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Oaxacan women learn essential photo skills to reframe their lives · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Participants of the workshop “¡Rompe las reglas de la foto!” (Break the rules of photography!). Photo by Angie Keller, used with permission.
In Oaxaca, located in Southeastern Mexico, seven out of ten indigenous women live in poverty. In addition, access to education is very limited. On the one hand, women have a prominent role at home from an early age, and on the other, according to federal authorities, local customs push families to keep them from attending school.
With this in mind, the Museum of Photographic Arts, located in California, United States, and the Fondo Guadalupe Musalem, a Mexican non-profit, decided to join forces. Over a weekend in November 2018, 25 young girls learned about photography techniques from MOPA instructors.
Since its creation in 1995, the Fondo Guadalupe has been running educational workshops for young women from indigenous or rural communities, who are awarded scholarships.
Global Voices spoke via email with Deborah Klochko, executive director of the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA).  told us more about the initiative:
Global Voices (GV): What inspired the collaboration between MOPA and the Fondo Guadalupe Musalem?
Deborah Klochko (DK): Supe del Fondo Guadalupe Musalem a través de su instructora de fotografía Marcela Taboada, a quien conocí en un taller que di en Ciudad de México. Me contó sobre su programa e inmediatamente supe que MOPA tenía que formar parte de él. Supimos que éramos una colaboración destinada, al poder usar la fotografía como parte de su travesía.
I found out about the Fondo Guadalupe Musalem through their photography instructor, Marcela Taboada, who I met at a workshop I was running in Mexico City. She told me about her program and I knew straight away that MOPA had to be part of it. We knew that we were destined to be a partnership, being able to use photography as part of their journey.
GV: Could you tell us more about the workshop that has been given to the girls as part of this initiative?
DK: El taller se llama ¡Rompe las reglas de la foto! Haciendo uso de un modelo interactivo, la instructora de MOPA Maria Rios-Mathioudakis y las alumnas del Fondo trabajaron en equipo para identificar las reglas fotográficas para después adrede romperlas. Las alumnas identificaron más de 15 reglas, como por ejemplo, el cuidado que se le da a una foto impresa para no deteriorarla, enmarcar y colgar fotos en una pared para ser mostradas, etcétera.
En equipo o en pares, las alumnas se propusieron a romper las reglas que identificamos, tomando fotos, imprimiéndolas e interviniendo en el proceso. Estas intervenciones se dieron cuando crearon su propio collage (recortando sus imágenes y reconstruyendo una sola imagen con los recortes), creando siluetas, escribiendo sobre las imágenes con plumones (varias hicieron esto es su idioma natal), y creando perfiles de sus compañeras (al estilo de David Hockney [pintor británico] y Joyce Neimanas [fotógrafa estadounidense]). Este estilo juega con su percepción de su espacio ya que presenta una representación compleja del sujeto.
DK: The workshop is called “Break the rules of photography!”. Making use of an interactive model, the MOPA instructor, Maria Rios-Mathioudakis, and the students of the Fondo work as a team to identify the rules of photography in order to purposely break them after. The pupils identified more than 15 rules, for example, the care that's given to a printed photo so as not to damage it, framing and hanging photos on a wall to be displayed, etc.
In a group or in pairs, the students set out to break the rules that we identified, taking photos, printing them, and intervening in the process. These interventions were used when they created their own collage (cutting up their images and reconstructing one single image with the cuttings), making shapes, writing on their images with markers (some did this in their mother tongue), and making outlines of their classmates (in the style of David Hockney [British painter] and Joyce Neimanas [American photographer]. This style plays with their perception of space as it shows a complex representation of the subject.
GV: Do you have any particular story about the girls taking part that you'd like to share with our readers?
DK: Recibimos a un grupo increíble de jóvenes talentosas. El taller comenzó a las 10 a.m. y termino a la 6:30 p.m. A esta hora las alumnas nos pidieron más tiempo para trabajar en sus proyectos. En todos mis años dando clases, me he encontrado con un joven o dos con el mismo tipo de motivación que vi en cada una de nuestras 25 alumnas. Fue un grupo que escarbó profundo y creó muy buen trabajo. Estuvieron presentes, fueron críticas, trabajaron en equipo y rompieron las reglas (de la mejor manera posible).
DK: We had an amazing group of talented young women. The workshop started at 10 am and ended at 6.30 pm. At this point the students asked us to give them more time to work on their projects. In all my years teaching, I had only come across one or two young people with such motivation that all of these 25 young women had. They went really deep and created very good work. They had presence, they thought critically about their work, they acted as a team and they broke the rules (in the best way possible).
Deborah Klochko (on the left) leads the training workshops as part of the collaboration with the Fondo Guadalupe Musalem. Photograph by Angie Keller, used with permission.
GV: How does this teaching experience compare to others you have taken part in previously?
DK: El grupo también fue de varias maneras parecido a los que nos encontramos en los Estados Unidos. Son mujeres jóvenes que están muy bien conectadas a las culturas globales que encuentran a través del internet: YouTube, Anime e Instagram en sus smartphones. También están muy abiertas a aprender a utilizar nuevas herramientas, aplicaciones y filtros
DK: In some ways, this group was similar to those who we have had in the United States. They are young women who are very well connected to the global cultures they find on the internet: YouTube, Anime and Instagram on their smartphones. They are also very open to learning how to use new tools, applications and filters
GV: What about Oaxaca?
DK: Oaxaca es una región que valora la cultura y el arte. No hay por qué tratar de convencer a alguien de que este aspecto en su cultura les es importante. El arte es asombroso, y constantemente están organizando eventos de arte en parques públicos, en la esquina de la calle, en galerías y en museos. Fue encantador poder ser parte de todo.
DK: Oaxaca is a region which values culture and art. There's no need to try and convince someone that this aspect of culture is important to them.The art scene is incredible, they are constantly organising art events in public parks, on the corner of the street, in galleries and museums. It was lovely to be part of it all.
GV: Do you have anything else to add?
DK: La fotografía es un medio universal y es por esto que nuestros programas llevan un impacto global. Estas iniciativas sólo son posibles gracias a la generosidad de nuestros contribuyentes y patrocinadores.
DK: Photography is a universal medium. That's the reason behind the global impact of our programs, which can only be only be possible thanks to the generosity of our patrons and collaborators.

author: J. Tadeo


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The case for the mate emoji and why it’s important for South America · Global Voices
Fernanda Canofre

The mate emoji as proposed by a group of Argentinians to Unicode. Image used in the document with the proposal and reproduced here with permission.
If you visit Uruguay, it's likely that one of the first things you will notice will be people carrying around this odd wooden cup as they go about their days. In Argentina, you might be offered a drink from that cup when visiting someone. The same is true for homes in the south of Brazil. The beverage at issue is mate, a hot water infusion of leaves of yerba mate.
Drinking mate is a tradition of the indigenous Guarani and Kaingang people dating from thousands of years before the Christian era. Today, the custom is widespread in the south of South America, including Chile and Paraguay, as well as across the Atlantic in countries like Germany, Lebanon and Syria (which is Argentina's biggest importer of yerba mate in the world). It's pronounced [ˈmate] in Spanish and [ˈmatʃi] in Portuguese and is served in a special cup, usually made of wood, and drunk through a silvery straw.
Shockingly, there isn't an emoji representing this beverage beloved by millions, but some people are trying to do something about it. In September 2017, five Argentinians who had gathered at Media Party, an annual hacker event in Buenos Aires, decided to roll up their sleeves for the world's first mate emoji.
“We did a first version of the design and the research for the proposal. Then, we kept working from there”, says Santiago Nasra, a video-journalist, member of the group fighting to make the mate emoji happen, in a conversation with Global Voices by email.
While the team initially considered other Argentinian delicacies, such as “choripán” (bread and sausage) or “asado,” a traditional barbecue, they finally agreed that a mate emoji would be more representative of cultures beyond just Argentina.
“Since mate is not a specific product, but a universal concept that has been appropriated and adapted by different cultures, it deserves to have an emoji,”, Santiago says.
In May, the Unicode Consortium, which handles emoji standards, shortlisted the mate emoji for 2019's batch. This crucial step was only possible thanks to Santiago and the Argentinian group, who presented a 40-page-long case to the non-profit.
Among other things, the document details the health benefits associated with the regular consumption of yerba mate and the number of countries that import it (113 in 2016). It includes photos of celebrities delighting in the drink — such as Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, former USA president Barack Obama, international football stars Leonel Messi, Luis Suárez, and Antoni Griezman — and scenes from movies like Captain Fantastic and Amazon Prime's series Mozart in the Jungle whose characters consume it.
As the document's brief states:
The mate emoji would not be overly specific, and in fact veers toward general, as it can be used to represent not only Latin American mate sets, but also Arab and Asian yerba mate drinkers. The design would imply “mate” as indicative of mixing the herb and water (hot or cold) and the sipping device. It is at the very least no more specific than ethnic food or beverage (aka sake) already represented in the emoji lexicon, including Mexican, Italian and Japanese foods. We have shown the proposed design to Brazilians, Paraguayans, Germans, Syrians and Uruguayans. They all understood the essence of mate in our proposal and said they would definitely use it beside the slight differences between regional cups.
In October, Unicode presented its version of the image, posted here on a tweet by Florencia Coelho, who's also part of the team who drafted the case document:
#emojidelmate in Windows 10 emoji preview for 2019
¡Me vuelvo loca! ?https://t.co/jfEd851OAH. @emojidelmate_ok pic.twitter.com/KbpEfEwoFA
— Flor Coelho (@fcoel) November 8, 2018
#emojidelmate in Windows 10. Emoji preview for 2019 I'm going crazy!
The online campaign for the mate emoji goes under the hashtag #emojidelmate.
According to its supporters, the mate emoji would be the first character from South America to make it to the world's keyboards, but it is certainly not the region's first attempt. Since 2017, two Brazilian professors have been lobbying Unicode to include the capybara, a mammal native to South America, in the emoji fauna.
With the increase of emoji's popularity over the past years, people are ever more eager to see themselves represented in them. Examples of emojis added to the glossary recently include families with same-sex parents and figurines with different skin colors. To the supporters of the mate emoji, their plea is also a case for diversity:
Mate goes beyond any drink, as it is full of cultural meaning (besides its numerous health benefits). (…) Mate is too significant, too important not to be represented by an emoji. It is time it gets it chance for the joy of its Latin American and worldwide fans.
Unicode will release a second shortlist in February 2019 and the finalists in June 2019. Without a doubt, both announcements will be followed intently by mate emoji fans.
UPDATE: In February 5, Unicode announced the mate emoji among the 230 new emojis of 2019, alongside guide dogs,  flamingos, the sari and an hindu temple.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Fernanda Canofre


