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Hong Kong police raid pro-democracy Stand News, arrest six on sedition charges · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Hong Kong police raids Stand News Office in the early morning of December 29, 2021. Image from Hong Kong CitizenNews. Used with permission
Hong Kong’s most popular pro-democracy online news outlet, Stand News, was raided by over 200 national security police officers in the early morning of December 29, 2021. It announced later in the afternoon that it would cease all operations on its Facebook page.
Six staff members, including current and former directors, were arrested for conspiring to publish seditious material. The officers cited the Crimes Ordinance law, which was established during the British colonial era.
Other staff members, including accounting staff; Kenny Leung, feature news editor; Ronson Chan, deputy assignment editor and the Chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalist Association, had their apartments searched and were brought to the police station to assist in the investigation.
At 4 pm on the same day, the news outlet announced on its Facebook page that it would stop operating its website and social media accounts. In addition, the acting chief editor Patrick Lam has resigned and all Stand News employees are dismissed.
Ronson Chan broke the news of the police action with a brief live stream at 6 am on December 29 (local time) on his Facebook page. The news spread quickly on Twitter:
Just in: Police are at home of Ronson Chan, head of @HKJA_Official and deputy editor of @StandNewsHK, with a court warrant for home search over the crime of “publishing seditious publications”. The live stream was too short to know more details, as police warned not to film. pic.twitter.com/cSoTdL4JuE
— Kris Cheng (@krislc) December 28, 2021
The national security police officers also raided Stand News office and took away 30 boxes of documents and material from the newsroom early in the morning:
Footage shows national security police taking boxes of items out of the Stand News newsroom during a raid on Wednesday. Full story: https://t.co/Fd798Glect pic.twitter.com/pcQJGk8Pa7
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) December 29, 2021
The list of arrestees included four former directors of Stand News: Margaret Ng, a human rights barrister; Christine Fang, the CEO of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service; Denise Ho, a popular Cantonese pop singer; and Chow Tat-Chi, former editor of science news. Chung Pui-Kuen, Stand News’ former chief editor, and Patrick Lam, the current acting chief editor, were also arrested.
Stand News acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam was taken out of the building where the newsroom is located on Wednesday at around noon, and was escorted into a vehicle by police officers.
Photo: Candice Chau/HKFP. pic.twitter.com/utfz3UWcWU
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) December 29, 2021
The four arrested ex-directors resigned from the Stand News in June 2021, after the pro-democracy Apple Daily was forced to shut down. The news outlet also removed a large number of opinion pieces from its website, rearranged contract terms with its staff members, and halted public donations to try and appease increasingly hostile political pressures.
Chung Pui-Kuen stepped down from his chief editor position in early November, citing family reasons. Chung’s wife, Chan Pui-man, was a former associate editor at the Apple Daily, and she is among the seven former senior managers and staff members who were arrested in June and are currently behind bars pending trial over national security charges.
While the police cited the colonial law for the arrests, the search warrant issued for the office raid is under the Implementation Rules of that National Security Law (NSL).
The police’s operation came just one day after Hong Kong prosecutors added a new sedition charge against the founder of Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai, and his six other colleagues who are already facing charges of colluding with foreign forces under the NSL.
According to a report from Reuters, the prosecutors’ charge sheet alleged that a list of publications distributed by Apple Daily between April 2019 to June 2021 could “bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection” against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments.
The British colonial government used the colonial sedition charge to silence protest and crackdown on dissidents. The law was famously used during the 1967 riots, staged by the Chinese Communist Party against the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution in mainland China. However, the British government ceased applying the law in Hong Kong after backlash during the 1967 riots.
Since Hong Kong enacted the Bill of Rights Ordinance in 1991 — the local adaptation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — the city’s law enforcement authorities also refrained from using the sedition charges after the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
However, the city’s prosecutors revived the sedition charge in 2020 to prosecute protestors for their sign slogans and expressions on social media, such as in the case of Tam Tak-Chi. It was also used against a children’s book artist who created illustrations presenting the Chinese authorities as wolves and Hongkongers as sheep.
Once convicted, sedition law violators can be punished by an HKD 5,000 fine and 2-years in jail for their first offense.
Stand News has faced tremendous political pressure in recent months. On December 3, the city’s security chief Chris Tang accused the news outlet of smearing and demonizing the authorities in their investigative reports on the smart city prison facilities and feature stories on the siege of the Chinese University campus in November 2019.
Meanwhile, the independent news outlet has been nominated by international press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Frontier for its 2021 Press Freedom Prize for Independence in early November. RSF praised Stand News in its press release:
Founded in Hong Kong in December 2014, Stand News is an independent, non-profit, Cantonese-Chinese news website that undertakes to defend fundamental Hong Kong values – “democracy, human rights, freedom, rule of law and justice” – and aims to be a space where journalists are ‘independent of companies, shareholders, authorities and political parties…Today, Stand News continues to cover crucial political and social developments in the territory, and to provide in-depth coverage of government policy and all trials related to the National Security Law…
In a statement, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) described the police raid on Stand News and the arrest action as “a further blow to press freedom in Hong Kong and will continue to chill the media environment in the city.” It also highlighted a survey finding released in November that 71 percent of FCC members in Hong Kong were concerned about the possibility of arrest or prosecution due to their reporting or from writing opinion articles in Hong Kong.
Steven Butler, Asia program coordinator at Committee to Protect Journalists, said the police action “amounts to an open assault on Hong Kong’s already tattered press freedom, as China steps up direct control over the former colony” and urged that “authorities must release the six and drop all charges against them immediately if Hong Kong is to retain any semblance of the freedoms that its residents enjoyed only a few years ago.”

author: Oiwan Lam


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Libyans express anger over delay to much-awaited presidential vote · Global Voices
Dahlia Kholaif

Protesters in the eastern city of Tobruk demand that elections be held no later than January 24, and that those who delayed the vote be held accountable. A screenshot from video on Twitter of the protests on December 24.
Hundreds of Libyans have taken to the streets and social media to express their frustration at the last-minute calling off of a much-awaited presidential race. It was hoped that the vote, which was scheduled for December 24, would bring an end to the years of battling that have wrecked the country, by ushering in its very first elected president.
More than a year of preparation for the vote has culminated in a proposal by the High National Election Commission (HNEC), tasked to organize the polls, for the election to take place on January 24, 2022.
The presidential election, the first in the north African country's history, was agreed upon by warring factions as the linchpin of a UN-sponsored peace process that began in October 2020, after a decade of fighting and turmoil.
But political disputes over the legal basis governing the vote, the candidature of polarizing candidates at the top of conflicting factions, the absence of a a genuine national reconciliation — seen in the increased armed fighting among militias despite a ceasefire — have delayed the announcement of the final list of candidates, and prevented campaigning from taking off.
Protesters took to the streets in various cities on December 24, the day of the supposed vote, demanding local and international commitment to holding a free presidential race, and an end to foreign meddling in the country's affairs by regional players whose troops and mercenaries remain on Libyan soil, feeding the ongoing battling.
الشرارة الأولي
مازالت جموع المواطنين تتوافد لمكان المظاهرة، للتنديد بتأجيل الانتخابات وكذلك التدخل السافر في الشؤون الليبية. pic.twitter.com/yZxewULuRk
— ضو الصغير (@DawSaghair1969) December 25, 2021
Crowds are still flocking to the site of the protests, rejecting the vote's postponement as well as the brazen [foreign] interference in the Libyan affairs.
In a video posted on Twitter, women who took part in one of the protests carried banners stating “Elections will end divisions,” and “The homeland is for everyone.”
بيان أهالي مدينة طبرق بخصوص #تأجيل_الانتخابات#ليبيا#تلفزيون_المسار #الانتخابات_الليبية
التردد: 11373H 27500 pic.twitter.com/IrDt6qU16X
— تلفزيون المسار (@almasartvlibya) December 24, 2021
The statement of people of Tobruk with regards to the postponement of Libya's elections.
A statement read out on behalf of protesters in the eastern city of Tobruk demanded that those who hindered the vote be held accountable internationally, and that the date January 24 be the final deadline for the vote to take place, along with parliamentary polls, which were earlier postponed to that date.
Meanwhile, in the capital Tripoli, dozens of young men donning yellow jackets rallied demanding similar goals.
مظاهرة ينضمها تيار دولة بالتريس بسترات صفراء، من أمام الفندق الكبير إلى الساحة الخضراء رفضا لتاجيل الانتخابات وتطالب الا تكون فترة التاجيل اكثر من 60 يوميا كحد اقصى #طرابلس. pic.twitter.com/yILxyPwfXr
— تك يحرق كل شي (@tkyroogklshytk) December 25, 2021
A demonstration organised by Baltrees with their yellow vests, from in front the big hotel to the Green Square against the postponement of the elections and demanding that the delay doesn’t exceed 60 days.
Challenges to holding the vote on time began in September when the parliament's speaker Aguilah Saleh, unilaterally passed the electoral law, without it being properly ratified by other lawmakers, and without the approval of another state body which saw it as flawed. Saleh would later announce his intention to run in the presidential race, adding to the controversy.
Polarizing figures, including Saif al-Islam, who is the second son of the deposed longtime dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi and was once groomed to inherit the reign, also emerged as presidential candidates. Still very popular among many Libyans who reminisce about days of stability, and yet seen as seeking to reclaim his power and undo any political reforms created by his father's ouster, Saif's candidacy was first rejected, but then reinstated by a court in Libya. This raised eyebrows among those who see him ineligible to run, as he faces charges in the ICC for committing crimes against humanity.
Commander Khalifa Haftar, who governs eastern Libya and whose militias and fighters failed in assaults that aimed to bring the rest of the oil-rich country under his control, is also another controversial presidential candidate, along with Abdelhamid al-Dbeibah, who heads the transitional cabinet that came into place to ensure that the elections take place on time, and freely.
Some Libyans have resorted to social media to mock the confusion and chaos that overshadowed their election. Ibrahim Kheir posted edited an advert by the HNEC calling on Libyans to register for the polls, adding streams of tears to the faces of cartoons that resembled Libyan voters on the banner.
خطرها 24\12\2021#الانتخابات_الليبيه pic.twitter.com/5oJRHGqE8R
— إبراهيم خير (@hema_kir) December 25, 2021
Talking about the Libyan election.
Another post shared an excerpt of a Syrian comedy show, in which a thug applies his interpretation of a free and secret election while managing ongoing polls.
#الانتخابات_الليبية ع حسب رؤية المليشيات #ليبيا_تنتخب pic.twitter.com/RaiLiYjHRb
— ☮Majed Alshrif☮ (@majedalshrif4) December 19, 2021
Libyans elections in the views of militias.
In the weeks leading to December 24, militias have upped their fighting in some parts of the country, ending a period of relative peace which began with the UN-backed talks of last year. Armed groups attacked courts, police stations and each other in various cities across the country.
#ليبيا#الانتخابات_الليبية pic.twitter.com/zHunRUTx1B
— رِتـَاج المبرُوک محمـّد⚖ (@Retaj_Almabrok) December 21, 2021
But despite an overall sentiment of disappointment, some Libyans saw that their country was not ready to hold such a milestone vote, in the absence of a constitution and solid national reconciliation.  Libya's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Najla al-Mangoush wrote:
At this crucial moment in the history of Libya, we, as Libyans and the international community, must realize that elections are a tool for achieving stability and not a specific goal.
Echoing this view, a Libyan wrote:
#الانتخابات_الليبية_نتيجة_الحل وليست طريق للحل https://t.co/PXarJqMo6M
— Layla G 🇱🇾🇵🇸❤ (@LaylaG11825502) December 25, 2021
Libyan elections is the result of a solution, and not the way to a solution.
In the absence of a constitution in the country since before the 2011 revolt which unseated Muammar, many Libyans feel that electing a president could result in the winner enjoying unlimited powers.
وانتصر الاستقلال ؏ الاصابع المزيفة 🇱🇾
No to elections without a constitution🇱🇾
#الانتخابات_الليبيه#libya #ليبيا pic.twitter.com/YuO4L5xIR2
— Atika gadema👑🇱🇾 (@AtooGadema96) December 23, 2021
Independence won over fake fingers. No to elections without a constitution.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Dahlia Kholaif


