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In Venezuela, Activists Document Protests and Share Protection Tactics · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Calls to protest have intensified in many Venezuelan cities following a short-lived move by Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice to nullify parliament and grant its legislative powers to itself and President Nicolás Maduro.
“I'm finishing this April 6th sharing images and videos. [This day] will mark our lives” Photo: Luis Carlos Díaz. Used with permission.
The ruling sparked demonstrations and international outcry, and the court soon reversed its decision, but this didn't stop opposition groups and other organizations that have accused the government of being dictatorial — since long before the court ruling — from continuing to mobilize.
Street protests in Venezuela in recent days have been marked by arrests and violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces. Citizen and alternative media and advocacy groups have also been reporting abuses by police. PROVEA, an NGO dedicated to the defense of human rights in the country, published a recap of the protests on April 4:
Además de detener, las fuerzas de seguridad del Estado también dedicaron su jornada a reprimir la protesta con bombas lacrimógenas, gas pimienta y perdigones, violando el derecho a la manifestación pacífica, la libertad y la integridad personal y poniendo en peligro el derecho a la vida.
A pesar de la grave situación en la que se encuentra el derecho a la información, debido a la hegemonía comunicacional del gobierno, la sociedad civil levantó su voz mediante las redes sociales en conjunto con los medios de comunicación alternativos,
Apart from arrests, state security forces have devoted their workday to repressing protests with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets, violating the right to peaceful protest and personal freedom and integrity and jeopardizing the right to life.
Despite the serious situation of the right to information due to the government's communications hegemony, civil society raised their voice through social media together with alternative media outlets.
Demonstrations are ongoing and being documented online, particularly in the capital, Caracas, where supporters of the government and the opposition took to social media under the competing hashtags VzlaTrancaContraElGolpe, (“Venezuela blocks the coup”, mainly used by the opposition),  #NoSeasCarnedeCañon (“Don't be cannon fodder”, used mainly by pro-government groups) and #6Abril (April 6):
Reprimen marcha pacífica #VzlaTrancaContraElGolpe altura Francisco Fajardo #6Abril. Foto tomada por equipo de @_Provea. pic.twitter.com/RqhHjYRpwP
— Carlos Patiño Pereda (@carlosdpatino) April 6, 2017
They're repressing peaceful protests […] around Francisco Fajardo [avenue]. Photo taken by the PROVEA team.
La dictadura d unos pocos no podrá con la voluntad d millones q claman cambio. #VzlaTrancaContraElGolpepic.twitter.com/DMP8HQSlij
— EnkiVzla Disip IELMT (@EnkiVzla) April 6, 2017
The dictatorship of some won't tame the will of millions that are calling for change
In Venezuela, where censorship and limitations on free expression and internet access have become increasingly frequent, the use of citizen media has been key to organize, denounce and share accurate information about the protests.
Photo: Luis Carlos Díaz. Used with permission.
Acceso Libre (Open Access), a digital rights defense group, is collecting data and complaints about internet access problems:
Si van a tuitear sobre fallas de internet esta semana, usen el hashtag #internetVE e incluyan proveedor + ciudad + características del fallo
— Acceso Libre (@AccesoLibreRed) April 6, 2017
If you're tweeting about internet problems this week, use the hashtag #internetVE and include provider + city + details of the problem
They also reminded followers of the reach of the government:
Una vez en la protesta, ten presente que las autoridades pueden estar monitoreando las comunicaciones en el área.
— Acceso Libre (@AccesoLibreRed) April 6, 2017
Once in the protest, remember that authorities can be monitoring communications in the area.
They distributed infographics created by Article19 Mexico, advising protesters on how to protect themselves during confrontations with the police:
Tips de actuación ante malas prácticas policiales: pic.twitter.com/PDQTUZnzIw
— Acceso Libre (@AccesoLibreRed) April 6, 2017
Tweet: Tips on how to react when faced with police malpractice.
Image: Don't provoke. Document. Tone down your body language. When surrounded by police agents, keep calm and call your emergency contact. Identify yourself, have a dialogue. Cover your head and your chest. Try to move away.
And they explained effective ways to document abuses:
Tips básicos para documentar una protesta social: pic.twitter.com/W6mepnwbXS
— Acceso Libre (@AccesoLibreRed) April 6, 2017
Tweet: Basic tips to document a social protest.
Image: Keep your distance. Identify yourself. Wear comfortable clothes, a helmet, gas masks, handkerchief. [Keep] extra batteries, charger, phone credit. Write down an emergency number.
The Red Venezolana de Periodismo Ciudadano (Venezuelan Network of Citizen Journalism) also shared advice:
#6Abr Estas son las recomendaciones de los estudiantes para participar en una marcha pic.twitter.com/4HSFbGZvvL https://t.co/VFKotdQf5K
— Reporte Ya (@ReporteYa) April 6, 2017
Tweet: These are the students’ recommendations to participate in a protest.
Image: Use thick clothes. This will make it easier to protect yourself from possible beatings or rubber bullets. Take a face mask. They will be useful in case tear gas [is deployed]. Have an escape route. Before protesting keep an eye on a possible quick escape route in case of clashes. It's also useful to know places where you can take shelter. Just water is not enough [to clean tear gas from your eyes]. For tear gas, dilute with anti-acids (Maalox or milk of magnesia). Vinegar is an acid itself. If you use glasses, wear frames. Contact lenses tend to retain the chemicals and make the effect last.
Among these recommendations, some of the most shared were from journalist and Global Voices author Luis Carlos Díaz, who summarized best practices for documenting the protests and police abuse, such as accompanying images with the place, date, time and details of what they capture.
⚡ “Recomendaciones para cubrir protestas”https://t.co/9E1Xc4BwWq
— Luis Carlos Díaz (@LuisCarlos) April 6, 2017
Recommendations to cover protests.
He underlined the importance of making and preserving complaints:
Las violaciones de derechos humanos no prescriben y las responsabilidades son individuales.
Registra para el futuro, cuando haya democracia.
— Luis Carlos Díaz (@LuisCarlos) April 6, 2017
Human rights violations don't have a time limit and responsibilities are individual. Record for the future, when there will be democracy.
Some Venezuelans online are reflecting on the conflicts that have led the country into crisis, including how the discourse of political leaders and their supporters has taken the tension to new heights.
#LoDice Aristóbulo Istúriz: Aquí vamos a defender nuestra independencia con la sangre si es necesario. Los vamos a derrotar
— Efecto Cocuyo (@EfectoCocuyo) April 6, 2017
Said by Aristóbulo Istúriz: We'll defend our independence with blood if necessary. We'll defeat them.
#LoDice Diosdado Cabello: Cada vez que ellos digan que saldrán, nosotros también saldremos a las calles a defender la revolución
— Efecto Cocuyo (@EfectoCocuyo) April 6, 2017
Said by Diosdado Cabello: Every time they say they'll take the streets, we will also take the streets to defend the revolution.
Musicians and senior citizens were among those arrested. For some, like Willy McKey from the online news site Prodavinci, it was proof that the situation has reached a point of no return:
Han arrestado y golpeado a un músico. Han golpeado en la cara a un arquitecto de ochenta años […] Algo ha cambiado […] Algo grande […] Nos han traspuesto.
They have arrested and beaten a musician. They have hit an 80-year-old architect in the face. […] Something has changed […] Something big […] They've transposed us.
Meanwhile, Aglaia Berlutti recounted on publishing platform Medium how an almost-casual encounter with military officers patrolling the streets showed her how fear has become the norm:
El miedo. El miedo. El miedo en todas partes. Levanto la cabeza. Uno de los militares me mira con los ojos entrecerrados a la distancia. El arma apoyada en el muslo. El escudo de plexiglás bien visible.
Sigo caminando. Lo hago sin volverme a mirar. Preguntándome cuándo el miedo se hizo tan fuerte, invalidante. Insoportable. Cuando el miedo se volvió el único elemento reconocible en medio de esta cotidianidad absurda, lenta y turbia. Cuándo el miedo se hizo una forma de comprender al país.
Fear. Fear. Fear everywhere. I raise my head. One of the military officers squints when he looks at me from a distance. His weapon pressed against his thigh. The plexiglass shield very visible.
I keep walking. I walk without looking back. I ask myself when did fear become so strong, so invalidating. Unbearable. When did it become the only recognizable element in this absurd, slow, shady everyday life. When did it become a way to understand the country.


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Jamaican Prime Minister Apologizes to Rastafarian Community for 1963 Killings · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

