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Wayang Wahyu: Preaching the Bible Through Indonesian Javanese Puppets · Global Voices
Juke Carolina

Little Khannun performing Wayang Wahyu at an Easter event. Photo by Bhuana Alit Workshop, used with permission.
In the island of Java in Indonesia, Wayang Kulit or sometimes called Wayang Purwa (puppets made out of embossed leather) holds a significant importance in society. Wayang is performed during royal functions, weddings and other important events. Often times, Wayang narrates Indian epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. This is due to the fact that Java was a predominantly Hindu empire before the arrival of Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.
In the 1960s, Timotheus Wignjosoebroto, a Brother from Fratrum Immaculatæ Conceptionis (FIC), a Catholic brotherhood in Solo, Central Java, had an idea to incorporate Biblical sermons in Wayang performances. Wayang Wahyu was born. In Javanese, ‘wahyu’ means revelations.
Wayang has become less popular in recent years among the younger generation who favors Instagram to epic tales performed laboriously by a puppet master (locally called Dalang). However, one young puppeteer is determined to preserve the know-how of Bible storytelling through Wayang Wahyu.
Indra Suroinggeno, who as a Dalang founded the Bhuana Alit workshop, has been conducting workshops among young Javanese to preserve and promote the use of Wayang Wahyu.
Through an interview with this author, the puppeteer shared his views about his work and the future of the art of Wayang Wahyu.
Indra Suroinggeno in front of his Wayang Wahyu. Photo by Bhuana Alit Workshop, used with  permission.
Global Voices (GV): Can you please tell our readers about Wayang Wahyu and what makes it different to other types of Wayang?
Indra Suroinggeno (Suroinggeno): In Indonesia, there are many types of Wayang, Wayang Kulit (puppets made of embossed leather), Wayang Klithik (two dimensional wooden puppets), Wayang Beber (wayang characters painted in scrolls), Wayang Golek (three-dimensional wooden puppets). Wayang Wahyu is made out of leather, inspired by the embossed leather puppet, but instead of having the traditional leather puppet's characters, we use the characters of Jesus and the saints to narrate Biblical stories. The musical instruments we use are less elaborate but include saron gamelan (xylophone-like instrument made out of bronze), kendang (traditional drum), gejog lesung (a large mortar used in farms to remove rice husks), gambang (xylophone-like instrument made out of wood).
GV: Please tell us a little bit about the history of Wayang Wahyu.
Suroinggeno: Wayang Kulit Wahyu first appeared sometime in the 1960s, initiated by Brother Timotheus. Its first mission was to spread Christianity, knowing that Wayang is particularly influential to the Javanese. He transformed Wayang from being a mere performance into a meaningful and teaching platform about life. In time, Wayang Wahyu's popularity declined, even many (Javanese) Catholics are not aware of its existence. That's the reason why we started a (Wayang Wahyu) workshop, we'd like to introduce the spirit of compassion of Jesus through Wayang.
Many Javanese practice Kejawen, a set of ancestral beliefs and practices syncretized with various religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity.
Suroinggeno explained to GV that Wayang Wahyu is an example of syncretism of the Javanese culture and Catholicism.
Suroinggeno: My Catholic name is Fransiscus Asisi Trias Indra Setiawan, but I practice Kejawen. My grandfather was a Siva-Buddhist. To us, God is immeasurable, transcending religious differences in the world. We (the Javanese) embraced new religions.
GV: Your workshop is called Bhuana Alit. Can you define what it means?
Suroinggeno: Bhuana Alit Bhuana Agung. Yin and Yang. Microcosmos, macrokosmos. In our ancestral belief ‘bhuana alit’ is God within our soul. It's a philosophy.  I named the workshop Bhuana Alit because ‘bhuana’ means the world, ‘alit’ means small or children. Bhuana Alit means the world of children, because essentially, we focus on training the future generation of Dalang.
GV: What are the current challenges faced by Bhuana Alit?
Suroinggeno: We don't have a lot of trainers. We used to collaborate with the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI), my alma mater, who train our youth. Also, year after year, parents stopped sending their children to Dalang practice, so they can focus on schools. After all, formal education is priority.
Suroinggeno told GV that in order to refine his puppeteering skills, he will be soon attending Habirandha, Jogjakarta's oldest Dalang school founded by the late Sultan Hamengku Buwono VII of Jogjakarta.
GV: What is your vision for the workshop?
Suroinggeno: I always dream that one day Wayang Wahyu can reach a wider public, and not only the church community.
Wayang was recognized as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2003. Its popularity has been declining but efforts to preserve it like the workshops organized by the group of Suroinggeno are giving hope about the future of this art.

author: Juke Carolina


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In Memory of Aleppo · Global Voices
مرسيل شحوارو

Photo by Lens Young Halabi showing a wall in 2013 with the sentence “we are alive and staying; for the dream we stay”. Used with permission.
To all those who will inhabit the places we left….
We once had a revolution there. I never resided in those neighborhoods, but was a visitor, a stranger, with all my little rituals, such as greeting the neighbor on the staircase in the morning, my frantic searches for products that were not customarily sold there, my long, obsessive conversations with taxi drivers in order to gauge their political leanings and their views on checkpoints.
We still have a revolution there, in Bustan Al Qasr. There you will see—unless the Barbarians have erased it—a childish sketch of a soldier and a bearded man with a hammer above them and the phrase: “a revolution that will crack heads”. This marked the beginning of our second revolution, one against those trying to confiscate our rights by force of weapon or religion. But you probably don’t know about the many revolutions we have had there, painted by Abu Maryam. You would probably not hear our voices as we tell you who Abu Maryam is.
We have a revolution there. At the “Karaj IlHajez” checkpoint some of our friends received such a beating! They were protesting to open the checkpoint for civilians.
We have a revolution there. At the medical center, we said farewell to martyrs, one after the other, and had countless conversations, talks, friends, injuries.
We have a revolution there. In the graveyard, we have friends. The closest of whom to me was Mustafa. We opened a school there that held his name. It is there too. The school gave us a reason to go on; we believed we were paying our debts. Mustafa’s grave and his school are yours now. If you ever pass by them, treat them with dignity, for this man was a wellspring of love, giving and devotion. We were part of his vision, and we failed.
We have a revolution there. A foolish foreign fighter wrote on the walls: “Freemasonry over”. We often laughed at his faulty grammar. And when the outbreak of Leishmania occurred, and some of us carried out spraying campaigns, we had our own graffiti which said: “Leishmania over”.  That was how we adapted, that was how we looked for solutions. That is why you will find our schools and our hospitals in basements. We were adapting to the bombings. We were trying to resist. We had a revolution there….
The Eye Hospital! There we protested over and over against Sharia Courts. There, ISIS murdered 35 of us. There, our protests erupted to expel them. There I was jailed—don’t swear yet—for there was also where I was released, because we have a revolution there.
Turn it back into a hospital. Not like our underground hospitals, but one for all people. The place is teeming with spirits that will look after the ill.
Old Aleppo was our resting place. There I used to go to sing; we the evil terrorists loved to sing, to love, to cook and at “Falafel House” to eat everything but falafel.
You would be amazed at the piles of rocks. These were the houses of families, houses that were probably all they had. They were forced to leave. Take some time to shed a tear in memory of their memories.
You would not recognize it. I used to leave for months, but could never get used to the magnitude of the destruction whenever I came back. That was what your neighbors faced, so shedding some tears would do no harm.
You would find, if they allowed, countless bodies under the rubble. It was not our intention to leave our bodies like that without a proper burial. It wasn’t that we were negligent, but the jets were targeting all groups, and it became impossible in the last months to move the vehicles.
Give them, if you’re ever allowed, a proper burial. You will not be allowed to find out their names, for sure, but please don’t just give them random numbers. Use your imagination and bury them together. Syrian families have been scattered enough, and nobody likes to be buried alone.
We have a revolution there. Curse it, or mourn it. It is there, in the rocks, in the graves, in the earth and above in the air.
On the wall of a graveyard we once wrote: “We are alive, we will keep going, and the dream will be realized”. Take whatever is left of us and keep on dreaming. Soon everything else of yours will be confiscated.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: مرسيل شحوارو