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Portugal: Human rights activist fighting racism wins international award · Global Voices
Global Voices Lusofonia

Mamadou Ba, of SOS Racismo – screenshot YouTube
Awareness and debate about racism have been growing in Portugal over the last four years. While there have been numerous racist incidents in the political and media spheres, some activists are finally earning the respect and recognition that they deserve. Mamadou Ba, a prominent activist living in Portugal who has dedicated his life to fighting racism and hate speech, recently won the Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, presented by Front Line Defenders.
The award, alongside a slew of achievements and backsteps in Portugal's race relations, has sparked discussion about the country's colonial links and present-day racial issues.
This was particularly clear in 2019 when, for the first time, three Black women were elected to Portugal's parliament.
The three women elected — all of Guinean origin — were Beatriz Dias with the Bloco de Esquerda party, Romualda Fernandes with the Partido Socialista, and Joacine Katar Moreira with the Livre party. The government of Guinea-Bissau called it a “historic moment” in Portuguese democracy.
Joacine Katar, the sole elect from her party, attracted the most attention and controversy. After her election, some people said that she should not take office because she was not Portuguese and should even be deported to her country of origin.
One of the most critical voices was fellow deputy, André Ventura, who leads one of the most conservative far-right parties in Portugal. In response to the criticism, Joacine's party lamented that instead of inspiring a celebration of Katar's achievements, this election led to attacks on her character. Their statement said:
Face aos contínuos ataques de carácter e referências de índole racista e sexista por parte de deputados e dirigentes partidários da direita, nomeadamente do CDS-PP e do partido de extrema-direita “Chega”, e que têm como alvo a deputada Joacine Katar Moreira, deputada única representante do partido LIVRE, o LIVRE não pode deixar de repudiar veementemente esses ataques e o uso de uma linguagem depreciativa e difamatória, que perpetua estigmas racistas e sexistas na sociedade portuguesa.
Faced with the continuous personal attacks and racist and sexist references by right wing MPs and party leaders, namely from the CDS-PP and the extreme right party “Chega”, aimed at Joacine Katar Moreira, the sole representative of the LIVRE party, LIVRE can only vigorously reject these attacks and the use of derogatory and defamatory language that perpetuates racist and sexist prejudices in Portuguese society.
Ventura's attack was also seen as a strategy to delegitimize people of color within the political sphere and tamp down policies that promote racial-ethnic equality, as recounted by a local outlet.
On 19 May, Katar wrote a post on her Facebook page in which she highlighted the need to fight racism:
A 21 de Março comemoramos o Dia Internacional de Luta pela Eliminação da Discriminação Racial. Pedi a 100 pessoas que usassem a sua voz e palavra para se manifestarem. E peço-vos que as escutem. O racismo combate-se com o Lugar de Escuta. A 20 e 21 de Março publicarei aqui 100 cartões. Obrigada e a Luta é de todas e todos!
On 21 March we celebrated the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. I asked 100 people to use their voices and their words to speak out. And I ask you to listen to them. Racism is fought from a position of listening. On 20 and 21 of March I will publish 100 cards here. Thank you, and the fight is for everyone!
Unfortunately, Katar isn't the only political figure to face racist backlash. In August 2020, an anonymous email was sent to deputies Mariana Mortágua and Joacine Katar Moreira giving them “a 48-hour deadline” to “resign from their political functions and leave Portuguese territory.” The perpetrator threatened to harm their family members if they did not comply, in order “to guarantee the safety of the Portuguese people.”
In another gross instance of racism, sports fans inundated Lisbon clubs’ sportsman Hugo Gil e Benfica's Facebook page with racist comments attacking a commentator from the channel Televisão Pública de Portugal, RTP, after he criticized Gil e Benfica. After the incident, Gil e Benfica made a public appeal to his followers to stop spreading such comments:
Sorry people, but on this issue I am completely against [this]. And in this fight I am on the side of Blessing or whoever else, even if you have criticized them in your own opinion.
It is not easy to manage so many comments, and this is not [just] an excuse. I feel ashamed of this situation and any [such] comment will be condemned and deleted. We are much more than this. My sincerest apologies.
PS: Thank you to the people who alerted me and were concerned about the situation.
#racismNO
All these cases culminated recently in the recognition of Mamadou Ba. Ba has been a member of the SOS Racism movement since 1999 and is a founding member of several national and European organizations defending the rights of migrants and racialized people.
Mamadou is one of the most prominent voices of the anti-racist movement in Portugal and is also often targeted by far-right and neo-Nazi movements.
For example, in early 2020, Mamadou Ba received a letter at his home containing a death threat. In February 2021, an online petition was launched to strip him of his Portuguese citizenship and to deport him from Portugal. And since June, SOS Racism’s headquarters has been vandalized twice with swastikas and racist insults.
#FLDAward
Our second award winner from Europe & Central Asia is Mamadou Ba from SOS Racismo, #Portugal.
Born in Senegal, and an immigrant, Mamadou has dedicated his life to anti-racist activism. (cont.)https://t.co/iGBSb9Ij8N pic.twitter.com/6HE0aWsGpb
— Front Line Defenders (@FrontLineHRD) November 24, 2021
In recognition of his efforts, Front Line Defenders gave the Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk to activist Mamadou Ba, from a list that included various international activists.

author: Global Voices Lusofonia


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The return of the rufous-necked hornbill to Nepal · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

