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‘Venezuela has gone backwards’ on LGBTQ+ rights, says congresswoman Tamara Adrián · Global Voices
Andrea Paola Hernández

Photo published by the National Assembly of Venezuela.
This article is part of our special coverage of LGBTQ+ Pride
Tamara Adrián, the first transgender National Assembly member in Venezuela and the second in the region, is a leading figure in the decades-long legal battle by the Venezuelan LGBTQ+ community for equal recognition. While Article 21 of the country's constitution is supposed to guarantee equality before the law, Adrián sees Venezuela as a country in crisis whose priorities do not include those affected by discrimination.
On 19 May, the National Assembly published an agreement which, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, recognized for the first time the unique impact of Venezuela's humanitarian crisis on the LGBTQ+ community. The agreement calls on the Venezuelan state to respect the LGBTQ+ community's right to healthcare without discrimination. While Adrián pushed within the National Assembly so the agreement recognizes the community's equality before the law, another anonymous lawmaker added a clause denying equal marriage rights. This proved controversial among supporter of the LGBTQ+ community.
Global Voices author Andrea Paola Hernández interviewed Adrián by WhatsApp in order to shed light on the current situation of LGBTIQ+ people in Venezuela. Adrián, like many activists, international observers and opposition politicians, refers to Maduro's government as a dictatorship or an authoritarian regime.
Andrea Paola Hernández (APH): What is the current legal situation of the LGTBQ+ community in Venezuela?
Tamara Adrián (TA): La situación jurídica de la población LGBTIQ+ en Venezuela es de total desamparo; a diferencia de lo que ha ocurrido en casi toda la región, en la que hoy hay derechos iguales. Costa Rica, México, Colombia, Ecuador, Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile y Bolivia, en menor medida, tienen protección contra la discriminación, matrimonio igualitario o uniones civiles (salvo Bolivia). También hay reconocimiento de la identidad de las personas trans sin necesidad de operaciones genitales ni requisitos patologizantes y por vía administrativa, con el otorgamiento de una nueva partida de nacimiento.
Mientras tanto, Venezuela no avanzó, y no solamente no avanzó sino que retrocedió. En Venezuela no se reconocen los derechos de pareja, la identidad de las personas trans — que sí se reconoció, con los estándares de la época, hasta el año 1998, cuando llegó Chávez al poder y modificó la constitución. Y no hay una protección integral contra la discriminación. Venezuela es prácticamente el único país donde no hay ningún tipo de protección en el espacio público, y sobre todo a nivel escolar y educativo, lo que facilita o produce la deserción escolar y la violencia y discriminación que lleva muchas veces a considerar el suicidio.
Estamos entonces absolutamente desamparados. La propaganda de la dictadura — que durante mucho tiempo vendió que habría derechos iguales y que eso solo era posible en revolución — quedó en el pasado y hoy estamos en presencia de un régimen que abiertamente desconoce todo tipo de derechos a la población LGBTIQ+.
Tamara Adrián (TA): The legal situation of the LGBTIQ+ population in Venezuela is one of total abandonment, in contrast to what has happened nearly everywhere else in the region where there are now equal rights. Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and to a lesser extent, Bolivia, have anti-discrimination protections, equal marriage or civil unions (except Bolivia). In addition, the identity of trans people is being recognized without the need for genital surgery or pathology requirements by the granting of a new birth certificate via administrative means.
Meanwhile, not only has Venezuela not progressed, it has gone backwards. Venezuela does not recognize the rights of partnership or the identity of trans people — which was recognized by the standards of the time until 1998, when Chávez came to power and modified the constitution [from 1977 to 1998, the identity of trans people was legally recognized in Venezuela]. And there is no comprehensive protection against discrimination. Venezuela is practically the only country where there is no form of protection in the public sphere and particularly at the school and education level, which causes school abandonment, and the violence and discrimination which often leads people to consider suicide.
So we are completely abandoned. The dictatorship's propaganda — which for a long time promised equal rights and maintained that this was only possible through revolution — has remained in the past and now we are in the presence of a regime which openly fails to acknowledge any kind of rights for the LGBTIQ+ population.
APH: The National Assembly's Agreement about the unique impact of COVID-19 on the LGBTQ+ community was rejected by civil society, not just because of its open denial of the right to equal marriage but because of complaints by specialist NGOs which stated they had not been consulted or included in the agreement. Will it be modified?
TA: Incluir a las ONG no es la forma en la que se lleva a cabo un acuerdo en la Asamblea Nacional. Solo las leyes pasan por la fase de consulta pública y lo declarado no fue una ley. Este tiene el valor de acuerdo nada más, por lo que no impide que se legisle sobre tema del matrimonio igualitario, solo que, en las condiciones actuales, no se ha podido porque desde el año 2016 ha sido bloqueada la función legislativa de la Asamblea Nacional.
En cuanto al contenido, hubo un cambio que introdujo alguien cuyo nombre no es conocido aún, y que pretendió volver al “pecado original” [el pecado original hace referencia al matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo]. El “pecado original” con relación al matrimonio igualitario viene de la Asamblea Constituyente del año 1999, que introdujo el artículo 77. Ese artículo se creó para evitar justamente el matrimonio igualitario.
En 2008, después de años de que la asociación civil Unión Afirmativa intentó una acción en justicia para resolver la incoherencia entre el artículo 21 de la Constitución, que habla de la igualdad ante la ley, y el 77, la Sala Constitucional dictó una sentencia absolutamente retrógrada. Señalaba que, como las parejas del mismo sexo son “distintas” de las parejas heterosexuales, entonces no tienen una protección constitucional directa. En la misma época, entre el 2007 y el 2009, otros tribunales supremos de la región, concretamente en Colombia, en Brasil y en México legislaron sobre el tema de manera completamente contraria.
TA: Including NGOs is not the way that agreements are reached in the National Assembly. It is only laws which go through a phase of public consultation and this declaration was not a law. It has the value of an agreement, nothing more. This does not mean that equal marriage will not be legislated on, just that in current conditions it hasn't been possible because the legislative function of the National Assembly has been blocked since 2016.
Regarding the content, a change was introduced by someone whose name is still unknown, which intended to refer to “original sin” [original sin refers to marriage between people of the same sex]. “Original sin” in relation to equal marriage comes from the Constituent Assembly of 1999, which introduced Article 77 — an article created for the sole purpose of avoiding equal marriage.
In 2008, after years of civil society organization Unión Afirmativa attempting to take legal action and resolve the inconsistency between Article 21 of the constitution (which talks about equality before the law) and Article 77, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice issued an absolutely backwards judgement. It indicated that since same sex couples are “different” to heterosexual couples, they do not have direct constitutional protection. During the same time period, between 2007 and 2009, other supreme tribunals in the region, specifically those of Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, legislated in completely the opposite way.
APH: What project proposals exist at the moment to deal with the particular problems faced by the Venezuelan LGBTQ+ community?
TA: Los proyectos que existen son los que están desde el 2016 en la Asamblea Nacional: la modificación de la Ley Orgánica de Registro Civil. La finalidad de esto es modificar la definición de matrimonio, introducir una figura de unión civil igualitaria, establecer el derecho a la identidad de las personas trans por vía administrativa y sin necesidad de operaciones genitales ni requisitos patologizantes, el establecimiento de un sexo registral intersex. También la prohibición de mutilación genital de niños y niñas intersex, el establecimiento del orden y la modificación de los nombres y apellidos, y otros aspectos relativos a la protección igualitaria de todas las personas, incluyendo a los esposos que quieren tomar el apellido legal de su cónyuge, sea hombre o mujer.
TA: The existing projects are those that have been in the National Assembly since 2016: the modification of the Organic Law on Civil Registry. The aim of this is to modify the definition of marriage, introduce the concept of equal civil union, establish trans people's right to identity via an administrative route without the need for genital surgery or pathologization, and the establishment of intersex as a registration category. Also the banning of genital mutilation of intersex children, the establishment of the order and modification of names and surnames, and other aspects relating to the equal protection of all people, including spouses who want to take the legal surname of their partner, be they a man or a woman.
APH: How do you view what lies ahead for the LGBTQ+ population in the current national and global context?
TA: La situación en Venezuela es compleja, la dictadura no se ha enfocado nada en los crímenes de odio, cuando Venezuela es uno de los 70 países en el mundo que criminaliza la relación entre personas del mismo sexo. Ese es otro proyecto de modificación: el del Código de Justicia Militar, donde esto aplica para sus miembros pero, al crecer la población reclutada, crece la población afectada por este código [El articulo 565 del Código de Justicia Militar prohíbe relaciones con personas del mismo sexo]. También es necesario atender con urgencia el tema de políticas públicas en materia de educación, en materia de salud, en materia de vivienda y en definitiva lo que se viene es todo lo que tiene que hacerse para romper las brechas que históricamente han afectado desproporcionadamente a las personas LGBT y particularmente a la población trans.
TA: The situation in Venezuela is complex, the dictatorship has not paid any attention to hate crimes when Venezuela is one of 70 countries in the world which criminalize relationships between people of the same sex. This relates to another amendment project: that of the Code of Military Justice. The code applies to members of the military, but as the number of recruits grows, so too does the population affected by this code [Article 565 of the Code of Military Justice prohibits relations between people of the same sex]. We also need to take an urgent look at the topic of public policies in education, health and housing. In short, what we're doing is everything that needs to be done to break down the barriers that have disproportionately affected LGBT people and particularly the trans population.

