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For black and indigenous people in Central America, Black Lives Matter · Global Voices
Melissa Vida

“Question your internalized racism” by Nicaraguan artist Vero Garabatos on Facebook, used with permission.
Indigenous and black Central Americans expressed solidarity online for the killing of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by four police officers in Minnesota, United States. In Central America, Afro-descendants and indigenous communities are raising awareness for their own suffering due to racism and violent state forces, particularly in countries with sizeable white or mestizo populations, such as Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
Black Central Americans — who are mainly Garifuna and Creole communities — mostly live on the region's Caribbean coast. For centuries, however, their inclusion in Central American societies has been minimal, if not exclusionary, according to historians. For example, black people were legally prohibited from immigrating to El Salvador from 1933 to the 1980s.
Paul Joseph López Oro, a doctoral candidate in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas, argues that black Central Americans are alienated in Central American countries where ‘mestizaje‘ — people whose ancestry are mixed between white and indigenous — is still a prevailing ideal.
Until today, indigenous and black people — often at the frontlines of environmental defense — are dispossessed of their lands, harassed, or killed. Impunity is prevalent for these crimes.
Costa Rica's Vice-President Epsy Campbell Barr has condemned the killing of George Floyd on May 30 and called on the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to produce a special report on all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, afro-phobia and related intolerance against African-American citizens. She continued to tweet in support of Black Lives Matter protests in the United States.
No podemos guardar silencio y ser cómplices de la injusticia, de la brutalidad y del dolor. Extiendo mi profunda admiración a todas las personas que marchan y levantan los ideales de la justicia, de la igualdad y del amor #BlackLivesMatter #BlackLivesMatterCR ??#GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/15lAROvjDH
— Epsy Campbell Barr (@epsycampbell) June 4, 2020
We cannot keep silence and be accomplices of injustice, brutality and pain. I extend my profound admiration for all the people who are marching and highlighting the ideals of justice, equality and love. #BlackLivesMatter #BlackLivesMatterCR ??#GeorgeFloyd
Also in Costa Rica, an Afro-Costa Rican, feminist and anti-racist organization CostaRica Afro organized a zoom meeting to demonstrate against racism in the world.
Más de 500 personas se manifestaron en Costa Rica, de forma virtual, contra el racismo en el mundo. La iniciativa fue promovida por @CostaRicaAfro #BlackLivesMatter #BlackOutTuesday pic.twitter.com/jMKUMN6KLn
— ameliarueda (@ameliarueda) June 3, 2020
More than 500 people virtually demonstrated in Costa Rica against racism in the world. The initiative was promoted by @CostaRicaAfro #BlackLivesMatter #BlackOutTuesday
In Guatemala, Indigenous communities have suffered genocide at the hands of state forces during counter-insurgency operations between 1960 and 1996. UN special rapporteur for indigenous rights, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, noted that Guatemala suffers from structural discrimination and exclusion of indigenous peoples. Indigenous communities have immediately expressed their solidarity with events happening in the United States and invited Guatemalans to reflect on racist dynamics within Guatemala.
Maya Kakchiquel columnist and anthropologist from Guatemala, Sandra Batz, tweeted as early as May 27 about George Floyd's death.
George Floyd fue asesinado, el racismo fue el móvil de este crimen.
Las personas racializadas vivimos el abuso y la impunidad de los Estados racistas, que se vuelcan en contra de nuestras vidas en lugar de protegerlas.
— Sandra Xinico Batz (@XinicoSandra) May 27, 2020
George Floyd was murdered and racism was the motive of that crime.
We people of color live the abuse and impunity of racist States, which turn their backs on our lives instead of protecting us.
A few days later, Batz wrote an opinion piece that starts with “racism kills,” stating that:
Es más fácil percibir el racismo ajeno, el que se ejerce en otros países, que el propio, que el que se practica como nación en contra de una población mayoritariamente nativa, a quienes se les desprecia y asesina, sí, se asesina,
It is easier to perceive the racism of others, that which is exercised in other countries, than one's own, than that which is practiced as a nation against a majority native population, who are despised and killed, yes, killed.
Illustrator Sucely Puluc, who is indigenous Maya K'iche’ and Kaqchikel, expressed that she wants the movements against racism to have lasting effects and not be an online trend.
Geplaatst door Sucely Puluc op Woensdag 3 juni 2020
“We have denounced racism all our lives. Its not only a #trend.”
Indigenous Maya K'iche’ human rights defender Andrea Ixchíu created Black Lives Matter solidarity posters.
Art by Andrea Ixchíu, used with permission.
Honduran Garifuna, mixed descendants of African and Amerindian Arawak, live under frequent attacks, according to Garifuna rights organization, OFRANEH. Central American News collected the data:
In Honduras alone, 105 violent acts were committed against the Garifuna people between 2008 and 2019, including murders, judicial threats, forced displacement, sexual violence and disappearances, according to OFRANEH. That makes for nearly one violent occurrence per month (0.8) in a community of 43,111 people.
For years OFRANEH, led by Miriam Miranda, has called for an end to the killings of Garifuna people. Miranda also tweeted with regards to U.S. events:
La juventud está haciendo un llamado para que se detenga esa barbarie que se comete contra lxs negrxs en ese país que se dice ejemplo de la “democracia”. Ese es un sistema racista, depredador y asesino al que han vendido en todo el planeta como lo mejor del mundo para vivir. pic.twitter.com/CkQtILgaOP
— Miriam Miranda (@baraudawaguchu) May 31, 2020
The youth is calling out so that the barabarity committed against black people in that country, a so-called example of “democracy,” is stopped. It's a racist, predatory and murderous system that they have been selling all over the planet as the best place on earth to live.

author: Melissa Vida


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In Nicaragua, people apparently die of ‘pneumonia’, not COVID-19 · Global Voices
Anais Catalina Gonzalez

President Daniel Ortega during his inaugural speech in 2017. Photo license CC BY 2.0
In the midst of COVID-19, Nicaragua has been living in an alternate reality. President Daniel Ortega and the Vice President, his wife Rosario Murillo, have neglected the pandemic. While global health organizations and governments in other countries have instructed their citizens to quarantine, wear masks, and adopt social distancing measures, Ortega and Murillo have done the complete opposite. Today 980 people,according to a non-governmental estimate,showing COVID-19 symptoms have died in Nicaragua, the highest figure in Central America. Ortega says these deaths are due to “pneumonia“.
This problem is not new. The Nicaraguan government has been neglecting the healthcare system and letting people die since 2018.
The recent negligence became evident two days after the World Health Organization called COVID-19 a pandemic. On March 13—while neighboring countries like El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Honduras had called a state of emergency—Murillo promoted a march titled “Love in times of Covid-19,” declaring that in order to combat the virus one must do it “with love and faith.” Businesses, schools, and government offices remained open. Behind the facade of this declaration of love, however, are all the human rights abuses perpetrated by the couple since Ortega's return to power in 2006.
In April of 2018, massive anti-government protests broke out throughout Nicaragua. Citizens, and especially students, were injured or killed by police and paramilitary groups. According to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, some 317 people died in the space of four months. As part of that scenario, Nicaragua's Ministry of Health was already committing abuses against the population.
For example, 15-year-old Alvaro Conrado, who was shot in the neck by a sniper while protesting, was denied access to the nearby Cruz Azul public hospital in Managua, the capital. Alvaro was taken to Hospital Bautista, where he died hours later. According to medical staff at Bautista, Alvaro would have survived if medical personnel at Cruz Azul had attended to him.
Why would a public hospital refuse to administer to injured people? Because the Nicaraguan Health Ministry is controlled by Ortega and Murillo. During the protests, medical staff were threatened with dismissal if they helped protesters. The Health Ministry fired about 135 doctors, nurses and other medical personnel. The majority of them left the country due to constant persecution from government authorities. Now, two years later, Ortega and Murillo, along with the Health Ministry, continue to inflict human rights abuses on the population by minimising the danger of the pandemic.
Hospitals are filling up. Late-night undercover burials show that the situation is out of control. A video from the AFP news agency reported that one funeral home buried 200 people in one night. The western city of Chinandega attracted international attention when videos of “express burials” circulated on social media. Vice President Murillo called the burials “fake news.”
On May 19, an announcement from the Health Ministry said that Nicaragua was doing a great job, despite the fact that the number of official cases of COVID-19 had jumped from 25 to 254 in the space of a week. These numbers also contradicted those recorded by the interdisciplinary collaborative project El Observatorio Ciudadano COVID-19, which at the time of writing is reporting 3,458 “suspected” cases of infection.
As for doctors, they are living their worst nightmare. One doctor at the Hospital España in Chinandega said that hospital authorities continue to ignore safety measures and failing to provide medical protection equipment. “They are literally throwing us into a slaughterhouse,” he said.
Doctors fear a “viral genocide” in the country as a result of government actions and have called for an immediate “voluntary national quarantine” of four weeks. More than 500 doctors signed a document insisting that Ortega-Murillo take the proper measures before it’s too late. Again, the Vice President reacted by saying the doctors were “spreading lies”, which begs the question as to why bodies were buried in secrecy if they died of pneumonia. Nicaragua, a country whose weak health infrastructure was already ill-equipped to contain an influx of patients, now witnesses dead bodies outside hospitals.
‼Entrada de la morgue del Hospital Alemán. La situación solo empeora: La media de fallecimientos diarios es de 10. Autoridades han dispuesto una sala para pacientes con #Covid19, y otra que han denominado "Pre Covid". Personal sanitario alarmado, pero el régimen niega gravedad pic.twitter.com/H9Mo1Ry10I
— Wilfredo Miranda (@PiruloAr) May 18, 2020
Entrance to the morgue of the Hospital Aleman. The situation is only getting worse: The average number of deaths per day is 10. Authorities have set up a room for patients with #Covid19, and another one they have called “Pre Covid”. Health personnel is alarmed, but the regime denies the seriousness.
The negligence of Ortega and Murillo regarding the pandemic was no surprise, given the governing couple's pattern of committing human rights abuses.
Today, as in 2018, doctors find themselves in a tough situation. They can either speak out against the Ministry of Health and face the risk of being fired and be eventually forced to flee the country due to persecution; or they can decide to stay and work without proper medical equipment and run the risk of contracting COVID-19.
Opposition members also report they are likely to be denied medical attention at public hospitals. Wendy Juarez, a former political prisoner and member of Construimos Nicaragua, described the situation as follows:
By going to public hospitals as an opposition member you run the risk of not getting tested, because the medical staff decide who gets tested and who doesn't.
She said that to receive immediate medical attention she would have to go through a medical hotline, Nicaragua's Medical Unity.
In the meantime, Nicaraguans are doing their best to survive by taking care of themselves, amidst growing discontent. No one knows how this is going to end, but with express burials taking place and no sign that the government is going to listen to scientific advice, Nicaragua may have already lost its battle against the pandemic under its alternate reality.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Anais Catalina Gonzalez


