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The untold tragedy of 28 Mauritanian soldiers executed on Independence Day · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Screenshot of the 28 soldiers executed on Independence day – Video posted by Ibrahima Sow.
On November 28, 1990, 28 men in Inal, Mauritania, were hanged by fellow soldiers in a prison the middle of the night, meticulously selected one by one to be killed, after being accused of plotting a coup against the government.
The date, which also marks Mauritania's independence from France in 1960, continues to haunt some Mauritanians who seek justice for the brutal killings of these 28 men, all of whom were black.
The West African nation of Mauritania is a mix of Arab-Berber and black Africans and human rights groups say black Africans have long suffered discrimination and exploitation.
The president of the Inal-France Committee, Youba Dianka, explains:
Je tiens à préciser qu’Inal n’est qu’un exemple; il y a eu plusieurs Inal en Mauritanie. Des horreurs ont eu lieu à Azlatt, à Sory Malé, à Wothie, à Walata, à Jreida et dans toute la vallée. A l’intérieur de la caserne militaire d’Inal et environs, il y a eu des militaires écartelés, enterrés vifs, tués à bout portant, et pendus pour célébrer la fête de l’indépendance du pays en 1990.
I want to make it clear that Inal is just an example; there were many ‘Inals’ in Mauritania. Horrific events happened in Azlatt, Sory Malé, Wothie, Walata, Jreida and in the valley. Inside the military compound in Inal and its surroundings, soldiers were quartered,  buried alive, shot, and hung in celebration of the country's independence in 1990.
On Independence Day this year, Mauritanians paid more attention to the nomination of their national football team to the Africa Cup of Nations (CAF) finals than they did to the forgotten “soldiers [who] lay in solitude in anonymous pits … still waiting for a decent burial,” writes Kaaw Elimane Bilbassi Touré, news editor of the Mauritanian news site Le Flambeau.
Kiné-Fatim Diop, campaign director for Western Africa at Amnesty International, remarked this year on the contradictions between what should be a celebratory day and what most victims’ families actually feel:
Chaque année, pendant que les officiels célèbrent dans la joie l’accession à la souveraineté du pays, les familles des victimes pleurent et manifestent dans la tristesse pour demander justice et réparation. Face à elles, les autorités mauritaniennes s’efforcent d’ensevelir cette face hideuse de l’histoire, comme lorsqu’elles faisaient voter, en catimini en 1993, une loi d’amnistie confirmant l’amnésie de l’État sur les tueries des militaires il y a 30 ans.
Each year, while the officials celebrate the ascension to sovereignty with joy, the victims’ families cry and protest in sadness for justice and reparations. The authorities are only trying to bury this hideous side of independence, just like when they secretly voted an amnesty law in 1993 affirming the state's amnesia concerning the soldiers’ killings 30 years ago.
The Forum Against Impunity and Injustice in Mauritania expressed sorrow over the tragedy of two brothers in particular who were hanged on that tragic night:
Absolument, une malédiction gratuite s’était battue sur les 28 officiers noirs ce soir-là. Telle la pendaison de deux frères Diallo Oumar Demba et son frère Diallo Ibrahima qui portaient des numéros successifs écrits par le moyen d’un feutre. Triste mort que celle d’assister placidement à la mort de son frère aîné. Les bourreaux tuaient avec précision, d’ailleurs, ils ne se limitaient pas seulement-là, ils trainaient les pendus et s’asseyaient sur leur cadavre.
Absolutely, a curse fell on the 28 soldiers that night. Like the two brothers, Diallo Oumar Demba and his brother Diallo Ibrahima, who were hanged wearing consecutive numbers written on them with a pen. What makes this sadder is having to witness your older brother's death. The executioners did their work with accuracy, and were actually not stopping at the hanging part, but also dragging the dead and sitting on their corpses.
Testimonies from survivors continue to pour in after 30 years.
Mamadou Sy was a squadron commander in the Mauritanian army, then a deputy commander and finally a base commander before he was arrested that night.
In his book “Hell in Inal“, published in 2000, he describes the torture he suffered, when military commanders blindfolded him, tied him up, and threw him in dirty, stinking water.
Another soldier who survived that dreadful night managed to go to France for treatment after his time in prison with the help of the Christian Association Against Torture (ACAT in French). He testifies on the condition of anonymity on the racism he experienced in his 24 years of military service:
Aussi loin que je remonte dans ma vie, depuis que j´ai commencé à comprendre, j´ai toujours constaté que les noirs n´avaient aucun droit, et que les Maures blancs étaient privilégiés. Chez nous, sur vingt ministres au gouvernement il y a un quart seulement pour les noirs, à l´armée, un seul Noir pour dix officiers. Dans un stage, si un Maure a mal travaillé, il l'emporte portant sur n´importe quel Noir. Et pas question de protester…
As far as I can remember, since I have started to understand, I have always noticed that black people never had any rights, and that the white Mauritanians were privileged. Here, out of twenty ministers in the government, only a quarter are black and in the army, there is only one black person out of ten officers. During an internship, if a white Mauritanian wouldn't perform well, they would still win over any other black person. And don't even dare protesting …
He describes the methods of torture he and other soldiers experienced:
Par exemple, on creusait des trous dans le sable, on nous enterrait jusqu´au coup, la tête immobilisée, le visage nu tourné vers le soleil. Si on essayait de fermer les yeux, les gardes nous y jetaient du sable. Ensuite on nous remettait nos bandeaux.
For example, they dug holes in the sand, buried us up to the neck, with the head fixed, our naked face turned toward the sun. If we ever tried to close our eyes, the guards would throw sand. And then put the blindfolds back on.
Maimouna Alpha Sy, general secretary of the Widow and Humanitarian Issues Association, was once married to Ba Baïdy Alassane, a former customs controller. Alpha Sy says her late husband was among the victims killed in 1990.
Nous avons fait trois mois et dix jours à la recherche de mon mari sans pouvoir le retrouver … La Douane nous a dit qu’il est mort d’un arrêt cardiaque, ce qui n’est pas vrai. Il y a des témoins qui ont été arrêtés, ligotés et torturés avec lui. Il a été tué devant ces gens-là.
We spent three months and ten days looking for my husband, but in vain … Customs told us he died from a cardiac arrest, which is not true. Witnesses were arrested, tied and tortured with him. He was killed in front of them.
This year on November 28, Mauritanian immigrants protested in front of the Mauritanian embassy in Paris, France, against the state's disregard for this tragic episode.
Kardiata Malick Diallo, a deputy, gave a remarkable speech at the Mauritanian parliament to prevent people from forgetting, accusing the current prime minister of protecting the perpetrators, who still hold high offices in the state while victims rights’ have not been properly addressed:
Même si votre pouvoir ne peut être tenu comme directement responsable de ces actes qui ont définitivement souillé le 28 novembre, il n’en demeure pas moins qu’il avait la charge de trouver une solution adéquate basée sur le droit des victimes à la vérité et à la justice … Les grandes nations et les grands peuples ne cherchent jamais à gommer un épisode sombre de leur histoire mais le matérialisent par des symboles visibles pour les maintenir dans la mémoire afin de dire « PLUS JAMAIS CA ». M. le Premier ministre, votre pouvoir a préféré poursuivre et parachevé un processus de marginalisation et d’exclusion.
Even if you are not directly responsible for the action that definitely stained every November 28, you still however were responsible for finding an adequate solution for the victims’ rights to the truth and justice … Great nations and great people never try to erase a dark episode out of their history but instead they show it to the world for everyone to remember and say ‘NEVER AGAIN’. Mister prime minister, your power has preferred policies of marginalization and exclusion.
As of October 2018, out of 24 ministerial functions, only five are occupied by black or mixed people, who represent up to 70 percent of society. The majority of the population are still under-represented among the elected representatives, members of the security forces, officials and local administrators.
Mauritania is the last country in the world to officially abolish slavery in 1981 but it wasn't enforced until 2007 and an estimated 20 percent still live in some form of enslaved servitude, most of whom are black or mixed.
Because this historic racism persists in present-day Mauritania, justice for the survivors and their families remains out of reach.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Indigenous video journalist and activist murdered in India · Global Voices
VideoVolunteers

Screenshot from YouTube Video
This post was written by Nupur Sonar and originally appeared on Video Volunteers, an award-winning international community media organization based in India.
In the early hours of 9 December 2018, Video Volunteer Community Correspondent Amit Topno was found murdered in Ghaghra area of Jharkhand, India. Topno, an Adivasi (indigenous) inhabitant of the conflict-prone region of Khunti, Jharkhand, had been with Video Volunteers (VV) since 2012, reported for Newscode and OK Times, and most recently drove a taxi for Ola Cab.
Topno reported fearlessly on issues like sand mining, illegal alcohol sales, Adivasi rights, education, sanitation, human trafficking, land rights, culture and most recently the Pathalgadi movement. His last report for VV was produced six months ago on the Pathalgadi, a movement in which Adivasi communities across Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh asserted their right to self-governance. The movement has its roots in creating awareness and ensuring implementation of the key provisions of the Panchayats (Extensions Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 that empower a village as an administrative unit.
Besides being a community journalist, Topno was a social activist too. He followed up his video reports with on-the-ground action to solve the problem he was reporting. He held community screenings, conducted village meetings, assisted the community in writing applications and approaching government officials and worked towards ensuring accountability. It made schools safer and encouraged the administration to deal with issues like the human-animal conflict in the area. He is remembered by those who knew him as an inquisitive, warm, fun loving and an extremely helpful and courageous individual. In a 2015 interview, Topno said:
Jharkhand is a land caught up in a frightful storm. Its people are being whirled around in a storm of starvation, conflict, and poverty. I am the headman of my village, Nichitpur, Jharkhand, and I’m tired of seeing my people die,” said Amit in an interview in 2014.
Topno’s body was found on the Namkum-Doranda road in Ranchi on 9 December. The autopsy report reveals that he was shot twice and one of the bullets was still lodged in. The autopsy report also states that there were no signs of struggle or scuffle, not even a scratch. His taxi, phone and identity cards were missing but money was not. No weapon was recovered from the scene of the crime. All of this points to a pre-meditated and professionally executed murder. Over 11 days have passed since his murder and no arrests have been made in the case yet — though the police have said that they are closing on some leads.
On 14 December, more than a 100 people, including social movement leaders, activists, journalists, students and members of the VV network participated in a silent candlelight march to protest his murder. At the march, Jerrome Kujur, Dayamani Barla, Deepak Bara spoke out about the frequent threats and harassment of activists and journalists in Jharkhand. They urged the state to conduct a thorough investigation into this case and bring Amit Topno’s murderers to justice.
On 15 December 2018, a delegation of civil society organisations including VV met the superintendent of police and urged him to conduct a thorough and speedy investigation into Topno’s murder. The SSP assured that all possible angles will be investigated.
On 17 December 2018, the Jharkhand Jantantrik Mahasabha organised a peaceful protest in Jamshedpur. Friends and allies of Amit also submitted an application to the National Scheduled Tribe Commission urging them to take note of the gruesome murder. Civil society organisations appraised this matter to the Chief Secretary of Jharkhand government and other ministers on 19 December 2018. Arup Chatterjee, an MLA from Nirsa Dhanbad, was handed over documents related to Topno’s work and he has promised to raise the issue in the upcoming winter session of the assembly starting on 24th December.
Though Topno did not inform his colleagues of any threats to him in the last 18 months, it cannot be ruled out that he was murdered because of his work as a journalist and social activist, raising issues affecting communities on the margins and working in an area where conflict over land resources is rife. In November 2018, another journalist from the same area was murdered. At a time when India ranks 14th on the Global Impunity Index, Topno’s murder is a reminder that journalists who speak truth to power and report out of remote, rural areas are not safe.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: VideoVolunteers