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For the first time, an Angolan president meets with the government’s staunchest critics · Global Voices
Dércio Tsandzana

The front page of Jornal de Angola on December 5. The headline says: “Head of state extends a hand to civil society.” The photo shows: President João Lourenço shakes hands with Luaty Beirão, convicted in 2016 to 5 and half years in prison for “plotting acts of rebellion.” Photo: Screenshot of a facsimile of Jornal de Angola.
The Angolan President João Lourenço held formal talks with civil society organizations, journalists and activists critical of the government on December 4 at the Presidential Palace in an unprecedented move for a head of state in that country.
In June 2015, Beirão was arrested along with 16 other activists during a group study session of the book “From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation,” by Gene Sharp. In March 2016, they all received jail sentences varying between two and eight years, which were converted to house arrest three months later.
Marques faced the courts in June 2017 for an article he wrote in 2016 alleging that then-Attorney General João Maria de Souza had engaged in corrupt dealings to acquire a sizeable beachfront property. He was acquitted of all charges in July 2018. His journalistic work on corruption has landed him in jail several times since 1999.
Luaty Beirão recalled his ordeal on Twitter before the meeting with João Lourenço.
Disseram que queria dar golpe de estado,
Retirar do trono o Zé,
instalar-me no Palácio
Respondi:
A única forma de algum dia entrar nesse mambo
Será pelo portão da frente
Como ilustre convidado. pic.twitter.com/aIapAmvSzK
— Luaty Beirão (@LuatyBeirao) 3 décembre 2018
They have said that I wanted to stage a coup,
to dethrone Zé [former president José Eduardo dos Santos],
to set myself up in the Palace.
I answered:
The only way to ever achieve this
Will be by walking through the front gate
As an illustrious guest.
On the eve of the meeting, Rafael Marques wrote on the website Maka Angola, of which he is the founder and editor:
O presidente João Lourenço encorajou-me hoje a prosseguir com as minhas investigações sobre a corrupção e a encaminhar os casos à Procuradoria-Geral da República.
A luta contra a corrupção, incluindo o repatriamento de capitais, é uma das prioridades do seu governo. Para o efeito, conta com o contributo dos cidadãos na moralização da sociedade.
O presidente manifestou a sua visão sobre a relação entre o Estado e os cidadãos, lamentando que estes, muitas vezes, vandalizem o património público e refletindo sobre o que deve ser feito para alterar as mentalidades.
President João Lourenço encouraged me today to continue my investigations on corruption and to refer the cases to the Attorney General's Office.
The fight against corruption, including the repatriation of capital, is one of the priorities of his government. To this end, it counts with the contribution of citizens for the moralization of society.
The president expressed his view on the relationship between the state and citizens, lamenting that the latter often vandalize the public heritage and reflecting on what must be done to change such attitudes.
The meeting generated several reactions on social media. For Esmael Munhogo, a student at the University Institute of Angola, it marks a ”new era” for Angola:
Encontro de João Lourenço com Membros Da Sociedade Civil! Gostei da iniciativa do presidente! Ontem eles eram vistos como criminosos por defenderem o povo, hoje são vistos como grandes defensores da verdade.
The meeting of João Lourenço and members of civil society! I liked the president's initiative! Yesterday they were seen as criminals for defending the people, today they are seen as great defenders of the truth.
Others don't think it necessarily represents a change:
Outro aspecto: a recepção pelo PR dalguns activistas não significa abertura para “dialogar com todos os angolanos”, nem que queira dialogar sobre assuntos políticos chave, como a hegemonia que o MPLA continua a exercer sobre o estado, o maior mal político de que o país é vitima.
— LuGuAra (@Luguaraa) 6 décembre 2018
One other aspect: The reception of activists by the president does not mean he is open to “dialogue with all Angolans”, or that he wants to dialogue on key political issues, such as the hegemony that the MPLA continues to exercise over the state. This is the greatest political evil that the country is victim to.
Some Angolans stressed that they want concrete actions to change the country's economic and social situation. Luís Coutinho said:
Que os diálogos não se transformem em conversas de boi dormir. É bom as pessoas conversarem, mas factos são factos e os jornalistas devem sentir-se sempre à vontade em relatar os mesmos, por muito que incomodem (ou até ofendam) o poder instalado. Os instalados no poder, têm sempre tendência para abusar dele
May the dialogues not turn out to be just a lot of hot air. It is good for people to talk, but facts are facts and journalists should always feel free to report them, even if they upset (or even offend) the installed power. Those in power have a tendency to abuse it.
Other people present at the meeting were José Patrocínio, leader of the Omunga Religious Association, Alexandra Semeão of Handeca Association and Maria Lúcia Silveira of the Justice, Peace, and Development Association. Speaking with the press after the meeting, they said they were “allowed to express all concerns candidly and without apprehension”, according to SAPO Angola.

author: Dércio Tsandzana


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In Hungary, protests continue at the public broadcast building where opposition MPs were removed by force · Global Voices
Atlatszo.hu

Protest in Budapest, Hungary on December 16, 2018. Photo by Atlatszo.hu/Márk Tremmel, CC BY-NC-SA 2.5.
This article is based on the story “Protest and standoff continue at the public service media HQ – Opposition MPs removed from the building by force” written by Anita Kőműves and Babett Oroszi, with photos by Márk Tremmel, Áron Halász and Szebáld Szakál for Atlatszo.hu, Hungary’s first investigative journalism non-profit. It is republished here in edited form through a partnership with Global Voices.
Protests in Budapest against Viktor Orbán's right-wing government continued on Sunday and Monday, with protesters gathering in front of the public service media’s headquarters. The protests started last Wednesday in reaction to the so-called “slavery law” which would raise the cap on annual overtime that employers can request from their workers to 400 hours, and another law which makes it easier to place judges that are favorable to Orbán's government in seats of judicial power.
5-10,000 people demonstrated on Sunday against the Orbán government, and the demonstration ended with a few thousand protesters walking to the MTVA (Hungarian public service channel) headquarters. Several opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) entered the building, trying to get air time to read their demands. They were denied this request and stayed until the morning hours when MP's Ákos Hadházy and Bernadett Szél were forcibly removed from the building by armed security guards.
Earlier that day, protesters gathered at Heroes’ Square and marched towards the Parliament building. The march was led by trade unions with opposition parties carrying their flags following closely behind:
At the opposition protest tonight outside of the Hungarian public TV, the Jobbik flag is flying alongside the Roma flag, along with the flags of other parties. Several people in the crowd are also waving E.U. flags alongside Hungarian ones. pic.twitter.com/CWrqrVwQtr
— Valerie Hopkins (@VALERIEin140) December 17, 2018
Later protesters decided to walk to the MTVA headquarters in northwest Budapest. Protesters reached the building shortly before 9 pm where six rows of riot police surrounded the entrance to the building, preventing demonstrators from entering.
Start of December 16, 2018, protest in Budapest, Hungary. Photo from the album from the first night of protests, by Atlatszo.hu/Áronl Halász, CC BY-NC-SA 2.5. Click on image for full album.
Opposition MPs Ákos Hadházy, Bernadett Szél, Ágnes Kunhalmi, and Ágnes Vadai entered the building. Unlike ordinary citizens, members of Parliament are free to inspect any public building.
They had a list of five demands that they intended to read on air:
MPs were ultimately unsuccessful in their attempt. Meanwhile, outside the MTVA building, protesters tried to push their way through the riot police who began using tear gas to disperse the crowd.
MPs inside the building were live streaming the events as they happened. Bernadett Szél’s live stream broadcasted early in the morning when Ákos Hadházy was tackled by security guards as he tried to enter a studio to read their demands. Later Hadházy and Szél were both forcibly removed from the building, with thousands following the events live on Facebook.
The standoff between MPs and MTVA security and management continues. MPs want police to help them practice their right to inspect public buildings. At the same time, MTVA wants police to help them enforce a decree by the local clerk that orders the MPs to leave the premises.
Akos Hadházy, MP in front of the MTVA HQ in Budapest on December 16, 2018. Photo: Átlátszó.hu/Mark Tremmel, CC BY-NC-SA 2.5.
“I'm feeling better now, though I am very tired and shocked by the events,” Ákos Hadházy MP told Átlátszó a few hours after he was removed from the building:
“It is very hard to describe my feelings, such an event is very humiliating and disturbing.
I did not expect this, I was expecting some degree of restraint from those in power but that did not happen,” he said.
Hadházy said that the events prove two things for him. First, that it is a good choice to protest at the public service TV, as that is ’one of the most important bastions’ of the government’s power. Hadházy thinks that what happened to him also proves that the government is scared.
Hadházy said that he is very grateful to the protesters who made the long walk Sunday night to the MTVA headquarters. He added that he will definitely attend the Monday night protest, scheduled to start at 6 pm.
The protests continued on Monday and again ended up in front of the MTVA building. Opposition MPs attempted to enter the state TV headquarters but were subject to violent reactions by the security detail.
After a 10-hour standoff in which editors refused to give the legislators airtime, security guards forcibly ejected four MPs from the MTVA. The assault by security guards and the consequent scuffle left several MPs injured. One of them was Laszlo Varju, who was eventually taken to a hospital in an ambulance.
At least 4 opposition MPs were assaulted today in #Hungary, one of whom was hospitalized. That's today's key takeaway. The #Orban regime has crossed a threshold that it previously dared not cross. How will his main international enablers — @ManfredWeber @usembbudapest — respond?
— Patrick Kingsley (@PatrickKingsley) December 17, 2018
The Hungarian government lead by Victor Orban has so far shrugged off the protests and shows no sign that it will discontinue with its radical right-wing agenda, which reshapes both the Hungarian society and influences the European Union and the neighboring regions.


