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As UN Decides Future of Western Sahara Peacekeeping Mission, Sahrawis Press for Human Rights · Global Voices
WITNESS

The frustration with the status quo can be seen in recent footage of demonstrations in Western Sahara. On Monday, several coordinated protests took place throughout the territory. Photo credit: screen shot from protest video shared on YouTube by the Sahrawi Centre for Media and Communication
Editor’s Note: A version of this post was originally published on Watching Western Sahara Checkdesk, a collaborative platform for curated and contextualized videos from Western Sahara.
By Madeleine Bair
While international diplomats met this week to determine the future of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, demonstrators throughout the occupied territory held protests calling for self-determination and human rights.
The dispute over the sovereignty of Western Sahara has gone on for more than four decades. After Spain withdrew from its former colony, Morocco waged a war for the land, fighting off the Sahrawi independent army of the Polisario Front. By the time the UN brokered a ceasefire in 1991, tens of thousands of Sahrawis had been displaced to Algerian refugee camps. Today, the disputed territory is on the UN’s list of non-self-governing territories. One of the steps the parties agreed to was a referendum to allow Sahrawis to vote for independence or integration with Morocco, but that has yet to happen.
The UN Security Council made its annual decision to extend its peacekeeping mission, known as MINURSO, yesterday, extending the mission's mandate for another year. Sahrawis and international advocates have called on the UN to expand the mission’s mandate to include human rights monitoring. On Tuesday, the African Union envoy to Western Sahara, former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, called for a timetable for the referendum.
The frustration with the status quo can be seen in recent footage of demonstrations in Western Sahara. On Monday, several coordinated protests took place throughout the territory.
In the demonstration above, a woman holds a Sahrawi flag as protesters call for self-determination–a criminal act under Moroccan law, which prohibits organizations and individuals from challenging Moroccan sovereignty over the territory. Chanting in Arabic, protestors call for the overthrow of the regime and the right to self-determination.
Sahrawi protests on Monday also called for justice for Brahim Saika, a leading activist in the movement for Sahrawi economic rights. Saika died on April 15 at a hospital in Morocco while in detention.
For more curated videos from Western Sahara, go to Watching Western Sahara Checkdesk, a project of the WITNESS Media Lab, where an earlier version of this post was originally published.

author: WITNESS


text:
Iraqi Protestors Storm Parliament; State of Emergency Declared · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi protestors outside the Parliament earlier today where they staged a sit-in after storming the building. Photo credit: @AlFayth (Freelance Iraqi journalist: Methaq Al-fayyadh/Twitter)
Hundreds of Iraqi protestors stormed the Parliament building, in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, in protest against a deadlock in approving a new government today. A state of emergency was declared, further escalating the multiple crises the country is facing.
The protestors, supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, broke into the building after MPs failed to meet for a vote, after failing to reach a quorum. Al Sadr is pushing Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al Abadi to replace ministers with non-partisan technocrats, a move refused by powerful parties in parliament. The protestors, who earlier this week, marched towards the Green Zone, which houses government buildings and embassies and is considered the safest part of Baghdad, later vacated the building and are now staging a sit-in in the Triumphal Arch area, also in the Green Zone.
This political crisis has been brewing for months, culminating in today's escalation which drove protestors to the Green Zone, an off-limits area for ordinary Iraqis. Thousands of Iraqis have been protesting since last summer against the lack of services, poverty and government corruption. Iraq, already in a political quagmire, is facing serious levels of instability, with the war against ISIS militant group on the one hand, and a struggling economy, on the other. Abadi was expected to name new members of the cabinet today to appease the protestors.
On social media, Iraqi netizens reported today's incidents as the drama unfolded. Jubilant demonstrators stormed parliament waving Iraqi flags and chanting. Reports say some parliamentarians were attacked and beaten by angry protestors, as others tried to pull them back and calm them down.
Iraqi blogger Haidar Hamzoz tweets:
Protestors Said ” we are the Parliment”
المتظاهرون يقولون ” #نحن_البرلمان “#العراق #بغداد #iraq #baghdad pic.twitter.com/T4yYxzNz6S
— Hayder Hamzoz (@Hamzoz) April 30, 2016
Iraqi Parliment back to Iraqi People #البرلمان_العراقي يعود للشعب #العراق #بغداد #iraq #baghdad pic.twitter.com/ER6szb1NBy
— Hayder Hamzoz (@Hamzoz) April 30, 2016
And this video, shared on Facebook and watched more than 300K times until now, shows the demonstrators inside parliament.
Hamzoz shares photographs showing the protestors cleaning the parliament before leaving:
Cleaning Started inside Parliment by Protestors before leaving
تنظيف البرلمان العراقي من قبل المتظاهرين قبل الانسحاب pic.twitter.com/2I7udL2H8w
— Hayder Hamzoz (@Hamzoz) April 30, 2016
DC-based journalist Zaid Benjamin shares this video of the sit-in in the Triumphal Arch area:
#العراق | متظاهرون عراقيون في ساحة الاحتفالات الكبرى في #بغداد. pic.twitter.com/Rwi1aeWeH8
— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) April 30, 2016
Iraqi protestors in the Triumphal Arch area
Hayder Al Shakeri shares this video:
From the heart of the Green Zone. Ihtifalat Sq. is filled with protestors. #Baghdad #Iraq pic.twitter.com/7hfdr8cx8u
— Hayder Al-Shakeri (@HayderSH) April 30, 2016
And Mustafa Salim says this is the first time in 13 years ordinary Iraqis assemble in the Triumphal Arch area.
For the first time in 13 years there are people in festival square. #Iraq pic.twitter.com/15e4KmhGhx
— Mustafa Salim (@Mustafa_salimb) April 30, 2016
London-based Iraqi blogger Sajad Jiyad notes that the driving force behind today's protests was “despair with the political class”:
No revolution, just an outburst of frustration & despair with political class that has been forewarned since summer
— Sajad Jiyad سجاد (@SajadJiyad) April 30, 2016
And Lebanese satirist Karl Sharro adds his two cents:
This is how you run for parliament in Iraq. pic.twitter.com/WQ3MW6I25s
— Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) April 30, 2016
Will today's protests push for change which will benefit Iraqis or further threaten Iraq's fragile security situation?

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Portraits From Nepal: Survivors Struggle to Rebuild a Year After the Deadly Quake · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

24-year-old Prapti Tamang's two-story house was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. Credit: Sonia Narang
This article by Sonia Narang originally appeared on PRI.org on April 25, 2016, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
As Nepal struggles to recover from the deadly earthquake one year ago, many of those who survived are living in makeshift tin shelters with no financial ability to rebuild real homes anytime soon. Here are the stories of people who lost their homes, livelihoods or access to basic needs in the disaster.
Many of the poorest families have stopped counting on Nepal's painfully slow government to assist them, and they're left with no other option but to make a new life in these flimsy shacks for a long time to come.
Credit: Sonia Narang
Sumina Pariyar, 17, holds up her 9-month-old daughter Unika in the small metal shack they call home under an overpass in Kathmandu. She was pregnant and living in one of the hardest-hit rural districts of Sindupalchok when the earthquake hit.
“It was extremely scary since I couldn't walk or run, as I was pregnant. My husband helped me out of the house while the ground was shaking and took me to a place that was safer,” she said. “The baby was big in my stomach, and it was shaking all the time. I thought I was going to die. We were out in the open space for very long.”
After the earthquake, her parents in Kathmandu were so scared, and didn't know if she had survived. Though they hadn't been on friendly terms since she had eloped with her husband as a teenager, they brought her and her husband back to Kathmandu and set them up in this shack.
“It was very cold and difficult to raise a baby here in this shack,” she said. “We had to rely on a fire and give the baby a warm oil massage to keep her warm. It was very dusty and polluted outside, but we had no money to move to a rented flat.”
Credit: Sonia Narang
When Ratnaman Nagarkoti, 59, lost his house in the earthquake, he decided to take matters into his own hands and re-built a tin shelter for his wife and daughter. He used tin panels to build a roof and doors and constructed the shack in two weeks.
When the earthquake happened, Nagarkoti was tying his goat outside. “As soon as the earth started shaking, I lost the hope of life and thought I would live no more,” he said. “I was terrified.”
He built the first tin shelter in his village, and managed to get tin sheets despite the extreme scarcity of supplies after the earthquake.
“There’s no way we could make a real house, so we will have to live here. I feel depressed and desperate that it’s been one year, and we haven’t received government support to re-build,” he said.
Nepal’s government has offered families around $1,900, but hasn’t distributed it yet. “It’s not certain we will get it, and even if we do, it’s not enough.”
Credit: Sonia Narang
Sanukanchi Tamang, 48, and her youngest daughter, Devi, 12, stand in the rubble near their former home. Just a year before the Nepal earthquake, the family had pooled their earnings to build a new two-story house. But, it all came crashing down when the quake hit last April, and they were left with nothing. Other homes remain standing, but are uninhabitable due to major structural damage. The family will soon move into a donated one-room blue tin shelter where their former house once stood.
They hope to rebuild, but like many families who lost their homes, they just do not have the funds. The government has only given them about $140 so far, and offered a total of about $1,900. But, that's just a fraction of the estimated $10,000 cost to build a proper home. It could take her sons several years to earn enough money to rebuild.
Credit: Sonia Narang
Ratna Ramtel, 29, recently became the first woman president of her village's water committee. Because women in Nepal are usually tasked with the chore of fetching water for the household, it makes a big difference to have a woman leader.
Ramtel helps local women understand how and when they can get their water from the public water taps. When the Nepal earthquake destroyed her community's water storage tank, it greatly affected women's lives.
Now, the village has a new, larger, earthquake-resistant tank that allows women like Ramtel to collect water more efficiently.
When the Nepal earthquake destroyed Prapti Tamang's two-story house, her husband was working in Qatar. Like 24-year-old Prapti, many women here have husbands doing jobs overseas. So, the women had to set up temporary homes on their own, with help from family and neighbors. Prapti's husband sends back earnings from his factory job, but it's not enough to rebuild a real house anytime soon. Construction costs have risen dramatically since they built their previous home several years ago. She says it will take them at least 10 to 15 years to save up enough.
Until then, Prapti and her 5-year-old son will live in this compact shack made of corrugated tin sheets and wooden planks. She says she feels insecure here, especially at night, because anyone can enter or break down the door.
“The women in this village are very scared,” Prapti said. “It's been hard to console my son, who lives in fear of another earthquake.”
Her husband will visit soon for his first trip back to Nepal in three years.
Credit: Sonia Narang
Lari Tamang, 57, prays in the makeshift shelter she lives in with her husband and grandson.
“When the earthquake came, I had gone to Kathmandu to visit a few Buddhist religious leaders,” she said. “I had just finished saying Namaste to all of them, and I was ready to sit down when I heard someone say, ‘It has come.’ Then, all of a sudden, everything started shaking from side to side, and that’s when I realized the earthquake had come.”
Tamang says she felt more pain seeing other people’s homes destroyed rather than her own.
But now that she’s lost the home her family built almost two decades ago, things are suddenly very difficult. She has to cook food outside, and there’s not enough water. She also feels insecure at night because the doors are made of flimsy tin.
“I used to save every penny, and not spend it on frivolous activities,” she said. Now, that everything is gone, she has no idea how she can save up again to re-build. “But, I have to keep myself happy, I cannot keep crying,” she added.
Credit: Sonia Narang
Junu Syangtan, 20, is pregnant with her first child. Her family's house was completely destroyed in the Nepal earthquake last year.
So, she's spending her last month of pregnancy in this tent shelter outside a local health clinic, two hours away from her village.
Here, she gets food, water, and regular check-ups. Her husband, Buddha Syangtan, 21, stays with her to keep her company.
Credit: Sonia Narang
Ayushma Lama, 22, plays with her 7-month-old son, Yashu, outside the tin shelter her family built after their home was destroyed in the earthquake.
“I felt as if everyone was going to die,” she said. “There was dust everywhere. Many people died, but I survived. That’s when I thought I could make my future.”
Her husband works as a cook at a local restaurant, and luckily, he’s skilled in carpentry work so he could build a two-story shelter with wood and corrugated metal sheets. They borrowed $1,400 at 10 percent interest to build their shack, and she thinks it’s strong enough to withstand another earthquake. She does hope to rebuild a real house in the next 10 to 15 years, but estimates it could cost more than $9,000.
She says she’s happy she’s no longer in an emergency shelter, where babies suffered from illnesses. Her baby is healthier here, but he no longer has the nursery room she had planned before he was born.

