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Spain: Ryanair (aka Adventures in Flying) · Global Voices
Lourdes Sada

Ryanair, the low-cost, low-luxury Irish airline is once again coming under fire, this time for numerous incidents that have built up over the course of the past few weeks. On July 23, 2012, three Ryanair planes had to make emergency landings in Valencia due to lack of fuel.
In September, two more planes made emergency landings in Madrid because of technical problems and depressurization, and another in Barcelona due to loss of fuel. The issue has not left netizens indifferent, and they did not hesitate to make jokes about the situation:
@Joanavas: Dentro de unas horas monto en #ryanair. Encantada de haberos conocido.
@Joanavas: I'm getting on #ryanair in a few hours. It's been a pleasure knowing you all.
@mgarnedo: Hoy vuelo con #ryanair, mañana actualizo la sección de hobbies de mi @linkedin añadiendo deportes de riesgo #wishmeluck
@mgarnedo: Today I'm flying with #ryanair, tomorrow I'm updating my Hobbies section on LinkedIn to add extreme sports #wishmeluck
@Lausfdez: Hoy tenía dos opciones, quedarme plácidamente en mi cama o ir al aeropuerto. Elegí vivir al límite. #Ryanair
@Lausfdez: Today I had two options: staying peacefully in bed or going to the airport. I chose to live life to the fullest. #Ryanair
@Txemitta: #ryanair les la nova loteria… Saps de quin aeroports despegues pero no on aterreras…
@Txemitta: #ryanair is the new lottery… you know which airport you're leaving from, but not the one you will land in…
Ryanair plane “decorated” for the holidays.  Photo taken from the Ryanair Facebook page.
But, is Ryanair a safe airline? According to a report from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) [es], it is. According to the Spanish pilots labor union [es], Sepla, “[Ryanair] takes the low cost concept too far, always straying into the security limits of legislation.”
(Ryanair has announced that it will launch legal actions against Sepla for their declarations, which they call slanderous, and in turn, adjudicator Soledad Becerril will initiate a court-appointed action to ensure that the company does not violate air security regulations nor the rights of the passengers.)
Despite what Doris Casaites writes on her blog “3viajes al día” [es], the Ryanair's cabin staff does not appear to be too concerned, since on a flight from Gerona to Madrid she had the opportunity to hear the following comments over the PA system:
como ya sabemos que todos piensan que somos unos chorizos, agarren bien sus bolsos por si acaso les robamos, y si no se fían pueden encender las luces de lectura
(…)
si compran [su lotería], les puede sacar de sus miserables y ruinosas vidas. Hasta el piloto me acaba de llamar por el interfono para pedirme un cupón porque hoy no hemos vendido ni uno
since we all already know that everyone thinks we are a bunch of thieves, make sure to hold on to your bags in case we rob you, and if you don't trust us, you can turn on the reading lights
(…)
if you buy [lottery tickets], it can be a way out of your miserable and disastrous lives. Even the pilot just called me on the intercom to ask me for a ticket because we have not sold a single one today
In reality, flying with Ryanair is often anything but cheap. If you buy a round trip flight for two European destinations online, in addition to the cost of the two trips, you will have to pay a 4€ tax for flight delays/cancellations, 12€ to do an online check-in, 50€ for checking a 15 kg bag (60€ for a 20 kg bag) and 12€ in administrative costs. This is to say that Ryanair will raise the initial price of the trip by at least 78€ (39€ each way).
If they discover that you exceeded the baggage limit in the airport, Ryanair will charge you 20€ per kg until a maximum of 32 kg. If you do not complete the check-in online or you forget to print your boarding passes, Ryanair will fine you 60€.
It is worth adding that Ryanair received over 793 million euro [es] in public subsidies in Europe over the course of the last year. This money is what permitted the company to turn a profit of 503 million euro [es] during that time period with such low costs.
Ryanair's dramatic CEO, Michael O'Leary, appears to know no limits when it comes to cutting costs… and “privileges” for his customers. In addition to his plans to place an extra charge [es] on obese individuals, demand 1€ to use the restroom, remove two of the three restrooms from each plane to make room for more seats, install the so-called vertical seats or suggest that passengers carry their own bags to the plane, he has added a proposal that planes fly without a copilot and, in case one is necessary, it be one of the crew members that land [es] the plane.
Michael O'Leary dressed as a bullfighter. Photo taken from banbloodsports.com
O'Leary does not refrain. On Belgian website références [fr], we find many statements of such a controversial character:
We don't want to hear your sob stories. What part of ‘no refund’ don't you understand?
(…)
We would welcome a good, deep, bloody recession in this country for 12 to 18 months … It would help see off the environmental nonsense.
(…)
We need a recession. We have had 10 years of growth. A recession gets rid of crappy loss-making airlines and it means we can buy aircraft more cheaply.
In 2006, the BBC Channel 4's program, Dispatches, placed two of its journalists on Ryanair as flight attendants. They worked in the company for five months and filmed all sorts of irregularities.
The video talks about lack of training, little regard for accreditation of their personnel, 25-minute stops during which it is impossible to conduct a proper investigation of the aircraft, sufficient fuel loads and borderline illegal work conditions. Not to mention the total disregard for their clients, who they appear to consider stupid for flying with this airline. Judge for yourselves, and hope that things have gotten much better since then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5BLkBeLj_o&feature=related
Take, for example, Ryanair's Facebook page, where most entries are complaints from outraged passengers saying that the company does not even bother to respond. No comment.

author: Lourdes Sada


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Tajikistan: Costly Conscription · Global Voices
Musharraf

Blogger Teocrat writes [ru] that the conscription of young men into the military in Tajikistan puts a heavy financial burden on the conscripts’ families and the state. He also suggests that the better educated and more religious conscripts reduce the incidence of bullying in the army.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Musharraf


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Tehran’s Bazaar Goes on Strike as Iran’s Currency Collapses · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Strike in Tehran's Bazaar, Source: Green City
Baztab, an Iran-based website, reports that Tehran's Bazaar went on strike on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 as merchants and shopkeepers protest against the free fall of the national currency. The Iranian rial hit an all-time low against the US dollar on Tuesday, as one dollar exchanged to about 34,000 rials. According to Baztab, the Iranian regime tried to counteract the rise of foreign currencies by filtering websites announcing the exchange rates, such as Mazane.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told reporters on October 3, that the slump was the result of the “temporary problem” of the international embargo on importing Iranian oil.
Protests back on the streets
A video on YouTube shows “shopkeepers are on strike at the Bazaar in Tehran”:
Here is a protest gathering in Tehran:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDFjyg1KXpw&feature=player_embedded
Iranian blogger Sedaiazad writes that according to the news coming from Iran, people gathered in Toopkhoneh Square in Tehran and broke vitrines of several stores.
Protest and strike in Tehran's Bazaar source: Green City
Bayandeandishe writes that protesters clashed with security forces in Istanbul Square in Tehran, and that they moved towards Ferdowsi Square in the center of Tehran. Protesters chanted “Down with Syria!”.
This slogan is most likely inspired by the fact that many Iranians blame the Iranian government for (allegedly) supporting the Syrian regime financially at a moment when their own country is in need of cash. Also, it may be a less direct way of criticizing the Iranian government which does not tolerate dissent.
Xcalibur says family members who work at the Bazaar informed him about the strike and the people chanting slogans. So far security forces did not intervene.

author: Fred Petrossian


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The United States: Structural Violence on the Global Frontier · Global Voices
Yarisa Colon

The Latin and Latin-American Student Association (AELLA) of the Graduate Center, City University of New York, invites you to participate in the free conference “Structural Violence on the Global Frontier: Central America, Mexico and the United States,” which will take place from the 4-6 of October, 2012 at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The Graduate Center, CUNY and St. Mary's Church, respectively. The repercussions of anti-migratory political aggressiveness, deportations, those who go missing, the threats and the insecurity that attacks the lives of thousands of migrants are some of the subjects that will be discussed during the three days which will be full of activities. The conference will be transmitted live in the front page of Asuntos del Sur (Affairs of the South). www.asuntosdelsur.org

author: Yarisa Colon


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Turkmenistan: An Introduction to Dutar · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

One can’t think of Turkmen art and culture without thinking about the dutar.
Khan on the NewEurasia.net blog offers an ‘introduction’ to the traditional musical instrument that is also widely used in other Central Asian countries, Iran, and South Asia.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Venezuela: A Final Look at the Polls · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In the blog Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights, Iñaki Sagarzazu analyzes the final polls before the October 7 presidential elections in Venezuela.
As it stands the race is extremely close. A six point difference is not only very close to the margin of error of most polling firms but is also well below the number of undecided voters which averages 10%.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Venezuela: ‘Hangouts’ for the Election’s Final Stretch · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

This post is part of our special coverage Venezuela Elections 2012.
Blogger and journalist Luis Carlos Díaz [es] organizes conversations and debates over the Presidential elections that will take place at the end of this week. Throughout different episodes that will go on until Sunday, October 7, there will be a space to discuss the campaigns, evaluate government management, risks and opportunities; and review what people think days before the most contested elections in the last 14 years.
Each broadcast showcases detailed analysis of various episodes of the Venezuelan political life during Hugo Chavez's terms. During the first TwitCam [es], Luis Carlos covered the communication and polling strategies that were used before this election and that have shaped today's discourse.
Starting September 29, the discussions take place via Google Hangout and are published daily on YouTube. On that day's video, the blogger and communications expert Naky Soto [es] was a guest and participated in the conversation opening the debate over the priorities that the candidates have had and should have.
That same day they compared the candidates’ numbers and highlighted some of the changes that have taken place in the different campaigns:
Nos acostumbramos a un estilo de Chávez […] Tenemos como mínimo 12 años con una sobreexposición mediática [… que] se vuelve un mecanismo regular de comunicación de un presidente con su pueblo. […Por otro lado, el candidato opositor,] Capriles trabaja más sobre el espacio de lo operativo que sobre lo comunicacional.
We got used to Chavez's style […] We have had at least 12 years of media over-exposure […which] becomes a mechanism to regulate the communication of a President with his people. […on the other hand, the opposition candidate] Capriles works more with actions than communication.
In this Hangout, they also discussed the prices of subsidized gas [es] in Venezuela and the risks of violence during election weekend (taking into account the acts of violence that took place during the “Unity March” lead by Presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski in Barinas, which was widely commented on Twitter).
On the following meetings, the focus was closing campaign events [es] and citizen movements in Caracas; and also, they continued talking about the polarization elements in the electoral promotion efforts.
They also reminded the participants to send their complaints regarding the rules of campaign promotion to the Twitter account @Ustedabuso [es] (“You abused”).
Every Hangout is available on Luis Carlos Díaz's YouTube channel [es]. There you'll find the recordings for each day with detailed and varied analysis. These conversations will continue to take place every week day at 8.30pm (-4:30GMT) until Election Day.
This post is part of our special coverage Venezuela Elections 2012.

