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Russian ‘anti-fake news’ bill rushed through parliament despite vocal opposition · Global Voices
RuNet Echo

Despite heated debates, two controversial pro-censorship bills were approved by the Russian parliament // duma.gov.ru under CC4.0
The Russian State Duma is considering multiple bills of law that would further stifle free speech in Russia's already heavily restricted internet environment.
One targets expressions of “willful disregard” towards the state. Another targets disinformation. All of them echo increasingly global concerns among governments about the political implications of disinformation — and unbridled criticism — on the internet. And all have been heavily criticized by Russian civil society groups, experts, users and even the government’s own ministers. Yet these bills promoting possible further crackdown on free speech still trudge on through the legislative system.
The first bill, a “sovereign internet” initiative, which is yet to reach the floor of the lower chamber of Russia’s bicameral parliament, seeks to establish state-regulated internet exchange points that would allow for increased monitoring and control over internet traffic moving into and out of the country.
One of the two bills co-authored by the controversial senator Andrey Klishas — who walked out of his own initiative’s committee hearing and refused to present it personally on the Duma’s floor — suggests new restrictions on “knowingly and maliciously disseminating false information of public importance.”
Under this law, individuals, officials or organizations accused of spreading fake news “disguised as genuine public announcements” which are found to promote public disorder or other serious disturbances could be fined for up to a million rubles (slightly above USD $15,000), unless they remove the violating content in a day’s time. The bill also provides measures through which Roskomnadzor, Russia's media watchdog, will order ISPs to block websites hosting the offending content.
The bill passed its first reading in late January with flying colours, receiving 336 votes in its favor and only 44 against, thanks to the 2016 landslide which guaranteed the ruling United Russia party an absolute voting majority.
The “anti-fake news” bill will be reviewed again by the Duma in February, conditioned on the revision of some of its most contentious points. The bill pushed through by “Putin’s party” was met with a rare response of significant opposition, even among the normally acquiescent branches of Russia’s highly centralized and executive-biased power structure. The attorney general’s office, among others, criticized the bill’s vague definitions as potentially damaging to citizens’ civil rights.
The second bill, which came up for review alongside the fake news-busting proposal, is seen as being even more controversial. It seeks to punish “vulgar expressions of wilful disregard” towards “the state, its symbols and organs of its power” with fines of up to 5,000 rubles (around USD $76) and detention for up to 15 days. The bill also passed in the first reading on the same day, despite vocal criticism from both government members (Deputy Communications Minister Alexey Volin said that “calmly accepting criticism” was an obligation for state officials, adding that they weren’t “made of sugar”) and opposition parties.
A video clip from the Duma’s floor made the rounds on social media with a Liberal Democratic Party of Russia member berating his colleagues for having thin skins:
Мощная речь в Думе против закона о неуважении к власти:
„Если мы дурака не будем называть дураком, он от этого дураком быть не перестанет“ pic.twitter.com/eP2pTzMtu6
— Znak.com (@znak_com) 25 января 2019 г.
A powerful speech in the Duma against the “disrespecting the authorities” bill: “If we stop calling a fool a fool, he won’t quit being a fool”
Many Russian journalists felt the bill was directly aimed at them. Sergey Smirnov, the editor-in-chief of Mediazona, an independent crowd-funded online news outlet focused on the abuses inside Russia’s justice system, wrote on his Telegram channel:
Один из авторов законопроекта (https://zona.media/news/2019/01/21/gd-agree) Дмитрий Вяткин заверил, что ответственность за неуважение к власти не будет наступать в случаях, если речь идет о критике какого-то конкретного лица. Ответственность за распространение фейковых новостей, по его словам, будет применима лишь в случаях, когда информация направлена на то, чтобы причинить вред здоровью и жизни людей, либо заставить их выйти на улицу. Вяткин также сообщил, что статья не будет касаться журналистских расследований и материалов.
Конечно это будет касаться журналистских расследований и материалов, в этом нет никаких сомнений. Для этого они закон и принимают. Мало того, если фейковые новости будут в Комсомольской правде и Лайфньюс, а после них будут убивать людей – ответственности никакой никто не понесет. А вот когда надо будет опять надавить на Би-би-си они найдут 10 абсурдных поводов.
One of the bill’s authors Dmitry Vyatkin explained that criticism of individual officials wouldn’t be considered disrespectful towards the authorities under the new law. As for the fake news bill, he said the law could only be activated in cases where there was clear intent to endanger people’s lives or health or driving them to the streets en masse. Vyatkin also noted that the law wouldn’t affect journalistic investigations and reports.
Obviously, it will affect journalistic investigations and reports, there can be no doubt about that. That’s why they’re voting for this bill. On top of that, if Komsomolskaya Pravda or Lifenews [pro-Kremlin tabloids] publish fake news that lead to murders, no one will bear any responsibility. And when they want to put the pressure on the BBC, they’ll find ten different absurd reasons.
The BBC is currently being investigated by Roskomnadzor for supposedly violating Russian media laws — in a move that’s been openly described as a retaliation for a similar investigation of the Russian state-owned channel RT by officials in the UK.
Smirnov's quote also refers to of an infamous case where members of a murderous neo-Nazi gang were inspired by distorted or severely misreported news in the media to attack and kill ethnic minorities, human rights activists and journalists.
Both bills are noteworthy in the global context, as their authors each have explicitly invoked “anti-fake news” laws and proposals in Western countries as inspiration. Andrey Klishas, the senator who co-authored both, cited Germany as an example in both cases, especially the German “Network Enforcement Act” or NetzDG — a law targeting online hate speech that drew criticism from human rights groups for its heavy-handed approach and vague definitions.
Ironically, many of the recent “anti-fake news” bills and initiatives in Europe have been triggered by the fear of Russian disinformation. In recent years, repressive governments around the world, including Russia, Myanmar and Egypt, have used “fake news” as a pretext for clamping down on free speech.

author: RuNet Echo


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An owl refuses to leave Tanzanian parliament. What does it all mean? · Global Voices
Pernille Baerendtsen

Nyerere Square in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, and home of the parliament, ”Bunge.” Photo by Pernille Bærendtsen, used with permission.
On January 29, when the Tanzanian parliament (Bunge) assembled in Dodoma for its first session of 2019, an owl flew into the building, perched on the ceiling and observed the assembly from above.
The incident drew national attention and provoked questions from social media users and newspapers. What could the presence of an owl in parliament mean?
Bundi alionekana mara mbili jana ndani ya ukumbi wa Bunge jijini Dodoma. Je, Bundi anapoonekana inaashiria nini? pic.twitter.com/RMKzRskrXc
— Mwananchi Newspapers (@MwananchiNews) January 30, 2019
The owl has been spotted twice inside the halls of parliament in the city of Dodoma. What does it seem to signal?
‘’Bad omen?’’ the regional weekly, The East African, proposed.
The British blogger and media analyst, Ben Taylor, went further:
The owl that entered parliament signalled the coming death of Tanzanian democracy?
— Ben Taylor (@mtega) January 30, 2019
Cartoon by Samuel Mwamkinga (Joune), used with permission.
Tanzanian cartoonist, Samuel Mwamkinga (Joune), later illustrated the incident with a reference to the British term ‘’a group of owls’’ based on the Greek perception that owls are wise (illustration used with permission).
The owl is, however, seen as an omen of death and misfortune in Tanzania.
And — the owl was determined to stay in Bunge, according to The Citizen:
The owl, a nocturnal bird, could not leave … despite several attempts by parliament officials to evict it.
Owls are not unusual in Tanzania, and neither is Tanzanians’ inclination toward superstition. A 2010 survey found that 93 percent of Tanzanians believe in witchcraft.
For this particular session, the presence of the owl offered a symbolism, even for the nonsuperstitious, which was too stark to be ignored.
On the agenda for Tanzania’s first parliamentary session of 2019 were the proposed amendments of the Political Parties Act, which has followed a months-long, intense debate in an increasingly unstable political climate.
Tanzania made history in 1992 as one of the first countries in Africa to establish a multiparty system, which allowed opposition parties. The Political Parties Act (here with proposed amendments) was also introduced in 1992 and has been amended over time with the latest amendment in 2009.
With the owl perching above the assembly, Tanzanian parliamentarians agreed to amend the act — a step that critics regard as a serious weakening of the multiparty system in Tanzania, and thus also democracy.
In short, the renewal of the act provides more authority to the government-appointed registrar to not only deregister political parties but also to issue punishments in the form of imprisonment if a political party, for instance, carries out civic education related to voter registration and other politically-motivated activities, according to Reuters.
Several media quoted Zitto Kabwe, leader of the opposition party ACT-Wazalendo, who already back in August 2017 criticized the proposed amendment of the act, predicting it may undermine political rights. Kabwe then compared it to the Media Services Bill 2016, which set the free and independent media back. Now, Kabwe calls attention to the inherent contradiction caused by the amendment of the Political Parties Act:
“You can’t have a constitution that allows freedom of association then give someone powers to revoke that freedom of association.”
Kiongozi wa chama Cha @ACTwazalendo Ndugu @zittokabwe akielezea mahusiano ya Demokrasia na Maendeleo kwa kutumia Takwimu za @WorldBank #PoliticalPartiesBill pic.twitter.com/IwNln6Wl68
— ACT VIJANA TAIFA (@ActVijana) January 29, 2019
Tanzania's declining democracy under the rule of President Magufuli has been a recurring topic in the media, including a popular topic for satire.
On January 30, Fatma Karume, Chair Woman of Tanganyika Law Society, tweeted a cartoon by the Kenyan cartoonist Gado (September 22, 2017) pointing to the role of Tanzania’s President Magufuli and the death of democracy:
Good morning everyone. Have a lovely day. pic.twitter.com/RKDe0iX5ZG
— fatma karume aka Shangazi (@fatma_karume) January 30, 2019
In recent years, Tanzania has turned increasingly authoritarian in its legislation, resulting in less space for critical political opponents and independent media. Now, critics say the amended Political Parties Act will make it more difficult to practice politics that are critical of the president and Chama Cha Mapinduzi (The Party of the Revolution), in power since independence in 1961.
Opposition is essential for a vibrant democracy. A strong opposition will check up on government and challenge it. If there is no opposition, diversity of citizen needs are unlikely to be represented well.
In 15 tweets, doctoral student Rachel McLellan walked readers through possible consequences of the new act, and characterizes a situation where a critical opposition will find itself cornered:
So most of your ways of convincing voters are gone. What do you do if you're an opp party? Go back to the drawing board and come up with new strategies, right? Well, this bill introduces unprecedented oversight powers to the Parties Registrar that make that v difficult 5/n
— Rachael McLellan (@RachaelMcLellan) January 29, 2019
Superstitious or not — those critical of Tanzania's authoritarian turn found some wicked relief in the presence of the owl and the unsuccessful attempts to chase it away.
The owl remained. Speaker of the Parliament, Job Ndugai, tried to tweak traditional belief with a pragmatic explanation:
“Honourable Members of Parliament, we have been seeing an owl in this House since morning but in the tradition of people of Dodoma, an owl that is seen during daytime cannot have any effect on anyone. This means that we have nothing to worry about its presence.”
For the critical, however, there is nothing pragmatic about the new act.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Pernille Baerendtsen