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Macedonian sex workers protest to demand decriminalization as antidote to violence · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Red Umbrella March in Skopje, December 17, 2018. Photo by Vančo Džambaski, CC BY-NC-SA. Part of an Creative Commons-licensed album of 186 photos.
On December 17th, sex workers, strippers, hotline operators and human rights activists from Macedonia held the 11th annual “Red Umbrella March” in Skopje to mark the International Day to Stop Violence Against Sex Workers.
The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers is observed on December 17 by sex workers, their advocates, friends, families, and allies. The day calls attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers worldwide, as well as the need to remove the social stigma and discrimination that have contributed to violence against them and indifference from the communities they are part of.
The Macedonian march was organized by STAR-STAR, the first sex workers collective in the Balkans as part of a global show of solidarity with this social group who are fighting against violence and discrimination. The participants announced:
Со пораката: “ДЕКРИМИНАЛИЗАЦИЈА СЕГА!“ ги охрабруваме институциите и стручната јавност да го отворат прашањето за регулација на сексуалната работа. Ние и сексуалните работници сметаме дека декриминализацијата на сексуалната работа претставува најдобра политика за унапредување на здравјето, благосостојбата и човековите права на сексуалните работници. Овие заложби се засноваат врз потребите на сексуалните работници за заштита на нивните права, за создавање на безбедните услови за живот и работа, како и превенција од насилство и експлоатација.
We would like to send a message: “DECRIMINALIZATION NOW!” and encourage the institutions and general public to open the issue about regulation of sex work. Sex workers think that the decriminalization of sex work is the best policy for improving the health, well-being and human rights of sex workers. These efforts are based on the needs of sex workers to ensure protection of their human rights, to create safe living and working conditions, and prevent violence and exploitation.
The march took place in the center of Macedonian capital, with some of the participating sex workers wearing face masks and revealing outfits, shouting slogans such as “sex work is work.” This phrase has become an international hashtag (#SexWorkIsWork) which is promoted by Sex Workers Outreach Project USA.
Sex workers are some of the most creative, strong, lovely people I've known.
On this International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, it is sad that my instinct is to ask you to see sex workers as human beings.
We have a long, long way to go.#IDEVASW #SexWorkIsWork
— Epiphora (@Epiphora) December 18, 2018
The spokesperson of the 2018 Skopje Red Umbrella March, who also wore a mask to remain anonymous, explained that they want to humanize the needs of this marginalized group:
„Знаете ли колку пати сексуалните работници продавале љубов, а добиле ќотек? Колку им ги земале парите? Колку пати сакале да повикаат полиција, а им ги земале телефоните? Колку пати продавале љубов, а ги возеле на Водно, ги оставале боси и голи да се враќаат дома? Колку пати имале потреба од полициска и социјална заштита, а си легнувале со затворени усти? Нашата порака за декриминализација – не е легализација! Декриминализација значи уредување на правата на сексуалните работници и уредување на социјалната и здравствената грижа. Она што општеството го создава, системот има одговорност да го згрижи“.
Do you know how many times sex workers would sell love, but get beating in return? How many times has their money been taken away? How many times woulf they want to call the police, but their phones were taken? How many times would they sell love, but be taken out of town by car and left in Vodno mountain naked and barefoot? How many times have they needed police and social protection, but would need to go to bed with their mouths shut? Our message for decriminalization is not about legalization! Decriminalization means regulating the rights of the sexual workers and regulating their social and health care. Sexual work is product of this society, and the system is responsible for providing care [for all its members].
The choice of attire is intentional, as part of the philosophy of sex worker human rights defenders to confront the stereotypical representation of these people in the media. This and previous advocacy campaigns are based on reappropriating the use of their own imagery to draw attention.
Read our latest blog and get inspired: sex worker human rights defenders in Macedonia claiming back the use of their own imagery as part of their advocacy campaign. #SexWorkIsWork@star_sexwork @sexworkeurope @SWAN_Network @tampepeu https://t.co/s3MyatmHa3
— Red Umbrella Fund (@redumbrellafund) June 11, 2018
The main target of these advocacy campaigns are the state institutions, in particular, the legislative branch, as participants demand changes to in the Criminal Code which has remained unchanged for three decades since the fall of Communism. The Law on Preserving Public Order and Peace has also been unchanged, with exception to increasing penalties for sex workers.
The marchers urged Macedonian authorities to consider the model for decriminalization from New Zealand, which acknowledges the labor and human rights of sex workers.
“Appeal to the representatives of the institutions: ‘We place our hope in you.'” sign held by a participant of the “Red Umbrella March” in front of Memorial House of Mother Theresa in Skopje, Macedonia. Photo by Vančo Džambaski, CC BY-NC-SA. Part of an CC-licensed album of 186 photos.
At the march, STAR-STAR Executive Director Borče Božinov quoted a survey from the NGO HOPS – Healthy Options Project Skopje which collected responses from 310 sex workers. 211 stated they had been subjected to various forms of violence, including sexual, physical and psychological violence. 87 percent of sex workers had experienced violence from their clients, 43 percent had admitted to experiencing harassment and demeaning conduct by the police, and 28 percent of sex workers had experienced mistreatment from their families.
STAR-STAR claims that the number of people involved in sex work has “increased enormously ” during the previous 15 years, while “the state has not introduced a clear normative system to regulate these activities and take care to integrate the sex workers into the social, health and legal system…”
Decriminalizing prostitution could dramatically reduce sexual violence and sexually transmitted infections, according to a research study published in the Review of Economic Studies in 2017, as reported by the Independent. It found that when prostitution was decriminalized in Rhode Island, sexual violence fell by 30 percent and female gonorrhea incidence decreased by more than 40 percent.
“We have right to life, safety, and freedom of speech, just like all the other citizens.” sign held by a participant of the “Red Umbrella March” in Skopje, Macedonia. Photo by Vančo Džambaski, CC BY-NC-SA. Part of an Creative Commons-licensed album of 186 photos.
Macedonian authorities have ignored the demands of the Red Umbrella March activists since protests began 11 years ago, and so far, there is no public record that the reaction from state institutions has changed.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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New edition of Macedonian Twitter Calendar combines nude art photography with humanitarian fundraising · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

A sample of photos from the Twitter Calendar for 2019 published in Macedonia. Photos by Zvonko Plavevski, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
A new edition of #TwitterCalendar (#ТвитерКалендар), a collection of nude art photography that's typically promoted via the microblogging platform, was recently launched in Skopje. This is the fifth edition of this initiative, which has been donating the money from calendar sales to support various humanitarian causes over the years.
The #TwitterCalendar initiative is in no way affiliated with Twitter as a company or a brand. In the jargon of Macedonian social media users, adding the word “Twitter” to an activity denotes an initiative organized via Twitter and involving its local users. For instance, #TwitterBasket (#ТвитерБаскет) is a popular way to schedule recreational basketball matches involving tweeps.
The author of the 2019 Twitter Calendar is photographer Zvonko Plavevski (@Giotto_mkd), and the models are volunteers from the Macedonian Twitter community who responded to an open call over the social network.
In line with the tradition of previous issues, the funds gathered by selling the glossy, hard-copy version will be donated for humanitarian purposes, and its creators are promoting it through a photo exhibition at a bar in the center of Skopje.
#твитерКалендар pic.twitter.com/Vi9EZCUlZa
— Џото (@Giotto_mkd) December 23, 2018
#TwitterCalendar [exhibition space]
In 2013, a group of activists published the first Twitter Calendar to promote breast cancer awareness. The 2014 calendar promoted sex education and gender equality. In 2016, the calendar offered an array of arty nudes, the proceeds of which went towards helping athlete Gorazd Nikoloski in his fight against cancer.
Plavevski continued the tradition with the 2017 calendar, which promoted HIV/AIDS prevention. Then, the involved team donated the gathered funds to the NGO Real Acts of Kindness, which provides basic necessities like food and clothes to homeless people and families living in extreme poverty.
In a statement for Global Voices, Plavevski said that the process for the 2019 calendar took about two months:
This year the participants were more eager than before to participate in the photo-shoots. Also the attitude of the public has changed, and they don't find the nudity so shocking. The audience seems to have gotten used to art nudity, and was anticipating the calendar and provided criticism of its artistic qualities.
His team explained that for 2019, they’ve printed 100 calendars and hope to sell them for about seven dollars each during the winter holiday season, after which they’ll donate the money to a charity chosen by the participants. For the moment though, they are reticent to announce the cause or specify donation amounts before they actually collect the money.
Besides its Twitter Calendar, the Macedonian Twitter community has established several other traditions and mores — including the annual raising of a Christmas tree made of crowd-gathered plastic bottles, intended to increase awareness about the importance of recycling. The tradition, inspired by a practice from Kaunas, Lithuania, started in 2011.
The participants organize through the hashtag #ЕлкаМК, which combines the word “Elka”, meaning fir, and the country code, MK. The Macedonian translation of “Christmas tree” is “New Year's tree” (новогодишна елка), and is associated with the New Year's Eve celebration rather than the local Orthodox Christian tradition of Christmas, which is celebrated according to Old Calendar on January 7.
The initiative includes a gathering where participants each bring used plastic bottles in different colors, eventually combining them in the shape of a tree. The event also celebrates a sense of community spirit, with shared food and drinks.
#ЕлкаМК е готова! ?? pic.twitter.com/5sT8sEBh6q
— #ЕлкаМК (@ElkaMK_) December 23, 2018
Another annual initiative, #TwitterAwards (#ТвитерНагради), involves communal voting in categories such as Best Hashtag, Best Male and Female Twitter User, Best Designer and other honors. Its very nature makes it somewhat controversial though, as public trust around voting in Macedonian society is low due to abuse of electoral mechanisms by political parties. As a result, many view any kind of voting with suspicion.
Браво на организаторот/е на #ТвитерНагради и истрајноста, покрај толку многу хејтање, да опстане овој настан…
— Kalin Babusku (@kalinbabusku) December 23, 2018
Kudos to the organizers of #TwitterAwards for their persistence that enabled this event to survive in spite of so many hateful comments…
Following the online voting process, the awards are presented at a public event which includes some showmanship and socializing among Twitter users, many of whom might be meeting in person for the first time. The awards also pay homage to community members who have passed away during the year.
Вчера појдов на #ТвитерНагради, @vikohyeah се потрудил да ни угоди на сите и да резимирам …
-бев најстариот таму
-многу млади и убави момци и девојки
-фалеа “твитербожества” ама како и се во државава клапата покажа надменост и не се појавија…
-@kamijon007 е прекрасна !
— Професор Цветковиќ (@tome_corner) December 23, 2018
Yesterday I went to the #TwitterAwards, @vikoheyeah made an effort to please us all, so I would summarize…
– I was the oldest person in the room
– Loads of young and good looking young men and women
– The ‘gods of Twitter’ were not there, like other [elites] in this country they showed arrogance and didn't show up…
– @kamijon007 was gorgeous!
Although the calendar, the Christmas tree, and the awards ceremony do not make the Macedonian Twittersphere unique, they do show the potential that this social network has to create community and positive social change.