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Photos: Days Before Christmas, Tropical Storm Tembin Batters Southern Philippine Island of Mindanao · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Screenshot of footage from an aerial drone assessment of flood damage after tropical storm Tembin (local name Vinta) in Cagayan de Oro City by Project LUPAD.
Days before Christmas Day last December 22, tropical storm Tembin (local name Vinta) rampaged through the southern Philippine Island of Mindanao. The powerful winds and heavy rains caused landslides and severe floods that left at least 200 people dead, 144 missing, and over 70,000 displaced.
Tembin exited the country on Christmas Eve, December 24, leaving behind a trail of devastation across Mindanao, especially in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur and on the Zamboanga Peninsula. A mudslide caused by the storm wiped out the remote village of Dalama in Tubod, Lanao del Norte.
Netizens used the Twitter hashtag #VintaPH to monitor and give updates on the situation in the provinces battered by the tropical storm. Here are some photos showing the damage left by Tembin, as curated by social media users:
An aerial photo of part of Cagayan de Oro City that is flooding as of this moment, 22 December 2017, 10am.
photo from Mark Anthony Quitoriano https://t.co/Qk1CO4gecc#CDO #VintaPH #CDOflood
(c) PIA 10 pic.twitter.com/FMH6Xs1cOY
— sheeni ? (@Sheeni5SOS) December 22, 2017
Let’s also include in our prayers the families residing in Pagalungan, North Cotabato who are affected by #VintaPH. Unlike in Davao, they don’t have their evacuation center and as of the moment, no relief goods were sent to them ? pic.twitter.com/tkimluOJYr
— John Dy (@ohmyjohndy) December 23, 2017
Keep safe everyone. ?
Location: Acasia St. Rotunda #VintaPH pic.twitter.com/EbQbUddul5
— XVIII (@pogingpanganib) December 22, 2017
#VintaPH hits Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay. Hundreds of families were evacuated due to extreme flash flood brought by the tropical storm. | by: Dhenisson Palar pic.twitter.com/S6ZNsEpO2I
— The Blue Bridge (@ashsbluebridge) December 22, 2017
We did something today.
– carried boxes of water and food
– repacked goods
– distributed them
?DMMA GYM#VintaPH #Davao #DavaoWillSurvive pic.twitter.com/IVvz9dVLHB
— POLVORON WEASLEY (@rvjGatchalian) December 23, 2017
Business resilience. No storm strong enough for this special delivery! Supposedly taken along the CDO street famous for the succulent all-time fave.
Positive vibes!#VintaPH
? ctto from friends pic.twitter.com/wuqVOiZf5n
— Ana (@castillo19939) December 22, 2017
Nature can flood their lives… but Filipinos won’t stop flooding the world with smiles and laughter. #BecomingFilipino #VintaPH #CagayandeOro pic.twitter.com/ADJOAGo8sb
— Kyle Jennermann (@KyleJennermann) December 22, 2017
Various groups are using social media to coordinate disaster response and relief efforts too. Some netizens have also expressed sentiments online attributing the severe impact of tropical storm Tembin to logging and large-scale mining by big corporations in Mindanao:
my two cents after #vintaph
deforestation by means of illegal logging in bukidnon area rajud akong gakakita nga rason nganong dali ra bahaon ang syudad esp ang dali nga pagsaka sa tubig sa cdo river. moreover, kudos to the evacuation preparations and disaster response cdo.
— ron ronnie niel (@ronieldotph) December 22, 2017
my two cents after #vintaph
Deforestation by means of illegal logging in the Bukidnon area is the only reason I see why the city is quickly flooded and especially for the quick rising water from Cagayan de Oro river.
I CANT IMAGINE HOW THEY CELEBRATED CHRISTMAS IN MINDANAO AFTER TYPHOON #VintaPH DEVASTATED FAMILIES AND KILLED THEIR LOVED ONES, WHILE THE ILLEGAL LOGGERS AND MILLIONAIRE MINERS ARE ENJOYING HAM ON THEIR TABLES!
ANO @HouseofRepsPH and @senatePH masaya na kayo?
— Mike Tongco (@ekimtongco) December 24, 2017
I CANT IMAGINE HOW THEY CELEBRATED CHRISTMAS IN MINDANAO AFTER TYPHOON #VintaPH DEVASTATED FAMILIES AND KILLED THEIR LOVED ONES, WHILE THE ILLEGAL LOGGERS AND MILLIONAIRE MINERS ARE ENJOYING HAM ON THEIR TABLES!
What @HouseofRepsPH and @senatePH, are you happy?
Nakakalungkot ang sinapit ng mga kababayan natin sa Mindanao dahil sa severe tropical storm #VintaPH. ???
Guys, these are the effects of climate change and illegal logging. We must do something against them.
— Arnold James Garcia (@rjamzz26) December 23, 2017
What happened to our fellow Filipinos in Mindanao because of the sever tropical storm #VintaPH is saddening.
Guys, these are the effects of climate change and illegal logging. We must do something against them.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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#TogoDebout: Demonstrations Against President Gnassingbé Continue Despite International Indifference · Global Voices
Rakotomalala

Screen capture from Bill Emile Davolk's #TogoDebout video on YouTube
After the large demonstrations against President Faure Gnassingbé in August and September 2017, thousands of Togolese have once again rallied in the streets in December. The mobilization is in response to an appeal from a coalition of 40 opposition parties demanding that the president step down because his third term is a violation to the 1992 constitution.
Faure Gnassingbé has been in power in Togo since 2005 when he succeeded his father Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who was president from 1967 to 2005. Gnassingbé Eyadéma's regime was subject to a boycott by human rights organizations due to the execution of hundreds of people after the announcement of the 1998 election results.
Although his son is not accused of the same exactions, the recent repressions by armed militia against protesters are reason for concern for observers of Togolese politics.
The rising tension in Togo goes back to mid-August when a new coalition of opposition groups called a joint national protest action against Gnassingbé. Demonstrations demanded the curtailment of the president's mandate power — in effect, an end to the “Gnassingbé dynasty”.
These events rapidly overtook the police who, alongside pro-government militias, used violent methods to disperse the demonstrators, causing the death of several people — most notably in the city of Sokodé.
Many Togolese activists are seeking to alert the international community about the situation in Togo. Among them is Farida Nabourema, a Togolese human rights activist who publishes frequent updates on the situation in Togo. Nabourema posted the following messages on Twitter:
Dictator @FEGnassingbe has lost legitimacy in #Togo and the world knows it. He is no longer our president and we have been saying this for the past 4 months.
So whatever this guy votes at the U.N is not representative of us the people. #Togodebout #Fauremustgo pic.twitter.com/wQQ94ptyo5
— Farida Nabourema (@Farida_N) December 21, 2017
It's been 4 months since the People of #Togo have risen against the dictatorship of @FEGnassingbe but till day, not even once had this man have the decency to address his people after numerous killings and hundreds of arbritrary arrests. He has no respect for us. #Fauremustgo
— Farida Nabourema (@Farida_N) December 21, 2017
In order better to understand the context of this persistent crisis in Togo, Global Voices interviewed Sylvio Combey, a Togo journalist, and Yawa Degboe, a Togo-born former media analyst.
Global Voices (GV): The demonstrations in Togo began back in August 2017. In your opinion, what are the underlying causes of this anger?
Yawa Degboe (YD): Togo's three bordering countries (Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso) have all experienced political transitions in recent years.  The wind has changed direction in the region, but it has yet to blow Togo's way.  However, it's not been for a lack of trying.  Many people have died over the years to defend democratic ideals and to demand a transfer of power but nothing has come of it. I sincerely think the decision of Kenya's Supreme Court last August to seek a second Presidential vote over irregularities in the electoral process, gave fresh breath and hope to the current movement in Togo. The accumulation of power in the hands of a single political family has huge and devastating impacts in terms of the distribution of wealth across the population. These are, for me, the underlying reasons for the anger of the Togo population.
Sylvio Combey (SC): In reality, the demonstrations did not begin in August 2017, but long before. On the other hand, they escalated and took on prominence in August with the National Pan-African Party's appeal. The deep causes are connected with problems of governance. Togo has been governed by a single family since 1967. The late Gnassingbé Eyadéma saw out 38 years in power and his son has now seen 12 years in power. That should require the current president to leave power. That's the main sticking point now.
GV: The crisis has been going on for several months. How is this situation experienced by the people of Togo? Have there been reprisals by the forces of order? And is there a fear that the demonstrations will degenerate?
YD: There are scenes of violence in the streets; by militiamen and by soldiers, under who knows whose orders. Lots of information is circulating on WhatsApp or social networks. There, you can see injured, dead, members of the militia chasing demonstrators on the street.  But in the age of ‘Fake News’ and disinformation, I'm standing as far back as I can from all this. The diaspora receives information from the few media sources which carry African or related news stories.  We all need to sift through and identify for ourselves which information sources are trustworthy. All I know is, at this moment in time, people in Togo are suffering amidst general indifference and have been doing so for too long.
SC: For years now the situation in the country has been hard for the Togolese to take in. The demonstrations of 19 August were forcibly put down, with many injured as a result. And then, many demonstrators have been imprisoned and only released after multiple mediation attempts by civil bodies and foreign embassies. In November 2017, militias (called by the Government ‘self-defence committees’) were mandated to carry out reprisals against the demonstrators. The escalation of violence has been invoked by the Government to suspend the right to demonstrate, but that has fuelled the opposition's anger.  Intense mediation became necessary under the auspices of the embassies of Ghana, Guinea and other countries before the demonstrations could start up again and prevent another unleashing of violence.
GV: Has there been an economic or social impact on the functioning of the country?
YD: In the context of the economic situation of the country, the majority of those demonstrating are part of the informal economy, unemployed or students.  An employee will not take a day — or a few hours — to go and demonstrate, because they can't guarantee the post which enables them to feed their families and meet their basic needs will still be waiting for them on their return. So firms are working, certain things are being made, but the economy is slowing down.
SC: The current crisis has had a sharp economic and social effect. Traffic is forced to slow down during demonstrations, which has an impact on the activities of taxis, public transport, and trade in general.  Tradespeople in the town centres are also subject to a slowdown in their activities.
GV: Does the constitution set out any terms for the selection of candidates at the next elections?
SC: There are no limitations in the constitution as it stands. The constitution has been modified on several occasions. The one which was voted for by the majority of Togolese in 1992 was amended by a national assembly which was in favour of the then-President. The demonstrations want to return to the 1992 version which rules that no one can serve more than two terms.
YD: Quite honestly, I don't know what the constitution says anymore. It's been changed, abused or reinterpreted so many times that I don't trust it anymore. The Togolese people must create their own rules.
GV: In your opinion, what are the possible outcomes of this crisis?
YD: There are two possible scenarios: the status quo or change. In 2005, after the death of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, the current President's father, there were numerous demonstrations by people from Togo to demand a political change. Nothing came of them. The status quo won and the son succeeded the father. After the fall of the former President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso, I had the good fortune to interview Ambassador Charles R Sith who was running the old African Presidential Center at Boston University. When I questioned him on the political transitions in West Africa, he said “power is a seducer and once you're in its embrace, it's difficult to turn your head aside. It is very hard to stay in power more than 8 to 10 years and still have something to contribute”. The status quo is very tempting but we are at a point where Togo needs change. Change can take on several forms. The different political transitions in Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Kenya, or most recently in Zimbabwe, show us various models. It's up to the power in place to decide which path it will choose to follow.
SC: It must come to dialogue, but a real, constructive dialogue. Many attempts at dialogue have drawn a blank in the end because no agreement has been respected. An agreement, signed by all parties, must be reached with a Government recommendation for its implementation.
GV: Which single public misconception about the Togo situation would you most like cleared up?
YD: People are dying and suffering and it's been going on, not only since August, but for years.  When I go back to my country, I can see with my own eyes the deterioration of the economic situation of the population, and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. I don't need economic statistics to do that. And that hurts, because on paper, Togo has every opportunity to prosper. It's a country with considerable wealth across only 57,000 km2 and 7.6 million inhabitants. In my parents’ time, Togo was known as the “Switzerland of Africa”. My generation has never known that time. In spite of it all, the Togolese population is quite resilient, and religious on the whole. An ironic phrase has been doing the rounds in recent weeks since the fall of Mugabe in Zimbabwe: “We pray for Togo, and God answers in Zimbabwe”.

author: Rakotomalala


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Bleak Christmas in Oil-Rich Nigeria as Fuel Scarcity Disrupts Holiday Commute Home · Global Voices
Eta Uso