author: PRI/PRX's The World


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Tajikistan’s Prostitutes Are Punch Bags for the Government · Global Voices
The Echo of Central Asia

Difficult times for Tajik women. Posted on Asia-Plus. Creative commons.
The economic crisis currently enveloping ex-Soviet Tajikistan has triggered a rise in the number of sex workers, offering the Central Asian state's government opportunities to collect greater revenues in terms of administrative fines, while also presenting itself as a source of moral virtue to the conservative population.
Last year, the Global Fund for the fight against HIV / AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, reported that a total of 14, 000 women are engaged in prostitution in Tajikistan, a statistic the Ministry of Health and Social Protection swiftly dismissed as “baseless”.
Nevertheless, Tajikistan is concerned enough about the growth in sex work to have doubled the minimum fine for those engaging in it while also offering prostitutes “morality lessons”.
This is a continuation of a public shaming campaign that was in evidence last year, when the state media outlet Khabar said sex workers were wearing hijabs — Islamic clothing is frowned on by the secular government — to lure conservative clients.
Interviewed by the Tajik service of RFE/RL, the Deputy Chairman of the Department of Women's Affairs of the southern Khatlon region Kumriniso Sangalieva said students of the recently introduced morality lessons would be some 30 women arrested during police raids on discos and restaurants last month:
Цель таких уроков – предотвращение распространения проституции среди женщин и их нравственное воспитание. Каждый урок проходит более часа с участием представителей местных депутатов, врачей, женщин-активисток и сотрудников общественных организаций. Женщинам рассказывают об этике поведения в обществе, нравственных устоях и призывают к «правильной» жизни. Мы призываем их к нормальной жизни, чтобы они рожали здоровых детей и были ограждены от разных венерических заболеваний.
The aim of these lessons is preventing the spread of prostitution among women and ensuring their moral education. Each lesson takes more than an hour with the participation of local deputies, doctors, women activists and employees of public organizations. Women talk about the ethics of behavior in society, moral principles, and call for the women to lead a proper life. We encourage them to live a normal life and give birth to healthy children free from various sexually transmitted diseases.
A 35-year-old sex worker called Gulmira interviewed in the same article complained:
Пусть проводят беседы с мужчинами о том, что негоже давать своим женам «талок» (развод по-мусульмански). Когда мужчина после развода не выплачивает алименты и не помогает материально своей бывшей жене и детям, что остается делать женщине? Остается только этот путь. Я сама стала заниматься проституцией из-за отсутствия работы. Вот если бы найти хорошую работу, не занималась бы этим.
They should better conduct lessons for men about how it is bad to divorce their wives via the “talok” (Islamic divorce law). When the man does not pay child support after a divorce and does not help financially his ex-wife and children, what should the woman do? [Prostitution] is the only way. I became a prostitute because of lack of work. If I could find a good job, I would not have to deal with this.
That sentiment was also broadly supported by commenters on news.tj, who noted that high levels of outmigration to Russia placed incredible pressure on the women left behind to feed families:
Обеспечить возможность женщинам зарабатывать на жизнь другими способами, организовать рабочие места, создать условия их мужьям зарабатывать деньги здесь у себя на родине и не уезжать на чужбину чтобы прокормить семью. После этого появится право судить и наказывать.
Provide opportunities for women to earn a living by other means. Organize jobs and create conditions for husbands to earn money at home, and not go to a foreign land to feed his family. After implementing all these conditions we will have the right to judge and punish.
Green means prostitution is legal, blue means prostitution is legal but organized activities such as brothels are illegal, red means illegal, green means no data. Wikipedia image.
Back in 2011, the Tajik Ministry of Internal Affairs, shocked many citizens in the republic by noting that 8 out of 10 criminal cases the previous year related to prostitution were in the “child prostitution” category.
In an interview with news.tj, 16-year-old Sabina said that after her father died the husband of her mother's friend, who was 60-years-old and a former policeman, forced her into intimate contact with him, marking the beginning of a career in prostitution.
When bad rumours about her began to spread across her hometown, Sabina was called to face an informal panel that criticised her.
News.tj, who followed Sabina reported the following exchange between her and a client:
Вы слишком мало предлагаете, давайте хотя бы за 30 сомон.
- Э, ты что, с ума сошла! Ты ведь не девственница, а такую сумму требуешь! Если бы девственница была, я бы дал, а так нет. Если не хочешь то идти отсюда.
Sabina: You offer too little, let the sum be at least 30 somoni [$4.50].
Client: Uh, are you mad?! You're not a virgin and you demand such a high price! If you were a virgin, I would give you it, but if you're not then no. If you do not want it then go away.
After she walked away, the man, a taxi driver, continued to hurl insults at her for another five minutes according to news.tj's correspondent.
Left exposed to a deepening economic morass and the whims of an authoritarian government prone to extortion, the case of prostitution in Tajikistan is an example of how some women in Tajikistan face come under public and state scrutiny for responding to economic circumstances beyond their control.
Recently a disturbing trend has even seen women drown themselves and their children to escape difficult lives.
Better laws to protect women from violence are part of the answer to a deepening problem, but currently the government is prioritizing other things.
Those things include explaining how a Tajik woman should dress in public, or look during privileged meetings with ageing President Emomali Rakhmon.

author: The Echo of Central Asia


text:
The Soviet Union’s Psychedelic Side: Five Animations to Blow Your Mind · Global Voices
Chynara Bakyt kyzy

Scary bats! Screenshot from YouTube clip of ‘Hedgehog in the Fog’, uploaded by the user Russian Animation.
Caught between a global geopolitical conflict and an all-encompassing censorship machine, some of the most celebrated animators of the former Soviet Union chose to plough their own paths to critical acclaim. And what paths they were!
Soviet animation began developing rapidly in the 1930s after the government established the “Soyuzmultfilm” company as a de facto monopolist to grow the industry.
But it wasn't until after World War Two and the “Fight against Disney” (bor’ba s disneevshinoi) that artists began to turn their back on the content and techniques of the capitalist West and truly jump in at the deep end.
Initially Soviet artists, scriptwriters, and directors adhered almost universally to Uncle Walt's animation repertoire, with a focus on animal cartoons that bore human characteristics such as the ability to speak.
Those characters often also bore a suspicious resemblance to their Western counterparts.
As the Cold War kicked in, that blueprint was subjected to major modification, however.
The 1960s and 1980s in particular were associated with a creative leap on the part of Union animators.
Seemingly in order to bypass the Soviet censor — always ready to label a piece of art ideologically unprincipled — artists ventured further and further into the safety of abstraction.
Below are some of the eyebrow-raising results of that process. Don't look now kids!
Here the storyteller appears to be singing a song based on Ivan Krylov’s poetic adaptation of Aesop's ‘The Crow and the Fox’, but cannot remember the words.
The original moral of the story — “it is dangerous to trust flattery” — has been warped and reduced to safety instructions at certain points in the film. Characters metamorphose into one another from scene to scene.
Some of them seem to be heroes from Aleksandr Pushkin’s fantastic “By Lukomor'ya” (У лукоморья) poem, while other characters appear to be there simply to contribute to the general chaos.
This legendary animated film by Yuri Norstein received top honours in the Soviet Union and acclaim from international critics.
Norstein himself said: “There is no intrigue in the action, there are no dynamics in the action. It seems that Hedgehog in the Fog was a happy occasion where all the elements simply fell into place.”
Agreeing and disagreeing with that statement appear equally impossible.
This cartoon (see here for part two) is about a silly, lazy, and greedy man, who went to the forest to find a New Year Tree but on the way falls into a well of his own fantasies about endless wealth.
By the time he emerges with the tree it is already spring and he has to bring it back to the forest.
Legendary director Alexander Tatarsky said the animation had given him “something approaching a heart attack”, due to the attentions of the censor.
“They said I had a disrespectful attitude to the Russian people. They said: ‘You only have one character — a Russian man — and he is an idiot,'” Tatarsky recalled.
Nevertheless, it made the cut.
‘Who Will Tell a Fable’ is one of a number of Armenian cartoons popular for their surrealist style. The story is about a tsar who got bored and asked his adviser to come up with ideas to entertain him.
The adviser announced a contest, where people were to tell fables to the tsar. If the tsar said, “I don’t believe it, it’s not true!” he would have to give that person half of his kingdom.
If, however, he were to say he did believe the story, then the tsar would become the recipient of that citizen's wealth.
The fables themselves are strange and vivid, while the character of the tsar remains eerily familiar to citizens living in many former Soviet countries.
Last up is another masterpiece by “Armenfilm” that would surely not have been out of place if screened at Woodstock in 1969.
The script is similar to Pushkin’s famous ‘The Fisherman and the Golden Fish’, and promotes the message that kindness always comes back to where it came from, although any feel good factor in the animation is more or less obliterated by a cameo courtesy of a two-mouthed, pipe-smoking monster called Ekh. Ekh!

