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PHOTO: 141 Dead in Indonesia C-130 Plane Crash · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Indonesian officials have recovered 141 dead bodies after a military C-130 plane crashed in Medan, the country's third largest city. The plane crashed just two minutes after take off on June 30, 2015. Many of the fatalities were relatives of air force personnel.
Indonesian rescuers and military personnel examine the wreckage of the crashed C-130 military airplane at the crash site in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo and caption by Yudha Lesmana, Copyright @Demotix (7/1/ 2015)
Authorities are now probing the safety of other military planes. They also denied that overcapacity was the cause of the crash.

author: Mong Palatino


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Police in Russia Might Soon be Allowed to Shoot at Women, Unless They ‘Look Pregnant’ · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

The amendments suggest shooting at women should be allowed, unless there are “visible signs of pregnancy.” Images mixed by Tetyana Lokot.
A group of lawmakers in Russia's State Duma have suggested expanding opportunities for the use of firearms with impunity by police, proposing changes to a law that currently prohibits police officers from firing into crowds or at women.
A set of amendments to the police law introduced into the lower house of the Russian parliament by Irina Yarovaya, a lawmaker from the United Russia party and head of the parliamentary security committee, suggests granting police officers a “presumption of trust and support,” meaning they would not have to face prosecution for any action taken while on official duty, so long as said action was for a valid purpose and in accordance with existing laws.
According to the present law, police are prohibited from shooting at women. The draft amendments would void this general rule: the ban on shooting would only apply if a woman exhibited “visible signs of pregnancy.” The new legislation would also allow police to shoot into crowds (currently forbidden), provided they were doing it “to prevent acts of terror or hostage situations.” Other suggested amendments include granting police the right to conduct searches of personal property and persons on grounds of “reasonable suspicion” instead of providing compelling evidence, and entitling police officers to enter private residences in order to detain individuals, even if they haven't yet been charged or officially declared criminal suspects.
Given the history of police brutality and prisoner abuse in Russia, some of the RuNet reactions to the law were quite predictable, with users lamenting the expansion of police powers and impunity.
@Rumaleks @tass_agency Ну все же вменяемые люди понимают, что власти свой народ боятся гораздо больше,чем мифического врага с запада.
— Vera (@VeraVolf) July 1, 2015
Every sane person understands that the authorities are afraid of their own people more than the mythical enemy from the West.
Others joked that the lawmakers who proposed the amendments may have had ulterior motives, especially in regards to women.
@tass_agency @flafy11 Дык,эта ш такой хитрый способ борьбы с демографическими проблемами.В интересном положении-гуляй смело.
— Sergei (@urgafantom) July 1, 2015
Don't you know, it's a clever way to combat demographic problems. If you're knocked up, you have nothing to fear.
The proposed change to the norm of shooting at women seemingly caused the biggest uproar. Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova, who last year launched MediaZona, a new media portal devoted to reporting on issues and events in Russia's prison system, tweeted about her outrage.
Полицейским разрешат легально открывать огонь по женщинам. "Совсем охамели, курицы", – решили в Госдуме. https://t.co/GEJAGaSQxw
— Надя Толоконникова (@tolokno) July 3, 2015
Police will be permitted to legally open fire on women. “Those chicks have gotten out of hand,” the State Duma decided.
However, some Twitter users immediately questioned Tolokonnikova's indignation, latching onto her feminist image.
@tolokno Надя, ты же феминистка. Женщины должны быть равны перед законом так же как и мужчины
— Замполит (@ComradZampolit) July 3, 2015
Nadya, you're a feminist, aren't you? Women should be as equal before the law as men.
Another part of the social media debate around the “presumption of trust” for Russian police revolved around comparisons with similar legislation in other countries. Some users drew parallels with the US, where the police force has faced public scrutiny in light of mass protests against police brutality in places like Ferguson and Baltimore.
@meduzaproject  в США уже давно у полицейских очень много прав
— Ed Ganiukov (@edganiukov) July 2, 2015
In the US, police have had a lot of rights for quite a while.
@meduzaproject Почти приблизимся к закону и правам полиции США. Там ещё  и стрелять при основании полагать можно
— Joseph Gedroitz (@Petrovich81) July 3, 2015
We're almost approaching the legislation and rights of the police in the US. They can even shoot on “reasonable grounds” there.
@meduzaproject политика разбитых окон в действии
— KIR*s (@BlackRalph_) July 3, 2015
The broken windows policy in action.
While the proposed amendments have yet to clear parliament, it seems the Russians are none to happy with the idea of giving the country's law enforcement more powers and fewer responsibilities.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Tanya Lokot


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Steven Salaita Lands Job at American University of Beirut, Talks Black Politics and Palestine Solidarity · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Solidarity Poster done by the “Anti War Committee – Chicago”
Steven Salaita announced on Twitter that he will be the Edward W. Said Chair of American Studies  at the American University of Beirut (AUB) for the 2015-16 academic year.
I'm thrilled to announce that I will serve as the Edward W. Said Chair of American Studies at #AUB for the 2015-16 academic year.
— Steven Salaita (@stevesalaita) July 1, 2015
Salaita's career came under the spotlight when he was offered a tenured position at the American Indian Studies program at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign (UIUC). But after posting tweets criticizing Israel's latest attacks on Gaza in the summer of 2014, the university withdrew the offer in August 2014. The withdrawal drew nationwide condemnation in American academia as an assault on constitutionally sanctioned freedom of speech. Despite the criticism, including a condemnation from the University's American Indian Studies program and its Executive Committee of the Program in Jewish Culture and Society, the UIUC's chancellor Phyllis Wise refused to provide proper justification for denying Salaita tenure.
In response, numerous academics have called for a boycott of the UIUC and several high-profile professors have canceled scheduled talks at the university, including Taner Akcam, a leading scholar of the Armenian Genocide, and Todd Samuel Presner, director of Jewish studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Holocaust scholar. The UIUC eventually admitted pre-emptive firing and was put on the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)'s censure list. The entire story has been carefully and constantly documented by the Electronic Intifada, and continues to be to this day.
In a speech given at the University of Chicago on October 7, 2014, alongside the Electronic Intifada‘s Ali Abunimah, Salaita started by acknowledging that what happened to him “has been happening to ethnic, sexual and cultural minorities in academia for decades, African-Americans especially, and continues to happen today.” He then went out to point out that “a shameful irony is that Jews were long marginalized in the Academy because of their supposed dangers to ‘anglo-civility’, victims to rationalizations for their exclusions that sadly don't look terribly different than the ones being used against supporters of Palestinian human rights. The suppression of ‘blackness’ and ‘indigeneity’ predates the purge of Palestine and in many ways contextualizes and sustains it.”
In a brief conversation with Global Voices, Salaita explained the relevance of black politics with Palestine solidarity politics.
Palestine solidarity politics have always been in conversation with black politics, especially black nationalist politics, and other ethnic and radical traditions, so it's less a creation of something new than the recovery of very strong and fruitful traditions. First of all, we have a responsibility to those who are mistreated in our own communities. Second, the connections between Israeli and US violence are legion, too many to mention. And finally, these narratives offer tremendous organizing possibilities. We are strongest when we work together, able to listen and self-criticize.
While getting the position for which he was originally hired “remains the goal”, Salaita said that he's looking forward to teaching at AUB:
I'm planning to offer courses in American Indian and Indigenous Studies. I don't think that these areas have had a strong presence on campus, so it will be exciting for lots of us to get started. I have a feeling I'll end up learning much more than I teach.

author: Elia J. Ayoub


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Teenagers in Myanmar Are Organizing a Humanitarian Visit to Help 120,000 Residents Displaced by War · Global Voices
Juan Cebu

Photo shared on Facebook by Khon Ja from Kachin Peace Network
A group of teenagers behind the Facebook page Rangoon Revealed is organizing a humanitarian visit to the town of Myitkyina in north Myanmar where more than a hundred thousand Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are currently living in makeshift camps.
The proposed trip aims to document the lives of people living in the camps and to provide relief goods to the camp populations. The group hopes to raise $2,000 before the trip.
Thaw Htet, the 17-year-old founder of Rangoon Revealed, provided more information about the campaign on his Indiegogo Page:
When we heard that there were 120,000 people living as refugees in their own country, fighting for mere survival and living on less than 20 cents per day, we had to act.
Rangoon Revealed, inspired by Humans of New York, shares stories of ordinary residents of Yangon (the new name for Rangoon, the former capital of Myanmar).
But this time, the teenagers behind this popular Facebook page are hoping to find out more about the situation of Myanmar residents outside of Yangon.
They note:
[…] we aim to document the lives of people living in the camps in the same format as we do it in Rangoon Revealed. This will not only open the lives of the IDPs to the general Burmese public but also internationally as the governments around the world may try to pressure the government to kindle true peace in the region.
As a result of a resumption of fighting in June 2011 between the army of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and government soldiers, large numbers of Kachin people — a collection of ethnic groups who mostly live in the country's northernly Kachin State — were forced to flee from their homes.
Over the course of the ongoing conflict, around 120,000 people have been displaced and are now living in 172 camps close to the Chinese border in very poor conditions. According to Laphai Seng Raw from the Metta Development Foundation, the support given to IDPs in northern Myanmar has significantly decreased in the past four years.
She said:
As the war enters its fourth year, the fatigue factor is settling in with donors, social organizations and host communities who have been looking after them for so long. Currently, the threat of food shortage is very real in IDP camps, as their daily food ration of MMK 400 per person has been reduced to a mere MMK 200 (about US 20 cents).
With diminishing international support, Kachin civic groups are embarking on various campaigns to raise funds for the IDPs. For instance, the Facebook page Concern, Care and Contribute to the IDPs Now, is appealing for donations.
Meanwhile, Kachin Peace Network is highlighting the alarming situation surrounding the IDPs in the camps:
There are now over 120,000 living on under 40 cents a day, an amount soon to be halved. With continued fighting and only 17% of basic needs being met, the situation of Myanmar's IDPs is particularly worrying, and they are in desperate need of greater funding and financial support.
Profile picture of Rangoon Revealed Facebook page

author: Juan Cebu


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Tensions Between Government and Opposition Threaten Democracy in Ecuador · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

