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Telcos must disclose more data about internet shutdowns, say civil society groups · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

A demonstration against mobile shutdowns in North Sinai. Banner reads: “We don't want to use Israeli networks because of your neglect.” Photo by Sinai2014/SinaiOutofCoverage group page.
When activists in Egypt organized protests against mobile and internet shutdowns in the Northern Sinai region back in 2014, in the “Sinai out of Coverage” campaign, they probably did not expect that it would still be relevant today.
But just a few months ago, as the Egyptian army launched another military operation in Egypt's Northern Sinai region, the government once again ordered a region-wide shutdown of internet and telecommunications services. Like so many times over the past five years, the shutdown left residents disconnected from the other parts of Egypt, and the world, and unable to communicate or call for help.
In recent years, internet shutdowns have become all too familiar for users in a number of countries, and for digital rights groups documenting them. The issue has gone as far as the United Nations, where the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution in June 2016 condemning “measures to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online in violation of international human rights law.”
And the issue is global. In India, the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) documented 70 incidents of regional internet shutdowns in 2017, compared to 31 shutdowns in 2016 and just 14 shutdowns in 2015. So far this year, there have been 40 shutdowns in the country.
In Cameroon, for more than a year, internet in the country's Northwest and Southwest Anglophone regions has either been completely cut off or slowed down to a point of uselessness.
In Sri Lanka, authorities completely shut down the internet in the district of Kandy in March 2018, in response to acts of sectarian violence. The government blamed social media for spreading hate speech and calls to violence.
As far as researchers know, most of these shutdowns have occurred at the behest of government authorities, who order telecommunications companies to press the proverbial ‘kill switch.’
Telecommunications companies usually have little choice but to follow these orders. In some cases, they offer subscribers some explanation of the cut in service. But more often, they don't.
New research from Ranking Digital Rights, a nonprofit research initiative that evaluates internet and telecommunications companies’ practices affecting user rights to freedom of expression and privacy, shows that the world's largest telecommunication companies disclose little to no information about their processes for responding to government requests to restrict access to networks or to certain services and platforms.
The 2018 Index ranks 10 telecommunications companies and 12 internet companies on a set of 35 human rights indicators designed to measure if and how well companies disclose policies affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy. The Index evaluates policies of the parent company, operating company and those of selected services, depending on company structure.
Read about the RDR methodology, research and scoring criteria.
In a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), both government and “non-state actors” have ordered internet shutdowns or network disruptions, according to Asser Khattab who covers network shutdowns in the region for Social Media Exchange (SMEX), a Beirut-based media development and digital rights organisation.
The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX), a network of freedom of expression advocacy groups in Africa, characterized shutdowns as becoming “rampant” in multiple African countries.
Shutdowns most often occur in times when public safety or stability are under threat, such as armed conflicts, security operations, protests and political crises. But in these times where safety is of the utmost concern, network shutdowns hinder users’ access to information and communication services at a time when they are most in need.
In India, where freedom of expression is in decline, network shutdowns are “yet another blunt instrument” to restrict this fundamental right, Mishi Choudhary, legal director at the SFLC told Global Voices. For instance, as part of the government’s crackdown against independence protests in Kashmir, Indian authorities repeatedly resorted to banning social media platforms and disrupting access to mobile internet networks and the internet, thus limiting residents’ capabilities to communicate, organize and express themselves.
In areas of conflict, shutdowns can put people’s lives at risk.
In these cases “the implication could be very risky,” said Asser Khattab who covers shutdowns across the MENA region including in areas that are going through conflicts like Syria, Northern Sinai in Egypt and Yemen. He added:
I have heard about people who were wounded or in a dire health situation but were not able to access emergency services, like calling an ambulance, because of network disruptions. It also becomes harder to report on cases of collateral damage, or cases of death, in time. People may not be able to hear the news about what is really going on around them, which would create an atmosphere of stress and fear, especially for those who suddenly lose touch with a loved one who’s not home for instance
In Sub-Saharan Africa, Internet Without Borders (ISF), a nonprofit organization that works to promote digital rights in Africa, documented the many ways that an internet shutdown can get in the way of peoples’ work and vital day-to-day needs. Small businesses, tech startups, banking and money transfer operations, health professionals who use social media apps to communicate with patients in remote areas, journalists who depend on communication networks to cover and send stories, and even job-seekers are just some of those most affected.
ISF Executive Director Julie Owono told Global Voices, “shutdowns are not not only negative for them [telecommunications companies] but [are] also negative for the clients that they are supposed to serve and ultimately it’s also negative for whole layers of society.’’
Graphic by Olivia Solis
How should telecommunications companies handle government shutdown requests? Although companies may have little choice but to follow official orders, they could endeavor to give the public more detailed information when shutdowns occur. Who ordered the shutdown and for what purpose? Where is it taking place? How long is it expected to last?
RDR's Corporate Accountability Index requires companies to:
Only two companies, Vodafone and Telefonica, scored 50% on this indicator. All eight remaining companies, including French multinational group Orange, South-Africa based MTN group and AT&T scored below 20%. Vodafone was the only company to clearly disclose its process for responding to these types of government demands and to clearly commit to push back against demands when possible. Telefonica was the only company that disclosed the number of shutdown requests it received.
SFLC's Choudhary commented that these results “[did] not surprise [her] at all.” In India, she said, users are “most often” not informed about these shutdowns before they take place, “leaving [them] to wonder if it is a technical glitch or a shutdown.”
RDR’s 2018 Index includes Indian telecommunications services provider Bharti Airtel which revealed almost nothing about the circumstances under which it complies with government shutdown requests, scoring only 6% on the indicator that assesses network shutdown policies as the graph above shows. Bharti Airtel’s poor performance is on par with those of the Malaysian telecommunications group Axiata and the Qatar-based Ooredoo. The second MENA region company evaluated by the Index, the UAE-based Etisalat, also performed poorly scoring 13% on the same indicator.
Operators in the MENA region “usually do not like to talk about it and feel uncomfortable to answer any questions after stating that this was ordered by the government,” Khattab told Global Voices. “Sources in Egypt’s North Sinai Governorate said that they are never notified about the shutdowns which could last around 10-12 hours, which adds up to their concern about the nearby military operations,” he added.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, when operators do communicate to users about shutdowns, such communication often “comes too late,” said Owono. “[Users] just know that they cannot access the network and that’s it.”
Telecommunications companies are facing increasing burdens in this area, from all sides. Companies that push back on shutdown orders can risk losing their licenses or having their employees sentenced to jail. In Egypt, the parliament recently approved a provision in a controversial cybercrime bill that will fine ISPs and jail their employees for up to one year if they refuse to comply with content censorship orders.
Nevertheless, operating in a repressive regulatory environment should not prevent telecommunications companies from at least communicating to the public how they respond to shutdown requests, notifying users when shutdowns are about to happen, and naming the authorities that ordered the shutdown when they are not legally prevented from doing so.
Publishing such information can help users and digital rights groups prepare to fight shutdowns when they are about to happen, hold to account those responsible, and raise awareness about their negative impacts.
Owono stressed the importance of this type of information for the public:
“If telecommunication [companies] do not even communicate, objectively they are putting themselves on the side of the oppressor, which in this case an oppressive regime.”

author: Afef Abrougui


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‘Mixing isn’t new, it isn’t modern, it isn’t cool. It simply is, has been, and will be.’ · Global Voices
Sandra Abd'Allah-Alvarez Ramírez