The Rastafarian Flag; Image by dubdem sound system, CC BY 2.0
On April 4, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness made a historic apology for the “grave injustice” of an attack made on Rastafarians between April 11 and 12, 1963 — the year after Jamaica gained its independence from Great Britain. Alexander Bustamante was the country's prime minister then, and he headed the Jamaica Labour Party — the same party that Holness leads today. Eight Jamaicans were killed in Coral Gardens (near Montego Bay) on what has come to be called “Bad Friday”, since it was Easter at the time.
As many as 150 Rastafarians were rounded up, arrested, beaten and abused; their dreadlocks, which have religious significance, were cut. The series of events that led up to the attack were part of an atmosphere of systematic oppression, discrimination and open hostility towards Rastafarians that had begun prior to independence, all of which were documented in the 2011 film, “Bad Friday”.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister's press secretary, Naomi Francis, tweeted:
PM Holness to issue formal apology on 1963 Coral Gardens incident in Parliament and will act on Public Defenders Report #Letthehealingbegin
— Naomi Francis (@PressSecOPM) April 4, 2017
The actual apology came later that afternoon in parliament; several media outlets shared the full statement.
The prime minister tweeted:
#RastaApology #CoralGardens pic.twitter.com/Qjn1RnEn3e
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) April 4, 2017
The prime minister announced that six lots at a historically relevant property at Pinnacle in rural St. Catherine would be declared as a protected heritage site by the Jamaican National Heritage Trust; he also promised assistance for the Coral Gardens Benevolent Society, and said a trust fund of no less than J $10 million (just over US $75,000) would be established for the benefit of survivors. The Pinnacle property has been the source of some controversy. It is regarded as the first Rastafari settlement in Jamaica and the former home of Garveyite Leonard Howell, who is widely considered the founder of the Rastafari movement. After Howell's death, legal battles began over the ownership of the land and the Rastafarians were finally threatened with eviction in 2014.
Holness also acknowledged public defender Arlene Harrison Henry's investigation and subsequent report on the matter, which was submitted to parliament in December 2015. In it, she recommended an apology and reparations for the survivors.
Prime Minister Holness tweeted a photograph of his meeting with Rastafarian elders:
We continue to strive to ensure that unjust incidents and discriminatory actions are never allowed to happen again. #RastaApology pic.twitter.com/6HQgBFpcNn
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) April 4, 2017
Broadcast journalist Giovanni Dennis shared a series of reactions from Rastafarian leaders:
Chairman of #CoralGardens Benevolent Society, IKA TAFARA, says Rastafari all over Ja were affected.. not only those at #CORALGARDENS pic.twitter.com/hrzt2KUmfH
— Giovanni R. Dennis (@GiovanniRDennis) April 4, 2017
The response from Jamaicans on social media was largely positive — especially from those whose families had been affected:
My grandpa would approve. Better late than never #CoralGardens
— Miss Chievous (@JustCallMeFran) April 4, 2017
For some, it brought back memories:
#CoralGardens My father, a policeman, refused to be a part of the roundup. “dem no break no law! I am not arresting a man for long hair”
— Joan Mcleod (@JoanmcleodJ) April 4, 2017
Another tweeted:
@AndrewHolnessJM My Fathers trusted employee was a victim of those horrific #Rasta round-ups in Montego Bay! They shaved his head #CoralGardens #RastaApology
— Richie Chin (@FxEpic) April 4, 2017
There was more praise for the prime minister's statement. One Jamaican referred to a recent unpopular announcement about property taxes:
For Andrew Holness to take the responsibility, and apologize in his tenure to the Rastafarian community is another step towards sharpening our independence. It's the same way children must take responsibility for the ills of their parents, just as they took the harvest of prayers and unmerited blessings so they can alleviate held over bitterness. Well done servant First Minister. History will absolve you for hiking property prices when they find out you were a true statesman. The world is not going to the devil, it is going to God. #thoughtsonimproving
While Peter Phillips, who had just been formally welcomed as the new leader of the opposition in parliament, welcomed the move, one Jamaican cynically referred to Phillips’ younger days as a practising Rastafarian:
So our PM has done more for Rastafarian in the 18 months he is in power, compared to the leader of the opposition who himself was a Rastafarian. #leadership #coralgardens #goodgovernance
Human rights activist Rodje Malcolm tweeted the Rastafarians’ annual commemoration of the event:
NOW: Rastafarians march to commemorate Coral Gardens Massacre against rastafari. pic.twitter.com/Oya0HZy6aA
— Rodjé Malcolm (@Rodje_) April 4, 2017
Meanwhile, others tweeted:
@AndrewHolnessJM Pinnacle being granted a protected heritage site and “developed as a “Rastafari village and cultural centre”, is an excellent overdue move.
— str8 Dancehall in DC (@ibkonteh) April 4, 2017
There's also a campaign underway to declare April Rastafari Month in Jamaica:
NOW ON: Susan Stowe speaks on Petition to declare April Rastafari Month @KabuMaatKheru pic.twitter.com/PacxnjTT47
— IRIE FM (@IRIE_FM) April 2, 2017

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Emma Lewis


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News Website Cameraman Arrested While Broadcasting Protests in Venezuela · Global Voices
Marianne Diaz Hernandez

Elvis Flores. Image from the #FREEELVIS (#LIBERENaELVIS) campaign, promoted by VPITV.
Update: Elvis Flores was freed by midnight, April 6, 2017. He was held in custody for 9 hours and was reportedly beaten.
El camarógrafo de @VPITV, Elvis Flores, fue liberado a la medianoche de este jueves. Fue golpeado y estuvo 9 horas detenido ilegalmente pic.twitter.com/9SUThMOysF
— Marco Ruiz (@mruizsilvera) April 7, 2017
VPITV's cameraman Elvis Flores was freed this Thursday's midnight. He was beaten and was held illegally for 9 hours.
On the afternoon of April 6, 2017, Venezuelan authorities arrested Elvis Flores, the cameraman for online channel VPITV (Venezuelans for Information). VPITV had been broadcasting protests in Caracas, which were organized by those opposing Nicolás Maduro's administration.
The demonstrations unfolded last week after the country's Supreme Court dissolved the parliament and reassigned its functions to the executive branch and the Supreme Court itself.
#URGENTE Este es el momento en que Elvis Flores, de @VPITV fue detenido por la PNB Desconocemos su paredero #6Abril pic.twitter.com/nl1hhL593J
— Marco Ruiz (@mruizsilvera) 6 de abril de 2017
#URGENT This is the moment when Elvis Flores, from @VPITV, was arrested by the PNB. We do not know his whereabouts. #April6
At the time of his arrest, police took Flores’ equipment and VPITV was subsequently forced to stop the broadcasts, which remain inaccessible at the time of this post's writing.
#Urgente La #PBN le quitó el equipo a nuestro camarógrafo durante la transmisión de la protesta en #Caracas pic.twitter.com/nQf5NUBBLh
— VPI TV (@VPITV) 6 de abril de 2017
#Urgente The #PBN took our cameraman's equipment during his broadcast of the protest in #Caracas
The channel, which broadcast its coverage through platforms like YouTube and Periscope, which stopped covering scenes of protest several years ago to avoid potential financial sanctions and shutdown by the National Telecommunications Commission, which has previously stated that coverage of protests can be considered incitement to violence.
Casi 30 mil personas estaban viendo la transmisión de @VPITV por youtube cuando se la PNB se llevó al camarógrafo.
— Sam Aretuo (@nerdysinperro) 6 de abril de 2017
Almost 30,000 people were watching the @VPITV broadcast on YouTube when the PNB took the cameraman.
CONFIRMADO: Camarógrafo de @VPITV está en el Helicoide. Lo acusan de grabar en zona se seguridad #CensuraEsDictadura #LibertadParaElvis
— Marco Ruiz (@mruizsilvera) April 6, 2017
CONFIRMED: @VPITV cameraman is in Helicoide. They're accusing him of recording in a security zone. #CensorshipIsDictatorship #FreedomForElvis
In recent years, particularly in times of protest and crisis, Venezuelans have turned to social networks and broadcasts via streaming to obtain information outside of official channels, which are subject to increasing censorship.
Press conferences and statements from main political opposition parties are frequently broadcast through Periscope. On their part, the National Assembly – whose functions have been unknown to the executive branch – broadcasts its sessions through YouTube.
Despite the arrests of social network users and the deterioration of telecommunications, the Internet continues to be a battleground for Venezuela.

author: Marianne Diaz Hernandez


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One Day They Stole Me: True Story Animations Spotlight Kyrgyzstan’s Bride Kidnapping Scourge · Global Voices
Akhal-Tech Collective