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Over 500 women accuse superstar psychic in Brazil of sexual abuse · Global Voices
Global Voices Brazil

João de Deus’ spiritual center, where he used to see around 2,000 visitors per week. Photo: Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil, republication permitted with attribution.
One week since she first visited Casa Dom Inácio de Loyola, a spiritual healing center located in the small town of Abadiânia, in the state of Goiás, Zahira Lienike Mous went back seeking treatment for a sexual trauma she had suffered in the past. On her first visit, she witnessed people being cured and felt safe.
Zahira, a Dutch choreographer who has relatives in Brazil, was referred for a private consultation with João de Deus, the pen name of João Teixeira de Faria. He is a star psychic in Brazil who has counseled presidents and North American celebrities like Oprah Winfrey.
In a matter of minutes, she went from feeling safe to being in shock:
Abriu a calça, colocou a minha mão no pênis dele e começou a movimentar a minha mão. (…) Estava em choque. Enquanto isso, ele continuava falando da minha família e disse que eu deveria sorrir. (…) Depois, ele se limpou, me levou ao escritório, abriu um armário de pedras preciosas e mandou escolher a que eu mais gostasse. (…) Não sei quantos dias depois, ele me puxou de novo para o banheiro. Um padrão parecido, mas ele deu um passo adiante e me penetrou por trás.
[He] opened his pants, put my hand on his penis and started to move it. (…) I was in shock. Meanwhile, he kept talking about my family and told me to smile. (…) Afterwards, he cleaned himself up, took me to his office, opened a cabinet with precious stones and told me to choose the one I liked best. (…) I don’t know how many days after this, he pulled me again to the bathroom. It was a similar pattern, but this time he went a step further and penetrated me from behind.
The above testimony was one of ten similar ones broadcast on December 8 on a prime-time talk show at TV Globo, Brazil's main network television channel. Zahira was the only victim who didn't speak anonymously. Since the broadcast, around 500 women have filed reports with Goiás State's Prosecutor's Office accusing João de Deus of sexual harassment and rape.
This past week, national magazine Época published six testimonies by victims who report similar encounters with João de Deus. They describe episodes of inappropriate touch, of João de Deus pressing his penis against their bodies or forcing them into performing oral sex, always under threats of contracting diseases or of becoming possessed by evil spirits should they try to stop him.
On December 16, João de Deus turned himself in after a four-day-long hunt. Over the previous week, he had moved 35 million BRL (around 10 million US dollars) from his bank accounts, prompting the authorities to issue an arrest warrant out of fear he would flee the country. As of this writing, João de Deus hasn't been formally charged. He claims to be innocent of all accusations.
João de Deus, 76. Photo: Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil, republication permitted with attribution.
João de Deus is a household name in Spiritism in Brazil. With 3.8 million practitioners, Brazil is the country with the largest number of adherents of this religion in the world. Allen Kardec's doctrine, largely forgotten in Europe since the early 20th century, took root in the South American country following the massive popularity of Chico Xavier, a medium renowned for his ability to write letters from the dead to loved ones (six times courts have used them as actual evidence in murder trials).
Mediums are central figures in Spiritism and often rise to stardom in Brazil. To have an idea of the size of João de Deus fame, he has counseled former president Dilma Rousseff, current president Michel Temer, North American top model Naomi Campbell, actress Shirley MacLaine and TV host Oprah Winfrey, who dedicated an entire episode of her show to him in 2012. She has removed the video from her website since the backlash.
According to his website, João de Deus was born in 1942, in Cachoeira da Fumaça, also in the state of Goiás. The youngest of six children, he has had his first premonition at age 9, allegedly foreseeing the effects of a storm. At 16, he has had his first medium experience. He never concluded his studies nor learned how to read or write.
During the military dictatorship (1964-1985), João de Deus was sued for illegal practice of medicine, after which he worked as a tailor for the army, followed by jobs at a brick factory and as a miner before founding his healing center in 1976. In 2012, he claimed to have treated over 9 million people. His center receives around 2,000 people every week. He claims to have “received” famous spirits himself, such as Saint Inácio de Loyola — the founder of Society of Jesus in the 16th century who names his center — and King Solomon.
He has 11 children, according to Época magazine, each from a different mother.
Booklets distributed at Casa Santo Inácio de Loyola. Photo: Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil, republication permitted with attribution.
João is now in a prison unity for vulnerable people, sharing a 16-square-meter cell with three other men. The police say it will only file formal charges after they conclude investigations. Some of the crimes may have been prescribed and the degree of involvement of the center's staff is unclear.
His legal team's strategy so far seems to be to discredit his victims. For example, his lawyer told the press that Zahira Lienike Mous used to work as a prostitute and has a “reputation of extorsions.”
Meanwhile, women from all over Brazil are showing their support to the victims (who already have been harassed on social media). As feminist writer Antônia Pellegrino posted on Instagram, the country is witnessing the “biggest silence break in its history.”
A maior quebra de silêncio da história. Até hoje, 330 mulheres se uniram para denunciar o mesmo homem. Por assédio, estupro, pedofilia, incesto praticados há décadas. Décadas em que cada uma delas silenciou, foi desacreditada ou ameaçada de morte. Estas 330 mulheres não são loucas, mentirosas, invejosas. Elas são vítimas. Vítimas de um homem poderoso que usa Deus como sobrenome. Elas são vítimas de séculos de silenciamento. Mas o tempo das mulheres chegou. Empoderadas por todas as denúncias que vieram antes, no Brasil e no mundo, elas decidiram se unir e falar. É hora de investigar e punir quem tiver que ser punido. É hora de justiça. Parabéns pela coragem de todas as mulheres envolvidas nesta histórica quebra de silêncio. Nós estamos com vocês. #ChegaDeAbuso #ninguemsoltaamãodeninguem #mexeucomumamexeucomtodas #xotapower
The biggest silence break in history. As of today, 330 women have united to denounce the same man. For harassment, rape, pedophilia, incest all committed over the course of decades. Decades during which every one of them kept silent, was discredited or threatened with death. Those 330 women are not crazy, liars or jealous. They are victims. Victims of a powerful man who used the name of God as his last name. They are victims of centuries of silencing. But women’s time has come. Empowered by all the testimonies that came before, in Brazil and around the world, they have decided to unite and speak up. It’s time to investigate and punish whoever has to be punished. It’s time for justice. Congratulations for the courage of all the women involved in this historic breaking of silence. We are with you. #EnoughAbuse #nooneletgoanyoneshands #youmesswithoneyoumesswiththemall #pussypower

author: Global Voices Brazil


text:
Ten quintessential Christmas tunes from Trinidad & Tobago · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Red poinsettias are popular potted plants, particularly around the Christmas season; photo by Guilherme Cardoso, CC BY-NC 2.0.
Christmas festivities in Trinidad and Tobago are a magical mix of family, friends, food and fun, all brought together by one key ingredient — music! Forget Jingle Bells and Santa Claus coming to town; local yuletide favourites, from traditional ballads to soca parang, are full of Caribbean flavour.
Here are our picks (in no particular order) for some of the season's most original tunes. Without them, well … it just wouldn’t be a Trini Christmas!
This is perhaps the most iconic Trinbagonian Christmas song ever. From the time the grand master of calypso belts out “Mooma, mooma…” we all feel like joining her “sonny” in the mother country, harsh winter be damned! Kitchener, widely considered to be the greatest calypsonian of the post-war era, perfectly captures the alienation that the Windrush generation must have experienced — especially at Christmas — and deftly allows them to overcome it by holding fast to cherished cultural traditions: “Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum … no time for shivering!” Even against the backdrop of a cold, grey London Christmas, this song will warm your heart.
Trinidad’s very own version of Frank Sinatra, Hutcheon’s melodic crooning brings to mind everything that is unique about celebrating Christmas in our part of the world: between red poinsettias and pitch oil tins, the song is sweetly nostalgic for old-time Trinidad, and captures the magic of the holiday as seen through the eyes of a child. It’s a wonderfully romantic staple that will have you swaying as you start your Christmas preparations.
This colourful group is to parang music what The Beatles were to the pop/rock genre. The song’s Spanish title means “bagpipes”, but this is not the sound of the Scottish Great Highland. Instead, the lively string instruments (cuatro and guitar) draw the listener in, while the claves (known as the “toc toc”) and the Indigenous box bass that define parang, steadily hold the folksy beat of this Amerindian, Latin American and African hybrid. Even if you can’t understand a word of Spanish, the brilliance of the instrumentation will captivate you.
The distinctive guitar riff that introduces this song will put even the Grinch in a happy mood. Francine gets right down to the reason for the season: “Hurray, hurray, hurrah, hurrah, hurrah they say, our Saviour is born today.” Quite apart from Francine’s saccharine voice, the genius of this tune is that its religious message is put to a beat that beckons you to dance, making it quintessentially Trinbagonian.
Not to be confused with Singing Francine’s offering, this is the Queen of parang at her best. Voisin’s syrupy yet commanding voice takes control and steers the song exactly where it needs to go. Her Spanish is flawless, her joy palpable. When she chimes in with her signature “Ohhhhhhhhhhh…”, a penetrating note that lingers over the steady percussion and vocal hoots in the background, you wonder how there was ever Christmas without the exuberance of parang music.
Whether it’s the haunting minor chords and chiming church bells, the richness of Grey’s voice or the imagery of a Caribbean Christmas, this is undoubtedly a favourite. It’s a tune in which the Christmas message shines through everyday yuletide routines — laughing children tugging at “Mr. Santa”, the smells emanating from the kitchen, presents and presence — making the song one of the most requested of the season.
The anticipation many Trinis feel about Christmas is what fuels this bouncy refrain from Scrunter, a calypsonian who happens to be really great at the soca/parang hybrid. What does he want for Christmas? “A piece ah pork”, plain and simple. No manicou, no callaloo, just give the man his ham. Interestingly, though this song deals with specifics, it’s really about the sense of camaraderie, sharing and goodwill that happens at Christmas time.
This quirky, groovy little number immediately hooks the kids — and the adults get some giggles, too. Told from the point of view of Oscar the Grouch, he’s fighting the Christmas spirit tooth and nail: “There’s no jolly good ol’ Santa, you can take this tip from Oscar, there’s no Christmas on Sesame Street.” After all, not everyone's into Christmas, and this is one of the few songs that makes it okay to be grumpy (even though by the end, Oscar comes around).
Relator's other noteworthy Christmas contributions include “Christmas is Yours, Christmas is Mine”, and “Bottle and Spoon” — an ode to the unassuming “instrument” that gives parang (and other forms of Caribbean music) its accessibility and by extension, its heart.
“The sweet soca man”, as Baron is known, perfectly melds soca and parang in this beloved ditty. From hailing out his neighbour and getting the “lime” together (complete with requisite amounts of alcohol), to the joyous refrain of “Oy yo yo, ay yay yay”, it’s impossible not to get caught up in the Christmas spirit. After all, “it’s Christmas … Merry Christmas!”
Baron also pays homage to parang in another seasonal favourite, “Come Go”, in which he attempts to share his love of the music with his significant other until they both get swept away.
This song refutes the “White Christmas” trope that has permeated popular culture's narrative of the yuletide season. “There's no snow falling, no chestnuts roasting, no fire glowing in the house”, the song begins, then goes on to explain that Christmas is wherever you “feel at home”. The message is that love and belonging are at the heart of the holiday. An ode to the songwriter's childhood Christmas memories, it’s full of hope, joy and gratitude … and isn’t that what Christmas is really all about?