Ecuadorian citizen holding a sign mocking President Correa's English: “In order for you to understand, I'll say it in your English…'We don't like you. Get out'”. Photo by Twitter user @beadomenech95
Despite Ecuador having received praise for reducing poverty over the last years the South American country is currently facing a challenge to meet its fiscal budget as a result of the rut in global prices for its key oil export.
As politicians wrangle over finances, a wave of internet-to-street protests have been held across several of the country's cities.
The protests are a response to a wealth redistribution law that would impose new taxes on inheritance and capital gains. President Rafael Correa recently postponed this legislation in order to put an end to the marches and create a “peaceful and pleasant” atmosphere for Pope Francisco, who will arrive in the capital Quito on Sunday.
Nevertheless, milder protests and counter-protests continue to be held throughout several cities in Ecuador, most notably those led by the mayor of Guayaquil (the country's second most important city), Jaime Nebot, and Paul Carrasco, prefect of the Azuay province.
In his article for GKillCity entitled, ‘What would happen if #FueraCorreaFuera (#OutCorreaOut) were successful?’, analyst Matthew Carpenter-Arévalo (Canadian born, but Ecuadorian in spirit) develops an argument millions of Ecuadorians caught up in the struggle seem to have missed:
Los gobiernos de turno seguirán profundizando la división ciudadana, porque su capacidad de mantenerse en el poder no dependerá de un diálogo abierto entre diferentes sectores, sino en su habilidad de mostrar la prevalencia del músculo de su militancia sobre otras. Si seguimos con golpes de Estado, no habrá fortalecimiento de las instituciones públicas, ya que ceder el control de cualquier institución significará generar debilidad y vulnerabilidad para sostener el poder. La inversión extranjera — que tanta falta nos hace para desarrollar nuevas industrias nativas— tampoco llegará, porque es justamente la inestabilidad política continúa que disuade cualquier inversión grande que genere beneficios en el largo plazo.
Current governments will continue to deepen the divide between citizens because their ability to stay in power will not depend on an open dialogue with the different sectors of society, but rather on their ability to demonstrate the prevalence of their militant strength over others. If we continue with coup d'états, there will be be no fortifying of public institutions, since relinquishing control of institutions will mean generating weakness and vulnerability [in the struggle] to sustain power. Foreign investment — which we so desperately need in order to develop new domestic industries — won't come either due to this never-ending political instability.
In regards to the Correa administration, he writes: “A person or political party that stays in power without consulting the people represents a threat to the democratic order. However, that does not justify a coup d'état as an alternative to a ballot by popular vote.”
He also reminds Ecuadorians that democracy does not mean replacing one anti-democratic group for another:
Cuándo el Presidente dice que solo quiere hablar con oposición “de buena fe” —seguramente definida por él—, y cuándo el experiodista/excandidato Carlos Vera dice que “con la dictadura no se debate: se combate,” están manifestando una misma cultura política antidemocrática, en la que el diálogo no se da porque la descalificación (unilateral) del otro. En una cultura democrática el diálogo es una puerta que nunca se cierra a nadie. No es un aditivo secundario a la democracia: es su esencia sagrada.
When the President says that he only wants to talk with the opposition “in good faith” — surely defined by his terms — and when the former journalist/candidate Carlos Vera says that “dictatorship is not debated: it is fought for”, they are both expressing the same anti-democratic political culture, in which dialogue cannot take place due to the (one-sided) disqualification of the other. In a democratic culture, dialogue is a door that nobody can close. It is not a minor addition to democracy — it is its very sacred essence.

author: Milton Ramirez


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Timeline: 14 Activists Detained in Thailand for Protesting Against Junta · Global Voices
Prachatai

Timeline of the struggle for democracy of the 14 activists. Made by Prachatai.
This article is from Prachatai, an independent news site in Thailand, and is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.The arrest and continuing detention of 14 anti-Junta activists in Thailand has sparked outrage across the country. It also inspired many academics to call for the immediate release of the activists.
Despite the risk of being sent to jail for seven years by the military court and harassment from the Thai junta, the 14 embattled anti-junta activists, most of them university students, from the Neo Democracy Movement (NDM) still stand firm on their demands for democracy against the Thai military regime.
The 14 are:
1. Rangsiman Rome
2. Wason Setthasit
3. Songtham Kaewpanpruk
4. Phayu Boonsopon
5. Apiwat Soontararak
6. Rattapon Supsopon
7. Supachai Phuklongploy
8. Abhisit Suebnapa
9. Panupong Sritananuwat
10. Suwicha Pitangkorn
11. Pakorn Areekul
12. Jatupat Boonpattararaksa
13. Pornchai Yuanyee
14. Conticha Jangreaw
22 May 2015
Students gathered in two places in Thailand (Bangkok and Khon Kaen) to stage peaceful protests to commemorate the first anniversary of the coup when the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) took control of Thailand on 22 May 2014.
In Bangkok, anti-coup activists and students faced a crackdown by police (in uniform and plain-clothes) in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Center (BACC), leaving at least three injured and hospitalized. The police detained 37 activists after the clash. Over 100 people then gathered in front of Pathumwan Police Station to give moral support to the detainees. Eight anti-coup activists were summoned to hear charges, but only one reported to the police and was released on bail.
Meanwhile, in Khon Kaen, seven student activists from the student-led human rights and environmental group Dao Din held a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the coup d’état. They too were detained by the police for their peaceful act at the Democracy Monument in Khon Kaen. The students were released on bail the next day.
19 June 2015
Three Dao Din students were arrested and detained for drawing paintings with anti-coup messages.
24 June 2015
Student activists showed up in Samyan District of Bangkok, near Pathumwan Police Station, to bring charges against police for using unnecessary force to crack down on activists’ peaceful commemoration of the coup's first anniversary in front of the BACC.
They were later joined by Dao Din students who arrived to show moral support. Together they read a manifesto of the Neo Democracy Movement and called on people to join the movement.
The police refused to accept charges brought by the activists.
After the crowd dispersed at night, one female activist was arrested on her way home, but then released after the officer talked to his supervisor.
25 June 2015
Officers and undercover police surrounded Suan Nguen Mee Ma, while activists read a statement showing resistance to the coup and military edicts. They said they would not resist officers if they are to be arrested. They also called for action in front of the Democracy Monument in Bangkok at 17:00.
26 June 2015
The military court issued arrest warrants for 14 activists of the Neo Democracy Movement. They are charged with disturbing social peace and causing social conflict against NCPO Order No. 3/2015 and violating NCPO Order No. 7/2014, which bans any political gathering of more than five. These 14 activists are the same activists who were previously detained on 22 May 2015.
At 17:15, 14 activists were arrested (for provoking or stirring up unrest in society, violating Articles 116 and 83 of the Criminal Code) and brought to Phra Ratchawang Police Station. They were kept detained at Bangkok Remand Prison.
The “Post Its for Freedom” activity on July 3, 2015 gathered hundreds of Thais who expressed their support for the 14 detained activists.

author: Prachatai


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Here Are 16 Stunning Satellite Images of Southeast Asia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Thoai Son, Vietnam
Google Earth celebrated its tenth anniversary on June 28, 2015 by adding 1,500 images to its Earth View project. We downloaded some images from Southeast Asia which reveal the beauty of the region’s unique and spectacular landscapes.
Behold magnificent views of Vietnam:
Ha Long, Vietnam
Lai Vung, Vietnam
Sa Thay District, Vietnam
And some images from the archipelago of Indonesia:
Kabupaten Aceh Utara, Indonesia
Another view of Kabupaten Aceh Utara, Indonesia
Kapuas, Indonesia
Singapore’s shipping lane is among the busiest in the world:
Singapore's shipping lane
Singapore
Below are popular tourism destinations in Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia
Thailand
Tambon Song Khlong, Thailand
Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia
Malaysia
Subic is a former naval base of the United States in the Philippines:
Subic, Olongapo, Philippines
And the personal favourites of this author: Majestic Myanmar! The seascape is incredibly surreal.
Pyin Hpyu Gyi, Myanmar
Myanmar


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In the World’s Most Violent City, Graffiti Artists Use Their ‘Weapons’ for Good · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Graffiti artist Rei Blinky at work in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Credit: Nathaniel Janowitz. Used with PRI's permission.
This article and radio report by Susannah Roberson for The World originally appeared on PRI.org on June 26, 2015, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Barbed wire fences, deserted streets, security guards bearing shotguns. It sounds like the scene of a dystopian movie, but it's no movie. This is San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the city that has been named the world's deadliest for four years running.
Recently, San Pedro Sula has tried to make a much more optimistic name for itself: home to a booming art scene. This is largely thanks to its graffiti artists, whose brightly colored murals are popping up all around the city.
Graffiti artist Rei Blinky is what journalist Nathaniel Janowitz calls a “pioneer” for the artistic movement sweeping through the city. Blinky was the first artist who ventured out into the practically deserted streets. That ghost town feel has a lot to do with the city's gangs. “You never know when a shootout is going to break out between the gangs. So you could be walking down the street and catch a bullet,” says Janowitz.
Not only did gangs dominate the streets, but the graffiti scene as well. Blinky changed all that with his unique style that Janowitz calls “pop-art indigenous.” His work is bold, colorful and unmistakable. “He's one of those artists that when you go past one of his paintings, you instantly know it's a Rei Blinky. There's no one else like him,” Janowitz says.
Blinky has paved the road for many more artists to join him. “The movement has grown a lot, and there's really a blossoming art scene in the city,” Janowitz says. Many other artists are becoming known on the streets: Baruc, who pays homage to the women of Honduras in his murals, and Carlos Badia, who creates mixed-media work.
“It seems like people in San Pedro Sula, while they recognize that the problem is very real with the gangs in the city, they also recognize that they can't spend their lives in fear. And they have to be willing to go out into the streets and reclaim it in a peaceful fashion,” Janowitz says. “If they don't have the will or the tools to go out there with guns, they'll go out with a paintbrush.”
The graffiti artists hope to connect with the young people of San Pedro Sula, many of whom choose to flee rather than stay in the turbulent city. “Right now it seems to a lot of the children in the city, you either join the gangs or you run,” Janowitz says. Blinky and his fellow artists strive to give young people another option — to stay, in peace. Janowitz says one of the artists’ main goals is to work with children, take them off the streets and teach them about art.
Blinky is starting to spread his art beyond Honduras. Thanks to him and his fellow artists, Janowitz says, something positive may come out of San Pedro Sula. Janowitz is confident that Blinky will be successful. Blinky's work is special, he says, because, “You could see it on a wall or you could see it in the Louvre. He's that great of an artist.”