Screenshot from one of five ‘One Day They Stole Me’ animations produced by Kyrgyzstani artist Tatyana Zelenskaya and animator Egor Tankov.
While statistics are difficult to pin down, an oft-cited piece of research suggests that around a third of all Kyrgyz marriages are the result of non-consensual kidnappings.
Kidnapping for marriage, or ‘Ala Kachuu’ became commonplace in the country following its emergence from the former Soviet Union in 1991; the country's Ombudsman institution believes there are around 8,000 such kidnappings every year.
The boom in ‘bride kidnapping’, which researchers have emphasised is not a time-honoured tradition but rather a modern crime rooted in the Central Asian country's specific socioeconomic circumstances, shows few signs of abating.
In recent years, however, civil society and some elements of the government have been increasing efforts to combat a phenomenon that sometimes entails rape for the victim, and — nearly always — impunity for her captors.
Screenshot from one of five ‘One Day They Stole Me’ animations produced by Kyrgyzstani artist Tatyana Zelenskaya and animator Egor Tankov.
Five years ago, Global Voices covered a series of videos produced by a local women's rights organisation that were aimed at promoting the application of the rule of law in relation to kidnapping. The message of these videos was simple: Bride kidnapping is illegal and should be reported and punished.
Now a husband and wife artist-animator pair from the country's largest city, Bishkek, have reignited the bride-kidnapping debate with a series of animations that have torn through social networks in the country.
Artist Tatyana Zelenskaya and animator spouse Egor Tankov say that the animations are all based on true stories, although names were altered at the subjects’ own requests in order to protect real life identities.
The first of the animations, which feature a Russian-language text and a Kyrgyz-language voiceover, documented the kidnapping of a girl ‘Nazik’, and was released last month in time for International Women's Day.
The story lacks the drama of a stereotypical kidnapping wherein a young girl is dragged kicking and screaming by her captors into a getaway car. Instead, it highlights the multiple layers of subterfuge, betrayal and subsequent regret that are involved in these life and family-changing incidents.
Nazik's fate was marked when a friend of her mother's visited the family home. She was accompanied by her son, Abay.
Nazik's brother and mother “almost physically forced” Nazik to leave the house and go to the cinema with Abay, an acquaintance from childhood. When she left the house, she had neither her mobile phone nor any money with her.
Shortly after they got into a car marked as a taxi, the taxi's driver removed the roof sign. He was never a taxi driver, but rather Abay's friend, there to help Abay kidnap Nazik.
Their destination was not the cinema, but Abay's family home, where a wedding was waiting for them. Nazik said at the wedding that she would like to speak to her parents, but her brother, who arrived later with his own family, spoke for them:
Nazik, our father has decided that you will stay here. Abay is a good man and will make a good husband. Getting married means happiness for any girl!
The words — confirmation that the head of Nazik's family endorsed the union — had a profound effect on Nazik. So much so that when her mother later phoned and asked in a tearful voice if she wished to forego the marriage and come back home, she refused, deciding to stay with Abay and his family.
But Nazik's brother had lied. Nazik's father did not know his daughter was going to be kidnapped that day and flew into a rage when he found out. By that time, a mullah had already blessed the marriage.
The kidnapping, we subsequently learn, was orchestrated chiefly by Nazik's mother, who disliked Nazik's boyfriend at the time. Later, realising her terrible mistake, she phoned Abay's family home in order to offer Nazik a way out. Fearing the potential stigma associated with breaking off the marriage, Nazik refused to take it.
“We did not make a happy family,” Nazik recounts at the end of the video. “After four years [Abay's family] kicked me and our child out of the home.”
Elzada's kidnapping took place at a time when her father was seriously ill — a distressing period in her life that also saw her younger sister stolen for marriage. Unlike in Nazik's case, Elzada's own family doesn't appear to have played a role in the kidnap, although her future husband was a friend of her brother's.
She initially refused the marriage to Talgat, a lazy man whose only occupation is lying on the sofa and watching television.
“Only our children keep us together,” Elzada now confesses. “I am the one who earns the money and I make all the decisions. Not only do I not love him, I don't respect him.”
Again, stigma appeared to be the key factor in Elzada agreeing to the marriage. To begin with, her future in-laws gently encouraged her to accept the situation, before resorting to intimidation.
One of the male in-laws told her:
Probably, you are not a virgin and you do not want everyone to find out.
Elzada understood that she could have become the subject of vicious gossip if she broke off the marriage. But would that really have been worse than a life with a man she does not love?
Elzada's story, in which the woman remains with her captor, is the most representative of the bride kidnapping phenomenon in Kyrgyzstan. Powerfully projected through a prism of regret and resignation in Zelenskaya and Tankov's animation, it somehow seems the most harrowing of the five.
Aliya's story is the story of an unsuccessful kidnap attempt, but one that shows how destinies can be altered in the course of ‘negotiations’ with a would-be-groom.
Aliya and her sister were invited to a cafe by some men. One of the men told Aliya that he liked her, and intended to kidnap her in order to marry her.
Aliya responded by behaving in a way that she knew would put her potential husband off. Rather than acting in solidarity, her sister was mortally embarrassed, and her deference to the men pleased them. After returning from a smoke outside the restaurant, they announced that they would kidnap Aliya's “decent” sister instead of the renegade Aliya.
Suddenly alarmed by the fate she was happy enough for Aliya to suffer, Aliya's sister pleaded with them not to kidnap her, claiming she had already arranged to marry another man. Flummoxed, the men eventually allowed the pair to leave, and presumably began scheming to line up another young woman for marriage…
Begaim's story is the only story in which an incident involving extreme sexual violence is included in the narrative. We are introduced to her as a young woman travelling to London as part of her work with a rights-based organisation.
On the airplane she refuses the steward's offer of a complimentary stick of mint chewing gum.
The reason she “hates” mint chewing gum, we learn, is because of the smell — mixed with vodka — on the breath of the man who raped her after he kidnapped her.
Begaim escaped the marriage because both her parents opposed it; her father drove to retrieve her and even punched the man that raped her.
For a year after that I couldn't go outside, and any [human] contact made me shake. I had nightmares and couldn't sleep. Even today, I still sometimes dream of that awful night, those dirty hands, the smell of mint chewing gum.
Nargiza's kidnapping was arranged by her match-making aunt and followed a familiar pattern; she was taken to the family house where she was intended to live. Her kidnapper's relatives told her to accept the marriage, using the same words of encouragement and intimidation seen in the other stories. Yet when they attempted to force the symbolic white scarf on her, she resisted.
Her mother found out about the event after Nargiza phoned her from her would-be in-laws’ home. Initially she attempted to persuade Nargiza to stay. But Nargiza continued to refuse, and threatened to call the police. A recently introduced law targeted bride kidnappers with sentences of five to ten years, she told her mother over the phone, as the kidnappers listened in horror.
Eventually the aunt and in-laws backed down. ‘Nargiza’, who of all the sources used by Zelenskaya is the only one who has since revealed her true identity, is now a presenter on Kyrgyz state television.
Guljan (right) provided the real-life inspiration for Nazik (left). Mashup shared by Tatyana Zelenskaya on Facebook.
The story of Guljan (‘Nargiza’) is the last in the five-part series, and Zelenskaya explained why she released it last in an article for the outlet Kloop.kg:
Я хотела, чтобы его показали в конце, потому что это самая важная, по моему мнению, история в этом цикле.
Я хочу, чтобы девушки увидели в этом ролике инструкцию. Чтобы они знали, как можно действовать — что нужно знать и отстаивать свои права, угрожать милицией и называть реальные сроки.
I wanted to show it at the end because in my view it is the most important of them all. I want girls to see in this clip some kind of instructions. [I want them] to know how to act and how to fight for their rights, that they can threaten [kidnappers] with the police and criminal prosecution.
Overwhelmingly, social media users in Kyrgyzstan have lauded the animations, but some have reacted in anger and denial.
Zelenskaya told Global Voices that she is hopeful that one of the country's national television channels will show the animations so they can reach people living in the country's provinces and smaller towns, where incidents of bride kidnapping are highest and internet penetration lowest.

author: Akhal-Tech Collective


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‘Security Without War’ Campaign Opposes Militarization in Mexico Because ‘Bullets Are Killing Us, Not Drugs’ · Global Voices
Mercedes Matz

Illustrative image published under the Creative Commons license (CC0, Public Domain). Taken from the website ‘Pexels’.
Several years ago, Cynthia was heading to the beach in Matamoros, located in the state of Tamaulipas in northern Mexico, with her two sons, her brothers, and her husband. Along the way, they encountered a military checkpoint. They were not told to stop, so they passed by.
However, a few meters later, the uniformed men fired towards the rear end of the vehicle in which the family was traveling. Cynthia’s two sons died. The 10-year-old was shot in the back; the 5-year-old was left dead in her arms.
Cynthia has publicized her story as part of the citizen campaign Seguridad Sin Guerra (Security Without War), which seeks to stop a proposed law that would give more power to the army in Mexico. Her tragedy is, unfortunately, only one example of the numerous human rights violations that Mexico's military stands accused of committing during the country's 10-year-long “war on drugs.”
Watch the Spanish-language campaign video below:
Citizens, civil society organizations, academics, journalists, activists, relatives of the disappeared, and victims of military intervention have joined forces to push forward the campaign to stop the government’s plan to normalize military presence in public security.
The campaign's website, SinMilitarizacion.mx (which translates to Without Militarization), alleges that if the so-called Internal Security Law is approved, the army would be allowed to intervene in peaceful demonstrations, investigate, take statements, receive complaints, and arrest suspects— tasks that normally fall to police and public ministries. The campaign proposes that instead of passing the law, police should be better prepared and trained.
It also lists reasons why many Mexicans protest against the idea of normalizing the presence of the army. Among them, which the secretary of defense himself said:
El ejército y la policía no se pueden intercambiar. A las fuerzas militares las entrenan para usar la fuerza contra un enemigo armado y vencerlo. La policía está pensada para enfrentar las amenazas a la seguridad con la menor cantidad de fuerza posible y combatir delitos con la cooperación de la población. Eso es lo que dice también la Constitución.
The army and the police are not interchangeable. The military forces are trained to use force against an armed enemy and defeat it. The police are designed to confront security threats with as little force as possible and to combat crime with the cooperation of the population. That is what the Constitution also says.
Independent Mexican news organization Animal Polítco also warns that the law would give the military and any federal security force the possibility to carry on surveillance “using any method to collect information”.
Amnesty International agrees that the law poses a danger:
(…) Esta legitimación debilitará aún más el sistema de protección de los derechos humanos en el país, sin contribuir en modo alguno a la seguridad de la población.
Las autoridades mexicanas deberían reconocer que tras 10 años de seguridad militarizada se han incrementado las violaciones a los derechos humanos, tales como, la tortura, la desaparición forzada y las ejecuciones extrajudiciales y la impunidad de los responsables.
This legitimizing [of the military] will weaken the human rights protection system in the country, without adding anything to the population's security.
Mexican authorities should recognize that after 10 years of militarized security, human rights violations such as torture, forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and impunity for the perpetrators have increased.
In an article published in the Mexican Times, philosopher and former Congressman Fernando Belaunzarán theorized why the government would want the armed forces as guarantors of the security in the country:
[…] El ejército goza de una confianza del 42%, cuatro veces más que la del gobierno federal que está en 10%. Eso explica que el gobierno haya caído en la tentación de presentarse como ariete en patrioteras respuestas al supuesto honor mancillado de las Fuerzas Armadas por parte de quienes cuestionamos las iniciativas de Ley de Seguridad Interior que están a discusión en el Congreso.
[…] The army enjoys the confidence of 42% [of the public], four times more than that of the federal government, which is at 10%. This explains that the government has given into the temptation of presenting itself as a battering ram in patriotic response to the honor of the armed forces being supposedly tainted by those who question the initiatives of the Internal Security Law that are under discussion in Congress.
Recently, President Enrique Peña Nieto linked support of the military to patriotism, arguing that those who criticize the military also disparage Mexico as a whole. Belaunzarán responded to this with a warning against blindly continuing the drug war:
Lo grave no es que el gobierno se equivoque al pensar que los militares le transmitirán prestigio social por convertir al gabinete y al mismo titular del Ejecutivo en sus apologetas sino que, por una parte, elude el tema de fondo que tiene que ver con la insistencia en mantener una desastrosa estrategia de combate al narcotráfico que ha escalado la violencia sin visos de resolver ningún problema, y por la otra desnaturaliza su función al meterlos a la arena electoral, haciéndolos más vulnerables al desgaste público.
What's serious about this is not that the government is wrong in thinking that the military will transmit them social prestige by converting the cabinet and the very same Head of the Executive into their apologists, but, on one hand, that it is avoiding the fundamental issue, insisting on maintaining a disastrous strategy to combat drug trafficking that has escalated violence and hasn't resolved any problem in the slightest, and on the other hand, that it is altering [the military's] function by putting them in the electoral arena, making them more vulnerable to public wear and tear.
During the administration of President Felipe Calderón (2006-2012), the army took to the streets under the pretext of fighting a war against drug trafficking and drugs. Since then, violence in the country has become widespread and a human rights crisis has arisen. According to the campaign, more than 30,000 disappeared, 166,000 deaths, and an increase in the number of criminal groups (from eight to 200) has been reported. It has also been noted that the army has an unusually high level of fatalities: it kills eight people for each person it wounds. For these reasons, civil organizations consider this law as a “threat to democracy.”
Pedro Reyes, a plastic artist who has worked on issues of violence in the country, is part of the campaign and says that what kills Mexicans today is not drugs, but the “war” against them:
En México, por una persona que muere por uso de drogas, 12 personas mueren por la guerra contra las drogas. No nos están matando las drogas, nos están matando las balas.
In Mexico, for a person who dies from drug use, 12 people die from the war on drugs. Drugs aren’t killing us, bullets are.
As part of the campaign, the public is invited to join and sign a letter that will be sent to members of Congress, responsible for rejecting or approving the bill on April 30.
On Twitter, people have expressed their feelings about the bill, which some have called “coup law”:
Magnífica ilustración sobre por qué no queremos #LeyGolpista y en cambio pedimos #SeguridadSinGuerrapic.twitter.com/4VMkAnOdaF
— Alejandro Madrazo (@BuenMadrazo) 27 de marzo de 2017
Tweet: A great illustration on why we do not want #CoupLaw and instead ask for #SecurityWithoutWar
Image: #SecurityWithoutWar
-Before April 30, Congress wants to approve the Internal Security Law.
-The main proposals are by César Camacho y Gil Zuarth
-Person: With which the president could use the army at his discretion and unilaterally against people.
-Person: This appears to be a military regime.
-It's giving a blank check to the army.
-In 2006 the army was sent out into the streets and the homicide rate tripled.
-And the army is not made for tasks of public security.
-Army officer: We don't study to chase criminals.
-The law is also ambiguous: “And all other actions that are considered necessary” (Article 3 of Camarcho's proposal).
-Furthermore, the initiative by Gil Zuarth allows lethal action against peaceful protests (Article 22 + Article 24).
-Book: A correct regulatory framework is necessary.
-Let's stop the militarization, let's train the police.
Activistas, académicas, periodistas Y OSC exigimos #SeguridadSinGuerra, súmate y detengamos la militarización https://t.co/hiYWwqnFIWpic.twitter.com/YxvJKmtgy3
— CMDPDH (@CMDPDH) 22 de marzo de 2017
Tweet: Activists, academics, journalists, and CSO’s demand #SecurityWithoutWar, join and stop the militarization
Image: Let's stop the militarization, let's train the police. Visit sinmilitarizacion.mx today and share. Use #SeguridadSinGuerra. Thanks!
@sopitas@donnyrmzm / Fuera el Ejército de las calles. No al Estado Totalitario pic.twitter.com/RaWkJeq3Zk
— 0969 (@096955) 23 de marzo de 2017
Tweet: @sopitas@donnyrmzm / Out with the army in the streets. Say no to the totalitarian state
Image: We don't want the Intenal Security Law nor the Army in the streets

