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Slow progress on Moldova’s thorny judicial reforms · Global Voices
Victoria Dodon

Plaque of Moldova's Supreme Court of Justice in Chișinău. Photo by Agora.Md. Used with permission.
This article is made possible through a partnership with Transitions, a Prague-based publishing and media training organisation
Last month, Moldova's government announced “extensive consultations” on a new draft strategy for justice reform. The cabinet of Prime Minister Ion Chicu, which took office last November, has called on all stakeholders to involve themselves in the intense debates on the issue in Moldovan society. Another chapter begins in the country's eternal, but as yet unfulfilled, promises to set up a truly transparent, professional, and accountable justice sector.
Any Moldovan politician who has come to power in the last 10 years has declared an independent judiciary their priority. For example, in 2011 the country engaged in an ambitious, complex reform package aimed at reforming the entire judicial system at once. An agreement was initially reached to secure at least €60 million of external financial support, in the hope of setting up a rejuvenated and accountable judiciary by the end of 2017.
However, almost 10 years later, that plan has produced uncertain results. Or “only an empty shell,” as a 2019 report from the International Commission of Jurists put it. Endemic corruption, political control, selective justice, a lack of judicial integrity and poor law enforcement have all become part of this bleak picture along the way, thanks to the steady rise in oligarchic governance. Public trust in the justice system has continuously decreased, dropping by half over the past 16 years. According to the Public Opinion Barometer, by the end of 2019, 65% of the Moldovan population did not trust the judiciary.
When EU officials announced that they were freezing the last tranche of funding for the reforms (worth €28 million) in October 2017, they declared that “the Moldovan authorities have not proved sufficient determination.”
There are reasons why Moldovan politicians make promises they either cannot or do not intend to keep. Judicial reform is popular: a good opportunity to win votes or to undermine opponents’ records. “Justice is a very convenient topic, much easier to manipulate than commitments for the economy, for instance. To a great measure, political will has determined justice here… It's not the case where rule of law is first determined in theory and then is put into practice, but the other way around,” explains Dionis Cenusa, a Moldovan political analyst and researcher at the Institute of Political Studies at the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany.
What hope is there that Chicu's plans will end up any differently?
The reformist government of Maia Sandu was no exception to these trends. Sandu's government took office in mid-June last year, after ousting the ruling Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM) and its leader, the oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, and forming an “anti-oligarchic” coalition with the Party of Socialists (PSRM), informally led by President Igor Dodon. “We are all trapped in a vicious circle with a lack of justice, and if we do not resolve this, we will have no chances,” said Sandu soon after becoming prime minister. “2019 was crucial as it provided a window of opportunity when state power was slightly diluted, due to the fact that Plahotniuc’s and PDM’s influence over the justice system had faded for a short period of time and no other politician or party had yet got full control over it. For the first time in several years, Moldovan society saw a diversity of voices coming from the justice system”, remembers Nadejda Hriptievschi, head of the Justice and Human Rights Programme at the Legal Resources Center in Chișinău.
Once the priority was set, problems soon arose. The appointment of a new, independent prosecutor general became the major sticking point for the unstable coalition between Sandu's pro-European ACUM block and Dodon's pro-Russian PSRM. The contest for the pre-selection of candidates for the head of the prosecutor's office, launched by the Ministry of Justice, was canceled by Sandu's government in November 2019 after it was concluded that the results were “defrauded by the member of the commission designated by the Socialists”, who allegedly underrated the best and overrated the weakest candidates for political reasons. “The contest proved that for the Socialist Party and its de-facto leader, Igor Dodon, a truly independent judiciary, including the appointment of an independent prosecutor general, is an eminent danger,” says the attorney Ștefan Gligor, who was one of the candidates in the contest.
Shortly after the cancellation of the contest, the government adopted a law that empowered prime minister Sandu to select the best candidates herself and propose them for a final appointment by Moldova's council of prosecutors. “We stood firm on the position of prosecutor general because it was clear that without a truly independent and powerful prosecutor's office we could not reform the judiciary. The criminal files that end up on the judges’ desks come from the prosecutors, and because the prosecutors have not done their job so far, the fraud in the banking sector, the ‘Moldovan Laundromat’ and many other schemes were made possible. There are positions for which the government must take responsibility, as citizens demand reforms and results. The judicial reform was the key element for which ACUM had risked coming to power and if the reform could not have been done then, it would have no longer been worth remaining [in power],” explains Olesea Stamate, former Minister of Justice in Sandu’s cabinet.
After harsh accusations were traded between members of ACUM bloc and the Socialists, the latter, backed by PDM members of parliament, managed to dismiss the Sandu government in November 2019. “From a political perspective, it was the right decision. The assumption of responsibility exposed the PSRM and Igor Dodon, uncovering the falsehood of his declared intent to promote the rule of law and the deoligarchisation of the state,” adds Gligor.
With the old government ousted, and a new one appointed soon after, the new Minister of Justice Fadei Nagacevschi recognised the results of the disputed contest. Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former deputy and vice president of the parliament representing the PDM, became Moldova's new prosecutor general on November 29. Stoianoglo left politics in 2014 and claims that from that moment, he has never been a member of a political party. Nagacevschi himself used to be the lawyer for the PSRM, and before arriving at the Ministry of Justice held the position of advisor to the speaker of the Parliament, the socialist politician Zinaida Greceanîi. Nevertheless, the government under which both men serve has declared itself to be “technocratic,” and its leader Chicu is a former adviser to the president Igor Dodon.
Under the socialists, judicial reform has taken the form of a new three year strategy “for ensuring the independence and integrity of justice sector.” Experts who have analysed this document say that it is far from a comprehensive response to the sector's many challenges. “There is no word about state capture and the role of the justice system in that respect; no word about selective justice and serious issues related to corruption and integrity among the main players of the system; no references to problems like closed court hearings, selective anonymisation of court judgments, quality of education of judges and other professionals, the lack of qualified court personnel and so on. It does not include a clear statement of the problem and does not tackle the human factor which is the main problem in the justice system. If you don't recognise these problems, you can’t really solve them,” argues Hriptievschi.
The draft of the strategy was sent to the Council of Europe on January 3, together with a project proposal for the evaluation of judges — a key mechanism that would filter magistrates to exclude those known to be corrupt and lacking credibility. The draft of the proposal was immediately criticised by members of the opposition. “According to the draft law which was recently made public, the external, genuine evaluation of judges has been replaced with an internal evaluation, using already existing mechanisms… Citizens are waiting for a genuine reform, whereas the Socialists produce one typical of Plahotniuc,” stated Maia Sandu during a press conference on January 20.
Sandu was referring to the fact that, the project proposes a monitoring committee be created by parliament (where the PSRM and the PDM have a combined majority), which would consequently select members of the board for evaluating judges. The majority of the board's members would be current magistrates. “In essence, it is an evaluation of judges by judges, by their colleagues. Moreover, members of the board would not be the first ones to go through an integrity filter, there is no mechanism for them to be checked,” explains Olesea Stamate. “With this format, influence peddling or corruption of the evaluators on behalf of those to be evaluated is inevitable,” adds Gligor.
Gligor adds that the proposal is completely lacking a comprehensive evaluation of prosecutors and criminal prosecution officers, which he stresses was “Plahotniuc's most important tool in eliminating political competitors and in usurping power.”
“Given that the PDM is targeted in the [PSRM-ACUM coalition's] declaration on the captured character of state institutions, as well as the fact that several members of the faction are in thee inner circle of the oligarch Plahotniuc, these people are the least interested in reforms which would have given judges, prosecutors, and criminal prosecution officers any real independence from politics,” concludes Gligor.
“In fact, to read between the lines, what is wanted is a total subordination of the judiciary to the current government,” says Stamate.
In response to such criticism, minister Nagacevschi has suggested that the project proposal is at the stage of a draft, and that the initiatives it contains will be debated on a large scale. Nagacevschi has given reassurances that he will accept any well argued criticism. “Everything can be debated. This proposal is extremely flexible and everything can be changed,” stated Nagacevschi in an interview with channel TV8 on January 21.
Even so, experts are now concerned that a long awaited attempt at genuine judicial reform seems to be compromised — yet again. “The reform of the justice system is in trouble and this is because of a lack of trust in the Socialists, who do not show the will to clean up their image. No truly noble reform can be initiated and brought to an end by political forces that have serious issues with integrity. Such forces may carry out pseudo-reforms, which may change some arrangements, but by no means produce an optimal final result in the public interest. If the author of a reform is not credible, neither is the reform,” concludes Dionis Cenusa.
Moldova’s political turmoil
Editor's note: GlobalVoices contacted Moldova's Ministry of Justice for comment but had received no response by the time of publication.

author: Victoria Dodon


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What do we know about the ‘Great Firewall of India’? · Global Voices
Subhashish Panigrahi