author: Laura Vidal


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Will Iran’s Regime Collapse Along with its Currency? · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

The Iranian rial hit a record low on Tuesday October 2, 2012, yet Iranian authorities appear confused and powerless face to this financial tsunami. Sanctions are being blamed for the national currency's drop to 34,500 rials against the United States dollar. Only a few days earlier, on Sunday, it was 29,500 rials to the dollar.
Iranian lawmakers have signed a petition to summon President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to parliament for questioning over the rapid drop in value of the country’s currency.
Meanwhile, the president of Tehran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, Yahya Al Eshagh, compared financial crisis to a war and said “a missile had hit currency square.” In turn, the Iranian president defended his government's economic policies, claiming the country's enemies were waging “psychological warfare” against Iran.
On Wednesday, October 3, Tehran's Bazaar went on strike as merchants and shopkeepers protested the free fall of the currency.
Ahmadinejad denied the rise of the dollar
Several netizens shared Ahmadineajd's interview from September 2012, calling predications that the dollar would rise to 30,000 rials, just an example of psychological warfare.
Will the regime collapse?
Iranian blogger Azark says [fa]:
The rial continues depreciate in value compared to foreign currencies, hour by hour, an unprecedented crisis… One faction within parliament accuses Ahmadinejad of being involved in this crisis, while the government's officials, without presenting any proof or evidence, accuse a group of mafia in the country to be responsible of the sharp decline of rial. Iran's Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and his office have been silent on this topic. Most analysts consider that sanctions against Iran's nuclear program led to this crisis… in a country where many workers are jobless and several protest just to get their salary paid. Poverty is growing in society, can we anticipate that the rial's downfall can make the Islamic Republic collapse?
Darzarehbin writes [fa] with irony that in 40 years we will have this piece of news: “Iranian central bank invites people to exchange one dollar to 30 billion rials”.
The blogger also writes [fa]:
I hope the currency crisis is solved soon, if this situation persists it can really hurt society… Iranian leaders only pay attention to citizens when there is an election… Iranians are powerless to change their destiny and the opposition is absent. Dark days are ahead of us and everything may collapse. I hope I am wrong.
Greencity writes [fa]:
Iranian people, you are so patient. Know that if this situation happened elsewhere, people would protest and the authorities would resign.
Meanwhole Iranians struggle more and more in their daily life as the rial sinks for sanctions. It seems Iranians have become serial victims of the regime's repression and the sanctions of world powers.


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Belize: The LGBT Community Seeks A Strategic Plan · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

How do we get political and build alliances in a small civil society environment where organizations are sheepish to take a public stand?
Caleb Orozco asks how the LGBT community in Belize should strategize in response to the opposition of gay rights by religious leaders.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Brazil: Staying Informed on Electoral Candidates · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

2011's Rising Voices grantee Amigos de Januária, from Brazil, posted [pt] several tips for citizens who want to use existing online transparency tools to find information about the candidates running for the municipal elections that will take place on October 7, 2012.

author: Sara Moreira


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Iran: “Leave Syria Alone, Think About Us” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Security forces in Tehran on October 3, 2012, Source: Greencity
No shops were open in Tehran's Grand Bazaar on Thursday, October 4, 2012, one day after shopkeepers and merchants went on strike to protest against the free fall of the national currency on Wednesday. Iranian netizens published several videos of Wednesday's protest gatherings, the presence of security forces in the Bazaar areas, and closed shops. Kalmeh, an opposition website reports that several protesters were arrested on Wednesday.
“Leave Syria alone, think about us instead”
People chanted “Leave Syria alone, think about us instead” in Toopkhone Square in Tehran. The Iranian State has declared several times that it supports the Syrian regime, and recent news reports have said Iran  transferred $10 billion dollars to Syria. This is provocative news at a time when Iranian citizens are suffering the effects of a deep financial crisis spurred on by international sanctions against Iran.
Security forces in Tehran's Bazaar
“Dollar must go down”


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Kuwait: Shotgun Used Against Stateless Protesters · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

On the International Day of Non-Violence (2 October, 2012), the stateless community of Kuwait decided to protest to demand their right to citizenship. The community has been protesting, on and off, since February 2011. Over the past two years, the self-acclaimed ‘Gulf democracy’ has arrested more than 200 protesters, put them on trial, fabricated charges against them, and then acquitted them.
This Tuesday, the protest was different as it attracted more than 3,000 protesters, foreign media, and several NGOs.
In the past weeks, the protesters were way smaller, comparatively, of a community estimated to be about 120,000 of Kuwait's 3 million population. Bedoon translates to without, and in this case refers to Kuwaitis with no official documents like passports and ID cards.
According to Bedoon Rights, the security forces used rubber bullets, smoke bombs, tear gas, sound bombs, and for the first time shotguns. Confirmed news  say Abdulatif Al-Nabhan was shot in his eye and has a little chance to rescue it right now. Here are different pictures posted by Bedoon and Kuwaiti netizens online:
Picture of a security man pointing his shotgun towards protesters
One of the Bedoon protesters getting arrested (posted by @Mohd_AlSalem)
Different pictures of injuries caused by rubber bullets (posted by @YaqoobAbdualla)
One of the signs held in the protest (posted by @Mohd_AlSalem)
Gas canisters and rubber bullets (posted by @HAlshammri)
Bedoon protester head-injured (posted by @FawazFarhan)
Picture of the weapon used to fire teargas against protesters (posted by @Montheralhabeeb)
Pro-bedoon Kuwaiti activist Hussain Al-Khaldi getting arrested (posted by @faisalalmana)
Rubber bullets used against protesters (posted by @AleradaNews)
This video (posted by 7MGAN) puts together a 15 minute footage of the Bedoon protest:
In response to criticism, the Interior Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday night accusing the Bedoon of the following:
1- Distracting the work of the Central Agency through social media and making false accusations against this governmental body 2- Causing problems in the country in abuse of the crisis that the country is going through 3- Rioting, violence, and calling for an illegal protest 4- Vandalism, blocking traffic, and starting fires in public and private properties 5- Risking the lives of citizens 6- Attacking security men and 7- Vandalizing ambulances and throwing stones on them and on security men.

author: Mona Kareem


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Peru: Pardon Requested for Former President Alberto Fujimori · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

On Thursday night, September 27, 2012, the hashtags #noalindulto (no to the pardon) [es] and #sialindulto (yes to the pardon) [es] competed to gain visibility on Twitter. They referred to a possible humanitarian pardon for former President Alberto Fujimori due to his deteriorating health. But this story started well before – and not on social networks.
As Americas Quarterly explains in their blog, Fujimori is serving a 25-year sentence for human rights violations:
The sentence was handed down in 2009 after Fujimori was linked to the massacre of 25 people by the Grupo Colina paramilitary death squad in the early 1990s and the kidnapping of a businessman and a journalist in 1992.
On September 20, Kenji Fujimori, the former president's son and current congressman, was interviewed about the hospitalization of his father due to a hemorragic granuloma in the tongue, where he has had six previous surgeries. Kenji Fujimori stated [es] that he will not insist on the pardon: “because President Ollanta Humala has placed as the sole condition that my father must be dying”.
Keiko Fujimori, the former president's older daughter and former candidate to the presidency, stressed [es] the same thing the following day.
The next day, the Minister of Justice, Eda Rivas, indicated [es] that the matter of the pardon was not on the agenda, and referring [es] to the words said more than one year ago by the then President-elect Ollanta Humala: “nobody should die in prison and I think that a word to the wise is enough”, added that it was due to the fact that Fujimori's relatives hadn't presented any requests for a pardon.
On September 23, the President of Congress, Víctor Isla from the ruling party, went further in response to a statement by an interviewer who said that the Fijimori family had not requested the pardon because they think, based on previous presidential declarations, that it won't be given. He stated [es]: “I think that it is a wrong perception by Mrs and Mr Fujimori. The humanitarian issue does not mean that he must be dying”.
The next day, Vice-President Marisol Espinoza stressed [es] that the government cannot act on its own initiative regarding this matter. And on September 25, President Humala expressed [es] his surprise about this situation, which, according to him, could be the result of a political calculation by the Fujimori family.
Protest against the pardon for Fujimori, July 2011. Photo by Catherine Binet from The Advocacy Project on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
On September 26, Fujimori's lawyer, César Nakasaki, justified [es] the Fujimori family's position regarding the pardon, due to the precedents, and added that the former president had not asked him to request the pardon either. Finally, he indicated that the president is allowed to give a pardon on his own initiative.
On the other hand, Ronald Gamarra, who belongs to the National Coordinator for Human Rights (CNDDHH), argued [es] that Fujimori supporters are trying to victimize the former president with the pardon to achieve political gains. He added that in any case Fujimori can't access the pardon because in 2009 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison because of human rights violations.
On September 27, former presidential adviser Carlos Tapia caused controversy when he said [es] that granting the pardon could benefit President Humala politically, because “surely, there will be political gratitude” from the groups in favour of Fujimori and that these kind of “arrangements are set under the table”.
In the middle of this controversy, on September 28 it was reported [es] that former President Fujimori was taken back to his cell after a few days in a local private hospital, where his followers carried out vigils [es] for his health. That same day, Keiko Fujimori announced [es] that they had decided to request the pardon for their father on humanitarian grounds.
That profusion of opinions has also been present in blogs, where due to the characteristics of the medium, the opinions were much more open and unmasked. For example, Neoliberal Cusco in the blog with the same name declared [es]:
Los caviares y los progres sólo ven a Fujimori como un genocida y un ladrón. Para mi es mucho más que eso. […] Para mi fue el jefe de un estado que actuó con firmeza y nos defendió de la insanía y agresión comunista, liderada por Abimael [Guzmán]. Gracias a él (y su gente) nos salvamos de ser Camboya, Cuba o Corea del Norte. Además, el informe de la CVR [Comisión de la verdad y reconciliación] es muy claro: MÁS GENTE murió durante los gobiernos de Alan y de Belaunde que durante los dos periodos de Fujimori. De hecho hubo excesos, pero en mi opinión fueron justificados. El único comunista bueno es el comunista muerto.
The rich Left and progressives just see Fujimori as a thief guilty of genocide. To me, he is much more than that […]. To me he was the chief of a state who acted firmly and defended us from the evil and communist aggression headed by Abimel [Guzmán]. Thanks to him (and his people), we saved ourselves from being Cambodia, Cuba or North Korea. Moreover, the report by the the CVR [Truth and Reconciliation Commission] is very clear: MORE PEOPLE died during the Alan and Belaunde governments than during the Fujimori terms. There were in fact excesses, but in my opinion they were justified. The only good communist is the dead communist.
Similarly, the blogger from La Guadaña writes [es]:
Hay que reconocer que el chino sacó adelante y pacificó el país, entregándoselo al cholo sano y sagrado [refiriéndose al expresidente Alejandro Toledo], sin terrucos [terroristas] y con las cuentas en azul,
There is a need to recognize that [Fujimori] pushed the country forward and brought peace, giving the country to the sacred and healthy cholo [referring to former President Alejandro Toledo] without terrorists and with the accounts in order. [Note: Valentín Paniagua was the interim president after Fujimori was ousted by Congress in November 2000; Alejandro Toledo was president after Paniagua's short term. Furthermore, irregularities in the accounts of Fujimori's administration were later found.]
The blog Kausa Justa del Equipo de Incidencia en Derechos de Iprodes mentions [es] an interesting detail related to the sentence [es] that former President Fujimori is serving:
En 1995 Alberto Fujimori presentó el Proyecto de ley N° 2636/95-CCD que prohibió la concesión del indulto a los autores del delito de secuestro agravado. […] La Ley 26478 fue publicada en el diario oficial El Peruano de fecha 14 de junio de 1995.
In 1995, Alberto Fujimori presented Bill Nº 2636/95-CCD which prohibited the concession of a pardon to authors of aggravated kidnapping. […] The Law 26478 was published in official newspaper El Peruano on June 14, 1995.
It is important to note that the Law 28760 [es] subsequently modified the scope of Article 152 of the Criminal Code, the Article that refers to Law 26478, specifying clearly in its second article that the pardon does not proceed in case of kidnapping.
In this sense, it is also important to consider an article by Jo-Marie Burt published [es] last year in the blog Noticias Ser:
En términos legales, un indulto a Fujimori sería contrario tanto al derecho peruano como al derecho internacional. […] En el caso de Fujimori, la sentencia de abril de 2009 dice expresamente que los crímenes por los cuales fue condenado —el homicidio calificado de 25 personas (15, entre ellos un niño de ocho años, de la masacre de Barrios Altos, y los 9 estudiantes y un profesor de la Universidad La Cantuta); el asalto agravado de 4 personas que quedaron gravemente heridas luego de esa masacre; y el secuestro agravado del periodista Gustavo Gorriti y del empresario Samuel Dyer— constituyen crímenes de lesa humanidad en el derecho internacional por tener un carácter sistemático y generalizado.
In legal terms, a pardon for Fujimori would be contrary to Peruvian Law and to International Law […] In the case of Fujimori, the sentence of April 2009 indicates that the crimes for which he was convicted –the homicide of 25 people (15, including an eight-year-old child who was among them, in the massacre of Barrios Altos, and 9 students and a professor in La Cantuta University); the aggravated assault of four people who were seriously injured after that massacre; and the aggravated kidnapping of journalist Gustavo Gorriti and businessman Samuel Dyer– are crimes against humanity according to international law because of their systematic and generalized character.
The blog Ideeleradio summarizes [es] an interview with Carlos Rivera, Director of the Legal Area of the Institute of Legal Defense (IDL). Among other things, Rivera refers to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ recent decision [es] to annul the Supreme Court's controversial verdict, known as the Villa Stein verdict, which reduced sentences and eliminated the crimes against humanity sentence for members of the Colina Group:
Ellos tenían muchas expectativas con el fallo de Villa Stein y cuando se ha eliminado eso […] y ahora el camino que les queda es del indulto [¿El pedido del indulto es como el plan B que siguen ahora que se anuló la sentencia de Villa Stein?] No me queda ninguna [duda] que eso ha sido así, y lo que ratifica que el fallo Villa Stein tenía un objetivo clarísimo en ser como un instrumento o una palanca para la defensa de Fujimori
They had many expectations due to the Villa Stein verdict and now it was eliminated […] and the only path they have left is the pardon [Is requesting the pardon plan B now that the Villa Stein verdict was annulled?] I have no doubts that this is the case, and it ratifies that the Villa Stein verdict had a clear objective to be like an instrument or a lever for Fujimori's defense
On the other hand, Carlos Santibañez, in the webpage The Fu****g Times, gives his opinion about this topic in an article called “Pardon or Insult?”:
Humala debería nombrar una junta proba de médicos que puedan examinar a Fujimori y determinar si realmente tiene una enfermedad terminal. Esto tiene que ser meramente técnico, y no como salida a un posible acorralamiento político. Es clarísimo que el Fujimorismo ha estado jugando con imágenes y videos que sensibilicen a la población sobre “el grave estado” de Fujimori. Una bien pensada campaña que apela a lo político, y trata de saltarse argumentos médicos y jurídicos. Hay que tener en cuenta que lo que se decida será precedente para otros presos… como Abimael Guzmán.
Humala should name a board of doctors who can examine Fujimori and determine if he really has a terminal illness. This has to be purely technical, and not as a possible way out political encirclement. It is very clear that Fujimorismo has been playing with pictures and videos that sensitize the population about Fujimori's “serious condition”. A well-thought campaign that appeals to political aspects and which tries to avoid medical and legal arguments. We have to consider that whatever is decided will be a precedent for other prisoners, like Abimael Guzmán.
In the following days the request for a pardon for former President Alberto Fujimori is expected to materialize. Then, all that is left is the presidential decision. And as declared [es] by the President of the Judicial System, César San Martín, “May God enlighten the President.”

author: Juan Arellano


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Peru: “Talk to My Back, Mr. President” · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

On October 1 and 2, 2012, Lima hosted the III Summit of South American-Arab Countries (ASPA) and the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs. In order to highlight the event, the Government declared those two days as holidays for the Lima Metropolitan Area and the Constitutional Province of El Callao [es].
During the Summit, president Ollanta Humala and his wife, First Lady Ms. Nadine Heredia [es], were seen welcoming the guests, presiding activities, giving speeches and posing for pictures. But on the second day of the Summit, cameras captured what seems to be a harsh exchange of words between the couple.
YouTube user cajamarcaglobal uploaded the video, where we can see the presidential couple talking and then Ms. Heredia turning her back to her husband:
In Peru, Ms. Heredia is perceived as a strong-willed woman, and this episode didn't go unnoticed by Peruvian media and netizens. Twitter users created the hashtag #HablaConMiEspalda (Talk to my back) [es] and immediately started commenting and making fun of the whole situation.
User Giovanni Arce (@GiovanniArce) [es] uses Summit-related words:
@GiovanniArce: O: Pero Nadine tienes que preparar arroz árabe para el almuerzo del ASPA N: #hablaconmiespalda.
@GiovanniArce: O [Ollanta]: But, Nadine, you have to cook some Arab rice for lunch at ASPA N [Nadine]: #hablaconmiespalda (Talk to my back).
César Peirano (@cesarpeirano) [es] mentions the government's agenda:
@cesarpeirano: La Agenda del Gobierno esta escrita en la espalda de Nadine. #hablaconmiespalda… http://fb.me/2cZykH4gm
@cesarpeirano: The Government's Agenda is written on Nadine's back. #hablaconmiespalda… http://fb.me/2cZykH4gm
Meanwhile, Mariela (@vesdamariela) [es] mentions another kind of language:
@vesdamariela: Ya salieron los especialistas a ver cuadro x cuadro el video presidencial y leer el lenguaje corporal de Nadine? #HablaconmiEspalda
@vesdamariela: Have specialists watched the presidential video frame by frame to read Nadine's body language? #HablaconmiEspalda
User Zarella Sierra (@ZarellaSierra) [es] shares some advice:
@ZarellaSierra: Moraleja: Si llevas tu pareja a tu trabajo, no te asombres cuando ventile los trapos sucios ante ese público. #HablaconmiEspalda
@ZarellaSierra: Moral of the story: If you take your partner to work, don't be surprised when they ventilate your dirty linen in front of that audience. #HablaconmiEspalda
And later adds [es]:
@ZarellaSierra: La escenita le dio resultado: @NadineHeredia tendrá su cumbre en 2013 http://ow.ly/ebYFr #HablaconmiEspalda
@ZarellaSierra: The little scene worked for her: @NadineHeredia will have her own Summit in 2013 http://ow.ly/ebYFr #HablaconmiEspalda
This user is referring to the First Meeting of Women who have renowned posts in governments and parliaments in South American and Arab Countries (ASPA).
On the other hand, Equipo Rojo Combate (@RojoCombateSI) [es] takes this to the gender war arena:
@RojoCombateSI: #HablaconmiEspalda bien….. ajjaja los hombres merecen desprecio y mas desprecio por ser MACHISTAS AJAJJAJjajaja daleee LA espaldaaaa!!!
@RojoCombateSI: #HablaconmiEspalda Great… LOL, men deserve disdain and more disdain for being SEXIST LOL LOL lol show him your back!!!
User Bruno Culotti (@CulsJoy) [es] was adamant:
@CulsJoy: #HablaconmiEspalda el mejor hashtag peruano del año
@CulsJoy: #HablaconmiEspalda the best Peruvian hashtag of the whole year.
While Pedro Siura (@pedrosiura) [es] apparently refers to the pardon requested for former President Alberto Fujimori, and sympathizes with President Humala:
@pedrosiura: Viendo la “escenita” de Nadine, conlcuyo que quien merece un trato humanitario es Ollanta Humala #HablaconmiEspalda
@pedrosiura: Watching Nadine's “little scene”, I come to the conclusion that the one deserving humanitarian treatment is Ollanta Humala #HablaconmiEspalda
Ms. Heredia is a very active Twitter user [es], but so far, she has remained silent.

author: Gabriela García Calderón


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Philippines: Anti-Cybercrime Law Sparks Online Protests · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Filipino netizens are stepping up protest actions online for the repeal of a cybercrime law that has been dubbed as “E-Martial Law.” Alluding to the lack of civil liberties under martial law of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the quip sums up the fears of netizens that the said law could be used to repress internet rights and freedom of expression.
Users of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites turned their profile pictures, cover photos, and even status updates black as a sign of protest on October 2, the date the Supreme Court was supposed to hear several petitions against the cybercrime law.
Facebook comments and tweets now come with black shades that render phrases and sentence incomplete to demonstrate how online censorship of social networks under the cybercrime law might look like.
Some websites also voluntarily blacked out their websites in solidarity with the anti-cybercrime law campaign.
The high court failed to act on the petitions because of the absence of some justices and instead decided to tackle the matter next week. Without a temporary restraining order secured from the court, the cybercrime law takes effect this week. Meanwhile, one of the petitions lodged in the Supreme Court, has also been posted in the Internet as an online petition. It has gathered more than 70,000 signatures as of this writing.
The cybercrime law and its proponents have also become the targets of ridicule online. Here are some of the images circulating online:
Meanwhile, a senatorial candidate for the 2013 mid-term elections under the ruling Liberal Party and a cousin of President Noynoy Aquino, has not been spared from virulent comments on Twitter:
Here is a video on the cybercrime law uploaded by Red Ants Productions on YouTube:
Filipino netizens also enthusiastically noted the support for the call against the cybercrime law from various quarters of the world. The popular file-sharing website The Pirate Bay, for example, posted “Junk the Cybercrime Law” as its homepage header.
Last week, several government websites were also attacked by hackers who called themselves “Anonymous Philippines” to express their objection to the cybercrime law:
The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 is the most notorious act ever witnessed in the cyber-history of the Philippines, and the language of the bill is cunningly designed to make you think it only applies to individuals who are deep in cyber-technology and doesn't apply to everyone, but some part of the bill basically says it can imprison anyone who commits libel either by written messages, comments, blogs, or posts in sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or any other comment-spaces of other social media in the Internet.
This is part of the message posted in the websites of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc., Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team, Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Region III, Smokefree Philippines of the Department of Health, and Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis.
A screenshot of the hacked website.
All of the affected websites except for that of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc have been restored.
#NoToCyberCrimeLaw is now the top trending hashtag in the Philippines. Here are some twitter reactions from Filipino netizens:
@missychua: grabe kaya natutulong ni pnoy. tignan nyo mga priorities; Wang-Wang,Corona,& #CyberCrimeLaw pinakaproblema yan. wag na edukasyon,poverty db
@missychua: P-Noy [President Noynoy Aquino] has great contributions. Look at his priorities: Wang-Wang, Corona, & #CyberCrimeLaw are his biggest problems. Not Education, poverty
@EJuankosayo: Status mo na, nilike mo pa tpos ikaw din nagcomment. Makakasuhan ka nian sa CyberCrimeLaw #EPIC hahahaha
@EJuankosayo: It's your status, you liked it, and you commented on it. But you can be charged under the CyberCrimeLaw. #EPIC hahahaha
@arcicatalan: #CybercrimeLaw shld protect d netizens frm hackers.Bt if ur acct IS hacked,posted smthng libelous,u cn b sued&burden's on u 2 prove hacking.
@thepbaologist: Protest vs anti-cybercrime law mounting.Concerned citizens now knocking on SC door. Let us keep democracy going.Let us continue to be heard.
@themarkgamboa: Kung maguupload ba ko ng nakahubad ako makukulong nako? #NoToCyberCrimeLaw
@themarkgamboa: If I upload a picture of myself naked will I be jailed? #NoToCyberCrimeLaw
@dafnyduck: Senators who passed the cybercrime law, you will feel our vengeance on election day. #NoToCybercrimeLaw

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Russia: A Schism Between Pussy Riot Member and Defense Team? · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

The Pussy Riot case, all but forgotten by Russian bloggers a few weeks after the guilty verdict, is enjoying a resurgence of attention. The day before appellate hearings were due to start, Ekaterina Samutsevich, one of the three convicted members of the punk band, announced that she was dissatisfied with her lawyers and was going to find new ones. She did not give detailed reasons for her dissatisfaction.
The judge approved, recusing her lawyer, Violetta Volkova, and moving the court session to October 10, 2012.
Feminist punk group Pussy Riot member Ekaterina Samutsevich sits in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow. Moscow, Russia. 8th August 2012, photo by Maria Pleshkova, copyright © Demotix.
Samutsevich made her decision Saturday, September 29t after member of Moscow’s Public Oversight Commission and candidate to the Coordinating Council of the opposition, Anna Karetnikova, visited the young women in prison, and asked them if they were satisfied with their lawyers. While two of them said yes, Samutsevich decided to switch, as described [ru] in Karetnikova’s blog.
The three lawyers who have been vocally representing Pussy Riot (Volkova, Mark Feygin, and Nikolai Polozov) immediately reacted on Twitter. Their responses were rather passive-aggressive. Polozov, for example, seemed to deny Samutsevich’s agency [ru] in this matter:
Я уважаю любой выбор своих подзащитных. Но в случае с Катей не исключаю что решение было ей принято под давлением.
I respect any choice of my clients. But in the case of Katya, I do not rule out that her decision was made under pressure.
He elaborated [ru]:
Разводка простая, одну продавливают на раскаяние и дают условку, остальных топят по полной. Иезуитский подход.
The swindle is simple, one gets forced to repent and is given probation, the others are hung out to dry. Jesuitical approach.
Mark Feygin was more direct [ru]:
Итак, пара-другая существенных вещей. Адвокат Виолетта Волкова один из лучших и профессиональных адвокатов. Идиот, кто думает по другому.
So, a couple of essential things. Lawyer Violetta Volkova is one of the best and professional lawyers. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot.
Volkova herself blamed a group [ru] of Samutsevich’s friends and public activists [ru] (led by Yaroslav Nikitenko and Anno Komarov) of convincing her to make the switch:
[…] эта команда предложила всем девушкам от нас отказаться.
[…] this crew suggested all the girls fire us.
Volkova conjectured that such a move was motivated by jealousy on the part of the activists. At the same time she insinuated [ru] that they are Kremlin shills.
И есть риторический вопрос – кто стоит за Никитенко и компанией…
There is a rhetorical question – who is behind Nikitenko and company.
The lawyers weren’t the only ones to call the whole situation an infernal plot by the Kremlin [ru], say that Samutchevich was “broken [ru]” by the secret services, or claim secret knowledge from anonymous sources [ru] that Samutsevich made a deal in return for freedom — all before her new defenders or their strategy were disclosed. Of course, such accusations looked somewhat silly a couple of days later, after it was announced [ru] that Samutsevich will now be represented by Irina Hrunova, one of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s lawyers during his first trial.
Meanwhile, some bloggers and members of the opposition have criticized the three lawyers’ conduct — both during the trial and in response to Samutsevich’s actions.
Yaroslav Nikitenko, one of Samutsevich’s friends accused by the lawyers of influencing her, blogged [ru] his side of the story:
Катя написала нам письмо, своему близкому другу. В этом письме она также что-то упоминала об адвокатах, и сказала, что хотела бы нового адвоката. […] Я думаю, что если мы решили уважать мнение подзащитной – то его надо уважать целиком.
Katya wrote us a letter, to her close friend. In this letter she also mentioned something about lawyers, and said that she would like a new lawyer. […] I think that if we’ve decided to respect the opinion of a client – it should be respected wholly.
Nikitenko and friends then found a lawyer that could consult Samutsevich in this matter. What was the real reason for her decision? One can only guess. For example, DemVybor activist viking-nord thinks [ru] that Pussy Riot’s defense was too political and showy:
Для привлечения внимания публики это позиция годная, но с точки зрения смягчения приговора […] такая позиция на самом деле вредна
This is a good position for attracting public attention, but from the side of reducing the sentence a position like this is actually harmful.
Ukrainian political activist Alexander Volodarsky, also wrote [ru] that the defense is more concerned with increasing their own visibility (recently there has been talk about nominating the three lawyers for the Nobel Peace Prize). Volodarskytweeted [ru] this accusation at Feygin:
то есть вы публично объявляете Катю недееспособной и не несущей ответственность за свою судьбу?
so you are publicly calling Katya legally incapable and unable to take responsibility for her fate?
Feygin did not respond.
Lev Sharansky, a long running fake internet persona and combination of Soviet dissident clichés, quipped [ru] rather rudely about Volkova’s weight:
Катя Самуцевич видимо поняла,что ввезти в рай на своем горбу полтора центнера Виолетты Волковой, ей все таки не по плечу.
Katya Samutsevich apparently realized that she won’t be able to swing carrying Violetta Volkova’s hundredweight-and-a-half into heaven on her own back.
Then there is the question of guilt. Samutsevich is the only one of the three convicted band members who did not actually dance near the altar. Rather, she was ejected from the cathedral prior to the performance. Nikolai Troitsky wonders [ru] why she was convicted in the first place and:
И как так вышло, что об этом вопиющем факте не вопят, не кричат криком мои коллеги – так называемые журналисты, а главное – заткнулись и молчат в тряпочку хваленые адвокаты […]?
How did it turn out that this glaring fact is ignored by my colleagues – so called journalists, and more importantly kept silent by the vaunted lawyers […]?
The behavior of the lawyers is odd in other regards. Most recently Violetta Volkova appears to have refused to turn over some of her copies of case materials to Samutsevich’s new defense representatives. She explained her motives in a tweet [ru], saying that she spent a week copying the documents,
за распечатку которых отдала 12000 из личных средств.
for the printing of which I spent 12000 [rubles] of my own money.
12,000 rubles is approximately $400 US. We may never know what exactly happened to turn Samutchevich against her defense team, but petty bickering seems like it could be a strong contender.

author: Andrey Tselikov


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The Breakthrough of Films in Local Languages in Sub-Saharan Africa · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Nicole Gillet, General Delegate of the Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur, now in its 27th edition, was interviewed by  Falila Gbadamassi [fr] on afrik.com:
In the past, Senegalese films were in French. Since then, things have changed. They want to produce films with local actors, in their own languages, in the language of the street, so that the films are seen at home. In addition, local television stations developed. It is normal that the films are intended for the local public, and are available in the common language.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Venezuela: Twitter Handbook Focuses on Citizen Election Coverage · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

This post is part of our special coverage Venezuela Elections 2012.
Reporte Ya (@reporteya) [es], a training initiative by Foundation Miguel Otero Silva, has released a handbook focusing on the use of Twitter for citizen reporting during the upcoming presidential election in Venezuela on October 7, 2012.
The handbook is available online, in PDF format [es], on the website of newspaper El Nacional. The handbook –written by journalist, blogger, and Global Voices contributor Luis Carlos Díaz– states:
El día de la elección, las redes sociales serán el reflejo de nuestro espíritu participativo, pero también servirán para tener registro de lo que ocurra en casi todos los rincones del país. Por eso es importante contar con algunos criterios para hacer cobertura y seguimiento de las elecciones. El objetivo de este manual es brindar algunas premisas para reducir el ruido y los rumores, producir información confiable y conectarnos en redes para la reportería ciudadana.
On election day, social networks will reflect our spirit of participation, but they will also serve to record what happens in almost every corner of the country. Therefore, it is important to have some criteria to cover and follow the elections. The objective of this handbook is to present some premises to reduce noise and rumors, to produce reliable information, and to connect with each other through networks for citizen reporting.
Twitter handbook for citizen election coverage
The handbook focuses on key questions like, “Why will we use Twitter?”, “How do I upload photos/videos to Twitter?”, “How do I monitor information during the election?”, “How do we avoid rumors?”, and more.
It also instructs citizen reporters in case of communication failure, listing three possible scenarios: a collapse of mobile networks, a collapse of the Twitter platform, and a blocking of Internet access.
To answer the question “What hashtag will we use?”, the handbook recommends using #7O or #EleccionesVE, “although they will change throughout the day depending on discussions and reactions from Twitter users to the electoral events.”
For more tips on how to cover the elections, check out “Tips for monitoring” [es] by Sabrina Segovia in El Nacional.
This post is part of our special coverage Venezuela Elections 2012.


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Venezuela: Where’s the Capriles Excitement? · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

[…] from what little I have seen in two days in Venezuela, the excitement is greater on the side supporting incumbent President Hugo Chávez, rather than challenger Governor Henrique Capriles. That is exactly the opposite of what I’ve read on most of my favourite English language websites about the country, but it’s the truth.
Steven Bodzin writes in his blog Setty's Notebook.
Blogger Juan Cristóbal Nagel from Caracas Chronicles reacts to Steven's post: “Let’s keep it real: Chávez is the favorite, but Capriles has momentum, as most polls show.”


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Bangladesh: The Value Of Co-existence · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shawn at Uncultured.com asserts the value of co-existence:
Fundamentally, we enrich each other in this life not by merely co-existing but by seeing the value in each other’s existence. And, by helping each other grow, thrive, and prosper, we enrich ourselves.

author: Rezwan


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Bangladesh: Video Contents In Students’ Reach · Global Voices
Rezwan

A growing number of contents available online become useless to people, who do not have access to the internet. Agami, a project based in San Jose, CA has made it possible to provide access of educational videos of Khan Academy translated in Bangla to underprivileged students in Khulna, Bangladesh using mobile devices.


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China: Reactions to U.S. Visa-free Status to Taiwan · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu translated some mainland Chinese netizens’ reaction to the U.S government's granting of visa free status to Taiwanese.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Same-Sex Marriage in Fujian · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Beijing Cream introduces a video of a symbolic same-sex marriage event in Fujian province. A joyful event with many blessings.


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China, Taiwan: Is Taiwanese democracy changing Chinese students? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Amanda Bullington followed the BBC News's discussion on whether Taiwanese democracy is changing mainland Chinese students in Tea Leaf Nation by looking into the students’ micro-blog conversations on what they have learned in Taiwan.


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China Updating North Korean Television News · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

North Korea Tech blog has revealed what had suddenly changed the archaic look of North Korean Television news. A government-run Chinese broadcaster has allegedly donated around US$ 800,000 to North Korea’s Korea Central Television to help improve the look of its news broadcast.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Collaboration on Crowdsourced Mapping in Venezuela   · Global Voices
Susannah Vila

This post is part of our special coverage Venezuela Elections 2012.
There are bound to be a lot of people Tweeting, Facebook updating and texting about the presidential election in Venezuela this weekend -and many will be using social media to share reports of violence or misconduct. A few enterprising citizens have set up systems to catch and save these reports.
Unlike in the last Venezuelan election, they are collaborating to avoid duplicating efforts. In 2010 (the parliamentary elections), at least 5 Ushahidi maps were separately deployed with little to no coordination of data.
Individuals who lamented this situation decided to create one “catch-all” map this time around. Called Elección Ciudadana [es], it is receiving information from a network of civil society organizations, journalists and youth activists. Some of these also have their own maps, such as Testigo Digital [es], which focuses exclusively on visualizing political violence.
Elección Ciudadana Logo
One benefit of coordinating data in this way is that if a citizen only knows about a certain project and therefore only shares a report with one particular map, it will still appear on the central hub.
Individuals who were involved in the efforts around the 2010 elections, and have signed on to collaborate this season, have been Tweeting about the development:
Dale Poder a tu Voto (@tu_voto): Este año apostamos a apoyar al 100% a eleccionciudadana.com un esfuerzo de la sociedad civil por unir los distintos mapas electorales
Dale Poder a tu Voto (@tu_voto): This year we put 100% of our support on eleccionciudadana.com an effort by civil society to unite different election maps
Luis Carlos Díaz (@LuisCarlos): Si están interesados en el crowdsourcing, aquí hay otra plataforma para las elecciones eleccionciudadana.com
Luis Carlos Díaz (@LuisCarlos): If you’re interested in crowdsourcing here’s another platform for the elections eleccionciudadana.com
The way in which different groups have come together to channel citizen participation may mark a positive step forward in citizen driven initiatives for electoral transparency. There are, however, still plenty of challenges left to overcome. For instance, this effort came together only a few weeks before Sunday’s election, which left little time to get the word out about the site or to concretize a system for the verification of reports coming from unknown or untrusted sources.
This post is part of our special coverage Venezuela Elections 2012.

author: Susannah Vila


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Cuba: Blogger Yoani Sánchez Arrested · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

Yoani Sánchez, Reinaldo Escobar, and Agustín Díaz were released several hours after this post was published. A brief post describing their release can be found here.
Award-winning Cuban blogger and human rights activist Yoani Sánchez was arrested last night in the eastern province of Bayamo, where she had traveled to attend and report on the trial of Angel Carromero, a Spanish national accused of vehicular manslaughter after a car crash that killed renowned democracy advocate Oswaldo Payá and activist Harold Cepero. Carromero traveled to Cuba in July to meet with human rights activists on the island.
Yoani Sanchez. Photo by Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo.
Author of the blog Generacion Y and editorial director of the collective blog Voces Cubanas, Sánchez was arrested along with her husband, Reinaldo Escobar, an independent journalist, and blogger Agustin Diaz. Very few details are known about the arrests. The Committee to Protect Journalists, an international press freedom advocacy organization, has called for the immediate release of the three bloggers.
The original source of this information remains unclear, but several media outlets have indicated that Yohandry Fontana, a pro-government blogger, first reported the story [es]. Fontana described Sánchez as attending the trial in order to create a “media circus.”
Yoani Sánchez fue detenida ayer en la ciudad de Bayamo, lugar a donde viajó para intentar una provocación y show mediático que perjudicara el buen desarrollo del juicio que se seguirá mañana contra el ciudadano español Ángel Francisco Carromero Barrios
Yoani Sánchez was detained yesterday in Bayamo, where she had traveled intending to provoke a media circus and to interfere with the judicial process that will take place tomorrow against Spanish citizen Ángel Francisco Carromero Barrios.
Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo [es], also a well-known blogger and a close friend of Sánchez’s, tweeted soon after that he suspects Sánchez’s cell phone has been confiscated.
@OLPL: Movil 52708611 de @YoaniSanchez fue cortado, por eso ella no pudo denunciar arresto.
@OLPL: The mobile phone of @YoaniSanchez was cut off, this is why she couldn’t report on her arrest.
Foreign media outlets reported receiving an automated message saying that Sánchez’s cell phone, which she uses regularly to communicate with supporters and journalists outside of Cuba, had been disconnected. Sánchez has been detained by police in the past, but never for more than a few hours. In a 2010 incident, Sánchez was detained but was able to communicate with friends and family via SMS.
On Twitter, supporters from around the world are tweeting about the arrest and using the hashtag #YoaniLibre.
Ernesto Hernández Busto, blogger at Penúltimos Días [es], tweeted:
No hay nadie con un poco de vergüenza en el @PPopular que condene detención de Yoani Sánchez por hacer su trabajo de periodista indep? #Cuba
Is there no one with any shame in the @PPopular (People’s Party) who will condemn the detention of Yoani Sánchez for working as an independent journalist? #Cuba
On Facebook, Jose Conde wrote,
Cuban authorities arrest Yoani Sanchez for speaking her mind. I guess not much as changed en la isle…sad and disturbing.
Yoani Sánchez, Reinaldo Escobar, and Agustín Díaz were released several hours after this post was published. A brief post describing their release can be found here.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Dominican Republic: Proposal to Toughen Sentences for Minors · Global Voices
Pamela Martínez Achecar

[links in Spanish] On the 19th of September, the House of Representatives approved on second reading a controversial bill which amends seven articles of the Protection of the Rights of Boys, Girls and Adolescents Code (Minor Code-PDF). This reform aims to raise the maximum penalties for citizens who commit crimes before reaching the age of majority. The initiative, which has yet to be passed or debated by the Senate, proposes an increase of 3-10 years in prison for criminals aged 13-15, while for those between 16 to 18 years of age, the increase ranges from 5-15 years in prison.
On the first reading of the bill, it was passed with 99 votes in favour, out of a total of 112 participating representatives, and in the second reading with 95; in both cases, an overwhelming majority. This initiative has the support of the three-time representative and current president of the Lower Chamber, Abel Martínez, who has stated that the measure will help decrease the delinquency rate. Other important figures have also expressed that they consider this reform necessary. One key example is the five-time representative, Pelegrín Castillo, who stated the following on his Twitter account:
@pelegrinc: Modificación al Codigo del Menor hecha X @diputadosrd. Es triste tener que reforzar acción publica y judicial contra menores, pero inevitable.
@pelegrinc: Amendment to the Minor Code made by @diputadosrd. It's sad to have to toughen public and judicial sanctions against minors, but it's inevitable.
However, various sectors of civil society have not shown the same support for the regulation. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has spearheaded criticism against this piece of legislation. On the 20th of this month, a press conference was held in which the organization made clear its stance against the proposal, underscoring that this was not the answer to the wave of delinquency with which the Dominican Republic is currently grappling. In this vein, the well known social activist, Sergia Galván, updated her Twitter account with multiple criticisms such as:
@sergiagalvan: Es cuestionable el interés en sancionar aniñas, niños y adolescentes, quienes en muchos de los casos son víctimas de la exclusión social
@sergiagalvan: It is questionable to sanction girls, boys and adolescents who in many cases are victims of social exclusion.
@sergiagalvan: Pregunto ¿con más años de cárcelpara niñas, niños y adolescentes se enfrenta la delincuencia?
@sergiagalvan: I'm asking, is more jail time for girls, boys and adolescents going to tackle delinquency?
In addition, the famous constitutional lawyer, Nassef Perdomo, stated:
@NassefPerdomo: Triste es el destino de un país que cree que el lugar de sus niños es la cárcel y no las aulas.
@NassefPerdomo: Sad is the destiny of the country that believes that the place of its children is in prison, rather than in the classroom.
In the House of Representatives itself, although by an almost insignificant minority, there has been a degree of opposition. Representative Guadalupe Valdez – best known for her work on women's rights and gender equality – while not rejecting the proposals, has, in a post published on her website, called for a social consensus to be reached before the passing of new legislation and for the benefits to be weighed, as well as the setbacks.
For the moment, the outcome of the Upper Chamber's discussions on the initiative, due to take place next week, are awaited, as is the possibility of an agreement being reached between UNICEF and other civil society organizations working for the rights of the affected groups.

author: Pamela Martínez Achecar


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El Salvador’s First International Literacy Brigade · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Madeleine Conway, a member of the University of Santa Cruz CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) chapter, writes about El Salvador's National Literacy Program (NLP) for Upside Down World. CISPES is “the first international volunteer brigade to answer the government’s call and support the literacy program”:
Twenty-eight university students, teachers, workers, mothers, and retirees participated in this historic literacy brigade, bringing hundreds of donated notebooks, pencils and eyeglasses in tow as material support.


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Guatemala: 7 Indigenous Protesters Killed in Totonicapán · Global Voices
Renata Avila

This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.
At least 7 civilians were killed, up to 32 were injured, and 35 were intoxicated on October 4, 2012, when combined armed forces violently removed demonstrators from Cuatro Caminos (“four roads”), a well-known intersection of roads that go to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala City, Huehuetenango and Totonicapán.
Demonstrators blocked the road to protest the rising price of electricity in the area. They also demand a dialogue with the government to discuss their objections to the education and constitutional reforms proposed by President Otto Pérez Molina.
The demonstrators were representatives from indigenous communities from Totonicapan, an exceptional, mostly indigenous (90%) community in the Guatemalan highlands.
While demonstrations are common in the area, the number of persons killed and injured is highly unusual. There is evidence that members of the Guatemalan Army were carrying guns, although the Minister of Interior has denied it, arguing that the peasants killed each other, as Mario Rodríguez explains in his blog post “Declarations full of cynicism” [es].
Cantons in Totonicapán. Photo by Sandra Sebastian from plazapublica.com.gt under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license.
Totonicapán is one of the best organized and least violent [es] areas in the country, in spite of extreme poverty with up to 82.2% [es] of malnourished people. Hard working and one of the most active environmentalist communities, the people in Totonicapán are dedicated to preserving the forest and their water sources, as described by Cultural Survival:
The forest has been preserved for generations, thanks to the work of people who have lived in harmony with the world around them, by means of ancestral knowledge of resource management and active participation of each community.
For such level of care and management you need a well-organized community and active leaders seeking common good. Totonicapán is one of the few territories where indigenous authorities exercise power, divided in 48 cantons, lead by community mayors and a President who serves as the mediator in case of conflicts and as the spokesperson when it is necessary to dialogue beyond the community.
In 2011, for the first time in history, a single woman, law student María del Carmen Tacam, was elected President of the Cantons in Totonicapán. She explained in an interview [es] that she follows the instructions of the consensus of all 48 local authorities.
As reported by Voces Mayas [es], María del Carmen explained that while appealing to refrain from violent measures, the indigenous communities blocked the Cuatro Caminos intersection because the government and the corporations did not respond to their clear demands. She also mentioned that the local hospital collapsed due to the number of people injured.
In her declarations, María del Carmen explained [es] to the press that the community of Totonicapán demanded a dialogue to find solutions to three sensitive issues:
The community wants to keep the dialogue open and is waiting for clear responses from the government of Pérez Molina. During the previous government, the dialogue between the government and the communities was mediated by the Ombudsman, as documents [es] show, but this time he was denied access.
María del Carmen Tacám and the symbol of power. Photo by Sandra Sebastian from plazapublica.com.gt under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license.
Furthermore, as early as March 2012, different voices raised their concerns about the rapidly growing size and role of the military in Guatemala and the presence of so-called “mega projects” like the Goldcorp mine. Cascadia solidaria comments about the increased militarized actions against civilians:
The strategic use of roadblocks by indigenous and campesino organizations as form of political pressure and re-vindication is harshly contested by the state and powerful economic actors, especially the business lobby CACIF*, which has campaigned for the prohibition and repression of blockades as violations of the right to freedom of movement. The Pérez Molina administration has previously used violence to break up roadblocks and occupations by students, teachers, and parents protesting exclusionary education reforms; if today’s deaths are confirmed to be the responsibility of security forces, it will mark the first clear instance of mortal government repression against civilian protest under Mano Dura. While community leaders have called for investigation of the deaths, if the administration follows the blueprint established by its response to social conflict and protest in Barillas, Huehuetenango, repressive measures such as arrests of protest leaders or declaration of a state of exception could be implemented instead.
In an official statement, the President –who is the maximum authority and Commander in Chief of the Guatemalan Army– indicated that he has ordered an investigation [es] into the violence and deaths from October 4.
In the meantime, the communities are waiting for dialogue and responses.
This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.

author: Renata Avila


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Japan: Prime Minister’s Office Starts Using LINE App · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

The Japanese prime minister's office has opened an account [ja] on LINE, an instant messaging application for smartphone and PCs, to provide useful information to citizens, such as disaster information in case of emergency.
LINE is ran by NHN Japan, a subsidiary company of Korean Internet giant NHN. The PM's Office also uses other social media including mixi, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Kazakhstan Joins the Ban on Anti-Islam Film · Global Voices
Steven Hermans

Kazakhstan has joined a number of other countries in banning the controversial anti-Islamic film “The Innocence of Muslims.” On October 4, a court in Astana, the country's capital, declared [ru] the film “extremist” and ruled to ban the import and distribution of “The Innocence of Muslims” across Kazakhstan. Prior to the court ruling, the authorities had blocked access to the movie trailer on YouTube.
The film that many Muslims across the world view as offensive has been banned in Egypt, Libya, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Philippines. Among Kazakhstan's neighbors in Central Asia, as reported earlier by Global Voices Online, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan prohibited the distribution of the movie on their territories.
Although a series of violent bomb blasts attributed to Muslim extremists rocked the country in the past 12 months, indicating the growing influence of radical interpretations of Islam in this Central Asian nation, Kazakhstan has seen no angry riots or protests over “The Innocence of Muslims”.
In Kazakhstan, the latest country so far to ban the controversial film, Muslims comprise about half of the population. This image depicts the central mosque in Astana, the country's capital. Image by Flickr user Msykos (CC BY 2.0), uploaded June 6, 2008.
Many Internet users in the country support the court ruling. For example, commenting under a report about the ban on Tengrinews.kz website, an anonymous user wrote [ru]:
Правильно сделали, а то какой то отморозок выпустил фильм и мог довести до третьей мировой. Его запрет будет лучше для всех…
They've done a right thing. Some idiot produced the movie and could provoke the third world war. The ban is good for everyone…
Yet, some netizens suggest that there was no need to ban the film. Umka opined [ru] that Kazakhstanis were different from the nationals of those countries where the film had prompted angry demonstrations:
Никакой фильм меня не заставит выходить на улицу. Я знаю что это фильм…
No movie can cause me to take to the streets. I know that this is just a movie…
On the same website, another anonymous user proposed [ru] that the ban will make the film more popular by giving it higher exposure in the country:
Этот так называемый “фильм” – на него бы внимания никто не обратил… Так нет же – надо было на весь мир привлечь внимание запретами, чтобы и те, кому вообще пофигу – а таких в мире процентов 99 – обязательно посмотрели…
Nobody would have paid attention to this so-called ‘movie'… But what they've done is they drew global attention to the film by banning it and thus making sure that those who didn't care [about the movie] before, watch it…
The ban has also led some netizens in the country to focus on the film itself. Blogger Tenebrant likened [ru] “The Innocence of Muslims” to “a new form of trolling“, arguing that any reaction to the film should have been avoided:
Вообщем, я тут поразмышлял и понял, что это ни что иное, как новый тип троллинга. Вот сидит народ на всяких блог-платформах и от безделия и скуки пытается вызвать баттхерт своими откровенно тупыми комментариями, постами и высказываниями, а тут один чувак взял и затроллил треть мира.
I've been thinking and I've come to realize that this is nothing but a new type of trolling. Many people in general are spending time on blogging platforms, trying to cause butthurt by writing obviously stupid comments, posts, and statements out of idleness and boredom; and here you have one person who has trolled one-third of the world.
Others are thinking about the broader implications of the ban. Assel suggested [ru] that the court ruling to ban the film might be a prelude to further internet restrictions in the country:
Готовьтесь, теперь доступ к youtube перекроют =(
Get ready, they will now block access to YouTube =(
Kazakhstan's government blocks a number of websites it deems dangerous to the internal security of the country. It has also recently restricted religious freedoms in response to the rise of extremist Islam.

author: Steven Hermans


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Russia: The Opposition Coordinating Council’s Great Debates, Day 1.0 · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

What follows is the first installment in a series of paraphrased transcripts from the debates [ru] between candidates for the upcoming elections of the first Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition. Beginning on October 1 and ending on October 6, all 216 individuals running for seats on the CC will have the opportunity [ru] to participate in lightening-round debates aired live online [ru] by Dozhd Television. Viewers and CC-election-registered voters will then select 60 of the candidates to take part in a semifinal stage of debates, beginning on October 8 and ending on October 12. For the final stage, voters will select just 20 people, who will participate in the last debates beginning on October 15 and ending on October 19.
Each day at midnight, Dozhd TV airs roughly 90 minutes of debate coverage, spanning 6-8 groups, each containing four individual candidates. The debates are moderated by one of two hosts, either Yuri Saprykin or Demian Kudriavtsev. Candidates are given 30 seconds to introduce themselves, another 30 seconds to answer a group question, and a final 30 seconds to respond to a third question tailored to them specifically. Each debate lasts roughly 12 minutes.
Given those very strict time constraints, it's no surprise that very little debating actually occurs in this first “qualifying” stage. Candidates barely have enough time to introduce themselves, let alone interact on political issues. This dynamic will likely improve, as more debaters are eliminated from the competition.
Below, you will find paraphrased transcripts of the first four debates on October 1, Day 1 of the qualifying stage. In posts to follow, RuNet Echo will provide similar coverage of the remaining Coordinating Council debates.
Day 1, Group 1
Andrei Gavrilov, “lawyer, representative of the middle class”
Artem Loskutov, Novosibirsk artist, “monstrosity” organizer
Vladimir Mirzoev, film and theatre director
Liudmila Ulitskaia, writer and “public figure”
Gavrilov: joined the Coordinating Council (CC) race because it's a new institution that's capable of “shaking up” the political environment in Russia, and perhaps solving some of the “accumulated problems” that now worry Russians.
Loskutov: says he is running in response to widespread disappointment in civil society's leadership. If the “responsibilities” of leadership must be earned, he is prepared to battle for people's trust.
Mirzoev: says that he was not interested in politics in the 1990s or 2000s, and preferred instead to focus on art. He then says that circumstances have changed and artists must get involved in politics. “Maybe so that politicians don't commit certain mistakes, non-politicians need to be there alongside them,” he concludes.
Saprykin then intervenes to point out that distinctions between “politicians and non-politicians” have become “rather arbitrary,” given the plethora of “non-political candidates” in the CC race and the active participation of such individuals in last winter's protests.
Ulitskaia: says it was difficult to refuse participating, in light of Russia's “weak civil society,” which the CC can help grow by adding “extra meaning” and providing a space to take shape and produce “new, young politicians.”
Saprykin's first question is for everyone: if not Putin, then who?
Gavrilov: admits that there's no one currently to replace Putin because the electoral system is “rotten.” Before locating a replacement for Putin, the electoral system must be reformed. Only after this is completed can Russia hold new elections for the parliament and presidency. Dissolving these institutions before such reforms would result in “chaos.”
Loskutov: begins with the “to kot” joke response popular online [ru]. (The Russian, “esli ne Putin, to kto?” is jumbled to read “esli ne putin, to kot,” or “if not Putin, then a cat.”) He then says that Russia needs a “structure” where such questions about personal charisma don't exist. A proper decentralization of power would negate this question.
Mirzoev: echoes others that Russia needs “strong institutions,” and declares himself in favor of a “parliamentary republic.” Says a stronger parliament is necessary, in addition to a constitutional referendum to either constrain or eliminate the powers of the President.
Ulitskaia: says that she has no particular objections to Putin or anyone else. While she doesn't “like the structure,” she locates the “problem” in the authorities’ “amorality.” The people in those positions should at least display elementary “propriety,” she argues. Yes, officials should change regularly, but a certain degree of morality is essential. She finishes by saying that corruption is “top-down” and already beyond any possible or acceptable limits.
Saprykin's next question goes to Gavrilov: has he ever considered emigration? Purely hypothetically, what might force him to leave the country?
Gavrilov: says that, yes, he's considered it, particularly immediately after graduating from college, when he had trouble finding a decent-paying job. He did travel abroad as a student, however, and says that not all foreigners thrive, in his experience. That said, threats to his life, health, or family could still bring him to emigrate.
Saprykin's next question is to Loskutov: given his past support for Pussy Riot (which includes having designed a line of T-shirts that some say insults religious people), how might he convince an Orthodox activist that this form of protest isn't meant to offend Russians believers?
Loskutov: says that any activist would “calm down” after listening to his defense, which is that his T-shirts don't depict the Virgin Mary, and therefore (supposedly) do not insult any element of religious faith.
Saprykin's next question is to Mirzoev: says many believe that the country's political situation is now worse than it was last winter. With Pussy Riot now in prison and journalists getting fired (a likely reference to Masha Gessen and perhaps Filipp Dzyadko), what provides any hope that things will get better?
Mirzoev: says that this turn has been “entirely natural” for the authorities, who make no habit of dialogue with “society,” because it leads to uncomfortable questions and compromises. Concludes by saying that the authorities have lost touch with reality.
Saprykin's final question goes to Ulitskaia: should the state punish people who create extremist texts and films? Is there such a thing literary extremism?
Ulitskaia: says that Russia has a deep tradition dating back to Bolshevism of tolerating only one point of view, and considering all alternatives to be criminal, dangerous, and in need of destruction. The inability of today's authorities to adopt “wiser, calmer, and more tolerant” views on any problem is a consequence of such shortcomings.
Day 1, Group 2
Maria Baronova, cofounder of the “Party of December 5″ bloc [ru], and a protest and Krymsk humanitarian aid organizer
Dmitri Ivanov, video-blogger, social activist, and League of Voters cofounder
Nadezhda Mitiushkina, Solidarnost activist and winter protests organizer
Baronova: at 28-years-old, she says that she spent the last decade of her life trying to ignore politics and establish a career in business. Says that this lifestyle became unbearable last year, when she decided at last to take part in the protest movement and encourage others to get involved, too.
Ivanov: he is a member of the “Renewal Bloc,” which includes Ilya Yashin, Dmitri Gudkov, and Dmitri Nekrasov. He's been involved in online “video content” for nearly four years, and is alarmed by the lack of “civic control” over what happens in Russia, and wants to “pressure” the country's officials.
Mitiushkina: started protesting about four years ago. She works with special-needs children and it was the situation of families in today's Russia (as well as the state of the foster home system) that drove her to become an activist.
Sapyrkin's first question: can the opposition achieve anything this fall through mass rallies?
Baronova: says it's important to attend demonstrations, but it's even more vital that the opposition embrace the Coordinating Council as a “next step.”
Ivanov: says rallies are a necessary part of the opposition's repertoire because they are the only way to attract the attention of society and the media. That said, the movement needs more “real work,” to complement the gesture politics of rallies.
Mitiushkin: agrees with Baronova and Ivanov, and adds that anything to build up civil society is a good thing.
Saprykin's next question is to Baranova: what is the greatest achievement and the worst loss in her year as an oppositionist?
Baronova: names her own freedom as her biggest loss, explaining that a two-year prison sentence now threatens her (in connection with her actions at the May 6 “Million Man March”). Her greatest achievement is having learned about her own capabilities, namely that she is “capable of more than she used to be.”
Saprykin next asks of Ivanov: the Duma is currently trying to narrow free speech online, but should this freedom be restricted?
Ivanov: says that the Internet does a fine job policing itself, citing YouTube as a model. While certain restrictions are necessary, the Duma's concept of extremism is dangerously elastic.
Saprykin's final question is for Mitiushkina: asks if she would have done anything differently if she could go back in time and replay the winter protests.
Mitiushkina: says that the movement lacked a certain degree of organization and “mutual support.” Then conveys somewhat incoherently that the movement was dragged down by a lack of uniformity, before labeling the winter protest phenomenon “an incredible miracle.”
Day 1, Group 3
Georgy Alburov, coordinator of RosVybory and DMP, aka “the Good Machine of Truth” (two Navalny-founded projects), and an organization committee member of the “People's Alliance” Party (“Navalny's Party without Navalny,” Stanislav Belkovsky once joked)
Vladimir Gluskin, a participant in the organizational committee of the Nationalists Bloc, and the director of the head of the National Committee for the nationalist group “Russkie”
Leonid Razvozzhaev, member of Left Front, and aide to Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev
Alexey Chuprov, “transhumanist,” globalist, and supporter of the peaceful dissolution of the Russian Federation
Alburov: lists his accomplishments with RosVybory and DMP, including the mobilization of thousands of election observers, the distribution of hundreds of thousands of leaflets, and many video clips and other visual agitprop materials. “The CC for me,” he explains, “is still another means to accomplishing real things.” He believes that the CC could potentially field united opposition candidates in real-world local elections, mobilize more election monitors, and contribute to the “mass educational work” currently pursued by his projects.
Gluskin: opens by saying that the army used to be “outside politics,” when he was in the service. He goes on to suggest that this is no longer the case with the military (“the law on many parties, the protests, and the CC elections have opened a window of possibilities for the most active part of society”). It turns out, however, that this “most active part” isn't soldiers but Russian nationalists, who make up 80% of the country's population, according to him.
Razvozzhaev: says he has lived in Moscow for the last 15 years as a small businessman and
“professional revolutionary.” Says that Russians are now seeing a “tough confrontation” between the opposition and the authorities, evidenced by the latter's post-election decision to “tighten the screws.” Offers himself and Left Front as the right individual and institution to “carry on the fight in harsh conditions.”
Chuprov: says that Moscow has betrayed the regions by stealing their wealth and exporting it abroad. As a result, Russians no longer see their future in the Russian Federation. Says that the Kremlin will never allow the opposition to gain a majority in the federal parliament or alter the constitution, so the CC would be wisest to focus on aiding local opposition candidates in regional elections.
Saprykin's first question to the group: is there any cause so just that they would consider working with Dmitri Medvedev's government in order to achieve it?
Alburov: says that cooperation would be possible, if Medvedev decided to fight corruption for real, or institute real judicial reform, or real police reform, and so on. Laments, however, that Medvedev's ostensibly reformist efforts in the past have proved to be “fake.”
Gluskin: advocates “some kind of global project to unite all of society,” adding cautiously that such a project should accommodate everyone (to which he then adds less cautiously: “including the ethnic nation state”).
Razvozzhaev: says he hopes for a dialogue with the authorities, and is prepared to participate in “real democratic reforms.” He also offers his support in the unlikely event that Medvedev's government breaks with the Kremlin and somehow turns the judicial system against Putin and his allies.
Chuprov: thinks that Russians living in the regions need their own local authorities to be capable of defending their interests, which might involve threatening to assert regional sovereignty and seceede from the Russian Federation. “Only the tectonic forces of separatism can force the Kremlin into a dialogue with the opposition,” he declares.
Saprykin next recites Alburov's many agitprop accolades and asks him which are more effective: posts on Facebook or traditional leaflets in elevators?
Alburov: says that he views two Internets — a “small” Web and a “big” one. The former encompasses political blogs and the limited number of people interested in reading material like Navalny's LiveJournal or Vedomosti newspaper. The “big” Internet, meanwhile, is where entertainment content resides (mainly on social networks). Getting agitprop materials to the apolitical, larger Internet is important, just as offline leafleting is a useful way to get the message out to otherwise-uninformed citizens.
Saprykin's next question is for Gluskin: who is the main enemy of the Russian people today?
Gluskin: says, “The greatest enemy dwells within the very Russian people.” [Saprykin then asks him to identify the enemy more specifically.] He explains, “All defects. Laziness.”
Saprykin repeats Gluskin's answer and quips, “What a wise response.” His next question is for Razzvozzhaev: asks him what the ideal socialist/communist Russia would look like in his dreams. Sweden or North Korea? Maybe China or Cuba?
Razzvozzhaev: describes his and Left Front's communist vision as one compatible with “social-democratic mechanisms” like a multi-party system and “civil organizations.”
Saprykin's final question goes to Chuprov: asks what would be good about the dissolution of the Russian Federation, and whom would it benefit.
Chuprov: suggests that pieces of Russia might be able to join the European Union or NATO, if the country was broken up. Regions opposed to the idea would be free to form their own blocs or go it alone. “Why try to live together,” he asks, “if nothing unites us?”
Day 1, Group 4
Igor Artemov, creator of the movement “Russian All-National Union,” and a believer in “realpolitik”
Maksim Gongalskii, scholar at MGU, activist for “Za Ramenskii Park,” election monitor, and volunteer for Krymsk
Dmitri Demushkin, Russian politician, public figure, nationalist, and one of the founding organizers and regular participants of the “Russian March” nationalist demonstrations
Andrei Kuznetsov, head of the organizational committee of the National Democratic Party in St. Petersburg, and a participant in the “Khvatit kormit’ Kavkaz” movement
Artemov: says that he approaches everything he does in life with a great deal of seriousness, which he now applies to his work “defending the ethnic interests of Russians.” He then recites his experience as a local legislator, and his work against drug mafias, as well as efforts to lower housing taxes. This activism, he claims, resulted in the government banning the Russian All-National Union as an extremist organization.
Gongalskii: says he joined the protest movement with most newcomers last December. Argues that the CC's main purpose should be increasing pressure on the authorities by attracting new people to the movement, and increasing the activity of people already in the movement. He concludes that the opposition is in need of some kind of “serious victory,” such as winning Moscow's upcoming city or mayoral elections.
Demushkin: says he is running for the CC to represent Russian nationalism. He wants ethnic Russians to receive nation-state status, which the Chechens of the Chechen Republic have already obtained, he argues.
Kuznetsov: says he supports radically reducing the flow of migrants into Russia, as well as reforming the judicial and police systems — none of which is possible without a legitimate parliament. In order to construct such a body, the opposition must form an alternative system, which be believes the CC represents.
Saprykin's first question is: what should the next Duma adopt as its first new law?
Artemov: says the first law should enforce “responsibility” for the results of state officials’ actions. Says he's tried to raise this issue in the past unsuccessfully. Letting corruption go unpunished and excellence unrewarded obstructs the nation's prosperity, he argues.
Gongalskii: says legal reform should be primary, as it's the cornerstone of any national modernization agenda.
Demushkin: regrets that no single law would be enough to fix the system. Necessary moral initiatives include: fighting alcoholism, drunkenness, and the “extinction of the [Russian] ethnicity.” Demographics — specifically death rates and birth rates — are the primary concern for any politician, he concludes.
Kuznetsov: signals agreement with Demushkin about there being no silver bullet, but also sides with Gongalskii that reforms must start with the court system. If the courts malfunction and the public has no faith in the law, then a national “legal collapse” awaits Russia, he argues.
Saprykin's next question is for Artemov: asks if he approves or disapproves of the Pussy Riot verdict.
Artemov: says he disapproves of the verdict, but acknowledges that there are “problems on both sides.” The behavior of the band members, he says, “wasn't very good.” Then again, he continues, others (like Marat Gelman) regularly produce anti-Orthodox artwork and are not imprisoned. He concludes that the band was ultimately punished not for its religious content but its direct attacks on Putin in its lyrics, and would otherwise have avoided such a harsh sentence.
Saprykin next turns to Gongalskii: asks if going to demonstrations or helping the poor is more important. (Saprykin then adds, “You do both, but which is more important?”)
Gongalskii: says that helping the poor is more important, but then explains that some of the May 6 “political prisoners” also live in poverty. From here, he segues rather incoherently to calls for election monitors to migrate to courtrooms and perform oversight there, as well.
Saprykin then compliments Gongalskii's response, saying, “That's a very good suggestion — and not just for courts, but also for those people who wait for their trials, like the May 6 prisoners do now.” He then turns to Demushkin, asking him about his trip to Chechnya in the summer of 2011, when he and fellow nationalist Aleksandr Belov reported approvingly of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. “What do you like in Kadyrov's Chechnya?” Saprykin asks.
Demushkin: says he'd rather talk about why they visited Chechnya in the first place, which was because “Russian nationalists defend the rights and freedoms of indigenous populations.” He then implies that he went there to defend the rights of ethnic Russians living in Chechnya (though Saprykin was obviously asking about statements like Belov's [ru], “In Chechnya, there are no traces of war, and that’s cool”).
Saprykin's final question goes to Kuznetsov: does Russia have any friends?
Kuznetsov: says the question is complicated, because Russia's friends are different at any moment in history. Concludes by saying that “distinct friendly relations” do exist with some countries (though he doesn't say which).