author: PRI/PRX's The World


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53 Echoes of Zaire: Popular Painting From Lubumbashi · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Liese Van Der Watt, a South African art writer based in London, writes about 53 Echoes of Zaire, exhibition of popular painting from Zaire that is going on in London:
The exhibition was curated by Salimata Diop from the Africa Centre in London in cooperation with the Sulger-Buel Lovell gallery. It comprises 53 paintings by artists Louis Kalema, C. Mutombo, B. Ilunga, Ndaie, and Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, belonging to the Belgian collector Etienne Bol whose late father Victor Bol collected these works while spending time in Zaire in the 1970s.
The artists are all self-taught and the exhibition shows a series of works all executed in a style similar to what is sometimes called the Zaire School of Popular Painting. The most famous of this so-called school is probably Chéri Samba, who shot to fame after he was included in the Magiciens de la Terre (Magicians of Earth) show at the Pompidou in 1989. These works are painted on flour sack rather than canvas, often with a limited palette of poster paints and with thick brushes.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Fines for Violating Russia’s ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ Might Not Be So Stiff, After All · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Fines for search engines for failure to respond to “right to be forgotten” requests might be less severe then expected. Images mixed by Tetyana Lokot.
After passing legislation last week that would introduce a “right to be forgotten” on the Russian Internet, lawmakers in the Duma are now signaling that they will soften penalties for violating the terms of that law.
Leonid Levin, head of the Duma committee reviewing a bill that would establish fines for failing to comply with “the right to be forgotten,” told the news agency RBC that the bill’s current language needs to be changed. As it was submitted to the Duma, the legislation would automatically fine any Internet search engine 300,000 rubles ($5,300), if a court finds that it refused a lawful request from an individual to delete links to certain kinds of personal information. If a search engine refuses to comply after a court order, penalties can be as high as 3 million rubles ($53,400).
“The rule is excessive and certainly needs to be reformed,” Levin explained, saying the bill would likely be reworded to levy fines only after a search engine refuses to comply with a court order to delete links identified according to the “right to be forgotten” protocol. In other words, Internet companies would not need to fear that refusing an individual’s takedown request could result in an automatic fine.
A representative from Mail.ru Group told RBC that easing the fines associated with the “right to be forgotten” would be a step in the right direction, though the company still opposes the legislation fundamentally.
Last Friday, on July 3, the Russian Duma passed the final draft of legislation that would make it possible for individuals to force Internet search engines to delete links to certain kinds of information about them. Once the parliament’s upper house passes this bill, it goes to President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to sign it.
In May 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union found that individuals have the right to ask search engines like Google to remove certain results about them. Since that decision, Google alone has evaluated more than 1 million URLs for removal (identified in more than 279,000 requests), removing 41.3 percent of those links.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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#FreeThe14 Campaign Calls on Thailand to Release Jailed Anti-Junta Protesters · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Student protest in front of a police station in Thailand. Photo from Facebook page of iLawFX
A growing number of Thai citizens and human rights advocates all over the world is calling for the immediate release of 14 young activists who are currently in jail for participating in a peaceful protest against the military-backed government of Thailand.
The 14 activists, mostly students who are members of the Neo Democracy Movement, were arrested on June 26, 2015, after they organized a rally denouncing the military dictatorship. The army grabbed power last year to restore political stability. It drafted an interim constitution which became the basis in establishing a new government appointed by the military.
#FreeThe14 pic.twitter.com/9CopYTZDFa
— Incognito (@Incognito_me) June 30, 2015
A referendum is tentatively scheduled next year to bring back civilian rule. Meanwhile, protests and the public gathering of five or more people are prohibited by authorities.
One of the activists in detention, Rangsiman Rome, said their group will not post bail because they do not recognize the jurisdiction of the military court:
We insist that we will not post any bail, because we are confident that we didn't break any laws. If they want to release us, they have to release us as innocent people.
The defiance of the activists drew praise from many sectors including academics who urged authorities to respect the right of citizens to express dissent. The Network of Academics Concerned about Arrested Students issued a statement signed by 280 people asserting that “only a tyrant would react using brute force and enforcement of barbaric laws on students using their citizens’ rights to call for reinstatement of internationally-held values and governance.”
‘Post-its for Freedom’ protest. Photo from Facebook page of iLawFX
Various activities were held in many campuses to call for the release of the activists. A popular form of protest is the writing of Post-it messages on bulletin boards and freedom walls. Some teachers and students wrote ‘I’m proud to have been your lecturer’, ‘Nobody is behind this except ordinary people who love democracy’, and ‘Dictatorship will be destroyed and democracy will triumph’.
The Thai Student Center for Democracy warned the government that protests will continue:
They might imprison us but they will never imprison our wills and ideas. We will make them know that ideas is bullet proof.
Worachet Pakeerut, a law professor at Thammasat University, visited one of his students and reiterated the right of citizens to participate in a peaceful political action:
I’m visiting them and speaking on their behalf as their teacher. In fact, one of the students in there just got his grades and it turns out he passed my class, so I'm really happy about that.
This video hopes to inspire Thai citizens to support the struggle for democracy:
The campaign for the release of the students has also reached other countries. Thai students in Europe released a statement praising the imprisoned young activists, while some staged a protest in New York:
We have great respect for the courage of the 14 students. Not only are they a great example of intellects, whose duty is to think, write and express their critical mind, but also they are an example of regular people who assert their rights, sacrificing what little they have under dictatorship. Today, they are imprisoned just because of their peaceful expressions that aren’t in line with what the government wants the people to think.
Protest in #NY demanding to #FreeOurFriends in jail. #FreeThe14 #ThaiCoup #ThaiJunta #USA #IndependenceDay pic.twitter.com/9PBQ4FKQgR
— TH Students fr Democ (@TSCD_EN) July 5, 2015
The United Nations Human Rights Office for South East Asia is urging the Thailand government “to review its use of laws that limit freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.” The group Scholars at Risk is appealing that the students’ well-being while in custody is ensured, including access to counsel and family.
Reacting to these statements, a military spokesman assured the international community that the government will observe due process. Col. Winthai Suvaree said:
These international organizations should not worry about the Thai authorities’ procedure in this case, because Thai laws will only punish wrongdoers If they deliberate on the facts in a full way, with information from all sides, they will see that Thai officials have processed this case in a straightforward manner, using principles based on laws, political science, and nature of Thai society.
The office of the prime minister is reportedly open to dialogue with the student activists. Many are hoping that the students will be released after a court hearing which is scheduled on July 7, 2015.


