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‘Even by leaving us she gave us a lesson’: Fearless rights defender’s death shocks Tajikistan · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Fayzinsso Vohidova. Screenshot sourced from CATV News YouTube Channel.
Fayzinisso Vohidova, a prominent Tajik lawyer who was renowned for her preparedness to defend political arrestees and constant criticism of Tajikistan's authoritarian system, passed away on January 4.
On Facebook, where open criticism of authorities in the Central Asian country is growing rarer and rarer, the outpouring of grief told its own story.
A mother of three, Vohidova was often referred to by her admirers as a “Gurdofarid”, referencing the fearless ancient Persian heroine from the Shahnameh epic Persian poem.
She lost a short battle to pneumonia only a week after celebrating her 55th birthday.
In recent years, Vohidova suffered regular harassment at the hands of Tajik authorities, verbal attacks from regime supporters and a curtailment of her professional activities.
Although she avoided arrest, Vohidova had her license to practise law suspended and could not leave the country at the time of her death.
Steve Swerdlow of the Human Rights Watch group wrote a moving and widely-shared thread on Twitter in honour of a woman he regarded as a friend and colleague.
Early this morning the world lost a wonderful person, #humanrights hero, a fearless lawyer, an opposition figure, a fighter for women's rights and for basic human dignity: #Tajik human rights lawyer Fayziniso Vohidova, who died in Khujand from complications due to pneumonia (.) pic.twitter.com/Bc6JRHzRhC
— Steve Swerdlow (@steveswerdlow) January 4, 2019
Vohidova was born in a remote district in northern Tajikistan and studied law at the prestigious Moscow State University.
A member of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, she earned a name defending young people facing jail over extremism charges widely applied by the secular authorities.
When a BBC reporter, Urinboy Usmonov, was arrested on similar charges in 2011, it was only logical that Vohidova would take up the case. Usmonov was convicted but freed from jail as the international media spotlight burned down on the country.
Another BBC journalist, London-based Darius Raja bian wrote on Facebook that the online reaction to the rights defender's death was unprecedented:
Ҳаргиз Файзбуки Тоҷикистон ин ҳама сӯгвор набуд ва ин ҳама файз намеборид, ки ҳоло меборад. Рафтанаш ҳам дарсе буд…
Tajik Facebook has never been in mourning the way it is now. Even by leaving us she gave us a lesson.
Yet another reporter, Anora Sarkorova, described Vohidova as “the honour and conscience of the Tajik nation.”
“She was not silent when others buried their heads in the sand. She risked her life every day and knew the value of this risk,” added Sarkorova.
Vohidova’s own Facebook wall, filled with birthday congratulations just two weeks ago, is now overflowing with condolences.
Tajik social media users who have been silenced in recent years thanks to state targeting of online critics, broke this silence to express deep sorrow at Vohidova's passing and their own rightlessness.
In a country passionate about poetry, it is perhaps unsurprising that some users expressed their distress in verse.
Facebook user Abduqodir Rustam wrote:
Боли мурғи озоди адолат шикаст! Модари ҷасорат мурд! Дар ин чанд соли охир худро боре ҳам чунин танҳо эҳсос накарда будам, агарчи боре ҳам ӯро надида ва рӯ ба рӯ суҳбат накарда будем……. Алвидоъ Файзинисо!
A wing of the bird of freedom and justice broke! The mother of braveness died! I have never felt so lonely in recent years as now, though I have never met her (Fayzinisso) and talked to her. Rest in peace, Fayzinisso!
On December 9, in her last ever Facebook post, Vohidova wrote about two women that she particularly admired — German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the well-known Russian rights defender Lyudmila Alexeyeva, who had died the day before.
While she wrote that she liked Merkel for her simplicity and, poignantly, the German leader's recent decision to step away from power, Vohidova celebrated Alexeyeva as “a defender of the fallen, the suffering, the poor.”
“In any case, there is only one path (to God)! And this path should be the path of honour, of good will and actions, with human dignity, pure and modest. Let us pray to God to ask that people would cry after each one of us with tears of thankfulness!” Vohidova wrote.

author: Chris Rickleton


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Singled out for search at a Serbian supermarket, Roma opera superstar accuses the store of racism · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Serbian opera star Nataša Tasić Knežević, photo by Dzenet Koko, used with permission.
Serbian social networks were set ablaze after opera singer and local superstar Nataša Tasić Knežević, who is of Roma origin, accused a supermarket in the city of Novi Sad of racial profiling on a live broadcast on Facebook.
In the video, broadcast on December 29 right after the incident, Ms. Tasić Knežević explained that as she exited the Maxi supermarket store along with several other shoppers, the anti-theft sensor beeped. While everyone else was allowed to leave, the store's security officers told her to stay and proceeded to search her in public while onlookers heckled her. In her backpack, they only found sheet music, books, and a wallet.
In the first days of January 2019, the video suddenly vanished from the platform along with Ms. Knežević's profile. Although she hasn't publicly explained what happened, many speculate that she has removed them herself to de-escalate the turmoil. In just a few days, her video amassed over 60 thousand views, was shared around 350 times and received around 700 reactions. Independent news portal Buka was the first to report the incident, followed by other Balkan media.
Ms. Tasić Knežević is a soprano at the Serbian National Theatre, located in Novi Sad, the country's second largest city. Previously, she worked in the Belgrade theater Atelje 212. She is also a choir performer and a soloist of popular music and often sings of her own Roma heritage.
In the video, Ms Knežević says the store manager apologized to her after she complained about the maltreatment, but that she was still hurt by the mob's harassment. She says one older man shouted that they “should pack that garbage out”, meaning that employees should throw her out of the store, supposedly for her being Roma.
“Zna se ko ovde voli da krade!”, rečenica iz “Ko to tamo peva”, u kojem se radnja odvija 5. aprila 1941. – ni posle 77 godina nije iskorenjena iz našeg mentaliteta. Kompanija je holandsko-belgijska ali su zaposleni naši! Sramota! Podrška za divnu ženu i umetnicu @NatasaTasicKnez
— Robert Coban (@robert_coban) December 29, 2018
“It is known who likes to steal around here!” is a sentence from the movie “Who's Singin’ Over There?” about events taking place on 5 April 1941. 77 years later this [discriminatory stereotype] is not rooted out from our mentality. The company [owning Maxi markets] is Dutch-Belgian but the employees are our people! For shame! Support for the wonderful woman and artist @NatasaTasicKnez.
“Who's Singin’ Over There?” is a 1980s Yugoslavian movie that has achieved cult status in the Balkans. In the story, two Roma musicians are wrongfully accused of theft and barely manage to escape alive from a lynching attempt.
The parent company of Maxi supermarkets, Delez Srbija, issued an official apology on the same day. It stated that it “believes that this would remain an isolated incident of inappropriate individual reaction and that there won't be similar situations in the future.” The company has added that it will conduct formal training of their employees on appropriate conduct upon suspicion of theft.
The next day, Miloš Nikolić, the Director of Office for Roma Inclusion of Novi Sad, officially condemned the incident. He said: “All available research shows that Roma men and women are the most discriminated groups in our country. We have to work together to change it!”
On December 31, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Gender Equality Coordination Body, Zorana Mihajlović, also decried the behavior of Maxi store employees as “scandalous and for condemnation.” She did not announce any concrete measures to address the broader issue of discrimination against people of Roma descent in Serbia.
While Ms. Knežević seems to have removed her profile from Facebook, possibly to de-escalate the turmoil, she has retained her Twitter profile. On New Year's Eve, she posted a short message referring to the incident.
Dragi prijatelji, desila se jako neprikatna situacija pre neki dan, ali se nadam da ce svaka takva situacija ostati u 2018. i da se nikada slicne stvari nece desiti. Budimo ljudi, jer je to jedino sto je dobro na ovome svetu <3
— NatasaTasicKnezevic (@NatasaTasicKnez) December 31, 2018
Dear friends, a very unpleasant situation took place few days ago, but I hope all such situations will remain in 2018 and that similar event won't occur any more. Let us all be human beings, that is the only good thing on this world. <3

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Azerbaijanis pressure government to #FreeMehman after blogger endures 12 days on hunger strike · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

