call Mr. Holbrooke as a witness. He can call other witnesses, if there are any, to try to bolster this claim of a grant of immunity.
The burden is on Karadzic to clearly prove the existence of such an agreeement. When Mr. Holbrooke takes the stand and says that none existed, Karadzic has not met his burden. Based on everything the Karadzic family has talked about regarding Mr. Holbrooke over the last several years, there are no witnesses to this conversation between Holbrooke and Karadzic.
So, Karadzic loses this motion about immunity.
The best thing he could do for himself would be to cobble together a experienced team of criminal defense attorneys to attack the evidence and witnesses on the 11 charges. If not, Karadzic's immunity motion will quickly fail and evidence against Karadzic will be enough to overwhelmingly establish his guilt on most of the charges.
YakimaGulagLitteraryGazett commented on the court appearance, which she watched on TV from her home in Sarajevo:
Karadžić looked tired, but he said his health was perfect. He also accused Holbrook of trying to kill him, and had lots to say about the alleged irregularities of his arrest. Funny how tyrants turn into avid civil libertarians!
He had far more due process than anyone in Srebenica!
Writer Jasmina Tešanović, watching the court appearance from Belgrade, also gave her impressions at the blog BoingBoing:
The general opinion in Serbia is how old, how white and how distracted he now seems, alone, without soldiers, lawyers or family members. He declares himself as member of three states, Republika Srpska, where he lived, Montenegro where he was born, and Serbia where he lived under cover with different identities.
He is the veteran of one of the greatest put-up jobs in the history of world crime, and he declares that he was hiding in order to save his life. He says his life was guaranteed to him by the Dayton treaty and by Richard Holbrooke, in exchange for his stepping down from politics.
Karadžić seemed calmly determined to act in his own defense, demanding the return of his laptop, formerly in possession of Dragan Dabić. That computer is now in the hands of the police together with various official documents from Republika Srpska.
His judges say that the indictment against Karadžić will be altered and focused. Basically it charges him with practically every crime that the court in the Hague was built to try.
We are eager to see him handle all his legacies with all his identities.
Nidžara Ahmetašević from Sarajevo expressed her hopes for Karadžić's trial at the BalkanInsight blog:
I believe that justice exists. I am positive about that. And I want to see it […] I want this to happen because of all those who did nothing to stop him.
I hope I shall be able to hear, during the trial, about the reasons of the war and why my best friends are those who I met in the war and not in peace. I hope that his arrest means the war is coming to its end and that peace may even come as well.

author: Elia Varela Serra


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Sarajevo’s New Towers · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Anthony Guennegou (FRE) posted a series of photos of the newly constructed towers in Sarajevo, as a follow-up to his post on the Avaz Tower, which had been heavily destroyed during the war as it was the office of the famous Oslobođenje newspaper.


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Brazil: A game as an election weapon  · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Marcos Palacios [pt] comments on a game part of a viral marketing campaign against one of the candidates for the mayor of Salvador (capital of Bahia, Brazil). “The little game is fun, but the question is: does it work as marketing for or against him?”


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Cape Verde: On foreign policy and diaspora · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Miguel Cruz Sousa [pt] analyzes the Cape Verdean foreign policy and the country's relationship with its diaspora. “Unemployment, social inequality, insecurity, low wages and the risk of disruption prevail here in the country. In the diaspora, there are persecution, discrimination, employment insecurity, unemployment, xenophobia and discrimination, arbitrary arrests and indifference of the Cape Verdean government; There is double exclusion, in the real meaning of the word, from the host countries and from the birth place of more than 900 thousand Cape Verdeans who live and work in over 25 countries around the world”.


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China: List of websites unblocked for the Olympics · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Life 2.0 blogger Isaac Mao has compiled a list [zh] of news websites that were unblocked this past week for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Many are wondering how long they will remain unblocked; Mao writes: ‘hurry up and subscribe to them.’

author: John Kennedy


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Georgia: Armenians in Samtskhe Javakheti · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Three Armenian bloggers post an alert over the situation of ethnic Armenians living in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia. The bloggers are Ditord, Pigh and Arin Berd and call on international human rights organizations and others to campaign for the release of ethnic Armenian activists in Georgia.


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Guatemala: A Lack of Information About Petrocaribe Deal · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Photo by Surizar and used under a Creative Commons license
As is the case with other places around the world, fuel prices are very expensive in Guatemala.  President Alvaro Colom recently signed an agreement with his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, called “Petrocaribe.”  Many were excited with this news because they thought that the agreement would bring lower gas prices. Inflation, the falling value of the dollar, and a decrease in the amount of remittances from the US, have all affected the Guatemalan economy.  However, many were disappointed with the agreement and that it did not bring the expected results.
Blogger CIEN [es] explains
¿Qué NO es? Petrocaribe no significa petróleo, gasolina o diesel más barato.
¿Qué SÍ es? Es un mecanismo de endeudamiento del Gobierno de Guatemala con el Gobierno de Venezuela. Esto significa que el Gobierno de Guatemala puede acceder a crédito a través de la compra de petróleo.
What is it NOT?  Petrocaribe does not mean cheaper petroleum, gasoline or diesel.
What is it?  It is a mechanism for the Guatemalan government to fall into debt with the Venezuelan government.  This means that Guatemala can obtain credit by buying (Venezuelan) oil.
Libertario Liberado [es] thinks that the deal could be beneficial for the country:
Si consideramos los mas de 35,000 millones de Quetzales que tenemos en deuda externa a una tasa promedio de 10% anual, y analizamos la alternativa de tomar el dinero de PETROCARIBE al 1% anual deducimos rapidamente que financieramente es un buen negocio. Digo que es una alternativa BUENA siempre y Cuando el gobierno utilice este credito barato para pagar lo que debemos y NO para financiar supuestos proyectos solidarios, Es tan simple como trasladar una deuda cara a una opcion mas barata de largo plazo (25 años). En 10 años pagamos el total de nuestra deuda y reducimos los intereses de una manera significativa.
If we consider that we have an external debt of up to 35,000 million Quetzales (Guatemalan national currency), with an interest rate around 10% per year and we have the choice to switch to a debt financed by Petrocaribe with an interest rate of 1% per year, it is a financially good deal. But it is a good deal only if the Government uses the money to pay the external debt and not to sponsor so-called solidarity projects. It is as easy as switching from expensive credit to a cheaper, long term option. In ten years we can pay all our gross external debt and reduce our interest rate significantly.
Hunahpu and Ixbalanque [es] also explained their analysis on the subject, but also were critical with media coverage on the subject:
El ingreso de Guatemala a Petrocaribe representaría una gran oportunidad de incrementar la liquidez del estado. Entiéndase: enormes cantidades de dinero para invertir. Sin embargo, esta oportunidad única ha generado una tan predecible como irracional cobertura negativa en algunos medios de comunicación, quienes irresponsablemente utilizan el miedo y la desinformación para promover una anti-agenda política que literalmente les viene del norte. Considerando el impacto que dicha incorporación podría tener en la economía nacional será necesario primero evaluar la validez de los argumentos de los críticos y después discutir Petrocaribe desde puntos de vista más racionales.
Other bloggers are against the initiative and its impact, especially concerned with the final destination of the funds, in a country with a past of corruption and abuses from authorities:
Lo Lograremos [es]:
No estoy de acuerdo con la firma de este pacto con Petrocaribe ya que nos endeudamos todavia mas, pero hay algo que me molesta todavia más y es como lo manejo la prensa Guatemalteca en especial Prensa Libre, casi cada semana sacaron reportajes demonizando a Petrocaribe atacando, destruyendo, me parecieron poco objetivos, desinformando, algo que me quedo claro es que sienten un especial desprecio por Chavez.
I disagree with the signing of the Petrocaribe agreement because it increases our external debt, but I am also upset with the way that the Guatemalan press, especially Prensa Libre is covering it. Each and every week they published reports making Petrocaribe look evil by attacking and destroying it.  It appeared to be not very objective, misinformed, and it was clear their disdain for Chavez.
But, on the other hand, the Government is not clear with the agreement, the President has not yet explained the destination of the funds, the impact of their plans and the benefits (no cheaper oil) for Guatemalans from Petrocaribe, only few words saying that is for “social cohesion”.
Blogger Carpe Diem warns Guatemalans [es]  on his post about it:
Fíjese pues…que  nos lo está diciendo  el presidente Alvaro Colom: El dinero que la administración socialdemócrata obtenga mediante Petrocaribe, va a ir a parar a los proyectos de Cohesión Social; y ¿quién dirige esos proyectos? Sandra de Colom. Nos lo están advirtiendo ellos mismos; y si los tributarios y electores pasamos por alto esa información, nos merecemos que nos esquilmen.Veamos algo del Consejo de Cohesión Social: Ese “proyecto” presume de su programa. Mi familia progresa; y esa piñata de la esposa  del Presidente es el típico ejemplo de cuando sale más caro el caldo que la gallina. En el informe que presentó recientemente  se nota  que para repartir Q62 millones, se gastaron Q300 millones.
Watch … what  President Alvaro Colom is telling us [es] : that the money that the social-democratic administration will receive through Petrocaribe will be used for Social Cohesion projects; and who runs those projects?  Sandra de Colom (the First Lady).  They are warning us; and if the taxpayers and the voters skip over this information, then we deserve to be fooled.  Let's look at an example of Social Cohesion: My Family Progresses, and the piñata of the First Lady [es]  is the typical example of what happens when there is too much overhead costs.  The recently released report notes [es] that to distribute 62 million quetzales, they spent 300 million quetzales.
And that is what concerns bloggers the most, lack of information, misinformation and absense of objective coverage on the subject.
Mirador Prensa [es] said:
La cortina de humo de Petrocaribe ha impedido que los medios de comunicación recojan con más detalle la debacle en la que está inmersa el gobierno de la UNE. No hay resultados positivos en ninguna de las áreas, se ha cambiado con más frecuencia de la deseable a personal de muy alto nivel y el afán de gasto crece desmesuradamente.
The smoke screen surrounding Petrocaribe has not allowed the media to capture the details of the government debacle. On one hand, there are not positive results in any area, they have changed high level authorities too often, and the expenses have increased out of control.
It is not surprising that the media covered the subject in a negative way and created negative opinions of Petrocaribe. Chavez is controversial everywhere. Guatemala is not an exception. And analysts are using ideologies as arguments to discuss economics, according to Lucha Politica [es]:
In the meantime,  news and details of the deal continue to be scarce, however, it has still yet to be approved by the Guatemalan Congress. It was signed for a period of 25 years and future is uncertain, so it is important to study it from an objective perspective, as bloggers have said. Most agree that the problem is not Petrocaribe per se, but lack of information about it.

