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Censorship in Singapore · Global Voices
Shawn Lim

In a space of a month, Singapore authorities caused a major uproar when they banned a film of an ex-political prisoner and arrested a British author who wrote a book about the death penalty in Singapore.
Picture taken from The Online Citizen
On 12 July 2010, the Media Development Authority announced its decision to ban a film (starting from 14 July 2010) depicting Dr Lim Hock Siew speaking publicly on his experience being detained under the Internal Security Act. The film was filmed by Director Martyn See. Mr See was also asked to remove the film from YouTube. You can read the transcripts of the film here.
Singaporean blogger, Lucky Tan called for the truth to be told:
Basically what MICA is saying is they banned this film because they want only the truth to be told and this film is full of falsehoods, lies and distortions. Dr Lim Hock Siew was detained for 20 years without trial. During that period, the PAP govt had all the time to show the evidence and tell the truth so that we can all see how wonderful a job the ISD has done to protect us from evil. We are all still waiting.
Picture taken from Jacob Geroge
On 18th July, British author Alan Shadrake was arrested by Singapore police in his hotel on charges of ‘criminal defamation’, a day after his book, Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock, which was critical of the Singapore judicial system was launched. His book was also taken off major bookstores in Singapore.
He was detained for two days in which Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders called for his release.
Singapore socio-political blog, The Online Citizen wondered why Mr Shadrake was charged with criminal defamation:
Alan Shadrake’s book “Once a Jolly Hangman” makes for uncomfortable reading. The book might have made those in power uncomfortable enough to arrest Mr Shadrake on the rarely used draconian charge of criminal defamation.
A Singaporean blog, Chemical Generation Singapore, wrote:
With the arrest of Shadrake, the whole issue is less about the death penalty, and more about where we draw the line on supposed foreign intervention. Cracking down on local politicians getting foreign money and logistics is fine with me. But turning the screws on a foreigner in his book launch, although the foreigner is like a taunting Oliver Fricker and asking for it, is a bit too much in my book. Unless there is more than meets the eye here
Political Activist, Chee Siok Chin accused  the Government of having ‘dirty secrets':

author: Shawn Lim


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East Africa: Whive: Connecting Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Watch a promotional documentary about Whive. Whive is an East African social network created by a Kenyan entrepreneur.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Guyana: Honey and Lime · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Signifyin’ Woman offers her thoughts on Honey and Lime, a book of poems by the Guyanese writer Peggy Carr: “A poem is its own unique, economical world.”

author: Nicholas Laughlin


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Hong Kong: Citizen campaign to save Tai Long Beach · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Many people have the impression that Hong Kong is a concrete forest made up with high rise buildings. However, actually 75% of the land in this global city is undeveloped country side. Such landscape is an unintended result of the colonial history, when after the WWII, the British government tried to sustain the water supply of the city by building a number of reservoirs in countryside.
The above slides show one of the 10 greatest sceneries in Hong Kong: the Tai Long Wan beach. The natural beach is located in the Sai Kung East Country Park and accessible only by walk. However, on July 16 a local newspapers, South China Morning Post, exposed that a large private residence was under construction in the upper Sai Wan Village directly behind the beach. The person behind the construction project is local businessman Simon Lo Lin-shing, chairman of Mongolia Energy Corporation.
In reaction to the news, concerned citizens immediately formed a group in facebook calling for action:
Sai Wan, Tai Long Wan, is the latest in a long sad list of destruction of Hong Kong's core assets. Enough is enough – We are “Friends of Tai Long Sai Wan”, let's make this the last stand in the battle for better planning of our beautiful city before it is too late.
In less than a week, more than 65,420 facebook users have joined in the group. On July 18, the members of the group organized a field trip to the beach, and inmediahk.net's contributing reporter eg9515 joined the team, interviewed the head of Sai Wan Village and reported on the situation:
據黎村長指，魯連城透過中間人，買下該幅農地及旁邊的七間丁屋，將會改建成私人花園，設施包括小型高爾夫球場、直升機坪及游泳池，中間人 更表示魯先生「一年頂多會在這裡十次。」
Another villager said that old village houses would be torn down for luxurious housing. Below is a video taken by eg9519 showing the 100 thousand square feet construction site and the bulldozers at the ground level:
To everyone surprise, on 20 of July, a netizen from the facebook group discovered (via eg9515's report)  that the construction is actually a archaeological site of an ancient lagoon. The government geographical information website (file number AM78-0214) states that the value of the Sai Wan archaeological site has been established in the 80s and in 2006, archaeologists dug out a large number of ancient pottery from the Neolithic Age in the Sai Wan upper village. Here is the government report and below is the screen capture of the government map indicating the location of the ancient lagoon and archaeological site:
Environment expert, C.Y Jim from HKU Geography Department, also joined in the conversation upon receiving an email from member of the facebook group calling for advice. Below is his opinion on the case:
(1) Even though the land is privately owned, it is meant for agricultural use. Any departure from this customary use has to be approved by the government. The quasi-statutory instrument to enforce the land use control is enshrined in the block crown lease (now block government lease) imposed on all farmlands in the New Territories shortly after British leasing of NT from the Qing government. The Lands Department is the government agency in charge of enforcing land use control.
(2) Building water ponds (for recreational or amenity purpose rather than aquaculture) and tennis courts are unrelated to agricultural use, hence they should be considered as illegal land uses.
(3) Building houses for domestic use that is directly related to agricultural production would need approval from the Lands Department. I understand that existing sheds could be rebuilt but subject to tight restrictions on floor area and height. I believe that the site does not contain existing sheds or other covered structures, hence the new owner has no existing right to build a house on it.
(4) The adjacent plot behind Tai Long Wan (TLW, the main beach) is covered by a Rural Outline Zoning Plan (ROZP) dated 2006. The farmland has been designated mainly as Conservation Area (CA), and a strip of land adjacent to the beach has been zoned Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The two existing villages, namely Ham Tin and Tai Long, have been zoned Village (V). It is obvious that the planning intention is to protect nature from unnecessary disturbance or incursion. TLSW, being contiguous to TLW, has a similar landform and land use history, plus a wonderful stream. The conservation worth of TLSW, for all intents and purposes, is equivalent to TLW. The fact that TLSW is not covered by a Development Permission Area (DPA) Plan or ROZP is due to negligence or oversight.
(5) Concerning seeking a court injunction to stop the work, I believe that the government has the power to stop it without going through the statutory injunction procedure. Whether the government is willing to do so is quite another matter. If the government refuses to act, I am afraid the community will have to step in and seek an injunction. The saddest thing is that the destructive work is still proceeding whilst the government is contemplating the possible actions.
In order to press the government to stop the project, netizens called for complaint email and phone call campaigns. Serveral government departments finally stepped in and gave warning to the construction. Today Mr. Lo told the mainstream media that he would suspend the construction. Since the incident has exposed the local planning loophole that would destroy nature landscape, local legislators and environmental groups continue to urge the govenment to amend law and demand any construction plan near the country park areas should have proper environmental evaluation and be approved by the environmental department.

author: Oiwan Lam


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India: Caste Factor In Politics · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ram Bansal at India In Peril explains the caste factor in Indian politics.

author: Rezwan


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Maldives: Typical Maldivians! · Global Voices
Rezwan

Maldivian teen blogger Shaha at DiaryGirl blog takes a hilarious look at the traits of typical Maldivians.