Traffic in Lagos, Nigeria. Photo from 2008 by BBC World Service. CC BY-NC 2.0
Many Nigerians spent several hours stuck in their vehicles, stranded on the road and unable to commute to their homes for Christmas as Africa’s biggest oil producer faces crippling petroleum shortages.
For some, the travel ordeal stretched into the early hours of December 25 as thousands of drivers lined up at fuelling stations hoping to make it in time for the Christmas celebration. Some transport companies have suspended services for the year, while others have hiked fares by 300%. It is a source of frustration in a country that has a strong tradition of uniting with family for Christmas.
Video published on Twitter by @i_am_Anomeli showed just how long one of the queues stretched in the city of Abuja:
Conoil Filling Station, Opp NNPC Towers, CBD, Abuja
24/12/2017
15:16 hrs
Just watch. No comments necessary pic.twitter.com/j58bcgYojd
— Igala_Alan_Shore (@i_am_Anomeli) 24 de diciembre de 2017
Speaking publicly for the first time about the crippling gasoline shortages three weeks after it first started, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said:
The fuel scarcity being experienced nationwide is regrettable. I sympathize with all Nigerians,on having to endure needless fuel queues. I'm being regularly briefed, especially on the NNPC's interventions to ensure that there is enough petrol available during this period & beyond
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) December 24, 2017
NNPC refers to the state oil corporation.
But critics were quick to point out that Buhari's message came quickly after one published by Atiku Abubakar, who was the vice president during the previous administration and a potential rival in the upcoming 2019 Nigerian presidential elections:
My heart goes out to everyone struggling to see their friends and families during this season of celebration due to the #fuelscarcity and I am confident that as we unite as a nation we can find a solution to this crisis.
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) December 24, 2017
Some theorized the president's statement was prompted by his potential rival's tweet.
Buhari tweeted about fuel scarcity for the first time today, few hours after Atiku tweeted…
— Mr COKER⌚ (@kingroyce01) December 24, 2017
OBSERVATION: @MBuhari released a Christmas Message to Nigerians just yesterday without mentioning the raging fuel scarcity. What suddenly changed between then and now?
QUESTION: If @atiku Abubakar had not tweeted about it this morning, would Buhari have spoken about it today?
— Fisayo Soyombo (@fisayosoyombo) December 24, 2017
Amid the crisis, some citizens of Nigeria, a place once ranked most optimistic on earth, have proven they do know how to stay happy. Twitter user Jude had this to share from a fueling station in Lere, a town in one of the northwest states of Nigeria:
The average Nigerian is a happy-go-lucky chap. I'm at this gas station in Lere, and some1 just hollered ‘merry Xmas’ from middle of the queue, brings out a crate of beer from trunk and begins to hand out a can to every1. Na here we go turn up 2day
— JustJude (@egbas) December 25, 2017
However, not everyone seems happy. Many are furious, and some resorted to memes (PMB refers to President Buhari):
This is the 3rd fuel scarcity under Buhari in 2 1/2 years. First one was in Sept-December 2015. For 3 months Nigeria suffered but PMB didn't blink. Second one was in April/May 2016 which he cunningly increased fuel from N87 – N145 and now December 2017. Buhari and #fuelscarcity pic.twitter.com/hjw70oeshJ
— Matthew Ottah™ (@MatthewOttah) December 22, 2017
President @MBuhari doesn't give a damn about #FuelScarcity #EndSARS or whatever else those who elected him are crying about. The same man who understood what fuel queues cost in terms of man-hours a few years ago can't even be bothered to explain why this is happening now!
— JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) December 23, 2017
The Buhari Christmas Carol #NoFuel cc @akaebube @Amaka_Ekwo @GarShehu @akandeoj @DigiCommsNG @AsoRock @MBuhari @ProfOsinbajo @IbeKachikwu @NNPCgroup pic.twitter.com/Fiwwoktn1m
— SIGNAL (@thesignalng) December 24, 2017

author: Eta Uso


text:
Don’t Call “Xi the Bun” — Chinese Netizens Are Being Jailed for Chatroom Jokes · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Steamed buns. Photo by Michael Stern via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
In China, it is no secret that chatroom conversations on social media platforms like WeChat or QQ are monitored and sometimes censored. But the consequences of posting “sensitive” content or opinions online are not as well known. Even for savvy internet users, it is hard to believe that such posts can sometimes land a person in prison.
In 2017, at least three Chinese netizens were arrested and jailed for making politically sensitive jokes in a chat room.
Wang Jiang Feng, a netizen from Shangdong was sentenced to 22 months in jail in April 2017 after being convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” when he jokingly referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as Xi Baozi or “Xi the Steamed Bun” and then called him a “Maoist thug”. The maximum penalty for this crime is five years in prison.
“Baozi” or “Steamed Bun” has been Xi Jinping's nickname online since his surprise visit to a Beijing chain restaurant in December 2013, in which he ordered buns, causing a flurry of state media coverage that many netizens felt overstated the significance of buns in Chinese cuisine. The nickname Baozi also has a negative connotation as the expression “Tubaozi” means “country bumpkin” in Chinese.
When Wang Jiang Feng joked about calling China's president “Xi the Bun”, he was sentenced to 22 months in jail. Image remix from Radio Free Asia's photo via Apple Daily News.
In September, Wang appealed the ruling and the court reduced his sentence by two months. The court said that by defaming the country’s leader, Wang could give people a negative impression of Chinese Communist Party, the Socialist System and the Democratic Dictatorship of the People and that his post would thus confuse people and cause social unrest, among other adverse effects that could “severely undermine social order.”
After his initial sentence was handed down in April, Wang’s defense lawyer Zhu Shengwu released his defense statement online, sparking intense discussions within the local legal community. Just a few days before the appeal, on September 21, the Shangdong Department of Justice revoked Zhu's license to practice law.
A 31-year-old Chinese man was sentenced to nine months in prison for making a joke about ISIS in September.
The incident took place in September 2016. The man changed his profile picture to the image of the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a friend made a joke by saying that “Look, a big shot just arrived” to a chatroom with 300 people. The man then replied, “come join ISIS with me.” He meant this in jest, and the conversation soon moved on to other subject.
The man was arrested in October 2016 and charged with spreading terrorist and extremist propaganda, but Chinese police had no other evidence to support the charge. One year later, he was sentenced to nine months behind bars.
Any topic that concerns Muslims or Islam in China can be considered sensitive. In August 2017, a 49-year-old person of Muslim faith was sentenced to two years in prison for teaching sections of the Quran in three WeChat groups, each of which consisted of about 100 members. The details of this particular case have not been released to the public. The ISIS joke however was widely discussed on social media and many netizens felt the sentence was too heavy.
The third case concerned allegations that Meng Jianzhu, a top Communist party official, had been involved in corrupt activities, and that he had had an extramarital affair with popular singer Wang Fong. These allegations were made by exiled billionaire Guo Wengui on Twitter.
Following these allegations, which were widely publicized online, 41-year-old Chinese man Chen Shouli posted a tongue-in-cheek response to the news:
哈哈！不會是爆王芳跟孟吧？這樣的話，周小平的帽子變綠透了。
Ha ha! This is not about Wang Fong and Meng, right? If that’s the case, Zhou Xiaoping has become a cuckold.
Guo, who has sparked considerable controversy with his allegations against various party leaders, had also at one time claimed that Meng had arranged the marriage of Wang to Zhou Xiaoping, who is a patriotic blogger praised by Chinese President Xi Jinping for his effort to spread positive energy online.
The Chinese police said that Chen's joke was “provoking trouble”.
All the three cases indicate that chatroom conversations in China are under surveillance and that chat records can be used as evidence in criminal prosecution. What’s worse is that the legal definition of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” is so vague that it empowers the police to arrest citizens at a whim, even when the content in question is clearly in jest.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
In Hopeful Step Toward Reconstruction, Iraq’s Mosul Celebrates First Christmas Since Fall of ISIS · Global Voices
Sali Mahdy

Screenshot of Louis Sako addressing his congregation on Christmas Eve, published on Youtube on December 24, 2017 by Al-Mawsleya channel.
Iraqi Christians celebrated their first Christmas in Mosul since the city was liberated from the brutal militant group ISIS (also known as ISIL, Daesh and the Islamic State) earlier in 2017.
Christmas Mass was held at Saint Paul's Church, currently the only functioning church in Mosul, with an attendance of around 100 Christians. A host of local and military officials also attended, in addition to a number of Muslims joining to show their support for the minority community.
Under tight security, Mass began with the Iraqi national anthem, imparting a strong sense of national unity to the occasion.
Louis Rapheal Sako, the patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, conveyed a message of peace and love. He urged the congregation to pray for “peace and stability in Mosul, Iraq, and the world.”
Mosul's Christian community is centuries old and an important part of the diverse mosaic that makes up the city. Around 200,000 Christians lived in Mosul prior to the violent ISIS takeover of northern Iraq in 2014. The city was emptied of the ancient community after facing an ultimatum to either convert to their intolerant version of Islam, pay a religious tax, or die. Most families fled and were stripped of their personal belongings along the way.
While the past three years have been devastating for Iraqi Christians, Sako is urging Christians displaced throughout Iraq and those who have found refuge abroad to return and play a role in Mosul's reconstruction.
In an interview with international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP), Dourid Tobia, an adviser on Christian affairs to the provincial governor, claims that between 70 to 80 families have returned and expects more to follow soon.
Christmas celebrations also took place in Christian communities across the Nineveh Plains and Baghdad at several different churches.
#IraqiChristians celebrating Christmas mass in our ancestral towns and churches in Nineveh Plains. #Syriac #Christians at the Mart Shmoni Church in town of #Bartella, #Iraq. Thank you to Father Yacoub for his leadership. pic.twitter.com/erCJhPJuxu
— Iraqi Christian HRC (@iraqschristians) December 25, 2017
اول قداس في بلدة قرة قوش المحررة منذ عامين من بطش داعش في #الموصل#العراق من دون المسيحيين والايزيديين وبقية الطوائف لن يكون عراق
????? pic.twitter.com/Fh5I5tOB7Q
— Heba David ?? (@Hakona_matata0) November 3, 2016
The first Mass in the city of Qaraqosh after years under violent Islamic State rule. Iraq would not be without its Christians, Yazidis, and other communities.
في الموصل اليوم …اول قدّاس لعيد الميلاد في كنيسة مار بولص بعد غياب دام اكثر من 3 سنوات.
سلام مقدس للشهداء الابطال الذين صنعوا هذا النصر.#ChristmasEve pic.twitter.com/bBbyF88KDF
— مهند حبيب السماوي (@alsemawee) December 24, 2017
The first Christmas Mass at Saint Paul's Church in more then three years. Thanks to the martyrs who made this victory possible.
Christmas Eve Mass at Holy Family Church
Baghdad – Bataween 24 Dec. 2017
قداس ليلة عيد الميلاد في كنيسة العائلة المقدسة – البتاوين pic.twitter.com/VtfWnrlYln
— Bishop YALDO (@baselyaldo) December 24, 2017