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Spain: Police Violence During Protest Outside Congress  · Global Voices
Elena Arrontes

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.
The movement known as 25S, organised by the Plataforma En Pie [es] and the Coordinadora 25S [es], brought thousands of people together to protest in front of the Spanish Parliament in Madrid on September 25, 2012. One of the aims of surrounding the Congress was to expose, through a peaceful gathering full of symbolism, the considerable rift created between the citizens and their representatives and the need for a truly democratic system.
People from all over the country came together during a whole day of activities with communal meals and marches through the city centre, which terminated in the surrounding of the Congress. They were not alone; a police deployment without precedent [es] in the age of democracy in Spain prevented access to all streets neighbouring the Congress, which were also completely barricaded with fences.
The atmosphere became tense, just as predicted, with police charges coming soon after. From 9pm, they became more frequent until the demonstration was completely dispersed. Just as on previous occasions, although to a greater extent, the riot police used rubber bullets, truncheons and tear gases in their confrontations with citizens. 35 people were detained and 64 injured, one seriously [es].
Once again, the social networks were the most commonly used means of sharing impressions, slogans and material
Promotion of the practices of citizen journalism during the protests.
about the events. Indignation about the police brutality continues to be one of the most commented and criticized aspects. A multitude of videos [es] show arbitrary arrests, the intimidation of journalists [es], and protestors being hit and chased, including inside Atocha train station [es]. Besides home videos, devices allowing events to be streamed such as Toma la Tele played an important role.
It is important to note the reaction of spontaneous support displayed on the net which has transformed the manager of a local bar into a hero. He prevented the police from entering his establishment where a group of protestors who were being chased had found refuge. Another widely circulated video on the Internet shows evidence of police infiltrators dressed as citizens. The video goes on to show a scene in which the riot police hit an individual and he identifies himself as a policeman shouting: “I'm a colleague, damn it.” This phrase later became a hashtag on Twitter. Amnesty International Spain announced that it will request an investigation by the Interior Ministry [es] to clarify what the infiltrators were doing there and whether their intention was to break up the protest. The police were also criticised for not wearing their identification badges.
Many people spoke out to condemn the police abuse [es] which took place that day while the president of the Spanish government, Mariano Rajoy, praised the police's actions and declared himself to be proud of the “majority” of Spaniards who did not go out to protest [es]. Ana Botella, mayoress of Madrid, suggested after the events that the government was too permissive in authorising the protestors. The government's delegate in Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes, compared the protest to a coup d'etat and called for a change in legislation on protests.
Alberto Casillas, manager of a bar, is the hero of 25S for protecting protestors from the police. Photo by El Diagonal, taken under CC Licence.
A day later, thousands of people returned to the same place, in front of the Congress, in condemnation of their treatment by the authorities the day before and as proof of the fact that they are not scared. They repeated the same type of protest on Saturday 29th, for a third time. They announced that they will not stop until the government resigns. In Italy, Brussels and Portugal a movement similar to #29S was organised in solidarity with those Spaniards who question legislative power.

author: Elena Arrontes