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Mexico: Women Sent to Jail in Guanajuato for Spontaneous Abortions · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Ximena Vega reports [es] on the ongoing incarceration of women who go through spontaneous abortions (miscarriages) in Guanajuato; she writes that women who have abortions (spontaneously or otherwise) can get an average of 27 years in jail. This has been going on for years, as an article from Human Rights Watch from 2006 reports.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Mozambique/Brazil: “Ethanol diplomacy” meets criticism · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Last week Friends of the Earth Europe and Mozambican NGO Justiça Ambiental [Environmental Justice, pt] furiously denounced an accord between Brazil, the European Union and Mozambique to promote biofuels production in Mozambique.
The agreement would increase technical cooperation to promote biofuel production in Mozambique. Currently Mozambican sugarcane ethanol imports to the EU would be subject to very low tariffs in comparison with Brazilian ethanol, which the EU will continue to tax.
Brazilian companies would profit from increased emphasis on the sector and assistance, as some are looking to expand their operations in Mozambique. According to Reporter Brasil [pt] at the end of last year, at least two major Brazilian companies had land use agreements to expand sugarcane production in Mozambique, and were looking for financing to actually produce ethanol in the country.
Photo by Flickr user Tonrulkens with CC license
Officials are saying that African production would have to meet European environmental standards and undergo feasibility studies.
Yet even some of the first ethanol projects in Mozambique have been fraught with social and environmental concerns (see recent Global Voices coverage of one case). Justiça Ambiental said in a press release last week
The expansion of biofuels in our country is transforming natural  forest and vegetation into fuel crops, is taking away fertile farmland  from communities growing food, and creating poor working conditions and conflicts with local people over land ownership. We want real investment in agriculture that allows us to produce food and not fuel for foreign cars.
In response the government news service AIM called Friends of the Earth's statement “woefully ignorant”, also attacked JA, saying there is no evidence to suggest that biofuels production has  hurt food production.
Yet in addition to Friends of the Earth's own report (“The Jatropha Trap“), another study from International Institute of Economics and Development in the UK (“Biofuels,   land access and rural livelihoods in Mozambique“) has urged caution in recent weeks in relation to biofuels expansion in Mozambique.
By Flickr user Fotos da Bahia with a CC license
The trilateral agreement is just one indicator of the strength of what Brazilian commentators have called President Lula's “ethanol diplomacy”. Leandro Freitas Couto writes [pt]
Na recente visita do presidente Lula a seis países africanos (Cabo  Verde, Guiné Equatorial, Quênia, Tanzânia e África do Sul) os  biocombustíveis, o etanol mais especificamente, tiveram destaque na  agenda. […] O Brasil também já dispõe de um acordo com os Estados Unidos sobre o  tema, assinado ainda durante o governo de Bush Jr. Prevê ações de  cooperação triangulares, nos moldes do acordo agora assinado com a União  Européia e Moçambique […]
A diplomacia do etanol, portanto, vem se consolidando nos últimos  movimentos da gestão da política externa do presidente Lula. A  substituição paulatina, mas inexorável, dos combustíveis fósseis e a  atenção crescente às questões climáticas tendem a fortalecer ainda mais  essa agenda no futuro, o que ajudará a fortalecer a presença do Brasil  no cenário mundial. […] Com esse cenário, a despeito dos resultados eleitorais de outubro desse  ano, a continuidade dessa linha de ação da política externa brasileira está garantida para os próximos anos.
In his recent visit to six African countries (Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa) President Lula, biofuels, specifically ethanol, were high on the agenda. […] Brazil already has an accord with the United States in the area, signed during the Bush government. It foresees triangular technical cooperation, along the lines of the accord just signed between the European Union and Mozambique […]
Thus ethanol diplomacy has been consolidated in the last moments of foreign policy practice of President Lula. The gradual, but unstoppable, substitution of fossil fuels and the growing attention to climate issues will only strengthen this agenda in the future, which will help strengthen the presence of Brazil on the world stage […] With this scenario, whatever the electoral results this October, the continuity of this line of foreign policy is guaranteed for coming years.
Brazilian activists like the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) Alagoas have denounced this form of “diplomacy” during recent years. In a 2009 visit to Maputo for a conference on agrofuels (the word used to avoid the positive connotations of “bio”), CPT Alagoas said [pt]
Historicamente, a atividade sucroalcooleira no  Brasil tem sido geradora de profundos desrespeitos aos direitos humanos e  vem causando graves danos ao meio ambiente. Nos últimos anos, a  expansão indiscriminada dos canaviais para produção de etanol – com o  objetivo de atender as expectativas do mercado exterior – vem ampliando a  super-exploração dos assalariados da cana e o aumento do número de  trabalho análogo à escravidão. […]
Colocar o Brasil como um país  chave na produção de energia renovável é fazer uma leitura superficial  ou de resultado, é passar uma borracha no passado recente e criar uma  falsa impressão que todos os impactos (econômicos, sociais e ambientais)  foram superados e que o etanol produzido no Brasil é um combustível  limpo. […]
Não podemos permitir que esse modelo de exploração seja exportado para a  África nem para nenhum outro país do mundo.
Historically, sugarcane ethanol activity in Brazil has generated profound disrespect for human rights and has caused grave environmental damage. In recent years, the indiscriminate expansion of sugarcane production for ethanol – with the objective of fulfilling expectations of the international market – has broadening the super-exploitation of sugarcane wage laborers and has increased the amount of work analogous to slavery. […]
Positioning Brazil as a key country in the production of renewable energy is to make a superficial or results-oriented reading, it is to erase the recent past and to create a false impression that all of the impacts (economic, social and environmental) were overcome and that the ethanol produced in Brazil is a clean fuel. [..]
We cannot permit this model of exploitation to be exported to Africa, nor to any other country in the world.
The Mozambican blogsphere has yet to comment at any length on the trilateral accord. Yet the issue of ethanol has received some comment in the past, including from NGOs and social movements. The National Farmers Union (União Nacional de Camponeses, UNAC) recently posted an interview, Ismael Ossemane, says [pt]
Agora com o etanol e os agrocombustíveis começa uma  maior busca por terra em Moçambique e a tendência é esta força por em  prova a lei de terras. Então nos encontramos nesta situação: ainda há  terras para os camponeses por causa do estágio de desenvolvimento do  país, mas através da forma como começam a entrar as empresas, percebemos  que, se hoje lutamos para defender a terra que temos, em breve  começaremos a lutar para ter terra.
It bears stating that the ethanol in question appears to be for the export market and likely will not solve Mozambique's own dependence on imported oil. In fact, the announcement of this accord came as gasoline retailers were threatening to raise prices and potentially fuel unrest in Maputo like that seen in February 2008 (see Global Voices coverage.)

author: Janet Gunter


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Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Ladprao 64 writes about the situation of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand and the role of the two governments in facilitating the welfare of the workers. The blogger also describes the difficulty in sending remittances from Thailand to Myanmar

author: Mong Palatino


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Nigeria: Nollywood movies online · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

TechMasai writes about Izogmovies: “Izogmovies is a Nigerian start-up which streams Nollywood movies online. At Izogmovies you can watch one free film after sign up, or pay the membership fee to access their entire database.”


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Pakistan: Perceptions And Accountability · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kiss My Roti says that the perceptions of “terrorism” and militant violence in Pakistan is shaping the social, political and cultural response to it by the Pakistanis. The blogger asserts the need for “a paradigm shift in narratives from assigning blame to accepting responsibility”.


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Panama: Questioning Strength of Panamanian Democracy After Protests Against Law 30 and Martinelli · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Pilar Chato writes [es] for the blog Oye about the recent violent protests by banana plantation workers in Bocas del Toro that lasted nine days and, as she reports, left “700 detained, hundreds injured and various dead.” She goes on to say that protests against the government of Ricardo Martinelli have escalated: “the accusations of a civil dictatorship are not only coming from the opposition but also from social, environmental and human rights organizations.” She also explains what Law 30 is all about, a precursor for the protests in Bocas del Toro.


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Philippines: Manila Water Crisis · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Metro Manila, the national capital region of the Philippines, is now experiencing a water shortage crisis with millions enduring water supply rationing. Desperate for a bath, disgruntled residents have taken to breaking a water pipe in Malabon City. Filipino bloggers try to make sense of the crisis.
Photo from the Flickr page of rickyli99
Blackshama's blog finds the fact this rationing is done during the rainy season worrisome.
August is historically the wettest month. Unless weather patterns change, next month may be the driest August. September is the last month of the wet season and then the dry begins. The only thing to be done is to lessen water use.
This shortage also came in the wake of the recent onslaught of the Typhoon “Basyang” (international codename: Conson). Window To my Soul is “going nuts” over the lack of water.
Wait, we do have water, btw. However, water pressure is too weak that it doesn't go up. It does not reach my room. My washroom does not have water. The faucets in it have not released a single drop since the storm [Typhoon Basyang]. So that's roughly 6 days of being waterless. I have to fetch water all the way down from the basement.
I am Hybrid Cha shares her own water shortage experience.
This is really pain for me, for all of us and I absolutely am extending my patience the farthest I could because I do not have any choice (smile!). Plates, utensils, pans and glasses unwashed, left in the kitchen sink overnight; not having a good and indulgent bath (since water arrives (arrives???) at 6 AM and leaves (leaves??? visitor it is!) around 1 PM) for work; I wanted to take a short and comfy shower  (when I feel like it) but since there is no water well what can I do but endure that sticky and messy feeling. There are things that I so want to do, things that are part of my routine that I could no longer do these past few days (since Thursday evening, July 15th to be exact!) because water just would not cooperate.
Let's Go Pinoy also shares a personal experience which he thinks is connected to the water crisis.
although our faucets continue to provide our much-needed water supply, yesterday the water that was coming out was a light brown color! I thought at first it was from the dirty pail and washed it both inside and out and then after several rinses, I realized that it was the water itself. It's still that way this morning but not as brown. Because of this I didn't want to take my bath yesterday. But the heat and my stickiness from sweating got the better of me and I used the water to bathe.
Pinoy Buzz III recommends measures that the government can take to solve the water shortage problem in the long-run.
1. All buildings should be retrofitted so that it will be able to recycle the water it uses for its sinks and toilet bowls.
2. All buildings should start storing rainwater.
3. All commercial establishments and private residences must have a waste water treatment facility.  Smaller establishments can opt to have a communal waste water treatment facility, larger establishments may have their own.
4. Ban the development of new golf courses and inland water resorts.
5. Start the construction of desalination plants…
6.  Start the construction of water recovery facilities along the Pasig River and in Laguna de Bay.
According to the Radical's Nut, the water shortage crisis goes beyond the El Niño phenomenon and would not have been as bad “if not for structural issues related to the privatization of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) almost 13 years ago.”
Among the many promises made by the private water concessionaires and hyped by the then Ramos administration was upgrading the decrepit water system infrastructure. Such upgrade intends to substantially reduce non-revenue water (NRW, or water lost due to leaks and pilferage) and help achieve universal and 24/7 water supply for an increasing number of households. In their original concession agreement with MWSS, the private water firms promised to provide universal access by 2001.
But until today, less than 60 percent of 790,000 households in Maynilad’s service area have 24-hour water service while only 74 percent receive water at 7-pound per square inch (PSI) or stronger pressure (read here). More than half (53 percent) of water allocated to Maynilad continues to get wasted because of leaks and pilferage (read here)…
There is no available data that break down NRW into leaks and pilferage. But the continued pervasiveness of illegal connections may be explained by skyrocketing water bills due to full-cost recovery under water privatization. Since MWSS was privatized, Maynilad’s basic charge has already soared by 449 percent and Manila Water, by 845 percent. Put that in a situation of worsening job scarcity, stagnant wages and income, and rapid increases in the overall cost of living and you will get the picture.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Russia: “Why Did They Kill Yuri Volkov?” · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