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Silicon Valley tech giants race to build Africa’s internet infrastructure. Should Africa worry? · Global Voices
Kofi Yeboah

Youth technology training a the Masiphumelele Library in South Africa, April 8, 2013. Photo by Beyond Access via Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0.
Since the 1990s, several local and international efforts have been made by governments, telecommunications firms and development organizations to improve internet infrastructure networks in Africa.
Yet, Africa still has the lowest internet penetration rate at below 40 percent compared to the global average of 58 percent in the world. Only seven African countries in the 2019 Networked Readiness Index top 100 rankings — with none in the top 70.
Now, tech giants like Google and Facebook, based in the United States’ Silicon Valley, in California, lead the race to invest in internet infrastructure in Africa. What’s at stake for these tech giants to take such a lead in Africa’s digital future?
Before these tech giants came along, other internet infrastructure projects implemented in Africa intended to widen internet connectivity for all Africans. For example, the African Union established the e-Africa program, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) committed $15 million under its Leland project, the African Development Bank supported the establishment of the East Africa Submarine Cable System and the World Bank committed about $424 million.
All projects had a collective goal to build internet infrastructure that connects all African countries to each other and the rest of the world through existing and planned submarine and terrestrial cable systems.
Africa has the world's fastest growth in terms of mobile phone penetration, making the continent “business attractive” to global tech companies like Google and Facebook.
Over the years, the private sector — mostly telecommunications — has driven internet infrastructure expansion on the continent, but billion-dollar tech companies in Silicon Valley have dominated this expansion over the last few years.
Google is the first tech and non-telecommunication company not only to invest in a high-bandwidth subsea cable system but also to build a private intercontinental cable.
In 2011, Google started an internal project, CSquared, to build metropolitan fiber-optic networks, which is leased by Mobile Network Operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on a wholesale model.
The project — now an independent and commercially driven company — has partnered with Mitsui & Co. (Japan), Convergence Partners (South Africa) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC, World Bank Group), under a consolidated fund of $100 million, to invest in broadband internet infrastructure in Africa.
The tech company now owns and operates over 890 kilometers of metropolitan fiber in the cities of Kampala and Entebbe in Uganda; more than 1070 kilometers of fiber in three cities in Ghana and 180 kilometers in Monrovia, Liberia.
Google also operates its own private internet infrastructure projects in Africa, including Project Loon, currently operating in Kenya, and Equiano (named after the Nigerian writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano) — a subsea fiber optic internet infrastructure that will connect Africa and Europe when completed in 2021.
Clearly, Google intends to lead the race in investing in infrastructure in Africa, but Facebook also seems to be a fierce competitor, despite the failed attempts to use solar-powered internet drones to provide internet access.
Facebook tried alternative options to connect Africans to the internet via its Freebasics application,  in which the company partnered with telecom providers in developing countries to let users access a pre-selected number of sites, including Facebook, without using any extra data. Freebasics was banned in India and heavily criticized by civil societies, including Global Voices, for being a medium to collect user data and did not actually connect the “unconnected” to the internet.
In the past, Facebook largely focused on leveraging existing internet infrastructures in advanced economies rather than investing in new ones. For example, Facebook partnered with Internet Society to provide internet to rural communities in Africa by using Internet Exchange Points (IXPs)— an access point where multiple local and international networks, ISPs, and content providers interconnect their networks instead of through third-party networks.
The company also implemented its Express Wifi project in Africa, where Facebook provides a comprehensive Wi-Fi platform that partners (telecom operators) can leverage to better manage and grow their Wi-Fi offering to local communities.
In 2013, Mark Zuckerberg explained in an essay why it does not make economic sense to invest in building internet infrastructure in the developing countries to provide internet:
Although the cost of building and maintaining networks made it prohibitively expensive to provide full internet access to everyone in the world, a focused effort on reducing the cost of delivering data and building more efficient apps would make it economically feasible to provide a set of basic online services for free to those who could not afford them.
Yet, Facebook has now committed several millions of dollars to build internet infrastructure in developing countries — including Africa. Zuckerberg understood that to “beat” Google in this race, it needed to be a real athlete.
Last year, Facebook partnered with Main One to build a 750-kilometer terrestrial open-access fiber optic internet infrastructure in Nigeria, partnered with Airtel to build an 800-kilometer fiber connection in Uganda, and a 100-kilometer fiber connection in South Africa.
On May 13, Facebook announced 2Africa — one of the company's hugest investments yet in building internet infrastructure in Africa. The project intends to build arguably the largest internet submarine fiber-optic cable to provide internet to Africa and the Middle East. The partnership includes Facebook, China Mobile International, MTN GlobalConnect (a branch of the South African MTN group), French multinational telecommunications corporation Orange, Saudi Arabia-based telecom firm STC, Telecom Egypt, British multinational telecommunications company Vodafone, and West Indian Ocean Cable Company. Together, they will build 37,000- kilometer-long cables that will interconnect Europe (eastward via Egypt), the Middle East (via Saudi Arabia), and 21 landings in 16 countries in Africa.
The project is expected to be completed by 2023-2024.
Aside from these tech giants, who else can ensure that Africa gets connected to the internet at the fastest pace without delays?
But these tech giants do not offer freebies worth billions without expecting returns.
Quartz writer Yomi Kazeem highlights the obvious profit motive of these tech companies. “The tens of millions of people who will come online as a result also represent a larger target market for their ever-growing cache of products and advertising services,” he wrote.
Also, as the number of people disconnected from the internet dwindles in Europe and the Americas, tech companies are eager to seek other emerging and lower-income markets to increase their revenue and expand their market share.
For example, over 70 percent of Facebook’s 2.3 billion monthly active users live in Africa and Asia, while Google has an over 90 percent lead in the search engine market share in Africa. In Kenya, more than half of the country's mobile traffic is directed through applications owned by Facebook and Google.
The two companies also derive most of their revenue from advertising (ads provide 98 percent of Facebook revenue and 85 percent of Google) — their profitability depends on increasing the number of users or the revenue they generate from each.
In Africa, where about 33 countries do not have data privacy laws, overreliance on global tech companies to provide internet poses great challenges.
Policymakers have so far done very little to approach and engage with tech companies to address these challenges.
Africa is therefore vulnerable to mass mis- and disinformation, market monopolization, exploitation and misuse of personal data, as evidenced, for example, by the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Pathways for Prosperity Commission rightfully points out that in developing countries, “digital design and usage is almost entirely absent from discussions about development policymaking. Governments’ potential regulatory levers mostly revolve around managing the telecommunications market, controlling the internet connection to the outside world and stewarding the ecosystem of domestic digital offerings.”
Facebook has been very lackadaisical in responding to abuse and violent content shared on its platforms. Although the company receives warnings, it does little to address them, as seen recently with US President Donald Trump's recent violent tweet about the ongoing #BlackLivesMatter protest in the United States. While Twitter publicly flagged the tweet for violating its rules, Facebook did not. Zuckerberg explained:
I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online. Private companies probably shouldn’t be, especially these platform companies, shouldn’t be in the position of doing that.
Governments in developing countries do not seem to prioritize internet access in their policies. Ideally, governments could negotiate with tech companies, but without a framework to initiate the conversation, anticipated digital policies or laws are not realistic.
In a 2019 report published by the Center for Global Development, the authors warn:
Developing such a framework will not be easy, however, as it will require finding ways to (1) estimate the worth of disparate pieces of personal data whose value depends on being combined with other data to produce useful information and (2) track the value of data across multiple uses.
African governments must admit that the internet is now a global public good and a human right that provides tremendous social and economic benefits for its users. Without a comprehensive and more realistic digital regulatory framework and policy for these tech companies, their digital platforms will be irresponsibly used to spearhead violence and abuse instead of supporting economic growth and innovation.

author: Kofi Yeboah


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The return of birds during the COVID-19 lockdown is a boon to Nepali wildlife photographers · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

