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Turkey’s struggle against natural disasters: wildfires, drought, floods, and a possible earthquake · Global Voices
Doga Celik

Experts claim a devastating earthquake may hit Istanbul in the future. Image by Şinasi Müldür, accessed from Pixabay.
Turkey has been hit by a series of natural disasters and environmental crises in recent months. Drought in Lake Van caused thousands of flamingoes to die in July, while a substance called “sea snot” covered the coasts of the Marmara Sea for months, making the seashore unusable. Last month, some 240 wildfires raged through Turkey's southern coast. Shortly after the fires, the Black Sea region — particularly the cities of Bartın, Kastamonu, Sinop, and Samsun — were hit by flash floods and mudslides because of torrential rain. As a result, 112 villages in Kastamonu and 86 villages in Sinop were left without electricity, while six bridges reportedly collapsed, and the region's roads were left in ruins. More than 2,000 people have been displaced and relocated due to the floods. Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) announced that 8,000 personnel, 20 rescue dogs, and a fleet of helicopters were looking for injured people and survivors. According to the most recent information, 82 residents died, with 16 still missing as of August 27.
Malesef olayın başlangıçı bu şekilde rabbim sen koru #bozkurt #abana #kastamonubozkurt ??? pic.twitter.com/RVuBFu35UW
— yalçın yılmaz (@yalnylm74327401) August 12, 2021
This is how everything started, may God protect us.
While climate change and excessive rain played a role in the most recent devastating floods, some experts claim that incorrect dam placement and excess construction near the stream beds contributed to the floods. Earthquake expert and geology engineer Ramazan Demirtaş told Birgun newspaper in an interview that:
If we confine a 400-meter-wide stream bed into 15-meters, and if the water also rises by 7–10 meters, the result is a natural disaster. It is the humanity that directly narrowed the stream bed and opened the bed to development and construction that is the culprit. Let's not blame it on the excessive rainfall as if it’s unprecedented in history. An artificial dam was formed with buildings built alongside, and the flood caused by torrential rain made the situation worse.
Other experts say the disasters and their consequences are political. In an interview with France 24, water and climate policy researcher Gokce Sencan said:
I don’t see Turkey having any comprehensive and holistic climate change policy that addresses everything in an interconnected way. You cannot separate food security issues from energy security issues, and food prices from the issue of drought.
During his visit to Bozkurt, one of the areas worst hit by floods, President Erdogan promised to help the area recover as quickly as possible:
Hopefully, we will rise from our ashes again. We can’t bring back the citizens we lost, but our state has the means and power to compensate those who lost loved ones.
But improving Turkey's disaster response is not only about delivering assistance, rebuilding flood-damaged cities, and replanting forests that were burned to the ground. Turkey is among a handful of countries that is yet to ratify the 2015 Paris Agreement, which many environmentalists have criticized in the wake of the disasters. “This is the first step. We must become a part of the global fight against climate change,” said Greens of Turkey Party spokeswoman Emine Ozkan in an interview with France 24. Ankara says the reason it has not signed the agreement is because of unfair classification. Turkey is ranked as a “developed” country which prevents it from seeking funding, unlike countries ranked as “developing.”
“Instead of committing to a reduction of carbon emissions, it increased its global share up until 2018. The government continues to encourage coal mining and has been recklessly promoting construction in coastal areas, often at the expense of forest land and natural ecosystems. Recently, the government changed the long-standing law that prohibits construction and development in forest land to allow building in some parts,” wrote journalist Asli Aydintasbas in a piece for The Washington Post on August 4, 2021.
In light of recent natural disasters and weak governmental response, many are questioning whether the government is prepared to handle its worst disaster yet — a possible earthquake in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city and economic hub.
Fires rage as they do because firefighting capabilities have been gutted. Floods turn into tsunamis because of bad urban planning and poor drainage.
Turkey’s number one priority should be to get rid of these people before the big one hits Istanbul.
Seriously.
— Can Okar (@canokar) August 14, 2021
Turkey is located in an active seismic zone and has a history of disastrous earthquakes. The worst quake occurred in Erzincan in 1939 when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake left almost 30,000 people dead. The latest major incident happened in Elazığ in 2020, leaving 1,600 people injured and 41 dead.
The most seismically active area in Turkey is the Armutlu Peninsula, South of Istanbul. According to the research released by the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences, the Armutlu Peninsula “is an active tectonic plate boundary known to generate destructive earthquakes causing large numbers of casualties.” In 1999, a 7.5 magnitude quake killed 18,000 people and left 250,000 homeless.
The memories of that disaster still linger, and research indicates that some adults who lived through that earthquake suffer from PTSD.
This year, on August 17, Turkey marked the 22nd anniversary of that devastating earthquake. And yet, experts warn that if an earthquake of similar magnitude struck the country, even greater damage is unavoidable, highlighting the lack of governmental preparation or mitigation strategies.
A new report published by the Urban Transformation Foundation (KENTSEV) earlier this month estimates that an earthquake of 7.5 or higher magnitude would affect 6.1 million people and damage 1.8 million houses.
A polling report from 2020 by Konda showed that 81 percent of the respondents said they are not prepared for another earthquake, 67 percent said they had not received any training in earthquake preparedness, and 68 percent said they do not know what to do during an earthquake.
When forest fires broke out on Turkey's Mediterranean and Aegean coasts earlier this month, Turkey's president quickly dismissed pleas for help. Even after admitting that Turkey had no firefighting planes of its own, the ruling Justice and Development Party stuck to its polarizing tone and snubbed international offers of support.
But experts say this strategy is unwise — both environmentally and politically. Can Selcuki, the general manager of polling company Istanbul Economy Research, said in an interview with the Middle East Eye that his polling company is seeing more interest from voters about climate change and environmental problems. Adding that in Turkey, “the government doesn’t have a very good scorecard when it comes to the environment.”
Others like Koray Dogan, a co-spokesperson for Turkey's Green Party, told Middle East Eye that the government is prioritizing the economy at the expense of the environment.
There is ample evidence for that, such as the massive Kanal Istanbul project or the zoning amnesty law that passed in 2018. Turkey has passed 19 zoning amnesty laws since 1948 which grants pardons (for a fee) to building contractors who fail to meet safety standards. Many of the registered post-earthquake assembly zones for tents and a humanitarian response have disappeared with the construction boom. Additionally, the AKP has so far rejected 58 motions by opposition politicians asking for an independent oversight committee to oversee building safety.
One question remains: if none of the recent environmental disasters and tragedies have made the ruling government reconsider its approach to environmental safety, then what will?

author: Doga Celik


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A month after vaccine mandate protests, opposition figures arrested in St Vincent & the Grenadines · Global Voices
Flora Thomas

Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, addresses the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda on September 25, 2015. Photo by UN Photo/Mark Garten on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
After St. Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister Ralph Gonsalves was hit in the head—allegedly when a protestor hurled a stone at him during an August 5 protest against making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory in the Caribbean territory—it didn't take law enforcement long to make an arrest. Annamay Lewis was charged with wounding the prime minister the weekend following the incident, at which time government minister Julian Francis warned that more arrests might be imminent.
The protest was allegedly undertaken without police permission—a requirement for public gatherings under St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ law—and the act of violence was roundly criticised, including by the country's opposition and regional voices. However, Prime Minister Gonsalves has gone on record as saying he holds opposition leader Godwin Friday personally responsible, albeit not criminally liable, for his injury.
The protest action, which was reportedly organised by the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) and the country's public service and teachers’ unions, was prompted by the government's proposal to remove word “voluntary” before “immunisation” in the Public Health Act, as well as by concerns about the exemption process regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. The rate of fully vaccinated people in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is currently estimated to be at just over 12 per cent of the population. As at September 1, the country's health ministry reported 38 active cases of COVID-19, with 12 deaths in total.
On August 6, the day after Prime Minister Gonsalves was injured, the government pushed the public health amendments through parliament, making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for certain categories of frontline workers. The parameters of the new arrangements are still to be laid out by the Cabinet.
The August 13 arrests, however, of opposition activists Adriana King and Kenson King, have fanned the flame of discussion over whether or not Vincentians’ constitutional right to protest is being targeted by the authorities. The Kings were each charged with four counts of breaching the public order linked to their alleged roles in organising and participating in the public demonstration on August 5.
The country's constitution states that “every person in Saint Vincent is entitled to […] fundamental rights and freedoms” that include “freedom of conscience, of expressions and of assembly and association.”
In 2016, the government adopted controversial cybercrime legislation that the International Press Institute (IPI) and other rights organisations called “a serious threat to freedom of the press, the free flow of online information, and public debate.” The new law extended the reach of previous defamation provisions to include online expression, loosely defined as “cyber-harassment” and “cyber-bullying.”
The Kings’ legal team, led by Kay Bacchus-Baptiste, a member of the opposition NDP, took to Facebook on September 1 to alert social media users to the arrests of two further individuals: opposition radio talk show host Colin Graham, and NDP secretary-general Tyrone James. Both Graham and James were charged with the same four counts of breaching the public order as the Kings.
Calling the arrests “an abomination,” Bacchus-Baptiste said that three additional arrests would likely take place on or before September 3, adding:
It is against what the United Nations and the OAS has said about protests and upholding human rights. […] I condemn it, and I am calling on our prime minister Ralph Gonsalves, who is a lawyer, who represents St. Vincent on the UN Security Council, to come out and condemn it […] speak up for the rights of Vincentians.
The opposition has also reported alleged incidents of heavily armed, “Black Squad” police officers raiding protestors’ homes, a claim the prime minister says he has referred to his lawyers.
As at the time of publishing, Bacchus-Baptiste's post garnered close to 200 comments on the issue, with Facebook user Carla Dougan Bac commenting:
Abuse of process! These charges are frivolous and vexatious and certainly NOT in the public interest: to charge citizens for exercising their constitutional rights is ridiculous! Political victimisation is what it looks like to me!
Hewitt James called the developments a “new low”:
This is human rights abuse on steroids in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. […] Nothing should stop Vincentians to peacefully and rightfully protest. It […] speaks volumes about those in power whom have now become desperate to rule by what ever means. We will never forget this dark chapter in Vincentian history.
However, Earl Simmons countered:
When you break the law, it's the responsibility of the Police to follow up with the consequences […] We can't have it both ways. Criticizing the Police for failure to apply the laws accordingly, then turn around and criticize when they try to apply the laws accordingly. SVG is a country of laws. Let us live by them […] trust the system.
In an exchange with Global Voices, one social media user who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of victimisation, voiced concern over “where the scenario is heading […] by treating participation in protests as a criminal act.” The same netizen claimed that some videos of the attack on the prime minister, which had been uploaded to platforms like Facebook and YouTube, had been removed, implying that there was a takedown order—something that Global Voices has been unable to confirm.
In an August 11 column entitled “The Buss Head Agenda,” Trinidad and Tobago journalist Wesley Gibbings contextualised the situation against the backdrop of what caused the protest in the first instance—the vaccination issue:
We are fresh from election campaigns in several countries. [St. Vincent and the Grenadines held its general elections in 2020.] There is the stench of both recently-shed and longstanding political blood in the air.
St Vincent and the Grenadines remains in the throes of a volcanic crisis that has decimated its agriculture, displaced hundreds, and drained the country’s treasury.
As an aside, it is unbelievable that the official opposition has resorted to a form of victim-blaming in the case of the prime minister and his injury. It betrays unfortunate denial of the slippery slope some politicians have chosen to engage.
The anonymous source, however, in a telephone interview, told Global Voices:
I am fully vaxxed, and the same way I have a right to want to be vaccinated is the same way that others have the right to choose not to be—but to have your rights trampled on for publicly expressing that opinion? That's something else entirely.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Flora Thomas


