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That Fake U.S. Embassy in Ghana Issued Real Visas for a Decade · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Partial US Visa image, via Buzzghana with permission
For ten years, a U.S. embassy operated quietly in Accra, the capital of the West African country of Ghana. The facility's work was discreet because it was run by a criminal network of Ghanaian and Turkish citizens. The embassy wasn't an embassy at all, but it managed to issue authentic, fraudulently obtained visas and other U.S. documents for a decade.
In early November, U.S. officials reported that the fake embassy had finally been shut down.
According to the U.S. Department of State's website, the offices of the “embassy” in Accra occupied a building that flew the American flag outside and received visitors on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Hanging on the wall inside was a photo of President Barack Obama. There were signs posted inside that gave the office every appearance of an authentic embassy.
Rufus Polichinelle wrote in a humorous tone on Afrique-sur7.fr:
At present, Uncle Sam may find on his land a number of people who entered the country fraudulently. That is, in any case, what has come out of the recent discovery made in Ghana by the US Department of State. A fake US embassy issued counterfeit identify documents (birth certificates) and visas. The hitch is that these were in fact authentic documents and were issued by Turkish forgers for an average price of $6,000. The forgers posed as US consular officials and communicated regularly in English and Dutch. To better fool their visitors, the gang had hung a portrait of Barack Obama along with an American flag.
On the website Afrikactuelle.com, Olivier Berhuse offered further details:
American authorities were tipped off about the scam after launching a massive anti-fraud operation in the region this summer. Detectives were then recruited, including Ghanaian police inspectors, to dismantle the entire criminal network. During the investigation, which led to a number of arrests, the authorities seized Indian, South-African, and Schengen zone visas. 150 passports from ten different countries were discovered, as well as a laptop and some telephones.
The Department of State has not explained how the gang obtained genuine US visas. It also hasn't specified how many people were able to illegally enter the United States and other countries with visas issued by the gang, which distributed the visas under-the-table in order to operate with impunity.
Biographical data page from the Ghanaian biometric passport. via wikipedia
In Lomé, Mensah wrote on the website Koaci.com:
According to investigations, the fake embassy made itself known to the public through leaflets and billboards to attract visa applicants from Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo. Among other services, the forgers provided fraudulently obtained, authentic US visas and false identity documents including birth certificates, bank statements, school records, birth certificates and more, all available for the price of $6,000.
Kouamé L.-Ph. Arnaud KOUAKOU raised several questions on Burkina24.com:
How did this gang get ahold of real U.S. visas? How many people were able to illegally enter the United States using these documents?
Reportedly, a fake Netherlands embassy was also operating in the Ghanaian capital. On Radio France Internationale's Facebook page, several listeners expressed their opinions. Christophe Diksina Lissidi of Chad wrote:
If a large number of Ghanaians have used this embassy's services to enter the US, there is likely a cell which has infiltrated its immigration services far and wide.
If this information is correct, Americans are not at all safe. The Chinese are no longer the best counterfeiters out there. What with a fake embassy, fake diplomats, fake passports and who knows what else, Africans have become the kings of the counterfeit.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Junior Decastel-bajack Bangobango said:
I don't buy this story; I think it's a big, international charade.


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Chinese Authorities Are Burying Their Heads Not in Sand, But in Smog · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Protesters put masks on statues outside the World Financial Center in Chengdu to protest against toxic smog in the city. Image from Twitterer @caichu88
Nearly two dozen cities in northern China have been hit by smog since late November. The level of fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5, in the air over the past two weeks was above 300 microgram per cubic meter (µg/m³), and in some places above 500 μg/㎥. That much pollutant is hazardous to human health and can cause lung disease, emphysema, lung cancer, or premature death in individuals with existing heart or lung conditions.
On December 15, the Ministry of Environmental Protection gave advice to 23 cities across the country to issue red alert on air pollution. Beijing was the first city to follow the advice and announced a five-day red alert.
A viral photo taken by a Beijing reporter on December 16 from atop a newly built high-rise building in Beijing shows how the smog has affected the city:
What an amazing shot of a smoggy #Beijing below taken from the top of CITIC's new China Zun building! #北京 #雾霾 pic.twitter.com/noX4milXVn
— Grace Han (@g_han) December 17, 2016
Worse still, a recent scientific study found bacterial genes that lead to antibiotic resistance in air samples from Beijing in January 2013 when the city was hit by smog. Though it will take further study to see the implication of the existence of such genes, scientists view it as a threat to public health.
Some studies have estimated that air pollution has caused up to a million premature deaths in China every year. Beijing officials have admitted that China has the world’s worst air pollution problem and vowed to take measures to clean up the air. Last year, Beijing introduced the alert system, and one of the measures taken since early December is the deployment of mist cannons in major cities:
Anti-smog vehicle popular in #China, but experts warn ‘no more effective than high-powered sprinkler’ https://t.co/tLBmtAOLcS pic.twitter.com/LjFcvckQpX
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) December 8, 2016
However, the parade of the mist cannons is ineffective and many see it as a mere political performance for the people. The reappearance of the popular online meme “serving smog to the people” (喂人民服雾), which is a phonetic twist on the Chinese Communist Party motto “serving the people” (為人民服務), in past weeks reflects people’s frustration with the pollution.
Public outcry against air pollution over the past few years has failed to bring about any positive change, stoking widespread discontent. Though officially the problem is acknowledged and authorities have made sure that the sky is blue during major events, such efforts are viewed as superficial.
A recent study conducted by a local Chinese research team showed that after local governments took temporary measures such as shutting down factories and restricting the number of vehicles on streets to create clear skies for political events, pollution levels not only bounced back afterward but rose even higher than they were before the events.
The issuing of red alert compels affected cities to introduce a similar set of temporary measures — the halting of construction, restrictions on cars and the shutting down of factories — that are considered disruptive to people's daily lives and do not address the root cause of the pollution.
In fact, authorities often treat efforts to dig into the cause of toxic smog as disrupting social order, as shown in the crackdown on citizens trying to bring public attention to the problem in Chengdu, a major city in Sichuan province.
Below is a brief report on the citizen action there by U.S based citizen reporter @caichu88:
成都90后在环球金融中心举牌抗议雾霾
2016年12月8日，由于最近成都连续遭到雾霾污染，90后到环球金融中心举牌抗议，要求当局治理雾霾。
从12月6日开始，成都网友转发信息：雾锁蓉城，霾头苦干！草泥马，彭州石化，让我们从成都变成尘都成毒！ pic.twitter.com/GFpIYnvTQc
— Cai Chu (@caichu88) December 9, 2016
The Post-90s generation in Chengdu protested outside the World Finance Center in Chengdu on December 8. Recently, Chengdu was polluted with smog and Post-90s people protested outside the financial center, demanding that the government tackle the problem. Since December 6, a message has gone viral on social media among Chengdu residents: Chengdu trapped in fog. We bury our heads in the smog. Fuckk the para-xylene (PX) chemical factory in Pangzhou, it's turning Chengdu into a toxic city.
Back in 2013, residents in Chengdu rallied against the stage two expansion of a chemical factory in Pangzhou, but the campaign failed. After its expansion, Chengdu has been affected by dark smoke coming from the chemical factory campus since July 2015. Currently, the project has entered the stage three expansion period.
Instead of addressing the public's concerns in Chengdu, the government deployed riot police to stop the protest, and some netizens who uploaded protest placards on social media were detained. On WeChat, all discussions about Chengdu’s smog problem were deleted. Reportedly, the authorities have instructed doctors from Chengdu’s hospitals not to draw any connections between smog and illness.
Twitter user @xiucai1911 mocked the authorities’ approach in dealing with the smog problem:
秀才江湖：【新版掩耳盗铃】“报告领导，雾霾问题已经解决了！”“很好！你们是怎么做到的？”“我们把关于雾霾的文章都删除了，还不许他们戴口罩，还把写文章讨论雾霾的人抓起来了！”
— 秀才江湖 (@xiucai1911) December 13, 2016
New tale about burying one’s head in the sand: “Report to the leader: The problem of the smog has been solved!” “Great! How did you manage to do that?” “We have deleted all posts about the smog, banned people from wearing masks and arrested those who wrote about the smog!”
After the issuing of red alert warning on December 15, there have been more mainstream media reports about the smog and related health advice. However, all the discussions about where the smog is coming from remains banned.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Oiwan Lam


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Educators Respond to Plans to Expand Orthodox Education in Russian Schools · Global Voices
Ben Cohen