A pair of red vented bulbuls. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.
Despite its relatively small size, Nepal boasts nearly 9% of the total bird species found worldwide. According to Bird Conservation Nepal, 886 species of birds have been recorded in the country.
While Nepal's bird numbers have been declining due to habitat loss and the impact of climate change among other factors, COVID-19 restrictions have caused a reduction in pollution and created a favourable environment for birds. According to studies, the lockdown has coincided with the main mating season for many urban birds, and photographers, both amateur and professional, are sharing a glimpse of what they are seeing from their backyards.
Also read: The Spiny Babbler, Nepal’s only endemic bird, fascinates ornithologists and bird lovers alike
Mira Dhakal, an amateur photographer, has been sharing her photos with the hashtag #TheJoyOfSmallThings on Twitter. Inspired by her mother’s skill at creating photos in her family's photo studio, she started capturing birds through her camera five years ago.
#DiaryOfABirder #BirdWatching #Birding #BirdPhotography
ID: Long-tailed Shrike (भद्राई) , Oriental White-Eye (कांकीर), Spotted Dove (कुर्ले ढुकुर), Oriental Magpie Robin (धोबीनी) pic.twitter.com/w9ZqsNpMYa
— दोस्रो दर्जाकी Mira Dhakal (@dhakalmira) May 10, 2020
#BirdPhotography #Birding #BirdsOfPokhara #TheJoyOfSmallThings #NaturePhotography #DiaryOfABirder #NatureWalk #Birds #BirdsOfNepal
IDs: Could not track?, Red-vented Bulbul, Long Tailed Shrike, RoseRinged Parakeet pic.twitter.com/ZvK0Je32X1
— दोस्रो दर्जाकी Mira Dhakal (@dhakalmira) March 15, 2020
In an email conversation with Global Voices author Sanjib Chaudhary, Dhakal said:
When I click birds, I feel as beautiful and as free as birds. […] When I started bird photography, I started seeing bird everywhere and listening to them every now and then. I can notice beautiful birds and their nests even from a moving vehicle. […] Birds are lively, they are intense and they create such a joy.
Here are some of the birds Dhakal has captured on camera:
Dhakal hadn’t been able to photograph a blue whistling thrush although she tried many times. However, this beauty appeared in Dhakal’s backyard during the lockdown. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.
A cuckoo's calls announce the arrival of spring. A pair of Asian koels. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.
People allow swallows, martins, and swifts to nest in their homes in Nepal. Swallows and sparrow perched together. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.
Common green magpie. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.
Common tailorbird. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.
Great barbet. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.
Oriental magpie robin. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.
Oriental white eye. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.
A pair of Himalayan bulbuls. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.
White-throated kingfisher. Photo by Mira Dhakal. Used with permission.

author: Sanjib Chaudhary


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World Environment Day should mean more in Trinidad & Tobago this year · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Screenshot of turtle hatchlings at Trinidad's Emperor Valley Zoo, taken from the video shared on Senator Clarence Rambharat's Facebook page.
Trinidad and Tobago greeted this year's World Environment Day, celebrated every June 5, with mixed emotions.
While there was heartening news, such as the century-old South American river turtle living at the Emperor Valley Zoo in Port of Spain welcoming 18 new hatchlings, there were also concerns about the continued negative impact that humans have on the environment.
Senator Clarence Rambharat, the country's minister of agriculture, land and fisheries, shared a video of the turtle hatchlings on his Facebook page, noting that the mother laid the eggs during the peace and quiet of the country's COVID-19 lockdown:
100 years old, 18 babies! […] It’s a signal made clear by COVID 19. As our planet develops at unprecedented speed, we must care for nature. Just over two months ago the Zoo announced the turtle laid eggs on land within its enclosure instead of the pond it had previously laid. The Zoo felt this was due to the closure of the facility in mid-March and the comfort the turtle may have felt in venturing out the pond and onto the sandy area to deposit the eggs. The hatching today is excellent news and demonstrates the importance on World Environment Day of striking the balance between human activity and care for nature. As UN Secretary General António Guterres says in his 2020 message, to care for humanity we must care for nature.
Meanwhile, the Facebook group The Land of the Hummingbird posted stunning photos of various types of hummingbirds, explaining:
To celebrate World Environment day, six of our little hummingbird gems. Trinidad and Tobago are so blessed to have 19 recorded species of hummingbird.
In that same vein, Facebook user Raquel Thomas-Caesar thought World Environment Day the perfect opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of some of the region's environmentalists, singling out two “top birders in Guyana,” who she says are “so humble and willing to share their knowledge.”
Ian Lambie, a well-respected environmentalist and past president of the world-renowned Asa Wright Nature Centre, was hopeful that the day would be marked meaningfully and shared a few ideas of how that could be done:
I am […] aware that the current COVID-19 Pandemic will put a ‘damper’ on celebrations. Nevertheless, I am hopeful that our Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture will take time off from their busy schedules to each plant a suitable tree of their choice on the perimeter of the Queens Park Savannah or in the Botanical Gardens. It is my wish that the newly appointed Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly and the Secretary for Agriculture of the THA, will each also plant a Flowering Tree in an appropriate place.
Despite the state TV station broadcasting a series in the lead-up to World Environment Day which focused on everything from a “little fish from Trinidad which has given scientists a new understanding of evolution and natural selection” to the “delicate balance […] struck between commerce and nature,” other social media users were more pragmatic.
Photography studio Rapso Imaging was realistic about the challenges, reposting images of the country's main landfill — shots that won photographer James B. Solomon's first place in the professional category of the European Union's 2019 competition on the environment:
We are all connected to our garbage dumps as it is we who generate this waste that in turn severely impacts our environment. Venturing into the middle of stink of it was the only way that he was able to return with an image that tells the story of what we choose to ignore.
Of course, we could easily share the pretty, the beautiful, and the breathtaking images, while ignoring the fact that we are choking our planet with the pollution we are generating, if we are not careful, humanity will pay the price.
Solomon himself added:
Today on World Environment Day, I chose not to share a pretty picture, this is our truth, our reality and it is time to stop burying our collective heads in the sands. This is simply [no] other issue that needs to be addressed in our World today, Our very survival depends on it.
#sharethetruth, #worldenvironmentday
Undoubtedly, the country and the wider Caribbean region have a lot a stake when it comes to the environment. Small island developing states are at the greatest risk for the devastating effects of climate change, including rising sea levels, coral bleaching, and the impact of tourism developments on coastal areas. Each Atlantic hurricane season, monster storms have been ravaging the region with increasing intensity.
With this context in mind, journalist Wesley Gibbings, in a private status update republished here with his permission, took the conversation even further:
Kinda hard in the current global political environment not to envisage observance of World Environment Day as an occasion to press more for climate justice and all the accompanying bits and pieces of social justice. Outside of that, the cute boots and gloves and garbage bags on the beaches don't mean that much to me.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Families struggle to retrieve victim’s bodies after Pakistan International Airline crash · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK-8303 – Active Registration : AP-BLD, the aircraft involved in the accident in 2015. Image via Wikipedia by Aasif Azaan. CC BY-SA 4.0.
On 22 May, a domestic Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flight departing from Lahore, in Punjab province, to Karachi, in Sindh province, crashed minutes before landing — killing all but two of the 99 people on board. Of the passengers, most of whom were flying to celebrate Eid with loved ones, nine were children. The plane crashed into a residential area causing 11 on-the-ground injuries and one death, it also damaged several homes.
As the grieving families attempted to identify their loved ones, many decried the ineptitude of competing local governments and the airline company. The role of the media and the spread of misinformation about the crash has also been deplored.
The extent of physical damage to the victims meant that the only option for successful identification was via DNA matching. The victim's families were asked to give DNA samples; however, the process was quickly coopted by disagreements between the Punjab and Sindh state authorities. Sindh Provincial Minister for Health and Population Welfare Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho did not allow the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) to take the DNA samples back to Lahore (1200 km away) in Punjab province. Instead, she declared that the DNA sampling would take place at the Forensic/Genome Lab at nearby Karachi University in Sindh province.
A week after the crash, many families complained that they were still waiting for authorities to inform them about the identities and the process for retrieval of their loved ones. Some also stated that Punjab province had a better forensic lab which could provide the results within a day.
1 week on,mother who lost 2 children in #PIACrash still trying to find their remains
Flawed DNA sampling & delay in results adding to the pain of victims
I wish Pak govt rather than get 2gether in saving head of PIA,ensure the quick identification process
pic.twitter.com/KUmKDQqPae
— Nida Peerzada (@PeerzadaNida) May 30, 2020
The bodies were taken to two different hospitals in Karachi where some families tried to find loved ones by identifying their personal belongings. Faisal Edhi, the head of social welfare organization Edhi Foundation, expressed concern after 19 bodies were forcefully taken by families without DNA testing:
…since the bodies were badly burnt, there are high chances that they were wrongly identified, considering that there are possibilities of deceased belongings getting exchanged.
This led to a further delay in the identification process of the rest of the bodies.
Arif Iqbal Faruqui's wife and three children were among the passengers, and while his wife and one child were identified early in the process, two children were not. In a Facebook video, he appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan for help.
With the help of Faruqi's brother-in-law, Faizullah Jawad, and Dr. Khurram, the head of the Punjab Forensic and DNA Lab, that Faruqi found his two children after almost a week. He said that the system needed improvement to handle something like this in the future.
Families voiced their concerns about the indifferent attitude of PIA, the lack of coordination, and handling of the situation by the departments concerned. Relatives complained about the unprofessional and insensitive conduct of the airline's staff while communicating or answering queries.
Adil Rahman, who lost both his parents in the crash, tweeted about PIA's ‘callous, insensitive, and incompetent behaviour, and in subsequent tweets also described his ordeal.
I lost both my parents in this tragic & horrific crash. I submit to Allah’s will. However the ordeal we are suffering at the hands of #PIA is inexcusable. Callous, Insensitive, incompetent…. #PIAPlaneCrash
— Adil Rahman (@Arnahstl) May 26, 2020
@Official_PIA it has been 4 days, how hard is it to organize a communication protocol that is both accurate and compassionate. Why are we getting multiple phone calls at every shift change asking extremely crudely, “aap ko bodies mil gai hain?”
— Adil Rahman (@Arnahstl) May 26, 2020
Adil Rahman was also only able to identify his parents after a week.
In a phone interview with Asif Khan, brother-in-law to PIA air hostess Amna Irfan, Khan stated:
My brother and her father went to Karachi to give DNA samples. PIA had assured us that they will help us find her and on 30 May her body reached Lahore. Funeral prayers were offered at the airport first and then at our house.
On June 4, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah finally announced that 94 bodies had been handed over to their relatives after identification.
#PlaneCrash Update: So far a total of 94 bodies have been identified and all 94 bodies have been handed over to their families. 3 bodies remaining to be identified.
— Health and Population Welfare Department, Sindh (@SindhHealthDpt) June 4, 2020
President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, also asked Chief Executive Officer of PIA, Air Marshal Arshad Malik, to ensure that the families of the plane crash victims are compensated.
This was the 18th plane crash for PIA since 1965. The Government has announced that the findings of the airplane crash report will be discussed before the parliament on 22 June.

