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Celebrating New Year’s Eve in Central Asia · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Since independence, the post-Soviet nations of Central Asia have invented a number of new ‘national’ holidays. Yet the celebration of the New Year's Eve, the Soviet people's most favorite holiday, still remains a cherished tradition among many people in the region. Despite some calls to denounce the holiday as ‘foreign’ and ‘un-Islamic’, families in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan celebrated the arrival of the year 2013 in line with the Soviet-era tradition – with a New Year's tree, Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost, Soviet version of Santa Claus), and Snegurochka (the Snow Maiden, Ded Moroz's granddaughter).
Kazakhstan
Although some 17 percent of Kazakhstanis view [ru] the New Year's celebration as a ‘foreign’ custom, over 70 percent of the country's people say they cannot imagine the New Year's eve without Ayaz Ata (the Kazakh version of Ded Moroz), Snegurochka, and a decorated tree. Bloggers Raul Garifulin [ru] and Vyacheslav Firsov [ru] have posted pictures of New Year's fireworks in Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city and the former capital.
New Year's fireworks in Almaty. Image by Raul Garifulin, used with permission.
Another blogger, Ernar Nurmagambetov, wrote [ru] about his trip to Ayaz Ata's newly constructed ‘residence’ in northern Kazakhstan:
Я не пожалел времени и денег, которые потратил на посещение Резиденции Деда Мороза. Хотя бы потому, что у 6-летней дочки, которая уже переставала верить в Деда Мороза – загорелись глазки. ))) А сын прокатился на настоящих северных оленях!!!
I do not regret the time and the money I spent to visit Ded Moroz's residence. After the trip, my 6-year-old daughter – who had begun to doubt that Ded Moroz existed – had her eyes shining with joy. And my son rode the real reindeer!!!
On VoxPopuli, Kazakhstan's leading photo blog, Damir Otegen posted [ru] a photo report about individuals who ‘work’ as Ded Morozes and Snegurochkas during the New Year's celebrations. And Kanat Beisekeyev posted [ru] a story about two Kazakhstani bloggers who dressed as Ded Moroz and Snegurochka and walked along Almaty's main streets, congratulating people on the New Year's Eve and giving children presents.
Bloggers Vyacheslav Nerush and Konstantin Nagayev, dressed as Ded Moroz and Snegurochka, on the streets of Almaty.
Kyrgyzstan
In Kyrgyzstan, the New Year's celebration has not lost its popularity despite the recent calls from some religious and political leaders to discard the Soviet-era tradition. In late December, Islamic clerics in this predominantly Muslims country called for the ban on the New Year's celebrations and urged the country's people to ignore the holiday. In addition, in a meeting with university students in Bishkek, lawmaker Tursunbai Bakir Uulu said [kg] marking the New Year's Eve was ‘un-Islamic’.
Apparently, these calls had little effect on most Kyrgyzstanis. Kloop.kg has posted [ru] a detailed report about this year's holiday, including a summary of the discussion about the holiday's appropriateness among the country's bloggers and Twitter users. The authorities in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, held [ru] a massive New Year's parade of Ded Morozes and Snegurochkas.
New Year's parade of Ded Morozes and Snegurochkas in Bishkek. Image from the Bishkek Mayor's Office Website, used with permission.
Tajikistan
In Tajikistan, there have also been recent calls to ban New Year's celebrations. In mid-November 2012, the official website of the country's Islamic Revival Party urged [ru] the authorities in Dushanbe, Tajikistan's capital, not to erect the traditional New Year's tree, suggesting that it was unwise to spend money on an ‘un-Islamic’ holiday.
Unexpectedly, the call found support among some bloggers. On Blogiston.tj, Teocrat wrote [ru]:
Лично моя позиция к этому праздника такова, что пусть каждый сам решает праздновать его или нет! А государству не следует тратить бюджетные средства на всякие торжественные мероприятия – бюджет страны и без того уже последние 20 лет находится в критическом положении. Думаю, в этой ситуации стоит сэкономить немного средств не только на праздновании НГ, но и многих других торжеств…
I personally believe that everyone should decide for themselves whether to celebrate the holiday or not. But the state should not spend resources from the country's budget on celebrations of any kind; even without this spending, the budget has been in a critical state over the past 20 years. I think in this situation, it makes sense to save a little bit of funds by not marking the New Year's Eve as well as many other festivities…
Comments under this blog show that there is little agreement among Tajikistani users on whether the tradition of ushering in the New Year has religious roots or has a purely secular character.
On her blog, Tajik journalist Zebo Tajibaeva also called [ru] on the authorities not to put up a New Year's tree in Dushanbe this year. According to journalist, the tree that the authorities traditionally erect in the capital is so ugly that the country would be better off without it.
In response to these criticisms, the mayor of Dushanbe announced [ru] that the authorities would continue organizing ‘grand’ festivities for the New Year's celebrations. The Tajik capital ushered in the year 2013 with a traditional New Year's tree, a massive concert, and fireworks.
On NewEurasia.net, Loki posts [ru] photos from the latest New Year's festivities in Dushanbe.
Uzbekistan
In early December 2012, there were reports that the authorities in Uzbekistan had instructed the state-run television channels not to show Ded Moroz, Snegurochka, and the decorated tree during the New Year's celebrations. Reports also suggested that the authorities had invented new names for the Soviet-era Ded Moroz and Snegurochka. The country's Ministry of Culture then had to interfere, saying [ru] such speculations were ‘baseless’.
Indeed, the celebrations in Uzbekistan this year were no different from the past years. On NewEurasia.net blogger Khayyam wrote [ru]:
Новый Год прошел <…>, и я с радостью констатирую факт, что Деда Мороза и Снегурочку никто не похитил, и они, как всегда, полноправно властвовали праздником в Узбекистане!
The New Year's celebration is over <…>, and I am happy to announce that Ded Moroz and Snegurochka have not been abducted; they have dominated the holiday in Uzbekistan as usual!
The blogger has also posted a YouTube video of the New Year's festivities on the main square of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Ecuador: President Refuses to Inaugurate Wind Farm · Global Voices
Alison Martinez

[All links are to Spanish-language pages]
Ecuador's Villonaco wind farm project, located in the province of Loja, is considered emblematic of the government of President Rafael Correa Delgado, himself a former economist. Morevoer, it is the world's highest such eolian structure, built some 2,720 metres above sea level.
On Wednesday January 2, 2013, President Correa refused to officially open the Villonaco wind farm, branding it incomplete because it does not have an access road.
Para este presidente, acabar el proyecto, es tener una vía decente. Incluso es una falta de respeto llevar al presidente por una vía llena de baches, por eso el día de hoy no inauguré el proyecto Villonaco, lo cual me ha dado mucho dolor.
For this president, a finished project is one with adequate access. What's more it shows a lack of respect to have the president driven over a road full of pot holes. It pains to me to say it, but this is why I did not inaugurate the Villonaco project today.
Villonaco wind farm. Photo by Flickr user franzpc (CC BY-ND 2.0).
The wind farm is made up of 11 generators with a total output capacity of 16.5 MW, a substation to step up power from 34.5 to 69 kilovolts, and a subtransmission line that links the Villonaco substation to its counterpart in Loja, which is on Ecuador's national power grid.
The system was set up by the Chinese company Xinjian Goldwind Science and Technology and will cut CO2 emissions by as much as 35.270 metric tons a year. It will also reduce diesel imports, the fuel needed to generate thermal electricity. As Correa points out on Ecuador's Ministry of Tourism website, “We would save almost USD 13 million per year in fuel costs alone.”
Ecuador's electrical company CELEC is in charge of the infrastructure, with an investment of USD 36 million. The benefits are myriad, especially in terms of the environment insofar as the project will reduce toxic emissions in the atmosphere; in economic terms, it will satisfy 25% of the annual energy consumption of the province of Loja. The project will also cover 68,7% of the demand currently handled by the Empresea Eléctrica Regional Sur, the company that provides power to the provinces of Loja, Zamora, and sections of Morona Santiago.
An additional advantage is that it will generate some 90% of local jobs, direct and indirect employment of 257 and 760 posts respectively. It also promises to be an important tourist attraction, with an information centre open to locals and visitors from farther afield.
During his January 2 visit to Loja, however, the president declined the opportunity to inaugurate, among other projects, the Villonaco wind farm, characterising it as incomplete because of the poor state of its access roads.
Me negué a inaugurar el proyecto eólico, porque no somos mediocres. No se hizo lo principal, una vía decente de entrada.
I refuse to inaugurate the wind farm project because we are not mediocre. We did not provide the cornerstone: a decent means of entry.
In response to this, a number of residents of Loja commented on Twitter.
Santiago Carpio R (@SantiagoCarpioR) said:
@SantiagoCarpioR: Amigos periodistas, no se iba a inaugurar el Proyecto Eólico. Sólo era “La puesta en funcionamiento de UNA turbina”. Pilas no!
@SantiagoCarpioR: Journalist friends: they weren't going to inaugurate the wind farm project. They were just firing up ONE turbine. Keep those batteries charging!
Naida_Valarezo (@Naida_Valarezo) retweeted:
@Naida_Valarezo: @NiloV107: @marcetorrespaz @GoberLoja “politica d gobierno es obras INTEGRALES. Parque #Eolico #Loja se inaugurará cuando este completo”
@Naida_Valarezo: @NiloV107: @marcetorrespaz @GoberLoja “government policy calls for COMPLETE WORKS. Parque #Eolico #Loja wil be inaugurated when it's done”
JOHANNA ORDOÑEZ (@joaordonezceli), a journalist in Loja, tweeted on Wednesday evening, January 2:
@joaordonezceli: Presidente Rafael Correa suspendió la puesta en operación del Parque Eolico, por no estar concluido el 100% faltan las vías de acceso
@joaordonezceli: President Rafael Correa cancelled the launch of the wind farm, because it wasn't 100% finished, it is missing access roads
In the end the provincial government of Loja (GPL) was tasked with improving the access road.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Alison Martinez


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Italy: #iostoconmarco, hunger strike against inhuman jail conditions · Global Voices
Bah Abdoulaye