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Chinese netizens identify the Weibo supervisor system as a source of arbitrary censorship · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A screenshot from a Weibo supervisor's monthly report. The slogan says: ‘collective supervision to clean up Weibo’.
‘Why am I being censored?’ Many Chinese citizens have shared this question online after receiving a notification from administrators of online platforms including Weibo, WeChat and Douban, informing them that their content has been flagged as harmful or illegal and has been removed. Yet, no one has explained exactly why or how their materials were harmful or illegal.
Recently a ‘Weibo supervisor’ named Ji Haoyang wrote a series of posts bragging about his performance as a censor. These posts have inadvertently shed some light on the puzzle as to how and why material is sometimes identified as censorious. They have also revealed a system designed to encourage and reward censorship.
In 2017, the Weibo community management centre recruited 1,000 community members to report on harmful content. The team expanded to 2,000 in 2018. The Weibo user Ji Haoyang was one of these so-called supervisors.
On August 26, Ji boasted on his Weibo that he had successfully reported on another Weibo user, Tomo Jiangjiang, for lying about her mother’s death after receiving the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Ji claimed that Tomo’s post was a scam to attract sympathy and could have an adverse impact on the country. He further claimed that as a result of his complaint, Tomo was under police’s administrative detention and her account was suspended.
In her post, Tomo wrote that her mother had developed a rash five days after taking her first dose of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine on March 26 and died on June 30. She then expressed her sadness and thanked those who had given her treatment advice in the past few months.
However, Ji quoted a police source saying that Tomo’s mother was alive and at work as normal.
In response, Tomo registered a new Weibo account and posted her mother’s death certificate and cremation papers to prove that she had not lied.
Within two hours, Ji issued an apology saying that the false allegation had occurred because he and the police had misidentified Tomo Jiangjiang's phone number. But he did not explain what had caused the mistake or how he had obtained Tomo's Weibo phone number. Instead, he insisted that his report was justified. The China Digital Times captured a screenshot of this response:
,為避免該事件繼續發酵，所有博文內容評論以及轉發明日全部移交公安機關處理，明天將領取立案回報後處理事件後續，不會就這麼草草了之，我未經核實對方身份後發佈的言論明日會到公安機構道歉，但法律不會讓你隨隨便便拿個借口來污蔑國家，疫苗有沒有問題捫心自問，外媒傳播速度不差與國內，明日見分曉，該誰負法律責任誰也跑不掉
In order to avoid the incident getting out of control, I have handed over all my posts and others’ comments to the public security authorities. Tomorrow I will file the case. There will be proper follow up. Regarding my comments which were made before I verified the identity of ‘Tomo’, I will visit the police station and file my apology. But the law will not let you use an excuse to defame the country. Please ask yourself if the death is caused by the vaccine. The foreign media outlets are quickly picking up the incident and we will see the result tomorrow. No one can run away from the legal consequences.
His response has attracted a backlash. On a Weibo news thread, many expressed outrage at Ji's words:
道个歉还要扯虎皮做大旗，口口声声“疫苗”、“外媒”云云，俨然正义的化身，大量这样的人长期掌握了话语权和监督权，后果可想而知。
Ji acts like a warrior in his so-called apology. Using the ‘vaccine’ and ‘foreign media’ to justify his acts. If such people are in power, what would be the consequence?
国产疫苗打死人已经升级为“对国家有害的时政信息”了。难怪咱们听不到一丁点这方面的消息呢！净是国外的疫苗打死人的事。
So any mentioning about deaths after taking made-in-China vaccines is flagged as ‘political information that is harmful to the state’, that's why we can't see any related information. All we see is deaths after receiving foreign vaccines.
爱国已经可以成为杀人免责手段的时候说明这个国家的恶狗已经杀红了眼
When patriotism has turned into an excuse for taking someone down, the mad dogs in this country are getting out of control.
On the same day, the official ‘Weibo supervisor’ account issued an announcement saying that the platform had removed Ji from the supervisor team and banned his user account, as he had violated the community’s code of conduct by ‘posting disinformation that disrupted communication order and damaged the reputation of Weibo supervisor.’ It also clarified that Weibo supervisors do not have the power to access users’ personal information and suspend user accounts.
But many pointed out that the platform operator itself is responsible for this censorship system. China Digital Times has collected some reactions along this line:
制度产生恶人。
The system gives birth to evil people.
微博监督员给人当狗，出问题了他主人把他丢了出去
Weibo supervisors are just running dogs. Now that one performs badly, its master kicks it away.
一个季浩洋封了，还有千千万万个季浩洋前赴后继，为几块骨头做狗做的忘了人性。
One Ji Haoyang was blocked, but there are tens of thousands Ji Haoyang who are willing to give up their humanity for a few bones.
Some dug into Ji’s Weibo timeline and found out that the Weibo supervisors are managed through a set of key performance indicators (KPIs). They have to fulfill a minimum quota, filing 500 reports per month with a 90 percent well-grounded, in order to remain on the team. Ji had been facing pressure at work since April. They believed his behaviour was driven by such a censorship system. For example, a now-removed post said:
这个微博监督员让我们看到，原来举报投诉是有任务的，他们每个人都有可能是为了完成任务的工具，有多少人的帖子是被这种为了完成任务，被莫须有的删掉了？细思极恐。这就是真正的异化了。
This Weibo Supervisor has revealed that they have to meet certain targets in filing reports. Each of them may have arbitrarily deleted others’ posts in order to complete their target. So horrible. This is alienation.
An IT blogger, whose posts in his commercial account had been hidden from public view recently, believed that the Weibo supervisor system was the cause of his problem:
看季浩洋的所作所为，才知所谓的微博监督员还有硬性的投诉任务!难怪我10多年的微博，自6月28日开始，就不明不白地他人看下到了。近两个月内，向新浪客服投诉多次，没有得到任何解决。大家请帮我看，究竟哪一条微博不合适?我究竟中了哪个监督员的“枪”?亏我还是他的年费会员，并信用状态极好!一一!新浪微博，你对会员的服务竟然是这样的?你究竟怎么了?
I only realized that there is a report target in the Weibo supervisor system after the Ji Haoyang incident. That’s why since June 28, my Weibo, which has been open for more than ten years, has been regularly hidden from public view. I filed complaints to the Sina customer service but it did not solve my problem. Please take a look, which of my posts are harmful? Which Weibo supervisor ‘shot’ me? I am a paying customer with a very good social credit record — Sina Weibo, how can you treat your customers like this?
According to Sina's official explanation, the relation between Sina and the supervisors is not employer and employees. Instead, they are considered as active or rewarded community members. Once someone has successfully been recruited into the team, their accounts are verified, meaning that their posts would be more visible. They could participate in Weibo’s official offline activities and could receive a bonus according to their performance.  However, if they fail to meet the minimum target, they have to leave the team.
Weibo issues a monthly censorship report, which includes the performance of Weibo supervisors. According to its July 2021 report, Weibo blocked and deleted 244,000 harmful political posts and 9,877 user accounts through complaints. As for pornographic and illegal content, Weibo has deleted 2,771,027 user accounts and  7,700,000 posts through complaints, among which 3,740,000 were filed by Weibo supervisors. The system also automatically blocked 4,700,000 posts in July. The company will proactively submit illegal content to the police authorities to follow up on the cases.
In July, there were 840 active Weibo supervisors; each supervisor filed an average of 4,472 censorship reports. The supervisor with the most complaints received a bonus of MB 5,000 (approximately 773 US dollars),  four awardees took the second-place prize of RMB 4,000 (618 US dollars), five awardees received the third-place prize of RMB 3,000 (464 US dollars) cash bonus, and 10 awardees won the fourth place prize of RMB 2,000 (310 US dollars).  For those who have fulfilled the minimum requirement of 500 reports per month but failed to squeeze into the 100, they only receive RMB 200 (31 US dollars).
A Weibo user applied a normal distribution model to analyse the data and estimated that the top Weibo supervisor would have to file 22,000 complaints per month, which means 700 complaints per day and 70 reports per hour in a 10-hour work schedule.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Georgian-Belarusian security cooperation deal worries political emigres in Georgia · Global Voices
OC Media

