text:
Lebanon: Fresh Attention For Lebanon’s Missing and Abducted People  · Global Voices
رامي الهامس

Few people thought the Lebanese Civil War, which erupted in 1975 after the Ain el-Rammaneh Massacre and raged on until October 1990 when the Syrian army took control of Baabda Palace, would cause the deaths of over 150,000 people, the disappearance of 20,000 people and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese of all sects and backgrounds.
This left families searching across the country for information about what happened to their children. After the war, a commission was established to investigate the fates of the missing, which focused its efforts on raising awareness of the issue of the missing and kidnapped people to the government and civil society organisations by means of demonstrations and protests in front of the offices of the United Nations and human rights organisations.
Recent kidnappings carried out since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution have made abduction a constant threat once again and have drawn new attention to the issue of Lebanon's missing people.
Recent kidnappings include: that of the Syrian Shably al-Aisee from Aley in Lebanon last year (his whereabouts remain unknown); the kidnapping of three Syrian activists in Lebanon that had surrendered to the Syrian authorities; and the abduction of 11 Lebanese in northern Syria at the end of May 2012.
Human rights activists responded to these events by writing articles on their personal blogs and social networking sites to shed fresh light on the issue and are working in partnership with the commission for missing people which is currently campaigning with new tools and techniques in the streets of Lebanon and Syria as well as online.
The missing: their fates depend on the proposed law. “Accountability”. Used with permission
As a part of the solidarity campaign, the families of missing and abducted people wrote [ar] ‘a message to Widad Halmani: the eye resists the awl‘ on the blog “Accountability”, the online magazine of the national campaign for the pursuing of the criminals of the civil war:
The interview with Widad Halmani was shown on the program “special visit”, broadcast by Al Jazeera, which examined the planned “law for missing and abducted people” currently being drafted in coordination with civil society organisations that hope it will be adopted by the Lebanese authorities.
On her Twitter account, @NadineBek, Nadine Bekdache wrote [ar]:
The general amnesty: it absolves the perpetrators and condemns the people. Nadine Bekdache on Twitter @NadineBek. Used with permission
The victims’ families continue to fight for their right to know what happened to their children, not just those that are still alive but also the dead. They also continue the struggle for recognition from the war's survivors in society at large.
The blog “walls of Beirut” wrote this [ar]:

author: رامي الهامس


text:
Madagascar: Will Air France Jet Purchases Really Help Air Madagascar?  · Global Voices
Rakotomalala

[All links lead to French language pages, except when otherwise noted]
The year 2011 saw Air Madagascar being banned from flying to European destinations due to the airline failing to comply with security regulations. In order to ensure the continuity of their services, Air Madagascar was forced to ask Air Italy to take on the flights that they could no longer operate.
The transition government in Madagascar had been celebrating the recent purchase of two Air France Airbus A340s with great fanfare, yet multiple questions have since been raised over the suitability, financial arrangements and terms of the purchase. The long term sustainability of the airline itself has also ultimately been called into question.
Problems on takeoff
Air Madagascar is the only commercial airline in the country. Historically, international flights have been made by Boeing aircraft.
While this change of supplier may seem trivial, in effect it requires a long period of re-training for Malagasy pilots, and means that for the moment, only Air France pilots are qualified to fly the planes bought by Air Madagascar.
In this video, President Andry Rajoelina is presented with the Airbus in Toulouse:
The planes themselves have also had trying times: the second Airbus A340 has already broken down twice. These technical problems have done nothing to reassure passengers, whose confidence in the company is low after concerns over safety that lead to the company being blacklisted.
Isabelle Blanco explains the technical faults on Air Journal:
la presse relève que les deux pannes concernaient le train d’atterrissage, une pièce « vitale ». Officiellement, la première était due à une panne du détecteur d’incendie. A Paris, c’est le système de verrouillage du train d’atterrissage qui a fait défaut : le train est sorti, mais un voyant s’est allumé, ce qui poussé les équipes techniques a effectué une vérification, qui a duré trois heures. Quoiqu’il en soit, les Malgaches semblent rester sceptiques sur le choix de la compagnie de voler en Airbus, alors que qu’elle n’a jamais opéré que des Boeing. Il faudra donc encore du temps à Air Madagascar pour retrouver une confiance perdue
President Andry Rajoelina with the Air Madagascar Airbus 340. Photo: Marie Audran-RFI with permission
Like the majority of the world's airlines, the company has been through some difficult times in the last few years. The Airbus planes are on loan to Air Madagascar for a period of six years, at the end of which the company becomes the sole owner. AD has some further details on the transaction:
Le contrat de location vente avec Air France a été conclu pour six ans. Le premier A340 est loué 350 000 dollars par mois, le second 475 000 dollars. Air France possède dans sa flotte 15 A340 300 avec lesquels elle dessert notamment la ligne Paris-Antananarivo quatre fois par semaine. Le premier A340 300 cédé aux Malgaches a 14 ans. Le second, 12 ans.
The running costs will remain high for Air Madagascar due to the addition of the costs of using Air France flight crews while the company's own pilots receive training on the Airbus planes. The salaries of the Air France pilots are considerably higher than those of the Air Madagascar pilots.
Many experts have questioned the choice of Airbus. Mahefa Rakotomalala explains:
L'A 340-300 souffre de nombreuses critiques par rapport surtout à son concurrent direct, le Boeing 777, l'autre choix possible qui a fait hésiter longuement la partie malgache. La marque américaine est meilleure sur plusieurs points. D'abord, en termes de ventes car sur 377 A 340 vendus en 20 ans chez 48 compagnies, il y a 1295 triples 7 achetés par 64 compagnies. Pour deux appareils de même capacité, la consommation en carburant du premier a pesé lourd sur le choix des transporteurs aériens. A la fin de l'année 2011, face à ces constats, Airbus a décidé de mettre fin à la construction de l'A 340, même si le service après vente est encore maintenu pour 30 ans (..) Ajouté à cela, il y a une restructuration nécessaire pour accueillir ce nouveau type d'appareil dans la flotte d'Air Madagascar : formation des membres d'équipage, réorganisation du département maintenance et industriel ainsi que toute la chaîne logistique sont autant de changements qui ont certainement des coûts.
The shadow of Françafrique
It seems that the purchase of these aeroplanes was made to benefit Air France, which is also in the middle of serious financial difficulties. The antiquated and fuel-thirsty Airbus planes sold to Air Madagascar were no longer of any use to Air France (in fact, these four-engined planes are consume so much fuel that to keep them in service would be far too costly for Air France.)
The question therefore presents itself: if these aircraft are too expensive for Air France to run, how can Air Madagascar possibly afford to run and maintain them?
Madonline asks if these Airbus planes represented the best choice for the country, or for the directors of the airline:
Officiellement, le choix pour l’avionneur français n’est pas politique, mais commercial, d’une compagnie à une autre. La compagnie aérienne malgache est dirigée par des responsables politiques et administratifs de la HAT, en particulier issus du ministère des Finances. Ce qui n’exclut pas qu’elle ait réalisé une relative bonne affaire. Qui est le grand patron de la Compagnie Air Madagascar ? C’est Hery Rajaonarimampianina, le ministre des Finances et grand argentier de la HAT qui est accessoirement président du Conseil d’Administration de la compagnie aérienne nationale. L’homme y siège avec quelques-uns de ses fidèles lieutenants qui sont eux aussi de grands responsables dans la gestion des finances de l’Etat. (..) Le Conseil d’Administration d’Air Madagascar continue d’argumenter pour faire oublier le caractère politique de la préférence à l’avionneur français. (..) Air Madagascar a-t-elle réalisé une bonne affaire en achetant les deux appareils de 12 ans et 14 ans dans le cadre d’une vente location de 6 ans. Un appareil Airbus A340-300 neuf peut coûter 150 millions de dollars. Les deux appareils seront loués 369 000 dollars et 403 000 dollars mensuels, ce qui donne moins de 60 millions de dollars pour le plus cher. Les critiques fusaient, car la valeur vénale des appareils en questions a été estimée à environ 30 millions de dollars.
In these time of economic crisis for the majority of airlines,many observers are beginning to ask if Air Madagascar will remain solvent for much longer. Afrique Infos says:
D'après les observateurs, l'acquisition de ces Airbus marque déjà la fin de la compagnie nationale Air Madagascar dont le personnel de bord tant les pilotes que les commerciaux ont déjà acquis les repères de la firme américain Boeing (..) Air France a déjà abandonné ces avions car ils sont chers à exploiter et en contrepartie, Air Madagascar a donné ses potentiels dont sur tout l'axe Europe-Océan Indien qui est très prisé par les touristes européens (..) En ce qui concerne la consommation, ces quadriréacteurs, contrairement à l'explication du directeur général de la compagnie, ne sont pas très économes en terme de kérosène, et c'est l'une des raisons pour laquelle, Airbus a décidé de mettre fin à la construction de l'A340 (..) un employé de Air Madagascar a expliqué que les compagnies préfèrent acheter le Boeing 777 qui a la même capacité que l'A340, et en 20 ans, le premier a vendu 1295 avions alors que le second est de 377 pour ce problème de consommation de carburant.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rakotomalala


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Mauritania: Military Plane Crashes Killing Seven  · Global Voices
أحمد جدو

On July 12, 2012, a Mauritanian military plane crashed in Nouakchott airport. The accident took the life of three soldiers (including one officer), as well as two custom officials and two contract security guards, working on the behalf of the Canadian company. According to sources, the pilot sensed some technical malfunction during takeoff and while trying to return to  the airport airstrip, a fire broke out in the cockpit and then he lost control over his aircraft which fell in one of the airport bushes.
After the plane fell, it kept burning in front people residing nearby the place of the accident and this was due to the delay of fire brigades to get on site who had a breakdown in their vehicle.
The plane was heading towards Tasiast  company to transport gold as part of an agreement between the Mauritanian army and the Canadian company. This is not the first accident in Mauritania which has witnessed similar sad events in the recent years.
Photo calling for the mourning (for a civilian regime), shared by Mauritanian activists following the accident
The crash represented a shock and led many Mauritanian political parties and movements to issue condolences to the victims  while asking to open a probe into the causes of the crash. In that respect, the coordination committee of the Mauritanian opposition issued a statement [ar]:
The opposition February 25 Movement issued a statement [ar] calling for an investigation into the accident. Below is a video of the plane on fire, aired by  آخر خبر      (Latest News) channel on YouTube, used with permission:
Netizens also had their say on the accident. Mauritanian blogger Mohammed Al Amine Weld el Fadel commented:
On his part, Ahmed Haymoudane also wrote:
Mohammed Salem tweeted about the big number of aviation accidents:
He adds:
Activist Abdul Fattah Habib commented :
@afetah ذكرني بهذا الحديث حادث الطائرة فالبعض يدرس ويعمل وقد يكون جزء من النظام وهو لا يعلم أنه بداخل هذا النظام أسباب وفاته أوأسباب فقد ماله.
Journalist Ahmed Mustapha speaks about the reasons behind the plane crash:
Activist Tah Habib criticized the absence of probe committees in all the previous plane crashes accidents in Mauritania:
Some activists also created a virtual funeral for the victims on Facebook.