author: R Umaima Ahmed


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‘Sit with that discomfort’: Two white Trinidadians go public about racism · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Two white protestors display a sign reading “Silence is not an option”, as part of the George Floyd protests that took place in Washington D.C. on May 30, 2020. Photo by Victoria Pickering on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, a black American, by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, there have been #BlackLivesMatter protests not only in the United States but around the world.
In the Caribbean, Floyd's death has prompted widespread online discussion about the region's own complicated race relations. In Trinidad and Tobago, this has been fuelled by disrespectful remarks from business owners and others widely regarded to occupy positions of privilege in society.
A key point of contention is the trotting out of the phrase “All Lives Matter” in response to expressions of support for the “Black Lives Matter” movement, with many older white or “white-adjacent” Trinbagonians failing to recognise how the phrase — which many of them interpret to be unifying or all-encompassing — is in fact just another form of belittlement.
Now, two young Trinbagonians, Anya Quesnel and New York-based Charlie Reid, have posted their thoughts about the issue, holding up a mirror to their community to show them the ways in which they participate in racism, in the hope that self-examination will inspire them to use their privilege to create equity.
Recalling an incident in which his mother was given a delivery of pizza on trust because she had no cash with which to pay at the time of delivery, Reid defines white privilege this way:
Though your life may be chock-full with struggle, though you may have worked honest and hard for every cent you’ve ever earned, the colour of your skin has not been something that has significantly made your life harder. Your whiteness has not been something you must compensate for. Your whiteness has not caused you grave trauma. And if for some unique reason — in a Trinidadian context — your whiteness has caused you discomfort, never will it be comparable to the trauma our non-white brothers and sisters experience and have experienced.
In the Trinidad and Tobago context, however, Reid has noticed that privilege is closely intertwined with nepotism, which he says “has mated with race to evolve into this hybrid of white privilege that blows the white privilege I experience and have witnessed in America totally out of the water”.
In a multiethnic society like Trinidad and Tobago, diversity is visible. Quesnel put it into historical context:
One should never be looking at any part of Trininess without nuance and respect for the complexity of what it means to be a post-colonial (not decolonized) nation. […] By claiming that ‘we doh see colour, we doh see race’, we are ignoring that certain bodies are marked differently to others, and to harmful ends. When you tell your Black friends that you do not ‘see them as black’ you are 1) already displaying your assumption that blackness is inherently a ‘bad thing’, 2) you are invalidating the lived experiences of that friend that have been shaped by their blackness (as yours have been shaped by your whiteness). You are not being racist when you acknowledge that race exists. You are being racist when you fail to acknowledge your own prejudices.
Reid added:
Colour blindness is erasure. By not ‘seeing’ the colour of a person’s skin, you are not acknowledging their hurdles and your privileges. And so, stop being blind. If you are white, see your whiteness, see your neighbor’s blackness, see all the colours in between, celebrate it, witness it, and most importantly, take responsibility for the way the world treats you as a result of it. If you cannot see how the world treats you differently — that’s where your homework begins.
Part of the process is having difficult conversations and confronting stark, often unpleasant realities. Quesnel's advice?
Sit with that discomfort. Ask why. Know that that your life is always, always, shaped by the privileges you have been afforded because of your whiteness.
Asserting that “reverse racism does not exist”, Reid added:
Perhaps, as a white Trini, you did in fact experience discomfort or harassment because of your whiteness. In Trinidad, as a racial minority, I have experienced hostility due to the colour of my skin [but] the cost of the discomfort that I experienced was inconceivably small to the cost people of colour experience due to racism and racist systems. So, we must discuss and continuously call out the systems at play.
In a multicultural space where claiming ownership of culture can get tricky, Quesnel challenged people to walk the talk:
Listen now. Let us be very aware of where the Trini ‘culture’ we parade so proudly came from: struggle. Specifically the struggle of black and brown Trinis to claim a space in the colonized society. […] If we so proud to be Trini to the bone why we bad talk public schools, send our children to private schools in the west when some of us sitting on money we could funnel into reforming public school education and bettering public facilities? Show that T&T pride by investing at home, by investing in home. Loving where you come from is more than patriotic talk for social capital.
Both young people were cognisant of the fact that the ways in which race is spoken about matters. Whether it's the use of pejorative terminology, denial that racism and colour-based social separation exists, or discussing sensitive issues like crime in terms of race, words have power.
Given that one of the most beloved lines in the country's national anthem is “Here every creed and race find an equal place”, Quesnel advised people to educate themselves and engage in dialogue:
Know YOUR history. Sit with the discomfort, rage, confusion that kind of work and introspection does. We need to examine and reimagine the ‘place’ every creed and race [is] trying to find equality in. […] If we cannot talk about the legacies of trauma, plundering, violence, genocide and prejudice that are ever present in our day to day- there will be no equality. If the art, voices, feelings, experiences and dreams of Black people are devalued constantly, there will be no equality.
Reid, who admitted he was struggling with “how to say this all perfectly” and conscious of not wanting to make himself “the center of this discourse”, admitted that he did once think of racism “as this bad thing that black people face”:
As I became more educated, I thought of racism as this bad thing that affects all people of colour, and not whites, and as a white person, it was my job not to be ignorant and make it harder for them. Today, I see racism as an issue that white people have. […] This is […] not to put white people at the center of this narrative, but rather to put white people at the center of accountability. […]
The time has long come for us as white people, especially as white Trinis, to talk about racism, as uncomfortable as it may be. It is not enough to say to yourself, ‘But I’m not racist.’ As — a golden tidbit — you are. We all are. I am. We are racist by the very fact that we operate and exist and benefit from the systems that have long favored our whiteness. Uprooting this will take lifetimes of concerted efforts. And people of colour have had enough. It’s time for us in our whiteness to say something, do something, fix something — fix it.


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The future of protest in Uganda · Global Voices
Brian Oduti

Ugandan anti-riot Police at an airstrip in Kampala, Uganda, on October 16, 2011. Photo by Rory Mizen, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.
The dreadful killing on May 5 of George Floyd, an African American man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States, has struck a chord with Ugandans on social media.
#GeorgeFloyd has trended in Uganda for over a week.
Reactions to the death ranged from messages of solidarity with protesting Americans, to criticism and calls for accountability for human rights abuses by the Ugandan state.
Police Brutality should end.#GeorgeFloyd
Police Brutality
In the US it is due systemic and institutionalized racism.
In Uganda ?? it largely political.
The common denominator are the murders.
Annoying, ?usually justice is not served. pic.twitter.com/cmdx1iUnbx
— Ivan Bwowe (@BwoweIvan) May 29, 2020
There are parallels between police brutality in the US and Uganda, a country still haunted by the ghosts of its violent past.
The US military often provides training support to the Uganda police. A Ugandan journalist and analyst Ronald Kato argued:
Given that senior African security figures travel to train in the United States — and that many African security forces receive training from the U.S. military — we can now argue that the militarisation of countries’ police forces has its roots in America.
After emerging from civil wars in the 1980s and a new progressive Constitution with a comprehensive bill of rights promulgated in 1995, Uganda is back full circle to its turbulent past.
The right to freedom of association is considerably limited in Uganda. The Public Order Management Act, which required organizers to notify police of any planned public assembly, was enacted in 2013.
For close to a decade, opposition rallies and university students’ protests were unfairly targeted by the police purportedly enforcing the law. On March 26, 2020, the judges of the Constitutional Court in a 4-1 decision annulled the law and declared all acts committed by the state pursuant to it unlawful.
Justice Barishaki Cheborion wrote:
The police have absolutely no authority to stop the holding of public gatherings on grounds of alleged possible breach of peace if such gatherings are allowed to proceed. The police’s duty is to regulate the holding of public gatherings and to ensure there is no breach of peace.
For lawyers and activists, skepticism about free assembly in the country still lingers on despite the decision. Anthony Masake, a lawyer with Chapter Four, a Ugandan human rights organization, told Global Voices:
I expect that the police will still continue to regrettably clampdown on peaceful public processions. That interest can be seen in the government's decision to appeal against the court decision that declared police powers to block peaceful assemblies unconstitutional.
The Public Order Management Act was fashioned out of provisions of the Police Act that had been declared unconstitutional by judges of the Constitutional Court in 2008.
It is predictable how police will respond to public processions in Uganda in the aftermath of the Constitutional Court's annulment of POMA.
Only two months after the decision, activist Stella Nyanzi was violently arrested by police while she protested the government’s coronavirus response. Police in the northern town of Gulu arrested protestors, including two members of parliament, during a protest over rising coronavirus cases.
Netizen Lydia Namubiru points out the hypocrisy of a National Resistance Movement ruling party member tweeting about George Floyd:
NRM minister tweeting #GeorgeFloyd like his government agents didn't shoot at, & kill bodaboda guys, over COVID-19 restrictions. Not one or two.
Take a damn seat.
— Lydia Namubiru (@namlyd) May 30, 2020
Masake believes the state's blatant disregard for the rule of law requires a matched citizen and legal response.
Beyond getting progressive decisions from courts, litigation helps change narratives to raise awareness and drum up public support in the fight against repressive laws. We are also using litigation to hold individual law enforcement officers accountable for acts of police brutality…I hope that citizens can stand firm and hold their leaders to account during their tenure or at the polls.
While Ugandans await the Supreme Court to pronounce itself on the Public Order Management Act appeal, citizens are set to go to the polls in 2021. Coronavirus cases have risen to above 500 and the country is emerging out of a three-month lockdown. It is still unclear how significantly the election roadmap will be altered by the pandemic.
The right to freedom of assembly is critical to the conduct of free and fair elections.
Global Voices spoke to Saasi Marvin, a political activist, about how his “People Power”  political pressure group will navigate the uncertain legal environment on freedom of assembly as Ugandans prepare for the polls:
It's not that they were enforcing the law. They were using it as an oppressive tool. Now they have resorted to an archaic legal provision…instead of charging people with unlawful assembly, they are charging them with disobedience of lawful orders. We may have only one option — which is to defy oppressive laws.
Edna Ninsiima, a Ugandan feminist writer and activist who has been vocal online regarding women’s rights, told Global Voices:
The best way to achieve even results from online activism is not to give in to the naysayers. Society often responds to activism online with contempt or doubt. But we've seen over the years with the womxn's liberation and recently the MPs’ [members of parliament] 20 million saga that when you're persistent enough, they will have no choice but to listen. The downside to many Ugandans off and online is that we are a mostly apathetic or perhaps resigned citizenry — people only respond to what affects them directly. So, there's a need to work toward awakening the population's consciousness.
In 2019, the Ugandan parliament passed the Human Rights Enforcement Act. In two separate judgments, courts have held police officers personally liable for torture and unlawful detention of suspects. The role of citizens in helping lawyers bring perpetrators to account is pivotal.
Edna Ninsiima said:
…in the case of police brutality, the same attitude must be maintained: putting names and faces to the officers in question, tagging individuals in government agencies and demanding that they take actions and most importantly — being consistent.
As activists navigate the legal minefield regarding freedom of assembly, they must find new ways to organize.
Ninsiima said:
It is definitely important to have allies among law enforcement in this case. The Women's March in 2018 benefited from the hard work of womxn in both mobilization of the masses and negotiations with law enforcement. Building solidarity and demanding a seat at the decision making tables in several spaces to ensure that there is accountability can and have worked. The women leadership of Nakawa market vendors in Uganda, for example, have seen to it that sexual harassers are fined, suspended and/or expelled. It is this solidarity that has given women the confidence to publicly shame their abusers in the wake of #MeToo movement.

