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Myanmar: Rakhine Villages Attacked · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

This post is part of our special coverage Myanmar's Rohingya.
News that a Rakhine girl was raped and killed triggered a huge riot in Maung Taw, Rakhine, Myanmar. The dead body, with mutilations on the neck, ears, and shoulders, was found [my] on May 29 in the morning.
Three suspects were immediately arrested but many people felt that judicial action was slow. About 700 Rakhine people conducted a protest [my] in front of the police station and local administrative agency.
A few days later, nine Muslims were killed [my] in a bus attack after vigilantes mistakenly assumed that the child rapists were onboard. Muslims in Yangon protested against the usage of the term ‘kala’ in government newspapers reporting the incident, which they say is a term of insult.
Netizens actively discussed the issue. Some were frustrated with the violence, some wrote about the senselessness of revenge, while others appealed to the public not to mix up religious disputes with immigrant issues.
A few days ago, a group of terrorists attacked public places in Rakhine. Naing Htoo Aung wrote [my] about the riot:
A Muslim crowd of a thousand who finished Friday service from Kyaut Mosque attacked guest houses and destroyed the roof of a private bank. In the afternoon, they burned more guest houses and six food stalls. Fire spread to the nearby Bo Hmu village. Two houses in the town proper were burned down as well. Terrorists also attacked Yay Myaing village and a Buddhist monastery in Shwe Yin Aye village.
Public hospitals were also put on fire and the staff had to move out quickly to save the hospital patients. Residents near the hospital had to flee [rki] and seek refuge in Buddhist monasteries. According to government reports, eight people were killed in the clashes.
A Rakhine village on fire. Photo from Facebook page of Eleven Media Group
Myanmar netizens blogged about the violence as well:
The Myanmar government sent armed forces to stop the vigilantes but according to netizen reports, the situation is not still under control. About 5 hours later, government announced martial law in Maung Taw with immediate effect.
Facebook users quickly condemned the attacks. Majority expressed their anger towards Bengali immigrants who were accused of starting the attacks. Demo Waiyan, an online activist, urged [my] more protection for Rakhine people:
I assume it is an insult to Rakhine locals and state sovereignty. I hope the armed forces would protect our Rakhine ethnics. Raise your reputation by doing so. Public would stand at your side if you were to protect the safety of public. I request the sending of more armed forces for the local security of Rakhine people.
Kyaw Myo Khine asserted the people's right to self-defense:
We have a right of self-defense. I hope DASSK[Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] would understand that this is not (an issue of) bullying the minority. They are not (members of) minority anyway. This is just sovereignty issue and this is just terrorism and they are evil enemies of freedom.
Eight eight generation leaders who were freed from detention last January said that Rohingya (Bengali immigrants) should not be recognized as an ethnic group of Myanmar. Ko Ko Gyi, a political leader, said [my] they could have citizenship rights if they could prove that they have been living in Myanmar for many years already and if they could speak one ethnic language of the country. [Note: This contrasts with common view outside Myanmar that Rohingya people are among the most persecuted minority groups in the world.]
On the other hand, a number of netizens were disappointed at exile media and some media giants such as Channel News Asia after they described the attack as a religious clash. Myo Set criticized the ‘inaccurate’ reporting of mainstream media:
Famous exile media groups were viewed by hardline nationalists and social activists in Myanmar as major lobbyists for causing such racial tensions. Ko Ko Kyi warned that exile pressures can be one of the contributing factors for such chaotic conditions. On official Facebook page of a Myanmar government officer, he requested that exile Burmese media should not describe the riots as religious conflicts.
On Facebook, a number of Burmese calling for a boycott of these media groups and lobbyists spread like wildfire.
Political activists emphasized that this transnational issue is not simply a religious conflict but a huge problem caused by the Immigration Bureau of Myanmar. They said that local Rakhines (Arakanese) have long suffered from troubles created by corrupt staff of Border Security Forces at Maung Daw.
Surprisingly, though Twitter is not a popular online tool among Myanmar netizens, it became a venue for discussion and exchange of views about the riots in Rakhine. Netizens used the hastags #Myanmar or #Burma, #Rohingya and #Rakhine to monitor the situation. Here are some tweets about the attack.
@maynyein: If #Rohingya are refugees,how come they are armed?? Where do they get weapons?? It's clearly #Terrorist Attack.
@nyanhtunlinn: I wish #Rakhine People are safe in #Burma # Myanmar ! Stand with us #BBC #CNN #Aljazeera ! Make a true report..please!
@forgetmefrd: @captain_amarito the truth is thousand of #Bengali known as #Rohingyas gathered & burned many houses of local residents, #Rakhine #Myanmar.
@tayzar44: Why foreign media are saying as #Rohingya are being attack??? WHY? actually they are attacking civilian…
@Thant: They are terrorists, not protesters, they are armed from the support of Bengali and #Rakhine tribes are now under attack. #BBC lies.#Myanmar
Netizens also showed their concern for the safety of locals in Maung Taw and Buu The Taung townships in Rakhine state. Min Thein is worried [my] about the residents who were attacked in Rakhine:
I'm saying I'm gonna sleep but I can't. Since they also would not be able sleep with fear and worries.
Su Myat Lwin posted a similar message as well:
How can we sleep tonight while our brothers and sisters are feeling like hell?
The Myanmar government already imposed Martial law in Maung Taw and Buu Thee Taung. Hmuu Zaw, an officer at the president's office, assured [my] the public that government armed forces would protect local Rakhines from terrorists. There are some unconfirmed news that people would hold a protest against Bengali riots in Yangon.
Ko John warned [my] them to avoid religious disputes which would reverse the recent reforms made by the government:
Such protests would make Muslims in Yangon uncomfortable. They may be also against the Bengali/Rohingya.
Exile media seem also to be spreading inaccurate news about religious/ethnic disputes.
Such short-tempered acts could lead the country to revert back from good reforms.
He also urged unity and immediate assistance for Rakhine ethnics under attack:
So, I'd like to request you all. Please don't do such protests. Instead, wouldn't it be nice if we gather and assist Rakhine ethnics instead?
This post is part of our special coverage Myanmar's Rohingya.

author: Chan Myae Khine


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Myanmar: Who Started the Tension in Arakan State? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Writing for the New Mandala, Sai Latt analyzes the situation in Arakan State in Myanmar where riots have spread in several villages. The author writes about the racist campaign against the Rohingya people.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


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Nepal: Protest of the Opposition Parties in Kathmandu   · Global Voices
Rezwan

Nepali blogger posts photos and videos of yesterday's protests of 22 opposition parties in Kathmundu.

author: Rezwan


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Nepal: The Confusion With MRP · Global Voices
Rezwan

Passu writes about the inconsistent retail prices printed on the products in Bhutanese market which lead to overcharging consumers.


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Oman: Arrests of Rights Activists Continue · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

Oman is one of the countries that international media and organizations pay little attention to. Since the start of the so-called Arab Spring at the beginning of 2011, Oman witnessed several protests calling for reforms in salaries, the judiciary, and political representation.
Last week a Twitter hashtag showed up with the name of three detainees #اسماعيل_حبيبة_يعقوب. They are the former Oman volleyball player Habiba Al Hinai and activists Esmail Al Muqbali and Yaqoub Al Kharusi. The activists were arrested following their visit to Fahoud oil fields last Thursday to show solidarity with the striking Omani workers from contracting companies, who were commissioned to complete a project for two oil companies in the country. According to Gulf News, the strike has been termed illegal and workers have been asked to report back by around nine contracting companies. The workers have been warned they could risk losing their jobs if they continued the strike, in which they were demanding better wages, risk allowance and provision of pensions.
The three detained activist: Habiba, Esmail, and Yaqoob (posted by detained blogger Nabhan Al-Hinshi)
Two Released, Bloggers Arrested
Six days ago, Al Hinai and Al Kharusi were released without activist Esmail Al Muqbali. Those arrests are not the only ones and they follow other arrests of the Omani human rights activists such as Khalfan Al-badawawi, who was one of the organizers of Sahar March 2011 protests, and blogger Ishaq Al-aghbari, who was arrested for criticizing authorities. Both detainees were not allowed access to their lawyers or family visits and their charges are not known yet, according to Watan online newspaper.
Mainstream media is not covering those arrests and social networks come as the only source to keep track of the arrests. According to the Gulf Discussion Forum page on Facebook, six more arrests took place this Friday. Those arrested are blogger Hassan Al-Raqishi, writer Humood Al-Rashdi, blogger Nabhan Al-Hinshi, poet Hamad Al-Khrousi, Ali Al-Saadi, and Ali Al-Haji.
Following is one of the videos circulating online is of protesters and activists who have been detained since  the protests first started last year (uploaded by user newoman2011):
Hunger Strike
One of the detainees, Hilal Al-Alawi, was sentenced to two years in jail for possessing a gun and for calling for protests. He went on hunger strike with other political prisoners two weeks ago and he stitched his mouth in protest. The stitches have since been removed and Al Alawi ended his hunger strike on Friday, according to the same Facebook page.
Detained activist Hilal Al-Alawi
What's next?
One of the Facebook pages active in following the news of detainees posted the following photograph of a protester carrying a sign which reads: “Will the public prosecution put all of Oman's youth on trial?”:
Only time will answer this question.

author: Mona Kareem


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Peru: Violence on Sixth Day of Cajamarca Strike · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