Photo by Sara Martín and courtesy of Lucía Asué Mbomío Rubio. Used with permission.
Below is the second part of Global Voices’ interview with Lucía Asué Mbomío Rubio, a journalist and Afro-activist from Madrid.
In the first part, we addressed the challenges of discussing the inequalities experienced by Afro-descendant people in Spain and the importance of context in conversations about identity and privilege.
In this post, we'll go into depth about Mbomío's contributions to the fight against racism in Spain, her thoughts about blackness, and her work as an activist.
Global Voices (GV): Some people think that interracial couples represent a possible solution to racism. What do you think?
Lucía Asué Mbomío Rubio (LM): It's not true. The idea is not that you start dating a non-white person to cure your racism, but that you've done your homework, scrutinized your privileges and discriminatory attitudes on your own, because if you haven't, when you get together with someone they will all come to the surface.
Not long ago, I wrote a text about white men who date black women but stereotype, exoticize, and hypersexualize them, and I called it “To you, black woman eater.” A guy angrily wrote me on Instagram saying he had been with two black women, one was the mother of his child, and both had left him for men who had more money and were older than him, so maybe it was black women who were no good. Obviously, not everyone is like that, in fact, my words were directed at a very specific kind of man (let me repeat: the kind who stereotypes, exoticizes, and hypersexualizes), not at all white men who have a black partner, but he decided, betraying the fact that he was right to take it personally, that all black women were opportunists, or rather, that we're all the same. What I said before, a black woman eater.
GV: Let's talk a little about the impact that digital Afro-activism is having in Spain. Two examples come to mind: the online community Afroféminas and the YouTube channel Negra Flor. What do you think of them?
LM: First, I want to congratulate Afroféminas and Negra Flor (Desirée Bela-Lobedde) for their dedication and because, really, despite the fact that Afro-activism is something that goes way back, as this article by Antumi Toasijé demonstrates, right now it's blooming on the internet, nurtured precisely by the existence of channels that make it possible for the current critical discourse to travel further, reach more people and, therefore, have more impact on the present and future.
I say this last bit because the problem with the activism of previous eras was that in general, due to the lack of means of amplification (YouTube, self-publishing, etc…), it didn't pass on a legacy that allowed younger people to know what had been achieved in the past in order to build upon it, starting where those before them had left off.
GV: You have your own YouTube channel called “Nadie nos ha dado vela en este entierro” [an idiom in Spanish that translates to “Nobody has given us a candle at this funeral,” meaning “We haven't been given the right to speak”]. What is your goal? What motivates you to link the stories of these people together? Why interview them and not others?
LM: My goal is to talk about identity with African and Afro-descendant people who live in Spain. As a result of what has happened with the Catalonia issue, there has been a lot of talk about nationalism, a sentiment or idea (or both) that many Afro people from here find impossible to profess, or at least not with the same fervor, because they/we have never felt like they/we are from the place where they/we were born or grew up due to constantly being questioned.
As Déborah Ekoka, one of the interviewees, says, if people ask you so often where you're from (even more than ‘what's your name’) it's because they assume you aren't from here. And if we aren't from here, where are we from? Or where do we feel we are from? These three questions are the starting point for the conversations that take place within this project. From there arise ideas of idealized homelands based on skin or artistic/cultural movements, places that we call home and have never been (or have been, but for a brief period of our life). There can also be a greater attachment to territorial units that are more comprehensible than a country, such as towns or neighborhoods, because there we do feel recognized and such, in response to a generalized sense (among my interviewees) of national detachment.
My eventual goal is to learn what forces work to shape your sense of self and, later, to focus on the role that the media plays in it. I launched the channel relatively recently (in October 2017, if I recall correctly). The idea is, whenever I have time, to interview a lot of people. There aren't any prerequisites for participation except being African/Afro-descendant, wanting to participate, and coming to my house, where I normally do the interviews (hahaha). In the long-term, I would like this to serve as a basis for my doctoral thesis.
According to Mbomío, her Spanish-language book “The Women Who Dared” (“Las que se atrevieron”) began as a tribute to her mother and the numerous other women who broke norms with their romantic relationships.
The book is largely based on stories of women who lived under the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco, a period of heavy political and social repression in Spain that began after the civil war and lasted until the mid-1970s.
GV: If you weren't Lucía and someone assigned you to write a review of “The Women Who Dared,” what would be the three main arguments, ideas, or points that you would highlight?
LM: I still get so embarrassed talking about my book that I couldn't possibly put myself in other people's shoes and describe it… I never thought that our stories, those of black people who were raised in the outskirts of Madrid (with all its connotations of class), who didn't even grow up or haven't spent much time in Africa, could be enjoyed. In general, the tales we were told as children in school didn't have protagonists that looked in the least bit like us, nor did the movies we saw in our adolescence or the books we were assigned to read in university.
To tell our own stories is more than an exercise in courage. It's diving off a cliff, often times in the belief that there won't be any water below.
To realize that there is, in fact, water and that you can swim, and you find hugs, praise, and, above all, a sense of identity is something incredible. I'm pleased when people like me say they finally recognize themselves in the pages of a book. I'm surprised that people who aren't like me can also identify with ‘The Women Who Dared.’ It demonstrates the strength of the stories, even though it has frequently been said that they might not have the same pull because of many people's inability to empathize with others who don't physically resemble them (as if those of us who aren't white haven't been doing it forever).
About the connections that the book makes between reality and fiction, Mbomío says:
Departing from the real interviews, I fictionalize some parts and speak about white Spanish women who met their partners (black men from Equatorial Guinea) in the Franco era and discovered racism by virtue of being with them (many of the women were abandoned by their families because of their opposition to the union) or when their children were born.
My idea was to question terms that are like prisons, such as inter- or multiculturalism, mixed couples, or second-generation immigrants, and address existing racism from other points of view.
And finally, she says about privilege, its complexities, and the blindness it can cause:
There are those who ask me why it's called ‘The Women Who Dared’ or why not do the same thing with white men who were with black women.
The balance of power wasn't the same. A white man, and even more so with Guinea still a colony at the time, was at the tip of the pyramid of privilege, while a black woman was at the base.
In the case of my book's protagonists, my mother among them, although they were in the middle of that pyramid, they couldn't even open a bank account without the permission of their parents or their husbands. The minute they fell in love, they broke the unwritten rules of an ultra-prudish society that looked down on the black men they desired as a partner, that thought they deserved something better.
For their part, the men [in these relationships] were far enough away from their families to be able to marry whomever they wanted. Sometimes it turned out well, other times it didn't, but I understood it was fundamental to make the book about the encounter of human beings, which has been happening since the dawn of time. Even more so in the Iberian Peninsula, where along the southern coast you can see the lights of Africa.
Mixing isn't new, it isn't modern, it isn't cool. It simply is, has been, and will be.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Sandra Abd'Allah-Alvarez Ramírez


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Why pilgrims from India and Nepal throng to see an orchid that blooms in April · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

Shrine dedicated to gardener sisters whom Salahesh used to meet at the Salahesh fulbari in Siraha district of eastern Nepal. Image by Sanjib Chaudhary.
An orchid that blooms around mid-April in a garden of historical and cultural significance in Siraha, eastern Nepal attracts hordes of pilgrims from both India and Nepal every year.
The locals in the area of the garden, known as the Salahesh Fulbari, believe that the flower blooms on the very first day of the year, 1st of Baishakh (the first month in the Nepali Calendar). According to legend, the orchid symbolizes the garland offered to the folk hero Salahesh by his beloved malin (a Maithili word for a female gardener).
अनौठो फूल !
पूर्व–पश्चिम राजमार्गअन्तर्गत सिरहाको पडारिया चोकदेखि दक्षिणमा रहेको ऐतिहासिक तथा प्राचीन फूलबारीमा नयाँ वर्ष वैशाख १ गते मात्र फुल्ने फूल । ‘सल्हेस’ फूलबारी ‘हारमको’ रुखमा एकाबिहानै सुनाखरी आकारको फूल फुल्छ र साँझ ओइलाएर जान्छ । तस्वीर: रासस pic.twitter.com/SCRYHquX0I
— Saral Patrika (@SaralPatrika) April 13, 2018
Strange flower!
A flower that blooms only on the New Year 1st of Baishakh at the historical and ancient garden located in the south of Siraha’s Padariya Chowk on the East-West Highway. The orchid blooms on the haram tree in the Salahesh Garden early in the morning and wilts in the evening. Photo: RSS (National News Agency)
Fascinating folklores, cultural demigod
Not much has been written about Salahesh, also known as Sailesh (the king of mountains) and Jayavardhan. However, in the southern plains of eastern Nepal and adjoining states in Bihar of India, there are many folklore stories featuring Salahesh and his adventures. Different versions of folktales handed down from one generation to the other talk about Salahesh’s bravery and his love for his malin.
According to one legend, Salahesh used to visit the Salahesh Fulbari to pick flowers for use in religious rituals after performing his ablutions. He would meet four sisters who were gardeners there, and in due course, he fell in love with one of them. The orchid which blooms in mid-April every year, according to locals, symbolizes that love. Young couples visit the garden on the Nepali New Year’s Day to receive blessings for their love and express hope that their love would last long just like that of Salahesh and his gardener love.
According to many stories about Salahesh, he was a Dusadh, a member of the so-called untouchable community. He is also claimed, however, by the Danuwar community. But Salahesh is worshipped by all, irrespective of caste and ethnicity. With time, he has evolved for several communities from a Dalit hero into a demigod.
Mythology versus science
While hundreds of thousands of pilgrims flock to the Salahesh Fulbari each year to get a glimpse of the famous flower and worship Salahesh and malin, science says something else.
Although the locals claim that the flower blooms in the early morning on the 1st of Baishakh and wilts in the evening, the orchid blooms appear before the onset of the New Year.
This picture of the orchid was clicked four days ahead of the 1st Baishakh, the first day of the New Year. Image by Sanjib Chaudhary.
The Nepali government’s Department of Plant Resources have identified the flower as the orchid Dendrobium aphyllum (Roxb.) C.E.C. Fisch, and the famed tree on which the flowers bloom as Bischofia javanica Blume or bishopwood, locally known as haram.
वैशाख १ मा मात्रै फुल्ने फूल । The flower that only blooms for a day in mid April. #SalaheshFulbari #Flower #Unique #Tarai
A post shared by  Ganesh Acharya (@theganeshlife) on
Also known as hooded orchid, this species was discovered by William Roxburgh in southern India. It is found in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
While the myth about the flower's species and the timing of its blooming and subsequent wilting in the Salahesh Fulbari has been busted, deep-rooted faith and obeisance to demigod Salahesh keep people from visiting the garden before and after the Nepali New Year's Day. And they continue flocking to the Salahesh Fulbari to see this strange and legendary flower that blooms early in the morning and wilts in the evening, only on the 1st day of the Nepali New Year, as per their belief.

author: Sanjib Chaudhary


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Women’s Voices in Mexico: “Having your voice heard is a revolutionary act” · Global Voices
Indira Cornelio