author: Andrea Paola Hernández


text:
‘Why did your father die?’: Serbia’s COVID-19 chaos spills onto Belgrade’s streets · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Social networks in Serbia were still raw on July 8 after police and so-called plainclothes officers used force to put down a rally against the government's pandemic policies.
Protesters in front of Serbian parliament in Belgrade on July 8, 2020. Signs read “All join the strike,” “Health system is not SMS nor SNS” [acronym of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party], “I don't want to get treated via SMS,” “I am not even allowed to get sick.” Photo by Zoran Torbica, used with permission.
The police dispersed protesters who gathered outside the parliament building in Belgrade using teargas, batons, armored vehicles, attack dogs and horses. At one point during the demonstration, protesters pushed their way into the parliament, but they were quickly repulsed by police.
Some journalists witnessing the dramatic events said it brought back memories of chaotic post-election demonstrations in 2000.
Mass protests of mostly angry youth, clashes, teargas, and stampedes in Belgrade tonight. Tasted like 2000 way too much. Vučić simply refuses responsibility for disastrous measures during the pandemic, at the cost of social unrest. Peak impunity, and the outcome we all feared.
— Vujo Ilić (@vujoilic) July 7, 2020
The protests began on the evening of July 7 after the government announced a weekend curfew in Belgrade in response to a surge of COVID-19 cases across the country.
Protesters took to the streets to decry the way the authorities have mishandled the pandemic response and rail against corruption.
The Serbian right-wing populist government promoted a return-to-normal narrative in order to conduct parliamentary elections.
In a controversial move, Belgrade declared 4,000 persons who had previously tested positive to COVID-19 as “healed” on June 7, reducing the official number of active infections by about 10 times.
Epidemiologist Zoran Radovanović complained at the time that the patients had been “written off by an act of the quill, it was an administrative decision.”
When the election was eventually held on June 21, the ruling SNS party won an overwhelming majority of seats.
Opposition parties boycotted the vote, arguing that neither the government nor the pandemic had allowed conditions for a free and fair vote.
The protesters included a wide range of citizens, from left-wing students to right-wing groups, who coalesced without prior organization in front of the parliament.
za slučaj da se neko pitao koliko ljudi ima pic.twitter.com/ooHhsCjKVt
— Pru (@jprusina) July 7, 2020
In case anyone wonders how many people are there…
In true populist fashion, Serbian government officials at first ridiculed the virus and repeatedly minimized its danger. Then, after backtracking and imposing strict quarantine measures in April, they completely relaxed those measures in the buildup to the vote.
A report by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) published on June 22 indicated that the government covered up COVID-19 deaths. President Aleksandar Vučić dismissed the report, but few are convinced by his position.
Meanwhile, the southwestern provincial town of Novi Pazar has become a virus flashpoint due to a spike in cases and a shortage of medical supplies.
Only a few TV networks — N1 TV, Al Jazeera Balkans and Nova S — provided live coverage of the protests.
The soundbite “Dad, this is for you” (Ćale, ovo je za tebe) from an interview on N1 TV became a slogan of the protests.
Snimak koji je obeležio večerašnji protest:
“Ćale, ovo je za tebe…” pic.twitter.com/kpEK5T8dhj
— TV N1 Beograd (@N1infoBG) July 8, 2020
Protester: Tear gas, live rounds, batons, everything against barehanded youth. Dad, this is for you, who died while there were no ventilators… Dad I love you very much, I do this for you and for my recently born son.
Journalist: Why did your father die?
Protester: Because there were no ventilators. To this day I haven't received his tests, the paperwork said that he died from the corona [virus]. No ventilators were available in the hospital in Zemun. That's according to the official report. While they [the government] were bragging that we donate ventilators abroad. Dad, this is for you, daddy! I know you would have been proud!
The following day, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić denied the claim that the protester's father, painter Ljubiša Đurić (71), died due to lack of ventilators. In response, the protester published his father's medical history report, that indeed admits “lack of free places.” He has demanded an apology from the president.
Protesters and TV crews documented some of the most poignant scenes from the evening:
noćas su ispalili suzavac na mene, a ja sam ga sačekao na volej i vratio nazad na muriju izgleda da je neko iz mase to snimio i evo https://t.co/KvYrorOJIM
— иван__дамн (@ivan__damn) July 8, 2020
Today the cops shot a can of tear gas at me, and I responded with a volley kick and gave it back to them. Another protester filmed that and here I am…
Konjica pic.twitter.com/5xJWsZTncK
— Zoran Torbica (@torbica) July 7, 2020
Here comes the cavalry.
Policija gubi kontrolu i prebija ljude! pic.twitter.com/J7JIyCrBi1
— Ne davimo Beograd (@nedavimobgd) July 7, 2020
The police is losing control and is beating people up.
Some Belgrade riot police seem to be beating people completely unprovoked. These three men are sitting on a bench as a column of police walk by. Some police break off from the group and beat them. The men don't fight back, they attempt to retreat, but the police continue beating. pic.twitter.com/ankJg5IkTt
— Tucker Jones (@tuckcomatus) July 7, 2020
At around 3 AM on July 8, the police dispersed the protest, although some demonstrators remained in the vicinity of the building, broadcasting what they had just seen and experienced.
pic.twitter.com/rDfHaxmrKJ
— Zeljko Kisa (@ZeljkoKisa) July 7, 2020
I think that the state has to truthfully inform its citizens. If the state doesn't want to, then we have to force it to do it. That's it. That's our role in this society… I am a father of two small kids and I hope my children will live in a better state than the one I grew up in. That is my wish and my goal. This is what I'm fighting for. And that's the end. Good bye and thank you.
According to data provided by the Serbian government to the World Health Organization and compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of July 8, the country had 16,719 confirmed cases and 330 deaths from coronavirus.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
Czech author Radka Denemarková on Kundera and patriarchy in the Czech literature scene · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Portrait of Radka Denemarková by Soňa Pokorná, photo used with permission
Last month the Czech Republic was rocked by a literary scandal that soon took on political overtones: Czech author Jan Novák released the first ever Czech biography of Milan Kundera, a Czech-French author who enjoys great popularity worldwide but is often frowned upon in the Czech Republic.
The 900 page-long book covers the Czechoslovak years of Kundera's life before he went into exile in France in 1975. It describes his early literary career, including his full endorsement of Stalinist ideology, many of his sexual encounters and his alleged collaboration with the Czechoslovak State Security. The book has caused a sensation, while the reaction in traditional and social media has been mixed to say the least.
To understand the many aspects of the debate, Global Voices talked to Radka Denemarková, one of the most awarded contemporary Czech writers, who is also a literary critic and a translator from German. The interview was edited for brevity.
Společnost se s obdobím před rokem 1989 vyrovnávat ještě ani nezačala. A letošní kniha o Kunderovi takovým krokem není, naopak, je tu v sázce sama polarita viníků a obětí. Až se společnost začne narovnávat, tak budou konečně vycházet knihy o lidech, kteří Kundery a další do podobných situací dostali.
Kniha je dílem šikovného řemeslníka, ale není o Kunderovi, je o Novákovi, z každé stránky čiší nadřazené já a bezbřehý sadismus, řečeno s Jiřím Kolářem „strašlivá nevzdělanost, která zahaluje text jako neproniknutelná mlha“. Chybí zásadní kunderovské jádro, ironie a povědomí o umění (evropského) románu.
Takový text má vycházet na pokračování v bulvárním deníku, kam patří. Ovšem s literaturou, natož pravdou nemá příliš společného. Kniha sama je spíše odrazem dnešní buranské mentality. Kniha je reklamním trikem, profesionálně zpracovaným produktem. Její jazyk je nasycený dikcí prokurátorů, připomíná padesátá léta, která autor Kunderovi vyčítá.
Na knihu o Kunderovi si musíme počkat, měla by ji napsat inteligentní, vzdělaná, citlivá mladá žena, protože Kunderův svět je světem patriarchálních hodnot, které Novák odhalit nemůže, protože je sám žije.
Radka Denemarková (RD): Czech society hasn't begun to face its pre-1989 [the end of communism, also known as the Velvet Revolution] past. And this year's book about Kundera is not a step forward in that direction. On the contrary, what is at stake here is the polarity of perpetrators and victims. When our society will finally get its act together, then we will finally have books about the people who got Kundera and others in the situations we are currently witnessing.