Source: Saint Petersburg Theological Academy, Flickr, CC 2.0
In addition to memorizing world capitals and important dates in history, some policymakers in Russia want students to be able identify different kinds of church bells and navigate the Russian Orthodox calendar. On November 29, the newspaper Kommersant reported that it had received plans for a course being reviewed by the Ministry of Education that would significantly increase the amount of class time devoted to the study of Russian Orthodoxy for students from kindergarten to eleventh grade. Members of ministry, Kommersant wrote, were prepared to vote on the measure without formal discussion or deliberation.
Though education policymakers have since confirmed that the course will not be compulsory at the state level, the prospect elicited a variety of interesting responses from educators and raised questions about the cozy relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the government. The proposed course was designed to replace the existing religion curriculum entirely, leaving parents without control over their children’s religious education. The study of religion in Russia’s public schools is currently part of the “Foundations of Religious Culture and Secular Ethics” (ORKSE) curriculum, which is taught to students in their fourth year of primary school. Parents are given a choice between one of many modules to fulfill the 34-hour elective program, including secular ethics, world religious culture, Russian Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism.
The proposed plan called for a dramatic increase in the number of hours spent on religious material—it suggested that 350 hours a year, or up to two lessons per week would be “optimal” for grade levels 5-9. Proposed topics included “Orthodox Christian Understanding of the Meaning of Human Life” and “Distorted Interpretations of Biblical Texts in the Literature of Destructive Sects.”
In the 25 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has struggled to strike a balance between healthily redeveloping religious culture—a major facet of life in Imperial Russia before religion was banned in the USSR—and maintaining a separation of church and state. In 2007, ten prominent scientists sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin decrying increasing religiosity in Russian schools. The current controversy is an extension of this debate over the place of religion in public education and is not the first time this year such plans have been submitted to the ministry. In June, the head of the Russian Academy of Education, Lyudmila Verbitskaya, who once suggested that students study Russian Orthodoxy instead of the novels of Leo Tolstoy or Feodor Dostoyevsky, demanded the review of another Russian Orthodoxy course, though it was later shelved.
Teachers and educators weren’t exactly thrilled with the most recent proposal. Olga Sapukhina, a math and programming teacher in Moscow, wrote on her Facebook page: “What is this about? Is this even ethical? There isn’t enough time for science, discussion continues on the role of topics like astronomy and technical drawing that have been driven out of the curriculum, and we’re going to introduce Russian Orthodoxy? Is there nothing else to teach in school? Do students know everything else perfectly?”
Meanwhile, the European Gymnasium in Moscow supported the opinion of its director, Irina Bogantseva, who also spoke out against the plans in comments given to the public discussion forum “The Question.”
Bogantseva and Sapukhina are certainly not alone: a change.org petition that surfaced after news of the course plan broke now has over 100,000 signatures. The petition, entitled “Ban the teaching of ‘Foundations of Russian Orthodox Culture’ and any other subject imposing religious viewpoints on children in Russian Schools” calls on President Vladimir Putin to address the issue directly.
Education policymakers, indeed, are hesitant about religious education being mandated from above. Commenting on the prospect of compulsory religious education being extended beyond the scope of ORKSE, Vyacheslav Nikonov, the head of the State Duma’s Education Committee, underscored that decisions about deepening religious education should not be made at the federal level: “I think that, in any case, the choice to study or not study the culture of Russian Orthodoxy should lie with parents and pupils.”
After the plans were leaked, Russian Minister of Education Olga Vasilieva released a statement affirming that the course would not be mandatory after all. “In order for this option to be considered further or promoted, I stress that experts should have gotten together to discuss, that is, absentee voting on the issue is inappropriate here” she said, referring to the proposed vote on the plan that never occurred.
Inasmuch as Vasiliyeva seemed to discredit the review process for the course plan, the content of the plans themselves seemed to escape her criticism. Given her background, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Vasiliyeva's appointment to the Education Ministry raised eyebrows earlier this year when it was revealed that she has close ties to the Russian Orthodox Church (and holds controversial opinions about the legacy of Joseph Stalin). In August, the Russian Orthodox Church released a statement on its website regarding Vasiliyeva's appointment, declaring “The Lord has generously endowed you with talent, which you have successfully made use of in the many stages of your service.”
Still, the proposed course was popular with some social media users, who argued that teaching Russian Orthodoxy is important for the preservation of Russian culture.
@T55283 @VAricx мы теряем национальную самоидентичность, не заметили? А ОНИ НЕТ! введение в школах основ православия может быть посл шанс
— Сергей Баранов (@JDmOkuiUluRaA9Z) December 10, 2016
We are losing our national identity haven't you noticed? They haven't! Introducing foundations of Russian Orthodoxy in schools may be the last chance.
Freedom of religion is protected under Article 14 of the Russian constitution. While a 2008 Pew Research Center survey found that 72 percent of Russian citizens identify as Russian Orthodox, Russia is home to a significant Muslim minority—14 million people, or 10 percent of the population identifies as Muslim.
Ahmed Makhmetov's Facebook post.
In Russia's Tatarstan Region, over 50 percent of the population is Muslim, potentially posing issues for the implementation of a mandatory course that endorses Russian Orthodoxy as a foundational part of Russian national identity. Ahmed Makhmetov, who works for the Islamic Clerical Administration in Saratov Oblast in southwestern Russia, was baffled by the news. “A schoolgirl is forbidden from wearing a headscarf because we have education of the secular type, but studying Russian Orthodoxy more deeply is normal?” he wrote on his Facebook page.

author: Ben Cohen


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In Addition to Innovation, Journalism Needs Trusted Communities · Global Voices
Zara Rahman

IMAGE: Public domain from Pixabay.
A few weeks ago, I received the unexpected news that I’d been awarded a Shuttleworth Flash Grant – one of the Shuttleworth Foundation's “small grants to a collection of social change agents, no strings attached, in support of their work.” They're given to people nominated by existing fellows, and really do come with no strings attached.
I was happy to get it, and naturally it made me ask: what's the most useful way of spending that money?
I looked at their site for inspiration, and found this about their flagship Fellowship programme:
To help us get there, we identify amazing people with innovative ideas, give them a fellowship grant, and multiply the money they put into their own project by a factor of ten or more.
So here's the thing: I don't think we need only innovative ideas or world-changing projects. We also need trust, communities, and skills. We need to strengthen and support existing infrastructure and communities. I worry that we've become far too fixated upon quickly implemented innovation and disruption, and that we're taking a lot of important things for granted—things we rely upon that, unlike “innovative ideas”, take a lot of time and effort to build.
“I believe trusted communities, not individuals, are at the heart of sustaining change”
This Aeon essay details how we have come to value innovation over maintenance, but how maintenance, repair and infrastructure matter far more in many areas of life. I agree with many of the points in the essay, and I also know that there are far too few funding structures for organisations or communities who are addressing those issues.
Within the non-profit world, there are lots of initiatives supporting innovation, such as UNICEF's Innovation Fund, the Global Innovation Fund, and the Knight Innovation Fund. But I can think of very few who fund the maintenance—or the plumbing, as the Aeon essay refers to it.
With all that in mind, and knowing that many organisations and communities I know and respect are operating in incredibly resource-limited situations, I've decided to donate part of my grant.
There are two organisations I'm involved with who have built up trust, and whom others rely on —and, I fear, take somewhat for granted. I know too, that their ‘pitch’ is far less sexy than that of some organisations focused on “innovation”, but I strongly believe their offering is far more crucial.
“Infrastructure, communities and trust take a long, long time to build—and without support, all those gains can all too quickly disappear.”
One of them is the Human Rights Data Analysis Group, an organisation that “applies rigorous science to the analysis of human rights violations around the world.”
The other is Global Voices. At a time when trust in media, at least in the US, is at an all-time low Global Voices is providing trustworthy coverage from all corners of the world. Many media organisations are focusing on “audience engagement” and “community engagement”, but the Global Voices community is the only I've come across who are doing this in a genuinely meaningful way.
With their help and support, over 1,400 people from that audience are authors, translators and editors. Their volunteer authors (myself included!) are engaging in a substantive and useful way by writing about their situations, shaped by their own local knowledge and perspective. All of them also bring their own, personal communities—and together, that constitutes an incredibly powerful, and trusted community reporting on stories that otherwise get far too little coverage.
Also of note is the diversity of stories they cover, and the way they do that. Being a non-profit organisation at heart, they don't write to get clicks on advertisements. They write to share stories from their own local contexts to help others understand parts of the world that, at times, might feel ever so far away. That kind of shared understanding and bridge-building is exactly what we need right now…. Infrastructure, communities and trust takes a long, long time to build—but without support, all those gains can all too quickly disappear.
Relatively speaking, neither of the donations I’m making is particularly large. But I'd love to encourage others—especially those who rely upon communities and organisations like the two above—to think about what deserves our support, and what we take for granted.
Infrastructure, communities and trust take a long, long time to build—and without support, all those gains can all too quickly disappear.

author: Zara Rahman


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Ode to Fallen Dreamers: Syria’s Young Revolutionaries · Global Voices
Budour Hassan