author: Renata Avila


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Guinea-Bissau: On the lack of willingness to hold elections · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Jorge Rosmaninho [pt] on the lack of willingness on the part of all political leaders to hold parliamentary elections in in Guinea-Bissau next November. “I would not be surprised if one of these mornings Bissau woke up under a military uprising, or even a coup. It has been such a long time that nothing happens!”


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Hungary: Public TV · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about the Hungarian Public Television – “Magyar Televízió = MTV”: “Most people I know tell me that they hardly ever watch MTV with the possible exception of the late evening political program, Az Este, and on Sundays A Szólás Szabadsága, especially if there are interesting guests.”


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Hungary: Traffic Laws · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about traffic laws and violations.


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Hungary: Untimely Death of György Kolonics, a Canoe Champion · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about the death of György Kolonics, a Hungarian canoe champion: “He died while practicing with his partner, György Kozmann, for the Beijing Olympics. Beijing would have been his fifth Olympics.”


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Madagascar to Hong Kong: “Give us the Emerald back” · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Lova Rabary-Rakotondravony explains that the  government  of Madagascar  has sent four delegates to Honk Kong to  try to  retrieve one of the heaviest and largest emerald on matrix in the world currently  on display at the Baoqu Tang Modern Art Gallery  in Honk Kong (fr).  The Malagasy government claims that the stone is part of the  national patrimony whereas Chan SicPo, the artist who obtained the license to display the stone, states that he purchased the license from the rightful owner of the stone, a mining company based in Reunion called  Orgaco (en).

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Madagascar: who is going to the Olympics?   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

There was a bit of confusion about the number of people who will be part of the Malagasy delegation in the 2008 Olympics. Official reports were not disclosed until a few days ago when we learned that 7 athletes will participate (fr) instead of the four initially announced at the beginning of the month (en). Moreover, the number of non-athletes official delegates is still unknown but all of the 107 gold medalists at the latest Indian Ocean Olympics Games will attend the games in Beijing as invitees of the president (fr).


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Mozambique: 2038? · Global Voices
Paula Góes

What will Mozambique be like in 30 years? Sociologist Carlos Serra [pt] provides nine “Byzantine” scenarios and invites his readers to amend them as they see fit:
1. A língua portuguesa será residual, penumbrada pela língua inglesa, tornada esta língua veicular por excelência nos meios urbanos. A língua portuguesa será especialmente uma língua douta, falada em círculos alfarrábicos, amparada por mestiçagens linguísticas docemente malandras em zona savaneira.
2. Os minérios serão geridos por Chineses, Russos, Brasileiros e eventualmente Indianos. O vale do Zambeze será sino-brasileiro em sua carvoação.
3. Se calhar já haverá petróleo, com Americanos e Canadianos na exploração.
4. As florestas, se ainda restarem, serão chinesas.
5. A terra será dos bio-combustíveis, gerida por ecléticas parcerias empresariais, abraçada pela pequena agricultura itinerante e desesperada, cumprimentada por celeiros especiais e bem protegidos de cereais para exportação (China e Índia).
6. O comércio, por grosso e a retalho, será sino-indiano, quinquilheiro.
7. A costa turística será europeia, com euro-americanos safarizados e chorando agarrados à memória de uma Europa moribunda e de uma América desimperializada.
8. Celulares serão fabricadas na terra, com exterior Nokia e alma chinesa; os carros serão sino-coreanos, com layout americano.
9. O mais imponente dos nossos ministérios, um super-ministério, será o dos Negócios Estrangeiros (veja-se a sua grandiosidade actual ali na baixa de Maputo, imagine-se o que será no futuro).
1. The Portuguese language will be residual, shaded by the English, made the par excellence language in urban areas. Portuguese will be particularly a scholarly language, spoken in cult circles, supported by sweetly mixed rascal-languages in the Savannah areas.
2. The ore will be managed by Chinese, Russians, Brazilians and eventually Indians. The Zambezi valley will have Sino-Brazilian mining.
3. If we stand a chance, there will be oil, with Americans and Canadians exploiting it.
4. The forests, if they remain, will belong to China.
5. It will be a land of bio-fuels, managed by eclectic business partnerships, embraced by the small itinerant, desperate agriculture, complimented with special and well protected barns for cereals for exportation (to China and India).
6. The trade, both wholesale and retail, will be Sino-Indian,     bauble-like.
7. The touristic coast will belong to Europe, with safari suited Euro-Americans crying and clinging to the memory of a moribund      Europe and a dis-Imperialistic America.
8. Cell phones will be manufactured in loco, with Nokia covers and Chinese souls, the cars will be Sino-Korean, with American layouts.
9. The most impressive of our ministries, a super-ministry, will be that of Foreign Business Affairs (see their current greatness here in downtown Maputo for a picture of what it will be like in the future).