author: Mercedes Matz


text:
Southeast Asian Leaders Use ‘Fake News’ to Justify Tighter Media Laws and Intimidate Their Critics · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Source: Pixabay, CC0 Public Domain
Several governments in Southeast Asia are invoking the fake news problem to introduce stricter laws and to harass members of the media.
Singapore's Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim announced to the Parliament a government plan to update the Broadcasting Act in order to address the rise of misinformation and “fake news” on the Internet.
When overseas content providers are directly targeting Singaporeans, we need to ensure that their content is in line with our community values, including the need to uphold racial and religious harmony.
…if an entity reports news about Singapore regularly to inform Singaporeans on matters of public interest, we expect them to do so responsibly.
The minister didn’t provide details about the planned amendment but recent trends in legislation suggest that it could lead to the passage of a more restrictive law. In 2013, Singapore required major news websites to register with the government and pay a licensing fee. The licensing requirement law also empowered authorities to remove online content that destroys “social harmony”.
The minister's contention regarding the need to protect “community values” in dealing with fake news left activists at Wake Up Singapore worried that authorities might interpret this broadly and use it as a justification for censoring dissent and unpopular perspectives in the country. When it comes to more sensitive issues like homosexuality, the pledge raises the question of whether the government will cease to tolerate online content referencing romantic relationships between men. Indeed, the prime minister recently defended the country’s antiquated sodomy law since it supposedly promotes “society's values”.
After US President Donald Trump accused some media groups of reporting fake news and banned them from attending press conferences in the White House, Cambodian leaders used the same arguments to insult some media groups.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan wrote about it on Facebook:
Donald Trump’s ban of international media giants … sends a clear message that President Trump sees that news published by those media institutions does not reflect the real situation.
He identified Voice of Democracy, Voice of America and Radio Free Asia as media groups which report inaccurately about Cambodia. Asked about what the government will do if these media groups do not change their reporting, he gave a blunt reply: “Shut it down, very simple. Expel them.”
Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for three decades already, echoed the sentiment of Trump and his spokesman in attacking the media:
We respect rights, but not the rights of anarchy, [rather] the rights of the rule of law. I hope our foreign friends understand this.
He added that “some just talk about rights but never talk about stability and peace.” He also repeated Trump’s description of some media entities as producers of fake news in what appeared to be an effort to downplay reports criticizing his government.
Like Trump and Hun Sen, some politicians in the Philippines are fending off criticisms by labeling certain media outlets as “fake news.”
Speaking at a side event at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Secretary Martin Andanar of the Presidential Communications Operations Office described a report by the New York Times about President Rodrigo Duterte as fake news:
They only report the lies. We call that fake news. Like Richard Paddock of the New York Times.
It’s obvious that he wrote it just to throw negativity against the President.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez filed a bill mandating that social media companies verify the identity of users before registering them on their networks, so that they could more easily to prevent users from creating fake accounts and spreading fake news. The proposed Social Media Regulation Act of 2017 even identified certain social media companies that would be affected by the draft:
This proposed bill seeks to afford a remedial measure on the foregoing matters and will regulate these social media by mandating social media companies (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.) to reasonably verify the identity of user applicants before they are allowed to open an account. Penalties are also provided for failure to comply with this verification requirement.
Social media experts said the House Speaker is right to raise the issue of fake news and identity theft in social media but they reminded him that the measure is unnecessary and unenforceable. They also defended the rights of some users to remain anonymous when expressing their views.
Meanwhile, some governments in Southeast Asia have launched fact-checking portals to counter the rise of fake news.
Malaysia unveiled Sebenarnya.my, “an online tool that allows the public to share unconfirmed news items spread on social media, short messaging services and websites with relevant government agencies,” in an effort to help verify online sources and debunk false information. Sebenarnya is a Bahasa word for “actually”.
Malaysia is not alone in this. Since 2012, the Singapore government has been correcting wrong or inaccurate reports through its “Factually” website. Indonesia meanwhile has also announced that it will soon launch a new cyber agency to fight fake news.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Organizations Try to Fight ‘Brain Waste’ and Get Highly Trained Immigrants in the US Back to Work · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Semere Tsegay, a nurse trained in Eritrea, took part in a program at Highline College in Burien, Washington, that helps immigrants get back to the professions they held in their home country. Credit: Anna Boiko-Weyrauch
This story by Anna Boiko-Weyrach originally appeared on PRI.org on March 30, 2017. It is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.
Ali Mufrej wants to be proud of himself again.
“Every time when I look at myself in the mirror I say, ‘Hey, you are a doctor, you have to be a doctor again,’” he said. Mufrej is from Iraq. In Baghdad, he administered anesthesia for thousands of surgeries, caused by C-sections, traffic injuries, and bullet wounds.
Mufrej remembers the look on his patients’ faces when the drugs kicked in. “The blessing sensation in my patients’ eyes,” he says. They started to pray for him because he took all their pain away immediately, Mufrej says.
But now, he’s far from his field and his main source of income is an eBay site where he sells salvaged car parts from his brother’s junk yard and Chinese imports. Mufrej calls it survival work.
For immigrants like him, professions often slip away as red tape, economics and other barriers can make it tough for trained professionals, like doctors, nurses and engineers, to work in their field.
While about a third of foreign-born people in the US hold a college degree, they’re less likely than US-born professionals to work in their field, according to the Migration Policy Institute, which calls the phenomenon “brain waste.” A network of organizations is trying to reverse it.
Helping highly trained foreign professionals return to their fields of expertise is important for the broader community, as well as for the immigrants themselves, says Liz Patterson, head of the Northwest Washington Welcome Back Center at Edmonds Community College near Seattle. It’s one of 11 resource centers in the US that are often based at community colleges.
As hospitals and clinics serve more and more people from different languages and cultures, employing health care workers from similar backgrounds can make the whole system better, she says. “When people are sick, when they’re hurt, they’re scared,” Patterson says. “If we can at least make them comfortable that people understand where they’re coming from, from a cultural perspective or from a language perspective, it improves the overall quality of health care.”
But first, foreign-trained health care workers must navigate a lot of red tape to work at their previous level again.
“Depending on the country that they come from, depending on the experience they have, depending on what they want to do, it can be a long process. It can be quite an expensive process,” Patterson says.
Expensive means $1,000 or more for nurses and tens — if not hundreds — of thousands of dollars for doctors and dentists.
Even obtaining old school transcripts can be a major hurdle, Patterson says.
No one knows that better than Mufrej. He tried to get his transcripts from back home — even flew back for them. Still, the country’s bureaucracy got in the way.
“I think I will get some way around it, I’m not sure how. I’m still thinking,” Mufrej says.
After acquiring the transcripts, Mufrej will have to re-do medical school in the US, graduate, pass the licensing exams and apply for (and get accepted to) a medical residency.
Mufrej is seeking guidance from the Puget Sound Welcome Back Center at Highline College south of Seattle. That’s where, on a recent Monday night, a group of nurses representing countries as diverse as Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Nepal and the Philippines is prepping for the national nursing certification exam.
They must pass it to work in the US.
One student is Semere Tsegay, a nurse trained in Eritrea who smiles when he remembers helping deliver babies. “I like serving people with my profession,” he says.
But to help deliver babies again, he must have his international education evaluated by a private company, take an English exam, a nursing exam and get licensed.
Tsegay is working on it, carrying thick textbooks and his laptop to a library to study every weekday. In between, Tsegay works the night shift on weekends at a nursing home, dispensing medicine to the residents. He can’t wait to take on more responsibility.
“I’m excited to start my new career here in the United States as a nurse,” Tsegay says.
After months of hard work, he has an announcement for his nursing test prep class. Tsgay stands at the head of the class and tells his classmates: “I did it and I know you can do it.” They cheer and applaud.
Tsegay passed his exam to become a registered nurse.
Meanwhile, Iraqi doctor Ali Mufrej knows he has 12 years before he can celebrate. He doesn’t take it personally. “This is the law,” he says. “This is the process, and I have to follow it.”

