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Burkina Faso Is Taking Steps Toward Democracy (and Africans Are Taking Note) · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Acting President of Burkina Faso, Michel Kafando. CC-BY 20
Former diplomat Michel Kafando has been appointed to fill the leadership void left behind by deposed Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré until the next elections, further heartening others throughout Africa that a popular uprising might just work in their country too.
Compaoré, 63, who gained power through a military coup 27 years ago, was forced to abdicate his post and hastily flee his country on October 31 due to civil unrest in the streets of Burkina Faso. Thousands of Burkinabés took to the streets of Ouagadougou, the capital of this West African country, as well as other cities in the interior, to denounce him and his supporting oligarchy's campaign to revise the constitution.
The following video in French describes the events that led to President Comparoé's downfall:
Following Compaoré's departure, the position of head of state was temporarily filled by Lieutenant Colonel Yacouba Isaac Zida, as a means of securing the continuity of power. Still, the public at large maintained its stance that a civilian should take up leadership during the transitional period until the next elections. In a very powerful speech, Lieutenant Colonel Zida announced the charter for the transition and the imminent arrival of a civilian transitional leader:
Depuis le 30 octobre 2014, le peuple burkinabè s’est réconcilié avec lui-même et avec son histoire. [..] En ce jour, je voudrais à l’occasion de cette cérémonie consacrant la signature de la Charte de la transition, pour rendre un vibrant hommage à notre peuple, dont la grandeur s’est illustrée à bien d’égards, forçant respect et admiration de tous les peuples épris de démocratie, de liberté et de progrès.Ainsi, concitoyennes et concitoyens comme vous l’avez voulu, le processus pré-transitionnel engagé depuis le 31 octobre 2014 est conduit par les Forces armées nationales qui se sont engagées à remettre le pouvoir aux civils.
Since 30 October 2014, Burkinabes have come to terms with their history. […] Today, as we sign this Charter of Transition, I would like to pay my most profound respects to our people, who have embodied greatness in so many ways, and in so doing, have earned the respect and admiration of those who are committed to democracy, freedom, and progress the world over. And so, my citizens, as you have wished, the pre-transition process that had begun since 31 October 2014 is being led by the National Armed Forces, which have undertaken the task of returning power to the people.
Kafando was subsequently appointed to steward the transitional period until the next elections.
Lieutenant Colonel Zida – public domain
Still, the fight for democracy was a difficult one. In fact, Compaoré had in fact managed to carve out a path that would allow for his re-election. He intended to bring forward a reform to article 37 of the constitution, which had been ratified in June of 1991, and which stipulates that the President of Burkina Faso cannot be re-elected more than once. Mr. Blaise Compaoré who had already been re-elected wished to change this position by putting the question to vote in the National Assembly, which was controlled by his party and his allies.
Alain Doh Bi explains how events unfolded in a bulletin published on his blog:
L’ex-Président Blaise Compaoré s’est entêté à vouloir modifier l’article 37 de la Constitution du Burkina Faso en vue de briguer un nouveau mandat, après 27 années de règne sans partage. Le peuple Burkinabé s’est levé comme un seul homme, depuis le 28 octobre 2014. Après 48 heures de manifestations populaires, Blaise Compaoré, Assassin de Thomas Sankara, est tombé […]
Des hauts gradés de la Gendarmerie et de l’Armée Burkinabé ont décidé de se rallier au peuple. Une concertation spontanée entre les leaders de la manifestation et les hauts gradés de l’armée a permis de convenir d’une transition militaro-civile.
Former President Blaise Compaoré insisted on wanting to modify Article 37 of the Constitution of Burkina Faso with the intention of bringing a new mandate after 27 years of undisputed power. The people of Burkina Faso have united in protest since 28 October 2014. After 48 hours of protests, Blaise Compaoré, murderer of Thomas Sankara,(ed. note: Sankara, was the president of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987)   was ousted […]
Some high-ranking officials of the Burkinabe police force and army decided to align themselves with the cause of the people. An improvised dialogue between protest leaders and said army officials made way for a transition from military to civilian power.
Young people mobilized throughout the country to demand officials to vote against the constitutional changes; they also turned to social media.
One such group, Le Balai citoyen (the Citizen Broom), opened a Facebook page that garnered more than 20,000 followers and was very active in organizing protests. The group positions itself as follows:
A propos du symbole: … « On a modestement appelé ça le balai citoyen, et c’est tout un symbole. Le Burkina Faso a besoin d’un sacré nettoyage. Depuis presque trente ans on subit, on subit et on réagit pas. Il y a une part infime de la population qui a commencé à s’enrichir impunément pendant que le reste dégraisse. Je crois qu’il grand temps de foutre un bon coup de balai à tout ça pour crier notre ras-le-bol. » …
Voila ce qu'est ce mouvement ‘le balai citoyen” pour les initiateurs.
A word on our symbol: … “we humbly called ourselves ‘le Balai citoyen’, and it is quite the symbol. Burkina Faso needs a profound cleansing. For almost 30 years we have suffered; we suffer and we do not fight back. There is a tiny segment of the population that began to get richer by skimming the fat off of the rest of us without impunity. I think that it is high time to clean out all of that in with one fell swoop and say enough is enough”
This is what the “le Balai citoyen” movement represents for its founders.
Across social networks and online media, dictators in other African countries have come under heavy scrutiny and been warned.
“Citizen Broom Movement – The struggle lives on” A poster created by the Citizen Groom Movement via their Facebook Page (with their permission)
Bruno E. LOMA recalls the circumstances that led up to the social crisis in a post entitled “In Africa Toying with the Constitution Is the Price We Pay” that was published on maliactu.net on 4 November 2014:
Tous les moyens sont bons pour modifier la Constitution du pays pour se maintenir au pouvoir. Ils s’y accrochent pour tenter de prolonger leur mandat au-delà des délais légaux. La recette est toute trouvée, réviser la constitution par un vote des élus à l’Assemblée. Ce qui n’est pas toujours acquis car certains élus, même de la majorité présidentielle, par patriotisme ou par respect pour ceux qui ont voté pour eux, s’y opposent. Par peur de ne pas avoir le maximum d’élus en leur faveur, nos chers présidents trouvent d’autres parades comme l’imposition par voie référendaire de cette révision de la constitution.
When it comes to modifying the country's constitution in order to remain in power, anything goes. They cling to it in an attempt to extend their mandate well beyond the legal limits. They have discovered the formula: revise the constitution by putting it to vote with the elected officials of the Assembly. It doesn't necessarily work because some representatives are against this — even when they support the presidential majority. This is out of a sense of patriotism or respect for those who put them in power. For fear of not having the majority in their corner our dear presidents find other means of curtailing resistance, such as calling a referendum for constitutional reform.
In a series of columns on afrikaexpress.inf, Régis Marzin paints a complete portrait of the elections scheduled to take place in several African countries during the 2015-2016 electoral cycle. He analyzes the issues and potential obstacles to maintaining social order:
Au début des années 90, les revendications ont abouti à des conférences nationales et à des révisions des constitutions pour encadrer les mandats présidentiels, et une limitation du nombre de mandats à 2 a été ajoutée partout, sur le modèle américain …
Pour les 8 dictatures stables du système néocolonial français, dans 6 pays, au Tchad, au Cameroun, à Djibouti, au Togo et au Gabon, les limitations à 2 mandats ont été supprimées– elle a été aussi supprimée en Algérie -, alors qu’elles sont toujours là dans 3 pays en Mauritanie, au Congo Brazzaville et au Burkina Faso. Au Burkina Faso, la limitation a été enlevée en 1997 puis remise sous la pression des revendications de la rue en 2000. La stratégie des opposants s’y refocalise maintenant d’autant plus sur ce point.
… En Guinée Equatoriale et en Angola, où il n’y a aucune limitation dans les constitutions, Téodoro Obiang et José Eduardo Dos Santos sont au pouvoir depuis 1979, depuis 35 ans. Téodoro Obiang était déjà proche de la tête; du régime avant. Réélu en 2009 pour 7 ans il aura 74 ans en 2016, alors que la constitution lui interdit de se représenter après ses 75 ans. Il rejoint dans les records Paul Biya, 81 ans, dont 32 ans au pouvoir, qui aura 85 ans à la fin de son mandat en 2018, alors qu’aucune transition démocratique n’est amorcée. Au Tchad, le 5emandat d’Idriss Déby prévisible en 2016 sera contesté en fonction de la répression et de la mobilisation dans le reste de l’Afrique.
Outcry in the early 90s led to national conferences and constitutional revisions to rein in presidential mandates, and a limit of two terms, based on the American model, was applied across the board. […]
Of the eight stable dictatorships within the French neo-colonial system, six [sic] countries–Chad, Cameroon, Djibouti, Togo, and Gabon [and Algeria] have removed these two-term limits. Term limits have also been removed in Algeria, however, they still remain in three countries: Mauritania, Congo Brazzaville and Burkina Faso. In Burkina Faso, the two-term limit was removed in 1997 but then reinstated in 2000 under the pressure of street protests. Opponents are refocusing their efforts in this regard.
[…] In Equatorial Guinea and Angola, where there are no limits written into the constitution, Téodoro Obiang and José Eduardo Dos Santos have been in power since 1979 — some 35 years. Téodoro Obiang also previously held a position of high office. Re-elected in 2009 for seven years, he will be 74 in 2016; however, the constitution prohibits him from holding office after he turns 75. His tenure is almost matched by Paul Biya, 81, who has held office for 32 years and who will be 85 at the end of his term in 2018. In spite of this, no transition to democracy has been initiated. In Chad, Idriss Déby's fifth term, which he is facing in 2016, will be contested as a result of the protests taking place in the rest of Africa.
Members of the opposition in Gabon, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, and the Central African Republic met in Paris on 14 November 2014 to adopt a common declaration demanding that constitutions be respected, and insisting that:
L’expérience burkinabé constitue désormais un exemple pour l’Afrique entière.
Henceforth, the experience of Burkina Faso should be held up as an example for all of Africa.
Though few African countries will achieve more than one of the Millennium Development Objectives many are led by dictators who have held power for decades. They have built up oligarchies around them that exploit their country's wealth; enjoying a level of luxury on par with that of Hollywood celebrities while their people are entrenched in the darkest poverty. They consider themselves to be above the law, and they have superimposed their will on that of the people.
On Facebook and Twitter, there are many messages supporting the change:
Hadja Madina Kouyate Barry: Si j'ai un conseil à donner aux africains, c'est de chasser tous les dictateurs changeurs de constitutions. Surtout pas de déchirement entre nous après leur départ car la France est toujours prête à aider les dictateurs à s'enfuir.
Quand j'ai vu sur France 24 une déclaration de Hollande sur l'évacuation de Blaise Compaoré franchement j'étais malade. Pourquoi les occidentaux ne sont jamais du côté du peuple ?
Hadja Madina Kouyate Barry: If I have any advice for Africans it is to get rid of all dictators who meddle with the constitutions. Most importantly, let us not tear each other apart when they are gone, because France is always ready to help those dictators flee.
Frankly, when I saw on [news organization] France 24 that there was an announcement from [French President] Hollande on Blaise Compaoré evacuation, I felt sick to my stomach. Why do these westerners never side with the people?
Alli Konseiga: rappelez vous que l'Afrique entière a les yeux sur nous Cibals. D'autres jeunes dans des pays où les dirigeants sont comme notre ex presidents voudront s'inspirer de vous. Si notre travail est fini, on s'en va. Rappelons nous, assainir sans se salir. Merci Cibals
Alli Konseiga: remember that all of Africa is watching our Cibals [the name given to supporters of le Balai citoyen]. Young people in countries with leaders who act like our former presidents will be inspired by us. If our work is done, we will go. Remember: we must not get our hands dirty as we clean up. Thank you Cibals.
Fatou Baldé Yansane: … Je crois que les populations africaines sont en train de gagner du terrain. Les fantaisies de changements de constitutions et les élections tripatouillées seront difficiles à consommer dans les prochaines années.
La nouvelle génération doit se positionner à défendre ces valeurs pour éviter d'être engloutie dans le ravin des présidents suicidaires.
Fatou Baldé Yansane: … I believe that African people are gaining ground. Changing the constitution on a whim and tampering elections will become difficult in the next few years.
The new generation must position itself to defend its values in order to avoid being swallowed up by the abyss of disastrous presidents.
#Afrique: Après le #Burkina, le #Gabon & le #Tchad s’enflamment. c'est ce qui attend le régime #djibouti‘en en… http://t.co/QUQJcRsqA7
— Huno Djibouti (@hunodjibouti) noviembre 11, 2014
Africa: After the uprisings in #Burkina, #Gabon & #Chad. That is what's in store for Djibouti's regime in [the absence of democracy]

