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Interview: Award-Winning Mauritanian Activist Ahmed Jedou Blogs for Change · Global Voices
Thalia Rahme

Mauritania's Ahmed Jedou Mauritania's is a young activist like his father before him, who had died before he was born, leaving behind a widow and young children to continue the struggle after him. He is also prolific blogger who has become the voice of his country on many platforms, including Global Voices in Arabic, Mideast Youth and Jadaliyya [ar], to name a few.
He also has his own blog [ar] and Twitter account, where he writes about his country Mauritania and its troubles. His blog was recently chosen by netizens as the best blog in Arabic for the Best of Blogs (BoBs) award, organised annually by the Deutsche Welle.
We caught up with him a few days before the publication of the BoBs results, discussing his opinion on the state of freedom in Mauritania, his struggle for a civil state in his country, and more.
Ahmed as a child. From the blogger's Facebook page
Global Voices (GV): Ahmed, can you please introduce yourself to our readers?
أنا مدون وناشط موريتاني اكتب من اجل دولة مدنية ديمقراطية تقوم على المساواة والموطنة واحترام حقوق الإنسان
معارض للنظام العسكري  في بلدي واكره العنصرية والعبودية وكل أشكل استغلال الانسان لأخوه الانسان من مواليد مدينة بوتلميت التي تبعد عن العاصمة الموريتانية نواكشوط 150 كلم .
بدأت التدوين في عام 2006 من خلال منصة مكتوب من خلال مدونتي التي تحمل اسم (ياعرب)ثم انتقلت لاحقا إلى منصة البلوجر وذلك مع بداية الربيع العربي حيث فتحت مدونة تحمل إسمي .وقد قررت التدوين بعد أن  تخمرت في دهني  فكرة انه بالتدوين والكتابة وخلق ضجيج على الانترنت يمكنني ان أساهم في عملية التوعية في بلدي وأن أساعد في فضح النظام العسكري الذي يحكم موريتانيا مند 1978. كذلك لإعجابي بالحركة التدوينية المصرية  .لكن مع تفاعل رواد الانترنت من خارج موريتانيا  مع نشاطي التدوين بدأت طموحاتي تتوسع حيث اصبحت أسعى إلى التعريف ببلدي ونقل صوت شعبي إلى عالم أكبر .
Ahmed Jedou (AJ): I am a Mauritanian blogger and activist. I write for a civil and democratic state, established on the basis of equality, citizenship and respect for human rights. I am an opponent of the military regime in my country. I hate racism and slavery and all forms of exploitation of humans by their fellow brothers. I was born in the town of Boutilimit, around 150km South East of the capital Nouakchott.
I started blogging in 2006, through my Maktoob platform and my blog was entitled back then (ياعرب) meaning “Hey there Arabs”. I then moved to Blogger with the eruption of the Arab Spring. My blog simply held my name. The decision to blog came after I was convinced that by blogging and creating a buzz on the web, I can contribute to raising awareness in my country and help in unmasking the military regime ruling Mauritania since 1978. I was also influenced by the blogging movement in Egypt. But with the interaction of non-Mauritanian with my blog posts, my ambition started to grow and I strove to introduce my country and convey the voice of my people to a bigger world.
GV: How did you get to contribute to Global Voices?
كان انضمامي للأصوات العالمية نقلت نوعية في مشواري التدويني وأظن انه كذلك في مشوار التدوين الموريتاني .فالأصوات العالمية ساعدتني في تحقيق أحد احلامي وهو التعريف بموريتانيا على الانترنت حيث اصبحت اكتب عن الاحداث الجارية في بلدي وأسوق ما يكتب المدونين الموريتانيين ليتم ترجمته إلى كل لغات العالم وهو ما جعل أصوات جديدة تتعرف على بلدي المجهول للعالم .كذلك ساعدتني في ربط علاقات مع نشطاء مهمين عبر العالم كان أغلبهم لا يعرف شيء عن موريتانيا وأصبحوا لديهم معلومات عنها وساعدوني في التعريف بها ونقل صوت شعبها المحتج إلى كل بقاع الأرض.
وهذا هو دور الأصوات العالمية وهو إعطاء الفرصة للشعوب التي تقع خارج نطاق التغطية من أجل أن تحكي قصصها وتتشارك مع العالم تجاربها ومعاناتها.
فقبل انضمامي للأصوات العالمية كان للاقتباسات التي يقوم ياخدها بعض كتابها من مدونتي دور مهم في الترويج لها حتى اخدتها الجزيرة الانجليزية مصدرا وكدالك ذكرتها الجار ديان ؟
Ahmed at the GV Summit in Nairobi, Kenya
AJ: Joining GV was a qualitative leap in my blogging path and I also reckon it is so for the Mauritanian blogging movement as well. GV has helped me in fulfilling one of my dreams, which is to introduce Mauritania globally on the web where I wrote on current affairs in my country and also promoted what other bloggers wrote. So through GV, their blogposts where translated into many languages, which made my unknown country known by new readers. GV also helped in getting me acquainted with renowned activists from all over the world. Most of them knew nothing of Mauritania and now they are informed about it. GV has helped me in conveying the voice of my country's protesting people to every corner in the world.
GV: What does blogging means to you?
التدوين بالنسبة هو الوسيط الذي أستطيع من خلاله ان انقل صوت الانسان الموريتاني إلى العالم واحكي قصة شعبنا وأودي دوري في مشروع التغيير في بلدي .وهو الهواية الأقرب إلى قلبي فقد اصبح جزء من وجداني ومن تفاصيل شخصيتي وحياتي وهو أفضل طريقة للنشر تلائم طريقة تفكيري فأنا ضد كل أنواع الرقابة .
AJ: Blogging for me is the medium through which I can convey the voice of the Mauritanians to the world and relate the history of my people and play my role in promoting the change project in my country. It is my most cherished hobby and it even became part of my conscience, and an integral part of my personality and my life. It is the best means, which suits my way of thinking because I am against all forms of censure.
GV: Aside from blogging, what are the other platforms on which you are active online?
أنا أنشط على مواقع فيسبوك وتويتر وبنسبة أقل على جوجل + .
فالفيسبوك يساعدني في نشر ما اكتب على مدونتي الى جمهور أكبر خاصة الموريتانيين كذلك يساعدني أنا وبقية النشطاء المطالبين بالديمقراطية في الحشد لوقفاتنا الاحتجاجية التي ننظم فمن خلاله عبئنا لأول خروج للشباب الموريتاني للمطالبة بالدولة المدنية وذلك في 25 فبراير 2011 ومازلنا نحشد به . اما تويتر فيساعدني في نقل احتجاجاتنا إلى عالم أكبر وربط الصلات بنشاطاء من بقية البلدان .
AJ: I am quite active on Facebook and on a lesser degree on Google +. Facebook helps me in disseminating what I write and reaching to a bigger audience, especially among Mauritanians. It also helps me and other Mauritanians demanding Democracy, to mobilize for our protests, which we organize. Through Facebook, we mobilized for our first Mauritanian Youth Demonstration, demanding a civil state, on the 25th of February, 2011. We still resort to Facebook for that purpose. Twitter helps me in conveying our protests to a bigger number of people and to network with activists from other countries.
Ahmed at a protest in Nouakchott. From the blogger's Facebook page
GV: How do the Mauritanian authorities deal with bloggers and digital activists?
يتعرض المدونون في موريتانيا وحتى الصحفيون لشتى انواع المضايقات فالشرطة حين تقمع المتظاهرات لا تفرق بين الصحفي والمدون والمحتج وتعتقل الجميع وتنكل به . صحيح أنه لا يوجد مدونون في السجون لكن كل حين يتم توقيف احدهم اثناء تغطيته لحدث ما .
لكن السلطات الموريتانية تحاول دائما قرصنة حسابات النشطاء وكذلك تتعمد إبطاء الانترنت في موريتانيا بحيث يصعب على الناشط تحميل الفيديوها او حتى ولوج مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي .
AJ: Bloggers in Mauritania and even journalists are subject to all kinds of harassment. When the police repress protests, they do not distinguish between a journalist, a blogger and protester and thus arrest everyone — and torture everyone. It is true that there are no bloggers in prisons but every now and then someone is arrested while covering a certain event. Moreover, Mauritanian authorities always try to hack activists’ accounts and resort to slowing the internet so that it is difficult for activists to upload videos or even access social networks.
GV: In that context, you have been arrested yourself a while ago. What can you tell us about this?
انا سبق وتم توقفي مرتين أثناء الاحتجاجات التي ينظم الشباب الموريتاني والتي تعرف بانتفاضة 25 فبراير .فأول توقيف كان في 25 إبريل 2011 حيث كنت أصور قسم الشرطة بعد ان تم اعتقال مجموعة من النشطاء من أصدقائي والمرة الثانية كان يوم11 فبراير 2012 وذلك أثناء مسيرة تطالب برحيل النظام العسكري.لكن تم توقيفي مرة أخرى ولكن ليس في احتجاج ولا بسبب التدوين لكن في حظر تجول غير معلن وغير قانوني حيث رفضت الانصياع له وكتبت عنه على مدونتي وحاولت مع بعض النشطاء أن نخلق حالة من الرفض لحالة الطوارء التي تقوم بها السلطات في سرية وهو خرق للقانون.
AJ: I have already been arrested twice during protests held by Mauritanian youth, during what is known by 25 February Uprising. The first time was on the 25 of April, 2011, where I was photographing the police offices following the arrest of some of my activists friends. The second time was on the 11 of February, 2012, during a march calling for the end of the military regime. And the last time (on 8 March, 2013) I was not arrested because of a protest or for a blog post but because I refused to yield to an unannounced and illegal curfew. I even blogged about it and attempted with some fellow bloggers to initiate a state of refusal for this emergency state enforced by the authorities.
GV: Even though you write mostly about Mauritanian affairs, we notice that from time to time you blog about other countries. Why is that?
صحيح انني موريتاني واكتب غالبا عن واقع بلدي لكن في النهاية انا مواطن عالمي وإنسان يشعر بآلام الآخرين والظلم الذي يتعرضون له وتعجني نضالات كل الشعوب وتجعلني أتفاعل معها واكتب عنها . فأنا كل محتج في العالم يمثلني وكل طالب حق هو اخي وتوأم فكري.
فثورة البحرين ثورتي وكذاك ثورة مصر وتونس وليبيا وسوريا واليمن والمغرب وأنتظر بفارغ الصبر إنتفاضات في بقية بقاع الأرض الملطخة بالدكتاتورية والظلم واعتبر أن الكتابة عن الاخرين واجب فقيم الإنسانية تملي علي ذالك.فأنأ اعيش من اجل حرية الإنسان والفكر .
AJ: Though I am Mauritanian and I write mostly about my country, I am also I am a citizen of the world and human being who empathizes with the suffering and injustice incurred by others. I feel the struggle of other people and I interact with them and thus I write about them. Every protester in the world represents me and every right seeker is my brother and the twin of my intellect. The Bahraini revolution is my revolution, so are the ones in Egypt, Tunis, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Morocco and I am looking forward to uprisings in the rest of the countries tarnished by dictatorship and injustice and I consider that writing about others is a duty implied by the principles of humanity. I live for the freedom of the human being and of the freedom of the thought.
GV: Despite the low penetration rate in Mauritania, the country's presence on the web this year is noticeable. The biggest proof is that you and and your fellow Mauritanian blogger Nasser Weddady have both been selected for this year's BoBs awards. Also, activist Nasser Weddady gave a speech in front of US President Barack Obama, representing the Muslim community following the Boston Marathon bombings. How do you explain this?
اعتقد ان ترشيحي انا لجوائز البوبز لهدا العام هو إفراز من إفرازات النشاط الذي بدأ به المدونين الموريتانيين على الانترنت وعملهم المكثف والمستمر ومحاولتهم التواصل ونقل أصواتهم للعالم رغم ضعف الوسائل وعدم انتشار الانترنت بالشكل المطلوب.كذلك ارى اني انضمامي للأصوات العالمية نقل مدونتي لعالم اوسع وعرف بها مجتمع أكبر وهو ما ساعد مدونتي في دخول المنافسة .أيضا كوني جزء من الحراك في موريتانيا والعالم العربي وأحد أصواته وأن مدونتي احدى منابره قد يكون عامل أخر.
اما بخصوص ناصر ودادي فهو شخص استثنائي في كل شيء فلغاته الخمس التي يتحدث وعلاقاته التي صنع طوال سنين ونشاطه المتميز على الشبكة ووقته وجهده الذي يبذل من اجل الدفاع عن الحريات والمظلومين. تجعل وقوفه امام اوباما والحديث باسم المسلمين في أمريكا وترشيحه للبوبز أمر طبيعي وغير مستغرب و ما وصل إليه هو مجهود فردي.فناصر معروف لدي الكثيرين من الذين لا يعرفون أين تقع موريتانيا ولا أي شعب يسكنها .
AJ: I think my selection for the BoBs this year is one of the results of the dynamic initiated by Mauritanian activists on the net and their extensive work and attempts to communicate and transmit their voice to the world despite the lack of means and the low internet penetration rates in my country. I also believe my contribution to Global Voices has transferred my blog to a wider world and made it known by more people, which helped in it being considered for the competition. Another factor could be the fact that I am part of the dynamics in Mauritania and in the Arab World and one of its voice and that my blog is one of this movement's platforms.
As for Nasser Weddady, he is an exceptional person who speaks five languages and who has built relations for years and has an exceptional activity on the net, where he spends lots of time, deploying great efforts to defend freedoms and oppressed people. All these elements made his speech in front of Obama and the fact he was representing Muslims something natural and not surprising. All this is the fruit of an individual effort. Nasser is known by many who ignore where Mauritania is even located and where its people live.
GV: Finally, let's suppose you're tweeting and in just 140 characters you have to tell GV readers about your country, using the hash-tag #Mauritania. What would you say?
#موريتانيا بلد غني بالموارد قليل السكان متعدد الأعراق.تجري فيه احداث صراع سرميدي بين المواطنبن الحالمين بالديمقراطية والنظام العسكري الفاسد!
AJ: #Mauritania a country rich in resources, multi-ethnic. An eternal conflict between the citizens dreaming of democracy and the rotten military regime is taking place.

