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YouTube Blocked, Unblocked and Blocked Again in Pakistan · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

After three months of a government imposed ban on YouTube, Pakistanis could finally access the video sharing site on December 29, 2012. But the relief was short-lived.
@ayeshaesque: YouTube blocked, unblocked, and then blocked again within hours is such a joke. #Pakistan
India's change.org Communicatons Director Raheel Khursheed tweeted:
@Raheelk: Wow something shorter than Kim Kardashian marriage! #Pakistan'sYoutubeAffair
@SaadGH: Someone in the ministry found a YouTube on/off switch and now the ministers are having with it.
@SaadGH Perhaps YouTube was unblocked for 5 mins because baby Bilawal wanted to see his Katrina-akin performance from the recent jalsa [rally]. Hmm!
Saad is talking about the feisty speech made by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the President's son and co-chairman of Pakistan's ruling party at his mother's death anniversary on December 27. Before the sudden ‘re’-ban, Saad instagrammed this picture of his wife browsing YouTube.
Talat Aslam, an editor with Pakistan's widest read English daily The News complained:
Talat is referring to the “Innocence of Muslims,” the low budget 13-minute film that caused outrage all over the Muslim World, and resulted in protests, deaths and country bans on YouTube, which refused to remove the film from its site.
Image by Sherbien Dacalanio. copyright Demotix (17/9/2012)
Mansoor Ali Khan, a broadcast journalist with Geo News, (owned by the same media conglomerate as The News) tweeted:
@MansoorGeoNews Congratulations #Pakistan: Our government can't even make simple decisions about opening websites and we expect them to tackle terrorism
Ironically, according to blogger Kala Kawa both The News and Geo News were behind the sudden re-ban of YouTube. On his blog he explains in The Great YouTube Escapade:
Ansar Abbasi [The News reporter] notified Geo News (a vile, repulsive little channel) that objectionable materials are still available on YouTube. We yawned in shock! Ansar Abbasi is a man of many talents and of outsize reputation. It had barely been a moment since he proclaimed the awfulness of YouTube, that our Prime Minister sprung into action.
Netizen and lawyer Ali Ansari tweeted:
Kala Kawa continued to explain the bigger problem behind the fiasco:
A confluence of idiocy of the sort that we see on a regular basis in Pakistan has ruled again. Courts that have somehow come to believe that they represent the will of the people, create orders that limit our agency in one wave of their robe. Journalists who have inflated their sense of self to the point where they no longer recognize themselves, inform us of how we ought to behave in our private lives. A civilian government that proclaims itself to be secular bends to the will of every right wing demand at the expense of those that are ideologically aligned with them. Unfortunately, none of this is new to us. Even worse, this is far from the last time something like this will happen to us.
ADDENDUM: Geo News is proudly proclaiming its role in getting YouTube banned again. As is fully evident to anyone with a semblance of intelligence, this is NOT something to be proud of.
The Twitter account Karachi Post, which describes itself as the country's “only Left-Liberal, social news outlet and Think Tank” lashed out at Geo News:
@Karachi_Post: Idiots we live in a global village & its almost impossible to censure internet content completely.Why don't you get this #Geo ?
Well-respected columnist and political analyst Raza Rumi summed up the sentiment felt by many netizens:
@Razarumi: Am using a proxy to access @youtube and other banned sites – its working well. Will DEFY this senseless [re]ban – down with censorship!!

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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A Memorable 2012 for Myanmar  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Burma has experienced a lot of political and social turbulence throughout the past year. Like a dilapidated taxi driving in torrential rain, the country is still moving forward but things looks risky. We can only hope that 2013 sees better weather ahead.
Writing for The Irrawaddy, Kyaw Zwa Moe reviews the most significant events in Myanmar in the past 12 months.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


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All About Grassroots Change Movements · Global Voices
Rezwan

Gaurav Mishra analyzes the dynamics of grassroots change movements and how they work to make an impact in the mainstream using social media.

author: Rezwan


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An Open Letter to President Hugo Chavez, from El Salvador · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

From El Salvador, Paolo Lüers, the blogger on Columna transversal, posts an open letter [es] to Venezuelan President, Mr Hugo Chavez, and tells him “something that the few ones who have access to you don't dare to tell you, or aren't interested in telling you”, and ends up his letter wishing President Chavez the best for him and his country.

author: Gabriela García Calderón


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“Bogotá’s Traffic Jams Are Horrific Now? Well, Just Wait!” · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

Mike's Bogota Blog rants about traffic jams in Colombian capital city, Bogotá, and foresees the situation can only get worse:
Congress, in all its wisdom, has included in the tax reform bill which it just passed and Pres. Santos will sign, a cut in gasoline prices. Colombians will cheer and senators will gain votes, but, by promoting consumption, driving and traffic congestion will all get worse – besides the impacts on pollution and climate change.


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Bolivia: Nationalization and football · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

From Bolivia, blogger Eduardo Bowles refers to the nationalization of Spanish company Iberdrola [es]:
[…] amidst a severe credibility crisis and when the bumpings with Chile weren't enough for “beating around the bush”, MAS regime has ordered the nationalization of four branches of Spanish multinational Iberdrola, thus putting an end to its presence en Bolivia. […]
More than once, [Bolivian] President Morales has joked about the idea of solving problems between countries on a football field.


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Cambodia: Major Events of 2012  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Albeiro Rodas reviews the major events and issues in Cambodia in the year 2012. He mentions the passing away of King Norodom Sihanouk as the most important event in Cambodia in the past year.


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Cambodia: Timeline of Human Rights Violations · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Sithi provides a timeline of human rights violations in Cambodia from 1993 up to the present. This documentation project also highlights the rise of human right abuses involving land ownership.


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Celebrating 2012 with Global Voices · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

Check out our regional reviews of Global Voices in 2012
As the year draws to a close, we’d like to express our gratitude for the hard work, creativity and care of so many in the Global Voices community. 2012 has been a year of tremendous growth and success for GV. Some highlights:
Our community has nearly doubled in size – GV now has over 700 authors and 600 translators volunteering; as many as 700 people contribute in a given month.
Applicants for Rising Voices micro-grants in 2012 topped 1200, a nearly 50% increase over the 2011 figure. This increase is a strong acknowledgement of the impact that citizen’s voices and media are having everywhere, even in places that face material and social constraints to online participation.
We hit a record number of visits in a single day – 157,000!
GV’s biannual summit, held this year in Nairobi, Kenya was an event of unparalleled participation and energy, and helped us to set the course for GV’s future.
GV Advocacy’s community has prospered, with new content, many new members, and a strong sense of purpose and mission going into 2013. GV Advocacy enters 2013 with a new director, Hisham Almiraat, building on the strong foundation laid by Sami Ben Gharbia.
The addition of Amharic and Bulgarian in 2012 brought the number of languages represented in GV’s Lingua translation community to 35. Additionally, as our multilingual newsroom grows, dozens of posts each month are originally written in languages other than English.
While the numbers may reflect the facts of Global Voices’ impacts, we really want to celebrate and thank the volunteers who together make GV such an energetic and trusting community. We wish we had room to post images of everybody, but there are so many of us!
Happy New Year!
Georgia Popplewell and Ivan Sigal
Donate now »

author: Ivan Sigal


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Costa Rica: Of Mills and a New Year · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

There were days when I felt the mill go slowly, too slowly, desperately slowly. Other days, I felt the mill spinning vertiginously, so I couldn't take a breathe and just wanted to get off the mill and run away.
Heidy, from Mi mundo mágico (My magic world) draws a parallel [es] between a mill and the past year, and ends her post wishing all her readers a happy new year.


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“Cousins” from São Tomé and Príncipe Unite the Diaspora Through Online Radio  · Global Voices
Mário Lopes

They say that “We Are All Cousins” and make use of online tools and social media to unite virtually the people of São Tomé and Príncipe in the diaspora and spread around the world. Global Voices spoke to Guedes Machado Medeiros, general coordinator of the informal group “Somos Todos Primos” (STP, We Are All Cousins) which launched a new website for its online radio on December 22nd.
Global Voices Online (GVO): How did the group “We Are All Cousins” come about and what are the organisation's objectives?
Guedes Medeiros (GM): The group “We Are All Cousins” emerged in 2010, and was consolidated with the existence of the radio station “We Are All Cousins”, [which] brought us greater prospects and new ideas: our objective is to promote and sell our culture to the world, we believe that we are capable of publicising São Tomé and Príncipe to the four corners of the globe. As time went on, we realised that we could offer our audience a range of programmes which was not yet available, and that is when the Group bearing the same name as the radio station emerged, made up of young students from disciplines as varied as science and literature.
Alex Dinho ft WK Productions “We Are All Cousins T-shirts”. Photo shared on the Facebook page of the radio station We Are All Cousins
GVO: Could you explain what “We Are All Cousins” means?
GM: [In Portuguese “Somos Todos Primos”, STP, or] “We Are All Cousins” means nothing more and nothing less than “São Tomé and Príncipe”, because we are a small country both geographically-speaking and in terms of population, where we all have a kinship connection, we translate this concisely as “Cousins”. We thought this label was the best way to keep alive the idea and the culture that we are a country based around family. Today we believe that with the “We Are All Cousins” project, we have brought more brightness, more life and thus, as has already been said, we unite the people of São Tomé around the globe.
GVO: One of the first actions of your Group was to create an online social community on the platform Ning at the end of 2009, but it closed after a year and a half. What are your thoughts on the experience of developing this online social community?
Guedes Machado Medeiros (24 years old), born in the district of Mé-Zóchi, Trindade, São Tomé and Príncipe. Currently settled in London, after studying electronics and telecommunications in Portugal.
GM: The creation of the blog on the social community Ning was the first step taken by “We Are All Cousins” as a national “brand”. From that point on the network became, without exaggeration, a great success, and when the radio station was launched with the afore-mentioned name, nobody had to ask many questions because they already knew what it was about. We owe all of the success which we have achieved today to that blog, and I must emphasise that the majority of the people who form part of the project “We Are All Cousins Group” today met through the Ning platform.
We had to close the blog because it was costing us 22€ a month and we realised later on that with this amount we could enjoy something bigger than what the Ning platform offered us. It was from there that the idea of creating our “Official Portal” arose.
GVO: Even with the closure of the Ning community, we can see that you never gave up on your objectives. Can you tell us how the radio station “We Are All Cousins” was established?
GM: Unhappy with the closure of the blog mentioned above, we tried to look for an alternative until the Official Portal was launched. Since we are passionate about music and promoting São Tomé's values, we created a “Menu Playlist” on our old blog, where readers could enjoy listening to music in “Off” mode. Leaving the blog behind, as a joke between friends and my brother Ricolve Medeiros, we recorded a video in my bedroom playing at being radio presenters and we posted it on Youtube:
There was significant appreciation of the video from its viewers, and some of those who were closer made contact with us to encourage us to create a “Web Radio”. We considered all the possibilities and we tried to find a mechanism by which we could make these ideas into a reality…
GVO: Contact draws contact and…
That was how our IT genius Hugo Menezes appeared. With the software in his possession, he needed around 2 weeks of investigative work. When he finished his research, I received the best news I have ever received in my life. He contacted me to show me a surprise, that is, the radio station which was already up and running [through the platform Listen2myradio]. From there we have brought together the conditions, although precarious, to keep the radio online until today with our effort and dedication, but because we are all students and we live in different parts of Europe, we go on air more frequently at the weekends, which is when we have more free time.
New official portal accessible at SomosTodosPrimos.net, “where people will be able to enjoy a diverse range of content.”
GVO: Since its foundation, what type of content and programmes has the radio broadcast? What can you say about the radio's audience?
GM: Since we started our radio services we have maintained a diverse programme, 90% of which is made up of a variety of music. Even in these conditions, we have a considerable number of listeners because, for one thing, we use the social network Facebook in our marketing because it is a very powerful tool. To diversify a little our range of programming, we established a small partnership with the National Radio of São Tomé and Príncipe in which they provide us with some recorded programmes which we replay on our radio station. For information, we talk about the situations lived by students from São Tomé in Portugal and other places. We have listeners in São Tomé and Príncipe, Russia, Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Great Britain, Taiwan, Macau and many other countries, even though all of the work is still done in an “amateur” fashion.
GVO: We know that you have more ambitious projects, such as “Cousins TV” for example, which has left your listeners and Facebook followers eager and impatient…
Primos TV, coming soon…
GM: We feel that we have a great capacity to give more of what has already been done for our people and all those who appreciate the culture of São Tomé. As a result of this, we have now resolved to include in our project an online TV station which is still being studied and designed. For economic reasons it still hasn't been possible to officially launch the radio station, the online shop and the Cousins TV station which are our biggest ambitions. This is because we don't have the sufficient technical means to develop our work from here on. But while the joy for what we do exists, we've worked with whatever we had. We have some friends who have helped us, such as the artist Mesaro Soares, Ron-nie Cabral, the group STP Rappers who we could even consider to be among our sponsors. We are open to people who want to support us or who want to get to know the project more closely.
GVO: How do you interpret the empowerment of young people in São Tomé and Príncipe through active participation in social media?
GM: Without doubt our young people have begun to have greater access to the internet, and as we have a country [in which] 75% of the population is young, the trend is ever greater, and we hope that with the installation of fibre optics in São Tomé and Príncipe we will have an even higher number of internet users. In my opinion [the use of social media] is satisfactory given the difficulties we face with the telecommunications services in the country.
GVO: To end, what inspiring message would you leave for the young people of this global world, especially those from São Tomé and Príncipe ?
GM: Briefly, I would say: young people are the future of every country and while we are young, we have to begin to plant seeds and to dream big, and above all not let fear condition us. Our future is the reflection of everything that we have done today while we are young.

author: Mário Lopes


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Dhaka Will Soon Have A Crowdsourced Bus Map · Global Voices
Rezwan

Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and home to millions, but the megacity doesn’t have a bus map. Urban Launchblog describes a groundbreaking initiative which will use crowd-sourcing to gather information for an online and offline Bus Map of Dhaka. They have coined the term Flocksourcing (Flocks + Mobiles) which will help rapid generation of urban data.
Image courtesy Urban Launchpad


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From Indigenous Protests to Online Preaching, Portuguese Language Countries in 2012 · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Every year, as the last days of the calendar approach, we select a few glimpses of citizen media from the action and imagination of the Portuguese-speaking online world.
Mainstream media often fails to provide broader and deeper coverage of social, cultural, political and environmental issues occurring in any of the eight lusophone countries. But citizen media from this vast linguistic region that spreads across the globe, has been there to fill some of the gaps and to fuel public awareness.
Such has been the case of the coverage of development policies adopted by the Brazilian government, and the consequences that directly affected river-dwellers, ‘caboclos’ and indigenous communities across the country, and particularly in the Amazon. The construction of the Belo Monte Dam in the Xingu river, has perhaps become one of the strongest causes at the national level and beyond borders. In October, Sany Kalapalo, a young indigenous and a Xingu activist, told us how she makes use of the Internet as a tool to disclose indigenous culture and to mobilize people towards her campaign to protect the Volta Grande do Xingu region in the state of Pará.
In November, the Cry of Resistance of the Guarani Kaiowá quickly spread from the village of Pyelito Key/Mbarakay, in the town of Iguatemi, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, to a worldwide wave of protests in solidarity with the indigenous rights for their lands.
Photo of 5,000 crosses planted in Brasilia. Image from the Facebook page of Itiban Comic Shop
Throughout the year, a series of articles on Brazilian migration has taken us in journeys we don't embark upon through mainstream media.
From a “Dekasegi” bridge-blogger in Japan for the Brazilian community after the earthquake, to the 93 year-old Syrian migrant living in the state of São Paulo, passing through the history of the “Brazilebanese“, or Brazilians from Lebanon, and other stories. Brazilian immigration policy itself faces new challenges. In December, immigrant associations in Sao Paulo organized a rally demanding more rights with regard to the law of the country. Brazilian emigration too has been under debate, particularly through the lens of how Brazilian women are seen abroad, after highly criticized statements from the President of the Portuguese Bar Association at the end of the year, who said that what Brazil exports the most to Portugal is prostitutes.
To calm down the waters surrounding that debate, and bringing a bit of music to the mix, something that Brazilians have also exported this year was Michel Telo's hit  ‘Oh if I Catch You’ song, whose official video on YouTube has already reached an impressive 470 million visits. Although Telo's major worldwide success didn't reach the numbers of Gangnam style, it did indeed spark a global phenomenon of “Telobalization” at the beginning of the year, with the appropriation of the song for new versions in dozens of different languages. It also attracted some critics due to the arguable quality of Telo's work, and whether or not it should represent Brazilian culture abroad.
On culture and literacy, we highlight the Bicicloteca, a bicycle that carries a small library and free solar-powered internet access to the homeless of the city of São Paulo, and a creative writing competition promoted by the young Cape Verdean journalist Odair Varela on his blog over the course of seven weeks.
Platforms for civic participation
Interesting initiatives for civic participation that bridge the offline and the online worlds arose in Mozambique in 2012.
In the Northern region of Mozambique, in Cabo Delgado, an “open terrace” hosts monthly public debates – which are transcribed live to Facebook – allowing for the discussion and dissemination of important issues such as the missing transparency in the extractive mega projects in the country. Photo by Terraço Aberto (Public Debate in Cabo Delgado) on Facebook
The People's Wall of Maputo, an authentic ”offline Facebook wall” in the extensive outer wall of @Verdade newspaper‘s building, allows for any citizen to express his or her complaints in a public and open way. Messages are later transcribed to @Verdade's media outlets, such as their print newspaper but also Facebook page and website.
A local diving school in Tofo, Bitonga Divers, has been raising awareness on the need to defend marine life against overfishing at one of Mozambique's most important tourist beaches.
Whereas in Guinea Bissau, where there is a huge Internet accessibility gap, a digital inclusion project called CENATIC – a computer center featured by Rising Voices in April – unfortunately had to shut down at the end of the year due to the high costs to support it. CENATIC was launched by a local NGO and aimed at providing more affordable access and support to individuals and organizations interested in exploring how a better connection can benefit their work.
In December Global Voices interviewed STP Radio (Somos Todos Primos / We Are All Cousins), from Sao Tome and Principe, an online community radio that plays an important role uniting the diaspora.
The future awaits
In the political arenas, 2012 was a year of presidential and parliamentary elections in East Timor, municipal elections in Brazil and local elections in Cape Verde. In Angola, Eduardo dos Santos was re-elected after 33 years in power. The country's complex path of development through the lens of citizen media is summarized in a separate post, Year of Change in Angola, But Everything Stays the Same.
By the end of November, São Tomé and Principe plunged into a political crisis, and in Guinea Bissau another military coup d'etat toppled the government in April 2012. A post from October reads:
While the international institutions express “concern” and conduct meetings, the people of Guinea-Bissau have little outlet for their fears and frustrations.
In Portugal, there were plenty of protests and two general strikes against the austerity measures in the European economic crisis scenario which develops into harder life conditions for the general population. The most participated demonstration took place in September under the motto “Screw Troika! We Want Our Lives”.
Among the multiplicity of conventional uses of digital platforms for activism, one of the most curious characters that caught our attention early in the year is in fact a 75 year old priest and writer called Mário Pais de Oliveira. He religiously uses social networks to share his very particular – and disruptive – thoughts on current events, and has hundreds of videos on Youtube and thousands of friends on Facebook. We finish this roundup of the year with a simple quote from one of his subversive homilies. Whatever 2013 brings:
We must come up with new ways to transform society

author: Sara Moreira


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Japan’s Kanji of the Year 2012 · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

kanji of gold, pronounced “kin” in Japanese
The Kanji of the year is “gold” (金).
The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation announced [ja] that the kanji of the year 2012 is gold (金) at the Kiyomizu-dera temple on December 12, 2012. The annual Kanji of the year announcement began back in 2000 and has attracted the attention of the public every year.
The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation explained they chose this kanji to symbolize “milestones” (written 金字塔) achieved this year, such as gold medals for Japan (金メダル) at the 2012 London Olympics, a Nobel prize win by Dr. Yamanaka, the newly opened Skytree in Tokyo, and a solar eclipse (金環日食) observed across Japan.
Netizen's Reactions
Many paid attention to the announcement of the kanji, but netizens are not so convinced that this year was glittering in gold. Twitter user @keloinwell shrugs, because the kanji also means “money” in Japanese.
image of skytree. photo taken by AxlBohya
@keloinwell
あまりいいイメージはないなあ。金字塔から金ってのもな
Gold doesn't give me a good impression. [I wonder why] they chose 金 from 金字塔.
@kintaryuta
今年の漢字て、いまいち今年っぽくない。メダルはともかく、「金字塔」てぴんとこない
The kanji of the year doesn't sound very much like this year. I understand where they come from for the gold medals, but milestone (金字塔) doesn't ring a bell to me.
Some users commented with sarcasm, referring to Kim Jong-un which is written 金正恩 in Kanji [the “gold” kanji appears in the word].
@yakkun99
今年の漢字は「金」なの。北朝鮮がミサイル発射した日に「金」て
The kanji of the year was announced “gold” (金), the same day North Korea launched a missile.
Let Robots Wrap Up the Year with Jokes
Random kanji of Global Voices Japanese is “hip” or a “waist” according to joke service Shindanmaker. Doesn't make sense? It's meant to be a joke.
A user generated joke web service ShindanMaker automatically generates “your kanji of the year [ja]”. Users can see what the site picks for them based on the user name they enter. The site also generates a “report on the level of your real-life satisfaction [ja] ” and a “forecast of your year-end/new year days [ja]”.
Global Voices Japan Lingua in 2012
Notes from meetup
How was the year 2012 for you? Global Voices Japan's Lingua team [ja] had three meetups this year. Transactions among Lingua volunteers are very active through emails, but for many new members it was their first time to meet face to face. Global Voices welcomed new Japanese Translation Manager Maiko Kamata and new Language editor Keiko Tanaka. Global Voices Japan team is looking forward to publishing more stories about Japan as well as more translation of posts for a Japanese audience in the coming year.
Wishing you happy holidays and new year!

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Most Read Stories on Global Voices in 2012 · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

Check out our regional reviews of Global Voices in 2012
This year we've seen both successes and setbacks for online social movements, wars, injustice and tragedy – but also countless stories of human bravery and survival to give us high hopes for the future.
In 2012 Global Voices in English (just one of our more than 30 different language websites) had 2,748,158 unique visitors to 6,159 short and long posts. Our readers came from nearly every single country in the world.
It's always hard to predict which stories will be most popular with readers. Sometimes we'll ride a wave of media attention to a breaking news story, or we'll have high traffic for something few others are covering. For each of our different language sites, the statistics will look different. Noticeably – compared to 2011 – excitement for the Arab Spring has waned, and there were no catastrophes that drew global interest to the degree of Japan's earthquake.
What follows are the top 20 stories on Global Voices in English for 2012. The first post on the list, Censorship Lift for “V for Vendetta” Shocks China from December, broke our all-time record for traffic with over 170,000 visits in one day thanks to a tweet by Anonymous and hefty discussion on Reddit.
An image from the most read post of the year. V occupies the China Central Television Station. A photoshopped image by Twitter user Kunshou.
The internet can be a dirty place, so we've scrubbed the results based on sex-based search terms, or oddly popular terms such as Korean blood type personality.
Check out our regional reviews of Global Voices in 2012

author: Solana Larsen


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No Haven for Citizen Journalists in Bahrain · Global Voices
Mohamed Hassan

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.
After Bahrain's police “Slap” video went viral the Minister of Interior issued a statement in which he asked that “anyone who films such an event should report it immediately” to the authorities. Two days later, and in contrast with such statements, many were shocked at the news of the arrest of a photojournalist.
Picture of Photojournalist Ahmed Humaidan and his membership is photographic society of America published by @ahmedalfardan1
The European-Bahraini Organisation for Human Rights tweeted:
@EBOHumanRights: Arrested and still missing youth photographer Ahmed Humaidan from Bahrain City Center Mall yesterday late night.
Photojournalist Ahmed AlFardan added:
@AhmedAlFardan2: More than 15 undercover police arrested humaidan from Bahrain city center #freehumaidan #freebhphotographer #sitrapic.twitter.com/pSeM9YgJ
Sayed Hassan wrote:
@WLEXT: Sad Day for Photagraphers & Journos in #Bahrain, Award winning Citizen Photo Journalist #FreeHumaidan arrested yesterday pic.twitter.com/c4ak9VFH
Picture of Ahmed Humaidan with several award winning photos that he toke and some awards he received
Kuwaiti writer and human rights activist Hadeel Buqrais tweeted:
بعد افلات قتلة المصور أحمد اسماعيل يتم استهداف المصور احمد حميدان في البحرين بإعتقاله
@HadeeLBuQrais: After the killers of photojournalist Ahmed Ismail evaded justice photojournalist Ahmed Humaidan is targeted and arrested.
Ahmed Ismail is a videographer who was killed in Salambad last year while filming a protest. He was shot from a civilian car.
The Doha Centre for Media Freedom issued a statement which said:
The Doha Centre for Media Freedom is joining the quest for information with the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights which calls for the immediate release of Humaidan.
…
Humaidan has won more than 140 international awards in photojournalism, and he is considered the second most Arab photographer to win awards in photography competitions.
Zainab Hashemi added:
دائماً يخافون ممن ينشر عنفهم و تعنجهم لذا إختطفوه ، غداً ستصفق سميرة رجب و تقول كعادتها : لدينا حرية في الصحافة في البحرین
@ZainaBHashemi: They are always afraid of anyone who publishes their violence and arrogance that's why they arrested him. Tomorrow Sameera Rajab [minister of State for Information Affairs] will say as usual: we have press freedom in Bahrain
This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.

author: Mohamed Hassan


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“Nobody Gets Mad on the Last Day” · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

Remembering his school days, Tomas Bradanovic [es] writes on his self-named blog “at elementary school, the last day of school year was the occasion for commiting any kind of mischievousness because there was no point for us to be sent to the principal's office”. Then, he reviews his own 2012 events and ends his post saying “goodbye 2012, wonderful year, where my worst nightmares were solved”.


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Shahzeb Khan – Symbol of Hope Against Pakistan’s Powerful Feudals · Global Voices
Sana Jamal

Who is Shahzeb Khan? Many in Pakistan are asking this question.
There was little or no news about him on mainstream media. But through social media, the face of this young 20-year-old has become a symbol of hope against Pakistan's powerful feudal-elites, who live with impunity, above the law.
Pakistan's social media is overflowing with Shahzeb photos with words of sympathy and tributes to the young student who was murdered on 25 December 2012 in Pakistan's largest city Karachi near his apartment:
Till Tuesday night, only a few hundred knew who Shahzeb was. Now, the deceased young man has become a symbol of change.
A memorable Photo of Shahzeb – (Courtesy: In Memory of Shahzeb Khan Facebook page)
Cold-blooded murder
Reports and family say Shahzeb was shot dead by two young men from feudal backgrounds Nawab Siraj Talpur and Shahrukh Jatoi, who were with their armed guards. Before the shooting, a small argument erupted between Shahzeb and Talpur, after one of Talpur's employees passed a lewd comment at Shahzeb’s sister. Shahzeb’s father Aurangzeb, a police officer, quickly resolved the dispute. But later that day, Talpur and his friend came back with vengeance on their minds and guns in their hands and eventually killed Shahzeb Khan, the only son of his parents.
The sad incident was described in this report published on the Express Tribune:
Shahzeb Khan didn’t even get time to change the clothes he wore to his sister’s valima (wedding reception). He was in his dark grey dress shirt and trousers when four 9mm bullets pierced through his car – a gleaming blue Swift which was an early birthday gift from his parents, and entered his body, eventually killing this popular 20 year old.
At first, the family had a hard time registering the case due to political pressure from the well-connected Talpurs and Jatois – two well-known Feudal families in Pakistan. “The police first registered a dummy First Information Report (FIR) but later it took him (Shahzeb's father) hours to re-register another version of the FIR naming the actual culprits” Dr. Awab Alvi told GV. He cautions:
If it could happen to a police officer’s son – it can happen to any person in Pakistan!
The names of key suspects in Shahzeb’s murder have been put on Pakistan's Exit Control List (ECL) and a team of investigators has been dispatched to different areas, as per this published report.
Social media responds
Interesting as it may sound, photos of the suspects have been uploaded on the Sindh police’s unofficial Facebook page and is being shared by friends of Shahzeb on their walls with the caption ‘Wanted Criminal’.
Friends and family of Shahzeb started a Facebook page to seek justice for his murder. The Page “In Memory of Shahzeb Khan” had some 2,500 Likes in less than a day, and has surpassed 60,000 Likes till now (31 December 2012) brimming with messages like, ‘I’ll miss your smile, RIP and you were a real soldier.’ Another message on the Facebook page reads:
Courtesy of the “In Memory of Shahzeb Khan” Facebook page
“Shahzeb Khan was a man of gold, an inspiration and a hero. It is now on our shoulders to bring the murderers of Shahzeb Khan to justice and insist on bringing about a change before it is too late to realize how the simple understanding of justice could have made the difference”
“Pakistan needs to wake up as it could happen to any Pakistani”, such tweets along with condolence messages were shared using the hashtag #JusticeForShahzebKhan
Prominent personalities including politician and chairman of Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaf party Imran Khan; Nuclear Scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan and musician (founder of Junoon band) Salman Ahmad have pledged their support to the Justice campaign. The response by Imran Khan was retweeted some 400 times:
Deeply disturbed to learn about the tragic cold blooded murder of young Shahzeb Khan in Karachi by a kin of some “influential” person.
Dr. Qadeer Khan's tweet:
We all should demand #JusticeForShahzebKhan. Stop it now or be ready to become the next Shahzeb. Decision is yours.
Salman Ahmed's reaction:
The killing of Shahzeb Khan is an attack on all of Pakistan's youth. I stand in solidarity with his brave father Aurangzeb.
Vigil for the fallen victim
Thousands gathered at Karachi Press Club on Sunday afternoon (30 December 2012) for a candle light vigil through a Facebook event.
Candle light vigil for the young victim in Karachi. Courtesy of the “In Memory of Shahzeb Khan” Facebook page
Protesters  carrying posters and photographs of a charming Shahzeb, repeated slogans of “We want justice, Justice for Shahzeb Khan”, demanding suo motu action from Pakistan's chief justice.
Moved by the peaceful protest, Shahzeb’s friends, put this message on the Page afterwards:
Amazing turnout at the protest. We can’t thank enough to all the people who stood hand in hand protecting Shazeb Khan's Family, maintaining the discipline. This is just the first brick to the never ending revolution we AIM and bring down the cowards who take pride in misbehaving with our females, and taking lives of the innocents!
Protesters gathered in Karachi in support of Shahzeb. Courtesy of the “In Memory of Shahzeb Khan” Facebook page
Ahmed zuberi writes on the Facebook page:
I cannot put it in words how comforting it is to see the nation united for my brother and I'm sure he must be glad to see so many holding onto the fire that he sparked to burn down the feudal system.
Pakistan's Feudal mindset
Shahzeb, in reality, fell victim to the feudal elite mindset in the country and rising gun culture in the city Karachi.  The incident served as a sad reminder of what the spoilt young sons of feudal landlords can do, points out this report, “Murdered in cold blood: For Sindh's feudals, Karachi lives come cheap.” Despite the fact that Shahzeb’s father himself is a police officer, there is little the police has been able to do, so far, to catch the alleged murderers. Taking lives in Karachi has become easy for people who have strong political backgrounds and power, said the devastated father of the young victim:
I had settled the dispute. Then why was my son killed like this. This is the brutal reign of the feudals. They don’t spare anyone.
The same report quoted the Investigation officer Murtaza (who is working on Shahzeb’s case) as saying that open use of arms across the city has become common:
“For students and young adults, carrying guns has become a trend. Fights break out and the first thing children do is take out guns on one another. Parliamentarians and influential travel in the city with their guards pointing guns at others. Their children do the same.”
Salman Ahmad, popular musician, brought the real problem to spotlight with these comments at @sufisal:
Shahzeb's murder is not politically motivated. It is a result of guns in the hands of those who consider themselves above the law.
Pakistan's feudal system, widespread in rural areas, continues to enslave local people through debt bondage of generation after generation by landowners who sustain their hereditary rule over allocated land and exert their power.
Sadly, the same feudal elite mindset has sadly transferred into politics of Pakistan, because most politicians are actually from feudal backgrounds. Rights activists believe:
Feudalism is the real cause of the country’s plight and its abolishment is the only solution to Pakistan’s tribulations.
Commenting on an article in the express tribune, Shahid plead and asks:
Feudal need to be caught and hanged. Such a shame that we are still ruled by feudal! Can the anti-feudal parties and civil society raise a voice for this poor boy?
Karachi's gun culture
So why is the murder of one boy gaining such great support in Karachi? The biggest city of Pakistan which has a multi-ethnic population of 17 million people, has seen recurrent outbursts of violence, claiming hundreds of lives. Since 2003, nearly 5,549 people were killed in different types of violence in the city, including target killings, terrorism, sectarianism, says this report. And Shahzeb's murder is just the tip of a huge iceberg.
Though Shahzeb was not hit by the bullet of a target killer or terrorist but his murder speaks of the city sufferings caused by a gun culture that takes its toll on innocent citizens. In a country where even festive occasions (marriages) are often pronounced by the sound of gunfire, gun violence hardly makes it to the front pages of newspapers or prime time news bulletins.
Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” and that is why Pakistani youth consider this attack an attack on every 20-year-old of the city.
Shahzeb Khan – Symbol of Hope
Soon after the social media campaign gained support, friends of Shahzeb made it clear that the protest was not merely for Shahzeb but for a greater cause to fight injustice and inequality in Pakistan. The campaign for “Justice to Shahzeb” is a beacon of light for justice, a voice for the hundreds of thousands of unknown fallen victims of Karachi. It is evident by the message at Shahzeb’s Page:
Join us to secure the lives of our young angels and snatch back a country that has fallen under the influence of inhumanity.
Asking to show support for Shahzeb and join the peaceful protest against the unjust incident and the unfavourable system of Pakistan, his friends urged:
Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and greed.
In Shahzeb, Karachiites see their loved ones who were cruelly taken away by the city's ever increasing gun culture. And this is the why people are raising voice for this departed soul.

author: Sana Jamal


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State of Freedom of Speech in Tunisia in 2012 · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

In 2012, the battle for freedom of expression continued in Tunisia. Though the internet remained uncensored, free speech advocates voiced concerns over the use of religion as a pretext to curb free speech. Meanwhile, a legal void has characterized the Tunisian media landscape as the government continues to ignore a new press law that protects journalists and limits government interference in media.
An uncensored web access :
In February, the highest court of appeal threw out a verdict ordering the filtering of X-rated content. In early September, Tunisia joined the Freedom Online Coalition [en], a group of governments “committed to collaborating to advance internet freedom”. The northernmost African country will also host the coalition's third conference next year.
Despite these positive steps from a country which once was an “internet enemy”, activists remain particularly concerned about the absence of an investigation into internet surveillance and censorship during the former regime. In an interview given to Global Voices, anonymous political cartoonist _Z_ said:
Dictatorship fell 19 months ago, and so far not a single serious investigation into the policing of the web [during the Ben Ali regime] was conducted. This machine, we called Ammar 404, and which was used to spread horror on the Tunisian net (censorship, arrests, threats…), could still be in place today waiting for a reactivation signal.
In August, a group of bloggers and activists vowed to lodge a complaint [en] against the Tunisian Interior Ministry, in order to reveal the identity of those responsible for giving filtering instructions.
Tunisian Internet users also remain at risk of judicial prosecution. In March, 2012, Ghazi Beji and Jabeur Mejri were convicted [en] to seven and half-years in prison over the publication of content offensive to Islam. Mejri, who is still in prison after losing appeal [en], published caricatures of Prophet Muhammad on Facebook. Beji who fled the country, published a book called “The Illusion of Islam” on the document-sharing website Scribd.
Blasphemy :
Poster of a campaign for freedom of speech organized by Nawaat and IFEX-TMG in May, 2012
On August 1, Ennhadha Movement – the party which won last year’s parliamentary election – filed an anti-blasphemy bill [en], to be introduced to the country's Penal Code. The bill has not been debated yet by the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), elected back in October, 2011, to draft the country's new constitution. A week later, the first draft of Tunisia's new constitution was released. The draft contained a clause criminalizing blasphemy. However, following negotiations between the three parties in the ruling coalition, the clause was dropped.
On December 14, the NCA published an amended version of the draft constitution on its website. The new draft does not include a blasphemy clause, guarantees free speech and prohibits prior censorship.
Ennahdha's vows to criminalize blasphemy followed the controversial Spring of Arts [en], a modern contemporary art fair held between June 1 and 10. On June 10, ultra conservative protesters attacked Palais Abdelia, where the fair's closing ceremony was held, and vandalized artworks exhibited there. The protesters accused the fair of exhibiting blasphemous artworks, something the fair's organizers denied. The violent protests were ignited by rumors circulating on the social networking site Facebook, claiming that the fair exhibited a painting depicting Prophet Muhammad.
On May 3, a Tunis-based primary court fined Nabil Karoui, director of the privately owned Nessma TV, 1,200 TND over the broadcast of the animated film Persepolis.
Media executives behind bars:
On February 15, Nasreddine Ben Saida, the general director of the Arabic-language daily newspaper Attounissia was arrested, along with two of the newspaper's journalists, over the publication of a front page photo featuring football player Sami Khedira with his nude girlfriend. The three were later on released.
In late August, a Tunis based court ordered the arrest of Sami Fehri, a TV producer and director of Attounissia TV channel, on corruption charges. Fehri co-owned a production company with a Ben Ali in-law.
[from right to left] President Moncef  Marzouki, PM Hamadi Jebali and leader of the Islamist party Ennahdha Rached Ghannouchi performing a song on the puppet show Logique Siyasi.
Before turning himself to the police, Fehri declared that a media advisor to PM Hamdai Jebali, called him to complain about the broadcast of the satirical puppet show, Logique Siyasi [political logic]. The show was suspended in August, but the TV network has recently resumed its broadcast. Fehri was not released despite a verdict issued by the highest court of appeal on November 28, quashing his indictment and detention order [en]. In protest against his ongoing detention, he went on hunger strike. On December 27, he was transferred to hospital after his reported health deterioration.
Press Freedom:
On October 17, Tunisian journalists went on strike to protest against what they described as the government's attempts to curb press freedom and control state-owned media outlets. Journalists also called the government to implement two decree laws adopted in November, 2011, by the former interim government. The two laws [en] (decrees 115 and 116) guarantee freedom of press and independence of state-owned media.
Journalists protest against perceived government interference on October 17. Photo by Rabii Kalboussi
Military and Censorship:
On May 21, an army general confiscated two cameras for Ramzi Bettibi a journalist for the collective blog Nawaat. Bettibi was filming a court hearing in the case of the death of protesters during the uprising that toppled the regime of Ben Ali. For a few days, Bettibi went on hunger strike to call for the lift of restrictions on the coverage of court hearings in what is known as “Martyrs’ case”.
Ayoub Massoudi, a former advisor to current President Moncef Marzouki faces military trial over his televised declarations on the extradition of former Gaddafi PM from Tunisia to Libya. Massoudi described the extradition of Baghdadi Mahmoudi as “a treason against the State” and accused Rachid Ammar [Chief of Staff of the Tunisian Armed Forces] and Abdelkrim Zbidi [Minister of Defence] of not notifying President Marzouki about the extradition process which took place on June 14. On September 21, Messoudi was given a four-month suspended prison sentence. The next court hearing will take place on January 3.
Trial of Graffiti:
“Free Zwewla” Graffiti by Crazy Boys
Oussama Bouagila and Chahine Berriche, graffiti artists and members of the street art community, Zwewla [the poor in Tunisian dialect] are facing legal action for drawing graffiti in support of the poor. They were charged with “writing, without permission, on public property”, “breaching the state of emergency” and “publishing fake news that could disturb public order”. On December 5, a primary court delayed their trial to January 23, 2013.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Thailand’s ‘Skype Doctors’ · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

“Virtual ER”, launched in 2011, serves as a direct means of communication between BNH Hospital's Emergency Room and patients via Skype…Patients or helpers can speak to and see the nurses in the ER from wherever they are with simple tools including internet connection, a computer, a tablet PC or a smart phone that supports video calls.
futuregov features the ‘Virtual ER’ service launched by BNH Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand


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Top Five Moments for Argentina in 2012 · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

Javier, the blogger of Fin del Capitalismo ¿Salvaje? (End of wild? Capitalism), lists the five top moments [es] in Argentina in 2012.


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WCIT and its Relationship to the Internet: Issues and Challenges · Global Voices
Via Libre

The second part (see the first part) of the analysis [es] by Vía Libre Foundation, takes up the issues and challenges posed by the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
After the WCIT and Beyond
By Enrique A. Chaparro
VI. Conflicting Positions
World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai. Photo by itupictures on Flickr, reproduced by Creative Commons license ((CC BY 2.0).
No one will be surprised if we say there are sectors (government and private) that see communication only or primarily as an opportunity to generate income; others for which the scope of communications should be subordinated to state politics, and then others, like us and other social organizations, who believe that the fundamental issue is public service and unrestricted access.
All of these positions are confronted and intertwined in every forum related to telecommunications, whether or not the Internet is included. The WCIT is not immune to this, and in fact we are aware of the existence of various positions. The most interesting were:
(P1) That of the United States and the European Union (EU), who made sure the ITR 1988 was not touched except for cosmetic changes. This posture was supported by countries linked to the U.S. by political alliances and FTAs, the Tier 1 networks of the United States, Australia, Japan and India, and large companies with Internet-based services, of which Google is the most prominent. This position is akin to the majority of the EU (and therefore I encompass them into one), that the ITR is no longer necessary and that the issue should be left to free market action (1);
(P2) A sum of proposals from China, the Russian Federation, the Arab world and some African nations, who wanted the explicit inclusion of the Internet in the ITR (2), a greater involvement of ITU member states in the management of the Internet, including issues of “cybersecurity”, and a “guarantee of no exclusion” to Internet access for all states.
(P3) That of large European telecommunications operators (including Tier 1 networks in Europe) grouped in ETNO, whose main agenda was to increase profits, based on the fact that they are the ones who provide the infrastructure that makes the Internet possible. The most “dangerous” of their proposals was the option to negotiate guidelines for quality of service freely between operators, which when applied to the Internet automatically destroys net neutrality (3), and the idea of making the method of “sender pays” widespread (which you will easily understand how much this was disliked by corporations like Google, Facebook or Twitter).
Strong campaigns were woven ahead of time around these positions, to enhance their own and discredit others. The main argument of the supporters of (P1) in favor of the classic “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” (4) against the supporters of (P2) argued that state control over local Internet implied threats to freedom of expression and information, and the right to privacy (5). The campaign against proposal (P2) (and to a lesser degree, against (P3), which because of its technical intricacies appears harder to explain) reached a global scale, driven not only by state supporters of (P1), but also by corporations such as Google, especially active, the media and NGOs usually concerned with civil liberty issues in the Internet.
VII. Progress
That campaign was not only very intense in the days before the WCIT, but kept up during the conference and was reflected in the catastrophic media headlines and doomsday articles (6). The intensity of the campaign led to the president of the ITU, Hammadoun Touré, agreeing at the beginning of the conference that the ITU would not deal with issues and decisions relating to the Internet, as had historically happened in the ITU, but that they would be agreed upon by consensus.
The supporters of proposal (P2) insisted on this, presenting a draft of its most extreme position to test the waters, then withdrawing it to present something a little calmer, which they also withdrew. The situation appeared to bog down.
With all moves aimed at incorporating Internet issues explicitly to the ITR failed, the last drafts before the final session seemed to get pretty close to proposal (P1), except for some small details. The text that moved toward the final meeting contained no mention of the Internet, and they had added two extremely important safeguards:
In the Preamble, the statement that “The Member States affirm their commitment to implement these regulations in a manner that respects and sustains their obligations to human rights” and
In Article 1.1, the statement that “These regulations do not address aspects of telecommunications related to content” (7)
But the day before the last [session], the United States and its usual allies (the UK and Canada) stirred things up. What made the U.S. “angry”, along with all the media that usually parrots the U.S. government, and the big corporations shouting disaster–Wall Street Journal (8), Forbes (9), going through CIO Magazine (10) or AOL Government (11)?
Apparently, it was because of the incorporation of Articles 5A and 5B. Too much, upon analysis, to generate a move that, according to the New York Times (12), was pre-arranged. Another factor is that on Wednesday, the consensus broke down and a vote was taken about an Internet resolution (13), but a main irritant seems to be the inclusion of a statement about the rights of member states to access international telecommunications services.
Why would such a seemingly innocuous statement (14) placed in the preamble be so serious for the U.S. and its allies? This statement, which was previously proposed as part of Article 3 is consistent with a proposal of the Arab states in the recent WTSA: T09-WTSA 12-C-0064 (15). If approved, it prevents (de jure, of course, which in practice is another matter), the United States from arbitrarily blocking access to international telecommunications (and by reasonable extension, the Internet) to or from countries considered “enemies” without formal declaration of hostilities. By way of example: An internet user in Iran cannot access Google services such as Analytics (16), cannot register domains on GoDaddy, cannot connect to Android Market or Appstore, cannot get an SSL certificate for an .ir site, etc., etc.
Let’s revisit the claims of the U.S., its allies and major corporations arising from (P1):
It avoids any progress that means transferring Internet regulatory issues from the realm of U.S. domestic law to international law.
It avoids any progress that implies universal service obligations.
It avoids any rate regulation.
The first and third objectives can be considered a “done deal”. The second as well, to a large extent, although the right of access statement leaves a loophole. Chances are this is at the root of the media show and scandal. Everything else a giant PR maneuver by the U.S. and its allies that managed to involve, frankly, a large number of social organizations that defend human rights in cyberspace.
Not that it’s wrong or bad to speak up against the possibility that governments not known for their respect of freedom have an international legal instrument enabling them to control its citizens’ action, but let’s see what happens in reality:
The ITR is applicable to international telecommunications services. But to access these services, a user must necessarily pass through a national service (17). And the national sphere is reserved to the respective states.
Nothing suggests that international telecommunications regulation stops the actions of censorship and surveillance of states seeking to do so.
Nothing indicates a priori that the scope of international law is worse for the Internet than the domestic law of the United States.
That the ITU, and consequently its member states, has a bigger role in that which results in being indispensable in regulating the Internet is not a good idea. In particular, because of its procedures which are not very transparent in the adoption of standards, and for its historical ineffectiveness. That the regulative issues of the Internet are governed by a “one state = one vote” mechanism is even worse.
But in the current state of affairs, ICANN–which is responsible for these issues (and others which would not need regulation, but even so it has dealt with) (18) — commits atrocities which make the ones ITU could commit pale in comparison (more about this in the section “Meanwhile…”, below).
Apart from these questions, it’s important to note that the ITU has no sanction power to enforce any of the rules issues, which means the alleged “threat” is an idle one: states who want to comply will, and those who don’t, won’t, without any consequences. As has happened so far. And unlike ICANN or WIPO, which thrive and grow fat on tariffs generated by the sectors that monitor (19), ITU’s finances depend on membership fees, the sale of standards documents, and donations. Its economic power is more than limited. Finally, the role of the ITU as a standardizing body has been declining since the 1980s, which in turn coincides with the downturn in technical quality of its subcommittees, in a downward spiral process. Only rules about radio from ITU-R have significant importance today in standardization.

author: Via Libre


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Bangladesh: Another Indigenous Girl Raped and Killed · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

Once again an indigenous girl was killed after being brutally raped in Borodalupara village, Kawkhali Upazila of Rangamati district. The victim, Khomaching Marma (14) was a student of class eight. Her dead body was found in the slopes of a mountain just 200-300 yards away from her home. She was last seen going to a nearby jungle to bring her family’s cattle back home.
Rina Dewan posted on her Facebook  wall [bn] regarding the reason behind this heinous crime:
There is a settler village named Nallyachari Uttor Matha within half a kilometer of the place where Thomaching’s dead body was recovered. During the early 1980s the government evicted the indigenous Marmas from their land and settled Bengalis there. Now those settlers claim a large portion of Borodalupara as theirs. A few days ago, some Marma villagers planted ginger in their lands but the settlers destroyed their crops and created unrest. It has been learnt that conflict exists for land between the maternal uncle of Thomaching Marma and the Bengali settlers. So, it is suspected that she was raped and killed to avenge.
Violence against indigenous women has increased in recent times. Image by A M Ahad. Copyright Demotrix.
Violence against indigenous women has increased in recent times. A few months ago, another indigenous girl was raped and killed. She was a student of class five. Hari kishore Chakma, a journalist, provides some statistics on the rape of indigenous women in an article at daily Prothom Alo [bn]:
Up to November of this year, 20 indigenous girls and women were raped in three hill districts. Thomaching Marma’s name is now added to this ever-growing list. In 2011, 10 indigenous women were raped. Kapaeng, a human rights organization, reported this statistics. According to this organization, 51 indigenous women were the victims of violence during this year. This number was 31 in 2011 and just 4 in 2008.
This brutal rape and murder once again has spread anger and rage across the country. Processions have been arranged in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. Netizen have also expressed their rage and protested.
Protests in Dhaka against the rape and killing of an indigenous girl. Image by Firoz Ahmed. Copyright Demotix
Mithun Chakma Jummo posted on Facebook:
Just like the numb, cold body of our sister, have we also become numb? India protested vehemently against recent gang-rapes, Imphal cried out for justice against sexual harassment of a girl. What should be our protests? Only one procession? Then becoming quiet and numb again!
Adivasi Aodhikar Andolon (CHT) wrote:
In the news, I saw India roaring in protest against the gang-rape in a Delhi bus. It felt good to see their unity. Media is also standing with them. The India government has been forced to arrest the perpetrators.
Recently an indigenous girl was raped and killed at Borodalupara village in Kawkhali upazila of Rangamati district.
And? The Police have failed to arrest even a single perpetrator!
Just like this, hundreds of our indigenous sisters and mothers have been becoming the victims of rapes and murders for a long time.
Blogger Anik wrote:
These offenses are establishing an image of Bangladesh in my mind. The image of a rapist and a murderer. It feels like ferocious potential rapists and murderers are roaming around us all the time. There is no guarantee that some of them will not suddenly lose control and submit to their urges.

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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China’s Top 10 Protesters Listed by Tencent News · Global Voices
Abby Liu

On December 30, 2012, Tencent News, a Chinese news website owned by China’s largest Internet service company Tencent, published a list of China’s 10 most important protesters in the past two years. Although the piece was soon censored on the Tencent News website, the introductory summary went viral on Chinese social media and blogosphere. As soon as a netizen Qian Hao shared [zh] the original piece on Weibo on January 1, 2013, it gathered over 4,653 reposts and 500 comments within a few hours. Netizens applauded the stories.
The article[zh] started with a powerful statement:
一旦他们有了发言权，所有人都有了发言权。 我们致敬的都是普通人，因为我们珍视每一个普通中国人说“不”的勇气。而值得一提的是，其中不少都是九零后，新一代人个人意识觉醒更早，更彻底。而他们的表达则更网络化，更勇敢。
When they [protesters] have freedom of speech, everyone else would too. We pay tribute to the ordinary people, because we value every ordinary Chinese who has the courage to say “no”. It is worth mentioning, many of which are born after 1990, a new generation who are more conscious of their individual rights. They tend to be more courageous and tend to use the Internet to make their voices heard.
It was followed by a roundup of the top 10 protesters, both individuals and groups who fight for their rights on different issues in Chinese society:
1) Wukan Village Residents: Against Fraud Election
Followed by protests against local authorities over farmland grabbing and corruption in late 2011, residents of Wukan in Guangdong held freely-held elections of their village leaders in February, 2012.
Tencent quoted one village resident Yang Semao[zh]:
民主选举跟游泳一样，如果不下水去练习，不被呛几口水，我们就永远得不到它。
A democratic election is like swimming, if you don’t try it out and get choked by some water, you would never learn it.”
2) Qidong Citizens: Against Opaque decisions
In July 2012, citizens in China’s eastern Qidong city surrounded the local government building to protest against the construction of a pipeline, which would channel wastewater from a Japanese-owned paper mill into the sea. In the end, the local government surrendered and stopped the project.
3) Hong Kong Citizens: Against “Brain-washing” Education
The Hong Kong government’s plan to make patriotic education compulsory at schools trigged mass protests and strikes among Hong Kong parents and students who consider it “brainwashing”. In the end, the government cancelled the class.
Tencent News commented[zh]:
香港人的爱国不是写在书本上，不是经过“教育”而来，是作为炎黄子孙发自内心对中华民族、中华文化的认同感。
The Hong Kong people’s patriotism doesn’t come from books or “education”, but from their heart and their identification with Chinese culture.
4) Ren Jiayu: Against Restrictions on Speech
Village official Ren Jianyu was sentenced to two years of “re-education through labour” in August 2011 after he posted messages on microblogs about social issues. Ren’s case triggered a campaign to end the “re-education through labour” system in Chinese social media.
5) Zhang Haite: Against Unfair Chance for Education
A 15-year-old against unfair chance for education. A screen shot of ChinaForbiddenNews on Youtube.
A 15-year-old girl Zhan Haite has made waves in Chinese media for her campaign on Weibo for the right to take the high school entrance exam in Shanghai, which is currently denied to migrant families in all Chinese cities unless they can obtain a Hukou (residency permit). Her campaign has trigged protests on hukou reform in China.
6) Yang Zhizhu: Against the One Child Policy
In March 2010, Yang Zhizhu was fired as a law lecturer in Beijing for having more than one child. His story is not rare in China. But Yang's high-profile protests have spurred debate over whether the one-child policy is needed now that the first generation born under it face the prospect of caring for an ever-increasing number of pensioners.
7) Zhao Keluo: Against the “Grave Clearing” Campaign
Two million graves and tombs across Henan were demolished in 2012 during the “flatten graves to return farmland” campaign. Zhao Keluo had his candidacy for the provincial Standing Committee revoked due to his fight against the campaign. He published a sarcastic “letter of repentance” on his Weibo account apologizing for his criticism of the campaign.
Tencent News commented:
他向地方政府的“专权”说不，让人们看到部分政协委员除了“举手”以外的另一种可能性。
He [Zhao] said “no” to local authorizes, which allows us to see another side of a CPPCC member other than “Hands up”.
8) Wu Heng: Against Toxic Food
Food safety is another issue concerning Chinese citizens in recent years. A graduate student Wu Heng decided to do something about it. He started a food safety blog called “Throw it Out the Window” to track China’s food safety problems. They also use Chinese social media to spread the news. The website has recorded over 190,000 hits since it was launched in June 2011.
9) Luo Yonghao: Against Commercial Domination
In early 2011, Internet popular figure Luo Yonghao tried getting the attention of Siemens via his Weibo when the door of his fridge refused to shut. When the company ignored him, Luo got other angry customers to join him in an action to smash their fridges outside Siemens’ Beijing headquarters.
Tencent News commented[zh]:
中国消费者维权长路，需要更多的罗永浩站出来砸开黑幕，反抗商业霸权，官僚机构懒政。
Chinese consumers have a long way to go in protecting their rights. We need more people like Luo Yonghao to fight against commercial domination and lazy administration by the government.
10) Netizens Against All Injustice
Tencent wrote[zh] to netizens:
因为有你们，单个孤立的反对者不再只是一个人。论坛、微博，新闻跟帖，你们在网络的每个角落中呼喊，声音汇聚为洪流，被越来越多人听到。你们吐槽、反讽，或者默默飘过以为抵抗。更多的时候你们大声说出：我反对。你们是一切不合理、不合法的反对者。
Because of you, an isolated opponent is not alone. You have been shouting on every corner of the Internet: On the Forums, microblogging and news threads. More and more people heard your voices. You repost, make ironic remarks, or pass by. Most of the time, you say out loud: I object. All of you are protesters against all injustice.
In the end, Tencent hopes that the government will allow different voices to speak out on social matters in 2013.

author: Abby Liu


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Chinese Activists’ Flash Mob Visit to Liu Xia · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Human rights activist Hu Jia has uploaded a video in Youtube recording a flash mob visit on December 28, 2012 to Liu Xia, wife of the imprisoned Nobel Laureate in Peace Liu Xiaobo, who is now under house detention.
Acopy.net has translated the description of the action details.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Chobi Mela VII Is Coming · Global Voices
Rezwan

Chobi Mela, the largest biennial international festival of photography in Asia, is coming to Bangladesh capital again. 34 artists from 23 countries will exhibit their work at Chobi Mela VII during 25th January – 7 February 2013 in Dhaka. Chobi Mela Blog has details.


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Iran’s Supreme Leader Behind Enemy Lines with New Facebook Page · Global Voices
Arseh Sevom

So Facebook is Halal all of a sudden?
by Peyman Majidzadeh Excerpted from a longer post originally published on Arseh Sevom.
Amid all the discussions about launching a halal or national Internet in Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, took everybody by surprise with a new Facebook page launched on December 13, 2012. We are talking about the same Facebook, which for most Iranian citizens to access requires special software or a Virtual Private Network to bypass the country’s strict filtering! The news became official on December 15 when Mr. Khamenei’s Twitter account, believed to be run by his office, promoted the page by posting a link to it. According to The Guardian, Khamenei's official website has not yet confirmed the existence of the page, but the conservative news site Baztab reported that the account was run by his office.
In defense of Mr. Khamenei, Mehr News [fa] criticized Western news outlets for their reporting, stating:
“A simple search shows over a hundred accounts and similar pages attributed to Ayatollah Khamenei on Facebook.”
What Mehr fails to mention is that only one of these pages has been promoted through Khamenei’s Twitter account.
In addition to the recent Facebook account, Mr. Khamenei has a Twitter account and uses Instagram. On the flip side he has been very vocal about his opposition to social networks, reports Small Media [en].
Ayatollah Khamenei’s Facebook debut has generated heated debates in the Iranian online community. The ayatollah seems to have attracted over 20,000 “likes” so far. Unsurprisingly, the censorship apparatus seems to be on guard here too, as critical comments are being removed and many have been quickly blocked by the page’s admin. Masih Alinejad, an exiled journalist, posted on her Facebook page [fa]:
“The virtual guardianship of Khamenei on Facebook: If Mr. Khamenei or his office has officially joined Facebook, this implies that he has made up his mind to fight the ‘enemy’ behind the enemy’s line.”
She continues her post by publishing her own comments on the ayatollah’s page which were removed in the blink of an eye:
“If this is your official page, your majesty, you undoubtedly realized that there is no leader of a country nowadays who has never done an interview with a journalist throughout his leadership period. So please inbox me your telephone number so that I can bother you for an interview over the phone.”
Some have encouraged people to report this page as spam and ask Facebook to block the page. The have also created a new page called “No to Ayatollah Khamenei” and urged him to leave Facebook. They state that free access to information and the internet is everybody’s right, not one exclusive to the leader.
The blog Evolution-Adam [fa] posted a photoshopped screenshot of the page portraying Bashar Assad, Putin, Ayatollah Mesbah, [former] Judge Mortazavi, Seyed Hassan Nasrollah, Shariatmadari, and Kim Jong-un in the Facebook friends list of Khamenei.
Altered screenshot from the blog Evolution-Adam
In a blog entry titled “It is a crime for ordinary people, but it is permitted for him”, the author wrote [fa]:
“Ayatollah Khamenei has recently launched his own Facebook page while Facebook is blocked in Iran and the use of anti-filters is a crime!… What kind of a law is it when breaking it is easy for the authorities but ordinary people are jailed, lashed, or end up like Sattar Beheshti [a blogger who was killed] if they don't respect it.”
Former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi takes a different view. In his blog [fa] he writes:
“I believe this debut requires the attention of Internet policy makers and telecom organization officials. The most important thing here is to lift the filters on the page so that everybody can have access to it. Connecting to the highest-ranking official of the country for those inside by using circumvention is considered disrespectful to the people and to the Supreme Leader himself.”
On the page itself, many have commented only to have their comments swiftly removed by the page admin.
“When Bashar Assad falls, you will be next,” read a post which quickly disappeared. Another post with a similar fate read, “Which VPN do you use?”
Plenty of posts could also be seen urging the ayatollah to release political prisoners, grant freedom of expression and assembly, and allow free and fair elections. On the other hand, there are many comments praising Ayatollah Khamenei, which are not removed.
Despite the fact that the page has been widely publicized and commented on, so far there has been neither confirmation nor denial from Ayatollah Khamenei’s office of its authenticity. Confirmation from his office would highlight the double standards of the regime when it comes to social media. Meanwhile, Facebook is all about interaction and engagement, not just removing comments and blocking users. It is not clear how long the supreme leader will be able to maintain a similar no-comments approach.
Only time will tell.

author: Arseh Sevom


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Our Global Voices in 2012 · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

A high-school student discovers a math formula in Afghanistan. The cry of resistance from Brazil's indigenous Guarani Kaiowá gains global support. The banned film “V for Vendetta” is screened on China's state broadcaster.
Social media around the globe has been buzzing with important stories that have been missed by mainstream media, and we've been filling that void all year. Here are some highlights from Global Voices in 2012.
Stories of strength
Our special coverage, “Reformists on Trial in Saudi Arabia” gave readers a rare glimpse into court proceedings in the Kingdom and the brave activists who are challenging the arbitrary nature of their judicial system.
In Bangladesh, despite obstacles, girls outshine boys in national exams.
Women celebrate and show the victory sign following the announcement of exam results. Image by Bayazid Akter. Copyright Demotix
In Trinidad and Tobago, one man's hunger strike against a proposed highway, brought the whole country together:
History will show that a tipping point was reached in terms of the necessity for all governments to be transparent about the development path on which they embark. WE may or not support the highway but, surely, we support the right to know what is being done in our names.
In Mauritania, a government employee was celebrated when he locked three Chinese investors in his office and called the police, after they tried to bribe him.
In Russia, from the rooftop of one of the country's most notorious detention facilities, prisoners began a revolt waving banners, “help us please.”
Alternative narratives
Through out the year, we tried to unravel Africa's tainted global media coverage. We gave context to conflicts in the region, and challenged existing narratives of Africa, through stories like  “Angolan Tourists Spend Big Bucks in Portugal.” Posts like “Chinese Mining Boss Allegedly Killed by Striking Workers in Zambia” were published along with China in Africa: The Real Story.
In Myanmar we covered a violent crackdown on Monks protesting a China-backed mine:
Now, they burn sleeping monks at 3 a.m. and still claim it's for the rule of law, like a fool.
Our special coverage of  Myanmar's Rohingya, gave voice to perspectives from the Rohingya, the Rakhine and from across the border in Bangladesh.
In Hong Kong, growing pressure from China was seen in a new curriculum on “national education” and a leading English newspaper turning red.
During the Israel-Gaza Conflict 2012, online citizen media helped reveal human realities of war on both sides of the conflict.
“I shall not hate” reads a sign carried during an anti-war protest in Tel Aviv. Photograph shared by @RoniMore1 on Twitter
We showed Israelis protesting the military operation against Gaza and the changing dynamics of social media warfare:
Innocent people are dying on all sides, and the IDF wants to reward people for tweeting about it … It makes me sick.
Our Olympic coverage, amplified citizen voices on Saudi's first female Olympic athletes, Tajikistan's female boxer who fought all odds to win a bronze medal and Brazil's sexist reporting of the Olympics.
This August, some Ecuadorian netizens criticized the government's decision to grant asylum to the founder of Wikileaks:
they talk so much about freedom of expression when in our own country IT DOESN'T EXIST!
In Spain, thousands took to the streets to support protesting miners chanting, “yes, yes, they do represent us!”
Through our special Europe in Crisis coverage, we gave voice to the ordinary people living with the social, political and financial consequences of Europe's financial bailouts.
We covered global views on Obama's Re-election including reactions from the Arab world as US drones hit Yemen a day after Obama won the 2012 US election.
Social media, the good, the bad and the ugly
While Psy's Gangnam Style hit the 1 billion view mark on YouTube, breaking all viral records, we covered reactions from South Korea about the unexpected global success of Korean-Pop. We also covered an activist being sentenced to jail for a tweet and confessions made by paid political trolls in the country.
In India, social media was blamed for fueling unrest in Assam and there was outrage after a Facebook post lead to arrests in the country.
Cambodia banned Internet cafes near schools, because the “internet poses numerous dangers such as terrorism, economic crimes & distribution of pornography.”
Despite low internet penetration, Mauritanians found a voice online in 2012 and drew the world's attention to their country.
In Russia, we saw the Internet blacklist in action and mass protests which constituted some of the greatest social turbulence to visit Russia in more than a decade.
Ecuador created an electoral ‘Code of Conduct’ for social media for the upcoming 2013 elections.
While Iranian national TV was broadcasting religious programming, social media became the main source of news on an earthquake that killed more than 250 people in eastern Iran. This year repressive tactics against Iran's bloggers and netizens continued.
Shocking abuse photos from a classroom in China went viral on the country's micro-blogging site Weibo, proving the need for a child protection law in China.
Photo of kindergarten teacher abusing a child went viral online. Public domain photo
In Spain, a video showing Catalonia's police beating a minor went viral and resulted in calls for the Minister of Interior to resign. This summer, thousands of Catalan-speaking netizens celebrated the fact that Twitter finally speaks their language. And our extensive coverage of the region tried to address why Catalans want independence from Spain.
Pro-independence rally on Via Laietana (Barcelona) on September 11, 2012. By Lohen11 on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Syrian rebels turned to the world wide web for combat training and a movement to save Syria's threatened heritage sites started online.
In our special coverage Sudan Revolts, blogger and Global Voices author Maha Elsanosi vividly described her three days of interrogation at the National Intelligence and Security Services:
One interrogator said to me: “Take a good look at the window, this will be the last time you ever see the sun.”
Capturing a changing tide
A year after the Arab Spring, we witnessed Egypt's historic presidential elections, and continued protests in Bahrain and Yemen amid their media blackout.
With a change of guard this year in China, we captured glimpses of potential reform in the country through stories like “Tocqueville French Revolution Classic on China's Bestsellers List” and “Rare Protest in Beijing Against Express Train Catches China by Surprise.”
@HistoryNeedsYou: Listen to the women of India: Don't stop your daughter from going out. Teach your son how to behave. #Delhigangrape pic.twitter.com/OvmlArpQ
In Jordan, more than 200 people created a human chain in the streets of the capital Amman to raise awareness on women's rights issues but faced a barrage of criticism. Many drivers laughed, heckled, or harassed the demonstrators. “Go home!” was a common call, but the protestors held their ground.
You’re killing us with your honor. Image by Roba Al-Assi from the And Far Away blog, under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0


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Reasons to Celebrate the New Year · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

Uruguayan blogger Anna Donner Rybak lists many reasons [es] for celebrating the arrival of a new year, even though many can find it “ridiculous”:
Many people say they are fed up with these times of Santa Clauses, of people that are happy, many say say many things.
It might be cliché, but I am happy to see happy people. Life is tough for us to waste those little happy instants. Life is hard for everyone, life is a sine curve, with happinesses and pains.


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“Should Women Be Pretty?” · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

That's the question raised by Nathy2310 from Costa Rica on her blog post “Women, should they be pretty?” and writes [es]:
Today I want to tell all those women who criticize other females’ bodies: THAT'S ENOUGH!!!
Stop demanding women to have svelte bodies, magazine women bodies, stop watching them with male eyes.
She even admits having behaved like that herself and reflects that “beauty trascends the looks”.


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Cats, Guns and Spoils of War in Rural Idlib, Syria · Global Voices
Syria Deeply

As part of our collaboration with Syria Deeply we are cross-posting a series of articles that capture civilian voices caught in the crossfire, along with perspectives on the conflict from writers around the world.
Maaret Misreen, Syria–Omar, a former marketing student at a private university in Damascus, is living a life he never could have imagined. He’s originally from Idlib, one of Syria’s smaller cities in the heart of the northwest olive groves. Now he’s living in the line of fire as a media activist, documenting violence and escorting foreign journalists and human rights workers through Syrian terrain.
Citizen journalist Omar Abu Al Huda plays with his cat at his safe house in rural Idlib Credit:Mohammed Sergie
The role of media activists have bloomed in Syria. For scores of young revolutionaries, the most effective way to serve in the uprising is to essentially become an itinerant cameraman, capturing scenes in battle and uploading them to a global audience. Many become fixers for foreign news outlets as a source of income. Omar, for one, didn’t ask for money. He was just glad to have a professional journalist, especially one with Syrian roots, join him for the ride.
In Idlib province, where Omar does most of his work, the Assad regime has kept control of the major city, but lost the surrounding terrain. Its army, security forces and irregular militia members, or shabiha, have pulled back to the provincial capital. The city itself has swollen in number from 200,000 to 750,000, as rebels fighting for control of the towns and villages in Idlib have sent their families to relative safety. They can’t openly express themselves there, but they are free from the regime shelling and air strikes that pound the rebel held areas.
Omar, who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Al Huda, has memorized the topography of Idlib province, charting its farm roads and villages during the revolution. A lively tour guide, he points out the landmark battles for military bases in the countryside and highlights the aftermath of MiG strikes and barrel bombs.
“You are riding in a martyr’s car,” he said, explaining that the hole in the driver’s seat was made by the bullet that killed his 27-year-old brother Mouayad Al Ghafeer in June. Omar used to have his own car, but it was stolen a few months ago by other rebels, or perhaps by a rogue armed gang. He’s constantly on the lookout for the vehicle, and his friends alert him when they see the same make and model on the road.
“It was my car from before the revolution that I paid for from the sweat of my brow,” he said.
Mouayad, his dead brother, is buried in his parent’s farm, located in a hamlet right outside of Idlib city. A few hundred meters away was the fresh grave of Abdullah Allawi, who was killed on December 27, hours before we arrived, after a firefight with Syrian army forces at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Idlib. The rebels said the army entered their stronghold in search of defectors and opened fire on Abdullah, who was 25 and had two children, and then retreated after the battle. The video of the fight is below
Omar documented the fight and compiled the footage later that evening, sharing the raw scenes with the rebels who huddled around his laptop – catching a glimpse of themselves in action. Moving from farm to farm along the same road where the deadly battle occurred hours earlier, the rebels had dinner at one of their family homes.  Their fathers were beaming with pride over their sons’ perceived glory in battle.
The fathers tried to pipe in their advice on battle formations, like football coaches on the sidelines, but the rebels largely ignored the older men. A power line was downed during the fight, and the fathers talked about fixing it themselves. But there was no urgency because power rarely came through those lines as of late and service was largely cut off.
Rebels said they captured this truck when the Syrian army attacked their stronghold in late December. Credit: Mohammed Sergie
Shifting to yet another house (this one belonged to an officer in the Syrian army but is now considered the spoils of war) they used a satellite Internet connection to upload the day’s videos. The connection was faster than most cable services in the U.S. Rifles were cleaned and magazines replenished as the fighters and activists relaxed and discussed the future.
Omar was pessimistic about the future, predicting a cycle of violence after the fall of the Assad regime. “I want to leave Syria when its over and finish my studies,” he said. But he was also torn because of his connection to the land and people, a bond that has become deeper through his work, which not only depicts violence but also focuses on softer stories such as humanitarian conditions and the state of Syria’s antiquities.
Away form the violence, life is hard for all Syrians. Rebels and media activists, much as the rest of the population, struggle to find food and fuel at reasonable prices. Bread is expensive, but available.
Gas stations have long been shuttered in northern Syria. Credit: Mohammed Sergie
Prices for petrol, used for transportation and to generate electricity, fluctuate between $12 and $15 per gallon over a 24-hour period. Gas stations no longer exist in much of Syria – the lack of electricity renders pumps useless, while supply lines to refill them are highly unreliable. Fuel is now sold by street vendors and shop owners who have no other wares to offer. Diesel, or fuel oil, which was mostly used to heat homes, is now a luxury that most Syrians can’t afford. Nights are cold and dark, and frequently interrupted by the sounds of artillery shells lobbed from Idlib city into the countryside.
Some fighters rose early to join a battle nearby while others who kept watch during the night slept in for bit. After drinking a small glass of tea and playing with the house cat (which all Syrian rebels seem to keep), Omar holstered his pistol and repeated his dangerous daily cycle: travel, battles and Internet videos.

author: Syria Deeply


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Harasser Identified by Bloggers in Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

An unknown guy posted a prank video of slapping a girl online and shared through social media apparently to harass her. Some Bloggers took notice and used crowdsourcing to expose the identity of that guy. E-Bangladesh has details.


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Honey Singh’s ‘Misogynist’ Lyrics Divides Bollywood · Global Voices
Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman

Indian Punjabii rapper Honey Singh’s new year performance was canceled after an online petition was circulated in the social media. The online campaign on change.org came amid the recent Delhi gang rape case. It called to stop Honey Singh’s performance in a hotel in Gurgaon, Delhi.
This petition was signed by 2,633 people. A First Information Report (FIR) has also been lodged against Honey Singh in Lucknow for offensive lyrics.
The petition states:
Let's put a stop to these subversive lyrics that infiltrate the minds of people who don't know better and who then justify to themselves the rightness of a crime that harms another human being, sometimes so severely that they lose their lives.
28 year-old Honey Singh (also known as Yo! Yo! Honey Singh) is the highest paid Indian musical artist. He has given playback vocals to recent Bollywood films like ‘Khiladi 786′, ‘Cocktail’ and ‘Luv Shuv Te Chicken Khurana’. His music numbers made hits on Asian pop charts.
After the petition Honey Singh’s new song with Jazzy B, ‘The Party Getting Hot’ got over one million viewers. It was released online on 28th December.
According to the First Post:
“The video has been so far viewed in more than 150 countries. It is now being ranked as the No.1 most watched video in India on YouTube. It is among the Top-5 most watched videos in UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand over the last few days.”
The writer and award winning film-maker, Gautam Chintanami  is furious:
One of his first independent songs is called Ch**t Vol. 1 (Vagina Vol. 1) and if the title wasn’t an indication enough the lyrics, too brazen by any stretch of imagination, go something like: Aja teri ch**t maroon, Tere sar se ch****y ka bhoot utaroon, Ch*****7 ke baad tujhe joote maroon, Tere mooh mein apna l***a de ke m***h maroon (Come let me f*** you till the thought of making love leaves your mind, Beat you with my shoe after I f**k you and then I’ll shove my d**k in your mouth and j**k off).
Amid public outrage over the Delhi rape case the Indian twitterati also questions these anti-women, violence oriented lyrics.
Are the HoneySinghs making Indians misogynistic or is our misogynistic society producing & celebrating pop icons like him?
— rama lakshmi (@RamaNewDelhi) January 1, 2013
Am all for the campaign against Honey Singh's sexist rubbish, but will we please extend our anger to misogyny in cinema, advertisements,TV?
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) January 1, 2013
You can't cancel #HoneySingh or those who dance to his peculiar brand of misogyny, but opposing concert certainly a good start. @Raheelk
— Mirza Waheed (@MirzaWaheed) December 31, 2012
There are a few in the Bollywood who are not for banning the lyrics of Honey Singh. Chetan Bhagat, the author of six blockbuster novels is among one of them.
Hussain's paintings were about artistic freedom for some. The same people want to ban honey singh because this time he offends them.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) January 2, 2013
@chetan_bhagat nothing artistic about singing out violent and pornographic text and calling it music.  #yoyohoneysingh
— shunali shroff (@shunalishroff) January 2, 2013
Anurang Kashyap, film director and screenwriter was also questioned by the twitterati for his professional relationship with Honey Singh.
https://twitter.com/ankash1009/status/284518233892089856
@crazyabtsrk because whether you know it or he's a big hit. Even the likes of Anurag Kashyap are associating themselves with him.
— Amrita Bhinder (@amritabhinder) December 27, 2012
Gautam Chintamani questions the social responsibility of the Bollywood.
My question is if Bollywood readily gives Yo Yo Honey Singh a pass without questioning his earlier lyrics then are they even serious about taking up social responsibility?…In the quest of being liberal we refuse to call a spade a spade without endlessly debating lest we come across as unreasonable people. And as such does one really need a debate to know which one is the bigger evil between a ‘Main Zandu Balm Huee’ and Honey Singh’s ‘Ch***ey key baad tujhe jutey maroon (Beat you with my shoe after I f**k you)?

author: Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman


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Jamaica: The 2012 Aaron Matalon Award · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

We must dream backwards / Towards the source / We must row back up the Centuries…
The National Gallery of Jamaica Blog notes that jeweller and sculptor, Jasmine Thomas-Girvan, has been awarded the prestigious Aaron Matalon Award for 2012.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Mauritanian Women Speak up against Rape · Global Voices
أحمد جدو

A group of Mauritanian women launched an initiative against rape and all other forms of violence against women in their country. Entitled “Etkelmi or Speak up” [ar and fr], this campaign aims according the blog “Al Tasfera” [ar] to break the wall of silence surrounding rape and encourage victims to demand their rights and to be integrated in society.
Al Tasfera adds:
نسعى إلي توصيل رسالة لكافة أطياف المجتمع تتلخص في ضرورة مؤازرة المغتصبة ومعاقبة الجاني طبقا لقوانين الجريمة.
كما تسعي المبادرة إلي توطيد العلاقات ما بين الأهل والضحية في سبيل التكافل الأسري وتهدف المبادرة إلي تشجيع المغتصبات علي الإندماج في الحياة الاجتماعية والانخراط في السلك المهني كما تأخذ علي كاهلها رفع القضايا الراكدة للمغتصبات وتسليط الضوء علي المعاناة التي تحضنها المراكز والمنظمات
We strive to convey a message to all segments of  society about the necessity of supporting the victims of rape and punishing the rapist according to the penal and criminal code. The initiative also aims to strengthen the ties between the victims and their parents in order to ensure the family solidarity. In addition, it aims to encourage those who were subjected to the act of rape to integrate in social life and engage in a career. Moreover, it shall endeavor to voice their issues and highlight their suffering which are now confined to centers and organizations.

author: أحمد جدو


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Mauritius and Reunion Island Brace for Cyclone Dumile Impact  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Rain falls hard in Mauritius as Cyclone Dumile makes landfall via lexpress.mu -Public Domain
Lexpress.mu reports that Mauritius is on high alert [fr] as cyclone Dumile makes landfall on the island. Agaléga island was hit hard [fr] and was in blackout for 24h. Réunion island is also on high alert [fr].

author: Lova Rakotomalala