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The Chikungunya Virus Brings Jamaica to Its Knees  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Aedes aegypti mosquito, vector for the Chikungunya virus. Photo by Marc AuMarc, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
Chikungunya, a virus that causes high fever and severe joint pain, is now rampant across the Caribbean. The disease is vector-spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, and the number of new cases has steadily risen across the region.
Jamaica in particular seems to be having difficulty containing the spread of both the virus and misinformation about the disease. Blogger “Cucumber Juice” admits that the “ordinary Jamaican” has played a part in the Chikungunya “rampage”, but she also criticizes the Jamaican health minister's handling of the crisis, even going so far as to suggest he should resign:
The viral fever chikungunya is now out of hand — it is an epidemic — and a lot of work is needed to get things under control. Dr. Ferguson is no longer worthy of the trust or expectation that he can lead the work that needs to be done. […]
Why resign? Because Dr. Ferguson is now the very public face of an abject public health failure and of a Ministry that is rightly mistrusted by many in the population he is meant to protect and serve.
The blogger, Alice Clare, argues that the next steps should be to “mitigate and educate”, while addressing the country's immediate needs: an island-wide cleanup of streets, drains, and gullies, to get rid of the stagnant water where mosquitoes breed. She also advocates teaching vulnerable communities about proper water storage and disposal. Unreliable garbage collection has also exacerbated the health situation. Perhaps social media can be used as an effective information channel to educate the public, Clare hopes.
Twitter user Charmaine Wright suggests that health officials also need to make sure information spreads to the community level, so it connects with people, particularly those who are illiterate or lack Internet access. Music, she suggests, would be a great way to achieve this. In fact, Jamaica already has a Chikungunya song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rHOEcSpK_c
Using the hashtags #chikungunya #caribbean, Twitter users are sharing information about how climate change can contribute to the spread of disease, about regional Chikungunya death toll statistics, and much more. One Jamaica-based Twitter user, Emma Lewis, asked:
The 1st case in #Caribbean was December 2013!! (St Maarten) #chikungunya #caribbean Didn't we have time to prepare, educate public??
— Emma Lewis (@Petchary) October 1, 2014
Lewis also wondered if the outbreak might have political implications for the Jamaican government. Compatriot Jan Voordouw noted:
#Jamaica was caught unprepared: lack of medicines and planning for absences of workforce -while being late in the battle #Chikungunya
— Jan Voordouw (@JanVoordouw) September 29, 2014
Some netizens took a humourous view of the situation:
DEET is the new cologne. #jamaica #Chikungunya
— Richard Allen (@RichSA1) September 29, 2014
GM tweeps! Thought for the day: “If you think you're too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” #Chikungunya #Jamaica
— ecoSMARTja (@ecoSMARTja) September 29, 2014
The government, however, doesn't consider the situation a laughing matter. The minister of health finally addressed the nation about the health crisis last Sunday, on September 28. In the meantime, Jamaicans continue to find ways to cope with the outbreak.


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What Protesters in Hong Kong (and Anywhere Else) Should Know About FireChat · Global Voices
Claudio Guarnieri

Cartoon by Matt Bors for Storymaker.cc (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Nathan Freitas and Oiwan Lam contributed to this article.
On Monday, September 29, social media enthusiasts and western media outlets unleashed a flurry of stories about pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong using the chat app FireChat. Although it appears that many of these accounts exaggerated the popularity of the app, activists and security researchers close to the situation believe it is important to make public information about what the app is — and what it is not.
First off, FireChat is not a messaging app. FireChat is a chatroom, a platform to send insecure and public messages to people over the Internet or within your geographical vicinity.
Once installed, the app requires the user to sign up with her real name (which will be pre-filled with the name she eventually configures on her iOS or Android phone), a username and an email address. Once logged in, a user can either join online chatrooms, create new ones, or start directly sending messages to everyone in her vicinity who is also connected to FireChat. These direct messages relay from one phone to another through Bluetooth technology. Thus, when rumor had it that authorities planned to shutdown mobile networks, FireChat was advertised as a way to chat while “off-the-grid,” as it doesn't necessarily require an Internet connection.
There are many misconceptions afoot about the capacity, privacy and security of FireChat, so let's get it straight:
FireChat is not secure. It is not designed to preserve user privacy, or the security and confidentiality of user messages.
FireChat has no system for user authentication. If messages are sent from an apparent prominent name (for example, protest coordinators or reporters), there is no way to verify their legitimacy. An attacker could easily impersonate a prominent individual and either spread false information or spread links to download and install spyware. This has already happened to local activists on several occasions over the past few weeks.
Security researchers familiar with the technology recommend that activists not to use their real names and avoid sending messages with information that is private or sensitive. Remember that there may be infiltrators among the protesters collecting messages through FireChat, which are both stored on your device as well as sent over the networkunencrypted. For more detailed analysis of FireChat, read this study (available only in English) from the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab here.
There are inherent security risks to using Bluetooth. In general, whether or not one is using FireChat, having Bluetooth enabled can further expose one's phone to attacks, as well as provide means to infiltrators to enumerate and identify connected phones among protesters. In fact, recent days have seen numerous reports of spyware attacks against protesters in Hong Kong.
While some of them are groundless, there are credible reports of wide-spread messages specifically crafted to lure Occupy Central and Hong Kong Student Strike protesters to download and install apps that appear designed to coordinate protests, while in fact they are spyware designed to record phone calls, steal emails, and capture contacts, list as well as perform tracking of your geographical position.
One of these attacks was massively distributed over WhatsApp (see image left). Protesters should be cautious when receiving messages suggesting that they download and installation of applications, particularly if they did not request this.
While reports thus far suggest malware is being sent only via WhatsApp, it is plausible that similar attacks could be distributed through other means including forums and emails, as well as FireChat.
It is important that people in Hong Kong remain conscious of the potential ramifications of using communication and publishing apps and that they stay on the lookout for potential attacks. As protests intensify and as the government receives international pressure to reduce the intervention of police forces, computer and mobile attacks might increase in number.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Claudio Guarnieri


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African Animators Defying All Odds · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Njeri Wangari highlights 9 amazing animation videos for African children:
1. Jungle Beat
Jungle Beat is a fun, family friendly series of CGI animated self-contained, dialogue-free, 5 minute episodes focusing on different animals and the bizarre situations they encounter in nature. From the firefly who is afraid of the dark to the giraffe with a stiff neck, this wholesome series aims to entertain, inspire and ignite children’s curiosity!
2. Kirikou and The Sorceress
In a little village somewhere in Africa, a boy named Kirikou is born. But he’s not a normal boy, because he knows what he wants very well. Also he already can speak and walk. His mother tells him how an evil sorceress has dried up their spring and devoured all males of the village except of one. Hence little Kirikou decides, he will accompany the last warrior to the sorceress. Due to his intrepidity he may be the last hope of the village. Kirikou et la Sorcière or Kirikou and the Sorceress is a french animated film based on Western African folklore directed by Michel Ocelot.
The story has been translated to English and into Kiswahili.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Hong Kong’s Pro-Democracy ‘Occupy Central’ in Photos · Global Voices
L. Finch

Pro-democracy protesters in central Hong Kong on October 1, 2014. Photo by Flickr user Mario Madrona. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Peaceful protests demanding free elections in Hong Kong have entered their sixth day.
Hong Kongers are calling on Beijing to allow the people to nominate the candidates themselves in city's next chief executive election. China has said it will allow Hong Kong, a special administrative region that enjoys a certain amount of autonomy from the mainland, a direct vote in 2017 for the first time, but has ruled that a largely pro-Beijing nominating committee select the candidates before they are allowed on the ballot.
Protesters are also pushing for current Chief Executive CY Leung, who has refused to back down but has agreed to hold talks with the movement, to resign.
Occupy Central, as the sit-in in central Hong Kong is called, attracted tens of thousands of people at its peak. Footage from a drone, vetted by Storyful, captured just how far the protest stretched on September 29:
The rally has so far stood its ground against police attempts to clear the area with tear gas, pepper spray and batons. Protesters have used umbrellas to shield themselves from the aggressive tactics, leading some to call the movement the “umbrella revolution” or “umbrella uprising.”
Take a look at photos below for a further glimpse of Occupy Central.
Protesters tie yellow ribbons to the arms of those who wish during the Hong Kong protest in Causeway Bay on October 1, 2014. Photo by Guillaume PAYEN. Copyright Demotix
Protesters at the Central Government Offices in Hong Kong use cellophane wrap and surgical masks to protect themselves against the use of pepper spray on September 27, 2014. Photo by Robert Godden. Copyright Demotix
Protesters staged a sit-in outside government headquarters on September 27 at Admiralty, demanding CY Leung, chief executive of Hong Kong, to meet them to have a dialogue. Photo by P H Yang. Copyright Demotix
Protesters in Hong Kong stand together after police begin to tear gas the gathering on September 28. Photo by P H Yang. Copyright Demotix
A barricade with a meaning, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. September 29, 2014. Photo by Pete Walker. Copyright Demotix
Signs in various languages supporting democracy on display in Hong Kong on October 1, 2014. Photo by Flickr user Mario Madrona. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
A protester holds a sign of ‘civil disobedience’ in front of a line up of riot police on September 27, 2014 as part of Occupy Central protest outside government headquarters at Admiralty, Hong Kong. Photo by P H Yang. Copyright Demotix
Dubbed the politest protesters, Hong Kongers have set up a recycling station to keep the protest sites clean. Photo by Pete Walker. Copyright Demotix
Follow our in-depth coverage: Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution

author: L. Finch


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“Me, Ex-Quota Girl, ‘Daring Bum’”: A Poor Black Brazilian Woman’s Account of How She Succeeded Against All Odds · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Cover by Alexsandro de Brito Almeida for the report about the first year of the Afroatitude program. Reproduced with permission.
It could be said that Gabriela Moura, at the age of 27, has overcome a great deal in her life. Originally from the suburbs and a pupil at poor state schools in the north of Parana state in Brazil, she nursed a desire, which she has called ‘extremely daring’, to get into the public relations course at Londrina State University. This is no straightforward dream in a place like Brazil, where the children of seamstresses, maids and nannies, like herself, generally don’t aspire to getting any further than middle school.
“Me, Ex-Quota Girl, ‘Daring Bum’” is an intimate and moving post on Gabriela's blog in which she recounted the saga she went through to pass the university entrance exam at 17, and then how she subsequently had to face the prejudice and racism aimed at a student who had passed by means of the ‘racial quotas system’ for further education. Moreover, Gabriela talks about her first contact with black culture, something which has changed her life forever, empowering her to also change the life of all other black youngsters she meets.
The system of racial quotas in Brazil began in 2000 and was validated by the Supreme Federal Tribune in 2012. It aims to reserve places in state and private institutions for specific groups, such as blacks and native Indians, as a way of using affirmative action to reverse historical racism against those of certain ethnic backgrounds. Racial identity in Brazil is a complex subject closely linked to economic and social status, and racism a sore topic among Brazilians – please see our past coverage, linked below, for some more views on this.
Gabriela Moura, 7 March 2014. Published with permission.
Read below extracts from Moura’s blog about her experience, which has caught the eye of the Brazilian blogosphere. It begins with her self-taught preparation for the university entrance exam:
Quando eu tinha 16 anos eu decidi mudar de período na escola, indo do matutino ao noturno, para que assim tivesse um tempo para trabalhar e pagar o cursinho pré-vestibular. E isso já era uma audácia muito grande: desejar ingressar na Universidade Estadual de Londrina. A minha mãe não deixou que eu seguisse com estes planos, dizia que seria pesado demais conciliar trabalho e escola, e me sobraria pouco ou quase nenhum tempo livre pra diversão e coisas de adolescente. Por isso eu comecei a tentar estudar em casa mesmo, só com os materiais da escola – internet era um luxo inimaginável. Na verdade, nem computador eu tinha, e não tinha vaga ideia de quando eu teria um. A minha mãe trabalhava como costureira autônoma.
When I was 16 years old I decided to change my study time at school, from the mornings to the evenings, so I could have time to work and pay for a pre-university entrance exam course. And this was very daring indeed for someone like myself: wanting to get into Londrina State University. My mum wouldn’t let me go ahead with these plans, saying it would be too hard for me to work and study at the same time, and there wouldn’t be enough time for fun and teenage stuff. So I started to try to study at home, just with my school books, as having access to the Internet would have been an unimaginable luxury. Actually I didn’t even have a computer or the slightest idea of when I would ever have one, for my mum was a seamstress after all.
Here she is talking about passing the university entrance exam and the prejudice within the university:
Para encurtar esta parte da história: Em fevereiro de 2005 eu fui a uma festa promovida pela rádio pop local, que divulgaria o resultado do vestibular ao vivo, e quando eles distribuíram o jornalzinho do resultado (patrocinado pelo maior colégio particular da cidade, risos), meu nome estava lá, e naturalmente minha mãe chorou quando recebeu a notícia por telefone, um celular que eu peguei emprestado de um amigo.
Estaria tudo ok se não fosse um porém: eu era cotista. Isso aí é como se eu carregasse alguma placa em neon piscante dizendo que eu não pertencia àquele lugar. Desde o começo eu ouvi manifestações hostis de pessoas que diziam abertamente que eu não deveria estar ali, pelos seguintes motivos:
– Elas estudaram muito, pagaram 2, 3, 4 anos do cursinho mais caro da cidade justamente para terem mais chance.
– Um possível mau desempenho meu atrasaria a turma toda.
– É racismo inverso contra brancos (sic).
– Cria vagabundos.
To summarise this part of the story: in February 2005 I went to a party promoted by the local radio station, which would announce the university exam results live, and when they gave out the little result sheet (sponsored by the biggest private school in the city, LOL), there was my name. And of course my mum cried when I gave her the news on the phone, with a mobile I borrowed from a friend.
It would all have been all right if there wasn’t a big but: I was a quota girl. And that was like carrying a flashing neon sign saying I didn’t belong in that place. Right from the beginning I heard nasty remarks from people who would openly say that I shouldn’t be there, for the following reasons:
– They had studied and paid for 2, 3 and 4 years of the most expensive university preparation courses in town so they would have more likelihood of getting in.
– If I were to do badly my poor performance would hold the whole class up.
– It’s reverse racism against whites.
– It creates a generation of bums.
She talked about the reality of the poor quota student:
Sobre o racismo inverso a gente finge que não ouviu, pro bem da nossa saúde mental. E se insistirem, uma aula explicando o massacre das populações negras deveria ser suficiente. Se não for, é porque o ouvinte é mau-caráter, mesmo. E também me surgia a dúvida: a pessoa estuda 4 anos em escola particular e culpa uma cotista de ter roubado a vaga? Não soa razoável. Mas dinheiro ainda importava.
Ai vem a nova parte da minha novela.
Sobre a vagabundagem cotista: possivelmente a acusação mais esdrúxula neste mar de chorume racista. O curso de Relações Públicas não é dos mais caros. Os livros saem por cerca de 40 reais. A exceção são os livros de Economia e Marketing que, às vezes, passam dos 100. Mas todo aquele volume de xérox começou a falir a conta bancária que eu já não tinha. E, em certos dias, eu precisava escolher entre pagar 3 reais de passagem de ônibus ou usar estes mesmos 3 reais para comprar comida. Dentro do ambiente acadêmico, porém, o desempenho era equivalente. Eu não sentia que era menos capaz do que meus colegas oriundos de escolas particulares.
We would pretend we didn’t hear the comments about reverse racism, to keep our sanity. And if they went on, a lesson describing the massacre of black people was enough to shut them up. And if it wasn’t, then it showed that person wasn’t worth bothering about anyway. And another thing struck me: someone studies for four years at a private school and then blames the quota student for stealing their place at university? That doesn’t seem reasonable. But money did seem to matter to them.
And then a new part in my soap opera.
On the subject of quota students being bums: this is perhaps the most bizarre accusation in this sea of racist rubbish. I had to try really hard to keep going on the course. The public relations course is not the most expensive of all and the books cost around R$ 40 [£12] each, with the exception of the specialist books in economy and marketing, which are around R$ 100 [£30]. But all my photocopying of the books was sending me seriously into the red. And there were days when I had to choose between paying R$ 3 [£1] for the bus fare or buying something to eat. In the academic world, however, the performance was the same. I didn’t feel I was any less able than my classmates from private schools.
On the subject of Afroatitude, a project which brings together quota students from ten state universities:
Com este projeto eu entrei em contato com a cultura negra, o que me era inédito, usei o dinheiro da bolsa pra comprar o primeiro computador da minha vida, estudei a vulnerabilidade da população negra e isso serviu de estopim pra tudo o que eu sou hoje. Apoiados pela Secretaria dos Direitos Humanos do Governo Federal, nós tivemos a chance de estudar a influência e as carências das populações negras das regiões em que vivíamos, e pudemos finalmente ter a noção do tanto de trabalho que ainda havia a ser feito. Eu não sei se consigo ser objetiva neste ponto e explicar direito a importância deste projeto em minha vida. Digamos que minha intelectualidade ganhou na loteria acumulada. Muita riqueza de informação. Em paralelo a isso, eu queria entender por que alguns colegas insistiam que eu e meus demais amigos cotistas éramos inúteis e tão dispensáveis, e por que não deveríamos estar ali.
I first came into contact with black culture because of this project, and it was completely new to me. I used the money from the grant to buy the first computer of my life, and I studied about everything black people have been through [in Brazil], and that proved to be a catalyst for everything I am today. Since we were supported by the Secretary for the Human Rights of the Federal Government, we had a chance to study the influence and needs of the black populations in the areas in which we lived, and we finally had an insight into how much work still needed to be done. I’m not sure if I can be objective on this point and explain exactly how massively important this project has been in my life. Let’s just say that because of it my intellect won in the lottery. So much information to consider. And alongside this, I had to try and understand why some of my classmates insisted on saying that I and my quota friends were useless and dispensable, and that we shouldn’t even be there.
On the subject of the graduation:
Eu me formei em 2008, sem ter a minha foto de criança exposta no painel da festa, como meus outros colegas, por eu não ter conseguido pagar a festa. Eu fui como convidada de uma amiga. Eu me formei odiando festas de formatura e me sentindo deslocada.
Mas o que é importante dizer que cotas funcionam, sim. E incomodam, também. Incomodam porque provam que vestibular não serve mais pra nada, e porque “mescla” um ambiente que, até 10 anos atrás, era homogêneo. Branco. As cotas provam que elite intelectual é um termo inventado para deprimir e assustar aqueles que não possuem grandes quantias de dinheiro para serem gastas em escolas que vendem mais imagem do que conhecimento. Ou para manter estas pessoas longe da preocupação da escola pública, porque afinal, pra que se preocupar com a escola da filha da empregada se a tua cria pode estudar no palácio do centro?
I graduated in 2008, without my childhood photo being shown on the party board, with my classmates, because I hadn’t been able to pay for the party. I went as the guest of a friend. I graduated hating graduation parties and feeling disconnected.
But what I would like to say is that quotas do work. And they make other people feel uncomfortable too. They make people uncomfortable because they prove that the university entrance exam is not worth anything anymore, and because they ‘mix up’ the atmosphere which ten years ago was homogeneous, that is, white. The quotas prove that the ‘intellectual elite’ is a term made up to depress and frighten those who don’t have large quantities of money to spend on private schools which sell more appearance than knowledge. Or to keep these people away from thinking about state schools, because, at the end of the day, why would you worry about the school your maid’s daughter goes, if your own little one can study at the palace in the centre of town?
And after graduation:
Como profissional de Relações Públicas, aos 24 anos eu alcancei a posição de gerência da empresa onde trabalhei. Não me soa nada ruim.
Eu voltei a estudar em 2010, desta vez escolhi aprender a ler, escrever e falar árabe coloquial e árabe clássico. Estudei cinema árabe, literatura árabe, filosofia árabe, história árabe.
As a professional in public relations, I became a manager at the age of 24 in the company where I was employed. That doesn’t sound too shabby to me.
I went back to studying in 2010, and this time I learned to read, write and speak colloquial and classical Arabic. I studied Arab cinema, literature, philosophy and history.
About the quotas system:
O sistema de cotas para negros é bem simples de entender, ele é feito para a inserção de pessoas negras na universidade. Ele não substitui a necessidade de repensarmos a educação de base, mas impede que a disparidade racial do país aumente. O sistema de cotas não é outra coisa, senão um sistema inclusivo. Também é leviano chama-lo de “esmola governamental”, porque uma das obrigações do governo é justamente zelar pelo bem estar de seus cidadãos, e os cotistas estão apenas utilizando um direito, que é o de estudar. Errado é achar que, porque estas pessoas não tiveram 1.500 reais por mês durante 15 anos, não merecem entrar pelos portões da frente do ensino superior. O sistema de cotas incomoda porque mostra que dinheiro pode comprar coisas, pode até comprar gente, mas não pode comprar humanidade.
The racial quota system is very easy to understand and its goal is to bring black people into university. It doesn’t replace the need to reconsider basic education but prevents the increase in racial disparity in this country. It is in fact an inclusive system and it’s frivolous to call it a ‘governmental tip’ because it’s a government’s obligation to ensure the wellbeing of its citizens, and the quota students are just using this right, which is to be able to study at university. What is wrong is to think that because these people didn’t have R$ 1500 [£500] per month for 15 years to pay for their private school, they don’t deserve to enter their universities by the front door. The quota system upsets some because it shows that money can buy things, and even people, but it can’t buy humanity.
Selective waste collection: Paper, Plastic, Metal, Glass, Human Hearts. Watercolor by Gabriela Moura, published with permission
From our archives: Race and Racism in Brazil
This Brazilian is Using Twitter to Take on Aggressive and Racist Housemaid Employers
Brazil's Racism Problem Front and Center After Black Teen's Brutal Beating
Racism Greets Imported Cuban Doctors in Brazil
Former Brazilian Model Turned Beggar Stirs Debate on Racism
Brazil: Census “Reveals” Majority of Population is Black or Mixed Race
Brazil: Where Violence Has an Age and Skin Color
Brazil: Children's Book Sparks Racism Debate
Brazil: Afro-Brazilian Claims to Affirmative Action Denied
Brazil: Bloggers on why there is still racism in the country
Brazil: Do banks have metal or melanin detector doors?
Brazil: Can black people drive luxury cars?