author: Sali Mahdy


text:
Difficult Moments, Alleged Negotiations and Protests from the Latest Political Crisis in Peru · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. Image on Flickr by user OECD Development Centre (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Peru closes 2017 with one of the most complex political crises in its recent history. Weeks of negotiations, corruption allegations, presidential impeachment attempts, debates, and even viral jokes have lead to a tense political environment in the country.
This tension culminated in mid-December when a group of opposition party Parliament members filed a petition to impeach President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (also known as PPK) for his alleged ties with the corruption scandal, the Odebrecht case.
Odebrecht is a Brazilian construction company involved in several corruption scandals all over the region. An ongoing investigation, known as Lava Jato, (operation Car Wash) discovered several ties in money laundering schemes and bribing officials, some of them possibly tied to the Odrebrecht scandal. The motion to impeach the president came after documents were made public which showed payments from Odebrecht to two firms linked with President Kuczynski.
On 17 December, in a brief televised address, President Kuczynski said the motion to impeach was an attack on the constitutional order, calling it an “express impeachment attempt”.
Three days later, on the eve of the parliamentary impeachment debate session, the president addressed the Peruvian people again. In this second address, President Kuczyinski appeared alongside both his vice presidents, Martín Vizcarra and Mercedes Aráoz, stating that “neither [of the vicepresidents] want to be part of a government born from an unfair and anti-democratic move.”
On 22 December, Congress plenary session narrowly dismissed the motion to impeach President Kuczynski.
Amid the complicated controversy, an uncalled-for statement made by Kuczynski's attorney, Alberto Borea, raised alarms on social media. During Borea's 2-hour deliberation, the attorney made references to diverse historical thinkers, such as Montesquieu, Aristotle and Raymond Aron. However, what stood out most was a reference to the popular comic character, Condorito. Literally meaning “little condor”, Condorito is a character that is well-known for the typical ending of his comic where he falls backward in confusion and surprise while above him a blurb reads “plop!”.
Se dijo todo lo que dijo nuestro joven congresista que, a estas alturas, no vale la pena refutar (…) Dijo que, en este grupo (Fuerza Popular) no es normal cobrar dinero de la corrupción. ‘Plop’, como dice Condorito”
All what's been said by our young congressman that, by now, it's not worth refuting (…). He said that in this group (Popular Force), it's not normal to collect money from corruption. ‘Plop,’ just as in Condorito”.
The “young congressman” alluded to is Daniel Salaverry, a member of Popular Force, the main opposition group that received an overwhelming majority in the 2016 general election. Although the impeachment was requested by another group, Popular Force was vocal in its support for presidential impeachment. What Alberto Borea is implying here is that Popular Force does collect money from corruption.
Borea's comments received a lot of attention on social media, but the arguments employed by Congresswoman Yeni Vilcatoma in favor of the president's impeachment became a trending topic.
Vilcatoma made a reference to Chilean businessman Gerardo Sepúlveda, Kuczynski's business partner of who got in charge of his affairs while Kuczynski exerted as a minister during Alejandro Toledo administration (2001-2006). Vilcatoma highlighted Sepúlveda's Chilean origin several times and she also stressed the fact that Condorito, quoted by Borea, is also a Chilean:
¿Qué ha tenido que hacer el presidente? Humillarnos como nación ante un chileno (Gerardo Sepúlveda). Ante un pobre diablo que estuvo sentado allí en el palco presidencial mirándonos la cara a todos (…) un chileno nos vio la cara. Su abogado (Alberto Borea) lo único que hizo fue invocar a Condorito, y Condorito señores, es chileno, ¡es chileno! Y ¿dónde está el nacionalismo?
What did the President do? Humiliate us as a nation in front of a Chilean (Gerardo Sepúlveda). Some poor devil that was sitting there at the president's table looking us all in the face (…). A Chilean guy fooled us all. The only thing his [Kuczynski's] lawyer [Alberto Borea] did was mention Condorito, and Condorito, ladies and gentlemen, is a Chilean, a Chilean! Where is the nationalism?
Social networks began exploding immediately, and Condorito became a viral topic on Twitter:
Condorito abandonando el Perú, después de escuchar a Vilcatoma!
¡No te vayas! ¡Sí te queremos! pic.twitter.com/jxl86ucHhx
— Daniel Urresti (@DanielUrresti1) 21 de diciembre de 2017
Condorito leaves Perú, after listening Vilcatoma!
Don't go! We do love you!
Crean versión sinfónica de “Condorito es chileno” de Yeni Vilcatoma (VIDEO) https://t.co/fUh37NGIChpic.twitter.com/ly2darDrox
— Diario Correo (@diariocorreo) 24 de diciembre de 2017
Symphonic version of “Condorito is a Chilean” by Yeni Vilcatoma (VIDEO).
De todos los grandes que citó Borea (Aron, Montesquieu, Burke), Vilcatoma citó a Condorito!!
Exijo una explicación!!
— Ivan Lanegra (@ilanegra) 21 de diciembre de 2017
From all the historic figures quoted by Borea (Aron, Montesquieu, Burke), Vilcatoma quoted Condorito!!
I demand an explanation!! [Author's note: from Spanish “exijo una explicación”, a phrase also frequently used by Condorito].
The next day, Congresswoman Vilcatoma apologized for some (but not all) of her statements:
? Yeni Vilcatoma pidió disculpas al pueblo chileno tras polémico episodio sobre Condorito?
? “Lamento y retiro mis expresiones que puedan haber afectado a los chilenos, mi respeto a ellos” pic.twitter.com/MfFgXJ5p18
— Capital (@Capital967) 22 de diciembre de 2017
? Yeni Vilcatoma apologized to Chilean people after controversial episode about Condorito?
? “I regret and take back my words that might have affected Chilean people, my respect to them”.
It is worth noting that ex-President Alberto Fujimori, in prison for various human rights violations during his tenure in office, received a pardon from President Kuczynski on 24 December 2017.
Keiko Fujimori, ex-President Alberto Fujimori's oldest daughter, ran against and lost the presidency to Kuczynski by just 0.24% of the votes. However, her party received 72 seats in a 130-seat Parliament.
On 22 December, just two days before Kuczynski granted Alberto Fujimori's pardon, Kenji Fujimori, Alberto's son and a current congressman, abstained from voting for the impeachment. Nine other representatives from Fujimori's group also abstained which eventually tilted the scales in Kuczynski's favor. The timing of these events has lead to rumors that Kenji Fujimori exchanged a vote abstention in return for his father's pardon.
El verdadero House of Cards ocurrió en Perú: Hija de Fujimori arma proceso para remover a PPK; hermano negocia abtenciones para que se caiga votación contra el presidente; PPK ofrece indulto a cambio de abstenciones; Fujimori termina indultado. De película.
— Alex Olivares (@olivaresalex) December 25, 2017
The real House of Cards happened in Peru: Fujimori's daughter starts a process to remove PPK from office and her brother negotiates abstentions so president's impeachment doesn't succeed, PPK offers pardon in exchange for abstentions, Fujimori ends up being pardoned. Unbelievable.
For many people, the whole episode is just a metaphor for the closed-door negotiations that take place among political classes. Fujimori's pardon resulted in protests and confrontations between pro and anti-impeachment groups and also started a new stage in the most recent Peruvian political crisis:
Presidente @ppkamigo:
Con este indulto nos está diciendo que nadie debe pagar reparación civil, ¿verdad? Usted ha indultado a Fujimori sin que pague un sol de su deuda.
— Victor Caballero (@DiarioDeCurwen) December 25, 2017
Mr President:
With this pardon you are telling us all that no one should pay civil reparations, right? You've pardoned Fujimori without him paying a single cent for his debt.
Carlos Rivera, abogado del Instituto de Defensa Legal confirmó que familias de víctimas de crímenes por los que fue condenado el Ex Pdte. Fujimori, recurrirán ante la Corte Interamericana de DDHH´s para buscar anular indulto que le exime de cumplir sentencia de 25 años de prisión pic.twitter.com/r2aWXWKdXl
— Política Total (@POLITICATOTALpe) December 25, 2017
Carlos Rivera, lawyer at Institute of Legal Defense, confirmed that familes of victims of crimes that got ex President Fujimori convicted will go to Inter Americana Court of Human Rights to ask for annul pardon that exempts him [Fujimori] to end his 25-year time in prison.
Perú: indulto de Navidad para Fujimori desató protestas por “pacto infame” https://t.co/Iyvgfv6zvypic.twitter.com/4s8HIAKYPB
— Popular (@populardiario) December 25, 2017
Peru: Christmas pardon for Fujimori provoked protests for “infamous pact”.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


text:
Macedonia’s Former Government Tried to Cover Up Its Own Wiretapping Operation, With Help from a Foreign Company · Global Voices
Marko Angelov