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Thousands of Miles Away From Ebola, Kazakh Scientists Promise a Vaccine · Global Voices
Zukhra Iakupbaeva

Ebola virus under an electron microscope. Photo by Flickr user NIAID. CC BY 2.0.
Of all the reactions in Central Asia to Ebola in the last few months, by far the most curious is the claim by Kazakh scientists that they plan to develop their own vaccine for the disease.
The Ebola virus has been widely discussed across the region even though West Africa, where the outbreak began, is thousands of miles away. Security-focussed Uzbekistan has taken no chances, banning sportsmen from five West African countries from coming for international sport events and installing testing equipment, including thermal cameras, in all its airports. Kyrgyzstan has also updated its airport, while in Tajikistan, news of the virus has led to a slump in trade for banana sellers as alarmist SMS messages warn that the fruit can carry the disease. This is despite the fact that scientists have said the risk of Ebola infection through most types of food is impossible and none of Tajikistan's bananas are sourced from West Africa, according to the country's Customs Service.
In light of all that paranoia, the claims made by scientists in Kazakhstan that the country can quickly develop a vaccine for the Ebola disease might be seen as an example of positive thinking, but Kazakh netizens have torn the boasts to pieces.
The Central Asian country is not known for being at the forefront of medical science and its system of public health, while better than others in the region, still faces a number of critical challenges.
Nevertheless, General Director of the Kazakh Research Institute of Biological Security, Abylai Sansyzbai was confident that in spite of not having a biosafety level four laboratory stipulated as necessary by the World Health Organization to even begin working with the virus, his team could develop a vaccine.
Если мы от ВОЗ получим новый штамм Эболы, мы можем у себя потихоньку начать работу в лаборатории третьего уровня безопасности. Для этого должна приехать комиссия, рассмотреть условия
If the World Health Organisation gives us new samples of Ebola, we can steadily start work [on a vaccine] in a biosafety level three laboratory. A commission should come and see our facilities.
Irony overflowed on Tengrinews.kz, where the article appeared:
Видимо директор не знает о гибели наших граждан от неправильного диагноза в наших больницах!!!! Может сначала научиться там, а потом эбола….
It seems like the director [of the research institute] does not know that some of our citizens die in local hospitals from incorrect diagnoses!!!! Perhaps it is better to deal with those issues first and then think of Ebola…
Another netizen, Kot-kotik, commented:
ВОЗ, умоляю, – не давайте нашим псевдоучённым штамм Эбола!!!! Они то то с “сонной болезнью” в Калачах разобраться не могут, это как детям – нельзя давать опасные игрушки!
World Health Organization, I beg you, don't give a strain of the Ebola virus to our pseudo-scientists!!!! They cannot even deal with “sleepy sickness” in Kalachi [Kazakh village]; it is like children that should not be given dangerous toys.
Tauly was one of the few users that shared Sansyzbai's confidence:
Не надо ребята. это не шутки, этому институту более 80 лет.Поэтомувполне возможно создание.Самый сильный институт Снг или может в мире.поэтому я верю
Guys, don't be so harsh. This is not a joke. This institute is 80 years old; therefore, it is quite achievable. It is the strongest research institute in the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States], and maybe in the world. I believe in it.
Albina was less convinced:
От этой новости я чуть со смеху не умерла,не дожидаясь эболы. Наши. Могут. Создать. Вакцину.??? Что за брееееед.
I was about to die when reading this news and not from Ebola, either. Our. Scientists. Can. Create. a Vaccine? What is this nonsense?

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Zukhra Iakupbaeva


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All Set for Global Voices Meetup in Beirut, Lebanon, on November 26 · Global Voices
Thalia Rahme

We are pleased to announce the next in series Global Voices Meetup, that will take place in Beirut, Lebanon, on November 26th at the March Lebanon Offices from 5:30pm to 8pm. (Check the map here.)
Other similar meetups were held in Cairo, Tunis, Lagos, Skopje, and other cities around the world. This meetup will include Global Voices Online community members from Tunisia, Egypt, France, the US, Bahrain, as well as from the local Lebanese community. These community members are involved in a wide range of citizen media, technology, and journalistic projects and activities, and may serve as a valuable resource for others interested in becoming more active in this field. The meetup is part of global activities organised to celebrate Global Voices 10th anniversary.
The official invitation to the meetup in Beirut
Global Voices’ partner in this event, MARCH Lebanon, is a local civil society NGO that focuses on freedom of expression, women's rights, and intersectarian dialogue. MARCH is at the forefront of many of Lebanon's censorship battles and is proud to share its experiences with you during this event.
The meetup will bring together many of these community members to share their experiences and help facilitate connections between others that share similar interests or missions. Hosted by Thalia Rahme (@thalloula), as well as other GV volunteers, the gathering will focus on:
The event is open to all, but participants must RSVP on Facebook. Official hashtags for the event are #GVMeetup and #GVis10
For more information, please contact Thalia Rahme or Maya Gebeily:
trahme [at] gmail.com
or info [at] marchlebanon.org

author: Thalia Rahme


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Hollaback!’s ’10 Hours’ Video: Is This How We Define Harassment? · Global Voices
Natalia Safonova

“10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman,” YouTube screen capture.
If you're a regular Internet user, there's a good chance you came across the viral video “10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman.” The clip, which is the work of Hollaback!, a movement against street harrassment, features a young woman roaming the streets of New York City, encountering over 100 catcalls and various kinds of unwanted attention from random strangers in a single day. The video captures an experience familiar to women all over the world. The woman in the film is whistled at, catcalled, and even followed silently by one particularly insistent guy.
Internet users have hotly debated Hollaback!'s video. Many people writing on YouTube (generally men, it seems) are unsympathetic to the notion that the video depicts harassment. For this crowd, the catcalls in the video are mostly innocent compliments.
Jobu Matthew, for instance, writes:
So..that's it? 2 minutes out of 10 hours of footage and the worst you got is some random guy trying to get your number and a couple of “unwanted compliments”.
Jorge Gonzales went even further:
Feminism is a hate crime. It makes idiots do stupid things like make this video.
Darryl Wayne implied that it was alarmist to describe the behavior in the video as harassment:
And why would she walk 10 hours, and where are the 100+ cases of harassment they're talking about. Winks and whistles aren't harassment.
For those who agree that catcalling amounts to harassment, Hollaback!'s video presents an opportunity to share their own experiences of feeling threatened when walking the streets alone.
For example, NicFem 24 wrote:
In certain people's eyes it may seem that someone is complimenting a woman, but for most women who experience this its very, extremely uncomfortable, especially when someone decides that its ok to point out her ass, or her boobs.
Photo by Flick Michael. Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Gender hasn't been the only sensitive issue with the video. Some journalists and activists have pointed out that most of the men depicted in the video harassing women are black or Latino, raising concerns about racism. In response, Hollaback! said it “regret[s] the unintended racial bias in the editing of the video that over represents men of color,” and promised to correct the error in future projects.
Questions of equality are always a source of debate—especially when it comes to viral videos that attract more than 137,000 comments. Hollaback!'s “10 Hours of Walking” video was a tremendous viral success. For all the harassment captured in the film, however, the footage pales in comparison to the sexist commentary found below the video on YouTube today.

author: Natalia Safonova


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Is the ‘Sky Cycle’ Japan’s Weirdest Theme-Park Ride? · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

The Great Seto Bridge, looking south towards Takamatsu on Shikoku. Image: Nevin Thompson.
If you're looking for a breathtaking view and aren't afraid of heights, the “Sky Cycle” in Okayama Prefecture's Brazilian Washuzan Highland park is definitely worth a ride.
Photos of the Sky Cycle have been appearing on Twitter recently, thanks likely to the striking image found below of a tandem bicycle overlooking the park from an elevated railway.
The view from the Sky Cycle ride in Okayama's Brazilian Park Washuzan Highland: pic.twitter.com/5JBIgCyUgd
— Mulboyne (@Mulboyne) November 17, 2014
Washuzan is located at the northern end of the Great Seto Bridge, a massive structure that spans Japan's Inland Sea to connect the island of Honshu to the north with the island of Shikoku to the south. The bridge is a true marvel of engineering, stretching more than 13 kilometers (8 miles) over the ocean.
The bridge is also a beautiful site, which of course is why an amusement park was built at its base.
The soaring, slightly scary Sky Cycle ride, with its magnificent view, is perfect fodder for Japanese prime time television:
Caption: The fearsome Sky Cycle of Washuzan
While Brazil's connection to the area (and hence the name) remains unclear, it is worth nothing that many Brazilians of Japanese ancestry were recruited to work in nearby industrial areas.
Japan's countryside is dotted with large amusement parks, many bearing ethnic themes, that date back to the affluent years of the Bubble era. International travel was still a novelty for many Japanese people then, and ethnically named theme parks provided a glimpse of foreign cultures without the expense of traveling abroad.
The remote area of Niigata, for example, was once home to the Kashiwazaki Turkish Culture Village. Meanwhile, visitors to Nagasaki in Japan's far west could visit a theme park filled with life-size replicas of Dutch heritage buildings.
It's also customary in Japan to include an amusement part at prominent national landmarks like the Great Seto Bridge. Even Mount Fuji has its own park, Fuji-Q Highland. There, thrill-seekers can gaze upon Mount Fuji's slopes as they endure punishing g-forces aboard the park's famed roller coasters.
富士急きたー＼(^o^)／ pic.twitter.com/JnHhNftStL
— たみ (@tamiho_29) November 16, 2014
We made it to Fuji-Q!
@tamiho_29
Okayama Prefecture's Brazilian Washuzan Highland seems to take the cake, however. Japanese Internet users are dubbing it the world's weirdest theme park.