author: Paula Góes


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Misdiagnosis of Poor Standard of Education in Malawi · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The language of instruction debate is attracting attention in Malawi after the government's decided that students would be taught in English from Standard One. Steve Sharra joins the debate arguing that the problem of education in Malawi has been misdiagnosed:
There are good reasons why many Malawians are happy with the new policy for English to be the language of instruction in Malawian public schools. We Malawians use proficiency in spoken English as a product of a good education. If somebody speaks good English, they are seen as being educated. In many cases that is quite true. The more years one spends in Malawian schools beyond primary and secondary schools, the better one's English becomes.
But there are cases when that can be misleading. The test lies in knowing when it is accurate to equate English proficiency with good education, and when it is misleading. It is accurate to equate good spoken English with good education when the substance of what one is speaking shows reasoning and problem-solving skills. English can also be an accurate measure of one’s education when one is able to read and write proficiently, analyse information, and make informed decisions from that information.
In this very rare class every student had a textbook.
But it should be pointed out that every language of the world has these same attributes that can be an accurate measure of a good education. That is why most successful countries continue to invest in their local languages. A good education should enable one to put one's education to meaningful use in their individual life and in contributing to society. A country can only develop when the majority of the population have access to the knowledge that matters in changing their lives and their communities. When that knowledge is tucked away in a language only a tiny elite can understand and utilise, society stagnates. There can be no meaningful, equitable development.
In the current debate on the language of instruction in Malawian schools, we are misdiagnosing the causes of what we see as low standards of education. We think education standards are low because students come out of the system not knowing how to speak English.


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Pro-Democracy Protesters Accuse Hong Kong Police of Allowing ‘Thugs’ to Attack Them · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A pro-democracy protester attacked by thugs in Mongkok. He accused police of turning a blind eye to the violence. Photo from inmediahk.net
Opponents of the Occupy Central movement harassed and attacked protesters on October 3, a week into the massive pro-democracy sit-in occupying the city's center demanding free and fair elections in Hong Kong.
The pro-Beijing thugs, as some described them, accused the protesters of affecting their daily work and began tearing down protest banners and booths. When the protesters attempted to stop them, they were attacked themselves. Some of the people behind the violence were wearing blue ribbons, a sign of support debuted at a recent pro-government protest for police and their use of tear gas.
This man was safeguarded to the police vehicle after attacking pro-democracy protesters. Photo taken from inmediahk.net
The confrontation in Mongkok resulted in a number of pro-democracy protesters injured. Ling Nan narrated how the men looking for trouble moved into the area of the sit-in on citizen media site inmediahk.net:
下午三時左右，約百位中年漢於旺角彌敦道貌似散步，慢慢一團一團包圍不同位置的佔領人士，並高聲叫囂：「警察你地隻眼開隻眼閉啦，俾我地打柒佢﹗」，中年漢邊撕走路上爭取普選的橫額，邊指罵帳幕及物資站旁義工，他們明反佔中立場，逐漸步向彌敦道阿皆老街佔領區要塞推進，其間對佔領區人士拳打腳踢。
[…] 有途人怕兩位青年遇險，嘗試走前隔開該名反佔中人士，卻被刀片指向面孔：「咩啊﹗夠贍你同我去天安門丫，屌你老母﹗」，該名「和事佬」見反佔中人士情緒激動，先自行離開現場，但被追隨約一個街口，不停被重複指罵：「「咩啊﹗夠贍你同我去天安門丫」，引來大群反佔中人士包圍叫囂。
About 3 p.m., around 100 middle-aged men roamed around in Nathan Road and slowly surrounded the sit-in protesters in various spots. Then they shouted: “Police, just close one eye and let us beat them up!” The middle-aged men tore away the banner and cursed the volunteer duty team who was guarding the resources under the booths. They said they were against Occupy and marched towards the sit-in area at the crossing of Nathan Road and Argyle Street. On their way, they attacked the protesters at the sit-in.
[…] A passerby tried to stop an anti-Occupy Central man from hurting two young people. The thug pointed at him in the face with a blade, saying, “You have the guts? Come with me to Tiananmen, mother f**ker!” The passerby tried to walk away, but the guy chased after him, yelling, “You have the guts? Come with me to Tiananmen, mother f**ker!” and another anti-Occupy Central mob surrounded him.
A high school student in school uniform was attacked by thugs in Mongkok. Photo uploaded by facebook user Dereck Eu.
A social worker, Ms Lam, who is a volunteer duty team member in Mongkok, accused the police of turning a blind eye to the attack:
六點至七點左右，反佔中人士的確愈來愈多。在場的佔中人士感受到威協愈來愈嚴重。林小姐表示，那些反佔中人士都目露凶光，指住示威者罵，丟水樽等。[…]後來情況幾乎失控，當時警察極少，完全無法控場，在場義工有借出大聲公給警察做協調。與警方協調後，有十多名示威者由警方開路離開。但是後來，有個警員突然走進來，向示威者發出警告：示威者的聚集已經造成了危險，如不離開將會被捕。在場示威者感到不憤，為什麼受害者成了危險，包圍和挑起矛盾的反佔人士卻不被警告。結果更令到大部分示威者十分憤怒，大家認為警方不公，都認為應該留下來。
Since 6 or 7 p.m., more and more anti-Occupy Central thugs arrived. The sit-in protesters felt threatened. Ms Lam said they looked fierce and kept cursing the protesters, throwing water bottles at them. […] The situation was out of control. There were very few police officers and the volunteers had to lend their loud speaker to the police to deal with the situation. About 10 protesters decided to leave and the police led the way. But later a police officer came to the sit-in site and warned the protesters that the assembly had put others in danger, and if they did not leave they would be arrested. The remaining protesters were very angry. They were the victims of a violent attack and the police now accused them of being dangerous. They did not even give a warning to the anti-Occupy Central thugs who had stirred up the conflict. The protesters then refused to leave because of the injustice of the police. They decided to stay behind.
Because the police were not taking action, thousands of pro-democracy protesters rushed to Mongkok to confront the attackers. Some discovered that police officers had secretly released one of the men who instigated the violence and safeguarded him into a taxi. Outraged, they surrounded the Mongkok police station demanding arrests.
Thugs with face masks appeared in Causeway Bay sit-in site at around 6 p.m. Photo taken by Cheung Ka Man.
A similar situation happened in Causeway Bay, but on a smaller scale. Chu Hoidick described the scene for inmediahk.net:
傍晚六點多，一班戴口罩的流氓殺入SOGO對出的怡和街及渣甸街，毆打參與佔中市民及拆走鐵馬陣。
我們當時最差的評估是，旺角的情況將在銅鑼灣重複，因此我們在大台旁邊設立第二防線，預備如果被暴徒圍困時就返回第二防線留守。
到七點多，來聲援的市民愈來愈多，流氓開始撤退，但另一邊廂，有隊警察突然從地鐵站口冒出來，形勢大逆轉，我們面對的對手由流氓變成警察。
對於警察清場，我和戰友們的立場很清楚，就是在銅鑼灣留守到底，於是我和另一位同學，就以揚聲器呼籲市民留守。
到晚上八點多，仍然有零星三兩人在叫罵和掛藍絲帶，但局面大致穩定下來。其時我們也聽到旺角示威者重奪佔領區，大家士氣大振，我們一定可以堅守下去。
Around 6 p.m., a group of thugs with face masks walked into Yee Wo Street and Jardin Street outside SOGO [a landmark department store]. They attacked the sit-in protesters and tore down the blockade.
We anticipated that what happened in Mongkok would repeat in Causeway Bay, so we had built another blockade near the stage to safeguard the protesters if the thugs surrounded us.
More and more citizens came to protect us after 7 p.m. and the thugs began to retreat. A group of police officers exited the subway and we found ourselves confronting police rather than thugs.
Our position was clear: We would continue to stay and fight against police officers’ attempts to disperse us. A student and I took turns and urged citizens to stay at the sit-in site with loudspeaker.
By 8 p.m., only a few thugs with blue ribbon [which supports police] had stayed behind cursing the protesters. The situation had calmed down. We heard that sit-in protesters in Mongkok had reclaimed their site. We regained our spirit and would carry on with our sit-in.
Female protesters were targets of the physical and verbal harassment, but police ignored their complaints and refused to take action. A group of 30 NGOs for women has issued a joint statement condemning the sexual violence:
We have already received numerous calls for help from citizens who have been targets of verbal sexual harassment, including, “if you come out to demonstrate, you should expect to begroped!” and “you have big boobs so why not let us fondle them!” and so on.There were also many women who were directly indecently assaulted, and there were also rumors that the anti-occupy movement thugs have organized themselves into a “groping troop”. This type of sexual assault and indecent assault obviously stem from gender inequality, which treats women as inferior. We are outraged by such shameless behavior! Collectively, we:
1. Strongly condemn the use of sexual violence against women by the anti-occupy movement thugs.
2. Urge those assaulted not to remain silent, and need not be beaten down by sexual violence. All protesters should stand up and defend the bodily rights and autonomy of everywoman.
3. Urge that the police must immediately investigate and maintain law and order, they must prevent the anti-occupy movement camp from committing crimes in an organized manner; they must arrest suspects on the spot.
In the evening, the city's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying released a video urging protesters to leave the sit-in and cooperate with police, but he failed to condemn the violence of the thugs.
A day before, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the key organizations behind the pro-democracy movement, had accepted the offer of talks with the government's Chief Secretary Carrie Lam. Given the many eyewitnesses, including those injured, reporting that police did nothing to stop the attackers but instead threatened to arrest the sit-in participants, the federation has canceled the dialogue.
Follow our in-depth coverage: Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution

author: Oiwan Lam


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Rumors and Smears Dampen Spirits in Hong Kong’s Pro-Democracy ‘Umbrella Revolution’ · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Pro-Beijing groups were mobilized to disperse the sit-in protesters and tear away their booths and blockades on October 3. Image from inmediahk.net
Authorities and pro-Beijing groups have employed a whole host of tactics to break up the peaceful pro-democracy rally in central Hong Kong, including spreading rumors to foment distrust among the ranks of protesters.
At the peak of the movement, tens of thousands gathered to call for free elections in Hong Kong, but after a week of occupying major streets in the city, the size of the crowds in each protesting zone is shrinking day by day. Smears are dampening organizers and protesters’ spirits.
The city government has switched its strategy against Occupy Central, as the sit-in demanding genuine universal suffrage is called, from trying to deter protesters using tear gas to waiting them out by withdrawing police from the scene. Today, October 3, pro-Beijing groups were mobilized to confront the protesters.
In the past few days, Hong Kong's government has held several press conferences to report the impact of the sit-in on emergency medical services. Deputy Chief Fire Officer Joseph Leung Wai-hung said the emergency services’ rate of meeting their performance standards had fallen from 92.5 percent to between 60-75 percent due to road blockage, with the most serious delay being 43.5 minutes.
However, anonymous sources from within emergency services rejected the official account as “partial truth” that aimed to mislead the public.
An emergency services officer wrote to citizen media platform inmediahk.net to point out that the performance rate always falls when there is an incident with multiple injuries. In an ordinary day, there are about 40 emergency services cases in the whole of Hong Kong Island. However, because the police deployed pepper spray on September 26, there were more than 20 emergency services cases in Central area alone, and on September 28, the fire department had to deploy more than 30 ambulances to help those injured by pepper spray and tear gas. The performance rate inevitably dropped.
A firefighter also disclosed the details behind the case of the 43.5-minute delay to inmediahk.net:
根據消防控制中心的錄音記錄，當天早上0915時，一部救護車從中環消防局出發，但在美國領事館對出上橋時，被一名警務督察阻截，即使是表明是去應付召喚，亦不得放行。其後救護車被指派先去中環等指示，其後再指示步行前往，是救護車主管自己決定乘坐港鐵前往 […]我們政治中立的公務員，尤其負責救火救援的，為什麼要涉及政治？[…] 我們不想繼警察後，另一不受歡迎的部隊。
According to the fire department control center's taped record, at 9:15 a.m. [on September 30], an ambulance was deployed from the central fire station. When it approached the highway near the US embassy, an inspector stopped the ambulance and refused to let go, even though it was an emergency. Headquarters instructed the ambulance to drive to Central then proceed on foot to pick up the injured. But the officer decided to get there by taking the subway. […] As a civil servant, we should be politically neutral. Why involve us into politics? […] I don't want to follow in police footsteps and become an unpopular law enforcement force.
On October 2, the Food, Environment and Hygiene Department told the press that their workers were obstructed by protesters and could not collect the trash at the sit-in sites. A group of volunteer garbage collectors in the sit-in sites explained their version of events:
現場實況是，我們集會市民願意開放通道給他們運走垃圾，但食環署人員表示不想進入集會場地運走，堅持直至要由平日的正常行車路線，垃圾車才會駛入。
The truth is, the protesters were willing to let the vehicle enter the sit-in areas and collect the rubbish, but the workers insisted on sticking to their usual route and refused to enter the sites.
In addition to pressure coming from the government, rumors and smears are spreading on social media and through word of mouth to undermine the credibility of protest organizers and major activists.
The message warned protesters against the uniform duty team.
One target is the so-called volunteer duty team, who help protect participants from potential harassment from pro-government counter protesters as well as keep an eye out for weapons on site. On October 1, the volunteer duty team found a large bag of stones and iron rods at the Admiralty sit-in site; the next day, rumors that Chinese Communist Party workers had infiltrated the team flooded social media and began to undermine their credibility:
共產黨已印左10萬套印有「學聯糾察」、「和平佔中糾察」、「民主黨和平佔中糾察」字樣的制服和臂章，前日經落馬洲扺港，估計已有極大批維穩從業員滲到各區佔領點，以「糾察」身份建立維穩秩序嘗試控制運動，甚至有拆除路障事件發生！若在佔領點見有人穿著以上服飾甚至拆除路障，呼籲群眾散去，請提防，必要時立即予以驅趕！
The Chinese Communist Party printed 100,000 duty team uniforms under the titles of the Federation of Student Union, Occupy Central with Love and Peace and Democracy Party OCLP. The uniforms passed Lok Ma Chau border control and a large number of security maintenance workers infiltrated the sit-in sites. Using the duty team's name, they tried to maintain order and control the movement. There were reports that they even removed the blockades. Be aware of anyone dressed in the uniform who attempts to remove road blocks or instruct protesters to disperse. Kick them away if necessary.
Some duty team members were harassed by protesters and eventually had to take off their uniforms when on patrol as a result.
Posters accusing Chan King Fai, Bobo Yip and Fred Lam of hijacking the sit-in protest appeared near the protests on October 1.
Left-wing activists were also targeted. On October 1, a large number of posters appeared at the sit-in sites, warning protesters to be aware of “left-plastic” (the meaning of plastic in Chinese is similar to trash). They named three activists, Chan King-fai, Bobo Yip and Fred Lam, accusing them of hijacking the protest.
Chan King-fai is a key organizer of a public forum called “Democracy for the Future,” which holds regular seminars in an independent bookstore. He moved the seminars to the sit-in last week to attract more people to join the protests. Bobo Yip is responsible for coordinating the public speech schedules of hundreds of university teachers who supported the class boycott. Fred Lam is a major initiator of the translator collective HKDemoNow, which translates the protests’ messages for the world to know.
The rumors and smears have had a serious impact on the spirit of the movement, one student protester wrote in an online forum:
下晝搬垃圾出去龍匯垃圾站，我地幾個同學諗住搬開少少個鐵馬，即刻有人好惡咁問我地係咪左膠，佢地話「你地係咪左膠，唔好扮哂野搞D鐵馬，你地係咪鬼」，勁嬲呀，執左幾粒鐘已經好攰，我就同佢地講：「我哋想容易d搬d垃圾，我哋做得好辛苦架，你知唔知呀」佢其中一個人話：「講笑咋、唔好咁認真，我哋係花生友」我真係好興，俾人好似當賊咁，我就講多次：「我哋做得好辛苦，你知唔知架？」 […] 依家咁既環境，又橡膠子彈又催淚彈，又俾老豆小，你同我講食花生，你班友仔垃圾又唔執淨係係到食花生，同兇人，有無搞錯。
I tried to move the garbage to the collection spot at Lung Wui Road. With my classmate, we had to open a path by moving the blockade. Then someone jumped out and screamed at me asking if I were “left-plastic.” They said: “Are you left-plastic, don't pretend and don't you touch the blockade. Are you a spy?” I was so angry. We had been collecting garbage for hours and were very tired. I answered: “We just want to move the garbage, do you know how hard we've been working?” One of them then said: “We're just joking, don't be so serious, we're just peanuts [meaning onlookers].” I was so angry that they treated me like a thief and repeated: “Do you know how hard we've been working?” […] In a situation like this, with rubber bullets and tear gas, we were scolded by our parents. You told me that you were just onlookers? You did nothing to clean up the garbage, just stood there watching and threatening people. Absolutely insane.
Many students have left the sit-in sites because of similar experiences of harassment. More have left now that anti-Occupy Central protesters are confronting sit-in participants with accusations of disturbing social order and in some cases removing booths and blockcades by force. Occupy Central not only fights for free and fair elections in Hong Kong, but now must also fight for its own survival against these attempts to dismantle it.
Follow our in-depth coverage: Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution


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“Democratize Development!” Say the Women of Trinidad’s Highway Re-Route Movement · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh outside the Office of the Prime Minister in Port of Spain, on the 16th day of his second hunger strike. Photo by Abigail Hadeed; used with permission.
On the 16th day of his second hunger strike against the construction of a section of highway that would displace an entire community and threaten a sensitive environmental area, Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh was surrounded by supporters, activists and well-wishers, most of them women.
The gathering was intended to bring the women of the Highway Re-Route Movement into focus and to make the country understand that real people are being affected by the impasse, which has mushroomed well beyond the issue of a road and grown to represent, like the adventures of Alice in Wonderland, all that is wrong with the world — in this instance, growing public dissatisfaction about matters of transparency, democracy and the way in which the concerns of civil society are often disregarded by those elected to serve the public.
Yesterday, university lecturer and activist Dr. Gabrielle Hosein, who helped organise the women's gathering, said on her blog:
Fifteen days into this second hunger strike, I’m left feeling overwhelmed at how much it takes for citizens to be heard. Does it really take this much time and sacrifice to successfully secure accountable government? People are critical of Kublalsingh’s choice of strategy, but the alternative is lifelong commitment to disallowing corruption or lack of transparency in whatever form. None of us may choose to die, but how many of us make this other choice instead?
A supporter at the gathering for the Women of the Highway Re-Route Movement in Trinidad. Photo by Abigail Hadeed; used with permission.
A media release signed by one of the most resolute and loyal women of the Highway Re-Route Movement, Leela Boodhai, noted what the demonstration was all about — not just one man's remonstrance, but the future of a nation.
The release identified the tangible ways in which women would be affected. There would be a disturbance of family life, since the community operates very much in the spirit of “it takes a village to raise a child”, relying on extended families to pitch in. The highway would also affect women's ability to sustain employment while children are at home, especially since for many the “place of work [is] within the community itself” and small businesses would either be lost or relocated, resulting in fewer clientele and therefore lower income. Loss of lands through dislocation would have a negative effect on women’s ability to “assist menfolk in planting of crops to supplement family income”.
Both the elderly and children have also not been “adequately considered” in the government's highway plan. The Re-Route Movement says that the threat of dislocation has caused “severe trauma” for people who have lived their entire lives in the community, with land being passed down from one generation to the other. Most children “have safe and ready access to schools via the existing network of connecting roads in the area” and relocation will be a huge adjustment for them — one that many families might not be able to afford.
Enough is enough – protestors call for the country's leaders to listen. Photo by Abigail Hadeed; used with permission.
The movement has put forward its “Optimum Connectivity Proposal”, which suggests an alternative route for the highway that wouldn't adversely affect the community and surrounding environment. The government, despite the recommendations of the Armstrong Report which reviewed the records relating to the highway's construction, has not given the proposal any consideration.
Hosein's blog post continued:
I have read about the women of the Highway Re-route movement […] and thought [Prime Minister Kamla] Persad-Bissessar should explain to the population why she first marched with these women when out of power, then ignored them once in.
I saw press photos of their sit-ins outside the PM’s office, their camp being illegally demolished […] and their brave blocking of tractors. Knowing that, amidst looking after sick family, managing traffic stress and earning a living, no citizen anywhere petitions and protests time after time without valid reason, I wanted to learn more about why this movement had not given up.
By the time of Wayne Kublalsingh’s first hunger strike, I came to understand that there were billion dollar non-tendered contracts at stake, unnecessary destruction of parts of the Oropouche Lagoon, massive, avoidable quarrying of the Northern Range, and demolition of long-established religious and familial communities.
A section of the crowd at the gathering in support of the Women of the Highway Re-Route Movement. Photo by Abigail Hadeed; used with permission.
She also made the point that the issue of transparency is raising its head again and again in different “development” projects throughout the country:
We want development, but development that is more than concretization. Development includes a right to information, truth and the best plan possible for future generations, not just the partial truths and wasteful plans that governments choose. After all, who bears the costs? We do.
On behalf of Global Voices, I attended the gathering and spoke with Leela Boodhai, who emphasised that their cause was representative of all women, and that the battle Dr. Kublalsingh was fighting in the name of the Highway Re-Route Movement was really about country, integrity and accountability. “Some will dismiss us as ‘country women’,” she said, “but we will stand up, because this will affect the next generation.” She expressed disappointment in the approach of Trinidad and Tobago's first female prime minister. “We put a woman there and thought that she would embody the virtues of the home; be more nurturing.” Instead, the prime minister has distanced herself from the controversy.
Boodhai lamented the destruction that has happened thus far, both tangible and intangible — a particularly poignant point given that Dr. Kublalsingh was lying stoically, mere feet away from her; she became visibly upset when asked about his decision to embark on this second hunger strike. “We've all tried to convince him otherwise,” she said. “But we have to have respect for him.” Since 2005, when the residents approached him to speak for their cause, Dr. Kublalsingh has mobilised the community and highlighted the issue on a national level. “All the advice he's ever given to us was good and every action he's made has had a positive result,” she explained. She has faith that this protest action will turn out well.
Supporters at the gathering proving that the protest action is about much more than a highway. Photo by Abigail Hadeed; used with permission.
The supporters of yesterday's demonstration obviously hope so too. They turned up with placards emblazoned with words that encapsulate what was important to them. One stalwart, Dalton Dorman, cheekily asked if I'd ever heard of “the Neil Armstrong report.” Since the Chairman of the Independent Review Committee was Dr. James Armstrong, I said no, all the while contemplating what would be the most diplomatic way to correct him. He didn't miss a beat: “Well, we're calling it the Neil Armstrong Report, because it's apparently in space.”
Actress Cecilia Salazar in the role of the late real-life whistleblower Gene Miles. Photo by Abigail Hadeed; used with permission.
Actress Cecilia Salazar, who played the role of Gene Miles, a public servant-turned-whistleblower who exposed rampant corruption in the 1960s in what came to be known as “the gas station racket”, was on hand as a sobering reminder that corruption has plagued the country for decades. Miles went public with the fact that several high-ranking politicians were awarding gas station licenses in return for bribe money; her name was slandered by those in power and she died a premature death, vilified and alone.
Dr. Hosein ended her blog post by addressing that very principle:
Citizens may debate strategy, may not even like each other, and may disagree, but we are our only source of solidarity. Politicians will say yes to our face and then lock us out on the street. They will not account for billions spent unless we insist that is it ours, not their money. They will hire PR guys to convince us we are each other’s enemy. But, plain talk, no communities spend eight years of their lives petitioning and protesting unless truth about injustice is at the heart of their cause.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Waves of Synchronized Tweets From Japan Have Forced Twitter to Redo Its System · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Screenshot of Japanese Twitter.
No one Tweets like the Japanese, according to a recent Wired article. In fact, Japan's behavior while using the popular microblogging service has, in the past, caused Twitter's network to crash.
The cause? According to Twitter, at certain times of the year, Japanese people like to share Twitter updates at exactly the same time.
For example, on New Year's Eve 2012, almost every Japanese Twitter user tweeted at exactly the same time — at 12 a.m., at the exact start of the New Year — causing Twitter to crash.
It's not just New Year:
Last August, it also held firm when the Japanese helped set a new tweets-per-second record as they all tweeted at the arrival of a particular moment in the television airing of an animated movie called Castle in the Sky.
Japanese Twitter users had broken tweets-per-second records previously during men and women's World Cup matches.
As a result, Twitter had to come up with an entirely new architecture, thanks to Japanese Twitter users.
Roughly 30% of Internet users in Japan used Twitter in May 2013, compared to only 26% of Internet users in the United States, according to comScore's 2013 Japan Digital Future in Focus report.
Read more about Twitter's solution on Wired.

author: Nevin Thompson


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AQIM Losing Ground to Dāʻish in the Sahel Region  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

AQIM militants in the Algerian desert via wikimedia commons – Public Domain
While the Islamist group Boko Haram threatens to  extend its caliphate in the north -east part of Nigeria, major developments are taking place in the Sahel with respect to the security of the region. Kaci Racelma, a Nigerien blogger wrote in his blog A Niamey ( In Niamey) about the relationship that terrorist groups forge and then undo (in french)  :
Fort d’importants relais au Maghreb et en Afrique subsaharienne, le mouvement qui a déclaré, en juillet 2014, un Califat à cheval entre la Syrie et l’Irak, pourrait entrainer dans son sillage d’autres groupuscules. Et ce malgré les discriminations pratiquées en interne à l’égard des combattants djihadistes africains. En prenant appui sur plusieurs groupes terroristes présents en Afrique comme le Mujao, Ansar al-Charia et AQMI, l’EI pourrait gagner du terrain dans la sous-région du Sahel. Une zone d’importance stratégique pour le leader Abou Bakr Al-Baghdadi qui souhaite y étendre son influence [..] Au Sahel, l’EI avance aussi ses pions. Le leader mauritanien du Mujao, Hamada Ould Mohamed Khayrou, qui a à son actif plusieurs attentats contre les services de sécurité algériens, est la principale cheville ouvrière de cette avancée. Même s’il s’est affranchi de Mokhtar Belmokhtar, l’émir algérien d’AQMI, pour créer le Mujao qui rassemble des djihadistes subsahariens, Ould Mohamed Khayrou entretient toujours de bons rapports avec lui. Or ce dernier tisse actuellement des liens avec l'EI. Après avoir prêté allégeance à l’EI, le leader du Mujao a par ailleurs créé à Gao, un Conseil de la magistrature destiné à appliquer la charia. “Nous avons réussi à régler de nombreux litiges. La loi coranique nous sert à trancher et rendre justice” a-t-il annoncé le mois dernier. Même si pour des raisons de compétition, le chef d’AQMI, Abdelmalek Droukdal refuse pour le moment de prêter allégeance à l’EI, beaucoup de ses cadres ont cependant rejoint les rangs de ce mouvement. Cette situation nouvelle fragilise les fondements d’Al Qaida qui perd de plus en plus de terrain.
Thanks to strong connection in the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, Daesh, could recruit a few additional groups in its wake,  despite their well-known discrimination internally against African jihadist fighters.
Building upon the support of several terrorist groups present in Africa such as as Mojwa , Ansar al- Sharia and AQIM , Daish could gain ground in the Sahel region. A strategic importance for the leader Abu Bakr al -Baghdadi who wishes to expand its influence area [..] In the Sahel, Daish is progressing fast. The Mauritanian leader of Mojwa, Hamada Ould Mohamed Khayrou , who was responsible for several attacks against the Algerian security services, is the leading force behind this progress.  Even if he decided to grow his group away from the ifnluence of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the ex-leader of Algerian AQIM, to create the Mojwa by bringing together several sub-Saharan jihadists, Ould Mohamed Khayrou still maintains a good relationship with AQIM. Ould Mohamed Khayrou is now the main contact of Daeish in the region . Having now sworn allegiance to Daeish ,Ould Mohamed Khayrou also created Gao, a Judicial Council for Sharia Law. ” We are now able to settle many disputes. We use the Quranic law to sort out justice ” he announced last month. Although for political reasons, the current AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droukdal refuses to swear allegiance to Daeish, many of its army leaders have now joined the ranks of Daeish. This new situation weakens the foundations of AQIM, who is clearly losing more and more ground in the region.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Battleground Instagram: the Jamaican Reggae Artiste vs. the Youth and Culture Minister · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Chronixx Live at Reggae Sumfest 2013, photo by beaveronthebeats. CC 2.0.
Reggae artiste Chronixx drew the ire of Lisa Hanna, Jamaica's minister of youth and culture, over his comments about the government's lack of support for the arts. Their online exchange has attracted great attention, not just because Jamaicans are passionate about their culture, but also because many were surprised that a government minister would respond to criticism using social media.
In a note attached to a picture he posted on Instagram, Chronixx chastised the current administration for not doing more to support local culture, particularly reggae music:
I'm laughing at the Jamaica government! And the poor people who applaud them and hang orange and green flags outside their board houses and on trees planted on ‘capture land'! I'm laughing at this dumb government who have never erected a live music venue in honor of reggae music even though it is the only reason why people is still visiting this beautiful island of bankruptcy…I'm laughing because I know something that ‘they don't know’. Miss Hanna and Mr…I can never remember his name. I think it's time we sit and listen what the artistes have learnt from the rest of the world. #linkup
Hanna, who also sits in the national parliament, representing St. Ann South East, responded on her own Instagram account, seeking to correct what she felt was Chronixx's unfair characterisation of the government:
I love your music and your passion. However, I want to remind you, that both yourself and other artists are benefitting today from the trade agreements now in place for cultural and creative services. Just a moment ago I concluded a meeting on foreign trade for cultural services as already many of our cultural goods have zero tariffs for international trade. What we need is more young people to get involved in the business of culture. I have been putting the resources to train our young people. Over 9000 this year. I have personally called you and left messages on your phone and never got a response.Because I would like to hear your ideas that can be implemented. Stop blaming and lumping all politicians together. It’s unfair and untrue. Blessed love
On Twitter, Hanna later posted a screenshot of her response to Chronixx:
I think we should always be fair in our judgement of others. pic.twitter.com/oYUnfjwJBv
— Lisa Hanna (@LisaHannamp) September 23, 2014
Her reply started a heated debate on Instagram, where some commenters wondered if the makings of an Internet flame war might sour further discussion about support for the arts in Jamaica. On Twitter, the reactions were more mixed: some supported the minister, while others thought it was a mistake for a state official to respond to Chronixx (on Instagram, at any rate).
Lisa Hanna 1: Chronixx 0! pic.twitter.com/crNRoSKWk8
— Narcissus Gray (@jujuray) September 24, 2014
Even though Lisa Hanna has a point.. if a regular joe said what Chronixx said I doubt she would have answered
— Valerie. (@chantipantzi) September 24, 2014
Lisa Hanna should've never replied to chronix..she should know her position not to stoop to that level..smh
— _abi876❤ (@_imanidennie) September 28, 2014
On The Jamaican Blogs, Paul Tomlinson argued that the issue wasn't so much that Hanna chose to respond to Chronixx, but rather how she responded:
Instead of using the criticism as an advantage and use positive language to solicit a remedy, she has opted instead to throw some of her colleagues under the bus when she says…“stop blaming and lumping all politicians together…” and literally trying to start an argument on social media, one that she will never win.
After reviewing various alternative ways Hanna could have responded, Tomlinson analysed what Chronixx probably meant in his original Instagram post:
Miss Hanna, Chronixx is talking beef and you pork. […] What Chrinixx is saying is our Reggae is not just music that our artists create for people's listening pleasure on iPods, but like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland and other European countries to which he has travelled, have used Reggae music to boost their economy, creating jobs and other industries […] Now is not the time to duck criticism but use it constructively and move forward.
Tomlinson concluded on a note about the role reggae music plays in Jamaica's tourist offerings:
The pilgrimage called Tourism has changed Miss Hanna and your ministry has not done anything in modern times to do something different. France has the Louvre, Britain has Big Ben. […] We have, amongst other things, Reggae. Build on it. Transform it. Market it. Own it. Your ministry is at the centre of changing the perception of Jamaica's existence as a modern island proud of its culture and using it as the centre of rural and urban development and image enhancement. Work with the innovators in the country and make Jamaica proud, not just your flag waving party supporters. This is what Chronixx is saying. Now let's see you make the right move, Madame Minister.
A few months ago, another government minister, Damion Crawford, drew wide attention for comments made on Twitter. The misadventures of Crawford and Hanna are just two recent examples of how social media are changing the way Caribbean politicians interact with the public.

author: Matthew Hunte


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In Photos: Gaza Rises Above the Rubble to Celebrate Eid  · Global Voices
Nour Al Ali

Palestinians in Gaza celebrate Eid Al Adha under the hashtags #GazaEid and #غزة_بدها_تعيد (meaning, Gaza wants to celebrate Eid). This photograph shared by the Palestinian Information Center shows children in a busy shopping street marketing the hashtag yesterday
With over 2,000 Palestinian deaths in the latest Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, citizens still find reasons to commemorate the Islamic Eid Al-Adha, which begins across the Muslim world today.
Eid Al Adha or the Festival of Sacrifice culminates the Hajj season, which this year attracted 2 million pilgrims from around the world.
In Gaza, there is hope amidst rubble, destruction, and loss. Twitter users began circulating images of crowded streets and markets, and shared positive messages using the hashtags #GazaEid and #غزة_بدها_تعيد (meaning, Gaza wants to celebrate Eid).
The 50-day offensive, which killed at least 2,137 Palestinians, a majority of whom were civilians, including 577 children, and wounded at least 10,870 others, may have destroyed the Strip's infrastructure but has failed to dent the morale of civilians, who shake off the rubble today to celebrate Eid.
The attack has had a noticeable effect on Gaza's economy, with hardly any civilian infrastructure left untouched: over 18,000 homes destroyed, as well as over 100 schools, 50 health-care centers and 17 hospitals damaged or 20 destroyed.
Twitter user Sana'a Mohammed shares an image of a young boy playing in a demolished playground:
Eid in Gaza totally different #غزة_بدها_تعيد #GazaEid http://t.co/WXpUDS4dF9 @HuffPostRelig @BumpinGemz
— sana'a mohammed-Gaza (@Sanaa_Palestine) October 1, 2014
Just yesterday, citizen photographer Omar ElQattaa snaps a photograph of a man carrying an Eid sacrifice:
Palestinian man carrying a goat, which was purchased in the market before Eid al-Adha in #Gaza #غزة_بدها_تعيد عدستي pic.twitter.com/dWSmfgE4gr
— Sniper (@OmarElQattaa) October 2, 2014
Sayel in Gaza posts a collage of Eid preparations:
Eid preparations at #Gaza strip earlier today. pic.twitter.com/IIibpJZvJm
— صَايلْ (@SayelGaza) October 3, 2014
Here are more images from Gaza's busy markets earlier this week from Hasan Mustafa:
Gazan getting ready to have happy Eid after #Israel Massacres over it in the previous months , #Gaza deserve Life pic.twitter.com/1bCojqsLut
— Dr.Hasan Mustafa (@Hasan_Mun) October 2, 2014
And of course, Eid's spirit is always intensified by traditional, homemade ma'moul (date cookies):
Getting ready for eid… #Palestine #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/lFtBssVhfo
— فلسطين i (@iFalasteen) October 3, 2014
Children, despite pain, will enjoy Eid, says Hiba in Gaza:
#غزة_بدها_تعيد أطفال #غزة رغم الألم راح يعيدو pic.twitter.com/gnyIAWG83g
— هبة من غزة Gaza (@hebagaza) October 3, 2014
Despite the pain, the children of Gaza will commemorate Eid
More from Gaza's markets, where the spirits seem to be at a high:
#GazaEid directly from #Gaza streets despite the pain & the Israeli siege, we'll celebrate #غزة_بدها_تعيد pic.twitter.com/ursPUaj458
— Khaled Safi خالدصافي (@KhaledSafi) October 2, 2014
Gaza wants to celebrate Eid
Nuseiba points out that despite the many sacrifices and losses Gaza endured those last few months, the city still wants to celebrate Eid:
#غزة هذا العام عيد الأضحى اجى عندها بكير ضحت بأبناءها وفلذات أكبادها ضحت بممتلكاتها . بس برضو #غزة_بدها_تعيد pic.twitter.com/0QS7RUIZAv
— نسيبة حلس (@nosa_kh) October 1, 2014
This year the Feast of Sacrifice came early to Gaza, which sacrificed its children and property. Despite all this, Gaza wants to celebrate Eid
Farah joins Nuseiba, and the hundreds of other Twitter users when noting how just last Eid, Gaza was still under attack:
Gazans didn't celebrate Eid Al-Fitr bc it was during th war, so we'll double celebrate Al-Adha Eid☺ #Gaza
— Guess What (@Farah_Gazan) October 2, 2014
Indeed they do:
“We teach life, sir.” #Gaza pic.twitter.com/J0VeErgbuy
— Sara Yasin (@missyasin) October 2, 2014

author: Nour Al Ali


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Paraguayans Share a Delicious Jopará to Shoo Poverty Away · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Every year on October 1, Paraguayans prepare a traditional dish named jopará or yopará, stew type broth made out of different kinds of maize with beans and plenty bovine and pork meat, vegetables, sausages, amongo other ingredients.
It's costumary that October is a feared month, the harvesting is over, the sowing has ended and everybiody has to wait until the next harvest. If the individuals haven't been provident enough and haven't saved food, they can have a hard time. That's what author Dionisio González Torres writes in his book, “Folklore of Paraguay.”
According to the tradition, Karai Octubre (Mister October), a short, bearded old man, shows up on that day with his straw hat, a bag and a long rebenque (some kind of whip) to flog all those who haven't a prepared karu guasu (big meal), as González Torres explains.
The old man goes over all the houses and takes a look at every pot with the lunch of the day. If there is little food, he takes out pains and disgraces from his bag for all those who live in that house. If there is plenty of food, the old man just walks by and the family will be safe for the year:
Menú del día : Yopará para que Karai octubre pase de largo! pic.twitter.com/tjuwAqsbWt
— Bibi Landó (@Bibilando) octubre 1, 2014
Daily special menu: Yopará so Karai octubre walks by!
POR MIS TEIRRAS YA SE SIENTE EL OLOR AL Rico Yopará para espantar a ‘Caraí Octubre’ http://t.co/oGNgpvHfJv JOPARÁ pic.twitter.com/RgpXvSjIei
— Chamigo Nac&Pop (@ChamigoF) octubre 1, 2014
All over my homeland you can already feel the scent of delicious Yopará to shoo ‘Caraí Octubre’ away.
Entonces Carlos Slim y Bill Gates quedaran pobres por no comer el Yopara? o como es el mito?
— MARLY MARLY (@Marly_Figueredo) octubre 2, 2014
So [Mexican communications mogul] Carlos Slim and [American owner of Microsoft] Bill Gates will be poor men for not eating Yopara? Or how does the myth go?

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Does ‘Ask-Me-Anything’ on Russian Geek Forum · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Pavel Klimkin holds up a piece of paper for a proof pic during his online chat. Image from Facebook.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin showed up on d3.ru, a Russian geek forum, this morning to do an ‘Ask-Me-Anything’ style Q&A session with its users.
Klimkin, who is fairly active on Twitter, spent an hour answering questions from the crowd on d3.ru (also known as Dirty.ru), one of the earliest collective blog websites in the RuNet, founded in 2001—a precursor to the likes of Reddit and 4chan.
Здобув сьогодні унікальний для себе досвід. Спілкувався в онлайн чаті з росіянами. Були ще казахи&наші. Сподобалося https://t.co/BS9Skv9mIY
— Pavlo Klimkin (@PavloKlimkin) October 3, 2014
Had a unique experience today. Spoke in an online chat with some Russians. There were also Kazakhs and Ukrainians. I liked it.
Users posted over a hundred questions for the Minister, and he managed to answer a few dozen during the one-hour Q&A session, assisted by a ministry employee. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs later posted an archive of the conversation on its official Facebook page.
Most of the questions posed by netizens revolved around the tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the economic repercussions of the conflict for Ukraine, and the relationship with other members of the international community in a diplomatically delicate time.
However, a few questions were of a more provocative nature, as some users questioned why the Minister was giving his time to a “purely pro-Russian website.”
Вопрос: Уважаемый Павел! Как вы относитесь к тому, что вы выступаете сейчас на сугубо пророссийском ресурсе, поддерживающем политику Кремля?
Ответ: Во–первых, меня пока еще не приглашали давать интервью на Первом канале российского телевидения. И даже Лайф Ньюз обходит меня стороной. Разве что КоммерсантЪ до нас добрался. Поэтому выступаю на ресурсах, которые открыты для всех, в том числе и для меня
Q: Dear Pavel! What is your stance on the fact that you are presently on a purely pro-Russian website, which supports the Kremlin's policy?
A: First of all, I haven't been invited for an interview on Russian Channel One TV yet. And even LifeNews are steering clear. Maybe Kommersant has reached out to us. So I go and talk to outlets that are open to everyone, including to me.
Another user wondered if the diplomat had ever felt the need to be undiplomatic during his day job.
Вопрос: Бывало ли за все время карьеры, что на переговорах хочется той стороне дать в морду, но нельзя, потому что в данной ситуации это была бы слишком резкая реакция? Насколько вообще сложно послам прятать личные эмоции под маской дипломата? Или такой проблемы вообще нет?
Ответ: Я, вообще–то, в своей спортивной карьере сначала классической борьбой занимался, потом самбо, потом каратэ. Поэтому арсенал средств только “дать в морду” не ограничивается . А эмоции иногда прятать приходится. Зато тем важнее их иногда по–настоящему показывать.
Q: During all of your career, have you ever wanted, during the negotiations, to smash the other side's face in, but couldn't, because that kind of reaction would be too harsh? How difficult is it for ambassadors to hide personal emotions behind a diplomat's mask? Or is it not a problem at all?
A: Actually, during my sport career, I did classical [Greco-Roman] wrestling first, then sambo, then karate. So my arsenal in that sense is not limited to “smashing someone's face in.” But emotions I do have to hide sometimes. And it's all the more important to be able to really show them at other times.
Judging from the user comments, most of the site's denizens found the Minister to be refreshingly down-to-earth and hoped more politicians in Ukraine could follow his example.
[…] Не то чтобы я ждал каких–то откровений, тем более от дипломата, однако тенденция обнадеживает. Спасибо.
[…] Создаётся абсолютно новое лично для меня, невиданное прежде на просторах постсовкового фоллаута ощущение действующего канала связи с властью. Причём, вне зависимости от каких–то программных инициатив и заявлений со стороны неуклюжей государственной машины, но через единицы — осознавших, что проще и продуктивней конкурировать в естественном рабочем поле.
[…] Not that I expected any revelations, especially from a diplomat, but the trend is heartening. Thank you.
[…] We are seeing the emergence of a totally new, unseen in the post-Soviet fallout landscape, sense of a working communication channel with the authorities. Regardless of any program statements of agendas from a clunky state mechanism, but through these individuals who realized that it's far simpler and more productive to compete in their natural working habitat.
A Ukrainian diplomat venturing out to a popular Russian online community could be a sign of good will, or a desire to demonstrate just how open and transparent the new Ukrainian government truly is. Interpret this with as much or as little skepticism as you might, but when one d3.ru user asked if Russian FM Lavrov might consider doing an ‘Ask-Me-Anything’ on the site next, the reaction was one of mild disbelief. We're guessing the RuNet won't be holding its breath.

author: Tanya Lokot


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Why Do So Many Women in Mexico Give Birth Via Caesarean Section?  · Global Voices
Fundacion MEPI

Number of C-sections in private hospitals (left) and public hospitals (right).
This article was written by Daniela Guazo for investigative journalism outlet Fundación MEPI and was published on their website on September 4, 2014.
When Gabriela Ramírez found out she was pregnant with her first child, she decided to have a Caesarean section, even though she did not need it. She had heard horror stories from her mother about the three births she experienced and wanted no part of that. Like her, almost half of all women in Mexico across all social classes have had C-sections.
The country ranks fourth in the world with the highest number of C-sections for non-medical emergencies, after China, Brazil, and the United States. This procedure was designed for at-risk mothers and consists of taking the baby out with a surgical incision in the abdomen and uterus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that only one in every 10 babies be delivered via this method. This is due to the fact that performing C-sections that are not medically necessary triples the risk of death or illness for the mother and increases the risk of the infant having respiratory problems.
In Mexico, however, this practice is booming. The lack of information about natural birth options and the interests of private hospitals and doctors, who can earn high profits from having the majority of births be via Caesarean section.
Nine out of every 10 births in private hospitals and four out of every 10 in public hospitals are via C-sections, according to figures from the National Health Information System (SINAIS, according to its name in Spanish).
“The numbers are not justified”, says Dr. Christian Bayron Mera, an obstetrician and the director of the Vicente Guerrero Maternal-Children's Hospital in the State of Mexico. “80 percent of mothers could have a natural birth. And there is a higher chance of a woman having complications after a C-section.”
Gabriela Ramírez's first child was born in January 2010 via C-section. Despite what she thought, the birth was a disaster. She entered a private hospital where no one explained the process to her. “I felt like a cow. They undress you completely, they clean you, and they put a thousand things inside you. And then someone climbed onto me to press down and get the baby.” She ended up traumatized, with postpartum depression and unable to nurse her child. When she spoke up, the nurses told her, “Nothing to be done.”
“The health sector has not concerned itself with creating campaigns that inform mothers about the implications of a Caesarean”, says Xaviera Cabada from The Power of the Consumer, a civil organization.
The economic factor
Much of the increase in C-sections has to do with economic incentives because they are easily scheduled and executed. Private hospitals charge up to 100,000 pesos (approximately US$7,500) for a C-section, which amounts to a maximum of two hours work for the doctor. Meanwhile, a natural birth can require an average of 18 hours of work and costs 20,000 pesos (approximately US$1,500). The five states with the most C-sections are Yucatán, Nuevo León, Distrito Federal, Sinaloa, and Tlaxcala.
Which state has the least natural births? Between 2010 and 2013, only 1 out of 10 children was born without surgical intervention in these states.
General situation in the country's private medical units. In recent years, 80 percent of all births in private hospitals in Mexico were conducted via C-sections.
Cultural factors have also contributed to spreading this epidemic in Mexico. Extremely aesthetic images of women during pregnancy and publicity campaigns that promote an idea of how a woman's body should appear after giving birth have led many to believe that a C-section will ensure that they have the same perfect bodies that appear in the ads.
“Hollywood teaches us that giving birth means your water breaking, running out, the apocalypse stops, and the pushing starts. That is not childbirth,” says Jackie Filoteo, who has worked in Mexico as a midwife and doula, meaning a professional with experience in childbirth who helps parents during the birth.
And public hospitals?
The Secretary of Health has established a maximum of 20 percent for C-sections in public institutions. Nonetheless, 33 percent of all births in these hospitals are via C-section and the percentage increases each year. At the Institute of Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE, according to its name in Spanish), for example, seven out of every 10 infants are born via surgical procedures.
Three out of every 10 births in the SSA are via C-section. Its own norm establishes a maximum of 20% of C-sections.
The reason for this high statistic is different among public hospitals. While it is more costly for the government to perform a C-section than a vaginal birth, the lack of beds and doctors in public institutions are the determining factor. It is estimated that there is a 50 percent deficit of beds and doctors. To attend to their entire maternal population, hospitals have to perform births quickly and the option is always a Caesarean.
If the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS, according to its name in Spanish), which attends to three out of ever 10 mothers that turn to the public health sector, alone would manage to reduce its practice of C-sections to one out of every 10 births like the WHO recommends, it would save more than 3 billion pesos (about US$224 million) each year. Each C-section costs the state 21,600 pesos (about US$1,600), according to the 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey.
“Every woman needs a midwife, some need an obstetrician”
The Vicente Guerrero Maternal-Children's Hospital in the State of Mexico attends to 18 births every day, but only has five beds. Its infrastructure is saturated by the high population level that requires its services. To meet these needs, Dr. Christian has introduced a model that consists of utilizing obstetricians, midwives, doulas, and perinatal nurses. For the doctor, using these professionals is effective for the hospitals since they treat the less complicated births and the OB-GYN focuses on the high-risk births.
Jackie Filoteo is one of the doulas that works at the Vicente Guerrero Hospital. With six years of experience as a midwife and doula, she says there are several techniques to improve childbirth. For example, situating the mothers in different positions can shorten the length of the birth.
“A midwife can easily take care of all of the cases where there is no imminent risk,” says Filoteo.
Eight months ago, Gabriela had her second child. This time, she tried a natural birth. Her doula was Jackie Filoteo. Nonetheless, her situation became delicate towards the end: her blood pressure rose and a Caesarean was necessary.
Jackie, her doula, was at her side during the entire process. She gave her aromatherapy and played music in the operating room and explained every move the doctors made. “Here I felt like a human, in the other hospital I felt like a cow,” says the mother for the second time.

author: Fundacion MEPI


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Android App Digitises Motorcycle Deliveries in Kenya · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Erik Hersmann shares his experience with a new Android app that is set to revolutionise motorcycle courier services in Kenya:
This year at Pivot East I had my first look at Sendy, which does for motorcycle courier deliveries and customers in Nairobi, what Uber did for taxis and passengers in San Francisco. At its heart, Sendy is about bringing the vast and growing motorcycle courier and delivery network in Africa into the digital and networked world.
This is a big deal, because those of us who live in large African cities know just how inefficient driving a car around the traffic-plagued metropolises can be. With the bad roads, traffic and high cost of fuel, motorcycle deliveries are a natural path.
Indeed, in almost every city, from primary to tertiary throughout the continent, you’ll find thousands of motorcycle guys sitting by the side of the road, ready to courier a package or serve as a taxi.


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Becoming a Post-Soviet City: Social Housing and Urban Planning in Yerevan · Global Voices
Ajam Media Collective

Looking south across contemporary Yerevan with a mixture of new construction sites and Soviet social housings.Image credit: Hachikyan Alina.
This is a cross-post of an essay that originally appeared on the Ajam Media Collective online space. The author, Sina Zekavat, is a student of urban spaces that has lived in Tehran, London and New York. Ajam Media Collective documents and analyzes cultural, social, and political trends in the diverse Iranian, Central Asian, and Diaspora communities.
It is impossible to walk around Yerevan today and not notice the melancholic presence of one building typology across this rapidly changing urban landscape: The Soviet social housing block. Far from being a clean break from the past, the Soviet housing legacy remains highly present and influential in the daily experience of Yerevan.
These grey and often crumbling buildings constitute the largest share of housing in Armenia. Unlike some countries with longer capitalist heritages where social housing has become marginalized as a place for the poor, in Yerevan and in many other post-socialist Eurasian cities like Baku, Tbilisi and Tashkent, these housing blocks still provide the most common and accessible living conditions for average citizens.
Through careful observation of Yerevan’s Soviet housing legacy as well as Yerevan’s current transformations this article aims to explore the slow decay of socialism as a complex and multilayered process that symbolizes not simply the death of a particular utopia or ideology but also the emergence of new, and often conflicting, notions of belonging and nationhood.
Yerevan is the capital and the largest city of Armenia. With a population of 1.117 million, it contains approximately 34% of the total population and 54% of the urban population of Armenia. The city’s origin dates back to the 8th century BC when settlements started to grow along the banks of Hrazdan River at the northeast of the Ararat plain. Years of political transformation, domination, invasion and war between Arab, Persian, Ottoman and Russian rulers have left little physical trace of the early history of this city. Each empire shaped Yerevan to satisfy its own ideological identity. Yet, the year 1920 marked an important chapter of Yerevan’s ongoing urban history– when the city became the capital of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.
Map 1: First official map of Yerevan published in 1920 prior to the implementation of Tamanian’s radial plan.
Soviet urbanization
Map 2: Tamanian’s general plan of Yerevan. Note the change in map orientation from East-west to North-South. Perhaps this plan laid the foundations of North-South axial orientation for urban Yerevan. Numbers: 1- Stalin Sculpture 2- The Opera House 3- Northern Avenue 4- Lenin Square. Image credit: hovikcharkhchyan’s blog.
The first general plan of Yerevan under Soviet rule was approved in 1924 and was developed by the Russian-born Armenian architect Alexander Tamanian. Inspired by the Garden City trends of its time, the radial plan was designed to accommodate a population of 150,000 and was overlaid on the existing city structure. Most parts of the existing urban fabric were incorporated into the new plan. But not all. Due to the Soviets’ early internationalist ideological approach to religion and history, many buildings didn’t survive this major transformation and consequently hundreds of houses and historic buildings including churches, mosques, baths, bazaars, caravanserais as well as the old Erivan fortress were demolished. Similar to other socialist cities, an ideal combination of economic and labor efficiency, social justice in terms of access to urban goods and services, and a high quality of communal life for the urban populations were typical visions for urban Yerevan.
Rapid industrialization catalyzed the mass migration of people from rural areas to Yerevan. State-owned housing grew rapidly, and urbanization became an important tool for the socialist government to engineer and organize the flowing population into a unified workforce.
After the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 — and from the early 1960’s until the collapse of the Soviet state in 1991 — urbanization continued on a faster pace and was based on modified ideologies. Rationalism, functionalism and mass production were set to replace “wasteful” ornament and monumental plannings of the Stalin era. Architects were ordered to focus on simple and reproducible design, low cost and increased construction speed. Concrete prefabrication and modular systems of construction are notable outcomes of such changes.
Khrushchev’s relative ease of social and cultural limitations allowed some level of openness for the revival of Armenian nationalism and the strategic reframing of diaspora as the integral part of Armenian national identity. The 1960’s repatriation of Armenians as well as the increasing rural-urban migrations resulted in an increasing shortage of dwellings in Armenia and more notably in Yerevan. Despite Khrushchev’s mass housing campaign, the shortage of dwellings continued until the 80’s and reached its peak in 1988 after the mass displacements caused by the Nagorno-Karabakh ethnic conflict with Azerbaĳan, followed by the devastating earthquake of 1988.
A prefabricated building after the 1988 earthquake. Creative Commons.
Soviet housing prototype systems. Image credit: Pedro Alonso.
Soviet housing along Hrazdan River. Photo by Sina Zekavat.
Place-making through spatial appropriation
An important and yet overlooked aspect of Armenian urban history is the domestication of state-owned spaces, resulting from direct acts of place-making and the appropriation of physical space.
Throughout decades of addition, expansion and ad hoc interior remodeling, many Armenians transformed their state-owned prefabricated houses into distinct domestic spaces. This was a spontaneous response to the spatial shortcomings of such spaces in accommodating rural and patrilocal lifestyles. The Soviet state’s consistent promotion and enforcement of the nuclear family as an ideal form of social organization was one of the main guidelines for architectural design. In fact, through carefully designed architecture, the Soviet state planned to dismantle the multigenerational and patrilocal ties that Armenian families had greatly developed and relied on prior to their migration from rural areas. This means that for the urban planners and architects in Moscow, modular design was not merely a means for faster construction but also a tool for creating a homogeneous urban society of smaller family units.
An elderly couple spending their afternoon in the communal courtyard of a Soviet housing block. Photo by Sina Zekavat.
Many family ties were broken but not all Armenian families played their prescribed role as passive inhabitants of these spaces. By enclosing exterior balconies and removing inner partition walls, families would add extra floor area to their houses and would create alternative spatial arrangements. The enclosed balconies would usually become bedrooms for children or young married couples. There are accounts that interior spaces changed almost with every birth, death and marriage in order to adjust to the changing family structures. Most sleeping spaces had no permanent function or layout since they were converted into shared spaces by day.
While many Western and Soviet sources have argued that extended family traditions had been diminished under Soviet policies, the continuity of such spatial transformations shows that ideologies of traditional kinship have played an active and central role in Yerevan’s transformation until today. In fact, patterns of intense interdependence among relatives and neighbors resulted in less definable boundaries between kinship and neighborship.
(Left) The façade of the soviet housing block. (Right) Left open or enclosed, balconies are still an important aspect of life at soviet social housing apartments. Photo by Sina Zekavat.
Becoming a global city: Inventing hierarchy
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yerevan became the capital of the independent Republic of Armenia in 1991. Since gaining independence, the capital city has been subjected to a complex process of post-colonial nation-building while simultaneously adopting globalized urbanization trends. Implementation of social, economic and spatial hierarchies has become the necessary first step for introducing the city to global markets. Spaces of new Armenianness are carved out of the existing socialist urban fabric. Similar to many other gentrifying cities, demolition and displacement are becoming more and more a common practice. New multinational construction projects are presented and justified as acts of nation-building while the low income majority is expected by the emerging elite to make sacrifices for the benefit of the nation as a whole.
The construction of Northern Avenue is one of the recent examples of this conflicting process. The project was envisioned by city architect Tamanian in mid 1900s as an axis connecting the Mother Armenia statue (former Stalin statue), the opera house and the Republic square (former Lenin square) (Refer to Map 2). But the plan was only implemented in early 2000 when city officials saw the transformative potential of the project. Standing in the project’s way, hundreds of low-income houses were bought and demolished. Plots of land were consolidated into larger lots and eventually auctioned to private Russian-Armenian developers in order to make way for a new luxury residential-commercial mix use territory.
Left image: View of the low income housing prior to their demolition. Tamanian’s Opera house and the Mother Armenia statue are visible in foreground. Image credit: HovoYerevan
Right image: Same view in 2013 after the opening of Northern Avenue. Image credit: Hayk Bianjyan.
While the officials present the project as a “new image” for the city offering hundreds of houses and commercial spaces, the displaced residents continue to storm governmental offices arguing that what the government had paid them is not enough for purchasing a new house with the same amenities in any part of the city.
It is during these processes of globalization that the old center-periphery orders are replaced by more complex forms of socio-spatial hierarchies. In other words, the old, decrepit, anti-modern center is being remade to be the “tradition-based national” yet global and cosmopolitan heart of the city, while Soviet apartment blocks, previously the harbingers of modernity, are now relegated not only to the geographic but also the mental periphery. For the displaced residents, street vendors, and owners of small shops, the periphery is now a new everyday socio-spatial reality that was arguably unimaginable in the Soviet days.
It is important to mention that the idealized diasporic visions of Yerevan as a home city also play a critical role in the emergence of such development projects. For example, every year the Los Angeles based not-for-profit organization, Hayastan All Armenian Fund, solicits millions of dollars of diaspora donation for developments inside Armenia. In a video from the organization’s 2013 telethon, Northern Avenue buildings represent a new Armenia while groups of Armenian youth run between these buildings expressing with joy their hope and optimism.
Dialogue with the past?
During the past twenty years, lack of public management has in many cases left communal spaces to their own fate. In some places individuals or groups of residents have taken on the responsibility of improving their conditions. In this case a new playground has been added to the communal courtyard. Photo by Sina Zekavat.
The mass-produced housings of the Soviet era resemble not only a unique chapter of Armenia’s urban history but also the collective memories and cultural aesthetics of a recent past that are struggling to be recognized and to be integrated into the country’s overall transformation.
Harch Bayadyan, Armenian cultural critic and professor of Media and Cultural Studies in Yerevan State University, has written extensively on the complexities of postcolonial and national transition in the context of Armenian aesthetics and collective identity. Calling for “the need for dialogue with the Soviet past” Bayadyan has been critical of the new government’s social and economic plans from education to urbanization as having no resemblance and connection to Armenia’s historical experiences.
From Soviet housing blocks to upmarket mixed-use developments of the new Armenian government, state formulated narratives of modernity, globality, citizenship and nationhood continue finding ever changing forms in Yerevan’s built environment. With the increasing fetishization of “development equals progress” mentality, what is unfolding today is the flattening of cultural imaginations as well as the possible futures of Yerevan as a richly diverse and complex metropolis of multiple histories that could house all Armenians regardless of their social and economic status.
An aerial view of contemporary Yerevan.(Image credit: Bing Maps).

author: Ajam Media Collective