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Protests in Sudan: Dozens Feared Dead  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

On Twitter, Yasir Yaha shares this photograph of a child watching the mayhem unfold in Sudan. Photo credit: @yasirya7ia
Sudan's answer against fuel subsidy protests, raging for the fourth day in a row, was cutting off the Internet and killing dozens of protestors. Activists say Sudan pulled the Internet plug to stop activists from sharing its crackdown on protestors on the one hand, and screening the rest of the world from seeing the carnage unfolding on the ground.
Girifna, the Sudanese Non-Violent Resistance Movement, posts a round up on developments in Sudan over the previous four days. They say, over the last 24 hours, the Sudanese government cut off the Internet – to stop videos and images of the crackdown on protesters from spreading.
Popular Protests
According to Girifna:
Sudan is experiencing a new wave of popular protests that are increasing in popularity and scope. They have so far included Wad Madani, Khartoum, Kassala, Port Sudan, Gadarif, Sinaar and Nyala. In all of these towns except Nyala, the protests were triggered by the critical economic situation that saw in the last weeks a sharp depreciation of the Sudanese pound vis a vis the dollar and, and an increase in prices of basic food items and the cost of fuel. This was compounded by the government’s announcement, last Tuesday (September 17) that it was lifting State subsidies from fuel and essential food products, such as sugar. Starting Tuesday, September 24, the price of gasoline almost doubled.
The report adds:
What separates this new wave of protests from previous ones is that the protests are not led, coordinated or mobilized by known political factions or youth movements. These protests are more grassroots in their nature and not geographically localized in specific neighbourhoods. In Khartoum, the protests included most areas, with the participation of school students and young adults.
100 Killed in Khartoum
Girifna's estimate of the human toll is as follows:
Reports of deaths of peaceful protesters, mainly by live bullets, indicate that in Khartoum alone about 100 civilians were killed– by the end of the third day of protests. While in Madani the death toll reached 12 civilians by Tuesday. The number of those injured is much higher, but could not be confirmed.
Gas Stations Closed:
Girifna adds:
In Khartoum all gas stations are closed, creating a severe shortage in gasoline and implying that mobility of residents of the capital will be limited if the situation remains the same. Market places and smaller neighbourhood shops have also closed down creating shortages in basic foodstuff. This has implications on the future ability of Khartoum’s residents to communicate as many depend on pre-paid credit for their mobile phones, and may not be able to buy phone credit in the immediate future.
Schools Closed:
And schools were closed:
On Wednesday the Sudanese government announced the closure of all schools until September 30. At the time of writing this report there was unconfirmed news that a curfew may be imposed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., most probably in an effort to limit the continuation of protests which went on until after midnight in some areas of the capital on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Shutting Down the Internet:
According to Girifna, the Internet was shut down to stop activists and protesters from sharing news on the ground. Also, the government did not want the world to see what was happening in Sudan.
On Wednesday at about 1.30 p.m. Sudan time, news spread about the possibility of the internet being disconnected as information from mobile phones including video footage and photos that were being shared by protesters on the ground; as well as communication via smart phone applications such as, WhatsApp stopped suddenly. Soon after, wi-fi connections were also impacted. This created panic, because in the current information black-out a lot of citizens are using their phones and applications on smart-phones to share videos, pictures and updates. The only source of information for Sudanese inside Sudan and outside was social media platforms where most information was being exchanged, in addition to telephones and transfer of information via word-of-mouth.
The shutting down of the internet comes at a time when very disturbing images and videos of dead students and injured protesters are starting to circulate on social media. It is proof that the Government of Sudan has something to hide that it does not want its citizens to share with the rest of the world.
Activist's Family Harassed:
Sudanese activist Khalid Ewais complains that his family, back in Khartoum, is being harassed by the authorities [ar]:
جهاز الأمن السوداني يبدأ في التعرض بالمضايقات لأسرتي في السودان، الخرطوم. قضيتكم معي أنا، لا مع أسرتي.وأحملكم مسؤولية سلامتهم #السودان_ينتفض
— خالد عويس (@khalidewais) September 26, 2013
The Sudanese Security Service is harassing my family in Sudan, Khartoum. Your issue is with me, not my family. I hold you responsible for their safety.
In another tweet, he shares a tally of the number of injured treated at Khartoum Hospital:
مصادر طبية تؤكد لنا: وصول 185 مصابا بطلقات نارية إلى مستشفى الخرطوم بحري منذ الأمس و135 إلى مستشفى أم درمان..وعشرات القتلى #السودان_ينتفض
— خالد عويس (@khalidewais) September 26, 2013
According to medical sources: 185 victims have been taken to Khartoum Hospital Bahari since yesterday, all of them with gun shots. Another 135 victims taken to Omdurman … and tens of deaths
Meanwhile, the Sudanese are calling on people not to turn a blind eye to their strife:
@rrakia tweets:
If media attempts to ignore #SudanRevolts, twitter needs to make it so that they can't.
— [rey-vuhn] (@rrrakia) September 25, 2013
And blogger Usamah Mohamed expects more Internet cuts:
Networks briefly are back. Expected to be taken down again as ongoing protests continue. #Sudan
— Usamah Mohamed أسامة (@simsimt) September 25, 2013

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Vietnamese Blogger Speaks Out Against Government Repression · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Nguyen Bac Truyen gave a testimony in a human rights event in Geneva about the repression suffered by bloggers and activists in Vietnam:
Since Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang came back from a visit to President Obama in the United States at the end of July, government repression has entered a new, more violent phase. Bloggers and activists are directly targeted. Secret police openly brutalize and intimidate us. They stop at nothing in order to terrorize and repress Vietnamese human rights defenders, bloggers and dissidents.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


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When There’s No Emergency Phone Number, Kenya Tweets For Help · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Philip Ogola runs Kenya Red Cross's social media command center from his desk in Nairobi. Credit: Valerie Hamilton (used with permission from PRI.org)
This article and a radio report by Valerie Hamilton for The World originally appeared on PRI.org on September 24, 2013 and is republished as part of a content sharing agreement.
When al-Shabab gunmen attacked Nairobi's Westgate Mall, Philip Ogola jumped to action – with a tweet.
WARNING : Avoid @WestgateMallKe in Weslands Heavy shootout reported #RedCross Ambulance @EMS_Kenya at scene ^PO
— Kenya Red Cross (@KenyaRedCross) September 21, 2013
Ogola runs the Kenya Red Cross's social media command center, a cluster of computer screens at Red Cross headquarters in Nairobi. It's where I visited him earlier this month, before the attacks.
In the last year, Ogola has turned Kenya Red Cross social media into a virtual 911 [emergency phone number in North America], taking in information about emergencies and putting out public safety bulletins, 24 hours a day.
“The information I get online, it's amazing,” says Ogola. “You get the exact location of where the incident is, you get photos, how many people injured, where, and how far. Previously it was really hard.”
Ogola says he has helped coordinate response to hundreds of emergencies, liaising with social media users on the scene and emergency services countrywide. All with the help of ordinary Kenyans on their mobile phones.
“Kenyans thought, ‘Whoa, I can actually save someone's life with a touch of a button,'” he says. “And it went viral.”
Here's how it works: you see an accident, a shooting, or a fire; you tweet, or Facebook, or text Kenya Red Cross. Ogola does a cloud search, scanning social media for photos, location tags or other information on the same incident. Within minutes, he hands it over to first responders on the ground.
“If we get a security tweet we forward it to the police. If we get a fire alert about a building burning, we forward it to the fire brigade, and we call a backup team,” Ogola says. “We have actually become the reporting tool for all kind of incidents. We never had any reporting tool in Kenya.”
Kenya's public emergency services are notoriously threadbare. What started as a small fire at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport this summer gutted a terminal before firefighters got it under control. There's no national 911-type number for medical crises, and no comprehensive national disaster plan.
But thousands of Kenyans are plugged into Red Cross social media, through their mobile phones and tweet-to-text services. In emergencies, often, the Red Cross is their first call.
“Even the government sometimes falls back on us instead of having their own systems in place,” says Joanne Gitau, an ambulance dispatcher for Red Cross EMTs, “especially when the emergencies occur on a really large scale.”
The terror attack on the Westgate mall was Kenya's biggest crisis since the 1998 embassy bombings. Red Cross, and social media, have been on the front lines. Over Skype a few days after the attacks, Philip Ogola told me about people who were trapped inside, tweeting the Red Cross for help.
“I was getting tweets from guys in the basement parking. I was getting tweets from the injured. I was getting tweets from guys who were hiding in the building,” he says. “I was getting tweets from the public, saying, ‘My mom is inside.'”
Ogola set up a hashtag, #RedCrossTrace, to help match tweets from Westgate with worried loved ones outside. From his iPad at the triage station outside the mall, he put out updates about casualties, first aid, missing persons, and counseling services, and helped organize an unprecedented nationwide blood drive.
Now, Twitter has been buzzing with posts calling him a hero. He says he couldn't have done it without social media.
“It would have been totally impossible to comprehend the situation on the ground, to know the needs of the people, to actually even publish information of what we need. It was easy for me to tweet and say, ‘Hey guys, we need syringes, we need gauzes, we need water.’ And the ripple effect was instantaneous.”
Kenya Red Cross has more than 100,000 followers on Twitter, and 26,000 on Facebook. On a normal day, Ogola says, his posts and reposts reach 5 million people.
Since the Westgate attack, he says, they've gone viral, reaching 50 million, around the globe.
Links

author: PRI/PRX's The World


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Why Laos Has High Maternal And Infant Mortality Rates · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Dee Harlow cites several factors that explain why Laos has the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in Southeast Asia:
Many factors contribute to the inaccessibility of the care expectant mothers need including, geographic remoteness, lack of infrastructure and seasonal limitations for travel on rough roads, lack of transport or money to pay, little knowledge of the health requirements of prenatal care or services available, as well as family priorities of working for subsistence living and other household responsibilities
Maternal under-nutrition, which is predominant in Laos, can lead to low infant birthweight leading to poor infant health leading to high risk of mortality from illness or disease.