author: Nevin Thompson


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Meet Anton Korobkov-Zemlyansky, Russia’s Patriot-Provocateur · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Anton Korobkov-Zemlyansky, via Facebook. (Used with permission.)
Anton Korobkov-Zemlyansky is one of those successful media personalities you encounter in Russian cyberspace, if you idle there long enough. Thirty-years-old, he's worked as a journalist, a television producer, an editor, and a radio and TV host, and he now owns his own news agencies, Molnia and Molnia Sport. Korobkov's politics are intensely pro-Kremlin, or “pro-Russian,” in his own words, and he is an outspoken critic of the West, when it comes to questions about national sovereignty, democracy, and Ukraine.
Mention Korobkov's 106,000 followers on Twitter to a Russia expert, and he or she will likely shrug dismissively, saying he's a troll or a propagandist. Journalist Leonid Ragozin once called him the “Kremlin's top Twitter diva.” Most people in the West are inclined to ignore Russian bloggers like Anton Korobkov.
That's not necessarily a good thing. Disregarding online voices, even because of suspicions about their authenticity, risks growing deaf to people and ideas of potentially great influence. In the spirit of learning more about how bloggers like Korobkov understand their place in Russian society, RuNet Echo reached out to him with a series of questions, which are reproduced below along with Korobkov's responses.
Кевин Ротрок (КР): У тебя больше ста тысяч подписчиков в Твиттере и больше 13 тысяч во Вконтакте. Короче говоря, ты — очень популярный блогер и известный общественный персонаж. Я как “Russia Watcher” часто читаю твои твиты и перевожу тексты на английский, чтобы на Западе знали о чем Коробков пишет. Когда я это делаю, я обычно пишу, что этот Коробков является “про-кремлевским блогером” (pro-Kremlin blogger). Как ты рассматриваешь этот ярлык? Он справедливый? Какой ты сам выбрал бы, чтобы иностранцы в нескольких словах тебя поняли?
Kevin Rothrock (KR): You have more than 100,000 Twitter followers and more than 13,000 subscribers on Vkontakte. Put simply, you’re a very popular blogger and a well known public figure. As a “Russia Watcher,” I often read your tweets and translate the text into English, so people in the West know what Korobkov is writing about. When I do this, I usually write that this Korobkov person is a “pro-Kremlin blogger.” What do you think of this label? Is it fair? What label would you choose for yourself, to explain to foreigners who you are?
Антон Коробков-Землянский (АКЗ): Иностранные СМИ часто подписывают меня, как pro-kremlin, но, корректнее, конечно, было бы pro-russian. Я не являюсь сотрудником органов государственной власти, а моя позиция — защита интересов России в целом, а не только правительства или его действий.
Anton Korobkov-Zemlyansky (AKZ): Foreign media often identify me as “pro-Kremlin,” but it would be more correct, of course, to say I’m “pro-Russian.” I don’t work for the government, and my position is to defend Russia’s interests generally—not only the government’s interests or its actions.
КР: Ты часто передразниваешь про-вашингтонские Твиттер-аккаунты, такие как @UkrProgress, @HTSolomon, и, когда он был послом, @McFaul. Что на твой взгляд можно считать ошибками таких Твиттер-проектов? Почему американские попытки обращаться к русским через соцсети провалились?
KR: You often mock pro-Washington Twitter accounts, like @UkrProgress, @HTSolomon, and, when he was ambassador, @McFaul. What in your view might be considered the mistakes of such Twitter accounts? Why have American attempts to speak to Russians through social media failed?
АКЗ: Я бы не называл их про-вашингтонскими. Это же кадровые сотрудники Госдепартамента США. Они выполняют свою работу. В том числе – в социальных сетях и твиттере.
Это заметно и по общению. Когда тема для них скользкая (например, вопрос — что было в пробирке, которую Колин Пауэлл показывал в ООН в качестве доказательства наличия у Хуссейна оружия массового поражения, после чего американские войска вошли в Ирак и, фактически, уничтожили страну. В результате свержения Саддама и последующей смены политического режима там погибли сотни тысяч человек; или зачем поддерживали боевиков в Сирии, которые воевали против Ассада, позиционировали их как “борцов за демократию”, а из них, фактически, вырос ИГИЛ) они просто замолкают. Не отвечают ничего. Но это же выглядит смешно и глупо. Если ты хочешь оказывать влияние, а не просто информировать о деятельности Госдепа, ты должен быть готов к сложным вопросам. Если ты на них не отвечаешь — ты не стоишь ломаного цента.
AKZ: I wouldn’t call them “pro-Washington.” These accounts belong to paid staff of the US State Department. They’re doing their jobs. That includes being active on social networks and Twitter.
This is noticeable in the way they communicate, too. They just fall silent, when a topic is too tricky for them. (For example, what was in the test tube Colin Powell showed at the UN as proof that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, after which American troops entered Iraq and basically destroyed the country? Because of the overthrow of Saddam and the subsequent regime change, hundreds of thousands of people have died there. And why did [the United States] support the militants in Syria, who were fighting against Assad, characterizing them as “warriors for democracy,” when it’s these groups that ultimately gave rise to ISIS?) These Twitter accounts don’t answer anything.
But this ends up looking quite foolish and even stupid. If you want to influence people, and not just inform them about the latest activities of the State Department, you’ve got to be ready for tough questions. If you don’t have answers, you’re not worth a damn cent.
Colin Powell holds up a vial he said could contain anthrax, as he presents evidence of Iraq's alleged weapons programs to the United Nations Security Council. February 5, 2003.
АКЗ: Похожая проблема и у других русскоязычных проектов Госдепа, к примеру @ukrprogress, который, к тому же, называется “Прогресс для Украины”, ведется на русском языке, а по содержанию — собирает все возможные штампы пропаганды времен Холодной войны. Или листовки Геббельса, которые разбрасывали с самолетов над советскими партизанами. “Правительство вам врет. Переходите на нашу сторону. Добрый фюрер Адольф вас накормит. В плену не страшно”.
Это рассчитано на идиотов.
Я изучаю информационный рынок социальных сетей, блогосферы в разных странах мира и в России довольно специфическая ситуация — первый всплеск роста фейсбука, живого журнала, а позже твиттера, наших местных площадок — вконтакте, пришелся на 2007-2008 год, время предвыборной кампании депутатов в Госдуму и президента РФ. А второй — в 2011-12, также, во время выборов и сопутствующих им акций протеста, митингов и прочего.
Российская блогосфера очень политизирована. Все читают новости, разбираются во мнениях “за” и “против”. Читают оппозиционные СМИ и прокремлевские. Зарубежные блоги и медиа. И глупо рассчитывать, что “сейчас мы расскажем правду и русские изменят мнение” — значительная часть аудитории и так следит за ситуацией.
Когда Майкл Макфол стал послом в Москве, пару лет назад, он показал формат современного политика — открытый, отвечал на вопросы обычным людям в твиттере, снял приветственный ролик, в котором рассказал о себе, своей семье и том, что собирается делать в России. Это было необычно. Посол — фигура кулуарная, редко делает публичные заявления, думаю, мало кто назовет еще кого-то из послов других стран или русских послов в других государствах. А тут — посол-селебритис, посол-блогер. Он расположил к себе многих — и оппозиционеров и консерваторов такой открытостью.
Мы, например, познакомились с Майклом в Кремле во время инаугурации Владимира Путина в мае 2012 года. Обменивались репликами в твиттере. Но спустя некоторое время, с обострением ситуации между странами, публичная позиция Госдепа стала становиться все более глухой. Говорим, но не слушаем. Говорим, но не отвечаем на вопросы.
Обычные люди очень тонко это чувствуют. Когда недоговаривают. Не отвечают на непростые вопросы. И особенно, когда лгут.
Не буду тут расписывать много примеров, но вот такой, самый наглядный — про официальный аккаунт Госдепа @ukrprogress. Это было недели две назад, когда в программе новостей на государственных телеканалах рассказывают о повышении курса евро и доллара по отношению к рублю, а Госдеп в это же время на протяжении нескольких дней писал, что “кремлевские СМИ скрывают падение рубля”, при том, что об этом говорили в каждом (!) выпуске новостей. То есть, люди смотрят ТВ, потом читают ложь от Госдепа про то, что они только что видели собственными глазами… Ну о каких “ошибках” тут может идти речь? Это просто провал всей публичной работы посольства США в Москве.
It’s a similar problem with other Russian-language State Department projects, like @ukrprogress, which is called “Progress for Ukraine.” Its actual content, however, is just a collection of every possible propaganda cliché from the Cold War era. Or even Goebbels’ leaflets, which [the Germans] scattered from planes over Soviet partisans. “Your government is lying to you. Come over to our side. The good führer Adolf will feed you. It’s not scary in captivity.”
It’s designed for idiots.
I study the information market of social networks and blogospheres in different countries and Russia’s situation is quite unique. The first growth spurt of people using Facebook, LiveJournal, later Twitter, and our local platforms (Vkontakte) occurred in 2007 and 2008, during political campaigns for Russia’s parliament and the presidency. The second wave came in 2011 and 2012, also a time of elections and related protests, rallies, and so on.
The Russian blogosphere is very politicized. Everyone reads the news, and knows all about the opinions “for” and “against” anything. People read the oppositionist media and they read the pro-Kremlin media. They even read the foreign media and foreign blogs. It’s stupid to expect “now we’ll tell them the truth and Russians will change their opinions.” A considerable number of the people online are already following the news from all angles.
When Michael McFaul became ambassador in Moscow a couple of years ago, he showed that the format of modern politics is openness. He answered the questions of ordinary people on Twitter, filmed a welcome video where he talked about himself, his family, and what he planned to do in Russia. This was unusual. The ambassador is a backstage figure, who rarely makes public statements. I think few people can name an ambassador from a different country or a Russian ambassador in another country. And here, suddenly, we have a celebrity-ambassador. A blogger-ambassador. With such openness, McFaul endeared himself to many people, both oppositionists and conservatives.
For example, Michael and I were first introduced at the Kremlin during Vladimir Putin’s inauguration in May 2012. Later, we had exchanges on Twitter, but after awhile, as the situation between our countries got worse, the State Department’s public position became deafer and deafer. They’d talk, but they wouldn’t listen. They’d talk, but they wouldn’t answer questions.
Ordinary people are very good at sensing when someone isn’t being straight with them, when someone is avoiding tough questions, and especially when someone is lying to them.
I won’t go over every example, but it is worth nothing the most vivid. It concerns the State Department’s official Twitter account, @ukrprogress. This was about two weeks ago, when news programs on state television were reporting the appreciation of the euro and the dollar against the ruble, and the State Department (for several consecutive days) wrote that “the Kremlin’s mass media is hiding the fall of the ruble,” even though every single news broadcast talked about this! In other words, people watch TV, and then they read lies from the State Department about something they've just seen with their own eyes. There’s no use trying to pass this off as a mistake. It’s simply the failure of the US Moscow embassy’s public outreach.
Korobkov confronts @UkrProgress about claims that Russian television buried news about the ruble's depreciation.
АКЗ: Для многих людей в твиттере это стало таким аттракционом — каждый день разоблачать очередную ложь или некорректные высказывания спикеров Госдепа.
AKZ: For many people on Twitter, it’s actually become a sort of attraction: every day, try to expose another lie or inaccuracy from the State Department’s spokesperson!
КР: Что ты думаешь о русских “фабриках троллей”, где сотни людей в блогах доказывают свою любовь к Кремлю вроде бы “на профессиональной основе”? Платные блогеры — это нормальная госпропаганда в нашем дивном новом мире?
KR: What do you think of the Russian “troll factories,” where hundreds of people writing in blogs show their love for the Kremlin supposedly on a “professional basis”? Are paid bloggers just part of normal state propaganda in our brave new world?
АКЗ: Насколько мне известно, подобные компании (в России их, если говорить о достаточно крупных, 5-6, еще по две работает на Украине, в Беларуси) запускали для отработки коммерческих задач. Положительные отзывы о брендах, компаниях, услугах. В политических целях подобные компании если и привлекают — очень редко. Потому что велик риск утечек и саботажа. Ну и масштаб там не такой, как писали некоторые блогеры в “утечках информации” — по 200-300 человек. Это очень дорого и неэффективно. Достаточно 30-40 сотрудников-фрилансеров, которые являются специалистами в той или иной теме.
При этом, мне известно, что Госдепартамент США тратит немало средств, как открыто (год назад все обсуждали, сколько денег Белый дом тратит на покупку “лайков” в Фейсбуке), так и закрыто — работают команды “скрытых агентов” в Прибалтике, например, других бывших советских регионах для того, чтобы влиять на общественное мнение в России и других странах.
Косвенно правительство США это периодически подтверждает, публикуя информацию о поддержке тех или иных “акций протеста”, “оппозиционеров” и “политических движений” в разных странах.
AKZ: As far as I know, these companies (in Russia, if we’re talking about the really big ones, there are five or six, and another two work in both Ukraine and Belarus) were launched for commercial purposes. Meaning, they exist to promote positive comments about brands, corporations, and services. Hiring such companies for political purposes is rare because the risk of leaks and sabotage is high. And the workforce at these places isn’t anything close to the 200-300 employees some bloggers write about in these big “information leaks.” That would be very expensive and inefficient. It would be enough to hire 30-40 freelancers, who are specialists on this or that subject.
That said, I know the US State Department spends no small sum of money on this. They do this openly (for instance, a year ago, everyone was discussing how much money the White House spends buying “likes” on Facebook) and they do this secretly (there are teams of “covert agents” working in the Baltic countries, for example, and other former Soviet regions, trying to influence public opinion in Russia and other countries).
Indirectly, the US government periodically acknowledges this, publishing information about its support for this or that “protest,” “oppositionist,” or “political movement” in a particular country.
КР: Мы чаще и чаще слышим, что Кремль вытесняет американские соцсети из России. Дебаты о цифровом суверенитете понятны, а мой вопрос к тебе такой: такие блогеры как ты, которые сейчас гипер-популярны в американских сетях вроде Твиттера или Инстаграма, сами приветствуют уход от иностранных соцсетей? Вам это не вредно в личном перспективе?
KR: More and more often, we hear that the Kremlin is forcing out American social networks from Russia. Debates about digital sovereignty are understandable, but my question to you is this: Do bloggers like you, who are hyper-popular on American social networks like Twitter or Instagram, welcome a depature from foreign social networks? Wouldn't this harm your interests personally?
Anton Korobkov-Zemlyansky appears on Russian Radio. June 4, 2014. Facebook. (Used with permission.)
АКЗ: Никто не вытесняет иностранные соцсети из России. Это миф. Об этом неоднократно говорили официальные лица — министры и президент страны. Что касается “цифрового суверенитета”, то речь идет не о “железном занавесе” со стороны России, а наоборот, о том, что США или другие страны могут заблокировать для русских доступ в глобальную сеть — под видом “санкций” или еще какого-то давления.
Что касается площадок — тут вопрос удобства. У меня есть аккаунты в десятке социальных сетей и блог-платформ, но мой бизнес (я владелец новостного агентства “Молния”) связан с новостями, поэтому Twitter мне удобнее и ближе — он как рассчитан на мгновенный обмен информацией, распространение срочных сообщений.
Ну и как я выше сказал, и много общаюсь с политиками и экспертами IT-рынка, никто не собирается вводить “железный информационный занавес” в России. И даже если разговоры об этом кто-то заводит, это не больше чем шумиха для собственного пиара.
AKZ: No one is expelling foreign social networks from Russia. This is a myth. Officials have talked about this repeatedly. Government ministers have talked about it. The president has talked about it. As for “digital sovereignty,” we’re not talking about an “Iron Curtain” built by Russia, but quite the opposite: that the US or other countries might block Russians’ access to the World Wide Web, under the pretense of “sanctions” or some other form of pressure.
As for the specific platforms, it’s just a question of convenience. I have accounts on the top ten social networks and blog platforms, but my business (I own the news agency “Molniya” [Lightning]) is tied to the news, so I prefer Twitter, as it’s designed for instant information sharing and the dissemination of urgent messages.
As I said already, I talk a lot to politicians and IT industry experts. Nobody is preparing to introduce an “Iron Information Curtain” in Russia. And even if somebody is having these conversations, it’s nothing more than an attempt to cause a commotion for a bit of self-promotion.
КР: Все в эти дни спорят о журналистике в России. Либералы читают и слушают свои газеты и радио-станции. Консерваторы свои. И так далее. Какие русские СМИ ты читаешь? Каким доверяешь? Есть кризис в современной русской журналистике?
KR: These days, everyone argues about journalism in Russia. The liberals read their newspapers and listen to their radio stations, and the conservatives have their own. What kind of Russian media do you read? Which ones do you trust the most? Is there a crisis in modern Russian journalism?
АКЗ: Моя работа связана с новостями на протяжение последних 10 лет (я работал и на ТВ — “Первый канал”, ВГТРК, на радио — Русская служба новостей, в газетах и интернет-СМИ), а последние несколько лет я сам являюсь владельцем новостного агентства, ежедневно приходится читать 150-200 новостных заметок, статей, колонок, срочных сообщений etc. При таком потоке информации привыкаешь выделять главное, понимать, чему можно доверять, а где скорее всего будет “утка”.
У меня за эти годы сложилась несколько иная механика “чтения новостей” — есть набор персон, 200-300 человек из разных сфер — политики, журналисты, знаменитости, разные эксперты, которые, каждый в своей области, “держат руку на пульсе” — следят за трендами, а чаще — сами задают их.
Поэтому достаточно регулярно общаться с ними, следить за тем, какие темы они поддерживают, какие новости публикуют в своих твиттерах — и можно быть уверенным, что 99% самых важных новостей политики, экономики, науки, не пройдут мимо — они обязательно будут их обсуждать и я об этом узнаю.
AKZ: I’ve worked in the news for the past ten years (in television, for Channel One and VGTRK, in radio, for Rusnovosti, in newspapers, and in online media). For the past few years, I’ve owned a news agency myself. On a daily basis, I have to read between 150 and 200 news items, articles, columns, urgent messages, etc. With such a flood of information, you learn to single out the important stuff and you understand what can be trusted and what is most likely a bunch of baloney.
Over the years, I’ve developed several different mechanisms for “reading the news.” I have a set of people—200-300 individuals from different spheres—politicians, journalists, celebrities, and various experts, who each have their “finger on the pulse” of their field. They follow the trends and often they set them, themselves.
So if you talk to these people often enough, if you follow the topics they write about and the news stories they publish on their Twitter accounts, you can be sure not to miss 99 percent of the most important news about politics, economics, and science. They’re sure to discuss it and I’ll hear about it.

