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Did Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung Newspaper Let Advertisers Dictate Its Content? · Global Voices
Lena Nitsche

Süddeutsche Zeitung. Photo by Flickr user Thomas Angermann. CC BY-SA 2.0
Sebastian Heiser, a former writer for Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany, has raised heavy accusations against the southern German newspaper. On his blog, he revealed his experiences as contributor to the services supplement desk of the newspaper, describing how the interests of advertisers influenced the emphasis of the editorial staff. Going one step further, he claimed that the newspaper indirectly advertised tax evasion.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung is Germany's largest trans-regional quality newspaper, with 397,000 issues and a reach of roughly 1.3 million readers. On its website, the newspaper writes, “the SZ distinguishes itself through its opinionated and independent journalism. It lays value on critically minded editors and readers.”
Heiser was employed with the trade desk at the Süddeutsche Zeitung from the beginning of January 2007 to the end of March of the same year. The services supplement desk deals with topics ranging from profession and career, to real estate, energy and finance. The content it produces is not marked as an advertorial; it is expected to conform to journalistic standards, such as editorial independence from advertisers, just like the rest of the paper.
But now, eight years after his resignation, Heiser has disclosed protocols from editorial staff meetings and recordings that he secretly compiled.
For Heiser, there were two fundamental differences between his working atmosphere and what is considered correct journalism; the chosen topics were motivated by money, and there prevailed a hostile and relatively uncritical attitude. Heiser claimed that the Süddeutsche Zeitung chose topics not according to their relevance, but rather for their appeal to advertisers. In addition to this, he accused the newspaper of not calling for more critical reporting in its articles:
Bei dem Journalismus-Imitat in meinem Ressort wird nicht nach Relevanz entschieden, sondern nach Geld. Rein kommen die Themen, für die Anzeigen geschaltet werden. Die Daumenregel: Für jede viertelseitige Anzeige (Kosten damals: rund 20.000 Euro zuzüglich Mehrwertsteuer) erscheint eine Seite über dieses Thema.
At my desk, with its impersonation of journalism, decisions were made not based on relevance, but according to money. Only topics were addressed that benefited the advertisements. Their rule of thumb: for every quarter-page advertisement (back then that came out to 20,000 euros plus taxes) an entire page would follow, discussing the advertisement's topic.
Heiser was especially critical of the fact that he provided readers with information in an article about Swiss bank account numbers, for the sake of being able to reduce the tax burden. Looking back, Heiser reflected:
Es ist eine unverhohlene Werbung für Steuerhinterziehung. Gedruckt von der Süddeutschen Zeitung, weil sie dafür eine gut bezahlte Anzeige von der Tiroler Sparkasse erhält. Und ich bin dafür zuständig, die Texte auf dieser Seite zu schreiben oder von anderen Mitarbeitern zu bestellen und zu redigieren. Wie bin ich hier nur reingeraten?
It's a blatant advertisement for tax evasion, printed by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, because in exchange it will receive a handsomely paid advertisement from the Tirol Sparkasse bank, for which I am responsible for writing an accompanying text, or requesting texts from my coworkers that I can then edit. How did I even wind up here?
On social media, people responded to Heiser's disclosure under the hastag #szleaks. Some users described it as “naive” to expect supplement editorial departments to report objectively, which is the norm in most editorial departments:
Wer ist so naiv und erwartet bei #sonderthemen-Beilagen in Zeitungen knallharte politische Recherchen? #szleaks http://t.co/LPUhIA3CFj
— ThorstenG.Schneiders (@tgs2001) 17. Februar 2015
Who can be so naive and expect tough, political reporting from #sonderthemen-Beilagen [trade contributions] at newspapers? #szleaks
Und jetzt zeige man mir eine “Beilagen-Redaktion” bei der das anders läuft. Beilagen waren schon immer für Anzeigenkunden gemacht. #szleaks
— Jannis Kucharz (@netzfeuilleton) 19. Februar 2015
Show me a “trade editorial department” where things run differently. Contributions have always been intended for advertisers. #szleaks
Others, however, were outraged by the disclosure. Twitter user Uwe Krüger wrote that such conduct should not be the norm:
#szleaks Schleichwerbung ist eine Form v. Korruption. Wenn viele das f. normal halten, zeigt das nur, wie pervertiert d. Maßstäbe schon sind — Uwe Krüger (@ukrueg) 20. Februar 2015
#szleaks Covert advertising is a form of corruption. If many people consider this the norm, then it just goes to show how perverted our standards have already become
He added that many readers consider these additional pages as common editorial content:
Die Fallhöhe von #szleaks bemisst sich m.E. daran, ob der “flüchtige Durchschnittsleser” die Seiten als nicht-redaktionell erkennen konnte.
— Uwe Krüger (@ukrueg) 19. Februar 2015
From what I've seen, the number of cases from #szleaks is determined by whether the “fleeting average reader” is able to recognize such pages as non-editorial.
According to an interview with the news portal Newsroom, the Süddeutsche Zeitung does not plan to comment on Heiser's allegations. Newsroom writes that Süddeutsche Zeitung assistant editor Wolfgang Krach emphasized that Heiser's claims are indefensible. Krach argued that the newspaper never gave instructions for tax evasion and that Heiser never had to present his texts to the advertising department.
Krach macht im Gespräch mit Newsroom.de aber deutlich, dass seiner Zeitung keine Vorwürfe zu machen seien. „Warum entstehen Beilagen, warum veröffentlichen wir Sonderseiten? Es ist wie bei jeder anderen Zeitung in Deutschland, die Anzeigenabteilung kommt auf die Redaktion zu und schlägt ein Thema vor. Was wir dann journalistisch daraus machen, welche Themen in diesen Beilagen gesetzt werden, das entscheidet die Redaktion“, betont Wolfgang Krach. Er verweist dabei auch auf die „illegalen Mitschnitte“: „Hören Sie sich die Bänder genau an, dann wird klar, dass an den Vorwürfen nichts dran ist.“
But Krach makes it clear in discussion with Newsroom.de that there are no allegations to be made against his newspaper. “Why do supplements exist? Why do we publish special pages? It's the same with every other newspaper in Germany. The advertising department comes to the editorial staff and proposes topics. It's the editorial staff's decision what we then do journalistically and what topics we choose to include in our supplements,” says Wolfgang Krach. He then refers to the “illegal recordings.” “Listen to them really closely, and it will become clear that the allegations don't hold up.”
Heiser also uploaded audio from editorial meetings that he had secretly recorded onto his blog. Some observers have questioned the ethics of doing so. In an unrelated incident, Heiser's current employer, German daily Die Tageszeitung, publicly accused him last week of using keylogging software to steal data from 16 of his colleagues. In a statement, the paper said it will file charges against him.
Journalist Peter Oborne has recently raised similarly harsh allegations against his former employer the Telegraph, saying that the interests of the readers and of quality journalism are no longer at the fore. The Telegraph is a large quality newspaper in Great Britain with roughly 500,000 copies.
On news and opinion website openDemocracy, Oborne accused the Telegraph of protecting the London bank HSBC. He wrote that after the newspaper published stories that were critical of HSCB in late 2012, the bank stopped advertising with the Telegraph. To woo HSBC back, Oborne said the newspaper adopted a policy of not publishing any criticism of the bank, however small.
The bank had recently been placed in the hot seat due to involvement with tax evasions in Switzerland. While other large British newspapers reported on this, one could spend hours searching for the topic in the Telegraph, according to Oborne.
The Telegraph's recent coverage of HSBC amounts to a form of fraud on its readers. It has been placing what it perceives to be the interests of a major international bank above its duty to bring the news to Telegraph readers. There is only one word to describe the situation: terrible.
#szleaks has been discussed above all on social media and forums, while traditional media has been slow to react. Twitter user Uwe Krüger noted:
#szleaks Was schreibt die @SZ zu den schweren Vorwürfen eines Ex-Mitarbeiters in Sachen Schleichwerbung?NICHTS #fail pic.twitter.com/0GcBAPvIdk
— Wolfgang Ainetter (@WAinetter) 17. Februar 2015
#szleaks What is Süddeutsche Zeitung writing about the covert advertising allegations of a former employee? NOTHING #fail
In international media, little has been reported about the accusations against the Telegraph. In German media, however, there are considerably more reports about the Telegraph than about the accusations against the Süddeutsche Zeitung, including one published in Süddeutsche Zeitung itself. German coverage of Heiser's accusations against Süddeutsche Zeitung has largely focused on his journalistic methods, not on the media's credibility or the accusations themselves.
Although both cases aren't entirely comparable, they address the same issue: credibility. In light of anti-Muslim protests in Germany, the German press has been described by demonstrators as a “press of lies,” and many of the movement's members and organizers avoided contact with journalists. At many demonstrations there resounds the rallying cry “press of lies – shut up.” “Press of lies” became a buzzword of 2014, and triggered a debate in Germany about the media's credibility that has been shaped by serious and some less serious criticisms.
Accusations against a large German quality newspaper could breathe some fresh air into the discussion. Stefan Winterbauer wrote on the website Meedia:
Gleichzeitig bekommen Anhänger von Verschwörungstheorien im Internet eine immer größere Bühne, auf der hemmungslos über eine vermeintliche Gleichschaltung von Mainstreammedien debattiert wird. Vorwürfe, wie sie hier erhoben werden, sind Wasser auf die Mühlen der Medienkritiker. Sie zielen auf das höchste Gut der Zeitungen, ihre Glaubwürdigkeit. Mal ganz abgesehen von den Wirrköpfen, die bei jeder sich bietenden Gelegenheit “Lügenpresse” rufen: Sobald Leser das Gefühl bekommen, Zeitungen schreiben Anzeigenkunden nach dem Mund, gibt es keinen Grund mehr für teure Abos.
At the same time, believers of conspiracy theories are increasingly coming more into the fore, where an unrestrained debate about the perceived synchronization of mainstream media is raging. Allegations as they're raised here are wind to the sails of media critics. They appeal to the newspapers’ highest good: their credibility. But scatterbrains, who call out “press of lies” every chance they get, aside, the moment readers sense that newspapers are writing what advertisers want to hear, there's no longer a reason for expensive subscriptions.
Winterbauer concluded his observations by calling on the media to better deal with such critiques, thereby further strengthening their credibility:
Zeitungen, die sich solchen Vorwürfen ausgesetzt sehen, wie jetzt die Süddeutsche und der Telegraph, sollten entschlossen, ausführlich und konkret Stellung beziehen und ihre Arbeitsweisen möglichst transparent machen. Bezeichnend ist zum Beispiel auch, dass die Süddeutsche gar keinen eigenen Pressesprecher mehr hat. Eine gute Idee wäre es auch, Kritiker einzuladen zu einer öffentlichen Diskussion. Ja – shocking! – dies womöglich auch noch im eigenen Blatt, auf der eigenen Website zum Thema machen. Auf diese Weise kann Glaubwürdigkeit sogar noch gestärkt werden. Eine solche Strategie des offenen Visiers und der Transparenz funktioniert aber natürlich nur, wenn die Medien tatsächlich nichts zu verbergen haben.
Newspapers that are subject to such allegations, such as the Süddeutsche Zeitung and The Telegraph, should take a resolute, extensive and concrete position, and make their operating procedures as transparent as possible. It is also peculiar that the Süddeutsche Zeitung no longer even has a press spokesman. Another good idea would be to invite critics to an open discussion. And yes, how shocking would it be to hold such a discussion in its own newspaper. In this way, credibility can be strengthened. Such a strategy of open visors and transparency works, of course, only when the media don't have anything to hide.