"Why did they kill Yuri Volkov?" (a campaign banner, by Teh_nomad
The murder of a TV journalist and football fan Yuri Volkov in the centre of Moscow on July 10, 2010, became a widely discussed event in the Russian blogosphere. A complicated topic, dealing with hostile ethnic stereotypes, crime, police corruption and Russian subcultures, has generated nearly 7,000 comments, tweets and blog posts. Two mass street actions were held, gathering from 1,000 to 3,000 people mourning the victim and asking one question: “Why did they kill Yuri Volkov?”
The murder took place near Chistie Prudy metro station at 1 AM on July 10, 2010. According to the version [RUS] of Volkov's friends, a company of 9 friends were on their way back home when one of the offenders pushed one of them and provoked a quarrel. The fight was immediate and short. As a result, Volkov received deadly knife wounds and died. Three offenders – Akhmedpasha Aidayev, Bekhan Ibragimov and Magomed Suleimanov – were detained by the police within several minutes after the fight. The witnesses of the fight recognized them, the police found the knife as well as blood on the offenders’ clothes. The official police version with its Soviet propaganda style mindlessly said [RUS] that it was just a drunken quarrel. It was not.
Volkov was an active fan of the “Spartak” football team [EN]. Football fans, and especially “Spartak” fans, are known for their excessive violence [RUS] and xenophobia [EN]. LJ user yermoloff described [RUS] them this way:
из всех клубов … именно спартаковских болельщиков провожают до метро. именно их держат в тройном оцеплении ментов. именно они мне, идущему в пиджаке с экзамена, разбивают лицо.
LJ user d2om, however, argued [RUS] that Yuri had been “a responsible and adequate fan.”
At the same time, football fans have a strong feeling of group solidarity and have vast online networks, some of which are hidden from the search engines. It was through the Internet fan forums that a few thousand people were mobilized to come to the streets in order to pay tribute to Volkov. The first and the second commemorations were well documented by bloggers (pictures and videos available here [RUS], here [RUS] and here [RUS]).
The organizers of the commemoration were very strict [RUS] about forbidding any political agenda of the action. The conventional media tried to call it a “meeting of the skinheads” (a common label given to football fans), although the pictures prove it's not quite true. “Skinheads” did indeed join the commemoration, but were not a significant part of it. The violent crime in the centre of Moscow touched both ultra-nationalists and people not interested in politics at all.
Commemoration of Yuri Volkov, photo by Evgeny Valyaev
An important detail about the offenders – who are all of the Chechen [EN] origin – put the topic into the framework of complex ethnic relations in Russia, and, specifically, the Russian-Chechen relations [EN]. LJ user varfolomeev wrote:
Если бы убийцами этого несчастного 23-летнего мальчика оказались не чеченцы, а представители какого-либо иного народа, шума и общественного возмущения было бы столько же? И также бы собирались сотни людей, чтобы почтить память жертвы, устраивались бы флешмобы, и авторитетные блогеры писали бы о зачатках гражданского общества, если бы убийцами были, скажем, такие же москвичи как и сам Волков ?
Nationalist and neo-Nazi groups of bloggers were happy to join (and, eventually, lead) the discussion of the case, stressing the nationality of the offenders. During the mass commemoration actions, graffiti featuring xenophobic slogans (“Chechens are killing Russians,” “War in your home,” “A Russian killed by the Chechens”, “Moscow is a territory of war”) appeared on the walls of the nearby houses.
A lot of popular bloggers couldn't stay neutral in this story and followed the nationalistic discourse of the story. As LJ user voland-bride wrote:
Много топовых блоггеров среагировали на смерть Юры Волкова, много написали о том, что совсем беззащитным москвичам жить не дают, но никто не удосужился покапать по этому делу поглубже -ведь не все так просто. Вообще, смерть футбольного фаната от ножа “понаехавших” это штука, требующая серьезного журналистского расследования, а не догадок с примесью шовинизма.
За работу взялась пропагандистская машина националистов, а где работает машина, там, как известно, правды мало.
Another aspect of the story – the corruption in the Russian police – was raised because two of the three offenders had been released from jail (allegedly due to a bribe given to the police). Some bloggers believed [RUS] such a mild measure had been chosen because of the pressure of the Chechen diaspora representatives on the investigation.
Evgeny Valyayev, press secretary of “Russkiy Obraz” (“The Russian Image”) ultra-right nationalist organization, posted [RUS] a screenshot from the Islam.ru forum, where an alleged sister of one of the offenders was trying to gather money for a bribe (250,000 roubles, or $8,200), to “free” her brother from the police (the identity of the author hasn't been verified).
Blogger stroev_sergey commented on both the corruption and nationalist trends of the discussion:
…ЛЮБАЯ диаспора может откупить, отмазать своего члена. Кроме русских. У которых нет диаспоры. Потому что русские всегда жили в симбиозе со своим государством и если это государство оказалось антирусским, то русские оказались людьми второго сорта, за которых НИКТО, НИКОГДА не заступится.
Yuri's girlfriend (her name isn't disclosed) started [RUS] a LiveJournal blog, in fear that the police will soft-pedal the issue due to the pressure from the “diaspora” and the alleged bribes. Popular blogger teh_nomad started a silent flashmob offering people to repost the black picture with a question “Why did they kill Yura Volkov?” The same slogan appeared [RUS] during several football matches.
Yuri's girlfriend wrote:
Я сейчас сижу, пишу это, а мне страшно.
Страшно, потому что я девушка. Страшно, потому что на месте трагедии появлялись по нескольку раз какие-то непонятные личности, которые фотографировали людей и исчезали.
Страшно, потому что если что-то приключится со мной, то все так и увязнет в виде RIP'a на гостевухах.
In the whole case the most underrepresented point of view was of ethnic Chechens. Ramzan Kadyrov, president of the Chechen Republic, posted [RUS] a generic post on the unacceptability of labeling whole nations for the crimes of individuals. Timur Aliev, Kadyrov's adviser, made an attempt to understand the incident:
[…] Один мой товарищ несколько лет назад рассказывал мне, что в Москве невозможно жить без ножа. Иначе легко стать жертвой гопников. Ночью на него напали четверо. Хотели то ли ограбить, то ли избить. Он достал нож и бросился на них. Они разбежались.
[…]
К чему это я пишу?
Я не борец, не боксер и не каратист. И лично мне очень не хотелось бы стать объектом избиения. Это, прежде всего, унизительно. Наверное, я бы предпринял все возможное, чтобы не стать этим самым “объектом”.
The case of the murder of Yuri Volkov isn't the only one in the long list of the numerous ethnic crimes committed both by Russians and non-Russians in Moscow. It provoked, however, one of the most active reactions among Muscovites during the last couple of years. Among other things, it has highlighted a total lack of trust towards police and legal procedures of justice (with the evidence of two out of the three offenders having been released soon after the incident), and a high level of police corruption combined with the reluctance of the mainstream media to cover such a sensitive topic. The case has highlighted the mobilizing power of the football fans’ online networks and the ease of embedding nationalistic narratives into such dramatic events.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Rwanda: Tension Before The Presidential Election, Except for Kagame · Global Voices
Gael Brassac

On July 20, the incumbent President of Rwanda Paul Kagame has officially launched his campaign for another term in office. The campaign will end on August 9th when the election results are scheduled be made official.  Kagame  is determined to win with a similar  comfortable margin  [fr] as in 2003 when he won his presidential bid with 95% of recorded votes.
There are  only three challengers running against the Rwandan Patriotic Front’s leader, two former ministers and one senator  who supported him during the 2003 presidential elections: Jean-Damascene Ntawukuriryayo, for the Social Democratic Party, Prosper Higiro for Liberal Party and Alvera Mukabaramba for the Party of Progress and Concord. But where is the real opposition?
Sonia LG from the blog Good Morning Afrika [fr] attempts to provide an answer:
Chasse aux opposants :
-Le parti démocratique vert, lancé en août 2009, par des transfuges du Front patriotique rwandais (FPR), actuellement au pouvoir : qui n'a pas été agréé par les autorités et dont le premier vice-président André Kagwa Rwisereka a été assassiné la semaine dernière.
– Le parti social : Bernard Ntaganda son membre fondateur a été exclu du parti et arrêté le 24 juin et placé sous contrôle judiciaire (accusé de “terrorisme” et d'”incitation génocidaire”.
– Les Forces démocratiques unifiées dont la présidente Victoire Ingabire a aussi été inculpée et placée sous contrôle judiciaire pour “propagation d'idéologie génocidaire”.
Harassment of the political opposition:
-         The Green Party: it was launched in August 2009 by defectors from the RPF party, currently in power. This party was not approved by the authorities and its vice-president André Kagwa Rwisereka was murdered last week.
-         The Social Imberakuri Party [fr]: its founder member Bernard Ntaganda was excluded from his party and arrested on June 24 and he is currently placed under custody pending trial for charges of  “terrorism” and “genocidal ideology”)
-         The Unified Democratic Forces:  The party president Victoire Ingabire was also charged  and placed under a custody pending trial for “propagation of genocidal ideology.”
Kris Berwouts, director of the European NGO network for the defence of Central Africa EurAc, stressed the difficulties faced by the opposition parties before the 2010 presidential elections:
Nous avons vu comment les partis d’opposition, qui se préparaient pour la campagne électorale, ont été écartés et comment l’espace politique s’est verrouillé à travers :
As the opposition parties were preparing for their electoral campaigns, we witnessed how they  had been isolated and how the political scene was restricted using the following measures:
High-ranking officers and Kagame’s former confidents were also  targeted in the pre-election tensions.  As a matter of fact, General Nyamwasa, in exile in Johannesburg, South Africa since February 2010 was shot in front of his house on June 19 after having expressed vigorous charges of corruption in the Kagame  government. In April, two other generals, Emmanuel Karenzi Karake and Charles Muhire were suspended and arrested [fr], the first for immoral behaviour and the second for corruption. All of them are allegedly guilty of terrorism and a reorganization of the command of the army quickly occurred afterwards.
Finally, the press has also come under pressure. In April 2010, two newspapers, Umuseso and Umuvuguzi were suspended for six months [fr] by Rwandan authorities, accused of “libel and interferences with privacy”. On June 24, the Umuvuguzi editor in chief Jean-Leonard Rubambage was murdered a day after publishing an article accusing Rwandan secret services to be the instigator of General Nyamwasa’s assassination [fr]. According to the police, the murderer’ s motive was to avenge the death of one of his relatives whom Ruganbage would have allegedly killed. It was the first murderer of a journalist since 1998. Few days later on July 8, Agnès Uwimana Nkusi, editor of the newspaper Uurabyo, was arrested on charges of sectarianism, discrimination, genocide denial and public incitation to hate. She has already spent one year in jail for similar facts between January 2007 and January 2008.
By scorning fundamental civil rights, increasing dubious arrests and unforgivable murders of political leaders and journalists, the man of the reconciliation Kagame  who stabilized  the political and social climate after the 1994 genocide, has re-opened the scars left by the most horrific  period of Rwandan history.  There were numerous trials conducted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda about the genocide since 1994.  The President who has has used limitation of genocidal ideology to justify the recent arrests  has received strong support on the Internet. His supporters will probably come out in force to attend to his expected victory on August 9. Kagame will then further establish his control over Rwanda. The question is, is it  for better or for worse ?

author: Gael Brassac


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South Africa: Mandela not the greatest in Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nana Yaw Sarpong argues that Mandela is a great South African but not the greatest in Africa: “But I have wondered why the rest of the world hails Mandela so much.”