Screen capture of Mehman Hüseynov speaking. Video posted on YouTube by Obyektiv TV.
On December 26, imprisoned blogger Mehman Huseynov began a hunger strike in protest of what he says is the latest in a series of bogus charges levied against him by authorities in Azerbaijan.
After 12 days without food or water, Huseynov is now facing severe stomach pain and other health complications. His lawyer, Shahla Humbatova, visited him in prison on January 7 and reported that his physical condition had deteriorated rapidly. Prison guards had to physically hold him up when accompanying him to meet with Humbatova. On January 8, his brother Emin Huseynov reported that he had begun drinking water and milk, but continues to refuse solid and other foods.
Prior to his arrest, Huseynov was an administrator of a popular Facebook page where he shared videos on social issues in Azerbaijan, ranging from poor working conditions to the lavish lifestyles of government officials and their ownership of real estate. His page had more than 300,000 followers.
Huseynov was serving a two-year sentence on defamation charges related to his Facebook page. While in prison, he had an encounter with a prison guard that resulted in a new charge of “resisting a representative of the authorities with the use of violence dangerous to his health and life,” that could carry an additional sentence of up to seven years in prison.
Immediately after the new charges were levied by the Penitentiary Services last month, Huseynov was placed in solitary confinement.
Young, popular and politicized, Huseynov is precisely the type of figure Azerbaijan's government has targeted repeatedly in its multi-year crackdown on civil society, media and political opposition. The response among local activists to the charges against him has been overwhelming.
#FreeMehman The struggle is going on! pic.twitter.com/G3Tcj8iyFf
— Bahruz Samadov (@bahruz_samad) January 5, 2019
On social media, supporters repeatedly shared the blogger's own words:
“I shall prevent other [bad] things from happening with my death”. These are the words of political prisoner Mehman Huseynov, who has been on hunger strike for 11 days protesting new bogus charges against him, which would extend his arrest by 7 years.#freeMehman #FreePress pic.twitter.com/A0caby1XcA
— Məhərrəm Rza (@MeherremRza) January 6, 2019
A rare rally in the capital Baku held in response to the new charges against Huseynov was dispersed violently by police and resulted in several administrative detentions on January 4. The popular youth movement N!DA launched a campaign #FreeMehman calling for his immediate release on the same day.
Today a group of activists protested demanding #Azerbaijani government release #blogger #MehmanHuseynov. The police demonstrated violence against protestors and journos. Mehman is on #HungerStrike for 8 days.@azpresident #FreeMehman, #freepoliticalprisoners. https://t.co/OIzWY25BhI
— Leyla Mustafayeva (@LeylaMustafaeva) January 3, 2019
Supporters have flooded the social media accounts of the ruling President Ilham Aliyev and the first lady Mehriban Aliyeva for good measure.
#Azerbaijan Sosial şəbəkə istifadəçiləri bu dəfə İlham Əliyevin facebook səhifəsinə Mehman Hüseynovun azadlığını tələb edən şərhlər yazırlar. #FreeMehman #HumanRights pic.twitter.com/wmCJr9Ceka
— Mikroskop Media (@MikroskopMedia) January 4, 2019
“#Azerbaijan social media users this time are leaving comments on Ilham Aliyev's facebook page calling for Mehman Huseynov's freedom. #FreeMehman #HumanRights”
Baku-born rapper Jamal Ali joined the campaign in solidarity, releasing a song ironically titled “My Queen”, which was addressed to Aliyeva and invoked Huseynov's case. Aliyev's wife is also the country's first vice president.
Jamal Ali -My queenhttps://t.co/AmYpwRv6HB #FreeMehman
— Rashadat Akhundov (@RAkhundov) January 6, 2019
Your crown is our crown, your sister is our sister
We know all of your family, that is our duty
Your nose is our nose, YAP [the ruling party] is our only path
Our money is your money, and these people are your slaves.
[…]
Allow me to interrupt you sweet dreams
You are the creators of your own fears
But that's not the most frightening
So I ask you one last time as a human being
Push back your army of dogs!
Huseynov has been joined on hunger strike by his father Rafig Huseynov, former political prisoner Tofig Yaqublu, Tofig Mammadov, who is a member of the Popular Front Party, and Elshan Hasanov, the head of the monitoring center for political prisoners.
#MehmanHuseynov‘s father decided to join the hunger strike to protest his son's treatment by the authorities. It is time for the #azerbaijani authorities to be held accountable for their actions. Stop the injustice against the free media! #FreeMehman pic.twitter.com/qR6kUOKJKc
— @IRFS_ORG (@IRFS_ORG) January 5, 2019
On January 6, the opposition Musavat party announced that it would stage a political rally in support of Mehman and other political prisoners on January 12.
International media freedom and human rights organisations have added weight to the #FreeMehman campaign.
Very concern about the safety of imprisoned blogger #MehmanHuseynov in Azerbaijan and ask for immediately release and drop of new trumped up charges #@presidentaz #FreeMehman #irfs.org pic.twitter.com/Hl617wRDZz
— Ane Tusvik Bonde (@anetbonde) January 5, 2019
URGENT: blogger Mehman Huseynov's health has dramatically deteriorated since he started a dry hunger strike in #Azerbaijan https://t.co/cgtJpfkamS
He faces new trumped-up charges and he has been placed in isolation https://t.co/iVHB1fY7m1 Lift these charges, #FreeMehman NOW! pic.twitter.com/BFqKgBpPzc
— RSF_EECA (@RSF_EECA) December 29, 2018
Azerbaijan: co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) call upon authorities to review Blogger @Mehman_Huseynov’s case#freemehman https://t.co/NnYYmNSNDA pic.twitter.com/9Y6Sda1Znk
— Gözətçi (@WatchdogAze) January 5, 2019
So far, there has been no official response to such demands by authorities, who kept themselves busy last month turning the screws on other dissenting voices.
Just three days before the prosecutor announced new charges against Huseynov, another prominent journalist and anti-corruption figure, Khadija Ismayilova, was ordered by the Baku Economic and Administrative Court to pay 23,000 Euros (US$26,240) for allegedly failing to pay taxes while working as the local bureau chief for Radio Free Europe. Her personal bank account was frozen the next day.
In another instance, news website editor Anar Mammadov is facing a possible eight-year jail term for allegedly calling to overthrow the government, abuse of authority and spreading misinformation. In a trial that began on December 28, authorities zeroed in on Mammadov's website, criminalaz.com, where he reported on a July 2018 incident in which the mayor of Azerbaijan's second largest city, Ganja, was shot and wounded. Following critical coverage of the incident, the criminalaz.com website was blocked, along with several other independent news sites that reported on the incident.
As for Huseynov, the future remains uncertain. While he was scheduled to be released in March, after serving his original sentence, authorities have yet to announce whether and when he will face a new trial for the charges most recently levied against him.
Learn about the physiological effects of a hunger strike with the infographic below, created by our partners at Visualizing Impact.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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Conservation groups claim victory as Japan leaves IWC and ends Antarctic whaling · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

“Bring the power of the whale to your dinner table.” Poster promoting whale meat wholesale distributor in Kochi City, Japan. Photo by Nevin Thompson.
On December 26, 2018, Japan announced it would withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and resume commercial whaling in July 2019. Although this latest move will see Japan as one of the few countries to officially move against the IWC's 1982 moratorium on whaling, one of the Japanese whaling industry's biggest foes said it was “delighted” by the latest news as it will allow the IWC to pass a motion establishing the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary — a move which will essentially outlaw and end whaling in the international waters of the Southern Hemisphere.
The International Whaling Commission, an international body whose original purpose was to regulate whaling in order to conserve whale stocks, placed a moratorium on whaling in the world's oceans in 1982. The moratorium excluded some aboriginal and subsistence whaling and the harvesting of some smaller species in coastal waters. Also excluded from the moratorium was “scientific whaling,” which Japan carries out mainly in the Southern Ocean around the Antarctic.
Under its most recent research plan, Japan aimed to capture 4,000 minke whales in Antarctic waters over a twelve-year period and killed 333 during the 2016 season. Some 122 whales were killed — potentially illegally — in 2018. While there is virtually no domestic demand in Japan for the meat, until Japan pulled out of the IWC in December 2018 the purpose of the scientific whaling was to demonstrate the viability of re-starting a commercial whaling fishery. Organizations like Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have long condemned Japan's research in the Southern Ocean as a facade to catch minke whales.
Now that Japan has pledged to end its scientific whaling program, it will no longer be covered by the IWC special research permit, thus relegating their commercial whaling project to the coastal waters of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
According to a Sea Shepherd news release:
If Japan decides to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) it will allow the IWC to pass the motion to establish the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary thus effectively ending whaling in the Southern Hemisphere. Japan will now join Norway and Iceland as rogue outlaw whaling nations in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic. The Whale Wars (sic) in the Southern Ocean will soon be over. The focus now must be the Northern Hemisphere.
Meanwhile, the governments of Australia and New Zealand opposed Japan's decision to pull out of the IWC, as well as its plan to restart commercial whaling.
Japan's decision to withdraw from the IWC was triggered in part by “Florianopolis Declaration” in September 2018, where commission members voted to continue the longstanding moratorium on whaling while rejecting Japan's proposal to restart a commercial hunt with “sustainable” catch limits of the relatively abundant minke whales in the Antarctic.
Following the September IWC meeting and votes, Japanese government spokesperson Suga Yoshihide issued a statement saying that, while “scientific evidence” proves certain whale species are abundant, the members of the IWC still focus exclusively on whale protection, refusing to take “any tangible steps” toward facilitating a return to “sustainable whaling,” the original goal of the organization.
As a result, Japan decided to exit the IWC by the end of 2018 and discontinue its scientific whaling program entirely. Instead, Japan will hunt whales in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a vast amount of ocean territory stretching far to the south of the main islands of the Japanese archipelago.
The Japanese government said the hunt will focus on three species, all of them baleen whales: minke, sei and Bryde's whale. The new hunt will still continue to follow catch limits calculated “in accordance with the method adopted by the IWC to avoid negative impact on cetacean resources.”
Smaller species of whales including dolphins and pilot whales, which, unlike larger cetaceans such as baleen whales, are not covered under IWC catch guidelines, will continue to be hunted in Japan's EEZ.
Commentator Michael Cucek noted the number of whales Japan kills each year could potentially decline because of a shift in focus on hunting larger species of whales that can meet market demand. However, Cucek also notes Japan's existing coastal fishery has generally failed to meet established quotas, presenting the question of whether or not pulling out of the IWC will meaningfully increase the number of whales caught (left number is 2016 quota, right number is actual number of whales landed):
3) the coastal whaling catch has been largely aspirational these last few years:
Y2016 Quota Landed
Pseudorca crassidens 20 0
Berardius bairdii 66 61
Globicephala macrorhynchus　72 5
— Michael Thomas Cucek (@MichaelTCucek) December 27, 2018
Note: ‘Pseudorca crassidens’ is commonly known as the false killer whale; ‘Berardius bairdii’ is known as Baird's beaked whale; ‘Globicephala macrorhynchus’ is commonly known as the pilot whale.
Cucek also noted the Japanese government announced that seven communities in Japan will participate in the new commercial whaling plan. The cities are located up and down Japan's Pacific seaboard, from Hokkaido to Honshu. Many of the communities, such as Taiji, which hosts a controversial dolphin hunt, already participate to some extent in smaller-scale whaling. One of the seven communities included in the new plan is Shimonoseki, located on the southwestern tip of Honshu.
Represented in the Japanese Diet by Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, Shimonoseki is the headquarters of Japan's pelagic whaling fleet and was the base of operations for the country's scientific whaling expeditions to the seas around Antarctica.
Shimonoseki is also the home port of the Nisshin Maru, the world's only whaling factory ship. More than thirty years old, the Nisshin Maru does not conform with relatively recent international environmental standards adopted for Antarctic waters and must be replaced. The sheer expense of replacing the vessel combined with the economic unviability of Japan's whaling industry may have also caused Japan to use withdrawal from IWC as a pretext to pragmatically end costly, subsidized Antarctic scientific whaling.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society also takes credit for Japan's IWC pullout. The conservation group has long actively opposed Japan's research whaling activities in the Antarctic and in Japanese coastal waters. The society's annual campaigns sparked Whales Wars, a long-running reality television program, and founder and CEO Paul Watson became an Interpol “international wanted person” because of his anti-whaling and conservation activities.
According to Sea Shepherd:
In 2017, the Japanese government began to invest millions of dollars in security efforts to prevent Sea Shepherd from engaging their fleets. These security measures included military-grade real-time surveillance. Although this prevented Sea Shepherd from returning to the Southern Ocean in 2018, it also placed Japan in a position of expending huge resources on continuous security. In other words, the cost of preventing Sea Shepherd intervention became very expensive.
While Sea Shepherd has claimed victory over Japanese whaling off Antarctica, they say they will continue to fight against whaling in Japanese coastal waters.
In an email interview with Global Voices, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson pledged to continue their work:
With the whalers worldwide retreating to their own EEZ areas, we no longer need to intervene in pelagic waters. We will continue our opposition against coastal whaling. We presently have a crew in Taiji, Japan. We will continue to urge nations to uphold the IWC moratorium and to embargo products from Japan as stated in their own domestic laws.

