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South Sudan: Humanitarian Crisis in the World’s Newest Country · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

This post is part of our special coverage South Sudan Referendum 2011 and Refugees.
Less than a year since declaring its independence in July 2011 to become the world's newest country, South Sudan continues to face a humanitarian crisis. Civil war between the African South Sudan and the Arabic North, Sudan, had already claimed around 1.5 million lives by that time, and international organizations warn that the troubles are far from over.
At the beginning of this year, for example, South Sudan declared its Jonglei State a disaster zone after as many as 100,000 people were forced to flee from fighting between the rival Lou Nuer and Murle tribes. The United Nations has already launched an emergency operation to supply humanitarian assistance to around 60,000 people.
The Borgen Project Blog provides a comprehensive background to the latest tribal trouble:
It is reported that these clashes began as cattle raids, but have spiraled out of control. Conflicts such as these “cattle vendettas,” as well as other clashes between rival groups, are common in South Sudan.  The United Nations says that about 350,000 people were displaced as a result of this kind of violence last year.
Intercommunal violence like this poses a major challenge for the fledgling government in South Sudan.  Being a newly independent state, the country is faced with the task of establishing an effective system of governance. Furthermore, South Sudan is one of the world's poorest regions.  It has hardly any roads, schools, medical clinics, or other vital infrastructure.  The lack of economic development within the country only fuels instability and leads to a higher rate of clashes like these recent ones in Jonglei.
Displaced population caused by cattle raiding in Pibor county, Jonglei State © Liang Zi/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
Catholic Relief Services, an international relief organization operating in South Sudan, concurs:
The troubled state of Jonglei has a long history of ethnic tensions, cattle raiding, kidnappings and sometimes violent competition for scarce resources.The most recent attacks were led by the self-proclaimed Nuer White Army, a group of as many as 6,000 armed youth from the Lou Nuer ethnic group. Spokespersons of the armed group stated that their intention was to reclaim stolen cattle and 180 kidnapped children that they say raiders from a neighboring ethnic group, the Murle, had taken from their communities.
[…]
“After nearly four decades of working in Sudan and South Sudan, CRS recognises that sustainable development and peace are tightly interwoven,” Boyd says. “To contribute to a lasting improvement in the level of basic services and economic opportunities available to people throughout South Sudan, it is imperative to support communities to find meaningful, concrete ways to resolve their differences and put an end to destructive conflict. Simultaneously, tensions between groups are often exacerbated by the scarcity of basic services like access to water, schools, or health clinics. Development and peace have to happen at the same time.”
Another international organization, Oxfam, also links averting conflict with the provision of essential goods and services:
As South Sudan emerges as a new nation, there may be no more pressing issue for its people, and perhaps for the stability of the nation as a whole, than the investments it makes in its agricultural sector and long term food security.
[…]
The international community has invested a tremendous amount in shepherding Sudan and South Sudan through the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and independence.  Now, however, the work just begins and donors must double down on their commitments to help South Sudan overcome the challenges of insecurity, displacement, and cyclical droughts and floods.
As it makes this transition to a nation at peace with itself and with its neighbor, South Sudan will require a comprehensive balance of predictable, multi-year development assistance alongside continued support for humanitarian needs focused on strengthening the GoSS emergency preparedness and disaster management capacity
It will also be important to invest in programs of Disaster Risk Reduction and resilience that enable communities to prevent, mitigate and recover quickly from humanitarian crises.  Donors should also look to emergent South Sudanese civil society as an important actor in providing humanitarian and development assistance that complements the programs of the state and private sector.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) also provides an account from the ground:
“Thousands of people have fled for their lives in Lekongole and Pibor in the last week and are now hiding in the bush, frightened for their lives,” said Parthesarathy Rajendran, MSF head of mission in South Sudan. “They fled in haste and have no food or water, some of them doubtless carrying wounds or injuries, and now they are on their own, hiding, beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance.”
The village of Lekongole has been raised to the ground and an MSF team that assessed the situation in Pibor on 28th December described it as a ghost town, virtually everyone having fled into the surrounding country. While the people are hidden in the bush, we cannot reach them to clean and dress wounds, treat diseases and provide general primary healthcare. The longer they are in the bush, the more serious it will become for people who are injured or sick.
[…]
“There are several crisis situations evolving in different parts of South Sudan right now,” adds Rajendran. “Our medical teams are also currently responding to the crisis of refugees fleeing conflict in neighbouring Sudan. These are staunch reminders that despite independence, acute emergencies are still all too present in South Sudan and the capacity for emergency humanitarian response remains an absolute priority.”
Bill's Space comments:
It only seems a few months ago that we saw the creation of a new nation in Africa, with the arrival of Southern Sudan out of Sudan. But it seems that a new name and new existence does little to change the way things are in that part of the world.  I’m seeing reports of more than 3000 people killed in South Sudan last week in ethnic violence, that forced thousands of others to flee  – although ‘fleeing’ seems to what the people in part of the original Sudan have been doing for decades –  these kind of mass killings or massacres seem able to be perpetuated despite the presence of United Nations personnel, South Sudanese army,. etc   With the report that this is the worst outbreak of ethnic violence in the new nation since it split from Sudan in July, seems to be the indication that such violence is an ongoing activity […].
Others are also cynical towards the international community's stated aim of assisting South Sudan, with The Impudent Observer making a satirical post, Death in Sudan, Who Cares?, ridiculing the US in particular:
This intrepid reporter asked prominent American political leaders for a reaction to this massacre of the innocent.
George Bush:  ”The key thing is whether there are WMD in South Sudan that pose a threat to the security of America.”
Michele Bachmann:  ”South  Sudan? Is that near New Orleans?”
Herman Cain:  ”I wonder if anyone there would be interested in a fabulous pizza deal.”
Ron Santorum:  ”I urge those unfortunate people to pray to God”
Mitt Romney:  ”America sends its condolences to all who are persecuted. I will inform Mormon headquarters so they can send some missionaries.”
Newt Gingrich:  ”If South Sudan leaders would contact me, I have some interesting ideas that might help them and my organization offers a beginning of year discount.”
Barack Obama:  ”We are leaving troubled areas, not going in.”
For more updates on South Sudan, Washington-based PannLuel Wël is providing updates on a blog, PannLuel Wël: South Sudanese Blogger, as well as on Twitter at @PaanLuelWel2011.
This post is part of our special coverage South Sudan Referendum 2011 and Refugees.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Getting Tourism Right  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“There is a St Vincent we love…and to our delight CNN, New York Times Travel and Travel and leisure have placed our island paradise on their top spots to visit in 2012″: But, says Abeni, “The ball is firmly in our court to create a favorable impression since we'd only have one chance to get it right.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Silk Situation  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Plain Talk gives his take on “the public brouhaha that erupted over the controversial awarding of ‘Silk’ to the Chief Justice and fellow Justice Wendell Kangaloo among others…”


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Turkey: Trici Venola’s Istanbul Drawings · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Trici Venola‘s wonderful Istanbul drawings and reflections – at her Drawing On Istanbul blog: “Plein Air drawing in Turkey: blogging about the site and the process.” More drawings by Trici are here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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U.S.A : Pizza Chain Employee Uses Racial Slur Against Asian Woman · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

A Papa John’s employee in New York city identified a Korean woman named Minhee Cho as “lady chinky eyes”. This racial slur against Asians caught the attention of local and international media as Cho tweeted a photo of the receipt.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Uruguay: Summer in Montevideo · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Lola, in 7 neuronas [es] (“7 neurons”), provides some information and links to cultural and sports events that will take place during these Summer months in Montevideo.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Barbados: Preventing Another CLICO Scandal  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Three years after the collapse of CLICO and there is still doubt that any serious regional regulatory framework has been established to prevent a recurrence”: Barbados Underground is concerned.