author: PRI/PRX's The World


text:
Osaka Becomes the First Municipality in Japan to Recognize Same-Sex Foster Parents · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2012. Photo by Flickr user Lauren Anderson. License: Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).
On April 6, 2017, the city of Osaka became the first municipality in Japan to recognize same-sex couples as foster parents. The change in policy came about when the city recognized two men, who wish to remain anonymous, as the foster parents of a teenage boy who had been in their care since February.
Until Osaka's decision in April, only married couples or individuals have been allowed to become foster parents in Japan, despite the fact that the country is in dire need of both foster and adoptive parents. As of March 2017, there were at least 46,000 children across Japan who were in the care of the state after either losing a parent or being removed from their homes because of abuse. The majority of these children live in institutions; just 10% are cared for by foster parents.
Following the landmark decision, the term #same-sex couple (#男性カップル, dansei kappuru, the term for a male same-sex couple) trended on Twitter. Naver Matome blogger “Grade Up” (グレードアップ) collected a number of these Twitter responses in a blog post. The majority of reactions to Osaka's decision about foster parenting seems to be positive:
大阪市で男性カップルが里親として認定されたそうです。
実の親から虐待を受けて保護された子どもをあえて受け容れようとするカップルに同性も異性もないと思います。
どうかすばらしい「家族」になりますように。#竹槍巫女のおえりゃあせんのう 通算1356作 pic.twitter.com/6W0Vw7mSjA
— 大沢愛 (@ai_oosawa) April 5, 2017
Tweet: Two men (‘a male same-sex couple’) have been authorized by the city of Osaka as foster parents. If a couple wants foster a child who has been abused by their parents whether or not they are a same sex couple or members of the opposite sex it doesn't matter.
Poster text: ‘If you love the children you raise above all else, be you same-sex parents or parents of the opposite sex, that's all that's important to being a parent.’
Same-sex marriage is not yet recognized in Japan. This is because Article 24 of Japan's Constitution includes the phrase, “Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes,” which, for the time being, is seen as an obstacle to same-sex marriage.
In Japan, municipalities play an important role in overseeing and administering family law, which includes marriage, domestic partnership, adoption and fostering. Some municipalities in Japan have passed local ordinances that recognize same-sex civil partnerships, which equate these relationships to marriage.
Osaka's decision has been accompanied by a common theme — while some people might disapprove with same-sex foster parenting, the most important thing is for children is to be loved:
男性カップルの話題で養子縁組と里親制度を取り違えてるツイートを見かけたけど、里親制度は18歳になるまで育ててもらうって制度なんよな。戸籍に入るわけではないんで。
18になるまで温かい家庭で幸せに過ごせるなら男性カップルでも女性カップルでも良いと思うよ。
— なおちご Naochigo 나오치고 (@hikariko1128) April 5, 2017
When I see tweets that mix up same-sex foster[ing] with adoption, I want to point out that fostering lasts until (the child) is 18 years old. The foster child is not entered on the family register (and therefore in Japan is not legally recognized as part of the family).
Anyway, I think it's great that the child can be part of a loving family, whether it be male parents or female parents, until they reach the age of 18.
大阪で男性カップルの里親が認められて子供が可哀想とか色んな意見があるけど、その子供が将来 ぼくはこの2人の男性の親に育てられて幸せでしたって言うかは親の育て方で決まるんだから、周りがどうこう言わずに温かく見守るのが1番いいと思う。
可哀想かどうかなんて周りが決めることじゃない。
— 実心灯 (@n_h1y) April 5, 2017
There are a number of opinions that say that, because of Osaka's decision to recognize same-sex couples as parents that the children should be pitied. However I think that whoever is fostered by the two men will say someday they had a happy life (as a child). It doesn't matter what anybody else says, the most important thing is that the kids will be taken care of with love. Nobody should take pity on (these children fostered by same-sex couples).
Following the announcement by the city of Osaka, the term “Chocolate Doughnuts” (チョコレートドーナツ) — the title of the Japanese release of the 2012 movie Any Day Now that tells the story of a same-sex couple fighting for custody of a youth living with Downs syndrome — trended on Twitter as well:
男性カップルが里親になったと話題になってるけど、『チョコレートドーナツ』っていう映画が凄いお勧め。男性カップルが、ダウン症の少年の里親になる物語。でも、ゲイなだけで少年と引き離されてしまう。それでも、少年のために社会と闘う2人。本当に泣けるので1回は観て欲しい。 pic.twitter.com/6gg8dcBn8S
— 漬物 (@otsukemono_14) April 5, 2017
Since same-sex foster parents have become a topic in the news, I highly recommend the movie ‘Any Day Now’. It's the story of two men who foster a teen with Downs Syndrome. However, because the two men are gay, the boy is taken from them. They don't give up, and fight to be able to care for the boy. It's a real tear-jerker and I recommend everyone see it just once.
The Twitter account that promoted the release of the movie in Japan also commented on the decision by the city of Osaka:
ニュースを読んで驚き、『チョコレートドーナツ』がトレンド入りしているのを見て驚いています。
誰だって、実の親の元で幸せになるのが本当は一番だと思います。
でも、それがかなわないならば、ほかの誰かその子供に愛情を注いでくれる人と生きていくことは、間違えた選択ではないと思うのです。
— 映画『チョコレートドーナツ』 (@donuts_movie) April 6, 2017
When we saw the news we were quite surprised, and when ‘Any Day Now’ started trending on Twitter we were surprised as well.
Of course, it's always best if children find happiness with their biological parents. However, if that's not possible, it's not wrong at all if some other person out there is able to provide the love and affection a child needs.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Beijing Unveils New Economic Area To Give Millennials a Shot at the ‘China Dream’ · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Screenshot from Youtube.
On April 1, 2017, Beijing announced a “national” and “historic” plan to construct a new special economic zone called Xiongan New Area, which is located in Anxin, an underdeveloped county in Hebei province, about 100 miles away from the capital.
In a joint statement, the Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council described the plan as “a strategy crucial for a millennium to come”. According to the planning blueprint,  Xiongan will be a livable city designed to address problems that include pollution, over-congestion and the out of control property price challenges that haunt Beijing. Major institutions, such as state-owned enterprises, universities and science parks will be relocated to the new area, according to its official video introduction:
As soon as the plan was unveiled, property investors rushed to the new area. Within six hours, a number of local news outlets reported that property prices had surged to ten times their original value, from RMB 3,000 to RMB 30,000 yuan.
To suppress the frenzy of speculative investment, local authorities forcibly shut down property intermediaries and suspended all real estate transactions. But speculative activities have extended to the stock market, where listed companies packaged with the phrase “Xiongan concept” have all taken off like rockets.
Many have pointed out that such speculative activities are irrational, because the success of the new area depends on the abundance of an affordable housing supply. In fact, the central government has decided that the majority of properties built in the area will be public housing. As China policy observer Yang Shan pointed out on the investigative news platform, Initium:
用公共房屋打破地產模式，吸引想留在一線城市但苦於買不起房的年輕一代「北漂」，也吸引大企業進駐，提供就業機會，幫助年輕一代「上樓」，創造階級流動感，再藉助全新的規劃，在華北移植園林城市、綠色城市，建設「北方深圳」……這一切如果能成功，至少將成為一種樣本：政府在努力消滅污染、對抗高樓價，為年輕人提供繼續做「中國夢」的機會。如果真能成功，那的確將是習個人執政的重大遺產，或至少，這會是一個「中國夢」的烏托邦範本.
Using public housing to counteract against the property market is a strategy to attract the young generation who could not afford to have their own property and remain rootless in first tier cities to settle in the new area, where they can find jobs and an affordable apartment so that they can feel that they are moving up the social ladder. In addition, the plan attempts to build a northern Shenzhen [special economic zone] with the idea of garden city and ecological city… if the plan works out, it can be a model: governments [from first tier cities] could fight against pollution and out-of-track property prices and provide opportunities for the young people to have a China dream. If it is successful, it will become a legacy under Xi Jinping’s leadership, or a utopia model of the China dream.
However, many are skeptical about whether the plan will really work. For one thing, the speculative activities have disrupted the idea of “affordable” housing, inferring instead that people’s dreams are still resting on the bubbling stock and property market.
Moreover, when compared with other successful economic zones, Xiongan does not have a geographical advantage. Shi Han Bing, a famous blogger on China’s development trend, pointed out:
与深圳、浦东新区相比，雄安不靠海，没有海港。雄安属于经济落后地区，与深圳、浦东周边相比，人们的开放意识较弱。深圳紧靠国际金融中心香港，浦东新区依靠的上海，虽然不是国际金融中心，但其金融的竞争优势在国内也属于名列前茅的。雄安不具有这个优势。北京虽然经济体量也很大，但北京经济很大程度上是借助行政力量集中全国资源打造的结果，这一点与广东、上海等区域截然不同。
When compared with Shenzhen and Pudong, Xiongan is not at the coastal area; there is no harbour. Xiongan is located in an underdeveloped region where people are not as open. Shenzhen is near the international financial center, Hong Kong, while Putong New Area is next to Shanghai, which  is not an international financial center but is still a top city in China. Xiongan does not have this advantage. Beijing though, is also a huge economic entity — it relies on the concentration of administrative resources — this is different from Guangdong and Shanghai region.
In past decades, China has made many attempts to build special development areas, but there are only a few successful cases thus far. Shi Han Bing pointed to one failed venture:
2012年7月11日，国务院批准同意撤销唐海县，设立唐山市曹妃甸区。2013年1月，国务院正式批准设立曹妃甸国家级经济技术开发区。“与以往省级开发区升级国家级不同，这是自2010年1月国务院正式启动省级开发区升级国家级开发区以来，全国首个以新设方式设立的国家级开发区”，目标是将其打造成为“中国鹿特丹”，“国际航运中心、国际贸易中心、国际物流中心”。
但是，媒体在2014年做了如下报道：四大产业集群未能如期建成，大批在建项目烂尾，债台高筑，人烟稀少，几近沦为“空城”……
On July 11, 2012, the State Council announced the abolition of Tang Hai county and the establishment of Cao Fei Dian district in Tangshan city. In January 2013, the State Council official approved Cao Fei Dian to become a national-level economic and technology development district: ‘Since January 2010, the State Council has started to upgrade provincial-level development districts into national level [districts]. This time, it is different from previous attempts; the district is planned anew to be a national development district with an objective to build a “China Rotterdam” — an international shipping center, international trading center and an international logistic center.’
Yet in 2014, according to media reports, the construction of infrastructure for four major industries has been delayed. Many construction projects have been suspended because of debts. The city is empty with very few residents…
On Twitter, comments have been even more critical:
北京不会迁都，只会迁人，雄安这事是假经济名义搞人口迁徙，把威胁党中央的隐患全部迁过去，就地消化，比如访民，以后想“围中南海”是没戏了，只能“围雄安”。
— 鄭若舜Yorkson (@4OONHMEmTtmuKGP) April 6, 2017
The capital will remain in Beijing. They only want to move people out of Beijing. Xiongan is a fake economic pretext to move the population, as well as the potential threats to the central CCP [Chinese Communist Party]. For example, the visit petitioners [petitioning is the country's administrative system for hearing complaints and grievances from citizens]. In the future, they can no longer gather around Zhongnanhai [government headquarters] but end up gathering around Xiongan.
秀才江湖：又设了一个新区，雄安新区。我不关心这个新区、那个特区，我只希望设立一个民主特区，这个区实行一人一票选举，这个区没有五毛没有“熊猫”没有专制，这个区没有区委书记
— 秀才江湖 (@xiucai1911) April 2, 2017
Another new area has been set up, the Xiongan New Area. I don’t care about this new area or that special district. All I care about is the setting up of a special democratic district, in which people can enjoy one person one vote. A district where there is no 50 cents [the colloquial term for internet trolls], no national security police, no dictatorship, no district party secretary.