author: أحمد جدو


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Northern Mali: Resistance in the Streets and Online · Global Voices
Philippe Léveillée

[All links in French unless otherwise stated]
Northern Mali, which comprises about two-thirds of the national territory, has been de facto cut off from its central government since first the Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (Mouvement National pour la Libération de l'Azawad, MNLA), then the Islamists, drove the army out of their territory, in a military defeat that precipitated the March 22 coup d'état in Bamako.
Meanwhile, politicians are caught in a power struggle between the junta, led by Captain Amadou Sanogo who is still close to power, the constitution-designated Acting President Dioncounda Traoré, and the Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra who was appointed during the transition.
Three and a half months after the fall of the north, there has been little progress: the Malian army is unable to get back on its feet and northern citizens are on their own against the Islamists, who are free to impose their version of Sharia or Islamic law. Online the evidence of this is mounting: a couple beaten and forced to marry  [en] for having a child out of wedlock, a citizen flogged for smoking in public, and women forced to wear the niqab.
This video report by Abidjan Net is about Islamist groups destroying shrines in Timbuktu, northern Mali:
The humanitarian situation in the north continues to deteriorate, with a food crisis, gas shortage, cholera epidemic, and a desert locust plague all occurring. Many have no choice but to flee. Already an estimated 200,000 have been made refugees and 120,000 have been internally displaced due to the crisis, though these numbers are suspected to be higher.
Those who remain are not sitting on the sidelines while the Islamists impose sharia: on the ground, tension is rising. Women were the first to take to the streets. In all the northern cities, the young have taken up the protest. On June 26, a demonstration against the killing of a local government official resulted in several injuries.
Screen capture of the “Nous pas Bouger” (We won't move) youth protest in Gao by Hamma Biamoye of the Observers.
On Facebook, the calls to action grow in number on the page of the Northern Citizens’ Collective (COREN, Collectif des Ressortissants du Nord) or on the page Tu es du NORD et Tu es 100% Malien (You are from the NORTH and you are 100% Malian).
These pages allow the sharing of information, like Mahamane Allimam‘s story below, especially as the media has limited access to the region (the following Facebook personal posts used with permission):
Je réside à Tombouctou les voyages et les negociations ne vont que donner du temps à AQMI pour recruter et torturer les populations la semaine passée une voiture d'AQMI a tué le gardien de la société de distribution d'eau, un vieux a été chicoté
Facebook is where many journalists get their information from, but on Facebook, what prevails are incisive, if not downright aggressive, comments—towards the junta, the government, the rebels, the Tuaregs, the international community, and Sarkozy.
The latest salvo: the government's announcement of the creation of a special 1200-man brigade to secure national institutions, a move seen as assuring the return of the acting president, who has been recovering in France since he was attacked on May 21. On Facebook Mamadou Bah says:
Une compagnie d'élite de 1200 hommes pour protéger les institutions et le gouvernement mais pas pour sauver le nord. Reveillons nous nordiste
In these sour comments, Malians consider themselves abandoned and try to find an explanation for the lack of assistance that continues to be delayed. According to Oumarou Soumare:
LES MALIENS SE TROMPENT DE CIBLE
Notre ennemi est devenu les organismes internationaux, les organismes africains et sous régionales; c'est plus le MLNA, AQMI, Ansardine; les destructeurs du grenier commun ( démocratie, mensonge qui nous faisait vivre pour certains). En privé, le premier Ministre du Mali, Cheikh Modibo Diarra, éreinte volontiers les instances internationales qui s'efforcent – en vain pour l'heure- d'oeuvrer à la restauration de l'intégrité territoriale de son pays, dont une nébuleuse de rébellions djihadistes et touaregs occupe les deux tiers Nord. “Que l'ONU, l'Union Africaine et la CEDEAO nous fichent la paix ! a récemment confié l'ancien astrophysicien à un visiteur. Nous pouvons régler cela entre Maliens. Si les efforts de médiation échouent , il y aura la guerre. Si nous la gagnons, tant mieux. Sinon, le Mali deviendra une République Islamique. Où est le problème ? “Commentaire atteré d'un ancien chef d'état subsaharien: ” Voilà qui démontre combien la nomination de Diarra à la primature fut une tragique erreur de casting.” Nous disons MLNA était allié de AQMI: pas de voix; pas de mains: je comprends ni le gouvernement; ni les policiens; ni le malien de la rue.
On email, mailing list Malilink offers space for more academic discussion and with long articles. The exchange is quieter, but the result is the same: the racking of brains to understand and organize a common front.
No, Malians are not standing idly by. But while they still wait for action, their patience seems to have its limits.

author: Philippe Léveillée


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Palestine: Letter to Fellow Arabs  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Abir Kopty writes an open letter to Arabs. “From Egypt to Yemen, from Bahrain to Libya, from Tunis to Syria, we  watch your revolutions disrupted, stolen and countered. The same forces  that helped keeping us away from our freedom, are the same working today against you,” she notes.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
Saudi Arabia: Brownies and Kalashnikovs · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mideast Youth's Rola Khayyat posts a podcast featuring an interview with the Saudi author of Brownies and Kalashnikovs Fadia Basrawi.


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Social Media and Armenia’s 2012 Parliamentary Elections · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