There have been new reports of violence in Cajamarca on the sixth day of the strike going on in the region.  As you may recall, the various organizations against the mining activities and specifically the Conga Project agreed to start an indefinite strike starting May 31, and the first day took place without violence.
The blog NoticiasSer has been providing reports [es] about each day of the strike. On the second day, [es] friction with the police was reported, resulting in some demonstrators being injured with pellet guns. The third [es] and fourth [es] days went by with no major confrontations. On the fifth day, several marches throughout the city were reported, as well as clashes between students and police.
El estudiante Juan Manuel Castillo Torres de la Universidad Privada del Norte, desde el hospital de Cajamarca, denunció que al momento de salir de su centro de estudios, al promediar las 2:30 de la tarde, efectivos de la policía han detenido y castigado a diversos estudiantes, dejándolos con heridas en varias zonas del cuerpo. No obstante, por el momento se desconoce la identidad de los demás estudiantes heridos.
The following video uploaded to YouTube by user Ojos de Lechuza [es] shows the moments described.
The sixth [es] day saw blockades and groups of protesters in various parts of the city, as well as protests in other cities in the region:
En Bambamarca y Celendín la población continúa movilizándose. En estos momentos, en la plaza de Armas de Celendín se realiza un mitin. Desde Cajamarca el presidente de la Plataforma Interinstitucional Celendina, Mílton Sánchez, informó a Noticias SER: “Hemos venido a Cajamarca con 5 mil pobladores pero en estos momentos en Celendín la población está apoyando el paro”.
In the Plaza de Armas in Cajamarca a meeting was held during which the regional president of Cajamarca, Gregorio Santos, addressed the protesters with some phrases that later created a commotion (full audio here) [es]:
Reactions to this speech were not only on the Internet and in the media [es] but the Presidency of the national Congress issued a statement regarding the speech in which Gregorio Santos was accused of “inciting rebellion” and violating his duties as Regional President. The statement continues:
En aras de salvaguardar la democracia, la tranquilidad pública y no permitir la exaltación de la violencia y la comisión de delitos como los que aquí señalo; INVOCO al Señor Fiscal de la Nación, JOSÉ PELÁEZ BARDALES, a que actúe de oficio conforme lo señala el artículo 159º de la Constitución, formulando la inmediata denuncia penal que procure reponer el orden y el Estado de Derecho en la Región de Cajamarca.
After the rally, the protesters headed for various parts of the city, where, in the afternoon, the police came to evict them. The blog Wauqui reported [es] cases of police repression near the National University of Cajamarca and the Plaza Bolognesi:
La PNP [Policía Nacional del Perú] lanzó gases lacrimógenos, golpeó e hirió con perdigones a manifestantes. No existió bloqueo de ruta, desmanes o delito alguno que provocara la reacción de las fuerzas de seguridad.
The report continues:
Aylambo fue la zona de mayor conflicto. Distrito semi-rural y de quebradas pronunciadas, muchos escaparon por su picadas. Otros, perdidos, deambularon por la zona hasta ser ayudados por vecinos del lugar. Todavía hacia la medianoche no se podía precisar el número de heridos. En un primer momento la atención a las víctimas en el Hospital Regional fue imposible. La PNP sitio sus instalaciones, lo que obligó a improvisar una enfermería en la Iglesia San Francisco. 50 fue el número estimativo de heridos. Todos manifestantes.
The blog Frente de Defensa Ambiental (Environmental Defense Front) also reported the events:
A las 9.30 p.m,. la policía nacional ha atacado en forma salvaje a los campesinos de Bambamarca que se encontraban en la zona de Aylambo, salida a la costa, estos hermanos fueron trasladados al hospital y otros están siendo atendidos en el atrio de la iglesia San Francisco. Convocamos a todo el pueblo a salir a las calles y solidarizarse con nuestros hermanos de Bambamarca.
But these were not the only incidents of violence. Two videos in particular have attracted considerable attention for the show of gratuitous violence. In the first one, uploaded by carolinach55, the police can be seen attacking women setting up an open-air kitchen organized by the protesters (minute 3.00).
In the second video, uploaded by 24 horas, a videographer tells how the police assaulted him for filming part of the attack seen in the first video.
Meanwhile in Lima, reactions to Santos’ speech monopolized the media. For example Yehude Simon (ex prime minister) said [es] that asking for the president to step down is a call for a coup, and the minister of defense indicated [es] that Santos is trying to take Peru to dangerous extremes. However, Congressman Javier Diez Canseco said  “It is absurd to accuse Gregorio Santos of inciting rebellion”, and at the other political extreme, Aldo Mariátegui wrote [es] he saw no reason for such a fuss when Humala himself used similar language when he was the opposition (see for example this video [es] where Ollanta Humala asks for then president Alan García to step down.
From Cajamarca Gregorio Santos himself clarified his words indicating [es] he would collect signatures to convoke a Constitutional Congress to change the current Constitution. For his part, President Humala said, referring to the promises made by him, “It is not easy to build what others seek to destroy, it's difficult but possible because we will create the Great Transformation, whether or not the extremists like it.”
Although demands for stepping down or removal from the presidency are strong words, it's not the first time this has happened, so it should not be taken too seriously. As the journalist Rollly Valdivia commented commented [es] on Facebook:
Tranquilos. Pedir vacancia es casi un deporte nacional. Recuerden el gobierno de Toledo, donde supuestos grandes demócratas pedían que deje el cargo…

author: Juan Arellano


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Poland: Obama’s “Polish Death Camp” Gaffe Causes Controversy · Global Voices
Anna Gotowska

In the last days of May, a storm of controversy struck the Polish public opinion, caused by a verbal gaffe committed by the US President Barack Obama. During the ceremony of posthumously honoring Jan Karski, a Polish World War II resistance hero, with the Medal of Freedom, Obama used the expression “a Polish death camp” rather than stating clearly that what he meant was a Nazi Germany-operated death camp on the Polish territory.
The major irony behind this statement lies with a fact that Jan Karski was being honored for his struggle to tell the outside world about the systematic murder of Jews in his country. During the wartime Karski smuggled himself into the Warsaw Ghetto and witnessed firsthand crimes committed against the Jewish people. That information was taken by him to Allied leaders, among them US President Franklin Roosevelt, in order to cause more radical actions on their part.
This is not the first time when such unfortunate phrase regarding the concentration camps built on the Polish soil by the Nazi regime has been used. According to the data published by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the last three years almost 200 succesfull interventions have been made, in response to untrue expressions appearing in the media around the world. Using phrases such as a “Polish concentration camp” may be prosecuted by Polish courts even outside of the Polish borders. The first such trial is to be held on September 13 against the German publishing company Axel Springer.
According to the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, harsh reactions of several Polish political and public figures were adequate. “We always react in the same way when ignorance, lack of knowledge, bad intentions lead to such a distortion of history, so painful for us here in Poland, in a country which suffered like no other in Europe during World War II,” he said.
The Polish online community was also shaken by the news. But in the blogosphere reactions to the faux pas of President Obama were varied.
Maria Dora writes on her blog [pl]:
At first, I wanted to write something about the American affront, but after giving it a little tought, I consider it more of a neglect or carelessness on the part of the president's team rather than the president himself. […] Anyway, it is clear that every time such a phrase is used, we must correct it, because it contributes to the distortion of history.
Janusz Wojciechowski notes [pl]:
The word “Germany” cannot be used in the presence of the word “genocide” because Germans, who are now the leaders of Europe, can't be assocciated with such things. We shouldn't blame Obama. We ourselves let the others blame the war, genocide and the aforementioned “Polish death camps” on us. If today in the Europarliament I was to use a phrase “German death camps,” it would be considered a huge scandal […]
@twitkcg states [pl]:
Most of all, we are defending the historical truth. In this context a phrase “Polish concentration camps” is absurd and scientifically disqualified.
@michalgornicki shared his concern [pl] about the influence of the gaffe on the perception of Poland during the Euro 2012 championship:
After this, all of the European football teams that come to Poland visit only the “Polish concentration camps,” this is just great
Rafał Kmiecik debates [pl] the historical accuracy of the phrase:
The phrase “Polish death camps” is an oxymoron due to the fact that during the war (1939-1945) Poland didn't exist as a country! We were under the German rule. […] All of the camps had German names and were run by the Nazis”
Mmaly comments [pl]:
“Polish concentration camps” is an unfortunate mental leap that may mess with the historically ignorant foreigner, but for a person who is not historically illiterate the meaning of the phrase is clear, and in some contexs even justified. For instance, it may be used to differentiate Nazi concentration camps built on the Polish soil from those built on the territories not asocciated geographically with Poland. That's why I find the harsh comments on Obama's gaffe rather inadequate.
A much harsher reaction on the part of Polish netizens was triggered by an article written by Debbie Schlussel, a US conservative journalist and lawyer. In a note posted on her website, she claims that Obama's gaffe wasn't a gaffe at all. According to her, Poles founded several concentration camps and ruled them along with Germans. They were also personally responsible for the deaths of several milion Jews. “This wasn’t just the Nazis. It was tens of thousands of eager Poles and more” – she says.
Thousands of Polish netizens reacted immediately. Schlussel's website was down for almost 3 days, due to the intentional overload caused by Polish internet users. Her Facebook fanpage was flooded with thousands of letters, posts and comments, both in Polish and English, demanding immediate apology and expressing outrage. An anti-fanpage was created on the spot, containing instructions on how to report Schlussels fanpage to Facebook admins.
Debbie Schlussels responses to polish comments flood
The action of collecting signatures under a letter of protest to Schlussel's employers was advocated on Twitter.
@kurasinski comments [pl] on an article about Schlussel:
Political corectness made in the USA.
@x3LoveRock adds [en]:
Don't understand any crap that Debbie Schlussel says about Poles. She clearly doesn't know Polish History.
On his blog, karkonosznawygnaniu wrote a letter addressed to the journalist. The letter is written in English, and starts with words condemning the lies:
I'm sorry to read that your view on Poland and Poles is so full of hatred and spite, based solemnly on your ignorance and basic knowledge of historical facts. I find it shameful that as a journalist you fail to realize that history of Poles and Jews dates back a millennium, all the way back to the beginning of the Polish nation.
@megi696 wrote [en]:
Debbie Schlussel's “knowledge” is a disgrace. To think that such an individual is a journalist! Hopeless.
Although the majority of Polish netizens decided to express their outrage in cultured and reasonable way – by reporting the Facebook fanpage as one promoting hate, signing the letter to Schlussel's employers, or trying to explain the painful and difficult history of Poland during the times of war – a lot of comments containing anti-Semitic remarks appeared as a reference to Schlussel's Jewish origin. In her latest post, Schlussel comments on those and attaches several highly offensive pictures sent to her during the last days.
davyjones calls [pl] for a more cultured way of expression:
The critique of Debbie Schlussel should be loud, but also to the point. Poland should use this discussion opportunity so that people could learn how it really was […] Only by an open discussion of the facts can we fight against such statements.

author: Anna Gotowska


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Uzbekistan: Blogger Makes Skype Accessible to Uzbek Speakers · Global Voices
Musharraf

Uzbek blogger Gulasal Kamalova has translated [ru] Skype software application into Uzbek. Kamalova explains [ru] that she did the translation in order to make Skype – a service that connects millions of users around the world via Internet-based telephony and video – accessible to people who speak no other language but Uzbek.

author: Musharraf


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Vietnam: Mysterious Disease Caused by Mining? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Adam Bray visits the Ba To District, Quang Ngai Province in central Vietnam to investigate a mysterious disease which has spread in the area. The author asks if the disease is linked to mining activities in the province.