[All links point to original resources in Italian, unless otherwise noted]
In early December 2012, the Italian hashtag #iostoconmarco [#imwithmarco] was trending on Twitter and Facebook, as well as being widely discussed in the blogosphere and on mainstream media across the country. Marco Pannella, the long-standing leader of the Partito Radicale Nonviolento Transnazionale e Transpartito [en, Non Violent Radical Transnational and Transparty], an NGO with general consultative status at the ECOSOC of the United Nations, embarked on another hunger and thirst strike to denounce living conditions in Italian prisons and to demand that measures are adopted to reduce the numbers of prisoners and to give them the right to vote.
On the website amnistiasubito.it [Amnesty Now], Pannella describes his aims as follows:
L'obiettivo è sempre quello: ottenere che lo Stato italiano interrompa la flagranza tecnicamente criminale in termini di diritto internazionale e della “ex” Costituzione italiana. Mentre continuano ad arrivare conferme dalla giurisdizione europea, abbiamo fornito lo strumento perchè questo possa accadere formalmente in dieci giorni. Come episodio enorme, storico, dopo 30 anni di tradimento ed illegalità”.
“The objective is always the same, to ensure that the Italian state puts an end to the concept of “flagrante delicto”, which is technically illegal under both international law and the “former” Italian Constitution. While the European judiciary continues to issue condemnations [of Italian prisons], we have provided the means to ensure that this can occur formally in ten days. A great event, a historic one, after 30 years of betrayal and illegality.”
Everyone admits that living conditions in its prisons are truly shocking in a country like Italy. In this video, entitled “Viaggio choc nelle prigioni italiane” (A shocking journey into Italian prisons), representatives of the criminal bar association testify to and denounce the conditions under which prisoners are forced to live. They declare that:
Fino a 9 detenuti occupano una cella per 4 persone. … La maggioranza dei detenuti trascorre in cella 20 ore su 24…
“Up to 9 prisoners share a cell designed for four people ….The majority of prisoners spend 20 hours a day in their cells…”
Publishing the latest National data, the website primadanoi.it points out that:
La maggior parte dei detenuti entrati nelle carceri nel 2011 (76.982) è in attesa di giudizio, mentre soltanto il 10% circa ha una condanna definitiva. Il 25% di questi torna in libertà entro una settimana.
“The majority of prisoners who entered prison in 2011 (76, 982 individuals) are awaiting trial, while only 10% of them have been sentenced. Of these 25% are released within a week.”
In a post published on unimondo.org last September, Alessandro Graziadei denounced the immobilism of the Italian government, citing the words of the MP Rita Bernardini:
A causa della mancanza di fondi per la manutenzione ordinaria e straordinaria, intere zone negli istituti sono chiuse, transennate, però restano nel computo della capienza regolamentare” inoltre “il disegno di legge delega del Governo in materia di depenalizzazione e decarcerizzazione, calendarizzato a marzo, oggi è ancora al palo”
“Because of the lack of funds for routine and one-off repairs, entire wings of institutions are closed, blocked off, but are still included in the official capacity figures”, and, moreover, “the Government's planned delegation law on decriminalisation and decarceration, scheduled for March, still remains on the starting blocks.”
March for Amnesty, Justice and Liberty on Liberation Day, 25th of April 2012 (photo by the author).
An analysis of the crowded conditions in prisons was published on ristretti.org:
Le cose non vanno meglio a “Poggioreale” (Napoli): 2.600 i detenuti presenti malgrado la struttura ne possa contenere la metà, con punte di 12 individui in celle in cui mancano le docce, a dispetto di quanto richiesto dal Regolamento di attuazione dell'Ordinamento penitenziario. A Lanciano, in Abruzzo, il tasso di sovraffollamento dell'istituto è del 170 per cento. La quasi totalità dei detenuti è dunque costretta a vivere al di sotto dei 3 metri quadrati, soglia minima oltre la quale – secondo quanto stabilito dalla Corte europea dei diritti dell'uomo – si configura la “tortura”.
Things are no better in the “Poggioreale” prison (Naples), where 2,600 prisoners are held in a building that was only designed to hold half of that number, with up to 12 individuals sharing cells without showers, contrary to what is required by the regulations of the Prison System Act. The prison in Lanciano, in the province of Abruzzo, is at 170% capacity. Almost all prisoners are, therefore, forced to live in an area of less than 3 metres squared, which amounts to a form of “torture”, according the European Court of Human Rights's definition.
As Ulisse Spinnato Vega explains in an investigation into the socio-economic aspects of prisons on lettera43.it:
Di norma, il 70% degli ex galeotti torna infatti a delinquere dopo il periodo di detenzione. Ma la percentuale crolla sotto il 20% se nel frattempo essi hanno svolto un’occupazione vera per conto di imprese o cooperative sociali.
I penitenziari italiani ospitano 66 mila persone e abbattere di un punto la recidiva significa tenerne fuori quasi 700 persone. Se si considera che il costo giornaliero di un detenuto si aggira sui 150 euro, lo Stato risparmia in modo diretto circa 35-36 milioni di euro.
Senza contare tutti i benefici sociali ed economici di un malvivente in meno per strada che minaccia, ferisce, uccide, ruba, rapina e impegna risorse dello Stato sul fronte repressivo.
Del resto, oltre il 50% della popolazione carceraria italiana ha tra i 21 e i 39 anni. Dunque, rappresenta un’ottima forza lavoro potenziale e, in epoca di cuneo fiscale altissimo, garantisce vantaggi competitivi alle imprese.
On average, 70% of former prisoners return to crime after the detention period. This percentage falls below 20% if, however, they have, in the meantime, gained experience of a real occupation thanks to businesses or social co-operatives.
Italian prisons are home to 66,000 people and reducing recidivism by 1 percent would mean keeping almost 700 people out of prison. If you consider that the daily cost per prisoner is around 150 Euros, this would directly save the State 35 to 36 million Euros.
This is without taking into account all the social and economic benefits of having one less criminal on the streets, threatening, injuring, killing, robbing, raping and using up less of the resources State dedicates to criminal justice.
Additionally, 50% of the prison population in Italy is between 21 and 39 years of age and represents, therefore, a good potential source of labour and, in the era of the high tax wedge, guarantees companies competitive advantages.
On his blog, Vittorio describes the problems with the judicial administration.
In Italia ci sono 9 milioni di processi arretrati e per ottenere una sentenza definitiva è necessario attendere 10 anni. Se da un lato il 70% dei furti e l’80% degli omicidi rimane impunito, dall'altro ogni anno 170mila processi cadono in prescrizione, un'amnistia per ricchi con buoni avvocati.
In Italy there are 9 million backlogged trials in the system and people often have to wait 10 years for a final sentence. If, on one hand, 70% of thefts and 80% of homicides remain unpunished, on the other hand, the statute of limitations lapses on 170,000 cases each year, an amnesty for rich people with good lawyers.
Jechil reveals the cost of the judicial system's inability to face up to the sheer scale of work involved:
Ancora di più: far ripartire il sistema della Giustizia, significa anche agire sui 6 milioni di processi civili arretrati che costano al nostro Paese 96 miliardi di euro in termini di mancata ricchezza (quasi l’1% del Pil italiano). Il centro Studi di Confindustria nel 2011 ha stimato che smaltire l’enorme mole di pratiche accumulate frutterebbe alla nostra economia il 4,9% del Pil, ma basterebbe abbatterne il tempo di risoluzione anche del 10% per guadagnare ogni anno lo 0,8% di Pil.
And moreover, to kick start the justice system, means tackling the backlog of 6 million unresolved civil procedures which cost our country 96 billion Euros in lost revenue (almost 1% of Italian GNP). In 2011 the Studi di Confindustria centre estimated that working through the enormous backlog would benefit our economy to the tune of 4.9% of GNP but that even cutting down the time taken to resolve just 10% of these cases would benefit the economy by 0.8% of GNP each year.
A post on the website ogginotizie.it declares that:
Ci sono anche il sindaco di Firenze Matteo Renzi e il governatore della Toscana Enrico Rossi tra i politici e le personalità toscane che hanno aderito a una lettera-appello a Marco Pannella nella quale si condividono i motivi della sua protesta, lo si invita a interrompere il digiuno e si promette al leader radicale che i firmatari intraprenderanno, per un giorno, a staffetta, uno sciopero della fame. All'iniziativa, partita dal consigliere regionale del Pd Enzo Brogi in accordo con i radicali fiorentini, hanno aderito anche, si spiega in una nota, Marco Taradash, consigliere regionale del Pdl, i musicisti Erriquez Greppi e Dolcenera, il regista Alessandro Benvenuti e il vignettista Sergio Staino.
The mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, and the governor of Tuscany, Enrico Rossi, were among the politicians and Tuscan public figures that signed an open-letter to Marco Pannella, in which they supported the reasons for his protest, and called for him to halt his strike, promising that the signatories would take it in turns to go on a hunger strike for one day. In a note, it is explained that other supporters of the initiative, the brainchild of the regional PD counselor Enzo Brogi and Florentine radicals, include Marco Taradash, the PDL regional counselor, the musicians Erriquez Greppi and Dolcenera, the director Alessandro Benvenuti and the cartoonist Sergio Staino.
Young socialists in Lazio, the province in which Rome is situated, sent the following message of solidarity which was published on latuavoce.it,:
Ancora una volta, quest’uomo di oltre 80 anni, che ha introdotto grandi rivoluzioni in Italia, ci consegna una grande lezione di civiltà.
Once again, this man who is more than 80 years old, who brought great revolutions to Italy, has taught us a great lesson in civility.
Nonetheless, it would be a mistake to think that Italians support Marco Pannella unanimously. For example, one commentator on Repubblica.it, attiliomanduzio expresses the point of view of many Italians:
Se preferisce morire, lasciamolo morire, ‘sto rompicoglioni! Vuole solo portare all'attenzione generale la sua lista. Per poi, magari, al momento opportuno, sputare nel piatto dove mangia, come ha fatto quando i suoi sgherri non hanno fatto cadere il governo berlusconi con motivazioni ridicole. Basta! 40 anni fa ha dato una mano benemerita per l'introduzione di due istituti civili quali il divorzio e l'aborto, ma ora basta vivere di rendita!
If he wants to die, let's just let him die, the pain in the … that he is! He only wants to draw people's attention to his list. And then, perhaps, at the right moment, he'll bite the hand that feeds him, like he did when his goons failed to bring down Berlusconi's government for stupid reasons. Enough! 40 years ago he helped usher in two civil institutions, divorce and abortion, but he needs to stop living off past glories!
Meanwhile, on December 27th Marco Pannella called off his hunger strike, while declaring himself to be “ready to take it up again” if things don't begin to change. With the attention of the political world fixed on the scandals uncovered by the judiciary and the parliamentary, as well as the fall of the Monti government, the legality or illegality of the Italian State does not seems to be a priority at the moment. While the extensive media coverage has been fading away, it remains to be seen whether the main parties are planning to include some initiatives in favour of prisoners in their manifestos for the general elections of February 2013 or if, instead, they will fall back on the same old excuse that public opinion is not ready for the idea of a general amnesty.

author: Bah Abdoulaye


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Peru: Rally Dakar 2013 Kicks Off · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

From Peru, Global Voices author Juan Arellano posts on his own blog Globalizado [es] pictures of the start of the 2013 Dakar Rally in Lima, as well as links to other posts and articles related to this sports event.

author: Gabriela García Calderón


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Tunisian Army Critic Gets a One-Year Suspended Jail Sentence · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