This article by Global Voices Caucasus Regional Editor was first published by Caucasus Analytical Digest No 39: Parliamentary Elections in Armenia and is posted by permission.
Abstract
Following a bitterly disputed presidential election in February 2008, parliamentary elections held on 6 May 2012 were a crucial test for Armenia’s fledgling democratic process. In particular, with 280,340 Facebook users in the country, or 9.45 percent of the population, there has also been much speculation about the role social media can play in that process, not least since the 2011 Middle East and North Africa uprisings. However, despite some notable examples of the use of Facebook to mobilize citizens on non-politicized issues in recent years, the role of social media in the 6 May 2012 parliamentary elections was limited. Nevertheless, online tools did prove viable as a new medium for registering and reacting to reported electoral violations and other problems.
Background
Despite Armenia’s poor economy, exacerbated by the global economic crisis, and a GDP per capita of $5,400 in 2011, Internet penetration continues to increase. Even so, data from the 2010 Caucasus Barometer from the Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) indicates that only 19 percent of Armenians go online every day. Although data from CRRC’s 2011 household survey shows that figure increasing further, a staggering 60 percent of the population had never accessed the Internet at all in 2010. Moreover, early data from the 2011 Caucasus Barometer reports that just 7 percent of Armenians use Facebook, compared to 18 percent using other social networking sites. Socialbakers, in comparison, instead puts the figure for Facebook penetration at 9.45 percent.
Whatever the figure, following the last presidential election, international donors have become increasingly interested in funding online projects, and not least since the state of emergency following the 1 March 2008 post-election clashes which left 10 people dead. With a media blackout imposed on the country for 20 days, blogs were not affected by the emergency situation even though sites such as Radio Free Europe and YouTube were temporarily blocked. Indeed, some observers likened their role during the post-election environment to that of samizdat during the Soviet era. At that time, the heavily polarized political environment on the ground was replicated in cyberspace with pro-government bloggers also spreading information against the  opposition or posting updates supportive of the newly elected president.
Since 2008, online social networking sites such as Facebook have arguably changed the situation further, rapidly taking over from blogs as the main online medium for sharing news, opinion and information. Attempts last year by the opposition in Armenia to stage its own post-MENA protests calling for fresh parliamentary and presidential elections illustrated that only too well. Encouraged by protests in Tunisia and Egypt, the opposition also declared that it would stage a “Facebook Revolution” in Armenia, but few signed up to the various Facebook pages set up to attract support. Even so, the numbers taking to the streets were significantly higher, with some demonstrations attracting as many as 15,000 people. Most definitely not a Facebook-organized protest, it highlighted that traditional activism remains the main way to engage the population.
Non-Political On-Line Engagement
Of arguably more importance, however, is how Facebook has empowered at least some of those in-between the polarized government and opposition camps. As an example, the most successful use of social media to date has been alongside traditional campaigns to engage citizens in non-politicized, i.e. non-opposition, activism in general. Mobile phone videos posted on YouTube depicting the bullying of pupils by teachers in state-run schools resulted in changes in the education system, for example, and throughout 2010, in much publicized incidents, hazing in the Armenian military caused outrage among many citizens, and especially those using Facebook. Online campaigns to prevent the demolition of a Soviet-era open-air cinema to make room for the construction of a church, as well as another campaign to protest the introduction of foreign language schools in Armenia, also attracted support crossing party-lines more so than any actions staged by the opposition.
The previous Yerevan mayor also took to Facebook, with some serious discussions occurring online about the municipality’s policies, such as the shooting of stray dogs on the streets of the Armenian capital. These are the types of issues that international consultants working on donor-funded projects address, with a number of projects launched to allow citizens to report the problem of potholes and garbage directly to the local authorities. The online site from this project should also facilitate better communication and cooperation between citizens and local officials after pilot projects in three regional cities of Armenia use GPS positioning from mobile phones to map the towns themselves.
The 2012 Parliamentary Election
Given this experience, it was only natural to expect a similar use of the same online tools for the 6 May election. However, despite the emergence of many online news sites, and the sharing of many of their stories, their reach remains limited. A 2011 Media Public Opinion and Preference Survey by the CRRC, for example, found that 87 percent of Armenians rely on television for their daily news and information. That data showed that only 11 percent relied on social media sites and 9 percent on online news sites.
As the first national election since the bitterly disputed 2008 presidential vote, and in light of increased interest in social media following the MENA uprisings, the media naturally focused on the potential use of Facebook in the 2012 parliamentary election. On 12 April, for example, less than a month before the vote, Eurasianet reported the sighting of a flag decorated with the Facebook logo among the more traditional Armenian tricolors waved at an opposition campaign rally on 30 March in Yerevan’s Liberty Square. “I brought the Facebook flag to the rally to show the government that now there is a unique, reliable alternative [for information] to be used by everyone,” 24-year old Areg Gevorgian told the online news site. International donors were also interested in the use of social media, the article noted, reporting that Laura Baghdasarian, head of the Region Center, had been funded by the Open Society Foundations-Armenia to monitor the use of Facebook during the pre-election campaign.
“Many politicians and parties have registered accounts in Facebook since last fall,” she told Eurasianet, “It is interactive, and this is of key importance; through likes, shares and comments, no other tool provides such an opportunity to understand an audience.”
While this is true, there was actually very little engagement online, perhaps in part because of the low importance placed on the parliamentary rather than presidential elections by many Armenians. Indeed, the monitoring by Baghdasarian was actually limited to the Facebook pages of specifically chosen online news sites. Observations on the use of social media by political parties and individual candidates were also not encouraging. “[…] political parties are waging a battle not to gain citizens’ love and trust and to acquire new followers, but to speak more, shout louder and disseminate more information than their opponents. In this sense, all the online platforms become not opportunities for dialogue or for establishing contact but simply ordinary platforms,” wrote Zaruhi Batoyan on Media.am.
Ararat Magazine, for example, even noted the lack of online campaign advertisements by the governmental Prosperous Armenia, even though throughout Armenia there were many traditional billboards for the party and especially its leader, former arm-wrestling world champion and businessman Gagik Tsarukian. Elsewhere on Facebook, although admittedly based on real-world observations by this author, there was little actual engagement among voters. However, that’s not to say that Facebook wasn’t useful for activists, especially in highlighting concerns about the pre-election environment. Eurasianet, for example, reported that one Facebook user shared his concerns about the electoral register listing an improbably large number of residents in one address on his personal page. “Edgar Tamarian posted about the apparently unusually spacious flat after finding it on a list of registered voters on the national police website; all of the supposed voters hailed from Georgia’s ethnic Armenian village of Nardevan. The police claimed the entry was “a mistake” that they had somehow overlooked.”
And on election day itself, Satik Seyranyan, editor of the 168 Hours newspaper, and herself running in the election, reported on Facebook that the ink used to stamp voter’s passports disappeared in less than an hour instead of the 12 hours it should have taken. Drawing on concerns that multiple voting could occur in such a situation, other activists and online users posted photographs of the stamp to show if it did or did not disappear.
Prior to election day, on 4 May, Facebook and Twitter, the micro-blogging service which has even fewer users in Armenia than Facebook, were used by some to share first news of an accident at a campaign rally and concert by the ruling Republican Party (HHK) in which dozens of balloons, apparently filled with hydrogen, were ignited by a cigarette. Over 150 people were hospitalized in the incident.
Perhaps the most promising development, however, was the deployment of an online election monitoring site, iditord.org, based on the popular Ushahidi platform. Allowing citizens to submit electoral code violations via telephone, SMS, Twitter, or its own web interface, around 1,000 reports were registered from the launch of the site in early April to the end of polling on Election Day. Since then over 100 more reports were added. Nevertheless, showing the vulnerability of such systems, the site was brought down for 20 minutes by a Denial of Service (DOS) attack on 5 May, and for a few hours the following day when voters went to the polls. According to PanArmenian.Net, however, only two cases reported on the site are being investigated by police.
In conclusion, while the use of online tools was more evolved for the recent parliamentary election in Armenia compared to other votes before it, a combination of apathy and low voter interest prevented them from becoming crucial and indispensable means for combatting fraud or engaging the electorate. Even so, with Armenians traditionally more interested in presidential votes, that will likely not be the case when the incumbent president, Serzh Sarkissian, runs for re-election in 2013. Nevertheless, social media will have to be used as part of a wider and more traditional campaign by civil society and political parties alike.
About the Author
Onnik Krikorian is a freelance photojournalist and writer. He is also the Caucasus editor for Global Voices Online, a leading citizen media site founded in 2004 at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
Footnotes
Socialbakers, Facebook Statistics by Country, as of 11 May 2012:
http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/
CIA Factbook Armenia:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/
the-world-factbook/geos/am.html
Caucasus Internet Access Infographic:
http://katypearce.net/cv/?p=387
USAID, Alternative Resources in the Media:
http://armenia.usaid.gov/en/node/269
YouTube Blocked in Armenia?
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-03-10-n27.html
Global Voices, Armenia: Social Networks for Social Revolution?
https://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/02/26/armenia-social-networks-for-revolution/
Global Voices, Armenia: Abuse in Yerevan School:
https://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/10/11/armenia-abuse-in-yerevan-school/
Global Voices, Armenia: Army forced to act after hazing video circulates online https://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/09/24/armenia-army-forced-to-act-after-hazing-video-circulates-online/
Armenia2011 Media Public Opinion and Preference Survey
http://www.slideshare.net/bekaisa/ar-media-presentationenglish
Media.am, How Political Parties are Using Social Media Ahead of Elections:
http://www.media.am/node/1751
PanArmenian.Net, Expert: police not interested in iDitord forgery records: http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/106761/Expert_police_not_interested_in_iDitord_forgery_records

author: Onnik Krikorian


text:
Syria: Mapping Rape Allegations  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Women Under Siege charts “Syria's use of rape to terrorise its people.” Check out its crowdsourced map here.


text:
World: Is a Declaration of Internet Freedom What the Internet Needs? · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

On July 4, a group of digital rights and other advocacy organizations unleashed a set of rights and principles for the Internet dubbed the Declaration of Internet Freedom. Amongst its initial signatories were organizations such as Free Press, Access, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, as well as Global Voices Advocacy.
Also included in the initial list of individual signers were several Global Voices authors, as well as co-founder Rebecca MacKinnon.
Though the plan is for participants to contribute to, re-mix, and otherwise encourage the evolution of the document, the simple declaration was published as such:
Declaration of Internet Freedom logo. Image from Free Press website, used with permission.
We stand for a free and open Internet.We support transparent and participatory processes for making Internet policy and the establishment of five basic principles:
Expression: Don't censor the Internet.
Access: Promote universal access to fast and affordable networks.
Openness: Keep the Internet an open network where everyone is free to connect, communicate, write, read, watch, speak, listen, learn, create and innovate.
Innovation: Protect the freedom to innovate and create without permission. Don't block new technologies, and don't punish innovators for their users’ actions.
Privacy: Protect privacy and defend everyone's ability to control how their data and devices are used.
Individuals and organizations are encouraged to sign the document or participate through the efforts of other organizations listed on the site. The Declaration has garnered more than 1,300 signatures thus far and continues to gain momentum.
As it spreads, bloggers have begun to comment–and critique–the document and the process behind it. Here are just a few reactions:
Can we live without the Internet? Definitely! Should we? No.
The above statement comes from Lebanese blogger Micheline Hazou, who offers a summary of the process behind the Internet Declaration, as well as the recent resolution made by the United Nations Human Rights Council to protect freedom of the Internet. Hazou, who previously offered an international perspective on the US copyright bills SOPA and PIPA, lends her support to the Declaration, writing:
If I sometimes look back in time, I wonder whether the Lebanon civil war would have lasted 15 years had the Internet existed in 1975. How different my life would have been…
Whereas now we can’t live for a couple of hours without being connected, we spent all the war years trying to forget telephones existed. The fax was the great novelty that we could only contemplate because there were no telephone lines!
But that’s history!
I am a firm believer and defender of a free and open Internet as a Human Right as well as free WiFi.
Do Not Censor the Internet. But what is censorship?
That is a question asked by Spanish blogger Guillermo Julián, who recently wrote a critique [es] of the Declaration. Though Julián believes that the Declaration is a set of “basic principles on which we should all agree,” he takes issue with the vagueness of the Declaration's wording. On the first principle, he writes:
Si ahora mismo preguntas a los promotores de la ley SOPA, o sin irnos tan lejos, a la exministra González Sinde, si pretendían instaurar un sistema de censura en Internet, te dirán que no. Ellos sólo pretendían proteger los derechos de autor, no prohibir que nadie se exprese.
Y ese es el problema de este punto. Nadie ha dicho qué es la censura. ¿Es censura el derecho al olvido? ¿Podríamos considerar censura el cierre de páginas de pornografía infantil?
En los extremos es muy fácil saber qué hacer: bloquear páginas con pornografía infantil es bueno, bloquear páginas con opiniones que no le gustan al gobierno de turno es malo. Pero, ¿qué hacemos en los intermedios? Es algo que depende tanto de la interpretación de cada uno que incluso la SOPA podría respetarlo…
Who is “we”?
One criticism of the Declaration made by several individuals is that it does not define who constitutes “we.” On the Above the Law blog, Elie Mystal writes:
I hate to get pedantic about things involving the internet — it’s the internet, not a Ken Burns documentary — but defining your terms is crucially important when you are trying to advocate for “freedom” of any kind. It’s all well and good to walk around saying “give us free” if you are in chains, but freedom means different things to different people. I’d like to be “free” to make money off the internet, for instance. Can I still be part of the “we”? The fact that so many different people use the internet for so many different purposes is exactly why we struggle to come up with broad-based consensus on how the internet should be regulated (if at all) in the first place. Defining the “we” is half the battle! “WE” are Americans. “THEY” are followers of a inbred crazy person with a fancy hat. Let’s play our game.
Mystal concludes the post with the following sentence: “Just remember to define your terms. Remember, the Constitution tells us who the “we” is in the first line.”
In the Atlantic, Nancy Scola, who interviewed several of the creators and signatories of the Declaration, has a similar concern:
Arguably, the lesson of the years since [John Perry Barlow's Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace] is that “the wider Internet community” does have something to fear from governments and other powers-that-be — thus the need for this new Declaration of Internet Freedom. Governments didn't really stay away from the Internet when Barlow told them to do so. To be useful, does a document like this new one need to figure out where its authority comes from and what it means to do about enforcing its principles? After saying goodbye to Great Britain, the United States decided upon a geography-based winnowing into local and national representative legislatures. Certainly, there are other ways to do it. But defining representativeness is one way to avoid the swapping of one kind of tyranny for another. And it's probably fair to say that harnessing representativeness and authority is something online politics hasn't really figured out yet. In theory, nearly everyone can participate. How you judge that participation, though, is something that everything from Change.org to Americans Elect to folks who try to email Congress need to wrestle with.
This is not the document the Internet needs
In a point-counterpoint hosted by Dapper Disputes, Blake J. Graham states the above claim, adding that the Declaration “caters to vague descriptions of liberty that fail to articulate how these liberties can be uniquely protected on the Internet, and who will be doing the actual protecting.” Graham elaborates:
Articulation is an essential word here. The American Declaration of Independence took prevailing thoughts from enlightenment thinkers, and articulated those thoughts in alignment with 18th century sentiments toward the British crown. The document’s structure includes a substantial, often forgotten, list of grievances directed at King George III and the specific policies agitating the colonists. It is this type of articulation where the Declaration of Independence stands tall, and the “Declaration of Internet Freedom” wobbles over like a toddler drunk on milk.
Writing for the ACLU's blog, Jay Stanley defends that same vagueness as being strategic:
True, there’s always a danger that a broad concept like “privacy” can become like “the environment” in that everybody is “for” it, even when they’re gutting it. But in the history of environmentalism, it was still a major accomplishment to get to a point where nobody could be “against” the environment. If indeed we are at such a point with regard to the principles articulated in this declaration, that is no small accomplishment, and marking that accomplishment is well worth doing. There’s such a thing as “consolidating your gains.”

