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‘This is the USA?’ The Caribbean reacts to the Capitol protests · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Screenshot taken from the BBC News video entitled “Chaos in Washington as Trump supporters storm Capitol and force lockdown of Congress — BBC News,” posted on its YouTube channel.
As armed supporters of President Donald Trump forced their way into the United States Capitol on January 6, the day of the final electoral count, the irony of such scenes playing out in the seat of democracy was not lost on netizens of the Caribbean, where Haiti, to the north of the archipelago, was one of the countries President Donald Trump referred to as a “shithole” back in 2018.
However, the breach, which Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said was carried out by “domestic terrorists,” did not achieve its intended goal. Once the chaos was contained, the congressional session resumed and Joe Biden was confirmed as the next president of the United States—but discussion on the state of America's democracy raged on.
The Black Lives Matter movement continues to have a great deal of resonance in the region. The disparity, therefore, between how white Trump supporters were treated and how Black Americans are regularly handled by police came into sharp focus.
Trinidadian Renee Cummings, a member of the diaspora living in the United States, said on Facebook:
Were these protesters Black we would be discussing dead bodies at the U.S. Capitol and not a breach of security.
Kathryn Sollmeyer-Wight addressed both Trump's “shithole country” sentiment and America's race relations in one fell swoop:
This is the USA, not a 3rd world country?
If these were folks who looked like George Floyd it would have been another story.
Sharing the image of a tweet from rapper 50 Cent, which showed the National Guard stationed in front of the Lincoln Memorial during protests over the killing of George Floyd on June 2, 2020, Dionne Ligoure quipped:
Leaving this right here because I am SURE Facebook will suspend my account if I say anything further ….
Trinidadian Twitter user Sophie Wight added, sharing a photo of a protestor carrying the Speaker's podium:
I’m not sure I have ever seen such delusion, privilege and idiocy in one image.
And how much ya wanna bet he will just get to laugh about this with friends for the rest of his life? He’s unlikely to be shot and killed, and he knows it. It’s all over his face. https://t.co/F7mM5ypJRe
— Sophie Wight (@SophieKMW) January 6, 2021
For Trinidadian musician Omari Ashby, who dubbed the event an “attempted coup”, the situation was clear:
America turns its ass to the world and spreads its racist plumage like some kind of nazi-esque peacock.
#shitholecountry
Meanwhile, Jamaican social media users, who are very sensitive to the US government's travel advisories that warn of crime and violence on the island, couldn't resist gloating:
Travel Advisory #1
Jamaicans should avoid the Washington D.C area in light of the recent flare up in violence and what can be described as terrorist activities. If you have to traverse the area, please do so with the most extreme caution. pic.twitter.com/HYmdb0EJfV
— ST. ANN 360 (@stann360) January 7, 2021
Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ press secretary also weighed in:
Jamaica. We're doing well. Lots to improve but we're doing well. The fallacy we believe is the grass is greener on the other side. Truth is, despite our problems and hardships, the grass is green right here. Water it. Let's all work to build Jamaica #Democracy #StrongerTogether
— Naomi Francis?? (@PressSecOPMJa) January 6, 2021
Not everyone agreed with the happy comparisons, however:
I wish we could separate issues. When we say we are proud of Jamaica in comparison to what has been happening in the US, we are speaking of the usually smooth transfer of power. We are not saying Jamaica as a whole is some utopia, yes we have many other issues.
— Sir Gregory (@gregzry) January 7, 2021
Twitter user Kerry-Ann Morgan was stunned that President Trump couldn't accept his loss:
Jamaicans where you all at?
Very proud to be a Jamaican?
We lose elections and we bawl and cuss how them tief yes but you would never see us behaving this way.
We rather say we sick and can't attend the swearing-in?
— Kerry-Ann Morgan (@patrioticjam) January 6, 2021
Even Jamaican diaspora leaders called the storming of the Capitol “un-American.”
Jamaica's minister of foreign affairs, Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith, faced criticism after sending what one radio talk show host described as a “wishy washy” tweet:
Absolutely empty. You minimized the gravity. You should condemn it and advise Jamaicans in Washington area of the resources available to them through the consulate available in the nation’s capital. A travel advisory is risky but shouldn’t be off the table.
— ً (@NationOrder) January 6, 2021
However, Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley, issued a more strongly worded statement on behalf of member states:
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is deeply saddened and concerned at the unprecedented scenes that unfolded at the Capitol Building in Washington DC, USA, during the certification of the votes of the presidential elections by the US Congress.
The storming of the US Congress was a gross affront to democracy and the rule of law in a country which has been viewed as a leading light of representative governance the world over.
CARICOM looks forward to the restoration of order and the continuation of the process of transfer of power in a peaceful manner.
As expected, much of the Caribbean blogosphere responded with humour, though the underlying tone was definitely one of relish in seeing the mighty fall.
One Trinidadian Facebook user posted an image of one of the insurgents and added text that made his attire look like an advertisement for a costume with a popular Carnival band:
This meme jokingly advertises a costume for a Carnival band called “The Loco Tribe 2021″
The Carnival-themed memes continued with a clever take on the hit soca song “Stage Gone Bad.” The image shows soca stars Kes and Iwer George singing the tune in the forecourt of the Capitol as Trump supporters scale its walls:
The popular soca song “Stage Gone Bad” was changed in a meme to “States Gone Bad.”
Meanwhile, Trinidadian journalist Kejan Haynes posted on Twitter:
Trump trying to stop the protests pic.twitter.com/UjkSvGQKXM
— Kejan Haynes (@KejanHaynes) January 6, 2021
Facebook user Nicole Philip Greene chose to go with a limerick:
A mob of the MAGA persuasion
Conducted a statehouse invasion.
Though heavily armed,
They parted unharmed,
And that’s how you know they‘re Caucasian.
On WhatsApp, meanwhile, one widely shared image of the American flag—with a banana where the stars should be—said it all:
The meme caption reads: “It's official now.”
All jokes aside, however, regional netizens were well aware of the gravity of the situation, and how it has been allowed to build up, unchecked. Responding to the news that channels like Twitter and Facebook—which continued to allow Trump to have a voice throughout his presidency regardless of fact checking—had now blocked him, many social media users simply found the gesture a case of too little, too late.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Pakistan’s Supreme Court orders reconstruction of Hindu temple razed by a mob incited by Muslim clerics · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

Prahladpuri Temple, an ancient Hindu temple located in Multan, Punjab, has been in ruins since a Muslim mob destroyed it in 1992. Image via Wikipedia by Mubashirtaqi147. CC BY-SA 3.0.
On January 5, Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered local authorities in the northwest town of Karak to rebuild a Hindu temple and adjacent shrine that were razed by a mob incited by Muslim clerics in the previous week.
The local press says tensions between Karak's Muslim and Hindu communities intensified recently as Hindu leaders obtained permission to extend the temple's site.
The perimeter was the subject of a nearly 20-year dispute after a similar attack in 1997 left the temple and the shrine in ruins. Reconstruction didn't begin until 2015, when the Supreme Court demarcated its boundaries and ordered the repairs.
The police arrested a cleric of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), a religious right-wing political party that has a strong presence in the area, and several other perpetrators in connection with the attack. Twelve police officers were also suspended for negligence, local reports say.
Journalist Mubashir Zaidi tweeted a copy of the complaint police registered against the perpetrators:
Copy of the FIR registered against hundreds including two local JUI(F) clerics Maulvi Mohammed Sharif, Hafiz Faizullah for inciting, attacking & vandalizing Hindu shrine in #Karak https://t.co/XnMNvKqRls pic.twitter.com/41osAEt8gO
— Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) December 31, 2020
And journalist Muhammad Imran tweeted a photo of one of the clerics as he was escorted by the police:
The main culprit, Maulvi Muhammad Sharif, of #KarakAttack where a temple was razed and burnt, has been arrested by @KP_Police1. via @Xadeejournalist pic.twitter.com/bqB3UCwRqC
— IMRAN (ASHNA) ☕?♂ (@muhemran) December 31, 2020
JUI-F representatives condemned the destruction of the temple and claimed that the incident was a “government's conspiracy” to implicate its leaders.
Hindus make up less than two per cent of Pakistan's 223-million population. Although Pakistan's Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, attacks on Hindu places of worship aren't uncommon.
In 2020, the United States named Pakistan as a “country of particular concern” for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, [and] egregious” religious freedom violations.
Dr. Zakir Naik, a Muslim preacher and televangelist from India, praised the destruction of the Karak temple on a January 2 video. In July, he also voiced opposition against the construction of a Hindu temple in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
The rebuilding efforts of the Karak temple will take place under the guises of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, a government body that administers property left behind by Hindus and Sikhs who migrated to India after the partition in 1947.
The Supreme Court also ordered the Evacuee Trust Property Board to produce a report on the number of temples (Hindus) and gurdwaras (Sikhs) in Pakistan and the steps taken by the authorities to protect them.
Soon after the incident, videos showing the attacks went viral and the hashtag #KarakAttack trended on social media.
Expat Pakistani Aisha Mansoor tweeted:
Shame on us. Religious tolerance, acceptance and protection is Pakistan's constitutional moto.#KarakMandir #KarakAttack #PTIGovernment @ImranKhanPTI https://t.co/oSVLkpTKcl
— Aisha Mansoor (@Aisha_ACCA_CMA) January 1, 2021
Shaza Fatima Khawaja, a Member National Assembly of Pakistan, tweeted:
Attack on the Hindu Temple in Karak is heartbreaking.
May we learn to live as a tolerant society; towards ppl of different religion, ethnicities, gender. #KarakAttack #minorities #HinduTemple
— Shaza Fatima Khawaja (@ShazaFK) December 31, 2020
Educator Javeed Ahmed Khan commented:
When all humans are equal, why do some get addicted to religion so much that they stop facing reality. I believe the ideology of the people should change first. Why religion is so important for the majority community of pakistan and they are so intolerant to other beliefs?
— Javeed Ahmed Khan (@JaveedAKhan1979) January 4, 2021
Twitter user Usman said:
Vandalized by JUIF. Say this with me Zaidi
Vandalized by JUIF
Vandalized by JUIF
Vandalized by JUIF
Vandalized by JUIF
Vandalized by JUIF
Vandalized by JUIF
Vandalized by JUIF
Vandalized by JUIF
Vandalized by JUIF
نئے سال کا آغاز تو مردانگی سے کر لے#KarakAttack#HinduTemple https://t.co/hOY60tAZ1Y
— Usman (@Usman) January 1, 2021
In an Op-Ed on Express Tribune, Rustum Shah Mohmand commented:
The pervasive feeling of insecurity amongst ethnic minorities does not augur well for peace and progress. There is a need for course correction and introspection. Providing protection and security to its citizens is a state’s fundamental responsibility. Failure to safeguard minorities is a system failure.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: R Umaima Ahmed