The fictional “yellow van” became part of Macedonian political folklore. Satirical group “Foreign Services” used it in the header photo of their Twitter profile, featuring caricatures of top members of VMRO-DPMNE regime: Ilija Dimovski, Gjorge Ivanov, Gordana Jankuloska, Nikola Gruevski, and Sasho Mijalkov.
Recent revelations have shed new light on the depths of corruption perpetrated by Macedonia's former populist regime, in its attempts to cover up abuses of power.
On December 19, 2017 in the capital city of Skopje, the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) announced a new investigation related to the 2015 wiretapping scandal that uprooted the populist government that ruled Macedonia from 2006 to 2017.
In 2015, a massive trove of audio files and archives released by then-opposition leader Zoran Zaev, of the Social Democrats party (SDSM), revealed that the communications of more than 20,000 individuals in Macedonia — including more than a 100 journalists and civil society activists — had been secretly recorded.
The former government, ruled by Nikola Gruevski and his VMRO-DPMNE party, had long asserted that foreign intelligence services were the perpetrators of the massive illegal surveillance operation. Their claim was debunked in 2015, and the information from the SPO suggests that they went to unusual lengths to manufacture false documentation to support their claims.
Last week, the SPO announced that it found new evidence that former government officials had hired a foreign company to fabricate a report asserting that foreign agents — not the government itself — were responsible for the wiretapping operation. Later media disclosures indicated that the secretive company is from Israel.
In September 2014, the then-opposition SDSM announced that they had obtained leaked information proving a massive abuse of power by the ruling government. They asked the VMRO-DPMNE government to resign and to provide conditions for fair elections. Then-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski refused, and several months later–in February 2015–the Social Democrats began publishing excerpts of the leaked wiretaps. These completely undermined the government's credibility and incited a wave of protests by citizens.
In an attempt to stop the proverbial bleeding, in January 2015 Gruevski made a speech warning his followers not to believe the allegations of the Social Democrats. He then claimed that foreign powers supplied the Social Democrats with illegal wiretaps, saying that conversations were monitored from yellow vans with mobile equipment for eavesdropping. These accusations of collusion with foreign spies also implied high treason by opposition leader Zoran Zaev, who later became and currently serves as Macedonia's Prime Minister.
But according to new information from the SPO, this was all part of a plan to shift the blame away from the government.
Прибраниот доказен материјал упатува на околноста дека во текот на октомври и ноември 2014 година, по барање на еден од осомничените, кој во тој период бил началник на Одделот за оперативна техника при УБК, странска компанија изготвила извештај во кој е наведено дека на подрачјето на Град Скопје, „со своја опрема“ детектирале нелегална активност со клонирани (дупли) базни станици. Овој извештај требало да ја потврди тезата на тогашниот државен врв дека масовното незаконското прислушкување го извршиле странски служби.
The obtained evidence indicates that during the months of October and November of 2014, upon the request of one of the suspects who, during that time, was holding the position of Head of the Operational Technology Department within the Security and Counterintelligence Agency, a foreign company issued a report stating that they had detected, “with their own equipment”, illegal activities with cloned (double) base stations in the region of the City of Skopje. This report was supposed to confirm the hypothesis of the authorities in power at the time, that the mass illegal interception was conducted by foreign intelligence services.
The foreign company, which has not yet been named, was compensated through a tender issued by the Ministry of Interior, in what the SPO characterized as “the quickest procedure for public procurement” of equipment from December 16 to 24, 2014.
The details of the investigation, including the kind of equipment purchased and the sum of taxpayer money put towards the purchases, remain classified. But the information that SPO has released indicates numerous violations of relevant laws and regulations by two officials of the Security and Counterintelligence Agency, which at the time was headed by Sasho Mijalkov, the former Prime Minister's cousin.
Former members of Gruevski's coalition government stated that he had tried to persuade them by showing them the fabricated report at a meeting, but without providing them with copies.
Anonymous sources used by independent media alleged the company is from Israel. The company's name has not been disclosed yet, just the information that it's not the Israeli company that has previously been involved in corruption related to purchase of other surveillance equipment for the Ministry of Interior.
Many Macedonians never believed the “yellow van” story. It was considered so implausible that it immediately became a subject of ridicule and irony.
This was further corroborated in a key report by former European Commissioner Reinhard Priebe issued in June 2015, as part of EU efforts to investigate the wiretaps. The report stated that “The recordings are also of a quality, scale and number to be generally acknowledged to have been made inside the national intelligence service's facilities.”
A 2016 political discourse analysis by local fact-checking site Truthmeter noted that after a certain point in time, the regime also stopped using the foreign services story:
The details revealed by the former Prime Minister on 31 January [2015], were never explicitly mentioned again during his public speeches that followed afterwards (and there were plenty of them).
But that this apparent attempt to mislead the public did not disappear from memory. For instance, a group of anonymous artists adopted the moniker “Foreign Intelligence Services” in 2015. Over the next few years, they produced some of the most influential satire online, by repeatedly using yellow van imagery as a symbol and as a logo. Here are some examples of caricatures spread through Twitter, some providing wider social commentary:
Малата Анастасија од Скопје ни покажува како да направиме жолто комбе. Вели дека татко и полудувал кога ќе видел ваква играчка по дома :) pic.twitter.com/LY4eu0lafA
— Странски (@Sluzbi) February 13, 2017
Little Anastasija [the name of one of Gruevski's daughters] showed us how to make a yellow van. She says her father got mad when he would see such a toy in the house :)
НАСКОРО: Изложба на олдтајмери на Странски @Sluzbi кои веќе не се во употреба, а своевремено се користеле за #разнебитување на Македонија! pic.twitter.com/aEwoh7udeR
— Странски (@Sluzbi) January 11, 2017
SOON: Old-timers exhibition of Foreign Intelligence Services which are no longer in use, used in the past for dismemberment of Macedonia! Photo: Van made by Yugoslav car factory Zastava Automobiles, long before 1990.
Ги следиме препораките на Град Скопје за #загадувањето. Отсега ќе гледате електрични #жолти комбиња по улиците… pic.twitter.com/vgOOshShNF
— Странски (@Sluzbi) January 10, 2017
We follow the recommendations of the City of Skopje about air pollution. From now on you will only see electric yellow vans on the streets…
The following montage pits the transformed yellow van against one of the bronze lions made as part of the controversial Skopje 2014 project.
Странски Служби Мегатрон против ВМРО Гримлок. Кој ќе победи? pic.twitter.com/uMdh5AVvfo
— Странски (@Sluzbi) September 19, 2016
Foreign Intelligence Services Megatron against the VMRO Grimlock. Who will win?
The new revelations from the Special Prosecutors Office had ignited even more public discussion about the wiretapping incident and subsequent fall out.

author: Marko Angelov


text:
7 Global Voices Stories That Resonated With Readers in 2017 · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Reader favorites from 2017 at Global Voices.
Global Voices authors published more than 1,600 stories in English in 2017, on topics ranging from ‘eco-coolers’ that run without electricity to the unique vocabulary of small languages. These were written, researched and translated by many of our 1,200 members of our community, who live and work in over 170 countries around the globe.
Our audience is also located all over the world. Since different articles resonate with different audiences in different ways, it can be tough to identify the “top” or “best” stories from Global Voices. Every story has meaning. However, based on clicks, likes, shares and comments on Facebook, we can get a clue.
With that in mind, here are some of our reader favorites from 2017.
Ognen Čemerski with his friend and colleague Jasna Koteska during the Student March, November 14, 2014. Photo by Vančo Džambaski, CC BY-NC-SA.
In terms of clicks, comments and shares, this article by Filip Stojanovski, Global Voices’ Eastern and Central Europe editor, was one of the most popular stories of 2017 on the Global Voices Facebook page. Ognen Čemerski, who died in August, had spent 12 years working on the translation of “Moby-Dick” into Macedonian.
The main problem of translating a book from 1851 about sailing and whaling was that the Macedonian language lacked maritime terminology. Most of the ethnic Macedonian population had been landlocked during the last centuries, having little contact with the sea in general and sailing in particular. In order to overcome this, Čemerski had to re-construct the vocabulary by first discovering the origins of the English terms, and then trace their equivalents in Macedonian or other Slavic languages.
Illustrative image by andresAzp, available in Flickr: “Evening protests on February 15th in Altamira. Caracas, Venezuela. Published under Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
This story was one of the most shared articles on the Global Voices Facebook page in 2017:
Six protesters have died, President Maduro's government is accused of using torture on protesters to obtain false confessions of “terrorism,” and evidence of police abuse is circulating on social media. Despite the clampdown, the protests in Venezuela haven't stopped since the end of March.
“The money is never enough, there are no medicines, and the streets are full of criminals, and you won't let me protest on top of it all?,” one protester, who was tortured by the police, said […]
Photo: Erin Gallagher
This article highlighting a tattoo artist in the United States offering free “RESIST” themed tattoos to those who donate $100 or more to charities also was one of Global Voices’ most-shared posts on Facebook.
Nate Kaschak works at A Psychic Unicorn, a tattoo and art studio owned by Rhi and Chris Wallace in the town of Kingston, Pennsylvania, population around 14,000. […]
Kaschak says he was tired of so much negativity online and wanted to encourage people to be more proactive instead of complaining.
Public Facebook status update by Lara Quentrall-Thomas, which says, “Excellent news! The Marriage bill has been passed. Minimum age – 18, Vote – 35 in favor – 0 against!!!!”
This article received the most likes on Facebook:
On June 9, 2017, Trinidad & Tobago's parliament unanimously passed legislation to outlaw the practice of child marriage, changing the legal marriage age to 18.
[However] religious opposition made what would ordinarily have been a straightforward issue a little more fraught and at one point, there was doubt as to whether the opposition would even support the bill.
The “confused” lady above is one of Brazil's well-known memes. She was actually a character from a 2004 soap opera who kidnapped a baby and killed some people who got in her way | Image: Twitter/Reproduction.
Brazil ranks as the fourth country with the highest number of internet users in the world. Portuguese is Brazil's only official language and the majority of its population do not speak English. While most of the internet is decidedly anglophone, Brazilians have carved out a large Portuguese-speaking digital territory of their own. And they mainly use it to speak on their own terms — which means, a lot of memes.
So began this story about Brazilian internet culture, which also received some of the most shares, clicks and comments on Facebook in 2017.
Fertilized Duck Eggs – Hột Vịt Lộn aka Balut. Source: Flickr / shankar s. (CC BY 2.0)
In terms of the most likes, shares and comments, nothing beats this story from 2017 that covers some remarkable foods from Vietnam, including a dish called “balut”:
Balut is a developed fertilized duck egg, boiled and eaten in the shell. At about 19 to 21 days old, the duck embryos will be mature enough for you to feel the crunchy bones. The correct way to eat this delicacy is to add a bit of salt, slurp out the water, and chew on a couple of rau răm or Vietnamese coriander leaves.
Bassel Khartabil. Photo by Joi Ito via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
In 2017 the Global Voices community was deeply saddened to learn about the death of Bassel Khartabil, who was killed by Syrian officials.
A Creative Commons leader in Syria who was active in projects including Mozilla Firefox and Wikipedia, Bassel Khartabil (aka Bassel Safadi) played a pivotal role in extending online access and open knowledge to the public in Syria. He was a close friend of many in the Global Voices community and participated in our 2009 Arab Bloggers Meeting.
An article about his death was one of the most-read stories on Global Voices in 2017.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Despite Regime Change, Macedonian Civil Society Is Still Reeling from Political Persecution and ‘De-Sorosization’ · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