A pair of rufous-necked hornbills. Image by Flickr user Ron Knight, CC BY 2.0.
It took almost 200 years to establish the existence of the rufous-necked hornbill (Aceros nipalensis) in Nepal, last seen in the country in 1829. Wildlife photographer Deven Kharel found and photographed a pair of male rufous-necked hornbills on December 21, 2021 in Sim Dhap of Suryodaya Municipality in eastern Nepal’s Ilam District. Naturalist Brian Hodgson had discovered this bird in Nepal in 1829 and coined the scientific name Buceros nipalensis. Before Kharel’s find, these birds were reported to be extinct in Nepal though they were still found in India, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
“It’s one of greatest achievements in my wildlife photography career,” said Kharel talking to Global Voices on the phone from Ilam district in eastern Nepal. He also mentioned:
Nobody had photographed this bird in Nepal before this. I have also photographed other birds for the first time in Nepal, including the green imperial pigeon and scarlet-backed flowerpecker.
Kharel has photographed four species of hornbills found in Nepal: the great hornbill in Besibazar, Mechinagar in Jhapa district; the oriental pied hornbill in Bansbari Community Forest, Mechinagar, Jhapa; the Indian grey hornbill in Kakarvitta, Mechinagar, Jhapa; and his recent find in Ilam’s Suryodaya Muncipality.
Hornbills of Nepal: (L–R) Rufous-necked hornbill, great hornbill, Indian grey hornbill and oriental pied hornbill, photographed in eastern Nepal. All images by Deven Kharel. Used with permission.
Biodiversity analyst Kamal Maden wrote in the Nayapatrika daily about the finding of some rufous-necked hornbills in 1850 and criticised the authors of A Guide to the Birds of Nepal for declaring the bird probably extinct in Nepal. In a response to Maden’s criticism of the lack of research on rufous-necked hornbills, Carol Inskipp, one of the authors of the book, wrote on Facebook:
Considering the complete absence of Rufous-necked Hornbill from Nepal for nearly 200 years, the 2021 sighting of this globally threatened species, by D. Kharel is an important record, which should be published in a peer-reviewed journal with the original photographs. In addition, further surveys are required to establish whether the species is resident in the country or merely an occasional visitor and of the extent of suitable habitat.
Carol Inskipp, Tim Inskipp and Dr Hem Sagar Baral
Indicator of a forest’s health
When he discovered it, Hodgson wrote about this beautiful bird, in 1833:
This remarkable and very large species, which I have the advantage of contemplating at leisure in a live specimen, measures from the point of one wing to that of the other, four feet five inches; and from the tip of the beak to the extremity of the tail, three feet six inches, whereof the beak is eight inches, and the tail, one foot five inches.
Nature inFocus Foundation from India tweeted:
#NiFHiveFeature: Bibaswan Sarkar photographed a Rufous-necked #Hornbill in Latpanchar, #WestBengal.
As the name suggests, male hornbills have rufous-coloured head, neck and underparts, while females are predominantly black in colour.#birdphotography pic.twitter.com/VYiu9Ipm19
— Nature inFocus (@NatureIn_Focus) December 17, 2021
Twitter user Trooper (@pnkjshm) mentioned:
One of largest Bucerotine hornbills. Vulnerable on IUCN Red list with less than 10,000 adults left in the wild.
Rufous-necked Hornbill (Aceros nipalensis)
Found in NE India & SE Asia. Locally Extinct in Nepal due to hunting & habitat loss#NWW2020 #IndiAves #IndiWild pic.twitter.com/COlx9XFulm
— Trooper (@pnkjshm) October 5, 2020
The rufous-necked hornbill is categorized as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These non-migratory resident birds are monogamous in nature and nest in natural holes and hollows in old, tall trees. Since they require large tracts of forests with large trees for nesting, their presence indicates the good health of a forest. They also play an important role in seed dispersal.
Twitter user GoneBirding (@Staring_Space) shared:
The beautiful Rufous-necked Hornbill. Here seen carrying a berry to feed the female. This gifting of food during the mating ritual is common among birds as it is among humans. #Flashback #birding pic.twitter.com/QdMt5lMofh
— GoneBirding (@Staring_Space) April 3, 2020
These birds are threatened by habitat degradation and fragmentation, deforestation, and hunting and trapping for the pet trade. However, conserving them will not only help save forests but also bring tremendous tourism prospects for Ilam District, as it has in Latpanchar, a small hamlet in neighbouring India’s Darjeeling District.

author: Sanjib Chaudhary


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Where is Qatari human rights defender Noof Al-Maadeed? · Global Voices
Gulf Center for Human Rights

A screenshot of Noof Al-Maadeed from her YouTube video entitled عودة #نوف_المعاضيد الى قطر ٢٠٢١ (The Return of #Noof_AlMaadeed to Qatar 2021), posted on October 6, 2021
This post was written by Khalid Ibrahim, executive director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), an independent, non-profit organisation that promotes freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in the MENA region.
Noof Al-Maadeed, is a 23-year-old Qatari woman, full of ambition and high hopes. When she faced domestic violence from members of her family, including her father, and government institutions failed to provide her with any protection, she fled her country to Britain after using her father's phone without his knowledge to obtain permission to travel. In a television interview on August 4, 2020, she spoke of her November 26, 2019 escape from Qatar to Britain, via Ukraine.
Upon arriving in Britain, she applied for asylum. During her stay in Britain, Al-Maadeed introduced herself as a defender of Qatari women’s rights and explained how male guardianship prevents women from working or traveling without a male family member's consent, as well as how women victims of domestic violence are left with little protection.
Al-Maadeed withdrew her application for asylum in Britain after receiving assurances from the Qatari authorities that she would be protected if she returned to her home country. On October 6, this year, Al-Maadeed posted on her Instagram account a video in which she explained the details of her return from London on September 30 to the capital, Doha, where she arrived the following day.
What happened next is incomprehensible. Qatari authorities, who pledged to protect her, as it should with to all citizens, reneged on all their promises and left her alone trying to survive domestic abuse.
In a video posted on her Twitter account on October 12, Al-Maadeed said that she had been subjected to three failed assassination attempts by her family. She also described her father's coming into the lobby of the hotel where she was staying, despite being one of her main opponents and the reason for her running away from home. Perhaps the following tweet, dated October 12, honestly sums up the torments she suffered upon her return:
اهلي و الناس الي يصيرون لي يبون يذبحوني.
— نوف المعاضيد (@noofalmaadeed) October 12, 2021
My family, and those who I count as my own, want to slaughter me.
Shortly thereafter, she posted the following tweet:
“Sheikh Tamim is the only one who can stop the danger to my life with his own hands.”
On October 13, Al-Maadeed completely disappeared from social media, and her whereabouts have not yet been known. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, on whom Al-Maadeed relied for protection and pleaded for support, was not able to provide the necessary protection for a citizen who did not commit any violation and voluntarily returned to her country based on many promises from the authorities that they'll keep her safe.
Since her disappearance, there have been conflicting reports, with regards to what has happened to the 23-year-old. According to some reports, Al-Maadeed was killed by her family, while others reported her forcible detention in a psychiatric hospital under heavy sedation, Meanwhile, the Qatari government refuses to provide documented information to prove that she is alive, which raises many suspicions.
The Gulf Center for Human Rights cannot confirm any of the above-mentioned reports but holds the authorities, who have pledged but failed to protect Noof Al-Maadeed, responsible for any harm done to her. At present, all information indicates that Al-Maadeed is facing serious risk to her life and freedom. If not killed, then it is a fact that she may be facing a lengthy incommunicado detention, which puts her life at imminent risk.
The GCHR, once again calls on the international community, particularly UN institutions, and governments with influence in Qatar—including members of the European Union—to take immediate action to pressure the Qatari authorities to ensure that Al-Maadeed is safe and can live freely in Qatar.
The government of Qatar cannot continue to ignore international opinion that is searching for the truth, and its absolute silence will be a sure condemnation, as it bears full responsibility for preserving the safety of its citizens, including Nouf Al-Maadeed.

author: Gulf Center for Human Rights


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Azerbaijan’s controversial media law has grave consequences for media freedom and independence · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