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Provocative Images Depicting Differences Between Hong Kong and China Highlight Inter-Cultural Conflict · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Hong Kong is not China. Illustration from “Local Studio HK”.
Facebook-based artistic collective Local Studio Hong Kong recently published a set of illustrations titled “Hong Kong is not China“, marking the political, social, linguistic and cultural differences between Hong Kong and mainland Chinese society.
While the 22 illustrations that went viral on Facebook with more than 4,000 likes and 3,600 shares have been viewed by some as discriminatory — or even an expression of separatism — the anonymous artists defended their work:
歧視?分裂主義?
算啦,話”我係香港人”都會比人話歧視同分裂。
因為是個人創作,就會是主觀。
香港人可以睇下,用黎打下飛機,同時諗下點樣唔變到中國一樣;而中國人外國人了解下(真係一下)中港有咩唔同。
Discrimination? Separatism?
Forget about it. The very claim “I am a Hong Konger” could be criticized as discriminative and separatist.
Any personal expression is subjective.
Hong Kongers can take a look. You may find it self-comforting and start thinking about how to prevent Hong Kong from becoming like China. Mainland Chinese and foreigners can also take a look and see the difference between Hong Kong and China.
Though some of the representations are biased and over-generalising, viewing them alongside the debates in the comment sections on the group certainly gives readers a clearer idea on the differences between the two societies.
It also demonstrates the self-perception of those Hong Kongers eager to defend their values against so-called mainlandization, a term frequently used in a negative sense to describe economic, social and cultural integration between Hong Kong and mainland Chinese communities since 2004, when policies such as the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership were introduced by Beijing.
The first illustration (on top) marks the difference between Hong Kong and China with insignia representing the two societies. Hong Kong is represented by the lion rock, an iconic hill on the island, while the umbrella icon recalls the ‘umbrella’ protest movement that took over Hong Kong's streets from September to December 2014, aimed at pressuring the Beijing government to grant Hong Kong people the right to nominate and elect the city's top leader.
China in stark contrast, is represented by the Communist Party logo and the Gate of Heavenly Peace on Tiananmen Square, the place where Chairman Mao Zedong announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, and which overlooked a brutal crackdown on student protests in 1989.
The Basic Law in Hong Kong grants Hong Kong people's right to have dual nationalities.
This passport illustration is factually correct, but as one commenter pointed out:
Shhh…keep it a secret! Actually many many Chinese people hold more than one passport! And many of them are making “patriotic” and pro-communist party comments here on Facebook right now!
Simplified and traditional Chinese font.
Simplified Chinese characters were promoted by the Chinese Communist Party in mainland China to increase literacy rates after the establishment of the PRC in 1949.
In regions not under the CCP's direct rule including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, however, traditional Chinese is the official written language. Many Hong Kongers believe traditional Chinese is more authentic as the shape of the character reflects its meaning. The word “love” indicated in the illustration, for instance, is composed of a number of morphemes including a hand, a shelter, a heart and a friend when written in traditional Chinese script. In simplified Chinese, the heart is missing.
Different currencies.
Difference body postures while waiting.
Some find the above illustration offensive as the ‘squatting’ posture could be regarded as somehow more primitive. Of course, it can be interpreted otherwise, as one commenter joked:
Chinese: Healthy enough to squat down.
HK: Too fat, knees will snap.
Putonghua and Cantonese’ pronunciation of “fxxk your mother”.
China and Hong Kong territories.
Even this seemingly objective illustration triggered some politicized ripostes, such as this one:
No, it's not a good example. Firstly, Tibet and Uyghur region, I support their independence. So for me, I think they shouldn't be Chinese territory either.
Toilet hygiene.
Many disagree over the generalisation inherent in these toilet scenes:
Ha, this is so biased. Try to increase HK population by about 20000% and see if  HK people are clean as you think
please visit any 公廁 [public toilets] in HK and see for yourself
As a former colony of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong drives to the right hand side of the road while mainland Chinese stick to the left hand side.
Difference in world view.
Many commenters found grounds to disagree with this depiction too:
nope. sorry. raised in HK but can't agree with this. this is just an insult with no factual basis.
Subway courtesy seats in China and Hong Kong.
The above representation is far from realistic, as another commenter points out:
CLEARLY, you have not be on the MTR [Hong Kong metro system], especially during busy hours. Lived in HK all my life and have never seen this. ever. Such biases…
People's relation with their leaders.
This picture triggered a heated debate:
Chinese love to be enslaved? . . .seriously? this is pure insult with no factual basis.
And a sarcastic reply:
You think it is an insult because you are brainwashed by western imperialist values. Patriotic Chinese do think it is an honour to be enslaved and manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party. Have you heard of the song “Learn the Good Example of Lei Feng”? Here are the lyrics: “Loyal to the Revolution and the Party…Willing to be the screw of the Revolution machine…”
Street banners.
Political propaganda is frequently seen on the streets of mainland China. In Hong Kong, the above banner “God Crush the Chinese Communist Party” is the slogan of a religious group, Falun Gong, which has been outlawed in mainland China but is still very active in Hong Kong.
food security
There is zero dispute about the representation of the food security problem in mainland China.
Facebook and Twitter are available in Hong Kong.
Mobile messaging apps.
Email options
Actually, there are more email service providers in mainland China than in Hong Kong, but most of the email services lack https encryption meaning authorities can access user and content data without accountability.
Police officers.
Surprisingly and unfortunately, people agree that Hong Kong police now acts like mainland police.
Media
China Central Television (CCTV) is the most important mouthpiece of the CCP while Asia Television (ATV) is explicitly pro-Beijing Television in Hong Kong.
As ATV's audience is so small, it lacks the advertising revenues required to power its operation. Under huge public pressure, the Hong Kong government has decided to discontinue its free-to-air license.
Some mainland Chinese pointed out in the comments section, CCTV is not a “must” and there are other choices. Yet even commercial television channels in China are subjected to the censorship of the single party government. In Hong Kong, a practice of self-censorship also prevails on mainstream television and in newspapers.
Feeling hurt.
Here the glass heart represents an easily broken heart. Chinese diplomats often invoke the phrase “hurt the Chinese people's feelings” to criticize negative comments about China. This illustration was misunderstood by many who thought it implied Chinese people were weak-hearted.
Missing numbers in China.
The numbers “6” and “4” are highly sensitive in China as combined they evoke the June 4 Tiananmen incident of 1989. Every year, when the June 4 anniversary is near, related numbers, like 64 and 1989, become unsearchable on the Chinese Internet.
Political systems
Many disagreed about the depiction of Hong Kong's political system here since the administration is “executive-led” and the legislature does not have actual power since lawmakers cannot propose private members’ bills that change the administration's public expenses.
The constitutional principle “One Country, Two Systems” that defines the relationship between China and Hong Kong is often understood in a political-economic sense and the term “two systems” refers to the pair's respective socialist and capitalist systems.
However, as China grows more capitalistic, many Hong Kongers see the distinction between Hong Kong and China in more socio-cultural terms. While the struggle for genuine universal suffrage on the political front is one way of defending the city's autonomy, a parallel cultural battle is taking place in which Hong Kongers attempt to redefine the city and its people's identity.

author: Oiwan Lam


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The Russian Government Wants Your Selfies to Be Safe · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

The Russian government wants your selfies to be safe! Images mixed by Tetyana Lokot
You might think of selfies as a fun thing you do, or at least as an annoying, but generally harmless pastime (unless someone is waving that selfie stick too close to our faces!). But the Russian government is so concerned with the risks posed by Russian citizens taking selfies that it's calling together a federal video conference to raise awareness of the issue.
Russian media have reported on several cases of smartphone users getting hurt while posing for a selfie, the most recent case being that of a young woman who reportedly fell to her death on July 4 trying to take a photo of herself with friends on an overpass bridge in Moscow. This case and several others that resulted in fatalities have led the Russian Interior Ministry to voice its alarm over the practice. To alert Russians to the problem and to discuss possible solutions, the Ministry plans to hold a videoconference with its regional offices titled “The Safe Selfie” on July 7, 2015, a Ministry representative told TASS.
В МВД России обеспокоены участившимися случаями, когда человек травмируется или гибнет при попытке сделать уникальное селфи, ведь каждый из них можно было предотвратить. Селфи могут запомниться и удивить и без риска для жизни.
The Russian Interior Ministry is concerned about the growing number of cases when a person gets hurt or dies whilst trying to take a unique selfie—each of these cases could have been prevented. Selfies can be memorable and surprising without risking your life.
Selfie-taking has been on the radar of Russian news media, with several cases of selfie-takers getting seriously hurt or even dying after climbing tall buildings, touching electric wiring, or otherwise risking their safety. Some stories about selfies, however, are on the lighter side, such as the incident in Kemerovo region in June, where a drunk resident broke apart a statue of Lenin while trying to pose for a selfie with it.
In earlier efforts to educate children about safe selfie taking, Saint Petersburg schools introduced a lesson on safety in mobile photography practices as part of their annual Unified Information Day, to be held in October 2015 after the start of the school year. Because selfies are often taken to be posted on social networks, organizers believe they're an important part of overall Internet safety training.
Although the Russian Interior Ministry has warned of the hazard selfies can pose, in November 2014 it asked law enforcement officers from across Russia to send in selfies with their mothers as a way to celebrate Mother's Day and to “help improve public trust” in law enforcement. Photo albums created by the Ministry on the Odnoklassniki social network and on the official Ministry website showcased hundreds of photo entries.


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The Chaccu, a Millenary Andean Tradition All About Fine Vicuña Wool · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Image on Flickr by user Marcelo Dondo (CC BY-ND 2.0).
Every year, Peru carries out the chaccu, when vicuñas (wild relatives of the llama) are sheared for their wool. It happens in the final week of June at Pampa Galeras-Bárbara d'Achille Natural Reserve, in Ayacucho. This traditional hunt for the vicuna dates back to pre-Hispanic times.
With the cry of “¡Chacutay jayaycusa!” (Let's start chaccu!), followed by the answer “Chaccu!” this annual event starts, as described by website turismoi.pe:
Chaccu es una palabra quechua que es utilizada para una práctica específica, la cual consiste en la persecución, captura y esquila de las vicuñas. Para este proceso se rodea al grupo de animales dentro de una amplia extensión que poco a poco se va cerrando hasta poder obtener a cada uno de estos para ser esquilados.
Chaccu is a Quechua word that is used for a specific practice: chasing, capturing, and shearing the vicuñas. For the process, the group of animals is surrounded within a huge area that little by little gets enclosed until every animal is captured and be sheared.
The vicuña is one of four species of Andean camelids:
La vicuña es el animal que tiene la fibra natural más fina del mundo –un kilogramo de fibra de vicuña tiene un precio superior a los cuatrocientos dólares. Vive en grupos encabezados por un macho adulto y se reproduce una vez al año. La captura de la vicuña demanda gran esfuerzo físico, no solo por su velocidad, sino principalmente porque vive en las partes altas de los Andes, en la puna o páramo, una zona de alta montaña caracterizada por su clima hostil.
The vicuña is the animal with the finest natural fiber in the world—a kilogram of vicuña fiber costs more than four hundred dollars. They live in groups led by an adult male and reproduce once a year. Capturing the vicuña requires huge physical effort, not only due to their speed, but mainly because they live in the highlands of the Andes, in the puna or paramo, a high mountain area known for its hostile weather.
The purpose is to get the vicuña fiber without hurting the animal or damaging the fiber itself. Once the shearing is carried out, the product goes through another process:
Un grupo de personas, principalmente mujeres, se encargan de recibir el vellón y lo doblan con especial técnica como si fuera una camisa que se empaca para un viaje. Doblan las mangas y el cuerpo del vellón hasta obtener un paquete de 15 por 15 cm que se introduce en una bolsa de polietileno, etiquetando el origen de la fibra y si es de macho o hembra. Luego de terminar la esquila, se cuenta el número de animales esquilados y se libera a todas las vicuñas hasta el próximo año.
A group, formed mainly by women, is in charge of receiving the fleece and folding it with a special technique, as if it were a shirt that gets packed for traveling. They fold the sleeves and the body of the fleece until they have a 15×15 centimeter package, which is placed into a polyethylene bag with a label indicating the origin of the fiber and whether it comes from a male or a female. Once the shearing is done, the animals are counted up and the vicuñas are freed until next year.
In 2012, the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture reinstituted an evaluation program to establish how many vicuñas there are in the country. According to the government's findings, the population of these South American camelidos nationwide is 209, representing a 76-percent increase since 2000. Ayacucho is the area with the most vicuñas, with an estimated 62 animals, representing 29 percent of the total population.
The blog Alpacas y Alpaqueros shared the results of the 2012 National Vicuña Survey:
Los resultados arrojan que la población total de vicuñas en el Perú es de 208.889 animales de los cuales el 70% está en condición silvestre y el 30% en condición de semicautiverio.
The results show that the total population of vicuñas in Peru amounts to 208,889 animals, from which 70 percent are wildlife and 30 percent are feral.
Also, Twitter users shared some pictures of chaccu:
Chaccu milenaria tradición de trasquilar vicuñas … Y pensar que disfrutamos de ellas por la labor de Dr. A. Brack http://t.co/BTt5CfJhtj
— Cesar A. Ipenza (@cipenza) junio 24, 2015
Chaccu, millenary tradition of vicuña shearing… And to think we enjoy them thanks to the work by Dr. A. Brack [The recently late Dr. Antonio Brack was an agronomist engineer, ecologist, and researcher who was the first Peruvian Minister of the Environment].
Todo listo para el #ChaccuNacional2015 en #PampaGaleras http://t.co/soYsdcTJcy pic.twitter.com/Auj1bq6QUF — INFOREGION (@inforegion) junio 23, 2015
Everything is ready for 2015 National Chaccu at Pampa Galeras National Park.
PERÚ: El chaccu: una tradición ancestral que se escenifica en Pampa Galeras http://t.co/0InzoD5aKN @entornoi pic.twitter.com/uSU9drYXgC
— EntornoInteligente (@ENTORNOi) junio 22, 2015
PERU: Chaccu: ancestral tradition that is carried out at Pampa Galeras National Park.
On Facebook, Aventura sin Límites posted pictures of the latest chaccu.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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African Startups Win FinTech for Agriculture 2015 Competition · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Two African startups have emerged winners of a regional competition organised by Village Capital:
Village Capital today announced the first winners of its innovative program, East Africa: FinTech for Agriculture 2015. The program supports entrepreneurs in making financial services more affordable and accessible for smallholder farmers and other underbanked individuals in East Africa. It is supported by the DOEN Foundation, The MasterCard Foundation, and Duncan Goldie-Scot.
Over 65% of Sub-Saharan Africans do not use financial institutions or mobile money accounts to save or borrow money. Access to financial services can be especially difficult for smallholder farmers, often far from a financial access point. Furthermore, many promising early-stage entrepreneurs addressing this issue cannot find the resources they need to get off the ground.
Village Capital East Africa: FinTech for Agriculture 2015 provided these resources to 12 high-potential, early-stage entrepreneurs from across East Africa. The program also supported them through business development training, mentorship, and opportunities to meet potential customers and pitch to investors. At the end of the 12-week program, the entrepreneur-participants ranked each other on six criteria, and chose two companies to each receive a 50,000 USD investment. The two top peer-ranked companies are:
Atikus Insurance (Rwanda); expands access to credit by increasing the capacity of MSME lenders via reimagined insurance and technology risk solutions.
Farmerline (Ghana, expanding to East Africa); provides accurate and timely agricultural information to farmers and also provides technology to stakeholders to work better.