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Peru: Juan Arellano Interviewed About Lingua Project · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Global Voices in Spanish editor Juan Arellano was recently interviewed by Kat of Traductósphera [es] about his work on the Lingua project.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Peru: Rancas Faces Off Against Mining Company · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Many may have heard of the village of Rancas because Peruvian writer Manuel Scorza wrote about the place in his series of novels “The Silent War,” and perhaps in “Drums for Rancas,” his most well-known book.  However, Rancas is not a fictional town and it continues in a silent war against mining companies.
Elizabeth Lino Cornejo, a well-known natural linguist from Cerro de Pasco, located 30 minutes from Rancas, follows this community's fight and noticed that her access to administer her blog Te Voy a Contar [es] (I Will Tell You) was blocked (although it was still visible to the general public) due to “infractions of the conditions of use.” She writes:
Soy Gestora Cultural comprometida con mi comunidad y desde mi espacio profesional hago las denuncias pertinentes y ejerzo mi derecho a la libre expresión. Cerreña de nacimiento y por herencia de mis abuelos y bisabuelos que caminaron por aquellas calles que ya no existen, que dejaron de existir por la minería irresponsable. Mis hijos solo podrán pararse desde lo alto de los cerros a mirar aquel agujero gris e imaginarse que allí existió una ciudad, mientras les cuente que la lluvia ácida producida por las constantes explosiones contaminó el aire que respiraban otros niños de aquel lugar.
(…)
¿A quien le causa tanta molestia que utilice el internet para contar estas cosas y alzar la voz? ¿A quién le causa tanta molestia que denuncie el abuso cometido el fin de semana contra dos mis compañeros, amigos y hermanos Carlos Gora y Jhoel Rivera en Cerro de Pasco? Más que mi compromiso es mi deber. En un país donde solo se oye las voces de interés de quienes le rinden culto al dinero y han dejado de lado los valores humanos.
I am a cultural promoter committed to my community and from my own professional space, I make the pertinent complaints and exercise my right to free expression. I was born in Cerro de Pasco and due to the inheritance from my grandparents and great-grandparents who walked through those streets that no longer exist, that do not exist because irresponsible mining.  My children can only stand on top of the mountaintops and look at the grey hole and imagine the a city once existed there, while I tell them about the acid rain produced by the constant explosions that contaminated the air that the children breathe.
(…)
Who does it bother that I use the internet to tell these things and raise my voice?  Who does it bother that I denounce the abuse committed aginst two of my companions, friends, and brothers, Carlos Gora and Jhoel Rivera in Cerro de Pasco last weekend?   It is more than a commitment, it is my duty:  In a country where you only hear the voices of those that worship money and have left human values aside.
Lino Cornejo was later able to regain administrative access to her blog.
The Mining Company Volcán (Volcano) has been operating in Peru since 1943 in the mining settlements of Ticlio and Carahuacra, in Yauli, Junín.  But in 1997 and 1999, it expanded with the acquisition of the San Cristobal and Andaychagua sites, also located in the province of Yauli, Junín and with Cerro de Pasco or Paraqsha, located in the province of Yanacancha, Pasco.  These sites are now the property of Centromin Perú SA.
The web site of Minera Volcán argues that it operates its mining activies in harmony with the environment through the use of environmental impact studies and following environmental regulations.  However, it is public knowledge that the company has had frequent problems with the residents in the area [es]  where they operate or plan to operate, and other similar problems. For example, last December, Enlace Nacional reported that the local school had to be moved due to the expansion of the Volcán Mine [es]  (video).  But that is not all, in May, a law was passed (and which shows the economic power of the company) to relocate the city of Cerro de Pasco [es] , so that the Volcán Mine can expand its activities in the town.
In related news, the post Uprising: Peasant Community in Rancas from the blog Koripampa [es] denounces some of the maneuvers made by the mining company in order to achieve their objectives, including a meeting that was called in order to review the environmental impact report for a future project:
..sin embargo, y a espaldas de los pobladores de la comunidad, en ese taller se trato de aprobar de manera irregular la expansión minera de Volcán en los territorios comunales de Rancas. En dicho evento la población de la comunidad fue impedida de participar bajo el argumento que ya no había más espacio en el auditorio, mientras todos los asistentes al supuesto taller eran trabajadores y familiares de los trabajadores de la empresa Volcán.
..however, behind the backs of the residents of the community, the meeting attempted to approve the Volcán mining expansion in the communal territories of Rancas in an irregular manner. In said event, the populace of the community was impeded from participating under the argument that there was no more space in the auditorium, meanwhile all of the attendees of the workshop were workers and relatives of the workers from the Volcán company.
These conflicts do not end, as mining continues to be one of the major economic activities in the country and the high demand of metals is not an opportunity that should go to waste. There must be ways to find a compromise between these interests and those of the residents of the area where these deposits are found.  In the field of mining, there are many skilled people from the Volcán Mine that are involved with interesting projects such as Mining Apprentices [es] , and perhaps both sides can agree to come together so that we avoid a situation where we all lose.

author: Juan Arellano


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Romania: The Hungarian Minority · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about “the Hungarians of Transylvania” – who seem to be “much more conservative and much more nationalistic than those in Hungary proper.”


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Russia: 94 Years Since WWI Started · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

LJ user crazycat_meyr commemorates (RUS) the 94th anniversary of the German declaration of war on Russia in 1914.


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Russia: All Pigs Are Equal… · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

LJ user kaloy draws a thought-provoking parallell (RUS) between the declaration of a state of emergency in North Ossetia, because of African swine plague, and the neighbouring Ingushetia, where 23 people were killed and 17 injured in a low-intensity conflict only last month, and posts shaking pictures to illustrate the comparison.


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Russia: Kaliningrad Jazz Festival · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Copydude comments on the Kaliningrad jazz festival, named after the local chain of pizzerias – Don Chento.


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Russia: ‘Moscow Rules’ Review · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Russia Blog posts a review of Moscow Rules – an espionage thriller by former CNN producer Daniel Silva.


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Russia: Pen Mightier Than Sword? · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Suomalais-venäläinen kansalaisfoorumi posts a translation of an article on the Kremlin vs. democratic opposition, written by Stanislav Yakovlev, leader of the Russian radical democratic youth movement Smena.


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Russia: Security Service Hits Art Extremism · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Grigory Pasko of Robert Amsterdam shares his views on the new Chekists and the crackdown by the security service (FSB) on members of the art group Poeticized Association for the Elaboration of a Theory of All-People’s Happiness (PORTOS).


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Russia: Solar Eclipse and Politics in Samara · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russian photojournalist Oleg Klimov was in the city of Samara on August 1, the day of a total eclipse of the Sun, to meet with representatives of the local opposition. On his blog, he described (RUS) a rare case of conjunction of Russian politics and astronomy:
[Please click here to see four photos by Oleg Klimov that are part of this post.]
The solar eclipse took place in Samara right after we had met with [members of] the local, rather important, opposition. Just as we had been warned, they put a “tail” on us right away. Last time it happened to me was in [Uzbekistan] in 1992, also during a period of the fight against opposition there, by the way. Then, the Dutch journalist and I were declared personae non grata by the ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, because of violations of the program of our visit to the country, and it is still a big problem for the [Dutch] newspaper I work for to get [entry visas] to this country, democratic in its own way.
Our “tail” in Samara turned out even worse than in Uzbekistan. When he saw that I was taking pictures of a frail old man with a roentgenogram (with his broken leg pictured on it), the “tail” couldn't help but interfering, first by introducing himself as a doctor and then as a law enforcement official, and he set himself upon me, accusing me of bothering the old man who has the right to walk freely along the [Volga River] embankment… The “tail” didn't know that this way we were merely watching the Sun, as the Moon was slowly and steadily taking over it, and though there was no complete darkness yet, [a certain mental agitation] was already there, and the birds stopped chirping, and only the “tail” was croaking as a frog, demanding that I stop taking pictures of the old man and show him a document allowing me to photograph people in the street. An [idiot].
This is exactly what I told him: You must be a not very educated person. Look at the Sun through the photograph of the old man's broken leg and you'll see how a [chekist] and an oligarch Putin has stolen our Sun. He was genuinely surprised when he saw that half the Sun was indeed missing. (On the second photo, he is on the left, checking if the Sun is there ;). Me, I can't stop being amazed at how [idiotic the regime and those who serve it are].
While the “tail” was looking at the solar eclipse, we left, and soon we had another “tail” following us, but we were not paying attention. Who are they? – I don't know – police, [FSB], [pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi, [Vashi, rhymes well with Nashi, means ‘yours,’ while Nashi means ‘ours’] – may they all go [to hell].
[…]


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Saudi Arabia: A ban on cats and dogs · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Earlier this week in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, a ban was announced on selling cats and dogs as pets, or walking them in public, because of men apparently using them to make passes at women. Bloggers both inside and outside the kingdom have responded with disbelief.
The head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, who are known as the muttawa or religious police, explained that the commission was simply enforcing a previously issued religious edict.
Ahmed, a Saudi blogger, says:
I have been trying to avoid writing about the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice lately because, frankly, why beat a dead horse? But this one is just too good to miss… Now I’m not particularly a fan of cats and dogs. My friends who are pet owners know this, and they usually keep their pets away when I visit them. It’s not like I have anything against these animals but I just have this fear of getting too close to them. Still, this decision is just idiotic.
But before we get more into this, let’s go back a little bit. This whole ban thing has actually started in Jeddah two years ago. At the time, Jeddah’s Commission said that young Saudis who go out in streets with their pet dogs are violating of the Kingdom’s culture and traditions, and allegedly causing distress especially to families with young children. (But) the ban was never implemented. … However, although Riyadh and Jeddah are two big cities in the same country, they can be quite different on matters like these. The Commission is much, much more powerful in Riyadh than in Jeddah and therefore I expect this ban to be fully implemented in the capital.
Of course it is needless to say how ridiculous this whole thing is. The reason the Commission presented for the ban is kind of a joke, really: “because of men using them as a means of making passes at women,” they said. So you go and ban dogs and cats? How about punishing those so-called men? I guess you are too busy invading people’s privacy and controlling their lives to bother with few men who use their pets to annoy others.
American Bedu, an American woman and former diplomat now married to a Saudi, says:
I believe there are much more serious issues that need to be focused and acted upon instead of the impact pets may have on bringing the opposite sex together.
Sabra, an American living in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, doesn't have the energy to say much about this issue – but she tells us an anecdote about an animal being protected in the street:
I'm not even going to weigh-in on this one. I'm just gonna shake my head and mutter to myself that I live in a “LFZ.” [Logic Free Zone.]
I saw something rather sweet two days ago when The Kids and I were out for our morning walk. As we rounded the corner to walk down one of the alleys there was a young boy – a Saudi boy – and a cat. The young boy – maybe six or eight years old – saw me coming with my small Great Dane and bouncing black fur-ball of energy Standard Poodle and quickly bent down and scooped up the cat – as if protecting the cat from being used as a live squeak-toy and walked between two houses out of sight. I never, ever would let my Kids get close enough to a cat to harm it – and I had tight control of both leashes – a reflex whenever I spot a cat. It was just really touching – heart-warming even – the way the young boy thought to and made such an effort to ensure the cat's safety. [And, for the record, some of the “wild and stray” cats here – of which there ARE many – would be like buzz-saws on the muzzles of my two Kids if I ever allowed the Kids to get close enough.]
However Grace, an American woman working in Riyadh, can see the point of limiting the number of stray animals:
Look, I have to say this.  There are so many street cats here roaming around the DQ [Diplomatic Quarter] that my former feline friendliness has been replaced with total disgust as the one eyed cat comes popping out of the trash can as I walk by on a daily basis.  I walk into my apartment building and kitties bolt out the front door of the common area.  Outside the grocery store a pile of baby kittens are nursing on an equally disturbing pile of trash.  Call it cultural differences but I must say, in general, they do clean things pretty well here and have a great trash service.  But the cats are just allowed to breed at will and being here does allow me to appreciate animal control.
John Burgess, a former US foreign service officer who blogs about Saudi Arabia, posted about this subject, and then in the comments section joked:
BTW, contrary to the beliefs of some, there is no etymological relationship between the words ‘mutt’ and ‘muttawa’.
Finally, Aafke, a Dutch blogger, provides us with a guide to using pets for mating:
So especially for those unlucky people stuck in a place where pets are going to be forbidden, here is a crash course in how to use pets for maximum result. … Why does the ”Pet-Thing” work? Apparently humans, and other animals, are programmed to go all ”Aaaaahhhhh, Cuuuute” when confronted by small fluffy little cute harmless somethings looking into our eyes. So use that programming and get your pet home before it’s too late! And of course for everybody else bend on some really scintillating, steaming, hot, sexy, romantic encounters: Read This!