Belarusian, Georgian, and Ukrainian activists protest outside the Belarusian embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 2021. Screenshot from video by RFE/RL on YouTube.
This article by Shota Kincha was first published on OC Media. An edited version is republished here under a content partnership agreement.
A year after disputed presidential elections in Belarus, a Georgian-Belarusian security cooperation agreement has come into force. Critics fear that the treaty could help Minsk target political dissidents currently residing in Georgia.
Belarusians that had fled to Georgia in the repressive aftermath of the disputed 2020 election in Belarus have voiced concern about a cooperation agreement between Georgia’s State Security Service (SSSG) and the State Security Committee of Belarus (KGB) that has entered into force this month.
With the agreement, the two countries are to regularly exchange information, including personal data of interested parties, to cooperate in the fight against “terrorism”, “corruption” and a number of other crimes, including those committed “against the constitutional order, sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the signatory countries.
The deal also includes cooperation in the fight against “transnational organised crime and international crime posing a threat to state security”.
Within the cooperation on these matters, Article 8.1 of the Agreement envisages sending “representatives/attachés” to the partner country “for a definite or an indefinite period”.
The Belarus-Georgian agreement came into force on August 1, 2021, days before Lukashenka's critics marked the anniversary of last year’s presidential election, held on August 9, 2020, and weeks after the European Union targeted the Belarus regime with harder sanctions in response to an intensified crackdown on civil society organisations.
Aleksey Karpeka, a  Belarusian journalist working for independent Belarusian outlet European Radio for Belarus, called the recent Belarusian-Georgian treaty “unpleasant” news.
He told OC Media that he estimates at least 100 Belarusians are currently in Georgia for political reasons.
On August 16, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled Belarusian opposition leader, appealed to the Georgian Foreign Ministry with a warning that Belarusian authorities used “anti-terror legislation” against political opponents.
“Therefore, only the complete termination of the agreement will guarantee the security of Belarusians in Georgia”, Tsikhanouskaya stressed.
Law enforcement and security agencies in Belarus have been repeatedly accused of launching politically motivated investigations to target government critics for years, designating, and outlawing the activities of, a number of civil groups, including media organisations,  who they labelled as “extremist”.
Dmitry Chernykh, Deputy Chairman of Belarusian Helsinki Committee told OC Media that the potential crimes that Georgia and Belarus agreed to jointly combat  — including terrorism and the financing of terrorism, as well as “crimes against the constitutional order, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state” — are those “that many activists of the Republic of Belarus are accused of”.
“We assume that the security of activists in Georgia will depend on what position Georgia will take regarding the political situation in Belarus”, he said. “If Georgia supports the current regime in its agenda with regard to activists, the activists hiding in Georgia will be under threat”.
“Fortunately, the extradition is not mentioned there”, Belarusian journalist Aleksey Karpeka, who arrived in Georgia from Belarus in June, told OC Media.
However, the fact that the law enforcement agencies of Belarus will be able to get access to financial and other information of Belarusians in Georgia triggers negative emotions. Many won’t feel safe here anymore.
According to Marisha Korzh, a Belarusian civil activist living in Georgia, Lukashenka’s government targeting Belarusians in Georgia with “extremist” or “terrorist” designations could be too obvious for the Georgian authorities to play along with.
Instead, according to Korzh, Belarusian authorities could go after their critics by smearing them as potentially involved in dealing drugs or avoiding taxes, in order to retrieve their personal financial information from their Georgian counterparts. They would then proceed to engineer criminal cases.
“In this case, Georgia could actually send these people to Belarus without any sort of justification”, Kozh warned, and cited the criminal case against Ales Bialiatski, the Director of the Human Rights Center Viasna, a rights group active in Belarus.
In 2011, Belarusian prosecutors charged Bialiatski with tax evasion based on the financial information provided by Lithuania and Poland. Human Rights Watch has called the charges “unjustified and politically motivated“.
“The KGB can be quite creative in this kind of thing and I think Georgian security services and the government have to be very very alert and really aware about the consequences of what can happen”, Korzh told OC Media.
News of the treaty began to spread after it was published on state-run Belarusian legal portal Pravo on August 13, with Polish news agency Belsat breaking the story later that day. Swift condemnations from government critics in Georgia as well as from Georgia’s ally countries quickly followed.
“By bringing into force the agreement with the authoritarian regime of Belarus, Georgia will grossly violate human rights, Georgian legislation and its obligations under international treaties”, the Tbilisi office of international rights group Human Rights House warned on August 16.
The opposition parties Droa and European Georgia were among the first to condemn the treaty, with Droa stating that they were “horrified” by it, and European Georgia calling it “shameful”. The treaty was also criticised by Linas Linkevicius, former foreign minister of Lithuania, Estonian MEP Marina Kaljurand, and German MEP Viola Von Cramon, who expressed her surprise on Twitter.
Very scary indeed. Why does #Georgia implement an agreement after 5 yrs in a situation where everyone else in the world gave up the cooperation with #Belarus? GEO government must respect human rights &not extradite journalists & HR defenders to Lukashenka https://t.co/ZuNr8ozK9t https://t.co/nwZT8FABYA
— Viola von Cramon (@ViolavonCramon) August 14, 2021
Former US Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly (2015-2018) also condemned the agreement.
Where are you going, Georgian govt? You withdraw from an agreement brokered by the EU, and double down on this agreement. Prove to us you have not cast your lot with bloody authoritarian regimes. Withdraw. Show you are with the West, not Putin’s East. https://t.co/FZgWbdN7UY
— Ian Kelly (@ikelly731) August 16, 2021
In response to growing criticism Georgia's State Security Service claimed on August 16 that they were targeted with a campaign of “discreditation”.
The SSSG also argued that Georgia already had similar treaties with the USA, UK and EU-member countries and that the agreement, originally signed in 2016, would not oblige Georgia to act against its “state interests”.
A provision in Article 5.6 of the Agreement states that each of the parties may “refuse to execute the request” from another party if it contradicts “human rights”, “national legislation” or “international obligations”.
Amnesty International underlined in their August 20 statement that this “vaguely formulated clause” left protection of human rights to the discretion of the security services of Belarus and Georgia.
Given the “troubling human rights record” of Belarus, the agreement, according to Amnesty International, “could potentially become yet another tool for Belarusian authorities to continue the harassment and intimidation of their critics abroad”.

author: OC Media


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Is a revival of Tatar selfhood possible despite Russia’s identity politics? · Global Voices
Elmira Lyapina

Sweatshirt with Tatar pattern, designed by Tatarcha Casual. Image by Elmira Lyapina, used with permission.
It has been almost four years since a presidential decree limiting the study of indigenous languages in the Russian Federation's national republics came into force. This was in 2017 when the parliament of the Republic of Tatarstan abolished the compulsory study of the Tatar language in schools. What impact has this had on the national self-identity of Tatars living in Russia?
In July 2017, during a meeting of the Council on Interethnic Relations on the implementation of Russia’s national state policy, President Vladimir Putin declared that children should not be forced to study indigenous languages in the national republics that comprise part of Russia. In November of the same year, Tatarstan’s Parliament abolished the compulsory study of the Tatar language in schools and reduced the hours of its teaching in schools from 20 to two hours per week. Interestingly, this decision contravened the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as Russian federal legislation which provides equal legal status to Russian and Tatar languages in Tatarstan.
Tatars in Russia have long felt pressure regarding their identity and the use of their native language. That was the situation when political motives prevailed over the legal order, despite the fact that Russian legislation guarantees the use and study of minority indigenous languages. Overall, the new policy seemed inconsistent with the rights of minorities guaranteed by the constitution. The decision to limit the space for indigenous minority languages pointed to the primacy of one (dominant) national culture and ethnicity, and some felt that it led to a decrease in the multiculturalism of the country.
Tatars, being a Turkic people of mainly Islamic faith, are the second largest ethnic group in Russia, where the dominant vector of national identity is Orthodox Slavic. They are also the largest Turkic community in the Russian Federation. The community includes Tatars living in the Republic of Tatarstan (36 per cent), as well as Volga Tatars, Siberian Tatars, Astrakhan Tatars, Crimean Tatars, and other smaller groups. The number of Tatars in Russia according to the 2010 state census, is about six million. Since they are also widespread outside of Russia, the out-of-Tatarstan and out-of-Russia Tatars feel a special connection with Tatarstan, which represents their nation, identity, and needs.
Tatarstan is part of the Russian Federation, and along with the other 21 national republics, is an equal subject of the federal state. The national republics, in contrast to other federal subjects—krays, oblasts (regions), cities—have a special legal status, with the right to have their own constitution, legislative bodies, and even their own president (in Tatarstan). Importantly, their special status also gives them the right to determine their national languages at the official level in the republic along with the state language, Russian.
However, after the presidential initiative in 2017, and its implementation in Tatarstan, the Tatar language, and with it, the status of the Tatar nation and Tatarstan itself seemed to lose their position, a national tragedy to some. However, President Putin felt that the study of native languages should be voluntary. According to him, “forcing a person to learn a language that is not native to him is as unacceptable as reducing the level and time of teaching Russian.” Putin has also referred to the Russian language as “the natural spiritual framework of our entire multinational country.”
Despite activists and members of the public expressing disagreement, staging protest rallies, and even filing a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights about the new language policy, many teachers of Tatar lost their jobs soon after it was implemented, and the status of the language continues to be precarious.
Last but not least, the closure of the All-Tatar Public Center (Vsetatarskiy Obshestvenniy Centr) dismayed many people. This happened after the prosecutor's office demanded that the Tatars’ oldest national organization be recognized as extremist.
Paradoxically, the turmoil around the language policy has led to a revival of Tatar culture in Russia. The younger generation has found a new direction for self-identity, leading to new developments and cultural activity in Tatarstan and beyond. Along with the national holiday Sabantuy, which is celebrated in cities all over Russia and aims to present their culture, Tatars have rediscovered and even modernized other once-forgotten traditions and customs.
For example, elements of traditional embroidery have become part of modern stylish clothes, and several brands are now adding traditional patterns to sweaters or casual dresses. The Tubeteika hat has become an elegant accessory in the modern woman's wardrobe. Tatar bazaars and markets are also reborn in initiatives such as Pechen Bazary (Peçän bazarı), the hay market in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan.
Sweatshirt with Tatar patterns presented by designer Tatarcha Casual at one of the Tatar festivals. Archival image by Elmira Lyapina, used with permission.
Speaking Tatar, wearing traditional clothes, playing Tatar music, organizing different festivals is now seen as a sign of prestige. Tatar songs are featured more often on federal media channels: young artists such as Dina Garipova, Saida Mukhametzyanova, Elmira Kalimullina have all been the part of the franchise show “The Voice” on Russian television.
In addition, Tatar cinema and film festivals also have a new turn in the spotlight. The talented, young Tatar director Ilshat Rakhimbay told Global Voices about his perception of this revival and the rise of Tatar national identity in response to political limitations.
It is quite amazing, and yet not surprising at the same time. Indeed, [we have seen] the development of various Tatar cultural festivals, more performers of Tatar music or music in Tatar language, and more importantly—more acknowledgment and recognition not only from the public, but also from the authorities with a deeper level of consciousness. Deeper respect is shown for the language and culture, and there is no such dismissal as before—it is not only the stage culture, but that is also supported.
Screenshot from the short film ‘Imagine’ (2017), director Ilshat Rakhimbay.
Thus, Ilshat Rakhimbay's films are made through the prism of “Tatar-ity.” When asked why national identity matters to him as a film-maker, he explained:
It is just a code that is initially embedded in you, and through the language and culture, in which you grew up, you see the whole world. Through words, mother's language, a special relationship is formed with the world, earth, heaven, people, and the Almighty.
In the 19th century, German philosopher G. W. Hegel, in his “Philosophy of Right” suggested the way to an organic community: “Be a person and respect others as persons.” He stressed that language was a key element of self-identity or self-determination. If a nation were deprived of the key element of its identity, a multinational community could lose the unique cultural heritage it represents. An artist can receive national love when the nation recognizes itself in his or her works, but does the recognition of a minority's national identity require wider public acceptance?