author: Jillian C. York


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Zambia: African Union Leaves Liberation Hero Out of Honors’ List · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

When Zambia’s foreign minister Given Lubinda went to Ethiopia to attend the 19 African Union summit slated for July 9—16, he was shocked to discover that the country’s first president, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, was not among the continent’s prominent personalities who have been honoured at the new AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
First South African president Nelson Mandela, late Congo DR Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, former Egyptian President late Abdel Nasser and late Emperor Haile Selaise of Ethiopia have been honoured with portraits while Ghana’s first President late Kwame Nkrumah even has his statue mounted in front of the multi-million dollar Chinese built AU headquarters.
Kwame Nkrumah's statue outside the new African Union complex in Addis Ababa. Picture courtesy of Zambian Watchdog.
Lubinda who contested the omission, said Dr Kaunda, fondly called KK, Zambia’s president from independence in 1964 to 1991 when he was voted out, was an African statesman who deserved honours from the Pan African organisation for the critical role he played in the struggle and liberation of the African continent.
Zambian netizens reacted to the omission with mixed feelings even though most of them felt that their former president has not been treated fairly by the continental body.
Reacting to the Zambian Watchdog story, kolwe ni kolwe wrote:
I think Given Lubinda is right here.
As far as am concerned Mandela and Lumumba are far behind Super Ken where the African scene is concerned.
Yes they may have sacrificed a lot for their countries liberation but they can not match super Ken outside that or what he did for other Africa countries to be liberated.
Super Ken championed the liberation struggle for almost the entire Southern Africa almost single handedly.
It is difficult to under what criteria was used.
Praising the foreign minister, M. Ngenda wrote:
Well done Given. I really wonder what attributes Patrice Lumumba of Congo or Nasser of Egypt have over KK. Kaunda liberated the whole of Southern Africa and Zambians suffered the consequences but the rest of those honouredonly for their individual countries. Kaunda even participated in the release of Mandela from Prison.
Things will only change at AU only when we have someone from Anglophone countries at the helm of the Organisation.
This was indeed a stupid decesion.
Wrote ED DAVID:
… WHEN WE CONSIDER THE LABERATION STRUGGLE OF SOUTHERN AFRICA, ZAMBIA UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF KK PLAYED A VERY VITAL N PIVOTAL POSITION. ZAMBIA FOUGHT FOR SOUTH AFRICA, NAMIBIA, ZIMBABWE.ZAMBIA ALSO HELPED ANGOLA, MOZAMBIQUE JUST TO MENTION BUT A FEW.LIKE JESUS, A PROPHET IS NOT WELCOME IN HIS OWN HOME; MOST OF US HAVE NO COURAGE TO APPRICIATE OTHERS UNLESS THEY DEPART FROM US, MAY GOD DELIVER US OR WE ARE TOO YOUNG TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED DURING LIBERATION TIMES. WHAT KENETH DAVID KAUNDA DID CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM, WHETHER AU DOCUMENT IT OR NOT, NO WONDER GOD HAS GRACED HIM WITH A LONG LIFE…
However, others like chitapi-ngwe-meno-mutu did not have kind words for the 88 year-old erstwhile Zambian leader:
Kaunda is not honourable, may be to Zambians he is nut judging by international criteria, Kaunda is NOT honourable. Lubinda is just making an idiot of himself. Nobody fights for honours, great people are recognised. Kaunda despised some tribes in Zambia and he did so openly, if you knew how to look. Even the Barotse Agreement was signed as a strategy to kill the powers of the Litunga. After signing the Agreement he went to on to ignore it.
[…] Kaunda’s involvement with South Africa and Zimbabwe freedom struggles were not out of wanting to LIBERATE other African countries, it was out of economic expediency. With hostile regimes in Zimbabwe and South Africa we had only one opening to the sea via Dar-es-Salaam, which is much further off than the southern ports. There is no sensible political scientist who will call Kaunda the hero that some of you want to make him. You can call him a international hero because that is the highest standard you have in the country, I mean who else can you call a hero in Zambia, Sata? RB? Chiluba? Let us accept it: according to our local standards Kaunda was good, but even this argument not every Zambia will agree with it.
Writing on Facebook, Paul Monde Shalala, branded the AU a fake body:
ABASH AU, VIVA KK:
But this Africa Union is fake, how can they omit Julius Nyerere & Kenneth Kaunda from the category of liberation heroes but put Nelson Mandela on the list? Who kept Mandela in exile? Where was ANC based when it was banned under apartheid? Mandela spent time in Kaunda's safe custody where ANC was being run from! That's why AU is a total failure! Did you see how AU failed us in Ivory Coast? It had to take the French to remove the illegitimate Laurent Gbagbo from power! Did you see what AU did in Libya? It had to take NATO to invade an African country to restore order and the AU was ndwiiiiiiiii quiet! This organisation is fake, look how it has neglected the people of Madagascar, Somalia and Congo DR where people are suffering! I repeat, Africa Union is fake, abash AU!
Zambia under Kenneth Kaunda played a significant role in hosting liberation movements in Southern Africa such as Namibia's SWAPO, South Africa's ANC and PAC and Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF. A Liberation Centre was set up in Lusaka to provide offices to these liberation movements.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Argentina: Starbuck’s Public Apology Trending  · Global Voices
Laura Schneider

On July 16, 2012, Starbucks Argentina [es] issued a public apology [es] on their Facebook account for the lack of cups and original sleeves on their premises, which caused a reaction among consumers, non-consumers and the media in general.
Queremos pedir disculpas, ya que debido a un quiebre temporario de stock, en algunas de nuestras tiendas se están utilizando vasos y mangas nacionales. Se trata de vasos de color blanco y del mismo tamaño que los que se ofrecen regularmente. De todas maneras, estamos trabajando para que esta situación se normalice lo antes posible y cada uno de ustedes puedan disfrutar su bebida como siempre.
Santiago Darmandrail [es] Chief Editor of website Neutronico [es], writes [es]:
Si visitaste una de las tiendas de la compañía en las últimas semanas, probablemente hayas notado que muchos de los vasos y mangas usados no tienen el tan popular logo verde. Pero no sólo eso sino que no traen más el formulario que los empleados de caja usan para escribir el tipo de bebida que debe contener, además de los adicionales, y así evitar que los baristas equivoquen el pedido.
Aunque Starbucks probablemente se disculpaba por este problema que genera la nueva nacionalidad de sus contenedores, no de dónde fueron producidos, el mensaje no cayó demasiado bien entre los tuiteros argentinos.
If you visited one of the company stores in recent weeks, you've probably noticed that many of the cups and sleeves do not have the popular green logo. But not only that, also they don't have the form that the baristas use to write the type of drink and add-ons you want to avoid mistakes in the orders placed.
Although Starbucks was probably apologizing for the problem that generated the new identity of their cups, and not [apologizing for] where they were produced,  the message did not sit too well with Argentinian Twitter users.
photo: chickenlump (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
While the franchise in Argentina did not comment on the reasons for the “shortage”, newspaper Infobae [es] attributed [es] it to current import restrictions on Argentina.
La compañía de café emitió un comunicado para “pedir disculpas” porque en algunos de sus locales “se están utilizando vasos y mangas nacionales” debido a que no pueden ingresar sus modelos por aduana
However, the News Agency of Buenos Aires [es] says this is not a cause for apology and does not agree with Infobae regarding the reasons behind the cup shortage:
Es insólito pero sucedió. La cafetería transnacional pidió disculpas a sus clientes por tener que usar vasos descartables de industria nacional y, como si fura poco, para el portal de noticias InfoBae el tema merece ubicación destacada, adjudicando “el problema” a las “trabas a las importaciones”.
The Agency continues:
Como sucede en cualquier país que se precie de tal, cada vez que los productos importados pueden ser sustituidos por otros nacionales, generando puestos de trabajo y producto bruto con valor agregado, lo que para Starbucks es motivo de lamento y disculpas, seguramente para millones de argentinos será una muy buena noticia.
The public apology from Starbucks Argentina generated the hashtag #PedimosDisculpas [es] (“We apologize”) in reaction to the statement, but users later satirically,  began using it as a means to apologize for anything. Javi Sosa (@ Javi_soccer) [es], writes on his Twitter account:
@Javi_soccer: #PedimosDisculpas pero no queremos darles trabajo a ustedes ni haciendo un vasito… la papota es toda para nosotros (Starbucks)
The blog Dominó [es], analyzes the type of media used for the apology:
¿Por qué pedir disculpas por ello en las redes sociales? Es un ejemplo de la obsesión 2.0 que tienen algunas empresas. Los “afectados” por usar vasos diferentes van a ser solo algunas personas de algunos locales. ¿Esto no se resuelve con un lindo cartelito en la caja de cada local? Creo que tenemos que utilizar las herramientas adecuadas para cada situación y público específico. En este caso erraron y el precio reputacional a pagar, hoy con la viralidad de las redes, es alto. Veremos como reaccionan y responden a las críticas generadas. Un caso para seguir de cerca.
On the other hand, Anto Ocampo [es], on the Starbucks Argentina Facebook page [es] defends the company's comment:
Todos lo que dicen ” Ah no defienden la industria nacional” no tienen ni la mínima idea cual es la inserción internacional de Starbucks en Argentina. Y de como esta influye en los distintos productos que ellos ofrecen.
Gente antes de opinar asesórense bien.
Y para mi Starbucks no pidió disculpas por utilizar vasos “nacionales” si no por el simple hecho de que no va a haber los vasos a los cuales los consumidores están a acostumbrados.
But, Maria Bambara [es] thinks differently:
qué tal si mejor piden disculpas por no utilizar insumos nacionales??? o nacional sólo usan y explotan a los empleados???
At the closing of this post, newspaper La Nacion [es] published the international chain's response to their inquiry, explaining the reasons for the lack of “official” accesories:
Tras una consulta de este medio, Starbucks respondió con un escueto comunicado afirmando que la falta de stock de vasos se explica en un “error interno de planificación”, pero no hace alusión al pedido de disculpas por suplantar a los vasos convencionales por otros de manufactura local.
User @celibs [es] tweets:
@celibs:#PedimosDisculpas a #LaBandaDelStarbucks por darles vasos de Industria Nacional con el cual no puedan sacarse fotos para Facebook.
Among the controversy and news releases, Starbucks Argentina [es], through its Facebook account finally explains [es]:
Les pedimos disculpas por el post de esta mañana – Entendemos sus comentarios y aclaramos que la intención fue comunicarles que temporalmente en algunas tiendas estamos usando vasos diferentes a los habituales. Esto se debe a un quiebre de stock por un error de planificación interno. Estamos trabajando para seguir brindando lo mejor para nuestros fans. Nos gusta ser transparentes con nuestra comunidad y compartir cada uno de nuestros cambios – sean permanentes o temporales.

