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France, Africa: Suitcases Filled with Cash Expose the Françafrique Connection · Global Voices
Claire Ulrich

In the wake of the Dominique Strauss Kahn scandal, a new furore is now rocking France and the upcoming 2012 French presidential campaign.
Robert Bourgi, a shady lawyer and advisor for “African affairs” has confessed [fr] to French media he acted for years as a go-between for French  politicians and Francophone Africa heads of states, delivering approximatively $20  million in cash to former President Chirac, former Minister of Foreign  Affairs Dominique de Villepin, and extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, to finance past election campaigns.
Screen shot of Lawyer R. Bourgi on BFM TV
“Not exactly breaking news”
Despite the storm of denials and libel suits, Mwona Mboka in Congo echoed a widely  shared feeling [fr], in France and in Africa:
Ce n’est pas un  scoop, tout le monde le sait. Il a tout    simplement oublié  de nous  révéler le montant des commissions qu’il    prenait au passage.
Françafrique, a generic name for French neocolonialism and the  plundering of  natural resources in its former colonies, has been investigated  for years,  though books, articles and  documentaries (video). However, this is the first time that a key player of  the “Françafrique” network, on a first-name basis with African presidents, have revealed insider information.
His confession reads like a mafia-film script: wads of cash stuffed in  suitcases or  even in African drums delivered to the Elysee Palace, codenames  such as “Mamadou” for Minister De villepin, and “Daddy” for  late Gabonese President Omar Bongo.
The cast of alleged funders, all African presidents, include: the late Omar Bongo in Gabon,  Blaise  Compaoré in Burkina Faso, Laurent  Gbagbo in Cote d'Ivoire,  President Wade and his son Karim in Senegal,  Denis Sassou Nguesso in the Republic of Congo, and even  President of  Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish  colony, Teodoro Obiang.
A close aide of ex President Gbagbo [fr] in Côte d'Ivoire has confirmed Bourgi's allegations.
'50 years of Françafrique is enough!' – Demonstration poster (2010) from website Survie.org
Reactions from African blogospheres
Thousand of comments and reactions have flooded  African blogospheres. In the Republic of Congo, an oil-rich country riled with poverty, 216 Congolese expressed on Mwinda.com [fr] the anger, humiliation and exasperation shared by netizen accross Francophone Africa.
René Mavoungou Pambou [fr]:
Voilà   qu’on nous flanque en plein visage les méfaits ou crimes dont  est    capable la prétendue douce France, berceau des droits de l’homme.
Mouk writes [fr]:
tant que la France sera en Afrique, il n y aura ni paix   ni développement. la classe  politique française étant l'une des plus   prostituées au monde, la démocratie et les libertés pour les africains   ne la concernent pas.
Ata Ndele, on the same comment thread, is thinking ahead [fr]:
Les spécialistes africains du droit peuvent-ils nous dire    si nous  pouvons , nous aussi, porter plainte en tant que partie    civile ?
A number of commentators, like Yacobi, turn their anger toward their leaders [fr]:
Vous hommes politiques africains, commencez à mieux traiter vos peuples, les blancs vont vous regarder différemment.
Mame Diop, on his Facebook page [fr], links the money sent to France and the widespread underdevelopment:
Combien de mères vont encore mourir ce soir en  donnant la vie, faute de  dispensaire, d'ambulances, de routes  praticables, de médecins! Combien? […] Débarrassons nous de cette bande de macaques!!!
'When will we quit?' – Anti-Françafrique poster
In Senegal, Seneweb [fr] site is bursting with reactions to the alleged implication of President Wade and his son, as the 2012 presidential election looms:
Lune: Je crois que laisser une minute de plus Abdoulaye Wade et sa maudite famille à la tete de notre pays releverait de la lacheté
Mooo [fr]:
je pense que le temps est venu de limiter nos relations avec ces  puissances occidentales voyous qui nous ont maintenu dans la pauvreté,les guerres civiles,les dictatures pendant des siècles.Le  moment est venu pour l'Afrique de s'ouvrir aux autres puissances et pays  émergents tels:La Chine,Le Japon,le Brésil et certains pays arabes.Nos  relations d'avec les puissances occidentales pendant des siècles ne  nous valu que tristesse et misère.
Senegalese Ahmadou Fall thinks it is already the case [fr] on Afrique en ligne:
Le choix des dirigeants (chefs d'États) n'est plus une prérogative de  la  France au gré de ses intérêts et de sa stratégie géopolitique.La France  qui reçoit ces valises de la honte, remplies  de billets destinés au  financement occulte de partis politiques est  cette même France qui perd  sa place dans cette Afrique qui s'oriente  vers d'autres partenaires…Le  Rwanda de Paul Kagame l'illustre assez  bien avec la destitution du  français comme langue officielle, au profit  de l'anglais. La percée des  pays asiatiques en lieu et place des  anciennes puissances coloniales  montre qu'il faut plus que jamais  changer d'attitude et de stratégie…
Adopt a French presidential candidate!
In Burkina Faso, a country troubled by violent mutinies in the army, Leyla M. Diallo launches a tongue-in-cheeck appeal to her  president, on opposition Facebook group Blaise Campaoré doit partir (Blaise Campaoré must go) [fr]:
Toi  qui es assuré de gagner ton élection à 80% des  suffrages exprimés,   partage un peu de ta béatitude avec un candidat  perclus de   sous-financement aigu sévère. Toi, dont les dépenses  courantes sont   moins contrôlées que dans les pays du Nord: parraine un  présidentiable   français!”
Faso.net has republished a column from Le Pays, urging civil society to come forward [fr]:
les Africains doivent comprendre qu’ils sont les vrais  perdants  dans cette histoire. Il est temps qu’ils fassent preuve de  maturité et  prennent à bras-le-corps leurs responsabilités.   L’obligation de rendre compte, inhérente à toute gouvernance   démocratique, doit cesser d’être un simple discours. La balle est, pour   cet aggiornamento, dans le camp de la société civile africaine. Elle   doit sortir de sa torpeur et prendre le relais, pour demander des   explications à tous les gouvernants
In France, where a judge has scheduled a preliminary hearing of Robert Bourgi, Survie.org, the pioneer organisation who filed a lawsuit against African  leaders and their “ill gotten gains” in France, urges French voters to demand a thorough parliamentary investigation, on the eve of their own presidential election:
un tel audit devra poser toutes les questions qui   fâchent, qu’il s’agisse du soutien aux dictateurs africains et aux   contreparties obtenues, du financement occulte de la vie politique   française, du rôle de l’armée française et de ses multiples ingérences, des multinationales, du franc CFA,  etc.Au-delà des mallettes et des millions d’euros évoqués dans cette   affaire, il est utile de rappeler que l’Afrique est victime d’une   prédation économique et financière particulièrement sophistiquée


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Russia, Ukraine: Gas Relations Analysis · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Nils van der Vegte of RussiaWatchers examines the current status of the gas relations between Russia and Ukraine.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Serbia: Discussing Report on ICT Use by State Statistical Office · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Slobodan Markovic has initiated [sr] a Twitter discussion (#ICTSrbija) about the report on the use of ICT issued by the State Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (noted in an earlier GVO article). A recap is available in English, Macedonian, and Albanian language.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Tunisia: Bloggers Join Election Race · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Tunisians will head to the polls to elect a national constituent assembly which will be in charge of writing their country's new constitution on October 23, 2011.
This year's election is different from the previous ones which used to end up with Ben Ali's party often winning about 90 per cent of the votes. In this year's election the competition seems fierce and the results are expected to be so close.
After the fall of the former regime, restrictions on running for the election were loosened. According to the Independent Commission for the Election, 1,700 electoral lists inside and outside the country will compete for 218 seats in the constituent assembly.
Seven bloggers decided to join the election race.
Adib Samoud. Picture from His Photography Facebook Page
Adib Samoud:
A young photographer, a veterinarian and an advocate for the environment. Mr. Samoud presides an independent list called “عيون حريصة” [Watchful Eyes]. He is eager to establish an ECO constitution where  inalienable rights to nature are protected.
Amira Yahyaoui Picture from sawtmostakel.com
Amira Yahyaoui (@Mira404):
The 27-year-old is head of an independent electoral list in France, called “Sawt Mostakel” (An Independent Voice). Amira is a human rights activist and fought against censorship during the regime of Ben Ali. She says [fr] about her candidacy:
Jusqu’alors, mon engagement politique en Tunisie se faisait dans l’opposition. Aujourd’hui je veux proposer et construire. Je suis tête de liste de Sawt Mostakel, avec un réel projet que je suis prête à aller défendre à la Constituante
Imen Braham. Picture: sawtmostakel.com
Imen Braham (@__Imen):
An agronomist engineer, and an advocate for the environment who believes in open government. Mostly known as Moonsgirl, the 28-year-old is like Amira Yahyaoui, a candidate on the electoral list “Sawt Mostakel.”
Imen Braham says [fr]:
Les jeunes doivent s’engager dans la vie politique puisque c’est notre avenir qu’on décide aujourd’hui avec cette assemblée. Être cinquième de la liste Sawt Mostakel constitue pour moi le meilleur moyen d’afficher mon engagement pour les valeurs de la liste et de défendre notre vision d’une Tunisie où le citoyen prend le  pouvoir.
Mehdi Lamloum. Picture from his Twitter Profile
Mehdi Lamloum (@MehdiLamloum):
A digital planner and a video blogger. He mostly, uses his blog Pink Lemon to talk about digital communication, Internet, and media. Emna El Hammi writes [fr] about Mr. Lamloum:
D’autres blogueurs ont choisi, contre toute attente, de faire leur entrée sur la scène politique et d’afficher publiquement leur engagement malgré leur silence pendant les années où les voix manquaient. Ces blogueurs qui s’autocensuraient au temps de Ben Ali, par fatalisme ou par peur, veulent aujourd’hui saisir cette opportunité de participer à la construction d’une Tunisie à leur image. C’est le cas du blogueur Mehdi Lamloum, dont le blog Pink Lemon est une référence dans le domaine du webmarketing et de la communication
Riadh Guerfali Picture from his Twitter Profile
Riadh Guerfali (@Astrubaal):
The co-admin of the collective blog Nawaat has a Phd in Public law. Mr Guerfali has a wide knowledge of the constitutional rights and the political institutions. During the rule of Ben Ali, he often used his blog Astrubal to reveal the former regime's violations of national and international laws, guaranteeing Tunisians the right to have access to information and Internet.
Emna El Hammi writes [fr]:
Riadh Guerfali est non seulement apte à imposer ses idées en matière de protection des libertés individuelles mais possède en plus les outils juridiques nécessaires à l’élaboration de cette nouvelle constitution.
Tarek Kahlaoui (@t_kahlaoui):
Also running for the election as an independent, and head of an electoral list called “Sawt Echabab” (Voice of the Youth). Mr Kahlaoui is a teacher at the History and Art Department of the University of Rutgers University in New Jersey. He is an acdvocate for freedom of speech whose blog was censored in 2010.
On September 8, Tarek announced his candidacy on his Facebook page [ar]:
قررت الترشح لانتخابات المجلس التاسيسي.. . الاستحقاق الانتخابي منعطف تاريخي لتونس.. المساهمة فيه باي شكل مهم لإنجاحه و الترشح احد اشكال هذه المساهمة
Yassine Ayari (@yassayari):
A blogger, and cyber activist. Along with Slim Amamou, Mr Ayari was detained for hours by the police on May 21, 2010, for planning to stage a protest against censorship the day after their arrest. Recently, he wrote a post on his blog [fr] called “I'm not only a blogger” explaining to his readers what blogging means to him:
je ne suis pas “blogueur”, je suis un jeune tunisien, qui pense qu'il a des choses intéressantes a dire et a faire et qui veux participer a construire une meilleure Tunisie. […] j'aspire a être un homme publique qui a un blog, pas un blogeur qui veux faire la politique,
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Ukraine, EU: Visa Regime “Like Modern Berlin Wall” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Anatoliy Martsynovski of BlogActiv.eu writes that the visa regime is one of the most important and most sensitive issues in the EU-Ukraine relations: “It is quite true that for us current visa regime very often is something like modern Berlin Wall.”