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Brazil: Murder of Indigenous Child Provokes Reactions · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.
The murder of an eight year old child from the Awa-Gwajá indigenous community, allegedly burnt alive [pt] by loggers in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, has caused outrage throughout the Internet, as well as disbelief by many in the face of such cruelty.
The Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) confirmed [pt] that “suspicions indicate that an attack has occurred between September and October against the camp of isolated indigenous” of the Araribóia reserve, and added more information:
O corpo foi encontrado carbonizado em outubro do ano passado num acampamento abandonado pelos Awá isolados, a cerca de 20 quilômetros  da aldeia Patizal do povo Tenetehara, região localizada no município de  Arame (MA). A Fundação Nacional do Índio (Funai) foi informada do  episódio em novembro e nenhuma investigação do caso está em curso.
According [pt] to Rosimeire Diniz, CIMI's coordinator in Maranhão state, “the situation has been reported for a long time. It has become a frequent occurrence, the presence of these logging groups, putting the isolated indigenous in danger. No concrete measure has been taken to protect this population”.
“The world needs to know”
Brazilian Awá population: 455. Image from Survival International.
Journalist Eliano Jorge interviewed [pt] a Guajajara Indian who said:
[…] Os madeireiros estavam  comprando madeira na mão dos índios (Guajajara) e acharam uma menininha  Gwajá. E queimaram a criança. Só de maldade mesmo. Ela é de outra tribo,  eles vivem dentro do mato, não têm contato com os brancos, são brabos.
Journalist Luis Carlos Azenha, on the other hand, urged caution [pt]:
Renato Santana [assessor de imprensa do CIMI] negou a existência de alguma foto do corpo carbonizado.  Só uma investigação oficial da Funai pode confirmar se de fato existe o  corpo carbonizado e se de fato  é de uma criança. Além disso, é preciso  esperar o testemunho direto de alguém que presenciou o episódio para  saber se houve crime e, se houve, para identificar os autores.
To which journalist Niara de Oliveira replied [pt], raising the issue of reported unofficial coallitions between “FUNAI officials in the region of Arame [and] local ranchers and loggers”:
“não surpreende, portanto, que não haja investigação em curso e que o caso só agora tenha vindo à tona”. Baseada no comportamento do governo federal para apurar o assassinato do cacique guarani em MS e na importância que dão aos povos indígenas quando se trata de beneficiar aliados (empreiteiros, ruralistas, desmatadores, madeireiros, etc) e baseada na importância que a imprensa governista dá aos mesmos povos indígenas, tendo a confiar na apuração do Rogério.
Rogério Tomaz Jr, born in Maranhão, was the first to report the case in the blogosphere; he ironically posted the various hypotheses about the case that have emerged, especially those that accuse the indigenous and social organizations of lying and fabricating a story. He criticizes the expected media silence about the case, and affirms [pt] with disgust that if an Indian slapped a logger or a farmer in the face there would be plenty of editorials.
Anthropologist Uirá Garcia, quoted by ISA (Socio-Environmental Institute) on its Facebook page, said [pt] that “there are indications that a Guajá Awa child of the group living in  seclusion at the indigenous reserve of Araribóia, has vanished from her  small group that encountered a group of loggers, months ago”:
Os Guajajara que encontraram o corpo comunicaram o ocorrido à Funai, mas nada foi feito. Essa informação já era conhecida por algumas pessoas ligadas aos povos indígenas do MA, a pelo menos 2 meses, porém, pela falta de provas mais concretas, ainda não havia sido divulgada. E agora, me parece que a informação (que pode sim ser verdadeira) “vazou” para a internet.
Doctor, Diana Serra, has urged [pt] revolt in reaction to the news:
Vejam  a que ponto está chegando  a violência no nosso  estado do Maranhão. E o  governo nada faz, Os representantes da Justiça  nada fazem. Os  representantes do povo nada fazem.  […]  É  preciso que o mundo saiba o que acontece no Maranhão. Terra sem  lei  para os detentores de dinheiro e poder. Alguns, verdadeiros  marginais,  onde ainda resiste o coronelismo.
Look how far the violence is going in our state of Maranhão. And the government does nothing, representatives of the Justice do nothing. The representatives of the people do nothing. […] We must let the world know what happens in Maranhão. Land without law to holders of money and power. Some, true marginal, where still resists the coronelismo [the rule of hereditary elites].
Persecution of indigenous peoples
The Awá, a term meaning “man” or “person”, are, according to the organization Survival International, “one of only two nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes remaining in Brazil”:
Some are uncontacted,  ranging from tiny family groups who are on the run, living in the last  fragments of Maranhão’s rapidly dwindling rainforest outside legally  recognized territories, to approximately 60 individuals living in the  Araribóia reserve which is heavily invaded by illegal loggers.
In 2008, a seven year old Guajajara child was killed [pt] with a shot by a motorcyclist in the town of Arame and other indigenous ethnic groups were also victims of similar violence, and rape, in the region. Violence against the indigenous population in Brazil has spread and taken on alarming proportions.
The ongoing genocide against the Guarani-Kaiowá in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul has been receiving increasing attention in the alternative media, especially in the blogosphere, but it is still a forbidden subject in the mainstream media. The Brazilian federal government, too, has taken no steps to publicize the crimes, and especially to prevent further deaths.
Other traditional populations are also victims [pt] of the violence [pt], committed largely by the federal government – or through its silence, which uses the military to intimidate Quilombolas traditional black populations and expel them from their lands. The construction of the Belo Monte Dam is another serious threat to the survival of entire indigenous communities in the Amazon region.
Another danger that presents itself to the indigenous and traditional populations of Brazil is the possible approval of the new Forestry Code, presented by Communist politician Aldo Rebelo, in conjunction with the ruralist leader Katia Abreu, and that is being contested by environmentalists and activists from different areas.
Awá community of Tiracambu, Carajás, Brazil © Fiona Watson/Survival
Journalist Lucão, recalling the recent case in which two activists of the state of Para, José Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and Maria do Espirito Santo da Silva were “cowardly killed by loggers”, as reported by Global Voices in May 2011, is another one to show revolt [pt] over the atrocity against the Awá:
Como se não bastasse a brutal agressão que os madereiros promovem  constantemente no norte do Brasil contra nossa flora e fauna, -pois  derrubando árvores, pássaros e animais são agredidos diretamente-, a  coisa agora descambou para a covardia tosca de atrozes bandidos que  atrelados à  cifras ignoram a vida da floresta e a vida humana.
Journalist Carlos Hermes, astonished, asks himself [pt] how long such atrocities will be tolerated:
[…] imagine quantas atrocidades são comendidas [sic] por esses monstros em meio à disputa por mata virgem a ser desmatada e vendida por eles?O índio é um impecílio [sic] histórico a estes sertanistas fascínoras [sic] que destróem a maior riqueza do Brasil. Vivemos isso há mais de quinhentos anos e o Estado inoperante e conivente  assiste como se fora algo banal. Até quando? Será que vai ficar impune?
This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Cuba: Farinas Arrested Again · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense reports that Guillermo Farinas, ” a psychologist…independent journalist [and] of Cuba's best-known human rights activists” has once again been arrested, along with “11 other anti-Castro activists”.


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Cuba: The Blogger Behind “Sin Evasion”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

At Havana Times, Yusimi Rodriguez posts an interview with blogger Miriam Celaya, “to learn about her life, her ideas and how much of a mercenary, cyber-terrorist and pro-imperialist she really is.”


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Dominican Republic: Farewell to El Goyo & Sención · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands acknowledges the deaths of “outstanding Cuban dancer, singer and percussionist Gregorio Hernández” and Dominican writer Viriato Sención, whose “work was marked by its commitment to historical truth and cultural engagement.”


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Egypt: Diaries of a Cancer Patient · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

“Cancer is a big business and I refuse to be a client! Please see my blog for more info on natural ways to prevent and cure cancer,” wrote Heba Mitkees in her Twitter biography. Heba blogged about her life as a cancer patient, and when I decided to interview her about her experience, I was shocked to find out that it was too late for an interview. The least we could do now is to ask the questions and let her blog answer them on her behalf.
Hi, can you please introduce yourself to us?
Heba Mitkees: I’m 23 years old, turning 24 in July. I’m also a Cancerian. =)
I was born in Montreal, and brought up in the UAE. My mother and I moved back to Egypt in 2002 after my father’s death. I finished my last 2 years of high-school and went to college in Cairo. I studied Broadcasting, specializing in video editing.
What's your story with cancer?
Heba Mitkees: Given that I’m an only child who came after 10 years of marriage, I’ve always held a very special place in my family’s heart. My father was a scientist/inventor. He was an intelligent, kind, loving, and hardworking man, who did everything within and beyond his power to make his family and loved ones happy. My father was diagnosed with lung and bone cancer in 2001. He did 3 chemotherapy sessions and died only 1 month later due to sudden Septicemia.
…
My father had always been a very strong man. Even at the peak of his illness, he never gave up or showed any sign of worry or fear. He laughed it off, made jokes about it and made us really believe that he was ok. He ALWAYS had a smile on his face. However, that day at the airport was different. It was heartbreaking. Chemotherapy had destroyed him. Even though he tried really hard to pretend he was fine, there was too much to hide underneath that beautiful smile.
…
The doctors in Egypt said that he was responding to chemo and that he was making significant progress. If that were true, what went wrong? Back then, I was too shocked to question his death. I was also too young. Deep down, I knew something went terribly wrong but I couldn’t pin point the source of this feeling.
For some reason, I completely blocked out the true cause of his death (Septicemia). I chose to believe that it was cancer that killed him. I believed that Septicemia was only a result of his illness. It was easier.
This went on for several years until I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer on the 13th of March.
How did you discover your illness? And how did your mother receive the news given that you are her only child and your father had died of the same illness?
Heba Mitkees: On the 12th of March, I was speaking to a friend on the phone and I told her about my lump. She insisted that she should take me to an oncologist on the same day and so she did …
Dr. M asked about my age. When I told him I was 23, he looked at me and said “23? You have nothing to worry about! You start worrying about these things when you’re over 30, but let’s get it checked”.
…
As he was examining the lump, I could tell by the look on his face that there was something wrong … I asked him if there was something suspicious. He couldn’t give me a straight answer, but he asked me to get a breast ultra sound and a mammogram, and return to him no later than the next day.
…
Only 2 nights before my diagnosis, I was out having fun with my friends and now I’m being faced with a life threatening disease. Too many decisions had to be made. Too many people had to be informed. I kept thinking about my mom. I didn’t know what to tell her. I was too worried that she would break down.
…
I saw almost 6 doctors altogether. All in one week. They all said the same thing with different approaches. All the oncologists suggested chemo prior to surgery and the surgeons suggested the other way around. A few days later I told my mom and I thank God that it went much better than I expected. She was shocked just like me, but didn’t break down.
Heba Mitkees, the weekend before she was diagnosed
From here, I think it's better to let Heba continue telling her story without interrupting her with questions.
Heba Mitkees: I eventually decided to proceed with treatment with Dr. M. My mom and I went to see him at his clinic and he scheduled my first chemo session for the next day (21st of March).
…
I got dressed when it was time to leave the house. On the way to the hospital with my mom and her friend, I kept thinking about my father. I kept thinking about how weak and helpless he looked during chemo and how painful it was.
Two months later, she decided to go for alternative treatment. She discussed in her blog why she doesn't consider chemotherapy a cure, and believed it kills more than cancer.
Heba Mitkees: Four days before my ‘last’ session, my uncle’s wife from Kuwait called my mom and told her that she knew someone in Egypt who could help. She said he was a Reiki master who’s had experience with similar cases. My mother asked if I was interested and I thought to myself, why not? I have a friend who’s a Reiki practitioner and she’s cured my headaches before.
…
Reiki is meant to stabilize and balance the energy fields in our body. It helps maintain a healthy energy flow, which is believed to promote healing and clear energy blockages in main energy centers in our body called chakras. It’s based on the idea that an unseen ‘life force energy’ flows through our body. If this energy is low, we are more likely to get sick, and if it is high, we are capable of being healthier.
She then went to describe her first meeting with Dr. Fahmy, the Reiki master.
Heba Mitkees: He totally lost me when he very bluntly and in confidence said that if I solely relied on orthodox treatment, I would most likely have a recurrence within a couple of years. He could tell by the look on my face that I didn’t like the sound of what he was saying.
…
I told him that I knew people who have been cured and haven’t had any recurrences so far, but then again, my argument was based on the limited number of people I’ve heard of and at the same time, disregarding the other number whom I know have had recurrences.
She continued.
Heba Mitkees: At that stage, I had no intention to stop chemo; the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. I had no information about all the chemotherapy risks and side effects. I hadn’t done any research about cancer and the different treatment options. I trusted my oncologist, and ignored everyone else.
….
At first, I thought Dr. Fahmy was a Reiki master, but then I realized that the amount and quality of knowledge and information he had about cancer required a person to have some sort of medical background. I was fascinated … He said that Reiki was only a small part of what he does. He explained that over the past 30 years, he has been researching and incorporating different healing methods which promote the curing process of a person … He said that rather than following one treatment technique or protocol, he found it more effective to integrate different techniques, which have been proved to work effectively together … Rather than merely dealing with the physical symptoms of a disease, holistic treatment acknowledges the significant effect of our mental and spiritual state on our body. It’s based on the idea that any physical symptom of a disease is nothing but a sign of imbalance in our system (Mind, body & soul) … It all started making sense. This specifically explains why we have very high recurrence rates in the world of cancer. The way orthodox medicine deals with cancer is by suppressing the tumor through chemo or removing it with surgery (the physical symptom) and disregarding the disease itself.
He then told her a list of do’s and dont’s. She blogged everything as far as she remembered:
Heba Mitkees: The list goes on forever, really. The whole idea behind his way of treatment was to turn my body alkaline in order to fight off the disease. He said that cancer lives in a highly acidic and de-oxygenated environment;
Along with this nutritional system, he told me that I had to see him around 4 or 5 times a week for energy sessions. I didn’t bother ask what these sessions were like or for.
At the time, she was still having orthodox chemotherapy treatment in parallel. But one day her doctor wasn't pleased with the results of the usual blood test she used to have before here chemotherapy session and the White Blood Cell Count (WBC) there. So, he decided to add an extra day of a drug called Neupogen for her. But then when she had another blood test, the results shocked her.
Heba Mitkees: I made a blood test and when it came out, the results were shocking. My WBC count was 27,700 this time. Closer to Leukemia. She immediately called Dr. M to ask him about the major count fluctuation.
…
He told her that it was an effect of Neupogen and that it was normal, but it didn’t make sense to her. Neupogen is meant to boost the WBC count, but what if it sustains it at its highest level? What would happen then?
…
I started researching chemotherapy and what it does to the body. Everything I read was terrifying! Something inside me told me that chemo was going to kill me. I felt so violated after everything I had read. Only then, I understood the true cause of my father’s death.
A book her friend's mother gave her and internet research made her think more about her best treatment options.
Heba Mitkees: ‘Knockout‘, a wonderful book written by Suzanne Somers. In this book, she interviews doctors who are curing cancer. Most of the interviewed doctors do not use any chemotherapy or chemicals. They are curing cancer without chemo! The book also exposes the Food and Drug Association (FDA) and the pharmaceutical industry, which work together to generate billions of dollars a year, especially off ‘the cancer business’.
I also read that, Tamoxifen, one of the drugs used to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer, increases the risk of developing uterine cancer by 30%.
She faced her oncologist with her findings.
Heba Mitkees:  I asked Dr. M about this shocking piece of information; he told me that ‘unfortunately’, I had to take it in my next chemo cycle.
No I wasn’t!
He thought it was unfortunate, but why do I HAVE to take it?
She didn't like her Reiki doctor at the beginning, but later on she wrote why she thing she wasn't comfortable. She also described the struggle she at this stage between the two schools of medicine.
Heba Mitkees: Dr. Fahmy opened my eyes to everything I needed to see. Discovering all the scary, negative things about orthodox medicine was very hard to deal with. It was too much for me to comprehend. I blamed him for my own confusion and for my personal struggle.
At some point I was torn between my love and loyalty to Dr. M and the strong belief that chemotherapy was not a cure and that I needed to stop. I didn’t want to upset him.
I was only able to make that decision when I put myself first.
I’ve been off chemo since 18th of April 2011. I can feel my tumors shrinking and I’m still alive! :)
My hair hasn’t started to grow back yet but my eyebrows and eyelashes have!
The last post in her blog was in June, and in it she seemed to be comfortable with her choice.
Heba Mitkees: Even though I have strong faith in my current treatment, I cannot advise people to follow my path. It’s too much of a burden and responsibility on my side to make such a call before I’m 100% cured.
However, this does not mean that I am questioning the effectiveness of alternative medicine. On the contrary, I am positive that I made the right decision and that I will soon make this call.
Such a decision has to be well informed, and this is exactly why I strongly advise people to do their own research and then decide, just like I did.
She didn't publish any more posts into her blog, but she tweeted every now and then,  her latest tweet was on the 23rd of November, and she died about a month later.
@MizMitkees: In #Amman… Wish I was in #tahrir right now! #noscaf
Despite the fact that she is not going to post anything on her Twitter account again, after writing this post I decided to follow Heba Mitkees (@MizMitkees) on Twitter.
Battery dead! Bye bye
— Heba Mitkees (@MizMitkees) October 20, 2011