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Saudi Arabia: The religious police within · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Naeem, an American Muslim living in Saudi Arabia, describes the mutawwa (religious police) he believes most Muslims have within them, focusing on external piety instead of true internal reform.


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Serbia: Slatko Recipe  · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Sajkaca of the collective blog Balkan Crew shares the recipe for Slatko (Serbian for “sweet”), a Balkan specialty that is “a preserve in which fruits are kept whole in a thick and very sweet syrup.”


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Taiwan Blogger of a feather flock together · Global Voices
Pipper Lee

Annual Taiwan blogger BoF [zh] (named from “Birds of a feather”) is going to be held on Aug. 3rd in Taipei. Hundreds to thousands of Taiwan bloggers will enjoy the whole-day sessions from online to off-line, and from 00:00 to 24:00. Portnoy will introduce Rising Voice Project in one of those sessions. More detail agendas can be found in Chiao's article.

author: Pipper Lee


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Armenia: Weak Opposition · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Notes from Hairenik comments on Friday's rally by the extra-parliamentary opposition led by Armenia's first president, Levon Ter-Petrossian. Noting the low turnout at the unsanctioned rally, the blog says that the opposition remains weak and unable to mobilize a critical mass of people large enough to challenge the status quo.


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Blogger of the week: Hanako Tokita · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

In this week's installment of the Blogger of the Week series we are traveling to Japan thanks to Hanako Tokita, who is the editor of the Global Voices Lingua site in Japanese and also a GV author for Japan, where she's from. During the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Budapest last June, we had the chance to talk to her extensively about the Japanese blogosphere, her involvement with Global Voices and misperceptions about Japanese culture abroad, among other things. We also discovered her passion for gardening, and were able to taste some Japanese delicacies and home-made drinks that she brought, although that's a whole different story…
-When did you start writing for Global Voices?
I joined GV in April 2007, after meeting Boris Anthony [the original designer of the GV website] in Tokyo who told me that the site needed authors to cover the Japanese blogosphere and so I started writing about it. A couple of months later, I decided to start translating Global Voices content in Japanese as well, and now we are a team of 4-regular translators that make the Japanese Lingua site possible.
The last year and a half at Global Voices has been totally crazy. Things just happened. I arrived at the Summit in Budapest not knowing what to expect and all of a sudden I found myself in the middle of all these crazy people. It was probably the strangest experience I've ever had, in a very positive way. For example, I had never met anybody from Macedonia, or from Kazakhstan, or from many other places. I have lots of things to digest.
-What has been your most memorable blogging experience with GV?
A year ago I wrote a post about the Tokyo pride parade and a few of the bloggers that I quoted discovered each other's blogs thanks to the post. Also, a Chinese gay person left a comment in one of the blogs I quoted saying how great it was that there was a pride parade in Tokyo because in China that wouldn't be possible, and I thought it was really nice that these two people from different countries connected thanks to the post on Global Voices. Later on, I also got an email from one of the blogs I quoted saying that he was going to publish a book titled “Coming out letters”, a compilation of letters exchanged between LGTB students and their teachers and parents, and I wrote about it on Global Voices.
-How would you describe the Japanese blogosphere?
It's divided into very small independent blogospheres, for example the LGTB community which is very strong and even organizes meetings and off-line events. Or the tech community, the political community, etc. But the thing is that these blogospheres are not connected. The Japanese blogosphere is very big, probably the largest in the world, but at the end of the day is just a collection of smaller blogospheres.
There was an article in the Washington Post a few months ago titled Humble giants on the web,which was saying that although the Japanese blogosphere is the largest in the world according to Technorati, blogs are basically personal diaries -the ones that talk about what the authors ate, who they went out with, etc. But that's not really true because if you speak Japanese and search blogs on any topic you'll find a really active blogosphere. There's a sterotype about Japanese people being apolitical, not caring about anything, but that's not true in the blogosphere. I think that Japanese people are not good at expressing themselves verbally, but they are good writers. We have a culture of diary writing, and that creates a really good combination with blogging.
-What about your blog, what is it about?
I have one in English and one in Japanese, both called Mamachari, but I haven't written much lately. I still haven't figured out what to write about, but one of the things that interests me is biking. I always bike everywhere, I live in Tokyo and I don't have a driver's license -I could take the bus to go places, but I prefer biking. Another activity I like is gardening, or actually playing with dirt and plants as I don't have a garden. I call it niwa hacking (niwa means garden in Japanese). I grew up in the countryside surrounded by fileds, but now I live in Tokyo, where the space is limited. So out of frustration I take any little patch of soil that I can find and I plant something in it. [She even invented a watering device for her plants when she's travelling!]
I also like taking pictures of cats in the street, although I'm allergic to them, and of three-way junctions :)
-What do you do in the off-Global Voices life?
I'm a professional translator, I'm translating all day long.
-What is your wish for the future of the Global Voices site in Japanese and for the coverage of Japan by Global Voices?
I lived in Canada for 5 years and I became really frustrated with the way media portrayed Japan. The only stories they publish on Japan involve some weird or kinky stuff, or topics such as manga or tech gadgets. But Japan is not only about highly political issues or unusual sexual interests. 125 million people live in this country, and they each have their life to live, so there's a lot more to Japan. So I would like to contribute to telling the world that there are a lot of different stories about Japan.