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European Parliament approves EU-Moroccan trade deal, ignoring Western Sahara Indigenous protections · Global Voices
Ivar Fersters

Approximately half of the Indigenous Sahrawi population lives in refugee camps in the inhospitable deserts. They lack representation in a current trade agreement. Photo credit: Jan Strömdahl, used with permission.
A tedious European Union (EU) trade policy process has once again become the stage for a heated battle in the “frozen” Western Sahara conflict.
At the heart of the matter is the inclusion of Western Sahara in the EU-Moroccan trade agreement that the European Parliament formally approved on Wednesday, January 16, in a 230 to 410 vote (with 37 abstentions).
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) deemed the previous agreement invalid on the grounds that Morocco has no legal authority to negotiate trade agreements on behalf of the Western Sahara territory it currently occupies, and the new agreement will likely face the same verdict if taken anew to court.
In a series of rulings over the last couple of years, the ECJ has tried a number of EU-Moroccan trade agreements following various international legal documents concerning Western Sahara’s status as a non-self-governing territory. The court concluded that agreements between EU and Morocco cannot include Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara, but this has not kept other bodies of the EU from trying to circumvent or simply ignore the rulings.
Such was the case in the EU-Moroccan fisheries agreement of 2018, stipulating conditions for European vessels continuing to fish in Western Saharan territorial waters despite the clear 2016 ruling by the ECJ that Western Sahara is a separate and distinct territory from the Kingdom of Morocco and can not be legally included in such agreements.
Since 1975 three generations of Sahrawi have spent all or most of their lives in refugee camps. Photo by Jan Strömdahl, used with permission.
The European External Action Service (EEAS) initiated a consultation process to manifest the court’s ruling requiring the consent of Western Sahara's Indigenous Sahrawi people. Many criticized the consultation because the European Commission had already come to an agreement with Morocco. A large number or Sahrawi civil society organizations opted out of the process and instead issued a joint statement of condemnation.
In the end, according to the monitoring team Western Sahara Resource Watch:
Prior to and during the EU's consultation process with the Moroccan entities in Western Sahara, in total 94 Saharawi and pro-Saharawi groups have condemned the EEAS for its negotiations with Morocco [but the] EEAS summarized … that there was a “broad support” for such a trade agreement.
Mahfoud Lamin Bechri, a Sahrawi activist with Sahrawi Campaign Against the Plunder (SCAP), came to Brussels, Belgium, for a seminar in connection to the agreement the week prior to the vote. He told Global Voices that he was happy with seminar participants’ responses, but was not optimistic about the outcome of the EU vote.
… I told them about the frustration, especially among young people growing up in these camps and how each new agreement like this will radicalize them and make them lose what little hope they had for the peace process. I felt that those listening were touched by what I said but unfortunately, following what has happened these last days it seems like we’d need a miracle to stop this agreement.
The EU parliamentary committee on international trade (INTA) sent a delegation on a fact-finding mission to Western Sahara between September 3 and 4, 2018. The head of that delegation, Patricia Lalonde, from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), concluded in her report:
The local population will profit from economic development and the spill-over effects created in terms of investment in infrastructure, employment, health and education.
Lalonde was later forced to resign her position at INTA and after an EU observer exposed her as a board member of the pro-Moroccan lobbying group EuroMedA. Despite evidence of corruption, the president of the ALDE party, Guy Verhofstadt, removed any debate about it from the agenda.
One of the three delegates, Heidi Hautala (Greens-European Free Alliance), later published an eyewitness account critical of the fact-finding mission in the EU Observer. Hautala says Moroccan authorities controlled the mission and they were accompanied by an entourage of loyal journalists:
The reality check came when I decided to have an additional meeting with some Saharawi activists. Moroccan authorities used a textbook method of harassing the human rights defenders: the activists were arrested for reportedly not wearing their seat belt […] The Sahrawis we met explained that their daily lives are full of such episodes. They showed us several videos of a demonstration that took place on that same day. Some of the activists ended up in the hospital after suffering from police brutality.
In opposition to Lalonde and the trade commission, Hautala concluded:
Some in the parliament claim that ‘we should not oppose development’ in Western Sahara and that opposing the proposed agreement would be to the detriment of the population bringing trade, jobs and income. This statement ignores the very fundamental fact: this agreement would consolidate the illegal annexation of Western Sahara by Morocco and run directly against the UN-led peace efforts, by dividing the territory of Western Sahara in two and strengthening one of the parties of the conflict.
Lacking broadcast media outlets, Western Saharans have turned to Twitter and news agencies to follow the vote, including Mahfoud Lamin Bechri:
For the European Parliament, this is historical, they are voting to break their own law!
In the hours leading up to the decision, Twitter buzzed with netizens calling attention to MEPs on either side of the cause. Moroccans released short video messages by local and regional politicians endorsing the agreement’s benefits to economic development in the country’s “southern provinces.”
#VoteNO
NO to #EU – #Morocco agreement including illegally #OCCUPIED #WesternSahara
Support #WesternSahara rights and #SelfDetermination. pic.twitter.com/JoWlUAAL02
— Jadiyetu El Mohtar (@Jadiyetumohtar) January 16, 2019
Selma, a Saharawi refugee, calls on the EU Parliament to vote against the illegal EU-Morocco agreement -
Economic support for an illegal and brutal military occupation can never be justified#WesternSahara #VoteNo #EU #morocco pic.twitter.com/oEjypdOL40
— PolisarioEU (@PolisarioEU) January 15, 2019
.@Europarl_EN just voted in favour of an illegal deal between #EU & #Morocco which:
- undermines UN Peace Talks
– Reinforces a brutal, illegal occupation
– entirely disregards systematic human rights violations
The deal will be challenged successfully at the ECJ#WesternSahara
— Nour Bakr (@nour_bakr) January 16, 2019
When the result was announced, Mahfoud Lamin Bechri expressed indignant disappointment to Global Voices:
I want to emphasize what I said earlier about our youth. This gives them one more reason to choose going back to arms. The EU is pushing for a war in Western Sahara. They have to know we will not give up. The image of Europe changed today, the Europe of values such as democracy and rule of law has been replaced by the Europe that puts business and money over peace and human rights.

author: Ivar Fersters


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Greek Metropolitan Bishop convicted for inciting anti-LGBTQ+ violence · Global Voices
Maria Soulis