author: Nevin Thompson


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A pig carcass floats from China to Taiwan, triggering fears of swine fever · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

A dead pig found on the seashore of Kinmen island on December 31. Image released by Kinmen  seashore patrol
When a dead pig washed ashore on Kinmen Island, Taiwan on December 31, it was more than just a sad sight.
The pig carcass tested positive for African Swine Fever (ASF). Although it is harmless to humans, ASF is highly contagious among pigs. It cannot be cured or prevented by vaccine and can be spread by live or dead pigs, as well as by pork products. Since August 2018, the deadly pig virus has swept across China, leading to the culling of more than 600,000 pigs.
In the fall of 2018, sausages from China that had been exported to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand tested positive for the virus. Experts are worried that if the virus continues to spread, it will bring economic catastrophe to multiple Asian countries.
In September 2018, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations held an emergency meeting and sent warnings about the spread of ASF to officials from Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
When investigators tested DNA from the pig carcass found on Kinmen Island, they found that it was carrying a virus with the exact same genome as the virus found in China. Although it is part of Taiwan, Kinmen Island sits just beyond the shores of China's Fujian province. Investigators concluded that since Fujian also has had reports of ASF cases, it is likely that the dead pig had floated from Fujian to Kinmen.
Taiwan has 5.39 million pigs, and the pig farmers in Taiwan fear the spread of ASF from China. Among Taiwanese, the news has heightened fears that officia in China are not making every effort to contain the illness, especially when it comes to Taiwan.
These fears are not entirely unfounded. Relations between China and Taiwan have been strained in recent years, due to rising support for Taiwanese independence, including from sitting president Tsai Ing-wen. Beijing has suspended diplomatic contact with Taiwan, imposed economic sanctions, forced other countries to cut ties with Taiwan and has bolstered its military presence in the Taiwan Strait.
The incident has quickly become a hot topic on PTT, the largest Bulletin Board System in Taiwan. In one discussion thread, @dynamo said,
飄來一頭都會是陽性 對岸到底健康的豬的比例是多少
We found one dead pig here, and this one is ASF positive. Wonder what is the ratio of healthy pigs [to sick one] in China?
The discussion has also taken on political overtones. @devilkool compared the pig to a “biochemical attack”, in reference to rapidly rising tensions between China and Taiwan:
海漂的話真的像合法生化攻擊
(Dead pigs) floating to the beach really sounds like legal biochemical attack.
@z23061542 quipped that the Chinese Communist Party might have been responsible for its arrival:
這種水流的怎麼防啦也不知道是自己還是共匪飄來的
The current makes it impossible to prevent [such incident from happening] and it is difficult to say whether it randomly floated here or sent by Chinese Communist Party with intention.
A cartoon by HolyMosquito, shared on Facebook, compared the threat of diseased pigs to military attacks against Taiwan from China that took place in 1959. The image garnered more than 5000 likes Andy shared more than 1000 times.
Cartoon by HolyMosquito and shared on Facebook.
China has confirmed about 100 cases of African swine fever across 23 provinces since August 2018, but many experts believe the epidemic is worse than Chinese media have reported, given the country's tight constraints on information and media freedom.
For Taiwanese people, ASF has reignited fears from the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a human disease that became pandemic and killed 349 people, according to China's Ministry of Health. Media in China suppressed stories about SARS and its dangers at that time, in what was later seen as an attempted cover-up that many believed exacerbated the spread of the disease.
Taiwan was seriously affected by SARS in the early 2000s, and now many fear that China is once again concealing the true condition of its ASF epidemic.
Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen criticized Beijing in her 2019 new year speech:
During our recent efforts to prevent an African swine fever epidemic, China's government has never followed the relevant agreements and provided Taiwan with accurate, real-time reports about the epidemic situation. Once African swine fever spreads to Taiwan, it will seriously impact the related industries, as well as people's livelihoods and the larger economy. More importantly, it will give the Taiwan public a negative impression of China. And that is something we do not welcome.
On January 5, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a map showing how ASF has swept across China. The Ministry criticized China’s failure to control the spread:
#China can’t even manage its own pigs. African swine fever seems out of control. Time for @OIEAnimalHealth & the international community to intervene. JW pic.twitter.com/oW3Ujpmba6
— 外交部 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan) ?? (@MOFA_Taiwan) January 5, 2019
Taiwanese customs officials are taking special precautions against ASF. In October 2018, authorities found ASF-positive sausages in an abandoned box near a customs station. DNA test results showed that the virus in these sausages was exactly the same as the virus in China. This was Taiwan’s first known case of ASF found in the food brought from China. Second and third cases were found in November 2018. Another two cases were found in December 2018.
Dogs on duty to detect food in the baggage. Photo provided by Taiwan's Council of Agriculture.
To prevent the disease from spreading to Taiwan's pig population, the Taiwanese government bolstered border security to prevent travelers from bringing in illegal pork products since early December 2018. Yet despite these efforts, travelers continue bringing pork products into Taiwan. Customs detector dogs are now assisting officials by sniffing baggage for the presence of pork.
XDSelect (Netizens News) said,
一起幫這些站在防疫第一線的檢疫犬加油
真的拜託大家發揮同理心，共同防衛國家等級安全問題
Please encourage these detector dogs working at the front line of disease control.
Please be empathetic and guard our national security together.
The Taiwanese government increased the fine for bringing pork products from China to one million NTD (USD $32,451.00) and issued warning about ASF through the mobile broadcast system, which is usually reserved for earthquakes and similar urgent events.

author: I-fan Lin


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Protests against President Aleksandar Vučić spread from Belgrade to cities across Serbia · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Protesters in the streets of Belgrade, Serbia, on December 29, 2018. Unknown author, widely shared on social networks.
Mass protests against human rights violations by the government of Aleksandar Vučić have entered a fifth consecutive week, with thousands joining in from five Serbian cities beyond the capital Belgrade.
Demonstrations began after Borko Stefanović, president of the political party Serbian Left and a founder of opposition coalition Alliance for Serbia, survived an assassination attempt on November 23, when thugs wielding metal bars beat him and two other Serbian Left party activists in the city of Kruševac in Central Serbia.
Protests intensified following another assassination attempt against journalist Milan Jovanović on December 11.
Every Saturday since late November, thousands of people have braved sub-zero temperatures and taken to the streets of Belgrade under the slogan “stop bloodying shirts” (#STOPkrvavimkošuljama). The slogan came about following a press conference in which Sefanović displayed his bloodied shirt at a rally following the November 23 attack. January 5 was the first time large demonstrations were held in Novi Sad, Niš, and Kragujevac, three major cities in Serbia, as well as in smaller Kuršumlija and Požega.
Another protest slogan, “one in five million” (#1od5miliona), refers to Vučić's recent declaration that he won't fulfill any demands even if five million people show up on the streets. Serbia has a population of around six million.
E pa dragi ljudi,počelo i u Nišu #1od5miliona pic.twitter.com/mOz5wm1Zfw
— Mladenovic Vojkan (@mladenovicvojka) January 5, 2019
Well, my dears, it has started in Niš also. #1in5million
At tonight’s rally in Belgrade against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, protesters set off flares, carried banners, and even writing in the snow reading: “Vucic is a thief”, while blowing whistles. #StopKrvavimKosuljama #1od5miliona pic.twitter.com/OqCp7qAcsV
— Balkan Insight (@BalkanInsight) January 5, 2019
A protest in the central Serbian city of Kragujevac in support of the thousands rallying in Belgrade to voice their anger at Serbian President Vucic – who they accuse of increasingly autocratic rule – drew thousands tonight. #1od5miliona pic.twitter.com/Z0fiAxCLa8
— Balkan Insight (@BalkanInsight) January 5, 2019
For the first time since the 1990s, protests have united both left-leaning and right-leaning opponents of the ruling government under shared fears that it is descending into dictatorship and fascism.
The events’ resemblance to those that ousted the government of Slobodan Milošević (whose cabinet included Vučić, then a right-wing radical, as minister of information) in 2000 wasn't lost on many people, among them journalist Biljana Stepanović, who tweeted this set of photos:
Je li ovo za smejanje ili za plakanje?Pre 22 godine sam iznela ćerku na protest protiv Miloševića. Sad je ona došla u Beograd i izvela mene na protest protiv Vučića. pic.twitter.com/oL4gXU9tqv
— Biljana Stepanović (@BiljkaSt) December 29, 2018
Is this a laughing matter or something to cry about? 22 years ago I took my daughter to a protest against Milošević. Today, she came to Belgrade and took me to a protest against Vučić.
Another slogan spotted both in the streets and on social media says “it has begun” (#počeloJe), a cry of hope that the protests would grow into a country-wide movement similar to that of the late 1990s.
In the past decade, Aleksandar Vučić has re-branded himself as a moderate centrist by paying lip service to Serbian integration into the European Union, something his opponents claim is mere camouflage of both his growing authoritarian tendencies at home and his servility to the Kremlin.
So far, he has shrugged off the protests. While government-controlled media has attempted to minimize their size and importance, Vučić himself has dared his opponents with talks of a snap election which near-total party control over state institutions and media would likely hand him victory. Opposition leaders have said they would boycott such a move.
Speaking with Balkan Insight, protests’ organizers say their biggest gain is to have “awakened the Serbian youth from apathy” while not directly campaigning for the opposition as a replacement for the current government. The opposition has been markedly low-key in the protests for fear of alienating party-neutral citizens or civil society activists.
Meanwhile, the public has ridiculed official attempts at disinformation. With internet access, people can see what is happening for themselves through live videos and photos taken on site.
Колону су јуче предводили здравствени радници који не желе на убрзан курс немачког и не желе да следеће године Божић проводе тамо далеко. Они желе да остану овде јер Србија је и њихова и наша земља.#1od5miliona #PočeloJe pic.twitter.com/TYSC1CMcK8
— Savez ZA Srbiju (@SavezZaSRB) January 6, 2019
Tweet: Yesterday the column was lead by health workers who don't want to take intensive German language course and spend the next Christmas far away from here. They want to remain here because Serbia is their and our country.
Video: See you at the Plato on January 12.
And in an open letter addressed to Vučić, protesters say his smear campaigns won't intimidate them.
Dobili ste mandat da budete predsednik svih građana, a ne da se obračunavate sa svima koji se usude da misle. Vi želite podanike, a ne građane. Zato danas imate kolone onih koji ne žele da žive u društvu koje stvarate.
You received a mandate to be a president of all citizens, not [to use that position] for showdown will all who dare to think with their own heads. You want subjects, not citizens. Therefore you now have columns of people who don't want to live in such a society of your creation.