This  book is the product of a skilled craftsman, but it is not about Kundera, it is about Novák. Each page reeks of an inflated sense of ego and endless sadism. As Jiří Kolář [an influential Czech author who sided with Havel and other dissidents] wrote, it is an example of a “terrible lack of culture, which covers up the text like an impenetrable fog”. What is missing in this book is the essence of Kundera, his irony and his awareness of the art of the European novel.
Such a text can only be released as instalments in some yellow press publication, where it belongs. It has little to do with literature, and even less with truth. The book itself is an expression of today's country bumpkin mentality. The book is an ad trick, a professionally developed product. Its language and tone belong to state prosecutors and recall [the period of Stalinist show trials] 1950s, for which the author blames Kundera.
We still await a book about Kundera written by a young, sensitive, educated and intelligent woman, as Kundera's world is based on patriarchal values, which Novák himself cannot identify, because his life is also based on them.
FN: Why is Kundera so unpopular in the Czech Republic?
RD: Protože je úspěšný v zahraničí a Čechy vůbec nepotřebuje. České myšlení je hluboce provinční, závistivé, uznává jen místní celebrity. Ale pozor, je to daleko složitější, Kundera je Francouz elitářstvím i jazykem, který si zvolil. Nechce mít s Čechami nic společného i proto, jako by se bál, že se odkryje jeho skutečný předsrpnový příběh. O ten nestojí. Už si vybájil jiný.
Kundera je přitom v jistém a paradoxním slova smyslu poctivý, jednolitý a důsledný, chová se ke svému životu jako ke svému dílu, dílo je pouze to, za čím autor sám stojí ve chvíli bilancování. A k tomu, co by se dalo nazvat „jeho“ dílem podle něj nepatří, co je nezralé, co je nezdařené. Patří ale rovněž ke generaci, která nerada připomíná, že tanky v roce 1968 byly poslány na expartajníky, mnozí z nich Stalinovi v padesátých letech ochotně pomáhali věšet oprátky. Kundera sice s Čechami nechtěl mít nic společného, takže se bohužel ke kauzám z dob komunismu kolem své osoby nevyjádřil, a kdo je jednou v podezření, že napomáhal režimu, který vraždil, musí se postavit ke svým činům. Protože jinak urážíme mrtvé. Kundera ale není Günter Grass, který se k problematickým činům mládí za nacismu vrátil v knize Loupání cibule. Kundera totiž na rozdíl od Grasse nikdy nebyl tak vyhraněně politický, nikdy se netvářil jako morální autorita.
V širším kontextu Kunderův případ ale otevírá zásadnější, širší témata, v němž je i on obětí. Například soudy s komunistickými zločinci se tu vlekly, nikdo nebyl, není a nebude potrestán, protože společnost odmítá přijmout podíl viny.
Ke Kunderovi měl a má navíc odstup i Havlův disidentský okruh jenom proto, že Kundera tvrdil, že disidenti jsou pokaždé mimo realitu. Češi jako národ plebejců jsou také alergičtí na projevy elitářství. Proto mají škodolibou radost nad každým pokleskem a v Čechách si pokaždé našli zástupné „viníky“ v osobnostech. Zatímco skuteční viníci nepozorovaně unikli. A stejně je vidět na Kunderu. Plivají na něho hlavně ti, kdo mají vždy navrch.
RD: Because he is popular abroad and he doesn't need the Czech Republic at all. Czech mentality is deeply provincial, full of jealousy, and recognizes only local celebrities. But beware, it is all very complicated: Kundera is French because of his elitism and choice of language. He doesn't want to have anything in common with the Czech Republic, so that the truth about what he did before 1989 will not surface. He doesn't want that because he has already told another tale about his life.
Yet Kundera is paradoxically honest, uniform and consistent, he treats his life the same way he treats his work, because when it comes to considering life's outcomes, the author can only rely on his or her works. And what was immature, what was a failure, doesn't belong to the works. At the same time, Kundera belongs to a generation who doesn't like to remember that in 1968 [the year of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia] tanks were sent against former Communist Party members, many of whom willingly helped Stalin to hang opponents in the 1950s. Kundera perhaps didn't want to have anything in common with the Czech Republic, thus he unfortunately didn't take a stand on his role during the communist era. But anyone who is once suspected of having helped a regime that killed people must answer for his acts. Otherwise we insult the dead. Yet Kundera is not Günter Grass, who talks about his problematic actions in his youth during the Nazi period in the book “Beim Häuten der Zwiebel” (“Peeling the Onion“). Kundera, unlike Grass, was never had such an acute sense of the political, never presented himself as a moral authority.
But the case of Kundera opens a larger and even more important topic, of which he is also a victim. For example, the trials of communist crimes dragged on here, no one was, is not and will not be condemned, because society refuses to accept its share of guilt.
The dissident circles around Václav Havel kept and still keep their distance from Kundera, because he once said that they have no sense of reality. Czechs are a nation of plebians who are allergic to any form of elitism. That's why they experience a form of schadenfreude at anyone's fall, and they always find ideal culprits in public figures, while the real culprits get away, The same is happening with Kundera. The ones spitting at him are those who have the upper hand.
FN: Why did you chose to include Kundera as a character in your most recent novel, “Hodiny z olova” (“The Hours of Lead”)?
RD Pro mě je Kundera jako postava (nejen) povýšeného elitáře důležitá pro objasnění češství, českého údělu a mentality středoevropského prostoru, do kterého svými výtečnými romány patří (k ironii dějin patří, že v roce 1954 se Havel po maturitě na večerním gymnáziu hlásil na různé vysoké školy, v přijímací komisi na filmovou fakultu AMU seděl Milan Kundera, Havel kvůli kádrovému posudku přijatý nebyl).
Kundera odmítal podepisovat petice a rebelovat. Na což má každý právo. Ale Havel mu vytýkal něco jiného: že téměř programově odmítá vidět i tu druhou stránku těchto věcí. Totiž nepřímý a dlouhodobý význam, který mají. Havel říkal, že Kunderův apriorně skeptický vztah k občanským aktům, které jsou bez naděje na okamžitý efekt a jeví se pouze jako výraz snahy jejich autorů demonstrovat svou vlastní skvělost, dobře zná. A nesdílel ho. Havel cítil, že je třeba něco udělat nejen z principu, ale že se má něco dělat vždy, když jsou lidé nespravedlivě zavíráni. Zatímco my Havla doma dnes pomalu zesměšňujeme, například pro čínské disidenty je obrovským vzorem, i tam vznikla Charta 08.
Nebezpečí vidím ještě jinde. Arogantní knihou o Kunderovi odvádíme pozornost od skutečných zločinců. Tváříme se, že nevidíme tváře vrahů ani kolaborantů okupačního režimu před rokem 1989. Kam se rozplynuli příslušníci Státní bezpečnosti?  U nás nebyl za zločiny komunismu nikdo (jako například v západním Německu za zločiny nacismu) vyloučen z veřejného života. Po roce 1989 se přelili do parlamentu a podnikatelských kruhů, jeden z nich je v roce 2020 premiérem české vlády. To je náš hlavní problém, o kterém se společnost bojí mluvit. Ale my potřebujeme osudy v soukolí dějin pochopit do hloubky, v jejich celistvosti a existenciální obnaženosti, jak se o to snaží Kundera ve svých románech, ne je pošlapávat, zesměšňovat. A já opakuji s Lao-c´: „Každá z bytostí nese ve svém týle temnotu,/ ve svém náručí světlo./ I když je v člověku něco špatného,/ je třeba ho zahanbovat?“
RD For me Kundera as a character representing this elistim is important to explain the Czech mentality, and of Central Europe, to which he belongs with his outstanding novels. The irony is that in 1954 when Havel finished school, he tried to get into different universities, including the Film Academy. The commission reviewing the candidates included MIlan Kundera, and Havel was not accepted because his family did not have the right political background, as the regime privileged workers and farmers while Havel came from a bourgeois family.
Kundera refused to sign [anti-communist] petitions and to be a rebel. Which is his right, of course. But Havel reproached him for something else: that he refused to see the other aspect of dissident activism — the indirect meaning it carries over a long period of time. Havel used to say he knew very well Kundera's a priori skepticism regarding civic activism, and [that he thought] it is hopeless as it has no immediate effect and is just an attempt by dissidents to look good. But Havel didn't share that skepticism, he felt one needs to do something not just out of principle, but that one must always act when people were being detained unfairly… While we are almost making fun of Havel today, he remains an huge inspiration for Chinese dissidents that created Charter 08.
I see the danger elsewhere: this arrogant book about Kundera is a distraction from the real crimes. We pretend we don't see the faces of criminals and collaborators of the pre-1989 regime. To where did the members of the State Security dissolve? Here, no one was expelled from public life for crimes committed under communism, as was the case, for example, in Western Germany for crimes committed under Nazism. After 1989 those people entered parliament, business circles and one of them today is the current Czech Prime Minister. This is our own problem, which our society is afraid to discuss. But we need to understand deeply the fate of people in the context of history… just as Kundera tries to do it in his novels, and not trample or make fun of those human fates. I repeat the words of Laozi: “Each person carries obscurity on their head/ and light in their hands/ And even if there is something bad with a person / do we need to embarrass them?”