Screenshot of participants gathering at the Women's Voices storytelling workshop in Mexico, 2017. Used with permission from Youtube.
N.B. The audio and video links are all in the Spanish language.
Women's Voices: stories that transform is a multimedia laboratory based in Mexico that seeks new ways of telling stories about women and their influence on social change. For the organizers, gender norms are an important factor in understanding how women's roles and narratives in society are understood and constructed across a wide range of experiences.
The second edition of Women's Voices held in 2017 brought together women from different circles and laid the groundwork for storytelling projects by “gender non-conformists, indigenous women, poets, journalists, footballers, boxers, land and environmental activists, motorcyclists, sportswomen, bicycle messengers, healers, midwives, bisexuals, and those who have lost their lives due to violence.”
Organizer Eloísa Diez explains:
Trabajamos con mujeres y disidentes de género en un laboratorio multimedia donde reflexionamos sobre cómo el género afecta la manera en que se han contado nuestras historias, construyendo narrativas y apropiándonos de la tecnología para visibilizar el rol transformador que tenemos.
We are working with women and gender non-conformists in a multimedia laboratory where we reflect on how gender affects the way our stories have been told, constructing narratives and using technology to make the transformative role we play more visible.
Women's Voices workshops focus on opening up spaces and giving storytelling tools to women who participate so that they can transform their environments. The key word for Women's Voices is amplified: the project requires women to focus on other women's stories instead of just their own.
Judzil Palma Ortega's video featuring Rosalía Méndez Xool is a good example. Rosalía is a Mayan woman from Yucatán, Mexico, and practices traditional medicine which stands in opposition to the modernity ushered in by cultural evolution in Mexico. This story highlights the importance of the oral transmission of knowledge that has benefited previous generations and continues curing and healing people today:
Esta mujer representa a las mujeres mayas actuales que contribuyen a que la cultura maya resista a los constantes cambios que ocurren en la cultura. Rosalía, nos enseña la importancia de la transmisión oral de estos conocimientos, ya que el uso de plantas en la alimentación y en sus prácticas medicinales han sido favorables para las generaciones pasadas, y las actuales, además de que han mantenido un equilibrio con el medio ambiente.
This woman represents Mayan Women of today who contribute to the Mayan culture, to resist the constant changes that are happening within the culture. Rosalía teaches us the importance of the oral transmission of this knowledge. The use of plants in food and for medicinal purposes has been beneficial for past generations, as well as present, and has maintained an equilibrium with the environment.
Mikeas Sánchez, another participant, has focused her work on protecting cultural heritage and land protection. In this audio piece on the Women's Voices Soundcloud account, Azalia Hernández speaks with Mikeas and explores the role of women in the Zoque community (Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Tabasco, Mexico) who are in charge of looking after new generations and teaching them the community's traditions.
Mi abuela nunca aprendió español. Tuvo miedo del olvido de sus dioses. Tuvo miedo de despertarse una mañana sin los prodigios de su prole en la memoria. Mi abuela creía que solo en [lengua] zoque se podía hablar con el viento. [Mi abuela y mi madre] eran mujeres de fuerte carácter [aunque no tuvieran] la posibilidad de acceder a la educación [formal]. Para mi fueron un ejemplo claro de lucha y de justicia social […] Siempre me educaron para conocer toda la filosofía del pueblo zoque.
My grandmother never learned Spanish. She was scared the Gods would forget her. She was frightened of waking up one morning without any memory of the wonders of her lineage. My grandmother believed that you could only speak with the wind in the Zoque language. [My grandmother and my mother] were women of strong character, although they didn't have access to a [formal] education. For me, they were a clear example of fighters and social justice […]. They always educated me on the philosophies of the Zoque people.
An audio piece entitled “Women giving birth” offers a collection of women's stories about the various ways of caring for one's body during childbirth. The stories affirm how women know their own bodies, they know how to give birth and “that there are as many ways to give birth as there are women doing it.”
On Women's Voices website, visitors can explore extensive archives of audio, video, and testimonials gathered during the workshops. The archives include voices of young football players from the Mazahua communities, female boxers, “clitorianas” (women who need clitoral stimulation to reach orgasm), young journalists, bicycle messengers, and many more.
The Women's Voices workshop process lasted about six months, and in its final installment, it brought together more than 20 women-identified participants including transgender women, to tell their stories. The organizers: Luchadores, La Sandía Digital, SocialTIC, Subversiones and WITNESS, provided support through their activities dedicated to communication for change, the field of technology, the defense of a full sex life, community efforts and multimedia production in multiple languages from a gender-nonconforming and feminist perspective.

author: Indira Cornelio


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At the World Cup in Russia this summer, Central Asia will be supporting Mohamed Salah · Global Voices
Abdulfattoh Shafiev

Mohamed Salah. Screenshot taken from the YouTube video ‘Drawing Salah…Liverpool’ posted by Sanil Artist on December 15, 2017.
This season, Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah has been painting ecstasies all over the canvass of football history, and his work is not done yet.
By the end of this week it is likely that Salah's club team, Liverpool, will have booked its place in the final of Europe's most prestigious tournament.
He may also by that point have broken the record for goals scored in a 38-game season of the English Premier League, which he is currently tying with 31 strikes.
Then, when the club season wraps up, there will be the small matter of a World Cup with Egypt.
Football supporters in the ex-Soviet majority-Muslim countries of Central Asia have been with him every step of the way.
Football-themed social media groups in the region were once the scenes of pitch battles between admirers of Argentinian ace Lionel Messi and Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo. Not any more.
In addition to his blistering pace and effortless skill, Salah's booming popularity in Central Asia can be explained by his proud identity as a practising Muslim and his generous contributions to charities in Egypt and elsewhere.
At Liverpool, his goalscoring exploits have led to adulation and a popular terrace chant about conversion to Islam. But in contrast to many of his celebrity-dazzled colleagues the world over, Salah comes across as a paragon of humility.
It is precisely his off-field conduct that has been the focus of many discussions in Central Asian Facebook groups.
Every Muslim should be a example of a good behaviour. Salah with his glorious football talent and good behaviour is introducing the real Islam to the world.
In the Football of Tajikistan Facebook group, Mo Salah emerged as the most common answer when members were asked which footballer has the best upbringing and which player they would most like to see win the footballer of the year award.
Even hardcore Ronaldo and Messi fans in the group have said that award should go to  their “Muslim brother” who they celebrate with the refrain “Liverpool with Salah, Salah with Allah”.
But Salah-mania has reached truly incredibly heights in Tajikistan's neighbour, Uzbekistan, where one family named their new-born son after him according to a report by RFE/RL's Uzbek service.
Salah has marked many of his goals this season by falling to the ground in a sajdah to glorify Allah.
But his two goals in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against his old side Roma proved exceptions. Despite posting one of the most memorable individual performances in the history of Europe's top club competition Salah refused to celebrate against his former club, earning even more praise as a result.
He may do the same on May 6, even if he breaks the Premier League goalscoring record against Chelsea, a club that discarded him after offering him very few first-team opportunities two years ago.
It would be in keeping with an unbelievable season if Salah captured European glory in the Champions League Final at the end of next month. Fans are already anticipating the tantalising prospect of a match pitting him and Liverpool against Ronaldo and Real Madrid.
But for the 25 million Muslims living in Russia, including over four million migrants from Central Asia, Salah's appearance at the World Cup this summer as part of an unfancied Egypt side holds special significance.
There, as in Europe, Islamophobia and attacks on Muslims are growing with each day, spiking after a bombing attributed to extremists in St Petersburg last year stirred fears surrounding security during the tournament.
A bearded man called Mohamed that plays the beautiful game with joy in his heart and a smile on his face might provide the perfect tonic.

author: Abdulfattoh Shafiev


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Brutal murder of three film students in Mexico sparks outrage · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Photo of protestors carrying a sign #NoSonTresSomosTodxs (“It's not three, it's all of us) at a march on April 24, 2018, in Mexico City, shared widely on the public Twitter profile of activist Emilio Álvarez Icaza.
On April 23, 2018, news broke that three film students studying in the state of Jalisco, Mexico have been confirmed dead. Local authorities revealed that the students were allegedly murdered by members of organized crime who dissolved their bodies in acid in an attempt to hide evidence of their crime.
The students had been missing since March, when members of the Universidad de Medios Audiovisuales CAAV (University of Audio-Visual Media) community in Guadalajara, Jalisco, western Mexico, pronounced that filmmaking students Salomón Aceves, Marco Ávalos and Daniel Díaz had disappeared.
Journalist Zorayda Gallegos with El País gave an account of what happened:
Salomón Aceves Gastélum, de 25 años y originario de Mexicali (Baja California); Daniel Díaz, de 20 años y de Los Cabos (Baja California Sur), y Marco Ávalos de 20 años y de Tepic (Nayarit), vivían en la zona metropolitana de Guadalajara, donde estudiaban cine. Los tres desaparecieron el pasado lunes después de realizar una grabación en un domicilio de Tonalá, una localidad colindante con Guadalajara, donde realizaban una tarea escolar.
Salomón Aceves Gastélum, 25, originally from Mexicali (Baja California); Daniel Díaz, 20, from Los Cabos (Baja California Sur), and Marco Ávalos, 20, from Tepic (Nayarit), lived in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara where they studied film.  The three disappeared last Monday after making a recording at a home in Tonalá, a town adjacent to Guadalajara, where they performed a school assignment.
According to a chronology published by the Mexican daily Milenio, a group of “heavily armed men” who presented themselves as members of a police force approached the students in the vicinity of the residential development Colinas de Tonalá and kidnapped them.
The BBC reports that the students were possibly kidnapped because they were mistaken for members of another criminal organization who control of the area.
Since 2006, Mexico has been engaged in an ongoing internal armed conflict sometimes referred to as ‘the war without a name’ waged by highly organized criminal groups.
According to Milenio, the students were taken to a house where Salomón Aceves died while being tortured. Subsequently, his companions were also killed and all three were transferred to a second location where, according to authorities, their bodies were dissolved in sulfuric acid.
Netizens immediately took to social media to express sorrow, disgust, and indignation. Many used the hashtag #NosSonTresSomosTodxs, translated from Spanish to English meaning “It's not three, it's all of us.”
Journalist and academic Gabriela Warkentin pronounced:
Asesinados y disueltos en ácido, así aparecen los tres estudiantes de cine secuestrados en Jalisco.
De ese México es del que tenemos que hablar todos los días.
Todos los pinches días.
¡Carajo!
— Gabriela Warkentin (@warkentin) 24 de abril de 2018
Murdered and dissolved in acid, this is how the three film students kidnapped in Jalisco show up.
That is the Mexico that we have to talk about every day.
All the fucking days.
Fuck!
Twitter user Montserrat shared images of executed students’ faces:
Aquí están. Son tres de nosotros. Estudiantes de cine.
Disueltos en ácido.
Á C I D O pic.twitter.com/uWw5ZUOWNx
— Montserrat (@mon_arce) 24 de abril de 2018
Here they are.  They are three of us.  Film students.
Dissolved in acid.
A C I D
Twitter user Camilo Saavedra lamented:
Indignación total hoy en Jalisco y en México, hoy confirman la desgraciada noticia que se aproximaba después de tanto agobio, tres estudiantes inocentes muertos por manos del crimen. Hoy los mexicanos estamos hasta la chingada de tanta violencia! #NoSonTresSomosTodxs
— Camilo Saavedra (@morrisoncamilo) 24 de abril de 2018
Total outrage today in Jalisco and Mexico, today they confirm the unfortunate news that was approaching after so much burden, three innocent students killed by the hands of organized crime. Today Mexicans are fed the fuck up of so much violence! #NoSonTresSomosTodxs
Vianey tweeted her sadness with the following message:
Que triste que el ser estudiante en este país provoque la muerte, que dolor e impotencia saber que cualquiera de nosotros podemos acabar disueltos en ácido por estar en un lugar y en un momento equivocado #NoSonTresSomosTodxs toda mi buena energía para sus familias.
— Vianey (@Vianeycita) 24 de abril de 2018
How sad that being a student in this country causes death, what pain and helplessness to know that any of us can end up dissolved in acid by being at a place and at the wrong time #NoSonTresSomosTodxs all my good energy for their families.
Vianey's message refers to the Ayotzinapa Case of 43 students who were victims of a forced disappearance in Iguala, Guerrero, in September 2014.
Luis Antonio García expressed dismay over the suggestion recently made by presidential candidate Andrés M. López Obrador to offer amnesty to perpetrators to reduce violence in Mexico:
Es una lástima la confirmación de los estudiantes asesinados en Jalisco.
Como país debemos exigir justicia. No hay justificación para estos crímenes, ni se explican por el entorno social. Jamás impunidad, jamás amnistía a sus asesinos.
¡Justicia! pic.twitter.com/efbTKyxSBQ
— Luis Antonio García (@luisantgarcia) 24 de abril de 2018
The confirmation of the students murdered in Jalisco is a shame. As a country we must demand justice. There is no justification for these crimes, nor are they explained by the social environment. Never impunity, never amnesty to their assassins. Justice!
On the afternoon of April 24, thousands of young people took to the streets of Mexico City to demonstrate against widespread violence in the country. On Twitter, the #NoSomosTresSomosTodxs hashtag started trending as a tool used by citizens to demand justice and security from the State.
Marco/Jesús/Salomón #NoSomos3SomosTodxs pic.twitter.com/U5szuncU9O
— Antonio Marvel (@antoniomarvel) 24 de abril de 2018
Activists expect more citizen mobilizations aimed at addressing authorities blamed for causing insecurity and violence across the nation.
The use of acid and other powerful corrosive chemical agents for the purpose of dissolving corpses is not new in Mexico. Santiago Meza López, better known as ‘El Pozolero,’ is perhaps the most notorious criminal condemned for using this brutal method. Various reports calculate that El Pozolero allegedly dissolved more than 300 human bodies belonging to those whose names are related to the ongoing internal armed conflict in Mexico.