The Azerbaijan Parliament Building in Baku. “DSC_0660″ by Salvatore.Freni is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
On December 30, Azerbaijan's parliament approved a new media law after its third and final reading. The law was passed despite mounting criticism from local journalists and is set to be signed by President Ilham Aliyev and become effective as of January 1, 2022. Hailed by its proponents as a reform bill, critics of the law warn that the new law's will have an extensive impact on media freedom and independence in Azerbaijan.
The government first introduced the idea of the new law in January 2021 following a presidential decree “deepening media reforms in the Republic of Azerbaijan.” The same decree called for the creation of a new media agency, the Media Development Agency (MEDIA), to replace the existing government institution, the State Support Fund for Mass Media Development.
The new media agency was tasked with developing the draft law but kept extending the deadline for opening discussions and debates with the rest of the journalist community. A copy of the draft was leaked days before it was sent to parliament for its first reading on December 14.
Throughout the past year, a group of journalists working for non-state and opposition platforms called for transparency and open discussion around the new bill. On December 15, the group issued a joint statement calling on the government to drop the bill altogether unless it was willing to set up an independent working group that included media practitioners from various opposition, non-government media platforms, and legal experts, to revise the bill. Signed by the representatives of Azerbaijani civil society, the statement said:
We, the signatories of this appeal, regret that the legislative proposal on the Draft Law on Media adopted by the Milli Majlis in the first reading opens up a wide range of opportunities to restrict freedom of media and freedom of expression, consider the hasty discussion of the proposal without passing the public discussion test as disrespectful to democratic values, and call on the Milli Majlis to remove the bill from the agenda and return it for revision.
Criticism of the bill focuses on a list of new measures and regulations covering “organizational, legal and economic activities of media entities and limit[ing] the acquisition, production and sharing of information,” that will become effective at the start of the new year. Among these measures is a new single registry for journalists’ accreditation valid for three years. Journalists with a previous criminal record won't be eligible to register or apply for accreditation. This specific criterion, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Project, an investigative journalism platform, will “eliminate a significant number of independent reporters,” given the country's track record of imprisoning journalists over the years. Although registration is voluntary, those not in the state system would effectively lose the right “to access information from public authorities, attend government events and press conferences,” reported OC Media.
“It will be the state that arbitrarily decides who is and who is not a journalist following a “test” about which no details have been disclosed. And it will be the authorities who hold the list and personal details of all registered journalists and media outlets (including their addresses and the details of their bank accounts and work contracts). This will put them at additional risk in a country controlled by an authoritarian president, Ilham Aliyev, who is regarded by RSF as a press freedom predator,” said a statement issued by the international press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on December 30.
Other restrictions include limits on media management. According to the new law, owners of media entities must be citizens of Azerbaijan as well as full-time residents of the country, “which would effectively ban many of the country’s independent media which are run by Azerbaijanis who fled the country’s already repressive media environment,” reported Eurasianet.
Supporters of the law, including the new Media Development Agency and the country's Press Council, say the bill is aligned with international norms and principles. But critics disagree: the joint statement by local civil society representatives issued on December 15 said the law does not meet the requirements set out by the international norms, and instead “creates favorable conditions for unnecessary interference with freedom of expression and freedom of media.”
Similarly, Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said, “[The law] violates article 50 of the Azerbaijani constitution, on freedom of information, and article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), on freedom of expression. The state is overstepping its powers by interfering in the professional activities of journalists, without any consultation with independent media or experts specializing in freedom of expression.”
The new law also introduces “a wide variety of content restrictions, including “prohibiting news ‘propagating superstitions,’ ‘tarnishing a business’s reputation,’ ‘reporting on military emergencies and religious extremism and prohibit publishing material acquired through hidden cameras and audio recorders’.”
On December 24 and 29, journalists gathered outside the parliament building to protest the new bill.
In an interview with Jam-News, independent journalist Ulviyya Ali said, “Our right to access information is being taken away from us. [The government] wants us to cover developments in the language that suits their interests and based on the rules set up by them. By creating bureaucratic hurdles, they won't force independent journalists from showing the reality. We refuse to recognize the new law that goes against our constitution and will continue our work even more professionally, principled and independently.”
Criticisms also were voiced on Azerbaijan Twitter space:
Jurnalistlər Reystersiz ( icazəsiz ) nə aksiya çəkmək olacaq, nə də seçki filan. Çox pis oldu, çox..
— Malcolm X (@Amrahtahmazov) December 30, 2021
Unregistered journalists won't be able to film protests or elections. This is really bad…
The Parliament hammered the last nails to the coffin of journalism today in Azerbaijan as the “On The Media” law passes the 3rd reading. It is expected to be signed by Aliyev and be effective starting January 1 2022.
— Cavid ❌ (@cavidaga) December 30, 2021
Media law expert Alasgar Mammadli told Kanal13 in an interview that the law now grants the authorities the right to block online content on a whim. Azerbaijan has already been blocking a wide range of independent and opposition news websites since 2017. The most recent findings were released this summer by Azerbaijan Internet Watch in partnership with OONI. But media censorship is an ongoing issue, according to Qurium Media Foundation, which released another report this summer documenting a decade of media censorship in Azerbaijan based on the organization’s work assisting targeted and blocked news platforms in the country.
Independent lawyer Emin Abbas agrees:
In parallel with the amendments to the different laws, the new media law introduces a lot of vague and illegitimate restrictions & further tightens the already restricted space for the freedom of expression, media freedom, and free flow of information on the Internet. https://t.co/RYrJ5p8Ztp
— Emin (@legalactivism) December 30, 2021
Even before the law was passed, signs of increasing restrictions on freedom of speech were visible. This December, authorities issued a series of warnings and fines to news websites, journalists and social media users. Most recently, at least five social media users received a warning from the prosecutor office over content shared on the platforms. According to Report.az, all five received an official warning on the grounds of spreading false information.
Earlier this month, another group of social media users received a similar warning. In addition, on December 18, journalist Sakhavat Mammad from the Yenicag.az website, was fined in a late-night trial on charges of publishing prohibited information on an information resource or information/communication network in violation of Article 388-1.1.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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Despite widespread opposition, Japan plans to dump water from Fukushima plant into the Pacific Ocean · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A Screenshot from the YouTube video of the Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World featuring Japanese mothers from the townships of Okuma and Futaba protesting the plan to dump radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.
People in coastal communities in Japan, joined by voices from around the world, denounced a new governmental plan to dump contaminated water from the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster into the Pacific Ocean. Local communities and other nations in the Pacific Ocean fear the dumping will poison the environment and cripple local fishing and tourism industries that have struggled to recover from the March 2011 nuclear accident on Japan's northeast coast for over a decade.
According to a government plan released on December 28, 2021, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) will start releasing 1 million metric tonnes of radioactive water from the Fukushima plant into the Pacific Ocean in 2023. The plan, which is still being developed over the coming months, states that an undersea tunnel will be built to pump the water out to the sea. Funds have also been reserved to compensate local fishing and tourism industries for potential “reputational damage.”
In March 2011 an earthquake and tsunami caused three nuclear reactors operated by TEPCO in Fukushima to meltdown. Over the years, groundwater flowing through the plants was contaminated with radioactive content. In order to prevent this water from reaching the ocean, it was pumped from the reactor buildings into large tanks that now dominate the reactor installation.
Water tanks holding contaminated water in front of the reactor buildings at Fukushima Daiichi. Photo Credit: Susanna Loof / IAEA. Image license: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
As of December 2021, at least 1 million tonnes of contaminated water are stored in the tanks inside the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
While highly radioactive contaminants are removed, the stored water that the Japanese government is planning to pump out to sea still contains significant amounts of tritium, a radioactive element that some experts say is harmless when diluted in seawater.
The Japanese government's plan to pump the contaminated water has been in the works since 2020. Greenpeace said in April 2021 that it collected 183,000 signatures opposing the plan to discharge water from the Fukushima plant.
Also in April 2021, South Korean civil society groups issued a statement condemning TEPCO's plan, noting, “even if diluted the total amount of radioactive material thrown into the sea remains unchanged. If the radioactive wastewater is discharged, it will be an irrevocable disaster not only for marine ecosystem but for the human.”
The issue was tackled during the Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting in July 2021, and the body made the following declaration:
Forum Foreign Ministers noted the concerns surrounding the seriousness of this issue in relation to the potential threat of further nuclear contamination of our Blue Pacific and the potential adverse and transboundary impacts to the health and security of the Blue Pacific Continent, and its peoples over both the short and long term.
In November 2021, TEPCO said its radiological impact assessment showed minimal impact on the environment:
The assessment found that effects of the discharge of ALPS (Advanced Liquid Process System) treated water into the sea on the public and the environment is minimal as calculated doses were significantly less than the dose limits, dose targets, and the values specified by international organizations for each species.
TEPCO assured the public that it is continually updating its scientific studies regarding the plan to release processed water into the Pacific. But doubts remain about their reports, mostly because there still are few concrete plans about how and where the contaminated water will be dumped, making it difficult for outside observers to assess the risk.
The Pacific Collective on Nuclear Issues, which represents civil society organizations based in Oceania, refutes the veracity of these studies. It also has a message for TEPCO and the Japanese government:
The Pacific is not and must not become the dumping ground for nuclear wastes.
The Collective considers that TEPCO, and the relevant Japanese Government agencies, have wrongly prioritised convenience and costs over the short term and long term environmental and human cost of their planned actions.
Japanese residents have also consistently expressed concern about TEPCO's plan.
Greenpeace interviewed fisherman Ono Haruo from the township of Shinchi in Fukushima, who echoed the sentiments of the local population:
Fish are finally starting to return after ten years, but if they now pour tritium into the water, no matter how much they dilute it, who’s going to buy those fish? Who wants to eat poisoned fish?
The ocean is our place of work. Can you imagine what it feels like for that to be intentionally polluted?
It’ll be 30 or 40 years before we see the effects. The causal relationship will have become unclear and it’ll be impossible to prove anything. What’s going to happen to the future of our children, our grandchildren? It’s not even clear who will take responsibility.
A group of mothers in Iwaki city, Fukushima, participated in a protest in November 2021 opposing the plan to dump contaminated water into the ocean. The townships of Okuma and Futaba, which host the stricken Fukushima Daiichi complex, have experienced almost complete depopulation over the past decade.
In spring 2022, the International Atomic Energy Agency will evaluate and report on plans has on the Fukushima water treatment, while stakeholders will continue to engage authorities about the controversial plan of TEPCO.

author: Mong Palatino


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Global Voices newsroom songs of 2021 · Global Voices
Sydney Allen

Image created by Giovana Fleck.
While Global Voices has always made room for art and audio-related pieces, this year we took our love of music to a whole new level! We launched Spotify and YouTube music playlists to make our articles more immersive and published the Striking the wrong notes special coverage which explored banned music from all over the world. Some of our top stories touched on protest songs, queer representation, and the reinvigoration of traditional African sounds.
Now as we reflect on 2021, we wanted to highlight the special role that music plays for our newsroom by featuring our editors’ top songs of the year. Here is a Youtube and Spotify playlist featuring 12 songs chosen by our newsroom community that best represented 2021. Find our explanations below.
Filip Noubel, Managing Editor:
To, čo nás spája (what connect us, in Slovak) – Živé Kvety
The band Živé Kvety is a female-dominated band from Slovakia that sings on social issues including gender, discrimination, mafia, and often performs in Prague. The song To, čo nás spája — What connects us, in Slovak — is about strength found in unity against racism, human-centered, and embodies their spirit. There is also nostalgia in the Czech Republic among people over 40 for the time when Slovak was the other official language heard everywhere in the media, at work, in the street. The band disbanded this year, so this is also a tribute to an amazing group of people. Some of them continue to perform separately.
Nevin Thompson, Social Media Lead:
Sweet and Lovely – Thelonious Monk (performed at Carnegie Hall in 1957 by the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane)
I often listen to Thelonious Monk when writing, pretending that typing on a keyboard is like playing the piano. ‘Sweet and Lovely’ is just a wonderful jazz standard and an iconic little bit of Americana. Monk's interpretation is fun, challenging, and beautiful, and helps lift my spirits, to energize me and get me in the zone for writing. On top of that, this particular version features John Coltrane. The performance on ‘Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall’ was lost for years and years until being released in 2005, so every time I listen to it, even though it’s hardly a new recording or a new release, feels special. Humming along, I have the energy to forge on with whatever writing or editing I'm working on.
Anna-Cat Brigida, Editor:
Patria y Vida – Yotuel, Gente De Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo, and El Funky
This song is a Cuban protest song demanding freedom from the current government and from the narratives of the past about the Cuban revolution. The song title Patria y Vida (Homeland and Life) is a play on the phrase Patria o Muerte (Homeland or Death) that was a common refrain of the revolution. It still gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it! The lyrics are so raw and speak to all the frustrations felt in Cuba, but also in so many parts of Latin America.
Mong Palatino, Southeast Asia Editor:
Permisison to Dance – BTS
Because it is the alarm clock of my wife, because it is hugely popular in our household, in the Philippines, and even on the internet. Also, the song reflects the dominance of K-pop, and it taught me to better understand the musical taste and sentiment of young people, including my children.
Giovana Fleck, Editor:
Baby 95 – Liniker
This song represents one of the things I missed the most in 2021: grabbing a loved person to dance ‘coladinho’ at a street party <3 It transports me to that scenario and I love it!
Ameya Nagarajan, Associate Editor:
Jerusalema – Master KG ft. Nomcebo Zikode
This year I became part of a very close-knit group of friends and weathered lockdowns and difficulties together because we all live very close together. And one of the couples adores this song, and we play it every time we hang out, so the song fills me with happiness and friendship.
Tanya Lokot, Eastern Europe Editor:
Shum – Go_A
This was Ukraine’s entry into Eurovision. It’s great because it mixes Ukrainian folk themes and melodies with a modern twist, and it promotes Ukrainian culture and ethnic themes while also showing they’re perfectly contemporary. See more here on the themes and history of the song.
Arzu Geybullayeva, South Caucasus and Turkey Editor:
Felaket – Ezhel
During the pandemic, I started adding dancing to my post workouts and this song was just a mood booster. I even remember posting a video of me dancing to the song.
Mohamed ElGohary, Lingua Manager:
I still have faith in you – Abba
A band that was on hiatus for forty years, the same beauty, the same simplicity, and complexity. It brings the call for hope, faith, connectivity, and solidarity. It is kind of like telling GV after many years that “I still have faith in you.” Several songs in the album are also other favorites. Little Things is a great Christmas song.
Skye Hernandez, The Bridge Editor:
Peaches – Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon
I never thought I'd ever choose a Justin Bieber song as my favorite for a month, far less a whole year, but I love this song. In a year when I could not handle anything intense, whether music or movies, I listened to a lot of pop songs, ‘afrobeats’ and Latin dance music, but this song, so breezy and carefree, made me feel happy every time I played it, and it gets my pick. The combination of the voices of the two Canadians, Bieber and Daniel Caesar, and that of the meltingly soulful Giveon, helped make it my favorite. It always takes me far away from the whole Covid scene, which is what I needed. Enjoy!
Dércio Tsandzana, Lusophone Africa Editor
Shakira – Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
It is the representation of a people – the spirit of a continent.
Melissa Vida, Latin America Editor:
Chancha Via Circuito – La Victoria ft. Lido Pimienta & Manu Ranks
This song, by Colombian-Canadian singer Lido Pimienta, exudes joy, confidence, and hope on notes of marimba, all the while recognizing that times can sometimes be hard. This song helps connect to joy, my path in life, and Mother Earth when I feel disheartened.
In these times, we can connect through music to lift our spirits, live, and do the work we do. Find her lovely video on YouTube.