author: Tarek Amr


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El Salvador: Destruction of Cathedral Mural Angers Citizens  · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Update (1 February, 2012):
The Cathedral's website, catedralsansalvador.org, which included pictures of the mural is no longer online.
El Salvador has a bloody history: 75,000 civilians were killed by the armed forces and death squads during the civil war (1980-1992) and the religious community suffered the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980, the murder and rape of four United States churchwomen, and a massacre of Jesuit priests. The Catholic church was particularly harmed by State violence during this period.
After the signing of a peace agreement, memory and reconciliation became priorities for many citizens. Any act in the opposite direction tends to spark a lot of reactions, as happened recently regarding the controversial destruction of one of the most visible Salvadoran memorials: a mural in the facade of the capital's San Salvador Cathedral. The Internet quickly flooded with shocked comments and calls to actions.
San Salvador Cathedral. Image available on Wikipedia (GNU Free Documentation License).
Kabistan [es] explains on Tumblr:
Esta semana fue destruido sin previo aviso el mural que adornaba la fachada de la Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador;realizado por Fernando Llort; por parte de la autoridades eclesiásticas del recinto; particularmente nunca me ha gustado ni el mural ni la catedral , pero el acto en si es indignante, una falta de respeto para el artista(y la comunidad de artistas en general) que concibió la idea, y las personas que colaboraron en su construcción.
Blogger Mildred Largaespada [es] gathers several reactions and posts pictures of the destroyed mural. She wonders:
Cómo se les ocurrió este atentado contra la autoestima de las y los salvadoreños, la historia de este país, el arte…?
On his website [es], Llort, the artist who created the work as a tribute for peace, describes his work on the Cathedral:
The Catholic Church of El Salvador asked me to design the facade for the Cathedral. This was one of the most inspiring artistic moments of my life, because it meant to me that I was putting my art on a very important symbol of my country, with huge historical significance. It was a work that took us (me and a group of artisans) around one year to finish.
Llort's mural was a symbol of peace, as Linda Raftree states in an extensive post where she explains the meaning of the art work, and draws a timeline of El Salvador's history. In “On pueblo and cathedral, ruin and rebuilding” she writes:
La Armonia de mi Pueblo is the title of the work that Salvadoran artist Fernando Llort created in 1997 to adorn the front of San Salvador’s Cathedral. Armonia is easy to translate into English – it means harmony. Pueblo is a bit more difficult. It’s a term in Spanish that includes the notion of both place and people. It comes from the Latin populus and can refer to a) inhabitants of a nation, country or region who share a similar culture; b) a population that farms in a particular zone (eg., a village or community); or c) the peasant or working class. So in essence, the title of the work is “the Harmony of my People”.
Linda adds:
Church leaders have since apologized to the Llort family and to those who are upset by the surprise removal of the tiles. They contend that they consulted with the congregation of the cathedral, and got their approval to remove the tiles. But the Secretary of Culture has called the Catholic church out for their actions, condemning ’the destruction of the face of the Cathedral,’ and accusing the church of violating the ‘Special Law on Protection of Cultural Patrimony’ which states that ‘although the mural on the Cathedral of San Salvador was not declared a Cultural Site, it was in process of being declared, meaning that under no circumstances should any interventions have been made.’
In his article “Church ripping Llort mural from facade of Cathedral”, blogger Tim provides background information on the prominent artist and also points out the reactions on social networks against the destruction:
The Facebook page of the Fernando Llort Foundation was filled with expressions of sadness and solidarity. Another Facebook page, Indignados por El Mural, is rapidly filling with pictures and comments and anger at the blindness of the church to the meaning of this artwork.
Ironically, pictures of the mural are still included in the San Salvador Cathedral [es] website, together with a description that states that without doubt the mural contributes “a unique personality” to the Cathedral. It also states that the murals are the most meaningful reference of Salvadorean contemporary art.
Blogger Hunnapuh [es] said that it is incredibly disrespectful to destroy such valuable work of art. In his opinion the cathedral should be demolished, because of its authorities’ narrow mentality and because he considers the cathedral a terrible work of architecture which the mural somehow helped look less ugly.
However, Copinapitli thinks [es] the Cathedral controversy is just a smoke curtain, distracting citizens from really important issues yet to be addressed, such as the growing violence which resulted in 50 murders in the first four days of the year, the risks of increasing scandals due to a tax reform, and a bad economic situation in general. According to this blogger, such situations deserve more attention from Salvadoran citizens.
Tim blogs that the artist responded to the destruction of the mural and made three requests:
First, he requested that the church make a full and complete explanation of its study and reasons for destroying the mural rather than restoring it. Second, he asked that there be greater recognition in El Salvador of the value and respect due for the work of Salvadoran artists and artisans. Third, he asked that the church return to him the rubble from the tiles removed from the facade so that he could create a new art work in homage to Salvadoran artisans.
Llort currently enjoys moral rights on his art work and the destruction might be considered against Salvadorean law. In any case, it is a good sign for Salvadorean democracy that its citizens are standing up to fight for the protection of their art, their common places, their memory.

author: Renata Avila


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Honduras: Priest Denounces Police Attack · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Father Marco Aurelio Lorenzo, a Catholic priest, has denounced a police attack on December 26, 2011, “when he and two brothers […] stopped along the highway to rest. […] Eight police officers set on them and beat them, badly enough that they then took them to the hospital,” Honduras Culture and Politics reports. The Committee for Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (Cofadeh) condemns the attack and the police's “systematic practice of attacking [Honduran] citizens.”