author: Kevin Rothrock


text:
Moments of Life: A Call for Sympathy · Global Voices
Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez

Screenshot of the video “Moments” by Nuno Rocha.
Carlos G. de Juan, blogging on Hacia rutas de cambio positivo (Towards routes of positive change), offers a reflection through a short mute film about the story of many homeless people in big cities, who had a normal life until life struck them so hard they just lost heart:
Esta puede ser la historia de muchas personas que hoy malviven en las calles de las grandes ciudades. Personas que como todxs, fueron niñxs, fueron jóvenes estudiantes, fueron padres o madres, fueron nuestrxs compañerxs de trabajo, fueron nuestrxs amigxs pero algo sucedió en sus vidas que les hizo arrodillarse, abandonarse.
This can be the story of many people that today just live badly in the streets of big cities. People like everybody, who were children, young students, parents, they were our coworkers, our friends, but something happened on their lives that made them kneel down, just let go.
With the question if it was you?, Carlos G. de Juan invites us to sympathize with those who live in the streets, that is, to put ourselves in their place and wonder about the stories of life that made them get to that situation, as well as question ourselves about possible solutions to get them back to the social fabric.
The video was written and produced by Portugues filmmaker Nuno Rocha.
You can follow Carlos G. de Juan on Twitter.

author: Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez


text:
Recreating Life of Comechingon People · Global Voices
Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez

Villa de Merlo, in the province of San Luis, was home of one of many indigenous communities that settled in the territory of what we now know as the Republic of Argentina. Wenceslao Bottaro tells us about the Theme Park Yucat Land of Comechingones, which teach us about this culture:
[el parque] es un emprendimiento familiar basado en una investigación histórica. La idea del parque es poder dar a conocer a los visitantes la historia humana de las sierras de los comechingones, rescatando la cultura, las costumbres y los saberes del pueblo comechingón, antiguos habitantes de la región del valle donde en la actualidad se asienta Villa de Merlo.
[the park] is a family undertaking base on historical research. The idea of the park is to make visitors know human history in the highlands of the Comechingones, rescuing their culture, customs and knowledge of the Comechingon people, who used to live in the region of the valley where Villa de Merlo is located today.
Photo from the blog Blucansendel, used with permission.
The park is named after Yucat, one of the caciques (chiefs), and has 18 stations that can be visited with the assistance of audio guides in Spanish and English. Thus, tourists are able to find out different historical and cultural aspects of the Comechingones’ life. Aside from learning about their culture and customs, visitors can enjoy nature and typical flora, such as carob trees, chañars, iguana Hackberry, espinillos, piquillines and molles, all part of the natural scenery there. The region also provides other leisure opportunities, such as zip-lines.
You can follow Wenceslao Bottaro on Twitter.


text:
One Year Later: Ukrainians Remember Euromaidan Online · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Euromaidan protesters sing the Ukrainian anthem in central Kyiv. Photo from Demotix.
November 21, the official start of Euromaidan protests, has become a day of remembrance and reflection, not celebration, to many Ukrainians. The protests brought a change of power, but also resulted in scores of wounded and dead, and were followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and an ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine, in which Russia is also involved.
The first, small group of protesters appeared on Independence Square in Kyiv on the evening of November 21, 2013, shortly after people learned that then President Yanukovych had decided to drop the EU Association deal. The protest grew in numbers, and escalated on Nov 30, when law enforcement brutally beat the protesters, mostly students, camping out in the Square for the night.
What followed were months of cold Ukrainian winter, heated struggle, lives lost and victories gained. Global Voices covered the Euromaidan protests extensively, following the action in November 2013—February 2014, and after the active phase was over.
Today Ukrainians are sharing their memories on Facebook and Twitter, using the hashtags #Euromaidan and #RikTomu (A Year Ago). Blogger Maksym Savanevsky shared a screenshot of Mustafa Nayyem‘s Facebook post from one year ago, widely credited with sparking the protests.
#RikTomu#Euromaydan#Ukraine pic.twitter.com/3Mxf6suBHV
— Maksym Savanevsky (@maksm) November 21, 2014
[Screenshot text: Meeting at 10:30pm near the Independence monument. Dress warmly, bring umbrellas, tea, coffee, good mood and friends. Reposts are encouraged!]
We put together a snapshot of recollections of the events of Euromaidan through the words, images, and videos posted by Ukrainians on social networks and elsewhere.
Words
As people re-read their posts and tweets from last year, they reflected on the tumultuous time and the changes set in motion by the protests.
Myroslava Petsa, journalist:
Wow, it's been a year already. One year of hope and strength, happiness and misery, fear and freedom. Of revolution and war #Euromaidan
— Myroslava Petsa (@myroslavapetsa) November 20, 2014
Taras Demchuk, blogger:
рівно рік тому, писав таке #євромайдан http://t.co/bIX0mUO9uJ pic.twitter.com/ad2Rdc7Coh
— Тарас Демчук (@tdyoma) November 21, 2014
exactly a year ago, i wrote this.
[screenshot text: thinking of going to #euromaidan, no idea if this will change anything, but enough silence.]
Maxon Pugovsky, blogger, IT-expert:
What a year!Мы начали жить настоящей жизнью,а ватники потеряли стабильность …Но платим тысячами смертей. Увы,такова цена: Воля або смерть!
— Maxon Pugovsky (@max0n) November 21, 2014
What a year! We've started to really live, and vatniki (derogatory term for pro-Russians) have lost their stability… But we pay with thousands of deaths. Alas, that is the price: Freedom or death!
Kateryna Kruk, microblogger:
after #euromaidan I know that you can be robbed of everything, except of your Dignity pic.twitter.com/HcXysq7Uuj
— Kateryna_Kruk (@Kateryna_Kruk) November 20, 2014
Yevheni Kuzmenko, journalist, on Facebook:
Всю весну и лето некогда было вспоминать о Майдане: новые впечатления, новые тревоги, новые герои интервью и репортажей. Некогда было поднять голову, осмотреться.
Но сейчас, когда начинается парад годовщин, Майдан в моей памяти начал оттаивать.
[…]
Да, ребята, это было лучшее время в моей жизни. И я рад, что те воспоминания оттаивают. Это ведь в “Гарри Поттере” воспоминания хранятся в такой себе хреновине под названием “pensive”? Вот пускай моя страничка в ФБ и станет на время хранилищем воспоминаний о Майдане.
All spring and summer there was no time to remember Maidan: new impressions, new fears, new heroes for interviews and reports. No time to raise your head, look around.
But now, when the anniversaries begin, Maidan is thawing again in my memory.
[…]
Guys, this was the best time in my life. And I'm glad that the memories are thawing. Isn't this in “Harry Potter” where you could keep memories in a thing called “the pensieve”? So let my FB page become a temporary pensieve for memories of Maidan.
Arkadiy Babchenko, Russian military journalist, on Facebook:
Не верю, что уже год прошел. Вспоминаю. Все – холод, вечная вода в ботинках, вонь копотной гари покрышек, замерзший смалец на морозе, брусчатка, медики, подготовки к штурмам, раненные, бой барабанов, “Героям слава!”, депутаты, ночь, горящий Дом профсоюзов, вечные разрывы, головная боль от них, Грушевского, Институтская, вонь перцового газа, тошнота, кровь на асфальте, погибшие, пробитые пулями щиты, накрытые одеялами тела около гостиницы… И – перемога. […] До деталей все помнится. Как вчера. Ничего не забылось. Потому что это было важно. Очень важно.
Несмотря ни на что, Майдан – лучшее, что было в моей жизни.
I can't believe it's been a year already. I remember. Everything—the cold, constant water in my shoes, the stink of soot from tires, frozen lard in the cold, the cobblestones, the medics, preparing for storming, the wounded, the drum beat, “Glory to Heroes!”, the MPs, the night, the burning Trade Union building, constant explosions, headache, Hrushevskogo, Instytutska, the smell of pepper spray, nausea, blood on the concrete, the dead, the shields ridden with bullet holes, bodies covered with blankets near the hotel… And—the victory. […] I remember every detail. As if it was yesterday. Nothing is forgotten. Because it was important. Very important.
Despite everything, Maidan is the best thing that happened in my life.
People
People were the driving force of the protests, as they organized grassroots initiatives to coordinate information, food, security and medical help. To remember those who were killed during the Euromaidan violence, Wikipedia authors have put together a list of the fallen, with information about each person.
For the one-year anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity, as Euromaidan protests later came to be known, Ukrainian media outlets created touching profiles of some of the most recognizable (and less known) faces of the movement. Ukrainska Pravda published short, but emotional interviews with Euromaidan activists in its Names of the Revolution project.
Імена Революції http://t.co/T19oa1frzm via @ukrpravda_news #євромайдан #евромайдан #Euromaidan pic.twitter.com/NZkDhHrOvq
— Голубовська правда (@golubovsky) November 21, 2014
Names of the Revolution.
RFE/RL also published a series of conversations with people who participated in the Euromaidan events, titled Faces of the Maidan.
Photos
Almost everyone has photos from their days on the Maidan, and many social network users went digging through their archives to reflect on what they captured.
The best photos from Maidan are out of focus, said journalist Olena Churanova, who shared this image from last winter on Instagram.
На самых лучших фотографиях нет резкости.. Приходя на Майдан после Вильнюса я не верила, что людей будет больше. Мы приходили, стояли под зонтиками, слушали про ЕС и думали, а что же дальше.. Свой выбор показал Янукович, разогнав смельчаков, ночующих под стеллой. В следующие дни свой выбор сделали украинцы. На этой фотографии я была как никогда счастлива и горда, что родилась здесь, на этой земле, среди этих свободных людей. Ps. И может именно поэтому к нам через месяц решил присоединиться Даня. #ukraine #euromaydan #всебудедобре
A photo posted by Olena Churanova (@churano) on
The best photos are out of focus… Coming to Maidan after Vilnius, I didn't believe there would be more people. We came, stood under umbrellas, listened about the EU and thought, what next… Yanukovych showed his hand by dispersing the brave souls who camped out under the stella. Ukrainians made their choice during the days after that. In this photo I was proud and happy as never before, that I was born here, on this land, among these free people. […]
Miriam Dragina, poet, activist and volunteer, said she's sorry that she took so few photos of herself and her friends on the Maidan, as they were “busy with other things” as she posts this self-reflection on Facebook:
Photo by Miriam Dragina on Facebook.
Microblogger Kateryna Kruk reminded her followers of the importance of empathy and humanity in the protests:
#euromaidan taught me here's nothing more important than remaining Human even when the whole world is falling apart pic.twitter.com/axq3IczRio
— Kateryna_Kruk (@Kateryna_Kruk) November 20, 2014
Mustafa Nayyem, former journalist and activist, now an MP, also said he didn't have many photos from the protests, as he was mostly busy streaming, and shared this photo of himself at work by Sergii Morgunov:
Photo of Mustafa Nayyem by Sergii Morgunov on Facebook.
Taras Ratushnyy, an activist and cameraman, shared a photo that best captures the memory of the soot from tires burning in central Kyiv, as protesters built fiery barricades:
Photo by Taras Ratushnyy from Facebook.
Urban activist Maria Lebedeva posted this shot from a recent remembrance ceremony, in honor of all those lost in the struggle for dignity:
Photo by Maria Lebedeva on Facebook.
Video
Documentaries by Ukrainian filmmakers, like All Things Ablaze (available to watch online) and Euromaidan. Rough Cut, have been making the circuits of international film festivals and come as especially poignant reminders of the events of winter 2013-2014.
Poster for Euromaidan. Rough Cut. Image from Facebook.
Others, like the Babylon'13 collective, are just releasing their long-form documentary, Stronger Than Arms, to the Ukrainian public, after producing scores of short-form documentary videos available on their YouTube channel.
Live video streams were a key feature of Euromaidan coverage, and outlets like HromadskeTV worked through their livestream footage to create a chronicle of the most important moments of the protests as they began.
Music artists in Ukraine are also reacting to the anniversary of the protests. This emotional music video by singer Jamala and Andriy Khlyvnyuk, frontman of local band Boombox, called “Zlyva (Rain Shower),” and containing intense footage from the Euromaidan protests, has been shared on social networks hundreds of times since premiering a few days ago.
Social media
Social media played an important part in Euromaidan, as protesters used them to organize, mobilize and spread information throughout Ukraine and the world. It's no wonder then, that Ukrainians naturally feel like sharing their feelings and recollections on their accounts and pages on this important day. Whether with grief, with pain, with joy or with hope, Ukrainian Internet users remember Euromaidan as a time that has changed many of them—and their country—forever.
Ретвит, если Майдан – лучшее в твоей жизни событие. pic.twitter.com/MAkPG28Zxv
— ЄВРОМАЙДАН (@euromaidan) November 21, 2014
Retweet if Maidan has been the best event in your life.

