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Online backlash follows blurring of Christmas imagery on popular Chinese TV show · Global Voices
The Stand News

Screenshot from the online TV show “Who's the Murderer?”
This post was originally published in Chinese by The Stand News on December 26, 2020. The following English version is published on Global Voices under a content-sharing agreement.
The political campaign “boycotting foreign festivals” has become more visible in China in recent years. Under government pressure, the majority of mainland Chinese media outlets have avoided producing programs that promote foreign festivals. This year, a Chinese online TV outlet had to abruptly blur its popular variety show's Christmas setting when airing its premiere on Christmas eve—leading to an immediate online backlash.
The variety show “Who’s the Murderer?”, which has been on air since 2016 and is very popular among young people within and outside China, is produced by the popular online “Mango TV,” a subsidiary of state-controlled Hunan Television. As the first episode of the show’s sixth season was scheduled to air on Christmas Eve, it was staged in a grand hotel decorated in a Christmas theme.
While the content of the episode was not about Christmas, the setting could be interpreted as a promotion of “Western festivals,” and so the show’s production team decided to blur all the Christmas trees, wreaths, bells, and other decorations for the online airing of the show. Even accessories on the characters’ heads were hidden by post-production cartoon hats.
Twitter user @Chenpingcong191 screen-captured some of the scenes from the Christmas eve’s episode:
圣诞树打码 wtf pic.twitter.com/SIwxLmBjlM
— Chenpingcong1987 (@Chenpingcong191) December 26, 2020
Pixelation of Christmas tree. wtf.
The show’s fans were shocked to see the post-production effects; comments also flooded the show’s official social media account and the hashtag #pixelationofChristmaselementsinWho’stheMurderer# (#明星大侦探将圣诞元素打码#) became viral on Weibo on the same day. Below are some typical comments on Weibo:
這馬賽克打得慘不忍睹
Can't bear to see the mosaic…
滿屏的馬賽克要把我晃瞎了
The mosaic on the screen is going to blind me
洋節過不了審，大家理解一下，不要一直抓著不放了，有得看就不錯了。
The foreign festival element cannot pass the censorship authority, please understand and don’t complain. It is fortunate that it can be aired.
The campaign against foreign festivals has accelerated since January 2017 after the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council issued a document entitled “Suggestions on implementation of projects to promote and develop traditional Chinese cultural heritage” requesting all levels of government and authorities to organize activities that promoted Chinese festivals in order to establish people’s cultural confidence and strengthen China’s soft power.
China’s National Radio and Television Administration has become one of the key authorities to implement this political-cultural project. Its annual report in 2018 highlighted its achievement in the ideological struggle against Western values and religious influences through censorship, channeling of public opinion, and promotion of Chinese festivals and ethical values.
While there is no official document that bans Western festivals, the clampdown on religious activities, including Christianity, all across the country has extended to the clearing of public Christmas decorations. For example, in 2018, the Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau in Langfang City of Hebei province demanded the removal of Christmas decorations in the streets. In recent years, some Chinese schools have banned Christmas celebrations on campus.
The majority of Chinese people used to believe that the crackdown on Christmas was targeting a minority of Christian activities and the commercial sector would not be affected. The pixelation of the Christmas decorations on the TV show, however, shows that the policy may have more of an impact on people's lives. A Weibo user talked about the economic implications of the current practice:
其实这种洋节对普通大众来说已经是稀疏平常的事情，商场到处都有圣诞元素，国家真要一刀切，义乌小商品市场直接断了国内市场专做出口就行了，国家倡导文化自信也没说要闭关锁国吧？？
This Western festival has become our popular culture and the majority of our shopping malls are decorated with all kinds of Christmas elements. Does our state really want a clear cut [with the Western world], that the Yiwu small commodity market should only serve exports and stop selling its products in the domestic market? The promotion of cultural confidence does not state that we have to lock up the country, right?
Another Weibo user criticized the backwardness of the cultural policy:
在我们自己国家，基督徒相对没有那么多，大家伙过圣诞，完全就是为了好玩好吗！
商家乘机打折促销赚钱，消费者乘打折囤货。情侣找个借口互赠礼物顺便试一试杜*斯的质量。
真的和崇洋媚外没什么关系，甚至我敢说很多人都不知道这是个宗教节日吧。
文化自信不是这样建立的，中华文化之所以五千年传承延续在于它的兼容并蓄，有容乃大。曾经的我们，愿意接受外来文化，并将其优秀的部分融入自己的文化当中，使得华夏文明能够与时俱进，生生不息。如今这样是在干什么，故步自封吗？
In our country, Christians are the minority. The majority see Christmas as a fun festival.
The commercial sector finds a reason to get sales, consumers find an opportunity to spend, lovers find an occasion to reveal their feelings or make out. It has nothing to do with worshiping the West. The majority do not think that Christmas has anything to do with religion.
This is not the way to build cultural confidence; Chinese culture’s strength is related to its power to absorb other cultures. We used to accept foreign culture and make it our own, so that our civilization can move on. What have we become now?
On Twitter, @HuangZhanghong mocked:
祝大家圣马赛克节快乐！ pic.twitter.com/p5FJK37SPt
— Jorn (@HuangZhanghong) December 24, 2020
Happy Mosaic Festival!
Also on Twitter, Chinese blogger @fangshimin criticized the double standard of the Chinese authorities regarding Christmas celebration by posting the screen capture of Chinese spokesperson Hua Chunying’s Christmas greeting on Twitter:
为什么中国战狼可以过洋节，普通中国人不可以？连圣诞树也要打码？哪个外国记者去问问华战狼，看她怎么回答。 pic.twitter.com/uAsOSo5cOM
— 方舟子 (@fangshimin) December 25, 2020
How come the wolf warrior diplomat can celebrate Christmas while ordinary Chinese people can’t? Even Christmas trees have to be pixelated? Can foreign journalists help posing this question to wolf warrior Hua?
Under Hua's tweet, many raised similar questions, some with sarcastic remarks:
You're using a phrase from the West. Does that mean you're colluding with the West? Thinking-face Pooh will not be happy
Do Chinese in China celebrate Christmas? And if so, what is the percentage that do? Do Muslims, Buddhists and atheist Chinese also celebrate Christmas in China?
Merry Christmas, I hope everyone can enjoy the holiday! Hopefully those that don't celebrate Christmas in China can at least enjoy some discounts.
After the online uproar on December 24, the pixelation of the Christmas decorations on the show was removed the next day.

author: The Stand News


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Shooting of mother and son highlights institutionalized police violence in the Philippines · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Civil society groups protest the police shooting of the Gregorios in Quezon City. Photo by Kodao Productions, a content partner of Global Voices, used with permission.
Christmas week in the Philippines opened with the killing of Sonya Gregorio, 52, and her son Frank Gregorio, 25, by police officer Jonel Nuezca on December 20. Nuezca, a Master Sergeant who was off-duty and in civilian clothes when the incident happened, was caught on video using his service pistol to shoot his neighbors outside their home in Paniqui, Tarlac north of the national capital Manila.
Earlier in the same video, Nuezca and his 12-year-old daughter are shown in a heated exchange with the Gregorios over the use of boga, a homemade cannon traditionally used to make noise during the holiday season in the Philippines. Nuezca reportedly want to arrest Frank because of the disturbance caused by the boga. But authorities also claim that tension had been brewing between the two neighbors for some time already.
Sonya Gregorio is seen on the video holding her son Frank tightly while Nuezca's daughter asserted that “my father is a policeman.” Sonya shouted back “I don't care” to the tune of K-Pop sensation 2NE1's 2010 hit song. Nuezca then replied, “tapusin kita ngayon” [I will finish you now] as he casually pulled out his gun to fatally shoot the two in the head in cold blood.
Nuezca surrendered himself to authorities and is facing two charges of murder for the shooting. The video taken by Alyssa Calosing, a relative of the Gregorios, quickly went viral while the hashtags #StopTheKillingsPH and #PulisAngTerorista [police are the terrorists] became trending topics on Twitter.
Tonight, we gather at the Boy Scout Circle to assert the people’s call to #StopTheKillingsPH and #EndPoliceBrutality! Demand justice for Sonya and Frank Gregorio and all victims of extrajudicial killings and State violence in the Philippines! pic.twitter.com/haMl1ztaCq
— Karapatan (@karapatan) December 21, 2020
Look at this smug fuck! Imagine all the other powertripping cops not caught on cam!!! #StopTheKillingsPH https://t.co/CbNUIAnnJx
— Saab (@saabmagalona) December 21, 2020
What cops are capable of doing in broad daylight, surrounded by civilians, in front of their own children — all these things make you wonder how much worse they can do in the dark, with no witnesses, no cameras, no law. #PulisAngTerorista
— Alfonso Manalastas (@not_alfonso) December 20, 2020
Ben&Ben, a popular indie-pop band in the Philippines, composed a protest song as their contribution to the calls for a stop to police killings in the country.
“akala niyo ba, ang kapangyarihan, ay nasa inyo? sino ba kayo?”#StopTheKillingsPH #JusticeForGregorioFamily #EndPoliceBrutalityNow pic.twitter.com/Zc0LkwRDlE
— Ben&Ben (@BenAndBenMusic) December 22, 2020
“Did you really think that power is in your hands? Who do you think you are?”
For many, the event once again highlighted the institutionalized nature of police violence and impunity in the Philippines which has taken a turn for the worse under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. According to news reports, Nuezca had faced several administrative charges, including two cases of homicide, but both were dismissed for alleged lack of evidence.
In the wake of the Gregorio shooting, several active police officers had also been called out on social media for justifying Nuezca’s action. The police chief of Bato town in Catanduanes Island, for example, was relieved from duty after saying that the police shooting incident should teach ordinary people to give more respect to police officers.
The first reaction of Debold Sinas, the national chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), was to warn against taking videos or photos of crime scenes like the police killing of the Gregorios lest the offenders take it out on the witnesses. Infamous for breaking COVID-19 lockdown protocols by holding his birthday party earlier this year, Sinas is also notorious for overseeing Negros Island when a series of extrajudicial killings of peasant activists rocked the island in 2019.
Government spokesmen and officials have taken pains to stress that the incident was the isolated doing of a bad cop. But this is belied by the police forces’ bloody track record of gross human rights violations for the year 2020 alone, abetted by the president’s countless statements encouraging men in uniform to kill criminal suspects and go after human rights activists.
And you wonder where these “”cops”” get all their bravado from.#OUSTDUTERTENOW #StopTheKillingsPH #JusticeForGregorioFamily pic.twitter.com/9yi8WLPKCh
— (Inactive) (@orz_TJ) December 21, 2020
Why do we always associate Duterte when events like killings happen? Because he enables & rewards them. He encouraged a culture where the only answer is to murder and make people suffer. At marami paring hindi nabibigyan ng hustisya dahil hindi ito naisasapubliko #StopTheKillings
— Kerwin King (@imkerwinking) December 20, 2020
And many more have not been given justice because their cases have not been made public
NO. Stop with the “gobyerno na naman?” [“It's the government's fault again”] tweets. I'm tired of reading the same shit because YES, THE GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM.
This is what happens when we have leaders who consent and encourage such behavior from policemen. #StopTheKillings
— zero | au ? (@sonsontokan) December 20, 2020
In response to calls for justice, pro-government trolls and DDS (Die-hard Duterte Supporters) on social media have lashed out against calls for government accountability. For independent journalist Inday Varona, the shooting is but the latest symptom of a “systemic madness” that has also affected a significant portion of the populace who readily apologize for the violence of those in power:
They excuse the murders around them, the assaults on citizens as signs of a father’s tough love. They rationalize the bloodshed by saying they feel safer. They dismiss the exposure of corruption scandals, the weaponizing of the law against dissenters, even the prevalence of poverty because their father and his generals blame these as communist propaganda.
It is a systemic madness flowing down from the highest reaches of officialdom. It is the kind of lunacy that allows a provincial cop chief to jeer that death is the logical conclusion if you show “disrespect” to a cop with a gun. That, after all, is Duterte’s typical response to dissent.
But Duterte, who has repeatedly encouraged police and soldiers to just shoot law violators while promising to protect them against legal charges, is on the defensive as a result of the growing public outrage over the Gregorios’ murder. In another of his late-night televised speeches, Duterte changed his tune by saying he only promised to shield police officers who did not break the law.
As the Duterte government faces an investigation by the International Criminal Court for its bloody war on drugs, things may be reaching the tipping point for many Filipinos.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Rwandan governance during the pandemic: A time for introspection · Global Voices
Louis Gitinywa