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Bulgaria, Romania: Corruption and the EU · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Every six months, the European Commission issues reports “on progress with judicial reform, the fight against corruption and, concerning Bulgaria, the fight against organised crime.” According to the latest progress reports, Bulgaria and Romania “have made genuine efforts, particularly in judicial reform, and […] progress has been made. But more work is needed.” Both countries joined the European Union (EU) on Jan. 1, 2007.
Below are some of the views from the blogosphere.
Edward Lucas reposted his story that appeared in the July 24 issue of the Economist, providing background and analysis:
By the polite standards of Brussels, it was quite tough. On July 23rd the European Commission issued critical reports on Bulgaria’s and Romania’s progress (or lack of it) in fighting corruption and spending European Union money. Yet after intense lobbying, the language was weaker than in the scalding drafts leaked earlier. And the commission dropped an explicit warning that Bulgaria was endangering its chances of joining the euro and the Schengen passport-free travel area.
Even so, the reports hit home, complaining of a “striking” absence of convincing results in Bulgaria’s anti-corruption fight, and of a “grave problem” over the “lack of accountability and transparency in public procurement” when spending EU funds. The commission announced severe sanctions, suspending aid worth as much as €486m ($770m). Without reform, the suspended sum will rise sharply by November.
[…]
What scandalises ordinary Bulgarians is that their country, the poorest in the EU, is missing a vital chance to modernise. Public services are dire—shown by a crisis this month in Sofia’s rubbish collection, which has left the streets piled with rotting piles of garbage. So foreign criticism, which in some countries might arouse defensiveness, is in fact welcomed. The EU’s popularity has rocketed, whereas the government’s negative rating is now as high as 73%. […]
[…]
In Romania, by contrast, politicians are relieved after escaping sanctions in a softly worded commission report on their anti-corruption and legal reform efforts. […] The commission bemoaned the lack of practical results but welcomed a “move in the right direction”. In Bulgaria, sadly, outsiders find it hard to see any movement at all.
[…]
Bulgarian blogger Maya Markova wrote this on her blog, Maya's Corner, on July 17, roughly a week before sanctions were announced:
In its Bulgarian variant, democracy means that people elect rulers entangled in corruption and organized crime and then the country is shaken by an endless row of corruption and crime scandals, till the next elections.
[…]
Probably countries with developed civil society and rule of law can afford the EU subsidizing industry without sinking into the quagmire of corruption (though the quagmire of inefficiency will remain). However, countries like Bulgaria haven't much rule of law. And while ordinary citizens are struggling with Third World-like poverty, EU subsidies only serve to further enrich the gang that is ruling the country.
On July 31, Vitaliy of The 8th Circle noted that “corruption [was] not enough to bring down Bulgarian government”:
Following a damning report from the EU, Bulgaria’s center-left government survived a no-confidence vote Wednesday. This is despite the EU’s decision to freeze over 800 million euros of farming, road and regional development aid for the country. […]
[…]
It makes you wonder how far can a government in Bulgaria go before it stumbles? With politicians not being held accountable, it is little surprise that the public lacks much trust in their government […].
[…]
This perpetuates the vicious cycle whereby a disinterested public withdraws from the political process easing the pressure on politicians who are then – even more so – left to their own devices.
That’s too bad. Bulgarians deserve better.
J Clive Matthews of Nosemonkey's EUtopia/Europhobia, however, wasn't sure why Bulgaria was in the EU at all:
It’s a question I’ve asked before, not least when the backwards Balkan oddity first joined. And now, finally, the EU powers that be seem to have noticed that, erm… letting in a notoriously corrupt, organised crime-ridden country with a dodgy economy and poor track record on human rights may just have been a bad idea.
[…]
Of course, corruption alone is nothing too unusual within the EU. But Bulgaria also falls down in countless other areas, as the US State Department’s 2007 report on Human Rights in the country notes:
The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, police frequently beat criminal suspects, particularly members of minority groups… Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported complaints of police brutality from Romani victims who were too intimidated to lodge official complaints with authorities… Human rights groups continued to claim that medical examinations in cases of police abuse were not properly documented, that allegations of police abuse were seldom investigated thoroughly, and that offending officers were very rarely punished… Prison conditions generally did not meet international standards, and the government did not allocate funds to make significant improvements… The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, there were reports that police at times ignored these prohibitions… Impunity remained a problem. All complaints involving interior ministry personnel and other police forces, as well as military personnel, are adjudicated by the military court system.
And on, and on… They could also have mentioned the arbitrary arrest of political dissidents. […]
Maya Markova, for one, did mention it on her blog:
[…] We Bulgarians are too overwhelmed by our hardships and too selfish to care about those who are in even more miserable situation. We often forget that, at least, we have been given freedom while billions of human beings are still oppressed, and we do not show much solidarity with them. Some of my earliest posts from 2006 (dated May 10, 12 and 15, respectively) told the story of a Belarussian dissident to whom our authorities refused political asylum.
[…]
I have no details [on the Turkmen dissident's case], so I can only hope that this isn't true! But I feel obliged to post it – let the Turkmenis are cautious about seeking asylum in Bulgaria.
As for Romania, Anda of Kosmopolit wrote about how the progress report was taken in Bucharest:
[…] One can almost hear the sigh of relief in the high governmental offices in Bucharest, at the confirmation of the fact that (1) no safeguard clause will be activated, (2) no funds will be suspended, (3) Bulgaria is considered to do worse and is more harshly sanctioned. ‘Schadenfreude’ and relief, that’s all.
Unfortunately. Now they can happily continue their holidays. They “escaped” this time again. This makes me doubt the effects of such a neutral report. Maybe next time the Commission can act more severely. It is sad, but only a “shock therapy” might make the Romanian political class aware of the importance of fulfilling its commitments and not just indulging in the mere satisfaction of doing slightly better than the neighboring country.
In a follow-up post, Anda wrote about “one of the most prominent debates stirred by the report […] about the re-confirmation of Daniel Morar as Chief Attorney of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA)” – and the subsequent reaction from the European Commission:
[Morar's] mandate is due to expire on August 12 and various scenarios have been voiced in the media that all aim at Morar’s replacement. […] Fears of being prosecuted for corruption, as well as the quasi-paranoid assumption that the DNA (and implicitly its leader) is a political tool of President Basescu can be traced as the main roots of these positions.
One should not forget that this discussion takes place only few days after the Commission harshly criticized Romania precisely for the politicization of the justice system and fight against corruption. So, as could be imagined, all this political maneuvering is not at all well seen in Brussels. […]
[…]
[…] But the Commission probably realised that its neutral approach leaves too much room for interpretation to Romanian politicians.  By putting aside the diplomacy for a moment and calling the facts by their name, the Commission is increasing the pressure on Romania. Controversial as it may seem, this attitude might prove to be the only “mild” weapon the Commission has left before it starts deploying its artillery of sanctions and safeguard clauses.


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Hungary: Coverage of Gay Pride and Right-Wing Opposition at Hungarian Spectrum · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

