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Furious Customers in Mali Call for a Boycott of Telecom Giant Orange · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

100megaMali's campaign poster (the association participates in the boycott), published with their permission
The Malian blogosphere has been buzzing recently. Why? Because users of French multinational Orange's mobile phone services are unhappy. They decided to organize a boycott of the company, which serves 16 African countries, on 1 December 2015.
On one of the Facebook pages created to promote the boycott, which has about 15,000 fans, Meritocratie Malienne explained why people are miffed by comparing Malian phone tarifs with those in Senegal and Niger, two neighbouring countries that use the same currency, the CFA Franc (1 British pound is roughly about 934 CFA francs, while 1 US dollar is about 619 CFA Francs):
Boycott ORANGE Mali
Pourquoi c'est important ?
Orange Mali comptait 8 000 000 d'abonnés en avril 2013 et 12 800 000 abonnés en 2014, filiale de France Telecom, un géant de la téléphonie mobile à l'échelle mondiale qui couvre plusieurs pays en leur offrant une connexion internet acceptable voire bonne à des tarifs très raisonnables.Il se trouve que le Mali est l'un des plus gros consommateurs du groupe Orange, il devrait donc bénéficier de plus de considération pourtant, hélas… PARADOXE: c'est seulement au Mali que la connexion internet 3G+ dite haut débit est nulle et trop chère, et cela même avec la fibre optique. Jugez par vous même :  Au Sénégal 500 MO offerts à 2000 Fcfa avec un haut débit.- Au Niger, 500 MO offerts à 500 Fcfa avec un débit performant.- Au Mali, c'est la galère, 500 MO offerts à 4700 Fcfa avec un débit médiocre le plus souvent instable. Voilà l'arnaque, une arnaque qu'on dénonce et à laquelle on doit mettre fin … Il n’ y a pas que Orange qui fournit la connexion au Mali…
Boycott ORANGE Mali
Why is it important?
Orange Mali had 8 million subscribers in April 2013 and 12.8 million in 2014. It is a subsidiary of France Telecom, a global mobile telecommunications giant which provides several countries with an acceptable, or even good, Internet connection at very reasonable prices. Mali is one of the Orange group's biggest markets, so it should benefit from more consideration. Alas, however, there is a PARADOX: it is only in Mali that the so-called high bandwidth 3G+ Internet connection does not work and is too expensive. It is the same with fibre-optic connections. Judge for yourself: In Senegal, 500Mb costs 2000 CFA Francs, with a high bandwidth. In Niger 500MB costs 500 CFA francs with a good performance. In Mali, it's a nightmare, 500MB costs 4,700 CFA francs with a mediocre bandwidth that often cuts out. It's a rip-off, a con that we must denounce and stop. Orange is not the only Internet service provider in Mali.
Another Facebook page, Boycott Orange Mali, which has 1,251 members, expressed outrage:
Zéro appel 📞, zéro sms, zéro connexion internet pendant la journée du 1er décembre 2015. Tels sont les objectifs visés pour cette journée de boycott. Orange nous arnaque depuis des années, il y'a un moment, Orange se permettait de débiter du crédit initial du client sans aviser, lorsque le forfait internet de ce dernier s'était épuisé et en raison de 1f/1ko. Imaginez combien coûtait 1mo en ce moment. Stop maintenant trop c'est trop…#boycottorangemali#stopauxarnaques (stop the swindle) #libreauxclientsdeseplaindre (customers are free to complain)
No calls 📞, no text messages, no going online on 1 December 2015. This is the aim of this one-day boycott. Orange has been ripping us off for years. A while ago Orange decided, without warning, to debit customers accounts to the tune of 1 franc per kilobyte if they exceeded their Internet allowance. Just think what 1MB was costing. Enough is enough. It must stop. #boycottorangemali#stopauxarnaques (stop the swindle) #libreauxclientsdeseplaindre (customers are free to complain)
For Orange customer Bak Doum, who commented on the same page, supplier Malitel also deserves to be boycotted:
It's not just Orange, we must also boycott Malitel for its misdeeds. I suggest that we organize a march one Sunday with banners denouncing the dirty tricks of both our phone networks. This march should take place in all the major town in Mali. We must not limit ourselves to a boycott on social media, but get out on the streets.
On a third Facebook page, which has 20,688 fans, customer Aboubacrine Assadeck N'diaye warned that at the beginning of December the French multinational may well launch offers aimed at sabotaging the initiative of its disgruntled customers:
Camarades,
bientôt la fin du mois et #Dérange, pour Boycotter le Boycott qu'on a prévu pour eux … Va certainement lancer des mégas Bonus pour vous détourner et corrompre votre esprit.
Ne cédez surtout pas, on n'a nul besoin de foutus Bonus, ce ne sont pas des Bonus qui nous arrêterons.
Si vous voyez dans les MSG de #DÉRANGE quoi que ce soit à part : Orange vous informe que les tarifs ont été revu à la baisse … BOYCOTT DIRECT, Ne prenez même pas la peine de lire la suite.
Le mot d'ordre est toujours #BOYCOTT_LE_1er_DEC Restez forts !
Dieu Bénisse le Mali.
Friends, it will soon be the end of the month and #Dérange (Disturb !) to boycott the boycott that we have planned for them… They will surely launch huge special offers to distract and bribe us. What ever you do, don't give in. We do not need damned special offers, it is not special offers that will stop us. If #DÉRANGE (Disturb !) posts anything other than: Orange announces that tarifs have been revised downwards, then take direct action and BOYCOTT them. Don't even bother to read on. The rallying cry is still BOYCOTT 1 DECEMBER Stay strong! May God bless Mali.
Mouna Koutam explained what ‘boycott’ means and what everyone needs to do to join in with this citizen action:
Le 01 décembre 2015 a été choisi par : #Stop_Aux_Arnaques_d’Orange_Mali, comme la journée de boycott d'Orange Mali;
On va d'abord expliquer le boycottage:
Boycotter: est le refus, volontaire, libre de consommer des produits ou services d'une entreprise. #Orange_Mali est un réseau opérateur de services. À cet effet, boycotter Orange Mali le 01 décembre 2015, consiste à faire quoi?
– Ne pas acheter de crédit;
– Ne pas consommer les forfaits internet;
– Ne pas faire d'appel à partir d'un numéro Orange Mali;
– Ne pas utiliser les services Orange Money;
Pendant cette journée, il est demandé de cesser toute activité à travers #Orange_Mali.
C'est simple, si ce boycott est respecté à la lettre, Orange Mali, ferra une révision totale de ses services destinés à la population malienne.
#StopAuxArnaquesDeOrangeMali
1 December 2015 has been chosen by #Stop_Aux_Arnaques_d’Orange_Mali (Stop Orange Mali's Swindle) as a one-day boycott of Orange Mali.
First of all, let's explain what a boycott is:
A boycott is the voluntary refusal to use the services or products of a company. #Orange_Mali is a network service provider. So what does it mean to boycott Orange Mali on 1 December 2015?
– Do not purchase credit;
– Do not use your Internet allowance;
– Do not make calls from an Orange Mali number;
– Do not use Orange Money services;  You are asked to stop using all #Orange_Mali services for the day. It is simple, if this boycott is observed to the letter, Orange Mali will make wholesale changes to the services it provides to the Malian population.
#StopAuxArnaquesDeOrangeMali (Stop Orange Mali's Swindle)
The prices and quality of the services provided by Orange are causing anger in many African countries, as well. For example, in Senegal the news website lignedirecte.sn says:
Après une première “journée boycott Orange” très réussie avec des milliers de participants qui ont, en l’espace d’une journée, protesté contre l’opérateur mobile et dénoncé un service basé sur “l’arnaque”, une deuxième “journée boycott orange” est célébrée le 12 novembre 2015.  En effet, des clients Orange Sénégal se sont rassemblés depuis 2012 sur les réseaux sociaux, pour créer des espaces de discussion et dénoncer le “mauvais service” de l’opérateur. Sur Facebook par exemple, nombreuses sont les pages créées à cet effet, dont la plus célèbre titrée “Si Toi Aussi Tu Te Sens Arnaqué Par Orange“, qui compte 45 mille membres environ.
After the first very successful “boycott Orange day”, when in one day thousands protested against the mobile phone operator and denounced a service based “on a con”, a second “boycott Orange day” took place on 12 November 2015. Since 2012 customers of Orange Senegal have joined together on social media to create discussion groups and to denounce the “poor service” the operator provides. On Facebook, for example, there are many such pages, the most famous of which is “Si Toi Aussi Tu Te Sens Arnaqué Par Orange“ (If You Also Feel Ripped Off by Orange) which has about 45,000 members.
Following the discontent expressed by customers, Orange's financial growth in Senegal slowed. According to an analysis of the Senegalese market by the telecommunications authority, Orange registered a 1.08% drop in subscribers in the third quarter of 2015. It also lost 0.95 Internet market share to Tigo and Expresso.
Table comparing Internet prices (averaged for mobile and landline connections) in West Africa via 100megaMali
However, in all 16 countries where Orange operates, profits rose sharply. According to Marc A. of techofafrica.com, it was the Africa and Middle East operational division which showed the strongest growth for Orange:
Le chiffre d’affaires cumulé de la zone Afrique et Moyen Orient (3,5 milliards d’euros) du groupe de télécommunication français Orange est le chiffre d’affaire en plus forte progression (plus de 6%), parmi les chiffres de tous les autres démembrements du groupe.
En Afrique et au Moyen-Orient, les services mobiles progressent de +8,2% au 3ème trimestre après +6,7% au 2ème trimestre, tirés par la Côte d’Ivoire, l’Egypte, le Mali, la République Démocratique du Congo et la Guinée”, indique le groupe dans un communiqué.
The combined turnover of the Africa and Middle East region of the French telecommunications group Orange, amounting to 3.5 billion euros, is at more than 6% the fastest growing of all divisions of the group. In Africa and the Middle East, mobile phone services grew by 8.2% in the third quarter after a 6.7% increase in the previous quarter, led by Ivory Coast, Egypt, Mali, DRC and Guinea, the group said in a statement.
These positive results should encourage the company to treat its African customers with more respect, especially when it sells other products, such as the mobile money transfer and payment service Orange Money, which is available in most of the African countries served by the company.
However, other finance and micro-credit services are available. “Labaroun Kassoua” gives people in rural areas access to information about agricultural commodities and livestock prices at all the main markets in Niger via text message. The “Senekela” service in Mali is a call centre where agricultural experts can inform and advise farmers and smallholders in local languages.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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GV Face: How Do You Feel About The Term “Terrorism”? · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