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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In Cardinal George Pell’s sexual abuse trial, Australian court fails to suppress the ‘nation’s worst kept secret’ · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Mass given by Cardinal George Pell at World Youth Day Madrid 2011. Image courtesy of Catholic Church England and Wales Flickr account (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Australian Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican's third-highest ranking official, was convicted of sexual assault by a Victoria court on December 11, 2018.
But Australian media aren't reporting on the trial or its outcome. Despite Pell's mammoth status in the Catholic church and as a public figure, his trial has been held in secret, following a Victorian County Court suppression order that applies Australia-wide. It was imposed after the court accepted that knowledge of the accused's identity in the first trial might prejudice a further trial being held in March.
The prosecution sought the original suppression order in May 2018 “to prevent a real and substantial risk of prejudice to the proper administration of justice.” It is not uncommon for suppression orders to apply to separate trials if news of the first may affect the following proceedings.
Journalists may face prison terms for breaching a court suppression order, and prosecutions may even extend to new media.
Despite the order, news of the verdict has gotten out. The Daily Beast was first to cover the story, followed by the Jesuit magazine, America Media. US-based independent Catholic News Agency ran with the story, but then blocked access for readers located in Australia. Traditional media were slow to take up the issue despite taunts on social media. A number of not-so-subtle front-page newspaper articles addressed the trial, but did not reveal the verdict itself.
In a piece subtitled “Why you can't read what you may want to,” The Guardian explained that suppression orders are often imposed to protect witnesses, guarantee a fair trial or in the interest of national security.
“They can be wide-ranging, clamping down on nearly all – and at times all – information about a trial, or narrow, obscuring just one person’s name,” the article notes. In this case, the order is relatively broad. While the order could have been limited so as to protect only the identities of private citizens affected by the case, and/or the court proceedings, it instead applied more broadly.
County Court Chief Judge Kidd has openly expressed anger about press coverage of the trial. On December 14, public prosecutors applied to the County Court for a new suppression order over any media coverage of the trial or associated documents. The ban would extend to “any website or other electronic or broadcast format accessible within Australia.”
Chris Graham of the independent online outlet New Matilda wrote that the order was so broad that “if granted, it would also have the affect of banning any reporting of the ban itself.”
Secrecy surrounding the verdict has since dominated Australian social media, with George Pell's name rising to the top of Twitter trends in Australia and Wikipedians updating George Pell's article to reflect the verdict. If anything, the suppression order has elevated public knowledge about the case online.
The online debate has teased out many of the issues about the existing suppression order. Investigative journalist Jess Hill tweeted:
There are days to be warriors against press censorship. Today is not that day. The suppression order is not censorship – it's there to protect the ongoing court process, & prevent defense lawyers from crying foul. It's not about us.
— Jess Hill (@jessradio) December 13, 2018
Others tried to warn about the possible ramifications of ignoring the order:
The suppression order that has reportedly been made in relation to a high-profile Victorian court case applies to everyone, not just media companies and journalists. If you share links to overseas media reports you are potentially in contempt of court. Don’t do it.
— Paul Kidd (@paulkidd) December 12, 2018
However, many on Twitter were outraged at what they saw as a cover-up:
I am disgusted that the George Pell story is not being reported in Australia. Never did I think censorship on this scale could happen here. Why does this monster deserve to be protected from public scrutiny? I'm sorry, but this country has gone to shit. #GeorgePell
— Shane Miles (@Tkbn3812) December 13, 2018
L was concerned that where truth is absent, lies will fill the void.
The alleged suppression order on #georgepell is allowing fake news and hearsay and speculation take the place of reputable news sources. The effect will be a mix of truth and lies that one will have a hard time separating. #auspol
— L (@theblabberdook) December 12, 2018
Overseas coverage has quickly spread to traditional mass circulation media. Commenting on the public interest implications of the suppression order, Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan wrote:
The secrecy surrounding the court case — and now the verdict — is offensive. That’s especially so because it echoes the secrecy that has always been so appalling a part of widespread sexual abuse by priests…
Steven Spaner, Australia coordinator from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests told the Daily Beast he felt frustrated and left “in the dark” because of the suppression of news about Pell.
But some have criticized Sullivan's take:
Your piece conflates the court suppression order with the church’s coverup of sexual abuse. This is absolutely incorrect. The suppression order was issued to protect the integrity of other pending cases, not to cover up abuse.
— Ronnie (@felixroni) December 14, 2018
Suppression orders have become increasingly contentious in Australia for a number of reasons. There have been concerns that they are overused, prompting the Victorian government to pursue an overhaul of relevant legislation to “reinforce the presumption in favour of open justice and the disclosure of information in Victorian courts”.
And suppression orders have become outdated in the age of the internet with global news coverage and social media. Moreover, others argue that they are a threat to free speech and judicial transparency. The Centre for Advancing Journalism’s director Andrew Dodd canvassed the implications of “the nation’s worst kept secret”:
The rules are now clearly a farce. They are overly paternalistic and the public does have a right to know. But people also have a right to a fair trial and the media can and does trample on the process. I would hate to think that media reporting on this case meant the next trial could not proceed because it’s impossible to find an untainted jury.
This could leave the courts in a no-win situation in their efforts to protect the rights of both the accused and victims by ensuring a fair trial.
The cardinal is currently on leave from his position in charge of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy while he faces these and other charges. In a related development, Pope Francis has removed Pell from his Council of Cardinal Advisors. The decision was apparently taken before the jury's verdict.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Nagorno Karabakh mothers’ protest puts Azerbaijan’s regime on the back foot · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

Mothers gathered at the Martyr's Alley in Baku, demanding the release of Togrul Gocayev, son of a martyr, who was taken in by police and sentenced to administrative detention. Photo by Meydan TV. Used with permission.
The grief and loss tied up in Azerbaijan's bitter Nagorno Karabakh war with Armenia is central to the political propaganda of Azerbaijan's authoritarian regime.
The conflict over the disputed region erupted as the Soviet Union was nearing collapse, and still simmers today. Over a million Azerbaijanis were displaced, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has pledged on a number of occasions to retake the territory that belonged to Azerbaijan during the the Soviet era.
But when it comes to compensation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev appears to have made a promise that his oil-rich state is either unable or unwilling to keep.
For two months now, approximately 100 mothers of soldiers who died during the devastating Karabakh war have been going from one state institution to another, in search of compensation promised to them by Aliyev earlier this year. They have invariably been humiliated, told to wait, or seek help elsewhere.
On December 18, they took a different tack.
Rather than standing in front of a government building, they visited the Martyr's Alley — a cemetery dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives during Karabakh war — wearing black medical masks with “sus”, or “quiet” written on.
The mothers believe that they are entitled to 11,000 AZN (approximately $6,450) in accordance with a decree signed by President Ilham Aliyev on April 19, 2018. The decree governs compensation for the families of martyrs who died or went missing before August 2, 1997.
One of the hundred mothers who has been asking to receive the assistance. Photo by Meydan TV. Used with permission.
In total, there are some 3,000 people awaiting this payment. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection began processing documents in October.
But the state insurance company Azersigorta responsible for making the payments is stalling.
Azersigorta has stated that some of these families already received the money back in the 90s, shortly after the war's conclusion.
Even if that were true — and the mothers deny this — the amounts that families received back then would have totalled no more than $20, a tiny fraction of the president's offer.
The protests began in October soon after some of the families that were seeking assistance got turned down.
One mother in an interview with Meydan TV cited seven letters that she sent to various government institutions and a further 20 letters addressed to parliamentarians. But no-one has answered her questions, she says.
Given the importance of Nagorno Karabakh to the national narrative, the protests have put officials in a tight spot.
MP Hadi Rajabli, a pro-government lawmaker who spoke with the families on October 24, told families “not to stain the step our President has taken with this big undertaking.”
The response of one of the family members, was furious: “We are not staining anything, it is the civil servants who are doing this,” she was quoted by Meydan TV.
Another mother speaking in an interview with the Facebook-based Hamam Times demanded civil servants stop lying.
Why are they lying?! They have cars worth millions, they have wedding halls, they make money from construction and sale of lands, how do you think they do all of that?! By stealing people's money. State money isn't for them, it is for the people. People should be able to remove them from their seats.
Another MP, Fazil Mustafa sided with the families:
Some of these people received negative responses from Azersigorta. They are told they have been paid already in the 90s. But the families say they have never received this kind of assistance. So they are demanding proof from the insurance company showing that they have indeed received this assistance while the insurance company demands from the families to provide the same proof showing they have never received this kind of assistance. Why do these families need to provide this kind of proof? […] Because institutions are unable to carry out their duties, people come to the members of the parliament.
A third lawmaker, Fazail Agamali, proposed a sale of the properties of Jahangir Hajiyev to raise money for the compensation  claims.
The former director of Azerbaijan International Bank Hajiyev is currently serving 15-year prison sentence for defrauding the state to the tune of several billion dollars.
Hajiyev's wife, Zamira, made British headlines in October 2018 for allegedly spending over $21 million using different credit cards at London's Harrods department store.
The speaker of the National Parliament Ogtay Asadov, has signed an order to create a commission to investigate the situation surrounding the compensation conflict. But that was in October and nothing yet has come from it.
Azerbaijani police, known for taking an aggressive approach to protesters, have so far left the demanding mothers untouched.
Men, however, are still fair game.
On December 11, Togrul Gojayev, the son of a martyr, was arrested for allegedly disrupting public order when he demanded to speak with authorities and was sentenced to 30 days in administrative detention.
The sentence was reduced to 15 days during a December 14 court hearing.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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Student protester in Hungary: ‘I don’t want to go to jail for something I haven’t done’ · Global Voices
Marietta Le