One year after she launched Hungarian Spectrum, blogger Eva S. Balogh explained that her primary motivation had been dissatisfaction “with political information available in English about Hungary”:
[…] Admittedly, there are some English-language internet papers, but I don't know any English-language blog devoted to an analysis of daily political events. Most of the time Google Alerts call my attention to some Hungarian recipe. Or to some girl who was an exchange student and tells the world about her experiences in Hungary. These, of course, are important and have their own audiences, but I thought that there were also people who would like to follow Hungarian politics but either didn't speak the language or just wanted to hear another voice. […]
Here are some of Eva's general observations about Hungary's political scene, which she shared in the same first-anniversary post:
[…] I have been quite amazed at the political transformation of some people. Formerly very important party cadres like [Imre Pozsgay] or [Mátyás Szűrös] today are enthusiastic followers of a right-wing [Fidesz]. […] Ordinary party secretaries who were reporting on people in the [János Kádár] regime now teach religion in the local school. People who worked for the secret police are nowadays the most vehement enemies of the old regime. They scream and holler and go to court. One such person is [Katalin Kondor], former head of the Hungarian Radio, who most likely was an informer, but who managed to convince the court that the documents historians claimed were genuine were simply not enough to prove her service to the secret police. […]
Many of the posts on Hungarian Spectrum are devoted to the politics of Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union, the country's largest opposition party, and its supporters. Below is a roundup of some of the recent entries.
On June 29, Eva wrote about the tense situation in Budapest on the eve of this year's gay pride parade:
[…] While a year ago the anti-gay groups were mostly satisfied with verbal abuse and only at the end was there physical violence, this year at least one attack has already taken place. Not just a few guys bloodying the faces of some of the participants but a very dangerous incident that might have ended in tragedy. What happened is the following. A far-right internet site apparently listed a number of gay bars in Budapest. A few days later, the best-known such establishment received a telephone call asking about their hours. That happened around 2 o'clock in the morning. One of the owners informed the caller that they were still open. The callers appeared and threw some Molotov cocktails into the bar while there were still about a dozen customers inside. Fire broke out. The people inside managed to contain the fire and luckily no one was hurt. So that's where we are at the moment, and there is at least another week before the actual parade. […]
Ignorance, including that of the politicians, is one of the reasons for intolerance, according to Eva:
[…] Almost fifteen years ago there was a Hungarian-language list on the internet where the topic was discussed. There was a doctor on the list. He claimed that he was a psychiatrist. He came up with the brilliant idea that homosexuality is like smoking: one can get addicted to it. However, a homosexual can quit his homosexuality just as a smoker can overcome his addiction. Not long ago a Catholic bishop offered another fantastic theory: homosexuality has become fashionable so young people decide to become gay. A Fidesz local politician who is a member of the committee on health issues in a Budapest district just announced that he would like to find out whether homosexuality is an illness or not. He knows nothing about it.
Thus one cannot be surprised that guys with an eighth-grade education attack participants of the gay parade or throw Molotov cocktails into a gay bar when the doctor, the bishop, and the politician say such extraordinary things.
On July 5, Eva wrote about the violence that took place during the gay pride parade in Budapest that day (a Blinkx.com video from the scene is here):
This morning I heard one of the right-wing organizers explain that his organization is a peaceful group of concerned citizens. They just want to defend family values. Their only aim is to stop the yearly gay pride parade in Budapest because they consider it a form of advertising for homosexuality. But they will never resort to force. The organization's name is Rendszerváltó Fórum. And what do I see in the online edition of Népszabadság tonight? “The most forceful attack against the demonstrators came from Rendszerváltó Fórum's meeting at Franz Liszt Square.” Well, well! The report continues: “On the square the demonstrators tried to break the cordon [the police had erected] and attacked the police, who answered with tear gas.” At the far end of Andrássy Street, on Heroes’ Square, hooded and often masked demonstrators attacked the policemen, using Molotov cocktails, rocks, eggs, whatever. Here the police used water cannons as well as tear gas. Because of the “battle” on Heroes’ Square the police diverted the participants in the parade off the main road. In order to make sure that they were not attacked after the parade was over, as happened last year, the police directed the gays into the old nineteenth-century metro that was closed to the public for the duration. That way they could leave the scene without insults or bodily harm.
[…]
How can this happen? Why is it that until two years ago these gay pride parades went off without any trouble?  First and foremost, I blame Fidesz and its leader for encouraging  “civil disobedience” against the “illegitimate” government. Fidesz often called people to the streets to express their dissatisfaction with the government. And once a large group of people assembles trouble is near. Especially if there is alcohol involved. And it seems that alcohol is always involved. Yes, but one could say: this attack on the gays wasn't against the government. By the end, however, the slogans were directed against Gyurcsány and his government, and the whole atmosphere reminded the reporters present of the [September-October events of 2006]. One of the favorite slogans was: “Gyurcsány takarodj, vidd a buzi haverod” (Gyurcsány get lost and take your queer crony with you.” […]
Three days later, Eva commented on the sorry state of the Hungarian law enforcement and judicial system:
[…] Ever since September-October 2006 there has been a systematic effort on the part of Fidesz […] to make the police a useless instrument. I'll bet that if [Viktor Orbán, leader of Fidesz] managed to take over the reins of government tomorrow Hungary would instantly have a police force whose members wouldn't be spat on; no stones, no eggs, no cucumbers or tomatoes would be thrown at them. Or if somebody did any of these things he would be duly and severely punished. […] For now, however, undermining the police and showing that this government cannot even provide domestic tranquility is part of the opposition's political strategy.
[…]
There is confusion in the heads of the judges when it comes to deciding the limits of freedom of speech, for example. A few months ago the courts decided that throwing eggs at people one doesn't like is perfectly acceptable behavior: it is simply a form of freedom of expression. There were altogether 57 people who were arrested during the disturbances on Saturday and seven of them had to appear today in the Budapest courthouse. They were all accused of throwing eggs. Four were fined and three were acquitted. […]
In her July 11 post, Eva cited the results of an opinion poll conducted “two days after the the ill-fated gay pride parade in Budapest.” Among other things, she noted:
[…] Apparently political sympathy deeply influenced people's answers to the questions posed by the pollsters. To give an example: at least twenty-five percent of Fidesz sympathizers believed that the counterdemonstrators went there to express their opinions while the great majority of [MSZP, the ruling Hungarian Socialist Party] voters were convinced that most of the anti-gay demonstrators simply intended to cause trouble and that their actions had nothing to do with expressing their opinions about anything. […]
On July 23, Eva compared Hungary's violent past with today's situation:
[…] There is a frightening parallel between right radicalism in the summer and fall of 1920 and Hungary today where groups are targeted and representatives of those groups attacked. In 1920 the primary targets were Jews, today mostly Gypsies and gays (though Jews aren't immune).
To go back in time and flesh out the story a bit. Radical groups comprised of former officers, young no-goods, and university students became especially active after the Treaty of Trianon was signed during the summer of 1920. In July, for example, about 30 right radicals broke into the Café Club and attacked the patrons. One of the victims, a bank director, died as a result of the eight dagger wounds he received. A lawyer who happened to be walking nearby was shot to death. Considering that Café Club was situated on Lipót körút, in the middle of a heavily Jewish district of Pest, it was clear who the targets were. At least the perpetrators were caught a month later and received sentences of more than ten years. However, a few months later another mob attack occurred at the same Café Club. Members of the “patriotic mob” badly beat the customers.
As I was reading about these horrendous stories from 1920 it was hard not to think of the repeated atrocities committed in our time. Then, largely due to the efforts of Teleki and his successor Bethlen, the murderous activities of these radical groups were stopped and the Hungarian radicals were pushed into the background. One can only hope that the same will happen now, but such an outcome would need the active support of the opposition. I'm really curious when Viktor Orbán will realize that it's in his best interest to help put an end to the activities of the extreme right-wing groups. Perhaps at the moment he thinks that the government's inability to act forcefully will help his party. However, today's political advantage might turn into a serious disadvantage later. Most of these radicals are almost as dissatisfied with Viktor Orbán as they are with Ferenc Gyurcsány. They consider him too liberal, too beholden to Israel, the United States, and the multinationals. One day they might turn against him and then what? […]


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Iran:The “art” of not shaking hands with women · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Faryadbiseda, an Iranian blogger, has published several photos of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ‘s meeting with women. Each time he refuses shaking their hands. It seems religion forbids him and many other Iranians shaking hands with women.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:British Embassy denies Visa to a Patient  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kamangir, an Iranian blogger, reports that a girl is denied entry to the UK despite the fact that she needs urgent care to save her eye. Read an open letter to Jeffrey Adams, the British Ambassador to Tehran.


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Korea: National Duty vs Conscience · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