author: Brian Oduti


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Azerbaijan declares strict weekend lockdown after surge in COVID-19 cases · Global Voices
Aisha Jabbarova

The intersection of Istiqlaliyyet and Nigar Refibeyli Street in a deserted Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Photo (c): Akbar Mammadov. Used with permission.
Azerbaijanis kept themselves to themselves last weekend.
On June 3, the country's authorities instituted a weekend lockdown, the strictest COVID-19 measure introduced in the country so far. lt bans all residents from leaving their homes from midnight on Saturdays until six o'clock in the morning on Mondays.
Azerbaijan confirmed its first COVID-19 case on February 28 and introduced a special quarantine regime on March 24. According to the John Hopkins University Map, there have been 7,553 COVID-19 cases in the country so far, including 88 deaths. But since the loosening of restrictions in recent weeks, COVID-19 cases now appear to be on the rise again.
The country’s Prime Minister Аli Hasanov announced the lockdown on June 4, saying it was linked to a heightened infection rate. The decision to impose the curfew came after the country registered a record 325 new COVID-19 cases and five infection related deaths on June 3. The weekend lockdown was applied in the capital Baku and throughout the Sumgait, Ganja, Lankaran, and Absheron regions. This weekend curfew could be in force for up to two months depending on how the infection curve develops.
The head of the state public health service, Ramin Bayramli, who proposed the curfew during the briefing of coronavirus task force on June 4, said in a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers that the decision was taken “in view of the fact that the daily number of coronavirus-infected people has exceeded 200 people recently.”
The country's quarantine regime was loosened on May 18. The previous restrictions required residents to obtain an SMS permit to leave their homes and restricted access to parks, boulevard, museums, galleries, and other recreational facilities. The SMS permit system had been introduced on April 4.
Read more: Azerbaijanis required to send SMS notification before leaving their homes
However, on May 31 Azerbaijan extended the lockdown until June 15, alongside these relaxed quarantine rules. These included the opening of large shopping malls (except for children's and entertainment centres, cinemas, and public catering facilities), cafés, restaurants, and open-air sports competitions. COVID-19 cases spiked.
While the SMS system may have been considered strict, this weekend lockdown is even stricter. The new rules prohibit residents from leaving their homes unless faced with immediate danger to life and health. They may also attend a funeral of a close relative with permission from the #102 Call Centre, managed by the Duty Service Administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
It was also announced that all stores and pharmacies would remain closed during the two-day curfew. This prompted a wave of COVID-19 panic buying on June 5.
Furthermore, all public transport ceased over the weekend and the use of private vehicles was forbidden. The country imposed fines in the range of $58 to $2,941 for the using any private transportation during the weekend lockdown, with higher penalties for state officials. In some cases, culprits may face administrative arrest for a month.
Head of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Ehsan Zahidov stated on June 5 that residents will not even be allowed to take out the trash during the curfew. Violators of curfew might be fined $58 (100 AZN), he warned.
There are some exceptions. The Cabinet of Ministers has announced a list of state agencies and other organisations whose employees are allowed to leave their homes during the lockdown, but only after being registered at allow.e-gov.az using an electronic signature. However, even in these cases, citizens are not permitted to go to work in private vehicles and must use transportation organised by their workplace.
Head of Baku Chief Police Directorate Kamran Aliyev told local media that those who have permits to work may reach their workplace by bicycle or by foot if it was nearby.
Earlier on May 31, the parliament passed a law mandating the use of face masks in public places as of June 3. The law imposes fines ranging from $29 to $235 for failing to wear masks. The law also encourages social distancing of 1.5 to two metres in all public places.
The national flag carrier Azerbaijan Airways (AZAL) announced on June 4 that all airports will remain closed until July 1. Azerbaijan suspended all its air traffic in the second half of March.

author: Aisha Jabbarova


text:
Black Lives Matter in Jamaica, too · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