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Revitalizing the Inuktitut language on social media, one word at a time · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Image: Napachie Pootoogook's “Lost in Storm” from the Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop. Used with permission by QIA. See here for the Instagram link.
The Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) has taken to social media to encourage the increased usage of Inuktitut, the Inuit language. Based in the Qikiqtani (Baffin) Region of Nunavut, Canada’s youngest territory, the organization works to “safeguard, administer and advance the rights and benefits of the Qikiqtani Inuit”.
Their social media efforts are in keeping with their mission to promote the Inuktitut language. In an email interview with QIA, a representative of the organization wrote:
Language preservation is an integral part of building pride among Inuit, particularly young Inuit. Learning, speaking-in and thinking-in Inuktitut helps young Inuit feel more connected to our community and traditional values.
This is especially important because researchers note “a decline in the quality of Inuktitut in Nunavik — including poor grammar, a low level of vocabulary and increased mixing of Inuktitut with English.” According to the researchers’ report, contributing factors may include the influence of non-Inuktitut-language media and an insufficient number of teachers fluent in Inuktitut.
According to information collected from various sources by the Endangered Languages Project, there are between 14,000 and 30,000 native speakers of Inukutit, but the language is considered to “vulnerable” according to UNESCO's Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.
The online campaign being conducted on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, introduces Inuktitut words written in Canadian Aboriginal syllabics and pairs them with prints produced by the Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop in Cape Dorset. The illustrations illuminate many aspects of Inuit culture.
The Word of the Day project is another of several initiatives designed to promote the language. The QIA sponsors an annual Inuktitut song and poem contest, as well as the production of early childhood education materials. In collaboration with Inhabit Media, an Inuit-owned publishing company based in Nunavut, the QIA produces children’s books authored by Inuit authors from the territory.
Happy International Women’s Day: quviasugissi nunarjualimaami arnait ullunganni ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒋᔅᓯ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᓕᒫᒥ ᐊᕐᓇᐃᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᖓᓐᓂ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᕗᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ Word of the day  ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᖅ ᐊᓈᓇᑎᑐᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ nunarjuaq Anaanatitut suurlu: Mother Earth Celebrating all the strong Indigenous and Inuit women in our lives!  ᐃᓅᖃᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂ!  Quviasuutiqarniq iluunnanginnik isumatujunit nunaqaqtutuqaujunit Inunnillu arnanit inuuqatittinni!  ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᓂᖅ ᐃᓘᓐᓇᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓱᒪᑐᔪᓂᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑐᑐᖃᐅᔪᓂᑦ ᐃᓄᓐᓂᓪᓗ ᐊᕐᓇᓂᑦ  Image: Germaine Arnaktauyok
A post shared by  Qikiqtani Inuit Association (@qikiqtani_inuit) on
ᐅᖃᐅᓯᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᕗᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ Word of day ᐃᖃᓗᓕᐊᓗᒃ iqalulialuk: Plenty of fish (Image: CEE POOTOOGOOK’s Surfacing Bear) @kenojuakcentre
A post shared by  Qikiqtani Inuit Association (@qikiqtani_inuit) on
ᐅᖃᐅᓯᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᕗᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ Word of day ᖁᕕᐊᓱᓐᓇᐅᓂᖓ Quviasunnauninga: Festive (Image: Ningeokuluk Teevee's Uppik Quviasuttuq – Festive Owl) @kenojuakcentre
A post shared by  Qikiqtani Inuit Association (@qikiqtani_inuit) on
To see the full set, visit the @Qikiqtani_Inuit Instagram account.

author: Eduardo Avila


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First transgender pride march hopes to shatter stereotypes in Pakistan · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

Jannat Ali with the organizers from Sathi organization and Track-T. Photo credit Syed Noman. Used with permission.
To assert their rights and demand implementation of the law, a Transgender Pride March took place in Lahore, Pakistan, on 29 December 2018. For the first time in the country's history, Transgender people dared to step out of their seclusion and demanded that the Government implement The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, of May 24, 2018.
With changing times even Pakistan is becoming more accepting towards transgender! First ever transgender march in Pakistan took place in Lahore on Dec 29, 2019. I hope this will continue and maulvis won’t give out fatwas against it. https://t.co/Z0xM8vbCCq
— Nusrat Sohail (@NusratSohail1) January 2, 2019
The Constitution of Pakistan says that “No person shall be deprived of life or liberty save in accordance with law,” which is covered under the Fundamental Rights of citizens. However, Transgender persons have a different story to tell when it comes to their rights and life; they have faced torture, rape, been burnt alive, beheaded and even shot dead, yet the state did not help them despite the passing of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act by the Government in March 2018.
Jannat Ali, nicknamed Lahore's Trans Diva, is the founder of Track Transgender and Program Director of Sathi Foundation which organized the Pride March. Other transgender people and non-transgender supportive members also played their role in the execution of the march and its success. Sathi Foundation is a transgender-led organization working for the welfare of the transgender community in Pakistan.
Transgender Pride March in Lahore. December 29, 2018. Image credit Syed Noman. Used with permission.
The march was attended by nearly 250 transgender people from all provinces of Pakistan. Prominent among them were Kami Sid, Bebo from Sindh, Nadra from KPK, Anmol from Sahiwal District, Nayab from Okara, Sunaina Khan (Classical Dancer), Naghma & Lucky (Coke Studio Singers), Laila Naz and Neeli Rana. The event started with a Press Conference at the Lahore Press Club where the demands of the community were presented; after which they marched to Al Hamra Cultural Complex on the Mall dancing and singing songs on the way, where they dispersed after food.
Even though the press conference was held in the Lahore Press Club the Pride March was not covered by mainstream media. Although organizers invited officials, like Punjab MNA Saadia Sohail from Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf, government officials didn't attend the event. The march did generate some attention on social media where people appreciated the parade while some questioned the reason for its non-coverage by mainstream media.
https://t.co/2JEBMDkqSR
Why is there a media blackout regarding the Trans Pride march in Lahore, Pakistan?
— Nem (@NemmyDDS) January 6, 2019
This is wonderful ❤ Pakistan’s first transgender pride march. It’s a shame that no one really reported on it, most likely because it doesn’t fit the narrative of a country defined simply by religious extremism. What defines it is it’s diverse people just like any other place. https://t.co/cKxlaerFHy
— Basit Mahmood (@BasitMahmood91) December 30, 2018
According to organizer Jannat Ali:
The aim was to show positive and progressive image of Pakistan and how the country is slowly accepting us and we are gaining more space in the society. Pakistan is not only about terrorism and a conservative society there is more to us. We promoted our march along with our KhawajaSara (transgender) culture and traditions it was not the same type of march as it is held in US.
The march also emphasized a positive and progressive image of the transgender community; it also called attention to the discrimination and violence. Due to limited options in mainstream jobs, transgender people are forced to turn to the sex trade to earn a living. Due to unsafe sex practices, many have HIV and AIDS. The police and doctors also need to be sensitized as they are often making life difficult for Transgender people who reach out for help or medical assistance.
Despite the legislation, transgender people continue to face extreme hostility. Since 2015, at least 500 transgender people have been killed in Pakistan, while Jannat Ali says that more than 60 transgender individuals have been killed in the last year alone.
Asad Zaidi tweeted about the general impression of Pakistanis towards the transgender community:
RT'd a tweet about the trans pride march in Pakistan and lost a bunch of followers. Bye (:
— asad (@sad_zaidi) January 3, 2019
In a talk at TEDxLahore in 2017, Jannat Ali shared her painful journey about being a transgender person in Pakistan after coming out to not just her family but to society at large as well.
The Transgender Person (Protection of Rights) Act 2018 passed by majority votes in the National Assembly ensured that the community could obtain a driver's license, passport, have the right to get their gender changed in National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) records, stopping of harassment, access to educational, employment in trade and health services without discrimination.
It also mentions that safe houses for transgender people, medical and educational facilities and psychological counseling will be provided to them by the government. They will be entitled to inherit property and will also have the right to vote in elections.
Nayaab Ali (standing), the first transgender to contest in the Pakistan general elections 2018, and Neeli Rana, another renowned transgender person. Image by Trans Pride Photography Team. Used with permission.
Pakistan is slowly starting to make strides when it comes to transgender visibility. A few Transgender people contested the General Elections 2018 for National and Provincial Assembly seats for the first time. A local TV channel hired its first transgender anchor; Coke studio, a music program, featured two transgender people in an episode.
While things are changing for the transgender community and they are slowly being accepted, the process is slow. However, many are optimistic that things will soon change for the better and these people will get their place in society with the rights and privileges of citizens equal in the eyes of society and the law.

author: R Umaima Ahmed


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Russian feminists flip the script on classic Soviet films · Global Voices
RuNet Echo