Adrien Beauduin. Photo credit Szabolcs Nagy / Index. Used with permission
Editor's note: The author of this article is a Central European University (CEU) graduate student.
He has been called the ‘perfect enemy of the Orbán regime’, but Belgian-Canadian Adrien Beauduin says it is all a misunderstanding. Beauduin, a Gender Studies Ph.D. researcher at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, was arrested during a protest last week at Parliament Square and is now being charged with “violence against a representative of order” — a charge which could lead to two to eight years in prison.
Protests against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's right-wing government started on December 8 in reaction to the so-called “slavery law” which would raise the cap on annual overtime that employers can request from their workers to 400 hours, and another law which makes it easier to place judges that are favorable to Orbán's government in seats of judicial power.
Since Orbán took power in 2010, he has been accused of eroding democratic freedoms by progressively controlling the media and the judicial power, as well as curbing academic freedom with an amendment of the higher education law that is ousting the Central European University from the country.
Global Voices spoke with Beauduin on campus at CEU about his student activism in Hungary, the night of the protest, and how he plans to prove his innocence.
Global Voices (GV): You have been an active member of the Students4CEU student activist group. What activities have you been doing?
Adrien Beauduin (AB): I’ve been involved there since the beginning, we’ve been mobilizing since the end of October. We have been trying to attract attention to the issue of academic freedom in Hungary, not just of CEU but also the wider issue such as the ban of Gender Studies [in Hungary], cases of censorship in academia, and budget cuts and plans to privatize Corvinus [University]. Our goal was to reach out to all students in Hungary and work together on all those issues. It took a while for us to build links with other students at Hungarian universities, the first event we joined was together with someELTE (Eötvös Loránd Universityand Corvinus University students. We went to ELTE’s information strike on the 14th of November to support them. It was mostly about Gender Studies but also about academic freedom in general. We co-organized a big demonstration on the 24th of November that was followed by a week-long occupation of Kossuth tér, the square in front of the Hungarian Parliament. We set up tents, and despite rain, cold and snow we held out for a whole week. We held all kinds of events, concerts, lectures both in Hungarian and in English. More than half the events were not CEU-related so we managed to make it a wider event about celebrating academic freedom in Hungary.
GV: The student protests were over when the December 1 deadline passed and CEU made its final decision to [leave Hungary and] establish a campus in Vienna. Have you been active since then?
AB: During our occupation, new topics came up. There was this new so-called ‘slavery law’ that exposes a worker to work up to 400 extra hours being paid only 3 years after the work done. We decided to show solidarity with them [the workers] because we understand that it doesn’t make any sense for a country to have free universities when you don’t even have free workers. We thought it’s important to use the space we have to bring attention to that issue. We started to be active on that front, and that also led us to be present with a student block at the trade unions’ demonstration on 8 December. Since then things got even more intense. Some of us went to block a road with the trade unions in Szolnok to show once again our solidarity. I was there and it was very positively received by the workers who saw CEU students and understood that we stand with them. Then on Wednesday [12 December], we were also there, already in the afternoon when the slave law was passed, to protest it with the student block. In the evening I went back to the square after being at the library. That’s the point when I got arrested.
GV: On Wednesday (December 12) you were at the library…
AB: Yes… First, I was at the demonstration and then went to the library in the evening, I had to finish a paper. I even had my skates with me because I wanted to go skating in the evening. That was my plan. I didn’t know there would be a big protest. Around 9.30 or 9.45pm I heard some of my friends were there so I took my things after submitting my paper, and I went to the square.
Christmas tree with riot police at the Parliament square on 13 December 2018. Photo credit Marietta Le.
GV: What happened there, were speeches made?
AB: At 10 pm no, the crowd started moving toward the south entrance [of the Parliament building], then the riot police were becoming more active. Some people sat and blocked the south entrance. The police started to massively use pepper spray. I got pepper sprayed. After a while, the crowd moved back towards the square. About 11.45 pm I was about to go home, it was more peaceful already. Then some people started to put a sled on fire [there’s a circle made of sleds around a huge Christmas tree on the square]. Then the police decided to charge that way, I don’t really know why. Apparently, they wanted to put out the fire but I got caught up in that charge because I was thrown towards the fire, people were falling [to the ground] that was kind of scary. I tried to stand my ground, I had to gain my balance then I was thrown back and forth, and I just ended up behind the police line and they picked me up.
GV: Did they pick up more people?
AB: I didn’t see that at first but at the place I was brought, under the arches of the Parliament, there were four other people with me. Those people were with me at the police station and at the procurer’s office. The five of us were accused of exactly the same thing. Group violence against a representative of order. We have literally the same charges. All five of us as far as I know based on what the others told me in the cell are accused of hitting with their left arm and kicking towards the police. It would be quite strange that all of a sudden all five of us decided to hit with the left arm and kick… But it’s a very serious crime here in Hungary, probably everywhere. It means 2 to 8 years in prison, and my lawyer says that if I’m found guilty there wouldn’t be a lot of chance to avoid prison.
GV: Is there a way for you to challenge this now?
AB: My group of friends, all the people I was with have been mobilizing to collect evidence. They were incredible, while I was in jail they started very quickly to collect all the videos, photos and testimonies. It’s quite nice that there’s a video that shows me just before and during the charge, I’m just there being peaceful, you can see my face several times, and I’m not hitting policemen or kicking. I’m just there. You can see my legs also during the charge, I’m just caught by the police and both my legs are on the ground. That’s not so bad but I wish I had direct full footage of everything. I could sleep more peacefully. I’m hoping the police footage will help me but from what we’re seeing now it doesn’t seem that there was a police camera at that point. I’m still hopeful that that could help.
Adrien Beauduin. Photo credit Szabolcs Nagy / Index. Used with permission
GV: What’s your advice for people in a similar situation? Sounds like this could happen to anyone in any Hungarian city these days.
AB: It’s really good to have a lot of cameras at the protest, to have people filming. Also, stick with your friends more because I was with many friends but I just wandered off for several minutes and now it’s harder to find the witnesses. Unfortunately, you can never be sure.
GV: I know it’s not an easy question to answer but what do you think about the events of the past days?
AB: The people I was with in the cell, they’re not political people. They’re just young people who are very frustrated about the fact that they have to work crazy hours for very low wages. I think there’s a lot of frustration in [the Hungarian] society around different issues. I hope everything will be resolved in a peaceful way.
GV: How is your end of term going?
AB: It’s very difficult because on top of not having a lot of time, it’s really hard to concentrate, and before I was already very active, and now I get scared sometimes. I don’t want to go to jail for something I haven’t done. That’s not really my plan for the new year.

author: Marietta Le


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Defying the odds as a woman entrepreneur in Afghanistan · Global Voices
Ezzatullah Mehrdad