When should we call an act of violence “terrorism” and when should we call a militant a “terrorist”?
Names and labels are something we take very seriously at Global Voices. From our editorial code: “Be aware of the labels you attach to individuals, people and groups. Question terms, names, photos or practices used in other media and by governments — only use labels that are in line with our code and values”.
Our editorial team launched a discussion about avoiding the use the terms terror, terrorism or terrorist, unless it was in a quote or attributed to a source, because of:
We agreed that “descriptions of actions are more powerful than adjectives”. And that we should be wary of playing into the hands of governments and groups that want to control narratives and perceptions through labels.
Following this discussion, one of our oldest contributors from Peru, Juan Arellano, expressed concern that the decision to not use the label was insulting to the memory of victims who died at the hands of terrorism. He gave the example of the Shining Path in Peru.
In this episode of GV Face we open up the discussion of labels, the politics of language especially around “terrorism” to the Global Voices community.
Juan Arellano is joined by GV's news editor Lauren Finch, Taisa Sganzerla, our Brazil editor, Lebanese blogger and MENA contributor Joey Ayoub, RunetEcho editor Kevin Rothrock and Elizabeth Rivera, our social media editor and Latin America contributor.
To start the discussion, we played a little game of word association with the term terrorist and the responses were: ISIS, violence against civilians, heart-wrenching, darkness, mass murder, fear-mongering, and politics.
Here are some excerpts from the conversation.
I asked Joey why he didn't use the term terrorism in his writing. His response (02:30- 3:10):
I am very uncomfortable with the word terrorism. And it is not that I don’t believe that it  exists. It obviously does and the definition of terrorism is more or less straightforward. But it is used so often in such obviously dishonest ways, that it has lost all meaning for me. And it is not that the Paris attacks were not terrorism, they obviously were, they meet every definition of it. There are so many acts that are terrorism, but they will never be called terrorism, because of the political implications of doing so. It is a word that has lost it meaning, if it ever had one specifically.
Our news editor Lauren Finch explained how she dealt with the politics of language around terrorism while editing stories from different parts of the world(3:45-5:20):
The cases where it is a no-brainer that we are going to use the word terrorism or terrorist or terror attack is when it is an official charge or if it is a quote. Someone has been brought up on terror charges or a government official said ‘this was a terror attack, what happened yesterday’. What doesn’t quite make sense, especially for the GV community or audience, because we are so diverse, we are from all around the world, and it is really hard to take for granted some sort of common background knowledge between all of us from many different backgrounds and experiences, is “what terrorism is?” It differs depending on history and country and context. So it is hard to use it, out of the blue to call something a terrorist act without attributing it to something else because we don’t know what definition the author is going on. Is it the definition in Ethiopia? The definition in Peru? The different definitions used by three different government departments in the US? It is really hard to assume that we are all working with the same definition of terrorism, and they differ across the world. Some have to do with a political goal in mind. Some have to do with violation of human rights. Some have to do with threat of violence, not actual violence. Attribution is the key, at least when we are working with Global Voices authors.
Juan Arellano explained why he thought there was no need to use attributions while referring to the Shining Path as terrorists. He said (13:48- 14:30):
I lived through years of terrorism in Peru. I was never directly affected. But I read and watched the news as it was happening. So it was a close experience.  I understand that there is an abuse of the term of the word. Environmental activists are mislabeled here as well. We are not strangers to the global conversation  about terrorism. I want to talk about the Shining Path in Peru. There is no debate about why we call them terrorists.
And added [42:50- 43:30]:
Just yesterday this happened. There is a website in Peru run by expats, they published an article about the expulsion of a former terrorist Lori Berenson, a US citizen after serving her  [terrorism] sentence. She was called an activist [in the headline] and this caused a lot of indignation amongst its readers. After that the website corrected the language and issued an apology.
I asked Elizabeth if she thought the use of the word was controversial. She said (17:38- 18:30)
I think the term is controversial for sure. Controversial in the present. And controversial to describe things what happened in the past. Again, it is all about politics, right?  For example, in Chile, right now there is a controversy to use that term for the Mapuches, an indigenous community in the south of Chile, who are claiming rights of their land and autonomy. Sometimes the more extreme of the Mapuche go into the landowner houses and burn them. And many people call them terrorists. But there is a huge controversy about that. Are they defending their right? Or are they being terrorists? It depends on who you talk too.
Taisa added (37:40 – 38:40)
We should definitely be very careful using the word. Kevin raised an interesting point about how the word is emotionally-satisfying. It is politically charged, but it became a thing itself. People use it to express their rage. And we have to be careful, even as journalists, even as Global Voices, not to sound too detached, not to sound too hygienic, too careful. At the same time, we have to take into consideration the context, attribution I think is a good way.
After Lauren suggested that we apply the same diligence that we use with the term “treason” when using “terrorism,” Kevin agreed, adding (39:50 – 42:00):
It would weird to use a modifier on an individual or even organization to call them a “thief.”  It would just be odd. You wouldn’t introduce a character like that in a story. It’s a strange pronoun or adjective. It’s probably best to stick with attribution, whatever some sort of formal body has identified them as, or if you are quoting people, they are going to be using terrorism left and right. Use some sort of qualifier. There is a trade-off there and the language could become sterilized and authors need to be mindful. They need to look at a text and when it is done, if it looks like a white paper or like a memo on an event and you are trying to connect with people. I am not saying, ‘throw in terrorist everywhere’. But that it might mean that you have distanced yourself too much from the piece. You are informing people but that it isn’t prohibition on being emotionally engaging.
Or using descriptions of violence? (I interrupted)
Sure. We are breaking it out to be that it is bold to use the term terrorism, but in reality it would be a lot more work to spell it out.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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Hope for a Unified France Shines Through the Hate and Fear · Global Voices
Alix Barre