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Venezuelans shudder at news of biometric ID deal with Chinese tech giant · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

The front of the Carnet de la Patria, with personal data and photo (which would normally appear in the upper right corner) removed. Image from Jamez42 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
When Reuters revealed in November 2018 that the Venezuelan government had contracted with the Chinese company ZTE to develop a national biometric identification system, public reactions were mixed.
The report stirred outrage both in Venezuela and internationally. But for those who have closely followed the Venezuelan government as it has tightened its grip on people's data and communications, the report represented another chapter in what has become a very long story.
The report confirmed suspicions and denunciations made months ago, increasing fears that the alliance with ZTE will bring Venezuela closer to the implementing a form of social credit score system similar to what is used in China. This system would determine which citizens have access to basic services based on their political allegiances. It also prompted the US government to initiate investigations into the role of ZTE in Venezuela.
The Reuters story pointed to the participation of ZTE  in the development of a monitoring system whose primary tool is the “Carnet de la Patria”, or Fatherland Card. This identification card captures multiple pieces of personal data coupled with a unique and personalized QR code. It also serves as a digital wallet within an electronic payment system.
The Fatherland Card has been strongly promoted by the government and is intended to facilitate multiple public services. The card can be requested voluntarily and free of charge. During this process, whoever wants to get a Fatherland Card must answer questions about their social and economic status.
Those who have the card gain access to food and medicine, which have become dangerously scarce amid Venezuela's political and economic crisis. They can also access certain government bonds and gasoline discounts, which are newly important. After decades of being paid at almost symbolic prices, gas prices are now competitive with international rates.
In principle, the Fatherland Card was introduced as a way to streamline the state-administrated distribution of food. More recently, the card has been integrated into state processes for accessing legal and personal documents, which can be extraordinarily difficult to obtain in Venezuela.
The back of the Fatherland Card. The images in the middle show, on the left, a silhouette of ex-president Hugo Chávez; and on the right, that of Simón Bolivar. On the left of these is the space where the barcode would be, which has been erased in order to protect the information of the owner of this Card. The logo in the bottom right corner reads “Venezuela indestructible” [“Indestructible Venezuela”]. Image shared by “Jamez42″ on Wikimedia under the Creative Commons License. Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.
It is estimated that more than 70% of Venezuelans are already carrying the Card. And although many of them identify themselves as followers of chavismo (the political ideology of president Nicolás Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chávez), Venezuelans who identify as opponents of the dominant political ideology have also registered with the system in order to access personal documents.
The benefits of the Card have accumulated over time. At the beginning of 2018 (a month and a half after the presidential elections), Nicolás Maduro announced that the Card would be required for access to housing bonds and pension payments.
Some experts say the Fatherland Card has other objectives. Fiorella Perfetto of Caraota Digital maintains that the signing of contracts between the Venezuelan telecommunications company and ZTE in February 2017 is part of a larger scheme that was formulated by former President Hugo Chávez with China at the beginning of the mandate.
In 2016, technologist and writer Omar Castro analyzed a number of tweets related to the issue, remarking on people who compared the Card with ration cards:
A fin de cuentas es el pueblo quien seguirá pagando la improvisación en el área económica, no es cuestión de instrumentos financieros […]¿cual es el trasfondo de esta tarjeta?
In the end it is the people who will continue to finance the economy, it is not a question of financial devices […] What are the implications of this card?
The Card was also the focus of criticism during the 2017 regional and municipal elections, as well as the 2018 presidential elections.
Many voters reported that when they arrived at the polls, there was a “Fatherland Card booth” a few meters away from the polling station. Voters who had a Fatherland Card were encouraged to register at the booth, and were promised special access to food and subsidy bonuses if they did so. Voters who did not have a Fatherland Card had different experiences. Some were encouraged to sign up for the system, while others were coerced to do so. A few even reported that they were told they could not vote if they did not sign up for the Fatherland Card.
At the same time, opposition campaign workers in Maturín reported that three polling places did not allow citizens to vote if they did not present a Fatherland Card.
The Card is intended to address the country's limitations on access to cash, hyperinflation and the serious lack of food and medicine. But it can also be seen as part of a wide-ranging state effort to control information, whether it is intended to be private or public. This has also included internet outages, attacks on online media, and the continuous censorship of media not aligned with the government and due to lack of paper, among other resources.
In August 2018, political analyst Leonard Reyes wrote a Twitter thread analyzing some of the different ways people reacted to the Card, among which it was suggested that the system would collapse on purpose by requesting services:
8- El enquistamiento de esta NarcoTirania no es basada en su capacidad de “ofrecer” servicios públicos sino en obtener una ventaja asimétrica de su mismo “desgobierno” para hacer al ciudadano cada vez más Estado-dependiente y doblegarse -cada vez más- al control Social.
— Leonard Reyes (@leonline2000) August 29, 2018
The entrenchment of this Narco Tyranny is not based on its ability to “offer” public services but to gain an asymmetrical advantage of its own “misrule” to make citizens increasingly State-dependent and bow to Social control.                                                                                — Leonard Reyes (@leonline2000) August 29, 2018
Victor Drax, from Caracas Chronicles, an independent media collective, commented on what a monitoring system, in the context of Venezuela via the Fatherland Card, may mean for those who use it — and for those who do not:
Remember what we’ve been saying about the carnet de la patria as an instrument of oppression? Reuters just published a thorough investigation about the thing, and it’s so fucking perverse, it’s baffling […] You know what this means? After you get on the system, the State can come directly to you and say “I know your mother needs medicine. I have it, and you’ll only get it if you do what I want.” This is how the State knows what to do when the time comes to exploit us.
A series of pieces published online by local and international media, as well as online conversations, continue to make it clear that the card is only one in a long series of efforts to isolate the nation and control the population. They show that these efforts did not begin with Nicolás Maduro's government and permeate in ways that cannot yet be fully understood. Following the same ideas, Drax concludes:
Now you see why Nicolás [Maduro] has been so desperate to get everyone on board with the Fatherland Card […] To say that this tramples over the Constitution is an understatement, especially after 20 years of chavismo. Want to know the best part?
This all came from Hugo Chávez himself.

author: Laura Vidal


text:
2018 across sub-Saharan Africa: Our favorite stories of epic change and transformation · Global Voices
Amanda Lichtenstein