Scene during clashes between security forces and students at Islamia college of science and commerce in Srinagar. Image by Ieshan Wani. Used with permission.
After five months of complete internet shutdown in the federally-administered Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, only partial internet access has been restored after the interference of the Indian Supreme Court on January 10, which called the shutdown ‘‘unconstitutional’’.“Freedom of internet access is a fundamental right”, said Justice N. V. Ramana who was a part of the bench that gave this verdict.
This shutdown marks one of the longest ever internet shutdowns in any democracy around the world, and is viewed by experts as a potential signal of the rise of the ‘‘Great Firewall of India’’. The term “great firewall’’ is used to refer to the set of legislative and technical tools deployed by the Chinese government to control information online, including by blocking access to foreign services and preventing politically sensitive content from entering the domestic network.
While the Chinese firewall has evolved as a very sophisticated internet censorship infrastructure, the Indian one is yet to get organized into a large-scale and complex structure. India's tactics to control information online include banning entire websites and services, shutting down networks and pressuring social media content to remove content on vague grounds.
According to internetshutdowns.in, a project that is tracking internet shutdowns in India and created by legal nonprofit Software Freedom Law Centre, the shutdown that was imposed on August 4, 2019, has been the longest in the country and was only partially lifted in Kargil on December 27, 2019, while the rest of the state was still under the shutdown.
Landlines and mobile communications services were also blocked in addition to regular internet services. Although the “verified users” of the Kashmir valley saw 2G services working on January 25, 2020 with access to only 301  white-listed websites (153 initially which was later expanded to 301), social media, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and many other sites remain banned.
The administration of J&K passed an order on 25th January ordering for the restoration of 2G internet for around 300 whitelisted websites. We spoke to @iamtanzeelkhan about this and this is what he has to say about the current situation of Internet in #Kashmir #LetTheNetWork pic.twitter.com/L9zSjVfvWL
— InternetShutdowns.in (@NetShutdowns) January 31, 2020
Internetshutdowns.in also tweeted on February 4, 2020 that some of the whitelisted 301 sites were still inaccessible:
An order was released on 25th January 2020 by the administration of J&K allowing internet access on 2G for 301 whitelisted websites. We asked a user to access some whitelisted websites on 2G.
This is what was found. #LetTheNetWork #KeepItOn #JammuAndKashmir pic.twitter.com/s7V2NqaHBd
— InternetShutdowns.in (@NetShutdowns) February 4, 2020
Independent research indicates many facets of the white-listing such as violation of India's net-neutrality rules, political nepotism and potential surveillance by favoring unencrypted JioChat — an app by Indian conglomerate Reliance allegedly favored by the Modi-led government according to media reports— while banning end-to-end encryption-based chat services like WhatsApp.
The Logical Indian reported on January 30, 2020, that broadband services in Kashmir will be be restored only after the creation of an alleged social media firewall. It is currently unclear whether these restrictions will only be imposed in Kashmir or in other areas of India as well.
Nazir Ahmad Joo, General Manager of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a public mobile and broadband carrier, told the digital news platform that his company is working on a developing “a firewall’’:
We have called a team of technical experts from Noida and Banglore who are working over creating a firewall to thwart any attempt by the consumers to reach to the social media applications[..]
Internet Service Providers like mobile internet carriers were asked by the government  to install “necessary firewalls” while “white-listing” the list of allowed websites in an order dated January 13, 2020.
Just wrote this: The beginnings of the great firewall of India?https://t.co/bSs0L4L4xw
— Nikhil Pahwa , https://mstdn.social/@nixxin (@nixxin) January 15, 2020
Indian Supreme Court: Access to the internet is part of free speech
After reviewing multiple petitions on the internet shutdown, the Indian Supreme Court, on January 10, noted that the imposed shutdown is not just a violation of India's Telecom Rules, but is also against the “fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to carry on trade or business using the Internet’’ that are constitutionally protected by the Article 19 of the Constitution.
In the meantime, the partial shutdown continues in Kashmir despite the Supreme Court's verdict of January 10. Ironically, the order from the Jammu and Kashmir home department mentioned above was imposed a day after the Court ruling.
The shutdown started right after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the right-wing political party that has a majority in the federally-ruling National Democratic Alliance, pushed for the abrogation of the Article 370 of the Indian constitution. The Article provided the formerly state of Jammu and Kashmir (J & K) a special status and significant autonomy as compared to the other citizens from the rest of the country. Of many other restrictions, non-Jammu and Kashmir citizens were barred from purchasing properties in the state. With the abrogation, the former state was split into two union territories (federally-controlled administrative regions) — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Journalist and Global Voices author Ieshan Wani tweeted on February 5.
Partial showdown in #Srinagar as today marks 6 months after Parliament nullified Article370 of the Constitution & bifurcated erstwhile state into 2 union territories.Since August 5, the political party leaders including three former CMs continue to remain under detention.#Kashmir pic.twitter.com/Q8HGPy8awh
— Ieshan Wani (@Ieshan_W) February 5, 2020
Nikhil Pahwa, editor of digital and telecom media house Medianama, highlights that this action of partial shutdown sets the stage for legitimizing blocking infrastructure, unaccountable and secret blocking of the internet, blurring the line of internet shutdown by allowing some sites, allowing government officers to monitor user activity and violation of neutrality and other digital and human rights.
To tighten its control, the Indian government is also considering the adoption of a law that would force social media companies to censor content it deems illegal.
The yet-to-be finalized Information Technology Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment) Rules of 2018 detail how Indian government officials can request social media and companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to take down content it deems unlawful, including on vague and broad grounds such as defamation, obscenity, invasion of another's privacy and hate.
There are many examples of how the current regime has been manipulating vague laws and imposing sanctions to silence criticism of the government. Two recent examples include the arrest of the mother and the school teacher an 11-year old child over the latter's participation in a play criticizing the new amendment to the citizenship law, and an Indian police officer possibly demanding Twitter to remove content by a user exposing the former's for allegedly viewing pornography online.
India is sinking: 11-year-old student's mother, Nazbunnisa & School head-teacher, Fareeda Begum, have been arrested by police on January 30 on charges of sedition for staging a play which voiced dissent towards Modi & his discriminatory citizenship law. https://t.co/z3CpdIcAEj
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) February 4, 2020
Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of the situation in Kashmir.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Subhashish Panigrahi


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Public outcry over Wuhan coronavirus leads to blame game in China · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Screenshot from a live broadcast on 26 January featuring Hubei province governor Wang Xiaoding stumbling over the number of masks produced in Wuhan.
A backlash against China’s official response to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak has left local officials and the central government scrambling to offset responsibility. While the central government has accused local officials of being “inefficient,” the local government has reminded the public it is blocked from sharing information in real-time because of a heavily centralized system of information control. Meanwhile close to 40,000 people have been infected in China and over a thousand have died.
Despite receiving notice of the deadly illness in early December 2019, Chinese officials took over six weeks to openly admit that the public health situation had reached crisis levels.
A January 20 visit to Wuhan by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang marked the first public acknowledgment of the gravity of the outbreak. This visit became controversial as it happened just two days after the local Wuhan government held a massive public banquet for the Chinese New Year attended by over 40,000 people despite full knowledge of the risks.
As China health expert and author of Governing Health in Contemporary China Huang Yanzhong explains in a podcast:
The local government, in order not to ruin the atmosphere, decided not to report the actual situation.
After Li Keqiang’s visit to Wuhan, the Chinese government shifted to a well-known tactic of blaming and firing members of the local government in order to maintain the prestige of the central government, and above all, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The first one to take the blame was Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang, who tried to make excuses for the now-infamous banquet:
The reason why the Baibuting community continued to host the banquet this year was based on the previous judgment that the spread of the epidemic was limited between humans, so there was not enough warning.
As per the expected script, Zhou, along with governor Wang Xiaodong and Wuhan Party Secretary Ma Guoqiang from Hubei province (where Wuhan is located), also gave a press conference on January 26. The press event turned into a major disaster after both officials displayed a lack of knowledge about the crisis, making blunt statements that increased the sense of panic among the public.
First, governor Wang fumbled three times when answering a simple question regarding the number of masks available for the local population. He decreased the number of local mask production from 10.8 billion to 1.08 billion and finally 1.08 million. The video of the press conference was widely shared on Chinese social media and Twitter:
湖北省长王晓东在1月26日晚的湖北新型肺炎疫情防控工作发布会直播现场，对武汉地区口罩生产数量，先说年产量108亿只，过了一会下面递上来小纸条，就说是口误改成18亿只，然后再说口误改成108万只。
链接还能看重播，47分钟之后和 59分钟之后。
看完简直要疯了。https://t.co/8b34kYoxqn pic.twitter.com/wMenBWumhe
— 冥王星 (@charon66192915) January 26, 2020
Hubei province governor Wang Xiaodong, on the evening of January 26 at the press conference about the prevention of the new type of pneumonia epidemic, speaking about the number of masks produced in Wuhan. First he said the annual output was 10.8 billion pieces. After a while, he said it was 1.8 billion, and then he changed again to 1.08 million.
The links can also be replayed after 47 minutes and 59 minutes.
I'm going crazy after watching it
The blunder gave birth to memes mocking the incapacity of the local government and showing their lack of preparedness. At the same event, officials also displayed a lack of coordination:
While Governor Wang said that medical supplies were in short supply in Hubei, Mayor Zhou declared that the shortage had been mitigated.
The ax has since fallen on health officials:
Party Secretary of Health Commission of Hubei Province Zhang Jin and director of the Hubei Provincial Health Commission Liu Yingzi were removed from their posts. The two posts will be taken over by Wang Hesheng, a Standing Committee member of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee. pic.twitter.com/AnGOVOvDOw
— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) February 11, 2020
During a television interview on January 27, Mayor Zhou offered to resign and take the full blame:
Comrade Ma Guoqiang and I are willing to accept responsibility. If in the end you say someone has to be held accountable, you say the masses are not satisfied, then we’re willing to appease the world by resigning.
But while his 27 January declaration tows the party line, previously Zhou had made an unusual statement during Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Wuhan on 20 January:
As a local government official, after I get this kind of information I still have to wait for authorization before I can release it.
While thinly veiled, this statement is, in fact, a direct criticism of President Xi Jinping’s rule. Since taking office in 2013, Xi has accumulated large amounts of power in the central government and, for provinces, this means a very restricted space for local decision-making on sensitive issues.
As China researcher Jude Blanchette from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies explains:
Central-local relations in the Xi era have seen a severe diminishment of local-level autonomy, which has led to municipal and village officials waiting for clear signals from above before they take action.
Despite Beijing's claims, the central government may deserve a significant amount of blame. On January 11, the team it dispatched to Wuhan concluded that everything was under control. “The patients’ condition and the epidemic situation are currently controllable,” said Wang Guangfa, a member of the national medical expert team dealing with the situation.
Yet in a cruel and ironic twist, Wang Guangfa was himself contaminated by the virus. This sense of bitter irony is not lost on local officials in Wuhan and elsewhere.
Xi Jinping has been unusually low-profile since Premier Li Keqiang’s visit. This is interpreted as a form of political self-protection given that the outcome of the fight against the coronavirus remains uncertain.
However, Xi will not be able to stay out of the spotlight much longer. On March 5, 2020, China is holding its annual “Two Meetings” (两会 in Chinese) which are the annual plenary sessions of the two bodies that vote on political decisions at the national level.
As Victor Shih, a researcher on Chinese elites, points out, Xi's isolation and elimination of other candidates might prove to be dangerous to manage for his political image, if not survival:
“Politically, I think he is discovering that having total dictatorial power has a downside, which is that when things go wrong or have a high risk of going wrong, then you also have to bear all the responsibility,” Victor Shih, of U.C.SanDiego https://t.co/UaFUMpQynr via @NYTimes
— Michael Slackman (@meslackman) February 9, 2020
the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus

author: Filip Noubel


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Rising prices, heavy taxation threaten sustainability of age-old art in Punjab, India · Global Voices
Rezwan