The Holy Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Kalavrita, Greece. Photo by Matěj Baťha (CC BY-SA 2.5) via Wikimedia Commons
On January 28, in a groundbreaking court decision in Greece, Metropolitan bishop Amvrosios of Kalavryta and Egion was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment by a three-judge lower court on charges of hate speech, incitement to violence, and abuse of religious office for a homophobic article published online. The sentence was suspended for three years and a 10,000 euros fine as the bishop had no criminal record prior to this charge.
In March 2018, a first instance court had initially acquitted him of the charges filed on January 16, 2016, by nine LGBT activists under the country's Anti-Racist Law.
The case referred to a blog post published by the bishop on December 4, 2015, where, as Parliament debated the legal status of same-sex unions, he exhorted the faithful to “spit upon” homosexuals.
“Do not go near them! Do not listen to them! Do not trust them! They are the damned members of society!” Amvrosios ranted in the blog post, describing homosexuals as “monstrosities of nature.”
In his court testimony, Amvrosios disputed the authority of the court. “The court does not have the competency to judge me as a bishop, and I cannot understand why today I am being charged for my love of Christ,” he declared. His lawyers say they will appeal to Supreme Court to have the sentence declared null and void.
The Metropolis of Kalavryta and Aigialeia published a lengthy statement on the matter, where among other things, they warn that:
Πλέον οι ομάδες των ομοφυλοφίλων ανεξέλεγκτα, ασύστολα και ανεμπόδιστα θα μπορούν να επιβάλουν προκλητικά τον τρόπο της ζωής τους, που δεν συνάδει με την οντολογία της ανθρώπινης φύσεως και το νόμο του Θεού.
Groups of homosexuals will now be uncontrollably and brazenly able to provocatively impose their way of life, which is incompatible with the ontology of human nature and the law of God.
Cleo Papapantoleon, one of the plaintiffs’ three lawyers, highlighted the importance of this trial:
Δεν έχει σημασία η αναστολή, ούτε ενδιαφέρει αν καταδικάστηκε σε 7 μήνες, 7 ημέρες ή 7 χρόνια. Το θέμα ήταν να καταδικαστεί. Αυτή η απόφαση παράγει αποτελέσματα πολιτικά και παιδαγωγικά και γι’ αυτό έχει ιδιαίτερη σημασία.
It does not matter whether his sentence was suspended or if he was sentenced to seven months, seven days or seven years. The important thing was for him to be condemned. This decision produces political and pedagogical results, and that is why it is of particular importance.
Greek jurist Nikos Alivizatos also notes in a radio interview:
Είναι η πρώτη φορά στην ιστορία του ελληνικού κράτους που καταδικάζεται από πολιτικό δικαστήριο Μητροπολίτης. Είναι μια μεγάλη τομή. Καταδικάστηκε όχι μόνο για ρατσιστικό λόγο αλλά και για κατάχρηση εκκλησιαστικού αξιώματος. Αυτό δημιουργεί ένα σημαντικό δικαστικό προηγούμενο.
For the first time in Greek State's history, a Metropolitan bishop is condemned by a civil tribunal. It's groundbreaking. He was sentenced not only for racist speech but also for abuse of church office. This creates an essential judicial precedent.
The first court's acquittal had caused massive public outrage, especially when Amvrosios dared to say in front of the court that “if I had a gun and the law would allow me, I would use it against them.” Ultranationalist far-right Golden Dawn, on the other hand, published an enthusiastic piece, praising the court that “justified Amvrosios’ ethnic speech, in which he defends Greece, Orthodoxy, Family and traditional values.”
On social media, the public has expressed mostly approval of the latest court decision, which is seen by many as a step towards Church-State separation.
Twitter user Marka shares a comic strip by John Antono that critiques of the first court's acquittal of Amvrosios’ “spit upon them” incitement.
Θεία δίκη!
Η καταδίκη του Καλαβρυτων είναι το φτύσιμο του Θεού για το μίσος που καλλιεργεί στις καρδιές των ανθρώπων.
Και δεν είναι φτύσιμο,είναι θεϊκή ροχαλα #Αμβροσιος pic.twitter.com/OEdlfwXmoq
— Marka (@Marka20963539) January 28, 2019
Divine justice!
Kalavryta Metropolitan's sentence is God spitting upon the hatred he cultivates inside people's hearts.
It's not just spit; it's a godly gob. #Amvrosios
Previously, Amvrosios has sparked reactions many times with his extreme racist, fascist and homophobic views. He hasn't hesitated to hide his support for the 1967 Colonels’ Junta, and he spoke out publicly in favour of the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn in the days after the murder of anti-fascist musician Pavlos Fyssas by neo-nazis:
Εγράψαμε παλαιότερα, ότι εάν η Χρυσή Αυγή διορθώσει μερικές ιδεολογικές τοποθετήσεις της και εάν επίσης διορθώσει μερικές περιπτώσεις ακραίας συμπεριφοράς ωρισμένων τουλάχιστον Μελών της, θα μπορούσε να αναδειχθεί η “γλυκειά ελπίδα” στους δυσχειμέρους τούτους καιρούς, τους οποίους διερχόμεθα! ΔΕΝ ΜΑΣ ΑΚΟΥΣΑΝ! Και να το αποτέλεσμα! Εισπράττουν πλέον την γενική κατακραυγή!
We had previously expressed that if the Golden Dawn corrected some of their ideological positions and a few cases of extreme behaviour by their members, they could become a “sweet hope” in these troubled times! THEY DID NOT LISTEN! See the result! They are now the target of the public outcry!
In July 2018, during the devastating wildfires in Eastern Attica, he loudly declared that “Atheist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras draws the wrath of God,” again sparking outrage on social media:
ΠΟΣΟ ΜΑ ΠΟΣΟ ΝΑ ΚΡΑΤΗΣΩ ΤΟ ΣΤΟΜΑ ΜΟΥ ΝΤΡΟΠΗ ΣΟΥ ΕΛΕΕΙΝΟ ΥΠΟΚΕΙΜΕΝΟ .ΕΣΥ ΕΙΣΑΙ Ο ΑΘΕΟΣ ΚΑΙ Ο ΥΠΗΡΕΤΗΣ ΤΟΥ ΠΟΝΗΡΟΥ ΠΟΥ ΤΟΛΜΑΣ ΝΑ ΠΑΡΟΥΣΙΑΖΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΘΕΟ ΣΑΝ ΝΕΡΩΝΑ ΚΑΙ ΝΑ ΠΑΙΖΕΙΣ ΜΕ ΤΙΣ ΨΥΧΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΝ ΠΟΝΟ ΜΑΣ ΝΤΡΟΠΗ ΚΑΙ ΣΕ ΟΛΟΥΣ ΠΟΥ ΤΟΝ ΑΝΕΧΟΝΤΑΙ . ΤΙ ΝΑ ΠΩ ΑΝ ΣΥΝΕΧΗΣΩ ΘΑ ΠΩ ΧΕΙΡΟΤΕΡΑ ΚΑΙ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΜΕΡΑ ΠΕΝΘΟΥΣ
HOW MUCH LONGER TO KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT SHAME ON YOU WRETCHED MAN. YOU ARE THE ATHEIST AND SERVANT OF EVIL, WHO DARES TO SAY GOD IS A “NERO” AND LAUGH AT OUR SOULS AND PAIN. SHAME TO ALL THAT TOLERATE HIM. IF I GO ON, I WILL SAY WORSE; AND TODAY IT'S MOURNING DAY.
Even a few members of the Church condemned his statements publicly:
ΣΚΑΣΕ ΕΠΙΤΕΛΟΥΣ. Είμαστε παπάδες και τα λόγια μας πρέπει να είναι ΑΜΒΡΟΣΙΑ και ΝΕΚΤΑΡ στις ψυχές των ανθρώπων
AT LAST, SHUT UP. We are priests; our words should be like AMBROSIA and nectar to the people's soul.

author: Maria Soulis


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The complicated narratives of the Venezuelan conflict · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Image by Venezuelan illustrator Eduardo Sanabria. Used with permission.
When Juan Guaidó, the president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, invoked Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution to take the executive's powers temporarily, a new chapter of the Venezuelan political conflict began.
For those in favor of Nicolás Maduro, Guaidó is attempting a coup d'Etat with the help of the United States. For those against him, Guaidó is merely following the 1999 Bolivarian Constitution itself, drafted shortly after Hugo Chávez’ first electoral victory.
As a bitter dispute between the two perspectives unfolds on social media, difficult questions emerge: Is Guiadó's strategy legitimate? How different is it from past attempts by a foreign-back opposition leader to undemocratically seize power in a Latin America country? Will it facilitate a peaceful government transition in Venezuela? Will it put a stop to the human rights abuses, the democratic breakdown, the economic catastrophe?
And, perhaps more importantly, what role will Venezuelans themselves play in such transition?
To begin answering those questions, one should probably start with the widely condemned 2018 presidential elections, whose results handed a second six-year term to Maduro.
The poll had been initially scheduled for December 2018, but it was suddenly hastened to take place six months earlier, allegedly because Maduro wanted to take advantage of the momentum following the successful — and also highly controversial — 2017 municipal elections.
The new schedule was met with objection by some international bodies, including the Organization of the American States (OAS), the European Parliament, and the Lima Group, who've all adopted resolutions reprimanding it.
On the eve of the elections in May, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, an OAS-affiliated body, released a document “expressing profound concern over the lack of minimum necessary conditions to hold free, fair and trustworthy elections in Venezuela.”
The document highlights the CNE's (Venezuela's electoral council) disqualification of opposition parties based on reasons, it states, “that is not established by law”. The government's justification was the opposition had boycotted previous mayoral elections.
The document also stresses how the accelerated timeline obstructed participation by new voters and Venezuelans who live overseas.
Article 233 stipulates what should be done if the president dies, resigns, is ousted by a Supreme Court ruling, is deemed incapacitated by a medical body designated by the Supreme Court, or abandons the post. That last provision is what, in theory, sustains Guaidó's claim to the presidency: that the post was left “vacant” after the illegitimate 2018 elections, and therefore Maduro was, starting on his inauguration on January 10, “usurping” it. In this case, the president of the National Assembly must take office temporarily and call new elections.
Researcher George Cicarello-Maher says that Guaidó's move is an illegal attempt to seize power:
So call it what you want: attempted regime change, a putsch, a “soft” coup—the military hasn’t supported it—just don’t call it constitutional. The opposition strategy is based on Article 233 of the Constitution, which grants the National Assembly the power to declare a president’s “abandonment” of the office. Of course, the kicker is that Maduro hasn’t done anything of the sort, and only the Supreme Court can disqualify sitting presidents.
In contrast, Venezuelan scholar Paula Vázquez says that calling Guaidó's move a coup d'Etat is “irresponsible.” In an interview with French outlet l'Obs, Vázquez said that such use of the term was “manipulating [public opinion…].” She goes on and asks how can Guaidó's move be considered a coup d'Etat “when there's no use of force? Without the military?”
Many supporters of Guaidó have taken issue with the media describing Guaidó's move as a “self-proclamation.” Writing for local website Prodavinci, Constitutional lawyer José Ignacio Hernández said: “when he took oath on January 23rd, he ratified that he would comply with his duty imposed by Article 233 in the Constitution: take charge of the Presidency of the Republic since there's no elected president in Venezuela.”
When heads of state in the United States, the European Union, and Latin America recognized Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate leader, many people have expressed fear that their decision bore the hallmarks of a foreign intervention. For this camp, Venezuela was about to star in yet another chapter in the long history of United States-backed coups in the region. However, many others see the regional support to Guaidó as a compassionate, internationalist response to a regime that in many ways harmed its people.
In an open letter published in media outlets in Latin America and Europe, 120 Latin American and European academics stated that the National Assembly's actions, together with foreign interventions, would “deepen the crisis and it would unleash an armed conflict.”. That would make Venezuela become “prey to foreign interests, as it has happened in other regions of the world as a consequence of imperialistic interventions”.
But for Frence-based Venezuelan scholar Pedro Sánchez, who I've spoken with via telephone, it isn't plausible to frame the Venezuelan conflict in light of the 20th-century experiences of Cuba or Chile. He says: “The imaginary around the relationship between Latin America and the United States is so powerful that we even forget that in this particular case there are other countries involved.”
For Sanchez, the White House's position on Venezuela contrasts with its migration policy, chiefly represented by Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico, or the military deployment to the US south border top the so-called “migrant caravan” coming from Central America. “Indeed, in the 1960s and 1970s there was this way of doing things, but that's not what's happening right now. In our hypothesis, there is a big distinction in Trump's [Venezuela strategy] and the rest of his foreign policy”, he said.
However, he says that we're also “witnessing a shadow theatre of sorts,” meaning that the public knows little of what's happening behind the scenes.
“We're not in the 60s and 70s anymore. Why is this happening today, and not before? […] Because now, the US can only do things inasmuch as there is an alliance of neighbouring countries to back it up”, he added.
The Venezuelan crisis has deeply impacted the region, with around 3 million Venezuelans leaving the country, impacting, among many other things, the region's health conditions.
Venezuelan political analyst Margarita López Maya echoed Sánchez views in a statement she posted on her Facebook profile:
...desde hace ya al menos dos años dejó de ser un conflicto polarizado entre derecha e izquierda, donde ambos polos son responsables de las penurias y masivas violaciones a todos nuestros derechos humanos. […] Desafortunadamente, estos intelectuales críticos no pueden apreciar este cambio de paradigmas, ni el esfuerzo hecho por los partidos políticos opositores, porque su diagnóstico está demasiado condicionado por una ideología de izquierda todavía anclada en el siglo XX, donde se privilegia el antiimperialismo a la defensa de los derechos humanos.
…This is is not a polarized left-wing, right-wing conflict anymore, and it hasn't been so for at least two years. [We can't say] that both sides are responsible for the hardship and the human rights violations we've been through […] Unfortunately, these critics and intellectuals can't appreciate this change of paradigm, or the efforts made by the political parties from the opposition, because their diagnosis is too conditioned by a leftist ideology rooted in the 20th century, where anti-imperialism is favoured over human rights.
Collective Venezuelan site Caracas Chronicles launched the campaign #AskAVenezuelan, through which they encourage Venezuelans to respond to analyses made by foreign commentators.
The campaign aims to address a phenomenon Venezuelans online call “Venezuelansplaining,” defined below by Twitter user Thomas Schwarzer:
#VENEZUELASPLAINING is the new tendency in social media, where people who have never lived in Venezuela, nor are Venezuelans, try to explain Venezuelans what according to them is happening in Venezuela https://t.co/6qsRWmiXJX
— Thomas Schwarzer (@tomyschwarzer) January 28, 2019