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Vietnam: Vanishing Green Space in Ho Chi Minh City  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Backwater Views writes about the “severe lack of green space” in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The author cites a report that the city lost 50 percent of its green spaces between 1998-2008.


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Bulgaria: “Victim of Beauty” – or Violence Disguised as Fashion · Global Voices
Rayna St.

12 Magazine, a fashion publication, ran a series of ad images [bg] of women disguised as having been victims of harsh violence – with this warning: “[…] Images are not recommended to people below 16. Neither [are they] for people with weak hearts.” The Fashion Law is inviting readers to comment on whether it is “art or offensive?”, with many praising such “creativity.” But according to a report by critical fashion outlet Jezebel, “[f]ashion reflects the wider culture, and ours has a lot of work to do.”

author: Rayna St.


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Chile: Chileno.co.uk, Blogging about Chile from the UK · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Chileno.co.uk is a Chilean blog written mostly in English. Among its content you can find original interviews with prominent Chileans, like film director Andres Wood, and bands like The Ganjas and Inti-Illimani. You can also follow the blog on Twitter (@chilenocouk).

author: Silvia Viñas


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Egypt: Tweet to Cheat in High School · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Social media is being used to leak high school examination questions, say Egyptian bloggers. The same media that has been credited for fueling the Arab revolutions is now being accused of allowing students to cheat.
On Twitter, Ramy Yaacoub writes:
@RamyYaacoub: HighSchoolers are “crowd sourcing” answers to leaked exams for 2nd day, Min. of education denying it #Egypt follow @waelabbas for more
The results of high school examinations determine the faith of students across the Arab world. Competition for top places is fierce as it guarantees spots in universities. Thousands of students are currently sitting their final exams in Egypt. The exams continue until July 4.
Veteran blogger Wael Abbas announces [ar]:
And he adds:
Asmaa shares the same fear. She writes:
Abbas challenges the Ministry of Education, which is responsible for the exams, saying:
A screenshot of the Blackberry message with the leaked exam answers posted by Wael Abbas on Twitter
@waelabbas: I have the entire examination questions!!! The ideal answers are actually on blackberry messenger and this is a screen shot
He continues:
A few minutes later, he tweets:
At the time of writing this post, the English exam was over and Abbas was in the process of publishing screenshots of the leaked exam on Facebook here.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Nasef asks:
The hash tag for cheating is found here.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Germany: Anti-ACTA Rally in Berlin – Signal to Politicians, Reminder to Citizens · Global Voices
Kasia Odrozek

“Don’t forget to be against ACTA” – with these half-humorous words organisers of the anti-ACTA protest closed the demonstration that took place on June 9, 2012, in Berlin. On the European Action Day Against ACTA, around 500 people walked through Berlin streets in a march against the controversial anti-counterfeiting agreement that is believed to impose new criminal sanctions forcing Internet actors to monitor and censor online communications.
So far, 30 countries have signed ACTA, but it is the European Parliament that has the final say on whether the agreement will come into effect. The voting is supposed to take place on the plenary session in the beginning of July.
They say ACTA is dead
Some 500 people protested against ACTA in Berlin. Photo by Kasia Odrozek
At the first sight, the relatively modest number of protesters may seem a bit disappointing compared to many thousands of protesters that took to the streets in February. Have people forgotten about ACTA?
One doesn't have to look far for possible answers. Besides the fact that the European Football Championship is stealing almost all of the attention these days, there is a strong belief that ACTA is dead and the worst danger is over. On the website of the European Digital Rights organization one could read this on June 9:
After all of the announcements of ACTA's death, one would wonder why anybody would have felt the need to turn up to the anti-ACTA demonstrations today. In April, the European Parliamentarian in charge of the ACTA dossier said that ACTA was dead. In May, the European Commissioner for the Information Society, Neelie Kroes, said that ACTA was dead. Now, in June, four different European Parliament Committees rejected ACTA. Was tumbleweed going to be the only participant at the ACTA demonstrations?
On the European Action Day Against ACTA activists marched through the streets of Berlin. Photo by Kasia Odrozek
So much the more positive is the fact that thousands of people across Europe and several hundreds in Germany went on the streets to send yet another signal to the politicians and a reminder for the society. A German activist and blogger, mspr0, who was present at the demonstration, wrote [de] on his blog on June 8:
I know it seems that it's all over and done now. But it's not. In the background they are trying to rescue what is left to rescue and we need to send a clear signal.
Why was ACTA a good idea?
Besides mspr0, there were several other activists speaking at the manifestation. Peter Sunde, co-founder of the Pirate Bay and Flattr, introduced Henrik Chulu from a Danish digital rights organisation Bitbureauet.
In the video below, posted on YouTube on June 10 by the author of this post, you can see Henrik talking about the importance of staying vigilant, as ACTA is not the last bill that we will be confronted with. He also pointed out that the agreement did something good for Europe by remindidng us of how fragile and important internet freedom is and causing people to get politically engaged and stand up for their digital rights.
Here you can find a photo report from the protest, uploaded by the German NGO Digitale Gesellschaft, a supporter of the protest and a leading advocate in the German anti-ACTA movement.
"Let our Internet in peace, or we will take your fax-machines away" – activists at the demonstration on June 6, 2012. Photo by Kasia Odrozek
The European Anti-ACTA Action Day is over, but the voting in the EP is still on the agenda. It's good to know that netizens are keeping an eye on the parliamentarians, even if they are “just” a couple of hundreds activists. We've seen already that, if needed, they are able to motivate hundreds of thousands.

author: Kasia Odrozek


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India: Aamir Khan’s TV Show Stirs Up Social Issues · Global Voices
Rezwan

A new Indian TV talk show titled Satyamev Jayate (Truth Alone Prevails) premiered on May 6, 2012 and took the nation by surprise. Its anchor Bollywood actor and filmmaker Aamir Khan is bringing out on the table taboo and sensational social issues which are engaging more and more Indians. Millions of vieweres across South Asia are glued to their TV sets every Sunday as the show is being aired in various channels of private along with public networks simultenously.
Amreekan Desi watched its first episode on “female foeticide” and here is the reaction:
Our daily lives allow us the option of closing our eyes and pretending there is no problem. This show brings it right inside our living rooms, with full facts and figures. We can no longer pretend that this is somebody else’s problem. It is OUR problem.
The Life and Times of an Indian Homemaker shares an email from a courageous survivor of child sexual abuse who watched the second episode on the same subject:
Satyamev Jayate touched a deep wound. Listening to the survivor stories a memory came haunting from the past. A dark secret buried deep inside, something that must have down the line changed my whole personality and what I am now. Talking to my son I realized that however open a household environment is there are certain things that stunt the growth and health of a child. Child abuse doesn’t occur only in houses which are chained by so called social “norms, values” etc it happens wherever there is a child who is vulnerable. Abusers target children who can be soft targets, knowing everything about their background and psyche, winning their trust and providing that comfort zone which sometimes a child lacks. I am a survivor.
After almost 30 years I broke the silence.
There are more reactions in the blogosphere. Half a cup of tea shares a story of maltreatment in a hospital, inspired by Aamir's show on “Corruption in the Indian healthCare system”; Ugich Konitari shares that her maid could associate her daughters story with a case on the Satyamev Jayate episode on “Dowry”. Mahesh Murthy wished if Satyamev Jayate was a social movement backed by TV. There are many discussions in the Twittersphere on this show:
priyasaha1: watched my first episode of satyamev jayate yesterday, it was simply fantastical. now i know why people r loving it.
Aamir Khan. Image by Flickr user gdcgraphics. CC BY-SA
The show is not without controversy. After an episode on malpractices by doctors the Indian Medial Association claimed that he defamed the doctors and demanded apology but Aamir defended his actions saying he won't apologize. It has also been alleged that Aamir Khan receives a high remuneration of Rs. 3 crore (USD 600,000) per episode is this high budget production. However Astitwa defends Satyamev Jayate and provides a reply to those critique Aamir Khan:
Even if 1% of this 121 crore strong nation is able to change its attitude, I think Aamir Khan’s endless gyaanbazi (edification) and the so-called irritating marketing gimmicks will be palatable to us. What say, India?
Debolina Raja Gupta posts a list of the topics featured in Satyamev Jayate till 10 June, 2012:
1. Episode 1 – Female Foeticide
2. Episode 2 – Child Sexual Abuse
3. Episode 3 – Dowry
4. Episode 4 – Corruption In The Indian HealthCare System
5. Episode 5 – Honour Killing
6. Episode 6 – Problems Faced By The Disabled In Our Country
She thinks that the show deserves applause, not criticism:
I really appreciate the idea that finally, Indian television audience is glued on to something else other than the mindless saas-bahu (mother-in-law vs. daughter-in-law) serials, or television serials in general, that are such a shitload of crap.
Indi.ca from Sri Lanka praises the show:
With many social problems, the shame is on the victim and they are brought into the conspiracy through silence. But breaking that silence can have a knock-on effect, and it’s great that this Khan is using his celebrity for such a worth cause. It’s also very compelling, immediate television.
Debolina concludes:
Aamir has managed to create a stir and shake us all up, but how much that really affects us and how much we actually do about it remains to be seen.


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India: Photos Of Indibloggers Meet · Global Voices
Rezwan

Indian Homemaker posts lots of photos of the Dove All Women's IndiBlogger Meet at New Delhi held on 10th of June, 2012.


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Pakistan: The Kohistan Story Of Honor Killing of 5 Girls Gets Complicated · Global Voices
Rezwan

Omair Alavi provides the latest updates on the story of honor killing of 5 girls in Kohistan and questions the media's role in the whole debacle.