author: Oiwan Lam


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He Won a Trip to Space, but Can’t Move Freely on Earth · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

British-Muslim mental health activist Hussain Manawer won a trip aboard a commercial spacecraft. He will orbit above the planet next year. But he gets stopped by security all the time when he takes international flights. Credit: Hussain Manawer
This story by Andrea Crossan originally appeared on PRI.org on March 23, 2017. It is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.
Hussain Manawer thinks he is jinxed he gets stopped so often. He has been questioned at airports from LA to Macedonia, but jokes he doesn’t get stopped anymore because they all know him now.
“I’m just trying to figure out the best way in order to demolish this stigma that all Muslim people are terrorists,” he says.
Manawer is of Pakistani descent but grew up in Essex, England. And after a poem he wrote won him a space flight, he received widespread attention when during a speech in Thailand he said, “My name is Hussain Manawer, and I am not a terrorist.” Manawer says he said it in response to the many racial profiling incidences he has experienced.
“I gave up,” he says, when asked if he’s kept track of all the times he’s been detained and questioned. “It is absolutely insane the amount of times I’ve been stopped.”
The contest to win space travel was held by Kruger Cowne’s Rising Star program for 18 to 30-year-olds. Thirty thousand participants from more than 90 countries competed for a spot on an XCOR Aerospace Lynx commercial spacecraft, due to lift off in 2018.
The winning entry was a poem entitled “My name is Hussain.” It is a three-minute spoken word piece that starts off as a suicide letter from a boy to his mother, but it's later revealed the mother is actually Mother Nature.
Here's Manawer performing it in front of the judges and a live audience:
“That is what I do, I’m a poet. I write poetry for the betterment of human life, for social and emotional learning. That’s where space came into it. I only wanted to enter this competition to be taken more seriously with my work,” says Manawer.
His YouTube Channel, Hussain's House, features his spoken word performances and funny videos. But his focus is always mental health, and the stigma around it.
Since winning the contest, Manawer, 26, has been giving talks to raise awareness on the subject. He became passionate about the issue after a friend was diagnosed with depression, but felt too uncomfortable disclosing it to his family. Manawer now speaks out regularly about mental health and hopes his trip to space will allow him more opportunities to bring it up.
“I’m very passionate about mental health. I believe we are in a beautiful time, growing up in this day and age, however I do think we are equally connected and disconnected simultaneously. And what I mean by that is that it’s easier to connect with someone across the world than across the room.”
Manawer says he never dreamed of going to space, and while he’s grateful for the opportunity he’s still not sure if space travel is for him.
“You know what? If am being honest I don’t actually want to go … though I am obviously going to go forward with it.”


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In Madagascar, People Remember One of the Deadliest French Colonial Wars in History · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Seventy years ago on March 29, 1947, a war began between the French colonial government and Malagasy nationalist groups that by its conclusion two years later would see over 100,000 Malagasy residents dead, according to the High Commissioner of Madagascar. The number of deaths is remarkable in its sheer number, especially in light of the fact that the total population at the time was 4 million. This figure makes this conflict one of the deadliest of the French colonial period. The repression that the French unleashed vanquished the Malagasy nationalists and Madagascar remained a colony until 1960.
Caricature of the evolution of patriotism in Madagascar between 1947 and 2017 by Nino [with “For Sale” on sign in 2017 image] (from Madagascar blog with Nino's permission)
The war came not long after the end of the Second World War in which many Malagasy soldiers fought alongside the French army. The colonized joined the ranks of soldiers in the fight against Nazism and fascism, as well as for the liberation of France. In the Madagascar section of the French Defense Ministry website on the history of WWII called Chemins de Mémoire, French officials note:
Entre les deux guerres, l'exploitation des ressources de Madagascar se poursuit, ainsi que la modernisation de l'île, mais les revendications malgaches, à l'instar de celles d'autres colonies, ne sont cependant pas satisfaites. Malgré tout, dès 1939, les Malgaches répondent à l'appel de la France et 10 500 d'entre eux participent à la campagne de France en 1940, dont le tiers tombe au combat. Les 3, 11 régiments d'artillerie coloniaux et le 42 bataillon de tirailleurs malgaches s'illustrent particulièrement, tandis que des tirailleurs combattent bravement dans le cadre d'unités africaines.
Between the two wars, Madagascar’s resources were exploited as the island was modernized. However, the demands of the Malagasy people, as was the case with other colonies, were not met. Despite everything, from 1939 onward the Malagasy people responded to France’s request, with 10,500 of them participating in France’s 1940 campaign and one-third of that number dying in combat. The 3rd and 11th Colonial Infantry Regiments and the 42nd Malagasy Machine Gun Battalion particularly distinguished themselves, while the infantrymen fought bravely within African units.
For many Malagasy soldiers, this participation coupled with the increased political maturity of young intellectuals strengthened their desire for freedom. Following the victory over Nazism and fascism, the Malagasy people demanded greater autonomy within the French Union, as other colonies had achieved. The collaborative website Histoire coloniale et postcoloniale (Colonial and Post-Colonial History), which is written by French colonial historians stated:
En mars 1946, deux jeunes députés malgaches, membres du Mouvement démocratique de la rénovation malgache (MDRM), Joseph Raseta et Joseph Ravoahangy, déposent sur le bureau de l’Assemblée Nationale à Paris, un projet de loi demandant l’indépendance de l’île dans le cadre de l’Union française. Vincent Auriol, alors président de l’Assemblée, refuse de faire imprimer ce texte car « c’était un acte d’accusation contre la France et, en somme, un appel à la révolte ». Le projet de loi est repoussé.
Aux élections législatives suivantes de novembre 1946, les trois sièges du second collège (réservés aux « indigènes »), sont remportés par les dirigeants du MDRM, Joseph Ravoahangy, Joseph Raseta et Jacques Rabemananjara.
In March 1946, two young Malagasy deputies, Joseph Raseta and Joseph Ravoahangy, members of the Democratic Movement for the Renovation of Madagascar (MDRM), lodged a bill with the National Assembly in Paris demanding independence for the island from the French Union. Vincent Auriol, the Assembly president at that time, refused to have the text printed because “it was an indictment against France and actually a call to revolt.” The bill was rejected.
During the next parliamentary elections, in November 1946, the three second college seats (reserved for “indigenous people”) were won by the MDRM leaders, Joseph Ravoahangy, Joseph Raseta and Jacques Rabemananjara.
Against that backdrop, on March 29, 1947, two secret societies unleashed a wave of violence overnight in many locations around Madagascar. Instead of negotiating, however, the French government chose to suppress the uprising, and war began. In an article on the collaborative website Matiere et Evolution (Matter and Evolution), which is managed by history scholars, R. Paris recalled:
Le gouvernement envoie à Madagascar des renforts, essentiellement des troupes coloniales (tirailleurs sénégalais) : au total 18.000 hommes début 1948. La répression donne lieu à de nombreux débordements et crimes de guerre : tortures, exécutions sommaires, regroupements forcés, mises à feu de villages,…
Parmi les crimes les plus graves figure celui du 6 mai 1947, quand le commandant du camp de Moramanga, dans la crainte d’une attaque, fait mitrailler plus d’une centaine de militants du MDRM emprisonnés dans des wagons.
L’armée française expérimente aussi une nouvelle technique de guerre psychologique : des suspects sont jetés vivants d’un avion pour terroriser les villageois de leur région.
The government sent reinforcements to Madagascar, mainly colonial troops (Senegalese infantrymen), a total of 18,000 men by early 1948. The suppression led to many acts of violence and war crimes such as torture, summary executions, forced resettlements and torching of villages.
Among the worst crimes was that of May 6, 1947, when the commandant of Moramanga camp, fearing an attack, had over a hundred MDRM militants, who were imprisoned in wagons, shot. The French army also experimented with a new psychological warfare technique in which suspects were thrown alive from planes to terrorize the villagers in their area.
Wondering “how many were victims of the suppression?” an activist progressive website from southern France, Midi Populaire et Citoyen, attempted to answer, exploring the different attempts to nail down a number:
Les chiffres cités à l’époque devant l’Assemblée nationale parlaient de 80 000 morts, une estimation qui sera reprise par les spécialistes comme Jacques Tronchon. Encore récemment, l’écrivain Claude Simon évoquait “Madagascar, dont on a longtemps caché qu’on y a tué, en 1947, 100 000 indigènes en trois jours”.
Le problème est que ces chiffres seraient faux, selon les dernières estimations de certains historiens. Maître de conférences à Paris-I- Sorbonne, Jean Fremigacci affirme, comme d’autres historiens, que le nombre de personnes tuées lors de l’insurrection n’a pas dépassé les 10 000 (dont 140 Blancs), auquel il convient d’ajouter le nombre de Malgaches morts de malnutrition ou de maladie dans les zones tenues par les insurgés.
“Cette surmortalité reste encore très difficile à évaluer, l’hypothèse la plus vraisemblable tournant autour de 20 000 à 30 000 morts” , écrit M. Fremigacci. Il n’y a pas eu de “génocide oublié” à Madagascar, conclut l’historien, mais une faute des dirigeants politiques qui, à Paris, se sont révélés incapables d’éviter un drame annoncé.
The numbers quoted before the National Assembly at that time were around 80,000 deaths, an estimate which would be altered by specialists such as Jacques Tronchon. More recently, writer Claude Simon spoke of “Madagascar, where it has been hidden for so long that they killed 100,000 indigenous people in three days during 1947.”
However, according to the latest estimates of certain historians, these numbers could be wrong. Paris Sorbonne University lecturer Jean Fremigacci stated, like other historians, that the number killed during the uprising did not exceed 10,000 (including 140 white people) and that the number of Malagasy who died from malnutrition or disease in zones held by the insurgents had been added to this total.
The number of deaths is still extremely hard to assess, and is probably around 20,000 to 30,000 people,” wrote Mr. Fremigacci.
Erick Rabemananoro, previously a journalist with the Madagascar Tribune, paid tribute to these victims of colonial wars, one of whom was his paternal grandfather. On Facebook, Rabemananoro stated:
J'ai l'honneur de vous présenter mon grand-père paternel, Rabemananoro. Il fut placé par la France devant un peloton d'exécution en 1942, dans le tourbillon des luttes entre France vichyste et pro-Anglais en vue du contrôle de Diégo-Suarez et Majunga, où il travaillait.
Après cette première exécution, la France récidivera en 1947 en faisant également fusiller son fils et sa fille aînés, militants du MDRM. Nul n'est besoin de souligner l'impact de ces drames sur la vie de la famille, et les difficultés de ma grand-mère pour subvenir aux besoins des sept orphelins qui restaient.
Alors, en ce jour du 29 mars où tout le monde s'excite à tort ou à raison, je voudrais juste avoir une pensée pour toutes les familles qui savent ce que c'est que d'avoir payé le prix du sang versé pour la patrie dans le combat contre la puissance coloniale. Loin des grandes théories, des discours grandiloquents et autres activités folkloriques sous couvert de patriotisme et d'anticolonialisme
I’m honored to tell you about my paternal grandfather, Rabemananoro. In 1942, he was placed in front of a firing squad by France, during the chaos of battles between Vichy France and Allied France, in sight of the Diego Suarez checkpoint and Mahajanga, where he worked.
After this first execution, France reoffended in 1947, having his son and eldest daughter, both MDRM militants, killed by firing squad. The impact of these tragedies had on the family’s life was immense, as were the problems my grandmother had with meeting the needs of the seven orphans left behind.
Regarding that March 29th day when everyone was roused to action, rightly or wrongly, I would just like to spare a thought for all the families who know that they paid a price in spilled blood for the country in the fight against the colonial power. Far from the great theories, grand speeches and other patriotic activities under the guise of anti-colonialism and patriotism.
We need to go back to 1885 to see how the stage was set for this conflict. In a treaty signed by Queen Ranavalona III (Ranavalo-Manjaka III), France had defined its occupation of the island as a protectorate and not a colony. Jean-Claude Legros, a French historian and author of a book on Madagascar called Les flamboyants de l’exil (The Flamboyants of Exile), explains:
un traité fut signé le 17 décembre 1885, dans lequel Madagascar se voyait imposer — bien que le mot ne fût pas utilisé — un statut de protectorat (impliquant la prise en charge par la France des relations extérieures de Madagascar), assorti du paiement d’une indemnité de dix millions de francs.
En contrepartie, les territoires Sakalava repassèrent sous l’autorité du gouvernement malgache et la reine se vit reconnaître le droit de « présider à l’administration de toute l’île ». En 1888, la reine fut même faite Grand-Croix de la Légion d’Honneur.
A treaty was signed on December 17, 1885, which saw protectorate status (implying management of Madagascar foreign relations by France) imposed upon (although the word ‘imposed’ was not used) Madagascar along with payment of a ten million franc indemnity.
In return, the Sakalava territories would revert to the authority of the Malagasy government and the queen given the right to “rule over the administration of the whole island.” In 1888, the queen was even awarded the Grand-Croix of the Légion d'Honneur.
The queen believed that the previous treaty she signed on October 1, 1895, with general Jacques Charles René Achille Duchesne representing France, would guarantee her crown and that the centuries-old Malagasy monarchy would be preserved. However, for the colonial power wishing to expand their empire, the treaty was nothing but a ruse. In the end, the queen was removed from power and exiled in Algiers.
In an 1895 article in the Revue des Deux Mondes (4th quarter, book 132), French economist Paul Leroy-Beaulieu wrote frankly and acerbically about his country's colonization of Madagascar:
La prise de possession de Madagascar par la France, quelque prix qu’elle nous ait coûté, quelles que soient les fautes ou les erreurs qu’on ait pu constater dans la préparation de l’expédition, a été une grande et belle œuvre. Une question se pose, toutefois, à l’heure actuelle, qu’il importe de trancher dans le bon sens, alors qu’il en est encore temps. Serons-nous vraiment les maîtres de la grande île australe ? Le traité intervenu entre la France et la reine Ranavalona nous donne-t-il un titre précis, incontesté, complet, non seulement pour l’administration intérieure, mais aussi à l’égard des étrangers, Anglais, Américains, Allemands ? Ne nous procure-t-il pas, au contraire, un domaine grevé de nombre de servitudes plus ou moins perpétuelles, et dont nous supporterons tous les frais sans jouir d’aucun avantage quant aux profits ?
The taking of Madagascar by France, however much it has cost us, whatever the faults or mistakes in preparing the expedition, has been a great and beautiful work. A question, nevertheless, must be asked at this time, when it is important to make the right decision while there is still time. Should we really be the masters of the great southern island? Has the treaty between France and Queen Ranavalona given us specific, uncontested, full entitlement for interior administration as well as with respect to foreigners, the British, Americans, Germans? Have we in fact acquired a domain burdened with many constraints, more or less constant, for which we will have to meet all the expenses but without reaping any advantages with respect to profits?
More than a century later, during a November 2016 conference between the heads of state of the International Organization of La Francophonie at Antananarivo in Madagascar, French President François Hollande recognized that atrocities had been committed by colonial troops during the war:
«C’est bien parce qu’il y avait eu cet engagement des Malgaches pour la France mais aussi pour la liberté, que beaucoup, après la Seconde guerre mondiale, ont commencé à songer à l’indépendance, à cette aspiration qui montait du peuple. Ce mouvement a soulevé l’île tout entière en 1947 et elle fut brutalement réprimée par la France. Je rends hommage à toutes les victimes de ces événements, aux milliers de morts et à tous les militants de l’indépendance qui ont alors été arrêtés et condamnés pour leurs idées».
It’s really because there was this engagement of Malagasy people for France, but also for freedom, that after the Second World War many started to dream about independence and about the growing ambitions of the people. This movement caused an uprising across the whole island in 1947 which was brutally suppressed by France. I pay homage to all the victims of these events, to the thousands of dead, and to all the militants who fought for independence and who were arrested and condemned for their ideas.
It is one thing for the French leaders to recognize these war crimes, but asking for forgiveness and paying out compensation are another. France has claimed its debts from Germany, but so far has neglected to face the consequences of wars started by itself.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Sisi’s Visit to the White House Met with Controversial Reactions in Egypt · Global Voices
Salma Essam