Street of Paris via Pixabay -Public Domain
Three weeks after a series of coordinated attacks left 130 people dead, where does Paris stand at the moment? Authorities have heavily secured the capital and launched a crackdown on those possibly planning further violence in the name of brutal militant group ISIS (also known as Daesh), which took credit for the bloodshed. The atmosphere has definitely shifted in the city of lights, but citizens are trying to move past the attacks and go on with their day-to-day lives.
In the midst of fear, can there be a dash of hope for a more unified France?
Within France, there are two concerns that arose following the attacks: 1. Will the Muslim community face discrimination over what these violent extremists claim to do in the name of Islam, even though Muslims in France and around the world have condemned that twisted ideology as un-Islamic?, 2. Will this increase the popularity of the extreme right-wing party, the Front National, as presidential elections are less than two years away?
The latter is becoming a reality, with the latest polls predicting Marine Le Pen, the president of the Front National, will make it to the second round. It would be the second time the extreme right-wing makes it to the second round, the last time being her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002.
But these negative consequences notwithstanding, there is also potential for a more united France. Several hashtags trended after the massacres; one of them #Nousommesunis (We Are United) even got its own website and Facebook page. It received much more attention than the #terrorisme (terrorism) hashtag, an indication of the desire to stand together. One Twitter user observed:
Le hashtag #Nousommesunis devant le hashtag #Terrorisme Car oui, nous sommes unis face au Terrorisme. pic.twitter.com/9UL8ZxUQfk
— ffdek (@ffdek) November 14, 2015
The hashtag #nousommesunis in front of the hashtag #terrorisme. Because yes, we are united against terrorism. [Twitter photo indicates that the #nousommesunis hashtag was trending at 11.6 K tweets on 13 November while the #terrorisme hashtag was trending behind it]
The Muslim Students of France posted a video on YouTube using the hashtag to show their emotions after the attacks. In the video, a few students hold up the sign #nousommesunis, while a narrator express support for unity in the face of adversity. It ends with: “One for all and all for humanity, we are and will forever be united” right before a verse of the Qu'ran is shown:
Another hashtag that trended was #pasenmonnom (Not in My Name), used by French Muslims to assert that this horrific violence violates their faith. As with other recent extremist attacks, some have expected Muslims to apologise, despite it having nothing to do with them  — a standard not imposed on people of other faiths that arguably creates further division. Regardless, Muslims have spoken up on social media to defend their religion that is being tainted and to show their solidarity.
Les 8 animaux qui ont commis ces attentats, ne me représentent pas, ils salissent ma religion et mon image! #PasEnMonNom
— Lys Lama-Bondo (@BreakingBadNewz) November 14, 2015
The 8 animals that have committed these attacks, do not represent me, they taint my religion and my image! #NotInMyName
Attentats ou plutôt meutres à #paris, je suis musulman de culture et je dis #PasEnMonNom. RT svp.
— Tweet and shout (@dabela30) November 14, 2015
Attacks or rather murders in #paris, I am from the Muslim culture and I say #NotInMyname. RT please.
Another Muslim man took action in a different way, going to Place de la République in Paris and donning a blindfold. Next to him were two signs, one that read,”I am Muslim but they tell me I'm a terrorist”, and the second, “I trust you, do you trust me?”
Unfortunately, there were still acts of hatred carried out against Muslims in France following the attacks, despite the heartening sentiment of unity promoted on and offline. This is an opportunity for France to stand together against a common enemy: Daesh propagates fear and hatred, not just with attacks but with sophisticated use of social media. If the reaction despite the losses is to stand stronger, to unite, then they lose.
After all, there is an appropriate French saying that goes: “La bave du crapaud n'atteint pas la blanche colombe” (“The toad slime does not reach the white dove”).

author: Alix Barre


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Netizen Report: ‘Terrorist Threat’ or Political Speech? States Target Social Media Post-Paris · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

Demonstrators in San Francisco, USA show solidarity with protesters in Egypt in February 2011. Photo by Steve Rhodes (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
While the specter of ISIS is nothing new for much of the Arab region, the November attacks on Paris and Beirut brought heightened urgency to ongoing global debates on violent extremism. As in the past, governments have targeted social media, seeking to extinguish online activities of extremist organizations, but also of non-violent political activists.
Saudi Arabian officials have threatened to sue anyone who likens the oil-rich kingdom's penal system to that of ISIS on social media. This comes on the heels of a death sentence handed to poet and artist Ashraf Fayadh last month. The sentence was criticized far and wide, with many taking to social media and comparing Saudi Arabia's penal code and punishments to those of ISIS. Using the hashtag #sosuemesaudi, critics pointed to various parallels between the two entities, including their issuance of death sentences for individuals convicted of adultery, treason, blasphemy, and acts of homosexuality.
Meanwhile, Russian social media user Oleg Novozhenin was sentenced one year in a penal colony after a local municipal court found him guilty of distributing “extremist materials” on social networks. Local media reported that Novozhenin had posted files “promoting the activity” of Ukrainian nationalist party organization “Right Sector,” which is currently banned in Russia.
And in Bangladesh, authorities have continued the ban on Facebook, Viber, WhatsApp and various other social messaging applications that began on November 18. The ban was instituted on “security grounds,” in anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling that upheld death sentences for two political figures convicted of genocide and rape during Bangladesh's 1971 war for independence from Pakistan. The defendants’ political supporters, some of whom belong to violent extremist groups, had threatened public unrest in response to the sentences. When citizens turned to VPNs, proxy networks and tools like the Tor browser in order to access social platforms, State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Tarana Halim publicly condemned these activities as “illegal.” Users have reported that their telecommunications providers are warning them of heightened monitoring of the use of such tools.
Technology experts and cryptographers around the world are also being asked to change their systems in an effort to stop or monitor the online activities of violent extremist groups. In a recent blog post, Lebanese developer Nadim Kobessi, who is best known as the lead developer for the CryptoCat encrypted chat program, reflected on such questions coming from both state actors and media alike:
A simple mention of my encryption software in an Arabic-speaking forum is enough to put me on the receiving end of press inquiries such as “are you aware of any terrorists using your software? Do you feel it’s your responsibility to monitor terrorist activity?”
…
In this rush to blame a field that is largely unknowable to the public and therefore at once alluring and terrifying, little attention has been paid to facts: The Paris terrorists did not use encryption, but coordinated over SMS, one of the easiest to monitor methods of digital communication. They were still not caught, indicating a failure in human intelligence and not in a capacity for digital surveillance.
Users of circumvention technologies in China’s Xinjiang province may have their mobile phone accounts shut down, with several affected users reporting receiving text messages saying “Due to police notice, we will shut down your cellphone number within the next two hours in accordance with the law.” People who use VPNs, foreign messaging software like WhatsApp or Telegram, or who have not linked their identities to their accounts have been implicated, according to the New York Times. Xinjiang, a province in the west of China, has frequently served as a testing ground for state censorship and surveillance practices. In the past, the government has shut down Xinjiang’s Internet services following periods of violence between its Uighur ethnic minority and majority Han Chinese.
Indonesian police issued new recommendations on the management of hate speech, linking it to the criminal code in a manner some are concerned could present a threat to free expression. According to Inspector General Anton Charliyan, head of the National Police’s Public Relations Division, “We cannot afford to let these new technologies and digital tools to be misused and abused.” Legal aid group LBH Pers responded: “The application of the law here could result in wrongful arrest…it is better to separate defamation from hate speech, so that police officers don’t end up abusing their authority.”
Russia may soon make buying a mobile SIM card even more difficult than it already is. It's currently illegal to purchase SIM cards anonymously. Citing a “growing terrorist threat”, authorities may limit the term of mobile service contracts for foreigners in Russia, tying the capacity to extend service contracts to paperwork that confirms they are allowed to extend their stay in the country. Law enforcement agencies are seeking tighter restrictions on sales of pre-paid mobile services that do not require signing a contract with a mobile provider.
Google announced plans to provide legal support to several YouTube videos that were taken down due to DMCA copyright claims, in what the company is calling an attempt to “protect some of the best examples of fair use on YouTube”. Their hope is to develop a “demo reel” for the site to help users and copyright owners better understand what fair use looks like online. Currently, YouTube uses a digital fingerprinting system called ContentID to identify infringing content on the site by scanning and automatically taking down files submitted to the website by content owners, but it’s unclear whether this system would be impacted by the move.
Ellery Roberts Biddle, Sam Kellogg, Weiping Li, Hae-in Lim, and Sarah Myers West contributed to this report.