State propaganda emphasized the importance of gender equality, but Soviet women were expected to carry the double burden of full-time careers and taking care of their families  // National Library of Scotland, distributed under CC-BY-NC-SA
New Year’s Eve celebrations in Russia, a few post-Soviet countries and the diaspora abroad have a number of defining characteristics. One is the annual telethon of Soviet film classics such as Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, a 1980 Mosfilm production which won the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film and a few other accolades. The other absolute classic is The Irony of Fate (1976), traditionally broadcast on December 31 by a major national channel while millions of Russian families busily chop bucketloads of Olivier salad.
However, the generation of Russians born around that time, who are now in their mid-30s and early 40s, are increasingly finding these role models unsuitable for the modern age and their views downright insulting. Around New Year’s Eve time, Russian social media fills with critical posts from users who are suddenly discovering that their parents’ television favorites promote values that are far from progressive:
Давайте про «Москва слезам не верит». Как вам такой посыл: ты можешь быть директором завода, депутатом Моссовета, хорошей матерью (одиночкой), но состоишься ты только тогда, когда накормишь супом своего пьяненького мужика-слесаря?
— Андрей Коняев (@a_konyaev) 2 января 2019 г.
Let’s talk about “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears.” So how do you find this message: you can become a factory director, a Moscow city council member, a successful mother (and a single one at that), but you’ve only achieved success in life when you’ve fed some soup to your boozed-up plumber boyfriend?
Such attitudes are still prevalent in Russia, so feminist collective Rosgendernadzor (a play on official organization acronyms meaning, roughly, Rusgenderwatch) summed up these modern frustrations in a series of screencaps from several Soviet film classics accompanied with captions that imagine how a character could have responded to a casually sexist or demeaning remark.
Here’s one from Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears where the female protagonist is pressured into having sex with a fashionable and well-connected young man above her current station who then abandons her when she gets pregnant.
Or this retort from The Irony of Fate, a highly acclaimed dramedy about two strangers in stable but unfulfilling relationships brought together by New Year’s Eve drunkenness and the ubiquity and uniformity of Soviet mass-produced public architecture:
Men’s repressed feelings are also cared for (this is from a 1972 comedy miniseries The Big School-Break, or The Long Recess, about a young teacher in an adult learning school):
In a Facebook post introducing this project, Rosgendernadzor’s founder said:
Приближаются новогодние праздники. Встречаем 2019 год, а за столом — все те же блюда, на экранах — все те же фильмы. И представления о социальных ролях мужчин и женщин все те же. Новый выпуск “тех самых карточек” — про старое-доброе советское кино и гендерные стереотипы. Мы вторгаемся в диалоги героев новогодних фильмов и помогаем им отвечать собеседникам с патриархальными взглядами. Такие взгляды не редкость и сегодня: они поддерживают неравенство между мужчинами и женщинами. Поэтому наши ответы могут помочь и вам. С Новым годом!
The New Year’s festivities are approaching. 2019 is just around the corner but little has changed: the same snacks are on the table, the same movies are on the TV and the same views on men and women’s social roles remain in place. This new set of ‘those cards’ is about good ol’ Soviet cinema and gender stereotypes. We decided to butt in on dialogues in films typically shown on New Year’s to give the characters a chance to talk back when confronted with patriarchal views. Such views reinforce unequal relationships between men and women, and they’re not uncommon today. That means that our replies can help you too! Happy New Year!
The full set of modern takes on Soviet classics in English can be seen here. Some took the idea further:
перепостил себе во фбук эти совершенно прекрасные картинки и с наслаждением наблюдаю как подгорает у «правильных пацанов» pic.twitter.com/U14MTYXTGG
— Tapas&Tango (@atticus_flinch) 27 декабря 2018 г.
reposted these absolutely brilliant pictures to my facebook and am watching in delight the flaming bottoms of “alright guys”
In these images, each of the principal male character's remarks such as “Keep in mind that I am going to make all the decisions on the simple basis of me being a man” are met with a curt “Why don't you just f**k off then, Georgy.”
Russia ranks 75th among 149 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum's 2018 Global Gender Gap Report, scoring good points for equal access to healthcare and education for women, but lacking in legislation protecting their rights.

author: RuNet Echo


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Chinese authorities go after citizens for using VPNs, skirting online censorship · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Images remixed by Oiwan Lam.
Two Chinese internet users are currently facing punishment for doing what an estimated 1-3% of people living in mainland China do every day: access the global internet.
Among other methods, many internet users in China depend on Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to skirt or circumvent China's “Great Firewall”, the robust filtering system that blocks sensitive information and overseas websites from China's domestic network.
While VPN use is permitted in certain contexts — mainly for government agencies and large private companies — China's vigorous internet control regime has in recent years put significant resources towards preventing internet users from using these and other similar tools.
In June 2017, the government enacted a Cybersecurity Law that codified a growing set of rules on internet use and content, strengthening internet operator responsibilities and duties, and demanding real-name registration of individual internet users. The legislation also addressed VPNs. It directly compelled Apple to take down VPN apps from its China app store, and it appears to have triggered multiple arrests of individuals selling unlicensed VPNs.
The new law does not explicitly address or criminalize the individual use of such technologies. And while it sends a clear signal about what types of technology off limits, many Chinese netizens continue to believe that using circumvention tools will not bring them trouble. But two new “administrative punishment” cases may change this.
In December, a Shaoguan resident was fined RMB 1000 (roughly USD $163) for setting up and using a VPN to access the internet. The Guangdong Public Security Enforcement Information Platform posted a report detailing his punishment.
Zhu Yunfeng, 30, was using Lantern Pro, a mobile app and circumvention tool that connects users to a decentralized network of nodes that can relay user traffic to any website, regardless of censorship barriers.
Unable to justify Zhu's punishment under the new cybersecurity law, public security officials instead cited Articles 6 and 14 of the 1996 “Rules for Provisional Regulations of the Administration of International Networking of Computer Information in the People’s Republic of China”.
Article 6 stipulates that when connecting to an international network from within China, all computer devices must use infrastructure provided by state-licensed telecoms. Any individual or organization that is not state-licensed is forbidden from offering or building alternative information channels to access the international network. Although Lantern is a globally recognized circumvention tool, it does not have a state-issued license in China.
On January 4, a similar case unfolded in Chongqing, where Huang Chengcheng was summoned by police on the same charges as Zhu. But authorities have not disclosed the details of his case.
Both cases indicate that today, the very act of circumventing the internet through an unregistered channel is considered illegal.
Many netizens questioned why some people are authorized to circumvent the GFW, while others can be punished for doing the same. On Twitter, @tangyongtao1 asked why state-run media are allowed to circumvent the Great Firewall, pointing to Global Times’ editor-in chief Hu Xijin.
刑不上大夫？广东一网民因“擅自非法国际联网”而被韶关当局判罚千元，法广说，网民问：如果翻墙上推都“违法”，《环球时报》胡锡进不仅有账户，还可用中英文与中外网民互动，是否也该罚？新华社、人民日报、央视都拥有推特账户又该如何？——为什么在中国总有人拥有与国防机密等八杆子打不着的特权？
摘 pic.twitter.com/vgjD42MnzH
— 活着 (@tangyongtao1) January 8, 2019
Does the regulation not apply to government officials? A Guangdong netizen was fined RMB 1000 yuan by the Shaoguan public security authority for illegal accessing the international network. Netizens were asking if circumventing the network to get access to Twitter is illegal, why Global Times’ Hu Xijin can hold an account on Twitter and interact with Chinese and foreign netizens on Twitter. Should he be punished as well? How about Xinhu, People’s Daily and CCTV? They all have Twitter accounts? — why some people enjoy privileges that are protected like national secrecy?
It is well known that Hu Xijin publishes his tweets using a mobile-based circumvention app, rather than via state-owned telecoms’ network as written in the regulation.
Prominent tech blogger William Long sought to hold Hu to the same standards as netizens in Guangdong and Chongqing:
我举报环球时报的胡锡进经常翻墙上推特，没有使用国家电信网提供的信道进行国际联网，请公安机关对他进行罚款1000元的行政处罚。 pic.twitter.com/k4RA2wb3uy
— 月光博客 (@williamlong) January 5, 2019
I reported on Hu Xijin from Global Times. He always circumvents the net to get access to Twitter. He did not use channel provided by the state owned telecoms. Public security authorities, please give him a RMB1000 fine as administrative punishment.
The news may serve as a wake up call to Chinese netizens. On Weibo, in a news thread about the administrative decision, netizens expressed their frustration about the incident:
现在算是体会到了教科书上经常出现的“白色恐怖”是怎么回事了。
Now I really understand the meaning of textbook term “white terror”.
人为什么要翻墙？因为墙在那。
Why do people have to climb over [circumvent] the wall in the first place? Because there is a wall there.
Some pointed out that the interpretation of the regulation was mistaken:
《实施办法》里说“国际出入口信道，是指国际联网所使用的物理信道。”使用Virtual Private Network（*虚拟*专用网络）怎么会是【非法物理信道】呢
The international network channel written in the “Rules for Provisional Regulations” refers to the material network channel of the Internet. Virtual Private Networks thus cannot be [illegal material channels].
Some pointed to the arbitrary nature of the administrative punishment:
那问题来了：于普通人而言，怎么翻墙才是合法的
The question is: for ordinary people, how do we circumvent the GFW legally?
帝吧那些小粉红每年出征FB闹事是不是也应该通通抓起来？
Those Little Pink from Diba who visit Facebook once a year to make a scene, shouldn’t they be arrested?
Since 2016, a new generation of Chinese online patriots, known as “little pink”, have been sharing circumvention tools on forums such as Diba, so that they may visit Facebook to post comments “defending” the country.
One Weibo user quoted from China’s Constitution to protest the administrative decision:
第四十条 中华人民共和国公民的通信自由和通信秘密受法律的保护。除因国家安全或者追查刑事犯罪的需要，由公安机关或者检察机关依照法律规定的程序对通信进行检查外，任何组织或者个人不得以任何理由侵犯公民的通信自由和通信秘密。
Article 40: Freedom and privacy of correspondence of citizens of the People’s Republic of China are protected by law. No organization or individual may, on any ground, infringe upon citizens freedom and privacy of correspondence, except in cases where, to meet the needs of state security or of criminal investigation, public security or procuratorial organs are permitted to censor correspondence in accordance with procedures prescribed by law.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Pro-Russia biker club admits participation in protests leading to violent attack of Macedonian Parliament · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Screen grab of the Facebook page titled “Ilinden #4 – Citizen initiative For United Macedonia”, featuring members of the Night Wolves motorcycle club, with the boss of its Macedonian branch, Lenin Jovanovski, at the front.
The Macedonian branch of the Russian motorcycle club Night Wolves participated in the 2017 protests led by Macedonia's former nationalist government, which culminated in a violent storming of the Parliament that wounded several opposition lawmakers, trial witnesses said.
Thirty-three people are on trial in Skopje for terrorist endangerment of the constitutional order and security following the April 2017 incident now known as “Bloody Thursday,” when about 200 Macedonian nationalists stormed the Parliament building in reaction to the election of Talat Xhaferi, an ethnic Albanian, as speaker of the house. More than 100 people were injured.
Night Wolves’ member Tomislav Jovanovski appeared as a witness at the court session on December 13, 2018, and confirmed that the biker club participated in two “For United Macedonia” protests, which preceded the attack on the parliament.
In an attempt to distance the club from the subsequent violent attack, Jovanovski said that they were merely against the “Tirana Platform” and that the protests in which they participated were nonviolent. The “Tirana Platform” is a derogatory term by which Macedonian nationalists refer to a list of political demands put forward by ethnic Albanian political parties in Macedonia and facilitated by Albania's prime minister.
The revelations of the Night Wolves involvement are important because it flashes out the right-wing populist party VMRO-DPMNE's connections with the Kremlin.
While the party ruled Macedonia from 2006 to 2017,  they outwardly projected an image of amity with the European Union and NATO, while their nationalist policies at home distanced it from them. Symptoms of Russian President Vladimir Putin's influence in Macedonia's domestic politics were not subject of public discussion during the VMRO-DPMNE rule.
The biker club Night Wolves, also referred to as “Putin's Angels” in United States’ media, was founded in Russia in 1989 and currently has branches in 14 different countries. Over the years, they have performed various propaganda and paramilitary functions for the Kremlin while openly supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In 2014, the US placed the Night Wolves under sanctions due to their involvement in Russia's seizure of Crimea in Ukraine. In Slovakia, they are allied with local right-wing extremists, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina they are involved in the Russia-supported militarization of the country's Serb entity.
The Macedonian branch of the Night Wolves benefited from the reign of VMRO-DPMNE, which ruled the country from 2007 to 2016. The authorities have spent public resources to support their homophobic activities, while the media either kept quiet or promoted them as a positive force and exemplary “patriots.”
Macedonian Night Wolves boss Lenin Jovanovski also profited from his connections with the VMRO-DPMNE, such as when the government granted his transport company Sloboda Prevoz a license to operate part of the public transport system in the capital Skopje.
Meanwhile, the media kept treating him like a celebrity. Since 2011, his meetups with Putin received major coverage. When in 2015 Germany denied him an entry visa to participate in the provocative Night Wolves’ Victory Day Ride from Russia to Berlin through Poland, Macedonian media presented him as a martyr.
In turn, the Night Wolves participated in local political propaganda, such as whitewashing the image of convicted war criminal Johan Tarčulovski. In 2013, after serving his sentence, he returned to Macedonia to a government-organized hero's welcome, which included granting him honorary Night Wolves membership.
As an MP for the VMRO-DPMNE, Tarčulovski took part in the 2017 “Bloody Thursday” events.
„За заедничка Македонија“, беше формирана од ВМРО-ДПМНЕ и имаше фиктивни водачи. На протестите на „За заедничка Македонија“ 80 отсто беа од ВМРО-ДПМНЕ кои ги даваше сите реквизити што се користеа. Сите водачи на протестите ги имам гледано во штабот на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ кај Кирил Божиновски, рече обвинетиот Александар Василевски – Нинџа во својот исказ пред судот во врска со настаните во Собранието на 27 април минатата година.
“For United Macedonia” was formed by VMRO-DPMNE and it had figurehead leaders. 80 percent of the participants of the protests “For United Macedonia” were VMRO-DPMNE members, and the party supplied all the props and equipment that was used. I have seen all the leaders of the protests in the VMRO-DPMNE headquarters in the office of [party treasurer] Kiril Božinovski.
Vasilevski said he was summoned in the VMRO-DPMNE party headquarters before joining the attack and heard some of them expressing disappointment for their MPs not escalating the situation beyond helping the mob to get into the building.
A law passed before the end of 2018 granted amnesty to the participants in the “Bloody Thursday” events who have not engaged in physical violence or acted as organizers.
By backing the law, the now ruling Socialist Democrats hoped to obtain support from some of VMRO-DPMNE MPs for the constitutional changes related to solving the name issue with Greece, which was finally adopted by a 2/3 majority on January 11, 2019. The name change is a crucial step for Macedonia to join NATO and the EU as it will stop the Greek veto on the membership.
The amnesty law allowed people suspected of participating in the Bloody Thursday incidents to file applications for amnesty before the end of 2018. Sixty-six amnesty applications were received and 12 were approved, including by MPs and leaders of the protests.
“The Ninja” Vasilevski also applied for amnesty but didn't receive it. As such, he will continue to stand trial which will resume on January 14. Macedonian media informs that the top organizers of the attack on the parliament are yet to be identified, while the pre-investigation procedure is nearly completed.