A young man who is serving his military service as police decided not to go back to his military unit after vacation and announced the declaration of conscience. The reason was that he felt guilty after suppressing civilians who attended candlelight vigils. There have been a lot of responses to his decision, which goes against the government and which means not finishing military service.
A netizen asks about the issue.
촛불집회 진압작전에 투입된 이길준 의경의 ‘양심선언'이 큰 파문을 일으키고 있습니다. 서울 중랑경찰서 방범순찰대 소속인 이길준 이경은 외박을 나왔다가 부대에 복귀하지 않은 채 27일 저녁 서울 신월동성당에서 기자회견을 열고 전의경 제도 폐지를 촉구하는 양심선언을 하고 무기한 농성에 들어갔습니다.
이 자리에서 이 이경은 “의경으로 근무하면서 느낀 것은 우리가 권력에 의해 원치않는 상황에 놓일 수 있다는 것”이라며 “지금 저를 억압하는 것에 대해 분명한 목소리로 저항하는 것이 필요하다고 느꼈다”고 말했습니다.[…] 시위 진압에 강제로 투입되는 것은 ‘양심의 자유'에 반한다며 부대 복귀를 거부한 이 의경의 주장에 대해 네티즌 여러분은 어떻게 생각하십니까.
He said, “While I worked as police, I felt that we could be positioned in a situation that we don’t want by the authority” and “I felt that I should resist against oppression to press down me with my own clear voice.” […] What do you netizens think about him resisting returning to his army because being dispatched to suppress demonstrators by force is against the ‘freedom of conscience’ ?
Many netizens support his courage and point out problems of military atmosphere.
촛불집회에 대한 강경 진압에 대해 이길준 의경은 양심선언을 어제 하였습니다. 그는 촛불집회에서 지휘관이 ” 안보이게 때려라” 라는 이야기와 경찰에 시민 무작위한 진압현장에서 결국 회의감이들어 양심선언까지 이르게 되었습니다.그리고 병역거부를 하였습니다.그렇지만 이 양심선언을 한 이길준 의경이 욕을 먹고 있습니다. 보수 집단에서는 이길준 의경이 ” 정신병자 “로 취급되고 있더군요. 왜 이길준 의경이 욕을 먹어야 할까요? 단지 ” 병역을 거부 ” 때문인가요? 보수집단에 묻고싶습니다. 아니면 진실을 폭로한 이길준 의경이 보기 싫어서인가요? 이길준 의경은 단지 잘못된 경찰에 대한 진압에 회의감과 죄책감으로 양심선언에 이른것입니다. 만약 정말 경찰이 자유 시위 보장과 함께 강경하게 진압을 하지 않았더라면 이런 일은 있지 않았을겁니다.
그가 부모님의 만류를 뿌리치고 이야기하고자 했던것은 우리나라의 잘못된 경찰의 시위 진압에 있어서입니다. 솔직히 생각해봅시다. 아무리 시위를 해산시켜야 하는 경찰이지만 ” 안보이게 때려라 ” 라는 지휘관의 명령을 듣고 어떤기분이겠습니까. 한나라의 시민을 단지 시위를 했다는이유로 안보이는곳에서 때리는것은 폭력 아닙니까? 법질서 확립을 위한다는 명분하에 시민을 폭행하는것은 옳지 못한일입니다. 결국에 이런 것이 잘못됬다고 생각이든 이길준 의경은 결국 양심선언까지 이른것이것이구요. 이런 그에 용기에 박수는 치지 못할망정 욕까지 해야합니까? 물론 병역의 의무를 다하지 못하는것은 잘못입니다. 하지만 그가 병역의 의무를 못하게 한 경찰의 문제점이 개선되는것이 시급한 문제입니다.
Despite his parents’ persuasion, what he tried to say was the wrong suppression of the police toward the demonstration. Think about it honestly. Even though you’re a police who has to dismantle the demonstration, what would you feel if your commander says, ‘beat them invisibly’? Because civilians had demonstrations, you beat them in invisible places. Isn’t it violence? Under the pretext of establishing law and order, beating civilians is not right. That’s why he made his decision. Rather than complimenting him with his courage, why do we call his name? Of course, not completing the duty of the military service is not right either. However, solving the problem of why a police couldn’t finish his duty is the first priority for change.
However, issues related to serving military duty are always sensitive in Korea. Not a few netizens interpret that his action is not against the authority, but for avoiding the duty of the military service.
[…]뉴스 기사는 아주 거창하게 써 놨지만, 내가 볼때는 “군대 가기 싫은” 응석받이로 밖에는 안보인다.일단, 이 의경의 이야기를 들어보자.”진압작전에 동원될 때도, 시민들의 야유와 항의를 받을 때에도 아무 말 못하고 명령에 따라야 하는 스스로를 받아들이는 것은 끔찍한 일이었다. 인간성이 하얗게 타버리는 기분이었다.”(서울 중랑경찰서 방범순찰대 이길준 이경). 현재 대한민국에는 이 의경의 상황과 똑같은 처지에 놓여 있는 대한민국 젊은이가, 대략 60 만명쯤 되는것으로 알고있다.'명령에 살고, 명령에 죽어’ 야하는 처지 말이다.만약, 이 의경이 민간인 신분에, 회사나 기타 단체등등에서의 압박으로 인하여, 그 곳을 탈퇴하기 위한것이었다면, 이유 불문하고, 이 의경을 손을 들어줬을 것이다.왜냐면, 여긴 자유 민주주의 공화국 이고, 인권이 존중 받아져야 되는 사회이기 때문이다.
하지만, 지금 이 의경의 신분상 저런 소리를 할 수는 있을 지언정, 밖으로 표출하면 안되는 입장이다. 왜냐면, 이 의경은 대한민국의 젊은 청년이면 반드시 거쳐야 하는 “국민의 의무” 를 수행하고 있기 때문이다. 군, 경으로서 지켜야할 질서와 책임이 있다.그런데, 지금 이 의경은 개인적인 이기주의를 앞세워, 그 모든것을 무시하려 하고 있다.아무리 불합리적인 명령이라도, 따라야 하는 특수 집단이 있다. 그것이 이 의경이 속해있는 집단이다.만약 이 의경의 주장대로, 난 착한 사람이기 때문에, 불 합리한 명령을 따르기 싫다….라는걸 인정해 버리면,누가 군대를 가고, 누가 전, 의경을 하려 하겠는가!!!
전쟁시 돌격 앞으로…외치는 대대장 앞에서, 사람 죽이는게 싫습니다 라며, 양심선언 해 버리고, 무기를 놓아 버리면, 이 나라 누가 지키냐!!! 전, 의경도 다를거 없다. 명령에 의해 움직이는 집단에서, 그 명령에 복종하지 않는다면, 그 집단 무너지는것은 순식간이다. 질서가 무너진다는 말이다. 나의 의사와는 상관없이 남의 명령에 따라야하는걸 좋아라 하는 사람이 어디있겠는가!! 집단에선 집단에서 지켜야할 룰이 있다. 만약 그것이 잘못된 룰이라면, 고쳐져야 하지만, 지금의 이 의경같은 방법은 아니다.
그리고, 지금 이 의경의 이기주의 하나 때문에, 고생하고 있는 이 의경 소속 서울 중랑경찰서 방범순찰대의 분위기는 지금 어떠하겠는가….;;군대 다녀와 본 사람이라면 더 이상 설명이 필요 없을듯하다[…]
However, as a police, he is in the position of not being able to express what he thinks in public. If you’re a young man in the Republic of Korea, it is the place where you have to go through as the duty of the people. There is order and responsibility that you should keep as the military and police man. But thinking about his selfishness, he tried to ignore everything. Even though there are illogical orders, they are special groups that you have to follow. Like his insistence, because he is such a nice person, he couldn’t follow illogical orders. If we acknowledge that, who will go to the army and who will be the riot and duty policemen?
During the battle, in front of the commander who is shouting ‘go forward,’ you say you don’t want to kill people. You have your own declaration of conscience and give up your weapons. Then who will protect this country? It is not so much difference from the riot and duty police. It is the group that should follow the orders. If they don’t follow orders, it will be an instant that causes the collapse of the group. Who will like following other peoples’ orders regardless of their own will? In a group, there is a rule that you should follow the group. Even though it is the wrong rule and it should change, it shouldn’t be the way that this young man did.
Due to his selfishness, how will other duty policemen in his unit think now… If you have been in military service, you would know what I am talking about.[…]
Finishing military service means passing through a gate in life.
[…]이길준 이경님은 현재 당하는 양심의 고통을 견디기가 힘들었을 것입니다. 하지만, 조금만 견디기를 부탁합니다.[…]한 젊은이의 인생이 달린 문제입니다. 부모님이 얼마나 가슴 아파 하겠습니까? 당당하게 불의한 현실을 폭로하고 부대로 자신있게 복귀하는 모습을 보여주시는 것이, 더 좋은 방법이라고 생각이 듭니다.[…] 제가 경험한 바, 직업 경찰 대부분은 그냥 생활인입니다. 몇몇 정치적인 성향을 지닌 사람들만 제외하면, 심지어 경찰대학 나온 중대장들도 이명박을 지지해서 촛불시위를 막는 것 아닙니다. 그냥 직업입니다. 단순하게 말하자면 그들은 그냥 위에서 시키니까, 하는 것입니다. 자신들의 먹고 사는 일을 해결하기 위하여 하는 것입니다. 그 안에서도 인간에 대한 많은 관찰과 자기 반성을 할 수 있으며, 인생살이 가운데 이해할 수 없는 난해한 일들에 대해 애정을 가지고 품을 수 있는 따뜻한 마음이 생겨납니다.
이길준 이경님을 부대로 보내줍시다! 한 사람의 미래를 살려 줍시다![…]
Let’s send him to his military unit! Let’s save one person’s future![…]
Other people take it as a rare opportunity to abolish the riot duty policemen system, which collects young men in military service.
[…]○ 이길준님을 지켜줘야 하는 이유
주택가 한가운데의 성당에서 조용하게 진행된, 어제 첫 촛불집회에서 진보신당 이덕우 공동대표님께서 어제 왜 우리가 그를 지켜야 하는지에 대한 명쾌하게 의의를 설명해 주셨습니다. 전투경찰대 설치법과, 배경, 현행 문제점 -특히, 군인을 임의 차출해서 소모품 낭비하는 나라.  병역법 24. 25조는 명백한 헌법위반- 쉽게 얘기해서 전/의경은 군인이기 때문에 군인은 계엄상황이 아니면 시민들을 막을 법적 근거가 없기 때문”이라고 밝히며 17년만에 처음으로 헌법소원을 제기할 조건(이해당사자가 등장)이 되었기 때문에 이길준님의 결정이 중요한 것이라 했습니다. 이해당사자가 아니면 헌법소원은 불가능합니다
1991년 한명의 전(의)경이 양심선언을 하고, 전의경제 폐지를 위한 헌법소원이 제기 되었으나, 노태우 정권당시 5:4의 결론에 의해 패소한 전력이 있고, 그로부터 다시 17년이 지난 지금-세상의 인식과 인권에 대한 이해가 17년동안 그래도 조금이라도 진화해온 지금- 이해 당사자인 현직 의경이 양심선언을 하고, 헌법소원을 하겠다고 한것입니다. 17년만의 기회입니다. 이땅의 촛불들에 대한 공권력의 공격을 없앨 수 있는 절호의 기회라는 말입니다. 이게 우리가 이길준님을 지켜줘야 하는 첫번재 이유입니다.[…]
여러분 아십니까 ? 의경이 상관의 지시를 무시하고, 탈영했을 경우, 3년이상 10년이하의 징역에 처할 수 있습니다. 이길준님은 현재 자신의 평생인생이 달린 선택을 했습니다. 그는 당장 헌법소원의 과정에서 엄청난 고통과 적들의 회유와 협박에 시달릴 것입니다. 이러한 이유로 적지않은 젊은 전의경이 양심선언을 고민했다가도 진행되지 않았던 것으로 압니다. 그런 그가 헌법소원을 하기도 전에, 저들의 손에 넘어간다면, 그로써는 정말 힘든 고통을 겪게 될 것입니다 – 개인이 감당하기에 너무나 큰 고통 아닙니까 ? ~ […]
In 1991, a riot (duty) police had the declaration of conscience and we applied for the abolition of the riot and duty police system. But in the period of the Roh Tae Woo Government, it lost due to a 5:4 decision. At present 17 years passed—understanding of human rights and of world must have changed since 17 years passed—the person concerned who is in the position of the duty police now announced the declaration of conscience and we can apply for the petition. We obtained a chance in 17 years. This is why we have to protect Lee Kil Joon.[…]
Do you know? If a duty police ignores the order of his superior and deserts from barracks, they can be in prison for 3-10 years. Lee Kil Joon had a difficult choice in his life. He will be persuaded and threatened by enemies and go through tremendous pain during the petition. Due to this reason, not a few riot and duty police had the declaration of conscience, but gave up. Before he applied for the petition, if he will be handed over to the other side, he will go through a really hard time –isn’t it way too much to put up with as an individual?—[…]

author: Hyejin Kim


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Latvia: Ecliptic Referendum · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Marginalia comments on Latvia's failed referendum, on changing the constitution to enable the people to initiate the dissolution of Parliament, which coincided with a solar eclipse on the hottest day of the year. Baltic presents a background to the referendum.