author: Netizen Report Team


text:
Saudi Arabia Sentences Poet to Death and Threatens to Sue Critics of Penal System · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ashraf Fayadh via Instagram.
Saudi Arabia is threatening to sue anyone who likens the oil-rich kingdom's penal system to that of ISIS on social media. This announcement came after a court sentenced to death Palestinian poet and artist Ashraf Fayadh for apostasy and other blasphemy-related offenses, which he denies.
Fayadh, who was born and lives in Saudi Arabia, has curated art shows in Jeddah and at the Venice Biennale and has been a key leader of Edge of Arabia, a British-Saudi art organization. Fayadh was first detained in August 2013 in Abha, in South Western Saudi Arabia, by the country's religious police, also known as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
The 35-year-old was released on bail only to be arrested again on January 1, 2014, when he was sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes. After his attorneys appealed, judicial authorities decided to re-try his case before a new panel of judges, who sentenced Fayadh to death in November 2015, on charges of promoting atheism in his 2008 poetry collection, Instructions Within.
According to Human Rights Watch:
Prosecutors charged him with a host of blasphemy-related charges, including: blaspheming “the divine self” and the Prophet Muhammad; spreading atheism and promoting it among the youth in public places; mocking the verses of God and the prophets; refuting the Quran; denying the day of resurrection; objecting to fate and divine decree; and having an illicit relationship with women and storing their pictures in his phone.
Screen Shot of Al Riyadh newspaper article which claims that anyone comparing Saudi Arabia's penal code to that of the ISIS will be sued.
The sentence was criticised far and wide with many taking to social media, comparing Saudi Arabia's penal code and punishments to that executed by ISIS, which has carved a so-called Islamic Caliphate for itself by brutally occupying swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq.
Quoting an unnamed source from the Saudi Ministry of Justice, pro-government Arabic daily Al Riyadh reported that anyone who criticised the Saudi judiciary and its sentences would be sued. The report added:
علمت «الرياض» بأن وزارة العدل تتجه لمحاكمة أحد الأشخاص وصف عبر «تويتر» أحد الأحكام الصادرة عن محاكم المملكة بالحكم «الداعشي»، وذلك إثر حكم ابتدائي صدر من المحكمة العامة بأبها يقضي بالحكم على أحد الأشخاص بالقتل حداً للردة.
According to Al Riyadh sources, the Ministry of Justice is in the process of suing a Twitter user who described a sentence issued by one of the courts in the Kingdom as ISIS-like. The sentence issued by the primary court in Abha calls for the execution of a person for apostasy
On Twitter, netizens lashed out against the news under the hashtag #sosuemesaudi, where many continued to  draw comparisons between Saudi Arabia and ISIS.
Many shared this infographic, created by Middle East Eye, showing the similarities between punishments executed by both Saudi Arabia and the ISIS:
Crime and punishment: comparison of Saudi and ISIS penal systems. Infographic by Middle East Eye.
Because if you try to spot the differences between #SaudiArabia & # IslamicState you hardly can… #sosuemesaudi pic.twitter.com/KPgwDxC4GF
— Esther Muruaga (@EstherMuruaga) November 29, 2015
According to the infographic, both Saudi Arabia and the ISIS punish blasphemy, acts of homosexuality, treason and murder with the death penalty. While the ISIS punishes slander and drinking alcohol with 80 lashes, the Kingdom's punishments vary, “at the discretion of the judge.”
Punishment for stealing includes amputation of the right hand in Saudi Arabia and amputation of a hand (not specified) in ISIS-controlled territories. Both Saudi Arabia and the ISIS are in total agreement on the punishment for banditry (theft), where those accused get their hand and foot amputated. While Saudi Arabia sentences those accused of banditry (murder and theft) to death, the ISIS crucifies them.
Many others called out Saudi Arabia for its “ISIS-like” punishments. Egyptian Bahaa Awwad writes:
Dear #SaudiArabia:Executing People for alleged #Atheism is in fact very #ISIL #Daesh like https://t.co/8KMnqMdmae #Saudi #KSA #Wahabi #Islam
— bahaa awwad (@BahaaAwwad) November 27, 2015
More than 150 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia this year, or an average of one person every two days, the highest recorded number since 1995.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Thai Printers Scrub Front-Page Article From The International New York Times · Global Voices
Prachatai

(Left) The normal 1 December 2015 issue of the International New York Times. (Right) The same paper sold in Thailand. Image and caption from Prachatai.
This edited article is from Prachatai, an independent news site in Thailand, and is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement
A Thai publishing company has removed from the front page of the International New York Times an article about a dismal Thai economy under military rule.
News kiosks in Thailand offered the 1 December 2015 issue of the paper on their shelves with an article at the center of its front page missing.
Instead of a headline and text, an empty space contains the simple message:
The article in this space was removed by our printer in Thailand. The International New York Times and its editorial staff had no role in its removal.
What the Thai printer decided to remove was the latest article by Thomas Fuller titled ‘Thai spirits sagging with the economy’.
Fuller wrote that this year, 2015, the property crime rate in Thailand has risen more than 60 per cent and the prospects for the second largest economy in Southeast Asia are rather bleak under the prolonged political turmoil and the current military regime of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and prime minister, who staged a coup d’état in May last year.
White space on front page of the NYT in Thailand: The local printer removed this article https://t.co/O9PlwN5jYT pic.twitter.com/FS0tTycoak
— Thomas Fuller (@thomasfullerNYT) December 1, 2015
Today's International The New York Times in Thailand (via @8td) #censorship pic.twitter.com/SJfygXrpV7
— ♥ Moui ♥ (@moui) December 1, 2015
You won't find this article in the Thai edition > Thai Economy and Spirits Are Sagging https://t.co/PtNg48kDfs /@8td pic.twitter.com/71OhaIORe0
— Richard Barrow (@RichardBarrow) December 1, 2015
In September 2015, the same printer refused to publish the September 22 issue of the International New York Times containing an article written by the same author, saying that the title and the photo depicting a pro-establishment yellow shirt carrying a portrait of the king was “too sensitive”.
The article talked about the health of King Bhumibol, who is about to turn 88 on 5 December 2015, and the future of the Thai monarchy.
Shortly after the incident, the New York Times announced that it will no longer publish in Thailand in 2016.
Last year, the Thai authorities blocked the website of the Daily Mail, a UK-based tabloid, over an article about the crown prince of Thailand. The site remains blocked.
Articles critical of the Thai monarchy are still strictly forbidden in Thailand under Article 112 of the Criminal Code — the lèse majesté law — which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment per count.
Following the coup, offences under the lèse majesté law have been handled by military courts, which allow no appeal.
In August 2015, a Thai military court sentenced a man accused of defaming the Thai monarchy on a social network to 30 years in prison in a trial held in camera (not open to the public or press). The ruling is the heaviest prison term ever recorded for a lèse majesté case.
Freedom of the press in Thailand has also spiralled down under the military regime, which has the power to invoke Section 44 of the Interim Constitution, giving the authorities absolute power to maintain national security, to silence journalists and crush political dissidence.
In late September, prominent journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk was detained by the military at an army base outside Bangkok over his Twitter comments criticizing the military regime.