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Hungary: “Hey Europe, Sorry About My Prime Minister” · Global Voices
Marietta Le

Hungary is ‘enjoying’ an extensive foreign media coverage of the financial and political crisis in the country. Many well-known mainstream media outlets, such as the BBC, the Guardian, the New York Times or Al Jazeera have reported on the January 2, 2012, protests against the new constitution, which came into effect on January 1. Hungarian citizens, too, are constantly using blogs and social media to express their criticism of the government's measures and share the news of the country's volatile economy.
Although the rallies are growing more and more frequent, we confine this coverage to the protest that took place last Monday 2 January, presenting some Hungarian citizens’ views on the event.
The purpose of the January 2 rally was to speak up against the new constitution designed by the governing Fidesz and KDNP parties. To celebrate the constitution, the government organized a high-profile event at the Hungarian State Opera. The rally against it took place right outside the Opera.
Non-governmental organizations, civil movements and some opposition parties allied for the time of the protest to demonstrate that opposing the government's politics results in joint forces. The organizers wanted to avoid the influence of party politics on the event, and therefore only the representatives of civil movements and trade unions were the speakers.
A screenshot of the New York Times
Still, the presence of political parties raised doubts in many. Tracey framed this in an article [hu] on LMV community portal and stated he/she wouldn't attend the protest:
[…] My first thought: is democracy in danger? I think it is not.
The current government has buried only one interpretation of democracy, it was the parliamentary democracy, but this was made possible by the previous governing parties since they discredited democracy, its institutions and like in a banana republic they used power to gain profit. The whole political elite of the past 20 years of transition is responsible for what Fidesz is doing, irrespective of [political] colours, so talking about a democratic opposition, ‘offering [the parties in opposition] comradeship’, for the civil movements it's simply a dangerous self-delusion–except for if they want to give some party a leg up. […]
After the protest, Kékpóni drew a different conclusion on Kettős Mérce (Double Standard) [hu]:
Though there were many things I disagreed with concerning the event, I still attended the protest held on Jan. 2, whose message is summarized in the slogan “Still, There Will Be a Republic of Hungary.” I felt that the fight for democracy and association are keywords I can support with the feeling of ease. […]
According to the calculations of Fideszfigyelő blog (Fidesz monitor) [hu] some 32,000 or 50,000 people attended the protest. There were conflicts between the majority and the extreme-right protesters, who were also allowed to hold a ‘small counter-rally’ at the same place (as you can see on this YouTube video). Kettős Mérce reported [hu] that two activists of LMP (Politics Can Be Different party) were beaten by the extremists, one of them was searched by the police.
All in all, KA_Steve, one of the speakers, was happy with the outcome [hu]:
[…] I don't know how to put it but it was somehow uplifiting to see that self-satisfied politicians drunk with power are not able to organize an undisturbed celebration of themselves, even if they like it or not, they are obliged to celebrate the illusion of the System of National Cooperation, moving behind the four lines of police cordon, facing the citizens who are expressing their dissatisfaction loudly. […]
According to some rumours, high profile guests of the constitution's celebration had to use an escape route under the Opera to leave the building, journalists of index.hu news site interviewed [hu] the guests leaving through the Opera's back doors.
Kékpóni says the protests are just the tip of the iceberg:
[…] I am frankly happy for the shaping of a new Hungarian resistance, but I feel that the protest and anger focus only on the government measures, while what's being neglected is the fact that the system we are living in has not just got into crisis, this is just a more and more threatening consequence. Democracy will not end because of Orbán, it will end because we have not created it yet and we have not experienced yet the recognition that we have to do something for the creation–if we recognized it, there wouldn't be an Orbán system! […]

author: Marietta Le


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Iran:”Google is a spying tool” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The head of the national security forces, Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, says [fa] Google is a spying tool not a search engine.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Latin America: Politicians’ #TwitterFail · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Erwin, in The Latin Americanist, highlights four recent social media interactions which have hurt the image of politicians in Chile, Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico.


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Lebanon: Blogosphere Facts & Figures of 2011 · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Lebanon Aggregator posts its annual “Facts and Figures” about the Lebanese blogosphere. In it you can get, among other things, figures on the increase in number of blogs, facts on blogs becoming books, various specialized blogs and who is reading these blogs, among other tidbits.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Libya: A Letter from a Woman in Benghazi  · Global Voices
Mohamed ElGohary

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
A Libyan woman from Benghazi has criticized her countrymen for marrying non-Libyans after the revolution. She states that Libyan women are not getting rights equal to those granted to men. She writes the following open letter, entitled “A long letter from one of the sisters in Benghazi” on Facebook [ar]:
رسالة طويلة من احدى الأخوات من بنغازي
بصراحة الموضوع لازم نحكي فيه لانه يالي سمعته تبليه وضع النقاط علي الحروف
1- زواج رجالة بنغازي من السوريات يعني فضت في ليبيا وملقيتوش الا السوريات _مع احترامي لسوريات بس عيالنا علي قولت زيف الاسلام خط حمر وعريض _ في المرة الاولة لما شبابنا دبت فيهم النخوة وخذو من اليبيات يالي اهاليهن جو لبنغازي وهنا نحكي علي بنات اجدابيا وقلنا عادي برغم من وجود غصة لكن في الاخير بنت بلادي ومشينا الموضوع وتوا توصل بيكم تاخذو من النازحين من سورريا لليبيا ولا 40 شخص يعني العدد مش طشه الناس مليهمش اقل من شهر عندنا شوفو البنت ادرسوها كويس هل تنسبكم والا لا لكن طب لزق وتزوجو دغري هذه فأل شين ويستر ربي من الايام والعداد الجايا .
2-لا شكرا للمجلس الانتقالي علي فتح الابواب لكل ووحدة شقراء سمحة علي قولت عزايزنا نبيها ثلاجة توا المجلس كل ماله يدير في مشكلة في جرت مشكلة المرة الاولة تعدد الزوجات وتوا نزوح العرب الي ليبيا — نبي نوقف طشة علي موضوع هذا طبعا الدولة لما تكون فيها حرب فطبيعي انه الناس تهرب من هذه الدولة لانه الاوضاع فيها غير مستقرة نبي نفهم توا النزحين من سوريا واكرر مع احترامي لنازحين هل من الحكمة استقبالهم رغم اننا دولة غير مستقرة هل نفسية الموطنين اليبين تتحمل ضغط جديد عليهم هل المجلس مأخذش الابعاد من جلبهم يعني توا المجلس سبب في عنوسة 40 بنت ليبية متقولش ربي محلل بربعة ربي قال فعدلو انت وحدة ويادوبك تبي تأخذ اربعة ..
3- ياسيدي مش عاجبتك بنت بنغازي امشي لطرابلس الزاوية طبعا مصراته وجبل نفوسة تحلمو بيهن بناتهم ..ياسيدي بنات الجنوب باهي اذا يأست بنات بني وليد سرت تورغاء طبعا كلامي هذا مش لرجالة بنغازي بل رجالة المنطقة الشرقية خففو شويا علي ما وصوكم راكم كثرتو.
4- قضية زواج اليبيات من غير اليبين قضية كبيرة ولها ابعاد واجدة اليوم كانت في مسيرة لامهات ليبيات متزوجات بغير ابن جلدتها يعني باليبي مش ولد بلادها يطالبن بحقوقهن كموطنات ليبيات وهو تسجيل ابنائهن بجنسيتهن …. هذا تبيلها وقفة ياخواتي اي نعم انا معاكي في بعض المتطلبات لكن اني نزوج غير ليبي ونعطي جنسيتي لابني هذا انا مش معاها ياختي الجنسية لابد من ان تكون من صلب الرجل ..اي نعم انا معاك في انه ابنك يدرس مجانا ويعامل معاملة اليبي ويعمل ويعين في ليبيا وان تأخذي جميع حقوقك كموطن ليبي حيث ان ليبيا لا تورث ليبيا لكل اليبين فلا يجوز ان يعطي الشباب امتيزات عن الفتاة زيي زي الشاب وهذا لازم ينحط في دستور .
5- طبعا بحكم عددنا كاليبيات اكثر من عدد الرجال فالمفروض اي قرار يتخذ يكون فيه بعد لقدام وبحكم اننا سندنا الثورة وسندنا ثورانا وسندنا بلادنا ودرنا يالي قدرنا عليه بعزم من ربي فكلام هنا ينراد لنقطة رقم واحد يعني هذا كله وماملش عينكم طيح الله سعدكم مصيركم بعد سنتين بعد مايطفشن منكم وياخذن العيال معاهن مرردكم لبنات بلادكم لانه اطبعاكم مايقدر عليهن الابنات بلادكم بس هذا اذا لقيتونا مش لكم فترة تعيطو تبو تطبيق الشريعة الاسلامية في نقطة هذه انا معاكم …ربي قال من ترضون دينه مقالش ياليبيه خوذي ليبي راهو تحسبو رواحكم بس يالي مركزين عليهم .
6- رسال جدية …. الي الاستاذ حزب … اذا كنت تريد ان تضمن صوت المرأة وانضمامها الي حزبك فأهتم بحقوقها التي نصها الله اولا وحقوقها كموطنة ليبية …
واخير انشالله يوفقنا الله في نشر ديننا الوسطي وخدمة وطننا وإنسانيتنا
Frankly, we should discuss this subject so we that we make things clear.
The issue of Benghazi men marrying Syrians: so you men didn't find any suitable Libyan to marry a Syrian? With all my respect to Syrian women, but our children are a thick red line like Saif el Islam said. Firstly, when our youth believed in chivalry and went to Benghazi women, we are talking here about Ajdabiya girls. This was considered OK because they married girls from within our country in spite of the bitter feelings. But when you consider marrying Syrian emigrants to Libya, 40 of them, who have been here for  less than a month, this is not normal. You guys should take your time to see if the girl is suitable or not, and not marry after at first sight. This is a bad luck and may God save our coming days.
No thanks for the National Transition Council (NTC) for opening the doors to every blond, like our loved ones say: do we want the NTC buried in a fridge of problems? Firstly was polygamy and now Arabs emigrating to Libya? We want to stop this. Of course, we are in a state of war so it is natural for people to run away from this unstable country. But we need to understand Syrians coming here with all my respect, is it wise to receive them although we are an unstable country? Can we, as Libyan citizens, stand more psychological pressure? Did the NTC take into consideration such consequences? The NTC is directly responsible for 40 Libyan girls being a spinsters. Please don't say Allah permits marrying four, but please say that my God ordered if you want to be just then only one. You still want to have four wives?
3- So sir, if you didn't like Benghazi women, you can go to Tripoli, Az Zawiyah, and of course Misrata and Nafusa Mountains have women you can only dream of. Sir, you can also check out the southerners. If you are really desperate you can go to Bani Walid, Sirte and Tawergha. I'm not talking here to Benghazi's men, but to those living in the eastern side of Libya, you are becoming more and more by the day, you should take care.
Libyan men marrying non-Libyan women is a big issue with important consequences. Today there was a march for Libyan mothers who are married to non-Libyans demanding Libyan citizenship for their children. Ok, I support some of the Libyan women demands in marrying non-Libyans but I don't understand giving their children citizenship. Citizenship should be from the Libyan man. Ok I support free education for your son and same treatment that a Libyan gets for work, living and all other rights. But when Libya is not for all Libyans then we should give Libyan men what the women don't have, and this should be mentioned in the constitution.
Based on the fact that Libyan women number more than men, it is supposed that any decision with long range consequences should be considered. And also based on the fact that we, Libyan women, supported the revolution and the country with all our efforts, and all of that wasn't enough? After two years those you married will run away with your children because no woman can stand your manners, and then we won't accept you, if you found us in the first place. You are desperate for applying Islamic ruling, OK I'm with you in this. Islam said you marry a religious man, not necessarily a Libyan man. God said you should marry good religious men not just the men you desire.
6- A serious message, to Mr Party, if you want to secure women's votes and women joining your party, you must recognize and give much care to her rights, which are dictated by God Himself, and her rights as a Libyan citizen.
And finally may God help us spread our religion and help us service our nation and our humanity.
The letter has attracted so many comments so far, more than 350 and counting, opening the debate on women's rights, Islamic law and what is acceptable for Libyan women and what is not.
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

author: Mohamed ElGohary


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Libya: Draft Electoral Law Criticized  · Global Voices
Mohamed Mesrati