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A community newspaper won’t let Brazil forget its worst environmental disaster · Global Voices
Global Voices Brazil

Marcelina Xavier, who had to hold on to an avocado tree to save her life, holds a copy of A Sirene. Image: Daniela Felix/Jornal A Sirene, used with Permission
It was November 5, 2015, a Sunday afternoon, when 76-year-old Marcelina Xavier found herself holding on to an avocado tree, trying to save her life as tons of mining waste swept her village of Bento Rodrigues away. With her femur broken, she has prayed until rescue came. Marcelina was in the eye of the worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history.
On that day, an iron ore tailings dam located just a few kilometers upriver from Marcelina's community burst. In a matter of minutes, 50 million tons of waste were dumped into the Rio Doce (Sweet River), which bathes 230 cities in two states. That's equivalent to “20,000 Olympic swimming pools of toxic mud waste contaminating the soil, rivers and water systems of an area covering over 850 kilometers”, according to a report by the United Nations. Nineteen people have died in the disaster.
Marcelina’s story was told in the first edition of A Sirene (The Siren), a monthly newspaper run by a group of people affected by the tragedy together with journalism students. The publication was founded three months after the disaster and reports on related developments, such as stages of lawsuits, and survivors’ stories. It's released every 5th day of the month, to mark the date of the tragedy. Its slogan is “so we don't forget.”
The cover of A Sirene's first edition. Image: A Sirene, used with permission
The initiative was born out of a workshop with a local photo agency, where survivors raised concerns about the way Brazil's mainstream media was telling their stories. In an interview via email with Global Voices, Sirene's team said that the events of that November 5 revealed how unprepared journalists could be when covering big mining catastrophes:
Ainda que vemos um esforço da grande mídia para tentar divulgar as informações sobre o que aconteceu/ce em Mariana (e outras cidades atingidas de Minas Gerais e do Espírito Santo), é insuficiente o modo como ela tenta representar os dois lados da situação. Primeiro, porque existe uma desigualdade clara em relação aos espaços de fala dos(as) atingidos(as) e das empresas responsáveis pelo rompimento, então, é como se a grande mídia ao usar o sistema de imparcialidade assumisse a vantagem que as mineradoras já têm. Segundo, porque normalmente a grande mídia já chega no território atingido com pautas pré-determinadas, e dificilmente eles mudam a angulação para aquilo que de fato importa para os(as) atingidos(as), suas pautas, suas causas, suas lutas. A distância, às vezes, a urgência dos veículos, com bem se sabe, acabam atropelando alguns processos essenciais do jornalismo, como o de ouvir as pessoas envolvidas, por exemplo.
Although we see an effort by the mainstream media to publicize what happened (and still happens) in Mariana (and other affected cities in Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo), the way it tries to represent both sides of the story is insufficient. First, because there is a clear inequity between the people affected and the mining companies regarding the amount of space each of them receives. It's as if mainstream media, by following this impartiality system, reinforces an advantage that the mining companies already have. Second, because the media arrives at the scene with a pre-determined story and rarely changes its angle to match what actually matters to the people affected, their goals, their ideals, their struggles. The distance, sometimes, and the urgency of the media, as we know well, end up trampling essential journalism processes, such as listening to the people involved, for example.
Their reporting ranges from stories of the uprooted trees to how a London-based law firm is suing BHP Billiton, one of the parent companies of the dam's operator Samarco. They also run explainers of legal terms as well as personal profiles — like that of Geralda Bartolomeu, a 97-year-old survivor.
One bold innovation introduced by the publication is its by-lines, which are shared by both reporters and sources. Sources always approve content before a piece is published. Overall, the paper doesn’t intend to be a neutral medium. Another example of this is how the disaster is always called “a crime.”
As they have told Global Voices, one of the publication's most significant achievements is keeping a public record of the communities’ struggle to secure their rights and full reparation for the damages:
É possível por meio das edições do jornal entender os principais acontecimentos na vida desses atingidos(as), principalmente dos moradores de Mariana e Barra Longa. Ainda que de maneira insuficiente, por se tratar de um veículo independente e com poucos recursos, há um apanhado significativo dos momentos de dor e de alegria experimentado por essas pessoas.
It is possible, by looking at the paper’s archive, to understand the main events of the peoples’ journey, in particular, of the residents of [the cities of] Mariana and Barra Longa. Although in an insufficient manner, since this is an independent and low-budget outlet, we provide an important snapshot of moments of both pain and joy which these people have experienced.
A Sirene's collaborators at their first newsroom at the University of Ouro Preto. Image: Jornal A Sirene, used with permission
The project is coordinated by a journalist and two editors-in-chief, the latter always people affected by the disaster. Before setting up their own office in Mariana, they used to run the newsroom out of a computer lab at the University of Ouro Preto.
In October 2018, Samarco finally reached a final compensation deal with Brazilian prosecutors. The settlement came in three years after the deadly incident, and it will take another year to be completed. Around 4,000 people could be eligible to claim reparations, according to prosecutors. About 500,000 people in two Brazilian states were directly or indirectly affected by the accident. The level of contamination in the Rio Doce basin is still uncertain.
But the battle isn't over. The next steps for such communities are, first, to have authorities ensure their ownership rights to the lands where their homes once stood, and second, to have the ruins of their villages officially recognized as places of memory.
A woman reads the paper written by her community. Image: Lucas de Godoy/Jornal A Sirene, used with permission
Siren’s team explains:
Nesse sentido, o que assistimos são as vitórias das empresas responsáveis pelo crime em relação ao controle e posse das terras, o quanto elas atingiram esses espaços e hoje parecem ser as donas deles. Ou seja, existe uma grande inversão dos valores, para quase tudo o que envolve esse crime de Fundão. No caso das memórias não é diferente. Mas, nem por isso achamos que o tema seja algo que as comunidades vão abrir mão, acreditamos que elas irão lutar por essas memórias, porque entenderam antes de todos nós que sem elas será muito mais difícil retomarem a vida de antes. (…) o objetivo do jornal, hoje, mais do nunca, é esse, o de não esquecer!
In that sense, what we're seeing is a victory for the companies who committed this crime when it comes to control and possession of the land, how much they have damaged those spaces and now seem to own them. This means that there is a great inversion of values when it comes to almost everything involving the Fundão dam crime. It is no different when it comes to memory. But we don’t think that this is something communities are willing to give up on, we believe they are going to fight for it, because they understood, even before we did, that without memories it will be even harder to resume their lives (…) The paper’s goal, today more than ever, is this, of not forgetting it!