author: Tanya Lokot


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University Teacher Unpopular with Islamist Hardliners Is Killed in Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Picture of Rajshahi University Campus in a misty winter morning. Image from Flickr by Kamrul Hasan. December 16, 2013 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Professor Shafiul Islam, a professor of sociology in Rajshahi University was attacked with a machete by unknown assailants outside his home in Rajshahi city on November 15. He died from his injuries in a nearby hospital some hours later. According to news reports, the professor led a push to ban students wearing full-face veils at his university in 2012, stoking the wrath of Islamist hardliners. The professor argued that full-face veils made it difficult to identify individual students and that they could even be used to cheat on university examinations.
Rajshahi is a major urban and industrial centre of North Bengal and is located on the river Padma near Bangladesh-India border. Rajshahi University is a stronghold of the religious political party Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chatra Shibir. Pro-Jamaat newspapers in 2010 reported that Shafiul Islam had banned the burqa as the then-chair of the university’s sociology department, a policy that offended religious sentiments among many in the majority-Muslim country. At that time, Shafiul had sent rejoinders to some of those newspapers claiming that he had only expelled one female student from his class because she was cheating using her burqa.
A previously unknown Islamist group claimed responsibility for Shafiul's killing, after opening a Facebook page late on Saturday:
Screenshot of the Facebook page
Their status reads:
Our Mujahideens have killed an ‘atheist’ of Rajshahi University who had banned wearing burqa in his department.
Threat
Public outrage over the assassination has since become palpable both online and off:
Protest rage after #Jihadist kills pro-sufi university teacher, 3rd secularist teacher to die in #Rajshahi university http://t.co/tf2IxA6iAK
— SALEEM SAMAD (@saleemsamad) November 17, 2014
Update: Prof #SafiulIslamMurder: Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner withdrawn http://t.co/RosuJGWr1N pic.twitter.com/yU9j4O56cr
— The Daily Star (@dailystarnews) November 17, 2014
34 arrested over Rajshahi University teacher murder…long way to go… http://t.co/vpfxDwuLmn
— probirbidhan (@probirbidhan) November 17, 2014
According to reports, the Facebook page generated more than 2,000 likes from people who appeared to support the killing. In a long status update on November 17, posts on the page hinted at who might be the next targets of the group. One status update gave an exhaustive list of potential targets including university and secondary school faculty, public representatives and local opinion leaders, heads of organisations, judges, lawyers, doctors, intellectuals, journalists, and even actors.
After the Facebook page link was published by various media outlets, netizens flagged the page using Facebook's abuse reporting system, arguing that it violates the platform's Community Standards. The first section of Facebook’s Community Standards reads:
Safety is Facebook's top priority. We remove content and may escalate to law enforcement when we perceive a genuine risk of physical harm, or a direct threat to public safety. You may not credibly threaten others, or organize acts of real-world violence.
The Community Standards also address harassment:
Facebook does not tolerate bullying or harassment. We allow users to speak freely on matters and people of public interest, but take action on all reports of abusive behavior directed at private individuals. Repeatedly targeting other users with unwanted friend requests or messages is a form of harassment.
Nevertheless, in the days following the page's publication, Facebook responded to abuse reports with generic messages such as these:
Screenshot of Facebook's reply
Screenshot of Facebook's reply.
Netizens persisted in reporting the page as an abuse of Facebook's Community Standards. On Nov. 18, 2014 Facebook removed the page.
Screenshot of Facebook reply.
Police say that they believe the killing may have been perpetrated by militants backed by the conservative religious Jamaat-e-Islami group.
Rajshahi University has seen killings of its teachers Professor Mohammad Yunus in 2004 and Professor Taher Ahmed in 2006. Pranab Kumar Panday writes in an op-ed in the Daily Star:
It is really unfortunate to see that public university teachers are being harassed and killed very often. [..] These incidents are creating a sense of insecurity among the teachers of public universities. They are also indicative of the deterioration of law and order in the country.
Meanwhile, the threats continue. The Facebook page that claimed responsibility for killing Shafiul Islam recently announced their next target. The post reads:
Next Target . . . teacher of Bogra Govt. Women`s College. Offense: Banning burka. Offense date: September 2014. Punishment: Death. Chance: Yes. All atheists who oppose Islam be careful.

author: Rezwan


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Murder of Beauty Queen and Her Sister Reminds Honduras of the Horror of Machismo Violence · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Image widely shared on Twitter.
On the same day that María José Alvarado Muñoz was due to depart for London to represent Honduras in the Miss World 2014 pageant, her and her sister Sofía Trinidad's bodies were found in Cablotales close to Aguagua River in the country's north. Both women had been shot to death.
The sisters were reported missing six days earlier on Thursday, November 13, after they attended a birthday celebration for Sofía Trinidad's boyfriend, Plutarco Antonio Ruíz, who is accused of the murders.
“We can indeed confirm that these are the two young sisters who were buried in the area of Cablotales town in Santa Bárbara,” Criminal Investigation Director Leandro Osorio told Tegucigalpa-based Radio América. The bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition, after being buried for several days, he added.
Besides Ruíz, police also have a man named Aris Valentín Maldonado Mejía in custody. Authorities believe, however, that more individuals might be involved. Local media have reported that an argument between Ruíz and Sofía Trinidad may have led to the violence.
Osorio said that Ruíz led police to the place where the bodies were found. He also said that the alleged murder weapon was confiscated and that the vehicle presumably used to transport the bodies has been impounded.
The Miss World organization issued a statement from their chairwoman, Julia Morley, in reaction to the news:
To everyone around the world who has been touched by the awful news from Honduras this morning.
We are devastated by this terrible loss of two young women, who were so full of life. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of María José Alvarado & Sofía Trinidad at this time of grief.
We are receiving messages of condolences and support from our Miss World family across the world, who all share our sadness at such a tragedy.
We will be holding a special service with all of the Miss World contestants on Sunday, where we will be honoring the lives of María José Alvarado and Sofía Trinidad, and say prayers for them and their family.
- With Love Julia Morley, Chairman Miss World Organisation.
Merly Eguigure, the coordinator for human rights organization Movimiento de Paz Visitación Padilla, remarked that many times men feel overshadowed when women stand out more than them and claimed that 98 percent of murders of women in Honduras go unpunished.
On Twitter, users have expressed their grief over the crime and posted images and information:
@alvarado_majo pic.twitter.com/RBGqnHMB9y
— Carlos N Agurcia (@CarlosNAgurcia) noviembre 19, 2014
María José Alvarado (1995-2014)
Today, Honduras misses your eyes.
Descansa en paz @alvarado_majo #MissHondurasMundo2014 Dios protege honduras libralo de toda maldad ! pic.twitter.com/GTrhZUfRNi“
— Rommel Rubi (@rommelrubi) noviembre 19, 2014
Rest in peace, María José Alvarado, Miss Honduras World 2014. God, protect Honduras and deliver us from all evil!
La tragedia de María José y Sofía Alvarado debe hacernos reaccionar. No más silencio ante la violencia. Sí A LA PAZ. pic.twitter.com/oJTC20chYE
— Miguel Calix (@chelecalix) noviembre 21, 2014
The tragedy of María José and Sofía Alvarado must make us react. No more silence in the face of violence. YES TO PEACE.
One user tweeted about ending every beauty pageant:
@DebbieReynaud @Bettina_ciel @alvarado_majo Ya que están suspendan los concursos de belleza para siempre. Es una vergüenza mundial eso. — CapitánOrto2020 (@CapitanOrto2020) noviembre 19, 2014
HONDURAS IS MOURNING for the irreparable loss of Miss Honduras World.
Now that we are on the topic, may beauty pageants be suspended for good. That is a worldwide shame.
According to data from the National Autonomous University of Honduras’ Observatory of Violence, 14.6 women were murdered in 2013 for every 100,000 residents. Honduras has the highest rate of violent female deaths in the world.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Dream Trip Around the World Becomes a Nightmare for an American Tourist in East Timor · Global Voices
Manuel Ribeiro

Stacey Addison detained in East Timor. Photo: Facebook. Reproduced with permission.
Stacey Addison is from Portland, USA where she worked as a veterinarian for ten years. About 20 months ago, 41 year-old Stacey decided to sell all of her belongings and leave for a round-the-world adventure.
What was meant to be a dream trip that began in January 2013, is now turning into a nightmare. Stacey Addison crossed the border from Indonesia to East Timor, in a shared taxi, in September 2014. Upon arrival in Dili, one of the occupants of the taxi asked to stop at a DHL postal office to collect a parcel. The packet contained drugs. At that moment, the nightmare of the tourist who finds themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time begins. She asks on a Facebook page, created by her mother, Bernadette Kero, and friends, for support.
After the first detention [Tetum], being searched and spending 4 nights in a prison in Dili, Stacey was freed but forbidden from leaving the country. Her passport was confiscated and the case referred to the Public Prosecutor for investigation.
Wrong place wrong time for poor Stacey Addison who jumped in a #taxi & landed in jail #HelpStacey http://t.co/w4hf5B6ka4
— CabFare (@CabFare) November 12, 2014
On October 27, the investigation was interrupted. The prosecutor charged with the case was dismissed, caught up in the recent events which are shaking the legal system in East Timor [pt].
On October 29, the vet was detained again but this time transferred to the women's prison in Gleno, a few hours from Dili. The American tourist found an arrest warrant in her name waiting for her. She says that she was never formally accused or interrogated by the Public Prosecutor.
Women's prison in Gleno, East Timor. Photo: Facebook
Her lawyer, Paulo Remédios, declared to the North American press that Addison's detention violates international human rights law.
The North American embassy in Dili, which currently has no ambassador, has told the press that it cannot intervene in the country's legal system. However, the American government is under pressure to intervene in the process and also to appoint a new ambassador to East Timor. An Embassy source confirmed to Global Voices that “the United States of America are represented in East Timor by the foreign affairs attaché, Katherine Dueholm, while we await the final appointment of an ambassador”.
A wave of solidarity initiated by Stacey's friends and family has begun to take shape on Twitter:
#HelpStacey https://t.co/GBF4M8EQ4C My friend's friend, Stacey is trapped in East Timor after getting in a cab with a stranger…Help her.
— Kristin (@krocks) September 28, 2014
@StateDept – what are you doing to help free Dr. Stacey Addison in East Timor? #helpstacey As a traveler, I would want to know you will help — Reyna Shine Empower (@dthequeen50) November 8, 2014
Veterinarian Stacy Addison has been wrongfully imprisoned in Timor Leste. http://t.co/Rea3NULSkQ @EleanorNorton & Karen Stanton #helpstacey — Chris Miller DVM (@dcvet) November 10, 2014
Dr Stacey Addison spends birthday in Indonesian jail after drug sting nightmare http://t.co/rqadHkjF16 via @MailOnline. #helpstacey
— Jamie Arzuagas (@JArzuagas) November 8, 2014
http://t.co/b6fJJVzhpZ #helpstacey Let's see if the govt will do its job now and help her. Title 22, paragraph 1732 U.S. Code
— Faye Higbee (@HigbeeDFaye) November 5, 2014

author: Manuel Ribeiro


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Hossein Derakhshan Released from Prison · Global Voices
Farid

