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Nigeria: After the President’s return, bloggers question who’s in charge · Global Voices
Eremipagamo Amabebe

Just when many Nigerians were sighing in relief that perhaps the drama of the past three months had come to an end,  a new plot twist enfolded: only two weeks after Vice President Goodluck Jonathan's long-anticipated confirmation as Acting President, President Yar'Adua was flown back to Abuja under cover of darkness.
Initially, many commentators assumed that Yar'Adua's arrival in Abuja signaled his imminent return to his presidential duties. But as the days slipped by without any communication from the President, many began to fear that his condition was even more serious than suspected.
Reactions from the blogosphere varied, with many expressing sympathy for the ailing leader; however, the prevailing feeling was frustration at the continued secrecy regarding Yar'Adua's condition and future intentions.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta wrote about the abnormality of such excessive secrecy:
President Yar’Adua is, and will not be the only sick president. When Fidel Castro (Cuban President) became seriously ill, he was televised live on his sick bed when Venezuela’s President (Hugo Chavez) visited him. When late Yasser Arafat (The Leader of Palestine Liberation Organization) was taken to a French hospital before his death, the entire world was kept informed of his situation. Also when former Israeli Prime Minster (Ariel Sharon) was taken to hospital, the world was kept informed. I find it too difficult to understand the secrecy surrounding our president’s sickness.
Imnakoya at Grandiose Parlor also expressed frustration:
The man is clearly incapacitated and not able to perform his duties required under the law. In fact, it now appears the man is not even in the right state — physically and mentally, to make his situation known to the people who gave him his mandate! This is what the recent events strongly suggest since his return from Saudi Arabia about a week ago.
So why has it remained a Herculean task to the representatives of the Nigerian people to do the right thing and relieve the man of his burden?
Why is the conscience of our elected officials so dead to the expectations of the people whom they represent?
In February, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan's confirmation as Acting President ended months of political uncertainty; but Yar'Adua's return has confused the situation, and, for many Nigerians, only raised more questions.
SolomonSydelle at Nigerian Curiosity wrote:
The main question on every Nigerian's mind is why did Yar'Adua choose now to return to the country after spending 3 months abroad? There are likely various reasons for this choice but some key factors spelling the significantly diminished political capital of Yar'Adua and his supporters could be a main reason.
Max Siollun saw a similar agenda in Yar'Adua's return:
The timing is very telling. The political mood in Nigeria has been moving toward having Yar’Adua PERMANENTLY declared incapacitated, and the “acting” President Good luck Jonathan has been treated with some hope and optimism with many assuming that Yar’Adua was not coming back, and urging Jonathan to carry out reforms.
Yar’Adua’s return must be viewed in this context. He and his allies are feeling the heat, and are trying to pre-empt any moves that could permanently sideline Yar’Adua from power.
Many commentators saw the President's return as political brinkmanship designed to disrupt Jonathan's rule and strengthen Yar'Adua's supporters. Some pointed to the President's wife, Hajia Turai Yar'Adua,  as being a key figure in these suspected intrigues.
On February 25th, the Nigerian news outlet 234Next published an article chronicling the First Lady's alleged behind-the-scenes political maneuvering. The article generated more than 600 comments and was widely cited in the Nigerian blogosphere.
Rayo commented on the First Lady's seeming omnipotence:
Turai is back and the whole world knows it. Who else can demote Goodluck Jonathan from Acting President to Vice President then return him to Acting President, all within 24hours without National Assembly or Federal Executive Council’s input, if not Almighty Turai?
Opeyemi Agbaje echoed her complaint:
The constitution does not recognise a first lady, any minister or other appointee of a president and certainly not his personal security aides and childhood friends as legitimate inheritors of political power in the event of the absence, indisposition, medical leave or incapacitation of a president.
But many commenters saw the 234Next article as sensationalized. Gaskiya, a commentator on the site wrote:
Stop printing lies. The first lady cannot sign any document as she is not recognized constitutionally. She only flew in yesterday with her ailing husband and now someone is saying she had taken over the affairs of government of this country?
Many saw the First Lady's alleged manipulations as symptomatic of larger systemic flaws.
Loomnie wrote:
If she can command the power she is claimed to [be] commanding then the so-called ruling elite are to blame for rolling over and letting her take control.
And that might well be the case. In many situations in Nigeria, if you want to curry favour with the boss you do not go to the vice, you go to the wife. Power is often seen as being embodied in the person who holds it. In order to have access to that power one needs someone who has unrestricted access to the Power.
Doofan, another commenter on the 234Next article had a similar view:
Turai is a product of this society of ours. Why do you blame her alone? This battle is for the control of resources, party machinery, oil and funds. Do you guys think it’s for the good of this country? Next and the other media houses are more interested in sensation of the story than in reporting the actual facts. Our political class is as guilty as the first lady they made her that powerful by bribing her to get favours now they want Nigeria to think that she is the only devil and they are saints.
Others felt Mrs. Yar'Adua was pursuing power at the cost of her husband's health and reputation. Kayode Ogundamisi wrote:
It is painfully embarrassing to see that we have been denied the privilege to empathise with the Yar'adua family over the predicament of their son and Turai must take the bulk of the responsibility for that because of the obvious choices she has made. She must be held accountable for the fact that rather than cushion her husband's pains, she is fueling the outrage that compounds his situation by insisting that he hangs unto power at the expense of Nigeria and his life.
Another theme of the discussions was acting President Goodluck Jonathan's perceived inaction. Chxta expressed the feelings shared by many commentators:
I was, and still am angry about the lack of spine shown by Goodluck Jonathan in this whole event. I mean, as C-in-C, even in an acting capacity, someone filed a flight plan of such magnitude and you did not know about it until the planes (not plane) were about to land?
Some observers argued that neither the First Lady nor the Acting President actually hold the reigns in Abuja. Sahara Reporters published an article which pointed to a complex interplay of interests, where Mrs. Yar'Adua and Jonathan are only two actors in a constantly shifting constellation of powerful elites. The article pointed to Nigeria's state governors (The Governors Forum) as being the primary power brokers in the capital; Chike Orjiako, writing in the same outlet had a similar take:
Jonathan is a product of a consensus contraption called doctrine of necessity. He is standing on a straw erected by his traducers for their own political expediency. There is a limit to what he can do without upsetting the apples carte. What is on offer presently is politics at its naked form. Could you imagine the decision of the illicit Governors forum to keep Yar’Adua in power dead or alive? The moment they suspected Jonathan was trying to exercise independent power by his appointment of Presidential Advisory council; they struck. We all have a role to play in the effort to rescue us from the gang of Governors, their ministers and National Assembly members that they manipulate at will. Much of the work to force them into submission is ours and not Jonathans. We have to keep protesting without let or loose. By my estimation, Jonathan is doing all right.
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author: Eremipagamo Amabebe


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Pakistan: More Than 80,000 Cell Phones Snatched In A Year · Global Voices
Rezwan

Hina Safdar at Chowrangi informs that More than 80,000 cell phones were snatched last year in Pakistan and almost 75% of them were of one brand.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rezwan


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Pakistan: Suicide Bombing In Lahore · Global Voices
Rezwan

Five Rupees reports that a suicidal car bomb has ripped through government buildings in Lahore today killing 12 people and injuring many.