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Mozambique: Breast-feeding should not be the only choice · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Paulo Granjo [pt] criticizes a redundant local campaign in Mozambique to motivate woman to breast-feed, already a popular habit, which can have disastrous consequences in a country plaged by AIDS. “The most basic common sense is to detect HIV in pregnant women as early as possible, to provide them with caesarean section and provide them with the conditions not to breast-feed, because the vast majority of them will not have money for milk powder or knowledge about needs and sterilizing feeding bottles.”


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Poland: Anniversary of 1944 Warsaw Uprising · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Polandian writes about and posts pictures illustrating the 64th anniversary of the 1944 Warsaw uprising against the German Nazi occupiers.


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Russia: Excerpts of the Political Year · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

LJ user Krylov comments on (RUS) Nezavisimoe Politicheskoe Obozrenie’‘s survey “excerpts of the political year” and especially on “the phrase of the year.”


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Albania: Conditional Hospitality? · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Inside Albania questions the famous Albanian hospitality after receiving the visit of two “non-white” friends that didn't get a very polite treatment in Tirana.


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Angola: Angola towards the elections in DVD · Global Voices
Paula Góes

The educational DVD “Angola towards the elections“, produced during a training in participatory video, will be distributed free to institutions that work with Angolan electoral education. “The main purpose of the video is to bring about the democratisation process in Angola focusing on the coming legislative elections.” The audio is available in six local languages.


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Armenia: Reckless Driving · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

My The Caucasian Knot examines the state of democracy and the rule of law and questions whether there can be either when citizens as well as the government respect neither. Referencing entries by other bloggers, such a situation is most evident when it comes to jaywalking and reckless driving.


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Aruba: Where Everybody Knows Your Name  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“In a small community, everyone knows you…”: arubagirl wants to tell “the crop of young adults who eagerly boarded their flights to go continue their studies abroad” that “to plunge in headfirst in independence…is not as easy as it looks.”


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Azerbaijan: Litter · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Thoughts On The Road reports on what it calls collective action problems where individuals choose to behave in a manner which adversely affects others. The blog says that the tendency for Azerbaijanis to litter is one example of such behavior. However, the blog notes that as education is key to changing such a situation, the local, regional and national authorities are ultimately responsible.


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Bangladesh: Working in Kuwait · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

a bengali in TO points to the case of Bangladeshi workers being ill-treated in Kuwait in the context of pan-Muslim movements.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Barbados: Petition for Maloney  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

AfriKa CRY BLOOD, the blog created to promote awareness of the strange circumstances surrounding the death of Barbadian I’Akobi Maloney, reports that the boy's mother “wept openly in front of Prime Minister David Thompson and other Government officials” at the recent Emancipation Day celebrations, while onlookers “lined up to sign the petition questioning the circumstances surrounding the death…”


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Dubioza Kolektiv Censored · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

YakimaGulagLitteraryGazett reports that the Bosnian hip-hop band Dubioza Kolektiv has been censored from the Goražde Festival because of a song in which they criticize local politicians such as the Mayor of Sarajevo.


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Brazil: Blog is censored because of the elections · Global Voices
Paula Góes

“Since yesterday this blog has been forbidden by a Electoral Justice Court's decision to make “comments about the upcoming elections (local elections 2008) with the aim to promote or denigrate candidates, including images or photographs.” The justice also ruled that we removed “all comments that somehow promote or criticise candidates, including images or photographs”, denounces Álvaro Dantas [pt], who has appealed.


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Bulgaria: Taxi Scams · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Veni Markovski translated a story from the Bulgarian daily Standard reporting that two Dutch tourists were scammed and threatened by a taxi driver at a Black Sea resort, and commented on the “informal mafia-style” of taxi drivers in Bulgaria.


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Cape Verde: To be or not to be African · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Cape Verdean blogger Cesar Schofield Cardoso [pt] reflects on what to be African means. “In our case, to take the African-ness on is to take on a large, majority inheritance. This is by never forgetting that we have so much of European, American, Asian…”


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China: Olympic sign taller than the Great Wall · Global Voices
John Kennedy

“1st thing I see as I ascend the wall,” writes Flickr user Moonage Daydreamer, “slogan for the Beijing 2008 Olympics…could be seen everywhere in China: on bumper stickers, sides of buses and buildings, even on the Great Wall.”
More photos of the sign from different angles can be seen here.


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China: Olympic tattoos · Global Voices
John Kennedy

If you make it to the Olympics, make sure to get your picture taken with this guy who got the Olympic rings and the logo for the Beijing Olympic Games tattooed on his forehead.


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China: Olympics fatigue · Global Voices
John Kennedy

It's one thing to say that people in Beijing and other places around the country are getting tired of the disruptions the Olympics have brought, but Xiao Qiang at China Digital Times translates a Sohu blogger's post which outlines just what some of those disruptions are.


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China: On parachute reporting for the Olympics · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Last week tech blogger Thomas Crampton looked at the issues faced by foreign journalists “parachuting” into the Olympics, such as getting a scoop vs. getting a source in trouble. A post today from Adam at Shanghai Scrap almost makes you wonder if the latter is unavoidable.


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Czech Republic: A Beer Excursion to Pilsen · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Pivní Filosof-Beer Philosopher reviewed the three brewpubs currently operating in Pilsen, in the Czech Republic, that he visited on a weekend excursion from Prague (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3).


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Czech Republic: Křelov fortress · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks describes (including photos) his weekend trip to the old baroque fort at Křelov near Olomouc in the Czech Republic, which this year is open to the public as a museum for the first time.


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Georgia: Gender Participation in Politics · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Social Science in the Caucasus examines research it conducted for Transparency International on women's participation in politics in Georgia. The blog notes that gender distribution during elections is becoming more uneven, but notes the high level of female involvement in civil society institutions.


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Georgia: While World Eyes Turn Away · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Itching for Eestima fears that now may be a time for the Russian-Georgian conflict over South Ossetia to escalate, while the world's attention is turned to the Olympics and the US presidential elections.


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Guyana, Barbados: New Species Found  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

New rain forest species have been discovered in Guyana – Living Guyana links to the story, while Barbados Free Press makes tongue-in-cheek parallels between the world's smallest snake (which has been discovered in Barbados) and the country's politicians.  Living in Barbados adds: “I'm very happy to play my part in bigging up the region for famous things other than our ability to run, dance, sing, kill and maim, play cricket, etc.”


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India: Music from South Asia · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Why isn't South Asian music more popular in the West? More at Sepia Mutiny.


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Iran: International Campaign to Support Jailed Physicians · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

As the  XVIII International Aids Conference started on August 3 in Mexico, two internationally recognized Iranian HIV/AIDS specialists who were supposed to attend the meeting, are being held in prison accused of planning to overthrow the Iranian state.
The two physicians, Kamira and Arash Alaie, are brothers, and have pioneered educational and harm reduction campaigns among drug users, prostitutes, and prison inmates in Iran and throughout the Middle East. They were arrested last month, and have had no legal representation.
Iranian bloggers usually always champion calls for release of political prisoners and civil society activists, but have been quite silent on the Alaie brothers’ case. Too busy with other cases? It's hard to speculate on the reasons, but fortunately an international campaign to support the two brothers has been launched.
Physians for Human Rights has published a video on YouTube asking the Iranian government to free the two brothers.
Boston University doctoral candidate and Kamiar’s friend, Clint Trout, launched a Facebook campaign to inform the world about jailed duo. Trout has created a support club in Facebook, where more than 350 people have already become members. Members can find a list of news reports about the Alaie brothers and are asked to write to the Iranian Health Minister and Iranian ambassadors in their own countries about their concerns.
Blogger Zirkhat says [Fa] that the mother of these two physician brothers insisted in an interview that they had nothing to do with politics, and that their activities were only scientific. The blogger adds that one of the Alaie brothers had estimated the number of people infected by HIV in Iran had grown to over 70,000 from 30,000 two years ago, and just 10,000 four years ago. The blogger says, it seems now that authorities have repressed students, workers and women activists, now doctors are getting arrested too.
Several bloggers such as Nokhostin republished[Fa] the letter of Physicians for Human Rights to Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, where they asked for their freedom.