Syrian Revolutionary Youth Banner
“The only revenge to which I aspire is witnessing the triumph of the noble ideals for which I fought, and for which so many men and women in this country have lost their lives and their freedom.”
— Marcos Ana, Communist poet who spent 23 years in General Franco’s prisons
For those of us not living under shelling or siege in Syria, we have the luxury of avoiding or trying to avoid viewing the public spectacle of cruelty and death.
In a futile attempt at escaping the current horrors in Aleppo and Idlib, I sought shelter under the familiar instead: the Syrian uprising’s vast visual archive of demonstrations, sit-ins, flash-mobs, and graffiti campaigns.
Through the footage we’ve inherited, we are witness to even the most minuscule of protests in long-forsaken rural peripheries, each significant enough for somebody to upload to YouTube along with their greatest hopes.
The Syrian Revolutionary Youth symbol graffitied on a Damascus wall. Source: Marxsite.
Whether having access to such a memory trove is a blessing or a curse, I now have no idea. What I am certain of is that my sinking into nostalgia has proven to be equally painful, for today I know the future that would have awaited the hopeful.
When Syrians originally published this footage, we read it as a testament to The World and to fellow Syrians of their existence. Years later, in hindsight, we might now wonder if they had also hoped to ensure that when the inevitable flames of nihilism and civil war burn down their land—present and future—they would still be able to salvage fragments of their collective memory from the ashes of revisionism. That maybe they sought to preserve a corpus of incontestable evidence to prove to themselves that they did indeed rise up—that this was not a fleeting daydream. That even after the conqueror and his jubilant entourage take a victory lap on the ruins of their homeland, Syrians could still hang on to the songs they once sang, the streets they once marched on, the squares they once possessed.
To cope with my helplessness in the face of carnage; to guard the remaining shreds of my sanity; to convince myself that 2011 and 2012 actually happened and were not a chapter mistakenly thrown out of a dystopian novel, I often feel the need to go back to those videos, particularly the ones uploaded by the Syrian Revolutionary Youth. I chant with them, gasp at their courage, and wonder: How many of those chanting in the videos are still alive? Is it easier to count the living than to count the now dead among them?
How could such a flickering outburst of hope be so haunting, so unimaginably rousing? How could the voices of a group of fearless youngsters be so loud, louder than the missiles, louder than the bullets, louder than the raucous chorus praising the Eternal Leader, and louder than the bombastic speeches given by sectarian preachers with millions of followers on social media?
Banner with the demands of the Syrian Revolutionary Youth reading: Dignity, social justice, citizenship, civil state, equality, fair judiciary, separation of powers, health insurance, women's rights, human rights, social security, free education, democracy, freedom of expression, independent media, separation of religion and state. Bread and Freedom.
Remember when the Syrian Revolutionary Youth chanted for bread, freedom and social justice at a time when the elites of the political opposition insisted that this revolution was mainly about liberty and electoral democracy?
Remember when they gathered in their Damascene neighborhood of Rukneddine and serenaded Gaza, and then one of their comrades, a Palestinian refugee from Haifa, added: “O, Haifa, we’re with you till death!”?
Remember how they worked and organized together, men and women, not because of an imposed quota but because they genuinely believed in gender equality?
Remember how they mocked and rejected foreign intervention at a time when the elites of the political opposition were busy groveling to the United States and other outside powers?
Remember how they opted to remain independent and refused external funding when many, more famous groups had already begun to rely on foreign aid dictated by donor agendas?
Remember how they braved the crackdown and defied Syria’s notorious intelligence and security apparatus, week in and week out until June 2013, to show their support for besieged towns and cities?
Remember how encouraging their stance for real national unity was amid rising incitement and fear-mongering?
It probably matters little now, but they deserve to be remembered and honored.
They were beautiful and they were young, and they had hearts as big as Syria.
They were stubborn, erratic and slightly reckless. And they were outrageously courageous—far too courageous.
Now many of them have gone so soon, without goodbyes. They are gone now, but their voices remain and, alongside that, our permanent guilt.
It was on 30 December 2013 that nine members of the Syrian Revolutionary Youth were arrested by Syrian security forces: two were abducted from college in the afternoon and seven were taken from a house in Rukneddine in a night raid.
Six of them were killed under torture in Syrian regime jails, one by one, dream by dream: Roudin Ajek, Fayez al-Ayoubi, brothers Muaz and Qusai Burhan, Amer Zaza, and Imad Ghanam.
In December 2014, Amer and Imad’s deaths under torture were finally confirmed, months after their actual death, by a cold, ruthlessly indifferent phone call from security forces to their family members: “Your brother is dead. Come receive his identification card and belongings.”
Syrians are repeatedly asked to provide hard evidence to corroborate claims of massacres by the Syrian regime. But how can the parents, relatives, and friends of those killed under torture present such proof when all they are given is a wet piece of paper and the last scarf worn by their loved ones during their arrest? How can they satisfy the neutral, professional obsession with accuracy and verification when they have no clue where their beloved are buried, if buried at all, how they were tortured, and even why they were taken in the first place?
Imad Ghanam was not yet twenty-six when he was killed under torture. A founding member of the Syrian Revolutionary Youth, an unarmed leftist collective in Damascus, Imad was first arrested along with two other members of the Syrian Revolutionary Youth in November 2012. They survived and were released in February 2013.
Months later, on 31 May 2013, Palestinians marked the Global Day of Solidarity with the Syrian People by holding a small protest in occupied Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate. Imad asked me to carry a banner for the Syrian Revolutionary Youth during that protest. “This way we can fulfill our dream of visiting Jerusalem, if only through a banner.”
His eloquence and political maturity were striking, and his commitment to the Palestinian cause was remarkable. “The Palestinian struggle has inspired our revolution,” he added, “and Palestine is present in our protests not only through the flags, signs, and chants, but also through the Palestinian refugees who protest with us all the time.”
Imad had moved to Egypt following his release. He stayed there only briefly before deciding to go back to Syria. It was risky, but the young man was too attached to Syria and to the uprising and chose them over the safety of exile.
I could not get in touch with Imad again after his return to Syria. I could never tell him how much I missed him or ask him how he was doing.
When you have friends who live under the imminent threat of arrest, forced disappearance, or shelling, make sure to constantly remind them how much they mean to you. Do not postpone the call or the message until tomorrow for tomorrow may never come. Savor your conversations with them, hold on to their memories, cherish their smiles, remember their first words and the final song you shared with them. Do not simply expect that they will reply the next time you write or call. And do not take their presence for granted.
Another friend whose presence we took for granted is Jihad Asa’ad Muhammad. Perhaps it was because he was outspoken and prolific. Maybe it was because his writings articulated all that we failed to say, or maybe because we thought he was too strong for absence. But it has been three years, four months and seven days since his arrest. The man who powerfully portrayed the heroic struggle of the mothers of the disappeared in Syria, is now himself forcibly disappeared.
When you have friends who disappear, you first count the days since anyone last heard from them. The days then turn into months. Now, we are counting in years. These years flirt with our fading hope and test our fragile resolve yet we cling to the mothers’ unshakable faith. Umm Jihad’s heart tells her that he will return soon, and you must always trust a mother’s heart. Somehow.
But when Jihad is released, how will we look him in the eye and admit that the revolution has been defeated? That Syrians have been trapped between an emboldened dictator and a litany of warlords vying for power and control and profiting from people’s suffering? That our demands have been reduced to merely pleading with experts, analysts and war tourists to just shut up for a moment so that we might mourn in silence and count our dead in peace?
When Jihad is released and asks us about Homs, Aleppo, Qalamoun, Mleiha, Harasta, Zabadani, Douma and Yarmouk, what are we supposed to say?
And when he asks us about his friends who we know have been killed under torture or about his family that has been dispersed and torn apart, do we just point to the wreckage or to his father’s grave and remain silent? Or do we simply ask him to sing? Sing for the fallen and for those fooling death; sing for the shattered dreams, the Syria that might have been, and for dreamers who will never be forgotten?
“In the dark times                                                                                Will there also be singing?                                                                                Yes, there will also be singing                                                                                About the dark times.”

author: Budour Hassan


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Domestic-Murder Spree Clouds Christmas in Jamaica · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

“Sadness behind the Caribbean sunshine”: […] Domestic violence is a growing problem; photo by United Bible Societies, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
As 2016 draws to a close, Jamaicans might agree that the year has yielded some progress on the economic front, holding some hope for 2017. But a dark cloud remains: homicides — most of them in certain areas of the island.
In particular, the recent murders of several women by their partners (or exes) has shocked the country, sparking a sometimes heated debate about Jamaicans’ perceived inability to resolve disputes, as well as the tricky dynamics of male-female relationships.
Each case — including the high-profile uptown murder of a pregnant woman by her boyfriend — has revealed certain painful realities of interpersonal conflict in Jamaican society. The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) reports that 24 women were killed in domestic disputes this year — a 60 percent increase in women killed in intimate-partner violence, compared to 2015.
Reactions from activists to the spate of femicides have grown increasingly vocal. The hashtag #Beyond16Days, which refers to the “16 Days of Activism” that ended on Dec. 10 (Human Rights Day) remains in use. One activist stressed:
I don't want to know what she did or what you thought she did, there's no reason to take her life! #SaveHerLife pic.twitter.com/j2xMJYmArC
— #SpunkyWoman (@embraceherflow) December 16, 2016
In Jamaican slang, “bun” means to cheat on a partner, and “jacket” refers to a bastard child — an inference that the man whom the woman is passing off as the child's father is a cuckold.
Besides unemployment, the issue of violence and abuse — domestic violence in particular — was the top concern among rural women at a workshop organized by the 51% Coalition and Fi Wi Jamaica in rural areas of the country in March, 2016. Photo by the author, used with permission.
The community-based Women's Resource and Outreach Centre issued a press release, noting some push factors and proposing certain measures:
Too many men and women are engulfed in historically rooted patterns of violence, poverty and underdevelopment and have not been afforded, across generations, to lift themselves into leading productive and rewarding lives.
The system of patriarchy continues to socialize men into a false belief that they have the right to control women, even by the most violent means. Consequently, gender-based violence including rape, intimate partner violence (or domestic violence), sexual harassment and incest, committed mainly against women and girls, seems almost ‘normal’ in some communities.
Measures that have been taken to address gender-based violence in the society […] have generally been ineffective. […] Promises are repeated that the National Strategic Action Plan to Eliminate Gender-based Violence ‘soon come’. The latest promise was just a few weeks ago.
At the operational level, citizens continue to complain of inadequate responses by the security forces to complaints that are lodged at the station. Added to this is the general fear that grips many due to the continuing high levels of violence in the society. […]
A comprehensive response is needed; one involving the state, civil society and the private sector to implement the many measures put forward.
Concerns remain over the way police handle incidents of domestic violence — for example, in the case of the murder of a young Ocho Rios woman by her boyfriend. Yolande Gyles Levy observed:
We tell women to report instances of abuse to the police. They do. The police warn the man. The man still kills the woman.
— EmpressYolie (@jahmekyagyal) December 15, 2016
One young Jamaican man tweeted:
Stop killing your girlfriends and wives please. They aren't possessions yuh just dash weh when u done.
— Cevan ? (@cevancoore) December 16, 2016
Wayne Campbell, a blogger and commentator on gender and educational issues, advocated a “He For She” approach, arguing:
The society needs to increase the awareness of the scope of gender-based violence and its impact on the target and the society through pointed public education campaigns. There is also an urgent need to engage more men and boys to join the effort in eliminating violence against women. The education system also has an integral role to play in eradicating gender-based violence by infusing gender-based violence into the National Standards Curriculum. We also need to ensure that our National Gender Policy for Gender Equality is gender-neutral in order to address discrimination against all genders. The government through Parliament should legislate and ensure the enforcement of laws to prevent violence against women. We need to ensure that gender-sensitive training becomes compulsory for the Jamaica Constabulary Force as well as the Jamaica Defense Force so as to better equip officers to deal with such forms of violence. We also need to create more partnerships with non-governmental organizations, civil society, churches and other stakeholders in addressing all forms of violence. The creation of safe spaces for the survivors of gender-based violence should be of utmost importance to policy makers if the State is serious in tackling gender-based violence, at least one such facility should be in each parish.
In the words of Barack Obama, empowering women isn’t just the right thing to do-it’s the smart thing to do.
At times, differing perspectives created friction on social media, like when women objected to the tone of an unattributed article in the women's supplement of the Jamaica Observer newspaper. Some women's advocates were also angered by the regular inclusion of Dr. Herbert Gayle — a male academic whose analysis they consider to be weak and biased against women — on media panels regarding women's rights. (Dr. Gayle maintains that 40 percent of men are battered by their female partners).
However, one leading journalist, Dionne Jackson Miller, defended Dr. Gayle's inclusion in discussions on gender issues.
Other Twitter users, like social worker Peta Ann Baker, tackled the issue of victim blaming:
@suezeecue @Anrkiss I wonder how many of the ppl pontificatg abt & blaming wym 4 #VAW kno what vulnerability&powerlessness really feel like?
— PetaAnneBaker (@PA13Baker) December 18, 2016
Young human rights activist Jaevion Nelson observed:
We need to stop skirting around the issue of rape, sexual harassment and other forms of sexual abuse that continue to affect countless women and girls in Jamaica. We can no longer afford to pretend that this is not a grave issue and quip that it's feminists and human-rights activists who are blowing the matter out of proportion to advance their agenda (whatever that is). We also need to recognise that women from all walks of life are affected and that it is incumbent on all of us to play our part to end violence against our women and girls…
We desperately need to prioritise addressing this kind of violence and end the lip service. Statements on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimation of All Forms of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW) and activities organised by myriad stakeholders between November 25 and December 10 are encouraging. We need to go beyond that.
We need to encourage parliamentarians, business leaders, civil society, schools and churches to begin to organise more and discuss how violence against women and girls affect our society more routinely. We need to work collectively, not to find solutions, but to fund, support and build on what we know works.
Development specialist Dane Richardson reflected on a series of headlines:
Had 2 reflect after looking at my unread stories. Must acknowledge gains but identify more solutions. 2 more deaths are too many #EndVAW pic.twitter.com/hA9Uw5ykL9
— Dane Richardson (@danoxid) December 17, 2016
While outrage continues on social media and the issue of gender-based violence remains a hot topic in broadcast media, some are concerned that the talk needs to be translated into action:
@GiovanniRDennis where is the church? Why aren't we protesting in hwt about this sudden act of violence against women.
— Virgo Royalty ♍ (@ItsmeReeny) December 16, 2016
(HWT is an acronym for “Half Way Tree,” the central hub of the capital city, Kingston.)
Where does Jamaica go from here? Gender Affairs Minister Olivia Grange recently announced that a committee to review several pieces of legislation related to women's issues will be reconvened in 2017, seeking to allay concerns that the Holness administration has not addressed the issue since it came into power in February. Additionally, the government's Bureau of Gender Affairs has re-established its Male Desk, where men needing counseling or advice can seek help.
A representative of the Denham Town Community Development Centre and Justice of the Peace speaks at a Human Rights Forum in September, 2016 on the inadequate response of the police to gender-based violence. Photo by the author, used with permission.
There is undoubtedly a sense of urgency surrounding the issue, and civil society presses on with activities to empower women and girls. Development specialist and outspoken activist Damien Williams shared his thoughts about the longstanding Nuh Guh Deh (Don't Go There) campaign in Jamaica:
Yesterday, Eve for Life hosted a very important and necessary forum: ‘Nuh guh deh! Mobilising Communities to protect the girl child’. Why is this an indispensable work? Because change must start at the micro or grassroots level. The girl child exists in communities that raise her. These communities must be empowered to raise the empowered girl child. Too often, we work with building children, only to send the back in broken homes and communities. […] The advocacy has to reach the community and create the groundswell in the community for sustainable change. […] We ALL have our part to play.
Located in a volatile area of Kingston, the Denham Town Community Development Centre has also been conducting workshops for community members on gender-based violence, but had to curtail them last month — ironically, due to an upsurge of violence.

author: Emma Lewis


text:
In India, Moviegoers Are Expected to Stand for the National Anthem—Or Else · Global Voices
Kisholoy Mukherjee

Chennai theatres play the national anthem before the main picture starts rolling, in accordance with the Supreme Court's ruling. Screenshot from YouTube Video by Netalert The Hindu
The tradition of playing the national anthem in Indian cinema halls is old, but laws making it mandatory are fairly new. In 2003, the Maharashtra state government made it mandatory that the national anthem be played at cinemas in that state. According Narendra Verma, the politician who proposed it, the anthem would unite people together when played at cinemas since millions of people watch movies every day.
But that was only one state. Now, every cinema hall across the country must play the national anthem along with visuals of the Indian national flag before the start of the film, following a directive issued by the Supreme Court of India on November 30, 2016.
The court also declared that the ruling should be followed in “letter and spirit” by moviegoers, meaning those present should remain standing while the anthem is played.
Following the ruling, people at cinemas have been targeted by both state forces as well as self-proclaimed vigilantes for not standing. There have also been reports of people being assaulted on this pretext.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, 12 people were detained, albeit for a brief period, in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the Indian state of Kerala, for allegedly disrespecting the nation by not getting to their feet while the anthem was played at the International Film Festival, Kerala. These arrests were also followed by protests at the festival venue. The protesters remarked that such arrests were a threat to democracy.
Kerala writer Kamal C Chavara was arrested on charges of sedition over a satirical Facebook post he published in response to people being detained.
Even those with disabilities have not been spared. Writer and disability activist Salil Chaturvedi, who uses a wheelchair, was assaulted from behind for not standing.
What we feared as consequence of SC's absurd order on National Anthem is happening. It's promoting Vigilantism!https://t.co/JzD57Ej7fo
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) December 11, 2016
Several arguments against the logic behind the court's ruling have been put forward. For instance, a South African woman, whose Indian boyfriend had been assaulted over her not standing up during the anthem in a Mumbai cinema hall, pointed out how she found the concept of nationalism to be narrow as it homogenized a diverse population. Besides, she also had no geopolitical commitments towards India, but none of this meant that she was disrespecting the nation or the anthem.
Similarly, some have argued that playing the national anthem before the start of a film is actually an insult to the anthem. Noted secularist Ram Puniyani had a perspective along similar lines, saying that the court's ruling is tantamount to curtailing civil liberties. In his words:
While a decade ago the Court could rule in favor of the individual liberty; now it seems the trend is just the opposite as ‘love for mother land, nationalism, patriotism’ are being flaunted at the drop of the hat. All those not agreeing with the policies of the ruling government are being dubbed anti national, it is being said that they are ‘not patriots’.
Just as some individuals are not taking the diktat all that seriously, not all cinema halls are strictly falling in line, reports suggest.
Mixed reactions have emerged on Twitter as well. Image maker Sanal Kumar Sasidhar remarked:
Feeling sorry for our national anthem. The forced nationalism sucks #IFFK
— Sanal Kumar Sasidhar (@sanalsasidharan) December 9, 2016
A Twitter user called Suhail shared a photo of an interesting letter to the editor, calling it the “perfect retort to the national anthem debate”:
I go to the cinema to relax and amuse myself, not to show my patriotism to my fellow countrymen. People who question my patriotism can come to my house. I will make it mandatory for them to sing the national anthem before they enter. -Prince Bharadwaj, Asansol
But for Yogesh Viswanathan, not standing up while the national anthem is being played is indeed a mark of disrespect that can be avoided:
#iffk 52 seconds can't u stand for #NationalAnthem ? If u can't stand outside for 52 seconds, don't insult by doing something.
— Yogesh Viswanathan (@yogstwits) December 14, 2016
Interestingly, some are arguing that despite the Supreme Court's ruling, people still aren't legally bound to stand up when the national anthem is played at a cinema hall. There have been allegations of judicial overreach, since the courts are not supposed to don the role of the legislature:
Remember, none of these directions have any statutory backing. There is no law which is being implemented, nor are any fundamental rights being violated in the absence of such a law. That, however, does not stop the court as it assumes for itself the role of the legislature, executive and judiciary in one go, claiming an extra-constitutional power that is the hallmark of absolute tyrants.

author: Kisholoy Mukherjee


text:
Kazakh TV Channel Famed for Fake News in Hot Water after Fake Interview · Global Voices
Akhal-Tech Collective

Screenshot from YouTube video of a non-interview aired on Kazakh government-controlled media.
Я считаю, что это очень неудачная шутка, которая в первую очередь бьет по репутации Первого канала “Евразия”. К сожалению, это может привести к тому, что когда с этого канала будет звучать реально достоверная новость, население может принять это за фейковую новость.
I think it is a very unfortunate joke, that first and foremost damages the reputation of the First Channel “Eurasia”. Unfortunately, it could lead to a situation in which, when that channel provides real news, the population can view it as fake news.
Such was the verdict of Dauren Abayev, Kazakhstan's Information Minister, on the scandal that lit up the Kaznet, as the Kazakh internet space is commonly referred to.
The “joke” Abayev noted was an interview that appeared on the First Channel Eurasia, a channel that is majority-owned by the Kazakh government with Russia's government-run ‘First Channel’ holding a 20% stake.
In it one of the channel's leading news presenters, Aimira Shaukentayeva, answered questions apparently posed by Vladimir Pozner, Russia's most famous interviewer and a rare independent voice on Russian television.
The channel did not alert viewers to the fact that the interview was not real at the time it aired, and did not admit it was a “joke” until after a furore on social media and a refutation by “representatives of Vladimir Pozner” carried by various privately owned Kazakh media outlets.
In the interview, viewers learned that Shaukentayeva's favourite quality in a man is “masculinity”, her favourite quality in a woman is “femininity” and that her most prized characteristic is the “ability to dream”.
В эфир Первого канала Казахстана вышел фейковый выпуск программы «Познер», гостем которой стала местная журналисткаhttps://t.co/hxkYsDzPmE pic.twitter.com/juIKC8VXrX
— TJ (@tjournal) December 19, 2016
Local journalist features in a fake release of the Pozner programme.
The channel whose approach to journalism is essentially a cruder version of the propaganda that features on the airwaves of its Russian minority stakeholder has since fired the programme's main architect, Shaukentayeva's co-presenter Ruslan Smykov.
To explain why such a seemingly trivial fake interview was such a big deal, it is worth referring back to an article written by longtime Kazakhstan analyst Joanna Lillis in June.
The article was written in the aftermath of protests that rocked Kazakhstan after the government attempted to make controversial amendments to the country's land code that would have benefited foreign commercial operations.
Aimira Shaukentayeva reads her news bulletins with a stony and ferocious demeanor. But on the turn of a dime, her voice softens as she warns with matronly concern of the threats besieging Kazakhstan.
For many, Shaukentayeva, a newsreader on First Channel Eurasia – a station jointly owned by the Kazakhstani state and a Russian TV channel – has emerged as the most recognizable face of an increasingly aggressive propaganda assault on the Kazakhstani government's critics.
The pushback of the authorities against a wave of land reform protests is being conducted on two fronts, but with one aim: to smear and discredit. Prosecutors have suggested the demonstrators who came out onto the streets on May 21 were plotting to overthrow the government — a possible prelude to a ratcheting-up of criminal cases against activists. The battle for hearts and minds is being waged by journalists like Shaukentayeva, who was speaking of outside forces stoking a plot to foment bloodshed weeks before the prosecutor’s office claimed that is what it was.
Below is the now-infamous May news report in which Shaukentayeva and Smykov accused participants in the land protests of receiving dollar payments for participation in the rallies.
The evidence base for their claim is laughably vague footage of unidentifiable humans exchanging and stuffing dollar bills into their pockets.
At the end of the sequence Smykov says that the footage was aired “in the interests of the homeland.”
This is how they sell us out. And note the currency! Not even in Kazakh tenge [currency] but in US dollars! It is clear who ordered [these protests].
This particular episode of ‘fake news’ was seen by some as evidence that when pushed, Kazakhstan's government would resort to Moscow-style Washington-blaming in order to deflect public criticism, despite the fact Kazakhstan and the U.S. enjoy fairly strong relations.
Others viewed it as evidence that the Kremlin was launching a full-scale invasion of the country's media space in order to protect a friendly government from a ‘colour revolution’ of the type seen in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine.
At any rate, the country's chattering classes have been quick to ridicule the channel both in the case of the grainy ‘paid protester’ footage and the interview that never happened with Vladimir Pozner.
One of the Kaznet's leading voices Rinat Balgabayev joked:
I don't watch TV and until yesterday, I thought that Smykov and Shaukentayeva were puppet characters directed by people under the table, like Khryushi and Stepashi.
For reference, Khryushi and Stepashi are below:
YouTube screenshot of Khryushi and Stepashi, a popular Russian-language puppet program.

author: Akhal-Tech Collective


text:
Kenya Internet Report Charts Increases in Access, E-Commerce and Arrests of Bloggers · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Hackathon at iHub, a technology incubator in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo by Erik Hersman via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
The Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) is a community organization that represents a group of local online-content creators and seeks to empower innovation in this field and improve the quality of content created on the Web. On Nov. 28, BAKE released its State of the Internet in Kenya 2016.
The report, which is available to download, was produced as part of BAKE’s iFreedoms Kenya program, which promotes human rights and media rights online through documentation, public interest litigation, policy intervention, advocacy, and training.
The report addresses Internet-related issues that took place in Kenya over the past year. Report highlights:
Kenya's growing population of Internet users has had significant effects on the country's media and entertainment industry. According to the national Communications Authority's latest quarterly Sector Statistics Report, the data-Internet market reached 26.8 million customers, while the estimated number of Internet users grew to 37.7 million users.
Kenya’s mobile penetration has increased from 89.2 percent to 90 percent, while the percentage of people who use a smartphone to access the Internet in Kenya has increased from 27 percent in 2014 to 44 percent in 2016.
The report notes that there are 6.1 million Kenyans on Facebook and 2.2 million Kenyans who use Twitter at least once a month — with 1 million of these people checking Twitter every day.  WhatsApp has 10 million users, Instagram has 3 million users, and 1.5 million Kenyans use LinkedIn.
Blogging is a growing profession in Kenya, as evidenced by the growth in niche-area blogs and employment in the sector. Lifestyle, business, and creative writing blogs recorded growth during the period, while fewer people are now reading political and entertainment blogs.
The report tracked the 36 most active blogs within the BAKE server, as well as stats from individual blogs, between October 2015 and October 2016. Analysis of the data shows that Kenya's blogging scene has grown enormously in terms of monthly readership.
Monthly visits increased by 46 percent, from 12.4 million to 18.1 million.
The lifestyle category has seen the highest growth, recording 69 percent, followed by business blogs, with 46 percent and creative writing at 36 percent. The readership of political blogs decreased by 47 percent, however, followed by entertainment, at a 37-percent drop.
The industry has also grown to offer legitimate career paths employing full-time writers. Platforms like HapaKenya, Techweez, Tuko, Ghafla! and Soko Directory have full-time staff on their payroll.
The cover of State of the Internet in Kenya 2016.
According to the report, bloggers and journalists in Kenya were arrested at least 60 times in the past year. Most of these individuals were arrested on a Friday and held until the next Monday, in efforts by the police to intimidate people against self-expression.
The report also documents human-rights issues facing groups such as LGBTIQ people in Kenya. Cyber bullying and harassment are common threats to LGBTIQ Kenyans. LGBTIQ persons, unlike other cases of online bullying or shaming, do not have legal recourse, the report concludes, because the institutions do not recognize their rights as protected human rights.
The Kenya’s digital economy is growing and transforming different sectors of the economy, including agriculture, financial services, health, and education. Internet access costs are now dramatically cheaper, since the arrival of submarine fibre optic cables in 2007.
An example of the growth of Kenya's digital economy is the acquisition of gossip blog Ghafla! by Ringier, a Switzerland-based media group with an integrated and diversified value creation chain.
BAKE's report was produced with support from organisations including Internews Network, HIVOS, and Article 19.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Lives Without Dignity in Thailand’s Female Prisons · Global Voices
Prachatai

Image from Prachatai
This edited article by Kritsada Supawatanakul is from Prachatai, an independent news site in Thailand, and is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement. The text was translated by Suluck Lamubol.
Prisons in Thailand still fail to recognize the basic rights of female prisoners, depriving women of essential health services and goods from sanitary pads to bras. Overburdened prisons due to Thailand’s harsh drug laws aggravate the current situation. This report reveals the devastating condition of female prisons in Thailand, places where women detainees live without dignity.
During my visits to prisons, female prisoners told me they receive bras through donations from outsiders. Oversized and so old they are no longer elastic, those bras are home to different types of fungus. Tick, an inmate, narrates her experience:
Whenever they give out bras, we will all go crazy. Bras are usually distributed by room but [what bra you get] also depends on whether you have any connection to the room leader. If you don’t get along well with the room leader, you will get the leftover bras without a chance to choose. Often I always get bras and pants that are too large, so I have to give them away.
The same goes for sanitary pads. We have to sign a form before getting a pack. They are bad quality and barely have any glue. When we wear them, sometimes we have to use rubber bands to hold them against our underwear. One time, a prisoner was running and the pad just dropped out onto the middle of the exercise field.
Since money is required to access basic goods in prison, incarceration can create financial strife for inmates who rely on borrowing. Pla, another prisoner, shares her experience:
We can withdraw a maximum of 300 baht per day (8 US dollars), an increase from the previous 200 baht maximum. I cannot live on that small amount so I have to take loans ‘from the inside’. But the interest rate is 20 per cent per four days. There are so many creditors-cum-prisoners who have gotten quite rich. Even though the authorities are aware of this, they don’t really want to intervene. If the borrowers do not have the money to pay back, the foodstuffs sent by their relatives are confiscated.
As for work, sometimes we have to do jobs like rolling cigarettes or folding gold leaf used in temples. Each worker needs to produce 400–600 pieces per day to earn about 100 baht every 3-4 months. Who said one doesn’t need money in prison? You do need money to survive.
As for food, she asks me if I have ever had ‘cold water mama’: instant noodles with cold water since the prison doesn’t provide hot water. Food in prison is repetitive and of low quality. She once ate porridge with chicken feet and pork so gummy that she couldn’t chew.
That was the situation before the junta came into power in 2016. After that, they were barred from even cooking.
After the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) seized power in May 2014, the Department of Correction that administers Thailand’s prisoners was affected heavily. The result was new restrictions on prisoners’ lives.
Auyphon Suthonsanyakorn, the facilitator of the ‘From Heart to Heart’ program that works on the long-term rehabilitation of female prisoners, told Prachatai that women have faced many new challenges in prison since the NCPO came into power.
They have ordered female prisoners not to take anything up to the sleeping hall. They are only allowed to take three pieces of tissue paper with them. But women have specific needs: some are on their period, some wear glasses. They are also barred from taking books. Some women like to write in their diaries and some read prayer books before going to bed. But the NCPO gave a sweeping order to prevent any of that. Prison guards told me they are afraid of being found guilty if they don’t follow the orders.
Women prisoners are entitled to health services from the state. They are entitled to access public health services under the national health security scheme like any other citizens. But since prisons are overburdened and underfunded, the solution for women prisoners in reality is to simply ‘not get sick.’
“Inside, they always said do not get sick because you only ever get paracetamol to cure everything,” Auyphon Suthonsanyakorn said.
In some cases, prisoners face verbal abuse from health professionals. In the case of Tick, who returned to prison after giving birth, she had to see the doctor inside the prison.
The stitch that I had got infected. I told a male doctor that but he didn’t even bother to look at it. He said it’d be fine and gave me paracetamol.
He is the in-house doctor there and couldn’t be more rude. When he examined my record, he asked me, ‘How did you get pregnant when you’re so ugly?’. He also asked if the child has a father, or if I was sleeping around. I was so pissed off I cursed back at him. I got punished for that.
Women prisoners who live within a smaller compound within a larger male prison face even more problems than those in women’s correctional institutes or in the women’s sections of large central prisons. This is because women prisoners in male prison do not have their own medical unit, but have to share services with male inmates. They are given access to health services only after male inmates are finished, due to prison regulations that male and female prisoners are not allowed to mingle.
Auyphon Suthonsanyakorn mentioned an incident which reflects the situation of the health service in central prisons:
I’ve seen a case where a woman inmate got really sick and could not get up. She was lying there for many days. When I got in that day, she also had a high fever. When I touched her knee, it was really hot and swollen and badly infected. Yet she wasn’t taken to hospital. Some officers agreed it was a serious case, but they didn’t have enough authority.
Luckily, that inmate’s relatives requested that she be transferred to a hospital when she could not bring herself to meet them. The doctor later said that if she had come to the hospital just a bit later, she might have ended up at her own funeral.
The situation is comparable in central prisons, where women share facilities with male inmates and are not taken to hospital unless the situation is dire. In one such prison, a woman prisoner sprained her leg after falling down the stairs. She was taken to the in-prison medicine unit and given some topical cream. The nurse diagnosed that it wasn’t serious so they didn’t take her to hospital.
These days, she still limps. The bone likely fractured but since it never received proper treatment, she now cannot walk properly.
Women's correctional institutes are somewhat better. The doctors usually visit once a week. Women can access a wider range of medicines.
When winter hits, women inmates in the north and northeastern prisons have to suffer under the cold weather. Usually they are given three blankets per person to be used as a pillow, blanket and a mattress respectively. In winter however, that is not enough.
Chartchai Suthiklom, the former director of the Department of Correction — now a National Human Rights Commissioner — said that in principle, prisons are obliged to provide basic necessities to prisoners.
Why is it that prisons are overflowing with inmates? Does it mean that Thai society has more criminals or bad people than others? Or is there something wrong with Thailand's justice system?
Are atrocious prison conditions the fault of the Correction Department or the prisons? Actually, both share some responsibility. Yet prisons are just small jigsaws in the bigger picture of an inefficient justice system. Problems faced by female prisoners do not derive solely from entrenched hierarchies within the prisons; they are caused at root by the Correction Department’s measly budget.
A total of 84.58 percent of female inmates were sentenced from drugs cases. As of 1 June 2016, out of 35,768 convicted criminals, 30,821 were convicted from violating drug laws. Thailand’s overly harsh drug laws are putting more and more people into sub-par prisons.