Rwanda reacts early and effectively to the pandemic with this hand-washing facility at the bus terminal in Kigali in mid-March. Photo by Cyril Ndegeya, used with permission.
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in Friedrich Ebert Stiftung blog and is republished here with permission with light edits.
Following the World Health Organization's designation of the coronavirus as a pandemic, Rwanda became the first country in Africa to enter a phase of confinement. On March 23, the government ordered a strict lockdown, restricting traveling and closing universities to reduce the spread of the virus in the country. Since then, there have been 7,970 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 74 deaths and 6,289 recovered cases in Rwanda, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The Rwanda governance model is built on two competing narratives: alongside the story of being a “donor darling,” the country is popularly seen as a successful example for development in Africa. It is also an authoritarian state based on a tightly centralized economic and political power within the ruling party, Rwandan Patriotic Front, which controls the state security apparatus and owns major enterprises in the country. This governance model has based its legitimacy on rapid socio-economic progress.
Some political commentators rightly suggest turning to the coronavirus outbreak as a scale to test the nature and quality of our institutions. And the obvious place to start is by looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the state machinery and how power responds to citizens’ demands.
Shortly after the government announced a nationwide lockdown, citizens took to social media, more specifically—Rwandans on Twitter (dubbed as RWoT)—urging the government to provide emergency food relief for the most vulnerable families and to implement palliative economic measures as soon as possible.
Ese iyi nkunga ya Miliyoni 12 itanzwe na ADEPR izagera ku bakene bazonzwe na #COVID19, cyangwa izarigiswa na ba Mudugudu & ba Mutwarasibo nk'uko byagenze mu itangwa riheruka muri @Gasabo_District hafi yose? Habura iki ngo iyi gahunda ikurikiranwe? @ashyaka https://t.co/Ugvn4n3re6
— NTWALI John Williams (@intwarane) April 2, 2020
Will this $12 million grant from ADEPR reach the poor who are affected by #COVID19? or will it be taught by the village & Mutwarasibo as was the case in the last issue in @Gasabo_District almost everywhere? What is missing from this program? @ashyaka
It is important to understand the national context. It's rare to see Rwandans publicly criticizing the state— especially on social media — because of the current government's reluctance to tolerate criticism. Often, people are afraid to raise their concerns because of state repression and its history of coercive power to maintain control.
When the pandemic started in Rwanda, many went so far as to ask the government for more transparency over the management of the national Agaciro Fund (agaciro means “dignity” in Kinyarwanda). Citizens have been asking why the government has not yet allocated some of its own funds for mitigating the socioeconomic effects of this crisis rather than asking the World Bank and International Monetary Fund for bailouts and loans.
Due to the 6weeks lockdown in #Rwanda as a result of the #Covid19 pandemic, food supplies are the most urgent need for the poor and needy. Solace Ministries has been trying to support its beneficiaries with food relief. For more, go to https://t.co/BsoqoXcodp. #communitysupport pic.twitter.com/JKRxJT3nET
— Aderemi Banjoko (@AderemiBanjoko) May 13, 2020
Citizens draw their inspiration from abroad, how other countries have responded to the economic effects of this crisis. Moreover, it is essential to understand this sudden awakening of citizens especially in a context of a nation where official government views dominate the domestic media, with limited free speech, coupled with a very weak civil society.
Even though the gross national product has hovered about 7 percent during the past decade, most Rwandans, mostly young and uneducated, remain poor, jobless, and financially insecure. As a result, there is a strong and growing expression of citizens’ frustrations—especially in the urban areas—toward the official discourse about the country’s development and socio-economic progress.
Meanwhile, neighboring East African Community (EAC) member states like Kenya have already announced economic stimulus packages to deal with the devasting economic impact of the virus outbreak. Uganda, also, has already requested a supplementary budget of 284 billion Ugandan shillings (about $75 million USD) to fight the COVID-19 outbreak and its effects. For its part, Rwanda has announced a comprehensive economic mitigation strategy to assist businesses and the private sector in dealing with the economic effects of this crisis, though the details of this plan are not publicly available yet and nine months later the private sector has not received a penny.
Months after the implementation of the lockdown order, the government has been mute over citizens’ demand for food relief support. Controversies have emerged in local social media suggesting that authorities have given out so little or insufficient support for the vulnerable families.
This crisis has shed light on the growing political frictions within the government, given the sackings in April of the Minister of Interior and Security, General Patrick Nyamvumba, and the Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe. It seems that this turmoil illustrates the absence of a clear government strategy to deal with this crisis. Officially, the two ministers were sacked for lying to the head of state, carelessness and for consistently acting based on their personal opinions rather than implementing national policies under their respective dockets.
Today, it appears that through this pandemic, the myth of an organized and efficient state is being shattered.
With this pandemic, questions arise about the maturity and legitimacy of Rwanda's governance model. Is an authoritarian development model effective at absorbing social inequalities and conflicts? Despite its hegemony, the current political model remains vulnerable.
In light of the growing frustration of a population already suffering from hardship, unemployment and poverty, it is clear that the regime’s reluctance to tolerate criticism may undermine the longevity of its model.
The full disruptive impact of the coronavirus crisis will take months, if not years, to reveal itself. In the meantime, for those Rwandans who are anxious about all this, it might be worth thinking about how this outbreak could eventually change Rwandan society for the better.

author: Louis Gitinywa


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Saudi court slams internationally criticized jail term for iconic female activist · Global Voices
Dahlia Kholaif