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China’s New National Security Law Casts a Fearsome Shadow Over Hong Kong · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

“New National Security Law passed. Hong Kong's government cannot ensure Hong Kong people's safety in mainland China.” Image from online radio D100's Facebook page. Non-commercial use.
Beijing passed a new national security law on July 1, a date that marks the 94th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party and the 18th anniversary of the reunification of former British colony Hong Kong and China.
Human rights groups have condemned it as limiting civil liberties and furthering the suppression of dissent. The new law sparked fears that political dissidents in Hong Kong who have advocated an end to the “one-party dictatorship” of the mainland could face arrest once they cross the border as the law stresses that Hong Kong and Macau, both special administrative regions of China with a high degree of autonomy, must “fulfill responsibilities to safeguard national security”.
The legislation adopts a very broad definition of national security and its prescription to guard against threats is wide-reaching, including cracking down on state subversion, separatism and terrorism; strengthening the military to defend territorial sovereignty; preventing economic and financial crisis; defending cyberspace sovereignty; ensuring stable food supply; maintaining ideological dominance; suppressing religious cults; resolving social conflicts; guarding against pollution; and developing nuclear technology. It also obliges citizens, organizations and businesses to mobilize against acts that threaten national security.
Although both Leung Chun-Ying, the Hong Kong chief executive, and Rimsky Yuen, the secretary for justice, have assured that China's national security law will not apply in Hong Kong, Yuen also said Hong Kong is in no position to guarantee local activists’ safety in the mainland.
Under the principle of “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong's people enjoy freedom of expression and association, unlike mainland China. One such example of this autonomy is the political slogan “end one-party dictatorship,” chanted every year during the city's annual vigil to commemorate the deadly 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, a topic routinely censored in China. In addition, radical political groups calling for Hong Kong's independence and religious cults such as Falun Gong are also active in the city. Many are worried that all these activities would be criminalized under the new national security law.
Hong Kongers’ fear is not ungrounded. A local newspaper quoted a source close to the Beijing government that political activists advocating the independence of Hong Kong and ending single-party rule would likely be convicted if they step foot onto China's jurisdiction. According to the source, such a reading of the law was supported by mainland Chinese legal experts.
On July 6, media reported that recently a number of evangelists had been threatened by mainland Chinese authorities, who warned them against preaching to citizens who are traveling or living in Hong Kong, or face punishment under the mainland China regulations on the management of religion activities.
Hong Kong's Christian circles are worried that organizers of religious gatherings and workshops that serve mainland Chinese staying in Hong Kong would be penalized under the new national security law.
Civic groups in Hong Kong are also worried that China's national security framework could become a model to change local legislation, specifically Basic Law Article 23. The article states that laws which safeguard national security should be proposed by the government of Hong Kong. In a joint submission handed to the National People Congress, three local and international journalist groups expressed their concern over the impact of China's national security law in Hong Kong. They are worried that Hong Kong will be forced to pass new laws that:
Outlaw some groups in Hong Kong which is operating legally in the territory but is considered illegal by the mainland authorities
– Blacklisting certain people from immigrating or emigrating
– Submitting sensitive information from the HKSAR government or leaking sensitive information related to some special HKSAR residents
– Implementing new policies to cope with the idea of “cyberspace sovereignty” suggested by Article 26 of the bill
– Cracking down on the so-called “negative cultural seepage” and “cult organizations” as suggested by Article 20 and Article 22 of the bill.
The groups also argue the law's focus on Internet sovereignty and ideological dominance will sabotage freedom of expression and criminalize speech.
The Hong Kong government has not placed the Article 23 in its agenda yet. Meanwhile, China's national security law is spreading fear among political activists as well as NGO workers, journalists and religious adherents who have to travel to China for work. Those who treasure Hong Kong's freedom may soon have to get over that fear and fight to protect local legislation from the influence of China.


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Do You Know These 10 Afro-Puerto Ricans? · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

The reclaiming of history as an ally of marginalized groups is key to their very survival. This is especially true in a colonial context such as Puerto Rico, where history has been and continues to be used as a means to justify inequalities and deny visibility.
In the spirit of doing justice to the men and women who have contributed greatly to Puerto Rico, and yet have been sidelined by years of official history, the digital magazine La Respuesta, which focuses primarily on the Puerto Rican diaspora in the United States, recently published a short post titled 10 Afro-Puerto Ricans Everyone Should Know, which briefly highlights the legacy of people such as pro-independence leader Pedro Albizu Campos, literary critic and lawyer Nilita Vientós Gastón, and intellectual leader Arturo Schomburg.

author: Ángel Carrión


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Donations Surge for New Crowdfunding Campaign After ‘Greek Bailout’ Falls Short · Global Voices
L. Finch

A screenshot of the new Indiegogo campaign “Greek Crowdfund.”
Updated at 01:15 p.m. GMT, July 21.
A crowdfunded “bailout” for cash-strapped Greece fell 1.598 billion euros short of its 1.6 billion goal (about 1.8 billion US dollars) as the campaign's deadline came and went earlier this month.
“Greek Bailout Fund” managed to raise an impressive 1,930,366 euros from 108,654 people around the world in eight days, but because it didn't meet its target, all the money pledged will be refunded under crowdfunding platform Indiegogo's “Fixed Funding” rule.
But that wasn't the end of Thom Feeney‘s crowdfunding efforts for Greece. The 29-year-old shoe shop employee from the UK who launched the original initiative created a new campaign, one that will benefit Greek foundation Desmos‘ network of charities to “get as many 16-24 year olds into work as possible”:
I want young people to have hope, to learn skills, to drive forward their economy and invest their wages back into Greece. These young people will work in charities, technology and other worthy causes to help the situation in their country.
A quarter of Greeks are unemployed, but the figure balloons to nearly 50 percent for people under 25.
In 14 days, 13,886 people donated 289,162 euros to the new cause, called “Greece Crowdfund.” The campaign had different terms than the first — it will receive any money raised even if it doesn't reach its goal, this time set at 1 million euros.
“Hope this second one will reach its target!” Kjersti Waterloo, who contributed to the original campaign and the new one, commented. “Its time for the rest of Europe to help out the Greeks :)”

author: L. Finch


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Edom Kassaye: An Ethiopian Journalist Jailed for Her Integrity · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

