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Who Killed Nemtsov? Chechen Cops or Kremlin Cops? · Global Voices
Will Wright

Images edited by Kevin Rothrock.
Russian officials have charged two men with the killing of Boris Nemtsov, and jailed another three suspects in connection with the murder. All five of these men, frogmarched into a courtroom in Moscow on Sunday, March 8, were ethnic Chechens, reported Reuters. A sixth man wanted in connection with the case apparently blew himself up with a grenade when officers attempted to detain him in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya.
Zaur Dadayev, the police's primary suspect, has been identified as the former deputy commander of a Chechen police unit in the Interior Ministry. Writing on Instagram, his favorite social media platform, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov described Dadayev as someone known as a “fearless and courageous soldier” and “true patriot of Russia”:
Басманный суд Москвы санкционировал арест Заура Дадаева, подозреваемого в причастности к убийству Бориса Немцова. Я знал Заура, как настоящего патриота России. Он с первых же дней создания полка, входящего в состав 46-го ОБРОН ВВ МВД РФ, служил в нём. Имел звание “лейтенант”. Занимал должность зам. командира батальона. Заур был одним из самых бесстрашных и мужественных военнослужащих полка. Он особенно отличился в бою вблизи Беноя, когда проводилась спецоперация против крупной банды террористов. Награждён орденом Мужества, медалями “За отвагу”, “За заслуги перед ЧР” и Благодарственным письмом Главы ЧР и др. Я твёрдо убеждён, что он искренне предан России, был готов отдать за Родину жизнь. Мне непонятны истинные причины и мотивы увольнения Заура из рядов ВВ МВД России. Говорят, объяснял болезнью матери. СМИ передают, что Заур в суде подтвердил свою причастность к убийству Бориса Немцова. Все, кто знает Заура, утверждают, что он является глубоко верующим человеком, а также, что он, как и все мусульмане, был потрясен действиями Шарли и комментариями в поддержку печатания карикатур. Я поручил секретарю Совбеза ЧР Вахиту Усмаеву провести тщательное расследование обстоятельств увольнения Заура, изучить его поведение, настроение перед уходом со службы. В любом случае, если суд подтвердит вину Дадаева, то, убив человека, он совершил тяжкое преступление. Но хочу снова отметить, что он не мог сделать и шага против России, ради которой многие годы рисковал собственной жизнью. Таким же храбрым воином был и Беслан Шаванов, погибший накануне при попытке задержания. Мы верим, что будет проведено тщательное расследование, которое покажет, действительно ли виновен Дадаев и, что на самом деле послужило причиной его поступка.  #Кадыров #Россия #Чечня #МВД
The Basmanny Court of Moscow sanctioned the arrest of Zaur Dadayev, who is suspected of involvement in the murder of Boris Nemtsov. I knew Zaur as a true patriot of Russia. From the first days of its existence, he served in the 46th Interior Ministry defense unit. He held the rank of “lieutenant,” and served as deputy battalion commander. Zaur was one of the regiment's most fearless and courageous soldiers. He particularly distinguished himself in battle near Benoy, during a special operation against a large group of terrorists. He was awarded the Order of Courage, medals “For Valor” and “For Service to the Chechen Republic,” and letters of thanks from the head of the Chechen Republic and others.
I am firmly convinced that he was sincerely devoted to Russia, and was ready to give his life for the Motherland. I do not know the true reasons and motives for Zaur's dismissal, but I have heard it was because of his mother's illness. The media reported that Zaur confessed to his involvement in the murder of Boris Nemtsov. All who know Zaur can testify that he is a deeply religious man, and that he, like all Muslims, was shocked by the actions of Charlie [Hebdo] and the comments supporting the printing of these cartoons.
I have instructed Vahit Usmaev, the secretary of Chechnya's Security Council, to conduct a thorough investigation into Zaur's dismissal, including an examination of his behavior and mood before leaving the service. In any case, if the court confirms Dadaev's guilt, then he committed a serious crime, having killed a man. But I want to note again that he was incapable of lifting so much as a finger against Russia, a country for which he risked his own life for many years. It can likewise be said that Beslan Shavanov, who died during an attempt to detain him, was a brave warrior. We believe that there will be a thorough investigation that will show whether or not Dadaev was guilty and will determine the reasons for his actions. #Kadyrov #Russia #Chechnya #InteriorMinistry
These comments by Kadyrov helped revive speculation that the murder was an act of Islamic extremism to avenge Nemtsov's support for Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine attacked in January for printing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
This possibility had earlier been among an array of theories floated by Russian officials immediately following Nemtsov's assassination, although there has been no official word yet on what is believed to have motivated Dudayev and his accomplices.
Many influential voices quickly expressed deep skepticism with this emerging speculation, however.
On Twitter, the popular nationalist website Sputnik & Pogrom implied that Kadyrov himself may have been behind Nemtsov's murder:
pic.twitter.com/xYwfyYnwHn
— Sputnik & Pogrom (@sputnikipogrom) March 9, 2015
“There can be no doubt that Nemtsov's murder was organized by Western security services, who are eager to sow internal conflict in Russia in any way possible” – R. A. Kadyrov [an earlier claim made by Kadyrov]
“We aren't ‘Western,’ we are ‘North'!” – Zaur Dadayev, former deputy commander of Chechnya's “North” police battalion.
Prominent members of Russia's political opposition also seem unconvinced.
In a long and emphatic LiveJournal post, Putin critic and former deputy energy minister Vladimir Milov dismissed the “Islamic motive” as “nonsense,” asserting that this “one hundred percent looks like a cover-up.” Milov wrote:
Никакого серьезного мотива убийства чеченцами до сих пор не предъявлено. “Исламский вопрос” – глупость. Немцов всегда очень осторожно высказывался об исламе, когда мы, некоторые его коллеги, состоявшие в одних и тех же с ним оппозиционных организациях, высказывались не в пример жестче – он всегда нас одергивал, говорил, что надо быть толерантными, в том числе и упоминал о том, что у него есть близкие родственники – мусульмане (обойдемся без подробностей). Немцову невозможно пришить “исламофобию”. Вот его пост, написанный по мотивам расстрела редакции Шарли Эбдо – вполне себе травоядный. Хотя не исключено, что именно после этого его поста была отдана команда разрабатывать операцию прикрытия убийства по “исламской тематике”. Никаких конфликтов между Немцовым и мусульманами никогда не было.
No serious motive for the Chechens to have committed the murder has been presented. The “Islamic motive” is nonsense. Nemtsov was always very respectful about Islam, and when we—some of his colleagues who worked in the same opposition organizations with him—expressed a different attitude, he always pulled us aside, saying that we should be tolerant, and mentioning that some of his close relatives are Muslims (we can go on without details). It is impossible to accuse Nemtsov of “Islamophobia.”
Here is a post that he wrote about the Charlie Hebdo attack, which was really quite mild. Although, it is possible that this post was given to a team to develop an “Islam-themed” cover-up operation for the murder. No conflict between Nemtsov and Muslims has ever existed.
In the post, as well as in an earlier one, Milov elaborates in detail on his belief that there is “almost no doubt that the murder of Boris Nemtsov was organized by the Russian security services.”
Opposition leader Alexey Navalny also seemed unimpressed with the new speculation, tweeting a link to a story claiming Dadayev had been surveilling Nemtsov in Moscow long before the Charlie Hebdo shooting ever happened:
Ну вот, Дадаев начал следить за Немцовым задолго до теракта в “Шарли Эбдо” http://t.co/0n6ixWrfza pic.twitter.com/RcqXC6xMmI
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) March 10, 2015
And so, Dadayev started following Nemtsov long before the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo
Andrey Babushkin, a member of the Kremlin’s advisory council on human rights, then sparked even more controversy by posting a statement on the council's official website on Wednesday, March 4, following his visit to the jail where the five suspects are being held.
Babushkin told the press, “There are reasons that lead us to believe Zaur Dadayev confessed under torture.” His statement, in part, read:
Дадаев Заур Шарипович сообщил, что в СИЗО к нему относятся хорошо. Его похитили 5 марта, когда он и брат прибыли из Дагестана на территорию Ингушетии. На теле у Дадаева видны множественные телесные повреждения. С 5 по 7 марта (день доставки в ИВС) не кормили, 3-4 раза давали глоток воды. Позвонить после задержания не дали. При задержании обвинения не предъявили. После того, как его доставили в суд для избрания меры пресечения, маску больше не одевали. Ему обещали отпустить его бывшего подчиненного и товарища Юсупова, если он признается в совершении убийства Б.Е. Немцова.
Zaur Dadayev said that he is being treated well in the detention center. He was seized on March 5, when he and his brother crossed from Dagestan into Ingushetia. Multiple injuries are visible on Dadayev's body. Between March 5 and March 7 (the day of his arrival at the detention center), he wasn't fed and was given a sip of water only 3-4 times. He was not given the chance to make a phone call after his arrest. During the arrest, he was not shown the charges. He was forced to wear a mask until his arraignment in Moscow. And he was promised that his former police force subordinate and his friend Yusupov would be released, if he confessed to the murder of Boris Nemtsov.
Russian law enforcement later responded, ominously announcing that Babushkin would soon be questioned over possible “interference” in a criminal case. Late in the evening on March 11, police came to Babushkin's home and the apartment of a journalist from the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, questioning them as witnesses in the investigation, and obligating them to remain in Moscow. Federal authorities say they view their meeting with Dadayev in jail as interference with police work.
As the battle to define the narrative of Nemtsov's murder continues to unfold in Moscow, it does not appear that the so-called “Islamic motive” version of events has yet gained much traction on the Russian internet.

author: Will Wright


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Cleaning Up the Coastal Areas of Singapore · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Since 1992, the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore has been organizing activities to remove garbage from the beaches and mangroves of Singapore. Every year, about 1,500 volunteers are joining the cleanup events that are able to collect 60,000 pieces of litter.
Volunteers during a cleanup event. Flickr photo by NUS Toddycats & ICCS (CC License)
Clean up locations around Singapore