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Ukraine: Geopolitics in Crimea · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Odessablog writes that “the macro-geopolitical battle over Ukraine between the EU and Russia” is at its most intense in Crimea.


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Ukraine: More on Denis Oleinikov’s ProstoPrint Case · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Taras of Ukrainiana posts a few videos and comments on the ongoing attacks on Denis Oleinikov's ProstoPrint company: “It’s the police state’s job to keep humor in short supply. And fail.”


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Ukraine: Possible Explanations of Plagiarism in President’s Book · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Alexander Motyl of Ukraine's Orange Blues offers possible explanations for plagiarism in President Victor Yanukovych’s recently-published English-language book, Opportunity Ukraine.


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Yemen: A Massacre Streamed Live Online  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
A massacre is being witnessed live, tweet by tweet, in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. Yemeni security forces opened fire on protesters, killing at least 22 and injuring hundreds more so far. The horror is being streamed on a live feed, watched by hundreds of shocked viewers around the world.
The livefeed is brutal as many watching it reveal.
A protester who received a head wound after an attack by government security forces receives medical care at the makeshift hospital/mosque near Sana'a University. Image by Luke Somers, copyright Demotix (18/09/2011).
Virtual activism reports:
@virtualactivism: Correspondent says someone just got him the head of a man hit directly by an RPG & that he's choosing not to show it on livestream #yemen
Omar Mashjari informs us:
@OmarMash: RPJ attacks on innocent peaceful protestors targeting young men in head. There is no proportion to this evil. #Yemen #SanaaMassacre
Wounded Yemeni demonstrators are helped to a waiting ambulance during clashes following a peaceful demonstration in the capital. Sana'a. Image by Saleh Maglam, copyright Demotix (18/09/2011).
Iyad El Baghdadi confirms:
@iyad_elbaghdadi: Confirmed: Anti-aircraft guns used today by #Yemen regime loyalists against unarmed protesters. 22 killed, “hundreds” hurt. #Sanaa #Massacre
Nadine warns:
@earthtoinadine: Yemenis are some of the most armed people, yet they have still remained peaceful for months in the face of brutality. That's steadfastness.
And Mauritanian activist Nasser Weddady concludes:
@weddady: In light of the last months, today's massacres in #Yemen are a logical consequence to international apathy..
Stay tuned for more coverage from Yemen.
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Yemen to the Rest of the World: Silence Kills!  · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world and was the third to join the Arab Spring on February 11, 2011, following the downfall of Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak. Yemen's revolution is a legitimate outcry against corruption, illiteracy, injustice, nepotism, poverty and tyranny. It is a call for a peaceful regime change, freedom and basic human rights which Yemenis have been deprived of for so long.
Revolution background
Yemen's revolution has been ongoing for more than seven months and has been amazingly peaceful and remains admirably so. It is worth mentioning that Yemen is known to be the second most armed country in the world, after the United Staes (US), with approximately 60 million firearms in a country with a population of 23 million.
Despite some clashes between some tribes supporting the revolution and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's troops, and although protesters have been facing continuous violence by the regime, the youth marching in thousands throughout the country insist to keep the protests peaceful and not a single bullet has been shot.
The regime forces have however, continuously and excessively used violence to crackdown on protests. Peaceful marches have been attacked with live bullets, expired tear gas, cannon sewage water and batons, resulting in killings, injury, suffocation from gas, torture and arbitrary detention.
Excessively violent crackdown
The Report of the High Commissioner on OHCHR’s visit to Yemen issued on September 13, called for further investigations and a probe into human rights abuse. The report indicated that hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured since the crackdown on protesters began.
This video shows an example of how the security forces deal with peaceful marches such as the one that happened in Taiz on Thursday, September 15. (Video posed by FreedomTaiz).
The regime forces used live bullets, water canons, and tear gas to disperse the protesters, even women were not spared from the attacks as the following video from Taiz shows. (Video posed by FreedomTaiz).
One man was killed and many were severely injured, including women, on Thursday.
Another peaceful march was recently attacked in Sanaa on Sunday, September 18. More than 800 protesters were wounded, including 265 with live bullets, and at least 26 were killed. The death toll is expected to rise, since 96 are in a critical condition.
WARNING: This video contains graphic scenes towards the end, of the injured protesters being rushed to a field hospital. (Video posted by mediacentersanaa).
The regime forces did not hesitate to use live bullets to disperse protesters. Water canons and tear gas were used as well. This video shows snipers in surrounding buildings and on roof tops aiming at protesters. (Video posted by YouthStandYEMEN).
This is one of the videos in a series showing graphic images of the injured in the field hospital.
WARNING: Graphic content (Video posted by mediacentersanaa).
Economic and humanitarian crisis
The prolonged revolution has also caused a grave economic and humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where 45 per cent of the population already live under the poverty line, earning less than $2 a day. It is costing Yemen billions of dollars every month.
Besides the loss of lives and injury of many people and a refugee crisis, the entire population has been enduring domestic gas, fuel, water crises, power outages and food shortages – a collective punishment tool by the regime to intimidate Yemenis to submission.
The Republican Guards headed by Saleh's son, Ahmed, aided by the air force continuously and almost daily shell and bombard villages in Arhab and Nehm, killing and injuring scores of innocent civilians, damaging houses, wells, fields and vineyards. Many residents fled to neighboring villages to seek refuge in mountain caves, similar to those used in the dark ages, to escape the violence. (Video posted by la7jPress).
http://youtu.be/ChqYBmXRcBc
The endless fight against the so called “Qaeda” elements in Abyan and US drone attacks caused more than 100,000 refugees to flee to Aden and live in schools as shown in this video. (Video posted by la7jPress).
http://youtu.be/byIQTS2Fbl0
The Gulf Cooperation Council's initiative in all it's modified forms did not address Yemenis aspirations. Instead, it embodied favorable terms for Saleh rather than the people and thus was widely rejected, albeit signed and approved by the formal opposition, the JMP. This move has caused a huge discontent and rift between the official opposition and the independent Youth movement.
The US and Saudi Arabia have been passively calling for a peaceful transition yet continue to support Saleh, militarily and financially, thus supporting his regime to quell the anti-government protest and allowing their crimes to continue. Each has their reasons for not being enthusiastic about the revolution.
Saudi Arabia fears a successful revolution and a democracy at its doorstep and the US fears loosing an ally and long time partner in their “war against terror” and fighting AQAP, which is the US's major concern in Yemen, rather than it's democracy and the well being of its people, which in turn would reduce the Al Qaeda threat.
This video shows the Yemenis who have been marching in millions almost daily in cities across Yemen for months, persevering and enduring all forms of hardships amidst continuous violence, yet peacefully and resiliently demanding a regime change and aspiring to build a civil state in a new Yemen. (Video posted by KareemooS).
Yemenis are outraged by the world's silence and media blackout towards the human catastrophe their country is facing and turning a blind eye on the regime's crimes, which they perceive is a direct reflection of the lack of world and regional support for Yemen, mainly due to what they see as the interference of the US and Saudi Arabia.
This video shows how they expressed it clearly in a silent protest on April 9 in Sanaa. (Video posted by FiredoglakeTV).
A hashtag #SupportYemen has been created on Twitter and a campaign last week encouraged the use of social media to shed light on the revolution in Yemen, where mainstream media has failed.
@AjYemen tweeted encouraging people to use the hashtag #SupportYemen:
@AJYemen: Let's get the world's attention to #Yemen, as everyone's silence kills the people of Yemen. Spread and use this hashtag #SupportYemen
In his tweet @Yemen4Change wondered why Yemen's revolution wasn't getting any media coverage.
@Yemen4Change: OUR demands r legit, OUR protests r peaceful, OUR ppl r seeking basic human rights, why r we being forgotten by media? #SupportYemen @hrw
A group of Yemeni activists planned together another silent march, to be at the same time in different cities around the world where there are large Yemeni communities, and in cities in Yemen on September 24 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm to condemn the world's silence and the current media black-out towards Yemen's revolution under the name #SupportYemen- Silence Kills!
This video contains some of the powerful images that portray this beautiful peaceful, yet very marginalized and almost ignored revolution. (Video posted by Soso4410).
http://youtu.be/h72b02WgW4s
So don't be silent and Support Yemen!
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

author: Noon Arabia


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Afghanistan: Local police units failing · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nick Fielding reviews a new Human Rights Watch report on the creation of the Afghan Local Police last summer, noting that impunity-driven militias participated in murderous tribal vendettas, targeted killings, smuggling, extortion and rapes.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Afghanistan: Taliban propaganda on the internet · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nick Fielding writes about Taliban's presence on the internet with public relations accounts in popular social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as well as videos disseminated through cellphones in Afghanistan.


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Afghanistan: The country’s relations with China · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nasim Fekratْ looks into the historic background and current state of Afghan-Chinese political, trade and economic relationships.