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South Korea: Halting Corporal Punishment In Schools Met With Opposition · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean society is buzzing with the old issue of corporal punishment on student, as an elementary teacher smacking, beating and kicking his students got leaked into public. The corporal punishment, a widely discussed but practically ignored issue for decades in Korea, became the center of a controversy as the Seoul Education Office dismissed the teacher immediately and ordered a halt on physical punishment in every school.
This is a video of Mr. Oh, an elementary school teacher in Seoul beating his students. The video was recorded by one of the students and later released to public by the parent’s association. One of the students punished on that same day was taken was found out to be suffering from leukemia. Oh was quite infamous in his school, even to the point students gave him a fearful nickname of Oh Jang-pong (掌風: Palm Blast) as Oh often smacked students by his palm, making them fell down to the ground.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education took a swift and unprecedentedly strong action. It declared a full-out abolition of corporal punishment in every school starting from this coming fall semester and is considering enacting a ‘Student’s Human Rights Regulation’ to protect student's basic rights which customarily ignored. Most Korean bloggers have greeted the news with enthusiasm, strongly supporting it as a long overdue measure. The middle-aged conservative people, who themselves were the victims of corporal punishment in schools, however, are giving a suspicious look on the effectiveness of the new moves. The Korean Federation of Teacher's Associations are expressing downright opposition to the news, worrying the abolition of corporal punishment may deteriorate the already undermined teacher’s authority.
The corporal punishment is not a legit way of teaching as defined by Korean education law which states teachers should ‘teach students with disciplines without inflicting physical pains with exception of inevitable cases’. The loophole created by the vagueness of the ‘inevitable cases’ has caused confusion and misinterpretation.
Majority of bloggers are showing their absolute approvals to the Seoul Education Office’s decision. The blogger OmegaPassion commented that it is time to redefine the word ‘Gyo-Pyeon’, a commonly used term in Korea referring the teacher’s post but which literally means a teacher’s rod or a teacher’s whip, interpreting the violent practice as the crisis of the democracy.
교편 敎鞭. 채찍을 든다는 말 자체도 이제는 고칠 필요가 있습니다. 체벌을 가하지 않으면 교단을 이끌어갈 수 없다면 그야말로 교육의 위기입니다. 학교가 매로 질서유지 된다. 나라는 무서운 공권력에 질서가 유지되고. 이는 민주주의 국가가 지향할 방향이 아닙니다.
The corporal punishment has a long history in Korea. From Korea’s treasured painter Kim Hong-do’s “Seodang”(書堂: a private elementary school in town) from the 18th century, outsiders can take a glimpse of the strict education tradition in Korea. The picture depicts a student after being whipped by a cane crying in front of the class, while the teacher gives him a sorryful look while other students in the room hold back their laughter, some smirking outright. It shows a stern love which some Koreans feel nostalgia for.
A netizen ID Gubook 123 in a Ruliweb page recalled his memory on a strict but caring teacher.
대딩(대학생) 때 가장 어색했던 것 하나…아무도 매를 들지 않는다는 것…술을 퍼먹든. 당구장에서 세월을 보내든. 수업시간에 잠을 자든. 과제를 빵꾸(를) 내든… 아무도 뭐라 하지 않더라… 갑자기 주어진 자유 그게 너무도 어색했지. 그리고 진심.. 열성적으로 학생을 독려하던 선생님들이 너무도 그리웠음.
One recent parody of the picture, a student giving his teacher a finger, shows a different landscape in Korean education. This is how some teachers and worrying parents feel.
A blogger August 8027 who is a parent of a student commented that certain level of physical punishment is needed for the extremely spoiled and dangerous kids.
체벌을 받고 자란 세대의 학부모로서 지나친 체벌은 반대하지만, 학생의 잘못에 대한 적정한 체벌은 교육상으로도 있어야 한다고 본다…요즘 아이들 초등학교짜리도 얼마나 맹랑한지 모른다. 선생님을 무시하거나, 대드는 아이, 심지어 입에 담지 못할 욕을 하고 도벽에 폭력까지 제멋대로 행동하는 아이들도 적지 않다고 한다. 집집마다 아이가 하나, 둘인 지라 곱게 자란 탓도 있겠으나 tv 와 인터넷 등, 아이들이 접촉하는 매체가 빠르게 발전하는 까닭에 그 영향을 제일 받는 세대라 하겠다.
Those who once were on the receiving end of the physical punishment are saying it is a necessary evil. A blogger Keyhold who recalls himself often beaten by teachers asserts sometimes the corporal punishment is the only option left to the teachers.
전 90년대에 고등학교를 졸업했는데요. 학교 다니면서 많이 맞았습니다. 하지만 단 한번도 맞으면서 인권을 침해 받는 다는 생각은 안 해봤습니다…제가 학창시절에 선생님들에게 맞을 때에는 제가 잘못을 했을 때였으니까요…모든 아이들이 맞아야 말을 듣는 다고 생각하지는 않습니다. 하지만 말로는 도저히 해결이 안 되는 일부 아이들이 있습니다. 그렇다고 해서 이 아이들에게 무조건 체벌을 해야 한다는 이야기는 아니지만 현실적으로 체벌 이외에 대안이 없다는 것입니다…물론 지속적인 관심과 사랑으로 아이들을 바른길로 이끌 수도 있습니다만….대화자체를 거부하는 아이들에 대해서는 어떻게 하실지 그게 걱정이네요.. 시교육청에서 체벌을 전면 금지 시키며 그 대안은 준비해 두었는지 모르겠습니다.
While some conservative population is lenient to the physical punishment, the mainstream bloggers stress that taking the punishment granted is the first wrong step that dragged our society into the rampant, daily violence. A blogger SikSik 69 commented that the vicious cycle of violence learnt and trained from the school came to permeate the Korean society and make the domestic violence justifiable.
선생이 때리면 맞는 것을 당연하게 생각하는 아이들이 사회에서도 폭력을 정당한 수단으로 사용하게 된다. 학교 폭력도 실상은 선생으로부터 배운 당연한 결과물이다.그러니 선배가 후배에게 폭력을 가해도 저항 조차 못하지 않는가? 장차 사회에서도 폭력은 무감각, 폭력으로 해결하려는 풍조(가) 만연(하게 된다)
As some have pointed out, when the leash is broken, certain setbacks can be displayed. But it is not only the content of the education, but also the process of the education that needs to be democratic.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Sri Lanka: Bravo Murali! · Global Voices
Rezwan

“On the last day of his last test match, Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan picked up his 800th test wicket, an unprecedented feat,” celebrates Sepia Mutiny.


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Thailand: District museums in Bangkok · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Andy created a google map of the district museums in Bangkok, Thailand


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Thailand: Some critics are called terrorists · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Via Bangkok Pundit, Ricefield Radio notes how quickly the Thailand government has decided to describe everyone that does not agree with the leaders as terrorists.


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Thailand: “Tsunami Roll” menu · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Blogger I-nomad believes the “Tsunami Roll” food offered in a restaurant in Phuket, Thailand is “not very appropriate considering the 8000+ victims and the survivors of the tsunami which rolled over the shores of the peninsula in 2004.”


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Thailand: Understanding the time, Thai style · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Tweet Yourself Thai provides instructions on how to understand and read the time in Thailand, in Thai style.


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UK: No Reckoning for Police Excessive Force · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Today marks five years since the shocking shooting death of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes by London police. The Brazilian blogosphere has yet to respond. Random Blowe reminds that no official has been held responsible, and compares to the G20 brutality case in which it was just announced there will be no charges.


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· Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean Embassies in foreign countries have prohibited Korean citizens from visiting North Korean restaurants in respective countries, pointing out that the profit earned from the customers flows directly into North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-il's pocket, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo reported.


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Anguilla: role of ministers · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

“What is the function of a Minister in the Government of Anguilla?” asks Corruption-free Anguilla. “He is the policy maker, not the technician.  He is the director of the play, not the actor on the stage.”


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Armenia: FrontlineSMS and health care for all · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

FrontlineSMS says that more than 50,000 alerts on health care service have been sent using its open source software by international development organization Oxfam. The post includes a video report.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Barbados: disillusioned by Crop Over · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

“Crop Over … is a festival which has morphed from a cultural expression of a people to a wukup, mash up, drink up party.” Barbados Underground says “culture” has been “squeezed out” of the national festival.


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Brazil: How Could the Amazon Thrive in the 21st Century?  · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Lou Gold reacts to Andrew Revkin's post at the NY Times blog DotEarth on the future of the Amazon: “Can we really keep marketing the land, its products and services? Can the market really be the final arbiter? What are its limits? Perhaps only catastrophe can show them to us? Perhaps Nature's justice will be the teacher?”

author: Paula Góes


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Brunei: Double Rainbow · Global Voices
Senor Pablo

On 20th July 2010, at 5.00pm, many parts of Brunei witnessed a Double Rainbow

author: Senor Pablo


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Central America: Traveling on a Fellowship and Blogging About it · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The blogger from Antigone Wanders is traveling Central America for three months, going through Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In her latest post she talks about her experience crashing a meeting of “Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular (FNRP), the Honduran resistance”, she goes on to give the necessary background about the Honduran resistance, and then tells us about her experience at the meeting. While in Guatemala, she volunteered for an NGO called FUNCEDESCRI and wrote: “They amaze me more than all of the other NGOs that I have visited or worked for in developing countries.” These are just two of the many experiences she writes about; all are worth the read.


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China: Professional mourners · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated an article from the Beijing News on professional mourners who perform in funerals in Chongqing and Chengdu.


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Costa Rica: Human Trafficking Awareness  · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The Rahab foundation in Costa Rica has put out a video warning people about potential job offers which may be too good to be true and put women as victims in human trafficking schemes.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Cuba: Capitol stories · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Generation Y writes that the historic Capitol building in Havana “has suffered the fate of the castigated” and hopes that it “will become — one day — the site of the Cuban parliament: a magnificent building that houses real debates.”


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Cuba: remembering Zapata Tamayo · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Uncommon Sense argues that the recent release of Cuban dissidents was triggered by the death of activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo in early 2010, after a hunger strike. “Events of the past five months, culminating with the release of the 20 prisoners and the promised release of others, have proven that Zapata's death was not in vain.”


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Death of the China Blog  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kaiser Kuo, Will Moss and Jeremy Goldkorn comment on the Chinese blog scene at Sinica podcast.