Screenshot from a France24 YouTube video showing Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul.
Prominent Saudi human rights defender Loujain al-Hathloul, whose detention since 2018 had stoked global criticism, was sentenced to nearly six years in prison on December 28 by the kingdom’s notorious terrorism court in an alarming development to her years-long fight for freedom.
According to her sister, Lina, Loujain should be released by March 2021, having already served the majority of her sentence as pre-trial detention, as she shares in a tweet:
BREAKING : Today @LoujainHathloul was sentenced to
-5 years and 8 months in prison
– A suspension of 2 years and 10 months in addition to the time already served (since May 2018) which would see her release in approximately two months.
-5 years travel ban
Note: ??
— Lina Alhathloul لينا الهذلول (@LinaAlhathloul) December 28, 2020
Lina also mentioned in another tweet that her sister Loujain “cried when she heard the sentence today”, and that she “will appeal the sentence and ask for another investigation regarding torture”.
According to local press citing the court's ruling, 31-year-old Loujain was found guilty of “committing acts criminalized under Article 43 of the Law on Combating Terrorism Crimes“, including engaging with foreign, hostile entities, and using the internet to serve and support an external agenda inside the kingdom, with the aim of harming public order.
Loujain's sentence comes after a rushed trial deemed flawed by international human rights groups. Although the sentence is down from the maximum jail term of up to 20 years which the public prosecutor demanded on December 17, it is expected to draw added condemnation of the kingdom which is already grappling with a grim record of human rights violations, both within its territories and beyond.
Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, tweeted:
I’m receiving disturbing reports that #Saudi WHRD Loujain Al Hathloul has been convicted & given a prison sentence by an anti-terrorism court. She should be immediately released. Defending human rights is not terrorism @patrickwintour @jongambrellAP @NiAolainF @sebusher pic.twitter.com/uH2xTRvFMM
— Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur HRDs (@MaryLawlorhrds) December 28, 2020
Human Rights Watch's Executive Director Kenneth Roth reacted by saying:
The Saudi government denies Loujain al-Hathoul was prosecuted for campaigning for women’s right to drive “but instead for mounting a campaign to undermine the royal family.” That's because the Saudi crown prince views any political activism as a threat. https://t.co/RlJV1m2ugo pic.twitter.com/UY1K5dWhmb
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) December 28, 2020
Loujain has been at the forefront of campaigns demanding women’s right to drive and is a leading figure in the calls to put an end to the male guardianship system which treats Saudi women as second-class citizens.
Observers have opined that the shorter sentence is a reflection of the anticipated changes in leadership in Washington DC. Donald Trump's administration remains a staunch supporter of Saudi's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, who is commonly known by his initials – MBS, and has turned a blind eye to the harrowing human rights record that quickly became associated with the prince.
Our Washpost edtorial says the conviction of Loujain al Hathloul is a travesty–and also a sign that international pressure on MBS can work. @LinaAlhathloul https://t.co/8UUGOZLs4U
— Jackson Diehl (@JacksonDiehl) December 28, 2020
US president-elect Joe Biden has stated his administration will be taking a less lenient position towards Riyadh's human rights abuses, a stand which was reiterated following Loujain's sentence by his National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan:
Saudi Arabia’s sentencing of Loujain al-Hathloul for simply exercising her universal rights is unjust and troubling. As we have said, the Biden-Harris administration will stand up against human rights violations wherever they occur.
— Jake Sullivan (@jakejsullivan) December 28, 2020
In May 2018, Loujain was kidnapped in the United Arab Emirates and, along with other female activists, was detained for months before the coming into effect of a breakthrough royal decree, which they had long campaigned for, that allowed women to drive. After her extradition to the Saudi kingdom, Hathloul remained in pre-trial detention, with alleged periods of solitary confinement, a suspension of family visits, and torture. She had resorted to staging a hunger strike in order to see her family.
It was only on 24 November that her family was told that her long-delayed trial was to begin the following day, giving her parents, who are her legal representatives, only one day to prepare. On November 25, Loujain's case was referred from criminal court to the Specialised Criminal Court on accusations of harming national security through cooperating with foreign entities.
Transferring @LoujainHathloul ‘s case to the “Terrorism” court doesn't make her a terrorist.
It exposes though the brutality & hypocrisy of #Saudi authorities that instrumentalise “women empowerment” to whitewash their image, while prosecuting women activists under sham charges. https://t.co/zTsl2162hp
— Amnesty Gulf (@amnestygulf) November 25, 2020
Since it began a month ago, the trial had garnered a lot of criticism.
I am concerned that Saudi Arabia is seeking the maximum jail sentence for women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul. She, as well as the other activists, should be immediately and unconditionally released, and all charges against them dropped.
— U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SenateForeign) December 17, 2020
Having become a symbol for political prisoners in the oil-rich kingdom, Hathloul's incarceration had cast global doubt over the sincerity of Riyadh's rapid social, cultural and economic reforms, led by MBS. In fact, global solidarity with Hathloul and her female colleagues, along with the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi which is believed to have been ordered by MBS, and the Saudi role in the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, have all tarnished the young prince's image and increased pressure on Riyadh’s Western allies to re-evaluate ties with the kingdom.
Director of Advocacy at @BIRDBahrain_ Sayed Ahmed AlWadaei tweeted:
International condemnation of #FreeLoujain began with #Canada & #Germany taking the lead:
Germany: https://t.co/z0CusQijVt
Canada: https://t.co/SuDNC4YOwC
More countries expected to follow… pic.twitter.com/3GumGx8BdS
— Sayed Ahmed AlWadaei (@SAlwadaei) December 28, 2020
Hathloul had told her family she was subjected to electric shocks, whippings, and sexual harassment, and her family also alleges that that she was offered freedom if she agreed to say she was not tortured.
Loujain was on a hunger strike for 2 weeks (started Oct 26) during which she was checked on regularly. After the 2 weeks they began waking her up every 2hours at night. It exhausted her psychologically, she said she had horrible nightmares and therefore broke her hunger strike. https://t.co/7iRed0vpJl
— Lina Alhathloul لينا الهذلول (@LinaAlhathloul) November 25, 2020
Calls for a transparent and unbiased investigation into Hathloul's claim of abuse and torture have fallen on deaf ears. The judge's denial of Loujain's claims of torture triggered hashtag #Loujain_Doesn't_Lie on Twitter last week,  that brought together sympathizers who defended her claim.
Another female Saudi activist, Mayaa al-Zahrani received the same sentence as Loujain's.
Today #SaudiArabia‘s SCC (terrorism court) also sentenced human rights defender Mayaa al-Zahrani to 5 years and 8 months in prison, with 2 years and 10 months suspended, exactly the same as for @LoujainHathloul. pic.twitter.com/JYiT27WnFZ
— ALQST for Human Rights (@ALQST_En) December 28, 2020

author: Dahlia Kholaif


text:
UN Security Council ends reporting on Burundi, but human rights monitors remain concerned · Global Voices
Liam Anderson

Doudou Diene (right) Chairperson of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi, Lucy Asuagbor (center) and Françoise Hampson (left) members of the Commission of inquiry on Burundi present their report at the 40th Session of the Human Rights Council, March 12, 2019. UN Photo / Jean Marc Ferré. Flickr/ UN Geneva CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
This month, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has decided to end specific reporting on Burundi. The UNSC noted improved security and “broadly peaceful elections,” although it still had concerns about rights and democratic space.
In 2016, Resolution 2303 requested the UN Secretary-General to report regularly, due to the political crisis surrounding ex-President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial third election in 2015.
Burundi has often appeared on the UNSC’s agenda to monitor international peace and security since its civil war began in 1993. It ended in 2005, when the current ruling party, National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy, (CNDD-FDD) won elections; Nkurunziza was president until his unexpected death earlier this year.
A communique by the current Burundi president Évariste Ndayishimiye welcomed it “with joy.” President Ndayishimiye, inaugurated in June, has said this monitoring was motivated by certain governments seeking geopolitical influence and insists that the country is peaceful.
In Bujumbura, there were celebratory demonstrations, although SOS Médias Burundi reported how some attendees said they were pressured to attend.
What a great way to wrap up 2020! The removal of #Burundi from the #UN Security Council is not a simple event, it is historic & a huge victory of Burundi, #UnitedNations & friends of #Burundi. pic.twitter.com/8z9qy427wP
— MAECD (@MAEBurundi) December 13, 2020
Many in Burundi were skeptical of the news and members of the opposition were disappointed.
Human Rights Watch’s Louis Charbonneau said the UNSC’s meetings on Burundi grew “increasingly contentious and irregular, with Burundi and its allies on the Council attempting to quash much-needed scrutiny.”
HRW said the UN should now “report in detail on the human rights, humanitarian, and security situation” for its regional meetings — to avoid sidelining it.
Analyst Thierry Vircoulon said the move reflected the UN’s lack of influence, but was also skeptical that being more accommodating to the new government would bring concrete changes.
Burundi’s government has essentially stonewalled international attempts to monitor or mediate since 2015, notably the stalled dialogue with opposition members in exile, mediated by the East African Community. Researcher Carina Tertsakian said the UNSC decision was regrettable, but it had done practically little for several years due to international divisions.
The decision followed the UN Secretary-General’s November report, which was less critical than others, suggesting dialogue within Burundi. The government previously ran its own dialogue sessions, as an alternative to regional mediation, which the International Crisis Group criticized as a “sham,” echoing official positions.
However, the government refused the report’s recommendation to extend the UN Special Envoy’s office's presence in Burundi; it will close next year. The office intended to facilitate dialogue between government and opponents after the 2015 crisis, but officials said it was now “obsolete.”
Officials want to definitively leave behind the 2015 crisis. Foreign Affairs Minister Albert Shingiro said UN presence should not have a “political character,” and only concern matters such as economic development. Relationships with international institutions have been strained for years, and officials often dismiss criticisms as imperial interference.
The UN Office in Burundi was closed in 2014, and the UN human rights body’s office was closed in 2019. Burundi left the International Criminal Court after it began investigating rights abuses in 2017.
Burundi's removal from the UNSC agenda is useful for officials to argue the country is now peaceful, and for lifting aid suspensions, given its significant economic problems since 2015, with 1.7 million people facing food insecurity.
The new government has had other diplomatic gains. The International Francophonie Organization lifted post-2015 sanctions. President Ndayishimiye recently met with representatives from the European Union — which implemented post-2015 sanctions — saying high-level dialogue had restarted. There have also been exchanges with Rwandan authorities, after years of tensions.
Ndayishimiye emphasizes strengthening African links, and in November, he visited Equatorial Guinea, and then Gabon, for an Economic Community of Central African States meeting. This is notably more active diplomacy than his predecessor. After the failed 2015 putsch, Nkurunziza only left Burundi once, briefly across the border in Tanzania, where Ndayishimiye also made his first foreign official visit.
The UN Commission of Inquiry’s (UNCOI) annual report, in September, was more critical than UNSC. It did not observe improvements, stating it still has “reasonable grounds to believe” serious human rights violations were committed, particularly around the election targeting the main opposition party, National Congress for Liberty.
Abuses were mainly committed by members of Imbonerakure, youth representing the ruling party, “acting as security forces,” local officials and intelligence agents. UN analysts warned of Imbonerakure resembling a militia even before 2015, and International Crisis Group noted recently that they “continued to pose threats” to civilians.
On October 6, the commission’s year-long mandate, established in 2016, was renewed, as various civil society organizations called for.
Since the May elections, Iwacu newspaper reported calm between different parties in some communes, although opposition leaders mistrusted the election results. Significantly more refugees have returned recently, although there are reports of pressure to return from Tanzania, where many Burundians are staying in refugee camps.
While everyday life continues, reports describe the danger of opposing the government or resisting local rackets, such as forced financial “contributions.” Recently, 89 Burundian and international civil society organizations called for the release of imprisoned activists.
The Burundian Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, of which several member organizations have been banned in Burundi, released a damning report in December. It reported many forced disappearances and abandoned dead bodies — often buried without investigation — and called on authorities to end “almost daily” abuses, especially against opposition and ex-soldiers. It also described generalized corruption and harassment of trade unionists.
However, these reports were rejected by Folucon F, a civil society organization in Burundi, saying peace reigned.
The Burundi Human Rights Initiative’s report, “A stranglehold on Burundi’s Future,” said there were fewer abuses by Imbonerakure following Ndayishimiye’s inauguration, showing what could be achieved with will from high-up. But “barely two months later, the Imbonerakure went back to their old ways, arresting and beating suspected opposition members,” particularly following armed groups attacks in September and October.
It noted the continuing influence of military hardliners, some put in powerful positions such as Prime Minister Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni, disappointed hopes for human rights reforms.
The report recommended:
To ??????? : Denounce human rights violations, advocate for release of activists, do not directly fund violators, meet with senior officials.
To ?? : press for preventing human rights violations and promoting long-term reforms.
— The Burundi Human Rights Initiative (@BHRI_IDHB) December 18, 2020
One diplomat told RFI that Ndayishimiye’s government is trying to “improve” the system controlled by the ruling party, CNDD-FDD  — at least in appearance — rather than fundamentally reform it.
For example, there were some anti-corruption prosecutions, but at lower levels. Impunity for serious crimes and arbitrary detention continue, for example, activist Germain Rukuki is still in prison; journalist Jean Bigirimana’s forced disappearance remains uninvestigated; and Fabien Banciryanino, an outspoken former opposition parliamentarian, was arrested.
More positively, four Iwacu journalists were released from prison by presidential pardon on December 23. They were detained in October 2019 on security charges after reporting on an armed attack. The pardon did not acknowledge criticisms of arbitrary detention and flaws in the trial. Iwacu founder Antoine Kaburahe hoped, though, it could signal a better future for media freedom.
Fundamentally, the CNDD-FDD’s control over institutions, and of military hardliners over it, continues, with opposition weak. Meanwhile, the new government has made some diplomatic successes, which may signal a continued lack of international political will to confront reported human rights violations.