A mural in honour of George Floyd, in Oakland, California. Photo by Thomas Hawk on Flickr, taken on June 6, 2020, CC BY-NC 2.0.
There is a Jamaican version of #BlackLivesMatter, and it’s a powerful one.
The tragic killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and the subsequent protests in the United States — fanning outward across the world — have resonated powerfully with Jamaican netizens from the outset.
Similar concerns about police brutality and discrimination were raised in Jamaican public space with a distinctly local twist.
On May 25, George Floyd was killed by asphyxiation when police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck. Two days later, on May 27, Susan Bogle, who had an intellectual disability and was poverty-stricken, was allegedly shot dead at her home during a police/military operation in the sometimes volatile community of August Town, on the outskirts of Kingston.
Bogle's shooting is still under investigation by the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), which investigates abuses by the country's security forces.
An elderly prison inmate, Noel Chambers, who languished for 41 years in the prison system, also died in horrific conditions. His deplorable physical state showed signs of neglect and emaciation. Their deaths have turned the already heated discussion on police brutality in Jamaica’s “neighbour to the north” to injustices at home.
Many on social media want the #BlackLivesMatter debate to be a wake-up call for human rights concerns in Jamaica. One Twitter user noted that, while Jamaicans are often incensed by police brutality in the United States, they do not recognise their own bias:
Some of you outraged at the people in America demonizing victims of police brutality and don't realise you do the same thing here. Every young man killed in Jamaica has been labeled a criminal. When ghetto people protest you all accuse them of protecting criminals. Think on that.
— 661.7 Jeremy Bearimy (@Nasturalista) June 5, 2020
Human rights lobby group Jamaicans for Justice issued a statement on the Bogle shooting. INDECOM has not yet determined who fired the fatal shot as Bogle lay on her bed, although four soldiers have since been taken off front line duty. At a press briefing, Lieutenant General Ricardo “Rocky” Meade conceded that body cameras are virtually non-existent within the security forces.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness visited Bogle’s dilapidated wooden house and met with family members in August Town, a community that has been hard hit by periodic gang violence over the past two decades:
Earlier today, Prime Minister @AndrewHolnessJM and MP @fayvalwilliams visited the family of Susan Bogle, a disabled woman who was killed in her home during an alleged altercation between lawmen and gunmen in August Town. Photographed with the PM is her son, Omari Stephens. pic.twitter.com/WwZaIIfR0a
— Nationwide90FM (@Nationwideradio) June 3, 2020
Media coverage of the visit seemed to focus on the conditions in which she lived and the rising crime rate in the community, rather than on her family’s desire for justice. In a comment to Reuters, her son, Omari Stephens, pointed to the stigma that urban, black, poor communities face in Jamaica, saying, “It's as if living here is the ultimate sin.”
Following his own visit to the disenfranchised community, National Security Minister Horace Chang commented, “There is too much violence in Jamaica”:
WATCH: Security Minister speaks on gang violence in August Town. pic.twitter.com/oMvQ5b3FKk
— National Security JA (@mnsgovjm) June 1, 2020
On May 29, INDECOM launched its January-March 2020 report, titled “Detained at Pleasure: Institutionalized Human Rights Breaches.” The document included the story of Noel Chambers and contains graphic photos of his body.
The Ministry of National Security has since ordered an audit into INDECOM's findings.
University lecturer and economist Damien King shared on Twitter:
The horrific case of Noel Chambers, jailed for life (41 years in his case) without a trial, should never happen. An inquiry must be held and come to one of two outcomes: either an individual was negligent and is held accountable or it was a systemic failure and reforms announced. pic.twitter.com/tAi9s5dgqI
— Damien King (@DamienWKing) June 7, 2020
After Prime Minister Holness said he was “embarrassed” at the situation, The Norman Manley Law School Human Rights Committee commented on his reaction to Chambers’ death:
If our leaders and policy-makers,over successive governments,felt strongly enough about this issue to take meaningful and decisive action, we would not have so many #NoelChambers in the system even now. This is an institutionalized problem that they have ignored for far too long. https://t.co/RQDqdFey9g
— Norman Manley Law School Human Rights Committee (@nmlshrc) June 6, 2020
On June 5, a heated protest erupted in Cockburn Gardens in Kingston, as a result of the alleged shooting death of 32-year-old Jermaine “Shawn” Ferguson. The case is now also under investigation by INDECOM.
On June 6, a large and energetic protest focusing on human rights abuses in Jamaica took place outside the United States Embassy in Kingston, — even Ambassador Donald Tapia took part:
US Ambassador @AmbassadorUS_JA
join local Jamaican activists in a peaceful protest against racism and discrimination staged in front of the U.S. Embassy. pic.twitter.com/XoKgqX2cky
— US Embassy Jamaica (@USEmbassyJA) June 6, 2020
The names of several Jamaicans who died as a result of police brutality, including Mario Deane and Michael Gayle, appeared on placards.
One sign summed it up: “Justice for George Floyd and all local injustice!”
A young attorney who resides in August Town, where Bogle lived, joined the protest and tweeted a list of names:
We will not get weary in calling for: #justiceforsusanbogle #justiceformariodeane #Justiceformichaelgayle #justicefornoelchambers #justiceforjodianfearon #justiceforcarmichaeldawkins #justiceforjermaineferguson #justicefortheinnocent pic.twitter.com/NYjfy7smtv
— Jezeel (@Mr_Suave_Jez) June 7, 2020
A fellow protestor added:
As my brother stands up for justice, I invite you all to do the same. Do not allow them to get away with the killing of #SusanBogle or others like her. We are aware that there are gunmen in the inner cities, they’re uptown also. The person who killed her must be held accountable pic.twitter.com/YUHXkA07Kq
— Avril Scarlett (@Avrilsass) June 7, 2020
Even veteran dancehall deejay Bounty Killer joined the protest:
#bountykiller protesting George Floyd's death in front the US embassy #Jamaica #georgefloyd #blacklivesmatter pic.twitter.com/in5Caqf3K6
— Kxngvado (@Kxngvado_) June 6, 2020
The events of the past two weeks have caused Jamaicans to raise their awareness of social justice issues — especially younger generations. An editorial cartoon in The Jamaica Observer, for instance, which depicted protesters as looters under the guise of demonstrators, had to be withdrawn due to a wave of outrage. The newspaper later issued an apology.
TV host and Garveyite Emprezz Golding posed a challenging question:
Let me ask you a question that I am asking myself!
Are we continuing to feed the same system we are fighting? Tell me how?
Good Morning my people! pic.twitter.com/uVkPHJ28Z8
— ig:emprezzgolding (@EmprezzGolding) June 3, 2020
In a letter to the editor, one high-profile defence lawyer pointed a finger at human rights watchdogs:
Ironically, these very same individuals or organisations, part of whose mandate it is to guard against such abuses, have not included in their arguments any modicum of introspection about their own purposes and whether there is a causal link between failings on their part and this situation.
The incidents of Susan Bogle and Noel Chambers demonstrate in the clearest form an unwillingness to confront our own ills in society and take a proactive approach to dealing with them. For the moment, it appears to be all about platitudes. We have all failed the Susan Bogles and Noel Chambers of this country.
Kyrseliz expressed the hope that Jamaicans will keep up the pressure:
We need to keep the same energy for #NoelChambers his death is our #GeorgeFloyd what are doing about this #Jamaica
— Kryseliz (@gurlytina) June 4, 2020
Whether or not such public pressure will translate into action by Jamaican leadership remains to be seen, but the atmosphere — inspired by the tragic fate of George Floyd — has definitely changed.

author: Emma Lewis


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COVID-19 super-spreaders and Indonesia’s ‘New Normal’ · Global Voices
Juke Carolina

Banda Aceh residents attending a religious ceremony. Photo by Flickr user Johanes Randy Prakoso. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Several religious gatherings in Indonesia are believed to have played an outsize role in the spread of national COVID-19 clusters. This finding has created a headache for the administration of President Joko Widodo, which is talking up a New Normal to set the country back on track and is reluctant to anger conservative religious groups — an important source of political support.
On June 3, the state news agency reported that President Joko Widodo met with religious leaders to discuss the possibility of reopening places of worship that were closed due to the pandemic. Mosques and churches have since re-opened their doors, although they are not working at capacity.
The prospect of a full reopening has caused anxiety among many fearing a second wave of the virus.
Pembukaan tempat ibadah sebagaimana tercantum dlm surat edaran Menteri Agama Fachrul Razi di tengah pandemi dikhawatirkan terlalu tergesa-gesa dan berpotensi menjadi kluster baru penyebaran virus karena orang tanpa gejala yang datang tidak bisa terdeteksihttps://t.co/HTLJnfxmSf
— M Agustinus (@magustinusprb) June 1, 2020
Reopening the houses of worship amid this pandemic as mentioned in the letter by the Minister of Religious Affairs’ seems hasty. This move could potentially create new clusters because it's hard to detect attendees who don't show symptoms.
Korea gagal new normal dan dilakukan pembatasan kembali. Indonesia kayanya belum kepikiran nanti kalau kasusnya naik lagi maka akan PSBB kembali. Urgensi pembukaan rumah ibadah duluan diatas semua termasuk ekonomi.
Apakah ada yang melakukan review setelah pembukaan rumah ibadah?
— Yonatan Purba ? (@yonpurba) June 5, 2020
(South) Korea did not apply (what we know as) these New Normal measures — they have put restrictions back in place! Indonesia doesn't seem to reflect on this yet. The reopening of places of worship is being placed as a priority above the economy. Will there be any review of the reopening of places of worship?
At first, authorities were reluctant to enforce measures to curtail religious activities in the face of COVID-19.
In February, Indonesian vice president and influential conservative cleric Ma'aruf Amin even cited qunut, a type of prayer recited against threats and bad omens, as crucial in helping to contain the virus.
Amin's presence on the presidential ticket helped Widodo secure re-election in a hard-fought vote last year.
But as COVID-19 cases rose in March and April, so-called virus ‘super-spreaders’  became a key topic in public discourse.
‘Super-spreading’ is a phenomenon applicable to disease transmission in all types of mass gatherings. But in Indonesia, these events have mainly been religious in nature.
In March, for instance, a Tabligh Akbar* was nearly held in the Indonesian province Sulawesi.
The provincial government failed to postpone the event and it wasn't until the central government in Jakarta issued a directive that the gathering was shut down. By that time it had brought together up to 8,000 Indonesian worshippers and several hundred foreigners.
This single event is suspected of causing virus outbreaks in 22 provinces, according to Indonesian health authorities.
Earlier the same month, a Christian retreat held in early March in Bandung, West Java brought 2,000 people together. Local governor Ridwan Kamil later described that event held at a hotel in Badung as one of four clusters in the province. Eight returnees from the retreat were hospitalised after testing positive for COVID-19, four of whom died.
The earliest tracing test for authorities came with an event held in neighbouring Malaysia February 27-March 1.
The four-day Tabligh Akbar at the Sri Petaling Mosque in Kuala Lumpur involved 10,000 people from various countries, including 700 Indonesians.
Ever since this event, which created one of the largest COVID-19 clusters in Malaysia, Jakarta has scrambled to track participants, since returnees largely ignored self-quarantine and testing instructions.
Indonesia has now begun via its embassies and diaspora leaders to actively monitor religious ceremonies and gatherings attended by Indonesians living abroad.
Under growing pressure, official religious bodies on March 19 issued recommendations to their congregations to take health and safety measures by performing remote religious rituals.
Now the government has unveiled guidance for reopening places of worship as part of its New Normal campaign aimed primarily at rebooting the economy.
These recommendations have led to a mixed response, including from some religious leaders that have expressed concern about the public health impact of reopening places of worship.
Whilst the potential risk of ‘super spreading’ among mass congregations is one source of public anxiety, the impact of the recent mudik — an annual tradition that sees thousands of mostly urban dwellers traveling to meet their relatives in their hometowns to celebrate Eid — is just as worrisome
The Indonesian Board of Ullemas (MUI) issued a haram (forbidden) edict against this year's mudik in a bid to stop the propagation of the virus.
Many people, however, managed to exploit loopholes in the system by purchasing fake medical certificates on various e-commerce platforms that stated they were free of COVID-19 and therefore fit for travel. A spike in the number of coronavirus cases (currently just over 32,000 with 1,883 fatalities) is expected.
This month has also brought disappointment for over 200,000 Indonesians who expected to attend  the Hajj pilgrimage at the end of July.
The government veto came as Saudi Arabia dithers over whether or not to hold the event.
Acknowledging that pilgrims from the country with the world's largest Muslim population often wait years to get on the Hajj list, Indonesia's minister for religious affairs Fachrul Razi called the decision “very bitter and difficult.”