author: Elmira Lyapina


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Rejection of new Australian coal mine is a rare win for community environmental campaigners · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

A screenshot from the Battle For Berrima Inc. video Hume Coal and Its Plans For A New Coal Mine In Berrima 2015
Environmentalists are celebrating a victory over a proposed coal development in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) after 11 years of debate and community protests. The Independent Planning Commission (IPC) for the NSW Southern Highlands blocked the plans for the proposed mine, saying the potential impacts of the project were ‘too great to be reasonably managed, and the social risks to the community are high.’
Korean-owned Hume Coal proposed applied to build the coal mine in Berrima. The company argued that the mine would ‘create 300+ jobs for locals’.
The full IPC determination and background materials are available here. The review followed an earlier rejection by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.
The IPC identified a long list of issues raised by the project's opponents, including:
…mine design; subsidence; groundwater drawdown; risks to surface water, including to Sydney’s drinking water catchment area; impacts to local biodiversity; greenhouse gas emissions; impacts to Aboriginal and historic heritage; amenity impacts; adverse impacts to existing industries, including tourism and agriculture; social impacts, including ongoing stress and disharmony associated with the Project; and land use compatibility.
According to the Lock the Gate Alliance, a national grassroots organisation concerned with risky coal mining, coal seam gas and fracking, the mine would have emitted a massive amount of greenhouse gasses:
If it had been built, the Hume Coal project would have been responsible for more than 106 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its lifespan.
There have been local concerns since permission was granted to drill exploration holes in 2010. High profile supporters over the years have included singers Leo Sayer, Cold Chisel's Jimmy Barnes and actor Nicole Kidman, who owned one of the 424 properties that would have been affected by the mine.
This video has an interview with Sayer, a local resident in 2015:
Sayer also made a statement for the public inquiry in June 2021:
…the mine is a danger to health, clean air, farm produce, and the nature of the Southern Highlands and the peace and quiet of this historically natural area.
Jimmy Barnes, who is another longstanding local, also made a written submission.
There has also been opposition from local small business groups such as the Moss Vale Rural and Chamber of Commerce. Their president, restaurateur and farmer Brigid Kennedy, was very pleased with the result, arguing that it would give businesses hope.
I think I have held my breath for 10 years and I feel I can finally let it out. I am so excited — the community will be doing cartwheels down the Berrima main street. There has been a lot of tears over this, marriage break-ups, divorce — this has caused a great deal of anxiety. Hopefully it will help businesses struggling though COVID hang on and flourish.
Tweets by community members Seamus Byrne and Clare Press showed both the elation and growing frustration of many online:
Hume Coal mine project for Southern Highlands has officially been rejected. Feels like a rare win right now!
— Seamus Byrne (@seamus) August 31, 2021
Finally! A good news Aussie fossil fuel story. Brilliant news that Hume Coal Project has been rejected in Berrima. https://t.co/HpzB6uoDiJ
— Clare Press (@MrsPress) August 31, 2021
The IPC found that the greenhouse gas emissions were not justified ‘when weighed against the relatively minor economic benefits’.
However, Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian was concerned that the overall issue of climate change was not properly addressed by the IPC, arguing that no new mines should be approved in NSW:
Yes, the water impacts of this ill-conceived project were extremely risky. And yes, the mine should have been rejected for these reasons alone.
But the fact the IPC barely touched on climate highlights the deficiencies of the planning system in coming to grips with the greatest environmental hazard we face.
The decision has been hailed as a victory for local community action. Groups such as Battle for Berrima have been active on the ground as well as online. The group celebrated the win on their Facebook page.
We would love to be celebrating with you tonight. Throughout, we engaged with the government planning process respectfully. Thank you everybody for your support, donations, volunteering and commitment. Hopefully, once lockdown is over, we can celebrate together. A massive THANK YOU to everybody
Community activist Jenny Hunter’s Twitter thread details the hard work that many locals put in over the 11 years of campaigning:
It’s a rare treat to tweet good news in the covid shitshow era but here we are. A Korean coal company has been refused permission by the NSW govt to build a coal mine 2km from the historic village of Berrima. We live in this cottage, built as an inn in 1834 … 1/5 pic.twitter.com/1Zhv9PrqgP
— Jenny Hunter (@MsJennyHunter) September 1, 2021
After the decision, Peter Martin, president of Coal Free Southern Highlands, posted to their Facebook page :
It’s been a ‘knock down and drag out’ struggle for the local community against the Korean steel maker which has used every weapon in its arsenal to push the project through against the determined opposition.
…Given the serious climate issues that we all face, it would have been a dereliction of duty for the State Government to let a coal mining project like this proceed. Coal is clearly at the end of its useful life.