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
A few days ago, the Libyan government released a draft of the election law for public debate. The aim was for citizens to discuss it and find out the opinion of the majority of Libyans about it. This draft, the first in Libya's post-Gaddafi era, is the first of its kind in a country that had no elections in four decades.
The elections are slated for June this year and the new parliament will be charged with writing the country's new constitution.
Soon after its release, activists began criticizing some of the draft's key clauses through the Internet and civic organizations. Most of their criticism focused on an article which does not permit Libyans with dual citizenship to run for elections. The other point debated is about the availability of only 10 per cent of the congress seats for women.
Libyan activists have also translated the Electoral Law draft into English for wider deployment in the Western media and have published the translation of the draft on the Internet.
Libyan blogger Ghazi Gheblawi shares a link on Twitter:
@Gheblawi: English Translation of #Libya Electoral Law http://twitdoc.com/PJG via @libyanproud @WaterproofAhmed @ChangeInLibya et.al.
In addition to the translated English version, the ruling Libyan Transitional Council published the original version in Arabic, adding an e-mail address in case Libyan citizens would want to comment on any of the articles of the electoral law.
Gheblawi shares the link for the Arabic version of the draft law:
@Gheblawi: Draft electoral law for the election of the national Libyan congress PDF ARABIC #Libya #election read and spread http://www.mediafire.com/download_repair.php?dkey=elctnns7n3h&qkey=gncwu8dm1q8y1g9
After reviewing the draft, many activists rejected the article which prohibits Libyans with dual nationality to run for election. One of activists on Twitter has written a letter under the signature of ‘The Libyan Dual Nationality Community’. He has published a copy of the letter that he sent to the Election Law Drafting Committee.
Armchair Arab tweets:
@ArmchairArab: @Tripolitan @LibyaLiberty @@AzizBelhaj @Abukersh @ceoDanya here’s my English Draft letter – http://www.twitlonger.com/show/f4nijn
He explains in the letter the conditions experienced by Libyans under Gaddafi's repressive regime, the reason that pushed them to migrate out of the country, seeking other nationalities:
However I put it to you dear distinguished members, that thousands of Libyans were forced to flee their homeland and start new lives overseas by the brutal practices of the former Libyan government of Gaddafi and his cronies. Amongst these Libyans the flame of revolution and opposition to Gaddafi was kept alight, so that it might one day help spark the changes that all Libyans longed for. In the patriotic and honorable revolution of February 17th, 2011. This spark grew to a burning flame that played a critical role in ousting the Gaddafi regime. Dual nationality Libyans residing abroad helped take the news of Gaddafi's crimes to a global audience, pressuring international media outlets and foreign politicians to take action. Dual nationality Libyans also served the revolution by providing medical, material and financial assistance to Libyans in Libya and refugees in neighboring countries. Many quit their jobs and gave up their livelihoods and life savings to play their part in the revolution. Of course, we can never forget the dual nationality Libyans that made the ultimate sacrifice by fighting and giving up their lives for the sake of a free Libya.
The activist asked in his letter to delete this article that marginalizing a large number of Libyans who had fought against the Gaddafi regime for long time:
More practically speaking, it is our strong recommendation that Article 16, item 1 should be amended to remove the requirement for dual nationalities citizens to relinquish their dual nationality before registering themselves as an electoral candidate. As long as Libyan has a valid Libyan citizenship and has not committed any crimes, then he or she should be eligible to both vote AND run for elections. The two key tenets of a true democratic process.
Libyan dual citizens proved their loyalty to Libya during their long years of exile and more recently during the blessed Feb17th revolution. They provide Libya with a powerful asset of education and experience that the country desperately needs to achieve the goals set out by the Feb17th revolution. The solution that serves Libya best is enabling these patriotic Libyan citizens to serve their country without any discrimination or limitation.
On the other hand, a number of other activists as well as some of the civil organizations protested January 4 in front of the prime minister office in the Libyan capital Tripoli, against the election rule that gives women 10pc of the seats in Congress, or 20 out of 200 seats. This protest was organized by “The Free Generation Movement” as well as some other Women Rights organisations.
Details of the protest were posted on Facebook here:
The Free Generation Movement: All Women, men, Human Rights Activists, are invited to join in a demonstration opposing the 10% quota, outside the Prime Ministers Office, Treg Sikka, Tripoli, on Wednesday January 4th 2012 at 10:00 a.m.
Libyan political activist Hafed AlGhwell notes:
@HafedAlGhwell: Libyan #women are planning demonstrations in Tripoli & BenGhazi to protest the new election law in #libya
And social activist, Noor Toshana, expresses her displeasure for the article on women in the elections:
@NoorToshani: Don't tell me #LibyanWomen are politically ignorant. Relatively speaking, EVERYONE is. Gaddafi left no room for political practice/engagement
Activist, Joanne Leo, put a link of the Libyan Elections website, asking Libyans who have comments or complaints to send feedback:
@FromJoanne: #Libya #ATTENTION Send your Comments on Draft #ELECTION #LAW NOW Click “Send feedback” on elections2012.ly website
Meanwhile, activists still hope that the government will take their views into consideration regarding these two articles. In the coming days the Electoral Law Committee, Council of Ministers and the National Transitional Council will be meeting to discuss the electoral law draft and decide in the light of citizens’ comments. The elections are slated to be held in June.
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

author: Mohamed Mesrati


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Mexico: Human Rights Commission Publishes Preliminary Report on Killing of Guerrero Students · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has published a preliminary report on the investigation around the killing of two students during a protest in Ayotzinapa, in the state of Guerrero, on December 12, 2011. Aguachile summarizes some of the Commission's findings.


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Myanmar: ‘Cosmetic’ Democratic Reforms · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Prof Kanbawza Win warns global leaders not be deceived by the so-called democratic reforms in Myanmar: “The West should not be carried away by some cosmetic reforms and that Burma’s long-ruling military still wields enormous power despite a veneer of democracy provided by the sham elections with a dubious constitution.”

author: Mong Palatino


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Myanmar: List of Freed Political Prisoners · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners – Burma has uploaded a list of the 34 freed political prisoners in Myanmar. According to the opposition, there are 591 political prisoners in the country.


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Myanmar: “The Somali pirates keep their promise” · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A total of 1,400 prisoners including 33 political prisoners were released from Myanmar prisons this month. Reacting to the non-release of hundreds of political prisoners, activist and former detainee Zarganar Thura posted this statement on facebook: “I once likened the situation of my friends in jail as being in the hands of Somali pirates. I now withdraw this comment. The Somali pirates keep their promise”


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Peru: Conflict Over Conga Mining Project Continues · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