author: Global Voices Brazil


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How a Syrian photo collective is resisting Assad’s narrative from within · Global Voices
Israa Hazel

Three photos from ‘Story of 2018‘. Used with permission.
After eight years of brutal war in Syria, the Arab League announced it will reinstate it as a member and resume ties with President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Syria was expelled from the Arab League in 2011 over the fierce repression of peaceful protesters against Assad, but now it seems the war is ‘ending’ with the Assad regime's victory, backed by Russia and Iran.
On December 17, 2018, Sudanese President Omar Bashir visited Assad in Syria, even in the midst of his own political upheaval and brutal repression. On December 27, the UAE re-opened its embassy in Syria and Tunisia resumed direct flights with Damascus. A day later, Egypt, which has been developing ties with the Assad regime under the Abdel Fattah el-Sisi regime for years, invited Syria's national security chief to meet with his Egyptian counterpart. Egypt is also lobbying Tunisia to get on board, and Algeria agrees.
Jordan resumed trade deals with the Assad regime in October 2018 (while closing its borders to Syrian refugees fleeing regime offensives) and Bahrain's foreign minister and member of the country's ruling family, Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, exchanged a highly publicized hug and kiss with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem at the UN General Assembly that same month.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, an ever-stronger Hezbollah has been calling for Damascus to be officially invited to the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit, set to be held in Beirut this month. A source told (Saudi-owned) Al-Arabiya that the Assad regime's return to the Arab League “might be put up for debate” during that time.
Since the revolution and subsequent war began in 2011, the Assad regime has been pushing a narrative of ‘normality’ in Damascus to its supporters at home and abroad. To resist this narrative, a photography collective called the “Lens of a Young Damascene” is among those documenting life inside Assad-ruled Syria as it takes steps to rebuild diplomatic relations, especially in the Arab world.
Despite many signs indicating cooperation from the Arab regimes, members of the “Lens of a Young Damascene” (or “Dimashqi Lens” for short) collective know that the war is not over in Syria. People continue to bury their dead and say goodbye to those who fled. What’s left is tragedy and destruction — children sleep on the streets and sell anything to survive. Resources are scarce and fear prevails above all.
The collective uses various social media platforms like Tumblr, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to share these realities through images of daily life in Damascus, highlighting the struggles ordinary Syrians face in a country where human rights violations have become the new norm.
Recently, the collective has curated images with added poetic comments, transforming them into Instagram stories to capture the miserable, intolerable conditions.
These stories have been wildly popular with Syrian Diaspora social media users who view this account as a rare insight into life in a country where they cannot return out of fear of being detained or killed by the Syrian regime.
Two photos from ‘Story of 2018′. Used with permission.
Three photos from ‘Story of 2018‘. Used with permission.
Global Voices sat down to speak with members of “Lens of a Young Damascene” collective.
Global Voices (GV): Who is “Lens of a Young Damascene” and what do you hope to get out of it?
عدسة شاب دمشقي انطلقت بأيام المظاهرات وقت كان الاعلام الرسمي عم يكذب المظاهرات ، وانطلقت الصفحة لتوثق المظاهرات والدمار والانتهاكات يلي كانت عم تصير عن طريق الصور الفوتغرافية عوضا عن الفيديو يلي كان منتشر بالفترة هديك.
اهدافنا كانت انو نبرز حقيقة الواقع وتشوف الناس المظاهرات والاحداث يلي عم تصير بعيون اهل الشام.
Lens of a Young Damascene: “Lens of A Young Damascene” started in the early days of demonstrations when official Syrian media would deny that these demonstrations are happening. So the page started to document these demonstrations and the destruction and violations that happened through photographs instead of videos which was the common tool back then. Our goal is to highlight the situation so that people can see the demonstrations and the events unfolding through the eyes of Damascenes.
GV: What is the story behind your “End of 2018″ project? And how have Syrians reacted to it?
في كل سنة نختار صور تحكي قصة العام السابق، ولكن في هذا العام وقد بدأنا بنشر واستخدام القصص على انستغرام وعملنا على عدة قصص حتى الآن مميزة روائيا وأدبياً كانت آخرها حكاية 2018 ، فقد قمنا بعرض صور العام من خلال حكاية أدبية من كتباتنا وروايتنا عن الاحداث التي وثقناها وسجلناها خلال هذا العام.
القصة لقت رواجاً كبيراً واحبها الناس لانها حكت ما حصل في هذا العام بصدق وشفافية وصراحة، وعبرت عما في داخلهم.. وأعطتهم الأمل رغم كل الألم والقصص المحزنة التي سردناها.
LYD: Every year, we choose photographs that tell the story of the last year, but this year we started using and sharing these pictures through Instagram and we’ve worked on several special stories that have a poetic element to them. One of the last stories was the story of 2018 in which we showcased the year’s photographs through a story that we wrote and that narrated the events that we documented throughout the year. The story was a huge success and it was very much loved by people because it told the real story of what was happening in the last year truthfully, in a way that expressed how they feel about it.
GV: Before this story, you had many others published through your social media pages that describe the situation of civilians in Damascus through photography. How would you describe the photos you take and the stories behind them in relation to the narrative that seeks to normalize the regime?
في قصصنا نعمل جاهدين على ان نصور الشارع كما هو وننقل صورة الحدث كما هية .. بعين أهل البلد واحساس اهل البلد… الاعلام الرسمي ينقلها بعين النظام وبلسانه … وروايته دائما تمشي في سكة معينة مضللة لكل الناس.
فهو يسمى المهجرين ارهابيين ويرحب ويظهر ايران وروسيا على انهما صاحبا البلد بينما نراهما دولتان محتلتان استباحاتا الارض مقابل حماية النظام وابقاءه في دمشق
LYD: Through our stories we work hard to portray the current situation of the Syrian streets as it is, through the eyes of its people, reflecting how they feel. Meanwhile, the Syria media tells the regime’s narrative, and theirs has always been misleading because they portray internally displaced people as terrorists while welcoming incoming Iranians and Russians as our own people. We view them as invading countries that have violated our land in exchange for the protection of the regime and ensuring Assad's hold over Damascus.
GV: You are in Damascus. What are your impressions on the life of people there and the living standards in general?
الله يعين الناس.. الناس حالها حال.. في شي لا يتسع بصورة وكميرا وقصة… دمشق مليانة ملايين قصص البؤس التي لا يرويها احد. على الرغم من ذلك هناك فئة تعيش حياتها في دمشق وهي فئة الاغنياء واصحاب المصالح مع النظام أما البقية فهم فقراء ولا يوجد طبقة
وسطى بتاتا.
لا يوجد ما يسمى عودة سوريا كما كانت قبل الحرب لأن سوريا لم تعد سوريا بالأصل. فهي بلاد محتلة خسرت مليون على الأقل من شعبها كشهداء ومعتقلين وحوالي 10 ملايين لاجئ حول العالم.. فهل منطقي ان نقول ذلك؟
مؤيدو النظام واعلامه يسوقون لذلك ويقولون انها تحت سيطرة الاسد بينما سوريا يرتع ويلعب فيها الايرانيون والروس وكل ما يخطر ببالك من جنسيات.
هذا ولم نتحدث عن البناء والاقتصاد الخ… سوريا لتعود لما قبل الحرب تحتاج لخمسين عام على الأقل
LYD: God help them. The situation is quite dire here and it cannot be truly be conveyed through stories and pictures and cameras only. Damascus is full of misery-filled stories that aren’t told by anyone. In spite of that, there is a certain group in Damascus that is enjoying a lavish lifestyle and they are usually the rich people whose interests align with the regime. Meanwhile, the rest are quite poor because the middle class has ceased to exist.
There is no turning back to pre-war Syria because Syria isn’t Syria anymore. We’re talking about an invaded country that has at least a million of its people either martyred or detained. We also have 10 million refugees around the world, so is it logical to suggest that things are back to normal?
GV: It does seem that your stories have reached a wide audience among the Syrian Diaspora. Why do you think that is?
هم يحتاجون من يريهم دمشق دون كذب وتلفيق ، ونعمل جاهدين على ان نلبي هذه الحاجة.. نحن نروي بصدق ليس لدينا شيء نخسره ولا مكسب ولا نتبع لأي جهة
LYD: They need someone to show them Damascus as it is without any lies or fabrications and we work hard to do that for them. We tell our story truthfully and we don’t have anything to lose or gain in this. We also don’t follow any faction.
GV: Finally, what is your message to the international media?
رسالتنا أن لا يلتفت الاعلام لما يقوله النظام ، وان مصادر الناس والمصورين والمواطنيين الصحفيين اصدق بالف مرة من رواية الاعلام الرسمي.
LYD: Our message is that they shouldn’t pay mind to the regime’s narrative, and that the sources provided by the people and citizen journalists are much more reliable to tell the truth than official Syrian media.
Two photos from ‘Story of 2018′. Used with permission.
Two photos from ‘Story of 2018′. Used with permission.