author: Filip Noubel


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In the Brazilian Amazon, fires and pandemic are a disastrous mix · Global Voices
Amazônia Real

Fires in the northern state of Acre, in September 2019. Photo by Katie Maehler/Mídia NINJA, CC-BY-NC
This story, written by Izabel Santos and Bruna Melo, was originally published by Amazônia Real. It is republished here as part of a content partnership with Global Voices.
The highest rates of deforestation in the last decade in the Amazon were recorded last year. But 2020 could be even worse.
A study by Brazil's Amazonian Environmental Research Institute (Ipam), a non-profit NGO, estimates that there are at least 4,500 square kilometres of the deforested area in the Amazon that could be burned this year. This area is equivalent to three times the size of the city of São Paulo.
Ipam's scientists add that if 2019's pace of deforestation is maintained in the next few months, this area could double in size by the end of July, the height of the dry season and when most of the burning begins. The report notes that if just 60 percent of this 9,000 square-kilometre area burns, the situation will be similar to that of 2019, when Amazon fires ignited global outrage.
The study, published on June 8, states:
Se tudo virar fumaça, a região pode enfrentar estado de calamidade pública na saúde devido a sobreposição de queimadas com pandemia de Covid-19, o que sobrecarregará ainda mais a rede saúde já em colapso nos atendimentos à população.
If everything burns, the region may face a public health crisis situation because of the combination of fires and the COVID-19 pandemic, which will further overburden the already collapsed healthcare system caring for the population.
Combating fires and deforestation has become, as well as an environmental protection, a health measure, according to one of the authors of the study, the researcher Paulo Moutinho, a member of Ipam who has a Ph.D. in ecology.
Last year, the towns that burned the most in the Amazon saw their air become 53 percent more polluted, on average, compared to 2018. Moutinho emphasized that if authorities do not act, this could lead to deaths in addition to those caused by COVID-19.
Since March, the region's public healthcare system has been overwhelmed with cases of COVID-19, and three states in the Amazon are among those with the highest number of cases in Brazil.
According to IPAM, as of the end of May 2020, 20 percent of Brazil's deaths from the new coronavirus occurred in the northern region, which also had the highest infection and mortality rate per 100,000 inhabitants. As of July 6, Brazil had 64,867 deaths and over 1,6 million recorded cases, according to the Ministry of Health.
IPAM stated:
No Amazonas, no Pará e em Mato Grosso, mais de 20% das pessoas moram em áreas que exigem um deslocamento de até quatro horas para chegar ao município mais próximo com condições de atendimento em casos graves de Covid-19. As pequenas e médias cidades, se atingidas simultaneamente por fumaça das queimadas e infecções pelo novo coronavírus, tendem a não conseguir absorver a necessidade da população.
In the states of Amazonas, Pará and Mato Grosso, over 20 percent of people live in areas that require up to four hours of travel to reach the nearest town with facilities to deal with serious cases of COVID-19. Small and mid-sized towns, if affected simultaneously by smoke from the fires and infections of the new coronavirus, tend to be unable to meet the population's needs.
In the history of forest destruction in the Amazon, after deforestation a fire is set, explains Ipam's Science Director Ane Alencar, who also signed the study's technical report.
As such, whenever the rate of deforestation increases, there is a direct link with the increase in fire outbreaks. Alencar says:
Ninguém vai gastar dinheiro para derrubar vários hectares de floresta para depois não usar essa área, mesmo que seja para especulação. Essa área vai ser queimada.
Foi o que vimos acontecer em 2019 e, infelizmente, se nada for feito, é o que deveremos ver em 2020, já que a derrubada continua num ritmo elevado.
Nobody will spend money to cut down several hectares of forest and then not use that area, even if it is for speculation. That area will be burned.
That is what we saw happen in 2019 and, unfortunately, if nothing is done, that is what we will see in 2020, as the felling continues at a high pace.
The fires increase the amount of smoke in the air, releasing fine particulate material. In the areas most affected by the pollution, there is an explosion in the number of patients seeking medical care for respiratory problems. Another researcher, physicist Paulo Artaxo, from the University of São Paulo, who collaborated in the study, said:
Durante a temporada de fogo, extensas áreas da Amazônia têm qualidade do ar pior que no centro da cidade de São Paulo devido às queimadas. Isso tem forte efeito na saúde, especialmente em crianças e idosos, que são as populações mais vulneráveis. (…) Como a poluição das queimadas viaja por milhares de quilômetros, comunidades isoladas de índios respiram esta atmosfera insalubre, que é muito acima dos padrões de qualidade do ar da Organização Mundial da Saúde.
During the burning season, extensive areas of the Amazon have worse air quality than in the centre of São Paulo city due to the fires. This has a strong impact on health, especially for children and the elderly, who are the most vulnerable populations. (…) As the pollution from the fires travels for thousands of kilometres, isolated indigenous communities breathe this unhealthy air, which is far below the air quality standards of the World Health Organization.
Alencar says the environmental authorities need to be assertive in the fight against illegal deforestation and burning:
Se isso não acontecer, temos chances de ter uma pressão muito grande no sistema de saúde da Amazônia e levá-lo, de fato, ao colapso.
If that doesn't happen, we have a risk of putting too much pressure on the health system in the Amazon and, indeed, causing it to collapse.
On April 22, at a cabinet meeting with President Jair Bolsonaro, Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said the administration should take advantage of the fact that the media is focused on the pandemic to “run the cattle herd” — meaning to cut down bureaucratic systems that regulate environmental issues in Brazil.
A tractor in an area of illegal deforestation in São Félix do Xingu, Pará, in 2012. Photo: Alberto César Araújo/Amazônia Real
The number of fires in the northern state of Acre detected in 2020 by the National Space Research Institute (INPE), the reference institution for satellite monitoring in Brazil, is already 35 percent higher than in the same period in 2019.
INPE reported that between January 1 and June 14 this year, there were 84 fire outbreaks in the state, compared to 62 fires in 2019. Throughout 2019, INPE detected 6,802 outbreaks of fire in Acre's forests.
The number of fires recorded in urban areas by Acre's Fire Department was 6,867 in 2019. As such, the total number of fire outbreaks in the state exceeded 13,000 last year (in urban and rural areas).
The Fire Department spokesman, Major Cláudio Falcão, said that 999 wildfires had been recorded just in Rio Branco, the state capital, by 7 June. In the same period last year, the number was 544. Across Acre state, 1,086 urban fires were recorded. He said:
Não sei o que é mais difícil o controle das queimadas ou da pandemia. Todos os anos nós passamos por dificuldades, mas a população continua queimando.
Infelizmente, temos registrados um aumento de queimadas. E isso faz com que o sistema de saúde se sobrecarregue ainda mais porque começam a aparecer doenças respiratórias. Vamos ter um problema muito sério.
É preciso conscientização da população e intensificação dos órgãos de fiscalização para podermos diminuir essa situação
I don't know what's more difficult to control, the fires or the pandemic. Every year we have difficulties, but the population keeps setting fires.
Unfortunately, we've recorded an increase in fires. And that makes the health care system even more overburdened because respiratory problems are beginning to occur. We're going to have a very serious problem.
It’s necessary to raise awareness among the public and strengthen enforcement agencies to alleviate this situation.
According to the Laboratory of Geoprocessing Applied to Environment of the Federal University of Acre (UFAC), in 2019 over 175,000 hectares were burned. The towns that burned the most were Sena Madureira, Rio Branco, Feijó, Tarauacá and Brasiléia. At least 1,700 hectares were affected by fires in the Alto Acre region. A significant part of the forest fires occurred in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve and on indigenous lands.

author: Amazônia Real


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Indian activists publish the first online magazine in the Santali language · Global Voices
Subhashish Panigrahi

Homepage of the Birmali online magazine. Screenshot from the Birmali website. (Fair use)
Santali language activists from the eastern Indian state of Odisha, have recently published the very first online magazine in the Santali language. Although the 7.6 million native speakers have already seen other kinds of online publications, Birmali magazine is the first of its kind.
Birmali was published to celebrate the 116th birth anniversary of Pandit Raghunath Murmu, also known as “Guru Gomke”, the inventor of Santali writing system Ol chiki. Previous to the invention of OI chiki in 1925, Santali was an oral language which was transliterated in Latin, Devanagari, Odia and Bengali alphabets. Santali was added to the Eighth Schedule of the Indian constitution paving a way for the language to be used as an official language in 2011 in Jharkhand and West Bengal. However, as a language, Santali still faces many challenges. As Shikha Mandi, India’s first Santali radio presenter, explains:
[..]The problem is lies in this — everyone tells me that they don't understand when I speak in my mother tongue. If everyone starts making Bangla or Hindi or English their own, even Santhalis themselves will forget their own language.[..]
Santals are one of the 700+ indigenous communities that live mostly in India. The Santali diaspora is also spread in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. The total number of 104 million indigenous people constitute 8.6% of India's total population as of the 2011 census.
@Naveen_Odisha First ever #santali e-magazine #birmali launched at https://t.co/LKCQo310uy by @BaskeyFagu1 @Ramjit_Tudu @ashwanimurmu on 116th Birth anniversary of Pt. Raghunath Murmu pic.twitter.com/V5DLiTuefp
— ᱵᱤᱨᱢᱟᱹᱞᱤ ᱤ-ᱯᱟᱛᱷᱟᱢ (BIRMALI e-Magazine) (@birmaliemagazin) May 8, 2020
Subhashish Panigrahi from Rising Voices (RV) reached out through Facebook Messenger to three editors from Birmali magazine — Ashwani Banjan Murmu, Fagu Baskey and Ramjit Tudu — to learn about what they envision for the magazine.
Birmali is the first-ever online magazine in Santali. The Santali people have very little access to the Santali literature when they can now access the world's knowledge online. So we started working on bridging this gap. Just like a printed magazine, Birmali includes essays, poetry, stories, book reviews, entertainment news and even a special section for children's literature.
Ramjit Tudu: With official language status and a diaspora spread in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, there are many literary magazines, textbooks that are published in Santali from India. But there are only a few newspapers in print. Santali is poorly represented online. When it comes to web resources, one can find some linguistic resources that have been created by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and some content created by Vikaspedia— both maintained by the Indian government. Besides these two, there is a Santali Wikipedia which would probably be the only encyclopaedic resource in Santali online. We also have a Santali edition of publications like Global Voices and StoryWeaver (children's literature). Some of us are involved in an initiative called Olchiki Tech which focuses on promoting Santali on digital and online platforms. There are two online news portals — Sar Sagun Patrika and Santali News — that are currently available.
Ashwani Murmu: As an online publication gives us the freedom to not have any geographical boundaries, we aim to take Birmali to the Santals who are in India, and also in Bangladesh and Nepal, and even further. We are in contact with the Santali readers and writers outside India. New and emerging as well as well-reckoned writers need a platform to express [themselves]. Similarly, readers also need all forms of literature. We hope to provide that platform to Santali readers and authors for free of any charges, and by using social media to reach out to more readers. Our goal is to have our language at par with the majority languages.
The literacy rates among Santals vary between countries: 48.30% in Nepal to about 55% (55.57% in the state of Odisha and 54.72% in West Bengal — both based on the 2011 census). Lower economic status is one of the major barriers to access education.
Birmali has a long way to go in terms of gaining popularity among Santali readers online. With about 300K monthly unique page views, Santali Wikipedia shows a lower readership on mobile devices — which means that many mobile users are yet to read or type in Santali on mobile platforms. A larger user base of Santali language in South Asia consists predominantly of mobile internet users.
Note: During 2014-2015, the author was involved in his official capacity as a programme officer at the Centre for Internet and Society's project to create an input tool and a font in Santali.