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Egypt: Liberals mourn the death of Dr. Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid after receiving the IBN RUSHD Prize
Dr. Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid, a prominent Egyptian scholar once accused of apostasy for his contemporary interpretation of Islam, has died on July 5, 2010. He was 66. Officials at the Cairo hospital where Abu Zeid had been receiving treatment for the past two weeks said he died Monday from a brain infection.
Calling him her hero, Mona ElTahawy reposted an article she wrote about him and his strife in 1996:
An Egyptian court on Monday threw its weight behind Islamists by upholding a ruling that a happily married university professor must divorce his wife because he was found to have renounced Islam.
A human rights group, saying it feared for the life of Arabic professor Nasr Abu Zeid, urged President Hosni Mubarak to overturn the “unjust” decision by Cairo’s Court of Cassation.
The court rejected Abu Zeid’s appeal against a ruling ordering his separation from fellow academic Ibtihal Younis.
Abu Zeid and Younis moved to the Netherlands earlier this year to take up teaching posts. The Court of Cassation is the last stop for appeals in Egypt and court sources say if the couple ever return to Cairo they will have to separate.
Abu Zeid has argued he is still a Moslem and has accused mainstream Islamic clerics of quoting the Koran out of context and of making even simple factual errors. Younis has criticised the fundamentalists for treating her like a child by interfering in her private affairs.
Moftah quoted correspondent Hend Adel and wondered:
Voice of Egypt lamented Dr. Abu Zeid's sudden death:
لم أجد كلام أفضل من ما قاله مينا زكري علي تويتر:
مات من رفض السلطة المطلقة للنصوص ورفض تغييب العقل…. مات من آثر انتهاج التفكير في زمن التكفير… مات من فرقوا بينه وبين زوجته بسبب أفكاره،.. مات من طفشوه الكلاب من البلد… مات نصر حامد أبو زيد
Desert Cat wrote a post titled An enlightened page is torn:
Gaberism wrote:
Dr. Sherif Hafez wrote for Middle East Youth saying:

author: Marwa Rakha


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Egypt: Niqab ban in France stirs controversy · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

In October 2009, the Niqab (or face cover) stirred a lot of controversy when the late Sheikh Mohammed Tantawi – head of Al Azhar and Egypt's Imam – asked a 13-year-old girl to uncover her face while he was inspecting an Azhar school in Cairo. He told her that the niqab is a tradition that has nothing to do with religion. Currently the lower house of the Spanish Parliament is debating a proposal to prohibit the wearing of body-covering burqas and face-covering niqabs in all public spaces in Spain, and the French parliament approved a ban on face veils.
According to AP:
France has Europe's largest Muslim population, estimated to be about 5 million of the country's 64 million people. While ordinary headscarves are common, only about 1,900 women in France are believed to wear face-covering veils. Champions of the bill say they oppress women.
In her interview with Broadsheet, the women’s issues blog on Salon, Mona ElTahawy explained why she supports the ban on niqab:
I support banning the burqa because I believe it equates piety with the disappearance of women. The closer you are to God, the less I see of you — and I find that idea extremely dangerous. It comes from an ideology that basically wants to hide women away. What really strikes me is that a lot of people say that they support a woman's right to choose to wear a burqa because it's her natural right.
On her blog, Mona ElTahawy linked to her appearance on BBC TV's Newsnight where she engaged in a heated argument with Syrian Professor and author of “The Quest for Meaning” Tariq Ramadan, and Nigel Farrage Member of Parliament representing the UK Independence Party.
Meanwhile, on his blog, Hassan El Helali hails the ban saying:
He elaborated saying:
He concluded his post saying:
Joseph Mayton of Bikya Masr describes the ban as stupid:
There was a debate not too long ago in the southern part of the United States over whether a Muslim woman wearing the full-face covering, or Niqab, would be forced to remove the veil for a police officer. The case went to court and was eventually decided that if a male police officer needed to check the person’s identity they would call in a female officer to do the checking. Makes sense. It is one of the few times that the US has done something “tolerant” when it comes to Islam in the country.
So, when the French government banned the niqab, burka or whatever one wants to call the full-face covering that a tiny fraction of Muslim women across the world adorn themselves in, it is shocking that they would continue to argue it is a security risk. It simply is not. Whether we want to see women cover themselves in what liberal Islamic scholar Gamal al-Banna told me recently is an “archaic representation of a time before Islam” is another question, but when France argues the security card, they should be called out for their stupidity.
In his article, Joseph Mayton quoted Islamic scholar Gamal al-Banna who disagrees with Mona ElTahawy‘s stance:
Sure, there was a lot of support for the ban, from as strange of places as Muslim feminists, who argued that the ban would give women more freedom in their daily lives. It is almost hypocritical that anyone who professes to support human rights and the right to choose one’s own lifestyle to argue this, but it happened and continues today. Someone who upholds human rights and people’s right to choose, must accept that not everyone will choose “their way.” We must continue to argue against the niqab – as al-Banna says, “it is not an Islamic idea and has been incorporated by those who bastardize the faith” – but without being preachy. This is where the so-called feminists failed.
Mona ElTahawy argued her point further on the Tuesday’s edition of the Dave Ross Show and again on BBC Radio 4’s Moral Maze
According to BBC's Radio 4‘s introduction:
France is the latest European country to talk of banning the burqa – the full Islamic face veil for women. Belgium has already voted for a ban and there's also been talk of similar laws in Holland and Spain. France has the largest Muslim population in Europe and polls there show overwhelming support for the proposal. It's estimated that around 1900 women in France wear the burqa and most do so because they want to …. For many this is also an issue of protecting women's rights; the burqa they argue, is a symbol of male oppression and as one French law maker is reported to have said, women who wear them must be liberated, even against their will.
Ahmed Zidan of Middle East Youth agrees with Mona ElTahawy and dismisses freedom of choice as grounds for wearing the niqab:
الحرية الفردية مكفولة طالما اقتصرت عادة أو سلوك على فرد أو مجموعة أفراد، ولكن إن خرجت هذه العادة من حيّز الفرد لتصبح ظاهرة عامة، كالنقاب، فيجدر بنا رصد هذه الظاهرة، وتعيين مداها، وتحجيمها وسنّ القوانين التي تحمي حرية الأفراد الآخرين، إن لزم الأمر، وهو الطريق التي سلكته آروپا مؤخرًا.
النقاب يساوي، من وجهة نظرنا الخاصة، حرية امرأة اختارت، بمحض إرادتها، أن تتّشح بالسّواد لأي سبب كان. أمّا التجرّد الكامل من الملابس، على النقيض، فهو قرار خاص بامرأة أخرى اختارت العُري.
الآن، ووفقًا لمبدأ الحرية الفردية، فمن الطبيعي أن يُكفل حرية الُعريّ إذا كُفلت حرية النقاب في المقابل. ولكن، إن كان الأول محظورًا حفاظًا على الآداب العامة، فمن الأولى حظر الآخر أيضًا حفاظًا على السلامة العامة.
According to the above stated principle of individual freedom, if we approve of the freedom to cover up we also have to approve the freedom to undress, and if the later has been banned to preserve public morality then the former should be banned to ensure public security.
Elder of Zion raises another point when he quotes Ibrahim Hooper – a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations:
He says that the French vote is a thinly-disguised attempt to discriminate against all Muslims, not just those who wear the burqa.
“It's really a new type of law targeting a particular minority faith based on the prejudices of the majority. And my religious rights should not be dependent on a majority vote,” said Hooper.
Then he refutes Hooper's argument saying
Syria has banned the face-covering Islamic veil from the country's universities … Last January, an Egyptian court upheld a ban of the veil during university exams. And last year Al Azhar University's religious head banned the veil at all Al Azhar schools altogether.
It seems that Syria and Egypt are nervous about growing Islamic fundamentalism, as shown by a custom that is not legally sanctioned in Islam. In the words of another Al Azhar scholar, “”We all agree that niqab is not a religious requirement. Taliban forces women to wear the niqab. … The phenomena is spreading and it has to be confronted. The time has come.”
So France does not seem to be exhibiting any Islamophobia. French politicians are merely following in the footsteps of two nations whose very constitutions invoke Islam as the major source for their laws!
UNSETTLING SILENCE ON RENDING THE MUSLIM VEIL, makes ElTahawy acknowledge that
Cultural integration has failed, or not taken place, in many European countries, but women shouldn’t pay the price for it.
Still, she urges Europe's liberals and Muslims to justify their silence:
Europe’s liberals must ask themselves why they have been silent. It is clear that Europe’s political right — other countries have similar bans in the works — does not care about Muslim women or their rights.
But Muslims must ask themselves the same question: Why the silence as some of our women fade into black, either as a form of identity politics or out of acquiescence to Salafism?
Once again, Zidan of Middle East Youth lists eightreasons why the niqab should be banned. They are as follows:
Second:
Third:
Fourth:
Fifth:
Sixth:
Seventh:
Eighth:
Though supporting the ban, ElTahawy shouts foul play:
But what really disturbs me about the European context is that the ban is driven almost solely by xenophobic right wingers who I know very well don't give a toss about women's rights. What they're doing is they're hijacking an issue that they know is very emotive and very easy to sell to Europeans who are scared about immigration, Europeans who are scared about the economy, Europeans who don't understand people who look and sound different than them. They've taken advantage of this and done it very well. I'm very disappointed with the left wing and liberals in Europe for not speaking up and saying, the burqa ban has everything to do with women's rights. We are fighting against an ideology that does not believe in women's rights, and we will not allow the right wing to hijack this issue for their own purposes.


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Haiti: heritage mission · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Repeating Islands links to information about a recent World Heritage Centre mission to Haiti, aimed at helping conserve the country’s built heritage in the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake.