Edom Kassaye on a research trip in Harar, Ethiopia, July 2013. Photo by Endalk Chala.
In April 2014, nine bloggers and journalists were arrested in Ethiopia. Several of these men and women had worked with Zone9, a collective blog that covered social and political issues in Ethiopia and promoted human rights and government accountability. And four of them were Global Voices authors. In July 2014, they were charged under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. They have been behind bars ever since and their trial has only recently begun.
This post is part of our series – “They Have Names” – that seeks to highlight the individual bloggers who are currently in jail. We wish to humanize them, to tell their particular and peculiar stories. This story comes from Endalk Chala, a founding member of the Zone9 collective who was spared arrest on account of being in the United States, where he is pursuing a PhD in Media Studies.
I first came to know Edom Kassaye through Befeqadu, the great convener of the Zone9 blogging collective. We met in 2012, when she had just returned from a year-long reporting trip in Kenya. She furnished me with many wonderful stories that she covered during her trip. The stories she told me and the relative journalistic freedom she experienced in Kenya generated deep conversations about the unfortunate situation of Ethiopia’s freedom of expression. From then on, until I left the country in 2013, Edom and I met frequently for coffee. We grew to become good friends.
When I think about my time with Edom, I realize it is no wonder that she got arrested along with six members of the Zone9 collective. People ask why Edom was arrested and charged with terrorism when she was not a member of the group. I believe it was Edom’s willingness to bring about a gentle change in Ethiopia’s polarized political environment that suggested an affinity between her and the Zone9 blogging collective. We shared common principles.
Edom participated in every single online campaign the Zone9 blogging collective held. It seems that her participation in the online campaigns got her noticed by state authorities monitoring social networks. In the days and weeks leading up to her arrest, Edom resisted pressure to serve as an informant about her friends from the collective. Instead, she opted to be jailed with her friends. Her integrity and convictions demonstrate something special about her character — her intense commitment to active citizenship within an increasingly brainwashed and fragmented populous. Jomanex, an exiled blogger, a colleague and friend often calls Edom  ‘Miss Integrity’.
Edom (left) and Mahlet being escorted to the courtroom inside the compound of High Court in Addis Ababa. Photo courtesy of the trial tracker blog.
Edom is one of the few female journalists I know in the country who practiced journalism on multiple platforms. Her CV reads as a fast-growing multimedia journalist with keen interest in environment, public health, and social justice. For outsiders, Edom looked like any young aspiring journalist whose works appeared everywhere from state-owned daily newspaper to independent Addis Ababa radio stations. But a few details set her apart.
Edom began her journalism career at the state-owned daily newspaper. Working as a senior reporter, she tried to inspire optimism about hihg-quality journalism that the Ethiopian state media has rarely exhibited. But her tendency to ask critical questions was incompatible with the sycophantic culture of state journalism and she decided to take a different career path. In 2011, she won her reporting fellowship in Kenya, where she focused on environmental reporting. Upon her return, she decided not to work for state media, opting instead to freelance for various media organizations. When we began Global Voices’ Amharic language site in 2012 she served as a volunteer translator for the site. In 2013, Edom, Befeqadu, Zelalem and I worked together to produce a report on the state of freedom of expression in Ethiopia which later was submitted to United Nations Commission on Human Rights for their Universal Periodic Review.
Edom Kassaye. Drawing by Melody Sundberg.
In 2011, the government arrested and prosecuted more than 12 journalists on sham terrorism charges, an act that has become routine since 2005. Edom took pride in showing solidarity with these journalists. She routinely traveled back and forth to the prisons to visit award-winning journalists such as Reeyot Alemu and Eskinder Nega, who are still serving their long prison terms. This gave Edom a glimpse of what these journalists’ lives looked like in prison. As a gesture of her solidarity toward the journalists, she regularly tweeted the counts of the days the journalists were made to spend in the prison. I wonder if she ever imagined that she would share a similar fate with them.
Once I asked her where she drew the inspiration for using her Twitter handle as timer to document the dire situation of the journalists. She told me that in Kality Prison, where Eskinder Nega is held, the guards count prisoners every morning using morning whistles. They shout loudly – ‘Kotera፣ Kotera፣ Kotera’ which means make yourselves available for the tally, for the tally, for the tally. This ritual is common throughout the prison system in Ethiopia. It has two purposes: the first is to make the prisoners arise early; the second is to make the prisoners available for morning count. Edom poignantly took this counting ritual and used it in her tweets, to document the days the journalists were forced to spend behind bars. Edom did this until the day she herself become one of them.
Since April 25, 2014, Edom has been denied her tweeting rights for showing solidarity with these jailed journalists. In her prison journal, where she narrated how she was arrested, she wrote:
ወዲያው ልሂድ ብሎ ወጣ ጣፋጭ በር ላይ ተሰነባበትን ፡፡ ወዲያው አስፓልቱን ስሻገር አንድ መኪና መንገድ ዘጋብኝና ሁለት ተራ ወንበዴዎች የመሰሉ ሰዎች አንድገባ አዘዙኝ፡፡ አልገባም አልኩኝ ፡፡አንደኛው እጄን ጠምዝዞ አስገድዶ ወደመኪናው መራኝ ያኔ መከራከሩ እንደማያወጣ ገባኝ፡፡ ከኋላ አስገብተውኝ ግራና ቀኝ ተቀመጡ፡፡ መኪናዋን ይኸው የትምህርት ቤት ወዳጄ ይዟት እንዳየሁ አስታወስኩ፡። ቆሻሻና ዳሽ ቦርድ የሌላት መኪና ናት፡። ከነሹፌሩ የቀን ስራ ሲሰሩ ውለው ያላባቸው የሚመስሉ ሶስት ወጣቶች አሉ፡፡ ጋቢና ያለው ወጣት “ኤዲ አንዴት ነሽ ?” አለኝ ጸጥ አልኩኝ፡፡ ፓሊስ ጣቢያ ለጉዳይ አንደፈለጉኝ እና ቶሎ አንደምለቀቅ ተናግሮ ሊያረጋጋኝ ሞከረ፡፡ ሹፌሩ ያለምንም ማቅማማት ጥቁር አንበሳ እና ባንኮዲሮማ ህንጻ ጋር ያሉትን መብራቶች እየጣሰ ጉዞ ወደፒያሳ ሆነ፣ ምን እነዳጣደፈው እንጃ ።። ቤተሰቦቼ ጋር አንድደውል ይፈቀድልኝ ብልም ስልኬን ወስደው ፍቃደኛ ሳይሆኑ ቀሩ ፡፡ ማአከላዊ ስንደርስ 12.50 አካባቢ ሆኗል፡፡ መደበኛ ምዝገባ ተደርጎልኝ ንብረቶቼን አስረከብኩ ፣ እርቃኔን ከሆንኩ በኋላ ቁጭ ብድግ እያልኩ ሰውነቴ ሁሉ ተፈትሿል፡፡ ከታሰሩ ሴቶች ጋር ስቀላቀል እራትና የሌሊት ልብስ ሰጡኝ፡። ከጥቂት ሰአታት በኋላ የእግር ኮቴ ስንሰማ ተሽቀዳድመን በቀዳዳ ስናይ ማህሌትን ወደ ሌላ ክፍል ሲያስገቧት አየሁ ፡፡ ያኔ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ አለቀስኩ ፡፡ ቤተሰቦቼ ልጃችን ምን ዋጣት ብለው አንዴት አንደሚነጋላቸው እየተጨነኩ ነጋ፡፡
As I walked across the street a vehicle approached me and closed my walkway. Then a couple of hooligan looking men jumped off the car and swarmed at me and they started to ask me to get on to the vehicle. When I resisted getting on to the vehicle one of the men twisted my wrist; at that moment I just recognized my fight not to be arrested is a futile one but I get on to the car defiantly then squeezed into the back seat in the middle of two men.  Seating in the car with reflexive silence I asked them to let me make a telephone call to my family. They denied me and seized my mobile phone violently …. Near sundown we arrived at notorious Maekelawi, Federal Police Investigation Centre. I passed through a dehumanizing search before they led me to a dark cell to be with other inmates….  After a while I heard footsteps we all swarmed to have a look through a peephole to see what is going on then I have seen Mahlet being escorted to other cell….At that moment I felt a reflexive horror for my family since they would extremely be worried about my whereabouts and I felt my tears wetting my cheek.
Edom has done journalism along with her understated activism with a remarkable elegance. She has her own unique and polite way of making sure she gets her point across without being intimidating or manipulative. Two months ahead of my departure to the US for my graduate studies, Edom traveled to Tunisia and on her return, brought me a palm-shaped key holder which is popularly believed to provide protection from evil. It pains me that I could not give Edom protection from the wickedness of our government. I cherish every minute I spent with Edom, a woman who bravely stands for her convictions.