author: Liam Anderson


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Will poetry be enough to get Czechs to embrace anti COVID-19 vaccination? · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Screenshot from Twitter video posted by the Office of the Czech Government to encourage Czechs to get vaccinated. The text is from a poem used for the campaign and says, “Perhaps we cried, — but now we want to live!”
As anti-COVID-19 vaccination becomes accessible in the European Union, the Czech government has launched a new communication campaign aimed at overcoming the fear of or suspicion about vaccination. And this time, the inspiration for the campaign has found its source in an unlikely place for public health public announcements: poetry.
On December 27, the Twitter account of the Office of the Czech Government released a message with a 30-second-long video that can be seen here:
Do Česka dorazily první vakcíny a začínáme očkovat zdravotníky a seniory. Vakcinace je nejefektivnější způsob, jak dlouhodobě zastavit šíření epidemie a jak znovu žít tak, jako dřív. pic.twitter.com/DZAMD1P8Sh
— Úřad vlády ČR (@strakovka) December 27, 2020
The first vaccine doses have arrived in the Czech Republic and we are beginning to vaccinate medical staff and older people. Vaccination is the most effective way to stop the pandemic on the long term, and to go back to our previous lives.
The various images portraying typical scenes from human and social life are combined in the video with the reading of a poem by Jiří Wolker, a Czech writer from the early 20th century of the proletarian school of poetry.
His original poem says:
Nesmělé jitro do tváří nám dýchlo
snem volných lesů, luk a dálných hor.
Vše divnou vírou v duši naší ztichlo,
i bolest krvavá i těžký vzdor.
Radostně klidni brouzdáme se bosi
chladící trávou, lesní přes pažit.
Osení stříbří slzy ranní rosy.
Snad plakali jsme, – ale teď chcem žít!
A timid morning breathed in our faces
as a dream of open forests, meadows and distant mountains.
A strange faith made everything fall silent in our souls,
even the bleeding pain and the heavy defiance.
Happy and quiet we browse barefoot
On the cooling grass, the meadow in the forest
The young short grass glistens with tears of morning dew.
Perhaps we cried, — but now we want to live!
Yet, the last third of the original poem has been replaced in the video by a pro-vaccination slogan stating “A budeme. Tak jako dřív! Díky očkování” which translates as “And we shall [live]. Just as before! Thanks to vaccination.”
The video got 20,000 views in less than two days and was widely commented on in all the main newspapers and news websites. The main question is whether this will be enough to convince Czechs, who according to recent polls are massively—up to two-thirds of a population of 10 million—against vaccination. While in March of 2020, the Czech Republic was often mentioned as one of the few countries that manage to curb the pandemic, by the fall it became the country with the second highest rate in the world.
Will poetry, then, be enough to change the tide and reverse the still very high rates of infection?

author: Filip Noubel


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COVID Christmas: Was it truly like no other? · Global Voices
Ian Inkster

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Photo by Roger Harris. CC BY 3.0.
It’s clear enough—COVID-19 did not stop for Christmas. If anything, its presence and its potency both accelerated, with new, more persistent and infectious strains identified. On Christmas evening the number of cases rose by 522,664 to a total of 80,257,970, one of the highest daily increases since February. Deaths rose by 8,621 to a total of 1,757,249. This last number is greater than the combined war deaths of the USA, Britain, and France during World War II. In the most numerous of Christian nations, the USA, cases rose by 149,049, around 50 per cent of total American casualties throughout the whole of World War II.
Hunger and violence do not stop for Christmas. Most violent death since 1945 has centred in poor nations. This is, indeed, true of the Second World War (1937-45), as well. In those years, more people died of war casualties or associated starvations and ill-health in China and Russia than in the rest of the world put together—by far. If we take the entire 20 century, there were possibly as many as 180 million deaths by war across our world. But we cannot estimate the indirect war casualties, those that arose from starvation, exposure and infection. Nearly all such war and death crossed over Christmas without a qualm.
At Sunday Mass on December 27, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the head of the Church of England, labelled this Christmas as “a Christmas like no other.” What could he have meant? Even in the greatest of cathedrals, Anglican Christians surely recognise that Christmas Day occurs across our globe, in regions of Christianity, in non-Christian cultures, and in those that get by without the aid of any recognised religion at all.
The visitation of COVID was all but universal, even the sparseness of Western Sahara has seen 10 cases and one death. But in poor nations, the visitation of human violence merely continued as usual. Among the many millions who constitute the poorest of the poor, often on the frontiers of huge tracts of land, or as the unseen denizens of the undergrounds and the invisible economies of huge cities, Christmas is always brutish. In many such places, COVID-19 travels by almost unnoticed.
Violence by national states against other states has focused on the poor nations of Asia, Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe. Since World War II notable bloody conflicts have begun just before and continued across Christmas in all variety of poor regions, often instigated or supported by Christian regimes, killing through firepower or starvation Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist peoples, the great majority as innocent as any of the adults of the original Christian nativity. We might name the 36-nation Gulf War of 1990-91, or Afghanistan from October 2001.
It is hardly surprising that most expert global analysts have long argued that starvation on our earth is not primarily a result of our inability to produce enough food to feed 7.5 billion people. It is a function of our unwillingness to distribute food to those in greatest need. This, in turn, is not due to the ill-will of any ordinary citizen of the USA, or of Europe, or of Australia, Japan, Canada, or Taiwan or China or even of any of the small, new rich nations of the Middle East.
It is, however, a result of the inept violence of political regimes in such nations, and of the insufficient power, humanity or compulsion of such international organisations as the United Nations. It is wars that stop flows of food and medicines, either as aid or in markets, and it is citizens of supposed democratic nations that continually allow this to happen. All the prayers of Christmas make no difference, for they have as much effect on warfare as on COVID-19. But whereas COVID-19 might now be stopped by the scientific willpower of modernity, the urge to war and destruction has not been hampered by Christian goodwill.
A long time ago Francis Galton (1822-1911), wrote a statistical comic masterpiece, an article entitled “On the Efficacy of Prayer.” It has never been surpassed. He argued that if it were indeed, true that there existed an imminent all-powerful Christian God who answered the prayers of His [sic] worshippers, then surely as they were then the most common recipients of such prayers, Royal families, all clergymen and members of charitable committees should be in receipt of prayerful well wishes and pleas for long life and happiness. Yet the analysis showed that royalty and clerics lived no longer than lawyers and slave traders, so how efficacious could prayer possibly be?
We now have an even better laboratory than Galton’s—The Global COVID Lab. And in it, the power of goodwill at Christmas is shown to be of little importance.
While we might for all sorts of reasons celebrate Christmas “as best we can” (the injunction of our politicians), do not let us fall into the Archbishop’s gambit—for our world and the faiths we have in it, this has not been a “Christmas like no other.” For many millions, it has been like all others that they have known—painful, often sordid, sometimes deadly.
So, for the Londoners who attended services at Christmas in a highly restricted manner, or for the many millions who celebrated virtual services and rituals, for all those who shared richly wrapped presents and reciprocated their sweetly illustrated Christmas cards, I might allow that this has been a “Christmas like no other.” But for many millions, Christmas has passed by pretty much the same as usual. Hunger, violence and COVID-19 did not stop.
Professor Ian Inkster is a global historian and political economist at SOAS University of London, who has taught and researched at universities in Britain, Australia, Taiwan and Japan. He is the author of 13 books on Asian and global dynamics with a particular focus on industrial and technological development, and the editor of History of Technology since 2000. Forthcoming books are Distraction Capitalism: The World Since 1971, and Invasive Technology and Indigenous Frontiers. Case Studies of Accelerated Change in History, with David Pretel. Follow him on Twitter at @inksterian

author: Ian Inkster


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In Belarus, Lukashenka’s rule endures 2020 — can it survive 2021? · Global Voices
Maxim Edwards

“Past the expiry date, 1994-2020″ reads this placard at a protest in Minsk, August 2020. Lukashenka became President of Belarus in 1994. Photo CC BY-NC 2.0: Natallia Rak / Flickr. Some rights reserved.
This year, Belarusians have paid a heavy price for resisting Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
His attempt to claim a sixth consecutive presidential term in the August 9 election prompted the largest wave of protests in the country's post-Soviet history. When hundreds of thousands of peaceful demonstrators took to the streets of major cities, the authorities unleashed violence on a similarly historic scale. Security services and police have detained thousands of protesters, at least four of whom have been killed. Protesters have made credible accusations of torture and ill-treatment in police detention, none of which have been investigated by the authorities.
Lukashenka, who has ruled since 1994, made a show of defiance by blaming foreign powers and domestic conspiracies. In late August he was filmed leaving a helicopter near the presidential palace in Minsk, brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle without its magazine. This stunt may have been widely mocked, but it was meant in earnest.
Violence (the threat and its application) appears to have paid off. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who became the leader of this opposition movement, is fêted in European capitals, where she continues to demand nothing less than Lukashenka's resignation and a re-run of the election which she is widely believed to have won. She continues to inspire protesters in Belarus, though there is a rising sense that their protest has become an end in itself, without a longer strategy in the face of such intransigence.
Lukashenka may have become a pariah, but he remains a pariah in office. And as winter descends, he has regained the initiative. It is far from certain that he can keep it.
Opposition figures, many of them members of the Coordinating Council, are either in jail or exiled. A leaderless protest may have tactical advantages in evading repression, but offers little in the way of long term strategy. Labour unrest, a genuinely cross-class form of civil disobedience which spread to several large state-owned concerns, has decreased. Moreover this month, the country's borders were completely sealed — ostensibly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though the economic impact of political emigration may be another rationale.
If there are cracks in the regime, they are not yet wide enough to cause collapse. While some members of the security services have indeed resigned, there are as yet no high-level elite defections. As the Polish analyst Kamil Kłysiński writes, Lukashenka is now promoting members of the security services to civilian administrative roles. In October Ivan Kubrakov, police chief in the capital of Minsk who presided over crackdowns on large demonstrations, was appointed interior minister.
These figures have even less to gain from siding with an opposition which demands their lustration. As the Russian political scientist Andrey Okara told the Ukrainian website Telegraf.UA, the Belarusian political elite is now in the same boat as Lukashenka, and it's time to sink or swim:
Что-то точно случится с Лукашенко. Он явно вышел на финишную прямую. Вопрос лишь в том – когда именно и что случится. Ключевые люди которые эти три месяца калечили других (или не мешали этому) уже в какой-то мере связаны с Лукашенко кровью. Причем это в данном случае – не фигура речи. Кровью они повязаны в прямом смысле слова.
Something will certainly happen to Lukashenka. He's on the home stretch. The only question is how and when things will come to pass. Key figures who have maimed others for the past three months (or at least haven't prevented it) are already bonded to Lukashenka with blood. In this case, that isn't a figure of speech. Bonded with blood, in the most literal sense.
For now, domestic factors do not compel Lukashenka to give in or give up. But his previous appeals to reform, once unburdened by details, are now being fleshed out.
A new constitution was one of several topics Lukashenka discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi in September. In November, Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Russia's hopes for this reform; Lukashenka then hinted that he may even step down as president if a new constitution was agreed.
Few in the Belarusian opposition, which dismisses these reforms as window dressing, would take Lukashenka at his word. They are convinced that there is a catch.
Recent experience proves them right. In recent years, several ailing autocratic leaders across the post-Soviet space have tinkered with constitutional arrangements to ensure their hold on power.
In 2016, Armenia's Serzh Sargsyan held a referendum on parliamentary democracy, allowing himself to pivot into the newly empowered prime minister's seat once his presidential term limit approached. Despite resigning as president in 2019, Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev still leads the ruling party, chairs the security council and enjoys immunity from prosecution.
This year Putin, after years of speculation about what will happen when his limit on successive presidential terms approached, confounded all predictions. His was the most brazen solution — he simply reset the counter on the limit of those terms, and is back to square one.
There are options for Lukashenka. But as the Belarusian political analyst Artyom Shraibman writes, few of them are enticing: a constitutional referendum would entail electoral fraud and prompt another wave of protest. Transferring power to a parliamentary system requires the unenviable task of growing a political party's influence at a time of public disgrace. So what's left?
The Belarusian National Congress (BNC), an advisory council comprising a hand-picked spread of representatives of Belarusian society. While democrats acerbically compare the BNC to the late Soviet Congress of People's Deputies, it could be Lukashenka's saving grace. This popular Telegram channel on Belarusian politics believes, as do others, that the BNC could gain new powers which would enable it to make constitutional changes with a tokenistic democratic legitimacy:
Потому что это самый простой вариант. И он решает много задач одним махом. Создавать устойчивые партии и отлаживать механизм их взаимодействия в рамках управляемой демократии долго и дорого. Партийная политика неминуемо ведёт к большей публичности и постоянным медийным конфликтам, чего власти хотели бы избежать (сохранить, так сказать, демобилизующее существо авторитарной системы) […]
В такой конфигурации Лукашенко может возглавить этот орган и формально уйти с поста президента, гарантируя при этом своё решающее влияние на управленческий процесс и сохраняя своё идейное наследие. А дальше, когда ситуация позволит, можно заняться и тонкой настройкой, и партийным строительством.
Because it's the easiest option. And it solves many problems in one fell swoop. It's time consuming and expensive to found stable political parties and fine-tune how they function within a managed democracy. Party politics invariably leads to greater publicity and constant media scandal, which the authorities are eager to avoid (in order to preserve, so to speak, the demobilising nature of the authoritarian system). […]
But in this configuration, Lukashenka could head this body while formally relinquishing the post of president, guaranteeing his decisive influence over governance and preserving his legacy. And later, when the situation permits, he could do some fine tuning or work on a party structure.
— Беларусь в Реальной Политике, Telegram, 8 December 2020
This week, Lukashenka stated that preparations were underway for the congress to meet in January 2021. It will play an important role in some form of political reconfiguration — as encouraged by Moscow.
It is important to remember that there has been little love between Moscow and Minsk in recent years.
And at the end of 2020, it is easy to forget that before the August elections, Lukashenka also blamed Russia for political unrest — citing the presence of Russian mercenaries in Minsk before the vote. But as street protests grew and Tsikhanouskaya courted support from the EU, Lukashenka appealed more strongly to the spectre of “colour revolutions” or a repeat of the Euromaidan protests in neighbouring Ukraine in 2014.
Uncomfortable with the precedent of a mistrusted ally — but an ally nonetheless — ousted by street protests, Moscow had little choice but to throw its weight behind Lukashenka. Its national guard will now train with Belarusian law enforcement. Its top diplomat vociferously accuses the West of “meddling” in Belarusian affairs. In October, Moscow issued an arrest warrant for Tsikhanouskaya.
Nevertheless, its insistence on political reform could imply a longer game — one not necessarily in Lukashenka's favour. Russian analysts suspect that behind the scenes, Moscow is now considering who might replace the embattled Belarusian leader. It is a delicate dance; supporting Lukashenka too brazenly could destroy the goodwill Russia enjoys from Belarusians, even those who fiercely oppose their rulers.
Given this mood and Belarus’ structural dependence on Russia, Moscow can afford to push for limited political liberalisation. In doing so, it quietly hopes to cultivate an amenable successor to Lukashenka — somebody untarnished by close ties to his regime and its brutality.
It's not for nothing that investigative publication The Insider recently revealed that Russia's Presidential Administration plans to establish a pro-Russian but anti-Lukashenka political party in Belarus.
What is clear is that Lukashenka has been ready to destroy the social contract with his citizens in order to remain in power. In fact, given the increasing economic pressure on Belarus, it is a wonder that such a social contract, with its large public sector, could ever have lasted at all — facing pressure from its largest creditor, Russia.
At the October meeting in Sochi, Russia promised a $1.5 billion loan to Belarus, a third of which returned to Moscow's pockets in the form of writing off a loan from Gazprom, Russia's state-owned oil giant. That will prop up what remains of the social contract for a time.
But the disruption to the country's economy, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been significant. Private companies, particularly those in the booming IT sector, have been harassed for political reasons. Some have even fled the country.
This is a regime which is rapidly running out of carrots, and has only the stick at its disposal.
The ugliness of 2020 could have compelled the rest of the world to look away. In a year dominated by a pandemic, Russia has been preoccupied with plummeting oil prices and domestic political headaches. Much the same can be said about the EU and the US in the dusk of the Trump administration. Brussels, Moscow and Washington may have resigned themselves to yet another deeply dubious election.
But the groundswell of Belarusian civic activism and the tenacity of protesters has taken the world by surprise.
Yet optics alone do not make for triumphant protests. For now, Lukashenka will survive — but weakened, largely loathed, and dependent on the good graces of Russia, a country which in recent years has been trying desperately to reduce the price it pays for loyalty of its allies.
Deepening isolation from the West, which has recently introduced new sanctions against Belarusian politicians and could take a more active role under the incoming Biden administration, will only force Minsk into even deeper dependency on Russia. Russia can have loyalty or it can have value for money — Lukashenka's strategy will be to insist that it cannot have both.
Lukashenka's rule could well stagger on for a few years yet, through imitating political transition and continuing repression.
But police brutality, in some cases against people who have never before protested, appears to have catalysed and politicised Belarusians on a scale not seen before.
That will ensure neither the passivity of the ruled, nor the longevity of their rulers.

author: Maxim Edwards


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New tax on mobile devices threatens digital inclusion in the Democratic Republic of Congo · Global Voices
Providence Baraka

Photo from Pixabay.
In September 2020, the Congolese government, through the Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and new Information and Communication Technologies, announced the establishment of the Mobile Device Registry (RAM).
In the announcement, the minister expressed great confidence that the registry would be an essential tool for the protection of Congolese users of mobile devices.
“We are happy to implement the RAM,” the minister said. “This database will allow us to limit the market of counterfeit mobile devices, combat mobile device theft and improve the quality of the mobile phone network by blocking non-compliant devices with international standards.”
Under the new arrangement, all mobile devices on Congolese territory have to pay a monthly fee ranging from the equivalent of US$0.17 for 2G devices to more than US$1.17 for 3G and 4G devices over a six-month period.
According to the datareportal site, the number of mobile connections in the Democratic Republic of Congo grew by nearly one million between 2019 and 2020. Civil society organizations have expressed fears of seeing this trend reverse due to the implementation of this new tax on mobile devices in the country.
“This decree thus adds a sixth tax benefiting the Regulatory Authority of Posts and Telecommunications of Congo to the five others it already levies on operators in its sector,” declared the non-profit organization Rudi International in a statement condemning the RAM.
The GSMA, an international organization representing the interests of cell phone companies, had proposed to the government, through the minister in charge of New Information and Communication Technologies, a free system that would have had no impact on the cost of using a mobile device in  DR Congo.
The GSMA structure even presented to the Congolese government alternatives financing methods based on the models adopted in other sub-Saharan countries, which use a combination of regulation and a legal framework to prevent falsification and sales of stolen or counterfeit mobile devices.
A study carried out by the firm Ernst & Young as part of an analysis of the potential benefits of a more efficient tax structure for the mobile phone sector in the DRC, concluded that taxation is also a hindrance to digital inclusion in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Instead of making efforts to strengthen the penetration rate of mobile telephony in the country, this tax will only have the opposite effect as phones will become much more expensive in the market,” said Rudi International in its statement criticising the tax. According to the non-profit, the RAM should simply be suspended.
Collectif 24 also said that a tax on mobile devices would strike a blow against freedom of expression and the right of access to information.
“The implementation of this new tax will only reduce the number of telecommunications users in DR Congo and strengthen the digital divide,” the rights organization stated in a press release. “In fact, access to telecommunications services will become more and more expensive for the peaceful citizen already affected by the current economic crisis. The implementation of this service will have a negative impact on mobile operators, as their turnover will decline significantly with the reduction in the number of subscribers. The sector is likely to experience stagnation, particularly with the reduction in investments. This will negatively affect the national GDP.”
Evoking the violation of the universal principle enshrined in article 4 point 30 of the framework law of October 16, 2002 related to telecommunications in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the national deputy Auguy Kalonji approached the Prime Minister with a request for the tax on mobile devices to be cancelled.
“The spirit of the principle of universal service,” said Kalonji, “obliges public authorities to provide the population with electronic communication services at an affordable price, regardless of their geographical location in the national territory.”

author: Providence Baraka


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2020 round-up: COVID-19 in South Asia · Global Voices
Rezwan

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay, used under a Pixabay License.
As COVID-19 took over the world in 2020, densely populated South Asia became one of the hardest hit regions, with India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal surpassing China in terms of the number of coronavirus cases.
The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic has been just short of catastrophic, as progress was halted, and prolonged lockdowns and inadequate government support pushed millions of people to slip below the poverty line. Global Voices coverage highlighted the devastation and uncertainties COVID-19 caused in South Asia, with vaccines yet to be available for use in any of these countries.
As the news about the SARS-like virus was unfolding in late December 2019 and January 2020, China announced the shutdown of the city of Wuhan on January 23, 2020, and flights were suspended. Bangladesh and India arranged special flights to bring back stranded people; however, Pakistan was slow to respond. Pakistani students stuck in Hubei province in Central China took to social media to appeal to the government of Pakistan to make arrangements to send them home.
For many migrant Nepali workers, both within the country and abroad, the lockdown imposed on March 24 proved to be deadlier than COVID-19. Stranded workers, especially in the Middle East and Malaysia, had to protest to appeal to the Nepali government to bring them back home.
The lockdown in India from March 24 left hundreds of thousands of vulnerable domestic migrant workers stranded without pay and the ability to sustain themselves or their families. Left with no other choices, and with the public transport shut down, a large number of workers and their families had started walking enormous distances to reach their homes.
Image by Rajesh Balouria from Pixabay, used under a Pixabay License.
On May 12, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a belated Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan (Self-reliant India) relief and recovery scheme to help the migrant population. However, the poorer section of the population was reported to be left in the lurch and many struggled to survive without enough support from government and non-government initiatives.
Frontline workers in health and social care played a significant role in the fight against COVID-19 in many South Asian countries and they faced considerable risk of infection.
In populous Bangladesh, such workers faced an unprecedented level of hardship, along with some criticism. Many hospitals, clinics and testing facilities lacked the required resources, implementation of quarantine measures was lacking and there was not enough time to train workers. The inadequacy of public healthcare systems in many parts of the country and insufficient protection for frontline medical professionals complicated the fight against COVID-19.
Hospital beds with oxygen support. Image by Silas Camargo Silão from Pixabay, used under a Pixabay License.
On April 6, 2020, Pakistani health care workers protested in Quetta, Balochistan province, demanding personal protective equipment (PPE), appropriate quarantine and other safety measures—resulting in the arrest of about 150 of the protesters.
In India, several healthcare workers were attacked by local mobs because of fears that the workers would contract COVID-19 from infected patients and spread the virus in their communities.
Most of the economies in South Asian countries were hardest hit by the social distancing/lockdown measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the first signs of the economic “tsunami” triggered by the lockdown measures was the closure of many shops, including bookshops, in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital.
Nilkhet second-hand book market in Dhaka. Image from Flickr by Francisco Anzola. (CC BY 2.0).
Countries like the Maldives, which are solely dependent on tourism have felt the immense economic strain as tourist arrivals dwindled.
In India, the unemployment rate increased to 24 per cent in May, and day labourers like tea plantation workers faced poverty and hunger through the scarcity of work and lack of government assistance.
Most governments in South Asia have responded to the crisis to the best of their efforts, imposing lockdown and social-distancing measures, rolling out relief packages to vulnerable communities to secure access to food. They also deferred payments on utilities, rents, taxes and debt services, providing some relief to ordinary people.
Bhutan was one of the first nations to temporarily shut their borders, as early as the first week of March. Subsequent prompt measures made Bhutan one of the successful countries in tackling COVID-19 with over 600 infected and zero deaths at the time of writing the report.
Nepal took early measures by postponing International Film Festivals and cricket tournaments, but these were criticised as inadequate, and an activist walked thousands of kilometres, started a nationwide campaign (#EnoughIsEnough), and went on hunger strikes to protest the poor government response.
Activist Iih being taken to a press conference on August 9, 2020. Photo by Sanjib Chaudhary, used with permission.
On April 2, 2020. the Indian government launched Aarogya Setu, a mobile app that alerts users when they are within six feet of a person infected with the coronavirus. This triggered major concerns about potential digital security issues. Activists were also irked by the news that the government was considering the use of “Digital ID-integrated cameras” for surveillance of potentially infected persons, and this raised further privacy concerns.
Pakistan claimed that they were under control amidst rising figures, but in June 2020, the World Health Organization sent a letter reminding Pakistan that the infections were rising at an alarming rate and suggested imposing fresh lockdowns. In terms of the number of infections and deaths, they are now behind India and Bangladesh.
The Sri Lankan government went ahead with its parliamentary elections in August this year after postponing them several times.
Authorities in Bangladesh arrested several people for their social media posts and cartoons criticizing the government’s response to the pandemic.
The social disruptions of the pandemic affected a lot of creative people like artists, filmmakers, sportspersons as they stayed home during prolonged lockdowns. Most people turned to internet-based solutions like virtual and streamed events.
The works of 19 Nepali artists were showcased in the virtual exhibition in May. Cartoonists used illustrations to depict the challenges Nepalis faced during that time of lockdown.
Home internet usage in Bangladesh surged as many resorted to watching YouTube and Facebook videos in the local language. Several YouTube channels and entertainers emerged catering to this increased audience. A film collection entitled “Tong Isolation Diary” was released featuring short films portraying the lives of different characters during the pandemic.
Short films of the “Tong Isolation Diary” series captured people's lives during the pandemic. Screenshot from the Tong-Ghor Talkies site.
A photo contest was launched this year asking the Rohingya community taking refuge in camps in Bangladesh to document their lives during the pandemic.
Kashmiri medical student Tabish Aijaz became popular on social media for sharing paintings she created on leaves to beat COVID-19 related stress and boredom during lockdown.
Some educational institutions in South Asia went online to teach students at home virtually but students from remote areas and low-income families who lacked internet access, like these students in Pakistan, faced tremendous challenges in keeping up with their studies. In India, a non-profit start-up from the city of Cuttack, in the state of Odisha used pre-Internet techs like phone calls, SMS, and radio to reach those students.
The pandemic has been both a bane and boon for the environment. Initially, the lockdown had a positive impact on wildlife in popular national parks in Sri Lanka which have long complained about too many visitors. However, reserves devoid of tourists and workers presented the opportunity for poachers—often local people affected by the lockdown—to increase illegal poaching.
There were many positives of the lockdowns. The COVID-19 restrictions have caused a reduction in pollution in many cities. A number of videographers from South Asia uploaded videos to YouTube depicting how the cities’ activities had come to a halt. In Nepal, pollution reduction created a favourable environment for birds and Mount Everest became visible from the capital Kathmandu.
The blog Everest Today tweeted:
Remember that viral picture of Mt Everest during lockdown? Once again, today, crystal clear sky makes Everest visible from Kathmandu. More: https://t.co/Bku12KOA8S pic.twitter.com/EjsOWZrL4n
— Everest Today (@EverestToday) October 30, 2020
We look forward to more stories from South Asia, hopefully from a post-COVID-19 world in 2021.

author: Rezwan


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Argentina closes 2020 with historic Senate vote legalizing abortion · Global Voices
Romina Navarro

“Surviving an abortion is a class privilege.” Vigil in Buenos Aires during Congressional discussion on abortion in 2018. Image by Juan Diez at Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
In the early morning hours of December 30, after more than a 13-hour session, and after an intense month of contrary opinions, “dirty campaigns,” protests and vigils in the streets, the Argentine Senate made history when it passed the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy Act. This Act legalizes the right to abortion, without restrictions or grounds, up to 14 weeks of gestation. It was passed with 38 votes in favor, 29 votes against, and one abstention.
With the passing of the bill, Argentina became the fifth country in Latin America to legalize abortion—after Cuba, Guyana, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay—and became the seventh on the entire American continent.
Since the beginning of his term that started in December 2019, President Alberto Fernández had promised to present the issue in the first days of March, but everything was suspended due to the emergency measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19. Following the pressure of feminist organizations from across the country, he finally sent the bill to Congress on November 16. The approval process was initiated on December 1 which culminated in the historic voting on December 30.
Also Read: In Argentina, women resumed the fight for #LegalAbortion2020
The first time they debated the proposed bill was in 2018. That time around, approval was obtained from the Chamber of Deputies but was later rejected by the Senate with a difference of seven votes. Despite the setback, the activism continued as the issue remained on the table and the campaign sought public approval for the bill; this served to strengthen the momentum of the “Green Tide” and support networks for those who needed access to safe abortion.
News reports about the passage of the Act are making headlines in national and international media. Jubilant celebrations filled the streets. On social media, there was also an abundance of expressions of joy. This was the message from Amnesty International Argentina:
Y de repente todo fue emoción.
Una victoria del movimiento de mujeres. #EsLey #AbortoLegal2020 pic.twitter.com/9p0OWyDvcG
— Amnistía Internacional Argentina (@amnistiaar) December 30, 2020
All of a sudden it was all emotion
A victory for the women's movement  #EsLey (It's Law) #AbortoLegal2020 (LegalAbortion2020)
These are some of the reactions from different corners of Argentina:
No hay palabras, solo sentires compartidos #EsLey ?
Vídeo de @vicki_freire pic.twitter.com/qKfCiKTwoX
— Editorial Chirimbote (@ChirimboteEd) December 30, 2020
There are now words, only shared feelings #EsLey (It's Law) ?
Acabo de llegar sin poder aún creerlo.
Me baño y se despierta Renata y lo primero que me dice es “es ley mamá?” “SI” le digo y nos fundimos en un abrazo que no olvidare en mi vida. Por Reni y por todas #EsLey ?
— Rosario (@RoGarriga) December 30, 2020
I just arrived, and still can’t believe it.
I took a shower and Renata woke up and the first thing she says to me “Is it law, Mom”. “YES” I tell her and we embrace in a hug that I will never forget in my life. For Reni and for all #EsLey (It's Law) ?
Hermosa mañana verdad? ? #ESLEY pic.twitter.com/J25poM7gS4
— Miaytsu (@Miggmicaela) December 30, 2020
Beautiful morning, right? ? #ESLEY (It's Law)
#EsLey?
El Aborto es Legal: Argentina da un paso histórico a favor de la vida y la salud de las niñas, mujeres y personas gestantes.
Así lo festeja #Cordoba #AbortoLegal2020 pic.twitter.com/Tulk4ZQ9ni
— Paula Hernández ? (@PaulidelSur) December 30, 2020
Legal Abortion: Argentina passes historic vote in support of life and the health of girls, women, and pregnant people.
This is how we celebrate #Cordoba #AbortoLegal2020 (Legal Abortion 2020)
Así se vivió en Mendoza#ESLEY #AbortoLegalYa #AbortoLegal2020 pic.twitter.com/qGwBD70UYe
— Cecilia Soria ?✊ (@Ceci_Soria_) December 30, 2020
This is how (the city of) Mendoza celebrated #ESLEY #AbortoLegalYa (Legal Abortion Now)
There were also celebrations and congratulations on Twitter from abroad. These are some of the messages from Spain:
Me he despertado para ver que Argentina es más libre y feminista.
Ya nunca más nadie se verá obligada a parir. Argentina es más seguro para todas las mujeres?#ESLEY pic.twitter.com/rxzO5ll8LW
— Madame Artichaut ♀?? (@alcachofit4) December 30, 2020
I’ve woken up to see Argentina more free and feminist. No one will ever be forced to give birth again. Argentina is safer for all women ?#ESLEY
Al fin vuestra larga lucha tuvo recompensa.
Enhorabuena, Argentina, el aborto ya #esLey
Ilustración creada para @LaUltima_Hora pic.twitter.com/5ouobJ0fbe
— Luiso García (@luixo80) December 30, 2020
At last, their long struggle was rewarded.
Congratulations, Argentina. Abortion now!  #esLey
Felicidades, compañeras argentinas! Lo que habéis conseguido con vuestra lucha, significa derechos, significa dignidad, significa vida! ✊?#ESLEY pic.twitter.com/mhusNM8p4N
— Chica Torpedo? ??? (@lachicatorpedo) December 30, 2020
Congratulations Argentine Friends! What you have achieved with your struggle means rights, it means dignity, it means life! ✊?#ESLEY
Enhorabuena, Argentina! #EsLey #AbortoLegal2020
Foto: @/mayragiselle.r en Instagram pic.twitter.com/08zKQdGEdD
— ⚡Troyiqueer Ana???? (@analadetuiter) December 30, 2020
Congratulations, Argentina! #EsLey #AbortoLegal2020
Photo: @/mayragiselle.r en Instagram
On behalf of the Chilean Feminist group HARTAS, they greeted Argentines with:
Así avanza la #MareaVerde
Un abrazo a todas las compañeras argentinas #AbortoLegal2020 #EsLey ? pic.twitter.com/bFef6cRRKd
— #HartasMujeres (@HARTASMujeres) December 30, 2020
This is how we move forward #MareaVerde (Green Wave)
A hug to our Argentine friends #AbortoLegal2020 #EsLey ?
The collective “No Te Calles” sent its congratulations from Mexico:
¡Sí se pudo Argentina!???
Desde México las felicitamos y abrazamos por su lucha incansable, ¡América Latina será toda feminista! #EsLey pic.twitter.com/cxoHUKQEJc
— ColectivaNoTeCalles (@NoTeCallesMor) December 30, 2020
Yes, Argentina achieved it! ???
From Mexico, we congratulate and embrace them for their tireless struggle, Latin America will be all feminist! #EsLey
From Bolivia, Artemisa says:
Ella me abrazaba mientras yo lloraba al enterarme la notica. Que buena forma de terminar este 2020. ?#EsLey pic.twitter.com/82OUFOInyO
— Artemisa (@TuAquelarre) December 30, 2020
She hugged me while I cried when I heard the news. What a good way to end this 2020. ?#EsLey
The news was also celebrated in Venezuela, and this is how one person responded:
Me despierto para enterarme que se hizo ley ? Años de lucha rindieron frutos. #EsLey
???? La ola verde ????
Tengo esperanza que en #Venezuela logremos está hazaña. pic.twitter.com/wS8PBx4HGS
— Mariana ?? (@Marifergui) December 30, 2020
I woke up to find out that the law was made ? Years of struggle paid off. #IsLaw
???? The green wave ????
I hope that in #Venezuela we will achieve this feat

author: Romina Navarro


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Calls for freedom of expression in Cuba after members of artist collective evicted during peaceful protest · Global Voices
Abel Gonzalez

Demonstration in front of the Cuban Ministry of Culture, Havana. Photo from Reynier Leyva Novo‘s Facebook account, used with permission.
Since November, a group of Cubans has been demanding freedom of expression in solidarity with members of an artists collective which has been facing repression from state authorities.
On November 27, a group of young Cubans demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Culture in Havana to show solidarity with the San Isidro Movement (MSI), a predominantly Black collective whose members had been forcibly evicted from their headquarters. The demonstration began with fewer than a dozen protesters who arrived at the ministry in the morning hours, and who were spontaneously joined by more than 200 more people.
The MSI is a multidisciplinary collective of mainly artists and activists whose aim is to protect cultural rights on the island. On the night before the demonstration, November 26, more than a dozen people were violently evicted by Cuban State Security from 955 Damas Street, the building which serves as the collective's headquarters in the Havana neighborhood of San Isidro, from which the movement takes its name. The 15 people had locked themselves in for more than a week—some of them on a hunger strike—to demand the release of the rapper Denis Solis Gonzalez, who was arrested on November 10 and sentenced to eight months in prison. Solis had been found guilty of contempt for expelling a policeman who had entered his home without a warrant.
The group of 15 in many ways mirrored the country's religious, racial, age and class diversity. Among them were a Muslim, a Buddhist, an independent journalist, a Roman Catholic, a young, gay teenager trying to escape compulsory military service, an underground rapper and two former university professors. Some, like visual artist Luis Manuel Otero, curator Anamely Ramos and rapper Maykel Castillo, went on a hunger strike. Others, like the writer Carlos Manuel Álvarez, had traveled there to record the extraordinary event and support the San Isidro group.
Since November 17, the day the group decided to lock themselves up to collectively read poetry to protest the imprisonment of the young Denis Solis, they had been besieged by Cuba's repressive security forces, which threatened to arrest anyone who dared to leave the building. They had also been violently attacked by a hooligan who had hammered the door in while police just a few steps away failed to intervene, and a portion of their food supplies had been confiscated.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara on hunger strike. Photo from Katherine Bisquet‘s Facebook account, used with permission.
This protest was considered an act of intolerable arrogance by the Cuban political police, who escalated the situation to a national crisis that included harassment, arrests, repression of demonstrations in public spaces, and, finally, a violent assault by the authorities on the building at Damas 955. The crisis also prompted much solidarity and, thanks to cell phones and expanding internet access, Cubans were able to observe in real-time the terror perpetrated by the state to force the strikers locked up in San Isidro to end their protest.
The demonstration at the Ministry of Culture a day later was a response by several artists to those events, which also motivated many more people to go out to the streets and join the demonstration. By the afternoon the initial group of 15 had swelled to 150, and by night they were almost 300. Together on the streets, they decided to respond to the act of state terror with a request for real dialogue. They demanded from officials of the ministry an explanation of the events, the freeing of Denis Solis, clarification of the whereabouts of Luis Manuel Otero Álcantara, who was arrested on November 26, released temporarily, but was arrested again and taken against his will to a hospital. However, this statement about the location of Otero was provided by the Cuban authorities was only communicated a day later after more than eight hours of protests against the arrest.
Initially, the authorities refused to receive them, but the protesters did not leave. Later, officials agreed to receive only 30 people, citing “health protocols for the coronavirus.” The protesters responded by improvising a democratic and assembly-based process through which they elected 32 people who represented the group's diversity.
Young independent journalists, dissident artists, centrist playwrights, and engaged filmmakers entered into a dialogue with the Vice-Minister of Culture Fernando Rojas that day, while people outside applauded to vocalize their support for the 32 inside. Police were deployed in the area around the demonstration to take action if the state deemed this necessary.
Demonstration in front of the Ministry of Culture in Havana. Photo from Reynier Leyva Novo‘s Facebook account, used with permission.
The 32 negotiators used certain terms—such as “repression”, “dictatorship”, “freedom of expression”, “arbitrary arrests”, “independent art”—the officials did not like, but after four long hours, they reached a number of agreements. The Cuban Ministry of Culture promised to “urgently” look into the situations of Denis Solis and Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara; agreed to a truce to stop police harassment and harassment against independent art spaces and organizations such as the San Isidro Movement; and agreed to organize “a multiple work agenda with proposals on cultural issues” to guarantee the safety of the demonstrators, some of whom had already been pepper-sprayed by the police. It was also agreed that the Cuban Minister of Culture would meet with the group on December 2 to continue the dialogue.
The protesters accepted the pact and peacefully disbanded. The next day, however, Vice-Minister Fernando Rojas appeared on a special program where, in hostile terms, he described the San Isidro Movement and the writer Carlos Manuel Álvarez as CIA agents, and the state news agency Granma called the demonstrations “a farce.” Meanwhile, State Security kept Luis Manuel Otero Álcantara isolated in a hospital against his will, and the government is pushing the narrative of a US plot.
Artist Tania Bruguera, one of the 32 representatives, said in a press conference on November 28 that “in less than 24 hours,” the Cuban government had violated several of the fundamental agreements established in the previous night's dialogue.
It is left to be seen what the protesters’ next steps will be, or what the potential impact of Luis Manuel Otero's role in the movement will be after he is released from the hospital. His case has attracted a lot of sympathy from the Cuban population and may lead to other protests in the future.  Meanwhile, Cuban police special forces have been deployed throughout the city of Havana and artists are under siege in their homes, while pressure on social media from Cubans at home and abroad who support the protests has been constant.
On November 24, Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel said on Twitter that “the San Isidro people chose the wrong country.” Ten days later, the government officially withdrew from the talks with the protestors.

author: Abel Gonzalez


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Christmas in the Philippines in the time of Duterte and COVID-19 · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Screenshot of footage from the second day of the Misa de Gallo or Simbang Gabi, the traditional nine-day devotional mass for Christmas, in Quiapo Church in Manila City.
Like in most parts of the world in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the way Christmas was celebrated in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines.
Amid fears of a new surge of transmissions during the holiday festivities, the Rodrigo Duterte government continued to keep the country under quarantine—already one of the longest in the world. It has discouraged family reunions, Church gatherings and even prohibited the holding of Christmas parties.
On the other hand, authorities have eased certain restrictions and encouraged people to come out of their homes to help revive the economy. The government has allowed the reopening of big malls, restaurants, and beauty salons and has started promoting local tourism.
While Duterte faults the so-called “pasaway” or undisciplined Filipinos for the country's pandemic woes to justify the enforcement of coercive measures like the banning of rallies and mass arrest of protesters, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez II also recently blamed the economic woes on consumers’ reduced spending because of their fears of the virus.
In outlining an alternative response to the pandemic, the people's initiative Citizens’ Urgent Response to End Covid-19 (CURE Covid) summed-up the problem with the Duterte government's ‘bungled pandemic response’ as follows:
It is becoming clear that COVID-19 is going to be a prolonged health crisis triggering an unprecedented economic slowdown and the heightening of social tensions. The pandemic has become so destructive not only because of the government’s inadequate, haphazard, and delayed response, but also due to the long-running neglect of the health care system coupled with glaring socioeconomic inequalities. There is also growing evidence that the emergence of coronaviruses is linked to environmental degradation. Sadly, too, we see how the pandemic is used to justify more repressive measures against our people.
Data from the Department of Health showed that the total cases of COVID-19 in the country reached 471,526 while the virus’ death toll has hit 9,162 as of December 29, 2020. The Philippines has the eighth highest number of coronavirus cases in Asia.
Mainstream media have largely reinforced Duterte's “lack of discipline” narrative by training their sights on the crowds trooping to shopping bazaars in search of affordable gifts, while overlooking the lack of adequate systems put in place to control overcrowding amid the pandemic.
LOOK: Divisoria, Manila on #Christmas Eve | @anjocalimario pic.twitter.com/hW3Hqgm5rH
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) December 24, 2020
Time lapse video of Ilaya St in Divisoria. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/0HScfTtkUb
— Tina PanganibanPerez (@tinapperez) December 22, 2020
As if to underscore the absence of a clear-sighted pandemic response for the Christmas rush, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III had been busy with photo ops of him personally inspecting the physical distance between shoppers with a measuring stick, at commercial centers in the national capital.
Sec. Duque is busy doing photo op rounds with a ruler for social distancing measures, while the rest of the world is busy vaccinating their people. Talking about strategic planning and big-picture thinking. That’s why we have the longest lockdown on earth. https://t.co/qyzl9ON6Y2
— Tony Leachon MD (@DrTonyLeachon) December 23, 2020
Dr Tony Leachon used to be a special adviser to Duterte's National Task Force on COVID-19 but was forced to resign when he publicly criticized the government for gaps that he saw in the risk communication, data management, and pandemic response plans of health authorities. He was also reportedly cursed by Duterte for questioning the efficacy of China's vaccine that the government is promoting as the remedy for the country's coronavirus woes.
Police implementing one of the strictest lockdown regimes in the world have been the target of condemnation for their harsh treatment of ordinary people, including threats to hit protocol violators with “yantok” or rattan sticks, at the same time condoning violations by government officials.
The police also drew criticism from netizens when it initiated the “arestoaguinaldo” prank-arrest operations in Cebu City. Cops presented fake arrest warrants to unsuspecting individuals and herded them into police vehicles before given them “surprise” Christmas gifts. The police prank is a play on the Christmas aguinaldo tradition involving the giving of gifts for children.
If they can produce fake warrants of arrest, then I wouldn't be surprised if they can create a fake warrant to imprison innocent people and activists. https://t.co/B4ItqI7Gj7
— elle (@yourrightsays) December 16, 2020
Arrest warrants are not jokes. Law enforcement is a serious practice. Pero total naman, under the command of the biggest circus clown, the legitimacy of many of their many practices have turned into a joke. But the jokes of the powerful are no laughing matter, they're dangerous. https://t.co/OGtLGSxH1i
— Vince #AccountabilityNotResiliency! (@thevincenttone) December 17, 2020
The Christmas season in the Philippines is traditionally one of the longest in the world, with marketing promotions and the peddling of Christmas decorations starting as early as September. One sign of the onset of the traditional holiday season is missing this year, with the banning of Christmas caroling which is usually done door-to-door by choirs and neighborhood kids asking for cash gifts from listeners.
The national government has left it to local governments to decide whether to hold the traditional Simbang Gabi or Misa de Gallo, the nine-day series of dawn-time masses held from December 16 to 24. News reports show Christian devotees observing health protocols and physical distancing measures as they attended mass.
Super socially distanced Simbang Gabi at the Xavier football field ? pic.twitter.com/zgYal28Pjs
— Carmela Fojas ? (@melamelamels) December 24, 2020
9/9 — Simbang Gabi completed!! Its been a tough year but God is good ?May 2021 enligthen the world with full of Love, Happiness, Contentment and Joyful in Life!❤ Maraming Salamat Ama sa lahat?❤ pic.twitter.com/y7QBjBV8JZ
— ?????? (@jason_jocson3) December 23, 2020
There were also reports of overcrowding in certain church grounds in Cebu City on the first day of the devotional mass. City officials claim that crowd control efforts were successful overall after difficulties during the first three days of the Misa de Gallo in Cebu. But this also raised questions about the prudence of allowing large religious gatherings in a pandemic.
LOOK: People flocked outside the Sto. Tomas de Villanueva church in Poblacion-Pardo, Cebu City during the first Misa de Gallo this year. Courtesy of Joworski Alipon (Photo: Councilor Dave Tumulak) pic.twitter.com/e9XMWgv9ed
— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) December 16, 2020
LOOK: Misa de Gallo Day 1 – Basilica Minore del Santo Niño in Cebu City | via Aldo Banaynal #TheFreeman #CebuChristmas pic.twitter.com/9eg5Df9Ipz
— The Freeman (@TheFreemanNews) December 16, 2020
Because of travel restrictions and coronavirus fears many overseas Filipino contract workers are also skipping their homecomings for Christmas, with many opting to use video-call and teleconferencing applications to make up for their physical absence.


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Short videos by young Cambodians promote fight against COVID-19 disinformation · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Participants in the video contest about the challenges facing young internet users in Cambodia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Source: Facebook page of The Cambodian Center for Independent Media
The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM), a civil society group promoting media literacy and digital rights, has released 14 short videos highlighting the role of young internet users in preventing the spread of disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
CCIM announced the finalists in the video competition themed “The Challenges Youth are Facing on Social Media During COVID-19″ on December 24, and stated its objective:
The purpose of this competition is to encourage young people to use the media responsibly and safely and to promote youth participation in the media.
The winning video was produced by Hung San Socheata and Antong An. Entitled “Doubled edged sword,” the video underscores the potential of social media to provide real-time information, but that it can also be a platform for disseminating disinformation.
The first runner-up was the video produced by Chao Ly Hoang, Nguon Huy Tieng, and Prum Sok Leng, entitled “A day life during Covid-19.” It emphasizes the importance of being critical in consuming and sharing information on social media and instructs students to be more responsible in managing their time when they are connected to the internet.
Third place went to the video produced by Chhil Chek and San Chan Monineath. The video is “Misunderstand,” and depicts the consequences of using unverified online information in dealing with COVID-19. The storyline features a young man who made a “ting mong” (scarecrow) and used ground garlic, chili, and boiled eggs to cure his sister of COVID-19.
Another finalist in the competition was the video “Be Careful, Your Dream Might Come True,” which provides useful tips on how to detect “fake news” on social media.
The video “Sad Potato” is meant to motivate young Cambodians to spend quality time with their families as the pandemic lockdown continues to disrupt many lives.
The video “Pollution” provides relevant information about the use of social media in Cambodia and how disinformation, or “pollution,” can negatively affect the health of the online community.
As of December 15, Cambodia had recorded a total of 362 cases, with 312 recoveries. On December 23, a news report noted that no new COVID-19 cases had been detected in the country and that only 14 people were still undergoing treatment.
Despite the low number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the government has charged several journalists and critics for spreading “fake news” about the pandemic. Human rights groups have warned that authorities are using the health crisis to silence dissenting voices.

author: Mong Palatino