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Deadly 7.5-Magnitude Earthquake Jolts South Asia · Global Voices
Sheema Khan

The Hindu Kush region, where the epicentre of the earthquake was. The mountain ranges mainly run thru Afganistan and Pakistan. Image from Flickr by LensNMatter. CC BY
Updated 8:30 a.m. GMT Tuesday, 27 October, 2015
A powerful earthquake hit northern Afghanistan earlier, with tremors being felt in Pakistan and India as well. The magnitude 7.5 quake was centred in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, 45 kilometres (28 miles) south-west of Jarm, Afghanistan, the US Geological Survey reported.
The death toll from an earthquake crossed 200 in Pakistan, according to BBC. Local news channels reported 231 dead and over a thousand injured. At least 33 died in Afghanistan.
Schools in Pakistan's quake-hit areas will remain closed on Tuesday, October 27, due to possible aftershocks, according to local media:
Educational institutions in quake-hit areas to remain closed tomorrow #earthquake pic.twitter.com/Tjv3F9AnGf
— JAAG TV (@JaagAlerts) October 26, 2015
After the earthquake, accounts of eyewitnesses started to flood the Internet, as well as sympathies from around the world:
#AFG One of the scariest experiences. Was stuck inside a building during this massive earthquakes, I have experienced.
— Bilal Sarwary (@bsarwary) October 26, 2015
Really strong tremor felt here in #Kabul – not for long thankfully. Was a bit scary for as long as it lasted. Ok now #Afghanistan
— shaimaa khalil BBC (@Shaimaakhalil) October 26, 2015
Looks like that quake shook Pakistan too. Went on for quite a bit. Panic, power outage in #Kabul #KabulQuake
— Ahmad Shuja احمدشجاع (@AhmadShuja) October 26, 2015
#Karachi Office building evacuated after #Earthquake hits Pakistan 7.7 scale pic.twitter.com/SIVPH9sxo9
— Imran Ghazali (@ImranGhazaliPK) October 26, 2015
Metro #Rawalpindi at the time of #EarthquakeInPakistan pic.twitter.com/AjFhFHKE01
— Arshad Sharif (@arsched) October 26, 2015
A lot of Twitter users were spreading messages about how to stay safe when an earthquake hits.
Some basic earthquake safety tips here: https://t.co/lVJguRNXid pic.twitter.com/Lz2iNPXAyO
— Zarrar Khuhro (@ZarrarKhuhro) October 26, 2015
What to do during an #earthquake. Pls share. Image via @iqrabashir482pic.twitter.com/vM1tl8icLp
— Ali Salman Alvi (@alisalmanalvi) October 26, 2015
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also expressed themselves on social media after the earthquake. Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while speaking to the media said that he has cut his trip to London short due to the disaster and should be returning to Pakistan soon.
Spoke to PM Nawaz Sharif & expressed condolences on the loss of lives due to the quake. Offered all possible assistance from India. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 26, 2015
Praying for the victims of today's severe earthquake in AFG & the region. V're assessing the situation. Relief/rescue operation is underway. — Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) October 26, 2015
A Pakistani website put together a timeline of the deadliest earthquakes in the past 30 years. Today's earthquake was, however, was one of the strongest ones to have hit Pakistan.
This video uploaded in Facebook shows how a ceiling fan shook when the deadly earthquake struck Pakistan earlier today.
Eyewitnesses told news channels on television that the earth beneath their feet shook for many, many seconds.
Massive earth quake felt in F11 Islamabad. Buildings being evacuated. People screaming Allah o Akbar
— Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi (@Ali_Abbas_Zaidi) October 26, 2015
Major Earthquake has hit our mother land Paksitan. All our prays and well wishes are with the families.May Allah protect all of us. Ameen
— Saeed Ajmal (@REALsaeedajmal) October 26, 2015
#earthquake strikes due to our sins,so recite Astaghfar and beg from Allah to forgive our sins.indeed Allah is the best listener
— Sumaira Jamil (@real_sumaira) October 26, 2015
Hearing of a massive earthquake in Pakistan, Afghanistan & India.Our prayers for everyones safety & well being. May Allah have mercy on all.
— Fakhr-e-Alam (@falamb3) October 26, 2015
After the earthquake, telephone, mobile and Internet networks came to a stand still in some places:
For 20 minutes mobile network remained choked after earthquake in Delhi.I dread to think what will happen when a deadly disaster strikes us?
— InimitableIndian (@skv_india) October 26, 2015
Mobile network not available #earthquake
— Azeem Wyne (@AzeemWyne) October 26, 2015
Telecom towers do not crash/collapse this easily. The networks r unavailable cuz of serious line blocking (TCH channel blocking) #ProTip
— Faisal Ahmad Jafri (@faisalahmadj) October 26, 2015
#earthquake Mobile network restored in #srinagar
— Aakiz Bhat (@bhataky) October 26, 2015
Its natural as the scale of earthquake was huge and people dial up their friends relatives ASAP Cellular network iPAK is severely congested
— Hassan Khan (@hassan_k82) October 26, 2015
Google announced it had expanded its Person Finder services to Pakistan and Afghanistan following the quake:
Want to locate some or report someone's location at Google's Person Finder to help locate missing people #Earthquake https://t.co/ICOmk2uC7l
— AZ | علی زین (@alimaan) octubre 26, 2015
After Google, people have also started marking themselves safe on Facebook to inform their friends and family.
Facebook has introduced ‘Mark yourself safe’ for Afghanistan, Pakistan, India earthquake pic.twitter.com/vNlnGkj0SL — Shiraz Hassan (@ShirazHassan) October 26, 2015

author: Sheema Khan


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Drowning in Refuse, Lebanon’s Capital Is Now Zigzagged by ‘Rivers of Garbage’ · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Rivers of garbage” zigzag the Lebanese capital Beirut after the first winter rains. Photo credit: You Stink Page on Facebook
It rained in Lebanon, and Beirut's rubbish, which has been pilling up alongside roads for months, turned the capital's roads into “rivers of garbage.” The mounting rubbish, which activists have been protesting against for months, clogged up the city's drainage system, and fears of a cholera epidemic don't seem unrealistic.
On the You Stink campaign page on Facebook, activists warn of a cholera outbreak:
شو منقول لولادنا بكرا؟ ايه نحنا الجيل اللي شاف اول طوفان زبالة؟ ايه نحنا الجيل اللي اجت الكوليرا عايامه؟
ولمن يسألونا ليه صار هيك؟ شو منقلهم؟ ما تواخذونا كنا ملتهيين بمشاكل السياسيين بين بعضهم وقنعونا أنها مشاكلنا وما خلونا نتوحد؟ شو منقلهم؟ نزل كم شاب وصبية آدمي بس ما خلينا عصاية غير ما حطيناها بدولايبهم؟
#مستمرون #طلعت_ريحتكم
What will we tell our children tomorrow? That we are the generation which witnessed the flood of rubbish? That we are the generation which saw cholera outbreaks? And when they ask us why that happened, what do we tell them? Do we tell them we are sorry because we were occupied with the problems of politicians with each other after they convinced us that they are our problems and did not allow us to unite? What do we tell them? That a number of young men and women took to the streets and we did all we could to stop them?
The secular You Stink, or Tol3et Re7atkom movement, started a wave of protests in August which attracted thousands of Lebanese from all walks to life to protest against the trash crisis, which soon expanded to include a broader range of demands as other groups joined the demonstration bandwagon. It kicked off calling for sustainable solutions to the waste problem, and got people on the streets, but the situation quickly escalated beyond trash towards addressing larger problems related to corruption within the current government.
From the primary concern of protesting against the officials’ mishandling of the refuse problem following the closure of the country's largest landfill in July, protesters called for the government's resignation, an end to corruption and fresh parliamentary elections, among other demands. Lebanon, already suffering from a poor infrastructure and daily electricity cuts, has had no president for over a year. In 2009, its parliament extended its term until 2017, with no elections, citing instability as a reason.
On Blog Baladi, Najib warns:
So what exactly happens when it starts to rain? Heavy rainstorms will “cause the garbage to disintegrate into the soil reaching underground water reserves such as natural wells and fossil water (non-renewable)”, which means that diluted garbage would “sink into the soil, spreading downwards and outwards in a characteristic brush-stroke shape known as a plume, contaminating soil and water as it moved”.
Other problems include:
– Landfills contaminate the air that we are breathing with various toxic substances.
– Contaminated water could lead to the widespread of several diseases such as Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery and Dengue Fever. Add to that typhoid fever, food poisoning, gastroenteritis, and enteric fever.
– Populations exposed to untreated chemicals witness an increase in cancer rates.
He also shares this photography post, showing photographs to roads with overflowing rivers of garbage.
Health blog eTobb warns:
heavy rainstorms [..] will cause the garbage to disintegrate into the soil reaching underground water reserves such as natural wells and fossil water (non-renewable). These reserves serve as a main source of water for a very big percentage of Lebanon’s population and with all the contaminants seeping into them, we are bound to get our share of this unexplainable pollution in our drinking, cleaning and irrigation water.
On social media, bloggers were quick to share videos and photographs of the crisis, they have spent months warning people about.
Lebanese blogger and Global Voices contributor Joey Ayoub shares this video showing a “river of garbage” winding itself where a road is:
This is #Lebanon now. As we warned months ago, this was bound to happen. Video from the #طلعت_ريحتكم page. pic.twitter.com/yEWtypZudY
— Joey Ayoub جووي أيوب (@joeyayoub) October 25, 2015
Blogger and Global Voices contributor Abir Ghattas adds:
Garbage in #Lebanon is a concrete exmple that cant b ignored by any1, it represents: the corruption, no election, no work, no accountability
— Abir Ghattas (@AbirGhattas) October 25, 2015
Lebanese satirist Karl Sharro too joins the choir:
The traditional ‘running of the garbage bags’ festival in Lebanon. A highlight for tourists, locals alike pic.twitter.com/1pFvkkgVT6 v @LeNajib
— Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) October 25, 2015
This tweet has been retweeted 130 times so far.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Manhunt for Drug Dealer ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán in Mexico Leaves Citizens Displaced and Property Damaged · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