The Christmas and New Year holidays, as well as other political news in the country, have taken a bit of the media spotlight from the Conga Mine Project in Cajamarca but that doesn't mean the conflict hasn't continued to develop.
The controversy arose over the damage the project could cause to a group of lagoons in the highlands of Cajamarca, which the locals in this area use for personal consumption and for crops. In November, there were two protest strikes, (1 [es] and 2,) against this mining project. The second of those lasted into December as a regional strike [es] that lasted several days, forcing negotiations to try to find a solution.
However, these meetings were not fruitful and a state of emergency was declared, abruptly closing down the strike. The government also took other steps to pressure the Regional Government of Cajamarca, leading the strike, as well as  against other leaders who spent 10 hours in jail while “their identities were confirmed”.
Tony Alvarado gathered opinions from some Cajamarca locals about the conflict in the following video [es]:
An unexpected low in this confrontation was the resignation of Prime Minister Salomón Lerner and the naming of Oscar Valdez, formerly Minister of the Interior, as the new Prime Minister. This move signaled some political maneuvering by the government and a consolidating of the change in strategy by the government towards this particular conflict.
So, while Cajamarca was requesting an end to the state of emergency [es], the government started an information campaign about government investing in the area, and at the same time seeking to establish a negotiating table and announcing international expert assessment  to evaluate potential environmental damages that Conga might produce.
After a few days the state of emergency was lifted, as well as other repressive measures that had been taken.  When negotiations were restarted [es] in Cajamarca, they were marred by controversy regarding the representation of the participants, given the assertions that Wilfredo Saavedra, the President of the Defense Front for the Interests of Cajamarca, and said to be [es] a member of the MRTA (Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement), was not a valid interlocutor for Cajamarca. As could be expected, these talks also ended [es] without reaching any agreement.
Days later, new talks were initiated [es], this time in Lima, in which several Cajamarca leaders participated, [es] but the Regional President, Gregorio Santos, did not. Though these talks ended in some agreements being reached, [es] some factions in Cajamarca declared “traitors” [es] those who signed. Soon after, new protests were announced [es] for the first  part of 2012.
Furthermore, the Cajamarca Region declared via ordinance that the Conga Project was not viable.  In response, Prime Minister Oscar Valdés announced the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM) would denounce Santos [es] for issuing the ordinance.
In the midst of this atmosphere of tension the protests resumed [es] in Cajamarca.  On one hand, there were reports [es] that there wasn't much support for the protesters, however it was also reported [es] that shops were closed and that protests would continue. It was also announced that a meeting would be held January 13 to discuss the Conga project, and that the previously announced march in support of water would take place on January 27 at a national level.
As might be expected, people are commenting in blogs. Juan Sheput de Mate Pastor comments [es]:
El presidente regional Gregorio Santos se ha ratificado en la ordenanza que declara inviable al proyecto Conga. La amenaza de revocatoria en ese sentido lo debe tener sin cuidado, no sólo porque provenga de un sector tan desprestigiado moralmente como el fujimorismo sino porque, según noticia que ha pasado desapercibida en Lima, Gregorio Santos es considerado el hombre del año en Cajamarca.
The blog Sin Patrones offers [es] stark testimonies of the recent protests:
Otra de las instituciones cuestionadas por la firma del acta a espaldas del pueblo es la Municipalidad Provincial de Cajamarca, representada por su alcalde, los manifestantes también llegaron a la Municipalidad.
An article that has been published in several blogs is “Greed for Cajamarca Gold: Interest in Exploiting Conga”[es], by Jorge Tejada Campos, professor at the National University of Cajamarca. Among other things, he notes:
El Premier ha adelantado opinión sobre los resultados del peritaje , ha dicho que servirá para subsanar cosas y explicar al pueblo de Cajamarca sobre las bondades del proyecto. Es decir, su visión de peritaje es para hacernos ver lo torpe que somos, que no entendemos lo que significa las “ventajas de la actividad minera”. […]
En los términos de referencia se advierte que los peritos serán personas naturales, no hay peritaje internacional, para mitigar posibles impactos negativos y proponer mejoras. Se borró el peritaje internacional, se exige confidencialidad, es decir todo se hará en secreto, como se hizo con las aguas del río Grande entre Minera Yanacocha y SEDACAJ, la información ya se tiene en el Ministerio de Energía y Minas, entonces el Perito elegido sólo hará trabajo de escritorio, en Lima, en ningún momento será necesario siquiera visitar Cajamarca, menos la zona de operaciones de la minera. Todo, absolutamente todo está arreglado en favor de la ejecución del Proyecto.
The Prime Minister has put forth his opinion about the results of the study, and has said it will correct matters and explain the benefits of the project to the people of Cajamarca.  That is to say, his vision of the study is to make us see how slow-witted we are, that we don't understand what the “advantages of mining” are.
In the terms of reference, it is noted that the experts will be individuals, not international entities, in order to mitigate possible negative impacts and propose better ones. It eliminated the international component, it requires confidentiality, so everything will be done in secret, as was done with the waters of the Rio Grande between Yanachoca and SEDACAJ, the information is already on file in the Ministry of Energy and Mining, so the experts will only do paperwork, in Lima, and it won't even be necessary to visit Cajamarca, let alone the mining areas. Everything, absolutely everything, will be decided in favor of going ahead with the project.
However, there are differing opinions [es] about the nature of the protests in Cajamaca and how this could affect governance:
A pesar de su caótica fragmentación, la izquierda en el Perú parece tener una curiosa orquestación que por distintos caminos les permite llegar al mismo peligroso derrotero: bloquear al Estado peruano. […] Debido a que las izquierdas no responden a ninguna dirigencia unificada y son solo conglomerados de agitadores, lunáticos y terroristas frustrados, lo más probables es que cada quién siga en su propio afán y acaben configurando un escenario de caos social y político que el gobierno de Ollanta Humala no va a tolerar. En algún momento que parece inevitable, la situación podría desembocar, efectivamente, en una militarización del país. Yo creo, sin temor a equivocarme, que la izquierda está jugando con fuego. Por desgracia la izquierda es un segmento no solo virulento e irracional sino irresponsable.
Peruvians are expectant to see what will happen at the meeting scheduled for January 13, the start and subsequent conclusion of the Environment Impact Study for the mining project, and how the March for Water develops.

author: Juan Arellano


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Philippines: Davao Tagalog · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

RM Bulesco blogs about what he calls “Davao Tagalog,” a mongrel language combing Cebuano, Tagalog, and other Filipino languages that is spoken in the southern Philippine city of Davao.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Philippines: Filipina Amazons · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Vina Lanzona's new history book, Amazons of the Huk Rebellion, tells the many stories of Filipina women involved in the Huk Rebellion from the 1940s up to the 1950s. This is reviewed online at The PCIJ Blog.


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Poland: Prosecutor Suicide Attempt · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Michael Dembinski of W-wa Jeziorki tries but fails to understand a suicide attempt by a military prosecutor involved in investigations of the 2010 Smolensk aircrash killing Poland's president Lech Kaczynski, and causing a plethora of conspiracy theories.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Russia: The Russian Orthodox Church Re-Enters Politics · Global Voices
Donna Welles

This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
The Russian Orthodox Church has made an entrance into Russia's current political situation through the contrasting speeches of two church officials – one called for war, the other for peace.
Global Voices put today's religious climate in Russia in its historical context in a December 2011 post entitled, “Holy Relic Visits a Nation Emerging from State-Sponsored Atheism”:
Kievan Rus adopted Christianity in the late 10th century from the Byzantine Empire, and for almost a millennium until the early 20th century, when the Romanov Dynasty was overthrown and a communist government was put in its place, Russia was among the most devout nations in the world. During the eight decades of communism, religion was discouraged and a new moral code was instituted based on respect for the working class. When the Soviet Union fell and the communist sense of morality no longer had as many proponents, Russians were tasked with deciding for themselves what they thought about spirituality and religion.
Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for Church and Society, incited outrage with his speech, which was published by Interfax on January 5. News portal Grani.ru quoted [ru] Chaplin's speech in a text entitled, “Chaplin: Russia Should Not Fear War”:
Russia should increase its military presence in all regions, where “people are asking for protection against ‘orange’ experiments and various kinds of color revolutions.” […] “Even if Russia should be involved in the fighting, this should not be feared today. The army finally has to be given a real job. [‘Online hamsters‘] could easily be sent to the combat forces. Those of them who manage to survive will, perhaps, become human beings,” said Chaplin.
“Russia is losing its political will, precisely because it does not participate in full force in world political processes. We now have sent ships to the shores of Syria – this is good, but it should be just the beginning. In all the places where people are concerned about the danger of “color” experiments over one or another nation, Russia may well be present, including the military, full-scale, even if it means participating in the hostilities. And in these activities should be involved all the males of our nation, including those pathetic ‘hamsters,’ who apparently can only be fixed when they are faced with a real man's job, a military job,” said [Chaplin].
The comments that followed were uniformly concerned with the militaristic nature of Chaplin's words.
nikst:
The churchmen, after the communist breeding, certainly ceased to be human.
zooliatuganova:
And you're shouting, Jihad! Jihad!
Orthodox Christmas in a Moscow church. Photo by Anton Belitsky, copyright © Demotix (07/01/10).
By contrast, the Christmas speech given by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church called for patience and humility in political matters. Voices from Russia posted a translation of a Russian-language article [ru] that quoted the Christmas television interview:
In response to the debate on the outcome of the elections to the [Russian Duma], Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias urged all to show wisdom in calling for a dialogue between the government and society in Russia. In a Christmas interview on the TV channel Russia-1 that aired on Saturday His Holiness said, “People should be able to express their disagreement, but they shouldn’t yield to provocations and destroy the country, for we’ve reached the limits of keeping one another at arms length… those in authority should hold a thorough dialogue and listen, to put society on the right course, and, then, all will be well for us”. In Patriarch Kirill’s opinion, each person in a free society has the right to express their views, including opposition to the actions of the authorities, saying, “If people are deprived of this right, they perceive it as a restriction of liberty, it’s very painful… but we must show wisdom in doing it.”
Patriarch Kirill then placed the recent protests surrounding the Dec. 4 elections in their historical context by urging Russians both in and out of power to not repeat the mistakes of the past:
Drawing a historical parallel, the patriarch suggested, “If the demonstrations prior to the 1917 Revolution had ended in peaceful protests, not being followed by a bloody revolution and fratricidal war, today, Russia would have more than 300 million people and would be on the same level as the USA in terms of economic development, or even higher. We weren’t able to maintain our balance and we lost our heads. We destroyed our country. Why did this happen? To put it simply, political forces seeking power very cleverly used the just protests of the people”. […] Patriarch Kirill believed that the task of the present day is “to protest in the right way, which would then lead to a correction of policy. That’s the main thing. If the government is insensitive to the expression of protest, that’s a very bad sign.”
Russia Blog posted an essay last month written by Bruce Chapman entitled “Church Joins Public Protests of Vote Fraud,” which explained why overt actions taken by modern Russian religious figures are remarkable:
The existence of free speech and freedom of assembly actually may be honored more now by the Putin regime than in recent years. Evidence is the way the whacky assertion of Mr. Putin that Hillary Clinton had inspired the protest demonstrations was laughed down. There even were nightclub routines making fun of it, and finally President Medvedev allowed that the protests are home grown. Also lending credibility to the protests, one sees the remarkable story that the Russian Orthodox Church now feels confident enough to praise the protesters. Anywhere in the West, that would hardly be news (churches love protests of government), but it's a novelty in Russia and, paradoxically, suggests a liberalizing of the regime. After all, in a fully controlled society the Church wouldn't dare raise its voice.
The Russian Interior Ministry announced [ru] that over 2 million Russians had taken part in the Christmas celebrations in over 8,000 temples throughout the country. Some bloggers emphasized the theological elements of the Patriarch's speech rather than the political. Moscow residents Kyle Keeton and his wife Svetlana posted a video on their blog of Patriarch Kirill as he explained the meaning of Christmas:
The meaning of Christmas is that God is not somewhere far, God is not who the ancients feared, God wished to become man, and He came to the world and really became man. What does this mean for us, for mankind? It means that if God is here with us, it is easy to ask for His help.
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.

author: Donna Welles


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Slovakia: The “Work vs Money” Dilemma · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