author: Endalkachew Chala


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Film Explores Haiti’s Only Free School for Children With Disabilities · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Centre d'Education Speciale (CES) sign. Image courtesy Lena Jackson, used with permission.
Of the children in Haiti who are born with disabilities, only one in 50 attends school, partly because the cost of this type of specialised education can be prohibitive. The Centre d'Education Speciale (CES) or Centre for Special Education in the island's capital Port-au-Prince is currently the only school in the country that offers free educational services to children with developmental disabilities.
As a low-cost institution for special education, CES is unique in Haiti, but it shouldn’t be — which is what prompted filmmaker Lena Jackson and her colleague Rowan Moore Gerety to create a film about the centre and its work. Global Voices interviewed them about their experience of working on the short.
Filmmaker Lena Jackson. Photo used with permission.
Global Voices (GV): Can you tell me a bit about your professional backgrounds?
Lena Jackson (LJ): I'm an independent filmmaker and teacher. I've traveled to Haiti, India, Guatemala, Cuba and Zimbabwe working on videos for Fusion, Medium, PBS's EarthFix, Nomadic Wax, Sesame Workshop India, Cultural Survival, and Cuba Skate. I have a B.Sc. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and an M.A. in documentary film from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Rowan Moore Gerety. Photo used with permission.
Rowan Moore Gerety (RMG): I'm the Yakima reporter for Northwest Public Radio. Before that, I used to be a news reporter for KAZU, the NPR station in Monterey Bay, as well as a regular contributor to Marketplace. I've written for The Atlantic, Slate, Foreign Policy, Guernica, Courrier International, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Common, and produced radio stories for All Things Considered, Latino USA, Only a Game, Living on Earth, and The California Report. I was the launch editor for the African Makers series on Medium, a collection of writing about creativity in business and social welfare around Africa. I studied anthropology at Columbia University, was a 2011-2012 Fulbright Scholar in Mozambique, a 2013 International Reporting Project (IRP) fellow in Nigeria, and received a 2013 Jon Davidoff scholarship at the Wesleyan Writers Conference. I'm interested in inequality and economics in the developing world, as well as religion, housing, and global migration.
GV: How did you come to hear about Centre d’Education Speciale (CES) and decide to create this film?
LJ: I met the director of CES through a good friend who is Haitian-American. I visited CES in 2010 soon after the earthquake while it was housed in a temporary building. On another visit to Haiti, the director, Maryse Jean-Jacques, asked me to make a film to help spread the word about the programme and the challenges facing children with developmental disabilities in Haiti.
GV: CES is the only national institution in Port-au-Prince to help children with disabilities who come from poor backgrounds. Why is this the case if the need is so great?
RMG: There are a great many services — from access to safe drinking water and sanitation to healthcare and job training — that are unavailable for the large majority of people in Port-au-Prince.
Port-au-Prince is a difficult place to navigate and get things done, even (or especially!) for Haitians. Trying to educate children with special needs poses an additional challenge because, as is the case in most of the world, there is widespread stigma about developmental disabilities that sometimes extends even to teachers and parents.
Girls in the hallway at CES. Photo courtesy the filmmaker. Used with permission.
GV: What is CES’ mission and how is the staff accomplishing it? Do they have offshoots in rural areas? Partnerships with other NGOs?
LJ: CES’ long-term goal is inclusion of children with developmental disabilities in the mainstream school system. To this end, they have trained teachers and staff at a number of schools in other parts of the city and beyond to work with former CES students wherever possible. After losing their building and some funding in the 2010 earthquake, however, they have had to curtail some of this work to focus on rebuilding their core programs: the school and diagnostic clinic in Port-au-Prince. That said, when we visited, it was obvious that people from around the country relied on their services: we met visiting mothers from as far away as Jérémie, an eight-hour bus ride from PAP. CES also works with a troupe of clowns, Les Reskapés (featured in the film), trained by Clowns without Borders, to promote self-esteem and confidence in social situations among their students.
GV: How does CES define an “intellectual disability” and what process do families have to go through in order for children to be enrolled? Do they have to pay anything or is the service free?
RMG: We don’t know the exact criteria CES considers in determining whether children have a developmental disability. The way it was explained to us is that spots in the CES school are reserved for children with the most acute needs. Families begin by visiting the clinic attached to the school, where a doctor, physical therapist, and speech pathologist conduct intake visits. Many families whose children are not enrolled in the school still visit the clinic regularly for diagnostics and physical therapy. The school is free; there are nominal fees for some of the medical services to offset the costs of hiring an outside doctor.
GV: Explain how such disabilities can reinforce the cycle of poverty these families face.
RMG: Only 1 in 50 Haitian children with disabilities attend [sic] school. This is a tremendous setback both for the children who stay home, and for parents who might otherwise be out working. Being excluded from school both reinforces the common perception that children with disabilities are a burden, and deprives them of the opportunity to develop useful skills that could help them earn a livelihood. Several former students at CES now work in maintenance/cleaning there, and told us of the difficulty of finding jobs elsewhere.
GV: Do people know about CES? Is there a level of awareness about these types of conditions in Haiti? It also seems that women and children are the most vulnerable — is there anything being done on a national level to change this?
LJ: It was clear during our visits that CES has a reputation well beyond the surrounding neighbourhood. One mother described moving to a different neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince specifically to be closer to the school. Even so, getting children with developmental disabilities through the door at CES is the hardest step. For many parents, it seems that having a specific diagnosis, together with exercises or dos and do-nots, goes a long way towards combatting the stigma they may feel. On the national front, we’ve been told of government programmes to support people with disabilities (physical and developmental) in the workplace. But like so much of what the Haitian government undertakes, the needs are great and the resources –and capacity–limited.
GV: The CES is a bright spark in the midst of a bleak economic landscape. What are some of its greatest challenges or limitations?
RMG: Sustainable funding seems to be their most urgent concern. It has been a struggle for the organisation to pay staff salaries consistently, or keep up any of their former outreach programmes and partnerships outside Port-au-Prince. Social attitudes towards developmental disabilities, as it is here in the US, take a long time to shift. Clearly this poses a challenge for the work CES does, but bringing about that change is also a core part of their mission.
Some of the men at CES. Photo courtesy the filmmaker. Used with permission.
GV: What was the most impressive or touching thing you witnessed while making this film? What do you hope the film will accomplish for CES?
LJ: Seeing the theatre troupe/clowns (Les Reskapés) work with CES students was mesmerising. We were deeply touched by the students’ transformation during the roleplaying and theatre exercises they did together. Almost immediately, they became brash and outgoing, excited and funny. It was inspiring to see the close bonds between the Reskapés and the students. We want to bring attention to the great work CES does on a daily basis, and help them raise money to support it.
If you’re interested in learning more or supporting CES, you can contact the director of CES, Maryse Jean-Jacques, at marysejj88@yahoo.fr or the filmmaker, Lena Jackson, at lenaisabeljackson@gmail.com. You can also visit CES’ website.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Here is Why Nairobi is Africa’s Most Successful ICT Hub · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Elvans Kidero explains the secrets behind Nairobi's success in ICT sector in Africa:
Where is Africa’s ICT hub? Is it South Africa, Nigeria or Nairobi, the capital of Kenya? By growth, it would have to be Nairobi, with my county’s ICT sector expected to grow by 15 per cent this year, compared to around 6 per cent for the economy as a whole.
Kenya and Nairobi – dubbed the “Silicon Savannah” – has boomed in recent years through international partnerships and home-grown products, the most famous being M-PESA the mobile money transfer service that has revolutionised financial transactions for hundreds of millions across the world. Innovation spaces such as iHub have helped spur growth for young tech entrepreneurs offering opportunities for co-working and incubation. Other products such as M-Farm, an app providing an online marketplace and real-time prices for agricultural buyers and sellers and iCow, an SMS-based service for farming information – just to name a few – have seen Nairobians’ technology spread far beyond city borders.
Only this month, in a real boost for Nairobi, IBM opened a new big data research centre in our city, underlining our new front-runner status. This body will assist in analysing big data, support the decongestion of traffic and improve accessibility and speeds for accessing information and services.
So why has Nairobi been growing so fast?


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Hungarians Use Wit, Paint and Photoshop to Deface the Government’s Anti-Immigration Billboards · Global Voices
Sara Heltai

Budapest, Hungary. 19 May 2015 — A sign reads “My best friend is a migrant” during a protest against the immigration policies of Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, organized by the Migrant Solidarity Group (MigSzol) in downtown Budapest. Photo by janoskisphotographer. Copyright Demotix
The Hungarian government has recently used giant billboards throughout the country to send a message to immigrants and those thinking of immigrating: “If you come to Hungary, you mustn't take away Hungarians’ jobs”, “If you come to Hungary, you must respect our culture” and “You must abide by our laws”.
The billboard campaign is an extension of a national consultation on immigration and terrorism, in which Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the ruling Fidesz party have again used taxpayers’ money to promote a hostile stance towards non-Hungarians.
However, since few immigrants actually understand Hungarian, critics point out that these warnings are more likely part of a larger push to rile up fear and win support among citizens for planned anti-immigration laws and measures.
Hungarians who oppose the government's right-wing views haven't stood idly by. Posters have been defaced, torn down and painted over, with activists competing to get to them first. A massively successful crowdfunding initiative raised over 100,000 US dollars within days to mount a poster-based counter-campaign, this time in English. Social media is also buzzing with hilarious, yet poignant parodies of the billboards. Some favourites are collected below.
Original billboard: “If you come to Hungary, you mustn't take away Hungarians's jobs!”
Amended with: “What jobs?”
Image widely circulated online.
Original billboard: “If you come to Hungary, you mustn't take away Hungarians’ jobs!”
Amended to: “You can't gobble up Hungarians’ liver [paté]!”
Image widely circulated online.
Amended to: “Hungary, you bitch – national insult.”
Image widely circulated online.
Original billboard: “If you come to Hungary, you must abide by our laws!”
Amended to: “If you come to bat country, you must abide by our laws!” (homage to Hunter S. Thompson and his novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”).
Image widely circulated online.
Amended to: “Hungary needs culture, not a consultation.”
Image widely circulated online.
Original billboard is covered with the text: “The fugitive hid, and towards him
The sword reached into his cave
Looking everywhere he could not find
His home in his homeland.”
Excerpt from the Hungarian national anthem (translation by Laszlo Korossy, 2003).
Image widely circulated online.
Amended to: “Welcome!”
Image widely circulated online.
Amended to: “Help ET!”
Image widely circulated online.
Amended to: “If you come to Hungary … It's cool.”
Image widely circulated online.
A few Photoshop masters have also swung into action, creating entirely new texts for the original billboard designs of the government campaign. Below is a selection of some of the more inspired work.
“Immigrants don't work and they are taking our jobs!”
Image widely circulated online.
“We hate everyone.”
Image widely circulated online.
“If you come to Hungary, don't steal! The government will not allow competition!”
Image widely circulated online.
“Come to Hungary, we are already working in London!”
Image widely circulated online.
And the community of Hungarians living outside and “taking” other country's jobs didn't want to miss out on the counter-campaign either:
“We went to Germany, we took their jobs, one spot at the nursery, and now we are going after all the beer and pretzels!” Source: http://kommentne.tumblr.com
“I went to Chile, took their jobs and in a couple years we will also take vows. Orban can be grateful that I am not provoking at home.” Source: Gyuri More info: http://444.hu/2015/06/14/gyuri-kivandorolt-elvette-egy-chilei-munkajat-es-most-meg-egy-chilei-fiut-is-elvenne/
The European Union and the international community have deplored the increasingly right-wing measures in Hungary. The conservative center-right European People’s Party (EPP) is the largest political party in the European Parliament and also includes Fidesz. On 10 June, the European Parliament adopted a resolution backed by the EPP, criticising the Hungarian government’s actions on immigration. The resolution noted:
[…] that these recent developments have led to concerns regarding the principles of the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights in Hungary over the past year, which, taken together, could represent an emerging systemic threat to the rule of law in this Member State […]
The government’s billboard campaign also ran parallel to World Refugee Day on 20 June, dedicated to raising awareness to the plight of refugees around the world. To mark the day, the regional office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Budapest showcased individual refugees, who have successfully integrated into Hungarian society. These images stand in stark contrast to the fear-mongering attitude of the government.
“The only problem is I miss my family so much it sometimes hurts. I miss my parents, my little sister and brother” a 19-year-old Zeeshant, who plays for the little-known Hungarian national cricket team, told the UNHCR's campaign. He was forced to leave Pakistan because of the Taliban threat and travelled for nine months to arrive to Hungary in the cargo container of a truck.
“This is the country for which I want to play well.” Image courtesy UNHCR
Sophie, who is from Togo, West Africa, works at a state-run kindergarten. She fled to escape forced female genital mutilation and would like to become a Hungarian citizen, according to the UNHCR campaign, but her application has been rejected twice. “I contribute to Hungary because I work and I pay taxes. I help children to learn to be open to foreigners and to people who are different,” she said.
“Children are full of trust, they are not prejudiced.” Image courtesy UNHCR
Despite international condemnation and the rebellious attitude of many Hungarians, the government is pushing forward with its anti-immigration agenda. On 17 June, the Hungarian government announced its plan to erect a four-metre-high fence on its border with Serbia. As usual, memes quickly popped up to remind us:
“There's always further to fall!”
Image widely circulated online.

author: Sara Heltai


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Russian Police Want to Save Your Life With This Selfie Safety Guide · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Image by Philippe Put on Flickr. CC BY 2.0.
As part of a campaign to raise awareness of the risks posed by taking selfies, the Russian Interior Ministry has launched a “Safe Selfie” microsite on the Ministry's official website.
The microsite explains the rationale behind the campaign, reiterating the concerns caused by the growing number of Russians hurting themselves or even dying while trying to capture a selfie. “Your health and your life are more valuable than a million likes on social networks,” the website claims.
“When a person is trying to photograph themselves, their attention is scattered, they lose balance, they don't look around and don't feel danger,” the microsite warns, encouraging selfie fans to be aware of their surroundings.
The microsite has caused a stir on the RuNet because of an infographic created for the campaign, outlining the riskiest scenarios for selfie-taking. Some users have compared the infographic to “Dumb Ways to Die” (an Australian public service announcement campaign to promote rail safety). Check out the annotated version of the infographic below.
Infographic from mvd.ru/safety_selfie. Translations by Tetyana Lokot.
The Interior Ministry is hoping to get RuNet's creative juices flowing and is crowdsourcing for other versions of the “safe selfies” infographics, encouraging users to send in their own interpretations for the campaign.