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


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Croatian Women’s Rights Activists Don’t Only Take to the Streets—They Rename Them · Global Voices
Marinella Matejcic

A street sign renamed after Vesna Parun, a Croatian poet. Photo credit: Marinella Matejcic
Seventy years after the women of Croatia were granted suffrage, the country elected its first woman president. Unfortunately, it'd be difficult to find a feminist in Croatia who could say with confidence that President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović will improve women's rights there. On the contrary, the president's right-wing politics are in opposition to many of the rights women seek.
The Croatian economy was badly affected by the global financial crisis, so the government is promoting various new austerity policies. Those policies disproportionately affect women because they form the majority of welfare claimants (mostly as single mothers, as the courts in Croatia give children mostly to mothers after the divorce). As the government is decreasing social benefits, conservatives in Croatia are also obstructing reproductive and sexual rights.
It's clear that much remains to be done, so for International Women's Day on March 8, Croatian activists decided to take action. In Rijeka, people woke up to a city changed — during the night, several feminist and LGBT activists pulled off a guerilla marketing action and renamed the streets after significant women throughout history. Approximately 150 street signs were redesigned with A4 or A5 paper printed with the names of women who did great things for the country, but have been left out of the public space and conversations.
Photo from this year's 8 March protest in Zagreb, Croatia. First banner: “My body, my decision.” The second: “8 March is resistance day.” The third: “No austerity measures at the expense of women.” Photo credit: Svjetlana Knežević, republished with permission
On March 7, women's rights organisations also protested in the Croatian capital of Zagreb under the motto “Resistance Day: No Austerity Measures“. Their aim was to emphasize that the fight for social, political, and economic equality of the sexes is still ongoing.
And in Split, non-governmental organisation Cenzura Plus rallied ten activists to demonstrate in front of a hospital in order to highlight the importance of free choice regarding women's reproductive rights. They held banners with powerful messages such as, “The most violent element in the society is ignorance”, “We will not go back to illegal abortion”, “Feminists fought for the rights every woman now has”, and “Pray our way to accessible contraception, education in schools and fight to end violence against women”.
International Women's Day is a symbol of women's fight for economic and human emancipation. The day, which is celebrated all over the world and online (check out the project Web Women Want, which quotes 100 web-savvy women about their vision for the Internet), used to have stronger political flavor. Nowadays, it's often just an occasion to show love to women.
Croatian feminist and journalist Ana Maria Filipovic Grcic reminded readers in her article on this year's International Women's Day:
Osmi mart nije cvijeće i Kozmo sniženje parfema 40 posto, već obilježavanje dana kad su žene prosvjedovale zbog malih plaća i loših uvjeta. Što čine i dan danas. Između ostalog, da bi tebi bilo bolje. Učini i ti nešto za društvo – evoluiraj.
March 8 is not about flowers and the reduction of perfume prices by 40 percent, it's about remembering the day when women protested because they had low income and bad working conditions. And they are still doing it. Among other things, to make things better for you. Do something for society — evolve.
“My body, my decision.” Credit: Svjetlana Knezevic, republished with permission
Women make up 49.6% of the general population in Croatia. According to the UN's The World's Women 2010: Trends and Statistics Report, there are approximately 57 million more men than women in the world. According to statistics, this gender imbalance is even greater in Europe. The report shows that:
Women all over Europe are facing similar problems at the moment. Unemployment, low income, glass ceilings, often excluded from public life and policy. According to the International Women's Day website, the theme of this year’s event was “make it happen”. Here's hoping that women worldwide will accept that challenge and, as Mahatma Gandhi put it, will be the change they wish to see in the world.

author: Marinella Matejcic


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Look What Large-Scale Mining Did to These Four Beautiful Philippine Islands  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Polluted river in Rapu-Rapu Island caused by mining. Photo from Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment, used with permission
The Philippines has more than 7,000 islands. Maybe you are familiar with some of them, such as Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, and Palawan, which are all famous tourism destinations. But you probably have not heard of Marinduque, Rapu-Rapu, Manicani, Homonhon – four small islands that have been ravaged by mining in recent years.
The Philippines is a mineral-rich country, and the government has actively promoted mining to boost the local economy. As of 2014, the government has granted 999 mining permits across the country. But environmentalists are worried about the destructive impact of large-scale mining on the ecosystem, while some activists are critical of the foreign domination and corruption in the mining sector.
The stories of Marinduque, Rapu-Rapu, Manicani, and Homonhon highlight some of the social issues linked to the mining industry.
When mining operations started in Rapu-Rapu Island ten years ago, it was hailed by the government and the mining industry as an example of “responsible mining”. But after one year, cyanide poisoning around the mining site caused a massive fish kill that destroyed the livelihood of fisherfolk. Rapu-Rapu is a small island municipality in Bicol region, located in the eastern part of the Philippines.
Antonio Casitas, a senior peasant leader and environmental activist, was interviewed by alternative news website Bulatlat about the impact of the operations conducted by Australian mining firm Lafayette on the island:
Rapu-Rapu Island was once so beautiful. It was like paradise. Our lives there were simple — we lived off nature, and we took care not to damage it because we knew it was the source of our livelihood and means of survival. When the mining companies came, everything changed. Now, 97 percent of Rapu-Rapu Island is virtually under the control of these environmental destroyers, and what was once paradise is a wasteland.
The island province of Marinduque, located in the central part of the Philippine archipelago, continues to suffer from a toxic mine spill in 1996, caused by the collapse of a tailings dam operated by Marcopper mining. (See video above) The Marcopper tragedy was at that time the country’s worst mining disaster. Joseph Israel Laban, a filmmaker and native of the island, wrote on Facebook that the mining company has failed to rehabilitate the communities affected by the disaster:
After 18 years and four Presidents, the river is yet to be cleaned and rehabilitated by Canadian mining firm Placer Dome/Barrick Gold. For me, this is personal. I grew up about 10 minutes away from the Boac River. Every time I pass by that waterway when I visit Marinduque, I am reminded that there really is no justice in the Philippines. Not for the poor people. But for us Marinduqueños, we will never forget.
Open pit mining in Manicani Island. Photo by Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment, used with permission
The biggest disaster in Eastern Visayas was the destructive impact of typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) in 2013. But there were also other environment disasters in the region caused by mining activities. In the small island of Manicani, the people have been opposing the return of a mining company whose operations have severely damaged the natural resources of the island. Leading the opposition is the Diocese of Borongan of the Catholic Church, which released a statement asserting that “it cannot remain deaf and blind to the excesses of mining while our people suffer the consequences of actions not of their own making.”
Open pit mining in Homonhon. Photo by Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment, used with permission
Another island in Eastern Visayas that struggles to recover from the dirty legacy of mining is Homonhon. Mining operations in the island started in 1983 and have left a trail of environment damage that stirred the residents to fiercely oppose the expansion of mining in the island. The Bulatlat news team witnessed this scenery on the island:
The team was greeted by glorious beaches, but as the journalists went near the mountains, they saw telltale signs of fires, streams without water, the loose soil only a few meters away from the nearly 10 deep pits in every mining site.
A local leader told Bulatlat that the residents “will continue our resistance and if we need to establish barricades in order to halt their operations, we will do it.”
The environmental pollution and loss of livelihoods in Marinduque, Rapu-Rapu, Manicani, and Homonhon should make local leaders in other small island ecosystems think twice before they welcome the entry of large-scale mining into their homes.


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Strangled with Her Own Scarf:  A Student’s Murder Haunts Kyrgyz Society · Global Voices
Saadat Ruslanova