SME newspaper published an article [sk] about a recent experiment in the city of Krompachy in East Slovakia. Unemployed people were being asked to get involved in a public flood protection project. In this region with a high level of unemployment, only four young men agreed. All others refused, claiming that they'd be poorer if they took this job.
The city calculated monthly budgets for local families with seven members – one where the husband accepted employment in the public sector, and the other where the husband was unemployed. They found that, because of losing some unemployment benefits and due to higher transportation expenditures, the employed man had 140 euros less than the unemployed one.
“And why do I have to work? To wake up every morning to go to work? They will take away the money [benefits] for child food, for housing and it is not a small amount. I prefer to not work and this way I will even save a few bucks,” Gejza, a father of four children, is quoted saying in the newspaper.
What is left unsaid in the original newspaper article is that many Slovaks would assume that someone unemployed, father of many children, with a Hungarian given name and living in East Slovakia is likely a member of the Roma ethnic group.
Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family said for the newspaper that “the Ministry knows about the badly tuned system of allowances for those in material need. Because of this, [the Ministry] has already made an effort to introduce changes, so that the recipient of state benefits had to deserve them. Unfortunately, the proposal encountered opposition and did not make it to the negotiation stage. Anyway, we continue to look for an adequate system change.”
Below are some comments from the article's discussion.
Element:
Even if it's 140 euro more for a working person, it will not help too much. Because for a man who has never been working in his life such a difference will not make him work.
Mrmr:
An extremely […] misleading article. It's not the social benefits that are high, but the wages – incomes – are low. If they said that payment for flood protection work would be 1,000 euros per month, then the numbers and comparisons would look different…
Smeckar:
Parental allowances should not be paid as a standard, but just like a deductible item from the wage. Those who do not work will get no allowances …  otherwise you can't make people work…
buster234:
Why would they go to work when we are working for them! And when there is a lack of money, they will have our social contributions increased!
addis pareba:
Badly tuned is not the system of allowances and social benefits. Badly tuned is the system of work remuneration.
Tress:
Who is writing that social allowances are too high? They are not. Do you want to tell me that about 450 euros for a family with six members is [too] much? It is not. It is necessary to increase wages and not to lower small benefits!
djmaros (in reply):
Someone is standing in your way? Just ask your boss to add you 500 euros per month. Will he?
treke:
For a parasite it is [too] much. For a person who cares about himself alone and is intentionally overeating and overdrinking the results of someone else's work, it is 100% more than necessary.
racional:
They encountered opposition? Who are those opponents to lowering of the benefits for useless mouths?
mudla (in reply):
The opponents see it realistically. Where does that minister want to employ that unemployed to create merit? How many unemployed do we have for one free job position?
zeta reticuli (in reply):
Where to employ them? Public works. […] All the streets are shining […]. At least they will not steal and make children.
econoir.sk:
Don't  be naive. It's 400,000 of voters.
zeta reticuli:
The solution is … when an unemployed person starts to work, he should not lose the whole allowance, it will just be lowered … This way it can't happen that a working person has less than a non-working one, however low his wages are.
prdola:
“Ministry: change is necessary”
White people will work more and for less money.
Lionluck1971:
I have just one question: how many officials our state needed to calculate what one unqualified Roma has been able to calculate?

author: Tibor Blazko


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South Africa: On #ANC100 Debate  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mohammed Keita shows how #ANC100 debate lays bare divisions over South Africa media: “The lively social media debate illustrated both the discomfort many Africans feel toward criticism of their leaders, and the role as scapegoat that the media is currently playing as the ANC struggles to hold onto a decisively positive legacy.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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South Korea: Anger and Suspicion Grows Over Election Rigging · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

A political scandal is brewing in South Korea over alleged election rigging. Despite the police's conclusion that the nation's election commission website was disconnected due to a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack carried out at the individual level, tech-savvy younger people have defined the case as a carefully thought out election rigging manipulated by political powers.
They suspect the disconnection was caused to disrupt a local by-election in favor of the ruling party and have demanded a thorough reinvestigation by special prosecutors or even a parliamentary audit.
A strange experience
On the morning of October 26, 2011, voters had a strange experience. Although they could access the National Election Commission's website, the web page where they type in their address to search for their voting booth was disabled. This partial disconnection continued for about two hours from 6 am to 8 am, before the entire website was inaccesible for next hour or so.
This time of day is commonly when commuters, especially progressive young people, hurriedly go to cast their vote before they go to work. Many IT experts, lead by the famous political podcast show Naggomsu‘s (“I am a petty-minded creep”) initial report, started doubting the police version of the story.
Starting from mid-December 2011, top universities in South Korea have joined the protest against the police explanation and redefined the case as ‘election rigging’ done by insiders and ordered by political powers. On January 5, 2012, over 30 major universities [ko] released a joint statement demanding a thorough investigation and punishment on allegedly involved people, from the  government and the ruling party.
The nation’s top ranked Seoul National University wrote [ko] in its statement “some of the fraudulent actions  during the October 26 by-election is the worst crime done to undermine the  very foundation of this nation’s democracy.”
The grassroots petition [ko] has gathered about 2,700  student signatures. One of top tier universities, where the president himself studied,  Korea University has opened a special webpage [ko] dedicated to posting a similar statement and gathering signatures. The statement calls to “immediately stop influencing the investigation on the election site malfunction” and warns to “never even dream” of minimizing the case.
Another prestigious university, KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) set up a similar web page [ko] on December 3, where they defined the case as “an unprecedented election fraud” and added “they lamented that they see some evidences that the  ruling party and the presidential house are involved in the case”.
This petition gathered about 700 signatures.
Photo of  student protest on January 5, 2012. Posted on the Wiki Tree site, Creative Commons License.
Photo of student protest on January 5, 2012. Posted on the Wiki Tree site, Creative Commons License.
Twitter users welcomed the students’ joint action. A historian, Jeon Woo-young (@histopian) tweeted [ko]:
정부가 국민을 어린애 취급하니 예전에는 ‘노인들'이나 하던 ‘시국선언'을 대학생들이 하는군요. 예전에는 검찰이 정부 비판하는  학생들더러 ‘일부 몰지각한 학생'이라고 그랬습니다. 이제는 학생들이 검찰보고 ‘대다수 몰상식한 검사'라고 할 판이네요.
Reactions
Police have already arrested a personal assistant of ruling party   lawmaker Choi Gu-sik over the alleged cyber-assault on the National Election Commission site and claimed that they, with other assistants of politicians, carried out the attack, adding the governing political party has no connection to this incident (Choi departed his party right after the allegation).
Lawmaker Choi called this case as a “prank” pulled out by young daredevil hackers [ko]. The nation's major conservative newspaper went even further and reported [ko] that the hacker was under the influence of alcohol, panicked after finding out that his attack actually worked, but continued to hack anyway since he was unable to stop the attack he had initiated. This news article by Chosun ended up being posted in Today's Humor site [ko].
One of the nation's influential political bloggers, IamPeter, in a post [ko] ridiculed such news reports by posting a screen capture image of a DDOS hacking tool that has not only the STOP command but a STOP button and raised suspicions on Choi's excuse that he had not been aware of his assistant's criminal background or his hacking. The assistant is believed to have been one of the closest people in his inner circle.
This allegation was first raised by Naggomsu, South Korea's most popular political  podcast, right after the election. Hosts of the show suggested that it is nearly impossible to find that kind of attack pattern unless someone from inside the National Election Commission had cut the  connection to specific databases. Computer geeks and technical specialists chimed in and stressed that it is extremely rare to knock  specific databases offline with a DDOS attack.
One Twitter user who works in the IT field, Kim Seong-ju (@kimseongjoo), tweeted [ko]:
DDoS공격으로 DB서버만 끊는 것 재연하라!!!  #1026부정선거
A software developer and active Twitter user who has more than 20,000 followers, Barry Lee (@barry_lee), wrote [ko] about the case in detail in his blog. The National Election Commission apparently have two servers, one is www.nec.go.kr (the main one) and the other info.nec.go.kr. The latter ‘info’ server is the one containing information on people's voting booths matching their addresses. On the election day, this ‘info’ server could not be accessed the whole time:
디도스 공격만으로는 데이터베이스 서버만 죽이기는 불가능에 가깝습니다. 유일한 가능성은 웹 페이지 프로그램을 잘못 개발해서 너무 비정상적으로 데이터 처리속도가 오래 걸릴 경우인데, 현실적으로는 일어나기 힘든 케이스 입니다. 보도에 따르면 200대의 좀비PC를 이용해 263MBps 의 용량(bandwidth) 으로 공격이 이루어졌다고 합니다. 그런데 이 정도 bandwidth는 웬만한 접속만으로도 나온다고 합니다. 200대 좀비피씨의 공격도 3-4년전 사용되던 급의 서버만으로도 감당하고도 남는다고 합니다. 더 결정적인 것은 몇년전 디도스 대란 이후 정부 기관은 디도스 방어장비를 구매했다는 보도가 있으며…
It is nearly impossible to kill the database server separately with a DDOS attack. The only possible explanation (other than DDOS) is to assume a tech guy had programmed the election commission web page all wrong in the first place that it requires an unusually large amount of time in processing the data. And that is a very unlikable scenario. According to a news report (on the police investigation), the [DDOS] attack had been carried out by 200 Zombie PCs with networks using 263 MBps bandwidth. But this amount of bandwidth can be seen in any ordinary connection. And the [volume of] attack by 200 Zombie PCs  – that can be blocked with the old server that had been used (by government entities) three, four years earlier. Perfectly negating their argument: there are news reports that the government entities have bought new anti-DDOS security devices after the DDOS fiasco a few years ago…
Then the blogger suggested disclosing the access log file to dispel the controversy that is growing bigger everyday. The blogosphere is looming with posts analyzing the case from more hard-core technical perspectives. Blogger Parallel Equalitarian published an extensive post [ko] with screen capture images of the influx to the site; blogger Minix, another IT expert, wrote a detailed post [ko] that visits every possible attack scenario, such as UDT or SYN flood attacks and PPS attacks, and negates them one by one.
There is a minority of tech bloggers who denounce the claim as a conspiracy theory. But even a blogger from the moderate side wrote [ko] that disclosing the access log file would be helpful, though not necessary, and commented that whether it is proven to be a DDOS attack or not, the fact that citizens are focusing on some errors that happened during the election process is meaningful itself.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Syria: Netizens Angered by Assad’s Speech  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad gave a long rambling speech today, which further angered Syrians protesting against his dictatorship.
He spoke about a foreign conspiracy, or several of them, the meddling of the Arab League in his country's affairs and how much Syrians were supportive of his regime. In his speech, he promised both reform, just as he did in past speeches, and also revenge against protesters – more than 5,000 of whom have been killed since protests started in Syria in March.
When Arab leaders speak, netizens take to their keyboards and engage in taking a stab at heads of states who put themselves in such a position. Here is a round up of reactions from Twitter as Al Assad addressed his people – the same people being killed for protesting for democratic rights.
Mohammed Al Dahshan, from Egypt, tweets [ar]:
 واضح أن بيبو الأسد مش فاهم معنى كلمة معارضة إيه أساسا. بجد مش معقول إعادة التعريف الللغوي اللي بيعمله حكام العرب
And he comments on the theatrics which usually accompany Assad's speeches, which are interrupted with applauses, saying:
@eldahshan: So you think the applause is prerecorded, like sitcoms keda? :) #assadspeech RT @maimoghli @eldahshan I dont think there is audience anyway!
As Assad continued to speak, so did the confusion of netizens.
Syrian Muhammed Basheer asks [ar]:
Lebanese Antoun Issa comments:
@antissa: #AssadSpeech exceedingly confident in his speech. Doesn't appear conciliatory by any means.
While LibyanStateTV quips:
@LibyanStateTV: Bashar should have asked himself “What would Gaddafi Do?”, and perhaps this would have produced a better speech #AssadSpeech
Jordanian Nadine Toukan tweets:
@nadinetoukan: Assad is clearly convinced he lives in fiction. #Syria
And Syrian Wissam Tarif adds:
@wissamtarif: Al Assad is talking as if he will be in power for ever #Syria
Many Twitter users translated and posted quotes from Assad's speech online as he spoke. Among them is Sultan Al Qasseemi, from the UAE, who had enough. He states:
@SultanAlQassemi: I can't watch this crazy person any longer. Switching TV off.
And to cap it all, Saudi Ahmed Al Omran, a production assistant for NPR, just tweeted:
@ahmed: On the same day of Bashar al-Assad's speech, at least 28 people killed in Syria according to the latest death toll provided by LCC.
The LCC is the Local Coordination Committees of Syria.
In a follow up tweet, he writes:
@ahmed: Can I get a T-shirt that says “I survived a whole speech by Bashar al-Assad”?
Stay tuned for more coverage from Syria.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Trinidad & Tobago: Raymond Questions Media Integrity · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Afra Raymond finally confirms this story on his blog: ” My commentary column on the former Minister of Finance, Karen Nunez-Tesheira, was sent to her for comment by the Guardian’s Acting Editor-in-Chief, Anthony Wilson.  That is a completely improper action, which is a breach of basic media ethics.  When I challenged that action as being surprising and unprecedented, Wilson responded that ‘…It is by no means unprecedented territory…’.  At which point I resigned…”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Tunisia: The Evolution of Tunisian Propaganda  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Tunisian blogger kefteji blogs about the “evolution of Tunisian propaganda,” charting the coverage of Tunisian French daily La Presse from December 17, 2010, until the fall of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14, 2011.


