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An Exiled Scholar Says Thailand’s Junta Is Harassing His Family · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Image from Prachatai, a content partner of Global Voices
The family of an exiled anti-junta academic is reportedly being harassed by soldiers in Bangkok, Thailand.
Pavin Chachavalpongpun, professor of Kyoto University and currently a visiting scholar at University of Cambridge, wrote on Facebook that soldiers have repeatedly visited the house of his sister in order to stop him from speaking against the military-backed government and the monarchy. He gave more details in his article published by The Diplomat online magazine:
Apart from sending officers to my home, the military also called up my sister at her workplace twice, ordering her to inform me that if I did not stop discussing the Thai monarchy, my family would have to “pay the price” for my activities outside Thailand. The military also demanded that my entire family in Bangkok report themselves to an army camp, and that, if they failed to do so, there would be another visit.
Pavin is a known critic of the junta. He has also consistently advocated for the reform of the Lese Majeste Law (anti-royal insult law) which he argues is being abused to silence the opposition. When the army grabbed power in 2014, Pavin was teaching in Japan. He was summoned several times by the junta to undergo ‘attitude-adjustment’ but he refused to comply with the military orders. The government eventually cancelled his passport forcing him to seek asylum in Japan.
As an academic, Pavin has been giving lectures in many countries about the coup in Thailand and the need for international pressure to restore civilian rule, elections, and democratic institutions in his country. He was about to speak in University of Oxford on February 24 when he received a message from his sister about the surprise visit of some soldiers in their home.
This is not the first time that Pavin says the junta has tried to influence Thai citizens’ behavior abroad. Last year, Pavin claimed that the Thai government warned Thai students in Chicago and Germany about losing their scholarships if they attended the lecture of the exiled scholar.
Despite his international appeal for help against this recent scare tactics of the junta, Pavin wrote on Facebook that soldiers returned to the home of his sister:
You have punished me, hunt me (even when I did nothing wrong) — I already found this injustice unbearable. But to go after my family who had nothing to do with me — this is absolutely unacceptable. I will fight against this intimidation to the best of my ability. Don't push me further into the corner!
The junta spokesman Col. Winthai Suvaree denied that soldiers are harassing Pavin’s family:
I dont think it was done by our officers. I don’t think anyone was threatened. Why would we make any threat? It’s not like we’re going to arrest (the sisters)
After this denial, Pavin’s sister sent a photo to a journalist to prove that a soldier visited her home:
Minutes aft junta spokesman told me he's not sure if soldier visited Pavin's sister, sis sent me d photo. #Thailand pic.twitter.com/AZ7aD0trOL
— Pravit Rojanaphruk (@PravitR) February 25, 2016
In an earlier interview, Pavin said he wishes to return home to Thailand and continue his role as an academic:
I will continue what I do because it’s my role as an academic. I do hope to return to Thailand because my family is there. But if I have to close my ears and mouth, I’d rather stay outside.

author: Mong Palatino


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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi Briefly Goes Up for Sale on eBay · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The ebay entry for the sale of Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi. Source: @AishaEldorg/Twitter
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi announced that if he could, he would sell himself to help the country's struggling economy and support Egyptians. Within minutes, an entry was up on eBay, offering the president for sale to the highest bidder.
The entry, which is no longer available, read:
For sale: Field Marshall and a Doctor of Philosophers, with a military background, used by a doctor
Sisi made the remark in a televised address while unveiling Egypt's economic development plan for 2030, where he also urged Egyptians to dig deeper into their pockets and donate to the country using text messages on the phone.
On Twitter, Sherif Mansour quips:
Sis today: If I can be sold, I would, but I can't. Guess what? he is already on Ebay. Started at $1.5 only. A Deal https://t.co/UNQltgrJKq
— Sherif Mansour (@sherifmnsour) February 24, 2016
Abdurrahman Ezz notes:
فرصة لن تتكرر للبيع أو الايجار :
عرص برتبة مشير ، رئيس عصابة حاليا ، قادر على اضحاك الملايين في عز مصيبتهم 😂😅
العرض محدود والحجز بالأسبقية
— ツعبدالرحمن عز (@Abdurrahmanezz) February 24, 2016
For sale or rent: an opportunity that will never be repeated. A [pimp] with the rank of Field Marshall. He currently heads a mob. Able to make millions laugh at the height of their misery. The offer is limited and available on a first come, first serve basis
And Dalia Ezzat adds:
Responding to Sisi's emotional speech where he noted he's willing to sell himself for Egypt: Sisi for $1 on eBay https://t.co/jl9HDhuu4S
— Dalia Ezzat (@DaliaEzzat_) February 24, 2016
Without even trying to suppress their giggles, Egyptians continued to monitor the bidding site, until the entry was removed, watching closely as the bid went from one US dollar to a stellar 100,000 US dollars.
Dima S tweets the bid at the half-way mark:
#SisiForSale on ebay right now. His price is up to US $52,700.00. https://t.co/tSi4VWHfwh via @eBay
— Dima S. ديمة (@YasminWaQahwa) February 24, 2016
And blogger Zeinobia exclaims:
الله اكبر وصل ل 100,000 https://t.co/ASbZG60m5E
— Zeinobia (@Zeinobia) February 24, 2016
God is great (Allahu Akbar)! The bid has hit 100,000!
In his speech, Sisi also called on Egyptians to each “say good morning to Egypt with a pound,” which translates to donate a pound towards Egypt every morning, which also drew laughs on social media.
Hagar jokes:
me:hello mum!
masr: we deducted one pound #صبح_علي_مصر_بجنيه
— hagar♡ (@HagarTika) February 25, 2016
This Twitter user shares a photograph of an Egyptian pound:
#صبح_علي_مصر_بجنيه
Good Morning #Egypt :) pic.twitter.com/peJUebcdSq
— MM Law Firm (@MMLawFirm_eg) February 25, 2016
And Ayman Azzameg says:
الدول تتقدم بالعلم الصناعة والحرية والعدالة والمساواة وتطبيق القانون ع الجميع ومحاربة الفسادمش إن المواطنين يعملوا جمعية #صبح_على_مصر_بجنيه
— #أرحل_يا_سيسي (@ayman_azzameg) February 24, 2016
Countries progress through science, industry, freedom, justice, equality, implementation of the law on all, and fighting corruption, and not from the backs of its people.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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How Myanmar Residents Are Coping Up With Rising Temperatures Caused by El Niño · Global Voices
The Irrawaddy

Yangon residents have to adjust to the increased temperatures and water shortages brought by the El Niño weather pattern. Photo and caption by Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy
This is an article from The Irrawaddy, an independent news website in Myanmar, and is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
The effects of the weather phenomenon El Niño are already being felt in several countries in the Asia-Pacific. As El Niño hits the most extreme of its 12- to 18-month cycle, large swaths of Myanmar have been beleaguered by high temperatures and water shortages.
Summer typically does not begin until March, but temperatures are already relatively intense. Meteorologists have predicted that water shortages in many parts of Myanmar could be ratcheted up by as much as three-fold in the coming months. In Yangon, the country’s main urban hub, temperatures have already soared to 35 degrees Celsius in recent days, forcing people to take shelter under any shade they can find.
In Dala, a town across the river from Yangon, water scarcity is more palpable. Irrawaddy photographers Hein Htet and Pyay Kyaw recently documented how the residents of Rangoon and Dala have been coping with the country’s intense weather conditions.
Water rationing in Yangon. Photo by Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy
Dala residents coping with the waves of severe weather brought by the El Niño weather pattern. Photo by Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy
Community water pump in Dala. Photo by Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy
Transporting water buckets in Dala. Photo by Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy
Yangon residents carry umbrella as protection from the heat of the sun. Photo by Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy
Birds soak in water as temperature rises in Dala. Photo by Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy
Yangon residents find a shade to rest. Photo by Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy

author: The Irrawaddy


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Fearing Foreign Influence, Iran’s Hardliners Bash the BBC Ahead of Legislative Elections · Global Voices
Hanif Zarrabi-Kashani