author: Prachatai


text:
Sleeping or Dead – Part 6: Do Not Forget Them · Global Voices
سرمد الجيلاني

IMAGE: Public domain via Pixabay
This is the final installment in “Sleeping or Dead”, a six-part series by activist Sarmad Al Jilane about his experiences in a Syrian prison. Read parts one, two, three, four and five.
The anniversary of the Revolution approaches. We must prepare something to celebrate it. Nothing would be more delicious than the long Hamra cigarette we’ve been dreaming of for so many months now. Now would be the perfect time, for this is a very special day that should not pass just like any other one.
As soon as I arrived, I took it out of my shoe and gave it to Belal to keep in a small pocket he had sewn inside the blanket. He checks it every night. “I breathe freedom through it,” he explains, as he kisses it daily.
“Silence, you bastards!” The voice comes from outside. As with every big occurrence, adrenaline rushes. “I’ve been hiding this from Aleppo’s Military Police. Today we must all smoke it, to celebrate the Revolution’s anniversary.”
“86 men were “hung up” for a cigarette.” That was Uday’s customary line, about the time we were all caught and punished when the guard walked in as Uday was lifting me up to try and light the cigarette from the ceiling lamp.
We celebrated the Revolution’s anniversary with our hearts united as one. The officer never knew who had brought the cigarette. Days passed and Uday kept the secret all the way, until his death under torture. Belal, too, was killed later, after leaving jail and joining the Syrian Free Army in Al-BuKamal.
The curse of our blood will haunt them forever. Our dreams will keep on growing even without food. They torture us and we scream our hearts out; we expand, we fill the space. They kill, they choke, they slay, they tear us to pieces; but still freedom boldly spreads.
In prison we see how the so called “Interrogator” derives his authority only from his military uniform. Once he steps into the branch, he turns into a monster, he becomes a god whose mission is to punish all those who disagree with him. He draws power from his whip. Like a fireball of hatred, he casts the terror out of his heart on to a bunch of helpless people. Pouring all his tyranny on the wretched, who have no means to fight back. He is an interrogator, as much a citizen of this country as we are. He kills his own fellow citizens without blinking an eye. He traps, tortures and denies the simplest rights. What home are we going to build together, then? We know now that death doesn’t make exceptions for anyone. In our countries, humanity is despised. It is too big a game for us to play.
Days pass. By some miracle, I am transferred to branch 291, to a solitary cell, to be released after only one day thanks to a relative’s efforts.
Today, four years later, I’m writing my story in complete detail for the first time. I’m not so proud of what happened. For me, personally, those who weren’t detained were able to do much more than those who did, although no one gets detained voluntarily.
I am writing my story now to clarify what happened. Today I am in a European country, living a normal life, but there are still others, sitting behind the bars in silence, turning pale, fading, shaking like leaves in the wind, expecting nothing from us.
My imprisoned friend, I am sure you aren’t listening to our empty words. You don’t care that we stand in solidarity with you. You pay no attention to the hypocrisy, the deceptive gestures or support groups we form. You who sit in the darkened prisons, enduring interrogations and suppression. You alone, starving, are the strongest, the most impulsive and the most revolutionary among us.
I’m writing now about myself when I was one of you, so I’m writing about you. I don’t have any other way of atoning. I write in shame, sitting in my house, unable even to stop eating and drinking, trapped in my memories of you.
Nothing can intercede on my behalf. You, the iconic ones, most deserve to live, until the day you taste victory. Our freedom honours you as we, together, take pride in our past.
Finally, I couldn’t help but pray for Abdul Rahman when I heard of his death, fighting alongside ISIS. Abdul Rahman, the young intellectual, swore allegiance to ISIS from the first day of its existence. The Syrian regime successfully made an ISIS soldier out of him as he couldn’t find any other means of vengeance.
I also discovered that my father had been released immediately that day. However, they had fed pangs of remorse inside of me for long months. The blue jacket was eventually returned to Aghyad, and he wasn't mad at me. It was one of the benefits of my long imprisonment. I forgave Damascus too, for the agony I experienced whilst there after hearing my mother’s voice on the phone for the first time after my release, standing in front of the Sham Center building.
Apologies to the many who have gone through this experience and may relive these moments vividly again on reading this. This is not just my story—it’s an experience that tens of thousands have been through. I’ve tried to omit many unnecessary details. This is the extent of my experience, and I’ve had a much better outcome than many others, one that got me to this moment, where I’m able to write and finish this.
It was a better end despite needing months of treatment for a pulmonary infection, nervous spasms and chronic hypertension. There are others who haven’t had the chance to bring their stories to an end, but are at this moment still stuck in them. Do not forget them.

author: سرمد الجيلاني


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Spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry Accuses Facebook of Working With ISIS · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Maria Zakharova, in lawn gnome form. Image: Facebook
Maria Zakharova, the colorful spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, accused Facebook administrators of working for the Islamic State, after the network temporarily unpublished one of her posts on Monday.
Shortly after Moscow formally confirmed the death of Andrei Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Zakharova posted a photograph on Facebook, showing Karlov standing in front of Mevlut Mert Altintas, the man who would shoot him from behind moments later. Zakharova added the caption, “I don’t like when you shoot me in the back” — a reference to a famous lyric by Russian bard Vladimir Vysotsky.
The image appeared in the style of an Internet “demotivator,” which may have seemed disrespectful to some social-media users, perhaps prompting complaints.
Facebook administrators apparently thought Zakharova’s gesture was a violation of the network’s terms of service, and the photo was gone from her page, after about nine hours.
The Russian media also noticed the image disappear from Zakharova’s Facebook page, and at least one outlet, Gazeta.ru, reported that she had deleted it herself.
Zakharova soon pointed out, however, that she didn’t delete anything. In a new post, she accused Facebook’s administrators of “information subversion activity,” wondering aloud if the website was working with Islamic State members.
Удаление админами компании Фейсбук из моего аккаунт фотографии убитого посла Андрея Карлова – это акт не цензуры, но информационной диверсии.
В курсе ли компания, кто эти админы и какие цели они преследуют? Возможно, это игиловцы?
The deletion of a photograph of murdered Ambassador Andrei Karlov from my account by Facebook administrators isn’t censorship, but an act of information subversion activity. Does the company know who these administrators are, and what kinds of goals they pursue? Maybe they’re with the Islamic State?
Minutes later, however, Zakharova wrote again on Facebook, sharing the happy news that her original post has been restored, after “the Facebook team accidentally deleted your post.”
“Friends, thank you for the support!” Zakharova told her Facebook subscribers, celebrating their collective triumph over the forces of information subversion.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Macedonia’s Ruling Party Lashes Out at Civil Society After Contested Elections · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

A banner that reads “Freedom for the Activists!” at an April 25 protest in Skopje. Photo by Vančo Džambaski, CC BY-NC-SA.
Threats against Macedonian civil society organizations have reached new heights since December 12, when Social Democrats’ party leader Zoran Zaev vowed to contest the initial results of early parliamentary elections in Macedonia.
The special parliamentary elections were held in an EU-brokered effort to re-stabilize the country, which has been in mired in political crisis since revelations of widespread illegal wiretapping by the ruling government surfaced in 2015. The country's two most powerful parties garnered 38.06 percent (Social Democrats) and 36.69 percent (VMRO) of votes, leaving neither party with majority support in the parliament. On December 20, a court ruled that a re-vote will be held in one district where credible allegations of fraud have come out. The re-vote will take place on Christmas Day.
Over the last two weeks, the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE, headed by former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, has issued threats against opposition leaders as well as multiple civil society organizations, in particular those that have worked with Open Society Foundation – Macedonia. (Editor's note: Open Society Foundations is a supporter of Global Voices.)
On December 9, flyers listing the names of dozens civil sector activists were distributed in the mailboxes and under windshield wipers of citizens of Skopje, the nation's capital. They included allegations about “mercenary” money that civil society advocates allegedly had received, along with other spurious claims. The flyers were signed by GDOM (Gragjansko dviženje za odbrana na Makedonija – Citizen Movement for Defense of Macedonia), an entity that acts as a proxy for the more radical positions advocated by VMRO-DPMNE. The flyers also included copies of defamatory articles about some of the individuals on the blacklist, which were originally published in pro-government media Republika.
The Directorate for Personal Data Protection has confirmed that such materials constitute a violation of the Law on Personal Data Protection. A group of individuals targeted in these articles filed a criminal suit with the help of the Macedonian Helsinki Committee, but the competent state institutions have yet to give any information about processing of the suit.
Individual activists also have been targeted with specific threats on Twitter and other social media platforms. Several activists from the Colorful Revolution, a protest movement against state corruption and impunity, were tagged in various posts which show a photograph of a handwritten list with their names and addresses. These tweets were retweeted by numerous profiles, some of them anonymous. Many of these accounts have targeted other activists in the past.
State officials appointed by VMRO-DPMNE are also directly threatening civil society members online. Filip Petrovski, director of State Archives, sent public personal threats to various Twitter users vowing that “Kjoseto will come to your door.” Andon Kjoseto aka “the Butcher” was a member of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization who became infamous as an executioner in the early 20th century.
In another one of his tweets, he mentioned a hit list with 800 persons. Petrovski has also used his own portal Puls24.mk to target anti-corruption activists in the past.
The conflict between Gruevski and Zaev is long-standing, but has reached a peak in recent years. In 2015, Zaev made headlines, and more than a few enemies, when his party alleged that the Gruevski government had illegally wiretapped thousands of government employees, politicians, journalists, editors, and foreign diplomatic representatives. Hundreds of recordings of conversations were strategically leaked thereafter, leading to numerous revelations of corruption and wrongdoing by the Gruevski government, including the cover-up of a murder of a citizen by a police officer. Public protests began shortly thereafter and demonstrations have since become a normal sight in large cities of the country.
As candidate for membership into NATO and EU, Macedonia invited the representatives of these entities to serve as arbiters within the process of negotiations leading to so-called Pržino Agreement, which served as basis for reforms needed to end the political crisis. One such reform includes forming of a Special Prosecutor's Office in charge of investigating the contents of the leaked wiretaps.
Before the elections, Nikola Gruevski also issued a veiled threat of assassination against opposition leader Zoran Zaev, suggesting that if historical Macedonian freedom fighters were alive today, they would send the assassin Kjoseto to deal with Zaev.
The next day, Gruevski said he was “misunderstood.” However, during the last rally of the campaign, some of Gruevski's supporters waved a huge banner glorifying this controversial historical figure.
On the eve of the elections on Saturday, December 10, the public broadcasting service Macedonian Radio and Television aired a ‘documentary’ about the life and times of Kjoseto.
After the elections, two opposition parties submitted complaints to the State Election Committee (SEC). While the SEC held public sessions discussing these complaints, VMRO-DPMNE organized protests of its members in front of the building. The party provided transportation and lodging for supporters from other towns, along with food, alcohol and firewood, allowing supporters to build open fires on the street. The police did not intervene, even though such distribution of liquor and open fires are strictly prohibited.
A frame from the Macedonian public broadcasting service documentary about Andon Kjoseto, featuring his proverb “Sometimes you ask nicely, sometimes you use the knife.”
At the protests, other high party officials gave inflammatory speeches. Valentina Božinovska, a former actress who now serves as director of the State Committee for Relations with Religious Communities, yelled to the crowd that “tonight is the night of the knives,” and that the time has come to deal with “the last Macedonian traitor, Zaev.” Some interpreted this as a reference to the 1934 Nazi purges known as the “Night of the Long Knives.” Božinovska later claimed she was misunderstood, and was merely quoting lines of poetry.
While the VMRO-DPMNE protests do not seem to have wider grassroots support among the general population, as the participants seem to come by direct order of the party, their organizers are capable of threatening people and civil society organizations from their publicized blacklists. This kind of hate speech and propaganda serves as incitement for VMRO supporters, who in opportune moments might decide to perpetrate “patriotic” attacks on their own, without direct orders from party leaders. Several such attacks on journalists from blacklisted media by random party supporters have already taken place this year.
Moreover, during the last protest, VMRO-DPMNE chief Gruevski read a proclamation which, among other claims, includes a direct threat to “disobedient” civil society members:
Ќе се бориме за десороизација на Република Македонија, и јакнење на независен граѓански сектор кој нема да биде под ничија контрола. Ќе се пристапи кон регулирање на областа на финансирање на фондациите и НВО, по теркот на најнапредните демократии во светот.
We shall fight for de-Sorosization of Republic of Macedonia, and strengthening of the independent civil sector which would not be controlled by anyone. The financing of the foundations and the NGOs will be regulated according to the model of the most advanced democracies in the world.
Selective inspections by the Public Revenue Service targeting NGOs that began just before the elections have continued. At least 19 NGOs had received notices announcing such visits so far.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Russian Ambassador to Turkey’s Assassination: A Bullet from Aleppo? · Global Voices
Akhal-Tech Collective

Ankara panorama. Creative commons.
The assassination December 19 of Russia's ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov as captured in photographs from inside Ankara's contemporary art museum had a haunting aesthetic.
Turkish and Russian envoys will meet today to discuss Syria, day after killing of Russia's ambassador to Turkey. https://t.co/3io0oRfPiy pic.twitter.com/gG4ZNjkufy
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) December 20, 2016
Set against the background of the museum's white walls studded with bright paintings, the killing looked like it might itself be some work of performance art. That notion is quickly dispelled when watching the video from the same event where the gunshot and screams in the background are clearly audible.
After the shooting the well-dressed 22-year-old assassin policeman Mevlut Mert Atlintas yelled “God is Great” before imploring frightened onlookers not to “forget” Russia's participation in the bombing of Aleppo and other parts of Syria.
Soon after the assassination, both Turkey and Russia moved to smooth bilateral relations. While Turkish authorities are predictably linking the event to the disgraced spiritual leader-in-exile and rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Fethullah Gulen, at least one Russian lawmaker has claimed the shooting may have been a NATO-hatched plot.
The Jeish al-Fath militant group in Syria has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the killing, but there are doubts as to whether their claim is credible.
Russian opposition politician Dmitri Gudkov had his own take on the event in a well-shared article on Gazeta.ru that stressed the self-destructive nature of Russia's involvement in the war:
Зачем эта война? На ней практически каждый день секретно гибнут россияне. Не стоит ли сделать инвестицию в собственное будущее и попытаться остановить мясорубку? Хотя бы остановить в ней участие России?
Напомню еще об одной вещи: о дороге, которая привела к убийству в Анкаре. Извилистый, неочевидный путь, события в котором кажутся совершенно случайными, никак не связанными друг с другом и в то же время выстраивающимися в неумолимую в своем безумии логику.
Начать здесь (надо же откуда-то начать, хотя корни всегда уходят глубже) стоит с убийства в СИЗО Сергея Магнитского, повлекшего за собой первые западные санкции. Ответом на них стал «закон подлецов», четырехлетие которого наступает 21 декабря. Вслед за санкциями российская власть пошла в пике: началось обострение с США.
Еще можно было остановиться, не продолжать этот конфликт, но нет. Терять оказалось нечего, и на волне «возрождения страны» в пику «западным партнерам» появились Крым и Донбасс. Новые санкции. Все большая изоляция. «Бук». Попытка огрызнуться — контрсанкции. Удар по власти изнутри — антикоррупционные расследования о прогнившей верхушке, от прокуратуры до правительства. Снова ответ: во всем виноват Браудер.
Осажденная крепость, кругом враги и при этом попытка с позиции силы доказать, что без России никак.
Сирия. Обменять все санкции скопом на нее. Попытка не удалась, безнадежная война, еще глубже в болото. Все новые трупы, конфликт с Турцией, помидоры, ТрампНаш…
Каждым этим намерением (далеко не благим) была вымощена дорога к убийству в Анкаре. Не случись когда-то дела Магнитского — не было бы первых санкций. Не было бы их — не было бы охлаждения, без него не случилась бы Украина…
Еще не поздно остановиться. Никогда не поздно. Нам хватает и внутренних проблем, чтобы самим создавать себе все новые и новые внешние.
Why this war? In it almost every day Russians die in secret. Should we not make an investment in their own future and try to stop the slaughter? Or at least stop Russia's participation in it?
Let me remind you about one thing: the road that led to this murder in Ankara. A twisting, obfuscating road along which events that seem to be completely random and unconnected with each other at the same time point towards an inexorable logic amid the madness.
Start here (one must start somewhere, although the roots almost always go deeper): the murder in jail of [rights lawyer] Sergei Magnitsky that resulted in the first Western sanctions [against Russia]. The [Russian] answer to them was the “law of scoundrels”, which will mark it's four year-anniversary on December 21. After the sanctions Russian-US relations went into tailspin.
The conflict could have been reined in, but no. There was seemingly nothing to lose at this point, and “the revival of the country” in opposition to “our Western partners” came with [the invasions of] Crimea and [Eastern Ukraine]. Then, there were new sanctions. Then increasing isolation. The “Buk” [missile that downed the MH-17]. Counter-sanctions. […]
A fortress besieged, surrounded by enemies, and at the same time an attempt to find a position of strength from which to prove that the world still needed Russia.
Syria. [It was needed] to push back the sanctions. But the attempt failed, and a hopeless war sank ever deeper into the swamp. Fresh corpses, the conflict with Turkey, [bans on the import of Turkish] tomatoes, [support] to Trump.
All of these intentions (and they were not kind) has paved the way for the murder in Ankara. Without the Magnitsky case, the first sanctions would not have happened. Without them, relations would not have cooled and Ukraine would not have happened.
Still, it is not too late to stop. It's never too late. We have enough internal problems without adding external problems onto them.


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Thailand’s New Computer Crimes Law Threatens Free Speech and Encryption · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Activists stage a rare protest in Bangkok a few days after the passage of the revised Computer Crimes Act. Image from Prachatai, used with permission.
Thailand’s National Legislative Assembly voted unanimously on December 15 to pass an amendment to the 2007 Computer Crime Act. The new law, which will take effect after 180 days, has been criticized by several human rights groups for containing provisions that threaten to further undermine freedom of expression in Thailand.
The law was approved by a parliament whose members were appointed by the military, which took power in a coup in 2014. The junta said amending the law is necessary to combat cybercrimes but critics fear it is really intended to suppress dissent.
An online petition against the legislation led by the Thai Netizen Network has gathered over 370,000 signatures. The petition cited some of the provisions in the law which could be used by authorities to intimidate the media and even ordinary Internet users.
For example, section 14 criminalizes the sending of “false computer data” or Internet content that damages “the maintenance of national security, public security, national economic security or public infrastructure serving public interest or cause panic in the public.”
The Bangkok Post newspaper is suspicious about this provision:
There is no clear definition of what acts may be construed as being in breach of this section. Will criticizing the government's megaprojects qualify as damage to national security or public infrastructure? How about opinions about the state of the country's economy?
#Thailand junta pushes #cyber law that could censor & prosecute human rights reporting as “false/distorted” information or security threat. pic.twitter.com/TFFu5RrvIU
— Sunai (@sunaibkk) December 15, 2016
Meanwhile, section 15 could lead to self-censorship on the part of local Internet Service Providers because it penalizes all parties that “cooperate [in spreading] false computer data”. This section also allows officials to obtain Internet traffic data from ISPs without court approval. This could also lead to more costs that will negatively affect both business and consumers.
Section 16 criminalizes the possession of information that the court has ordered to be destroyed. This could hamper the work of researchers and journalists. Some are worried that the computer cache or Internet browsing history of ordinary netizens can be retrieved by authorities to monitor if they are storing banned content.
Section 18 allows authorities to access encrypted data. It is not clear how this would be carried out in practice.
Section 20 empowers a committee appointed by the government to monitor and even order the removal of dangerous Internet content. The Bangkok Post is referring to this provision when it published an editorial criticizing the amended law:
The draft amendment's most serious shortcoming is in its giving too much power for state authorities to make their own judgement whether certain actions may be deemed in violation of the law.
Even though the law is not yet in effect, authorities are already aggressively blocking ‘harmful’ Internet content, especially those deemed to be disrespectful to the monarchy. Thailand implements a strict lese majeste (anti-royal insult) law which some activists believe is being abused by the junta to harass and detain its critics. According to the government, it shut down 1,370 websites in October for violating the lese majeste law. This is massive compared to the 1,237 websites shut down by the government in the past five years.
Revised computer crime act – cartoon of the day – @PravitR @Reaproy @KrisKoles pic.twitter.com/5RRt3MAbm7
— stephff cartoonist (@stephffart) December 20, 2016
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha defended the law by insisting that it will not violate civil liberties. Some businesses also welcomed the passage of the law which they believe will protect intellectual property rights and spur the development of the digital economy.
But protests were also organized a few days after the law was approved by the parliament. The online activist group Citizens Against Single Gateway claimed that it hacked several government websites.
When the government will not listen to the wishes of the people, the people are angry. #กลุ่มนิรนาม #Anonymous #Thailand #พรบคอม #พรบไซเบอร์ pic.twitter.com/7t4jeO1wAe
— Anonymous (@blackplans) December 17, 2016
The #Thai gov wants to #police the #internet, #Thai police can't guard their own data from #Anonymous, is your data safe with them? #พรบคอม pic.twitter.com/S6c8jJxjHo
— Anonymous (@blackplans) December 16, 2016
Thai Netizen Network acknowledged the sentiment of Anonymous but it also urged the group to consider the protection of data by ordinary Internet users:
Thx for support, #Anonymous. U made ur point. Further hack may harm Thai citizens more than Junta. Pls u consider avoid citizen data? Thx :)
— เครือข่ายพลเมืองเน็ต (@thainetizen) December 17, 2016
Several international groups such as the United Nations Human Rights Office in Asia and the Committee to Protect Journalists also issued statements expressing concern about the passage of the law.
This video by The Nation newspaper summarizes the critique of media groups about the vague and problematic provisions of the law:

author: Mong Palatino


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Activists Around the World Could Learn From Peru’s History of Protest · Global Voices
Rafael Uzcátegui

Protest in the main plaza of Arequipa, Peru in 2007. Public domain.
This article was adapted from a text originally published on the blog, Perdido en Ítaca. The text is based on declarations by the organization Provea (The Venezuelan Program for Education and Action in Human Rights, coordinated by the author and other members), which described the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as “dictatorial,” following the suspension of a presidential recall referendum. Global Voices publishes an edited version this text below, with the author's permission.
How do you confront a dictatorial government? The answer can be found in the recent history of Peru, when local society rose up against the government of Alberto Fujimori, who ruled between 1990 and 2000, after winning three consecutive elections. Modern dictatorships can rise to power through elections. But once there, they can also use the mechanisms of democracy to extinguish true elections and remain in power indefinitely.
Victor Vich's book, “Symbolic Disobedience: Performance, Participation, and Politics at the End of the Fujimori Dictatorship,” offers an interesting analysis of the mobilization strategies in Peru that helped weaken the Fujimori regime during those years.
Estas performances apuntaron a la construcción de un ciudadano diferente y quisieron, en el lugar de la calle, construir un nuevo sentido de nación y de la memoria.
These performances aimed to build a new kind of citizen and sought, from out in the streets, to construct a new understanding of country and memory.
For Vich, the founding milestone was the 1992 “self-coup,” where “The Chinaman,” as Fujimori was known, dissolved Peru's Congress. With the country's political parties engulfed in a crisis of representation, the opposition to the dictatorship that emerged “began to be seen for its symbolic weakness and, above all, for its inability to express itself in terms of the formation of new social groups.”
Four years later, in 1996, following the approval of a controversial Amnesty Law that provided protection to military officers implicated in human rights abuses, a sculptor named Víctor Delfín led a march that would later give rise to the “Every Blood, Every Art” movement, which brought together people of diverse political backgrounds. As Vich writes:
Entre todos ellos comenzaron a proponer una idea realmente relevante: la lucha contra la dictadura debería estar impregnada de una atmósfera cultural capaz de articular poderosos símbolos que estuvieran destinados a transformar el imaginario oficial de régimen. Se trataba de comenzar a derrocar la dictadura desde los símbolos y el arte.
They began to consider a deeply important idea: that the fight against dictatorship had to be imbued with a cultural climate able to articulate powerful symbols that could transform the official imagination of the regime. The fight to topple the dictatorship began to be waged through symbols and art.
In parallel, following Fujimori's third reelection, another group of artists began to mobilize. This group had three objectives: discredit the election results, demand new elections, and generate a broad movement of civil disobedience. In this vein, the artists, carrying candles, black ribbons, crucifixes, and even a coffin, performed the political “burial” of the National Office of Electoral Offices in a ceremony in front of the Palace of Justice.
The ceremony symbolically declared the Fujimori regime dead and illegit going forward. It was from this act that the Civil Society Collective, which would play a leading role in subsequent months, was born.
On July 27, 2000, around 250,000 people gathered in the center of Lima to take part in the March of the Four Corners (Marcha de los Cuatro Suyos), whose name refers to the four cardinal directions and symbolizes the four regions that made up the Inca Empire. Up to 40,000 of the demonstrators came from four different locations outside of the capital. Vich describes the march as “the largest and most organized protest in the history of the Republic.” The confidence gained through this demonstration prompted further creative and symbolic protests, as a response to the complicity of certain political parties with the dictatorship.
One such protest involved “flag washing,” becoming popular around July 2000. According to Vich, “the idea was to build a protest symbol that also contained a liberating and proactive message.” Every Friday, protesters gathered in Lima's Plaza Mayor and — using red trays, clean water, and “Bolívar soap” — they proceeded to  wash the Peruvian flag publicly “in an atmosphere that combined a party with social protest.” Once cleaned, the flag was hung on large drying racks. The protest went viral and, in short time, flags were being washed in cities throughout the country.
These “flag washings” reappeared in the post-Fujimori era, as well as in other countries, in protests against corruption and human rights abuses. The video below shows a flag washing at a protest against the presidential candidacy of Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of the former president.
The so-called “Vladivideos” scandal, involving a series of videos showing Fujimori's top advisor bribing leading politicians and other influential figures, revealed the extent to which corruption had spread throughout Peruvian society.
For the Civil Society Collective, the goal became clearer: It was no longer simply about toppling the regime of Fujimori and Montesinos, but about generating a broad citizen movement that could do away with the historic levels of impunity in Peru. This realization triggered a second form of protest: “Put the trash in the trash,” where activists distributed more than 300,000 trash bags bearing images of Fujimori and Montesinos, dressed in prison stripes. The bags were placed them inside various institutions.
Another protest involved the so-called “Walls of Shame,” where 15-meter-high (50-foot-tall) canvases bearing photographs of spokespersons for the dictatorship were hung in public, along with an invitation to leave a message for them. As Vich explains:
Estas performances apuntaron a la construcción de un ciudadano diferente y quisieron, en el lugar de la calle, construir un nuevo sentido de nación y de la memoria.
These performances aimed to build a new kind of citizen and sought, from out in the streets, to construct a new understanding of country and memory.

author: Rafael Uzcátegui