Across sub-Saharan Africa, 2018 has seen epic change and transformation. Pictured, a sign that reads “Ipo Nafasi,” meaning “There's room” in Swahili. Is there room for more change and transformation in 2019? Photo by Pernille Bærendtsen, used with permission.
2018 has been a year of epic change and transformation across sub-Saharan Africa.
From long-time leaders stepping down to citizens rising up, a cautious hope surges alongside the continuous struggle. These moments are often marked with humor, grace and wit as citizens across the continent speak out through social media and on the streets.
We asked our Global Voices sub-Saharan Africa team to tell us their favorite stories to work on this year. Ranging from collaborative posts to personal reflections on identity and culture, 2018 ushered in difficult questions that sparked dialogue and debate on identity, leadership, power, women's issues, and human rights.
As leaders step down, a cautious hope rises on the African continent
After months of pressure on the ruling administrations in South Africa and Ethiopia, heads of state Jacob Zuma and Hailemariam Desalegn resigned. Zuma and Desalegn’s falls from grace, though brought about by differing circumstances, ignited hope of democratic change in many African countries with high-handed rulers.
Tanzania's stance on homosexuality points to an increasingly repressive political agenda
At a press conference on October 29, Paul Makonda, the regional commissioner of Dar es Salaam, called on citizens to hand over names of homosexuals. Makonda said he and his team would “scrutinize social media” to “hunt down gay people and those who defend them”, while he also warned against the consumption of pornography. This has left Tanzania's LGBTQ community in fear. The Tanzanian government suddenly distanced itself from Makonda's campaign, issuing an official statement clarifying its commitment to human rights.
Why are governments criminalizing free speech? Because they fear its power.
Africa’s landscape of online free speech and dissent is gradually, but consistently, being tightened. In legal and economic terms, the cost of speaking out is rapidly rising across the continent. While most governments are considered democratic, many operate much closer dictatorships — and they appear to be asserting more control over digital space with each passing day.
Nigerian Twitter has an impersonation problem — and the platform is failing to take action
Impersonation is a growing problem on Nigerian Twitter with some accounts set up using politicians’ names to promote propaganda while others snag celebrity names as part of marketing fraud schemes. Often, the differences are slight and difficult to detect for the unsuspecting user.
How ‘African’ is North Africa?
When Egyptian Mohammed Salah won the 2017 African Footballer of the Year, the internet went into an uproar. Why? Some Africans did not think Salah was ‘African’ enough to have earned the title. This is not the first time — and probably won't be the last — that a North African's “Africanness” was questioned. Why are Africans from north of the Sahara sometimes not considered definitively “African”?
Will a World Cup joke force France to have a necessary conversation about Africa?
When I first saw the memes on my Twitter feed, I smiled. Not only had France won the 2018 World Cup, but most of the African continent shared their joy and made this amazing sporting feat a little bit theirs as well. As a citizen of both Madagascar and France, this was my ‘having my cake and eating it too’ moment.
South Sudanese singer Nyaruach calls out ‘boring man with no plan’ in feminist hit
South Sudanese singer Nyaruach calls out a fictitious lover for being a “boring man with no plan” in the hit song “Gatluak” shared widely since its release in June 2018. With fierce feminist messaging, Nyaruach's playful song reclaims a woman's dignity after getting burned in love. It also calls attention to the plight of sexual violence endured by women from South Sudan.
Who is responsible for ending sexual violence in Somalia?
In October 2017, 16-year-old Faiza Mohamed Abdi was shot in the pelvic area for declining the sexual advances of her attacker in the port town of Bosaso, Somalia. Unfortunately, Faiza is not alone. Fiican, a 45-year-old single mother and Buulo Ba'alay IDP camp resident, was raped in front of her children.
An all-female flight crew makes history in Mozambique
December 14, 2018, was a historic day for many Mozambicans: for the first time in the country's civil aviation history, an airplane was operated solely by women. The crew for flight TM112/3, which traveled between the capital, Maputo, and Manica — an air distance of 442 miles — was captain Admira António, co-pilot Elsa Balate, cabin chief Maria da Luz Aurélio, and flight attendant Débora Madeleine.
‘Tuition-free for all in public universities in Liberia’, says President George Weah
Liberian students at the University of Liberia protested a tuition increase they say they simply couldn't afford, leading to low student enrollment this year with only about 11,000 registered students out of approximately 20,000. Faced with mounting pressure, President George Weah surprisingly declared tuition-free university during a visit to the main campus in late October 2018.
‘You Just Killed Me': The internet meme defying Angola’s government
Meet “You just killed me,” the viral meme challenge sweeping Angola where youth share images pretending to be dead under various objects: cement blocks, fridges, cookers, or cabinets — and usually accompanied by references to social problems faced in Angola.
Special thanks to the writers, editors, translators and researchers: Faaris Adam, Abdoulaye Bah, Lova Rakotomalala, Rosebell Kagumire, Ellery Biddle, Rosemary Ajayi, Pernille Bærendtsen, Prudence Nyamishana, Endalk, Rawan Gharib, Dércio Tsandzana, Liam Anderson, Georgia Popplewell, Taisa Sganzerla

author: Amanda Lichtenstein


text:
Bangladesh braces for fiercely contested parliamentary election amidst opposition crackdown · Global Voices
GV South Asia

How do elections work in Bangladesh? Screenshot from YouTube Video by Dhaka Tribune.
Elections in Bangladesh are usually fanfares with crowds, noise, and tension. Millions of voters journey home to their own constituencies and candidates travel door-to-door asking for votes using innovative strategies like motorcycle rallies and assemblies.
On December 30, 2018, Bangladesh will hold its 11th parliamentary election to determine the 299 elected members of Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) who will lead the country for the next five years.
Tensions mounted in the country on the night of December 27 when the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) ordered through an e-mail four mobile operators to suspend 3G and 4G services in a move to slow down the internet (to prevent video uploads and fast sharing).
The next morning, services were restored without explanation.
Bangladesh Election Commission logo, used with permission via Wikipedia Commons.
The election campaigns this year looked a bit different. The Grand Alliance, the coalition government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina‘s Awami League, has been more prominent as the Jatiyo Oikya Front (National Unity Front), led by a five-party alliance, accused the government of creating a “climate of fear” by using tactics like the mass arrest of opposition activists.
The rivalry between the country's two main political alliances and their leaders is a source of political instability and the country was subjected to military rule a few times as a consequence.
The Jatiyo Oikya Front alliance includes the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who named lawyer and politician Kamal Hossain because their leader, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, is in jail after being convicted in a graft case earlier this year. The acting chairperson, her son Tarique Rahman, is a fugitive from the law in an assassination case and is exiled in the UK.
Jatiya Sangsad consists of 300 directly elected seats with single-member constituencies, and an additional 50 seats reserved for women based on the proportional vote share of the contesting parties. There are 300 seats to grab for the December 30 election, except one deferred following the death of a candidate. A total of 39 parties have posted 1749 candidates.
Bangladesh has a population of approximately 164 million with 104 million registered voters (above the age of 18).
This YouTube video by Dhaka Tribune narrates how election works in Bangladesh:
Four major alliances have a stake in this election:
Grand Alliance: This alliance has been ruling since winning the 9th parliamentary election on December 29, 2008. Other political parties currently included in the alliance are the Jatiya Party, the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal – JaSaD, the Bangladesh Tarikat Federation, the Workers Party, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh and the Jatiya Party (JP). A major player in this coalition is Jatiya Party (Ershad), which has secured 26 candidacies through the Grand Alliance. However, they have fielded 150 candidates outside the Grand Alliance, which may influence the results.
In the 10th parliamentary election on January 5, 2014, the Awami League took advantage of a walkover with the BNP and other opposition parties, who refused to participate, citing widespread arrests of opposition members and pressing for their demand to hand over power to a ‘caretaker’ government — which the government claimed was unconstitutional.
20-Party Alliance: This alliance, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, is the traditional foe of Awami League's Grand Alliance. It ruled the country winning the elections in 1978, 1991, 1996 and 2001. The pact currently consists of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Khelafat Majlish, the Bangladesh Kalyan Party, the Jamiat-e-Ulama-e Islam, the Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar), the National People’s Party and the Labour Party among others. The BNP has a dark record of harboring religious extremism as it partnered with the right-wing Islamist party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, whose leaders have been barred from contesting in prior parliamentary elections because its registration was declared illegal in 2013. Its charter violated the constitution.
Jatiya Oikya Front (National Unity Front): This is a new alliance of five parties: the 20-Party Alliance has joined forces with the Gono Forum, the Krishak Sramik Janata League, the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal – JSD and the Nagorik Oikya to create a new alliance in October 2018 and has chosen Dr. Kamal Hossain as its leader. The alliance has already shown some rifts over a number of issues.
Left Democratic Alliance: This coalition includes a number of left-wing parties, namely the Communist Party of Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal and the Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh.
A recent Human Rights Watch report finds that the government has used authoritarian measures on opposition political activists, including widespread surveillance, that has contributed to a climate of fear ahead of the elections.
According to the 37-page report, “Creating Panic: Bangladesh Election Crackdown on Political Opponents and Critics,”
As of December 17, at least 26 opposition candidates’ motorcades had been attacked, 13 opposition candidates had been injured, two had been arrested, and 875 opposition supporters had been injured, some critically. In the same period, two Awami League members had been killed and 75 injured.
According to the BNP, more than 300,000 leaders and activists have been accused in ‘false and fabricated’ cases over the past decade, and thousands have been arrested ahead of the polls.
Thousands of Bangladeshis have faced detention and legal harassment in recent months for comments deemed critical of the government. Others, directly linked to opposition parties, say they live in constant fear of arrest, or even enforced disappearance or extrajudicial execution.
The election commission has been accused of favoring the ruling party alliance:
Four days ahead of elections in Bangladesh, rare, front-page political cartoon in @dailystarnews today mocking Election Commission’s stance that political parties have a level playing field. pic.twitter.com/TtV6humzdf
— Zeba Siddiqui (@zebatweets) December 26, 2018
In a recent Netizen Report, Global Voices highlighted that political activity and news are targeted online. The official website of the BNP was blocked for a period of time as the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission claimed the website presented “distasteful” content that could harm law and order.
On December 10, the BTRC temporarily blocked 58 websites on national security grounds, arguing that they contained “fake and baseless news reports.”
The Human Rights Watch report also mentions crackdown on freedom of speech:
Bangladesh authorities have tried to stifle dissent and criticism including on newspapers, television networks, and on social media.
Journalists said that the Digital Security Act (DSA) effectively prohibits investigative journalism.
With more than 42,000 polling centers across the country, only 25,920 local observers have been cleared to monitor the polls. The number of local observers has been reduced significantly as the nongovernmental organization Affairs Bureau has not granted the “No Objection Certificate” to use foreign funds to carry out work of the 15 Election Working Group members.
An approximate 175 foreign observers are set to participate, but the Government of Bangladesh could not grant credentials and issue visas within the timeframe necessary so many will not make it.
U.S. is disappointed by Government of #Bangladesh’s inability to grant credentials & issue visas within the timeframe necessary to conduct a credible international monitoring mission to the majority of international election monitors from @ANFREL, which U.S. funded through @NDI. pic.twitter.com/FYEqjAY5sI
— Robert Palladino (@StateDeputySPOX) December 21, 2018
The election campaigns ended Friday, December 28, and the country will brace for elections on Sunday.
Kazi Anis Ahmed, the publisher of the Dhaka Tribune, opines that Bangladeshi voters have a hard choice to make between authoritarianism or extremism.

author: GV South Asia


text:
How the comics of Marcelo D’Salete helps us understand Brazil’s past and present · Global Voices
Luis Henrique