The leader of the reformist coalition, Aref, caught tying his shoes. Photo from ISNA.
On February 26, Iranians will head to polling stations to vote for their representative members of parliament as well as elect the members of Assembly of Experts, the religious body responsible for choosing the Supreme Leader and supervising his authority.
This election is of particular importance for a number of reasons, firstly in the importance of the office of the Supreme Leader, who acts as the final authority on all the nation's policies, often superseding the authority of the elected president. Secondly, the importance of this election comes after almost a decade of a parliament dominated by conservative ‘principlists‘ (with some segments within the conservative current referred to as hardline) politicians.
These forces have often been big challenges to the moderate and often progressive policies of the current administration of President Hassan Rouhani, forming opposition to efforts including the recent nuclear deal. This Friday's election will prove to be somewhat of a struggle for moderate and pro-reform figures to gain a foothold.
Fearing the popularity of the reformist camp, especially within coverage from Persian media outside of Iran, hardline elements within various Iranian institutions have slammed foreign media for supposedly trying to divide the country.
Ayatollah Mohsen Qomi, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts and the deputy chief of the Supreme Leader’s Office for International Affairs, accused foreign media outlets of supporting the pro-reform moderate coalition, “Foreign media supporting one candidate list to compete with another is done in order to create divisions within the country.”
Criticism has been heaped in particular on BBC Persian, with some officials in Iran accusing the British Broadcasting Corporation of encouraging Iranians to vote for pro-reform candidates. As BBC journalist Hadi Nili tweeted earlier in the week:
4d left to #Iran Parlmnt election day, authorities intensify jamming of BBCPersian TV on satellite.
cc @globalvoices pic.twitter.com/FOglH3GIyH
— Hadi Nili (@HadiNili) February 22, 2016
Fars News, the semi-official news agency of the government of Iran, has published several cartoons targeting the BBC. One portrays the BBC as a conniving fox holding out a ballot box, with birds representing Iranian voters “dumping”, let's say, their opinion on the outlet.
Cartoon in Iranian Fars News reflecting BBC's role in the elections. The news agency called it “The people's response to the BBC's candidate list.”
Another, entitled, “Old British scare tactics,” portrays an unsuccessful scarecrow created by the BBC, intended to keep Iranians from the ballot box.
Fars News cartoon, “Old British scare tactics.”
Pushing on this theme of foreign influence, in another cartoon, Fars News implies that the Americans and British are using money to influence Iran’s February 26 elections, in order to get their “own” preferred candidates and candidate list up.
Cartoon from Fars News.
Tasnim News, a hardline news agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, a powerful branch of the armed forces, published a cartoon graphic entitled “Election wisdom” that featured a bullet inscribed with the word BBC. At the tip is a greet pencil, suggesting that the BBC prefers candidates sympathetic to the 2009 Green Movement, in which tens of thousands of Iranians protested what they called a fraudulent election that saw hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win reelection by a landslide.
Tasnim News graphic “Election Wisdom” on BBC Persian's influence.
The government has spoken ill of BBC Persian since its launch in December 2009, accusing it of manipulating the Iranian people against the Islamic Republic. Conscious efforts to jam the channel's satellite connections in Iran as well to block the organisation's website have been in effect since its inception.
Commenting on this latest round of hate toward the BBC, the outspoken and independent member of parliament from Tehran, Ali Motahari (who is now included in the reformist affiliated “list of hope” on the ballot) reacted to the BBC criticisms with the following(as reported by reformist newspaper Shargh Daily):
علی مطهری در دانشگاه تهران: ادعای حمایت رسانه‌های خارجی از اصلاح‌طلبان شارلاتان‌بازی است. – ایلنا pic.twitter.com/AzEYAHKVJo
— روزنامه شرق (@SharghDaily) February 22, 2016
Those that claim that foreign media is supporting the reformists are charlatans.
Diaspora media organisations such as BBC Persian, Radio Farda, and Voice of America Persian, alongside American and European social media platforms, continue be crucial factors in the campaigns and sources of information leading up to the 26 February elections.

author: Hanif Zarrabi-Kashani


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Pressure Like Nowhere Else in the World: Journalism in Afghanistan · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

First female journalists trained in Afghanistan produce a documentary as part of a groundbreaking training program for Afghan women journalists supported by The Asia Foundation. Photo by PRNewsFoto/The Asia Foundation, Creative Commons.
With the collapse of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan almost 15 years ago, a democratic government with a relatively liberal constitution emerged that made allowances — in theory — for freedom of the press and expression. But ensuring the basic security of media workers in the country has been somewhat harder.
Media outlets grew exponentially after the anti-press Taliban was toppled, thanks in part to generous funding coming from NGOs, international organisations and foreign countries.
But as foreign troops withdrew, funding for these operations began to wane and only a handful remained commercially viable as many others closed down.
Threats affecting journalists are numerous. Media workers are targets because they highlight the brutality of the insurrection led by the Taliban and other militant groups, while pinpointing the shortcomings of the government and the misdeeds of warlords and parliamentarians alike.
According to a report published by Deutsche Welle in January 2015, there were 125 incidents of violence against journalists reported in 2014, marking the year the “most violent year on record for journalists in the country” as thousands of troops from the US-led coalition withdrew from the country.
Things have not improved since. In August 2015, Pajhwok News Agency’s Azizullah Hamdard was shot and injured in Kabul by unidentified assailants after she reported an incident of electoral fraud.
But it was in autumn last year that things truly took a turn for the worse for the country's media, as the Taliban dramatically seized the strategic northern city of Kunduz, one of their biggest coups in recent years.
As noted in a recent report by International Media Support (IMS), a non-profit that advocates for media rights and safety across the world:
In the months leading up to the attack, the Taliban had exhibited increasing hostility towards media workers following a spate of years in which the terrorist group had built up stable relationships with mainstream media, providing regular press statements from spokesmen and utilising social media with great effect to broaden their outreach. In September and October 2015, this strategy changed abruptly, as the Taliban proceeded to openly target journalists during the terrorist group’s capture of the Northern city of Kunduz. According to the IMS-supported Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), the Taliban actively sought out journalists, searching and raiding the offices of media outlets.
Among the outlets to feel the Taliban's wrath is TOLO News, a dynamic organisation owned by the MOBY media group that has gained the trust of large parts of the Afghan public by providing 24-hour coverage that includes some of the most dangerous and inaccessible areas of the country.
On January 21, TOLO News staff were targeted by a suicide bomber in Kabul, who killed seven of their workers.
The Taliban had been particularly angry with TOLO News for what it described as a vilification effort after the outlet described incidences of violence and rape towards Kunduz's civilian population during the month of October.
The subsequent attack on the channel sparked public outrage.
Freedom means having voice. @TOLOnews & @TOLO_TV gave us a voice and a #FreedomOfExpression. We stand with MOBY & condemn the attack.
— Ejaz Malikzada (@EjazMalikzada) January 23, 2016
4th attack on Afghan journalists in 3 weeks just one indication of failure of 15 year war to bring peace https://t.co/0IbVaqXyTM @TOLOnews
— Global Journalist (@globaljourn) February 9, 2016
In response to the Taliban’s attack, some journalists suggested a boycott of coverage of future attacks, depriving the group of a vital source of publicity.
Accordingly, the February 1 bombing in Kabul that claimed 20 lives was not covered by TOLO TV and TOLO news.
However, the initiative received mixed responses:
Since attack on @TOLO_TV staff, @TOLOnews has stopped live coverage of attacks.. Nothing about today's #Kabul attack. Don't give into fear.
— سميرة (@SamiraaSR) February 1, 2016
Despite Taliban's attack on @TOLOnews staff, today again all Afghan media reported the suicide attack of Kabul. We forget our promises soon!
— Abdullah Yadgare (@Abdullahyadgare) February 1, 2016
Government officials meanwhile try to force corruption, embezzlement, land usurpation, and human rights abuses off the media's agenda.
On his first day in office, President Ghani allowed New York Times’ Matthew Rosenberg, who had been expelled by Afghan government on allegations of undermining Afghanistan’s national interests, to return to the country, showcasing his administration’s commitment to free press and freedom of expression.
He also signed into law the Access to Information Law earlier passed by the parliament which states that government-held information should be available to the public, “except in cases that would threaten national security, compromise privacy, or interfere with a criminal investigation”.
Ghani’s administration, however, has failed to deliver on those promises.
The government's controversial Media Violation Investigation Commission (MVIC), which has been in effect since 2005, has summoned leading daily newspapers on many occasions.
Hasht-e Subh Daily, Daily Open Society, and Etilaat-e Roz Daily are amongst those whose editors-in-chiefs called in by officials as a result of critical reporting.
Moreover, when the anonymously-run satirical Facebook page Kabul Taxi poked fun at Ghani's powerful security chief Hanif Atmar, Atmar began an unsuccessful witch hunt to try and find out if any prominent media workers were behind the page. It was eventually shut down.
Although television is attracting a significant audience throughout the country, radio still remains the primary source of news for the bulk of the population.
Print media readership is low, but social media usage is on the rise and Internet connections are becoming faster and more accessible.
Accompanying these trends are citizen journalism and blogging, which are increasingly appreciated by a young educated readership.
The phenomenal growth of an independent media in post-Taliban Afghanistan is one of the few major achievements that a government still stricken by graft and incapable of providing many public services can point to.
Despite all manner of pressures, the media is fulfilling its duty and defending the public interest. Although the sacrifices it has been forced to make in order to achieve that goal have been far too many.

author: Chris Rickleton


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Prize-Winning Novelist’s Facebook ‘Joke About White Guys’ Is Gone—and Back—in Less Than 24 Hours · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jamaican novelist Marlon James at the Calabash Literary Festival in 2007. Photo by Georgia Popplewell, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
The raw, pull-no-punches prose of Marlon James‘ “A Brief History of Seven Killings” might be too rich for some, though not for the committee of the prestigious Man Booker Prize, which named the Jamaican novelist as laureate last year. The raw, pull-no-punches prose of Marlon James’ Facebook posts, however, appear be too much for Facebook.
The social network today removed an item James posted on February 24, on the grounds that it violated the social network's notoriously tetchy and selective Community Standards. The offending text, a comment on a Salon article about the police and media's “coddling” of the white, male perpetrator of February 20's Kalamazoo murder spree, went as follows:
This, all of this. White guys, I'll need you to reassure me that whenever I see any of your kind by himself in a public place (particularly a school) I shouldn't scream shooter. Yes, I need you as a group to constantly reassure us that the average caucasian isn't out to kill us. I mean, you expect every single Muslim to do it. Seems only fair.
This post by Marlon James was removed by Facebook on February 25 on the grounds that it violated community standards. The post was reinstated the same day.
A little before noon US Eastern time, James reported on Facebook that the post had been removed:
So Facebook just removed my post because it didn't “follow Facebook Community Standards.” Mind you, people post to facebook all the time expecting Muslims to reassure them that they are not terrorists, but somehow me expecting an entire racial/ethnic group to assure me that they are not spree killers is racist. America, you crazy.
He followed up soon after with an item noting the selective nature of Facebook's takedowns:
So women report posts depicting shocking violence to women and those posts stay. People of colour report explicit racism from hate groups and those stay. Make a joke about white guys and it's gone in less than 24 hours. What are you trying to tell us, Facebook?
A Facebook post takedown is usually the result of another user's reporting it as having violated Facebook's “Community Standards“, a code of conduct created by the company. As Global Voices Advocacy director Ellery Biddle has noted, however, the term “community standards” “gives the impression that we all made them up together, or that they somehow naturally evolved from some shared agreement on what is right and good.”
While Facebook's Community Standards prohibit “direct threats” and “hate speech”, they do permit users to “…challenge ideas, institutions and practices.” Marlon James’ post seems—to me, at least—to fall into that category, though one might argue that James's table-turning use of the term “your kind” to refer to white guys is a seriously wicked piece of wordsmithery.
“Marlon James’ post seems—to me, at least—to fall into that category, though one might argue that James's table-turning use of the term “your kind” to refer to white guys is a seriously wicked piece of wordsmithery.”
The fact that an abuse report on a post like James’ could be taken seriously, however, points to a terribly broken system. A story released today about incidents at a Facebook building where “black lives matter” slogans have been repeatedly crossed out and replaced with “all lives matter”, also indicates that at least one person on the Facebook campus isn't happy with this latest assertion of black civil rights.
James is by no means the first victim of Facebook's highly arbitrary Community Standards regime, of course, and the harm he's suffered pales in comparison with that inflicted on others like Indian activist Preetha G.
As a well-known writer and a bit of a Facebook celebrity—James has 7,990 followers—it could also be argued that an incident like this provides him with further opportunity to showcase his way with words and to exercise his rapier wit. In recent times James has also had Facebook posts go viral, as did his screed about the service he received at Indian airports on his way to the Jaipur Literary Festival in January.
A little after 4pm US Eastern time James posted on Facebook page that he received a message from Facebook saying that “…the policy team determined that this content was not in violation of community standards. The content has been restored, and I apologize for the error. I have also shielded your account so any further reports will require a secondary review” (emphasis added).
I'm thrilled, of course, that James got his post reinstated. But if a “primary review” was all it took for a largely innocuous item by a popular Facebook user to be removed, then heaven help us common plebs with our “unshielded” accounts.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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This Island in the Indian Ocean Is Small, But the Lessons It Offers on Clean Power Are Anything But · Global Voices
Ensia

Government installed Solar Energy panels gives power to 36 houses in the village of Weepatando in Sumba island. Photo by Flickr user Asian Development Bank. CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0
This post by Alexander Creed and Cleo Warner was originally published on Ensia.com, a magazine that highlights international environmental solutions in action, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
As the sun sets on the small Indonesian island of Sumba, Danga Beru Haba begins weaving under the glow of a single incandescent light bulb — the only one in her home. Although she is tired from working dawn to dusk in the fields surrounding her village of Kampung Kalihi, the sarong she is weaving to sell locally will provide extra income for her family.
Being able to weave at night is still a novelty for Haba. Her village has had electricity for only two years, thanks to a small wind farm on a hill overlooking the village. Access to electricity means women can now weave and children can study long after the sun goes down.
“I started weaving after we got electricity. Before that I couldn’t do it,” Haba says through a translator. “Now I can weave until midnight.” She has saved close to US$200 as a result, which she says she’ll spend on her children’s education.
Sumba is a largely rural, sparsely populated island, one of thousands in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. Due to rugged, hilly terrain and scattered villages, only 25 percent of its inhabitants had access to electricity before 2010. Nevertheless, this island of around 650,000 people, accounting for just 0.2 percent of the country’s population, is aiming to set an energy example for all of Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country and Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Through an initiative known as the Iconic Island Sumba project, international donors working with the local government plan to bring electricity to all of the island’s residents using only renewable sources in the next 10 years.
It’s an ambitious goal, one that is especially timely in light of the recent climate change talks in Paris, where renewable energy was on display as a potential strategy for combating climate change and as a development tool that may allow poorer nations to leapfrog prior roads to wealth dependent on dirty energy sources. Africa has announced plans to provide universal electricity access across the continent, aiming to produce 300 gigawatts of electricity by 2030 using only renewable sources, and France has pledged US$2 billion to the cause.
A report published by the International Renewable Energy Agency says that increasing renewable energy’s share of the global energy mix to 36 percent by 2030 — double what it was in 2010 — would boost global GDP by 1.1 percent and global human welfare — defined by such factors as health, education and environmental quality — by 3.7 percent.
Sumba, like much of Indonesia, is blessed with an abundance of natural wind, solar and flowing water. In 2009 the Dutch non-governmental organization Hivos realized the potential these resources offered and conceived of a plan to fully electrify the island using only renewable sources by 2025. Hivos helped launch the Iconic Island Sumba project to “show that access to renewable energy can alleviate poverty even in remote and isolated areas.”
In the years since the project began Sumba has managed to electrify more than half of the island. In addition to Hivos, the Indonesian NGO IBEKA, the Asian Development Bank and the Norwegian embassy in Jakarta have all become involved in the project, along with local and national Indonesian governments.
“Now in East Sumba we have every form of renewable energy. We have solar, wind, water and biogas,” says Daniel Lalupanda, chief of the local governmental Energy and Mining Division in East Sumba, through a translator.
Despite being a short two-hour flight from the popular tourist destination Bali, Sumba has remained largely untouched by tourism. Residents of the island, who live in mostly tin-roof cinder block structures and raised wooden shacks, are scattered, usually in small, rural villages dependent on farming that lack the infrastructure to transport electricity. Those who could afford it have historically relied on kerosene, a dirty and dangerous fuel, for cooking and lighting.
But “wind, hydro, and biogas resources are found throughout the country,” according to research done in 2010 by Hivos and Winrock International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing stable communities worldwide that assessed Sumba. After considering “candidate islands” and performing an in-depth analysis on Sumba and one other island, Hivos and Winrock determined that “Sumba seems to have the upper hand being the island with the best technical and institutional potential for the implementation of the ‘iconic island concept.’”
It didn’t take long for the international community to get on board with Hivos’ idea. In late 2012, the Asian Development Bank, which works to alleviate poverty and encourage sustainable growth in Asia and the Pacific, pledged US$1 million towards technical assistance aimed at scaling up access to renewable energy, including electricity, on Sumba. And the Norwegian Embassy in Jakarta pledged close to US$1 million to increase access to renewable energy in southeastern Indonesia, with Sumba as the primary focus.
“We have much potential for renewable energy, especially solar,” says Lalupanda, and he says support from such outside agencies is crucial.
The Iconic Island Sumba project has been strengthened by the support of IBEKA, which has provided funding and technical assistance for the construction of micro-hydropower plants on Sumba. IBEKA also has provided training for Sumbanese citizens to use the technology with the hope that locals will be able to manage the power plants and therefore get directly involved in the project and invested in its success.
Christian Rihimeha manages a micro-hydropower plant in the village of Kamanggih. He says the rest of his village worked on the project by digging out a hillside during construction, which took 10 months. The plant now produces 37,000 watts of electricity, enough to power 326 homes in the village. Much of the demand for the plant’s power comes at night. In fact, only the school uses electricity during the day, for things such as computers. But at night, most villagers turn on a light for weaving or for children to study.
“Now that we have access to sustainable electricity all the time, I can keep my shop open a little bit into the night,” says Umbu Windi Ndapangadung, the elected chief of Kamanggih, through a translator. “My wife can use a blender to make cakes and the children can help her.”
Indonesia’s state-owned power utility buys the electricity generated by Kamanggih’s plant and sells it back to the villagers at a predetermined cost. A local co-op, Corporasi Peduli Kasih, handles the sale of the plant’s electricity, reinvesting the profits from the electricity back into the community. This money has funded programs for clean water and for producing organic fertilizer from local livestock manure, which can also be sold.
“Before we had electricity, it was difficult to empower the people in this community,” says Ndapangadung. “But now that we have electric power they have become more willing to get involved in community programs.”
So far the hydropower plant in Kamanggih has worked well, and Rihimeha claims if he needs maintenance support the government will send an expert to help him. But on the outskirts of Kamanggih, located on a plain overlooking a lush valley, is a micro-wind plant composed of four small wind turbines. All four spin freely in the wind — but power nothing, says Petrus Lamba Awang, a local representative of IBEKA. Some of the system’s components have broken, he says, and the locals don’t know how to fix them — an example of the challenges of maintaining technologies in a place like Sumba, where there are very few direct routes anywhere. Many of the villages are isolated, miles from anything or anyone else, and connected only by steep, uneven and unmaintained roads.
Michael Kristensen, an energy advisor and project manager on renewable energy at the Energy Academy on the Danish island Samsø — which produces all of its electricity via wind turbines — says that such challenges are to be expected. Kristensen is not involved in the Sumba project, but he helped develop the renewable energy project on Samsø. “It’s a long process, and you will learn as you go along,” he says. “In some cases you have to get outside help. When we make projects [in Denmark] we always put money aside for expert counseling.”
The Indonesian minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Sudirman Said, has publicly supported the Iconic Island Sumba project, but some Indonesians working on Sumba feel Said, and the national government he represents, are not contributing enough to the initiative. The minister has been outspoken, but has not taken enough action, locals claim. They want more money and more trained personnel coming to Sumba to work toward accomplishing the island’s goal.
“The government has not put a lot of effort into making this possible,” says Ndapangadung. “If the government supports us, we can accomplish our goal by 2025. But I’m concerned about the government at the top.”
Because of the island’s terrain and isolated villages, the Indonesian national power utility estimates the cost of installing power lines to get electricity to all residents is US$22,000 per kilometer (0.6 miles) — too expensive for the agency to have considered installing a central power utility on Sumba. However, the decentralized nature of small-scale renewable projects may surmount this problem, with lines only being installed in localized areas.
“When you don’t have an electrical infrastructure already in place, then there will be difficulties, and it will not go that quickly. The grid will expand at its own pace, but of course it’s expensive and it’s a very difficult process to make it happen,” says Kristensen.
Sumba could follow the example of other small islands that are looking to renewable energy, including Samsø. In the U.S., the island state of Hawaii is aiming to produce all electricity by 2045 using only renewable sources. However, these islands differ from Sumba in important ways, including financial resources from the government and local citizens. The renewable energy push on Samsø was led by a few local citizens, and locals own many of the island’s wind turbines. Everyone is involved in the decision-making processes, according to Kristensen. Hawaii has passed a law that mandates its renewable energy goal.
Without sufficient resources or strong support many, including Kristensen, think the Sumba island project will struggle to meet its goal on deadline. “It will be very difficult to reach the goal,” he says.
Those involved in the project are keeping their hopes up, though. Nothing like the Iconic Island Sumba project has ever been done in Indonesia, so there is no recipe for the government to follow, no budget to consult. No one is sure just how much money or effort it will take to get electricity to everyone on Sumba, especially to those located in the most isolated areas. Nevertheless, the project continues on Sumba, and if this remote island can achieve its goal, it could be a model for the rest of the world.
This story was produced in association with Round Earth Media, which is reclaiming international news. Cleo Warner and Ninik Yuniati contributed to the reporting.

author: Ensia


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Ukrainian Court Equates Social Network Profile With Mainstream Media · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Can social media accounts be considered mass media? Images mixed by Tetyana Lokot.
In an unprecedented move, a Ukrainian court has equated a social media profile page with mass media outlets and sanctioned its owner for public calls to overthrow authorities.
On February 2, 2016, a municipal court in Sumy, north-eastern Ukraine, found a local VKontakte social network user guilty of “public calls for a violent overthrow of the constitutional order and seizing state power through the mass media.” According to part 3 of Article 109 of the Ukrainian criminal code, such actions are considered a criminal offence.
Ukrainian legal news website JurLiga reported that the accused pleaded guilty to these charges, and the court issued him with a fine of 8,500 hryvnyas ($310).
The court found that the user's personal VKontakte profile (registered under the pseudonym Bogdan Mazepa) with almost 3,000 followers, as well as a public page called “Bandera's Legion” with 26,000 subscribers, were both used to knowingly distribute public calls to overthrow the Ukrainian authorities. According to the court indictment, these pages were used to publish materials calling for an armed partisan struggle against current authorities, “insubordination towards the regime,” and “destruction of the current government's officials.”
The social media pages containing these “direct calls to action” were determined by legal experts and the court to be “mass media” because they were public and accessible to an unlimited number of people. The court ruled that these pages were used as means of distributing mass information as detailed in Article 1 of the Ukrainian law “On Telecommunications” (sections 47, 55 of part 1) and Article 22 of the law “On Information.”
Although criminal prosecutions of Internet users for content posted on social media have become more common in Russia, Ukrainian law enforcement is only beginning to figure out how to deal with objectionable materials shared online. Ukrainian netizens are concerned by the Sumy case and fear it might set a trajectory for further crackdowns.
Ukrainian lawyer Artyom Afyan, a partner at Juscutum legal association, told industry website AIN.UA he doesn't think the court decision will set a precedent for similar verdicts.
Высказывания в интернете могут иметь правовые последствия, в том числе и уголовные. Призывы к применению оружия против представителей власти также никогда не были законны. Но существует тонкая грань между свободой высказывания и наказанием за призывы.
Online speech can have legal repercussions, including criminal ones. Calls to use arms against representatives of authorities have also never been legal. But there is a thin line between freedom of speech and sanctions for calls to action.
Afyan says the case displays a clear lack of defense work: it seems both the court and the defendant simply took the easier way out and agreed on a fine rather than analyzing the possible fallout from online speech and its expected consequences. This lack of procedural clarity, Afyan says, makes this case similar to Russian judicial practice, where the gap between the sentences meted out and the actual danger to society is often disproportionate.
As for designating the social media page as “mass media,” the Ukrainian lawyer believes the legal basis for this to be too weak to be used as precedent in future cases, but points to far-reaching legal consequences of going down the path of equating citizen and mainstream media.
Регистрация блогеров в РФ – это все оттуда. В Украине рано или поздно должна была начаться судебная практика на эту тематику. Мы еще только на пороге того, чтобы юридически соотнести СМИ и страничку в социальной сети.
Blogger registration in the Russian Federation—that's where the roots of this case are. Sooner or later, Ukrainian legal practice on this issue would have started. We are only at the brink of legally comparing mass media outlets and pages on social media.
Cases of criminal prosecution for social media activity are growing in number amid the tense relationship between Ukraine and Russia, fuelled by the Russian-orchestrated conflict in eastern Ukraine. In 2014, Ukrainian authorities detained and charged a resident of Dnipropetrovsk in eastern Ukraine with calls for separatism on social networks. The case is still in court, and the user is facing a potential jail sentence of three to five years if found guilty of violating Article 110 of the Ukrainian criminal code (threatening the territorial integrity of Ukraine). Another Ukrainian user from Kirovohrad, in the south of the country, was charged in 2014 with calls to overthrow authorities on social media, but received a two-year suspended sentence, having pleaded guilty and collaborated with the investigation.

author: Tanya Lokot


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UN Human Rights Official Pulls No Punches in Assessment of Hungary · Global Voices
Sara Heltai

Michel Forst. UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré. CC 2.0.
The man at the United Nations charged with monitoring the protection of basic human rights throughout the world has expressed harsh criticism for the Hungarian government.
UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst arrived in Hungary in early February for a nine-day visit at the invitation of the Hungarian government. After meeting with representatives of the government and the judiciary, Hungary's ombudsman, and other state officials, Forst spoke with academics, NGO workers, and various human rights activists in Budapest, also visiting other major cities throughout the country.
At the end of his visit, Forst issued a preliminary statement condemning the intimidation and stigmatization suffered by Hungary's human rights activists. He called on the government to mainstream human rights into its institutional and policy framework, and to draw up policies in order to ensure the ability of human rights activists to operate in an institutionally supported, conducive environment. The UN official also advised Hungarian lawmakers not to criminalize the peaceful and legitimate activities of people working in the interests of human rights.
Forst praised the effectiveness of Hungarian organizations, while noting that “[human rights] defenders increasingly work in a rather polarized and politicized environment,” where they face serious challenges, which “appear to amount to violations of their fundamental rights and freedoms, and of their legitimate right to promote and defend human rights.”
Such challenges include the weakening of the constitutional framework and the rule of law, as well as the introduction of legislation that curbs the freedom of expression, freedom of information, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and access to justice. Particular groups of human rights defenders face aggravated risks and are more exposed to stigmatization, such as women (especially those campaigning for sexual and reproductive rights), LGBTI, and Roma human rights defenders. Whistleblowers and those working on transparency and anti-corruption issues often face harassment and retaliation.
Hungarian organizations have reported funds dwindling or being discontinued after engaging in behavior deemed hostile to the government. “As the access to EU funding is channeled through [a] government-controlled agency, [this] is used as a tool to silence dissent or to encourage self-censorship.” Activists can also face societal difficulties and feel isolated in their work as “it appears that NGOs are not strongly embedded into society, and have not gained sufficient support from the broader society for their work.”
Speaking more broadly, Forst advised the government to pursue a number of structural and institutional improvements. He proposed strengthening of the Ombudsman office by ensuring the office's financial autonomy, while following-up and implementing the Ombudsman's existing recommendations. Judges, Forst argues, should be tenured to ensure independent functioning, and Hungary needs an independent national whistleblower agency to support and protect willing informants. Forst also called for revisions to Hungary's Act on the Freedom of Information, in order to improve access for human rights activists and journalists.
Forst had advice for civil society actors as well, telling them to deepen their national and local networks, and to utilize the UN's special procedures (and other international and European human rights mechanisms) when reporting crimes and violations.
Finally, the UN official urged the international community to empower and support Hungarian human rights activists, calling on the EU to “review its policy on funding civil society organizations exclusively only through the state budget and develop additional and alternative sources of funding ensure free and non-politicized access to funding for all civil society organisations.”
My preliminary observations on the situation of human rights defenders in #Hungary https://t.co/ScfGx3B5cq
— Michel Forst SR HRD (@ForstMichel) February 16, 2016
The full text of Forst's report can be read here in English (with a downloadable Hungarian-language version available, too). Michel Forst will present his final report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2017.
Michel Forst seems to have pulled no punches in his assessment of #civicspace in #Hungary https://t.co/tqkRMeDoP4 @CIVICUSalliance
— Cathal Gilbert (@gilbertcathal) February 18, 2016

author: Sara Heltai


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Unlike Past Elections, Uganda’s Streets Are Empty of Celebrations Following President Museveni’s Win · Global Voices
James Propa

The main opposition politician Kizza Besigye. His supporters believe that he won the election. Image designed by Samson Mwaka for the February 2011 issue of the Kampala Dispatch magazine and shared under Creative Commons by Flickr user dispatch_ug.
The Electoral Commission of Uganda announced on 20 February 2015 that incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, nicknamed ‘M7′, had won the recent vote with 60.75%. Main opposition candidate Kizza Besigye followed with 35.37%, and former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi came in third with 1.75% of the vote.
The streets of the capital Kampala remained empty with no celebrations. The opposition has denounced the results, claiming that there was widespread rigging.
The government, through the Secretary General of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), warned that if anyone comes into the streets to protest the election results they would be shot dead. Museveni's main rival Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has since been put under house arrest. Very few visitors are allowed to see him; the Internet and phone around his house have also been switched off.
Besigye was arrested four times between 15-23 February.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp were blocked from the evening before the elections, 17 February, until 21 February on the orders of the Uganda Communication Commission, which said it did so in the interest of national security. Mobile money transfer services were also turned off during that period. Mobile money is currently the main method of funds transfer within Uganda.
Following the release of the results, Ugandans netizens are wondering where the 62% of voters are. Why are they not celebrating in the streets as has been the case in the past? Some are suggesting that ‘ghosts’ voted for Museveni.
Ugandan human rights activist and technologist Richard Mata commented on Facebook:
Am Not Surprised there are no celebrations in Uganda about M7's Win. Open truth is “The Election was Rigged”. Rt. Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye would have been the rightful winner. Besigye is my President.#ISayWhatIFeelIsRight
Photo by Kakensa Henry Nduggwa via Facebook.
Kakensa Henry Nduggwa posted a photo on Facebook of an empty street on the day when the president's win was announced and mocked the government, saying:
Celebrations all over Kampala as Museveni is announced president for the 5th term.
Thats how the headlines should read but look at the jubilant city
Responding to Nduggwa's post, Kagulire John said:
I was waiting to see the 60% who voted him jubilating forgetting that ghosts are not visible!!!! Its only in Uganda where a president is elected and its only armed forces all over the country waiting to shoot anyone who celebrates, Hahahahaha
Another Facebook user, Haddey Abdalah, joked:
Hehehe, maybe he should bring the cows and goats dat voted for him. Our LOVELY PRESIDENT IS KIZZA BESIGYE
While Barbara Kardashiat Katusabe quipped:
People are so happy that they afraid they could die of happiness if they start celebrating
Modern Mulla Muhereza remarked:
I think he dint budget for the money of hiring people to celebrate his victory
Goodman Conrad posted two photos on Twitter comparing citizens’ reactions after the first Museveni election victory and after the 2016 elections:
M7 wins in 1996 vs M7 wins in 2016… pic.twitter.com/vCnJJZGhXt
— Goodman Conrad (@conradgoodmanK) February 20, 2016
Another reader, ‘Mmmmmm’, said:
How come no one is jubilating can't you ask your self? We never voted for you though you did your best to buy us. Just know you will die one day and Uganda will be free. Uganda is not for a few people we have equal shares […]
Eteki criticised the result, arguing that 61% (rounded off) is a very high figure, and such huge support would have been felt during the campaigns:
This victory (61%) is so high that it could have been even heard and felt during the campaigns in which case there would have been no reason to arrest members of the opposition unless someone had a panic attack.
Despite little signs of celebration for Museveni's victory both on the streets and online, some high profile Ugandan musicians who openly campaigned for him took time to congratulate him on Twitter.
Last year, Ugandan musicians and their fans differed over the justification of singing a song praising President Museveni for his performance in office over the past quarter century.
It was rumored that a group of musicians received money to participate in the song: Musicians Bebe Cool and Jose Chameleone are said to have received more than US$700,000, while an artists’ association is rumored to have been paid another US$150,000.
However, other artists, like Eddy Kenzo (the 2015 BET Award winner) and Mathias Walukagga came out to criticize the artists who took part in the song.
After Museveni was announced the winner, musician Bebe Cool said:
Yeeeeeeeeeeee NRM oyeeeeeeeee.
Congratulations Your excellence YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI and the entire NRM.
I also wish to thank the Ugandan opposition for the part played during this period but mostly FDC candidate Dr KIZZA BESIGYE for representing the the minority with a different opinion.
I must thank Ugandans in general for participating even strongly than ever.
I thank the members of the press and security that have worked tirelessly to see this process through.
In the same spirit as Bebe Cool, Jose Chameleone, another popular musician, congratulated Museveni. He also went on to tell off people who are opposed to his support for the incumbent not to attend any of his concerts again:
Congratulations to the Elected President of Uganda 2016 – Y.K.Museveni.
And for all society condemning each other on who voted and supported who it's not Primary now. It's time to reconcile and together build our nation with the greatest of our abilities.
To all Friends and Fans who have thrown unkindness to me for practicing my fundamental right of choice, please stop threatening to boycott my Showcases that shows how conditional your support to me is. I have never insulted your love for other artistes simply because such is life.
If I offended any of you in that manner,Stay home next time I have a Show and wait for those you support unconditionally.
I am Ugandan,We are Ugandans
We are all relevant to the building of a Peaceful and prosperous Uganda.
Ugandan artist Bobi Wine commented on the violence through the elections and asked the police not to think that the violence from them is a better crime than that from the people,
I am wondering;how can I stand up for justice without inciting violence, how can I preach peace without sounding hypocritical?? Its a fact that people have frustration over elections but as we continue to discourage any kind of violence from the public,It should be noted that police brutality is not a better evil.
#UgandaDecides16
#WeCondemnTheViolence

author: James Propa


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Why Are People Calling John Kerry a “Thug” Online? · Global Voices
Mira Nabulsi

US Secretary of State John Kerry Photoshopped as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
US Secretary of State John Kerry has come under fire online after stating that the US and its partners are not “seeking so-called regime change” in Syria.
Al Shabeeh Kerry, or #KerryTheThug, preceded the Geneva III conference which kicked off on January 29, which was expected to renew peace talks between the Syrian regime and different opposition groups. The hashtag was launched hours before the conference and called out Kerry for statements he had made earlier in December, when he stated “The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change”. Analysts considered the statement a possible shift from previous positions of the US administration, which called for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to leave. In fact, US President Barack Obama himself has made contradictory statements at the end of the year press conference, a few days after Kerry’s statements, where he said:
I think that Assad is going to have to leave in order for the country to stop the bloodletting and for all the parties involved to be able to move forward in a non-sectarian way.
Contradictions? Intentional ambiguity, or simply politics? It is not clear whether the US administration has changed its official position or if it is simply maneuvering amid what have proven to be complex and multilateral negotiations. For many netizens, it seems obvious the US administration finds it easier to pressure the opposition rather than the Assad regime, which is backed both by Russia and Iran.
Syrian and Arab Twitter users expressed skepticism with memes and hashtags like #KerryTheThug comparing Kerry to thugs and loyalists of the Syrian regime, known in Syrian slang as Shabeeha. Others Photoshopped Kerry as Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has troops on the ground in Syria supporting the operations of the Syrian Army.
On Twitter, Jasem AlObed, shares this meme:
A meme shared by Jasem AlObed on Twitter describing Kerry as a thug
#Kerry_The_Thug
Meme reads: a rare memorable picture of the thug Kerry with the rest of Bashar's (president Bashar Assad) thugs.
On John Kerry's arm: Al Assad or we burn the country.
And Mahmood from Syria shares this photograph of Al Assad, being honoured as Obama's hero:
Obama honouring Assad in this Photoshopped image that is being shared online
He tweets:
#الشبيح_كيري
سوف تنصر هذه الثورة رغماً عن انوفكم وبإذن الله… pic.twitter.com/TAS36IvllE
— Mahmoud (@mahmod331981) January 29, 2016
This revolution will succeed against all your efforts and by the will of Allah
A few days before the conference, news reports claimed Kerry has also pressured the opposition to join negotiations without preconditions.The Opposition under the Higher Negotiation Committee, which includes some of the political and military forces, had initially made it clear they will come to negotiations if all parties agree to a ceasefire. Other preconditions that were put forward included the allowing of aid into besieged areas.
Omar Madaniah reacts:
هدد كيري بقطع الدعم عن المعارضة المسلحة لو رفضت شروطه المجحفة .. هذا هو التشبيح بعينه !
#الشبيح_كيري
— عمر مدنيه (@Omar_Madaniah) January 28, 2016
Kerry threatened to cut off aid from the armed resistance if they do not succumb to his unfair conditions .. this is what a thug is #Kerry_The_Thug
And Dr Ahmed Muaffaq adds:
كنا نسمع شبيحة الأسد
يصرخون عالمعتقلين
بدكم حري
الآن كل قادة العالم التشبيحيين
يصرخون بوجهنا بدكم حرية..#الشبيح_كيري#حماة_لن_ننسى
— د ـ أحمد موفق زيدان (@Ahmadmuaffaq) February 2, 2016
We used to hear Assad's thugs yell at political prisoners “you want freedom?” Now it feels like all the world's thug-leaders are yelling in our faces do you want freedom? #Kerry_The_Thug #Hama_We_Will_Not_Forget
Other hashtags people used were #UNAssadAlly or the United Nations is Assad ally, to criticize the UN’s lack of response in the face of the horrific humanitarian situation in Syria. The organization’s inability to play a more proactive role in the political process or to hold the involved parties accountable sparked criticism online and on the ground by Syrian civil society activists who equated the UN’s role with effectively helping the Assad regime. The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, declared the negotiations will be suspended until a later date this month. Opposition forces have criticized the UN’s inability to play an independent and proactive role to at least halt the bombardment in implementation of its own resolution 2254, which calls for all parties to cease attacks on civilians.
This Twitter user shares this cartoon to drive home his point:
الأمم المتحدة : لانرى وجود المليشيات في سوريا ولا حرب أهلية هناك #UnAssadAlly pic.twitter.com/nJTqJjwVXt
— خمسة طاولة (@5amsahtawlah) January 30, 2016
The UN: we don't see the presence of militias in #Syria or civil war there #UnAssadAlly
@q7atah wonders what the world is waiting for:
تم تدمير سوريا وقتل وتشريد أبناءها وتجويع أطفالها ونسائها وشيوخها فماذا تنتظرون #UnAssadAlly pic.twitter.com/TE9u3LiS2B
— قحطة بيه (@q7atah) January 29, 2016
Syria has been destroyed, her people have been killed and displaced, her women, children and elderly have been starved. So what are you waiting for? #UnAssadAlly
Ahmed Abazeid explains:
إعلان ديمستورا تعليق محادثات #جنيف3 هو استباق لانسحاب وفد الهيئة العليا بعد التطورات الأخيرة في حلب، نذالة ديمستورا وحلف الأمم خلفه بلا حدود
— أحمد أبازيد (@abazeid89) February 3, 2016
The announcement by De Mistura to suspend #Geneva3 was made to precede the High Commission's Delegation pull out from the negotiations following the latest developments in Aleppo. The cowardliness of De Mistura and the United Nations has no limits
Ziad Ababneh adds:
بقلك #امريكا تحمل #روسيا مسؤولية تاجيل مفاوضات #جنيف3 لتصعيدها الموقف عسكريا على الارض
السؤال متى كانت الامور هادية في #سوريا من 5 سنين!؟
— زياد عبابنة (@ZiadAbabneh) February 4, 2016
They say The #US has blamed #Russia for postponement of #Geneva3 due to the military escalation on the ground. Question: when were things quiet on the ground in #Syrian in the past five years?
And Don't Be Like Bashar shares this meme:
#قسم_جنيف #دي_مستورا #جنيف3 pic.twitter.com/7jGpxJSWSO
— لا تكن مثل بشار (@dontblikebashar) February 3, 2016
#Geneva_Oath #De_Mistura #Geneva3
Meme reads: I swear to God Almighty to remain loyal to Al Assad regime, to sustain the Russian and Iranian interests in Syria and guarantee the continuation of Al Assad and pillars of his regime and to also fight for the fulfillment of Geneva conference's objectives in dispersing the Syrian opposition and destroying the hopes of the Syrian people in freedom, and salvation from the regime.
More translated tweets by Meedan can be found here.

author: Mira Nabulsi


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Animator Chronicles His Family’s Experience Emigrating With the Caribbean’s ‘Windrush Generation’ · Global Voices
Atiba Rogers

Joyce and Herman — the animated characters who tell the story of their experience as part of the flood of Britain-bound Caribbean migrants after WWII. Image courtesy Keston Neunie, used with permission.
High expectations, subpar reality. On June 22, 1948, Jamaicans Joyce and Herman became two of the “fortunate” 492 Caribbean passengers to board the MV Empire Windrush in search of a better life, marking the start of a post-World War II wave of immigration to Britain. They would soon find out how difficult life could be in this new world and that many in their community weren't very welcoming to people of colour.
Joyce and Herman, UK-based animator Keston Neunie‘s grandmother and uncle, are now sharing their experience with a new generation of West Indians, both in the Caribbean and throughout the diaspora, as the voices of animated characters who remember their struggles as part of the so-called Windrush Generation.
Many people who have heard stories about the Windrush Generation from their elders were happy to see it as a cartoon and reminisced about the old days when the video was shared on Banddulu's Facebook page.
The post attracted immediate attention from Facebook users; Corinne Stott commented:
Excellent. I came to England in 1962. I was 10 years old. In Jamaica smoke was associated with the kitchen which was separate to the house so I thought smoking chimneys were kitchens and there were no words to describe how cold it was. My world had turned grey! We lived on a street with mainly Irish families who shared our experiences. An honest reflection of harder times.
Monique Diah added:
These are the kinda cartoons that should be on Saturday mornings/Saturday nights. So interesting with humor included.Very educational for the children & entertaining for the adults moreover this is what we should [be] fighting to see & know of & not [fighting] each other.
Global Voices got a chance to catch up with the episode's creator, Keston Neunie, who has produced an entire StoryCorps-style animated series based on characters who are often stereotyped — migrants, like Joyce and Herman — but also blacks, single mothers, poor people, etc. The series brings their experiences to life from a completely different perspective.
Global Voices (GV): When and how did this concept to create an animated, factual series come about?
Animator Keston Neunie. Photo courtesy the subject. Used with permission.
Keston Neunie (KN): It started out as an undergrad final-year project while undertaking a degree in animation. Reviewing the historical stereotyping of black people in film and media, I was interested in developing more rounded representations that challenge stereotypes, for characters that are often misrepresented. My first animated short, entitled ‘In Stereo’, starred a young, black male character called Tony Blackwood, ironically discussing stereotypes and breaking into the film industry. The film attracted attention from Channel 4, who were interested in developing the idea into an educational TV series. Post-development, for business and creative reasons, I decided to go it alone and self-fund the series, which was initially released online as a digital download in 2011.
GV: Why did you choose to center it around characters that are often stereotyped in both society and media (single mothers, Jamaicans, black males, etc.)?
KN: This was largely because such characters are consistently reduced to representations that are out of touch with reality. While studying, I was the only black person on the animation course (odd considering this was at a London university). One day a classmate saw me reading Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and exclaimed ‘So, you read? I didn’t think you’d be the type to read’. As innocent as that could sound, it was obvious how he drew his conclusion (the irony being that when I asked him what the last book he read was, he said he ‘don’t have time to read and can’t remember’). Regarding the other characters I’ve tried to develop, there are small revelations — not all Jamaicans sound like Vybz Kartel, not all old West Indians go to church. People assume that all young single mothers are women who got pregnant on purpose just to get a council flat. The media would have you think all black boys are rappers, drug dealers and athletes. These assumptions are largely untrue for the majority of people that are labelled in these ways, so I wanted to do the project to show the other sides to such characters.
GV: How do you find the characters for your series?
KN: The characters in the series were based on interviews with real people that I knew, which made it easier for them to relax and just talk without too much pressure. Being a project exploring stereotypes, any commonly held stereotype was a potential character to be developed. I was even considering interviewing and animating a policeman.
GV: Why did you choose to do an episode using the voices of your family members and their experience as part of the Windrush generation? Do you think animation and new media can help to bridge generational gaps?
KN: I chose to use family members as I knew they would deliver insights in an interesting way. I think documenting real experiences was important, because while many of the Windrush generation experienced similar circumstances arriving in Britain, not much is actually documented. Many of our parents, grandparents, have been telling stories for years, but mostly orally and local to their individual families. Capturing that was a challenge, as well as animating characters that were believable to watch and be entertained by. Animation can help to bridge generational gaps when the content, story or subject matter is relevant across generations. The vast majority of Joyce and Herman fans appear to over 40 years old, which was an unexpected outcome. Tony Blackwood fans were mostly in their early 20s.
GV: What has the online response been like and what's the status of the series being optioned for television?
KN: The online response has been positive and really inspiring, particularly for the Joyce and Herman episode, which is a personal favourite. I’ve received over a thousand messages from people who have watched and enjoyed it, which is really encouraging. I completed the series in 2011 and was starting to question the viability of making more cartoons before the video resurfaced on Facebook in January 2015. Regarding TV, no options have been made. I recently spoke to a TV commissioner who explained that while they thought Joyce and Herman is brilliant — and despite the 140,000 views online — they would struggle to get an audience to watch it. I think it’s more of a business/TV ratings issue, rather than just a content issue. I believe that people would watch the type of programs I plan to make, but this is difficult to prove in advance.
GV: Do you see this series — and new media and animation on the whole — as useful educational tools?
KN: I think this series is a useful tool for young inquisitive audiences and also mature audiences. After a screening of Joyce and Herman for Black History month UK in November 2015, many school-aged children later expressed that they really enjoyed it and learnt something. Similarly, older viewers who have never lived in or been to Britain often contact me to say they learned things that they otherwise were yet to find out. Ultimately, my goal is to make content that is entertaining and educational without being preachy or feeling like a forced lesson.
GV: Would you consider telling the Windrush story from a non-Jamaican perspective?
KN: I would love to capture history from other perspectives and have been trying to encourage people to interview their own parents and grandparents. My immediate family [is] very close and have been religiously spending Friday nights at my grandparents’ house for over 25 years! Yet, despite thinking I had heard every possible story my grandmother had to share, when I interviewed her in 2008 for this project I learned so much more about her upbringing and gained much deeper insights into her beliefs. I recommend everyone carry out this exercise.
GV: What would you like viewers to take away from this series?
KN: As a self-funded project, a lot of sacrifice (financial and mental) was made to complete it. I’m not a massive company with limitless budgets. I hope people enjoy the series and see it as a prototype for a future family show. If it can inspire other artists and writers to consider animation as an art form for telling untold stories, that would be great.
I’m currently developing a few pilot cartoons and am always looking for professional artists and writers to collaborate with. My proverbial door is always open to new ideas.

author: Atiba Rogers


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Anti-Aviation Protests in France and the UK Mark a New Wave of Climate Disobedience · Global Voices
350.org

The ‘Heathrow13′ were on trial for occupying Heathrow's northern runway last July. Photo: Plane Stupid
This article is based on a piece written by Melanie Mattauch for 350.org, an organisation building a global climate movement, and is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
On 24 February, 13 individuals who blockaded a runway to protest against expanding Heathrow Airport in London were expected to be sent to prison, but ended up receiving six-week suspended sentences instead. They had packed suitcases and set up their ‘out of office’ email messages anticipating to become the first climate activists in the UK to receive a prison sentence.
In the case of the so-called Heathrow 13, this is what happened: In July last year, a commission tasked by the UK government recommended expanding Heathrow. Two weeks later, 13 people from the direct action network Plane Stupid peacefully blockaded a runway at Heathrow in protest of the expanding aviation industry due to its contributions to air pollution and climate change. Their occupation lasted six hours and delayed or cancelled dozens of flights.
The group included a 68-year-old atmospheric physicist and 350.org UK Divestment campaigner Danielle Paffard. In court they argued that they feel a moral responsibility to take action as ordinary citizens where democratic, legislative and political processes fail to address the threat the aviation industry poses to the climate and people’s health.
Thirty-two-year-old Heathrow 13 member Melanie Strickland, who works for a health charity in London said:
When the political system is so fundamentally flawed that it is unresponsive to an issue of colossal international importance, such as climate change, then every citizen has a responsibility to act. There is a basic human, moral and social duty to take action to prevent this disaster and to wake people up.
Aviation currently accounts for about 2-5% of global emissions, but the industry’s rapid expansion could see that number jump to 22% by 2050, according to a recent study by the European Parliament. It is one of the fastest growing sources of emissions, yet aviation remains largely exempt from emission reduction requirements and enjoys tax breaks that keep air travel costs artificially low.
A paragraph on emissions from aviation and shipping in a draft version of the agreement reached at the UN climate summit in Paris in December 2015 was taken out of the final text, and new rules by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization are much too weak to have a meaningful impact. Besides fueling climate change, the emissions from a third runway at Heathrow could cause 150 premature deaths a year by 2030, according to an MIT estimate.
Even though the judge recognised that the Heathrow 13 were “principled and passionate people” and that Heathrow is in breach of European Union emission regulations, she found them guilty of “aggravated trespass” and warned them to expect immediate jail sentences when they return to court.
Aggravated trespass is a criminal offence that was introduced under the Margaret Thatcher government (1979-1990) with the aim of curbing protests. In 2013, a UN independent expert recommended that the UK review its public order legislation, in particular with “great concern about the use of aggravated trespass against people staging legitimate protests”. A criminal law specialist described the possibility of a custodial sentence as “extremely surprising”. Ten of the Heathrow 13 had no prior convictions.
The ‘Heathrow 13′ outside Willesden Magistrates Court. Photo: Plane Stupid
There is another anti-aviation fight in Europe that is gaining steam. In France, a 40-year battle against plans for Europe’s biggest airport in Notre-Dame-des-Landes (NDDL), about 25 kilometers from Nantes, is heating up in the aftermath of the Paris agreement. A petition arguing that the airport is not compatible with the Paris climate agreement and urging the French government to intervene gathered over 11,000 signatures in just 24 hours.
The battle against the airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes has grown into arguably the most iconic fight of the French climate and social justice movement. Many see the airport project as representing a system of unnecessary expansion that serves the economic interests of a minority at the expense of local communities, farmers’ livelihoods, the environment and the climate.
Hundreds of people have occupied the site for years. Recently, 11 farmer families announced that they will resist an eviction order and are prepared to risk imprisonment. Twenty-thousand people blockaded the ring road around Nantes in January in a protest against the project. Another mass mobilisation is scheduled for 27 February.


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Jamaica Peacefully Chooses a New Government. Young Activists Take a Bow · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

A Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) campaign meeting in Mandeville, 2011. The party beat the People's National Party (PNP) by three seats in Jamaica's 2016 general elections. Photo by Yorkali Walters, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
It was a long day, and a relatively long election night, but the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was finally declared the winner of Jamaica's 2016 general elections with a three-seat advantage over the People's National Party (PNP), which had governed the island for the past five years.
As the final count begins, preliminary results show a win of 33 (JLP) to 30 (PNP)seats. As predicted, the race was tight and there were also some surprises, keeping Jamaicans glued to their radios, televisions — and their smartphones.
Online activists were quick to give credit to the so-called #ArticulateMinority (a term coined by PNP Chairman Robert Pickersgill) for the election results.
Despite one or two problems earlier in the day, voting was generally peaceful, although quite slow in some areas (sparking the hashtag #stayinline). Television reporter Dwayne Anderson quipped:
St Andrew Western things slower than molasses going up a hill on a cold day. margin of 5000 in 2011, no one is rushing. Incumbent A Hylton
— #NewsCarrier (@IamDAnderson91) February 25, 2016
Voter turnout, as expected, was low; but public opinion polls, which gave the People’s National Party the edge, fell a little short. However, a privately commissioned poll conducted by Trinidadian Derek Ramsamooj proved more accurate. Some have attributed the record low turnout of eligible voters (47.5%) to disaffected PNP supporters who decided not to vote. However, the downturn is also part of a declining voter trend over the past three elections.
Social media activists and commentators were extremely active on Twitter throughout the evening. When the results emerged, Nationwide News Network‘s Cliff Hughes was the first to “declare” the results, just before 9 pm:
The JLP will form the next government. The PNP has lost the elections. I am declaring it now!
— Cliff Hughes (@cliffnationwide) February 26, 2016
Hughes added:
We have entered the era of the one term governments. If you don't perform, you will get kicked out.
— Cliff Hughes (@cliffnationwide) February 26, 2016
Online activists were also happy to advertise their participation in the democratic process. Many tweeted photos after voting, with purple, ink-stained fingers:
#DecisionJa2016: ‘Articulate minority’ votes
Details: https://t.co/ynaWNMg5CN pic.twitter.com/X3LxCskfAs
— JamaicaObserver (@JamaicaObserver) February 25, 2016
Many urged fellow Jamaicans to vote:
@Petchary did it… Everyone should go out and vote!!! pic.twitter.com/vuHebimdQA
— Jamie- Ann Chevannes (@jamie_chevannes) February 25, 2016
Another tweeted:
What youth apathy? #voteja2016 #JaVotes2016 pic.twitter.com/a57td7UFg7
— Jeremy JH Jones (@JeremyJHJones) February 25, 2016
One new voter (among close to 35,000 voters joining the electoral list for the first time last November) tweeted proudly:
@Petchary first time voter… it feels good to participate! 🙌
— SH3DIKA (@SH3DXZ) February 25, 2016
The elections provoked some political commentary, with many arguing that a change in Jamaica's political system was needed. Popular young reggae singer Protoje tweeted:
You should be able to vote for Prime Minister separate from voting for your MP in your constituency
— P R O T O J E (@Protoje) February 25, 2016
The morning after the polls, some online commentators were also seeking to analyze the factors behind the PNP's loss. Political analyst and academic Hume Johnson, among others, suggested that the PNP had become too complacent and were punished for it at the polls:
The chickens are coming home to roost. The arrogance of the #PNP may be their downfall tonight. #JaVotes2016
— HUME-MEDIA (@DrHumeJohnson) February 26, 2016
Another tweeter noted that the former government's refusal to tackle issues publicly had come back to haunt them:
PNP, this is what happens when you take things for granted. I'm telling you man, the debate decision was a BAD move.
— Soñadora (@peejhiggy) February 26, 2016
Student activist Germaine Bryan concurred:
The PNP’s refusal to debate was a poor strategic move […] After being predominantly silent on topical issues over the last several years, the Jamaican people were anticipating to hear what their Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller had to say; and more importantly how she would square off against a more learnt Andrew Holness. But it would appear to many that the PNP believed facing the people in this way was not a necessity for them to win the race, while not realizing that the people did in fact hold the staging of a debates in high regard. At this point, I think the people started to question the integrity of the PNP, and how far they fall on the party’s list of priorities; a party that is suppose[d] to be for the people.
While the PNP had a much higher profile in the traditional media during the campaign, a young professional commented, in reference to the highly enjoyable and much praised PNP rally in Half Way Tree, Kingston:
PNP got cool points for the dj in hwt, but it wasn't enough #JaVotes2016.
— Stephanie Antoinette (@seventoinette) February 26, 2016
Meanwhile, there is a sense of relief among many Jamaicans that the long campaign (which unofficially began well before Christmas) is now over, and that the nation can get back to work. One Twitter user observed:
Most of all, I'm happy that it was a rather violence free election day. This is what I really want too.
— Generic Superhero (@TheGabster_) February 26, 2016
Despite all the ups and downs of Jamaica's “silly season”, there was no doubt that the JLP made better use of social media during its election campaign, especially targeting the youth vote. Prime Minister-elect Andrew Holness had the last word, calling on Jamaicans to keep exercising their civic voice via new media:
To all my followers. I firmly believe we were able to change the national conversation via social media. Be proud. But don't be complacent!
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) February 26, 2016

author: Emma Lewis


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Journalists Find Themselves the Target of India’s ‘Anti-National’ Narrative · Global Voices
Subhashish Panigrahi