According to the National Demographic Dynamics Poll, 6.4 percent of the migrant population in Mexico (approximately 236,800 persons) moved from their homes because of violence. Screenshot from a video about the displaced published by local outlet El Debate (The Debate).
Reports of a looming humanitarian crisis are emerging from the mountain region where Sinaloa, Durango, and Chihuaha meet in Norhtwest Mexico. They come after military operations lead by the Mexican marines to allegedly recapture the most wanted man in the country, drug dealer Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
The area is informally known as the Golden Triangle due to the active drug trade in its hard-to-access towns, hidden in the foliage and nestled between the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Since October 14, 2015 the army has engaged in sustained clashes with an armed group supposedly protecting Guzmán, who ran away from a maximum security prison in the Highlands at the heart of the country last July.
In his report for the local media outlet El Debate, journalist Raúl Rodríguez Cortés said:
La operación fue realizada hace una semana en Tamazula, Durango, por personal de la Unidad de Operaciones Especiales (Unopes) del 27 Batallón de Infantería de Marina y de las Fuerzas Especiales (FES) del Cuartel General del Alto Mando con sede en la Ciudad de México.
La operación naval se puso en marcha tras interceptar llamadas telefónicas, correos y mensajes de texto en los que se indicaban desplazamientos y puntos de encuentro para reuniones entre jefes del cártel de Sinaloa que se verían en la zona serrana entre Sinaloa y Durango. Se cree, incluso, que Guzmán Loera estaba por encontrarse con su lugarteniente en el cártel de Sinaloa, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
The operation took place a week ago in Tamazula, Durango. It was lead by the Special Operations Unit (Unopes) of the 27 Infantry Marine and Special Forces Batallion (FES) from the High General Command of Mexico City.
The navy operation started after intercepted phone calls, emails, and text messages indicated movement and meeting points for the Sinaloa cartel chiefs, who were set to gather in a mountain area between Sinaloa and Durango. They even believed that Guzmán Loera was going to meet with his lieutenant in the Cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
After the operation, some media (including the one quoted above) claimed that the drug lord sustained injuries to his face and one of his lower limbs. At the same time, few agencies have reported on the consequences of the military action for the civilian population, who besides living in a remote area face the unleashed violence of the armed forces (from the State) and the gangster groups.
Noroeste (a regional journal) produced an early report soon after the confrontation on the state of the displaced people who took shelter in Cosalá, one of the 18 municipalities that form Sinaloa:
De acuerdo con el Alcalde de Cosalá, Samuel Lizárraga Valverde, el DIF local tiene contabilizados, de acuerdo con la ayuda que se solicita, alrededor de 600 personas en situación de refugio por el desplazamiento forzado de sus comunidades desde que inició el éxodo de habitantes de la sierra la semana pasada.
According to the major of Cosalá, Samuel Lizárraga Valverde, the local authorities have counted—using the data from the people who have asked for help—close to 600 refugees after the forced displacement of their communities since the population exodus from the mountains started last week.
The report later adds:
Organismos como Article 19 y la Comisión de la Defensa de Derechos Humanos de Sinaloa han definido la situación que se vive en Cosalá como “crisis humanitaria” que debe atenderse con urgencia.
Organizations such as Article 19 and the Human Rights Defense Commission of Sinaloa have defined the situation in Cosalá as a “humanitarian crisis” and said it should be handled with urgency.
The following video by El Debate shows some of the affected persons after the operation and hightlights the testimony of one of them:
No les interesó que hubiera niños […] cuando menos pensamos [apareció] el helicóptero… y nos dijimos que va de paso, como siempre, cuando [de pronto] se dio vuelta y empezó a echar chorros de balas.
They didn't care there were children […] when we least expected the helicopter [appeared]… and we told each other that it was just passing by, as always, when [suddenly] it turned back and started to shoot a rain of bullets.
The actions of the State, allegedly aimed at recapturing Guzmán, emerged in the media a few days after journalist Carlos Loret de Mola shared the audio and video of the moments before and after the drug lord escaped. The material shows the prison guards searching for Guzmán outside his cell. Minutes after noticing he isn't there, they start searching underneath the army bed in which he slept, all without activating the contingency protocols in case of a breakout. In his opinion piece, published by El Universal, León Krauze said that the video is evidence of the seeming negligence and added that “México is a joke to the world. It is maybe our biggest shame in at least 20 years.”
The damage suffered by the population as a consequence of the clashes has also been reported by a handful of international media, such as AFP and MSN, which published a report on the events, putting the spotlight on the citizens whose homes and possessions have been shot to pieces and even set on fire. The international coverage also mentions the disappearance of at least eight people since the State's forces first opened fired against civilian houses.
A few months ago, the blog Estado Mayor republished a piece with the transcript of a speech given by the specialist Brenda Pérez in a displaced people forum, where she shared some numbers that expose the size of the problem around the country:
Recordó que la Encuesta Nacional de la Dinámica Demográfica señala que 6.4 por ciento de la población migrante del país cambió de lugar de residencia por la delincuencia, equivalente a 236 mil 800 personas.
También la última Encuesta Nacional de Victimización del INEGI expone que 1.3 por ciento de las personas manifestaron que algún miembro de su familia cambió de residencia por la violencia, equivalente a millón y medio de personas.
She remembered that the Demographic Dynamic National Poll says that 6.4 percent of the migrant population of the country changed its place of residence due to delinquency. That's about 236,800 persons.
Also the last Victims National Poll by INEGI exposes that 1.3 percent of the people claim some member of their family moved because of violence. That is close to a million and a half people.
In a strict sense, the internally displaced persons—people who have left their homes behind because of an armed conflict—are entitled to humanitarian help according to human rights law, says the International Red Cross Committee. However, that doesn't mean that those who have been displaced in Mexico have effectively received the aid that the human rights standards warrant, as it has been rightly pointed out by Insight Crime in a piece written by Kyra Gurney.
The issue of internal displacement is not endemic to the Golden Triangle area. Guerrero and Michoacán in Souhteast Mexico are other states where people have had to abandon their homes, leaving behind whole “ghost towns” given the government's war against organized crime.

author: J. Tadeo


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‘Our Detention Tells a Broader Story About Our Country’: Reflections From Ethiopia’s Zone9 Bloggers · Global Voices
Zone9

Zone9 bloggers, together after their release. Photo via Zone9 Facebook page.
In the wake of their acquittal and release from prison, Ethiopia's Zone9 bloggers reflect on their experience and thank their supporters. The bloggers were arrested in April of 2014 and prosecuted under Ethiopia's Anti-Terrorism Act. Five members of the group were released in July of 2015 and the remaining four were acquitted and released during the week of October 19, 2015. Learn more about their case.
This post was collectively written by Zone9 and translated from Amharic to English by Endalk Chala.
Our release was as surprising as our detention. Five of us were released after our charges were “withdrawn” in July. The remaining four of us were released in October because we were acquitted (save for the appeal against our acquittal). Still one member of our group, Befeqadu, was released on bail and must defend himself later this year in December. Even though we were released in different circumstances, one thing makes all of us similar – our strong belief that we didn’t deserve even a single day of arrest.
Yes, it is good to be released, but we were arrested undeservedly. All we did was write and strive for the rule of law because we want to see the improvement of our country and the lives of its citizens. However, writing and dreaming for the better of our nation got us detained, harassed, tortured and exiled. Undeservedly.
…writing and dreaming for the better of our nation got us detained, harassed, tortured and exiled. Undeservedly.
It makes us happy when we hear people say they are inspired by our story. But it also makes us sad when we learn people are scared to write because they have seen what we have gone through for our writings. Our incarceration makes us experience happiness and grief at the same time. The bottom line is that it is good to know we have inspired people while it is saddening that people have left the public discourse as a result of our detention. It is sad to know that our detention has had a chilling effect on public discourse.
We are victims of institutionalized misconduct. But this does not lie not beyond our ability to forgive. To our incarcerators who gave us those ordeals, even if you are not asking us for forgiveness, here we are.
Our incarceration made us feel our lives pass by us. It is true we have missed and lost things. But we also have increased our learning curve. We have learned a lot. Our detention tells a broader story of our country. We were able to witness the price of freedom of expression is dearly expensive. We are firsthand witnesses of injustice. More than anything, we have learned that a nation which is rampant with injustice is the foremost enemy of its law abiding citizens.
We are victims of institutionalized misconduct. But this does not lie not beyond our ability to forgive. To our incarcerators who gave us those ordeals, even if you are not asking us for our forgiveness, here we are. And please forgive us, for we are law abiding citizens who refuse to live on your terms.
For all people who were with us both in good times and in bad times, those of you who stood by us not only in our successes but also in our failures, YOU are awesome! You are our friends, you are our family, you were our lawyers, you campaigned for us, and you defended our cause. Thank you! Media organizations, rights groups and the entire community who showed solidarity and concerns for our cause. Thank you! You all deserve our heartfelt gratitude for your actions reduced the length of our prison time and eased our boredom while we were in prison.