Marcelo D'Salete working. Photo: Rafael Roncato, used with permission
In 2013, Global Voices published a series of articles about Marcelo D’Salete's comics. At that time, he was beginning to gain recognition for his urban narratives and a perspective characterized by “questioning and making more complex the possibilities for representing black people and their history,” as he said.
Over time, D’Salete turned to Brazil's past. His most recent works, Cumbe (2014) and Angola Janga (2017), tell stories of resistance by black slaves in a country that was the biggest importer of African slaves in the Western world (over 10 times as much as the United States), and the last to have banned it (in 1889).
Based on historical research, D'Salete's works take us on a journey of defiance, collaboration, and courage that has been winning the artist awards in Brazil and abroad.
Marcelo D’Salete spoke to Global Voices and the following interview was lightly edited for clarity and length.
Marcelo D'Salete by Rafael Roncato/ Divulgação.
GV: Your work has this characteristic of drawing people’s attention to characters that, usually, are not in the foreground. In doing so, it reveals motives, a whole worldview. Why is the black perspective important in the stories that you want to tell?
MDS: Imagino que tenhamos algumas narrativas, talvez um pouco mais no campo da literatura, com personagens negros. Mas poucas vezes esses personagens são protagonistas nessas histórias. Creio também que são poucas as histórias que acabam alcançando um grande público. Esse tipo de narrativa é importante para compreender o nosso passado, mas também para compreender o nosso presente. Não é simplesmente uma questão de colocar essas figuras lá. É colocar essas figuras, nessas narrativas, de um certo modo, com certa complexidade, tentando compreendê-las, tentando vê-las com seus defeitos mas também com suas conquistas.
MDS: I imagine we have some narratives, maybe a few more in the field of literature, with black characters. But only rarely are these characters protagonists in the stories. I also think that the stories which reach a wide audience are fewer. This type of narrative is important to understand our past, but also to understand our present. It is not simply a question of putting these figures there. It is putting these figures, in these narratives, in a certain way, with a certain complexity, trying to understand them, trying to see them with their flaws but also with their achievements.
GV: In July 2018, when you wrote a post about the Eisner award for Cumbe, you said “the public incentive of training and producing the professional is an essential part of the process of creating comics and of the emergence of new authors and narratives.” Why did you highlight the role of public incentive?
MDS: Os livros “Cumbe” and “Angola Janga” tiveram o apoio do PROAC (de incentivo à cultura no estado de São Paulo), que é um programa que premia os melhores projetos com um valor em dinheiro para o artista e para a impressão do livro. Isso ajudou muito para que eu tivesse um pouco mais de tranquilidade para finalizar esses trabalhos. É claro que eram trabalhos que já estavam acontecendo há mais tempo, e eles viriam a público imagino que mais cedo ou mais tarde. Mas, o prêmio acabou colaborando para que os trabalhos saíssem naquele tempo e com qualidade. Isso é algo importante para incentivar, para que continue, para que se amplie em diferentes estados e a nível federal, para que artistas de diferentes locais possam produzir o seu trabalho e vê-lo impresso, vê-lo circulando.
MDS: The books “Cumbe” and “Angola Janga” had the support of PROAC (a government body that promotes culture in São Paulo state), which is a program rewarding the best projects with an amount of money for the artist and the printing of the book. This helped me a lot to have a bit more peace to finish those pieces. Obviously, they were works that were already happening, and I imagine they would have reached the public sooner or later. But the prize helped the works to come out at that time and with good quality. This is something important to encourage so that it continues to different states and to the federal level, so artists from different places can produce their work and see it printed, see it circulating.
GV: You also praised the role of comics in promoting change, saying that “the arts are essential components for a structural change.” Why?
MDS: Os quadrinhos foram um elemento muito importante na minha alfabetização, no meu aprendizado. Eu lia quadrinhos desde muito cedo. Tenho uma paixão por esse tipo de veículo até hoje. Foi a partir deles que eu tive contato com algumas narrativas diferentes sobre a nossa sociedade e o nosso passado. O quadrinho de ficção e outros, assim como cinema, foram importantes para minhas relações, pros meus colegas, pra minha geração, principalmente nas décadas de 1980 e 1990, nesse momento de formação. Acredito que o tipo de arte que a gente pode fazer, em formato de quadrinhos, tem um grande potencial. É essencial trazer novas perspectivas e novas possibilidades de ver nossa sociedade hoje e no passado. Algo que possa favorecer uma mudança de mentalidade em relação ao tratamento dos diversos grupos que a gente tem no Brasil, contrapondo uma visão hegemônica, que ainda enquadra esses grupos em posições diferentes e desiguais. Essa visão hierarquizada da sociedade, nos últimos meses, a gente vê que está bem marcada na fala de diversos políticos.
MDS: Comics were very important when I was learning to read and write. I read comics from a very young age. I have a passion for this type of media even today. It was from them that I had contact with different narratives about our society and our past. Comics of fiction and others, as well as cinema, were important for my relationships, for my colleagues, for my generation, mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. I think that the type of art that people can make, in comic format, has a great potential. It is essential to bring new perspectives and new possibilities for seeing our society today and in the past. [It is] something that could help change mentalities regarding the treatment of the diverse groups that we have in Brazil, countering a hegemonic vision, which still frames these groups in different and unequal positions. That hierarchical vision of society, in recent months we have seen that it is very present in the speech of several politicians.
Page of Angola Janga, by Marcelo D'Salete. Used with the author's permission.
GV: As your career progressed, how was it to see your audience grow?
MDS: Foi muito interessante observar a formação de um público para o tipo de quadrinho que eu estava fazendo. Foi um processo lento, mas foi muito interessante observar que, a cada edição, mais pessoas ficavam conhecendo esses trabalhos. Geralmente, essas pessoas não vão atrás apenas de um livro, elas acompanham a obra completa de um autor. Acho isso interessante, é algo que eu gosto de fazer também — quando eu gosto de um artista, gosto de acompanhar todo o seu trabalho.
MDS: It was very interesting to watch the development of an audience for the type of comic that I was making. It was a slow process, but it was very interesting to see that, with each publication, more people have got to know these works. Generally, these people do not go for only one book, they follow the whole work of an author. I think this is interesting, it is something that I also like to do – when I like an artist, I like to follow all their work.
GV: What memories do you have of comics during your time as a student?
MDS: Na escola pública, onde eu estudava, eu não lembro de ter contato com quadrinhos. Os quadrinhos acabaram entrando na escola pública, e mesmo particular, um pouco depois, em meados dos anos 2000. Eu só fui ter contato com quadrinhos por meio de colegas que tinham o mesmo gosto. Infelizmente, não era uma leitura realizada em sala de aula.
MDS: In public school, where I studied, I do not remember having contact with comics. Comics ended up coming into public school, and even private ones, a little later, in the mid-2000s. I only had contact with comics through classmates who had the same taste I had. Unfortunately, it was not something taking place in the classroom.
GV: Having works listed in the National Plan of Teaching Literature (PNLD) opens new possibilities for an artist. How do you anticipate having your work referenced by a whole generation of students?
MDS: É um meio muito interessante e tem um potencial enorme para atingir diversas gerações de leitores. Lembrando que não é apenas uma narrativa mais fácil que a literatura em prosa, mas, sim, uma outra forma de contar histórias. Acho muito importante que os livros estejam no PNLD. Não era a minha intenção inicial, mas, depois, vendo o trabalho pronto e observando a relação do público com essas obras, mostrando para os jovens e vendo a reação dos meus próprios alunos com essa literatura, eu fui me acostumando mais com a ideia de que, sim, é um material que pode ser utilizado em sala de aula. Professores têm comentado que as obras são um excelente recurso para discutir esses temas.
MDS: I think that it is very important that the books are on the PNLD. It was not my initial intention, but, later, seeing the work ready and watching the connection of the public with these pieces, showing them and seeing the reaction of my own students, I'm getting more used to the idea that it is material that could be used in classrooms. Teachers have been commenting that the works are an excellent resource for discussing these themes.
Page of Angola Janga, by Marcelo D'Salete. Used with author's permission.
GV: After so many interviews, book signing events, and debates is it possible to suggest a question that nobody has asked you and that you would like to answer?
MDS: Gostaria de reforçar que este trabalho, do Angola Janga, é um trabalho que fala sobre um período e um contexto. Eu gosto muito de vê-lo como uma obra com diversos personagens, diversas narrativas, tentando analisar aquele contexto do modo mais complexo possível. Foi uma experiência muito rica, um aprendizado enorme nesses anos todos. A ideia era tentar fazer com que a gente se aproximasse um pouco mais desses diferentes personagens naquela narrativa, para além de alguns líderes que são importantes, como Zumbi [um dos líderes do Quilombo dos Palmares], mas revelando também outros personagens igualmente relevantes para tentarmos compreender aquele período.
MDS: I would like to highlight that this work, Angola Janga, is a piece that talks about a period and a context. I really like to see it as a work with diverse characters, different narratives, trying to analyze that context in the most complex way possible. It was a very rich experience, a big learning process during all these years. The idea was to try to make people get a little closer to these different characters, in that narrative, beyond the leaders who are important, like Zumbi [one of the leaders of Palmares’ Quilombo], but also revealing other characters who are equally relevant for us to try to understand that period.

author: Luis Henrique


text:
Support Global Voices today! · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Images from the Global Voices 2017 Summit. PHOTOS: Jer Clarke. Used with permission.
One of the most exciting things we did this year was a community-wide experiment in participatory deliberation. Nearly two hundred Global Voices members from all over the world spent two months debating how our community will continue to lead the charge in telling vital stories that help readers understand what’s happening beyond their own communities and national borders.
This experiment in community-wide engagement puts Global Voices in a great position in 2019. For the past 13 years, our strong and empathetic community reports stories and forges deep linkages across cultures, languages and differences of opinion. Our work is proof that that human connections across lines of difference can change how people understand the world.
If everyone reading this blog post contributed $25, we could cover the cost of running our newsroom.
Please donate to help us continue our work!
I support Global Voices’ work!