author: Sydney Allen


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The Civic Media Observatory in 2021 · Global Voices
Civic Media Observatory

2021 was a big year for the Civic Media Observatory. Here’s a recap of our work.
✔ We identify and analyze how people construct and share narratives in media
✔ We explain the context and subtext underlying these narratives and media items
✔ We evaluate the impact of media items on society using a scorecard
✔ We share the results of the research on a public database, through Global Voices stories, and a newsletter
While Observatory work is focused on deep qualitative analysis of narrative frames and media items, it’s also interesting to view the work produced from the observatory in numbers. This year, we have:
As China expands and advances its interests as a global power, we analyzed the ways in which Beijing wields its influence in other countries.
Our researchers identified and analyzed media items based on narratives such as “The BRI provides genuine benefits to partner countries,” “Other countries must stand up to China,” or “Chinese interventions and projects in other countries damage the environment.”
Researchers have produced 37 stories to date based on their analyses. Here are a few:
In 2020 and 2021, Global Voices explored competing visions of Ethiopia’s national identity—long-standing conflicts that exploded into violence during the period we were pursuing our research.
The resulting report on  documents narratives of national and ethnic identity, Tigray conflict, Oromo nationalism, and significant shifts in political alignments.
The  contains 336 media items and includes over 170 media sources, including editorial media, social media, other online media, and offline media. Media sources also include a range of popular broadcasters, news outlets, and prominent social media channels. .
Our key observations include:
The Ethiopian media infrastructure is fragile and depends on governmental authority;
Diaspora media, including on social media, appear to have a significant impact on media in Ethiopia.
In 2020-2021 we ran country-level observatory projects in Bolivia, Brazil, Haiti, Venezuela, India, and Myanmar, with a major focus on elections and crises of legitimacy.
In the case of Myanmar, the crisis around the general elections provoked a coup that has resulted in a military dictatorship. We covered these events in three special coverage sections:
In November 2021, we launched new observatories in India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Russia, Nicaragua, and Afghanistan. Mali, Bangladesh, and Turkey will be added in 2022. This new collection of observatories features our first continuously updated public dataset.
This dataset enables people interested in the Observatory research to engage with deep analysis of media items, narratives, themes, and people and entities of interest across all active observatories.
We are running observatories to support the participation of Indigenous reporters in media and information literacy activities.
The first project will explore narratives related to climate change in Bolivia’s environmentally vulnerable Gran Chaco region, looking at differences in the representation of various groups’ perspectives and narratives in the media.
Representatives of Indigenous communities and other historically marginalized populations in Bolivia will participate in a media ecosystem mapping project and workshops in 2022.
The Observatory is supported by multiple sources, including grants and contracts from the BBC Media Action, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Endowment for Democracy, as well as gifts from Facebook (now Meta) and individual donors.

author: Civic Media Observatory


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Turkish finance minister wrecks economy ‘with a twinkle in his eye’ · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

A screenshot from the televised interview with Minister of Finance Nureddin Nebati. TRT News.
Turkish Twitter-sphere was full of memes and jokes after the country’s new Minister of Treasure and Finance, Nureddin Nebati, exclaimed in a TV interview that the economy was about the “twinkle” in his eyes. The twinkle was the minister’s response to a question on economic indicators as the country navigates its worst-ever financial crisis, largely caused by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s unorthodox economic policies, now dubbed Erdoganomics.
Nebati was answering questions on December 21 in a TV interview with journalist Gülçin Üstün Can about new rescue package introduced by the ruling Justice and Development Party aimed at protecting lira deposits from further depreciation. When Can asked the minister to share some of the data, the minister dodged the question, instead audaciously saying, “Let me not give the numbers now. Can you look into my eyes? What do you see?” Caught by surprise, the journalist said she saw happiness but that she would also like to hear more about the numbers, to which the minister said, “The economy is about numbers. It’s about wishes, trust, stability, and expectations. The economy is the twinkle in the eyes. My friends see the twinkle in my eyes.”
Yeni Ekonomi Modelimiz ; GEA
Gözler ekonominin aynasıdır..#kae #inegöl #deva #Nebati pic.twitter.com/PwRNnvnT7D
— Kahmeterbay (@kahmeterbay) December 22, 2021
Our new economic model: EME (Eyes are the mirror of the economy).
The Minister, appointed December 2021, is a President Erdoğan loyalist who does not have an economics degree. Turkey’s former minister of finance was President Erdoğan’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak who resigned unexpectedly in November 2020 after his father-in-law sacked the then-governor of Central Bank Murat Uysal.
Albayrak’s resignation followed “a fresh bout of turmoil for the Turkish lira,” with Central Bank spending “tens of billions of dollars of its foreign currency reserves” in an attempt to defend the lira.
Replacing Albayrak was Lutfi Elvan but he resigned earlier this month amid the currency crisis. Nebati, was deputy minister of treasury and finance and is now the third finance minister appointed since Albayrak’s resignation last year.
The new minister seems to have chosen a different path. Relying on fear as well as the twinkle in his eyes.
On December 25, speaking to AKP municipality heads at a meeting, the Minister alluded to consequences for those who refuse to comply with the new policies. Others have reported police security forces going around grocery stores enforcing price reductions.
Security forces going around shops and supermarkets in the Ankara district of Polatlı and telling staff which prices are too high and need to be lowered. https://t.co/6nX08kH5jK
— Ankaralı Jan (@06JAnk) December 25, 2021
In a letter addressing the Finance Minister, one factory worker wrote that the twinkle in the eyes of the newly appointed minister comes at the people’s expense:
O ışığı biz de işçiler olarak gördük ama sorun şudur ki o ışık bizim gözlerimizden çaldığınız ışıktır. Geleceği ile oynadığınız gençlerin, düşük maaş ile 1 ay geçinmeye çalışan emeklilerin ve işsiz bıraktığınız bir sürü insanın gözlerinden çaldığınız ışıktır. O ışığı aynı zamanda memleketteki bütün patronlarda görüyoruz.
We saw that twinkle as workers too but the problem is that the twinkle was stolen from us. That twinkle belongs to the youth whose futures you have been playing with, retirees struggling to make it to the end of the month due to low salaries, and scores of unemployed you have left behind. We see that twinkle in the eyes of all the bosses in this country.
The president’s latest intervention centers around suppressing the “retail investor demand for dollars. If the lira’s decline against hard currencies exceed banks’ interest rates, the government will pay holders of lira deposits the differential.”
“You receive the current deposit rate and on top of that you can get the differential, so that’s an incentive for foreign currency holders to switch into lira,” explained Emre Akcakmak, managing director of Greenwest Consultancy in Dubai in an interview with The Economist. But Akcakmak warned that the incentive “is not sustainable, because the burden on the treasury will grow as long as this is in place.”
The intervention announcement worked for now. The Turkish lira gained some of its lost value, “moving from 18.36 to as low as 11.11 against the dollar.”
Some analysts suspect that the sweeping decline in exchange rates in Turkey was triggered after the government spent over USD 100 billion of the central bank’s reserves to prevent the lira from depreciating — something the ruling government denied. Though the government claims to have not intervened in the most recent dip, “the fall of $5.9 billion probably signals a backdoor intervention similar to operations carried out over two years from October 2018, when state lenders sold dollars to support the local currency,” reported Bloomberg.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “the bank has limited ammunition to engineer a full-scale recovery in the lira without a change in policy from Mr. Erdogan, who has tried to fight soaring inflation with cuts in interest rates—a course most economists say will make the problem worse.”
Speaking to WSJ, Timothy Ash, an emerging-market strategist at BlueBay Asset Management said, “We’ve reached a point that they recognize we’re on the brink of a systemic problem and if they can’t raise rates, they use foreign currency intervention.”
Dostlarım desteğiniz için teşekkür ederim. Birazdan “gelecek” hakkında yapacağım konuşma başlayacak.
Ayrıntı bilmiyorum. Ama bunun benim korkutması, yıldırması mümkün değil.
Halkıma gerçekleri söylemek hem vatandaşlık, hem insanlık, hem mesleki sorumluluğum.
— Emin Çapa (@ecapa_aklinizi) December 27, 2021
Friends, thank you for your support. I am going to speak shortly. I am not aware of all the details. But this won't frighten or deter me. It is my responsibility as a citizen, human and a professional to continue telling my people about the reality.