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Haiti: How to Report  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

For foreign journalists wondering how to write about Haiti, Mediahacker has written a “handy guide”.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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India: Fair, Lovely and Facebooked · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Image Courtesy Bhatnaturally
A new Facebook app has been creating some controversy in India. The Facebook app, launched by Vaseline, is a product line owned by Unilever lets users lighten the skin colour on their profile pictures.  It is not the first time that desirability of ‘fairness’ has been discussed in the Indian blogosphere. However, the app in question promotes a product that targets men, which is a relatively new trend. So far, most fairness creams in the Indian market usually target female consumers. Le Sigh observes:
The thing that strikes me most about this advertisement is that, it in fact focuses on the need for men to have fair skin, not women. That boggles my mind considering that in Anthropological speak; women are the ones who represent culture not men. In one way, these advertisements are certainly progressive in their inclusion of men in the “fairness” conversation.
In response to Le Sigh‘s post, a comment by Sneha, who works for an advertising agency, highlights some of the reasons for men becoming the target of fairness cream manufacturers.
Men in urban India today are much more concerned about their looks today than they were before. Today, whether at the workplace or outside, many men are more in touch with women who match their income level and job status. Also, as more relationships develop outside the arranged marriage system and dating before marriage becomes more common, men are beginning to feel an increased pressure to be groomed and appear attractive to these women. … Fairness has been an age old obsession in Indian culture, and we find that in group discussions and interviews with men, when asked if there was one thing they could change, it would be their skin colour..
Suhail at Rantings of a Homesick Lunatic discusses the subliminal racism that exists in India, where preference to lighter skin is deeply entrenched in many communities. This preference can manifest in many ways.
Some pretty obvious observations are the film industry, and down south females need to have milky-white skin to be able to land the big roles along side “superstars”, who are sometimes on the other end of the skin color spectrum, but that's more sexist than racist. It became pretty apparent to me that camera-facing jobs for TV and media almost always go for the fairer skinned candidate.
Freshbrew points out that the controversial aspect of the product's marketing strategy is not so much that it attempts to sell ‘fairness’ but that it sells it to men, and that it's for this reason that people are sitting up and taking note. Bhatnaturally points out that it maybe pointless to blame the manufacturers of the product, and perhaps that the ‘digital’ nature of the campaign brings more focus to the product and the app.
People accuse brands like these of reinforcing the notion that fairness is more desirable, superior and causing great harm to society. The counter argument that such brands merely tap into an existing need (long before such products were even conceived or advertised) falls on deaf ears.
A related sentiment is echoed in many comments across blogs, where people feel that the preference for being light skinned is being judged by those who are not familiar with the cultural context and is being labeled racist. Gautam Ramdurai comments in Danah Boyd's post:
The Western uproar is interesting – and is rooted in some amount ignorance. The issue is about the perception of beauty and not of race. Obviously, many commenting on this topic have no idea what the idea of beauty is in India – and hence this looks like an obviously “racist” app. There are people in India who think this app (and the product) is despicable – but for different reasons. I can pull out a lot of western counterparts to the same issue – like tanning salons, the obsession with staying skinny etc – but none of them comes close to explaining the complexity of this issue. It surprises me, how as part of the a “flat world” – we still don’t take off our lenses of comfort when looking at the socio-cultural events from other parts of the globe.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Indian Media – Misusing its freedom?  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Rinaya, one of the winners of the “Indian Media – Misusing its freedom?” blog contest comments in her winning post: “The media needs to be self-regulatory & humanitarian in its approach to the way it treats news. Only then the concept of Free Press can be realized.”


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Jamaica: Sumfest report · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Annie Paul reports on “Dancehall Night” at the 2010 Reggae Sumfest, which featured an appearance by the recently imprisoned performer Vybz Kartel, who “dressed as a prisoner complete with handcuffs which had to be unlocked  before he could perform, a literal reference to his arrest and two-week  detention by security forces.”

author: Nicholas Laughlin


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Kyrgyzstan: Divergent discourses suggest more is yet to come · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Forgive one another, we're all guilty
“Forgive one another, we’re all guilty”, begs a sticker and poster campaign doing the rounds in Kyrgyzstan following the recent tragic events in the south of the country which conservative estimates believe claimed over 1,000 lives. But blame, it would seem, is more easily apportioned than shared. In the capital, Bishkek, some of the stickers have been selectively defaced, the Russian “мы”, – meaning ‘we’ changed to a “Bы”, the plural form of ‘you’.
The campaign's website itself, which seeks grounds for a common approach to the problem and an end to provocation in the South, has been largely eschewed by local internet users in favour of partisan efforts such as www.osh-reality.info/ On such sites, videos of dubious authenticity set the tone for ‘commentary wars’ between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, in which boasts and accusations regarding race, religion and history veer off into fantastic, implacable polemic.
Pop artists and men of culture have done their bit to increase tension. Uzbek singer Yulduz Usmanova’s ill-advised release entitled ‘To the Kyrgyz’, has unleashed a storm of inter-ethnic controversy, as well as attempts by lesser-known artists from the Kyrgyz Republic to provide answers to some of her song‘s principal accusations.
“Don’t trust every hand that gives you bread; don’t rejoice in victory for nothing. You’ve inflicted pain on the souls of my Uzbek people; don’t regret it tomorrow,” Usmanova sings. Then:
“If you kill and strangle each ethnic group, who will stay in the land of the Kyrgyz?”
One response, posted on www.osh-reality.info, was offered by Kyrgyz poet Jenishbek Zhumakadyrov. Zhumakadyrov begins innocuously enough:
“Kyrgyzstan – you must remember that you are the son of a great people/Perpetuate that greatness/A compassionate and mild Kyrgyz/That no-one has the right to humiliate.”
Following this, he goes on to refer to Usmanova in person: “Don’t lose your head in the verses/ Of that girl unwanted in her country (a reference to Usmanova’s conflict with the Karimov regime in Uzbekistan and self-imposed exile in Turkey), before descending into fully fledged bigotry:
“A melon sells one who knows not the sense in horses/in rabbit hearts that know not the taste of kymyz (fermented mare‘s milk)/ …all guests must come to see – who owns this house.”
The post and the comments which have flown thick and fast beneath it are representative of traditional cultural divisions, which appear, even in the modern age, to wield considerable influence in Central Asia; the sedentary person’s perceived fear of the nomad, the nomad’s perceived disregard for the settled confines of the city. Repeated in a series of heated exchanges is the word ‘sart’, an ethnic slur for an Uzbek with associations echoed in Zhumkadyrov’s  ‘melon trader’ slight.
The fallout from this catastrophe confounds a simple assessment. ‘Experts’ have varied in their analysis of events, from the lazy application of the term ‘genocide’ to the ‘its economics, stupid’ school of thought. Yet many of these commentators have never stepped a foot in Osh or Jalal-Abad, and fewer still have lived there long enough to fully understand the unique social dynamics of these cities.
One of the best pieces to emerge from the ruin of the riots was Eurasianet editor [eng] David Trilling’s ‘In Osh, easier to dig up corpses than the truth.’ In it he describes how:
‘for most Osh residents, the culpability is obvious. Uzbeks blame Kyrgyz and Kyrgyz blame Uzbeks. The two groups each nurse their own irreconcilable versions of how the region became deformed with fear and resentment.’
Kloop blogger Nomadlady[eng] also made reference to that ‘first casualty of war’ in a short post about the Wikipedia-hosted article ‘Kyrgyzstan Riots’ that surfaced on the second day of violence in the South.
‘So, the horrible event that happened some days ago in the South of our country is now written in detail on Wikipedia. Interesting to me is how many times it will be re-written,’ the blogger wrote.
True to her prediction, the article was amended several times before a highly sterilized version that revealed little about the origins of the violence enjoyed an extended stay on the site. Still, the page issues the warning that “The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the Talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.” And then another note: “This article needs attention from an expert on the subject.
The Talk page, unsurprisingly, is longer than the article itself.
Back in Osh, the talk is of reprisals rather than reconciliation, and the wounds opened up so rawly on 11th June show no hopes of healing. As residents of this region and neighbouring Jalal-Abad brace themselves for further conflicts, lyricists such as Yulduz Usmanova and Jenishbek Zhumakadyrov would do well not to stoke the flames.

author: Chris Rickleton


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Lebanon: “Looks like Beirut” Award · Global Voices
Katharine Ganly

Lebanon News: Under Rug Swept periodically awards the “Looks Like Beirut” Award “in recognition of the work done to keep the overused, worn-out, tired cliché “…looks like Beirut…” alive. It is awarded to Hull and East Riding here, a Weymouth resident here, and a resident of Strabane here.

author: Katharine Ganly


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Malaysia: Revisiting Cyberjaya · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Lim Kit Siang uploads an article by Eli James who writes about the situation today in Cyberjaya, Malaysia’s version of ‘Silicon Valley’ in the 1990s.


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Malaysia: Scholarship and race · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Azira Aziz questions the decision of the Malaysian government to prioritize the Malay community in distributing scholarship funds. The writer proposes that funds should be given to those who “deserve it by merit and based on their family’s financial background.”


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Pakistan: Girls Harassed on Cell Phones  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mohammad Yusha at Chowrangi talks about a new menace in Pakistan – girls are being harassed on cell phones and an website listed cellphone numbers of some girls to aid that.

author: Rezwan


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Russia: Anti-Religious Online Group Closed · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

“Antireligion” group in the social network “Vkontakte“, with more than 8000 members, had been closed and its content deleted, ru_antireligion reports [RUS]. Prosecutor's office, that was checking the group for extremism [RUS], recognized photos of t-shirts with slogans “Orthodoxy or Death” [EN] as “extremist” and obliged administration of “Vkontakte” to close the group.


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Russia: Unknown People in Masks and Police Attack Environmentalists · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

From 20 to 40 young people in white masks attacked the camp of the defenders of the Khimki forest park [RUS], Igor Podgorny [RUS] and Novaya Gazeta [RUS] reported. The police intervention didn't help – instead several environmentalists and journalists were detained.


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Singapore: Flooding and government · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Siew Kum Hong tries to understand the recent flooding disaster in Singapore and reminds authorities that people are angry because of the “scope and location of the floods that have been occurring and the Government's cavalier response so far.”


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Singapore: Immigration compared with other countries · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Blowin’ in the Wind reviews a report comparing Singapore emigration and immigration with other countries. The report notes that Singapore has the highest immigration rate in Asia Pacific after Hong Kong.


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Sri Lanka: Murali Became A Trending Topic In Twitter · Global Voices
Rezwan

Perambara  reports that Sri Lankan star cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan became a trending topic in Twitter as Sri Lankan tweeps began congratulating the feat of claiming his 800th wicket in Test cricket on his retirement day.


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Taiwan: Foxconn and the shame of Taiwan · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

After 12 employees’ jump of buildings and one more jump in Chimei Innolux Corporation-a subsidiary company of Foxconn-on July 20, Chairman Terry (Tai-Ming) Gou was criticized by Taiwanese scholars as “the shame of Taiwan”, so he threatens to halt all investment in Taiwan. Blogger and book writer Kue-hsien Liao argues that Taiwan does not really need to beg Terry Kuo to stay[zht] and it is time for Taiwanese to think if it is worthy to sacrifice lives and environment just for money.

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Taiwan: TEDxTaipei is coming · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

The second TEDxTaipei installment: TEDxTaipei 2010 will be on July 24th and 25th with 27 speakers from local and from abroad, from musicians to scientists. The whole event will be live-streaming here.