author: Georgia Popplewell


text:
A ‘no-confidence’ vote finds Guyana politics in uncharted territory · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana's parliament building. Photo by Scott Stadum, CC BY-NC 2.0.
On December 21, 2018, the 65 members of Guyana's parliament gathered to vote on a no-confidence motion brought by the opposition People's Progressive Party (PPP) against the governing coalition party, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
With a “yes” vote by Charandass Persaud, a parliamentarian with the Alliance for Change (AFC), one of the political parties that comprise the governing coalition, the no-confidence motion passed 33 to 32, leaving the government in disarray and facing the prospect of a general election.
Constitutionally, that election must be held in 90 days — by March 2019 at the latest. Persaud, meanwhile, has since fled Guyana, claiming he's fearful for his life. This, despite journalist Freddie Kissoon's revelation that Persaud had confided intentions to form a new political party to contest the 2019 general elections.
The move came amidst a swirl of corruption allegations against the government by opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo, as well as concerns about higher taxes, job losses and an increased cost of living.
There was some speculation, however, that with Guyana on the brink of becoming a major oil producer, Jagdeo's PPP may be eager to get back into government. (His administration, voted out of office in 2015, was under scrutiny for corruption and extra-judicial killings.)
Prior to the vote, the coalition government made it clear that it was “not for sale”, but there has been online speculation that — despite Persaud's insistence that he voted according to his conscience — his no-confidence vote was bought and paid for. There has been no evidence of this.
Jagdeo, meanwhile, suggested that Persaud's decision may have been influenced by the layoff of thousands of sugar workers in his constituency. Still, some onlookers feel that if Persaud was unhappy about how the government was managing certain sectors, abstention from the vote would have sent a strong message without undermining his own government.
Although the government chastised the motion of no-confidence as “hypocritical” and “a diversion”, Guyana now finds itself in uncharted territory.
A Stabroek News editorial found it “heartening that President Granger and his government have immediately accepted the outcome of the vote and have committed to complying with the constitutional stipulations”, saying, “[t]his bodes well for the country.”
Even as the government acknowledged the result of the vote, a few voices began to challenge it. Nigel Hughes, an attorney whose wife is a government minister, suggested that “for a no-confidence motion to pass and be valid, the motion has to enjoy more votes than one-half of the full house [—] 34 votes”:
The house voted 33:32
33 is a rounding down of what constitutes half of the house.
The motion consequently was not carried.
At first, attorney and former Speaker of the National Assembly of Guyana, Ralph Ramkarran, seemed to concur, but corrected his stance on Facebook:
For a no confidence motion to succeed Article 106(6) of the Constitution requires ‘the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly…’ 33 as against 32 is a majority. When I said that two votes were required for the no confidence motion to succeed, I was obviously wrong. I meant two abstentions.
He later noted that the bigger issue was the country's one-party majority rule.
The result showed up the dissension happening within the coalition government. Earlier this year, for instance, some coalition-affiliated columnists were dropped from the state-owned Guyana Chronicle newspaper, a move thought to silence their criticism of the government.
The AFC then decided to contest November's local government elections alone. This solo effort fared quite badly, showing up the coalition's strained relations and stripping away the facade of united leadership. The local government elections also revealed fresh gains by the PPP in some areas, most notably in Berbice. Though the region has always been a PPP stronghold, APNU/AFC had thought it had made gains in the area in 2015 thanks to the presence of Moses Nagamootoo, the current prime minister, but the local government election eroded any such belief. In the words of author Ruel Johnson:
People treating Charandass Persaud's betrayal as if it's the disease itself as opposed to a symptom of it. Carry on. Let one man's action suddenly erode all the dysfunction that preceded it.
Johnson added, “In any election held in the first half of next year, the PPP is going to win … [A] new political movement has to be formed — no dinosaurs, no opportunists, no adventurers, no ethnic entrepreneurs.”
In a country with a troubled history of race-based politics, Guyana's ethnic demographic may strongly influence the upcoming elections. Indo-Guyanese make up about 44 percent of the population, and people of African descent account for an approximate 30 percent. As Johnson suggests, the opposition PPP (with a strong Indian support base) may get the plurality of the vote in a general election, but this may not necessarily represent a majority in parliament. In fact, the previous PPP administration was a minority government.
In some quarters, therefore, Persaud's vote is being denounced as a supremely political move, designed to change the balance of power in parliament.
Disturbing race-based rhetoric on social media has perhaps fed the narrative that Indo- and Afro-Guyanese will always support their own. Facebook user Michael Xavier commented:
We have become so fragmented as a people that everytime there is an elections upcoming we see the ugly side of people. We can't blame the Politicans who capitalize on this, that's on us. We have to be different if we wish to see a better Guyana.
On social media, several people felt that the way out of the morass lay with young people.
In a Facebook update, Elsie A. Harry also addressed the youth, and Joel Hinds posted a list of questions that he felt young people should ask their leaders prior to the 2019 elections.
According to the country's constitution, the president and members of the cabinet must resign, but that doesn't mean Guyana is without a government. The current administration will act in a custodian-type role, tending to the day-to-day needs of running a country as it prepares for general elections. Housekeeping related to Guyana's new-found oil and gas sector, still in need of adequately protective legislation, ranks high in priority, especially since Exxon Mobil plans to begin offshore production by 2020.
There is, however, some concern over the ability of the Guyana Elections Commission “to reactivate the election machinery for general elections”, especially since the chairman has been ill, causing the postponement of all meetings until January 2019.
According to veteran journalist Wesley Gibbings, who has covered several Guyanese elections, political chaos resulting from the no-confidence vote may have an upside. Speaking with Global Voices via WhatsApp, Gibbings praised the fact that in prior elections, Guyana's media performance was directly linked to the integrity of the election process and public acceptance of its outcome, as determined by the Carter Center, a US-based human rights organisation.
In conjunction with regional media practitioners, the organisation helped establish a media monitoring system with a strict journalistic code of conduct specific to election coverage. The system tracks how many stories were published or broadcast and can identify who was quoted, helping to ensure balanced reporting.
Still, if the current pitch of public debate continues, Guyana may find itself mired in old politics and fears. Following the vote, the streets of the capital city, Georgetown — usually bustling with last-minute Christmas shoppers — were empty.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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How free breakfast brought 500 girls back to school in Yemen · Global Voices
Elisa Marvena

Students eating breakfast at school. Photo by Faten for Solidarios sin Fronteras. Used with permission.
With the acute lack of resources caused by the war in Yemen, a growing number of families are forced but to take their children out of school. Girls are often sent away to marry at ages as young as 13. However, one school in the capital Sana'a found a modest, yet effective, form of relief.
The NGO Solidarios sin Fronteras (based in Spain and Yemen) run almost entirely by volunteers and funded primarily by individual donations — some as small as one euro per month—, has started to provide a complete breakfast for this school's girl students, who are aged six to 16. Before the project began, one-fifth of them had been absent. Little by little, they started to come back and, since September 2018, all 525 students are regularly attending classes, Solidarios’ founders say.
I've spoken via Whatsapp with two of the NGO's founders, Eva, who I had previously met in person some years ago in Barcelona, and Faten, who is in Yemen. They told me about how their project “Breakfasts to educate and protect” came about. They also asked me to not disclose their full names or the name of the school for security concerns.
In March, 2018, one of the school's teachers reached out to Faten about an 8-year-old girl who seemed to grow thinner and more exhausted by the day. Suddenly, she stopped attending school. She had not been the first to quit, but she was the youngest. The teacher talked to the family: they were in extreme financial need and had received offers to marry their daughter.
When speaking with Faten, the teacher wondered whether a daily food ration could motivate families to keep their daughters in school. And the idea was born. Faten says:
Most of [these girls are] daughters of workers of the textile factory, which was completely destroyed [in the bombings]. The families haven't [had any] salary for 3 years. How could they cover food expenses? […] The most important thing is that we're supporting them to complete their education. Their families [are also] happy, as keeping them at school prevents them from staying at home or getting married at such a young age.
In March 2018, the United Nations declared the humanitarian crisis in Yemen the worst in the world. With raging unemployment and inflation, 80 percent of the country's families are in debt and 65 percent struggle to buy food.
Solidarios sin Fronteras consulted with a pediatrician to design the breakfast's menu. Faten shops for groceries every morning and a married couple uses her kitchen to prepare, pack and transport the food. During a 45-minute break at work, she rushes to the school to help the teachers distribute the meals. Sometimes, her siblings come to help out, too.
This do-it-yourself spirit is true for the organization's three other programs. With “Food aid for families,” they distribute food packages for vulnerable families in the cities of Sanaa, Aden, Amran, Raydah, Hodeidah, Al Dorihimi, and displaced families from Taiz. “Water for Yemen” maintains water reservoirs in the Amran and Raydah camps for internally displaced persons and “Rebuilding Socotra” provides cement for rebuilding houses and dig wells in the island of Socotra, devastated by hurricanes in 2015.
Prepared breakfasts are distributed every morning at the school. Photo by Faten for Solidarios sin Fronteras (Solidarity without Borders). Used with permission.
It was on a trip to Yemen Eva took in 2012 that she met Faten. Eva was watching a birthday party at the next table at a cafe in Sana'a and the birthday girl offered her cake. The girl was Faten. They became friends and have seen each other several times since, most recently in 2015, on Eva's latest trip to Sana'a. Faten remembers:
A few weeks after the war began, I was on WhatsApp (as usual) and I asked Eva, “can we do something to help?”. She answered that she would look for an organization in Spain with her friend Noèlia, and I was to look for one here in Yemen.
Eva, who has 15 years of experience in international development, could not find any grassroots NGO working in Yemen that she could trust. So she and Faten, along with a third friend Noèlia, decided to create their own that same year.
The three women are a volunteer executive team and count with support from trusted volunteers in both countries. Eva and Noèlia, who are based in Spain, take care of fundraising: they rely on social media, radio, the print press and lectures to spread the word about their work and attract contributors. Most people donate online and SSF crowdfunds each project separately. Faten is responsible for administering the ground operations — often from her own house. The three of them make up the executive team and juggle their tasks in the NGO with their daily jobs.
They regularly share photographs, videos, and detailed updates on the SSF's social media pages. They also circulate content to raise awareness about the war in Yemen, in particular, the role of Spain and other countries who supply arms used in the conflict.

author: Elisa Marvena


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To cast their votes on December 30, Bangladeshis will need to overcome many obstacles · Global Voices
GV South Asia