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A digital artist depicts the lives of Thais and the struggle for democracy · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

‘Life as Bangkokian 01’. Digital painting by pssyppl, used with permission. It portrays a young citizen flashing the ‘Hunger Games’ salute which is used by young protesters in Thailand in their campaign for democratic reforms.
Many artists supported the youth-led protest movement that demanded democratic reforms in Thailand in 2020. One of these artists is Pssyppl, described by BK Magazine as a “fast-emerging artist and designer, who produces dark, largely satirical digital paintings that reflect the burning issues of our time.”
In an article featuring him and other artists in BK Magazine, Pssyppl shared this description of his artistic vision:
My digital artwork focuses on events that are happening around me—events that leave me with a certain feeling inside my head, and then that feeling is molded and visualized in a sarcastic way through digital paintings. The reason I did these pieces is because of anger—anger that I cannot say anything or do anything to resist this corrupt system [that rules Thailand]. Art is my only way to express this smoldering emotion inside my mind.
Anger does indeed appear to be a key driving force behind the digital artworks Pssyppl publishes on Instagram. One of them depicts Thais’ resistance against a government that uses the repressive Section 112 law to arrest those who criticize the monarchy.
A post shared by Pssyppl (@pssyppl)
This artwork was featured by news website New Naratif and includes a description from the artist:
We the people have been oppressed, manipulated and controlled by higher powers for as long as I remember. Now that their ivory tower has started to tremble, it’s time for us to rise up for a better future not just for ourselves, but also for the generations to come.
Another artwork criticizes the military, which staged a coup in 2014 and continues to dominate the civilian government despite the holding of elections in 2019.
A post shared by Pssyppl (@pssyppl)
I symbolised this rotten system of Thailand into the character of a general. The system that barks order at you and you will follow. The system that tells you from the other side of the poster that you already have a good life, don’t ask questions, don’t try to change the way things are. The system that hides all those bodies of the people that try to fight for their life, distorting history and turns people against each other. In the end, this is just a poster. You either choose to believe in the ‘system’ that is trying to control you through the artwork, or together, we can fight the system and tear it down to the ground.
A post shared by Pssyppl (@pssyppl)
I interviewed Pssyppl via Twitter about the importance of art in sustaining the pro-democracy protest movement in Thailand:
In my opinion, in the country where people cannot speak out the fact and spread out the truth, art, music, performance and any other form of expression other than words are quite important. They are the alternative ways for people to express their feelings, to make people listen.
A post shared by Pssyppl (@pssyppl)
I also asked him about the prospect of the campaign for democracy in 2021:
We have come a long way since the coup seven years ago. The fight is going to be long and it might last longer than 2021 in my opinion. I can’t really tell what the future would hold, but changes are coming and the glimpse of hope is starting to surface. Now that there’s covid-19 around, we have more responsibility than before. It is going to be a slow process but I believe that we surely are progressing.
A post shared by Pssyppl (@pssyppl)
This is his message to fellow artists:
To me, it’s of utmost importance that you never doubt yourself. There’s gonna be the work you hate, you are gonna feel tired and confused whether you’ve chosen the right part. But if it’s what you love, never stop do art. If you fail, try and fail again until you fall in love with your failure.
A post shared by Pssyppl (@pssyppl)

author: Mong Palatino


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The pandemic killed Trinidad & Tobago’s 2021 Carnival, but soca music keeps the spirit alive · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“What's Love without Passion?” Photo collage by Mark Morgan on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
Ever since it was announced that Trinidad and Tobago's 2021 Carnival celebrations  would be cancelled because of COVID-19, enthusiasts of the national festival have been feeling a tad maudlin.
This feeling of longing for what's been lost—usually in cases of unrequited love—is what Trinbagonians call tabanca, and there are few things they love more than their Carnival. Enthusiasts are already feeling the absence of the festival, since pre-Carnival events usually ramp up in January and February.
In an attempt to fill the gap and look ahead to more hopeful times, the Twitter account The Proud Caribbean has started a thread of popular soca music hits that it says will feel “different” come the first post-pandemic Carnival. Here's a quick look at some of their picks.
The first is a party tune by Machel Montano, a performer who really understands how to get a crowd moving:
We gotta start off with the King of Soca! When this song comes on in a fete, it’s pure ecstasy… nothing else matters in this moment, just you, the music & the person you’re wining on.
Haunted by Machel Montano pic.twitter.com/Tt9fzbGkrC
— The Proud Caribbean (@ProudCaribbean) January 9, 2021
Lyrikal's “Zig Zag”, which celebrates the movement of masqueraders’ hips, and Kes the Band's instant classic “Savannah Grass”, an ode to the mecca of Carnival celebrations (the Queen's Park Savannah), were also high on the list:
This song will evoke a lot of emotion come the first post pandemic Carnival, this song encompasses everything about carnival and after everything we’ve been through the release of emotion will be very powerful.
Savannah Grass by Kes the Band pic.twitter.com/amSATdhfQN
— The Proud Caribbean (@ProudCaribbean) January 9, 2021
Kerwin Du Bois’ “Bacchanal” was a popular tune, as its sentiment summed up the wanton abandon that goes hand in hand with “playing mas'”:
We’ve waited so long to see the Carnival road, we’re all ready for it. This is the exact behaviour we’ll have, nobody can tell us what to do because we are bacchanalists!
Bacchanalist by Kerwin Du Bois pic.twitter.com/7OVC1BuBLi
— The Proud Caribbean (@ProudCaribbean) January 9, 2021
Followers soon started responding with their own favourites, such as DJ Private Ryan and Freetown Collective's “Feel the Love”:
Feel the love is mine! Can’t wait to hear it on the road, I’ll probably cry ?
— kay (@mzkaiidee) January 9, 2021
Even with no physical festival taking place this year, the spirit of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival lives on in people's hearts — and on their playlists.
Follow the thread or add your own suggestions here.


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Bangladesh moves to revive production of muslin, fabric of legend · Global Voices
Rezwan