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“An e-Book is a Book” – Nigerian Poet and Linguist · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

In March this year, speakers of Yoruba, a language spoken by over 30 million people in Nigeria and in the neighbouring West African countries of Benin and Togo, . The Tweet Yorùbá Day was an effort to revive and publicize this tonal language on Twitter. Nigerian poet, writer and linguist, Kola Tubosun was part of the effort behind Yoruba day.
A passionate advocate of African literature, the use of local languages and social media, Tubosun is a freelance editor with Author-Me.com, and the editor of the NTLitMag, a literary journal resident in NigeriansTalk.org news opinion website. He can be found on Twitter as @baroka and blogs at KTravula.com, a travel blog. His first collection of poetry “Headfirst into the Meddle” was published in April, 2005.
After meeting for the first time following a long virtual correspondence, Global Voices author, Nwachukwu Egbunike,  spoke with Tubosun about African languages, Nigerian literature, and how new technologies are shaking our assumptions of what a ‘book’ is.
bloggerwriter
Kola Tubosun (image used with permission)
Kola Tubosun (KT): I’m all of the above, and more, of course. I have also worked in broadcasting.
I am the fifth child out of six. I was born in Ibadan and schooled there, mostly, and I’ve grown up within environments that made it easy, fun, and necessary, to continue to express myself, just as I was brought up. I was also educated in Kenya and the United States. I am a writer because writing is my primary means of engaging with the world. I am linguist because this is what I went to school to be qualified to do. Both are my professions and passions at the same time. However, I would hope that I’m known as someone who used his skills and passion to influence the world for good.
I am interested in a number of things that excite me, but my daily fascination is with being able to create or facilitate innovations in language technology and/or literature. I grew up around artists, so I like journalism and broadcasting. My interest/passion for blogging stems from this background. It also informs my interest in literary journalism. I write poetry and I am rounding off work on a collection of poems I’d been working on for a number of years.
I gave up a while ago trying to put myself in a box of descriptions. Hope this works.
You were part of the facilitators of the Tweet Yoruba Day
KT: For me, the first victory was getting Twitter’s attention. This happened in March 2012, on the first Tweet Yoruba Day which we had set up to pressure Twitter so that Yoruba is included in the list of languages into which the platform is currently being translated. The response was a promise by Twitter to do more in “the next couple of months”. And though we haven’t got as far as we hope, it encouraged me to continue work on the project, but this time to celebrate the use of Yoruba in the 21st century. The linguist in me is interested in observing trends in contemporary language use, so the annual Tweet Yoruba Day makes that possible.
Since the first Tweet Yoruba Day, there have also been a few encouraging news: Apple included Yoruba in the list of languages that can be used on iPhones (and I assume, iPads and iPods). It is impressive to be able to have African languages being represented and recognized in this form at last. Just last month, I also found out that Google Translate is including Yoruba in its list of languages. You can now translate from English to Yoruba, and from Yoruba to English. The machine isn’t perfect yet – as I said in a blog post – but the baby steps are highly encouraging. I’m happy to be part of the movement to create the awareness that makes these steps a reality.
How are Yoruba speakers using Twitter?
KT: Same as everyone else. Code switching with English or whatever language soothes their need at the moment. This is fine. I think it’s important to mention that our intention at the start of the Tweet Yoruba project was not to turn every Yoruba speaker on twitter to monolingual Yoruba “tweeterer”. No, it was to encourage use and improve the current attitude to indigenous language use anywhere. Yoruba just happens to be the language I’m most familiar with. I am interested in (and always encouraged by) indigenous language use anywhere/everywhere, even along with other international languages, until the attitude that one of them is inferior on the basis of the number of speakers is discredited.
But if your question is about how folks who participate in the Tweet Yoruba Day have used twitter, I’d say it has been pretty impressive. I’ll categorize the users into three: the first are the top-rate Yoruba speakers, capable of conducting conversations in the language (and in writing) without any code switching/mixing. They have the native competence and can translate texts from their second language (English) into Yoruba. The second level below that are those who can speak fluently but can’t write fluently because of their complex about the use of tone marks. Because of this, most of them just participate by reading and re-tweeting, while lamenting how bad their writing skills are. The last level, are those who can’t write or speak it fluently for a number of reasons (some of which includes the fact that they grew up not being encouraged to do so, or a lack of sufficient education). Some of them still tried to cash in on the Tweet Yoruba day by participating in the crudest way they could muster, while some just sat and called us names. For them, that was a way to get back at those knowledgeable in the language enough to make them look bad. I found it all fascinating.
Why do few Africans communicate on social media using local languages?
KT: The obvious reason is the absence of an audience. If you’re followed by people from different parts of the world, the obvious way to communicate is in a language that most people can understand. I look forward to finding a twitter feed on which only Yoruba is spoken, though. In the absence of one, it would be nice to found one, where you’re already sure that the audience are self-selected. You don’t follow the feed if you don’t want to read Yoruba tweets. Simple. (You’ve just been intimated with the next project of the Tweet Yoruba movement J ). It would be nice if the same happens for other local languages. I know many Kenyan tweeters who tweet mainly in Swahili. It adds to the dynamism that twitter represents. But then, the exclusive use of Swahili (and Zulu, and a few other African languages) is common among educated citizens in those places perhaps because they don’t have the hang-ups that many of us in West-Africa have about ours. And most people who are monolingual Yoruba speakers likely don’t know what Twitter is, or have any interest in using it. One of my interests is pursuing opportunities that can bridge that divide between people considered “illiterate” by the old definition of “the ability to read and write” and the tools of information technology.
Nigeria has produced ‘literary institutions’ and has also continued to evolve with many young and talented voices. What is your take on literature in Nigeria and the continent?
KT: For anyone interested in literature, and literary development, this is a good time to be alive, not just because of the quality of output and the zeal of the participants, but also because of the presence of new media and the dynamism it has allowed for the production of new forms, and new ways of expression. We have a new generation of writers doing great things in the face of tremendous odds. We are doing well. Last year’s Caine Prize had four out of five Nigerians (Five writers of Nigerian descent, if you consider Pede Hollist). Teju Cole, Chimamanda Adichie, Chika Unigwe, Igoni Barrett are doing great out there, and new ones are coming up behind them: Emmanuel Iduma, Dami Ajayi, Ukamaka Olisakwe, Ayodele Olofintuade, etc. The Booker also has Zimbabwean NoViolet Bulawayo, who might as well win it. I think we’re doing well.
I hope, of course, that new media eventually gets its pride of place in the mainstream of literary appraisal. It already does well in consumption and reach. Until the Booker, the NLNG, the Orange, or any other major prize rewards someone whose platform is mainly online, then we haven’t reached there yet. I don’t advocate for the death of the book, just like inventors of the automobile didn’t go ahead and shoot all the horses. But judges of prizes need to start looking at the quality of production in the new media, and begin to pay attention to them. It is the future. We may as well get used to it.
Can social media revive the culture of creative writing and reading? Or it will do the opposite?
“The new media is the future. We may as well get used to it.” – Kola Tubosun (image used with permission)
KT: I believe so. Like I said earlier, social media already makes it easy to get literary output to reach a number of previously ignored audiences. Our attention span in today’s world, and the number of things that compete for them, makes the platform of the web a very helpful medium of sharing and receiving. It might change how information is shared and consumed. It will shake our assumptions about what a ‘book’ is – after all, an e-book is a book – but the overall impact is that information gets to reach more people. Sticklers to traditional modes of publishing will lament this as retrogression, but they will be wrong.
Critics have sounded the death knell on African literature with the propensity of authors to create “poverty porn” narratives. What can be done to reverse this trend?
KT: Well, what we need to first acknowledge is that poverty itself is a present and continuing reality on the continent (and outside of it). And for that reason, literature that describes and reflects this reality will always continue to exist (until even long after poverty is a thing of the past). See countless movies/literature about European or American wars, or the cannibalism of vampire stories, or literature about royalty. Nobody complains that there are too much of those, so it should be the same about human distress. As long as something feeds an audience or an imagination, it will always be written for entertainment. Were that not the case, movies like Precious, or The Color Purple, or Gone With the Wind, or Slumdog Millionaire would not have become hits. What is important is not that the story reflects poverty or is set in a place where poverty exists, or show depravity in a way that probably has already been said a thousand times before. It is that the story tells us something else other than what we already know, or tells us something we already know in a different emotional and imaginative form.  That’s more important.
Death knell? I don’t know about that. African literature will continue to exist for as long as there are Africans. They will also continue to be as diverse as they are now, reflecting the realities and imaginations of the continent.
NE: Recently, you suffered a violation of your intellectual rights when your photograph was used by a Nigerian print medium without your consent. Did you seek legal redress?
KT: No, I didn’t. Let me point you to an interview I did with Critical Margins on the matter. I found out that the most I could get in redress – even if I won a lawsuit that could cost me a fortune to pursue to a logical end, and many productive years of my life – would not even be enough to pay the lawyer’s fees, so I never bothered with a lawsuit. I however got a temporary reprieve in form of a belated attribution by the newspaper. I wish many more editors took more care before violating other people’s intellectual property rights, and that more newspapers responded to such complaints faster than they do now. But until the punishment for violating other people’s intellectual rights is grave on the violator, much isn’t going to change.
NE: There is an ongoing global conversation about copyrights and intellectual property rights as personified in the ‘martyrdom’ of Aaron Swartz
KT: Well, usually I have a liberal outlook to access to information. I am 100% in support of the principle of fair use, where information is available to everyone everywhere, as long as the original creator of the content is credited. That is why my blog has the Creative Commons tag, saying that anyone can use any part of the contents in the blog as long as credit is provided on the site of second use. I once fought with a popular Nigerian youth site because of this same issue. They were taking articles written by people for Nigerian newspapers and reusing them on their site without proper attribution. Sometimes, they even removed the name of the original writer. This is not only wrong, it is criminal, and I’ve called them out on it a number of times.
However, what happened to Aaron Swartz was a tragedy that shouldn’t have happened: threatening a young man with such extreme punishments because of his pursuit of knowledge was heartbreaking. I think it was also political, perhaps because of his earlier work against SOPA et al. If all one is seeking is information, which in his case had no way of hurting anyone at all, I don’t see why he should have been so prosecuted. I think information should be free and accessible. I also believe that they should be used responsibly and with proper attribution. What happened to me was a violation because the paper used my photographic work without acknowledging that it was mine, and it took days and a threat of lawsuits before the attribution was done.
I understand the argument for increased monetary gain for the artist from a total prevention of any form of sharing at all of works in the public domain. I just don’t buy it, pardon the pun. If art is a noble and important endeavour, it should also be capable of transcending avarice. Its ability to delight and inspire as many people as possible should, I believe, trump its need for exclusive privilege prompted by greed.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Brazil Becomes Hot Market for Surveillance Technology Ahead of World Cup · Global Voices
Pública - Agência de jornalismo investigativo

Giants of the surveillance sector get contracts in a number of Brazilian cities during the games of 2014 – from security scanners to remote tracking software. Photo: Agência Pública
This article, written by Bruno Fonseca, Jessica Mota, Luiza Bodenmüller and Natalia Viana, was originally published on September 6, 2013 by Agência Pública as part of its #SpyFiles3 special coverage.
Shortly after being informed of US National Security Agency (NSA) spying, President Dilma Rouseff asked ministers Paulo Bernardo (Communication) and José Eduardo Cardozo (Justice) to include in the Marco Civil da Internet, a charter of Brazilian Internet users, a mechanism that allows the suspension of operation of companies that cooperate with international spying schemes. “It could apply to banks, or telephone companies,” said the Minister of Communication.
But the security of sensitive data could also be guaranteed by multinational surveillance companies, given that a large part of the increasing demand for surveillance in the World Cup will be supplied by sector giants – the same companies that provide equipment and software to police forces all over the world, including the American government and the NSA.
Most of them are mentioned in the recent publication by Wikileaks, part of the Spy Files 3 project, a compilation of 249 documents from 92 companies, among them brochures, contracts and metadata referring to some of the business leaders of the sector. They show that, in relation to mega-events, Brazil has become priority for the global surveillance industry.
The Extraordinary Secretariat for Large Events (SESGE) has been acquiring a number of technologies for public security. Two hundred million Brazilian reais [nearly 87 million US dollars] have been spent on national-level contracts. And the industry of surveillance equipment is betting heavily on taking advantage of this opportunity. In recent years, a number of industry fairs have taken place in the country.
When surveillance specialists get together
In July, in Brasilia it was ISS World‘s turn, bringing together policy, security officials and intelligence analysts for training in legal interception, high tech electronic investigations and networked data collection. Financed by the biggest in the sector, like Gamma Group, Hackingtean, Cobhan Surveillance, Hidden Technology, GlimmerGlass and the Brazilian firm Suntech, the directors of these companies lead workshops.
For example, some courses taught participants how to use social networks as open sources in criminal investigations, or how to better use Facebook: from security on Facebook through to retention of data and interaction with security forces. Another training, given by the firm Group 2000 Netherlands, looked at the how interception of data works at a national level, combined with LBS (location-based service) – a computer programming service that allows for inclusion of place and time in a system as it is used. The firm IPS also featured social media and webmail: the architecture of Big Data for mass interception, beyond the course on “expert intrusion” of social networks and webmail. The Brazilian company Suntech, which is now part of the American group Verint, funded a whole day of training, with special focus on interception of telecommunications.
Beyond the ISS, the LAAD (Latin American Aerospace & Defence), one of the main fairs of security and defense companies in Latin America, has been held in Brazil since 1995, with support from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Justice. In recent years, mega-events have been the principal focus of this fair, home for a great deal of business in the sector.
In 2011, for example, the Ministry of Defense announced a project for the Integrated Border Monitoring System (SISFRON), based on a network of sensors interlinked with control and command systems. The military wanted to accelerate the construction of the system because of the World Cup and the Olympics. The estimated cost, $6-7 billion reais [between $2.7 and 3.1 billion US dollars], enthused international markets. The reason: in spite of national firm Embraer being given the construction of the system, the Saab Group of Sweden, made it be known that its German subsidiary MEDAV will supply, as a subcontractor, the mobile and static sensor systems for the program, allowing for the monitoring and identification of HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies.
This year more than 30,000 visitors attended LAAD, which hosted 720 exhibitors from 65 countries, among those present representatives from the Ministries of Defense of the Ukraine, United Kingdom, Argentina and South Africa. In 2014, year of the World Cup, a smaller version, only on security, is set for April 8-10, in Riocentro.
Look out for the second part of this report, coming soon.


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Developing Latin America 2013: An ‘Apps Challenge’ for Social Impact · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

“Developing Latin America”
Fundación Ciudadano Inteligente is about to launch a new edition of their regional initiative entitled Developing Latin America [es], which brings together the efforts of developers, social specialists, and others to use open data to create applications that serve the Latin American community. In their own words [es]:
Impulsamos aplicaciones innovadoras, sustentables, escalables y de alto impacto social. Celebramos a la comunidad de emprendedores, tecnólogos, desarrolladores y diseñadores, desafiándolos a trabajar en conjunto con sus gobiernos y organizaciones locales para co-crear soluciones que generen un cambio positivo para los ciudadanos. Fomentamos una cultura de creatividad, innovación y emprendimiento en América Latina.
We promote innovative, sustainable, and scalable applications with a high social impact. We celebrate the community of entrepreneurs, technologists, developers and designers, challenging them to work together with their governments and local organizations to co-create solutions that generate a positive change for citizens. We foster a culture of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship in Latin America.
For its third edition, Developing Latin America (DAL) is transforming and is going from being a Hackathon to what they call an Apps Challenge, meaning a longer event with the goal of developing better ideas, obtaining more concrete solutions, and, as such, achieving applications that are more sustainable and scalable.
But, what is an Apps Challenge? [es]
Un Apps Challenge es una competencia entre aplicaciones. En el caso de DAL, es una competencia colaborativa que se realizará a lo largo de tres intensas semanas de desarrollo. Esta etapa está diseñada para dotar a los equipos de las herramientas que permitan desarrollar una aplicación innovadora y disruptiva. Realizaremos varias actividades con el objetivo de generar aplicaciones de alto impacto social.
An Apps Challenge is a competition between applications. In the case of DAL, it is a collaborative competition that will be held over the course of three intense weeks of development. This stage is designed to give teams the tools that will allow for the development of an innovative and disruptive application. Various activities will take place with the goal of generating applications of high social impact.
“Let's share idea and work together to develop Latin America!”
DAL officially launches on October 5 of this year, and we say officially because in reality the coordination of DAL and the different teams in charge of the event in the participating countries (now 12) have been working on preparing for it for several weeks. In fact, each team has planned various activities [es] to take place in their country during the month of October and, on October 26, there will be a Demo Day in addition to the selection of the three best applications per country.
But that is not all. After this phase, in association with Socialab, a project accelerator specialized in high impact social projects, will choose five teams among the winners to build up their projects for three months, helping them construct a business plan and find funding, among other things:
To learn a bit more about what DAL will be like this year and familiarize ourselves with the Apps Challenge process, our collaborator, Elizabeth Rivera, met with Anca Matioc, Regional Coordinator of Developing Latin America. Below is a video [es] of the interview:
In the interview, Matioc expanded on DAL's decision to go from a Hackathon, typically 36 hours, to an Apps Challenge, which will span a period of three weeks. As a response to DAL's growth over the past two years, Matioc highlighted the desire to have participants go beyond making prototypes for applications by giving them the opportunity to create more efficient and finished apps for social change. With the Apps Challenge, which she described as an “extended hackathon”, each of the twelve participating countries will have its own agenda of activities and workshops, culminating in the Demo Day and Socialab nominations. Currently, DAL is continuing its preparations for the event and meeting with its stakeholders to discuss their roles as mentors for each team of participants.
DAL has already generated interest in the region. For example, ALT1040 reports on the event and says [es]:
Este tipo de programas son ideales para impulsar pequeñas startups que pretenden resolver problemas comunes de la región. Lo interesante es que las aplicaciones pueden estar enfocadas tanto en solucionar un problema de tu país como hasta solucionar uno de Latinoamérica en su totalidad. Un reflejo de que podemos y queremos cambiar el mundo en el que vivimos, aunque tengamos que hacerlo una aplicación a la vez.
These types of programs are ideal for inspiring small startups seeking to resolve common problems in the region. The interesting thing is that the applications can be focused on solving a problem in your country as well as solving one in Latin America as a whole. A reflection on the idea that we can and want to change the world we live in, even if we have to do it one application at a time.
El Becario from the Código Espagueti blog reflects [es]:
Sin duda, un gran reto para países en los que no todos tienen un smartphone o una tableta, aún así se trata de un gran esfuerzo que bien podría ayudar a mejorar las condiciones de vida en la región.
Without a doubt, a big challenge for countries where not everyone has a smartphone or tablet; still, it is a great initiative that could really help improve living conditions in the region.
If you are a developer and are interested not only in a professional challenge but simultaneously having the opportunity to help solve social problems in your city or country, such as education, health, public safety, and transportation, among others, you can sign up [es] until October 4 and participate in this event on a regional level.
On our behalf, we will be providing coverage of the details of this great initiative.
Other related posts:
2011
Developing Latin America – 30 hours of technology and society [es]
“Developing Latin America”: Open Data Projects
2012
Developing Latin America 2012
What Exactly is a Hackathon? And What is Open Data?
Developing Latin America Draws Near!
Day 1 of Developing Latin America 2012
Day 2 of Developing Latin America 2012
Winning Applications From Latin America's Biggest Hackathon

author: Juan Arellano


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Documentary Films Tackle Child Sexual Abuse in India · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

Spray painted image of Little Red Riding Hood by Sebastian Moya, deviantART, CC BY-SA 3.0
Child sexual abuse is rarely discussed openly in India. Lack of proper education among adults, queasiness around explaining sexuality related matters to children and the culture of children being expected to respect adult members of family without question, often put children in an abuse situation which they may not be able to report. In this post, we look at a few documentary films that inform and also urge both adults and children to break the silence around child abuse.
Chuppi Todo (Break the Silence) a film by documentary filmmaker Sanjay Kumar Singh, took shape in 2011 when Sanjay, in an effort to educate his six-year-old daughter and children like her about abuse, decided to make a film for children on how to recognize abuse, raise their voices against it and report it to a responsible adult. The film was supported by Plan India, an NGO working with children. Since then, Sanjay has created many more films and TV spots with the same theme, as awareness building tools against abuse.
The film, which is the first in the series and available on YouTube, is largely enacted through mime with a voice-over. The narrative follows two children Rahul and Sania who are close friends and enjoy reading and playing together. One day while playing hide-and-seek in a neighbor's house, Rahul is urged by his neighbor to hide behind him and is then covered with the shawl that the man was wearing and pulled onto his lap. A frightened Rahul runs away and later relates his ordeal to Sania who informs him that once a similar incident had happened to her but that her mother had taught her to say NO. She takes a shaken and embarrassed Rahul to her mother, reassuring him that she would be the right person to help him. Sania's mother calms the children and then  educates them about safe and unsafe touch, to say NO to the latter and run away. The children are also taught how they should not keep these things a secret (even if the abuser entreats/ threatens them to) and report it to their mothers or other responsible adults. The film also teaches children that even if they are not able to clearly identify the nature of a touch, if it makes them uncomfortable, it is best to refuse and report it.
The film asks children not to stay silent, not to keep secrets from their mothers and other responsible adults but to speak up about abuse. But why don't children report abuse? What holds them back? In her blog post on Women’ Web, blogger Divorceddoodler explains some of the reasons why children do not confide in their caregivers or other responsible adults, namely that children lack the proper words to describe what has happened, they are afraid of being disbelieved, they feel it's somehow their fault or that they may have been threatened into silence.
Author-blogger Sweta Vikram, writing on Halabol points out some of the cultural factors that could ‘paralyze’ a child at a ‘subconscious level’ thereby bringing down the shutters and ensuring silence. She writes:
“Respect your elders” or “Don't question what the older folks say” or “Elders are never wrong,” is what we are brought up to believe. Children are loved and pampered, not respected as individuals. Their opinions and experiences either hold no value or are labeled as “cute” or “imaginative.” And for those of us who are or were rebellious morons and seek answers to everything illogical even as a kid, we are chastised or labeled as “disrespectful.” How many children or even adults do you think can be okay with feeling like an outcaste?
We are also brainwashed to keep our dirty laundry at home. So, even when the crime of sexual violence is and was happening, many children don't speak up against it because of fear or shock or shame or confidence or lack of support. Or if they were being heard, the reaction might mean: handle matters quietly.
Earlier, in 2010, another documentary film titled Speak Up! It's Not Your Fault!, produced by the students of SCM Sophia (Sophia Institute of Social Communications Media, Mumbai) and directed by Dipika Lal, who is now a media professional, tackled the issue of child abuse in India. Using visual analogy from the story of Little Red Riding Hood and having two adults who had faced abuse as a child (one of them being Dipika herself) open up about their experience on camera, the director not only brought out what children feel and go through but also what issues they may face when some of them do open up about it. The film is currently hosted at Culture Unplugged and has been used here with permission.
The film also shows that even when children say No, or when they are uncomfortable in a situation, they can be ‘groomed‘ into giving in to the abuser's wishes. Grooming, according to Vidya Reddy, Director of Tulir – an organization working on the prevention and healing of child sexual abuse in India, is a very critical area for adults to understand, in order to be able to create the proper safeguards that are essential to providing a safe and protective environment for children.
In a telephonic interview, Vidya strongly emphasized that unless adult caregivers, to whom we are asking children to report abuse, are themselves educated and informed in a manner that allows them to be prepared and confident to handle these situations, asking children to report abuse will not go a long way to combat the problem. For it is only when adults are educated and informed about the context and dynamics of abuse, can they not only create a protective and safe space for children to speak up about abuse without fear, but can also take proper preventive steps to minimize opportunities for an abuser to get to a child. According to Vidya
Adults around a child should feel prepared and confident to address child sexual abuse and the only way to do it is to give them information that does not overwhelm them and put the shutters down. Rather, it will make them feel capable of addressing it and capable of preventing it. The dynamics of abuse need to be understood by the adults…For example, unless you understand grooming, you will never understand why a child won’t disclose about abuse and that is the crux of it, you know.
Of course, since the time that the film was made (2010), India has progressed when it comes to framing separate laws to tackle child abuse. In 2012, the government of India passed the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act [pdf], which UNICEF India has also highlighted in their ongoing #ENDviolence campaign.
A more recent film, 2nd Saturday, produced by RM films, directed by Rumi Goswami and uploaded YouTube by PocketFilms, is a bold take on child abuse in that it talks directly to the abuser. A man who is abusive towards a minor girl who is the household help, is rudely shocked when his own child asks him why he does not love and caress her the way he does the maid.
There have been a few other films too, and very recently, on 20th September 2013, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) released a documentary film titled Thank You Ma to generate greater awareness about child abuse and the steps needed to protect children from it.
Films, videos, TV spots – in other words, the audiovisual medium is a powerful tool to generate awareness and educate both adults and children about abuse, it's dynamics and possible actions which can help minimize opportunities for abuse or it's recurrence. It's good to see activists, government agencies, filmmakers and media professionals using the audiovisual medium in an impactful manner to break the silence and taboo around child abuse. We need many more such films to shake us out of our complacency and ignorance, educate, inform and help us tackle child abuse in the way it should be.

author: Aparna Ray


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GV Face: Retweeting Terrorists? The Westgate Mall Attacks · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

Social media played a major role in the dissemination of news about the terrorist attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, but unverified information spread with lightning speed, including from government, terrorists, journalists and citizens on Facebook and Twitter.
What does this tell us about the quest for truth in the aftermath of this devastating attack on Kenyan citizens?
Does it even matter what the media report, when anyone who wants the real story seeks out hashtags on Twitter?
GV's Sub-Saharan Africa authors – Omar Mohamad (@shurufu ) and Collins Mbalo (@collinsom92) answered these questions and more in our Google Hangout series GV Face on Friday, September 27, 2013.

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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Kyrgyzstan: “It is Impossible to Propagandize Homosexuality” · Global Voices
Mahina Shodizoda

Prominent Kyrgyzstani blogger Bektour Iskander reflects [ru] on on the recent law banning gay ‘propaganda’ in Russia and speculations that some Kyrgyz human-rights NGOs are engaged in such propaganda:
It is impossible to propagandize homosexuality. Because a heterosexual cannot turn into a gay, even if she/he communicates with hundreds of gays every day…
A sexual orientation cannot be imposed or implanted onto people. Because it is not a political leaning or a musical preference. Because a person is born with it.

author: Mahina Shodizoda


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Online Petition Got Sea Turtle Released in the Philippines · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Residents of Turtle Island shortly before releasing the sea turtle. Photo by Ma Cecilia Mendioro Gendrano
A Change.org petition succeeded in persuading local officials in a Philippine province to release a captive pawikan (sea turtle). Pawikans are listed as endangered species.
Initiated by Rochelle Prado, the petition was signed by more than 1,500 individuals:
…in Turtle Island, Guimaras, a Pawikan is kept tied and released only for purposes of photography at the cost of 5 pesos per tourist. The locals are the best stewards of endangered species within their vicinity, yet there is a lack of awareness about the need for these creatures to be set free and undisturbed in their natural habitat.
…release the Pawikan and ensure that this practice will not continue by working hand in hand with the residents of Turtle Island in programs directed towards preserving and protecting their seas and marine life.
Jesse Vego of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources immediately responded by releasing the pawikan:
… I was quite surprised that there is a petition being circulated when the petitioner, Rochelle Prado, had not even communicated with my Office. I should thank you for that because had it pushed through it will put my Office in bad light
… the alleged Turtle Island, a place which cannot be located in the official map of the province, the island being alluded to is actually a part of the mainland
Escorting the sea turtle back to the sea. Photo by Ma Cecilia Mendioro Gendrano
Sea turtle going home. Photo by Ma Cecilia Mendioro Gendrano
Change.org reported the good news:
VICTORY! Congratulations to Change.org Philippines petition starter Rochelle Prado. Through her efforts and help from 1,645 others, the DENR Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) has freed the captive Turtle island pawikan that was being used for paid photo-ops.
An alternative livelihood should be provided to residents in the island, according to Minerva Glindro:
The government needs to provide programs that provide a better livelihood for the locals that will make them stewards for their ecosystem. Simply releasing the turtles won't stop the cycle.
Implement environment laws, said Rene Mikhael Resurreccion:
I don't even know why we NEED a petition. If it's against the law, then just freaking do what must be done.
Anyway, this is important to me as even though that turtle may not have a brain as sophisticated as ours, it must feel lonely and BORED sometimes, can't it? Anyway, that turtle may serve a purpose much higher than serve as a source of photo souvenirs. It could propagate the multiplication of its species for example.
Pinky Arturo saw how pawikans were abused in the island:
I was able to go there when we visited the island.. I felt nothing but pity for the creature. They should stop this and free the turtle!


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Praise and Criticism for Uruguay’s Proposed Media Law · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The bill, which has received the praise of several journalism and freedom of expression organizations, is not as controversial as the one recently approved in Ecuador or as contentious as the one currently in the hands of Argentina’s Supreme Court.
However, it is not without its critics. While it has been lauded for its intention to set limits to media concentration and guarantee spaces for independent content, critics say some of its provisions are broad, ambiguous and overreaching.
Travis Knoll provides an overview of Uruguay’s proposed media law in The Knight Center's Journalism in the Americas blog.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Russia’s Hunger Games · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, incarcerated member of Pussy Riot, photo by Robert Rizzato, 16 October 2012, CC 2.0.
There are two hunger strikes underway in Russia today, and the different receptions they’ve had among the blogosphere’s chattering classes say a lot about the country’s politics. The more prominent protest belongs to Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, the best-known and most outspoken member of the punk band Pussy Riot. She is currently serving a two-year prison sentence after a Moscow court convicted her of hooliganism last year. On September 23, 2013, Tolokonnikova announced her hunger strike in a 2,300-word public letter [ru], published on the popular Internet news site Lenta.ru.
In the letter, she details prison’s slave labor conditions and claims that officials have threatened her life. Days after the letter went public, Ilya Shablinksy, a member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights, visited Tolokonnikova’s prison, meeting with her and seven other inmates. In comments [ru] to the press after the interviews, Shablinksy verified Tolokonnikova’s allegations, saying the conversations made his “hair stand on end.”
Suddenly reminded of the existence of Pussy Riot and its star iconoclast, Russian bloggers have been mesmerized with Tolokonnikova’s resurgent drama. Her letter—an eloquent appeal partly for her own safety, but also for the well-being of her fellow inmates—pulls back the curtain on living conditions in Russia’s penitentiary system. Much as her band’s infamous “punk prayer” tapped the country’s polarized attitudes about the Orthodox Church’s role in government, Tolokonnikova’s letter and hunger strike (which has already led to her hospitalization [ru]) began a public dialogue about the state of Russian incarceration.
There are too many reactions—both notable and obscure—to describe succinctly the RuNet’s central tendency in this story. The range of responses is extreme. Some bloggers think [ru] Tolokonnikova deserves the harsh life of a sinner and a convict, whereas others describe [ru] her as something closer to a saint. The single most common reaction, it seems, is to express reservations about her past involvement in Pussy Riot and the art group Voina (which included participating in a public orgy while pregnant), but support Tolokonnikova’s current effort to draw attention to the mistreatment of prisoners.
If we split the RuNet between “opposition” and “pro-government” bloggers, it’s possible to note some surprises. For instance, Maksim Kononenko, a generally pro-Kremlin columnist and popular blogger, celebrated [ru] Tolokonnikova’s letter as a selfless attempt to rescue her fellow inmates. Kristina Potupchik, the former spokesperson of a prominent pro-Putin youth group, wrote [ru] on LiveJournal that cruelty to prisoners contravenes “common sense.” Both Kononenko and Potupchik criticized others who welcomed the news of Tolokonnikova’s suffering. In what was likely a conscious misrepresentation, Potupchik and pro-Kremlin blogger Marina Yudenich mocked [ru] Tolokonnikova’s former lawyers, Mark Feygin and Nikolai Polozov, for a crude joke seemingly made at her expense. (In fact, the two attorneys were ridiculing [ru] another Pussy Riot member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, who is suing Feygin and Polozov for malpractice).
Tolokonnikova’s hunger strike, however, is not the only in Russia today. More than a week before that protest began, dozens of mothers of disabled children in Volgograd announced their own hunger strike [ru], demanding better state assistance for their kids and the local governor’s resignation. The demonstration follows allegations of mass fraud [ru] in Volgograd’s recent municipal elections, which went relatively unnoticed by Russia’s Moscow-dominated media (both traditional and netizen).
Participants and supporters of the hunger strike, such as Yelena Grebeniuk and Yelena Samoshina, have tried to utilize the Internet in order to publicize their campaign. For example, Samoshina’s Vkontakte page [ru] is full of links to local news coverage and appeals for help from the public (like a donations request [ru] on September 26 for mattresses and bedding for the women hunger striking), and Grebeniuk’s LiveJournal features a brief interview [ru] posted on YouTube of her explaining the strike’s demands.
Grebeniuk, left, and Tolokonnikova, right.
Needless to say, the Volgograd mothers have not galvanized Russian bloggers to the extent that Pussy Riot does regularly. BesTToday.ru, a Russian Internet project that collects “the best in blogs” to represent what conversations predominate in the RuNet, still doesn’t feature a section on Volgograd’s ongoing unrest. While it’s true that Tolokonnikova’s letter and protest speak to the larger issue of Russia’s prison system, the Volgograd action is also tied to a matter of wider political salience: the protection of vulnerable children, a subject ostensibly at the center of past pro-children rallies [ru] in Moscow against changes in Russian adoption policies.
Why have bloggers reacted so differently to these two seemingly alike cases? Even a superficial glance speaks volumes. Netizens and journalists writing about Tolokonnikova rarely fail to include a photograph from last year of her looking defiant (and radiant) in court. Even Tolokonnikova’s critics are drawn [ru] to remarks about her sexuality, which played a central role in her activism as a political artist. Meanwhile, in Yelena Grebeniuk’s YouTube video about the Volgograd mothers (which is still struggling to attract over 250 views), bloggers are greeted by a middle-aged woman slouching under a portrait of Lenin. Flanked by Coke bottles and wearing a tracksuit jacket, Grebeniuk is as far from a rockstar as one can get.
In mass society, a Pussy Riot beats a Leninist mom every time.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Tajik President’s Reelection Bid Finds Support Online · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

While President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan became the favorite target of online ridicule in the run-up to November 6 elections, the veteran leader has also found rather unexpected support from some netizens. With less than six weeks to go before the presidential vote, several bloggers say they will vote for Rahmon who has led the country since 1992.
On ASIA-Plus blog, Alisher Ko suggests [ru] that Tajikistan “does not need any president other than Emomali Rahmon”:
Потому что он зарекомендовал себя, он – личность, он стал неким примером для подражания более молодым политикам, он вытащил страну из кризиса, сделал все возможное, для того чтобы мы сейчас жили более-менее сносно. Не побоюсь этого слова, если скажу, что Эмомали Рахмон стал брендом нашего государства…
Заслуги Эмомали Рахмона в обеспечении мира и спокойствия, единства и сплоченности таджикского народа очевидны…
Because he has shown his worth; he is a strong person; he has become an example that younger politicians emulate; he led the country out of crisis; and he has done everything he could to make sure that we live more or less well now. I would even say without hesitation that Emomali Rahmon has become our country's brand…
Emomali Rahmon's contribution to ensuring peace and stability, unity and solidarity of the Tajik people are obvious…
The blogger adds [ru]:
Еще такой немаловажный момент. Президент должен нести личную ответственность за судьбу нашей государственности. Нам нужен «свой де Голль», у которого в одной руке была демократия, а в другой меч против хаоса и вседозволенности, которая используется для распада государства. Президент должен быть львом и лисой одновременно… Под все эти характеристики подпадает никто иной, как Эмомали Рахмон.
There is another thing too. The president should be personally responsible for the future of our statehood. We need our own “de Gaulle” [French general and statesman, regarded as the most influential leader of modern France], who would hold democracy in one hand and a sword in another hand, to use the latter against chaos and permissiveness that lead to the collapse of the state. A president has to be a lion and a fox at the same time… Nobody matches these criteria better than Emomali Rahmon.
A giant portrait of the president mounted on the building of the Ministry of Agriculture in central Dushanbe. Image by Alexander Sodiqov, July 2013.
The author of another blog, “Russkaia Letopis’ Tadzhikistana” [Russian Chronicles of Tajikistan], explains [ru] why he is going to vote for Tajikistan's veteran president:
[Я] считаю, что в существующих на сегодняшний день условиях нет кандидата на президенсткий пост лучше, чем он. Во-первых, мы знаем кто он, чего от стоит, и чего от него можно ожидать. Известность всегда лучше, чем неизвестность. Во-вторых, Рахмон при всех его недостатках человек очень сильный, способный принимать волевые решения. В-третьих, мне глубоко симпатизируют его приоритеты по развитию Таджикистана…
Как и любой человек, Рахмон конечно не без изъянов, и проблем в период его пребывания у власти в Таджикистане хватало. Однако я на данный момент не вижу никого, кто мог бы хотя бы попытаться решить эти проблемы лучше, чем он.
I believe that there is no better candidate for president than [Rahmon] at the moment. First, we know who he is, what he is worth, and what we can expected of him. Knowing is always better than not knowing. Second, with all his shortcomings, Rahmon is a very strong person, capable of making difficult decisions. Third, I genuinely support his development priorities for Tajikistan…
As any human being, Rahmon is not without shortcomings; and Tajikistan has had many problems during his presidency. However, I cannot think of anyone at the moment who would at least try to resolve those problems better than him.
Blogger Tojikzamin has a very different motivation for supporting the incumbent president. He writes [tj]:
Сабаби муҳимтарини дастгирии ман аз номзадии “Ҷаноби Олӣ” дар он аст, ки ӯ аллакай аз бист сол зиёд шуд ки давлатро роҳбарӣ мекунад. Чуноне ки халқ мегӯяд, ӯ аллакай аз дуздиву ришвахӯрӣ “сер шуд”. Кӯдакону хешовандонаш ҳам сер шуданд. Акнун ба мардуми оддӣ ҳам кам-кам аз дастовардҳои афзоиши иқтисодӣ мерасад.
Дигар кас раисҷумҳур шавад агар пеш аз ҳама худашро ва кӯдакону хешовандонашро сер мекунад. Дан ин сурат чанд соли дигар мардуми оддӣ сахт алам мекашад.
Ана аз ин сабаб ман ба Эмомалӣ Раҳмон овоз медиҳам. Раиси сер аз раиси гушна беҳтар аст.
The main reason why I support [Emomali Rahmon's] candidacy is because he has already led the state for more than 20 years. As people say, he is already “fed up” with stealing and taking bribes. His children and relatives are also already fed up. Now ordinary people have a chance to benefit a little from the country's economic development .
If another person becomes president, they will first of all begin “feeding” themselves as well as their children and relatives. In this case, ordinary people will continue suffering for years.
This is the reason why I will vote for Emomali Rahmon. A full leader is better than a hungry one.
Hence, despite the recent social media buzz about Tajikistan's first ever female presidential candidate Oynikhol Bobonazarova, the incumbent president also finds support among the country's netizens. This support is even greater among a much larger group of Tajikistani voters which lives outside main urban areas and does not have internet access. As the author of this story suggests in his personal blog, the majority of voters in Tajikistan are not aware of candidates other than Rahmon or do not care about elections at all. With the authorities trying hard to keep it this way, Emomali Rahmon is assured of an easy victory in the upcoming vote.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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“You Can Kick Female Flight Attendants” in Kazakhstan · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

A former government official in Kazakhstan recently kicked a female flight attendant, reportedly because she did not speak Kazakh. The story has caused a stir on social media. Blogger Pivovar offers [ru] the most interesting and most widely shared Twitter posts on this incident, such as the one below:
Казахстан-2013: бить стюардесс – можно. Показывать факи кортежам – нельзя. Так и запишем
— Александр Цой (@Alexandr_Tsoy) September 27, 2013
Kazakhstan-2013: you can kick female flight attendants. You cannot show a finger to [senior officials’] corteges. I will pencil this down.


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Chinese Rethink Capital Punishment after Execution of Xia Junfeng · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The public opinion in China is in support of capital punishment. However, many netizens reflect upon their stand after the execution of street vendor Xia Junfeng. Offbeat China highlights the discussion.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Crowd-funding Revives Australian Climate Council After Government Axe · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Image: Climate Council Facebook update 28 Sep 2013
One of the first actions of the newly elected conservative government in Australia has been to axe Labor’s Climate Commission on 18 September 2013. Its purpose was “to provide all Australians with an independent and reliable source of information about the science of climate change”. Thanks to crowd-funding online, its ghost has arisen as the not-for-profit Climate Council with the same board members chaired by former Australian of the Year, Tim Flannery.
Over 800,000 Australian Dollars ($USD 730,000) have been raised in its first three days according to its Facebook page:
20,000 incredible Australians have chipped in over $800,000 in just three days. Together you have crowd-funded science with people power – and put us back in business!
Another inevitable metaphor of reincarnation is a famous mythological bird. Solar company Energy Matters argued in an online article entitled Out of the Ashes : The Climate Council:
But a phoenix has arisen from the ashes after an outpouring of support and offers of donations from the public to maintain the crucial work.
Twitter has been used to spread the word but there were notes of cynicism. This tweet has since been removed:
I suppose donating a few bucks to the Climate Council is easier than reducing our consumption. Is the time of guilt reduction over action.
— Front Quarter Window (@FQ_Window) September 26, 2013
But not from Linda Vergnani whose tweet has a Climate Council video promotion:
With IPCC about to issue latest report, support for new #Climate Council grows. Around 49000 likes. See video update http://t.co/llFYwxOfKW
— Linda Vergnani (@ecowrite) September 26, 2013
Anne Teller is one of several tweeting this attack on Flannery. The link is to a post at conservative Quadrant Online:
Flannery predicted “overwhelming public support” over sacking *3 weeks* before.Shame he's not as accurate re climate http://t.co/FbBIAQhgui
— anne teller (@maatilda) September 26, 2013
Torin Peel, at progressive blog Independent Australia, has a very different take:
The new council is a godsend for our democracy, and will provide independent information Australians need to know the real facts about climate change. Because our new government is not willing to spend money researching, investigating and reporting this valuable information, it is fantastic that this initiative has been implemented to deal with it.
Back on twitter duszynski uses a oldie but a goodie:
What if human-induced global warning was a big hoax and we created a better world for nothing? #auspol #sarcasm #climatecouncil
— duszynski (@aduszynski) September 28, 2013
New Prime Minister Tony Abbott has promised to scrap the previous government's carbon price and emissions trading scheme and replace it with a direct action program. To do so he will need to change the legislation but that's a future story.
[Please Note: The author of this post, who is a member of the opposition Australian Labor Party, has made a donation to the Climate Council.]

author: Kevin Rennie


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‘How Much Are You Paid?’ Young Nigerians Ask Their Members of Parliament · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

On September 27, 2013, hundreds of Nigerian youths took to the streets, or rather to the chambers of the National Assembly to air their grievances about the bloated income and allowances of their lawmakers.
#OurNASS (Our National Assembly) was an initiative of Nigerian civil society group Enough is Enough and some Nigerian netizens. They demanded for more financial openness from an opaque legislature:
DEMAND
Determining the exact figure that the legislator earns, like most issues that require accurate data in Nigeria, is almost “mission impossible”. However, Nigerian blogger and public commentator Akin Akintayo offers insight:
What did the Economist reveal? Writing in Nigeria Village Square, Femi Ajayi explains:
The Economist magazine revealed that Nigeria federal legislators, with a basic salary of $189,500.00 per annum (N30.6m), are the highest paid lawmakers in the world. It looked at the lawmakers’ basic salary as a ratio of the Gross Domestic Product per person across the world. According to the report, the basic salary (which excludes despicable allowances); of a Nigerian lawmaker is 116 times the country's GDP per person of $1,600.00.
In another report, the 469 federal lawmakers (109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives) cost Nigeria over N76 billion on annual salaries, allowances and quarterly payments. Each member of the 54 standing Senate committee, receives a monthly imprest of between N648 million and N972 million per year, while, a member of the HOR receives N35 million or N140 million as quarterly or yearly allowances; which means conservatively the 25 per cent of the overhead of the nation's budget goes to the NASS.
How on earth can anybody justify 300 mil/annum in salaries for 360 pple at the expense of 120 mil pple in poverty? How?? #OurNASS
— Kolawole Osafehinti (@kolaosafehinti) September 22, 2013
Royal Amebo (@RoyalAmebo) pointed out:
Quarterly allowance of each member of d House of Representatives was increased to N27 million in March 2012. are we still watching #OurNASS
— Ask#OurNASS•26/09/13 (@RoyalAmebo) September 21, 2013
Nnamdi Anekwe-Chive (@nnamdianekwe), a security specialist, wanted to know what he achievements of Members of Parliament:
All the members of the National Assembly are collective failure. What have they achieved since 1999 other than sharing trillions? #OurNASS
— Nnamdi Anekwe-Chive (@nnamdianekwe) September 18, 2013
Zainab Usman (@MssZeeUsman), a writer and blogger, wrote:
Young Nigerians demand for transparency & accountability from the National Assembly #ournass pic.twitter.com/8egSN9buUH
— Zainab Usman (@MssZeeUsman) September 26, 2013
Emerie Udechukwu (@emerieconqueror) shared a link to a video of the protest:
Senators issued outdated pay slip to #ournass protesters. http://t.co/dpKkdnUCIK
— Emerie Uduchukwu (@emerieconqueror) September 27, 2013
The protest was endorsed by Nuhu Ribadu(@NuhuRibadu), Nigeria's former anti-corruption chief:
Yes, we need transparency and accountability in all sectors. I support full disclosure #OurNASS
— Nuhu Ribadu (@NuhuRibadu) September 26, 2013


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IBM, Cisco Supply Brazil with Surveillance Tools for World Cup · Global Voices
Pública - Agência de jornalismo investigativo

“Surveillance Giants keeping an Eye on Brazil.” An interactive infographic from Agência Pública shows the companies which profit through the world espionage market and how they are watching Brazil
[All links lead to webpages in Portuguese unless otherwise indicated.]
This article, by Bruno Fonseca, Jessica Mota, Luiza Bodenmüler, and Natalia Viana, was originally published on September 6, 2013 by Agência Pública as part of its special #SpyFiles3 coverage. Read the first part of this series: Brazil Becomes Hot Market for Surveillance Technology Ahead of World Cup [en]
According to market research firm IMS Research [en], Brazil is a big market for video surveillance systems in Latin America (constituting 45% of the total up until 2014), made even hotter due to the upcoming mega events. Oliver Philippou, author of the research [en], stated at the time:
Equipamentos de vigilância serão usados para os dois maiores eventos de esporte no mundo a Copa do Mundo de 2014 e as Olimpíadas de 2016; em um grande número de projetos de infraestrutura no Brasil; e diversos projetos de vigilância extensiva nas cidades.
Surveillance equipment will be used for the two largest sporting events in the world, the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics; in a large number of infrastructure projects in Brazil, and for diverse extensive surveillance projects in cities.
Since 2010, American multinational firm IBM [en] has attempted to sell to the Brazilian government its concept of “more intelligent cities,” with technological solutions in the areas of transportation, energy, and increasingly, security. In that same year, the firm supported a “road show” of the National Confederation of Shopkeepers (Confederação Nacional de Dirigentes Lojistas) in the 12 host cities of the World Cup and chose its manager of new technologies, Cezar Taurion, as article contributor for the site World Cup 2014 Portal [en], according to IBM’s site, in order to:
debater como a tecnologia pode ajudar a desenvolver a infraestrutura das cidades brasileiras e prepará-las para a Copa do Mundo de 2014, ajudando a torná-las mais inteligentes.
debate how technology can help develop the infrastructure of Brazilian cities and prepare them for the 2014 World Cup, helping them become more intelligent.
The results were worth the effort: IBM became responsible for designing the Integrated Command and Control Centers technological centers which concentrate decisions concerning security during the games. In these centers, huge screens monitor everything from street cameras around the stadiums to weather data, in addition to maps which show the locations of car accidents. And in Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, they had a crucial role in the strategy of police repression against the massive protests which took place in June 2013. The military police, civil police, firefighters, Medical Mobile Emergency Assistance (SAMU), federal police, federal highway police, municipal guards, civil defense, and the Traffic Engineering Company all work in cooperation at these centers.
In total, the installations in Rio cost nearly 104.5 million Brazilian reais (approximately 44 million US dollars) — 70 percent paid by the state government and 30 percent by the federal government, according to data released by the municipal government of Rio. IBM provided the hardware, software, analytics, and research. The English surveillance giant Cisco provided the network infrastructure and the videoconferencing system that connects the center of operations directly to the mayor’s house.
The Center was inaugurated at the end of May this year, just weeks before the beginning of the protests and the Confederations Cup. For the occasion, Brazilian Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardoso welcomed the work as “impressive in its technology and functionality” and said:
Este centro é exemplo para o mundo. A segurança pública do país ganha em qualidade, é um legado que vai ficar para a sociedade brasileira após os grandes eventos.
This center is an example for the world. The country’s public security gains in quality, it is a legacy that will remain for Brazilian society after the mega events.
IBM also won the contract to implement the 27 Command and Control Mobile Integrated Centers (known by its Portuguese acronym CiCCM), a project of the Special Secretariat of Security for Mega Events (known by its Portuguese acronym SESGE), together with the companies Rontan and Medidata, as well as Cisco. There are 27 trucks with the information technology, communications systems, and video monitoring for the 2014 World Cup which will function as advance command and control stations operated by agents os the above mentioned forces. Rodrigo Dientsmann, president of Cisco Brazil, affirmed:
O centro móvel será fundamental para a gestão da segurança durante os grandes eventos ao reunir o que há de mais eficaz em tecnologia para respostas rápidas à incidentes e ameças.
The mobile center will be fundamental to the management of security during the mega events by bringing together the most effective technology for rapid responses to incidents and threats.
To find out more about the involvement of these international surveillance companies in Brazil, check out the information at the bottom of the original story, in Portuguese.


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Mozambique Women’s Basketball Thrills with Last-Second Win Over Nigeria · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Mozambicans went wild yesterday for their national basketball team, the women “Samurais” as they are known, as they triumphed over Nigeria in the final seconds of the quarterfinals of the Afrobasket championship in Maputo.
The home crowd was delirious after the buzzer-beating comeback on September 27, 2013, in which the Samurais scored six points in 24 seconds, with two three-pointers – one by Leia Dongue with two seconds remaining. After squandering an early lead, the Mozambique team staged an unforgettable campaign, buoyed by the home advantage.
This video inside the overcrowded Maxaquene Gymnasium gives a feeling for the electric atmosphere and the drama of the last seconds:
@Verdade reader Sabado Tomucene wrote about the final moments on the newspaper's Facebook wall:
O ambiente euforico vivido nos ultimos 5 segundos finais em que aconteceu o triplo victorioso foi loucura. Ver aquele publico saltar, vibrar, gritar, chorar… ver aquelas pessoas transpiradas que 1 minuto antes estava todo pavilhap gelado porque ja nao se acreditava naquele final feliz, Ver nossa jogadora desmaiada (!!) pelo impacto emocianante do triplo victorioso quando poucas pessoas senao apenas a equipa tecnica e as jogadoras tentavam acomoda-la.
FOI UMA LOUCURA TOTAL
The euphoric atmosphere was crazy during the last five seconds when the last victorious three-pointer was scored. Seeing the crowd jump up and down, vibrate, shout and cry… seeing people sweating who only one minute before were totally frozen with the rest of the stadium no longer believing in a happy ending, seeing our player fainting with the emotional impact of the victorious three-pointer when few people from the support team and players tried to help her. IT WAS TOTAL CRAZINESS.
Photo shared on Flickr by @Verdade (CC BY 2.0)
It is rare for any national team to generate such excitement in Mozambique, and like in many countries, women's sport is often overlooked. Not the case last night. @Verdade newspaper's wall, now with over 40,000 readers, was overflowing with comments and excitement. One photo, showing Leia Dongue, was shared 172 times, received more than 1,120 likes and generated more than 440 ecstatic comments by @Verdade readers.
Reader Estevao Fanuel Tete commented:
O corte de energia k se deu na TVM nesses ultimos segundos do jogo deve me ter salvo a vida. Eu ja estava agonizando!!! Nunca antes uma partida de modalidade alguma tinha posto tao em causa a minha saude.
Reader Adriano Felix wrote on @Verdade's Facebook wall:
Num momento de crises diversas pelo país, estas campeãs fazem de tudo pra levantar a nossa autoestima e orgulho de ser daqui. Ainda vamos sentir o impacto disso na sociedade, na economia e na cultura nacionais, na reputação internacional. Quem, fora de Moz, não googlou sobre moz desde que o evento começou? Gerou curiosidade, ne. Quem nestes não vai trabalho ou escola cheio de si e da moçambicanidade adoirada pleas meninas? Já não se lamenta falta disto ou aquilo, comenta-se orgulhosamente as proezas das nossas representantes. Ainda há quem pense que não importa investir no desporto e na cultura! Quem negaria o título de heróinas nacionais as meninas?!
The Samurais will face Cameroon in the semifinals today, and Mozambican readers joke that they will “grill” the Cameroonians – Cameroon in Portuguese is Camarões, the same word for shrimp. Grilled prawns and shrimp are delicacies in Mozambique. The other semifinal will be between reigning champions Angola and Senegal. A final between Angola and Mozambique would hold special excitement, as the countries are rivals in sport.

author: Janet Gunter


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Russian News Websites Black Out to Protest Journalist’s Arrest · Global Voices
Daniel Alan Kennedy

Arctic Sunrise Enters The Kara Sea (Photo from greenpeace.org)
While piracy off the Horn of Africa has become commonplace in recent years, the remote and frigid waters of the Barents Sea offer little attraction to modern day buccaneers. According to the Russian government however, piracy is exactly what the crew of the Greenpeace vessel, MY Arctic Sunrise, were engaged in when they were detained by Russian coast guard. The ship was protesting state-owned energy giant Gazprom's new Arctic oil-rig, “Prirazlomnaya.” Greenpeace maintains that Arctic drilling represents a grave threat to the environment and that Gazprom has failed to implement adequate safeguards.
On September 18, 2013, two members of the vessel attempted to occupy the rig and were detained by Russia's Coast Guard. According to Greenpeace, members of the Coast Guard fired shots across the vessel's bow. After the Arctic Sunrise refused to allow members of the Coast Guard to board (Greenpeace claims the vessel was in international waters at this point), the ship was boarded forcibly. The crew used their twitter account to relay the events in real time.
The Coast Guard has stopped communicating with us, and is no longer demanding to board the Arctic Sunrise.
— Arctic Sunrise (@gp_sunrise) September 18, 2013
BREAKING: Helicopter hovering above Arctic Sunrise, rope dropping down. We think the Coast Guard is boarding us. #SaveTheArctic
— Arctic Sunrise (@gp_sunrise) September 19, 2013
This is pretty terrifying. Loud banging. Screaming in Russian. They're still trying to kick in the door. #savethearctic
— Arctic Sunrise (@gp_sunrise) September 19, 2013
The 30-member crew of the vessel were placed under arrest and the ship was towed back to Murmansk. While the detention of the crew was obviously enough to ruffle the feathers of Russia's environmentalists, word that freelance photojournalist Denis Sinyakov [ru] was among those detained outraged Russia's journalists and opposition activists (many of whom know Sinyakov personally). Sinyakov has deep ties to the Russian opposition and was involved in shooting the art-collective/punk group Pussy Riot's latest video. The outrage only grew when a Murmansk judge ruled that the crew would be held without charge for two months while investigators determined what crimes they may have committed. Piracy carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in Russia.
Sinyakov's detention prompted protest from Russia's independent media. On Friday, September 27, 2013, the satellite TV channel Dozhd blacked out the photographs from its website in solidarity with Sinyakov and reported that “Lenta.ru, Gazeta.ru, Ekho Moskvy, Bol’shoi Gorod, Snob.ru. Argumenty i Fakty, Russian Reporter, The New Times, Svobodnaya Pressa, Osobaya Bukva, Znak.com, Russkaya Planeta and Yopolis.ru” were all planning to do the same.
The front page of independent newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” with the photos blocked out. Other websites have followed suit. Screenshot.
Over 100 Russian journalists signed an “Open Letter in Support of Denis Sinyakov” [ru] in which they argued:
Во всем мире принцип невмешательства журналиста в происходящие события – краеугольный камень журналистской этики. Денис обладает в нашей среде безупречной репутацией – он снимал военные конфликты в Афганистане, Узбекистане, Южной Осетии. Нигде к нему не возникало претензий по поводу необъективности и принятии позиции одной из сторон.
All over the world the principle that a journalist does not interfere in ongoing events is the cornerstone of journalistic ethics. Denis enjoys an unsullied reputation among us [journalists]. He has shot military conflicts in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and South Ossetia. He has never been accused of a lack of objectivity or bias to any side.
Not everyone was so convinced of Sinyakov's objectivity. Popular pro-Kremlin bloggers like Stanislav Apetyan [ru] and Marina Yudenich [ru] were quick to draw attention to a quote Sinyakov gave in an interview [ru] with the culture magazine Afisha in July 2012. Apetyan tweeted the quote superimposed over an image of disorder from the infamous Bolotnaya Square protests [Global Voices report]:
Sinyakov quote with images of Bolotnaya protests. (Used with author's permission)
I have a photo I took on the 6th of may on Bolotnaya Square. A white ribboned [protester] is beating a member of the riot police over the head with a piece of asphalt. I wasn't specifically photographing that [event], everything there was mixed up, there was fighting. Only, when I developed the negatives later I saw – whoa! – a riot cop without a helmet, and the lad wasn't throwing the piece at him, he was beating him over the head with it like a hammer. From a journalistic point of view, this picture would have been printed a hundred times over — it was very current. But I didn't put it in my media feed.
While Sinyakov's close links to opposition figures and art-groups like Voina and Pussy Riot obviously don't endear him to figures like Apetyan, blogger and politician Alexey Navalny (who has spent a bit of time in Russian jails) saw fit to remind his followers of the larger issues at stake:
Справедливости ради надо сказать, что арестовывать совершенно не за что не только Синякова, но и всех, кто был на корабле.
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) September 26, 2013
In all fairness, I have to say that not only Sinyakov but the entire crew was arrested for no good reason.
This may well be where the Coast Guard overstepped its mark. While the Russian government has been incredibly hostile to NGOs, the Russian public consistently ranks environmental pollution [ru] as serious concern, with 25% of Russians “very alarmed” at environmental conditions where they live and 49% “somewhat alarmed.” Environmental concerns over a nickel mine in Voronezh even led to rioting [Global Voices report] this year, indicating there may be more sympathy for environmentalists in Russia than the Kremlin might believe. Similarly, while Western states have themselves used excessive force in dealing with Greenpeace in the past, the detention of over a dozen foreign nationals is likely to become a diplomatic headache for Russia. Even President Putin has stated that the protesters may have broken the law but clearly are not pirates. Whether this will be enough to get them out of an Arctic prison before the winter comes remains to be seen.

author: Daniel Alan Kennedy


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Boko Haram Militants Kill Up to 50 Nigerian University Students · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram opened fire on students at the College of Agriculture in Yobe state, gunning down dozens of students aged 18 to 22 while they slept in a dormitory.
According to the Associated Press, up to 50 students were killed, and the militants also torched classrooms during the assault.
Boko Haram is a jihadist militant terrorist organisation based in the northeast of Nigeria, northern Cameroon and Niger. Since 2001, the group have actively launched attacks in Nigeria. This is a timeline (though not exhaustive) of Boko Haram's death toll in the country:
In May 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa which had been most hit by the terrorist attacks. The Nigerian president vowed that:
…whoever they may be, wherever they may go, we will hunt them down, we will fish them out, and we will bring them to justice. No matter what it takes, we will win this war against terror.
Nonetheless, this vicious massacre of innocent children in their sleep threw the Nigerian blogosphere into mourning.
Obi Asika, the chairman of SocialMediaWeek Lagos, lamented:
Why are we killing ourselves still can't fathom this madness and those who profit on it? I'm so depressed to hear about Yobe this am #rip
— Obi Asika (@obiasika) September 29, 2013
Mark Amaza, a public commentator, was livid:
Life in Nigeria is hard as it is. Those in Yobe, Borno, Southern Kaduna & parts of Plateau & Nassarawa seem to be getting a double portion.
— Mark Amaza (@amasonic) September 29, 2013
Journalist Abang Mercy recalled a similar Boko Haram death spree in July 2013:
Same Yobe were gunmen stormed the premises of Government Secondary School in the town of Mamudo killing 29 students and a teacher in July.
— Abang Mercy-Asu (@AbangMercy) September 29, 2013
Nnodim Blossom, an author, blogger and compère, offered a prayer for the dead:
My thoughts are with all the grieving families in Yobe. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in perfect peace. Amen!
— Nnodim Blossom (@blcompere) September 29, 2013
Henry Okelue questioned:
How can a State of Emergency, be in force in 3 States including Yobe and the body count of the innocent hasn't stopped?
— Henry Okelue (@4eyedmonk) September 29, 2013
Opeolu Abiodun asked the question on many minds:
I really feel sorry for innocent lives been killed today by Boko Haram in Yobe state. For how long shall we continue to leave with this.
— Opeolu Abiodun (@Upmajor) September 29, 2013
Borrowing the words of Nigerian writer, Chiagozie Nwonwu wrote:
So the guns of Boko Haram coughed again. Now more mothers will wail for children who won't be coming home….
— Chiagozie Nwonwu (@mazinwonwu) September 29, 2013


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Mozambique women’s basketball reaches new heights · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Following a thrilling victory in the quarterfinals (see our coverage), last night the Mozambican women's basketball team won a place in the Afrobasket Finals tonight against reigning champions Angola. With yet another comeback-style victory over Cameroon in the semifinals, they are also guaranteed a place in the World Championships, and in the nation's sporting history.


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Saudi Clergyman Delivers Ground-breaking Science on Why Women Shouldn’t Drive  · Global Voices
Rayna St.