author: Juke Carolina


text:
In Guinea, COVID-19 roadblocks result in bloody protests · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Screenshot from a video on YouTube recounting the violence in Coyah, Guinea.
Guinea faces social violence exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Already a fragile state, COVID-19 complicated matters with its first appearance in March 2020. By June 8, 4,117 people had tested positive for COVID-19 out of a population of 12 million.
To counter the pandemic, Guinean authorities established checkpoints between the capital city of Conakry, and the neighboring cities of Coyah and Dubréka, effectively blocking the capital off from the rest of the country.
Though Coyah and Dubréka are administratively autonomous, they also constitute the suburbs of the capital and much of the population commutes to and from the cities on a daily basis. President Alpha Condé referred to Greater Conakry in his speech on public television on May 15.
Tensions mounted following the announcements on March 27 and 30, which included a communication error in the decision to isolate Conakry. In fact, it was not made explicit that the cities of Coyah and Dubréka were considered as part of the capital.
Only in his speech on May 15 did the president clarify that the curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. included these cities, as well.
On May 12, residents of Coyah and Dubréka revolted upon discovering barricades suddenly blocking the way to their daily activities.
The journalist Mamadou Kouyaté describes the intensity of the violence:
Roads were barricaded everywhere on Tuesday, following the violent protest that took place from Friguiadi to the center of Coyah. Everywhere people were seen attacking the forces of order. The police station and the gendarmerie brigade were devastated. The police station under construction in the center of Coyah was vandalized. We also observed that the route to Forekariah and the police station’s large roundabout were blocked off, so I was forced to go back and protect our building. Their slogans demanded that the Friguiadi roadblock be moved, saying it prevents them from returning to Coyah, where they live; that some of them work in Conakry and that they have to go home in the evening.
Violent protests took place north of Conakry in Kamsar, a port mainly utilized by local mining companies for bauxite exportation. It is estimated that the Guinean subsoil contains more than two-thirds of the world’s bauxite reserves from which aluminum is extracted.
Despite mining activity and the presence of a large port, residents do not have regular access to electricity or running water. Furthermore, the country is currently in the dry season, adding to residents’ anger.
This is not the first time that Guineans expressed their frustration with such companies that appear to negate their rights. In March 2019, 540 plaintiffs from 13 villages located in the west of the country sued the mediator of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a branch of the World Bank, for financing the Guinea Bauxite Company (CBG), which does not respect national or international law in its mining activities.
Here are descriptions of the events that took place on May 12:
Riots shook the city of Kamsar in reaction to selective power cuts, causing one death and some property damage today, Tuesday, 12 May 2020. There was significant turmoil. In addition to the barricades erected throughout the suburbs of this industrial city, some facilities of the Guinea Bauxite Company (CBG) were vandalized by protesters, which deprived the site and some neighborhoods of drinking water. A number of sources also reported that the mayor’s home was set on fire.
In a common statement published with International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), 14 Guinean civil society organizations condemned the violence,  demanded the release of all persons arrested and called to open an investigation:
Our organizations demand a stop to police violence leading to the loss of human life, physical injury, and damage to property. We condemn the violence that occurred in Coyah, Dubréka, and Kamsar, and we call for the immediate opening of a judicial investigation in order to shed light on the violence committed in these places
Looking back at the history of Guinea, it is difficult to find a protest that was not met with a disproportionately violent, deadly response, serious violations of human rights and the destruction of property, as recalled by the FNDC (National Front for the Defense of the Constitution) in a statement dated May 15:
Guinea has been subject to various regimes since it achieved independence in 1958, from Sékou Touré to Alpha Condé. Each of them chose its own method to repress the population and employed nearly the same instrument: armed militias, true killing machines, in place of the police, the gendarmerie, and the regular army which are normally responsible for the security of people and their property, as well as for the country’s defense.
Numerous Guineans shared their feelings on Twitter. One journalist said:
I am one of those who believe that every Guinean who loves his country beyond political considerations must show his outrage when citizens all over the nation are victims of the exactions of security forces with these killings. Compassion cannot be selective.— Thierno Maadjou Bah?? (@MaadjouDT) May 15, 2020
Abdoulaye Keita, general director of the Guinean Planning and Services Company (GuINAPRES), which donated 65 handwashing kits to public services and to the households of the city of Boké states:
Lack of drinking water in the CBG district in Kamsar. It’s one of the consequences of the vandalism of facilities that occurred during the demonstration demanding electricity! What a shame! pic.twitter.com/4hboF0BnQH— Abdoulaye KEITA (@keitus14) May 15, 2020

author: Abdoulaye Bah


text:
Internet shutdowns in Sudan: The story behind the numbers and statistics · Global Voices
Khattab Hamad

During internet shutdowns in Sudan, many citizens were not able to communicate via various apps on their mobile phones during politically charged periods. Photo by ready-made via Pexels, free to use.
Editor's note: The author of this post, Khattab Hamad, is a current Canar employee.
Governments around the world execute policies to allow for massive surveillance and censorship on the internet. In Sudan, for example, users are not entirely safe or free on the internet. According to Freedom House, Sudan’s freedom on the internet score is low at just 25 on a scale of 0, being least free, to 100, most free.
In the last couple of years, Sudanese people have experienced two major internet shutdowns that seriously prohibited basic communication and exchange during politically charged periods.
Amid a revolution that eventually led to the ousting of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese government blocked social media access to Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram on December 19, 2018. To get around the ban, citizens used Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to access social media. On February 26, 2019, the government unblocked social media sites, but digital rights activists and human rights defenders called on citizens to continue using VPNs because privacy is not guaranteed.
On April 11, 2019, when the Bashir government collapsed and the transitional military council (TMC) assumed power, citizens began to feel safer to use the internet without a VPN.
Sudanese people experienced an internet shutdown again from June 3, 2019, to July 9, 2019, amid protests and demands for civilian rule. June 3 marked the first anniversary of the brutal dispersal by security forces of a sit-in in which protesters demanded civilian rule near military headquarters. At least 100 protesters were killed. To get around this total shutdown, protesters used a variety of methods to share urgent information but faced immense challenges.
Sudan has four main internet service providers (ISPs) Zain, MTN, Sudatel and Canar. Zain, MTN and Sudatel have a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) license that allows them to provide internet services via mobile networks. Canar does not have a GSM license, but it provides internet through landline and wireless, leased lines.
The below graph from Netblocks shows internet measurements on networks from the four operators collected on December 21, 2018. Each dot represents a request to access certain sites, including major platforms like Twitter and Whatsapp. The red dots signal that the user request was not met because of a “down” status. The brown dots signal that the user request was not met because of a timeout status.
Figure 1, NetbBocks.
On June 3, 2019, the internet went down all over Sudan due to a political decision from the TMC. Sudanese internet users were able to get back online again on July 9, 2019, due to a court decision that ordered all service providers to restore internet access.
Sudan’s 2018 Telecommunication and Post regulation Act gives the regulatory authority the right to disrupt any communication and telecommunication or broadcasting station if it violates the law. This vague provision does not provide more details, which allows the authorities to interpret it as they see fit to restrict access to services.
The below graph from NetBlocks shows effective internet availability by a provider between May 27, 2019, and July 9, 2019.
Figure 2, NetBlocks.
The below graph from a Google transparency report shows the incoming traffic and requests to Google from Sudan.
Figure 3, Google Transparency Report.
To shut down the internet this time, authorities disabled the “access point name,” or APN, in the mobile data network. Using this method, users can't see the data sign on their phone screens.
Canar first refused to shut down internet services for its users, but it was forced to disable Wimax and fixed LTE services on June 5, 2019, as evidenced in Figure 2, comparing Canar traffic with other operators.
During this period, Canar and Sudatel continued to provide internet service through optical fiber infrastructure — expensive for individual users — as they were not forced to disrupt access to these services. As a result, the few users who could afford access to these services could continue to share political news with the global community via the internet.
Sudanese digital rights activists took several actions to get around the internet shutdown.
The Professionals’ Union of Technology and Communication (PUTC) sent almost 1 million bulk short message services (SMS) from servers outside of Sudan to deliver directives from revolutionary leaders and refute rumors and disinformation.
Activists also accessed the internet using a subscriber identification module (SIM) card from neighboring countries — essentially through roaming — although authorities later disrupted roaming cellular data networks as well.
Activists also used proxy servers, which “act as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from servers that provide those resources.” These services allowed users to bypass internet censorship and filtering.
Some Sudanese diaspora suggested providing internet through VSAT (a satellite technology that provides the internet) but, due to the high cost and risk in equipment delivery at that time, this option was not possible.
During the June-July 2019 internet shutdown, Sudanese people in and outside of the country were scared because they could not communicate with their families or access and share essential information.
According to media reports, on June 3, 2019, security forces raped dozens of protesters and threw a number of dead bodies in the Nile river. It is believed that more than 100 protesters were killed in the crackdown, although the exact number of those killed is still unknown. Rights groups believe that the internet was shut down to prevent any leakage of information or evidence of violations.
While many organizations were working to provide basic services such as water, food, health and education during the shutdowns, they failed in many ways to meet peoples’ needs due to a lack of internet connectivity.
Intentional internet disruptions are considered a violation of fundamental rights and freedoms, and in July 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution by consensus that condemned internet shutdowns.
A total internet shutdown poses a serious risk to the economy. Internet connectivity provides essential communication and encryption tools necessary to store data safely and conduct business effectively.
According to the 2018 Telecommunication and Post Regulatory Authority (TPRA) report, the telecommunication industry contributes to the Sudanese economy by 14 percent (5.2 percent direct contribution and 8.8 percent as indirect contribution).
According to NetBlocks statistics via its Cost of Shutdown Tool, Sudan’s economy lost $1,694,039,708 United States dollars during the internet shutdown period from June 3, 2019, to July 9, 2019, without accounting for further losses due to a collapse in consumer and investor confidence.
Figure 4, NetBlocks.
According to Al Jazeera, losses to companies and individuals with internet connections exceeded $750 million USD during the 37-day shutdown that started on June 3, 2019. The World Bank estimated a $45 million USD loss per day due to the blackout. According to a 2019 Quartz Africa report, internet shutdowns cost the Sudanese economy $1.8 billion USD.
Zain’s direct losses were $207 million Sudanese pounds, ($4.36 million USD), representing 26 percent of its monthly revenue. Related indirect costs were caused by monthly revenue loss, network operation costs, legal fees and startup business collapse.
To imagine a future in Sudan with no internet shutdowns, authorities must work on several laws: First, a law that enshrines network neutrality so that the internet remains free and open, including during political crises; second, a law that criminalizes the denial of internet access; and third, a law to prevent violations of users’ privacy and personal data.
Taking these steps will make a future shutdown decision a harder one to make.