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Peru: Conflict in Espinar Creates Rift in Ruling Party · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

In the morning of June 4, 2012, the conflict between the Espinar community and the mining company Xstrata Copper took a toll on Peru's ruling party when congresswoman Veronika Mendoza [es] resigned from the Peruvian Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Peruano) and her seat in the Gana Perú parliamentary alliance.
The congresswoman published two letters on her blog, one of them titled “I'm with those who still believe that another country can be made, with solidarity, justice and peace“[es], and mentions, among other things:
Hemos pasado de la promesa de un Ollanta Humala que declara en la plaza Dos de Mayo el día de su elección que “su único jefe es y será el pueblo peruano” y que se compromete a realizar cambios profundos, a un gobierno que continúa el modelo neoliberal. Un modelo primario exportador que no genera desarrollo intercultural y democrático, ni mercados locales articulados, que mantiene la precarización del trabajo y que defiende los intereses de los grupos de poder económicos, entre los que destacan los intereses de las industrias extractivas, las cuales imponen sus proyectos sin licencia social y afectan gravemente ecosistemas valiosos.
Congresswoman Mendoza actively participated during the recent events in Espinar, seeking calm and talks [es], and afterwards, the resignation [es] of the Prime Minister Óscar Valdés, for employing the “wrong” strategy in Espinar. However, she was also involved in the controversy when it was discovered that she had alarmed [es] the mayor of Espinar with a report pertaining to another mining project and not the Tintaya one. As a result [es], the Parliament's Ethic Committee proposed opening an investigation on the congresswoman.
With respect to these reports, the congresswoman declared [es] that the issue was not “a problem with reports”, and rejected the affirmations that there was no contamination and that the public's concerns be ignored. Along these lines, Mendoza also shared a video [es] on Facebook [es] “that clarifies the string of lies put forward by some media houses.”
But it doesn't end there, as it was later reported that two other members of congress from Gana Perú, Javier Diez Canseco and Rosa Mavila, also submitted their letters of resignation [es]. The text [es] reveals, alongside motives for resignation, the following:
Los que habían sido derrotados en las elecciones pasaron a cogobernar y a imponer sus criterios autoritarios y de subordinación a los grandes grupos de poder económico, en espacios decisivos, contradiciendo lo prometido al país
It appears that this resignation had been considered days before, since in his newspaper column in La República, congressman Diez Canseco mentions:
Van 12 muertos en conflictos sociales en este gobierno. Lamentable, inaceptable. Expresión de falta de atención y prevención, incapacidad de diálogo e incumplimiento de compromisos y esperanzas frustradas, que crean terreno propicio para violentistas de uno y otro lado. […] No es posible ser cómplice ni compartir este manejo que genera gran malestar entre sus votantes y descompone los bloques que lo llevaron a la victoria.
The events of Espinar have confirmed the differences that were already brewing within the ruling party, instigated by a presidential move [es] towards more pragmatic tendencies inspired by the Right, and emphasized by the government's position in cases like Conga and now Espinar.
The crisis was accentuated [es] when the block of congress members from Cusco, the region where Espinar is located, were emphatic in the request for the resignation of the Prime minister in reaction to this conflict. Congresswoman Mendoza belongs to this group of congress members. According to reports [es], up to six congress members from the ruling party could be withdrawing. For its part, the government has minimised [es] these resignations.
Meanwhile, Óscar Mollohuanca, mayor of Espinar, after being detained and transferred to Cusco for questioning before the Peruvian National Police, is now facing [es] charges for rioting, kidnapping, damages and coercion. Later Mollohuanca was transferred [es] to Ica for security reasons, since some 500 people were protesting in front of the Palace of Justice in Cusco and various judges and prosecutors had been threatened [es] with respect to this.
On Saturday, June 2, the Magistrate's Court of Ica, by order of the Director of Public Prosecution ordered [es] five months of preventive detention for the mayor of Espinar, who could be condemned to [es] up to 8 years of prison. The mayors of Cusco have classified it as [es] “cruel” and “unusual” punishment of their peer in Espinar, and that it was “evidence of authoritarianism”.
The Judiciary said [es] that the proceedings from Cusco (Espinar) and Cajamarca (Conga), due to crimes related to social convulsion, may be referred to the Court or Higer Chamber of the Judicial Districts of Ica and Lambayeque, respectively, a measure that has also been a source of controversy [es].
Former Minister Juan Sheput reflected [es] on all this in his blog, indicating that the government is suffering from a credibility crisis:
Hemos vuelto a las épocas de dudas y detenciones arbitarias. En horas de la mañana en Ideele Radio se denunciaba la detención de pacíficos dirigentes sociales a los cuáles se les habría sembrado pruebas falsas, cartuchos de balas y dinamita, con el objeto de detenerlos. Si así fuera pues habríamos retrocedido a prácticas fujimontesinistas […] Oscar Valdés debe irse. Los que lo defienden se niegan a ver la realidad de una incompetencia y afán militarista que hoy se convierte en el principal enemigo de la inversión. El gran problema es que como van las cosas el clima de violencia social se puede generalizar por todo el país por culpa exclusivamente del gobierno del presidente Humala.
Silvio Rendón of Gran Combo Club perceives [es] some sort of interference from the United States in the harshness of the repression of social conflicts related to mining. He bases his argument on a cable revealed by Wikileaks which requested that United States embassies provide a list of countries and industries considered top priority for national security:
Es decir, hay una huelga de trabajadores en Yanacocha, una protesta que limita la actividad de Xstrata en Ancash, un bloqueo contra la minera San Rafael en Puno, etc., y en la embajada de los Estados Unidos se ponen nerviosos porque interpretan que estas protestas afectan su “seguridad nacional”. La embajadora comienza a presionar al gobierno peruano a que acabe con las protestas. La voluntad de los ciudadanos peruanos no cuenta ni para el gobierno de los Estados Unidos y, lamentablemente, tampoco para el gobierno peruano, representante más de los poderes fácticos que del poder que emana de la ciudadanía.
Meanwhile President Humala guards his silence on these matters, and tactfully backs Prime Minister Valdés. But there are those who say that the Mayor of Espinar, Óscar Mollohuanca, would be the government's first [es] political prisoner, a fact that could hurt his image and that of the country as well.


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Russia: United Russia Deputy Wants to Sue Navalny for 60 Billion Rubles · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

This post is part of our special coverage Russia's Protest Movement.
Last week, on June 5, 2012, the Liublinksii Court in Moscow ruled [ru] that blogger and activist Aleksei Navalny was guilty of slandering United Russia (UR) political party member Vladimir Svirid. He was fined nearly $1,000 (30,000 rubles) for repeating an anti-UR meme in a November 2011 interview [ru] in Russian Esquire magazine, calling the country's ruling political party “a party of crooks and thieves” (or, more literally, “cardsharps and thieves”).
Vladimir Burmatov, another UR member, announced [ru] on June 10 that he will soon unveil a website designed to assist other party members in launching their own anti-defamation legal suits against Navalny. As United Russia boasts nearly two million members, Burmatov's campaign could theoretically result in two million individual cases mirroring Svirid's — amounting to a ridiculous-seeming two billion dollars in fines for Navalny.
Alexey Navalny visits an oppositionist camp, in Moscow. 24 May 2012, photo by ANTON BELITSKIY, copyright © Demotix.
Burmatov says he has hired programmers in Yaroslavl to design the website, which will coordinate the assembling of official documents for the lawsuits. Addressing questions about what United Russia representatives should do with their ‘billions,’ Burmatov encouraged colleagues to donate to charities and invest in local beautification projects. (This environmental note was perhaps a jab at Khimki forest's defender, Evgenia Chirikova, or a nod to sometimes-regime-collaborator Ilya Varlamov's “Moscow for People” better-urban-living activism.)
Explaining himself to Yuri Pronko on Finam.fm radio, Burmatov said [ru] that Twitter was the catalyst for his anti-slander project:
[…] Мне кажется, будет нарастать, по крайней мере, судя по реакции в моем «Twitter». Я вчера написал, и у меня довольно большое количество подписчиков как среди оппозиционеров (они там пишут разные вещи), так и, естественно, моих коллег по партии, и я получил очень большое количество ответов, знаете, примерного такого вида: «Наконец-то, почему этого раньше не делали?» Я, кстати, не знаю, почему этого раньше не делали. Видимо, нужен был прецедент.
Burmatov's comments, and the premise of his entire online campaign to rally two million United Russia members to sue Navalny, rest heavily on the expectation that other courts will rule just as Moscow's Liublinksii Court did last week. Russia, however, is a civil law country [en] — meaning that, unlike common law legal systems like those in the United States and Great Britain, decisions rendered by one court are not binding on other courts.
Indeed, Russian legal unpredictability was on prominent display in the Liublinksii Court's very June 5 verdict: as it happens, the same court rejected [ru] an identical suit by the same plaintiff against the same defendant just last year!
The Russian legal tempest
In October 2011, the Liublinksii Court ruled that Navalny's use of the phrase “a party of crooks and thieves” did not constitute slander against Vladimir Svirid. Navalny coined the phrase [ru] on February 21, 2011, when he was a guest on Yuri Pronko's radio show. In October, the court determined that the meme “PZhiV,” as it is often abbreviated in Russian online, was too general to be considered a personal attack on specific United Russia members. Last week, the court reached exactly the opposite conclusion.
Burmatov had this to say [ru] about the lack of the precedent norm in Russian law:
Несмотря на то что в России не прецедентное право, тем не менее прецедент создан и я хочу помочь не одному или двум коллегам по партии, а всем желающим однопартийцам. Именно поэтому я решил, что нужна интернет-площадка, на которой в открытом доступе будет лежать весь пакет необходимых документов. Останется распечатать, вписать свое имя и оплатить пошлину.
Screenshot from Vladimir Burmatov's official Duma webpage.
Responding to criticisms that his campaign threatens free speech in Russia, Burmatov argues [ru] confidently:
[…] Если еще будет выиграно несколько таких исков, может быть, наши коллеги по оппозиции иногда начнут задумываться, прежде чем открывать рот и что-то говорить. А если будут что-то говорить, то привыкнут отвечать за свои слова, потому что сказать у нас можно действительно все, что угодно, у нас свободная страна. Но свобода всегда предполагает ответственность, а вот к ответственности у нас, к сожалению, далеко не все привыкли.
Angry ‘hamsters’
RuNet bloggers have mostly and unsurprisingly condemned the attack on Navalny, whose rise to prominence in the opposition has been fueled by legions of faithful “Internet hamsters” and his fearless commitment to revealing through his blog corruption among Russia's most powerful political actors.
Ivan Kurilla, a historian based in Volgograd, responded that “PZhiV” is becoming the least of United Russia's worries, arguing [ru] that the authorities’ increasingly oppressive treatment of protesters is transforming the party of power's reputation from one of thieves into one of killers. Kurilla attaches to this sentiment a line from Joseph Brodsky poem, “Letters to a Roman Friend”:
“Ворюга мне милей, чем кровопийца”
LiveJournal user tsuhov points out [ru] that Sergei Tsepoviaz, a former United Russia member and a prominent figure in the Kushchevskaia bandit group uncovered [en] in 2010, is also potentially eligible to utilize Burmatov's site in order to sue Navalny. (Presumably, one would have less trouble defending himself against an anti-defamation suit brought by a murder suspect.)
Indeed, the possible complications arising from a public spectacle, where Navalny would be allowed the courtroom floor to lay bare his reasons for “defaming” any particular United Russia member, perhaps explain why Burmatov himself has yet to file a suit against Navalny. Serving merely as the facilitator of lesser known (and presumably less corrupt) party members, Burmatov could consciously be avoiding a Tsepoviaz-scenario.
Ilya Linev, a blogger from Kirov, wrote [ru] in the “Honest Politics” LJ forum:
Конечно, глупо считать, что с Навального смогут взыскать 60 миллиардов рублей, но жизнь ему это осложнить вполне таки может. Запасаемся попкорном и делаем ставки? Таким макаром единоросы надеются научить Навального фильтровать базар и направить его энергию в более законопослушное русло, ну и звёздности ему это подубавит. Вполне моджет [sic] получиться современная история про Икара и солнце.
Navalny's own reaction to Svirid's court victory and Burmatov's campaign was characteristically defiant. He wrote [ru] on his blog:
Призываю всех поддержать меня и всех, кто так считает очень простым действием, напишите, где можете:
ЕДИНАЯ РОССИЯ – ПАРТИЯ ЖУЛИКОВ И ВОРОВ
В жж, Вконтакте, твиттере, фейсбуке, стене или заборе.
А единороссам мы эти 30 тысяч рублей в глотку забьём
Navalny also teased [ru] Burmatov about trying to raise money off the lawsuits project, linking such rent-seeking behavior to United Russia's (and President Putin's) recent passage of far higher fines for administrative violations committed during mass demonstrations (in some cases raising penalties above the fees associated with certain criminal violations).
Earlier today, on June 11, Navalny's own apartment, along with his offices and the home of his in-laws, was raided [ru] by federal investigators, who spent most of the day searching for unspecified proof of crimes linked [ru] to protester-police violence during the last major opposition rally, on May 6. Police officers also searched the homes of several other prominent protest-organizers, including Ksenia Sobchak, Ilya Yashin, Sergei Udaltsov, and at least six others.
What tomorrow will bring
Considered together, these actions amount to strong evidence that the state has consciously and concertedly set out to penalize and intimidate the individuals most commonly identified with Russia's “winter of discontent,” which has dramatically altered the social context of the country in comparison with a year ago, despite Putin's reelection and the Kremlin's continued dominance of formal “systemic” politics.
As always, conspiracy theories abound — particularly online, where without hesitation anyone can disseminate a suspicion instantly. Alarmists on Twitter promulgated and briefly popularized the hashtag “привет37год” (Hello [19]37!), suggesting that today's raids parallel Stalin's Great Purge [en].
Natalia Antonova, deputy editor of The Moscow News, proposed [en] that “someone is trying HARD to stop the June 12 rally.” One of United Russia's own, Duma Deputy Aleksandr Khinshtein (a notorious opponent of oppositionists, including Navalny), tweeted [ru] his disbelief about the Investigative Committee's actions:
Не буду раскрывать тайну. Но то, что ждет Бастрыкина, не имеет аналогов. Я знал, что он не в адеквате. Но то, что настолько – не знал.
Khinshtein, of course, also has a longstanding rivalry [en] with Bastrykin, so his threat is hardly an anomaly. Many other questions, however, remain unanswered, for now. June 12, and with it “Russia Day” and the next “Million Man March,” are just hours away. The consequences (and perhaps the reasons) for today's raids and the recent surge in anti-Navalny state pressure should soon be clearer.
This post is part of our special coverage Russia's Protest Movement.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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South Africa: No Pain, No Gain · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Learn about No Pain, No Gain campaign in South Africa: “SANGONeT's Executive Director, David Barnard, will run 750km across three deserts on three continents in 2012 in celebration of SANGONeT's 25th anniversary, to raise R1 million in support of SANGONeT's work and to create awareness about the work of NGOs in South Africa.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Sri Lanka: 900 Young Men Take a Stand Against Harassment of Women · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sri Lanka Unites blog informs about a campaign titled S.H.O.W (Stop Harassment of Women) You Care which plans to engage nine hundred young men to travel on the busiest bus routes in Colombo and spread the words to stop violence against women.