Yesterday [January, 4], a Tunis based military court increased the suspended jail of Ayoub Massoudi, a former advisor to Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, from four months to a year. Last September, a primary military court convicted Massoudi to a four-month suspended prison sentence on charges of “defaming” the army and “undermining senior officials in the military”, over his televised declarations [en] regarding the extradition of former Muammar Gaddafi's Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmoudi to Libya. However, on appeal Massoudi's fourth-month jail sentence tripled it.
Ayoub Massoudi, photo via Nawaat
Last July, Massoudi described the extradition of Baghdadi Mahmoudi as “a treason against the State” and accused Rachid Ammar [Chief of Staff of the Tunisian Armed Forces] and Abdelkrim Zbidi [Minister of Defence] of not notifying President Marzouki about the extradition process which took place on June 14. Fearing that he would not get a fair trial in Libya, Marzouki had opposed the extradition of Mahmoudi.
Rached Cherif reports [fr]:
Dans cette affaire, où l’armée est donc juge et partie, le verdict est tombé comme un couperet dans la journée du 4 janvier. Incapable de se désavouer, la justice militaire a alourdi la peine pour la porter à 1 an de prison avec sursis, assortie comme en première instance d’une interdiction de port d’arme et d’une privation de toute distinction honorifique et d’embauche dans la fonction publique.
In this case, where the army is both a judge and a party, the verdict came out of the blue on January 4. Unable to pull back, the military justice increased the sentence to a one-year suspended jail term. As in the first instance, the term was accompanied by a ban to bear arms and a deprivation from any honorary distinction and recruitment for the public service
Massoudi's lawyer told [ar] the award-winning blog Nawaat that the travel ban imposed on Massoudi in August, 2012, has not been lifted yet:
أشار الأستاذ القلّيل أنّ إجراء تحجير السفر إدانة مُسبقة لأيوب المسعودي من طرف القضاء العسكري، و أكّد أنّ تواصل المنع من السفر رغم صدور حكم إبتدائي جُناحي يقضي برفع تحجير السفر
Mr Kelli (lawyer of Ayoub Massoudi) said that the travel ban is a prior conviction to Ayoub Massoudi by the military justice. He added that the ban is still in effect despite a primary verdict ordering its lift
As a result, Massoudi is still unable to join his wife and children, who live in France. On January 1, he published on his personal blog a letter, which he dedicated to his two children:
أدري وأنا أكتب هذه الأسطر متى سنلتقي من جديد لأضمكم إلى صدري وأنفض عن قلوبكم غبار أيام الغياب والوحشة؟ لا  أدري متى، ولكن… مصير الأحباء أن يلتقوا، طال الزمن أو قصرلا!
As I write these words, I have no idea when we will meet again, to hug you and brush away [the pain caused] by the days of separation and absence from your hearts. I do not know when… but no matter how much time it takes, loved ones are always destined to meet again
On Twitter, Malek Khadhraoui criticized [fr] the military justice:
Le jugement dans l'affaire de Ayoub Massoudi est scandaleux et confirme que la justice militaire est une mascarade #freeayoub
The verdict in Ayoub Massoudi's case is disgraceful and confirms that the military justice is a masquerade #freeAyoub
@HamdySdiri raises the following question [ar]:
الكلام في الجيش ما يجيش؟ #FreeAyoub
Is army criticism unacceptable?

author: Afef Abrougui


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1968 Comes to Today’s Russian Universities? · Global Voices
Yulia Lukashina

Last month, on December 18, students at the Russian State University of Trade and Economics [ru] (RSUTE) began a strike and blocked the main door of their alma mater. Controversy surrounds Sergei Baburin, the school's recently sacked chancellor, whose academic tenure overlapped with a long history of political activity. In December 2011, he became the leader of a new political coalition: the Russian Nationwide Union, a nationalist entity that aimed to challenge the country's “party of power,” United Russia. On November 4, 2012, Baburin and his comrades took part in a major nationalist parade on Unity Day in Moscow, where organizers even singled him out for special honors.
For the students, however, the main troubles lay elsewhere. In the wake of Baburin's resignation, state authorities determined that RSUTE was underperforming and announced that it would be merging with a smaller institution, the Plekhanov State Economic University (also known as Pleshka or Plekahnovka), which has only 17 thousand students to RSUTE's 75 thousand (scattered across multiple campuses).
Students turn to force in recent university policy dispute. Screenshot. 6 January 2013, date of Tweet: 26 December 2012.
Writing in online social networks, students have compared the merger with corporate raids, which have at times been a common feature of Russia's post-communist development.
On December 21, a moderator of a Facebook community for RSUTE wrote [ru]:
Нет окупации и рейдерскому захвату РГТЭУ!
No to occupation and the usurpation of RSUTE!
Summarizing the consequences of the strike, Volodar Kogonitzky turned to Facebook to voice a call to arms [ru]:
Охрану полностью заменили (новым ЧОП), забостовка свёрнута, многих студентов запугали отчислениями, нескольких преподователей уволилил своими распоряжением и.о Шкляев А. […] Бубурин С.Н. находится в больнице, на него обещали завести уголовное дело, под любым предлогом, если будет продолжать упираться. (Граждане хватит пресмыкаться, боритесь за свои права, вставайте!!!)
The [university's] security guards have been completely replaced (with new private guards), the strike has collapsed, many students have been terrified of expulsion, a few tutors were fired by order of interim Chancellor Shklyayev. […] Baburin is in the hospital now, and criminal proceedings have been promised, if he keeps up his stubbornness. (Citizens, quit your crying and fight for your rights! Stand up!!!)
RSUTE was for its students more than just a place to study—it became a part of their lives and a symbol of their future. Another community member, Elmira Dzhantemirova, personified these hopes in a post on Facebook [ru]:
РГТЭУ – для меня и многих кто учился там, стал по сути семейным ВУЗом.
Конечно, там были и свои проблемы, а также и свои успехи. Но, то что происходит сейчас, похоже на рейдерский захват, нарушаются права и законы, куда же смотрят Президент и Премьер министр?
Этот университет выпустил многих специалистов, достигших не малых высот в различных сферах. А также выпускал специалистов, простых тружеников, дипломы которых имели не последнее значение! А что теперь???
Кто дал право этим чиновничкам распоряжаться судьбами людей!!!! Это что, за “властители судеб???”
For me and many others who studied there, RSUTE has actually become a family school.
Of course, it had its own pluses and minuses, but what is going on here now looks like a corporate raid, it looks illegal, and I want to know [how] President [Putin] and the Prime Minister [Medvedev] are[n't] seeing this.
Many specialists have graduated from this university, rising to high positions in all different spheres. [The university] also trained [other types of] specialists, [as well as] simple workers, whose diplomas were not their least valuable achievement! And now what??? Who gave these bureaucrats the right to manage other people's lives!!! Are they the “masters of fate”???
Some students tried to rally support for Baburin on Twitter, spreading the hashtag #BaburinMyRector (#БабуринМойРектор). During overnight sit-ins, some participants also sang songs, as Twitter user Dmitriyev Artem tells:
@Alla_Mit@verbizkaja ))))))))) энергеты подпевали песню о реорганизации))) ночь#РГТЭУ
@Alla_Mit @verbizkaja ))))))))) the energy-students were singing the chorus for a song about reorganization))) night#RSUTE
Overnight, RSUTE became a popular symbol for educational traditions.
On December 27, the strike stopped. Students were promised the same academic conditions as before, and tutors were given a guarantee against ill treatment. The main result of the 1968 protests was a new interest in aggressively defending popular rights. That historical period changed many minds. Could Russia be on the verge of its own cultural revolution?

author: Yulia Lukashina


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Blaming Rape Victims in Cambodia · Global Voices
Sopheap Chak

If there is widespread outrage and protest in India as a reaction to the death of a young woman who was a victim of gang rape, the contrast is the situation in Cambodia where there seems to be little public outcry over rape cases.
Rape cases are given low profile despite the report of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) which documented 467 rape cases in 2011 and 320 in 2012. These figures could be higher since rape is underreported in the country.
According to the group, rape cases often fail to reach the courts because the perpetrator is able to offer financial compensation to the victim. The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) also attributed this to the fact that a family member is pinpointed as the rape perpetrator in the 53 out of 250 rape cases they documented between May 2010 to May 2011.
Mapping of rape cases in Cambodia. Image from sithi
Worse, some law enforcement officials are blaming the victims for being raped. Responding to a recent case involving a 19-year-old disabled woman who was raped in a banana field in the Kien Svay district, Kandal province, the district police chief Pam Sam Eth reportedly said:
It was already 9 p.m. when was raped. She shouldn’t have been out so late.
Such remark reflects the attitude of some public officials when confronted with rape cases; and it deters victims from seeking assistance with proper government authorities. Sadly, this attitude is not limited in a single district and there have been several instances when public officials are reported to have uttered a similar remark. For example, the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs reportedly supported a public rally of more than 100 people who came out in the streets to urge Khmer women to dress more modestly:
Wearing short skirts and sexy clothes causes rape to occur, because all men, when they see white skin, immediately feel like having sex.
Image from the video of equitycam about ‘Rape and Legal Punishment in Cambodia’
Writing for The Cambodian Daily, Mech Dara and Denise Hruby quote a 2010 report by the Amnesty Internationalwhich sounded the alarm on the rising number of rape cases in Cambodia
Amid a culture of impunity and widespread corruption, victims of sexual violence in Cambodia are often denied justice; struggle to pay informal fees for health services; and grapple to obtain assistance and support. Commonly, law-enforcement officials, including police and court staff, arrange unlawful out-of-court payments between the victim and the perpetrator (or their families)
The lack of effective investigations and prosecution further harms victims, who often live with the fear that the perpetrator is free to attack them again, with the additional psychological pain and a perceived loss of dignity. Failures by the authorities, including in the criminal justice system, go unquestioned and become an extension of the initial abuse
Another documented discriminatory statement is the proposal of the Phnom Penh Governor back in 2009 to ban girls under 16 year old from going out alone after 9pm. His belief is that young girls are likely to show up at clubs, karaoke bars or other entertainment places where only adults should be allowed entry. He further asserted that this proposal is aimed to promote good morals in society. However, the proposed girl curfew was criticized by many people who prefer that local authorities focus on law enforcement instead of merely blaming the victim.
The attitude of shifting the blame on women (the CCHR did not encounter any instance of rape involving a male victim or a female perpetrator during its case documentation), puts more women at risk. This contradicts the government declaration that ‘women are the backbone of the nation’.

author: Sopheap Chak


text:
China’s Environmental Protests · Global Voices
Abby Liu

China has seen many protests over environmental issues in the past five years. Chinadialogue analyzed what caused the protests and why environmental issues fail to make any progress in China.

author: Abby Liu


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Sex Allegations Hound Russia’s Top Blogger · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

In the days leading up to the New Year, as everyone was preparing for celebration and anticipating a welcome break from Twitter, RuNet was hit with a bizarre scandal. At another time it would have perhaps attracted more attention — as it stands, it soon lost momentum and was replaced with other controversies, leaving behind unanswered questions.
Rustem Adagamov. 2011, CC 3.0 Kremlin.ru. from Wikimedia Commons.
In a nutshell, Tatyana Delsal, ex-wife of top blogger and Coordinating Council member Rustem Adagamov (a.k.a. drugoi [ru]), has accused him of statutory rape. The first accusation came in a December 27th post on Delsal's blog, autre_nouvelle, where she wrote [ru]:
Адагамов преступник. Против несовершеннолетних детей. Статья УГ 132, пункт 3,в […] Upd. да, в новой редакции закона п 4б. Беру полную ответственность по поводу заявленного на себя и готова подтверждать ее под присягой в суде.
Adagamov is a criminal. Crimes against minors. Article 132 of the Criminal Code, part 3,c […] Update. yes, in the new version of the law it's part 4b. I take full responsibility for my statements and I am ready to testify to them in court and under oath.
Article 132, Part 4 (b) refers [ru] to “sexual assault, when perpetrated against persons who have not reached 14 years of age.”
Delsal's accusation was picked up and disseminated by ntv (no relation to the TV channel), a blogger known for scandalous posts and kompromat. In his post [ru], ntv stated as a fait accompli that Adagamov, who has recently been speaking out against Russia's anti-adoption law, is a pedophile. He also stated that he contacted Delsal to confirm her identity as the author of the original post.
Readers were divided in their opinions. Some were ready to believe the worst about Adagamov, who, while popular, is not well loved. Many, though, took a different view [ru]:
Не секрет что бывшие жены имеют привычку сочинять самую невероятную хуйню во имя священной войны с бывшим мужем.
It's no secret that ex-wives have the tendency to make up the most unbelievable sh*t in the name of holy war with the ex-husband.
Tatyana Delsal giving interview to unknown parties. YouTube screenshot, Jan 5, 2013.
The day after ntv broke the story, another accusation from Delsal appeared, this time as a YouTube video. Delsal, who lives in Norway and has recently recovered from cancer, added several details to her accusation: the victim was twelve at the time of the assault which took place several years ago, and she had only found out about it within the last year. Delsal also alleged that she is in possession of factual proof. Because of the green grass and bushes in the background of the video, and taking into account Norwegian winters, the video appears to have been recorded some months prior to its publication.
Adagamov responded to the accusations with a series of tweets, alleging [ru] that:
Меня, кстати, об этой съемке предупреждали ребята в Москве еще осенью. Говорили, что к Татьяне выехала «Анатомия протеста».
By the way, I was warned of this video in Moscow back in Fall. They said that “The Anatomy of Protests” has gone to see Tatyana.
He was referring to a series of documentary films smearing opposition leaders produced for Russian television over the past year. Adagamov seems to say that he is being set up, and his wife is in on it. Nevertheless, he noted [ru] that:
[…] она мне до сих пор родной человек, хоть и не может простить мне измену
[…] she is still dear to me, even though she can't forgive me for infidelity
And [ru]:
И последнее. Ребята, вы поймите, я мужик, я не могу говорить плохо о своей бывшей жене. Я с ней 20 лет прожил. Поэтому, я буду молчать.
Lastly. Guys, please understand, I am a man, I can't speak badly about my ex-wife. I've lived 20 years with her. So, I will remain silent.
Pro-Kremlin bloggers gleefully ran with the story. Unabashedly anti-opposition blogger Politrash has leaked [ru] what purports to be a series of emails between Adagamov and Delsal, provided by Delsal to the source of the YouTube video. In these emails Delsal levels accusations at Adagamov, who does not dispute them, responding mainly by begging her not to destroy his life. The melodramatic contents hint at fabrication. Furthermore, as some Politrash's readers have pointed out [ru], the email time stamps are suspect.
For example, the following is a series of consecutive time stamps:
On Jun 24, 2012, at 8:32 PM, Татьяна wrote:
On Jun 24, 2012, at 6:38 PM, Drugoi wrote:
On Jun 24, 2012, at 8:53 PM, Татьяна wrote:
On Jun 24, 2012, at 7:03 PM, Drugoi wrote:
At first glance it appears that the confusion is due to a two hour time difference between the correspondents. However, since Norway is UTC +2:00 during the summer, and Moscow is permanently UTC +4:00, this would mean that Delsal (who lives in Norway) was in Moscow and Adagamov (who mainly lives in Moscow) was in Norway, when the emails were written. Otherwise, assuming Delsal was in Norway during the exchange, Adagamov would have to be writing from Iceland (UTC +0 year round). Or, perhaps, whoever composed this string of emails was confused by time zones.
Some members of the nationalist opposition, who have a bone to pick with anti-nationalist Adagamov, also couldn't pass up the chance to take a swing [ru]:
[…] ненависть к националистам – первый симптом начинающейся педофилии. Сегодня ты ругаешь Русское Национальное Государство, а завтра – трахаешь детей.
[…] hating nationalists is the first symptom of a developing pedophilia. Today you curse the Russian National State, tomorrow – you f*ck children.
The situation is obfuscated by the fact that people attacking Adagamov are the usual suspects — pro-government and anti-opposition. On the other hand, people who speak for him are fellow members of the opposition, who assume that Kremlin is behind everything. This has led Vladimir Golishev, a fiercely anti-government blogger, to state [ru]:
Универсальное правило “наш человек непогрешим по определению” одинаково работает везде – в Кремле, в Священном Синоде, в “КС оппозиции”.
The universal rule “our man is innocent by definition” works the same everywhere – in the Kremlin, in the Holy Synod, in the “Coordinating Council of the Opposition”.
Even Adagamov's silence can be interpreted in different ways. To some it's paramount proof of his guilt. To others [ru], it only speaks to his superior character:
Давайте снимем шляпы перед мужеством Адагамова, который с таким невозмутимым спокойствием, молча и без истерик, выжидает паузу.
Lets take our hats off to the bravery of Adagamov, who silently and without hysterics, and with unperturbed calm, is waiting this out.
Of course, there are some exceptions to the rule. Artemy Lebedev, another of RuNet's most popular bloggers, who generally steers clear of politics and scandals that don't involve himself, decided to weigh in [ru] this time, saying that:
Я знал про эту историю полгода назад.
I knew about this story half a year ago.
Internet guru Anton Nosik also couldn't keep silent. Although he appears to think that the accusations are likely false, he couldn't help damning Adagamov with his “praise”:
[…] я помню, как он страшно переживал, когда у его жены нашли рак. […] её организм спасли. Но, как сам Рустем мне рассказывал в 2007 году, после операции его жена сошла с ума. […] Готов в любом суде выступить свидетелем в его защиту. По-человечески по-прежнему считаю его говном.
[…] I remember how he was worried when they found his wife's cancer. […] her body was saved. But, as Rustem himself told me in 2007, after the surgery his wife went insane. […] I am ready to testify for him in any court. But as a human being, I still think he is a piece of sh*t.
Nosik later made his post private, but not before many people took screenshots [ru].
Nosik's testimony about Adagamov's character did not go unnoticed. DemVybor's Kirill Shulika wrote [ru]:
Не знаю травля это или нет, похоже, что травля, но чувак-то он мерзкий, вся эта красота легла на благодатную почву. […] К слову, даже Носег пишет, что Адагамов говно, но свое, оно не пахнет и типа он будет его защищать.
I don't know if it's persecution or not, seems like persecution, but he's a vile dude, and all this fell on fertile ground. […] By the way, even Nosik writes that Adagamov is a sh*t, but he's our sh*t, and it don't stink, and he will defend him or something.
After going silent for several days, Delsal spoke out again on January 3rd, in a comment [ru] to Oleg Lurie, who wondered if after the much ado there would be any legal action:
Следствие будет и я его добьюсь. Надеюсь на экспертизу переписки и другие доказательства. Ни кремль, ни деньги, ни политика в принципе здесь не имеют никакого отношения.
There will be a criminal investigation, I will make sure of it. I count on examination of the letters and other proof. Neither Kremlin, nor money, nor politics have anything to do with this, in principle.
Interest in the scandal seems to be running low, at least judging by the dearth of recent tweets about it. In the end, if the accusations are true, Adagamov will serve time. And if they are indeed part of a Kremlin defamation campaign, one can only laugh at the heavy weaponry brought to bear on a simple blogger. One hopes, at least, that this tweet [ru] by Adagamov was meant as a joke:
Мне тут мексиканская разведка озвучила за сколько меня заказали. Заказ до летального исхода.
By the way, Mexican intelligence told me how much this hit job on me apparently cost. It's a fatal outcome type of job.

author: Andrey Tselikov


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‘Stop Impunity in Southeast Asia’ · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

‘Stop impunity’ video calling for the protection of journalists in Southeast Asia
The Southeast Asia Press Alliance produced a video highlighting the human rights abuses suffered by journalists in Southeast Asia. The network documented more than 100 cases of impunity in the region.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Taiwan’s Nuclear-free New Year’s Wish · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

Every year, Taiwanese gather around Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taiwan to see fireworks and celebrate the coming of the new year.
This year, the celebration was very special as popular singers, environmental and youth activists worked together to present a nuclear-free homeland as Taiwanese people's common wish [zh] for 2013. Singers performed in new year's eve parties and sang anti-nuclear songs. Environment groups organized a joint signature campaign to build consensus among Taiwanese for a nuclear-free policy.
The most eye-catching action was delivered by a number of youth activists under the Citizens No Nuke [zh, en, jp, de] network, who projected an anti-nuclear sign on Taipei 101 during the annual fireworks. They uploaded their action to Youtube afterwards.
Below is an explanation of their action in the group's website [zh, en, jp, de, fr, ko]:
Taiwan bears critical risk as two nuclear power plants, NPP1 and NPP2, which the seismic resistance coefficient is estimated evidently less than that of Fukushima Daiichi NPP, are located tightly alongside the active fault zone of the volcanic arc…According to nuclear energy researcher Koide Hiroaki, once the radioactive materials of NPP4 Taiwan are released, the exposure to the Northern region will result in 30,000 death immediately and 7 million residents with chronic diseases or cancer. The radioactive material will spread out through sea current and atmosphere, bringing the disaster to neighboring countries, and eventually global-wise. Every person in the world inevitably shares the potential risk and consequences of nuclear power technology.
Regardless of the debates and anxiety from the society, or the technical issues of safety and management, the officials of the government haven’t clarified the problems without the determination of self-responsibility. The discontent of the situation has reached a critical point.
It is time to end the technopoly… With no pains or bloods split, we declare that Taiwan as a democratic country, our will not to be dominated by the privileged 1%. And without the responsibility of our government to the beings of the Earth, the 99% will join together and exercise for their right.
We are the 99%, and you will see us in the end.
Anti-nuclear sign projected on Taipei 101. Image from Citizens Nonuke.
There are some comments under the Youtube video. ksutgman found the action meaningful:
謝謝 好感動 這比101煙火 好看精彩100萬倍
While some people found this alien-like sign ruined the fireworks, 朱想容 said:
惶恐這個反核標誌，卻不去反思台灣的核電多可怕，我該說什麼呢？
Though many netizens are excited about the action, the management of Taipei 101 is unhappy [zh] and is considering taking legal action against the activists. Sophia Hong pointed out that while an image projection that harms no one is disturbing to some, people should pay attention to the Tao people who have been living with nuclear waste everyday for 30 years:
Anti-nuclear sign projected on Taipei 101. Image from Citizens Nonuke.
你覺得核廢料那些玩意是合理應該出現在別人的島上，讓別人生活何止充滿惶恐，他們一輩子要面對的是健康上的恐懼!!!!
Is Taiwan ready to become a nuclear-free country? On Jan 9, 2013, the Legislative Yuan will start to examine the draft law on the promotion of a nuclear-free homeland [zh], which was proposed in 2005. If this draft law is passed, the three nuclear power plants will cease to operate once their service lives have expired and the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant will be stopped.
Currently, the residents affected by the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant are  pressing for a referendum [zh] to stop its construction in 2013.

author: I-fan Lin


text:
Tiptoeing Tradition, Cuba Welcomes the New Year · Global Voices
Elaine Díaz

[All links lead to Spanish language websites unless otherwise noted]
The year 2012, marked by the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cuba, Hurricane Sandy's trail of destruction, the controversial legal regulation of the public use of music, among other events, also made a mark on the island's blogosphere.
The celebration of Christmas in Cuba was also a reason for analysis in some blogs. In his article ‘La cultura de la Navidad’ (The Culture of Christmas), Roberto Méndez compiles historical information about the evolution of this tradition on the island.
Hasta muy avanzados los años 60 del pasado siglo (…) aunque solo una porción de la población fuera auténticamente cristiana, era común celebrar esta época en familia (…) La orientación atea del gobierno a partir de 1961 y, sobre todo, la suspensión de los festejos navideños en torno a la zafra de 1970, convirtió a la Navidad en algo casi clandestino. (…) Con el avance de los años 80, ciertas prohibiciones oficiales fueron relajándose, aunque lo navideño quedaba sumido en el ambiguo terreno de los ‘festejos de fin de año’.
Until the late 60's of the last century (…) even if only a portion of the population was authentically Christian, it was common to celebrate that time with family (…) The Atheist orientation of the government from 1961 and, above all, the suspension of Christmas festivities around the harvest of 1970, converted Christmas into something almost secret. (…) With the advance of the 80's, certain official prohibitions were gradually relaxed, although Christmas arose in the ambiguous terrain of ‘end-of-year festivities.’
At this time, Rosana Berjaga, in her blog Yo Me Mi… pero contigo, recounts the meaning of the Christmas tree for her nephew of 7 years.
A Ernesto no le importa la apología a lo extranjero. Mi sobrino no puede entender qué es una tradición importada, qué es un consumo inconsciente, en su cabecita de 6 años no hay espacio para entender que la tradición de la navidad y la de Papá Noel y la de los Reyes Magos, nos fue impuesta por la colonización económica.
Mi sobrino hace apología de una navidad sin nieve porque es el momento del año en que todos juntos, como una familia, armamos el enorme arbolito de mi abuela.
Ernesto doesn't care about the defense of what is foreign. My nephew can't understand what an imported tradition is, what subconscious consumption is, in his little six year-old head there isn't space to understand that the tradition of Christmas and those of Papa Noel and the Three Wise Men were imposed on us by economic colonialisation.
My nephew calls for a Christmas without snow because it's the time of the year when we all, as a family, decorate the enormous Christmas tree of my grandmother.
The Cuban city of Santiago, the main city affected in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, likewise celebrated
Christmas symbols in the streets of Havana, Cuba. (Photo: Courtesy of Jorge Luis Baños)
the arrival of the new year. In the blog Musilla Traviesa,  the author picks up on a celebration that dates back to the year 1900.
Es la fiesta de la Bandera, acto único en todo el país y de su género en el mundo, que se desarrolla ininterrumpidamente desde el 31 de diciembre de 1900. Oportunidad en la que el entonces Alcalde de Santiago de Cuba, Don Emilio Bacardí Moreau izó en el edificio gubernamental una Bandera Cubana justo a las 12:00 de la noche.
Esta fiesta tuvo su origen cuando el señor Ángel Moya conocido por los santiagueros como ‘Chichi’, ‘concibió la idea de regalar a la ciudad la primera bandera cubana que debía ondear oficialmente en el edificio municipal, una vez proclamada la república libre y soberana.’
It's the Flag Festival, an act unique to the country and only in its kind in the world, which has been uninterruptedly celebrated since 31st December 1900. Time at which the then-mayor of Santiago of Cuba, Don Emilio Bacardí Moreau, hoisted a Cuban flag in the governmental building at exactly midnight.
This festival originated from when Sir Ángel Moya, known by the santigueros (habitants of Santiago) as ‘Chichi’, ‘thought up the idea of giving the city the first Cuban flag to officially wave in the municipal building, when the free and sovereign republic was definitively proclaimed.’
The extension of Internet access was also a topic that set the end-of-year agenda in the Cuban blogosphere. According to an article published in the official daily, Granma, the fibre optic cable between Cuba and Venezuela should have gone into operation in July 2011. This investment, of 70 millon dollars, would have “multiplied the transmission speed of information, images and the voice that Cuba possesses today by 3000 times.” At the end of 2012, for Luis Rondón Paz, author of Ciudadano Cero, “we are still bogged down by the Internet vs Intranet battle, where the Internet is what is outside of Cuba and the Intranet is what is inside.”
Where the blogosphere is concerned, according to Rogelio Díaz, “the year that finishes this Monday 31st December, according to the Western calendar, was not a very happy one for intelligence, debate or the free expression of the inevitably existing differences among the visions and aspirations of each Cuban.”
The closure of some blogs like La Joven Cuba from positions related to the government aggravated the Díaz's questioning, who also points out:
¿Por qué a la juventud, llamada a desempeñar roles protagónicos en todo proceso revolucionario y enaltecida con el llamado guevariano al Hombre Nuevo, le decapitan todo intento de desbordar el rol asignado de obediencia? ¿Qué mensajes clarísimos emiten estos sucesos? Evidentemente, que el horno no está para galleticas; que toda voz fresca, espontánea, que se atreva a poner en juicio las políticas de la burocracia imperante, está en peligro de ser suprimida en el momento en que así se estime conveniente. No habrá tolerancia al debate abierto, al análisis sincero de ideas diversas, ni siquiera dentro del campo de las corrientes que respeten ideales socialistas desde distintos matices. La unidad monolítica y la obediencia a la clase burocrática imperante seguirá siendo el único estandarte aceptable.
Why do they decapitate young people's attempts to subvert the assigned role of obedience, when they are the ones being called to play leading roles in the entire revolutionary process and exalted with the so-called ‘Guevarian’ call to the New Man? What crystal-clear messages do these events offer? Evidently, that the oven is not for cookies, that the latest, spontaneous voice that dares to put the policies of the ruling bureaucracy into question is in danger of being suppressed at the moment when it is deemed convenient. There will not be tolerance of open debate, of sincere analysis of diverse ideas, not even within the field of commoners who respect socialist ideas from different aspects. Monolithic unity and obedience to the dominant bureaucratic class will continue to be the only acceptable standard.
However, for the final day of the year, Cuban blogger and journalist Luis Sexto recommended: “I dare to suggest to you, then, that we don't pray on the last night of the year (…) for a rosary of reproaches to life. Neither for what has been lost, nor for what we will lose”.
*Cover photo by flippinyank, taken from Flickr under Licence CC BY-2.0.

author: Elaine Díaz


text:
The Mauritanian Water Uprising · Global Voices
أحمد جدو

Maghta Lahjar town protest photo by Tfeil Brahim on Facebook
On January 3rd, 2013, hundreds of Maghta-Lahjar residents took to the streets in a protest [ar] demanding potable water for their community. The regime had promised them to finish suffering and provide them with water, however, time has passed and the promise wasn't fulfilled. The residents unrest known by the water uprising [en] kicked off three years ago, but it was only last year that increased in scale.
more
Activist Tfeil Brahim wrote about the Maghta-Lahjar protest [a]:
لم يخيب سكان المكطع الأحرار آمال الشباب فيهم
فهبوا بحشودهم الكبيرة ليؤكدوا على مضيهم قدما مع شبابهم المناضلين
في المطالبة بالمياه الصالحة للشرب , وليبرهنوا على أن المواعيد الباطلة لاتزيدهم إلى إصرارا.
فما عاد للوعود وقع في نفوس أهل المكطع , فلم نعد نثق سوى في الإطلاق الفعلي للمشروع
Maghta-Lahjar free citizens didn't disappoint the youth hopes in them, they went massively to assert they were moving forward with the young militants in demanding drinkable water and to prove that vain promises will only increase their persistence and tenacity. Maghta-Lahjar inhabitants no longer believe promises, we only believe in really launching the project.

author: أحمد جدو


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Vietnam Tech News Websites Need to Cover Local Updates · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

It’s not easy for the layman to get news about new technology companies, new products, or cutting edge trends in Vietnam… Everybody knows about the latest iPhone, nobody knows about Setech Viet.
Anh-Minh Do explains why most Vietnamese tech news websites provide more coverage to global technology news updates.


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Assad’s Delusional #DonkeySpeech Scorned   · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.
Bashar Al Assad's latest speech, 21 months into Syria's uprising, drew scorn from netizens around the world. Many are also dismayed that not much is being done to alleviate the suffering of Syrians. Around 60,000 people have reportedly been killed, food and fuel are scarce and millions are homeless, either internally displaced by the crisis or living in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.
On Twitter, many reacted to his speech as he was speaking under the amusing hashtag #DonkeySpeech.
Saudi Ahmed bin Rashid bin Saeed jokes:
@LoveLiberty: #DonkeySpeech I disagree with this hashtag. I believe it violates the rights of this peaceful and obedient animal, adding to it's misery
A sign in Yabroud, Damascus suburbs: “I don't care if you support or oppose [Assad]. Respect yourself by respecting me.” Photograph shared by @Basma_ on Twitter
As Assad wrapped up his speech, Abdullah reacts:
@SyrianSmurf: That scene towards the end of Animal Farm when the Pigs are speaking and the sheep clap comes to mind… #DonkeySpeech
The 47th adds:
@THE_47th: As he finished his speech, the sheep around him all chanted in one voice: “Shabbeeha [thugs], forever.. Just for you.. Al Assad” #DonkeySpeech
And Bedouinocracy notes:
@Bedouinocracy: This speech alone is enough reason for revolution.
According to @RevolutionSyria, not much is being done to alleviate the suffering of Syrians.
@RevolutionSyria: U.S. dismisses latest overture from #Syria’s Assad, while Assad continues to dismiss the whole world for just talking & doing nothing!!!
The 47th shares similar sentiments. He replies to US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice's comment on the speech as follows:
@THE_47th: So was your administration's policy Re: Syria RT @AmbassadorRice: Assad's speech today was delusional & utterly meaningless.
Back to Assad, Karl Sharro sarcastically notes:
@KarlreMarks: The presidency has a sentimental value for Bashar al-Assad, it was left to him by his father. That's why he won't give it up easily. #Syria
And journalist Dan Murphy concludes:
@bungdan: I have little doubt that Assad believes what he says he believes. The bubble these folks live in is powerful. L'etat et moi.
Dalia Ezzat has compiled a Storify of highlights of the speech here and Trad Ruslan shares more netizen reactions to the speech here.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Borinquen Brass Play Music in Every Corner of Puerto Rico · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

They started as a group of five students at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, each playing a different type of horn, who got together to fulfill a chamber music requirement. Today, the brass wind ensemble Borinquen Brass [es] has 13 members, including a percussionist, and six years of experience giving free concerts in different churches and concert halls in Puerto Rico over the Christmas season and the summer.
The group is a rarity in Puerto Rico. Not only are there few active chamber music ensembles in the country, but the members of Borinquen Brass also play without any sort of compensation. Some come from out of the way neighborhoods to rehearse, sometimes driving more than an hour at night after working all day. The ensemble's endeavor is to offer a valuable community and educational service to audiences that otherwise wouldn't have access to this kind of music, which is normally heard only in concert halls particularly near San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital and main cultural hub. The group plays in towns across the island, and tries to play as often as possible outside of San Juan.
I had the opportunity to speak with Professor Rafael Enrique Irizarry, the group's director, and Felipe Rodríguez, one of its founding members, who was recently selected as First Trumpet for the Symphony Orchestra of Puerto Rico [es], about the work that Borinquen Brass does, their plans for the future, and how a group like theirs has successfully used social networking.
Borinquen Brass at its 2011 Christmas concert in the prestigious Pablo Casals Symphony Hall at the Luis A. Ferré Fine Arts Center. Admission to the concert was completely free. Photo taken from Borinquen Brass's Facebook page.
Rafael Enrique Irizarry (REI): Yo pienso que la piedra fundacional de este conjunto ha sido la voluntad de servicio libre de interés pecuniario. Y eso le ha imprimido a todos los miembros del grupo —y eso es muy raro, no son cinco, son trece personas— le ha imprimido al grupo que lo importante no es hacerlo por el dinero, lo importante es el deseo de hacerlo bien, hacerlo por el placer de hacerlo bien, y compartir eso con los demás. Por supuesto que, como todo en la vida, pues, hay una faceta estrictamente práctica. Para él [Felipe], como primera trompeta de la Sinfónica, y los demás compañeros esto es una forma de mantener un acondicionamiento estrictamente mecánico de tocar —punto— al igual que es la exposición continua, lo que llaman en teatro la tabla escénica, que se va puliendo y perfeccionando en esta exposición. Pero no quepa la menor duda que en este grupo el tejido unificador es la gratificación de hacerlo porque nos gusta.
Rafael Enrique Irizarry (REI): I think that the foundation of this group has been its willingness to provide a service separate from any financial interests. And that is the outlook of every member of the group—and that's quite unusual, since it's not just five, it's thirteen people—the outlook of the group is that what's important is not doing it for money, what's important is the desire to do it well, and to share it with everyone. Of course, like everything in life, well, there's a strictly practical side. For him [Felipe], as First Trumpet of the Symphony, and for the other members, this is a way to maintain a strictly mechanistic playing ability—period—as well as continuous exposure, what they call in theatre a platform, to keep polishing and refining their ability in this setting.
Borinquen Brass is one of the ensembles to most successfully harness the potential of social networks, something that the genre of what is called “classical music” has largely been unable to do in Puerto Rico. Both men said that the group's success in self-promotion is due in large part to the possibilities offered by social networks and the way in which they help bring musicians closer to their audience, a closeness which may be lacking in a concert hall.
Felipe Rodríguez (FR): Facebook ha sido básico, esencial. Nosotros, tan pronto confirmamos una fecha, ya creamos el evento. […] Este año añadimos video, […] habíamos grabado algunas presentaciones […] y entonces hicimos algo decente, un video de varias selecciones. […] También tenemos la cuenta de YouTube, que es bastante reciente —la de Facebook es mucho más antigua, ya lleva varios años que la tenemos— pues entonces, con la de YouTube […] no es que nos hemos sentado a preparar un video, sino que nos hemos aprovechado de grabar los eventos que hemos hecho en vivo. […] Cuando se apaga la temporada, pues se apaga un poco el uso de la página, aunque sí la hemos usado para postear videos viejos que hemos encontrado. […] Tan pronto acabamos los conciertos, siempre aparecen entonces los saludos, los agradecimientos, de gente que uno ni conoce […]. Y pues, así vamos creando el público.
Felipe Rodríguez (FR): Facebook [es] has been fundamental, essential. As soon as we confirm a concert date, we create an event…. This year we added video… we had taped some performances… and then we put together something decent, a video of various clips…. We also have a YouTube [es] channel, which is fairly recent—our Facebook page is much older, we've had it for several years—so with YouTube… it's not that we sat down to make a video, just that we've been able to record the events that we've done live…. When the season is over, we use the page less, but we do keep using it to post old videos that we've found…. As soon as a concert ends, the greetings and thank-you's always appear from people we don't know… And so that's how we're creating an audience.
REI: Hemos tenido dos compromisos cruciales en la Sala Sinfónica en que no hemos dependido de publicidad de prensa escrita ni la publicidad comprada y particularmente [en] el de Navidad [del año pasado], la sala estaba básicamente a capacidad […]. Y es obvio que Facebook, particularmente, tiene un alcance que por momentos, puede ser insospechado.
REI: We have had two important performances in the Symphony Hall for which we haven't relied on promotion in print media or on paid advertising, and the Christmas concert [last year] in particular was completely at capacity…. And it's clear that Facebook especially has a reach that at times can go beyond one's expectations.
FR: Cuando empezó el quinteto como tal, la primera página que abrimos fue la de MySpace. La página existe todavía. […] Lo interesante de esa página de MySpace es que se prestó para hacer contacto con otras agrupaciones internacionales, incluso de España. Me acuerdo que tuve algún contacto, algunas conversaciones, con completamente desconocidos, jóvenes también, que estaban estudiando en universidades en España, tenían su quinteto de metales también.
When the quintet began as such, the first page we set up was on MySpace [es]. The page still exists…. What's interesting is that the MySpace page let us contact other international groups, including from Spain. I remember that I had some interactions, some conversations, with complete strangers, also young people, who were studying in Spanish universities and also had a horn quintet.
Regarding future goals for the group, Felipe makes it clear that independently of any plans they may have, the principle they will follow is their commitment to serve:
FR: Parte de la vision o la misión que tenemos como grupo es seguir sirviendo.[…] Pero la idea es que siga siendo un servicio a la comunidad. […] Aquí mismo en Puerto Rico, y esta es mi opinión muy personal, todavía nosotros tenemos, cuatrienio tras cuatrienio, que explicarle a los políticos, que explicarle a la gente, por qué es importante la Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico; imagínate un conjunto de metales, que no es una tradición aquí. Nuestra misión es esa, es convertir esto en una tradición […] y crear espacios para otros que van a venir detrás de nosotros.
FR: Part of our vision or mission as a group is to continue to serve…. But the idea is to stay as a community service…. Here in Puerto Rico, and this is my personal opinion, we still have, as governments come and go, to explain to the politicians, to explain to the people, why the Symphony Orchestra of Puerto Rico is important; imagine a brass ensemble, which is not traditional here. Our mission is that, to make that a tradition… and to create a space for those who will come after us.
He also spoke about his goal to commission works by Puerto Rican composers:
FR: Cada uno hemos aportado para crear un minifondo, y de ese minifondo hemos trabajado en vías de otra meta que tenemos, que es comisionar obras para esta agrupación a compositores puertorriqueños. […] Y esa es la meta, seguir promocionando, tanto esta agrupación a la comunidad para que el pueblo de Puerto Rico la descubra, y a la misma vez también promocionando la comisión de obras nuevas para grupos, así sea folclórica, así sea de música clásica puertorriqueña como tal, para grupos [de vientos metales], así que eso es parte del compromiso.
FR: Each of us have contributed to the creation of a mini-fund, and with this mini-fund we have worked on another goal of ours, which is to commission works for this ensemble by Puerto Rican composers…. And that's the goal, to continue promoting both this group among the community so the people of Puerto Rico can discover it, as well as commissioning new works for groups, of folk music, of classical Puerto Rican music as such, for [brass wind] groups, so that's part of our charter.
Lastly, Professor Irizarry noted with satisfaction what is to him an indisputable sign of their success:
REI: Ahora mismo hay alumnos del Conservatorio que tienen ilusión de sentarse a tocar aquí algún día. ¿Qué más hace falta?
REI: Now there are students in the Conservatory who dream of playing here one day. ¿What more do we need?
*Photo taken from Borinquen Brass‘s [es] Facebook page.

author: Ángel Carrión


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China’s Mass Incidents in 2012 · Global Voices
Abby Liu

China's Legal Daily[zh] published a summary of  the 2012 Mass Incident Research Report, analyzing Chinese social media as an increasingly significant factor in mass incidents. DANWEI has translated some highlights of the report.


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Yesterday, I Defected from Assad’s Army · Global Voices
Syria Deeply

As part of our collaboration with Syria Deeply; we are cross-posting a series of articles that capture civilian voices caught in the crossfire, along with perspectives on the conflict from writers around the world.
Below is a conversation between News Deeply and a 20-year-old man who defected from the Syrian Army’s Sulas Military Base and joined the rebel side. At his request, we will not use his name in this article.
We met at a house used by the FSA deep in the mountains of Jebel Turkman, in Latakia Province. While bombs rattle the windows he shed light on the complicated mindset shared by many of Bashar al-Assad's soldiers: young men, forced into mandatory military stints, desperately wanting to join the opposition.
“It's my first time seeing a journalist or an American,” he says shyly. “I've been in the Syrian Army for one year. From the first time I joined, I wanted to defect—when I saw the FSA growing. Before I joined, I thought the revolution would end and Assad would win.”
He says one shabiha [regime thug] minder was assigned to each new soldier, to ensure that they don't defect. It comes after a recent stream of defections that apparently rattled the army's confidence.
“The soldiers, they're scared of the FSA. A lot of them would like to defect, but the shabiha, they stay with us, they watch us like security so we don't go.”
The destruction of Douma, Damascus. Courtesy of Shaam News Network
The young soldiers hardly spoke of it among themselves.
“I would only talk about this with my family. I couldn't speak of it with the others, though we all wanted to leave. My family is in Damascus, and they are all with the revolution. They are happy I left the army.”
He never wanted to shoot to kill the rebels he secretly supported, and says some of the army's soldiers came up with tactics to avoid causing serious harm.
“I would never do it [shoot to kill]…I'd shoot into the air, shoot everything but the fighters. A lot of people do that—the guys watching don't notice.
“The officers have power and they keep saying, ‘we'll be successful, we'll go back to our houses [once we win]’. But the fighters, they know it's coming close.”
He served most of his army time in Idlib, and was stationed in the mountains of Latakia for the final two months. In that time, he says, “I never had a vacation. I never went to town.”
Before he was brought in for our interview, I'd been concerned about my safety in speaking with him. How could the FSA battalion leader who introduced us guarantee that his new fighter wasn’t actually a double-agent, informing on us to the regime? “I have spoken with his father in Damascus,” the leader told me. Trying to assure me, he said that given the security at the regime bases, and based on the physical terrain, only the most faithful of men manage to escape. He said “it is very, very difficult to defect.”

author: Syria Deeply


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Dazed & Depardieu’d in Russia · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

On January 3, 2013, Vladimir Putin signed [ru] into law nine pieces of new legislation (mostly dealing with immigration) and one executive order to naturalize [ru] French actor Gérard Depardieu. Not shockingly, most Russian bloggers and journalists responded to the latter event, given how utterly bizarre it is indeed. The Depardieu story has something for everyone: celebrity ego, cults of personality, and international intrigue. In the domestic political context, Russia's newest citizen is for some a badge of patriotic honor—for others, it's setback in the battle against anything and everything associated with Vladimir Putin (who personally handed Depardieu his new passport in Sochi just days later).
Smoke & mirrors
Gérard Depardieu and Vladimir Putin, Sochi, Russia, 6 January 2013, photo by The Presidential Press and Information Office, CC 3.0.
As most of the RuNet quibbled and grumbled about the star of Green Card, a few bloggers and journalists took a closer look at one of those nine other documents Putin signed on January 3—particularly new amendments to the legal status of foreign nationals residing in Russia.
That new law [ru] institutes the following:
[…] Федеральным законом предоставляется право работодателям и заказчикам работ (услуг) привлекать и использовать для осуществления трудовой деятельности иностранных работников, временно проживающих в Российской Федерации, без наличия разрешения на привлечение и использование иностранных работников. Одновременно указанной категории иностранных граждан предоставляется право осуществлять трудовую деятельность без разрешения на работу.
[…] the Federal Law provides for the right of employers and labor purchasers to attract and hire foreign employees temporarily residing in the Russian Federation—without [special] permission to attract and employ foreign workers. Equally, this category of foreign national is granted the right to work without a work permit.
Many who noticed this law rashly concluded that Putin had just opened the floodgates for all migrant workers. Journalist [ru] Natalia Oss, for instance, took to her Facebook page to accuse [ru] the Kremlin of plotting to fill Russia with loyal “gastarbaiters” (migrant workers), in order to swing the future electorate in its favor. Her tone is implicitly racist:
Да честные добрые гастарбайтеры честно проголосуют за кого угодно доброго без всяких подтасовок. Я бы на их месте голосовала за благодетеля – и работу дал, и паспорт, и 282-ую, и маму с папой позволил перевезти сюда и в поликлинику записать. Не понимаю, почему это не волнует демократическую общественность?
Yes, the honest, good gastarbaiters will honestly vote for any ole body, all without any smoke and mirrors. If I were in their place, I'd vote for my benefactor, too—the one who gave me work, a passport, Criminal Code 282 [a statute against hate speech], and let me bring my mom and dad here, and check them into a clinic. I don't understand: why doesn't this worry a democratic society?
Political strategist Gleb Pavlovsky reposted [ru] Oss’ Facebook update, endorsing the notion that the Depardieu naturalization had been a cover-story for this more serious legal reform.
Lazy conspiracy theories
Oss and Pavlovsky, however, seem to be operating under a serious misreading of the new legislation. For one thing, the law has no impact on who is allowed to enter Russian territory in search of work—it is entirely directed at reducing standards (and paperwork) required of employers. Furthermore, the text uses a phrase that sounds colloquial but is in fact strictly licensed: “foreign workers temporarily residing in Russia.” As it turns out, temporary residence is a special legal status [ru] for foreign workers—one the federal government restricts to rather tight quotas.
On her Facebook page, Oss encountered some pushback from fellow journalist Vasily Gatov, who explained that Russia desperately needs more immigrants to sustain its pension system. After a thoroughly useless tangent about the fall of ancient Rome, Oss declared that “citizenship for migrants is literally violence against [Russian] locals.”
At this point in the conversation, Oss was confronted by Dmitri Bialik, another journalist with a history in political consulting. (He's also an infamous online troll known on LiveJournal as “re3us.”) First, Bialik explained how Oss (as well as Gatov and Pavlovsky, for that matter) had misread the law. When this failed to produce any retractions or apologies, Bialik did what he does best: he trolled. First, on Oss’ Facebook page, he wrote [ru] this:
К гастарбайтерам этот закон вообще никакого отношения не имеет. Журналисты, как обычно, качают деревья, чтобы устроить ветер.
This law doesn't have any relationship at all to gastarbaiters. Journalists, like usual, are just shaking the trees and calling it wind.
Minutes later, Bialik engaged Oss on Pavlovsky's Facebook page, where he taunted her twice more, first insulting her lack [ru] of “imaginative thinking” and then her poor spelling [ru].
In a more substantive response to arguments like Bialik's (which bloggers like Kovane [eng], Dmitri Khabliuk [ru], and LJ user arkhip [ru] have made elsewhere), Russian nationalist Konstantin Krylov also investigated [ru] the legal regime surrounding “foreign workers temporarily residing in Russia.” Krylov is convinced that the quota system guarding temporary residence status is riddled with loopholes. Writing in his LJ, he linked to an online service agency that offers assistance [ru] to foreigners seeking to migrate to Russia, and noted that there is a long list of exceptions [ru] to the quota system that could make obtaining such permission easy in principle.
Oss had also decried the apparent ease with which foreigners can legally enter and take up residence in Russia. In her exchange with Gatov, she mentioned a draft law to reform federal citizenship statutes (zakonoproekt 191469-6 [ru]), which she claims would allow anyone born in the former USSR to become a Russian citizen. In fact, the law only clarifies a citizenship right already codified in a 1991 law, which guarantees Russian citizenship to former Soviet citizens born within the territory of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (not the entire Soviet Union). Without directly addressing Oss’ position (or her mistake), blogger Andrei Sporov published a brief defense [ru] of legislation 191469-6 in his LiveJournal on January 4—the same day as all the hullabaloo about French and asiatic immigrants.
Dazed and confused
Gérard Depardieu certainly stole the show in Russia this week. Indeed, he seems to have made such a splash that even the netizens and journalists professing concentration on other “more important” subjects demonstrate all the symptoms of distraction and fatigue. If Oss and her colleagues are any measure, one wonders what else Russia's chattering class missed or misread in the last four days!

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Female Yemeni Writer Harassed for “Disrespect of Religion”  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Samia Al-Agbhari..a Yemeni writer facing a propaganda attack. Photo shared by Afrah Nasser on Facebook
On Facebook, Yemeni blogger Afrah Nasser tackles the issue of restricting freedom of expression in her country and how a female writer is being harassed – allegedly for her disrespect of religion. She writes:
Restricting freedom of expression in Yemen continue. Another writer in Yemen is facing a severe attack; slandering her and accusing her of disrespecting religion. One of the best female writers in Yemen, Samia AL-agbhari is facing a media propaganda attack and threatened for her brave stance.
During one of her recent public speeches she stated, “Yemen's fatal trio is, the Military, Religion, & Tribalism.” I don't just agree with her statement, she has also my greatest solidarity. I'm sure she will stand firm and solid, but I'm concerned about her safety afterwards.
Almost this time of the year, last year, Boushra al-Maqtary faced and still faces the same issue. As I met Boushra one month ago, I can firmly say, the more those frantic religious figures fight writers, the more determined and stronger we be. True writers are worriers. When will they get it!


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Japan: Digital Backyard in Sapporo · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

The three-day conference “Digital Backyards” initiated by smal.jp and berlinergazette.de will take place in Sapporo on January 10-12, 2013. There will be a barcamp-style networking event on January 10 and 11 for journalists, activists, bloggers, researchers, entrepreneurs, cultural workers and programmers to define problems and come up with solutions. The outcome will be presented on January 12 to the larger public. Details can be found here.

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Pakistan: CNG Withdrawal Hits Energy Sector · Global Voices
Rezwan

In Pakistan in 2012, the federal government announced plans to gradually phase out CNG due to gas shortages.  Last week as supply to many CNG stations remained suspended, people queued in long lines to buy petrol for their vehicles. Teeth Maestro has more.

author: Rezwan


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Spain: New Year, New Party, New System  · Global Voices
Lali Sandiumenge

This article is part of our special news coverage Europe in Crisis.
“Happy 2013! The year in which we will reinitiate the system.” This was the first message that appeared on Twitter on December 31st at midnight from Partido X, Partido del Futuro (Party X, Party of the Future), a new political group that has burst onto the Spanish Internet scene with force. In less than two days and with only three tweets, it has gotten over 2,500 followers.
@Partido_X tweeted a teaser online in which it presents itself as a “citizen operation to evacuate the parliament.” With the esthetics and narrative of an old sci-fi movie, they declare that they come from the future, where there has been a triumph of “democracy, period.”
It deals with a declaration of war against traditional parties, which the Partido del Futuro promises to develop with concrete proposals next Tuesday, when they will grant the public access to their website. “Pardon us if we make you wait until the 8th. Being wary of a party is essential. Thank you for your mistrust,” they wrote on Twitter.
The new group registered itself in the list of parties at the Spanish Internal Ministry on December 17 and is made up of at least hundreds of people from all over Spain, ranging from Catalonia to Valencia and Andalusia, passing through Madrid, Navarra and Galicia. It is making itself known anonymously, to avoid attracting attention and break away from creating conventional policies. “We are what we do and so far we haven't done anything,” they explain. They also separate themselves from the 15M (the Spanish indignant movement) although they share many of their messages and citizen petitions, which they have articulated under their umbrella for the past two years.
Partido del Futuro Spain. Taken from their Facebook page.
Inciting the enigma and suspense with much humor, the Partido del Futuro has generated a good discussion and a lot of excitement online. The teaser was viewed over 17,000 times and their Facebook page [es] already has more than 800 fans. Additionally, it gave birth to a replica of parties with letters that reproduce like mushrooms and interact quite ironically amongst one another and other users: from Party Z [es], Party V [es], Party Y [es], Party A [es] and Party W [es] to Party THC [es] or Party OBDC [es], among others.
@partido_z:  El @Partido_Z hará una oposición responsable al @Partido_X
@partido_z: @Partido_Z will start a responsible opposition to @Partido_X
@partido_a:  NI @Partido_X, NI @Partido_Z, NI @Partido_y, NI @Partido_XD, NI @Partido_W… PORQUE NOSOTROS YA ESTÁBAMOS ANTES
@partido_a: NOT @Partido_X, NOR @Partido_Z, NOR @Partido_y, NOR @Partido_XD, NOR @Partido_W… BECAUSE WE CAME FIRST
@partido_v:  @partido_a @Partido_X @Partido_Z @Partido_y @Partido_XD @Partido_W Ya salió el elitista: “Yo fui primero, yo fui primero”. Ayer no te vimos!
@partido_v:  @partido_a @Partido_X @Partido_Z @Partido_y @Partido_XD @Partido_W The elitist already showed up. “I was first, I was first.” Yesterday we didn't see you!
@partido_y: ¡¡Abajo los @partido_x @partido_z y @partido_v !! Larga vida al @partido_y
@partido_y: Down with @partido_x @partido_z and @partido_v !! Long live @partido_y
@zmartes:  @partido_x @partido_v @partido_z @partido_mdma que está pasando? son todos extraterrestres?
@zmartes:  @partido_x @partido_v @partido_z @partido_mdma what's going on? are they all extraterrestrials?
@piruletaklo: Joder! dos dias sin movil y cuando vuelves han crecido partidos como champis @Partido_Z @Partido_X @Partido_y @Partido_xy @Partido_yx #wtf?
@piruletaklo: Damn! Two days without a cell phone and when you come back, parties have sprouted like mushrooms @Partido_Z @Partido_X @Partido_y @Partido_xy @Partido_yx #wtf?
The birth of Partido X has also generated criticisms and suspicion online, in addition to welcome messages. The following are some of the tweets with which the group has been received:
@guerraeterna: Mal comienzo del Partido X (sic) con un logo que parece el de una secta y un vídeo de horrible factura
@guerraeterna: Partido X (sic) is off to a bad start with a logo that makes them look like a sect and a video that was made horribly.
@huyelobo: ‘El Partido X es un dispositivo ciudadano que..’ hala, que os den por el USB
@huyelobo: ‘Partido X is a citizen device that..’ come on, screw yourselves with a USB
@2bassileo: “Partido X” … creating a party is not like debuting a movie. A “teaser” is not enough! I want content and I want to know who is behind it.
@jordiaros: Esto del @Partido_X pinta muy, pero que muy bien! Nosotras nos vamos a divertir, pero “ellos” no tanto… #AbajoElRégimen #15M
@jordiaros: This whole @Partido_X thing looks really, really good! We are going to have fun, but “them” not so much … #AbajoElRégimen (#UndertheRegime) #15M
@yorchez Con ganas de que llegue el día 8 para ver si @Partido_X es el cambio que muchos estamos deseando que al fin llegue…
@yorchez Wanting the 8th to come to see if @Partido_X is the change that many of us have been hoping would finally arrive…
@rubenmartinez: This is going to be a year of political experiments. As it was coming to be, but hopefully with more bite. Welcome, @Partido_X, we'll be listening on January 8.
@hibai: All of this about @Partido_X will be more interesting once they reveal that they chose that name because it's actually porn. #CicciolinaReloaded
They affirm that they are serious and will “raise the curtain” on the 8th to present their proposals and the “democracy, period” model, without intermediaries, to which they aspire: currently they only say that it will be a collaborative plan in phases, in which everyone will be able to participate.
“We haven't come here to promise you anything. We have come to offer you some tools to transform an unpresentable present,” they explain. They say it is about returning power to the people.
This article is part of our special news coverage Europe in Crisis.