Protesters gather in front of the parliament as part of the “We Decide” campaign in October 2016. The sign on the truck says “We can do better.” Photo by Vančo Džambaski via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
This article was written by Ellery Roberts Biddle and Filip Stojanovski, a staff member at the Metamorphosis Foundation.
Just over one year ago, the Macedonian government launched a campaign of “de-Sorosization” of Macedonian civil society groups.
What did they mean by “de-Sorosization,” exactly? The campaign sought to undermine the work of local organizations associated with the philanthropic foundation of billionaire George Soros, along with other western institutions such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The campaign was led by former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of the (formerly ruling) VMRO-DPMNE party. VMRO was notorious for its politically-motivated investigations of CSOs and independent media seeking to raise public awareness about government spending and corruption. Like in Hungary and other European states with authoritarian tendencies, conspiracy theories demonizing Soros and western institutions such as the EU and NATO became a mainstay of VMRO government propaganda.
Fani Karanfilova-Panovska. Photo by Vančo Džambaski (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
The campaign launched shortly after special elections in Macedonia, which were held as part of an agreement brokered by the EU, following massive public protests over revelations of a government wiretapping scandal that affected thousands citizens. The ruling party lost its majority in the special election, but it was not until late May 2017 that a new government was officially handed power.
In a conversation with Global Voices, Fani Karanfilova-Panovska, who is the executive director of the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia, suggested that the Gruevski government and ruling party targeted CSOs because civil society had been “the chief driver of changes and progress” in Macedonia from 2014 to the present.
Editor's note: Global Voices is a grantee of the Open Society Foundations, which are part of the Soros network.
At the start of his “de-Sorosization” campaign in December 2016, Gruevski called for a “showdown” with CSOs cooperating with Soros’ foundation and foreign government aid organizations.
He argued that rather than seeking support from outside of Macedonia, the country's civil sector should instead rely on the Macedonian government for financial support.
This proposal would have made CSOs entirely dependent on the government, an idea that undercuts the very essence of many a civil society organization, which is to maintain independence from the government in order to best hold it to account for its commitments to the public.
To support Gruevski's proposal, government surrogates in the media promoted the notion that civil society should be about charity or humanitarian aid, and that it should not be involved with civic engagement, anti-corruption, media or any activity related to political decision-making.
Some civil society activists also commented via social media that that they would decline financial support from the government in their jurisdiction, in order to maintain accountability to the public. For CSOs that had experienced direct persecution from the Gruevski government, it was difficult to imagine receiving any support at all. On the other hand, those eager to prove their loyalty to the ruling party had a quick reward in store.
Certain CSOs benefitted from this structure, as some state funds were used to support sports clubs, as well as service-based organizations established during socialism like associations of people with disabilities or retired persons, who account for a large voting bloc. Other state funds were siphoned to the ruling party interests via Government Organized NGOs (GONGOs), for instance for building monuments from the Skopje 2014 project or financing a spate of self-declared “patriotic” organizations founded by party members.
But other CSOs suffered under this regime. In February 2017, state institutions expanded a series of inspections and financial audits of CSOs. In particular, they targeted 21 CSOs that had participated in a pre-election civil campaign “We decide”, which sought to improve public understanding of the electoral system and rules, given that a large percentage of Macedonian citizens believed that their ballots are not secret, and that political parties can find out how they've voted.
State inquiries targeted one donor specifically, which was not connected to the “We decide” action: the US Agency for International Development or USAID, which over the last 25 years has supported large capacity building initiatives for civil society and independent media. The common thread in selection of targets seems to be the failure of previous government attempts to subvert them to its political agenda – what the government couldn't control appeared to be slated for removal from the country.
These anti-civil society activities in Macedonia were synchronized with lobbying efforts in Washington D.C., aimed at sowing discord between the USAID, the State Department and the Trump administration.
These and other forms of institutional harassment virtually blocked the work of CSOs, draining their resources. Unofficial parts of the campaign included various other kinds of attacks, from defamation to intimidation and hate speech to physical violence against activists and journalists.
In tandem with Gruevski’s announcement about using government resources to support CSOs, in March 2017 the government issued a call offering CSO grants in total amount of 800.000 euros. This came as a surprise because this amount was not allocated in the 2017 state budget.
With an exception of one humanitarian CSO, these grants were distributed through an unusually speedy procedure, mainly to new organizations with direct connections to the ruling party.
The new government annulled the call and announced a corruption investigation.
After a failed attempt by the VMRO to take control of Parliament by force on April 28, 2017, the duress subsided. Most of the CSOs received final documents from the Public Revenue Service during the following months. Some of these included fines, which most have contested because they are based on individual interpretations of dubious legislation.
At a May 2017 public conference on anti-corruption, a representative of the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption was asked about the investigations against CSOs.
He acknowledged that the Commission initiated the “de-Sorosisation” controls involving coordinated action — allegedly directed by party leaders — of institutions including the National Bank and the Public Revenue Service (both of which imposed financial audits on CSOs) and the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) for Organized Crime and Corruption. The PPO also engaged the Organized Crime Unit of the Ministry of Interior, and the Financial Police, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance.
Although this effort began before the December 2016 elections, the Commission omitted it from their annual report which they submit to parliament. The parliament later rejected the report on these and other grounds.
In a recorded statement [1:53-2:09]  at the conference, Igor Tanturovski, president of the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, said the following:
An ambassador of large institution came to us and asked why we initiated control of the work of the civic organizations. [He said] ‘Only their donor can conduct controls’ in their country. And I replied – but what if the donor is (laughs) a terrorist organization?
Tanturovski, who was a VMRO-DPMNE donor in 2012, was appointed to the Commission in spite of the law that requires that its members to be independent of any political party connections. Despite numerous scandals and publicly available information, Tanturovski did not initiate a single investigation of ruling politicians’ corruption during his tenure.
In a charged anti-Western atmosphere promoted by pro-government media, his attempt to portray Soros and USAID, and by extension the US government, as terrorist-supporting organizations received no reaction from other officials.
From the start, representatives of targeted CSOs demanded legal resolution to the affair. Biljana Bejkova, Executive Manager, NGO InfoCenter, said:
Политичкиот прогон на граѓанските организации осмислен и спроведен од владата на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ мора да биде, што е можно побрзо, комплетно расветлен, официјално затворен и јавно осуден од страна на актуелната власт и надлежните државни институции.  Сите вклучени лица и институции треба да одговараат за своето незаконско дејствување. Само на таков начин, граѓаните ќе добијат поттик и јасна порака дека Македонија е отворено, демократско општество кое ги почитува и штити основните граѓански права и слободи.
Political persecution of the civil society organizations, which was planned and implemented by the government of VMRO-DPMNE must be completely exposed, officially closed, and publicly condemned by the current government and the relevant state institutions ASAP. All involved persons and institutions must be held responsible for their illegal actions. Only in this way the citizens would get an incentive and clear message that Macedonia is an open, democratic society which respects and protects the fundamental civil rights and liberties.
A work plan adopted by the new government in June clearly states that the government will treat civil society as an equal partner and that state institutions will conduct new “investigations of the cases of intimidation and pressure on civil society organizations (i.e. to investigate all reports of hate speech, attacks, pressure).”
At the end of August, the chief state prosecutor, who is known for granting impunity to organized crime groups in the country, was sacked by the parliament, giving CSOs hope that things would begin to change.
In September, the High level expert group lead by the former European Commissioner Reinhard Priebe in charge of monitoring democratic reforms in Macedonia (p. 26) reiterated the need to clear up the situation which had implications beyond affecting the work of the 21 targeted organization:
132. Civil society organisations have also reported harassment and inspections from authorities such as the Public Revenue Office and the Public Prosecutor's Office from December 2016 to May 2017. While civil society organisations must comply with relevant legislation, the group finds this development alarming. The group expects the relevant authorities to conclude their investigations speedily in order to avoid that cases without actual merit stay pending for months, contributing to chilling effects upon other civil society organisations.
In November, the Minister of Interior gave a public statement investigations had concluded, and that no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the CSOs had been found.
However, by mid-December the CSOs had not yet received official documents that would provide legal closure.
This long campaign of political prosecution has severely affected the work, resources and reputation of the civil society in Macedonia. The campaign to frame them as criminals and traitors followed patterns tested in other countries in the region, with government actions similar to those in Russia or Hungary.
Macedonian activists are attempting to draw lessons from their predicament, that might be helpful to other societies facing similar challenges.
From left: Biljana Bejkova, Dona Kosturanova, Bardhyl Jashari. Photos by Vančo Džambaski via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Dona Kosturanova, Executive Director of the Youth Education Forum, noted:
Граѓанските организации изложени на хостилен исцрпувачки притисок од институциите на владиниот режим во Македонија покажаа дека и покрај се’ демократскиот напредок е на прво место за невладините организации. Во најтешките периоди на своето постоење граѓанските организации ги дадоа најзначајните политички документи и препораки за институциите и имаа клучна улога во надминувањето на политичката криза во Македонија.