author: Kevin Rennie


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China’s crackdown on business, media and entertainment sectors is packaged as a ‘profound revolution’ · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Image created by Oiwan Lam
An article that suggests China’s recent crackdown on all sectors is part of a ‘profound revolution’ to shift the country toward a socialist system, has been republished by more than 30 state-owned media outlets since August 29, 2021, indicating a coordinated effort within the Chinese government to promote its message. However, many Chinese political dissidents have suggested the rhetoric in this article is reminiscent of calls for a Cultural Revolution, and could be a means to consolidate power within the ruling party and distract from domestic crises.
China started a heavy-handed clampdown on the private corporate sector from Big Tech companies to property developers near the end of 2020. The crackdown then extended to education, culture and entertainment. There has been speculation about the motivation behind the clampdown and one widely circulated theory is that Chinese President Xi Jinping is using the crackdown to consolidate his power.
Recently, the Chinese propaganda machine provided another theory for Xi Jinping's comprehensive clampdown — a revolution to move away from a ‘capitalist-centred’ system to return to a ‘people-centered’ socialist system.
The article, entitled ‘Everyone can sense that a profound transformation is underway’ (每一個人都能感受到，一場深刻變革正在進行),  is written by Li Guangmen, a nationalist writer. The article begins with an overview of the recent crackdown on celebrities in China. The propaganda authorities have criticized celebrities for being morally corrupt and slammed their fans for being irrational. The article also says the series of crackdowns on private corporations such as the suspension of Ant Group’s IPO, the 18.2 billion yuan fine levied on Alibaba and the investigation of Didi Global, as a sign of a profound transformation toward ‘common prosperity and will alter China’s political-economic system’ (English translation via China Digital Times):
一系列整治动作，都在告诉我们，中国正在发生重大变化，从经济领域、金融领域、文化领域到政治领域都在发生一场深刻的变革，或者也可以说是一场深刻的革命。这是一次从资本集团向人民群众的回归，这是一次以资本为中心向以人民为中心的变革。因此，这是一场政治变革，人民正在重新成为这场变革的主体，所有阻挡这场以人民为中心变革的都将被抛弃。
What these events tell us is that a monumental change is taking place in China, and that the economic, financial, cultural, and political spheres are undergoing a profound transformation — or, one could say, a profound revolution. It marks a return to the people from ‘capitalist cliques’, a shift from ‘capital-centered’ to ‘people-centered’. It is, therefore, a political transformation in which The People will once again be front and center, and all those who obstruct this people-centered transformation will be left behind.
The author predicts that the crackdown will be extended to other sectors including education, health and housing, and blames the US for staging a Colour Revolution to bring down the one-party regime in China:
美国正在对中国实施越来越严厉的军事威胁、经济及科技封锁、金融打击、政治及外交围剿，正在对中国发动生物战、网络战、舆论战、太空战，力度越来越大地通过中国内部的第五纵队对中国发动颜色革命。如果这个时候，我们还要依靠那些大资本家作为反帝国主义、反霸权主义的主力、还在迎合美国的奶头乐战略，让我们的青年一代失去强悍和阳刚的雄风，那么我们不用敌人来打就自己先倒下了，就像当年苏联一样，任国家崩溃、任国家财富被洗劫、任人民陷入深重灾难。因此当前我们中国正在发生的这场深刻变革，正是为了应对当前严峻而复杂的国际形势，正是为了应对美国已经开始对中国发动的野蛮而凶猛的攻击。
The US is waging biological warfare, cyber warfare, space warfare and public opinion battles against China, and is ramping up efforts to foment a ‘color revolution’ by mobilizing a fifth column [or Quisling] within China. If we rely on the barons of capitalism to battle the forces of imperialism and hegemony, if we continue our obeisance to American ‘tittytainment’ tactics, if we allow this generation of young people to lose their mettle and masculinity, then who needs an enemy — we will have brought destruction upon ourselves, much like the Soviet Union back in the day, when it allowed the nation to disintegrate, its wealth to be looted and its population to sink into calamity. The profound transformations now taking place in China are a direct response to an increasingly fraught and complex international landscape, and a direct response to the savage and violent attacks that the US has already begun to launch against China.
The fact that this commentary has been republished by more than 30 state-owned media outlets has raised eyebrows among overseas Chinese political dissidents, as the coordinated campaign implies that the republication instructions are coming from the top.
Zhu Yuanhe, a former People Liberation Army soldier said the tone of the commentary resembles the editorial run by People’s Daily published on June 1, 1966, which marks the beginning of the Chinese Cultural Revolution:
@公爵的秘密情人
今天看各大媒体都在发这一篇(每个人都能感受到，一场深刻的变革正在进行！)。
耐心读完了，倒吸一口凉气。
想起了55年前那篇人民日报社论。 pic.twitter.com/YvVNDV4qYm
— 朱韵和 (@zhu0588) August 31, 2021
Today all major media outlets published this article, ‘Everyone can sense that a profound transformation is underway’. I read through it patiently and found myself shivering.  It reminds me of the People’s Daily editorial 55 years ago.
The front-page editorial of the People’s Daily on June 1, 1966, read ‘Sweep away all monsters’. It references former Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s May 16 announcement about the threats of infiltration by counter-revolutionary revisionists to justify a rigorous class struggle against the bourgeoisie. The party’s internal struggle was then extended to a nationwide violent political purge in the name of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
Cai Xia, a retired professor of the CCP Central Party School also saw a resurgence of Chinese political history. She told Radio Free Asia that China had suffered from COVID-19 lockdown and the US-China trade war in recent years and Xi’s policy has been severely criticised in recent years. She believed that Xi’s political campaign was to divert public attention just as Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution was:
毛泽东为什么要做政治运动?就是三年大饥荒追责到毛的头上。1962年七千人大会上毛泽东陷入困境被追责，他在党内中高层的偶像崇拜破产。为了摆脱这种困境，毛从1964年开始搞农村的社会主义教育运动，接着到1966年搞文革，而在1966年之前，就开始对文艺圈、文化圈进行一波整肃。
Why did Mao Zedong decide to launch the political campaign? It took place in the aftermath of the Great Famine (1959–61). In 1962, during the Seven Thousand Cadres Conference, Mao was forced to admit his failure in the Great Leap Forward  (1958–1962). In order to uphold his leadership, he started a socialist education movement in rural China in 1964 and in 1966 he launched the Cultural Revolution. Before that, Mao had already purged the literature and cultural sector.
A number of international media outlets such as Bloomberg and Reuters also reported on the propaganda piece. Some, like The Australian, also sees the ‘profound revolution’ theory as an attempt to divert attention from the country's economic stress:
Beijing’s propaganda machine has lauded Xi Jinping’s ‘profound revolution’, as new data shows Delta has knocked China’s economy off course.https://t.co/2wWsYuo1CL
— The Australian (@australian) September 1, 2021
Rather than recycling the term Cultural Revolution, political cartoonist Rebel Pepper coined the all-around crackdown as the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s revolution:
習氏大革命時代正式來臨
以《每个人都能感受到，一场深刻的变革正在进行！》此文的發佈和之前的一連串動作為標誌，摧毁多個行業，打壓明星，農民承包土地收回，房屋回歸居住本質……這都是最近半年不到的時間內發生的，你國已經進入超加速度狀態，即將塌縮成黑洞，還沒來得及逃逸的人、財再也無法離開 pic.twitter.com/0rHsMow5ir
— 变态辣椒RebelPepper (@remonwangxt) August 30, 2021
The era of Xi’s revolution has officially arrived. Judging from the publication of  ‘Everyone can sense that a profound transformation is underway’ and a series of political moves including the nipping of several business sectors, crackdown on celebrities, the return of rights to rural land to the state, clampdown on property investment … all of these policies happened within the past six months. The suppression is escalating in full speed and very soon everyone and their property would be sucked into a dark hole.
Li Zhi-De, the chief editor of Chinese investigative news outlet the Initium, on the other hand, compares Xi's crackdown with the Land Reform Movement (1949-53), a political movement to purge landlords:
Rather than calling Xi's measures ‘Cultural Revolution 2.0′, I think the move is more resembling the CCP's land reform. My impression is that the slaying of ‘capitalist crocodiles and the rhetorics on their crackdown is closer to the slogan ‘crackdown on landlords, redistribute the land. Through radical measures, it addresses the Chinese grassroots’ basic needs: redistribution of wealth. This is different from Mao's Cultural Revolution which was mobilized through a thin ideology and driven by a practical political need — the party's internal power struggle. […] What can't be ignored is that the slogan that Xi Jinping upholds is similar to ‘anti-corruption, it can effectively gain enough support from the grassroots and this would be a significant basis for the renewal of his third presidential term.


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Puny opposition no threat to Japan’s sickly government · Global Voices
Atsushi

Placard caption: “Suga surrenders!!!” Suga Yoshide, who, as chief cabinet secretary, announced the naming of the new Reiwa era on April 1, 2019, announced he would resign as prime minister on September 2, 2021. Image remixed by Nevin Thompson.
After a summer dominated by an “unusual” Tokyo Olympics that played to virtual spectators amid a surging pandemic, by late August—with national elections just around the corner—Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) found their popularity waning. Even so, a series of own goals by opposition party figures mean there is little chance of a change in government.
After approval ratings cratered post-Olympics—by August 8, just 29 percent of Japanese voters approved of the government, versus 52 percent disapproval—a beleaguered Suga effectively gave up after less than a year as prime minister. On September 2, after weeks of dithering, Suga announced he would not run in an LDP leadership vote scheduled for later in the month, paving the way for a new prime minister to lead the party into elections, which are carded to happen before the end of October.
Suga became prime minister on September 16, 2020. A successor to—and protege of—Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, Suga has been unpopular with voters for a variety of reasons, all to do with how his government has responded to the pandemic. Vaccine rollout in Japan has been perceived to be haphazard and slow. Fears that COVID-19 cases would spike during and following the Olympics were largely realized, as infections and hospitalizations skyrocketed across Japan, with no apparent government plans to deal with the situation.
Even Team Japan racking up a record number of medals at the Olympics could not change the electorate's opinion. Yet, despite dissatisfaction with the current government, opposition parties are also unpopular with voters.
In a public opinion survey conducted by NHK (the Japan Broadcasting Corporation), about 33 percent of voters supported the governing LDP. In contrast, just 6.4 percent of respondents said they supported the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), the single-biggest opposition party in the Japanese National Diet.
Public distrust of parties like the CDP could be linked to recent odious and anti-science remarks made by some opposition figures. In May 2020, for instance, during discussions among opposition figures about revisions to sex crime laws, CDP member Honda Hiranao remarked that he thought it “strange that he might be arrested if he had sex with a 14-year-old girl who consented to the relationship.” The current Japanese Penal Code sets the minimum age at 13.
Honda apologized, resigned from the party, and announced he would not run in the upcoming election, but the damage was already done. The Japanese Communist Party (JCP), traditionally a highly popular regional party that has said it would be open to cooperating with the CDP to defeat the incumbent, attempted to do damage control. Koike Akira, a senior JCP leader, tweeted:
現行刑法で13歳未満とされている性交同意年齢を引き上げるべきことは、国連からも勧告されており、性暴力被害の当事者も声を上げている。少なくとも義務教育終了後の「16歳未満」に引き上げるべき時に、言語道断の発言であり、厳しく非難する。
The United Nations has recommended that the age of consent for sexual intercourse, which is under the current criminal law, be raised. We should also listen to the victims of sexual violence. In any event, the age of consent should be raised to “over the age of 16 years,” following the completion of compulsory education. [Honda's] remarks are outrageous, and should be severely condemned.
Japan's political landscape has been dominated by the LDP-Komeito coalition ever since its defeat of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in the 2012 general election. The DPJ broke up following the election, splintering opposition parties at the polls, and allowing the LDP-Komeito to continue in government.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), heir to the DPJ and theoretically waiting to take over from a weakened LDP, struggles to avoid gaffes. Following the disgrace of Honda after his comments about sexual consent, another CDP legislator was called out for online disinformation campaigns amid the pandemic and a public health crisis.
As reported in July by Yahoo! Japan News, Buzzfeed, and other sources, Kitajo Tomohiko, a CDP electoral candidate, used official CDP campaign materials to share misinformation about vaccines on Twitter. Kitajo claimed that “mRNA vaccines can cause infertility among females” and “the Pfizer vaccine has no efficacy against [the] COVID-19 virus.”
After online backlash from well-known doctors about the inaccuracy of his statement, Kitajo deleted his tweet and apologized for conflating his personal opinion with the stance of his party. Yet, he continues to express his controversial views about COVID-19 vaccines, along with other opposition anti-vaxxers—including Aoyama Masayuki, formerly of the CDP but now a member of the Japan Restoration Party (JRP), an independent faction. Aoyama Masayuki, who once sits on the parliamentary Committee on Health, Welfare and Labor, often tweets anti-vaccine misinformation while picking fights with doctors.
As such, while Suga joins the ranks of Japan's “revolving-door” prime ministers, the LDP-Komeito government appears safe to continue on, despite the misgivings of the electorate.

author: Atsushi


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The story of a potato biscuit-chips fusion — how a Bangladeshi brand mesmerised India · Global Voices
Abhinash