author: Chynara Bakyt kyzy


text:
This Dissident Poet Says Elections and the Nuclear Pact Give Him Hope for Iran · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Shahram Rafizadeh was arrested, jailed and tortured after exposing human rights abuses in Iran during the late 1990s. Credit: Matthew Bell
This article by Matthew Bell originally appeared on PRI.org on April 28, 2016, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Things could have turned out very differently for Shahram Rafizadeh.
The 44-year-old journalist and poet might have ended up dead, like some of his writer friends back home in Iran. Several of them were murdered in a series of political assassinations that began in the late 1990s.
Instead, Rafizadeh now lives outside of Toronto, where he writes about Iranian politics for the website Iran Wire and for Radio Farda, the US government-funded Farsi language radio station that broadcasts out of Eastern Europe.
He also continues to write poetry. One of his more recent poems, he says, is a harsh critique of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. And another is a melancholy one about not being able to go home, called “The Spring of Freedom.”
Rafizadeh wrote the latter one in 2011, as the Arab world started to erupt in popular uprisings aimed at toppling autocratic rulers. Those protests made him wonder if Iranian exiles like himself might ever be free to go home.
When it comes to freedom of expression, the Islamic Republic of Iran is among the worst of the worst. The country is ranked 169th, out of a total of 180 countries, on the 2016 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
Rafizadeh looks every bit the intellectual — glasses, leather jacket, cigarette. As a child, he would wake up early and recite Persian poetry out loud, annoying his father and his siblings.
Back in the 1990s, he made a name for himself in Iran as a newspaper reporter covering human rights. But at heart, he’s still a poet.
“If you want to write poetry in Iran, you really have to write about politics,” Rafizadeh says.
“The [Iranian] government intrudes into your personal life no matter who you are. That’s why, after the murders started happening, I decided to write political poems,” he says.
That string of murders began in 1998 and one of the first victims was a well-known poet named Mohammad Mokhtari, a friend and mentor to Rafizadeh.
“Other intellectuals were killed, too,” he says. “The Iranian regime was murdering innocent people just because they dared to call for political change and reform.”
Rafizadeh managed to shine a light on the killings with his writings in the pages of pro-reformist newspapers. But only for a time.
Eventually, Rafizadeh was arrested.
“I spent 86 days in a cell that was 1.5 meters by 2 meters,” Rafizadeh says. “And I was tortured.”
Even after he was released, pending trial, he says authorities threatened to harm his children if he didn’t make public statements saying he was treated well in prison and that his past writings were false.
Rafizadeh says he did what he was being pressured to do. But he adds that, “the Iranian public knew who was lying and who was telling the truth.”
“Other journalists besides me wrote about the human rights situation in Iran and we did have an impact,” Rafizadeh says. Nonetheless, he felt he had to leave the country after the courts sentenced him to 20 lashes and nine months in prison. He escaped into Turkey in 2005. Two years later, he got asylum in Canada.
Rafizadeh’s personal story is detailed in a new book called, “Children of Paradise: The Struggle for the Soul of Iran,” by Laura Secor. She chronicles what happed to Rafizadeh and other civil society activists, writers and thinkers who were part of a larger pro-reform movement that rose to prominence in the late 1990s.
“The scene was really flooded with young people who were very enthusiastic about taking part in building a better future in Iran,” Secor says.
“But, as it happened, there is in Iran what you might call a ‘deep state.’”
The deep state as Secor describes it is made up of hardliners from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, its intelligence agencies, and the judiciary. None of these political actors are entirely answerable to Iran’s elected government. That enabled the hardliners to launch a brutal crackdown against the pro-reform camp of then-president Mohammad Khatami and his supporters. The crackdown began in in the late '90s and continued into the early 2000s.
“The tragedy of those years was that, by the end of Khatami’s second term, a lot of Iranians were disillusioned. They felt that they had brought these [pro-reform] people into power, but that [the reformists] were not able to be very effective,” Secor says.
“Even when their own people — their own [pro-reform] supporters were being harassed or imprisoned or endangered by the security apparatus, the reformists were not able to effectively confront that deep state.”
Another character in Secor’s book is Asieh Amini, who confronted Iran’s judiciary to enforce a ban against the stoning of women accused of “chastity offenses.” Her chapter about Amini was also published in the New Yorker.
Many Iranian reformist intellectuals, Secor says, came to the conclusion that the real fight for reform is going to involved a political battle with the judiciary.
“You can fight for rights and freedoms in the political space all you like, but if there is not judicial protection of them, that is a fundamental problem,” she says.
So, should the pro-reform camp in Iran be hopeful?
“I see the behavior of the Iranian electorate as a reason to be hopeful,” Secor says.
Voters in Iran went to the polls in large numbers for February’s parliamentary election to support a list of moderate and reformist candidates, and to block the agenda of the political hardliners. Secor says this was a triumph of strategic voting on the part of the pro-reform side of the Iranian public.
Despite all the setbacks, Secor says the space for political participation in Iran is still being contested. At the same time, “There’s still some sense that ordinary people have a right to, and have some hope for, finding space in the system,” she says.
Shahram Rafizadeh says a couple of things give him hope for the future.
First, he names the nuclear deal that Iran reached with the US. Rafizadeh says the deal should remove pressure from middle class Iranians who have suffered under economic sanctions. And second, there’s the electoral system.
“When people voted for the moderates and reformists in the recent parliamentary election, that was an act of resistance against the Supreme Leader and the hardliners,” he says.
“And that is meaningful.”


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A Visual Journey Into the Floating Guava Markets of Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kuriyana, Swarupkathi, Bangladesh | 2015
© Md. Moyazzem Mostakim, Timur Photography. Used with permission
In the Southern region of Bangladesh, rivers and canals crisscross, creating a lush green landscape. You can see a lot of green guava orchards if you're aboard a boat travelling through the canals. Thousands of farmers earn their livelihood growing and selling these guavas. Farmers and wholesalers gather in several floating markets in a region that resembles the floating market of Thailand.
Guava, a berry-like fruit, is often called the “apple of the tropics”. Although it originated in tropical America (in the land between Mexico and Peru), today it is one of the important fruit crops of Bangladesh, where it's grown all over the country. The southern region of Bangladesh—especially districts of Barisal, Pirojpur, and Jhalokathi—are the main Guava-producing areas.
Shamsheer writes in Somewhereinblog about the floating markets he visited:
কুড়িয়ানা বাজার, আটঘর আর ভীমরুলি বাজারে বসে পেয়ারার হাট। চাষীরা বাগান থেকে পেয়ারা সরাসরি ছোট ছোট নৌকায় করে এসব হাঁটে নিয়ে আসে, পাইকাররা এখান থেকে সংগ্রহ করে পৌঁছে দেয় সারা বাংলাদেশে।
The floating Guava markets are found in Kuryana, Atghor, and Vimruli. Villagers from the region come by small boats to sell their guava and wholesalers collect them to distribute all over Bangladesh.
Nobody is certain when exactly this floating market began, but the tradition is at least a century old. The market at Bhimruli over Kirtipasha canal is the biggest of them all. It comes to life during the Guava season, which is from July to August. Other fruits, like Hog Plum lemons, coconuts, and bananas, are also sold in the markets throughout the year. The farmers don't have proper communication or cold-storage facilities, resulting in poor market prices, but the proliferation of mobile phones is changing this scenario.
“Journey to Bangladesh” uploaded a video on Youtube showing the floating markets and guava gardens in Barisal backwaters.
Photographer Md. Moyazzem Mostakim shares dozens of wonderful photos of the floating market on his Facebook page, Timur Photography, which has gained viral appeal online. With Mostakim's permission, we have highlighted some of his photographs below.
Collecting Guava from orchards. Vimruli, Jhalokathi, Bangladesh | 2015
© Md. Moyazzem Mostakim, Used with permission
On the way to the market. Atghor, Swarupkathi, Bangladesh | 2015
©Md. Moyazzem Mostakim, Used with permission.
Guava Sellers arriving via canals. Atghor, Swarupkathi, Bangladesh | 2015
©Md. Moyazzem Mostakim, Used with permission
Guava Sellers arriving via canals. Atghor, Swarupkathi, Bangladesh | 2015
©Md. Moyazzem Mostakim, Used with permission
Floating Guava Market in Full flow. Vimruli, Jhalokathi, Bangladesh | 2015
© Md. Moyazzem Mostakim, Used with permission
Hoards of tourists entering the village market in Vimruli, Jhalokathi, Bangladesh | 2015
© Md. Moyazzem Mostakim. Used with permission
A casual chat between sellers. Vimruli, Jhalokathi, Bangladesh | 2015
© Md. Moyazzem Mostakim, Used with permission.
Sold to a wholesaler – Vimruli, Jhalokathi, Bangladesh | 2015
© Md. Moyazzem Mostakim, used with permission.
You can find more pictures of this floating guava market here.