Screenshot from Sisi Trump meeting at the White house. Video link.
On Monday April 3, 2017, Egyptian President Abdelfattah el Sisi and his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, met at the White House as part of a six day-long trip. During the meeting, Trump praised the Egyptian president's fight against “terrorism” at a time when the Arab Republic is witnessing an unprecedented rate of human rights abuse.
On the chessboard of Egyptian politics, Sisi's friendly relations with the USA is no small matter. For decades, the US has been a primary source of funds allocated to the Egyptian military wing – funds deemed indispensable for Egypt's dictator, himself a former military commander in-chief.
On this historic visit, Donald Trump tweeted:
It was an honor to welcome President Al Sisi of Egypt to the @WhiteHouse as we renew the historic partnership between the U.S. and Egypt. pic.twitter.com/HE0ryjEFb6
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2017
Sisi, who overthrew Egypt's first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, seizing power in May of 2014, is widely seen as bringing the Egyptian revolutionary scene back to zero.
As a matter of fact, Sisi's once enormous level of domestic support has significantly tumbled. Between imprisonment, enforced disappearances, and exile, Egyptians are now getting over a flourishing stage of ostensible democratic transition that followed January 25, 2011.
As Human Rights Watch explained, Egypt's autocratic head of state “has presided over near-total impunity for abuses by the military and security forces and the severe restrictions on civil and political rights”.
But as Sisi offers almost no room for political freedom, his policies are drawing increasingly negative reactions. The president's official visit to Washington, DC was met with both criticism and support, with Egyptians taking to Twitter via “The Egyptian American Summit” hashtag in Arabic to express themselves.
Activist Khaled Sweida tweeted a photo of prominent Human Rights Activist, Alaa Abdelfattah, who was sentenced to five years in jail on February 2015:
“أنا في السجن سعيًا من السلطة لأن تجعل منا عبرة. فلنكن عبرة إذن ولكن بإرادتنا #freealaa
#القمه_المصريه_الامريكيه` pic.twitter.com/PW20DGu5kp
— خالد سويده (@KhaledSwida) April 2, 2017
‘I'm in prison so that the authorities would make a lesson out of us. Let us be a lesson then… but with our own will #TheEgyptianAmericanSummit’
In contrast, Samy Abu Tera expressed his support for Sisi through the same hashtag:
@realDonaldTrump #القمه_المصريه_الامريكيه
Mr. president
we trust this man pic.twitter.com/AxHco0rvuL
— Samy Aboutera (@SamyAboutera) April 1, 2017
Former parliament member and Muslim Brotherhood supporter, Hatem Azzam, posted:
ترامب و سيسي.. فعلاً ..ما جمّع إلا ما وفق . الحج لبيت ترامب لا يمنح شرعية ، فشرعيةً الحاكم من شعبه، و المتغطي بترامب عريان و مفضوح .
— حاتم عزام (@HatemAzzam) April 3, 2017
Trump and Sisi get along well. Pilgrimage to Trump's office does not grant legitimacy. A ruler's legitimacy is conferred from the masses. Resorting to Trump is useless.
Other Egyptians, however, preferred using caricatures and memes.
One Egyptian Twitter user shared a caricature of Trump asking Sisi if he can teach him some of his tactics:
Al Sisi in USA to give Trump some lessons “how to kill your people” !! #usa #Humanrights #Egypt #السيسي @realDonaldTrump @AlsisiOfficial pic.twitter.com/ZI6GUu2Y0P
— Ameer Gowayed (@AmeerGowayed) April 4, 2017
The popular Facebook page, Asa7be Sarcasm Society, shared an image by ‘Mas Ry’, showing Sisi writing a love letter to Trump:
Image showing Sisi writing a love letter to Trump. Source: ASa7be Sarcasm Society
Another sarcastic page shared a photo of both Sisi and Trump walking along a corridor, with a quote underneath that reads: “When your father picks you up from school early”. The accompanying caption reads: “Trump…the joke of the modern era.”
Image shared by ‘Hat Haga’ page. Source: Facebook.