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Red Dresses Keep the Memory of Canada’s Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women Alive · Global Voices
Elaine Rigas

REDress Project installation: At the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, a response to over 1,000 missing and murdered aboriginal women. Photo by Flickr user Sean_Marshall. CC BY-NC 2.0
Red, empty dresses that represent death and absence. They hang loosely and lifelessly, as if waiting to be worn by their symbolic owners — Canada's missing Aboriginal women.
The garments are part of the REDress Project, an installation art project seeking to draw attention to the injustice. About 1,200 Aboriginal women have been murdered or gone missing since 1980, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. While Aboriginal women make up only 4.3% of the Canadian population, Aboriginal female murder victims represented about 16% of all female murders across Canada.
On 4 October 2015, Jamie Black, the creator of the project, asked women to donate a red dress, hang one outside their house or even wear one on that day. On Twitter, under the hashtag  #REDressProject, citizens around Canada collected haunting images of the dresses as a reminder of all the Aboriginal Canadian women who have been robbed of their lives.
Red dresses hanging on Ryerson campus as a tribute to missing and murdered indigenous women. #REDressproject pic.twitter.com/h6QqCMfHXG
— annnngelynnn (@angelynsayshi) October 5, 2015
Thornton Park Vancouver. REDress Photography Project a powerful reminder of our MMIW. pic.twitter.com/sgeUKF5AAl — Dave Saba (@saba_dave) October 15, 2015
#mmiwg remembered by #redressproject: 9 dresses outside Main St skytrain station on Oct 18 #sistersinspirit pic.twitter.com/YesCbq9ZfE — rita wong (@rrrwong) October 18, 2015
Evoking a presence through the marking of absence. #MMIW #REDressProject pic.twitter.com/cZB0aRYnQP — Feeding Nunavut (@FeedingNunavut) October 6, 2015
the dresses want to stay – waiting & insisting on justice for murdered women #MMIW #REDressProject pic.twitter.com/wFmIM6d4KX — rita wong (@rrrwong) October 6, 2015
On my way home I noticed a red dress on a home a few doors over. Ave Lajoie #Outremont #MMIW #REDressProject #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/Efm3oio49s
— jennifer dorner (@jenniferdorner) octubre 4, 2015
Black, herself a member of the indigenous Métis community, launched the REDress Project in 2010, collaborating with the University of Winnipeg’s Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies at the time to display about 100 red dresses indoors and outdoors around campus. All the dresses were donations by people from all around the country and from different cultures.
She offered insight into what motivated her to begin the project in an interview with the portal Indigenous Foundations Arts:
The REDress Project was inspired by my work as a teacher in Opaskawayak Cree Nation, also known as The Pas, where Helen Betty Osborne was brutally murdered while walking home one night by two young men who were not charged or sentenced until years later. And by a group of 300 women in Colombia who had the courage to create a moving 4 hour performance piece to protest their missing and murdered loved ones in the main square in Bogota. By a female Aboriginal scholar at a Canadian Studies conference in Germany standing up to remind everyone of Canada’s colonial past and present.
Despite the staggering numbers of violence against Aboriginal women in Canada, many are still unaware of the ongoing tragedy. Linda Nothing, who helped in organising the project's installation in Calgary, explained in an interview to Metro News:
The image itself can speak to a lot of people. If they aren’t aware of the issue they are often shocked and surprised that it’s happening in Canada because there is a lot of under education and miss-education about indigenous issues here.
See video of the project from 2011 below:
The REDress Project is currently displayed at The Acadia University Art Gallery until November 29. You can follow the project's updates on its official Facebook page.

author: Elaine Rigas


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Brazilian Activists Prosecuted for Giving Small Donations to Left-wing Parties · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Demonstrations by activists from two Brazilian leftist parties, PSOL and PSTU. Photo: PSOL/Facebook
A still undetermined number of supporters, activists, and sympathizers of two Brazilian left-wing political parties, the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL, Partido Socialismo e Liberdade) and the Unified Socialist Workers’ Party (PSTU, Partido Socialista dos Trabalhadores Unificado), are being charged by the State Prosecutor's offices (Ministérios Públicos) of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo for having made small donations to these two parties during the 2014 elections.
One of the activists linked with PSOL, Lucas Mourão, being charged by the Electoral State Prosecutor's office (Ministério Público Eleitoral) of Rio de Janeiro, explained his case on his Facebook page on October 15. He says in 2014 he donated R$60 (about US$15) to the campaigns of Jean Willys and Tarcísio Mota, two PSOL candidates running for, respectively, Federal Deputy and Governor of Rio de Janeiro.
Fiz campanha de maneira voluntária, com o tempo que tinha, sempre com um punhado de panfletos e adesivos na bolsa e no peito e, obviamente, sem receber nenhum real. Doei 40 reais para a campanha do Jean e 20 reais para a campanha do Tarcísio. Era o que eu podia dispor naquele momento.
(…)
Agora é que vem a parte bizarra da história: o Ministério Público Eleitoral está me processando (e a muitos outros!) por ter doado esses benditos 60 reais! Isso porque a lei eleitoral só permite doações de pessoas físicas até o limite de 10% dos rendimentos no ano anterior à doação…
Fazendo as contas, o MP chegou à genial conclusão de que eu, no ano anterior à doação (2013), tive rendimento bruto menor a 50 reais por mês!
Os caras, grandes pensadores juristas brasileiros, chegaram a essa conclusão porque, ao quebrarem meu sigilo fiscal (!) perceberam que eu era isento do Imposto de Renda, logo, concluíram que eu não havia tido rendimento NENHUM em 2013 e, portanto, não poderia doar nada pra nenhuma campanha eleitoral…
I aided the campaign as a volunteer, in my free time, always with a handful of pamphlets in my bag and stickers on my chest, and, obviously, without receiving a single penny.
I donated 40 reais (10 US dollars) to the campaign for Jean and 20 reais (5 US dollars) to the campaign for Tarcísio. That was what I could spare at the time.
(…)
Now this is where the story gets strange: the Electoral State Prosecutors office is charging me (and many others!) for having donated those petty 60 reais (15 US dollars)! That's because electoral law only allows for donations from individual persons up to a limit of 10% their income of the previous year…
When it was all tallied up, the State Prosecutors’ office arrived at the brilliant conclusion that I, in the year prior to the donation (2013), earned a gross income of less than 50 reais (13 US dollars) per month!
These guys, these great thinking Brazilian lawyers, came to this conclusion because, upon cracking open my confidential tax report (!) they saw that I was exempt from income tax, then, they concluded that I had earned ZERO income in 2013 and, therefore, I could not donate anything to any electoral campaign…
In Brazil, people with an annual income under R$22,499.13 (about US$5,790) are exempt from paying income tax. Electoral law allows campaign donations up to 10% of an individual person's income from the year prior to an election, but, being exempt from paying income tax, the State Prosecutors office deemed the activists to have no income. As such, the state claims they could be committing an electoral crime by making donations.
Lucas Mourão, who is also an attorney, explained that exempt individuals may donate up to 10% of the value of the exemption limit, therefore, there is no illegal wrongdoing.
Mourão says that already nearly 100 such cases have been counted in Rio de Janeiro alone. In fact, in the comments on his post thread, multiple people reported how they are being prosecuted by the state for the same reason.
One of these is Sabrina (who asked not to disclose her last name), who donated R$15 (just under US$4) to the campaign of Marcelo Freixo, a PSOL candidate for the Federal Deputy position in Rio de Janeiro in 2014. According to Sabrina, her case has already been ruled in her favor:
Eu doei 15 reais e também fui representada! (…) No meu caso, o MP pediu o indeferimento da representação e o juiz julgou no mesmo sentido, numa sentença que tinha pouco mais de 2 parágrafos… E agora tô fazendo a defesa de um cara que também foi representado por doar 50 reais. Muito surreal movimentar a máquina do judiciário desse jeito por causa dessas doações!
(…)
Todas as doações de pessoas físicas isentas de IR ao PSOL estão sendo investigadas, ao que tudo indica.
I donated 15 reais (4 US dollars) and was also prosecuted! (…) In my case, the State Prosecutors office requested to dismiss the case and the judge ruled in agreement, in a judgment that was shorter than 2 paragraphs… And now I'm advocating the defense of a guy that was also charged for having donated 50 reais (13 US dollars). It's so surreal to use the judicial machine like this just because of these donations!
(…)
All donations to PSOL from individual persons exempt from income tax are being investigated, by all indications.
Antônio Bastos noted that cases seem to be coming “in order from top to bottom,” which would point to a persecution of left-wing parties and their supporters.
Em alguns processos existe até uma cópia do comunicado da chefia do MPE RJ para os promotores eleitorais pedindo “empenho” no ajuizamento das Representações. […] Ou seja, é uma diretriz que veio de cima para “processar geral” enquadrado naqueles quesitos, e talvez alguns promotores fizeram questão de juntar aos processos para demonstrar…
In some cases there is even a copy of the announcement sent to electoral prosecutors from the head of the Rio de Janeiro Electoral State Prosecutors office, asking for “commitment” in pressing charges. […] I mean, it's a directive from above for “general prosecution” framed in these terms, and maybe some prosecutors made a point to gather cases to prove it…
For Sabrina, this is a “clear violation of the democratic principle”:
[Ao] presumir que o isento nada pode doar proíbe o cidadão isento de IR de contribuir com o partido com que guarda maior afinidade (e, portanto, mitiga sua cidadania) e, por consequência, tira os partidos de menor porte da disputa eleitoral.
[To] presume that an exempt individual cannot donate anything at all prohibits income tax exempt citizens from being able to contribute to whichever political party they hold in highest affinity (and, thereby, disenfranchises their citizenship) and, consequently, tosses the smaller-sized political parties out of the electoral race.
The activist Matheus Lara said he had been acquitted, but he did not agree to the invasion of privacy:
Eu fui processado tb. Eu era isento, mas tinha como comprovar renda. Fui absolvido. Mas meu sigilo fiscal E bancário foram quebrados.
I was also prosecuted. I was exempt, but I had a way to show my income. I was acquitted. But my tax AND banking confidentiality were broken open.
The activist Cristiane Talhiaferro is also being prosecuted:
O meu processo ainda tá rolando tb, o juiz pediu provas e tive que enviar meu extrato bancário do ano de 2013. Quebra de sigilo bancário pra alguém que doa 50 reais tudo bem né, mas pra quem desvia milhões não pode…
My case is still in proceedings too. The judge requested evidence and I had to send in my year of banks statements from 2013. They can breach into confidential banking records for someone who donates 50 reais (13 US dollars) and that's okay, but for someone who embezzles millions they can't…
On Twitter, the activist Pablo Mattoso remarked:
@cadulorena @BoechatBandNews @zemaria_pstu Meu irmão foi intimado por doar 15 reais para o @MarceloFreixo .
— Pablo Mattoso (@pablomattoso) 14 outubro 2015
@cadulorena @BoechatBandNews @zemaria_pstu My brother was subpoenaed for donating 15 reais (4 US dollars) to @MarceloFreixo .
— Pablo Mattoso (@pablomattoso) October 14 2015
[Above tweet by Cadu Lorena @cadulorena: Interview with PSTU activist on @BoechatBandNews about State Prosecutors pressing charges for having donated R$30 (US$8) to the campaign for @zemaria_pstu ]
Activists with PSTU also reported they are being prosecuted: one such activist was Clara Saraiva, who gave a radio interview to Band News on October 15. She had donated 30 reais to the campaign of Zé Maria, who was a PSTU presidential candidate in 2014. She posted the interview audio on Soundcloud, venting:
Convenhamos que se o Ministério Público estivesse realmente interessado em pegar laranjas ou falcatruas, que estipulasse um mínimo de doação… 100 mil reais, sei lá… Mas não! Quem doou seus suados 30, 50, 100 reais numa campanha independente, que como a do Zé Maria é financiada apenas por doações de trabalhadores e estudantes, agora é constrangido pela justiça. Um escândalo!
Let's face it, if the State Prosecutors were really interested in catching the stooges or cheaters, then let them stipulate a minimum donation… 100,000 reais (US$25,000), or something like that… But no! Whoever donated their hard-earned 30, 50, 100 reais (8, 13, 25 US dollars) to an independent campaign, like the one for Zé Maria that is financed solely through donations from workers and students, is now constrained by the justice system. It's a scandal!
Image reads: No to the corporate campaign financing bill! Political reform now! I am against corruption. Vote for me. Illustration: Bira
The PSOL, the PSTU and other small left-wing parties are the only political parties in Brazil that refuse to receive campaign donations from companies. They rely solely on donations from individual people, generally activists and sympathizers of the same causes they advocate.
According to a report published last year by the NGO Transparência Brasil, the three largest political parties in Brazil (the Workers’ Party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, and the Brazilian Social Democracy Party) received, all together, more than R$350 million (US$90 million) in donations from large companies, such as banks and contractors. The Brazilian Social Democracy Party, that lost the run-off presidential election to the Workers’ Party, leads the ranking with more than R$162 million (nearly US$42 million) in funds received.
At the beginning of 2015, a campaign led by leftist activists to prohibit electoral campaign donations from businesses backfired: Congress ended up passing the Political Reform Law that would legislate, precisely, corporate financing (this item in the law was subsequently vetoed by President Dilma Rousseff).
Journalist Gabriel Brito (@gabrimafaldino) linked the cases to the persecution suffered by activists who participated in the demonstrations that shook Brazil in 2013.
MPE quer condenar pessoa que doou R$60 à campanha do PSOL. São as pequenas respostas oficiais a junho de 2013… https://t.co/EoIyuzQSX8
— gabriel brito (@gabrimafaldino) 14 outubro 2015
Electoral State Prosecutor's office wants to convict a person who donated R$60 (US$15) to a PSOL campaign. This is the official short answer to June of 2013… https://t.co/EoIyuzQSX8
— gabriel brito (@gabrimafaldino) October 14 2015
In the same week, the Rio de Janeiro State Prosecutor's office sought the conviction of 18 activists for “conspiracy and corruption of minors.” Among them are teacher Camila Jourdan, activist Eliza Quadros, known as Sininho, and activist Igor Mendes. The 23 activists, as they came to be known, have been under investigation by the State Prosecutor's office (Ministério Público) since they participated in the protests in Rio de Janeiro in 2013. They are considered political prisoners by various Latin American human rights organizations.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


text:
Carrot Syrup, Potato Compresses and Nutmeg Necklaces: Grandma’s Remedies From Around the World · Global Voices
Global Voices

Photo by Flickr user Chris Marchant. CC BY 2.0
This story was compiled and edited by L. Finch, Georgia Popplewell and the Global Voices community.
We often turn to our beloved grandmothers for wisdom, comfort or the occasional sweet or two. But depending on where in the world we are, grandma's bounty can take on many different forms and flavors.
So, in order to see just how much grandma's tried and tested remedies varied across countries and cultures, we asked the Global Voices community of editors, authors and translators: “What remedies would your grandma recommend?” The responses are diverse, and show just how much we love and trust our grandparents no matter what part of the planet we're from.
The following list includes recipes for various concoctions, and like much of medical advice found on the Internet, they should be treated with an appropriate amount of caution—and taken with the proverbial pinch of salt!
Speaking of salt, salt water was a recurring theme on the list of grandmother-recommended remedies. From San Juan, Puerto Rico, Global Voices Spanish-language editor Firuzeh Shokooh Valle wrote about her grandmother's fix for a case of butterflies in the stomach:
My beautiful and wise abuela, Guillermina Ferrer, is from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. One of my grandmother’s most famous remedies is one teaspoon of salt mixed into a glass of water for curing anxiety and nervousness. I have used it many times in my life, the first time was before taking my drivers license test when I was 16 years old. Since then, I drink a glass of water with salt right before any event or occasion that might make me nervous. It works miracles!
Salt and water. Photo by Flickr user craig willford. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Pakistani author Anushe Noor Faheem, whose grandma is from Sialkot, Pakistan, suggests dissolving a pinch of salt in lukewarm water and gargling with that every morning to ward off wintertime sore throats. “Another remedy to avoid travel sickness which worked for me,” Anushe wrote,” “is to keep ‘gur’ (a candy made from juice extracted from sugarcane) in your mouth.”
Janine Mendes-Franco, editor of Global Voices’ Caribbean coverage based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, recalled that her maternal grandmother, Granny Petra, recommended a different kind of salt for stomach upset or constipation:
Mix 2 teaspoons of Epsom Salts in a 1/2 teacup of water. Gulp it down fast because it tastes terrible. Then, have a sliced orange on hand to munch into (helps get rid of the awful aftertaste)
To soothe a cough, Global Voices Lingua community coordinator, community blog manager and translator Marianna Breytman said her Ukrainian grandma would prescribe boiling potatoes, splashing them with a little oil, putting them into a warm cloth and sleeping with the compress on your chest. “It sounds totally crazy, but it absolutely works!”
For some warmth on the other end of the body, Lingua Russian editor Anna Schetnikova from Moscow, Russia, remembered what her babushkas from Siberia might suggest:
They could give you a lot of advice about how to cure a sore throat or a cold, but one of the most interesting of them is this one, and it works especially good for children. Rub your feet down with fir oil, then put on some really warm socks and go to sleep under a really warm blanket. It usually makes you feel much better in the morning!
Coconut husks. Photo by Flickr user Dennis S. Hurd. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
It wasn't only grandmothers who doled out memorable remedies. Author Sanjib Chaudhary from Nepal remembered two concoctions—one for indigestion and the other for skin afflictions—that his grandfather swore by:
The first one was a mixture of orange peel, coconut husk fibre, carom seeds and rock salt. He used to dry the orange peel, roast the carom seeds, coconut husk and orange peel and grind them together with the rock salt. It works wonders for curing indigestion.
Another was a remedy for eczema and other skin diseases. He used to collect trifoliate-like herbs—called Musakani in the local Tharu language—from the grasslands, and cook them in mustard oil over a cow-dung cake fire. The concoction was an amazing cure for different skin diseases, especially loved by poor people.
Author Annie Zaman, who was born in Pakistan and lives in London, said her waddi-ami (paternal grandmother in Punjabi) from Jalandhar, India, would prescribe a warm glass of milk with turmeric and an organic raw egg for menstrual cramps. “Trust me, it worked then and it works even today.”
Turmeric root. Photo by Flickr user Steenbergs. CC BY 2.0
For postpartum pain, the recipe was tweaked to include desi ghee (a type of clarified butter). Annie said she relied on the concoction after she gave birth to her daughter:
Warm half teaspoon of desi ghee (organic), add a pinch of turmeric (freshly grounded at home), then add full cream milk, almonds and dates — bring it to a boil and drink it hot.
Iran editor Mahsa Alimardani said her grandmother from Tehran has a go-to cure-all with similar ingredients:
My paternal grandmother has an “all problems solved in one” remedy for any pain or health issue. Put a mixture of turmeric and egg yolk on it!
A nutmeg necklace for allergies? That's what author Elizabeth‘s grandmother from the Mexican state of Hidalgo would recommend. Her other remedies included an infusion of garlic and cinnamon for coughs; rubbing garlic on a mosquito or spider bite (“this one is WONDERFUL,” Elizabeth said); and placing a lettuce leaf under your pillow for insomnia.
Her grandmother from Peru, on the other hand, suggests an infusion of paico (also known as wormseed) for stomachaches; an infusion of spearmint for stomach infections; and an infusion of linseed with potato skins for bladder or kidney infections. “I always try all of this before traditional medicine and I have to say, they have helped a lot,” wrote Elizabeth, who is from Mexico City and now lives in Santiago, Chile.
Garlic. Photo by Flickr user rfduck. CC BY-ND 2.0
Author Gabriela García Calderón in Lima, Peru, recalled sharing a house with her tía Angelita, the sister of her great grandmother, while growing up. Angelita, who was from the country's Amazon region, was a “box full of recipes,” Gabriela said. One of her fixes was particularly hard to swallow:
I remember especially her medicine for sore throats: she sliced garlic and mixed it with onions and some water. She would leave that mix to stand for some hours and then she’d add some sugar and give that to us with a spoon. She had to add TONS of sugar for the preparation to have at least some sweetness. After all our moans, we finally swallowed it (I can even remember its taste, yikes!). The thing is, our cough was over in less than an hour, our throats were grateful.
Portuguese-language editor Manuel Ribeiro from Porto, Portugal, said his avó Júlia Oliveira made a slightly sweeter cough syrup:
Chopped carrots in a container, add heaps of yellow or cane sugar on top with a bit of Port. Leave it resting for one day or two. Take two spoons of the syrup two times per day! It used to work fine for us! ;)

author: Global Voices


text:
Fans Step Up After Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei Hits Brick Wall With Lego · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Ai Weiwei Twitter wallpaper from the Royal Academy Exhibition 2015. Photo by Kevin Rennie.
Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei has become the centre of another controversy — toy giant Lego has refused to fill an order by the National Gallery of Victoria for an exhibition of his in Melbourne, Australia.
Weiwei detailed his dealings with Lego on his Instagram account. He pointed out that a month after the company rejected his bulk order request, the separate group that owns Legoland attractions inked a deal to open the attraction in Shanghai.
Beckett Mufson picks up the story from there on arts and technology blog The Creators Project:
The public reaction was overwhelming and supportive of the artist, with many fans offering Weiwei their own (often sizable) Lego collections to use instead. Yesterday, Weiwei announced that he'd take them up on their offers with soon-to-be-announced Lego collection points, and that their bricks would be used in an artwork designed “to defend freedom of speech and ‘political art.'”
Sarah Joseph, director of Melbourne's Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, helped spread the news on Twitter:
What an utterly gutless move by #Lego to refuse #AiWeiWei order. How does it presume to judge how people use its product? Very disappointing
— Sarah Joseph (@profsarahj) October 25, 2015
Regardless of censorship accusations, even official Chinese media have commented. State-owned Global Times argued in an opinion piece that Lego's decision was simply Western capitalism in action (English translation from What's On Weibo, a site that reports on conversations happening on popular Chinese platform Weibo):
这是个很有意思的摩擦：艾未未采购积木搞政治作品，他这样做受到西方一些支持者的鼓励。而乐高公司同样以西方跨国公司通行的原则拒绝被艾的政治标签牵连，它希望在商言商，极力避免卷入它无力影响的政治纠纷。
This is an interesting conflict. Ai Wei Wei used Lego for his political work, and in doing so, was cheered on by his Western supporters. But the Lego company, following the general principle of Western multinational corporations, refused to be connected to Ai’s political work. They want to keep their business commercial, and avoid any involvement in political disputes.
What's On Weibo wrote that responses on Chinese social media ranged from surprise at the open discussion of a dissident, irritation at the West's perceived double standards on human rights, and support for Lego.
Weiwei put his case in his usual graphic style via Instagram:
"Everything is awesome "
A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on
On Twitter, there were the inevitable responses to Lego as a commercial brand:
No Lego on my Christmas-Burthday shopping list @LEGO_Group. Not supporting Ai Wei Wei @aiww is very disappointing.,
— julia (@j4jools) October 25, 2015
Cowardly Lego are fine with Legoland in Shanghai, but refuse to sell political artist Ai Wei Wei a bulk order. https://t.co/FJGuwhQzmv
— leyla sanai (@leylasanai) October 24, 2015
Lego is reported as defending its actions:
In an email to The Guardian, Lego spokesperson Roar Rude Trangbæk, said: “Any individual person can naturally purchase or get access to Lego bricks in other ways to create their Lego projects if they desire to do so, but as a company, we choose to refrain from engaging in these activities – through for example bulk purchase.”
It also denied insinuations from Ai that Lego’s decision was coloured by a desire to protect its business in China, stating that its Legoland parks were sold to UK-based Merlin Entertainment a decade ago.
So far there has been no comment by Lego on its website or Twitter account.
Meanwhile, Weiwei is getting his Lego bricks via crowdsourcing:
Take that, Lego. Ai Weiwei inundated with Lego donations after toy maker refuses to send bricks on political grounds https://t.co/mNNNMEhJ5O
— Rohit Talwar (@rtalwar) October 26, 2015
Weiwei announced that the National Gallery of Victoria has decided to become the first collection point in Australia for Lego brick donations and more points will be set up in major cities around the world:
The National Gallery of Victoria has decided to become the first collection point in Australia for LEGO bricks donations. Drop-in deliveries will be accepted in a BMW vehicle located in the gallery's sculpture garden. Donations can also be sent by mail to the museum at 180 St Kilda Road,  Melbourne VIC 3004.
A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on

author: Kevin Rennie


text:
#FeesMustFall Hashtag in South Africa Turns Into #FeesHaveFallen. But Have They? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Will youths living in slums like Joe Slovo shack settlement afford higher education in South Africa. Image source: http://tokolosstencils.tumblr.com/. Used with permission
Following #FeesMustFall nationwide protests that brought South African universities to a standstill, President Jacob Zuma met with student leaders on Friday, October 23, and announced that there will be a no fee hike. He also promised to look at broader issues affecting university students such as accommodation and racism. The deadline for the exam period has also been extended to make up for lost time.
The South African government intended to increase university tuition fees in 2016 by as much as 12 percent. Students opposed the hike, which would have kept poor South Africans from receiving higher education. The protests started at Witwatersrand University (also known as Wits) last Wednesday, October 14, and spread throughout South Africa.
The hashtag used by the protesters, #FeesMustFall, became an organising tool for students and their supporters. Carol Danvers acknowledged Twitter as one of the reasons for the success of the protest:
people love to downplay “internet activism” but without social media sites like twitter #FeesHaveFallen may have never happen
— ˗ˏˋ blige ˎˊ˗ (@THECAROLDANVERS) October 23, 2015
However, despite president Zuma's announcement, the struggle is not over yet as the president of Student Representative Council and one of the leaders of #FeesMustFall movement, Shaeera Kalla, pointed out:
I am already questioning what will happen next year, & the following? W/O a commitment to free education 0% fee increase isn't a victory.
— Shaeera Kalla #Oct14 (@shaeera_k) October 23, 2015
Questions have come up regarding the use of the hashtag to celebrate the announcement of the zero percent hike, #FeesHaveFallen. Some South Africans argue that the hashtag is misleading because the fees remain the same and are prohibitive to most South Africans.
Lethabo wondered if the fees have really fallen:
#FeesHaveFallen but like have they? I still can't afford to graduate because well, where am I going to get +/- R50 000…?
— more than Lethabo (@CallMeAfriKa) October 24, 2015
Tiyaselani predicted huge fee hikes in 2017:
@sliez0 you are absolutely right, the fees for 2017 will increase ka 20% watch #FeesHaveFallen
— Tiyiselani (@TiyaInnocent) October 24, 2015
Lord Zange Aphoswe reminded South Africans that:
If you are really woke you can't use #TUTmustFall or believe in #FeesHaveFallen . University is still expensive and inaccessible to many
— Lord Zange Aphoswe (@Mzo_XO) October 24, 2015
And warned against the confusing hashtag:
The Dangers Of A Hashtaged Stuggle #FeesMustFall Another Hashtag Can Be Made To Confuse The Masses #FeesHaveFallen . Fees Are Still High.
— Lord Zange Aphoswe (@Mzo_XO) October 24, 2015
Drewan Baird noted:
The reality is that #FeesHaveFallen has been hushed into FeesHaveNotFallen. Nothing's changed; something has been prevented.
— Drewan Baird (@DrewanBaird) October 25, 2015
Farieda Khan identified new area of focus for activists in South Africa:
#FeesHaveFallen & focus shld now be on forcing #ANCGovt to end #waste #extravagance #maladministration #corruption NOT finding more revenue!
— Farieda Khan (@FaredaVandeKaap) October 24, 2015
Goldman cautioned those who are demanding for free education:
Economics 101: Education “free” = unlimited demand. Everyone wants free stuff (even if they cannot really use it!).#FeesHaveFallen
— goldman (@goldmanstokvel) October 24, 2015
While Gugz Chantelle Nkosi expressed her fear:
Okay, the fees will not be raised, that's great. Now , our quality of education will be compromised. Are you happy now? #FeesHaveFallen
— Gugz Chantelle Nkosi (@Chantii_Lii310) October 25, 2015
The protests have provided key lessons to activists in other countries such as Boniface Mwangi in Kenya and Elnathan in Nigeria:
Activists in the rest of Africa can polish their organising skills with lessons from #FeesHaveFallen. People power. pic.twitter.com/kWWpOIutKq
— Boniface Mwangi (@bonifacemwangi) October 24, 2015
As #FeesHaveFallen in South Africa, common sense continues to fall in Nigeria among young people. Exciting times in Africa.
— Elnathan (@elnathan) October 23, 2015

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Free Alaa Campaign Takes Social Media by Storm on the First Anniversary of His Imprisonment · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Friends and supporters changed their avatars on social media to this Free Alaa poster today to protest the first anniversary of his unfair imprisonment
It's been a year since the imprisonment of Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah, an icon of the Egyptian revolution, for his activism. Alaa was slapped a five year prison sentence for allegedly taking part in a protest and “assaulting a policeman and stealing his walkie talkie.” He was also fined 100,000 Egyptian pounds (13,000 US dollars). To mark the anniversary, netizens from around the world changed their avatars to Abd El Fattah's infamous picture on social media platforms to draw attention to his plight and that of thousands of other political prisoners in Egypt.
Abd El Fattah is one of 25 defendants in what has become known as the Shura Council case. He was first arrested for this case on November 28, 2013. Last June, he was sentenced to 15 years in absentia and given a 100,000 Egyptian pound fine after being convicted of attacking a police officer and violating a 2013 protest law that prohibits unauthorized demonstrations. According to Mada Masr, which quoted the state-owned Ahram Gate website, they are accused of: “organizing an unauthorized protest outside the Shura Council in Cairo, attacking a police officer, stealing a walkie-talkie, hooliganism, aggression against police officers, blocking the road, crowding a public place and destruction of public property.”
After an appeal by his lawyers, Abd El Fattah was issued a retrial in August 2014. On September 15, 2014, the presiding judge recused himself from the case after an incident a week earlier, in which the prosecution presented a video depicting Manal Hassan, Abd El Fattah’s wife, dancing. Taken from Hassan’s laptop, which confiscated by police when Abd El Fattah was arrested and taken from his family’s home in November of 2013, the video bears no discernible relationship with his political activities.
The saga came to a complete circle on February 23, 2015, with the new judge issuing a five year jail sentence against Abd El Fattah and another defendant Ahmed Abdel Rahman, who was passing by the protest, and was arrested along with Abdel Fattah, as he was helping some girls who were being harassed by the police. Abdel Rahman was also slapped a similar fine. Eighteen other defendants were sentenced to three years in prison and three years on probation, in addition to a similar fine.
In addition to changing their avatars for the day, supporters shared some of Abd El Fattah's quotes and tweets. His aunt, renowned novelist Ahdaf Soueif translates some of them here:
I؛m Alaa. I'm proud that I'm doing what I can & sometimes surprise myself with what I'm capable of ..” #FreeAlaa https://t.co/LlYlbPh5Wp
— Ahdaf Soueif (@asoueif) October 26, 2015
“Tomorrow we'll invent solutions without locking each other up. Tomorrow is ours.” #FreeAlaa https://t.co/owogmcvd8A
— Ahdaf Soueif (@asoueif) October 26, 2015
Lebanese blogger Abir Ghattas, who is a Global Voices Online contributor, shares another quote:
I am never a traitor #freeAlaa #OneYearInPrison pic.twitter.com/dyukhY3eXc
— Abir Ghattas (@AbirGhattas) October 26, 2015
And another quote which explains Abd El Fattah's position on his imprisonment:
#freeAlaa – every time I am jailed, a piece of me breaks pic.twitter.com/xt6F4b4KoP
— Abir Ghattas (@AbirGhattas) October 26, 2015
The anniversary campaign garnered reactions from around the world, as Abd El Fattah's work as a blogger, activist and coder is respected worldwide.
Internet security expert Jacob Appelbaum tweets:
Everyday, I think about Alaa Abdel Fattah and all other unjustly detained prisoners in Egypt. #FreeAlaa
— Jacob Appelbaum (@ioerror) October 27, 2015
Global Voices Online founder Ethan Zuckerman chimes in:
#FreeAlaa One year in prison for organizing a protest is one year too long. pic.twitter.com/XcKgfUDn6F
— Ethan Zuckerman (@EthanZ) October 26, 2015
And Ahmed Abdel Rahman too was not forgotten. Many tweeted how the innocent passer-by was embroiled in this mess. Hend Nafea explains:
Ahmed Abdel-Rahman has been in detention for1year today for protection a women from attacks of policeman #FreeAlaa pic.twitter.com/OoHhSKZ5Tx
— صامدون حتى النصر (@hendnafe3) October 27, 2015
Omar Robert Hamilton reminds us why this campaign is important:
A tweet is a small thing. But a million tweets might shake the world. Alaa believes in the power of communication and so, today, should we.
— Omar Robert Hamilton (@ORHamilton) October 26, 2015
He explains:
Since November 2013 Alaa has spent 575 days behind bars. He has 4 more years to serve on his sentence. His crime: protesting #FreeAlaa
— Omar Robert Hamilton (@ORHamilton) October 27, 2015
And Rasha Abdulla, an avid Egyptian free speech campaigner, adds:
Alaa is not the only prison of conscience. We want freedom for him and for all. #FreeAlaa #FreeAllPrisonersOfConscience
— Rasha Abdulla (@RashaAbdulla) October 26, 2015
Earlier today, Abd El Fattah's family took the protest offline to the streets, where they stood in front of the Ittihadeya Presidential Palace to protest the activist's imprisonment — and that of other political prisoners in his case:
Another photo from outside the Presidential Palace where Alaa's family is protesting his imprisonment now. #FreeAlaa pic.twitter.com/AbxFGgLYls
— Omar Robert Hamilton (@ORHamilton) October 27, 2015
Alaa's mother, Leila Soueif, is seen, right, carrying a poster bearing the names of the four prisoners still jailed by the regime from the Shura case. In addition to Alaa and Ahmed Abdelrahman, Abdelrahman ElSayed and Abdelrahman Tarek are also imprisoned. Despite a presidential pardon to release politicial detainees, those four prisoners were not spared.
In this video, Soueif, who is an activist as well, says they have been standing for an hour reminding people about Alaa and Ahmed Abdelrahman, who have spent a year in prison after being sentenced in the Shura case.
She explains:
Of course, the trial was a farce and they were forgotten in the pardon. So we have four young men in the Shura case who were not included in the pardon. We also have thousands of detainees but today we are talking about Alaa and Ahmed Abdelrahman who have spent a year in prison.
And here, his sister Mona Seif, also an activist, carries a poster which reads: “There are still so many unjustly imprisoned. Freedom for the prisoners”:
There are still so many unjustly imprisoned. Freedom for the prisoners. #FreeAlaa pic.twitter.com/vJUZLR0rQ0
— Omar Robert Hamilton (@ORHamilton) October 27, 2015
Around Cairo, posters calling for the four remaining political detainees from the Shura Council case not included in the pardon popped up. Abd El Fattah's sister, Sanaa Seif, also an activist who was imprisoned for taking part in a protest, shares photographs of some of those posters on Facebook:
Posters calling for the release of the remaining four remaining political detainees from the Shura Council case who were not included in a presidential pardon popped up across Cairo today. Photo credit: Sanaa Seif (Facebook)
Independent news outlet Mada Masr also provides English translations for some of Alaa'a latest articles here.


text:
From Okinawa to the UN, the Protest Against a US Military Base Continues · Global Voices
Sanae Fujita

Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, Lt. Gen. John Wissler exchange greetings
Long-held American plans to build a new military base in a remote part of Japan are being fiercely resisted by the people of Okinawa and their governor Takeshi Onaga. On October 13, 2015, Onaga exercised his right as governor to revoke a permit the US military needs to build the new base, effectively putting an end to base construction.
The move by the governor of Okinawa to block the base came after Onaga spoke at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva before a large number of Japanese journalists and observers on September 21 about Okinawans’ opposition to the plan.
It was the first time a Japanese prefectural governor had ever addressed that council, and happened shortly after a UN official had admonished Japan for human rights violations in Okinawa itself.
Onaga attended the UN human right panel in Geneva to “sound an alarm” about the relocation of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa to Henoko, an area further north within the prefecture, itself an archipelago located in Japan's far southwest.
Onaga said Okinawans’ right to self-determination has been ignored by Japan's central government in Tokyo, which had negotiated with the US Marine Corps to move the base.
There has been serious concern that construction of the new US military base would cause severe damage to this biologically invaluable area. Henoko Bay is known for its endangered species such as the dugong, a marine mammal found nowhere else in Japan, and rare blue coral (Heliopora coerulea).
The majority of residents oppose the plan, according to various polls throughout the years, but a small number of Okinawans do support the construction of a new base. Despite accounting for just 0.6% of Japan’s territory, Okinawa is home to over 70% of American military installations based in Japan. US military bases occupy at least 18% of the main island of Okinawa.
米兵少女暴行事件抗議集会から２０年。翁長知事の辺野古基地移設反対を支持する沖縄県民は8割になった。 https://t.co/J8DRiExeQK pic.twitter.com/mVu5watwW4
— 宮武嶺 (@raymiyatake) octubre 20, 2015
20 years since the protest meeting against US solders’ rape case. Now 80% of Okinawan support Governor Onaga's protest against US base relocation to Henoko
Okinawans have resisted the relocation of the base for 17 years, since a 1996 defense policy review suggested the move, and the American presence is still widely resented in Okinawa. Following a 2013 decision to formally move ahead with the Henoko move, protests have occurred in front of military bases almost non-stop.
Onaga's address to the UN Human Rights Council in September came after an August 2015 visit to Okinawa by Victoria Tauli Corpuz, a UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people. While in Okinawa Corpuz said that the presence of so many US military bases in the small, isolated prefecture amounts to discrimination against the people of Okinawa.
Since being elected governor of Okinawa in November 2014, Onaga himself has made every effort to prevent the relocation of the base, currently located in the middle of Ginowan city on the southwestern end of Okinawa island. Realizing that neither the US nor the Japanese governments were willing to address the concerns of Okinawans, Onaga decided to reach out to the international community to raise awareness of the issue in September:
Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga address the UN in Geneva Switzerand on September 21, 2015. Screencap courtesy Sanae Fujita.
After World War Two, the US Military took our land by force and constructed military bases in Okinawa. We have never provided our land willingly. Okinawa covers only 0.6% of Japan, however, 73.8% of US exclusive bases in Japan exist in Okinawa […] […] Our right to self-determination and human rights have been neglected. Can a country share values such as freedom, equality, human rights, and democracy with other nations when that country cannot guarantee those values for its own people?
Onaga's entire address in English can be watched here.
Onaga's speech to the UN human rights council received applause from activists back in Okinawa. Jinshiro Motoyama, an Okinawan student acting aligned with Japan's SEALDs student movement, said:
翁長さんのスピーチ、良かった。ありがとう。 #翁長県知事がんばれ — じんしろ (@Jin46o) septiembre 21, 2015
Mr. Onaga's speech was good. Thank you! Go Governor Onaga
SEALDs Ryuku, the local affiliate of the national student activist movement, also tweeted:
あ、翁長知事、明日外国特派員協会でも会見するんだ。どんどん国際社会へ発信して欲しい。 「自己決定権と人権をないがしろにしているのは基地の存在が一番大きい。人権と関係ないというのは本当に残念だ。」 翁長知事　国連への働きかけ継続へ: http://t.co/KrZ2tAXfoO
— SEALDs RYUKYU (@SEALDs_RYUKYU) septiembre 23, 2015
Oh wow, Governor Onaga is going to meet the foreign correspondents’ club tomorrow [in Tokyo, after his return to Japan from Geneva]. I want Onaga to keep communicating Okinawa's message to the international community.
“The existence of the US military bases is the biggest reason for neglect of human rights and right to self-determination. It is really disappointing to hear that the Japanese government says military bases have nothing to do with human rights.” – Governor Onaga as he continues to lobby the UN.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Onaga pointed out that during the 27 years that Okinawa was under the direct administration of the US military following the end of the Second World War, US soldiers were responsible for a number of problems, including the rape of young girls, a plane crashing into a primary school and hit-and-run incidents.
After administration of Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1971 a large amount of toxic contaminants left behind by the US military was discovered, but Okinawa was unable to do anything about it due to the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement.
US aircraft still fly even after 10 pm, contrary to agreements reached between the two governments, Onaga said. After complaints about aircraft noise were made to the Japanese Ministry of Defense in Okinawa, as well as to other Japanese government offices, Onaga said he was only told that these would be conveyed to the US.
After Onaga's lastest move in October of canceling the permit the US military needs to build the new base at Henoko, representatives of the Japanese government are seeking to have Onaga's decision suspended under the Administrative Appeal Act.
Sanae Fujita is an associate fellow of Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, UK. Based in the UK, Fujita traveled to Geneva in September 2015 to report on Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga's address to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Fujita attended a press conference Onaga held following the address.

author: Sanae Fujita


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Jailed for Anti-Monarchy Graffiti, Thai Musician Gets Support on Social Media · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Thai Internet users who showed support for Opas. Image from the Facebook page of Nithiwat Wannasiri.
A social media campaign seeks the release of a 68-year-old musician and businessman known as Opas C or Uncle Opas, who is currently serving a three-year jail term in Thailand for writing anti-monarchy graffiti in a shopping mall in October 2014.
Thailand strictly enforces an anti-Lese Majeste (royal insult) law which some critics believe is the world’s harshest aside from being outdated. Thailand’s king is a most beloved political figure and a uniting force in the country, which has seen political upheaval in recent years.
Opas was arrested in a Bangkok mall for writing graffiti that authorities deemed defamed the monarchy. He allegedly wrote the following inside the mall’s toilet, according to a report by Prachatai, an alternative news website:
The government of clowns that robbed the nation, led by f*** Prayut. They have issued ridiculous policies of amateur comedians. Their main job is to use the monarchy (uncle [censored by Prachatai*]). Their main weapon is Article 112. I’m sick of seeing your face [Prayut] every day. It tells me that you [Prayut] are near the end because of the looming internal conflict.
Article 112 refers to the Lese Majeste Law. Prayut is the incumbent prime minister and former army chief who led a coup in May 2014.
Human rights groups have noted that Lese Majeste arrests have risen in the past year prompting many to assert that the army is using the law to silence and harass critics and political dissidents.
Activists and scholars are appealing for a review of the law. They are joined by several governments and international institutions which have been urging Thailand to reconsider the strict implementation of the law.
In the case of Opas, he pleaded guilty to the charge leveled against him last March. He asked for mercy and also cited his ailing health to suspend his jail sentence but military authorities denied his petition.
Last October 16, the military court sentenced him to another 18 months in connection to a second graffiti he made in a Bangkok mall last year. Opas’ legal team claimed that their client should not be charged twice because the graffiti messages were made in a single day. The appeal was rejected by the military.
News that the elderly Opas would remain longer in jail disappointed many activists and human rights advocates who are campaigning for his freedom.
Nithiwat Wannasiri, an exiled activist and musician, started a campaign by promoting the ‘Free Opas’ hashtag on Facebook:
I am a Thai citizen who believe that Uncle Opas is one of my fellows who are still breathing and should not be put behind bars at this age because of this absurd accusation. No civilized country prosecutes anyone who “wrote graffiti against public figures who were in power on a toilet wall.”
Uncle Opas might be able to spend his life as a senior citizen outside the hellish prison thanks to your palm or your support by spreading out his story and letting the world know the brutality of the Thai junta.
His message reached many groups in the Asia-Pacific region, which inspired Indonesian and Malaysian activists to upload photos showing support for Opas. Below are some photos expressing support to the ‘Free Opas’ campaign:
An Indonesian activist shows support for Opas. Photo from the Facebook page of Yohana Sudarsono
An Indonesian activist expresses support for Opas. Photo from the Facebook page of Yohana Sudarsono
Union workers from Serbuk Honda in Indonesia call for the release of Opas. Photo from the Facebook page of Yohana Sudarsono.
A Malaysian activist joins the ‘Free Opas’ campaign. Photo from the Facebook page of Yohana Sudarsono.
While in detention, Opas wrote a song called ‘Status Quo’ which reflects on his prison experience:

author: Mong Palatino


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Pakistan’s Prime Minister Leaves the US Without a Peep About Nukes · Global Voices
Sheema Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Image from Flickr by DFID UK. CC BY
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and US President Barack Obama met in Washington last week. Before the visit, there was speculation that Pakistan's nuclear program would be the focus of the talks, but minutes before the widely publicized meeting had even ended, a joint statement appeared on a Pakistani government website explaining that the talks reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to fighting terrorism and supporting the peace process in Afghanistan.
Pakistani journalist Shaheen Sehbai tweeted:
STRANGE N CONFUSING: It's baffling how a 2,784 wd JointStatement of Nwaz-Obama mtng was on Pak Foreign Ministry website b4 the meeting ended
— SHAHEEN SEHBAI (@SSEHBAI1) October 22, 2015
Pakistani Senator Sherry Rehman tweeted:
Very unusual for a long joint statement to appear before the mtg is over! Obama-Sharif talks #WashingtonDC https://t.co/KXCNOLZaBo
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) October 22, 2015
Others on Twitter weighed in on the talks:
A confident #NawazSharif in US .'Do more’ tactic has lost weight, US to pressurize Pakistan on the Nuclear Program. pic.twitter.com/3sxgfmZ7jG
— Aaj Shahzeb Ke Saath (@GeoASKKS) October 20, 2015
Despite all the hoopla about nukes, seems to me the big agenda point for Sharif/Obama meeting will be Taliban peace talks & #Afghanistan.
— Michael Kugelman (@MichaelKugelman) October 19, 2015
What are the expectation from the visit of prime minister to US. Washington will put pressure to contain tactical nuclear weapons…..
— Asma Shirazi (@asmashirazi) October 20, 2015
Sharif's wife Kulsoom Nawaz and their daughter Maryam Nawaz also met the US First Lady Michelle Obama.
Arrived in Washington to see this note by the First Lady Michelle Obama. Beautiful gesture ! pic.twitter.com/e3q0uZGG7l
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) October 20, 2015
Michelle Obama and Maryam Nawaz had a meeting during this short trip, during which Mrs Obama announced they would give $70 million to educate girls in Pakistan.
Maryam Nawaz later thanked the Obamas on Twitter, along with publishing photos of a souvenir from them, but she tagged the wrong accounts to her tweet:
Thank you @BarackObama & @MichelleObama for your wonderful hospitality. pic.twitter.com/43gYWGoTyH
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) October 22, 2015
During the visit many Nawaz fans were tweeting about the visit using hashtags like #RealChangeWithRealPM and #AsianTigerNawazSharif:
In his last visit John Kerry called him Nawaz few times. This time Pak embassy in DC sent Kerry a msg to call him his excellency not Nawaz.
— Nazrana Yousufzai (@NazranaYusufzai) October 22, 2015
PM Nawaz's real challenge is to engage the U.S. Admin on a broader agenda from Afghanistan, Energy Corridors to Cultural & Academic Links!
— Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) October 22, 2015
PM Nawaz Sharif reached Washington on US President's invitation. pic.twitter.com/sHCzyLeiXS
— Khushbu Malik (@khushbu_malik) October 21, 2015
Not a staunch supporter of #PMLN but seeing change all around. feeling better #RealChangeWithRealPM pic.twitter.com/g5QZH8sfYJ
— M. Daim Fazil Gondal (@DaimFazil) October 21, 2015
NS is a very courageous man, he is daring, i love him for that, highly principled and bold! <3 #RealChangeWithRealPM pic.twitter.com/tiQO1MI5ol
— Maryam PMLN (: (@AllthingsPAK) October 21, 2015
There are others who thought the US could play a role in showing Pakistan the right way. Malik Siraj Akbar wrote in Huffington Post blog about 10 issues the US `president would raise with Pakistan's Sharif.
When the meeting started, #AsianTigerNawazSharif and #USPresident were trending in Pakistan. There were media reports about a '14 points agenda’ that had been handed over by Nawaz to Obama. A lot of the supporters of Nawaz were proud to see him with Obama once again and had many hopes attached.
Who Raised Kashmir Issue on International Platform bravely… #AsianTigerNawazSharif
— Farhan Pervaiz (@fp_far) October 22, 2015
I think it's PM Sharif who should ask about the Afg refugee crisis. Pakistan already brimming with 3 million plus https://t.co/SSbsTrUKYf
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) October 22, 2015


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The Violent Life and Afterlife of Venezuela’s Slums · Global Voices
Yessika Gonzalez

View of General South Cemetery (Cementerio General del Sur) in Caracas, Venezuela. Image from the Facebook group “Comunidad de usuarios y amigos del Cementerio General del sur.”
In Venezuelan slums, criminals (or malandros, as they're popularly known) are often thought of as the epitome of either success or corruption. They live at the margins of society and operate within complex systems that create a sense of identity. In this context, their funerals appear to be a rite of passage that forms part of this identity. These ceremonies are the product of Venezuela's tragic culture of violence—a result of the crime and murder that's become routine in many parts of the country.
In these funerals, the deceased is honored by their peers with music and rhythm, cries, liquor, and gunshots into the air. Some of these funerals are shared on social media, where participants show the beginning and sometimes the entirety of the procession.
How does violence, specially urban violence, penetrate people's rites of passage? In the case of Venezuela, there have been various ways it happens. Mourners engage whole subcultures and include practices and symbols born in the country's unfortunately frequent assassinations.
According to the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, homicides have been rising at an alarming rate for nearly three decades. The increase has been so intense that murder is now an important component of Venezuelan modern history. A great number of these killings occur in the country's poorest, most disadvantaged neighborhoods, where “criminal rituals” are often strongest.
The Venezuelan term malandro has transformed in recent decades. Today's “new criminals” have new traits. For example, they go into the world of crime before reaching adolescence and are viewed as “machines” that are praised with each demonstration of cruelty.
In popular myth, these criminals are typically divided into two archetypes: the heroes and the villains. Thanks to the power of guns, combined with a propensity for violence, many of these outlaws have managed to become some of the most respected figures of their communities.
In the YouTube video below, shared on the channel Voces de la muerte (Voices of Death), you can see the farewell reception that occurs at criminals’ funerals. The dead is accompanied by numerous motorcycles in an atmosphere that deafens the pain of loved ones with gunshots. Some people show off their guns and begin, still standing in the crowd, a special routine where everyone in the group takes turns firing their weapon several times.
(Warning: this video contains graphic images.)
On the way to the cemetery, the numerous motorcycles that make up these funeral processions tend to block traffic, while performing dangerous pirouettes and, often, robbing bystanders. In another video shared on the YouTube channel of Samuel Jackson (no relation to the American actor), you can see a combination of mourning and celebration. Those in attendance bring gifts of liquor and spray booze from their mouths on the deceased's urn. Music plays at top volume and some people improvise dance moves. Usually, these reunions take place in the neighborhood of the deceased. From there, the urn is transported to the cemetery, but not before being carried on the shoulders of family and friends.
This way of sending off the malandros in Venezuela's neighborhoods is neither new nor uniquely Venezuelan. Thanks to social media, however, we now know just how many guns flow through the country's streets virtually unchecked. On Nelson R Izarza‘s Youtube channel, it's possible to see the funeral of a supposed pran (the head of a criminal group).
In the video below, they repeat the same ritual, complete with motorcycles, liquor, and music. All the gunfire steals the show, however.
Not all funerals and deaths are anonymous. Some videos’ titles carry the first or the surname of the deceased. Some videos are well-known in different social circles. This is the case of the funeral of ex-convict Luidig Ochoa, who created the popular Web-based series retelling life in Venezuela's prisons, as well as and the lives of ex-prisoners after jail.
On Youtube, people often share moments from the funerals and fans follow carefully. Similarly, on Twitter and Instagram, people send messages of condolences and sympathy for their friends.
For many people living in the capital, these funerals are unthinkable and terrifying. Many citizens frown on the proliferation of firearms and the nervousness their uncontrolled use spreads among the public. When one of these funerals hits the streets in Venezuela, citizens’ alerts on Twitter follow close behind, hoping to keep bystanders off the streets and away from the dangers these celebrations visit on innocent bystanders.
Pendiente funeral de malandro altura el #Boulevard Cafetal estan trancando todo peligro #cafetal #vecino
— PABLO LABRADOR (@PGLR76) April 8, 2015
Atention. High-ranking malandro funeral taking place at the Cafetal Boulevard [a neighberhood at the East of the capital, Caracas]. They're blocking the road. Danger. #Cafetal #Neighbor
Según el fuerte tiroteo desde la madrugada en el centro de CARACAS es por el funeral de un MALANDRO #25E
— Ana Mercedes Pèrez (@anitam2483) January 25, 2015
It seems that the heavy gunshots taking place since dawn in the center of CARACAS, are part of a malandro‘s funeral.
The solidarity and tributes shown in these videos demonstrate the serious problems of armed gangs, and they also highlight the disturbing admiration many of these criminal enjoy among the public. Segments of the population have been marginalized and excluded for decades. Today, people in these groups seem to have realized that they can rise fast in society and become sensations if they turn to violence. As so many young people choose a life of crime for these reasons, others fear that criminals will become to poor communities idealized and romanticized as heroes.
Venezuelans turning to crime or celebrating the exploits of those who do are hardly lunatics, of course. Poverty, social opportunities, and a sad medley of other obstacles make violence something very different for the people living in Venezuela's slums. To the people outside the ghettos, it's easy to demonize such cultures and subcultures. Bridging this gap, however, is another thing altogether.

author: Yessika Gonzalez


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Armenian President’s Fake Twitter Account Parodies Azerbaijani President’s Real One · Global Voices
Akhal-Tech Collective

President Sargsyan. Wiki image.
Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan has seen his country take so much trolling from his counterpart in Azerbaijan on Twitter, it was about time that he carved out a space for himself on social media and came to its defence. But since Sargsyan, unlike his fiercest political rival, is not the tweeting type, it fell on a parody account to counter-troll and big up Armenia on the networks.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev's official Twitter account is one of the most entertaining social media accounts in the former Soviet region. Despite a lack of pictures, its vulgar boasts and misunderstanding of the tweet concept (few of Aliev's communications fit into the 140 character limit) make it a worthy competitor to Chechnyan President Ramzan Kadyrov's much-lauded Instagram.
It would be an understatement to say that Armenia and Azerbaijan do not like each other much. The two countries were already embroiled in a bitter war over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh before they even achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The war — which saw Baku and Yerevan trade accusations of ethnic cleansing as thousands died and over a million were displaced — lasted into the mid-1990s and has threatened to re-erupt ever since. Patron Russia, rather than play peacemaker in the traditional sense, has played both sides of the conflict, selling arms to Azerbaijan while maintaining a military base in Armenia.
One indicator of bilateral tensions is Aliev's Twitter, which boils over with anti-Armenia rage fairly regularly.
Azerbaijan, a victim of terrorism, has always been involved in the fight against international terrorism.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) October 10, 2015
Armenian terrorist organizations carried out more than 30 terrorist attacks on Azerbaijan`s territory. As a (cont) http://t.co/5ebr2Zl0Up
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) October 10, 2015
Terrorist attacks against Azerbaijan were part of the policy of occupation of Azerbaijani lands, which was (cont) http://t.co/tNIug4ml5N
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) October 10, 2015
Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories represents a violation not only of international law but also of all human norms.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) October 10, 2015
Now the anonymous controllers of a faux Sargsyan account are firing back:
We hear warmongering every day, every day we hear threats and attempts to scare us… We don't want war and never wanted, but…..continued
— Serzh Sargsyan (@Armenia_Pres) October 27, 2015
…..during Karabakh war we had to defend our Motherland. If the time comes again, this time our blow will be final and deadly. #Armenia
— Serzh Sargsyan (@Armenia_Pres) October 27, 2015
Most provocatively, the account tweeted a picture of ‘Beautiful Armenia’, which included the southeastern territory of Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan considers its own.
Գեղեցիկ Հայաստան / Beautiful Armenia pic.twitter.com/81Nozv0Zts
— Serzh Sargsyan (@Armenia_Pres) October 27, 2015
Created on October 26, the account only has 22 followers as of this writing — some way short of Aliev's 168,000.
But amid rising military confrontations on the Azeri-Armenian border, the online rhetoric of both @Armenia_Pres and @presidentaz will be well worth watching.
The war is not over. Only the first stage of it is. But the second stage may start too.
— Ilham Aliyev (@presidentaz) August 7, 2014

author: Akhal-Tech Collective


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Defending Gaza Using Social Media’s Double-Edged Sword · Global Voices
Omar Ghraieb

Gaza Beach. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Gus at Wikipedia.
To say that both technology and communication have been experiencing a steady advancement until the past few years is something of an understatement. The world went from slowly becoming one village, thanks to the World Wide Web, to becoming one home, thanks to social media. Our era will probably go down in history with a single headline—“Social Media”—because it has been a game changer. In the past we aimed to achieve perfection in work or love or elsewhere, but recently our main goal in life has become to go viral and hit a home run.
People nowadays are using social media for everything. Some are utilizing it in smart ways, while others are merely creating buzz for their blunders. For so many new businesses and startups, social media is the sole marketing tool.
But perhaps arguably, the most important role social media has played in recent times is that of “citizen journalism”.
Back in 2007, I slowly started to spread my presence across social media in the hope of joining the hype, and also to and stop my friends from nagging me about it. It was all fun and games, until the first Israeli assault on Gaza in December of 2008. At that point I went from using Facebook to play Farmville (don’t judge me, I was in my early 20s back then) to creating a breaking news hub that began attracting international interest. Earlier in that same year I had started Gaza’s first English-language blog, and that also helped my voice reach further horizons. But I was still only a social media toddler taking my first steps.
Then came the Mavi Marmara incident, when Israel attacked a ship while that was on its way to Gaza to attempt to break the Israeli siege. Many activists were killed and injured. As a journalist, I was receiving the information updates beforehand for use in my reporting. Ergo, I decided to put my Twitter account—which I rarely used back then—to good use. I started pushing all the exclusive info I was getting into the cybersphere, in real time. In other words, I was “live tweeting”, but that term didn’t exist back then. People started noticing what I was doing. And my pool of followers began expanding.
Then in 2011 the Arab world was hit with a series of unprecedented “revolutions”. It started in Tunisia and slowly crept into Egypt, Libya, Syria and so on. As a Palestinian, living under occupation and siege, aching for freedom, I had to be a part of the regional conversations. So I became an avid user of social media. I was on all platforms, all the time, despite the power outages that have plagued Gaza for years now. I had to find ways to stay updated and alert, so I started looking into ways of remaining connected during power outages, which helped me a great deal during the rest of the Israeli assaults on Gaza and on Palestine in general.
In 2012, the United Nations selected me to participate in their annual training of Palestinian Journalists. It was the first year they stopped focusing on TV and radio, and started focusing more on digital and social media. My work took me all the way to New York, which was a dream come true. Given my experience as a journalist in Gaza and a social media “star” in my country, it was only natural for me to pick “Social Media and Journalism Safety” as the topic for my training project. I was given access to the headquarters of luminaries in the world of news and social media such as Twitter, Google, BBC, Reuters and others. It was like coming full circle, an experience of a lifetime that left me with affirmation and knowledge. Social media had paid off.
When the second Israeli assault on Gaza happened in 2012, I was still in the US doing my training. Gaza was being heavily bombed and my family was in danger. But I had the chance to visit places like the US Congress, the State Department, BBC, AL Jazeera English, and everywhere I went, I delivered the voice of Gaza, including during a live interview on the Huffington Post. Many people already knew who I was and had been following me on social media, so I was well received, and I made sure Gaza was as well.
Social media also helped me keep in touch with my family in Gaza, and also stay updated about everything that was happening there and amplify the news on Twitter.
In 2014 Israel launched its most vicious assault against Gaza yet. I secured my ability to stay connected and keep reporting by making sure I had a generator, a battery for the router, extra batteries for my mobile, access to nearby WiFi connections and enough mobile phone credit to tweet by SMS. I tweeted through bombings, fear, desperation and danger. It was all quite raw and uncensored, and it was heartwarming to see that a huge percentage of Gazan youth were inspired to do the same. We were being featured on radio, TV news channels, news websites and being contacted by independent journalists. Major news agencies were mentioning us as the source of breaking news and celebrities mentioned us and reached out to send their support for Palestine. Our voices were heard everywhere, united under the tent of citizen journalism.
The natural progression after this was for us to be threatened, attacked in the cyber world and pushed to be silenced. My email was hacked, my Twitter account was suspended after hackers tried to access it, and my Facebook account was flooded with posts spouting hatred and private messages from people threatening to kill me and my family if I didn't “shut up”. But I didn’t stop, because, as I learned from my training at the UN, sometimes a tweet can change the world.
Now, as Palestine experiences what some are calling the Third Intifada, citizen journalism is again on the frontlines as a primary source of news for the public and for media agencies. Truth is the only propaganda-buster.
Social media is a double-edged sword. It can be the vehicle for bullying that pushes someone to commit suicide; it can also save someone’s life by alerting others to their plight. Which edge would you rather use? Social media can either make you or break you. I urge you to choose wisely.

author: Omar Ghraieb