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North Macedonia’s Zoran Zaev, the prime minister who ‘has done the most to serve his country’ · Global Voices
Andreja Stojkovski

Zoran Zaev leaving the official building of the government of the Republic of North Macedonia. Photo by Government of Republic of North Macedonia, Public Domain.
After having announced his decision on October 31, Zoran Zaev submitted his resignation as North Macedonia’s prime minister on December 22, thus triggering the constitutional procedures for the resignation of the prime minister and government, and assignment of the mandate to form a new government. A day later, the parliament confirmed his resignation at a plenary session.
In the text of his resignation published on the government website, Zaev noted he undertook this “logical step” as a way to “accept responsibility” for his party's poor results at the local elections in October. He also resigned as leader of the ruling party, announcing his retirement from politics. After Zaev's resignation, President Stevo Pendarovski gave the mandate to the new representative of the established parliamentary majority to form a government.
While we are looking at the constitutional procedures and assessing the leadership of Zoran Zaev, it is worthwhile mentioning that he is the first prime minister in the history of North Macedonia to resign while his party was still in power (Actually, Branko Crvenkovski, another Social Democrat, resigned as party leader and prime minister in 2004, but this was to allow him to seek election as president of the country.)
Zaev was a very interesting politician and one who had attracted the public eye. He was first elected as party leader eight years ago as a part of a team. He was the candidate for leader, while the current minister of defense, Radmila Šekerinska, was the candidate to be his deputy. The duo led the party during the political crisis of the wiretapping revelations, the negotiations of the Przhino Accords and the early parliamentary elections in 2016. Zaev's election promises were to restore democracy and freedom, bring the country into NATO and the EU, and improve the quality of life of its people.
Nikola Gruevski and his VMRO-DPMNE had a strong hold on the government and institutions; it was an authoritarian regime that the European Commission described as a captured state. For every citizen who had lived a day in such fear, or the nearly 20,000 whose phones were wiretapped, bringing back democracy and freedom was of utmost importance. On this, his primary promise to make North Macedonia more democratic and freer, he delivered the most.
After it became clear, in January 2017, that Gruevski was unable to form a  government, his party orchestrated persecution against civil society and activists, with a long list for “execution” containing up to 170 most prominent political and civic leaders and opinion-makers. He disallowed any transfer of power and supported the storming of parliament on April 27, 2017. The angry mob attacked and beat scores of people, effectively making Zaev pay with his own blood to be elected as prime minister.
Having witnessed how Gruevski used ethnic tensions to raise the fear of ethnic Macedonians, Zaev realized that this fear could only be decreased with further unification in society and if the country’s safety and security were guaranteed. The best guarantee for that was unification under the same goals as NATO and EU Accession, and genuine inter-ethnic integration, which led to the new government policy of “One Society for All.” He further supported this by speaking to all citizens and ethnic groups, presenting candidates for mayors in traditionally Albanian municipalities, while promoting politicians, Social Democrats, representing minority ethnic groups to high posts in the party and in the government. It was in many aspects a pioneering approach for North Macedonia and showed Zaev's ability to see the bigger picture.
His political instinct as opposition leader to establish friendships and build alliances was successfully transformed into a vision to which he dedicated his first three years as prime minister, resolving the open issues of the country. It was lucky for him that this vision was met halfway by former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. The Prespa Accord was an effective resolution of the name issue with Greece, but it was also the foundation for North Macedonia to accede to NATO and fulfill one of its national priorities almost three decades after its independence.
Zaev's first attempt at friendship building was with Bulgaria and produced the treaty on friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation, which he signed with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov on August 1, 2017. The Friendship Agreement speeded up the strengthening of bilateral relations in the period from the signing of the agreement until mid-2019 and facilitated trade, but it has yet to bear fruit, as Bulgaria is currently blocking the EU Accession of North Macedonia.
One final attempt at friendship building was tied to his faith and religious background. As a “true child” of the unrecognized Macedonian Orthodox Church, Zaev made approaches to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and visited with him, building rapport and laying the groundwork for recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Although it was another pioneering approach, it will not be easy to bear fruit.
The NATO Accession of North Macedonia was a record-breaker in many ways. After finally acceding to NATO, it took the country only 18 months to be fully integrated within the alliance. It was a success of the government, but one for which Zaev had to thank Radmila Šekerinska, as this fell under her portfolio as deputy prime minister and minister of defense. Zaev recognized Šekerinska as the minister who served the country the most during his five years as prime minister.
Zaev’s Social Democrat government worked to reverse many of the restrictive policies from Gruevski’s regime, including the policies on abortion and women’s rights. Since introducing a woman deputy-president of the party, with Šekerinska, and co-leaders (men and women) for the electoral lists in 2020, there has been a lot of advancement in that area. There’s still much that could be done on women’s rights. However, in a traditional society, very much closed to many of the contemporary values of a liberal democracy, small steps are probably a good approach.
During Zaev's tenure, there was also an improvement in workers’ rights with the minimum wage being doubled, and from January 2022, Sunday set as a day of rest.
Zoran Zaev presiding over the government session of Dec 22, 2021. Photo by Government of Republic of North Macedonia, Public Domain.
It would be fair to say that Zaev was not immune to scandals. There were many that tainted the party and, in turn, the government. They included the so-called Racket case, the National Agency on European Educational and Mobility Programs, the Rashkovski case, but he himself, the party and the government managed to effectively disassociate from those investigated or indicted, thus ending the impunity of party officials that Gruevski established.
Finally, proof of how free the society is, is the way critics of the government are treated as opposed to during the time of Gruevski. Throughout Zaev's mandate as prime minister, there had been many occasions when certain appointments led to significant criticism in the public. For example, the appointment of Darko Leshoski as director of the celebrated Struga Poetry Evenings Festival, or the consideration of musician Beni Shaqiri for director of the Youth Cultural Center in Skopje. The public criticism was at points considered as a correction mechanism and made him, the government, and other elected officials from his party, retract those decisions. This was a new and totally unknown approach compared to the period of Gruevski.
While Zaev considered his government's responsiveness to public demands a good thing and a sign of increased democracy, it nevertheless caused damage to the party's and government's image. Those who were replaced were angry and vengeful, while when other appointments were not retracted, the citizens were left disappointed. For instance, at the October local elections, former ally Shaqiri ran for mayor of the capital, Skopje, against the Social Democrat candidate, dissipating the support among liberal-minded voters and voters from non-majority ethnic communities, and contributing to the victory of a candidate supported by far-right opposition parties.
In conclusion, his contribution to the development of the modern state, its democratic transition, the anchoring of North Macedonia and its foreign policy with western liberal democracies puts Zoran Zaev in the rank of contemporary Macedonian visionary leaders, such as former Presidents Kiro Gligorov and Boris Trajkovski.

author: Andreja Stojkovski


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A pit bull attack on a four year old sparks debate about stray animals in Turkey · Global Voices
Doga Celik