“God did not say I can't drive,” reads this sign posted on the We The Woman N7nu flickr account
In Saudi Arabia, women are banned from driving. While more than 11,000 women challenge the ban through a petition, a man of wisdom has finally come up with a scientific explanation on why it is actually better for women not drive. In an interview with online Saudi newspaper Sabq, Sheikh Saleh al-Lehaydan, a judicial and psychological consultant to the Gulf Psychological Association, revealed novel reproductive science facts [ar]:
وتابع: “إلى جانب أن المرأة إذا قادت السيارة لغير الضرورة – كما تقدم – قد يؤثر ذلك عكسياً على الناحية الفسيولوجية؛ فإن علم الطب الوظيفي الفسيولوجي قد درس هذه الناحية بأنه يؤثر تلقائياً على المبايض، ويؤثر على دفع الحوض إلى أعلى؛ لذلك نجد غالب اللاتي يقدن السيارات بشكل مستمر يأتي أطفالهن مصابين بنوع من الخلل الإكلينيكي المتفاوت لدرجات عدة”.
He added “In addition, if the woman drove without a necessity this may affect her physiology negatively; in the science of functional physiology this issue has been studied and it affects the ovaries spontaneously, affects thrusting the pelvis upwards, thus we find that most of those who drive cars continuously deliver children with varying degrees of clinical dysfunction.”
Sheikh Lehaydan's announcement is incredibly timely: Saudi women activists are campaigning for 26 October to be a day when women go out driving. His warning urging women to “wait and consider the negatives” of such a damageable activity adds to concerns voiced by other conscious Saudi citizens [ar]:
من يطالبون بمظاهرة #قيادة_المرأة قوم رضعوا لَبن الغرب في صغرهم ونبتت شحوم ظهورهم منه في كبرهم فاتبعوا سننهم لأمركة مجتمعنا #قيادة_26اكتوبر
— محمد الشنار (@mshanarm) September 26, 2013
Those who are calling for a women driving protest Oct 26th are a tribe who have been breastfed by the West and they grew big and fat drinking that milk. Now they are following the West and trying to Americanize our society.
‘Foreign hands,’ a favourite tune in the Middle East when it boils down to reconsidering institutionalized human rights violations, are not the only ones guilty of fomenting dangerous opposition to long-lived prohibition:
سبحان من جمع بنو علمان والرافضة في خندق واحد يدعون الى قيادة المرأة للسيارة وهذا دليل على أن هذا الامر مخطط له وتدعمه دول #قيادة_26اكتوبر
— ابو زيد السعيدي (@Salem1213Salem) September 22, 2013
God be great, the secularists and the Shia are in one trench to call for women driving. This proves that the issue is planned and supported by nations.
Eman al-Nafjan tweets a picture of the apocalypse to come:
Some Saudi misogynist made this poster on how women driving will lead to communism, drugs, liberalism… pic.twitter.com/xjBe44oObr
— Eman Al Nafjan (@Saudiwoman) September 27, 2013
(The slogan reads: “They want her to drive so that she’ll be driven.”)
Sheikh al-Lehaydan's ground-breaking scientific discovery could not go unnoticed. A Twitter hashtag, #قيادة_المرأة_تؤثر_على_المبايض_والحوض, that translates into “women driving affects ovaries and pelvis” kicked off and went viral as many reacted to al-Lehaydan's scientific knowledge:
What a mentality we have :/ People went to space and you still ban women from driving Idiots #قيادة_المرأة_تؤثر_على_المبايض_والحوض
— Mido Katouah (@Mido_katouah) September 28, 2013
When idiocy marries dogma in the chapel of medieval traditions, this is their prodigal child. #قيادة_المرأة_تؤثر_على_المبايض_والحوض
— Shamael Al-Sharikh (@Shamael3) September 28, 2013
at times like this i understand why people commit suicide #قيادة_المرأة_تؤثر_على_المبايض_والحوض
— #ياثورة _ما_تمت (@Ayasettawi) September 28, 2013
Please respect ourminds If u don't want us to drive at least come up with good reasonable excuse #قيادة_المرأة_تؤثر_على_المبايض_والحوض
— 7oor (@Owiwi_Hoor) September 27, 2013
Such declarations do not spark sharp criticism and acute sarcasm solely from women:
After long clinical/psychological trials, scholars discovered why women can't parallel park..ovaries. #قيادة_المرأة_تؤثر_على_المبايض_والحوض
— Mohammed AlMuharraqi (@MohdMuharraqi) September 28, 2013
@Saudiwoman أي كلام هذا؟ سألت طبيبة عن ما قاله اللحيدان الرد كان: “أي جهل هذا؟ كلام لا علاقة له بالطب لا من قريب ولا من بعيد”
— Majid Al-Ayed (@BinAyed70) September 28, 2013
What is this? I talked to my doctor, and she said “What kind of ignorance is this? These words have nothing to do with Medicine, from wherever you look at it!”
Saudi Cleric Says Crazy Shit #NotNews
— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) September 27, 2013
Renowned (male) scientist and sound religious critic, Richard Dawkins, observed:
Why shouldn't Saudi women drive? Driving damages their ovaries and pelvis. http://t.co/r1BnHWrLDC Oh I SEE, it's not religion but SCIENCE.
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 28, 2013
To whom tweep @Seeektrooof commented:
@RichardDawkins This is how they figure it out. pic.twitter.com/rWrxPQ2FkI
— Truth Seeker (@Seeektrooof) September 28, 2013
Sarcasm aside, challenging the driving ban in Saudi Arabia is a long-lived battle. Indeed, the first protest opposing the ban happened back in November 1990 (En) when 47 women drove through the country's capital city of Riyadh. They were not only arrested, but many were further punished by being banned from travel and suspended from their work. May 2011, marked a tipping point of the protest movement against driving prohibition for women in the Kingdom after Saudi women's rights activist Manal al-Sharif was arrested after uploading a video to YouTube that showed her driving. She was jailed for more than a week, becoming a hero for many women both in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East. Back in June 2011, numerous Saudi women across the Kingdom followed the example Manal al-Sharif has set and participated in the “Women2Drive” campaign by defying the ban and driving throughout the streets.
As a matter of fact, banning women from driving is not inscribed anywhere in the Kingdom's official legislation. Additionally, the head of Saudi Arabia’s religious police also said that the “Islamic sharia does not have a text forbidding women driving,” stressing that, since appointed as head of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, religious police have not pursued or stopped a woman driving. The prohibition is thus entirely based on the country's conservative customs.
Mobilization to revert oppressive prohibition has been growing ever since and bold acts of civil disobedience have multiplied. Along with bold positions in Saudi Arabia's mainstream media, the 26 October campaign has seen an incredible support from many of the country's prominent public figures. Remarkable Madeha Al-Ajroush who drove both in 1990 and in June 2011, says:
Yes, i will drive again on October 26 #قيادة_26اكتوبر
— madeha al ajroush (@madehaAlajrous) September 21, 2013
Using the Twitter hashtag #أنا_رجل_مؤيد (“I´m a male supporter”), men have also started to publicly show their support:
#أنا_رجل_مؤيد #قيادة_26اكتوبر #غرد_بصورة pic.twitter.com/K3QcZfItuS
— منال مسعود الشريف (@manal_alsharif) September 27, 2013
[hashtag] I am a male supporter [of] [hashtag] women driving on October 26. [Hashtag] Tweet Using a Photograph.
#أنا_رجل_مؤيد #قيادة_26اكتوبر #غرد_بصورة pic.twitter.com/PWGOipPV2m
— منال مسعود الشريف (@manal_alsharif) September 27, 2013
[hashtag] I am a male supporter [of] [hashtag] women driving on October 26. [Hashtag] Tweet Using a Photograph.
The placard the man is carrying reads [ar]:
“I am fed up of working as a driver for my six sisters.”
As Manal al-Sharif put it when rewarded for “creative dissent” at the Oslo Freedom Forum: “The rain begins with a single drop.” Seems like the sky above Saudi Arabia is covered with clouds.

author: Rayna St.


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Bhutan: Electoral Laws Need To Be Changed · Global Voices
Rezwan

Yeshey Dorji welcomes the move of the Bhutanese National Council to initiate a discussion on the electoral corruptions that were reported during the country's last General Elections the possible amendments the electoral laws require.

author: Rezwan


text:
Chinese City Invites Web Users to Correct Its ‘Chinglish’   · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

An image search of the term “Chinglish” in any search engine bring up page after page of public signs in China poorly translated into English.
“Chinese language blog”, in its post titled “20 Hilarious Chinglish Signs”, pointed out that “Chinglish” is a product of direct translation attempts:
An example of Chinglish from Wikipedia. The original meaning is when there are thunderstorms / please do not climb the mountain. But the Chinglish sign says “Lighting-prone area/ Please do not climbing.”
Trying to translate Chinese directly into English will give you sentences such as “I very like play basketball” (我很喜欢打篮球 – wǒ hěn xǐ huan dǎ lán qiú) or “I with my friend together have dinner” (我跟我的朋友一起吃晚饭 – wǒ gēn wǒ de péng yǒu yī qǐ chī wǎn fàn). Other times, it is a result of trying to directly translate Chinese words for foreign things. That’s why I’ve had students ask me about “Christmas old man” (圣诞老人 – shèng dàn lǎo rén – Santa Claus) and the “fire chicken” (火鸡 – huǒ jī – turkey).
There have been several attempts in the past to wipe out Chinglish in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai ahead of international events like the 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Expo. However, the campaigns were not very effective.
But one city is giving it another go. Shenzhen has come up with an idea to wipe out incorrect English signs by inviting netizens to take picture of incorrect signs and post it to Weibo and Wechat with a tag @Shenzhen campaign E (＠深圳E行動).
According to local TV news report [zh], there are more than 7.8 foreign tourists visiting Shenzhen every year and about one million of them will stay in Shenzhen for more than six months. About 20,000 foreigners have obtained residence visas and settled in the city. To prepare for the development of the future modern service cooperation zone in Qianhai, the city has been planning to provide a more favorable policy, such as tax exemptions, work opportunities and better living environment, to attract foreigners.
The campaign was launched by Shenzhen's Foreign Affairs Office on September 26, 2013 and it will last for two months. Participants are encouraged to send pictures to the campaign office via email, Weibo and Wechat and provide information about the location of the sign, the details of the mistake and their contact details. They will be awarded with certificates, a Chinese-English Dictionary and free English training classes.
Even though the campaign was widely reported in major local newspapers and TV news channels and campaign posters were put up in schools [zh], judging from the reactions [zh] from Weibo, Chinese netizens are not very enthusiastic. In fact the top post about the details of the Campaign E has zero response.