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A Driver’s-Eye View of Uber in China · Global Voices
88 Bar

Photo by Flickr user 2 dogs. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Below is a version of “Uber in China: A Driver’s View” by Lyn Jeffery, originally published on the blog 88 Bar and republished here with permission.
China’s major cities are seeing fierce competition for drivers to join ride-hailing platforms like Uber and China’s homegrown leader Didi Kuadi. I just spent a few weeks in China using “People’s Uber”, the American company's technically non-profit ride-sharing service that uses private cars, and interviewed 10-12 Uber drivers in Beijing and Shenzhen. Even though these services are currently illegal, it’s easy to find an Uber just a few minutes away in both cities. And the US version of the app works shockingly well in China.
Here’s what I learned from talking with Uber drivers and regular taxi drivers. It may not all be accurate, but it’s a driver's-eye view of how the company is operating in Beijing and Shenzhen.
It seems like drivers are taking a wait-and-see attitude about regulation and trying to make as much money as they can. At the same time, Uber is reducing its subsidies as it gains more drivers. In other words, the risks are rising while the rewards are falling… for now.

author: 88 Bar


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As Typhoon Season Approaches, Families Displaced Last Year Still Await Permanent Shelter in the Philippines · Global Voices
Taisa Sganzerla

Some of the 150+ people that have been living in a public gym for the past 7 months in Catbalogan. Photo by Taisa Sganzerla
Somewhere in the Samareña city of Catbalogan, a provincial capital in one of the Philippines’ poorest regions, lies the remains of an inconspicuous village. Abandoned nipa huts sprawl over a steep hill, dotted with pieces of wood and banig (straw mat) among the bushes. This is where the barangay (or village) of Mercedes once stood.
Six months ago, tropical storm Seniang (known as Jangmi elsewhere in the world) left 59 people dead in the Eastern Visayas region in central Philippines – 23 of them in barangay Mercedes alone. A landslide triggered by the storm left all the 54 families of this barangay homeless.
They were relocated to a public sports gymnasium owned by the provincial government of Western Samar, where bunkhouses were assembled with the help of local NGOs. Seven months later, however, at least 150 people still await a permanent shelter solution.
“Children are getting constantly sick because of the poor conditions of the this place”, says Lea Serilla from the Samar Branch of local NGO Tabang Visayas, which coordinates the shelter. She explains that the City Social Welfare and Development department provides them with only a modest relief – between 15-25 kilos of rice per month per family, along with four cans of sardines, four cans of corn beef and eight packs of coffee.
Rodrigo Mabag, 43, is one of the people living in the bunkhouses inside the gym. He lost his three sons, aged between 19 and 25, in the landslide.
An overseas Filipino worker, he was in Saudi Arabia working as an auto-mechanic when he heard of the collapse of his and his neighbors homes:
I got online and my brother had posted a link on Facebook on what had happened in the barangay. I became desperate because I couldn’t reach my wife. I only managed to talk to her three days later, and that's when she told me about the boys.
He managed to come back to the Philippines, but is now jobless as he stays in the bunkhouse to take care of his wife, who suffered a bad back injury during the landslide:
To lose my children is hard enough. All I wish now is that the government takes care of the shelter [problem] so I can start over again. I want to open my own business now.
Rodrigo Mabag, who lost his children in the landslide, in his bunkhouse in the gym in Catbalogan. Photo: Taisa Sganzerla
Although the gym is owned by the provincial government, the responsibility for disaster-related displacement lies with the city officials, according to the provincial media office.
“The provincial government is pressuring us to vacate the gym, as they want to lease the area for the Gaisano company who will build a shopping mall there”, Nidia Arroza, City Social Welfare and Development officer in Catbalogan, says.
She adds that the city still has to draft a long-term plan for disaster relief in the municipality:
We are apprehensive as typhoon season is near and we have yet to relocate those families. If a big typhoon hits again, we have no other big evacuation center in the city.
The city government's plan, she says, is to buy a piece of land on the outskirts of Catbalogan in Barangay Payao and settle the families there – at a cost of 150 million pesos (about US $3.3 million), which they will borrow from the bank.
For Lea Serilla, however, this sounds like an attempt by the government to shift the poor to the outskirts of the city:
Barangay Payao is really far away from the city, much further than Barangay Mercedes. Not only they have waited for seven months for permanent shelter, now they will have to settle with a much inferior alternative.

author: Taisa Sganzerla


text:
Five Ethiopian Journalists Freed From Prison, But Others Remain Behind Bars · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

Asmamaw and Tesfalem, free, with Blena Sahilu. Photo by @BlenaSahilu via Twitter.
Updated on July 9 at 20:00 GMT
Three writers walked free in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on July 8 after spending 439 days behind bars on terrorism charges. Journalists Tesfalem Waldyes and Asmamaw Hailegiorgis and university philosophy professor Zelalem Kiberet, also a Global Voices translator, were arrested last April along with six other bloggers and journalists, most of whom worked with Ethiopia’s Zone9 blogging collective. All charges against the three men have been dropped.
Zelalem Kiberet at 25. Photo from Zelalem's blog.
The same day Radio FANA, a media outlet known to support the ruling party, reported that authorities had also dropped charges against bloggers Mahlet Fantahun and Edom Kassaye. Both women were released on July 9.
Four of the bloggers remain behind bars and continue to face charges in a trial that has only barely begun in earnest. This group includes Befeqadu Hailu, Natnael Feleke, Atnaf Berahane and Abel Wabella. All four are Global Voices authors and translators.
Tesfalem told the Addis Standard that this morning he heard his name called over the loudspeaker system of Kilinto Prison, where the writers have been held for over a year. A prison official called the names of Zelalem and Asmamaw, stating that all charges against them had been dropped. They were released just hours later.
The #FreeZone9Bloggers hashtag lit up on Twitter shortly after the news was confirmed by friends who greeted the newly freed men at Kilinto Prison. Blena Sahilu, a close friend of the group, tweeted as she reunited with Tesfalem, her joy and disbelief palpable in her messages:
I'm shaking with joy and disbelief!!! I'm five minutes away from Tesfalem. I'm going to see him noww Is this real??? 😀😀😀 — Blena (@BlenaSahilu) July 8, 2015
Numerous supporters posted photos of an emotional reunion between Zelalem and his girlfriend:
Zola & Siti ❤❤❤ pic.twitter.com/Y2j6TtZITJ — Blena (@BlenaSahilu) July 8, 2015
Ethiopian writer Maaza Mengiste, who has been an active supporter of the #FreeZone9Bloggers campaign, applauded the efforts of all those who have called attention to the case:
Credit also goes to them for rallying voices, fund drives, writing articles, keeping them in our minds & hearts #Ethiopia #FreeZone9Blogers
— Maaza Mengiste (@MaazaMengiste) July 8, 2015
Prior to the 2014 arrests, Zone9 covered social and political issues in Ethiopia and sought human rights and government accountability. Its contributors were known for their critical stance on government policies and practices and they had faced various threats before their arrests last year, but had not faced direct legal challenges until April of 2014. After spending many weeks behind bars with only informal accusations of inciting social unrest via online means, they were charged under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.
Zone9 members together in Addis Ababa, 2012. From left: Natnael, Abel, Befeqadu, Mahlet, Zelalem and Atnaf. Photo courtesy of Endalk Chala.
Alongside an outpouring of joy and disbelief at the news of the bloggers’ release, many on social media urged supporters to take caution in their celebration. On Facebook, Simegnish Yekoye Or Lily wrote:
As much as we are happy and celebrating the release of our colleagues and friends Tesfalem, Asmamaw and Zelalem, and wait for release of Edom and Mahlet tomorrow … we still need to push for the charges against the remaining bloggers Befekadu, Abel, Atinaf and Nati to be dropped. They are only bloggers and not terrorists.
What caused the sudden change of course by Ethiopian authorities? Supporters including Global Voices and large media freedom organizations like the Committee to Protect Journalists have pressed for the bloggers’ freedom for many months, to no avail. One supporter surmised that the release may have been prompted by an upcoming visit to Ethiopia by Barack Obama:
Lets play smart ass. Because obama is coming lets free some of #FreeZone9Bloggers — Dawit2.9 (@DawitV2_8) July 8, 2015
Twitter user Abiye Megenta suggested that Obama should use the visit to pressure Ethiopian authorities to release the remaining bloggers:
Ethiopian government releases its high profile political prisoners ahead of Obama's trip. He should press them to release all pol prisoners. — Abiye T. Megenta (@abiyetk) July 8, 2015
Across the globe, the bloggers’ supporters pledged to continue their efforts until all journalists and bloggers in Ethiopia are free:
We will keep fighting until all of imprisoned Zone 9 Bloggers and other journalists are freed. #FreeZone9Bloggers #FreeEskender #FreeReyot — Fasiledes (@Fasiledesfasil) July 8, 2015
ናኖ ናኖ ነዬ ናኖ ናኖ ነይ ኦብዬ ኦባማ ኦቦሌሳ ሁሌ ነይ ነይ we will keep on tantrumin out here until they set all prisoners out there in #Ethiopia free
— Ethiopian Press (@abenezer_a) July 8, 2015
And Amanuel Tesfaye reminded us that the #FreeZone9Bloggers hashtag will remain strong until that day comes.
FYI, the hash #FreeZone9Bloggers is still in play, until all are out. Don't forget to use it while tweeting about today's releases. — Amanuel Tesfaye (@ethio_style) July 8, 2015

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle