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Public Safety in Venezuela: ‘Safe Homeland’ to the Rescue? · Global Voices
Aglaia Berlutti

[All links lead to pages in Spanish.]
The most recent video from the band Famasloop, titled “The Choro Dance,” has sparked controversy due to its graphic footage, but mostly for depicting one of the most troublesome issues facing Venezuelan society: the high level of civil insecurity in the country.
Produced by Alain Gómez and directed by Carl Zitelmann, the video depicts the violent reality of life on the streets of the Venezuelan capital.
On July 15th, the same day that Famasloop released its video on YouTube, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) called for advances in the so-named “Plan Patria Segura” (Secure Homeland Plan), a government program launched in May of this year that promises to resolve the issue of violent crime:
@NicolasMaduro: Llamo a Gobernadores y al pueblo a asumir el protagonismo de Patria Segura coordinando con el MinistroRodriguezTorres y la FANB [Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana]. Avancemos..
@NicolasMaduro: l call upon government leaders and citizens to play a greater role in Patria Segura, in conjunction with Minister Rodriguez Torres [Miguel Rodriguez Torres, Venezuelan Minister of the Interior] and the FANB [Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana, or Venezuelan National Armed Forces]. We need to move forward…
The statistics of insecurity
Venezuela is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world. By the year 2012 and the start of 2013, five of its cities were included among the fifty most violent worldwide, according to a study conducted by Seguridad, Justicia, y Paz [Security, Justice, and Peace], a Mexican NGO.
Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, is ranked third on the list, with 3,862 officially registered deaths. Barquisimeto, with 804 murders, is in ninth place. Further on, we find Ciudad Guayana in 20th place, with 578 murders, Valencia in 31st place with 997 deaths, and Maracaibo, ranked 39th, with 784 murders. The ranking is scaled according to the number of violent deaths in proportion to the number of inhabitants, and the figures generated allow for an analysis of the overall public security level in the countries included in the sampling.
The report also adds that “it is very probable that the absolute figures and the death rate in Caracas are higher, but we haven't found a way to discern the exact truth. At any rate, it remains a fact that Caracas is one of the three most violent cities in the world.”
Guardia Nacional Bolivariana (GNB) [Bolivarian National Guard] during  a celebration of the 202nd anniversary of Venezuela's Independence. Photo by Santi Donaire, copyright Demotix.
The NGO's statistics seem to coincide with those published by the organization Observatorio de la Violencia, which conducted an investigation of murder rates in the country during the year 2012 and the first six months of 2013. According to the results, Venezuela recorded 21,692 violent deaths during this period, a rate of almost 72 homicides for every 100,000 residents. This figure is three times that of countries such as Mexico, which shows a rate of 22 deaths per 100,000 residents based on data from the year 2012. With 28,946,101 inhabitants, according to the Official Census carried out by the Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas de Venezuela [National Statistics Institute of Venezuela], the country shows one of the highest crime rates in the continent.
The Venezuelan government, however, reveals more conservative figures regarding the issue. According to government reports, during the year 2012 a total of 16,000 homicides were recorded, representing a rate of 54 murders per 100,000 residents, and nearly 14% more than in the previous year.
‘Patria Segura’, the Safe Homeland Plan
The problem of civil insecurity has taken a recent turn: after the Venezuelan government had repeatedly insisted that the “public's sense of insecurity is greater than the actual criminal statistics”, President Nicolás Maduro now classifies civil insecurity as the “most significant problem” confronting Venezuela.
“If we don't tackle this problem, we will have accomplished nothing. We can't just continue to do nothing. We have to resolve this, and so I call the entire country to action,” the president stated during a “must-carry” radio and television broadcast.
According to the official web portal of AVN [Agencia Venezolana de Noticias, or Venezuelan News Agency], since May 15th of this year, 3,000 members of the FANB (Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana) have been posted in Sucre and Baruta in the state of Miranda, considered to be the most dangerous in the country, as well as in the Caraquenian parishes of Sucre, El Valle, Antímano and El Recreo.
The Patria Segura Plan is the twenty-first of its kind to be implemented to deal with the problem of civil insecurity, and it has drawn criticism due to the deployment of members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) for purposes of policing and public safety.
However, President Maduro explained that “for quite some time they have been assessing various ways to utilize the civil-military union, as promoted by the Bolivarian Revolution, to raise our capacity for protection, patrolling, surveillance, and support and auxiliary services, so that we can guarantee safety.” Maduro also pointed out that they have been designing this specialized plan for months.
Venezuelan citizens, however, have mixed feelings about the new security plan, especially since the deaths of two women in the state of Falcón, who died after being shot by a group of Bolivarian National Guard members in what has been called an “error” and an “excess” in the fulfillment of their duties –an incident that has heightened the debate over the fitness for duty of the military personnel in charge of public safety.
Juan B. Gonzalez (@jgonzal25), sociologist and public policy consultant, comments:
@jgonzal25: Cuando uno escucha que llegará la Misión Patria Segura, se acuerda de lo que pasó en Falcón, en Petare y en Tachira y dice: Que culillo!! [temor, inquietud]
@jgonzal25: When people hear that the Patria Segura detail is coming, they think about what happened in Falcón, in Petare, and in Tachira, and say to themselves, “This is terrifying.”
Alicia Colman (@hichadoda) describes her feelings during the recent action of the Guardia Nacional Boliviarana:
@hichadoda: Ahora no le tenemos miedo a los malandros [delincuentes] sino al la GN [Guardia Nacional], Patria segura
@hichadoda: We aren't so afraid of criminals any more. Now we're afraid of the Guardia Nacional. Safe Homeland, indeed.
Nevertheless, some citizens consider the intervention of the Guardia Nacional a necessary part of the solution to the public safety problem.
Luis Jose Aguilera M (@luisjoseaguiler) comments on Twitter:
@luisjoseaguiler: El gran esfuerzo que hace nuestro presidente, con el Plan Patria Segura, se consolidara aun más, con la conciencia y apoyo del poder popular
@luisjoseaguiler: The great effort put forth by our president in activating the Safe Homeland Plan would be even further strengthened with popular consciousness and support.
Tweeter @lumpen12 publicly supports the efforts of President Maduro and the Safe Homeland plan:
@lumpen12: Adelante Presidente Maduro con el Plan Patria Segura y el gobierno de calle apoyo TOTAL de su pueblo
@lumpen12: President Maduro, keep up the good work with the Safe Homeland plan and street government initiative. Your people support you 100 per cent.
In spite of the various criticisms and shows of support, however, the Safe Homeland plan continues to be unsuccessful in solving the serious public safety problem in Venezuela.
Liliana Ortega, director of the Committee for the Families of Victims of the events of February and March of 1989 (Cofavic, an organization dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights), has criticized the government's plan, pointing out to BBC Mundo that “in Venezuela it's crucial that all forms of control over the public order be placed in the hands of civilians, and that those specific functions be diverted from the military.”
Ortega insists that “it's clear that there is an increase in reports of alleged human rights violations made when the Armed Forces are utilized to control the public order or to guarantee public safety;” this is yet another problem that the Venezuelan government needs to deal with.

author: Aglaia Berlutti


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Residents Oppose Coal Project in Southern Philippine City · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Davao City residents and environment groups are opposing the construction of a coal plant in their city. Davao is located in Mindanao, south of the Philippines. The coal plant is to be constructed by Aboitiz Power which got the approval of the city government despite local opposition.
Jean Lindo-Scandal, a medical doctor and environmentalist, enumerated some reasons why Davao green groups are against the plant:
Aboitiz Power has started the coal project even if without the carbon sink management plan.
The coal fired power plant will lock the Davaoeňos in dirty energy for more than 25 years. By then, the damage to the environment cannot be reversed.
Coal fired power plant will endanger the lives of the Philippine eagle in Toril the sea turtles. The coal is located close to the pawikan [sea turtle] sanctuary and eagle sanctuary.
If smoking by humans is forbidden in the public places of Davao, the more should the coal plant be forbidden from smoking.
Last June 29, Davao activists and residents who are opposed to the coal plant joined the ‘Global Day of Action to End the Age of Coal’ by holding a protest in the city’s freedom park.
‘End Coal’ rally in Davao. Image from Greenpeace
Protesters pointed the irony of Davao implementing a strict anti-smoking ordinance yet it welcomes the entry of a coal plant in the city. Early this month, Davao was even recognized by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance as the first 100 percent smoke-free metropolitan in the Southeast Asian region:
…the city is recognized as the first metropolitan city to be smoke-free not only in the Philippines but the ASEAN region
Davao City is a city to emulate in many aspects, specially in their smoke-free efforts
Alyzza Junett M. Cabuenas wants progress for Davao but she also asserts the need for a safe and healthy environment:
I, as a legitimate citizen of Davao, am torn between economic benefit and global health, I assume that it’s better (to) live in a community simply and have a clean environment to prolong my life and enjoy it with the resources blessed upon me, than to live luxuriously but with a dangerous atmosphere. So, I wrote this article without prejudice, but I’m making my stand against the harmful coal-fired power plant.
Honestly, I wanted the city, the region, the whole Mindanao, the country; to be progressive. But I need the earth, my environment to be safe and harmless
Anna Abad interviewed some residents who will be displaced by the coal project:
Lolo [grandfather] breaks the silence and confides that one of the cemeteries in the area is gone, replaced by the construction of the coal-fired power plant, which has been cordoned off from the public.
The feeling of helplessness and hopelessness surge through me like a lightning bolt – how can this be allowed to happen?
It's depressing enough that the community currently residing there are going to be displaced, along with it, their social and economic ties to the land. But to strip them away of their culture and tradition, paying no respect to the sacredness of the burial ground is beyond belief.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


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Saudi Activist Slapped With Sudden Travel Ban at Airport · Global Voices
Nada

Saudi activist and journalist Iman AlQahtani was denied the right to leave Saudi Arabia. She announced that in a tweet late last night, after being prevented from traveling to Turkey.
Al-Qahtani is an outspoken human rights activist and journalist. She has drawn the state's attention after expressing her strong support for Abdullah al-Hamid, Mohammad al-Qahtani and their organization The Association for Civil and Political Rights, during their trial for “breaking allegiance to the ruler and his successor” and “trying to impede the country’s developments”. Earlier this year, they had been sentenced to 11 and 10 years in prison respectively.
On Twitter, she announced [ar]:
حاولت الخروج قبل قليل من مطار الدمام إلى إسطنبول فتم منعي من السفر وإخباري بالمنع وبالانتظار في مكتب جوازات المطار
— Iman ALQahtani (@ImaQh) July 19, 2013
I was traveling from Dammam Airport to Istanbul and I was forbidden to travel. I have been informed of my travel ban, then asked to wait at the passport office.
Iman Al Qahtani. Source: @ImaQh
She has previously been subjected to harassment by security forces for her online activities and reporting on human rights. After her live-tweeting of the trials of the two activists, a judge had ordered her arrest for “providing false information to the court” but the arrest was later canceled.
On Twitter, netizens discussed Al Qahtani's travel ban under the hashtag #منع_ايمان_القحطاني_من_السفر which translates to Iman Al Qahtani banned from traveling.
Ms Reem comments [ar]:
#منع_ايمان_القحطاني_من_السفر أعتقال ومنع واقصاء وقمع وفساد وبطالة وفقر وبؤس .. الى اين يا وطني ؟!!
— MissReem (@ReemQh) July 19, 2013
Arrests, travel bans, oppression, corruption, unemployment, poverty and misery. Where is my country heading to?
Dr Mohamed explains that travel bans are common in Saudi Arabia:
#منع_ايمان_القحطاني_من_السفر Travel ban is the commonly face of the systematic violations by Saudi gov against journalists & #HR activists
— Dȓ.Mohamd (MD.MBA) ♈ (@DrMohG) July 19, 2013
While Fawaz Ahmed reasons that such bans are no longer useful:
#منع_ايمان_القحطاني_من_السفر مايزال النظام يتعامل بسلطوية وسياسه القمع وتكميم الأفواه ماعاد ينفع في زمن أصبح المواطن يتحدث ويطالب بحقه
— سنيار (@FAWAZAHMED7) July 19, 2013
The Saudi regime continues to be authoritarian but this policy of oppression and muzzling voices does not work at a time when people continue to speak up and demand their rights

author: Nada


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Saudi Women Banned From Attending Public Trials · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

This post is part of our Special Coverage: Reformists on Trial in Saudi Arabia
Saudi judges continue to ban women from attending public trials, even when they are very close relatives. Yesterday [July 18], the second session in the ongoing trial of Umar Al-Saeed, a member of the country's leading human rights organisation, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), was held in Saudi Arabian city of Buraydah. The session was supposed to be held last Thursday, but it was postponed without a prior notice after several activists had traveled to attend it.
Al-Saeed, 23, was arrested on April 28th after refusing an interrogation without a lawyer. Currently, seven members of ACPRA are imprisoned.
In yesterday's session, Al-Saeed responded to the charges and accused the interrogator of maltreatment:
تم التحقيق معي وأنا مقيد, ورفض المحقق فك القيد, وكان القيد موثوق بقوة ويألمني, كما أن المحقق يتلفض علي بعبارات قذرة ويصفني بألفاض نابية منها (أنت ثور، أنت مجرم) وغيرها أترفع عن ذكرها.
I was interrogated with while being handcuffed. The interrogator refused to remove the handcuffs and they were very tight and painful. The interrogator also was provocative, calling me vulgar names including “you're a bull, you're a criminal” and others that I am not willing to repeat.
Some of today's session attendees via alajmi01
Furthermore, Al-Saeed, a senior university student who was about to graduate when he was arrested, said that the interrogator blackmailed him:
المحقق أحمد الذكري كان يبتزني بحرماني من حضور الاختبارات, إن لم أقر بما يمليه علي.
Interrogator Ahmed al-Thukri blackmailed me by threatening to deny me final exams if I did not confess to what he wanted.
Al-Saeed's wife and mother tried to attend the session, but the judge refused. In a previous trial, another judge said that “men are good enough,” leading another ACPRA member, Abdulkareem al-Khadar, to refuse to attend the trial and he was arrested.
This post is part of our Special Coverage: Reformists on Trial in Saudi Arabia

author: Anas Soliman


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The Terrifying Potential of a Post-Navalny Russia · Global Voices
Anna Kordunsky

On the eve of being sentenced to a five-year term in a penal colony, Alexey Navalny blogged about puffer fish. The Russian opposition would be remiss to think of itself as a school of small fish being pursued by a big predatory fish (i.e. the Kremlin), he wrote on his blog. The predator was simply putting on an act to conceal its weakness.
Нынешняя власть – это не здоровая рыбина, это скорее рыба-шар или латиноамериканская жаба, которая при виде опасности раздувает себя с помощью телевидения, показывающего врущих проституток-телеведущих или чудиков из СК в синих мундирах, лопочущих, что они всех посадят. Ну кого они там могут посадить? Ну 20 человек, ну 50. Ну 100, если сильно постараются. Вот и весь страшенный потенциал.
The current government is not a mighty fish. It’s more akin to a puffer fish or South American toad that puffs itself up in the presence of danger – by means of TV that broadcasts the lying anchor-prostitutes or nitwits from the Investigative Committee in blue uniforms who babble that they can jail everyone. But whom can they jail? Maybe 20 or 50 people. Maybe 100, if they try extra hard. That’s their entire terrifying potential.
Alexey Navalny, screenshot from YouTube.
Navalny winked and tweeted his way through the monotonous reading of his 100-page verdict, which he had fully anticipated, his bravado only showing a crack when he embraced wife Yulia before bailiffs escorted him out. For the most part, he used these three hours in the courtroom to populate his Twitter feed with characteristic bursts of snark and glee.
Posting a head shot of grinning Vladimir Putin, he quipped,
Такое впечатление, что только мы с ним вдвоем слушаем приговор без ненужной грусти
I get the impression that he and I are the only ones listening to the verdict without undue sadness.
And once the judge announced a jail term of five years (along with a four-year sentence for his co-defendant and business partner, Pyotr Ofitserov), Navalny used his last tweet to mete out the final bits of advice to his supporters:
Ладно. Вы тут не скучайте без меня. А главное – не бездельничайте, жаба сама себя с нефтяной трубы не скинет.
Alright. Don’t get bored without me. And most importantly, don’t be lazy. The toad won’t knock itself off the oil pipe.
Following an unprecedented filing of an appeal by the Prosecutor’s General’s Office, Navalny was released from custody less than 24 hours after being arrested, until his conviction legally takes effect later this summer. There is even a chance that he will decide to continue his underdog bid for Moscow mayor, a scenario that has certain advantages for the government: it would render the near-certain victory of incumbent Sergei Sobyanin more legitimate.
The verdict sent several thousand protesters—representing at least a small chunk of Navalny’s online army—marching into the streets. Crowding on the sidewalks near the Kremlin and Manezhnaya Square (the intended meeting place that had been locked down just prior under the pretext of construction), they chanted “Navalny is our mayor” and “Navalny, we’re with you.”
Because the protest had not been sanctioned by Moscow administration, protesters risked being arrested and fined. Yet many stayed for at least four hours under the watchful eye of the security forces, who did ship off several busloads of detainees but for the most part were unwilling to escalate the tensions.
For some denizens of the Russian Net, this mass turnout was an indication that even with Navalny behind bars, the movement will throttle ahead. A Yekaterinburg-based blogger, Dmitry Kolezev, tweeted, elatedly:
Получается, болотное дело не сработало, никто не испугался
This means that the Bolotnaya case hasn’t borne results, no one got scared.
Another blogger, designer Artemy Lebedev, voiced the commonly shared hope that even in prison, Navalny will remain at the helm of the Russian opposition, though temporarily in a different, more symbolic role:
Теперь из жж-юзера, который дает ссылки на государственные сайты и зарегистрированные СМИ, мы получим на ближайшие годы героя, который переплюнет Ходорковского, Магницкого и Пусек. Феерическая тупость власти.
Now, in place of the LiveJournal user, who posts links to government websites and registered news sites, we’ll get in the forthcoming years a hero, one who will outshine Khodorkovsky, Magnitsky, and Pussy Riot. An astounding stupidity on behalf of the government.
Navalny himself has asserted repeatedly that the movement he had helped spark has matured enough to become self-sustainable in his absence. This is how he put it in a Wednesday, July 17, 2013, blog post:
[…] понятно что делать, понятно как делать, понятно на что делать. Главное набраться смелости, отбросить лень и делать. Никакого особого руководства и не нужно, на самом деле.
[…] it’s clear what to do, how to do it, and with what means to do it. The most important thing is to muster the courage, get rid of laziness, and do it. No additional guidance is necessary.
And yet, ironically, the July 18 rally showed that Navalny’s army in fact needs quite a bit more coaching on what to do. The crowd that came out in his support on Thursday was thousands strong and swelling with anger and frustration, but it was directionless and, so clearly on this evening, leaderless. Absent were Navalny’s closest associates who accompanied him to Kirov. Absent, too, from both the streets and the Twitter feed was Sergei Udaltsov, another fixture in the opposition movement who once campaigned side-by-side with Navalny, but has since fallen under house arrest and launched his own bid for Moscow mayor.
Among the people who did come, a prominent online sentiment was dark resolution mixed with confusion.
Moscow photographer and popular blogger Ilya Varlamov noted that while attendees were well stocked with pro-Navalny flyers and stickers (many of which ended up on the walls and doors of the Russian Duma) they were less ready when it came to a plan of action:
У людей очень много символики за Навального, хорошо подготовились. Но по-моему, люди не знают что делать.
People have a lot of pro-Navalany paraphernalia, they are well prepared. But it looks like the people don't know what to do.
Activist, blogger, and photographer, Mitya Aleshkovsky, wondered,
Я не понимаю что мы тут делаем. кто всем руководит?
I don’t understand what we’re all doing here. Who is in charge of everything?
And, reflecting the opposition movement’s worrisome tendency to bicker, blogger and journalist Ilya Azar could not help but poke fun at fellow activist and entrepreneur Alena Popova, who is sometimes seen as not committed enough to the cause:
Пришел лидер протеста – Алена Попова. Наконец-то люди не одни
Here comes the leader of the protest, Alena Popova. Finally the people are not alone.
And as the rally wound down, opinions remained divided over how well it went.
Kirill Goncharov, a 21-year-old activist, blogger, and leader of the youth wing of the Yabloko party, tweeted enthusiastically,
Это лучшее, в чем я участвовал в своей жизни. 100 метров от Кремля, атмосфера солидарности и свободы. Свободу Навальному!
This was the best event I’ve ever participated in in my life. 100 meters away from the Kremlin, an atmosphere of solidarity and freedom. Freedom for Navalny!
Yet almost at the same moment, Ilya Azar grumbled,
Откровенно говоря для акции по поводу посадки лидера оппозиции на пять лет в колонию это полный провал
To be totally frank, for an event marking the five-year imprisonment of the opposition’s leader in a penal colony, this is a complete failure.
From both standpoints, though, the outlook would be much brighter with Navalny on the other side of prison bars—and not just for a short reprieve before serving a long five years.

author: Anna Kordunsky


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Egyptian Journalist Menna Alaa Attacked by Pro-Morsi Protesters  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Blogger and video journalist Menna Alaa was attacked by angry pro-Morsi supporters today. She shares her testimony, in English, in this post on Egyptian Chronicles. She writes:
A smack on my face, a bruise, and a stolen camera won't stop me from reporting. I report what I see and I will continue to report even if it will cost me my life. The truth is what will always keep me doing what I love.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Egyptian Protesters United in Anti-US Chants · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

On Twitter, Egyptian Hani Shukrallah observes:
Interesting, the one common chant in Tahrir & #MB's Rabaa is anti-US – a triumph of American policy!
— Hani Shukrallah (@HaniShukrallah) July 19, 2013
Tahrir Square, in downtown Cairo, is the epi-centre of the Egyptian revolution. On June 30, Egyptians gathered there again to demand that president Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood (MB) candidate, steps down. On July 3, Morsi's one-year reign was cut short and an interim government now runs Egypt. Morsi's supporters have since been staging a sit-in in Rabaa, also in Cairo, to protest his ousting.


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Jamaican Athletics Doping Charges: Guilty or Not?  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Athletics fans across the Caribbean were stunned by the news that several Jamaican runners have tested positive for banned substances, including former world record holder Asafa Powell and fellow Olympian Sherone Simpson.  As a result of the failed tests, neither runner will be able to participate in the upcoming World Championships in Moscow. (Both athletes have released statements expressing disappointment with the test results and asking for support from the public.)
Paul Doyle, the agent for Powell and Simpson, blamed Canadian trainer Christopher Xuereb for the failed tests. Xuereb, who had worked for controversial Dr. Anthony Galea said the runners were looking for a scapegoat – but many netizens wondered why the athletes started working with this new trainer.  On Air Jamaica's Facebook page, this became a hot topic of discussion…
Sharon Nelson wondered why due diligence wasn't paid:
Really?? Nobody never think to check him out?? If it was one a we, all we long dead granny dem a investigate before dem even consider we fi di werk!!
Kermani Kome was also suspicious:
who hired this guy again, his background should have been checked before hiring this gentleman what exactly were we thinking hiring this dude, he was fired 3 years ago and we hired him for athletes why, something in something man, something is up
Many commenters felt there was a conspiracy to undermine Jamaican athletes because of their dominance in track and field.  Maureen Miles, for instance, didn't believe Asafa Powell would suddenly start doping at this point in his career:
this is a whole set up they hate our guts and they will do anything to dash our athletes under the trains im [sic] so dam[n] mad look how long asafa going through his problem and never take no drugs. we have natural talents…dem cant stop us…eternal father guide our nations from those vampires out there… one love jamaica proud jacan
On the Facebook page for Jamaica's public affairs program “All Angles”, some commenters felt the athletes were set up, while others thought that they should take responsibility for their actions.  Koraine Hard-earz Mcgowan didn't believe the athletes meant to cheat:
I think that the supplements were ingested by the athletes not with the intention to cheat but just following advise [sic] from a person deemed a professional and proper investigations should be done and if they were tricked or force [sic] in any way the person [who] gave them the drug in that case should face criminal charges.
Terrence Attainable Henry felt the timing of the revelations was suspicious and that more would come to light:
Very unfortunate especially with the World Championships coming up, while evidence does show the presence of the banned substances i still belief [sic] more is there to the individual cases and with time the truth shall be known if its [sic] a case of sabotage or incidental ingestion because i know our athletes will not deliberately take banned substances that chemically have no benefit to their body
Theresa Jones also thought there was more to the story:
It's a really sad state of affairs, but I believe there's more to it than meets the eye. The timing for 1, (so close to the World Championships) leaves a lot to be desired. It just doesn't seem so very cut and dried! What will happen now, is that our contingent to the game[s] will come under even more scrutiny and the speculation will be rife! I don't believe such veteran athletes would be so stupid at this point in their careers, when there is so much more to lose than to gain! Esp in Asafa's case!
Domonique Jones felt the local authorities need to do more to protect Jamaican athletes:
it has long been said that the only reason that jamaica has been performing so well is because we were on drugs and i think that they are just reporting positive tests to show that jamaica is still testing. I don't know if they have one but their [sic] should be a committee of some sort with qualified individuals to defend our local runners because i'm sure that [the] majority of them will not take any form of prohibited drug knowingly…
Kaj YsofreshUpsetter Too Cute felt the athletes were too experienced to use banned substances:
I think that the athletes are mature enough to know what kind of drugs they are to take if they are feeling pain etc so its obvious that there was a mixup with the tests or someone deliberately did something to set them up because what a coincidence three of our athletes are tested positive…
In contrast, Marvin Adetumbi Campbell felt the athletes have only themselves to blame:
Jamaicans seem to have a problem with accountability. We need to realise that athletics is a business and people will do anything to remain on top of their game. Did someone hold Asafa and Sherone at gun point and drench them like goat? They are grown adults with several years of experience. Give me a break!
Palmx Palmer agreed:
come on now listen to dr wright… these athletes are responsible for what enter[s] there [sic] body, simple as that, remember the supplier has nothing to do with this, the pill is not illegal the athletes just [are] not suppose[d] to take this pill…simple as that… they all know what they are doing, if you pop a pill its [sic] a reason why, and if it [is] helping you then there is something in it that is not for you…hello…they are all guilty…looking for a high another level

author: Matthew Hunte


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Pro-Morsi Women Protesters Killed in Mansoura  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

At least three women were killed in Mansoura when a protest in support of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi was attacked by “thugs” tonight. Dozens of people were also reportedly injured by shotgun and knife wounds.
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia exclaims:
oh Shit a 37 years woman and 13 years old girl from Pro Morsi supporters were killed in #Mansoura
— Zeinobia (@Zeinobia) July 19, 2013
And @egyrevolution12 adds [ar]:
مسيرات الاخوان ف #المنصوره بتطلع بعد التراويح نصها مثلا بتبقي ستات . عائلات كامله . الهجوم عليهم مالوش اي مبرر#aster
— الثورة مستمرة (@egyrevolution12) July 19, 2013
The Ikhwan protests in Mansoura start after prayers and half of it is usually women. Complete families/ Attacking them cannot be excused.
Ibrahim Elgarhi is shocked at those who excuse the murder of women. He writes:
يللا نبيع مبادئنا ونسكت على قتل النساء.. يللا نخالف ضميرنا ونقول ايه اللي وداهم هناك
— إبراهيم الجارحي  (@Ibrahim_Elgarhi) July 20, 2013
Let's sell our values and keep quiet over the murder of women. Let's go against our conscience and say what took them (the women) there (to the protest).
On June 30, Egyptians took to the streets to demand that president Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood (MB) candidate, steps down. On July 3, Morsi's one-year reign was cut short and an interim government now runs Egypt. Morsi's supporters have since been staging protests calling for his return to power.


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South Korean Authorities Raid Ex-Dictator’s Home, Seize Massive Art Collection  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

State prosecutors in South Korea ransacked ex-military dictator Chun Doo-hwan and his family's residence in Seoul and hauled away expensive art work and artifacts to pay for fines that the former leader owes to the state tied to a slush fund that he collected while in power.
Prosecutors, equipped with a metal detector, raided Chun and his family houses and confiscated about 350 works of art that amount to one billion Korean won (US 89 million dollars), which one local news article explained as “enough to set up a museum” [ko]. The seizure was due to Chun's continued refusals and delays in paying fines.
Photo of ex-dictator Chun Doo-hwan when he was in power. Public domain image via Wikipedia Commons
He owes the state 167.5 billion Korean won (150 million US dollars) charged for a huge slush fund amassed while he was in power. Chun, however, claims to be broke.
Chun seized power in a 1979 army coup and ruled until 1988. His leadership is remembered as the darkest moments for Korea's democracy, human rights and press freedom, which was epitomized by the Gwangju Massacre (or Gwangju Democratization Movement), a tragic event in which several hundred civilians were killed by armed soldiers, though some estimates put the dead much higher at several thousand.
For his crimes, Chun was tried and initially sentenced to death, but the penalty was gradually reduced over the years to life imprisonment, then later he was pardoned and freed.
Reactions online to the raid varied from sarcastic jokes and jeers, praise as a meaningful historical event, to suspicions about the timing of the seizure:
전두환에 대한 검찰의 압수수색이 단지 미납 추징금 환수 차원이 아니길 바란다. 그는 군사반란으로 정권을 잡고 부패재산을 형성한 반역사적인 인물. 그가 당당히 전임대통령으로 예우받는 모순을 바로잡아 후손들에게 교훈으로 삼는 것, 그것이 올바른 역사다.
— 안철수를 사랑하는 모임 (@ahnsarang) July 16, 2013
@ahnsarang: I really hope the prosecutor’s raid is little more than just a way of retrieving Chun’s unpaid fines. He stands on the wrong side of history: he rose to power through a military coup and amassed dirty money. It is a bitter irony that this guy is getting all the treatment reserved for an ex-president. By correcting this irony, we will be able to write the right history which will serve as a great lesson for future generations.
전두환이가 백담사로 귀양가서 아침 저녁으로 불공드리고 법회같은 쇼를 하길래 불교에 빠진줄 알았는데 알고보니 부처님 불상도 투자로 사재기 한 것으로 드러났다. 전두환 돈으로 설립한 시공사의 창고에 고가의 미술품과 함께 보물급 불상도 처박혀 있었다.
— 서울토박이 (@bluejera) July 17, 2013
@bluejera: Chun, after self-exiling to the Baekdam temple, had regularly attended morning and afternoon prayers and services, and put on a show. [note: After he stepped down, Chun has rarely made public appearance and entered a Buddhist monastery] So I thought he made himself immersed into Buddhism, but it turns out that he even made Buddha statues another item for his hoarding. In a warehouse built by a construction company launched with his money, a national treasure-level Buddha statues were stuck inside along with other expensive art pieces.
내가 박물관장이라면 전두환 대통령 특별전 이런 걸 계획해볼듯 하다. 사람들은 전두환 씨의 미감 (…) 같은 걸 공유하고 경각심을 주자고. 벽에는 “나한테 당해보지도 않고서”이런 걸 적어놓고 — 이유세하 (@alreadyblues) July 18, 2013
@alreadyblues: If I were a museum director, I would consider opening a “Chun Doo-hwan President Special Exhibit” which would bring awareness to people by sharing Chun’s art taste. On the wall, I could display a clause “You haven't even suffered under me” [note: A reference to Chun’s notoriously tasteless joke, told to reporters back in 2008, that “I don't get why young people resent me. They haven't even suffered under me.”]
This tweet [ko], which has been retweeted more than 260 times, even refused to use the Korean honorific term for ex-president and defended articles calling him Mr. Chun Doo-hwan.
‘전직 대통령 예우에 관한 법률'이란 게 있습니다. ‘학살자 전두환'은 군형법상 반란 및 내란죄 등으로 무기징역을 선고받아 이 법에 따른 전직 대통령 예우도 받지 못합니다. ‘전두환씨'는 그에 대한 최대치의 점잖은 표현입니다. — 최성진 (@csj2007) July 16, 2013
@csj2007: There is the Former Presidents Act [that guarantees they get proper treatment and benefits]. However, since “mass murderer Chun Doo-hwan” was sentenced to a lifetime prison term for leading insurrection and rebellion, the Former President Act does not apply to him. Calling him “Mr. Chun Doo-hwan” [instead of calling him ex-president] is as generous as one can get.
However, many political bloggers and influential Twitter users explained this case is a scheme of those is power to divert public attention from the country's spy agency and the electioneering scandal it is currently embroiled in, calling Chun a decoy:
전두환네 집에 고가의 미술품이 있다는 걸 미리 알았길래 검찰은 무진동 차를 준비했을 것이다. 당연히 그 전 정권들도 전두환네 무엇이 있다 정도는 알았을 텐데, 왜 이제야 털까[…]
— 장윤선 (@sunnijang) July 17, 2013
@sunnijang: Only because prosecutors already knew that expensive art pieces are stored at Chun Doo-hwan’s house, they were able to prepare anti-vibration function cars [which were used during the raid]. Previous administrations must have known about expensive properties hidden in Chun’s house, so my question is, why did this raid take place now, at this moment? Where were they?
A journalist at Newstapa, or Korea Center for Investigative Journalism, was careful to make any early judgements. Newstapa, an independent, non-profit news site, was the first one to unearth Chun's eldest son's paper company in tax havens built for tax evasion purpose, and that revelation eventually lead to full reports on the Chun family's hidden money.
Screen capture image of Newstapa's video report on the Chun familly slush fund hidden in a tax haven.
(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 KR)
검찰의 전두환일가 압수수색, 한판 버라이어티 쇼일까요? 정의를 세우는 첫걸음일까요? 뉴스타파가 끝까지 지켜보겠습니다
— 김용진 (@kbsmuckraker) July 17, 2013
@kbsmuckraker: State prosecutors raided Chun Doo-hwan's households. Is this just another political show event or a first step toward erecting justice? We will keep a close watch out on this till the end. Link to extensive report on “Koreans in tax havens”.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Empowering Mumbai’s Women Entrepreneurs Through Digital Media · Global Voices
Rezwan

Everybody has an opinion on how to be a successful woman in today's world, but only few actually become successful. Roshan Radhakrishnan gives details about an open house discussion to empower women entrepreneurs through social and digital media which will take place in Mumbai, India on 27 July, 2013.

author: Rezwan


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Has Alexey Navalny Really Changed Russian Politics? · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Russians are waking up in a new country. Last week’s rollercoaster events—Alexey Navalny’s conviction, sentencing, arrest, and quick release, as well as a large street protest in his defense—are a watershed moment in the evolution of the Russian civil spirit. Indeed, of the Russian psyche. Yes, of all Russian politics!
In Moscow, political analyst Kirill Rogov writes [ru], “politics has inexorably returned to Russian life.” From Washington, DC, journalist Julia Ioffe proclaims that Navalny has “changed Russian politics” and showed Russians “how not to be afraid.” These grand statements come in advance of Moscow’s September 8 mayoral election, which will pit Navalny against incumbent city chief Sergey Sobyanin.
If Navalny has in fact rejuvenated Russian politics, what exactly does that look like online, where his support base is supposedly strongest? Measuring and interpreting answers to this question could go in any number of directions, but a reasonable place to start is with Navalny’s campaign platform, which he published on July 1, 2013.
Screenshot of the Navalny platform's title page.
Moscow’s official population is roughly 12 million people. If you use the Yandex Blogs search engine, there are over 4,000 results for the words “Navalny” and “platform” (программа) since July 1. Searching specifically for hyperlinks to the full text of Navalny’s platform [ru], meanwhile, turns up 389 hits: it appears 175 times on Twitter and 124 times on LiveJournal, Vkontakte, and similar services (though unfortunately Yandex Blogs does not index Facebook). When Navalny unveiled his platform, he called a press conference and recorded a video of the presentation, which he then posted to YouTube (see below). That video had over 64,000 views by July 19, with about half of that traffic recorded in the first three days after publication. Since July 5, the audience has held steady at about 2,000 views a day, which—if it continues—would lead to around 165,000 total views by election day.
In the 124 times that Russians cited Navalny’s platform in full blog posts (that is, on LiveJournal and elsewhere, but not on Twitter), only a handful of bloggers truly interrogated the content of the document. (Most people just posted a link to the platform, or reposted the text of Navalny’s announcement, without adding original commentary.) Searching through those 124 cases, I was able to identify just 21 posts where individuals actually discussed any of the platform’s details—and more than half of them (11) take a negative view of Navalny’s plans for Moscow. Slightly fewer than 30% of the reactions (6) are unambiguously supportive.
There are several trends in bloggers’ criticism of Navalny’s platform. People’s concerns generally address four issues: nationalism, qualifications, older generations of Russians, and overlap with Sobyanin’s platform [ru].
On nationalism and populism
Navalny’s critics have always attacked him for harboring excessively nationalist, borderline racist views about the presence of Central Asian migrants working illegally in Russia. In his mayoral platform, Navalny lays out a five-point plan to combat illegal migration, which includes transparency efforts aiming to battle illegally low pay for public services workers, and the creation of “education centers” for the children of migrants, to promote their integration into Moscow schools and learning of the Russian language.
Artem Semin, a blogger based in Moscow, criticizes [ru] Navalny’s emphasis on transparency promotion as the “naïve” pursuit of a “panacea.” Semin reasons that increased openness would not increase wages for menial jobs significantly enough to attract native Muscovites:
Так, Навальный рассчитывает, что публикация штатных расписаний на городских предприятиях позволит частично решить проблему с нелегальной миграцией. Сейчас ситуация с его точки зрения такова: злодеи из префектур и муниципалитетов нанимают таджиков на выделенные на рабочую силу деньги, при этом присваивают какую-то часть этих средств. Мол, я найму Джамшута за десять тысяч рублей, а остальное положу себе в карман. Если же начать платить за ту же работу полную сумму, ту, которая выделена бюджетом, то на место Джамшута явится коренной москвич Иван Иванов, а таджик первым рейсом поедет домой, проливая слёзы. К сожалению, на самом деле эти надежды безосновательны. Ну будут за уборку улиц платить не десять тысяч рублей, а восемнадцать – много ли москвичей бросится на эту работу?
So Navalny expects that publishing the staff lists of city facilities will allow him partially to solve the problem of illegal migration. The situation now from his perspective is this: these villains in the prefect’s office and the municipalities are hiring Tajiks, using some of the money allocated to public projects [to pay them], but pocketing the rest. Something like: I’ll hire Dzhamshut for 10 thousand rubles, and I’ll put the rest in my pocket. [But] if we start paying the full amount allocated from the city budget to these services, then in place of Dzhamshut we’ll get native Muscovite Ivan Ivanov, and the Tajik will be on the first plane home, shedding tears. Unfortunately, these hopes are unfounded. When it comes to cleaning the streets, they’re going to pay 18 thousand rubles instead of 10 thousand. How many Muscovites will rush to sign up for such work?
Dmitri Zykov, another blogger in Moscow, complains [ru] that Navalny’s program is “rightwing populist neoliberal f**kery”:
Он хочет в Москве сеть видеокамер, чтобы следить за людьми, ЧОП патрулирующий улицы – (голубая мечта неолибералов, заменить полицию на частных охранников). Отдельные школы для детей мигрантов, чтобы изолировать их от детей москвичей. Это будут школы-гетто, типа банту-школ при апартеиде в ЮАР. Взрослых мигрантов предлагается ещё больше ограничить в правах. Для их же блага, конечно. “Создание конкуренции между учреждениями здравоохранения”, принцип “деньги следуют за пациентом” – эти замечательные предложения Навального означают коммерциализацию московской системы здравоохранения.
He wants a network of video cameras in Moscow to monitor people, [and] private security firms to patrol the streets (a dream of neoliberals, replacing the police with private guards). [He wants] separate schools for the children of migrants, in order to isolate them from the children of Muscovites. These will become school-ghettos, like the Bantu schools in South Africa under Apartheid. And he proposes even more restrictions on the rights of adult migrants. It’s for their own good, of course. “Creating competition between healthcare agencies”—the principle of “money follows the patient”—these wonderful suggestions by Navalny would mean the commercialization of Moscow’s healthcare system.
Even the nationalist website Sputnik i Pogrom knocked [ru] Navalny on the illegal immigrant issue, though its objection was that Navalny pulls his punches against the city’s non-Russian scourge:
О возможной замене иностранных граждан мигрантов гражданами российскими, о введении программ преференций по найму российским гражданам и т.п. — ни слова. «Давайте смиримся с тем, что Москва больше не русский город, и будем за наши же деньги „адаптировать“ приехавших из горных аулов диких таджиков, которые и говорят-то с трудом. Ведь нам нужны таджики!». О кавказцах же, убийствах, Манежке и стреляющих свадьбах и вовсе ни слова — такой проблемы нет.
About the possible replacement of foreigner migrants by citizens of Russia, about the introduction of a program to give hiring preferences to Russian citizens, and so on—there’s not a word. “Let’s make peace with the fact that Moscow is no longer a Russian city, and use our own money to ‘adapt’ these wild Tajiks, arrived from their mountain villages, who barely speak. After all, we need the Tajiks!” About North Caucasians, the murders, about Manezh and the trigger-happy weddings, there’s absolutely not a word. There is no such problem [according to Navalny’s platform].
On Navalny’s qualifications to be mayor
Another criticism commonly made of Navalny is that he lacks the experience necessary to hold political office. Navalny’s platform puts front and center his leadership in various anti-corruption efforts (he lists RosPil, his most prominent vehicle, as the first justification for supporting his candidacy), but some bloggers continue to question whether this is sufficient preparation to lead Russia’s capital city.
Lebedev has published an entire blog post collecting mockeries of Navalny's campaign materials (like this one), poking fun at the decision to use an unorthodox full circle above the final letter of his surname.
On July 2, Russian LiveJournal’s third most popular user, Artemy Lebedev, published a scathing attack on Navalny’s mayoral campaign, ignoring the policy details of his plans, but engaging the “fundamental goals” listed in the platform. On the subject of Navalny’s qualifications for the job, Lebedev writes [ru]:
А при чем тут мэр Москвы, епта? Иди в налоговую инспекцию, в счетную палату, в минфин, в ФАС, в СК, в прокуратуру – там люди занимаются ровно тем же самым. Предотвращай и дальше.
F**k ,what does the mayor of Moscow have to do with anything? Go into tax inspection, the chamber of accounts, the Ministry of Finance, the Anti-Monopoly Service, the Investigative Committee, [or] the prosecutor’s office—there are people there doing exactly the same thing. Go and avert [more corruption] there.
LiveJournal user Mikhail Antonovich, writing with obvious dislike for the candidate on a personal level, frets [ru] that Navalny’s fixation on corruption could distract him from the more prosaic duties of mayor:
[…] большей частью в программе идет пиар проекта “РосПил” и позиционирование Алексея как борца с коррупцией. Понятно, что коррупция – это язва на теле нашего государства, но в первую очередь Мэр города должен ведать городским хозяйством, а с коррупцией должны бороться ведомственные органы. […] Понятно, что за этим нужно следить, не допускать и карать, но все же, если только за этим и следить, то можно упустить из вида другие проблемы.
[…] for the most part, the platform is a PR project for RosPil and portrays Alexey as a warrior against corruption. Yes, corruption is a cancer on the body of our state, but the mayor should firstly be concerned with managing the city’s services and facilities. Fighting corruption falls to the various departments and agencies. […] Yes, we need to monitor, prevent, and punish [corruption], but one might lose sight of other problems, if that’s all he does.
On Moscow’s older citizens
Many of Navalny’s ideas about boosting government transparency involve putting more state information online and opening new Internet portals to allow for citizen feedback. While this has been a trend in governments worldwide, both in and outside Russia, some bloggers have expressed concerns that the digitization of municipal services leaves out in the cold older people, who are none too fond of computers or the World Wide Web.
Yuri Yakor, for instance, says [ru] that he likes the gist of Navalny’s vision for Moscow, but worries about what it would mean for his mother and grandmother:
В целом, все правильно и звучит на редкость интересно. Но, мне 27 лет и я знаю, как пользоваться компьютером. Моя мама представляет это уже с трудом, моя бабушка боится его, как дьявола. Электронная демократия отсечет их обеих от принятия важных решений (все решения будут принимать молодые компьютерно образованные люди).
In general, everything [in the platform] looks good and sounds extremely interesting, but I’m 27-years-old, and I know how to use a computer. It’s still hard for my mom, and my grandma is afraid of the thing, like it was the Devil. eDemocracy will cut off both of them from important decisionmaking. (All decisions will be made by young, computer-educated people.)
An image from Elena Sola's blog post, expressing a mix of hope and concern about Navalny's mayoral run. Text reads: “to Moscow!”
Elena Sola is another blogger who sympathizes with the basic principles of Navalny’s agenda, but she, too, argues [ru] that he fails to appeal to Moscow’s core voter group—its pensioners:
Штаб волонтёров, созданный в поддержку Алексея Навального идея замечательная, но собираются там, в основном люди до 30 лет. То есть для пенсионеров например, которые представляют сегодня за неимением « движущей силы -рабочего класса» существенную долю избирателей, нет в программе кандидата Навального ничего привлекательного. Лучше чем сегодня им не будет, а хуже вполне возможно.
The volunteer headquarters created in support of Alexey Navalny is a wonderful idea, but the people gathering there are mostly under 30-years-old. Meaning, for pensioners, who today represent a fundamental share of the electorate (thanks to the absence of the “driving force of the working class”), there’s nothing at all attractive in candidate-Navalny’s platform. It’s not going to get any better for [pensioners] than it is today, but it could get a whole lot worse.
On sharing Sobyanin’s ideas
Given the years he’s spent vociferously criticizing the Russian establishment, it is ironic that one of the criticisms now leveled at candidate-Navalny is that his platform is too similar to that of the Kremlin’s handpicked steward of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin. Indeed, even when it comes to the two contentious policy issues covered above (migrant workers and the expansion of the state’s online disclosures), Sobyanin and Navalny seem to be of one mind [ru]. Yes, there are some areas where Navalny’s ideas differ slightly from Sobyanin’s, like when it comes to restructuring the Moscow government. (Navalny proposes electing justices of the peace, introducing new local financing initiatives, and increasing the authority of the municipalities.) But Sobyanin, albeit more cautiously, favors decentralizing policies, too.
That said, maybe Sobyanin’s limited support for the decentralization of the Moscow government is too careful for many Muscovites’ tastes, when compared to Navalny’s plans. While the distinction might have been enough to set Navalny apart from Sobyanin in policy terms, Navalny’s campaign team decided not to make these issues the central motif of his platform. As an editorial [ru] in Nezavisimaia Gazeta points out, Navalny after all didn’t adorn the cover page of his platform with a radical slogan like “All power to the municipalities!”
Moscow blogger Aleksandr Mikhailov, for example, claims [ru] that Navalny’s platform just regurgitates Sobyanin’s program:
Все остальное – переписанные «человеческим языком» разделы программы развития Москвы, взятой с сайта мэрии столицы. Те же обещания «прорыва общественного транспорта столицы», «ликвидации стихийной застройки», «создание системы платной парковки», «создание системы электронных жалоб» и т.д. и т.п.
All the rest of it [other than the handful of differences summarized above] are sections from [Sobyanin’s] platform for the development of Moscow, copied over and [rewritten] “in a [more] human language.” It’s the same exact promises: a “breakthrough in public transport,” the “elimination of sporadic construction,” the “creation of a system of paid parking,” the “creation of a system of electronic complaints,” and so on, and so on.
Dmitri Salov, another LiveJournal user writing from Moscow, compared side-by-side [ru] Navalny’s and Sobyanin’s two platforms, concluding that Navalny’s most significant ideas are borrowed from the acting Moscow mayor, adding the familiar suggestion that Navalny would do best to remain an anti-corruption activist on the sidelines, for the time being at least:
Алексей хороший и амбициозный парень и, возможно, у него есть потенциал, но Москвой управляют профессионалы и бюрократия, от которых зависит, будут ли работать водопровод, канализация и транспорт. На данном этапе Навальный не готов взять на себя ответственность за все это. Но тем не менее, ему никто не мешает помогать контролировать все сферы деятельности в которых возможна коррупция и о всех фактах сообщать в правоохранительные органы!
Alexey is a good, ambitious guy, and maybe he has potential, but Moscow is managed by professionals and bureaucrats, who determine whether or not the plumbing, the drains, and public transport will work. At this stage, Navalny isn’t ready to take on responsibility for all this. Nevertheless, nobody is stopping him from helping monitor all spheres of activity where corruption is possible, or from conveying any information to the police!
Russian Politics Reborn
There are certainly big limitations to looking at Navalny’s impact on Russian politics in the way I have above. How many people in an election anywhere really study the candidates’ official platforms? Navalny himself, when announcing its publication, jokingly offered [ru] the YouTube summary of his platform to those “too lazy to read it.” Not everyone in the campaign, however, has been so quick to dismiss the platform’s significance. Navalny’s campaign chief, Leonid Volkov, declared [ru] on July 3 that “no political text in the last few months (or even years) has caused so much discussion.” This statement is either inaccurate or a great insult to any recent political texts.
Let’s be clear: there are certainly more than 21 people talking about Navalny’s platform. The methodology used to identify that handful of texts was only meant to grab exact citations of the platform’s URL. In an election that affects 12 million people, though, it’s nothing short of astounding that so few bloggers have engaged the document in a substantive way.
If Navalny’s base—the Russian blogosphere—is so uninterested in his specific policy ideas (indeed, many of the netizens writing about them in any detail share common reservations), one wonders what the stuff of the “new Russian politics” might be. Indications are that most of Navalny’s supporters seem captivated instead by his personality and his growing dissident credibility (which the Kremlin amplifies with every new court action against him). But if it’s mainly his personal charisma and the odiousness of his opponent that makes Navalny the public’s new darling, what really has changed in Russian politics?

author: Kevin Rothrock


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How Vietnam Controls the Press · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Asia Sentinel publishes an article written by Pham Doan Trang about the situation of journalists in Vietnam:
The press card system is a sophisticated method of controlling reporters. No card, no access. Without a press card, reporters can't hope to meet high-ranking officials, visit contacts at public offices or cover official conferences.
The State doesn't need to kill journalists to control the media because by and large, Vietnam's press card-carrying journalists are not allowed to do work that is worth being killed for


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Iranian Mountain Climbers Missing in Pakistan · Global Voices
Farid

The three missing climbers. Image from Iran's Professional Sports Team Facebook page via @ANPour
According to the head of a Pakistani mountaineering club, the search for three missing Iranian climbers has been called off, as of Sunday July 21, 2013.
The mountain climbers sent a call for help on Thursday July 18, on their way down from Broad Peak after successfully reaching the 8,051-meter (26,414-foot) summit.
Their distress call said they were exhausted and had run out of food. The three men were last in touch with Iran through a satellite phone on Saturday, July 20. Pakistani rescue teams were dispatched to find them, but failed.
The blog Altitude Pakistan has details about the Iranian Broad Peak expedition and updates on the communication from the climbers as they ran into trouble during their descent.

author: Farid


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Poland Bans Ritual Slaughter of Animals · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

Online magazine Commentary and many others have been discussing the decision of the Polish government to ban ritual slaughter of animals, in accordance to humane slaughter practices, which many EU countries have recently been leaning towards. For Poland however, this decision is a controversial one, in light of its history and significance to the Jewish community in the country and world-wide:
The news that the Sejm, the Polish parliament, has rejected a government-sponsored bill to protect ritual slaughter, in both its Jewish and Muslim variants, suggests that, sadly, Jews and Poles are facing opposite directions when it comes to religious freedom. As a result of the vote, which comes on the heels of last year’s supreme court ruling that ritual slaughter, or shechita, is no longer exempted from requirements to stun animals prior to killing them, the production of kosher meat has effectively been banned in Poland.
[…] Poland is not the first country to ban shechita – European states from Norway to Switzerland have also prohibited its practice–but its historic position as the cradle of the Holocaust means that extra scrutiny of any legal measures against Jewish rituals is inevitable.

author: Danica Radisic


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Saudi Crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood Supporters · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

Following the fall of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood president and government, the Saudi government is reportedly enforcing a crackdown on Islamist figures within the country, including the two prominent religious leaders – Mussen al-Awaji and Mohamad al-Arefi.
Khaled al-Matrafi, Al-Arabiya channel manger in Saudi Arabia who is known to have close contacts with the Interior Ministry and for his vague hints, tweeted on July 14, 2013:
قريب جدا ان شاء الله حلحلة الصواميل.
@Almatrafi: Very soon, the closely connected will not be.
Many thought he was referring to the Saudi Muslim Brotherhood members and other Islamist figures.
It started on July 17 with the arrest of a well-known Islamist reformist figure, Mussen al-Awaji, who, a few days before, called Saudis [ar] to sign a petition condemning the military coup in Egypt, and to “act as one Muslim body.”
Al-arefi, reportedly detained in Saudi Arabia, has 5.8m followers on Twitter
At the same time, news broke about a travel ban on Mohamad al-Arefi, a very well-known figure who was in very close contact with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood administration. He was supposed to give a series of lectures in Qatar. Journalist Abdelelah al-Qahtani tweeted:
العريفي كان غدا ضيف ملتقى نسائم الخير في قطر ..وأبلغهم الشيخ اليوم بمنعه عن السفر .
@alsaleeh al-Arefi was supposed to be the quest of Breeze of Mercy festival. He informed them today about his travel ban
The news was later confirmed by the event organizers:
لأسباب خاصة نوّد إخباركم والإعتذر عن قدوم الدكتور محمد العريفي لمهرجان بشائر الرحمة التي ستقام غداً في مسرح الدراما.
@kataraqatar: For special reasons, we would like to inform you that Dr. Mohamad al-Arefi will not be attending the Omens of Mercy festival tomorrow in the Drama Theater.
During this time, al-Arefi account, which is followed by over 5.5 million users, kept tweeting. al-Matrafi retweeted one of al-Arefi's tweets and wrote another hint:
“من ثلاثة ايام ماجاني خبر”.. اكيد في الضيافة
@Almatrafi: It has been three days and I received no updates. He is surely in their hospitality.
Anonymous activism group, e3teqal, wrote a series of tweets explaining what happened:
الشيخ العريفي في فلة تابعة للداخلية #السعودية يتواصل من هاتفه مع والديه و أبنائه بشكل مستمر ، يوهمهم أنه في قطر #اعتقال_محمد_العريفي
@e3teqal: Shaikh al-Arefi is in a house that belongs to the Interior Ministry. He is in contact with his parents and children, deluding them that he is in Qatar.
تعامله وزارة الداخلية معاملة حسنة ، يبررون احتجازه بالمحافظة على أمنه الشخصي خشية اعتداء بعض المصريين عليه #اعتقال_محمد_العريفي
The interior ministry treats him well. They reason, they explain, was his personal safety because they were afraid some Egyptians may attack him.
المطلوب من الشيخ العريفي حتى يفرج عنه يوم الخميس كتابة بيان لفض اعتصام #رابعة_العدوية
@e3teqal: What they ask from Shaikh al-Arefi for his release next Thursday is to issue a statement calling for an end for [pro-Morsi] Rabi'a al-‘Adawiyya sit-in in Egypt
@e3teqal also reported that several other figures are on the list and they will be arrested any time now.


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Chile: Firewood Prohibition Decree Freezes Temuco · Global Voices
Javiera Munoz

Chanting slogans such as “Everybody or nobody,” “Wake Up Temuco!,”, “Minister, I'm cold”, among others, hundreds of residents of the west side of the city of Temuco took to the streets to protest a decree forbidding the use of wood-burning heating stoves in the city. The decree was issued by national and regional health and environmental authorities.
During the winter, wood is the main heating source because it is easily acquired and because of its low cost. Nonetheless, it is also the most polluting source. The high levels of pollution that existed in the city led authorities to restrict its use.
Temuco is the capital of the Cautin Province and is located 691 kms. from Santiago, in the Araucania Region. The region is one of poorest of the country, according to the CASEN 2011 national poverty survey [es]. Temuco is located in the mid-southern region of Chile, an area with changing weather patterns and temperatures ranging from -5°C (June) y 36°C (February).
Pollution in Temuco. Photo by Carlos Riquelme in Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The so-called “black earthquake“[es] (word “earthquake” used to associate the disastrous consequences of the pollution with the consequences of the prevailing earthquakes in the country), a black layer of smog that covers Temuco, became a critical situation in June of this year and inspired diverse reactions from city residents.
From Temuco, Manuel Lazo (@mlazogutierrez) [es] referred to the air's poor quality, describing it as an unbreathable mixture of smog:
y en estos momentos en #Temuco, es 10% neblina y 90% contaminación. el aire irrespirable nuevamente. pic.twitter.com/di0jJZ9LsM
— Manuel Lazo G (@mlazogutierrez) June 12, 2013
at this time in #Temuco, there's 10% fog and 90% pollution. the air is unbreathable again. pic.twitter.com/di0jJZ9LsM
Constanza Manosalva (@ConiManosalva) [es], who also shared this opinion, used the hashtag #TemucoIrrespirable (#UnbreathableTemuco) to comment:
Este gráfico dice mucho. En #Temuco nos estamos intoxicando, realmente un ASCO. #TemucoIrrespirable pic.twitter.com/q44JTt3OJz
— Constanza Manosalva (@ConiManosalva) June 13, 2013
This graph says a lot. In #Temuco we are being poisoned. it is absolutely DISGUSTING. #UnbreathableTemuco pic.twitter.com/q44JTt3OJz
As days passed, the situation became even more critical. An environmental emergency was declared in the city. Luis Diaz Robles (@luisdiazrobles) [es], Director of the Environmental Engineering School at the Catholic University of Temuco (UCT, by its Spanish acronym), reported the following:
Más de 2 días con #EmergenciaAmbiental por PM2.5 en Temuco #TerremotoNegro @reddeemergencia @biobio @AustralTemuco pic.twitter.com/8GNgyFQFnx
— Luis Diaz Robles (@luisdiazrobles) June 11, 2013
More than 2 days with #EmergenciaAmbiental (Environmental emergency) because of PM2.5 in Temuco #TerremotoNegro (Black earthquake)
On another end, Alberto Lagos (@RNE_20_TEMUCO) [es] described the effect that air's quality was having on the population's health:
Niños tosiendo,con mascarillas,ahogados.Adultos Mayores en centros de atención a público mal,debido a la mala calidad del aire #NoMásHumo RT
— alberto lagos (@RNE_20_TEMUCO) June 10, 2013
Children coughing, wearing masks, suffocated. The elderly fairing badly in public health centers due to the bad quality of the air #NoMásHumo (No more smoke)
YouTube user clave9cl shared this video depicting a “cacerolazo” (form of protest popular during Chile's dictatorship, whereby protestors peacefully bang pots and pans) against the prohibition to use wood in Temuco:
Although the prohibition has contributed positively to improving the air's quality, there has been controversy about the centralism with which national authorities made their decision. According to citizens, they have ignored the local reality. This was the case with Nestor Contreras F (@Nestorbox) [es], who suggested:
“@NRComoVamos: El probl. del centralismo es voluntad política, quienes toman decisiones son santiaguinos y creen q el país funciona igual
— Néstor Contreras F. (@Nestorbox) July 4, 2013
The problem with centralism is political willingness. Those making the decisions are from Santiago and they think the country works the same everywhere
In her Facebook page, Bernardita Ruffinelli, journalist and blogger, posted [es]:
… ¿quién prohíbe ese uso sin considerar subvención de otros tipos de combustible en una ciudad donde hay invierno al menos 7 meses al año? se les olvida parece, que es la región más pobre del país, que la leña es la forma más económica de calentar sus hogares; pero les prohibimos comprarla y no les rebajamos los costos prohibitivos de los otros medios. Yo me sigo preguntando muy en serio, quién está tomando las decisiones políticas que atan de manos a los temuquenses?…
Who prohibits the use [of wood] without considering a subsidy for other types of fuels in a city where there is winter for at least 7 months of the year? They have forgotten that this is the poorest region in the country; that wood is the cheapest way to heat homes, but we prohibit its use without loweing the costs of other fuels. I keep wondering – very seriously- who is making these political decisions that tie the hands of Temuco residents?
This opinion is shared, in part, by the “No+Smoke” movement (#nomashumno) [es]. Although the movement is against the use of wood stoves as heaters, they suggest the use of sources of heating that pollute less. Furthermore, they suggest a government subsidy to purchase these fuels. The No+Humo movement introduced a petition [es] during a march through the streets of the city on June 8, 2013.
Carolina Aedo, an occupational health psychologist and a follower of the “No+Humo” movement, said [es] the following about the prohibitions in her Facebook wall:
Apagar las estufas en forma impositiva no es la respuesta a nuestros problemas de contaminación. No estoy de acuerdo con estas medidas autoritarias impositivas que una vez más quieren tapar el sol con un dedo, sin ni siquiera sentarse a dialogar soluciones que sí pueden ser plausibles Hay muchas otras medidas que tomar.
Turning off stoves in an imposing manner is not an answer to our pollution problems. I don't agree with these authoritative, imposing solutions that do not solve the problem, without even allowing for the discussion of solutions that are indeed plausible. There are many other measures that need to be taken.
Although in the past few weeks pollution levels in the city have dropped considerably (due to the combined effect of the prohibition to use wood stoves and intense rain and wind storms in the region), there is a citizen outcry demanding concrete solutions from authorities. Solutions seem to lie on the continuation and increase of subsidies for the purchase of certified wood heaters, as well as on innovative and alternative forms of heating and subsidies to fund them in the medium and long terms.
Aire Sur Chile (@Aire_Sur_Chile) [es], a Twitter user whose objective is to provide information about measures to reduce atmospheric pollution in the south of Chile, addressed the authorities to demand solutions beyond the immediate response to the current emergency:
#Temuco urge definición de autoridad sobre soluc definitiva para la contaminación, no solo manejo de la emergencia. http://t.co/ErvZitn9Sh
— Aire Sur Chile (@Aire_Sur_Chile) July 3, 2013
@Aire_Sur_Chile: #Temuco a definitive solution to pollution from the authorities is of utmost importance, not only managing the emergency.
As an online debate unfolded about the increase in pollution after few rainy days, Danterana (@Danterana) [es] said is in favor of subsidies because finding a solution is a problem meant to be solved by the state:
@AleksisForever_ @RNE_20_TEMUCO… Si pero el@estado se debe hacer cargo sel@problema. Se debe entregar un subsidio a la calefacción
— Dantarena (@dantarena) July 5, 2013
…the State is the one who has to solve the problem. They ought to provide subsidies for hearting
A similar opinion was that shared by Marcela Farias (@lamarcefarias) [es], who expressed her disagreement with restrictions she thought were arbitrary:
Busquemos soluciones reales subsidiar sistema de calefaccion, educar y no restringir de forma arbitraria en #Temuco http://t.co/KbeGbWhPE4
— Marcela Farias (@lamarcefarias) June 19, 2013
Let’ find real solutions: subsidizing heating systems, educating, but not restricting in an arbitrary manner in #Temuco
In its official Twitter account, the Green Ecologist Party (@ecologistachile) [es] highlighted alternative forms of heating that are proven to be more efficient:
Pozo de energía geotérmica en Chile puede abastecer a 280 mil hogares, algo así como Valdivia y Temuco juntos #ERNC pic.twitter.com/vhMSZF9G
— Ecologista Verde (@ecologistachile) August 29, 2012
Geothermal energy wells in Chile can supply 280 thousand homes – something like [the cities of] Valdivia and Temuco together #NCRE [non-conventional renewable energy]
Journalist Mauricio Hoffman (@mauriciohoffman) [es] highlighted an alternative solution proposed by presidential pre-candidate and business manager Franco Paris:
Franco Parisi desde Temuco comenta emergencia ambiental y medidas tomadas. Propone traer gas natural p calefacción en la zona @OasisFMChile
— Mauricio Hofmann (@mauriciohofmann) June 18, 2013
From Temuco, Franco Parisi addresses the environmental emergency and measures taken. [He] proposes to bring natural gas to the area @OasisFMChile
Estamos trabajando para lograr otras formas de calefacción de similar valor a la leña. Pronto habrán novedades!!! #Temuco
— Germán Becker Alvear (@gbeckera) June 19, 2013
We are working to attain other forms of heating that are similar in value to firewood. Soon there will be news!!! #Temuco

author: Javiera Munoz


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Football Player Dies During a Match in Peru · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Five minutes before the end of a game between the football teams Real Garcilaso and Sporting Cristal, 18-year-old Sporting Cristal player Yair José Clavijo suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away. Sporting Cristal's medical team tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him at the field of the Municipal Stadium in Urcos, in Cusco.
Former football commentator Elejalder Godos [es] joined the Twitter users who resorted [es] to the microblogging network to express their feelings about this sad news:
Mis condolencias a la familia de Yair Clavijo ante la temprana desaparición del joven jugador de Sporting Cristal,en cancha cuzqueña
— Elejalder Godos (@GodosElejalder) July 21, 2013
My condolences to Yair Clavijo's family for the untimely passing of young Sporting Cristal player in a Cusquean field.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Fukushima: No Place Like Home  · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

‘No Time for Anger [de]’, a visualization journal by a team of Swiss media reporter and designers, illustrates Fukushima two years after the triple catastrophe of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami followed by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011. Fearing radiation, some residents sought evacuation to other areas in Japan, but the data visualization by the team shows the majority of people who fled actually stayed within the region of Fukushima:
We received data sets from the prefecture of Fukushima on the number of refugees and their current location for the years 2011 and 2012. We imagined that since this was a nuclear catastrophe people would flee from the region and wish to be as far away as possible. Yet, the numbers from the prefecture of Fukushima backed by researchers at the University of Gunma showed that the reality was quite different. The majority of people who fled actually stayed within the region of Fukushima.

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Is the Man Who Bombed Beijing’s Airport a Terrorist or Victim? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A man in a wheelchair angry over his mistreatment by police set off a homemade bomb in Beijing Capital International Airport in the evening of July 20, 2013, injuring only himself.
Local media identified the man as Ji Zhongxing, who claims that his disabilities are the result of cruel beatings by police officers in the city of Dongguan in the southeast of China back in 2005.
A reporter from news site Nandu interviewed [zh] two lawyers who represented Ji back in 2006 and found out that Ji was beaten by seven to eight police officers with iron rods in Houde town of Dongguan city because he was running an illegal motorcycle taxi. His spine was permanently damaged from the treatment, but local police claimed that he injured himself when he fell from a motorcycle. Despite a witness who testified against the police, a local court ruled against Ji and in favor of the police in 2008.
Sina Weibo user @chenshimanhua uploaded an image capturing Ji Zhongxing's despair.
Ji was forced to cover the court fees, which left him in debt. He traveled to Beijing and petitioned the Central Politics and Law Commission of the Communist Party of China for a review on his trial.
In 2010, the Houde town police station offered 100,000 yuan (15,000 US dollars) to Ji in exchange for a letter guaranteeing that he would stop his petition.
Terrorist or victim?
Most of the comments on Chinese social media expressed sympathy for Ji, seeing him as a victim of social and political injustice. Ji has started writing his experience in a blog since 2006, Feng Chingyang (@风青杨V) reviewed his blog and concluded [zh]:
我看了冀先生的博客，才发现起因只是因为摩的载客，结果却被打瘫痪了，全家人背债，到处上访却得不到合理赔偿。最后亲人纷纷早逝，慢慢的他的心也死了！我未必赞同冀先生对此事的处理方式，但如果我们想要这个国家不出现下一个冀先生，就必须关注他的“病根”，他开始是一个正常人，是谁让他变得不正常
I finished reading Mr. Ji's blog and found out that he was beaten and became crippled because of running an illegal motorcycle taxi. His family was in debt and they could not get any reasonable compensation after years of petitioning. His parents had passed away and his heart also died with them. I don't agree with the way Mr. Ji handled his misfortune. However, if we don't want to see another Mr. Ji in this country, we have to pay attention to the root of matter. He was a normal person in the very beginning, what made him abnormal?
However, a few believed that public security should be a priority. For example, media worker Yin Zhe (@凝哲同学) wrote [zh]:
中国的舆论场真是奇怪到近乎扭曲。有影响力的意见领袖们，不但不谴责在公共场合实施暴力袭击的人，反而因为暴徒未能伤害到更多的人而赞其为侠肝义胆。媒体不关注公众安全问题，反而开始用孤证为暴徒伸冤叫屈。这个世界究竟怎么了…波士顿爆炸案时候那同仇敌忾的劲儿都上哪儿去了？！
Public opinion in China is so twisted. The influential opinion leaders are not condemning those who launched a violent attack in public. Furthermore, they praised the thug as if he was a hero because he had not hurt others. The media paid no attention to public security because they were gathering all sorts of evidence to turn the thug into victim. What has happened to our society?… How come they reacted so differently during the Boston bombing incident?
But concerns over public safety did not gain much momentum online because Ji signaled others at the airport to stay away before setting off the bomb. Zhao Xiao (@赵晓), a professor at Beijing Technology University, defended [zh] Ji:
冀中星引爆前用了十分钟疏散民众，所以只伤了他自己。多么善良的百姓，这个国家谁敢站出来说：我比他更有义！
Before Ji Zhongxing set off the bomb, he spent 10 minutes making sure that no one was near him, that's why he just injured himself. He is such a simple-minded person. Who else in this country dares to step out and say: I am more righteous than him?
@Badiucao's political cartoon. Ji: when justice is deprived, I seek my own.
TV drama script writer @xiangrenli echoed [zh]:
冀中星给了我们法治社会大量的机会，但是我们所追求的法治社会没有给冀中星一丁点的机会，大量中国人只喜欢做围观者、做看客，看侩子手杀革命党，最后有人买人血馒头，没人去思考这个问题，冀中星绝不是最后一个。
Ji Zhongxing has given opportunities to our legal system, but our court does not give him any opportunity. Most Chinese like to be onlookers and enjoy watching the executioner kill the revolutionist. Some even buy buns tainted with blood [a symbol in Lu Xun's novel, Medicine, in which people believe that the buns can cure lung disease]. No one really reflects on the problem and Ji Zhongxing will not be the last [suicide bomber].
@yourwisdom shared [zh] similar view:
用生命换取了一次关注。体制源源不断的产生系统性恶果，分散在多少视线看不到的地方生根发芽？维稳又能压抑多久？
[Ji] used his life in exchange for public concern. The political system keeps reproducing evilness and its sprouts keep growing. For how long can stability control be effective?
“South of the sea” (@海之南) believed [zh] more bombs are out there:
每一个受不公正对待的公民，都是一颗不定时炸弹！不改变单纯维稳思路，积怨太多，就来不及拆除这些炸弹引信了！
All citizens who have faced injustice are a time bomb! To deactivate the bombs, grievances have to be channeled and addressed. Maintaining social stability through political control and repression is a dead end.

author: Oiwan Lam


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PHOTO: Fishing in the Polluted Waters of Manila Bay · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A fisherman at work on the polluted waters of Manila Bay against the backdrop of the Manila skyline. According to government statistics, fisherfolk comprise the poorest sector in the Philippines
A fisherman gathers mussels on the waters of Manila Bay. Photo by Ezra Acayan, Copyright @Demotix (7/14/2013)


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PHOTO: South Koreans Protest Against the Secret Agency Scandal · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Another round of protests against the state secret agency's electioneering have erupted in South Korea over the past weekend. @wsjfree posted a nice roundup of protest photos on Storify.


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Turkmenistan’s Internet Blues · Global Voices
Farida Yoony

Turkmenistan is infamous for its tightly controlled media, and is one of the world's greatest Internet Enemies by Reporters Without Borders’ estimations. With the average Turkmen finding his or her Internet access intermittent, slow, and tightly circumscribed, it is perhaps unsurprising that cyber-optimism among Turkmen internet users is running at an all time low.
Turkmenistan has had official access to the Internet since 1997. Non-mobile internet services are dominated Turkmen Telecom, while mobile services are provided by Russian mobile operator MTS and its Turkmen competitor, Altyn Asyr. (A host of smaller independent Turkmen Internet Service Providers were strong-armed out of the market at the turn of the century). Altyn Asyr and Turkmen Telecom are both overseen by the Ministry of Communications, and are thus unflinchingly loyal to the country's body politic. Censorship is ubiquitous and extensive across the country.
First graders risk “Internet Disease”. Photo from Golden Age of Turkmenistan (state-controlled media) shared via Eurasianet.org's Sifting the Karakum blog.
Those lucky enough to have access to Altyn Ayr's service consent tacitly to blanket surveillance and selective access to non-Turkmen websites. Reporters Without Borders conveys [ru]:
Оппозиционные сайты, такие как XpoHo.tm и Gundogar, а также региональные информационные сайты по Центральной Азии – Ferghana или EurasiaNet.org – заблокированы. Доступ к YouTube и LiveJournal стал невозможен в конце 2009 года, с целью помешать туркменам вести общение в блогах или отправляать видео за границую Facebook и Twitter до сих пор заблокированы.
Opposition websites such as Chrono-TM and Gundogar, and regional news sites covering Central Asia such as ferghana.ru and Eurasianet, are blocked. YouTube and LiveJournal were rendered inaccessible late in 2009 to prevent Turkmen from blogging or sending videos abroad. Facebook and Twitter are also blocked.
Under a Voice of America article about censorship in Central Asia in November last year, Аноним [Anonym] vented [ru]:
Цензура в Туркменистане это вообще полный крах. Закрывают не только сайты новостей, но закрыты: ютуб, фэйсбук, а также все распространенные месенджеры. На сегодня закрыты: whatsapp, Jabber (все что работают на его протоколе), Viber, iMesege и куча других. А потом удивляются что так хреново развивается интернет в стране… Да нафиг он кому нужен если там ничего не открывается и не работает?
Censorship in Turkmenistan is awful. Not only [independent] news sites but YouTube, Facebook and all the usual messengers are closed. Nowadays whatsapp, Jabber, Viber, iMessage and others [are closed]. And then we wonder why the internet that develops in the country is so shitty… who needs it at all if none of these things work?
In fact, YouTube, and the Russian social network Odnoklasniki are two sites that Turkmen netizens can currently access, but the slow speed of the average Tukmen internet connection renders this “access” hypothetical. Another anonymous commenter complained on fergananews [ru]:
Все равно ютуб со скоростью 33-44кб/с невозможно смотреть.
Anyway, YouTube at 33-44 Kb/s is impossible to watch.
State censorship over the internet is cynical, but not shocking to most Turkmens. The regular internet using demographic is school teenagers and university students who study both inside and outside the country. Thoughts and comments expressed on most Turkmen websites regarding the internet are usually negative. Some users such as as muslimah, writing on a privately owned forum Ertir.com, conceive the internet as an infectious disease, and are actively looking for a remedy to recover and be well again [tm]:
Salam,shu internetden nadip ayrylyp bolyaray?ine okuw bashlandy,okap bashlamaly welin hich internetden ayrylyp bolanok,erte okarn diyyan her gun,ka wagt bolya yarym sagat oturayyn diyyan welin ondan buna girip butin gun otyranyny bilman galyan :(
Hi, how can I set myself free from the internet? A semester starts, and I have to study, but I cannot separate myself from internet, it is an obstacle and addictive that I spend my whole day without knowing the passage of time :(
Feya gives a prescription [tm]:
Internet keseli mana-da on degdi, hiich ayrylyp bilemmokdum. indi beyle dal. Men pikirimcha hemme zat adamyn ozine bagly. Bir zady chynyn bilen islesen shony basharyp bolya. Internede girmejek bolsan gyzykly kitap oka, wagtyny bashga zada sowjak bol son owrenship gidersin, we mohum at dal bolup galar.
Once I was also infected with internet disease, i couldn't get well for a long time. Now I have recovered. Everything is in your hands, you can do it too. Read some interesting books, and do some other activities. Then, the Internet would seem not such an important thing in your life.
For females, internet-use can be regarded as immoral and against Turkmen tradition. Another internet user, posting as Skynet on RFE/RL's Turkmen service,  expressed [tm] his thoughts under an article ‘Internetde oturýar’ adyny alasym gelenok [I do not want to be called an “internet user”]:
Internet gyzlary sheylebir uytgetdi edil oglanlary uytgedishi yaly.erbetlige tarap uytgetdi.hazir yashlar inet bn dem alyalar.ahli adamlar internet kerebine(shol sanda menem) cholashyp chykyp bilenoklar.adamzadyn ahli dunyasi,ekonomikasy,politikasy,medeniyeti,mashgala durmushy yitip yok bolmaga bashlady.munun dine bir gunakari bar olam internet-skynet
Internet also changed our girls as it previously did boys. and it changed them in negative way. They breathe through the internet. Now all people are trapped in the internet's web (including me). It starts eradicating all our social, economic, political, and family life. So we do not need it.
Turkmenistan's internet blues can be attributed partly to the limited and “homegrown” nature of the Turkmen internet and partly to a lack of education about cyberspace and technology as a whole. Although the government marked the first day of the 2012 school calendar by giving free net-books to all first graders, there is an acute shortage of tech-savvy teachers to help them use their new toys.
Ruslan T, a blogger and journalist at the independent, diaspora-run Turkmen Chronicles news website wrote in a blog titled “Useless Gift”:
It should be noted that the majority of elementary school teachers have attended training sessions at computer centers and acquired [basic] computer literacy skills. However, only a few of them have managed to pass these skills on to their students. It is just [not within] the professional competencies of teachers.

author: Farida Yoony


text:
Violence Against Children Rampant in India’s Kerala · Global Voices
Inji Pennu

The southwestern Indian state of Kerala is smarting from a yet another case of child abuse among a spate of violent child abuse cases registered in the state, where the victims are tortured physically by none other than parents themselves.
Five-year-old Shafiq is currently fighting for his life with extensive damage to his brain and lungs, broken limbs and first-degree burns in a hospital in Kerala. Doctors are predicting only a 25 percent chance of survival for the boy. He was tortured by his biological father Sheriff and his father's new wife, who were arrested later by police after authorities were informed of the abuse.
Shafiq is from Kumily, an agrarian region in the Idukki district of Kerala. The Hindu newspaper reports that Shafiq’s is not an isolated case and records from the ChildLine, India’s only and most widespread round-the-clock free emergency telephone helpline and outreach service for children in distress, shows that the child abuse is rampant in the region and abuses were regularly reported among families in the estate areas.
Earlier, seven-year-old Aditi was brutally tortured and starved to death by her biological father and his wife in Kerala. The case made waves around Kerala.
Photo by Thorsten Vieth from Bangalore, India [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Five years ago, the case of Aromal, a young child who was chained in the courtyard of his home and forced to share food with a dog, shocked the society still lingers in the minds of people as to the extent of the cruelty parents are capable of to their own children.
And there have been several sexual exploitation cases by fathers themselves that shook Kerala and India recently.
In response to a rash of abuse and sexual abuse cases against children, the state's Minister for Social Welfare M.K Muneer has formed “children watch committees” that are supposed to play a more stringent role in notifying and reporting such incidents directly to appropriate authorities. As an immediate step, the government of Kerala has also directed all schools to report any such incidents of torture at any place, for which, counseling measures would be initiated. Also, hospitals have been asked to examine children in detail if they suspected ill-treatment and torture.
Many in India are unaware of children’s rights, and many biological parents seem to have the impression they have complete ownership rights over their own children. Many Indians were hence shocked when Norway convicted parents of Indian origin of child abuse last year for burning and hitting their seven-year-old with a belt.
India is a party to the UN declaration on the Rights of the Child 1959 and is also a signatory to the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of children. India also adopted a National Policy on Children in 1974, which reaffirms the constitutional provisions for adequate services for children, both before and after birth and through the period of growth to ensure their full physical, mental and social development. There also are appropriate monitoring procedures to assess the progress in implementing the laws.
However as a patriarchal society, the attitude towards children despite these platitudes is that parents are the sole owners of their biological children. Though corporal punishment is banned from schools in India, a 2009 study by Clinical Epidemiology Research and Training Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala shows that 50 percent of parents in Kerala still use severe physical methods to discipline children.
On social media, however, users have starting questioning this attitude.
Rejesh O P asked the quintessential question on his Facebook page about the right to ownership as parents, a general attitude of many Indian parents:
കുട്ടികൾ മാതാപിതാക്കളുടെ സ്വകാര്യ സ്വത്താണോ ? എന്റെ മക്കളെ ഞാൻ തല്ലും കൊല്ലും നീയാരാ ചോദിക്കാൻ ഈ ചോദ്യത്തിന് ഒരു കുഴപ്പമുള്ളതായി സമൂഹത്തിനു ബോധ്യപെടാത്തിടത്തോളം ‘ഷഫീക്’ ആവർത്തിക്കപെടും
Are children private property of the parents? If the attitude is I will kill or torture my children, who are you to ask, then kids like Shafiq will be tortured.
Sonia Elizabeth Padamadan wrote on her Google Plus:
തനിക്കു താഴെ ഉള്ളവർ തന്നെ പോലെ തന്നെ ജീവിക്കാൻ അവകാശം ഉള്ളവർ ആണ്. തനിക്കു തോന്നും പോലെ എടുത്തു പെരുമാറാൻ ഉള്ളതല്ല എന്ന് ആണ്, തന്നെ പോലെ തന്നെ എല്ലാ അവകാശങ്ങൾ ഉള്ളവർ ആണെന്ന് നമ്മൾ എന്ന് മനസ്സിലാക്കും ആവോ ?
When will people realize that everybody has an equal right to live their life, even children who are taken care of by their parents?
Entrepreneur Boaz Chacko (@boazbchacko) tweeted his support for more laws to prevent child abuse:
#Kerala. Law makers of Kerala needs to give attention to master. Shafeeq, need to work on legislation to prevent Child Abuse.
— Boaz Chacko (@boazbchacko) July 19, 2013
Retired police inspector general Ramesh Chandra (@amoli09) called for the arrest of the parents who abuse their children:
While best treatmt is wished for hapless 5yr old, perpetrators be arrested. http://t.co/EZo5sCeIeS pic.twitter.com/lHIk1cPI5A
— Ramesh Chandra (@amoli09) July 17, 2013
Founder of the Go India Foundation, an NGO that promotes the welfare of urban and rural youth, Alka Lamba (@alkalambaaicc) asked the question which is now on everybody’s mind:
Are they Father\Mother?They hv acted like Devils :(“@ndtv: 5-year-old Kerala boy on ventilator after alleged abuse by father and stepmother.
— अलका लाम्बा (@alkalambaaicc) July 17, 2013
User Pavan (@pavankajhonka) mocked the much celebrated high literacy rates of Kerala:
“@ndtv: 5yr old Kerala boy on ventilator after abuse by father & stepmother http://t.co/7Ir9KwhKo8” This is high literacy @BaggadBilla
— Pavan (@pavankajhonka) July 17, 2013
These horrendous examples of children being tortured to death show the urgent need for education and a change in the attitude towards children. If violence is used to nurture children in a society, what does that say about that society?

author: Inji Pennu


text:
Visit to Israel Gets Filmmaker “Cleansed” from Iran’s Cinema Museum · Global Voices
Hooman Askary

Iranian film maker, M. Makhmalbaf, at Jerusalem Film Festival, photo courtesy of JFF official website
An internationally renowned Iranian filmmaker, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, outraged many Iranians by accepting an invitation to the Jerusalem Film Festival in Israel this month.
Makhmalbaf, who is also a Green Movement activist and a former revolutionary, has divided Iranians over whether his attendance is a step towards healing “rifts and distances” between the nations, as he stated, or whether it is in absolute disregard for Palestinian human rights, as his critics say.
Makhmalbaf participated in the Jerusalem Film Festival with his new movie, The Gardner:
The conversation is still hot and fresh among Iranians in social media and has prompted petitions signed by activists, academicians and journalists within the diaspora. The virtual world became a battleground for discussions about Makhmalbaf's trip.
First, an open letter signed by a group of “Iranian scholars, artists, journalists and activists” was published [fa] lamenting the director's neglect of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel:
We cannot in good conscience stand by Mr. Makhmalbaf and his decision which will inevitably validate the Israeli occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing. We ask not only that Mr. Makhmalbaf stand with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement, but that he be a messenger of liberation for everyone, including both Palestinians and Iranians.
Then, another group of activists and academics penned a letter [fa] in support of the director's visit to Israel lauding his “brave action” as a peaceful gesture towards “conveying the message of friendship”:
We condemn the politics of war whether it is advanced by officials of the Islamic Regime or some officials in Israel. Instead, we endorse, support and welcome, the position of Mohsen Makhmalbaf that instead of a military attack, Iran’s “democratic forces” should be supported. Just like Mohsen Makhmalbaf, we are unafraid to stretch out our hands in friendship with the citizens of Israel and believe that art can be a tool that brings people together regardless of people’s racial, linguistic and political differences.
The polarisation was not limited to academia. In social media the subject of the director's visit to Israel was hot among the netizens too.
Samareh, looks at the criticism with a pinch of salt and a bit of cynicism, commenting on Balatarin, an Iranian link sharing website:
Makhmalbaf took a great measure going to Israel and speaking of peace. He showed that the Iranian nation is different from the Iranian regime which is a big blow to the clerical government. One reason [for such harsh criticisms] is a by-law from the ministry of intelligence to all its footmen: “Tarnish Makhmalbaf's name immediately, only make sure that this is done from the position of the Islamic Republic's enemies to divide the opposition. If, in the meantime, you had to swear to the Islamic Republic there is absolutely no problem with that.
Iranian blogger, Adel, expresses his disdain, seeing a big distinction between what artists do from the realm of politics and, thus, dismissing what Mohsen Makhmalbaf did as futile from the very beginning:
If we are a bit realistic, we will see that the political discourse of artists oftentimes does not have any effect on politicians; Especially Israeli politicians who do not even listen to their American counterparts! Now which cause is Mr. Makhmalbaf is trying to serve? If he wishes to bring the two nations closer to peace, its actual outcome will not be anything other than bringing out a racist government from isolation.
Following this trip, the Islamic Republic's deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance, Javad Shamaghdari, ordered all Makhmalbaf's memorabilia to be “cleansed” from the Iranian national museum of cinema and a cleric has renounced him as an apostate.
One thing is for sure in this heated conversation: that just like any other debate in the Iranian context, Mohsen Makhmalbaf has brought out the colourful sphere of Iranian society that is unlike what many may wish to think.

author: Hooman Askary