author: Laura Schneider


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Bolivia: TIPNIS Marchers Return Home After Vigil in La Paz · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Emily Achtenberg from the blog Rebel Currents updates readers on the indigenous people who once more marched towards La Paz to protest the project to build a road through the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS).

author: Silvia Viñas


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Brazil: Middle East Economic Policy Under the Radar  · Global Voices
Richard de Araújo

The current search for new trading partners in unexpected geographic areas demonstrates the extent to which Brazil has changed its foreign policy the last few years. With an agenda that has focused primarily on global business performance, the Middle East has emerged as a key area for Brazilians who want to expand the consumer market of their companies.
From the Empire of Brazil to the military government
If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil tries to fill diplomatic gaps today in the case of the Middle East, it is a consequence of a process that began two centuries ago, when Emperor Dom Pedro II visited the former Ottoman Empire, which included Greater Syria–present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
It was in the 1970s, during the oil crisis, that the Middle East finally got onto the radar of Brazilian diplomacy and since then Brazil has only increased its diplomatic missions in that region. However, this increase in relations did not prevent a shock that would be felt until at least the next decade as described [pt] by blogger Virtuália:
Greater Middle East. Image of Lobo Estepario on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).
Com a crise petrolífera de 1973, encerrava-se o chamado “Milagre Econômico Brasileiro”, e o país entraria em colapso econômico, crise que se veio a agravar, só encerrando depois do fim da ditadura militar.
Then in Brazil a diplomatic pro-Arab orientation began, in which the Brazilian authorities would publicly condemn the Israeli expansionist policy and support the establishment of a Palestinian State to coexist peacefully with the Jewish State. It was called “national interest diplomacy” carried forward from the government of General Médici (1969-1974) and aimed to prevent reprisals of oil-producing countries.
The first decade after redemocratization
The dependence on “black gold” inevitably forced dialogue between leaders of Brazil and the Middle East, which originally was between equals: dictators. But remained without any major embarrassment on the Brazilian side until well after the return of democracy to the country. Among those dictators were Moammar Gadhafi, Hafez el-Assad and Saddam Hussein. For example, at the time of Gulf War, when Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in 1990, Brazil was exporting everything from chicken to arms to Iraq.
Specifically on the arms brokering, the blogger “O Informante” [The Insider] says [pt]:
Nos anos 1980 e parte dos 1990, aliás, países em conflito como Iraque, Líbia, Angola, Paquistão e Colômbia também estiveram entre os maiores compradores de armas brasileiras.
Consequently, it is believed that most of the arms used in both the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi troops and in his defense during the war were produced in Brazil.
The Middle East in the Lula administration
Lula da Silva and Mahmoud Abbas: Brazil and Palestine discuss in Salvador peace agreement for the Middle East, 2009. Picture of Secom Bahia – Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
The Lula administration (2003-2010) gave new impetus to relations with the Middle East. Unlike the rest of the world, Lula's Brazil was less dependent on Arab oil, it imported less and exported more to the Middle East; not only raw materials but also products with higher added value, increasing economic activity between the two parties.
Of all the visits that Lula made to the Middle East, the most controversial was to Iran in 2010. His Brazilian boldness aimed at more than a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear project, he also believed it was time to call attention to the country to ensure an amiable environment in a market with almost 69 million people. In a response to a comment made on the Blog da Cidadania (Citizenship Blog), reader Mariana questions [pt] the reaction to Lula's visit to Iran:
[…] ditadura boa é ditadura amiga. Senão vejamos:
1) A China é uma ditadura, mas o mundo todo quer vender produtos para os chineses, porque o tamanho do mercado ali é descomunal.
2) A Arábia Saudita é outra ditadura, mas como é aliada dos EUA, ninguém diz nada.
3) Mubarak e Kadafi, até há algum tempo, eram aliados.
4) A Comunidade Europeia e os EUA têm ganho dinheiro fazendo negócios com regimes ditadorais.
Portanto, criticar Lula por causa do Irã (lembrando que o que Lula e o Itamaraty fizeram foi recomendação de Obama, registrada em carta) não passa de inocência ou, alternativamente, de hipocrisia.[…]
The turnover of Dilma Rousseff
As Lula, Dilma advocates a peaceful solution to the conflict between Arabs and Israelis and the right of Iran to develop a nuclear program for peaceful purposes. The difference between the current president and her predecessor is that she doesn't show back up any policy without the blessing of leading international players.
Demonstration against Ahmadinejad in Rio de Janeiro, June 2012. Photo by Roitberg on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
The result was seen in the Rio +20, the conference on sustainable development, which Brazil played host to on June 22, 2012. Dilma refused to meet with her Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. News analysis indicates that the President wanted to avoid having her image attached to a leader whose name brings up human rights abuses.
The refusal of the President of Brazil to meet with Ahmadinejad doesn't mean that the country has changed its strategy in the Middle East. In an article republished [pt] in the blog Leituras Marona [Readings Marona], one sees that the President shows an eye to what has happened there:
[…] o Brasil voltou a considerar uma atuação mais forte no Oriente Médio e Norte da África. Dilma tem incentivado seu ministro de Relações Exteriores, Antônio Patriota, a acompanhar de perto os desdobramentos naquela região, especialmente preocupada com a questão dos direitos humanos na Síria.[…]
The current Brazilian government finally seems to have felt the weight of lobbying for the Middle East. The declarations of President Rousseff on the region have been intended to counteract Brazil's policies during the Lula administration; at the same time, she has promoted knowledge of business practices in the Middle East to Brazilians entrepreneurs. The challenge remains to make new ties without displeasing old partners and thus avoid any economic losses without giving up Brazil's place on the world's stage.

author: Richard de Araújo


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Brunei: ‘Heart of Borneo’ Project · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The ‘Heart of Borneo’ Project “aims to protect the ecological and cultural richness of the rainforests of Borneo.” The island, shared by Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, is the third largest in the world

author: Mong Palatino


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China: Netizens Reaction to National Education in Hong Kong · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ministry of Tofu reports on mainland Chinese netizens comment and discussion on the debate about national education in Hong Kong. Many of them are sympathetic with the students and criticize the brainwashing nature of the new curriculum.

author: Oiwan Lam


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DR of Congo: Does Rebel Group M23 Seek Kivu Secession with Rwanda’s Approval?  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Giles Muhane reports that the March 23 Movement M23 rebel military group is believed to be seeking secession of the  the province of Kivu from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Muhane adds that Kinshasa authorities have publicly accused Kigali of supporting a mutiny in Congo. Rwandan President Paul Kagame denied any involvement in the Congo crisis.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Egypt: Conflicting News on Casualties in Cairo Train Crash · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Information remains sketchy about the number of casualties from a train crash in a Cairo suburb earlier today. Reports on mainstream media ranged from deaths and injuries – to no deaths and just injuries, in the accident where a passenger train derailed and caught fire.
On Twitter, journalists competed on breaking the news.
Al Jazeera English Cairo correspondent Sherine Tadros tweeted:
@SherineT: Casualties (no number) at train crash site in cairo suburb. Accident happened after trains collided and one derailed #Egypt
Sky News’ Tim Marshall added:
@Skytwitius: We are hearing at least 3 dead and dozens injured in Cairo train crash on line towards Giza.
And long-time Middle East resident Angus Blair pointed fingers:
@AngusBlair1: The tragic train crash outside #Cairo indicates how much needs to be done to upgrade #Egypt's aged & underinvested railways
Meanwhile, Swedish Broadcasting foreign news journalist JoMa Sommarstrom tweeted from the hospital:
@ekmathia: At the hospital, 17 injured in train crash #Cairo
And Sherif Aboualam jokes [ar]:
Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi was elected as the new president of Egypt last month. He replaces Hosni Mubarak, whose 32-year reign ended with a popular revolution against him and his regime.
The Twitter user is referring to the 2006 drowning of a ferry in the Red Sea, which killed more than 1,000 people, and the Algeria-Egypt qualifying match for the World Cup, which turned into a face off and diplomatic spat between the two countries in 2009.


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Indonesia: Social Media Impact on Jakarta Polls · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Tobias Basuki observes that social media played a less effective role in the recent local elections in Jakarta, Indonesia.


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YouTube Show Brings China’s Social Media to an English Audience · Global Voices
Violeta Camarasa

Want to know what’s going on on China’s social media but cannot speak Chinese? Keep on reading, then. It’s been four months since Elle Lee (@ElleIconLee) and Casey Lau (@hypercasey) opened a YouTube channel to broadcast Weibo Today, a weekly online show spotlighting trending topics from China's social networks in English.
Elle Lee writes the scripts and is the host while Casey Lau is the producer working behind the scenes. We talked to Elle Lee about their show.
Global Voices (GV): How did you come across the idea of an online show about Weibo?
An image of the online show Weibo Today
Elle Lee (EL): Interest in China and its social media is getting bigger and bigger. Usually international audiences and brands have no clue about the social media landscape in China. As a co-founder of #HKSocial (a Hong Kong-based social media meet-up group), I like sharing social media knowledge. I’ve lived in both China and the West, now the multi culture Hong Kong. Hence, I believe I can present with some neutral voice. My show is not only about social media, it's about real news happening in China without national filter.
Sina Weibo is always the “Number 1″ Chinese social media I recommend. It’s not just like Twitter, it's a combination of Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram. It's very information centric and people tend to break news on it. Content on Weibo is very close to the real voice of people in China.
GV: What are the objectives of Weibo Today?
EL: First and foremost, we want to show people that China is not all about censorship and political debate. People talk about movies, celebrities, social issues and even international news. We explain how Weibo’s used for many other things than just to talk about what people are eating or doing, how it's helping people, how it affects lives, how silly it can be and how it’s not that different from social networks in the West.
GV: Sometimes it can be difficult to understand communication due to cultural differences or lack of knowledge. How do you tackle this?
EL: This is one of our main goals doing Weibo Today. It’s not all about censorship and communism. For example, the Titanic 3D story is one of the typical things that we see the Western media jump on to make China look like it’s still in the dark ages. I won't argue that there are a lot of things that need to be changed in China to keep up with the world, but you have to look at 1 Billion people and what too much information can do if not properly disseminated.
That’s why the weibo platform is so interesting and challenging at the same time – so we're just looking at a very top level right now to try to narrow the gap of understanding by bringing out the funnier or more unusual stories that western audiences might understand easier.
GV: How is it going for the moment?
EL: It's going well, we’re getting positive feedback from the audience and the views keep doubling with every new episode, as we get more viewers from Hong Kong, the US, Canada, UK and Australia. That’s one of the great things about doing a webshow: Just get an iPhone and iMovie and you can start your own show. Ideally, we’re working on getting some sponsors as well as working with video sharing sites to monetize the show.
GV: Do you have any future plans for Weibo Today?
EL: Web video is a very powerful medium online, so we want to produce more and more high-quality shows like Revision3, the Internet-only show production company in San Francisco. We’re also looking to recruit more talent interested in social media, hosting and acting. We’re already filming a new show in Chinese called “Twitter Today”, targeting Chinese audience, and planning some lifestyle shows about Hong Kong and China. Stay tuned!

author: Violeta Camarasa


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Iran: Kaboudvand’s life in danger  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several bloggers reported Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand‘s life is in danger.This Kurdish activist has been on hunger strike for several days. Alireza Rezai says [fa] Kabudvand's hunger strike did not get enough attention in Iranian media.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Israelis React to Self-Immolation at Social Justice Protest · Global Voices
Elizabeth Tsurkov

Oמ Saturday evening (July 14), 56-year-old Moshe Silman attended the Aviv social justice protest, which marked a year since the beginning of the #J14 protest movement. Silman, a fixture in the social justice protests in Haifa, spoke publicly before attendants of the protest, handed out a letter detailing his hardships, then poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire. In his letter, Silman, the former owner of a shipping company, describes that due to a small debt to the National Insurance Institute (NII) the trucks of his business were repossessed. The Israeli court system then failed him when he attempted to get the trucks back. Silman then started working as a taxi driver to make ends meet, but following several strokes, he was unable to work any longer. The NII granted Silman a meager disability stipend only a year after he became disabled. Silman then turned to the Ministry of Housing to receive public housing. Despite his extreme poverty, he was ineligible to receive public housing because he didn't meet the criteria of never owning real-estate in Israel. Silman set himself on fire a week before he was about to become homeless, stating in his letter: “I refuse to be homeless, this is why I am protesting.” Silman is now hospitalized in critical condition, with 92 per cent of his body covered in burns.
Since the self-immolation, the discussions about it dominated the Israeli cyberspace. The initial reaction was shock, especially of the hundreds of people who witnessed the self-immolation. Many shared online their personal feelings of horror and pain about the event. Many expressed the feeling that Silman's story could have happened to most Israelis due to the near total absence of a government safety net. To express this, some have changed their profile photo to that of Silman. The spending of the government on welfare has significantly decreased in the last two decades in Israel, leaving many Israelis in desperate situations, similar to those of Silman.
Activist and blogger Haim Har Zahav, just as Silman's letter did, connected Silman's personal story to the broader struggle for social justice in Israel:
Prime Minister Netanyahu, who called the event, a “personal tragedy“, was attacked for it by many Israelis online for absolving the state of the responsibility for the tragedy.  Israelis turned to the web to share their personal stories about the disregard of authorities, and in particular of the NII, toward their hardship, to show that Silman's story is not merely a personal tragedy, but a result of an abusive system designed to deny people benefits. Due to the prevalence of these personal stories, blogger Nitay Peretz opened a new blog to collect those stories, for example, the story of a woman who was forced to prove that she hasn't grown a leg since the last time her disability was examined by the NII.
Prominent leftist blogger Yossi Gurvitz wrote:
וכולנו, במובנים רבים, משה סילמן. כולנו שני צעדים, שלושה במקרה הטוב, מחורבן טוטאלי שהמדינה לא תנקוף אצבע כדי להציל אותנו ממנו. כלכליסט מצא לאחרונה שרק שליש מהציבור יכול לגייס 8,000 ₪ בלתי צפויים תוך חודש. ל-63% ממה שמוגדר כאן בטעות כ”מעמד הביניים” – אין כזה, בישראל רק העשירונים השמיני עד העשירי סוגרים את החודש – “יהיה קשה עד בלתי אפשרי לעמוד בהוצאה חד פעמית ובלתי מתוכננת.” תאונה אחת, מחלה אחת, ואתם מחוסלים.
And all of us, in many ways, are Moshe Silman. All of us are two steps, at best three, from a total collapse, which the state will do nothing to rescue us from. Calcalist [an Israeli financial daily] recently found [in a poll] that only a third of the public can raise $2,000 in a month if they need it for an unexpected expense. 63% of what is erroneously called in Israel “the middle class” – there is no such thing, in Israel only the top 20 per cent make ends meet – “it will be difficult to impossible to handle an unexpected one-time expense.” One accident, one illness, and you're destroyed.
The popular anonymous blogger Ishton commented about the influence of the internet on the way people perceived and reacted to the event:

author: Elizabeth Tsurkov


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Jamaica: Half a Century of Independence    · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Come August 6th 2012, Jamaica will celebrate 50 years of independence from Great Britain.  The year marks many of these anniversaries across the Commonwealth Caribbean (Trinidad and Tobago marks its 50th later in the month – August 31st – never mind the official website for the celebrations was recently taken offline thanks to an uproar over incorrect spelling, grammatical errors and inaccurate content).  Jamaica's efforts to mark the occasion, however, seem to be going more smoothly.  In this post, I interview two bloggers – one from the diaspora (litblogger Geoffrey Philp) and the other (Nadine Tomlinson) living on island – about how Jamaicans are preparing for the celebrations, how social media has had an impact and what the country has accomplished in the last half a century.
They both had a lot to share about the ways in which the country will be marking this landmark event.  Celebrations, including awards ceremonies and cultural exhibitions, are gearing up in Jamaica's capital, as well as in cities throughout the United States where the presence of the diaspora is high.  The Miami Tower, for instance, will be lit with the colours of the Jamaican flag from August 3-6.  In Kingston, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust will hold its annual Emancipation Jubilee, which includes independence parades and galas as well as a tribute to the country's national hero Marcus Garvey.
Still, with talk of the anniversary being sullied by political wrangling and marketing spin, not to mention the reality of Jamaica’s economic and social situation, I asked whether celebrating this milestone seemed a bit out of whack…
Jamaican diaspora litblogger, Geoffrey Philp; photo used with his permission.
Geoffrey Philp (GP): Jamaicans need to celebrate this milestone because heroes such as Samuel Sharpe, George William Gordon, and Paul Bogle died in the fight for our freedom from slavery and colonialism. So when we dance and celebrate, we should remember that just over 150 years ago, we were slaves and fifty years ago we were a colony of the British Empire.  No matter where we live, political wrangling and marketing spin are part of our life in the 21st century [and] as far as the economic and social realities are concerned, I don't think that should stop the celebrations, which should also be a time of reflection about these questions: Who are we? Where have we come from? Where are we going?
Global Voices (GV): Does the average Jamaican – including the youth – recognise the significance of the milestone or is it just an opportunity for pomp and circumstance with no deeper meaning, no future game plan?
Nadine Tomlinson (NT): I think it's important for us to acknowledge and celebrate all important milestones in Jamaica's historical journey, and to do so within our means. Milestones remind us of how far we've come as a nation, and keep its vision and goals fixed before our eyes.
My observations on social media and in occasional encounters have revealed that Jamaicans and those in the Diaspora are excited about our 50th anniversary. Some schools are getting involved by hosting ‘villages’, where they have tours and showcase cultural artifacts. Churches are doing the same.  Personally, it gives me hope when I see the Jamaican youth getting excited about our country, its history, and culture.
Geoffrey Philp (GP):  For those of us in the Diaspora for whom the meaning and the love of home is magnified by absence, fifty years of independence is an important milestone. I know within several Jamaican diaspora organizations there are intense debates about the future of the country.  In recognition of the significance, a friend of mine, blogger Jean Lowrie-Chin has suggested an apology that our leaders should offer the terrorised people in certain communities of Jamaica who are still enslaved by gang/garrison warfare:
‘We apologise for our complicity with thugs who have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Jamaicans. For the pain, suffering and hurt of these victims, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry. For our divisive strategies, pitting parent against child, brother against sister, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.’
Global Voices (GV): In the discussion about the country’s 50 years of independence, what role has new/social media played in the messages that are getting out?  Are citizens (or even the government and opposition) using social media platforms to voice their congratulations or concerns?  Are young people talking about it on Facebook or Twitter?  Has the blogosphere added a new dimension to the debate?
Jamaican blogger Nadine Tomlinson; photo used with her permission.
Nadine Tomlinson (NT):  Oh yes! Social media is rife with promotional messages and conversations about Jamaica 50 and its celebrations. An example is a classmate of mine, who normally uses Facebook to capture ‘Jamaicanness’ in interesting ways, has been doing a countdown where she features some aspect of Jamaican life and culture, leading up to August 6.  On my own blog, from time to time, I feature cultural happenings in Jamaica, which have included this year's anniversary celebrations.
Geoffrey Philp (GP): The new media have exacerbated some of the controversies regarding the song for the 50th anniversary. The government and opposition have used social media to voice their approval (or disapproval) of the songs via YouTube and Twitter.
The blogosphere has added to the debate and Facebook sites such as Absolutely Jamaican and Jamaica Anniversary are certainly doing their best to spread the word about the celebrations.
When I asked the bloggers what they thought were the country’s most venerable accomplishments over the last 50 years, answers ranged from improvement of educational access to the popularity of the island as a preferred tourism destination.  Nadine summed it up by saying, “We've developed a very strong Brand Jamaica.”  Geoffrey on the other hand, noted that “Our accomplishments have to be measured in the talented people our culture has produced”:
Geoffrey Philp (GP): We have moved closer to an understanding of freedom, respect for human rights, and a greater understanding of identity. This has not been easy because we inherited a patriarchal, colonial system that was inherently flawed with a bias toward denigrating New World Africans and continuing the class warfare of British imperialism.  Yet despite these obstacles, we have produced some of the most talented stateswomen/men, athletes, public intellectuals, doctors, and musicians in the world. It's often been said that a country of Jamaica's size should not exert the kind of influence that it does in world affairs, but it does.
Global Voices (GV):  What about shortcomings over the last half a century?
Geoffrey Philp (GP): The single biggest shortcoming is the race/class divide whose origins are in colonialism and the application of simplistic paradigms to our condition. We are not European nor are we Asian. Most of us are of West African origin, but we are not West Africans.
From that West African base, we are in the midst of this breathtaking struggle to create a culture that has never existed before on the face of the earth and it is only until we embrace that complexity of seeing ourselves through our own eyes–validating our experience as worthy–that we will experience our own greatness.
Nadine Tomlinson (NT): We need a spirit of increased unity and an elimination of political rivalry.  We need increased protection of our children.  We need a justice system that works more efficiently and expeditiously.
Global Voices (GV): What issues is Jamaica grappling with now and what do you think the challenges will be in the future? Where do you see your country in the next 50 years?
Nadine Tomlinson (NT): The economic situation is dismal. Growing up, I remember when our dollar was quite buoyant, even better than the USD. I want to see more revenue-earning production that doesn't lean heavily on the tourism product and less importation. In the next 50 years, I hope to see Jamaica become a self-sufficient, developed nation of burgeoning thinkers, entrepreneurs, inventors, nation builders, and world changers.
Geoffrey Philp (GP): Crime continues to be a big problem and this stems from the lack of opportunity in the island. The success stories in the diaspora bear witness to our work ethos and determination.  After watching the film Life and Debt, I know that the economic issues that we face with increased global influence on our markets, we will have to come up with national solutions to the challenges to our environment, global warming, and rising sea levels.
If we re-start from a Garveyite perspective, embracing the teaching of Marcus Garvey as a Founding Father, we will hasten our progress toward our collective freedom.
50 years time? That's a long time. It's hard to be optimistic when you think about how we are killing each other, but then, I think about heroes like Sam Sharpe who said, ‘I would rather die upon yonder gallows than live in slavery,’ then I know struggle is in our national DNA and somehow we will find a way not merely to survive, but also thrive.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Japan: Photos of Mass Anti-Nuclear Protest  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Tens of thousands Japanese citizens held a protest on July 16, 2012 urging their government to abandon nuclear power. People reportedly expressed rage over Japan's culture of obedience and the government's shirking responsibility towards worsening natural disasters. Totgazet, which is published by JVJA, a group of freelance photojournalists posted amazing photos of this unprecedented large scale protest.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Kenya: Mau Mau Freedom Fighters Take Battle to British Court · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Three former Mau Mau freedom fighters have taken the British government to the High Court in London demanding an apology and damages for brutality they suffered during the British colonial rule in Kenya.
Mau Mau was an anti-colonial group under Dedan Kimathi, which was involved in a military struggle against the British between 1952 and 1960.
Statue of Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi in Nairobi, Kenya. Image released into the public domain by Wikipedia user Murungaru.
Tweets about the case are pouring in under the hashtag #MauMau:
@hellenotii: Follow tag #MauMau for day 2 trial updates. 3 Kenyan claimants (1 died) allege #humanrights abuses by British soldiers. #ajstream #kenya
@CapitalFM_kenya: #Raila says govt to finance the #MauMau veterans case against UK. Hearing of the case starts Monday at the Royal Courts of Justice in London
@rowenanews: Bravo the Kenyans forcing UK to face their colonial crimes #maumau http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/in-a-british-court-after-60-years–the-elderly-kenyans-asking-for-justice-at-last-7946671.html
@fatimamanji: So fascinating to watch how the #MauMau case is covered in the British press and the comments generated because of it.
@LindseyAGerman: Solidarity with #MauMau Kenyans seeking justice at High Ct for atrocities committed by British in 50s. Hope they win after all these years
@JeromeTaylor from the Independent newspaper tweets live from the courtroom:
@JeromeTaylor: Kenyans are keeping a close eye on the Mau Mau case. Britain often lectures Africa on human rights whilst ignoring its own past excesses
@JeromeTaylor: Colonial administrator Mr Whitehouse ordered inmates of Lodwar prison camp to call him “The God of Lodwar” according to Mr Nyingi #MauMau
@JeromeTaylor: Mr Nyingi says #MauMau treated “even worse” after independence. “We were still imprisoned…we were never allowed to talk freey”
@JeromeTaylor: Mr Nyingi was arrested Dec '52 & held for 9 yrs. He was “beaten by African home guard and European soldiers” #MauMau
@JeromeTaylor: In his witness statement Mr Nzili says he was castrated at Embakasi detention centre. Says he saw others also castrated. #MauMau
@JeromeTaylor: According to her witness statement Jane Muthoni Mara was severely sexually assaulted at the Gatithi Screening Centre #MauMau
@JeromeTaylor: Colonial administrator Mr Whitehouse ordered inmates of Lodwar prison camp to call him “The God of Lodwar” according to Mr Nyingi #MauMau
@TandemLaw live tweets:
@TandemLaw: Court adjourned for lunch. Back at 14.00 GMT. #HumanRights #Kenya Follow LIVE tweets from the High Court on the #MauMau case
@TandemLaw: GM – UK Government does not dispute each of the claimants suffered torture & ill treatment under colonial administration. #MauMau #Kenya
@TandemLaw: So far Guy Mansfield for the defendant made it clear that injuries are not in dispute and has not questioned any claimant on them.
Follow live Twitter updates using the hashtag #MauMau.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Lebanon: A Petition to Issue a Law about the Missing and Kidnapped · Global Voices
رامي الهامس

Following the missing people in Lebanon case that Global Voices Online posted about earlier, netizens are circulating a petition to issue a law about missing and kidnapped people on Daleel Madani website.

author: رامي الهامس


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Maldives: Activist’s Arrest During Protest Caught on Video  · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Two videos showing the July 13 arrest of activist Shauna Aminath in the Maldives during a peaceful protest calling for early elections have generated reactions all the way to Chile. While Shauna was released the following day after a court hearing, the Maldives Democratic Party believes it is part of targeted arrests and intimidation of female protesters.
Free Shauna Now Poster
From the Maldives Democracy Movement press release on the result of from the peaceful protest asking for early elections in the capital city of Male, where more than 65 pro-democracy protesters were arrested:
At approximately 6:15pm local time, Shauna Aminath, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Youth Wing President, and Policy Secretary, was arrested in Male and is currently being held in police custody in the Dhoonidhoo detention island. At this time the charges against her are unknown. The MDP is deeply concerned for Shauna’s safety, due to the documented abuses of other detainees held in police custody since the coup d’etat on 7 February. The MDP calls upon the government of the Republic of Maldives for her immediate release.
The video titled MDP activist Shauna being brutally beaten and dragged by the police. #mvcoup shows Shauna's arrest. She's seen wearing a yellow shirt.
Felipe Cordero, Global Voices contributor, was personally struck by Shauna's arrest, and wrote about it on his blog:
Among those arrested was Shauna Aminath, current President of the Maldives Democratic Party Youth Wing and former Policy Undersecretary under President Mohamed Nasheed (known locally as Ani). She is also one of my close friends because we became friends while studying at UWC Pearson College (Canada) and continued our friendship later at Westminster College (Missouri, US). We worked together as political science students and worked together at a project in Colombia.
I know Shauna well. She has an incredible character and is perhaps the person with the clearest sense of justice, fairness and freedom that I know. She wants people in the Maldives to be free from fear and wants an end to the corrupt system that a 30-year dictatorship fostered.
FreedomWatchMV uploaded the video Arrest of Shauna & Mayan during a Peaceful Protest 13th July 2012
Shauna was part of the campaigns to bring the first democratically elected president to the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, and she later became his Policy Undersecretary where she championed to prevent climate change which will affect the Maldives, the country with the lowest altitude over sea level in the world.  However, things changed after the coup on February, where President Nasheed was forced to resign. Felipe Cordero summarizes:
Alas, the President was forced to resign in February when a 3-week protest against him because he dared to arrest a corrupt judge with very close ties to the former dictator, ended with a policy mutiny. When resigning, he said ”I am not a person who wishes to rule with the use of power. I believe that if the government were to remain in power it would require the use of force, which would harm many citizens”
The Maldives Democratic Party believes this is part of the targeted intimidation of women protesters by Dr. Waheed’s regime. From their July 14th press release.
Aminath Shauna – the MDP’s Youth Wing President, and former Under Secretary in Policy matters under President Nasheed’s administration was arrested on 13 July, on the grounds that she obstructed Police duty by throwing rocks at Police officers. Shauna was kept in Dhoonidhoo detention centre overnight and brought to the Criminal Court this afternoon at approximately 1530, where her hearing was delayed by over 3 hours. She was not given a sanitary napkin when she requested, and was not given access to her personal belongings, which were sent to her by her family via the Police custodial unit. Shauna’s family, friends and well wishers who were waiting in front of the court for a verdict on the grounds of her arrest and the possible extension of her detention were blockaded, threatened and pepper sprayed by Police officers who cordoned off the area. Shauna’s mother, HawwaManik was shoved aside by a Police officer when she questioned their actions. She was told, ‘this is our government, this is our country. We can send you off from anywhere we want.’ Aminath Shauna was released, without charge upon the condition that she did not attend ‘any protests for 21 days’.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Mauritania: Remembering the Country’s First Military Coup · Global Voices
أحمد جدو

July 10, 2012, marked the 34th anniversary of the first military coup in Mauritania. In 1978, the military overthrew president Moktar Ould Daddah, Mauritania's first president after achieving independence from France in 1960.
Since then the country has experienced a succession of military coups, the latest of which was carried out by Brigadier General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who overthrew President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Mauritania's first elected civilian president, on August 6, 2008.
Mauritanian activists remembered the anniversary by blogging and tweeting about it, and criticising military rule in Mauritania.
Moktar Ould Daddah, 1977.  Image from Romanian Communism Online Photo Collection, via Wikimedia Commons.
The blogger at the Boutilimit Today blog (which takes its name from the hometown of the president overthrown in 1978) recalled what happened after the coup [ar]:
The activist Baba Ould Brahim wrote about the anniversary on his blog Surakh Al Watan (“The Scream of The Nation”):
Arrest of activists of 25 February movement. From Mouvement du 25 Février Facebook page.
The 25 February movement activist Med Lemine Echvagha tweeted about the anniversary:
The blogger Sidi Al Tib Ould Mojteba wrote:
The activist Baba Ould Hourma commented on the revival of the July 10 anniversary by the 25 February movement:

author: أحمد جدو


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Montenegro: “Foursquare For Development” Project · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

UNDP's Voices From Eurasia blog announces and explains the “Foursquare for Development” project, whose goal is to create Foursquare tourist routes in northern Montenegro.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Nigeria: Fury as Lagos State Government Demolishes #Makoko Slum  · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Most Nigerians popularly support ‘development’ projects, so it was quite ironic when Nigerian social media platforms erupted with fury over the recent demolition of a slum. In the case of Makoko, no one seemed to be upset with the Lagos State Government's decision to demolish the slum, but they were furious about ‘how’ it was done.
Makoko (Photo credits: Communityimpactng.wordpress.com)
The residents of the Makoko shanties (slums) woke up on 12 July to a short notice by the Lagos State Government:
“You have continued to occupy and develop shanties and unwholesome structures on the waterfront without authority thereby constituting environmental nuisance, security risks, impediments to economic and gainful utilization of the waterfront such as navigation, entertainment, recreation etc.
“The state government is desirous of restoring the amenity and value of waterfront, protect lives and property, promote legitimate economic activities on the waterfront, restore security, improve water transportation and beautify the Lagos waterfront/coastline to underline the megacity status of Lagos State and has decided to clear all illegal and unauthorised development on its waterfront and water bodies.
“Therefore, notice is hereby given to you to vacate and remove all illegal developments along the Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront within 72 hours of receipt of this notice.”
The manner in which the government went about demolishing the slum also reminded many of the dark nights of military dictatorship in Nigeria. The time when the use of force was legitimate and governments did not seek the consent of anyone before acting, usually ending declarations with the phrase “with immediate effect”. Yimiton recounts:
Several soldiers, police officers and officers from other paramilitary agencies, on Monday, stormed the Makoko (Ilaje) water front area of Lagos, demolishing houses and shanties. More than 2,500 persons, mostly fishermen and their families have been rendered homeless. There is pandemonium as the people were sighted running helter-skelter to avoid being shot by the armed soldiers and police officers. Some of the residents interviewed complained that the eviction will alter their way of life and disrupt their means of livelihood. They wondered where the government expects them to go. At the time of publishing this report, it remains unclear if provision has been made for the relocation of the displaced residents by the Lagos State government.
Reactions by tweeps decried the callousness of this developmental push by the government that lacks a human face:
@tejucole: The living conditions in Makoko were appalling, but appalling, too, is waking up to guns, bulldozers, violence, and sudden homelessness.
@xeenarh:  #Makoko is a settlement in Lagos under the 3rd mainland bridge. D residents have lived there for over 107 years, today Fashola is evicting (th)em
@segundemuren: I grew up in Oyadiran Estate, Sabo, Yaba & used frequented Makoko. It is an enterprising community with its own dynamics.
Who will fight the cause of the displaced?
@abdulahiaborode: I personally don't like the living standard of #Makoko I'd tot of the demolition severally but not providing shelter for them is inhuman.
@MrSleevesUp #Lagos State: before u demolish poor homes in Makoko, demolish rich homes in VI (Victoria Island) and Ikoyi on drainage path. D poor r always an easy target!
@AfricaHand: So where did the people go? To build another slum…
@dreeee1: You knock Makoko down, make no alternatives and frown when your daughter or wife gets robbed in VI. Oyinbo dey call am – Domino Effect.
@Bantucrew: Makoko saga: I beg make unna help us remind Fashola say Housing Na Human Right.
Digital natives amplifying offline voices of the victims:
@AfricasaCountry: “I'm 33 years old & I was born in #Makoko & all my life I've lived here. They stormed our homes destroying things. Where do we sleep now?”
@chineduozordi: After her shanty in Makoko was demolished by the government, Janet and her 3 kids simply moved into their canoe ensconced under the 3MB (Third Mainland Bridge).
Alashock’s blog summarizes the prevailing sentiments of most Nigerians as follows:
The demolition is absurd and sad, only if Lagos state government could resettle these displaced people before the demolition exercise…What about the school children? What about families who have grown up to know no other place aside Makoko as their hometown?
People’s lives should not just be a commodity that should be stockpiled and then scattered at will and/or as it pleases the government who ordinarily is meant to cater for its own people including shelter…
We are not saying Makoko should not be demolished for whatever reason/s, but please where are the re-integration plans for these homeless people in their thousands? Makoko people have been dealt with psychologically. They have blood and water flowing in them…They are human beings…even animals should not be treated like this. Height of irresponsibility and wickedness towards lives no man could create…
But all hope is not lost for the Makoko victims because the typical Nigerian spirit of helping the hapless has once again risen up to the challenge:
@eggheader: Cc @xeenarh RT @NosakhareR: launching a campaign 4 D provision of alternative resettlement 4 #Makoko Join me @abraham_kure @gbengasesan

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Panama: Minister of the Presidency Resigns · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

Since July 13 the Panamanian people have asked themselves if it was true that, Demetrio Papadimitriu, Minister of the Presidency and right hand man of president Ricardo Martinelli had resigned from his office. The newspaper La Estrella de Panamá [es] had informed on Friday, July 13, about the minister's resignation:
Es una de esas noticias que cuesta trabajo creer. Demetrio ‘Jimmy’ Papadimitriu se distancia de Ricardo Martinelli.
Papadimitriu, of Greek descent, had been one of the main authors of Ricardo Martinelli's rise to power and at the same time one of the main ministers during the administration. The news was not assimilated easily and for many it seemed impossible.
The government stirred up the controversy on Sunday, July 15, during the celebration of El Día del Niño (Children's Day) when the president refused to make any statements, as Diario Granma [es] tells us:
Evidentemente el presidente, Ricardo Martinelli, ha dado una orden tajante a todos: no hay nada que informar, dijo en el desfile por el Día del Niño, y se puso a bailar, mientras que su vocero, Luis Eduardo Camacho, repitió: no hay nada que pronunciar.
Prensa Latina [es] echoed the president's declarations, who even denied the news of the resignation and blamed the press of being “bochinceros” (an expression used to describe those who like to gossip):
Lo que ha dicho el presidente Martinelli es que todo está marchando normalmente en este momento. El ministro de la Presidencia no está en el despacho, está la viceministra, María Fábrega, que se encarga de toda la papelería, dijo Quijano.
El ministro agregó que no han recibido ninguna renuncia y Martinelli ha sido muy claro, a pesar de que ha habido un medio de comunicación que dio una noticia, pero no es una noticia oficial, afirmó.
What president Martinelli has said is that everything is functioning normally at the moment. The minister of the Presidency is not in the office, the vice-minister, María Fábrega, who is in charge of all the paperwork is there, Quijano said.
The ministry added that they have not received any resignation and Martinelli has been very clear, even though there was a media outlet that gave a news report, that is not the official news, he asserted.
Finally, in the afternoon of July 16 the government made public a letter where the president accepted the resignation of the minister. La Prensa [es] gives an account:
El presidente de la República, Ricardo Martinelli, aceptó la renuncia de Demetrio Papadimitriu, que por tres años se mantuvo en el cargo de ministro de la Presidencia.
En una carta enviada a Papadimitriu, el Presidente agradeció su gestión al frente del Ministerio de la Presidencia así como su participación en proyectos importantes desarrollados en el país.
The president of the Republic, Ricardo Martinelli, accepted the resignation of Demetrio Papadimitriu, who for three years held the office of minister of the Presidency.
In a letter sent to Papadimitriu, the President thanked him for his administration of the Ministry of the Presidency as well as his participation in important projects carried out in the country.
The reactions on Twitter have ranged from condemnation for the denial of the resignation to lament for the departure of a minister who was considered to be competent. The general reaction has inclined itself towards condemnation of the government's deception.
As in the case of Carlos Baquero (@CarlosBaqueroG) [es], who shares on his Twitter account:
@CarlosBaqueroG: Martinelli si que es mentiroso, yo lo vi diciendo que Papadimitri no habia renunciado y pidiendole a la prensa
To others like Katriny Muñoz (@KatrinyMunoz) [es] it seems that the press and people are creating drama about the matter:
@KatrinyMunoz: A mi no me interesa si Papadimitri quiere renunciar dos tres o cuatro veces que drama…
José Guerra (@jfrancaco) [es] maintains a similar point of view when he notices with irony how after his resignation Papadimitriu became one of the best ministers:
@jfrancaco: La gente habla paja cuando Papadimitri estaba le daban plomo ahora se fue y lo alaban…carajo quien entiende??? PLOF
Sandra Icaza (@ihill0663) [es] on the other hand, seems fearful of how this government will be able to continue without the presence of Papadimitriu, whom all of Panamanians had gotten used to seeing as the right hand of the current president.
@ihill0663: Martinelli, sin Papadimitri. ¿Se sentirá como un barco a la deriva?.Observemos como termina el naúfrago.Ojalá se salve y pague lo q debe.

author: Ariel Moreno