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, on Thursday pardoned the  jailed blogger Hossein Derakhshan after his six years.Derakhshan thanked God, Khamenei and his family on his Google Plus page.

author: Farid


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How the Tunisian Electoral Authority Robbed Me of the Right to Vote · Global Voices
Wafa Ben Hassine

Tunis, Tunisia. 26th October 2014 — A female voter casts her ballot at a polling station in Tunis during the Tunisian Parliamentary election. — Polling stations closed at 6.00pm after voters turned out to cast their ballots in Tunisia's parliamentary elections to elect 217 members of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People.
Photograph by Chedly Ben Ibrahim. Copyright: Demotix
It all started when I registered to cast my absentee vote in Tunisia’s 2014 legislative elections in New York City. I live in Denver, so I figured it was the best place to vote, as I can usually find pretty cheap air tickets to the Big Apple. Usually, but not always: sadly, I never managed to make it to New York in October to cast my vote. The presidential elections in November, however, would find me in The Hague, and as Tunisia’s Independent High Electoral Commission (ISIE) offered all Tunisian citizens living abroad the option to change their voting location, I decided to change my location to there.
The process was simple enough: send in a copy of your passport, proof of your original registration, and fill out a form. Send the documents to your regional representatives, and they'd send them back to Tunisia for the ISIE to review. I submitted my documentation to the regional office, and they responded courteously confirming that I had submitted all the required paperwork and my file was complete. They would send it to the main authority in Tunis, and wait to hear back.
Maybe you're wondering how I could choose so casually to switch my voting location from a city in one country to a city way over on another continent. Under ISIE rules New York and The Hague part of the same electoral district. Districts for Tunisians living abroad are as follows: France 1; France 2; Germany; Italy; Arab world countries; Americas and rest of Europe. And in theory, you should be able to vote at any voting location within the same district, correct?
Not according to the ISIE. For the 2014 legislative elections, the ISIE changed the rules and made everyone re-register in order to vote; and if you re-registered to vote in New York (or Houston, or Vienna, or any other city), you better believe that that exact city is where you would be going to vote.
On November 13, the ISIE released the names of those “selected” to vote. My name was not on the list—and neither were the names of many, many others in my district who had requested a change. In the Montreal office, only three people were accommodated. Three. And we were not given any reason or justification as to why our names weren't there.
To say I feel furious is an understatement. I am a full Tunisian citizen who has yet to vote even once, because of the incompetence of the Tunisian electoral authority. I was so excited to finally be voting for the first time, to be exercising the most fundamental of my rights. But the ISIE decided that it could arbitrarily choose who could vote and who could not. It decided that it has the power to rob citizens of their rights.
The regional representatives did not have much to say but remind those rejected that it is “up to the ISIE” to decide whose request could be accommodated. A message posted on their Facebook page reads: “The fact that your file is complete does not guarantee acceptance by ISIE. Almost every day we have published on our page that only ISIE has the power to authorize the change. We understand your frustration, but we unfortunately have no more answers than you do.”
i also have to wonder whether this has anything to do with politics. Though I can't know for certain whether my application was rejected as a result of my political views, I do know this: the ISIE has made it very difficult for Tunisians abroad to exercise their right to vote, and several instances were reported during October's legislative elections where certain individuals were unable to locate their names at the offices where they were registered and were therefore rendered unable to vote. There were also reports of bureau members convincing friends (usually sharing the same political convictions) to go to vote and fill up the voting booths.
So given how bad the legislative elections were—extreme disorganization reigned supreme in the offices abroad, I anticipate that tomorrow's presidential elections will be even worse. The saddest part is that I have not felt this angry at my country since the time of Ben Ali. Back then I felt Tunisian was constantly rejecting me, making me feel like a second-class citizen every time I tried to open my mouth about this or that, or to exercise very basic rights and duties.
Today, I feel the very same way. I feel I have been treated unjustly, I feel robbed, and I call on the judicial authorities in Tunisia to initiate an investigation and find answers to the following question: why were the location change requests denied? On what basis were Tunisian citizens forfeited their right to vote?
Wafa Ben Hassine is a Tunisian-American law student specializing in International Law and Internet Law. She is an advocate for global human rights with a special focus on the Arab world.

author: Wafa Ben Hassine


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Japan’s Snap Elections Overshadow a Faltering Economy · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Election campaigners in Japan (Kanako Otsuji and a campaign car for Councillors election, 2007) Image from Flickr user m-louis CC BY-SA 2.0
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has dissolved the Lower House of Japan's parliament and called a snap election for mid-December.
The snap election comes after Japan's economy officially slid into recession on Monday, November 17.
国家衰退の道から日本を救う最後のチャンスが今度の選挙にかかっている（筆者マイケル・オースリン氏）⇒【オピニオン】衆院選で安倍敗北なら長期衰退に http://t.co/u1WKlsvpyD（AP） pic.twitter.com/3V3mehNTC0
— ウォール・ストリート・ジャーナル日本版 (@WSJJapan) November 19, 2014
This may be the last chance to save Japan from national decline, says Michael Auslin [Opinion, English article here] “If Abe defeated in upcoming parliamentary elections, all hope for reform lost.” (Wall Street Journal).
It has been two years since the last Japanese election returned Abe and Japan's Liberal Democratic Party to the government. Under his current mandate, Abe still had more than another two years, until 2017, to call the next election.
Abe says his decision to call a snap election is about seeking a mandate to delay a planned sales tax increase, which now would further slow the economy.
A preliminary sales tax increase this past spring is already considered the chief culprit for Japan's current economic contraction.
Another possible motivation for calling a snap election is the current disarray of Japan's opposition parties, making them weak opponents in the immediate future.
While some commentators are calling Abe's move “self-serving”, others think Abe is facing political oblivion anyway and that the snap election may be the spark that reignites Japan's moribund opposition.
In Japan, there are some complaints that election coverage so far ignores the big picture:
え？日本のメディアは景気後退って言わないの？
— kazukazu88 (@kazukazu881) November 17, 2014
Wha? Why is there no mention of Japan's recession in the media?
Many prominent Twitter commentators are wondering if the election has swept under the rug the main story: Japan's faltering economy.
日本のメディアでは、景気を「足踏み」と書くが、世界のメディアは既に「リセッション（景気後退）」と書いている。 この差で個人投資家は大損ばかりさせられている。#fx #nhk #nisa #nikkei #nhk #株 — snowpeak70 (@snowpeak70) November 18, 2014
In the Japanese media, the economy is “just ticking along”, but elsewhere in the world the story is “Japan is now in recession.” This gap in perception is slaughtering individual investors. #fx #nhk #nisa #nikkei #nhk #stocks
むしろこの景気後退が想定外とするメディアの報道に驚く — Dr. Wiston O'Boogie (@pelecyan) November 17, 2014
I'm more astonished that the media itself seems surprised that this recession somehow came out of the blue.
内閣支持率が高くて、野党がボロボロで、消費税増税延期をダシにして絶対勝てる選挙を行い、その結果として消費税増税延期の国民の承認を得て自分の責任を回避するとは。安倍さんも「お主も悪よのう」ですな。 — Ito (@y__ito) November 19, 2014
Seeking a mandate to delay raising the consumption tax is just a pretext. With the Cabinet approval rating is still high, and Opposition parties still in disarray, Abe is holding an election he is certain to win. He'll then use the mandate to say that it's the public that wants to hold off on raising the consumption tax, rather than admitting that Abenomics is a failure.
Other voices recognize what appears to be Abe's pure pragmatism:
多分、安倍さんはあと2年じゃやりたいこと出来へんって思ったから確実に選挙に勝てる今のうちに解散して、内閣の期間を伸ばしたんかな — 孤刃（コノハ）@魔理沙love (@evangerionpokem) November 18, 2014
With just over two years left in his current mandate, Abe probably realizes he doesn't have enough time to do all the things he wants to do. So, dissolve the Diet and extend the life of his government.
あ、なるほど、絶対に勝てる今衆議院選挙すれば、あと四年安定政権ができるのか。 #nhk24 — yasu_kobayashi (@yasu_kobayashi) November 18, 2014
Ah, I get it! Abe is bound to win the upcoming election, which gives his government another four more years of political stability.
Japan's recession and snap election are competing in the news with another major story: Japan is experiencing a butter shortage.


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Opposition Representatives Propose “Freedom from Fear” Law in Serbia · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

Nineteen representatives of the Serbian National Assembly filed a proposal for a new law that would guarantee Serbian citizens freedom from fear. While freedom from fear is allegedly a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, some ruling politicians in Serbia have brought it into question in recent months through apparent abuse of power.
Screenshot of a page of the official proposal of the Law on Freedom from Fear, as posted by Deputy Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly Gordana Čomić on Slideshare, used with permission.
The proposal comes from opposition assembly representatives who are members of the Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka – DS) and the New Party (Nova stranka – NS). Of the 250 representatives in the Serbian Assembly, elected in an early parliamentary election in March 2014, 158 are members of the Serbian Progressive Party (Srpska napredna stranka – SNS), led by current Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić. Prime Minister Vučić and his collaborators have often been in the news throughout 2014 for pressuring media and individuals. Vučić has denied these claims, but some of his cabinet's practices are becoming apparent.
Journalist Milena Knezevic wrote for Index on Censorship earlier in 2014:
Index has tracked the media freedom situation in Serbia since the early days of the current government. There have been reports of a journalist being interrogated by police for sharing a Facebook post, as well as physical and verbal attacks — often with impunity. But indirect control of media, smear campaigns and other methods of covert “soft censorship” also pose a serious challenge to Serbian press freedom. “Milošević never muzzled the media this perfidiously. His methods were far less sophisticated and everything was out in the open,” said Beckovic [a prominent journalist]. And it seems her colleagues agree that censorship is prevalent. Ninety per cent of journalists responding to a recent survey said censorship and self-censorship does exist in Serbian media, while 73% and 95%, respectively, said the media does not report objectively and critically.
The full proposal for the Law on Freedom from Fear, filed on November 20, 2014, was posted by Democratic Party member and Deputy Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly Gordana Čomić on her personal Slideshare account. Part of the submitted document explains the reasons for bringing forth the proposal:
II Razlozi za donošenje zakona
Razlozi za donošenje ovog zakona sadržani su, pre svega, u potrebi da se zaštite Ustavom zajemčeni slobode građana u slučajevima kada su te slobode ugrožene od strane organa javne vlasti[…] Smatramo da niko, a naročito organi javne vlasti, ne smeju da zloupotrebom ovlašćenja prilikom obavljanja poslova iz svoje nadležnosti zastrašuju građane Republike Srbije, i stvaraju stanje straha i neizvesnosti, pri čemu se građani prisiljavaju protiv svoje volje da nešto čine ili ne čine.
II Reasons for passing the law
The reasons for passing this law consist of, above all, the necessity to protect civic freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution in cases when those freedoms are violated by governments authorities[…] We deem that no one, especially government authorities, is allowed to incite fear in citizens of the Republic of Serbia through abusing authority while conducting duties within their jurisdiction, or create a state of fear and incertitude, forcing citizens to, against their will, do or not do something.
In a short conversation with Global Voices on November 22, 2014, Deputy Speaker Gordana Čomić said that she hoped all National Assembly representatives would understand not only the importance of passing this law, but the importance of bringing it forth before the Assembly for discussion at the soonest possible date. In accordance with Assembly procedures, the soonest possible date for the proposed law to reach the floor of the National Assembly is 15 days from the date of filing, while Ms. Čomić expects the date for discussing the proposed law in the Assembly will be on December 10, 2014.