A woman in Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, clad in fine Bengali muslin, 18th century, painted by Francesco Renaldi. Image via Wikipedia. Public Domain.
Muslin, the fine handwoven cotton fabric that originated in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is now set for a revival.
The fabric, produced from a variant of the cotton plant grown only in the area south of Dhaka, has a long history. Produced since pre-colonial times and especially favoured by the Mughal court, it was imported into Europe for much of the 17th and early 18th-centuries and was highly prized for its fine quality. The Bengali muslin industry, however, was eventually suppressed by the British colonial rulers in favour of machine-spun British textiles, and both the strain of cotton and knowledge of the intricate and arduous techniques used to produce the exquisite fabric slowly disappeared.
Bangladesh has applied for Geographical Indication (GI) of muslin, a designation that would protect it as a unique product of the country. This follows several efforts over the past decade to revive the original handwoven muslin products. On October 2014, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina instructed officials at the Textile Ministry to work on reviving muslin, and the government undertook a project “Restoring the technology of creating muslin clothing to create golden yarn and reviving muslin production“, which involved several Bangladeshi researchers.
Muslin (also known in Bangladesh as mulmul) was hand-woven of finest handspun cotton yarns. The texture was so fine that the body of the wearer was visible through it; some varieties of Muslin were so thin and fine that an entire muslin saree made of such fabric could fit inside a single matchbox.
Yuan Chwang, a Chinese Buddhist monk and traveller, came across the fabric while visiting India in 629 and wrote ‘The cloth is like the light vapours of dawn’.
On Facebook, Tareq Aziz writes about the fame and decline of handwoven muslin fabrics in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh:
১৭৬৩ সালের জুন মাসের কথা। বাংলা থেকে রওয়ানা হয়ে এ বন্দর সে বন্দর পার হয়ে “দ্যা ফক্স” নামের জাহাজ পৌঁছেছে বিলাতে। ইউরোপের বিভিন্ন বাজারে বিক্রির জন্য জাহাজটি নিয়ে এসেছে নানান পণ্য যার মধ্যে একটা বড় অংশ জুড়ে রয়েছে হরেক রকম বস্ত্র। আর এই হরেক রকম বস্ত্রের সিংহভাগ জুড়ে আছে মলমল নামের একপ্রকার বস্ত্র। [..] ঢাকার সুপ্রসিদ্ধ মসলিন কারিগরদের অন্যতম শ্রেষ্ঠ সৃষ্টি এই মলমল। [..] পুরো ১৮ শতক জুড়েই এরকম শত সহস্র জাহাজ বাংলা থেকে নিয়ে গেছে সে সময়ের হিসাবে লক্ষ লক্ষ টাকার মসলিন।
১৮ শতকের দ্বিতীয়ার্ধে মসলিনের বিক্রি মুঘল সাম্রাজ্যে প্রায় শূণ্যের কোঠায় এসে ঠেকলেও ইউরোপের বাজারে তখনো টিকে ছিল। কিন্তু দুর্ভাগ্যজনক হল, ১৭৮০ তে বিলাতের শিল্প বিপ্লব মসলিন তাঁতীদের ঐ শেষ আশ্রয়টাও ধ্বংস করে দেয়।
বিলাতে ঢাকা থেকে আমদানিকৃত মসলিনের উপর তারা শতকরা ৭০-৮০ভাগ কর বসাল। [..] পত্রপত্রিকায় চললো মসলিন নিয়ে নানান অপপ্রচার, মসলিনকে হেয় করে ছাপাতে লাগল নানা রকম ক্যারিকেচার। শুধু তাই নয়, কথিত আছে, দেশীয় তাঁতীরা যাতে মসলিন বোনার কৌশল পরবর্তী প্রজন্মকে শেখাতে না পারে সেজন্য তাদের হাতের আঙুলও কেটে ফেলেছিল স্থানীয় ইংরেজ বনিকরা।
এভাবে ইংরেজ কুটকৌশল আর অত্যাচারের শিকার হয়ে ১৯ শতকের মাঝামাঝিতে পুরোপুরিই বিলুপ্ত হয়ে যায় ঢাকার মসলিনশিল্প।
It was June of 1763. A British ship named “the Fox” departed from Bengal, India and arrived in England. The ship carried a wide range of products for sale in various markets in Europe, including a wide range of assorted textiles. And the lion's share of these assorted garments belonged to a kind of garment called muslin (mulmul). [..] This fabric was one of the best creations of the famous muslin artisans of Dhaka. [..] Throughout the 18th century, hundreds of such ships transported from Bengal muslins worth millions of Indian Rupees.
In the second half of the 18th century, the sale of muslin in the Mughal Empire declined, but the European market was still thriving. Unfortunately, the industrial revolution in Britain in 1780 destroyed all hopes of the muslin weavers.
England imposed 60-70% tax on muslins imported from Dhaka. [..] There was a lot of propaganda about muslin and various caricatures were printed in the newspapers insulting muslin. Not only that, it is said that the local English merchants also cut off the fingers of the artisans so that the native weavers could not teach the next generation the technique of weaving muslin.
Thus, the muslin industry of Dhaka became extinct in the middle of the 19th century due to the British colonial rulers.
At present, the word “muslin” refers to almost any lightweight, gauzy, cotton fabric. These are usually machine-made and are used for various purposes, such as in cheese-making and, on the Indian sub-continent, making garments such as sarees.
Bangladeshis learn about the original and legendary muslin fabrics from schoolbooks and history texts, and perhaps also from the display of muslin products at the Bangladesh National Museum. Knowledge of both the cotton plant variant and the ancient techniques used to make genuine muslin, however, were largely lost, so the fabric could no longer be produced.
In 2014, a small team affiliated with Drik Picture Library, a Dhaka nonprofit led by internationally renowned photographer Shahidul Alam, extensively researched the origins of muslin with the assistance of curators, weavers and artisans. Their research culminated in the publishing of the book “Muslin: Our Story” and the staging of the first Muslin Festival on February 6, 2016. The festival showcased the history of the cloth and featured workshops and film presentations, and inspired renewed interest in reviving the legendary textile.
The first challenge was to find the right sample of muslin; the second was to find the right yarn. The government project team placed advertisements in newspapers seeking samples of old muslin from Bangladeshi museums and collectors, but the ones obtained were not of original and traditional muslin. A four-member team traveled to London in 2017 to collect a saree woven in 1710 from the Victoria and Albert Museum.
A seven-member team headed by the chairman of Bangladesh Handloom Board, meanwhile, embarked on a mission to find out about the yarn that was traditionally used to weave muslin, according to a report published in the popular daily Prothom Alo.
Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus noted in his book Species Plantarum, (1753) that the variety of cotton used to make muslin was phuti karpas, a variety of Gossypium arboreum.
The researchers circulated a drawing of the phuti karpas plant in national dailies and newspapers in the hope of finding a match. They also collected other varieties of cotton from several areas in the country in order to test whether any of them was a genetic match to the cotton from the saree from the Victoria and Albert museum. The team did find one that was a close match and cultivated the plant in the fields of the botany department of Rajshahi University.
They also located two weavers with ancestral knowledge, who were able to weave a muslin saree following the design of the saree from 1710. They produced six initial samples of sarees; the cost of each length of fabric was estimated to be BDT360,000 (US$4,245).
Netizens Kaniz Binte Zaman expressed jubilation on hearing the news:
#Muslin is reborn. Gratitude to the Chief Scientist #MonzurHossain sir & his fellow scientists whose hardwork has made Muslin back. It has recognized as the 4th GI product from Bangladesh. Bringing Muslin back was a stubborn desire of Hon'ble PM Sheikh Hasina from the yr of 2014. pic.twitter.com/yGsFD6JBvT
— ????? ℬℯ??ℯ ????? (@KanizBenteZaman) December 31, 2020
Ataur rahman kollol, a researcher, tweeted:
After 170 years, the scientists and researchers have been able to give rebirth to the Dhakai Muslin. Muslin has not only been a type of fabric for the bengali people, but also a part of the rich heritage that was long lost in the hand of British exploitation. pic.twitter.com/yfbaotRIHA
— Ataur rahman kollol (@MAR_kollol) January 2, 2021
Muslin fabric made from the original strain of cotton is supposed to be made commercially available within the next two years.

author: Rezwan


text:
Christmas, a time to campaign to free political prisoners in Nicaragua · Global Voices
Ricardo Diaz

Postcard made by Europe-based campaign to release political prisoners in Nicaragua. Art by French urban artist Oré, used with permission.
The winter holidays are, for many, a season of rest—a time to celebrate with friends, family, and loved ones. But since mass protests swept Nicaragua in 2018, hundreds of Nicaraguan political prisoners have spent the holidays in prison.
As of December 2020, there were 109 political prisoners according to Havana Times, 108 according to the Europe-based organization Nicaragua Libre Sin Presxs Politicxs, and 118 according to La Prensa, a major independent news outlet in Nicaragua.
In 2018, the Union of Political Prisoners, a group of former political prisoners, launched the first “Navidad Sin Presxs Politicxs” (Christmas without Political Prisoners) campaign. Since then, every Christmas season, the streets and social media flood with campaign content and slogans. Organized peasants, student groups, family members of political prisoners, former political prisoners, human rights groups, self-convened citizen groups, and transnational activist networks are part of the main groups taking part in the movement. In 2019, ten mothers went on a hunger strike as a “last resort to have their children back for Christmas,” reported France24.
These groups bet on Christmas as a chance to denounce the government’s authoritarian practices by highlighting how families are broken because of imprisonment. They also seize the holidays as an opportunity to collect relief funds for those spending the holidays behind bars.
In 2020, SOSNicaragua-Europa collected funds for prisoners and their families. Their campaign also gave people the option to write Christmas cards to political prisoners. These were written on a postcard designed by French artist Oré, which can be seen in this article's featured image.
Here are a few highlights of the campaign in 2020, from Twitter:
Otra navidad en la carcel injustamente pasaran las 115 personas presioneras políticas. Aqui el relato de algunas de ellas que pagaron carcel ilegal por parte de la dictadura Ortega-Murillo y hoy en el excarcelamiento nos narran su experiencia.
????https://t.co/AxfiexY1mJ
— Unión De Presas Y Presos Políticos Nicaragüense (@UPPN19) December 26, 2020
115 political activists will unjustly spend another Christmas in jail. Here is the story of some of them who were illegally imprisoned by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship and today, while released, they tell us about their experience.
CAMPAÑA INTERNACIONAL.NAVIDAD SIN PRESOS POLITICOS EN NICARAGUA ! pic.twitter.com/RJlwMbRaBZ
— TemisNica (@NicaTemis) December 15, 2020
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN. CHRISTMAS WITHOUT POLITICAL PRISONERS IN NICARAGUA !
#NavidadSinPresosPoliticos #LibertadYa pic.twitter.com/D9DgwugtkY
— Maradiaga (@maradiaga) December 8, 2020
#ChristmasWithoutPoliticalPrisoners #FreedomNow
Más de 100 personas no estarán con sus familias porque el régimen los ha encarcelado injustamente. Nuestro compromiso para lograr su liberación está más firme que nunca. #NavidadSinPresosPoliticos pic.twitter.com/MXHiHUwswV
— Coalición Nacional Nicaragua (@Coalicion_nic) December 14, 2020
More than 100 people will not be with their families because the regime has unjustly imprisoned them. Our commitment to securing their release is stronger than ever. #ChristmasWithoutPoliticalPrisoners
For many, these types of campaigns do have an impact, as Nicaragua regularly frees prisoners in the weeks leading up to the holidays. In 2020, Rosario Murillo, Nicaragua’s vice-president and Daniel Ortega’s wife, said on December 19 that 1004 prisoners were released. Among the released there were five political prisoners, reported EuropaPress. Therefore, there are still around an estimated 100 political prisoners who remain behind bars.
To quell the wave of anti-government unrest that unfolded across Nicaragua between April and September 2018, Daniel Ortega’s government, which has been in power since 2006, turned to violent, repressive tactics. “Shoot to Kill” is the title of Amnesty International's report that chronicles these events when more than 300 protestors were killed. After protests subsided in September of that year, many deemed, like the sociologist Sergio Cabrales, that Ortega’s government strengthened its authoritarian transition. One of the legal instruments that facilitated this transition was the country’s anti-terrorism law, which was approved in the throes of the 2018 political crisis. As early as July of that year, UN News warned that the law could be used to repress peaceful protests and persecute political activists.
According to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, police and paramilitary forces persecuted activists even after protests were over, driving approximately 100,000 Nicaraguans into exile. Hundreds found themselves in prison cells, some of them charged with “crimes against public security.” The political opposition argues that many of them are political prisoners.
Since 2018, the Nicaraguan state has let some political prisoners go free. A group of 50 were released in March 2019 and three months later 106 out of 677 activists were released.
However, targeting activists who participated in the 2018 protests did not stop there. On February 28, 2020, police arrested student Jhon Cerna, along with his partner and two friends. Some days later, Jhon was sitting in a courtroom, facing drug trafficking charges. A crime he claims to have never committed.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported about the legal persecution of activists in Nicaragua. “His lawyer says the process was plagued with irregularities (…). Jhon was sentenced to 12 years in prison, a sentence he is currently serving in one of the country’s biggest jails,” reports Amnesty International.
Moreover, violence and abuse are rife in Nicaraguan prisons according to testimonies collected by Amnesty International and Avispa Midia. And COVID-19 has only made the situation worse. According to an Amnesty article, “A combination of overcrowding, lack of safe drinking water and almost non-existent medical services has turned prisons in Nicaragua into coronavirus incubators.”
Since October 2018, the Mechanism for the Recognition of People who are Political Prisoners (Mecanísmo, for short) has published monthly lists documenting the number and names of political prisoners. The chart below, which was elaborated by the author using Mecanísmo's data, illustrates the evolution of the monthly number of political prisoners over the past two years.

author: Ricardo Diaz


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Cyclone Chalane hit Mozambique, leaving much less damage than previous storms · Global Voices
Dércio Tsandzana

Illustration of the path followed by Cyclone Chalane – satellite image / screen shot Windy Forecast – 28 December 2020
The central Mozambican provinces of Sofala and Manica were hit by cyclone Chalane on 30-31 December.
After the devastating experience of Cyclone IDAI in March 2019, which killed more than 600 people and caused extensive destruction in the city of Beira, Mozambique was preparing for the worst.
Fortunately, the storm reduced in intensity, going from severe to moderate, and only caused intense rainfall with minimal destruction of infrastructure, according to the newspaper Notícias:
A tempestade tropical moderada Chalane, de categoria dois, cuja previsão inicial dava indicação de que provocaria ventos de 90 quilómetros por hora com rajadas de 110 e epicentro muito perto da cidade da Beira na madrugada de ontem, registou um pequeno desvio de sistema aliviando sobremaneira os residentes desta urbe.
The moderate tropical storm Chalane, a category two storm which was initially predicted to cause winds of 90 kilometres per hour with gusts of 110 and its to be epicentre very close to the city of Beira in the early morning, showed a small deviation in its structure, greatly relieving the city's residents.
However, at least four people are known to have died, some from drowning and others due to the effects of disruption of electric current. There was also damage to the power supply, and 600 people were displaced.
Após a tempestade de 30 de Dezembro, 600 famílias do Centro de acomodação de Guara-Guara, no Búzi, ficaram desabrigadas por conta da destruição das suas tendas. A CVM está a apoiar as famílias afectadas e mais vulneráveis na reconstrução dos seus abrigos. @IFRCAfrica @DRKvorOrt pic.twitter.com/SrnEJ0GLhD
— Cruz Vermelha de Moçambique (@CruzVermelhaMOZ) January 3, 2021
After the storm on 30 December, 600 families from the Guara-Guara shelter centre in Búzi were made homeless by the destruction of their tents. The CVM is supporting the affected and most vulnerable families in rebuilding their shelters.
In contrast to what was seen with Cyclone IDAI, this time there were several sources communicating information, particularly from organisations working on meteorological issues in Mozambique. The United Nations representative in the country, Myrta Kaulard, said in a public statement:
As memórias estão ainda muito frescas. Muitas pessoas estão ainda muito vulneráveis. As autoridades se estão preparando muito com informação para a população para evacuar. Muita população já foi retirada na resposta ao Idai, mas sempre há pessoas que voltam a zonas em risco de cheias. Chalane vai trazer ventos fortes, chuvas e maré alta. A maré vai estar alta e isto vai agravar o problema das inundações
The memories are still very fresh. Many people are still very vulnerable. The authorities are preparing a lot of information for the population to evacuate. Many people were already evacuated in response to Idai, but there are always people returning to areas at risk of flooding. Chalane will bring strong winds, rains and high tides. The tide will be high and this will aggravate the problem of flooding
Two days earlier, President Filipe Nyusi had spoken about the cyclone as reported by DW Português:
Em todo o país estão preparados e alertados, mas para coisas como essas ninguém está preparado porque são situações imprevisíveis em termos de danos. Teremos de ter cuidado e todos os que estão nas zonas de risco é melhor saírem.
All over the country [people] are prepared and alert, but for things like these nobody is prepared because they are unpredictable situations in terms of damage. We will have to be careful and all those who are in risk areas should leave.
RFI spoke to Acácio Tembe, a technician at the National Institute of Meteorology, who had warned of the danger:
(…) é preciso salientar que esses sistemas, que têm ventos mais fracos, traz muita quantidade de precipitação. Então, podemos ter uma situação de muita chuva, ventos relativamente mais fracos mas com muita chuva, mas também não descuramos, porque são ventos destrutivos. Estamos a falar de rajadas de 120, 130 kms por hora.
(…) it must be emphasized that these systems, which have weaker winds, bring a lot of precipitation. So we can have a situation of a lot of rain, relatively weaker winds but with a lot of rain, but we should not overlook this, because they are destructive winds. We are talking about gusts of 120, 130 kms per hour.
Mozambique is known to be vulnerable to cyclones due to its location, which is often exacerbated by a lack of capacity to deal with such events.

author: Dércio Tsandzana


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In Uganda, COVID-19 rules are ‘perfect instrument for criminalizing dissent’ · Global Voices
Sandra Aceng

Customers in the queue at the MTN shop Lugogo, Kampala, UGANDA, May 2020. Photo by Jacqueline Banya / ILO-Kampala via Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Last year in March, the Ugandan government joined the world’s fight against COVID-19 with strict measures and restrictions to control its spread throughout the country.
As citizens turned to the internet as a lifeline to access critical news about coronavirus regulations, exchange opinions, and share local information, the government activated several different cyber laws to criminalize the sharing of “fake information,” including the Computer Misuse Act (2011), which regulates the flow and exchange of information in digital spaces.
In a country where authorities already crackdown on media, dissenting voices, and government critics, this increased criminalization of mis- and disinformation during the pandemic infringed on citizens’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information.
In the days leading up to the presidential elections on January 14, 2021, the government has also used COVID-19 restrictions as an excuse to target opposition politicians by limiting crowds and rallies on the campaign trail. Two days before the election, the government reportedly directed internet service providers to shut down all social media.
Early on in the pandemic, on March 22, 2020, the Ugandan Communications Commission issued a press advisory statement regarding the circulation of “fake information,” aimed at criminalizing misinformation.
The commission stated via the UCC official Twitter account:
Public Advisory Notice on Circulation of Fake Information pic.twitter.com/z1Lv0h8VxN
— UCC (@UCC_Official) March 22, 2020
In the same month, UCC also wrote to three media houses, including BBS, NTV Uganda, and Spark TV, accusing them of airing content that might ‘“confuse, divert and mislead unsuspecting members of the public against complying with the guidelines issued by the relevant government authorities on the coronavirus.”’
Complicating matters, the definitions and applications of these laws are vague and broad, allowing for the state to use them to advance their own interests.
Citizens who critiqued the government’s COVID-19 response or shared concerns and grievances through social media faced increased arrests and intimidation. Journalists, human rights defenders and bloggers were especially targeted for sharing “unverified information” about the virus.
A 2020 report on the state of internet freedom in Africa during the pandemic highlights some of these cases:
Adam Obec, a former employee of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), was arrested on April 13, 2020, for spreading false information about COVID-19. Obec had distributed and circulated information on social media with the claim that Uganda had recorded its first COVID-19 death in Koboko district. The claim allegedly triggered fear and panic in the community and also undermined the government's effort to fight the virus.
In the same month, writer and human rights activist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was arrested allegedly for his April 6, 2020 Facebook post in which he criticized President Yoweri Museveni’s strict COVID-19 restrictions. In the post, he wrote:
Museveni, be serious otherwise you won't love the comeuppance of your warped directives. If the country plunges into the…
Posted by Kakwenza Rukirabashaija on Monday, April 6, 2020
Rukirabashaija was charged with “committing an act that could spread the virus,” according to a Freedom House 2020 country report. His post allegedly violated Section 171 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 120. On May 6, Rukirabashaija was released on bail worth 10 million Uganda shillings equivalent to $2,700 United States dollars (USD).
In a December 11, 2020, interview on WhatsApp, Rukirabashaija told Global Voices that he suspects his arrest on COVID-19 charges was actually related to his book, “The Greedy Barbarian,” a fictional work that explores high-level corruption.
Samson Kasumba, a TV news anchor at NBS TV, was arrested on April 20, 2020, with no formal charges and later released. Authorities did not release details on Kasumba’s arrest, but his work as a journalist, which involved other “allegedly subversive activities,” was said to be a reason, according to Freedom House. Concerns arose that Kasumba’s Facebook posts about COVID-19 written just days before his arrest may have been a factor. However, during a WhatsApp interview on January 7, Kasumba told Global Voices that he was sure his arrest was not related to any Facebook post.
The COVID-19 related arrests signal that any COVID-19 related content deemed critical of the government’s virus response could be punishable by the state.
Anthony Masake, a program officer at Chapter Four Uganda, a digital right organization, told Global Voices in a WhatsApp interview on December 14, 2020, that UCC’s actions have encouraged self-censorship among the population and that citizens must accept government-issued information as “gospel truth.” As a result, the public is hesitant to speak out and hold leaders accountable, said Masake.
The government prioritizes politics over everything else, according to Kiiza Eron, a human rights lawyer with Kiiza and Mugisha Advocates. In a December 11, 2020, WhatsApp interview with Global Voices, Eron said that the COVID-19 rules have become the “perfect instrument for criminalizing dissent” and that the government is displaying its intolerance to criticism and opposition by selectively applying the enforcement of criminal laws in the context of COVID-19. He noted that only members of the political opposition, media and civil society have been targeted:
Ruling party officials — who routinely break COVID-19 rules — do so with undisguised impunity.
While authorities cracked down on dissent in digital spaces, security agents also attacked journalists and media outlets attempting to cover the COVID-19 story in any way, leading to censorship in pandemic coverage.
For example, on March 19, 2020, Julius Ocungi, the director of Uganda Radio Network, was “slapped, punched, and kicked” by security officers when he tried to take pictures of security personnel closing down a local bar in Kitgum district, northern Uganda, following a COVID-19 lockdown. Ocungi’s camera was confiscated, and afterward, he was forced to delete photos. He attempted to file a formal case about the incident but was subsequently denied by multiple authorities.
Masake, with Chapter Four, cited the arrests of several other journalists such as Tom Gwebayanga, with New Vision, Alfred Nyakuni, and Daily Monitor's Felix Warom Okello, who were all targeted for covering their coronavirus coverage.
Meanwhile, the government widely used social media to increase access to information and create awareness about the virus. The Ministry of Health mainly used its Twitter account to share updates on the pandemic.
Ironically, political actors are often significant producers and conduits of disinformation. Government authorities play a critical role in stemming disinformation at the source through counter-messaging and clear legislation. At a time when information on COVID-19 is still developing, public perceptions of the virus can easily lead to misinformation.
Throughout the pandemic, online access to information has been vital to public health. Restricting the flow and access of COVID-19 information through existing cyber laws denies citizens the right to freely express and exchange ideas online.
As new COVID-19 information emerges, citizens must stay educated and informed about the virus — and also how to fact-check and discern fake or misleading news. Media professionals have a responsibility to highlight and report on digital rights violations as part of their efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 in Uganda.
This article is part of a series of posts examining interference with digital rights under lockdowns and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic in nine African countries: Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Algeria, Nigeria, Namibia, Tunisia, Tanzania and Ethiopia. The project is funded by the Africa Digital Rights Fund of The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA).

author: Sandra Aceng


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Lockdown to shutdown: How COVID-19 stifled digital rights in Zimbabwe · Global Voices
Kudzai Chimhangwa

A police officer wearing a protective anti-virus mask talks with a motorist at a checkpoint in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, April 20, 2020. Photo by KB Mpofu / ILO via Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
On the morning of July 30, 2020, Zimbabweans awoke to the presence of heavily armed soldiers standing ready to crush anti-government protesters scheduled to take to the streets the following day. No one was permitted entry into the central business district. The official line was that protests were prohibited in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
A few days prior, social media — particularly WhatsApp and Twitter — was abuzz with citizens sharing Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications to download, just in case the government shut down the internet again, as they did during protests in January 2019.
COVID-19 and its subsequent government policies have had far-reaching implications on digital rights and media freedom in Zimbabwe.
A state of disaster was declared by Zimbabwe on March 20, 2020, following the World Health Organization’s declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic. Subsequently, a national lockdown and prohibition of gatherings were legislated in the form of Statutory Instrument (SI) 83 of 2020 titled “Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) Order, 2020.”
Although the SI predates protests planned for July, authorities used this particular piece of legislation to clamp down on digital rights and other civil liberties protected in the constitution.
Since January 2019, when anti-government demonstrations turned violent and resulted in several deaths after security used excessive force against protesters, Zimbabwe’s government has been on edge.
The government tightened their COVID-19 regulations just as anti-government protest plans began to circulate online.
The ruse of using COVID-19 as an excuse to clamp down on digital rights all began on July 20, when media headlines read that a Zimbabwean journalist who had exposed alleged government corruption involving coronavirus medicines supplies had been charged with inciting public violence.
Journalist Hopewell Chino’ono had reported on a coronavirus-related fraud case involving a $60 million United States dollar PPE procurement, which led to the arrest and sacking of Health Minister Obadiah Moyo.
Hopewell faced charges of inciting public violence after he allegedly called for an end to corruption before the planned anti-government protests slated for July 31.
Nick Mangwana, the permanent secretary in the Information Ministry, said that nobody, including journalists, were above the law.
There is no profession which is above the law.
-Journalists are not above the law.
-Lawyers are not above the law
-Doctors and nurses are not above the law.
-Politicians & bankers are not above the law.
Anyone suspected to have commited a crime should be subjected to due process.
— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) July 20, 2020
On July 20, Chino’ono was arrested together with Jacob Ngarivhume, leader of a small opposition party called Transform Zimbabwe, for allegedly participating in plans for an anti-government demonstration.
Ngarivhume appeared in court on July 22, facing charges of planning to incite public violence. Both arrests were tied to tweets deemed provocative by the state.
They were charged with violating Section 187 (1) (a) as read with Section 37 (1) (a) (i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23, “incitement to participate in public violence.”
On the day of Chino’ono’s arrest, his Twitter handle was taken down, although it was not clear by whom.
SI 83 had been in effect since May, but President Emmerson Mnangagwa then declared a dusk-to-dawn curfew curtailing people’s movement, purportedly to stem the spread of COVID-19 infections in the country.
Activists charge that this move was clearly aimed at stopping planned anti-government protests on July 31. In anticipation, security forces displayed an overwhelming readiness to quell protests.
Human Rights Watch Southern Africa director Dewa Mavhinga told Global Voices that the state had, in effect, weaponized the law to silence dissent:
The Zimbabwe authorities have been using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to clampdown on the opposition and deny citizens their rights, particularly crushing the right to peaceful protests even where those protests comply with COVID-19 regulations.
The arrest and detention of journalist Hopewell Chin’ono is harassment, it is persecution through prosecution meant to silence other journalists through fear.
Chin'ono was arrested for a third time in five months on January 9, for another controversial tweet.
Some experts argue that public health interests supersede protection of human rights, hence the need for a strong clampdown by police and the military against citizens who violated lockdown regulations — not only in Zimbabwe, — but across Africa.
In emailed responses, press officer for European Commission Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Gesine Knolle said that in emergency circumstances, international human rights law only allows states to limit certain human rights if the measures are necessary, proportionate, limited in time and non-discriminatory.
“We need to pay special attention to the impact that the crisis has on human rights and, in particular, women and the most vulnerable people,” she said.
In Zimbabwe, SI 83 under Section 14 prohibits publication or communication of false news about any public officer, official or enforcement officer involved with enforcing or implementing the national lockdown in his or her capacity as such, or about any private individual that has the effect of prejudicing the state’s enforcement of the national lockdown.
Those deemed in violation of said regulations face up to 20 years in prison.
Rights activist Adolf Mavheneke told Global Voices that the instrument specifically places a prohibition on communicating falsehoods on private individuals that has the effect of prejudicing the state’s enforcement of the national lockdown:
Unfortunately Section 14 of the SI has grossly been misunderstood to have a blanket effect on media freedom. It is nowhere near an embargo on the generality of press freedom. … However, falsehoods are a criminal offense under Section 31 of the Criminal Law [Codification and Reform] Act [Chapter 9:23] to the extent that they are prejudicial to the state.
This is because falsehoods have the potential to cause public disorder and this would consequently undermine public governance in the state’s efforts to implement a pandemic lockdown.
“Sadly, between SI 83 and Section 31 of the criminal code, there is no definition of what false statements are and the extent to which these statements become prejudicial to the state. This leaves it to interpretation at a court of law,” he said.
Mavheneke pointed out that the government turned to the pandemic regulations to clamp down on dissent and other fundamental freedoms.
“The pandemic public health emergency regulations became a blessing in disguise for a regime tethering on the absence of effectiveness and legitimacy,” said Mavheneke.
Digital rights activists charge that digital technologies are critical during the pandemic and such technologies must remain independent. The Digital Freedom Fund, a European-based digital rights litigation group, points out that authorities continue to make decisions involving digital technologies without giving due thought to the intricate and long-term impact on human rights.
“That’s why activists, civil society and the courts must carefully scrutinize questionable new measures, and make sure that – even amid a global pandemic – states are complying with international human rights law,” DFF argues.
On October 12, addressing the ruling party Zanu-PF delegates (Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front) at the party’s headquarters in Harare, President Mnangagwa said that the government had managed to track the locations of suspected individuals accused of attacking the government via social media in relation to the July 31 protests.
Mnangagwa's statement signaled a new affront to digital privacy amid an uptick in surveillance tactics: Around that time, Army Commander Edzai Chimonyo announced that the military would soon begin to pry into the communications of private citizens in a counter-subversion bid.
Digital rights in Zimbabwe were already under attack before COVID-19 hit. But during and after COVID-19 regulations were implemented, specific laws — existing and new ones in the COVID-19 era — were effectively used by the state to clamp down on digital rights under the pretext of enforcing pandemic control regulations in Zimbabwe.
This article is part of a series of posts examining interference with digital rights under lockdowns and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic in nine African countries: Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Algeria, Nigeria, Namibia, Tunisia, Tanzania and Ethiopia. The project is funded by the Africa Digital Rights Fund of The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA).

author: Kudzai Chimhangwa


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Namibia’s COVID-19 internet rollout impresses, but excludes and widens control · Global Voices
Ray Mwareya

Mweshipandeka Senior Secondary School in Ongwediva, Namibia, August 28, 2011. Rtevels, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In the southern Africa region, the Namibian government’s COVID-19 internet rollout has been illustrious — at least on paper.
In June 2020, when the pandemic first took hold in Namibia, the Electoral Commission of Namibia decided to shift entirely online to recruit officers to work in November’s local elections. The stated reason was to avoid crowded polls and reduce the chance of cross infections during the pandemic.
This tech-driven effort to bring more Namibians online during the pandemic seems brilliant. But a closer look reveals how most of Namibia’s historically marginalized native populations — who mostly live in the northern parts of the country along the Angolan border — have been excluded.
“We were mad when we heard that Namibia’s electoral authorities, due to COVID-19 rules, were going to use electronic apps to recruit local government election observers, counters or monitors,” Monica Ndeilenga, a youth bureau secretary of Namibia’s own ruling party, told Global Voices.
Remember — in our rural settlements here, there’s hardly any internet connectivity or satellites to power internet kiosks. Coupled with acute employment, this meant youth eager to become election officers had to fork out $15 for bus fares to towns hundreds of kilometers away just to register.
The Ohangwena region, where Ndeilenga works, is Namibia’s most northerly outlier region, a vast enclave where life expectancy hovers around 46 years on average, according to the Namibia Statistical Agency.
A brief description of Namibia’s racialized makeup will help. A mere 8 percent of Namibia’s 2.5 million people are descendants of white German, Dutch, British or Portuguese settlers, and this demographic, according to the Namibia Statistical Agency in 2018, owned 70 percent of the country’s fertile farmland and much of its monetary assets. Marginalized on the periphery and wealth are Namibia’s Black native ethnic groups like the Kavang, whose lives revolve around fisheries, cropping and livestock.
These indigenous populations are fuming that Namibia’s lurch toward digital public services during the COVID-19 crisis has left them in a quandary.
Namibia’s shift to online platforms for electoral procedures despite the fact that many parts of the country still lack internet access is highly problematic. As a result, the latest elections have been marred by low voter turn-out and disputes over alleged rigged electronic polling machines.
Without cheap internet kiosks, remote populations in the country’s excluded north have little means nor enthusiasm to supervise elections in their own localities. This widens the civic gap between the prosperous south and the not-so-well-off north. The Ohangwena region is a prime example, where authorities admitted dismally low voter turnout for elections.
“Internet-enabled election procedures, electronic voting machines without paper trails in remote, racialized populations further discourages the marginalized,” says Yasin Kakande, a Namibia internet rights analyst. “That’s the bad side of Namibia’s government setting out a narrative of seemingly efficient internet-election methods during the pandemic.”
Namibia dwarfs its neighbors when it comes to providing free, public internet in response to the pandemic, but their seemingly generous act also obscures underlying political motives.
According to Namibia's education minister, Anna Nghipondoka, who spoke to Global Voices by phone, the goal is to reverse education disruptions due to the COVID outbreak, and also allow students to obtain useful public health information electronically.
In June, the Ministry of Universities and Technology announced that they will provide free laptops and 10 gigabytes of data monthly to 32,000 students in need. The country’s private telecommunications companies, who have an entangled relationship with the government, were rallied into the scheme.
Additionally, in August, the government roped in the country's two largest telecom corporations to provide an e-learning platform and tablets to 400,000-plus primary and secondary students and teachers across the country.
Namibia’s centralized internet efforts are fairly impressive in comparison to neighboring countries like Zimbabwe, where thousands of students lack internet access.
Nationally, less than 2 percent of 804,000 students in state and private primary and secondary schools are able to access internet-enabled education, admits Nghipondoka, with the education ministry. In particular, in remote northern regions like Ohangwena and Omusati, only 18 percent of schools have connectivity and electricity.
This is where free internet gift hardly makes an impact.
Lindani Petrus, a 20-year-old engineering student at The Katima Mulilo Vocational Training Centre in the north, told Global Voices:
Free internet is a good gift for our education and health alerts, but this is a case of having a shiny new laptop but no electricity. Power us first.
By controlling who has internet access, the current government can also maintain political control of all other narratives in Namibia. The Southwest People’s Organization (commonly referred to as SWAPO), the former liberation war movement, has so far governed Namibia with near impunity since independence in 1990. But SWAPO has now begun a fight for its very existence as it bleeds support.
Thanks to growing corruption, repression and outright failures, SWAPO has gone from 80 percent control in parliament in 2014 to a mere 65 percent today, largely due to the fact that residents from important cities in the marginalized north — and even the capital, Windhoek, have started to reject SWAPO.
Meanwhile, SWAPO has invested heavily in lucrative relationships with domestic internet corporations, along with the Chinese powerhouse, Huawei, as a means of digital and electronic control of Namibia’s population.
This rolling out of free internet during the pandemic should be seen as a panic realization that, amid the pandemic, public discourse in Namibia has moved increasingly online and the state risks being cut off from the conversation unless they can control it, according to Yasin Kakande, the tech-rights analyst.
For instance, in October, ordinary Namibian citizens organized #Shutitdownall, an on- and offline push to force authorities to act on the country’s lamentable incidences of rape and sexual violence. Activists had seized upon the decentralized nature of the internet space, unchallenged.
Providing free internet to students and shifting electoral procedures online via internet apps may give the ruling party a chance to assert greater authority and influence over digital spaces.
SWAPO cannot afford to lose its power or its lucrative financial deal with Huwai — especially during a pandemic. By supplying free internet, gadgets and data, and moving voting procedures online, they maintain ultimate authority and control over the internet.
The digital gestures may seem like generous, responsive acts, but it actually excludes Namibia’s marginalized, largely unconnected native populations.
For those who are left switched off, that’s the real shutdown.
This article is part of a series of posts examining interference with digital rights under lockdowns and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic in nine African countries: Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Algeria, Nigeria, Namibia, Tunisia, Tanzania and Ethiopia. The project is funded by the Africa Digital Rights Fund of The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA).

author: Ray Mwareya


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Venezuela refuels its territorial dispute with Guyana in area with massive offshore oil find · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Screenshot of the Liza oil field in ExxonMobil's majority-owned Stabroek Block taken from the Hess Corporation's animated overview video of offshore Guyana, posted in 2017 to its YouTube channel. The field forms part of the disputed border area between Venezuela and Guyana.
Political tensions between Guyana and Venezuela are escalating in a longstanding border dispute over an area that comprises two-thirds of the smaller English-speaking South American country. The area in question is the resource-rich Essequibo province, where energy giant ExxonMobil began oil exploration in 2008. The company recently discovered significant oil and gas reserves in Guyana, placing the country on the threshold of an economic boon.
On January 9, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro announced that he would “reconquer” the province, which is situated to the west of Guyana's Essequibo River. While the area's riches include gold, diamonds and timber, the focus of Venezuela's claim is offshore—the location of ExxonMobil's massive Liza oil field, which the company estimates will produce approximately 120,000 barrels of oil per day. In its project overview, ExxonMobil describes the area as part of the Stabroek Block, calling it “the first significant oil find offshore Guyana.”
The discovery of Guyana's oil and gas resources has made the country the newest kid on the block in the global energy industry, whereas Venezuela is a well-established player. Despite the fact that Venezuela enjoys the largest oil reserves in the world, with more than 300 billion barrels, the nation has been teetering on the brink of socio-economic collapse for the past several years. The crisis grew deeper in 2017, after the country's Supreme Court of Justice nullified its National Assembly.
In 2019, President Maduro ordered that charges of treason be slapped on opposition leader Juan Guaidó for allegedly agreeing to forego Venezuela's claim to the Essequibo province. The renewed push from Venezuela follows the inauguration, on January 5 this year, of a pro-Maduro National Assembly, the legitimacy of which is being questioned by the opposition.
Meanwhile, Guyana's president Irfaan Ali called Maduro's claim “a legal nullity,” noting:
I remind that sovereignty over this coast, and the land territory to which it is attached, were awarded to Guyana (then British Guiana) in the 1899 Arbitral Award, whose validity and legally binding character Guyana is confident the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will uphold unequivocally.
On the heels of joint United States/Guyana coast guard exercises on January 8, Admiral Craig Faller, Commander of the US Southern Command, arrived in Guyana on January 11 for a three-day visit—a signal that the outgoing Trump administration's interest is firmly aligned with Guyana's.
Venezuela, once an important partner, has had a combative relationship with the United States since the 1998 election of socialist President Hugo Chávez. In 2018, Venezuela's foreign ministry said that US involvement in the dispute was tantamount to “interference.”
The United States ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch, has advocated for a legal, peaceful resolution to the controversy:
The United States has long called for a legal peaceful resolution to Guyana’s border controversy with Venezuela and we reiterate that call today. https://t.co/rxgJEVfrtw
— Ambassador Lynch (@USAmbGuyana) January 10, 2021
The matter was brought before the International Court of Justice, the main judicial arm of the United Nations, in June 2020. Venezuela has consistently refused to take part in the ICJ proceedings, preferring the path of bilateral discussions.
Minister Jorge Rodriguez, who has replaced Guaidó in Venezuela's parliament, has reportedly accused the opposition of colluding with the ICJ to rule in favour of Guyana in the boundary dispute.
Even though ExxonMobil has been attempting to carry on work as normal, there have been incidents in which naval ships from Venezuela have intercepted their vessels and turned them away from the area, claiming that it was not within Guyana's jurisdiction.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has, in the past, stated its commitment to “assisting Venezuela and Guyana in this dispute,” making it clear that it would prefer a “peaceful solution” to the impasse. New CARICOM chair, Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Keith Rowley, will preside over a virtual meeting of member states on January 12, but it is unclear whether the territorial dispute will be on the agenda.


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Arab states’ reconciliation with Qatar leaves pro-unity Saudis behind bars · Global Voices
Dahlia Kholaif

A screenshot from France24 report showing Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani being welcomed in an embrace by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, January 5, 2021.
A rift between Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt led to an outright boycott and blockade of Qatar in June 2017. As these Arab nations reconcile, many wonder what will happen to Saudi citizens detained for voicing opposition and calling for unity.
Since the so-called Arab Spring, regional alliances have split Qatar to one side and the quartet on the other, who all accuse Qataris for meddling in their affairs.
Doha, the Qatari capital and seat of power, welcomed political shifts countries hit by uprisings and supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and elsewhere, but the quadruplet's leaders deemed such political changes harmful to their interests, and saw the Muslim Brotherhood as an Islamist terrorist organization.
Ultimately, tensions escalated, leading all four countries’ to boycott and blockade the tiny, gas-rich Gulf state, pushing it deeper into the arms of regional rivals, Turkey and Iran.
Following several attempts to bring the Gulf states together, on January 5, the once-feuding leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar signed an agreement brokered by Kuwait and the United States, to settle their differences and restore ties.
In the Saudi airport of al-Ula, north of Medina, the kingdom's de-facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, commonly known by his initials MBS, greeted his rival, Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, as both leaders donned surgical masks due to the coronavirus.
Almost immediately after reconciliation announcements, media outlets associated with each side of the quarrel and which have, for years, been locked in a fierce media war of weaving conspiracy theories and bashing rivals, began praising the reconciliation and welcoming the unity among the ranks of Gulf brethren.
Meanwhile, at least 20 Saudi citizens who expressed similar sentiments at the beginning of the feud and thus appeared to oppose their leaders in Riyadh, remain incarcerated on myriads of charges.
A Twitter account called “Prisoners of Conscience,” dedicated to supporting Saudis imprisoned for expressing their opinions, tweeted:
? WE CALL FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ALL PRSIONERS OF CONSCIENCE WHO WERE DETAINED JUST BECAUSE THEY CALLED FOR RECONCILIATION WITH QATAR, 3 YEARS AGO.#المصالحة_الخليجية
— Prisoners of Conscience (@m3takl_en) January 4, 2021
Among those prisoners is prominent Islamic cleric Salman al-Odah, whose detention in 2017 came hours after he published the following tweet on September 8, 2017:
ربنا لك الحمد لا نحصي ثناءً عليك أنت كما أثنيت على نفسك..اللهم ألف بين قلوبهم لمافيه خير شعوبهم
— سلمان العودة (معتقل) (@salman_alodah) September 8, 2017
O’ God, praise be to You. Put harmony in their hearts for what is best for their nations.
Since then, 63-year-old Odah has been kept in mostly solitary confinement, with periods of limited or no access to his family, and in conditions which his son said reflect the authorities’ intention of  “killing him slowly.”
اللهم أعده لأهله ومحبيه والأمة العربية والإسلامية والعالم#لاتقتلوا_سلمان_العودة pic.twitter.com/UI2yoVMFfW
— د. عبدالله العودة (@aalodah) December 30, 2020
O Lord, bring him back to his family, loved ones, the Muslim and the Arab nations, and the world. #Don't_Kill_Salman_Al_Odah
Al-Odah's son, Abdullah, based in the US, describes the cleric's health situation:
During the Nov. 18 court proceeding in Riyadh, my siblings were struck by how significantly weaker and emaciated our father was. Having lost half of his hearing and vision in prison, he was incoherent and had difficulty hearing and seeing them clearly. They felt that our proud, determined father seemed completely submissive and nodded at whatever he was told. They feared that in his precarious state, he could be forced into signing any kind of confession.
Following a year in detention without trial, Saudi's attorney-general sought a death penalty for Odah on 37 charges, including inciting people against the ruler, calling for change in government and possession of banned books.
An image from Twitter of detained Saudi cleric Salman al-Odah with a grandchild.
As rival parties made amends, calls for Odah's release, along with other prisoners, have gained momentum.
Michael Page, deputy director in the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, tweeted:
Now that #Saudi Arabia is easing tensions & opening border with #Qatar, how about releasing detainees like @salman_alodah, accused of opposing a blockade (that only ended up separating families, stranding workers, & interrupting people's medical care)? https://t.co/rxnbyUFAuV pic.twitter.com/e9RPq52L3Q
— Michael Page (@MichaelARPage) January 4, 2021
Other notable detainees on similar charges, including harboring ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatari government, and expressing public support for imprisoned dissidents, are Awad al-Qarni and Ali al-Omari:
?Breaking news 2
We confirm that
Sheikh Salman al-Odah
Sheikh Awad al-Qarni
Sheikh Naser al-Omar
are still in solitary confinement under very bad circumstances.#اعدام_المشايخ_جريمة pic.twitter.com/sQl9FYY66K
— Prisoners of Conscience (@m3takl_en) May 26, 2019
Other prominent detainees include Mustafa al-Hasan, an academic; Abdullah al-Malki, a writer, and Essam al-Zamil, an economist.
Their arrest came over three years ago, around the same time that the Saudi authorities rounded up several female activists calling for women's right to drive, including iconic activist Loujain al-Hathloul.

author: Dahlia Kholaif


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Global Voices seeks an editor to lead our Greater Central Asia coverage · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Image of Osh bazar in Bishkek. Photo by Filip Noubel, used with permission.
Are you a writer and editor with a deep understanding of and curiosity about all facets of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan? Are you excited about shaping ideas into stories, social media posts, and other editorial outputs in collaboration with a diverse community?
If you answered “yes” to the questions above, you might consider applying for the position of Regional Editor for Greater Central Asia.
The Regional Editor will be responsible both for editing stories written by Global Voices’ volunteer contributors and for writing stories about the region. Global Voices stories focus on topics such as internet culture, freedom of speech online, technology and digital rights, human rights, diversity and representation, and language diversity.
The Regional Editor will also work with a diverse community of contributors who write stories, share ideas for stories, and set the editorial agenda for the region by proposing ideas, sharing knowledge, and providing leads.
Preference will be given to candidates with knowledge of Central Asian languages including Dari, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Mongolian, Pashto, Tajik, Turkmen, Uyghur, and Uzbek.
Global Voices is a global, virtual organization. The engine of the Global Voices newsroom is a team of part-time editors who work with volunteer contributors and translators around the world to highlight stories and perspectives that are underrepresented in international mainstream media.
Candidates must be comfortable setting their own schedules and working in a wholly virtual environment.
We strongly welcome candidates currently contributing to the Global Voices project to apply.
The position is part-time and will be treated as a freelance contract.
Submit a résumé and a cover letter in English that highlights your work and explains why you would be a good fit for the position to  jobs@globalvoices.org, with the subject line: Regional Editor for Greater Central Asia: your name. Please attach your cover letter as a .doc or .pdf file in addition to including it in the body of your e-mail.

author: Filip Noubel


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Inside Argentina’s ‘green tide’ of feminist activism for the right to legal abortion · Global Voices
Romina Navarro

Vigil at the National Congress of Argentina, December 29, 2020. Photo by the author, used with permission.
I’ve held feminist views since childhood, long before I was able to call them feminist. My greatest lessons in learning and awareness, however, arrived much more recently. The year 2018 was the point at which I could no longer be a mere political spectator and felt propelled to participate in collective activism, spurred by the first-ever debate by Argentina’s Senate on a bill in support of legal voluntary abortion.
Early on the morning of December 30, 2020, I woke up in near disbelief to historic news: The Senate approved The Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Law.
That previous evening, I had stood waiting amid throngs in the streets. We were collectively straining against our many anxieties, including uncertainty at not knowing a few key senators’ positions, fears of the bill’s possible rejection, and brimming emotions for everything our culminating efforts had achieved from the last few years up to this point. I regretted leaving before the results were in, but awoke thrilled to see the reactions of those who remained at the vigil until 5 in the morning, when the decision was finally made.
? El momento del resultado. Escuchen eso, piel de gallina.#ESLEY pic.twitter.com/sbeLD1PSqY
— Sole (@ssoledad1983_) December 30, 2020
? The moment the results came in. Listen to that, goosebumps.#ESLEY [#ITSLAW]  pic.twitter.com/sbeLD1PSqY
— Sole (@ssoledad1983_) December 30, 2020
For nearly all of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic impeded mass gatherings and led activists to adopt virtual platforms. Once the strictest measures were lifted, however, social activism took to the streets again.
On November 16, 2020, after facing mounting pressure from feminist organizations, Argentine President Alberto Fernández at last fulfilled a promise he had made in early March to present a bill before Congress to legalize voluntary abortion (an act that had stalled as the nation underwent COVID-19 emergency measures).
Briefings began under a tight schedule on December 1 in the Lower House, and the historic result was achieved on the early morning of the 30th.
On key dates, the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion organized live social media reportage, rallies, and vigils at the National Congress and across every city in Argentina to show support for the bill and demand representatives cast a vote in favor of the right to decide. Attendees were urged to take caution with masks and hand sanitizers, and to avoid crowds, hugs, and close contact as much as possible.
¡En todo el país!??
Sumate a hacer historia, en las calles por nuestros derechos.
Pasá la voz. #AbortoLegal2020 pic.twitter.com/DC6RPxj6HF
— #AbortoLegal2020 ? (@CampAbortoLegal) December 9, 2020
In every country!??
Join us to make history, in the streets for our rights.
Spread the word. #AbortoLegal2020 pic.twitter.com/DC6RPxj6HF
— #AbortoLegal2020 ? (@CampAbortoLegal) December 9, 2020
Almost a year had gone without in-person contact, and many of us yearned to see one another without the means of a computer screen. We enlisted several friends from the group Traductoras e Intérpretes Feministas (Feminist Translators and Interpreters, or TEIFEM) to make our physical presence at these events visible. There are no words that could explain what this meant to us.
Vigil at the National Congress of Argentina, December 29, 2020. Photo by the author, used with permission.
In Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, mass demonstrations during the debates occupied the entire 400-meter (1,300-foot) length of the Congressional Plaza along both Rivadavia Avenue and Callao Avenue from the corner of the National Congress. On the opposite end of the square, separated by extensive security fencing, pro-life protesters gathered to express their opposition to the law.
Map of the National Congress surroundings where vigils took place, posted on Instagram by @CampAbortoLegal.
Organizing efforts were flawless, with extensive security operations, CEPA (the Evacuation and First Aid Corps) and Red Cross teams, and hydration stations assembled, along with attendants who offered free sanitizers and disinfectant to attendees. A center stage, speakers, and a large screen were positioned on every block to broadcast the debates live.
Crowds were unavoidable, but nearly all wore a mask, and every effort was made to follow sanitary measures.
CEPA volunteers talk with a girl at the vigil on December 29, 2020. Photo by the author, used with permission.
A festive and colorful atmosphere flourished on the “green side” of the fence, with a sea of hopeful smiles buffered against the fear of history repeating itself like in 2018, when the Senate had rejected the bill by a difference of seven votes. Perhaps what attendees were celebrating was that, in spite of past failures, the first debate had firmly put the issue on the table, settled into society, and begun to stir up family conversations.
At that point, there was no turning back.
Around the National Congress, each “green” demonstration seemed more like a large fair, with green- and purple-bedecked bands, batucadas, techno music, banners and posters, accessories, T-shirts, glitter, make-up, sparklers, and dancing.
Vigil at the National Congress, December 29, 2020. Photo by the author, used with permission.
Organizations passed out information and sold stickers, postcards, and accessories in fundraising efforts. Numerous political groups, unions, NGOs, and social movements made their presence visible and promoted causes like the separation of Church and State, comprehensive sexual education, LGTBQ+ rights, abortion clinic lifeguards to ensure safe passageway for patients, and more.
Vigil at the National Congress, December 29, 2020. Photo by the author, used with permission.
Teenagers played soccer on makeshift fields erected by the Coordinadora de Fútbol Feminista (Feminist Soccer Coordinators). At the center stage, organizations took turns explaining basic tenets of the bill and their reasons for supporting it.
Vigil at the National Congress, December 29, 2020. Photo by the author, used with permission.
In other areas, families danced and took photos, people painted faces, and circles of batucadas sang feminist catchphrases.
Percussionists at the vigil on December 29, 2020. Photo by the author, used with permission.
Despite the wide range of personal, partisan, and political positions, there was a prevailing sense of unity, joy and companionship that remained steadfast in facing a common cause that affects all ages, race, political positions, and social classes.
Now is not the time for feminism to grow complacent. We will continue the fight to ensure compliance with the law and dismantle attempts to obstruct it. But for now, we’ve taken a few days to celebrate this historic achievement borne from a decades-long struggle.

author: Romina Navarro


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Social media blackout, violent crackdown on opposition ahead of presidential elections in Uganda  · Global Voices
James Propa