Potato Grading in Bangladesh. Image from Flickr by Bengal*foam. CC BY-ND 2.0.
In the markets of the Indian subcontinent, well known for both sweet and spicy snacks and treats, it is typical to see shops selling a range of goodies, biscuits and other readymade products. A glut of companies, big and small, compete to fulfil this demand, but in recent years, one Bangladeshi manufacturer, PRAN, has become extremely popular in India because of its spicy and savoury offerings, topping the market in East India even as it expands its reach to other regions of the country and challenges the perception that products from Bangladesh or other small countries can’t compete with India’s big brands.
As neighbours, Bangladesh and India regularly depend on each other in bilateral trade. Bangladesh is India's fourth-biggest export destination for agricultural products like rice and onions, petroleum products and more, generating around eight billion United States dollars per annum, according to 2020 figures. In contrast, Bangladesh reached a billion US dollars in exports to India in 2019. Clothing, vegetable textile fibre, and paper yarns are some of the most common export items from Bangladesh to India.
The PRAN-RFL Group, an acronym for Programme for Rural Advancement Nationally, is a large agribusiness and plastic product manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Bangladesh. Its subsidiary, PRAN Foods, was founded in 1981 by Amjad Khan Chowdhury, a retired major general of the Bangladesh army who wished to empower the agribusiness sector and rural farmers in Bangladesh.
PRAN Foods started exporting canned pineapple to France in 1997, and now exports its 200-plus food brands to over 400 million consumers in 145 countries worldwide. Products like juice and drinks, spices, biscuits and other confectionery items, account for nearly 70 percent of its export products. PRAN's brands occupy the shelves in popular grocery chains in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and Malaysia, where there is a significant migrant population from Bangladesh—and now, bit by bit, it's invading the Indian market.
Chanachur or Bombay mix is a popular snack in South Asia. Image via Flickr by Aftab Uzzaman. CC BY-NC 2.0.
In 1997, the company received its first-ever import order from Agartala, the capital city of India's north-eastern state of Tripura, for a product known as Chanachur in Bengali, known by different names in various parts of India. The product was successful, and the company soon added other products to its Indian markets.
In 2015, PRAN established a plant in the Indian state of Tripura investing two billion Indian rupees (27.3 million US dollars) to service the 3.2 trillion Indian rupee (close to 44 billion US dollar) packaged consumer goods sector in India. It was the first time a Bangladeshi fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company had set up a manufacturing unit in India. PRAN would go on to set up another plant in West Bengal. Thus far, the company has been able to successfully expand its network in India beyond the traditional East Indian and West Bengal markets, reaching as far as Delhi or Mumbai, prompting Delhi-based journalist Sanjukta Basu to write on Twitter:
Let dad go out after 2 months today. To his fav bakery shop. Delighted to see what he got home. A new spicy biscuit by PRAN a Bangladesh product. I first saw and tasted a Pran food item, mango drink, 20-25 yrs back at a border town in Malda, WB. They've reached Delhi today. Wow. pic.twitter.com/j1Jfa3jS1s
— Sanjukta Basu (@sanjukta) May 25, 2021
In March 2021, PRAN began to export food products to India using the inland waterway connecting Kolkata from Dhaka. This 710-kilometre route, which takes about eight days to traverse, is expected to reduce export costs by 35 percent, increasing the company's competitiveness against Indian brands.
‘Potata’, PRAN's spicy potato biscuit-chips fusion, is now a viral internet sensation in India. Every year, Bangladesh produces the largest surplus of potatoes in South Asia, which PRAN uses to its advantage. PRAN's potato products are also available in the form of chips and crackers, without the fusion.
Shivam Vij, a writer and journalist from India, tweeted quoting an article and claimed PRAN now leads the potato biscuit market, ahead of Indian companies:
I had this packet of chips that tasted so good I kept wondering what was that?
Ah, it was from Bangladesh. Thanks to @Shrabonti for digging out the back story of Pran’s Potata.
Bangladesh even making better potato crisps than us now. https://t.co/RwgiO28D9r
— Shivam Vij ?? (@DilliDurAst) June 13, 2021
The product has gone viral on social media and is being mentioned on Whatsapp, food blogs and more. As Shrabonti Bagchi noted in Mint Lounge, the weekend magazine of India's Livemint news site:
I started seeing that packet everywhere — random tweets on my Twitter timeline talking about how these biscuits have been the find of the lockdown, Instagram posts and stories that came up while scrolling mindlessly, and an enthusiastic discussion on a hyperactive WhatsApp group about the best way of sourcing these made-in-Bangladesh biscuits.
Debojit Kakoti, a Twitter user from Tezpur, Assam, tweeted:
বাংলাদেশ বুলি কলেই বেছিভাগ অসমীয়াৰ মনত এখন নেতিবাচক চিত্ৰ ভাঁহি আহে। কিন্ত সেই বাংলাদেশৰ বিভিন্ন Product ৰ অসমত কোটি টকাৰ বজাৰ বজাৰ আছে(উদাহৰণ:-Pran potato chips, biscuits)। অসমৰ কোনো সামগ্ৰীএ তেনেদৰে বাংলাদেশৰ বজাৰ পাবলৈ সক্ষম হৈছে জানো ??(গৰুক বাদ দি)
— Debojit Kakoti (@Kakoti97) January 6, 2021
Most of the Assamese have a negative image of Bangladesh. But products from Bangladesh are making millions of dollars in revenue in Assam. Are there any Assam-based products which could consolidate in Bangladesh’s market (except cattle)??
Meanwhile, in a post on the Brand Practitioners Bangladesh Facebook page, Bangladeshi social media user Sadman Evan discussed why the biscuit is so popular in both India and Bangladesh:
This biscuit tastes way better than any other spicy biscuits in town. And the price is also very convenient in terms of the taste. This is the reason behind all the hype I guess.
Besides the ‘Potata’, PRAN products like ‘Jhal Muri’, ‘Frooto’, and ‘Litchi’, as well as its range of potato crackers, dry cake, and potato spicy biscuits, are now familiar names in Indian grocery shops, competing with more established competitors and becoming a viable consumer alternative. PRAN's litchi and mango drinks, as well as its sweet toast made from flavoured rusk, are now dominating the Indian markets.
As the popularity of PRAN's potato biscuits grew, Indian food giants quickly took up the challenge to improve their own offerings. ITC, one of India's foremost manufacturing companies, launched the ‘Sunfeast All Rounder’, which it describes as a thin, chatpata masala-flavoured potato biscuit. The product's packaging and design, nearly identical to PRAN's version, prompted many questions about potential copyright infringement. Another big brand, Britannia 50-50, launched its own potato chip and biscuit fusion, ‘5050 Potazos’, in July 2021.
Brand expert Bhavin Adhyaru shared on Linkedin:
This is the market of FMCG; you are always in […] a situation where your competitor is […] waiting for your move to copy [it]. Competition is just a mirage! You name it, you grab it!
PRAN has undoubtedly created a range of innovative products, blending flavours to achieve market share in the competitive snack industry, while inspiring something of a cult following among snack aficionados in India.

author: Abhinash


text:
After Twitter labeled Serbian pro-government media: It is important to know who controls and exercises pressure on media · Global Voices
Istinomer

This story by Mihaela Šljukić Bandović originally appeared at Istinomer (Truth-O-Meter), a fact-checking initiative of the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA). An edited version is published below as part of a content-sharing agreement with Global Voices.
Twitter profiles labeled as “Media outlet that cooperates with the government [in] Serbia” (in Serbian: “Медиј који сарађује са владом Србијa). Collage by Global Voices, CC BY.
After deleting more than 8,500 accounts last year that promoted President Aleksandar Vucic and Serbian Progressive Party, Twitter gave them another headache by labelling tweets as media controlled by the Government of Serbia. In response to Serbian authorities’ accusations that this was censorship, this company told Istinomer that it was important for Twitter users to know when the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, explaining their guidelines when making such distinctions.
It has been a long time since the Serbian media scene has been as greatly disturbed as after the Twitter decision to label these accounts as “media outlet that cooperates with the government [in] Serbia”.
Twitter applied this label to public broadcaster RTS, regional public broadcaster Radio Television Vojvodina, Politika daily, news agency Tanjug, online media outlet B92, TV Prva, TV Pink, TV Hepi, tabloids Kurir and Informer.
Well done @twitter. Kurir and Informer, two pro-regime tabloids ?? are now clearly marked for being media close to the Serbian government. pic.twitter.com/EnXcgk1y0R
— Florian Bieber (@fbieber) August 16, 2021
While some believe that Twitter only confirmed common knowledge in Serbia, and what was visible in media monitoring of local and international non-governmental organizations, the government and labelled media accused Twitter of censorship, claimed it was an attack on media freedom. Daily newspaper Novosti reported that President Aleksandar Vučić said that the labeling is “a political weapon in the hands of CIA or the Pentagon!”
Istinomer asked Twitter to define the criteria and methodology for labelling government-affiliated media.  The company press office said that they distinguish between media financed from public funds and those controlled by governments or states, since their “focus is to label state-controlled media which are not free from political and government pressures”.
Media affiliated with the state are defined as media where “the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources and direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution”. Twitter continued:
“We believe it is important for people using Twitter to know when media are controlled by the government as regards financing and editorial content. This control is exercised either through self-censorship or by announcing information under government directive. We will not publish the list of all accounts which are labelled as state-affiliated, to prevent the states that want to avoid this labelling to open new accounts in order to trick the system”.
The company said that they consulted “many stakeholders, including academics and researchers, government, expert organizations and those using their services”, and that, in their opinion, such labelling of accounts was “efficient since it provides context and information to the users on the origin of account and its potential intent”.
Although they have not specifically listed applied methodology, Twitter notes that in order to label the media as state-controlled, they use the reports of numerous expert organizations as their sources, such as the Media Freedom Index of Reporters without Borders and Freedom House. in a recent report, Reporters without Borders says that “Serbia is a country with weak institutions that is prey to fake news spread by government-backed media”, while Freedom House criticizes Serbia for “pro-government propaganda, which contributed to the SNS’s sweeping election victory”.
Danilo Krivokapic, Director of digital rights-promoting Share Foundation, told Istinomer that it was of utmost importance for this platform to announce the reasoning behind their decision. He said he believes this is not “classic censorship”, since  Twitter does not recommend or enhance accounts or tweets, and media are still able to publish content without disturbance, with followers having full access to tweets.
Krivokapic continued:
Twitter, and other platforms too, have been justifying for too long that they are nothing more than intermediaries in informing, without any liability for it, but numerous side pressure have caused them to change their practice and have more responsibility for their users. At the beginning of this year Twitter blocked the then American President Trump, and Facebook has, along with its partnership organizations, started labelling fake news more seriously so I believe this Twitter decision came from that. It is reasonable in that sense to first label the media that depend of government, since such influence is the most obvious and prevalent, but we have to have all information on how such decisions were made so we could have confidence in such system.
Twitter started the practice of labelling the state- or government-controlled media in August 2020. It focused first on China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States of America. In February 2021 that practice was extended to 15 more countries: Canada, Cuba, Ecuador, Germany, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates and Serbia.
Although they have used the same censorship narrative, leading Russian and Chinese media that were labelled by Twitter as government-affiliated media, such as RTS, stopped using that social media as a sign of protest.
To make the situation more dramatic, President Vucic said that he could wait for Twitter to shut down his account and make him another Trump. This comment was reported around the world, including in the Washington Post, which describes him as a “Serbian autocratic leader”.
President Vucic asked why it was wrong that some media had cooperated with the government. He even congratulated the media “opposing the obedient network”, saying that Twitter really flattered those media, as they did not opt to cooperate with “tycoons, thieves and criminals”. In his words, the government was not paying the majority of those media outlets, “while they are paying Voice of America and BBC, but they have not listed them as government-affiliated media”.
Ministry of Culture and Information issued an announcement expressing surprise regarding Twitter's actions, noting:
Министарство не улази у то шта је навело овај вишејезични сајт да од размене мишљења и слободе говора, што сами истичу, стигне до цензуре појединих медија у нашој земљи али скреће пажњу да је обележавање медија и њихових уредника или руководства, небитно од кога да долази, непожељно и да не води демократском дијалогу којем ми као друштво тежимо.
The Ministry doesn't comment on what has made this multilingual site [Ed: Twitter] to move from their stated position of promoting an exchange of opinions and freedom of speech to censoring some media in our country, but emphasizes that  labeling media and their editors or management, regardless by whom, is not desirable and doesn't lead to democratic dialogue as a goal in our society.