author: Israa Hazel


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Protests condemn another election delay in Thailand · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Bangkok protesters criticized the decision to delay anew the elections scheduled on February 24, 2019. Photo from Prachatai, a content partner of Global Voices.
News about another possible delay in parliamentary elections brought Thai citizens to the streets for the first time since the government lifted the ban on public assemblies of five or more people in December 2018.
On January 6, protesters gathered at the Victory Monument BTS train station skywalk to condemn the postponement of the polls. Meanwhile, around 200 protesters joined a bigger assembly on January 8 at the Ratchaprasong Intersection in downtown Bangkok demanding the issuance of a decree that will officially set the date and the preparations for the February elections.
Some leaders of political parties described the protest as a reflection of the Thai people's desire for the return of democracy.
The Thai army grabbed power in 2014 and established the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to govern the country. It detained several opposition leaders, imposed strict media controls, and outlawed the gathering of five or more people in public places.
It vowed to restore civilian rule and organize elections once political reforms are implemented. It drafted a constitution in 2016 which stipulated the holding of elections but guaranteed the continued powerful role of the military in all levels of the bureaucracy.
General Prayut Chan-o-cha, head of the NCPO and prime minister, has been vague in answering questions about the date of elections. But on December 2018, his government confirmed that elections will be held on February 24, 2019. The government also rescinded the order that banned political campaigning and public assemblies.
On January 3, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam announced that the February 24 elections might be postponed in order to not interfere with the government’s preparation for the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn which will take place on May 4. The monarchy is a revered institution in Thailand and the government implements one of the harshest Lese Majeste (anti-Royal Insult) laws in the world.
Wissanu’s announcement angered many high school students and led them to use the Twitter hashtag, #เลื่อนแม่มึงดิ (Luen Mae Mueng Di: Delayed Again, You Mother***), to express their frustration. Students also used the hashtag #dek62 (Kids of 2019).
One Twitter user, a student leader, posted this on his account as reported by independent news website Prachatai:
This entire problem came about because Mr. Prayut is not a man of his word. Mr. Prayuth should at least come out and apologize to the kids.
The earlier announcement that elections will take place in February had already caused the rescheduling of the nationwide General Aptitude Test and Professional Aptitude Test (GAT-PAT) which students take in order to be admitted to universities. Postponing the elections would mean disrupting the schedule of GAT-PAT and the preparations of students for this important test.
General Prayut acknowledged the sentiment of students and called them his ‘grandchildren’ as he appealed for patience and understanding.
On January 11, just days after the protests took place, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu made an announcement that elections will take place no later than March 11.
What is clear from this update is that it’s already impossible to hold the elections on February 24. The statement also didn’t address reports that the Department of Provincial Administration has issued a circular letter instructing provincial registrars to stop the preparations for elections.
Activists questioned the commitment of the NCPO to restoring civilian rule since it has been repeatedly delaying the timetable for the holding of elections.
Meanwhile, the army Commander-in-Chief general accused critics of having a ‘one track mind’ about the elections. He said the government also needs to prioritize the coronation of the King.

author: Mong Palatino


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Rare film footage with sound of Kyoto, Japan, from 1929 · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Kyoto, Japan, in 1929. Screencap from “1929 – Early Sound Footage of Kyoto, Japan”, edited and uploaded to YouTube by Guy Jones.
A popular YouTube channel has uploaded restored newsreel footage of Kyoto from 1929. What makes this film notable is that it features actual sound footage of Japanese city life at that time. Usually, newsreels from that era are silent.
The newsreel includes market scenes, a ceremony at a Shinto shrine and young women playing traditional games, all with clear sound.
The film is just one of dozens of newsreels restored and uploaded to YouTube by videographer Guy Jones, who edits century-old films to more accurately match the video standards of the present day.
Usually, Jones slows down the film’s original speed and adds ambient sound to match the activity seen on the city’s streets, such as in his restoration of newsreel footage of Tokyo from about a hundred years ago.
In this case, the amazing period sound was captured by Movietone cameras, which were state-of-the-art for 1929. The Movietone sound system is an optical sound-on-film method of recording sound for motion pictures that was designed to synchronize audio and image.
This footage comes from University of South Carolina Moving Image Research Collections (MIRC), caretaker of the Fox Movietone News Collection.
Note: This article has been updated to reflect that the source of the newsreel footage is the MIRC, with thanks to Dan Streible.


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A year-long rotating Twitter campaign will share the voices of 50 indigenous language digital activists · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Illustration mashup created by Eddie Avila, utilizing the bird icon by Sara Novovitch, ES at the Noun Project, the voluta by Jer Clarke, and the Word It Out word cloud program.
Starting on Monday, January 14, a rotating roster of indigenous language digital activists from Latin America will take control of the @ActLenguas (Language Activism) Twitter account. Coordinated by Rising Voices, this social media campaign is taking place within the context of the International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019 and will provide a space for diverse voices from across the region to tell stories of their experiences with language revitalization.
Over the next 50 weeks, 50 different activists will take turns sharing their perspectives on what their native language means to them and their communities. These activists are all working to promoting the use of their languages in new domains like the internet, which presents many opportunities and challenges. But there is also an important offline component to their activism related to long-standing histories and contemporary contexts that affect the vitality of indigenous languages.
For the past five years, Rising Voices (RV) has been facilitating digital activism by helping to organize gatherings and workshops and providing microgrant funding and support to projects in the region. RV also highlights innovative digital initiative on our mapping website, but we feel that this campaign is especially important because those following along on Twitter will hear directly from the activists themselves.
Response to calls for participation has been extremely positive, as the roster for the first round through the beginning of May has already been filled. We opened the roster first to people who have taken part in one of the regional gatherings, microgrant programs, or other Rising Voices activities.
The participants
Our first host is Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil, a Mixe from the state of Oaxaca. Read more about her in this profile published on RV. Yásnaya, along with and her colleague Tajëëw Díaz-Robles, who'll be hosting later in the year, were some of the architects of the concept of “digital activism” as a strategy to promote languages and attract new speakers. While technology and the internet will not magically solve the serious problem of language loss, it can play an important role in a comprehensive strategy of language revitalization.
In October 2014, when the two women were working with the Juan de Córdova Library in Oaxaca, they partnered with Rising Voices on the first-ever national gathering of indigenous language digital activists that brought together more than 30 people from across Mexico for three days of peer learning and exchange. Created out of this meeting was a local network for mutual support and encouragement. Many of the people that participated in that first event are on the hosting roster for the @ActLenguas social media campaign.
After that meeting, national networks formed in countries such as Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, as well as local projects focusing on one language or a few languages in a specific area. People from these projects and networks are also well represented in this year-long campaign.
Their personal stories, hard work and dedication lie at the heart of these networks. These activists are eager to share these stories with people who may know very little about indigenous languages in Latin America, as well as with other indigenous communities and activists who will see in these stories echoes of their own experiences but also learn about other parts of Latin America and their unique contexts.
Participants who have signed on to manage the account include:
This is just a sampling of some of people at the center of this campaign to share stories of critical language-related work happening across Latin America. Visit the campaign page to see the current schedule, and stay tuned for short blog posts with profiles of each host.
This social media project was inspired by initiatives such as @IndigenousX in Australia, whose founder, Luke Pearson, provided important guidance in the planning stages. Global Voices’ own Instagram account is also managed by a rotating roster of community members and has been an excellent way to gain insights our diverse membership and the places where they live.
While the tweets will primarily be in Spanish and the native languages being highlighted, we are exploring ways to curate and translate key messages to further amplify these stories. You can support this campaign by following the @ActLenguas account throughout 2019, and by retweeting messages you find inspiring of interesting. Hosts are also eager for feedback and will do their best to respond.


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Before it was banned, this Facebook profile urged young people to join violent attack group in northern Mozambique · Global Voices
Alexandre Nhampossa

Image of houses destroyed by fire during attacks. Photo by Borges Nhamire, used with permission.
Since October 2017, an unknown armed group has been terrorizing the north of Mozambique with rogue attacks that have left over 200 dead and many villages destroyed.
The attacks occur mostly at night and in the early morning in remote parts of Cabo Delgado province, near the border with Tanzania. Armed with guns and machetes, group members invade a village, shoot and decapitate people, set fire to houses, steal food, and run away to the nearby forest.
As Mozambican authorities struggle to uncover the origins and motivations of the group, local newspaper Carta de Moçambique (letter from Mozambique in Portuguese) revealed in December 2018 that a Facebook account using a fictitious name might have helped attract and groom members of the mysterious gang.
Under the name Shakira Júnior Lectícia, the profile was active for 14 months starting on 25 October 2017. During this period, it posted messages praising the attacks in Cabo Delgado and called on youths to join the group with promises of large sums of money. The account claims that Shakira Júnior Lectícia is a resident of Expansão neighborhood, in the city of Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado.
Eventually, the account was shut down — it has been inaccessible since December 10, 2018. At that time, it had reached Facebook's limit of 5,000 friends and amassed hundreds of followers.
The account's profile photo, along with several images it published over the past year, were taken from people that say they are not involved with the attackers in Cabo Delgado, according to Carta de Moçambique's story. Those photos usually depicted people holding handfuls of meticais, Mozambique's currency.
Carta de Moçambique reporters tracked down four people whose photos had been posted by the account, including the legitimate owner of the profile photo. They have all confirmed that the pictures are of them and that they have never had any contact with the account. None knew how the account administrators obtained the photos.
Photos by Shakira posted on Facebook. Screengrab by MediaFax.
All four people interviewed by the publication have ties to Cabo Delgado. Some live in the province, including in districts under attack. Others live just outside Cabo Delgado.
According to Carta de Moçambique, which monitored the account’s activity, on 11 and 22 November 2018, Shakira published photos of a young man holding several metical bills, with a caption implying that he received the money as a reward for having joined the insurgency.
An attack in Pundanhar district on November 11 resulted in the death of six men. Their bodies were found in a forest with signs of attack by machetes.
Shakira posted a photo just hours after the attack, before Mozambique's media outlets had reported on it, which raised further suspicion.
Mozambique’s National Department of Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Authorities have charged 189 people in connection with the attacks so far. A trial that began in October 2018 is expected to reach a verdict in early 2019, according to the local press.
The defendants include nationals from Mozambique as well as of Tanzania, Somalia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are 42 women and 147 men.
Police often conduct operations in the area and regularly detain people suspected to have links with the violence. They have returned many young men to their families after arresting them while they are on route to the affected districts. Police says agents groom them with promises of employment and money.
It remains inconclusive how the attacks in Cabo Delgado are funded, the types of training used, and the real interests of the attackers.
Although there have been strong suspicions of faith-based terrorism, so far this is speculative. A video that was widely shared on social media, including on Facebook, on January 2018, helped fuel such theories.
Recorded in a forest, it shows a group of five men wearing civilian clothing and headscarves, handling machine guns, and a man holding a machete. Speaking in Portuguese, the man praises the attack in Mocímboa da Praia (where several people were killed in late 2017) and calls on Mozambicans to join the group.
The majority of Mozambique’s population is Christian, with around 18 percent identifying as Muslim. Most of Mozambican Muslims live in the northern part of the country.
A study published in May 2018 by researchers from the Institute of Social and Economic Studies (IESE) and the Civil Society Support Mechanism Foundation (MASC) suggests a different theory.
After interviewing several stakeholders in the affected districts, it concluded that the group's objective is economical: it aims to create opportunities for the marginalized youth to gain from trafficking wood, ivory, charcoal, and rubies in the resource-rich province.
Cabo Delgado is home to the 40 percent of the world’s known ruby reserves and has enough gas and oil to turn Mozambique into the third largest exporter of natural gas in the world after Qatar and Australia starting 2022.
However, its population remains impoverished, with 24 percent of people aged 15-24 currently unemployed, according to government data.

author: Alexandre Nhampossa