author: J. Tadeo


text:
Media censorship surrounds the Pashtun rights movement in Pakistan · Global Voices
Annam Lodhi

Massive crowd at the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement public gathering in Lahore. Photo from Facebook. Used with permission.
In the past months, the Pashtun Tahafuz (Protection) Movement has been mobilizing in Pakistan's major cities to demand basic rights for the Pashtun minority community, including the “right to live without fear” of extrajudicial killings.
The Pashtuns (or Pathans) are an ethnic minority group who mostly live in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Discrimination and violence are constant threats for Pashtuns, half a million of whom have been internally displaced due to the conflict between the army and the Taliban militant group. In 2016, Pashtuns were given official clearance to return to their home in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, but landmines planted there mean many can't can't safely return.
Read more: The Pashtun Long March Asks for Justice After Years of Ethnic Targeting
The Pashtun Tahafuz (Protection) Movement, known as PTM for short, has become a rallying point for thousands to speak up about these injustices. But their challenges are many.
Members have faced legal harassment, with repeated arrests. Local human rights defenders say the Pakistani mainstream media, especially TV channels, are ignoring the movement altogether. And in one case, a digital outlet that covered the movement from a critical angle experienced disruptions to their website, in what some editors feared was a targeted technical attack.
Lahore welcomes the #PakhtunLongMarch2Lahore over 5000 people attended,despite arrests & intimidation.The administration flooded jalsa w/ dirty water.There was complete media blackout.But journalists were there 2 tell the story thro social media.Self censorship sign of oppression pic.twitter.com/7dbCRMFrha
— Munizae Jahangir (@MunizaeJahangir) 22 de abril de 2018
Social media has been the only local platform where Pakistanis can reliably find robust and continuous coverage of the movement. So when Twitter suspended the account of one of the movement's most prominent leaders on April 26, many feared it was silencing the voice of an activist demanding equal protections for human rights.
The account belonged to Manzoor Pashteen, a 26-year-old human rights activist at the helm of the PTM. For his efforts to denounce what he sees as abuses by Pakistan's armed forces, Pashteen has been accused by some Pakistanis of spreading hatred and misleading information. In March 2018, police in the Balochistan province filed criminal charges against Pashteen for “criticizing the government and state security agencies.”
Politician Bushra Gohar questioned Twitter over this action:
Dear @Twitter, why have you suspended @manzoorpashteen’s account? His cry for justice & right to life has been blacked out by mainstream media. Don’t silence his voice on Twitter. Please restore his account. Thank you, BG @TwitterSupport
— Bushra Gohar (@BushraGohar) April 24, 2018
Journalist Ahsanullah Amiri tweeted:
Apparently twitter has suspended handle of new emerging right activist @manzoorpashteen who’s fighting for Pashtuns’ rights in Pakistan peacefully. Meanwhile we have 100s of accounts that are associated or have sympathy to terrorism groups in the region but they enjoy tweeting…
— Ehsanullah Amiri (@euamiri) April 24, 2018
Pashteen's account was later restored, and Twitter has yet to comment on why it happened.
Self-censorship is not uncommon in Pakistan's journalism sector. Neither is overt censorship. In November 2017 amid anti-blasphemy protests, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority blacked out all private news channels for 26 hours.
Most recently, Geo TV, one of Pakistan’s leading television news channels, was blocked for a few weeks in April 2018, allegedly for its critical coverage of the military.
Murtaza Solangi, a senior Pakistani journalist, described for Gadhara, an outlet that is part of the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, what message this censorship is meant to send:
[The censorship is prompted by] insecurity of the military establishment determined to get a positive outcome of [their liking] in the next polls. [This is why] banning Geo TV is also a message to all and sundry to fall in line and sign the dotted line.
In response to the trend, hundreds of Pakistani journalists recently sounded the alarm in a collective statement:
Beginning with a crackdown against select media groups and banning the broadcast of various channels, there now is enhanced pressure on all media houses to refrain from covering certain rights-based movements. Media house managements under pressure are dropping regular op-ed columns and removing online editions of published articles. One media house even asked its anchors to stop live shows.
When it comes to the PTM, daily newspaper The Nation reportedly refused a piece of commentary about PTM by columnist Gul Bukhari for being critical of state institutions. Another online publication called Naya Daur later published the article, but its website soon suffered problems, which the outlet feared had been censored by authorities.
Three or more articles were taken down from online portal The News which were about the movement and many other websites refused to publish articles related to the March.
Pashtun Tahafuz Movement public gathering in Lahore on April 22, 2018. Photo from Facebook. Used with permission.
Pashtuns in the FATA area are still heavily policed in their day-to-day lives. Residents must pass through military checkpoints in order to travel through the region. Protests were held in Swat weeks ago, demanding the removal of military checkpoints after a child died during waiting for clearance at a checkpoint.
But police also are taking action against protesters for causing a nuisance. This type of response by the administration is creating controversy over the legitimate demands of the protesters, with authorities suggesting that they are somehow “anti-state”.
Pashteen responded to these accusations, saying:
Yes, we do want “Azadi” (independence), the Azadi that is enjoyed by the rest of Pakistan.
Their efforts are not in vain, some of their demands seem to have met. Authorities have agreed to protesters’ demands to end the Watan Card (an identity card) which originally launched in 2010 to provide financial assistance to the flood-affected population. This became a de-facto passport for people from FATA to travel within the country and is now increasingly being used to discriminate between (and against) specific ethnic groups. In mid-February 2018, the card was done away with.
In other gains, many missing persons have returned home, and there are reports of bomb disposal teams working on the removal of landmines in Waziristan.
However, PTM believes there is a long way to go and they would continue the struggle until sufficient and satisfactory action is taken.
An Apex committee including the army officials and the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has agreed to hold negotiations with PTM. Meanwhile, the movement continues with peaceful demonstrations across the country.
The movement has inspired others as well to speak up about the violation of their rights and is being joined by other ethnic minority groups in the country.

author: Annam Lodhi


text:
Springtime in Japan means the return of the country’s beloved swallows · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Swallows in Umeda Station, Osaka. By Flickr user muzina_shanghai. License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Each spring Japan welcomes the return of cherry blossoms, rice shoots, hay fever and — barn swallows. Barn swallows are a welcome visitor in train stations, schools, shopping arcades or anywhere else they can build a nest.
To mark the start of spring, Fundo, a Japanese website that curates Internet memes, has collected a variety of tweets welcoming swallows back to Japan in April each year.
ツバメさんに巣作りして欲しくて、皿巣と張り紙したら本当に巣作りしてくれました！！
お店の入口近くに営巣していますので、ご来店の際はこっそり見てみて下さい！ pic.twitter.com/n223rBwUIP
— とりっぴー -小鳥用品専門店- (@bird_torippie) April 28, 2018
Sign: Welcome back, swallows!
Tweet: We wanted to the swallows to build a nest, and when we installed this nest and created this poster, sure enough, they decided to nest! The swallows are nesting right near the entrance to our store, so when you stop by, be sure to keep an eye out for them!
Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica, known as ‘tsubame’ in Japanese) are migratory birds that winter in the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries before returning to Japan each April to nest. The birds are a welcome sight for commuters:
東武東上線の森林公園駅なう。
今年もツバメが一生懸命営巣してます? pic.twitter.com/WFBOivmSz2
— jin_ishii@JK (@jin_ishiiJK) April 27, 2018
I'm at Tobu Tojo Shinrinkōen Station right now. Once again, the swallows are working all out to build their nests this year.?
Since swallows will nest almost anywhere in Japan, special care is taken to protect any passer-by from their droppings:
【多摩市ニュース】 駅のツバメの巣の下にフン受け板を設置します – PR TIMES (プレスリリース) https://t.co/keIb4Crn9x pic.twitter.com/DYnnQdBJmt
— 多摩市ニュース (@tamacitynews) April 12, 2017
(Tama City News) A platform has been installed below a swallow's nest to catch dropping (at Keio Wakabadai Station).
Image: “A message from the swallows at Kori Station, Okutama.” By Flickr user Hajime NAKANO. CC BY 2.0
(translation) From the resident swallows of Kori Station: “We will once again be in your care this year. While our droppings may be annoyance, we hope you will watch over us until we return back to our home islands in the south.”
The birds are friendly and often show little fear of their human hosts:
ツバメよ人間がこの位置にいるのになぜ逃げないww
人間に慣れすぎ?? pic.twitter.com/j5uA95HivM
— マグナムSY (@SY11750198) April 19, 2018
Hey, swallows! There are humans here! Why aren't you running away, lol? You're too used to us humans! ??
The swallows’ time among humans is short. By late May, the fledglings will have mostly left the nest:
もうツバメたちの鳴き声は聞こえません。
昨日の朝学校行く時に巣立ちの瞬間に遭遇しました。6羽無事巣立ちました！安心です。 pic.twitter.com/OKHlJrY0qw
— オオハクチョウ@潮来 (@swallow_swan248) May 29, 2014
I can no longer hear the chirping of the swallows. Yesterday on the way to school I caught sight of the swallows leaving the nest. Six fledglings successfully flew away…what a relief!
For many Japanese people, the return of the swallows each spring is something to look forward to, and an experience to treasure.
https://t.co/Ns37CPss89
幸せを運んでくれる鳥です
大切にしたいですね?
— あんこ (@benkyusinasaine) April 12, 2017
These birds bring with them great happiness. I want to take great care of them

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
After a 36-year absence, Peruvians qualify for the World Cup and a trading card frenzy ensues · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Inside the ‘Panini trading cards’ album containing the much longed-for card of Paolo Guerrero. Image by the author, used with permission.
On November 15, 2017, Peruvian football achieved the ultimate dream: the national team classified for the International Federation Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2018 Russia after a 36-year absence.
Some months later, proud football fans are waiting in long lines for hard-to-find trading cards to commemorate this historic moment in Peruvian football history.
But back in November 2017, joy and excitement surged so high that the Peruvian Geophysical Institute recorded a minor earthquake at the precise moment football player Jefferson Farfán scored the first goal against the New Zealand team at the National Stadium in Lima.
The Peruvian Geophysical Institute, the state body in charge of detecting natural disasters of great magnitude, reported:
El júbilo unánime de los aficionados que se encontraban en el Estadio Nacional hicieron vibrar el suelo de Lima y los acelerómetros registraron amplitudes del sacudimiento del suelo equivalentes a un microsismo, de magnitud aproximada de 1 (imperceptibles para las personas) en la escala de Richter.
The unanimous joy by the fans at the National Stadium caused Lima land to vibrate and the accelerometers recorded amplitudes of land shakings equivalent to a micro earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 1 (imperceptible for people) on the Richter scale.
On March 22, 2018, the Italian company Panini launched its popular trading cards album to commemorate Peruvian football players in two editions: a special hard-cover album and more traditional trading cards.
The hard-cover albums were sold out in just hours. Meanwhile, the trading cards, known in Peru as “figuritas” (literally, small cards), grew scarce just days later:
[…] Panini no esperó la gran acogida del álbum por lo que el stock seleccionado para nuestro país quedó corto en tan solo unos días. No pasó ni una semana para que el coleccionista peruano se quede sin oportunidad de conseguir este tradicional cuadernillo de la Copa del Mundo.
[…] Panini didn't expect such a huge demand, so the stock meant for our country was sold out in just days. Not a week had passed, and the Peruvian collector lost all opportunities to get this traditional booklet of the World Cup.
This fast and unexpected shortage upset Peruvian football fans who waited in long lines for the sought-after cards:
Hay un causa haciendo cola por el álbum con un álbum en la mano y hasta paquetón JAJA #PERU
Álbum Panini: hinchas de la bicolor se amanecieron y forman largas colas para comprarlo [FOTOS] en @TuitDepor > https://t.co/ijevIdCkN2 pic.twitter.com/hOS4aHspiz
— Eduardo (@Eduardo_Combe) 22 de marzo de 2018
There is a guy in line holding an album in one hand and a 100-trading cards pack. LOL!
Panini album: Peruvian national team fans got up early and form long lines to get it.
By early April 2018, the firm announced the arrival of a new set within a few days. Panini representative Óscar Pizarro acknowledged that the huge demand for trading cards and albums of the Russia 2018 World Cup caused an unexpected scarcity in points of sale.
On a radio interview, Pizarro pointed out that they sold 140 tons of trading card packs within in ten days. In comparison, the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 game only sold 40 tons of trading card packs.
Pizarro also noted a demand for the cards since day one, when Panini was informed that distributors sold between 5,000 to 10,000 albums in just 27 minutes:
Nosotros habíamos calculado el primer lote, que fue el doble de lo que se vendió en toda la campaña anterior, para que dure dos semanas, pero duró horas. Tengo la data de que del 22 de marzo al 2 de abril de 2018 ya se habían colocado en el mercado 140 toneladas de sobres. En solo 10 días, hay una situación de escasez porque no había manera de calcular esto.
We estimated the first batch, which doubled the whole batch from the previous campaign, to last for two weeks, but it was sold out in just hours. I have information that from March 22 to April 2, 2018, 140 tons of card packages had been sold. In just ten days, there is a shortage, as there was no way of anticipating this.
By early April, Panini posted a statement on Facebook:
La gran demanda que ha generado la participación de Perú en el Mundial ha logrado un nuevo hito en la historia de ventas de álbumes mundialistas en el país, 36 años de espera han superado largamente la demanda generada y estamos orgullosos de ser parte de una hinchada tan comprometida con la selección.
The great demand generated by the participation of Peru in the World Cup has achieved a new milestone in the history of sales of albums in the country, [as] 36 years of waiting have far exceeded the demand generated and we are proud to be part of this group of fans so committed to the national team.
Fiercely proud Peruvian football fans took to Twitter to express their disappointments and opinions on the Panini album:
Panini: este es el cronograma de abastecimiento de figuritas para Perú | https://t.co/6Xy2kqqXpq via @Publimetrope
— gerardolipe (@gerardolipe) 11 de abril de 2018
Óscar Pizarro, Panini representative in our country, mentioned the dates of arrival of the now scarce trading cards.
The Panini representative explained that the shortage of the album was due to the “unexpected high demand”.
——–
Panini: this is the replenishing schedule for the supply of trading cards for Peru.
Football fans from other countries shared the excitement of having the Peruvian national team as part of the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018:
Tengo como 25 años de hacer el álbum #Panini y es la primera que pego una postal de un jugador de #Peru@renatotapiac Felicidades peruanos, éxitos en el mundial @TuFPFpic.twitter.com/ogrTo97zks
— Alex Carrillo (@Alex_Carrillo_R) 12 de abril de 2018
For about 25 years, I've collected the Panini album, and it's the first time I paste a card of a Peruvian player. Congratulations to the Peruvian people, may you do well at the World Cup.
Others thought to use this momentum to promote reading:
Y si fuera obligado leer un libro antes de poder comprar un Album Panini? Quizas nuestro Perú empezaría a tener mejores oportunidades!
— David Mendoza (@DavidMendoza_AL) 12 de abril de 2018
What if it was mandatory to read a book before getting the Panini album? Maybe our Peru would start having better opportunities!
Others shared the joy of collecting all the cards to complete their album:
Álbum Panini: la emoción por el fútbol traducida en figuritas https://t.co/zqcBbDjLqJ vía @elcomercio_peru
— Ricardo Hinojosa Lizárraga (@santoschilcano) 21 de abril de 2018
Panini album: the excitement about football translated into trading cards
Football fans invest time and money to fill out the Panini album. Companies organize card exchanging events for their employees. Today, there will be a meeting at the Boulevard of Culture at San Miguel.
———-
Panini album: the excitement about football translated into trading cards.
While the Panini album-collecting created a frenzy, ex-president Pedro Pablo Kuczinsky's (known as PPK) resignation from office on March 21 a day before the album was launched barely created a stir:
Medios extranjeros: ¡CRISIS TOTAL en Perú por renuncia del presidente!
En Perú:
-Oye, renunció PPK.
-Ah. Y a qué hora juega Perú el viernes?
-A las 7:30
-Tienes el álbum?
-Panini? #GoodMorning#MortalesTrogloditas#WantanLoversToo?⚽
— Frank Alexis (@Frankeate) 23 de marzo de 2018
Foreign media: TOTAL CRISIS in Peru due to President's resignation!
In Peru:
-Hey, PPK resigned.
-Oh. And what time is the Peru national football team game on Friday?
-At 7:30
-Do you have the album?
-Panini?
Situación actual del Perú:
«¿Qué opinas de la renuncia de PPK?»
– «Ya tengo mi álbum panini»
— andrealozada192 (@andrealozada192) 23 de marzo de 2018
Current situation in Peru:
– What do you think of PPK's resignation?
– I already have my Panini album.
And memes weren't spared:
Álbum Panini del Mundial Rusia 2018: memes tras su lanzamiento en Perú | Foto 1 de 10 | Internacional | Fút https://t.co/n5IwwgSJDP#OKEit
— @AquelCabron (@aquelcabron) 6 de abril de 2018
World Cup Russia 2018 Panini album: memes after being launched in Peru | Photo 1 of 10.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


text:
In Mexico, an indigenous community telco will continue to operate — for now · Global Voices
Giovanna Salazar

Image from Rhizomática Wiki used under a Creative Commons license.
Indigenous Community Telecommunications (ICT), a civil society association in Mexico, has withstood an important legal battle for the right of indigenous communities to establish and manage their own community networks of mobile phones and internet.
ICT, which provides voice and data services at affordable costs in remote areas of southern Mexico, obtained a special legal protection (or amparo, in Spanish) exempting it from a fee of around one million pesos (approximately US $50,000) to use the radio spectrum for its operations. This fee is typically assessed by Mexico's Federal Institute of Telecommunications (the regulator for radio broadcasting and telecommunications) for corporate enterprises. ICT is a non-profit.
The Collegiate Circuit Court on Administrative Matters, Specialized in Economic Competition, Broadcasting and Telecommunications ruled that this does not exempt ICT from payment, but it does instruct the Federal Institute of Telecommunications to reconsider the required fee. As a not-for-profit, ICT argues that it should not be treated the same as the commercial service providers.
In the ruling, the Court recognized that ICT's services relate to the defense of indigenous peoples’ human rights including freedom of expression. It also acknowledged that the pro homine principle (pro persona) must be applied when reviewing human rights issues to encourage the broadest protection of individual and group rights at all times.
Organizations such as Rhizomática and Networks for Diversity, Equality and Sustainability who helped establish ICT published a press release welcoming the Court's decision and thanked supporters who joined them on this difficult journey.
Global Voices (GV) spoke with Erick Huerta, deputy general coordinator of the Networks for Diversity, Equity and Sustainability, advisor and legal strategist for ICT, about the challenges that lie ahead:
Nosotros sentimos que el fallo del Tribunal es un parteaguas en cuanto a los derechos a la comunicación de los pueblos y comunidades indígenas y en cuanto a cómo debe realizar sus funciones la entidad autónoma [el Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones].
El artículo 1 de nuestra Constitución es muy claro respecto a que todas las personas gozarán de los derechos humanos, sin discriminación, y, en caso de que exista alguna duda, la interpretación de las normas debe hacerse de tal forma que se favorezca la más amplia protección de los derechos humanos. Esta interpretación es una obligación que le corresponde hacerla tanto al poder judicial, como al poder ejecutivo y a los órganos autónomos.
La sentencia del Tribunal es muy bonita en ese sentido, ya que le señala al ente autónomo que está obligado a interpretar la ley en favor de los derechos humanos, y a considerar la situación especial de los pueblos indígenas y sus derechos específicos a la comunicación.
En otras palabras, no por aplicar estrictamente una ley fiscal [en este caso, aquella que determina que debe pagarse por el uso del espectro radioeléctrico], vas a negar un derecho básico.
Para nosotros, el que tuviéramos que pagar un millón de pesos significaba que dejaríamos de operar y se les negaría a las comunidades, entonces, su derecho humano a la comunicación, simplemente por un tema administrativo.
La sentencia dice ‘Toda ley está sujeta a interpretación. Es más, las leyes fiscales son de interpretación estricta, pero eso no quiere decir que no se interprete’.
No puedes aplicar las leyes a rajatabla, tienes que ver cómo se ubica dentro del sistema, si es equitativo o no.
We feel that the Court's ruling is a watershed in terms of the communication rights of indigenous peoples and communities and how the regulator [the Federal Institute of Telecommunications] should perform its functions.
Article 1 of our Constitution states very clearly that all people shall enjoy human rights, without discrimination, and if there is any doubt, the interpretation of the rules must be done in such a way as to support the broadest protection of human rights. This interpretation is an obligation of the judiciary, and also of the executive and regulatory bodies.
The Court's judgement is very good in that sense, since it indicates to the regulator that it has an obligation to interpret the law in support of human rights, and to consider the special situation of indigenous peoples and their specific rights to communication.
In other words, the judgment indicates that regulators should not strictly apply a tax law [in this case, the one that determines what should be paid for the use of the radio spectrum] which would deny a basic right.
For us, having to pay a million pesos would have meant that we would stop operating and the communities then would be denied their human right to communication, simply because of an administrative issue.
The sentence says “Every law is subject to interpretation. Moreover, the tax laws are strictly interpreted, but that does not mean that they are not interpreted.”
You cannot apply the laws strictly, you have to see how they are in the context of the system, whether they are equitable or not.
According to Huerta, the regulatory body has already issued a resolution to interpret the law in question, but a payment exemption will not be granted until ICT obtains the status of “authorized grantee” by the Tax Administration Service, given to civil society organizations or trusts to receive tax-deductible donations. Given the situation, Huerta says that ICT may be forced to reject the Institute's ruling.
Additionally, ICT filed for another special legal protection against inequity and discrimination in the process of granting licenses in broadcasting and telecommunications.
Huerta explains:
Para radiodifusión, no hay pago del derecho por el uso del espectro, ni en concesiones sociales ni en las comerciales. Su derecho se paga en tiempos fiscales [espacios de transmisión que ocupa el Estado Mexicano].
Para las radios comunitarias e indígenas no hay pago en tiempos fiscales. Entonces, no tendría por qué haber un pago por el uso del espectro radioeléctrico para concesionarios que están en la misma categoría. Si existe la misma razón [brindar un servicio de índole social, comunitaria, indígena], debe existir la misma disposición.
Desafortunadamente, hay varios ejemplos en los que si se trata de beneficiar a un particular, con gran poder económico, todo parece muy fácil y hasta se llegan a violar principios. En otros casos, en donde incluso existe una resolución judicial como es el caso que nos ocupa ahora, la autoridad se presenta muy poco flexible.
Estos distintos parámetros evidencian discriminación.
For broadcasting, there is no payment for the right to use the spectrum, neither for community licenses, nor for commercial ones. Their right is paid in the form of time periods that are reserved for public service broadcasting.
For community and indigenous radio there is no payment in public service broadcasting. So, there should not be a required payment for the use of the radio spectrum for providers that are in the same category. If the same logic is applied here [to provide a social, community, indigenous service], the same provision must exist.
Unfortunately, there are several examples in which, if it is to benefit a private individual with great economic power, everything seems very easy, even if principles are violated. In other cases, even where there is a judicial resolution, as is the case that concerns us now, the authority is very inflexible.
These different parameters show discrimination.
ICT, known for its independent, disruptive and innovative initiatives that follow in the footsteps of indigenous technology projects like the community cell phone network, has never wavered in its virtues and has vowed to continue to fight for indigenous rights.
Huerta believes:
Hay quienes se posicionan para favorecer a los poderosos. Nosotros seguiremos los caminos necesarios, confiando en que, al final, lo que se privilegie sean los derechos de los pueblos y comunidades indígenas.
There are those who position themselves to support the powerful. We will follow the necessary paths, trusting that, in the end, what is privileged will be the rights of indigenous peoples and communities.

author: Giovanna Salazar


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In Spain, the “la manada” sexual assault case verdict triggers mass protests · Global Voices
Lourdes Sada

“The Pack”, known in Spanish as “La manada,” at the 2016 San Fermín Festival. Image by Cuarto Poder, used under a CC BY-NC 3.0 license.
The Provincial Court of Navarra in Spain recently announced its verdict in the case of “La manada” (“the pack”), a group of five young men accused of gang-raping a woman in July 2016, during the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona. The group was also accused of stealing the victim’s mobile phone, filming the attack, and sharing it on social media, which led to charges of violent robbery and violations of privacy.
Each of the five men was sentenced to nine years in prison and another five years under supervised release. They also must collectively pay 50,000 Euro (US $60,400) as compensation to the victim.
The group has been convicted of sexual abuse, but not rape. Sexual abuse is considered to be a less serious crime with significantly lighter sentences. The public prosecutors called for 22 years in prison for each of the accused, who include a member of the armed forces and an agent of the Spanish Civil Guard. Pamplona Council and the Regional Government of Navarra also called for 26 years in prison as private prosecutors.
The “La manada” trial has sparked large protests in Spain with demonstrations of thousands of people under the rallying cry of “Sister, I believe you.” The recent verdict also gathered hundreds of people in front of the Provincial Court of Navarra, who burst into protest immediately after the sentence was announced:
La sentencia de ‘La Manada’ traspasa fronteras: la prensa internacional se hace eco de la indignación https://t.co/3hVltda3u1 pic.twitter.com/pLPVhZYB89
— Público (@publico_es) 27 de abril de 2018
The sentence of “La Manada” crosses borders: international press echoes indignation
15 artistas españolas responden a la sentencia de La Manada con sus dibujoshttps://t.co/nz6ssmjLRw pic.twitter.com/7fKnKX56mg
— EL PAÍS (@el_pais) 27 de abril de 2018
15 Spanish artists respond to the sentence with their artwork
Querid@s amig@s, leed bien esto y uníos a la protesta. Esto toca a todas las mujeres y las mujeres así no se tocan. Basta ya. Considero la sentencia del juez tan machista como la actitud de la misma manada. Inmoral, inaceptable, vergonzosa. Tolerancia cero.#NoesNo pic.twitter.com/KPP3uPWgMG
— Miguel Bosé (@BoseOfficial) 27 de abril de 2018
Tweet image: “This is a pack. These are rapists”
Tweet text: Dear friends, read this well and join the protest. This touches all women and women should not be touched by this. Enough already. I think that the judge’s sentence is as chauvinist as the attitude of the pack. Immoral, unacceptable, shameful. Zero tolerance
Indignation also spread through social media:
La sentencia de La Manada nos duele en todo el mundo #YoTeCreo
Ayer se conoció en España la sentencia por el crimen “La Manada”. Un grupo de cinco hombres acorraló y violó a una mujer, y luego lo filmaron y difundieron. Sin embargo la justicia afirmó que no fue una violación. pic.twitter.com/Wa55xhaMyz
— Economía Feminista (@EcoFeminita) 27 de abril de 2018
Tweet image: Misogynistic scandal : She was 18 ; raped by 5 men; drunk, 10 years older and with precedent; they planned it on Whatsapp; they recorded the events; they commented it on social media; the courts question you; did you resist?; they judge that it was not rape
Many of those who resisted did not manage to survive
Do we have to choose between being killed and staying quiet?
SISTER, I BELIEVE YOU
Tweet text: The sentence of La Manada hurts us all #IBelieveYou. Yesterday, Spain learned the sentence for the “La Manada” crime. A group of five men cornered and raped a woman, and then filmed and shared it. However the courts decided that it was not a rape
On her Facebook account “It’s nothing personal”, blogger Carlota M. published a text that went viral:
Que cinco tíos te la metan simultáneamente por la boca, por el ano y por la vagina, de madrugada en un portal, mientras se animan entre ellos y repiten “¡me toca, me toca!”, eyaculando dentro de ti, sin articular tú ni una sola palabra y acabando sola en el hospital – sin mi móvil porque te lo han robado para que no puedas avisar a nadie – siendo atendida por policías, médicos y psicólogos, en España no se considera una violación.
El porno como educación sexual.
Cultura de la violación.
Justicia patriarcal.
Have five guys put it in your mouth, anus and vagina at the same time, in early morning in a doorway, while they cheer each other and repeat “my turn, my turn!”, ejaculating inside of you, without saying a word to you and you ending up alone in hospital – without my mobile phone because they have stolen it from you so that you cannot alert anybody – being looked after by police, doctors, and psychologists, in Spain it is not considered a rape.
Porn as sex education.
Rape culture.
Patriarchal justice.
Before the fate of the five was known, feminist movements warned that they would hold new demonstrations if the accused men were acquitted or given light sentences. Zaida Cantera, deputy of the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE) and herself a victim of sexual harassment in the army, said the following about the possible sentence:
Se estaría lanzando la consigna de la cultura de la violación permitida y las consecuencias de impunidad ante las violaciones serían devastadoras.
It would be raising the flag of the culture of permitted rape, and the consequences of impunity for rapes would be devastating
The accused men have been declared guilty in a verdict that has taken more than five months to announce. The court that tried the case is often slow in its decisions, due to a large number of cases and meticulous judges who often deliberate at length and in detail on their decisions.
In this case, disagreement between the judges delayed the ruling. One of the judges expressed a dissenting opinion calling for the acquittal of the accused. The defense had called for an acquittal, and the accused have announced their intention to appeal the decision.
Meanwhile, protests rejecting the verdict continue:
Nuevas protestas contra la sentencia que absuelve de violación a ‘La Manada’ https://t.co/SXQLUSW7Ky
— EL MUNDO (@elmundoes) 27 de abril de 2018
New protests against the sentence which acquitted “La Manada” of rape

author: Lourdes Sada


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Kidnapping and murders as Ecuador and Colombia’s border crisis heightens · Global Voices
Daniela Gallardo

“We will always miss our 3. #WeAreMissing3″ Image widely shared throughout social media of three journalists from the newspaper El Comercio whose murders were confirmed on the morning of April 13, 2018.
The kidnapping and murder of the three Ecuadorian journalists, Paúl Rivas, Javier Ortega and Efraín Segarra, allegedly at the hands of Oliver Sinisterra Front (led by FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) provoked an outcry and led newspapers to warn drug traffickers and terrorists to “never rest.”
The Oliver Sinisterra Front is a violent guerrilla group from Colombia led by a dissident known only by his alias “Guacho”.
On April 13, the President Lenín Moreno of Ecuador was visibly emotional when he confirmed the worst case hostage scenario had transpired for the El Comercio journalism team.
“For El Paúl, we will never stop. We will never stop,  we will never stop, we will never stop…” journalists sang in chorus amplified by every media outlet throughout the country, between public gatherings, marches, and vigils.
“#WeAreMissing3″ Through the # NosFaltan3 campaign, Ecuador citizens demanded the release of Ecuadorian journalists kidnapped by FARC dissidents on the border with Colombia. Photo was taken from Notimundo.
Leonardo Ponce, a journalist from the capital city of Quito, analyzed events in a personal interview with Global Voices (GV):
What we now face as journalists, citizens, and as a country is a new problem for everyone, it’s taken us all by surprise. We were not prepared for something like this and the consequences can range from moments of collective fear to attempts at political destabilization.
Andersson Boscán, a Venezuelan journalist based in Ecuador for several years, also expressed his point of view in a personal interview with GV:
The journalism industry was previously an unseen support unit in an almost forgotten cooperation with the authorities, but at the same time it takes a national maturity to understand that today we do more than provide information; we manage lives and safety.
Ponce covered the news, from the confirmation of the kidnapping to the announcement of his friends and colleagues’ murders. Recalling those moments:
We knew it had happened, but we were clinging to a thin thread of hope. I was in Quito’s Plaza Grande when that thread snapped. I remember his words [of president Moreno confirming the killings] hanging in the air for a moment, and then the entire plaza just broke down in pain. There was anger, indignation, agony…
Boscán reflected back on April 13, 2018:
It is difficult to describe. In a way, when the ministers delivered the news, they did not do so before 50 journalists, but 50 victims, 50 people who thought to themselves, ‘it could have been me.’ So I do not believe that the coverage of it has been the best. We are too close, there is too much emotion in the media.
On April 17, 2018, Interior Minister César Navas announced another attack by the Oliver Sinistierra Front while the bodies of the El Comercio journalist team were still missing.
Ecuadorian citizens Oscar Villacís and Katty Velasco were kidnapped in the Esmeraldas province in northwestern Ecuador. According to the minister, proof of life was sent directly from “Guacho” to the authorities.
In a video shown to the press, the hostages asked president Moreno to fight for their freedom, “[s]o that what happened to the journalists doesn’t happen to us. We have nothing to do with this war,” stated Villacís in a harrowing plea for their lives.
As of April 24, the kidnappers have not communicated again with the Ecuadorian government, either to send proof of life or to demand a ransom.
President Moreno issued an ultimatum for authorities to capture “Guacho” by April 26. He warned publicly that he would ask those who were noncompliant to “step aside.”
Moreno also ordered that peace talks will no longer be held in Ecuador between Ecuador's National Liberation Army (ELN) and Colombian officials. Moreno stated:
I have asked the Chancellor to stop these conversations and our guarantee condition of this process for peace, because the ELN does not promise to stop carrying out terrorist activities.
Ecuadorian political scientist Pablo Ruiz Aguirre insists on the need to examine the complexity of the situation when he spoke personally with GV:
The situation can not lead us to make hasty decisions, but we cannot make slow ones either, because that is where our capability at guiding outcome and handling crisis is seen. It is important to see the historicity of this problem, its context and what could come from it. Based on this, we must propose a new approach to fight drugs and violence, both in public policy and for military plans.
Ruiz argues that the real causes of the problem are drugs and their market:
History, at least of Colombia and Mexico, tells us that ongoing, direct fighting for several decades against them has generated nothing but more violence and retaliation. Even the UN [United Nation] is debating the legalization or regularization of the drug market. It is time to consider responses and the social phenomenon involved across every aspect, and propose solutions where drugs are not the focus, but the human being is.
On April 22, 2018, President Lenin Moreno ordered the investigation of former President Rafael Correa's electoral campaign for allegedly receiving money from the FARC.
The controversial relationship between ex-guerillas and Correa began in March 2008 when Colombian military forces bombed a FARC guerrilla camp in Angostura, Ecuador, killing FARC's second in command Raúl Reyes along with 23 people.
After recovering evidence from the hidden camp, including a computer belonging to Reyes, Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe made the information public, revealing an alleged link between the FARC and then-president Rafael Correa, who consequently broke diplomatic relations with Bogotá, Colombia's capital.
A 2009 video revealed deceased FARC leader Mono Jojoy apparently talking about the financial contribution that ex-guerrillas made to Correa's electoral campaign in 2006.
Ten years later, as the security crisis on the border with Colombia heightens, President Lenin Moreno requested that the alleged contribution of the FARC to the Correa campaign be investigated during his second presidential term.
The murder of three members of El Comercio's news team revealed the failures of the Peace Agreement between Colombia and the FARC for Ecuador and it also reminded both nations how the border area has slowly been taken over by violence and drug trafficking.
As the two governments aim to recover the journalists’ bodies, release the couple recently kidnapped, and eradicate the border violence and insecurity that divides their countries, fear lingers on both sides.

author: Daniela Gallardo


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Senior Vatican Cardinal George Pell to stand trial on sexual offence charges in Australia · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

George Pell arrives at court for committal hearing ruling. Screenshot from Guardian News video
The third most senior Vatican cardinal, Australia’s George Pell, is to stand trial on multiple sexual offence charges dating as far back as the 1970s. Melbourne Magistrate Belinda Wallington delivered her decision after a lengthy committal hearing in which several other charges were dismissed.
The cardinal has pleaded not guilty. He is third highest Vatican official, the Pope’s so-called ‘treasurer’ with responsibility for church finances. He is currently on extended leave.
It has been a long process so far. In 2016, Pell controversially declined to return home from Rome to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse about his role in alleged cover-ups by the Catholic church. Instead, he gave evidence by video link.
In a seemingly separate development, Pell was charged with historical sexual offences by Victoria police in June 2017.
Nevertheless, many have seen the issues as closely linked:
I'm still waiting for Cardinal George Pell to be charged with knowingly covering up and facilitating the child abuse perpetrated by others.
So many abusers protected or simply transferred to a different parish.
Bring that on!
— ChristopherJohnson (@Dream_Brother_) May 1, 2018
BREAKING: Cardinal George Pell to stand trial over sex offences in Ballarat. #Evil
Shame that they are not going after him for all the evil he has helped to cover up as well.
— Ben Bridges #VetsResistSupportSquadron (@Falconer084) May 1, 2018
As he entered the court, Pell was greeted with shouts from the crowd of “Nowhere to hide today, George”.
The response on social media was swift. Many on Twitter were clearly on the side of child abuse victims and saw Pell as guilty. Some like Lauren Ingram see the committal as vindication of those who have spoken up:
Sending love to all those victims who will be giving evidence. It takes an enormous amount of strength to stand up like this. This trial sends such a strong message to other victims of child sexual abuse. Any of you out there- my DMs are always open. https://t.co/pCRPmzLUtE
— Lauren Ingram ? (@laureningram) May 1, 2018
In contrast, Callum Ramsay defended Pell’s right to a fair trial:
Worth remembering Cardinal George Pell has the right to presumption of innocence until or unless proven guilty in a court of law… unless of course keyboard warriors convinced you otherwise
— Callum Ramsay (@Bombers83) May 1, 2018
However, he was one of only a small number who offered their support online after the news broke.
Not everyone is sure that justice will prevail. This note of cynicism came from Rita El Daghl:
Cardinal George Pell's trial will no doubt involve a litany of medical practitioners diagnosing him with a litany of medical conditions not least of which will be memory loss
— Rita El Daghl (@RitaElDaghl) May 1, 2018
“Ming the Merciless” agreed:
https://t.co/fVHUJBMqAs via @smh After 3+ decades of Church stalling, obfuscation & denigration of victims, the abused (those left alive, that is) will get their day in court – just don't expect justice for the less powerful from our adversarial system.
— Ming The Merciless (@MGliksmanMDPhD) May 1, 2018
The trial proceedings could take more than a year. There is speculation about Pell’s future in the church hierarchy, especially how much support he has from Pope Francis (@Pontifex);
A trial could still be a year away. Pell is 76, and will almost certainly remain in Australia indefinitely. Resignation from his Vatican position is likely to accepted by @Pontifex prior to the trial.
— JD Flynn (@jdflynn) May 1, 2018
However, the 76-year-old’s resignation from his Vatican post may not happen at this stage if this Vatican media release can be taken at face value:
#Vatican says it has “taken note” of the decision to put Cardinal Pell on trial for historic sex offences but stresses his “leave of absence” from a role overseeing Holy See finances “is still in place.” In other words: justice must take its course before judgment. pic.twitter.com/xI9xScfiOj
— Christopher Lamb (@ctrlamb) May 1, 2018
For more background about Pell and the latest news, please see Global Voices’ previous coverage:

author: Kevin Rennie


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The woes of Britain’s ‘Windrush generation’ are deeply felt in the Caribbean · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

The SS Monte Rosa was a passenger liner launched in Germany in 1930. During WWII, she was a German navy troopship. When the war ended, she was acquired by the United Kingdom and renamed Empire Windrush. The vessel is best known for bringing one of the first large groups of post-war West Indian immigrants to the UK in 1948. This era of British Caribbean people came to be called the “Windrush generation”. Photo by Flickr user Alan, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
On June 21, 1948, the British troopship HMT Empire Windrush anchored in Essex, UK. The ship carried over 1,000 passengers, 802 of whom hailed from Caribbean territories under British control at the time — including Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana — but Jamaicans comprised the majority, with just over 500 of them on board. They carried with them hopes and ambitions for a better life, having been “invited” by the British government to help fill a post-war labour shortage.
Now, half a century later, the British press is filled with the heartrending personal stories of this older generation of immigrants, who have found themselves harassed, deprived of numerous benefits and even losing their liberty as a result of a change in UK immigration laws.
They arrived to the UK from British colonies as legitimate British citizens, but have been caught up in the right-wing government's thrust to weed out illegal immigrants under the so-called “hostile environment” policy.
Changes in UK immigration rules in 2012 and 2014 in particular (presided over by then Home Secretary, now Prime Minister Theresa May) demanded that the “Windrush generation” prove they had the right to remain in Britain by providing documentary evidence. To add insult to injury, it was revealed that landing cards issued when the immigrants first arrived, which could prove how long they had lived in the UK, were destroyed by the Home Office in 2010.
The slowly unfolding saga has been met with growing outrage, bafflement and hurt feelings among Caribbean netizens — especially among those with older relatives living in the UK.
At the same time, the Windrush story has helped Jamaicans and others across the region to learn about — and confront — a period in colonial history hitherto little known or discussed. Now, most Caribbean millennials who follow the news know what the name “Windrush” signifies.
One online article noted that the scandal has also drawn back the veil on an aspect of history that is not much explored in the UK either:
Britain has an ignoble history of exploiting Caribbean people when they were ‘useful’, then casting them aside as insufficiently ‘British’ when they were not.
Recent reports of the current Home Office crackdown on Commonwealth elders come as a horrifying surprise, but they tell of a history we have not faced. How did we get here?
There was a sense of injustice among Jamaican commentators. Some comments were quite bitter:
The British bring us to the Caribbean to do unpaid labour and sexual services. Then they have us live here and work to pay taxes to them & keep them rich. Then they take us in their army to fight in WW2. Then they take us to England to rebuild it. Then they have us deported.
— Father stretch my strands (@nnboogie) April 18, 2018
On Facebook, a Jamaican with British heritage discussed the vexed question of identity and documentation, even within Jamaica itself:
Lots of discussion about the Windrush generation being asked to prove their status. But right now we have plenty people in Jamaica who would be hard pressed to prove their status as Jamaicans. Talking about unregistered births, no voter ID, no passport, no land title, no TRN, no NIS, no bank account. This is more common than you think.
One commentator reacted to the news that Windrush documents had been destroyed:
How wicked can government officials be, to consciously destroy the records of how their ‘subjects’ from their former colonies in the West Indies arrived in Britain and now are asking them and their descendants to prove their ongoing residency. What a piece a dishonesty; robbing the people of their right and preying on their vulnerabilities including lack of citizenship on the part of some.
Old documents are destroyed every day around the world – but I'm certain if these documents were deemed relevant to the ‘image’ of Britain they'd have found another way to store this information. It is a significant part of the history of the modern Black presence in Britain and the Caribbean. Yes, it matters. This is yet another (now) missing link in the historical movement of Black people who depend on ‘authorities’ to record, hold-for-safekeeping(?) and tell our story.
A Jamaican university lecturer, referring to a recently commemorated racially motivated murder in the UK, posted this heartfelt response:
The Windrush era is not past tense but present continuous. We need to take an honest look at Mrs. May's policies like creating a hostile environment for illegal immigrants and refusing to meet the Caribbean Prime Ministers until forced to do so. We must stop believing in British fairplay, honour and all that[.] We need to understand foulplay and all of the elements of the Empire. At the same time we cannot stress the need to fix our country/countries. People take liberty with us because we are indebted and have not calculated what we are owed. Today there is another damaging report about the tribulation and racist vestiges associated with the 25 year matter of justice for Stephen Lawrence.
On the positive side, Dominica-based journalist praised the black British politicians who were vocal on the Windrush issue:
REFRESHING to see #Caribbean rooted MPs @DavidLammy @HackneyAbbott behaving in the #PublicInterest and pro-#HumanRights God bless the #Windrush generation. CC @theresa_may @jeremycorbyn @vincecable @AmberRuddHR @ChukaUmunna @Keir_Starmer https://t.co/K3CRNbgnjN
— Nester Phillip (@ObserverNotes) April 16, 2018
Eventually, the British Home Office announced that “members of the Windrush generation who arrived in the UK before 1973 will be eligible for free citizenship.”
While this move was generally (but cautiously) welcomed, newspaper editorials such as the Jamaica Observer's noted the importance of addressing concerns about the deportation of elderly Jamaicans since 2014, an issue that was raised by Member of Parliament (MP) David Lammy. Another Jamaican shared on Facebook:
The Windrush generation and their descendants are now to get citizenship. I wonder how many of those deported over the last two decades will qualify?
Will there be a concerted effort by the various governmental agencies to help any so qualified?
If this were a developing country treating people like this, how would they have been described???
Just as the furore over Windrush was reaching its peak, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders happened to be in London for the high profile Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. Holness did several media interviews and thanks to Jamaica's current role as CARICOM chair, he and his foreign affairs minister, Kamina Johnson Smith, met with the British prime minister, Theresa May.
The Barbadian High Commissioner to London also spoke eloquently on behalf of the Windrush generation in the British media.
There was some confusion, however, over whether Prime Minister Holness was speaking up for “Jamaicans” or for British citizens, raising the perennial ambivalence over the “diaspora”, a factor that complicates the Windrush issue for many Jamaicans:
The people whose interests we are (rightly) defending are not OUR citizens. They are British. It is exactly this notion that even if you were born in a country – if you are not a member of the majority race i.e. white, you cannot be a citizen which contributed to this injustice.
— PetaAnneBaker (@PA13Baker) April 18, 2018
That's why I'm unhappy with policymakers’ tendency to focus on what Diaspora can do for “us” (in country of origin or ancestry). We need to pay attention to what is happening to those who identify as Jamaican/ Caribbean & support their struggles in their adopted/ birth countries
— PetaAnneBaker (@PA13Baker) April 18, 2018
Some Jamaicans, on the other hand, were not quite sure Holness had hit the right tone:
Holness telling the #WindrushGeneration in the diaspora that they “are not stateless” and will “always have a home in Jamaica” is NOT the reassurance they are seeking. LOL
— Gavin (@Goffeman) April 20, 2018
Meanwhile, with a deportation charter flight from the UK scheduled for next week, there are some reports that members of the Windrush generation may be on board, and protests to stop the deportation flight are being planned. UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd has resigned over the scandal. There is no doubt that Windrush remains a “live” and highly politicised issue in Britain and across the Caribbean.

author: Emma Lewis


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Bulgarian environmental activists score important court victory in struggle to #SavePirin National Park · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

A raised relief map of Pirin Mountain area on the wall of Mountain Rescue Service in Borovets, Bulgaria. Photo by Global Voices, CC-BY.
Environmental activists cheered when on April 26 the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the government must stop its plans to allow new construction at Pirin National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, without conducting a Strategic Environmental Assessment first.
A coalition called For the Nature had brought the lawsuit and hailed the court's decision as an important step in their fight to protect the treasured piece of nature.
According to WWF-Bulgaria, a coalition member:
The [government] plan permits construction on an area that is 12.5-times larger than currently permitted area and could lead to commercial logging affecting nearly 60 per cent of the park (currently no commercial logging is permitted in the park). Development of the plan has been financed by the EU.
The threat to Pirin National Park has incited a five-month-long wave of protests across Bulgaria and abroad. The latest round took place in Sofia, Blagoevgrad, Plovdiv, Sliven and London on April 26, in which participants also demanded protection of natural heritage in the Black Sea area.
The court ruling overturned the decision by the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters to accept a draft management plan for Pirin National Park for the period 2014-2020 without a prior Strategic Environmental Assessment, allowing construction of new ski facilities near the town of Bansko.
The activists who initiated the lawsuit say such development will jeopardize the whole park and is in direct violation of EU Directive 2001/42/EO, which requires that an environmental assessment must be made in cases of decisions affecting tourism, forest industry and biodiversity.
The court argued that without conducting the required environmental assessment, “the Ministry had no basis to make a proper estimate whether the actions from the plan would have an impact on the environment or not.” The three-judge panel noted that such assessment must be based on the criteria of the Environmental Assessment Regulation, which had not been the case so far.
Even though they briefly celebrated the Supreme Administrative Court ruling, Bulgarian environmental activists are cautious to consider it an end to their struggle to #SavePirin, as they are aware that powerful financial interests would like to claim the land for their tourism projects. For one, legally the ministry has two weeks to submit an appeal, which would be submitted to a five-judge panel.
Great news for @zazemiata + thousands of people protesting against plans to damage #Pirin national park in Bulgaria! #SavePirin https://t.co/fBM7QtCGGM
— Friends of the Earth (@foeeurope) April 30, 2018
Mainstream media in Bulgaria are mostly run by oligarchs and haven't exactly championed the cause, either, presenting protests as insignificant and sparsely attended. For instance, one recent article calls the activists “the green bribers” (Bul. зелени рушветчии).
Bulgaria is last on media freedom in EU and in the Balkanshttps://t.co/TdCRdOaPf7#EU2018BG #SavePirin
— Aleksandra Terzieva (@Sasha_Terzieva) April 25, 2018

author: Filip Stojanovski