Journalist Sonal Mehrortra, who was threatened with, “We will take your phone and break your bone”, talks about the incident to Newslaundry. Click on the image to watch the video.
A student leader's controversial arrest on sedition charges in India has been making headlines since mid-February. The case touches on many elements, including the right to protest, the right to free expression and the existence of a growing nationalist movement in the country, all of which journalists have been dissecting in their coverage.
Now, the press has found itself in the headlines after several reporters were attacked while following up on the case, accused of being “anti-national”, “terrorists” and “traitors”. Meanwhile, while some have argued that the focus on the violence against members of the media has distracted from the more important issues at hand.
On February 15, a mob, both dressed as lawyers and including real lawyers, threatened, thrashed and chased out reporters at the Patiala House court complex in the Indian capital of New Delhi, where a hearing in the case against Kanhaiya Kumar, president of student party Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Student Union, was set to take place.
Kumar, who is charged with sedition, was detained due to his role in organizing a rally to mark the third anniversary of the execution of Kashmiri separatist Afzal Guru in which anti-Indian slogan were allegedly chanted. His arrest has been both condemned and supported by many across the country, while students and teachers at the university have largely opposed authorities’ actions. Protests against his arrest have sprung up across the country. A former lecturer was also arrested on sedition charges.
Sonal Mehrotra, a reporter from Indian television news channel NDTV, witnessed a fellow journalist being beaten and said that journalists and professors of the university were threatened: “We don't require you here, leave or you will be harmed”. Another journalist also had reported female media workers being abused with vulgar and offensive curse words.
While all this was happening, police didn't intervene.
Later that same week, another journalist was beat up by a group dressed as lawyers before a different hearing in the case.
Journalist attacked at #India student leader’s sedition trial, two days after reporters beaten at same venue https://t.co/QT8pSwYkrd
— IPI (@globalfreemedia) February 17, 2016
Rohit Gandhi, a former CNN and CBC correspondent and producer, denounced the attacks and demanded the arrest of the alleged lawyers:
If democracy is alive in India, the lawyers who attacked journalist and the accused in court will be arrested and tried #JNU
— Rohit Gandhi (@rohitgandhi_) February 18, 2016
But elsewhere, some framed the violence against the journalists as just action against “anti-Indian” coverage:
I am not a Nationalist but I will beat every journalist/supporters/Uncle with ‘Chappals’ who support JNU rascals against India and its HM.
— Dr. N Vikramaditya (@drnvikramaditya) February 14, 2016
Just going too far with antinationals.Are these people deserve to be called journalist? #JNU #IndiaAgainstDeshdrohis https://t.co/1pCeomxpXe
— DEBASIS PATRI (@debasispatri) February 14, 2016
While some high-profile journalists have spoken out against Kumar's arrest, part of the nationalism debate happening seems to conflate any and all media coverage of the case with expressing support for Kumar. Members of right-wing political party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, certainly haven't minced words in their damnation of JNU students. Rajnath Singh, minister of home affairs, tweeted (CP stands for commissioner of police):
Whatever has happened in JNU is extremely unfortunate. I have instructed Delhi CP to take strong action against the anti-India elements
— Rajnath Singh (@BJPRajnathSingh) February 12, 2016
While one of BJP's member of legislative assembly, Gyandev Ahuja, alleged publicly that every day, 50,000 pieces of bones, 3,000 used condoms, 500 used abortion injections, and 10,000 cigarette butts are collected from the JNU campus, where the students dance naked in the cultural celebrations.
Noted journalist Barkha Dutt wrote an open letter titled “A Letter To PM Modi From ‘Anti-National Sickular Presstitute’ Barkha Dutt” to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi pleading that he and his party do something about the dangerous black-and-white understanding of nationalism growing in India:
Dear Mr. Prime Minister:
I write to you today because like so many of my fellow citizens, I am both angry and anguished. I am aware that a missive from someone like me – “presstitute”, “bazaaru“,  “sickular” and worst of all, “anti-national”- will be most likely junked by your office as not worthy of your time. […] It is entirely possible to deeply respect the military and feel ashamed of the multiple manipulations, doctored videos, police excesses, government heavy-handedness, brazen hooliganism and ominous environment of intimidation that the crackdown on JNU has revealed. […] As goons in black robes rampaged through the Delhi court house where Kanhaiya Kumar is being tried, they assaulted journalists not just on day one, but then once again, a little over 24 hours later, emboldened by the knowledge that no cop was going to come after them and in open contempt of a Supreme Court directive. Euphoric from the taste of blood, they congratulated each other on social media for being the “shers” [meaning “lion”] who did “what the government and military could not do”. […]
One government fan replied back to Dutt's letter, saying:
The jingoistic act by few lawyers also need to be condemned. But this shouldn’t become an excuse to divert the actual issue. […]
All these non-sense debates about free speech are possible in India today because India is protected from anti-India forces. The moment India loses its sovereignty, it will also lose this basic freedom. This is why free speech always comes with some reasonable restrictions.
During the melee against journalists and JNU teachers and students, a member of the legislative assembly, O P Sharma, was caught on camera assaulting an unknown man, saying, “If you ask me, there is nothing wrong in beating up or even killing someone shouting slogans in favour of Pakistan”. Due to the historic bad blood between India and Pakistan, an accusation of support for Pakistan is shorthand for treason against India.
The Indian Express, a national newspaper, and Legally Indian, an Indian law portal, reported how a WhatsApp message was circulated beforehand to “teach the anti-nationals a lesson”:
All of you are welcome at the Patiala House court on Monday morning. Peacefully, we will teach these anti-nationals a lesson as per the law. The conspiracy of breaking the unity of the country that they have hatched at the Ganga dhaba, we will demolish that at the Patiala House court, and we will show what it takes to be a patriot.
The media aren't taking the violence lying down. About 800 journalists presented a petition to the Supreme Court of India demanding for more protection of the so-called fourth pillar of Indian democracy, as well as for justice for those affected. The court also was to hear a plea whether the police has acted as a “mute spectators to the brazen display of brute force”.
Neither are reporters blind to the mistakes their own institutions have made. A journalist with television channel Zee News quit from his job, leaving a letter blasting what he considered unfair coverage:
[…] I am resigning to register my protest at the role played by Zee News in instigating and spreading the campaign of blind nationalism under the pretext of publicising Kanhaiya’s excess. […] It seems as though we are the mouthpiece of the government or its hatchet men. Modi is the prime minister of the country, he is my prime minister too; but as a journalist I can only digest so much of Modi worship. […]
Sagarika Ghose, consulting editor of the Times of India, argued that fair coverage doesn't mean adopting the “view from nowhere”, or the practice of giving equal treatment to both sides of an issue. If one side is clearly committing misdeeds, the journalist should report them as they are:
[…] Is a journalist supposed to be neutral in a riot? […] There’s no neutrality here. Yes, the journalist is always anti-government whichever political outfit that may be. […] If a student incites violence, the journalist must say so; if they don’t, the journalist cant get carried away by “national sentiment” In the JNU case if the journalist has to stay true to what she sees hears and analyses, she cannot take the side of the government or the police. […]
Support or opposition to the student protests aside, a large majority of Indians agree that violence against the press is not a legitimate way to express one's discontent. When violence against mediapersons is seen as the press freedom being choked, ironically, the fourth pillar of the world's largest democracy is being crushed in the presence of the third one i.e. judiciary.

author: Subhashish Panigrahi


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The Fight Continues to Free Detained Central American High Schoolers in the US · Global Voices
Danica Jorden

Families plead for release of their loved ones. Photo credit: Alerta Migratoria NC. Used with permission.
Despite entreaties by teachers, parents, activists and even the mayor of North Carolina's largest city, the US. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its policing arm, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have not yet backed down from arresting immigrant high school students on their way to school.
The high schoolers were part of the wave of Central American children who applied for asylum at the US-Mexican border in 2014, and have increasingly faced arrest by federal authorities in the US. With gang violence and crime rates soaring in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, many young people fled those countries, including a large number of unaccompanied minors, and sought refuge in the United States. Seven teens who managed to rejoin their families in North Carolina had their hopes dashed when their asylum claims were rejected.
Jennifer Roberts, mayor of Charlotte (NC), says she called the White House and met with DHS and ICE officials on February 17 to ask that they refrain from arresting students at bus stops, or at least delay such actions until the end of the school year.
DHS denied disturbing students and repeated their position against those who lack documents. They referred to their January 4 memorandum targetting the Central American families and unaccompanied minors for deportation.
A week and another student apprehension later, the organization Alerta Migratoria NC (Immigration Alert NC) issued an ultimatum, demanding the immediate release of seven North Carolina teenagers from immigration detention centers and admonishing DHS for not following its own directive to “not expend detention resources” on immigrants who pose no public risk. Alerta promises to step up protests if the seven are not freed by Friday, February 26.
Statement released by Alerta Migratoria NC demanding that the #NC7 be freed.
None of the seven students has a police record, all are attending school and living with family members, and all claim to run substantial risk of personal injury if they are returned to their home countries.
Speaking in Spanish to local news outlet Qué Pasa, Mayor Roberts had this to say:
Los jóvenes que están haciendo las cosas buenas, que están en la escuela, que están viviendo en la casa con sus padres, no es de prioridad en mi opinión.
Children who are doing the right things, who are in school, who are living at home with their parents, are not a priority in my opinion.
Rosalba Talolini of community organization Comité de inmigración de Charlotte (Charlotte Immigration Committee) was also present at the meeting and offered the following critique:
De la reunión me quedó claro que los agentes de ICE están esperando que los muchachos de Centroamérica, que llegaron en 2014 como teenagers (adolescentes) cumplan 18 años para detenerlos, y sacar la desculpa que ya son adultos.
It was clear to me from the meeting that ICE agents are waiting for the kids from Central America who arrived as teenagers in 2014 to turn 18 before arresting them, with the excuse that now they are adults.
Spanish language television station Univisión was allowed to enter Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, where two of the seven teens arrested are being held. Yefry (pronounced Jeffrey) and Pedro, both slight of build and sporting long ponytails, could not hold back the tears as they met with the reporter. Pedro detailed how he has lost 20 pounds and is suffering from spinal pain. When asked if he had been treated, Pedro replied that he had been seen but not given any prescription.
Yefry reiterated how the gangs in his country had threatened him and his family with bodily harm if he did not do as they say.
Dijeron que si no aceptaba, iban a lastimar a mi familia, e iban a lastimar a mí.
They said that if I did not agree, they were going to hurt my family, and hurt me.
San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, in Central America, has become the city with the world's highest homicide rate. And Stewart Detention Center, owned by for-profit Corrections Corporation of America, has been the subject of years of protests for abusive treatment of detainees.
#Georgia elected officials & leaders condemn the #ICEraids. @Not1_More @USHRN @ProjectSouth @DetentionWatch. https://t.co/61xAGhDx12
— Azadeh Shahshahani (@ashahshahani) 8 February 2016

author: Danica Jorden