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Video: WITNESS Series on How to Film Protests · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

WITNESS has published a series of videos on How to Film Protests, meant as guidelines to ensure that the video documentation serves as evidence of the events for advocacy purposes while also protecting the people who appear in the footage.
Witness logo
The five-part video series, created with the support and insight of video activists provides important information for anyone who might find themselves with a camera in the midst of a news-worthy event such as the Occupy Protests, the Syrian Uprising and anywhere else. The five videos on the series cover topics such as preparing to film, choosing the right equipment, filming protests in a team, capturing quality image and sound and conducting interviews.
This series, along with our Video for Change tips, incorporates the best practices we’ve developed with over 300 partners in 80 countries over the past 20 years.  They also work to address the unique real-life challenges we’ve discovered in the last year working with and training exceptional activists – particularly those throughout the current epicenter of #video4change – the Middle East and North Africa.
This first video shows how to film safely and effectively by knowing your goal and intended audience, developing a safety and security plan both for yourself and for the people in your footage and filming details and always recording the date, time and location of the event.
The third video of the series is on the advantages of filming as a part of a team. By teaming up with people you trust, different people can take on different roles and film separately and also a team can provide support in case there are problems or something unexpected comes up if safety plans are made in advance.
The last video in the series is on How to conduct an Interview, starting with researching about the person and subject to plan ahead the questions you'll ask, follow the informed consent process so that the interviewees are aware of the risks and dangers of appearing in a video and how to conceal identities so the subject can decide how they'd like to be shown or if they'd rather not appear in the video at all.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Algeria: Qatar’s Role in Mali  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian-American blogger Kal, from The Moor Next Door, discusses claims of Qatar's alleged role in funding armed groups in northern Mali in this post.


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Bahrain: Free Ebrahim Sharif  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif expresses his views on opposition leader Ebrahim Sharif, who is in jail. “I feel so powerless and so ashamed of what is happening here. Especially when to me, the solution is staring everyone in the face,” he writes.


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Baidu Map’s Story about China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Beat has captured a number of Chinese biggest search engine's map search results, which tell an interesting story about China – strong state, strong capital, weak social.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Brazil: Satirical Blog ‘Falha’ Summarizes Censorship Case in Video · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Brazilian journalist Lino Bocchini recorded [pt] a 2 minute video that summarizes the case of  the satirical blog Falha de São Paulo. Falha was censored and sued by the newspaper Folha de São Paulo in 2010. Global Voices published an update on the story in May, 2012.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Colombia: Conflicting Reactions Following Release of French Journalist Roméo Langlois · Global Voices
Lully

[All links in Spanish except where otherwise noted]
The French Journalist Roméo Langlois was released on May 30 after having been held [en] for a month by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC [en]). Langlois had been in Colombia for over ten years reporting on the armed conflict and was taken while covering an operation next to Colombian soldiers.
A commemoration was held at the site of his liberation that implicated journalists, guerilla fighters, representatives, and everyday people of the region, where Langlois made his first statements, some of which we quote below:
“Buenos y malos no hay, cuando uno viene ve que la realidad es más compleja.” (Público.es)
“Se impuso una vez más la política sobre las cuestiones humanitarias y eso es algo que se ha hablado muchas veces de parte de la guerrilla y también del Gobierno y la Fuerza Pública. Yo no señalo a nadie particularmente, pero esto pasa una vez más.” (Público.es)
French Journalist Romeo Langlois after release. Image placed on Flickr by Globovisión, under Creative Commons license Non-Commercial Attribution 2.0 Generic
“No necesitaba esta experiencia para conocer bien el conflicto colombiano ni para conocer la guerrilla. Ya llevo mucho tiempo en esto, lo que me queda es la convicción de que hay que seguir cubriendo este conflicto y que conmigo se hizo mucha política de muchos lados.” (Público.es)
“Ojalá siga la gente visitando estos lugares y dando el micrófono a los campesinos y a las víctimas, que son quienes tienen la verdad de este conflicto”. (El País)
Many people's reactions on social networks mention these and other statements made by the journalist.
The blog Partido Comunista Colombiano (Colombian Communist Party), posted an article called: “Liberación del Periodista Roméo Langlois, un acto humanitario” (Release of the Journalist Roméo Langlois, a humanitarian act). The article summarized the celebrated handing-over of the journalist and refers to the FARC's communiqué read by the commander “Colacho Mendoza”, in which he apologized for having considered him a prisoner of war:
“Queremos aprovechar esta inigualable oportunidad, con la presencia de la prensa regional, nacional e internacional, para desagraviar a Romeo, pidiéndole excusas públicas por la lesión moral que pudimos haberle causado cuando en un comunicado lo declaramos- ‘prisionero de guerra’, por considerarlo en ese momento de confusión integrante activo del Ejército Nacional. Al principio lo tomamos por un asesor gringo o israelí”, dijo un aparte la lectura del comandante.
Moreover, the article reported Langlois's response:
“Me curaron la herida, nunca estuve amarrado, los muchachos cargaban mi morral y hasta el colchón, para que me sintiera cómodo”
In online magazine Kien & Ke, Miguel Gómez Martínez reproached the deference to the process of the journalist's release:
Es una vergüenza que un estado democrático ofrezca a los terroristas una oportunidad adicional de vanagloriarse por haber violado los derechos humanos y obtener propaganda gratuita de nuestros medios siempre dispuestos a venderse por una imagen.
For his part, Leonardo Farfán (@jleonardo07) tweeted:
Romeo Langlois al quedar libre, defendió la imagen romántica que los europeos tienen de los terroristas de las Farc.
Marlon Martínez (@MMartin_G) satirized the fact that the journalist went to Colombia to have a good vacation:
Romeo Langlois deseaba unas vacaciones en las selvas colombianas.
Former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) accused Langlois through his Twitter account of identifying with terrorism. He did so on several occasions, such as this one:
Langlois: una cosa es la curiosidad del periodista y otra la identificación con el terrorismo.
He also said:
Langlois, no nos engañe más, el 50% de las familias colombianas hemos sido víctimas de los terroristas a quienes usted promociona.
Gabriela Perdomo (@gabrielaper) and other users mentioned a column where journalist Daniel Coronel said that Langlois joined the list of journalists who dared to question Álvaro Uribe and as a consequence have been “criminalized” by the former head of state.
Afrodita de Piscis (@AfroditaBogota) recalled a quote by the journalist Langlois about those affected by the Colombian conflict:
El conflicto COLOMBIANO es una GUERRA de ”POBRES MATÁNDOSE ENTRE POBRES”. – Roméo Langlois.
Ana Miranda (@AnamirandaG) referred to the French journalist's attitude after being released:
De verdad no se para que rescataron al periodista francés que estaba secuestrado por la FARC. El quedo encantado con eso de vivir allá!
In a similar manner, Andi Bedoya Cardenas (@AndiBedoyaC18) wondered:
Romeo Langlois es ¿periodista o mensajero de las FARC?
Twitter user Camilo Olaya Zea (@kamiloolaya) questioned those who were speaking out against the journalist and the possibility of listening to other news sources different from the traditional sources, like the company RCN [en]:
¿Porqué a la gente le molesta que el periodista francés entreviste a las farc? Ese es su oficio no? Estamos acostumbrados solo a lo q dice RCN
Felipe Sampo's blog summarized some reactions after the journalist's release, but also cited one of Langlois's responses in the press conference:
Dijo que tanto el gobierno como los medios de comunicación en Colombia “venden imágenes distorsionadas” del conflicto que se vive en ese país desde hace 40 años.
The Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP) (Foundation for Freedom of the Press) called for reflection on the conditions of safety and protection of journalists. At the same time it denounced the threats against free press in Colombia:
(…)  La FLIP aprovecha esta oportunidad para llamar la atención sobre los alarmantes ataques contra la libertad de prensa que se han dado este año en Colombia. En lo que va del 2012, la FLIP ha documentado 42 casos de amenazas, 11 de ellas hechas por las bandas criminales, afectando, especialmente, a periodistas de departamentos de Cesar, Antioquia y Arauca. Especial atención merecen las intimidaciones contra periodistas que están investigando temas de restitución de tierras en Córdoba.

author: Lully


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Cuba: Bloggers Rally Around Beaten Dissident · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bloggers from the Cuban diaspora are concerned about the reported beating and detainment of dissident Jorge Luis García Pérez, more popularly known as Antunez, after he testified via teleconference at a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing about the human rights situation on the island.
Capitol Hill Cubans took notice of the story very early and demanded Antunez's safe release:
According to Antunez's wife (in testimony [Monday] morning to Radio Republica), Yris Tamara Pérez Aguilera, he was arrested on Saturday afternoon, brutally beaten, doused with pepper spray until unconscious and violently removed from his cell by the authorities that evening.
Antunez has not been heard from since.
His wife believes this is in reprisal for Antunez's testimony in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
This serves as a stark reminder of what happens to Cuban activists who dare speak the truth.
Maybe it'll give some pause to those who applaud the Castro regime's apparatchiks when they travel to the U.S. on propaganda tours (thanks to the State Department's generous new visa policy).
Uncommon Sense added his voice to the call for Antunez's freedom:
Jorge Luis Garcia Perez ‘Antunez’ long has proven himself one of the bravest and most valiant members of the Cuban opposition, unhesitating at any moment to denounce the Castro dictatorship and to demand that his rights, and the rights of all Cubans, be respected.
Which is what he did last Thursday, when during a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on Cuba, Antunez testified via telephone about repression on the island and his opposition to relaxation of the American sanctions on Cuba.
On Thursday, the Castros got their revenge, ordering their secret police to brutally arrest and detained (sic) Antunez. As of Monday, his whereabout (sic) were unknown.
He also noted that “the two senators who heard Antunez's testimony, Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., demanded the United States and the United Nations act to force the Castro regime to release Antunez”.  Marc Masferrer, who blogs at Uncommon Sense, republished the senators’ statements on his blog, as did Babalu Blog, here.  Babalu also saw it fit to republish several statements about the incident from members of the U.S. Congress, here, here, and here.  Capitol Hill Cubans did the same here and in this post, uploaded video of the testimony that reportedly led to Antunez’ beating.
In the context of the assault on Antunez, Babalu couldn't resist taking a jab at both Mariela Castro's recent visit to the United States and the mainstream media's poor coverage of the dissident's testimony prior to his arrest:
Antunez (sic) testimony last week, broadcast from a totalitarian country and at great risk to his liberty, might have been considered newsworthy. Instead he met with a total media blackout.
Capitol Hill Cubans, on the other hand, uploaded a CNN video report on Antunez's arrest, calling it a “must watch”.  Babalu ended by underscoring the point that the dissident's whereabouts are still unknown, although there have apparently been unconfirmed reports that he is being held in Santa Clara; his wife, as of this posting, still has not been granted access to see him.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Egypt: A Legal Tangle  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Arabist sheds light on a legal tangle in Egypt, which could force fresh presidential elections. “All of this is to say that the situation is extremely confusing […] the elections could be cancelled. In fact, if parliament is dissolved as well, the transition would essentially go back to square one,” writes Issandr El Amrani.


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Egypt: Presidential Candidates from Outer Space  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Zeinobia, from Egyptian Chronicles, discusses the Egyptian presidential elections runoffs and how both candidates are related to “outer space” in this post.


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Egypt: Recognising Catastrophe  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Writing from Egypt, Maryanne Stroud Gabbani shares her thoughts on the Egyptian presidential elections here. “I wish I could really say that I've gained some understanding of what is happening in Egypt right now, of what we can expect, but I can't,” she confesses.


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Egypt: The Ultra’s Song · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Mostafa Hussein shares a video featuring a song by the Ahli football club supporters The Ultras on current events in Egypt.


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Experience with China Post · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tom from Seeing Red in China has written an interesting post on his experience with China Post.


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Hong Kong, China: Condemning the Apparent Staged Suicide of Li Wangyang · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Instead of openly investigating the allegedly staged suicide of political activist Li Wangyang, the local authorities in Shaoyang city moved to force through the cremation of Li's body after a hasty autopsy conducted by government-appointed personnel. In addition, Li's family and friends have all been detained and are now out of touch from the rest of the world.
This past Sunday (June 11, 2012), around 25,000 people in Hong Kong took to the street to condemn the staged suicide of Li and mourn for the martyr, who lived his life in defense of justice and truth.
One of the groups at the rally was mobilized through a Facebook event [zh], “We are all Li Wangyang”. Hundreds of young people turned out in support, eyes covered with strips of white cloth, and walked 5 kilometers to mourn for Li Wangyang from Causeway Bay to the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government.
In the process, they recited more than 100 poems [zh] collected through the Facebook event page. Inmediahk.net has put up a video showing the mourners and the rally at vimeo [zh]:
Below is a translation of one of the poems, authored by Bitter Daisy [zh]:
Poster of the Facebook Event Page: We are all Li Wangyang
《未竟之志》 苦薏
一根白布
綁不住你自由的夢
恫嚇妄語
再囂張跋扈也掩埋不住真相
你
目不能視
卻能看到遠大的未來
你
耳不能聽
卻能聽到女神的夢囈
你
腿不能行
卻擋不住強大的心
即使氣息失去了 心跳失去了
從今已後
不止息地撼動每一個人
你如飛絮落在人們心裡
開出火紅的花朵
從此
再沒有你我
萬相為一
明天
一步一正念
就讓我們去繼承你的
未竟之志
A will unfulfilled
A piece of white cloth
Could not restrain your dream of freedom
Threatening voices
Tyrannical and domineering, could not cover up the truth
You
Whose eyes see not
Could see a great future
You
Whose ears hear not
Could hear the murmuring of a Goddess
You
Whose legs walk not
But whose heart continued to overcome
Even though there is no more breath or beating in your heart
Till the end of time
Every single person will be touched
Like a willow catkin, you rest in people's hearts
A flourish of red flower blossoms
And hence
There is no you and me
Everything merges together
Tomorrow
Every single step is a will
We are going to inherit
The unfulfilled Will
The hundreds upon thousands of protesters converged in Hong Kong's Central district and walked together to the Liaison Office, where they were welcomed with the Hong Kong police force's pepper spray. Below is a photo uploaded to Facebook by Aloi Wong:
Police used pepper spray to stop mourners from approaching the China government building.
Intimidated by the police action but determined to mourn in front of the official representative of the Central Chinese government, protesters blocked part of Connaught Road and surrounded the government building:
Thousands of protesters blocked the Conaught Road. Photo by Hong Kong Apple Daily News
In China, where public mourning and demonstration is not allowed, activists began making the public statement that “I will never commit suicide”, in protest against the staged suicide of Li Wangyang. Twitter user @gexun has created a Google doc [zh] to collect the statements, several of which have been translated below:
@tufuwugan: 本人身体目前健康（只有脂肪肝），心理阳光，乐观积极，对未来充满希望，等待天亮的时候审判它们，所以绝不可能自杀，本人走上杀猪不归路后，不敢做任何违法事情，更不敢吸毒、嫖娼，卖淫，杀人放火等，出门左顾右盼，礼让车辆，从不与百姓结怨。特此声明！
@chen_yunfei: 无论独裁者它认为它多么的强大，无论我在驯兽中遭受多么大的艰难困苦，无论魔鬼们用任何酷刑，我绝不自杀。如警方在宣布我是自杀，那也是被自杀！特此声明。
@raulmouse: 我，沈戈。曾用名沈尔植、老沈、鼠。当过高校民工、私营业主。典型处女座，患得患失、选择障碍、完美破病。胆小如鼠，嗜食好酒，贪恋美色，浮夸虚荣。除以家人性命要挟故，绝不自杀！特此声明。
So far more than 60 similar statements have been made published on Twitter. The final interview given by Li Wangyang has been translated and uploaded to YouTube, embedded here as background reference of Li's life.
http://youtu.be/lClvj9J5m7E


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Iran: Jailed lawyer plays with her son  · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

In social networking websites Iranian users are sharing a video footage  of jailed lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, when she tries to play with her 4 years old son through a cabin window in a prison visit. Mrs. Sotoudeh, a human rights activist in Iran, is sentenced to 11 years in prison and authorities have denied furlough leave for her.

author: Hadi Nili


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Jordan: Punish Rapists  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian Mohammad Al Qaq, at Khobbeizeh, calls for no leniency in the punishment of rapists.


