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Philippines: Netizens Unite to Save Pine Trees · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Filipino netizens are using the hashtag #savebaguiopinetrees to protest the plan of a mall owned by the country's richest man to cut 182 pine trees in order to construct a parking lot in Baguio City in northern Philippines


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Puerto Rico: Kike Estrada’s Cartoons Live on the Internet · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

Enrique “Kike” Estrada is a cartoonist of an endangered species in Puerto Rico. He is the kind of cartoonist who makes observations and humorous commentaries, caustic at times, about events and news in Puerto Rico. His work has been exhibited in Greece, Argentina, Serbia, Germany, the United States, and Puerto Rico. He has published at least two books of cartoons, but the best space to appreciate his work is through his web page www.planetakike.com [es].
He received me very warmly to talk about his caricatures and the Internet at his home, where he also has a graphic design studio and his own garden, from which he obtains the best possible quality of produce for his kitchen.
Kike started talking a little about how he chooses the themes that he develops for his drawings:
Kike Estrada
Kike Estrada (KE): Antes yo dibujaba todos los días reaccionando a las cosas que pasaban en Puerto Rico. […] Pues, ya yo no dibujo ese tipo de cosa. Hay un momento en donde pensé que en lugar de estar haciéndolo bien lo estaba haciendo mal porque era parte del ruido en vez de parte de las soluciones. Y entonces eso como que me alejó un poco del trabajo. Cuando lo he retomado ahora, pues, dibujo más de cosas que son muy pertinentes en Puerto Rico, pero trato de que sean pertinentes para no puertorriqueños; o sea, tratando de trabajar los asuntos en vez de las situaciones. […] Yo sé que habría una demanda por dibujar de lo específico del día, pero hay tanto ruido con respecto a esas cosas, que añadir ruido no es saludable.
But Kike didn't always draw cartoons. His creative capacity was mostly occupied with graphic design, and for a time he didn't work on caricatures at all:
"Another water increase?"
KE: ¿Tú sabes cuándo yo volví a dibujar caricaturas? Yo volví a dibujar caricaturas el día que le metieron los dos aviones a las Torres Gemelas. […] Yo puse el televisor. Cuando vi que un segundo avión le estaba dando a una torre, yo dije, “Se jodió el mundo. El mundo cambió hoy”. Y eso me causó una ansiedad tan cabrona, mano, que me puse a dibujar. […] Me volví loco dibujando. Y de ahí no he vuelto a parar.
For a cartoonist with his sense of humor, ironical and satirical, and his ability to broach and highlight the absurd side of the issues that affect Puerto Ricans, the Internet happens to be the perfect place to exhibit his work. In this space, as the sole editor, he found freedom to express his point of view, which otherwise would be almost impossible to express:
"Proportion…"
KE: Como yo soy diseñador gráfico, hubo un momento en donde empezamos a aprender Internet porque el mundo había cambiado, y los clientes que antes yo tenía que hacían anuncios de prensa o cosas, pues todos ahora querían tener presencia en el Internet. Así que nosotros fuimos aprendiendo de eso. Y yo dije, “Bueno, pues yo voy a hacer una página de mi trabajo”. Y ha sido bien chévere porque no es censurable. O sea, yo hago lo que yo quiero hacer ahí, y digo lo que yo quiero decir ahí.
However, Kike doesn't see himself as someone who has mastered the art of drawing cartoons. According to him, his contribution lies not so much in the quality of his drawings, but in the message he tries to send:
"How many more?"
KE: Yo soy miembro de la Asociación de Caricaturistas [de Puerto Rico]. Ahí hay unos chamacos jóvenes que son unos virtuosos, mano […] En el caso mío, yo no soy un virtuoso. Yo soy en todo caso un dibujante como sui generis. Yo no dibujo bien. Yo dibujo mal. Lo que pasa es que ya desarrollé una forma de dibujar mal que me gusta cómo se ve.
On the cartoonists trade in journalism and how it has gradually disappeared in many newspapers in Puerto Rico, he thinks:
KE: Yo creo que los periódicos han ido prescindiendo de los servicios de los caricaturistas porque los caricaturistas pueden herirte más que una foto.
Kike sees the Internet as as an important resource for cartoonists. For him,  the Internet is among the greatest inventions ever created. He marvels at the possibilities it can offer. Thanks to the Internet, cartoons can survive despite its disappearance from traditional spaces in the newspapers.  Furthermore, the Internet eliminates the filter that news goes through before it hits the presses. But the benefits of the Internet are not only for cartoonists:
"My electoral proposal"
KE: El Internet ha sido bien bueno porque le ha dado voz al que no tenía voz. ¿Cómo carajo yo hubiera podido dar a conocer mis dibujos si no existiera el Internet? Tendría un paquete de dibujos ahí que nadie hubiera visto porque no había salida; el Internet te da la salida. Y por eso es que hay que enseñarle a todo el mundo el Internet. Hay que enseñarlos a que programen páginas y a que diseñen sus propias cosas y que después digan los disparates que les dé la gana de decir, o que hagan las genialidades que les dé la gana de hacer, pero que la gente tenga la opción de agarrarse del Internet como el medio más accesible que tenemos.
All images have been published with permission.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Ángel Carrión


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Russia: Astrakhan Becomes Opposition’s New Rallying Cause · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

On March 7, 2012, a young man named Roman Shar created a LiveJournal account to publicize [ru] his experience as an election monitor in this year's national elections. Based in Kazan at Voting Station 208, Shar described the night of March 4, when he served as an observer from Mikhail Prokhorov‘s campaign, registered through Aleksei Navalny's Rosvybory initiative.
The evening began simply enough: an entourage of sweet-seeming middle-aged schoolteachers (serving as election commission staff) laid out Russian pancakes and tea, while other schoolteachers (serving as monitors) watched passively, with some surreptitiously grading student papers instead of observing the voting in progress. “Everything was going ideally,” Shar explained, before adding:
Generally speaking, they conversed rather pleasantly [with the public]. And it was no surprise, as most of the election commission members were from the local school staff, and the parents [coming to vote] were well acquainted with them. They're all neighbors. If only they knew just how callously and cynically these teachers stole their votes, they'd probably have conversed a bit differently.
Shar went on to describe how the election staff, as well as the other observers, suddenly turned on him once the counting process began, when monitors were barred from taking seats near enough to read the ballots being reviewed. Trying to take a seat closer to the ballots, Shar was accused of attempting to falsify the count (which itself failed to observe several key procedures established by federal law). In the end, Shar tried to lodge a formal complaint, but the authorities rejected the paperwork because of a small typo.
Woman votes for candidate during Russia's presidential election in St. Petersburg. Photo by YURY GOLDENSHTEIN, copyright © Demotix (04/03/12)
Shar's blog post generated some discussion — over 500 comments [ru] and a retweet [ru] from activist Alexey Navalny — but the story soon faded into the oblivion of the winter's spent revolution.
Roughly 900 miles to the south, in Astrakhan, the supporters of mayoral candidate Oleg Shein encountered roughly the same electoral fraud that so overwhelmed Roman Shar. Unlike in Kazan, however, Mr. Shein's case has not faded away — indeed, it's fast growing nationally, becoming the biggest rallying point for an anti-Kremlin opposition that has spent the last month struggling to rediscover its direction.
On March 16, Shein announced a hunger strike to protest the illegalities that he claims robbed him of the mayor's office in the March 4 Astrakhan election. Today, that hunger strike is entering its fourth week, with rumors flying that participants’ lives are in danger.
What is it about Shein's case that has so galvanized the Russian opposition? One strength appears to be a firm grasp of electoral law, which Shein and a large network of local bloggers have demonstrated in a growing online archive of documented fraud, hosted on individual LiveJournal accounts. That archive is also painstakingly specific [ru] about the laws being violated, focusing primarily on Federal Law 67 (67-FZ) [en], which protects citizens’ basic rights in public referendums.
Shein and his supporters have published studies of individual voting stations, highlighting how the required procedures laid out in Article 68 of 67-FZ were routinely violated — procedures such as proper access for observers and their right to examine ballots. If Shein is able to demonstrate that observers were illegally impeded in more than 25% of Astrakhan's voting precincts (51 out of 203), the law would empower a court or the Central Elections Commission to cancel the March 4 result and issue a fresh election.
Shein claims [ru] that more than 120 voting stations experienced fraud, but — to prove it — his campaign needs the video footage recorded by the state's armada of webcams. While the Central Elections Committee has reviewed [ru] a random selection of the Astrakhan webcam archives and acknowledged 17 independent cases of fraud (disqualifying the results of 17 separate voting stations), the authorities have refused to grant Shein's team access to the full video archives, effectively preventing any conclusive documentation of the 25% fraud claim.
A prolific blogger himself, Shein has also benefited from a digital outreach campaign that owes much to the efforts of several Astrakhan LiveJournal users, notably Aleksandr Cheldyshev, Sergei Kozhanov, and user escoman. These individuals have compiled data from individual polling stations, culling information from the media, YouTube, and each other. Cheldyshev has collected [ru] video footage and signed affidavits from observers corroborating fraud in 23 different voting stations. The list is still growing.
Escoman's archive [ru] is the most impressive, combining station-specific reports from Kozhanov and others, analyses of Astrakhan's election irregularities and electoral patterns, as well as profiles about specific commission figures and an expanding index of information about Shein's hunger strike. Escoman's work was even acknowledged by Masha Gessen in a New York Times’ Latitude blog piece [en], published on April 9.
Shein's supporters have also had extraordinary success in captivating nationally prominent Russian bloggers. For instance, Cheldyshev caught the attention of Vladislav Naganov (one of Navalny's favorite bloggers) with a post [ru] about Voting Station 426, where Shein's opponent, Mikhail Stoliarov, received his fourth highest turnout. There, observers were seated without a view of the counting process, which was carried out with several fundamental violations of Article 68 of 67-FZ. Writing about Station 469 (where commission officials falsified the vote tally by reversing the totals for Stoliarov and Shein), two other Astrakhan LiveJournal users, Aleksandr Darianov and Evgeniia Zarinsh, inspired the following angry declaration [ru] from Naganov:
If this voting station chairperson believes she can escape a prison sentence of as many as four years for violating Article 142.1 of the Criminal Code [falsification of election results], then we guarantee this: the very instant that power changes hands in this country, we will endeavor to do everything to ensure that she sits in jail for just that long, and not a day less. And if Oleg Shein dies from his hunger strike (which he had to undertake in part because of [the chairperson's] criminal actions), her prison term will be even longer.
In the past few days, Shein's cause made its latest resurgence in the headlines, when “Fair Aid” founder Elizaveta Glinka and anti-narcotics activist Evgeny Roizman posted comments to their LiveJournal accounts suggesting that imminent deaths were likely in the Astrakhan hunger strike. Despite some initial confusion (wherein Shein seemed to refute Glinka's diagnosis as “total nonsense” in an interview [ru] with RIA Novosti), the three are friends again, after Shein issued a clarification [ru] on his own blog, denying that he had ever criticized Glinka. In a particularly electric development, Navalny himself set out for Astrakhan to meet with Shein on April 9, writing in his blog [ru]:
I am going to Astrakhan today personally. I call on you to do the same. This is about an elementary solidarity that we can demonstrate here. Otherwise, what good are all the times we said ‘One for all and all for one'?
Screenshot of the Facebook group in support of Oleg Shein.
In that post, Navalny shared links to LiveJournal user kesh0705, who published the schedule, cost, and seat availability of train tickets between Moscow and Astrakhan, departing on April 9 and 10. Navalny also publicized Facebook and VKontakte social groups in support of traveling to Astrakhan to aid Oleg Shein. The Facebook group (true to the site's more elite status in Russia) can be joined only by invitation, and currently includes several stars of the liberal democratic movement, including Ilya Yashin, Oleg Kashin, Ilya Klishin, Ilya Barabanov, Ilya Azar, Oleg Kozlovsky, Evgenia Chirikova, and Tatiana Felgengauer.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Topics of Interest in the Caribbean Blogosphere · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Caribbean blogosphere has been talking about an array of different issues over the last week or so. Here's a look at some of them…
Jamaica
Concerns about the quality of education in the country were top of the list as Jamaica Woman Tongue wondered whether The Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) was a Ponzi scheme of sorts:
LET’S FACE It. The [test] isn’t just about measuring the academic accomplishments of primary school students. The test is a clear sign of the failure of our educational system to make adequate provisions for all children to access high-quality secondary education.
In a culture of scarce benefits and educational spoils, it’s not just the academically fit who survive. There are other factors that determine performance. In the war for places in ‘good’ schools, the wealthy usually beat the poor.
Ponzi schemes sell the illusion that everyone can get rich by ‘investing’ in a dubious enterprise. In the case of the GSAT, the Ministry of Education is selling the illusion that all students who achieve can get into ‘good’ secondary schools. The people who get in on the Ponzi scheme early in the game do get back their money. But those at the very bottom of the predatory feeding chain don’t stand a chance. Poor people’s children at the lowest levels of the GSAT pyramid have a very hard time collecting any benefits and spoils from the system. Most of them leave school barely literate and completely unprepared for the job market.
Cuba
Bloggers were still talking about the human rights situation on the island following the recent papal visit. As diaspora bloggers marveled at the sheer number of arrests (760 reported for the month of March), Iván García, who lives in Havana, wrote:
Today, Cuba is among the five countries with the highest prison population in the world. The future is a bad word. There are so many prostitutes it’s scary. And psychotropic drugs are as common among adolescents as drinking rum.
Benedict could not spend ten minutes taking a picture with the Ladies in White, who for nine years, since April 2003, have been attending Mass every Sunday in the Church of Santa Rita. Or five minutes to give a rosary to a representation of the opponents who have professed Catholicism their whole lives. But in his busy schedule he had half an hour with Fidel Castro. Perhaps, as Juan Juan Almeida wrote, the meeting between the Pope and the ex-leader, also served to give the last rites to the one responsible for the endless nightmare of the Cuban people.
The Archbishop should pressure the government to engage with the opposition. Sit down and negotiate inescapable rights such as freedom of expression and association, which allow independent groups in society, whether or not they are protesters. Jaime Ortega should have more tact in dealing with dissent. While in Cuba, by tradition, the Catholic hierarchy has always rubbed shoulders with the power, the Cardinal could rethink their strategies. Keeping the smiley face just for those in power, the Church of Christ will lose more members. Cubans continue to baptize their children at home and keep the images of the Sacred Heart and Our Lady of Charity. But prefer to bet on other religions. This is what is happening.
Cuban bloggers also covered the case of Jeovany Jimenez, who went on hunger strike demanding his right to return to his practice as a physician. Generation Y provided a bit of background:
He had been expelled from his profession in 2006 when he protested a miserable wage increase for public health personnel. Along with the administrative action applied to him, he was also expelled from the Communist Party in which he was active. In late 2010 and in the absence of any institutional response to his complaints, he opened the blog Citizen Zero on the Cuban Voices platform.
After sending the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) a score of letters over these last five years, the proscribed Dr. Jiménez resorted to a desperate strategy, to stop ingesting food until reinstated in his position. From March 5, he refused to eat and saw only two options: abandoning his strike without achieving his goals, or ending up in a coffin. The most unlikely scenario was his legal reinstatement as a doctor, given the stubbornness of our institutions when it comes time to rectify an injustice. And yet, the miracle happened.
This protest didn’t have a political slant, it was work, relying on the magnificent tool of the Internet to give it visibility, along with the microphones of journalists from foreign radio and television stations who shed light on such a disproportionate administrative punishment. But the final touch was his own body. That body that he was sworn to care for in others and that he put at risk in himself to return to the right to heal.
Of interest too was a conference held by the Cuba-American businessman and politician, Carlos Saladrigas. Without Evasion noted that:
Representatives from official sectors — such as academics, university professors, political scientists, etc. — as well as numerous representatives of independent civil society generally labeled as dissidents or opponents, shared the space and the microphone without our attacking or assaulting each other, and without dismissing or offending each other, evidence that a context of respectful debate is only possible in spaces not controlled by the government.
There was everything, from condemnations of U.S. government policy, to nostalgia for what was the revolutionary project, and there were also references to the families who emigrated…Perhaps that is why it was so refreshing to hear other proposals, such as that made by friend and colleague Reinaldo Escobar to demand the decriminalization of differences of opinion; or the contribution by the young man who put on the table, among other questions, the urgent need for all Cubans to have access to the Internet and to end government’s prohibitions on the free circulation of information and ideas on the Island.
Iván García, who also attended the event, concluded that:
Carlos Saladrigas sees it all very clearly. Too clearly. I noticed that he did not question the hundreds of detentions of dissidents for the visit of the German Pope, or the spontaneous blow to someone who shouted ‘Down with communism’ in the Plaza Antonio Maceo in Santiago de Cuba. Nobody else asked, either.
Finally, at Translating Cuba, Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada made the point that:
The right not to be subjected to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or penalties should be addressed in several ways in the context of HIV in Cuba, for example in the treatment of prisoners who are sick.
Trinidad & Tobago
Of the country's new oil discovery, aka_lol said, tongue firmly in cheek:
Now that some oil was found after many years of not being found, the population can stop burning tires to fix roads…The showing off of the latest oil find with numerous ads in the press and on radio can be seen as a way to boost the local economy with misplaced confidence and without cement.
The new oil discoveries are being seen by both analysts and optimists as the tip of the iceberg of more oil discoveries that will help propel an idea-starved government back into the old ways of the country and in power.
Finally, still on the topic of the Cheryl Miller fiasco, The Eternal Pantomime quipped:
I get up this morning to read that Miller will be getting private tests done to find out if the drugs she has been given have harmed her in any way; and that Khan has called a Council of the Ministerial Suspects. If you ask me, that meeting isn’t going to be about finding out who is at the bottom of this, because something tells me Khan already knows, and has known since Holy Thursday. This meeting may well be to strategise on how to cover their asses, and find a way to placate a very angry public.
I’m glad that Cheryl’s colleagues and indeed many other citizens did make a fuss about this, and voiced their displeasure and kept questioning the authorities. At the bottom of it, this has…everything to do with how we as citizens are treated by people in positions of power.
Too often in matters like this the state authorities does wine on us…and wine hard too. I am hoping, that given the details of this case, and Cheryl Miller’s battery of lawyers that she ain't just get to wine back on the state, I want she tremble it and raise a leg too…because they damn well deserve it!

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: It’s Play Time! · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

West Indian Mother blogs about play as a path to productivity.


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Tunisia: Martyrs’ Day Clashes Leave Many Wounded · Global Voices
Salah Almhamdi

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Tunisia's netizens and activist community were shocked on April 9, 2012, by the police response to a planned protest to mark Martyrs’ Day. It came a day after a smaller protest by jobless young people was attacked by the police.
The protesters planned to challenge the ban on protesting on Habib Bourguiba Avenue by starting their demonstration on Mohamed V Avenue. Police responded by using tear gas, batons and electric batons to disperse them. Some members of the National Constituent Assembly, journalists, bloggers, lawyers and activists were harshly beaten. Netizens expressed their anger, shock and sense of déja-vu.
Protesters encircled by police in Tunis on April 9, 2012. Image by Flickr user Amine Ghrabi (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Tear gas spreads through the air. Image by Flickr user Amine Ghrabi (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Global Voices author Afef Abrougui tweeted:
Protesters flee tear gas in Tunis. Image by Lina Ben Mhenni (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Tear gas engulfs the air in Tunis. Image by Lina Ben Mhenni (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Twitter user Tunisienne Libre (@Fleursdecactus) tweeted that the aggression spread to other streets:
@Fleursdecactus: C'est le chaos à Jean Jaures, av. de Paris, rue de Marseille… Poursuites, agressions, lacrymo.
Protesters move from a street to another in Tunis. Image by Lina Ben Mhenni (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Police clash with protesters at Mohamed V Avenue in Tunis. Image by Lina Ben Mhenni (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Slim Amamou, prominent blogger and founder of the Tunisian Pirate Party, described the situation:
@slim404: #9avril Le nombre de bras fracturés est anormal. Il y a qlq chose qui a changé dans l'équipement ou les méthodes de la police
Fatma Riahi, alias Fatma Arabicca, a prominent blogger and the co-founder of the Association of Tunisian Bloggers, was beaten by riot police and hospitalized. In this video [ar] she explained what happened:
Afef Abrougui criticized the government's justification for banning protests on Habib Bourguiba Avenue, which was to protect businesses and attract tourists:
@AfefTN: protesters, MPs, journalists, activists & paramedics were assaulted 2day in #Tunis | a good way to attract tourists u gov of fools #9avril
Blogger Keyser Söze wrote a post entitled “Pandora's Box”:
Le 9 avril 2012 restera un jour triste  dans la mémoire de tout tunisien.  Il portera  à jamais la marque de l’ingratitude des autocrates en poste envers le  peuple qui les a libérés.
He added:
Toute la panoplie de la répression de l’aire dictatoriale  a été employée pour casser du Tunisien.  Ils ont même eu recours à l’aide de milices inconnues comme à la belle époque.
The following YouTube video by TunisiaTalks shows police chasing protesters and their brutality towards them.
Mustapha Ben Jafar, the President of the National Constituent Assembly asked the government [fr] to begin an investigation to find out who was responsible. On television the president Moncef Marzouki apologised for the high level of violence employed against protestors.
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Salah Almhamdi


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Argentina: Documentary on Urban Natives Looking for Subtitles · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.
The previously featured Creative Commons documentary Runa Kuti on the identity of urban dwelling indigenous descendants in the city of Buenos Aires is looking for volunteers to help them subtitle the documentary into indigenous languages found in Argentina such Quechua, Aymara, Mapuche and Guaraní as well as into English.
On their blog they've posted their call for volunteers:
Quien quiera, tenga ganas, tiempo, ocio, curiosidad, computadora, internet y otros idiomas para apoyarnos se los agradeceremos añadiendolos a los créditos del documental y mandándoles buenas vibras, donde quiera que estemos y donde quiera que estén.
Todos los idiomas son bienvenidos pero guardamos un especial interés por el quechua, aymara y guaraní.
Whomever wants to, feels like it, has time, as a hobby, out of curiousity, has a computer, internet and other languages to help us we will thank them by adding them to the documentary credits and sending good vibes their way, wherever we are and wherever they are.
All languages are welcome but we hold a special interest for Quechua, Aymara and Guaraní.
http://vimeo.com/32219379
The trailer has been subtitled into Spanish, French, English and Portuguese, the full length documentary has the full transcription in Spanish.
http://vimeo.com/37754616
This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Beating China’s Book Bans in Hong Kong · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lam Li from Asia Sentinel explains how Hong Kong has turned into a center for distributing China banned books.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Brazil: Human Rights Violation in Several Prisons · Global Voices
Fernando Sapelli

In the beginning of this year, the city of Lavras, located in the south of Minas Gerais state, got in the news [pt] when lawyer Luiz Henrique Fernandes Santana petitioned for an immediate release of all prisoners in the city’s prison, arguing lack of space for all 248 inmates, since the prison could only effectively house 51. While the petition continues to be analyzed, general conditions in all Brazilian prisons remain the focus of much debate.
According to a report [pt] on human rights in Brazil, released in the beginning of this year by Human Rights Watch:
Muitas prisões e cadeias brasileiras são violentas e superlotadas. Segundo o INFOPEN, Sistema de Informações Penitenciárias do Ministério da Justiça, a taxa de encarceramento no Brasil triplicou nos últimos 15 anos e a população carcerária atualmente é superior a meio milhão de pessoas. Atrasos no sistema judiciário contribuem para a superlotação carcerária: quase metade dos detentos está cumprindo prisão provisória.
Porto Alegre Central Prison, considered the biggest prison in Latin America. Photo by Dr. Sidinei José Brzuska (used with permission).
With the intention of improving these conditions, Congress approved in mid-2011, Act 12.403/2011, which prohibits provisional arrests for sentences shorter than four years of imprisonment, and nearly 100,000 inmates were released shortly after its approval.
According to lawyer Doctor Joyce Royse, in an interview for the portal Meuadvogado (Mylawyer) [pt]:
A Lei nº 12.403/11 tem por finalidade limitar o excesso de prisões processuais e criar medidas cautelares alternativas à prisão e que também sejam aptas a assegurar a aplicação da lei penal e a ordem processual. Nas entrelinhas, pode-se verificar que referida alteração legislativa também se deu por razões de política criminal, haja vista a caótica situação do sistema carcerário brasileiro.
Vila Velha Prison Cell in the Vitoria City region, Espirito Santo State. Photo by Folha De S. Paulo (CC BY-ND 2.0)
The government has been investigating, however, how to improve this situation. In 1994, the National Penitentiary Fund (Funpen) [pt] was created to finance and support the modernization and improvement initiatives of Brazil’s penitentiary system. A portion of its reserves comes from lottery profits, confiscated resources or resulting from the alienation of lost assets in favor of the country. A portion of such reserves, nearly R$ 350 million, is destined for the National Program for Support of the Prison System.
According to the site Portal Brasil [pt]:
Por meio do Programa Nacional de Apoio ao Sistema Prisional, lançado em novembro de 2011, esses recursos vão financiar a criação de 42 mil novas vagas em penitenciárias e cadeias públicas, com intuito de zerar o déficit de vagas femininas e reduzir o número de presos provisórios em delegacias. O programa repassará para as unidades federativas, dentro de três anos, cerca de R$ 1,1 bilhão.
Despite the announced investments, the number of prisoners in Brazil almost tripled in the last 16 years, while the necessary infrastructure hasn’t grown accordingly. Accounts of deficiency and abuse in several prisons continue to be reported. In the beginning of 2011, all 97 inmates at Pinheiro’s jail, in the state of Maranhão, began a violent mutiny [pt] demanding better conditions in all cells, constructed to accommodate only 30 prisoners. During the rebellion, six people were killed. A video (containing graphic material) was recorded.
Similar reports also came from the state of Sergipe. According to newspaper Tribuna da Bahia [pt]:
Uma inspeção realizada pelo CNJ (Conselho Nacional de Justiça) flagrou presos dormindo no chão ou sob toalhas pela falta de colchões e outras irregularidades em Sergipe. (…) No local, segundo o CNJ, existem presos que vivem há meses em uma situação insalubre. O interior das três celas é “acanhado e escuro a qualquer hora do dia”. (…) O banheiro fica no meio da cela, obrigando os presos a fazerem suas necessidades na frente de todos os colegas de cela.
The National Justice Council has been conducting the Prison Initiative [pt] in several states around Brazil, with the intention of,
fazer um relato do funcionamento do sistema de justiça criminal, revisar as prisões, implantar o Projeto Começar de Novo e, ao final, no relatório dos trabalhos, são feitas proposições destinadas aos órgãos que compõem o sistema de justiça criminal, visando ao seu aperfeiçoamento.
In a documentary published on YouTube, (as reported by Global Voices in February) the problems of the prison system are exposed through interviews with current and former prisoners, their families, guards, police officers, heads of prisons, human rights groups and others. Under the Brazilian Sun was directed and produced by Adele Reeves and Leandro Vilaca.
Since prisoners are stigmatized by part of Brazilian society, several of these problems remain unaddressed. Investments and improvements are certainly necessary, but while high amounts of money are invested, crime prevention policies take on a secondary role.
In a country where 1 in every 262 adults is in prison [pt], solutions to assure a reduction of these rates are just as essential as the construction of new prisons.

author: Fernando Sapelli


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China: Bo Xilai’s Scandals · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Former Chongqing leader Bo Xilai's corruption scandal and his wife's suspected murder of Neil Heywood topped today's news headline. Yet Chinese authorities still forbid netizens to discuss about the incident by blocking out a long list of sensitive words. One question that netizens asked was what if the murder case had not involved a Briton.


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China: Premarital Sex · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated a local feature report on a survey about premarital sex in which more than 70% respondents states that they have had their first sexual experience before marriage. Netizens don't find the result surprising at all.


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Colombia: Congress Approves “Lleras Law 2” · Global Voices
Lully

The Colombian Congress approved yesterday, April 10, the proposed Law 201 (2012) on author rights and intellectual property. This has generated many reactions, becoming a local Trending Topic on Twitter under the hashtags #LeyLleras2 [es], #SoyDelincuente [es] (“I'm a criminal”) and TLC [es] (Free Trade Agreement). Anonymous blocked [es] Government websites, and a march has been organized for April 14, when President Santos will sign the law to present it to President Obama as one of the requirements for the approval of a free trade agreement with the United States.

author: Lully


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Cuba: No Calm After Papal Storm  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cuba left a storm of arrests, blocked phone lines, and beatings against non-violent dissidents”: Cuban bloggers note that dissidents are suffering in the aftermath of the papal visit.


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France: Taking a Stand for Regional Languages  · Global Voices
Rayna St.

[All links are in French, unless stated otherwise]
On March 31, 2012, several simultaneous events took place in France's major cities, driven by the overarching goal of showing an unfailing support to regional as well as indigenous languages. These demonstrations took place three weeks prior to the French presidential election and showed a strong citizen commitment in favor of the recognition of regional and indigenous languages.
Participants called for the endorsement of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages [en]. Even though the treaty was signed by France in 1999, it has never been ratified. The participating associations are asking the presidential candidates to take a stand on the status of regional languages. As of today, regional languages are considered unconstitutional because the French State doesn't recognize minorities.
Demonstration in Toulouse on March 31, 2012. Photo by @elpasolibre on Twitter
A real political and legal imbroglio is surrounding these languages and their recognition due to people's prejudices and lack of knowledge about the issue. One hopes that a change of perspective is in the works.  The amendment introduced to the Constitution in 2008, seemed to pave the way for the definition of a status for these languages in addition to their teachings in schools. Nicolas Sarkozy had cut short these hopes arguing that such a procedure would lead to a community-based cultural evolution which is not compatible with a unified country.
Many local representatives  and regional representatives attended these events which brought together thousands of people in Toulouse, Quimper, Strasbourg, Bayonne, Perpignan and Ajaccio (Official hashtag on Twitter: #op31m):
@fredverbeke: #Deiadar: 7.000 manifestantes piden la oficialidad del euskera en Baiona!!!! bit.ly/HvvCCx
@urtzai: Bretoiera defendatzen 12000, Katalana 8000, #Euskara 7000 Korsoa 2000 eta Okzitaniera 30000! #kolosala #deiadar
The front page of the  Télégramme newspaper : "Le Breton, a living language ". Photo : @letelegramme on  Twitter
@elpasolibre: AUPA! 6000 lagun Perpynianen, 12000 Kemperren, 3000 Estrasburgen , 30000 Tolosaneta 7000 Baionan #deiadar #op31m
@caillonm: Chaîne humaine devant la Préfecture de Région à Ajaccio en défense de la langue corse. #op31M
@la_setmana posted an online photo gallery of the demonstration held in Toulouse. Langues régionales blog, cites more resources in addition to  a flow of real time tweets with the hashtag #op31M.
Méridianes has posted videos of the events showing various positions and debates as they ocurr. Until now, François Hollande (the Socialist Party candidate) is in favor of a status recognizing minority languages while Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP and party in power) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (Left party) are showing their opposition to the project, Finistère Deputy Jean-Jacques Urvoas points out on his self-titled blog:
Pour le premier [c.-à-d. Nicolas Sarkozy], « aimer la France » c’est tout simplement  « refuser de ratifier la charte des langues minoritaires » !!! […]
Quant à Jean Luc Mélenchon, on se rappelle qu’il avait dans un débat au Sénat qualifié Diwan de « secte » et qu’il avait dans le même endroit proclamé sa fierté d’être  » jacobin, ne parlant que la langue française – et l’espagnol, langue de mes grands-parents. » Personne ne songe évidemment à lui en disputer le droit. […]
The issue of the status of regional languages is open not only with regards to presidential candidates. The readers’ comments on Bigbrowser blog, following the post announcing the 31 March demo, are also mixed:
Xavi: The importance of Regional Languages? For Whom? For What? I'm not convinced that it's crucial to grant all local dialects an official status. I live in Spain and I witness the havoc that the linguistic division ended up creating. Thank God, in France, only French is the official language.
Language is part of the ties uniting all fellow citizen of a country: Let us not capitulate and yield to these communitarian claims.
ericparis11: With such type of arguments, we will soon reach the point where we will soon tell Quebecker, that it is time to relinquish their ‘patois’ and speak the majority language of the country where they live, i.e. English for instance.
And it's within that same type of thinking that tomorrow all European Commission Documents and of the parliament will be in English, as for “the minorities”, (French, German, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, Finnish and others speaking in Dutch or Portuguese) well they will have to live with this so logical and Cartesian “simplification”.
In fact, should our French researchers and teachers still use for the purpose of their work a language as obsolete and as rarely used as Molière's native tongue ?  This is already happening – clearly to the benefit of  our country's radiance around the world…
Elg: Ah… Regional languages! It's always that topic kindling passions, murderers from one side but idolatrous from the other!
While the best thing we can do is to get some balance. Knowing the Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Occitan or Basque does not live differently from people who do not speak a minority language. We can just read, write, speak and understand one more language!
thiziri: And when we don't have particular roots with a territory what language do we speak? neither Basque, nor Breton, nor Catalan etc living with a stranger, which already means two languages at home. In which school shall we place our children?
This debate scares me since it supposes belonging to a territory to which we identify. But for this, for how many generations should have we been living there? and stay for the rest of our lives.. I feel I am French and nothing else, I can't help it, it is my history and it doesn't bother me that some people wish to speak another language but they shouldn't forget the other French who also have the right to live with one single language. That too means tolerance.

author: Rayna St.


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Global Voices ‘Europe in Crisis’ Coverage Shortlisted for Award · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

Thanks to the work of dedicated volunteers, Global Voices special coverage of “Europe in Crisis” has been named a national winner for the European Charlemagne Youth Prize. The final winners for all of Europe will be announced in Aachen, Germany in May 2012. The award aims to encourage a European consciousness among young people.

author: Solana Larsen


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Global Voices Podcast Wins Top Ranking in European Podcast Award · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

The Global Voices Podcast produced by Jamillah Knowles in London was named the United Kingdom winner in the non-profit category of the 2011 European Podcast Awards. Hundreds of podcasts from 11 countries in four categories were nominated.


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India: Gearing Up for Better E-Waste Management · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

Today, e-waste, electronic waste or electronic scrap, is ‘one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world’ and environmentalists everywhere are justifiably concerned about their ‘end of life’ disposal.
In India too, the concern about e-waste management has been rising steadily over the years, especially given the huge leap in the quantum of e-waste in the country over the last seven years. According to a recent report (pdf) by a committee formed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF):
Dumping of E-waste poses a major challenge in India. Imports are one of the major sources of E-waste in the country, most of it coming illegally. This adds to the huge volume of waste being dumped and processed within the country. The accurate data on such imports is not available largely owing to the nature of the trade. However, estimates suggest that imports account for an almost equal amount to what is being generated in the country. Improper disposal of E-waste causes huge hazards to health as well as the environment and hence is a matter of grave concern.
E-waste – Leftovers of an irresponsible technological advance. Image by Keren Chernizon, copyright Demotix (09/09/11).
It is not as if India is new to ‘improper’ disposal and recycling  of E-waste. Rather, as Amit Ganguly of Sustainable Sphere points out:
Major recycling of e-waste is carried out in the non-formal sector using primitive and hazardous methods.
That this form of recycling is hazardous is undoubted, since the release of toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, dioxins from burnt plastic/PVC etc., can pose serious health risks. Nevertheless, till date, about 90% of India's e-waste is being recycled informally. The E-waste  management market in India is around half a billion dollars and growing at 25 per cent.
This short documentary, uploaded on YouTube by Greenpeace on February 22, 2008, shows how e-waste is handled by the non-formal sector in India, with complete disregard and more often, complete ignorance about the potential environmental and health hazards posed by this day-t0-day activity, through which they earn their living.
Realizing the need to tackle this growing problem, the aforementioned committee formed by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, has recommended that the management of e-waste be taken up at three levels, viz. Legislative, Administrative and Technological measures. The new e-waste legislation that comes into effect from May 2012 onwards, includes legal provisions for Extended Producers’ Responsibility (EPR) for recycling, reduction of hazardous substances in electronics and setting up of collection centres.
Vineet at greenarth.com elaborates on the new, upcoming legislation. He writes:
These rules will be applicable to every producer, consumer and bulk consumer involved in the manufacture, sale, purchase and processing of electronic equipment or components. The Central Pollution Control Board will be an active participant in the whole process in the capacity of a monitoring and watchdog agency – and will be required to submit an annual report (state wise) with regards to the implementation of these rules.
However, environmental activists feel that much more needs to be done, not only towards strengthening the mechanism to check illegal import of e-waste, but also towards acknowledging and integrating the non-formal sector in the ambit of proper e-waste management.
In a post on yourstory.in, blogger Jubin Mehta points out some of the initiatives which have been launched in India to increase awareness about e-waste disposal and recycling of e-waste in a proper, scientific manner. He writes:
There are startups entering into this field and trying to make a difference but the numbers depicting the rate of production of eWaste are disturbing. Companies like Attero, Recycle Trade India and Ecocentric in India have started activities on this front and should do well because the size of the opportunity here would possibly outstrip any other barrier
Way back in 2008, on the blog Inhabitat, Mahesh Basantani had spoken about another such initiative in Mumbai:
Several efforts have been made, by NGOs and the Government, to make the process of recycling safer and more eco-friendly. In continuation to these efforts a newly launched company, Eco Reco (Eco Recycling Limited), looks promising. It is the first of its kind in the state of Maharashtra and fourth in the country.
Some other similar ventures operating  in the area of reverse logistics in the organized sector are Greendust, Reverse Logistics Company, Future Supply Chain etc. These companies have by and large welcomed the legislation, expecting opportunity growth in their line of business.
E-Waste. Image Copyright Richard Dorrell.  Used under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Manufacturers of electronics on the other hand have reacted cautiously to the law which aims to lay a large part of the responsibility and accountability for reverse logistics at their door. Companies such as Hewlett-Packard have stressed on shared responsibility where the end consumers are equally responsible for the way they dispose electronic items and the government for providing proper infrastructure for the same.
With India's not-so successful record of implementing environmental laws, it remains to be seen how sincerely the various stakeholders work towards generating awareness about the issue  as well as tackling the growing e-waste menace effectively.

author: Aparna Ray


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Mali: Silence of the Local Blogosphere · Global Voices
Philippe Léveillée

As the people of Mali were preparing for elections, they were caught unawares by a military coup on March 21, 2012, and the threat of partition of north Mali. At the time of the coup the principal candidates were readying their Twitter and Google+ accounts along with their Facebook pages, while citizens were updating their blogs and honing their tweets.
While news from the north, cut off and deprived of electricity, comes through sparingly, in the South, the internet allows mobilisation.
Parabolic Dish in Mali via @Mbokoniko on twitter
The ‘Collectif des Ressortissants du Nord’ (The Northern Citizens’ Collective) or COREN has 303 members of its Facebook group at the time of writing. For the last few weeks, COREN have mobilised the people of Mali throughout the entire territory, with the page notably being used to announce upcoming events as well as to demonstrate solidarity as shown in the following status update from group member Oumar Maigar:
Mettez le drapeau du Mali sur votre profil pour soutenir son unicité
While the internet is inundated with blogs, tweets and videos from other countries, Malian internet users remain silent. The capital, Bamako, is still affected by serious power cuts as the fuel required for power stations runs out. Under these circumstances, the priority is not sending messages, but finding information about the new leaders of the north.
The website of the Tuareg run National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, known as the MNLA, has been offline for a week.  (Note: As of 10/04/2012 the site is once more accessible). Nevertheless the movement continues to post videos on its youtube account, Azawad17janv2012 [fr].  The MNLA chose to make its declaration of independence on French TV channel France 24. The declaration shocked Malians who spread anger and mocking remarks on the internet, like the following on Twitter:
“@Skante2: Propagande du MNLA, les médias devraient alors inviter tous les séparatistes du monde sur leur plateau. On verra l'embouteillage.”
But what stole the show were images from the Islamist movement Ansar Dine which has taken the city of Timbuktu. The images taken by AFP-Télé have so far reached 7,200 views and have been widely discussed in the streets of Bamako. [fr]
While chaos reigns over the situation in North Mali, some people have nevertheless managed to find a way to profit from it, as shown by this tweet from user @flagsonline:
@flagsonline Discounted Azawad Flag, less 20%, voucher code: az125115 Buy now! #azawad #flag #vexillology

author: Philippe Léveillée


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Spain: Images of Police Brutality During General Strike  · Global Voices
Chris Moya

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.
On #29M (29 March) Spain's trade unions called a general strike in protest against the Labour Reform introduced by Mariano Rajoy's (of the Popular Party) government. This strike was the first that the government has faced, and only 100 days after Rajoy came to power.
The massive demonstrations held all over the country came as a result of measures adopted by the Executive, which in its eagerness to take the quickest route out of the economic crisis and to create jobs has deregulated the labour market, made it easier to fire workers, increased employer's flexibility to increase working hours, decreased wages, encouraged the mobility of workers, and facilitated the hiring of young people on work experience placements for longer periods.
Groups of citizen movements not linked to the main trade unions, such as ¡Democracia Real Ya! [True Democracy Now!] joined the strike in the so-called ‘Critical block’ [es]. Throughout the day of the strike, in which a majority of workers participated, there were numerous moments of tension, especially in Barcelona where riot police clashed with protesters. Once again, the security agents failed to wear their identification badges.
Protesters wounded by rubber bullets during the general strike, Barcelona. Photo Jesús G. Pastor, copyright Demotix 3/29/12.
During the day, which passed peacefully in the majority of cities, there were confrontations between various groups. In the following video we present the case of the firefighters, who were protesting the cuts that they are suffering, and who were also the target of violence by the riot police who charged and beat them:
In the next two videos filmed by activists, we can see that the police were carrying electric batons. In the first video, protesters surround them while we see two police officers (the slowest) running away. The second video, filmed from the opposite perspective, shows the four at the head of the crowd (a blonde woman and three men), an attack on a protester who falls to the ground, and the two from the first video slightly behind the others. The protesters discover once again a group of police officers infiltrated in the crowd to attack protesters and heighten tensions so that the subsequent police charge would be in some way justified. (Source: http://www.tercerainformacion.es/spip.php?article35508 [es]):
Another video shows the statement made from hospital by a protester who was hit by a rubber bullet fired by police during the strike in Barcelona. He has two broken ribs and a punctured lung.
@ARMAKdeODELOT: MUY GRAVE PASALO @DemocraciaReal: Joven de 19 años ingresado en UCI, estado muy grave,derrame cerebral, tras carga policial en Vitoria #29M
And in the following video we see riot police shooting two rounds of rubber bullets at two cyclists with no motive whatsoever:
@Fotomovimiento: Nuestros queridos mossos hoy en Plaça Catalunya.. Y ahora que salga Trias y los defienda..Indignante! #29Mhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_bLULITkh4
During the 29M protests, 3 of the 41 young people detained were given custodial sentences. The charges were not based on what they had done (they were arrested on the morning of the 29), but on what happened in Barcelona's streets in the evening following their detention.
The magistrate overseeing the case alleged that there was a risk of reoffending, as the accused could cause a breach of the peace during other events in Barcelona in the coming weeks. A number of groups involved with the law have published a joint statement defending the detainees [es]. In the weeks following the strike, there have been protests in various Spanish cities against the imprisonment of protesters.
Protest in Madrid against the arrest of 176 people in Spain (57 in Madrid) during 29M events. Photo by Alberto Sibaja Ramírez, copyright Demotix 3/30/2012.
A website has been created to document the cases of indiscriminate violence [es] that ocurred on the day of the strike.
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

author: Chris Moya


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Tajikistan: Where Size Matters · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Like any ancient Roman politician worth his salt, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon knows the political capital to be made out of large, ostentatious public works projects. Yet unlike the Caesars, Sullas, Pompeys and Catos of the Eternal City, he is loath to pay for them out of his own pocket.
A case in point is the National Library of Tajikistan, hailed as the largest of its kind in Central Asia. The building, whose essential statistics are 52 x 167 metres, amassed over $40 million from the beleagured state budget. Moreover, the Tajik government has asked ordinary citizens of the country to fill up its shelves with any unwanted literature, and, according to a news report by Kloop.tj, requisitioned books from university students under duress.
National Library of Tajikistan. Image from kloop.tj via rfe/rl.
Tajikistan’s external debt stands at $2 billion. The country’s Gross National Product per capita is currently around $2,000, making it one of the poorest countries in the world, and one of the least able to afford such lavish displays of architectural excess.
But this doesn’t appear to concern Rahmon, the post-Soviet republic’s twenty-year head of state. He is infected, some say, by Dubaism, by the desire to build things that are the biggest, tallest, widest, longest (and any other superlative related to size) in the region, world, multiverse and so on. But unlike in the capitals of the United Arab Emirates, there is no oil money to pay for these schemes.
His flagship flagpole project
In an interview in a Voice Of America video posted on YouTube about the President’s 2011 pet project, the tallest flagpole in the world, which at over 165 metres high took $3.5 million from the state budget, Tajik opposition politician, Muhiddin Kabiri, said:
You know what they say. People who are short wear high heels to compensate for their lack of height. If we can’t get people to pay attention to our economy, tourism, high-tech industry, democracy or human rights, then we can get our own citizens and guests to pay attention to projects such as the world’s tallest flagpole.
On his Facebook page, renowned Tajik blogger Zafar Abdullayev brainstormed [ru] an ironic excursion to the largest library in Central Asia, not far from the tallest flagpole in the world:
Tomorrow I am going with my friends to the National Library. I am bringing some of my books. Whoever wants, come with us! 10.00 behind the statue of Ismoili Somoni. Books help you see a completely different life!
But Konstantin Bodarenko [ru] didn’t like the idea of giving away his books:
But I don't want to give away my books – who will need them there?
Abdullaev vowed [ru] that his library tour group would be:
visible from all sides of the town, just don’t confuse us with the flagpole.
To which Rustam Rahmatov replied [ru]:
Just in case..I’ll hoist the flagpole up in my hands and Zafar will be on top of the flagpole!
Abdurahmon Rahmonov had [taj] a positive view of the exercise:
Great Zafar, you are working for the sake of the next generation!  If they don`t read today they won`t have a better future. Hopefully (inshallah) there will be more people who read books /readers.
Wobbly regimes don't like independent media
But even joking about the government's ‘Dubaism’ is becoming harder in Tajikistan's current political climate. As discontent inside the country continues to grow, Dushanbe has intermittently blocked Facebook, causing users to enter the site via proxies until the block was lifted with help from the OSCE earlier last month.
The Rahmon regime's concern over the social network lies in the fact that Tajiks often use the space as a forum to discuss pressing social issues and political problems. Pages on the site such as ‘Tajikistan Revolution 2012′,  although little-visited, are unlikely to lead to a softer stance towards citizen media in the long-term.
The block was part of a broader crackdown on the freedom to publish that began in early March this year. Zvezda.ru, where an article appeared predicting the downfall of the Rahmon regime, and CentralAsia.ru, was also banned, whilst ferghana.ru has long been blocked in the country.
Beyond their suppression of the written word, the Tajik authorities have launched a systematic campaign against religious freeedoms in the predominantly Muslim country. A March 20, United States government report placed the country inside the top sixteen worst abusers of religious freedom in the world, indicating another record the state's ruling family may be trying to break.
Bullish in a recent interview with Euronews, Rahmon said that there could be “no shortcut to democracy” in his country. Speaking of Russia's recent parliamentary and presidential elections, he added:
[Creating] a European or American style democracy in Russia or other former Soviet Republics in just a day or so – this is impossible – it's just a dream.
At one stage, so was building the world's tallest flagpole:
'The highest unsupported flagpole in the world, in Dushanbe'. Image by Radioi Ozodi (RFE/RL).

author: Chris Rickleton


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The Balkans: Remembering the Bosnian War, 20 Years On · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A red plastic chair for each person killed in Sarajevo in the war that began 20 years ago. A whole street lined up with red chairs, all empty but for some flowers on some of them. Those who could have sat in these chairs – 11,541 people – are long gone.
On April 6, 2012, thousands of people came to this stunning makeshift memorial stretching along Sarajevo's main street, in order to honor the memory of the victims of the Siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from April 5, 1992, to February 29, 1996 (some of the photos of the memorial are here, here, and here).
Red chairs are displayed along Sarajevo's main street as the city marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the Bosnian War. 11541 red chairs represent the 11,541 Sarajevans who were killed in the 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo. Photo by SULEJMAN OMERBASIC, copyright © Demotix (04/06/12)
Online, numerous texts have appeared around the time of the sad anniversary; memories, photos and thoughts on the meaning of what went on in Bosnia in the 1990s abound (e.g., here, here, here, here, and here).
On April 5, Damir Šagolj, a Bosnian photojournalist and a survivor of the siege – who, in October 2011, posted a powerful photo report on his visit to the detention facility for war criminals in the Hague, aka “the Hague Hilton – wrote this about his wartime memories and work:
[…] I don’t have any of my pictures from the 92-95 anymore. I shot many – mostly of dead people, of destruction. Very few had any life in them. Then, just as killings stopped and a different war continued in November 1995 I abandoned my photos; I didn’t want to have them anymore.
Not a smart move, but it was what I wanted at the moment – to forget, to put behind. To move forward.
All I have now are the cracks in my memory to peek through and imagine lives before we became just numbers. Only the weed grows around ruins, just like nails and hair on the dead bodies – the reminder.
I had all my photos in one room, at my former army unit in Vrazova street. I would walk past that building every day and all I had to do is to use the key I kept for many years after and pick up my films. I didn’t. Then a rich man bought the building and my archive went where I wanted it to go – into trash.
No matter how hard I try to explain what I did, it doesn’t work. Then, just a moment after, it all makes perfect sense again.
Soon after, it all became very abstract – the faces faded into shapes, names into numbers, lives into bones… I don’t trust my memory any more, it is selective and dazed.
That’s why it was important in Sarajevo to have people from outside who were stronger and more sober. They meet these days in Sarajevo for the big anniversary re-union. Probably only very few really understand how important was what they were doing 92-95.
Without them, the history would be written by same those who killed the man.
Thank you.
A Facebook page – Sarajevo 2012: A Meeting of War Reporters & Sarajevo Friends – was set up for the journalists’ reunion; it contains the schedule of events, photos and notes from some of those who were able to attend. Edward Serotta, journalist, photographer and the director of Centropa.org, wrote this:
[…] Last weekend was one long emotional charge–it was like holding on to an electrical current and as soon as I let go of it, I felt everything drain away. Being together with so many people I respect, and who gave their all to bring this story to the world twenty years ago, was, at least for me, ennobling. […]
We all shared the same cause back then (those who came to Sarajevo for the reunion and those who didn't): to bear witness–photograph, record, document the events that proved the so-called civilized world was eating itself alive. We risked life and limb to do it, and lived very much on the edge–and we lived very intensely. […]
All that intensity we put into our work and all that commitment to document the horrors and the bravery, the big stories and the small, are way behind us now. […] But for one blustery April weekend in 2012, a few of us gathered together and remembered what we shared, what we covered, how we lived, and how we tried to help–in that limited way that each of us could.
Photojournalist Gary Knight posted this note:
Sitting in my studio in Boston reflecting on the last four days in Sarajevo – one of the most emotional experiences I think I have ever had. A bitter sweet embrace with a city and cherished friends with whom I shared so many defining experiences during the utter despair of the siege. As wonderful as it was to see you all I left wondering how peace could have gone so badly wrong. Bosnia deserved a better peace than the one Dayton gave it. I have travelled far and wide since the war in Bosnia ended but rarely to a place as utterly depressing. There is much we can still do there………..
Zdenka Pregelj (@CountessBezuhov), a Sarajevo native who has been photographing the city since 2005, posted Nic Robertson's CNN report from the journalists’ reunion and wrote:
This is very emotional for me. At that time I worked for Television in Sarajevo and was meeting Nic and Chris day in day out. Thank you Nic for coming back after 20 years.
A Bosnian woman, Berina Hodzic, lays a flower on one of the red chairs that were installed along Sarajevo's main street to mark the 20th anniversary of the start of the Bosnian War. Photo by SULEJMAN OMERBASIC, copyright © Demotix (04/06/12).
For the past few weeks, YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett and Sarajevo Seyahatname have been posting links to media and blog coverage of the 20th anniversary of the Bosnian War. The latter posted a link to this short item from Pictures of War, a Tumblr blog, about “some unsung heroes of the Sarajevo Siege” – James Mason‘s 1992 photo of Sarajevo's garbage collectors, accompanied by this note:
Being a trashman in Sarajevo was probably as dangerous as being a frontline soldier. A lot of them died in the course of their work, either shot dead by snipers or killed by artillery. Without trash pickup the city would have descended into a middle-ages like morass of filth and disease.
Another photo by James Mason has been used to illustrate an article about the anniversary [sr] that appeared in the Serbian online newspaper e-novine.com. The links to this and several other related articles (including the one [sr] on the memorial rally organized by Žene u crnom (“Women in Black”) in Belgrade) were provided by Belgrade-based Pedja Popovic, in a comment to the BalkanInsight report stating that “[n]o one from the Serbian government will attend the April 6 commemoration of the start of the Bosnian Serb siege [of Sarajevo].
Popovic wrote:
Not all of media in Serbia ignored sad anniversary. […]
James Mason's photo, taken in winter 1993, is of a girl holding a few loaves of bread, with a breadline in the background – and here is the photographer's description:
Distribution of bread
Sarajevo
This girl had just received her family's bread ration. I had hooked up with a kid about 11 and he was guiding me around the city, showing me where it was safe to walk. The girl was a friend of his from school and was glad to see him. It's amazing how fast the kids in Sarajevo adapted to the war.
Reader lalos posted this comment [sr] about the photo in the comments section at e-novine.com:
Rasplaka me ona slika sa devojčicom koja je puna sreće jer drži nekoliko vekni hleba u naručju.
Prokleti ratovi i oni koji su bombardovali Sarajevo.
This photo of the girl who is very happy because she's got a few loaves of bread in her hands has made me cry.
Damn wars and those who bombed Sarajevo.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Tunisia: Mixed Reactions to Hacking of Prime Minister’s Emails · Global Voices
Salah Almhamdi

On April 8 Anonymous Tunisia (which claims affiliation with the hacking group Anonymous) hacked the emails of the Tunisian prime minister Hamadi Jebali. The movement dubbed it “Operation Touche pas à ma Tunise” (“Get Your Hands Off My Tunisia”) which is part of the broader “Operation Tunisia Back”.
Anonymous Tunisia logo
On the eve of the revolution in 2011 Anonymous members worldwide targeted several governmental websites in what was known as Operation Tunisia. Anonymous also recently launched online attacks against Tunisian Islamists. Now it has published 2,725 emails of Tunisia's ruling Ennahda party online, including emails of the prime minister.
Phone numbers belonging to key government officials have since been circulating on Facebook pages. The government was caught by surprise and so far has not reacted. Meanwhile, netizens have been divided over the efficacy of the move.
Bassem Meddeb tweeted enthusiastically about the search through thousands of emails:
@bmeddeb: Finalement #Anonymous nous a engagé comme détectives! #jbelileaks
Hmida Ben Jemmaa wrote mockingly:
@HBJtn: Après le #JbeliLeaks, le bureau politique d'Ennahdha décide de correspondre avec des… pigeons voyageurs.
Operation Tunisia Back logo
However, some Twitter users opposed the hacking operation.
Hmida Ben Jemmaa wrote that he condemned the attack, and added:
Medical student Amine Ghrabi questioned the point of the Anonymous operation and tweeted:
@HendrixTN: Petite pensée à tous ceux qui ont gâché leur matinée dominicale à fouiller la boite mail d'un incompétent confirmé ! #JbeliLeaks
Alkimia tweeted:
And added:
@alkimia5550: Anonymous a menacé les Islamistes depuis qq mois.Il ne serait pas malin s'il n'a pas nettoyé
Student Imed Laaridh, a supporter of Ennahda, tweeted that he would strike back:
@ImedLaaridh: On est peut être parti pour un tour de piratage réciproque. On trouvera de quoi passer le temps.. #TnPolitics #JbeliLeaks
The following video [Fr] is from Anonymous Tunisia. A member of Anonymous speaks about the leak of the prime minister's emails, and the forthcoming release of more documents:


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Uganda: ‘Kony 2012: Part II – Beyond Famous’ Receives Mixed Reactions · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This post is part of our special coverage Kony 2012.
“Kony 2012: Part II – Beyond Famous” is a follow-up video to the viral campaign video (Kony 2012) calling for the capture of the Ugandan war criminal and leader of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) Joseph Kony. The first video was criticized by Ugandan netizens and other bloggers for oversimplifying the conflict and misrepresenting facts on the ground.
This is how Invisible Children describes “KONY 2012: Part II – Beyond Famous” on its YouTube channel:
KONY 2012: Part II — Beyond Famous offers a closer look at the LRA and explores the solutions put forward by leaders of the currently-affected areas of CAR, DRC, and South Sudan, where local communities continue to live under the constant threat of LRA violence. This generation has responded to the call to make Joseph Kony famous. Now we need to dig deeper and turn awareness into informed action. That starts with sharing this film and continues with participating in Cover the Night, the advocacy and awareness event taking place worldwide on April 20th.
Tom Murphy says Kony 2012: Part II – Beyond Famous is a failure:
I may be a bit hasty in saying this, but the video is a failure. Little of it has to do with the content. It succeeds in terms of providing more information and history about the LRA. IC deserve credit for taking this concern seriously and putting it into a video. I still find disagreement with the way that solutions are presented as coming from outsiders, but that is more of a fundamental disagreement with IC. This time around, they do a much better job of explicitly saying they want to support local solutions, but the overall message of the video and the tone of IC trends towards what can be done to save the people of Central Africa from the LRA.
He argues that the success of the first video contributed to the failure of the second video:
Kony 2012 Part II is failure because of its low reach. The first video has 87 million views on YouTube compared to 1.3 million for the second. Including the views from Vimeo, part 1 views rise to 105 million while part 2 stays at 1.3 million. That means that the second part of Kony 2012 retained 1% of its audience.
—
The failure of Kony 2012: Part II is due in part to the success of the first video which left little room for further learning or engagement. NGO communicators can learn that storytelling is a powerful tool to reach people, but it can shut down discussions and learning as easily as it can open engagement.
Joseph Kony – head of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Photo released by Flickr user Chris Shultz under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
The video is a step forward, admits Eric's Wanderings, however it rings false:
The film is a step forward but to me it rings false. It’s full of talking points and damage control, responding to critics without actually naming problems that still exist. Solome Lemma who has been active in speaking around the films, tweeted yesterday:
“The best way to let people know you’ve heard their feedback is to pause, process, seek, listen, learn, reimagine, & to give all of it time.”
Invisible Children is intent on their plan, intent on their way of doing things which is driven by their views of the problem and solutions, and – while obviously acknowledging some of the critiques in this new film – is still driven by their make movies, sell merchandise model which believes that all action is good action. Their timeline is still in place and that’s all that matters, this is a deflection.
In “Beyond Kony: Rebuilding Life in Northern Uganda” Echwalu looks at the work of The Children of the Nile who are trying to rebuild the lives of people affected by war in Northern Uganda:
At about the same time the Invisible Childrens’ Kony2012 video was trending worldwide, another NGO, The Children Of the Nile (TCON)- also run by Americans was in Bungatira Sub-county in Gulu doing an honest job in my opinion helping widows of the two decade war.
While the Kony2012 video depicted Kony to be routed in the jungles of Northern Uganda, abducting men and children, raping women, and slicing off peoples lips, TCON was in those “Jungles” trying to empower widowed mothers because of the war.
Contrary to the picture painted by Kony2012, a bunch of Americans were in Odek, Kony’s village as the video trended, racing towards the 100million tape, from where Craig Nason, TCONs Networking and Communication Director tweeted;
“Sitting right now with the widow of #josephkony older brother. 18 years in IDP camp, finding Kony not her priority, rebuilding life is.”
Tweeps have received the second video with mixed reactions as evidenced by the tweets below:
@AFROGROOV: A slower start for KONY2012: Part II “Beyond Famous”!more in-depth info, is the one-click generation as interested now? http://tinyurl.com/6plb7c8
@PlanAustralia: Thanks @invisible for shining a spotlight on child rights. We're passionate about them too! #kony2012 #beyondfamous
@TimmyHarris: Everyone knows about Kony yet kids are still in the bush, under his control! WE NEED ACTION NOW #beyondfamous
@monica_vigo: As KONY 2012 Part II: #beyondfamous drops, keep up with the #LRA in real time with Invisible Children and Resolve's @CrisisTracker
@TJJanz: If you enjoy wasting 20 mins of your time and learn nothing new that is..RT @VansWarpedTour: If you saw #KONY2012, you need to watch Part II
@Ned_MzH: Kony Part II: Accountability, not awareness http://aje.me/Hy0Fzh #Kony2012 #UgandaSpeaks #Uganda2012 #Kony
@ JonahClifford : Kony2012 Part II: Not bad, but only 1 out of 100 people reached by it. The damage the first movie made hasn't been rectified.
@ ahmedzakiosman: [#Kony2012: Part II] and Invisible Children, should be judged by a different word: accountability http://aje.me/HjDasB #uganda
@lukeyg: #KONY2012, not a man hunt but pursuing a global solution to a very real local problem watch #KONY2012part2 http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/2012/04/05/resources-for-kony-2012-part-ii-beyond-famous/
@ josephpowell : New #Kony2012 film is vast improvement in accuracy, tone etc but 100 million less views. That hard to have put some of Part II into Part I?
The first video “Kony 2012″ received over 100 million views six days after it was posted online.
This post is part of our special coverage Kony 2012.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Video: Alleged Tsunami Footage after the 11 April Indonesian Quake · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

On twitter, a video of a large wave crashing on a beach is making its rounds: some people share it as a video from the 11 April, 2012 Indonesian Quake, and others insist it is 2004 footage rehashed.


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Armenia: Nationalist Threats Against Local Activist · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Just weeks after one example of censorship in Armenia comes another, but while Hovhannes Ishkhanyan spoke out against hazing and human rights abuses in the military, this time the target is local activist Georgi Vanyan. One of the few to openly call for peace and regional integration in the conflict-riven South Caucasus, Vanyan has been targeted before.
In 2007, for example, a small group of nationalist bloggers momentarily disrupted an event aimed at overcoming the image of the enemy among pupils at a local school, and in 2010 death threats were made against Vanyan alongside pressure applied on venue owners to prevent the screening of Azerbaijani films in Yerevan, the Armenian capital.
Plans to do the same this week appear to have met a similar fate.
@unzippedblog: After previous unsuccessful attempt, #Azerbaijan films festival planned in #Armenia second town #Gyumri 12 April
@unzippedblog: Let's hope we will not witness similar hysteria as was last time with attempt re #Azerbaijan films festival in #Armenia
A Facebook event ostensibly organized to protest the festival instead became a space through which to personally attack and vilify the activist as well as to promote hate-speech. Despite reporting the page to Facebook, however, it was not removed. Death threats have also reportedly been made against Vanyan by telephone.
@unzippedblog: …and he we are. Already anti- #Azerbaijan film festival FB page set up full of hatred & with open calls at life of organiser #Armenia
Yet, even with much of the local media also involved in the campaign against Vanyan, a demonstration held yesterday to prevent the festival from going ahead failed to attract a significant crowd. The media also reported that 50 people blockaded the premises of the Asparez Journalists Club where the event was due to be held.
However, as Unzipped implies, it wasn't the size that mattered.
@unzippedblog: At last, disgraced mayor of #Gyumri found his place, heading nationalist parade against #Azerbaijan film festival #bizarre #Armenia
@unzippedblog: Organiser of #Azerbaijan film fest. in #Armenia says “terror campaign” against him,blames police inaction,cancels fest. as safety at stake
A video report from Radio Free Europe's Yerevan Bureau shows the Mayor leading the demonstration against Vanyan. The signs taped on protestor's backs read “No Azerbaijani Film Festival.”
In an attempt to defuse tensions, Vanyan met with critics although video posted on YouTube seems to indicate there was little opportunity for discussion:
The nationalist E-media site also uploaded a video of Vanyan being assaulted outside the festival venue, gleefully posting a screen grab on its Facebook page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HcPaS90LkWM
Publicly announcing the latest cancellation on his own page, Vanyan also specifically accused Gyumri's controversial and notorious Mayor of organizing the campaign against him.
[…]
Основываясь на видеоматериалах и репортажах армянских СМИ, освещающих митинг протеста против проведения Фестиваля азербайджанских фильмов, и принимая во внимание свидетельства очевидцев, заявляем, что за создание искусственной напряженности вокруг фестиваля, за возможные провокации и проявления насилия в отношении организаторов и участников фестиваля, намеченного на 12 апреля, ответственность несет лично мэр города Гюмри Вардан Гукасян, под руководством которого осуществляется кампания пропаганды террора.
[…]
After examining the video materials and footage by the Armenian media which covered the meeting protesting against the Azerbaijani film festival, and considering eye witness accounts, we state that Vardan Ghukasyan, the mayor of Gyumri, under whose auspices propaganda of terror is implemented, is personally responsible for the artificially created tension around the festival as well as possible provocations and violence against the organizers and participants of the festival scheduled for April 12.
Armenia and Azerbaijan remain locked in a bitter stalemate over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh and tensions remain high since a ceasefire agreement was signed in 1994. Over 25,000 people died and a million forced to flee their homes in the fighting that took place and the International Crisis Group early last year warned of the danger of a new ‘accidental war.’
Some Facebook users, including both Armenians and Azerbaijanis, considered the latest cancellation in that context.
International mediators as well as organizations involved in cross-border peacebuilding initiatives believe Track II diplomacy and cultural projects are sorely needed to bring the two sides closer together, but as this week demonstrated, as has even food in the past, the task is an uphill struggle.
In 2010, Unzipped commented on Vanyan's initiative in a post the blogger shared again recently:
I strongly believe that art, and culture, do not recognise borders. Even if countries are at the state of war. Art, and films, are the best way for ordinary people to get to know each other better, to break the ice, even or especially in case of closed borders. There is also internet, of course, and meetings outside the national borders.
I have no problem if there are people who protest the idea or the fact of the festival. It’s their right. But do it in a (at least remotely) civilised way, without engaging the lowest possible denominator of nationalist/racist crap, personal attacks and threats to individuals. There is a fine line when freedom of speech gets transformed into something that should be considered within the frames of legal/criminal code. Many have already crossed that line.
Despite the threats and censorship in Gyumri, however, Vanyan later reported on Facebook [ru] that the films were eventually screened from DVD in a restaurant outside the city limits. He also plans to show the films in Armenia's third largest city of Vanadzor on 17 April.
Georgi Vanyan at one of his cross-border peace building events © Onnik Krikorian 2011

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Czech Republic, Ukraine: Migrant Domestic Workers’ Rights · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

GV Author Tetyana Bohdanova, who blogs at Good Girl Gone Ukrainian, writes about a video created as part of the campaign [cs] for the rights and better treatment of Ukrainian migrant workers in the Czech Republic. The video [cs] shows a Czech teenager yelling at the Ukrainian cleaning lady who had misplaced his math homework; the cleaning lady, identified as Ljuba Grigorenko, ends up solving the young man's math problems very quickly: she used to work as a math teacher in Lviv before circumstances forced her to take a menial job abroad.


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Egypt: Advocating for Residents of Informal Neighbourhoods · Global Voices
محمد عادل

Architect and researcher Omnia Khalil, has published this presentation as a part of Egyptian urban action [Ar], an exhibition and workshop scheduled for 4 July, 2012. It concerns advocating for the residents of informal neighbourhoods and highlights urban deterioration, forced evacuation and urban challenges in Egypt. In this video [Ar] we hear from some of the people facing forced evacuation. The workshop also aims to amplify their voices so they can participate in policy making.

author: محمد عادل


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Hashtags to Monitor Indonesia quake · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.5 hit Indonesia on April 11. The tremors were also felt in Thailand, Malaysia, and Myanmar. A tsunami alert was issued in several countries but it has been lifted already. Netizens use the hashtag #thaiquake, #prayforsumatera, and #prayformalaysia to monitor the quake impact.

author: Mong Palatino


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Honduras: Report Highlights Country’s Human Rights Situation · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The Organization of American States (OAS) human rights commission (CIDH for its initials in Spanish) has released its 2011 annual report on human rights, highlighting the situation in Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, and Venezuela. RNS from Honduras Culture and Politics looks at the report's findings on Honduras and how it has been covered by local media.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Indonesia: Jakarta Governor Race Heats Up · Global Voices
Agung Harsya

A survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle showed that incumbent Fauzi “Foke” Bowo is leading in the Jakarta governor election. Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia. Paired with Nachrowi Romli, Foke (as popularly called) has 49.1 percent chance of winning in the election. The popular candidates, Joko Widodo and Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, meanwhile, are in the second position with 14.4 percent.
The survey is actually opposite with what many Jakartans feel. Some people think Foke can't manage Jakarta's main problems, such as traffic and the drainage.
@PokijanAcil: Kl sy bisa jalan 1km naik mobil, 1,5 jam. Thanks to macet jakarta. RT @tempodotco: Foke: Sy Bs Lari 10 Km Krg dr 1jam http://bit.ly/HujO4W
@adicumi_ratis: Mari bersama-sama kita dukung “FOKE MENJADI MANTAN GUBERNUR DKI JAKARTA”
A harsh judgment came from @TrioMacan2000 who tweeted about the deterioration of Jakarta as capital of Indonesia:
Jakarta Governor Fauzi “Foke” Bowo. Photo from Flickr page of East-West Center
jakarta adalah kota besar satu2nya di dunia yg gubernurnya menghilangkan lapangan sepakbola dan gantikannya dengan hotel
Jakarta adalah satu2 kota besar didunia yg minim transportasi massal. Hanya busway yg jadwalnya tak teratur, sumpek dan tak manusiawi
Jakarta adalah satu2nya kota besar di dunia yg punya hutan kota kuramg dari 10% luas kotanya. Standar intenasional 40%
Jakarta juga adaalah kota besar di dunia yg ada Mal di pusat kota yg berjarak hanya 2 meter dari jalan utama ( mal semanggi)
Jakarta adalah satu2nya kota besar didunia yg tidak sediakan trotoar yg manusiawi utk warganya, taman/hutan kota pun minim, parkir apalagi [continued] Sarana gedung2 itu seperti : parkir, tempat ibadah, taman dst…sgt minim bahkan sering tidak ada. Dizinkan semua karena suap ke pemprov DKI
Seand Munir, as written in Kompasiana, Indonesia's big blogging community, doesn't understand why Foke is confidently running for another term:
Tak ada sedikit pun prestasi Foke selama memimpin Jakarta. Tak ada rintisan perbaikan dan pembangunan apalagi pengatasan masalah-masalah rutin di Jakarta.
Apakah ini semata-mata benar dugaan orang orang bahwa pencalonan itu berkaitan dengan duit setoran balon ke partai?
There's none of Foke's achievement during his period. There is no improvement and development, not to mention Jakarta's regular problems.Or is it true with what people are thinking that election candidacies are based on the candidates’ contributions to the party?
Another blogger, Sipiliang, was even harsher:
…Namun Foke tidak memanfaatkan kesempatan itu. Jakarta tambah semrawut. Bahkan untuk meneruskan pembangunan saja tidak. Gubernur berkumis ini malah membuka proyek-proyek baru yang penuh dengan uang setoran. Foke tidak berfokus pada pembangunan manusia Jakarta, yang tentu bukan masyarakat asli saja….
…Lupakan Fauzi Bowo, sekarang kita punya alternatif pilihan yang lebih baik.
… But Foke doesn't have the chance. Jakarta has become more chaotic. Foke can't even continue the city's development. Instead, the stashed figure developing new projects full with “tribute” money. Foke doesn't have any focus to improve Jakarta people, which is not only native Jakartans.””…Forget Fauzi Bowo, we now have better candidates.
There are six pairs of candidates for the Jakarta governor election. The other candidates are Alex Noerdin-Nono Sampono, Hidayat Nur Wahid-Didik Rachbini; including two independent candidates, Hendardji Soepandi-Ariza Patria and Faisal Basri-Biem Benyamin.

author: Agung Harsya


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Iran: Detained web developer under pressure · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

Reporters Without Borders says Iranian authorities have put detained Iranian web developer Mohammad SoleimaniNia under pressure to have his skills for running ‘The National Internet’. Iranian government have already talked about launching a network inside called ‘The National Internet’. RSF has urged for immediate release of Mr. SoleimaniNia who has been under arrest for last 3 months. He “hosts and manages websites of many Iranian civil society communities and intellectuals”, due to RSF report.

author: Hadi Nili


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Myanmar: Sex Tourism Industry · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Fifty Viss writes about Myanmar's sex tourism industry. The author also reviews past proposals on how to regulate prostitution


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Myanmar: Transparency in Development Aid · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Community Based Organizations issued a statement urging international donors to ensure that development aid would target Myanmar's marginalized and vulnerable populations.


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Nepal: Documentary Focuses on the Children of the Conflict · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The documentary “Ujyalotira” (Towards the Light) is made by the Ban Landmines Campaign Nepal (NCBL) and the Women Development Society (WODES) and aims to raise awareness on the impact the conflict in the region is having on the children.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Senegal: No Slack for President Wade After Peaceful Election Defeat  · Global Voices
Anna Gueye

While the outside world appears unanimous in its praise for outgoing Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade and democracy after a peaceful election outcome in March 2012, the Senegalese blogosphere has been more critical of former President Wade's record. Bloggers have not forgotten the victims of pre-electoral violence, the violation of press freedoms, and multiple examples of poor governance throughout Wade's presidency from 2000-2012.
Abdoulaye Wade speaking in New York in 2002. By Marcel Bieri of Swiss Image. Shared by World Economic Forum on Flickr (CC-BY-SA-2.0)
Fabienne Fatou Diop writes that Wade had no choice but to concede a loss to ex-prime minister and challenger Macky Sall in her post, “Senegal, 25th of March 2012, Honour to our people!” [fr]:
Non, Abdoulaye Wade n’a pas été démocrate en téléphonant à Macky Sall. Il n’avait plus le choix. Nous lui avons imposé le choix le 23 juin, nous lui avons imposé le choix lors des manifestations contre sa troisième candidature. Il a poussé son mépris à son paroxysme en violant notre Constitution, en toisant notre indignation et en brimant la seule et unique liberté qu’il nous restait, celle de manifester.
On his blog, Mr. Boombastic PlO recalls Wade's “macabre reign” [fr]:
L'élection de Macky Sall n'est pas la première alternance au Sénégal qui a toujours été démocratique. Wade serait même une parenthèse malheureuse car sous sa présidence les libertés ont été bafouées par des meurtres … Des journalistes & opposants ont ete emprisonnés (le cas des jeunes socialistes Malick Noel Seck et Barthélémy Diaz) et surtout les morts de la crise pré-électorale.
Senegalese flag on the Place de l'obélisque by Nd1mbee on FlickR with his permission
In “Adieu Wade,” [fr] Wirriyamu writes:
Ces dernières années A. Wade a eu maintes fois l’occasion d’accorder un minimum d’attention aux souhaits de son peuple … Aucune de ces occasions n’a été saisie. Au contraire quand il ne répondait pas par le mépris (« je suis majoritaire » « ce sont des poltrons » « il ne se passera rien ») il répondait par l’agression.
Haby Ba, in an entry entitled “Président Macky Sall”, [fr] states that Wade's controversial candidacy for a third term deprived the country of a true electoral campaign:
Nous aurions dû avoir cette année une campagne qui porte sur les choix de société. Comment faisons-nous pour reconstruire l’école sénégalaise qui est clairement à la dérive? Comment organiser la solidarité nationale pour que les plus démunis soit non seulement scolarisés mais également suivis sur le plan médical? Ces questions-là n’ont pas du tout été abordées parce que nous étions focalisés sur la nécessité de veiller à la transparence du processus électoral.
Wirriyamu [fr] says:
Au final, en maintenant sa candidature, Wade a peut-être troublé le cours de l’histoire au Sénégal. Il a empêché la juste confrontation des idées qu’est une élection digne de ce nom. L’opposition s’est retrouvée à se structurer autour d’un seul projet : faire partir Wade. Ce faisant le Sénégal ne sait pas grand-chose des projets et ne sait pas ce qu’elle aura sauf qu’elle sait que ce ne sera pas avec Wade …
Bloggers are unanimous in their conclusions and in their demand that justice be done. According to Fabienne Fatou Diop [fr]:
Nous n’aimerions pas que les décès et les blessés lors des manifestations contre la troisième candidature d’Abdoulaye Wade soient vains. Nous exigeons que les auteurs et les commanditaires de ces crimes soient traduits devant la justice.
Haby Ba says [fr]:
Tant que les politiciens ne seront pas conscients que leurs actes ont des conséquences -y compris pénales- ils continueront à piller ce pays. Seule la justice peut nous éviter de retomber dans la même spirale.
Mr. BoOmbastic PlO writes [fr]:
Ces parents de victimes estiment que Wade et ses hommes ne doivent pas emporter avec eux «cette injustice et que toute la lumière doit être faite sur ces meurtres.»
On Twitter, @astouka has started a petition calling for an audit of the outgoing government in Senegal, as well as the launch of new judicial inquiries [fr].

author: Anna Gueye


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Spain: Christ Dances to Brazilian Pop Hit in Religious Procession · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

During the religious procession marking the end of the Christian Easter week in Alhama de Murcia, Spain, the image of the Resurrected Christ was struck by the Telomania, when the brotherhood carrying the image  decided to play and dance to Michel Teló's international hit “Ai Se Eu Te Pego“.
The videos showing the parade appear in different Spanish media outlets and have been uploaded several times on YouTube, making it difficult to confirm the original source of the citizen made video.  On La Opinión de Murcia [es]:
Los que pasearon esta Semana Santa por las calles de Alhama de Murcia se llevaron una buena sorpresa al ser testigos de un paso fuera de lo común, y es que el solemne ritmo que suele acompañar a las imágenes protagonistas cambió por uno más fiestero y desenfadado.
The songs played during the procession were the hit Brazilian pop song Ai Se Eu Te Pego (Oh If I Catch You) by Michel Teló and the Waka Waka song by Colombian singer Shakira.
The Brazilian export song has made its way around the world, as previously written about in Global Voices’ article Brazil: Cultural Debate as ‘Oh if I Catch You’ Song Goes Global and Ideal.es [es] of Granada in Spain, who wrote about the particular Easter Parade had this to add:
‘Ai se eu te pego‘ ataca de nuevo sin contemplaciones. Es la canción del momento y traspasa fronteras como podemos ver en Youtube. Michel Télo ha creado escuela. El caso es que el tema de las Navidades, de la primavera y, posiblemente, del verano se ha colado hasta en la Semana Santa. Es la fuerza de Ai se eu te pego. Hasta en un periodo de retiro, espiritualidad y devoción como éste, Michel Teló se ha abierto un hueco con su ‘Ai se eu te pego‘ y una cofradía de Alhama de Murcia ha decidido modernizarse e ir más allá de las marchas típicas y se ha lanzado a bailar a su Jesús Resucitado al ritmo de los pegadizos sones de la canción del brasileño.
Although the brotherhood also made the image dance to the World Cup song the Waka Waka, made popular by Colombian singer Shakira, it is the video with Michel Teló's song that has become viral.
http://youtu.be/RsOVby_5ukg


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Tanzania: Farewell to a Film Star · Global Voices
J. Nambiza Tungaraza

Tanzania bid farewell to one of its most popular film stars, Steven Kanumba, with an emotionally-charged funeral on 11 April, 2012. He died early on Saturday morning, aged 28, after an altercation with his girlfriend Elizabeth ‘Lulu’ Michael.
That more than 30,000 people including Tanzania’s Vice President Mohamed Gharib Bilal, Tanzania’s First Lady Mama Salma Kikwete, other senior government officials, artists and people from all walks of life gathered to pay their last respects at the capital Dar Es Salaam's Leader’s Club, is a testimony to Kanumba's immense popularity at such an early age and to his contribution to Tanzania’s film industry (popularly known as Bongo Movies).
More than 30,000 people gathered to pay their last respects. Photo courtesy of @BongoCelebrity.
Some mourners took photos and tweeted live as people grieved, fainted [sw] and demanded to carry the coffin of the much-loved iconic actor to the cemetery.
@BongoCelebrity tweeted [sw]:
@BongoCelebrity: Wananchi wanaimba kwa nguvu wakisema wanataka wamshushe kwenye gari wambebe wenyewe!
News of Kanumba’s death broke out on early Saturday morning via social media. Blogger Pretty Sintah wrote [sw]:
Dear Wadauzz
nasikitika kutangaza kifo cha Steven kanumba ambaye amefariki leo saa saba ya usiku,maiti ipo Muhimbili hospital.
chanzo cha kifo,inasemekana Lulu na Kanumba were dating secretly,na walikuwa pamoja wakati wa kifo chake,Lulu alimsukuma Kanumba wakiwa katika ugomvi na kanumba akadondoka na kutoa damu na ndipo mauti ilimshika
kwa sasa Lulu yupo Osterbay police.
nitawaletea more updates
ila tusimlaumu Lulu kwani ugomvi katika mapenzi unatokea.
Angalizo
uki comment naomba ujue nilikuwepo eneo la tukio kuanzia Home kupeleka maiti hosp na kurudi kwake Sinza,kwa ujumla sijalala,
ni hilo tuu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YnZb8hY6Ad8
Much has been written about the death of Steven Kanumba and the alleged role that his girlfriend Lulu played, but probably one comment on Pretty Sintah’s blog sums up [sw] the mood on social media regarding this tragedy:
It’s so painful to lose you our Hero and the only existed Steven Kanumba ‘the great’. Tanzanians gonna really miss you our best friend. Am sending my condolence to your lovely mom, your young bro, your family members, our bongo movie friends and the entire TZ community.
Its not good to judge anyone on this issue, only God can judge a person, Imagine if you are the one judged by everyone as what is happening to lulu now!! I am very sure that Lulu was not intending to do any bad thing to Kanumba, and am also sure that Lulu was not involved in this matter in any way, may be there was something else concerning Kanumba's health, but let us wait for the Doctors and Lawyers to play their part.
R.I.P our beloved Kanumba. It’s a high time for our guys like Vincent Kigosi and others to go on with this good thing Kanumba started; we still have good actors and actresses who can take us to the next level. I really believe in you Ray.
Wavuti has a curated commentary from social media [sw] including Kanumba’s [sw] last tweets as well as tweets by his fans after his death.

author: J. Nambiza Tungaraza


text:
Argentina: “I Don’t Believe in Schools but I do Believe in Education” · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Educación Viva (Live Education) has released the first of their videos challenging traditional education systems, titled I Don't Believe in Schools but I do Believe in Education.  In the subtitled video, more than 20 men and women read aloud a poem on the educational system and how it is different from what they believe education is.
¿Qué pasa si te digo que saber no necesariamente es comprender?
Que conocimiento es importante,
pero solo absorber información nos hace más ignorantes.
Comprender es haberlo vivido y experimentado.
Saber es simplemente poder acumularlo.
La Educación sirve para crecer y desarrollarnos,
la Escuela para aprobar el examen y graduarnos como esclavos.
With their campaign, they are trying to get more people to send in their own video responses of the poem. The poem should be clearly understood and they suggest using the same music released under Creative Commons for their videos. A second part of the video will be released at a future date.