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A Video Ad That Suggests Black Isn’t Beautiful Sparks Outrage in Malaysia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Screenshot from the video ad of Watsons Malaysia before it was removed on YouTube.
Health and beauty chain Watsons in Malaysia was forced to pull an online video ad featuring a woman “cursed with black skin” after netizens complained that it is racist.
The Watsons ad tells the story of a prince searching for the face behind the enchanting voice in his dreams. When he finally finds her, he is surprised to learn that the woman has dark skin. But after deciding to marry her, the prince soon discovers that the dark complexion was simply a test to prove his sincerity. The woman washes her face to reveal whiter skin.
The 15-minute-long ad featured some of Malaysia’s top stars. It was made to celebrate the coming Hari Raya (Malaysian term for Islam’s Eid al-Fitr, or the end of Ramadan). Malaysia has a dominant Muslim population but at the same time it boasts of having a multi-racial society.
This video by Watsons Malaysia for Hari Raya is being slammed for using blackface & suggesting black ≠ beautiful. https://t.co/LLpe3lKv0A pic.twitter.com/yMyXWF4uPI
— Sumisha Naidu (@SumishaCNA) June 7, 2017
After the ad was uploaded on YouTube, netizens quickly criticized it for promoting racism and sexism.
I have been a loyal customer for years. With this super sexist, orientalist and racist ad, I am boycotting Watsons Malaysia #disappointing
— Mrym. (@mrymler) June 7, 2017
So not cool, #WatsonsMalaysia. Pull out the ads and sign your boss and agency up for social sensitivity 101 class please. https://t.co/xz4jrl3nkS
— E. (@sillellis) 7 de junio de 2017
Watsons removed the video a few hours after its release, although it can still be viewed on other Facebook pages.
A writer for news and entertainment site Coconuts KL thought the ad borders on hate speech:
In a country like Malaysia, where we have so many races, cultures and people coming together, to say that the darker ones are ugly is so out of touch, so wrong and so damaging to the self-esteem of every single person out there who is on the more-tan part of the spectrum, that this video verges on the fringes of hate-speech.
Watsons explained on its Facebook page that the ad is a retelling of a Malaysian folklore:
The Legend of Dayang Senandong is a Malay folklore about a lady who was born cursed with black skin but blessed with a beautiful voice. The legend depicts that the king fell in love with Dayang Senandong because of her voice and inner beauty.
It added that what it aimed to highlight in the ad was that true love exists:
We stand firm on the belief that unity and fairness plays an important role, and we respect people from all nationalities. The video was shot to highlight the Legend and its moral values of inner beauty and that true love exists. We are sorry that some of our fans feel offended by the video which was not our intention.
But some netizens believe Watsons did not properly apologize for its racist ad and that its statement actually blamed the public for misreading the message of the video.
Perhaps sensing that many Malaysians are still angry over the ad, the country head of Watsons Malaysia also issued a statement profusely apologizing for the video.


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At Annual LGBT Event, Singapore Kicks Out Foreigners and Puts Up Barricade · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Pink Dot 2014 Singapore. Photo by Jnzl / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Since 2009, the “Pink Dot” event has become an annual celebration of LGBT rights in Singapore. Every year, tens of thousands gather at the Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park to support gender equality, inclusivity, and free love through songs, speeches, family picnics, and various cultural presentations.
The ninth edition of Pink Dot is scheduled on July 1, 2017, but this time the government has imposed new regulations. First, foreign sponsorship is still prohibited; second, only Singaporeans can enter the park and join the event; and third, participants must show their government-issued identification cards as part of the program’s security measures.
In order to ensure the safety of the crowd and prevent foreigners from joining the event, the park will be barricaded — an unprecedented move, given that Hong Lim Park is the only place in Singapore where people can organize rallies and speak freely at a protest.
Singapore criminalizes homosexual acts among men, and past participants at Pink Dot have voiced criticisms against the colonial-era law.
Pink Dot organizers say the police recently reminded them about an amendment to the Public Order Act prohibiting foreigners from joining a public demonstration in the park. In response, organizers have expressed regret that foreigners will be barred from a Pink Dot celebration for the first time ever:
We acknowledge that this directly impacts and separates individuals with partners, friends and family who might not be Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents and we are just as upset by this. Unfortunately, this was a decision that was taken out of our hands.
Singapore has 1.3 million foreign workers, while its domestic population is roughly 5.5 million people.
Pink Dot spokesperson Paerin Choa revealed that the decision to barricade the park was an imposition by the police:
The set-up of barricades and check points around the park was the only measure deemed acceptable by authorities; this was a decision taken out of our hands and is something we do not readily agree with.
Organizers warned their supporters that violating the law could result in a fine as high as S$10,000 (US$7,228) or even up to six months in prison. Despite the restrictions, Pink Dot organizers say there are now more than 100 companies and institutions that have reaffirmed their support for the event.
Meanwhile, some Pink Dot supporters criticized the police for implementing stricter measures in the country’s lone “freedom park.”
Writer Kylie Foo said she is concerned about the symbolism of putting a barricade around the park:
Singapore is wrong to reach for such a backward solution as militarized barriers around Hong Liam Park – the latter, in fact, echoes terrifying images of minority groups being contained and “rounded up” by authorities.
Kirsten Han questioned the rationale of prohibiting foreigners at an event that supposedly celebrates love and inclusivity:
The farce of an event about love, pride, inclusivity and acceptance being forced erect barricades would be hilarious if it didn’t have outrageous real-world consequences. These new laws are actually keeping families apart: Singaporeans with non-resident spouses or relatives will not be able to attend Pink Dot together. These “foreign” loved ones will have no choice but to stay away even as their local halves don pink outfits to celebrate the “freedom to love.”
Han added that barricading the park could set a precedent that might be used to undermine future protests.
Pink Dot organizers are confident, however, that Singaporeans will find a way to make the event successful on July 1:
…couples and families wanting to commemorate Pink Dot with us may be separated because of this. But we have faith in Singapore. And Singaporeans will eventually come through as they always had in the past 8 years.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


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China Bans ‘Soft Burial’, an Award-Winning Novel About the Deadly Consequences of Land Reform · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A banner in a literature criticism seminar in Wuhan calls “Soft Burial” a “poisonous plant”. Image from Fangfang's Weibo.
The Chinese government has recently banned the sale of an award-winning novel, “Soft Burial,” written by Fang Fang about China’s land reform in the 1950s.
The novel tells the story of an old woman who suffered from amnesia after she witnessed her husband’s entire family driven to take their own lives during the Chinese Communist Party's nationwide land reform, which aimed to eliminate the landlord class not long after the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. The buried memories haunt the woman throughout her life, and her son decides to investigate her past.
The suicides tied to the land reform are not an invention of the novel. In addition to public executions, the class struggle resulted in tens of thousands of landlords and better-off peasants killing themselves. There are no official records of exactly how many were killed during the land reform, but estimates by Chinese and US scholars have ranged between 1 and 5 million.
“Soft Burial,” originally published in 2016, won the 2016 Luyao Literature Award, a tribute to its historical realism. Fang Fang explained the title of the novel in her postscript:
人死之后没有棺材护身，肉体直接葬于泥土，这是一种软埋；而一个活着的人，以决绝的心态屏蔽过去，封存来处，放弃往事，拒绝记忆，无论是下意识，还是有意识，都是被时间在软埋。一旦软埋，或许就是生生世世，永无人知。
When people die and their bodies are buried under the earth without the protection of coffins, this burial is called a “soft burial”; as for the living, when they seal off their past, cut off their roots, reject their memories, either consciously or subconsciously, their lives are soft buried in time. Once they are in a soft burial, their lives will be disconnected in amnesia.
Ahead of the announcement of the Luyao award on April 23 2017, a literature criticism seminar organized by the Worker, Peasant and Soldier reading group in the city of Wuhan concluded that the novel is a “poisonous plant”:
攻击土地革命运动……为封建地主阶级招魂……是一株反共大毒草！
An attack on the land reform… aimed at resurrecting the spirits of the landlord class… and hence a poisonous plant against communism.
Similar gatherings that are critical of the novel have also taken place in other cities, including Zhengzhou.
Former Chinese Communist Party leaders have also published their rebukes of the novel. Former head of the Central Organization Department Zhang Quanjing wrote a political struggle-style piece denouncing it, titled “Soft Burial is a reflection of ideological class struggle in the current terrain”:
方方的小说无视土改的这个本质方面，给土改泼了一大盆脏水，这是对历史的歪曲，是历史虚无主义在文艺领域的典型表现，是‘和平演变’与反‘和平演变’斗争的具体表现。
Fang Fang’s novel ignores the essence of land reform and pours dirty water onto the campaign. This is a distortion of history, a typical expression of historical nihilism in the literature and art fields, a concrete example of the struggle between “peaceful transformation” and anti “peaceful transformation” [of the political system].
Lieutenant General of the People’s Liberation Army Zhao Keming extended the criticism to a number of contemporary novels:
历史虚无主义思潮尽管受到党和人民的有力抵制和批评，但仍在以各种形式滋长蔓延。除了在历史研究领域，在讲台、论坛上不断欺骗毒害人们，近些年在文学创作领域也表现得十分猖獗。为地主阶级翻案、控诉土改的小说《软埋》只是其中最新出版、最露骨的表达罢了。在此以前，有《活着》、《生死疲劳》、《白鹿原》、《古船》等等。长期以来，这些作品基本上没有在主流媒体上受到有分量的分析批评，也未听说其所在单位党的组织对此有过批评指正，有的人反而获得了很高的地位、炫目的光环，有很多粉丝和吹鼓手。这就在客观上产生了一种导向，写这类颠覆历史的东西可以出名得利，可以风光无限。
Though historical nihilism has been criticized by the party and the people, it has been spreading in different forms. In addition to the poisonous historical research, university lectures and public forums, it has been very rampant in the field of literature. “Soft Burial” is just the latest published novel to explicitly attempt to vindicate the landlord class and criticize the land reform. Before its publication, novels such as “To Live,” “Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out,” “White Deer Plain,” “The Ancient Ship,” etc., have not been criticized in mainstream media. The writers have not been denounced by their leaders in their work or party unit. Some of them have even reached high positions, received praise from fans and followers. Objectively, this has given birth to a trend that sees subverting history in writing is the ticket to success and a bright future.
The wave of criticism culminated in the novel's ban.
However, a digital copy was circulated online and won readers’ applause. Many found the novel inspiring and wrote their commentaries on social media. Quite a number complained that their comments were reported, deleted and “soft buried.” Below are a number of comments still circulating on the popular platform Weibo.
A reader from Chengdu said:
故事讲得很好[…]原来不相关的人都联系起来。但是看着结尾很不爽，居然不探究真相，任由父母的历史湮没。懦弱和不孝啊。但也许是故意为之，让读者也有一种软埋的感觉，因为这才是真实的生活。
The story is well told…unrelated characters come together in the end. But I really don't like the ending, why not dig into the truth, why let his parents’ history remain buried? Such a coward and lack of filial piety. Maybe this is the writer's intention, to let the readers feel the sense of soft burial because it is a reality that we are facing in our lives.
A reader from Shandong reflected:
没有一件事，会有它真正的真相。
重要的不是真相是什么，而是我们用什么态度去面对它。
我们或许永远无法公正的评价那个年代，但是我们有权利去质疑它。
一个国家应该开放的去面对自己的历史，否则历史的包袱只会越来越沉重。
No incident has absolute truth.
What matters is not the truth, but our attitude towards truth.
Perhaps we can never evaluate the past in a fair manner, but we have to right to question it.
A country should be open to confronting its history, or the historical baggage would become too heavy to bear.
And Fang Fang’s novel inspired one Anhui reader to write about his family history:
我的曾祖父少年在地主家做学徒，因聪明勤快，后来自己办木厂染坊、买田，家境逐渐殷实富足。直到土改，我家应算是富农，绝称不上地主。之所以被划为地主，是因为当时的土改负责人与我家有仇，强把我曾祖母家的地加在我家头上。我曾祖母家倒是地主，但她家的田地是她兄弟的，跟我曾祖母、跟我家哪有什么关系？欲加之罪，何患无辞！我不知道曾祖父是怎么死的。但我知道我的曾祖母，这位传统大家庭的女主人，是被活活饿死在自己床上的。
我曾祖父的父亲是晚清举人，一生教书，死后留下几大竹篾筐书，土改时候全被烧掉 。
我的祖父土改前在县城高中读书，读医农科，成绩优异，准备保送复旦。但土改时被扣上“地主少爷”之名，只得落寞归乡，一生面朝黄土。虽然在六十年代教过几年书，但这几年教书的经历，反而又让他在文革中受了不少罪。
我家世代耕读之家，土改一役，书被烧尽，田被收走，真是绝人活路，后来几十年困顿窘迫，其间血泪，倒向谁人控告与哭诉！
My great-grandfather was a servant working for a landlord. Because he was smart and diligent, he opened his own woodwork and dyeing workshops, bought land and became rich. He was a rich peasant but not a landlord. But he was labelled as a landlord during the land reform because he was at odds with those who led the reform. When they calculated his property, they included the land owned by my great-grandmother's family. Her family was a landlord but the land was owned by her brothers and had nothing to do with him. It was an excuse for revenge. I don't know how my great-grandfather died, but my great-grandmother was starved to dead in her own bed.
The father of my great-grandfather was a literati in the late Qing Dynasty. He was a teacher his whole life and left behind loads of books. They were all burned into ashes during the land reform.
My grandfather was studying medicine and agriculture in high school in town. He was getting ready to go to Fudan University. But he was labelled as the son of landlord and had to return to the village and became a farmer. He taught briefly in the 1960s but because of that, he was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution.
My family background is that of peasants and literati. Because of the land reform, all the books were burned, land confiscated. There was no other exit for them. They had suffered for many decades and shed tears and blood and they could not even cry and tell their stories aloud!

author: Oiwan Lam


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Indian Journalists Demand Press Freedom Protections After State Agents Raid Broadcaster Offices · Global Voices
Vishal Yashoda Manve

Mix from Flickr by Surian Soosay. CC BY
India's oldest private news channel New Delhi Television Network (NDTV) known for its hard-hitting, anti-establishment journalism had multiple offices raided by the country's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 5, 2017.
Many have called an ‘attack on freedom of the press’ orchestrated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to news reports confirmed by NDTV, a former disgruntled employee of the firm Sanjay Dutt had compelled the CBI to file a complaint based on “false allegations.” In response to complaints against NDTV founders Prannoy and Radhika Roy, CBI raided NDTV offices in New Delhi, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and other offices of the broadcaster, along with the homes of the founders.
Numerous media reported that Roy's failure to repay borrowed loans and “for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 48 crore to ICICI Bank” were the reason for the raids.
But alternative reports suggested that the NDTV founders had already paid off the ‘bad loans” accrued over the years, and that the current government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using the investigations agency to stifle press freedom.
By not standing up for NDTV journalists might be on the right side of the government but will always be on the wrong side of history
— Sidharth Bhatia (@bombaywallah) June 6, 2017
NDTV released a statement calling the investigations a “witch-hunt” conducted by multiple agencies.
NDTV and its promoters will fight tirelessly against this witch-hunt by multiple agencies. We will not succumb to these attempts to blatantly undermine democracy and free speech in India.
We have one message to those who are trying to destroy the institutions of India and everything it stands for: we will fight for our country and overcome these forces.
In another statement regarding monetary malfeasance, the news channel said:
It is shocking that the CBI conducted searches on the NDTV offices and residence of the promoters without even conducting a preliminary enquiry. This is a blatant political attack on the freedom of the press as sources confirm that under pressure, the CBI has been compelled to file an FIR based on a shoddy complaint by a disgruntled former consultant at NDTV called Sanjay Dutt, who has been making false allegations and filing cases in courts of law with these false allegations. So far, he has not obtained a single order from any of these courts…
India ranked 136th on Reporters Without Borders’ 2016 World Press Freedom Index, three places lower than its previous ranking. Activists, journalists, and human rights defenders have faced increasing strain and legal intimidation under India's sedition laws in recent years
Various journalists and activists have condemned the incident:
Raj Chengappa, president of the Editors Guild of India, said in a statement:
The Editors Guild of India expresses its deep concern over the raids conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the offices of NDTV and its promoters today. Entry of police and other agencies into the media offices is a serious matter. NDTV, in various statements, has denied any wrong doing and termed the raids as “stepping up the concerted harassment” of the news channel and an attempt to “undermine democracy and free speech” and “silence the media.” While the Editors Guild maintains that no individual or institution is above the law, the Guild condemns any attempt to muzzle the media and calls upon the CBI to follow the due process of law and ensure there is no interference in the free functioning of news operations.
Attack on @ndtv and @thewire_in is a clear attempt by establishment to muzzle voices of #dissent. @narendramodi ruled India is under siege.
— Neha Dixit (@nehadixit123) June 5, 2017
This isn't about NDTV's promoters and journalists. This is about media freedom in this country. Heard about the chilling effect?
— Supriya Sharma (@sharmasupriya) June 5, 201
Those who value media freedom must speak out & act 'cause they know that while nothing will happen in the end the process is the punishment. https://t.co/t3d1vAEGQ0
— N. Ram (@nramind) June 5, 2017
Cowed Indian media! Prannoy Roy being raided and intimidated by govt and not one other media house is carrying story. Their turn will come!!
— Ajai Shukla (@ajaishukla) June 5, 2017
Politicians have also weighed in on the issue. Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal tweeted:
We strongly condemn raids on Dr Roy n NDTV group. Its an attempt to silence independent and anti-establishment voices
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 5, 2017
Chief Minister of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee tweeted:
Shocked at the raids on Dr @PrannoyRoyNDTV‘s house. He is highly respected and reputed. Disturbing trend
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) June 5, 2017
Some compared the raids to India's emergency period of 1975, a 21-month period when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi unilaterally declared ‘a state of emergency’ across India and consequently put severe pressure on media institutions.
Today’s CBI raid on @PrannoyRoyNDTV is a defining moment: the last time this sort of thing happened was during the Emergency
— Praveen Swami (@praveenswami) June 5, 2017
Some were tweeting details about the on-going investigations:
CBI press release, clarifications on raids on @ndtv pic.twitter.com/fEWoEXQULX
— Nistula Hebbar (@nistula) June 6, 2017
Two prominent NDTV journalists criticised the attacks:
Message is clear: any independent voices in media will be bullied and shut down. Black day. https://t.co/lKE93K29cp
— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) June 5, 2017
A message to those in the media who are still independent and do their job by fearlessly asking questions. We won't be intimidated https://t.co/sNC7pEPnOW
— Nidhi Razdan (@RazdanNidhi) June 5, 2017
There were many who felt NDTV wasn't the best representative for advocating freedom of the press. They had their share of views based on experiences:
Rajesh Rajamani wrote on Facebook:
Organisations that proudly claim ‘We are like one big family’ are merely confessing to the fact that they strictly recruit only from the immediate family. :
Sukanya Shantha wrote on Facebook:
Know of at least two former women reporters at NDTV's Mumbai bureau who were never allowed to go on air because they did not meet the channel's “beauty standards”.
Meanwhile, the investigation body CBI too intervened and issued clarifications. You can read their full statement.
CBI “clarifies”, says it is not an attack on media #NDTV pic.twitter.com/h0velQQgo4
— Aman Sharma (@AmanKayamHai_ET) June 6, 2017
And the former editor of ‘The Hindu’, Malini Parthasarathy asked the media to introspect itself:
Media houses should be as transparently open to public scrutiny as any other business in order to retain credibility and public trust
— Malini Parthasarathy (@MaliniP) June 6, 2017
Eminent historian Ramachandra Guha lead a tweetstorm campaign:
Alleged that Roys owe banks Rs 48 crore. Adanis owe banks 72000 crore:https://t.co/Nhb6ru4BkV
May we expect Gautam bhai to be raided next?
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) June 5, 2017
Indian website The Wire wrote in an editorial:
Whichever way one looks at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids conducted on the NDTV offices and the residence of its promoters, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that vendetta has been a guiding motive behind them. This is not the first time that a government has sought to muzzle adversarial media in this crude fashion, threatening the basic constitutional guarantee of free speech upon which our democracy rests.
Although NDTV has today become the target for the right wing, and the closet weapon of the old Congress establishment, other media organisations could soon face similar challenges in the face of the Modi government which has no qualms about casting doubt on the trustworthiness of media.
For a detailed analysis of financial transactions, shell companies and bad loans pertaining to the case, read this feature by Caravan Magazine.

author: Vishal Yashoda Manve


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Local Elections in Mexico Foretell a Fierce Presidential Race · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Mexican students protesting against the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) and President Peña. Image shared on Flickr by user Julie Louisa Hagenbuch, used in terms of the Creative Commons 2.0 license.
Local elections last Sunday in Mexico were the country's last round of voting before the presidential election next year, when Mexicans will choose between the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which has ruled politics for 70 of the last 100 years, or an alternative group, like when voters between 2000 and 2012 supported the conservative-led National Action Party, or PAN, for the presidency.
Last weekend, voters elected three governors (in Coahuila, the State of Mexico, and Nayarit), as well as dozens of local legislators and mayors.
The most hotly anticipated results were in the State of Mexico's, the birthplace of President Enrique Peña, and home to about 13 percent of Mexico's national electorate. Historically, the region has been a PRI stronghold, and official preliminary results indeed favored the PRI candidate, Alfredo del Mazo, who happens to be President Peña's cousin.
The candidate of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) came closely in second, handing another defeat to the leader of the party and three-time leftist presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Screenshot of the Preliminary Electoral Results Programs corresponding to the State of Mexico.
The results of the contests in other states were similarly disappointing for MORENA supporters, apparently losing to PAN's candidates both in Nayarit and Coahuila, the latest in a race still too close to call. In other words, things look good for Mexico's party of power, heading into next year's presidential race.
There has also been controversy surrounding some of the voting. Writing for the website of El Mañanero Diario, journalist and politician Beatriz Pagés tried to summarize the events on Voting Day:
Todos se declararon absurdamente triunfadores al mismo tiempo y a la misma hora en Nayarit, Coahuila y en el Estado de México provocando confusión, desconfianza en el proceso y en las instituciones electorales.
Pocos países han hecho tantas reformas, como éste [México], para dar legalidad y certidumbre a los comicios y sin embargo, a la manera de un democracia bananera y primitiva, los partidos se dedicaron, más que nunca, a recibir dinero ilegal, a calumniar al adversario, a comprar simpatías y a violar la ley, hasta en los más mínimos detalles.
Everyone absurdly declared themselves victors at the same time and hour in Nayarit, Coahuila, and the State of Mexico, causing confusion and distrust in the process and in the electoral institutions.
Few countries have made so many reforms, such as this one [Mexico], to give legality and certainty to the elections, and yet, in the manner of a banana republic and primitive democracy, parties have more than ever dedicated themselves to accepting illegal money, slandering their opponents, buying sympathy, and breaking the law — even in the smallest ways.
Prior to Election Day, nearly all the political parties fielding candidates in a race exchanged accusations and recriminations: from allegations against the National Regeneration Movement of illicit campaign fundraising to charges that the PRI bought votes. Discussing the problem in the State of Mexico, philanthropist and anti-corruption activist Claudio X. González tweeted:
No sé quién ganará elección Edomex; si sé que, en una democracia real, dicha elección sería anulada por irregularidades cometidas por todos.
— Claudio X. González (@ClaudioXGG) 1 de junio de 2017
I don’t know who will win the State of Mexico election; I do know that, in a real democracy, that election would be annulled by irregularities committed by all.
On the triumph of PRI's Del Mazo in the State of Mexico, Twitter user Rodolfo Aceves commented:
El problema del triunfo con 33% de los votos de #DelMazo es que le da una pobre legitimidad. Tendrá que gobernar con la oposición.
— Rodolfo Aceves (@racevesj) 5 de junio de 2017
The problem with the victory of #DelMazo with 33 percent of the votes is that it gives him a poor legitimacy. You will have to rule with the opposition.
Twitter user Zay L. Yañez was one of many people who referred to the illegal practice of “buying votes,” for which PRI is most notorious:
96 años de gobiernos priistas en EdoMex?
Acarreo
Compra de votos
Rebase de gastos de campaña Anulación de casillas#FraudeElectoral
— Zay L. Yañezz ❤ (@ZaySom) 5 de junio de 2017
96 years of PRI administrations in the State of Mexico?
Voter hauling
Buying votes
Exceeding campaign spending
Cancellation of voting booths
#ElectoralFraud
On this same subject, another Twitter user pointed out that there are people who sell their votes because they are in great need:
Yo no juzgaría a quien por hambre y necesidad decide vender su voto. También son víctimas de un sistema que hace mucho los abandonó.
— [adrián] (@fobiadicto) 5 de junio de 2017
I wouldn’t judge anyone who, out of hunger and need, decides to sell their vote. They are also victims of a system that long ago abandoned them.
For his part, Iván Viñas shared the following note about the result in Nayarit, a state located in northwest Mexico:
Oigan, oigan, sé que nunca nadie piensa Nayarit. Pero ahí si perdió por primera vez el PRI.
— Iván Viñas (@otroBDP) June 6, 2017
Hey, listen, I know that nobody ever thinks of Nayarit. But the PRI lost there for the first time.
It should be noted that the comment is imprecise, since between 1999 and 2005, Nayarit was governed by a person who emerged from the ranks of the opposition and not the PRI.
Regarding the setback suffered by MORENA led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador (also known as AMLO), user Wonder Wolfman commented:
La culpa de la derrota de MORENA es de AMLO
Dividió el voto
Insultó a sus posibles aliados
Pésima candidata
Mal manejo de medios
— Wonder Wolfman (@darkzent) June 5, 2017
The fault of the defeat of MORENA is AMLO
He divided the vote
He insulted his possible allies
Terrible candidate
Mismanagement of media
Finally, in the midst of a climate of unpunished homicides against journalists in Mexico, the non-governmental organization Article 19 published data on such attacks on Election Day:
#ATENCIÓN: La red #RompeElMiedo documentó 16 agresiones contra la prensa durante #Elecciones2017: 12 en Estado de México y 4 en Coahuila. pic.twitter.com/qU2O9NwccC
— ARTICLE 19 MX-CA (@article19mex) June 5, 2017
#ATTENTION: the website Break the Fear documented 16 attacks against the press during #2017Elections: 12 in the State of Mexico and 4 in Coahuila.

author: J. Tadeo


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Myanmar Activist Charged with Defamation for Livestreaming a Satirical Play about the Army · Global Voices
The Irrawaddy

Students perform a drama deemed to be defamatory by the Burma Army / Salai Thant Zin / The Irrawaddy
This article by Salai Thant Zin and English translation by Thet Ko Ko is from The Irrawaddy, an independent news website in Myanmar, and is republished by Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
An online defamation provision in Myanmar's 2013 Telecommunications Law is being used by government officials, especially the Burmese army, to harass critics, reporters, and activists in the country.
A local human rights leader in Pathein province was arrested on June 4, 2017 after he was charged under article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law for live-streaming a play that was critical of military clashes with ethnic armed groups on Facebook.
Police arrested U Tun Tun Oo, leader of the Human Rights Activists Association, for streaming the drama entitled “We Want No War” staged by high school students and undergraduates of Pathein University during a peace discussion in Pathein on January 9, 2017.
Personnel of the Burma Army South Western Command filed a lawsuit against him at Pathein Central Police Station under section 34(d) of the Electronic Transactions Law. But police sought legal advice from township law officials who suggested charging U Tun Tun Oo with article 66(d) instead.
U Tun Tun Oo was brought to trial at Pathein Township Court on Monday.
Nine students performed the satirical play, in which a news agency called “Oxygen” interviewed supporters of Myanmar’s conflict.
“I streamed it live so that my friends could watch it because my son participated in the drama. I did not intend to defame the military,” he told the media.
The Myanmar Army also sued nine students involved in the drama for defamation.
The Pathein Township Court judge acquitted seven of the nine students but charged two—Ko Aung Khant Zaw and Ko Myat Thu Htet, who organized the play. The two are still facing trial.
Since the enactment of the Telecommunications Law in 2013, there have been a total of 67 cases filed under article 66(d), according to a local research group led by a former prisoner Maung Saung Kha, a poet who was jailed under the same charge in 2016.
On June 2, 2017, police detained chief editor of The Voice Daily newspaper Ko Kyaw Min Swe and regular columnist Ko Kyaw Zwa Naing—also known by his pen name British Ko Ko Maung—under article 66(d) over a satirical article about Myanmar’s peace process.

author: The Irrawaddy


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Netizen Report: Gulf States Say ‘Pro-Qatar’ Speech Now Constitutes Cybercrime · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

Caged Twitter bird.
The decision of a growing number of Arab region states to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar will affect trade, travel and security alliances. It will also affect free speech.
The list of detractors — who allege that the peninsular Gulf country is supporting “extremism” — currently includes Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Maldives, Mauritania and Mauritius.
On the heels of their announcement, government officials in the UAE and Saudi Arabia issued warnings that any citizen who expresses sympathy or support for Qatar via social media could face jail time or exorbitant fines.
Al Arabiya reported that Emirati General Prosecutor Hamad Saif Al-Shamsi warned that such expressions would violate the UAE’s cybercrime law, and could warrant a maximum of 15 years in prison or at least 500,000 dirhams (USD $136,000) in fines.
Although they may sound extreme, these punishments fall within the bounds of the UAE’s cybercrime law, which prescribes imprisonment and fines for those who publish online news, cartoons and pictures that “may endanger the national security and the higher interests of the State or afflicts its public order” (article 28), and content deemed “damaging” to the “the reputation, prestige or stature of the State…” (article 29).
SaudiNews agency tweeted that offenders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could face up to five years’ jail time or fines of up to three million Saudi riyals. This would fall under Article 6 of the country’s 2007 cybercrime law which bans “material impinging on public order,” a local lawyer told the Saudi newspaper Okaz. According to the same newspaper, those expressing support for Qatar online could face up to ten years in jail under Article 7 of the cybercrime law for “promoting terrorism”.
On 8 June, Bahrain followed in the footsteps of the UAE and Saudi governments by threatening users showing any sympathy with Qatar, or expressing objection to the severance of diplomatic ties, with legal action. Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior says users could face up to five years in jail and a fine under the Penal Code.
Exiled Emirati activist and blogger Iyad el-Baghdadi, who is a leading voice on human rights and free speech issues in the Gulf region, tweeted:
Arab regimes all over the Arab world are using this latest crisis as another excuse to go after independent voices.
— İyad el-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) June 6, 2017
A human rights activist is facing charges of defaming the military under Myanmar’s Telecommunications Act after he live-streamed his son’s performance in a school play on Facebook. Entitled “We Want No War,” the play was critical of military clashes with armed ethnic minority groups. Nine of the students involved in the production, a mix of high school and university students, have also been sued for defamation. The activist, U Tun Tun Oo, is the leader of the Human Rights Activists Association in Pathein township.
Myanmar Facebook users reported posts containing the word ‘kalar’, traditionally used to refer to people of east Indian origin, are being censored by the company. Radical nationalist movements have started to use the term kalar with a derogatory connotation to attack Muslims, including the Rohingya minority in the northwest part of Myanmar. This blanket measure has caused Facebook also to censor posts in which users discuss the context and use of the term, as well as completely innocuous posts that contain the same string of characters while spelling out completely different words such as chair (‘kalar htaing’ in Burmese) and split pea (‘kalar pae’). The incident sheds light on the pitfalls of using technical censorship of specific words rather than contextual information in efforts to curb hate speech.
Access to the messaging app Telegram was temporarily blocked in Russia following a guerilla campaign launched by Dymoff.space, a domain that is on the blacklist of media regulator Roscomnadzor. The site was able to pass off Telegram and several other website’s IP addresses as its own, leading ISPs to unknowingly block Telegram when they added Dymoff.space to their block list.
Russian social network Vkontakte lifted a ban on political advertisements, though there are still restrictions that will likely favor the existing political establishment. Vkontakte will sell ad space to political candidates and parties officially registered with Russia’s Central Election Commission. It will not offer ad space to unofficial candidates and opposition groups who are denied registration by the government, including prominent opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Advertising of a political nature is otherwise banned by the social network, including the dissemination of “opinions about political events”.
Internet companies are planning a major day of action to support the 2015 rules passed by the US Federal Communications Commission to protect net neutrality. Trump administration FCC commissioner Ajit Pai pledged to roll back the rules, arguing they stifle innovation. In response, companies including Amazon, Etsy, Kickstarter, Mozilla and Vimeo plan to a joint action of support for July 12.
Afef Abrougui, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Rezwan Islam, Mong Palatino and Sarah Myers West contributed to this report.

author: Netizen Report Team


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Russia Might Ditch Its Failed ‘Bloggers’ Registry’ · Global Voices
RuNet Echo

Photo: Pixabay
Russian lawmakers in the State Duma have introduced legislation that would abolish the so-called “Bloggers’ Registry” created in 2014, which saddles popular bloggers with special regulations.
According to the draft law’s explanatory note, the rules designed three years ago for bloggers have “proved to be ineffective.”
In 2014, the Russian federal government enacted a law adding any blogger with a daily audience greater than 3,000 people to a registry managed by Roskomnadzor, the government censor. In the past three years, officials have added roughly 2,000 websites to the registry.
According to the law, any blogger who lands on the government’s list is then subjected to the same information regulations that accredited mass media outlets must observe, obligating bloggers to fact-check anything published on their websites, to refrain from the use of obscenities, and to reveal their real names. In March 2015, a spokesperson for Roskomnadzor revealed that not a single blogger had yet been punished for violating these high standards.

author: RuNet Echo


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There Are 23 Indian-Language Wikipedias. The Oldest Just Turned 15. · Global Voices
Subhashish Panigrahi

Screenshot of Odia Wikipedia page.
While the Odia Wikipedia community has made great strides, translating it to a digital language of knowledge will require solving technical challenges and enlisting a more diverse set of contributors and editors.
The Odia-language Wikipedia celebrated its 15th birthday on June 3, 2017. It was created in 2002, just a year after the official English Wikipedia, which was the first-ever Wikipedia to go live. Odia, one of the three oldest languages of the Indian sub-continent, has yet to find itself on Google Translate. Yet it is the oldest of the Indian-language Wikipedias.
June 3, 2002 marked the first ever edit in the Odia language by an anonymous editor. The Assamese, Malayalam and Punjabi Wikipedias were born later the same year. Today, there are 23 Indian-language Wikipedias, the latest entrant to the family being Tulu.
The Odia Wikipedia is a compendium of 12,619 encyclopaedic articles written by a handful of volunteer editors who are also known as uikialis (Odia for Wikipedian or Wikipedia editor). Though the project is 15 years old, it was dormant for about nine years, until a couple of editors started actively contributing and building a community around it in 2011. Slowly these editors reached out to more people, and the content expanded to include more subject areas when subject experts started contributing items relating to their expertise.
Odia Wikipedia stats. CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.
The selection of articles currently on Odia Wikipedia reflect both of the existing types of editor and the categories of contributor who are yet to participate in the Wikipedia process. For instance, while there are over 350 articles on topics related to medicine, there are only two related to feminism. The reason for that is both simple and tragic: Wikipedians usually contribute in areas they are either interested in or experts on. Therefore, while a veteran doctor and assistant professor of a medical school has translated hundreds of medically-related articles, there are not many editors to do the same for the articles about feminism or other gender-related issues. This is an issue that needs to be rectified as the Odia Wikipedia continues on its journey.
For after all, not all editors are necessarily subject experts. Wikipedians like Pritiranjan Tripathy, who has contributed the largest number of biographical articles, or Sangram Kesari Senapati, who has written several articles on Indian movies, contribute on topics they are personally interested in.
The Odia contributor community has also worked on launching two other Wikimedia projects: the Odia Wikisource, an online library of freely-licensed books; and Odia Wiktionary, a dictionary pairing Odia words with their equivalents in other languages. Though the community for these projects is still small, there is a wide array of people of all professions, most importantly open source software developers.
This has helped the community build many tools for their own use which are also used by the wider society. One of them is a converter that converts text typed in legacy encoding systems into Unicode, a universal and contemporary alphabet encoding standard. There are hundreds and thousands of pages of text encoded in multiple non-standard legacy systems both currently and in the recent past by writers, journalists and media houses, which are not searchable on the Internet nor reproducible in their original form. The converter, along the other software tools developed by the Wikipedia community, have been released under open licenses, along with their source code. Many of the tools were also built in collaboration with international and other Indian-language open source contributors. These tools have transformed the state of languages on the web.
When the total number of Odia Wikipedia editors has crossed 40 in March this year, the average for last year and this year has been a little over 27. By March this year, the project had more than 342,546 views a month. When the number of active editors has increased, the total number of visitors from altogether from desktop, mobile app and mobile site has reduced from 674,100 in June last year (this was an exceptionally high peak though) to about 292,700 this year. This could be something to consider as a parameter while promoting the project. The community is already collaborating with media houses for both content development and promotion, and more such effort might increase the visibility of the project.
While all of these contributions are helping tremendously to grow the Odia language on the Internet, there is a lot more to be done to make Odia not just a language of literature, but also a language of governance, knowledge and scientific research. Srujanika, a collective working on scientific and other kinds of research, has been building a science dictionary and digitising many early publications. Their work could benefit from greater support to make it more accessible, so that others can build further resources on the top of existing scientific literature. There also exists no solid consensus on transliteration (which exists in many other languages) of loan words like scientific and technical terminology in general, and from domains like medicine in particular. There is nevertheless groundbreaking work being done by the FUEL project on creating a style guide for standardising terminology, but this needs wider consensus.
Globally, there are 285 active Wikipedias in diverse world languages, each of which are visited each day by millions of viewers. The Wikimedia India chapter, Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) at the Centre for Internet and Society, Punjabi Wikimedians, West Bengal Wikimedians User Group, and Karavali Wikimedians have been designated movement affiliates, operating within an institutional framework and managed by either volunteers or paid professionals, or a combination of the two.
But working outside these collectives are few thousand volunteers that have been continuously driving the open movement in their native languages. Just like any other Wikipedia, Odia Wikipedia is an eternal work in progress, and will continue to mature. Here’s to the next 15 years.
A version of this article was previously published in The Wire.

author: Subhashish Panigrahi


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Don’t Politicise the Judiciary, Warn Trinidad & Tobago Jurists · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Hall of Justice in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Photo by Klaas Vermaas, CC BY-ND 2.0.
The narrative surrounding the chief justice controversy in Trinidad and Tobago is shifting, moving from heated debate about accountability to concerns about the politicisation of the judiciary.
The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) passed a no confidence vote against Chief Justice Ivor Archie after the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) — which he chairs — mismanaged the appointment of Marcia Ayers-Caesar to the High Court. Ayers-Caesar had left behind a heavy unfinished case load, which has compromised the ability of scores of prisoners to get justice within a reasonable period of time. She thereafter resigned.
As far as the JLSC seems to be concerned, it has dealt with the matter, and planned to return to business as usual with the appointment of two new judges this week — but this was blocked by the granting of an interim injunction on the night of June 5, 2017. The injunction was brought by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan on behalf of former agriculture minister Devant Maharaj, who are both members of the United National Congress (UNC), a political party which sits in opposition in parliament. It requested that no judicial appointments take place until after the hearing of a case which argues that no more than one retired judge can sit on the JLSC. The body currently comprises two former judges.
Political commentator Rhoda Bharath, whose determination to get answers from the President Anthony Carmona about his receipt of a controversial housing allowance has resulted in a police investigation, noted:
When Carmona exercised a power he didn't have, and helped himself to housing allowance he wasn't entitled to Devant Maharaj, Anand Ramlogan and Gerald Ramdeen were silent.
Now that Carmona exercised a power he does have – to appoint the JLSC and judges – they challenge it in court.
Curiouser and Curiouser
#DeViceCyahDone
#StrenkAndPowers
#CJCovfefe
The ruling which was made on the injunction was subsequently overturned by the Court of Appeal.
Making the point that Trinidad and Tobago has a history of “a stable and independent judiciary”, attorney Justin Phelps — a member of the governing People's National Movement party and one of the voices (among them a former chief justice) calling for Archie to stay in place — noted in an interview that “it is unhelpful to allude that [certain lawyers] are advancing a political agenda”.
Saying that the lawyers who brought the injunction may be coming from the position “that there needs to be a lot more discourse between the bench, the judiciary and the legal profession”, he did concede that the case is interesting, because it sought to block two new judges with “formidable experience” from taking up their judicial functions — a move he called “counterintuitive to anybody who has an interest in the administration of justice”. The two new judges were sworn in on June 7.
Phelps likened the whole affair to democracy under attack — and he wasn't the only one. Barrister Dr. Emir Crowne agreed that judicial independence was under siege, quite ironically “by the very bar that prides itself on independence and self-governance”. Quite bluntly, he explained:
Judicial independence essentially means that judges and other judicial officers are free to exercise the functions of their office without fear of reprisal, retribution or termination. The elements of such independence are security of tenure, financial security and administrative independence. Each of these elements is essential to ensure that democracy itself functions without undue influence from the State, unsuccessful litigants and third parties—like a select group of lawyers. […]
As members of the legal profession, you cannot tout the importance of an independent judiciary while at the same time passing motions for the removal of judges. It is an affront to the very principles that a self-regulated bar—in a democracy no less—is supposed to stand for.
Maria Rivas Mc, one social media user who has been paying attention, summed it up this way:
The current situation appears to becoming increasingly politicized. After all the yammering of lawyers, I'd like to see evidence of concrete policy changes and processes. It's an opportunity to do things better and plug gaps. Admittedly the crisis snowballed and was improperly handled at the start but, from where I sit, it now appears to be about settling vendettas and scoring points. We should be getting consensus on how to treat with those persons (including victims) who've been waiting years for justice. Esoteric arguments are important to agree on the philosophy and the way forward, but we also have real issues to sort out. Let's not do it all in the public sphere, amidst all the hype. The country needs to have confidence in all its public institutions.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Pakistani Journalist Takes Intelligence Agency to Court Over Harassment · Global Voices
Sana Saleem

Journalist Taha Siddiqui is taking the Federal Investigation Agency to court over what he has described as efforts to “harass” and intimidate him. Photo courtesy: Siddiqui's Twitter account.
A Pakistani journalist is taking on the country's powerful Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) over what he has described as efforts to “harass” and intimidate him in response to his investigative reporting.
Taha Siddiqui, a young award-winning journalist, filed a petition under Article 199 of the Constitution in court alleging that the FIA had harassed him over the phone. He gave a public account of a call he received from the FIA, which left him worried not only about his own safety but also about that of his confidential sources:
Around 7pm on Thursday, 18th May 2007, I received a call from an unknown number. The person on the other end asked me if I was Taha Siddiqui, which I confirmed. He went on to introduce himself from the Counter-Terrorism Department of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and asked me to appear before him at the FIA Headquarters for an interrogation.
After the phone call, Siddiqui filed a petition against the FIA to the Islamabad high court, an unprecedented move by a journalist.
Pakistan's FIA is a border control, counter-intelligence, and security agency that reports to the Ministry of Interior of Pakistan; its investigation jurisdiction includes terrorism, smuggling, espionage, federal crimes and under the recently passed cybercrime law it also deals with crimes committed on the internet.
This incident comes at a time when journalists, bloggers, and human rights defenders face routine threats from state and non-state actors. Pakistan has long been the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. According to comprehensive data collected by Committee for Protection of Journalists, 88 journalists and media workers have been killed in Pakistan since 1992.
The violence extends to netizens as well. In the beginning of 2017, as many as five Pakistani activist-bloggers went missing, four of whom are known for their secular and left-leaning views. While four of the five have since returned to their families, activist Samar Abbas remains missing. Most of the five routinely criticized the military and spoke up openly about sectarian violence and terrorism in the country.
Siddiqui has covered terrorism, persecution of minorities, economic instability, corruption, and civil-military affairs for multiple foreign publications including the Guardian, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and France24. He was awarded the Albert Londres Award — referred to as the French Pulitzer — in 2014 for his work on “La guerre de la polio” (“The Polio War”) for France 24. He currently serves as the bureau chief for World Is One News (WION).
Siddiqui also is an avid social media user and critic of the military. On Twitter, he has referred to the Pakistani army as “#PindiBoys“.  The city of Rawalpindi, often referred to as pindi, is the headquarters for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency — the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan responsible for national security — and the term “pindi boys” is often used to refer to ISI officers.
In his petition to the court, Siddiqui explains that he was “reluctant to go to the FIA Headquarters” citing previous reports of journalists who had received similar calls:
[the] person who is to be interrogated sets out to the FIA Headquarters, he is either picked up and disappeared or detained illegally.
On May 24, 2017, the Islamabad high court ordered the FIA to refrain from harassing Siddiqui.
The petition Siddiqui filed with the court reveals details about the harassment he has faced. “It is inconceivable that the counterterrorism department of the FIA should be calling up a journalist who has nothing to do with terrorism and is a person of the pen,” the petition said. It continues: “The petitioner has noticed that plain-clothed persons have conspicuously been pointing at his house at which the petitioner has taken due precautions.” Siddiqui alleges that this has forced him to restrict his movements; an integral part of his job as a reporter.
جن کی آزادیوں کو سلب کیا جا رہا ہے وہ عدالت کا دروازہ کھٹکٹائیں گے۔یہ عدالتوں کابہت بڑا امتحان ہوگا: عاصمہ جہانگیرhttps://t.co/sdia6EXMh3 pic.twitter.com/1fJL8wdam4
— Taha Siddiqui (@TahaSSiddiqui) May 21, 2017
Those who are deprived of the freedom of speech will knock the door of justice. This will be a test case for the courts. Asma Jahangir (lawyer of Taha Siddiqui)
Recently, the FIA identified dozens of “suspects” alleging they are involved in an “organized” campaign on social media against the country's military. Despite strong condemnations from opposition parties and netizens, Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan ordered the FIA to crack down on online criticism of the armed forces.
An FIA official told Reuters, “We have received a huge list of suspects, active against national institutions, but we have identified 18 out of over 200 social media activists. They are accused of spreading negative material against the army and other institutions.” Shortly after the statement, a list was circulated online containing names of several netizens. The authenticity of the list couldn't be confirmed and due to security concerns, we aren't linking to it.
Despite court orders, the FIA has continued to target Siddiqui by delivering a summons ordering the journalist to appear for questioning at its counter-terrorism department:
Despite high court orders, FIA pursuing action against me under counter terrorism saying i m “well aware of enquiry”. Just got served notice
— Taha Siddiqui (@TahaSSiddiqui) May 25, 2017
He tweeted that social media users in the country are in constant fear:
Many friends have also confided tht seeing me go thru all wht i've had to has made thm self censor even more. Climate of fear persists
— Taha Siddiqui (@TahaSSiddiqui) 29 de mayo de 2017
Journalists who have been critical of the military and intelligence agencies have faced threats, intimidation and physical harm in Pakistan, though these incidents are often underreported.
In April 2014, senior journalist Hamid Mir, a critic of the military and host of a popular TV-show “Capital Talk” on Geo TV, was shot several times by unknown gunmen in Karachi. Mir blamed the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for the attack, and Geo TV repeatedly aired the picture of Zaheerul Islam, the then-head of ISI. The same year, another prominent liberal journalist Raza Rumi, known for criticizing the Taliban, narrowly escaped death in Lahore. His young driver was killed in the attack.
Umar Cheema, an investigative journalist and vocal critic of government practice, was picked up by intelligence agencies in 2010. There was no case filed against him. Cheema informed the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was tortured, humiliated and videotaped nude in comprised positions; he is the only journalist in Pakistan ever to go on record about being tortured in custody.
The Committee for Protection of Journalists has urged the FIA to stop harassing Siddiqui and respect the court order. A statement issued May 26 read:
“Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency should abide by the Islamabad High Court's order to stop harassing journalist Taha Siddiqui,” Steven Butler, CPJ's Asia Program Coordinator, said from Washington, D.C. “Pakistani security forces should not use terrorism as a pretext for targeting journalists.”
The Human Rights Commission also published a detailed statement demanding an end to the crackdown on freedom of expression. Civil rights group Media for Democracy Pakistan called out authorities:
Gov categorically denied any intention to use #PECA2016 to crackdown on dissent. Yet, here we are. @TahaSSiddiqui https://t.co/ev9U0DHNBc
— MediaForDemocracy (@mmfd_Pak) May 27, 2017
Civil rights group Freedom Network, which works on freedom of expression issues in Pakistan, condemned the FIA's targeting of Siddiqui:
@pressfreedompk condemns harassment of #Journalist @TahaSSiddiqui by govt investigating agency despite court order https://t.co/DKDztFTXye
— Freedom Network (@pressfreedompk) May 26, 2017
Former Senator Afrasiab Khattak, from the Awami National Party, called out the hypocrisy of FIA's crackdown:
Hope the High Court takes FIA to task for violating its orders. Wish they are half that active against banned orgs and terrorists. https://t.co/DBgpCK4wto
— Afrasiab Khattak (@a_siab) May 25, 2017
Siddiqui's hearing has been postponed and he's currently awaiting the next date to be announced. The FIA has not provided any details to the court about their reasons for pursuing Siddiqui. Despite the situation, Siddiqui has vowed to continue his work and fight for the rights of reporters in the country. By taking this issue to the court, Siddiqui has taken a bold step to challenge state agencies involved in curbing freedom of expression and harassing journalists who are simply doing their job by speaking truth to power.
My aim was & will remain to continue to report & comment abt #pindiboys even tho many advise restraint. Urge all of u to not b silenced too
— Taha Siddiqui (@TahaSSiddiqui) 29 de mayo de 2017
I feel I m being targeted for reporting abt army w/out selfcensorship. Freedom of speech not crime but democratic right. I'll not b silenced
— Taha Siddiqui (@TahaSSiddiqui) May 22, 2017

author: Sana Saleem


text:
Russian Parliament Moves Ahead With Banning Anonymity on Messenger Apps · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Photo: Pixabay
The Duma’s Information and Technology Committee has approved controversial draft legislation that would ban anonymity on online messengers. The Duma committee recommends the draft law for consideration of its first reading, after which the bill would return to committee for any necessary amendments.
The Parliament has not yet set a date for a vote on the law’s first reading. If passed and signed by President Putin, the law would take effect at the beginning of 2018.
Duma deputies introduced the legislation on May 24. The law would require messenger users to verify their identities using their phone numbers, requiring mobile phone operators to assist the government with this effort.
The law also proposes a fine against any messenger apps that continue to permit communication between anonymous users, and any services that ignore police requests to cut access to specific anonymous accounts could be blocked by Russia’s state censor.
If adopted, the law would only apply to messengers formally registered with the government as “information distributors.” Popular apps like WhatsApp and Telegram aren’t currently on the state’s registry, but officials have indicated that this could change soon. If formally registered in Russia, the new ban on messenger anonymity would likely disrupt a cottage industry of political commentary, where dozens of anonymous accounts on messenger apps have recently gained popularity.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Settlement Outside Havana Isn’t the Refuge Many Hoped For · Global Voices
Periodismo de Barrio

A look at the residential areas in the unsanitary neighborhood of Indaya. Photo by Elaine Díaz. Used with permission.
This article is an exclusive excerpt for Global Voices.You can find the original article, “Residential Areas of the Poor,” here and read other articles by Geisy Guia Delis for Periodismo de Barrio here.
Indaya is a community on the edge of the river Quibú, west of the Cuban capital. It is where one arrives after leaving behind a world of asphalt and concrete to surround oneself in a world of dirt, dust, and moisture. People who come from other provinces with the intention of living in Havana have created this group of “houses”.
Five hundred meters from the original Indaya — the one of mud and homes constructed with recycled materials or materials taken from the trash like zinc, wallpaper, or cardboard — different state-owned enterprises build a settlement with 102 residencies in the developed land, under the same name.
In 2012, bulldozers came to remove the dirt on the site that had been selected for the construction.
Initially, the Council of Provincial Administration (CPA) of Popular Power planned for the new homes to be ready in 2013. Since then, between 9 and 14 million pesos (9 to 14 million USD) have been assigned annually for the project. According to Greta Rodríguez, technical assistant manager of Living in Marianao, 11 million pesos (11 million USD) were given in 2016 and added:
El Estado quiere que esas casas se hagan, y no es poco el dinero que está dando para la obra.
The State wants these houses to be made and it's no small amount of money that they're providing for the project.
The instability of the supplies and the shortage of manual labor, as well as unrealistic deadlines that violated the construction processes postponed the project, and it still has no scheduled completion date.
Indaya. Photo by Elaine Díaz. Used with permission.
According to Tania Oliva, spokesperson for the Management of Architecture and Engineering Projects of Havana, which is managing the construction, the CPA assumed it would violate steps of the construction, when it set 2013 as the end date for the project.
The company City Design Havana (CDH) was in charge of planning the settlement in 2009. Idania Galíndez, one of the architects who was on the work team, says every unit had four homes in the original approved proposal: one with three bedrooms, one with two bedrooms, and two with one. The new settlement would include greenery, an area for sports, and other businesses.
Civil engineer René Rosabal asked to work with the best materials, and the project specified using supplies of the highest quality to give the project resistance and a finish that would ensure 50 years of durability (a number calculated by Rosabal).
The CDH had specified that the streets and sidewalks were included in the initial plan of construction for the settlement, among other reasons, because if they built the homes first, the vibrations from further machinery could create cracks and increase the risk of severe impact on the structures.
Nevertheless, they did an initial compaction of the ground, covered the patios with technical packing and immediately began to build the first houses. By the deadline, they had reportedly built 48 houses, but not a single street.
In the opinion of almost all of the interviewees, what stood out most, combined with the inexperience and actual execution of the project, was the quality of the allocated materials. On several occasions, Oliva had to send back entire shipments of sand and other supplies that weren't suitable for use. If the budget for this settlement is high compared to similar construction projects, it does not makes sense that such low-quality materials were received.
Cracks in the floor. Photo by Elaine Díaz. Used with permission.
The first houses were finished in 2015. More than a year later, none of those residents have the documents certifying that they are owners — paperwork that's required for performing home repairs. They don't even know how much they should pay for the property.
Carmelo Morejón has lived in one of the houses since 2016. When it rains a bit, traces of humidity stay on the roof and on some of its inside walls. In the first few months, he had to repair a clogged drain because the patio and the kitchen had filled with water. Leaks have also appeared in the children's bedroom and in the bathroom.
Morejón is not asking for a brigade to come solve all his problems. He just wants to be given the deed to his house, because that way he wouldn't have to worry about the inspectors. Right now, every time he tries to fix something, the inspectors fine him.
Humidity on the walls of Indaya. Foto by Elaine Díaz. Used with permission.
Ibrahim Masó complains because two of his doors open the wrong way. There are other problems in that house, too:
Estoy muy agradecido porque yo vivía muy mal, pero como yo hay gente que cuando recibió su casa no sabía qué hacer, si comprar los muebles o si comenzar a reparar una vivienda nueva.
I'm very grateful because I used to live very poorly, but like me, there are people who when they received their house, didn't know what to do, to buy furniture or to start to repair a new home.
Bárbara Díaz also moved in May. The day she arrived, she was immensely satisfied with the new roof, so much so that she wouldn't let herself open her eyes while lifting her face to the sky to give thanks.
Three days after the move, however, Bárbara began noticing the cracks in the roof that spread throughout the whole house, and her happiness soon disappeared. That was in May. By September, the polished floor had cracked and raised, leaving holes in the hard concrete.
Bárbara's building lacks a safety handrail on the stairs. Juana Herdia, Bárbara's 83-year-old, and has limited vision. For her and her two young grandsons, climbing up and down the stairs every day has become a harrowing tightrope walk.
The idea of the settlement is noble, it's a necessary action, however, if it needs to be dignified.

author: Periodismo de Barrio


text:
Trans Women Fleeing Central America Find Hope and Hardship Further North · Global Voices
Connectas

Sexual and gender minority activists parade in the streets of San Salvador during a pride march. Photo: María Cidón Kiernan, used with permission.
This article is a condensed version of a piece written by Animal Político, María Cidón, Priscila Hernández, Prometeo Lucero, Revista Factum, and W Radio México, and originally published by CONNECTAS. It is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
They flee Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, persecuted for their gender identity. Unlike other migrants, their journey is fraught with even greater persecution and harassment. Their “American Dream” is just a place where they can exist.
Being a trans woman in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras is synonymous with discrimination. Living according to their gender identity means they face hate crimes that often go unpunished.
The countries of the so-called Northern Triangle in Central America have the highest rate of violence against transgender people in Latin America. From January 2008 to December 2016, the organization Transgender Europe recorded crimes against 159 trans people in the region: Honduras tops the list with 89 crimes, followed by Guatemala with 40 and El Salvador with 30. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as many crimes go unreported.
Police and prosecutors don’t identify victims by their gender identity, only by their genitals; therefore, there are no official statistics on the murders of trans people. This is compounded by the lack of investigation, and mainly affects transgender women, who are the most vulnerable to hate crimes.
Unlike their compatriots, in the case of trans women, migration is not just about seeking new opportunities or fleeing widespread violence. It’s about finding a place in the world to live without discrimination, as demonstrated in this report.
During the northward journey through these countries, trans migrants are exposed to greater harassment, like what happened to Rafael Antonio, better known as “Eléctrica.”
She traveled from Honduras to Mexico and describes how she was harassed, from one country to another:
En Choluteca (Honduras) lo que existe más es la violación a los gais, golpes y maltratos. Nos agreden primero los mareros porque quieren que uno esté con ellos a la fuerza y creo que no es justo. Yo dije: voy a salir del clóset, voy a aceptarme por lo que soy, yo valgo mucho.
In Choluteca (Honduras) what is more common is gay people being raped, beaten and abused. Gang members attack us first because they want us to join them by force and I don’t think that’s fair. I said: I’m coming out of the closet, I’m going to accept myself as I am, and I'm worth a lot.
As for Mexico, Eléctrica was not treated any better. Upon entering the country on September 1, 2016, she was stabbed and assaulted in Tenosique, Tabasco. Eléctrica asked for a humanitarian visa, but it was denied. They told her that there was not enough evidence to seek asylum, despite having been stabbed. She reflects:
Yo pienso que solo con el hecho de que me acuchillaron, ya tengo bastantes derechos, aún siendo inmigrante.
I think that just given the fact that I was stabbed, I should have quite a few rights, even as an immigrant.
Mema Perdomo, from El Salvador, is another example of the sacrifice these women have made to protect their lives from their own environments. In Mema's case, she even had suicidal thoughts. She says gangs are the reason she had to flee her country:
Hace 10 años yo me vine de El Salvador. [Una de] mis mejores amigas fue quemada viva en Usulután, le echaron gasolina los mareros. […] Yo conocía a los mareros, entonces ellos me amenazaron. Y por eso, yo con el miedo y el pánico, me vine.
Ten years ago, I came from El Salvador. [One of] my best friends was burned alive in Usulután, gang members threw gas on her. […] I knew the perpetrators, so they threatened me. And so, full of fear and panic, I came here.
She eventually arrived in Houston, in the United States, where she lived with her sister for a while, although she still doesn’t feel at peace.
At the first border outside the Northern Triangle, in Mexico, the situation is far from what they expected. There are not enough refugee centers and discrimination is also an issue.
Daniela, for example, had to flee from Mexico City, where she was constantly harassed by her co-workers:
En la Ciudad de México fui agredida y por eso decidí seguir adelante. En Tijuana me siento más acogida. Mantenerte ocupada hace que se me olviden las cosas. Se me olvida tanto bullying, tanta discriminación. A la larga tanta violencia que sufres, hace que te vuelvas violenta y no te queda otra que ser violenta cuando te toca serlo.
I was attacked in Mexico City and that’s why I decided to keep moving. I feel more welcome in Tijuana. Staying busy helps me forget about things. I forget about the bullying and the discrimination. Somewhere along the way, all of the violence you suffer makes you become violent and you’re left with no other option than to be violent when you have to be.
According to a report issued by the International Organization for Migration, after a triple murder in El Salvador, 136 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, most of them trans, have fled from the country to Mexico and United States during the last years.
Thus, fleeing is a necessity and seeking asylum in Mexico or the US is the quickest way to get protection, but now even that isn't guaranteed.
The Mexican Commission for Refugee Help (COMAR in Spanish) is denying this right in a systematic and irregular way, according to organizations that support migrants. In fact, from January to September 2016, not even a third of the 752 applicants were recognized as refugees, that is, only 22.3% of the applications were accepted.
While trans women travel across Mexico in order to cross the border into the US, one of the few spaces that offers them a safe and hate-free stay is Hogar Refugio La 72 in Tenosique, Tabasco.
In contrast, trans people in Mexico City, which is considered to be one of Latin America's capitals of diversity, don't enjoy any security.
That was evident when Paola, a trans sex worker, was shot to death by a client inside his vehicle. The man was arrested and released just hours later due to a “lack of evidence.” Her friend, Kenya, along with other friends carried the coffin with Paola’s body in it from the funeral home to the busy Insurgentes Avenue and put it in the middle of the road (which runs north to south throughout Mexico City). They blocked the road for hours until the riot police arrived.
Yolanda is in charge of a shelter in Tijuana called the Butterfly Garden (Jardín de las Mariposas) and explains that the discrimination in these recovery centers is serious. There are 90 religious recovery centers, and none are designed specifically for the needs of trans people. She cites as an example a case in Tecate, Baja California, east of Tijuana, that Yolanda learned about from the press. A young trans person, walked out of a recovery center, and the next day was found dead, burnt in a hole.
Perla Hernández runs the Sacred Heart House for Deportees (Casa del Deportado Sagrado Corazón). Since 2012, it has welcomed deportees who roam the border and homeless people alike. Up to 40 people can fit snugly in the house. Perla is trans, and on Saturdays and Sundays she works taking blood pressure.
The lack of access to health services, education and work means that many transgender women do not feel worthy of having rights or are unsure, according to Rubí Juárez, who heads the Comprehensive Care Center for Trans People and who conducted a census of the women in the prostitution and bar area of Tijuana.
Transgender migrant women who were denied refuge in Mexico continue their journey to the US, where they’ll seek asylum from authorities. The process is slow and can take years in which people's lives are caught in limbo between adapting to a new country and the fear of being deported back to the place from which they fled.
In the US, immigration policies are becoming more and more stringent. Just since 2012, pending asylum applications from citizens of Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries have increased five-fold.
Although the US has recognized LGBTI people as persecuted minorities since 1994, it has so far been unable to record the number of asylum cases based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Center for American Action Fund has attempted to fill this statistical void by drawing from the cases handled by the organizations Immigration Equality and Human Rights First.
Asylums granted to trans people from Mexico and other Central American countries went from being only two cases in 2010 to a total of 23 in 2016. Three out of every 10 cases come from these countries, but it’s only a small portion of the population that requires this protection or that can request it. Many remain in an undocumented situation fearing deportation.
You can read Connectas’ full report “No Country for Trans People” in Spanish here.

author: Connectas


text:
What YouTube Comments on Two Cover Songs Reveal About the Irish and Sámi Languages · Global Voices
Kati Dlaske

Screenshot from the Avicii Vs Lurgan – “Wake Me Up” as Gaeilge video
A version of this post was originally published at r12n on Medium.
YouTube contains innumerable amateur covers of popular songs, from teenagers strumming guitars in their bedrooms to garage bands in dive bars. Few covers, however, attract millions of views and glowing praise from the original artists.
A few years ago, Irish summer college students posted a cover of Swedish DJ Avicii’s mega-hit “Wake Me Up” that became a global sensation itself. Notably, the cover was performed in the Irish language (Gaeilge), and soon became the language’s most-viewed YouTube video.
As a sociolinguist interested in minoritised languages, I’ve been exploring how this emerging practice of posting music video covers in minority languages on YouTube shapes (and is shaped by) questions of national identity, language attitudes, and revitalization practices. Access to new media spaces and genres can contribute to changing attitudes and emotions related to minoritised languages, which are often regarded as old-fashioned and unglamorous. Through its interactive character, by offering the possibility to comment on the videos, YouTube also opens up a window on the shifting emotional landscape around the languages.
An analysis of the digital conversation surrounding the Irish version of “Wake Me Up” and a different song cover in the Sámi language shows how the performances elicit enthusiasm, admiration, love, solidarity and pride. At the same time, a closer look at the comments reveals how this apparently “happy” space is cut through by divisions within and between ethno-linguistic communities, marked by scorn, anger and shame, and engendered in many cases by acts of “everyday nationalism” linked to the colonial histories of Ireland and Finland.
Sápmi, the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sami people. (Image CC BY-SA 3.0, Original from Wikimedia Commons)
Both Irish and the Sámi languages are minoritised languages from peripheralised sites.
Although Irish is the first official language in the Republic of Ireland, it occupies rather a marginal position in many areas of everyday life, such as business and the media, where English is the dominant language.
Sápmi, the region of the indigenous Sámi people, stretches over the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and north-west Russia. Of the nine Sámi languages, three have the status of an official language in the part of the Sámi domicile area that is located within the borders of the Finnish nation state. Otherwise, Finland has two national languages, Finnish and Swedish. The most vibrant of the Sámi languages, Northern Sámi, is estimated to have around 30,000 speakers in total; other Sámi languages have only a couple of hundred speakers, and all nine languages are classified as endangered.
The historical trajectories of Sámi and Irish echo those of many other minoritised languages, involving deliberate marginalisation and stigmatisation on the part of the dominant nation states and, in the past few decades, attempts at language revitalisation, especially among young people.
The video from the Irish context is entitled Avicii Vs Lurgan — “Wake Me Up” as Gaeilge and is a remake of the global mega hit “Wake Me Up” by Swedish DJ and producer Avicii. The Irish version is a joint production of teachers and students from Coláiste Lurgan, an independent, non-profit, but self-supporting, Irish language summer school in Gaeltacht, the Irish-speaking region on the west coast of Ireland.
Producing Irish-language versions of globally popular pop songs has for a few years been part of the coursework at Coláiste Lurgan. As such, the Avicii Vs Lurgan video is not unique. What makes it special, however, is the media attention it gained and the huge popularity it achieved: the performance was praised by newspapers and online magazines; radio stations added the song to their playlists, not only in Ireland, but also in Australia and Canada; and part of the group starring in the video were invited to perform on the Late Late Show, broadcast on the national channel RTÉ1.
The performance was noted even by Avicii himself, who linked to the video on his Facebook page and posted “This one is so cool! I can’t understand a word but I love it.” After two months on YouTube the video had gathered 2 million views. Three years later, the figure had risen beyond 5 million and the video which at the time of my analysis had more than 5,500 comments. While most of the comments are written in English, around 1,000 are in Irish or include some Irish, and a handful is written in other languages, such as Spanish, Russian and German.
The video from the Sámi context is a parody of the popular song “Missä muruseni on” (“Where Is My Sweetheart”) by Finnish pop singer Jenni Vartiainen. The cover video, “Leivänmuruseni” (“My Crumb of Bread”), makes a humorous reference to the hardships associated with the traditional Sámi way of life.
The video was uploaded on YouTube in autumn 2011 as a teaser for the TV comedy show Märät säpikkäät/Njuoska bittut, which was conceived, co-written and presented by two young Sámi women, Suvi West and Kirste Aikio. The series was the first “Sámi comedy show” shown in prime time on national Finnish TV, and as such, widely noticed and promoted by newspapers and weeklies. The video appeared in the first episode of the show as the first part of a series of similar musical parodies.
Over its first four years on YouTube, the video had gathered around 320,000 views and 230 comments, written mostly in Finnish, with a few short ones in Sámi and English, and one in Spanish.
A primary theme among the comments, as might be expected, is the quality of the performances themselves. The vast majority of comments on both the Sámi and the Irish performance are positive in tone.
A second category of discussion addresses the commenters’ perceptions of their own “Irishness” or “Sáminess”.
If Irish people usually identify positively with “Irishness”, what we see in the comments is more than positive identification; it is pride gone viral. What seems to have happened here is what one of the commentators urged: ”Keep listening to it and spread the word about it brings out the Irish in us all :) ”.
But there are also attempts to demarcate the “right to pride”: legitimating oneself and excluding others not considered to be Irish enough:
Makes me proud to be irish?✌? And yes I was born, raised and still live in Belfast, Ireland?✌Im not an american who thinks they are half irish because their aunties cousins goldfish nextdoor neighbour was a quater irish :/”
Other exchanges embody features of hate speech, drawing divisions between the Irish and the English or the English-minded “West Brits“.
In the Sámi/Finnish context, the category of ethnicity is far less pronounced. Here, one commentator belonging presumably to the majority Finns wishes that “the Sámi finally could be proud of their cultural heritage”.
In both cases, the performances triggered an abundance of positive comments about the two languages.
In the Finnish context, a number of comments praising and advocating the Sámi language stem not from the Sámi people, but from the majority Finns opposing the position of Swedish in Finland. In this strand of discussion, the love for Sámi is inspired by hatred of Swedish, and rather than uniting, it creates divisions “in the name of love”.
In the Irish context, the ability to speak Irish makes a theme of emotional engagement in its own right. While the expressions of pride, joy and solidarity forge ties of belonging among those (considering themselves as) able to speak Irish, at the same time they work to exclude those who don't know the language or are less fluent.
I am Irish but am ashamed to say I don’t understand a word of this but i still love it….
Taken together, these two cases show how music video covers can positively influence attitudes and emotions related to minority languages, their speakers, and the associated ethnicities/nationalities. At the same time, they demonstrate how these kind of performances, put on a social media platform, might also propel the reproduction of everyday nationalism and social divisions.

author: Kati Dlaske


text:
After Discharged Patient Dies on Hospital Grounds, Netizens Ask, ‘What About Compassion?’ · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Facebook status update by Patricia Worrell, which says, “‘Hospital not to blame.’ The investigations are not complete, but the verdict is Not Guilty.”
If the worth of a society is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable, then Trinidad and Tobago has sunk to a new low, at least according to the judgement handed down by the court of social media. But does online outrage over a video of an elderly man dying on the premises of the Port of Spain General Hospital accurately reflect what happened? The country's health minister, who is in the minority, says not.
A video posted on Facebook on June 7 showed an elderly man lying on the grass in the front of the hospital's compound. The woman who was recording the video can be heard telling another who went to alert hospital authorities, “He went Casualty and they discharge (sic) him — and the security and them come and bring him and put him here. They ‘gloves up’ and they bring him and rest him here, and the man sick.”
(‘Casualty’ is how Trinidadians typically refer to the hospital's Accident and Emergency department).
Towards the end of the video, the woman confirms that hospital security said he was discharged and the only way for him to be readmitted to A&E was for an ambulance to bring him, which she described as “madness”; she also said that guards told her she couldn't record any footage. For much of the video, the man, who said his name was Christopher Phillip, shifted restlessly on the ground.
As soon as the video started to make the rounds on social media, netizens expressed their sadness and dismay. On the Ministry of Health's Facebook page, Karen Awah-Gio posted:
I'd like to lodge a complaint on behalf of the elderly gentleman who died on the lawn of the POSGH, Mr. Christopher Phillip. […] I could not sleep last night thinking about how this man was left to die in the grass on the compound of one of our major health institutions. Please do not let this be another ‘investigation’ which comes to nothing because the next tragic incident has taken away focus. What happened to Mr. Phillip is inhumane and what looks like a cover up is extremely disturbing.
?? Mr. Minister, I implore you.
The North West Regional Health Authority, which oversees the functioning of the hospital, issued a press release stating that a full investigation has been launched into the matter and that “preliminary reports indicate that Mr Phillip was brought into the hospital yesterday evening via ambulance and was seen at the Accident and Emergency Department”:
He was treated following all protocols of care and was later discharged.
Subsequently, Mr Phillip was seen lying on the floor outside the department and was assisted by members of staff back into the department to be seen a second time. Mr Phillip then left on his own accord. His body was later discovered on the front lawn of the hospital’s compound.
This statement contradicts other eyewitness accounts, which allege that Mr. Phillip was escorted out by security.
In parliament, Minister Terrence Deyalsingh's position was that officials at the North West Regional Health Authority were not culpable in Phillip's death.
He said:
Officials cannot detain someone and constrain someone and treat them without their consent. The health authorities, the doctors and nurses, treated Mr. Phillip twice on the same day. Mr. Phillip disappeared on his own volition. There is no guilt, there is no process to be fixed…all protocols were followed and he received the best of treatment. But he disappeared twice after being told to wait.
Independent journalist Wesley Gibbings asked on Facebook:
So, if an elderly patient has dementia and insists on discharging himself from the Accident and Emergency Unit, the ‘protocol’ permits this? I once had a friend who was being treated for mental illness who more than once attempted to check himself out. There appeared to be some kind of protocol to keep him on the ward even against his will.
Patricia Worrell, who is not particularly confident in any of the country's public health facilities, observed:
Not sure what he's like in his private life, but Minister Deyalsingh does not do compassion well. He bristles up like a frizzle fowl in crises when he should be showing empathy.
Facebook user Rishi Singh added:
I am not surprised that the initial response to the guy who died outside the POSGH is “no one at the hospital is to blame”. When anything goes wrong in this country no one is ever accountable. That response by Terrence Deyalsingh in the senate is as pathetic, narrow minded and callous as ever. An old man dies an undignified death and the honorable minister says the man disappeared from the eyes of hospital staff. The guy could hardly stand so I don't know how he was able to sign the discharge forms and disappear in that condition. This is very shameful but it is actually a true depiction of what is taking place throughout this country. The Minister of Health continues to tolerate and defend a ministry and its personnel who have no idea what the duty of care means. Whilst he continues to live in a state of utopia, the citizens continue to suffer and die undignified deaths as a result of a mismanaged health system.
Though fewer in number, some netizens did support Minister Deyalsingh's position.
Shurland James Jr. said:
When we look at a situation, we need to separate our feelings from the facts of the situation.
Doctors, nurses, EMTs, and even first-aiders CANNOT administer any form of medical assistance to any patient unless the patient gives them permission to do so. The only exception to this is when the patient is unconscious or mentally ill, when it is assumed that the patient would accept the treatment. Failure to do this can result in lawsuits. […]
I am very sure that those very same people who are criticizing the POSGH could not last for one 36-hour shift in the shoes of a doctor or a nurse.
Still, much of the discussion on social media platforms was about the ineffectiveness of the public health system.
Trini Love wrote:
The quality of health care in this country irrespective of government administration or recession is deplorable. […] Too much hard heartedness by a lot of people in the medical fraternity […] It's disgusting. And as usual, the people who are really responsible for this state of affairs […] aren't held accountable. A crying shame!
Deborah O'Neil posted:
A public Facebook status update by Deborah O'Neil, which says, “Trying to convince myself that the cruel heartless attitude of the folks at POSGH is not indicative of the majority of T&T”.
Alvin Fortune, who had a similar experience at a different hospital, made the point that the treatment the patient received went far beyond politics:
This transcends PNM and UNC [the country's two major political parties]. This is symptomatic of the callous disregard of many doctors, nurses and the people who work in close proximity with them locally. It has been going on in this country for years. […] It was bound to come to this eventually. The majority of us who have accessed ‘care’ at public institutions can attest to the disrespectful way we are spoken to or ignored. How sick old people are roughed up. […]
So none of this surprises me but it saddens me deeply. We have that kind of heartlessness in our hospitals and we want to end crime? That is a crime right there. Everyone who works at POSGH and came into contact with that man and was empowered to help him should be jailed. […] But it would not surprise me if there is no record of any person who worked that shift.
There were also social media users who found the recording and sharing of the video problematic.
Franz Gillezeau asked:
How is it, upon seeing someone in need of assistance, that your first instinct is to whip out your phone to record the incident? Why not just render assistance? Do likes and shares mean that much to you? […]
Get your priorities in a gear, people.
Help first.
Alvin Fortune, however, felt that recording the incident was important and that the woman who posted the video did her part to help:
If nobody videotaped the […] man dying outside the POSGH then only those who saw would know. If they attempted to spread the word without evidence, there would have been denial by the hospital […] The chances of the man getting justice in death would be slim. The chances of perpetrators being brought to account would be slim.
I am glad there is clear video evidence of the heinous negligence by workers at the hospital so no one can twist the truth and escape.
Sometimes videoing is helping.
Still, Josie Ache-De Goulard wished that people would “THINK about this gentleman's family and immediate friends” and stop sharing the video.
Finally, Taran Rampersad criticised how the media handled the story:
So, if you missed it, some gentleman was dumped outside of the hospital in Port of Spain and denied treatment until he was returned by ambulance despite being right in front of the hospital itself. And he died there, with someone doing a Facebook live video of his last MINUTES […] and the local media showing him in his last pose on the ground.
It's horrible. And while that should be enough to piss any human being off, what REALLY pisses me off is the way the Trinidad and Tobago media handled it.
They treated a man stripped of his dignity as if he HAD no dignity, writing and reporting so poorly as if he didn't deserve that dignity. […]
It's no wonder life is not valued as much as it should when the media – when journalists, writers, photographers, editors, etc – when they strip away the veil of human dignity permanently so that it's archived, so that a Google Search will only show an end rather than any dignity he might have had during life. […]
Shame. He deserved better, just as you would. And if you don't know that, you do now.