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Kyrgyzstan: Rap Song Stokes Ethnic Hostility on Anniversary of Clashes · Global Voices
Saikal Nogoibaeva

As Kyrgyzstan marks the second anniversary of the June 2010 events, a new rap song is stoking [ru] tension in Osh, a southern city which was the epicenter of the ethnic riots between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz two years ago. According to official sources, more than 400 people were killed and thousands lost their homes as a result of the conflict.
Global Voices reported back in 2010 about the role popular culture played in ratcheting up tensions in the southern city during the immediate aftermath of the clashes, especially when spread via mobile technology. This role was not lost on the Kyrgyz-language newspaper Ayat, which recalled [ru] in its report on the latest inter-ethnic ‘hit song':
В свое время узбекская певица-беглянка Юлдуз Усманова тоже выступала с песнями, наносящими ущерб кыргызско-узбекской дружбе, народ еще помнит, как кыргызские акыны-певцы давали ей ответ.
Osh, a city in southern Kyrgyzstan which served as the epicenter of ethnic clashes in June 2010. Image by Flickr user celichowster (CC BY-SA 2.0).
The latest musical release boasts of Uzbek physical superiority over Kyrgyz. The song, akinig, is reported to be in both Uzbek and Kyrgyz languages, suggesting a deliberate attempt to provoke. The news blog kloop.kg quoted the rap song as saying [ru]:
При встрече лицом к лицу вы [этнические кыргызы] ничего не можете ответить, и во всех районах здоровые узбекские ребята — номер один.
(The full lyrics cannot be published here because they can be regarded as inciting ethnic hatred).
Local authorities have expressed their fear that this song might trigger another round of unrest in the city, and requested aksakals – informal ‘white beard’ authorities – to fight songs propagating ethnic hatred.
During a security forum last week, President Almazbek Atambayev's adviser clarified [ru]:
В Оше распространяется рэп-песня, которая записана на всех сотовых телефонах, и ее слушают во всех школах города. Это песня антикыргызского содержания, что Ош принадлежит только узбекам, а кыргызам в этом городе делать нечего. Поэтому мы собрали несколько аксакалов и они обратились ко всей молодежи с требованием прекратить это безобразие.
According to Kloop.kg's reportage, the song has engendered various reactions in Osh. Human rights defenders fear that the song may cause ethnic conflict among the youth, whereas the Youth Committee of the Osh Mayor's Office believes that the song is not dangerous and that there have not been any notable clashes between young people so far.
However, according to the human rights activist Izatillo Rakhmatillaev, there have already been several cases of conflicts among the youth over this song. He stated [ru]:
Было несколько случаев, когда молодёжь подралась по этому поводу. Проблему не с пустого места подняли, были несколько инцидентов: стычки между молодежью, подрались, поругались.
The song has attracted a lot of attention in the media, dovetailing as it does with the anniversary of the events. Human rights defenders fear that too much attention may only worsen the situation. Others suspect that this is a conspiracy, and that the authors of the song have ‘bosses’ who want to destabilize the situation in the already vulnerable city. The director of the Assembly of Peoples, Pulat Sabirov, said that the situation is under control and that the second anniversary of June events – beginning yesterday and continuing on until June 14 – will pass peacefully. He added [ru]:
Это дело рук некоторых людей, которые не хотят, чтобы в Оше была стабильность. Но, мы, жители Оша, не будем обращать внимание на такие провокации.
Netizen reactions
Thankfully, the song has not led to Kyrgyz-Uzbek “comment wars” on the same scale as those witnessed shortly after the conflict itself. Back then, websites such as Osh-reality.info hosted vicious exchanges between both groups that invoked ethnic slurs and questionable interpretations of history. Nevertheless, comments posted under various articles about the rap suggest that the authorities are still correct to be concerned about the song.
Under a knews.kg article about the song, one internet user, Real stated [ru]:
дону! Это ж школники они ничего не понимают , ты посмотры киргизам все дозволена они даже по телеку ушимляют узбеков и все молчать ну скажи мне это справедливо? Пусть аллах покарает виновного амин.
Don replied [ru] to Real:
Они распространяют провакационную песню, что Ош принадлежит только узбекам, а кыргызам в этом городе делать нечего. Как ты думаешь, кто начинает заварушку, а потом жалуются. Когда ты видел чтобы Ош, Ташкент, Андижан, Самарканд были узбекскими? Здесь проживало много народностей, это были из покон веков многонациональные города, а Ош сейчас относится к Кыргызстану.
Another user, rrr, meanwhile expressed [ru] a sense of exhaustion common to residents of Osh:
провокаторы-придурки!Чего они добиваются?
Under the Ayat report on the song, a netizen using the anonymous identity ‘neighbour’ said [ru]:
а уроде газетенке если бы у вас было спокойствие, демократия и мир… ни кто такие песни не писал бы… эти песни пока предупреждение чтобы вы остановили апартеид в Оше.
But another poster reflected [ru] more thoughtfully:
И мы не должны убивать друг друга, мы все мусульмане, каждый кто затеял эту братоубийственную войну понесет наказание не в этом, так в ином мире. А защищать свою землю долг каждого мусульманина. Пртостой народ в этой войне не виновен.
Yesterday marked [ru] the first day of the June events commemoration. There is a heavy police presence in Osh, where the president is in attendance, while the Prime Minister will attend a requiem in the capital city, Bishkek. All flags were pulled down and a minute of silence was observed at 10:00 am.

author: Saikal Nogoibaeva


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Mexico: Are Presidential Candidates Considering the Indigenous Vote? · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

With less than a month left before Mexicans go to the polls to vote for their next president, Katya Albiter from Vivir México [es] wonders about the indigenous vote. She highlights that the indigenous vote represents 6.5 per cent of the population and of the Federal Registry of Voters; the indigenous vote could define at least 10 per cent of the electoral districts in Mexico, which could be crucial in a tight race, Katya argues.


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Palestine: Gaza’s Terrorist Chickens Trend on Twitter · Global Voices
Rana Baker

In the middle of the night of June 5, an Israeli airstrike hit a poultry farm in the southern Gaza Strip, ending the lives of dozens of cackling chickens and destroying the farm owner's sole source of income.
In response to this attack, Twitter users were quick to come up with a humorous hashtag, #JihadiChickenBrigade, which soon trended worldwide.
The hashtag arose after people tried to understand why the one of the most powerful militaries in the world felt the need to raid a bunch of chickens. The conclusion was that the now-dead chickens must have been involved in “terrorist” activities against Israel, and many jokes followed.
Referring to the computer game Angry Birds, Twitter user Matout7 asked:
@matout: Israel what is that! Operation angry birds? #JihadiChickenBrigade
Hashem Shoplaq commented:
Hussain Ahmed announced:
Palestinian chickens. Image by Flickr user Synne Tonidas (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
@iamHussainAhmed: #JihadiChickenBrigade news: jihadi chickens have been spotted along the Israeli boarder carrying eggplosives.
Thinking along the same lines, Mohammad Rafi tweeted:
@MohammadRafi87: Six live rounds of eggs were found in a house raid of a member of #JihadiChickenBrigade in Nablus.
In a reference to Omega-3 enriched eggs, Ali Abunimah wrote:
@AliAbunimah: OMEGA-3 FREE RANGE MISSILES #JihadiChickenBrigade
The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign joined in the punning:
@ipsc48: Israel has really ruffled some feathers in Gaza. A spokeschicken said “it's time to remove the yolk of Zionist oppression” #JihadiChickenBrigade
Twitter user Welsh in Gaza joked:
@WelshInGaza: IDF issues announcement: Leader of #JihadiChickenBrigade WANTED, scrambled or fried.
Lebanese blogger Leila was inspired by Yasser Arafat's famous speech to the United Nations General Assembly in 1974, in which he said “Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom-fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” She tweeted:
@LSal92: #JihadiChickenBrigade: today we come bearing an egg in one hand & a gun in the other. Do not let the egg fall from my hand.
ShahdGaza asserted:
@ShahdGazahere: #JihadiChickenBrigade The Palestinian sense of humor is resistance. YES. we make fun of Israel for being an idiot today & every day.
And Hasina Gori wrote:
@MiZz_haSiNa: Looks like Israel has egg on its face today #JihadiChickenBrigade

author: Rana Baker


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Panama: Hoping for a Historic World Cup Qualification · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

Friday June 8 saw Panama preparing for the playoffs that could see them qualify for the very first time for a major international football competition; Brazil 2014. Panama has never achieved a world ranking high enough to qualify in the CONCACAF group (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football).
In this group the larger and more dominant national teams enjoy a higher ranking, such as Mexico, United States of America, Costa Rica and Honduras. Three teams from the CONCACAF area will have direct entry to the World Cup with the team finishing in fourth place having to face a playoff with the fifth placed finishers of the Conmebol area (South America).
Having won against Granada and Nicaragua, two teams previously unbeaten and in great form, Panama must now play against Canada, Honduras and Cuba to try and secure one of the two places in the final six. The final six will comprise of the six best teams in the CONCACAF area, the top three teams will enjoy automatic qualification to the 2014 World Cup with the fourth placed team facing a play-off match to qualify.
Panama up until a few years ago was purely a baseball country with some great boxing victories in its history, however, now it has warmed to football and reaching the World Cup has become a national obsession.
Photo from Flickr user mrmoneda (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Social networks have been talking about football for several weeks now, but with the date approaching for the first game against Honduras (June 8) the comments and expectations were on the increase.
Even President Ricardo Martinelli got bit by the football bug. On his Twitter account (@rmartinelli) [es] he wrote a message to the Panama team to wish them luck, however he confused their opponents Honduras for Cuba:
Cuando juega la marea roja no hay opo ni gob todos somos Panameños y estamos con nuestra selección. Vamos a clasificar y ganarle a Cuba
Users created the trending hashtag #SiPanamaClasificaalMundial (“if Panama qualify for the World Cup”) [es] where Panamanian fans told of what they would do if Panama were to make history and qualify for Brazil 2014.
Ultimately it was a historic away win against Honduras beating them 2-0. The victory did not go unnoticed by social networks and created two global trending topics: Honduras 0 Panamá 2 [es] where Panama fans celebrated and Honduras fans commiserated. Also, the striker for the Panama team Blas Pérez [es], scorer of both the goals became a global trending topic.
And so begins the long road to World Cup qualification for Panama. On June 12 Panama will host Cuba in a game full of high expectations. All of the general sale tickets have sold out, as told by Alexander Da Silva (@Adasilva507) [es]:
Ya anunciaron que se agotaron todas las entradas en el sector sur para el #Panamá vs Cuba, sitio donde usualmente esta la Extrema Roja.
Certainly the hopes are high for Panama to qualify for the first time for a major football world championship and social networks will play an active part in the Panama team's journey.

author: Ariel Moreno


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Prominent AIDS/HIV Doctor-Activist Kicked out of China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Deanna Dong from Tea Leaves Nation blogs about Chinese micro-bloggers’ comments on the leaving of prominent doctor-activist Dr. Lu Guogan, whose non-profit AIDS/HIV clinic in Guangxi province was recently shut down by the Chinese government.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Message to “Sir Viv” · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

B.C. Pires shares his take on cricketer Denesh Ramdin’s message to former West Indies captain-turned sports commentator, Sir Vivian Richards: “If a player holds up a piece of paper to Sir Viv in the commentary box, I see it only as the fowl cock-and-them coming home to roost.”