author: Laura Vidal


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Caribbean nations determined to have a say on Venezuela · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Venezuelan opposition protestors’ march in 2017. Photo: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
On February 7, a delegation from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), will be present at a meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay to discuss the situation in Venezuela. Jointly organised by Uruguay and Mexico, the meeting will be attended by “more than 10 countries and organisations,” and bring together parties who have taken a neutral stance regarding Venezuela—a cohort that has been sidelined as international mainstream media coverage of the Venezuela crisis focuses on those who have recognised Juan Guaidó as interim president, plus the handful—Russia, China, Turkey, Iran—who adamantly support Nicolás Maduro’s claim to the presidency.
With members of the EU and other Latin American states in attendance, tiny CARICOM will probably need to fight to be heard in Montevideo. But what happens in Venezuela is of extreme geopolitical importance to the Caribbean region, and CARICOM has been flexing its muscles lately, firstly in choosing to deviate from international opinion and take a non-interventionist stand on the Venezuela question. Then followed the public rebuke on January 31 to Luis Almagro, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, in which CARICOM demanded that he “publicly clarify that [he] did not speak on behalf of all member states” when he recognised Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president.
CARICOM also sent a delegation to a January 28 meeting in New York with the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres. Guterres told reporters on February 4 that the UN will not be endorsing any of the initiatives to resolve the crisis in Venezuela.
Trinidad and Tobago, the CARICOM island closest to Venezuela, has also been grappling with internal differences of opinion on the Venezuela question. Members of the country's substantial population of Venezuelans staged a march in Trinidad's capital on February 2 to express support for Guaidó. At the march, they distributed copies of an open letter to Prime Minister Keith Rowley urging him to do the same. According to estimates, there are around 60,000 Venezuelans living in Trinidad.
The country's Opposition has also expressed support for Guaidó. During a session of parliament, Opposition Leader and former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar warned that the government's actions “may well see us kiss the Dragon deal goodbye,” referring to the energy deal Trinidad and Tobago struck with the Maduro administration in August 2018 to allow the island to access gas from the Dragon gas field. As one economist has pointed out, with the closure of the Petrotrin oil refinery last year, Trinidad and Tobago finds itself in a position of energy insecurity that could be exacerbated by the US's imposing of sanctions on PDVSA, Venezuela's state oil company.
The Venezuela matter has had an impact on Jamaica's energy sector as well. In early January, shortly before Jamaica voted in support of the OAS's decision to declare Maduro's second term as president illegitimate, the government announced its intention to enact legislation to reappropriate Venezuela's 49% stakeholding in the state oil company, Petrojam. The Opposition and others noted the coincidence of the two events, but the government denied there was a connection. Jamaica did go on, however, to sign CARICOM's January 24 statement upholding the stance of non-intervention and non-interference in the Venezuela situation.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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#FreeAmade: Journalist arrested and tortured after reporting on violence in northern Mozambique · Global Voices
Dércio Tsandzana

Survivors who lost relatives and houses rest outside following the June 5 attack in the village of Naunde in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. Photo by Borges Nhamire, used with permission.
Mozambican journalist Amade Abubacar was arrested on January 5, while reporting on a trend of violent attacks on small villages in Mozambique's province of Cabo Delgado.
Located in northern Mozambique, Cabo Delgado is rich with natural resources, such as ruby, charcoal and natural gas, found in the Rovuma Basin. Some observers say the group coordinating the attacks intends to begin trafficking these resources.
Since October 2017, multiple attacks have been carried out in different districts of Cabo Delgado by what appears to be the same rogue group. Many media have reported on the attacks, but state officials have been unwilling to comment on or confirm evidence in these cases.
In 2018, more than one hundred people were prosecuted together in relation to these crimes. Their trial is expected to end this year.
Amade Aoubacar works with the Mozambican Social Communication Institute and as a journalist with news site Zitamar and the local radio station, Nacedje.
The journalist was arrested and detained by Mozambican federal police on January 5, while photographing survivors of an attack in Cabo Delgado.
Amade was then taken to a military quarter of the Defense Forces of Mozambique in the district of Mueda, despite not being a member of the armed forces. After a few weeks, he was transferred to a civilian prison to legalize his detention in Pemba, capital of Cabo Delgado .
After he arrived at the civilian prison, Amade contacted the Mozambican Order of Lawyers and reported having experienced torture at the hands of Mozambican armed forces, who he says beat him and deprived him of food.
Many individuals and media freedom groups have spoken out in his Abubacar's defense, saying that his arrest and detention have threatened the exercise of free expression.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa, which monitors media rights and activities in the region, spoke out strongly against Amade's detention:
Abubacar’s prolonged detention by the military is a violation of his rights as well as his arrest under unconfirmed charges. The Mozambican government is setting a bad precedent in the violation of free expression and access to information in the region.
Amnesty International also released a statement:
Amade Abubacar é um respeitado jornalista que estava a gravar depoimentos de pessoas que fugiram de ataques mortais em Cabo Delgado quando foi preso pela polícia. Esta é a mais recente demonstração de desprezo pela liberdade de expressão e liberdade de imprensa por parte das autoridades moçambicanas, que veem os jornalistas como uma ameaça e os tratam como criminosos.
Amade Abubacar is a respected journalist who was recording testimony from people who fled deadly attacks in Cabo Delgado when he was arrested by police. This is the latest demonstration of contempt coming from Mozambican authorities and directed at freedom of expression and freedom of the press… [authorities] view journalists as a threat and [thus they] are treated as criminals.
The campaign has also spread on Twitter, with the creation of hashtags like #FreeAmade to advocate for the liberation of Amade.
@UNHumanRights demands immediate release of journalist #AmadeAbubacar
Arbitrary detention was no longer enough, they had to torture him, make him sleep with handcuffs at the military base without give him food. This is terrible. #FreeAmade #CaboDelgado
— Cídia Chissungo (@Cidiachissungo) 26 janvier 2019
Angela Quintal, coordinator of the Africa program for the Committee to Protect Journalists, cast blame on the president of Mozambique:
#Mozambique: Today, Jan 30, is the 25th day journalist #AmadeAbubacar remains detained simply because of his journalism. One would think that President @FNyusi has enough on his plate without having to waste resources on jailing an innocent man #FreeAmade https://t.co/giF8zFnaCY
— Angela Quintal (@angelaquintal) 30 janvier 2019

author: Dércio Tsandzana


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‘No-confidence’ vote upheld by Guyana’s courts · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Guyana flag. Image by The Clear Communication People, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Despite the Guyana government's legal challenge to the unexpected result of the December 21, 2018, no-confidence vote, the opposition party‘s motion stands.
When  Charandass Persaud, a member of parliament aligned with Alliance for Change (AFC) (one of the political parties that comprise the governing coalition) crossed the floor and voted in favour of the no-confidence motion, a discussion ensued over whether it even carried. But on January 31, 2019, the country's acting Chief Justice, Senior Counsel Roxane George-Wiltshire, ruled that because 33 votes constitute a majority in Guyana’s 65-member National Assembly, Persaud's vote was valid.
The results of the vote were 33 to 32, and the government had hoped to nullify them by arguing that a majority vote must be 34.
The Chief Justice also said that the vote should have set in motion the immediate resignation of the country's president and cabinet, despite the fact that President David Granger's administration still has about two years left in its term.
Refusing to cave to the opposition's calls for Granger to resign with immediate effect, the government has said it will honour the requirements of Guyana's constitution, which demands that new presidential elections are called by March 2019.
Interestingly, there were other petitions challenging the result of the no-confidence motion, one of which was brought by a farmer, Compton Reid, who questioned the validity of Persaud's vote based on the fact that he holds dual citizenship with Canada. The Chief Justice also dismissed this argument.
While the government may have plans to appeal, opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo has said that his party will not tolerate a “judicial coup reversing what took place in parliament”.
Now that the courts have upheld the validity of the no-confidence resolution, the focus turns to the Guyana Elections Commission as it manages the logistics of preparing for a swift general election.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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The ‘coal curtain’ is the new Iron Curtain · Global Voices
BlueLink

Protest at the UN Climate Talks in Katowice, Poland. Photo: Annamária Lehoczky/BlueLink.info, used with permission.
This article is based on the story “A ‘ coal curtain’ is the new Iron Curtain” by  Annamária Lehoczky for BlueLink, a regional e-magazine covering Central and Eastern Europe. It is republished here via a content-sharing partnership with Global Voices.
In order for the European Union to become climate neutral by 2050, it will need a joint effort to decarbonise its power sector. Yet, a “coal curtain” still seems to divide West and East, roughly along the lines of the old Iron Curtain, as most Eastern countries show hesitation or opposition when it comes to phasing out coal.
The UN Climate Talks (COP24) held in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018 put the spotlight on the topic with a focus on the rights of the workers of the coal industry. Civil society representatives warned that there is very little time left to begin mitigating climate change and air pollution.
Only a couple of days before COP24, the EU announced its long-term strategy to become the first major “climate neutral” economy of the world by 2050. Climate neutrality means countries’ greenhouse emissions are balanced out by, for example, planting of new forests or by using carbon-capture technologies which bury carbon dioxide underground. Reaching net-zero emissions globally is key to keep global warming under 1.5 °C by the end of this century, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned in their latest report.
Silent protest at the UN Climate Talks in Katowice. Poland. Photo: Annamária Lehoczky/BlueLink.info, used with permission.
To comply with the UN Climate Agreement adopted in Paris three years ago, Europe and OECD countries need to be coal-power-free by 2030 (or earlier, depending on the country), according to Europe Beyond Coal, an alliance of civil society groups. This is also acknowledged by the governments that have signed on to the Powering Past Coal Alliance, bringing together a diverse range of governments, businesses and organisations that commit to the phase-out of coal power. European countries like UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Austria and Scandinavian countries have already signed the declaration, however none from the Central and Eastern European region.
While Western Europe reduces its coal usage, the former Soviet bloc nations are moving in the opposite direction. Those most reliant on coal in the EU are Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. The Polish Energy Ministry says that Poland – a country where around 80 percent of energy comes from coal – opposes the EU emission reduction as it would have a negative effect on the electricity sector and the Polish economy as a whole. While ageing coal power plants are facing a big challenge to meet air pollution requirements, five new units are currently under construction in Poland.
Electricity production from coal sources (per cent of total). Source: World Bank
Bulgaria – with 46 per cent of energy from coal – still does not have a long-term climate and energy strategy and opposed the EU targets at the UN summit. Last November, hundreds protested in Sofia against cuts in the coal industry. Georgi Stefanov, Chief Climate and Energy Expert at WWF Bulgaria, believes that it is time to start talking about the modernisation of the energy industry and to prepare the transition. It seems that currently “Bulgaria is even worse than the U.S. or other coal-dependent countries because no one else says that coal will last forever”, told Stefanov.
Likewise, there are significant pollution control challenges for ageing power plants in the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary, although some of those countries do recognise the need for a transition to cleaner energy sources.
As the Romanian mining sector faces significant economic pressures, its energy minister publicly stated for the first time that Romania will have to start thinking about shifting away from coal by 2040.
Slovakia – with its relatively limited coal power plant capacity – has started, in 2017, to discuss the phase-out with 2023 as its target year, although this has not yet been spelt out in national policy, says Europe Beyond Coal.
Hungary – with 19 per cent of its energy coming from coal – is also considering closing the lignite-fired units of the country's main carbon dioxide emitter power plant by 2030. It is a surprisingly ambitious step as the Visegrád Group – Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – tend to stick together in resisting measures that would price out coal. Hungary’s move is motivated by the rising EU carbon prices and the fact that the Mátra power plant already has concepts for low-carbon projects, as Deputy Secretary of State for Climate Barbara Botos, deputy secretary of state for climate explained.
The discussion on phasing out coal is extremely hard, especially in countries where power generation heavily relies on coal and in regions where a high percentage of the population works in the mines and heat power plants – often provided with no employment alternatives.
To avoid shock transition as it happened in Eastern Europe in the 1990s, the shift away from coal has to be well-prepared and facilitated “in a way that leaves no-one behind”. According to a paper by Bankwatch Network, “Just Transition” practices integrate early planning, inclusivity, clear decision, adequate funding, adequate re-skilling and improving quality of life. The transition process should involve everyone affected in the dialogue and decision-making process, including workers, local authorities, businesses, civil society, trade unions, educational entities and other actors.
Protest at the UN Climate Talks in Katowice, Poland. Photo: Annamária Lehoczky/BlueLink.info, used with permission.
Ensuring inclusivity was one of the reasons why Katowice, a former mining hub in Poland, was chosen to host 2018’s climate summit. “People most affected by the change should be invited to the conversation”, said Michał Kurtyka, the president of COP24. The Polish presidency prepared a political declaration on “Just Transition”, promising not to leave the workers of the coal industry behind while building a clean economy. However, questions arose from the civil society: to whom is it just? How about those who suffer from air pollution coming from the coal power plants? Does it only serve to delay real action on mitigating climate change?
According to the World Health Organization, 33 of the 50 towns with the most polluted air in the EU are in Poland, and residents often suffer from heavy smog. Discussing “just transition” in the Polish reality, Joanna Flisowska from Climate Action Network Europe argued that “it’s absolutely crucial to consider the just transition from the angle of workers, but we also need to consider it from the perspective of those who have been suffering from the health impact of coal.”
Population exposure to atmospheric particulate matter. Source: European Environment Agency, Air Quality in Europe – 2018 report.
The divide between the western parts of Europe and the rest of the continent can also be seen in terms of air quality, tweeted Julian Popov, a fellow at the European Climate Foundation and the former environment minister of Bulgaria. Air quality data from the European Environment Agency shows that those living in Eastern Europe and the Balkans are exposed to higher levels of atmospheric particulate matter. These microscopic size particles (so-called PM10 and PM2.5) cause respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and are linked to premature death. Their main source is the burning of coal and wood, soot from incomplete combustion in diesel engines, or waste incineration.
Borislav Sandov, co-chair of the Bulgarian Greens. Photo: BlueLink.info.
Reducing coal usage is not only one of the most cost-effective methods to achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions — it also provides significant benefits in terms of air quality, health and energy security. Proposals for a coal exit strategy for the EU and revitalization plans for former coal regions already exist.
“In Bulgaria, the main coal regions are in a very good strategic location from the perspective of international trade lines. They are in European corridors, they are close to [thermal] baths and big cities with a good potential for economic diversification, so they are not isolated”, said Borislav Sandov, co-chair of the Bulgarian Greens party.
“There are plenty of alternatives, economic and social, for a just transition that could lead to economic growth and prosperity for the population, instead of just losing jobs or migrating”, added Sandov.
Civil representatives discussing “Just Transition” at the climate summit agreed that this is a matter of good governance and educating, informing the people.

author: BlueLink


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Victory predicted for Nigeria’s top presidential opposition candidate amidst corruption allegations · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

A poll by Williams and Associates, U.S.-based opinion research and consulting firm, has predicted that Atiku Abubakar, the opposition candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will win the February 16, presidential elections in Nigeria. Abubakar and the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC) are two major contenders in the race.
Atiku Abubakar [Image from Campaign Organisation Website]
Williams and Associates conducted 1,550 interviews that yielded a “12% POSITIVE vote differential for Atiku over Buhari” from January 11-16, 2019.
A screenshot of poll on the race for the presidency. “Public Attitudes in Nigeria August 16-22, 2017″ by Williams and Associates
The poll employed the same team and methodology that also correctly predicted Buhari's win in 2015. The survey findings showed 64 percent of respondents asserting that President Buhari does not deserve to be re-elected because of poor job performance. Also, 53 percent of those surveyed were pessimistic about the future of Nigeria's economy.
Many respondents agreed that unemployment, poverty, corruption, insecurity in that order will shape the directions of this year's elections. The poll findings also revealed an 11 percent increase in the number of people willing to vote in the 2019 presidential election when compared with the turnout for the 2015 election.
Abubakar recently visited the United States (January 17 and 18) after almost ten years. Abubakar was linked to a multi-million dollar business scandal with a U.S. congressman. The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs also accused him of money laundering and bribery. This led to the widely held assumption that he was banned from visiting the U.S.
Reuters claims that the travel ban on Abubakar “was waived temporarily by the U.S. State Department after lobbyists mounted a campaign.” An anonymous source told Reuters that Abubakar was allowed to enter the US because
… the United States saw little benefit to creating bad blood with the man who might be the next leader of Africa’s most populous nation and the continent’s biggest oil producer.
Abubakar's lobbyists argued that the top U.S. official for African affairs, Assistant Secretary Tibor Nagy, had an obligation to encourage democracy in the seventh most populous country in the world.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Australia remembers Black Saturday on the 10th anniversary of catastrophic bushfires · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

The lie of the land April 8, 2009 – courtesy Elizabeth Donoghue Flickr account
(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Ten years ago, on Saturday 7 February 2009, Victoria experienced catastrophic bushfires which killed 173 people, injuring more than four hundred and destroying over two thousand homes. Seven people died later as the result of their injuries.
During the week of the 2019 anniversary, Victorians have remembered Black Saturday, with mainstream media presenting many personal stories of the fires. ABC Melbourne, the local arm of the national broadcaster, commemorated the victims by sharing stories from survivors.
Others have shared their memories online. On her blog, The small Adventurer, Indya recounts losing her home and shares the impact of the fires on her life since that day:
Ten entire years, and I still don’t think one single day has passed without me mentioning – or at least thinking about – the fires.
[…] I am also still really, really nervous around things like ovens, stoves, heaters, and even lighters. As a baker, you can imagine how difficult having those fears is when I’m going to take something out of the oven, and suddenly something doesn’t move the way I expect it to or something like that, and I instantly freeze up and freak out.
[…] Tomorrow I will be thinking of all those who had it much worse than me, and hoping that the people who are still alive and lost so much more are doing okay. But, I will also be thinking about myself, and allowing myself to feel whatever I happen to feel, because my feelings are valid too. My fear and sadness is valid too, and always have been, it just took me a while to realise it.
Dianne McNamara posted only the second tweet on this account:
#BlackSaturday #7Feb
10 years on. My heart and soul changed forever. As always, my thoughts are with every person affected by Black Saturday. I am forever grateful for the help my family and I received from those on and off the mountain.
I was luckier than some.??? pic.twitter.com/gKHLwlUbpH
— Dianne McNamara (@DianneMcNamara) February 6, 2019
Melbourne lawyer Georgia was fifteen at the time. She summed up the feelings of many:
10 years since my dad jumped in the car with my neighbour and headed towards the devastating fires to rescue my neighbours parents. 10 years since those same fires took so many lives, so many homes, so many animals and so many livelihoods. We will never forget #BlackSaturday ?
— Georgia ? (@melbourneswifty) February 6, 2019
Robin Steenberg shared a devastating memory:
10 years ago, my best man, and his family, perished in the ‘Black Saturday’ Fires, north of Melbourne, Australia. Still feels like yesterday.? Our thoughts go out for there Families. RIP My dear friends ?\@TruemanTrades @stocktcm @iObvi8 pic.twitter.com/DtZxTlodD7
— fxtrader (@robinsteenberg2) February 5, 2019
Many people are connecting the Black Saturday tragedy to current extreme weather conditions that are wreaking havoc in other parts of the country. Another natural disaster with extraordinary flooding has hit Northern Queensland following record rainfall. Blair Drysdale gave some sense of the impact in inland areas:
This is a mates farm north of Julia Creek in North Queensland, his whole farm is like this…….all 150,000 acres. pic.twitter.com/dv2k6kzqDn
— Blocka (@blairdrysdale77) February 6, 2019
The situation in the coastal city of Townsville was also extreme. Video news agency Ruptly documented the torrents:
#Townsville hit by record flooding as dam gates opened#Australia pic.twitter.com/zYjFtnIjke
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) February 3, 2019
Melburnian Ann Moorfield made the connection:
Just need to remind everyone that when we had Black Saturday there were floods in qld same time. There was an appeal in Qld for flood victims and the victims said to send the money to Vic bush fire victims they need it more..so dig deep for Qld flood victims. #Townsville
— Ann Moorfield (@AnnMoorfield) February 6, 2019
Elizabeth Donoghue took the photo at the top of this story “from a road that many people describe as a death trap, a road that I have always avoided till now. But it was worth a hairy drive!” She posted it two months after the fires on Flickr:
Now that everyone knows that this beautiful country that was so burnt in February is not really destroyed, but is just doing what nature intended, and is regenerating, as nature intended, let me show you this amazing landscape. It gives some idea of the scale of the fires; and it also shows, for me, the folds and rhythms of the land beneath the vegetation. i took this from a road that many people describe as a death trap, a road that I have always avoided till now. But it was worth a hairy drive!
Finally, Adrian Cutts reflected on the growth of social media since Black Saturday:
Incidentally, it will also be 10 years tomorrow, since most of Australia found out what Twitter was.
Black Saturday was the turning point for Twitter in this country, from when it was perceived to be a untested medium, to becoming a part of our lives.
— Adrian Cutts (@LYBASkw) February 6, 2019