author: Lena Nitsche


text:
How Did Palm Oil Become Such a Problem—and What Can We Do About It? · Global Voices
Ensia

Oil palm fruits in Jambi, Indonesia. Photo by Iddy Farmer for Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0
This post by Michael Kodas was originally published on Ensia.com, a magazine that highlights international environmental solutions in action, and is republished here according to a content-sharing agreement.
Last August, from the window of a jet high over the Indonesian island of Sumatra, I counted nearly a dozen plumes of smoke rising from the vast jungles and plantations below. Some more than a half-mile wide, they looked like pillars holding up the sky. That week the Indonesian Disaster Mitigation Agency detected 143 new wildfires in Riau Province, the area beneath my flight. All of the fires were almost certainly related to deforestation for timber operations and agriculture — predominantly oil palm cultivation.
Palm oil — which appears in a dizzying amount of food and cosmetic products, and is a feedstock for biofuel — poses many environmental problems. It’s the largest driver of Indonesian deforestation, which destroys habitat and contributes to climate change. And ponds of wastewater at palm oil refineries release immense amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 34 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Solutions to the environmental problems posed by palm production are complicated, partly because palm oil’s ubiquity, but also because alternatives lack many of the benefits of the versatile oil. But they are out there.
A few days after I arrived in Riau on Sumatra, as I marched to the jungle to see one of the fires, I looked back at where my footprints sank some 12 inches into the peat and saw smoke rising from my tracks.
It’s here, in the peat burning below the forests, where the greatest climate impact from palm production can be seen. When forests are cleared to make way for oil palm plantations, the area is usually burned, and most of Riau’s massive fires burn on peat — swampy layers of partially decayed vegetation that spreads up to 60 feet deep beneath most of the province’s forests.
Fires associated with clearing land for oil palm plantations in the Indonesian province of Riau release massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and spread health-harming haze across the landscape. Photo by Aulia Erlangga for Center for International Forestry Research.
Peatlands hold up to 28 times as much carbon as rainforests growing on mineral soil. The peat is so carbon rich that if it is buried long enough, say for a million years or so, pressure, time and heat will turn it into coal. A single hectare of peatland rainforest can release 6,000 metric tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide when it’s converted into a plantation. Researchers estimated that in 2012 nearly 70 percent of the carbon released during the transformation of Sumatran rainforests into palm plantations came from peatlands, a 75 percent increase over their portion of emissions in the 1990s and an indication that palm is increasingly expanding into peat.
And it’s not just CO2: In 2013 the nation’s then president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, apologized to Singapore and Malaysia for the brown cloud from Sumatran fires that shattered air pollution records in the neighboring nations, filled hospitals with tens of thousands of smoke-sickened patients and forced officials to close schools. Indonesian aircraft seeded clouds above the fires with 100 tons of salt in hopes of bringing rain to drench fires smoldering in the peat.
When the forests ignited again six months later, more than 9,000 tweets bombarded the president’s office. During an emergency trip to Riau he said he was “ashamed” of the fires. Nearly 50,000 Sumatrans sought treatment for the impacts of smoke on their lungs, eyes and skin. Aircraft again seeded the clouds.
The fires burn thousands of Indonesians out of their homes and destroy the habitat of endangered elephants, rhinos, tigers and orangutans. A United Nations report warned that no wild orangutans may exist outside protected areas by 2020. And at the current rate of habitat destruction, the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimated the Sumatran elephant could be extinct within 30 years.
“Effective action on the ground should be taken immediately to protect Sumatran elephants from extinction,” a report from the IUCN urged in 2013. “Especially in Riau.”
In the past, Indonesia and the world paid lip service to stopping palm oil industry’s destruction of Indonesian forests and warming of the global climate, but more recently they have appeared to get serious.
Victims of habitat destruction driven in part by palm oil production, Sumatran elephants are now considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Photo by Vincent Poulissen (Flickr/Creative Commons).
In 2010 Norway promised $1 billion to Indonesia to keep its forests standing, and the next year Yudhoyono pledged that by 2020, with international assistance, the nation would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 41 percent from its “business-as-usual” trajectory. Last August, Singapore began imposing fines of up to $2 million on local and foreign companies that contribute to the haze from fires. The following month, Indonesia, after years of stalling, became the last of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to ratify a treaty intended to reduce the smoke that has become a perennial strain on its relations with its Southeast Asian neighbors. Shortly afterward, at the U.N. Climate Summit in New York, 150 companies — including McDonald's, Nestlé, and Procter and Gamble — pledged to cut deforestation worldwide in half by 2020 and to eliminate it altogether by 2030.
In 2013 the world consumed 55 million metric tons of palm oil, nearly four times what it used 20 years earlier.
Then, within days of taking office last October, Indonesia’s new president, Joko Widodo, proposed merging the country’s Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Forestry. That reform could help the nation meet its ambitious forest protection and emissions reductions goals if the Ministry of Environment, which negotiates with the U.N. and determines how the nation will meet its emissions goals, gains some authority over the nation’s forests and peatlands. On the other hand, the powerful and territorial Ministry of Forestry could usurp some of the Ministry of Environment’s authority.
“Combining exploitation and conservation authorities into one body does not guarantee balanced decision making,” Greenpeace Indonesia chairman Longgena Ginting told the Jakarta Post.
Ultimately, however, laws, treaties, government agencies and incentives will have little impact without fundamental changes to how palm oil is produced and consumed. And unfortunately, there are few viable alternatives to palm.
“There are benefits to palm oil which cannot be ignored,” Alan Townsend, dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, told me before I traveled to Indonesia. “Palm is one of the most productive crops on the planet, with the ability to grow in a remarkable range of places. Couple that with large profit margins, an incredible diversity of uses for palm oil and a lack of economically competitive substitutes, and you can quickly see why the industry has grown so rapidly.”
In 2013 the world consumed 55 million metric tons of palm oil, nearly four times what it used 20 years earlier. Indonesia and Malaysia satisfy 85 percent of the demand for the world’s most popular food oil. In 1985, Indonesia had less than 2,500 square miles of palm oil plantations. Twenty years later, they covered 21,621 square miles, and by 2025 the Indonesian government projects plantations will cover at least 100,000 square miles.
A month before my arrival in Riau a paper in the journal Nature Climate Change reported that in 2012 Indonesia deforested nearly twice as much land as Brazil, which until recently was destroying its forests faster than any other nation.
The exponential growth of palm oil plantations is to a large degree an unintended consequence of economics, and food and energy policies elsewhere in the world.
“There presently aren’t great alternatives to palm oil.” — Rhett Butler
In 2006 U.S. food labels, under mandate from the Food and Drug Administration, began listing “trans fats” because they increase risk of heart disease. That led to a rapid increase in the use of tropical oils that aren’t trans fats, particularly palm. The television physician Dr. Oz promoted palm oil’s benefits to the heart and brain, helping drive a sixfold increase in consumption in the United States since 2000.
In Europe, efforts to avoid genetically modified foods pushed palm, which is so bountiful it hasn’t yet drawn much interest from genetic tinkerers. In China and India, the growing middle classes’ hunger for high-grade food oils can currently be satisfied only by palm.
The boom is fueled by what we drive, too. The increasing interest in biofuels is replacing the environmental damage associated with crude oil with the devastation palm production inflicts on tropical forests and the climate.
Some of the consequences of palm oil production, including deforestation and habitat destruction, have led to consumer boycotts. But such actions increase the demand for oil crops that are even more destructive to forests and the climate.
“There presently aren’t great alternatives to palm oil,” Rhett Butler, the founder of the rainforest reporting and research site Mongabay, wrote in an email. “If the goal is to meet growing global demand for edible oils, palm oil provides the most oil volume for a given patch of land. If one were to instead grow coconut or rapeseed, more land would be required to produce the same amount of oil.”
As demand for alternatives grows, however, that could change. In fact, one promising alternative oil to palm requires no land at all.
The microalgae’s versatility makes them a good competitor with palm as a source of oil.
Solazyme, a California company, uses microalgae to produce oils for biodiesel that have already powered United Airlines jets and U.S. Navy ships. It’s expanded into oils for soaps, cosmetics and foods, which have higher profit margins than fuels. Last year consumer products powerhouse Unilever announced plans to use 3 million gallons of Solazyme’s algal oil instead of palm in an effort to lower its environmental impact.
Microalgae cultivated by California-based Solazyme show promise as a source of palm oil substitutes. Photo courtesy of Solazyme.
“Think beer,” Jill Kauffman Johnson, the company’s director of sustainability, says, describing the vats in which Solazyme grows its algae. “A plant in Illinois is actually in a former Pabst Blue Ribbon plant.”
“We can make a heart-healthy high oleic oil. The next day you put in a different strain and you can produce a sustainable alternative to palm or palm kernel oil,” she says. “It’s got the lowest level of polyunsaturated fats of any oil on the market, no trans fats and (grows) in a matter of days, not months in the field.”
The microalgae’s versatility makes them a good competitor with palm as a source of oil.
“Our goal is to try and help alleviate the pressure on the equatorial tropics,” Kauffman Johnson says. Since Solazyme’s algae grow wherever the company places its tanks, Solazyme can site its plants where they are most convenient to customers, partners and feedstocks, thus shortening supply chains. Cellulosic feeds such as switchgrass also minimize environmental impacts. The company just opened a 100,000-metric-ton plant in Brazil that uses sugarcane.
“Our technology is capable of ramping up very quickly,” Kauffman Johnson says.
Nonetheless, consumer tastes and agricultural economics are slow to embrace algae-based oils, so it will likely take years for these oils to replace more than a few drops in the flood of palm oil.
A more immediate solution, Butler says, is cleaning up the palm industry.
“Establishing policies and best practices that avoid conversion of forests is something that companies can get behind,” he says. “There has been a groundswell of zero-deforestation commitments from buyers and producers in recent months.”
Philip Taylor, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Colorado’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research who works with Townsend and has done extensive research in the tropics, says most palm plantations don’t produce the yields they are capable of.
Incentivizing the transfer of productivity-boosting knowledge among palm producers could make each hectare of plantation as productive as possible.
“There are big gaps between what’s being achieved and what’s possible,” he says. “Right now the average yield in Malaysia and Indonesia is 18 ½ tons of fresh fruit bunches per hectare. In places with the best management practices, they’re already getting 30 tons per hectare.”
Yields of palm fruit, Taylor notes, have been stagnant since 1975, while in that same time, soy productivity has improved almost 100 percent.
“Some of it is knowledge based,” he says. “The right seeds in the right places, the right fertilizer at the right time.”
Incentivizing the transfer of productivity-boosting knowledge among palm producers could make each hectare of plantation as productive as possible. But the Union of Concerned Scientists, in its report “Recipes for Success,” notes that the increased profits that accompany improved yields can spur further expansion of plantations. Additionally, researchers from the UK and Singapore noted in a recent essay in the journal Science that increased yields and palm crops more suitable for growing in difficult conditions could lead to more land in Africa and Latin America being devoted to palm — both of which have yet to see the explosive planting of palm that has occurred in Southeast Asia. Therefore, improved yields must be accompanied by stricter protections of forests. Indonesia has had a ban on deforestation since 2011, but it’s riddled with loopholes. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil started certifying palm oil that met environmental standards 10 years ago, but many of its members continued to cut down forests. Last summer’s promises to stop the destruction of forests from government, palm producers and companies that use the oil show those efforts are strengthening.
“You have to have a moratorium on deforestation,” Taylor says, noting that the recent commitments by companies like Wilmar and Golden Agri to end deforestation is a significant step in the right direction. “These guys are a huge share of the palm industry,” he says.
If all of the more than 1,000 palm oil refineries worldwide turned their methane into electricity, it would reduce the climate impacts of the operations 34-fold.
At the other end of the production chain, Taylor pointed to more low-hanging fruit for reducing palm oil’s environmental toll. Taylor’s and Townsend’s research shows that the methane released from palm oil refineries accounts for more than one-third of the palm industry’s impact on the climate, and a single pond of palm refinery wastewater annually puts out climate-warming gases equivalent to 22,000 cars. That methane could be used to make electricity by simply covering the pond and placing a biogas generator beside it. If all of the more than 1,000 palm oil refineries worldwide turned their methane into electricity, it would reduce the climate impacts of the operations 34-fold. Yet only 5 percent of the facilities do so.
In Indonesia, palm mills and refineries already generate their own electricity by burning the fruit’s solid waste. They’re usually far from the grid, and lack policies and infrastructures to feed the electricity into it. But they could send power to nearby villages.
“That’s being done by New Britain Palm and Musim Mas,” Taylor says.
Indonesia’s Sustainable Palm Oil initiative requires palm operations to begin developing biogas capture, which should speed more companies’ adoption of the technology.
And the hundreds of vehicles involved in the nation’s palm supply chain could burn liquefied natural gas — a transportation fuel that’s seeing rapid development elsewhere in Asia. In Riau Province, I passed neither a road nor an hour that wasn’t filled with bright yellow trucks loaded with scarlet bunches of palm fruit. All of those vehicles could run on a cheap and readily available fuel that would provide additional income to palm processors and mitigate their climate impacts.
“It’s going to happen in the next couple of years,” Taylor says.
But the coming years will also bring an increasingly ravenous hunger for palm oil. One producer, Asian Plantations, estimates that global demand for edible oils will more than quadruple by 2050. Palm will supply nearly 60 percent of that demand.
So perhaps the most important development in the search for palm oil alternatives is the sense of urgency.
Michael Kodas is the associate director in the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder and an award-winning photojournalist, writer and picture editor. Find him on Twitter @MichaelKodas or on his website MichaelKodas.com
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source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Ensia


text:
ISIS Destroys 3,000-Year-Old Sculptures at a Museum in Mosul, Iraq  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

ISIS militants are seen destroying sculptures dating back 3,000 years at a museum in Mosul, Iraq. Photograph shared by @Joyce_Karam on Twitter
Armed with sledgehammers, drills and pickaxes, militants belonging to the ISIS are videotaped destroying ancient artefacts in a museum in Mosul, in northern Iraq. The five-minute recording was allegedly made at the Nineveh museum, and the 3,000-year-old sculptures being destroyed date back to the Assyrian Empire.
This comes fresh on the heels of news emerging from Mosul claiming that the militants, who have come to control large swathes of Iraq and Syria, have burned thousands of books and rare manuscripts at the Mosul Library as well as other libraries in areas they hold. Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, fell into the militants’ hands in June 2014 and is now under the control of the group, a splinter of the notorious Al Qaeda, which is also fighting in Syria.
http://youtu.be/9WMOyGVV_gc
According to the video, doing the rounds on social media, the group claims that it had destroyed the ancient artefacts because they were idols.
Beirut-based Foreign Policy Middle East editor David Kenner quips:
Evidently not content with just tormenting the living, ISIS tries to destroy the past by wrecking a Mosul museum. http://t.co/Av0XXdRSeO
— DavidKenner (@DavidKenner) February 26, 2015
Another journalist, Sheera Frenkel, asks for a source of the carnage:
Seeing these images being circulated of ISIS fighters destroying artifacts in a Mosul museum. Anyone know source? pic.twitter.com/zRCtfK8rQA
— Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) February 26, 2015
Jameel, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, notes:
بعد حرق مكتبة الموصل ، الدواعش لعنهم الله يحطمون أثآر لا تقدر بثمن في متحف نينوى pic.twitter.com/1ypMoK2Z0c
— جميل (@jameel___) February 26, 2015
After they have burned the library in Mosul, the ISIS miltants, may they be damned, are destroying priceless artefacts in the Ninawa Museum
Palestinian Yaser Al Zaatreh tries to reason with the madness unleashed by the ISIS by asking the obvious:
السؤال: هل هذ التماثيل التي حطمها تنظيم الدولة في الموصل جديدة، أم قديمة مرّ عليها فاتحون وخلفاء وعلماء، ولم يحطموها؟ مجرد سؤال.
— ياسر الزعاترة (@YZaatreh) February 26, 2015
A question: Are those sculptures destroyed by the ISIS in Mosul new or ancient ones which have seen centuries of invaders, Caliphs and scientists, who have not destroyed them? This is just a question.
Zainab, from Kuwait, responds to those who say people's lives are more important than the relics, saying:
اذا قلنا حسافة على متحف الموصل نطولنا ملاقيف وقالوا الناس اهم ليش مايعوركم قلبكم عليهم بعد..ترا والله والله يصير نهتم بموضوعين بوقت واحد
— Zainab (@QZee_) February 26, 2015
If we lament what's happening to the museum in Mosul, we get comments from those who say people are the most important thing, why doesn't your heart ache for them. I swear we can take interest in two issues at the same time
And Daoud Ibrahim, from Lebanon, asks:
متى سيتم تدمير عقيدة داعش كما يتم تدمير #متحف_الموصل ؟
— Daoud Ibrahim (@daywood) February 26, 2015
When will the ISIS ideology be destroyed like they have been destroying the Mosul museum?
Tounsia Hourra shares this video of the museum in Mosul from the 1950s, saying that it was Iraq's second largest museum:
متحف الموصل الذي دمرته #داعش هو ثاني أكبر متاحف العراق. هذه نبذة عنه. #داعش_تدمر_الاثار http://t.co/UFWGRYOYFn
— tounsiahourra (@tounsiahourra) February 26, 2015
The museum in Mosul destroyed by the ISIS is the second largest museum in Iraq. This is a short documentary about it

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Lawrence Maxwell, the Chilean Man Who Came Face to Face With Mexican Police Brutality · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

Screen capture of the Radio Ambulante website featuring an interview with Lawrence Maxwell, a Chilean student detained during a protest over events in Ayotzinapa.
Lawrence Maxwell, a Chilean man based in Mexico City, joined the ranks of the November 20th march in the city's central square Zócalo to show his solidarity with the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students. Within minutes, he was arrested along with 10 other participants.
But unlike his native Chile where, under similar circumstances, detainees usually spend a few hours in police custody before being released, Lawrence got an up-close-and-personal look at the violence inherent in the Mexican justice system.
In this interview with Radio Ambulante—narrated by his brother Dennis Maxwell—Lawrence, a sociologist and doctoral student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), recounts the jarring experience.
Dennis Maxwell begins the podcast explaining that his brother—just like hundreds of thousands of Mexicans—demonstrated against the government in response to the mass kidnapping of the 43 students and the savage and arbitrary violence of their case. The story of his arrest follows:
- “La noche de su arresto, Laurence había llegado al centro de la ciudad de México, a unas cuadras del Zócalo, para participar en la marcha. Se encontró con cientos de miles de manifestantes. Estaba amarrando su bicicleta a un poste, cuando de pronto se acercaron un grupo de policías.
The night of his arrest, Lawrence had arrived in the center of the Mexican capital, a few blocks from the Zócalo in anticipation of the march. There he encountered hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. He was in the process of locking his bicycle to a post when a group of police officers suddenly approached him.
Lawrence Maxwell describes how the arrest occurred:
Entonces, ya, dije, “bueno, lo que uno puede hacer aquí es tratar de salir caminando lo más tranquilo posible…supongo que no va a pasar nada”, ¿no? Trato de caminar, camino unos 3, 4, 5, 10 pasos quizás, y siento que un policía, como el que estaba a cargo al parecer de la operación, dice “agárrenlo a él también”.
So I said, “Ok, the best thing to do here is to try to walk away as calmly as possible…assuming nothing is going to happen,” right? I try to walk, walk 3,4, 5, 10 steps maybe, and I feel a police officer, like the one in charge of the operation, says, “Grab him too.”
Hitting and threatening him, the officers took him away. They covered his face with the hood of his jacket and dragged him across the square.
Later Lawrence detailed the verbal abuse he suffered at the hands of the police:
Me decían “aquí te chingaste cabrón, ahora sí nos toca a nosotros, ahora vas a ver,” o “vas a terminar en la cárcel”, o, no sé, como “terrorista” me decían, “delincuente”.
They said to me, “This is where you screwed up asshole, now it’s our turn, now you’re gonna see,” or, “You’ll end up in jail,” or I don’t know, like, “Terrorist,” they said, “Criminal’”
Dennis continued his story, this time about the interrogations:
Esa noche y al día siguiente, mi hermano y los otros 10 detenidos fueron interrogados una y otra vez. A Laurence le tocó con mayor intensidad, en parte porque no era mexicano. Según el policía que lo interrogó, mi hermano, como extranjero que era, no tenía derecho a involucrarse en la política mexicana.
“Tú viniste a sembrar caos, a hacer desorden, eres terrorista”, le decían. “¿Por qué mierda te fuiste a meter a esa marcha?”
That night and the next day, my brother and the other 10 detainees were interrogated over and over again. Lawrence took the brunt of it, in part because he wasn't Mexican. According to the officers who interrogated him, as a foreigner my brother had no right to involve himself in Mexican politics.
“You came here to stir up trouble, to disrupt things, you're a terrorist,” they said. “Why the hell did you go and get involved in this march?”
Later in the podcast, more details were provided about the police's use of threats. According to Dennis, the detainees were in the back seats, and now there were no longer 11 but 8, all men. The three women had been split off from the group. Six agents, all armed, guarded them, and one was particularly aggressive. As they drove away from Mexico City, this agent in particular said:
Laurence Maxwell: “Los vamos a llevar a Ayotzinapa y allá los vamos a trozar en pedacitos y los vamos a quemar” y después dice: “Pero en realidad mejor los tiramos de a uno de la camioneta y les damos un balazo y nos ahorramos tiempo y no sé qué…”
Lawrence Maxwell: “We are going to take them to Ayotzinapa and there we're gonna slice them to pieces and burn them,” adding, “But it would actually be better if we just threw them all out of the van and put a bullet in them and saved ourselves the trouble and I don't know what…”
Dennis Maxwell: “Aquí ya no hay derechos humanos”, les decían. “Aquí podemos hacer con ustedes lo que queramos.”
Dennis Maxwell: “There are no human rights here,” they said to them. “Here we can do what we want with you.”
The interview is a unique opportunity to hear first-hand what so many people who are arrested in Mexico go through in the hands of the justice system. The podcast can be heard in its entirely here.

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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Police Raid the Lesbians Who Trolled Russia’s Leading Anti-Gay Politician · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Russia's Attorney General hits the LGBT beat. Images by Kevin Rothrock.
Being gay is dangerous business in Russia, but it’s especially risky when you troll the country’s leading opponent of gay rights. The owners of a St. Petersburg lesbian nightclub, raided today by police, are learning that lesson.
Infinity is a “girls-only” nightclub for “St. Petersburg’s most stylish young women.” On February 1, one of the club’s owners and several of her friends were flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, when they spotted Vitaly Milonov, a lawmaker famous for initiating Russia’s crackdown on LGBT rights. Not fans of his conservative politics, the girls photographed themselves kissing one another in front of Milonov, and later posted the images online, where they became a viral sensation.
Милонов, целующиеся лесбиянки и зига. Вся Россия в одной фотографии. pic.twitter.com/4wZFVYqgc7
— Лентач (@oldLentach) February 1, 2015
Milonov, kissing lesbians, and some guy doing a Nazi salute. All of Russia captured in a single photo.
Milonov didn’t find the stunt very amusing, however. He called the girls “crazy little morons” and said he was “ashamed for their parents, who raised such idiots.”
Two days later, on February 3, an anti-gay online community based in Moscow and St. Petersburg published a call to get Infinity closed down. The group posted instructions and a scripted complaint to be sent to the district attorney, demanding that police shut down the lesbian nightclub. Community members were also encouraged to appeal to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s state-run media watchdog, and federal anti-drug agents, based on claims that Infinity opens its doors to minors and operates as a center for illegal drug use.
The anti-gay group, called Moscow Isn’t Sodom and Petersburg Isn’t Gomorrah, claims that at least 524 of the club’s 30,000 VKontakte community members are underage, making the “propagation of homosexuality” a federal crime. Access to Infinity’s VKontakte group is restricted to members, making it difficult to verify accusations that it caters to minors.
Those who want the nightclub shut down are instructed to convey their concerns to police. “I have every reason to believe,” the scripted complaint reads, “that the promotional activities carried out at the lesbian club Infinity pose a serious threat to the physical and mental health of minors who manage to enter the establishment.”
The anti-gay group makes no secret of why it targeted club Infinity, citing the “kissing selfies” incident with Milonov on the airplane:
[…] именно сотрудицы данного клуба несколько дней назад устроили провокацию: на глазах у пасажиров самолета Москва-Петербург они стали демонстрировать свои извращенные наклонности, чем вызвали скандал в интернете.
[…] it was precisely this nightclub’s staff who staged a provocation a few days ago. Before the eyes of everyone on board a flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg, they demonstrated their perverse inclinations, causing a scandal on the Internet.
According to Vitaly Cherkasov, a lawyer at the Russian human rights organization Agora, police raided the club after receiving roughly 100 complaints from local residents about the supposed presence of minors and illegal drugs. Police have also called in for questioning the nightclub’s general director and social media administrator.
Cherkasov says Infinity’s owners believe the police investigation is tied directly to the “kissing selfies” incident earlier this month.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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The Political Apartheid Against Women in Venezuela · Global Voices
Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez

Desireé Lozano, a blogger for the Spanish-language website Voces Visibles (Visible Voices), reflects on the existing limitations on women’s political participation in Venezuela. According to the sociologist Evangelina García Prince, a kind of political apartheid that excludes women from decision-making reigns in the Venezuelan parties:
En los partidos venezolanos, el discurso oficial no incluye una perspectiva de género ni una propuesta de las mujeres sobre las mujeres o de la organización sobre sus frentes internos o externos. Estos esconden la exclusión efectiva de la consideración del tema de la igualdad y la atención a las diferencias de género
In the Venezuelan parties, the official discourse does not include a gender perspective or any proposal from women about women, or a perspective on the organization of their internal and external fronts. These hide the effective exclusion from considering the issue of equality and focus on gender differences.
On the other hand, Sonia Sgambatti, a lawyer and professor at the Central University of Venezuela, explains that there is still a long way to go in this matter. For example, the Chamber of Deputies of the National Assembly of Venezuela consists of 167 deputies, out of which only 31 are women, representing 18.6% of the total:
Con la mirada en el futuro, Sgambatti indica que las mujeres venezolanas deben, con valentía y tenacidad, participar activamente de la vida política y social del país. “Por la tanto debemos exigir a la Asamblea Nacional reformar la Ley Orgánica de Procesos Electorales para incorporar la cuota electoral femenina o promulgar una Ley Orgánica de Cuotas Electorales Femeninas, con el objetivo de lograr la igualdad de género en esta materia”.
Looking ahead, Sgambatti indicates that Venezuelan women must, with courage and tenacity, actively participate in the political and social life of the country. “Therefore, we must demand the National Assembly to reform the Organic Law on Electoral Processes to incorporate a female electoral quota or to enact an Organic Law of Women's Electoral Quotas, with the goal of achieving gender equality in this matter.”
You can follow Desireé Lozano and Voces Visibles on Twitter.

author: Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez


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Venezuela’s Military Can Now Legally Use Firearms Against Demonstrators · Global Voices
Belinda Milazzo

Demonstration on February 15, 2014 in Caracas, Venezuela. Photo from Flickr by Andrés E. Azpúrua used under Creative Commons.
Venezuela's Ministry of Defense has authorized the military to use firearms against demonstrators as a last resort in the demonstrations taking place in the country.
Released through a regulation published in the Official Gazette on 27 January, the measure seeks “to avoid disorder, to support the legitimately constituted authority and to reject any aggression, facing it immediately and with the necessary means”.
While some people supported the measure, opposition politicians, human rights activists and citizens condemned the announcement, especially through social networks:
¿Qué se debe hacer en caso de que manifestantes usen armas de fuego? Piden a Venezuela no usar armas de fuego http://t.co/z77TRHsmSI
— Félix Gutiérrez (@Feligut) February 10, 2015
What should be done if demonstrators use firearms? “Venezuela Is Asked Not to Use Firearms” http://t.co/z77TRHsmSI
¡Fue antes de autorizarse las armas de fuego para reprimir protestas en #Venezuela y hubo 43 muertes en febrero… http://t.co/Fu4WO8L8ve
— Carlos Rubén Rosario (@CarloRubenRosar) February 1, 2015
Even before firearms were authorized to suppress protests in #Venezuela, there were 43 deaths in February… http://t.co/Fu4WO8L8ve
The Venezuela's Constitution expressly prohibits the use of firearms and toxic substances for controlling demonstrations or public meetings. The text of the Magna Carta states:
Artículo 68: Los ciudadanos y ciudadanas tienen derecho a manifestar, pacíficamente y sin armas, sin otros requisitos que los que establezca la ley. Se prohíbe el uso de armas de fuego y sustancias tóxicas en el control de manifestaciones pacíficas. La ley regulará la actuación de los cuerpos policiales y de seguridad en el control del orden público.
Citizens have the right to demonstrate, peacefully and without arms, without other requirements than those established by law. The use of firearms and toxic substances to control peaceful demonstrations is prohibited. The law shall regulate the actions of the police and security forces for maintaining public order.
The coordinator of the Human Rights Commission of the Democratic Unity Roundtable, Delsa Solórzano, reported that a request will be filed before the Supreme Court to overturn the regulation, which she considers “abominable” and unconstitutional; she also made arrangements in the United Nations, which yesterday condemned the regulation.
Meanwhile, Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino López said that those opposed to the regulation are part “of an offensive that has tried to put the people of Venezuela in distress”.
Se han dedicado a extraer y a descontextualizar ese documento hermosísimo, de profundo respeto a los derechos humanos, a la vida y a los manifestantes.
They have focused on extracting and de-contextualizing the most beautiful document of profound respect for human rights, life and demonstrators.
Venezuela's ombudsman Tarek William Saab offered his support on his Twitter account for the regulation:
5) Res 008610 de MD en art 24 norma uso “progresivo y diferenciado de la fuerza cuando el empleo de la misma sea necesaria” para la paz
— Tarek William Saab (@TarekWiliamSaab) enero 29, 2015
5) Res 008 610 MD in article 24 allows “progressive and differential use of force when the use thereof is required” for peace
At a press conference, opposition leaders read a statement against the measure. “We call on the National Armed Forces to fulfill their institutional duties… do not turn arms against the people,” said Caracas's Mayor Antonio Ledezma.
The Student Movement of the Catholic University Andres Bello (UCAB) also rejected the proposed measures, demanding that the government of Venezuela address the crisis in the country and urge the government to stop the persecution of students.
In the first quarter of 2014, Caracas and other cities in Venezuela were the scene of several demonstrations against the government of President Nicolás Maduro that resulted in 43 dead and over 800 injured, according to figures from the Venezuelan Penal Forum (FPV). From February 4, 2014 until January 7, 2015, 3,414 arrests were reported.

author: Belinda Milazzo


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Why Did Egyptians Tie and Behead a Dog as Onlookers Watched? · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

This dog was “slaughtered” in a public beheading in Egypt. On Twitter, @ahmedadel755 remarks: “This is the faithful dog and this is his treacherous dirty owner.”
News of the public “slaughtering” of a dog in a busy Cairo neighbourhood as onlookers watched has sent shock waves around the world, with many questioning how people have become this violent, and why no one stopped the grisly act caught on video.
Cherine Kendous posted a summary for what happened:
The owner of the dog had a fight with other people. The dog then defended its owner and bit one of the other people, who made a complaint in the police station afterwards. The dog's owner was then sentenced to a year in jail. He thus wanted to reach an agreement with the attacked person, so they decided that they will drop the lawsuit if he handed the dog over to them for them to take revenge their way. They tied the dog in a pole and attacked it by knives and slaughtered it.
Zeinobia wrote about the story and posted the video of what happened. The video was removed later on from Facebook for being graphical.
The brothers asked for one thing: To kill the dog in front of everybody in the street so they could restore their pseudo-prestige after being humiliated by a dog. The dog’s owner agreed and we had that video.
Social media reacted to the incident with anger, some criticising the lack of law and order that has driven people to take such actions. Nirvana Said tweets:
In a so called country were there are no laws no police to protect, pets are being slaughtered in z str. #elahram_st_dog #egypt @peta
— Nirvana سعيد (@NirvanaSaid) February 25, 2015
And Maryse Matthew shares a quote:
“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”-Gandhi الرسالة وصلت #كلب_شارع_الاهرام“
— Maryse Matthew :) (@Maryse_Matta) February 26, 2015
Yet, the question remains, why people are becoming this violent?
Beesan Kassab blamed it on the custom of bringing children to watch the slaughter of sheep in Eid Al-Adha feast:
طب ما هو مؤگد فيه كم رهيب من البشر مستغربين ليه فيه كم اقل مصدومين من قصة ذبح الكلب ، اذا كانوا بيجيبوا عيالهم يتفرجوا على دبح خروف العيد؟ بالنسبة لحد بيشوف المشهد ده وهو طفل اكيد المسألة هتبقى ابسط لما يكبر…زي ما فيه اطفال اهاليهم بيعلموهم يصطادوا العصافير للتسلية بس،ولما حد يفتح بقه لازم اسطوانة ” ركزوا والنبي في البني ادمين الاول” تشتغل ، تقولش حضرته اللي بيتكلم كارل ماركس اسم الله
If they bring their children to watch the sheep while being slaughtered in the feast? For someone who watches such a scene while being a child, of course, he will be accustomed to the thing when he grows up. Like the parents who let their children shoot birds for fun. And whenever someone complains about these, they are faced with responses like “lets focus on human rights first”.
Actually, Fatima Said's tweet is a good demonstration for Beesan's last sentence.
Priorities: When people are more outraged at the brutal killing of a dog than humans being tortured to death…. #Egypt
— Fatima Said (@fattysaid) February 26, 2015
This particular Eid Al-Adha custom has been discussed a lot, especially after a Saudi 3-year-old child stabbed his sister after being influenced by the slaughtering rituals.
On the other hand, Ehab Kamel draws his own lines between this incident and what happened to some people in Egypt a couple of years ago, for having different religious beliefs than their neighbours. He wrote:
فيديو تعذيب و قتل و التمثيل بجثة الكلب ليس بعيدا عن ما حدث للشيخ حسن شحاتة منذ مدة و ليس غريبا عن السلوك العام لهذا المجتمع فنحن في الإطار العام و في المجمل مجموعة من ال Psychopaths أو السيكوباتيين التي عانت لفترة طويلة جدا من ال Passive Aggression أو العنف السلبي أو المكبوت و لذا و بعد عقود بدأ يظهر هذا العنف المكبوت على السطح في شكل إنحراف حاد و شبق و شهوة لا تنطفئ تجاه القتل و التلذذ بالدم و التعذيب ، فنحن بصدد مجتمع بأكمله في حالة متأخرة من المرض النفسي ، جدير بالذكر أننا نتيجة التجريف و التحريف و التجديف الذي مورس علينا من جانب أنفسنا و إستسلمنا له بالتوحد معه صرنا مجتمع بلا قيم بلا أخلاق بلا هدف بلا قضية بلا عقيدة بلا عقد إجتماعي بلا نسق أو نظام ……..
The video of torturing and killing the dog is not that distant from what happened to Sheikh Hassan Shehata a while back. It is not strange from the general behaviour of the society. We are generally a group of psychopaths who suffered for a long while from passive aggression and it started to come to the surface after decades now, in the form of non stoppable lust towards killing and torturing and blood. We are in front of a society in a late stage of psychological illness. It is worth saying that, as a result of the distortion that been exerted on this society, we surrendered to it and face a society with no values, no morals, no goals, no social contract nor any form of system.
So, the question remains. Is this violence due to some social customs or is it the result of the oppression exerted on the people by their regime?
I better end this article by a quote for Paulo Freire.
Any situation in which some men prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence; to alienate humans from their own decision making is to change them into objects.
This incident has reportedly taken place four days ago, and three men have been arrested in connection with the crime.

author: Tarek Amr


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Your Social Media Photos Could Help Protect Whale Sharks and Other Species · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Whale shark (Butanding in Filipino). Photo from Facebook page of Roselle Pineda
Social media tools are increasingly being used by scientists to identify and track wildlife species. Through open source software solutions like Wildbook, scientists rely on crowdsourcing to conduct mark-recapture and animal biometrics. Or in other words, the wildlife photos and videos posted on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, and other websites are used by scientists to tag and photo-identify individual animals.
A great example of this online collaboration is the effort to protect whale sharks, the largest fish in the world. Whale sharks are in danger of going extinct because of hunting, pollution, and habitat destruction. In support of conservation and scientific goals, whale shark photos are publicly sourced and then used for individual identification. This is possible because the spot patterns of whale sharks are unique, like the fingerprints of humans.
In recent years, marine scientists in the Philippines have used ‘citizen science’ contributions to identify and match previously tagged whale sharks. According to the Large Marine Vertebrates Project (Lamave), there are more than 700 whale sharks with photo identifications in the Philippines; 79 were identified through social media submissions by tourists, dive operators, and conservation expeditions.
Since it started work in 2012, Lamave has already identified 30 new individual whale sharks through social media research. Lamave emphasized that aside from being free, this method is also effective. It added that “conservation goals are met by engaging the public” while promoting responsible tourism. However, the public should also be aware about the proper way of photographing whale sharks since a seemingly harmless interaction with the animals can cause harm to them and their habitat.
Global Voices interviewed Jason Holmberg, information architect of Wildbook, to learn more about the link of social media and wildlife research.
Mong Palatino: How can social media tools contribute in the effort to protect whale sharks?
Jason Holmberg: More and more people are posting their whale shark videos online, and YouTube and Vimeo are proving to be very rich social media platforms for us! Last year 12% of our data came from YouTube and resulted in the tagging of an additional 100 new sharks.
Mong: How do citizen science platforms like Wildbook contribute to the work of scientists and environmentalists?
Jason: Wildbook is helping scientists collaborate online in studying wildlife populations. Importantly, different research communities for different species are benefiting from each others’ investment in Wildbook as free and open source software. It also provides an avenue for data from the public to flow into structured wildlife studies.
Mong: What are the challenges facing citizen science? How can we improve or encourage greater public involvement to support projects like Wildbook?
Jason: As an information architect, I see a major challenge to citizen science in data management. Researchers need more engaging tools (such as game-like techniques) to hold potential citizen scientists’ attention and increase data collection while sequencing that data into structured studies and databases where the data is usable and searchable. For whaleshark.org, the public can help by either financially supporting the project through adopting a shark under study or by spreading the word that we need the public's photos and videos of whale sharks and that their contribution of data makes a difference and is directly used in research.
Scientific papers have been published which recognize that “publicly sourced data allowed for the accurate estimation of abundance of whale sharks.” Hopefully, this will encourage more tourists and divers to take photos and videos of wild sharks and submit them to marine scientists and environmentalists.

author: Mong Palatino


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How I Helped Get Zoja’s Law Approved By Serbia’s Parliament · Global Voices
Vuk Visnjic

The author in front of the National Assembly of Serbia, waiting to hand in the signatures for the petition for Zoja's Law. Photo courtesy Vuk Visjnic
On a cold evening in December 2014, I learned of Zoja's Law, a proposed piece of legislation that would provide government funds for the diagnosis and treatment of Serbian children and adults with rare diseases. News footage shared online showed how the members of the Serbian National Assembly failed to accept the proposed law into parliamentary procedure. The footage soon went viral across the Serbian web. People were angry. I was angry.
Zoja's Law, first suggested by the parents of a girl named Zoja who battled Batten's Disease for three years and passed away in 2013 at the age of 6, proposes that the government provide funding for children with rare diseases, which often go undiagnosed for long periods of time in Serbia.
The law asks that a time limit of six months be placed on diagnosing rare diseases and disorders in children and minors, after which the government would cover the cost of either sending these young patients abroad for proper diagnosis, or of bringing in foreign experts for diagnosis and treatment. The proposed law was turned down by the National Assembly five times over a period of some 18 months.
The video I and many in Serbians watched over and over again in disbelief shows members of the Serbian National Assembly voting on whether to accept the proposed law into procedure. Of the 250 members of the Assembly, 185 were present that day. When the proposal was brought to the floor by Dr. Dušan Milisavljević, an opposition MP who had volunteered to introduce the proposal on behalf of the group of parents who had written it, 26 members of the Assembly voted “yes”, zero voted “against”, and zero voted to abstain. The remaining 157 MPs simply didn't bother to vote.
A screencapture of the video of the National Assembly vote for Zoja's Law that circulated the Serbian Internet for days.
This post should probably have started, “During my school winter break….” I am a 15-year-old high school student. I can't vote. I can't propose a law. And I definitely can't be a member of the National Assembly. Still, watching the video made me feel deep disappointment and anger at the inhumanity of the politicians that run my country. What I could do was try to effect change by other means.
I first asked a family friend to introduce me to Dr. Dušan Milisavljević, and I chatted with him on Facebook. We decided that the first step would be to use my knowledge of online tools to raise awareness about the Assembly's failure to vote, and Zoja's Law in general.
The next day, I set the stage for our online campaign. I created a video in which I promised that I would not vote in the next parliamentary election (by that time I’ll be old enough to vote) for any of the MPs who had not bothered to vote for Zoja's Law. When I went to the printing place around the corner from my home to print the pages bearing the messages I would use in the video, a man who worked there asked me to explain what Zoja's Law was. Once I explained it he waived the cost of the printing and wished me the luck with the campaign.
I set up a Facebook page to promote an online petition I created. Within days the page had attracted hundreds of fans, and in less than three weeks the petition received over 3,700 signatures. Dr. Milisavljević and the group of parents, led by Zoja's mother, would use the petition signatures and online commentary of others to do what I couldn't do: show Assembly members that people were aware and supporting Zoja's Law.
The group of parents had also started a Facebook group and launched an online campaign which saw parents of sick and healthy children from all over Serbia begin sharing photos of their kids holding messages in support of Zoja's Law. They didn't know who I was and I didn't know who they were, but we began sharing each other's posts, united by a cause we all cared about.
Not everyone was supportive. Some didn't believe it was possible to make a difference, mostly because of their general lack of confidence in our politicians. Others reminded me that online petitions aren't as effective in Serbia because they aren't considered to be valid. A petition in Serbia usually has to be registered and then signatures gathered by a deadline, usually of 7 days. I decided to create an online petition anyway because it was faster, more visible, and I was not legally old enough to start an official petition or even sign one.
People also told me I was wasting my time and that my efforts were pointless. Most people, though, complained about Serbia's MPs and supported our joint effort to raise awareness about Zoja's Law.
In a way, they were all right. The petition, my video, the Facebook page would have achieved nothing if I hadn't collaborated with the group of parents and the one MP proposing the law.
On January 8, Dr. Milisavljević invited me to join him and the group of parents of undiagnosed children who had proposed the law at the National Assembly building for a meeting. They had all just had a meeting with the Minister of Health, who, after the voting fiasco in December, had promised that the proposed law would be accepted into procedure at the next session of the Assembly after the holidays.
It was my first time at the National Assembly. Dr. Milisavljević greeted me at the entrance, where I was waiting for him, watched by two confused security guards. At 15, I don't have an ID card, which you’re usually required to show before entering the building, so they just jotted my name down in a notebook.
Inside, Dr. Milisavljević introduced me to the group of parents of children with undiagnosed genetic diseases or disorders. Zoja's mother was there. She greeted me with a hug. I had heard the stories of Zoja and other kids and they had angered and saddened me, which made it difficult to talk to her and the other parents there without getting emotional. But while Zoja's mom and the other parents looked tired, they didn’t behave like they were burdened with the problems they have. As I sat at one of the tables in the cafe of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia with them and Dr. Milisavljević, I wondered how they did it. How they had so much hope. How they kept the smiles on their faces and the cheer in their voices.
I spoke little. I mostly listened to their stories. Many of them described problems in the national health system: tests that led to no result; differing opinions from doctors; doctors’ lack of knowledge about rare diseases; how difficult it was to simply not know what was wrong with your child. I learned that undiagnosed patients in Serbia aren't even considered ill. If there is no code for their illness known to the Serbian health system, patients cannot not be categorized or treated and are essentially invisible to the system.
I went with Dr. Milisavljević to his office to print out the petition. The women who worked there were surprised by my age and my initiative, but they were very supportive and asked if there was anything else I needed. I answered no and they wished me luck. We didn't get to hand the signatures in that day.
After several more meetings with different members and legal aides of the government, more campaigning, and several media appearances by Dr. Milisavljević and Zoja's mother, as spokesperson for the group of parents, the proposal for Zoja's Law was amended and the Serbian National Assembly voted to pass the Law in a session on January 23, 2015.
Of 250 members of the National Assembly, 166 were present for voting that day. 163 members of the Assembly voted for Zoja's Law, zero voted against, zero abstained, and only 3 decided not to cast a vote.
This time around, the voting was well covered by media. Some said it “united members of the Assembly”. Others commented that Assembly members and their political parties were just using the opportunity for a few easy political points. Either way, mission accomplished.

author: Vuk Visnjic


text:
5 Bills Threatening the Amazon That Brazil’s Congress Might Consider in 2015 · Global Voices
InfoAmazônia

Indigenous people protest in Brasilia against the passage of PEC 215 in December 2014. Their pressure made the vote to be canceled. Photo by: Mídia Ninja, CC BY-NC-SA)
This article was written by Stefano Wrobleski and originally published on Infoamazonia's blog. It is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing partnership. Context and news updates, which broke during the translation process, have been added to the original text.
The bills listed below were mentioned by experts from different environmental NGOs interviewed by Infoamazonia as five matters that could brought up again in both houses of Congress in Brazil. If approved, they might have a negative impact on the Amazon.
The PEC (Proposal of Constitutional Amendment) 215 bill, presented in 2000 by former federal deputy Almir Sá, wants to alter the Brazilian Federal Constitution, giving the National Congress the authority to approve the demarcation of indigenous lands. Currently, the final word rests with the Ministry of Justice after a long process that includes anthropological studies lead by the National Indigenous Foundation (Funai) and deadlines for objections by any interested party in the ruling.
If approved, the bill will also require the creation of another law defining the criteria and procedure of all indigenous land demarcation. Experts believe that revisions of the bill's text might also transfer to Congress the authority to recognize and demarcate quilombo lands (hinterland settlements founded by African slaves during colonial times) and environmental conservation units, the system through which Brazil classifies protected areas.
Take a look at the map below showing indigenous lands and the Amazon's protected areas to see how much deforestation has taken place over the last decades.
In 2014, discussions on the PEC 215 in the Chamber of Deputies were brought to a halt by numerous protests from social movements and the invasion of the Congress by indigenous leaders.
“It’s an extremely worrying bill,” says Aldem Bourscheit, public policy expert for WWF Brasil. “The arguments [in favor of PEC 215] are ridiculous, akin to ‘Brazil already has too many indigenous lands.'” He says that in practice the bill's passage would make it more difficult to demarcate those territories.
For Márcio Astrini, campaign coordinator of Greenpeace Brazil, indigenous lands are the “the most efficient way to fight logging.”
Filed in 2014, the PEC215 could be discussed by a special commission in 2015. For that to happen, discussion on the bill needs to be reopened by one the 26 deputies who signed in favor of the proposal in 2000 and were also reelected in 2014. They have until July 31 to do so. When it was first written by Almir Sá, the bill had the support of 232 deputies (see the list here). Because it’s a proposal that will change the constitution, at least 171 signatures are necessary (a third of the Chamber of Deputies) for discussion to be reopened.
For Adriana Ramos, coordinator for the Amazon at the Socio-Environmental Institute, another bill that could come up again in 2015 is the PL (Project of Law) 7.735 of 2014. This bill intends to take the place of the Provisional Measure 2.186-16/2001, which currently regulates the commercial use of genetic resources, such as plants, animals and microbes.
Traditional communities, like indigenous and quilombola communities, have first-hand knowledge of how to use these resources, which interests the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and other industries. Home to one of every five species on the planet, Brazil has one the vastest biodiversities in the world, with many of its traditional communities knowing how to make use of it.
The bill, if approved, would establish that small companies don't need to share their profits anymore with the local communities. “But big corporations often use those small companies to make use of genetic resources,” Adriana says. The Socio-Environmental Institute also claims that the communities have not been consulted on the bill's drafting, which contradicts the 169 Convention of the International Labour Organization, to which Brazil is a signatory. “The bill simplifies the legislation concerning the use of biological diversity. Currently, our government needs to oversee the whole procedure, so the executive power drafted this law to ease its own burden.”
Update: On February 9, the Chamber of Deputies passed the bill. It now goes to the Senate to be examined under a special urgency scheme — whereby the House has up to 45 days to vote on it. The Socio-Environmental Institute's website reports that the bill's approved text states that traditional communities will only have right to compensation if the traditional knowledge is “the main element of aggregated value” of the developed product, and if this product is included in a list that will be drafted by a couple of ministries. Products based on the access of traditional knowledge that were developed before June 2000 are also exempt from sharing profits.
3. Mining Code
The new Mining Code, currently in discussion in the Chamber of Deputies, wants to take the place of Law Decree 227 of 1967, which regulates the activity. The new bill determines the areas that the government will open up to bidding, which should increase state revenue.
The proposal faces a lot of pressure from companies with activities in the sector, because, as reveled by Agência Pública in December 2013, it influences fundraising for the election campaigns of politicians involved with the special commission currently analyzing the draft.
The bill doesn't advance mining regulations in environmental terms, but the whole discussion worries Adriana Ramos from the Socio-Environmental Institute. “It seems that attempts will be made to approve proposals for mining in indigenous lands separately,” she said. Aldem Bourscheit, from WWF Brazil, believes the country does need a new legislation on mining. “But, unfortunately, up until this moment, the current proposed laws don't take the protection approach that we are seeking,” he said.
Drafted by deputy Weliton Prado, who was reelected in 2014, the bill is being processed on a “priority basis”, which means it should enter the voting agenda right after any urgent bills. He has until July 31 to request that discussion be reopened on the bill.
Drafted by senator Flexa Ribeiro, the Senate Bill (Projeto de Lei do Senado – PLS) 626 of 2011 wants to legalize the planting of sugar cane in damaged areas in the Amazon.
Currently, planting sugar cane in the Amazon is discouraged because of Decree No. 6.961, published by former President Lula in 2009, which prohibits the concession of rural credit (financial lending programs or lines of credit that are focused on impacting a rural population) to that kind of plantation inside the biome.
Take a look at the advance of deforestation in the Amazon in the map below:
For Marcio Astrini, the problem is that the cultivation could increase the “pressure for deforestation”. “The sugar cane will occupy the large areas that today are used for livestock, rice, cotton and soy, and will push those into the forest,” he said. The Greenpeace environmentalist added that there is a “lack of governance” in the region's zoning, which would undermine the situation even more and also increase the forest's destruction.
The bill was approved in May 2013 on a “terminative basis” (which means it only needs the approval of the responsible commissions and doesn't go to plenary voting) by the Commission of Environment, Consumer Advocacy, Surveillance and Control. But senator Cristovam Buarque included an amendment to the voting and asked for the inclusion of two other committees in the discussion for it to be approved. The bill is currently in the hands of the Committee of Economical Affairs, where it met resistance from its rapporteur Rodrigo Rollemberg. Another three committees still need to analyze the bill for it to be approved.
Because the eight-year term of Flexa Ribeiro ends in 2019, the bill hasn't been filed and is currently following the regular course.
For Aldem Bourscheit from WWF, of all the proposals that could make a comeback this year, one of the most worrying is PL 3.682, de 2012, which would allow mining activities to be carried out in up to 10% of Brazil's full protection conservation units. Its author is deputy Vinícius Gurgel, who was reelected in 2014.
Currently mining activities are forbidden in fully protected conservation units, but may be allowed in sustainable use units. In defense of the bill, Gurgel argues that a great number of full protection units, especially in the Amazon, were created in areas rich in mineral deposits, and exploiting them is necessary for economic growth.
In return, the bill would require the mining company that exploits those areas to donate land “to the competent environmental agency” that is “double the size of the one granted with the same characteristics.”
“The impact would never be limited to those 10%. Mining activities always cause a lot of impact,” says Bourscheit. “There are conservation areas that could meet those mining demands. Brazil doesn't need to damage its protected areas to foster those activities.”
Take a look at the map below to see where there is mining in the Amazon, combined with data on protected areas and indigenous lands
The bill, which is being processed on a “conclusive basis”, is in the Mining and Energy Commission, where it still hasn't been put to a vote, but already has the favorable opinion of its rapporteur, deputy Bernardo Santanda de Vasconcellos. The deputy proposed a substitute to Gurgel's bill that would move all delimitation of full protection conservation units to the National Congress and wouldn't establish limits on mining companies in those areas, or require them to compensate in some way any environmental harm they cause. The bill still needs to go through two other commissions to be approved.
Because he was reelected, Gurgel has until July 31 to request that discussion be reopened on the bill.

author: InfoAmazônia


text:
Why John Legend Should Perform In Bahrain · Global Voices
Mohamed Hassan

John Legend performing at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania on December 5, 2008. The US performer is scheduled to perform in Bahrain on March 2. Photo by Judy Glova (CC BY 2.0)
I tried to avoid writing about this issue, as I see no use in highlighting individual events and would prefer to focus more on the social and cultural aspects of my struggle in my country. But moved as I was by the speech made on February 21 by Common and John Legend as they accepted their Academy Award for “Glory” as Best Original Song, I would love if this open letter gets to them somehow.
This it too personal to be just another post citing experts and opinions regarding your planned concert in Bahrain, which many of my friends would love to see cancelled. I, however, would like to see you go to Bahrain, as that would permit at least one of us to witness the beauty of my country as I spend my days in exile thousands of miles away.
My name is part of the problem, or rather the preconceived notions that are be linked to it. Like many things over which I had no control, my name, my birthplace, my ethnicity, all of which were decided when I was born have largely determined the course of my life. In Bahrain these things determine where you can live, what jobs are available to you. Since I was a kid I have feared men in uniform. Until the day I left Bahrain I lived in fear of running into a police checkpoint where I could be “hunted like a rat“, a situation I think you might find familiar.
In the last month six American anthropology students were detained because they were living in Duraz, the village my mother comes from. They were given the choice to relocate to a less “problematic” area as the state media described, or to leave the country. What happens in places like Duraz, where there is a majority Baharna population (Baharna is the name used to describe native or indigenous people like me), has become a secret the government is trying its best to hide. Protests erupt on daily basis in some of them. Journalists are usually denied access to this country and people trying to cover events on ground, like I did, risk arrest and torture. This is how people like me are considered, a problem that should be hidden from the rest of the world, a problem that just cannot be solved.
Recently I did something that I think would make my mother scream, were she  ever to read these lines: I got a tattoo. This matters to me because of the story behind it.
Last year, while I was imprisoned for blogging and had little to no hope of getting out, I was taken to the office of the public prosecutor, who told me that I was now accused of establishing a terrorist group. Of course I wanted to laugh, but feared the repercussions. I went back to my cell and sat quietly. A man my father’s age came to me and asked me why I was looking so sad. I told him what had happened and that I couldn’t see a way out of the situation. He said to me: “This time next year you will be out and you will owe me dinner.” He then wrote on a paper a verse of Quran that says “Patience will be rewarded”.
I was eventually released on bail and fled the country, while the elderly man was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. It was the third time he had been arrested. The first time was 25 years ago. Since then I have kept repeating that phrase every time I run into trouble: Patience will be rewarded, patience will be rewarded.
I was walking in Camden Town here in London, where I currently live, when I came across a tattoo shop. It looked a bit scary, but I needed something that would link me to that moment, the moment when I was given a lifeline, when I had hope, so I drew that phrase on a sheet of paper and had it tattooed.
My compatriots in Bahrain have been patient, to say the least. Our struggle for equality and justice has been ongoing for over 90 years. Sometimes I feel like it's a curse that is inherited by one generation after another, a curse I don't want my children to carry. I dream of a country where my children will never feel that my bloodline is a reason for their misfortune, where last names, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or social status don't decide the course of your life.
I hope that you enjoy your time in Bahrain, but I hope that when you go there that you will visit my birthplace, the highly “problematic” area of Sitra. And just as you performed in Selma, Alabama, I wish you could have the chance to inspire the people of my island to be patient for their dreams to come true.
I doubt this message will reach you, and even if it does, I doubt you will visit Sitra. But I promise you that one day you will hear about the thousands of imprisoned Bahrainis who fought for justice, and achieved glory.

author: Mohamed Hassan


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Bangladeshi-American Blogger Hacked to Death in Dhaka · Global Voices
Palash Ranjan Sanyal

Avijit Roy. Image Credit: Tanmoy Kairy
Avijit Roy, a Bangladeshi-American writer and blogger who founded the Mukto-Mona (Free Mind) blog, was hacked to death close to University of Dhaka in Bangladesh on Thursday, February 26, 2015. His wife, blogger Rafida Ahmed Bonna, was also severely injured when unidentified assailants stabbed them near the campus where the national book fair Ekushey Boi Mela is taking place.
Roy was born in Bangladesh but was a naturalized American citizen. He had just returned to his native country from the US a week before his death to attend a launch ceremony for his new book at the fair.
So far, no arrests have been made in the killing, which sparked outrage on social media:
From my FB page. Bangladeshi blogger Avijit Roy hacked to death in Dhaka. He was a great defender of secularism. http://t.co/Tlsnug4FOB
— Saikat Datta (@saikatd) February 27, 2015
Writer Avijit Roy, who wrote on atheism, hacked to death following threats issued by an Islamic militant on Facebook http://t.co/B3xrRGvQ7J
— Samira Sadeque (@Samideque) February 26, 2015
Devastated to learn that secular-humanist author Avijit Roy has been killed today in BD by the extremists. #IamAvijit pic.twitter.com/qKPt81Bv5w
— Rayhan Rashid (@rayhanrashid) February 26, 2015
Yet another casualty of radical fundamentalism. Dr. @avijit_roy_MM has been hacked to death by Islamists in Bangladesh. #terrorism
— Ishtiaq Rouf (@ishtiaqrouf) February 26, 2015
Roy, who called himself an atheist, wrote on topics including science, society and philosophy. He is known for his books “Biswaser Virus” (Virus of Faith), “Samakamita” (Homosexuality), “Obiswasher Darshon” (Philosophy of Atheists) and “Sunyo theke Mahabiswa” (From Vacuum to the Great World). His writing and blogging had evoked the ire of religious extremists, and he received regular threats from Islamist groups. He often spoke out against Islamist groups, as many other bloggers in Bangladesh do, and promoted critical thinking about all religions.
In December, online newspaper BDNews24 reported that a person named Shafiur Rhaman Farabi had written a threatening Facebook post that read:
Avijit Roy lives in America and so, it is not possible to kill him right now. He will be murdered when he comes back.
Horrifying photos of the attacked couple covered in blood circulated on social media. In one of the photos [Warning: graphic content], Rajida Ahmed Bonna appears to be holding her husband's head while people stand and watch. One of the Twitter accounts that shared the photo wrote, “May be it's Avijit Roy's bloody wife with Husband's Head.#Beheaded He was a top Target 4 last 3/4 years.”
The account also seemed to rejoice in the killing:
LoL !! They have switched off the target's blog site ….No, prob. Target is Down..& wait for the next..InshaAllah.
— Ansar Bangla 7 (@AnsarBn_7) February 26, 2015
The Twitter user was referring to a “hit list” of bloggers who Islamist groups like Hefazat had labeled atheists or blasphemous. Two years ago, blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider was brutally killed outside his home in Dhaka because of his writings against war criminals and Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh. His name had appeared on the list, as did Roy's.
Bangladesh is a non-religious parliamentary democracy, meaning there is no sharia or blasphemy law. People who identify as atheist have the same rights as other citizens. However, under Section 295A of Bangladesh's Penal Code (1860), any person who has a “deliberate” or “malicious” intention of “hurting religious sentiments” is liable to imprisonment. Government inaction and police ineffectiveness have also given Islamist groups a certain amount of impunity in recent years.
On February 16, another hit list was published and shared on Facebook threatening the publishers of Roy's books. The author of the list, a user named Salman Ahmed, wrote:
আসুন এমন কিছু প্রকাশকে দেখে নেই যারা কথিত মুক্তমনা ইসলাম বিদ্বেষী নাস্তিকদের বইগুলোকে নিয়মিত প্রকাশ করে যাচ্ছে ।এরাও লেখকদের মত সম অপরাধী, প্রথমে এদেরকে আঘাত করুন ,এদের স্টল জ্বালিয়ে দিন,এদের অফিসে ককটেল,বোমা যাই পান তাই দিয়ে হামলা করুন ।
Look at these publishers who publishes these anti-Islamist atheists’ books. These have also sinned like the writers. First hit them, burn their shops, attack their offices with bombs, IEDs or anything you can get hold of.
Commenting on the lack of protection for atheists in Bangladesh, medical practitioner and activist Pinaki Bhattacharya wrote on Facebook:
বাংলাদেশে সবচেয়ে সহজ টার্গেট একজন নাস্তিক। নাস্তিক মানেই আক্রমন যোগ্য, হত্যা যোগ্য। নাস্তিক কে প্রকাশ্য হুমকি দেয়া হত্যা করা যেন কোন অপরাধ নয়। নির্মম মৃত্যুই যেন তাঁদের প্রাপ্য।
In Bangladesh an easy target is an atheist. As if atheists can be attacked, killed. As if threatening atheists openly is no crime. Painful death is their destiny.
Journalist Polash Datta reminded the police about the existing threats against Avijit Roy:
তাহলে আমরা এভাবেই চলতে থাকব? আমাদের দেশের আইন-কানুনও এভাবেই চলতে থাকবে?
একদিকে প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনাকে ফেইসবুকে ‘হত্যার হুমকি’ দেয়ার অপরাধে কোনো এক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় শিক্ষকের সাত বছরের কারাদাণ্ড হবে। আর অন্যদিকে একজন লেখককে হত্যার হুমকি দিয়েও বহাল তবিয়তে ঘুরে বেড়াবে ধর্মান্ধ মৌলবাদী ফারাবি শফিউর রহমান। এবং তার হুমকিমতোই দেশে এসে বৃহস্পিতবার রাতে খুন হবেন কুসংস্কার ও মৌলবাদবিরোধী লেখক অভিজিৎ রায়।
So will we be happy with this? Our law and police are carrying out their affairs like this?
In one instance, a university professor was sentenced to prison for allegedly threatening the prime minister. In another instance, radical fundamentalist Farabi Shafiur Rahman roams around freely after posting a threat against a writer on Facebook. And in line with his threats, anti-fundamentalist writer and free thinker Avijit Roy was killed on a Thursday night.
Even before 2013, renowned writer Humayun Azad was attacked in strikingly similar manner outside of the book fair in February 2004. Earlier this month, the publisher of a Bangla translation of a controversial book by 20th-century Iranian rationalist and politician Ali Dashti about the Prophet Muhammad's life received death threats after displaying the work at Bangladesh's national book fair.
The International Crimes Strategy Forum (ICSF), a body of experts, activists and organisations committed to end impunity for international crimes, wrote in a statement:
The targeted murder of Avijit Roy is a part of the systematic and planned attacks on free and progressive thinking that have been taking place in Bangladesh at regular intervals, especially since the gruesome attack on Professor Humayun Azad ten years ago. Apart from major attacks on progressive symbols such as bomb attacks on Udichi’s Bengali New Year celebrations, and attacks on various Language Monuments throughout the country in 2013, religious extremists have over the years carried out horrific attacks on a number of people.
Haider's violent death in 2013 triggered nationwide protests by thousands of activists at the time, and five people remain on trial for his murder. Since then, other bloggers in addition to Roy have been attacked, too. All trials are incomplete to date.

author: Palash Ranjan Sanyal


text:
Behind the Scenes of Mayor Antonio Ledezma’s Arrest in Venezuela · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Video capture of Antonio Ledezma's arrest from The Pin.
Political clashes in parts of Venezuela escalated this weekend with the arrest of the mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma. Ledezma is accused of being part of a foreign plot to force the current administration from power. The arrest and the authorities’ allegations have provoked a lively debate online, where Internet users have traded words of support and outrage.
Supporters of Nicolás Maduro‘s Chavista government pointed to the history of alliances and criminal accusations in Ledezma's political career, saying his arrest is justified for reasons beyond the current charges. Many celebrate the arrest of such a visible political figure seen publicly as an symbol of the corruption of political parties.
According to JM Álvarez:
El presidente llama al pueblo a resistir, anuncia que no va a renunciar y captura a este criminal en un gesto muy bien acogido por todos los chavistas pero también por los opositores moderados que no quieren una guerra civil ni que este “monstruo” (como le llama el pueblo) sea su jefe político y por la gran mayoría del pueblo. Tiene toda razón Maduro en expresar su desconfianza con respecto hacia este político profesional, jefe administrativo y policíaco de un régimen podrido y agente del imperialismo [estadounidense] que resume en su persona toda la inmundicia de una camarilla de traidores sin moral alguna que se enriquecieron en un país petrolero mientras el 80 % del pueblo era relegado entre pobreza y miseria.
The President calls on people to resist and announces he's not going to resign. He will also capture this criminal in a gesture well received by Chávez supporters and for moderate opposers who don't want a civil war, who don't want to see this “monster” (as the people call him) become their political chief. Maduro has good reason to express his distrust with respect to this professional politician—this administrative police chief from a rotten regime and an agent of [American] imperialism, who embodies all the filth of an immoral traitor group living off a petroleum-rich country, while 80 percent of the people are stuck between poverty and misery.
Internet opponents demand the mayor's release through various online campaigns such as #LiberanALedezma. They accuse the governor of circumventing the law (not for the first time) and creating more political prisoners in the country. The mayor's capture reminds many of the list of people who have been and continue to be held in prison without clear legal proceedings. One of the opposing figures on the list is Leopoldo López, who has been in prison for a year for “intellectually participating” in the violent riots of the 2014 protests.
Even so, the mayor's arrest begs questions about the government's lawfulness and the radicalization of the law against the opposition. Many online are concerned about the reluctance of police groups to end their competition because of legal and constitutional demands.
Hugo Pérez Hernáis from Venezuela Conspiracy Theories reflects on Maduro's political motives and their possible meaning—among them, a creating a diversion from the country's economic hardship. It highlights how government spokespeople have drawn up a plan already set in place with convincing evidence of their supported decisions, but the evidence will be presented later:
El gobierno no parece muy apurado por mostrar la evidencia de sus argumentos de conspiración y así convencer a la oposición y a los votantes indecisos de la existencia real de la planificación de un golpe de Estado. En lugar de esto, al gobierno le preocupa más bien establecer una retórica de “ellos o nosotros” al apuntar a una lucha contra un enemigo ampliamente definido, que incluye el Imperio [estadounidense], la oposición local, los exilados en Miami, Bogotá y Madrid; y básicamente cualquiera que no jure lealtad a la revolución [bolivariana].
The government does not seem to be in any rush to show the evidence of its conspiracy claims and thus convince the opposition and the undecided voters of the existence of an actual and real coup d’état plot. Instead, the government is concerned with clearly establishing an “either-us-or-them” rhetoric by pointing to a struggle against a broadly defined enemy that includes the [American] Empire, the local opposition, exiles in Miami, Bogota, and Madrid, and basically anyone who does not pledge loyalty to the [Bolivarian] revolution.
On the Prodavinci website, various opinion writers proposed analyzing the issues that are sometimes left out of discussions. José Ignacio Hernández presents arguments that question if Ledezma's arrest would be considered constitutional and advises “the case should be assessed in a wider context with international standards of the protection of human rights,” a point that should worry Chavistas and oppositionists alike:
[Los] hechos noticiosos comentados permiten concluir en el carácter arbitrario de la detención, al no haberse mostrado esa supuesta orden al momento de su detención, al no existir información sobre aspectos tales como el sitio de reclusión y los motivos de la detención, y por el uso desproporcionado de la fuerza y por el carácter político con el cual se ha asociado esta detención.
The newsworthy events allow us to establish the arbitrary nature of the arrest: the failure to show the alleged warrant at the moment of his arrest, the absence of details like the confinement site, and political motives for the arrest, as well as the disproportionate use of force by police.
Francisco Toro from Caracas Chronicles argues that this series of events shows how Nicolás Maduro's government isn't falling, but is actually growing stronger:
Cómo puede leerse el arresto del Alcalde Mayor de Caracas Antonio Ledezma? Es una muestra de un gobierno desesperado en sus últimos bastiones? O es una muestra de fuerza, un despliegue de su habilidad para hacer lo que quiere sin temer consecuencias?
Ninguna de las dos. El régimen no se está derrumbando, pero es débil. Ya no puede mandar sobre una mayoría electoral, y se adapta entonces a esta nueva y radical realidad.
How to read yesterday’s arrest of Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma? Is it a sign of a government that’s desperate? On its last legs? Or is it a show of strength—a display of its ability to do what it wants without fear of the consequences?
It’s neither. The regime isn’t crumbling, but it is weak. It can no longer command an electoral majority. And it’s adapting to that radically new reality.

author: Laura Vidal


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Bolivia Might Have the World’s Most Devoted ‘Simpsons’ Fans · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

A protester holds up a Bart Simpson head during a rally calling for Unitel to bring back “The Simpsons”. Screenshot from YouTube.
Bolivian TV channel Unitel probably didn't imagine that a decision some weeks ago to move “The Simpsons” out of its usual time slot to make room for reality show “Calle 7” would provoke demonstrations in several cities in Bolivia.
Marcha convocada en Facebook en contra de Calle 7 pidiendo Los Simpsons en La Paz y Santa Cruz. ¡Duh! http://t.co/3KzTSzzPyr
— Marcelo Durán V. (@bithumano) January 29, 2015
March organized on Facebook against Calle 7 asking for The Simpsons in La Paz and Santa Cruz. D'oh!
Marches were held on February 6 in La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, and they drew hundreds of noisy fans of the popular series.
I liked a @YouTube video http://t.co/MqcbtMCiQo Coro”Muera calle 7″ Marcha los simpsons Bolivia
— Carlos F. Barba (@karedsito) February 7, 2015
I liked a YouTube video: Chanting “Death to Calle 7″ The Simpsons march Bolivia
But demonstrators also protested against so-called “trash TV” and asked for more cultural programs on local television.
Marcha por Los Simpsons, contra el programa Calle 7 que se emite en @unitelbolivia y la Tv Basura – #SantaCruz http://t.co/Ut8uqhYhl6
— La Pública BO (@LaPublicaBO) February 10, 2015
March for The Simpsons, against Calle 7 program that airs on Unitel and against Trash TV #SantaCruz
As could be expected, not everyone agreed that protesting for a television program was the best use of time when there are more important issues:
Debemos creer que se trata de un chiste…. Donde quedo la “descolonización cultural”. Ja ja ja. http://t.co/lkTiZHWIN5
— BusesBolivians (@BusesBolivians) February 6, 2015
We believe that this is a joke…. Where did “cultural decolonization” end up. Ha ha ha.
La gente del pueblo va a hacer una marcha por los simpsons,Pero nadie dice nada de la delincuencia.. Bien Santa Cruz..Bien
— David C Valda (@DcValda) February 3, 2015
Local people will march for The Simpsons, but nobody says anything about crime.. Good Santa Cruz..Good
The demonstration succeeded in convincing Unitel, the station airing “The Simpsons”, to return the series to Bolivian screens on March 9.
Vuelven Los Simpson tras masiva e insólita protesta en tres ciudades (Y Delius no más en TV, grandes logros) http://t.co/okRnPt2u0U
— Marcelo Durán V. (@bithumano) February 8, 2015
The Simpsons are back after a massive and unprecedented demonstration in three cities (And Delius no longer on TV, great achievements)
However, some people were suspicious about the whole thing:
@juanjosebolivia el problema es precisamente ese: armar protestas (Simpson) con fines comerciales (UNITEL) = manipulación
— juan carlos pereira (@jcpereirasta) February 13, 2015
@jcpereirasta why? Rather shows something that always occurs in Bolivia: if you do not like something, protest, I love it.
@juanjosebolivia the problem is just that: organizing demonstrations (Simpson) for commercial purposes (Unitel) = manipulation
Even “The Simpsons” themselves showed their appreciation for Bolivian fans’ loyalty on their Facebook account:

author: Juan Arellano