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He Spared His ‘Enemy’s’ Life in the Iran-Iraq War. Today They Are Close Friends · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Zahed Haftlang (L) and Najah Aboud. Credit: Screengrab/Fathom Film Group
This article and radio report by Shirin Jaafari for The World originally appeared on PRI.org on May 28, 2015, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
They were two recruits on opposite sides of a bloody 1980s war. One was instructed to kill the other, but he could not. Decades later, that grace would become useful — and is the subject of a new film.
Their paths crossed in the battle of Khorramshahr, when Iran's Zahed Haftlang found Iraq's Najah Aboud critically injured in a bunker. Haftlang had been ordered to kill any enemy soldiers he found. “But when he saw a photo of Najah's wife and son in his [Aboud's] pocket, he couldn't bring himself to shoot him,” explains Ann Shin, the documentary filmmaker behind “My Enemy, My Brother.”
Instead, Haftlang spared Aboud's life.
Both men spent time as prisoners of war. Haftlang was a prisoner of war for 17 years, until 2002.
Shin says the two had “lived parallel lives.” Haftlang suffered from PTSD and, after bouncing from job to job, ended in the merchant marine. During one trip at sea, he got into an argument. “He smashed something in the ship that he was on and the captain said, ‘You are going to be jailed once you get back home,'” Shin says.
Haftlang could not bear the thought of spending more time in prison. He jumped ship in Vancouver. “He was very depressed … he attempted suicide,” Shin says.
He visited a counseling center called VAST, Vancouver Association for the Survivors of Torture. Sitting in the waiting room, by coincidence, was Aboud. They didn't recognize each other, but struck up a conversation about Iran and Iraq that eventually turned to the war, in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.
“One fellow goes, ‘Oh, were you in the war, too?’ ‘Yeah, I was in the battle of Khorramshahr,’ and he goes, ‘Yeah, I was there, too,'” says Shin.
Both suddenly realized that Haftlang was the young man who had saved Aboud's life. “They started shouting and they were so emotional that the counselors at the center thought…there's a fight breaking out in the waiting room,” says Shin.
Not a fight — just total disbelief. And wonder.
Since that day, Haftlang and Aboud have become close. Here's how close: Haftlang recently underwent an operation to remove a piece of shrapnel that was still lodged in his throat. Aboud was at his bedside. “Najah was saying, ‘You are my angel, you saved me 20 years ago, now, whatever I can do for you is nothing,'” says Shin.
Shin, who hopes to make a feature-length movie about them, says they both hope to return to their homelands. Aboud plans to search for his wife and son, missing since the war. Haftlang wants to visit his father, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer.


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Odia Wikipedia Set to Celebrate 13 Years of Volunteer Contributions · Global Voices
Subhashish Panigrahi

“Odia Wikipedia 13″ event banner that has a quote “This (Odia Wikipedia) largest online Odia encyclopedia can be edited by you and us”. By Subhashish Panigrahi, under CC-by-SA 4.0.
Odia Wikipedia, one of the first of several Indian language Wikipedia projects, is ready to celebrate 13 glorious years of free knowledge contribution on June 3.
Beginning in 2002 — a year after the world's largest online encyclopedia, the English Wikipedia, was launched — Odia Wikipedia has grown to be the largest content repository in the Odia language available in Unicode* on the Internet.
With about 17 active editors (also known as “uikiali”) spread across various parts of India and abroad, and over 8,800 articles, the project has become more than just an encyclopedia. The voluntary editor community has put its efforts into acquiring valuable Creative Commons (CC) licensed content by lobbying copyright holders/authors to relicense copyrighted content under CC licenses.
It has also engaged with over 2,000 people by organizing various outreach programs including the globally accredited pedagogic program the Wikipedia Education Program (WEP).
For its 13th anniversary the community is planning to release a character-encoding converter that promises to unlock massive amounts of content from government portals as well as journals, newspapers and magazines that have their content in non-Unicode character encoding that prevents user searching and reuse of digital-based content.
Unique page views of Odia Wikipedia (2008-2015).
Odia language is spoken by more than 40 million people in the Indian state of Odisha (the 9th largest Indian state by territory), its neighboring states and the Odia diaspora living outside India.
With over 5,000 years of literary heritage, it has been recognized as one of the oldest South Asian languages and has been given the status of a “classical language” by the Indian government.
However, the language has not gathered as much traction in terms of online presence as it might have.
Almost all the online newspapers in Odia are available either in non-Unicode and proprietary encoding systems, or as images. This makes them completely invisible as far as a search engine is concerned.
The same goes for the state government's official portals that either lack Odia-language content or have content in legacy encoding systems. To address these issues, a bunch of character encoding converters that convert text typed using various non-Unicode encoding systems to Unicode are incorporated on Odia Wikipedia.
With this new tool, the community aims at a mass conversion of content from all available sources — from newspapers and magazines to government journals and portals — into Unicode, so this content can be used in order to enrich Odia Wikipedia and generally improve the language's reach online.
Odia Wikipedia was not content-rich until the beginning of 2011, when editor activity began to pick up.
Since then it has expanded its content massively, with topics ranging from the essentials of medical science to the cuisine of Odisha.
The growth in readership of the project is a great example of how content is driving the internet. A project that was virtually unknown a few years back with monthly page views in the low thousands recorded 8,08,834 page views in March 2015 alone.
The Wikimedia community is gathering in Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar this June 3 to celebrate Odia Wikipedia becoming a teenager.
https://or.wikipedia.org/s/sml

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Subhashish Panigrahi


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Second Shia Mosque Attacked by ISIS in Saudi Arabia · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

On Global Voices Checkdesk, a collaboration project between Meedan Checkdesk, an online news verification tool, and Global Voices Online, Joey Ayoub charts the initial reactions on the bombing of a second Shia mosque in Dammam, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, for the second Friday in a row.
Three people were killed in the suicide bombing, which the ISIS Saudi branch Walayat Najd, has claimed responsibility for, and some 10 people have been injured.
On May 22, a suicide bomber detonated himself in a busy mosque in Al Qadih, in Qatif, killing at least 21 people, including a child, and injuring 120, in the worst attack on Saudi Arabia in a decade.
In November, eight people were killed in Al Ahsa, also in the Eastern province, when gunmen attacked a Shia community centre, where a religious ceremony was taking place.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Syrian Antiques on Sale on Facebook · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Looted ancient coins from Syria on sale on Facebook. Photograph shared by @zaidbenjamin on Twitter
Ancient Syrian antiques are being posted for sale on Facebook.
The alarm was raised by Washington DC-based journalist Zaid Benjamin, who shared screenshots of the Facebook pages posting Syrian antiques for sale in Turkey.
Another page on Facebook to sell Syrian antiques. Delivery in #Turkey. pic.twitter.com/Ni9zmTROiD
— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) May 30, 2015
From Egypt, Sima Diab quips:
In the market to buy or sell #Syria'n antiquities/antiques? Look no further than Facebook https://t.co/KED6XVV6vz
— Sima Diab (@SimaDiab) May 24, 2015
Understandably, the Facebook page Sima links to is no longer available.
A screen shot of a page which used to allegedly sell Syrian antiques on Facebook is no longer available
ALSO READ:
The ISIS smugglers making up to $1million per item selling ancient antiquities looted from the rubble of Syria
According to news reports, ISIS militants are reaping millions in the lucrative smuggling of antiques, selling ancient artifacts plundered from museums to the West and the neighbouring Gulf through a web of smugglers and middle men.
Syrian antiques on sale on Facebook. Photograph shared by @zaidbenjamin on Twitter
The Daily Mail claims that 10,000-year-old antiques, from the ISIS self-proclaimed capital Raqqa, in Syria, sell for more than $1 million each and are smuggled from Syria and Iraq through Turkey and Lebanon.
Syrian gold coins on sale on a Facebook page. Photograph shared on Twitter by @zaidbenjamin
The ISIS, an Al Qaeda off-shoot has come to occupy large swathes of Syria and Iraq, leaving behind a trail of horror and destruction in a few months. Areas captured by the fanatic group which insists on wiping out all sites of “heresy” and “apostasy” include the Cradle of Civilisation, an area rich in history since ancient times.
The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has a dedicated page entitled Safeguarding Syrian Cultural Heritage just to track the damage the Syrian conflict, now in its fourth year, has brought to the country's history.
According to UNESCO:
Illegal excavations and looting have exponentially increased since the beginning of the conflict in Syria. These actions have damaged many historical sites and museums, and important Syrian cultural property has disappeared from the country to end up on the black market and/or in private collections.
Numerous archaeological sites in Syria are being systematically targeted for clandestine excavations by well-organized and often armed groups. Excavated archaeological objects of cultural significance make a lucrative trade for unscrupulous dealers operating both locally and internationally. Sites situated near the borders are, in general, more susceptible to being targeted by looters who take advantage of their location to quickly and illegally export artefacts out of Syria.
On the condition of museums, the damage assessment of museums page notes:
Most of the damage to museums in Syria has occurred in the north-western region of the country, where there have been incidents of looting of valuable cultural property, and many works of art are currently unaccounted for. A large number of museums have also had their infrastructure damaged as a result of being caught in the armed conflict.
ALSO READ:

ISIS is erasing history in Iraq and Syria
Many are however angry how people are moved by the destruction of history than loss of life modern day Syrians suffer from.
Liam Stack comments:
In recent weeks Syrian officials moved some antiques from Palmyra's museum, but didn't warn residents to leave too. http://t.co/EOpFYVc8Tv
— Liam Stack (@liamstack) May 15, 2015
And Khaled Diab warns:
Western fixation with ruins over ruined lives in Syria may prompt ISIS to raze Palmyra for propaganda, says @hxhassan http://t.co/jJZzPzHSGc
— Khaled Diab (@DiabolicalIdea) May 25, 2015
Also Read Other Global Voices Stories:
ISIS Destroys 3,000-Year-Old Sculptures at a Museum in Mosul, Iraq
ISIS Burns Mosul Library in Iraq, Destroys Thousands of Valuable Manuscripts and Books
Video: ISIS Destroys Prophet Jonah's Mosque in Mosul, Iraq


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The Gold Rush for Himalayan Viagra Begins in Nepal · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

Phoksundo Lake, the deepest lake in Nepal located in Lower Dolpa region with length of 4.8km and depth of around 600m. Phoksundo is considered an earthly paradise by locals and travellers alike. Image by Sunil Sharma. Copyright Demotix (05/10/2010)
After the April 25 earthquake, hundreds went missing in high altitude settlements in Nepal. Though many were rescued and some returned home from the Lamabagar area in Dolakha district over the course of a precarious hunt, the villages and schools in Mugu and Dolpa districts in the Karnali region of Nepal wear a deserted look. This is not due to the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks, however, but because of strong demand for the much hyped ‘Himalayan Viagra’ — yarsagumba.
Since each piece of this natural treasure  fetches hundreds of rupees — a gram of yarsagumba is worth almost triple a gram of gold —  young and old have all left their homes in the search for the aphrodisiac.
Yarsagumba (often referred to as #Himalayan Viagra) Caravan north of #Maikot. The Guerrilla Trek, #Rukum, #Nepal. pic.twitter.com/JSkldc2iR7
— Yuuki Treks (@yuukitreknepal) April 19, 2013
Schools will remain closed for next 20 days or so — not a new phenomenon for this region. During the month long sojourn, everybody will be gleaning the gold from vast open spaces. Children, having better eyesight than the grown-ups, are better at finding yarsagumba, a caterpillar with a fungus on its body that is difficult to locate among the grass in the meadows.
Although the district development committee does not allow children below 14 years of age to work, some as young as seven risk their lives in search of the sought-after caterpillars.
So What is Yarsagumba?
Yarsagumba is a unique insect-plant combo with medicinal properties including a libido-boosting trait. In Tibetan it means summer plant and winter insect.
Found in meadows above 3,500 metres, “it appears as parasitic mushroom spores (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) infect, kill and mummify the ghost moth larva living inside the soil. A fungus sprouting out from the dead caterpillar’s head shoots above the soil.”
The fungal hybrid is thought to have medicinal properties that cure asthma, cancer and impotence. Due to its energy, vitality enhancing properties and aphrodisiac effects, it has earned the name “Himalayan Viagra”.
This is what we are looking for #yarsagumba found at 4500 mt elevation. pic.twitter.com/MlPQs2Sszk
— salokya (@salokya) June 5, 2013
The lure of the harvest leads people higher and higher — often as high as 4,500 metres. The gatherers forget about everything, especially their own safety, to reach the region's main cash cow. Competition between villagers for a greater yarsagumba yield leads to disputes, fights and even deaths.
Nepal's growing crop: “The Himalayan Viagra” #itsallaboutthesize #yarsagumba http://t.co/dBbEhCpWr8 pic.twitter.com/iBCnLr60oB
— Abraham M (@apeabe) June 25, 2014
Besides the freezing temperatures, avalanche risk, altitude sickness and vertigo can all derail a gathering mission, but most of the population in the economically depressed districts put short-term profit first.
pic.twitter.com/f6NVXcEKtL Tents of Yarsagumba farmers. Prices can go as high as $80,000 per kg. #yarsagumba #nepal @nepalitimes
— Yurop Shrestha (@yurop) May 27, 2014
The main export market for yarsagumba is China, where it fetches $100 per gram. The global market for yarsagumba is estimated to be worth between $5 and $11 billion.
The lucrative search is the engine of the mountainous region's economy. Moreover, while there is evidence Nepal's great earthquake has impacted supply, as gatherers from the quake-affected districts weigh the value of the trip against the risk of potential aftershocks, there is still no dearth of individuals and families prepared to profit from their absence.
Over-harvesting and Sustainable Management of Yarsagumba
Greed and avarice has led to the overharvesting of the species. Amid a lack of proper regulation and sustainable management, experts fear stocks are being depleted.
Massive human pressure during the harvest season is bad for the fragile ecosystem as well. The debris and garbage left behind by harvesters pollutes and affects the environment needed for yarsagumba formation.
However, in accordance with local rituals and certain Buddhist beliefs, yarsagumba collection is forbidden on some of the mountain slopes that are considered sacred, which has helped the fungal spores to spread from these areas.
In addition to this cultural deterrent, a strong policy that includes investment into the sustainability of yarsagumba collection and trade is needed in order to allow communities to reap the benefits of nature responsibly.
For further learning on the hunt for yarsagumba see this story with photos in the Nepali Times as well as a beautifully-made documentary Journey to Yarsa by Dipendra Bhandari.

author: Sanjib Chaudhary


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These Maps Show Where Cambodian Journalists Have Been Killed and Harassed · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights has launched a portal documenting the human rights violations experienced by Cambodian journalists. Cambodia's constitution guarantees freedom of speech but journalists are still harassed and killed, especially those who report about the abuses committed by local officials and business interests with ties to powerful leaders.

author: Mong Palatino


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What Does Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s Ignorance of the Potsdam Declaration Actually Mean? · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Kazuo Shii, leader of Japan's Communist Party. Image: Wikimedia.
A recent exchange in the Japanese Diet between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japan Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii has raised eyebrows in Japan.
Does Abe's professed ignorance of the Potsdam Declaration indicate he rejects Japan's postwar tradition of pacifism?
The controversy was ignited during the May 20th parliamentary Question Period in the lower house of Japan's Diet, when the Japan Communist Party's Shii asked Abe if he accepts the Potsdam Declaration’s recognition that “Japan’s war was intended to conquer the world.”
The exchange in the Diet comes as Abe and Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party seek to change Japan's “Peace Constitution” to allow Japan to participate in military campaigns.
Some of Japan's neighbors and former adversaries in World War II, notably China and the two Koreas, are worried about these proposed changes, as are many Japanese citizens.
It's hard to say how much popular electoral support Abe has for his proposed changes to the Constitution. Just 52% of Japanese voters turned out for the December 2014 election that re-elected Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito. Low voter turnout means Abe must speak to his base, which includes a rump of ultra-hardline neo-conservatives who wish to see the hated “America-imposed” Constitution revised or even completely replaced.
Abe and the LDP have also benefited from often incompetent opposition parties that are simply not attractive to voters.
Shii noted that in 2005, Abe, prior to becoming prime minister, had asserted the Potsdam Declaration was “rammed down Japan's throat.”
Japan Communist Party poster in rural Japan opposing a proposed hike to consumer tax (VAT). Image: Nevin Thompson
The Potsdam Declaration is a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II.
It was signed on July 26, 1945 by United States President Harry Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek of China's ill-fated Nationalist government.
The Potsdam Declaration stated that, if Japan did not surrender unconditionally, it would face “prompt and utter destruction.”
On August 15, 1945, less than a month later, Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration after the cities and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were obliterated by atomic bombs.
Besides threatening the destruction of a Japan that stubbornly refused to lay down its arms, the Potsdam Declaration also promised, in exchange for Japan's unconditional surrender, to prosecute war criminals, foster democracy in Japan and revive industry, “but not those which would enable her to re-arm for war”, as noted in Article 11 of the document.
The full Potsdam Declaration can be read here.
Back in the Diet, Abe responded:
ポツダム宣言は承知しておりません
Due to the vagueness of the language, even to Japanese speakers Abe's comment can be interpreted in several ways, just two of which are:
“Since I have not read the Potsdam Declaration in detail, I cannot answer at this time”, or “I am unfamiliar with the content of the Declaration.”
According to Shii, Abe essentially admitted to having never read the Potsdam Declaration.
Given the importance of the Potsdam Declaration to Japan's postwar development, including the adoption of the “Peace Constitution” that renounced war, this would be an outrageous statement for a Japanese prime minister to make.
Moreover most questions are likely submitted in advance of the Diet Question Period, so the Prime Minister's parliamentary staff should have been able to provide Abe with the text of the Potsdam Declaration.
Many Japanese were taken aback by the apparent revelation:
すごい会話。。”@product1954: ▶志位「日本の戦争は侵略戦争で誤りだったとポツダム宣言は指摘。総理は戦後政治の出発点の宣言を認めないのか？」 ▶安倍「私はポツダム宣言をつまびらかに読んでないので今ここで答えられません」 pic.twitter.com/VwpoMCuQ8C“
— 内田聖子/Shoko Uchida (@uchidashoko) May 20, 2015
[@uchidashoko] This is an incredible exchange:
Shii: The Potsdam Declaration states that Japan mistakenly embarked on a war of aggression. Can the Prime Minister confirm that this point is the very basis of Japan's postwar government?”
Abe: As I have never read the Potsdam Declaration in detail, I cannot provide an answer at this time.
Yet another interpretation of Abe's comment is: “I never agreed to the Potsdam Declaration.”
During the May 20th exchange, Shii also expresses doubts about what Abe is actually trying to say:
「つまびらかに読んでおらず、承知していない」と述べ、過去の日本の戦争を「間違った戦争」と認めなかったからです。
When you say “I have never read [the Potsdam Declaration] and are unfamiliar with it, you are also failing to confirm that in the past Japan mistakenly waged [a war of aggression].”
Some Twitter users are also skeptical of just how ignorant Abe is of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration:
@HyoSheenKim @uchidashoko @product1954 いやー…安倍くん、絶対に侵略戦争を認めたくないのは知っていましたが、まさか「ポツダム宣言をつまびらかに読んでない」と言い放つとは思いませんでした…。これは国内より国際的にヤバいかも。墓穴掘ったかも。
— アマノウズメ (@a_uzume) May 20, 2015
Geez, Abe-baby… While I have no idea whether or not you truly don't think Japan waged a war of aggression in World War II, I never thought you would ever actually say that you “have never read the Potsdam Declaration.” This goes beyond domestic politics and places Japan in an extremely dangerous position on the world stage. We are digging our own grave.
While holding a relatively small number of seats in the national Diet, the Japanese Communist Party has experienced increasing popularity in recent years, notably in Japan's recent regional elections in April 2015.
The April 2015 regional elections in Japan saw voters select city councilors, prefectural assembly members, and some governors. In the city assembly races, Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party took 301 seats, with its coalition partner Komeito winning 174 seats. The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) came in third with 136 city assembly seats, leaving the Democratic Party of Japan, which once headed the national government, trailing in fourth place with 126 seats.
JCP has consistently spoken out against proposed changes to the Constitution that would allow Japan to participate in armed conflicts on its own or as part of a military alliance.

author: Nevin Thompson


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Women Entrepreneurs Are Blossoming Amid China’s E-Commerce Boom. But Can They Peg Back Patriarchy? · Global Voices
Gloria Wong

“If you win women in business – you win consumers.” Jack Ma said in his speech at the Global Conference on Women and Entrepreneurship. Screen capture from YouTube.
On May 20-21, Alibaba, the largest online and mobile e-commerce company in China, held its inaugural Global Conference on Women and Entrepreneurship in Hangzhou, drawing more than 500 attendees from various fields.
In Alibaba's own words:
Alibaba Group has enabled millions of women to become entrepreneurs in the fast-growing field of e-commerce, and today, more than 50% of all merchants on Taobao Marketplace are female.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma gave a keynote speech, emphasizing that the Internet age has provided women with unprecedented opportunities in business.
But Jack Ma also claimed he is against both feminism and patriarchalism:
我反对女权主义，我更反对男权主义，男女是两个不同星球的人，但是我们必须学会互相配合、互相欣赏、胡和尊重，一个看外面，一个看内面，不能说外面多了不起内部不行。[…]今天早上有嘉宾讲到，很多女性到最后很可悲，到后来像个女汉子，像个男人，其实很可悲。我觉得女人就是女人，女人的魅力一点不比男人差，这世界必须要保持阴阳平衡，我们中医讲叫阴阳不平衡，一定生病。
I am against feminism, I am more against patriarchalism. Man and woman come from different planets. However we have to learn how to work with each other, appreciate and respect each other. One takes care of the inside / domestic and one take care of the outside / external. We can't say that external is important while domestic is less so. […] This morning a guest speaker said many women become pathetic as they turned into nu-han-zi [male looking women]. Acting like a man is really pathetic. Women are women and their charisma is no less than men. We need to strike a balance in this world. In Chinese medicine, if yin and yang are not in balance, the person will be sick.
Chinese feminist circles, for whom the arrest of five young feminists planning a campaign ahead of International Women's Day remains a very fresh memory, said Ma's speech failed to address the fundamental problem of gender equity in China.
Ye Haiyin (@公民叶海燕), a well-known feminist and activist in China, commented on China's Twitter-like-Weibo:
从马云的讲话中，我看到阿里的一些理念。如：鼓励女性独立，放弃对男权的崇拜，认可女性的社会价值与贡献，帮助女性创业，成长。这简直就是女权主义的骨灰级同盟。但马云却在文字中说，他反对女权主义。我看了不禁哑然失笑，“亲，你是真的不懂女权吗？
In Jack Ma's speech, I see some vision behind Alibaba: encourage women to be independent, abandon the blind worship of patriarchal power structures, recognize the value and contribution of women and support their entrepreneurship and growth. He is totally in line with feminists in these regards. But he also claims that he is anti-feminist. When I read that part, I laughed out loud: Oh dear, do you understand feminism or not?
Huang tongtong, a famous media critic echoed Ye's view and criticised the “unspoken patriarchal values” in Ma's speech:
什么叫“女权主义”？女权主义就是号召男女平等的主义，中国的国策就是男女平等，我不知道马云在反对什么样的女权主义？我只看到了男性商业领袖在依靠女性赚了大钱之后对于女性力量崛起深深的恐惧。
What's the meaning of “feminism”? It calls for equality between man and woman, which is our country's state policy. I wonder why Jack Ma is against feminism? What I see is Ma’s fear as a male leader of increasing female power, having already made so much money from women
The famous feminist network, “Women and New Media” (@新媒体女性) even produced a blow-by-blow contextual analysis of the speech, explaining how Ma stereotyped women.
Despite skepticism among a number of Chinese feminists, however, Ma’s speech was generally well received and has been quoted around social media platforms.
Weibo user, “Not so greenish grasses” (@千草未萌_TxxZ) commented:
从昨天到今天看了好几篇文章，本来想认真写一下的，还是算了，就大致表个态：1.纵观全文，我认为马云对女性的赞美的确发自真心；2.但是他的思维的确带有男权色彩；3.但是这属于社会环境造就的局限性，可以理解；4.这样的人应该是可以（至少是尝试）沟通的，扣上帽子开喷显得过于激进。
I read a few articles and wanted to write on the topic. But I give up, so I will just talk about my stand here: 1. Upon reading the whole text, I could feel that Ma’s compliments for women come from the bottom of his heart. 2. But his thought is deeply rooted in patriarchy. 3. Yet the problem stems from social environment and should be understood in that context. 4. People like Ma we are able to at least communicate with. To label [him as patriarch] and criticize him is too extreme.
Whose boom is this?
With the boom of e-commerce, women are set free from habitual gender discrimination at Chinese workplaces and can start their own small online shops from home and be their own bosses.
Ma Jiajia, a post-millenial entrepreneur famous for her boldness and feminism, is a spearhead for these women. For many, she is associated with the name of her first sex shop — Powerful – which she opened right after her graduation in 2012. Compared with other small sex shops, which tend to be located in dimly-lit offbeat areas, her shop is located in one of Beijing’s up-market districts, featuring large, bright rooms with a variety of diverse sex toys on offer.
“For 5,000 years of Chinese history woman has been the object of consumption, of commerce. Today, women should be the consumers, able to consume others too,” she told the New York Times last year.
Early this year, Ma Jiajia held a big launch party for her new business, High – a mobile app that claims to be “the most popular community for women in the 22nd century”.
Ma regards High as a safe online space through which feminism in society can be bolstered:
所以High的应用场景就是，独立、先锋、年轻的女孩，在High里，聊两性关系、和自我成长。然后走到线下，成为朋友，但又不只是朋友，我们有共同的敌人，共同的梦想，共同想成为的样子，互相支撑，有教义有纲领，我们是一个族群、一个帮派。
Independent, avant-garde and young girls are the target audience of High. They can feel free to chat about relationships and individual growth there. They may also be offline friends. But they are more than friends – they share common enemies, dreams and visions, and support each other. They form a community and a gang under a manifesto.
总之High的宗旨就是,破解中国传统社会的“繁殖恋”，倡导双方真正的独立人格，抛弃捆绑、索取型的劣质关系，转为伴随、共生的共同。
The mission of High is to break down the traditional relationship based on the “fixation with reproduction” in Chinese society, to advocate for real individual independence, and to shift from the bad relationship that either leaves no room for your partner or asks too much from your partner, to a good model that advocates for company and growth together.
Ma’s feminism, which is less politically oriented and delivered through the medium of online business, is more compatible with Chinese society than the feminist messages delivered by other women's right groups. With her sharp mind and soft manner, she has acquired a captive young audience. Ma has been invited to numerous public events and business forums to talk about changing mindsets in the Internet era, and sometimes, sex and desire.
Li Yinhe, a famous feminist scholar addressed the general challenges faced by Chinese feminists more than a decade ago in 2001:
在我看来，女权主义与中国传统社会的冲突是双重的：一重是虚构的冲突；另一重是真实的冲突。虚构的冲突指的是人们假想了女权主义的形象：它是仇恨男人的，与男人为敌的；女权主义者都是丑女，都是嫁不出去的老姑娘，个个都被孤独的生活逼得变了态。另一方面，由于中国有几千年男权制统治的历史，女权主义与中国传统价值的冲突又是真实存在的。比如，仍然若隐若现的男女双重标准；比如人们对成功男人包二奶这类丑恶现象私下里的羡慕与赞许态度
The conflict between feminism and traditional Chinese society is two-fold – one part is imaginary and one is real. On the imaginary level, people imagine that feminists are resentful towards men and hence men's enemy; that they look ugly and hence become old ladies because they fail to marry; that they are psychologically sick because of their lonely lives. In a country that is entrenched in thousands of years of patriarchy, the value of feminism is in conflict with traditional Chinese values. Some say the dual criteria for male and female still exists today, and many people still accept and admire successful men having extra marital affairs.
In the past decade, a new generation of feminists has made great efforts to advocate for gender equity, yet the future seems gloomy as mainstream society continues to push back against their values.
Following the release of the five Chinese feminists that were arrested ahead of March 8, a commentary on Foreign Policy highlighted the fact that “[a] significant minority of commenters mocked the women’s campaign, blasted the entire gender for being demanding, or denied the need for feminism in China altogether.”
With the increasing number of women entrepreneurs in China's surging e-commerce sector, the question of whether the online economy can fundamentally change power relations in patriarchal China or merely re-enforce the status quo is more relevant than ever.

author: Gloria Wong


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How Ecuador’s President Bullied an Internet Satirist Into Quitting · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

The harassment imposed by the Ecuadorian government over Crudo Ecuador's memes soon became too much for its creator to handle, and he therefore decided to abandon all political satire. Crudo Ecuador bid farewell to his followers with the hashtag #UstedGanó (You Won), referring to Ecuador's President Rafael Correa. Screen shot taken from Twitter account @CrudoEcuador.
Gabriel González, better known on the Internet as @CrudoEcuador, never imagined that his Facebook page, where he uploaded memes about Ecuadorian politics, would gain over 400,000 followers. And he especially never thought that these memes would displease Ecuador's President Rafael Correa so much that the leader would mount a campaign to intimidate and disparage him.
However, that is exactly what happened. When his real identity was revealed on social media, Crudo Ecuador was then forced to stop publishing satirical memes. Silvia Viñas, former Latin America editor for Global Voices, narrates the case of Crudo Ecuador for Radio Ambulante.
An account on Twitter uploaded a photo of González that he himself never put on any social network. In fact, he was unaware that it had even been taken:
Entonces ahí se nota que me han estado siguiendo para tomarme una foto. Entonces ahí es cuando yo cojo y ya me asusto, ¿no? Digo, oye, ya ves por la ventana, ves si hay algún carro raro o alguna cosa, ¿no? Y mi familia también se empieza a asustar pues, porque se supone que yo estaba totalmente confiado en que no iban a pasar estas cosas ya que el presidente había dicho que yo no había cometido ningún delito.
That's when I knew that they had been following me in order to take that picture. That's when I got scared, you know? I mean, hey, you're now looking out the window, you check to see if there some strange car, or anything else, you know? Also, my family started to get scared, well, because supposedly I was totally sure that these types of things weren't going to happen, seeing as how the president had said that I hadn't committed any felony.
Nevertheless, the same intimidation tactics against González were also used against other social network users who had upset President Correa, some of whom he revealed their full name and age on national radio and television. This is what González had to say:
No fue solo contra mi página, sino en realidad el presidente sí está ganando mucho por medio del miedo que está metiendo en la gente. Si es que dejamos que esto continúe, cada vez vamos a tener menos lugares donde decir lo que pensamos –así sea que estemos equivocados o no estemos equivocados, ¿no?
It wasn't only against my page. Actually, the president is gaining a lot by generating fear amongst the people. If we continue to let this happen, little by little we're going to have fewer places where we can say what we think —whether we're wrong or not, right?
You can listen to the podcast with English subtitles below:
Or listen to the original Spanish podcast:

author: Ángel Carrión


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How Safe Are Internet Search Engines from Russian Censorship? · Global Voices
Sergey Kozlovsky

Images edited by Kevin Rothrock.
The Russian legislator largely responsible for a host of controversial laws, including bans on obscenities in films, foreign adoptions of Russian orphans, and restrictions on “gay propaganda,” is back with a new idea: demanding that Internet search engines be held accountable for the content they index.
According to Duma deputy Elena Mizulina, Russia's child-protection laws should apply to Google, Yandex, and their rivals. Mizulina noted that the Russian state (along with law enforcement officials) has the authority to shut down websites containing information deemed harmful to children. In addition to child pornography, which is illegal nearly worldwide, this policy covers web content on suicide, drugs, and homosexuality.
In November 2012, the Kremlin's media regulator, Roskomnadzor, declined to hold Internet search engines responsible for the content they index. Mizulina said earlier this month that she thinks the agency lost its nerve, adding that it's not too late to enforce the law as it was intended.
Я понимаю, что на 2012 год, когда закон только вводился в действие, было много страха, но сейчас ситуация иная, к тому же международный опыт свидетельствует четко о том, что нужно вводить более жесткие требования.
I understand there were many fears in 2012, when the law was just entering force. But today the situation is different, and international experience gives us clear evidence that it’s necessary to impose stricter requirements [on the Internet].
Mizulina hasn't specified what “international experience” she has in mind, but Roskomnadzor has said it will consider her suggestion. The agency’s deputy head, Maksim Ksenzov, also promised to review the matter with Russia's Communications Ministry.
It remains unclear what consequences search engines might face in Russia if the law is reinterpreted to apply to their indexing policies, but the recent experience of Google in the EU helps to color the picture. In May of 2014, the EU Court of Justice issued a landmark ruling in favor of the “right to be forgotten.” The ruling required Google to build a system that allows individuals in the EU to request that the company remove certain results from its searches when these results contain personal information that is either outdated or no longer considered “relevant.” While the case at hand stems from a different type of content, it touches on many of the same fundamental issues surrounding the liability of information intermediaries.
Oleg Yashin, the vice-president of Russian Shield, an intellectual-property organization, provided some details about what regulatory changes might be in store. One possibility, he says, is that search engines will be required to purge or discriminate against search results containing blocked websites or illegal data. Yashin claims Yandex is starting this May and June to test ways to filter search results, and Roskomnadzor is supposedly expected to assess the mechanism afterwards.
Mizulina says she worries most about search results that lead Internet users to child pornography and information about suicide and illegal drugs. She points out regularly that Internet companies in the West already make efforts to remove such content, asking rhetorically, “What—are our children less deserving of protection?”
While companies like Microsoft and Google do work to eliminate access to things like child pornography, granting new censorship powers to the Russian government raises special concerns, given Moscow's recent track record for reinterpreting Internet laws in ways that inhibit civic freedoms online.
On May 29, lawmakers introduced draft legislation to create a “right to be forgotten” in Russia that would require Internet search engines to delete links to data about individuals upon request. While Mail.ru and Google have refused to comment on the initiative before more is known about its details, Yandex told the news website Meduza that such a law would violate constitutional rights to information and saddle search engines with unreasonable and unusual legal burdens. The offending information, Yandex says, will remain online regardless, disseminated on websites like social networks.
Russia's current era of Internet governance started almost three years ago, when President Putin signed a law creating a state registry for banned websites. Originally, the blacklist was meant for specific kinds of generally apolitical content, but subsequent laws and generous regulatory interpretations have led to an expanding crackdown on opposition websites, Ukrainian Web resources, and more. Forcing Internet search engines to censor results based on this growing list of banned websites could have a significant impact on Russians’ access to alternative sources of news and opinion.

author: Sergey Kozlovsky


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Is Vladimir Kara-Murza’s Hospitalization a Fluke or Part of a Violent Pattern? · Global Voices
Will Wright

Vladimir Kara-Murza. Public domain.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, an opposition activist in Russia, suddenly fell ill and collapsed at his Moscow office on Tuesday, May 26. After being rushed to the hospital, Kara-Murza's condition became critical. On May 28, his father told RFE/RL, “His kidneys stopped working in the evening. [He] is alive now thanks to an artificial kidney, thanks to hemodialysis… His lungs are being artificially ventilated. He is connected to 10 devices.”
By the end of the following weekend, Kara-Murza's father said his son's condition appears to have stabilized, but he remains in a coma and on life support. Kara-Murza's doctors have determined that transporting him abroad for treatment, as his wife has requested, is not possible in his current condition.
The day before Kara-Murza's hospitalization, the organization Open Russia, where he works as a coordinator, released a hard-hitting exposé about Ramzan Kadyrov's rule in Chechnya. Open Russia, created in September 2014 by former political prisoner and oil oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, defines its mission as the promotion of European political values in Russia. Its new documentary, “The Family,” blasts Kadyrov for presiding over a violent reign of lawlessness.
This sequence of events—the airing of the exposé followed by a sudden decline in health of an Open Russia coordinator—has sparked widespread speculation that Kara-Murza's illness may not be due to natural causes.
A bizarre movie trailer posted to Instagram by Kadyrov on May 25, just hours after the Open Russia documentary premiered, has further fueled such suspicions. The trailer, for an apparently fake movie called “He Who Doesn’t Understand Will Understand Soon,” mostly features Kadyrov firing an automatic weapon into the air. The trailer was interpreted by political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky as an “indirect threat” against those behind Open Russia‘s film.
Following the brazen assassination of leading Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov this February in Moscow, many prominent online voices reflected fears that Vladimir Kara-Murza had been poisoned, in another political killing. Former Moscow correspondent Julia Ioffe tweeted that Russian oppositionists are being hunted down:
Opposition activist and Khodorkovsky's right hand man Vladimir Kara-Murza is in critical condition. Poisoning. It's open season in Russia.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) May 27, 2015
Others immediately mocked such speculations, sometimes using the sarcastic “Coincidence—I think not!” meme borne from a famous line by television journalist Dmitri Kiselyov:
Публицист Владимир Кара-Мурза госпитализирован в критическом состоянии Совпадение? Не думаю! pic.twitter.com/Z4v6s78pvR
— Николай Зубов (@zubovnik) May 27, 2015
Publicist Vladimir Kara-Murza hospitalized in critical condition. Coincidence? I think not!
On Friday, FT reported that Kara-Murza's “friends said they were increasingly convinced he had been poisoned.” In The New Yorker, journalist Masha Gessen tied Kara-Murza's sudden illness to modern Russia's history of alleged assassinations by poison. “Indeed, the larger message of the Nemtsov assassination and the apparent attempted assassination of Kara-Murza,” Gessen wrote, “is that no one is safe.”
On Thursday, former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul appeared on MSNBC's The Rachael Maddow Show. After running through a list of Russian activists, whistle-blowers, and journalists who have died under mysterious circumstances during Putin's rule, Maddow asked for McFaul's perspective on Kara-Murza's sudden illness. “In the spirit of not knowing all the facts, we don't know what happened to Vladimir… but when you add it up and you connect the dots like you just did, it does feel like it is a pattern,” answered McFaul. “For the opposition, it has the obvious chilling effect. People in Russia are scared, and many of them have left the country.”
Disccusing @vkaramurza on @maddow “Putin critic latest of many to suffer untimely calamity” https://t.co/QDL7vy9D7g
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) May 31, 2015
With the cause of Kara-Murza's affliction still unconfirmed medically, various other rumors have also made rounds on the Russian Internet, often following announcements from Kara-Murza's father.
On May 27, Kara-Murza's father said he had learned his son's illness “all had to do with his kidneys,” and “it could have been spoiled yogurt or something else.” He added, “I asked the doctors if this could have been a crime. They said that it could have been anything: yesterday's chiburekki, a banana, an apple… I think there was no crime. If there was, we would not be here today talking to you.” However, Kara-Murza's colleague Mikhail Kasyanov, co-chair of opposition party RPR-Parnas, seems unconvinced by this explanation:
Володя Кара-Мурза в тяжелом состоянии в больнице http://t.co/uRQEIGvdFlГлубокая интоксикация от просроченного кефира не бывает.Володя борись
— Михаил Касьянов (@MKasyanov) May 27, 2015
Volodya [nickname for Vladimir] Kara-Murza is in critical condition in the hospital. Spoiled kefir doesn't cause deep intoxication. Volodya, keep fighting!
On May 28, Kara-Murza's father then stated that his son had begun taking anti-depressants after the murder of his friend Boris Nemtsov, and doctors suspected these might have caused his illness. Medical samples have since been sent to Europe for further testing, which could help determine if Kara-Murza was poisoned or is suffering from some other ailment.
As rumors, suspicions, and fears swirl online and in Moscow, some analysts are wary of leaping to conclusions. “There is a worrying if perhaps understandable tendency to see murderous plots at every turn when it comes to Russia and those critical of Kadyrov or the Kremlin, but I think it is too soon to be making any such rushes to judgement when it comes to Vladimir Kara-Murza,” NYU professor and Russian security expert Mark Galeotti told RuNet Echo. “Let's wait for proper medical assessments before constructing fantasy scenarios that say more about our own assumptions than anything else,” Galeotti continued. “Kadyrov certainly is all too willing to resort to murder, but his is the way of the gun and the bomb, not the subtleties of poison.”
Nonetheless, Kara-Murza's sudden illness, on the heels of Nemtsov's assassination, is certain to have many of Russia's opposition activists thinking long and hard about what continuing their work in today's political climate could mean for their own safety.

author: Will Wright


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Kuma Sutra Screw-Up Nails Qatar Editor · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Qatari newspaper editor Jaber Al Harmi quit after this Kuma Sutra henna tattoo photograph appeared in his newspaper
Qatari newspaper editor Jaber Al Harmi resigned from his post today after this image of a henna tattoo showing intricate drawings of a couple engaged in a sexual intercourse appeared on the pages of a health supplement in Al Sharq Arabic daily. The image may have slipped through the cracks, when it appeared in an article warning about the dangers of henna.
In a letter published in the newspaper, Al Harmi apologised for the “mistake” which happened in the 112-page issue, taking full responsibility for publishing the “offensive” drawings in a daily newspaper in the conservative Islamic country.
His stance was described as brave and was hailed on social media by Qatari netizens, who launched the hashtag #الحرمي_استقالتك_مرفوضة, which translates to “Al Harmi, your resignation is rejected.”
The newspaper did indeed reject the resignation of the journalist, whose career spans 25 years.
This Twitter user tells his followers:
#الحرمي_استقالتك_مرفوضة كمغرد ارفضها أستاذ اعجبتني شجاعتك والاعتراف في وقت كثير جدا يفتقدون الاعتراف بالخطأ لهذا استقالتك مرفوضة أستاذ
— ✳ الأدعم#قطر (@sul535) June 1, 2015
As a Twitter user, I refuse your resignation. I admire your bravery and for your admission [of your mistake] at a time when many refuse to face up to their actions. This is why your resignation is rejected
Faisal bin Jassim Al Thani tells his 267K followers on Twitter:
استقالة الاستاذ جابر دليل انه شخصية امينة تتحمل مسئولياتها بشجاعة وتقدر الامور حق قدرها وقد استطاع عمل نقلة بالصحيفة #الحرمي_استقالتك_مرفوضة
— فيصل بن جاسم ال ثاني (@althani_faisal) June 1, 2015
Mr Jaber's resignation is proof that he is an honest person, who bravely shoulders responsibility and is able to assess situations. He has transformed the newspaper.
And Al Harmi's own son, Salem, confesses:
لم أرى في حياتي شخص أحب مهنته مثل ابوي، وان سألته لماذا؟ يقول: كل يوم شيء جديد وتحدي جديد. ٢٥ سنة اتممها في الصحافه #الحرمي_استقالتك_مرفوضة
— سالم جابر الحرمي (@SalemAl7rmi) June 1, 2015
I have never met anyone who loves his job like my father. And when you ask him why, he says: Everyday there is something new and a new challenge. He has completed 25 years in journalism
In an old post on Paraglider, Dave McClure, a Qatar resident, explains why any hint of sex is a problem in the conservative country:
The government takes the view that pornography is anti-Islamic and should not be allowed in the country. Possession of pornographic material can result in severe penalties, including imprisonment and deportation. Pornography is treated in much the same way as illegal drugs, with similar consequences if caught.


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Pakistani Journalists Left in Limbo Amid Vicious Media War · Global Voices
Sana Jamil

Protest against license cancellation of media group BOL in Karachi. Image credit Stand with BOL, used with permission
Arrests, protests, raids….so much has been happening around BOL Network, a brand new, well-financed Pakistani media outlet that gave co-ownership to journalists and threatened to shake up the media scene in Pakistan.
Thousands of Pakistani journalists working for BOL have been demonstrating in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore on a daily basis, but coverage of their protests by other media has been scant. Their demands are simple: to stop violations of their rights and allow them to launch the much-hyped and controversial BOL television channel.
Pressure on BOL began on May 18, 2015, when a story broke on the front page of the New York Times titled, ‘Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions.’
The story, written by NYT Pakistan Bureau Chief Declan Walsh, stated that Pakistani software company Axact — the parent company of BOL — has been making millions of dollars from a fake degree scam. A government investigation swiftly followed but protesting journalists say the state and rival media outlets are using the Axact scam as a pretext to target BOL.
Protest against license cancellation of media group BOL in Islamabad. Image credit Stand with BOL, used with permission.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), is due to present its investigative report within 17 days, while a criminal case has already been registered against Axact Chairman and CEO Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, Vice Chairman and COO Viqas Atiq and five other directors after FIA officials claimed to have recovered a huge number of university degrees and other documents.
BOL journalists Kamran Khan, Azhar Abbas, Iftikhar Ahmad and Asma Shirazi walked away from the network soon after the Axact scam surfaced, and were strongly criticised by the The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).
The PFUJ said they had left the channel during a moment of crisis and passed a resolution during a meeting on Saturday proposing that they should not receive other posts in Pakistani media.
But not all journalists agreed with PFUJ's response. Senior journalist Talat Hussain believes the scandal has raised serious concerns about media accountability in Pakistan, while another well-recognised journalist Quatrina Hosain wants BOL to demonstrate its funding sources are clean before it enters the local media industry:
Evidence against Axact pretty cut and dried. Bol TV must demonstrate its revenue stream is clean. This is not media freedom issue.
— Quatrina (@QuatrinaHosain) May 29, 2015
CEO of Axact Shoaib Sheikh is escorted by FIA staffs the the District South Special Court. Image by PPIImages. Copyright Demotix (27/5/2015)
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) under the government has already suspended a test transmission of BOL's channel. Customs officials on Friday collected records from equipment and gadgets at the BOL television office in Karachi.
Don't hire #AzharAbbas, #KamranKhan: #PFUJ warns media houses http://t.co/0Pm4O0RXS2pic.twitter.com/J433VVsJIf
— JournalismPakistan (@JournalismPk) May 31, 2015
As BOL comes under ever-greater scrutiny, the fate of more than two thousand journalists, technicians and support staff remains unknown. Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh and Viqas Atiq, also the CEO and COO of the BOL Network, are being held by the FIA until June 4.
Under the supervision of veteran journalists Nazir Leghari, Amir Zia  and Mushtaq Minhas, BOL employees protest, stage sit-ins daily in front of the  Karachi Press Club and chant slogans for rights and job security. Nevertheless, they have received no assurances so far.
Senior Journalist Amir Zia speaking to protesters in Karachi. Image credit Stand with BOL, used with permission.
Amir Zia, a leading BOL Network journalist, is spearheading the social media campaign #BolKoBolnayDo, which blames the federal government for fuelling a media war:
#Sharif govt resorts to worst highhanded actions a/g #Bol &its management. Staff threatened, harassed by Customs Intelligence #BolKoBolnayDo
— AmirZia (@AmirZia1) May 30, 2015
Amir Jahangir, a media professional and founder of the Agahi Awards that encourages independent journalism in Pakistan, has questions about the future of thousands of BOL employees.
If you can not give employment to 2200 media workers, you have no right to take away 2200 jobs @puruesh#iSupportBOL
— Amir Jahangir (@amirjahangir) May 31, 2015
BOL employees protesting outside their office in Karachi. Image credit Stand with BOL, used with permission
Several political parties and people from the Pakistani media industry have joined their heads to show support for the upcoming channel and BOL's employees, amid signs that the channel is losing its battle for survival.
Amir Zia tweets:
Our goal – Get #Bol on the air asap. #BolKoBolnayDo
— AmirZia (@AmirZia1) May 29, 2015

author: Sana Jamil


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Russia Claims Another Victory Against Twitter, But Here’s What Really Happened · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Images edited by Kevin Rothrock.
The Kremlin’s media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, claimed earlier today that it’s succeeded in pressuring Twitter to “delete 32 links” that violated Russian laws. Roskomnadzor also says its negotiations with Twitter continue regarding a longer “debt list.”
This is not the first time Russian censors claim to have persuaded Twitter to comply with takedown requests. As before, Moscow’s claim today that Twitter “deleted 32 links” is inaccurate and somewhat misleading.
Twitter, along with Google, Vimeo, and Reddit, are the only four Internet companies to post actioned takedown orders to the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, a project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and several law schools, to promote transparency. According to that database, Twitter received a letter from Roskomnadzor on May 27, 2015, asking the website to block 53 different hyperlinks, including both individual tweets and entire Twitter accounts.
Twitter did respond to Roskomnadzor’s request, applying its familiar “Country-Withheld-Content” tool to 32 of the tweets, making them invisible to any users whose account settings place them inside Russia. (Changing this setting is a very simple process.)
https://t.co/JSDtBisPJj pic.twitter.com/ZIfimn9yUx
— Россия, вставай! (@WakeUpR) December 20, 2014
January 15, 2015. Manezh Square. We'll be discussing [Navalny's] verdict.
Мероприятие собирались посетить уже 12 000, а приглашены 58 000. pic.twitter.com/95Vz9O0Jk7
— Рустем Адагамов (@adagamov) December 20, 2014
This event has already attracted 12,000 RSVPs and another 58,000 are invited.
Twitter took no action on 21 of Roskomnadzor’s requests, including all 11 takedown orders directed at entire Twitter accounts. Some of the links Russian censors failed to get blocked include accounts belonging to environmental activist Yevgeniya Chirikova, supporters of Siberian political autonomy, the popular Euromaidan account, and others. Twitter also refused to block Russians’ access to several tweets by prominent opposition figures, such as posts by photographer Rustem Adagamov and liberal media mogul Alexander Vinokurov.
Roskomnadzor’s latest troubles with Twitter build on a conflict with Facebook that dates back to late last year.
On December 20, 2014, Facebook infamously agreed to block Russian users’ access to an event page dedicated to a January 15, 2015, rally outside the Kremlin in support of political prisoner Alexey Navalny. Facebook has never acknowledged the move, but it did refuse to block replacement event pages established afterwards, which soon attracted more RSVPs than the original event ever had. Ultimately, Navalny’s verdict came two weeks early and he (but not his brother) was spared prison time, obviating the need for a demonstration on January 15.
All but two of Roskomnadzor’s requests to block individual posts concern tweets advertising the January 15 demonstration—a rally that never took place. Using its “Country-Withheld-Content” tool, Twitter blocked 30 of these tweets, though it refused—without any clear pattern—to block several others that are nearly identical. (Twitter did agree to “withhold” two tweets by a woman named Oksana Vyolva, who called people in the city of Mineralnye Vody to a nationalist protest in late January against the murder of an ethnic Russian man by a gang of North Caucasians in 2014.)
Russian censors submitted all these takedown requests almost five months after the events in question.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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From Media to Manga, How Japan’s Pop Culture Changed After Fukushima · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Screenshot of Psycho-Pass website. Pyscho-Pass is a dystopic anime created following the 3.11 disasters.
June 5 workshop at Leiden University. Image courtesy Bryce Wakefield.
Leiden University in the Netherlands will host Safety and Disaster in Japanese Popular Culture after Fukushima, a one-day workshop on Friday, June 5 featuring panel discussions that is open to the public.
Japan experienced a “triple disaster” on March 11, 2011, of a massive earthquake and devastating tsunami, which both led to the third crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The series of cataclysms is sometimes referred to as “3.11.”
Global Voices interviews Dr. Bryce Wakefield, a lecturer at Leiden University with expertise in Japanese politics and international relations. Wakefield is organizing the June 5 workshop and will be presenting that day on manga and nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster.
Nevin Thompson (NT): How significant an event was 3.11 for Japan?
Dr. Bryce Wakefield (BW): The earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident seemed like game changers for Japanese society at the time. There was talk of ambitious projects to rebuild the communities damaged by these disasters, that the disasters might mark a new renaissance for Japan, that they would redefine the U.S.-Japan military alliance, and so on.
There were some immediate political and social effects after the disasters. Before the disaster U.S.-Japan relations had been damaged by a dispute over military basing issues in Okinawa, and bilateral rescue efforts immediately after the disaster changed the discussion in ways that enhanced the image of the alliance.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had been in power almost continuously from 1955 until 2009, managed to exploit the disaster to show the weakness and inexperience of the new DPJ government, leading in part to LDP victory in 2012. Emphasis on specific issues—the value of volunteerism and civil disaster preparation, and the place of nuclear power in Japanese society—did become more prominent in national discussion.
However, a lot of the discussion about the disaster eventually became subsumed by existing narratives in Japan. Today Fukushima and disaster recovery are still important topics in the national discourse, but the wide-ranging shift in political and social perspectives that some were predicting did not come to pass as a result of the disaster.
NT: How has pop culture been transformed by the Fukushima accident?
BW: It depends what you mean by “popular culture.” As noted just now there was increased emphasis on volunteerism after the disaster. That could be an area of popular culture worth investigation.
One of the definitions of popular culture is that it concerns the practices of everyday life: how, for example, do people interact with the media. At our event, Barbara Holthus of the University of Vienna will be showing how parents concerned for their children’s health in the wake of Fukushima are coordinating their activities and using media, including social media, in new ways.
Similarly, Mire Koikari of the University of Hawaii will be looking at how notions of masculinity are asserted in popular attempts to make Japanese people more aware of the need for civil defense.
Another speaker, Katja Valaskivi of the University of Tampere, has written critically on the government’s attempts to incorporate notions of resilience into its post-Fukushima public diplomacy.
Popular culture is a wide ranging term, and as well as the usual images of anime and manga that people think of when they hear “Japanese popular culture,” we do need to examine popular phenomenon more broadly.
NT: How has manga and anime addressed the nuclear accident?
BW: Before the nuclear disaster, manga and anime were sometimes deployed in public relations efforts to support the notion that nuclear power was safe.
Although there are some post-Fukushima manga that have been labelled pro-nuclear “propaganda,” there have also been more critical voices. These critical voices, however, fit into major themes of the postwar period in manga and anime. Those themes stress the dark side of scientific progress stress the dark side of scientific progress.
Some darker works are also often pessimistic about power relationships in Japanese society and politics.
Mari Nakamura’s presentation looks at issues of surveillance within the recent anime, Psycho-Pass, for example. In the past couple of years there have also been a number of critical works emerging that evoke distrust in government narratives about nuclear power. Manga and anime have discussed critical themes in the past, and will continue to raise such themes in relation to Fukushima.
However, these are often presented in ways that stay away from difficult or challenging content, such as radiation sickness, out of respect for the survivors.
NT: The second panel discussion focuses on “security narratives”, and ISIS comes up as a topic. What is the connection with the Fukushima disaster?
BW: In his presentation, Matthew Penney of Concordia University in Montreal will be talking about the relationship between public discourse and popular culture in Japan in the context of recent discussion about ISIS.
He is focused on the notion of political punditry as a type of popular culture performance, and the notion of pundits as characters that have been cultivated across media platforms.
These characters are seen to be “experts” on a wide range of issues, but because their intellectual net is cast so wide, it is questionable whether they can offer real analysis instead of emotional commentary on a number of these issues.
As such, pundits are often exploited by people with agendas on the extreme left and the right of politics, and this is very evident in the case of discussion about ISIS. So what are the media dynamics involved that make these pundits voices of authority?
As I think Matthew will outline in his talk, there is also an obvious connection there to the Fukushima accident and the punditry that ensued thereafter.
NT: Can you talk a little bit about the Leiden University's connection with Japan?
BW: The Netherlands does, of course, has a significant historical relationship with Japan, with the Dutch holding exclusive rights to trade with Japan during the Edo Period. Today, Leiden is a sister city with Nagasaki, where this trade took place.
Leiden University was the first university outside of Asia to establish a chair of Japan Studies, in 1855. Today, in terms of first year student enrollment numbers, Japan Studies is one of the largest programs in the university’s very strong Faculty of Humanities.
We have been sending our students at Nagasaki University since the 1980's. Every year 10 to 12 top students go there for five months. Every student enrolled in the bachelor’s program has the chance to go to Japan for as part of their degree. It really is a great program.
Safety and Disaster in Japanese Popular Culture after Fukushima will be held at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Anyone interested in attending this half-day workshop can register here.


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Stunning Images of Volcanic Eruption on Japan’s Kuchinoerabu-jima Island · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Eyewitness footage of Mount Shindake erupting on Kuchinoerabu-jima. YouTube screencap from JiJi Press.
Mount Shindake on the isolated Japanese island of Kuchinoerabu-jima erupted suddenly without warning on May 28, forcing all 137 residents of the island to be quickly evacuated.
Residents left the island so quickly that there appears to have been little time to collect belongings, much less take pictures of the eruption to upload to social media.
However, one boy was able to film spectacular first-hand video of the eruption, which was picked up by JiJi, one of Japan's main news wire services:
｢ドドド｣と地鳴り､迫る噴煙＝直前に耳鳴り､母は悲鳴ｰ撮影の少年・口永良部島
Video caption: Just before this video was taken, the earth rumbled and the sky suddenly filled with ash as the boy's mother screamed.
The eruption occurred just seconds before this young boy started filming. During the video, he urges his frightened mother to hurry, telling her to forget about the laundry as the volcano has just erupted.
The severity of the eruption meant that most residents escaped with little more than the clothes on their backs:
毎日動画：口永良部空撮：新岳噴火、避難する島民 – 毎日新聞 http://t.co/rHClcXK8Wb 爆発的噴火に襲われ、住み慣れた島を離れる住民たちの様子です。本社ヘリ、本社機から撮影した動画、静止画で構成しました。 pic.twitter.com/vX5E0KJBuV
— 毎日新聞映像グループ (@eizo_desk) May 29, 2015
From Mainichi News footage: As seen from the air above Kuchinoerabu-jima: New eruption – Mainichi News http://t.co/rHClcXK8Wb Amidst fears of a new eruption, residents have been evacuated. Images taken from Mainichi News helicopter (video and stills available).
It's unclear if or when Kuchinoberu-jima's residents will be able to return home:
口永良部噴火：避難「年単位」も　牛とイモの島、募る不安
Kuchinoerabu eruption: evacuation of residents could last as long as one year; now an “island of cows and potatoes.” Residents’ unease over fate of their home deepens.
The volcanic eruption has produced some fantastic images that are being shared all over social media.
口永良部 噴火 pic.twitter.com/uenMA3ZTXQ
— T.Bell (@mon_suzu) May 29, 2015
Kuchinoerabu eruption.
屋久島にかかる火山灰雲。人工衛星から。 pic.twitter.com/4Ole98f7Nz
— 早川由紀夫 (@HayakawaYukio) May 29, 2015
Kuchinoerabu volcanic ash plume from satellite.
Luckily for residents of the large regional center of Kagoshima to the northeast, for the time prevailing winds have sent the ash plume away from the Kyushu mainland:
【5/29-11:45 TBC気象台】気象庁が発表した口永良部島の降灰予報によると、火山灰は火口から南東方向へと流れる見込みです。 pic.twitter.com/3H4SZOvl9D
— TBC東北放送 防災減災･災害情報 (@TBC_saigai) May 29, 2015
According to information published by the Japan Meteorological Agency about fallout from the Kuchinoerabu-jima volcanic plume, ash will be carried from the crater by prevailing winds to the southwest.
A number of Kyushu volcanoes are due to erupt at any time, or are already active. This tweet from nearly a year ago highlighted the risk of a volcanic eruption on Kuchinoerabu-jima:
九州の火山も要注意　桜島、口永良部は入山規制　 桜島では２００９年以降、活動が活発化し、翌年から４年連続で噴火回数が８００回を超えた。#西日本新聞 http://t.co/iNxusHislz pic.twitter.com/Vdu0ayDFcf
— 花　「生活の党」応援 (@sakura1478) September 29, 2014
[From image, chart from top to bottom] Kyushu volcanic activity:
Volcanic activity: 3 = Red, 2 = Yellow, 1 = Green
Sakurajima (in Kagoshima) and Kuchinoerabu have been added to the list of active volcanoes. The Sakurajima volcano has been experiencing increasing volcanic activity since 2000 and has continuously erupted more than 800 times over the past four years.
While Mount Shindake on Kuchinoerabu-jima is the latest volcano to capture the imagination of people around the world, the nearby city of Kagoshima on the southwestern end of the island of Kyushu has had to deal with frequent eruptions from Sakurajima, a nearby resident volcano whose shape dominates the skyline of the city.
A series of eruptions in the week prior to the Kuchinoerabu eruption had already blanketed the city with ash.
桜島の噴火。 今晩はこの辺でm(_ _)m pic.twitter.com/CqT2E6F8Ep
— 乗りテツ透析テツ(脱被曝) (@tohsekitetsu) May 22, 2015
Sakurajima erupts. This is what it looks like tonight. m(_ _)m
Even as Kuchinoberu-jima residents were being evacuated, Sakurajima was blanketing the streets of Kagoshima with ash:
帰ろうと思ったら俺の愛車が 火山灰にやられてた… pic.twitter.com/FBIpu5piHG — 田中 省吾 (@SkytreeShogo) May 29, 2015
Just when I was getting ready to go home I discovered my beloved wheels had been smothered with volcanic ash.
This university student tweeted:
桜島の火山灰でキャンパス内は、こんな感じ。 pic.twitter.com/vAN3at3F5t
— Ryusuke IMURA (@tigers_1964) May 29, 2015
This is what it looks like on campus thanks to volcanic ash from Sakurajima.
Sakurajima's eruptions may be at best a nuisance for locals, but are quite spectacular for visitors to Kagoshima:
最終日、錦江高原ホテルで温泉日帰りで入ってきた。 桜島からモクモクと煙が出ていました。 写真は誰もいないとのことで撮影の許可を取ることができました(*^^*) pic.twitter.com/m3ilCPo8tW
— az (@azuchn2525) May 22, 2015
On the last day of our stay at the Kinko Highlands Hotel we took a dip in the outdoor bath. Clouds of ash billowed from Sakurajima. As there was no one else in the bath I'm pretty sure no one minded if we snapped a photo. (*^^*)
The explosive power of Sakurajima is nothing new. Besides causing a tsunami and killing hundreds of people, a major eruption in 1914 transformed Kagoshima Bay, creating a peninsula that joined the former island of Sakurajima and its volcano to Kagoshima and the Kyushu mainland:
“The Sakurajima eruption in 1914, one of the biggest eruptions in history: http://t.co/ElXdaaVHTh #photography pic.twitter.com/liH7baQn7s” — Daniel Gennaoui (@DanielGennaoui) March 30, 2015


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The Dangerous Lack of Health Care Facilities in Pasni, Pakistan · Global Voices
Pak Voices

The dilapidated state of the Pasni Rural Health Center (Source: PakVoices)
This post was written by Mumtaz Dashti in Urdu and translated by Salman Latif for PakVoices. An edited version is published below as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Pasni, located in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, has a population of nearly 100,000. And if we count the peripheral areas near Pasni, it goes as high as 150,000. For a town and a population this size, the health facilities available are abysmal.
When the residents of Pasni are in need of any serious medical help, they have to head out to Turbat, Gwadar or Karachi. From Pasni, it is 116 kilometers to Turbat, 131 kilometers to Gwadar and nearly 600 kilometers to Karachi. So while the local population has no access to any significant health facilities, they have to spend money and a lot of time to reach towns where suitable help could be had. In urgent cases, it often proves fatal.
Basic health units are meant to be the first stop for medical aid in rural areas offering rudimentary help, whereas rural health center are officially mandated to offer more advanced, though not specialized, medical help. When I spoke to the medical technician at Pasni Rural Health Center, he said that there are local civil dispensaries at Pasht, Babr, Char, Faqeerabad and Hari Belar areas in and near Pasni. He said that there is also a basic health unit at Kufr, Ban Belar, Bil Hadomi, Kocha and Kalag. However, there are no doctors in any of these establishments, neither are even the most basic health aid available in them. In simpler words, he says, these are just buildings and names which offer absolutely no respite to the health woes of the Pasni population.
I then briefly interviewed the vaccinator at Pasni Rural Health Center. According to him, there is one freezer available in the center to store vaccines, and whenever power fails, there is a risk of vaccines going to waste due to heat. He says that a deep freezer is also available there which would be more suited for storing vaccines, but the assistant district health officer does not permit the use of the deep freezer.
He further said that the rural health center has a power generator which could help, but it sits idle because of the unavailability of fuel. Similarly, the establishment also has an ambulance but it is dysfunctional because of no fuel. If any patient urgently requires an ambulance, he or she must first make provide fuel to get it running. According to him, the center lacks basic equipment and medicine such as the common pain reliever paracetamol, so to expect it to have life-saving medicine is hopeless.
A power generator sitting idle at Pasni RHC due to fuel unavailability (Source: PakVoices)
The X-ray assistant at the center, Yusuf Mair, severely castigated the assistant district health officer and district medical officer in his remarks. He says that there are no arrangements for X-ray in the center and the X-ray machine has been deliberately misplaced. According to him, the center offered support for procedures such as blood transfusion 15 years ago, but today the place even lacks X-ray machinery. He pins the blame on the lack of resources and corruption, and alleges that most of any funds that come from the government or a non-governmental organizations go into the pockets of officials instead of to the center.
Mair also bemoans the professional neglect of doctors and hired staff at the center. A dental surgeon, for instance, was recently posted there, but he runs a private practice in Gwadar and never visits the hospital. He added that the entire non-medical staff comprises of a single sweeper.
Zareef Baloch is a journalist from Pasni and is equally pessimistic about health facilities in the area. According to him, a medicinal quota for Pasni was established years ago under which non-governmental organizations such as Save The Children provide medicines at rural and basic health in the area. This is done in agreement with the government. However, he says the population has increased substantially, so the allocated quota is insufficient, and without many other key health facilities a handful of basic medicines does little to help.
The laboratory at Pasni Rural Health Center (Source: PakVoices)
Baloch also refers to a near-complete hospital in Pasni, being constructed with a grant from the Omani government: “It will be a 30-bed hospital and may finally provide some genuine health facilities to the residents of Pasni. Then again, it all depends on how sincere and honest the management of the hospital is.” Pasni, as many other areas in the Makran region, was once a part of the Omani kingdom and it officially came into Pakistan's possession as late as 1958.
Pasni has five private clinics. Four of these are run by current government officials, doctors appointed at RHC who are rarely inclined to visit the center. But even the private clinics are clinics in name alone and are so ill-equipped that nowhere in Pasni can a medical operation be conducted or a blood transfusion procedure be done. The hapless patients then have to rush to cities and towns hundreds of kilometers away whenever medical assistance is required. This has resulted in the loss of many lives, who could have been saved with timely medical help.
It is upon the government, then, to address the plight of its citizens and help save these lives. Pakistan plans to turn Gwadar into a Dubai of future, but areas like Pasni in the neighborhood of Gwadar look like medieval towns when it comes to some of the most basic modern-day amenities. Will the government change this or keep looking towards foreign messiahs to help solve the problems at home?

author: Pak Voices


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Ugandan TV Personality Sacked After Her Nude Photos Appear Online · Global Voices
James Propa

Anita as a presenter on Be My Date. Screenshot from clip uploaded onto NTV's official YouTube channel.
In the last eight years Uganda has witnessed more than 10 female celebrities become the subject of nude picture scandals. Some are looking for fame to add to the fame they already have, others are exploited by bad people.
Anita Fabiola: Photo from her official Facebook page.
In January a female TV personality who appeared in a sex tape was promptly sacked from her role as news anchor and reality TV host on local channel Bukedde TV.
It was rumored that her ex-boyfriend's lover and former colleague at the media house where they all worked at the time leaked the video.
Last year popular Ugandan Musician Desire Luzinda saw her nude photos appear all over social media and it is rumored her ex-lover leaked them. Desire had dumped him shortly after he had spent huge amounts of money putting on her show at the Serena Hotel in Uganda's capital, Kampala.
Desire's concert hire fee reportedly went up by almost three times after the leak.
Then on May 21 Anita Kyarimpa, popularly known as Anita Fabiola, the host of a reality dating TV show Be My Date on Nation Media's TV channel NTV Uganda, had nude photos leaked onto social media. Some tabloids have claimed an ex-boyfriend as the source of the leak, with others suggesting Anita herself leaked them in search of extra popularity.
However, in a Whatsapp chat screenshot believed to be between Anita and a friend, Anita — also a model and a student — stresses she never sent the pictures to anyone and that they were on her phone when it got stolen.
‘This tarnishes our brand image and value’
When the pictures leaked the public waited to see what NTV Uganda would do and on 26 May Anita announced on her show's Facebook page that she had resigned, sparking shock.
One Of Anita's leaked photos(Edited)
She wrote:
Dear Fans, I wanna thank you for the support you gave me from day one. I have learnt a lot and enjoyed our journey together. The last week hasnt been easy, no woman would like to show their body to complete strangers. Much as I am a victim, I feel like I let you all down as I result I have decided to take a media break as I deal with the humiliation. Am resigning from my job, I have so much respect for NTV and I can never thank them enough for the opportunity. Please keep, watching and supporting the show. Again am sorry, this was never intended for the public. You might see me in Studio 256 but those episodes were already recorded, am strong but am also human. It doesn't matter how many times you fall, it's how you get up. I hope to get up stronger. Remain Blessed, Anita Fabiola
Later in the day a letter from NTV Uganda Human resource manager, Solomon Muhirwa, leaked on social media, indicating Anita was forced to resign.
The letter read:
Dear Enablers,
This is to notify you that Anita Kyarimpa a.k.a Fabiola has been asked to resign her position as Presenter(Be My Date). This she has done and it takes immediate effect. The reason emanates from her nude pictures that have been doing the rounds on the social media circuit.Those in the habit of engaging or those contemplating in doing the same are strongly advised to think thrice of its repurcussions.
This tarnishes our brand image and value: a foundation on which we are built and respected.
Rgds,
The Daily Monitor, a sister news Channel to NTV Uganda tweeted:
The email that “sacked” Anita Fabiola leaks: http://t.co/0zQ2NOZegH pic.twitter.com/9WF0wldwrM
— Daily Monitor (@DailyMonitor) May 26, 2015
Ugandans took to social media to discuss NTV firing Anita.
Baker Moses asked that Anita return to her job:
@ntvuganda we need #Anitafabiola back A.S.A.P — baker moses (@moses_baker) May 27, 2015
Frying Pan, a Ugandan journalist based in Rwanda, felt that the decision by NTV Uganda was unfair:
So Anita Fabiola has been sacked for those nude photos? This is unfair. NTV Uganda should do better than that. I… http://t.co/GuhjVOcfBJ
— Frying Pun (@FryingPun) May 26, 2015
Celebrated radio host James Onen disagreed with the decision as well:
If this email is legit I have to say I'm disappointed in these people. Who still thinks like this in 2015. No one besides corporate bureaucrats give a fuck about “brand image” anymore. This is just corporate gibberish.
Ugandan blogger and digital media consultant Javie Ssozi argued NTV is trying to play the tune of Ugandan Minister of Ethics and Integrity, Father Simon Lokodo:
The answer lies in the email NTV sent to the staff, a precise warning. Once your nude photos leak, show yourself the door and never come back! Clearly NTV’s response to Fabiola’s incident is rather appalling. Absolutely zero pity, instead, she is being punished for a “crime” she did not commit. This reminds me of Lokodo, who often thinks that women go around leaking their nude photos and that victims of revenge porn “should be locked up and isolated”. Yes, I do not see a difference between Lokodo and NTV.
An Unidentified Person Holds Plackard asking NTV to Bring Back Fabiola.
However, Kyolaba Shammah half-backed NTV Uganda's apparent morality stance:
http://t.co/5o3lanANG9@ntvuganda i love the image protection bit. but focus shud be on the main guy #phonethief. otherwise unfair dismissale
The hashtag #BringBackFabiola trended in Uganda immediately after the letter firing Anita leaked online.

author: James Propa


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Could the Guyana Elections Experience Be a Lesson for the Caribbean? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

OAS Team Observes General Elections in Guyana on May 11, 2015. Photo by the OAS, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
General elections took place in Guyana nearly a month ago and some Caribbean blogs are insisting that the event — and its results — were not given the requisite level of attention by the rest of the region.
After the political dust had settled, the country learned it would be swearing in a new president, as a new entity — the APNU–Alliance for Change, a more modern construct that crossed race and class lines — took hold of the reins of power.
In November of last year, then-President Donald Ramotar of the ruling People's Progressive Party prorogued the country's parliament for six months (discontinuing the body, without dissolving it) to avoid a no-confidence vote. There was much talk of dictatorship, saying that the decision flew in the face of the country's constitution, as well as concern about polarising voters in a country that has a bitter history of racial politics.
In a guest post at Barbados Underground, St. Kitts and Nevis national Donya Francis was perturbed, not just about how long it took for the official election results to be released, but about the lack of pressure placed on the country from regional governments:
What happened in Guyana after the elections? Where were the results? Is this going to be a trend that the Caribbean will be following? […]
The silence from the other Caribbean leaders on the late announcement of the results was very appalling.
Recalling that a similar situation happened in her home country in February 2014, she added:
The Caribbean electoral systems need to be relooked at and be fixed immediately. They are failing the democratic nature of the region.
Certain members of the media were paying attention, however. Journalist and blogger Vernon Ramesar interviewed fellow journalist Wesley Gibbings on the “post-election situation in Guyana”, saying it was “an interesting story for the region”:
The pair pointed out that Guyana's electoral system was structured slightly differently from the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean, in that it allowed for an executive president; most other regional territories follow the Westminster system, in which the head of government is the prime minister.
Gibbings explained that there are two systems working in tandem in Guyana: a list system (which accounts for 40 of the 65 seats in parliament) and a regional representative system (which comprises the other 25 seats) — essentially, two elections in one. “Technically,” Gibbings says, “it's a presidential election.”
In that light, it is no surprise that Ramotar was ousted, given the public reaction to his proroguing of parliament. In the Guyanese system, a minority government is a possibility, since plurality is what counts — and that is exactly the reality that emerged after these elections. In an ironic twist of fate, however, the current government might well find that it faces the same challenges as the previous administration, which was often unable to pass budgets or legislation, as the (combined) majority opposition would routinely vote against them. Gibbings referred to the APNU element of the coalition as “essentially the People's National Congress (PNC) [last in opposition] wearing a different hat”.
In the past, Guyana has traditionally voted along ethnic lines, with voters of Indian descent supporting the People's Progressive Party and Afro-Guyanese primarily casting their ballots for the PNC. There are similar tribal voting patterns in Trinidad and Tobago, one of Guyana's closest CARICOM neighbours, but apparently the trend is changing in Guyana.
Gibbings also made a critical point that shed light on why the results may have taken so long to be released to the public:
The electoral laws […] have not been changed since the 1992 election, which is considered to have been the first free and fair elections since the elections of the 60s in Guyana. Within that time, technology, for example, has changed – so that the current regulation that speaks to the receipt of statements of poll for the results dictate that that information cannot be relayed electronically.
One of the most interesting aspects of the Ramesar/Gibbings interview however, is that they discussed the series of unfortunate events that unfolded in the Guyanese parliament after the opposition attempted to pass the no-confidence vote. Gibbings raised the St. Kitts and Nevis parallel and Ramesar made the point that Trinidad and Tobago has had several instances of attempts at “no confidence” votes in parliament. The common denominator seemed to be the presence of coalition governments. With Trinidad and Tobago set to have general elections later this year, a local blog, which posts in dialect, thought that “de action close tuh home an could have implications”:
What in de public domain about de Guyanese election is dat it take de better part of five days after votin done tuh have ah formal announcement of who win. Earlier tuhday, Saturday, ah new president get sworn in. He name David Granger. Even while dat was happenin de now former president, Donald Ramotar was issuin ah statement dat included dis gem:
‘Once again we are being removed from office, not through the will of our people, but by electoral manipulations.’ […]
Bottom line? Bacchanal Guyanese style. […] Can what happenin in Guyana happen in T&T?
The blogger finally deduced that it couldn't, since in his opinion, the Trinidad and Tobago electorate was “more mature”. He conceded, however, that the current opposition could very well win the upcoming elections, saying:
Democracy indeed alive an well in T&T albeit Trini style.
Somebody should print dat orn ah tee shirt before elections. It go sell.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Readers Can Now Enjoy Little Red Riding Hood and Other Fairy Tales in the Cree Language · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Scan of a page of the Cree translation of Pilgrim’s Progress published in 1886. Courtesy – Kevin Brousseau.
Storytelling plays an important role in cultures around the world, helping to pass knowledge from generation to generation. The universality of this tradition is reflected in the similarities of the central themes and characters in some stories across cultures and languages. Thanks to the power of translation, tales from one part of the world can find their way into the homes of families on the other side of the world.
Blogger and Cree language digital activist Kevin Brousseau noticed that traditional Cree stories had been translated into English, but not the other way around as other well-known stories were not available in Cree. He said in an interview with Rising Voices:
After translating the Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel, I realized that elderly monolingual speakers of Cree had never heard of these stories! As I read my stories to my elderly grandmother, I was struck by how much she enjoyed them, but also how closely these stories resembled Cree stories once they were read aloud in Cree.
So began his desire to make these popular stories available to more people through his blog Cree Language. So far, Brousseau has translated popular fairy tales such as Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs, as well as some of Aesop's Fables in both the Southern East Cree and Moose Cree dialects.
Screenshot of the first part of Little Red Riding Hood translated into Southern East Cree by Kevin Brousseau
Cree is the most widely spoken native language in Canada, and is comprised of various dialects. It is an official language of the Northwest Territories, and recognized as a minority language in five provinces. According to the 2006 Canadian Census, there are approximately 120,000 speakers across the different dialects.
On his blog, he also writes original stories in the Cree language, translates into and from the Cree language, and shares insight about the language's grammar, dialects, lexicon, and the various orthographies. When he is not blogging, he works as the Cree Language Coordinator for the Cree Nation Government in Quebec.
When it comes to its presence on the Internet, Kevin has noticed that the Cree language has significantly increased online over the past few years, but Cree citizen media is “still in its infancy.” In addition to his blog, he cites various online projects that are working to promote the language, such as Cree Literacy, a network that promotes Cree language and cultural literacy. Another blog called âpihtawikosisân is written by a Plains Cree-speaking Métis woman living in Montreal. Little Cree Books is an online project that seeks to publish free texts in the Plains Cree dialect, all of which are available under a Creative Commons license.
On social media, there are several Facebook groups that share resources, teach basic words or phrases, or act as a space where people can communicate in the Cree language. And on Twitter, the hashtags #speakcree and #nêhiyawêtân can be found from time to time. Kevin himself tweets at @_Kepin_ sharing encouraging words to others wanting to share the language.
Don't forget to #SpeakCree to one another & to your children today. Let's keep our language alive! #Nehiyaw #Nehiyawêtâw #Nehiyawêwin #Cree
— Kevin Brousseau (@_Kepin_) March 13, 2015
Despite this increase in the availability of content in different dialects of the Cree language, communities still face challenges especially when it comes to the unique writing, also called syllabics, in the language on the web. He said:
There are whole sets of characters that simply do not display properly if the website does not support the appropriate fonts. That is definitely a problem for bloggers such as myself. Although the proper fonts are selected as I draft my posts, another person’s computer may lack the fonts and as a result my blog will simply not display properly on his or her computer. This is a nuisance that often keeps people from even attempting to write in Cree online.
The relatively low numbers of people that read and write in the language is one of the major challenges, but the increase in the number of online resources and content can help encourage more people to explore communicating in the Cree language.
I love seeing things like this in my schools #nēhiyawe #SpeakCree
A photo posted by Skye (@ndnspeechmom) on
Overall, response to the year-old blog has been positive. The blog primarily focuses on the written language, and in comparison to some Cree language sites, Kevin primarily writes in the language, instead of writing about the language. As a result, the audience for written Cree is still relatively low due to the low number of Cree-literate Internet users. However, he hopes to add more multimedia to the project through audio clips. He cites one example of how the translations found on his blog are now being used for educational purposes:
A lady from a neighbouring community was pretty excited about my Cree translation of the 3 Little Pigs and asked if she could use it in her community as a teaching resource. My hope is that more people take an interest in learning how to read our language – in the meantime, my blog will keep growing.

author: Eduardo Avila