Picture from Pixabay. A stray dog behind fences.
The story of a 4-year-old girl who was attacked by two off-leash pit bulls in Turkey’s Gaziantep province on December 22 shocked many in the country, prompting calls for the owner of the two dogs to carry the harshest of punishments. But citizens were even more surprised when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan weighed in on the issue a few days later, further stirring the controversy. Speaking on December 25 in Ankara, the president called on all city municipalities across the country to round up stray dogs and send them to shelters. The president also demanded that pet owners whom he called “white Turks” — a term used to identify individuals who are secular, Western, and mostly leftist — mind their pets.
Many pet owners took their frustrations to social media platforms, berating the president for his words.
Bu tatlı beyaz tavşan beni Beyaz Türk yapar mı 🐰🐇#beyazturkler pic.twitter.com/R5d9b04i76
— Melike Tırpan (@Meliketirpan) December 27, 2021
Will this sweet white rabbit make me a White Turks?
Sokakta yaşıyor diye hayvanları ölüme yollayamazsınız.#beyazturkler pic.twitter.com/1ioI5qVhbu
— Yunus BÜLBÜL (@yunusbulbul1) December 27, 2021
Just because they live on the streets, you cannot sentence the animals to death.
Yaklaşık 1 yıldır köpekle yaşayan bir aileyiz. İnanır mısınız, sıranın bize geleceği aklıma gelmişti. Ekteki çocuğun adı şeker. 1,5 yaşında. Bizi Beyaz Türk yaptığının farkında değil. Biz de bu kabusu unutabiliriz umarım. pic.twitter.com/JZcXOMI8OL
— Ozan Gündoğdu (@ozngndgdu) December 25, 2021
We are a family who has lived with a dog for about a year now. Would you believe it if I told you I suspected that next line is going to be us. The kid in the picture is named Sugar. 1.5 years old. He is not aware that he has made us White Turks. And we hope that some day we will be able to forget this nightmare.
Writing for The Independent, journalist Borzou Daragahi wrote, “after framing dog ownership as a signifier of cultural identity, Mr. Erdoğan has now avowedly embraced an anti-canine platform, and pro-government media outlets have followed his lead, calling for the clearing out of strays.” After Erdoğan spoke in Ankara, many municipalities started collecting stray dogs from the streets.
The public outcry was swift, especially because the pit bulls who brutally attacked the girl had an owner and were not strays. Only a handful of shelters in Turkey provide adequate services to stray dogs.
“Although Erdoğan deemed shelters’ clean and safe environments,’ this is almost never the case. Pictures and videos frequently shared by animal rights activists reveal the abhorrent conditions animals are forced to live in. In many cases, animals die of hunger and diseases in tiny and filthy cages, while at other times municipality employees kill them as soon as they collect them from the streets,” reported Gazete Duvar.
In an interview with The Independent, Mine Vural, an animal rights activist and veterinary technician in Istanbul, said, “in general in Turkey, shelters are trauma and death camps for animals.”
Others, like the lawyer Hacer Gizem Karataş from the Animal Rights Watch Committee (HAKİM), said sending strays to shelters effectively means slaughter.
erdoğan’ın emri ile köpekler toplanılıyor. nereye götürülüyorlar, nasıl yaşayacaklar belli değil. barınak dedikleri şey hayali, yok öyle bir altyapı 7 milyon köpek için. bu da sabah parkta köpekler uyurken onları toplamaya gelenler. ayaklanmak şart! #SokakHayvanlarıSahipsizDeğil pic.twitter.com/pUvLRMcY86
— tugce madayanti dizici (@madayantii) December 25, 2021
With Erdogan's order, dogs are being collected. It is unknown where they are taking them, in what conditions they are going to live. There is no infrastructure to care for some 7 million strays, what they are calling shelters, is imaginary. These are the people who came to collect strays this morning who were sleeping at the parl. We must rise.
Turkey adopted its first animal-protection bill in 2004. At the time, it legitimized the catch, neuter, vaccinate, return (CNVR) method. The bill banned the killing of free-range dogs unless “in cases specified in Animal Health and Inspection Act 3285.” Euthanasia was forbidden unless dogs suffered from “incurable diseases and conditions such as terminal illness.”
Local municipalities were tasked with caring for street dogs taking them to community-managed shelters where dogs were neutered, vaccinated, rehabilitated, and implanted with a digital chip on their ears, giving them an identification number for tracking.
In 2012, the ruling Justice and Development Party proposed legislation “to remove stray animals from the streets and place them in sanctuaries outside towns and cities.” The bill was tabled after mass protests. For many, the proposed legal document was reminiscent of 1910 policies when  Sultan Mehmed V sent thousands of stray dogs from Istanbul to a nearby island to starve to death in an effort to “westernize” the city just before the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
In 2018, after securing a victory in the presidential election, Erdoğan vowed to bolster animal protection laws. Finally, in 2021, the Turkish parliament approved a new bill on animal rights. The law banned the sale of all cats and dogs at pet shops, classifying them as “living beings” rather than commodities, and made animal abuse punishable by up to four years in prison. Under the new act, pit bull terriers, Tosas, and other dog breeds considered dangerous were banned from being bred and sold. Those found guilty of violating the act would be subject to fines. The act also required pet owners to register their pets with digital IDs. On December 7, 2021, the animal protection bill was amended, requiring owners of breeds classified as “dangerous” to sterilize and register them with authorities before January 14, 2022, reported Daily Sabah.
Meanwhile, the campaign calling to protect the street animals — #SokakHayvanlarıSahipsizDeğil (#StreetAnimalsAreNotUnclaimed) — continues to gain support. It’s normal in Turkey to see people caring for street animals by feeding them and building them homes on the streets. Some of these street animals have their own statues, while others have turned into popular mascots for local municipalities. And there are at least two documentary films, “Kedi” and “Stray,” portraying the lives of street animals in the country.

author: Doga Celik


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Independent Hong Kong news outlet Citizen News announces shut down · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Citizen media's news team. Image from Hong Kong Citizen media. Used with permission.
The following report was published in Hong Kong Free Press on January 3, 2022. It is republished on Global Voices via a content partnership agreement.
Hong Kong independent media outlet Citizen News announced on January 2, that they will halt operations on January 4 after five years.
The decision was made after more than 200 Hong Kong national security police officers raided the pro-democracy news agency Stand News on December 29, and accused the outlet of conspiracy to distribute seditious content. After police arrested six former and current Stand News directors and staff members, froze its assets, and confiscated its computers, Stand News took down its website and announced it would shut down its operation.
Citizen News’ website will cease to be updated and it will close “after a period of time,” the non-profit outlet said in a statement.
We announced with a heavy heart that CitizenNews will cease operation starting from Jan 4 (Tue).
To our subscribers and readers, we sincerely thank you for your support. We shall always treasure this incredible journey in the past five years. pic.twitter.com/32nSlQFAZR
— 眾新聞 CitizenNews (@hkcnews_com) January 2, 2022
The Citizen News team stressed the decision was made out of security concerns:
… [we have] never forgotten our initial intention, but regrettably, the drastic changes in society and the worsening of the media environment in the past two years has made it that we can no longer fulfil our ideals without any worry…in the eye of the wind, this small boat’s situation is severe under high winds and waves… In times of crisis, we must first ensure that everyone on the boat can be safe and secure.
Citizen News was launched in 2017 with support from a crowdfunding campaign. It continued to operate through reader subscriptions and donations. Last March, it set up a Chinese news division following a mass exodus from iCable News in December 2020. Ten former iCable journalists, including the head of the award-winning Chinese investigative news team, Szeto Yuen, joined the online media outlet.
Last October, the Security Bureau claimed that the outlet had “misled its readers” in stating that the security chief had refused to guarantee free speech in light of looming security legislation.
Citizen News was established by a group of veteran journalists and became an influential online news outlet after five years of professional journalistic practice:
[We] still remember that on New Year’s Day in 2017, Citizen News was launched…During the press conference, many ‘veterans’ in media said that they were concerned about the situation with press freedom in Hong Kong, and hoped that Citizen News could continue the legacy of professional spirit of journalism, returning to the original intention of journalism, serving the public and for the public interest.
The closure of Citizen News and Stand News leaves inmediahk.net as the oldest Chinese-language independent digital news outlet currently running in Hong Kong.
HKFP has reached out to the Security Bureau for comment.
In response to HKFP’s inquiries, Reporters Without Borders East Asia bureau chief Cédric Alviani said that press freedom was under fire:
After Apple Daily and Stand News, Citizen News is the third independent media outlet to fall victim to the intimidation and police harassment campaign led by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, whose goal seems to be a total suppression of press freedom on the territory.
The city’s press union and foreign press club have both voiced serious concerns over the state of the city’s press freedoms since Apple Daily’s closure. A survey conducted among reporters last month found almost half of the 100 respondents were considering or had plans to leave the city due to worsening working conditions. Beijing deemed the survey to be an “interference.”

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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New colonization in Russia’s Arctic threatens indigenous rights · Global Voices
Transitions Online

Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia, September 2009. Photo by Tatiana Bashinskaya, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
This article by Tatiana Britskaya was originally published by Novaya Gazeta and appeared on Transitions Online on December 13, 2021. It is republished as part of a content-sharing partnership and has been edited to fit the GV style.
One hundred and sixteen international organizations and dozens of individuals have signed an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, demanding that they call off repressive measures against those who defend indigenous peoples. The letter was prompted by the recent detention in Murmansk Oblast of Andrei Danilov, director of the Sami Heritage and Development Fund. His case is not unique. On the contrary, pressure is growing on indigenous activists from Russia’s north, Siberia, and far east, even though the groups are almost totally uninvolved in politics in the literal sense. Their concerns are more down-to-earth: the survival of their small populations, with their pressing problems.
Against a background of repression of political activists, persecution of the independent press, and the search for extremists among students and selfie enthusiasts, it seems completely absurd to be exerting pressure on indigenous people. What was the real reason for the Yamal police’s claim that a get-together of reindeer-herders in the tundra constituted a “rally” (which was the charge in the case of activist Eiko Serotetto)? Eventually, it was not deemed a rally, but soon afterwards Eiko was charged with assault, a fight he did not start, and he was sentenced to three months of restricted movement.
And what was the harm or hindrance to the government done by Yana Tannagasheva, a native of the Kuzbas (southwestern Siberia), fighting to preserve the Shor people’s ancient settlement of Kazas? Her father’s house was burned down and she herself has been forced into exile. The settlement of Kazas is no more.
Or perhaps there is some threat to the country from Andrei Danilov, whose entire activity comes down to one simple proposition – that the laws passed in Russia must be upheld. The Constitutional Court itself has apparently acknowledged his right, in confirming that the activist seeks the application of the laws of the Russian Federation. However, shortly afterwards, he was detained and held in a cell, where he received a visit from a man in civilian dress, who told the Sámi man how hard things could be for anyone close to such overly active citizens.
Then the Monchegorsk city court sentenced Danilov to five days’ detention for refusing a search without witnesses. In the decision, the judge cited a law which allows police to carry out searches of individuals’ belongings at public gatherings, although when the police officer was questioned, [his explanation was] completely in line with Danilov’s testimony.
When Arsenty Nikolaev of the Evenks, a member of the Yakutsk parliament and head of a village association, recently died after a year of house arrest, the news was announced by officials from the gold-mining company which had built a road through the community’s land. Nikolaev had allegedly pressured the company to use the services of Evenk transport companies. Although arbitration found that the mining company had acted voluntarily, the criminal case against Nikolaev was not dropped.
Stepan Petrov from Yakutia (also known as Sakha) is a “foreign agent” twice over, having been entered into the “register of mass-media organizations carrying out the role of foreign agents.” Russian communications and internet regulator Roskomnadzor also charged Petrov with not displaying the “foreign agent” tag on 14 Facebook posts. In desperation, Petrov appealed to Mark Zuckerberg to help Russia’s “foreign agents” by writing an algorithm to automatically tag their publications.
This is the second wave of repression against indigenous peoples in Russia's history. The first happened during the years of industrialization, when the Soviets colonized the Arctic and Siberia, subordinating them to the needs of the country. Cut off at the knees, reindeer herders were simply resettled in reservations, while those who rebelled were sent to the Levashovo Wasteland, now a memorial site. This was how it happened in Murmansk Oblast, where the map of Sámi cemeteries shows that the native people were squeezed into the center of the Kola peninsula.
At the time of the Great Terror political purges in 1936-1938, 125 of the 2,000 Kola Sámi were arrested by Soviet authorities and the majority of them shot; 55 were sent to the Gulag. Only five survived. Those arrested included almost all of the Sámi intelligentsia and the creator of the first Sámi primer. Few in number, the Sámi submitted meekly.
Meanwhile, the Nenets people of the Yamal peninsula rose up, in a movement they called the Mandalada, outright refusing to surrender their reindeer to the state. Being left in the tundra without reindeer is equivalent to death. A 10-year sentence in a prison camp was meted out on the same day as the trial, without any investigation. Interestingly, the first Mandalada was relatively successful, and its leaders even held direct talks with the government. They issued an ultimatum: re-establish the rights of the shamans, equality between the kulaks (wealthier peasants who owned land) and the poor, abolition of food-supply restrictions, and almost total elimination of Soviet power in the Yamal. As a result, the Mandalada itself was liquidated, without bloodshed. The second uprising, in the 1940s, was savagely repressed.
The Dolgan people, living in the north of the present-day Krasnoyarsk region, also revolted against the division between the kulaks and the poor. Here is an extract from a letter of appeal by the leaders of the 1932 Taimyr uprising:
Acknowledging Soviet power as the power of the working people, and in no way striving to overthrow it, we, the natives of the Taimyr national district, from the very foundation of [the Soviet state] began to experience the burden of taxes and unprecedented pressure by the local authorities. The reconstruction of our economy on socialist lines began at the speed of central parts of the Union, without any consideration of the specific conditions of the north. The imposition of taxes, payments, strict fur quotas exceeding our real ability, incorrect definition of class structure, patrols by armed [ethnic] Russians, and the local authorities exceeding national policy in various ways among the local population, have led to complete fury.
The uprising on the Taimyr peninsula was swept away by rifle fire from a detachment of the NKVD (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs), Soviet Russia's interior ministry.
Reading about the colonization of the north in the 1930s, it is impossible not to draw parallels with today. Simple and completely reasonable requests – not even demands, in the beginning – from the indigenous inhabitants were repulsed with disproportionate brutality. Meanwhile, decisions taken by the authorities bore the stamp of vicious ignorance – almost illiteracy – about the local lands and peoples. It was they who pushed the northern tribes to the edge of survival, and it was they who sparked protest.
Almost a hundred years later, we are again colonizing the Arctic. It is never off the agenda of the news agencies; it is a constant refrain in official speeches. For 21st-century Russia, the Arctic has become the same cherished goal as space was for the Soviet Union – though without the romantic flair. The Arctic is oil, gas, platinum! The Arctic is a weapon. It is power. Colonization is proceeding at full speed, and no less brutally than a century ago.
There is, however, a difference. If the first colonization of the Arctic was carried out in the interests of the state, then the current colonization, with all its geopolitical considerations, promises colossal riches for private-sector corporations. The Arctic is money. This time, the state machine does not serve the idea of universal happiness; it serves private-sector interests.
It is the Arctic agenda which Rodion Sulyandziga thinks underlies this wave of repression against indigenous peoples. He used to head the largest non-profit organization focused on the problems of the Arctic, the Center for Support of Indigenous Peoples of the North (CSIPN), until it was shut down by the Moscow city court on a formality in 2019. The organization had previously succeeded in removing itself from the register of “foreign agents,” but final victory went to the machinery of repression. Sulyandziga is convinced that the persecution of indigenous people is connected with Arctic issues:
For Russia, the Arctic is a matter of development, balancing the budget, gaining access to resources. Native peoples are in no way opposed to the country’s economic development. But a balance is needed between the interests of business and the rights of indigenous peoples. Business requires colossal territory – but land is [also] required by reindeer-herders, for example. The state should be the guarantor of that balance, and the guarantor of rule of law in this sphere. Yet instead the state simply gives business the green light. Anyone who opposes it comes under pressure from the authorities.
“Being deemed a ‘foreign agent,’ or mad, or a criminal – this is what awaits an activist in Russia,” is Andrei Danilov’s gloomy summing up, as he prepares for a fresh court battle with local officials who are unwilling to accept the Constitutional Court’s ruling without a fight. On the same day, he will again be on trial for “disobeying the police” as he attempts to appeal in the regional court against his already-served detention. His Facebook status reads: “We must speak even when there is no hope,” a quote from a film about the Sámi’s anti-colonial uprising in Norway. The uprising was brutally put down. However, the Sami achieved equal rights – after 200 years. And now no one can set foot in the Norwegian Arctic without their permission.
The Sámi of Russia also consider themselves the guardians of the north. They have never had property rights in their lands. Securing a portion of the tundra or of a lake for a family did not mean a right of use, but an obligation to protect and enhance this small piece of the Arctic. And it would not be a bad idea for us to learn from them.

author: Transitions Online


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Google removes YouTube ads featuring interrogations of Belarusian political prisoners · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Photo by StockSnap on Pixabay, Pixabay License.
Google and YouTube have reportedly removed controversial video ads featuring scenes of interrogation of Belarusian political prisoners promoted by pro-government Belarusian YouTube channels.
The ads were first spotted in May 2021 by Belarusian and international journalists and activists. Tadeusz Giczan, Belarusian journalist and researcher, posted about the find on Twitter:
Fun fact: for almost a year Belarusian state news agency BelTA has been using hostage videos like the one with Roman Protasevich as paid ads on YouTube with links to their network of pro-govt telegram channels. We tried everything but YouTube says there’s nothing wrong about it. pic.twitter.com/suFn3ISdPi
— Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) May 25, 2021
The short videos feature opposition members and independent journalists imprisoned by the Lukashenka regime in what look like forced confessions. The ads were used to promote the pro-government news outlet BelTA and link to longer videos published by the YouTube channel “Belarus – a country for life”, linked to the state's network of  Telegram channels, according to an EUvsDisinfo investigation.  Those appearing in the video ads include Raman Pratasevich, independent journalist and one-time administrator of NEXTA Live Telegram channel, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega who were arrested after Belarus forcibly grounded a Ryanair plane back in May 2021.
Belarus has previously used forced confession videos to discredit dissidents, including exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. In August 2020, shortly after the start of the anti-government protests in the country following a falsified election, the state published a video of Tsikhanouskaya telling her supporters “not to risk their lives” and not to join mass protests. Tsikhanouskaya left Belarus shortly after and has been campaigning for the release of all political prisoners.
Human rights groups have condemned the promoted forced confession videos, with activists pointing out they were against Google and YouTube's platform policies and also violated the UN Convention against Torture. According to some of the detainees who have subsequently been released, state security services have employed torture, physical and psychological violence to obtain the recorded testimonies.
Back in May 2021, a Google spokesperson told Rest of World that the company “identified both of the ads (featuring Pratasevich and Sapega – GV) and took action against them according to its inappropriate content policy”. YouTube's Advertising Policies explicitly forbid ads that “single out someone for abuse or harassment; content that suggests a tragic event did not happen, or that victims or their families are actors, or complicit in a cover-up of the event”. The platform's community guidelines also prohibit discriminatory speech, exploitation, harassment, and content promoting violent, dangerous or illegal behaviour.
However, the Belarusian pro-government channels have since continued to publish similar YouTube video ads containing forced confessions of other political prisoners and pro-government propaganda.
On December 21, 2021 opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya, acting on behalf of the opposition's Coordination Council and the families of those detained, sent an open letter to Google's CEO Sundar Pichai requesting that Google and YouTube remove the offending videos, block the placement of similar advertisements in the future, and to restrict access to the service for persons responsible for the content.
On January 3 of this year, Tikhanovskaya reported that she received a response from Karan Bhatia, Google's VP of Government Affairs and Public Policy.
Following my letter, @Google removed the ads with interrogations of polit. prisoners. By the response letter, the accounts running those ads are now restricted. The videos of forced testimonies violate the UN Convention against Torture. Thank you @Google for standing by Belarus. pic.twitter.com/qJITO19o2z
— Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) January 3, 2022
In the letter, Bhatia said that Google had removed the ads flagged for “violation of our policies” and had “restricted the responsible ad accounts from serving any more ads”. The platform also confirmed that any new ads linking to restricted videos or landing pages would “not appear on” YouTube.
According to human rights organisation Viasna 96, there are currently 968 individuals classified as political prisoners in Belarus, and this number continues to grow. Most of those jailed or detained were targeted by politically motivated criminal prosecution in connection with the ongoing turmoil following the presidential election and mass protests of August 2020. Several of the high-profile political prisoners, including blogger and journalist Ihar Losik and Syarhey Tsikhanouski, former presidential candidate and Tsikhanouskaya's husband, have recently been handed lengthy prison terms.

author: Tanya Lokot