Camilla Duishebaeva. Image from Kloop.kg.
Almost exactly a year ago 19-year-old Kyrgyz student Camila Duishebaeva was found dead at a cemetery on the outskirts of Bishkek.
A case was opened but never solved. A middle-aged man close to the Central Asian country's political elite was among the last people to see her alive. Duishebaeva's Whatsapp account, which has been disabled and re-enabled in the period since her death, has been a focus for journalists in the country, who are suggesting a government cover-up. Critics of the country's law enforcement say flourishing corruption and patronage relations have blocked the case.
When Duishebaeva was first found lying next to her white scarf on March 17, the news provoked a storm of reaction. Her relatives had used VKontakte and other Russian social networking services to bring attention to her disappearance on March 10. A month later, ex-Minister of Interior Affairs Abdula Suranchiev, enraged the girl's family by denying Duishebaeva had been murdered and claiming she had “led a frivolous lifestyle.”
Forensics determined the death as suffocation.
The night before the morning of her disappearance, Duishebaeva was with a friend at a cafe in the center of Bishkek. Duishebaeva's friend said that they did not have enough money to pay the bill, which is why Duishebaeva decided to call 52-year-old Kaly Salyanov, a male relative of Kyrgyzstan's former General Prosecutor, Aida Salyanova, who came and paid, before dropping off her friend and taking Duishebaeva to a late night karaoke club.
According to a cousin, Duishebaeva returned home “in no mood” and spent the following morning sitting by a window lost in thought. She then left the house and was not seen again.
While no concrete evidence has emerged to connect Salyanov to the murder, the involvement in its preamble of an older man — who was not known to Duishebaeva's family — has added an extra layer of murkiness in a country where married men often seek out younger girlfriends to sponsor. There is an excellent music video that touches on this phenomenon in neighbouring Uzbekistan featuring Uzbek rapper Radius 21. Duishebaeva had a boyfriend in neigbouring Kazakhstan who is not considered as a suspect.
Salyanov's police testimony was as follows:
Вечером 9 марта я с друзьями был в бане. Примерно в 10 часов ночи мне позвонила Камила, сказала: Калыбек байке, мы задолжали в кафе, не могли бы вы одолжить тысячу сомов”. Я сказал, что не могу, сижу с ребятами, но она настойчиво продолжала звонить – семь-восемь раз. Я не смог отказать и поехал в кафе вместе с другом, экс-губернатором Нарынской области. После того как мы расплатились, девушки попросили их подвезти. Мы довезли Гульнизу до дома, после чего Камила попросила оставить ее возле кафе “40х40″. Высадив ее там, мы с другом поехали домой. Дома я встречал своего друга, пришли также герои 7 апреля, а 10 марта мы с Осунбеком Жамансариевым уехали в Джумгал. В тот день нас не было в Бишкеке, этому есть доказательства, есть показания свидетелей.
On the evening of March 9 I was with my friends at the sauna. At around 10 ‘o’ clock Camilla rang me and said: Kalybek baike (older brother) we owe the café some money, could you lend us [15 dollars]? I said I cannot, I am sitting with the guys, but she kept on ringing – 7 or 8 times. I could not refuse and went to the café with my friend, the ex-governor of Naryn province. After we paid up, the girls asked us to drop them off. We took [Camilla's friend] home, after which Camilla asked us to drop her off close to [another café] 40×40. Leaving her there we went home. At home I met with a friend, and some heroes of [Kyrgyzstan's second revolution] and on March 10 we went with Osunbek Jamansariev to Dzhumgal. On [the day of Camilla's murder] we were not in Bishkek, and there are witnesses to prove this.
The court of public opinion
Amid condolences to the family, public opinion has been largely suspicious of Salyanov's testimony. A minority fear a young girl's death is being used as part of a political campaign to target Aida Salyanova, who recently left her prosecutor's post to campaign in Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections.
On vb.kg, a Kyrgyz news website, articles about the murder are among the most popular published:
Скорей всего было изнасилование, затем чтобы скрыть происшедшее,кто-то был вынужден устранить потерпевшую! Не верю в дружбу молодой девушки и пожилого мужика!
Probably it was rape and then in order to cover up what had happened, someone needed to get rid of the victim. I do not believe in a friendship between an elderly man and a young girl.
эта история открывает нам страшную реальность современного Кыргызстана. Когда девушки одиноки и ищут утешение в увеселительных местах, когда молодежь без денег, когда есть “неприкасаемая элита”, когда жизнь человека стоит 1000 сом, когда байманапство затмевает справедливость.
This story opens up for us the awful realities of modern Kyrgyzstan. Where girls are lonely and seek solace in night venues, where young people have no money, where there is an “untouchable elite”, where human life is worth [$15], where patronage networks overshadow justice.
мдаа что сестренка что брат одного поля ягоды аморальные, брата тянет на молодых а сестренку на властных
It seems that the sister [then General Prosecutor Aida Salyanova] and the brother [Kalybek] Salyanov are equally amoral. One goes after the young and another chases power.
салянова и глава мвд с нарына, так что “ищите ветер в поле”… жаль девушку, только жизнь начиналась.
Salyanova and a [former] Naryn police boss, good luck solving that one. Sorry for the girl, her life was just beginning.
Соболезную родителям. То что произошло, конечно, увы не исправить, страшно за своих детей. Сейчас время тяжелое, люди озверели, пропало чувство жалости, уважения друг другу. Смотрите за детьми, особенно в такой подростковый период. Девочки, имейте чувство гордости, не позволяйте себе вести неправильный образ жизни.
Condolences to the family. You cannot change the past. I fear for my children. Now is a difficult time, people have changed, they have lost empathy, respect for one another. Look out for your children, especially when they are teenagers. Girls have a sense of pride, do not allow yourselves to lead the wrong type of lives.
наше имя Камила Дуйшебаева
— Х.М.Гейне (@holy_gane) December 19, 2014
Our name is Camilla Duishebaeva.
WhatsApp mystery
Public interest in the case might have died down, had Duishebaeva’s WhatsApp profile not reignited it. According to police, Duishebaeva's WhatsApp messages were deleted when an employee of the municipal refuse collection service found her phone last year, miles away from where her body was located. The account was active until May before reportedly disappearing completely and reappearing again — showing activity — in February this year.
Kyrgyz investigators invited counterparts from Malaysia to assist in uncovering the facts, but to no avail. Due to the large volume of messages exchanged every day, WhatsApp regularly deletes the message-load from its servers. Key evidence in Duishebaeva's case has disappeared.
In the meantime, the case has shrunk already low levels of trust in the country's government. While nobody is able to draw firm conclusions, people are sure it was more than an ordinary murder.

author: Saadat Ruslanova


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Trek Nepal’s Everest Region Without Ever Leaving Home · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

A glimpse of the Himalayan range featuring Ama Dablam. Image from Flickr by Franck Zecchin. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world in the Himalayan range, is a must-climb summit for mountaineers across the globe, and the wider Everest region a destination revered by many adventure and nature lovers. With its tough terrain and high altitude, the trek to the region remains inaccessible if you are not a fit and fine adrenaline junkie.
But no more.
Google's launch of a virtual tour of the Khumbu region, as it is also known, lets you walk the treacherous trail and takes you close to the stunning landscape surrounded by the world’s highest peaks.
Everest Region Trekking is awesome with varied landscape,deep gorge,valley,Mt.Everest,etc pic.twitter.com/Qbrid4poDu” #DiscoverNepal
— ◀♀Food-Fashion-Fun♂▶ (@EarneyHarisson) February 22, 2015
#Google launches virtual tour of #Nepal‘s Everest region http://t.co/i3fzf6Axi1 pic.twitter.com/oDVO2aUocF
— ST Foreign Desk (@STForeignDesk) March 12, 2015
Two of the people behind the project are Apa Sherpa, aka the 21-time Everest summiteer Super Sherpa, and Saurav Dhakal, a former journalist and social entrepreneur. The pair met during their 99-day trek to the Great Himalaya Trail, a 1,700 km hike along the foothills of the Himalayas spreading from Kanchenjunga in east to Hilsa in west.
Apa, who dreamt of being a doctor, scaled Everest as a porter for the first time and then climbed the peak 20 more times — not because he loved climbing. On his blog Growing up in the shadow of Everest, he says that did this to provide a better future for his children.
Though he could not become a doctor, he is hopeful that children of his hometown will become doctors in future. The Apa Sherpa Foundation funds a lower secondary school at his place. In March 2014, the foundation and Story Cycle, founded by Dhakal, partnered with Google Earth Outreach to support the locals in the Khumbu region to digitally represent their communities on Google Maps.
During a 10-day trek led by Apa, the team captured indoor and outdoor snapshots to create the Street View images.
Google Maps have shared an engaging video of the region in YouTube.
Ammu Kannampilly, bureau chief for Agence France-Presse in Nepal, tweeted:
You can check out #Google‘s tour of the stunning #Everest region here https://t.co/ew2epfGb3t #Nepal pic.twitter.com/LdoPFVpj2I
— Ammu Kannampilly (@akannampilly) March 12, 2015
Interested? Take the tour. The Everest region, feared for its tough terrain and harshness, is within reach now.

author: Sanjib Chaudhary


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Ukrainian Journalist Detained, Questioned by Russian Security Services in Crimea · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Young woman looks at photos at a flashmob for the anniversary of annexation of Crimea by Russia in downtown Kyiv, on February 28, 2015. Photo by Oleg Petrasiuk from Demotix.
Natalya Kokorina, an editor of the Simferopol-based independent journalist initiative Center for Investigative Journalism, was detained by officers of the Crimean headquarters of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). The FSB detained her at her parents’ house on March 13 during a search, and refused to allow Kokorina's lawyer to be present.
The Crimean security services also searched the Simferopol home of the parents of another independent journalist, Anna Andrievska. Andrievska herself was previously an editor at the Center for Investigative Journalism and still writes for the center, but from Kyiv, where she moved from Crimea following Russia’s annexation.
Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Klimkin, OSCE's Media Representative Dunja Mijatovic, and Committee to Protect Journalists all called for the immediate release of the independent journalist.
Пані Кокоріна має бути звільнена. Росія, як держава-окупант, має зупинитися у придушенні свободи слова в Криму. #CrimeaIsUkraine У мене все.
— Pavlo Klimkin (@PavloKlimkin) March 13, 2015
Miss Kokorina should be released. Russia, as an invading state, must stop cracking down on free speech in Crimea. #CrimeaIsUkraine That's all I have to say.
Condemning repressive actions against journalists in #Crimea, #Ukraine; urges @investigator_ua journalist's release http://t.co/cFw925ug1K
— Dunja Mijatovic (@OSCE_RFoM) March 13, 2015
Kokorina was later released after six hours of questioning, and said she was questioned as a witness in a criminal investigation launched over Article 280.1 of the Russian criminal code (public calls to action aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation). Kokorina's lawyer, Dzhemil Temishev, said the investigation was founded on several of the Center's online publications.
Anna Andrievska also told reporters law enforcement showed her father a Simferopol court warrant that said she was under criminal investigation for “materials containing calls to overthrow power in Crimea.” Andrievska said the criminal proceedings were likely linked to one specific article she wrote and published on the Center's website on December 11, 2014. The article, “Volunteers of the Crimea [Krym] Battalion,” tells the stories of volunteers supporting the Krym (Crimea) volunteer battalion and other Crimean units fighting as part of the Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine.
The amendment to the code criminalizing “public calls to separatism” was introduced shortly after Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula and suggests those found guilty of the crime can get up to 5 years in jail.
The Center for Investigative Journalism was initially based in Simferopol, the regional capital of annexed Crimea, but was forced to relocate to Kiev after its staff was subjected to attacks and harassment by the authorities. The center trains journalists and publishes investigative reports on its website.

author: Tanya Lokot


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Watch John Lubbock’s ‘Istanbul: The Politics of Architecture’ · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

The old Greek orphanage on Buyukada/Prinkipo island near Istanbul. Screenshot from Istanbul: The Politics of Architecture by John Lubbock
John Lubbock, the author of a recent post on Global Voices about construction, over-development and gentrification in Turkey, returns to the theme in a fantastic self-produced documentary tapping the rich seams of Istanbul's multicultural history, and reflecting on the city's increasingly monocultural future.
Here Lubbock describes Istanbul:The Politics of Architecture in his own words.
Since the first time I came to Istanbul, I've been interested in the design of the city, its built environment and the way people interact with that. It's so different to London, where I come from. And compared to Western Europe, there are many Ozymandias-like remnants of fallen empires scattered around the city. I wanted to find out more about the history of these cultural remnants, and what the current construction boom means for Turkish society. In this, I've been influenced by my understanding of psychogeography and its tradition, which sees time as a landscape. Here is the author Alan Moore's definition of psychogeography:
“In its simplest form I understand psychogeography to be a straightforward acknowledgement that we, as human beings, embed aspects of our psyche…memories, associations, myth and folklore…in the landscape that surrounds us.”
So my intention was to find out what the architecture of Istanbul says about the architecture of the Turkish psyche, both past and present, and what we can learn about Turkish culture and politics as a result.
I am doing another project about the commemorations for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and the responses to this event within Turkish society. There will be a lot written about this event, on April 24, and it seems to me that it's important to understand how this history is viewed within Turkey, given that the objective of most Armenian groups is for the Turkish state to recognise that the events of 1915 constitute a genocide as we now understand the term. What are the political, psychological and social obstacles to this recognition and the inter-cultural reconciliation which it could lead to? These are really interesting questions for someone like myself who is interested in how we avoid repeating the mistakes that led to so much suffering in the past.
I am sure there are Turkish nationalists, as well as some Armenian groups, who wouldn't agree with my analysis of these questions, but the most important thing is to have a conversation about how the past has affected the world today, rather than brushing these psychological wounds under the carpet of history, where they are not likely to stay hidden for long.
The complete documentary can be watched here:

author: Chris Rickleton


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Why Students in Chad are Protesting and It’s not Just About the Helmet Law   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Bus on fire during student protests in Chad via Makaila blog
Police are violently repressing student protests in Chad since March 10. The official reason for the protest is the new safety regulation that require bikers to wear a helmet. Motorbikes are often used as taxis in the capital city, Ndjamena. However, the reason for protests are more profound than the new law. One student explains why they are protesting:
Croyez-vous que c’est une question de port de casque ? Personne ne s’oppose à l’utilisation de casque. Il y a une sorte d’impréparation de la mesure par les autorités et d’exploitation de la vente par les commerçants. Jusque quand allons-nous accepter d’être sauvagement exploités ? Le ciment, le sucre, le pétrole…savez-vous que le marché de casque a permis à certains responsables de s’enrichir ?
Do you really think that the protests are about just helmet law ? No one is opposed to the use of helmet. The authorities are not prepared to properly implement the measures and the law is quite beneficial to all retailers. When will we say enough to this brutal exploitation ? It is the same thing for cement, sugar, oil … do you know that the helmet has allowed some officials to get rich quite rapidly ?
During the repression of the protests by the police, one student, Hassan B. Daoud was killed. Here is a video of police brutality against some students posted by ABDELKERIM YACOUB KOUNDOUGOUMI on facebook:

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Bahraini Human Rights Defender Awaits Sentence · Global Voices
Noor Mattar

Nabeel Rajab is scheduled to be sentenced in a case brought against him by the Bahraini government on March 15, concerning comments about ISIS that he made on Twitter. Convicted of “denigrating an official body” in tweets likening Bahrain's security apparatus to an “incubator” for ISIS fighters, Rajab was initially sentenced to six months in prison. His sentence is being re-issued following a judicial appeal made by his legal defense in early February.
Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (dissolved and declared an illegal entity by the government), was released from prison in May 2014 after two years’ imprisonment for “disrupting public order.” Rajab was arrested and jailed following his efforts to investigate human rights violations surrounding Bahrain's popular uprising in 2011.

author: Noor Mattar


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Bahrain’s Leading Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab Faces Prison for ISIS Tweets · Global Voices
Noor Mattar

Prominent Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab to stand trial on March 15. Photograph by Majeed Tareef. Copyright: Demotix
Leading Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab will today learn his fate following his appeal against a six-month prison sentence handed to him by a Bahraini court in January. The case concerns comments he made about ISIS on Twitter. Rajab was initially convicted of “denigrating an official body” in tweets that likened Bahrain's security apparatus to an “incubator” for fighters of the radical group ISIS.
Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights — not recognised as a legal entity by the government — was only released from prison in May 2014 after serving two years for “disrupting the public order.”
That sentence came after Rajab was arrested for trying to investigate human rights violations that took place during Bahrain's popular uprising in 2011.
The tweet for which he was convicted suggested that Bahrain's security institutions had a number of staff that had joined terrorist groups, including ISIS. In January 2015, Bahrain revoked the citizenship of a number of people accused of membership of the group.
Along with a number of dissidents, these included high profile figures such as a former officer, Muhamed Al-binali, who joined ISIS, and Salman Alkhalifa, a member of the royal family. The revocations represented a worrying indication of ISIS’ infiltration of the Bahraini state.
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) has had many disputes with Bahraini security forces even before the 2011 uprising. In 2004, the centre was formally liquidated by the government but has continued to remain active.
Governing by sectarianism
On numerous occasions BCHR has complained about sectarian discrimination in the security forces, which the country's Shia population — the majority of the country — are excluded from joining by the Sunni government.
The government even resorts to manipulated Islamic literature to promote sectarianism and justify its suppression of protestors.
Books that are branded as ‘religious’ are printed and distributed by the Bahrain Defence Forces. They openly call for killing protestors who are against the ‘ruler’. Protesters and people who practice Shia traditions are outrageously described as apostates in these books.
The first book, on the left of the image above, is entitled ‘The Pagan's Death, How Would you Define it?’ and is authored by Mohamed Fahad Abdulaziz alfuraih. One excerpt from the book reads:
“ان مفارقة الجماعة، ومحاولة تفريقها من كبائر الذنوب، وصاحبها مستحق للقتل. ”
“ومن عدَّ المساوئ فقد أعان على الظلم، وملأ القلوب بما لا يجوز، أخرج ابن أبي شيبة أن عبدالله بن حكيم رحمه الله قال: (لا أعين على قتل خليفة بعد عثمان أبدا فقيل له: أعنت على دمه؟ قال: إني أعد ذكر مساوئه عونا على دمه).
إن تكوين المظاهرات، وتنظيم المسيرات وتحاشد الجهلة وغوغاء الناس في الطرق العامة ونحوها نوع من أنواع الخروج على الحاكم المسلم، وضرب من أضرب مفارقة الجماعة، فاعلها داخل في عِقْد الخوارج، والرضى بها كالفاعل، والمحرض عليها أعظمهم جرما، وأشدهم خبثا، ولو كان تحريضه بكلمة قالها، أو بجملة خطها. “
Parting from the group and creating factionalism is a mortal sin. Anyone who commits that deserves to be killed.
[…]
The formation of protests, organizing marches and the gathering of ignorant mobs in public roads and other forms of dissent against the ruler is a form of parting from the group. Whoever does so is considered an apostate. Whoever agrees with that is as guilty as the perpetrator and the inciter is the most sinful among them and most devious, whether he incited this by a word he said or a line he wrote.
The book on the right in the image is titled ‘The Lights of Sunnah and the Darkness of Heresy’. It includes the following paragraphs:
فكل من دعا مَيِّتاً، أو غائباً: من الأنبياء، والصالحين، سواء كان بلفظ الاستغاثة، أو غيرها فقد فعل الشرك الأكبر الذي لا يغفره الله إلا بالتوبة منه، فكل من غلا في نبي، أو رجل صالح، وجعل فيه نوعاً من العبادة مثل أن يقول: يا سيدي فلان انصرني، أو أعني، أو أغثني، أو ارزقني، أو أنا في حسبك، ونحو هذه الأقوال، فكل هذا شرك وضلال يُستتاب صاحبه، فإن تاب وإلا قُتل
Everyone who pleads to a dead or missing person, may that person be a prophet or pious person, whether he was calling for help or otherwise, has committed infidelity which will not be forgiven by Allah and should repent. Everyone who praises – more than one should – a prophet or a pious man and links it to some sort of worship like saying: “my Master [X] help me” or “I'm in your guardianship” and so on has committed infidelity and should repent or otherwise be killed.
This paragraph is a provocation against Shia Muslims who plead to Prophet Mohammed and his decedents when faced with adversity.
وقال شيخ الإسلام في حكم الطواف بغير الكعبة:((وأما الطواف بذلك فهو من أعظم البدع المحرمة، ومن اتخذه ديناً يُستتاب، فإن تاب وإلا قُتل))(1).
The highest cleric (Ibn Taymya, the founder of Salafism) said pilgrimage to places other than Mecca is one of the greatest acts of heresy and who ever makes that a part of his belief should repent or be killed.
This is another provocation against the country's majority Shia population. Shia Muslims perform pilgrimage to many sites besides Mecca, including holy shrines in Iraq, Syria and Iran.
The type of sectarian speech found in these books is similar to that used by ISIS.  The books often quote “selected” teachings of the controversial 13th century Islamic scholar Ibn Taymmiya.  ISIS also likes to cite Taymmiya, as the group did recently in the execution of the Jordanian pilot.
Taymmiya is a major influence on modern day Wahhabism and was even quoted by Osama bin Laden. Taymiyyah was imprisoned multiple times during his life, often for protesting against government authorities. He died in prison.
Where next for Bahrain's suffering Shia majority?
Manipulative and inflammatory sectarian indoctrination is not uncommon amongst high ranking officials in the security forces. The official spokesperson for the army Khalid Al BouAinain previously tweeted about how “cats can enter his university but not the Shia”.
Such comments go unpunished. Back in 2011, Bahraini Shias complained of political and economic marginalization in the country of 1.3 million people. Recent events suggest that trend is only increasing.
The military cracked down on Shia Muslim-led protests against the government in 2011. Since then, Bahrain has been accused of human rights abuses targeting Shias by both local human rights defenders such as Nabeel Rajab and international rights organisations.
In the meantime, low-level protests have continued to simmer. According to Mark Lynch at Foreign Policy magazine in 2011, “the Bahraini regime responded not only with violent force, but also by encouraging a nasty sectarianism in order to divide the popular movement and to build domestic and regional support for a crackdown.”
Another tactic the government has used to fuel sectarianism has been the empowerment of preachers from the country's small extremist Salafist population. Besides being anti-Shia, Salafism is a puritanical Sunni sect that has inspired extremist militant organisations like Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
While Nabeel Rajab, a known pacifist and one of the few in the country who still speaks out openly against Bahrain's destructive sectarianism, faces punishment for stating what many see as obvious, those preaching hatred towards protestors and the country's Shia population seem to enjoy unlimited freedom.
Also Read:
Bahrain's Prominent Human Rights Activist Arrested for Criticizing Police Defectors Who Joined ISIS
Bahrain Joins US Air Strikes, but Still Tortures Americans and Silences ISIS Critics
Bahrain's Shia Muslims Tense as Politicians and Preachers Pledge Allegiance to ISIS


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Chilean Espionage in Peru Cools Diplomatic Relations · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Presidents of Chile and Peru. Picture taken form UNWomen user of Flickr, used under the license of Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Chile and Peru are in the midst of a diplomatic crisis, following accusations that at least three sailors in the Peruvian Navy were spying for Chile. In response, Peru has withdrawn its ambassador in protest.
Identifican a los dos marinos peruanos presos, acusados de espiar a favor de Chile. http://t.co/X3h7g3rE7Q
— Hugo Coya (@Hcoya) February 19, 2015
Peruvian sailors accused of spying in favor of Chile were identified.
The discovered spies first claimed they were hired by an Italian businessman to provide information about Peruvian fishing, but investigators later learned the businessmen are in fact intelligence officers in the Chilean Navy, and the information supplied was classified documents from Peru's the National Defense Department.
Apparently, the espionage dates back to 2005.
En tiempos de guerra o no, el espionaje es traición a la patria y debe ser sancionado con pena de muerte http://t.co/W6pUSoPPC7 traidores
— Carlo Murga Chávez (@carlomurga) February 19, 2015
In times of war or not, espionage is a betrayal to your country and must be punish with death penalty. traitors
Peruvian President Ollanta Humala called together a meeting of several of the country's political leaders, including former presidents, to discuss the crisis. Humala also sent a formal letter of protest to Chile on February 20.
A esta hora se reúne el Presidente @Ollanta_HumalaT con líderes políticos… caso #EspionajeChileno #Perú pic.twitter.com/jPg1xpqHLC
— Walter tz (@WalTer_tz) February 20, 2015
Right now the president @Ollanta_HumalaT is meting with political leaders… case #ChileanEspionage #Peru
The Chilean chancellor initially rejected the espionage accusations, but later said he would review the matter and comment again. On March 3, the Peruvian government reported that it was unsatisfied with Chile's response to the scandal.
#INTER Gobierno chileno negó presunto espionaje a Perú. http://t.co/nGDEwGcNXt pic.twitter.com/qtxgvZNMnk
— TC Televisión (@tctelevision) February 21, 2015
#INTER Chilean government denied claims of espionage to Peru.
#Perú Supuesto espionaje: Canciller chileno dice que buscan tensionar relaciones: “Me parece que se está llegando… http://t.co/OmX6KUnypo
— Perú Hoy (@PeruHoy24h) February 20, 2015
#Peru Claims of espionage: Chilean Chancellor says they are looking to tense relations: “I think is getting…
El gobierno de #Chile reitera que no acepta ni promueve acciones de #espionaje -> http://t.co/2bSbLJQbWU pic.twitter.com/HEhhiaGZJO — SEMANAeconómica (@SEMANAeconomica) March 5, 2015
Chilean government does not approve or promote #Espionage
While neither Peru's letter to Chile nor the Chilean response was made public, José Antonio García Belaúnde, Peru's former foreign minister, has said his country performed appropriately by sending the letter of protest and sharing its evidence against the Chilean spies. Chile's response, Belaúnde argues, was conciliatory, but inadequate, given the seriousness of the offense. In this context, Peru temporarily recalled its ambassador from Chile on March 7, dispatching a new letter with more evidence against the Chilean spy ring. “These acts of espionage,” the note read, “violate the spirit of cooperation and good neighborliness that should guide relations between our two countries.” Afterwards, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said Chile's ambassador would remain in Chile to develop a response to the new letter.
#Espionaje chileno: Cancillería peruana retira de manera temporal a embajador en #Chile http://t.co/1auFBio61h — Diario Correo (@diariocorreo) March 7, 2015
Chilean #Espionage : Peruvian Chancellor temporarily removes Ambassador in #Chile
Bachelet mantendrá en Stgo. a embajador chileno en Perú para responder por caso espionaje » http://t.co/4eEpPCEUHo pic.twitter.com/rny0MqxDa2
— Tele13 (@T13) March 8, 2015
Bachelet keeps in Santiago the Chilean Ambassador to Peru in order to answer for the case of espionage
Even in recent years, this isn't the first case of Chilean espionage in Peru. In 2009, there was an espionage case involving two Chilean military technicians embedded in Peru's Air Force. Chile denied the accusations. Victor Ariza Mendoza, the Peruvian non-commissioned officer involved, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for treason.
In 1978, there was another espionage case involving two Chilean officers caught photographing Peruvian war planes at a military base in the city of Talara. Under interrogation, they admitted to being under orders from the Chilean ambassador. The incident ended with the expulsion of the officers and the Chilean ambassador. Simultaneously, an officer in Peru's Air Force was discovered to have photographed military facilities in the city of Arequipa, earning him a conviction for treason and a death sentence, carried out on January 20, 1979.

author: Juan Arellano


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First #AskHamas Session Ends With ‘Some Interesting Results’  · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Hamas promotional image featuring prominent members, from left, Ismail Haniya, political leader of Hamas; Hamas spokeswoman Huda Naim, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Secretary of Hamas Bloc; Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for Hamas's military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades; Rahwi Mushtawa, co-founder of Al Majd, a forerunner of Hamas's military wing who spent 25 years in Israeli prisons
Hamas, the political party currently ruling over Gaza, is holding a five-day Twitter session under the hashtag #AskHamas. While most Western media outlets focused on the backlash the campaign generated, little attention has been paid on Hamas’ answers and statements themselves.
Hamas launched its account with a joke:
Zionist propagandists will try to convince you that this is a rocket, not a tweet. Do not fall for that.
— Hamas Movement (@HamasInfoEn) March 11, 2015
In its first session, Hamas spokeswoman Huda Naim, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Secretary of Hamas Bloc, answered several questions. Four more sessions are expected.
Send me your questions now pic.twitter.com/4TV9ZrHJYM
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
The following tweets are answers and statements selected by category:
On anti-semitism:
. @ArieFriedman if Palestinian land is sold to occupiers, it's treason. We Have Palestinian Jews who own land. No problem w/ that #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
@jcvolt In fact, Jews are not the cause of our troubles. But Israeli occupation, which sieges Gaza and destroys West Bank, is. #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
@Robbythecoolcat We protect all people even Jews. We do not discriminate, there're are Jews among us and enjoy all freedom #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
On gender equality:
The woman in Hamas has a very crucial and constructive role. The woman is a member and a leader. #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
For Hamas, women and men enjoy equal rights. #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
Hamas female members have played a significant role in giving depth to Hamas techniques and strategies. #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
Palestinian women struggle for freedom, independence, and equal rights. #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @irish4israel Under Hamas rule, women have participated even more in the political and cultural arenas. Now in leading positions #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @irish4israel For example, in public offices women's jobs increased from 30% to 45% of the jobs. #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
She even went so far as accusing Israel of targeting Palestinian women:
The Israeli occupation has always targeted Palestinian women to weaken and undermine the Palestinian struggle. #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
Women in Palestine suffer the most due to aggressive Israeli policies. #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
Since 1967, the Israeli occupation forces have illegally imprisoned 15,000 Palestinian women. #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
Only last summer, the Israeli occupation murdered 240 Palestinian women and 520 kids. #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
On the wearing of the veil and choice:
. @ArieFriedman The headcover is a personal choice I made. You have to respect that. #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @saiqa_naz There are female Palestinian MP's who do not have headcovers. That's their personal choice, too. #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
On colonization:
. @AvramMeitner Palestine is literally dimishing off the map. Look at the West Bank and Jerusalem! #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
On prospects for peace:
. @AvramMeitner Hamas supports any just solution that grants the Palestinian people all their legitimate rights. #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @Op_Israel No. We are for any just solution that will ease the suffering of our people. #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @whatiscoolnow @HamasInfoEn 1st, it's Palestine. We struggle 4a free Palestine. Israel has murdered and violated all agreements #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
@DazzFreeman This is originally refused by Israel and Israel is the party which carry out massacres #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
On terrorism, Al Qa'eda and ISIS
@x1Mmejor Hamas official condemned Paris attacks and we have never encouraged terrorism. #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @taminnnn Hamas is categorically against what ISIS does. #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @yolandavassallo Hamas does not support Al Qaeda
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
On Israel's illegal settlements:
Naim shared an infographic published by Middle East Eye and based on statistics compiled by AFP, Peace Now and BT'Selem.
. @segafhusein 3) peace for Israel is building more settlements. see this info-graphic #askHamas pic.twitter.com/Su9OgQG1Yi
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
On violence:
. @irish4israel We have rights that we struggle 4. When the occupation ends and we get our rights, there will be no use for them #askHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @gromble_ We will not disarm until the occupation ends and justice prevails. Period. #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @Zee_Ghazza All Palestinian factions have agreed to respond to any Israeli aggression against Palestinians #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @whatiscoolnow @HamasInfoEn you're saying it “fighting back” we resist Israeli aggression. We react to Israeli crimes against us #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
@Plate0fShrimp I am with getting rights without bloodshed. But Israelis make Palestinian lives hell everywhere #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
. @Telecombarbie @Scashriel @HamasInfoEn They are born from living years of aggression and oppression under occupation. #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
On the occupation and the blockade of Gaza:
. @irish4israel @drinkrccola @HamasInfoEn according to Geneva 4th convention, Gaza is still under Israeli occupation. #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
On human shields:
@DLF_2012 Hamas never used civilians human shields, it used to warn Israeli civilians who are in the range of its rockets #AskHamas
— Huda Naim (@HudanaimMP) March 13, 2015
Note: The topic of whether Israel and/or Hamas have used human shields is covered in a previous Global Voices Online post.
Finally, Hamas announced that the 2nd session will be with a Palestinian who spent 25 years in Israeli prisons:
Today's session has ended. Tomorrow's session's with Rawhi Mushtha; an ex prisoner who spent 25 years in occupation's jails. #AskHamas
— Hamas Movement (@HamasInfoEn) March 13, 2015

author: Elia J. Ayoub


text:
Memory Banda Escaped Child Marriage in Malawi, but Her 11-Year-Old Sister Wasn’t so Lucky · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Memory Banda, 18, advocates for victims of child marriage with a member of the Malawian Parliament. Credit: Let Girls Lead
This article and radio report by Joyce Hackel for The World as part of the Across Women's Lives project originally appeared on PRI.org on March 12, 2015, and is republished as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Memory Banda is one of the lucky ones.
The 18-year-old girl managed to escape the cycle that turns half the girls in her southern African nation into brides, and often mothers, by her age.
But her sister Mercy was not so lucky.
When only 11, Mercy got pregnant during a traditional sexual “cleansing ceremony” that is intended to prepare pubescent girls for womanhood and marriage. Mercy was forced to marry the man who impregnated her, but the marriage didn’t last. Nor did the next one. Now 16, Mercy already has three children and little education, her dreams of becoming a teacher put on hold.
A few years ago, Memory encountered Girls Empowerment Network, a Malawi-based NGO that had been trying for years to get lawmakers to address the issue of child marriage. Only a teenager herself, Memory could get other girls in her village to open up. The group’s writing workshops resulted in a remarkable set of testimonials called “I Will Marry When I Want To!” Memory and the group brought a crucial perspective to Malawi’s debate over child marriage: that of children themselves.
Memory Banda, on the far right, along with a group of young activists organized by Let Girls Lead. Credit: Let Girls Lead
Memory believes the testimonials forced lawmakers to end their denial of how widespread child marriage had become in this tradition-bound country. “They were caught,” she says. She went on to become something of a lobbyist for a new law to raise the legal age of marriage in Malawi to 18. After five years of debate, it passed this past February.
Now, Memory says, enforcement is key. “It will make a big difference and a big impact, but if and only if there are better ways of implementing the program so that more and more people are reached concerning the new law.”
After all, her sister's marriage when she was 11 was also illegal, but that didn’t stop the damage from being done. Memory is urging her sister not to give up on her stolen aspirations to become a teacher. “I believe she still has a chance of going back to school,” she says.
And Memory sees a new openness forming in pockets of Malawi’s society as she tries to educate girls about sexuality and their rights. She knows her sister is determined not to let her children go through what she did. Mercy’s oldest daughter is now five, almost half the age Mercy was when she got married off.
“The little girl knows what the mom went through. And I am pretty sure she also has greater hopes for her own future,” Memory says.
If you want to help Girls Empowerment Network's fight for gender equality and justice in Malawi, or learn more about their work, you can check out their website: http://www.genetmalawi.org/

author: PRI/PRX's The World


text:
One Small Step for a Trinidadian Rocket Scientist, One Giant Leap for Young Women · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Camille Alleyne, NASA International Space Station Program Science Office; photo by Jared, used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 license.
The Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT), of which — full disclosure — I am a past president, invited me to attend their annual International Women's Day luncheon earlier this week in Port of Spain.
The non-profit organisation acts as a networking hub for professional women, but has historically also done a great deal of social outreach, particularly in the area of creating educational and mentorship opportunities for young women. In keeping with this mission, AFETT's theme for this year's event was Inspiring, Educating and Motivating Women and Girls to Achieve their Full Potential, and the event's featured speaker, Dr. Camille Wardrop Alleyne, managed to do just that.
Wardrop Alleyne isn't just smart. She's a rocket scientist (well, Aerospace Engineer is her official title, but she has spent her 20-year career advancing the areas of aerospace and space technology development, particularly in human space flight). She was involved in three of the four NASA-led efforts at human space exploration, but her most recent passions lie in the application of space technology in international development and global science and space education for girls.
To this end, she founded the Millennia Global Development Group, an international development firm that finds space, science and technology-based solutions to economic development challenges in the Global South, as well as the Brightest Stars Foundation — a non-governmental organisation focused on the empowerment of young women around the world through education, particularly in the disciplines of science, math and technology.
In her address, Dr. Wardrop-Alleyne talked about everything from her childhood in Trinidad, where she would gaze up at the night sky from the bonnet of her father's car and spend hours on end building things, to her dream that by 2030, women the world over will understand they have a voice and use that voice for the betterment of humanity. I sat down with her to talk about her job, her gender and the difference she wants to make in the world.
Dr. Camille Wardop-Alleyne, addressing the audience at the Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago's 2015 International Women's Day luncheon. Photo by Dawn Lafond, used with permission.
Global Voices (GV): In three out of NASA's four human-manned space missions, you were an integral part of the team. Tell us about that.
Camille Wardrop-Alleyne (CWA): NASA has developed three human space programs from scratch and the fourth is in development. Human space programs are programs that involve the transport of humans (astronauts) to space versus robotics programs or satellites.
The first one was the Apollo program which sent astronauts to the moon in the late 1960s-1973.
Then there was the Space Shuttle program that was first flown in 1981-2010. The astronauts took seven to fourteen-day trips to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and transported modules and other parts of the International Space Station (ISS), which is the third. The ISS is an orbiting science lab that has a crew of six that live and work for six months at a time. Assembly started in 1998 and ended in 2010. Then the lab was fully open for business and will be operational at least through 2024.
The fourth is the Orion which is the next generation spacecraft to take humans beyond LEO. It's in development and won't have first capability before 2018.
I have worked on the Space Shuttle program, the Orion program and the ISS for the last five years.
GV: You said your life changed when the Challenger exploded. What shifted for you in that moment?
CWA: I didn't know about space. I look back and I discovered that[studying space] was what I was doing when I used to lie on the bonnet of my dad's car and stargaze, but I didn't recognize it at the time. Even as a teenager, when I decided I was going to study engineering because I was good in math and science and we had a family friend who was a petroleum engineer, I didn't know. But I also had this love for planes, because we travelled a lot, from the time I was five years old. Plus, I always wanted to do something nobody else did, because I wanted to push the boundaries. I'm driven and really ambitious that way, and so I picked aeronautical engineering;which had nothing to do with space for me…until that day [the Challenger exploded]. It just opened up my mind.
GV: That's incredible – to have the Challenger fail so tragically and you end up designing shuttles that send humans into space. Is that scary? Putting people in them and saying, “God, I hope this works”?
CWA: The primary responsibility of NASA is safety when we're flying humans in space, so we have a lot of processes and procedures to go through. When the Challenger happened and subsequently the Columbia, it shut things down because all processes had to be re-evaluated. I remember starting to work at Kennedy Space Center, which is the launch facility for NASA, and so I started my career working with people who had been a part of Challenger, and looking at the launches still freaks them out because these people are your friends!
GV: Your parents created a supportive environment for you to thrive. They allowed you to tinker with anything that was broken around the house…what else did they do?
CWA: They stressed the value of education – that was the paramount thing. I've got to admit: We didn't get to do chores, I didn't learn to cook at an early age. All I was responsible for was keeping my room clean and studying. My mom was adamant that her girls [Alleyne is the youngest of three] were going to be independent and self-sufficient.
GV: You've obviously passed these traits on to your own daughter…
CWA: Yes, she's sixteen, she's amazing and she's getting ready to go off to college – to Yale University – in the fall, to study pre-medicine.
GV: How did you juggle marriage, a demanding career, parenthood..?
CWA: Oh my gosh…it was hard. It is about compromise and it is having a very supportive husband and family. I've been a single mom for five years now [Alleyne lost her husband in 2010] and it's just about trying to balance everything. I could have put all the travel aside, but it's important for me to show my daughter what she can do, what is possible for her – and the way I do that is by example.
Dr. Camille Wardrop-Alleyne poses with secondary school students in Trinidad. Photo by Dawn Lafond, used with permission.
GV: How do you think you've pushed the boundaries in your own career?
CWA: By what I represent being a woman of color, being a woman of color from a place other than the United States, and studying in a field that's so technically challenging. There are not a lot of rocket scientists…that in itself is a contribution and it serves as a beacon of light for many little ones coming up.
GV: Have there been any particular challenges that you think have come about as a result of the fact that you're different?
CWA: I think you're not given the benefit of the doubt right away. You've got to go 150% and even that is not enough. It is never enough, because it is not about that. It is about those inherent biases that exist that we can't control…so you just plough forward and prove yourself.
GV: What do you like best about your job?
CWA: What I love best is learning something new every day. The challenge…I love that! I'm not a scientist by trade, I'm an engineer, but I'm in a science job and the nature of the space station is such that we have taken that gravitational force out of the equation. The space station allows us to do that. Everything we know is under the influence of gravity, so we are learning an amazing amount about the most fundamental things. It's a multi-disciplinary lab and we do things like biology and bio-technology, human research. For example, how humans adapt to space is very much like the ageing process. They lose bone and muscle in the matter of a month that maybe a post-menopausal woman may lose in a year. So we have scientists and researchers whose job is to develop countermeasures to reverse that adaptation, so that we could one day send humans to Mars over a long duration of time. Whatever countermeasures are developed for astronauts could very much be translatable to a benefit on earth.
Orion reaching limits of Earth Atmosphere; photo by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 license.
GV: Do you think we'll ever populate other planets?
CWA: It may not happen in my lifetime, but I think the generation of girls in that room will be the ones to develop those technologies that hopefully will allow us to go to Mars, where there's evidence of water and life at the smallest microbial level.
GV: Why do you believe education is so essential for both girls and boys and how can we stem the tide of rote learning that so many educational systems have fallen prey to, the Caribbean included?
CWA: I was a part of that system of rote learning, but I talk about education from a quality perspective, which includes inquiry-based learning, critical thinking and problem solving and really, the only way you get that is through the sciences. That is germane to those subjects. Something has to be done in transforming the education system, but it starts unfortunately with something like the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) saying, ‘No, we are going to value problem solving and critical thinking and project-based learning’ and then everybody will line up because they know that's what they're being tested on and that will transform the system.
GV: Tell us about the NGO you founded, the Brightest Stars Foundation.
CWA: I was sitting at headquarters one day, just looking around, not satisfied. I had accomplished a lot, but it was like there was something still burning inside me and it dawned on me that there were no little ones coming up behind me that looked like me. I know what space did for me — it pulled me outside of myself — and I wanted to give that back. It was a gift and I want to use my life, what I know, who I've become, for something greater than myself, and there's nothing greater than inspiring young minds. I wanted young people, especially people of color around the world, to be a part of that conversation about space, because it's so monolithic. The only way you can do that is through education. Ultimately, I want to build a school, a network of science academies for girls.
Eastern Caribbean at Night, taken from the International Space Station; photo by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 license.
GV: You've worked out an interesting equation for making a positive impact on this world – can you share it with us?
CWA: Discovering your true calling + finding your voice + using your voice = reaching your full potential.
The first part of the equation happened for me when I decided that space exploration was what I wanted to study. Finding my voice followed when I came back from Kenya [on a volunteer trip called Under African Skies with Cosmos Education] and formed the non-profit, because I knew that empowering girls, educating girls, access to science and technology education was what my contribution was going to be. I used my voice when I found the courage to speak out and travel and advocate.
GV: So have you reached your full potential?
CWA: I'm living it. I think until we go six feet under we all are striving for that. I have a lot more that I need to do. I am very passionate about space technology for sustainable development. There are a lot of developing countries getting into the space business. When people think of space – especially here – they think about going to Mars. It's not about that; it's about looking back on our planet and using that technology to sustainably develop it and I want that in the Caribbean region.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Inside the Kremlin Troll Army Machine: Templates, Guidelines, and Paid Posts · Global Voices
Aric Toler

Entrance of the Savushkina, 55 “troll army” headquarters in St. Petersburg. Photo by Moi Region.
It has long been an open secret that an army of paid Russian Internet commenters works out of a sleepy residential neighborhood in northern St. Petersburg. A new report from Moi Region and Novaya Gazeta provides an even more revealing view into the so-called “troll den” that allegedly produces thousands of pro-Kremlin posts and comments every day.
Andrei Soshnikov of the weekly St. Petersburg publication Moi Region secured a collection of documents and an interview from a former employee of the notorious Internet Research Agency, which employs over 400 people in a non-descript building located at 55 Savushkina str. in St. Petersburg.
The interview mostly confirms what many already know about the hundreds of employees who collectively manage thousand of social media accounts on LiveJournal, Twitter, and other platforms. These users produce pro-Kremlin posts, based on prepackaged talking points, and sandwich them between apolitical posts about photography, fashion, sports, and other trivial subjects. Aside from a rare, albeit brief, undercover video of the Internet commenters at work, the most interesting part of Soshnikov’s article is a revealing cache of documents that provides a partial list of LiveJournal accounts operated by employees, along with the talking points provided to employees following the assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
A rare glimpse inside the “troll army headquarters” of Savushkina 55. Screencap from a video posted by Andrei Soshnikov to YouTube.
Working as a paid commenter is not as easy as one might think, as the Internet Research Agency has strict and demanding guidelines for fabricated posts.
Общие требования к написанию постов:
– ОБЯЗАТЕЛЬНОЕ использование ключевых слов в заголовке поста (в приоритете ключевики, выделенные жирным шрифтом непосредственно в данном ТЗ),
– ОБЯЗАТЕЛЬНОЕ использование ключевых слов в самом тексте поста,
– ОБЯЗАТЕЛЬНОЕ использование графических изображений или видеороликов, найденных на Youtube, по тематике поста (крайне приветствуется использование картинок, созданных командой Креативного отдела).
– Пост должен содержать не менее 700 символов для дневной смены, и не менее 1000 символов для ночной.
Если пост оформлен с несоблюдением одного из вышеуказанных пунктов, то он не будет засчитан.
General requirements for writing posts:
– MANDATORY use of keywords in the post’s headline (the prioritized keywords are highlighted in bold in this technical specification),
– MANDATORY use of keywords in the body of the post,
– MANDATORY use of graphics/images or videos found on YouTube on the subject of the post (using the images done by the Creative Department is highly welcome)
– A post must contain no less than 700 characters for those working the day shift, and no less than 1000 for those working the night shift.
If a post is non-compliant with the points above, it will not be counted.
Along with these general guidelines, specific talking points and keywords for various subjects—Ukraine, the E.U., the United States, the Russian opposition, etc.—are regularly distributed to the busy staff. The list of “troll”-operated LiveJournal accounts that Soshnikov provides confirms his article’s findings and reveals countless posts that conform to these guidelines.
A typical “sock puppet” account is operated by “Natalya Drozdova,” who has a LiveJournal blog (archive), a Twitter account, a Facebook page, a Google+ profile, and a VK account. Of course, Natalya Drozdova is not real—the accounts are operated by an employee named Tatyana Kazakbayeva, according to Soshnikov’s documents—but “she” is interested in “art, psychology, and all that happens in the world.” Most of Natalya’s posts are unremarkable, such as a post (archive) about Facebook removing the “feeling fat” status, a whole array of Fifty Shades of Grey parodies (archive), and a post (archive) requesting advice after a bizarre conflict with a shopping mall janitor over bringing a baby carriage into the bathroom.
But Natalya also has strong opinions (archive) on allowing Iran to continue its nuclear program and wonders (archive) out loud if the Russian opposition movement murdered Boris Nemtsov as a “sacrifice” to further its own ends. The musings of “Natalya Drozdova” follow the guidelines set out by the Internet Research Agency on February 28, the same day as her post on Nemtsov was published.
Leaked brief from February 28:
Техзадание от 28 февраля: «Основная идея: формируем мнение о том, что украинские деятели могут быть замешаны в смерти российского оппозиционера. < …> Смерть Немцова была неслучайной в условиях достижения минских договоренностей и возможного улучшения сотрудничества Украины и России. Теперь же Россия снова стала страной, к которой Запад проявляет негатив. Это явная провокация, направленная на всплеск недовольства представителей оппозиции, которые начнут призывы к митингам и шествиям с целью свержения власти».
Technical brief from February 28: “Main idea: Form an opinion that Ukrainian officials could be involved in the death of the Russian opposition figure. < ...> Nemtsov's death was not accidental given the conditions of achieving the Minsk accords and possible improvement of cooperation between Ukraine and Russia. Now Russia has once again become the country that the West reacts negatively towards. This is an obvious provocation, aimed at rousing dissatisfaction from the members of the opposition, who will now begin calling for marches and rallies to overthrow the government.”
“Natalya”‘s LiveJournal post on Feb 28:
С утра сижу и читаю про обстоятельства убийства Немцова. И чем дальше, тем больше убеждаюсь: его банально принесли в жертву свои же. То, где он был убит Борис Немцов (у стен Кремля), с кем он в это время находился (модель из Киева Анна Дурицкая), способ убийства (не банальная авто- или даже авиакатастрофа, а огнестрельное ранение), а также то, что сама девушка, несмотря на множество выстрелов, не пострадала, говорит, что это была провокация. Провокация того, чтобы люди вышли на улицы и сотворили у нас в стране революцию ( о том, чем бы это закончилось – отдельный разговор).
Since morning I've been sitting and reading about the circumstances of Nemtsov's death. The further I read the more I am convinced: he was simply sacrificed by his own people. Where he was killed (near the Kremlin walls), who he was with at the time (a model from Kiev, Anna Duritskaya), how he was killed (not a simple car or plane crash, but a bullet wound), and also the fact that the girl herself, regardless of many fired shots, was unharmed, point to it being a provocation. Done to provoke people to go out into the streets and make a revolution in our country (how that would end is a separate conversation).
RuNet expert Anton Nossik, in his comment on the Moi Region story, notes that not all pro-Kremlin comments are paid for, but the fabricated ones are clearly visible, and that means paid trolls have little effect on the audience's political views.
Безусловно, далеко не все провластные комментарии в интернете – проплачены. Среди 70 млн пользователей рунета есть миллионы, кто, например, рад войне на Украине. От их постов и комментариев пахнет реальным нездоровьем, ущербностью, озлобленностью… А вот в записях, оставленных по методичке, живой человек не просматривается.
Certainly, not all pro-government comments on the Internet are paid for. Among the RuNet's 70 million users there are millions who rejoice about the war in Ukraine, for instance. Their posts and comments reek of ill health, of inferiority, of rage… But in the posts composed based on talking points a living human is hard to see.
The propaganda war online has received almost as much press as the real conflict in eastern Ukraine, and Russia seems to possess greater resources on both fronts. Ukraine has recently tried to match the Russian troll army by recruiting its own brigade of Internet commenters to “fight propaganda with facts and evidence.” However, as this new glimpse into the front lines of the online information war shows, the Russian side is greater in size, well-funded, and more disciplined in its construction of a massive echo chamber on the RuNet.

author: Aric Toler


text:
Ugandan Lawmakers Want to Clear House in the Parliamentary Press Corps · Global Voices
Prudence Nyamishana

The main entrance to the Ugandan Parliament. Photo releases under Creative Commons by Andrew Regan.
Ugandan lawmakers are considering a proposal that would replace all journalists who started covering parliamentary proceedings before May 1, 2010, “in the interest of balanced media coverage”.
Grace Natabaalo, a renown Ugandan journalist, shared the full letter on Twitter:
#Uganda Parliament wants reporters who've been covering parliament for more than 5 years replaced. pic.twitter.com/8MGL3L97Tx
— Grace Natabaalo (@Natabaalo) March 11, 2015
The move, which will replace senior journalists with extensive experience in legislative politics, has shocked many Ugandans.
Bernard Tabaire called the order “silly”:
Parliament of #Uganda must immediately reverse its silly order kicking out reporters who have covered it for more than 5 years.
— Bernard Tabaire (@btabaire) March 11, 2015
Others, like Kemigisa Jacky, a social media enthusiast, considered it to be an abuse of power:
Abuse of power by parliament has just clocked 100% ! Parliamentary commission headed by Kadaga wants journos who covered it for 5yrs out
— kemigisa jacky (@JackyKemigisa) March 11, 2015
Many people are demanding answers. Morrison Rwakakamba, a public policy analyst and the CEO at Agency for Transformation, asked:
Really @Parliament_UG should let journalists be. What is Parliament hiding Madam Speaker?
— Rwakakamba (@Rwakakamba) March 11, 2015
Dan Mumbere, a host at Urban TV, tweeted:
How much dirt can one collect in 5 years as a Parliamentary reporter? That's the story I am looking out for. cc @JackyKemigisa
— Daniel M. Mumbere (@danmumbere) March 11, 2015
Grace Natabaalo suggested that the parliament should  clean its own house, instead:
Parliament should be kicking out MPs who dodge sessions
— Grace Natabaalo (@Natabaalo) March 11, 2015
A Parliamentary report released last year showed that many MPs “attended less than 10 meetings out of an expected average of at least 60 sittings held for both sessional and standing committees over a seven month period”.
Following the public outcry, Ugandan Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah clarified the matter, saying the letter was intended to invite editors from various media houses to discuss what is only a proposal by the Parliamentary Commission.

author: Prudence Nyamishana


text:
After the Charlie Hebdo Attack, Can We Laugh About Anything?  · Global Voices
Elise Lecamp

Poster of the CoExist project via Gallery Hip with permission
On 7 January at around 11 o'clock local time, two men entered the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, killing 11 people and injuring 12 others with assault weapons. The tragedy triggered many discussions about freedom of speech, religion, tolerance and humour.
One issue that emerged in the aftermath of the shooting was the idea of educating people about religion.
At a time when people can be killed because they discuss atheism in Bangladesh, when one can face criminal charges in many countries for blasphemy and apostasy, the very possibility of having debates about faith is a blessing. Dialogue is the key to ensuring mutual understanding and respect and the CoExist team is one organisation that is more convinced than ever about this need.
After a world tour focused promoting inter-religious tolerance in 2013-2014, CoExist members Victor, Josselin, Samuel, Ilan and Ismael — the four initiators of the ‘InterFaith Tour’ — did a ‘Tour de France’ in June and July 2014 to share the experiences they have gained from their work.
They met with local communities, satellites of the CoExist Association, and educational institutions.
This Tour de France was prepared foremost in order to reach people living in sensitive neighbourhoods where inter-religious and intercultural matters are a daily reality. The team's aim was to create local satellites and promote peaceful coexistence by offering a support information package (this package includes a brochure on the project's objectives and methodology).
Victor told Global Voices:
Each of these meetings has been a pilot. They have been conclusive as 10 new groups have been created and are now working thanks to the dynamic of this Tour. Also, CoExist is building a partnership with the federation of community arts center and youth clubs in order to organize actions within these associations. The other partners are the organizations CoExist already works with; places where interventions have already taken place as part of our awareness program. These are schools, high schools, universities and associations, etc.
In addition to participating in the Tour, Samuel wrote and published a book ‘Tous les chemins mènent à l'autre’ (All roads lead to the other). After the book was released, Samuel explained on RCF, a local religious radio station:
We left as friends, we came back as brothers. Fraternity is the conclusion of the national motto of France.  The word may sound corny or a bit too religious to many. But for us, it's so much more than that. Fraternity is deeply rooted in our DNA and it's fiercely urgent today.
“Fraternity starts with the unconditional acceptance of the other's existence”. A quote by Gilbert Covin on the website Citations à la Une (with permission)
The principle of secularism and the motto ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ has been discussed at length in France after the attacks against Charlie Hebdo in Paris.
Since those events, demand for CoExist's presentations and events have increased dramatically.
Global Voices sat down with CoExist members in order to better understand the team's work and ambitions.
Global Voices (GV): Since the attacks on Charlie Hebdo's office and a Kosher supermarket in Paris, there is a lot of  talk  about inter-religious dialogue and the secular teaching of religion. Have you noticed a change in the behaviour/ reactions of the audience during your interventions?
CoExist Team: We received requests from young people to create groups where there were not yet groups. We notice our actions are necessary more than ever. People understand the fact that we are a young movement, built from young people and we gather believers and non-believers. [They] appreciate that we were in the field [of dialogue-building] for six years and not only since the attacks. Obviously people talk a lot about the events, but what is appreciated is the will to respond by action and solidarity rather than surveillance and fear.
Infography on the CoExist Project – with their permission
Following the attacks, CoExist published twelve proposals for the “coexistence of people”. The main ones are as follows:
GV: Have you talked to your counterparts abroad that you met during the InterFaith Tour about public reactions to the Charlie Hebdo shootings and events that followed it?
CoExist: We received a lot of messages of support from our counterparts abroad. All were shocked and support us to pursue what we are already doing. Many of them joined the gatherings paying tribute to Charlie in their own countries. We have a special thought for our Danish friends who have experienced terrorism right after us, and also to the 3 Muslims persons killed in Chapel Hill, USA, because they were Muslims.
Last year, the team told audiences how citizens in Burkina Faso created an emotional bond with one another through humour.
In the same family, Christians, Muslims and animists live in perfect harmony by creating social bonds through inter-ethnic and inter-religious marriage and defusing social tensions through laughter.
On this occasion, the team said: “Humour also means expressing stereotypes about each other vocally, to say what we think and in doing so, defuse tensions or frustrations throughout all the components of the general population.”
Ariane, Lucie, Léa and Samir, the new Interfaith tour team on their Facebook page
GV: What's your perspective on this tradition nowadays: how far can humour go, where is the boundary between humour and mockery? Do you have examples of comedians who talk about inter-religious dialogue that you like?
CoExist: Obviously, this is a very complex matter, in particular with regards to the Dieudonné case [Dieudonné is a french humourist who was accused of publicly supporting terrorism when he wrote that “he is Charlie Coulibaly”, the shooter at the Kosher Hypermarket]. On a personal level, I believe there should not be any type of blasphemy law and freedom of speech must be total. However, freedom of conscience and worship must be protected too. This video from Philip Geluck, a famous Belgian cartoonist, sums up well my perspective on the issue.
In the video below, Philip Geluck is interviewed about Charlie Hebdo:
Geluck explains:
We can certainly make fun of everything, but we have to do so while being aware that we are accountable for our words and while respecting others, specifically the cultures and religion of minorities… I don't want to offend people if I don't fully understand what they are about.
Exactly two years after the first InterFaith Tour made its departure, a new team will take the project forward. That team consists of Samir, Ariane, Lucie and Léa.
Léa told Global Voices about the project's genesis and explains its background:
GV: How is this InterFaith project similar or different from the first one?
The project consists in making durable the efforts initiated by the first team: an inventory of inter-religious initiatives and the creation of a network between them. To the academic approach, we would like to link a journalistic dimension. The project has been widely followed on social media, it demonstrated genuine interest and keeness regarding coexistence and how the concept differs in different cultures and countries. Popularisation will be the core of our project. We will meet new inter-religious projects. The trip will have the same length but we will be four instead of five.
Due to a series of circumstances, the first team to conduct the InterFaith tour was composed only of men and received correspondent criticism. This time, despite the early intention of creating parity, the team is composed mainly of women.
The team plans to take advantage of this situation as Léa explains to us:
Many say the presence of women can lead to additional difficulties in some countries, particularly the Middle-East. We think it can provide us a more comprehensive understanding of the daily life of the people we will meet, because as women, Ariane, Lucie and I will have access to some aspects of women's lives that Samir could not have access to and vice versa. We also would like to think that it is very possible for women to travel the world to every country and among every cultures, if we are well-organised and do it with awareness and understanding  – but this caveat applies to both genders equally!
This InterFaith tour is planned to begin four months from now, on 1 July 2015. Meanwhile, you can follow Ariane, Lucie, Léa and Samir via Facebook:
[…] we will launch our communication campaign on social media 100 days before our departure to create the desire to follow us.
We are wishing this unique organisation a long and successful journey in its mission for more dialogue worldwide.

author: Elise Lecamp


text:
Bahrain Court Postpones Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab’s Case to April 15 · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Nabeel Rajab, from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)
A Bahrain court today [March 15, 2015] postponed its verdict in an appeal made by leading Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab against a six-month prison sentence until April 15.
The case concerns comments he made about ISIS on Twitter. Rajab was initially convicted of “denigrating an official body” in tweets that likened Bahrain's security apparatus to an “incubator” for fighters of the radical group ISIS.
Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights — not recognised as a legal entity by the government — was only released from prison in May 2014 after serving two years for “disrupting the public order.”
That sentence came after Rajab was arrested for trying to investigate human rights violations that took place during Bahrain's popular uprising in 2011.
The tweet for which he was convicted suggested that Bahrain's security institutions had a number of staff that had joined terrorist groups, including ISIS.
Following today's hearing, Rajab tweeted to his 260K followers on Twitter:
تاجيل حكم المحكمة الذي كان يفترض صدوره اليوم في قضية تويتر الى 15 أبريل مع استمرار إبقائي ممنوع من السفر #البحرين
— Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB) March 15, 2015
The court has postponed its verdict in the Twitter case hearing, which was supposed to be made today, until April 15, while continuing to ban me from travel
Index on Censorship remarked:
.@NABEELRAJAB has court appearance delayed until Apr 15. Travel ban stays in place. Bahrain must end harassment!
— Index on Censorship (@IndexCensorship) March 15, 2015

author: Amira Al Hussaini