author: Thalia Rahme


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Contemporary Indian Art Explored in Video Conversations with Artists · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

The Regarding India project is a series of video interviews with Indian artists about their work conducted by Kathryn Myers, a painter and professor of art at the University of Connecticut.
Myers, whose research looks at the art and culture of India, started the project during a Fulbright Fellowship in 2011. Regarding India was inspired by interviews she watched when she was an art student, and was designed to contribute to a course she teaches on Indian art and popular culture. It is also meant to be a resource for anyone interested in contemporary Indian art.
Sixty artists have been interviewed so far, and as the videos are edited they will be uploaded on the Regarding India website.
Artist and filmmaker Sarnath Banerjee is best known as India’s first graphic novelist:
Arpana Caur is a painter whose work explores spiritual themes:
Dinesh Khanna is a well-known photographer:
Krishnaraj Chonat is a sculptor and installation artist, who uses unconventional materials such as sandalwood soap and e-waste:

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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‘Iran Voices’ Gives Voice to Non-Urban Areas · Global Voices
Farid

Iran Voices is created based on Ushahidi‘s successful project. Iran Voices aims to report about Iranian small cities and villages and send by emailing people's requests and concerns to the authorities and MPs.

author: Farid


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Israeli Social Justice Protesters Met with Violence by Jerusalem Police · Global Voices
Elizabeth Tsurkov

A protest organized by three groups affiliated with the Israeli social justice movement (#j14) was held in Jerusalem on Saturday night (June 8). The protesters demanded a reversal of the decision to export most of Israel's natural gas reserves with only 12.5% of the value of the gas going to the State in taxes. The protesters also voiced objections against the budget of the new government, which is expected to significantly raise taxes on Israel's lower and middle-class, while at the same time cutting government services on which those classes rely. The protest, despite being peaceful and rather small (a few hundreds of protesters) was met with an unusually high level of random police brutality.
Leftist activist Ben Marmara tweeted a series of updates throughout the protest:
שוטרים מכים נשים בירושלים, יש לכלוא את השוטרים
שוטרים היכו מפגינה וכעת עצרו אותה. #J14
שוטרים ממשיכים לעצור בני אדם ולהעמיס אותם על טנדרים. #J14 יש כבר כמה וכמה עצורות ועצורים בירושלים.
כמו בהפגנה ברמת גן גם היום המשטרה עברה על החוק ומנעה בכוח קיום של הפגנה. אח”כ עצרו מפגינים ומפגינות
Policemen are beating up women, they should be jailed.
There are a number of female and male detainees in Jerusalem. #j14 Police keep arresting people and piling them into police vans.
Just like the protest in Ramat Gan [against the export of natural gas], once again, the police broke the law and forcefully prevented a protest. Then they arrested protesters.
Jerusalem-based #j14 activist, Yishai Oltchik, posted this update on Facebook:
אז היום אני יכול לציין את הפעם הראשונה שבה שוטר דפק לי בעיטה. תקף אותי, זאת אומרת.
למה? פשוט כי עמדתי עם שלט הפגנה שקורא לקיום דיון בכנסת בנושא ייצוא הגז. לא דיברתי עם השוטר, לא עמדתי קרוב אל השוטר, אפילו לא הראתי סימנים שאני לא מתכוון לשתף פעולה אם הוא יבקש ממני לזוז. אפילו לא הסתכלתי אליו באופן ישיר. אפילו לא צילמתי, שזה דבר שמותר לעשות אבל בדרך כלל מסתיים בתקיפה.
פשוט עמדתי במקום, ואז הוא הגיע, דחף בעוצמה את הבחורה שהחזיקה איתי את השלט (והעיף אותה על גבה), ועל הדרך בעט בי.
איך הגבתי? קראתי אליו בהפתעה “למה?” ואחרי שניה הרמתי ידיים באוויר (שלא יגיד שאני תוקף אותו) וצעקתי שהשוטר תוקף אותי. הוא כנראה החליט שזה מספיק ועזב אותי לנפשי.
הלכתי לקצין המשטרה הקרוב ואמרתי לו ששוטר בעט בי ללא סיבה; הוא חייך והמשיך ללכת.
ומכל מה שהיה שם, הכאב של הבעיטה, הזעם והעלבון על כך שהותקפתי ללא סיבה (ומי שמכיר אותי יודע שאני לא אדם אלים), מה שהכי מכעיס אותי זו הידיעה שזה לא משהו מיוחד. זה לא יוצא דופן.
פשוט הגיע תורי הפעם, ועוד יש לי מזל שהשוטר הסתפק רק בבעיטה אחת — כי בדרך כלל זה לא נפסק אחרי מכה אחת בודדת.
ראיתי עוד לפחות עוד עשרה אנשים נדחפים בעוצמה ו/או חוטפים מכות ‘בקטנה’ משוטרים, ועוד מעצר אלים אחד או שניים שיצא לי לראות.
So today I can mark the first time when a cop kicked me. Attacked me, I mean. Why? Simply because I stood with a sign calling the Knesset [Israeli Parliament] to hold hearings regarding the export of natural gas…. I did not talk to the cop… did not look at him directly. I did not even film him, which is legal but usually ends in assault [by the cops]. I just stood there and then he arrived, forcefully pushed the girl who held the sign with me (throwing her on her back), and on the way, kicked me…. I went to a nearby police officer and told him that the cop kicked me for no reason; he just smiled and kept walking.
…
The thing that makes me so angry is knowing that this is not something out of the ordinary. It was just my turn this time, and I was lucky that the policemen thought that one kick was enough — because usually it doesn't end after one blow. I saw at least 10 other people being pushed and kicked by policemen, and one or two violent arrests.
Tel Aviv-based #j14 activist Orly Bar-Lev posted this image on Facebook and wrote:
Right to left: “Bibi [nickname for Netanyahu] – stop the economic terrorism!
Orly in the center: “Export of gas = suicide for the state” and “No to the cut in child stipends” [one of the proposed austerity measures that will greatly harm the lower class]
מאות אזרחים נורמטיביים, שוחרי שלום, לא אלימים ומודאגים שבאו למחות על הגזירות הכלכליות, המצב הכלכלי וכנגד ייצוא הגז, נתקלו היום בירושלים בהתנהלות משטרית אלימה וקשה, חסרת כל פרופורציה.
פרשים??? להכות נשים??? מפגין שנדרס על ידי שוטר על אופנוע???
מה נסגר אתכם?
מי נתן את ההוראה לעצור את ההפגנה באלימות ולדכא את זכות המחאה? מי נתן את ההוראה למנוע מצעדת מחאה דמוקרטית להגיע לביתו של ראש הממשלה?
מי אחראי לטירוף הזה?
Hundreds of law-abiding and peaceful concerned citizens who came to protest against the austerity measures, the economic situation and the export of gas were met with violent and completely disproportional police treatment. Policemen on horses??? Beating up women??? A protester who was run over by a cop on a motorcycle??? What is wrong with you?
Who gave the order to stop this protest violently and repress the right to protest? Who gave the order to stop a democratic rally from reaching the home of the Prime Minister? Who is responsible for this madness?
Andrea Radu re-posted Orly's update and added:
בדמוקרטיה היחידה במזרח התיכון מכים דורסים ועוצרים מפגינים שלוים כי ניסו לממש את זכותם הדמוקרטית להפגין #J14 #1984
In the only democracy in the Middle east, peaceful protesters get run over, beaten and arrested because they attempted to exercise their democratic right to protest.
Policemen riding horses surround #j14 protesters near the Prime Minister's residency in Jerusalem
Photo: #j14 activist Gali Fialkow
The protest and police brutality did not receive a great deal of coverage and Israeli media and activists complained about biased reporting. Naminag who was at the protest tweeted:
בטמקא אומרים שאתמול השוטרים השתמשו ‘בכוח סביר’. וואללה, כי אני ראיתי מפגינה שהוטחה על גרם מדרגות והתגלגלה בהן למטה, שוטר שדרס מפגין עם האופנוע שלו ושוטר שנגח במפגין עם קסדה. וכל זה עוד לפני שצעדנו 100 מ’. #j14
Ynet [major Israeli news site, owned by Yedhioth Aharonot, close to Finance Minister, Yair Lapid] says that policemen used “reasonable force”. Really? Because I saw a protester being pushed down a flight of stairs and rolling down, a policemen who ran over a protester with his motorcycle and a policemen wearing a helmet who headbutted a protester. And all of this before we even marched 100 meters.
On Facebook, often dubbed the “#j14 lawyer”, Barak Cohen, shares this video showing police dragging away a protester:
He shares another video on YouTube showing police arresting him for merely standing on the sidewalk:

author: Elizabeth Tsurkov


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Rwanda: NGO’s Pursuit for Justice against Perpetrators of Genocide · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Rwanda remembered the start of the genocide on April 7, as they have done every year since 1994. Commemorations are held in many countries, often spread out over a long period. In the 19 years following the genocide, the hunt for the perpetrators of crimes against humanity has never ceased. These searches are carried out not only in Rwanda but worldwide by associations of survivors, their families, their friends and all those who fight to ensure the perpetrators of such tragedies do not go unpunished.
In France, the Collective of Civil Plaintiffs for Rwanda (CPCR) is one of the organizations that fight against impunity. Its Chairman, Alain Gauthier, agreed to answer some of our questions.
Global Voices (GV): What are the reasons that have led French people like you to create the Collective of Civil Plaintiffs for Rwanda (CPCR), and who are its members?
Alain Gauthier (A.G.): The idea of creating the CPCR came to my wife and myself in 2001, at the end of the first trial held in Belgium. We participated in a large part of this process because it involved genocide in the region of Butare, Rwanda, which is where my wife was born. One of the victims was a friend. Some of the victims were family members. Furthermore, my brother-in-law was part of the small group, the Collective of Civil Plaintiffs, that ensured the trial would take place in Brussels. My wife, Dafroza, lost a large part of her family in Rwanda in 1994. There are so many reasons. In the spring of 2001, we decided upon our return to France to create the CPCR, the Collective of Civil Plaintiffs for Rwanda, with some friends. The original founding members were mostly Rwandans living in France. This first group gradually disintegrated but friends and other French people interested in Rwanda who were perturbed by the presence of genocide suspects in France joined us. There are now between 150 and 200 members.
Memorial: Eternal rest for the victims of human folly. Photo: abkodo2
GV: Do you maintain relationships with similar organisations in Rwanda and elsewhere?
A.G.: We have maintained ties with our friends in Belgium, although the Collective of Civil Plaintiffs who inspired us in Brussels is no longer really active. In France, we have collaborated with associations that filed complaints before the CPCR existed, but complaints that I would call “dormant”; that is to say that the judges in charge of the dossiers were not very active or that the complaints were lacking in evidence or witnesses. The associations are Survie, the International Federation for Human Rights and the Rwandan Community of France. The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) [fr] also collaborated with us as a civil party in a large number of cases.
In Rwanda, we have links with the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), but we work mostly with individuals rather than associations. In fact, to my knowledge, there are very few organisations in the world that are like ours.
GV: What are the activities that have been carried out so far?
Memorial for victims of genocide. Photo: abkodo2
A.G.: If at first our work was to “feed” the existing six complaints, we were very quickly alerted to the presence of many genocide suspects in France and our work has focused on the search for witnesses in Rwanda. We go to Rwanda whenever we can to collect statements from both victims and killers and we prepare records that we translate and give to our lawyers who are responsible for drafting the complaints before they are submitted. In 12 years we have been able to submit 19 new complaints which are all currently in the hands of the investigating judges of the new “crimes against humanity pole”, recently created by the Paris Court of First Instance. This collection of statements is essential to our work.
GV: On the CPCR's blog, the collective says civil cases (alone or with other non-governmental organisations) have been filed in a number of French cities. Could you specify the number and the results?
A.G.: Currently there are about 25 complaints in the hands of French judges, the last 19 of which were initiated by the CPCR. No trials have yet taken place, but recently the judges decided to bring the first Rwandan accused of genocide before a criminal court. The accused, Pascal Simbikangwa, is a former captain of the Rwandan army and is currently incarcerated at Fresnes prison. He was arrested in Mayotte three or four years ago and then transferred to Paris. This should be the first trial held in France. It will be an historical process.
Wanted for genocide. Source: commons wikimedia.org
Two other genocide suspects are also in prison and could well be the next to be held to account judicially. They are Octavien Ngenzi, who was also arrested after being found in Mayotte, and Tito Barahira, recently arrested in Toulouse, where he was also forced to come out of hiding.
GV: Have there already been trials held in other countries for those accused of participating in the genocide?
A.G.: Other countries such as Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, Germany and the Scandinavian countries have organised trials. For a long time in France there have been political barriers. The genocide was committed at the time of the coalition and neither the left nor the right wanted to organise trials. The role of the French state in the genocide is still not very clear.
GV: Can you expand on that?
A.G.: President François Mitterrand and the French government of 1994 had supported the Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana before the genocide, they came to the president's rescue in 1990, they then supported the government in power during the genocide following the death of President Habyarimana, and they allowed perpetrators of the genocide to take refuge in Zaire during the French Opération Turquoise at the end of the genocide. So there were many reasons why nobody in France wanted to hold a trial at the risk of opening Pandora's box. A trial would not fail to mention the role of the French state.
In addition, the French justice system had not made it possible for genocide suspects to be taken to trial. It was not until the creation of the Crimes against Humanity office of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris (Paris Regional Court) that the French justice system moved up a gear. The three appointed full-time judges and the investigating police officers frequently address themselves to Rwanda in letters rogatory. It was about time… I must say that the genocide of the Tutsis and the prosecution of perpetrators of genocide are not topics that really interest our citizens.
GV: How are the alleged perpetrators identified?
Memorial: Eternal rest for victims of human folly. Photo: abkodo2
A.G.: We are virtually the only ones to track down the perpetrators on French soil. If the CPCR or other associations had not filed complaints, no suspected perpetrators of genocide would so far have been prosecuted. The Public Prosecutor has never himself decided to pursue genocide suspects. As a diplomat recently said to me, “The judges prefer to prosecute offenders causing problems for neighbourhood life rather than perpetrators of genocide who live in peace, without bothering anyone”. These comments are shocking but true.
Genocide suspects have gone back to square one in France: they help out with charitable organisations, they are good neighbours, good family men, good husbands, good doctors… It is difficult to assess their complicity, and especially difficult to prove anything. Some are, surprisingly, protected by the church in France. Some genocide suspects are former Rwandan soldiers. How did they get to France? Who helped them? Perhaps future trials will help us to see a little more clearly.
GV: Regarding reconciliation, apart from Gacaca courts, what has been done and what are the obstacles?
A.G.: Reconciliation is a difficult topic. The Gacaca courts are probably allowed to know what really happened on the hills or in the cities. They had the opportunity to apply for pardons. But for me, forgiveness is a personal matter. If a killer asks me for forgiveness, I can forgive him. But I can also refuse. In whose name or for what do I grant forgiveness? The victim is no longer here. Can I forgive in his name? Reconciliation should be a national issue.
Rwandans are condemned to live together, especially in the hills. Each person must realise what they can and cannot do to one another. If the request for pardon is a tactic to avoid living on the outskirts of society, if repentance is not sincere (and how can we know?), reconciliation will not happen. And yet to rebuild, to live in peace (and not just superficially), true reconciliation is essential. But it will take several generations to get there.
The trauma lives deep inside the victims. But it is also deep within the killers. How is it possible to go on living when we have committed such crimes? And how can we go on living when we are the victims of such crimes (massacres, rape, humiliation…)?

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Australia: Security Storm Surrounds Convicted Egyptian Asylum Seeker · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Accusations of ‘jihadist terrorism’ against an Egyptian asylum seeker have fuelled political brawling in the lead up to Australia’s election on 14 September 2013. Sayed Abdellatif was kept in low security detention for nearly a year despite an Interpol red alert for convictions during the Mubarak regime in 1999.
The Opposition parties’ election promises include turning back refugee boats and increasing funding to the intelligence and security agencies. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has responded by setting up an internal inquiry into the apparent security failure.
Stories abound about alleged terrorist Sayed Ahmed Maksoud Abdellatif. Some involve accusations of involvement with al-Qaida funding.
Others present a more positive side. On 14 February 2012 IRIN a non-profit news service funded by UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs painted a much more heroic portrait of the refugee. He was in Indonesia preparing to take a dangerous boat trip:
Egyptian asylum-seeker Sayed Ahmed Abdellatif, married with six children, says he is ready to risk everything to reach Australia – even his family.
…for 41-year-old Abdellatif, who faces possible extradition and a 15-year prison sentence of hard labour in Egypt for his religious affiliations, the risk is worth it.
Australia/Pacific Correspondent for Reuters Rob Taylor tweeted:
@ReutersTaylor: Egypt's Sayed Ahmed Abdellatif was so “dangerous” that his story was profiled by the UN as a hard luck story! http://www.irinnews.org/report/94852/i …
Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition Sydney also disputes the case against Abdellatif:
A refugee advocate has called for the Opposition Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison to end his “terrorism” witch-hunt, and for the government to investigate the leaking of information by the Australian Federal Police.
Claims that ‘a convicted murderer’ has been held in low security immigration facilities are simply not true. This asylum seeker has never been convicted of murder or any specific terrorism charges.
Scott Morrison’s vendetta against ASIO and the Labor government is leading to a ‘trial by media’ of an Egyptian asylum seeker whose claims for protection have still not been considered by the Immigration Department.
On the other hand, Vietnam veteran Kev Gillett’s blog has an ex-soldier’s warning that we need to defend our borders:
Anyone with skin in the game or an interest in Australia’s security have been warning all and sundry that to let people into the country when they come via boats, having destroyed identity papers en route, is dangerous. These boat people are not all they make themselves out to be.
The Oz twitterverse has taken up the challenge. After reading Doubts about convictions of Egyptian asylum seeker at heart of political storm by the new Guardian Australia on 7 June, Andrew Watson accused the leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott and his Liberal Party:
@Andy_Downunda: #auspol It's reasonable to believe that Sayed Abdellatif is a Hosni Mubarak #patsy [victim]. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/07/conviction-egyptian-asylum-seeker?CMP=twt_gu … @TonyAbbottMHR #myliberal
Todd Kirby was unimpressed with this attack:
@toddkirby: oh my god why are all the lefties jizzing over this Guardian article about Sayed Abdellatif? http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/07/conviction-egyptian-asylum-seeker?CMP=twt_gu …
Meanwhile a no-win situation faces successful asylum seekers in Australia who do not get a security clearance from ASIO (the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation).
Amnesty International explained in 2012:
…they must pass an ASIO security assessment – but this process is problematic. ASIO is notoriously secretive about their findings, and refugees with a negative security assessment have no ability to challenge a negative assessment.
What happens to those not granted security clearance?
Quite simply, they are stuck in detention – possibly forever. The Australian government cannot return them home due to their refugee status, nor can they enter Australia.
As AI reported, there is now an independent review process but if that fails, refugees are held in security detention indefinitely.
Rally to support refugees
Photo: courtesy Indymedia CC BY-NC-SA licence
The inevitable lack of transparency that shrouds the work of intelligence and security agencies applies to the new review by a former Federal court judge. Takver joined the continuing criticism on Indymedia in April 2013:
55 asylum seekers have refugee status but are in immigration limbo as they have adverse security assessments from ASIO with no right of appeal or ability to question ASIO's sources.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Bangladesh Unblocks YouTube After Eight-Month Ban · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

Bangladesh's telecommunication authorities have unblocked YouTube in Bangladesh after 260 days of restricting access within the country to the video sharing website.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) blocked YouTube on September 17, 2012 to prevent people from watching a trailer of a US film titled “Innocence of Muslims,” which mocks Islam and Prophet Hazrat Muhammad. The telecom watchdog claimed that it contacted Google prior to the ban asking them to remove the video, but Google reportedly refused to oblige.
The ban was lifted on June 5, 2013, making the site accessible to Bangladeshi netizens once again.
Image by Wikimedia Commons user HernandoJoseAJ. CC By-SA.
The block actually incurred a loss for the Bangladeshi economy, according to Fahim Mashroor, the ex-Secretary of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services. He said in an interview [bn] with German radio Deutsche Welle that the outsourcing industry suffered due to the ban.
Last year, Bangladeshis earned 57 million US dollars working for the online outsourcing industry with an annual growth of 54 percent. The eight month-long ban on YouTube will curtail that phenomenal growth this year.
Not only economic loss, many students, teachers, and researchers faced difficulties in their studies not being able to access online education videos hosted on YouTube.
Web users celebrated the renewed YouTube access. Khaledur Rahman Shakil (@krshakil) expressed his delight:
@কেআরশাকিল: ‘মুক্তি’ পেল ইউটিউব ফুলের মালা দিয়ে বরণ করে নিলাম ! জয় স্বাধীনতা।
@krshakil: YouTube is free! Ushering it with garlands. Go freedom!
Neel Aparajita (@oporajita789) celebrated the joys of social networking freedom:
@অপরাজিতা৭৮৯: ইউটিউব জেলখানা থেকে ছাড়া পাওয়ার আনন্দে ফেসবুক-টুইটার-এ যেদিকে তাকাই, যেখানে চোখ যায়… অইস!! খালি ইউটিউব আর ইউটিউব! #ফিলিংগ্রেট
@oporajita789: The joys of YouTube's freedom from the jail of filters is evident everywhere on social media. Everybody is talking about it #feelinggreat.
Although YouTube was blocked, many in Bangladesh were able to circumvent the ban. Ashickur Rahman Noor (@ashicunnoor) remembered that fact on Twitter:
@ashicunnoor: ডিজিটাল বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা… :) সোজা পথে অনেকদিন পর ইউটিউবে হান্দাইলাম… #চৌক্ষেপানি! :)
@ashicunnoor: The freedom of Digital Bangladesh. Could access YouTube without any circumvention tool :) #tearsinmyeyes :)
Blogger Bahadur Bappi questioned the reason behind such a long ban on community blogging platform Somewhereinblog.net:
আমার প্রশ্ন হৈল এই ৮ মাস ইউটিউবকে আটকিয়ে রেখে সরকার কি এমন লাভ করলো??
My question is what benefit did the government achieve blocking YouTube for eight long months?

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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Barbados: Bush Bath  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In Barbados, where religion is high on people's list of priorities, Notes From A Small Rock is considering taking a bush bath.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Billions of Japan’s Post-Quake Relief Funds Didn’t Help Victims · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

A major Japanese newspaper has revealed that billions of yen meant to employ people in areas devastated by a powerful earthquake and resulting tsunami off the northeastern Japan in 2011 were funneled into other unrelated projects that did not benefit the victims.
The Asahi Shimbun reported that of the 200 billion yen (two billion US dollars) of government budget meant to help those who lost their homes and jobs in the Great East Japan Earthquake, more than half went to 38 prefectures other than the nine affected in the Tohoku region.
Emergency employment budget was spent on, among other things, a team of workers to count sea turtles, an international manga comic expo, and a campaign to promote Yamaguchi Prefecture with a green-haired mascot called Choruru.
The news of the misappropriation of reconstruction funds drew criticism among social media users.
Twitter user @2_happy commented with disappointment:
@2_happy:こんなレベルの低い役所や役人ばかりの日本ってまともな国って言えるんでしょうか。復興予算 雇用も1千億円流用
@2_happy: Public office and authorities doing such terrible job in this country. Can we still call this country doing just fine? | One hundred billion reconstruction fund diverted
The editor of cyclingtime.com, a portal site for bicycle fans, slammed the “money-grubbers” responsible for the misuse of the money on Twitter. The comment was retweeted for more than 200 times:
@cyclochabumaro:被災地以外の３８都道府県で雇われた約６万５千人のうち被災者は僅か３％、被災者以外が９７％。これで復興の手助けとは笑わせる。困った人たちへの金を横取りする為に同情と仲間のふりをする金の亡者どもが多すぎる「復興予算 雇用も1千億円流用
@cyclochabumaro: Of 65000 people hired in 38 different prefectures in disaster recovery effort, only 3% were the residents of the disaster-stricken area. 97% were from elsewhere. Please. You should be kidding me, this was meant to help recover from the disaster. Too many money-grabbers making people believe that they are sympathizing and helping fellow citizens.
Shingo Nishinari (@shingo_ghetto), a rapper who is known for political criticism, commented:
@shingo_ghetto:復興予算流用これ以上許せない…情けない…各省庁の震災のためというこじつけ…ココロない団体や業者への流用…再建のためにココロから願う
@shingo_ghetto: Disappointing. This is unforgivable diverting. Ministries and agencies making excuse to make money. Heartless organizations and groups carrying the money away. My deepest wish for true reconstruction.
Billions of Reconstruction fund have been reportedly used for unrelated project.  Image by Keiko Tanaka
This is not the first time that disaster relief funds for the Great East Japan Earthquake have been used for unrelated projects. Kahoku Shimpo, a regional newspaper in the greater Sendai area in central Japan, wrote in June 2011 with disappointment that the government hired [ja] national contractors over local contractors from the devastated region to build temporary housing for earthquake victims.
And The Hokkaido Newspaper wrote editorial [ja] in October 2012 criticizing that 3.4 billion yen of relief aid was used to fund road construction on southwestern Okinawa island, which was unaffected by the earthquake.Twitter user inakamon_jiji (@Inakamon_jiji), whose name means an old man in the countryside, commented on Hokkaido Newspaper’s editorial:
@Inakamon_jiji: 「復興予算流用　許されない官僚の背信」 http://bit.ly/RO986X  と論ずるが、そもそもの原因は政治家の統治能力の欠如。「増税の前にやるべきことがある」の本質は、このことに尽きる。
@Inakamon_jiji: “Appropriation of reconstruction budget, unforgivable bureaucrats.” says the paper. The essence of this issue is that government officials are incompetent in governing the country. It’s obvious they needed to do something before they increase taxes.
After the earthquake, fierce criticism was also directed at the mainstream media and public relations agencies which allegedly devoured parts of the reconstruction budget to run morale-boosting public service announcements using celebrities on television. In 2012, blogger popo wrote [ja] about the massive spending by these large television stations funded by siphoning off disaster relief funds. The blogger referenced an article by weekly magazine Post Seven which broke the story in August 2012 [ja].
記事によれば、復興予算のうち、30億円を超えるお金が、TVなどの「復興支援CM」に消えたという。被災地の漁業組合など地場産業は、政府からの援助金はなく、資金難で倒産に追い込まれたものも少なくないという。
そういう急迫した財政難の折に、復興予算のおこぼれでTV局などの大手メデイアが、潤ったという。これが事実なら、即刻、東京キー局などのマスメデイアは解体すべきだろう。
According to the piece, of the entire reconstruction budget, more than three billion yen were used for recovery support advertisements. The local fishermen’s guilds in disaster-stricken areas barely got any government support and some were forced to shut down business due to a lack of financing. If this piece really reports the truth, I think these major stations should be shut down immediately!
The latest funding revelations by Asahi Shimbun drew vocal criticism. In response to the report, the government plans to ask local governments and other organizations to stop using the reconstruction money and return any untouched funds to the government, according to the newspaper. The Finance Ministry is currently investigating the matter.
On blogroll esteru.com[ja], an anonymous author criticized the plan as being too late. Anonymous users debated in comments below the blogger’s post, trading blame and squabbling about whether it was the fault of the former ruling party Democratic Party Japan (DPJ) or the current Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) administration:
52　名前：はちまき名無しさん 投稿日：2013年06月04日 09:23
民主党があれだけぐちゃぐちゃに組み立てたシステムなんだから
半年は時間必要だったろうしむしろ早い対応じゃない？
I think LDP was quick to take action on this misuse of the reconstruction fund, given how messy of a situation the DPJ created. I’m pretty sure LDP needed at least a half year [after they were elected in December 2012] to respond to the misappropriated budget issue.
148 名前：はちまき名無しさん 投稿日：2013年06月04日 13:57なんで、自民党を叩いてるのがいるのか、まったくわからん。政治、法律の構造をわかってないからだと思うが。自民党が豪腕を発揮した話だろ？　たぶん法律的な手続きを踏んでるから違法性はないと思うけど、普通に考えたら基金にまでいった金を返還させんのは無理だろ。で、その基金を作ったのは自民党かい？
I don’t understand why some people here are blaming on LDP. I suppose they have no idea about political system. I see this story on hauling budget appropriation as a demonstration of LDP’s competency. I mean think about it:it was not LDP that established the fund in the first place. It’s obviously difficult to return funds especially when it was legally proceeded.
151 名前：はちまき名無しさん 投稿日：2013年06月04日 14:20
民主党がと言っている人は復興予算を使うときに制定した復興基本法がどのようにできたかを理解しているの？この法は民主が閣議決定したときは被災地限定で使えるようにすると一文が入っていたが自民公明民主の三党で地域以外にも使えるように議員立法したのがそもそものこの流用ができるようになった第一歩だというのに。
だから悪いのは民主党だけじゃなく自民も公明も悪いでしょ
So they blame DPJ for this? I bet they don’t understand how the Basic Act on Reconstruction passed. When DPJ made cabinet decision on the bill, it included one sentence; the budget should be  exclusively used in disaster-stricken area. But when the Diet lawmakers of DPJ-LDP-Komei party together put into legislation, they decided that this budget should not be exclusive. So they are all to be blamed.
153 名前：はちまき名無しさん 投稿日：2013年06月04日 14:26
>148
2年前から問題点は指摘されてたから、政府が官庁に対して横やりを入れなかったのは、政府の悪いところだから、怒られるとすればそこ。この問題は政党の問題ではないのは確かだな。ばらまき自体は、官庁がやってることだから、そっちは政権に関係なく、まともにチェックすらしてない官庁が悪い。
[in reply to 148] It’s been two years since the diversion of disaster relief funds was first criticized. I think the government is to blame for not interfering with the agencies responsible for the funds. This is not a partisan issue. The pork-barrel spending is an act of government agencies. It’s not a partisan issue. Government agencies are the wrongdoers that spend money without monitoring the use.
On Twitter, Nakano Takashi, who organizes a project in Minamisoma city, Fukushima to support victims of the earthquake, argued that it's not a partisan issue:
@wildft:増税をしてまで捻出された復興予算の被災地外への流用は、2兆円、1.2兆円、1千億円。この使途は、ゆるキャラ、ご当地アイドル、国道、農道、林道、ウミガメ、グルメ等。これらは全て、各地方自治体から申請されたもの。もはや、誰もが無実ではなく。
@wildft: These budgets that were scrounged via tax increase, but were misused massively; 2 trillion, 1.2 trillion, 10 billion yens used for funding “yuru chara” regional cartoon mascot, local idols, national road construction, counting turtles, gourmet. Each local municipality applied for the fund. In other words, all of us is responsible.

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Caribbean Flu Scare was Accidentally Made in China · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

What's in a name paired with a couple of numbers and letters? A great deal, it turns out, when those letters and numbers refer to a strain of the influenza (flu) virus. While it's not critical to be able to tell your hemagglutinin from your neuraminidase (the two proteins at the source of the “H” and “N” flu naming conventions), as the National Pork Board states in its influenza naming guidelines (PDF): “Knowing the proper name to call a flu virus is important to be factual and to avoid misinterpretation and improper response.”
Case in point: last week's bird/swine flu mix-up, which saw officials in Trinidad and Tobago pointing fingers at Venezuela in the wake of (baseless) bird flu concerns following a visit by an official delegation led by Chinese president Xi Jinping; and officials in Haiti imposing a ban on the importation of meat and poultry products from their neighbour, the Dominican Republic.
The likely source of the mix-up, according to Canadian novelist and blogger Crawford Kilian, was a Chinese-to-English mistranslation by Xinhua, China's official press agency.
The first clue, spotted by Kilian on June 6, 2013 and reported in a blog post entitled “H7N9 [avian or bird flu] in the Caribbean? Not likely”, was a report in the Trinidad Express Kilian described as “the least likely story since the outbreak [of avian flu] began.” The Express article centred on a “suspected” case of bird flu in Trinidad and Tobago, and reported that “questions were beginning to surface” as to why, given that “China is currently battling a bird flu pandemic”, members of the 153-person delegation that accompanied Chinese president Xi Jinping on an official visit to Trinidad last week were not tested for bird flu on entering the country.
The article quoted Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Health as saying that while there was no “outbreak” of bird flu in the country, Trinidad and Tobago was in fact susceptible because of its proximity to Venezuela.
“Where to begin?” wrote a nonplussed Kilian. “The idea that senior members of the Chinese government might be carrying H7N9 is simply ludicrous, unless we assume that President Xi and his colleagues also moonlight as chicken merchants. China is not “battling a bird flu pandemic.” The reported Chinese death and case numbers don't make sense. And whatever they have a lot of cases of in Venezuela, it's not H7N9 or H5N1 [strains of bird flu].”
Later that day Kilian reported having found the likely source of the misinformation: an article from China's official press agency, Xinhua, bearing the headline “Bird flu virus infects 724 people in Venezuela“. The Xinhua report makes reference to the “the A/H1N1″ bird flu virus”: H1N1, however, is swine flu, not bird flu. (Chinese-language Xinhua articles such as this May 28 report [zh] refer to the Venezuelan outbreak by its correct name and number).
The Florida-based Haiti Observer blog carried a similar error in a June 7 post about the ban imposed by the Haitian government on the importation of poultry and other meat products from the neighboring Dominican Republic, where, according to the article, a warning had been issued “regarding the reappearance of avian flu (H1N1 virus)” (emphasis added). The error was reproduced [fr] in the Haiti's French-language daily, Le Nouvelliste.
The Dominican Republic exports a reported 25 million eggs and 8 million chickens to Haiti each year. While there was in fact an outbreak of the H2N2 strain of avian flu in the Dominican Republic in 2008, Dominican officials have been adamant that the country is currently free of bird flu, stating that the country's five flu fatalities have been due to swine flu, which has no impact on the quality of local meat exports.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Delays, Political Turmoil Plague Madagascar As Elections Near · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Political stalemate, financing issues, and logistical hurdles threaten to derail Madagascar's overdue upcoming presidential elections, the country's first since a coup in 2009 plunged the island into political crisis.
Voting was originally scheduled for 24 July, 2013, but faced with sorting out the legitimacy of some contested candidates, the government has postponed elections again, moving the date a month later to 23 August, 2013.
Madagascar has not had an elected president since the spring of 2009, when elected President Marc Ravalomanana was forced to resign his power by the country's military following violent clashes between authorities and anti-government protesters. The military promptly handed over the government reigns to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, who immediately dissolved the two houses of parliament.
During Rajoelina's tenure as head of the transitional government, presidential elections have been pushed back three times since the first scheduled date, 26 November, 2010, and parliamentary elections have been postponed four times since 20 March, 2010. Because of this political cluster, the European Union, the United States, and other countries suspended aid to the island and the African Union suspended Madagascar's membership until a return to the state of law.
Cartoon about the ever-eluding elections in Midi Madagasikara paper edition posted by @Aline_Tana on Twitter (posted with her permission)
More than two years after the ouster, Rajoelina and three of the country's four main opposition parties signed a political road map [fr] on 16 September, 2011 that says former presidents and the current president of the transition are prohibited from running for another presidential term. The road map also states [fr] that any candidates running need to resign from any governing office if they want to validate their candidacy.
That hasn't stopped three candidates of the 50 candidates running from throwing their hat into the ring, despite violating parts of the road map and international pressure to withdraw: the current President of the transition, Rajoelina; Madagascar's former two-time President Didier Rastiraka, who served from 1975 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2002; and Lalao Ravalomanana, the wife of booted President Ravalomanana. Rajoelina initially stated that he would not seek a presidential term, but has since changed his mind.
Given the political deadlock caused by the three aforementioned candidacies, all three and their spouses are now barred from entering the European Union with a Schengen Visa [fr].
As for the rest of candidates who have been preparing for elections since 2011, here is a photo montage of some of them:
Presidential candidates in Madagascar posted by Candidats Fifidianana on Facebook
The country's leadership crisis has had far-reaching consequences well beyond the political arena. A report by the World Bank states that the impact of the political crisis is multi-pronged:
Madagascar GDP over the last decade posted on Twitter with the user's permission
More than 92 percent of the population live under two US dollars a day. Because of the sharp decline in job opportunities since the crisis, poverty has driven women into prostitution with 29,000 registered sex workers in the town of Toamasina in 2012, up from 17,000 in 1993.  A documentary by Journeyman Pictures details the lives of those who are forced to trade sex for survival:
Complicating the already tense situation, the country was recently hit by cyclone Haruna which ravaged most of its southern region. A locust infestation followed, wrecking havoc on its already fragilized agriculture.
Flooding in Tulear, Madagscar – Public Domain via The Nation
Locust invasion in down town Fianaratsoa, Madagascar via @lrakoto on Twitter (with the author's permission)
Transparent, credible, and timely elections are seen by many as the first critical step towards exiting the crisis, but it appears that the vote may still very well be in jeopardy. How much longer can the Malagasy people endure such hardships?

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Fuss in China Over Entrance Exam Masks Trouble in Higher Education · Global Voices
Owen Guo

High school students in China just sat the annual national college entrance examination that started on June 7, 2013, hoping to secure a place in a leading university by acing the test – a privilege still seen by many as a passport to future success.
Known as Gaokao, the test lasts two to three days, depending on different geographic locations, and is the sole determinant for university admission for this year’s nine million examinees.
As in the past, newspapers and TV broadcasts were inundated with quirky reports about the Gaokao, from disastrous tardy arrivals and a bra ban introduced to deter cheating, to student's credential card losses. What they seemed to gloss over, however, is the troubled higher education system that awaits the Gaokao hopefuls.
Anxious parents wait outside the exam site in China's eastern Fujian province (Screen grab from Youku)
A great leap forward in higher education
In 1999, the Chinese government initiated ambitious plans designed to provide human capital for the economic take-off and galvanize sluggish domestic demand by expanding access to higher education. That year alone, the number of university students in China soared to four million, up from the 3.4 million a year earlier, as data from the Ministry of Education showed.
Now 37 million students are studying at some 2,400 universities across the country, making the Chinese higher education system the world’s largest.
Although the expansion has allowed more people to enter universities, the rapid spike in student number is no longer seen as welcome news.
According to the Beijing Evenning News, the Ministry of Education publicly admitted, in 2008, the reckless nature of the swelling enrollment rate. One of the consequences was the ensuing strain on teaching resources as more students swarmed into university campuses. In a 2009 article, the government's mouthpiece newspaper People’s Daily chimed in, listing problems such as declining academic quality, an unbalanced student-teacher ratio and employment challenges.
The mounting pressure to find work after studies, in particular, is a pain experienced by many. A record number of seven million university students are expected to graduate this summer. With another 2.5 million non-graduates eyeing employment, Du Yubo, vice minister of Education, has warned of an enormous challenge for graduates to land a job.The Global Times reported that over 70 percent of students graduating this year remain jobless.
Corruption and academic fraud
China in recent years has seen a spate of corruption cases at the top of universities, highlighting the administrative dysfunction that has come to erode the integrity of many institutes of higher learning.
Media reports and analysts have attributed the phenomenon to a wave of school infrastructure expansion in the wake of university enrollment proliferation.The infrastructure construction projects to accommodate more students are sometimes taken advantage by university staff to seek illegal financial gains.
In the two months leading up to the 2013 national college entrance examination, three university heads in China's southwestern Sichuan province were placed under investigation for severe principle violations. Media reports alluded to their misbehavior in financial management as reasons for their fall from grace.
In May 2013, Zhou Wenbin, head of Nanchang University in Central China, was under investigation for serious discipline violations. The university built its new campus on the outskirts of the city in early 2000s, covering two million square meters. Its school gate, joked by netizens as the “ gate of Asia”, is rumored to have cost three million yuan, or nearly half a million US dollars, to build.
The Chinese government presides over the appointment of university heads, making them quasi-government officials who sometimes value bureaucratic power and privileges over integrity.
Another pressing issue riveting universities in the country is a widespread academic impotence, with a number of cases of thesis plagiarism and academic fraud having being brought to light in past years. A study by Wuhan University professor Shen Yan showed that ghostwriting academic thesis was a one billion-yuan business in 2009, and that 70 percent of the published theses were plagiarized.
The trend is unlikely to show signs of easing even though the authorities have vowed to punish such acts. All undergraduates in China are required to finish an academic thesis usually around 8,000 words in their last year, teaching staff sometimes rush to publish theses in order to rise through the ranks.
More options available
Certainly, the bachelor's degree has been devalued after universities began to churn out graduates in greater numbers, but its significance—the minimum requirement for one to qualify for a white-collar, even a blue-collar job–is likely to continue for the decades to come.
In the meantime,the registration for Gaokao has been in decline for a five consecutive years, according to media reports. A growing number of students are looking overseas for universities or choose to find work after they graduate high school.
As China is more than ever determined to maintain the economic momentum and shore up its innovation, the debate over the country's youth, its vast higher education system, and the mechanism to select talents will never disappear from public discourse.
Nothing De Feinini reflected on the Gaokao system on Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter:
高考考生人数连年递减 可是高校却年年扩招 这是什么规律 虽说在教育机构泛滥存在的时候来点考验是不错 适者生存 质量提高 但是资金空间浪费太严重了吧 是否过几年高考会成为一种象征式考核手段 之后教育机构就可以利用诸多名义从学生身上榨取经费维持生存或者腐败横生
There has been a continuous decrease in the number of college entrance examination takers, but all universities have been increasing the enrollment. Why is that? It’s rational to use test in the time of excessive educational agencies to promote the competition and quality, but how heavily has the money been squandered?( I wonder)  if the college entrance examination would be turned into a symbolic ways of testing? And if the agencies could profit money from students to sustain themselves, or corruption could be rampant.
Taotao De Yulu, a news anchor from China's eastern Zhejiang province, lamented:
三年前，我写过一篇文章《高校扩招带给国家和民族的是灾难》。结果被毙了，说我发布不实信息。那现在呢？后果已经慢慢显现了，大学生越来越多，素质越来越低，就业压力越来越大，中国到底是怎么了？难道非得这么浮躁么？难道非要GDP全球第一么？就算第一了，老外还是看不起你，因为只是一个暴发户。
Three years ago, I wrote an article titled ‘sharply increasing enrollment in college will lead to disaster to our nation and people’. It was killed for I was believed to disseminate ‘false information’. How about now? The consequences began to show slowly, more and more college students are produced whose quality has been worsening, employment has been more and more difficult, What’s going on in China? Does the nation have to become so impetuous? Do we really have to aim for number one in GDP in the world? The foreigners would still pay no respect to you because you are at best “someone who gets rich overnight”.
Liangyuan Yinzhe from the Southern city of Guangzhou wrote:
大学扩招的必然结果；且大学教育千篇一律，一向向社会输入既非综合型又非技能型更非其他更高层次的人才，因而缺乏多元化，就业方面自然就会扎堆，此外，随着社会发展，机会越来越多，不再仅限于大学生，这当然会形成竞争，初出茅庐的学生竞争力当然会小了许多。
An inevitable outcome of university enrollment expansion: University education all become alike, what they offer to society is neither well-rounded talents, skill-oriented graduates, nor high-end talents, becasue of a lack of diversity, people tend to look for job in similar industries, besides, as the society develops, opportunities are not only available to university students, which creates (more) competition, young and inexperienced students will of course lack competitiveness.
A magazine called ‘China reform’ posted the following on its Weibo account:
文史学者艾青椒：高校青年教师在学术链条中处于低端位置，普遍将自己归位在社会中下层，充满挫败感和下行感。他们生活在由刚性的课题管理体制和柔性的父权式人际结构构成的学院文化之中，要实现学术和精神上的双重突围何其困难?
Humanities scholar Ai Qingjiao: the young teachers in universities are in the low end of the academic chain, seeing themselves as the middle or low classes, they are frustrated and have a feeling of declining into decay. They live in an institute culture of rigid system of thesis management and college culture of patriarchic interpersonal relationship. How hard is it to break the dilemma of academics and spirit?
Zhang Min is an outspoken political science professor from Beijing's Renmin University, He wrote on his Tecent Microblogging service:
大学里弥漫着功利主义，拜金主义。学生不在乎正义，不在乎权利，对所有的事情，都躲着走。他们不相信上面的说教，但也不追求自由。大学教育，正在把他们培养成为一心一意的利己主义者。
Colleges are filled with utilitarianism and money worship. Students don’t care about justice and rights, and they aviod face problems head-on. They never believe the teaching from the top, but they never pursue freedom either. The college education has been cultivating them into the single-minded egoists.
Jack Hu contributed Weibo translation to this post.