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Trinidad and Tobago: sexy fashion · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Artzpub. posts photos from an “over-sexy” street fashion show in Trinidad — part of the 2010 Erotic Art Week programme in Port of Spain — which was interrupted by the arrival of the police.


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Venezuela: Indigenous Yukpa Protest Outside Supreme Court · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Venezuelan Analysis reports: “Over 80 Yukpa indigenous Venezuelans are protesting in front of Venezuela's Supreme Court in order to demand a ruling on whether three arrested Yukpas can be judged under indigenous law rather than the national legal system, in the wake of a conflict over land demarcation.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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Vietnam: U.S. and human rights · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who is in Hanoi this week for a regional meeting reminded Vietnam to address human rights issues. Reacting to this statement, Vietnam-based twitter user genericdude says, “I would like to see the US invite Vietnam to speak in the US and then have VN criticize them.”

author: Mong Palatino


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Angola: Coins Gleaming Again · Global Voices
Clara Onofre

Last May the National Bank of Angola (BNA) brought into circulation coins in denominations of 5 kwanzas, to join the 1, 2, 10 and 50 kwanza coins, which are circulating again.
1 Kwanza from blog Aerograma
The author of the blog After all I’m just a boy walking around [pt] explains the purpose of reintroducing of the coins:
Com este objectivo pretende-se defender o consumidor, contribuindo para maior rigor nos trocos e menores perdas por parte deste. Ainda hoje ao almoço, a conta acabava em 7,50 kwanzas o que não me fez receber os 2,50 kwanzas a que tinha direito (mesmo sendo um valor residual, somado muitas vezes, dá um valor grande). Num país com extrema pobreza parece-me uma medida adequada a proteger os mais pobres.
The use of the coins has caused some suspicion among the population. According to the newspaper Jornal de Angola [Angola Newspaper, pt], “for many, they are a hurdle, because shopkeepers refuse to accept them”. However there are those who defend the circulation of the coins, arguing that they should be circulating in the formal and informal market, due to the “poor conservation of small bills” which are currently in circulation.
Afonso Loureiro of the blog Aerograma writes [pt] on this matter:
Faz sentido que se cunhem moedas para substituir as notas de denominações mais baixas, que se estragam muito depressa. Por trocar de mãos muitas vezes por dia, a vida média de uma nota de 50 kwanzas deve ser de apenas alguns meses, por exemplo.
Foreign Banknotes from Flickr user DanieVDM, CC Licensed (Remixed)
The question of coins in Angola has inspired artists, such as Manuel Guedes dos Santos Lima, who in his poem “Kwanza” makes a poetic joke about the Kwanza (the biggest river in Angola), and the national currency of the same name. The author of MultiBlog published his poem and says that “Angola’s real currency is the dollar”.
In fact, with the coins in circulation, the Angolan government is trying to curtail the use of the currency which really has reign over the country, the dollar. The American currency has found its way into the national market thanks to the political and military instability from which Angola has suffered; the country was for almost 30 years absorbed in war, a struggle between the two major national political parties, Unita and MPLA.
According to the newspaper O País [The Country, pt], price-setting policy is still under evaluation due to the coexistence of the two currencies in Angolan daily life, a practice which has its roots in the habits of the general population, and although advised against by the National Institute of Consumer Protection (INADEC, Instituto Nacional de Defesa do Consumidor), it is naturally difficult to change.

author: Clara Onofre


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Armenia-Azerbaijan: Moving the conversation forward · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Le Retour (in 3 Parts), a blog by a Canadian-Armenian resident in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, comments on the three recent guest entries posted on The Caucasian Knot, the blog of Global Voices’ Caucasus regional editor, and summarized here. The blog looks forward to more conversations between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.


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Armenia: More homophobic media reports · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped: Gay Armenia continues to monitor the level of homophobia evident in the local media and comments on reports that members of the country's LGBT community meet next to the capital's municipality building.


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Brazil: Training Citizen Media in the Suburbs of São Paulo · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

A new citizen journalism project is underway in the poor, marginalized suburbs of São Paulo. Journalist Bruno Garcez launched blog Mural [pt] where he posts citizen media tips and interacts with his students. The new citizen reporters are also invited to publish their reporting and explain the process they have followed.

author: Sara Moreira


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Colombia: Twitter Reactions After Special Session Between Venezuela and Colombia at OAS  · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

During the past two weeks, Colombia and Venezuela have been going through diplomatic tensions due to accusations from the Colombian government about the presence of groups marginal to the law (FARC and ELN specifically) in the neighboring country. The issue was finally taken to a Special Session in the Organization of American States (OAS), where the ambassadors of both countries presented their points of view. During the session, Colombians using Twitter were actively expressing their opinions which ranged from comparing the Colombian ambassador to a salesman to criticizing his intervention, when he talked about Colombia showing progress because of decreasing figures on violence. Despite this, some users supported him.
Here is a summary of the opinions as seen on the Colombian twittersphere:
David (@pollohipnotico):
RT @LilyMalone Yo quiero vivir en el país del que habla Hoyos. ¿Alguien me dice dónde queda? #OEA // + 45'000.000
Javier A. Fernández (@javi270270):
Ese colombiano habla como loro y no presenta ni una prueba……
Sisifo Roca: (@SisifoRoca):
Coloquialismo  montañero y parroquial totalmente fuera de contexto en un foro  internacional donde la dignidad del país debería enaltecerse.
Juliana Salazar (@chefjulianin):
Esta presentación ante la OEA es como sacar la tarea de un postgrado de wikipedia.
Johanna Colmenares H (@ColHe)
Excelente la presentación del Sr. Hoyos en la asamblea de la #OEA
Farid Urrutia (@faridurrutia):
Excelente presentación del embajador Hoyos sobre la evidencia de los campamentos guerrilleros en Venezuela #OEA #asisehablanojoda
Andrés david Aparicio (@adapar)
#OEA la presentación parece esas sesiones interminables de “miremos las fotos de mis vacaciones”
Victor Solano (@solano):
Lo de hoy en la #OEA debe hacer parte de celebraciones del #bicentenario porque nos recuerda la fragilidad de nuestros gobiernos
CatalinaporDios (@catalinapordios)
dice Colombia en la #OEA sabemos que están en Venezuela, lo vimos en youtube JAJAJAJAJA
After the session at the OAS, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez broke relations with Colombia.
Joaly Padilla (@joaly25)
#OEA Me averguenza la ligereza con q el gobierno venezolano ha tomado lo  ocurrido hoy en OEA. Afectados: los pueblos hermanos de VZLA y COL
Julieth Beltrán (@JuliethBlues):
Y las relaciones rotas a quien más nos afecta es a nosotros los que vivimos en la frontera, el comercio acá está jodido.
Orlando (@DanielitoBang) :
Más de 2000 muertos enterrados en una fosa común AL LADO DE UNA BASE DEL EJÉRCITO COLOMBIANO. Eso NO nos indigna.
Alejandra Ortega (@AlejitaO)
Para mi merece más atención la Fosa común que la #OEA, romper relaciones con Venezuela es cosa de cada semana.
Andrés Zorro (@ZorroDG)
Ahora no falta todo ese montón de intolerantes colombianos y venezolanos atacándose entre ellos con la excusa de “patria”.
Cheshire Cat (@_Cheshire_Cat_):
Chávez está muy loco, pero también están muy locos los colombianos que quieren una guerra con Venezuela
Sisifo Roca (@SisifoRoca):
Ahora: Chávez rompe con Uribe. Prox. Santos arregla con Chávez. Sig. Chávez rompe con Santos. Cont. USA invade VEN.
Labobadaliteraria (@bobadaliteraria)
Celebre el bicentenario, arme una guerra.

author: Cati Restrepo


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France: Rioting in the Itinerant Community after Shooting Sparks Row · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