Shukria Attaye, a 50-year old Afghan businesswoman. Photo by Ezzatullah Mehrdad.
As the sun sets over a hardscrabble yard in the western part of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, two siblings wearing mucky overalls mix and pummel feed ahead of the arrival of a new cohort of dairy cows.
One is Shukria Attaye, 50. The other is Mohammad Ali, 55. Unconventionally, in a land where gender roles are strictly defined and seniority revered, it is Mohammad Ali who is on his sister Shukria Attaye's payroll.
“I am proud of my sister,” says Mohammad Ali, whose wage at the family company is around $200 per month.
“At first, I did not think she would be so successful. I thought she would only try to make a living, nothing more.”
Attaye, who is illiterate, is the boss of three other men who work in the yard. Her position at the helm of the family was won the hard way, after her husband sustained injuries at the hands of the Taliban and was unable to work.
Although she is not from an impoverished family, she is not from a wealthy one either. She started the dairy farm five years ago with less than 40,000 Afghani (US$700). Now she has plans to invest in a dairy processing plant.
“I did not want to see my children working on the street,” Attaye says, describing her motivation. “My courage, enthusiasm, and confidence kept me moving forward and working.”
Shukria Attaye stands in the yard she rented for an annual fee of $1,000. Photo by Ezzatullah Mehrdad.
Attaye's leadership qualities were formed in adverse conditions. Her family was among thousands that fled the country for Iran in the period that followed Soviet invasion of 1979. There, she took up a prominent role on a women's council that cooperated with the United Nations on refugee issues.
In 1996, when the internecine fighting finally slowed and the Taliban brought the country under its control, the UN invited her to return to Afghanistan and work for the organisation's office in the western city in Herat.
But soon after the family returned, her husband was arrested by the Taliban without explanation and tortured so badly that he would suffer heart and other conditions for the rest of his life, she says.
The family moved to Kabul and Shukria Attaye opened up a bakery. Her in-laws had cut ties with them, fearing that with her husband incapacitated their family might turn to them for financial help. The bakery was a success, however, and Attaye subsequently began trading cars and small plots of land.
But as her husband's health drained away — he died in 2016 — so did the family savings.
After several visits to neighbouring India for medical treatment, “I had no money in my pocket,” she recalls.
Attaye showed Global Voices an IOU that showed she had borrowed money for their return flights from that country in 2013.
It was around this time that Attaye decided to enter the dairy business. She borrowed money from an acquaintance and bought one dairy cow for $700. After selling the cow at a profit, she bought several more. She now has 25.
Mrs. Attaye cares for her dairy cows. Photo by Ezzatullah Mehrdad.
In Afghanistan, working women are stigmatised in many spheres. Laila Haidari, who runs the internationally renowned drug rehabilitation programme Mother Camp, says she was accused of being a prostitute by local religious clerics.
In order to fund the camp, Haidari established a restaurant in 2013. But for many of her customers, the idea of a woman-run restaurant didn't make sense. They often demanded sex services in addition to food and drink, she says.
Haidari has used her position as an entrepreneur and social influencer to empower other women, and provides financial support to around 35 girls and women to attend universities and high schools.
“Empowering Afghan women is not an American project,” she told Global Voices referring to a regular local criticism of initiatives like hers. “It is about finding purpose and finding the courage (for them) to believe in themselves.”
Shukria Attaye has also become inspired to help others in recent years. She currently shelters two other women, one divorced and one widowed.
“As I expand the dairy farm I will take in more women in need,” Attaye told Global Voices.

author: Ezzatullah Mehrdad


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PHOTOS: Drone delivers vaccines to a remote island in Vanuatu · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The community gathers around for vaccinations after the drone arrives at Cook’s Bay with the vaccines. Picture supplied by Swoop Aero to UNICEF, used with permission.
“Today’s small flight by drone is a big leap for global health,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore after a drone successfully delivered a box of vaccines in a remote island in Vanuatu on December 18.
Vanuatu, a Pacific archipelago nation of 83 islands spread along 12,189 square kilometers, became the first country in the world to use drones for transporting vaccines to its remote communities.
Aside from the geographical challenge, only about one-third of its inhabited islands have airfields or asphalt roads.
One in five children in Vanuatu is not fully immunized.
The drone operated by Australia's Swoop Aero took almost half an hour to cross the 40-kilometer distance from Dillon’s Bay on the west side of Erromango Island to the eastern coast on Cook’s Bay. Drone trials took place between December 5 and 7.
The remote communities along Cook’s Bay have no health center or electricity and are only reachable by foot or small boats.
Drone trial on December 5, 2018. Photo by UNICEF, used with permission.
Up, up and away!!! Swoop Aero demonstrates how their drone will trial vaccine deliveries this week in #Vanuatu #drones4vaccines @UNICEFAustralia @dfat @govofvanuatu pic.twitter.com/f8JT146XVL
— UNICEF Pacific (@UNICEFPacific) December 6, 2018
Since vaccines need to be stored under a cool temperature, they were placed in styrofoam boxes with ice packs before being mounted on a drone.
An aerial view of a remote community at Cook's Bay where a drone successfully delivered vaccines. Photo by Jason Chute/UNICEF, used with permission.
Nurse Miriam Nampil received the drone-delivered vaccines and administered them to 13 children and five pregnant women. One-month-old Joy Nowai, who was given hepatitis and tuberculosis shots, became the first child in the world to be injected with a vaccine that was commercially-transported by a drone.
Local health workers led by nurse Miriam Nampil (right) received the first vaccine delivery from Swoop Aero drone in Cook’s Bay. Photo by Jason Chute/UNICEF, used with permission.
Nampil celebrated:
As the journey is often long and difficult, I can only go there once a month to vaccinate children. But now, with these drones, we can hope to reach many more children in the remotest areas of the island.
The community gathers around for vaccinations after the drone arrives into Cook’s Bay with the vaccines. Photo by Jason Chute/UNICEF, used with permission.
Vanuatu and UNICEF first proposed the use of drones to improve vaccination coverage in the country in 2017. At least 13 companies submitted their intent to participate in the self-funded drone trials, but logistical and financial challenges caused many to withdraw. In the end, Vanuatu awarded three contracts to two operators which led the trials on December 5.
Andrew Parker, chief of UNICEF Vanuatu, allayed fears that the deployment of drones will displace health workers:
We are not seeking to replace jobs, we are seeking to complement instead. Think of the nurse at the aid post level, who doesn’t have the medicines and therefore cannot treat a sick child. She or he will be frustrated, knowing what’s needed but can’t do anything about it.
The government of Vanuatu is now studying the possibility of officially integrating the use of drones into its health system.

author: Mong Palatino


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China’s campaign against Christmas makes celebrating a difficult choice for citizens · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Written on the classroom boards: “Act and reject Western festival” and “Promote traditional culture, reject Western festival”. Images from Weibo.
Christmas is approaching but instead of feeling joyful, many in mainland China have expressed frustration over China's ideological campaign against Christmas as a Western festival.
In 2017, the Communist Party of China's central committee and state council issued an official document entitled “Suggestions on the implementation of projects to promote and develop traditional Chinese culture excellence”. They outlined a cultural revival project that lists Chinese festivals like the Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival, among others, as cultural conventions worthy of celebration.
To implement this policy, Chinese authorities have launched a series of ideological campaigns to crack down on non-Chinese celebrations. This year, just before Christmas, authorities in some cities such as Langfang, in Hebei province, have demanded shops to remove Christmas decorations on the streets and in window displays.
Anti-Western festival commentaries have flooded Chinese social media, making Christmas celebrations a difficult choice for some who feel they must keep their joy a secret.
Screen capture of news feed on anti-western festival commentaries on Weibo.
Weibo user Long Zhigao screen captured his WeChat newsfeed on Weibo to reveal aspects of the debate. The headlines on the feed are 1. Western festival is approaching. To celebrate or not, that’s the question. 2. I am Chinese and I don’t celebrate Western festivals. 3. Say no to the celebration of Western festivals on the school campus. 4. The party-state has banned Western festivals. The celebration of festivals is now a political issue.
In addition to Christmas, the list of Western festivals also includes Valentine’s Day, Easter and Halloween, among others. A majority of the commentaries define Western festivals as “cultural invasion” or “national humiliation”.
For example, a widely circulated one said:
如果一个民族的群体热衷于另一个民族的节日，这说明文化入侵已是极其严重了。党员干部如果认识不到这点，那就是丧失政治敏锐性，也失去了先进性。
If people of a nation are too enthusiastic in celebrating other nations’ festivals, it indicates that the country is suffered from extremely serious cultural invasion. If party members and government officials are not aware of this, it means that they are not politically sensitive and have lost their progressiveness.
The commentary references the history of the Eight-Nation Alliance, a coalition formed in response to the Boxer Rebellion in China between 1899 and 1901 when Chinese peasants rose up against foreign, colonial, Christian rule and culture. It further argues that the birthday of Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People's Republic of China, should be treated as China’s Christmas:
中国人民共和国第一任主席毛泽东，是他拯救人民与水火之中，我们应该将他的诞辰定为中国的圣诞节，拒绝洋节，从自己做起！
The first Chairman of the Republic of China Mao Zedong had saved people from misery. We should make his birthday Chinese Christmas. Act and reject Western festivals.
But many on Weibo found these arguments illogical. One commentator said:
洋人过春节，中国人自豪，叫传统文化振兴……
中国人过个洋节，怎么又叫外来文化入侵了呢?
年轻过个洋节，只是图个热闹，又拉动消费，哪里不好?
有些人，把过个圣诞节和160年前的民族耻辱又扯上了，何必呢?
When Westerners celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, Chinese people are so proud and see the phenomena as the revival of Chinese traditional culture … When Chinese people celebrate Western festivals, what's the point of labeling them as culture invasion? Young people celebrate Western festivals for fun and joy. The festivals can boost consumption, what’s wrong with that?
Some people try to draw connection between celebrating Christmas and the national humiliation that happened 160 years ago. For what?
The flood of anti-Christmas comments on social media has generated pressure for some social media users to self-censor. A Weibo user expressed frustration:
快圣诞了，朋友圈里的洋节反对派和反反对派又开始刚上了。爱过过不爱过拉倒呗，没必要非逼着别人认同自己的看法，所有人都站一边不挤啊？真要都站一边了，本来站在中间的我们为了保持平衡就只能站到另一边去了。
Christmas is approaching. In my friend circle, anti-Western festival camps and anti-anti Western festival camps are debating. Whether one likes to celebrate or not is none of others’ business, why do people just have to force others to agree with their view? Everyone standing on one side is too crowded. For those of us who are in the middle, in order to create a balance, we have to stand on the other side.
School notice against the celebration of Western festivals on campus.
Pressure goes beyond social media platforms, extending to institutions such as schools and corporations.
Some Weibo users have shared school notices that were distributed to students. One of the notices (right) refers to the “Suggestions” mandate and urges teachers and students to resist Western style celebrations.
It also demands students to spread anti-Western messages to friends and family members on Wechat and other mobile messaging applications.
One mother was surprised to find her child rejecting her offer of a Christmas gift. She wrote on Weibo:
?：宝宝，你想要什么?圣诞礼物？
?：我不过洋节，因为圣诞节不是我们中国人自己的节日！
好吧，
果然是党和人民的好宝宝
Mother: Baby, what do you want for Christmas gift?
Child: I will not celebrate Western festivals Christmas is not a Chinese people’s festival.
OK, you are definitely an obedient baby of the Party and the People.
However, high school and college students were more critical. One student questioned school policy on Weibo:
学校范围内不让出现一切和Christmas有关的东西，不能互赠礼物，不能有装饰物，不让过所谓的“洋节”，这到底是要弘扬传统文化，还是对自己文化的一种不自信
The school has banned Christmas decorations on campus and forbidden students to exchange gifts so as to campaign against Western festivals. Are all these measures to enhance and promote Chinese culture or a sign of losing confidence on one’s own culture?
Some have chosen to celebrate the festival in secret. A Weibo user said:
公司不让过“洋节”，人事小姐姐提前偷偷给发的平安果。预祝平平安安。
The company has forbidden the celebration of Western festivals. But the secretary in the personnel department has handed out a Christmas apple [common Christmas gift] to the staff members in secret. Let’s wish for peace.
Another Weibo user expressed his view with a Christmas wish:
圣诞快乐！上帝我爱你！请圣诞老人给我一只大大的袜子，里面装着自由。
Merry Christmas! I love you god! Santa Claus, pls give me a big big sock with freedom in it.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Netizen Report: Bangladeshis see censorship on all sides as elections approach · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

An election poster for PM Sheikh Hasina from 2014. Photo by Adam Jones via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The Advox Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in internet rights around the world. This report covers news and events from December 4 – 21, 2018.
As they prepare for general elections on December 30, Bangladeshis are navigating soaring political tensions both on the streets and online.
Thousands of protesters and opposition party members have been arrested and many prosecuted in the lead-up to the elections, which could remove the right-leaning Awami League party from power.
Experts also have called into question the impartiality of the Election Commission which rejected the candidacy applications of 141 members of the leading opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Most of these were approved on appeal,but their initial rejection sent a clear signal about the high cost of contesting the ruling party.
In a December 13 statement, Human Rights Watch Asia Director Brad Adams berated the Awami League for the crackdown and its effects on the democratic process. “The Awami League government has been systematically cracking down on independent and opposition voices to ensure that the ruling party faces no obstacles to total political control,” he said.
Political activity and news are also being targeted online. The official website of the BNP was was blocked last week, leaving voters unable to access critical information about the party’s candidates and platforms. After initially claiming ignorance about the reason behind the block, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) claimed the website presented “distasteful” content that could harm law and order. The BTRC has the power to unilaterally block websites on national security grounds — it is not required to obtain court approval.
In tandem, five opposition candidates were sued under the controversial Digital Security Act, which took effect in September 2018. And on December 10, the BTRC temporarily blocked 58 websites on national security grounds, arguing that they contained “fake and baseless news reports.” Although the list of blocked websites (the Dhaka Tribune published a complete list) included some that were spreading disinformation likely intended to seed conflict, others are legitimate news and political commentary sites, or sites belonging to the BNP.
Social media companies are also removing some material from the web in an effort to reduce disinformation campaigns online in Bangladesh. Facebook reported on December 20 that it had taken down nine pages with nearly 12,000 followers, reasoning that they were exhibiting “coordinated inauthentic behavior” that the company says was linked to the Bangladeshi government. These included “BBC-Bangla”, an imitation of BBC Bengali and “BDSnews24”, an imitation of BDnews24, a legitimate local news site and former partner of Global Voices. Twitter’s Safety account also reported having suspended 15 accounts on similar grounds.
Both companies’ processes for identifying and censuring potentially malicious accounts carry no independent oversight or transparency mechanism.
People are taking to the streets in multiple cities in Sudan, expressing outrage over rising costs of fuel and bread, and overall discontent with the ruling government. Demonstrations have turned violent and eight protesters have died in clashes with riot police. Technical tests by Net Blocks, a civil society group that coordinates technical analysis of internet censorship, indicate that multiple internet service providers were blocking Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and multiple local websites as of December 21.
A computer scientist at the University of British Columbia was summarily booted from Slack, the popular co-working platform, on December 19, on grounds that his usage of the platform violated US sanctions against Iran. Amir Abdi lives and works in Canada, but is originally from Iran, where Slack is unavailable due to US sanctions restricting the sale of US-made technology in the country. Several people with links to Iran have reported that their accounts had been deleted by Slack on the same grounds. Why did the platform suddenly decide to show him the door? Does this mean sanctions are now being applied on the basis of users’ nationalities, rather than jurisdiction? It’s too soon to say. Responding to press inquiries, a Slack spokesperson provided only boilerplate text concerning sanctions and offered no specifics
An in-depth report by The Mint found that at least 50 people in India have been arrested and jailed for their social media posts since the start of 2017. The business news site owned by HT Media (Hindustan Times’ parent company) interviewed multiple defendants and found that the majority of those arrested were Muslim, low-income and relatively new to using the internet. In most cases, they were booked for criticizing either the Prime Minister or the ruling party. Authorities have brought charges against the defendants under India’s IT Act and penal code sections that address sedition and obscenity.
Singaporean independent news and commentary site The Online Citizen (TOC) is facing a criminal defamation probe for publishing a letter accusing top government officials of corruption. The letter was written by Willy Sum, a government critic. On November 20, police raided the home of TOC editor-in-chief Terry Xu, confiscating computers and other equipment, and forcing the news website to declare a hiatus from publication. Xu was also interrogated by police for eight hours. TOC removed the allegedly defamatory letter as soon as it received a takedown notice from the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), an agency of the Singaporean government. TOC is back online, for now.
German officials received a letter from the Israeli government asking that it pressure two philanthropic organizations, Heinrich Böll Stiftung and Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, to discontinue support for several Israeli human rights and civil society organizations, including the independent web magazine +972. Upon learning about the letter, a Heinrich Böll spokesperson told reporters, “[An attack on a] critical magazine like +972, which reflects Israel’s diversity of opinion, is also an attack on the well-known journalists of Israel.”
According to the German news site Die Tageszeitung, the letter specifically mentioned +972, arguing that its authors “regularly accuse Israel of apartheid.” +972, which is named after the telephone country code shared by Israel and Palestine, is an independent publication co-owned by a group of Israeli and Palestinian writers and received only 9% of its funding from the two foundations in 2018. The staff vowed to continue “conducting independent journalism determined to end the occupation and advance human rights and democratic values in Israel-Palestine.”
The family of Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah is getting ahead of the Egyptian justice system by advocating for his timely release from prison, scheduled for March 17, 2019. Alaa was arrested and jailed in November 2013. In February 2015, he was finally tried and convicted of “organising” an unauthorized protest, and sentenced to five years in prison. While he did take part in a protest against military trials for civilians on 26 November 2013, Alaa had no role in organising it.
Alaa’s March release date does not mark the end of Alaa's time served, but rather a transition to the final phase of his sentence. After his release, Alaa will be made to spend every night in his local police station for an additional five years.
Afef Abrougui, Joey Ayoub, Rohith Jyothish, Oiwan Lam, Elizabeth Rivera, Taisa Sganzerla, Ivan Sigal, and Ellery Roberts Biddle contributed to this report.
CORRECTION [December 31, 2018]: A previous version of this report identified blocked website bdpolitico.com as being the blog of British journalist David Bergman. In fact, Bergman is the author of bangladeshpolitico.blogspot.com, a separate site. Although Bergman's site is blocked in the country on certain ISPs, it was not blocked in this particular episode.

author: Netizen Report Team


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Report says hackers detected online protest-sniffing software in Kazakhstan · Global Voices
Eurasianet

The Digital Revolution collective released the leaked documents under the hashtag #KvantNash. (Photo: Digital Revolution website screengrab)
The following is a partner post from EurasiaNet.org written by Almaz Kumenov. Republished with permission.
Kazakhstan has reportedly adopted online software developed by Russia's security services and designed to detect protest moods among the population.
Russia-based hacking collective Digital Revolution on December 19 posted scanned documents on its website that it claimed were proof of a mechanism that systematically trawls online news resources and social media for evidence of public discontent. The hackers say that they unearthed the documents by cracking into the servers of the Kvant Scientific Research Institute, a unit inside Moscow’s Federal Security Services, or FSB.
According to the leaked documents, Kvant uses artificial neural networks to analyze activity on Facebook and Instagram, and Russian analogues VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, to detect key phrases potentially signaling political discontent.
According to a BBC Russian report, Kvant was a research unit that was responsible for producing the first Soviet computers in the 1970s. Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury Department identified Kvant as an agency engaged in attempting to destabilize the United States. In the same statement, Treasury states that in 2010 Kvant was designated a federal state unitary enterprise under the aegis of the FSB.
BBC Russian is now reporting that Kazakhstan appears to have developed a system similar to what Russia has in place.
In January, the Information and Communications Ministry revealed it had allocated around $5 million for the creation of an automated system for monitoring the information space. The ministry said its aim was to curb incitements to terrorism, extremism and suicide. The developer was to be chosen by means of a state tender and the work on the project was to be completed by the end of 2018.
BBC Russian reports that it has found no government documentation attesting to procurement of the required equipment. But some tracks have instead been detected by Digital Revolution.
According to a document uploaded by the hacking collective, just such a system was devised for Kazakhstan in Moscow in 2017. Confusingly, the contractor on this operation was a Kazakhstan-based research outfit also called Kvant, while the subcontractor was the Moscow-based Kvant.
The apparently privately held Kvant in Astana states on its website that it has been analyzing big data since 2015 and that it provides services to several international IT companies. Kvant owner Lyazzat Shakimova confirmed to BBC Russian that her company was working on a monitoring system, but denied it had any contact with the Russian Kvant.
The Information and Communications Ministry has not commented publicly on the BBC Russian report.
Restrictive government control over online space in Kazakhstan has had real-life consequences for countless internet users.
Many grumble that speeds slow down almost every evening in what is suspected to be an attempt by the government to limit access to live content produced by a hated opposition figure in exile.
Also, prosecutors have made an example of several people deemed to be using online resources like Facebook to express their discontent with how the country is being run. At the end of November, a court in Almaty sentenced a man to four years in jail after he was found to have provided “information support” to a now-proscribed opposition group, the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan.
Warsaw-based Open Dialogue Foundation recently identified the defendant in that case as being one among some 30 people in Kazakhstan that had been targeted with legal procedures between March and October 2018 in reprisal for critical postings on social media or in messaging apps.