author: Owen Guo


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“Give-a-Tree.rf”—Russia’s Collective Reforestation Project · Global Voices
Teplitsa

In a recent interview with Evgeny Voropai of Social Technologies Greenhouse, Sergey Skorobogadov, head of “Podari-Derevo.rf” [ru] (Give-a-Tree.rf) explained how a socially-conscious project can bring a profit and how quantitative indicators can stimulate activity in people.
S.S.: The ideas of a clean environment and ecology are important to me. When you do something that is important to you, it finds you by itself. For several years I've been working with the separate waste collection theme, and I've gotten my family, relatives and friends onto it. I even organized  separate waste collection in the apartment complex where I live. Now my neighbors also support the idea of separate waste collection.
As far as trees are concerned, this theme has constantly intersected with initiatives I observed or participated in. You can say that everything began with collecting recycling and trash in forests, then there was the whole thing with “EcoChristmasTrees.” Here we offered what seems to be a simple alternative to chopping down trees, we rented out live Christmas trees in pots, so that in the spring they could be planted in the ground, this is hugely important for forest and plant conservation. The holiday season is over, but the desire to continue with this theme remained. “Give-a-Tree.rf” is a logical continuation of that project.
A present of a tree — I think it doesn't get any better than this. Instead of trash and useless things that clutter up space, the users have an opportunity to give something useful.
Sergey Skorobagatov, Director of “Подари-Дерево.РФ”
S.S.: You know, I wouldn't name any numbers. There is a wire range of data, and they are all different, from different sources. Besides, I don't think that there are any objectives ways to assess the situation.
But it would be great if a person could plant two or three trees per year, on their own. This doesn't just pertain to Russia, but the world as a whole. This is important, because according to studies this is the amount of trees a single person “throws out” into the trash each year.
is part of the “A Billion Trees” program. Is it realistic to plant that many seedlings? Does Russia have space for this many plantings?
S.S.: “A Billion Trees” [ru] is a UN program which we have joined.  It's a worldwide campaign that proves that the simple act of planting a tree elicits a response and unites people. This is precisely the solidarity that it is currently necessary to demonstrate on a national level everywhere.
“A Billion Trees” is a  good reference point, a good goal. You understand, in what we do there is no end result, there is no end to this. So a billion is a number that is in front of you, it sets the necessary mechanisms in motion.
S.S.: This is probably the simplest stage of the work we do. “Give-a-Tree.rf” works with forestries, and foresters themselves recommend what, where, and how to plant. Because of lack of necessary resources, our project is of a special interest to them.
Somewhere a parasite destroyed some firs, somewhere else there was illegal clearing of oaks or a forest fire — all this isn't always solved by forester efforts. So, where possible, we join them. They help us with experience, we help them with reforestation. In urban ares we want to work under the motto “Where there is an empty lot – there will be a park.”
Now the project is active in Moscow, Moscow Region, St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region. We are thinking of starting to plant pines on the Baikal, we have how almost completed our technical preparations for that initiative. I am sure many Russians will find this interesting.
There is one more option, that for now exists only as an idea. The head of the “Save a tree” initiative, Nadya Tverdaya, who is also involved in the project, but who lives in Thailand, has suggested planting palms there.
S.S.: We plant trees in the Fall and the Spring, but we sell the certificates year round. The users can choose to become a sponsor of a tree that we have already planted, or, if he so wishes, can participate in the next planting of seedlings.
It's all very simple. Volunteers plant trees, give them numbers, marking them with a corresponding sign, take the exact GPS coordinates, and all of these data are saved in the system. With the purchase of a certificate, the users receives a tree with an individual number, coordinates, photographs of the planting process, and a pretty personalized certificate, which can be printed out, framed, and hung up on a wall.
Screenshot of Подари-Дерево.РФ's interface.
S.S.: You know, yes. We are happy with the results. Of course, like any start-up, “Give-a-Tree.rf” required certain expenditures. And so far the project isn't profitable. The good news is that the plantings are slowly starting to recoup themselves. I haven't analyzed it yet, but I think that on the last one we may have broken even.
S.S.: These days it's really trendy. To give a tree is cool. I think that these days trends are an effective motivator. This is why it is important for ecological stories to become popular.
We have been contacted by some commercial firms. People see a good initiative, see the potential, and want to participate. For them it is at the same time a good deed, and PR-stunt. It's great when the business sector starts to notice constructive  stories. The benefit of the “green” topic is that it's close to the business sector, to political and social activists.
S.S.: The sale of certificates will take place year round. No one is planning to stop. As I've said, there are already planted trees, the task is to find owners for them. So there is no seasonality here.
The website will continue working in the same capacity in the late fall and winter, and early spring. The planting of trees takes places several times a year and take less time than running the website and serving our customers.

author: Teplitsa


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Singapore’s ‘Largest Blogger-led Protest’ Bats for Media Freedom · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

An estimated crowd of 2,000 people joined a protest assembly in Singapore’s Hong Lim Park last June 8, 2013 to oppose the government’s new licensing scheme for news websites. Organized by the ‘Free My Internet’ movement, it was reported to be the ‘largest blogger-led protest’ in Singapore.
The new regulation issued by the Media Development Authority (MDA) requires news websites that report on Singapore and which have 50,000 unique IP views a month to secure a license. Further, they must put up a ‘performance bond’ of $50,000. The websites must also remove objectionable content within 24 hours after being ordered by the government. The MDA has so far identified 10 websites, including Yahoo! Singapore, which are covered by the ruling.
Prior to the Saturday event, more than 160 blogs participated in a ‘blackout’ protest. Despite the assurance of the government that blogs are exempted from the ruling, netizens described the new regulation as threat to internet and media freedom. The video below shows some of the blogs which replaced their homepages with a black image.
The ‘Free My Internet’ movement issued this media statement after the protest:
The success of the campaign is no mean feat. #FreeMyInternet came together at a few days’ notice, and the three-prong campaign was organised within a week and a half. Given the spontaneous and leaderless nature of the #FreeMyInternet movement, this is a remarkable achievement.
In the weeks to come, we will roll out material and programmes to educate members of the public and Members of Parliament about why the Licensing Regime needs to be withdrawn.
We do not rule out a dialogue with the government, but this dialogue needs to be a discussion on how the withdrawal of the Licensing Regime will take place, and should be a dialogue about how de-regulating the media environment can best be done to benefit Singaporeans.
Some students challenged the Minister for Communications and Information to withdraw the regulation:
Photo from Flickr page of Raymond Lau
As young mass communications students and practitioners, this new framework concerns us as the wording of the amendment suggests that the State will have unmoderated power to muzzle not only journalists, but virtually everyone and anyone who uses the Internet
These concerns obligate us, in our capacities as concerned young Singaporeans, to request that the Minister for Communications & Information rescind the gazetting requiring online news sites to be regulated; and if he would not, to engage us in a dialogue to explain why he cannot.
Article 14 highlighted the success of the campaign:
…the bare mimimum that has been achieved this week is that the blogging community has sent a clear message that we value our limited space and are not willing to give it up easily
It helped to demonstrate the broad cross-section of support that exists for the freedom of online space.
Thoughts of a Cynical Investor congratulated the organizers:
Photo from Flickr page of Raymond Lau
Getting 2,000 to 2,500 S’poreans out at very short notice (less than a week) is a very good achievement, no a great feat, on the part of the organisers.
Ravi Philemon asserted that the protest is for ordinary Singapore netizens:
This protest is for us. Because this new regulation gives the government so much power to arbitrarily decide, nobody knows what kind of ‘traffic monitoring tools and perception-based surveys’ – maybe not even god knows, what these tools are – which site is a online news site and which is not.
Aaron Koh was inspired by the protest:
I attended the protest and was quite inspired by the speakers. The speakers, consisted mainly of bloggers, who were concerned, not only about MDA's online “news sites” licensing scheme, and at the speed at which it became law, without consultation with Parliament or with the Public.
Political Writings warned that small protests are not enough:
Whether protests are a legitimate way to force policy change or political change is a separate matter. What is important is that Singaporeans should realize that Hong Lim Park style ‘protests’ will not change anything.
Lim Jialiang explained the importance of participating in a cause:
It is crucial to remember that active participation is something that is to be proud of, even if participation might not translate to actual results at the end. There is nothing wrong in trying. There is something wrong, however, when people actively demean the efforts of others, who are trying their best to secure and speak out against at best, a toothless and aimless piece of regulation, and at worst, a new choker placed upon our democratic voice.

author: Mong Palatino


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Situation of Cartoonists in the Philippines · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Art professor Neil Doloricon laments the exodus of cartoonists in the Philippines:
Cartoonists in the Philippines are rare breed, they are on the brink of extinction so to speak. Most of our par excellent cartoonists already migrated to other countries…They went abroad not only to earn more but because they are treated here as second class citizen.


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Solutions Journalism Without Borders · Global Voices
Paula Góes

“Worldcrunch Impact, solutions without borders” is a collaborative funding campaign for “the first truly global effort at Solutions Journalism”. With the project, Paris-based Worldcrunch hopes to report on one urgent issue monthly, offering “not just the problems, but real solutions”. The project will be funded if at least $15,000 is pledged by July 3, 2013. With 23 days to go, the Kickstarter campaign has 84 backers donating $6,630.

author: Paula Góes


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TV Commercial Sparks Debate Over Violence in Trinidad & Tobago · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

A KFC commercial in Trinidad & Tobago has drawn criticism for what some consider to be the portrayal of violence, particularly on the heels of the recent killing of a teenaged boy over a common love interest. Although the advertisement was on the air prior to the incident, some netizens felt that the storyline (two rivals for a woman's affection get into a scuffle) hit too close to home:
The recently formed Anti-Bullying Association of Trinidad & Tobago released a statement condemning the ad and called for KFC to remove it. It was deemed particularly insensitive after news broke about the stabbing:
The ABATT rejects outright all forms of violence, particularly in the face of the spiraling crime situation in our country. Further, in the wake of the recent youth ‘love triangle’ fracas, which led to the death of a 14 year old teenager, it is imprudent for such a commercial to be aired on television. Corporate Trinidad & Tobago has a critical role to play in shaping our society and our nation's youth and as such it is imperative that all exercise proactive rather than reactive measures.
Judica McSween thought that ABATT was making more of the issue than was necessary:
Just wondering.. if the young man didn't loose (sic) his life would there be a problem with the ad.. Bullying was present in schools long before that incident, there have been numerous stabbing (sic) and violence in school before this as well as countless ads and t.v. shows depicting violence so why pick on Prestige Holdings [the company that owns the local KFC franchise] now, I think you all are really being petty and ‘nitpicking’.
Krstyal Ghisyawan felt that those who were just concerned with the ad were missing the larger point:
The issue is not the ad in itself, and obviously it is unrealistic to expect all ads and tv shows depicting violence to be taken off the television. The point is that message being sent through the ad condones and trivializes violence in a society where violence is already an enormous problem. The appeal to stop reproducing the ad, asks each person and each corporation to be aware of the messages being sent and the audience that will be internalizing these messages. Violence occurring in the household, on the streets, in the media, etc, depending on the manner of depiction actually instructs others on the ‘acceptable’ uses of violence. Responsible television viewing and internet usage etc, is a must, but we cannot deny that children learn through mimicry and social practice.
Nicole Anatol said that while she personally didn't see anything wrong with the ad, she understood the sentiments behind the call for a ban:
I saw the ad and really, as a parent I see no problem with it. I don't see violence being depicted or even glamorized, it has a playful spirit and is mildly amusing. But what is sauce for the goose may not be sauce for the gander and other parents may disagree. WE need to be the ultimate censor for our own children and communicate with them on what is appropriate and why. At the same time however, I do appreciate the stance of the Anti-Bullying Association and commend them for it. It's nice to see a change from the usual apathy.
Mr. Live Wire at Wired868 felt that ABATT was overreacting:
Quick question: What is one major similarity and difference between ‘Twilight’, ‘The Great Gatsby’, ‘The Miller’s Tale’, ‘Popeye’ and the KFC ‘Double Sweet and Fire’ advertisement?
Answer: All revolve around a love triangle that goes wrong; but only KFC is trying to sell you a chicken sandwich.
He continued:
Exactly why the Anti-Bullying Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ABATT) and other bloggers believe that a 30-second advertisement in which two men playfully joust for a women’s attentions while she eats a chicken sandwich is ‘troubling, irresponsible and reckless‘ is beyond me. Particularly as all three leave arm-in-arm without so much as a scratch and, unlike Twilight or the Great Gatsby, no one is mutilated or shot.
In response to Mr. Live Wire, Philip Edward Alexander supported ABATT's calls for the ad to be pulled:
There is no escaping the fact that we live in extremely violent times and, while no one raindrop can or should be blamed for causing the flood, it is extremely irresponsible of the local franchise holders of KFC to attempt to justify adding even the remotest hint of support for violence whether it be tongue in cheek or otherwise when we should all be working together as a nation to promote non-violence as a means to stemming the tide.
Alexander added that while parenting has a greater impact on children than the television, not all children have the benefit of adequate supervision:
The argument that parents and not television are supposed to raise children is the ideal, but sadly the reality does not bear out the ideal and has not for quite some time. Most organizations that deal with this fall out lament the lack of parental supervision in the home which has been dwindling for some time but has fallen off drastically in the last twenty years. The impact of this – the absentee parent from single parent homes or situations where both parents are working leaves many children to have their values set by mass media, and it is in this knowledge we must all be guided. None of us will be safe from the after effects of our actions and ‘for profit’ corporations more than most have a vested interest in the same society's long term survival.
On Friday ABATT announced that KFC- which had initially defended the ad- had temporarily taken the ad off the air and edited out the fighting scenes:
BREAKING NEWS: KFC has ‘pulled’ the offensive violence supporting ad and has re-edited and re-released it minus the fake violence and they must be applauded for demonstrating sound reasoning here. Thank you.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Bangladesh’s Budget: Comments and Analysis · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Lavish Budget but poor plan?” An ordinary citizen posts comments and analysis on the recent Bangladesh budget for the financial year 2013-2014.

author: Rezwan


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Bangladesh’s Capital City Dhaka Gets Its First Bus Map · Global Voices
Pantha Rahman Reza

Commuters who take the bus Bangladesh's capital city of Dhaka, home to 15 million people and very heavy traffic, can for the first time look at a map to plan their route.
Social-venture group Urban Launchpad, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Bangladeshi advocacy organization Kewkradong have released an alpha version of a bus map of Dhaka available on paper and online. The first 5,000 alpha paper versions of the map were handed to the city locals on 5 June, 2013.
To map the city, the project, which was launched in January 2012, deployed a flock of smartphone-armed volunteers to rapidly collect data on Dhaka’s bus system. They tracked buses on different routes and collected people’s opinions. But don't call it crowdsourcing — the team has coined the term flocksourcing (flocks + mobiles) to describe the rapid collection of urban data.
Huge traffic of Dhaka city. Photo Firoz Ahmed. Copyright Demotix
The group used crowd-funding website Kickstarter to fund the alpha version, which has a current accuracy of up to 75 percent. The team aims for the next version of the map to have 95 percent accuracy.
The map's introduction earned much fanfare on Twitter. Filmmaker Mizanur Rahman (@MadLungiFilmz) wrote:
@MadLungiFilmz: This is godsend for a public transport freak like me! :D Great initiative by the folks at first bus map of Dhaka. http://fb.me/1KIhOXJHg
Jacqueline M Klopp (@jmklopp1), a self-declared “urbanista”, praised the map:
@jmklopp1: Very cool-First Bus Map of Dhaka. kck.st/RDQi5N via @kickstarter
A bus rider checking the bus map. Photo by Nazim Uddin Khan Prince/Urban Launchpad. Used with permission
Writer and blogger Mamun M Aziz writes [bn] in Somewherein:
ঢাকায় বাস সার্ভিসের অব্যবস্থাপনার শেষ নাই, এর উপর বাসস্টপের সুনির্দিষ্ট চিহ্ণিতকরণও সেভাবে করা নেই। ঢাকা শহরের পরিবহণ ব্যবস্থার অনেক সমিতি বা সংগঠন থাকলেও বাস রুট নেটওয়ার্ক ব্যবস্থা বেশ স্বাধীনও বটে। এইসব সমস্যা প্রথম বাস ম্যাপটি করতে গিয়ে সেচ্ছাসেবকদের নানান জটিলতায় পর্যবসিত হতে বাধ্য করেছে । তথাপি একটি সফল মানচিত্র তারা ঠিকই দাঁড় করাতে পেরেছে। মানচিত্রটির এক পাতায় রুট সমূহ চিত্রিত হয়েছে এবং অন্য পাতায় বাস এর নম্বর, কোম্পানী নাম এবং ছাড়ায় ও গন্তব্য স্থানের নাম আলাদা ভাবে চিহ্নিত করা হয়েছে।
There is abundance of mismanagement in Dhaka bus service. On top of it the Busstops are not clearly marked on map. There are many associations of private transport owners and they have a pretty flexible route network. All these had created a lot of problems for the volunteers to create the Bus map. But they managed to put together one. In one side of the map the route networks are printed and on the other side the bus company, number of buses and the points of departure and arrivals are listed separately.
As the project's crowdfunding campaign neared its end in January 2013, people on Twitter advertised their donations to the fund. Harry van der Velde (@harryzicht) called the map a product of “crowdpower” after he donated to the project's Kickstarter:
@harryzicht: Crowdpower! Visual, agile and cooperative. I just backed First Bus Map of Dhaka on @Kickstarter kck.st/RDQi5N
Entrepreneur Nash Islam (@nashislam) wrote about the potential impact of the map:
@nashislam: I just backed First Bus Map of Dhaka- a project that can have major impact on the city. See for yourself http://kck.st/RDQi5N

author: Pantha Rahman Reza


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Mysterious Disappearances from Bar Add to Mexico’s Many Missing People  · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Families of 11 people are desperately trying to locate their loved ones, some minors, who disappeared from a bar called Heaven in Mexico City on May 26, 2013. The disappearances coincide with the creation of a government task-force to locate Mexico's 26,000 ‘missing’ people.
According to an eyewitness who never signed official testimony and who authorities have since been unable to locate, the 11 people were kidnapped from the bar. Located in the Zona Rosa neighbourhood, a spot known to be accepting of the LGBT community and subcultures like urban tribes, the bar also operates under the name “Bicentenario” (Bicentennial).
According to newspaper La Jornada [es] bar “Heaven” had been receiving penalties from administrative authorities since 2011:
El 11 de septiembre de 2011 el Instituto de Verificación Administrativa del Distrito Federal (InveaDF) suspendió actividades en el bar Heaven que operaba como after ya que se encontraron en el interior al menos 30 personas, entre ellos varios menores de edad, por lo que se le pidió colaboración a la Procuraduría capitalina, quien inició una investigación en el lugar por corrupción de menores.
Aquel día integrantes de la policía de investigación detuvieron por lo menos a cinco personas que se identificaron como empleados del establecimiento.
Desde entonces, en la verificación se determinó que el lugar no contaba con las medidas de Protección Civil necesarias para ofrecer servicios como establecimiento mercantil y ni algún tipo de permiso.
Asimismo, en el lugar se encontró a Ernesto Espinoza Lobo, quien se ostentó como dueño del establecimiento. Hoy este sujeto se encuentra prófugo de la justicia, tras los hechos suscitados el domingo 26 de mayo, cuando al menos 11 jóvenes desaparecieron de dicho antro.
On September 11, 2011 the Institute of Administrative Verification of Mexico City (InveaDF) suspended the activities at bar Heaven, which operated as an after-hours bar, when at least 30 persons were found inside, among them some minors. The City's Prosecution Office was asked to step in, and they started an investigation for alleged corruption of minor at the venue.
That day the police arrested at least five persons that identified themselves as bar employees.
Since then, the verification determined that the place didn't meet the civil protection measures required to open its doors as a business nor did it have any type of permit.
Also, a man named Ernesto Espinioza Lobo, who said he was the owner, was present at the time. This man is now a fugitive after the events of Sunday, May 26 when at least 11 young people disappeared from the venue.
Also, journal Milenio [es] informed that there used to be drug trafficking inside the “Heaven”:
El Heaven era ubicado, por policías del sector Zona Rosa, como punto de conflicto, incluso como narcotiendita, versión que fue confirmada luego del cateo realizado al antro el pasado jueves, donde la Policía de Investigación encontró 12 pastillas psicotrópicas y 42 gramos de mariguana.
De acuerdo con efectivos policiacos de la zona, en noviembre pasado fue detenida una persona en la entrada del Heaven, ubicado en la calle Lancaster 27, colonia Juárez, delegación Cuauhtémoc, por narcomenudista.
The (bar) Heaven was known by Zona Rosa's police force as a conflict spot, even a drug dealing store, a version that was later confirmed by a search done last Thursday when the police found 12 drug pills and 42 grams of marijuana.
According to the zone's policemen, in November of last year a person was arrested at the entrance of the (bar) Heaven located at Lancaster 27 Street in Juarez neighborhood at Cuauhtémoc County for selling drugs.
Family members of the disappeared at Bar Heaven. Picture shared by Georgina Cantu @georgyz007 on Twitter.
Netizens were quick to react on Twitter.
Eduardo Yribarren (@eyribarren) [es] exhorted Mexico's City Major, Miguel Ángel Mancera, to admit there's organized crime in the city:
@eyribarren: Reconocer que en DF ya hay los “levantones” típicos del crimen organizado @ManceraMiguelMX #BarHeaven
@eyribarren: Recognize that in Mexico City we now have the typical organized crime “levantones” (liftings) @ManceraMiguelMX #BarHeaven
“Levantón” (lifting) is the urban term Mexicans use to describe kidnapping by members of organized crime.
Alejandra Villegas (@ala_brun) [es] asked the following about the official version of the disappearance of these 11 persons:
@ala_brun: Más desaparecidos #BarHeaven ¿qué nos van a decir ahora las autoridades?
@ala_brun: More (people) disappeared #BarHeaven what will the authorities tell us now?
Lawyer Susana Pedroza (@spedroza_12) [es] thought this about the way the Office of the Mexican Attorney-General is handling the case:
@spedroza_12: Terrible la actuación de PGJDF en la investigación del caso de los jóvenes desaparecidos. Terrible.
@spedroza_12: The way the PGJDF handled the case of the disappeared youngsters was terrible. Terrible.
Unfortunately, the Mexican authorities have to look for many people. On February 2013, the Government Secretary publicly recognized that the records show more than 26,000 missing people. Newspaper El Universal [es] was one of the outlets that broke the news:
La Secretaría de Gobernación (Segob) ratificó que cuenta con el registro de 26 mil 121 personas desaparecidas, entre diciembre de 2006 y noviembre de 2012, durante la última administración del PAN.
The Government Secretary (Segob) ratified that it has 26,121 persons on record as missing between December of 2006 and November of 2012 during PAN's [National Action Party] last administration.
The Government Secretary, along with the Office of the Mexican Attorney-General, made a public announcement [es] on May 27 about the creation of a Unit of Missing Persons to tackle these issues:
Al inicio del evento, el Subprocurador de Derechos Humanos, Ricardo García Cervantes, señaló que la Unidad estará integrada por un primer grupo de 12 agentes del Ministerio Público Federal con el apoyo de un equipo permanente de la Policía Federal.
At the beginning of the event, the Associate Prosecutor of Human Rights, Ricardo García Cervantes, pointed out that the Unit is made up of a first group of 12 agents from the Office of the Mexican Attorney-General with the permanent support of the Federal Police.
Twelve investigators will search for more 26,000 persons whose disappearance has been officially acknowledged by the authorities, all within the war against organized crime.
It is probable that the names of the missing youngsters in Mexico City, popularly called case #BarHeaven [es], will be added to this list of 26 thousand people (parents, sons and daughters, siblings) who haven't returned home.

author: J. Tadeo


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Egypt: Losing Historical Cities · Global Voices
محمد عادل

Cairo..The city of a thousand pillars? Photograph from CairoObserver Facebook page. The red lines show buildings which obscure the minerats of mosques which is a signature of the Cairo horizon being lost to new development
Cairobserver calls [ar] people in Egypt through Facebook and Twitter [ar] to demonstrate in front of governorate buildings, who are responsible for managing the city, across Egypt to call for an end to destroying and deforming historical cities.
The city of a thousand minarets is now the city of a thousand pillars! The historical city that was listed as a world heritage site in the 70s is now facing demolition and changing all its characteristics and officials are dealing with it as if it is an out of control informal city
[…]
Join us on Wednesday 19 June, 2013, at 5pm (Cairo local time) in Abdin sq. in front of Cairo governorate

author: محمد عادل


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How Southeast Asian Leaders Use Twitter · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or SBY joined the Twitter world only last April 13 but he is already the most popular Southeast Asian leader, at least in terms of Twitter followers. As of this writing, he has 2.4 million followers. Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has been an active Twitter user since 2008, continues to be his country’s most popular Twitter personality with 1.6 million followers. Philippine President Noynoy Aquino is also a prominent Twitter user with 1.5 million followers.
Indonesia’s @SBYudhoyono joined the Twitter world by posting these 140 characters:
@SBYudhoyono: Halo Indonesia. Saya bergabung ke dunia twitter untuk ikut berbagi sapa, pandangan dan inspirasi. Salam kenal. *SBY*
@SBYudhoyono: Hello, people of Indonesia. I have joined Twitter to exchange greetings, views and inspirations. Nice to meet you.
He also tweeted the main points of his speech at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore about the achievements and priorities of his administration.
@SBYudhoyono: 15. We did not just reform, we transformed – “reformasi” to “transformasi”.
@SBYudhoyono: 16. Today we’re a trillion dollar economy, largest economy and middle class in Southeast Asia; 6.3% growth, second after China.
He also gave an advice to Arab Spring countries:
@SBYudhoyono: 31. Muslims in Indonesia are comfortable with democracy and modernity.  This may well offer valuable lessons to Arab Spring countries.
Enricko Lukman welcomes the entry of SBY in the Twitter world:
It is great to see how technology is being used more and more by important figures. It allows them to interact with people better and even send out important news and messages in real time. I hope this can set the trend for future Indonesian leaders to do the same – to listen to and speak with citizens online.
SBY is not the first Indonesian politician who opened a Twitter account which prompted Akhlis to ask about the motive of SBY:
I don’t know what to say but it is very much out of character to him.
So what makes me wonder is: Why now? Isn’t it now much too late to get actively involved on social media? Even if that’s for political reason, this is so left behind. Many politicians have begun this long before 2013.
Indeed, Indonesian politicians cannot ignore social media tools since a big number of Indonesians are getting their information from the internet. In fact, Indonesia is among the biggest markets of Facebook and Twitter in the world. Wayne Palmer explains further:
Using social media to gauge public opinion is certainly the beginning of something quite new in Indonesia. Politicians themselves have been quick to recognise its capacity to spread information and shape public opinion.
The ease with which the public can openly express their opinions via social media complicates matters for Indonesia’s political elite, many of whom, among other things, have a reputation for the way in which they handle public complaints – ranging from defensiveness to outright petulance. Nonetheless, with all its opportunities and traps, social media has reshaped the playing field in Indonesian political life for those with their sights set on power.
But despite his large following, SBY must learn to interact with his constituents on Twitter. According to social media experts, SBY rarely responds to his Twitter followers.
If SBY wanted some pointers on how to effectively use Twitter in politics, he can probably learn from Malaysia’s @NajibRazak. Like SBY, Najib’s initial tweets were limited to public statements of his office but in 2011 he began interacting with his followers. He even used Twitter to invite his followers to watch a live broadcast of his favorite football team. He hosted several meetups as well. And when Korean singer Psy of ‘Gangnam Style’ fame performed in Malaysia, he clarified on Twitter that no government funds were used in the public event.
@NajibRazak: Just to reiterate, Psy's performance did not involve public money at all. Public was not charged for watching it either.
Najib described last month’s General Elections as Malaysia’s ‘first social media election’, which is probably his way of acknowledging the crucial role of the internet in shaping the views of voters. Najib’s party won again although there were allegations of voting fraud. Najib’s recent tweets included the following:
@NajibRazak: Just heard Nelson Mandela is in hospital in South Africa. I'm sure all Msians will join me in wishing him a speedy recovery.
@NajibRazak: Authorities will investigate tragic incident on Penang bridge. Let's focus on rescue efforts and pray for victims & their families.
@NajibRazak: Joint dev key to solving South China Sea disputes. Sharing prosperity rather than letting it divide us is preferable to the alternative.
@NajibRazak: If you have any views or proposals  Budget 2014, email it to Ministry of Finance. Goal is to engage Msians to help create a #BetterNation
@NajibRazak: In the spirit of unity, I announced over the weekend a bipartisan parliamentary committee to be given oversight over the Election Commission
Najib is clearly Malaysia’s leading Twitter user but there are reports that more than half of his followers are using fake Twitter accounts.
Like Najib, the Philippines’ @noynoyaquino maximized social media tools to succeed in the elections.   Aquino’s online presence in the 2010 presidential elections boosted his winning chances. After elections, Aquino maintained his high social media profile. Today he has several Twitter and Facebook accounts managed by three Cabinet members. There was one instance when Aquino directly answered a Facebook critic which showed how the president’s team is efficiently using social media networks to improve the government’s image.
But not all Southeast Asian leaders were successful in using Twitter to connect with their constituents. Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra or @PouYingluck was forced to cancel her Twitter account in 2011 after it was hacked. The hacker was able to post these messages:
You can't protect even your Twitter account. How can you safeguard the country? Think about it my brothers and sisters.
Is it time for our country to change for the better and not project an image to aid businesses, vested interests and relatives?
Overall, Twitter and other social media tools have been very useful for Southeast Asian leaders who needed to communicate directly with their citizens. Social media can improve their image as tech-savvy leaders which could prove appealing to the younger population.
The rise of mobile internet in the region and the globe also means more people would be interacting with governments and their leaders through handsets and tablets. It would most likely inspire even the traditional or older politicians to ‘speak’ to their constituents and deliver their message through virtual means.


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Jamaica: Children as Artists · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The National Gallery of Jamaica Blog is excited about an upcoming exhibition of children's art, which will highlight “the children’s unique responses to questions about their curiosities and the diverse urges of their developing imaginations.”