author: Salma Essam


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Colorized Photos Show Epic Battle Between American and Japanese Forces in Okinawa During World War II · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Screenshot from Okinawa Digital Archive.
April 1, 2017 marked the seventy-second anniversary of the start of the Battle of Okinawa, when American forces landed on the island of Okinawa during World War II. The nearly 290,000 American soldiers who took part in the invasion of Okinawa were opposed by 150,000 Japanese troops. This was the first and only time American soldiers fought on Japanese soil. More than 20,000 Americans would be killed during the Battle of Okinawa, while the Japanese military dead would top more than 100,000. During the battle it's estimated 150,000 Okinawa civilians, out of a pre-invasion population of 300,000, were also killed by both Japanese and US forces.
Okinawa would be administered by the United States until 1972. The island served as a major American base during the Vietnam war, and the American presence in Okinawa continues to this day. Of Okinawa's 1.4 million residents, more than 100,000 are Americans — mostly military personnel and their dependents or Department of Defense civilian employees.
On the seventy-second anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, Japanese researcher Hidenori Watanave has made a variety of Twitter posts that feature archival photos of the battle that have been colorized using a software tool created by researchers at Japan's Waseda University. Watanave has spearheaded many innovative online mapping projects, including mapping the oral history of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, and an interactive map of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.
72年前の今日，アメリカ軍の沖縄本島上陸初日。上陸拠点を陸側からみた写真。ニューラルネットワークによる自動色付け。 pic.twitter.com/KTAZF2XpOJ
— Hidenori Watanave (@hwtnv) March 31, 2017
72 years ago today marks the start of the American landings on the island of Okinawa. The landing beach as seen from land. Image colorized by neural networks.
Many of colorized photos of the Battle of Okinawa Watanave has posted on his Twitter feed are from the Okinawa Digital Archive, an online mapping project that, like Watanave's other projects, places photos and eyewitness testimony on a map.
72年前の今日。1945年4月1日，アメリカ軍が沖縄本島に上陸した。写真中央が比謝川河口。左手むこうに読谷飛行場が見える。右側は嘉手納町水釜海岸。ニューラルネットワークによる自動色付け。 pic.twitter.com/HD34JUXiDu
— Hidenori Watanave (@hwtnv) March 31, 2017
72 years ago today marks the start of the American landings on the island of Okinawa. The mouth of the Hija River (the site of the main American landing) is at the center of the photo. Yomitan Airfield is on the left. Image colorized by neural networks.
In the case of the Battle of Okinawa, Watanave tweeted photos on the date on which they were taken 72 years ago.
72年前の今日。アメリカ軍の沖縄本島上陸開始から43分後、イエロービーチの浜辺に停止する水陸両用トラック。ニューラルネットワークによる自動色付け。 pic.twitter.com/Oc80wvsKzO
— Hidenori Watanave (@hwtnv) April 1, 2017
72 years ago today. In a photo taken 43 minutes after the landing, an amphibious tank is stopped on the shore of Yellow Beach. Image colorized by neural networks.
The photos provide a concrete perspective on what was happening during Battle of Okinawa.
72年前の今日。アメリカ軍の沖縄本島上陸日の読谷飛行場。地上には戦車部隊が展開している。ニューラルネットワークによる自動色付け。 pic.twitter.com/MHwJah5mb7
— Hidenori Watanave (@hwtnv) April 1, 2017
72 years ago today. American forces at Yomitan airfield on landing day. American armored units make their way (inland). Image colorized by neural networks.
72年前の今日．1945年4月9日に撮影された沖縄・嘉数高地．沖縄戦を通じて最大の激戦が繰り広げられ，戦死傷者は日本側64,000人，アメリカ側24,000人ともいわれる．ニューラルネットワークによる自動色付け． pic.twitter.com/2LD7H2FYSF
— Hidenori Watanave (@hwtnv) April 9, 2017
72 years ago today – Kakazu Ridge, in an image taken on April 9, 1945. Kakazu Ridge would mark the start of the fiercest fighting of the Battle of Okinawa, where at least 64,000 Japanese troops would die and 24,000 Americans.
Watanave has also colorized some spectacular photos, such as the sinking of the battleship Yamato, at the time the largest ship ever constructed.
72年前の今日．沖縄への航路上で爆撃を受ける戦艦「大和」．ニューラルネットワークによる自動色付け． pic.twitter.com/buXRG5DJ66
— Hidenori Watanave (@hwtnv) April 6, 2017
72 years ago today. The battleship Yamato under aerial attack on its way to fight in the Battle of Okinawa.
72年前の今日．1945年4月7日．史上最大の戦艦「大和」は，沖縄へ向けての航海中に多数の魚雷と爆弾を受け，14時20分過ぎに坊ノ岬沖で沈没した．ニューラルネットワークによる自動色付け． pic.twitter.com/Po7C8gFibv
— Hidenori Watanave (@hwtnv) April 6, 2017
72 years ago today. April 7, 1945. Yamato, the largest battleship in history (to that point) is sunk in the seas south of Kyushu by scores of torpedoes at 2:20 PM while en route to the Battle of Okinawa.
Watanave's Twitter feed also features colorized photos of the aftermath of the war.
72年前の今日。沖縄・読谷飛行場にて。米軍の不意打ちで破壊された日本軍機の残骸。ニューラルネットワークによる自動色付け。 pic.twitter.com/YYMUgJz9m6
— Hidenori Watanave (@hwtnv) April 1, 2017
72 years ago today. At Yomitan airfield on Okinawa, American troops inspect Japanese war materiel destroyed during a surprise attack.
The Battle of Okinawa also saw civilians experiencing great cruelty at the hands of American and Japanese forces. Watanave's Okinawa Digital Archive documents such civilians experiences of the battle and can be explored at okinawa.mapping.jp. The book Descent into Hell: Civilian Memories of the Battle of Okinawa by Okinawa’s Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper is also a good resource for these stories.
沖縄戦における戦争体験者の移動・証言，記録写真，戦没者の分布をみることができます。米軍の沖縄本島上陸から72年目の今日，ぜひご覧ください。 https://t.co/TdNEOoljOA
— Hidenori Watanave (@hwtnv) March 31, 2017
Explore testimonies, photographs and just where people died during the Battle of Okinawa. American forces landed seventy-two years ago today (April 1, 2017), so please take a look.
As well, anyone can use Waseda University's neural network-based automatic image colorization  tool here.


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Facebook Among First 100 Companies to Pay Russia’s ‘Google Tax’ · Global Voices
Isaac Webb

Source: Pixabay
On Sunday, the newspaper Vedemosti reported that Facebook will pay Russia's so-called “Google tax,” an 18 percent value added tax (VAT) on foreign companies selling electronic content in Russia. Facebook joins Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Bloomberg, and around a hundred other foreign companies that have registered to pay the VAT with Russia's Federal Tax Service.
The tax, which was approved by the Russian parliament last summer and came into effect on January 1, is levied on companies that sell music, e-books, video games domain names, and a variety of other goods and services online. Russian authorities say the tax is similar to VATs paid by purveyors of online content in the European Union, Japan, and South Korea.
Companies that have registered to pay the tax, which authorities expect will add up to 10 billion rubles (around $174 million) to the state budget annually, must make their first quarterly payment by April 25.
Some companies are adjusting for the tax by increasing prices on the online content they sell, transferring the cost of the tax onto Russian consumers: Google, for example, increased the cost of its Google Drive services by 18 percent last year after parliament parliament the tax. Apple, meanwhile, has not raised its prices in Russia. Similarly, the video game company Wargaming has said that its users will not bear the burden of the new tax.
Uber initially asked its drivers, who are registered as distinct legal entities in Russia and therefore taxed individually, to temporarily take on the cost of the tax. After some of its drivers quit in protest, however, the company reversed policy, saying it would pay the tax.

author: Isaac Webb


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Fed Up With Local Government, Siberian Environmentalists Beg Leonardo DiCaprio for Help · Global Voices
Anastasia Denisova

Environmentalists in Krasnoyarsk appeal to Dr. DiCaprio. Image: Vkontakte
According to a popular legend many Russians learn in school, the Russian people 11 centuries ago invited “managers” from Scandinavia to come and help rule over their lands. The so-called “Varangian” tribe leaders (coming from the territories of modern Sweden and Norway) had a knack for good governance, and they were enormously helpful in Old Rus, the story goes.
The age of the Varangians came and went, but some Russians today are still looking abroad for another savior. In Krasnoyarsk, the third largest city in Siberia, local environmentalists have found their man: Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio.
In order to draw attention to air pollution that's choking their home, local activists recently displayed several large banners throughout the city bearing DiCaprio's handsome face, with a desperate appeal reading, “Leon, save Krasnoyarsk from coal!”
This was just the latest stunt in a campaign against local power plants that's lasted years. Last month, for example, citizens held a public protest to demand that the powerhouses switch from coal to natural gas, which environmentalists hope would lower air pollution.
A founder of a wildlife conservation foundation in 1998 and a UN climate change ambassador, Leonardo DiCaprio is renown for his environmentalist work. When accepting his Oscar award last year, he devoted a good deal of his acceptance speech to climate issues.
Krasnoyarsk environmentalists’ appeal to DiCaprio represents a worldwide trend, when activists spend years hounding unresponsive local authorities, before appealing to the global viral community, in this case using a world-famous celebrity to draw attention to their cause.
Scholar Ethan Zuckerman (who co-founded Global Voices) coined the “cute cat theory of digital activism,” which suggests that somewhere between the images of adorable cats and brunch selfies, new forms of social activism can thrive.
By hanging banners appealing to Leonardo DiCaprio, environmentalists in Krasnoyarsk aren't putting direct pressure on the city's officials, but the publicity could bring the matter to their attention indirectly, perhaps more effectively than a traditional protest outside city hall.
A typical problem with viral campaigning is that struggles to transition from computer screens to the streets. As unlikely as it probably is, what could really help the campaign in Krasnoyarsk would be for DiCaprio himself to publicize the situation in the city.
In the meantime, Russian Internet users are already finding the humor in Krasnoyarsk's strange public appeal. “You're better off asking Chuck Norris for help. Leo can only deal with the potholes,” some people have joked. Showing an impressive grasp of DiCaprio's filmography, others have written in online comments: “They'll call in Tarantino for help with the street violence.”

author: Anastasia Denisova