author: Prachatai


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Trinidad and Tobago Joins World in Marching for Climate Change Awareness · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Climate change awareness is sweeping from Port of Spain to Paris. Photo by author.
This past Sunday, November 29, concerned citizens of Trinidad and Tobago gathered, for the second time, under the banner of the non-profit organisation IAMovement to lobby and march for climate-change awareness. The theme of this year's event was “Port of Spain to Paris”—an acknowledgement of the fact that the French capital is the location of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, but also a gesture of solidarity in the aftermath of the Paris attacks of November 13. During the opening ceremony of the event, there was one minute of silence for the victims of the Paris attacks, and for the audience “to think about the world and how we are all connected.” The hashtag #POStoParis gained significant popularity on Twitter.
These climate change negotiations in Paris are perhaps the most critical since the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in 2009, but a lot has changed since then—both the United States and China, two of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, appear willing to do what is necessary to reach a deal, although US President Barack Obama says that any agreements reached in Paris should not be legally binding—a position contrary to the intent of the conference. Climate finance, whereby richer countries help poorer ones cut emissions and deal with the effects of climate change, is becoming more commonplace, as are rallies—just like the one in Trinidad—supporting the movement away from fossil fuels.
Participants at the Climate Change March in Trinidad, November 29, 2015. Photo by Dylan Quesnel, courtesy IAMovement, used with permission.
Still, there are stumbling blocks. Waiting ten years, by which time the US says it will have reduced its emissions by 26-28 percent, or even 15 years, when China expects its emission levels to peak, seems like a long time, given scientific findings about the rate of climate change.
1.5° to stay alive — the message from the Caribbean Youth Environment Network. Photo used with permission.
Despite such intransigence, the IAMovement rally managed to attract participation from many government organisations that are taking innovative steps to reduce the effects of climate change in Trinidad and Tobago. There was also a strong youth presence via the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN); the organisation's interim Chairperson, Rianna Gonsalves, was proud of the fact that CYEN sent several representatives to the Paris talks, where their goal is to agitate for “1.5° to stay alive”—meaning that human survival in the face of climate change will require a drop in temperature of at least one and a half degrees Celsius. The Paris talks have set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
At the event, there were booths from Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL), a state company mandated to provide both the government and the private sector with consultancy services in proper waste management; the Ministry of Planning and Development‘s Green Fund Executing Unit, as well as private eco-minded companies like Green Warriors, which offers services like battery recycling free to the public.
Educating attendees about the importance of waste management in Trinidad and Tobago. Photo used with permission.
SWMCOL's Public Education Administrator, Gisele Telfer, noted that the company was very active in environmental education and raising awareness about climate change via its Community and Youth Outreach Programme. Through a series of animated videos, the company goes to schools throughout the country to teach kids about the environmental effects of littering and ways in which to keep recyclables out of the waste stream. SWMCOL also offers a heavy-duty shredding service and a mobile tire shredder, as used and scrap tires contribute significantly to poor environmental care in Trinidad and Tobago. The country's primary mode of transportation is vehicular, with public transportation options (at least on land) being limited to buses and taxis.
At the opening of the event, IAMovement's co-founder Jonathan Barcant acknowledged the importance of waste management efforts to Trinidad and Tobago, noting that greater availability of such services “would greatly reduce the volume of material entering landfills which are already at capacity, would capture waste with economic value that would otherwise be lost, and would create many green jobs for both the day-to-day operations as well as design and management of these nationwide programmes”:
Additionally, it would improve overall cleanliness in our land, rivers and oceans, and would help to raise the dignity and sense of care and appreciation for residents of heavily polluted areas such as the Beetham, creating incalculable social and health benefits.
Trinidad and Tobago is the second highest carbon emitter per capita in the world. Photo used with permission.
Nakita Poon Kong, the NGO's other co-founder, was hopeful that the Paris talks would achieve what Copenhagen did not:
By gathering here today, we are saying as a collective that we care. We are telling the people who make the decisions on how Trinidad and Tobago votes at next week’s Summit, that we need a change. We are also recognising our personal responsibility as Trinbagonians to reduce emissions because of their effect on our climate. Sadly, Trinidad and Tobago is the second highest carbon emitter per capita in the world. This means the average citizen produces more carbon dioxide every year than every other global citizen except Qatar. We are here to show our decision makers that we want them to recognise our responsibility and commitment globally.
Drone image of some of the participants in the Climate Change March in Trinidad and Tobago. Photo courtesy IAMovement, used with permission.
Poon Kong agreed that the presence of both the public and private sector at the rally and march was encouraging:
We need everyone to work towards climate emissions together — not just at the grassroots level but also from the top down — from governments to multinationals to organisations like embassies and the United Nations, which already have projects happening. This march was a signal to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago that we, the citizens, are concerned about our environment and about climate change. The same way China gets one vote, Trinidad and Tobago gets one vote. We are just as important a voice in the decision-making process in Paris, and this is especially significant considering that we are one of the greatest emitters of greenhouse gases per capita. Let's not waste this opportunity to help change the course of the world.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Welcome to Trinidad, Where You Can Spend a White Christmas (at Least in the Airport) · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The winter-themed Christmas decor at Trinidad's international airport. Photo by Gregory McGuire, used with permission.
There is a brouhaha brewing on Facebook over the theme of the Christmas decorations on display in the rotunda of the Piarco International Airport in Trinidad.
Instead of warmly welcoming visitors with a tropical scene, the decor is decidedly chilly, thanks to a snowy Christmas village scene complete with polar bears and penguins. Many netizens were disappointed in the approach, saying that the theme had nothing to do with what Trinidad and Tobago should represent to the travelling public.
In a public post, Facebook user Gregory McGuire shared photos of the scene and admitted that for a moment, he wasn't quite sure where he was:
Yes, I know that there are those among us who celebrate Halloween and who climb on top of each other in the mad ‘Black Friday’ shopping specials. Yes I know the American pop culture pervades our airways […] But those are all private decisions made by individuals or by [the] private sector […] seeking to exploit the well known consumer preferences for things foreign. This is different.
How so? McGuire felt that the foreign scene was an insult to the wonders of a local Christmas:
It was more than 35 years ago that the emergence of parang soca ushered in a new consciousness of the uniquely wonderful Trinbago Christmas. […] Now to face this abomination. This is NOT private space people. […] This is our International Airport. This is the space where we only recently mounted a display in celebration of Divali. This is the space where, in three weeks time, we will be showcasing our Carnival- our mas, music and pan. To my mind, these displays are consistent with what I percieve [sic] to be the purpose of the Hall as a [sic] exhibition space. These displays have highlighted the our rich cultural heritage to visitors and locals alike.
Local Christmas landscapes typically involve vibrant decorations, sometimes made out of local materials such as fig leaves, hardy tropical plants or calabash fruit. In public spaces like shopping plazas and malls, holiday music is an eclectic blend of Christmas classics, parang (folk music with a Spanish influence) and its hybrid, soca parang, which incorporates the soul of calypso into the rhythm. And in honour of the ‘reason for the season’, there is usually a creche on display. This mix of influences is usually reflected in Trinidad and Tobago's cultural celebrations, thanks to the country's ethnic and religious diversity.
Indignant about the fact that there was likely little or no local spend on the display, his post went on to ask relevant questions, including whether “any consideration given to an alternative design with a local theme” and how much money was spent on the design and installation:
Can those in charge of the Airports Authority please provide some answers to the people of Trinidad and Tobago? Perhaps it may be simpler to kindly remove this eyesore and replace it with something that represents our Christmas.
Detail of the 2015 Christmas decor at the Piarco International Airport, Trinidad. Photo by Gregory McGuire, used with permission.
These sentiments were echoed by Facebook user Che Rodriguez who, in a public post, said:
Frosty the snowman, Polar Bears, Snow and Snowcapped Rooftops, Mistletoe, Holly and Reindeer!!!
This is what the Airports Authority of Trinidad & Tobago (AATT) pay for and put up as a LOCAL CHRISTMAS DISPLAY in the public foyer of PIARCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT !!!! […]
Is one thing if a PRIVATE COMPANY wants to pay for this kind of display…but this is Trinidad & Tobago TAXPAYERS DOLLARS that funding something that is inimical to my culture and totally foreign to my Christmas sensibilities!!!
Where are the representations of my Parang Band? Where are my Poinsettias in their Red and Green glory???? Where is my table laden with Sorrel and Ginger Beer and Pastelles and Black Cake???
The decorations were also a hot topic of discussion on 96.1 WEFM's Facebook page. Local designer Gregory Medina commented:
Piarco? Embarrassing. Who okayed that?
Noella Fuller agreed, saying:
We continue to throw away our unique culture!!
Yolande Dick added:
It's nice but does not say T And T Christmas, if I am coming to Trinidad I want to see a display of a trinbago Christmas especially if I just left snow. I just saying.
Levi Horsford echoed her opinion:
As I agree with the view that it is an international airport I do not however see the need to decorate our airport based on a western view of what Christmas is supposed to look like. People travel from their various homes around the world not to see the same things that they left behind but to experience new cultures and ideas. We should be proud to decorate our airport with our local ideas of Christmas. Maybe showing a scene of a street with houses decorated, kids playing outside, adults old talking on the porch, and a parang band moving from house to house. Not a white Christmas with freshly fallen snow and polar bears. Kudos to the decorator on a job well done but shame on you for putting someone's else's culture over your own.
A differing opinion came from Nyikluss Seales SC, who posted an image of a billboard at London's Heathrow airport of a Trinidad Carnival masquerader and explained:
Trinidadians need to understand that not everything needs to be local. I love the idea and concept. Yes I am also Trini to my heart. However not everyone has trini representation and it is nice to come home to the Caribbean and feel special knowing that they support and look at the many different ways of celebrating Christmas. It is an international airport and it is nice to see that different cultures are represented even in the sweet island of Trinidad. I have been to the airport as recent as Sunday and I saw different parts of the airport decorations represent[ing] a […] culture of local designs and expressions. So please before you speech off and express negative behavior, remember […] it is nice to give some consideration to others. Snow does not fall in Trinidad but it can be represented for others as how coconut trees with a lady sitting under it with a cold icy Carib [beer] can be represented in the Italian airport.
It comes down to a matter of personal taste and whether your perspective is local or global; netizens might just have to agree to disagree on this one.
Update: The social media outcry had such an impact that Zola Joseph, Corporate Communications Manager of The Trinidad and Tobago Airports Authority, has since announced that “the […] contracted decorator would make adjustments to the controversial side of the display. The snow and winter characters would be removed and would be replaced—at no further cost—by other ornaments which would highlight the nature of a T&T Christmas.” Some netizens, however, were not placated by the ‘improvements’, saying that the tropical display showed “no thought, no artistic sense, no cultural integrity”.