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Yemen: $audi Influence Explained · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
The influence of Yemen's rich and powerful neighbor on it's internal affairs is no secret. Saudi Arabia's interference has been felt among Yemenis for decades yet it's extent became more evident during the 2011 revolution, especially in what is known as the controversial GCC deal.
Many Yemenis had been speculating about politicians and sheikhs being on Saudi payroll, yet it was a bit of a shock for netizens to see the names and figures in black and white when a local newspaper ‘El Sharae’ printed on June 3rd the first part of a list of 2,700 tribal, political and military personalities, claiming they received a total of 56 million Saudi Riyals in monthly salaries from Saudi Arabia, of which SR 40m allegedly went to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The report which was called “Saudi's special committee queue” was reposted on Yemenpress online version, yet Saleh's name did not appear on that list.
Al Share news paper's front page on June 3rd
Freelance journalist Adam Baron tweeted:
@adammbaron extent of saudi hand in #yemen is known: IMO, most shocking thing is that it only took $15 million to (ostensibly) buy 2700 ppl off.
@adammbaron: names of yemeni notables getting monthly $ from saudi really covers full spectrum politically, regionally, tribally, etc. #yemen
He also tweeted another link to the list which also did not include Saleh's name:
@adammbaron: newspaper in #yemen set to release names of pols, tribal leaders, etc who are getting $$ from saudi. part one (AR): http://yementoday.net/index.php?opti …
Farea Al-Muslimi tweeted:
@almuslimi: @A4Mai @NoonArabia @ahYemen @alguneid @amelscript @Nefermaat @CarvajalF It is not only Sheikhs; army, politicians..everyone.
@almuslimi: 15 million dollars every month goes 4 thugs; 2 years salaries could over-go the catastrophic humanitarian crisis #Yemen is going through.
Ibrahim Mothana tweeted:
@imothanaYemen: Heated debate in #Yemen after Al-Shaera newspaper started publishing names of 2700 political/tribal figures getting paid by Saudi Arabia
@imothanaYemen: According to Al-Sharea report, Islah party gets 2 billion YR from Saudi annually. Wondering how much Houthis get from Iran? #Yemen
@imothanaYemen: #Yemen for Sale! Buy a Politician and get another for FREE! http://bit.ly/K76fae
@imothanaYemen: @NoonArabia @Macoombs @JustLuai This is the first page of the printed version. Saleh, Sadeq (Sheik Sadeq Al-Ahmar) and Ali Mohsin top the list pic.twitter.com/rZVkdW0u
Luai Ahmed tweeted his disappointment:
@JustLuai: @imothanaYemen @NoonArabia @Macoombs amazing how all these faces contributed GREATLY to Yemen's current state of misery..
And so did Yemen_Updates:
@yemen_updates: The shocking part of the #YemeniPoliticians4Sale news is that there are people who unfortunately we used to respect. #Yemen #FF
The General People's Congress [ar], headed by former president Saleh issued a statement denying that he had been receiving any monthly payments and so did Al-Islah [ar], which denied that any of it's members were receiving payments from Saudi Arabia and described the report as “allegations and defamation”.
The newspaper was due to release the second and third part of the list but failed to do so due to “problems”.
@JustLuai tweeted the reason why it stopped publishing the rest of the list:
@NoonArabia @CarvajalF @Macoombs are you talking about AlShare’ newspaper? If so, their Editor in Chief, Ali Al-Saqqaf is being sued.
Many wondered why the newspaper decided to publish this list now? It certainly succeeded in causing a stir.
According to CNNarabic, members of parliament demanded in their first session on Saturday June 9th, an explanation from Prime Minister Mohammed Bassenduwah and urged the government to release any data it possesses regarding this matter.
Saudi Arabia has long considered Yemen as it's backyard and many Yemenis feel it has recently sabotaged their revolution through the GCC deal as an attempt to stop democracy from landing on it's front door. “Keep Yemen weak” is what King Faisal is quoted to have said to his sons on his death bed, and they have done a good job at that, keeping many Yemeni government officials, tribal leaders on their payroll and funding internal conflicts. Yet Saudi is not the only culprit here, but also those who chose to sell themselves and their country.
Omar Mash angrily tweeted:
@OmarMash: #YemeniPoliticians4Sale: Each of the 2700 individuals should be tried for treason against the Republic.
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

author: Noon Arabia


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Yemen: Famine  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese Ramy Zurayk writes about the famine facing Yemen.


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Africa: Improving Governance and Accountability with New Media · Global Voices
L. Abena Annan

Kwami Ahiabenu, II, is a team leader of International Institute for ICT Journalism, the co-ordination organisation for African Elections Project (AEP). With over nine years of experience in management, marketing, new media, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and development, Kwami was Executive Director of AITEC Ghana and a former board member of Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS).
He served as a key committee member for the organization of World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) African Regional Meeting 2005. He has undertaken several training sessions on new media across Africa. He is a Steve Biko and Foster Davies Fellow.
African Elections Project was established in 2008 with the vision of enhancing the ability of journalists, citizen journalists and the news media to provide more timely and relevant elections information and knowledge while undertaking monitoring of specific and important aspects of governance.
AEP has covered elections in Ghana, Cote d‟Ivoire, Guinea, Mauritania, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Togo, Niger and Liberia. African Elections Project uses social media tools and ICT platforms such as blogs, interactive maps, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and Facebook.
L. Abena Annan (LA): What is your affiliation with the African Elections Project?
Kwami Ahiabenu, II (KA): I am part of [the] founders, currently serving as a consultant to the project, providing management support and serving as the training director.
LA: How long have you been involved with the project?
KA: Since the birth of the project in year 2008. We started the project by launching the coverage of Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire and Guinea elections. Ghana elections did take place in 2008 but Cote D’Ivoire and Guinea took place in subsequent years.
LA: How would you describe this project for the average person to understand? What do you intend to accomplish with it?
KA: It is an online, SMS, mobile service which provides authoritative elections information and knowledge specifically news, analysis, elections powered by ICTs and new media. The service is brought to our audience by a team of dedicated journalists supported by civil society actors and citizen journalists
LA: What countries have you worked in? Do you intend to go to other countries as your website states only 10?
KA: We have worked in 11 countries to date, namely Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Mozambique, Malawi, Togo, Liberia and Niger working across English, French and Portuguese speaking countries. We currently cover each election happening on the continent on our homepage with Ghana elections 2012 being the current country we are covering. In addition to elections coverage, we have done some work in post-elections focusing on transparency and accountability issues and currently in partnership with Africatti we are monitoring health and education issues in two districts of Ghana under “Enabling Governance and Economic Transparency in Ghana using new media Project,” with plans to roll out to other African countries in the near future.
LA: How can people effectively use your website or information provided on it?
KA: Our audiences come to our website because of the high quality content which we generate and they consider it useful for themselves, so we can only improve our services by ensuring we constantly provide timely and relevant content to our audience base.
LA: Do you believe new technologies have improved democracy in Africa? Why?
KA: Democracy is a long journey, in this direction new technologies are assuming important roles in ensuring our people benefit from the fruits of democracy. That said, the journey is a long one; though we are recording some improvements we still have a long way to go to ensure that Africa as a whole nurtures its democracy.
LA: How empowering would you say technology has become to citizens of Africa?
KA: Technology can only play a role when the fundamentals are in place. If there is no true freedom of speech or free press, technology role becomes limited, though one may argue that technology can contribute to empowerment but it is important to stress the fact that technology plays a facilitating role and it works best when empowering environments are in place and protected to ensure technology’s role strive.
LA: What do you think the effect of technology on democracy will be 10 years from now?
KA: Technology roles cannot be discussed in isolation. Rapid growth of the tenets of democracy on the continent is a sure guarantee that technology impact on democracy is going to grow and become very important each passing day.
LA: What are your biggest challenges as an organization?
KA: We like to deploy cutting edge technologies in our coverage, but the high cost of ICT tools coupled by expensive bandwidth are always a challenge. Also user content generation is picking albeit slowly and our work will be made more interesting if the grandmother in the village can also contribute to our project.
LA: Any successes so far?
KA: The project has contributed significantly to building the capacity of journalists and citizen journalists in covering elections using new technologies, more importantly providing them with skills set they need to cover elections impartially thereby contributing to better elections which is a cornerstone of any democracy. One key achievement worthy of mention is the successful pilot of Ghana Post elections Project (“Because Accountability Counts”), where we contribute to the promotion of the culture of political accountability by providing a mechanism for citizens to match campaign promises and manifesto versus action and inaction of the ruling government.
The project incorporates citizen journalism mostly driven by mobile phones and has so far covered elections in 11 African countries namely Botswana, Cote d'lvoire, Ghana, Niger, Togo, Guinea, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Liberia and Namibia. This is one of key result area.
The project has also contributed local content from an African prospective for the global market, thus, presenting the African story using African voices.
We have also contributed to the body of knowledge in African elections and democracy through our country specific countries and recently we contributed “A JOURNEY THROUGH 10 COUNTRIES – Online election coverage in Africa” article in the Journal of Journalism Practice.
At its innovation fair, “Moving beyond Conflict”, Cape Town, South Africa 2010, the World Bank ranked African Elections Projects as innovative in the area of improving governance and accountability through communication technologies.

author: L. Abena Annan