Слободите на граѓаните за здружување и изразување се под закана од автократски режими во повеќе земји, и за негово опстојување граѓаните мора да си даваат меѓусебна поддршка но и да да ја добијат од медиумите, демократските влади и меѓународните организации.
Civil society organizations which were exposed to hostile and exhausting pressure by the institutions controlled by the government regime in Macedonia showed that in spite of everything, democratic progress is a priority to CSOs. During the hardest periods of their existence CSOs produced the most significant policy documents and recommendations for the institutions, and had a key role in overcoming the political crisis in Macedonia.
Freedoms of association and expression are under threat by autocratic regimes in a number of countries, and to uphold them citizens must provide mutual support, but also require support from the media, democratic governments and international organizations.
Bardhyl Jashari, director of Metamorphosis Foundation concluded:
Како резултат на политичкиот прогон на сите нивоа, заедно со интензивната кампања за нарушување на угледот преку навреди и клевети, беше нарушен имиџот на граѓанското општество како целина. Ќе бидат потребни големи напори и време тој имиџ да заздрави и да се реафирмира нормалната улога на НВО како витален дел од демократското општеството.
This campaign for political persecution at all levels, paralleled with an intensive smearing campaign, severely damaged the image of the civil society as a whole. It will take a lot of effort and time for this image to recover and the NGOs to reaffirm their normal role as a vital part of democratic society.
The change of political atmosphere in Macedonia doesn't imply that all problems of civil society and independent media will be solved easily. Under the new government, if the judiciary and law enforcement are reformed and provide appropriate closure to this period of political persecution, they will still have to face a dismal economic reality and other hostile influences stemming from political conflicts both within and outside of the country.
While there is still a glimmer of hope that Macedonia may one day become part of the EU, CSOs stress that one of the important challenges is to educate citizens so that they may fully exercise their role as decision-makers in a modern democratic society and hold their governments to account — regardless of who is in power.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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From Internet Blackouts to Violent Attacks, South Asia Saw New Threats to Free Expression Online in 2017 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Social media ban. Images mixed by Rezwan.
In 2017, South Asian countries faced growing challenges in the field of internet freedom, censorship, and freedom of expression. The Global Voices South Asia team highlighted many of these issues throughout the year. Here is a summary of our coverage.
Internet shutdowns and blackouts in conflict areas rose sharply in 2017, threatening citizens’ access to communications, information and free expression online. Unique regions of India and Pakistan saw both total shutdown and partial shutdowns (e.g. of mobile data networks). The shutdowns not only curb the rights of freedom of expression laid out in these countries’ constitutions, they also have economic implications affecting business and public services.
The Global Voices Advox Netizen Report noted that internet blackouts are becoming an increasingly common tactic for local and regional authorities when faced with public consternation around politics and elections, ethnic and religious tensions, and incidents of violence.
Since January 1, 2017, there have been 65 regional-level Internet shutdowns in India. In 2016, there were 31 such shutdowns. The Software Freedom Law Centre of New Delhi has an online interactive map that shows the location and details of each Internet shutdown in India, along with a short description of public events coinciding with the shutdown.
Screenshot from the website Internetshutdowns.in CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
According to data provided by digital rights group accessnow.org, since January 2016, Pakistan had 10 digital blackouts. Mobile internet service was shut down for more than a year in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), starting in June 2016, according to a Freedom House report.
When we look at details of these shutdowns, we find various reasons. Internet and mobile services were shut down for several days in the northern Indian states of Haryana and Punjab following a court ruling in the criminal case against guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the controversial leader of the hugely popular Dera Sacha Sauda sect.
Last April, in the Indian city of Kendrapara, provincial officials blocked Internet connectivity for 48 hours to prevent the circulation of an “objectionable” video that witnesses said was insulting to the Prophet Mohammad.
Internet filtering and blocking of specific websites have been a common tool of regulators and governments in several South Asian countries. In most instances, the goal was to block access to politically sensitive content. Authorities often cited national security as the reason for blocking. The blocking and filtering of the global Internet is a violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which grants everyone the right “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
In April, authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir blocked 22 social media applications, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. According to authorities, the social media services were “being misused by anti-national and anti-social elements” in the Kashmir Valley to disturb “peace and tranquility”.
Even Bollywood gave cause for online censorship in August 2017. The Internet Archive and more than 2,600 file-sharing websites were blocked in India following two court orders issued by the Madras High Court in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (accessible here and here). The ruling, issued on August 2, 2017, was based on the petitions of two prominent Bollywood production houses, Red Chillies Entertainment and Prakash Jha Productions, to stop file-sharing websites from distributing pirated copies of two recently released Bollywood movies, “Jab Harry Met Sejal”, and “Lipstick Under My Burkha”.
In two separate requests, dated 16 August and 24 August, Indian authorities asked Twitter to suspend more than two dozen Twitter accounts and censor more than 100 tweets.
Kashmiri woman protestor dares a policeman to stop her from moving ahead during restrictions imposed in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Administered Kashmir. Photo by Ieshan Wani, used with permission.
Shortly thereafter, Twitter notified the account holders and asked them to voluntarily remove the questionable content, warning that Twitter might otherwise be obliged to take action regarding the content identified in the complaint.
Early this year Sri Lanka enacted the Right to Information Act. On November 8, 2017 independent news website LankaeNews had been blocked across all internet service providers in Sri Lanka. Three independent news sites in Sri Lanka filed requests as per the RTI Act in order to get more information about the blocking process and the Telecom Regulatory Commission (TRC) revealed that 13 websites had been blocked from 2015 and the paper trail leads to the highest levels of the government. The websites included political news and pornographic material.
Several journalists, bloggers and media workers were killed in a number of South Asian countries.
As many as nine Pakistani bloggers went missing within the first week of 2017. Four of the missing activists are known for their secular and left-leaning views. Some of the activists returned after weeks of captivity. According to media reports, the bloggers were subjected to torture and made to sign agreements stating that they would not seek legal course to file cases against their abductors.
In India, activists, journalists, and human rights defenders have faced increasing strain and legal intimidation under India's sedition laws and Information Technology Act 2008 in recent years.
Several journalists, writers, and poets were sued for their writings. Freelance cartoonist Bala G was arrested on November 5, 2017 for defaming the Chief Minister of the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu in a cartoon shared on social media. On on June 5, 2017, India's oldest private news channel New Delhi Television Network (NDTV) known for its hard-hitting, anti-establishment journalism had multiple offices raided by the country's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Gauri Lankesh (2012), Image from Flickr by Hari Prasad Nadig. (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Veteran Indian journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot to death by assailants on September 5, 2017, outside her home in Bangalore. Lankesh, 55, was the editor of a Kannada-language tabloid called Gauri Lankesh Patrike that took a fierce stance against Hindu nationalist organizations and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Hate speech in public discourse in India is growing, and Lankesh's murder is seen as a clear warning to the voices in India who express dissent that intolerance is growing.
In the Maldives, blogger and activist Yameen Rasheed was stabbed to death in his home in the capital Malé on April 23, 2017. An outspoken critic of the government and radical religion-based politics, Rasheed had previously reported to police that he received death threats via text message and social media for his writings. Police have said that religious extremists killed Yameen Rasheed and have initiated proceedings for a closed trial on his murder. Rasheed's family is pushing for the trial to be open to the public, out of fear that some evidence against the defendants might be destroyed.
In a statement commenting on the assassinations of Lankesh and Rasheed, the International Federation of Journalists wrote:
These killings horribly encapsulate the latest picture of threat and danger emerging from the violent discourse overtaking parts of South Asia, and more broadly around the world where authoritarian rule is eroding the very essence of democracy. With it, suffers press freedom and the public's right to know.
In May, four independent Maldivian bloggers and activists living overseas were issued arrest warrants by the police. They were warned that authorities may seek to prosecute them in absentia if they fail to return to the Maldives within two weeks of the warrants being issued. They have not yet been prosecuted.
This year, over a span of four months in Bangladesh, more than twenty journalists were sued under the country's controversial ICT law. Nearly 700 cases have been filed under the law since it was amended in 2013. Almost two thirds of the cases have been filed under Section 57 of the 2013 Information and Communication Technology Act which prohibits digital messages that can “deteriorate” law and order, “prejudice the image of the state or person,” or “hurt religious beliefs.”
The film industries in a number of countries also faced censorship for its contents.
The Bhutanese Authorities have banned screening of feature film Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait, cannot be screened in the country for ‘misusing’ religious masks on screen.
Screenshot from YouTube
In India, the authorities banned two movies for ‘Being Too Lady-Oriented’ and ‘Glorifying Homosexuality’. Although the Constitution of India guarantees freedom of expression, it places certain restrictions on content, in order to protect communal and religious harmony and control obscenity.
As we look ahead to 2018, we hope to see justice for the many online voices and media workers who have been threatened because of their work, and we pledge to continue our coverage of the many legal and technical threats to free expression online.