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From Coyotes to Vultures: What Happens When Migrants Borrow · Global Voices
Connectas

Abel Majzul's family in Guatemala, who had to cope with the cost of sending the only man of the family to the United States and the subsequent interest. Photo by Diario19.
This report is by Rodrigo Soberanes created for Diario19.com and is within the framework of the Iniciative for Investigative Journalism in the Americas by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) in alliance with CONNECTAS. It is published here as part of an editorial agreement.
For the Majzuls, saying goodbye to the only man of the family when he emigrated from Guatemala to the United States wasn't the only difficult thing they faced. They also had to deal with the fact that he was tied to a debt that grew every month—a time-bomb that could only be deactivated if everything went entirely according to plan.
If they hadn't chosen to take out a loan, the only other option was to go it alone: travel on freight trains from Mexico and hope not to be murdered or involved in an accident along the way.
Abel Majzul worked sending shipments for two years and paid part of his debt, but in the end he was deported and the “bomb” exploded on him and his family. Thanks to the unaffordable interest payments, they found themselves in a worse situation than they ever could have expected before taking on the adventure of the American Dream.
Abel is one of many who have travelled this way: they get into debt with a local lender to pay the “coyote”—a people trafficker—who takes them over the border. It has become common in this country; they go with debts up to their eyes, as much as $4,000-$9,000. It's a high-risk gamble in which they put not only their futures on the table, but also however much or little that they've built up in the past, as has become clear in a report published on the Platform of Latin-American Journalism, CONNECTAS.
Abel Majzul owed 40,000 Quetzals ($5,240)—a figure that grew by $524 every month due to the 10-percent interest he agreed to, when he signed a paper with no legal value whatsoever, we were told by Abel's mother, Florinda Majzul, in Patzún in the department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala.
“People have to leave their deeds here. Rather than having mortgages, they are forced to sign over the deeds of their land or house, with a verbal guarantee,” says Vinicio Solís, a businessman from Patzún.
This is what Abel Majzul's family did. His sisters and his mother Florinda talk of the worry they have lived with for years that they could lose their little two-bedroom house. According to Chimaltenango Magistrate's Court, this house now belongs to their lender, who has also reported them for “threats and aggravated usurpation.” They are now facing an order from court to vacate the property.
In this building, which has a sheet for a ceiling, doors made of recycled wood, and no cement or pictures, the family speaks the Mayan language Kaqchikel. They also only wear traditional dress and their diet consists mostly of corn and other grains—meat and dairy products being occasional luxuries.
The set of papers that Mrs. Majzul has collected in a folder shows how these agreements between the lenders and the migrants work. This is where Abel's mother keeps a notarial contract issued by a lawyer from Patzún, which states that the house was “sold” for 40,000 Quetzals to a loanshark. This debt is the shackle trapping the family, the weight hanging over them that has become more and more enormous as the years pass.
The document, signed in December 2006, states:
For the present public deed they have agreed to a purchase contract of possessive rights over the property.
The property in question is the two-bedroom house where Florinda Majzul, her two daughters, and her grandchildren live.
The story behind Mrs. Majzul's documents continues with a large number of receipts from bank deposits made between June 2007 and January 2008 to a Banco de Desarrollo Rural (Rural Development Bank) account in the name of the lender, which total 75,400 Quetzals ($9,800).
These deposits were made through shipments sent by Abel Majzul while he was working in the United States, but the loanshark doesn't recognize them as valid.
In Guatemala, 42 percent of people live in rural areas, and according to the social organization Vida Digna (Dignified Life), this is where there are ever more lenders and savings banks offering credit to poor people who wouldn't qualify for a bank loan.
According to Alejandra Gordillo, the director of Conamigua, who is in charge of defending those affected, the case of the Majzul family and their conflict with the lender is one of thousands of similar situations.
“They're lenders who appear to be rural banks. They work where the banks don't reach: they're there for a few weeks and then they disappear,” says a community organizer from the Quetzaltenango department who wanted to keep their identity hidden.
Florinda and her two daughters, like the majority of Patzún's indigenous population, are looking for work in the countryside, where men earn 40 Quetzals a day but women only earn 20. With this kind of budget, they cannot afford additional payments to lenders.
They have spent six years hoarding these depositary receipts, which are now like substitutes for the deeds that the Majzul family had to give up in their contract. Other people who don't have these papers to defend themselves with have ended up on the streets – or in prison.
“We've had people being locked up just for living in their own houses,” says the director of Conamigua.
Juan Barragán lives on the other side of Patzún. He was recently released from prison, and refused to speak about his case. “He's one of those who have been imprisoned for living in their own homes,” says the Conamigua director, who served as Barragán's legal defense. Calls to other people who have been affected are met begrudgingly or are refused.
Making these cases public will not help those affected get their homes back. “It only causes more problems,” they say. “It scares me seeing him, it makes me panic. When I see him my stomach hurts,” complains a citizen of Patzún about his lender.
No wonder they're scared. An important part of the negotiations involved in the loans is the work that the coyotes do capturing clients for the loan-sharks. “The lenders become partners with the coyotes and the drug traffickers,” the community leader assures us.
“The majority of the lenders that give this kind of service are linked to notaries and coyotes, and some are connected to organized crime,” says Alejandra Gordillo. A coyote identified only as “José,” who was interviewed in San Pedro Sula in Honduras, said, “We all have to have a specific boss and you have to work with a cartel. You can't go it alone.”
Alejandra Gordillo estimates that the Majzuls’ lender is one of “hundreds” in Guatemala, and that he has some 250 properties taken from clients that borrowed money from him. However, there is no exact register because, she says, these properties are not in his name, but under aliases.
To read the complete report, click the banner below:

author: Connectas


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In Twitter’s Crackdown on the Ayatollah’s Bots, Journalists Are the Collateral Damage · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