author: Istinomer


text:
Anti-vaccination protesters storm Slovenian public broadcaster, threatening journalists · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

RTV Slovenia headquarters in Ljubljana. Photo by Wikipedia user Mateus2019, CC BY 3.0 de.
A group of protesters that deny the existence of COVID-19 and oppose epidemiological measures and vaccination have stormed the studio of Public Broadcaster Radio Television (RTV) Slovenia on Friday evening, demanding airtime to present their views.
The incident took place around  8:30 pm on September 3, as anti-vaccination protesters entered the studio used for news production and started insulting the  journalists.  The police had to intervene to remove the intruders.
Journalist Barbara Vidmajer shared a video showing the event and  police intervention  in a tweet which become viral.
Vdor proticepilcev v dnevniški studio. #napadnartv pic.twitter.com/PpHLwyrYdo
— Barbara Vidmajer (@bvidmajer) September 3, 2021
Antivaxxer intrusion in the daily news studio. #AttackOnRTV
The group that invaded the Slovenian public broadcaster's studio has been protesting  in front of the building for weeks. Before the incident, these protests were nonviolent, but they did include the heckling of the journalists who were passing by.
TV anchor Tanja Staric told N1 that they had been warning the authorities for months that the situation was becoming unbearable, but that no one had done anything until the incident.
The police finally removed about 20 protesters, who were not wearing masks, bne Intellinews  reported.
RTV Slovenia journalists appealed to authorities to protect them from further violence.
The attackers call themselves the Movement of  Aware Inhabitants of Slovenia or OPS. Their Facebook page Gibanje OPS (Osveščeni Prebivalci Slovenije) is listed as a “local business” and has nearly 24 thousand fans and almost 30 thousand followers. In the about section of the page, they describe themselves as an “independent, determined and powerful civic organization” working on “program of national unity” based on “liberation, cleansing and rebirth of Slovenia!”
Ladislav Troha in 2020. Photo by Wikipedia user Hladnikm, CC BY-SA 4.0.
OPS president is Ladislav Troha, described as the “leader of the cult of coronavirus deniers” in a profile published by  24ur.com the day after the incident.  The profile lists a number of his attempts to draw public  attention, including a holding a hunger strike for almost two months in 2014 in front of the government.
In 2001 Troha claimed he was kidnaped for four months by three unknown persons. The subsequent investigation carried by Slovenian police could not confirm these claims and resulted in him being charged for filing a false police report. The court later released him due to lack of evidence.
Previously, Troha served as an officer in the Slovenian Army, reaching the rank of major. Before his 2001 disappearance claim, he was discharged after publicly spreading false claims about other officers planting explosives for the purpose of political assassinations on behest of the then minister of defense, Janez Janša, in 1993.
Janša—who currently  holds the post of Slovenian prime minister—later sued Troha for defamation and won the lawsuit of one million tolars or about 5,000 dollars.
Troha unsuccessfully ran for parliament in 2008 and for president in 2012.
Open data presented by the independent project COVID-19 Tracker Slovenia shows that 4,456 Slovenian citizens had died of COVID-19 by September 6, 2021.
The tracker collects, analyses and publishes data on the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in order to give the public a better overview of the magnitude of the issue and a proper assessment of the risk.
Current data on COVID-19 in Slovenia shows that unvaccinated patients make up the majority of confirmed new cases. Graph by COVID-19 Tracker Slovenia, used with permission.
The country has had about 270,000 confirmed cases out of 2 million inhabitants. About 43 percent of Slovenian citizens have been vaccinated, which has reduced the death rate in recent months.
Vladimir Kesma Nešković, courtesy photo used with his permission.
Software developer and activist Vladimir Kesma Nešković, a member of the COVID-19 Tracker Slovenia team, expressed concern in a statement to Global Voices:
Slovenia is currently in the lower half of the list of European Union member states vaccination rates of most vulnerable groups. So far the death rate had been low, but the number of new infection cases have been increasing rapidly in the recent days. One can expect that this would lead to overcrowding of the hospitals, which in turn would directly increase the death rate due to scarcity of medical care for all who need it.

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
Biggest financial scandal in Mozambique’s history proceeds to trial · Global Voices
Global Voices Lusofonia

A screenshot of Televisão de Mozambique's broadcast of the “Hidden Debts” trial. Source: YouTube — August 2021
Mozambique's “Hidden Debts” trial, the biggest financial and corruption scandal the country has ever known, began August 20, 2021.
There are 19 defendants on trial, including former President of the Republic Armando Guebuza's son, Ndambi Guebuza. The charges include influence peddling, passive corruption, money laundering, embezzlement, abuse of office or function, forgery of documents, and association to delinquency.
The corruption started during Guebuza's term, 2004–2014. At the time, some officials secretly contracted over 2 billion US dollars in debt. Neither the parliament nor Mozambique's official financial entities were aware of the transactions.
The case was reported through foreign news portals such as The Wall Street Journal in April 2016. According to investigations, those involved range from the former finance minister to Armando Guebuza's son, as well as members of the Mozambique secret service.
Because of the scandal, many of Mozambique's cooperation partners, including the International Monetary Fund. suspended support for the state's budget.
According to Deutsche Welle, a study published in May 2021 indicates that the hidden debts have reduced democratic activity and created authoritarianism in Mozambique, with the education sector being affected the most.
About two million Mozambicans were pushed into absolute poverty from 2016–2019 due to the hidden debts, as revealed in a study by the Public Integrity Center (CIP).
The study also indicates that with the direct costs of the debt — estimated at 674.2 million US dollars — 56,000 classrooms and 898 health centers could have been built.
According to research entitled “Costs and Consequences of Hidden Debts for Mozambique,” through the direct costs alone, each Mozambican citizen paid 159 US dollars (about 10 thousand Mozambican meticals) to support the debt between 2016–2019.
The debts were contracted between 2013–2014 with the British branches of investment banks Credit Suisse and VTB by Mozambican state companies Proindicus, EMATUM (Empresa Moçambicana de Atum), and Mozambique Assets Management (MAM). These loans were secretly endorsed by the Government, led at the time by Armando Guebuza, without the approval of the Parliament or the Administrative Court.
To better understand the case, in 2015, the Government of Mozambique and its partners carried out an audit conducted by the governance and risk assessment firm Kroll to ascertain what had actually happened. The 64-page report provides detailed explanations after an investigation into the debts incurred by the companies EMATUM, Proindicus, and MAM.
The document showed that there were discrepancies in the prices of the goods and services delivered, stating that there are still gaps in exactly how the 2 billion dollars were spent, despite considerable efforts to remedy these gaps.
Kroll, according to the report, was unable to carry out any form of reliable valuation of the goods and services supplied by the contracted companies due to the scope of three supply contracts.
In addition to the trial that is currently underway, the Mozambican Justice Department has opened an autonomous case investigating several people suspected of participating in the scheme. This includes former finance minister Manuel Chang, former directors of the Banco de Moçambique, and former executives of Credit Suisse — the banking institution that made the loans feasible.
Chang has been accused of approving loans that are illegal according to Mozabiquan law and hiding them from other cabinet members. He has been detained in South Africa for over two and a half years at the request of the United States. He has been indicted in the US for defrauding US investors. Officials are still debating whether to extradite Chang to Mozambique or the US.
Iniciou um pouco depois das 9h o julgamento do caso #dividasocultas. Passa quase 1h e juiz , MP e advogados apresentam pontos prévios. O destaque vai para prazos de prisões preventivas, bem como a libertação dos membros dos serviços secretos para responder em liberdade.
— Alexandre (@AllexandreMZ) August 23, 2021
The trial of the #hiddendebts case began a little after 9:00 am. Almost 1 hour passed and the judge, MP and lawyers present previous points. The focus is on the pre-trial detention deadlines, as well as the release of members of the secret services to be free pending trial.
— Alexandre (@AllexandreMZ) August 23, 2021
As for Ndambi Guebuza, the eldest son of the former President of Mozambique, denies receiving bribe money, and his lawyer claims that his detention is illegal. According to a report from the Observador, based on the uncovered scheme, Armando Guebuza's son would have received 33 million dollars in bribes to influence his father to approve a coastal protection project which was used as a pretext for the massive 2.2 billion dollar loan.
During the first few days of the trial, one of the defendants shared a revelation involving the current President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, claiming that he approved the maritime protection project at the center of the loans when he was minister of the National Defense.
Since the trial started, it has provoked widespread debate about the fairness of the trial and the lack of independence within Mozambique's Justice Department. The Center for Public Integrity called the trial itself a victory for the country.
O Julgamento do caso das dívidas ocultas:
– Uma vitória do CIP na luta anticorrupção
Leia o texto na íntegra: https://t.co/yQMaZZasu8
— CIP-Mozambique (@CIPMoz) August 23, 2021
The judgment of the hidden debts case:
– A victory for the CIP in the fight against corruption
Read the full text: https://t.co/yQMaZZasu8
— CIP-Mozambique (@CIPMoz) August 23, 2021
But not everyone is so optimistic. Some assert that powerful people and their families — such as the former President's son — unfairly benefit from Mozambique's laws and governance structure.
Ao ouvir o que se está a dizer no julgamento das #DividasOcultas, a sociedade deveria colocar em causa os direitos que os filhos dos PR, por conta da protecção que têm como se fossem filhos de reis. Isso dói a todos nós que pagamos impostos.
— RAFAEL MACHALELA ?? (@rafaelmachalela) August 31, 2021
Upon hearing what is being said in the judgment of #HiddenDebts, society should question the rights of the children of the presidents, on account of the protection they have as if they were the children of kings. It hurts all of us who pay taxes.
— RAFAEL MACHALELA (@rafaelmachalela) August 31, 2021

author: Global Voices Lusofonia


text:
Renewed calls for government protection after another Kuwaiti man kills woman relative · Global Voices
Dahlia Kholaif