In French politics, summer somnolence is usually a favorable time to pass painful reforms – retirement pensions for instance – or drastic budget cuts. Unfortunately, summer doesn't make social problems go on a hiatus. On July 18th, riots shook the quiet town of Saint Aignan in the Loire valley  and immediately revived law-and -order reactions while also highlighting the discriminatory practices towards the itinerant community – referred to as  “Gens du voyage” (Traveler People) in French.
Across the river, by flickr user Bolt of Blue, CC licensed
Riots broke out in the town of 3,400 people after 22 year old Luigi Duquenet was shot and killed as he drove through a police checkpoint. Members of the itinerant community reacted to his death by attacking the local police station, hacking down trees, pillaging a bakery and eventually burning down cars. French President Nicolas Sarkozy called a meeting at the Elysée office to discuss the issue of the itinerant communities in France and “the problems created by their behaviour”.  Sarkozy reaffirmed his “war against delinquents” stance and announced that itinerant people residing on illegal sites would be expelled.
A political argument?
Even in the Presidential political camp, the announcement was not unanimously approved. As reported by newspaper Le Monde [Fr], UMP Party Senator Pierre Hérisson, who wrote a report on the issue in 2008, fears that the “Saint-Aignan incident” might raise “confusion”. “What happened in Saint-Aignan is a matter of common law. It is not a problem related to the itinerant community”, he said, further reminding the public that in no way should the Roma community be considered as equivalent to the itinerant community. Although mentioned side by side in Nicolas Sarkozy's sentence, the two communities share neither the same history nor the same legal status, and are not in contact with one another.  Stéphane Lévêque, director of the community organization Fédération nationale des associations solidaires d'action avec les Tsiganes et les gens du voyage (Fnasat) explains [Fr]:
“On one hand, you have the Roma people, who are foreign citizens of the European Union [mainly from Romania and Bulgaria], and on the other hand, the gens du voyage [traveler people], who are fully-fledged French citizens, and have been French for much longer than the Bretons and Savoyards”.
Bloggers’ outrage  found support even in the moderate main media outlets.  Jean-Pierre Dacheux emphasized this point by quoting Europe 1 radio station [Fr]:
Il y a des soirs où les faits parlent d'eux-mêmes. Même les médias “modérés” constatent l'outrance d'un gouvernement aux abois.
In a column on Rue89 online magazine, sociologist Laurent Mucchielli denounces [Fr] the exploitation of violence by the government. He concludes  sarcastically:
Mais nous divaguons ! Il ne faut pas réfléchir, chercher les causes, diagnostiquer les contextes, s'informer d'abord auprès des acteurs locaux, nous risquerions de « donner des excuses aux délinquants » et de remettre en cause la croyance selon laquelle l'Etat et son premier représentant vont régler, une fois pour toutes, tous nos problèmes.
Stigmatization
Area for Traveller people, by flickr user Lafontanella CC licensed
Outrage erupted quickly as well elsewhere, from both concerned citizens and supporting organizations. Jean-Pierre Dacheux writes [Fr]:
“La France va mal, votre président va mal. Il cherche à détourner l'opinion publique vers des cibles faciles”, a déclaré Saimir Mile, porte-parole de la Voix des Roms. “Nous nous préparons à en prendre plein la gueule comme ça a toujours été le cas pendant les crises politiques mais cette fois-ci, encore un peu plus. La situation est très grave… La France ne veut pas des Roms.”
[…]
La réunion de mercredi prochain aura également pour objet de décider “des expulsions de tous les campements en situation irrégulière”, selon un communiqué de l'Elysée. Pour Coralie Guillot, de l'association Parada France, qui travaille avec les Roms de Seine-Saint-Denis, “ce n'est pas la peine qu'ils se réunissent car c'est déjà décidé: on n'a jamais vu autant d'évacuations en Ile-de-France que depuis deux ou trois mois”.
[a full report about shanty towns can be found here]
ZEC plus ultra stresses [Fr] that France was recently condemned by the European Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe for the housing conditions it offers to the Roma community. Beside quoting the main points of the decision (the entire decision can be found here), the blog provides links – including the Romeurope website – and a booklist to learn more about the Roma community.
Reading a report about the issue in a magazine, Feufol senses a trend  of stigmatization and conflation  that makes him uncomfortable [Fr]:
J'ai bien du mal à ne pas voir que derrière la mesure de façade que recouvre l'expression “certains parmi les gens du voyage” se cache une évidente stigmatisation de certaines catégories de la population qui n'a à mon sens pas sa place dans la bouche du chef de l'état.
Tolérerions-nous cette phrase si elle avait été prononcée à l'encontre, des juifs, des musulmans, des homosexuels, ou des bruns à lunettes ?
Il y a cet amalgame aussi qui me dérange, en ce qu'il semble désigner tous les nomades ; tsiganes, gitans, gens du cirque et  ces Roms dont on connait mal les persécutions.
Et pourtant – et c'est peut être la principale raison de ma colère- je peine à trouver dans la presse les torrents d'indignation que ces propos devraient soulever.
Aporismes is even more specific in his pointed criticism [Fr]:
En même temps, si ils portaient un signe distinctif, on pourrait les reconnaître ces roms. Ca permettrait de prévenir toutes leurs actions répréhensibles. Car c’est bien connu, ils ont ça dans le sang, c’est lié à leur race. Non ? Un petit signe. Pas une étoile, c’est connoté. Un tatouage ? Limite…
Vous trouvez qu’Aporismes exagère ? Que jamais dans ce pays cela pourrait arriver ?
Relisez cet article de Libération. Vous verrez qu’en France, en 2009, la gendarmerie n’a pas trouvé choquant pour un sou de marquer des Roms avec un tampon encreur. Histoire de faire un tri. C’est à ce genre d’actions, au fait que ses auteurs n’y voient vraiment rien à redire, même avec le recul que l’on peut mesurer à quel point Nicolas Sarkozy a instauré une république du mépris.
Or, du mépris à la haine, il n’y a qu’un pas.
Meanwhile, the voices inside the itinerant communities themselves or from sympathizers remain temperate.
Blogger and on-line novelist Anna Galore writes [Fr]:
Dans cette malheureuse histoire autour du décès de Luigi, il y a plus que les faits et beaucoup moins qu'on ne peut en lire un peu partout. Tâchons déjà de n'incriminer ni les policiers, ni les Roms en général mais de chercher toujours plus à apprendre à mieux nous connaître pour vivre ensemble dans le respect mutuel.
dROMa blog gives a basic account of the facts [De]  and links to the France Info radio station website for more comments from the community [Fr].
Human rights organization Ligue des Droits de l'Homme (LDH) concluded in its July 21 statement [fr]:
Les rapports officiels se succèdent pour dénoncer la situation des Roms et des Gens du voyage en France (CNCDH 2008, Halde 2009, Ecri /Commissaire aux droits de l'Homme du Conseil de l'Europe 2010…). Plutôt que d'en faire des boucs émissaires et d'exacerber les passions, le gouvernement se devrait de suivre enfin les recommandations qui lui sont faites pour affirmer l'égalité des droits.
[ If you know of Roma blogs in French, please contribute with links in the comments section]

author: Suzanne Lehn


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Ghana: Ghana’s Police Force Online · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Emmanuel is happy about Ghana's police force being online: “That they have a website, which can be reached at http://www.ghanapolice.info/main.htm can only go to confirm that they're well-ensconced in the 21st century.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Ghana: Meet Co-founder of Global Voices Online in Accra · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Are you a blogger or a social media activist living or visiting Ghana, especially Accra? Meet-up with follow the co-founder of Global Voices Online, Ethan Zuckerman, this weekend.


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India: The Korean Cultural Wave In Nagaland · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Renchano Humptsoe, IndiaUnheard, Nagaland. Screenshot from YouTube video by VideoVolunteers.
Nagaland is a state in Northeast India, bordering Burma. The population of Nagaland, almost two million people, is tribal and the majority is Christian. Some Nagas feel disconnected – “racially, historically, culturally, politically” – from India, and have been fighting to protect the “unique identity” of the Naga people from mainstream Indian influence. Nevertheless, a different culture has been making an impact in Nagaland in recent years – that of Korea.
The term “Korean Wave” refers to the popularity of Korean culture around the world, but particularly throughout Asia. It has become a noticeable phenomenon in other parts of Northeast India such as Manipur. At community media initiative IndiaUnheard, Renchano Humtsoe has produced a video report highlighting concerns about the growing influence of Korean culture in Nagaland. She writes:
Korean culture is flooding into Nagaland. New trade treaties between India and Korea facilitated the exchange of Korean goods and enabled them to enter Nagaland with greater ease. Additionally, Nagas have long felt neglected by the central Indian government. This is especially the case with Naga youth. Many believe this lack of identity with central India informs Nagas’ embrace of Korean culture. […] Naga youth have now started to adapt Korean culture. Korean television channels, programs, movies, and clothes are popular among Naga youth. Korean companies are looking into investing in Nagaland. The Nagaland State Government has even taken steps to embrace Korean culture: it hosts an annual Indian-Korean cultural festival. However, this wave of Korean culture threatens traditional Naga customs. […] Traditional Naga culture is unique. Nagaland is comprised of sixteen tribes. Each tribe uses a unique language and has its own rich cultural traditions of dance, song, festivals and other key features. Korean culture’s strong pull on young Nagas will make it more difficult to preserve Nagaland’s important tradition and identity.
Writing at GroundReport, Stella Paul, the Communications Director for Video Volunteers (the organisation which established IndiaUnheard) talks about Renchano's video:
The most-watched TV channel in the state is the Korean channel Arirang TV, the DVD and CD shops are bursting with Korean films, the hottest hair-dos offered by salons are the ones flaunted by popular Korean actors and actresses, shops are selling street fashion that is currently in vogue in Korea, cultural events in the state has special ‘Korean songs’ contests, sports events now have categories like ‘Korean wrestling’.
Otojit Kshetrimayum, Assistant Professor in Sociology at Sikkim University, in collaboration with Ningombam Victoria Chanu, writes an in-depth analysis of the nature of the diffusion of Korean popular culture through Korean satellite channels, music and movies in neighbouring Manipur state:
The introduction of cable television network has played a significant role in the dissemination of culture to other societies. [..] The Korean satellite channel Arirang is the harbinger of the Korean wave in Manipur. Its popularity began largely due to the ban on Hindi satellite channels, which used to be the favourite channels of the Manipuris. They started to look for an alternative channel, which could give them wholesome entertainment.
Otojit writes about the Hindi channel ban:
Hindi films and Hindi television channels, except national channel DDTV, which is under the state control, were banned by one of the underground revolutionary organizations of Manipur in the year 2000.
Another key factor is the cultural proximity theory, which suggests that media productions from culturally affiliated countries have greater reception than those from more culturally distanced countries. According to Otojit, North Indian tribes have many elements of culture in common with the Koreans.
At The Marmot's Hole, a blog about topics related to Korea, Robert Koehler has watched Renchano's report and writes:
Somehow, I don’t think [TV presenter] Lisa Kelley ever expected to show up on Youtube as the face of Korean cultural imperialism.
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Of course, when [the Naga] are ready to be truly Korean, they’ll ditch Arirang TV in favor of NCIS and CSI: Miami.
Commenting on the post, Pvrhye says:
Any time I see people talking about “maintaining” the culture of an area from the voluntary action of those within the culture, I look to me like outsiders like their quaint little villagers to play dress-up for them. If these kids don’t want to dress like their grandmother dressed, that’s pretty well the reality everywhere. If you want to maintain your culture, think about what really defines it and find a way to modernize that. The alternative is getting overwhelmed by people who do.
Another commenter, abcdefg, looks at why Korean culture is popular:
Korea is like the bibimpop of pop culture. One discerns a little bit of Japanese here, some American there; some bits of suburban stuff here, some 90s rap stuff there; some Korean seasoning here, some East Asian zeitgeist stuff there. Lots of various genetic muses compose Korean pop, and at this point, as an admixture, it seems to have gained its own identity; its elements aren’t unique but altogether it has its own sort of flavour.
The reason Kpop culture is catchy among other Asians? Because it’s basic. The social values Kpop espouses are materialistic, shallow, and sexual. When a product appeals to such basic things, it is fulfilling. One can also say that Kpop is popular because it is the most compatible with modern American culture and as such it is the most identifiable to those who have been encultured under America and its Hollywood.
So, is there a real reason for concern about Korean influence on Naga culture? Is such influence an inevitable part of “globalisation”? Or is this just the latest fad that will pass in time? What do you think?

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Iran: A village in the middle of rocks · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kandovan is a ‘strange’ Iranian village in Eastern Azarbaijan province where houses are in the middle of rocks. Watch the photos.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Bloggers remember Shamlou · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several bloggers wrote about Ahmad Shamlou‘s 10th anniversary. Shamlou was probabaly the most influential poet in modern Iran. VatanParast, Iranian blogger, quotes [fa] Shamlou: “underdeveloped countries are like people who are sleeping.”