As part of the #letter4u campaign responding to the Paris Attacks, Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei has been trying to do outreach with “the young people of Europe and North America”. Many bots have hijacked various other hashtags unrelated to the campaign to include photos such as these, or links to the actual letter.
In response to the November 13 Paris attacks, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has continued his outreach effort to the “youth of Europe and North America”. This project started following the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015. The campaign became well known for its use of bots to populate the related hashtag, #letter4U, leading Twitter on an unsuccessful cat-and-mouse game to eliminate these bots, culminating this week in the suspension of accounts belonging to several well known Iranian journalists and analysts, who happened to report on the same hashtag.
Having numbers of ‘spammers’ tweeting ab #Khamenei‘s #Letter4U, twitter suspended also journos incl @abasinfo, @SanamF24, @joaska_, @LeonEoW
— Hadi Nili (@HadiNili) November 30, 2015
Khamenei started this outreach effort on November 29 with a series of tweets using the #Letter4U hashtag, which culminated in the publication of an open letter explaining the problems of terrorism and the appeal of Daesh (also known as ISIS) as an outcome of the failure of the foreign policy of the US and its allies—a familiar theme in much of his social media posts.
Bitter events by blind terrorism in #France once again moved me to speak to you young people. #ParisAttack #Letter4U pic.twitter.com/ndbSd3e2MS
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) November 29, 2015
Full text of letter from Ayatollah Khamenei to the youth in western countries #Letter4U https://t.co/n5cehXs3dZ pic.twitter.com/NAkCNdnozk
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) November 29, 2015
The spamming efforts of bots promoting the #letter4u campaign weren't the first time one of the Ayatollah's online campaigns has triggered a response from Twitter. In a regularly-updated blog post titled “The Ayatollah's Spam Bots,” American blogger Morgan Carlson documents how these bots have operated:
There are hundreds if not thousands of accounts, most of them with over 10000 tweets. Twitter has a limit of 1000 tweets per day, and the accounts seem to have been created with this in mind. Many of the accounts use fake photos taken from a variety of places. Some of them show celebrities, while others journalists or other media personalities.
Morgan also noted that a lot of the accounts he's identified as bots were suspended by Twitter in the period immediately following the beginning of the campaign, however a new series of accounts emerged in June, when Morgan noted “and Twitter doesn't care”. The bots, however, slowly ceased their activities a short while after the summer surge. In November, with Khamenei's #letter4u campaign, these accounts reactivated. Some of the bots were in fact attempting to hijack other popular and trending hashtags unrelated to the letter4U campaign, posting tweets with links to photos of messages related to the open letter, or simply linking to the letter itself. Iranian Internet researcher Kevin Miston identified a batch of bot accounts and the associated number of hashtags for each account:
@Ammir @pooriast @hooshmandk تعداد هشتگاشون @Anderson1960R 238 @1995jamesblue 238 @sherry_marilyn 236 @FabiPare 235 235 @johngreen9095 233
— Kevin Miston (@KevinMiston) November 30, 2015
While these accounts still appear to be active and un-suspended, other well-known Iranian Twitter accounts belonging to journalists haven't been so lucky. Several reporters have been suspended on Twitter for posting content related to Khamenei and his campaign. For example, Iranian political analyst Adnan Tabatabai posted a link to Khamenei's recent English-language open letter and was subsequently blocked.
Here's the English version of the letter “Today terrorism is our common worry”: https://t.co/82eUH8ZUDy #Iran #Khamenei #ParisAttacks
— Adnan Tabatabai (@A_Tabatabai) November 29, 2015
A similar incident occurred with Abas Aslani, the director of the Iranian based Tasnim News Agency's foreign desk. Twitter was in touch with Aslani to warn him to be sure his tweets were not violating Twitter Rules. Aslani reported that the tweet that had triggered the suspension appeared deleted, and he later tweeted his account was suspended for a second time.
After suspension & then being back, Twitter said one hour needed for my account to return to normal condition. pic.twitter.com/vRjUH9M2qW
— Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) November 30, 2015
My tweet “full text of #Iran leader's letter to the youth in West re #ParisAttacks” has been deleted from my tweets. https://t.co/z4jbdm7LPF
— Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) November 30, 2015
My Twitter account was suspended for 2nd time today by @Twitter. Tried to un-suspend, but 1 hr needed for recovery. pic.twitter.com/K9XDOENA7V
— Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) November 30, 2015
Since November 30, however, there have been no more reports of such suspensions, while spambots have continued sharing photos or snippets of Khamenei's open letter.
To read past Global Voices coverage on this topic read Iran's Supreme Leader Tweets Commentary on Global Conflicts, Blaming the US and Khamenei's #Letter4U Bots Still Active Four Months After Its Launch.

author: Mahsa Alimardani


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Is Open Government Political Theatre for the Corrupt? · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Former Romanian prime minister, Victor Ponta. PHOTO: Partidul Social Democrat (CC BY 2.0)
By Anca Matioc
This past summer, I decided it was time to go back to Romania, the country my family fled from 25 years ago. After decades of communist rule under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, the country still has a long way to go to overcome his legacy, and I wanted to be a part of that.
I spent three months working with Funky Citizens, a local NGO that works on anti-corruption and democratization issues using research-based advocacy and technology tools. There, I had the opportunity to work with members of civil society and government alike on accountability and anti-corruption issues. When I left, the country was in the midst of very intense political debate.
Then two months later, when I arrived in Mexico City for an open government event, Romania and its political mayhem took to the main stage, quite literally.
The event I attended was the Summit of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative of now 69 participating countries where members of civil society and government work together to promote transparency, strengthen governance, and fight corruption.
So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the lineup for the inaugural session of the Summit and read the name of none other than Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta.
For those who don't know, Romania's PM @Victor_Ponta is currently on trial for #corruption. Yes, the one on stage at #OGP15
— Anca Matioc (@AncaMatioc) October 28, 2015
After being charged on multiple accounts of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering on July 13th, Victor Ponta was finally indicted on these corruption charges two months later. And now, there he was on the Open Government stage, sitting in the front row among other high level government officials from around the world.
He spoke about the importance of transparency, of openness, and of technology for government. He did not, however, speak about the pervasive corruption in the country. He did not speak about his indictment. He did not speak about the agency that brought these charges against him—last year the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), led by Laura Codruţa Kövesi, prosecuted 24 mayors, two ex-ministers and a former prime minister, not to mention more than 1,000 other public officials, including judges and prosecutors. Their conviction rate was more than 90%.
Then, exactly one week to the day after performing on the OGP stage, preaching “transparency is always, in any case, the right choice for a Government,” Victor Ponta resigned as Prime Minister.
Protest at Piața Universității in Bucharest on November 5, 2015. PHOTO: Gutza (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The incident that sparked this move? Protest.
A devastating fire in the Bucharest nightclub Colectiv caused by negligence and violation of safety codes claimed the lives of 60 people, and put more than 100 others in hospital. On Monday, November 3, more than 20,000 demonstrators took to the streets of the capital city, chanting “Coruptia Ucide” (“Corruption Kills”). They demanded the resignation of Victor Ponta as well as the mayor of Bucharest among other elected officials.
To people’s surprise, the next day he did just that. He resigned.
Yet even after his resignation, the protests continued. This was about much more than Ponta. It was about the way in which everyday corruption affects each one of us. How it can hurt or even kill your family or your friends.
During the following days of protests, people of all ages and backgrounds united in the streets, demanding more responsive, cleaner government and less corruption. They called for a real change in the entire political class, a change in the institutional and individual level.
Flowers and candles outside Pionierul, the former factory where Colectiv was located. PHOTO: Britchi Mirela (CC BY-SA 4.0)
For the first time, civil society members were invited to speak directly to the President to discuss their grievances. Elena Calistru, Executive Director of Funky Citizens and one of the ten people selected to attend the session with the President, reflected on the historic moment, saying “the accident showed a huge gap between government and society… in a low representation of the community interests in governmental priorities.”
This same gap exists in the Open Government Partnership. While involvement of civil society is a sign of great initiative, is by itself not sufficient. It should not be used as a publicity stunt. It should not be used to white-wash or “open-wash” government.
The elimination of corruption cannot be an aspirational goal: it must be a non-negotiable requirement for OGP participation. That goes for the member states as well as the leaders the Partnership chooses to promote and lift up in public forums. If this isn’t the case, then what are we doing other than putting on a political show?
We’re certainly not advancing Open Government.
Anca Matioc is Romanian Chilean Mexican Gringita (order varies) with an interest in governance and anti-corruption and social movements. She tweets at @AncaMatioc. A version of this article was originally published at Medium.

author: Guest Contributor


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Mexico City Joins the Ranks of LGBT-Friendly Cities · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