author: Rezwan


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From Political Icon to Tyrant: President Duterte, According to Philippine Protest Effigies · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Rody's cube being burned at Mendiola bridge just outside the gates of the presidential palace. Source: Manila Today. Used with permission.
The world saw a glimpse of the creative protest art in the Philippines when international mainstream media took notice of the Donald Trump effigy burned by protesters during his visit to the country for the Association of Southeast Asian countries, or Asean, meeting from November 12 to 14.
The figure of an angry Trump with four arms formed into a rotating swastika was created by the Ugatlahi Artist Collective and even got featured in the US-based popular comedy program “Jimmy Kimmel Live”.
“The Fascist Spinner” symbolizes fascism, war, militarism, and plundering of resources. Duterte the “Strong Man” hiding behind Trump's leg represents him being a lap dog of the US. #BanTrumpPH
By: UGATLahi Artist Collective pic.twitter.com/7HQecjYFmR
— ¡Viva Palestina Libre! (@MejiaSouth) November 14, 2017
Year after year, effigies are one of the much-awaited centerpieces in major protest actions in the Philippines led by the leftist activist umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or Bayan for short. Bayan means “people” in Tagalog.
The effigies typically depict Philippine presidents or other figures and how they exploit and oppress the Filipino people. It has become a ritual to end rallies with the burning of the effigy to symbolize collective indignation against the reigning order.
The Bayan protest effigies created since the coming to power of President Rodrigo Duterte have interestingly also reflected the evolving position of left-leaning activists and rights advocates towards his administration.
There was no protest effigy during Duterte’s first State of the Nation Address on July 23, 2016. Ugatlahi Artist Collective, which has traditionally done Bayan’s effigies since the 1990s administration of President Joseph Estrada, instead prepared six 9-feet-tall paintings that portrayed what they considered to be the people’s agenda.
This included genuine land reform, national industrialization, pro-people government, assertion of national sovereignty, progressive social programs, and respect for people’s rights, justice, and peace.
Murals from Karatula, Ugatlahi aand Tambisan#SONA2016 #SONA2016saDZUP pic.twitter.com/t8JPf4Y0SS
— DZUP 1602 (@dzup1602) July 25, 2016
Many have initially welcomed Duterte's resumption of peace negotiations with the armed communist movement, the appointment of leftist ministers in the Duterte cabinet, assurances of releasing all political dissidents, and promises of implementing reforms.
But this relatively positive view of Duterte soured soon enough as the bodies of drug suspects, allegedly killed by state forces with no due process, kept piling up; peace negotiations with the armed communist movement got bogged down; and talks of social reforms came up empty-handed.
Come December 10, 2016, an effigy of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was burned in Mendiola bridge just outside the presidential palace compound during the protest action on International Human Rights Day. The remains of Marcos, who died in 1989 after ruling the Philippines for 21 years with authoritarian brutality, would be given a hero's burial on a year later, on November 17, 2017, by Duterte.
In a Facebook post, the group warned Duterte against following Marcos’ footsteps lest it will be his effigy’s turn to burn next.
The first giant effigy… na susunugin sa ilalim ng administrasyong Duterte #HumanRightsDay2016
(Photo via Ugatlahi Artistcollective) pic.twitter.com/iDHxnYbzyh
— Noemi L. Dado (@momblogger) December 10, 2016
The first giant effigy… that will be burned under the Duterte administration
And this was indeed what happened next with the burning of a succession of Duterte effigies, including one depicting a missile with Duterte's head being ridden by Trump during the anniversary of the Philippine Senate’s rejection of the US military bases on September 16, 1992.
TINGNAN: Ang effigy nina US President Donald Trump at Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na susunugin sa rally ng Lakbayan. pic.twitter.com/FcCtoMlyz0
— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) September 15, 2017
LOOK: An effigy of US President Donald Trump and Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte that will be burned at the rally during the Caravan.
LOOK! RESBAK working on a Game of Thrones inspired Duterte effigy.
Photo from Kimberly dela Cruz pic.twitter.com/vG2g0Kc1lD
— Movement Against Tyranny (@TheMovementPHL) September 19, 2017
“Doots in Boots” — an effigy apt for the iron-hand and oppressive rule of Duterte and his administration. #LakbayMagsasaka pic.twitter.com/UZEW4TrZNn
— Bulatlat (@bulatlat) October 25, 2017
LOOK: Protesters prepare to burn an effigy of Pres Duterte and US Pres Trump in front of police forces. | via @aprilrafales pic.twitter.com/iHiksKgUtx
— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) November 30, 2017
During the September 21, 2017 rally remembering the dictator Marcos’ declaration of martial law in 1972, Ugatlahi created a 10-foot Rody’s cube effigy modeled on a Rubik’s Cube with Duterte’s face side by side with Marcos, Hitler, and a puppy.
Rudy's cube by Ugatlahi Artists Collective and Sandugo #FightTyranny #LunetaRally #NeverAgain pic.twitter.com/YOdnCvZMOv
— Bulatlat (@bulatlat) September 21, 2017
Protesters burn an effigy of President Duterte's in Mendiola, Manila today. More on the Phillipines tonight on Lateline/Background Briefing pic.twitter.com/wuTkIyN7L2
— Ginny Stein (@GinnyStein) September 21, 2017
The figure symbolized Duterte’s affinity with dictators and alleged puppetry to the United States with the rising number of human rights abuses amidst the imposition of martial law in Mindanao, the war on drugs, and all-out war against the communist movement.
Ugatlahi’s latest effort features Duterte’s face, which can be unfolded to reveal a demon inside accompanied by some of his recent statements: It was unveiled during this year’s International Human Rights Day protest in Manila City.
TUNAY NA MUKHA. Ibinuklat na ng Ugatlahi Artist Collective ang effigy na nagsasalarawan ng pasismo ng administrasyong Duterte. Nakasulat sa effigy ang mga binitawang salita ng pangulo. pic.twitter.com/yauG2iUKY8
— Tudla Productions (@tudlaprod) December 10, 2017
REAL FACE. Ugatlahi Artist Collective unveils an effigy depicting the fascism of the Duterte administration. Written on the effigy are some of the statements of the president.
Duterte's statements read: “I will admit it I am a fascist so I will categorize you already as terrorists”. “You should all endure poverty and hunger I don't care”. “I will follow America anyway they say I'm an American Boy”. “I will bomb all those schools of the Lumad”.
In conclusion, the artwork has shown how activists’ view of Duterte has changed, from one of guarded optimism over a populist figure seen to be open to pushing certain social reforms into one that considers him a tyrant out to destroy whatever democratic space is left in the country for human rights and progressive politics.


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Ghana’s President Says Africa Must Quit Its ‘Mindset of Dependency’ on Western Aid · Global Voices
Kofi Yeboah

A screenshot of a press conference held by French President Emmanuel Macron and Ghanaian President Nana Akuffo-Addo. Via Scope News on YouTube. Click the image to watch the video.
During a joint press conference held in November 2017 with French President Emmanuel Macron, Ghanaian President Nana Akuffo-Addo controversially declared that Africans have to move away from the “mindset of dependency” on Western aid and look for equal trade opportunities.
While many applauded his strong statement, others thought it unfairly absolved European countries like France of responsibility for their past and present exploitation of African countries. And some were skeptical that a politician like Akuffo-Addo would put his words into action.
President Macron was visiting Ghana, which is a former British colony, as a sign that he has a “continental approach to Africa” instead of focusing on Francophone countries over Anglophone ones, according to his advisers. This was the first time ever in the history of Ghana to have a French president visit:
I am proud to be the first french president to visit Ghana. Long live the friendship between France and Ghana. pic.twitter.com/dzEpP1c645
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 30, 2017
During their press conference, the president of Ghana's response about Africa's dependency on aid came about when a journalist from JoyNews asked President Macron:
We know that France's support to Africa, over the years, is geared towards the Francophone region. In this new partnership, are you looking at the position where Africa will be looked as one continent regardless of where their colonial masters came from?
President Akuffo-Addo, who won a historic and peaceful election in 2017 after two previously unsuccessful attempts, campaigned on a promise to break the cycle of dependency on foreign aid. During Macron's visit, the president of Ghana stressed that “we want our relations with France to be characterised by an increase in trade and investment co-operation, not aid.” According to statistics, French investments in Ghana totalled 1.5 billion euros in 2015, making Ghana the seventh-biggest destination of French investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. And in 2014, France's official development assistance to Ghana was 67.56 million US dollars, according to country data portal IndexMundi.
No surprise, then, that Akuffo-Addo vehemently attempted to address the question asked by the journalist. The president's response has been circulating on YouTube:
We have to get away from this mindset of dependency. This mindset about ‘what can France do for us?’ France will do whatever it wants to do for its own sake, and when those coincide with ours, ‘tant mieux’ [so much better] as the French people say…Our concern should be what do we need to do in this 21st century to move Africa away from being cap in hand and begging for aid, for charity, for handouts. The African continent when you look at its resources, should be giving monies to other places…We need to have a mindset that says we can do it…and once we have that mindset we’ll see there’s a liberating factor for ourselves.
For his part, media characterized Macron's own response to the question as “fairly standard”.
A video of the moment shared by French-language culture site NOFI has been viewed more than 2.6 million times on Facebook, with over 40,000 shares.
Many cheered the president's words as taking an important stand against former colonizers, such as John Muhammad, who wrote in a Facebook comment:
I salute my brother we must become totally independant of the colonist who want to rule and determine our future, we have what they all need, our rich minerals and resourses throughout the continent. There wealth comes from we the kings and queens of AFRICA
However, the president's statement drew mixed reactions. In one article for the blog Africa Is a Country, Dennis Laumann, a professor of African history at the University of Memphis, argued:
No one disputes that Africans must determine their own destiny but Akufo-Addo was simply excusing the responsibility of Macron and France and the West for Africa’s predicament. It would have been more controversial and shocking if Akufo-Addo had taken the opportunity to confront Macron about France’s debt to Africa for the slave trade and colonization; its history of arming and defending dictators like Mobutu Sese Seko and Blaise Compaoré; and the complicity of French companies in everyday corruption.
Journalist Ama Lorenz, writing for policy site Euractiv, put forth that President Akufo-Addo needs to follow his words with “concrete actions” because the situation is complex, and dependency doesn't always come from European sources:
The words of the Ghanaian president now addressed to Macron are therefore more likely to be understood as a call to African heads of state than to international donors.
Reforms called for by Akufo-Addo need a strong domestic African market if the country wants to become independent from European aid. But just in this case, there are no optimistic signs. Instead of having equal trade deals with African neighbours, there are rather unloved dependencies, especially with Nigeria.
Ghana is still dependent on gas supplies from Nigeria despite having a significant amount of its own still unsubsidised natural gas reserves. It was not until the end of June 2016 that the Nigerian gas supplier ceased deliveries for non-payments and Ghana had to be supported by an IMF rescue package of $917 million.
Assistant professor of French and Francophone studies at the University of Michigan Annette Joseph-Gabriel said the Ghanaian president's speech, like others before his, “oversimplif[ied] the causes of poverty in Africa as the result of a mindset, a failure of African minds to imagine anything beyond dependency on foreign aid”. In an article published on Black Perspective, she wrote:
Reversing Africa’s economic misfortunes then becomes but a question of changing a mindset: “We need to have a mindset that says we can do it…and once we have that mindset we’ll see there’s a liberating factor for ourselves.” This reductive narrative, in which economic hardship is cast as a moral failing, echoes the United States’ “bootstraps” ideal that continues to be wielded as an excuse for the American State to avoid providing crucial services and protections for its citizens.
It has several dangers in Africa as well. First, it offers very little by way of innovative solutions because it flattens the complex causes of Africa’s economic problems. It also erases the tireless work of entrepreneurs, activists, and artists across the continent who continue to imagine and work towards actual liberation and economic autonomy. Finally, it reinforces the unequal terms on which Franco-Ghanaian relations are structured because it absolves France, and by extension Europe, of the enduring legacy of foreign policies that have largely contributed to the existing situation. In short, Akufo-Addo did not “school” Macron. […] Akufo-Addo’s narrative is one that facilitates France’s gleeful forgetting of a past for which it does not want to be held accountable.
Zialey in Accra was also unimpressed:
Talk is cheap
He should walk his talk.
He is the leader after all and in the position to show us.
Thats all.
— ziarly (@ziarley) December 5, 2017
And Sura Amabaya agreed that African leaders generally like to talk more than act:
African leaders have become great speech makers but little is to be seen in action. Let's see Ghana move towards self-sufficiency then we will applaud his brave words.
— Sura Mbaya (@surambaya) December 5, 2017

author: Kofi Yeboah