author: Danica Radisic


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Over 2000 Macedonian Students Celebrated International Student Day in Protest · Global Voices
Emilija Petreska

Over two thousand students took to the streets of the Macedonian capital Skopje on November 17, 2014 to march against the decision of the government to impose external testing in the country's universities. The protest march began in front of the St. Cyril and Methodius university main building. Students then proceeded to block streets around the University and marched towards the Ministry of Education and Science, with occasional stops in front of the Government building and the Student Parliament.
Student march in Skopje, Macedonia. Photo by Marjan Zabrcanec, used with permission.
In a speech before the march, members of a student movement called Student Plenum expressed the students’ collective outrage at what many have called the destruction of higher education in the country. The students activists called for other students to “wake up” and asked attendees not to succumb to provocations from the ruling party and others.
"OMG, they've killed the Higher Education!" – student march in #Macedonia @Mnemosynee_ @sibelita__ #СтудентскиМарш! pic.twitter.com/Nj4Vvn641X
— Macedonia in English (@Macedonia_en) November 17, 2014
"The last student will switch the light off at the airport" [departing #Macedonia] via @Mnemosynee_#СтудентскиМарш pic.twitter.com/47M8yy6Ebd
— Macedonia in English (@Macedonia_en) November 18, 2014
Student Parliament is an NGO which nominally serves as an official representative of the student body and is favored by the government as such. The university students become its members by default. The students symbolically “buried” the Student Parliament during the protest because of its failure to take responsibility and a position on the matter, as the legitimate representative of the student body. They laid wreaths at the doors of the Student Parliament headquarters and called on members of the Parliament to come out, but found only locked doors.
The last destination of the march was the Ministry of Education and Science, where the students then asked Minister Abdilaqim Ademi to come out and face them. Since there was no response, and some the participants shouted demands for his resignation. The Student Plenum later left a letter addressed to the Minister with their official demands. In the letter, the students once again expressed the arguments considering the external testing which according to them is contrary to the right for education and the autonomy of the educational institutions. They believe that such a move is unnecessary.
The protest was peaceful, with no incidents and with strong police protection. The massive student march in Skopje was also officially the students’ celebration of November 17, commonly marked as International Day of Students in Macedonia and other countries.
Previously, Student Plenum organized four meetings during which students discussed this government decision and other university-related matters. The meetings were held in different departments of the University in question and the number of participants increased at every new meeting. Their Facebook page gathered over five thousand supporters in just one month and serves as a place where they will announce future meetings and activities.
In addition, the movement's panel organized two, as they called them, “guerrilla actions” where they set banners with messages from the students in public view. One such action addressed the participants of traditional student hike on nearby Vodno mountain, asking them “Good morning students, are you awake?”
The vast majority of the Macedonian online community applauded the march, and expressed outrage against the muted coverage of the event in the country's media. Using the hashtag #СтудентскиМарш (#StudentMarch), Twitter and Facebook users attempted to add to its public visibility on social networks. Many local activists stated that the youth brought hope of breaking the overwhelming apathy grappling Macedonia, which has been ranked on of Europe's poorest countries in recent years.
The protest seems to have had tangible results, although the Minister of Education attempted to publicly label the protesters as “controlled by the opposition”, stating that “only political parties are allowed to demand resignations from ministers”. Student Plenum denied these allegations. Several days after the protest, high government representatives started giving conciliatory statements about the protest, attempting to pacify the protesters by announcing a “softer” version of external testing, which would be implemented as of 2017. Student Plenum responded that they do will not accept any such “amnesty” because their goal is to save future generations external testing, which they deem as unjust.

author: Emilija Petreska


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Paddington Bear Visits the Land of His Peruvian Forefathers · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Image on Flickr by user Mark Kenny (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Paddington Bear, the lovable fictional character in children's literature popular in the United Kindgonm, arrived in Peru, the land of his forefathers. According to the character's story, Paddington was found at Paddington Railway Station in London by the Brown family. Because, apparently, “no one understands his Peruvian name”, he becomes known as Paddington after the railway station in which he was found.
In a press release from the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, a campaign by Promperú, which is part of the ministry, was made public:
[…] para promover a nuestro país como uno de los destinos más fascinantes de América del Sur y del mundo, incluye esta visita durante la cual el Oso Paddington pondrá en vitrina nuestras culturas vivas, historia milenaria, biodiversidad, gastronomía y celebraciones.
[…] to promote our country as one of the most fascinating places in South America and the world, during this visit Paddington Bear will highlight our lively cultures, millenary history, biodiversity, cuisine and celebrations.
So, Paddington Bear was seen all around Lima:
El oso Paddington en la Plaza de Armas de nuestra querida capital. ¡Anímate y dale el encuentro! #PaddingtonEnPerú pic.twitter.com/QxiD6PujJJ
— Marca PERÚ (@marcaPERU) noviembre 17, 2014
Paddington Bear in our capital city Main Square. Go ahead and meet him!
#OsoPaddington presente en Primera Feria Internacional Beca Presidente de la República http://t.co/rNPAqDqRxv pic.twitter.com/ArMWJ0tLJE — Radio San Borja (@RadioSanBorja) noviembre 15, 2014
Paddington Bear attends First International Fair President of the Republic Scholarship
Me crucé con el oso #Paddington y tan solo puedo concluir que debe estar a baño maría en ese disfraz. #frita pic.twitter.com/EaPHDWwEY4
— RUF (@rafaelurfle) noviembre 13, 2014
I came across Paddington Bear and I can only conclude he must be boiling under that costume.
Hoy nos visitó en la redacción el #OsoPaddington pic.twitter.com/oOz8SQAPUD
— Agencia Andina (@Agencia_Andina) noviembre 13, 2014
Today, Paddington Bear visited our newsroom.


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Waited All Year for That Christmas Cake? If You’re in Japan, Welcome to the Butter Shortage · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

There are fears Christmas in Japan may become linked with canola-base margarine. Photo by David Schofield, February 24, 2011. CC 2.0.
Japan is in the midst of a butter shortage, which may have terrible consequences for lovers of a traditional winter treat in Japan, the Christmas cake.
【クリスマス中止のお知らせ】今年は深刻なバター不足によりクリスマスケーキが買えなくなる可能性が浮上 http://t.co/ZUlRQJeBzn pic.twitter.com/De8HhnGUKm
— はちま起稿 (@htmk73) November 12, 2014
Attention: Christmas has been postponed. Due to a critical shortage of butter in Japan, it may not be possible to buy traditional Christmas cakes in Japan this holiday season.
In Japan, while Christmas Day itself is not a holiday, Christmas Eve is traditionally observed by eating roast or deep-fried chicken and eating Christmas cake. Japanese Christmas cake is typically a sponge cake or shortcake, topped with strawberries and liberal amounts of whipped cream.
Butter cream is also an important topping:
ピアノのクリスマスケーキ！ 成城風月堂 バタークリームのピアノケーキ pic.twitter.com/GDfZNzmTSc
— クリスマスケーキ2014が町にやってきた (@Christmascake14) November 20, 2014
A piano Christmas cake! Seijofugetsudo‘s Butter Cream Piano Cake.
Japan's butter shortage first became an issue earlier in 2014, when, in May, the government promised to help import butter to meet consumer needs.
According Japan's agriculture ministry (translation here), the problem is linked to increasingly torrid summers in Japan that have left the nation’s cows exhausted and unable to produce milk.
An ageing population in Japan's rural regions, says the agriculture ministry, also means there are fewer dairy farmers:
There were some 82,000 dairy-farming households in fiscal 1985, raising around 2.11 million domestic animals. The figures have dropped since then, however, and the number of farmers this fiscal year totals around 19,000, with some 1.4 million animals. In just five years from fiscal 2009, the volume of raw milk production has dropped by about 5 percent, from 7.88 million metric tons to 7.45 million tons.
(For those interested, this NHK backgrounder, in Japanese, has more information about the challenges facing butter producers in Japan.)
Despite the imports, butter still seems to sell out quickly.
本当にバター売ってないな～。 pic.twitter.com/5C9r1cBC08
— 小林 健志 (@cobatake) November 15, 2014
Wow, they really have no butter for sale.
The shortage in the leadup to Christmas has coined a new Internet meme in Japan: Butter Refugees.
『バターがない(ﾟДﾟ)』全国から届く深刻なバター難民のツイート – NAVER まとめ http://t.co/HltjvzTH6g
— justastarter (@justastarter1) November 2, 2014
There isn't any butter! (ﾟДﾟ) “Butter refugees” from all over Japan are taking to Twitter to tweet about the crisis. NAVER Matome aggregates it all here: http://t.co/HltjvzTH6g
バター不足って一時的なものなのかと思って調べてみたら、かなり深刻じゃないか……
— 絆を紡ぐちよ (@bunealopunny) November 20, 2014
I thought the butter shortage was just a temporary thing, but the more I research the more it seems like it is a serious problem.
Many Twitter users are waking up to the fact that the butter shortage will indeed affect Christmas.
クリスマスを前に近所のスーパーからバターが消えた。生乳不足は恒常的になりつつあるのかもですが、クリスマスケーキシーズンが終わるまでの辛抱なのかなあ。
— うつぼざる (@marmot02) November 9, 2014
It's coming up to Christmas and butter has vanished from my neighbourhood supermarket. While this looks like it will be a chronic problem, I just hope we can somehow get through the Christmas season.
Not all is lost for those who need butter to create the perfect Christmas Cake, however. There are a variety of Japanese-language YouTube videos that explain how to make butter from scratch.