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Bahamas: Chipping In to Fight Crime  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“With murders at record levels this year it makes one sit up and take notice”: Weblog Bahamas‘ Rick Lowe says that helping to fight crime is everyone's duty.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Brazil: Defending Freedom of Religion · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Rosângela Basso, of the blog Maria da Penha Neles, posts a series of pictures of a protest in defence of religious freedom in Rio de Janeiro. The blog Bule Voador posted a video and pictures of a protest for the secular state in Curitiba, in the state of Paraná.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Brazil: A Thousand Days for the World Cup 2014 · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

It is already less than one thousand days for the next World Cup, in 2014 in Brazil, and Rodrigo Cárdia, from the blog Cão Uivador (Howling Dog) asks [pt] himself if there is anything good about it.


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Cameroon: What if We Did Not Vote on October 9?  · Global Voices
Philippe Menkoue

This page is part of our special coverage Cameroon Elections 2011.
In Cameroon, the October 9, 2011, presidential election does not seem to be generating much interest among the general public. For many Cameroonians, this election has no real stake and voters don't see casting their ballot as worth the trouble, since the outcome is already in favor of incumbent President Paul Biya.
Political blog Cameroun Libre et Solidaire tries to justify this lack of interest [fr]:
A major problem in Cameroon is the lack of interest of  the people for politics. Too many empty promises, made by rogues who wanted above all to position themselves in the feed manger. The result is that not many people register themselves on the electoral roll and will cast their ballot. The challenge lies in this large segment of the population,only waiting to be convinced that there is hope. And yet …. The opposition party with the best chance, SDF, has called for… a boycott. One wonders what they are trying to achieve. But will the election be canceled due to a high level of abstention? Never.
Paul Biya, speaking at the United Nation in New York City, has been president of Cameroon since 1982. Image by United Nation Photos on Flickr, under a CC BY NC ND 2.0 licence.
The only candidate able to defeat President Paul Biya, who is described by some as a dictator [fr] and has been in power since November 6, 1982, is Paul Biya himself. Although his candidature for his own reelection has not really been a surprise, it still caused quite a stir in public opinion.
However, on closer inspection, one could be forced to realize that there is no real opposition, strong enough to worry Paul Biya. This opinion would be supported by the fact that among the 21 candidates selected by the Electoral Council, no one really stands out, as this blogger notes [fr]:
It is true that in this multitude of candidates, you'll find the eternal so called opponents, like John Fru Ndi, Adamou Ndam Njoya, Jean Jacques Ekindi … It is also true that there are some wacky ones, playing extras, in the name of Paul Biya, or, no doubt, driven by an excess of zeal. The fact is that in these stupid candidatures, we must see the invisible hand of the state party, the CPDM. If not, how do these people, who are virtually unknown even in their residential area, who are not even elected officials and do not belong to any political movement, managed to gather the necessary signatures for their application?
Campaign poster to encourage registration on eclection lists, in Douala, Cameroon, July 2011 – Image by Flickr user verni22im, published under CC BY licence.
Where is the opposition?
But where is this opposition, in Cameroon? There is none, according to Allain Jules on his blog [fr]:
Non existent. That the word. Apparent apathy. Nothing to put in their mouths. Whatever the reason, despite the wear of the power in place.  Especially since the most viable opposition party of Cameroon, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) of chairman John Fru Ndi, became great pals with Paul Biya's RDPC ; a romance woven since the late wife of its leader had been evacuated to France to be treated by the Etoudi palace (the presidential Palace), nothing is as it used to be. Let us face it: today, the RDPC is unbeatable, even without fraud.
In the same vein, news site Slateafrique.com publishes an analysis [fr] by famous Cameroonian political analyst Mathi Eric Owona Nguini:
The opposition is largely weakened. Its leaders are worn out and their big handicap is the  lack of programmatic and ideologicalproposals. In addition, it is fragmented and lacks drive. Which of course benefits the ruling party, which has been in power longer and is more experienced.
However, in an article [fr] published in 2010, economist Thierry Amougou, aware of this issue, had invited Cameroonians not to be forgetful and not to be fooled again by the regime in place, reminding them of milestones marking the “cycle” of Paul Biya at the helm of the Cameroonian State:
Although polls across the world show that voters’ choices are, on average, guided by events not older than six months at the date of the vote, Cameroonians are requested to have a longer memory this time. They have not been subjected to the misdirection of the Renouveau National for five or ten years, but for nearly thirty years.
To be forgetful, in 2011, is to not recall that the current “gadget politics” aim at making them forget:
-  multiple constitutional changes in favor of one man
- the creation of Elecam, instead of a truly independent electoral commission;
-  the killings of young Cameroonians in February 2008;
- and [anticorruption] Opération Epervier, the result of 30 years of bad governance of the Renouveau National. ».
Faced with this situation, one is tempted to wonder about the future of this country, which has been restless in the past [fr], and whose current president has never been able to achieve unanimity.
This page is part of our special coverage Cameroon Elections 2011.

author: Philippe Menkoue


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China: Calls to Free Blind Activist Met With Violence · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

After serving a 51-month sentence for disturbing public order, blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng was released in September 2010, but has been kept under house arrest for more than a year by local police in Linyi, Shandong province.
During the Jasmine crackdown in February this year, Chen's house was raided by a group of men who took away his computer, television, camera, books and documents and cut off his power and telephone line. They also injured the blind men and his wife. As the house arrest is extended to his 6-year old daughter, she cannot even attend school.
Chen Guangcheng
Female activists robbed, beaten and dumped
What can be done to free Chen Guangcheng and his family? Mainland Chinese activists have been discussing this, and other cases of violence against activists campaigning to free Chen, among themselves recently.
Yesterday two female activists @miaojue12 and @lss007 tried to enter Linyi village but were robbed and dumped in a nearby county, a few hours away.
@miaojue, an AIDS activist and a Buddhist nun, urged for help this morning [zh] in an Internet cafe:
求救：我和沙沙昨晚在东师古村口，束手就擒，被约莫二十多个山东大汉拖拽到一间黑屋，除了身上的衣服，手机，背包钱物等被洗劫一空。被黑头套，丢到莱芜市苗山旷野。我在马路遇见一个好心司机送我到苗山镇，还给了我十元钱，请推友慈悲联系同来的三推友前来救我，我饥寒交迫身无分文他们电话珍珠有。
@lss007 briefly wrote [zh] what she had been through this morning:
被抓出车，被抢劫，被猥亵，被黑头套，被用大衣闷，被拉到荒郊，被推进水中，被打流血，被丢弃。
6-year-old daughter illegally detained
This is not the first time activists have been beaten by government sponsored gangs. Back in January @pearlher had similar experience when she attempted to enter the village.
Since early September 2011, she has been exploring different ways to help Chen's family, such as appealing to @UNICEF and reporting to the Shandong Education Bureau [zh]:
@pearlher: @UNICEF Chinese blind lawyer Chen guangcheng's 6-year-old daughter, Chen Kesi, was not allowed to attend school for her father's activities
因為從事計生維權活動，陳光誠的六歲的女兒受父親牽連，被囚禁在家不能上學，呼籲網友持續電話山东教育厅，請他們教育法，切實保障陳光誠六歲的女兒的教育權。山东省教育厅电话：（0531）－81916615或81916623 或81916632 或81916500
She has also urged public intellectuals to say something for Chen Guangcheng and send it to guoyushan@gmail.com. A dozen videos have been uploaded to various sharing sites including youku, but have since been deleted.
Below is a YouTube backup copy of the first video appeal, made by a Tsinghua professor, Qin Hui:
Qin said in the video:
I have heard that a local government authority in Shandong has been illegally oppressing citizen Chen Guangcheng. I don't think such idea is coming from our country's leaders. The grassroots goons are acting outside the law. I suggest to prosecute them. Nevertheless, the blind man Chen Guangcheng, who have been fighting for justice, the fact that he has to go through all these, is the humiliation of our country and our time.
Diplomatic pressure needed
However, all these individual efforts have been in vain as the Shandong government only care about its stability maintenance budget. @wenyunchao believes [zh] that only diplomatic pressure can help:
只有外交能救陈光诚，中国政府也只有在对外还顾点颜面。艾未未能放出来，是温家宝要出访欧洲怕脸上无光，才让手下去找了高瑛写信给了胡锦涛签字起的作用。
@pearlher's latest idea [zh] follows a similar line of thought:
@pearlher: @USA_China_Talk 白宫将开通请愿网站 we the people，一旦请愿书附议人数达到限额（暂定5千人），白宫就会处理并给予正式答复。偶们找5000個人簽名要求駱家輝大使去山东看陳光誠，可以么？

author: Oiwan Lam


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Cuba: “Repression Weekend”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuban bloggers are referring to this past weekend as “repression weekend”; new dissidents are detained even as others are released.


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Cuba: Talented Singers  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Havana Times interviews Cuban singer Evelyn Garcia Marquez “who comes from a family of recognized musicians” and posts an update on the health of popular singer-songwriter Sara Gonzalez, who is recovering from surgery.


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Kazakhstan: Forbes magazine franchise launched · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Tomyris informs that Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s wealthiest country, welcomes the prominent business Forbes magazine to its list of available medias.


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Kyrgyzstan: Intelligence cooperation with China  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Marat Sartpaev ponders on the fact that top officers of the Kyrgyz special service paid a visit to China in an attempt to set up cooperation ties and, probably, bargain for the closer international partners’ attention.


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Malaysia to Overhaul Security and Censorship Laws · Global Voices
Jude Chia

Take the right action at the right time, and address the ‘right’ public sentiment. That's exactly what Najib Tun Razak, Malaysia's prime minister has done in announcing an overhaul to several controversial acts related to national security, censorship, speech and freedom of assembly, while commemorating Malaysia Day.
The timing couldn't have been better in view of recent clampdown on Bersih 2.0 demonstration (to demand fair election) and speculation of next general election. The international media, which has been generally critical of Najib's administration, has also changed tone to be more neutral and cautious, with Wall Street Journal Asia hailing the move which ‘opened the door to major political changes’.
It's not surprising again that we see government's coalition parties and national dailies eagerly praise this move while opposition parties led by Najib's no. 1 political enemy, Anwar, collectively find shortcomings and urge caution.
Independent online news reporter, Anil adopts a similarly cautious tone:
Any celebration is premature. What replaces these oppressive laws is just as important […] What about all the other oppressive laws such as the Sedition Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Universities and Colleges Act? […] Finally, can we all wear those yellow ‘Bersih’ T-shirts and celebrate the PM’s announcement without being unceremoniously hauled away?
Although details about the overhaul are yet to be released before the changes are introduced in Parliament next year, prominent blogger, Ahirudin takes the give credit where credit is due mantra and says:
Today, 16.9.2011 will go down in history as Najib Razak's day. Nobody expected Malaysia's 6th Prime Minister to have the gumption to scrap the ISA (Internal Security Acts) […] The move stunned the usually vociferous political rivals into silence […] And laud it we Malaysians must
Malaysia Bar council, which has been the most vocal group in fighting for the abolition of ISA that allows detention without trials, lauded the initiative but cautioned:
The Malaysian Bar, Advocates’ Association of Sarawak and Sabah Law Association take the view that Malaysia does not need any detention without trial laws because it has already effectively strengthened its legislative provisions to take into account, and deal with, the threat of terrorism […] Whilst the promises of the Prime Minister are welcomed, their substance will be in the details, and the proof in the implementation.  Accordingly, we call on the PM to subject the proposed legislation to public debate and consultation, and to establish a clear time frame within which the promises will be fulfilled.
Free Malaysia Today has also compiled comments from several major political voices in the country, most notably Bersih 2.0 Chairman S Ambiga who said:
Some reforms did not go far enough like the Printing Presses and Publications Act as licensing is still required for publications and this is contradictory to freedom of the press. The statement that street protests will not be allowed also does not accord with freedom of assembly. I hope these can be discussed further.
When it's time to judge Najib's performance at the end of his tenure, he'll be remembered as a ‘reformer’ irrespective of the economic and political outcomes. That's the goal he set out to do since he became the PM, started with a series of liberalization measures leading to the formation of New Economic Model. Recent glowing review by Forbes with comments like ‘impressive policies put Malaysia on track to developed nation status’ only reaffirmed Najib's economic ambition and desire of positive global publicity. Only history will tell if Najib can achieve these political dreams.

author: Jude Chia


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Myanmar: International Websites Accessible Again? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Irrawaddy reports that international websites, including YouTube, are accessible again in Myanmar. But internet connection in the country is still slow, according to internet cafe operators.

author: Mong Palatino


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Nigeria: Does Terrorism Pay Better Than Farming? · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

Activista Blogger, David Habba in Nigeria struck up conversation with a student from the University of Agriculture in Makurdi, who no longer feels financially motivated to enter the agricultural sector. “Someone must grow the food and who says it must be me?”

author: Solana Larsen


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Southeast Asia: Press Freedom Heroes · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Three Southeast Asian journalists (Cambodia's Hang Chakra, Malaysia's Zulkiflee Anwar Ul Haque, and Thailand's Chiranuch Premchaiporn) were recognized by the Human Rights Watch for their promotion of press freedom in the region


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Trinidad & Tobago: Chicken Weed  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bloggers have a field day with news that 31 million dollars worth of marijuana was found in a container “that was supposed to contain only chicken parts.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Republic Day Fare  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Trinidad and Tobago prepares to celebrate Republic Day this weekend, TriniGourmet.com posts “a menu suggestion for your table!”


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Ukraine: Georgiy Gongadze Memorial Rally in Kyiv · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olena Bilozerska (LJ user bilozerska) posts photos and video [uk] from the Sep. 16 Georgiy Gongadze memorial rally in Kyiv. Following a discussion in the comments section of ex-President Leonid Kuchma's role in Gongadze's case, LJ user fidel_80 writes [ru]: “I'm sorry for [Gongadze]. Could someone give me links to [his] work? Publications, articles, interviews. I'm very eager to figure out what he was killed for.”


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Ukraine: Tymoshenko Trial Updates · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Odessablog posts an update on the trial of Ukraine's ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko; Foreign Notes reviews opinions on the trial's possible outcome that appeared in the Ukrainian media.


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Videos: Homeless But Not Voiceless · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

In Colombia, Canada, the UK, and the US, we have different initiatives that aim to bring to the foreground the plight of those who are twice forgotten: the children, indigenous people, immigrants and the transgender community.
Colombian videographer José Alejandro González has been documenting and sharing the lives of the homeless people of Colombia for years, and last year with The Insider Project many of these video documentaries came together in a couple of longer films: The Truth and The House.
The Truth follows several homeless in Bogota, Colombia, who speak about their lives, touching on political, social and economical aspects of homelessness. One of those interviewed is a 15 year old who tells of his estrangement from his family, his drug addiction, his forays into the most dangerous parts of towns to get drugs and his wish to be able to be “fine” and go home to spend Christmas with his family on the other side of the city:
The House takes us inside the “home” of a homeless person: underneath a manhole cover and into an underground wiring station beneath the streets of downtown Bogota. There, Darío Acosta has his bed, books, radio, battery powered light and his imaginary dog.
Mark used to be homeless in the 1990s, living on Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles, addicted to drugs and selling pictures of his iguana to tourists. Today, he heads the Invisible People project, where he goes around the US and Canada asking homeless to tell their stories and advocating for their rights.
On a visit to Canada, he noticed the connection between the First People and homelessness and he then tried not only to get their stories and show the unique situation faced by them while maintaining cultural sensitivity but also, hopefully, to change their situation:
The following interview is with Dave Ward, director of aboriginal relations at Homeward Trust Edmonton. This is an important conversation. David talks about aboriginal culture and solutions to ending homelessness. Too me, I think the biggest is listening. We need to listen to their culture and include aboriginal people in the process of finding and implementing solutions.
One of the striking interviews is the one featuring Alma. She's a homeless grandmother in Winnipeg who is putting herself through college in the hope that having an education will empower her and increase her chances of getting back her granddaughter from child protective services as she becomes able to give her a better life:
There are many other videos in the Invisible People YouTube channel, and you can also follow Mark on Twitter as user @invisiblepeople.
In Bradford, England, Hope Housing provides opportunities for homeless people who don't classify for benefits, most of them because they are immigrants who no longer have their documents, are unemployed and have to turn to squatting or living on the streets to survive.
In their video The Not So Promised Land, they focus on the problems faced by economic migrants, those who came from the Eastern European countries in search of work opportunities in the UK, only to find that it was going to be harder than they thought. Hope Housing gives them a hand so they don't need to stay on the streets and help so they can find what they went to the UK to seek: work.
Diamond Stylz describes herself as a a proud transgendered woman of color from Indianapolis, Indiana but currently living in Houston, Texas. In her YouTube channel she discusses many topics regarding gender, race and sexuality.
In this video she goes back to her experience in homelessness and how she discovered that as a non-HIV positive transgender woman she wouldn't be accepted in shelters for women, men or HIV positive trans people, so had she not had someone to give her a hand and get on her feet, the system would have basically turned its back on her.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Zambia: Social Media Harnessed to Monitor Polls in Sep 20 Election · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

Bantu Watch, a civil society-driven web site utilising the power of social media, has been launched to monitor incidents related to Zambia’s September 20, 2011, elections.
Built on the Ushahidi crowdsourcing platform, Bantu Watch encourages registered voters and interested parties to report incidents involving election-related violence, hate speech, corruption and other matters both online via the web site and via text message.
Bantu Watch, which has also has a presence on Facebook, is automatically compiling Twitter posts with the hashtag #Zambialections, a stream of which is also running on the website.
An entry on Facebook about Bantu Watch explains the group’s mission:
Protect YOUR vote in this year’s election by reporting electoral offences to BantuWatch – send an SMS to 3018 or report online on www.bantuwatch.org YOUR reports will be online next to those of formal observers. Become part of a national monitoring exercise. In every step of the process you remain anonymous You can make a difference – Watch and Report!
One of the reports of alleged bribery of voters from the Copperbelt Province carrying the disclaimer “unverified” reads:
MMD is districting (distributing) maize in masati constitency todaytoday (sic) they are at lumano basic school
Another “unverified” report apparently made by the ruling MMD in the Eastern Province district of Katete reads:
The polling offices are being bribed by some political party in katete-MMD.
On Twitter, messages like the following are running:
@Kamukwape: Zambian President to commision Ndola Stadium a day before elections, after campaign is over…#copperbelt #bantuwatch
The Electoral Commission of Zambia set September 18 as the last day of campaigning for the elections, in which votes will be cast for the republican president, members of parliament and local government. But the incumbent, President Rupiah Banda, is scheduled to open the Chinese-built stadium a day before elections. The move is seen as a campaign tactic by Mr Banda, who took over as president in 2008 following the death of President Levy Mwanawasa.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Belize: First Prime Minister Passes On  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Belize’s founding father and first prime minister has died at the age of 92,” notes Repeating Islands; Life in a Banana Republic writes about her memories of the man, saying: “I shared a historical moment with the first Prime Minister of Belize with Rt. Hon. George Cadle Price, and I thank him for that wonderful lifetime memory.”


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Bhutan: Tour Of The Dragon · Global Voices
Rezwan

Tshering Tobgay writes about the tour of the dragon, the 268 km bike race across the inner Himalaya mountains of Bhutan.

author: Rezwan


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Chile: Netizens on Twitter Support Student Movement’s Call for National Strike with #yomarchoel22 · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The student movement seeking to overhaul Chile's education system called for  a national strike for September 22. Chilean netizens are using the hashtags #yoestoyconlosestudiantes (“I support the students”) and #yomarchoel22 (“I will march on the 22nd”) to show their support.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Colombia: Controversy Over New Methodology to Calculate Poverty · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Nazih Richani in Cuadernos Colombianos –a NACLA blog– has written two posts (1, 2) on Colombia's new methodology to calculate poverty: “The newly adopted Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) factors in health, housing, living standards, and government subsidies, alongside income. The problem is, regardless of the ‘methodological rigor,’ there are many doubts over whether the new methodology actually captures the magnitude and scope of the problem.”


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Cuba: Headed for Technological Illiteracy?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Writing at Havana Times, Alfredo Fernandez suggests that “if it doesn’t allow free access to the Internet soon, Cuba will be a country of virtual illiterates in the next few years.”


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Cuba: Hunger Strike for Human Rights  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Pedazos de La Isla posts an interview with Rufina Velazquez, speaking out on behalf of her activist father, who has been on a hunger strike to demand respect for the human rights of all Cubans.


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Curacao: Financial Reality  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Yesterday an IMF delegation presented their 2011 Article IV Consultation Discussions: Preliminary Conclusions with the usual rhetoric, cut, reform, kill mantra”: TRIUNFO DI SABLIKA posts a poem intended to show “that these programmed Washington DC economists are not gods.”


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Honduras: Conflicting Reports on Situation in Bajo Aguan · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“Competing stories have developed about what happened in the Bajo Aguan last Friday, when a combined military-police patrol alleges it was ambushed by foreign guerrillas at La Consentida plantation, near Sonaguera”, RNS summarizes these conflicting reports in Honduras Culture and Politics.


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India: Daily Routine Of Rural Kids · Global Voices
Rezwan

Pranietha Mudliar at Youth Ki Awaaz shares the typical daily routine of the children in rural India.


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Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Bocas 2012 Literature Prize  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp is excited about “the second OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, which will reward the best Caribbean book published this year with a US$10,000 prize.”


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Mexico, USA: Triqui Indigenous Migrants Defenseless Against Crime and Police Questioning · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The Triqui indigenous people of Mexico living in the United States as undocumented immigrants are easy targets for robberies and police questioning because they often don't speak Spanish or English –Ismael Flores in Vivir México [es] reports.


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Nepal: Bloggers Share Their Own Stories of Earthquake · Global Voices
Pradeep Singh

On the Sunday evening of September 18, 2011, Nepal experienced a strong earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale. With an epicentre in the border region of Taplejung of Nepal and Sikkim of India, it affected Kathmandu, Pokhara, Dharan and other parts of Nepal. Some of the country's bloggers have shared their own stories, news and live events following the quake.
The Home Ministry in Nepal has reported 9 deaths and 24 serious injuries in the country at the time of writing. Three people were killed when the wall of the British Embassy in Nepal fell over them; the Embassy has released a press statement regretting the deaths and saying the embassy will continue to do everything possible to help the local community and Nepal. More than 150 houses were damaged all over the country.
People stand next to a collapsed wall, following the powerful earthquake which rattled Nepal. Image by Gagan Thapa, copyright Demotix (18/09/2011).
Bloggers – some on the roads, some from their work places and some from home – wrote about their experiences (first-hand in most cases) on their blogs. Social media sites were alive with tweets and Facebook posts on the topic. Nepali Twitter users reported damages and injuries from several places. Phone lines were interrupted due to high call traffic.
Anil P. Ghimire [ne] from AakarPost shares his first experience while on roads of the earthquake in Kathmandu:
सम्भवत पहिलोपटक भुँइचालो को आभास गर्दै थियौँ । सडक को बिचमा उभिएको हुँदा यता र उता कुद्नुपर्ने कुनै जरुरी थिएन ।  याद आयो अरु केही नभएपनि ट्विट गरिहाल्नुपर्छ । मोवाइलमा ब्राउजर मा ट्विटर नै खुलिरहेको थियो, हतार हतार भुकम्प आएको कुरा ट्विट गरियो, आफू मुनि को जमिन हल्लिनै रहेजस्तो लागिरहेथ्यो । तर त्यो ट्विट प्रकाशित हुन सकेन, जिपीआरएस चलेन।
Initially the earthquake was reported to be of more than magnitude 6 with its epicenter in Sikkim, India and Kathmandu was reported to be 72 kilometers away (east) from the epicenter. It took more than half an hour to have reports on life injuries as phone services were interrupted due to the high number of calls.
Salokya from Mysansar [ne] shared his experience and facts based on initial reports of the incident:
म बसेको ठाउँमा केही समय हल्लिएर मानिसहरु सडकमा निस्किएका थिए। कम्प्युटर चलाइरहेको म पनि हतारहतार लुगा लगाएर तल झर्दासम्म भूकम्प जारी थियो। हल्लँदै गर्दा मोबाइल बिर्सेर फेरि मोबाइल लिएर सडकमा आउँदा धेरै मानिस बाहिर आइसकेका थिए। श्रीमतीले पनि भूकम्प हुँदै गर्दा फोन गरेर- म त मर्न लागेँ कि क्या हो, यही अन्तिम फोन होला भनेर गरेको भनिन्।
People in Kathmandu rush into the open space of New Road after an earthquake jolted the city. Image by Sunil Sharma, copyright Demotix (18/09/2011).
Another Nepali Blogger Dinesh Wagle on his journal shares his experience of the earthquake while at work place:
As I was ducking under a table on the 3rd floor of my 6-storey office building, the images humanitarian catastrophe of Haiti earthquake (and those in Pakistan and China) came to my mind. And I also thought about major neighborhoods of Kathmandu- especially Ason area. I thought of making a call to her, tried in fact, AND even posting a tweet as I was experiencing the tremor!
Under the title ‘sikkim quakes and we quiver‘ another blogger Nepali Keti writes:
but, first a bit on today’s event: an earthquake that hit sikkim and sent spine-chilling ripples right to the apple of nepal’s eye (that’d be kathmandu) is something i am little prepared to blog about because i know so little about natural disasters. but, as with every kathmanduite i too have my story.
The Nepal Government has announced a provision of Rs 25,000 immediately to the families of the earthquake victims. Nepal remains an earthquake prone country and the unmanaged urbanisation and lack of proper preparation for calamities like earthquake pose a severe threat to lives and properties in the country.

author: Pradeep Singh


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Qatar: Wadah Khanfar Resigns as Al Jazeera Head  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Al Jazeera Network Director General Wadah Khanfar announced his resignation today, creating a stir on social networking site Twitter. The Palestinian-born journalist, who was at the helm of the network for eight years, is being replaced by a member of the Qatar royal family, Shaikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani.
On Twitter, Khanfar, who has changed his profile bio to “Former Director-General of the Al Jazeera Network,” shared reasons for his resignation.
Khanfar explains to staff reasons he is leaving. Picture by Mohamed Nanabhay
@khanfarw: After 8 years of service leading Al Jazeera, I have just announced that I am moving on.
And continues:
@khanfarw: 8 years is a long time to be leading a Network. Renewal and change is always good.
He also adds:
@khanfarw: Entertained by all the rumors of why I have resigned. #whatdoyouthink? :-)
Those rumours ranged from accusing Khanfar of being a CIA agent to being brought down by the leaked United States cables made public by whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks.
Zeinobia, who runs Egyptian Chronicles, opines:
Despite Khanfar made it clear in his farewell that the he though of stepping down for quite some time now , many link his resignation to the recent cables released by Wikileaks about his meetings with U.S state of Defense Department intelligence agency “DIA” officers in Doha in 2005.
Cable ref.id : #05DOHA1765 shows that there was a meeting allegedly held on October 19th ,2005 between the managing director of Al Jazeera Network then Khanfar and the CIA officers who did not like the performance of the Al Jazeera.Net website content and believed it was hostile against the U.S government. The officers had monthly reports with the performance of the channel and the website. Allegedly Khanfar promised them to tune down the language and remove the pieces they complained from
Zeinobia also provides us with a link to all the cables that deal with Khanfar.
The Syrian propaganda machine too had a reason for Khanfar's resignation. Foreign Policy Editor Blake Hounshell, who is based in Doha, Qatar, notes:
@blakehounshell: Syrian media pounces –> RT @rallaf: “Al-Jazeera Top Officials Resign for fabricating news on #Syria”
Saudi King Saud University political communication professor, Ahmed Bin Rashid Bin Saeed, finds the excuse funny:
@LoveLiberty: Take a moment to laugh at #Assad TV: #AlJazeera director Waddah Khanfar resigns for fabricating news on #Syria #Libya and #Yemen
Khanfar also came under fire for what is seen as Al Jazeera's link to Islamists.
Hounshell notes:
@blakehounshell: Among Arab liberals, the critique of Al Jazeera under @khanfarw's tenure is that he took the network in a strongly Islamist direction.
And Libyan Twitter user Libyan and Proud replies:
@libyanproud: I'm not a liberal, just wld like to see different views, but 90% of libyan commentators were MB on AJ
For The Big Pharaoh from Egypt, Khanfar's exit brings hope:
@TheBigPharaoh: All what I want from Al Jazeera's new management is to pull it away from adopting the agenda of a certain political force namely islamists.
Meanwhile, Lebanese media personality Octavia Nasr quips:
@octavianasr: HUGE NEWS WITH INTERESTING TIMING! -> Head of #AlJazeera Networks Waddah Khanfar resigns RT @halmustafa
And Lebanese TheZako, who tweets from London, is not happy with the appointment of a member of the Qatari ruling family to head the station:
@TheZako: AlJazeera is officially a ‘State TV’ now. To hell any independence.


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Russia: Governor’s Death Rumors Provoke Harsh Reaction Among Authorities · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Alexander Mikhelson, head of “United Russia” fraction at Kemerovo regional Duma, has proposed [ru] a new draft bill that implies stricter responsibility for online libel. The action followed the appearance of the rumors [ru] that Aman Tuleyev, governor of the Kemerovo region, was found dead. Previously, local police had set up a task force to identify the personality of Bogdan Sukhikh, who is recognized as the source of the rumor.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: Unjustly Convicted Businessman-Blogger Released From Jail · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Alexey Kozlov, businessman and a former millionaire, who was imprisoned in 2007 under trumped-up accusations, has been released from jail, rian.ru reported [ru]. Kozlov received online popularity for his “Butyrka [name of Moscow prison] blog [ru].” The blog was set up by Olga Romanova, Kozlov's wife and a renowned journalist. Starting 2010, Forbes.ru started its own version of Butyrka blog [ru], telling about other unjustly convicted Russian businessmen.


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South Korea: More Blocking of Pro-North Korean Internet Content · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Quoting DongA newspaper's report on the censorship of internet content in South Korea, Martyn Williams from North Korea Tech blog wrote that there has been a sharp increase of the number of South Korean police requests demanding the  deletion of pro-North Korean internet content.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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South Korea: The Diplomats Who Can’t Speak English · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

It was revealed on September 13, 2011, that four out of ten South Korean diplomats find it nearly impossible to use proper diplomatic language in English, prompting the public to raise questions on the competency of Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials.
It is not the first time the Ministry has embarrassed itself: in February 2011, hundreds of translation errors were found in its official trade agreement papers. In September 2010, the former Minister stepped down after an allegation that his daughter was specially hired at the ministry without taking proper steps. In March 2011, multiple extramarital affairs scandals involving the  former chief of the Consulate General in Shanghai shook the nation. This last incident gained the Ministry of Foreign Affairs an embarrassing nickname, the ‘Ministry of Love Affairs’ and also caused a leak of classified documents and government contact information.
Image of Korean National Assembly Building. Photo by author (CC – BY – 2.0).
Ministry scandal
The latest revelation has strengthened people's suspicions that it is connections and not ability that is gets the jobs.
According to the Ministry's internal documentation, revealed by a policy maker, only 1.6 percent of diplomats are able to speak English fluently and write decent diplomatic documents, while 26 percent were evaluated as: “it requires readers extra efforts to understand a document written by him/her and his/her grammatical errors and poor word choices are sometimes critical enough to hinder clear understanding”.
About 12 percent received the most humiliating result: “there  are serious flaws in his/her sentence structure and word choices. Too many  errors can be found in the documents, such as incorrect words and typos”.
Furthermore, among the 26 South Korean diplomats dispatched to non-English speaking foreign countries, no one speaks the native language.
Reactions online
Online public forum, blogs and Twitter have been flooded with angry reactions. Anthony G. Kim (@AnthonyGKim) tweeted [ko] sarcastically:
외교관들 영어 못하는게 문제될 이유가 없다 그 사람들 해외나오면 주업무가 골프인데 영어 쓸 일이 뭐가있나
Noh Jean (@Nonohnoh) tweeted [ko]:
이러니 FTA에서 번역 오류 몇백개 있어도 문제인식 못하고. (태만에 의한) 과실로  매국할 수도 있겠음
John Kim (@forlegacy) tweeted [ko]:
외교관도 유창한 영어는 1%대인데, 영어 잘 하는 사람은 다 회사에 취직한거죠?
One of South Korea's most influential political bloggers, I am Peter, elaborated [ko] more on the diplomats’ love of golf and the tasks they focus on beside their regular duties:
해외 주재 외교관을 어디에서 가장 쉽게 볼 수 있는지 아십니까? 바로 한인회 주최 XX 골프 대회가 열리는 골프장에서 제일 많이  모습을 나타냅니다. 이들에게 골프는 말 그대로 한인사회와 끈끈한 (?) 정을 나누며 한인 사회 발전에 이바지한다는 허울 좋은  명분이 있습니다. 경기고 동창회 주회 골프대회, 서울대 동문 골프대회, 한인회장배 골프대회,해병 전우회 골프대회 등 등 헤아릴 수 없는 많은 골프대회에 빠짐없이 참가를 합니다.
대한민국 정치인, 특히 여권 실세가 해외에 나가면 가관입니다. 영사관 직원이 총출동해서 여행코스, 식사 코스, 도시락 메뉴, 술 자리 등 사신단을 맞이하듯 극진한 대접을 합니다. 이들이 정치인을 잘 모시는 이유는 더 좋은 자리로 가기 위한 아부가 가장 큰 목적이고, 대접을 소홀히 받고 간 국회의원들이 외교통상부 국감에서 딴지를 걸까 봐 미연에 방지하는 차원입니다.
Blogger Mujige sarcastically commented [ko] that it is like a bad comedy:
정말 한국엔 그렇게 인재가 없는걸까? 가장 중요한 외교를 책임지는 사람들을 일반인들보다 영어실력이 떨어지는 사람들로 대부분 채용해야만 하는 어떤 숨은 사정이 있는걸까? 국가안에서는 초등학생,심지어 유치원생들까지 영어교육으로 몰아대 영어광풍에 휩쌓이게 하면서 정작 영어가 필요한 외국에 나갈땐 자랑스러운 한국말을 널리 알리겠다는 깊은 뜻의 정책일까? 영어가 정작 쓰여야 할 국가적인 외교에는 쓰이지 못하고 엄한 국민들만 들볶아 대는듯.


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Sri Lanka: Mayoral Campaign Using Social Networks  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sanjana Hattotuwa highlights Milinda Moragoda’s on-going campaign for becoming the mayor of Colombo using Facebook, YouTube & Twitter.


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Sri Lanka: There Is A Problem On The Road · Global Voices
Rezwan

Uditha Wijesena writes about the sorry state of the Sri Lankan roads and the worsened traffic situation.


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Ukraine: Short Films by Youth for Gender Equality · Global Voices
Tetyana Bohdanova

The average Ukrainian woman is highly educated, yet earns about 30 percent less than the average man in a similar position. She is more likely to become unemployed or not get hired at all because she might get pregnant. Even if she has no children, she is still carrying out the majority of household duties, which prevents her career development. She also has a nearly 50-percent chance of experiencing violence in her home.
While the laws in Ukraine, including in the country’s constitution, establish legal equality between the men and women, closing the gap between the legislation and its implementation is a difficult task. However, traditional attitudes and values are slowly changing, and ordinary citizens as well as women's rights advocates, are playing an important role in this process. In August 2010, for instance, over 1,000 people marched [en] in Ukraine's capital Kyiv to condemn domestic violence, and hundreds of volunteers joined the domestic violence awareness campaign.
Video competition for young Ukranians
From June 17 to September 10, 2011, a group of talented youth submitted [en] their entries to a short film competition about gender called “Gene of Equality”. Participants had to produce 5-minute films in one of two categories: “5 minutes of gender equality” or “5 minutes on domestic violence prevention.” The competition is sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union Delegation to Ukraine.
The winners will be selected by a jury, while short films will also be voted on by YouTube users. Already, the online videos have been viewed nearly 50,000 times, and the best will be screened at the short gender film festival scheduled to take place in Kyiv in October 2011.
Below is a selection of films that can be understood by speakers of any language, and you can see more of the films submitted on the YouTube page, GenderTube.
“Violence in the family – a life ripped to pieces” – by “Infinity”
“Change your focus – don’t perceive a woman just as a sex object” – by “Just a kilo”
“And What About Your Family?” – by “Divine Animators”
“Craftsmanship has no gender” – by “NONAME_GROUP”

author: Tetyana Bohdanova


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Venezuela: Netizens Criticize Chavez on Twitter with #cosasProhibidasEnVenezuela  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Al Jazeera's The Stream aggregated and translated tweets written by Venezuelan netizens using the hashtag #cosasProhibidasEnVenezuela (Things prohibited in Venezuela): “activists are criticising Chavez and his current administration, citing corruption and neglect to deliver on promises of social reform.”


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Zambia: Netizens Ahead of Mainstream Media in Poll Reporting · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

Zambians went to the polls on September 20, 2011, to elect the president, members of parliament and local government representatives, but as voting got underway at 6:00 AM, Twitter, Facebook and election monitoring website, Bantu Watch were abuzz exposing the chaos that characterised the start of the process.
On social media websites citizens revealed delays of opening of polling stations, late-coming presiding officers, change of polling stations and even a shortage of ballot papers. These websites also reported violence where it broke out, particularly in the capital Lusaka where suspicious voters were on the look out for possible rigging.
Presidential candidate Rupiah Banda's last campaign rally in Lusaka. Image by Owen Miyanza, copyright Demotix (17/09/2011).
On the late opening of polling stations, one netizen had this to say:
@Mama_Kankasa: Preparedness is very critical, they urged people to vote day…yet open up polling stations late?
Another said:
@luchi7: Unconfirmed reports that voting in some areas of Lusaka hasn't started polling station in chelstone reports presiding officer is late
Mama Kankasa said she is also worried about the situation in rural areas if even areas within the capital, where the Electoral Commission of Zambia is located, are facing serious logistical problems.
@Mama_Kankasa: If Matero/Lilanda which is just next door to ECZ offices can experience such what more people in the rural?
Some netizens posted pictures of queues at polling stations and yet others posted video and audio clips of events of where they were.
An audio report from @Luchi7 in Lilanda (in Lusaka) conveys the sounds of a skirmish at one polling station where voters were dispersed by police and teargas.
At one point during the day, the national broadcaster, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, was just playing music instead of giving election updates which frustrated one netizen:
@VusumuziS: Oh #ZNBC, we all love our culture but we also need election updates. WE can watch cultural programs everyday, but elections once in 5 years
At one point it seemed that election monitoring website, Bantuwatch.org was offline, and people speculated that it was hacked to stop it from reporting poll irregularities (this is unconfirmed):
@alexmichelo: @mwanabibi yes am in zambia and i cant access the site #Bantuwatch
Meanwhile, others call for people to resist spreading rumours. On Facebook, in the public group “I voted on 20/09/11″, Maliq Malekano in Lusaka said:
(L)et us all exercise restraint during this period of voting. Let us avoid jumping to conclusions every time we hear a rumour. Avoid posting sweeping statements that are unsubstantiated. Let us all be messengers of peace even when our preferred candidate is trailing in votes. Every word that you post on fb can either build or destroy Zambia. I choose to build Zambia by posting responsibly on face book.


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Bermuda: No Easy Fix for Term Limits  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Respice Finem says that when it comes to term limits, there are no simple solutions and recommends that “now is a good time to revisit and assess if its current form is best suited to Bermuda today.”


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Bolivia: Child Workers Unionize  · Global Voices
Magdalena Noga

In Bolivia, where unions are extensively formed by members of society, another group of workers have unionized: children.
A story on child labor in Bolivia is presented by Jean-Friedman Rudovsky as part of a series Ground Shifters: Stories of Women Changing Unseen Worlds. Rudovsky writes:
Bolivia has 9 million inhabitants; one million are child workers, some who started working as early as seven.  Of these, almost half are girls. The girls, like their jobs, are often hidden, inside homes or in the backs of restaurants.
Mauricio Aira in the blog Bolivia Primera Plana [es] argues that child labor is not a concern for Bolivian society, and adds:
el anonimato en el que viven [los niños trabajadores] simplemente refleja el desprecio que siente el mundo adulto por la niñez en Bolivia.
Hispanically Speaking News previously reported:
These children and adolescents work to help the family, to support themselves in their studies, to provide for their personal expenses, to secure themselves a better future compared to their fathers and brothers buried by silicosis and accidents in mines or plantations of sugar cane.
Child labor in Bolivia. Photo by United Nations Photo on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The majority of child workers attend school while keeping up with demanding jobs, some even working full-time hours. They have formed unions to be protected by the government and treated respectfully by society. As Marion Gibney writes:
these children do not view their situation as a bad one; they want to work, and formed these unions for their own benefit. The unions are meant to grant them protection and basic rights from the government, as well as to gain respect from others in the work force. Being children, they are often picked on and beat up by grown-ups, but they have learned to adapt and protect themselves.
Since child labor is outlawed, it is difficult to ask the government or other organizations for protection of child labor. Noemi Gutierrez, a young coordinator for CONNATSOP, the Potosi Council of Organized Child Workers says:
“Everyone says that kids shouldn’t work, but they are not taking into account the economic reality in this country. Sure, if we were all well off, none of us would have to work. But rather than thinking rationally, the government only says we need to eradicate child labor. I say, they ought to eradicate poverty first.”
The blog Children's Participation summarizes some of the demands made by UNATSBO (“Unión de Niños, Niñas, y Adolescentes Trabajadores de Bolivia” in Spanish, or “Union of boys, girls and teen workers of Bolivia” in English) the country's largest union of child workers:
They want to ensure  that children earn the same wages and have the same financial tools as  their adult counterparts. In some sectors, they earn less than half the  salary of their adult colleagues. Moreover, children don't have access  to savings accounts and often give their earnings directly to their  parents. Union members also lobby for safe work environments and for  better medical care, especially for children whose jobs present a health risk.
The lack of recognition of children who work forms one of the  major obstacles in achieving better living conditions for working  children

author: Magdalena Noga


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Bolivia: International Support to ‘Save TIPNIS’ on Facebook · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Blogger Willy Andres recommends visiting the Facebook page “Salvemos al Tipnis. Save the Tipnis. Carteles Posters” in response to a project to build a highway through the Indigenous Territory National Park Isiboro Sécure (TIPNIS) in Bolivia. The page gathers posters created all over the world in support of saving TIPNIS.


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China: California Hotel adapted by a cook · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A Chinese kitchen worker adapted the song California Hotel and sang in his farewell party. The video was uploaded in youku and echoed by thousands of people. China Hush translated the story and the lyrics of the Chinese version song.


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China: Netizens ridicule Shanghai’s architectural designs · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Ministry Tofu collected a number of funny photoshop pictures produced by Chinese netizens to ridicule Shanghai's architectural designs.


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Cuba: Interview with “Habanastation” Actress  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Havana Times interviews Claudia Alvariño, the actress “who plays an important supporting role in the recently released Cuban film ‘Habanastation’.”


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Cuba: Milanes’ Miami Concert Stirs Controversy Among Cubans · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

On August 27, 2011, Cuban music legend Pablo Milanés performed for the first time in his career in South Florida, at Miami's American Airlines Arena. On Cuba-focused blogs and news sites, bitter disagreement over the event’s political significance reverberated in the weeks surrounding Milanés’ performance.
The concert provoked the outrage of many anti-Castrist Cubans in Miami, who staged protests outside of the arena, calling Milanés an “emissary” and a “minion” of the revolutionary government.
Pablo Milanes in concert. By KATREyuk (BY-NC-SA).
Milanés has lived on the island since he was born in 1943. In the 1960s, he and fellow folk singer Silvio Rodríguez were among the originators of nueva trova, a unique style that blended traditional folk music with strong political messages supporting the revolutionary movement. The two became cultural icons and their music deeply embedded in the social currents of communism and socialism both in Cuba and throughout Latin America.
Unlike Rodríguez, who has remained an unflinching supporter of the revolution to the present day, Milanés’ relationship with Cuba’s political regime is more difficult to decipher.
In mid-August, Milanés gave an interview to El Nuevo Herald, in which he discussed his position. “I believe in the [socialist] system, but not in the men who implement it,” he told reporter Sarah Moreno. He discussed his critiques of the Castro government after the death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo and his public refusal to support the jailing of 75 Cuban journalists in the 2003, an event now known as the Black Spring. Milanés also openly denounced travel restrictions that the Cuban government places on most citizens.
In a post entitled “Gregorio Milanés o Pablo Samsa?” [es], Carlos Rodríguez Almaguer, writing on the Cuba-based blog of Yohandry Fontana, accused Milanés of turning against the Cuban revolution and pandering to anti-Castro sentiment in Miami.
Habría que preguntarse cómo Pablo ha podido saltar del sitial en que el pueblo cubano lo ha mantenido por largo tiempo al pantano moral en que hoy se hunde con cada nueva declaración.
Responding to a comment on his own blog, Segunda Cita [es], Silvio Rodríguez weighed in on the conversation:
Coincido con Pablo en muchos de sus juicios críticos sobre la realidad cubana. Lo que escandaliza a algunos no es el contenido de sus críticas sino la forma, que además de burda parece desamorada, sin el más mínimo compromiso afectivo. Otra cosa que duele es que haya manifestado esas críticas en Miami, a unos días de [su] concierto…
On the opposite side of the political spectrum, Milanés did not fare much better. Alberto de la Cruz of the Miami-based Babalu wrote:
I would love to hear Pablito make this same call for more freedom in Cuba to the international press right before he performs a concert at the Karl Marx Theater in Havana. That of course will never happen, because the only time pigs don't squeal is when they are feeding at the trough.
Image by Rene Massola, BY-NC-ND
Edmundo García, a Cuban reporter living in Miami, wrote an open letter to Milanés that was reproduced on numerous blogs, including Kaos en la Red [es], accusing Milanés of pandering to both sides of the controversy for nothing but his own benefit.
Sin esa Revolución a la que tantas manchas le ve y a la que tanto critica; sin esos dirigentes que la hicieron y hoy la reforman y perfeccionan junto al pueblo cubano; sin las dinámicas que generaron la estética cultural en la cual el querido Pablo se insertó para beneficio de su crecimiento como artista, no hubiera pasado (pienso yo) de ser un bolerista con una guitarra en un bar de Bayamo, o en el mejor de los casos de La Habana.
On Café Fuerte [es], Milanés posted on open response to García’s critique, accusing García of having moved to Miami’s “ultra right.” Directly addressing García, he wrote:
[Estás] ingresando en ese grupo selecto de la ultraderecha miamense que no admite reconciliaciones, críticas…[No] quieres amor, quieres odio, tú al igual que ellos, no quieres reconciliación, quieres rencores y desunión…no quieres al pueblo cubano, ni de allá ni de acá. Edmundo, tú no quieres a nadie…
While many outspoken anti-Castrist bloggers condemned Milanés, El Blog del Compañero [es] took his comments seriously, arguing that criticism from a figure like Milanés could have a serious impact on Cuban leaders.
Al leer estas declaraciones pienso que quienes deben estar sudando con cada gira de Pablo Milanés a los Estados Unidos y al mundo son los ancianos militares que oprimen a Cuba.
[…]
No creo este tipo de critica sea “preparada” ni coreografiada, sino espontánea y auténtica.
After reading [Milanés’] statements I think that those who should be sweating with each tour that Milanés does in the United States and the world are the old militants who oppress Cuba.
[…]
I don’t think this kind of criticism was “prepared” or choreographed, but rather spontaneous and authentic.
El Compañero also noted that if Milanés were to make similar critiques while in Cuba, they would probably not be reported by the Cuban press. In order to work internationally, but to remain on the island, Cuban artists are often made to walk a very delicate line. Milanés expressed hope that his concert in Miami could form a bridge of reconciliation between Cubans on and off the island. But this controversy has proven that for an artist like Milanés, whose music was so strongly associated with the Revolution in its youth, it remains difficult to reach such aims.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Global: Online Dialogue on Technology for Transparency · Global Voices
Renata Avila

The Technology for Transparency Initiative, together with New Tactics in Human Rights, invites you to join an online dialogue on ‘Using Technology to Promote Transparency’, starting today and continuing until September 27, 2011.
There  has been an expanding and increasingly global movement of technology   and digital media projects aimed at promoting government  transparency,   accountability, and public participation in political  processes. After documenting dozens of cases around the world, the  Technology for Transparency Network, a project of Rising Voices, documented these transparency projects to gain a better   understanding  of their current impact, obstacles, and future potential. Now it is time to start the conversation, with the help of the wonderful platform ‘New Tactics for Human Rights’.
Image by whiteafrican on Flickr (under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license).
This week we are inviting 11 experts from all over the world, from different projects promoting openness, collaboration and transparency, to answer your questions, comment on interesting topics and discuss the future of technology in promoting transparency.
Join Elizabeth Wolf from Ciudadano Inteligente (Smart Citizen), Chile; Susannah Vila and Jorge Soto from Citivox, Mexico; Mike Linksvayer from Creative Commons; Jonathan Gray from Open Knowledge Foundation, UK; Diego Casaes from Eleitor 2010, Brazil; Camila Bustamante from Dateros, Peru; Ulrich Muller from Germany; Maya Indira Ganesh from Tactical Technology Collective; John (Kipp) Kipchumbah of InfoNet, Kenya; Amr Gharbeia, Technology and Freedoms Programme Officer for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights; and Mendi Njonjo, Fund Manager for the Africa Technology and Transparency Initiative in Kenya.
The dialogue is an opportunity to share these case studies and tools with the New Tactics online community, learn from the experiences of practitioners implementing these projects, and discuss new ideas, challenges, risks and opportunities. Join us online from September 21-27 to share your stories, ideas and resources.

author: Renata Avila


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Global: Reflections on Peace Day 2011 · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Every year since 1982, people all around the world join forces on September 21, the International Day of Peace, to show their own commitment to worldwide peace and to work in cooperation for this goal. Events around the world range in scale from private gatherings to public concerts, and online initiatives.
Among these, there is The SunFlower Post, a new project where young females from different parts of the world write local news from a gender perspective. Their bloggers have chosen worldwide peace as the theme of the month, as the Editor in Chief, and Global Voices author, Andrea Arzaba explains:
Our bloggers will be writing about different issues towards Peace with a gender and local perspective. Do not miss this opportunity to learn about their countries. Let’s create a space for multicultural discussions and understanding.
Kicking off the series from Mexico, Andrea Arzaba comments on the last yearly governance report speech given by the president, and his focus on the future. She advocates that for a country to achieve future peace, it is necessary to focus on the actions of now:
Calderon focused on the drug war problems and situation that has grown during his presidency, as well as the economical crisis that Mexico faces. He focused on insecurity, on the moment of confusion and sadness that people are living today. He focused on “a better tomorrow”. But … what about today?
I felt he did not gave importance on his actions for achieving peace, which is crucial at this moments of uncertainty. I believe his intentions are good – trying to defeat drug-dealing crimes, but we need to pay attention on the roots of the problem.
Educated children and values are crucial to achieve peace. When we have young people involved in the drug war this is because they did not have a proper education, they did not have enough opportunities to do something else and earn money in a different way. They are inside this cycle, one that will not let you get out easily.
Photo by Flickr user jm (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
From China, Amily Yang points out that traditional Chinese wisdom like Dao and Zen can be recipes to achieve inner-peace. Paradoxically, reflecting on a recent high-speed train crash that killed more than 35 passengers, she laments that this wisdom is barely present in the fast-paced China of today. She challenges her fellow Chinese to slow down in order to find inner peace:
The high-speed train was supposed to be a gift for the nation, yet officers were getting commands to fasten the project. One example is that a driver only spent 10 days learning – and normally it would take him about 3 or 4 months in training.
EVERYTHING is fast in China. Students hurry to find a job and get promotion, workers hurry to make more products, women hurry to find a husband and get married, officers hurry to make the GDP number shining and good for their promotion. We are moving towards a better society, for we think we are moving faster and developing.
Yes, developing is the key word, especially when an economy is emerging. That is the only focus today for the country.
“Please my China, slow down and wait for the people to follow up, do not focus too much on just hurrying up.” is a popular phrase, widely spread.
We have peace now, with no war or conflict in the country.
We have peace now, so that the State focuses on developing our economy.
But how about inner peace? Could the State somehow slow down a little bit, to catch up with what the citizens really need, as family values, as food security, as trust among the nation, as no corruption. Are people allowed to slow down a little bit, to find peace?
That could also be a question for individuals. I dare you slow down, to make a choice among all the good stuff you desire, and find what you really care for? To find your inner peace…
Where Does Peace Begin? This is one of the eternal questions that Natalia Semicheva constantly asks herself. She is from Russia, a country that according to the Global Peace Index 2011 occupies 147th place among 153 peaceful states, this means a high level of violence and crime. She argues that the more aggressive you are, the more you start to understand peace:
Not in the UN resolutions, but in our families. Peace should come from your mother’s hug, from your husband’s kiss, from the first steps of your child. We should start focusing in our relatives and friends, respecting our parents, taking care of our children. Before loving humanity, we should first learn to love each other in our little family world. Only then we could share that inner peace with everybody that we meet in our life.
Photo by Flickr user Trey Ratcliff (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
From Turkey, Neslihan Çiflik wonders about the end of war:
I haven’t been present in any period of war during my life. I’m watching death like watching a movie on TV. My consciousness can’t accept reality. Even I can’t put myself in their place. I can’t think that it could also happen to me.
Unfortunately, there is war with or without guns.
It’s embarrassing to sit safely at home and write a letter of peace.
You know why? Because it sounds terrible that a human is killing some other, more than when someone is killed somewhere, far away. I’m not dying with this dying person. I’m getting dirty with the killer and I’m carrying this disgrace in my skin, in my blood.
Maybe I’m collapsing someone’s safe house, stealing his or her breath and his or her smile in this world. And maybe stealing her children’s smile as well.
I couldn’t believe that I can do or may do all of these. It’s a terrible shame.
This can’t be our aim to be born. My existence can’t give any pain to another person.
According to me that war is unbelievable from these sides. People die of disease or disaster. But this is not a disease, this is not a disaster, this is not faith.
Why do I do this? Our old world needs peace. Human, nations, environment, animals and herbs, and states are tired.
Finally, Anna Zemblicka from Latvia remembers August 23, 1989, the day two million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians joined hands to form a massive human chain. It was The Baltic Way that Moved the World:
The Baltic Way encouraged democratic movements throughout the Soviet Union and with it, international society payed attention to the Baltic region in a great extent. Within a year and a half, all three Baltic countries formally declared their independence. By September 1991, the world’s governments recognized their independence.
Historians and other experts claim that the Baltic Way “created a precedent that was and hopefully will be, followed by a number of countries all over the world – the triumph of humanity over totalitarianism in a peaceful way”.
The The SunFlower Post will publish more stories throughout the month. Check back at the website or follow the project on Twitter and Facebook to read what bloggers from other countries will add to the peace series.
Photo by Fabio Gismondi (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Peace Day is an opportunity for reflections on individual and planetary progress toward peace, and time for “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples”, as the U.N. Resolution that established the International Day of Peace explains.

author: Paula Góes


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Hungary: Higher Education and Tuition · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about “higher education and the question of ‘tuition'” in Hungary.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Hungary: Photojournalists Banned From Parliament · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Contrarian Hungarian reports that photojournalists working for two Hungarian online news portals have been banned from entering the Parliament building following the publication of photos of PM Orbán's handwritten notes on the speech he was delivering on the country's defense plan.


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India: Barcamp Mumbai 7 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bombay Lives informs that the 7th edition of the Barcamp in Mumbai will take place on October 2, 2011.


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India: The Coffee House Of Kolkata · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bong Mom passionately writes about the Coffee House at College Street in Kolkata, a legendary meeting place for the Bengali literati.


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Jamaica: Acts of Creation  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I think that is part of the reason that we look behind in the toilet bowl. We want to see exactly what it is we have created”: Under the Saltire Flag writes a scatological post that will, astonishingly, get you looking at creativity from a different angle.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Mexico: ‘Peace Caravan to the South’ Arrives in Mexico City · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Fred Rosen –from the blog Mexico, Bewildered and Contested at NACLA– reports that The ‘Peace Caravan to the South’, organized by the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, “arrived in Mexico City’s central plaza, the Zócalo, ending its eleven-day, round-trip journey to and through southern Mexico, where it documented 221 cases of violence, chiefly among them disappearances.” You can read eleven daily reports from this peace caravan on Cencos [es].


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Mozambique: Sant’Egidio Community Fights Back Against HIV/AIDS · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Lack of access to care for HIV positive people has been well documented on the African continent. Many initiatives strive to show that things could improve with collective effort, and among them is the Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition (DREAM) program.
DREAM was created in 2002 by the Sant'Egidio Community in Mozambique, and takes a comprehensive approach to fighting HIV/AIDS.  Cristina Cannelli, leader of the Guinea DREAM program, explains the special relationship [it] with the African continent, especially Mozambique:
"Free care here". Image by Sant'Egidio photo service.
La Comunità di Sant'Egidio è profondamente legata all'Africa, anche perchè la Comunità stessa è una realtà africana. Esistono Comunità di Sant'Egidio in 26 paesi  del continente con più di 20.000 membri africani. Un legame particolare con il Mozambico, dove nel 1992 fu firmata la pace che pose termine ad una terribile guerra civile grazie alla mediazione della Comunità, condusse a scegliere il Mozambico qualeprimo paese in cui lanciare il programma DREAM.
Today DREAM is present in Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Guinea (Conakry), Guinea (Bissau), Nigeria, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.  The basic philosophy of the program is:
… DREAM has been created to achieve excellence: excellence in treatment and diagnostics, in computerization. DREAM demands that western standards be adopted in Africa too; the programme routinely uses viral load assessment, and has introduced Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART)
A DREAM success
The sheer numbers of the DREAM activity throughout the continent are impressive: 150,000 people have been treated of which 25,000 were aged 15 years or younger,  65,000 patients have benefited from anti-retroviral therapy of which  6,000 were children. DREAM also successfully interrupted vertical mother-to-child HIV transmission for 14,000 births from HIV positive mothers.
Since the beginning of the program more than 1,000,000 people have benefited from the DREAM program via health education, water filtration, food supplies, mosquito nets, prevention programmes on television, radio and the workplace.  In total, the DREAM centers have performed 1,300,000 medical consultations, 276,000 viral load tests and 540,000 CD4 tests.
Celebrating the good health of the children at the mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention centers. Image courtesy of the Sant'Egidio community.
For such a large organisation to run properly in so many countries with many different spoken languages, qualified personnel is a must, which is why the community has organized 18 workshops throughout the continent for 4,000 health professionals. Mobile teams travel to reach the most isolated patients.
In order to engage the local institutions, DREAM states that:
Some of these structures are operational thanks to collaboration and agreements reached with local health centres that have replicated the programme.
However, patients also are actively contributing by committing to actively fight the HIV pandemic by becoming volunteers:
In each and every DREAM centre, medical and paramedical personnel are flanked by local men and women who have decided to commit themselves to working for patients who come to our centres. They decided to do so when their own lives were remarkably transformed after they came in contact with our services.
There are relatively large groups of such people and they constitute an indispensable resource for the success of the programme. Most, but not all, of them are sick. They are our “campaigners”.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Pakistan: Neglected Millions of Sindh Floods · Global Voices
Salman Latif

The 2010 floods in Pakistan displaced millions and were a major setback for the national economy. They affected vast areas mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh and took a toll of hundreds of lives. Despite the repeated statements from the government, no practical steps were taken to tackle the possibility of future floods and the consequence of this gross negligence is that floods are yet again wrecking havoc this year.
Unlike last year, the eye of the storm this year is Sindh where flood waters have razed in numerous villages and displaced millions. According to Asian Human Rights Commission, the loss of crops due to floods in Sindh is estimated to have caused 5.6 billion rupees in damages. The extent of inundation can be gauged from the fact that out of 23 districts of Sindh, 22 have been directly or indirectly affected by the deluge.
Aerial view of Shahdadpur, which has been inundated by widespread flooding. Image by Rajput Yasir, copyright Demotix (18/9/2011).
Lamenting the utter lack of efficiency on the part of the government to tackle the situation, the Human Rights Commission article states:
It is only now that the government is examining the conditions of the bunds and embankments which are only just, if at all, holding the flood waters at bay. In the meantime hundreds ofthousands of people are trapped due to the flooding of the roads and it is the women and children who are suffering the most due to the lack of safe drinking water, milk and food. As was seen in the last catastrophe the response from the government was very slow due to the lack of a proper relief system and resources.
Like last year, a number of social initiatives have been launched to help out the displaced flood affectees. Among these efforts is the one launched by Faisal Kapadia and Dr Awab Alvi, two notable social activists and bloggers (and Global Voices authors).
Faisal, writing about the objectives of his relief efforts states on his blog:
Our plan is initially to provide them cooked meals for the next 15 days, in order to at least give them a chance of returning to their lives once the rain waters subside.
A man with his children under the water moving towards a safe place. Image by Rajput Yasir, copyright Demotix (16/9/2011).
Commenting on the disaster wrecked by the floods, Faisal tells:
Vast swathes of land on either side of the road were completely inundated with water. I have been working in flood relief since 2010 and I have to say that I have not seen this much water in my entire life. The flooding is so intense, that for several stretches there is no land in sight at all. In fact, I felt like I was driving in the middle of the sea – it was terrifying and saddening at the same time.
Beena Sarwar, a notable Pakistani journalist and activist, has been actively highlighting credible relief efforts on her blog. The groups she highlighted include Pakistan Medical Association, Indus Foundation Trust and IRC. A recent post on floods details upon the updates from Khairpur, a region in Sindh,
There is no proper arrangement of medical facilities neither from Government nor from the NGOs.
There has been an outbreak of skin disease, flu, gastro and malaria
People are drinking stagnant flood water, and are demanding safe drinking water
Temporary latrines have not yet been installed and school latrines are insufficient and non-functional
Protection of most vulnerable particularly women and children also seems to be one of the major issues.
Millions have been affected by floods across Pakistan with thousands forced to vacate their homes. Image by Rajput Yasir, copyright Demotix (7/9/2011).
The most unfortunate part of the entire episode is that the media and Pakistani blogosphere barely seems to care about the floods, at large. Of course there are exceptions but compared to last year’s immense response, Pakistani netizens are relatively mute.
Commenting on this apathy, Tazeen, an active Pakistani blogger, says in her post titled ‘South is flooded and the rest of Pakistan does not care”:
“This year, districts in Sindh and Balochistan are affected with yet another flood but this time netiher the media nor the citizens are taking it as seriously as they did it last year…I have not seen a single camp, either in Rawalpindi or Islamabad, receiving donations and goods for flood relief efforts in Sindh and Balochistan…I find it mind numbingly cruel that parts of Sindh and Balochistan are submerged in water and the rest of Pakistan couldn’t care less. If this does not breed discontent and dissent, I would be most surprised.”
Currently, thousands of flood victims await food and relief. Women and children lie under open sky, waiting for the concerned authorities to take notice of their plight. Sadly, though, this barely seems a primary concern of the government.
Chowrangi provides an excellent list of donor agencies which are actively working for the relief of the flood victims. The list can be found here.

author: Salman Latif