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Venezuela: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Visit Raises Controversy · Global Voices
Marianne Díaz Hernández

Iran's President, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, arrived in Venezuela on Sunday January 8, 2012, in his first stop in a tour that will continue to Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador. His visit has sparked strong reactions on social networks, where users are questioning whether his presence might be of some benefit for the nation.
On Twitter, some criticize Ahmadinejad's presence and the welcoming he received by the Venezuelan government. Luis Carlos Díaz (@LuisCarlos) [es] writes:
Dice mucho del Ministerio de la Mujer su no-pronunciamiento sobre la visita de Ahmadineyad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, image by Flick user Parmida Rahimi (CC BY 2.0)
Blogger Carlos Bauza (@CarlosBauza) [es] suggests that Ahmadinejad's visit might have influence over the upcoming Venezuelan presidential elections, while Garcilaso Pumar (@garcilasop) [es] tweets:
Mahmud Ahmadinejad es un tirano retrogrado, asesino y misógino. Chávez es un imbécil que le ilusiona ser todo eso. #Coneldebidorespeto
Others are using the hashtag #FueraAhmadinejadDeVzla to demand Iran's President leave the country. User @PericoRipeado24, for example, criticizes Ahmadinejad's sense of justice:
#FueraAhmadinejadDeVzla Porque tu justicia se ve en la horca, cuando tu pueblo roba es para comer
Meanwhile, netizens who support President Chávez tweeted welcoming Ahmadinejad:
@BasemTajeldine: Merece un reconocimiento la valentía d Ahmadineyad al visitar Vzla, Cuba, Nicarg y Ecu, antes “patio trasero” d USA, hoy paises soberanos
@JustoBustamante: BIENVENIDO MAHMUD AHMADINEJAD PRESIDENTE REPÚBLICA ISLAMICA DE IRÁN Lider de la Revolución Iraní. LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS VENEZOLANOS te saludan
@CarlosRFrancoM: Camarada Mahmud Ahmadinejad bienvenido a la tierra de Bolívar, patria libre, soberana y socialista… ¡Que chillen los escuálidos!
This is Ahmadinejad's fifth visit to Caracas. After joking about “big atomic bombs“, his visit ended on Monday January 9, with the signing of a series of bilateral agreements, including a Memorandum of Understanding of technological cooperation for training in nanoscience and nanotechnology and the exchange of teachers in this field.

author: Marianne Díaz Hernández


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Vietnam: 2012 Predictions · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Adam Bray lists his predictions for Vietnam's economy, politics, tourism, and environment sectors.


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Yemen: Saleh Gets Away With Murder…He Gets Immunity · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
The Yemeni Cabinet endorsed on December 8, 2011, a draft law which grants legal immunity to outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh based on the GCC agreement, despite nationwide  protests demanding Saleh's trial for the killing of protesters. The immunity clause  granting him, his aides and family immunity, was the condition which Saleh made in order to sign the GCC initiative.
The newly formed unity government cabinet approved the bill, which will now be passed to parliament for approval in order for it to be a law. Netizens have reacted online:
@Yemen411 tweeted:
#GCCDeal proposed immunity law was approved today by the #Yemen #YUG cabinet. #Yemeni parliament will vote on the law most likely this week
@YemenUpdates added:
Four ministers- two females – refused to vote the immunity law for #Saleh approved by the cabinet today in #Sanaa. #Yemen
One of the female ministers who refused to vote was Minster of Human Rights, Hooria Mashhoor, who tweeted:
@Hooria_Mashhoor: I am not involved in any immunity for those who violated human rights # Yemen
The streets of Yemen have been boiling with marches for the past 11 months, demanding that Saleh face trial for his role in the killing of hundreds of Yemenis since the revolution started in February 2011.
@SummerNasser tweeted a video of one of those marches, just a day earlier in Taiz posted on YouTube by FreeDomTaiz:
Female march in #Taiz to denounce immunity for Saleh, granted by the the GCC deal. youtube.com/watch?v=8fRdrx… #Yemen #yf
@Dilmunite asked:
Ok, let me get this right… “Yemeni government grants immunity to #Saleh”. What government exactly is that? #Yemen
And @Yemen4Change pointed out that the government was executing part of the deal:
@Dilmunite under the GCC deal, #Saleh has immunity from prosecution, so the unity gov is just restating what's in the #GCC deal #Yemen
@LibyanDictator sarcastically noted:
Wtf?? Immunity for Saleh AAANND everyone who worked with him during his reign? Well done Saudi.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Friday urged decision-makers in Yemen to respect the prohibition in international law against amnesties for gross human rights violations.
@RealistChannel wrote:
Navi Pillay should address the #UNSC about #Saleh’s immunity, not #Yemen’s “unity” gov. ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pa…
Pillay's statement was as follows:
I have been closely following the events in Yemen, particularly the very contentious debate about an amnesty law to be presented to Parliament shortly,” the High Commissioner said. “International law and the UN policy are clear on the matter: amnesties are not permissible if they prevent the prosecution of individuals who may be criminally responsible for international crimes including war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and gross violations of human rights.
[…]
“Victims have the right to justice, to the truth, to remedy and reparation – these are rights that are well-established internationally,” she said. “Any adopted legislation would also need to respect the principle of equality before the law – meaning that there should be no discrimination between individuals who are pro-Government or in opposition and no distinction based on family connections. Every individual who commits a crime is accountable and should not be allowed to escape justice.
@crazyyafi tweeted what Saleh obviously was trying to get away with:
If you asking for immunity over & over, that means you're a criminal who wants to get away with his crimes. #Saleh #Yemen
Coincidentally an emotional video was recently released by SupportYemen as a silent remembrance of the hundreds of lives lost in Yemen's peaceful uprising against Saleh's regime:
It is those martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the rest of Yemen to live a life of freedom and democracy, whom Yemenis feel they must never be forgotten nor should their blood go in vain.
@AfrahNasser tweeted her disappointment:
Imagine! you met one of the martyrs from #Yemen's uprising, how could you explain to him the immunity for #Saleh ?! #NoImmunityToSaleh
Hundreds of Yemenis rallied in the streets across Yemen against the immunity that was approved by the cabinet.
However @Alruwaishan tweeted what he thought would be the solution for Yemen:
Doesn't look like immunity will help with #Saleh situation though. Clear only his death will solve that dilemma for #Yemen.
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

author: Noon Arabia


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Zambia: Former Diplomat Calls on West to Engage Iran Through IAEA · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

A Zambian veteran politician and erstwhile diplomat who once served as the country’s permanent representative at the United Nations, Vernon Mwaanga, has told a citizen radio station that the west should not be dismissive of Iran because it has become a nuclear power now.
The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program designed to reduce its oil revenue, which is the country's main source of income.
Zambian veteran politician Vernon Mwaanga. Photo courtesy of Zambian Watchdog.
Mwaanga, who has held many cabinet portfolios including that of foreign affairs under the last four of the five presidents the country has had and served as ambassador to countries like the then Soviet Union in his early days, told Political Crossfire, an Internet-based radio station run by Zambians, that the West has to engage Iran either through the International Atomic Energy Agency, or the Arab League and other organisations such as the United Nations in negotiations and not confrontation.
In a January 7 interview, the former diplomat who was speaking in a telephone interview from Lusaka, Zambia, said:
The logo of Political Crossfire Internet-based radio: Freedom Statue in Lusaka, Zambia. Photo source: Political Crossfire site.
The stand (off) between Iran and the western world has always been there for years and I am sure that they will find a pacific solution to the problem. The issue of dismissing or being dismissive of Iran is not an option anymore.
The United States and European Union have imposed tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The sanctions are designed to reduce its oil revenue, which is the country's main source of income.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu