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Russian Internet Easily Distracted by Beavers · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

It's no big secret that your average Internet user has the attention span of a kitten (perhaps online fascination with cats is due to subconscious recognition of intrinsic similarity). RuNet is no exception to this rule. In fact, its relatively small size makes the pouncing from story to story even easier to observe.
Take, for example, the ongoing scandal [GV] plaguing top blogger Rustem Adagamov (drugoi). When it broke on December 29, 2012, with his ex-wife accusing him of child sexual abuse, Russian-speaking Twitter was filled with theories on whether the accusations had any basis, and whether the Kremlin was behind the whole thing. That is, until Margarita Simonyan, journalist and editor-in-chief of Russia Today, tweeted the following [ru]:
Первый раз в жизни буду готовить бобра. Опросила знатоков. В итоге, сварю бобриную голову с луком, морковью и лаврушкой для бульона…остальное мясо замариную на ночь в чесноке, можжевеловых ягодах и черном пёрце, завтра обжарю и потому буду тушить в бульоне до мягкости.
Today, for the first time in my life I will cook a beaver. I've consulted experts. As a result, I will boil the beaver's head with onions, carrots, and bay leaves for stock…the rest of the meat I will marinate over night in garlic, juniper berries, and black peppers, and tomorrow I will sear it and stew it in the stock until it's tender.
It is impossible to tell what initially fascinated the hundreds of people who reacted to this tweet (“beaver” does not have the same slang connotations in Russian that it does in English). But, react they did, starting with the user @avwvel, who elevated the discussion [ru] right away, writing:
@M_Simonyan ВЫ РЕАЛЬНО ИЗВРАЩЕНЦЫ ДО МОЗГА КОСТЕЙ И ВЫ НЕ ДОСТОЙНЫ СУЩЕСТВОВАТЬ ДАЖЕ В АДУ.
@M_Simonyan YOU ARE SERIOUSLY TWISTED AND NOT EVEN WORTH OF LIVING IN HELL
Perhaps @avwvel was referring to the fact that some sub-species of the ordinary Eurasian beaver are considered endangered [ru]. However, most other users were content to take a humorous view:
Бобёр – новый символ протеста! Повяжи бобра на куртку!
The beaver is the new protest symbol! Tie a beaver to your jacket!
tweeted [ru] Olga Shantser, drawing an analogy to white ribbons of the protest movement. Oleg Kozyrev asked [ru] users to retweet if their New Year's dinner would be beaver free, while Ksenya Sobchak was firm [ru] in her belief that the beaver would be reborn as a human, even if it ends up a United Russia member. (This last bit makes it clear that the story wasn't really about the beaver, but rather about the perceived extravagance of a Kremlin partisan's lifestyle.)
For that day, at least, people stopped talking about Adagamov, and some Twitter users took note [ru]:
бобер Симонян грудью закрыл в твите тему АДагамов-педофил.Слава павшему герою!(бобру)
Simonyan's beaver jumped on the grenade of the Adagamov-pedophile twitter theme. Honor the fallen hero!(beaver)
Publicist and TV personality Egor Holmogorov, himself at one point a victim of online pedophilia accusations [ru], concurred [ru]:
“Милость к падшим призывал…”. Никто не сделал сегодня для блоггера Адагамова больше, чем Маргарита Симоньян.
“Mercy for the fallen…”. Today no one has done more for the blogger Adagamov than Margarita Simonyan.
Adagamov is now back in the news [ru], but the story's original momentum was diverted by the beaver-bomb.
A similar scenario, but on a much broader scale, played out when Gerard Depardieu recently announced [GV] that he will be getting Russian citizenship, and was later presented with a Russian passport at a garish ceremony in Sochi. Suddenly, Russia coverage by international media changed from Russian orphans denied adoption in the United States [GV], to the silly antics of an aging French comedian. Internally, Depardieu also became the but of jokes and memes. In fact, it was such fortuitous happenstance, that some have questioned whether it was a shrewd move by one of the western public relations agencies employed by the Kremlin. Oleg Kashin asked directly [ru]:
А про Депардье и Бордо – это не Кетчум ли часом? Их же почерк плюс-минус.
The whole Depardieu and [Brigitte] Bardot thing – could it be Ketchum? It's their handwriting, more or less.
Kashin was referring to American based Ketchum Inc., a global public relations firm that has just renewed its contract [ru] with the Russian government. Since 2006 Ketchum, along with subcontractors like UK based Portland Communications, has been working to improve Russia's image abroad. According to ProPublica, Ketchum has received around 40 million USD from the Russian government and Gazprom over the past several years. Although its hard to believe that a public relations agency, no matter how adroit, would have been able to get Depardieu to, say, ask for Russian citizenship, it's not beyond the scope of possibility that such an agency had something to do with the ubiquity of the story's coverage. If that's the case, Russian bloggers did a fair bit of work for Ketchum, all on their own.
In any event, while the Depardieu story was a source a quite a few laughs on RuNet, it has distracted the already faltering base of support [GV] of the Russian opposition. Unfortunately, this distraction will likely backfire, hurting the turnout of the rally which is due to take place today, January 13.

author: Andrey Tselikov


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Saudi Activists’ Verdict Postponed · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

This post is part of our Special Coverage:  Reformists on Trial in Saudi Arabia
The verdict on the two prominent Saudi human rights activists Mohammad Al-Qahtani and Abdullah Al-Hamid, which was supposed to be delivered this Wednesday, January 16th, was postponed indefinitely.
The two activists are on trial for charges that include “breaking allegiance to the ruler and his successor” and “trying to impede the country’s developments.”  It marked one of the rare public trials of political activists and it received considerable media and social attention, which led the activists to take the chance to call for real reforms and for holding the Interior Ministry accountable for accusations of torture and arbitrary detainment of tens of thousands.  The judge played the role of the public prosecutor during most of the sessions, debating the two activists on the religious permissibility of demonstrations and on the religious duty to obey the ruler.
On Twitter, al-Qahtani announces:
@MFQatahni: The verdict hearing in #acprahr trial has been postponed until unspecified date. Presiding judge promised to let us know about it. #Saudi
Their trial started in June 2012, separately and secretly. After the first hearing the judge merged both cases. Dozens of activists attended the second hearing and live-tweeted the session, taking some photos as well, which the judge later decreed violated courtroom order and decided to close upcoming sessions. Over the course of the next few hearings, both activists refused to be tried in secret and threatened to remain silent. By the fifth hearing, the judge finally capitulated, turning it effectively into a public trial. The numbers of those attending the trials continued to grow, attracting international media and activists.
Saudi Arabia is one of the few remaining absolute monarchies in the world and has a devastating human rights record, which includes arbitrarily detaining over 30,000 people. Since the state officially imposes (its interpretation of) Sharia law, trials and hearings are expected to be religious debates of what Sharia means.
This post is part of our Special Coverage:  Reformists on Trial in Saudi Arabia

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Anas Soliman


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“We Are All Hazara” Protests Across Pakistan   · Global Voices
Omid Bidar

Thousands across various cities of Pakistan and worldwide are showing solidarity with the Hazara Shia minority as their sit-in enters its second day in the country's southwestern city, Quetta.
In icy rain and out in the open, hundreds of Hazara Shias are gathered at Alamdar Road, along with the coffins of their relatives, the victims of a twin-blast that claimed at least 82 lives on January 10, 2013. They refuse to bury their dead until Quetta is put under army control.
We Are All Hazara
screenshot of Pakistan Twitter trends, #WeAreAllHazara trending second on the list.
Since the Quetta sit-in the hash-tag “#WeAreAllHazara” has been going on and off in Pakistan's Twitter trend list. Pakistani netizens have been showing solidarity with the Shia Hazara minority regardless of their creed or background.
Hundreds of Pakistanis have been protesting peacefully in different cities of Pakistan including, Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore to show support to Shia Hazara community in Quetta, Alamdar Road.
Reactions on Twitter:
Syed Ali Raza Abidi (@abidifactor): I am @ Karachi Press Club in solidarity with our #Hazara brothers – Are you coming? #QuettaSitIn #WeAreAllHazara twitter.com/abidifactor/st…
Ali Rahman (@Baahirezaman): A simple question… at #Karachi Press Club #ShiaGenocide #WeAreAllHazara “Am I Next?” @beenasarwar @anasmallick twitter.com/Baahirezaman/s…
Pakistani journalists shout slogans against the twin bombings in Quetta, during a protest in Hyderabad, Pakistan. Image by Rajput Yasir. Copyright Demotix (11/1/2013)
Adil Shahzeb (@adilshahzeb): The no of Shia-Sunni protesters increasing despite freezing temp outside the Pak High Commission in #London #Shiakillings#WeAllAreHazara
PTI (@PTIofficial): Our hearts weep with Hazaras. Those who can, join them in Sit-In @ Alamdar Road #Quetta #WeAreAllHazara #ShiaGenocide twitter.com/PTIofficial/st…
Syed Jalal Hussain (@jalalhussain): #WeAreAllHazara Protest in Lahore taking place right now. Not a bad turnout. yfrog.com/ocqsytfj
Abdul Nishapuri (@AbdulNishapuri): Replug: Thousands of Shia Muslims in Lucknow India stage rally against #ShiaGenocide in Pakistan shar.es/4wHrG #WeAreAllHazara
Shia Hazaras’ demand
Braving the chilly sub-zero temperature, the participants of the Quetta sit-in have been refusing to bury the dead bodies of their loved ones unless they received assurance that the state would protect them and their demands are considered. The protesters have ‘vowed’, they will not leave until authorities agree to put the security and administration of the city under army control.
Islamabad braves the cold overnight to show solidarity with their brothers and sisters at Alamdar Road. Image courtesy Hassan Bilal Zaidi.
A local Shia party official Hashim Mousawi says:
The government machinery has failed, there is no protection for people in Quetta. We will not end our protest until we get an assurance that the Pakistan army will take over security and administrative control in Quetta.
However, a senior administration official Hashim Ghilzai claims that, “We are trying to convince them to end the protest. We cannot offer them something which is not in our control.”
An online survey carried-out by a private news outlet, The Express Tribune, shows that from 1,952 voters 1,702 call for army intervention in the city.
Similarly, Hazara Democratic Party also took out a protest rally in Quetta against terrorist activities in the city, on Jan, 12. The rally took various roads and routes and concluded near the office of Inspector General Balochistan Police. The party chairman, Abdul Khaliq Hazara, has been on a hunger strike since last night that will continue for 3 days.
Hazara Democratic Party members in the hunger strike camp. via HDP official Facebook page.
Negotiations aimed by Balochistan Governer Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi and Federal Minister Syed Khursheed Shah to convince the Hazara Shia protesters to call off their sit-in ended inconclusively on January 12.
Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan has announced that he will be joining the Quetta sit-in on 13, Jan.
Marvi Sirmed(@marvisirmed): Thanks IK. Respects. @imrankhanpti. RT @raoo512: imran khan protesting at lahore against hazara kiling right now.going queta tomorrow:
Since 2001, Hazara Shia Muslims from Quetta — have routinely been targeted by militant groups.
Suggested hash-tags to follow the sit-ins on Twitter: #WeAreAllHazara #ShiaGenocide #Quetta and #ImranAaRahaHai [urdu] (Imran Khan is Coming).

author: Omid Bidar


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Armenian Blogger on Trial for Satire Photo of Politician · Global Voices
Gayane Mirzoyan

The first hearing in a defamation lawsuit against blogger, Edgar Barseghyan, was held in Armenia on December 24, 2012.
Barseghyan, the creator of satire photo website, Demotivator.am is on trial for publishing a photo of a model's body with the superimposed face of Tigran Urikhanyan, an MP and spokesperson for Prosperous Armenia Party, with the caption “Stylish Politician of the Year”.
Demotivator – Tigran Urikhanyan as ‘Stylish Politician of the Year’
Urikhanian considered the image offensive and sued Barseghyan for “damaging the honor, dignity and business reputation of the plaintiff with the photo.”
According to a Facebook post by Barseghyan, the politician demands for Demotivator to be removed from the web, a public apology, and legal fees and damages of 1,000,000 AMD (about $2,500 USD).
According to blogger Edgar Barseghyan (also known under the Livejournal username “alkhimik” ), the Demotivator photo was created in response to the news that Tigran Urikhanian was recognized by an Armenian-Italian holding “Amore” as the most stylish Armenian political figure of the year.
Edgar Barsegyan (used with permission)
Edgar Barseghyan wrote in his Livejournal blog:
“Կարդալով նյութը էլ ավելի զարմացա, որ լինելով քաղաքական գործիչ, պարոն Ուրիխանյանը ոչ միայն համաձայնվել է այդ կոչումը իրեն շնորհելու հետ, այլ նաև հպարտորեն կիսվել է այդ լուրով իր ֆեյսբուքյան էջում։…  Այո, ես կարծում եմ, որ լուրջ տղամարդու համար, որի մասնագիտական գործունեությունը կապված չէ իր մարմնական, ֆիզիկական տեսքի հետ (օրինակ՝ մոդելի, դերասանի) ընդհանրապես սազական չէ ի ցույց աշխարհի դնել սեփական «նվաճումները» այդ ոլորտում:”
“After reading the news, I was surprised that the politician not only agreed with this award but moreover proudly shared the news on his Facebook page… Yes, I believe that serious man shouldn't be proud of “achievements” in such a field, as long as his professional activity is not related to his physical appearance (such as models or actors).”
Flashmob emoticon to protest threats against free speech
The trial in court later evolved into a battle on the Internet. Online activists, bloggers, and representatives of mass media showed their support for the blogger by changing their Facebook profile pictures to an icon (an emoticon), symbolizing the lack of freedom of speech.
Also to protest against the lawsuit, Facebook users organized a virtual flashmob “I am suing Edgar Barseghyan for …”, coming up with all sorts of absurd reasons for which a blogger “can be sued”.
Meanwhile, Edgar Barseghyan also received negative comments and threats from supporters of Tigran Urikhanyan.
RadioVan blog
“Этот случай уникальный. Здесь судят блоггера за демотиватор. У суда ноль практики …. “
“It is a unique case. Blogger sued for Demotivator. The court has zero experience in such cases …”
Mark Grigoryan
“Не знаю, кто посоветовал ему обратиться в суд, но совет этот был, как мне кажется, плохим. Причем не важно: дойдет ли дело до суда, и если да, то как закончится суд. Политик уже проиграл”.
“I don’t know who advised him to go to court, but, I think, it was the wrong advice. Whether the case goes to trial, and if so, how it will end up – it doesn’t matter. The politician has already lost”.
Hasmik Hambartsumyan
“Բլոգերների համար վատ նախադեպ ա առաջանում…”
“It sets a bad precedent for bloggers”.
Tehmina Harutyunyan
“Մեկ միլիոն դրամով դատել բլոգերին, նշանակում է բլոգային գրառումների 90 տոկոսը դնել վտանգի տակ”.
“To fine a blogger for 1 million means that 90% of blog posts will be under threat”
Marine Shahbazyan
«Շատ էլ ճիշտ ա արել, դատի ա տվել.. մի հատ էս նկարին յաեք էլի.. դուք լինեիք, դատի չէիք տա, տղաներ? սա ինչ ա նշանակում, վիրավորանք ուրիշ ոչ մի բան… ասլեիքը կարելի էր ավելի խոր ու հետքրքիր ձևով ասել, ոչ թե վիրավորելով.. 1 միլիոնը քիչ ա, 2 միլիոն պետք ա պահանջեր Ուրիխանյանը».
“It is very good that he was sent to court. Look at the picture, guys, would you not sue if this happened to you? What is it? Insulting and nothing more. It is possible to express the same message in another, more interesting manner, without resorting to insults. I think Urikhanian should demand even 2 million.”
Susanna Tumasyan
“ Էդգար Բարսեղյան,եթե քեզ թույլատրված է գրիչ վերցնել,դա դեռ չի նշանակում,որ դու այնքան իրավունք ունես քեզ թույլ տալ աջ ու ձախ շռայլել անմիտ ձեռագիրտ”:
“Edgar Barseghyan, just because you are permitted to write, it does not mean that you have the right to spread your foolish writing everywhere”.
According to a Facebook post by Tigran Urikhanian, the case has a political context. He considers the Demotivator image as a response to his “bold statements about the problems in the country and the need for system changes.”
Tigran Urikhanyan. Profile photo from Facebook.
In an interview on Aysor.am he said that the law on his side, and if the court will not follow the law, “the judge will be subjected to public opinion and evaluation of his work, after which it will be difficult for this judge to work in Armenia.”
This statement was interpreted by many bloggers as indirect threat to the judge.
A second court hearing was scheduled for January 14, 2013, however it was postponed to March 5 because of Urikhanyan's absence from Armenia.

author: Gayane Mirzoyan


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Outspoken Critic’s Silence at Book Launch Echoes Across China · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Outspoken social critic and blogger Li Chengpeng recently released a new book: the Whole World Knows [zh]. Also known as an eloquent public speaker, Li delivered a bold speech on freedom of speech at China’s elite Beijing University last November. While the audience expected another speech at Li’s book signing event in his hometown of Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province on Jan 12 2013, what they saw was a silent Li with a mask on his face. His speech was censored.
Just the night before the event, Li tweeted [zh] to his 6.6million followers on Weibo:
A silent book signing event. Image posted by a Weibo user.
深夜有人匆忙传达上峰死命令：12日成都签售，不准读者向我提问、不准我说话，不准我致开场白，连“新年好，谢谢你们”也不准说，不准介绍流沙河、冉云飞及所有嘉宾名字，不准向他们提问，也不准他们说话，连“新年好”也不准说。他们只能坐在角落…我深觉这这违背了我对尊严的理解。他们疯了。
Someone just delivered a strict order: at my book signing event, I’m not allowed to talk; the readers are not allowed to ask me any questions; I can’t even introduce myself or say “ Happy New Year, Thank you”. I’m not even allowed to introduce the names of other guests at my event; they are not allowed to talk or answer any questions. They can only sit in the corner. I deeply feel it’s against my understanding of dignity. They are crazy.
People who attended the event on Jan 12 tweeted on Sina Weibo:
方塘方糖：来了好多读者也来了好多警察。嘉宾和作者都没给发言的机会。大眼红着眼睛戴上黑色口罩向读者展示了写在T恤上的四个大字“我爱你们”……大眼，不哭！大眼，加油！
方塘方糖[zh]：Many readers have come; many policemen have come as well. The guests and the author didn’t have a chance to speak. Li wore a black mask and had tears in his eyes. His T-shirt said: “I love you all.” Li, please don’t cry. Keep going!
王金明小伙: 这是我经历过的最压抑的签售会，会场人很多但是却几乎没有什么声音，国保在各个角落蹲守，大眼带着口罩还签错了一个日期，于建嵘等嘉宾只在台上晃了一下就被请下台躲在旁边的水吧里，大眼开始还流泪了。
王金明小伙[zh]: It’s the most depressing signing event I’ve ever experienced. There were many people on the spot but no sound. The policemen were guarding each corner. Li wore a mask and signed his book with the wrong date. His guests only appeared very shortly before being asked to step down. There were tears on Li’s face.
西藏王洪: 排队购书的，80后90后为主。被洗脑式教育10几年，可能一本书就治好了。
西藏王洪[zh]: Those who bought the book were mostly born in the 80’s or 90’s. After over 10 years’ of brainwashing, perhaps the book can cure them.
While most Weibo users think it’s ridiculous to control a small signing event, they believe the silent signing itself shows how nervous the government is.
我叫饭某某：不允许李承鹏说话，是害怕有越来越多的人醒过来。可是这般风声鹤唳草木皆兵是不是也太二了点？不过一场签售会。
我叫饭某某[zh]: They don’t allow Li Chengpeng to speak, because they are afraid more people will be awakened. However, their nervousness has showed their stupidity. It’s just a book signing event after all.
酝七：被禁言的签售会，讽刺。拖时间，禁言，撤音响……所幸，思想可以发言。全世界人民都知道。
酝七[zh]：A silent signing, how ironic. They delayed the time, forbade speaking, got rid of the speaker….however, thoughts can speak. The whole world knows.
One netizen commented [zh] sarcastically on twitter:
突然发现最有艺术炒作能力的还是中共。李承鹏本来很一般的售书活动，被中共一加工，就成了全世界都知道的行为艺术了。
I suddenly discovered that the Communist Party has made creating a buzz into an art. Li Chengpeng’s book signing was just a small ordinary event, but after the Communist Party's handling of it, it became a work of performance art that has spread throughout the world.

author: Abby Liu


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Honduras: Sales in a Bus · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

Fabricio Estrada, the blogger from Bitácora del párvulo [es] summarizes the speech of a trader that uses a bus as sales venue:
Allow me, kind travelers, to interrumpt your nap or the conversation held with your companion or newspaper. I'm here just to offer you the so desired health, just discovered by the laboratory I work for, cheap, so you may get home happy and with a present for yourself and your family.

author: Gabriela García Calderón


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Iran: ‘Tehran Has More Than 1 million Facebook Users’ · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

The deputy parliament speaker says Tehran has ‘more than 1 million Facebook users’ and there are more than 200,000 in other big cities of Iran like Shiraz and Rasht. Hasan Aboutorabi regrets that ‘such a potential space is in the hands of our enemy and they deploy all of its capacities against us.’

author: Hadi Nili


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Kony’s LRA Kills Villagers in Yalinga, Central African Republic  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

While the Central African Republic awaits a new prime minister [fr] after the peace talks in Libreville, the army reports that Joseph Kony and the Lord Resistance Army LRA have killed three people [fr] near the village of Yalinga. The reports adds that a 12 year old girl was also kidnapped by the rebels.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Protesters Trap QMM Staff in Madagascar over Land Dispute   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Bill at Madagascar Tribune reports that protesters held Rio Tinto QMM Staff hostages [fr] on January 11 in Southern Madagascar. After armed forces disrupted the protests with tear gas and freed the staff, police proceed to arrest a dozen of protesters [fr] today. Rio Tinto executives threatened to exit the country after the clash. The IMF also just decided to pull out of Madagascar [fr] because of difficulties to work locally.


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Reconciliation Day in Southern Yemen · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

Thousands of people from all six southern provinces in southern Yemen flocked to the city of Aden over the past few days in order to participate in the carnival of “reconciliation and forgiveness”. The carnival commemorates the civil war in former South Yemen which took place in 1986 between two factions, one lead by President Ali Nasser Mohammed and the other lead by the exiled Socialist leader and former president Abdulfatah Ismail over the leadership of the Socialist party. According to the origin of the two leaders, Abyan and Shabwa gathered behind Ali Nasser Mohammed while Radfan and Dhale'e rallied behind Abdulfatah Ismail. Thus the conflict which started on January 13, 1986, escalated into a regional war and lasted a month, resulting in the death of thousands of citizens and soldiers, including Abdulfatah Ismail.
Massive crowds from all southern provinces turned out in the anniversary of reconciliation and forgiveness in Aden
Sarah Jamal tweeted:
@Sarah_Sanaa: Southerners have been travelling to Aden for 3 days to celebrate Reconciliation & Tolerance in memory of Jan13. #Yemen https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.phpfbid=3657884704860&set=a.1099982238897.13486.1806908431&type=1&theater
Protesters rallying for the carnival of reconciliation in Aden raising the flag of the former South Yemen.
She tweeted some facts:
@Sarah_Sanaa: On this day:Jan13.1986 only in 1 month civil war in Aden resulted in 10,000 killed, 60,000 displaced&refugees and 3000 disappeared.. #Yemen
She also added:
@Sarah_Sanaa: A couple of families that used 2 be enemies in 1986 war get married tdy during reconciliation&tolerance protests #Yemen https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=413804755367005&set=a.342590145821800.80568.342578075823007&type=1&theater …
A song based on the theme of reconciliation and forgiveness was posted on
ابو عبود (Abu Aboud) YouTube channel:
Hussein Yafei tweeted:
@crazyyafai: january 13th is the day all #SouthYemen tribes, political parties & factions made peace & forgave each other for previous wars & differences
@crazyyafai: millions from all over #SouthYemen marched to #Aden city to protest the 7th annual year of forgiveness & peace between all Southerners.
@crazyyafai: This is a picture that combines the 3 protest in #SouthYemen in 3 different squares, 2 in hadrmout & 1 in Aden. pic.twitter.com/7rhCG6PQ
Three different huge parades for reconciliation in Aden and Hadhramaut.
A video posted on YouTube by Mueen Amin showed the impressive crowds chanting for southern reconciliation
Four years after the unification of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Yemen Republic on May 22, 1990, Yemen witnessed a three month civil war between the armed forces of the former Northern and Southern Yemen states, which initially was to protect the unity, yet it jeopardized it even further. The war resulted in the defeat of the southern armed forces and many of the Yemeni Socialist Party leaders and other southern secessionists, who wanted to end the unity, fled to exile. Many southern lands were looted by northern tribal heads and officials and thousands civil servants and security officials were laid off. During President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule hundreds of southern activists have been killed, injured or imprisoned in crackdowns by security forces. Even under president Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi's rule, a crackdown on secessionist has occurred.
After the 2011 revolution in Yemen and the ouster of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, initial attempts have been recently made to appease the southerners. President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is originally from Abyan, a province in the southern part of Yemen, ordered the formation of two committees to address the southern grievances. One was responsible for handling complaints about looted lands after the 1994 civil war while the other was responsible for cases of the dismissal of thousands of public servants and military personnel from their positions after the war. Although the transitional government offered giving the south 50 per cent of the seats of the conference, many Southern Movement groups are still resisting the participation in the National Dialogue Conference, which is expected to take place in the next few months.
@crazyyafai: South & North Yemen united in 1990 & in1994 Saleh waged a war on the south & turned it 2 an occupation instead of unity based on partnership
@crazyyafai: all of the resources including oil in the south were divided between tribal leaders & war lords in the North as a booty of war after the war
He added:
@crazyyafai: Much thanks for president Hadi for ordering all security forces not to fire on the #SouthYemen protest today, Saleh would have killed many.
@crazyyafai:President Hadi is really trying hard to save the unity of #yemen but General Ali Mohsen & corrupt tribal leaders will stand in his way.
Summer Nasser posted on her Facebook saying:
I realized the massive massive crowds today all over the city of Aden. Although I'm from the south, but not pro-separation; I came down to this comment after seeing some photos: “This is real and its getting stronger.” Despite some internal issues b/w the southerners, their mission is pretty much the same: separation from the North.
Something we cannot really ignore… because the ‘mission’ and attitudes towards it is only growing.
Yesterday's event was yet another indication that the call for secession has become loud and clear. With the ouster of President Saleh and the “somehow” fall of his regime, which made both sides of Yemen suffer under its rule, one hopes that there is still time for rectification and reconciliation. Some recent attempts have been made to save Yemen's unity by president Hadi, yet it will certainly need more effort. Less foreign interference, rapid and concrete steps towards healing the grievances by holding those accountable for causing them and restoring what has been wrongfully done is imperative in order to salvage this unity, in any shape or form.

author: Noon Arabia


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Russian Facebook of Horrors: The Murder Trail · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

Over the weekend RuNet was stunned by the news of a gruesome murder that took place in Moscow. A local chef, Alexey Kabanov, has allegedly strangled and dismembered his wife [ru] and mother of three small children, Irina Cherska. He was, according to the authorities, in the process of getting rid of her body-parts when he was detained. Kabanov confessed to the crime, prompting a massive wave of online outrage.
Although hundreds of domestic murders happen in Russia every year, this one seems to have struck particularly close to home for Russian netizens. For one, Kabanov and his wife were tightly integrated into the protest-minded Russophone Facebook community. The cliquishness of this group was exemplified by a dour tweet [ru] from the journalist Oleg Kashin:
Бля, чувак, который жену убил и расчленил, подписан на меня в фб, и 146 общих друзей вплоть до Алины Гребневой((
F*ck, the guy who killed and dismembered his wife is following me on Facebook, and we have 146 friends in common, up to and including [Echo Moskvy correspondent] Alina Grebneva((
Kabanov's Facebook page. Screenshot. January 14, 2013.
While Irina's Facebook account has already been removed, possibly at the request of her relatives, Kabanov's account [ru] has over a thousand friends (although their number has diminished since the news first came out). It was this group of people, as well as their networks, that Kabanov entreated to help find his wife, who, he claimed, had walked out of their apartment following an argument. It was also this group that is most scandalized, now that it appears that he in fact murdered her, and was only pretending to search.
On January 6, 2013 Kabanov made the following status update [ru]:
Друзья! Пропала Ира, моя жена. Вышла из дома 3-го утром и не вернулась. Полиция ее ищет. Но пока нет никаких результатов. В полиции говорят, что вернется и все будет нормально. Но чем больше проходит времени, тем меньше я в верю в это нормально. […] Если все-таки среди наших общих знакомых есть кто-то, кто знает что с ней, то просто скажите, что она жива.
Friends! My wife Ira has disappeared. Walked out of the house on the morning of the 3rd and hasn't come back. The police are looking for her. But there are no results yet. The police is is saying that she will come back and everything will be alright. But as more time passes I believe less and less in this “alright.” […] If one of our common acquaintances knows what's happened to her, then just say she's alive.
Example of a leaflet created and distributed by volunteers in the search for Irina Cherska. Screenshot, January 14, 2013.
This request mobilized a number of people who devoted both time and resources to look for Irina, using the comments section of the status update as a sort of clearing house for information. There were earnest theories [ru] that Irina could have gone to visit her parents in Ukraine, volunteers offering to drive [ru] around Irina's favorite restaurants and bars, and other suggestions. Several people, for instance, offered their help in contacting psychics and witches, explaining that [ru]:
При всем распространенном скепсисе нельзя исключать ситуацию, что Ире требуется какая-то помощь, в этом случае важно не терять времени, а этот способ ее отыскать самый быстрый.
With all the usual skepticism we shouldn't discount the situation that Ira needs some kind of help, in this case it's important not to lose time, and this way of finding her is the fastest.
Others were more constructive. Gennady Chichkanov, reportedly a colleague of Irina's, offered [ru] to pressure his contacts at the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda to publicize the disappearance. Other newspaper affiliated Facebook users also volunteered their publications. Since the search was apparently to no avail because no one had seen Irina exit the apartment building, one user, Alexander Belousov, pressured Kabanov to open up a criminal investigation instead of sticking with the usual “missing persons” bulletin. He explained [ru] that such an investigation would be more efficient and would have access to more resources:
Алексей! Вам надо как можно быстрее писать заявление в Следственный комитет с просьбой о возбуждении уголовного дела. Вы только попусту теряете время и упускаете возможность просмотреть записи с камер метро и по ходу её движения.
Alexey! You should as soon as possible file a statement with the Investigative Committee, and request they initiate a criminal case. You are wasting time and are missing the opportunity to look at subway camera recordings and [other CCTV] along her movement.
Of course, at this point Irina was already dead and dismembered, and no cameras would be able find her. This is perhaps one of the reasons that Kabanov held off involving the police beyond his first filing with the local precinct. The hands off approach was strange. Additionally, Kabanov only spoke of his wife in the past tense, and claimed that she took her passport with her [ru] when she left. Irina was a Ukrainian citizen with no registration in Russia, and had apparently usually left her passport at home.  Some Facebook users also accused [ru] Kabanov of deleting comments which were suspicious of his involvement in Irina's disappearance.
Kabanov later posted three more status updates on how the “search” was proceeding. In one of them [ru], on January 8, he asked if anyone could help him take his kids to school. Presumably, this is how he was able to procure a car from a friend of the family, which he later allegedly used to start getting rid of the evidence. It was the trunk of this car that was found to contain some of Irina's body-parts after the police finally questioned Kabanov.
Kabanov's last update [ru] was on Friday, soon after which he was arrested. It now has just under 2,000 comments. Many are from angry Facebook friends who were fooled by his pretense. More common is hateful vitriol of the “You die in hell!” sort. Nevertheless, some comments provide precious nuggets of information. For example, Irina's colleague Chichkanov, who appears to be in contact with the investigation, claimed [ru] that Kabanov's background as a chef and butcher played a part in how the crime played out:
Про труп. Он его очень профессионально и быстро расчленял – на баранах рука набита была
About the body. He dismembered it very professionally and quickly – he was a practiced hand at it from the sheep [carcasses that he broke down as part of his work]
Chichkanov also hinted [ru] at the fact that the police were aware of Kabanov's Facebook posts, were closely tracking the online situation, and even tried to use it to build their case:
[…] Чтоб вы знали теперь – даже заметки в КП писались так, как следователям было надо и некоторые мои комменты здесь тоже по просьбе следователей – мы его драконили и психически шатали. […]
[…] So that you know – even the notes in K[omsomolskaya] P[ravda] were written the way the criminal investigators wanted to, and some of my comments here were also at the request of the investigators – we were hounding him and psychologically perturbing him. […]
In the end, it is this interactive, social network aspect of the story that makes it somewhat unique. Thousands of people watched the narrative unfold in real time, participated in it, interacted with the alleged criminal, saw it turn tragic, and then reacted to it — all without leaving their computer chairs.
Watch this space, we'll be taking an in-depth look with more stories on the “Russian Facebook of Horrors” in the next few days.
Part I: Russian Facebook of Horrors: The Murder Trail
Part II: Russian Facebook of Horrors: From Tragedy to Humor
Part III. Russian Facebook of Horrors: It's a Conspiracy!


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South Korean TV Networks Shun Politically Active Actress · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

One of South Korea's most outspoken actresses has claimed that two networks cancelled her TV appearances after a candidate she openly supported lost in the recent presidential elections.
Kim Yeo-jin, an actress well-known for her progressive views and active political participation (@yohjini) disclosed [ko] via Twitter on January 3, 2013 that two TV networks who had booked her for their shows suddenly cancelled her TV appearances due to her political orientation. She regularly participates in protests and recently endorsed Moon Jae-in, the left-leaning candidate who lost the election.
각 방송사 윗분들, 문재인캠프에 연관있었던 사람들 출연금지 방침같은 건 좀 제대로 공유를 하시던가요. 작가나 피디는 섭외를 하고 하겠다고 대답하고 나서 다시 “죄송합니다 안된대요” […]
All the heads of the broadcasting stations. You better share with your people the internal rules regarding preventing Moon's campaign supporters from appearing on TV. A producer and writer of the show already booked me, but they contacted me later to say “I am sorry. This can't be done”
The tweet has since been re-tweeted 1500 times, igniting strong public criticisms toward broadcasting stations. To many observers, the incident once again confirms the open secret that internal guidelines at TV stations exist to screen out political minorities or critics of powerful politicians.
With some raising doubts that her denied TV appearance may have been just coincidental, Kim clarified [ko]:
[…] 굳이 그렇게 꼭 집어 말씀하시던데요. 그 전에도 여러번 당했던일이지만 꼭 집어 그렇게 듣는 건 처음이었어요. “문재인캠프 연관된분이라 안괸다고 하네요. 죄송합니다.”라고 들었습니다.
They made it very clear. I’ve had that treatment several times before but it was the first time they specified the reason. I was told “since you are connected to Moon's campaign, you cannot (be on the show). I am sorry”.
Kim added bitterly [ko] ‘I expected this to happen’.
Kim Yeo-jin at the ThinkCafe Conference, Image uploaded by Flickr user ThinkCafe (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Net users’ anger has followed. @shsh7600 furiously commented [ko] :
[…] 이것이 사실이라면 엄연한 인권탄압이며 일종의 정치보복이다. 특히 이런 야만적인 짓은 국민적 저항은 물론 훗날 반드시 그 댓가를 치러야 할것음을 알아야한다
If it is true, it is a clear violation of human rights and sort of a political retaliation. This kind of barbaric act should meet with public opposition and (those who executed this) will have to pay for the consequences.
A Daum user ID: MichaelPeach lamented [ko]:
현재 우리나라 방송국이 정치적 편향성에 대해 자체적으로 ‘정화'할 수 있는 능력도, 자격도, 힘도 없다고 봅니다. 저는 김여진 씨의 방송취소 기사를 보고 어쩌면 5년 전, 현 정부가 들어서면 있었던 기피 연예인들의 방송 하차가 생각났습니다. 그때부터 우리나라는 심하게 분열되기 시작한 것이죠. 정부의 비판하는 배우, 바른 말하는 방송인 그들은 모두 좌파 빨갱이라는 오명을 얻게 되었고 방송을 떠나 있어야 했습니다.
The nation’s broadcasting stations don't have any capability, any rights, any power to heal themselves from political impartiality. When I heard news about Kim Yeo-jin’s cancelled TV appearances, it reminded me of some entertainers’ sudden drop-out of TV programs, right after the current administration started. We have started seeing a political division from that point on. Actors criticizing the government, TV broadcasters rightfully saying what they believe in– they were all forced to leave the TV after being vindicated as ‘pro-North Korean, leftist commies’
Opponents to this point of view, such as @pyein2 argue [ko] that the cancelled TV appearance may simply have been the result of Kim's failure to generate hit movies, and her attempts to build a reputation through political activities rather than acting. However, a Tistory blogger stressed [ko] that it is still inexcusable:
자신이 애국보수라고 주장하는, 대한민국의 자칭 보수는 이 상황이 당연하단다. 왜? 나랑 다른편에 섯다고. 그래서 그냥 나와 다른편이기 때문에 밥줄이 끊기는건 당연하다고 이야기 한다. 왜 이게 당연한건가? […] 나는 우리집에서 내는 TV수신료 내고 싶지 않다.
People who claim themselves to be ‘patriotic conservatives’ or ‘the (true) conservative’ said this was meant to be. How so? Just because someone is taking different stances, just because that one is standing at the opposite side, can you justify a situation where their livelihoods are being threatened? How is it justifiable? […] I really dont want to pay any more TV transmission fees.
One local newspaper believes that [ko] although there is no written blacklist on paper, TV executives may hint to concerned producers that it is better not to employ controversial actors or politically vocal broadcasters on their shows.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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The Outsourcing Revolution In Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Asif Anwar suggests that getting more and more people into freelancing & outsourcing industry can make Bangladesh a medium earning country sooner than expected.

author: Rezwan


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Tuareg Families Regroup to Avoid Airstrikes in Northern Mali  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

We must regroup so that airplanes can tell us apart from the targeted ismalists fighters who will be on the move.
Tuareg refugees in Borj and Timeaouine in Northern Mali are hurrying to gather around their family members in order to avoid airstrikes by French planes against islamist groups, Tamoudre reports [fr]. Tamoudre adds that Tuaregs are in favor of the military intervention but that they should be part of the post-intervention stabilization.


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China’s Top 10 Cities with Worst Air Pollution · Global Voices
Abby Liu

The smoggy air in Beijing has triggered widespread concerns over environment in China. However, Beijing is not alone. Offbeat China takes a look at the top 10 cities with worst air pollution in China.


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Cuba Implements Long-Awaited Migration Reform · Global Voices
Elaine Díaz

On January 14, 2013 Cuba's historic migration reform went into effect, which should make it much easier to leave and enter the country.
According to the Havana Times, Cuban citizens can now apply for passports to travel out of the country for up to 24 months, without seeking special permission from the government. The new regulations eliminate the previously required “exit permit” and “letter of invitation” and relaxes rules for health care and sports professionals and those who migrated illegally. In addition, the grounds for repatriation have been expanded.
For years, leaving the country, whether temporarily or permanently, has been the subject of dozens of posts in the Cuban blogosphere. The implementation of the long-awaited migration reform could put an end to the emotionally tormenting decision to stay or to leave Cuba.
In August 2012, the author of “Los otros ojos de Eva” [Eva's other eyes] made reference [es] to the “internationalist missions,” government projects to provide aid to other countries, primarily in sectors such as education and health which also represent an economic relief for Cuban professionals. However, Melisa Cordero also reminds us of the enormous human cost of years of separation for families:
La niña apenas tiene cinco años y tú te asomas en la cuna a las tres de la madrugada e intentas grabarte sus detalles. El viaje será pronto. Cruzarás en Atlántico y la extrañarás de inmediato, a cada segundo y hasta en los sueños, y te parecerá verla cada vez que un niño africano, negrito y sucio, se te acerque en una consulta. (…) Las dudas te corren el cuerpo, estás indecisa y tu familia: sí muchacha, vete, nosotros te la cuidamos, y tu marido con el rostro compungido y sin decir palabra y el refrigerador medio vacío y las necesidades golpeándote la conciencia. El viaje será pronto. La comisión médica es sabia, pero tú no sabes si, cuando la niña crezca, te agradecerá los juguetes y el televisor de plasma y el microwave y la ropa que tiene de más, o te reprochará todas las horas de ausencias.
The little girl is barely five years old and you approach her cradle at three o'clock in the morning and try to record her features in your memory. The journey will be soon. You will cross the Atlantic and you will miss her immediately, throughout every second and even in your dreams, and you'll think you see her every time an African child, black-skinned and dirty, approaches you during a consultation. (…) Doubt will rush through your body, you are hesitant and your family: yes girl, go on, we'll look after her, and your husband with his sad face and without a word and with the fridge half empty and their needs beating your conscience. The journey will be soon. The medical committee is wise, but you don't know whether, when the little girl grows up, she will thank you for the toys and the plasma TV and the microwave and the clothes she's got too many of, or whether she will reproach you for all the hours of absence.
In another article (which is fiction), the author narrates [es] a father's departure from the port of Mariel:
Mi padre se fue en una balsa, una balsa construida con poliespuma y corcho, con lágrimas de noche, después de la comida, cuando era difícil conciliar el sueño con unos pocos granos de arroz en el estómago. Mi padre se fue por el Mariel, arrastró el bote por la acera y después por la calle de la escuela y pasó enfrente de la carnicería que estaba en huelga. Mi padre se tiró al mar, se empujó él mismo sobre las olas y se perdió en el horizonte dejándonos un puesto vacío en la mesa y las esperanzas de volver a llenar, muy pronto, las cazuelas. Mi padre se fue una tarde, hace algún tiempo, quizá un poco más y aún no hemos descubierto, exactamente, en qué lugar del Caribe lanzarle las flores.
My father left on a raft, a raft made from Styrofoam and cork, with tears at night, after the meal, when it was difficult to fall asleep with just a few grains of rice in your stomach. My father departed from Mariel, he dragged the boat along the pavement and then along the street by the school and in front of the butchers which was on strike. My father threw himself into the sea, he pushed himself over the waves and was lost on the horizon, leaving us with an empty place at the table and the hope that the saucepans would, very soon, be full once again. My father left one afternoon, some time ago, maybe a little longer and we still haven't found out, exactly, in which part of the Caribbean to lay flowers.
Since January 14 2013, Cuban citizens will be able to apply for passports at the offices of the Identity Card and Population Registry as well as at Immigration and Naturalisation to travel out of the country without being required to seek permission from the government.
Offices of Immigration and Naturalisation during the first day of the migration reform. Photo: courtesy of Jorge Luis Baños
According to a report from the Havana Times [es], which quotes the Office of Immigration and Naturalisation, a total of 195 sites have been set up for this purpose.
According to this digital magazine [sp], “it is estimated that the historical reform will benefit a large number of Cubans who, as long as they can finance their journey and obtain a visa for the destination country, will be able to travel abroad with far greater ease.” However, “this will not imply a massive exodus from the island. The vast majority of countries require an entry visa for citizens of the largest of the Antilles.”
With regard to journeys towards the United States, an article published by the digital site Café Fuerte [Strong Coffee] points out [es]:
Cuba permitirá que sus ciudadanos puedan viajar como emigrados y acogerse incluso a la Ley de Ajuste Cubano (CAA) en Estados Unidos sin perder sus derechos como residentes de la isla en un plazo de dos años, anunció un alto funcionario gubernamental.
Cuba will allow its citizens to travel as emigrants and even to make use of the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA) in the United States without losing their rights as residents of the island for a period of two years, a high-level government official announced.
But some citizens, amongst them elite athletes [es], will still have to seek permission to leave the country.
Moreover, the law includes a subsection which has been questioned by several bloggers. Fernando Ravsberg, author of Cartas desde Cuba [Letters from Cuba], points out [es]:
El inciso “H” sin embargo, informa que tampoco podrán viajar “cuando por otras razones de interés público, lo determinen las autoridades facultadas”. Una curiosidad legal que no establece claramente cuáles pueden ser las “razones” ni cuáles son las “autoridades” (…) Semejante vaguedad da un poder absoluto a los funcionarios sobre el ciudadano. La escasez de maestros podría ser considerada una razón de interés público y el Ministerio del ramo puede sentirse la autoridad facultada para impedir el viaje de un educador.
Subsection “H”, however, states that they will also not be able to travel “when for other reasons of public interest, the relevant authorities say so.” A legal curiosity which does not clearly establish what these “reasons” or “authorities” may be (…) Such an ambiguity gives absolute power to civil servants over the citizenry. The lack of teachers could be considered to be a reason of public interest and the Ministry in question may consider itself to be the relevant body to prevent a teacher from travelling.
However, the AP agency has published a report in which it reveals that “according to an anonymous informant, various hospital directors held a meeting on Saturday with the Ministry of Health, and were informed of a resolution which will allow the standardisation of travel for all sector personnel.”
In turn, Manuel Henrique Lagarde commented [es] on the situation of Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez:
A la salida de las Oficinas de Departamento de Inmigración y Extranjería del municipio Plaza de la Revolución en 17 y K en el Vedado, la bloguera, en declaraciones a la prensa extranjera, afirmó que había solicitado la confección de un pasaporte nuevo y que se le había informado que luego de 15 días laborables, el tiempo que demoraba la confección del documento, podría salir del país.
At the exit of the offices of the Department of Immigration and Naturalisation in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución in 17 and K in El Vedado, the blogger, in declarations made to the foreign press, confirmed that she had requested a new passport and that she had been informed that after 15 working days, the time it would take to produce the document, she could leave the country.
Hundreds of foreign media have reported the news and some users from other nations have celebrated the Cuban migration reform, although they point out [es]:
La tan esperada eliminación de las trabas impuestas durante décadas a los cubanos para salir de su país entró hoy en vigor, pero con un alto precio, cien dólares por pasaporte, el más caro de la región después de Chile.
The long-awaited removal of the obstacles imposed for decades on Cubans trying to leave their country came into force today, but with a high price, 100 dollars per passport, the most expensive in the region after Chile.
Cuban state television broadcast a programme with more details about the migration reform (in Spanish).

author: Elaine Díaz


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Interview with Szabolcs Panyi, Editor of Global Voices in Hungarian · Global Voices
Marietta Le

Szabolcs Panyi, 26, is the author and editor of a popular Hungarian blog, Véleményvezér (“Opinion Leader”). He joined Global Voices in Hungarian in September 2011, and since March 2012 he has been the site's co-editor.
Global Voices: Junior Prima Award [hu] is handed to talented young Hungarians every year. Is it possible that in 2012 you were the first blogger to receive it [hu]?
Szabolcs Panyi: Yes, I'm the first one who received it as a blogger. It's extraordinary for sure, but it's not only about me, but about the blog [hu], and therefore it's about the other authors as well. On the other hand, with this [award] the importance of blogs is also recognized.
GV: Before you joined Global Voices, I often quoted Véleményvezér on our English site, because I believed its name reflected what it did: it's an opinion leader blog for Hungarian readers. What was the key to making a blog dealing with public affairs so popular?
SZP: I think mostly the fact that we are trying to write Anglo-Saxon style texts, brief and as even-tempered as possible. Blogs and Hungarian op-eds are usually quite passionate, partial and ironic in style. We wanted something different. Our aim is not to reach agreement, but to make people think. We drifted more towards critizing the government lately, though, but the whole Hungarian politics has changed.
Szabolcs Panyi, blogger of Véleményvezér
The concept [of the blog] is that we highlight the most important event of the previous day, so we basically help those who are not following politics so closely to always find important stories, and they don't have to go through a bunch of things. In addition to this, we are cooperating with Index [a news site], and we owe a lot to Index and Blog.hu [a blog service of Index], because they promote us on their main page, among their own content, and this way they send a lot of readers to us.
GV: Do you know your readers, do you have an idea about who reads Véleményvezér?
SZP: According to the statistics of our Facebook page, it is mostly people between 25 and 45, male, residents of Budapest [the capital]. I often meet people who tell me that they read it, and it's always good to hear that. Recently, mainly middle-of-the-road, disillusioned, disappointed right-wingers, and long-time critics of the governing party have started reading us. But those who we'd rather like to address are a little bit like us, under 45, [people in their] 20s and 30s, who want to see Hungary following Western norms and maintaining good relations with its Western allies, rather than with the oppressive regimes, since we belong in the West. And, of course, [those who want] the government to pursue a reasonable, pragmatic economic policy because that makes the country strong. That is to say, classic right-wing moderates who have been watching the events of the Hungarian politics with a long face for a while now.
Our name is Véleményvezér [“Opinion Leader”] because the aim is not only to reach out to a lot of people, but to reach those more important people who have influence and opinion-making powers, or are in decision-making positions. Capitalizing on this, we are trying to draw attention to issues we find important, that's why we deal more with certain things than the broader audience would find it important – for instance, with the country's communist secret service past.
GV: At some point you invited public figures, journalists and experts to comment on your posts. What was the procedure you followed?
SZP: We disabled commenting to the broader audience, everyone can comment on our articles on Facebook [hu] using their real names, there we usually receive 50-200 comments to each text. On the blog, 20-30 invited commenters can reply, they are mainly economists, journalists, political commentators, university professors, experts from different backgrounds, who are all under 45 and have produced something valuable in their fields. They would be our ideal readers, and they are the ones we would like to present to our readers as figures who are more noteworthy than those run-down, old columnists who grew up during socialism and have been repeating the same things since then.
GV: Was there any other reason for directing commenters to Facebook?
SZP: The level of the Hungarian commenting culture is pretty low, and we wanted quality comments on our site, and to develop quality debate culture there. We received plenty of comments on the posts, let's say more than a thousand, and to find something meaningful, you had to scroll through the whole thing, thus it was totally worthless content, or rather the valuable content was lost among the worthless [comments]. But by taking this step we were able to make sure that comments were adding value in every case.
The latest example was a comment by Lászó Varró of the International Energy Agency [Head of the Gas, Coal and Power Division], and when Index highlighted the comment on their main page, that directed an additional 20,000 readers to us. Only by having that comment featured.
GV: In your article [hu] published on the occasion of the Blog Action Day you wrote that the Hungarian bloggers were free, they could publish anything. Do you still believe that?
SZP: Yes, they can publish virtually anything. Of course, there are bloggers leaning to political parties, whose blogs are financed by parties in one way or another, or they themselves work close to politics. Obviously, they don't write about certain things or are not framing so harshly even when criticizing their own people, while they are promoting certain topics popular on their political side.
GV: If bloggers can write freely, can we say that they have taken over the role of journalists to some extent?
SZP: We bloggers can react faster and can work on our stories almost without any restraint, while poor journalists have to sit in newsrooms and [publish news wires] around the clock, and they often remain with an almost total lack of creativity and no time to write opinion. It's in the genre of op-eds where bloggers have to a large extent taken over the role of journalists. There are not many traditional, well-known, respected columnists left in Hungary, those who are around are outdated, they publish in dailies, so the people we are addressing are not really reading them.
From left to right: Emőke Kilin, Szabolcs Panyi, Tamás Novák, Kata Molnár, Nóra Netoleczky, Andrea Buzás, Andrea Höll, Diána Dobsinszki – volunteers of Global Voices in Hungarian.
GV: Why was it important for you to volunteer on Global Voices?
SZP: I'm very interested in the situation in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Third World semi-dictatorships and dictatorships. During the spring of 2011, on a blogger trip to Germany, I met bloggers from Tunisia, Indonesia, Mongolia and other places, and I was very moved by the fact that we had the same occupation, we were members of the same generation, and how different were the consequences of blogging in Hungary and in those countries. I was looking for opportunities to advocate their causes in my country, or at least to draw attention to them. Global Voices is a very good opportunity to do this.
GV: What are the biggest challenges that GV's Hungarian team is facing?
SZP: The most challenging aspect is that topics from outside our borders that are not directly related to Hungary are less interesting to Hungarian readers, except for tabloid topics. For example, the sexual assault case in India was one of our most popular posts and was re-published by other sites as tabloid news. But many have also read the post on the death of the Iranian blogger Sattar Beheshti, which was a bit surprising to me, but I was happy that people at least heard about this terrible story in Hungary. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find readers interested in issues such as net freedom and free speech online.
GV: What was the most popular post or issue that Global Voices translated into Hungarian?
SZP: In addition to the ones mentioned above, the most popular were our translations on the Safarov case – because those were related to Hungary, since it was the Hungarian government that for economic advantages set free the Azeri Ramil Safarov who had killed an Armenian fellow student in Budapest. The axe murderer received amnesty from the Azeris right after being released, and he was celebrated as a hero – even the Azeri president's unofficial Facebook page cover was swapped for Safarov's photo. The translations told this story, and it was then circulated in the Hungarian online media.

author: Marietta Le


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Jamaica: Handing Over “Calabash” · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The world can and will run without you. Get over yourselves.
Active Voice salutes Colin Channer, the founder of Jamaica's Calabash Literary Festival, whose “exemplary resignation” she thinks “ought to set a precedent in how to love something and yet be able to move on and allow others to continue what you started.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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No Exit Visa: The Cuban Diaspora Speaks · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

After much anticipation, it has finally happened. The Cuban government has done away with the need for an exit visa – essentially state permission – to leave the country. Bloggers, many of them from the Cuban diaspora, have been sharing their thoughts on this new development.
Havana Times (an on-island blog) provided a bit of context to the situation:
Cubans will no longer need an exit permit and an invitation from their intended destination to be allowed to travel.
The government of Cuban President Raul Castro had announced in mid-February plans to lift travel restrictions, which were among the reforms most longed-for among citizens of the Communist country.
From Monday, Cubans need only a valid passport and a visa from their destination country to be able to temporarily travel abroad.
Under the new legislation, Cubans will also be allowed to stay abroad for up to 24 months, compared with 11 months until now.
Further, migrants who have illegally left Cuba since 1994 will also be allowed to return.
It remained uncertain whether qualified professionals, such as Cuba’s doctors and its most prestigious athletes, would be allowed to travel abroad without restrictions. The same doubts applied to the country’s dissidents.
Such caveats have been drawing criticism from some diaspora bloggers, even though the move could mean easier visits between family members who have been separated by migration or exile. Babalu, for instance, was sceptical:
The Cuba news feed this morning was overflowing with reports on the supposed migratory reforms of the Castro dictatorship that went into effect yesterday on the island. For the most part, journalists are treating this event as a watershed moment in Cuba's 50+ year history of tyranny. This in spite of the fact the Castro regime still completely controls who can and cannot leave Cuba and there are no real indications the ‘reforms’ will reform much of anything. Nevertheless, the media does not need much prodding when it comes to touting the magnanimity of Raul Castro's dictatorship, and this questionable story is as good as any other questionable story on the Cuban dictatorship as an excuse to throw a party.
However, the proof, as they say, will be in the pudding.
Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter took issue with a press statement by John McAuliff (of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, whom the blogger describes as lobbying “for engagement between the United States government and the dictatorship in Cuba”), in which he stated that “Cuba now provides greater freedom of travel to virtually all of its citizens than does the U.S.”:
With all due respect to Mr. McAuliff but the above statement is not borne out by the facts and would earn him the laughter of many Cubans. For example, Rosa María Payá was not allowed by the Cuban government to travel to Chile between January 8 through the 15th in Santiago, Chile. Its not only the Cubans that contradict his claim.
The United States government does not restrict doctors and athletes from traveling outside of the country. This is not the first time that the press and ‘Cuba experts’ have jumped on a Castro regime announcement while ignoring news that contradicts their optimistic assessment.
The post concluded:
Whether it is the issue of censorship or freedom to travel the regime in Cuba has made lots of noise but the underlying policies of control and repression remain intact.
The changes carried out by the Cuban dictatorship are new rules for the same old game: hanging on to power.
Capitol Hill Cubans, meanwhile, linked to a mainstream media article which suggested that there were unforeseen – and in all likelihood prohibitive – costs associated with the new migration law. Along the Malecon, however, was hopeful, and used a tweet by grounded dissident Yoani Sanchez (who has repeatedly been denied a travel visa) as justification for his optimism:
Cuba is evolving ever so slowly – certainly not fast enough for some – but it is changing.
The latest evidence:
Famed Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez says she will be allowed to leave the country and return, under new immigration rules that went into effect on Jan. 14.
Sánchez tweeted her delight:
Will this be our Berlin Wall that falls? I do not know!
One of the tweets the blogger was referring to is no doubt this update:
@yoanisanchez: #Cuba Calculo que en la 1ra semana de febrero tendre mi pasaporte y ya podre viajar… cruzo los dedos. Cuando este en el avion lo creere!
@yoanisanchez: #Cuba Calculate that by the 1st week of February I will have my passport be able to travel… fingers crossed. I'll believe it when I am in the plane!


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Panama: Taxis and Taxi Drivers · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

Carlos Donderis Sanz, author of the blog CaDs Online comments [es] about taxis and taxi drivers in Panama and says “although it's true this is a generalization (I've personally met taxi drivers who do it very well), most of them look like madmen with a steering wheel, in a hurry and stressed, nobody knows why […]”, and ends by recommending “if you come the Panama and you love excitement, don't miss a ride in a taxi, although it might be your last experience you have in life, it won't let you down”.


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Přednádraží Still Stands: Czech Roma Community Resists Evictions  · Global Voices
Daniela Kantorova

In August 2012, the Ostrava City Hall issued a 24-hour eviction order to the owner of the 11 buildings at Přednádraží, asking him to evict all of the residents, giving as a reason an unsafe condition of the buildings, primarily due to broken sewage lines. Three lawsuits have been filed between the various departments of the Ostrava City Hall to establish responsibility for fixing the sewage lines, but in the meantime, the residents have to bear the consequences of this neglect (earlier GV coverage of the case – here and here).
“We Won't Give Up!” (August 2012). Photo by Daniela Kantorova.
Approximately 100 families, supported by local activists, refused to move out. Many simply did not have anywhere else to go; some have been living there for over 30 years. Now, five months later, twelve families still remain at Přednádraží, including six children. Everyone, except for one couple, moved to Building #8, which has become the focus of community efforts.
Building 8 at Přednádraží. Photo by Daniel Arauz, used with permission.
The Building Works Authority outlined a list of repairs necessary to make in order for it to consider the Přednádraží buildings inhabitable, and the owner, Mr. Roztočil, agreed that the residents could make the required repairs to Building #8 themselves. Since the owner has no funds available, the community relies on the funds raised by local activists. So far, the roof has been fixed, the basements have been cleared, and the chimneys will be next.
Jan Bandy, Community Organizer at Přednádraží. Photo by Daniela Kantorova.
Přednádraží Repairs Plan. Photo by Daniela Kantorova.
All this is happening in harsh conditions: water supply still comes from a single tap, and electricity is officially supplied to only one apartment. One couple also still remains in Building #17, where it has a supply of electricity, but no running water. They are ethnic Czechs, who have not been able to move elsewhere. Both with chronic health problems, they are scrambling to pay for their medications each month. However, the community is determined to continue with repairs.
Building #17 at Přednádraží. Photo by Daniela Kantorova.
Although the number of families at Přednádraží has diminished and most buildings have fallen prey to gangs of looters looking for scrap metal and construction materials, largely ignored by the police, some residents who had previously moved out expressed an interest in coming back. Many families that left Přednádraží did not have any other option but move to overpriced hostels. They have been facing dire conditions in the hostels: overcrowding, an epidemic of dysentery [en] that broke out in the fall, and even pressure to stop speaking out under the threat of eviction from the hostels themselves.
Přednádraží after looting. Photo by Daniel Arauz, used with permission.
There are allegations of a connection between city officials and hostel owners who receive public funding to run the hostels. However, hostels are anything but a cheap housing alternative. For instance, a hostel at Cihelní Street in Ostrava [cs] charges 80 CZK per person per night for long-term stay if four or more people are staying in a single room with shared facilities. For a six-member family this would translate into 14,400 CZK a month (740 USD), which is unaffordable for most, as the Czech average monthly salary (cs) is approximately 24,500 CZK (1,265 USD).
It has been extremely difficult for the people of Přednádraží to find alternative housing due to the lack of low cost housing in Ostrava, and exorbitantly high rental deposits charged to the Roma by private landlords. Moreover, many residents of Přednádraží are unemployed.
Building #17 at Přednádraží. Photo by Daniela Kantorova.
The Roma get frequently blamed for their unemployment, but the reasons for this, other than the outright discrimination on the side of employers, are rooted in the historical oppression of the Roma in Europe. For instance, the Czech Republic has a decades-long history of segregation in education [en] that was practiced during the years of the communist dictatorship and continues still. There was a common practice of sending all Roma children to separate Special Education schools for children with cognitive impairments, without any psychological assessment that would demonstrate such impairments.
In 2007, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled in the case brought against the Czech Republic by Roma citizens [en] to condemn this practice. In November 2012, the Roma of Ostrava organized a march [en] on the anniversary of this decision. This march was the first reported action organized independently by the Roma activists without any government or NGO support.
Despite the decision of the European Court, however, and despite the fact that the city of Ostrava, for instance, started its EU-sponsored program of “social inclusion” [cs] in February 2012, the discrimination of the Roma children in schools continues, according to a report published by the Czech branch of Amnesty International [en] in November 2012.
The Czech government has also been lagging in its follow-through on the situation at Přednádraží. Although a report was produced by the office of the ombudsman, whose advisors visited Přednádraží in the summer, this report still remains to be published. The people of Přednádraží have yet to see a sign of goodwill from the authorities, a sign that is many years overdue. Meantime, they continue fighting for their basic human right for a home, despite threats, poverty, and harsh living conditions.

author: Daniela Kantorova


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Slovak Netizen Initiative to Redesign State Institutions’ Sites · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

Inspired by sf.citi (San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology & Innovation), Jakub Ptačin [sk] and Peter Fabor [sk] have launched It's Not Possible (“To Sa Nedá”; sk; on Facebook – here), an initiative whose goal is to redesign websites of selected state institutions – for free and without political ambitions. In the initial phase, they created a public text file for citizens to report problems of the Slovak land register portal. They have also already met with a member of the Slovak Blind and Partially Sighted [Persons’] Union.

author: Tibor Blazko


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Togo: An Open Letter to Denounce Violence Against Journalists · Global Voices
Julie Owono

On January 14, 2013, Maxime Domegni, Secretary General of the National Union of Independent Journalist of Togo (SYNJIT) and Sylvio Combey Combetey, President of the Network of African Journalists on Human Security and Peace (RAJOSEP) published [fr] a press release to denounce violence against journalists in Togo. The release details a skirmish that occurred on January 10, 2013, after a demonstration by the opposition was repressed [fr]:
RAJOSEP and SYNJIT witnessed the assault of several journalists during the repression of the demonstration of the Collective Save the Togo (CST), on Thursday January 10, 2013.

author: Julie Owono


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“Avoid Outdoor Activities”: Record-Breaking Air Pollution in Beijing  · Global Voices
Owen Guo

Beijing is no stranger to air pollution, but this time it was different. A lingering 4-day heavy smog with jaw-dropping pollution readings hit the Chinese capital in mid-January, making news headlines and galvanizing an online community that has become increasingly vocal about environmental issues.
The pollution engulfed the city with heavy haze and reduced visibility. (Picture by Owen)
State media called on citizens to take pre-cautions and avoid outdoor physical activities.
One key pollution indicator–PM2.5, otherwise known as particulates less than 2.5 micrometers in the air, reached a stunning high level on January 12. The highest reading on PM2.5 that day was beyond 700 micrograms per cubic meter, in what many Chinese are calling “exploding the index” (readings went off the charts.)
Of all the small particulates, experts believe PM2.5 poses the greatest risk to human health as they can penetrate into human lungs. Air pollution index over 500 is believed to be hazardous.In a rare move, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau issued an orange warning on January 13, the highest haze warning the city has ever received.
The heavy pollution in Beijing has led to a surge in mask sales[zh] online. The masks were even sold out in some stores.
Beijing installed 35 PM2.5 monitoring stations at the end of last year in a bid to better inform citizens on pollution levels. A lack of wind and explosive growth of automobiles over the years in the city have always been cited by state media as reasons for pollution. International press blames the problem on the government’s endless pursuit of economic growth and its ignorance over environmental degradation.
Netizens voiced their concerns over health on Sina Weibo:
田源-Jason:明知这几天空气质量严重污染，但大街小巷人还是不少。地铁里也充斥着各种外地人的口音，基本讨论也是北京污染严重，不应该来，北京越来越不好，容易得病什么的。各位不如你们都回去建设自己家乡吧，把首都还给我们做北京！
田源-Jason[zh]: Even though they know the air is heavily polluted, the streets and lanes, big and small have been packed with many people. Different dialects can be heard in the subway, the talks have basically been –the severity of air pollution, they shouldn’t have come, Beijing becoming worse, and (people) are becoming prone to diseases, etc. Hi, guys, perhaps you should go back to contribute to your hometown, leave the capital Beijing to us!
黄金神棍: 女儿打开ipad，看到了天气通上面的污染指数。她说，北京污染得好厉害啊～我说，是啊。你要不要回去嘛？她说不要。她问我那些人为啥要待在那里呢？我 说，那里能赚很多钱，还有高楼大厦。她说赚钱后治病吗？我不知如何回复。她说they are real ill……有时候想想，成人有时候真不如个孩子！
黄金神棍[zh]: My daughter turned on the iPad and saw the pollution index in the weather report. She said, Beijing is heavily polluted~ I said yes, are you gonna go back? She said no and asked me why people want to stay there? I said people make a lot of money there, there are also high rises. She said can sickness be healed after they make money? I didn’t know how to respond. She said they are really ill…. Sometimes, children are wiser than adults!
One Chinese pop singer[zh] gave a guttural yell:
现在时刻，北京毒气时间整带着…口罩都挡不住怪味！头晕！眼睛疼！呼吸困难！…空气你是要怎样啊？？想变固体吗？？
Now is the Beijing toxic air time…. Wearing masks couldn’t prevent that odd smell! My head is dizzy! My eyes hurt! I have a hard time breathing.The air in Beijing what do you want????Do you want to turn yourself into solid????
One played mockery[zh] on the pollution:
据说，此刻北京PM值达到728，已经完全进入寂静岭模式。
It is said the PM index now in Beijing has reached 728, it has officially entered the Silent Hill model.
Another netizen took on a historic parallel[zh]:
颜强：雾都北京。英国人看到2013年1月12日的北京，觉得充满历史沧桑感，如同回到1945年的伦敦。
Smoggy city Beijing. The British will feel a sense of history if they saw Beijing on Jan 12, 2013, it would be like travelling back to London 1945
Some were helpless[zh]:
干鱼刺：不用看pm2.5公布值，用鼻子就能闻出来污染的恶劣程度，赚点钱容易吗，明知山上虎偏向虎山行，我并非英勇只是无奈！
We don’t need to see PM2.5 index, our noses could smell the severity of the pollution, making money is not easy, I continue undeterred even though there are dangers ahead, it’s not that I am brave, I don’t have a choice!

author: Owen Guo


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Belize, St. Vincent: Garifuna Culture · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

…the Garifuna language, which integrates Arawak and Carib, and which was declared a ‘masterpiece of the oral intangible heritage of humanity’ by UNESCO in 2001, is severely threatened. It possesses forms and structures used exclusively by males, and is the only survivor of the island languages descended from Arawakan.
In The Los Angeles Review of Books, Robin Llewellyn reviews a study of the Garifuna (Black Carib) by Professor Joseph Palacio.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Brazil’s World Cup Construction Threatens Indigenous “Living Museum”  · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

About six years ago, the abandoned building of the First Museum of the Indian, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil turned into a “living museum” and became home to several different indigenous communities.
This new settlement was close to the city's famous Maracanã stadium, and soon became known as Aldeia Maracanã or Maracanã Village.
On the morning of January 12, 2013, Maracanã Village woke up surrounded by military policy in riot gear. Without warning and without a warrant [pt], the military police arrived ready to evict the community. The area around Maracanã stadium is undergoing major reconstruction in preparation of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
The official page of Maracanã Village on Facebook, created a few months earlier on November 2012, made a call for support. Soon dozens of human rights activists arrived at the scene.
In a video report [pt] by the collective TVMemóriaLatina [pt] members of the community stated that they would resist peacefully.
During the day, about 200 activists gathered to protect the village. The Federal Deputy Marcelo Freixo of the Party for Socialism and Liberty (PSOL/RJ), and President of the Commission for the Defence of Human Rights and Citizenship also showed up and had to climb the wall of the village in order to talk to the indigenous leaders entrenched inside.
“People who want to support the struggle keep pouring in by the side wall”, Combate Racismo Ambiental reported. A worker from the Maracanã’s construction site was fired after joining the sit-in. Conexão Jornalismo reports [pt] and adds:
Photo by Comitê Popular Rio Copa e Olimpíadas on Facebook.
A reação dos índios, a participação popular e de lideranças políticas, além do papel exercido pelas mídias alternativas – independentes de compromisso com as decisões do governador e prefeito – surpreenderam o governo Estadual.
The reaction of the indigenous, and the participation of the people and political leaders, besides the role played by alternative media – independent of compromises with the decision of the governor and mayor – surprised the State government.
After hours of tense negotiation between the police, activists, politicians and representatives of the Public Ministry, the police decided to leave the scene [pt].
Photo by Carlos Latuff (@CarlosLatuff) “Indigenous leaders speak to those present at the Maracana Village” http://twitpic.com/bumy2p
The moment the gates reopened was recorded on video, together with the reaction of the musician Yuka. Rapper and soul artist from São Paulo, Criolo, was also in Rio for a show that day and encouraged his massive audience to make a lot of noise in support of the Maracanã Village. “How the hell can [he] overthrow me or think of overthrowing the museum of the Indian to make a parking lot?”:
Collective Geração Invencivel, who covered the day of tension on their Facebook page, created an event for a protest taking place on January 15, called by the Students Popular Revolutionary Movement (MEPR, Movimento Estudantil Popular Revolucionário).
An article published on the Washington Post with the headline “Indigenous squatters living by Rio’s Maracana stadium” triggered some outrage, such as Angela Toledo’s recalling the Canadian #IdleNoMore movement:
It’ has come to this, Indigenous people being called “squaters” what next? The games should be in prol of people not against them! Boycott #WorldCup if fairness and due process not followed. #idlenomore!
And Andrea Neves, who lives in Maracanã, said:
It´s a bad thing that the govermmant whants [sic] to do with us: Tear a Museun and a Shchool [sic] down for the 2014 World Cup. We need help from the international press, because the majority of people doesn´t know what is happening, specially the politicians trying to unthercover. [sic]
“We want to be a Living Museum”
The historical and cultural heritage of the 147 year-old building is unquestionable. It was the first Museu do Índio (The Museum of the Indian), created by Darcy Ribeiro in 1953, and in 1977 it was moved to the Botafogo district, where it has been fully functional until now.
Agência Olhares has created a documentary about the struggle and hopes of the dwellers:
A group of Brazilian indians, belonging to different ethnic groups from all over the country, has occupied, since October 2006, an old colonial building abandoned.
This building had previously hosted the ancient Indian Museum, until 1977, when the Museum was moved to its present location, in the district of Botafogo. In the coming month, the indians’ struggle to defend this space that it is theirs by right, will be very tough. With the renovation of the nearby stadium Maracana, Rio Prefecture may decide to demolish the building, to make there a parking lot or a shopping center.
The Indians want to create the first indigenous university in Brazil
A campaign has been launched on the Pressure Cooker [pt] platform of the non-profit organization for civic participation, Meu Rio. The petition [pt] is addressed to the Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral, and has already received 1,614 direct messages from supporters of the village. It demands “that the Governor undertakes not to bring down the building of the former museum of Indian and ensures the permanence of the people in the current Maracanã Village.” The Public Prossecutor André Ordacgy is quoted saying [pt]:
Todos os órgãos, com exceção do governo do estado, são contrários à demolição. Temos um parecer do Conselho Regional de Engenharia e Agronomia (Crea) contrário à demolição. Também o Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (Iphann) está contra.
All organs, except for the state government, oppose to the demolition. We have the opinion from the Regional Council of Engineering and Agronomy (CREA), contrary to demolition. Also the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage (Iphann) is against it.

author: Sara Moreira


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China’s Transparent Reporting on Air Pollution  · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Beijing's record-breaking pollution has been reported by both Chinese and international media for the past few days. What's surprising is the official media's transparency in reporting about pollution, a topic often down played by Chinese media. CHINA DIGITAL TIMES extracts examples of reporting in Chinese media from international media. TeaLeafNation analyzed why.


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Director of Films Denouncing President Sata Arrested in Zambia · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

Chanda Chimba III, a freelance filmmaker who made documentaries denouncing Michael Sata, while he was the opposition Patriotic Front leader and before he became the President of Zambia, has been arrested.
Chimba is charged with unlawful printing and publication and for being in “possession of property suspected of being proceeds from a crime.”
His critics call him a propagandist and his supporters an investigative journalist. Chimba's “Stand Up For Zambia” documentaries portray negative attributes of Sata and prophesied what life would be like for Zambians if Sata was voted into office. The series aired on state-owned Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation TV in the months running up to the September 20, 2011 elections.
Once reviled, the documentaries are now hits on YouTube as most of the things that Chimba predicted, like the arrest of opposition leaders and preventing them from holding public meetings, are now a reality.
Chanda Chimba III, right, chatting with former Information Minister General Shikapwasha, seated centre and a security officer. Picture used with the permission of Mwebantu Media.
Chimba whom netizens have nicknamed the “Prophet” for his foresight, has been arrested along with the former Minister of Information and Broadcasting Lieutenant-General Ronnie Shikapwasha, former Zambia Daily Mail Deputy Managing Editor Davis Mataka and media consultant Ng'ande Mwanajiti for offences related to pre-election publications.
An introduction to one of the episodes of “Stand Up For Zambia” on YouTube uploaded by impeachsata reads:
Stand Up For Zambia was a documentary series produced by the investigative journalist Chanda Chimba for ZNBC in 2010-2011. Since the Patriotic Front government was elected into power last year, Mr. Chimba has faced arrests and constant harassment by the new government. His films predicted many of the authoritarian abuses of power now being practiced by the Sata regime of Zambia. For more info, please write to impeachsata@gmail.com.
There were numerous reactions to Chimba's arrest on various citizen media websites. On Zambia Peoples Pact, an open Facebook group, Nawa Mukwati Sibongo, writes:
I await to see Fred Meembe [Post Newspaper owner and editor] support Chanda Chimba III as a fellow scribe they may not agree in content and style but they should fight for the freedoms of speech by those in the media. I also await the media organisations to lend the young man support.
Responding to Sibongo, Emmanuel Khantafu Zulu gave a breakdown of what Chimba was arrested for:
Particulars of the offence are that Chanda Chimba III Unlawfully did cause to be printed or published newspapers called” Stand up for Zambia” and “News of our times” Which were not registered at the office of the Director National Archives of Zambia. He was found in possession or control of an accumulated total of K611, 440,433.12 money he paid for private media and printing services to Zambia National Broadcasting Services Corporation, Muvi Television and the Daily Mail limited respectively, which is reasonably suspected to be proceeds of a crime.
Mbwantu, on the ZambianWatchdog [comments on this website do not have permanent links], writes:
Man Sata should just get to his senses and prove that Chanda Chimba was a liar. Arresting people who told the truth for the sake of mother Zambia cannot help the cobra in any way. If anything he is comfirming what Chimba said about him.
After all, BEING UNDER SATA’S RULE MAKES NO DIFFERENCE FROM BEING DEAD OR IMPRISONED.
A reader calling herself Margaret Thatcher writes:
Chanda Chimba was dutifully reminding people with short memory, of a man who always says things that he does not mean to. A man who will say this today and change when it suits him. A man who could tell a dangerous lie all in the name of gaining some political mileage. We are very cheap lot! really to say the least.
Wanzelu ku Choma writes in support of the arrests:
Doesn’t bother me. Man needs to account for his action when time comes.
On Lusaka Times, Rocky warned Patriotic Front leaders might meet the same fate:
That’s the nature of African politics.
Sata and his cohorts should also not forget that they equally will be hunted down and tried before the courts of law the minute the PF leaves power
Concerned about the political developments in Zambia, the Coalition for the Defence of Democratic Rights (CDDR), quotes a member and international lawyer, Robert Amsterdam on its website:
President Michael Sata and the Patriotic Front government of Zambia must immediately halt their unlawful arrests and prosecutions of journalists and opposition leaders, according to the Coalition for the Defence of Democratic Rights (CDDR).
“These politically motivated arrests represent a campaign of intimidation that violates the rights of all Zambian citizens to free and fair assembly and freedom of expression,” said Robert Amsterdam, international counsel to the CDDR. “It is absolutely unacceptable for any country calling itself a rule-of-law democracy to have the leadership behave with such impunity, violating both local and international law to persecute their opponents.”

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Haiti: Water & Cholera  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Was there a simultaneous sabotage of Haiti's municipal water systems while the country was grappling with cholera?  kiskeácity links to the details.


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Homophobic Hashtag Makes Waves on Twitter in France  · Global Voices
Nada

[All links forward to French posts unless otherwise stated.]
The hashtag #SiMonFilsEstGay (translation: #IfMySonWereGay) made waves on Twitter on December 22, 2012, in the French twittersphere. The hashtag is basically a homophobic incitement to violence accompanied by some poor taste “humorous” tweets. The alleged jokes consisted of telling other Twitter users the punishment you would give your son if he turned out to be gay. Some posts expressed a disturbing penchant for violence:
@Jow_Breezy_Pgn: #SiMonFilsEstGay je le fais sodomisé par un cheval avec du gros sel !!
@Jow_Breezy_Pgn: #SiMonFilsEstGay I would have him sodomised by a horse with rock salt!
@Trapsneymo: #SiMonFilsEstGay soit je l'egorge soit je le jette dans la seine ou soit je l'abandonne dans une gare super loin.
@Trapsneymo: #SiMonFilsEstGay I would either slaughter him or throw him in the Seine or abandon him in a train station somewhere far away.
Others, like @Kenny_koms, tweeted the following:
@Kenny_koms: #SiMonFilsEstGay on va a la commune jle change de nom direct.
@Kenny_koms: #SiMonFilsEstGay we'll go to the city hall and get his name changed.
Evidently, the debate on gay marriage that currently divides France has also been mentioned often.
@Cardinaurelien, a UMP party militant, states:
@Cardinalaurelien: #simonfilsestgay j'espère qu'il ne pourra pas se marier ! #manifpourtous
@Cardinalaurelien: #simonfilsestgay I hope he will not be able to get married! #manifpourtous
By late afternoon, the homophobic hashtag was at the top of the trending topics in France. Opposing reactions quickly arose, with many Twitter users condemning the homophobic posts:
Screen grab of the Twitter search for the hashtag #SiMonFilsEstGay
@matfouf : Les homophobes sur le hashtag #SiMonFilsEstGay, c'est pitoyable. Oubliez pas que Twitter est public et que vos tweets sont répréhensibles.

@matfouf: The homophobic hashtag #SiMonFilsEstGay is pitiful. Do not forget that Twitter is public and your tweets are just wrong.
@ErwanSands :#SiMonFilsEstGay je serais autant heureux que s'il etait hétero ! La sexualité ne change pas la personne qu'on est ! #NB

@ErwanSands: #SiMonFilsEstGay I would be as happy as if he were straight! Sexuality does not change who a person is! #NB
Many have tried to alert Twitter to have the hashtag censored:
@MOMIETTKM : @twitter est il possible de censurer ce hashtag raciste haineux homophobe svp #SiMonFilsEstGay. La liberté d'expression a des limites !
@MOMIETTKM: @twitter can you censor this hateful racist homophobic hashtag #SiMonFilsEstGay please? Freedom of speech has limits!
@thomas_gardize, a philosophy student, has tweeted divergent views in his posts to test reactions. He first stated:
@thomas_gardize: #SiMonFilsEstGay TT source de conflit. Je vais donc twitter dans les deux sens pour voir les réactions opposées.
@thomas_gardize: #SiMonFilsEstGay a source of conflict. I will tweet arguing for both trends to check the reactions from opposing camps.
He then tweeted:
@thomas_gardize: #SiMonFilsEstGay je le brûle sur un bucher.
@thomas_gardize: #SiMonFilsEstGay I will burn him on a pyre.
He followed this with:
@thomas_gardize: #SiMonFilsEstGay Je serais fiers de lui.
@thomas_gardize: #SiMonFilsEstGay I will be proud of him.
The phenomenon is reminiscent of a recent wave of anti-Semitism on the same social network regarding the hashtag #UnBonJuif (translation: #AGoodJew) in October, 2012, which also gave rise to aggressive propositions.
Plenty of users made remarks similar to @epelboin‘s analogy:
@epelboin: #SiMonFilsEstGay is the new #UnBonJuif ? Triste France :(
@epelboin:  Is #SiMonFilsEstGay the new #UnBonJuif? France is pathetic :(
Finally, we need to remember that in France homophobic statements are subject to a fine and even a prison sentence. There is also the issue of inciting violence. This is probably the reason why, at the end of the day, a lot of the tweets that appeared have been deleted by the authors.
This post was proofread in English by Georgi McCarthy.

author: Nada


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Laos: Where is Sombath Somphone? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

‘Find Sombath Somphone’
Sombath Somphone, a development economist and educator from Laos, was last seen on December 15, 2012. A month after his mysterious disappearance, his friends and supporters from around the world are asking the Lao government to intensify the search for Sombath.
Sombath Somphone was last seen in Vientiane on the evening of Saturday 15th December when he was driving home in his jeep. His family and friends immediately contacted the police, visited hospitals, and informed Embassies, but nobody knew where Sombath had gone.
Two days later, CCTV footage became available that showed Sombath being stopped by police and then abducted.
Sombath founded the Participatory Development Training Centre in Laos and his lifelong work in the field of education and community development was recognized when he won the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award, which is known as Asia’s Nobel Prize, for community leadership.
Sombath’s wife, Ng Shui Meng, thinks it’s not entirely accurate to call him an activist. She explains the philosophy behind Sombath’s numerous projects:
Sombath’s development philosophy is that of promoting balanced and sustainable development. Sombath has never opposed economic development, but he urges that economic development be balanced with spiritual well-‐ being, social improvement, and environmental and cultural protection.
Sombath’s abduction was revealed in a CCTV footage:
Ambassador Yong Chanthalangsy of Laos to the United Nations in Geneva issued this statement in behalf of the government in relation to Sombath’s case:
The Lao government is deeply concerned about the disappearance of Mr Sombath Somphone and attaches importance to the investigations underway in order to find out the truth of this incident.
On this incident, the concerned authority as the law protection agency that protects and maintains social order has the legal duty to find out the truth in order to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure justice to Mr Sombath and his family according to the law
Thomas Wanhoff asks why police failed to stop Sombath’s ‘abductors’:
Questions still remain why the police did nothing when they witnessed that someone stole the car and Sombath was forced into the car. He certainly would have informed the police officers if he had been kidnapped.
News of Sombath’s kidnapping drew strong reactions inside and outside Laos. Government officials and civil society groups from other countries are one in urging the Laos government to help find the missing Sombath. In Thailand, more than 60 groups signed a petition in support of the campaign to find Sombath:
Sombath, “the trainer of trainers’
We, civil society organizations in Thailand, urge concerned Lao authorities to take every urgent action with regard to Mr. Sombath’s disappearance. We look forward to hearing that all immediate and necessary efforts are made to search his whereabouts and investigate the cause of his disappearance.
Above all and last, we hope that Mr. Sombath remains safe and will re-appear to resume his unfinished mission. For this will be encouraging to not only those sharing a similar mission, but, those committed to the course of making this world a better place for us all
Writing for New Mandala, Simon Creak and Keith Barney asks if Sombath’s disappearance is related to his advocacy for the protection of land rights of ordinary villagers:
Links are instead being drawn between Sombath’s disappearance and his involvement with the controversial AEPF (Asia-Europe People’s Forum held in Vientiane last November), particularly his support for people who made statements advocating for the rights of villagers who are suffering from the loss of their customary lands and resources. As Sombath’s wife has reiterated in public comments, government officials were also involved with the National Organizing Committee of the AEPF, so the event as a whole should not have been tainted.
Harrison George analyzes the impact of Sombath’s disappearance among the Laos civil society networks:
So the effect has been properly paralyzing. Nobody in Lao can guess who will be next. Nobody knows where the line is that they should not cross. Some people have left the country; some have done a duck dive, flitting from safe house to safe house in the hope that the security forces are still a few steps behind. And everyone is keeping their mouths firmly shut.

author: Mong Palatino


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Macedonian Activists Collect 10,000 Signatures for Legislative Change · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Activists of the civic initiative AMAN [mk] continue to fight for a better energy legislation [mg, fr, mk, es], despite pressure and infiltrations. In November, “unknown persons” prevented them from talking to PM Gruevski [mk] at an “open meeting with citizens.” Currently, there's an ongoing signature-gathering campaign for the change of the law (the deadline is January 31, 2013), and AMAN has posted this announcement [mk]:
Even though the necessary 10,000 signatures have been collected, the initiative continues. [The State Electoral Commission] still needs to solve some technical details about closing the procedure, so it would be in our favor if more citizens show support for this initiative through their signatures. This would mean a lot on the day when we submit the petition to the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia; it would mean that all those citizens directly request their representatives to vote for the changes in the Law on Energy: for the return of a cheaper daytime tariff, […] and for the abolition of the obligation for consumers who disconnected from central heating to pay any more remittances to the companies.

author: Filip Stojanovski