author: Subhashish Panigrahi


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Al Jazeera, Malaysiakini, and Code Blue news websites probed for critical reporting in Malaysia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Collage from the news websites of Al Jazeera, Malaysiakini, and Code Blue, plus the cover of a banned book in Malaysia.
News groups, editors, and journalists continue to face charges and investigations in Malaysia for fulfilling their duty to inform.
On June 12, Global Voices reported how Malaysia’s new government, which only came to power in March 2019, has already initiated cases against several journalists, bloggers, civil society leaders, opposition politicians, and other critics of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Since then, there has been a surge in cases filed against critical journalists.
Here are some of the major cases in the past month:
Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera released on July 3 a documentary that tackled Malaysia’s alleged crackdown on undocumented migrants and refugees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Malaysian officials quickly condemned the report as false and malicious, and insisted that migrants were treated well in detention centers. The immigration office also published in response the personal information of a Bangladeshi worker who was interviewed in the documentary.
Al Jazeera is now under investigation under section 500 of the Penal Code, section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) as well as section 4(1) of the Sedition Act.
Zaid Malek, coordinator for Lawyers for Liberty, saw nothing illegal in the content of the documentary:
…there is nothing there that warrants any criminal investigation by the authorities. Nothing highlighted in the documentary is in fact new; it merely echoes criticisms already brought forth by various NGOs
If there truly was anything that was misreported, the government could simply release their own statements to refute any inaccuracies.
A total of 35 civil society groups and 17 individuals have signed a statement expressing support for Al Jazeera. They also criticized officials for exposing the Bangladeshi worker to potential harm:
The government should not be complicit in human rights abuses against migrant workers, such as doxxing and threats, by promoting hatred or discrimination in their messaging.
News website Malaysiakini and its editor-in-chief Steven Gan face contempt of court proceedings based on a case filed by Attorney-General Idrus Harun over comments left on the website by readers.
Idrus claimed that five comments in the Malaysiakini article titled ‘CJ (Chief Justice) orders all courts to be fully operational from July 1′ accused the judiciary of corruption. Idrus said these comments “threaten public confidence in the judiciary and are clearly aimed at tarnishing the administration of justice by the judiciary.”
Gan said Malaysiakini already removed the “contemptuous” comments:
We have removed the allegedly contemptuous comments from our website not long after the news report on the reopening of the courts was uploaded.
Malaysiakini filed a court petition to set aside the case but this was dismissed. The contempt hearing is now scheduled for July 13.
Human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia warned about the impact of the ruling on the work of other news organizations:
…the finding of the Federal Court thus far would undoubtedly have a chilling effect on free speech as a media organization may be liable for commentaries by its readers.
…the finding of the court suggests that individuals can conduct organized posting of contemptuous material on any moderated media website or social media comment sections to incriminate the said platform.
In March 2020, health news website CodeBlue published four articles highlighting the declassified findings of an independent inquiry into a 2016 fire at the Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) which claimed the lives of six patients.
This triggered a police investigation for possible violation of Section 203A of the Penal Code which criminalizes the disclosure of information.
The Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism issued a statement deploring the police action:
The act of writing about and disclosing the findings related to the fire was done to safeguard public interest and therefore should be protected and not be treated as a crime.
CodeBlue editor Boo Su-Lyn asserts that the case has broader repercussions:
Cops took my phone. It was a rather gruelling session, but I managed to stick to my ethos. This case isn't about me; it's about upholding transparency and accountability in governance. Health care providers must uphold patient safety. Learn from the fatal HSA fire; don't hide it.
— Boo Su-Lyn (@boosulyn) June 26, 2020
Tashny Sukumaran, a correspondent of Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, tweeted that she was summoned to give her statement to the police about the book ‘Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance And Hope in New Malaysia’.
I have been called to Bukit Aman this Friday so the police can take my statement regarding the banned book Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance and Hope in New Malaysia. A lawyer will be accompanying me.
— Tashny Sukumaran (@tashny) July 8, 2020
Released earlier this year, the book features commentaries about the 2018 election which toppled the party that ruled the country since the 1950s. Malaysia’s new prime minister said he is willing to work with the leaders of the former ruling party.
Tashny Sukumaran contributed an article in the book.
The book suddenly became controversial and was eventually banned by the new government after complaints were filed against its cover, which allegedly disrespected the national coat of arms.
Artists and activists said the book cover is based on a work of art that has been featured in art galleries since 2014.
In a Twitter thread on the summons, Sukumaran castigated the government for harassing critics instead of focusing on addressing the COVID-19 crisis:
In the face of a global pandemic and a looming recession, it is absolutely unconscionable and irresponsible that such undue focus be placed on harassing and intimidating media personnel, activists and migrants.
The government of the day should be working to earn the confidence and trust of voters, particularly given how it came to power this March. Creating a culture of fear and wielding state apparatus in a repressive manner to silence citizens is not the way to do this. Obviously.
As cases continue to pile up against dissenters and journalists, civil society groups have reiterated their demand to the government:
Enact a right to information law and repeal or amend repressive laws such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the CMA, so that these laws are not utilised arbitrarily to stifle all manner of speech.

author: Mong Palatino


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Authorities’ response to social unrest in Trinidad & Tobago raises debate about police power and public trust · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Riot police at the St. James Amphitheatre in Trinidad during the Drummit2Summit protests on April 18, 2009. Photo by Georgia Popplewell on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
After officers from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) shot and killed three men in the disadvantaged community of Morvant on June 27, there were widespread street protests and accusations of their deaths being extrajudicial.
Although the officers involved have since been placed on administrative duties, the unrest has prompted ongoing discussions about the powers and role of the police, further exacerbated by a July 1 front-page photo in the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday showing heavily armed police pinning a protestor to the ground. One of the officers, in a tactic that echoed the manner in which George Floyd was killed, was caught pressing his knee onto the protestor's neck.
Such abuse of police power was put into historical context by Facebook user Tillah Willah, who shared a photo of a slave cell she had visited on July 3, an experience she described as “an interesting way to end a week of intense rage and reflection on what it means to have a police force:”
Consider the fact that the TTPS was first set up in 1592 to protect the property of people who were holding people as property. That the Police Force was essentially formed to protect Spanish interests against the First Peoples. Consider that during the 300+ years after, all plantations had their own security/policing systems to protect their property, including the humans that they owned. Consider that after full Emancipation in 1838, the police force was disbanded in 1839 for reorganization and reopened in 1841 to protect plantation owners from loss of property, that is, to stop the people that they legally owned a few years before, from stealing their property. This is of course after they were given compensation for the loss of their human property.
So at its root, the police force, was not set up to protect and serve the population at large. The criminalization of the bodies of Indigenous, Africans and Indians is built into the DNA of the police force. […] Which came first, the idea of criminality or the idea of who is a criminal? That’s the question I’d really like to get an answer for.
Similarly, many social media users shared journalist Sunity Maharaj's musings on the history of revolution in the region:
It took rebellion and rioting, not a sense of justice, to restore our humanity from enslaved property and to inch us forward from people without rights to full citizenship, even if only in name for too many in Morvant, Laventille, Beetham and Sea Lots, to name a few. […]
In the pantheon of that first civilisation of Caribbean leaders were men and women of extraordinary courage, intelligence and deep love and understanding of this land. Their heroic stand against European invasion is the first volume of the Caribbean's epic story of travail and triumph.
The purpose of the police, centuries later, is still at loggerheads with the purpose of protest — and netizens are connecting the dots.
The issue of language quickly reared its head: Not only has Police Commissioner Gary Griffith been known to use words that belittle and humiliate, referring to criminals as “cockroaches,” he has defended his decision to do so by saying that his words are intended to protect his officers and reassure law-abiding citizens.
Podcaster Franka Philip, however, saw it as much more far-reaching:
The language used by some of our leaders to describe criminal elements has infected many and now they describe all people from particular areas in those pejorative terms. This disturbs me. When we stop respecting people's humanity, we have a huge problem.
As if to underscore the point, university lecturer Amilcar Sanatan shared a series of quotes on Facebook — brutal in their starkness and honesty — from people living in such depressed communities. For example:
These protests is about identity and respect. We poor and we might not be as great in academics and everything and we have wrongdoers but we are people. We mean something. We are people.
Facebook user Marcus Skinner also stressed that for progress to happen, language usage must change:
Watching the incidents that took place today and the reactions I saw across the social spectrum of ‘these violent animals…troublemakers…good for nothings…vermin…I bet their mothers are going to say they were good boys…never hurt anybody'…I have to stop and weep
I’d like to say first and foremost these are human beings […]
We are looking at symptoms of a problem
A deep, difficult and longstanding problem
And we are blaming the victims [and] if we don’t stop missing the god damn point
It’s not going to be the last time we see it.
Another aspect of the unrest that got people talking was Minister of National Security Stuart Young's suggestion that citizens from disenfranchised communities were being paid to stir up unrest.
While some felt this might be plausible considering that Trinidad and Tobago's general elections are carded for August 10, others felt that Young's assertion negated both successive government's roles in the neglect of such communities as well as the agency of the protestors.
Rapso artist Wendell Manwarren noted that this approach “comes straight out of the colonial playbook:”
The recent words coming out of the mouths of the Commissioner of Police and the Minister of National Security is serious cause for concern. To describe people protesting and demanding justice for the killing/'murder’ of Joel Jacobs, Noel Diamond and Israel Clinton as ‘enemies of the state’ and ‘criminal elements…being paid to create disturbance’ With a ‘well orchestrated plan to destabilize the country’ is to seek to demonize and discredit a sector of the national community that continues to be regarded as less than and spoken down to and treated in a heavy-handed manner by those sworn to serve and protect us all from abuse of power.
One of the most disconcerting aspects of the issue is the fact that the story is not new. In a passionate post, Facebook user Keston K. Perry attempted to dismantle the causes:
So another 3 black men killed right? Joel Jacob, Noel Diamond, Israel Clinton have now lost their lives to the systemic racism and oppression that is poverty, hardship, overpolicing, corporate and political corruption in Trinidad and Tobago. 43 people lost their lives to police shootings this year alone, most of whom were Black. […]
It's because in a society like Trinidad and Tobago, some people's children are more valuable than others. Black people's children especially if you live in certain areas and you don't look, speak or appear a certain way, your life is of no value to the state or to the corporate elites that fund the political office holders who are beholden to them and would not act against their corruption.
Criminologist Renee Cummings, meanwhile, suggested a few justice-based solutions:
We must invest in — not alienate — underserved and vulnerable communities. We must also invest in efforts to amplify the voice of civil society to accelerate change and reimagine police/community relations through robust public engagement and programs that build community resilience. […]
We need to discuss disinvestment within the context of discrimination and the painful interconnected challenges of intergenerational trauma, poly-victimization and a list of co-morbidities which includes police violence. A granular examination is required of the policies of separation and social isolation and how we have historically quarantined some communities, pre COVID-19, with prejudice, policing and politics. Justice brings closure and the lack of it leaves open wounds. The absence of a trauma-informed approach to criminal justice is like rubbing salt in those open wounds. Trust and transparency are required for police legitimacy, without them there’s no confidence in the justice system.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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The state of LGBTQ+ rights in India: An interview with Supreme Court Advocate Saurabh Kirpal · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Image via Pexels by Sachin Bharti. Used under a Pexels License.
On September 6, 2018, India's Supreme Court ruled that consensual homosexual acts would no longer constitute a crime. The historic move reversed Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which was a legacy from British colonial rule. The change was welcome by Indian and global LGBTQ+ communities as a step towards acceptance and equal rights, but almost two years after the passing of this law, what is the state of LGBTQ+ rights in India?
Global Voices author Filip Noubel asked Supreme Court advocate Saurabh Kirpal, who was also the lawyer for the petitioners in the case that led to the decriminalization of homosexuality, to share his views.
Filip Noubel (FN): Since section 377 was amended on September 6, 2018, to what extent is the new law applied and helpful to members of the LGBTQ+ community? Do you see specific laws protecting people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity?
Portrait of Saurabh Kirpal. Photo by Nicolas Bachmann, used with permission.
Saurabh Kirpal (SK): The Supreme Court in its judgment only held that consensual homosexual sex could not be a crime under the Indian Constitutional scheme. The judgment was therefore limited in its scope. Of course, the signalling by the Court that it was on the side of the queer community had a positive force in the discourse about sexuality in public spaces. The statement of legal principles – that a queer person is entitled to the full protection of the laws without any discrimination by the state – has also helped lay the foundation for future challenges to other discriminatory laws. The greatest positive change has been in bringing the issue of sexuality and queerness into the public space for discussion without any fear of reprisal by the authorities.There is, however, a very long way to go. The Parliament has passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 which is very problematic as it does not allow for self-determination of transgender status. The Act also does not offer the reservations in public employment and education as had been directed by an earlier Supreme Court judgment. The Act has been challenged in the Supreme Court and there is an urgent need to remedy its more draconian provisions.
India does not have a comprehensive anti-discrimination code. While the Constitution prohibits discrimination, that injunction only applies to the government and its instrumentalities. The private sector thus can discriminate with impunity in matters of employment, housing, health and education among other areas. While there is a discussion about the need for such a law, there appears to be very little political consensus towards the enactment of such a law. Even the courts have not yet woken to this problem which materially affects the lives of the queer community.
FN: Who are the LGBTQ+ allies in India, and what are the vectors of tolerance? Is it cinema, NGOs, literature, other fields?
SK: The LGBT movement in India is quite old, but has unfortunately not got either the traction that it needed nor has it been able to become a cohesive and comprehensive movement. There are many splinter groups which sometimes work at cross purposes – more by accident than by design.
There is, nevertheless a growing mass of opinion that the queer community has been discriminated against and that something needs to change. In the world of Bollywood, LGBTQUIA+ themed movies have been released to mass audiences and have been met with acceptance. But that is still a small fraction of the media. Television, which has a very great reach in India, is largely indifferent to the issues faced by the queer community.
Interestingly, one very strong ally has been the mainstream electronic media, and in particular the English media. Even TV channels and newspapers which are well known for their conservative views on other social topics have actively campaigned against Section 377. Even after the judgment, there were laudatory telecasts about the judgment. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said about the vernacular media.
FN: Queer discourse in India is very much framed as anti-colonial. Why is that? What about the intersection of the queer movement with other movements and communities such as feminism, the Dalits, the Kashmiri, the environmentalist, the supporters of a secular India?
SK: This is a problem that has been plaguing the queer movement in India for quite some time. Strategically and practically, the battle against Section 377 had to be framed in the form of an attempt to lift the colonial yoke. The provision had, after all, been imposed by the British colonialists. It was easier for us to argue in Court that the law had never been passed by the Indian Parliament and therefore it did not enjoy the presumption of constitutionality that attaches itself to laws passed by parliament. In fact, the earlier round of cases in the Supreme  Court, i.e. the Koushal case of 2013 which had re-criminalized the sodomy laws, relied on just such a presumption. However, now that the battle against section 377 has been fought and won, we need to move beyond the anti-colonial rhetoric.
We also need to forge alliances with subaltern, feminist and other movements. This is for both teleological as well as ontological reasons. Practically, the numbers of the queer community are not sufficient to make a significant electoral or societal impact. Therefore it is important to forge alliances so that the voices of all marginalized movements can coalesce into something that is greater than each of them individually. It is also important as an end in itself – we have as a duty not merely as members of the queer community but also as citizens to stand up to injustice wherever we see it. Finally, we must also acknowledge that the queer community itself is a heterogeneous community. Ignoring these intersectionalities can leave the most marginalized even further behind. In the long run, this would not merely be unjust, it would seriously undermine the credibility of the queer movement in the eyes of most of its members.
FN: You are about to publish a book about “Sex and the Supreme Court”. Can you tell us more?
SK: The book is an anthology about various cases where the Indian Supreme Court has dealt with issues of sex, sexuality and gender. The last few years have seen a flurry of cases dealing with these issues. Section 377, the rights of transgenders, adultery laws, the right of women to have inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. The common theme in most of these judgments is that the Court has placed the individual at the centre of the constitutional firmament. In the case of a clash between the claim of an individual right and competing for societal claims, the Courts have weighed in favour of individuals rights. The book is an attempt to bring some of the foremost legal voices in India to write on these issues.
But no legal story can be appreciated while being divorced from the reality of the lives to which those judgments apply. The book therefore also contains chapters written by members of the LGBT community and women’s rights activists explaining what these judgments mean to them.


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This women’s college in Ghana leads the way on e-learning during the pandemic · Global Voices
Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed

Veronica Kissiedu Emefa, a student teacher at St. Teresa's College in Hohoe, Ghana, Volta Region, seen in class before the pandemic. Now, most courses have gone online. Screenshot via a trailer for documentaries produced by Elio Stamm for Transforming Teacher Education and Learning, Ghana, January 2017.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many universities are currently deliberating what to do for the forthcoming semester. St. Teresa’s College of Education, one of five female-only colleges in Ghana, is leading the way with e-learning by consolidating the use of messaging applications like Telegram and WhatsApp.
Established as the Women’s Training College in 1961 and later becoming the St. Teresa’s College of Education, Hohoe, Volta region, in 1964, the college is one of 46 colleges of education in Ghana.
In March, the college sent its students home as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus and most classes shifted online. While some students have been asked to return to school to prepare for their final exams, many students continue to learn online from home.
The college does not have an in-built e-learning platform like Sakai, Canvas or Blackboard, and there are no officially recognized learning platforms in Ghana. At other colleges, tutors often use whichever platform they feel works best and as a result, many students download multiple applications like Google Classroom, Zoom, Telegram, and WhatsApp, some of which consume a lot of data. In many cases, students are not formally enrolled on these platforms by their institutions to take lessons.
At St. Teresa’s, however, online learning is mostly conducted on WhatsApp and Telegram. After consulting with tutors and students, the apps were designated as the official learning platforms for the college. Tutors switch to WhatsApp if they run into network problems while conducting classes on Telegram. Students observe that these platforms are low-cost, and this helps them save money on internet data.
Speaking to Global Voices by phone, Benedictus Mawusi Donkor, a tutor at the college, explained why the college decided to enroll all students on WhatsApp and Telegram for e-learning:
When we were using the Google Classroom and YouTube, downloading videos becomes a problem when the network is not that strong. But when it comes to Telegram, I think with a little bit of network you easily get access to text mostly and audio. And some too, just a handful even with the Telegram they have a problem, so we try to engage them on WhatsApp. They have a WhatsApp platform as well as the Telegram.
By consolidating and centralizing platforms for e-learning, tutors have found creative methods to keep students engaged in classes conducted on these messaging apps. Some of these methods include close monitoring of student engagement and attendance, customizing available digital platforms for learning, listening to and addressing students’ and tutors’ concerns and providing monthly digital training for tutors in need.
Doreen Mensah, a first-year student, said that tutors and the college’s authorities found ways to motivate students to participate in online lessons.
The tutors have been motivating us. They know it’s not easy, so they tell us to try. When they are online, and you are not available he will pick his phone to call and find out what is going on. And then they will give you words of encouragement to convince us to go online.
However, there are still structural issues that mitigate learning at St. Teresa’s. According to Jennifer Nyavor, a first-year student, students are struggling financially since their allowances have not been paid since March when they were sent home:
When we were in school, we depended on the allowance but now that we are home, they stopped paying allowances and some of us use it to pay school fees so it’s making life difficult. Since we came back home in March when the president said no school till further notice, that was when they stopped paying the allowances. The allowance is 200 Ghana cedis [$34.54] per month. Unless my parents give me something small to buy data. So when I come online, I can’t ask questions because then the class is over.
According to a Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) report, while some colleges reported attendance rates as low as 31 percent in June, St. Teresa’s reported a 97 percent attendance rate. Tutors were highly engaged and in touch with students’ pedagogical needs. Tutors checked in regularly with students who were missing classes to work with them so that they could maintain regular class attendance.
In phone conversations with Global Voices, students and tutors observed that the college’s principal, vice-principal and quality assurance officer were added to each course platform to observe classes and work to address challenges as they emerged.
According to Jennifer Agyekum, a second-year student at the college, the efforts of tutors to keep students engaged have been effective:
Those who do well in assignments, tokens are being given to students in the form of [internet data] bundles. They are really motivating us to participate in the virtual learning and they are doing their best.
However, tutors and students still had to deal with other structural issues that specifically affected student engagement while they studied remotely.
Sophia Adjoa Micah, the principal, said:
As students are at home, some parents may not understand the whole business of learning online. Seeing their wards online they may not take kindly to it. And being females, some of the students have to do chores at home. It is a challenge to learn online and concentrate without any distractions.
Other tutors took the initiative to call parents and talk to them about creating conditions at home to enable their daughters to learn online with as few distractions as possible.
At the end of each month, tutors are required to write reports detailing the progress of their online classes and identify the challenges of mitigating teaching and learning. These reports are then submitted to school management who review them and work with tutors and students to develop strategies to address these issues.
The college also adopted an open communication style where conditions were created for students to share their concerns and challenges. The students who spoke to Global Voices found that this communication style was helpful for supporting their learning.
While some lecturers in other higher education institutions in Ghana have struggled to navigate teaching online, St. Teresa’s College has worked in close collaboration with tutors to ensure that they are properly equipped to use digital tools to teach their classes.
Some tutors said that the Information Technology (IT) department of the college organizes monthly programs and workshops to help tutors who are struggling to navigate digital platforms in their classes.
In an email conversation with Global Voices, Principal Micah explained how some of the college's support funds from T-TEL were used to enroll tutors in an online certificate course organized by Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
The college is doing well with limited resources, but Micah believes that the establishment of a state-of-the-art ICT center will help them improve the quality of e-learning. Micah has also appealed to telecommunications companies in Ghana to provide support for students via free data packages to improve access to education, especially for marginalized students.
Editor's note: Wunpini Mohammed is a consultant with T-TEL.

author: Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed


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Through the Orientalist looking-glass: An interview with Moroccan artist Lalla Essaydi · Global Voices
Omid Memarian

Lalla Essaydi, Harem #2, 2009. 71 × 88 in 180.4 × 223.5 cm.
Moroccan artist Lalla Essaydi, 64, is well known for her dazzling, multidimensional staged photographs, which in spite of their simplicity, masterfully capture and challenge the complexities of social structures, women's identities and cultural traditions.
Essaydi‘s artworks not only reinvent visual traditions; they also “invoke the western fascination with the odalisque, the veil, and, of course, the harem, as expressed in Orientalist painting.”
“My work speaks primarily in terms of Moroccan identity, but visual identifiers such as the veil, harem, ornate ornamentation, and sumptuous color also resonate with other regions in the Muslim and Arabic worlds where the place of women has historically been marked by limited expression and constrained individuality,” Essaydi said in an interview with Global Voices.
Raised in Morocco, Essaydi has lived in Saudi Arabia and France and is currently based in Boston. She has exhibited at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C., the Art Institute of Chicago, the Fries Museum in the Netherlands, among others.
Essaydi is a poet of architecture, the female body, and color. Where letters overwhelm her composition, the bold presence of women and the veiled apprehension in their eyes disrupt all equations of beauty.
Excerpts from the interview follow.
Moroccan artist, Lalla Essaydi. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Laila Essaydi: My approach to art in general, and my relation to Islamic art in particular, is deeply rooted in my personal experience. As a Moroccan-born artist who has lived in New York, Boston, and Marrakesh and who travels frequently to the Arab world, I have become deeply aware of how the cultures of the “Orient” and “Occident” view one another. In particular, I have become increasingly aware of the impact of the Western gaze on Arab culture.
Although Orientalism most often suggests a 19th-century European vision of the East, as a set of assumptions it lives on today: both in the gaze of the West and in the way Arab societies continue to internalize and respond to that gaze. In its early form, Orientalism was a literal “vision,” finding expression in the work of Western painters who traveled to the “exotic” East in search of cultures more colorful than their own, I have used it as a point of departure in much of my own work—in both painting and photography.
The imagery I found in Orientalist painting has resonated with me in tricky ways and ultimately helped me situate my own experience in a powerful visual language.
In my photography, I explore this space, whether mental or physical, and interrogate its role in gender identity-making, while engaging with centuries of cultural heritage and artistic practices. For instance, my images of women, embedded in Islamic architecture, recognize and represent an alternative to similar spaces, as imagined for women, in painting and photography, from within the Arab and Muslim worlds. My fusion of calligraphy (a sacred art traditionally reserved for men) and henna (an adornment worn and applied only by women) similarly reproduces artistic traditions and practices common in everyday life in Islamic cultures while transgressing gender roles and the boundaries between private and public spaces.
Lalla Essaydi, Harem #1, 2009
LE: My work is inspired by personal history. The many territories that converge in my work are not only geographical ones but territories of the imagination, shaped, above all, by childhood and memory—by these invisible influences. My work cannot be reduced to Orientalist discourse. Orientalism has given me a lens through which to focus on the converging territories of my work and through which to see more clearly the influence of Western imagination in the Eastern ways of conceptualizing the self. At a more personal level, my creative practice is a means through which I can reinvent and position myself in different times and cultural contexts.
At the same time, I also celebrate the cultural richness of Morocco, the Middle East and North African countries. Although I tend to think of my work as, first and foremost, being about the experience of women, I would say that these elements are also significant. They do not happen incidentally but are part of the inherent qualities that I bring to my vision and my work.
Lalla Essaydi, Bullets Revisited #37, 2014.
LE: I enrolled in the Museum School because I wanted to return to Morocco and be able to pursue my hobby with greater knowledge and skill. Instead, I found my life’s work.
I learned that some of the most important things in our lives happen unexpectedly. We take a class in painting and discover an entire new world at our fingertips: waiting to be grasped. We take a class in painting and find art history, and installation, photography and so much more. We look for a glass of water and find an ocean, calling to us. And we answer the call.
I never dreamed I would spend seven years in this environment, immersing myself in everything the School had to offer, and learning more than I had ever imagined was possible.
This was, and is, a school of artists, designed by and for artists: where students are free to choose what they want to learn. It only offers elective modules, and there are no mandatory classes. When we realize the riches that are available, we want to absorb everything.
At first I was overwhelmed. I was one of those students who roamed the corridors of the School late at night, peering into the empty rooms, with their silent trappings of whatever medium was taught there.
Eventually, the School taught me a second lesson. With all these opportunities and this great array of artistic riches, with this enormous freedom to choose, comes responsibility.
Responsibility first means discipline, and setting priorities, followed by learning new skills and techniques. And then comes self-direction, as we learn and understand new ways of thinking about art, and the ambition to do something important with our lives.
My career offered me something else, something I did not expect. This very public environment offered me a private space, something I had never had at home. It offered me a space where I was free to express my thoughts in private, without the inhibiting knowledge that they were available for all to see. This enabled me to explore and bring to the fore aspects of my own interior life I hadn’t even known were there.
While I knew that creating art is an intensely personal experience, I also learned that it happens only with the help of a lot of gifted and dedicated people: people who teach and guide, people who encourage and nurture, people who inspire you to keep reaching to create what is excellent and beautiful and true. You can tell, I loved the School.
Lalla Essaydi. Les Femmes du Maroc: La Grande Odalisque, 2008
LE: My work reaches beyond Islamic culture as it also invokes the Western fascination with the odalisque, the veil, and, of course, the harem as it is expressed in Orientalist painting. Orientalism has long been a source of fascination for me. My background in art is in painting, and it is as a painter that I began my investigation into Orientalism. My study led me to a much deeper understanding of the painting space so beautifully addressed by Orientalist painters in thrall to Arab décor. From its terrific prominence in these paintings, this décor made me keenly aware of the importance of interior space in Arab/Islamic culture. And finally, of course, I became aware of the patterns of cultural domination and predatory sexual fantasy encoded in Orientalist painting.
Essaydi: It is important for me that my work be beautiful. While it is received very differently in Western and Arab contexts, its aesthetic is appreciated in both. More critical for me, however, is that the photographs achieve a balance between their political, historical and aesthetic content, as well as make a statement on art.
But the fact that I have sometimes been critiqued for, on the one hand, perpetuating expectations and stereotypes rather than refuting them and, on the other, for exposing that which should remain private, indicates that responses to my work are highly subjective, context-specific and likely culturally informed. Tempered by the ambiguity of the work’s literal meaning, perhaps defaulting to the most accessible and intuitive reaction: perception of the stereotype. Nevertheless, with deliberate subtlety, my work introduces alternative, challenging perspectives on canonical 19th-century Orientalist paintings. As a female artist from the regions depicted, mine is an historically repressed voice that “complicates any neat framing of the canon.” Drawing on similar visual devices, I try to engage it in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable dialogue, and re-situates the Orientalist genre in the history of art.
Harem Revisited #34, 2012
LE: My work may seem to “reconstruct traditions,” but in fact I am trying to create a new understanding.
The liberating result comes because in many ways, performance is an intrinsic element of my photographs, evident in the figures’ careful composition, in the physical act of writing and, more importantly, in the intensity of the sitters’ embodied presence that also renders them subjects rather than objects.
Through writing, I lay bare personal thoughts, memory, and experiences that belong to me and the women featured as individuals within a broader narrative. Though my work speaks primarily in terms of Moroccan identity, visual identifiers such as the veil, harem, ornate ornamentation, and sumptuous color also resonate with other regions in the Muslim and Arabic worlds where the place of women has historically been marked by limited expression and constrained individuality.
While my work evokes the region’s traditional aesthetics and social practices, I insert a dimension that complicates them: a personal narrative that takes form in the written word. In volumes upon volumes of text, these women voice critical reflections on and interrogations of memories, all captured within the space of my photographs. At the same time, I write about historical representations of Moroccan, Arabic, Muslim, and African women. To understand my work, then, one must examine long-standing preconceptions held by diverse peoples over time, as well as by myself.
Lalla Essaydi, Bullets, Jackson Fine Art. February 3 – April 15, 2017

author: Omid Memarian


text:
As COVID-19 cases climb in Cameroon, a cleric claims his herbal cure works · Global Voices
Ekonde Daniel

CDC Cameroon associate director for program and science, Dr. Clement Ndongmo, observes COVID-19 testing procedures for arriving passengers at Nsimalen International Airport in Yaoundé, Cameroon, July 1, 2020 via CDC/Flickr CC BY 2.0.
There was relative doubt when Archbishop Samuel Kleda of Cameroon’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Douala announced that he had found a cure for COVID-19 in April.
But now, with nearly 15,000 infections and over 11,500 recoveries in the country, Bishop Kleda says his unique herbal cure has treated about 1,500 sick patients who flocked to him to try the remedy since April.
In Cameroon, Most Reverend Samuel Kleda, the Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Douala, has produced a mixture of plants that is said to have cured some Coronavirus patients.
He has been in the study of plants for over 30 years.
Via @NjieEnow. pic.twitter.com/hTY0VEdoF5
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) April 25, 2020
The prelate says he sees patients who suffer from respiratory problems after testing positive for the virus.
Hundreds rush for Archbishop's herbal #COVID19 ‘cure’ in #Cameroon. The popularity of Archbishop Samuel Kleda's alleged #herbal cure has prompted some authorities to try to make the treatment more widely available https://t.co/yCBinjbJeg #health pic.twitter.com/UzFNSPwCiT
— The Observer (@observerug) May 3, 2020
“We receive people who are under respiratory difficulties. And after 24 hours, they start breathing normally,” Bishop Kleda told Cameroon’s state media, the CRTV, on July 7.
Bishop Kleda, who has studied herbal plants for 30 years, says he is collaborating with Cameroon’s Health Ministry to broaden the scope of his drug — a concoction of traditional plants.
In early June, he officially gave it the name “Elixir COVID:”
Douala Archbishop, Samuel Kleda has publicly named his COVID-19 treatment.
In Douala today, he called the herbal treatments Elixir Covid and Adsak Covid.
Archbishop Kleda's move comes days after meeting the PM who promised government support for the treatment.
MMI pic.twitter.com/nJQAsujOfe
— Mimi Mefo Info (@MimiMefoInfo) June 5, 2020
“I work with the Ministry of Public Health. We are analyzing the medicines and signs that can be perceived from patients,” he said.
Though the herbal treatment is still undergoing investigation, Dr. Ange Gilbert Kameni of the Douala Archdiocese Health Centre told CRTV he believes the supposed remedy is “efficient in the treatment against coronavirus.”
Cameroon's parliament has acknowledged the use of traditional medicines to roll back COVID-19 and urged the government to invest in research into potential treatments.
Prime Minister tweeted in late May:
Le Gouvernement accompagne la recherche de solutions locales, en droit fil des indications fortes du @PR_Paul_BIYA du 19 mai 2020: “J’encourage également tous les efforts visant à mettre au point un traitement endogène du #COVID19. “#PaulBiya#BiyaSpeech#StopCOVID19#Cameroun https://t.co/Y4RQ9sgVJA
— Cameroon PM Cameroun (@CameroonPm237) May 27, 2020
The Government supports the search for local solutions, in line with strong indications from the @PR_Paul_BIYA May 19, 2020: “I also encourage all efforts to develop endogenous treatment for #COVID19 . ” #PaulBiya #BiyaSpeech #StopCOVID19 #Cameroun
In May, however, the government also released a statement “warning of quacks claiming they can treat COVID-19 to financially exploit people suffering from or worried about the virus.”
The World Health Organization for the Africa region says there is no cure yet for the deadly coronavirus — yet it “supports scientifically-proven traditional medicine.”
Cameroon is one of the hardest-hit COVID-19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, despite testing just below 150,000 of its 26 million people.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that Africa’s low testing may lead to a “silent epidemic.”

author: Ekonde Daniel


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#BlackLivesMatter resonates in South Asia as Unilever drops ‘Fair’ from ‘Fair & Lovely’ cosmetic line · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

Fair and Lovely – Billboard for Skin-Whitening Cream – Chittagong – Bangladesh. Image from Flickr by Adam Jones. CC BY-SA 2.0.
On 25 June, global cosmetic conglomerate Unilever announced a decision to re-brand its leading skin-lightening product ‘Fair & Lovely’ to ‘Glow & Lovely’. The major decision comes in the wake of the recent Black Lives Matter protests that erupted around the world following the police killing of George Floyd in the US.
In South Asia, where discrimination based on skin color permeates the beauty industry, ‘Fair & Lovely’ has been popular for nearly five decades. As celebrities raised their voice against racism using hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter and #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd, others were quick to point out the hypocrisy of those that have long endorsed skin-lightening products.
While Unilever claims that the brand change aims to “celebrate all skin tones”, anti-colourist activists and social media users are questioning whether the brand's name change tackles the real issue.
Although the “Black Lives Matter” movement exists in a specific context, its calls for racial justice have resonated with justice movements around the world. In South Asian countries — like India and Pakistan — skin color is seen as an indirect marker of social class and status. This issue has been prevalent since colonial times, with many women facing problems in getting marriage proposals or landing better work opportunities due to discrimination based on their complexion.
The product, Fair and Lovely, has been used by many women across South Asia since the late '70s. Its marketing techniques, with before and after images of dark to light coloured skin, works indirectly to equate fairer or lighter skin colours with beauty.
Indian Journalist Barkha Dutt compares skin lightening creams to another marker for racism in South Asia. She takes a jibe at Unilever's ‘Fair and Lovely’ commenting on how the brand has normalized racism in India and created wrong notions of beauty for millions of Indian boys and girls for five decades.
If Skin Lightening creams are going to be racism by another name that is neither fair nor lovely.
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) June 26, 2020
Speaking to Global Voices on the phone, Pakistani psychologist Mirat Gul said:
This war of complexion has created a huge problem for our women. Even our religion has said that no one is superior to another on the basis of colour yet these creams, advertisements, and mindset have effected women. South Asians are coloured people and we need to accept them as they are instead of opting for these products. It's good that the word ‘Fair’ will be dropped but people too have to stop worrying and harassing people on the complexion.
A number of people in both India and Pakistan have been working to change the skin lightening industry, asking manufacturers to remove whitening creams from the market. Indian actress Nandita Das, who has been running the Dark is Beautiful campaign since 1994, celebrated Unilever's decision as an indication that mindset's are slowing starting to change.
Wow! Words impact notions & they, the mindset. I want to believe that the campaign Dark is Beautiful & India’s Got Colour played a tiny role. Many of you have too. Long way to go before things are truly ‘fair’, but we are on our way! #IndiasGotColour #AllShadesAreLovely https://t.co/lra7mlwqwq
— Nandita Das (@nanditadas) June 25, 2020
While in Pakistan, anti-colourism and diversity advocate Fatima Lodhi has been running the Dark is Divine campaign for the past seven years. Dark is Divine issued a statement on about Unilever's decision pushing for more messaging aimed at “re-humanizing” dark skin tones:
Rebranding of products to recognize multiple shades, shapes, and sizes of beauty should be followed by behavior change programs to re-humanize the dark skin. Promoting lighter skin tone is not only colorist but a racist act as well and further, giving pedestal to the fairer skin tones while treating dark skin as a disease is also a clear attempt at enhancing most people’s feelings of insufficiency.
Social media users are also questioning whether Unilever's new product, ‘Glow and Lovely’ pays lip service to the real issues of colourism in South Asia:
So… @unilever is still going to sell skin lightening cream in South Asia and will just call it “Lovely” from now on? https://t.co/6R5LrhHIn9
— fatima bhutto (@fbhutto) June 25, 2020
‘Fair & lovely’ to be rebranded dropping the word ‘fair’.
While the attempt is fair (no pun intended), is it really enough? Using the words glow and brighten doesn't really change what the product was built for.
”…a rose by any other name……”
— Avni Raja (@avniraja) June 25, 2020
So Fair and Lovely will now be called Glow and Lovely? C’mon Hindustan Lever. For years you’ve been profiting by destroying our nation’s young girl’s self worth by making rude comments about dark skin.
Now prove your ‘intentions’ by having a dark skinned girl on your packaging.
— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) July 2, 2020
Along with building toxic psychological pressure, whitening creams contain the ingredient, mercury, which is said to be carcinogenic in nature. Pakistan's Minister of State for Climate Change, Zartaj Gul Wazir, made an official statement in July 2019 regarding the government's promise to crackdown on whitening creams that contain more than 1 percent mercury — citing the ministry's finding that 56 of 59 samples of fairness products contained more than 1 percent mercury. On July 4, 2020, in a Dark is Divine Facebook message Zartaj Gul Wazir reiterated her commitment to cracking down on mecury in whitening creams once the Minamata Convention on Mercury is ratified.
Anum Chandani, Hira Hashmi, and Marvi Ahmed from Pakistan started the petition to ban Fair and Lovely and are also running an Instagram account to create awareness among masses.
This is a petition I wish no one had to make because Fair and Lovely is a cream that shouldn't exist. Nevertheless, @Unilever please stop making it and selling it. https://t.co/6lqH2LPHtD
— fatima bhutto (@fbhutto) June 11, 2020
Another win came when Indian matrimonial website Shaadi.com, known for keeping a skin tone filter, has dropped it from its website after the recent uproar by many users.
While changes are slowing being made, Ipsita Chakravarty notes that there may still be a ways to go:
The packaging of the creams may have changed but not their substance. And while Shaadi.com will no longer ask for your skin tone, you can still search for prospective partners by caste, which is what skin colour stands for in India.

author: R Umaima Ahmed