author: Rezwan


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Aleppo Is Burning: Make Your Social Media Profile Photograph Red to Show You Care · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Aleppo is burning. Make your social media profile photograph red to show you care. Viral image
Aleppo, Syria's second most important city after the capital Damascus, is being “wiped off the map” as you read these lines. Hundreds of civilians have been killed over the past 11 days as activists and netizens raise the call for the world to pay attention to their plight.
A campaign is underway calling on supporters around the world to change their profile photographs on social media to red to show their support for ending the massacres being committed against civilians as Syrian government forces continue aerial bombardments on rebel-held areas estimated to house up to 350,000 people.
Only the Syrian air force and their Russian allies have the capacity to bomb Aleppo from above — and both deny obliterating Aleppo.
Kerry says the Russians aren't bombing Aleppo. https://t.co/KhZPoQK4H0 pic.twitter.com/4vwBh3IY2R
— DavidKenner (@DavidKenner) May 2, 2016
Photojournalist Hadi Al Abdallah, who is in Aleppo, provides harrowing updates from the city on a daily basis:
Warplanes are bombing civilian neighbourhoods in #Aleppo for the eighth day in a row!
29-4-2016
PH: @Khaledesa9 pic.twitter.com/15HlDhM33S
— هادي العبدالله Hadi (@HadiAlabdallah) April 29, 2016
Just today he shares those photographs of an ambulance attacked in an airstrike:
IMAGE: Regime airstrike targets ambulance & crew on their way to rescue injured in al-Hulik district, Aleppo. pic.twitter.com/EAh6KMS61L
— هادي العبدالله Hadi (@HadiAlabdallah) May 2, 2016
On April 30, he shared this video of Assad's forces bombing Al Quds hospital in Aleppo:
VIDEO: CCTV footage of the moment al-Quds Hospital in Aleppo was targeted by Assad warplanes. pic.twitter.com/hUsji5sZSy
— هادي العبدالله Hadi (@HadiAlabdallah) April 30, 2016
And tweets such as this, reporting airstrikes against civilian targets, have become routine:
BREAKING:Warplanes flying now above #Aleppo & launching airstrikes on civilian houses & targeting cars by gunfire.
— هادي العبدالله Hadi (@HadiAlabdallah) May 1, 2016
On YouTube, Alabdallah shares this video [Graphic Content] showing the horror the residents of Aleppo have and continue to suffer:
He pleads with the world to watch it.
And that's what the world has been doing: watching the horror unfold in Syria.
Global Voices’ own Marcell Shehwaro, a resident of Aleppo, who has been sharing her own story and experiences in Dispatches from Syria: Marcell Shehwaro on Life in Aleppo, shares this telling photograph on her Facebook page:
“It is now time for the daily air strikes on Aleppo city.
Enjoy your movie!” Photograph shared by Marcell Shehwaro on Facebook
Aleppo was famous as a trading and business city with the wealthiest merchants residing in it. It was also the industrial hub of Syria, hosting some of the biggest and most advanced pharmaceutical and textile factories.
The city, which is now in ruins, was also famous for its rich history, a witness of which was the Citadel of Aleppo, which stood strong in the heart of the City. It was home for the Big Umayyad Mousque, from the era of the Umayyad State around 700 AD, and many other religious and historical sites.
Aleppo used to be a true testament of the peaceful coexistence. Apart from its Muslim and big Christian populations, Armenians and Kurds, it was widely populated by Syrian Jews, who left the country in the years that followed the announcement of the State of Israel in 1948.
Assad's regime has been shelling the city on an almost daily basis for the past four years. Everything you read about above does not exist anymore. Some of it barely exists, but with the rate of continuous shelling that has been targeting the liberated (rebel-held) parts of the city, it is only a matter of time before every living soul, every monument, every piece of human history that this city once held, will be gone.
This revived campaign to destroy Aleppo, which witnessed a brief intermittent halt during the ceasefire agreed upon between Russia and the US, is being launched under the eyes and ears of the entire world, including Russia and the US, who seem to turn a blind eye.
One cannot help but think about the international political reasons behind such silence. People are filmed every day and videos are published. They are asking us for help. They need us to move so they can live, barely, as life in Aleppo has been anything but decent, with no electricity, no water, food or medicine, and with the regime shelling civilians from the air and ISIS slaughtering them on the ground. They just need us to share, tweet and stand in solidarity with them. We didn't hesitate to do that for Paris and for Brussels, why stop here?


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‘I Was Forced to Drink My Own Urine’: ‘Freedom’ For Netizens After 647 Days Locked Up, But Not For All · Global Voices
T Tekle

Photo-based graphic of Zelalem Workagegnehu by Melody Sundberg. Image used with permission.
On April 15, 2016, the Ethiopian Federal High Court acquitted two men, Yoantan Wolde and Bahiru Degu, who spent more than 600 days incarcerated on terrorism charges that critics allege were politically motivated. Zelalem Workagenehu, a third man, was not so lucky. He was convicted and will be sentenced on May 10. (On April 26, the public prosecutor submitted a sentence aggravation statement to the court, and Zelalem was asked to file a sentence mitigation letter on his part.) Zelalem is a human rights advocate and a scholar who regularly contributed to the diaspora-run website DeBirhan.
All three were accused under Ethiopia's Anti-Terror Proclamation, which was adopted in July 2009. State officials defend the law, saying it is modeled on existing legislation in countries such as the United Kingdom.
Yonatan Wolde and Bahiru Degu were released after spending 647 days—almost two years—in prison, demonstrating a disturbing trend in Ethiopia where prisoners of conscience are locked away for long periods without a trial.
In what seemed to be a show of brute force, plainclothes security officers re-arrested Yonatan and Bahiru shortly after they left prison on April 18. The two men were held overnight at Maekelawi (Central) Prison, before being released again and warned that they're still under observation.They were also told by the securities “They would be killed if they made any moves,” their relatives say.
Zelalem was initially charged in October 2014, along with a group of nine other defendants that included Internet users, opposition politicians, and activists. So far, seven people in this group have been acquitted after spending more than a year in jail, after which they signed what they now say were false confessions, in order to escape further torture.
The charges against Zelalem include leading a terrorist organization (which is how the government came to define Ginbot 7, a pro-democracy political party founded by Berhanu Nega), conspiring to overthrow the government, and disseminating false information through reports on websites run by the diaspora. For instance, one of Zelalem's coauthors on the De Birhan Blog was also implicated in the case.
The case was later reduced to two charges: recruiting members to start an Arab-Spring-like revolution in Ethiopiaand co-facilitating what the government says was a “training operation to terrorize the country.” (Zelalem says it was actually a training camp to build digital communication, social media, and leadership.)
Yonatan and Bahiru were charged with applying to the participate in Workagenehu's training camp, and suspected of joining Ginbot 7. (They denied these accusations.)
In his ruling, the judge reportedly said that applying to or participating in such training exercises was not illegal and so Yonatan and Bahiru should be acquitted. Despite their two years behind bars, Yonatan and Bahiru aren't entitled to any form of compensation. It's not yet clear if they intend to press the matter in court.
Bahiru Degu, who attended his former co-defendant's trial last week, struggles the most among the three men. He told the court he experienced extensive torture during the first three months of his detention:
I was forced to get naked and was regularly beaten. Due to the severity of the beating, I was unable to control my bowels [sic]. I was forced to drink my own urine.
Like Bahiru Degu, Zelalem Workagenehu and Yonatan Wolde also told the court about the severity of the torture committed against them in prison, saying guards were trying to force them to sign false confessions. A recent report published by Human Rights Watch revealed that Ethiopian investigators and police do abuse journalists and opposition activists, in order to extract confessions:
Police investigators at Maekelawi use coercive methods on detainees amounting to torture or other ill-treatment to extract confessions, statements, and other information from detainees. Detainees are often denied access to lawyers and family members. Depending on their compliance with the demands of investigators, detainees are punished or rewarded with denial or access to water, food, light, and other basic needs.

author: T Tekle


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Is Telegram Really Safe for Activists Under Threat? These Two Russians Aren’t So Sure. · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Is Telegram really safe for activists in repressive environments? Image by Kevin Rothrock.
On April 29, two Russian opposition activists reported that their Telegram messenger accounts had been hacked remotely. Georgy Alburov, a leading member of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, and Oleg Kozlovsky, the director of the Vision of Tomorrow Center in Moscow, believe unauthorized access to their accounts was obtained through tampering with the app's SMS login feature. They suspect the Russian government was involved in the hack.
У кого ночью взломали телеграм, тот я. Интересно, как это возможно? СМС с помощью МТС перехватили? pic.twitter.com/K17uMQhIe6
— Георгий Албуров (@alburov) April 29, 2016
Who had their Telegram hacked last night? Me. I wonder, how is this possible? Hijacked text messages with MTS’ assistance?
Вот как-то так это выглядит. @Telegram, разберитесь там, а? pic.twitter.com/CI6KV6sjiX
— Олег Козловский (@kozlovsky) April 29, 2016
Here's what it looks like. @Telegram, can you deal with this?
The activists note that, according to the messages they received, the unauthorized access attempts on April 29 were made from the same IP-address in New York. Alburov also noted that the hackers used an unofficial, little-known Telegram command line client, TelegramCli, to access their accounts.
While both activists eventually received suspicious login notifications, they did not receive any notices of password changes or authentication requests, and only learned about access attempts because Telegram alerted them that a new device had accessed their accounts.
So how did the hackers gain access to Telegram?
Alburov and Kozlovsky appealed to the Telegram support service, and received a reply saying their accounts were accessed through text-based authorization, which allows users to connect new devices to Telegram accounts simply by entering a verification code received via text message. Because neither Alburov nor Kozlovsky had enabled two-step verification on their accounts, the hackers were able to gain entry.
The question remains: How did the hackers get the text message without the account owners seeing it? Kozlovsky grilled the technical support staff at MTS, one of Russia's largest cell service providers, and discovered that text-message delivery for his SIM card was switched off for several hours during the night his Telegram account was hacked. Though an MTS spokesperson later denied any “intentional” activity aimed at disabling services, Kozlovsky believes the provider is directly implicated in the incident. The activist summarized his findings in a Facebook post attempting to recreate the events:
События развивались следующим образом:
В 2:25 ночи отдел технологической безопасности МТС отключает мне сервис доставки SMS-сообщений.
Через 15 минут, в 2:40, кто-то с Unix-консоли по IP-адресу 162.247.72.27 (это один из серверов анонимайзера Tor) отправил в Telegram запрос на авторизацию нового устройства с моим номером телефона.
Мне было отправлено SMS с кодом, которое доставлено не было (сервис для меня отключен).
В 3:08 злоумышленник вводит код авторизации и получает доступ к моему аккаунту. Telegram присылает мне автоматическое уведомление об этом (которое я прочитаю только утром).
В 3:12 аналогичным образом с того же IP-адреса (т.е. через ту же сессию Tor) взламывается аккаунт Жоры Албурова.
В 4:55 отдел технологической безопасности МТС вновь включает мне сервис доставки SMS.
Причину отключения и включения сервиса МТС мне назвать отказалось, предложив написать письменный запрос.
Here is how the events unfolded:
At 2:25am the technical security department of MTS disables the text message delivery service for my number.
15 minutes later, at 2:40am, someone uses a Unix console via the IP-address 162.247.72.27 (this is a Tor anonymizer exit node) to send Telegram a request to authorize a new device to work with my phone number.
I was then sent a text message with the code, which was not delivered (since the service was disabled for me).
At 3:08am the hacker enters the new authorization code and gains access to my account. Telegram sends me an automatic notification of this (which I will only see in the morning).
At 3:12am Zhora Alburov's account is hacked in a similar fashion from the same IP-address (and through the same Tor session).
At 4:55am the MTS technical security department reactivates the text-message delivery service for my number.
MTS refused to name the cause of disabling and reactivating the service to me, and suggested I send a written request for information.
What remains unclear is how the hackers were able to intercept the text message containing the new authorization code. According to Vladislav Zdolnikov, a technology expert working with the Anti-Corruption Foundation, the attack could have been orchestrated by Russia's State Security Service (FSB) together with MTS, to gain access to the activists’ conversation logs. Zdolnikov speculates that the text message could have been intercepted using a SIM-card clone or directly at the SMS gateway belonging to MTS, as part of the company's collaboration with the authorities through the SORM system.
Нет никаких сомнений, что эта целая спецоперация была организована и частично выполнена именно ФСБ. Ни у какой больше организации нет возможности ночью отключать и включать услугу SMS через отдел технической безопасности федерального оператора связи.
There are no doubts that this whole special operation was organized and partially executed by FSB. No other organization has the capability to disable text messages at night through the technical security department of a federal communication operator.
SORM, which stands for “System for Operative Investigative Activities,” is Russia’s comprehensive communications surveillance system that has been in place since 1996 to enable wiretaps of telephone connections. Over the years, it has evolved to allow broader access to electronic communications, including the installations of black boxes with Russian ISPs to gain access to Internet traffic.
Earlier in April, several Russian journalists, including Roman Shleynov who worked with OCCRP on the Panama Papers investigation, and Oleg Kashin, said they received security warnings from Google about possible state-sanctioned attempts to hijack their email accounts. In September 2015, an editor and a journalist at the newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that their email inboxes had been hacked by persons who obtained unauthorized duplicates of their SIM-cards from cell service providers.
Responding to the news of the hack, Bellingcat contributor Frederick Jacobs drew attention to similar cases of exploiting the SMS login feature to attack Telegram accounts in Iran earlier this year, and critiqued the safety implications of text message logins.
SMS are trivial to intercept for your telecom provider. And in almost all countries, they are actively cooperating with the state to help intercept text messages and phone calls. […]
If a single SMS enables you to get access to a user’s account and data, you designed your system with a backdoor that any serious adversary can exploit.
Telegram's founder Pavel Durov reacted to the news by calling on the app's users in “troubled countries” to use two-step verification as a precaution.
Users from troubled countries: make sure you have 2-step verification enabled – in Telegram and other services https://t.co/w81h4PjFv4
— Pavel Durov (@durov) April 29, 2016
Jacobs, however, believes that users in repressive environments should be even more cautious and would do well “always to use end-to-end encryption” and “verify fingerprints for important communications,” to avoid the dangers of engaging with spoofed accounts.

author: Tanya Lokot


text:
It’s Open Season on Online Hate Speech in Myanmar · Global Voices
Juan Cebu

Source: No-Hate Speech Project / Facebook
Activists have launched a page on Facebook dedicated to addressing the rising number of hate-speech cases in Myanmar. The “No-Hate Speech Project,” available in both Burmese and English, went live in March 2016 with the goal of educating Internet users in Myanmar about dealing with hate speech on social media.
We believe it [is] wrong to deny any group or individual the right to speak out because we oppose their views. Silencing some while favoring others is not a recipe for building tolerance. So we will offer to platform and fairly examine and discuss the ideas and opinions of all.
It is important to understand that not all hate speech is deliberate or intended as such: It is also important to realize that sometimes hate speech comes from an honestly felt fear of the unknown.
Myanmar's semi-civilian military-backed government, which has ruled since 1962, implemented some reforms related to freedom of expression in 2010, such as removing media censorship and unblocking various websites. Last year, the electoral defeat of the country's military-backed political party helped cement many of these democratic reforms.
Over the past six years, during Myanmar's political transformation, Internet connectivity rose from 0.2 percent in 2010 to 12.8 percent in 2015.
But the improvement in digital infrastructure was also accompanied by a disturbing rise in hate speech. In particular, anti-Muslim statements flooded social media, which some analysts believe has contributed to the escalation of communal violence across the country.
Some ultra-nationalist groups, such as Ma-Ba-Tha led by radical Buddhist monks, publicly incited hatred against the Muslim minority, especially the Rohingya ethnic group.
A report published in 2015 by the PEN Myanmar association of writers revealed that hate speech is more pervasive than previously reported. The study also found that hate speech targets not only Muslims, but also members of the political opposition, human rights activists, other ethnic minorities, and even ordinary Internet users who have expressed negative attitudes about the government.
Myanmar is an ethnically diverse country, but Myanmar Buddhists constitute the majority of the population. The Rohingya Muslims, meanwhile, are a stateless people who the government considers to be illegal immigrants.
According to some analysts, Myanmar's 2008 constitution does not provide a clear and consistent legal framework against discrimination. But interfaith community leaders organized a nationwide conference on April 26, 2016, to demand the drafting of a comprehensive legal framework to combat hate speech. The organizer of the conference, Aung Naing Win, said:
We want to work with law enforcement to take action against those who use hate speech, and we want to empower our community through education to positively engage for peace. […]
Our idea is that our religious leaders, civil society leaders, lawyers and the government will work together to create a law [on the issue].
The No-Hate Speech Project functions by identifying an original post that contains hate speech elements and then discredits the hateful statements by countering with facts and alternative viewpoints. Since the project launched in March, it has responded to hate speech that targeted Muslims, women, ethnic rebels, and foreign workers.
After finding hate speech posts on social media, they re-post the offending content on their own Facebook page, accompanied by debunking reviews and explanatory commentary. For example, one of the project's posts uploaded on March 31 countered a racist photo that described a place as an “Islam-free area.” Here's how the group responded to that anti-Islam post:
On February 13, a Facebooker named Soe Naing posted a photo of a sign reportedly to be found outside a village in the Irrawaddy Delta that declares it to be off limits to Muslims. […]
Under the photo, Soe Naing wrote: “The sign impressed me. Give me a “Like” if you agree every area should be Islam-free”.
At the time this post was spotted by this monitor, it already received 8289 Likes; 4234 shares and 517 comments.
Most of the comments were supportive. One named Paingshinme Nalonethar (translated as “Ownerless heart”), wrote: “It would be better if the whole country sticks to this practice. Congratulations Migyaingai.”
Those who argued against the prevailing comments included Htay Ko who stated: “I think you guys are so happy with this -but Buddha would be morose to learn how this contradicts his teachings.
Posts like this can clearly lead to conflict rather than harmony and may incite hatred.
Soe Naing has a total of 4914 friends and 21688 followers on Facebook.
Our Anti-Hate Speech Project is working carefully with colleagues to investigate the background to this sign, whether it actually exists, and if so who put it up.
The No-Hate Speech Project is not the only group in Myanmar trying to tackle online animosity. As hate speech cases became more frequent, several initiatives have emerged to battle intolerance and discrimination directed at religious minorities. Last year, young people started a to promote diversity by encouraging inter-ethnic friendship among youths. On Facebook, there's also a group called Panzagar, which introduced “flower-speech” Facebook stickers.
This year, some Facebook users started using the hashtags #Say_No_to_Racism and #2016_OnlineCampaign to fight hate speech. Many social media users have made posts to the one below, which is the work of activist Moe Thway, who appeals to the public for support against racism.
My name is Moe Thway
I am not a racist.
#Say_No_to_Racisim
#2016_OnlineCampaign
Anyone who is against racism please upload this status.
Join our campaign all.
We need public awareness!!!
Viral Facebook photo uploaded by Panzagar. The text at the bottom reads: “Each religion teaches us to practice peace and love. Don't let your religion have a bad image because of you.”

author: Juan Cebu


text:
‘Not One More’ Network Calls for Protection of Grassroots Environmentalists in Cambodia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Source: ‘Not One More’ network / Facebook
Environmentalists working on the frontlines, in communities threatened by various extractive industries, have a new ally. “Not One More” was founded in honor of Cambodian environmentalist Chut Wutty, who was murdered in 2012 for leading a campaign against the deforestation of Prey Lang, one of the largest remaining evergreen reserves in Southeast Asia. The network spreads awareness about the threats made against grassroots environmentalists:
We aim to support environmentalists at risk, who defy threats and intimidation to protect nature. Protecting our environment is the most important job anyone could take on, it shouldn’t be one of the most dangerous.
We want all who stand up to defend nature to be safe, and to be free.
Since Chut Wutty’s death, “Not One More” reports that attacks against environmentalists have continued:
A new, repressive “NGO law” limits civil society action. Brave activists fighting to protect Cambodia’s mangrove forests from sand mining have been criminalised, and are in jail on trumped up charges. On 26th March, lauded forest defender, Phon Sopheak, was attacked with a machete while sleeping in Prey Lang forest on patrol.
The network honors the work of Chut Wutty, an environmentalist who was murdered in 2012. Source: Facebook
One of Chut Wutty’s colleagues, Leng Ouch, won the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize for work that helped expose illegal logging operations in Cambodia. He stayed committed to the campaign, despite multiple threats against his life. The video below summarizes his advocacy:
Aside from providing information about the situation of community environmentalists, the network also promotes public actions, such as petitions addressed to the government. One current petition urges the Cambodian government to cancel the land concessions it granted to numerous investors:
Our diverse and abundant forests are being destroyed by land-grabbing and ever increasing demand from the timber trade, profiting a small elite, while forest-dependent communities suffer.
I see the suffering of forest communities on a daily basis as I go about my work investigating and campaigning against illegal logging.
“Not One More” is inspired by the work of Cambodian environmentalists, but it also plans to campaign for the protection of environmentalists all around the world.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Hundreds of Chinese Schoolchildren Have Been Poisoned, But Their Affluent Families Aren’t Winning Them Much Sympathy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Parents protest outside the Changzhou Foreign Language School demanding the relocation of the school campus. Photo: Twitter user hotspringfollow
There's a public safety crisis in Changzhou, where hundreds of schoolchildren fell ill after exposure to toxic compounds. Unfortunately for the ailing kids, the public response has been largely unsympathetic, thanks in part to the affluence of the students’ families and their parents’ attempts to treat the incident like an “internal matter”.
The alarm of toxic land ran off after hundreds of school kids fell ill after exposing to toxic compounds in Changzhou. Yet, amid the public safety crisis, the public are not sympathetic to the victims as the elitist parents considered the incident an “internal business” rather than a public incident.
Doctors detected blood and thyroid abnormalities, as well as bronchitis, lymphoma, and leukemia, in more than 500 teenagers studying at the Changzhou Foreign Language School, an elite school for middle-class families. Many of the students soon developed symptoms including rashes, headaches, and coughs after their school moved to a new location in September last year.
The new campus is located near a former industrial site, where the soil and groundwater were contaminated with toxic compounds and heavy metals discharged from three chemical factories.
Parents of the sick teenagers are demanding that the school be relocated to a safer location, but officials and local authorities deny that the current health problems are related to pollution in the soil around the school.
The incident has exposed the issue of soil contamination in China. An official study by the Environmental Protection Ministry released back in 2014, indicated that 16 percent of the soil and 20 percent of the arable land in the country are contaminated. Facing enormous costs involved in cleaning up the pollution, both local authorities and developers are reluctant to invest in the endeavor.
According to local authorities in Changahou, the piece of “toxic land” believed to have harmed the schoolchildren has already been restored and rezoned as a residential and commercial district.
The parents of many of the affected students, however, are government employees and members of the Chinese Communist Party, and they have refused to treat the incident as a public safety crisis, rejecting interview requests by foreign journalists.
“This is our internal business and we should negotiate with the door closed”, the protesters said. Their protest strategy is designed to prevent them from being arrested on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking public disorder”, but it also means they have to rely on the authorities to correct the mistake.
Though the Central China Television did report on the incident on April 17, the state-own media outlet stressed that local authorities are seriously committed to solving the problem. Two days after the CCTV's report, an investigation team from Jiangsu province had collected air, soil, and water samples from the toxic land site for testing.
A week later, on April 25, the city government concluded that the air and food quality around the school were up to safety standards, but admitted that local authorities committed negligence in monitoring the progress of the land's restoration. Contrary to the findings of parents’ private blood tests, state investigators concluded that only 133 students experienced health issues, and the authorities found no evidence that these problems were related to pollution in or around the school.
Though they have advocated a “closed-door” approach to this crisis, the students’ parents are naturally unhappy with the state's findings, but they're finding little sympathy with the public, which has turned against them on class grounds. On Weibo, one of China's popular social media platforms, the majority of the comments on the reports about the “pain of middle-class families” are written with a critical tone:
什么社会精英和体制内，从来不过是自以为是罢了，在没有独立法治约束的强权面前，都不过是垃圾和尘埃，在不公降临之际，身份地位和财产家人？你什么也保护不了。
They identified themselves as social elites and members of the establishment. Yet, without the protection of judicial independence, when they face injustice, they turn into trash and dust regardless of their social status and property. There is nothing to protect you.
你不关心政治，你觉得努力赚够了钱就能过上幸福的生活，生活迎面给了你一记耳光。
You don't care about politics and believe that money can bring you a happy life. Then the reality slaps you on your face.
家长们，你们大概被忽悠了！这事发生在常州，不让常州以外的媒体的采访！你们这是在维护常州领导的脸面，不让他们在全国，乃至全球的人民面前出丑。关起门来就没人知道了吗？为了所谓家丑不可外扬，自己的合法权益也不想维护了吗？你们真是好市民，但你们维护的是贪官和不作为的庸官的脸面。
Parents, you've been cheated. You think, by containing the incident within Changzhou, you can save the faces of Changzhou's leaders from being criticized by the country and the world. You want to shut the door to protect the scandal from leaking outside the family. You give up your right altogether. You are really good citizens to save the corrupt and irresponsible officials.
真是活该，那你们现在闹什么?领导让你孩子死，那死就是了。
You deserve such an outcome. Why are you still complaining? The leaders want your children dead and you should let them die.
愚蠢的成人，倒霉的学生。你国的事你就自己解决吧！老外帮你操心你给人一分钱了吗？
Stupid adults. Unfortunate school kids. Let your country solve its own business. Foreign journalists gain nothing from reporting about you.
Similar sarcasm could be found in another news thread on Weibo:
这篇文章高度概括了国人的劣根性：胆小、懦弱、自私、护短、最重要的是不团结！！总以为别人的事与你无关，自己出了事却呼天抢地抱怨没人帮自己！
The report has summed up the negative character of Chinese: fearful, cowardly, selfish, cover-up mistakes, and most importantly, they have failed to stay united. They used to neglect others’ misfortune, but when they become the victim, they keep complaining that no one is helping them.
嘿不错了，至少在全国范围内大家知道了有这么回事，地方政府的表现也告诉大家以后就知道该怎么办了。回过头来说，如果仅仅是一个普通的中学呢？一群底层的孩子呢？不寒而栗啊！我们这些既不是公务员也不是官员，没有几套房也不在大型企业上班……我们该怎么办？
The result is so far so good. At least people know what has happened and the reaction of the local government has informed us what we should be expected next time when similar things happen. Looking back, if the school is just an ordinary elementary school and the kids come from lower class, what would have happened? It is chilling just to imagine the result. For those of us who are not civil servants or government officials, who don't own multiple apartments or work in big corporates… what should we do?

author: Oiwan Lam


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Iranian Cartoonist Atena Farghadani Goes Free on World Press Freedom Day · Global Voices
Tori Egherman

Atena Farghadani with her mother, Saedeh Zeynali. Image: Facebook
The Iranian activist and cartoonist Atena Farghadani has been released from Evin Prison. On April 26, Global Voices reported that her sentence had been reduced from 12 years to 18 months. On World Press Freedom Day, May 3, she was released.
The cartoonist's May 3 release was a popular subject on social media throughout Iran and the international human rights community, including this tweet by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran:
آتنا فرقدانی آزاد شد pic.twitter.com/NO1J61iFxv
— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) May 3, 2016
Atena Faraghdani has been freed.
Persian readers can find out more here: آتنا فرقدانی از زندان اوین آزاد شد+تصویر
For past coverage on Global Voices of Atena Farghadani's case:

author: Tori Egherman


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Kazakhstan’s Defence Ministry Shows How the Country’s Women in Arms Have Changed Through the Ages · Global Voices
Akhal-Tech Collective

Kazakh women: Defenders of the nation. Screenshot from YouTube video posted on the official channel of the Kazakh Ministry of Defense.
Seemingly in a nod to the upcoming Victory Day holiday celebrated throughout the former Soviet Union and amid efforts to attract more recruits into the army, Kazakhstan's defence ministry has released a video showing how the Central Asian country's women warriors have changed over the last 550 years.
Why 550 years, though?
Well, in recent times Kazakhstan's government has been propagating the idea of the Kazakh khanate as the medieval state which provided the historical basis for modern-day Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh khanate had rarely been mentioned beyond Kazakh academic circles before it got a political shot in the arm following Russian President Putin's public comments that Kazakhs “had never had a state” prior to their independence from the Soviet Union.
Those comments were made amid bilateral tensions between the two countries over the Ukraine crisis in 2014 and the following year Kazakhstan marked 550 years since the foundation of the Kazakh khanate in a nationwide celebration of the country's nomadic history.
As for the participation of women in the armed forces, this seems to be a theme being promoted by current defence minister Imangali Tasmagambetov.
Tasmagambetov, who is occasionally mentioned as a potential successor to 75-year-old President Nursultan Nazarbayev, was moved to his post following high-profile stints as mayor of Kazakhstan's two largest cities Almaty and Astana, and seems determined not to drop out of the public's view.
The minister was widely praised by netizens last year for holding a ‘Miss Army‘ competition that promoted the role Kazakh women of all ages and backgrounds played in the forces, while aiming to persuade more men and women to sign up.
The latest piece of ministry propaganda is somewhat reminiscent of the viral ‘100 Years of Beauty’ series highlighting changes in women's fashion across different countries.
The ministry's emphasis on the approximately 8,000 women serving in Kazakhstan's military has been welcomed by many.
Women activists in Central Asia and the broader ex-Soviet region often complain holidays such as the May ‘Victory Day’ holiday and the ‘Defenders of the Fatherland’ holiday in February are excessively masculinized, fostering negative gender stereotypes and downplaying female contributions to the region's history.
But in using a single ethnic Kazakh heroine, the ministry's video perhaps does a disservice to the role other ethnic groups played in defending the multinational country in the 20th century (and particularly during World War Two) when Kazakhstan was a part of the Soviet Union.

author: Akhal-Tech Collective


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One Woman’s Experience Breaking India’s Feminine Ideal—With a Mohawk · Global Voices
Sohini Chatterjee

What is beauty? Image from Flickr by Vhines200 CC: BY-ND
They don't say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” for nothing. What's considered beautiful is in most cases subjective. It varies across cultures and is deeply influenced by traditions and gender norms.
In India, ask about the definition of “traditional feminine beauty” and you'll receive a plethora of opinions and judgements. India opened up its economy to international businesses in the 1990s, and since then Western tastes have had a powerful influence on fashion. Many women of the younger generation challenge traditional Indian beauty standards with their preference for jeans over the salwar kameez and hairstyles that aren't long and oiled curls —  something that isn't always welcome in a conservative society.
When international visual artist Sharmistha Ray returned to her country of birth, India, after finishing graduate studies, she found out precisely that.
In a recently published article in Medium, Ray recounts that what made her stand out was unfortunately not her work but her hair, which she wore in a buzz cut at the time. She also wore minimal make-up. One day, she was propositioned by a government official to be an escort. That's when she says she discovered she was unwittingly rebelling against the traditional Indian feminine ideal.
She says she tried for a short while to conform, while working a job in a corporate art gallery in India’s financial capital and nucleus of glitz and glamour, Mumbai. She grew out her hair and even learned the fine art of walking in stilettos without letting out even the mildest of whimpers.
Part of the reason why long hair is a norm of Indian beauty if that it is part of Hindu spirituality. Image from Flickr by Maureen Barlin, Agra, India. CC: BY-NC-ND 2.0
But she eventually began reverting back to her true self. She cut her hair short.
The decision was not without severe bouts of anxiety about how I would be perceived. In a country where the social collective defines one’s identity, asserting the right to define myself was probably the most radical thing I could have done. For a while, having short hair became a real liability, especially after I gave up all pretenses of femininity. I could see the looks of alarm, then pity on people’s faces. I constantly had to explain myself to others. There were whispers, giggles and derogatory comments: “She’s gone butch.”
Choosing to live life on her own terms she says brought her unparalleled happiness. She even started wearing a blonde mohawk.
I believe it’s only when we allow all individuals to express themselves in mind and body that we can start imagining a country that nourishes true equality. I want this for India. […] My hair is only one aspect of my expression, but in a culture that radically rejects anything that doesn’t conform to binary gendering, it’s also come to symbolize personal and creative freedom.
Ray is an upper-class, educated and independent woman. Despite all her privileges, she was still called unflattering names when she tried to be herself in a way that went against India's gender norms. Social media is full of comments like this associating women wearing short hair with angry, unreasonable “feminists”.
How one chooses to look is a deeply personal thing. It may or may not be laden with meanings or motives, but it nonetheless provides an avenue for self-expression. If a woman chooses to wear her hair short or dresses in a way which may seem subversive, let's let her be.

author: Sohini Chatterjee


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Something Unprecedented Is Happening in The Gambia and You Probably Have No Idea · Global Voices
Demba Kandeh

People waving in a protest against president Yahya Jammeh in the Gambia. Image: YouTube
Last month witnessed an unprecedented uprising in the tiny West African nation of The Gambia. The protests haven't garnered much attention in the international media, thanks in part to repressive efforts by the country's erratic leader, Yahya Jammeh.
In April 2016, protests started with a peaceful demonstration for electoral reforms led by Ebrima Solo Sandeng, the youth head of the main opposition party, United Democratic Party’s (UDP). By the end of the protest, security forces rounded up and detained Sandeng and more than a dozen other UDP supporters who joined him at the rally.
Within 48 hours of those arrests, news broke that Sandeng and two other UDP members had died in police custody. This led to new demonstrations, now led by UDP's leader, Ousainou Darboe, who demanded the release of the remaining electoral reform protesters, dead or alive.
After barely marching for 300 meters, Darboe and at least two dozen supporters were arrested by police. Some protesters were later released, but Ousainou Darboe and 19 others remain in custody, charged but awaiting hearings for bail. They have since appeared several times in court with heavy security escort, while their families, fellow party supporters, and sympathisers turn out in large numbers during their hearings to chant solidarity slogans, demanding their release.
Several videos and pictures have surfaced on Gambian social media showing hundreds of people protesting against what they called the country's “killer regime”.
A large crowd was seen marching to Ousainou Darboe's home chanting “We Need “Solo Sandeng Dead or Alive”:
Protesters in #Gambia calling on The Gov't to produce Solo Sandeng ‘dead or alive’ after he went missing upon arrest pic.twitter.com/4aA1JT398i
— Fatu Camara (@Fatushow) 29 de abril de 2016
Protestors in Gambia's capital Banjul. Photo: UDP Facebook page
Social media users are calling the demonstrations an act of great defiance against President Yahya Jammeh:
The PIU [Police Intervention Unit] and police being address about why change must happen. Bravo youths.#Banjul high Court. The ground for defiance
More than 90 percent of The Gambia's population are Muslim. In December 2015, Jammeh, a self proclaimed Muslim and spiritual healer, declared the country to be an Islamic republic, but many have challenged this claim.
In Gambia, politicians often use religious cults to gain popularity, while religious leaders trade favours with those in the corridors of power. Being a predominantly Muslim nation, it comes as little surprise that protesters have invoked religious sentiments in their demonstrations.
A group of women showed up in court waving calabash in the air and chanting slogans of freedom from the country's national anthem. (The waving of calabashes is seen as a form of curse in African culture and show of determination during difficult times.)
Similarly, another group of protesters led by several Muslim imams turned up outside the high court chanting praises to God.
Meanwhile, the courts have repeatedly relied on technicalities to deny the detained protesters release on bail. The court case continues on Thursday, May 5, 2016, for a bail hearing. UDP supporters and sympathisers are expected to turn out in large numbers. But analysts say the dragging of the case is meant to frustrate court attendees and slowly kill the enthusiasm for change generated by the opposition.
There are fears over whereabouts of 8 detained activists who were arrested during the demonstrations who have not appeared before any court. Solo Sandeng and two others who allegedly died in detention are among the eight. Disappearance without trace is common in the Gambia.
Amnesty International and a host of other human rights organisation have called for the release of all detainees.

author: Demba Kandeh


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The Hot and Cold Secrets of the Persian Kitchen · Global Voices
Tori Egherman

By Joe mon bkk – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
One of the keys to Persian cooking is understanding that some foods are considered hot and others cold. What exactly does that mean? Global Voices asked Persian food expert Maryam Sinaiee, of the website Persian Fusion, to explain the concept:
Hot and cold don’t really refer to the temperature of food or its ingredients, they are rather descriptions of inherent properties in food ingredients that cause changes in the body.
The concept is based on Unani medicine [an ancient Greek medicinal tradition], according to which, individuals differ in nature too [with] some having a hot nature and others, cold. These attributes are associated with the color and temperature of the skin, temperament, etc.
In practice, this means that if you have a health problem that is categorized as “hot”, you would eat cold food to counter it. The opposite is also true: if you have a “cold” nature, eating too much cold food can throw you off-balance.
Sinaiee explained:
It’s quite elaborate and complicated so I’ll be giving you a very simplified version. Generally, high-energy, high-fat foods and most spices are considered hot. Many vegetables and grains, such as rice, are considered cold. The aim of the Persian cook is to balance hot and cold ingredients in a dish as components of a meal, or to correct the imbalance [that is] causing trouble to an individual, with food.
But does every Iranian cook have a chart of hot and cold foods — or a chart of each diner's needs?
Most Iranians, at least the older generation, just know these things or ask more knowledgeable people around them. When things are too difficult to address by home remedies, a traditional doctor may be consulted too.
For instance, everybody knows that chocolate and nuts are hot. So if a person has a rash, they’ll immediately tell him to hold off these foods. They might tell them to drink distilled chicory plant water, because it has a cooling effect on the body and will help get rid of the rash.
Coriander (cilantro) and sour plums are considered as cold. So if a person has fever, they’ll usually be given a coriander and plum soup (ash-e geshniz ba alu) to help with the fever.
Is this starting to make sense? The Iranian version of your grandmother's chicken soup is coriander and plum soup. Sounds delicious! Sinaeei added:
Traditional dishes are usually very balanced, though. Take fesenjoon, a scrumptious Persian stew of chicken or duck in walnut and pomegranate sauce. Walnuts are considered hot and pomegranates cold. Or rice with broad beans (fava beans) which is called baghali polo. Broad beans are considered as very cold, rice is cold too, so the dish is balanced with the addition of dill, a hot herb. The same goes with fish, a cold meat. It’s usually eaten with rice filled with herbs like dill, as well as with garlic, another hot ingredient. Yogurt, a cold food, will never, ever, appear alongside fish on a Persian table.
Duck Fesenjoon by Flickr User Insatiablemunch. CC BY 2.0
In other words, hot and cold categories can also help balance out a menu:
Persians love to eat tender, new season, romaine lettuce hearts with a syrup made from wine vinegar and sugar. That’s because lettuce is cold and the syrup’s heat will balance it.
Unsurprisingly, the summer and winter months require their own special foods — cold for summer and hot for winter:
Generally, hot dishes are served during the colder seasons. Normally, the rich and luxurious fesenjoon is saved for colder months, unless there is a big feast with many dishes to choose from. In summer, people usually tend to eat food of a colder nature — [dishes that are] less rich and made with lots of vegetables, cucumbers and yogurt.
The hot-and-cold rule stands true for desserts too — and yogurt is a go-to counterbalance for hot foods:
After a meal with a cold dish like fish, a Persian family will usually serve a hot dessert made with lots of sugar, fat, and spices such as cinnamon. An example is khagineh, a sort of big pancake torn into pieces and drowned in a saffron-spiked syrup.
Yogurt is often served with or stirred into certain other dishes if they are hot. In my grandparent’s house, there was a bowl of ground, dried, bitter orange peel mixed with ginger (both hot ingredients) and sugar on the table too, as if all the precautions that my grandmother (a fabulous cook) took were not enough. My grandfather took a spoonful after most meals, presumably because he considered most food as cold.
For first-time visitors to an Iranian feast, the spread of food can be overwhelming — but that hasn't stopped many fans of Persian cooking from sharing their food photos on Instagram.
In this photo shared by Instagram user shore.coli, there is plenty of hot and cold to go around:
غذایی مانوس با طبیعت ، از دریا تا کوه و جنگل… تنها گیلانیان اند که می دانند چگونه طبیعت را به لذت تبدیل کنند عکس از میهمان عزیزمان: @vanilla.bakery
A photo posted by رستوران محلی شور کولی (@shore.coli) on
Nature's bounty…from the sea to the mountains…an enjoyment of nature unique to Gilanis [people from the Northern Iranian province of Gilan]. Photo from one of our guests @vanilla.bakery.
This shot of bagali polo, that master mix of hot and cold, was uploaded by Instagram user foodie_express:
M A H I C H E 🍗🍚 – Tender Lamb Shank, Slowly Cooked In Saffron & Tomato Sauce with Persian Rice Layered with Broad Beans & Fresh Dill #Persian #Iran #mahiche #kebab #persianfood #persianrice #nihari
A photo posted by @foodie_express on
This photo of romaine hearts dipped in vinegar and mint syrup (sekanjabin) was shared by Instagram user vida.rahimzadeh:
. . #كاهو #سكنجبين يكى از #نوستالژى هاى منه ☺😌 . آيا شما هم همچنين حسى نسبت بهش داريد😉
A photo posted by @vida.rahimzadeh on
#Lettuce #sekanjabin [vinegar and mint syrup]…one of my best #memories ☺😌. Do you also share that feeling 😉


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Trinidad and Tobago Has Qualified for Gymnastics in the Olympics, So Why Aren’t People Happier About It? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A screenshot of a YouTube video of Marisa Dick, Trinidad & Tobago's gymnastics representative at the 2016 Olympics, competing at the Pan American Games in Toronto in 2015.
Marisa Dick, the Canadian gymnast with familial ties to Trinidad and Tobago, has been finalised as the twin island republic's representative at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It is the first time in history that the Caribbean nation will be represented in the sport of gymnastics at this level, but the road to get there was paved with controversy.
Even the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC), Brian Lewis, admitted that “this is not a very happy day for the TTOC, the Olympic movement and the members of the games committee”:
This circumstance and situation is a dark cloud over the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic movement […] It was one of the most gruelling and difficult situations that the TTOC has ever found itself in. We could have made decisions on the basis of purely our emotion and anger but that wasn’t the responsible legal position to take.
The circumstance that Lewis is referring to is the cut and thrust that has been taking place ever since a topless Instagram photo of Thema Williams, the Trinidadian gymnast who ranked highest at the Glasgow Games and was earmarked to go to the Gymnastics Test Event in Rio, was anonymously brought to the attention of the Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation (TTGF), the sport's local governing body. Williams was placed before a disciplinary committee; ironically, shortly thereafter, a topless photo that Dick posted of herself on Snapchat was also brought to public attention.
With disciplinary action against both gymnasts still pending, the TTGF was under public pressure to announce its pick for the Rio Test Event, which took place in mid-April. The TTGF chose Williams — and then pulled her as the representative (allegedly without due consultation with either the gymnast or her coach) — flying in Dick to compete in her place.
There was an immediate public outcry and much legal wrangling; there were even calls for the TTGF board to step down. In the end, though, some feel that it was all for naught — at least in the sense that Williams, the higher-ranking gymnast who many netizens believe deserved to go to Rio, has had her Olympic dream crushed. On the other hand, it is a historic moment for Trinidad and Tobago — never before has the country been represented in an Olympic gymnastics event.
It is clear, however, that much of the decision-making has been motivated by legalities. Wired868, the sports website that has been closely following developments, reported:
The choice, for the TTOC, was between Dick or nobody. […]
Lewis revealed that, in the last two weeks, he received a pre-action protocol letter from the Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation (TTGF) — after he tweeted that the TTOC would not rubber-stamp the TTGF’s wishes — legal warnings from Williams’ attorneys and the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) and threats of financial boycott from the public.
‘The TTOC wasn’t between a rock and a hard place,’ said Lewis, in response to one question. ‘The TTOC was between a rock and a very hard rock.’
It appears, though, that even while the TTOC is implying that its hands were tied over the decision to endorse Dick, the local Olympic body may very well be considering taking legal action against the TTGF in order to determine whether it “has infringed the TTOC constitution, the Olympic charter, and the International Olympic Committee’s code of ethics in respect of their duty to be fair.”
Screengrab of a YouTube video of Trinidad & Tobago gymnast, Thema Williams, competing on the Uneven Bars at the 2015 qualifiers in Scotland.
It remains to be seen, however, whether it is worth taking any legal action against the TTGF, when the FIG (the international gymnastics body) has said that the TTGF was not in breach of proper procedure at the Olympic Test event. That has not stopped the public criticism of the local gymnastics federation. Williams’ coach was also very critical of the TTGF, saying in a public post on his Facebook page:
What a shameful moment in sports. If there were ever a blatant display of unethical and corrupt sports management, THIS WAS IT! The TTGF showcased their 10 foot tall and bullet proof, in your face, we do as we please, the hell with who gets hurt in the process, mentality for the world to see. What a epic moment for the proper message to be sent in response to their narcissistic and unthinkable actions. What an opportunity to show the world that honesty, integrity and RULES do matter. What a moment to stand firm and tall. What a shame!
Ironically, it was allegedly Geddert's critical report of Williams’ performance in Rio — and his reference to an injury she had — that allegedly prompted the TTGF to replace her with Dick.
Twitter has been flooded with commentary about the issue and overwhelming support for Thema Williams. One Twitter user put out a quick poll:
Simple Question… Simple Answer #Thema #Dick #Gymnastics #RioOlympics2016 #Trinidad #Tobago
— Shahad Ali (@shahadali) April 20, 2016
Others were pleading — in vain, as it turned out — for the TTOC to step up:
@TTOlympic Please preserve whatever is left of the principles in this entire sordid affair. It is wrong what hpnd to #ThemaWilliams
— Pearce Robinson (@pearcerobinson) April 19, 2016
One Twitter user was of the opinion that the TTGF made a bad decision on many levels:
Trinidad and Tobago just lost a great chance to medal at the this year's Olympics. Possibly a gold medal #ThemaWilliams
— Jaysen Alexander (@desfox4357) April 17, 2016
For every social media user who thought Dick was being unfairly maligned…
If #MarisaDick isn't “Trini enough”, was #ChrisBirchall when he scored our qualifying goal against Bahrain?#TeamTTO#i4tandt#themawilliams
— Khadine (@khadine868) April 18, 2016
…there was one who did not:
Who in #MarisaDick family pay for #ThemaWilliams to get axed at the last minute? Dick wasn't even training for the event!!
— Tra5ey (@Tra5ey) April 16, 2016
Some netizens were focused on the bigger implications of the controversy and hoped that it would lead to positive change in the sporting fraternity. Canadian sports attorney Dr. Emir Crowne tweeted:
Whatever the outcome, I hope the #ThemaWilliams matter is a catalyst for reform in how sports disputes are handled. #Trinidad #SportsLaw
— Dr. Emir Crowne (@SportsLaws) April 17, 2016
Still, many remained sceptical:
Trinidad: Where corruption and personal interest always overpowers dedication and hard work. I'm so sorry, @ThemaY_Williams. You are a star.
— Teresa Sabga (@teresamarias) May 2, 2016
Unfairness n injustice reign supreme in this country. I'm so sorry @ThemaY_Williams my heart is broken for u. U didn't deserve any of this.😔
— cherisse moe (@cherissemoett) May 2, 2016
They can take the moment away but they can't kill the dream.. We still stand with you @ThemaY_Williams
— Lene (@Charlene113) May 2, 2016

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Trinidad and Tobago Is Sending a Gymnast to the Olympics For The First Time, But It’s Not Who You Think · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Screenshot of a YouTube video of Trinidadian gymnast, Thema Williams, practising at her coach John Geddert's gym in the United States.
The controversy over which gymnast will eventually represent Trinidad and Tobago at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil has had more twists and turns than a gymnastics routine.
A quick recap: Trinidad-born gymnast Thema Williams, who was announced as the country's Olympic pick for the Rio Test Event, was suddenly replaced by Canada-born Marisa Dick, who holds dual citizenship. The Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation (TTGF) board claimed their decision to replace Williams — allegedly because of because of an injury she had sustained — was in her best interest, but the reality is that Williams had been put before a disciplinary committee a few weeks prior, over a topless photo she posted on Instagram. Ironically, a topless photo of her competitor, Dick, surfaced shortly thereafter on Snapchat.
There are many who believe Williams’ forced withdrawal was illegal; in fact, her attorney tried to challenge the decision before her replacement took the floor in Rio, but to no avail. However, since her untimely homecoming, Williams and her team have served legal notice of their intention to seek “damages, declarations, and relief for all of the wrongdoings” from the TTGF. Wired868, the sports site that has been devotedly covering developments, noted:
According to Williams’ contract with the local gymnastics body, she could only have been removed from the competition by the head of delegation after consultation with her coach, Geddert, and relevant medical personnel.
Marquez [the TTGF president] confirmed at a press conference […] that the TTGF did not tick all those boxes but countered that the body was forced at act swiftly in the interest of the sport, after concerns about Williams’ health.
The website also alluded to a conflict of interest:
A posting on the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) website, which was last updated in 2015, listed Dick’s coaches as Ovidiu Serban and Ricardo Lue Shue with Anita Pelletier as choreographer.
Lue Shue, who is the TTGF second vice president, and his wife, Donna Lue Shue, who is the assistant treasurer, were involved in the decision to replace Williams with Dick.
In her legal action, Williams is claiming, among other things, a breach of the athlete’s agreement, unfair treatment, bad faith, bias, and consequential damages. Her lawyers are asking that she be confirmed as Trinidad and Tobago’s representative for the 2016 Olympics, that the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) declare the TTGF’s actions as unfair, and that damages be awarded to the value of a scholarship to the University of Michigan (which Williams turned down to pursue her Olympic dream).
Meanwhile, the TTOC president, Brian Lewis, said that the organisation had received confirmation of the TTGF’s sole qualifying spot for the Rio competition. Since Williams was pulled from the test event, the only eligible gymnast to take the spot is Dick. The local Olympic body has until May 9 to decide if they will take up the berth.
Today, however, in an announcement that many netizens did not anticipate, the TTOC announced that Dick would be the gymnast to go to the Rio games.
It was common knowledge that the higher scoring gymnast at the Glasgow Games would represent the country at Rio — and that gymnast was Williams — raising a slew of questions about whether Dick always knew that she still had a chance to compete, whether the international gymnastics body was culpable in any way, and whether Williams still had a chance to represent her country.
That chance to fulfil her Olympic dream is what most social media users were primarily concerned about — and there still seemed to be a sliver of hope. Wired868 interviewed Canadian sports attorney Dr Emir Crowne, who said:
‘There does exist a chance of Thema still going to the Olympics. There is a committee called the Tripartite Commission; and in every sport they deal with exceptions to the rule…The deadline to file that application was January 15. But they do allow late applications in exceptional circumstances. And I think it is safe to say that this is nothing short of exceptional circumstances.’
The International Olympic Committee’s Tripartite Commission, accessible through the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, would have been Williams’ final hope, until the TTOC president revealed that:
The FIG [the international gymnastics body] has confirmed today that no name change or replacement is possible at this stage […] Any approach to the Tripartite Commission can only be made through the auspices of the TTOC with the endorsement of the Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation.
Some bloggers, however, were always sceptical about the TTGF being made accountable for its actions. According to the blog Square Peg (Round Hole):
It’s clear that – at best – the TTGF misstepped all over the place in their handling of this matter. They also misstepped in their assumption that this incredibly blatant… screwup… would go unnoticed by wider society. At this point, it would be less of an embarrassment for them to step down and avoid tarnishing T&T’s fledgling involvement in Olympic gymnastics any further.
Of course, that would require them to be more concerned with protecting the sport than with pushing their own agenda.