With an all-men National Assembly, Kuwaitis who sympathize with women do not expect swift action to be taken. Public domain photo.
Once again, Kuwait's national population of roughly 1.5 million citizens were shocked by the murder of one more woman, the third in as many months according to local media. The death is sending jolts of anguish and frustration throughout the Gulf state's online spheres, and renewing calls for authorities to protect women in the oil-rich country.
The latest crime was committed on September 2, when a brother killed his sister in the district of Taimaa. This happened as police forces, who came in response to the victim's reports of being threatened and held against her will in the house for two months, were made to wait outside the house, local press said. Arriving at the scene to check on her safety, policemen allowed the brother who received them to reenter the house and kill her, reports in local media said.
عاجل / السلطات الأمنية كانت قد تلقت بلاغ سابق من الضحية مساء أمس واليوم يفيد بتعرضها للتهديد بالقتل.
• أثناء وصول رجال الأمن طلبوا من القاتل التأكد من البلاغ بأن شقيقته على قيد الحياة فقام القاتل بالدخول للمنزل وقام بنحرها ثم خرج وسلم نفسه للسلطات الأمنية! https://t.co/JqU6KFTFDo
— المجلس (@Almajlliss) September 1, 2021
Urgent/ Security forces received earlier reports from the victim yesterday and today, in which she said she has been threatened with murder.
With security forces present to check that the sister is alive, the murderer went in to kill her, and then handed himself in to the security forces!
Kuwaiti women, while ahead of others in the Arabian Gulf in terms of political participation and gains, having won suffrage in 2005, continue to face patriarchal dominance within their families and political setup, affecting their choices and freedoms. Recently, Kuwaiti women have been witnessing rising cases of femicide, triggering several protests to demand government intervention to prevent such crimes.
Online, people expressed their dismay at authorities’ idleness and lack of action. Kuwaiti women's rights activist Maha Almari tweeted:
At least three women were brutally murder by male relatives during the a week in Kuwait.
And the country stays silent, with no womens shelter, no task force dedicated to gender based crimes, not even an acknowledgement that femicides exist let alone a promise to do better.
— Almaha Almari | المها المري (@almaha_n_m) September 2, 2021
In another tweet, she urged women put pressure on officials. “I wonder what would happen if women, all women, in kuwait walked out for a day. From their homes as mothers, their jobs as doctors and bankers, their schools as educators and students. I wonder if it would wake them up,” Almari wrote.
Exhorting the Kuwaiti government to take action, another Kuwaiti Twitter user wrote:
please do something women in kuwait are getting killed everyday and we don’t feel safe anymore!! @UN @UN_Women #جريمة_تيماء pic.twitter.com/g3AmMPFJfY
— ♀ (@skakaxll) September 1, 2021
Anwar Abdulsamad Dashti, chairman of Kuwait's Freedom Society, an independent organization launched in 2017 to endorse liberal values, wrote on Twitter that the lack of serious movement in response to these crimes affects people's loyalty to their country. He added in another tweet that his society has opened a hotline to receive calls for help.
إلى نساء الكويت ??
دفاعنا عنكم واجب إنساني و وطني ??
لن أخاف من مواجهة بعض العوائل و القبائل في الدفاع عنكم??
الي ما رباه الدين يربيه القانون
الكويت تحتاج شجعان و ليس أبطال خلف بوديوم مجلس الأمة pic.twitter.com/cp1NdTNN5o
— أنور عبدالصمد دشتي ?? (@Anwar_Liberal) September 2, 2021
To the women of Kuwait
Defending you is a humanitarian and national duty
I will not be afraid to confront some families and tribes in your defense
Those who were not brought up well by religion, will behave through law.
Kuwait needs brave people, not heroes, behind the podium of the National Assembly.
Abolish 153 is a campaign that seeks to revoke article 153 of the country's penal code which “offers a vastly reduced sentence to the perpetrator of an honor crime,” treating it as a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum sentence of three years jail time and/or a fine of 14 dinars ($46.59). In a tweet posted following this crime, the campaign said:
الوضع غير طبيعي…ثلاث سيدات تقتل من قبل اقرب الناس لهن في ظرف أسبوعين.
الجهات الأمنية يجب أن تمكن من التدخل الفوري دون الخوف من العواقب القانونية بهذه الحالات…
ليش للحين ما عندنا دار إيواء؟؟؟؟؟#اوقفوا_قتل_النساء pic.twitter.com/JqsDgmZbz3
— abolish153 (@abolish153) September 2, 2021
The situation is abnormal… three women killed by closest relatives in the span of two weeks.
Security forces must be enabled to intervene immediately without dreading legal repercussions in such cases.
Why don't we have a shelter up until now? #Stop_murdering_women
Protests on the ground also took place in a bid to pressure lawmakers to take action.
For the second time this week, Kuwait has witnessed two demonstrations by both men and women, to put an end to the ongoing commodification and murders..etc of women.
This is a big step that we all support.
Efforts by men and women are appreciated!
Keep it up!
#ساحه_الاراده pic.twitter.com/IqojNvGDli
— Abdulrahman (@Abdulls08) September 3, 2021
However, with a parliament of only men—women candidates failed to secure any seats in last year's elections—and a tense political dynamic resulting in continuous conflicts between the assembly and government, the chances that policymakers will take respond swiftly to prevent similar crimes are slim.

author: Dahlia Kholaif


text:
Resisting the coup and the patriarchy: An interview with Myanmar’s feminist activist Nandar · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Nandar during an anti-coup protest in Myanmar. Source: Twitter
Citizens from all over Myanmar mobilized to form the resistance against Myanmar’s military government, including, unsurprisingly, artists and feminists. One of these resisters is prominent women’s rights advocate Nandar.
Nandar founded the Purple Feminists Group, co-directed a production of The Vagina Monologues in Myanmar, and translated a Burmese version of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's book “We Should All Be Feminists.” Her podcasts “Feminist Talks” and “G-Taw Zagar Wyne” tackle topics affecting women in Myanmar.
In recognition of her work, she was included on the BBC’s list of 100 most influential and inspirational women around the world in 2020. She is shortlisted for the Index on Censorship's 2021 Freedom of Expression Awards.
She was on the frontlines of the protests during the early weeks of the coup until an intensified government crackdown forced her to return to her village in northern Myanmar. She left the country in March but continued to oppose the coup while promoting women's empowerment.
In a virtual interview with Global Voices, Nandar recalled the difficult transition she faced after leaving Myanmar
…choosing to get out was a very difficult choice-emotionally and physically. It was such a painful process with the COVID-19 restrictions and all. As soon as I got out, I started working so much that at one point, I wasn't taking care of my own mental and physical health. I felt extremely sick many times but kept working. Most parts of this also were fueled by survivors’ guilt and [the] grieving process that I was going through heavily after leaving the country.
Nandar's podcast tackles women's issues which are often overlooked. Photo used with permission.
The coup hasn't stopped the Purple Feminists Group from continuing their advocacy work, and though they can't run the same programs they used to, they are still finding ways to promote peace and women's empowerment through literature, podcasts, and a virtual workshop series. They plan to hold a feminist literature competition and are running a self-care campaign to raise awareness on mental health in Myanmar. They also created a “writing to heal” workshop series to teach people how to use writing to cope with trauma and mental health issues.
She underscored the vital role that women and feminists have played in challenging the coup:
With the help of digital and internet advancement as well as the progress that the feminists in Myanmar have made, women in Myanmar gradually realized that hiding their ability to do things will not necessarily help their society or the country. Therefore, it is time for them to be themselves. That's when the game changed, I would say. When women and girls decide that they are part of this community that has been taken away and ruled by dictators. So, they must do something about it.
I remember asking random women in the protests about why they think they should be here in the protests along with these men and if the politics is really for women out of curiosity of getting their insights, they said this beautifully which I think can answer your questions about how and why it is valuable that feminists and women are challenging not only the dictatorship system but also the patriarchy system. They said, “if the country is continued by the dictators, it is not just the men who would suffer, we would also suffer under it. That's why it is important for women to be part of this revolution.”
In a webinar hosted by the Association for Women's Rights in Development, Nandar talked about how feminists are calling out the feudal mindset of some anti-coup protesters:
Even among protestors, as I was mentioning, women are judged for how they are dressed during the protest by male protestors. [They are] being questioned about how they are dressing while protesting. I think these are irrelevant questions to be asking while standing up for democracy. You are not supposed to question a female body, whatever she is wearing or however she is protesting. It’s solely her body. There has to be freedom for women to be themselves and to protest. So I think this is something women have to go through, specifically for being women. These problems should be highlighted by the media as well.
Nandar shared how the international community can support Myanmar and the pro-democracy movement:
Solidarity can mean you sending a text to a friend or someone you know from the crisis place. It can mean you sharing your expertise to someone who needs that. It can mean you giving a hug to someone. The foundation of solidarity really means you care about the people who are victims of the crisis situation. I want people to know that showing solidarity isn't an expensive act. It can be done in so many ways if you don't limit yourself.
She also has a message to donors and international agencies which are providing assistance to groups and individuals in Myanmar:
Donors must learn to design their funding to have room for flexibility so that feminists who are working in the crisis using the fund don't have to go through painful procedures and time consumptions to get the funding so that they can do what they need to do. The donors must take responsibility to do better with their funding design.

author: Mong Palatino