author: Kevin Rennie


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For the first time, transgender candidates will run for seats in Bangladesh’s National Parliament · Global Voices
Samaya Anjum

A group of “Hijras” in Bangladesh. Image via Wikimedia Commons by USAID Bangladesh
For the first time in Bangladesh's history, transgender candidates who identify as women can vie for the 50 seats reserved for women in the upcoming elections in the Jatiya Sansad or National Parliament.
The election schedule is due to be announced on 17 February, and so far, eight members of the transgender community have been confirmed as running on the Awami League party ballot, which is the first and only political party in the nation to allow this.
The Bangladesh National Parliament has 50 seats among a total 350 reserved exclusively for women, according to article 65 of the national constitution. In Bangladesh, transgender people are categorized as “hijra” (a term referring to a member of the third sex) on their national identity card. However, there is no specific provision in the constitution that prevents members of the hijra community from running for the 50 reserved seats. According to Election Commission Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed, any eligible woman, including hijras who identify as women, can qualify for the reserved seats.
For Falguni, one of the eight transgender candidates, running for office means representing the whole transgender community:
We are citizens of Bangladesh but we have no representation in the parliament. There is no one from our community who can understand and raise our concerns. That is why we are running for the seats.
Of the 16 million people in Bangladesh, an estimated 10,000 to half a million belong to the transgender community. Although there is legal acceptance of the transgender community by the Bangladeshi Government, transgender people have faced discrimination and a tremendous amount of disapproval, often falling victim to hate crimes and violence. In the past, employment was denied and many people tried earning money by begging or by singing during weddings and childbirth.
Pinky Shikder, chief of Badhan Hijra Sangha, said:
When my parents came to know about my sexual orientation they beat me every now and then and forced me to give up my feminine qualities.
They said I was bringing shame to the family. Finally, I decided to leave my house and live with other transgender people.
Rupa (not her real name), one of the many survivors of child abuse, told a reporter of The Dhaka Tribune:
My father used to tell me that I am abnormal. He used to say abnormal people do not need any treatment; he said it would be better if I died.
.@NHRCB adresses child rights issues and rights of minorities and other vulnerable groups. #Bangladesh is a multi ethnic and multi cultural country. #Hijra community is still often harassed due to an absence of clear identification guidelines for this community. #Presessions pic.twitter.com/oRf29Bge2z
— UPR Info (@UPRinfo) April 12, 2018
On November 11, 2013, the hijra community was officially recognized as a separate gender by the nation's government. This step was mainly taken as an aim to remove the socio-economic barriers to the community and to end their discrimination in education, health, and housing.
A year later, on November 11, 2014, thousands of Bangladeshi transgender people wearing colorful sarees marched the first ever Pride parade in the country to mark a year since their official recognition as a third gender. The streets of Dhaka were filled with colors and the sounds of joy as they carried a huge Bangladeshi flag and banners, one of which read: “The days of stigma, discrimination and fear are over”.
Celebrating ‘ Third gender (Hijra) Pride 2014′ in Bangladesh. Image by Sk. Hasan Ali. Copyright Demotix (10/11/2014)
Since then, the transgender community has been making strides towards carving out space for themselves in Bangladeshi society. On December 2014, the Ministry of Social Welfare invited the community to apply for government jobs.
On July 2015, after Labannya Hijra witnessed the murder of a secular blogger Washikur Rahman by Islamist radicals on the streets of Dhaka, and successfully helped in the arrest of the perpetrators, the Bangladesh Government announced plans to recruit and enlist hijras as traffic police officials.
On July 1, 2018, Tanisha Yeasmin Chaity became the first transgender official in Bangladesh's state-run human rights watchdog – the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
All these events have been widely rejoiced by not only Bangladeshis but by people around the world. Below Twitter users describe their support for the Bangladeshi transgender community:
Good news. Keep moving forward, Bangladesh! https://t.co/qr0O6KB1Kf
— Azam KhAN (@AzamAzamjj) January 20, 2019
WOOHOO! Bangladesh Gets Its 1st Transgender Pride Parade http://t.co/4DuXo4ISF5
— alllies (@liemasterX) November 23, 2014
Ahmed Imtiaz Samad wrote in Facebook:
Kudos!
wind of change, may PM select atleast 1 from 8 nomination of transgender applicant for 50 reserve seat at National Parliament.
Hasanul Mokaddes wrote in Facebook:
I don’t know if it’s true I don’t know if this will happen but all I know is it’s about time that we move forward together as humans. The thought of equality for all irrespective of their gender, cast, race, ethnicity or orientation makes me proud to be a citizen of Bangladesh #eqaulityinBD
However, Ishti Sajid questioned their competency:
Nice initiative but would have been much better I think if they were groomed first rather than as just positioning as a puppet on the parliament!
Awami League-led 14 party alliance had a landslide victory on the national elections of 30 December 2018. Of the 50 reserved women's seats, they have 43. It is still to be seen how the party, and the transgender nominees running on their ticket, will do in this year's election cycle.

author: Samaya Anjum


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Foreign Policy’s Venezuela “Global Scorecard” map wrongly lumps Caribbean nations with Russia and China · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Foreign Policy has published an infographic that purports to depict global allegiances in the Venezuela crisis. The infographic, curiously, singles out three CARICOM nations—St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica and Suriname— and mentions them in a table in the accompanying story, placing them in the “Backs Nicolás Maduro” camp alongside powers such as Russia, China, Iran and Turkey.
Here's how the world is split on Maduro vs. Guaido, in Venezuela's political crisis: https://t.co/hm1N7Gx6fH pic.twitter.com/mdkx7l2FbZ
— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) February 6, 2019
This might be flattering geopolitically, but it doesn't reflect the reality. Twelve out of the 15 CARICOM states have jointly expressed their position on Venezuela, so Foreign Policy's list is missing nine CARICOM nations, plus the two others—Haiti and the Bahamas—who have voiced support of Guaidó.
CARICOM's position is also one of non-intervention and non-interference. This may amount, as some have pointed out, to tacit support for Maduro, but the spirit of the CARICOM statement is essentially the same as Mexico's and Uruguay's, both of whom Foreign Policy have placed in the “On the fence” or “taking neutral position, offered to mediate” camp.
CARICOM did also offer to mediate, and is in fact meeting today (February 7) with Uruguay, Mexico and other “neutral” states in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Caribbean nations determined to have a say on Venezuela
Netizen Report: How Venezuela’s political crisis is playing out online
Divided they stand: Caribbean nations take sides on Venezuela
Reports of internet blocks and media censorship as power struggle tensions escalate in Venezuela
Caribbean nations hesitate to recognise Venezuela's Guaidó
“Nobody knows what will come next”: Venezuelans rally in strongest challenge to Maduro yet


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Is there political interference in the public television network of Timor-Leste? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Timor-Leste Radio and Television (RTTL). Source: Facebook
Press freedom advocates are raising the issue of political interference in Timor-Leste’s public television network after the unceremonious removal of the network's president.
Gil Da Costa, chairperson of the board of directors of Timor-Leste Radio and Television (RTTL), was removed from his position on 9 January 2019 following a controversial audit undertaken by the government. Da Costa was subsequently replaced by Francisco da Silva, who led the audit.
The audit allegedly found some irregularities committed under the watch of Da Costa. But Da Costa claimed he was sacked for political reasons, specifically his refusal to allow political meddling in the editorial work of RTTL.
There have been several attempts at political interference on me and directly on journalists to try to influence editorial content.
As head of RTTL I always insisted that I wanted it to be an independent institution without political interference. And I’ve tried to do this. And there was a lot of political interference.
Another possible reason for his removal is that Da Costa was nominated by a minority political party.
The Timor-Leste Press Council issued a statement condemning what it calls the first political interference in RTTL’s newsroom since the country’s restoration of independence in 2002. Virgílio Guterres, president of the Press Council, also criticized a government official for entering the RTTL newsroom and intimidating journalists:
It is a crime against journalism as these people have seized the power of the editor-in-chief for exercising their political interests.
The Press Council is concerned about this situation, and would like to take the opportunity to convey our concerns to the public as well also to the government bodies to look into this situation.
In response to the Press Council's concerns, the new head of RTTL acknowledged receiving the complaints and vowed to make’ self-improvements’.
António Sampaio, a news agency journalist, wrote on Facebook about the issue of political interference in the media. His post, written in Portuguese, was translated by Pacific Media Centre:
Journalists are not just microphones that reproduce, without any contradiction or analysis, what the political leaders say.
Ensuring the independence of public media is even more important. Interference in newsrooms is unacceptable and should always be tackled. Whoever does this is weakening the quality of the Timorese state.
Since its independence from Indonesia in 2002, local media outlets flourished in Timor-Leste thanks in part to international aid. No journalist has been jailed in Timor-Leste according to Reporters Without Borders but there is concern that political pressure is forcing some media companies to practice self-censorship.

author: Mong Palatino


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Netizen Report: Philippine news outlet faces ‘cyber libel’ charges · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

Black Friday protest in Quezon City, Philippines on January 19, 2018. Photo by Therese Reyes, shared on Twitter.
The Advox Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in technology and human rights around the world. This report covers news and events from February 1 – 7, 2019.
The Philippine Department of Justice filed charges of “cyber libel” against independent news site Rappler, along with its executive editor, Maria Ressa, and former staffer Reynaldo Santos. The charges stemmed from a complaint from businessman Wilfredo D. Keng about a 2012 Rappler story that linked Keng to illegal drugs and human trafficking.
This marks the latest in a series of legal challenges that Rappler has faced from the government and individuals associated with the political establishment over the past several months.
Rappler has aggressively covered extrajudicial drug killings in the Philippines and has been a frequent target of attacks by President Rodrigo Duterte, who has several times publicly accused Rappler of being a “fake news outlet”.
In January 2018, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the business license of Rappler on allegations that the company was receiving illegal foreign funding and was owned by foreign entities. Rappler is 100% Filipino owned and has received foreign funding in full compliance with local law. Just two months ago, in December 2018, Rappler founder and editor-in-chief Maria Ressa was charged with tax fraud and a warrant was issued for her arrest, but she was released after posting bail.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said the attempted arrest of Ressa signaled that the Duterte administration “will go to ridiculous lengths to muzzle all those it does not agree with.”
With general elections approaching in Indonesia — polls are scheduled for April 19 — social media companies are on high alert for coordinated disinformation campaigns. On January 31, Facebook announced that it removed hundreds of profiles, groups, and Instagram accounts linked to the Indonesian media syndicate Saracen Group, which is known for propagating hate speech and media hoaxes. The group has been the source of multiple large-scale online disinformation campaigns and memes supporting certain politicians and contenders for legislative office. Facebook explained that the Saracen Group has been banned from its services for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” a violation of Facebook’s policies.
Saracen’s operations made headlines in 2017, causing with President Joko Widodo to launch a police crackdown on Saracen and other similar groups. Three leaders of the group have faced criminal charges, and two have been convicted under Indonesia’s IT law. One is now facing 10 months in prison, while the other will spend two years behind bars.
A newly proposed law in the Duma, the lower house of Russia’s legislative branch of government, would punish people and web services that “knowingly and maliciously disseminate false information of public importance.”
Under the law, entities accused of spreading disinformation that is found to promote public disorder or other serious disturbances could be fined up to a million rubles (just over USD $15,000), unless they remove the violating content in a day’s time. The bill also proposes measures through which Roskomnadzor, Russia's media watchdog, would order ISPs to block websites hosting the offending content.
Although it passed its first reading with flying colors, the bill was met with a rare response of opposition from some prominent voices, including the attorney general’s office, which criticized the bill’s vague definitions as potentially damaging to citizens’ civil rights.
A Kazakh woman who was accused of calling for the government’s overthrow on a Telegram chat channel was acquitted by a judge in the Kazakh city of Aktau, in a verdict that surprised many. Such acquittals are rare in Kazakhstan, where the judiciary lacks independence, especially in cases that are highly politicized.
The verdict in the state’s case against Aigul Akberdi came months after her husband was jailed for three years on similar grounds, after he was convicted of inciting social hatred with anti-government posts in the same Telegram chat channel where Akberdi posted. The two cases are emblematic of the government’s assault on critics and the widespread use of messenger apps by opposition groups, including those based outside the country.
Saudi Arabia is not seeking the death penalty against Shia activist Israa al-Ghomgham, the Kingdom’s embassy in London told Newsweek on January 31. Multiple human rights groups previously reported that the Saudi prosecutor was seeking the death penalty against al-Ghomgham, along with four other detainees including her husband over their roles in anti-government protests in Al-Qatif back in 2011.
Al-Ghomgham faces eight charges including “preparing, sending and storing material that would harm the public order” under Article 6 of the Cybercrime Act of 2007. She also stands accused of “inciting rallies and young people against the state and security forces on social networking sites”, and posting photos and video of these protests online. Her husband and three other protesters are reportedly still facing the death penalty.
The internet was completely shut down in the Pacific island nation of Tonga from January 20 until February 2, due to unexplained damage to the country’s sole undersea internet cable. Officials suspect the cable was destroyed by a large boat anchor, but after surveying the damage to the cable, operators acknowledged that it may have been an act of sabotage.
In an interview with the Associated Press, a representative from Tonga Cable Ltd. said it was “beyond anyone's imagination” why someone would want to damage the cable, and that an investigation was underway.
Fear has spread across Nigeria that the government may switch off the internet during the presidential elections set to take place on February 16. On January 26 and 27, Quartz reported that their guide to staying online in an internet shutdown was the most popular piece on their site, due entirely to traffic from Nigeria.
On February 2, the Office of the National Security Advisor issued a press statement that sought to dispel these rumors, emphasizing that “‘shutting down’ the internet is akin to shutting down national development and security” and pledging to ensure that Nigerians may “freely exercise their civic rights.” Time will tell if authorities will keep their word.
Japanese officials have orchestrated a massive test of the vulnerability of internet-enabled devices such as routers, web cameras and “internet of things” (IoT) products. Technical workers at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology will use standard hacking techniques to attempt to compromise the devices of more than 200 million devices, in an effort to assess the overall level of cybersecurity in the country, in preparation for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Afef Abrougui, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Nwachukwu Egbunike, Mong Palatino, Chris Rickleton, Juke Carolina Rumuat, Taisa Sganzerla, Nevin Thompson and Laura Vidal contributed to this report.

author: Netizen Report Team


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Former West Indies cricket great: ‘We have to put a lot of things right to sustain that level of play’ · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Deryck Murray, former West Indies international test cricketer. Photo by Commonwealth Secretariat, CC BY-NC 2.0.
Until March 10, 2019, cricket fans the world over will be focused on the Caribbean, where the Wisden Trophy Test Series is in progress. Thus far, England have faced the West Indies in two test matches, first in Barbados and then in Antigua. The “Windies”, as the home team are fondly called, emerged wildly victorious in both, beating England—currently ranked Number 3 in the world—by an emphatic 381 runs in the first match and by ten wickets in the second.
For West Indian cricket fans, each astounding win has been as delicious as the first drops of rain after a long, harsh dry season. Some are even hoping that the Windies’ performance could signal a return to the glory days of the 1970s and '80s, when the team dominated the sport.
The West Indies is currently ranked Number 8 out of the ten teams that play first-class cricket. Even if they beat England in the third and final test match, which begins on February 9 in St. Lucia, their position may not change. But on the heels of a one-match ban for Windies captain Jason Holder due to an International Cricket Council (ICC) rule that West Indies officials have questioned, the team may be more determined than ever to win.
Deryck Murray, who was wicketkeeper, batsman, and vice-captain during the golden era of West Indies cricket, and who later served as president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, spoke with me by phone to discuss the series, the ban, and whether or not cricket fans should once more feel confident to “rally round the West Indies”.
Former West Indies cricketer Deryck Murray. Photo by Janine Mendes-Franco, used with permission.
Global Voices (GV): The final test match of this series is coming up and Captain Jason Holder, a great all-rounder, is barred from playing…
Deryck Murray (DM): As I recall, that rule was instituted in 1976, and solely introduced to discourage the West Indies from playing four fast bowlers. Our team was fairly dominant at the time, and we had fellas like Michael Holding and Andy Roberts plus a battery of reserves, and we were winning — so to stop that, they introduced the rule — 90 overs in a day. That was its genesis: our side was too powerful, so rather than figure out what they could do to improve other teams, the approach was, ‘Let's cut them down to size.’ It's a punitive rule that suited most other countries at the time, and was presented under the guise of avoiding time wasting, which of course appealed to the public.
GV: So it's flawed logic.
DM: Well, you have players like Shannon Gabriel — fast bowlers bringing a different thing to the game and running long — whereas spin bowlers take two steps and deliver: they can't possibly bowl an over in the same amount of time.
The ban against Holder is justified by the existence of the rule — they didn't make the 90 overs, so they can fine the players and enforce the ban — but the rule is a glaringly stupid one that does not address the issue of time-wasting.
Back when I was playing, Australia or the West Indies would win a test match in four days. To get through 20 overs an hour was normal, and we had to accomplish that within the set time of six hours’ play a day, on average — but now, if at 5 p.m. you haven’t bowled 90 overs, the umpire can can decide to extend the play.
In the second test of this series, Holder was leading the team to resounding victory. England, on the other hand, failed to be competitive and carry the game for the full five days, and what happens? Holder gets punished for ‘wasting time’. So on the pretext of preventing time-wasting, the rule was actually engineered to allow the flow of the game to be more leisurely than urgent.
Fortunately, this situation has brought the shortcomings of the rule into focus. Instead of depriving spectators of more play per day, the ICC should empower the umpires to penalise players for deliberately delaying play on the field.
Screengrab of West Indies captain Jason Holder celebrating after England was 132 all out during the second test match of the Wisden Trophy Test Series, held in Antigua on February 2, 2019. Image taken from a YouTube highlights video posted by Windies Cricket.
GV: How do you think the third test will go?
DM: I think the West Indies will win. If the players feel as aggrieved as the fans do, they’ll band together and give a little extra.
At this stage, too, the England team is totally demoralised. I suspect that in their minds, they figured they were coming for some warm-up games to prepare them for The Ashes later in the year. Instead, they're now being criticised and their skill is being called into question. So they're not thinking like a team, they're each fighting for their own pick — it's every man for himself.
GV: Are we seeing the long-awaited resurgence of West Indies cricket?
DM: We're seeing a really good performance. It's nice to be able to think of this series as the catalyst for resurgence, but it's far too early for that. This might spark hope for the resurgence, but it's not the thing itself.
GV: What will it take?
DM: We have to put a lot of things right, in both domestic and regional cricket in order to sustain that level of play. We won, quite spectacularly, two test matches against England. We'll likely win a third. But the team has to maintain that consistency day in, day out, against any opposition, in any condition.
If they play like this steadily for next six months — in July, we play India [the top-ranked team] — and if we beat India, then we can begin to expect this level of performance all the time. That doesn't mean we'll win all the time; you win some, you lose some — but if we maintain that level of play all the time, that's when we'll get to say we're one of the top teams in the world.
The West Indies bowls to England during the second test match of the Wisden Trophy Test Series, held in Antigua on February 2, 2019. Image taken from a YouTube highlights video posted by Windies Cricket.
GV: The game is very different now compared to when the West Indies actually was the top team in the world.
DM: Yes, the introduction of the T20 league [a shorter form of the game], for example, is a lure for some players and changes the focus, particularly for the West Indies.
There's also a lot of friction between the West Indies Cricket Board [now called Cricket West Indies] and players. I say ‘friction’ as opposed to disagreements. There will always be disagreements between administration and players, but the current relationship is confrontational, which works against the players and restricts them from fulfilling their full potential.
Yet, reaching that potential is certainly what this West Indies team seems to be striving for — and that can only be good news for the state of international test cricket.


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Uganda’s social media tax is leaving people disconnected — and failing to meet revenue targets · Global Voices
James Propa

Users need to pay a tax to use Social Media. The USSD menu appears showing the different validity periods and prices. Photo by James Propa, used with permission.
The number of people using the internet in Uganda has dropped by more than 12 percentage points since July 2018, when the country's so-called “social media tax” was put into force.
Prior to the tax's implementation, 47.4 percent of people in Uganda were using the internet. Three months after the tax was put in place, that number had fallen to 35 percent.
The tax resulted from an Excise Duty Bill passed in parliament in May 2018, which allows Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to tax users’ access to IP-based over-the-top (OTT) communication services, including all major social media services. In practice, the rule has forced people to pay 200UGX or roughly USD $0.054 per day for social media access.
President Yoweri Museveni and several government officials said this was an opportunity to curb online rumor-mongering and generate more revenue for the East African nation.
But for many, this is a violation of freedom of speech and a form of double taxation, as citizens already pay a tax on data bundles to access the internet. Opposition members of parliament, journalists, activists and the general public argued that the tax would lock thousands of people out of online services — especially youth, who make up more than 70 percent of the population.
The tax was the subject of large-scale public protests in July and August 2018. During one protest against the tax, key opposition leader, activist and musician Bobi Wine said that the tax was enforced to oppress the young generation.
Global Voices also took part in advocating against the tax by holding a tweetathon for Ugandans and supporters across the region to speak out and raise awareness.
#NoToSocialMediaTax: A tweetathon against Uganda's social media tax
Date: Monday, July 9, 2018
Time: 14:00 – 17:00 East Africa time / 11:00 – 14:00 GMT
Hashtag: #NoToSocialMediaTax
Host: Global Voices Sub Saharan Africa @gvssafrica pic.twitter.com/k5dYCYd0KR
— GV SSAfrica (@gvssafrica) July 6, 2018
The government expected to collect about UGX 24 billion in revenue from the tax every quarter. But in the first quarter after the tax's implementation, they collected UGX 20 billion. In the second quarter, ending December 2018, they had collected only UGX 16 billion.
A tweet from Uganda Communications Commission showed the trend of declining OTT tax revenues and internet use between July and September 2018.
In the last three months of the Qtr under review, both the number of OTT taxpayers & figures for OTT revenues declined. Figures indicate subscribers using OTT services at least once in the quarter. 50.4% of the internet subscribers used OTT services by the end of September 2018. pic.twitter.com/aM7hBfage8
— UCC (@UCC_Official) January 25, 2019
While some people have gone offline altogether, others are simply finding different and more affordable ways to connect. People are creating shared access points where one device pays the tax and tethers the rest as a WiFi hotspot, or relying on workplace and public area WiFi networks to access the services.
Other Ugandans are using Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications to bypass the tax. In a statement for The Daily Monitor, the Uganda Revenue Authority's Ian Rumanyika argued that people could not use the VPNs forever, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
One of the reasons (OTT) has not been performing well is resistance. We experienced a lot of resistance in the first quarter thus failing on our targets….It is catching up, because they [subscribers] cannot use VPNs forever.
Ugandan tech blog Tech Jaja predicted that VPN use may become the norm for social media users, who may choose to put their money towards additional data bundles and rely on VPNs, where basic services are typically free of charge.
[Many] internet users…see UGX 200 as another 10MB package to stay connected on the internet. Hence, its [sic] no surprise that VPNs will continue becoming the country’s main gateways to taxed platforms…
Under the same law, the government introduced a mobile money tax that imposes a levy of 0.5 percent on cash withdrawals. This also provoked a response, as many Ugandans use mobile money banking and money transfers as a quicker, easier and safer way to save and transfer funds.
Uganda Debt Network tweeted that the mobile money tax has achieved a surplus of its targets whereas the OTT tax has not met its targets.
Mobile money tax registers surplus as OTT fails to reach target in the first quarter. @URAuganda collected Shs104.75b from Mobile Money tax in excess of Shs50b of the Shs54.75b set target while OTT generated only Shs21.12b in the same period against Sh135.21b.@SEATINIUGANDA
— Uganda Debt Network (@ugandadebtnet) February 4, 2019
In addition to leaving Ugandans with less access to communication and diminished abilities to express themselves online, it has also affected economic and commercial sectors, where mobile money and online marketing are essential components of daily business.
Juliet Nanfuka of the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) revived the call for a reassessment of the policy, citing stakeholders who have asked for “a more inclusive financial economy and digital society that does not discriminate or disenfranchise already marginalized and vulnerable communities.”
Time will tell whether these arguments take hold among government decision-makers.

author: James Propa


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Who will win Trinidad & Tobago Carnival’s 2019 Road March? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A carnival masquerader “jumps up” to soca music on stage at the Queen's Park Savannah, on Carnival Tuesday, 2009. Photo by Georgia Popplewell, used with permission.
When revelers take to the streets each year for Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, they do so with a soundtrack. Their playlist is always an energetic mix of that year's hottest soca music hits, but the Road March — the song that is played the most at specified judging points along the parade route — is a title that comes with both a valuable prize package and the prestige of being part of a proud history.
For most soca performers, the appeal of winning the Road March is, quite literally, street cred. Claims in the last decade or so of the competition being rigged — ostensibly by a group of powerful radio station owners, DJs and music industry executives known as the “soca mafia” — have not eroded the belief that the Road March represents the voice of the people.
Soca star Machel Montano, who has won the coveted Road March title a whopping nine times thus far, describes it as “the song that make[s] the people feel the most vibes and come out of [them]selves” — and which artist wouldn't want to lay claim to that?
But don't be fooled into thinking that the road to the Road March is solely based on creative merit. A Road March song must have certain key ingredients to even be in the running:
1. A danceable, yet powerful melody that makes people want to “break away” on stage, with lyrics that capture the feelings of joyful release and abandon that Carnival represents.
2. A refrain that the audience can echo, in the call and response tradition of the calinda, from which calypso — and its modern-day hybrid, soca — originated.
3. A well-timed release. If a song peaks too early in the season and doesn't have staying power, competing tunes can usurp its position. Conversely, if a great tune is released too late, masqueraders may not have enough time to get familiar with it during pre-Carnival events.
Sometimes, the Road March contest has a clear favourite that never gets challenged; at others, the competition is so stiff that it's simply too close to call. In no particular order, here are some the songs that we think are the biggest contenders for Trinidad and Tobago Carnival's 2019 Road March …
The Queen's Park Savannah, an oasis of green space in the middle of Trinidad's capital, is the hub of the country's Carnival celebrations and home to the festival's main stage. This song perfectly captures the significance of the space, and the memories it has helped create for masqueraders through the years.
There is a reverence about the tune: as if the Savannah is the sun at the centre of the Carnival universe and everything else just has the privilege of revolving around it. “Savannah Grass” is an invitation to experience this magical world. Oxymoronically, the loose steadiness of the percussion is a nod to both the regimented dedication of Carnival lovers and their easygoing way of enjoying themselves.
The tune is both melodious and energetic, with a pace that makes it a good song for “chipping” (the light shuffle step with which masqueraders walk/dance down the road). By its clever incorporation of archival Carnival footage, the official video further elevates the genius of the song by showing how it seamlessly spans generations and builds on the foundation blocks of calypso to produce a fresh soca offering. Even if it does not win Road March (though it has a very good chance!), “Savannah Grass” will go down in the annals of soca music as one of the timeless tunes that stir the emotions of Carnival lovers everywhere.
An interesting idiosyncrasy of “playing mas'” and dancing to soca music is that somehow, people's hands go up in the air, usually with whatever they are holding at the moment, from drinks to facecloths. Colloquially called “rags”, these come in handy for soaking up the sweat while “jumping up”. The practice was not lost on Super Blue, who wrote a song called “Get Something and Wave”, that won the 1991 Road March.
He echoed the concept a few years later with “Bacchanal Time”, in which he commanded masqueraders to “start to wave” as the brass section played the familiar “F-jam” or “tantana” melody in the background. Super Blue had come up with a formula for the type of song that worked on the road: he won again in 1995 with his ode to cricketer Brian Lara, in which he directed his audience to “raise yuh bat and party”.
“Rag Storm” has many of those same elements — the lavway-type call-and-response, with a wild aerobic pace that encourages frenzied rag-waving. It's a great song for the stage as masqueraders break loose and “play themselves”, and may very well prove to be one to beat in this year's Road March race.
If there's one song that's aggressively going after the Road March title this year, it's this big tune that has several winning ingredients: a driving “power soca” beat, strong lyrics that capture the essence of the unity of the festival, and a clever hook that appeals to the tribal facet of Carnival — going everywhere with your crew, or as Trinbagonians say, your “famalay” (not to be confused with “family”):
Well, let me tell you one time, famalay is famalay and that different from bloodline
Some say them is blood but them don't want to see the sunshine
Famalay doh ever ‘fraid to have your back at all time…
Without giving instructions (with the exception of one verse in which Skinny sings “show me yuh hand” and “come follow me”), the song achieves an almost militaristic sense of purpose. Its sweet soca hook, peppered with the occasional dancehall-inspired lyrical improvisation, has been driving crowds wild at Carnival fetes.
Though there was some discussion as to whether or not “Famalay” would even qualify for the Road March contest because Skinny hails from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the rules say that once “the majority of the lead vocal performance” is “undertaken and carried out by nationals of Trinidad and Tobago”, the song can be a contender — and this one definitely is.
This is not to say that it's a three-song race. With just about three weeks to go before Carnival, there other tunes — including two wicked ones by female artists Destra Garcia and Patrice Roberts — that may just give our picks a run for their money, and with soca performers still dropping new tracks, the battle for Road March 2019 is still being fought.