Image via Pixabay. Public Domain.
On Sunday, December 30, 2018, millions of Bangladeshi voters will head to 42,000 polling centers in 299 constituencies to cast their vote in the country's 11th parliamentary elections. Voters, however, are faced with many challenges because of the restrictive environment the government has created around the election, including bans and closures amidst a climate of fear. In addition, on the night of December 29, the government has completely shut down mobile internet service.
Elections in Bangladesh have historically been marred with sporadic violence, so this time the authorities have measures to beef up security. Around 600,000 paramilitary forces and police personnel have been deployed, along with 50,000 army personnel.
On Saturday, the day before the election, the notoriously heavy traffic in Dhaka, the nation's capital, was nowhere to be seen.
The capital, #Dhaka, wore a completely deserted look today as there were very few vehicles on the roads just a day before the polls.
Even the highways which usually experience bumper to bumper traffic, were found empty too. pic.twitter.com/mamQNiRRcZ
— Bangladesh Today (@Bangladesh2day) December 29, 2018
One possible reason for this is that millions of voters will have left the capital for their villages or cities to vote. There is also a transport ban in place. All motorized public and private transportation, including ride-sharing services and engine boats/speedboats, have been barred from operating for 24 hours starting from just after midnight on December 30. And motorcycle traffic, including ride-share services like Pathao, has been suspended since the early hours of Saturday until midnight on January 1, 2019.
The only people exempt from the transport ban are the emergency services, the security forces, journalists driving vehicles with special stickers, election officials and observers.
This situation leaves voters are asking how will they go to vote if they live far away from their polling center? They have the option to walk, or travel by bicycle or cycle-rickshaw, but that will work only for short distances. As Facebook user Sadmaan Bin Omar Saikat writes:
আমি ঢাকা-১০ আসনের(ধানমণ্ডি) ভোটার । কিন্তু আমার বর্তমান বাসা বসুন্ধরা আবাসিক এলাকা । আমি ভোট দিতে যাব কিভাবে?
I am a voter of the Dhaka-10 constituency (Dhanmondi). But I live in the Basundhara Residential Area (15 km away). How am I going to go to the polling center to cast my vote?
The satirical website Earki published a number of memes on how to get to the polling station on Sunday using alternative transports like bullock cart, a time machine, etc.
In ancient Egypt, people used to go to vote like this as there were transport ban in place too on the election day.
On Saturday, December 29, before the complete shut down of mobile internet service, local ISPs had slowed connection speeds from 4G down to 2G, allegedly to stop “propaganda” from being spread through live reporting on social media. This must have had a significant impact on social media users, as Dhaka is deemed the second most active city for Facebook users in the world.
Photojournalist Shahidul Alam, who was imprisoned in August for covering student protests, has asked people to capture any election irregularities on their smartphones:
Since there won’t be many observers monitoring #Bangladesh’s election on Sunday, the country’s prominent activist Shahidul Alam wants the young generation to capture election irregularities on smartphones. Here’s what you need to know about the campaign:#BDPolls2018 @dw_bengali pic.twitter.com/iDzNds9yyl
— Arafatul Islam (@arafatul) December 29, 2018
Voters attempting to do this, however, will be limited by the fact that they are not allowed to carry mobile phones into polling centres.
Security forces on Saturday arrested eight men for spreading “fabricated content” on social media ahead of the poll. 57 special camps have been set up by the Rapid Action Battalion to combat rumours and fake news.
Election day in Bangladesh is a public holiday, and with Friday and Saturday being the weekend days, it will be an extended weekend.
All of the country's 28 mobile financial service providers have suspended their services from 17hrs on December 28 until 17hrs on December 30, the voting day in accordance with an order from the Bangladesh Bank at the request of the electoral commission. During this period users can send or receive only up to 5,000 Bangladeshi Taka (US$60) from their personal accounts.
Petrol and CNG (compressed natural gas) stations will remain closed half day on election day. However, there are reports that a number of petrol stations in the capital Dhaka have already closed due to the lack of vehicles on the streets.
The election commission finally agreed to allow journalists to use motorcycles on  voting day provided they carry approved stickers. According to reports, many journalists in Bangladesh have resorted to self-censorship in the lead-up to the election, fearing ever-tightening media laws and intimidation.
On December 24, 2018 at least 12 journalists on election coverage duty at a Dhaka constituency were attacked by a group of about two dozen masked individuals.  Amnesty International has called for an impartial investigation into this attack.
#Bangladesh election commission imposes restriction on journalists to use their vehicles and also asks not to go any type of live including on social media. #democracy2018 #bdpolls2018 pic.twitter.com/YeIaSSskif
— muktadir rashid romeo ?? (@muktadirnewage) December 23, 2018
A number of extraordinary restrictions have been placed on journalists by the Election Commission ahead of Election Day and the extent to which the media can cover the election on December 30. #Bangladesh #BDElection2018 pic.twitter.com/tXvOem1Qq6
— Ali Ahmad Mabrur (@Mabrur00) December 28, 2018
In an analysis of the situation, expat Bangladeshi blogger Sabhanaz Rashid Diya quotes the following statistics:
A recent report published in The Daily Star summarizing results from a survey indicated while 75 percent of the respondents are first-time voters, only 30 percent plan to vote on Sunday’s election. Seventy percent of respondents are still undecided or will not be voting.
The Election Commission has announced the introduction of a push-pull SMS service to provide voters with information. Voters can send an SMS using their 17 digit national ID number to a specific number and the relevant information will be sent by return SMS. Information is also available at the Election Commission website.
The opposition fears that the barriers set up by the government are designed to keep people away from voting centers. If the voters want to exercise their right to decide and choose, they need to show up and vote despite all the impediments.


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Indonesian military suspected of using chemical weapons against West Papuan separatists, reports Australian newspaper · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Screenshot of a YouTube video about a reported bombing in Nduga district of West Papua.
Content warning: The images embedded in this article may be disturbing to some readers.
Australian independent weekly, The Saturday Paper, reported on December 22, 2018, that Indonesian airstrikes on targets in West Papua were “suspected to include the banned chemical weapon white phosphorus”.
Indonesia intensified military operations in West Papua following the deaths of around 31 Indonesian road workers earlier in December month in the Nduga region. The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) accepted responsibility but claimed the workers were in fact soldiers. The TPNPB is part of the broad resistance organization Free Papua Movement or Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM).
The Saturday Paper's story includes photos that show “flesh [that] appears to have been torn open or burrowed into, the victims’ clothing melted or cut away”.
An unnamed military source who spoke with the publication confirmed the use of chemical weapons:
A military source confirms the weapons “appear to be incendiary or white phosphorus”. The source says “even the smallest specks burn through clothing, skin, down to the bone and keep on bubbling away. I have seen it up close and personal and it’s a horrible weapon.”
An indigenous Australian reacted to the story on social media and included a photo published by The Saturday Paper in a tweet:
#Indonesia uses banned chemical weapons on #WestPapua civilians. #Australia’s continued silence in the face of the ongoing rolling #Genocide in West Papua speaks of a government and nation without morality, compassion or a shred of human decency https://t.co/8uWkdUPLMw
— blakandblack (@BlakandBlack) December 22, 2018
West Papua is a province of Indonesia. It is also the name used by separatists for all Papua territory ruled by the Netherlands until 1962. The area that became Irian Jaya was ceded to Indonesian control subject to an independence referendum in 1969. It was annexed following the so-called ‘Act of Free Choice’, which was rejected by local independence groups. In contrast to the TPNPB, the Free West Papua Campaign advocates peaceful self-determination.
In early 2018, TPNPB issued terms of war against Indonesia through its website. In 2015, the OPM had declared open war against Indonesia, including not only the Indonesian government and its military but all non-Papuan civilians and private interests.
Following the deaths of the road workers, the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) rallied the government to petition the UN to declare the OPM a terrorist group.
Screenshot from YouTube video about the attack on the Nduga district of West Papua published on Jul 26, 2018.
The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs swiftly denied possessing or using any chemical weapons, tweeting that:
1. Indonesia gravely deplores irresponsible media reporting practice as demonstrated by a printed and online media based in Australia, known as the Saturday Paper, on 22 December 2018, accusing Indonesia of using chemical weapons in its operations in #Nduga, #Papua .
— MoFA Indonesia (@Kemlu_RI) December 22, 2018
3. As a compliant member of the OPCW, Indonesia has no possession of any chemical agents as listed in Schedule 1 of Chemical Weapons Convention.
— MoFA Indonesia (@Kemlu_RI) December 22, 2018
5. The involvement of military component in the operation, most particularly air rotary wing assets, was strictly as assistance to law enforcement apparatus, and not a military deployment per se in an otherwise internal security operations.
— MoFA Indonesia (@Kemlu_RI) December 22, 2018
Some Twitter users had different opinions:
Thank you MOFA, but you must realise that your record in #WestPapua has destroyed your credibility.  Crimes and atrocities by your forces are already very well documented.
— ǝuᴉzǝɯoʇ (@tomezine) December 25, 2018
Indonesian user B Arifrn warned that the situation was still unsafe:
Tim evakuasi Kabupaten Nduga : Masyarakat masih dalam pengungsian. https://t.co/mbpNEEue8f
— B Arifin (@Barifin81) December 28, 2018
According the evacuation team in Nduga District: The people are still taking refuge.
BBC journalist Rebecca Henschke reported that:
A 14-year-old boy from Nduga area told BBC Indonesia his father had been killed.
"I saw two helicopters come down, everyone fled including my dad. Then police and military got out. And then the military shot my father." https://t.co/72NzCdcffF
— Rebecca Henschke (@rebeccahenschke) December 22, 2018
The Speaker of the Papua parliament, Yunus Wonda, told BBC Indonesia:
"Villagers are traumatised and very scared. They have fled into the jungle. Christmas should be a time of peace but not a time of fear."
— Rebecca Henschke (@rebeccahenschke) December 22, 2018
Local human rights activist Raga Kogeya said the community needed to be able to bury its dead in peace.
"We are not enemies of the state. We are citizens of Indonesia. The government has to take full responsibility for those that have been killed," she said.
— Rebecca Henschke (@rebeccahenschke) December 22, 2018
An activist based in Central Java who requested anonymity confirmed that many locals in Nduga took refuge in the mountains. The activist told Global Voices that following the attack by TPNPB, there has been a crackdown on activists in many Indonesian cities where there are many Papuan students. The activist was forced to go into hiding out of fear of further repercussions from the authorities.
Another source in Jakarta also told Global Voices that news is scarcer than ever, as though the Indonesian government is trying to hide something.
There was considerable interest in social media in nearby countries, but much of the mainstream media in Australia was either slow to pick up or failed to cover the story:
I might have missed it, but I can't find any of the Australian Government, Opposition, any News Corp, Fairfax, Channel 9, 7 or 10 reporting on it. They would all know about it, but keep quiet. Without such media reporting it, I'd suggest 95%+ of Australians are unaware of it.
— Psyberus (@Psyberus) December 23, 2018
Australia was singled out by some for its perceived inaction:
The Indonesian military is suspected to have used chemical weapon white phosphorous during an attack on a village in West Papua. Has the Australian government said anything yet? https://t.co/KlhXiuiDnR
— Jennine~Jesus was Middle Eastern Merry Xmas~Khalik (@jennineak) December 22, 2018
Foreign Minister @MarisePayne should be pushing for independent observers & media access to #WestPapua. We also need safeguards to ensure our military & policing assistance isn’t supporting this brutality in anyway https://t.co/VlJCPMatBr
— Tom Clarke (@TomHRLC) December 22, 2018
Maire Leadbeater explored the chemical weapon claims and its ramifications on New Zealand’s The Daily Blog:
Experts who have seen the images believe it is possible that these wounds resulted from the use of some kind of chemical agent, possibly white phosphorous. Independent verification is impossible in the absence of independent observers or journalists.
Leadbeater argued that economic and military ties have prevented many Western countries, including New Zealand, from taking up the West Papua cause, but ended on a note of hope:
Vanuatu is leading the way in promoting a peaceful diplomatic solution for West Papua and plans to take a resolution to the UN General Assembly next year calling for the West Papua to be restored to the UN list of nations still to be decolonised. New Zealand could be a game changer by ending military ties and instead opting to support Vanuatu’s principled diplomacy. There isn’t much time to waste.
On December 20, the Free West Papua (FWP) campaign tweeted about mass arrests at rallies on the 57th anniversary of its annexation by Indonesia, and its founder Benny Wenda has called for negotiations:
My new statement: For a peaceful conflict resolution in #WestPapua, #IndonesianPresident #Jokowi must immediately withdraw the #IndonesianMilitary and begin discussions around implementing a #referendum in accordance with our right to #selfdetermination. https://t.co/6lNWrlOoEP
— Benny Wenda (@BennyWenda) December 21, 2018
The Saturday Paper story was posted Reddit, receiving over 800 comments in four days. This one from beanzamillion21 expressed a widespread concern online about the lack of news about West Papua: “I had no idea. This is hardly covered in America.”
Meanwhile, the governor of West Papua, Lukas Enembe, has called for an end to hostilities and asked the Indonesian President Joko Widodo to withdraw troops from Nduga.