Campaign posters for Ugandan's 2016 elections. Image by Maxence,  January 7, 2016 (CC BY 2.0)
With just hours ahead of the highly anticipated January 14 presidential election in Uganda, the Ugandan Communication Commission (UCC) directed telecommunications service providers to switch off all social networks and messaging applications.
UPDATE: A total internet shutdown was registered across Uganda by 7 pm EST on Wednesday, January 13, reports Netblocks.
This election could potentially see an end to President Yoweri Museveni’s 35-year, 5-term rule — or extend it for another five years. Musician turned politician, Robert Ssentamu, 38, widely known by his stage name, Bobi Wine, is the major opposition contender against the 76-year-old Museveni in this election.
Internet monitor Netblocks confirmed that “a lengthy list of pre-selected social websites” like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Skype, Viber, Google Play Store, were affected by the digital blackout.
The digital blackout has left Ugandans grappling with virtual private networks (VPNs) as the only option to remain online.
The government has shutdown facebook ahead of the 2021 elections it can only be accessed through VPN. #UgandaDecides2021 pic.twitter.com/0cQIxO42GT
— Nyamishana (@nyapru1) January 12, 2021
However, the government's blocking “more than 100 (VPNs)” in the country, makes it more arduous for citizens to circumvent the internet shut down, says Access Now, an international advocacy group.
On January 12, Facebook shut down several accounts belonging to the Citizens Interaction Center of the Ugandan Information Ministry for using “fake and duplicate accounts” to promote the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ruling party, the BBC reports. President Museveni criticized the “arrogance” of Facebook for “deciding who is good or bad” in Uganda.
This is not the first time Museveni’s government has yanked away the internet or repressed online freedom of expression.
During the 2016 general elections, the government shutdown social media platforms with reasons related to curtailing propaganda and security. In 2017, the government introduced a monthly $2 USD “over the top”(OTT) communication social media tax to curtail people from gossiping on social networks. The 2016 digital blackout introduced many people to the use of VPN networks in order to access the service.
Bobi Wine (right) talking with a lawyer. Image by Mbowasport, August 8, 2019, released to Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.
Bobi Wine, Uganda’s main opposition presidential contender, rose to political fame following his election to parliament in 2017. Wine played an instrumental role in resisting the lifting of the constitutional presidential age limit that paved the way for Museveni’s tenure elongation.
For the past two months, political campaigns have been rife with violence exacerbated by the Ugandan army and police, who weaponized COVID-19 to repress the opposition.  Opposition politicians were prevented access to districts and campaign venues on the pretense of violating the Health Ministry’s COVID-19 protocols that barred any gathering with more than 200 people.
The opposition continuously argued that the time allocated to the campaigns would not enable them to traverse all four administrative regions of the country. They also argued that they abided by the restrictions but could not control the actions of citizens who are “hungry for change” and came out to rally in large numbers. On November 18, Bobi Wine and Patrick Amuriat, of the Forum For Democratic Change (FDC) party, were arrested, which sparked riots that left more than 50 people dead. Both politicians, charged for violating anti-coronavirus measures while campaigning, were released on November 25, 2020.
With just hours before the election, most members of Bobi Wine’s campaign team, including his singing partner, Nubian Li, are still remanded in a military barracks jail following their arrest on January 4, in the Lake Victoria islands of Kalangala, a venue of a scheduled campaign.
On December 26, 2020, the Electoral Commission also banned campaigns in 13 districts, including the capital Kampala, and its buffer districts of Wakiso and Mukono, making it hard for opposition politicians to access the citizens in those areas. They criticized the president for continuing to launch development projects like road and hospital construction in the same districts where opposition members were not allowed to carry out their activities.
In a statement issued on Facebook, Bobi Wine said:
They have been surprised and scared to the teeth by the massive support we have received everywhere, including Museveni's backyard in Kiruhura and Kazo…Now, they have suspended campaigns in districts where they think people will show up in tens of thousands! Of course they had to add some other districts in order to sanitize their panicky actions.
Barred from access to voters in those districts, Bobi Wine turned to digital media to reach out to citizens by recording a song entitled, “Tulonde” which means “Let’s Vote” in the Luganda language. In the same song, he narrates the campaign journey that has been characterized by bullets, teargas, deaths and arrests, including his arrest immediately after nomination.
It’s two days before Uganda’s election. Boston-based Ugandan-American Herman Ainebyona, who organizes and leads the diaspora for @HEBobiwine’s campaign, was choked and brutally arrested by plainclothes officers at SunCiti Hotel in Lira, Uganda. #UgandaDecides2021 #StandWithUganda pic.twitter.com/CWihQeJrmI
— Arao \ə-ˈrau̇\ AMENY – Daughter of Lango (@araoameny) January 12, 2021
The Electoral Commission also failed to confirm Bobi Wine’s final week’s campaign schedule hence stopping him from accessing the electorate.
On January 12, Bobi Wine tweeted that Ugandan security operatives raided his home, arrested his personal assistant and security guards:
We have a crisis of dictatorship in Africa. The treatment that my friend @HEBobiwine has received along with other opposition politicians in Uganda is appalling.
Listening to his address today I was just troubled about the state of African affairs. pic.twitter.com/x62Ho9Yiq8
— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) January 12, 2021
The violence was not only reserved for opposition politicians.
Journalists covering the campaigns have also been brutalized by the police. But Police Chief Martin Okoth Ochola was unapologetic, stating that “when we tell a journalist, don't go there and you insist on going where there is danger, we shall beat you for your own safety. I have no apology,” reports the Monitor, a Ugandan daily.
The US Embassy in Uganda, on January 13, canceled their election observer missions because the Uganda electoral umpire denied accreditation for “more than 75 percent” of their election observers. Similarly, only journalists in “good working terms with the government” have been accredited to cover the elections.
There was visible heavy deployment of the soldiers in most parts of the country on January 12, with Museveni saying that the opposition wants to create chaos after the elections.
The three opposition parties — Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP), Patrick Amuriat’s Forum For Democratic Change and General Mugisha Muntu’s Alliance for National Transformation —had, on January 12, made a joint commitment to push against voter fraud and election-rigging.
The prevailing evidence points to unequal contests between “millions of young people demanding reform and a say in their future” and “a small cadre of tyrants committed to retaining power at all costs,” asserts Wine in an op-ed in Foreign Affairs.
But “government crackdowns on the opposition in many cases violently or through arbitrary arrests may help tilt the scales in Museveni’s favor,” says the United States Institute for Peace.
Consequently, a lot depends on the international community to impress on Museveni to hold free, fair and credible elections.

author: James Propa


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Ten social media posts that capture Latin American reactions to the storming of the US Capitol · Global Voices
Melissa Vida

Screenshot of post from Twitter using the popular SpongeBob meme.
When supporters of United States’ President Donald Trump invaded the United States Capitol on January 6, Latin Americans took to Twitter with their reactions. And humor was the most prevalent.
Journalist Jordana Timerman wrote in her daily newsletter that “Schadenfreude is possibly the dominant emotion for many Latin American countries, accustomed to receiving blanket U.S. statements of concern over national political upheaval.” Schadenfreude is “the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another.”
Other commentators created memes showcasing the bitter irony of the U.S., which has historically backed coups in the Latin American region, experiencing a possible attempt at what has been described by some as a self-coup at the hands of Trump.
At a rally on January 6, Trump enlisted his supporters to join the campaign he has waged since the November 2020 election outcome was confirmed, seeking to overturn the election result and block the—mostly ceremonial—certification of the Electoral College results. Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol in a violent mob, leaving five dead. The president now risks impeachment.
Here are ten social media posts that typify the reactions of Latin Americans online.
Whenever there's a political crisis in Latin America, such as when Bolivia's former president Evo Morales fled the country in November 2019 amidst political turmoil, commentators would often share hypotheses of how the United States might have been involved in the change of regime:
Cuando entras a Twitter y ves que E.U. está desestabilizando al mismo gobierno de E.U. y no a un país de Latinoamerica.#Capitolio#Trump #Biden pic.twitter.com/0MkDHfy0J8
— Leo (@The_Singer8) January 7, 2021
When you go on Twitter and see that the U.S. is destabilizing the U.S. government itself and not a Latin American country. #Capitol #Trump #Biden
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden swiftly reacted to the raid by calling the rioters “domestic terrorists,” and trotted out a refrain commonly voiced at times like this—”This is not who we are”:
Joe Biden: Lo que está pasando en el capitolio no nos representa como Estados Unidos, esto no es quienes somos ??.
Latinoamérica: pic.twitter.com/aqFt71A9sb
— juanfer ☾ (@juanfervn) January 6, 2021
Joe Biden: What's going on at the Capitol doesn't represent us as America, that's not who we are ??.
Latin America:
Given Latin America's turbulent relationship with U.S. foreign policy, one emotion many Latin Americans weren't feeling for their northern neighbor was pity:
Noticias: “Golpe de estado en USA, disturbios en el Capitolio, Piden destitución de presidente, Conspiracionistas dementes se acusan a ellos mismos de ser infiltrados, día negro para la democracia”.
Latinoamérica: pic.twitter.com/gOtZ212fkP
— Samuel (@SamorMartinez) January 7, 2021
News: “Coup d'état in the US, riots on Capitol Hill, Calls for impeachment of president, Crazy conspirators accuse themselves of being infiltrators, black day for democracy”.
Latin America:
Political scientist John Polga-Hecimovich shared a “database” of regimes that have experienced self-coups, which now includes the United States:
My updated autogolpe attempt database (1992-2021) pic.twitter.com/SKrVJjLroR
— John Polga-Hecimovich (@jpolga) January 6, 2021
Haitian artist and photojournalist Fortune Edris “subtweeted” the United States by referring to a classic American symbol—the eagle—and a spiritual principle with origins in Asia:
Il faut que l’oiseau bec fer sache que le karma existe.
Posted by Fortune Edris on Friday, January 8, 2021
The bird with the iron beak needs to know that karma exists.
Salvadoran feminist activist Virginia engaged in some gleeful Schadenfreude:
Amigas, de qué nos sirven dos siglos de intervención política gringa si no es para cagarnos de la risa en estos momentos.
— Virginia (@huishte) January 6, 2021
Girlfriends, what good are two centuries of gringo political intervention if not to make us laugh our pants off right now?
Central American Twitter pitched in with a long-standing joke:
“Why haven’t there been attempted coups in Washington DC?
Because there’s no U.S. Embassy there.”
They'll have to rethink this old joke.
— aléxandros! (@bodega_gyro_ao) January 6, 2021
Some played on the idea that some countries—such as Venezuela, which had experienced its own “self-inflicted coup” around the country's elections in March 2017—had been de-sensitized to events of this kind:
American: how are you so unfazed watching today’s news?
Me: pic.twitter.com/yy4bLyQutA
— Joanna Hausmann Jatar (@Joannahausmann) January 7, 2021
Brazilian university professor Lola Aronovich warned of one figure who might be closely watching the events in the U.S. for all the wrong reasons—Brazilian President Bolsonaro:
Estados Unidos é especialista em dar golpe de estado em outros países. Quando um laranjão mimado e seus supremacistas arianos tentam fazer isso no próprio país não é tão bonito. Detalhe: Bolso está anotando tudo pra 2022.
— Lola Aronovich (@lolaescreva) January 6, 2021
The United States is an expert at coup d'états in other countries. When a spoiled orange and his Aryan supremacists try to do it in their own country, it's not so pretty. Detail: Bolsonaro is taking notes of everything for 2022.
Columnist Leví Kaique Ferreira took aim at U.S. foreign policy and its interventions to free countries from undemocratic regimes:
Se os Estados Unidos vissem o que os Estados Unidos estão fazendo nos Estados Unidos, os Estados Unidos invadiriam os Estados Unidos para libertar os Estados Unidos da tirania dos Estados Unidos https://t.co/T1fGLgc33p
— Leví Kaique Ferreira (@LeviKaique) January 6, 2021
If the United States saw what the United States is doing in the United States, the United States would invade the United States to free the United States from the tyranny of the United States

author: Melissa Vida