author: Eurasianet


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Madagascar’s land defenders call for a comprehensive framework to protect Malagasy rights · Global Voices
Rakotomalala

Villagers in Toliara, Madagascar, demonstrate against the expropriation of their ancient lands by Toliara Sands. Photo by RSCDA-IO, used with permission.
As Madagascar elections near, its future is up in the air, and the question of land mining and land grabs by foreign multinationals remains a key issue for Malagasy citizens.
The root cause of Madagascar's 2009 coup was the prospective sale of arable land to the South Korean company Daewoo. Investment in Madagascar land has increased significantly since then.
RSCDA-IO, a Madagascar-based independent, Pan-African organization, promotes sustainable development, and representative Zo Randriamaro specializes in protecting the land rights.
In 2018, Randriamaro and RSCDA-IO received the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for their remarkable contributions to the rights of farming and fishing communities in Madagascar.
Global Voices interviewed Randriamaro about infringements on local communities by land investors like Toliara Sands, the company that, in 2016, obtained an operating license for a 32 square kilometer mine and a research permit for three other mines, bringing the total area of its mines in Madagascar to 407 square kilometers.
GV: Reviewing the texts of the mining laws and regulations in Madagascar and their practical applications, would you say that they are overall satisfactory, alarming or “could do better”?
Zo Randriamaro (ZR): The Madagascar land problem is characterized by the contradiction between [law reform] texts and regulations … [A]lthough they resulted in significant progress, their practical applications were unsatisfactory. Recognition of land rights of native occupants, who comprise the great majority of land owners in Madagascar, is duly written into the land legislation and regulations. However, these rights are poorly respected in practice …
GV: From outside, it seems that Madagascar is often affected by more mining controversies than other countries. Is this is perception justified and, if so, why is this such a touchy subject in Madagascar?
ZR: This perception is justified, taking into account the fact that recent studies showed Madagascar to be one of the countries most affected by the problem of land grabs in Africa. Land claims have become more disputed within a context where almost eight in 10 Malagasy citizens live in poverty and depend on land for their livelihoods and survival. The subject has become all the more delicate as it concerns a fundamental aspect of Malagasy culture, which assigns a spiritual value to the land. It is considered a common asset for all the Malagasy people, including ancestors and future generations, therefore selling land to outsiders is strictly forbidden.
GV: You have often sounded the alarm about actions to silence local rights defenders, most recently in the case of reprisals against the [community-based organization] MA.ZO.TO in the Toliara Sands case. Could you summarize the key points in this case and authorities’ reactions?
ZR: The Toliara Sands case concerns the mining project majority-financed by Australian company Base Resources for mining ilmenite and precious heavy metals (rutile, zircon and leucoxene) along the southwest coast of Madagascar. The [company] headquarters are registered in the tax haven of Mauritius, which, thanks to the bilateral tax treaty between Mauritius and Madagascar, allows it to pay just 3 percent tax on its assets to Mauritius.
Since October 2014, public consultations in the areas affected by the mining project and in the town of Toliara have given several waterside communities the opportunity to voice their rejection of this project.
This rejection was reaffirmed and detailed in a memorandum dated November 5, 2014, which was presented by the leaders of MA.ZO.TO, who united affected waterside community representatives with leaders of the National Office for the Environment responsible for issuing the required environmental permits …
This memorandum reported the opinions of representatives of 17 [districts] … who spoke out during the public hearing at Toliara on October 19. [Their] first point … concerns the lack of transparency in communication between the population, the company and the authorities, notably the lack of information provided on negative impacts of the project … and the planned measures to avoid them.
This memorandum [lists] the [numerous] risks and unavoidable threats … and shows that the fundamental right to nourishment and somewhere to live are threatened … [including forest destruction, multiple forms of pollution, lack of water supply, loss of homes, displacement, inflation, radioactivity and loss of local customs, among others].
[A] 2006 Social and Environmental Impact Study stated that … this project would lead to displacement … of inhabitants as well as the areas of pasture, agricultural land and natural resources … It would also lead to [environmental] destruction, including the living areas and food sources of waterside communities.
… [The] authorities underlined that in all cases, ‘the development must happen,’ showing their deliberate desire to shut down the legitimate opposition of the threatened waterside people, and showing that their vital interests do not count …
… [The] Council of Ministers on April 11 and July 18, 2018, stressed the public utility … of the mining project [as well as mining work in other areas].
Following [the Council's] decision, the affected communities mobilized to reaffirm their opposition to the Declarations of Public Utility (DUP) in favor of Toliara Sands, particularly the Vezo fishing community, who robustly voiced their opinions … during a public demonstration on July 27, 2018.
With the support of RSCDA-IO, the MA.ZO.TO association filed a request to annul these DUPs with the State Council, and started an online petition.
At the Human Rights Awards Ceremony in Antananarivo, Madagascar, from right to left: Randriamaro and RSCDA-IO, second-prize winner, nature conservation activist Mr. Clovis Razafimalala, first-prize winner, representative of an organization defending women's rights, [name unavailable], third prize. Photo via RSCDA-IO with their permission.
ZR: RSCDA-IO was founded in 2012 [amidst] severe political, social and economic crisis … It was founded by a small group of experts, researchers and development practitioners guided by a vision of a society in which every single Malagasy citizen lives with dignity, equal rights, and [freedom] from poverty and all forms of danger.
To this end, the domains of land ownership and private investments in the sectors of agriculture and extraction industries are the highest priority areas for RSCDA-IO …  RSCDA-IO currently coordinates the Independent Observatory of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Madagascar (OIDESCM), which has branches in eight regions …
Actions to defend and promote human rights take place at several levels, prioritizing technical and financial support for defending the rights of affected communities against the great mining projects, protection of land rights and land ownership security, awareness of economic, social and cultural rights, training in land and mining legislation, defending [occupants’] rights, legal assistance for victims and support for the development of alternative revenue-generating activities for women.
… RSCDA-IO leads pleas and lobbying campaigns for the protection and achievement of … rights for the affected communities within the framework of politics and state development programs … and participates in the revision of the legal and regulatory framework of private investments to ensure human rights are taken into account …
RSCDA-IO also initiated [a] process of development and consultation with civil society, government and state institutions, and the private sector with respect to the Tripartite Agreement to respect human rights and sustainable development …
… RSCDA-IO collaborates with international human rights organizations and has launched mobilization campaigns to free rights defenders arrested during their activities and to respect their rights …
I was particularly struck when Andriomatoa Ravela, a member of the regional branch of the Independent Observatory of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights coordinated by RSCDA-IO, was arrested and convicted with a two-year suspended sentence on the basis of the false accusations.
This was solely because he demanded to see the permits authorizing a Chinese company to mine for gold in the Isaka river which bisects his hometown in the district of Mananjary. He had proven that this company was operating illegally and was using mercury with catastrophic effects on the environment and the health of the riverside population.
RSCDA-IO continues to support him in the trial to rescind the judgement, while the Chinese company continues its operations with complete impunity.
ZR: In my opinion, it's not a question of being for or against international investors, although world economic history shows that a process of foreign economic development conceived and implemented with the participation of native communities has a greater chance of lasting success.
… Madagascar must start by setting up a system of regulations to ensure international investments will contribute effectively, enabling economic development targets to be met, while respecting the rights of all Malagasy citizens and the imperative to protect the ecosystems and biodiversity of the [unique] natural heritage …
GV: You work with many organizations to defend rights. Does each organization have a specific function or expertise? How is it usually coordinated?
ZR: The choice of partners is [based on] the expertise they can bring to [various projects]. Coordination is based on a partnership agreement defining the roles and responsibilities of each party. Local organizations are generally responsible for community-based activities, while the RSCDA-IO team looks after their technical support and actions to be taken on a national and international level.
GV: In current cases, which factors could swing in favor of local communities?
ZR: The determining factor is definitely the political will of the government to listen and pay attention to the voice of local communities, while the increased awareness of public opinion and intervention from international partners could heighten pressure on governments so that this political will becomes effective.
ZR: It is crucial that these communities know that they are not alone in their fight and that other citizens support their cause. Everyone can show their solidarity in the way that seems most appropriate to them — for example, many can write to the new president to ask him to cancel the DUP in favor of Toliara Sands.

author: Rakotomalala


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The last residents of a dying Armenian village · Global Voices
Chaikhana.media

Screenshot from the video ‘Last residents of a dying Armenian village’ by Chai Khana.
The following is a story by Chai-Khana.org and is republished by Global Voices under a partnership agreement. Text and video by Lilit Mkhitaryan.
Lernagyugh, an Armenian village 150 kilometers from capital Yerevan, is dying.
While it was once a robust community, just four people remain there today. The village is remote, closed off from the rest of the country during the winter, and it lacks even basic services, like schools.
The situation has become so dire that Nikol Martirosyan, 60, and his wife Haykush Nikoghosyan – one of the two remaining families in the village – are thinking of leaving.
Hrant Minasyan and his wife Margarit Kchoyan, the other remaining family, have lived in the village for 30 years. Hrant is 62 and has little hope that his family will remain in Lernagyugh after he dies: one of his two sons works abroad and the second has already resettled in a different village.