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Puerto Rico, Haiti: International Women’s Day Dedicated to Haitian Women  · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Around the world, people commemorate International Women's Day on March 8th. This year, International Women's Day celebrates it 100th anniversary. In Puerto Rico, and in many countries in Latin America, the day will be dedicated to honor and remember the resilience of Haitian women, and the lives of three feminist Haitian activists who died during the catastrophic earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010: Myriam Merlet, Anne-Marie Coriolan and Magalie Marcelin.
Logo of the International Feminist Solidarity Camp in Haiti.
In Puerto Rico, the the March 8 Coalition, which includes feminist, political, and labor union grassroots organizations, has launched the blog 8 de marzo en Puerto Rico [ES] with a wealth of information on the history of the International Women's Day, and the dozens of events planned for the commemoration. Even though there has been debate concerning the necessity of celebrating a “Women's Day”, it is true that inequality, injustice and violence against women are realities around the world.
Flyer announcing March 8 activities in Puerto Rico.
In these days, bloggers in Puerto Rico have written posts on a diversity of issues concerning women. In Poder, Cuerpo y Género [ES], feminist blogger Nahomi Galindo writes about the recent death of a female inmate in a prison in Puerto Rico:
Las instituciones carcelarias son sólo un ejemplo de formas de control  social. Se ha comprobado que estas no reducen la criminalidad; por el  contrario, crean un círculo vicioso que empieza en el estigma y termina  en la reincidencia. Sin embargo, tanto el castigo como el estigma son  peores para la mujer, pues al ser confinada transgrede tanto la ley como  los roles que la sociedad le ha impuesto.
Blogger and Law student Mariana Iriarte offers statistics of violence against women in Puerto Rico, and writes about women's resilience and strength [ES]:
En Puerto Rico los indicadores de violencia doméstica y femicidios son  alarmantes. Las estadísticas más recientes son del 2008 y revelan que  17,074 mujeres han sido víctimas de violencia doméstica, esto sin tener  en cuenta los casos que no se reportan a las autoridades estatales; de  esas 17,074 mujeres han muerto 26. A esto debe sumarse el maltrato  institucional del cual somos víctimas. No es una novedad que la  población que se ha visto más afectada por los despidos del sector  público han sido las mujeres, muchas de ellas madres solteras único  sustento del hogar.
Ante el embate de las políticas  neoliberales de la actual administración las mujeres, aún siendo las más  afectadas, hemos salido a la calle a luchar por nuestros empleos,  comunidades, hijos e hijas, libertad sexual y reproductiva, entre muchos  otras luchas que hemos dado y seguiremos dando. Parece ser que en los  albores de un nuevo milenio las mujeres seguimos y seguiremos enfrentado  los retos y desafíos que se le presentaron a las mujeres en siglos  pasados.
In Puerto Rico, the statistics on domestic violence and femicides are alarming. The most recent statistics are from 2008: 17,074 women were victims of domestic violence (these are only the cases that were reported), and 26 women were killed. We must add to these numbers the instances of institutional abuse to which women are subjected. It is well known that women have been most affected by the lay-offs in the government sector, and many of them are single mothers and heads of their households.
Confronted with the neoliberal policies of the current administration, women have nonetheless taken the streets to defend their jobs, communities, children, and sexual and reproductive freedom. It seems that at the threshold of a new millennium, women are still confronting many of the same challenges of previous centuries.
In Nananinas [ES], blogger Nana writes about some of the many roles women perform:
Cuando hablamos de mujeres trabajadoras no nos referimos únicamente a  las que reciben remuneración por sus servicios. Cada una, desde su  posición particular, realiza un trabajo necesario para la evolución de  la sociedad. Las que crían a sus niños y niñas para que sean ciudadanos y  ciudadanas útiles y concientes trabajan. Las que conducen autobuses  trabajan. Las que cuidan a un familiar enfermo trabajan. Las que diseñan  edificios trabajan. Las que imparten clases trabajan. Las que operan a  personas enfermas trabajan. Todas somos trabajadoras.
Working women like these are integral to the rebuilding of Haiti and one blog, Haiti Vox, acknowledges that:
When I was in Haiti shortly after the quake, I met with Haitian women leaders to talk about their emergency needs and the best way for the global community of women and organizations to support them to reorganize and play a leading role in discussions and forums about Rebuilding Haiti.
The blogger, Anne-christine d'Adesky, began working towards a global grassroots solidarity initiative with the help of Haitian women in the diaspora and feminist leaders and the Poto Mitan: Rebuilding Haiti initiative was born.  The organization is committed to accelerating the delivery of emergency services, resources, funding, and programs to women, girls and grassroots communities in Haiti and advocates for the implementation of a women- and community-oriented approach to relief and reconstruction that is part of the larger Rebuilding Haiti agenda.
The group has several activities planned (advocacy, reporting, networking) designed to address the post-disaster and long-term needs of Haitian women affected by the earthquake, including participation in today's International Women's Day events. Their Group and Community Forum has more details.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Russia: Bloggers Outraged About Pedophile Case · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Aleksey Sleptsov, a 25-year-old man from St. Petersburg accused of pedophilia, received six years of suspended sentence, fontanka.ru reported [RUS]. Sleptsov was accused of molesting his 5-year-old niece. The court found him guilty of raping the girl 13 (!) times but didn't imprison him. The court justified its decision by presenting good recommendations of Sleptsov from his work and from the members of his family, which was allegedly unaware of the crimes he committed.
Another quite disturbing detail of the case is that police, court and prosecutor's office were silencing the verdict for almost a week. The court's decision would remain unknown if Oksana Homyakova, lawyer of the rape victim, didn't publish the details of the case online. As the matter was publicized, it brought attention of the kid's ombudsman in Russia [EN] Pavel Astakhov [RUS]. After a day of fierce online campaign, he announced [RUS] that he is going to take the case under his personal control and would appeal against the verdict.
The Russian blogosphere was disgusted with the mild verdict. Many bloggers stressed that giving a suspended sentence for pedophilia is an encouragement for further crimes.  At the same time, the Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko proposed forced sterilization for all persons accused of pedophilia.
Influential blogger radulova was among the first to write about this case [RUS] by copy-pasting the news message. However, a couple of lines provoked a heated discussion with lots of cursing and emotional hate-speech towards pedophiles. Another discussion emerged at fontanka.ru.
Nikaroma:
Кошмар какой!!! Все с ног на голову перевернули. Насилуют детей – и никто за это не наказывает!А судьи кто?
jabeika:
кастрировать эту тварь…и пусть дальше работает и жену радует, сука!!!
solar_kitten:
Вообще шесть(!) лет условно – это ппц… они бы еще пожизненное условно стали давать… :)
illart:
Да, было бы хорошо еще татуировку на лоб – педофил. Если после 15 лет в тюряге выживет, то где-то в переулке точно получит “правосудие”…
А судье бы тоже написать “Помогаю педофилам”, как за взятку отсидит (если отсидит) пусть что хочет, то и делает. Никакой гуманной справедливости быть не может.
ludmila4551
Не обсуждаю несоразмерность наказания преступлению – это очевидно.
Но кроме этого я считаю, что родители в таких случаях винованы очень. Невозможно незамечать, что с таким маленьким ребенком (а началось все, когда девочке было пять лет!) происходит что-то ужасное! Кто-нибудь пробовал договориться о чем-то с пятилетним ребенком, да еще и быть уверенным, что ребенок сохранит тайну? Когда вы в последний раз видели пятилетних детей? В этом возрасте они не могут лицемерить (страшно, боятся человека – покажут это, просто не смогут скрыть). Если ребенок испуган, травмирован – это видно невооруженным глазом. Почему не поднимают вопрос виды родителей в таких случаях?
Twitter users were active in trying to dig in the case. One Twitter user published the telephone number [RUS] of the judge who gave such verdict. Alex_FG posted [RUS] a call to find his profile on the social networks and find him personally.
The mildness of the verdict made the majority of bloggers almost choke with blood, lust and loathing. Most of the bloggers expressed their sympathy to physical reprisal both with the criminal and the judge who issued such a decision. Very little voices spoke of a legal solution to the problem and almost no one tried to find all the details of the case. At the same time, Sleptsov's case became a good example of online “justice” campaigns, which turned out to be even more effective and mobilizing than “advocacy campaigns.”

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: Most of Media Practice “Copy-Pasting” · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Russian magazine Kommersant Money published an analytical investigation on plagiarism in online media. It suggests that the majority of media content in Russia is based on “copy-pasting” practice usually done by special software that substitutes original words with synonyms to pass the product as a different article.

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Russia: “Muromtsev Dacha” Demolished · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

A historic wooden house in Moscow suburbs known as “Muromtsev Dacha” has been torn down by the authorities amid numerous protests from the residents. The photos of the demolition have been posted by different bloggers and gathered at LJ community photo-polygon.

author: Vadim Isakov


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Russia: “Postal Cop” Gets Life Imprisonment · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Denis Yevsyukov, a 32-year-old Moscow policeman who killed two and injured seven people, was sentenced to life imprisonment on February 20, 2010. The verdict became the hot topic in the Russian blogosphere, igniting discussions about police corruption, modernization challenge and responsibility of the authorities.
Back in April 2009, when the tragedy happened, CCTV video [RUS] of the “postal cop” had a huge effect on the blogosphere. The incredible violence and almost computer-gaming effect of the footage made Yevsyukov a popular culture meme, embodying police irresponsibility and lack of restraint.
Some bloggers like  ps_76 celebrated [RUS] the verdict:
Надеюсь что это хоть чуть чуть тормознет охреневшую ментовню.
LJ user smolyak surrealistically recalled his phobia of policemen that emerged after Yevsyukov's rampage:
В метро я не езжу, но сегодня надо было. И что я увидел. В вагоне рядом со мной стоял настоящий майор Евсюков. Мне стало не по себе. Я представил, как он начнет стрелять. Специально пересел. Все время смотрел на мужика, который должен был первым лечь. Евсюков не стрелял, я вышел на нужной станции.
Blogger smuul called for the reform of the police:
До чего дошли, чтобы в  милицейской  куртке и стрелять в мирных людей? Это могуть делать только ублюдки. А ведь обыкновенный 32-х летний  сопляк… Реформа и только реформа всей  системы! А нам меньше болтать и больше работать. Как на Западе. И ЗАКОННОСТЬ во всем, законность, понимаете?
Four days before the verdict, Yevgeny Chichvarkin [RUS], Russian businessman in exile, suggested [RUS] that the Yevsyukov's rampage was provoked by the corruption in his department and urged “to protect Yevsyukov as the crucial witness of the Moscow police department corruption.” He claimed that the Yevsyukov had become a weak link in the powerful machine of the police corruption, involving raider attacks, drug trafficking and prostitution.
Another blogger samaritatyanin suggested Yevsyukov's rampage was probably much more complicated and doubted the case was [RUS] closed with the verdict:
суд на Евсюковым закончился. осудили, приговорили. вот только так никто и не понял, что произошло то на самом деле. да, он стрелял и убил, ранил. но делал он это явно не в здравом уме, и не пьяный был до белой горячки. я могу сказать только одно – у него съехала крыша, и стрелял он, находясь в мире своих иллюзий – это ведь видно из записи камер магазина.
Trying to defend “good policemen,” LJ user severianin made a stand [RUS] against the “campaign against the police,”:
Удивительна и реакция наших сограждан. Они с упоением, как на псовой охоте загонщики, кричат в адрес милиции: “Ату их, ату!” И получается ситуация, когда грехи “евсюковых” висят уже на всех милиционерах, т.е. ты ещё ни в чём не виноват, но уже виноват.
LJ user defender_faith wondered [RUS] who would be the best actor for Yevsyukov's role in a movie. The first answer was “Nicholas Cage,” a reference to the last Werner Herzog's movie with the actor.
Although incidents with violent and corrupt policemen happened before, they have never been that cinematic. A “yevsyukov” became an idiom for the violent cop-criminal, a “bad lieutenant,” person doing everything what he's supposed to fight with. Yevsyukov together with another police Web.2.0 celebrity Aleksei Dymovskiy [EN] developed into the background for the so called “Anti-Police Campaign.” This is a phenomena reported by some media experts who note an increasing number of materials about police crime in all kinds of sources (from independent to Kremlin-affiliated).


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Russia: Rally Demands Overhaul of Corrupt Police Force · Global Voices
Andrei Skvarsky

Several hundred activists, at a rally in Moscow on March 6, demanded an overhaul of Russia's notoriously and increasingly corrupt police force, arguing that the reform of the service ordered by President Dmitry Medvedev in December and recent firings of senior police officials could not produce any serious effect.
The Interior Ministry said in December that the crime rate in the police force, which retains its official Soviet-era misnomer “militia,” had risen 20 percent year on year.
The same month the leader of a rights group said, citing an anonymous opinion poll by the Regional Development Ministry, that 60 percent of crime victims preferred not to contact the police “because, as a result, there would be nothing but trouble and a waste of time while there is a risk of [threats] from persons who have been reported.”
Medvedev issued a decree in December to reform and downsize the police, whose criminal record includes violent crime and false convictions as well as bribes.
“There have recently been increasingly frequent violations of law and service discipline by militia personnel, which give rise to a justifiable negative public reaction and weaken the influence of state authority,” he said in the document.
The decree ordered a set of anti-corruption measures, including revision of “the procedure for the selection of candidates for service in [the police force] from the point of view of their moral, ethical and psychological characteristics,” rotation of senior police officials, “anti-corruption education programs” for “various categories” of police, and revision of the performance assessment system in the service.
Other measures prescribed by the decree were raising pay for police, who are notoriously low-paid, providing them with better housing, and reducing Russia's police personnel 20 percent by 2012.
The president followed up the move in February by firing 17 police generals, including two deputy interior ministers and eight regional police chiefs.
However, those who came to the March 6 rally, organized by various human rights and opposition groups and held on Triumfalnaya Square in central Moscow, argued that Medvedev's measures were insufficient and raised demands that included firing Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, seriously raising pay for police and putting them under public control, and ending the practice of using police as a tool for political persecution.
They also demanded independent investigations into offenses by police reported by whistleblowers such as Alexei Dymovsky, who became famous in November after a series of YouTube videos in which he accused fellow police officers of crimes and urged Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to intervene.
Dymovsky, whose story was featured on Global Voices in November 2009, was discharged from the police, arrested in January on a charge of fraud, and released from custody over the weekend.
Supporters of Dymovsky recently set up a website, www.dymovskiy.name, on which they try to put lawlessness in the police force in the limelight.
There have been quite a lot of online comments on the police corruption problem and on the March 6 rally, most of their authors agreeing that a major reform is needed but some claiming there is not much wrong with the police and attacking reform advocates.
Government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta has published many comments on its website, and below are three of them.
Nikolai:
I don't think that anything will change in our country because it isn't a disease of the police alone but a disease of the whole society. The police have just brought this into focus because they are before everyone's eyes. You just take a closer look and you'll see that one of the most worthless officials behaves as though he is the hub of the universe. And look at the president as well. Whereas in the States, the president has only two residences, ours has more than fifteen and is going to build another one, worth more than seven billion. And it will be located in a nature reserve as well, which is in gross violation of the law of the Russian Federation. And so any official, including those in the Interior Ministry, thinks as he is looking at all that: If it's allowed THERE, why shouldn't it be allowed to me? And smaller fry take the same path when they look at their superiors. So that's it, the circle has closed. What follows is one hand washing the other: would any of our ordinary traffic police be able to stop a car in which a ‘servant of the people’ is traveling? Or, least of all, bring him under prosecution for a road accident, even if it's one with a lethal outcome? Have there not been enough instances like that? And why the hell should that traffic policeman work honestly if he is simply forced to work like that? So I don't believe that anything will change in our country, or in the Interior Ministry either for that matter, because the main reasons remain in place. By the way, recently we had a ‘one-month campaign’ of fighting corruption, but has anything changed? The fight is over, but the officials are still there and they keep ‘fighting’ and getting pretty good salaries in their fighting committees. It is sad. The country has rotten away completely, and that cannot be put right by anyone or anything.
Ordinary Cop (apparently, a policeman):
I am a young [police] officer, I have been in the service for three years. I only joined the police because I had been denied jobs at law firms. They needed a higher education or a service record of three years. At that time I had just finished a vocational training school and had just done my draft military service. Being dependent on my parents wasn't my choice, and that's something any dude should be ashamed of anyway. At the moment I'm going to marry, and naturally I'm dreaming of having children. But the question arises, WILL MY SALARY BE ENOUGH TO KEEP THREE? Of course not. I'm lucky to have an apartment that my parents have given me. But many others rent apartments for months, something that will take up half their salary. So what does that lead to? A policeman who has been doing his duties honestly and conscientiously will take money [bribes] to bring home. Ladies and gentlemen, I don't want us to be pitied – we must meet standards twice as tough as anyone else and we must set an example, – but that is the real situation. I took my oath and I remain loyal to it to this day.
Voyenny, commenting on Medvedev's decree:
“You just wait, it'll all happen the way it did in the armed forces: They'll ruin all they haven't ruined yet, they'll keep their loyalists alone around and will pay bonuses to themselves and their henchmen so that everyone knows their place.”
In LiveJournal, Norlink says (RUS):
I've seen a video about a rally in Moscow for a reform (‘resetting’) of the police, and saw the poster ‘Fire Nurgaliyev!’
Would anyone explain to me please what wonderful benefits Nurgaliyev's dismissal would bring us?
Anyway, all this fuss with appeals for ‘major repairs of the police’ doesn't look particularly nice.
It's clear that under the current non-law-based system there can be no reforming of the Interior Ministry [i.e. the police service] other than adapting it to the growing need of those in authority to act with impunity.
I think it's just been a command from the Kremlin – earlier [pro-Kremlin youth group] Nashi has been used for this purpose but these days they are wiser.
Alexander_av comments on the rally in the namarsh_ru LJ community:
It's not that important whether it's 400 or 600 [in reference to discrepancies in reported turnout statistics]. It's still very little. This means an overwhelming majority of Moscow's population are satisfied with the police – that is apparently the conclusion that can be made.
Wityanya writes (RUS):
Of course, the brave Russian police do stand in the way of orthodox National Bolshevik movements, all those JUA's and Solidaritys, law-trampling anarchists and all that extremist rubbish. The police stop them from breaking all limits. But those bastards are few in number though they are loud-voiced, immoral and venal. The Russian people don't care a fig about them, nor do they support their appeals for chaos. The Russian people are working and building a new, effective economy for Russia, while those bastards hold rallies these days and there's nothing else they can do, just as their predecessors held rallies in 1917 and there was nothing else they could do. They have laziness in there genes… Not a single son-of-a-bitch will be able to blacken the image of the people's police no matter how hard they try.

author: Andrei Skvarsky


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SuperPower: BBC and Global Voices · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

It's a great pleasure for me to announce a joint project between Global Voices and BBC News as part of the BBC's SuperPower season, which launches today.
This past year has been particularly eye-opening in terms of the increasing interplay between mainstream media and citizen journalism. Events in Mumbai, Moldova, Iran, Haiti, and now Chile are but a few examples in which the world has been eager to make immediate and direct contact with citizens in crisis in local contexts. These citizens may have had blogs, Twitter accounts, and cell phones for years, but only in the last year has the mainstream media adopted the narrative of citizen media as an integrated element in their news reporting.
When Global Voices was created at Havard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society five years ago, the initiative focused on citizens in developing countries and non-English speaking societies who were beginning to use blogs to build bridges to people from different cultures and countries. What could be learned from reading and translating the words of online dissidents in China? What could be gained by reading the blogs of Arab women? And how could Global Voices encourage mainstream media to recognize the value and benefits of sourcing intelligent and locally admired bloggers in their own reporting?
Over the years, we at Global Voices have become close partners and friends of organisations such as Reuters, the BBC, CNN, La Stampa in Italy, and many others. At the same time, internet access has increased such that it has reached a threshold of awareness and participation in most countries around the world. In countries where just a few years ago the number of blogs could be counted on one hand, there are now thousands of citizens typing away, telling their own stories and documenting the world around them. Lives and communities have changed as a result. In aggregate, the internet has collapsed many of the working principles of mass media social and political communications, creating multiple, overlapping platforms for people to speak, participate, and organize.
At Global Voices, we've continually sought new ways to complement the news cycle and develop new platforms to highlight how global citizens are communicating in their own words. We have a virtual, grassroots newsroom made up of more than 200 talented and innovative individuals from countries you rarely get to hear about in the news.
When I last met with the editor of the BBC News website, Steve Herman, in June 2009, we discussed how we might collaborate on investigating the role and effects of citizen media throughout the world, with a focus on how local perspectives can affect global news.
Since then, we've seen mainstream media cover major conflicts such as Iran substantially through the eyes of citizen content. The idea that citizen journalism is somehow opposed to or in conflict with traditional journalism is now clearly past; it's evident that both exist in symbiotic relationship to one another, with many opportunities to collaborate on the creation of news, storytelling, and distribution of content.
For two weeks, we will be exploring opportunities to put those collaborations into practice. Global Voices managing editor Solana Larsen will be visiting the BBC newsroom in London. We'll be adding citizen media links within BBC news stories, while sharing off-the-radar stories from our own newsroom with BBC editors and reporters. From the frontlines of online battles of freedom of expression to everyday stories about language, culture, and daily life in foreign blogs, we look forward to sharing our best with a broader audience.
Ivan Sigal is executive director of Global Voices Online.

author: Ivan Sigal


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Azerbaijan: Youth, human rights and the Blogosphere · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

HumanRightsUN posts a video of part of the presentation made by Ruslan Asadov, co-founder of the OL! Azerbaijani Youth Movement [AZ/EN], at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy. One of the other co-founders of OL!, video blogging youth activist Adnan Hajizade, is currently in prison on what most observers consider politically motivated charges. OL! has also uploaded an English version of its promotional video. The full segment on Young Rights Defenders and the Blogosphere from the conference (split into ten parts) can be found here.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: An Emerging Hub Of Online Jobs · Global Voices
Rezwan

RealTime Bangladesh quotes a recent report to inform that Bangladesh is becoming an emerging hub of online jobs in the world.


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Bermuda: Green Paper · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bermudian bloggers discuss the country's Green Paper on gaming.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Chile: Mapuche Communities Affected by Earthquake · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

After the massive earthquake that hit Chile on February 27, the media and the government have faced strong criticism for their lack of coverage and support for the small communities closest to the epicenter. One of these communities is the Mapuche indigenous people, whose territory is found in central and southern Chile.
Mapuche celebrating the Mapuche new year, We Tripantü. Photo uploaded by flickr user _p_ and used under a Creative Commons license
The blog Kilapan [es] posted a statement from Miguel Cheuqueman which reports the aftermath of the earthquake:
El terremoto que asoló el territorio chileno ha afectado más gravemente a los pueblos mapuches cuyos territorios se ubican en tres de las cuatro regiones del sur de este país. Cientos de muertos y desaparecidos, desabastecimiento total, caminos y comunicaciones cortados, son parte del drama que viven nuestros hermanos lafkenches.
Pedro Vasquez produced the following video, which shows the destruction in the locality of Tirúa in the Arauco Province in the Bío Bío Region.
In the blog Nativos del Sur [es] (Natives from the South), Reynaldo Mariqueo writes about the lack of media coverage the Mapuche communities are receiving, and he defends the right of the Mapuche to ask for international aid.
Si observamos a la TV Chilena y los medios de comunicación en general, parecieran concertarse en dar cuenta de la situación que afecta a las regiones urbanas de Concepción al norte, pero se han olvidado de los pueblos ubicados al sur de Concepción, que como sabemos han sufrido un impacto similar de destrucción. Asimismo, la situación caótica que enfrentan las comunidades rurales mapuche, como siempre, parecieran haber sido totalmente olvidadas. En consecuencia, opino que es perfectamente razonable que las organizaciones y comunidades mapuches hagan un llamado conjunto y urgente solicitando ayuda humanitaria internacional y la presencia de organizaciones no-gubernamentales, que están abocadas a ayudar a las víctimas de catástrofe o desastres naturales.
Twitter users were quick to point out the lack of media attention given to the Mapuche. On February 28, the day after the earthquake, Twitter user Danny Micin Carvallo (@dmicin) wrote:
hasta ahora no he visto ni una noticia acerca de comunidades mapuches y el terremoto
On March 8, more than a week after the earthquake, Nicolás Herrera (@nicolas91) referred to journalist Soledad Onetto on his Tweet and asked her:
@SoledadOnetto porque no se a mostrado en la prensa como quedo el pueblo mapuche con el terremoto ?
Other Twitter users showed their concern for the Mapuche, retwittering articles from Mapuche-focused blogs and websites asking other Twitter users about the Mapuche Community.  On March 5 Conchu Arellano [es] (@conchu) asked if someone knew how the Mapuche were doing after the quake. In addition, Samuel Bascur Molina used his Twitter account (@sambascur [es]) to spread the word about the need for 180 beds, mattresses, and blankets for a Mapuche community in need.
The media is not the only organization criticized for ignoring the Mapuche after the earthquake, the government has also been condemned for ignoring them by many bloggers and twitter users. A team of Mapuche communicators from the blog Comunidad Autónoma Temucuicui [es] -which focuses on the Mapuche community located in the Ercilla commune of the Araucanía region- denounced the government’s lack of action as a sign of racism and discrimination:
Como una abierta y clara muestra de discriminación y racismo han reflejado las Autoridades del Estado Chileno, producto a la nula preocupación por las graves situaciones provocada por el Terremoto en comunidades Mapuche de Ercilla
Al parecer para las diferentes Autoridades de Gobierno de este Estado Chileno, el fuerte Terremotos azotó y devasto solamente a las grandes ciudades de este país […]
Después del fuerte sismo ocurrido en la madrugada del día, este dejo graves daños estructurales en las viviendas, poso de suministro de agua derrumbado, el río que atraviesa la comunidad completamente contaminado producto del movimiento de la tierra no pudiendo ser utilizado para el consumo humano.
The Chilean government has openly and clearly shown a clear demonstration of discrimination and racism, because of the complete lack of concern for the serious situations produced by the earthquake to the Mapuche communities of Ercilla […]
Apparently for the different government authorities of Chile, the strong earthquake hit and devastated only the big cities of the country […]
The strong quake which occurred at early in the morning left severe structural damage to houses, the collapse of the well which supplies water, and contaminated the river that runs through the community because of the earth’s movement leaving it unusable for human consumption.
In response to the devastation and the absence of media or government support, the Mapuche have called out for International aid. The news agency MapuExpress [es]  put out a statement by a group of organizations under the name La Sociedad Civil (The Civil Society) specifying the measures they will be taking to ensure the Mapuche receive the much needed aid. The statement begins by introducing the aid group and assessing the situation:
Ante la situación que vive nuestro país tras el terremoto, informamos que diversas redes de ONGs, organizaciones sociales, federaciones de estudiantes, medios de comunicación comunitarios y organizaciones internacionales se han articulado y se encuentran movilizadas para seguir trabajando en conjunto con las comunidades afectadas y recoger sus necesidades de urgencia inmediata así como las de reconstrucción de sus localidades.
Las comunidades sufren en este desastre las consecuencias acumuladas de la desigualdad y la pobreza, de la privatización de los servicios básicos, de la desprotección social y los procesos de individualización y mercantilización, de la centralización política y administrativa, de la falta de probidad de un sector empresarial irresponsable y sin fiscalización suficiente por parte del Estado, de la falta de medios de comunicación comunitarios y alternativos y por lo tanto de la vulnerabilidad del actual modelo de desarrollo.
In the face of the situation that our country is experiencing after the earthquake, we inform that various NGO groups, social organizations, student federations, community media outlets, and international organizations have come together and are mobilizing to continue working together with the affected communities to address their immediate urgent necessities and help with the reconstruction of their localities.
The communities that suffer the consequences accumulated in this disaster due to inequality and poverty, the privatization of basic services, the lack of social protection, and the processes of individualization and mercantilism, of the policy of centralization and administrative, of the lack of honesty from the irresponsible business sector without enough fiscal review from the government, the lack of community, and alternative media outlets which result in the vulnerability of the current development model.
The statement ends with optimism that new policies could help the Mapuche, but also with a warning that this catastrophe could make a severe inequality problem in Chile even worse:
Este desastre natural puede permitir el comienzo de un proceso de reconstrucción participativo e incluyente, basado en nuevas políticas públicas, que garanticen estándares de de seguridad y derechos, incluso en casos catastróficos como los que enfrentamos en esta situación. Pero también puede ser un momento en que se agudice la profunda desigualdad e inequidad de Chile, que se ha mostrado con toda su brutalidad en esta coyuntura.

author: Silvia Viñas


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China: Left critique of liberal calls for hukou reform · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

On March 1, 13 major newspapers issued a joint call to the NPC & CPPCC to reform the hukou (household registration) system. The Chinese leftist, however, considered the real intention of the call is the privatization of rural farmland. More from The China Study Group.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Cuba: Through the Looking Glass  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Generation Y blogs about a form of TV reporting in Cuba “that emulates the saga of ‘Big Brother'”, saying: “Unfortunately for the crude producers of this kind of reality show, the technology in the hands of citizens has started to make the walls around our lives transparent as well.”


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Egypt: How living in Egypt has changed her life · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Karishma Pais, an expat living in Egypt, wrote a nice blog post about how her experience with living in Egypt has changed her life.

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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France : Discussing Gender Equality  · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

On the occasion of International Women's Day, Ania, 49, Isabelle, 39 and Sonia, 19, take stock on French collective Bondy Blog of gender equality : feeling “free” but still “frail”.

author: Suzanne Lehn


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India: Barcamp Kerala · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kenney Jacob informs that BarCamp Kerala (8), the biggest and coolest technology related event in Kerala state of India, will be held in Thiruvalla town on March 28th, 2010.


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India: Not A Country Of Nomads · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kiran Rao Batni at Karnatique breaks the stereotype that “India is basically a country of nomads, i.e., people who have no other business in life but to migrate from place to place, even from one linguistic state to another.”


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India: Women’s Bill Stirs Up A Hornet’s Nest · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

India – Faces – Rural women driving their own change. Image by Flickr user mckaysavage and used under a Creative Commons License
There was a pandemonium in the upper house of the Parliament of India  (the Rajya Sabha) when a controversial Women's Reservation bill from more than a decade ago, was re-introduced by the ruling UPA government on March 8th – International Women's Day.
The nation watched in shock as a handful of MPs, belonging to the parties opposing the bill, went on rampage in the well of the House, forcing the the Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who was chairing the session, to adjourn the House.
You can see all the action in this video on the BBC News website.
Manjunath Singe from The Other Side, explains what the bill is all about:
The government hoped that the bill would pass without event on Women's Day, despite stiff opposition from regional parties such as the Rashtriya  Janata Dal and Samajwati Party, thanks to the pledged support from key opposition parties. Proponents of the bill argued that this ‘empowerment gift’ to women on their ‘special day’ would ultimately be a game-changer in Indian politics, enabling the participation of more women in the legislative process of the nation.
Instead, since that first adjournment, the House has been forced to adjourn every time it has met over the course of day and the trend continues into March 9, despite a government effort to scramble together a last minute consensus and a request from the President that the bill be passed “with grace.”
These events have brought the Women's Reservation back in the eye of a storm. Furious debates have re-surfaced, and the heat is reflected in the online citizen media space.
The Ayes:
Rajiv Azad at MeriNews is highly optimistic about the impact of this political step. According to him:
Lets hope this time history would be made in parliament, and on women’s day it would be a fitting gift to women community of the country. Such a move would facilitate in empowering women in society.
Dweep at Desicritics points out:
Such a policy is likely to increase the pool of talent needed at the top of our political class. Few would argue that India's politics suffers from a lack of credible leaders. To the extent that that is the result of limiting our talent pool to men only, this policy is likely to increase the number – if not the probability – of better leaders. [..] This bill may not be the best solution or only solution to empowering women. But let not the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Suvashanand Mishra at First Person Account feels that:
The most valuable gift to women has been presented to Indian women on International Women's Day by introducing the Women’s Reserval Bill in Rajya Sabha.
The Women’s Reservation Bill has been hanging in balance for the last 15 years only because of the opposition by these narrow, closed and orthox politicians. The passage of Women’s Reservation Bill will be a historic and epoch making in empowering Indian women. Women’s adequate participation in government decision making bodies will result in better management of society and the country alike. [..] As women have proved to be better managers, they will deal administrative, political and social issues in a much better way.
Reading Between the Lines, blogger Sanjeev Nair, comments:
The Women's Reservation Bill had been in the making for 14 years. Tabled thrice prior to this, it was always put back in cold storage. But this time was different. This time the only person that counts in the Congress, Madam Sonia Gandhi had thrown her weight behind the bill. [..]
Considering women in general make the headlines in India as victims of abuse, rape or discrimination this would have signaled a significant attempt at correcting some of the wrongs done to our womenfolk.
Prerna at I love Life, so I Explore feels that women representatives would understand and further the cause of Women's issues. She says:
Women constitute half the population of the  country. They cannot be ignored. People sitting in the parliament are looking for excuses to stop this bill…Women in Parliament should  unite  to ensure that the Women’s Reservation Bill is passed in the Budget Session. Everyone pretends to be  committed to the cause but except for token statements nothing seems to be moving. Mere lip service won’t help.
The Indian Homemaker feels that till date there has been a reservation in most spheres of life that has passed off as custom and tradition. According to her, it was high time to level the playing field and create an environment where equal opportunities are made available’. She says:
I want some women to represent me in the Parliament.
Manjunath sums up the arguments of the supporters of the Bill in the following words:
The proponents of the policy of reservation state that although equality of the sexes is enshrined in the Constitution, it is not the reality. Therefore, vigorous affirmative action is required to improve the condition of women.
The Nays:
Rahul Mudholkar expresses his concerns in his blog Left and Right:
…two points of the bill really show the lack of intent of the political class in actually empowering anybody but themselves…Firstly the fact that anybody who stands under this bill in an election, winner or looser cannot stand again for 15 yrs!!! What then is the point of that??? Secondly, constituencies are rotated every election thus not holding the incumbent responsible for his/her action or lack thereof….These two are the most disturbing…
Sainagakishore’s Blog expresses inability to understand the need for such as reservation policy. He worried about the possible misuse of this law:
Why the heck do women need reservation? I do NOT understand how women can talk about equal rights and reservations at the same time.
…Let's for instance consider that this bill actually scrapes through. Still, it will NOT achieve the purpose it wishes to achieve, which is to give a chance for the women to speak up in the political game.
Kanchan Gupta at the Agent Provocateur calls it ‘An assault on Freedom of Choice’. He writes:
The proposed law reserving legislative seats for women is bad in law. It should never have been proposed, leave alone pushed for adoption by Parliament. If the Bill becomes law, it will remove all incentive to nurse constituencies;sitting MPs will insist nomination for their own kith and kin… This is not about political empowerment of women, but legitimising nomination of kith and kin. Democracies which have empowered women politically and liberated them from gender bias, discrimination and misery have achieved it through policy initiatives and not fraudulent legislation or bogus quotas. Most important, it strikes at the very core of democracy: It restricts freedom of choice. The women’s quota Bill is a travesty and a fraud on the Constitution.
Vinod Sharma in India Retold, concurs with this view. He says:
The proponents of the Women's Reservation Bill have got it all wrong, I believe. Reserving seats for 183 women in Parliament is not going to lead to the empowerment of ordinary Indian women in any manner whatsoever, ever, bar the high decibel chatter. All that it is going to do is to make political gharanas (dynasties) even more powerful, with their women playing primarily the stereotyped supporting role of adding the weight of numbers to the family jaagir (estate).
As before, Manjunath sums up the grievances of the critics succinctly:
1. Opponents argue that it would perpetuate the unequal status of women since they would not be perceived to be competing on merit. They also contend that this policy diverts attention from the larger issues of electoral reform such as criminalisation of politics and inner party democracy.
2. Reservation of seats in Parliament restricts choice of voters to women candidates. Therefore, some experts have suggested alternate methods such as reservation in political parties and dual member constituencies.
3. Rotation of reserved constituencies in every election may reduce the incentive for an MP to work for his constituency as he may be ineligible to seek re-election from that constituency.
4. Reservation would not lead to political empowerment of women because (a) larger issues of electoral reforms such as measures to check criminalisation of politics, internal democracy in political parties, influence of black money, etc. have not been addressed.
5. it could lead to election of “proxies” or relatives of male candidates.
The Twittersphere is also abuzz with tweets on the Women's Bill. Some of them have been captured below:
IronicPacifist India going to set a precedent in the Parliament for future to the world, via Women Reservation Bill. Happy Women's Day !!
masarat I'm still mixed about the Women's Bill in #India. Eventually the opportunities will be abused by the corrupt.
KJDevasia Again i say Women's Quota Bill is anti- democratic; not only this all reservations are anti democratic & against fundamental rights…!
jayarajsir Acceptance of Women's reservation bill should be our gift to the women on this day. Its already late lets be better late than never.
karthikatluri By strongly opposing the Women's bill, are the politicians showing signs of fear and competition?
DeepthiBhat I dont understand why there is big fuss abt women's bill, if we are capable enough we should get it without reservation.
DrSankalp Its shame that in country where caste reservation bill is passed in one day women reservation bill could not be passed in one decade!
vinodvhere: Women's reservation bill is nothing but solving the wrong problem. First treat the woman at your home well.
MustafaMir I hope the women's reservation bill does not pass through the parliament…. No more reservations please!!!!!!!!!
kaushikjha Women's bill: it is disgusting that some of the parties should resort to physical means to obstruct it…
sherryrawla International woman's day. Women reservation bill being tabled today. Both occasions do not touch the common woman's life. Cheers to that!
Shubho1987 The womens reservation bill will rightly cement the place for women in Indian politics. Lets wait and watch. hope justice shall be done.
zeqox woman's reservation bill is like saying woman are weak and we want them to remain weak !!!
mynameischirag Why cant Party's who favour reservation for Women, implement the same with in their party without passing the bill. Let us begin somewhere..
Reservations at the top are not enough, we need to begin at the grassroots level says Shefaly in the comments section of Prerna's above-mentioned post:
Unless we sort things at the grassroots, we are not going to get anywhere…A reservation policy at Parliament level is like watering a tree which is uprooted. No point really…
Sandeep Bansal at Desicrtics.org looks at what has happened at the village level after seats were reserved for women in the panchyats (the village councils) and draws a parallel. Seeking a balance between ‘merit and social inclusion’, he says:
Empowering women in a society where they have been treated like doormats for centuries is not an easy task. There is bound to be a internal resistance…Therefore reservation is one way to empower women. Since 1993, 1/3rd of the seats in panchayats have been reserved for women. This has been referred to as “the greatest social experiment ever”. Upon adding the numbers, there are more women elected representatives in India than the rest of the world.
Skeptics might argue that it is still the men who take most of the decisions and women are mere proxies. Most probably it is true. But at least it has brought some amount change in the general attitude of the people towards women. This has got them an entry point, something that would not have been possible without reservation…
Reservations are not a panacea and mere reservation is not going to solve everything… Another risk is that this reservation may extend to perpetuity.
Maybe a time will indeed come when all women will join Dupinder in announcing:
…I do not care whether we have a Women's reservation bill or not….I am capable of finding and securing my place in the society and the Parliament…and I had rather do it on my own than have a Bill to become my crutches
…But until then, where do we go from here?
Update : The Women's Bill crossed its first hurdle today, as the Rajya Sabha passed it with a decisive mandate: 186 in favour and only one against (out of a total of 250votes). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it a ”historic step forward” towards emancipation of Indian women.

author: Aparna Ray


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Kazakhstan: Politics, ethnic balance and opposition · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Bloggers in Kazakhstan continue to discuss issues centered around governance and political stability. Izhanov thinks there is a potential problem brewing in Kazkahstan's ethnic demographics [ru]:
The last census showed two major trends of the past decade: there are now much more Kazakhs (+26 per cent) and sufficiently less Russians (-15 per cent). The first trend is good, while the second is bad … The growth of Kazakh population should not oppose the number of Russians in the country. Unfortunately, there are voices that put a question this way…
Megakhuimyak comments on access (or, rather, absence of access) of the political opposition to the mass media [ru]:
Opposition is effectively blocked out of the most part of media, especially television. However, [it's strange that they don't use alternatives] none of the opposition parties uses Internet. Some of them don't have websites, others don't update them often. Meanwhile, there is 1.2 million users of broadband Internet in Kazakhstan already [the country's population is about 15 million].
The past couple of weeks were marked in the region by the birthdays of two ladies – Aliya, the daughter of Kazakh president Nazarbayev, and Gulnara, the daughter of Uzbek leader Karimov. The first invited Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez to the party, the second chose Sting. Zadumka opinionates [ru]:
The Uzbek daughter defenitely has a better taste…
The persistent gap between the rich and the poor, harshly aggravated by the global financial crisis, worries local political observer epolet [ru]:
The way they carry out their political practices in 2010 provokes fear in the society. I feel it in the people's moods. I hope it won't lead to some bloody final.
Gaisa is alarmed by a new round of the government's good intentions [ru]:
Prime-minister ordered to reduce pressure on the business. According to our experience, the fight for reduction of pressure increases the pressure twice…

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Liberia: Confusion about the cause of violence in Lofa County · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Violence erupted in the towns of Voinjama and Zorzor in Liberia last week. There are conflicting reports about the cause of the conflict in which four people died. While the mainstream media reports seem to attribute the violence to religious tensions, blogger Johnny Dwyer argues that “Liberia is not a place fuming with religious tension. At least based on my experiences there.” The head of The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) Ellen Loj says that the clashes had ethnic undertones.
Shelby Grossman says that the confusion in the media reports about the cause of the conflict seems to be “more about journalists trying to frame the story in a way that fits into people’s ideas about fighting in Africa.”  Shelby Grossman is a first year graduate student in the Department of Government at Harvard University. She recently worked in Liberia and Nigeria.
What was really the cause of the conflict that resulted in deaths and destruction of property?
Ceasefire Liberia reports, “Violence rages in Lofa County”:
The cities of Voinjama and Zorzor in Lofa County have been engulfed with violence resulting in the deaths of four people and the destruction of property, including the burning of churches, schools and a mosque.
Lofa County is located in the north-western tip of Liberia and has several tribes and religions. It was also one of the hardest hit areas during the country’s 14 years of civil war.
The incidence which occured Friday was sparked by the discovery of the body of an eleventh-grade female student named Korpu Kamara, who had gone missing for days and was found dead a few days later next to a mosque in Zorzor.
As a result, dozens of students staged a protest as they suspected that their colleague’s death may have been carried out by the Muslims, a situation that turned the protest into religious violence that left many churches and Christian schools burned.
The Superintendent of Lofa County, Galakpai Kortimai, told a local radio station Friday night that misinformation from Zorzor of a mosque being burnt down rapidly spread to Voinjama, which led angry Muslims to go on a rampage, reportedly burning down churches and Christian-run schools with the Catholic and Lutheran schools in the provincial capital being reportedly burnt down as well.
Ceasefire Liberia is a blog bridge between the Liberian community in Liberia and the rest of the Diaspora. Its mission is to create a dialogue between Liberians who remained in the country during and after the war and those who fled.
Shelby explores events that lead to deadly attacks on people and property:
On Friday a woman was killed in Konia, a town in Lofa.  I don’t know why.  The woman was either 14 or 21.  I think she was Loma and Christian, and I think her body was found near a mosque. The killing sparked revenge attacks between two ethnic groups in the region: Mandingo and Loma (aka Lorma).   Attackers targeted people (including local political elite), mosques, and churches.  UNMIL restored order (or, perhaps more likely, they showed up after things had settled down).  Some are accusing UNMIL of siding with Mandingos (who are usually Muslim), as the UN peacekeepers in Lofa are mostly Pakistani.  4 people were killed and probably more than 14 wounded as a result of the clashes, mostly in Voinjama, the capital of Lofa.  Simultaneously, taking advantage of the tension, maybe 60 people escaped from the Voinjama prison.  Hundreds of people fled from Konia and Voinjama.  (As Johnny explains, both towns were hit hard by Liberia’s war.)
The confusion
First, I can’t figure out the exact name of the town.  It is alternatively spelled Konia, Kornia, and Konica.  (Sometimes different spellings within the same article.)  Also, based on 15 minutes of Google-ing, I can’t find the town on any map.   As best I can tell it is on the main road in Lofa, about 55 miles in some direction from Voinjama. [Update: It's between Zorzor and Voinjama.  Thanks Viktor.]
These points of confusion are not insignificant, but more important is whether or not the fighting should be characterized as religious.
Is Liberia sitting on a time bomb and that the violence was premeditated?:
MONROVIA – A Lofa County Senator has proposed that the violence that took place in Lofa County over the weekend, leaving at least four persons dead and several others injured, was premeditated.
On Tuesday, March 2, Sen.Sumo Kupee told the Senate Plenary, the highest decision-making body of the Upper House, that the mêlée, in which hundreds of people, including women and children, were displaced, had been planned by some individuals.
The Lofa County Senator did not name the masterminds of the violence but called for an independent probe into the incident.
Professor Kupee, who is also former Chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of Liberia (UL), in his briefing to the Senate, said the hostility, which, he said, involved ‘Muslims and Christians’, clearly showed that Liberia is on a ‘time bomb’.
“The incident in my county, to me, clearly shows that Liberia is on time bomb – to discover someone dead and later see churches burnt and mosques attacked – I am confused [as to] how such a thing happened. But it tells us that an investigation needs to be conducted by this plenary,” Kupee suggested.
The Lofa County Senator told Plenary that a total of four persons, including a 13-year-old child, were killed in the mêlée, while 18 persons were wounded as a result of the violence.
So far, he said, about 30 persons have been rounded up in connection with the incident by the Liberian National Police (LNP).
Is Liberia enjoying “fragile” peace?:
The situation in Lofa County has caused more attention to be drawn to the fragility of not just the county, but of Liberia as a whole following the end of the disarmament and demobilization processes, which many doubted ever yielded the intended result.
A group called “Concerned Youth of Ganta for Reconstruction and Development” has condemned ‘hooligans’ involved in the crisis:
A group calling itself the “Concerned Youth of Ganta for Reconstruction and Development” has condemned the recent destruction of life and property in Lofa County by those it calls hooligans.
The group in a release said, the destruction of religion edifices and symbols has the propensity to undermine national security and should be condemned by all peace loving Liberians.
According to the group, which has a branch in Monrovia, the recent violence in Lofa County indicates that the peace in Liberia is still fragile and could easily be undermined.
They want the government to take drastic and appropriate actions both in the Lofa violence and the land conflicts in Nimba County.
There are rumours that UN solders who are predominantly Muslims from Pakistan protected only members of the muslim community. However, the The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has described the rumours as misleading:
UNMIL soldiers were accused of protecting the Muslim community during the crisis because the soldiers are predominantly Muslim, something the mission described as false.
According to UNMIL boss, Ellen Loj, the soldiers swiftly responded to the crisis and protected all parties regardless of religious affiliation.
Madam Loj also attributed the crisis in Lofa to what she described as unfunded rumors and noted that the violent situation, which started in Konia had ethnic undertones.
She described the situation as unfortunate and said an investigation into the crisis is ongoing.
Land is the source of power and bread in Liberia and Lofa is seen as the nation's breadbasket:
Liberia is not a place fuming with religious tension. At least based on my experiences there. The civil war split the country along tribal lines–in some cases, these splits corresponded to religious divisions. LURD and ULIMO-K were widely seen as Mandingo/Muslim forces, though whatever politics they espoused were distinctly secular.
Kornia, where this week’s violence began, was the site of fighting in 2001. Taylor’s Anti-Terrorist Unit retook the town from LURD and allegedly executed  more than a dozen people.
All of this fighting displaced thousands of locals. They have returned slowly since Taylor left power. Many returnees have found their familial land occupied by someone else–often, from a different tribe. Land is not only power in Liberia, as Taylor noted before the Special Court, but it also bread. Lofa is seen as the nation’s breadbasket.
According to Shelby since the end of civil war, land disputes have characterized ethnic relations in the area:
Land disputes between Loma and Mandingos in Lofa have been a big issue since the war ended.   Mandingo laid claim to land Loma had fled from during the war.  When the war ended, and Loma returned, land disputes arose.  (Similar dynamics have taken place across the country.  Sometimes these disputes have become violent.)  Mandingo tend to be Muslim, and Loma tend not to be Muslim.  Does this make the conflict religious?  Calling the revenge attacks religious, as VOA first did (h/t to Jina)  seems akin to a guy who happens to work at a supermarket mugging a guy who happens to be a banker, and then saying that clashes have broken out between supermarket workers and bankers.
Why are media reports about the situation in Lofa County confusing and full of inaccuracies?:
This misrepresentation cannot just be attributed to VOA not understanding the historical context.  I saw a wire report (not the one shown above) co-written by two people, including one Liberian, that also characterized the clashes as religious.  The issue seems to be more about journalists trying to frame the story in a way that fits into people’s ideas about fighting in Africa.
Something happens in Liberia.  Even days later, the international and local reports are confusing and riddled with inaccuracies.  This story line is not new, nor, I would imagine, isolated to Liberia.  But the consequences are always important.  Inaccurate stereotypes–in this case religious antagonism–get reinforced.
As mediation efforts are taking, the Liberian government has refuted allegations of “religious conflict” and has called upon all residents of Lofa Country to remain calm.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Nigeria: Jos erupts in violence again · Global Voices
Eremipagamo Amabebe

In Jos, conflict seems to recur in ever-narrowing cycles: deadly riots rocked the city in 1994, 2001, 2008 and –not even two months ago– in January 2010. The current conflict is said to have started in reprisal for the destruction that occurred in January — there have been reports of children and the elderly being particularly targeted by roving gangs armed with guns and machetes.
Like the previous riots, the current conflict in Jos has been fought along sectarian lines – Jos lies on the border between Nigeria's Muslim-majority North and Christian-majority South. Access to land and resources is often determined by whether one is a native, or “indigene”, of the historically Christian city, or a “settler” from elsewhere (“settlers” are most often Muslims from the North; see a Human Rights Watch report on the subject here for more on the subject).
Many sources have placed the death toll in the hundreds: Al-Jazeera and the BBC both reported more than 500 casualties, although one government source put the figure at 55 official deaths. Quick burials make it difficult to accurately assess the total dead, while political considerations also lead to discrepancies in the numbers. Shuaibu Mohammed of Reuters gives one explanation:
Death tolls have been highly politicised in previous outbreaks of unrest in central Nigeria, with various factions accused of either exaggerating the figures for political ends or downplaying them to try to douse the risk of reprisals.
In the blogosphere, horror, shame and empathy were the prevalent emotions. Linda Ikeji posted a photo on her blog which graphically displayed the carnage. She wrote:
NO, I won't take the picture down. This is our shame and failure as a country. Let's all stare at it!
A commenter on her site agreed with her decision:
Thanks for leaving it up because we have to stop pretending everything is alright…it is time for these things to stop….
Several bloggers drew parallels between the earthquake in Haiti and the violence in Jos. Tywo, another commenter on Linda Ikeji's post wrote:
God has blessed Nigeria so much. I mean, we rarely have natural disasters and things like that. We only have deaths that are caused by heartless humans. The truth is we are not moving forward.
Babajidesalu shared a similar view:
As the world is experiencing natural disasters, Nigeria is experiencing self inflicted disasters. The latest massacre in Jos attests to this observation.
In the aftermath of the January 2010 riots, one blogger started a site, We are Jos, to help the victims of the rioting. She explained her motivation as follows:
It was the effort of wyclef jean that made other stars come together to give towards Haiti. I noticed some Naija bloggers even gave towards Haiti while at the same time decrying what happened in Jos, VERBALLY while saying God should help Nigeria.
I've often wondered why we Nigerians complain and proffer no explanations or solutions to the problems that herald us. In whatever small way I can, I try to solve a problem or even make an effort.
F, another commenter on Linda Ikeji's post, saw the problem as broader than religion, and endemic to the country as a whole:
The nonsense will stop in Jos when the nonsense stops in Abuja. All this shadowy politics needs to cease so that the people can have access to basic amenities. They say a hungry man is an angry man. It is the same in the Niger Delta. If everyone was well-fed, had access to quality education, power supply, clean water and a decent standard of living, who would think of trying to kill off another religious/ethnic group seen to be “competing for space”?
…We will continue to express anger/disgust at these killings- this will not stop them from happening. Dealing with the root cause is the only solution to this on-going tragedy.
Adeola Aderounmu expressed a similar view, laying the blame with Nigeria's leaders:
The Jos issue is not a local issue. It is a reflection of the lack of democracy and failure of the system. We have no defined system and the country is built on very useless people instead of strong institutions and good principles of governance.
But a commenter on his post disagreed:
You are always separating the elite from the masses. At one time or another the elite emerged from the masses. So you can’t really separate them. (Many members of the masses are striving to join the elite).
The failure of Nigeria and Nigerians as a people collectively has to be shared all round.
Nigerians will have to look at themselves as a society and question why they have systematically over 50 years done nothing to arrest the slide into oblivion and hopelessness? Why is it when the get a sniff of power, they do all the wrong things? The fact is that most of society is corrupt, as such corrupt practices are condoned, in some cases celebrated…
Since the violence began on Sunday, army and police forces have taken control of the city, making more than 100 arrests. SolomonSydelle reported on the possibility that the International Criminal Court may step in to bring judicial resolution to the situation and avert a spiral of future reprisals.
Read about the January 2010 riots here.

author: Eremipagamo Amabebe


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Pakistan: Perils Of Having Dark Skin · Global Voices
Rezwan

Maria Saadat, who runs a South Asian beauty blog, guest blogs at CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan. She writes about the obsession of Pakistanis for fairer skin and the stigma related to having a darker shade of skin.

author: Rezwan


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Poland: Ryszard Kapuściński – Fiction or ‘Non-Fiction’? · Global Voices
Sylwia Presley

Not only the Polish social media are discussing this one! A discussion of the newest book about the life and work of journalist Ryszard Kapuściński, written by Artur Domosławski, has reached the UK, the United States and other regions of the world. ‘Non-Fiction’ was published in early March and raised a lot of controversy due to its portrayal of a well-established, legendary Polish reporter, Kapuściński, as a person we have not known so well. A major issue around this reporter's life is the fact that he sometimes added bits of his own stories to his reports.
The Guardian is posting the words of the new biography's author, Artur Domosławski:
Sometimes the literary idea conquered him. In one passage, for example, he writes that the fish in Lake Victoria in Uganda had grown big from feasting on people killed by Idi Amin. It's a colourful and terrifying metaphor. In fact, the fish got larger after eating smaller fish from the Nile. […] Kapuściński was experimenting in journalism. He wasn't aware he had crossed the line between journalism and literature. I still think his books are wonderful and precious. But ultimately, they belong to fiction.
Kapuściński's wife has turned to court with an appeal to stop the publication of the book. However, this was overruled as she took part in the process of its writing, allowing Domosławski to access documents of her husband. She was referring to the facts of the new book damaging her husband's reputation, like his affair, for instance. The idea of a foreign correspondent who was inconsistent with his reports of events is distant from the so far rather flattering image of Kapuściński that the Polish readers had.
First strong criticism of the new biography arrived [PL] from Bronisław Bartoszewski, a politician and a professor who works with the same publisher:
There are publishing houses that publish guides on certified brothels with many stars, but I do not think I would like to publish my history book in a place like that, nor would I like to see them publishing the lives of saints at the same time.
This opinion provoked a series of comments referring to Bartoszewski's lack of degree, unethical behavior, as well as his inconsistent approach towards the publisher.
Krzysztof opposes [PL] him openly:
Dear Mr Bartoszewski,
It's not the first opinion of yours after which I start to lose all the respect that I used to have for you. Biographies are designed to show people's lives, with their entire luggage of experiences. No matter what. If you want to write/read about statues, I suggest something about Warsaw's Little Mermaid [a statue that is a symbol of Warsaw]
Some of the commentators – like skowronek, for instance – support [PL] Bartoszewski:
I hope that prof. Bartoszewski will resign from co-operation with Świat Książki. This publisher is unreliable with very low standards of publications. I am surprised that the professor is considering doing so just now. Publishing the book about Kapuściński is a disgrace and an obvious move to seek publicity, and let's not pretend it is not a way of counting on more sales, even at the expense of a great writer. A writer who is one of the few who became famous worldwide. But this is exactly our Polish morality, if someone is extraordinary, we spit on them, if someone is an average person or even lower, we raise them up to heavens. It's making me sick.
The news [PL] that the book will be published provoked a new wave of various reactions.
Nasan wonders [PL]:
In this country everything is a scandal, everything is a taboo, everything offends someone, everyone feels humiliated. At the same time, no one restrains themselves from using the most vulgar language when criticising people who hold different opinions.
Liloop refers to the fear of truth [PL]:
Why do we fear the truth so much, regardless of what it would be. This hiding of the truth is exactly the prosthesis of the old system. Something happened or not. If it happened, it's truth. If it didn't, it is not. He did it – he is responsible, he did not – he isn't.
Furry embraces the notion of truth with an interesting, historical explanation [PL]:
Sadly, history is not an exact science. One person remembers things one way, another one differently. Moreover, both are equally convinced they are right and are happy to fight for their opinion till the last drop of blood. Basing truth on documents? What documents, those of the Security Services? Hm…
Blogger Kalarepa86 refers to the point made by many that one needs to read the book before making judgments:
Hmmmm in the light of words spoken by the author of this book I think it's worth learning what his opinion is  – I think if someone sympathizes with Kapuściński, this opinion will not diminish theirs. Since I am writing an essay I think I have to (I will not hide I am truly curious as well) grab this book and work out my own opinion about it, have my own opinion and mention it in my essay.
The author of ‘Non-Fiction’, Artur Domosławski, posts on his newly set-up blog [PL]:
I particularly thank those who support me and keep their fingers crossed. I also thank those who ask questions and express their doubts without being aggressive. I am happy that this book causes so much interest and discussion.
Bozena2k responds to the post above, saying [PL]:
More and more often we deal with useless people whose only chance to gain publicity is to throw some mud at others, those who grew extraordinarily. The type and form of the mud is not the point. In the end the receivers are similarly useless people, who will be able to breathe with relief: maybe we are low-lives, but those who are not one of us believed in communism, cheated on their wives, avoided truth… Well, these are the times when people like you win.
Both with those dead ones who cannot protect themselves, both with their widows, whose emotions they do not have to consider and with those for whom it is disgusting to dig into private lives of people, who achieved something beautiful and grand.
Kryst.ynak has a different opinion [PL]:
I read the biography of Ryszard Kapuscinski. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND why there is so much fuss about it.  The book is well-written, supported by facts. Supported with quotes of people who surrounded and knew Kapuscinski from the side of his works. I write “from the side of his works” on purpose as I feel that no one really knew him as a man. He came, sat down, smiled, left.
Discussions continue in all of the above-mentioned places, as well as on both the author's [PL] and Kapuściński's [PL] Facebook fan page. A Polish daily, Gazeta Wyborcza, has created a special coverage site for the debate, here [PL]. You can read an interview with the author in English, published by the New York Times, here.

author: Sylwia Presley


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Russia: Blogger’s Video Leads to Punishment of Policeman · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

A blogger posted a video address about a policeman who stopped regular cars on the Moscow belt-road to create a “live barrier” and stop an alleged criminal's car. In less than a day after the blog post, the policeman responsible for this unlawful action got a sever warning, expert.ru reported.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Saudi Arabia: Why KASP is Flawed · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Saudi Jeans comments on why he thinks the King Abdullah Scholarships Program (KASP) is flawed, despite sending more than 70,000 Saudi students to many different countries around the world to continue their higher education.


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Sri Lanka: Missing In Action · Global Voices
Rezwan

Dr. P. Saravanamuttu at Groundviews remembers the recent disappearance of the Lanka E-News journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda. He notes: “Ekneligoda’s disappearance is yet another statistic of shame in the long list of disappearances, abductions and extra-judicial killings that have targeted the media in particular over the last four years”.


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Suriname: Chocolate Art  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Paramaribo SPAN highlights the work of artist Ellen Ligteringen, whose “project involves an installation of objects and an element of public performance, but it is also a process of investigation.”


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Taiwan: Construction of ethnic identity · Global Voices
David Reid

Taiwan in Cycles comments on how a man's choice to identify himself by saying, “I  am not an Aborigine!” reveals about the construction of ethnic identities in Taiwan.

author: David Reid


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Trinidad & Tobago: Astounded by Hart  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowTnT.com says of the Calder Hart issue: “It simply astounds me that it took so long and got so far out of control. A Prime Minister defends a man 45 times.  And it astounds me that the Opposition was so deeply involved with its collective pants around its ankles that they managed to scare off the prey instead of capture it.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Pone!  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Not a pudding, not a cake, but something somewhere in between”: TriniGourmet.com posts a mouth-watering recipe for cassava pone.


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UAE: Twenty seven million flowers · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Seabee shares his thoughts after Dubai Municipality said they planted 27n million flowering plants in Dubai last year.


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Voci Globali: Global Voices and La Stampa · Global Voices
Bernardo Parrella

Global Voices is nearly three weeks in to a new partnership with Italian daily newspaper La Stampa that is designed to feature the best of the international blogs on the newspaper's website. We call it “Voci Globali“ and the activity is centered around a blog on La Stampa that republishes Global Voices stories together with translations of the best posts from 25 recommended world blogs. The headlines are regularly featured in the foreign news section of the homepage of newspaper, and individual stories have also made it into print.
Among the blogs we watch most closely are the Afghan Women's Writing Project, Congogirl, Repeating Islands, Registan, Talk Morocco, as well as the blogs of Global Voices insiders Ethan Zuckerman, Rebecca McKinnon, David Sasaki, and Sami ben Gharbia. Most of the blogs are in English, but some are also in Spanish and French.
The project is run by an (enthusiastic!) team of translators that works separately but in parallel to the Lingua translators of Global Voices in Italian. It is hard work to manage both projects, testing collaborative translation methods, and getting to know La Stampa's online platform all at once. But so far we are publishing at least a post per day, under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
La Stampa's homepage
On Saturday February 20, a Global Voices post by Juliana Rincón Parra, Mobile Libraries of the World, was printed in the newspaper. And on Sunday March 7 , the day of the elections in Iraq, La Stampa printed an Italian translation of a post by Iraqi teenage blogger “Sunshine” in Mosul, about voting for the first time in her life. After the earthquake in Chile, La Stampa asked for a fresh story, and we were  quickly able to translate the first report on Chilean web reactions Global Voices by Eduardo Ávila.
We've translated stories on a wide range of topics, and have so far received very positive feedback in online commentary. Here is a list of blogs and websites mentioning the new collaboration.
A wonderful side effect of Voci Globali has been greater exposure for Global Voices in Italian. This has encouraged several new people to volunteer to join our translation team. Subscriptions to our weekly newsletter have risen to 230 members, our Facebook group to 683 members, and our Twitter feed to 110 followers.  And this is just the beginning. We hope that our projects will soon be discovered by many more Italian speakers around the globe, deepening and widening the reach of Global Voices as a whole.
Mainstream media are hungry for fresh content and different angles, and readers are eager to encounter new perspectives from ‘the global conversation’ online. Although the experiment with La Stampa  has a limited (compared to Global Voices) focus on pre-selected blogs, this merging of professional and citizen media seems a challenging but promising idea. More so, it shows potential for a further branching out of Global Voices and its Lingua translation sites as valuable resources for media outlets, and their readers around the world.

author: Bernardo Parrella


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Azerbaijan: Appeal court upholds ruling against video blogging youth activists · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Rufatagayev tweets that an appeal court in Baku, Azerbaijan, today upheld a previous court ruling sentencing two video blogging youth activists to 2 and 2.5 years in prison. Most observers consider the case again Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli to be politically motivated and Amnesty International have since declared the two men to be prisoners of conscience.


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Azerbaijan: Confusion over Internet problems with Azadliq site · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

In the past few days in Azerbaijan, some users have complained that many sites, including Yahoo Mail, Gmail and Facebook, were inaccessible. In a region such as the Caucasus where the Internet is less than reliable at the best of times, such things can happen.
However, because the problems also included users having problems accessing the web site of Radio Free Europe's Azeri service, some automatically assumed it was a government block. Azadliq was prevented from broadcasting on radio frequencies at the beginning of last year after controversial legislation effectively banned foreign stations from doing so.
Such fears were probably also well founded given Azadliq's publication of reports related to last week's exposé by the Washington Post concerning apparently suspect real estate deals in Dubai by the family of the president, Ilham Aliyev.
Word of the apparent problems also spread on Facebook, with some reporting that it only affected some secondary providers. Indeed, when Global Voices Online contacted several Internet users in Azerbaijan, they reported experiencing no problems at all.
Some even chatted over Gmail chat and sent mails from Yahoo at the same time as others reported the sites were inaccessible or not working properly while one even updated his status advising on how they could access the site.
Problems were occurring, however, pushing the Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety (IRFS) to publish a news item.
Restriction of access to Radio Liberty website from several internet providers operating in Azerbaijan including Bakinternet”, “Azeronline”, “Uninet”, “Ultel”, “Connect” and “Adanet” is continuing.
The “Facebook” social network disseminated information regarding this. The Institute for Reporters` Freedom and Safety conducted an investigation into this issue. “Ultel” provider told IRFS that the problem is linked to the website itself.
“Connect” provider’s operator Tofig Huseynov said that “Connect” did not impose any restriction on access to Radio Liberty website.
“Azeronline” representative on customer services Tural Omarov said that it is possible to access website by writing www at the beginning of azadliq.org.
Yesterday, IRFS published a statement based on some of the Facebook user reports.
The Institute for Reporters` Freedom and Safety condemns the restriction of access to Radio Liberty’s website by internet providers operating in Azerbaijan and assesses this as censorship by Azerbaijan government on the internet indirectly.
On 6 March, at 3:00 p.m., access to Radio Liberty’s website from several internet providers operating in Azerbaijan was restricted.  Comprehensive information regarding this issue was disseminated on the “Facebook” social network. This restriction is still being continued.
IRFS does not rule out the possibility that due to the fact that an Azeri version of the critical article regarding Azerbaijan leadership published in the Washington Post was put onto Radio Liberty’s website is the reason for this censorship.
However, when Global Voices Online contacted two Internet specialists in Azerbaijan asking for their opinion, they ruled out the possibility of a government block, and not least because several other sites of a non-political nature were inaccessible and it anyway only affected a few ISPs.
Another specialist even updated his Facebook status.
The problems encountered within a few days while entering Azadliq Radio and at the same time a number of other sites have nothing to do with providers – the problem was caused by a temporary technical glitch in the communication channel between Delta Telecom and Turk Telekom.
Because of the confusion and differing opinions on why and to what extent Azadliq was inaccessible, Global Voices Online contacted one European visitor to Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, to ask for further assessment, especially as the web site of the Open Society Institute (OSI) had been hacked at roughly the same time.
At time of writing, while some allege a block and technical specialists and others who could access the sites in question dispute such speculation, the reality is that confusion prevails. However, similar problems were encountered in Turkey a week earlier with Facebook at least, perhaps backing up the opinion of the technical specialists that there was no block.
Nevertheless, with two video blogging youth activists currently in prison and more activists going online, fears over the possibility of online censorship in the future are very real indeed. Meanwhile, there is no consensus of opinion as to the reason for some users experiencing difficulties in accessing Azadliq and other sites.
Thanks to A. for translation from Azerbaijani into English.


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Azerbaijan: “Ordinary people with extraordinary talent” · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on today's appeal court ruling upholding the sentencing of video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli. Adopted as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, the blog posts two video tributes and says that both men are “ordinary people with extraordinary talent” and that “their creativeness has no limits, their thinking has no boundaries.”


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Bahamas: Staying Power? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bahamian Nicolette Bethel questions the staying power of a Ministry of Tourism marketing campaign which commissioned 14 films from British filmmakers.  Here's what peeves her: “It’s the idea that lies at the heart of the way in which the Bahamian government spends its money: ‘their output is likely to be perceived as more credible than material produced by Bahamians about their own country.'”


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Barbados: Murder Charge · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbadian bloggers report that three men have been charged with the recent murder of a retired senior police officer.


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Brazil: Shocking and Moving people into Adopting Strays · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

In this shocking video, Joao Frigerio shows how a young murder victim's dog in Curitiba Brazil lay next to its owner's dead body during the police investigation process until the body was taken away. The purpose? To convince people of the unconditional love animals give and promt them into adopting strays. (Caution, the video contains images of a dead body that could be inapropriate for some)

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Bulgaria: CME Buys Bulgaria’s Most Watched TV Channel · Global Voices
Ruslan Trad

On Feb. 18, 2010, bTV, one of the most popular TV channels in Bulgaria, got a new owner – Central European Media Enterprises. bTV is the first private national TV station in Bulgaria. bTV’s program was broadcast for the first time on June 1, 2000, thus breaking the monopoly of the public national TV station and changing entirely the media environment in Bulgaria.
For eight years, bTV firmly established itself as the most watched TV channel in Bulgaria, with nearly 37% share of all viewers and with leading positions on the advertising market. bTV has a 24-hour programming. It targets the family audience, offering a quality selection of movies, reality formats, talk shows and comedy programs. The news and feature programs of bTV established themselves as the information leader with the highest rating of viewers’ trust.
Central European Media Enterprises, which has acquired bTV, is the leading television broadcaster in Central and Eastern Europe. The company was founded by Ronald Lauder in 1994 and together with its local partners it operates TV Nova, Nova Sport, Nova Cinema and MTV in the Czech Republic, PRO TV, PRO TV International, ACASA, PRO CINEMA, Sport.ro and MTV Romania in Romania, TV Markíza, Nova Sport, Television Doma and MTV in Slovakia, POP TV, Kanal A and TV Pika in Slovenia, and Studio 1+1, 1+1 International and Kino in Ukraine.
On my blog [BUL], I publish information about this deal:
[…] Under the terms of the deal, CME will acquire 100% of bTV […]. CME will pay $400 million for 100% of bTV and parts of bTV Comedy and bTV Cinema and 74% of the radio stations N-Joy, Z-Rock, Melody, Jazz FM, Classic FM. […]
Maryan Tomov wrote this on his blog Journalist BG:
There is nothing new that the deal is being prepared since the middle of last year. […] My sources from Pro.bg informed me that the conclusion of an agreement is only a matter of time, so much for that. Today (January 27th) Reuters said that CME is in the final stage of negotiations for the buying of bTV from Rupert Murdoc's News Corporation for $500 million. […]
Another blog, BGtelevizor, wrote [BUL]:
[…] Adrian Sarbu, President and CEO of CME, said the purchase of bTV is the next step in the repositioning of CME after the sale of their business in Ukraine […]

author: Ruslan Trad