Rajesh, Wood Carver. Image via Kirrt.
The decorative wood carving and inlay art of Hoshiarpur in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab has been world-renowned for centuries. However, environmental protection on rare wood as well as the introduction of complicated bureaucratic export practices has dramatically changed the profession. As wood carving becomes less lucrative, the craft is beginning to die out, leaving many artisans without a viable way forward.
Hoshiarpur is located in the foothills of the Himalayas and has been home to the art of wood inlay for a few centuries.
Wood Inlay of Hoshiarpur, Punjab is a decorative technique of inserting pieces of diffrent material such as bone, shell & wood in the base wooden object to form patterns.The motifs are Persian origin that can be found in the furniture & decorative items of Punjab.#CraftsOfIndia pic.twitter.com/bdkAYJ6GLM
— OdishaCraftsMuseum-Kala Bhoomi (@kalabhoomibbsr) December 19, 2019
Antique Hoshiarpur ivory inlaid products are sought out in auction houses not only in India but also abroad. After the trade of ivory was banned, artisans turned to bone, metal and acrylic which can be seen in modern iterations of the craft.
Both then and now, craftsmen prefer the high-quality wood of the Shisham tree (North Indian Rosewood) which is thought to be more durable and resistant to warping.
After growing Chinese demand for rosewood led to complaints about the tree's massive decline in Latin American forests, Shisham wood was put on a list of restricted trade items in 2017. This shortage of wood has boosted the cost of the wood inlay products leading to a drop in local demand and a greater reliance on exportation.
Furniture and items created using the wood inlay technique. Image via Kirrt.
At the same time, the Indian government created its own international compliance certificate called Vriksh, which certifies that the wood used in handicrafts is legally and responsibly sourced. However, obtaining the certificate has created another layer of bureaucracy which is giving rise to inflated prices by middlemen trading in wood. This coupled with an increase in government taxes is leading to the progressive decline of woodworking artisans in the region.
The Hoshiarpur government website puts the number of practicing artisans at 100-150 and notes that the scarcity of Shisham wood is threatening the survival of the trade.
Global Voices’ partner, Kirrt, is an online gallery where stories about artisans from the Punjab region are documented. In 2018, Kirrt featured Rajesh, a woodcarver from Hoshiarpur, who described how the profession has changed over the years:
All the craftsmen, who knew the art of carving patterns in wood and shading them, has passed away. I’m one of the last two artists left in the business. Kapurthala is known for its unique furniture with ivory inlay. But when the government banned the ivory, we started using acrylic sheets to maintain the white colour. [..]
In 1911, my grandfather went to England as part of a team to do wooden work in English homes. We still possess the certificate he got back then. I was 10 when I held the shading pencils for the first time. [,,] I never excelled at school. My family decided to take me off the school and teach me the family profession.
Wood Carver at work. Image via Kirrt.
He describes that it is a low paid profession:
But even after all this hard work, I didn’t achieve much. I’ve never been able to save a cent from this job. My daily wage is just 300-400 (US$ 4-6) Rs. which is barely enough to sustain everyday life.
Rajesh talks about the challenges many artists are facing:
By complaining so much I am not blaming the shopkeeper who has hired me, his position isn’t any better. Furniture worth lakhs is lying in the store waiting for customers. Our products don’t have local customers, they are expensive for the locals. Most of the sale happened overseas but now the government has imposed so much tax on exporting and you have to submit (a lot of) paperwork for all the material used in a product.

author: Rezwan


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Viral prank video mocks Putin’s cult of personality · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

A screenshot from Dokhov's viral YouTube video, showing the blogger hanging Putin's portrait in an elevator.
While Russia has lived under President Vladimir Putin’s rule for over two decades and his cult of personality seems solidly entrenched, ordinary Russians continue to respond with trademark dark humour and a keen sense of irony. One video, which has captivated the RuNet, is a perfect example.
In early February 2019, Russian blogger Bashir Dokhov hung a huge portrait of Putin in the elevator of a Moscow apartment block. He then installed a camera to record the reactions of stunned residents.
For those who speak Russian, here is the original and full-length video, uploaded to the GrannyBlog YouTube channel on February 5. The video had over two million views at the time of this article's publication:
For those who need English, here is an abridged and subtitled version:
A Russian prankster glued a massive portrait of President Vladimir Putin to the inside of a residential elevator. He then placed a camera in the elevator to record people’s reactions. pic.twitter.com/dahMN83SvX
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) February 10, 2020
The comments under the YouTube video are overwhelmingly supportive of the blogger's idea and his obvious criticism of Putin. One netizen writes:
Гениально!!! Лучший социологический опрос из всех, которые я знаю! И, похоже, самый честный!
Genius work!!! The best sociological survey from all those I know! And, it seems, the most honest!
Dokhov said in an interview with Ekho Moskvy on 10 February that he didn't specially select responses which are particularly critical of Putin, but said that there were many who simply didn't respond, “or just didn't say anything but took a selfie.” Women laugh and children stare. Many men stand with their back to the president, mutter obscenities to themselves, related to the Russian language's wealth of profane language called mat’, which is widely used but legally banned in Russia from public performances. A memorable reaction comes from a middle-aged woman who points at Putin's eyes and says “I know what's going on; there are cameras here. We're being watched!”
Since the video shot to public attention, rumours also surfaced on Twitter that Dokhov had been arrested for “disrespecting the authorities.” In an interview for the BBC's Russian service on 10 February, the blogger confirmed that these rumours were false. Nevertheless, the ease with which they were accepted is itself an interesting insight into public attitudes towards the country's controversial law against such “disrespect.”
In the same interview, Dokhov was asked everybody's burning question: how did he come up with his bizarre idea? His response was as follows:
Мне много этот вопрос задают, но на самом деле очень сложно ответить, как приходят какие-то такие идеи, они довольно спонтанные. У меня вопрос к себе был, как сделать такой социологический опрос, который исключит этот фактор, когда к тебе подходят и такие: Левада-центр, Говорите! Естественно, у людей сразу есть некоторый блок. И мне было интересно, как сделать так, чтобы реакция была искренняя.
Лифт я добавил, потому что хотел довести это до абсурда. Потому что если бы это просто было в каком-то холле, то люди бы думали: ну, да, ну, живем в такой стране. А лифт – это уже прям абсурд-абсурд. Потому что он [портрет] огромный, он практически на весь лифт, и это уже доведено до какого-то фарса. Люди уже такие: ну, серьезно? Примерно такой ход мысли.
I'm often asked that question, but it's actually very hard to answer how some ideas arrive. They're quite spontaneous. I asked myself the question as to how I would make a sociological survey which would exclude the scenario in which people approach you and say “Levada Centre! Speak!” [a prominent Russian polling organisation — ed.] Naturally, many people immediately suffer from a block. And I was interested in making it so that their reactions were genuine.
I added the elevator because I wanted to escalate things to absurdity. Because if it had simply been in some hallway, people would have thought “well, sure, that's the kind of country we live in.” But an elevator really is completely absurd. Because it's such an immense [portrait], it practically occupies the entire elevator, it's just become some complete farce. People already go: “what, for real?” It was roughly that train of thought.
— Bashir Dokhov in conversation with BBC Russian, February 10, 2020


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A rash of ‘travel bans’ as the Caribbean gets serious about coronavirus · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Wuhan New Coronavirus. Image shared on Flickr by 葉 正道 Ben (busy), CC0 1.0 Universal, public domain.
Caribbean island nations are as concerned about who crosses their borders as any other nation. So, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus — officially named COVID-19 — as a global health emergency, regional governments began taking concrete action.
To date, no case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in the Latin America/Caribbean region, according to the Pan American Health Organization, which is helping the region prepare for any possible cases.
Jamaica is one of several Caribbean territories — including Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Dominica, and Trinidad and Tobago — to impose travel restrictions to and from China, after COVID-19 was traced back to a market in Wuhan, China, a city of 11 million people.
As of February 8, 2020, Barbados had not imposed a ban but insisted that it is conducting rigorous screening at all ports of entry.
Not all Caribbean citizens were comfortable with this approach:
@christufton, @themohwgovjm you need to inform the Ministry of Health & Wellness in #Barbados about the severity of the #coronavirus #nCoV. If their borders are porous it will allow #infected persons to hop through #Caribbean states, avoiding quarantine.https://t.co/dBmaoA20pw pic.twitter.com/TOHhRjz2tK
— ovrhillznvallyz (@ovrhillznvallyz) February 8, 2020
Such measures will have economic implications for the region, which is heavily dependent on tourism — an industry which is reportedly thriving, as thousands of visitors fly to one or more islands on a daily basis. This gradual increase in travel restrictions as the virus has spread to over 20 countries will have a dampening effect on the global travel industry, at the height of tourist season in the Caribbean.
The Royal Caribbean and Norwegian cruise lines initially took the drastic step of banning all passengers and crew with Chinese passports from its ships. While Royal Caribbean has since rescinded its rule after an outcry, Norwegian still appears to have this policy.
Tourists rarely fly directly from China, but travel between the Caribbean and China has stepped up considerably in recent years. Due to a proliferation of Chinese-funded projects on several islands, there has been a steady flow of Chinese workers, government officials and businesspeople at Caribbean airports, causing concern among some social media users.
Meanwhile, Jamaica's Ministry of Health and Wellness has found itself having to dispel “fake news” reports that are being spread on social media channels, particularly WhatsApp.
Nervousness over the virus prompted the first of two emergency press conferences held by Jamaica's health minister, Dr. Christopher Tufton, on January 28. The briefing was held in response to rumours that a case of coronavirus had been diagnosed at Kingston’s University Hospital of the West Indies. The rumour was false, but some mainstream media still reported it.
Two hours later, in an overcrowded room of media personnel, Minister Tufton assured the country that the patient, who had arrived from China, was not suffering from COVID-19, the new, novel coronavirus that has taken the lives of over 1,000 people on mainland China so far.
On January 30, the minister conducted a press tour of Kingston's international airport to inform Jamaicans on the screening procedures that have been put in place, subsequently tweeting:
I visited the Norman Manley International airport to see first hand the screen procedures and isolation areas for incoming passengers. I am satisfied that the facilities and health personnel are equipped and prepared. pic.twitter.com/iUmunCd3YY
— Dr. Chris Tufton (@christufton) January 31, 2020
The second emergency briefing, in which Jamaica's travel ban to and from China was announced, came the very next day and was live-streamed on the minister’s Facebook page.
Other regional politicians — including Grenada's prime minister, Keith Mitchell — sought to quell misinformation and attempts to spread fear on social media. In an Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Mitchell noted that people spreading such rumours “are playing on the emotions of a population”.
Some Jamaican media houses sought out nationals living in China to find out what the experience has been like for them:
NEWS: just spoke with Akara Goldson a Jamaican student on Anhui province in China begging the Jamaican govt to get her and others home. She says food & water are scarce, and she has never been so scared in her life. She says other countries are flying their nationals out
— Dionne JacksonMiller (@djmillerJA) January 30, 2020
In a February 7 statement, Jamaica's Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that because of logistical and financial obstacles, the Jamaican government was unable to repatriate Jamaicans currently living in Wuhan. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, there are currently an estimated 600 Jamaicans living in 23 provinces across China, many of them students.
Should COVID-19 continue to spread despite China's serious efforts at containment, it is possible that more bans and tighter measures will be implemented across the region. What this would mean in terms of economic implications or Caribbean/China relations remains to be seen.
the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus

author: Emma Lewis


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Peruvian engineer awarded international prize with cookies that fight anemia · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Photo composition by Global Voices portraying Julio Garay and his Nutri H cookies. Sources: Screencap by Peru's National Superintendence of Customs and Tax Administration and Mercadolibre.com.pe.
On January 29, 2020, the U.S. TV channel History announced that the winner of its contest “An idea to change History” was Peruvian agroindustrial engineer Julio Garay Barrios, who comes from the region of Ayacucho. His winning idea are the “Nutri H cookies“:
[…] una galleta enriquecida que sea agradable al paladar de los niños, de fácil transporte, conservación y de consumo directo. Sus componentes ricos en proteínas y hierro sirven para combatir la anemia y la desnutrición infantil.
[…] it's a fortified cookie that children like, it's easy to take around, store and eat directly. Its components are rich in protein and iron to fight anemia and child malnutrition.
Children from three to six years old who ate the cookies everyday during 30 days had increased levels of hemoglobin in their blood systems, according pilot tests run in Peru.
Nutri H cookies are distributed through authorized distribution centers around Peru. They are also included in municipal and regional government campaigns against child anemia.
In a country known for its cuisine, almost 50 percent of Peru's children suffer from anemia.
Anemia is a condition that often arises from iron and vitamin deficiency and has serious consequences for children. It causes poor academic performance, as children with anemia tend to be tired and have a hard time focusing in classes. Psychomotor development is also impaired and a weakened immune system means they're at greater risk for catching infections.
The proportion of anemic children in Peru fell from 46,1 to 41,1 percent from 2018 to 2019, according to data by the National Institute of Statistics and Computer Science of Peru. Experts attribute the slight drop to government prevention campaigns.
As Julio Garay notes, his Nutri H cookies contain three basic ingredients: quinoa, cocoa, and bovine hemoglobin, the last of which brings the most iron. Garay himself suffered from anemia as a child and this motivated him to seek a solution.
On Twitter, the account of the Nutri H cookies celebrated its win:
??GANADOR PRIMER LUGAR ??
????¡si se pudo! ???
Gracias a todos quienes me apoyaron y confiaron en mi, este triunfo es para todos ustedes, gracias mi Perú querido. #JuntosVenceremosLaAnemia pic.twitter.com/8tKimpiESJ
— Galletas NutriH Peru (@NutrihPeru) January 30, 2020
??FIRST PLACE AWARD ??
????Yes, we did it! ???
Thanks to all those people who supported and trusted me, this achievement is for you all, thank you to my dear Peru.
Peruvian public institutions and citizens congratulated Julio Garay for this achievement:
Saludamos al creador de galletas contra la anemia #NutriH, cuyo emprendimiento busca ayudar a la mejora de la salud, especialmente de niños y niñas, quienes son los que más necesitan.
?? Julio Garay, ganador del concurso de @HistoryLA
¡Ejemplo de emprendimiento y trabajo! pic.twitter.com/3PqLwr1Neu
— Ministerio de Trabajo (@MTPE_Peru) January 29, 2020
We greet the creator of Nutri H cookies against anemia, it's an undertaking that wants to improve health, especially children's health, the ones who need it the most.
?? Julio Garay, winner of History Channel Latin America contest.
An example of entrepreneurship and work!
Esto si merece más cobertura… @JulianaOxenford @malditaternura @sigridbazan #OrgulloPeruano #NutriH https://t.co/RwDgaxsbwg
— Luis Zorrilla (@lzorrillah) January 30, 2020
This indeed deserves to be more covered…

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Semi-quarantined: Living with the coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

An online poster urging Hongkongers to support medical workers and #saveourselves. Via Twitter.
I live with my husband and 6-year-old daughter in Hong Kong, and for the past two weeks, like many Hongkongers, we have been living in semi-quarantine. We stay home most of the time, work from home, and avoid social gatherings and eating out.
Had the Wuhan coronavirus (now officially known as COVID-19) not taken root in the local communities through human-to-human transmission, we would have hoped to resume normal life in early March. But it seems that this situation of semi-quarantine status will continue for some time. The most recent case is a 19-person family gathering on January 25 that resulted in nine people becoming infected. As of February 11, the total number of confirmed infections in Hong Kong has reached 42.
As the incubation period for the coronavirus is 2-14 days, and the latest findings show that it could extend to as much as 24 days, an outbreak is inevitable. The only way to avoid transmission is to maintain public and personal hygiene and reduce social contact. The Hong Kong Education Bureau announced during the Lunar New Year that all schools would remain closed until March. Universities have shifted to virtual classroom arrangements and many public institutions and businesses are allowing employees to work from home.
Seventeen years ago, in February 2003, the first case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) entered Hong Kong from Guangdong. By June 2003, 1,750 cases were identified and 286 individuals had died. About 80 percent of the infections could be traced back to the first case.
While the Wuhan coronavirus is not as deadly as SARS, the scale of the outbreak is 10 times bigger, and thanks to the cover-up by the Chinese authorities, mainland Chinese residents were not initially informed of the outbreak and did not, therefore, take protective measures in the early stages.
In early January, we Hong Kong residents tried to alert mainland Chinese netizens of the outbreak, but the online patriots responded by parroting a common conspiracy theory—that Hongkongers were trying to create panic in China so as to undermine the authorities.
Hongkongers had started wearing masks before Lunar New Year, while Wuhan residents were still holding their grand year-end feasts and ceremonies, unprotected. When shops reopened after Lunar New Year, Hongkongers started stocking up on daily necessities in preparation for life under semi-quarantine, anticipating that the virus would not subside until summer.
As we have a child whose school requires that students wear masks whenever their classmates have the flu, we always have a two-month stock of children's masks on hand. Coincidentally, my husband bought a few packs of masks during a recent conference trip to South Korea after Lunar New Year, so we didn't have to line up for hours to buy masks.
As the coronavirus has spread to other Asian countries, a ban on the export of masks has led to a shortage. While the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised that it isn't necessary for people to wear masks unless they have developed flu symptoms, population density in Hong Kong makes it very difficult to maintain the recommended two-meter social distance between people, and in spaces such as apartment building lifts, social distance is reduced to nearly zero.
Macau, a sister city adjacent to Hong Kong which is also subject to China's “One Country, two systems” principle, has adopted a quota policy to ensure that all residents can buy 10 masks every 10 days for the equivalent of 1 US dollar. The Hong Kong government, however, has not only failed to ensure a supply of masks for civilians, but also of masks and other protective gear for medical workers in public hospitals. The Health Authority has only a one-month supply in stock, and the government has to request approval for the export of gear from Beijing, against the backdrop of an even more serious shortage in China.
Also in short supply on the Hong Kong market for the past two weeks are alcohol-based cleansers, bleach, rice and toilet paper. Last week I visited five supermarkets in my neighbourhood and could not find a single pack of rice. Eventually, my husband had to line up outside a supermarket early in the morning to get hold of a pack. In order to get a 500ml bottle of bleach for regular household disinfection, I have to contact my district councillor to get a free-token. Back in January, the majority of district councils approved a budget to buy masks and hygiene products to help tackle the epidemic at a grassroots level.
Empty shelves in a Hong Kong supermarket. Photo taken by a friend of the author and used with permission.
The Hong Kong government keeps urging people not to panic, but of course, after the prolonged protests triggered by the anti-extradition movement, few believe that the government has the will or ability to protect the city or to put people's legitimate interests before the political interests of Beijing. Their failure to secure the supply of masks and their indecision around restricting travel between mainland China and Hong Kong are obvious examples of this.
In the eyes of the public, the Hong Kong government is determined only to save themselves, and the hashtag #saveourselves (港人自救）has been widely used on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms to criticize the government and to spread information on protective measures such as personal and household hygiene, including a simple chemical formula for home-made alcohol-based cleanser, how to make reusable masks, etc.
In the spirit of #saveourselves, people are also sharing with others in need. For example, after I told friends on Facebook that my family was running out of rice, within 24 hours two acquaintances offered me some of their surplus stock. Organizations with overseas trading connections are helping to channel supplies of masks to grassroots workers, and volunteer groups have taken to social media platforms to urge people to donate their surplus face masks to the elderly.
The determination of the anti-government protest has quickly morphed into a determination to fight against the spread of the coronavirus.
The shortage of daily necessities and the semi-quarantine have made life more difficult for everyone. For families with kids, the outbreak has tripled the daily workload. We now have to care for our 6-year-old round the clock, chase after daily necessities, manage household hygiene, and prepare three meals a day while fulfilling the duties of our regular jobs.
To reduce the use of masks, we don’t go out often. My husband and I take turns going out three times a day, to buy bread and check in on supermarkets and pharmacies in the morning, to take our daughter to the park for a few hours in the afternoon, and to go to the market to buy vegetables and fruit in the late afternoon. The park is half-empty as people are worried about the transmission of coronavirus among kids. I have received friendly warnings on parenting WhatsApp groups about taking kids to the park, but my husband and I have nevertheless decided to let our daughter enjoy a few hours of daily sunshine. We are determined not to let ourselves be overwhelmed by fear, even though the circumstances are rather scary.
What worries me most, however, is the spread of fear and hatred in public discourse, as it can easily escalate into bigoted sentiment against the mainland Chinese. It is clear that the centre of the outbreak is the city of Wuhan and that a number of provinces in mainland China are on the verge of large-scale outbreaks. But while I agree that we should restrict travellers from mainland China entering Hong Kong, and understand when other countries impose similar restrictions on Hong Kong residents, I find labelling mainland Chinese as selfish game-meat consumers and dishonest virus-spreaders completely untenable, especially as it ignores the fact that the majority of travellers entering Hong Kong during the Lunar New Year are local residents returning from their annual family visits in mainland China.
The spread of fear and hatred has also led to a number of extreme not-in-my-backyard-style protests. It is true that the government has not held public consultations about selecting sites for isolating people who have had direct contact with coronavirus patients, and local residents should have the right to voice out their concerns. Throwing petrol bombs to destroy such facilities, however, cannot be justified.
I hope that the fear and hatred directed against mainland Chinese will subside as more human interest stories emerge from Wuhan and Hubei province. Incidents such as the death of Dr. Li Wenliang have reminded Hongkongers that the misery in Wuhan and other mainland Chinese cities is a result of the cover-up of the epidemic by the Chinese government in the name of political stability above all else. Like it or not, the fate of mainland Chinese people and Hongkongers are inextricably intertwined.
I have started talking with my daughter about the outbreak, first by explaining why she has to wear a mask when playing in the park, letting her know that it is not just about protecting oneself but also others, especially the elderly and babies, whose immune systems are weaker and less able to resist disease. I also told her the story of Dr. Li Wenliang and how he was arrested for spreading rumours when what he had said was in fact true.
Stick to the truth and be empathetic to others, I tell her. This is the way to #saveourselves.
the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Broadcasters from Nigeria join global celebration of World Radio Day 2020 · Global Voices
Adéṣínà Ọmọ Yoòbá

A man holds a portable short-wave radio in his hand. Photo by Muhammadtaha Ibrahim Ma'aji via CC BY 2.0.
There is no doubt that the radio has had a profound impact on global development. To honor the importance and unique value of radio, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)  has declared February 13 World Radio Day.
UNESCO set aside this day to draw attention to the power of radio —  which remains the most affordable and portable medium to reach the widest audience.
Nigerian broadcasters joined radio practitioners around the world to honor the powerful role that radio plays in global development.
“Even though the new media is taking over the world with the way we do things, radio is still the most viable option for many people to get information, it remains the most powerful tool for journalists to reach people in the farthest and remote areas…” said Bishop George Bako, during his opening remarks at the World Radio Day Symposium. Bako is the former Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).
Bishop George Bako speaks at the World Radio Day symposium in Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Ọmọ Yoòbá, used with permission.
FRCN — popularly known as Radio Nigeria — is the foremost broadcast radio station in Nigeria, that serves a teeming population of listeners in the Lagos metropolis on three different stations, namely: Radio One 103.5 FM, Metro 97.7 FM and the multiple award-winning Bond 92.9 FM.
Each station — with its own unique audience and share of the market — broadcasts in English, Nigerian Pidgin, Hausa, Igbo and Yorùbá languages.
Radio remains the greatest means of news dissemination in Nigeria. FM (frequency modulation) is most common, followed closely by AM (amplitude modulation), according to Media Landscape of the European Journalism Centre — and online radio has also become quite popular.
As of 2019, Bond FM holds the number 1 position in Lagos State as the station with the largest audience, according to the Nigeria Diary Radio Stations Ratings of August 2019.
To celebrate, broadcasters from across Nigeria took to Twitter to show some love for radio:
Staff of Spider Radio (102.7) a Campus Radio of Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna State, Nigeria in the spirits of World Radio Day, 2020 pic.twitter.com/nPP7HDpMY6
— Auwal (@Kauwal23) February 13, 2020
Dan Manjang, the commissioner for information and communication of Plateau state, congratulated broadcasters everywhere for “all the sacrifice, resources and time” put into keeping citizens informed and entertained:
Happy world radio day to all radio Stations in Plateau state, Nigeria and the world over , Radio plays an integral role in nation building, thank you for all the sacrifice, resources and time you put to keep us informed and entertained. #WorldRadioDay#HappyWorldRadioDay
— Dan Manjang (@DanManjang1) February 13, 2020
Radio broadcasting in Nigeria started in 1933 with the British colonial government’s Radio Diffusion Service (RDS), whereby loudspeakers were installed in dedicated public places for people to listen to the British Broadcasting Corporation’s foreign radio service broadcasts.
By 1950, the Radio Diffusion Service took on a new name — the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) — and later, the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), with broadcast stations in the different regions of the country. NBC later metamorphosed into the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) in 1978.
“The first radio station in Nigeria was established in Ibadan in 1939. The next station was created in Kano in 1944,” according to Legit media online. RayPower FM, the first private radio station in Nigeria, was established in 1994, and by 2007, the masses could get international transmission broadcast worldwide, according to Legit.
Radio has always served as a tool to check decision-makers, establish and provide access to information and motivate and inspire the people.
In 2019, African Independent Television and RayPower FM were shut down by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for incisive broadcast and propaganda against the government. Also in 2019, Jay FM in Port Harcourt was shut down for allegedly making broadcasts against the government.
Radio Nigeria truck advertises itself as “the network for the millennium,” and joins radio practitioners around the globe in celebrating World Radio Day 2020. Photo by Muhammadtaha Ibrahim Ma'aji, used with permission via CC BY 2.0.
UNESCO implores all nations to celebrate World Radio Day through partnership activities that cut across boundaries by involving all broadcasting associations and organizations, media organizations, government-owned, private and non-governmental organizations.
The theme of the 14th edition of World Radio Day is “Radio and Diversity.”
Radio Nigeria is living up to its own motto of “uplifting the people and uniting the nation” by disseminating informative, educative and motivating content that empowers Nigerians to be patriotic citizens.
This comes at a time when Nigeria has faced serious divisions over ethnic, political and cultural tensions throughout the country. The 2019 Fragile States Index ranked Nigeria as the 14th most fragile state in the world and the ninth in Africa. Since 2011, Boko Haram, the Islamist jihadist militancy in northeast Nigeria, has created a climate of fear and division as their brutal attacks have led to thousands of deaths and millions of displacements.
To further continue to uplift Nigeria, the management of FRCN Lagos Operations put together a series of events to commemorate World Radio Day 2020.
It kicked off with an essay contest calling for 1,200 words on “why I love listening to the radio” for secondary school students. Students of mass communications also submitted a 5-minute documentary on the importance of radio in achieving sustainable development goals. Two winners emerged from both entries.
Essay winner Ìlọ̀rí Ayọ̀olúwa of Mater Christi Catholic Girls’ High School, Igede Èkìtì, Èkìtì State, recalls the first time she encountered radio at the age 5:
I think I was 5 years old when I got my first radio. … I fiddled with a few buttons and it came on. Then I was astonished to hear voices resonating from this “box” and thought there were people trapped in it. I got scared and asked my father what it was and he took his time to explain what a radio was to me…”
On February 12, secondary school pupils, students of mass communication, ace broadcasters and key personnel from the media industry as well as everyday radio fans converged on the Lekki Coliseum in Lagos for a symposium to talk about the importance of radio for development.
On February 12, secondary school pupils, students of mass communication, ace broadcasters and key personnel from the media industry as well as everyday radio fans converged on the Lekki Coliseum in Lagos for a symposium to talk about the importance of radio for development. Photo by Ọmọ Yoòbá, used with permission.
When the sun went down, veteran broadcasters, representatives of the Oba of Lagos, Ọ̀túnba Gani Adams, the Ààrẹ Ọ̀nà Kakanfò of Yorùbá-land and other guests and dignitaries mingled at the Lekki Coliseum for the World Radio Day award ceremony and dinner.
Top broadcast professionals like Cordelia Okpei and a host of others graced the event. Some deserving persons were presented with awards of recognition for their contributions to the development of the broadcast industry and service to humanity.
The series of events culminated in an on-air phone-in programme, whereby listeners made phone calls to say “happy World Radio Day” in their diverse range of languages and tongues:
No one was left out of the celebration. Voices of some of the Global Voices Lingua teams were also broadcast on Metro 97.7FM. Some retired broadcasters were invited to read the news or anchor a segment.
Radio Nigeria World Radio Day 2020 is the maiden edition of such events but radio practitioners and advocates expect it to become an annual celebration.

author: Adéṣínà Ọmọ Yoòbá


text:
‘Luanda Leaks’: How Africa’s richest woman plundered the Angolan state · Global Voices
Dércio Tsandzana

Isabel dos Santos | ©NunoCoimbra – Cross-wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0
In January 2020, the investigation “Luanda Leaks,” led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and a team of journalists from different countries, revealed how Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, illegally accumulated a fortune of more than 2 billion US dollars while being advised by North American and European consulting firms.
The investigation was based on more than 715,000 documents received by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF), a Paris-based nonprofit.
The investigation revealed Dos Santos directed millionaire contracts from state-oil company Sonangol, where she served as chairwoman from 2016 to 2017, to her own firms or those linked to her. It also indicates that the businesswoman managed to hid her fortune through companies based in tax havens such as Malta, Mauritius, and Hong Kong.
Angola is the second-largest oil producer and the fourth-largest diamond producer in Africa. Although poverty levels have improved in the past 15 years, half of the population still lives in poverty according to data by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.
Isabel dos Santos’ father, José Eduardo dos Santos, known in Angola as “JES”, served as president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. His government was marked by violations of human rights, and persecution to journalists and critics were widespread.
In 2016, JES appointed Isabel dos Santos as chairwoman of Sonangol, but she was dismissed as soon as a new president took office the following year. João Lourenço replaced JES as the leader of the ruling party Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and became president after the party obtained a parliamentary majority in the August 2017 elections.
In contrast with his predecessor, João Lourenço has been pushing anti-corruption reforms and opening channels of dialogue with civil society. In 2018, he received in his office activists and journalists who in the past had been persecuted by the authorities. In the same year, Lourenço said in an interview that he found the state coffers “practically empty” when he took over from JES.
In February 2018, the new Sonangol chief, Carlos Saturnino, revealed that Isabel dos Santos had ordered a bank transfer of 38 million US dollars from Sonangol to a bank account in Dubai shortly after she was fired from her job.
Dos Santos, who holds Russian citizenship due to her maternal ancestry, currently lives in Dubai.
Carlos Saturnino was fired from Sonangol in May 2019 amid a fuel shortage crisis in Angola.
Dos Santos has since denied any wrongdoing during her time as Sonangol's chairwoman. Through her social networks, she alleges that she is a victim of political persecution by the new Angolan government.
Consórcio ICIJ recebeu fuga de informação das “autoridades angolanas “??!! Interessante ver o estado angolano a fazer leaks jornalistas e para SIC-Expresso e depois vir dizer que isto não é um ataque político ?
— Isabel Dos Santos (@isabelaangola) January 19, 2020
So the ICIJ consortium received leaked information from “Angolan authorities” ?? !! Interesting to see the Angolan state leaking to journalists and to SIC-Expresso [a newspaper in Portugal] and then come saying that this is not a political attack?
Se houvesse interesse na verdade e não no assassinato de caracter,a SIC-Expresso teria entrevistado o actual PCA da Sonangol,teria entrevistado Dr.Edeltrudes Costa, teria entrevistado Dr.Archer Mangueira.
Como é um ataque político comandado e orquestrado só entrevistam o PGR.
— Isabel Dos Santos (@isabelaangola) January 19, 2020
If there was an interest in the truth rather than character assassination, SIC-Expresso would have interviewed the current Sonangol chief, it would have interviewed Dr. Edeltrudes Costa, it would have interviewed Dr. Archer Mangueira. As this is a commanded and orchestrated political attack, they have only interviewed the prosecutor-general.
Isabel dos Santos’ sister, Tchizé, suggested that Isabel returned an amount of 75 million US Dollars to the Angolan State:
O que está em causa é a dívida de 75 milhões? Pague, então, se estão pedir euros e não querem kwanzas, apesar de um Estado, normalmente, querer receber na sua moeda, mas se precisa de dólares e está [sic] a pedir à cidadã, a cidadã que mais beneficiou das oportunidades de negócio em Angola, está na hora de a cidadã retribuir tudo o que o Estado lhe proporcionou, propiciando que fizesse grandes negócios e tornar-se a mulher que é hoje… pronto, mande dinheiro para Angola.
Is it the debt of 75 million that is at stake? Pay, then, if they are asking for euros and do not want kwanzas, although a state would normally want to receive in its own currency, but if they need dollars and they are asking [dos Santos], the citizen who has benefited the most from business opportunities in Angola, it is time for her to repay everything the state has provided her, allowing her to close great deals and become the woman she is today… So, send money to Angola.
Rafael Marques, the Angolan journalist who had long investigated corruption in the Dos Santos family, commented to DW Africa about ICIJ's investigation:
É uma notícia que efetivamente esperava há anos, mas que também me deixa triste. Deixa-me triste porque só quando os estrangeiros falam é que os próprios concidadãos ouvem, é que o mundo [ouve].
Enquanto jornalista angolano, muitos destes factos que estão a ser revelados nestes documentos já foram por mim revelados, mas ninguém prestava atenção porque se tratava de um jornalista africano.
Só quando os jornalistas europeus e americanos pegaram no assunto é que o assunto tornou-se sério o suficiente para que certos governos e a sociedade de muitos países começassem a prestar atenção. Mas é importante.
This is news for which I have effectively waited for many years, but it also makes me sad. It makes me sad because only when foreigners speak the citizens listen, the world listens.
As an Angolan journalist, many of the facts that were revealed by these documents had already been revealed by me, but no one paid attention because I am an African journalist.
Only when European and American journalists talk about the issue that it becomes serious enough for certain governments and many countries’ societies to begin to pay attention. But it is important.
Amid the revelations, Isabel dos Santos has been disconnecting herself from several companies of which she holds shares, particularly businesses located in Portugal.
The director of the Portuguese bank Eurobic, where Sonangol had an account, was found dead in Lisbon on January 22, the same day Angola's prosecutor-general named him as a suspect in an inquiry into Sonangol and Isabel dos Santos.
The inquiry was opened in March 2018 following complaints made by Carlos Saturnino, but had been moving slowly until the more recent developments.

author: Dércio Tsandzana


text:
#OustDuterte trends as Filipinos criticize government’s response to the coronavirus · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during a crisis briefing on the COVID-19. Photo from Facebook page of Presidential Communications (Government of the Philippines)
#OustDuterte became a trending topic on Twitter as Filipino netizens expressed their outrage over the perceived indifference and lack of decisive action by the government of Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte in response to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
As the COVID-19 scare sparked the panicked buying of face masks, rubbing alcohol, and hand sanitizers, many people started to notice Duterte's silence during the unfolding crisis. Presidential spokesperson Sal Panelo made excuses by saying that the president was just reading in his hometown Davao. The presidential spokesperson also rejected the idea that the government will provide free surgical masks to vulnerable communities, arguing that there is no more supply of masks. As reports of the first confirmed COVID-19 case in the country came out, Duterte was further denounced for failing to recognize the urgency of the situation when his personal assistant, Senator Bong Go, announced that the president would meet with medical experts and public health officials after one week.
Public concern over the COVID-19 is heightened by an awareness of the dismal state of the country’s public health system, which has suffered from successive budget cuts that have deprived much of the poor majority access to free public health services. These are just some of the #OustDuterte tweets:
To those saying that nCov got too much hype here than other countries, that people are creating panic and criticizing the gov't for lack of action: We are not China. We are not Canada. We are not Japan. We are in the Philippines and WE. ARE. POOR. Let that sink in. #OustDuterte
— Joms (@jomszj) January 31, 2020
Hello! Cancer patient here.
Did you know that ever since the Duterte admin cut the healthcare and PCSO budget, chemotherapy funding for people is now rendered insufficient?
This admin is literally killing cancer patients! #OustDuterte
— Maurice Joseph Almadrones y Maglaquí #OustDuterte (@TheCatSaysMao) January 31, 2020
[PSCO refers to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, a government-owned lottery corporation].
How to wear face mask during epidemics (- cartoon by ZACH ):#OustDuterte #OustDuterte #OustDuterte pic.twitter.com/JHnbuUS9F5
— Carlos Concepcion (@CarlosAlmedaCo1) February 1, 2020
oh hey look, pretty sure duterte admin is violating the constitution. again. #OustDuterte pic.twitter.com/viQTpI2LTY
— Matthew Marcelo (@mashumarusero) January 31, 2020
How to prevent Corona Virus?
1. Proper hygiene
2. Stay indoors as much as possible
3. Use face masks daily
4. #OustDuterte
— J Tuan Song (@songmainhoe) January 31, 2020
#OustDuterte is now trending number one in the Philippines. Fight the real enemy. To rebel is justified. pic.twitter.com/8KgJ8X7sjb
— Philip Jamilla (@pmjamilla) January 31, 2020
LOOK: DDS page expresses disgust over Duterte's inaction of the current health situation.
The weather is changing. ☔?⚡#OustDuterte #OustDuterte2020 #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/q5M5A1c3FH
— Chad Booc ? (@KasamangChad) February 2, 2020
[DDS refers to die-hard Duterte supporters and trolls].
As of February 11, 2020, there have been three confirmed cases of the COVID-19 in the Philippines. One of these patients died, the first COVID-19 death outside China, while the two other patients have recovered. The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) has investigated 382 patients, with 266 remaining admitted to hospitals and 111 discharged but under daily monitoring for symptoms. Health officials also say that 59 close contacts of the first three confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country are now also suspected of carrying the infection.
Duterte’s seeming initial reluctance to take drastic travel ban measures also reinforced public sentiment that his administration prioritizes relations with the Chinese government over the welfare of Filipinos. By January 29, Duterte himself insisted that there will be no temporary ban of entry of flights from China, saying this would be unfair to the Philippines’ neighbor to the north: “Not yet at this time. As a matter of fact, there is no known transmission from human to human [in] China.” Before this, Health Secretary Francisco Duque also expressed reluctance about temporarily preventing travelers coming from the virus’s country of origin citing “diplomatic repercussions” of any such action.
Duterte belatedly gave in to public pressure to impose a ban on travelers from Hubei province in China. The temporary travel ban was subsequently expanded to include mainland China including Hong Kong and Macau. This ban was further expanded to include Taiwan despite protests by the latter that it is an independent nation and not a part of the People’s Republic of China.
While the COVID-19 scare has indeed unearthed deep-seated racial prejudices among Filipinos, the Duterte administration has surprisingly started criticizing “xenophobia” against the Chinese people to justify government’s lackadaisical response to the crisis.
Many netizens have pointed out that Duterte’s sluggish response to the COVID-19 outbeak is reminiscent of the administration’s incompetent handling of recent calamities like the January 2020 Taal volcano explosion. Duterte tried to cover up his late public appearance in the wake of the eruption by making his trademark sensational puns, this time about eating volcanic ash and peeing on the volcano.
The Duterte administration has been particularly aggressive about tightly controlling the narrative online, using trolls, bots, and cyber attacks on critics to manipulate public opinion. It is wary that online sentiments might spill over to protests on the streets. Outrage over the anomalous Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) during the term of President Benigno Aquino, for example, led to the #MillionPeopleMarch protests.
Civil society groups have begun using #OustDuterte as the unifying call for street mobilizations on February 25, the anniversary of the People Power popular uprising that toppled the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship in 1986. They are denouncing the Duterte administration’s corruption, incompetence, being beholden to foreign powers like China, massive human rights violations and wanton abuse of power which inches towards a full-blown dictatorship.
the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus

author: Karlo Mongaya


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An interview with Roger Robinson, winner of the 2019 T.S. Eliot Prize in poetry · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

2019 T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry winner Roger Robinson. Photo by Naomi Woodis, used with permission.
On January 13, 2020, Trinidadian-British poet Roger Robinson won the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry for his poetry collection “A Portable Paradise.” The T.S. Eliot Prize honours “the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland.”
The judges praised Robinson's work for “finding in the bitterness of everyday experience continuing evidence of ‘sweet, sweet life.’”
The book is divided into five sections, each of which ends with a poem exploring the theme of paradise, with topics ranging from London's tragic Grenfell Tower fire to the Windrush controversy. Issues of migration, racism, identity and inequity, are all presented in bold, raw, and honest ways.
Maybe it’s the sting of dissent, maybe it’s the hint of West Indian swagger that makes the reader curious to see where Robinson's poems go, but he has a rare ability to place himself in the midst of things and yield to that immersion, yet remain a truthful observer. Robinson's words are a balm to the bitterness of life — the collection compassionately recognises the humanity within us all, bound together by an almost reverent tone of dignity, even in powerlessness.
I got in touch with Robinson shortly after his win and chatted with via email about winning the prize, the collection itself, and why empathy is so important.
Janine Mendes-Franco (JMF): Congratulations! “A Portable Paradise” is a really important piece of work. Is the prize something you’d had your eye on, or did the win come as a happy surprise?
Roger Robinson (RR): I never have my eye on prizes, but I appreciate the prize. I’m always about getting the poems to people rather than trying to win a prize. I do like how the prize is getting me to a wider range of reader, though.
JMF: Interesting that Eliot himself was American-born but chose to live and work in England. You, on the other hand, were born in England and, having returned to Trinidad as a child, also chose to eventually settle in the UK. Have you thought about those parallels and why, for instance, Trinidad might be good for formation, but England might be better for creation?
RR: Hmmmm…interesting. I think Trinidad is also good for creation, but England is good for commerce and access to the international publishing industry.
JMF: The UK Guardian described you as a “British-Trinidadian dub poet.” Do you identify with that? How would you explain what “dub” poetry is to someone who’s never heard that genre of music or listened to a spoken word performance?
RR: I’ve made a few dub albums. I think other people have called me a dub poet; I've not necessarily referred to myself that way. Dub poetry to me is poetry influenced by reggae rhythms, with a working-class focus.
JMF: It’s not coincidental that music has played such an integral role. You have a band (King Midas Sound), you’ve done recordings and music videos, and while all poetry has rhythm, yours has a musicality that stays with the reader. How did you hone your craft into something this unique and feels so authentic?
RR: I don’t know. I think I write from the things that interest me in a moment and I’m truthful to my interests. I don’t think it was a planned thing. Honing craft came through enjoyment of the rigours of practice.
JMF: It’s a daring thing, to be a truth-teller when the truth is a difficult thing to come by. Some of your work is almost like an intersection of journalism and poetry. Is it important to you that your collections are read by those who see “truth” differently from you?
RR: I think that I write like I am, so I’m no more daring than my own emotional truths. It’s no more important to me for people who see truth differently to read it, even though I like the idea of people developing and practicing empathy. The practice of empathy by all different types of people would be more important to me.
JMF: Were there truths you believed about yourself in Trinidad (which I assume was your benchmark for paradise), that did not translate in the UK? If so, did poetry help bridge the gap? What make you start thinking about the idea that paradise might be portable?
RR: I started thinking that paradise might be portable because I wanted it to be — and because my grandmother went to England and brought most of her 11 children to England on the money she made sewing dresses. Her children were her paradise.
I think in England I got a sense of myself as an international artist, which I did not get in Trinidad.
JMF: Quite a few of your poems in this collection have an underpinning of faith in something greater — a more enduring paradise if you will. What did you want this to accomplish?
RR: I wanted people to understand the power of prayer in their time of trauma.
JMF: The “hero” of many of your poems is the underdog in general and the migrant specifically. How, if at all, does the outsider experience inform your writing?
RR: Hmmmm…I can’t tell; I’m too close to it to see. I’m sure it does. I mean, when I came to England I lived in tower blocks so I knew about living in one. I guess it made me see things in a different way.
JMF: I understand you might be coming to Trinidad for the 2020 Bocas Lit Fest. Are you interested in connecting with other Caribbean writers?
RR: Yeah, I am coming to Bocas and I'm definitely interested in meeting other writers. Trinidadian poets like Andre Bagoo, Shivanee Ramlochan and Muhammad Muwakil are gaining in world recognition, and I’d love to connect with Caribbean writers when I’m there.
JMF: Who have been your greatest influences?
RR: Poets like Kwame Dawes, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Sharon Olds. People like Muhammad Ali. Musicians like David Rudder, Brother Resistance, and Bunji Garlin.
JMF: Poetry in Trinidad and Tobago is not necessarily well consumed, though it weaves its way into everything from soca and rapso music to spoken word performances, all reminiscent of the call and response tradition of the kalinda [martial art]. In a sense, all this is Caribbean poetry. Why do you think poetry is a powerful medium?
RR: I think it’s powerful because it helps people to practice empathy. Also it allows people to observe someone practicing vulnerability. A lot of inhumanity will occur without empathy and vulnerability.
JMF: Any advice for regional poets?
RR: Keep writing no matter what anyone says; don’t stop writing.
JMF: What are you most proud of when it comes to this collection?
RR: That I didn’t leave anything back. I gave it all.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Czech Parliament elects ombudsman with history of racial discrimination · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Office of the ombudsman of the Czech Republic. Photo by Martin Strachoň via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA.
The election of the Czech Republic's new ombudsman has triggered fierce reactions because of discriminatory comments he has made against various communities in the past.
Appointed on February 12 by the Czech Parliament, Stanislav Křeček had been the deputy public defender of rights (as the ombudsman office is called in the Czech Republic) since 2013. Previously, he worked as a judge, lawyer and deputy in the Czech parliament for the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), the party of the current Czech President Miloš Zeman.
In January 2017, Křeček made the following statements, already in his capacity of deputy public defender of rights, to the country's leading independent weekly, Respekt:
Muslimové sem přicházejí proto, že nás chtějí nahradit, ne že chtějí žít s námi.
Muslims come here [to the Czech Republic] because they want to replace us, not because they want to live with us.
Photo of Stanislav Křeček by David Sedlecký. Wikimedia Commons CC-BY 3.0
He has also said the following about the Roma community, one the largest ethnic minorities in the Czech Republic (and one of the most discriminated against):
Křeček: “Diskriminace v Česku neexistuje.”
Novinář: “Vylučování Romů z trhu s bydlením kvůli jejich původu není diskriminace?”
Křeček: “Není, protože kdo se chce dožadovat práva na bydlení, musí se také chovat slušně k ostatním nájemníkům, a to Romové nedělají.”
Křeček: “There is no discrimination in the Czech Republic”.
Journalist: “The expulsion of Roma people from the housing market because of their origin does not count as discrimination?”
Křeček: “No, because who wants to have housing rights, must be on their best behavior with their neighbors, and that's not the case of the Roma people.”
The office of the public defender of rights (veřejný ochránce práv) was established in the country in 1999. The Czech Parliament elects the public defender for a mandate of six years from a list in which two candidates are nominated by the president and two by the parliament itself. According to public defender of rights’ official website:
The public defender of rights shall work to defend persons against the conduct of authorities and other institutions set forth in this Act where such conduct is at variance with the law or does not comply with the principles of a democratic State governed by the rule of law and good administration, as well as against their inaction, thereby contributing to the defence of fundamental rights and freedoms.
Roma and LGBTQI+ activist David Tišer. Photo by Jan Mihaliček, used with permission
Global Voices asked Roma and LGBTQI+ activist David Tišer, founder of the anti-discrimination project ARA ART, what he thought about the nomination of Křeček.
Here is what he had to say:
Co k tomu říct? Jde o naprostou katastrofu. Obhajování lidských práv v České republice se jmenováním pana Křečka do funkce Ombudsmana zastavila a toto téma se celospolečensky dehonestovalo. Takovým znamením může být i gratulace a radost extremistických stran z jmenování pana Křečka.
What can I say? It is simply a catastrophe. The defense of human rights in the Czech Republic has ended with the nomination of Křeček as ombudsman, and this issue has lost any sense of dignity for our society. One telling sign is the fact that right-wing parties have congratulated him and expressed their joy at his nomination.
Indeed, Tomáš Vandas, considered a leading figure among far-right groups in the Czech Republic, said on Twitter:
I když považuji institut ombudsmana za zbytečný, v tomto případě jsem rád, že byl pan Křeček zvolen a gratuluji. Chci věřit tomu, že jeho zvolením se úřad z aktivistického hnízda na podporu migrantů, parazitů a nepřizpůsobivých, vrátí k původnímu účelu. https://t.co/ON2FGEleIf
— Tomáš Vandas (@tomas_vandas) February 12, 2020
Even though I consider the ombudsman office as useless, in this case, I am happy that Mr. Křeček was elected and I congratulate him. I believe that thanks to his election, his office will no longer be a nest of support to migrants, parasites and people unable to adapt, and return to its initial function.
A major demonstration against Křeček‘s nomination was scheduled on March 1 by the social movement “Milion chvilek demokracie“, or “A million moments for democracy.” The movement has led the largest demonstrations against President Zeman's policies in the Czech Republic since the fall of communism in 1989.
When communism ended in then Czechoslovakia in 1989, Václav Havel, a human rights activist, dissident, and writer became its president, and later of the Czech Republic when the country was established in 1993. This event was long considered a victory for human rights in Central Europe.
Things have changed dramatically since Zeman's election in 2013 and reelection in 2018. He is known for his pro-Beijing and pro-Moscow views. Zeman has also made public racist and discriminatory statements against refugees, Muslims, journalists and other groups.
Křeček is considered to be a promoter of the same set of values, and some commentators, such as journalist Marek Švehla, now call the Czech Republic the “country of two Zemans.”
According to the 2018 Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, the Czech Republic is considered a flawed democracy:
The country was placed 34th in a list of 167 countries in the survey whose performance for 2017 was rated. It’s score fell to 7.62 points from 7.82 points in 2016, its worst place in a decade.


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Floating classrooms bring education to flooded communities in Bangladesh · Global Voices
Samaya Anjum

A Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha floating school boat. Screenshot from YouTube video by Great Big Story.
Shikkha Tori, which literally means ‘the boat of education’, is an innovative program by non-government organisation BRAC that allows children living in some of the most flood-prone and low-lying regions in Bangladesh to attend boat schools.
One-third of Bangladesh, especially its northeastern areas, is only one metre above sea level. These wetlands, locally known as haor, become vast stretches of water during the monsoon season and remain flooded for around 7 to 8 months a year. During this season, roads are submerged leaving students from poor families without access to traditional schools.
However, non-profits such as Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, and later BRAC, began introducing boat schools as a way to bring the classroom to the children. These boats also serve as a water bus that pick up students directly from their homes.
The idea for the boat school came to Mohammed Rezwan, founder and executive director of Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, because of a childhood memory. He grew up in a region prone to flooding and was only able to get to school during the monsoon season on a boat his family-owned. However, many of his childhood friends were not as fortunate.
I thought, if the children cannot come to school because of floods, then the school should go to them by boat.
With aid from organizations like the Global Fund for Children and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the first boat school set sail in 2002.
The number of primary school-going students in the country is over 9 million, while the total number of government and non-government primary schools is only around 110,000. The country's wetlands are home to around 20 million people, and it is an area where less than 1% of the population complete secondary school.
BRAC, the largest NGO in Bangladesh, also began running boat schools in 2012 as a part of their education project.
Floating schools by Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha have reached over 80 thousand students since the program's inception, and BRAC's boats have reached 14 thousands more. Both of these initiatives played a role in bringing up the level of school attendance.
Floating School in Bangladesh. Almost 80,000 children already have taken education [level IV] from here since 2002. This type of 25 floating boats are very active in Pabna, Natore and Sirajganj districts in 8 different rivers by SSS- Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha. pic.twitter.com/oscfetxmRx
— Riton Quiah (@fixerBD) November 6, 2019
While these schools may not take place behind the four walls of a traditional classroom, students from these programs have proven to be as competitive as other students in the country.
Some BRAC boats house mini-libraries, science corners, and feature laptops with internet connection while some Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha boats have rooftop solar panels that power the boat at night and allow working students to attend class.
Great Idea: In flood prone Bangladesh Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha operates 54 floating schools and medical clinics while working with local communities to build floating farms. https://t.co/SUbND30tZU pic.twitter.com/VctJEKH80r
— Jennifer Feeney (@JenniferFeeney) October 9, 2019
Teachers are recruited from the local community and are trained to talk to students about their mental and physical growth, the effects of climate change, and different ways to protect the environment.
To overcome this, one local charity has decided to take the classrooms to the students in the form of schools on boats. This boat is one of 23 floating year-round schools in this part of #Bangladesh run by Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, a local nonprofit group. pic.twitter.com/z6MO9smkfl
— Suresh C (@SrshC) September 12, 2018
HundrED.org shares an article about the boat schools:
“BRAC Boat Schools are the product of a simple yet powerful idea: if children living in isolated areas cannot go to school, then the school should go to them.” @BRACworld transforms the lives of children in regions prone to flooding. Find out how! https://t.co/nqTxkJgA4D pic.twitter.com/Cd9FK4Dmo8
— HundrED.org (@HundrEDorg) May 7, 2018
The concept of boat schools has now been taken up by other developing countries such as the Philippines, Cambodia, Nigeria, Vietnam and Zambia.

author: Samaya Anjum


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In Lebanon, journalists and activists who cover protests face threats · Global Voices
Faten Bushehri

Journalists covering an anti-government protest near one of the blocked entrances to the Lebanese Parliament in the capital Beirut. Photo credit: Hassan Chamoun, used with permission.
Since the anti-austerity protests broke out in Lebanon on October 17, 2019, reporters and journalists have been flocking to the scene to provide up-to-date coverage.
Tens of thousands of people reflecting Lebanon’s diverse religious and class sectors took to the streets to demand social and economic reforms. What started as socio-economic protests have grown into a movement demanding the fall of political rulers who have governed the country under a sectarian political system since the end of the civil war in 1990, using the popular slogan, “All of them means all of them.”
Journalists and camera crews who showed up at the protests became the target of harassment not only by the country’s police and army but in some cases — protesters.
Media professionals have raised their voices against the use of excessive force against journalists who cover the mass protests. Many said they were harassed or had their equipment confiscated, or both. The SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom at the Samir Kassir Foundation (SKeyes) reported multiple incidents of injury and harassment of journalists from the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), Murr Television (MTV), Agence France Presse (AFP) and Al-Jadeed on January 18 alone.
In one incident reported by Skeyes center on January 15, 2020 freelance journalist Saada Saada was covering a roadblock staged by protesters in the Furn al-Shubak area in Beirut, the capital, when a couple of soldiers started to beat him. He declared that he was a journalist and presented his press identification card, but soldiers reportedly tried to snatch his phone from his hands as they dragged, kicked and beat him. His injuries demanded medical attention and transfer to a local hospital.
In another incident on January 22, a correspondent for France 24, Leila Molana-Allen shared a video in which she says the police targeted a camera crew with water cannons:
Just got hit by water cannon myself after riot police turned the cannon on a group of journalists and onlookers filming the scene.#LebanonProtests https://t.co/x2eXL7dtfO
— Leila Molana-Allen (@Leila_MA) January 22, 2020
On January 21, SKeyes reported that an Associated Press photographer was pepper-sprayed by the police as he was covering protests in Beirut:
@LebISF also decide to mace journalists in downtown #Beirut tonight, after shooting them with rubber bullets two nights ago. #LebanonProtests https://t.co/JbVDVXYnfm
— Bachar EL-Halabi | بشار الحلبي (@Bacharelhalabi) January 21, 2020
On February 11, the same organisation reported that another journalist was hit with a rubber bullet.
Security forces shot photojournalist Jad Ghorayeb in the mouth with a rubber-coated steel bullet. #LebanonProtests #لبنان_يتنفض https://t.co/IPlVUCykc9
— Timour Azhari (@timourazhari) February 11, 2020
This treatment also extends to activists who report from the ground and express their views about the protests. This puts almost every active citizen at risk of harassment or arrest. Political expression on social media is getting more popular but also more risky, as several independent journalists and activists face interrogation or physical violence and threats for sharing their opinions on their social media profiles.
When the protests started, activist and blogger Joey Ayoub was one of many who headed to the scenes of the protests to report what he witnessed. On October 25, 2019, when he was recording on his mobile phone, a soldier tried to snatch the phone away, in an attempt to stop him from filming.
You can hear Ayoub tell the soldier in Arabic, “I have the right to record.”
Soldiers tried to take my phone away. Furn El Chebbak now#lebanonprotests#لبنان_ينتفض pic.twitter.com/gn3qFIb1tQ
— ابن بالدوين (@joeyayoub) October 25, 2019
This is problematic not only because it violates freedom of expression and freedom of the press, but also because digital media and content creators on digital media platforms are not protected under the Lebanese press law.
The current press law — adopted in 1962 and amended in 1977, 1994 and 1999 — covers print media only. Cases concerning broadcast journalists and content creators on digital platforms like web outlets and social media are dealt with under criminal law. As social media becomes increasingly more widespread among youth, activists and even officials, Lebanon has yet to adapt its legislation to expand protections to freedom of expression online and digital media.
Police have reportedly taken away phones of people they arrest and force detainees to give up their passwords to grant authorities full access to their devices.
Mohamed Najem, the executive director of Social Media Exchange (SMEX), a digital rights advocacy group working in the Arab region, told Global Voices that his organization received complaints and reports of cases of protesters having to leave their phones behind even after they have been released, and police stations asked them later to go back and give them the passwords to their phones.
Najem says this issue has not gotten the attention it deserves yet and has called for a law that protects the personal data and the privacy of citizens:
We really need a law for data protection in #Lebanon. After the release of protestors, the security agency kept the protestors phone in custody and now asking them to give their phone passwords. This is a breach of privacy, and laws are not protective. #LebanonProtests
— Mohamad محمد (@monajem) January 22, 2020
Protests are ongoing in different parts of Lebanon, as the parliament approved a new government on February 12. Protesters, who have been calling for an independent transitional government and new parliamentary elections, see this government as part of the old political establishment.
As the protests continue, journalists and activists remain at risk of arrest, harassment and physical violence.
SMEX has circulated tips to help activists and journalists minimise risks to their privacy during protests. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has put out a list of steps and measures journalists should take before heading out to cover the protests — including logistical planning and things to pack —to digital security and privacy protection.
These tips and precautions are useful for journalists and activists seeking to protect their right to privacy and avoid harassment and attacks as they report on the ground. However, unless the Lebanese authorities put strong measures in place to ensure the protection of press freedom and freedom of expression, violations will continue to take place.

author: Faten Bushehri