author: Khattab Hamad


text:
Israel appoints its first Ethiopian-born minister, Pnina Tamano-Shata · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Portrait of Pnina Tamano-Shata, used under license under CC BY-SA 3.0
Israel has just appointed its first black minister, Pnina Tamano-Shata, from the Ethiopian Jewish community. Despite this encouraging gesture, the community still faces discrimination and racism in Israel.
It has been a remarkable journey for Tamano-Shata, who was appointed minister of immigration and integration on May 1, 2020. Born in Ethiopia, in what's known as the Falasha or Beta Israel community, she spent her first few years in a refugee camp in Sudan.
At the age of three, she was repatriated to Israel as part of a clandestine transfer operation organized by Tel Aviv with the support of Washington, known as Operation Moses. She was among 7,000 Ethiopian Jews who arrived in Israel between November 20, 1984, and January 6, 1985.
Once settled in Israel, she integrated well into society, studied law and worked as a journalist and lawyer. She also became involved in civil society groups, becoming vice-president of the National Association of Ethiopian Students in 2004, and a member of the executive committee of Transparency International from 2015 to 2018.
She then started a political career and was elected to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, where she served as a representative of the secular party, Yesh Atid, from 2013 to 2015.
Her social and political commitment earned her recognition in Israel as well as abroad. In 2016 she won the Unsung Award prize, awarded by the Drum Major Institute, an American nongovernmental organization that fights for human rights and racial equality.
The ultimate recognition came in May 2020 after she was reelected to Knesset on March 2, then appointed minister of immigration and integration. When asked about her appointment, she said:
Je suis ravie et fière d’assumer le poste de ministre de l’immigration et de l’intégration. Pour moi, c’est un point de repère et la fermeture d’un cercle pour cette fillette de trois ans qui a immigré en Israël sans mère, lors d’un voyage à pied dans le désert; en grandissant en Israël et dans les luttes que j’ai menées et que je mène toujours pour la communauté, l’intégration, l’acceptation de l’autre et contre la discrimination et le racisme; jusqu’à ma mission publique à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur des murs de la Knesset et aujourd’hui au statut de ministre de l’immigration et de l’intégration.
L’immigration est l’âme et le cœur battant de l’État d’Israël. Je travaillerai avec diligence pour encourager l’immigration de tous les pays du monde et pour diriger la réforme du processus d’absorption des immigrants en Israël.
I am delighted and proud to take on the role of minister of immigration and integration. For me, it is a landmark and the closing of a circle for this 3-year-old girl who immigrated to Israel without a mother, crossing the desert on foot; growing up in Israel, and in the struggles that I have led and that I still lead for the community, integration, acceptance of others and against discrimination and racism; up to my public mission inside and outside the walls of the Knesset and today to the role of minister of immigration and integration.
Immigration is the beating heart and soul of the State of Israel. I will work diligently to encourage immigration from countries all over world and to lead the reform of the immigrant absorption process in Israel.
Even though Tamano-Shata is optimistic, the situation of black people in Israel remains difficult, given that the Ethiopian Jewish community, estimated to have more than 130,000 members or 2 percent of the population, is still subjected to racism. As this article recalls, numerous scandals bear witness to widespread racism against black people, of which Tamano-Shata herself was a victim:
En 1996, lors d’une opération nationale de collecte, le centre israélien de transfusion sanguine fait jeter tous les dons des immigrants d’Éthiopie de crainte qu’ils ne soient porteurs du sida. Humiliée, en colère, la communauté falasha [Juifs éthiopiens] organise un immense rassemblement à Jérusalem, devant les bureaux du Premier ministre, qui dégénère en heurts avec la police.
Ces heurts ne font cependant pas changer les choses puisqu’en 2013, alors qu’elle [Tamano-Shata] est députée et décide de faire un don de sang lors d’une opération de don organisée par le Magen David Adom dans l’enceinte du Parlement à Jérusalem, une responsable de cet organisme, filmée et enregistrée par une caméra vidéo, lui explique que « selon les directives du ministère de la Santé, il n’est pas possible d’accepter le sang spécial d’origine juive éthiopienne ». La députée s’insurge lors d’une interview sur la chaîne de télévision privée « 10 », contre « cet affront fait à toute une communauté en raison de la couleur de sa peau ».
In 1996, during a nationwide collection campaign, the Israeli blood transfusion centre threw away all the donations from Ethiopian immigrants for fear that they may be carriers of AIDS. Humiliated and angry, the Ethiopian Jewish community organised a huge rally in Jerusalem outside the Prime Minister's office, which descended into clashes with the police.
However, these clashes did not lead to any changes. In 2013, whilst Tamano-Shata was a member of parliament, she decided to donate blood as part of a donation campaign organised by the Magen David Adom [Israel's national blood bank service] within the parliament building in Jerusalem. An official from the organisation was filmed on camera explaining to Tamano-Shata that “according to the Ministry of Health's guidelines, it is not possible to accept blood of Ethiopian Jewish origin”. The MP protested during an interview on the private television channel 10 against ‘this affront to an entire community based on the colour of our skin.’
Another far-reaching scandal was that the forced contraception of Ethiopian women that was revealed in 2013, as this article explains:
Pendant 5 ans, le gouvernement a nié qu’il avait mis en place un système de contraception concernant les immigrées éthiopiennes les forçant à accepter une injection de l’agent contraceptif Depo-Provera si elles voulaient entrer sur le territoire israélien.
L'Association pour les droits civiques en Israël (ACRI) a demandé une enquête ainsi que la fin de ces injections. Le directeur général du ministère de la santé a donné l’ordre d’arrêter ces injections contraceptives. Les juifs d’Ethiopie ou falashas sont des citoyens israéliens ont longtemps été mis à l’écart des autres communautés juives.
For five years, the government denied that it had implemented a contraceptive system for Ethiopian immigrant women, forcing them to accept an injection of the contraceptive agent Depo-Provera if they wanted to enter Israeli territory.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) called for an investigation and an end to these injections. The director general of the Ministry of Health ordered for these contraceptive injections to stop. The Ethiopian Jews or Falashas are Israeli citizens and have long been segregated from other Jewish communities.
Another example of the violence and racism suffered by the Ethiopian Jews is the case of Damascus Pakada, an Israeli soldier born in Ethiopia. One day in April 2015, he was returning home in military uniform to celebrate his birthday. He was arrested and beaten by two police officers and, for no reason, thrown into prison.
Thanks to video footage of the incident, he was later released from prison and the police officers were arrested on suspicion of excessive use of force. This incident provoked demonstrations by the Ethiopian Jewish community. Pakada was later honored by the army and received by the prime minister.
At the time, President Reuven Rivlin admitted that Israel had committed serious errors that had traumatized Jews of Ethiopian origin:
Les manifestants de Jérusalem et de Tel-Aviv ont révélé une plaie ouverte et vive au coeur de la société israélienne. Nous devons nous pencher directement sur cette plaie ouverte. Nous avons commis des erreurs, nous n'avons pas assez ouvert les yeux et nous n'avons pas assez tendu l'oreille
The protesters in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have revealed an open, bleeding wound in the heart of Israeli society. We must directly address this open wound. We have made mistakes, we did not open our eyes enough and we did not listen enough.
Despite these scandals and the statements from Rivlin, anti-Falasha and anti-black racism continue, as reported in July 2019 by the French union activist, Pierre Lemaire:
Depuis 1997, onze Noirs israéliens ont trouvé la mort dans une confrontation avec la police. Selon l’Association des Juifs éthiopiens, les mises en examen d’Israéliens-Éthiopiens ont progressé de 90 % depuis 2015 et 90 % des jeunes Noirs passant devant un tribunal sont condamnés, contre un tiers seulement des autres Israéliens.
Since 1997, eleven black Israelis have died during confrontations with the police. According to the Association of Ethiopian Jews, prosecutions of Israeli-Ethiopians have increased by 90% since 2015. What's more, 90% of young black people who appear in court are convicted, compared to only a third of other Israelis.
After the announcement of Tamano-Shata's appointment as the new minister, many Israelis shared their feelings on social media.
For Chely Lobatón,Tamano-Shata's presence is the only good thing about the new government:
Pnina Tamano-Shata getting the Aliyah and Integration Ministry is one of the few good things about the incoming government. As Israel's first black cabinet member and an Ethiopian immigrant herself, I hope it means easier absorption for African Jews. https://t.co/zu7U5BCiGO
— Chely Lobatón (@chelylobaton) May 28, 2020
#Russie-#Israel /Nouveau cabinet israélien: le ministère de l'Aliyah et de l'Intégration échoit à Pnina Tamano-Shata, d'origine éthiopienne. Jusqu'à présent, ce portefeuille revenait à une personnalité politique russophone. Par ailleurs, un nvl ambassadeur devait ê nommé à Moscou
— Igor Delanoë (@IgorDelanoe) May 18, 2020
#Russia- #Israel / New Israeli cabinet: the Ministry of Aliyah (Immigration) and Integration passes to Pnina Tamano-Shata, of Ethiopian origin. Until now, this portfolio belonged to a Russian-speaking political figure. In addition, a new ambassador should be appointed to Moscow.
Ironically, the former minister of immigration and integration, Sofa Landver, who is of Russian origin and Tamano-Shata replaced, said in 2012, “You should say thank you to us for welcoming you,” in response to a previous wave of demonstrations by young Israeli-Ethiopians.