author: Lali Sandiumenge


text:
Technology Helps Kenyans Reveal Electoral Registration Fraud  · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

The Kenyan Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) logo. Photo Courtesy of http://www.iebc.or.ke/
As Kenyans gear up for the presidential elections in less than 90 days, technology is proving to be a friend and foe to the many politicians embroiled in political musical chairs by changing alliances faster than ordinary Kenyans can comprehend.
It started with establishing a presence online for the presidential contenders. Indeed many were caught flat footed when statistics available on Social Bakers website revealed that Kenya has more than 2 million registered users on Facebook alone. Many Kenyans are now using the internet for entertainment as well as for alternative news and information.
The race thus began and many presidential contenders started opening Facebook and Twitter accounts, with no strategy or understanding of how to effectively use new media.
The Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in collaboration with the Registrar of Political parties published lists of party members registered in each political party on the IEBC website complete with a page where Kenyans could query the database of registered members for each political party.
It has now emerged that many political parties stole National Identification details of unsuspecting Kenyans and went ahead to register them as their party members. This was in a bid for them to meet the mandatory number of registered members per county before the given deadline.
News of this fraud broke on Twitter on Thursday 3 January, 2013 when Larry Madowo, a journalist working with one of Kenya’s leading media houses Nation Media Group tweeted that he had been illegally registered as a party member. Larry, a victim of this fraud by The National Alliance Party (TNA) whose presidential candidate is the son of Kenya’s first President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta confronted Uhuru Kenyatta on Twitter seeking an explanation.
Kenya's Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta whose party is accused of registering fake members. Permission to use the photo given under GNU Free Documentation License by Anonymous.
@LarryMadowo: I've never joined any party yet @TNAParty STOLE my details & ILLEGALLY registered me to their party. Disgusting cheats! pic.twitter.com/AK1ybcdp
@LarryMadowo: Dear @UKenyatta, how am I registered member of your party when I never did so? Is that the integrity we should expect from your presidency?
@LarryMadowo: Enter your ID number here http://iebc.or.ke/rpp/ to check if any party (I'm looking at you @TNAParty) has registered you fraudulently
A Twitter hashtag #FakePartyMembersKe was quickly created as it emerged that Larry was not the only victim. Many more Kenyans online proceeded to the IEBC link to verify if they have been registered under any party without their consent with those who had fallen victim revealing details of the parties that had registered them fraudulently.
@WandiriK: #FakePartyMembersKE my passport number and Id number have not been registered to any party. I advice you check both.
In a bid to respond to the allegations that the TNA party had engaged in fraud while registering its party members, the party's chairman Sakaja Johnson responded on Twitter with the following comments:
@SakajaJohnson: @KumekuchaPhil This is a useless ploy by parties that have not been able to capture the imagination of Kenyans. #fakepartymemberske
The Chairman then proceeded to accuse the electoral body of being behind the fraud. It has emerged that other political parties have been involved as well but none of the other parties have made any comment.
@SakajaJohnson: @LarryMadowo why don't you ask the @iebcpage how many ways one can get registered into a party. It is a system that is open to many
The story was picked up by Kenya's media houses and now it has boiled down to the TNA party trading accusations with IEBC over the stability and security of the software that was used in the membership registration exercise. This is despite the electoral body revealing that each party was provided with unique logon details and that data can only be input by the party officials. The IEBC went on to reveal that it had obtained details of IP addresses in cases where fake members were registered. The matter is yet to be resolved as the IEBC has not confirmed how it will deal with the parties.
Kenyans have been vigorously engaging political aspirants online especially through Twitter seeking to know their stand on  issues affecting constituencies the politicians are vying for.
@RasDunkie13
@RailaOdinga Happy new year bwana PM. What is your specific plan for the public transport system … will you kill matatus?
Online media will most definitely play a huge part in informing many Kenyans and allowing them to challenge politicians in ways that have never been seen before. The onus is now on the electoral body to answer the Kenyan voter, who more informed than ever before and is demanding answers.

author: Njeri Wangari


text:
Unaware, China’s Handan City Consumed Toxic Water for Days · Global Voices
Abby Liu

The people of China's Handan city have been drinking, bathing and washing in toxic water for five days.The city's main resource – the Zhanghe river – was contaminated by industrial pollutants from the neighboring Shanxi Province on December 31, 2012. However, the contamination was not reported by the local government until five days later, when Handan city’s water was cut off without warning on Jan 5, 2013.
The Shanxi government claims a tube rupture at a chemical plant in Changzhi city caused ‘aniline,’ a toxic chemical to leak into the upper reaches of the Zhanghe river.
According to the latest news [zh], the chemical leak comes from a state enterprise: Shanxi Tianji Coal Chemical Industry Group, and the contamination has spread to Anyang city in China’s Henan province.
Residents queue to buy mineral water in a local supermarket in Handan,Henan province.(A screen shot from Youku)
In response to a query regarding the delay in Changzhi  reporting the accident, Changzhi’s news chief Wang YiPing said[zh]:
我们都是按照规定程序报的，并不是晚报五天。发生了污染以后，只要污染不出长治的边界好像就不用往省里报，自己处理就行，一出边界了这才需要报，再详细的我也不是很清楚。
We report in accordance with the procedures, we didn’t delay the report for five days. As long as the pollution is within the Changzhi boundary, it’s not necessary to report to the provincial government, we can deal with it on our own, we only need to report to the provincial government if the pollution goes out of Changzhi city. I’m not sure about the details.
The local government’s censorship of the news and ignorance of their serious environmental violation have triggered widespread condemnation online. A search on Sina Weibo yields over 2,933,094 results[zh], making it the hottest topic on Jan 6. On one hand, netizens are angry about the repeated environmental incidents in China; on the other hand, they are furious about how local government has censored the news.
Columnist Lian Peng wrote:
连鹏：作为邯郸人，感到离奇愤怒。真是拿老百姓不当回事。山西为什么五天后才报？谁在隐瞒？必须追究事故直接责任者和瞒报者的责任。现有信息有限，但仍想问化工厂为什么在水源边上？有没有严格监管？最后说一句：我们对水资源问题仍然缺乏足够认识，迟早一天，会付出惨痛代价的。
As a the Handan local, I feel extremely angry. People’s lives are not taken seriously. Why did Shanxi report about the problem until five days’ later? Who is trying to conceal the news? Anyone who is responsible for the pollution and the suppression of the news should be held responsible for the accident. I have limited information about this, but still I would like to ask why is the chemical plant set near the river? Is there any strict supervision? Last word: we have not fully acknowledged the water resource issue, sooner or later, we will have to pay a painful price.
CEO of an E-commerce website Zhao Peng wrote:
任何政策执行都关系利益。新闻封锁，言论审查，在山西苯泄露事件中，保护的是事故责任人与失察瞒报的官员，伤害的是漳河流域人民的健康和生命。
Any kind of policy is related to interests of different parties. The censorship of  Shanxi accident has protected the officials who concealed the news and people who are responsible for the pollution, but it hurts all the people living on Zhanghe river at the cost of their health and lives.
Social media personality Xue Manzi urged for better environmental supervision:
全国各地企业环保事故层出不穷，但很少报道，这种貌似维稳是在拿人民生命安全开玩笑！这种特大饮水安全事故五天不报，给下游百万人民不预警，失去防范良机，瞒报就是犯罪！污染更是犯罪！明知污染还不治理是最大的犯罪！为了子孙后代安全必须治理环境污染！
Corporate environmental accidents come one after the other in China, but are rarely reported, this way of “maintaining stability” is taking people’s lives for granted! Such serious issue, when failed to be reported immediately, has hit millions of people without warning, this is crime! Pollution is a crime! Choosing to ignore pollution is the greatest crime! We must deal with environmental pollution for future generations!
Editor at ifeng news Meng Hui echoed:
新闻自由，关系到亿万生灵的生命
Press freedom concerns thousands of lives.
A blogger based on Handan city wrote:
我们已经喝了五天的污染水，后果难以想象，谁来负责？谁负的起这个责？没有别的办法，只有建议大家把那喝进去的污染的水用洗胃的办法清除出来，到底用啥法子呢？估计用啥法子也难以消除污染给我们带来的危害，我们时刻生活在不明真相的威胁中，令人担忧！
We've been drinking contaminated water for five days, it’s hard to imagine the consequences. Who will take responsibility for this? Who can afford to take responsibility? There is no other way, I suggest that everyone go pump their stomachs to clear it. However, we can do nothing to eliminate the hazards the pollution has brought upon us, we always live under the threat from the unknown truth, it’s nerve-racking!