author: Kevin Rennie


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‘Stop killing women’ — a new campaign against domestic violence in Angola · Global Voices
Simão Hossi

Demonstration in Luanda, Angola, using the hashtag #Paremdematarasmulheres in Portuguese, or ‘stop killing women’, Photo by Simão Hossi, used with permission.
When 26-year-old lawyer Carolina Joaquim de Sousa da Silva was found dead in her home on December 3, 2018, her husband confessed to the crime and was detained by Angola's criminal investigation department known as SIC.
In the same week, another murder of a woman was reported by Angola Public Television who said the young woman was allegedly stabbed by her ex-boyfriend.
These cases of violent crime have put many Angolan women on guard and led to a new campaign against domestic violence called “Stop Killing Women,” organized by Association Ondjango, a feminist nongovernmental organization. Using Facebook as their main mobilizing tool, their objective is to raise awareness about crimes against women in Angola:
Estes têm sido dias difíceis. Na verdade, para nós mulheres, muitos dias são difíceis e dolorosos porque ainda vivemos em contextos onde se justifica quase sempre, de uma ou de outra forma, todo o tipo de violência contra nós. E nestes últimos dias, em particular, ficou tudo ainda mais penoso por termos de lidar com as reacções que vieram à tona depois do caso de Carolina…
A violência contra as mulheres é real, é mesmo. Não é coisa da cabeça de feministas, não é invenção ou discurso vazio: É REAL! Carolina, infelizmente só acrescentou as estatísticas, houveram muitos outros casos antes dela que vieram a público e existem milhares de outros casos que não vêm a público. É um problema que está aí à porta, aos nossos olhos. E é um problema que extrapola relações entre um ou outro casal: é um problema estrutural.
Há uma estrutura que dita e relega as mulheres a papéis de subalternização que as torna em potenciais alvos de violência de todos os tipos e a todos níveis. Esta estrutura de supremacia masculina que paira sobre nós e muitos negam existir, e que não é invisível, faz isto: mutila e destrói as vidas das mulheres e MATA!
Nós, mulheres singulares e também enquanto colectivo, vamos continuar a gritar ‘parem de nos matar’ e de ‘ferir a nossa existência’. Queremos leis que nos protejam e sejam aplicáveis de facto, queremos políticas públicas que tragam aos debates e às instituições o respeito da nossa humanidade. Queremos uma sociedade onde não tenhamos medo de sair à rua! Vamos continuar a reivindicar uma sociedade onde tenhamos as nossas liberdades de ser, de sentir, de andar e pensar como quisermos. Vamos continuar a reivindicar uma sociedade onde possamos viver em segurança.
These have been difficult days. In truth, for us women, many days are difficult and painful because we still live in a context where, in one way or another, all types of violence against us are always excused. And in recent days, in particular, it was even more painful for having to deal with the reactions which came after the case of Carolina …
Violence against women is real, it really is. It is not something in the heads of feminists, it is not an invention or empty speech: IT IS REAL! Carolina, unfortunately, only adds to the statistics, there were many other cases before her which came to public attention and there are thousands of other cases that do not come to public attention. It is a problem which is right there at the doorstep, before our eyes. And it is a problem that supposes relations between one or another couple — it is a structural problem.
There is a structure that dictates and relegates women to roles of subordination which turns them into potential targets of violence of all kinds and at all levels. This structure of masculine supremacy which hangs over us and which many deny the existence of — and that is not invisible — does this: it mutilates and destroys the lives of women and KILLS!
We, individual women, and also as a collective, will continue to shout ‘stop killing us’ and ‘hurting our being’.
We want laws that protect us and are really applicable, we want public policies that bring respect of our humanity to debates and institutions. We want a society where we are not afraid of going out in the street! We will continue demanding a society where we have our freedom of being, of feeling, of walking and thinking how we want.
We will continue to demand a society where we can live in security.
Meanwhile, this campaign sparked opposing reactions from some men who found justifications for the wave of violence against women. Their campaign is called “Stop Betraying Us” and believe that betrayal is a valid reason for domestic violence against women. Though their movement has not gained much traction, Angolan rapper Gil Slows Allen Russel even said:
Parem de trair os outros, por favor chegaaaaa de corno. É um grito de clamor, mulheres se não nos querem mais peçam divórcio antes de trair se não vão bazar mesm.
Stop betraying others, please no more cuckolds. It is a loud cry, women if you no longer love us ask for a divorce before betraying us, go away.
Sociologist Mbangula Kemba criticized this point of view, asserting that conjugal problems must not be resolved with violence.
Angola approved a domestic violence law known as 25/11 in 2011 which criminalizes all acts of domestic violence as a public crime. However, this law has insufficiently light sentences, which vary from two to eight years.
Sizaltina Cutaia, an activist and feminist in Angola well-known for working on women’s rights, called for a better application of the law on social media:
Não basta só agravar as penas, senhora Vice Presidente do MPLA, é preciso que o Estado crie estruturas condições para combater a violência, os compromissos assumidos em 2007 por via da ratificação do protocolo de Maputo precisam de ser efectivados. Para além disso, há que criar estruturas para atender as vítimas e enact legislação complementar que garanta de facto a realização dos direitos das mulheres. Isso inclui toda a legislação em torno dos direitos sexuais e reprodutivos das mulheres.
Não adianta fazer discurso contra a violência doméstica e depois apoiar políticas que autorizem os fiscais e polícias diariamente agridam mulheres nas rua, é contraditório!
Não adianta fazer discurso contra a violência doméstica e apoiar um OGE que não acautele os serviços sociais cujo subfinanciamento todas sabemos impacta negativamente a vida das mulheres. É preciso dar sentido aos discursos com accoes concretas. Put the money where the mouth is.
#paremdematarasmulheres
It is not enough to increase sentences, Mrs. vice president of the MPLA [People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola], it is necessary that the state creates structural conditions to combat violence — the commitments taken in 2007 through the ratification of the protocol of Maputo need to be implemented. As well as this, it is necessary to create structures to attend to the victims and enact complementary legislation that guarantees de facto realization of women’s rights. This includes all the legislation around women’s sexual and reproductive rights.
It is no use making speeches against domestic violence and afterward supporting policies that authorize inspectors and police officers to assault women daily in the streets, it’s contradictory!
It is no use making speeches against domestic violence and supporting a state budget which does not safeguard social services, the underfinancing of which we all know negatively impacts the lives of women. It is necessary to give sense to the speeches with concrete actions. Put your money where your mouth is.
#stopkillingwomen
Feminist Cecília Kitombé reacted to those who continue to encourage violent relationships:
Alguns dos que estão a dizer e a escrever textão contra violência as mulheres afirmando que está demais, são os mesmos que aconselham as filhas, irmãs e primas a continuarem em relações abusivas, sob pretexto de que na conversa de marido e mulher não se mete a colher, outros ainda te dizem continue, a vida a dois é mesmo assim… Há ainda aqueles que acham que a mulher pode tudo, mas nunca esquecer o seu “papel”…
Parem de nos matar!!!
Some of those who are … asserting that it is too much [to speak out against domestic violence], are the same who advise daughters, sisters, and cousins to stay in abusive relationships, under the pretext that in the conversation of husband and wife you cannot interfere, and others tell you to continue, life in a couple is just like that … there are also those who think that women can do everything, but must never forget their ‘role’ …
Stop killing us!!!

author: Simão Hossi