“Benito Juárez Hemicycle,” a characteristic cenotaph of the Federal District. Photo by the author.
The head of government of the Federal District of Mexico — the country's capital, Mexico City — declared on 23 November 2015 that the city is friendly to the LGBT community.
The Federal District — which the current administration has given the acronym CDMX (Ciudad de México) — joins the ranks of many other cities that have self-identified as such, among them Berlin, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo.
Celia Reyna of progressive news organization IzqMx reported that in addition to an event hosted by Mexico City’s Head of Government Miguel Ángel Mancera, there were celebrations planned in Berlin, Germany, as well:
De forma paralela en la ciudad de Berlín se ofrecerá una conferencia de prensa para darle la bienvenida a la Ciudad de México como miembro de Rainbow Cities Network, una importante red de ciudades en Europa que tienen especial atención en las personas LGBT y realizan acciones para establecer políticas locales e intercambio de buenas prácticas, intervenciones e iniciativas.
Alongside [Mexico City’s event] the city of Berlin will hold a press conference to welcome Mexico City as a member of the Rainbow Cities Network, an extensive network of cities in Europe that give special attention to LGBT people and take actions to establish positive local policies, exchanges, interventions and initiatives.
News website Animal Político noted the following regarding Mancera's declaration:
La declaratoria de ciudad amigable con la comunidad LGBTTTI se firmó un día después de que 51 parejas se casaron por la vía civil. Durante el evento, Mancera convocó a que el próximo año se rompa el récord de unir a más de mil 690 parejas de la comunidad lésbico-gay, el cual fue establecido el 15 de febrero pasado.
The declaration that Mexico City is an LGBTTTI-friendly [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transvestite, Transgender and Intersex people] city was signed a day after 51 couples were married in civil ceremonies. During the event, Mancera expressed determination that the coming year will set a new record for number of gay and lesbian couples wed — the current record, established on the 15th of this past February, is 690 couples.
The past year has seen growing support for marriage equality within Mexico after the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, the highest judicial body in the country, ruled that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional.
But just how big is Mexico’s LGBT community? Ricardo Baruch is one person who has taken on the task of responding to this question. In a piece for blog Homozapping, in which he cites several studies, he arrives at the conclusion that about 3% of the population appears to belong to the community. Baruch also notes the importance of LGBT representation within the political sphere and the continued defense of their basic human rights:
Independientemente de cuán grande o pequeña es la población no heterosexual en México, es importante que los derechos de todas y todos los ciudadanos de México sean respetados y se tenga acceso a espacios de representación social y política. La discriminación y el rechazo a la diversidad sexual siguen siendo grandes problemas en el país, sin embargo, el no saber el tamaño del problema representa una barrera para que se atienda adecuadamente.
No matter how large or small the non-heterosexual population is in Mexico, it’s important that the rights of each and every Mexican citizen are respected and that they have access to spaces of social and political representation. Discrimination and rejection of sexual diversity continues to be a huge problem in the country; however, not knowing the size of the problem is a barrier that needs to be adequately addressed.
Regarding the rights of this part of the population, such as the right to healthcare, Twitter user E Páramo questioned whether Mancera’s declaration will bring tangible benefits to the LGBT community:
¿La CDMX es amigable con la comunidad LGBTI? ¿Dónde están los centros de salud y de atención especializada? No basta con permitir su unión.
— E Páramo (@Param0_) November 24, 2015
Mexico City is an LGBTI-friendly city? Where are the health centers and specialized care? It’s not enough to allow their entry.
Twitter user Rodrigo Fragoso shared the following images from the event:
El @GobiernoDF impulsa políticas públicas en atención a la comunidad #LGBTTTI #CDMXAmigableLGBTTTI #SoyAmigableCDMX pic.twitter.com/qZZdU27pZA
— Rodrigo Fragoso (@fragosomanager) November 24, 2015
The Federal District promotes public policies giving attention to the LGBTTTI community #MexicoCityIsAFriendOfTheLGBTTTICommunity #I’mFriendlyMexico City
Twitter user David JR welcomed the news:
Festejemos a la #CDMXAmigableLGBTTTI, ayer un gran acontecimiento llegó a esta capital. #FelizMartes
— David JR (@DaviJri) November 24, 2015
Let’s celebrate that #MexicoCityIsAFriendOfTheLGBTTTICommunity, yesterday an incredible event took place in our capital. Happy Tuesday
Twitter user Rojabarrocamarica expressed the following opinion about Mancera’s declaration:
Que en estado y el capital sean los dueños del espacio público niega toda posibilidad de una ciudad amigable. #CDMXAmigableLGBTTTI
— Rojabarrocamarica (@el_prz) November 24, 2015
That the state and capital are the owners of public spaces forfeits any possibility of a friendly city. #MexicoCityIsAFriendOfTheLGBTTTICommunity
The Federal District has taken a step in the direction of tolerance and respect for diversity; however, only concrete action from the government, such as the implementation of favorable public policies, will demonstrate whether the government has sincerely honored its commitment — and obligation — to LGBT citizens, a community which has historically faced monumental inequality and exclusion.

author: J. Tadeo


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Sao Paulo Officials Declare ‘War’ on Students’ Occupy Movement · Global Voices
Taisa Sganzerla

Brazilian teenagers have been protesting for almost two months government's plan to shut down schools. Photo: O Mal Educado/Facebook
Three weeks ago, Brazilian teens from Sao Paulo started seizing public schools due to be shut down by a new state program dubbed “reorganization.” When talks with the government stalled, youths occupied 193 institutions. On Sunday, November 29, an audio recording leaked onto the Internet revealing that a senior official in Brazil's Education Department says the government is “at war” with Sao Paulo's students, and has instructed school principals to demobilize the occupation movement.
Despite this controversy and student movement, Sao Paulo's Governor officially launched the “reorganization” program on December 1, authorizing transferring the faculty from schools slated for closure.
Under the state's “reorganization plan,” 43 percent of the schools in Sao Paulo will offer only one of the three levels of education in the Brazilian system, instead of offering primary through secondary education all under the same roof. In Brazil, basic education is divided into three levels: two kinds of “elementary school” (first to fifth grade and then sixth to ninth grade) followed by a final three years of “high school.”
Currently, most public schools in São Paulo offer more than one level, but that changes under the new plan. Most importantly, the new policy results in the closure of 93 different schools across the state, and another thousand affected in less drastic ways. More than 300,000 students are expected to need to transfer to new schools.
The governor of Sao Paulo, Geraldo Alckimin, promises that at least 66 of the vacant buildings will give way to public nurseries and technical colleges, while the others still have no definite fate. Students and activists who oppose “reorganization” claim the changes are simply budget cuts in disguise.
Leaked by independent media collective Jornalistas Livres (Free Journalists), an audio file now circulating online was recorded at a secret meeting that took place on Sunday, November 29, between Fernando Padula, the chief of staff of the state Secretariat of Education, and school directors. In the tape, Padula says, “We will fight until the end and we will win. We will demoralize and disqualify the movement.” He accuses the occupation movement of being “political and partisan,” and “deviating the focus from Brasilia.”
Sao Paulo is governed by the center-right Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). Nationally, the PSDB is out of power currently.
Padula also says that the Governor asked the staff to visit the schools and try to “restart the classes,” instructing officials to “give preference to the schools that are not too radicalized yet.” Schools where the movement has taken a stronger hold, he says, should be merely isolated and dealt with gradually. “My opinion is to just leave them there. What's gonna happen? Next year, that school will be ‘reorganized’, only it won't start the school year.”
Padula also revealed that government agents were sent to photograph cars parked in front of the occupied schools, in order to identify if the vehicles’ owners are connected to any political party or the Apeoesp (Sao Paulo state teacher's union).
Finally, Padula calls on officials to wage an “information war” against the students. “When it comes to manipulation, it is studied, [and] it has method. What you need to do is to inform, inform, inform in an information war. Because that's how you will demobilize them.”
After the audio leaked, protests were organized inside and outside the schools on December 1 and 2, and demonstrated faced violent crackdowns by the police, with some students detained.
A few parents and police invaded the school Maria José in São Paulo in an attempt to break the occupation. Photo: O Mal Educado / Facebook
In the school Maria José, a few parents of students against the movement entered the campus in an attempt to end the occupation. On Facebook, students reported that the police backed the parents, and used pepper spray against occupiers, despite the absence of a judicial order to enter the school. One female student says she was assaulted by the school's own principal.
“This week is crucial. It is time to show them that we will resist,” a student told the website Nexo.
Protests against the reorganization started as soon as the plan was announced, in the beginning of October. As the protests against the reorganization have gained momentum, students started to occupy their own schools, taking shifts with cleaning and cooking and the general maintenance of the schools, sometimes with the help from parents, teachers, and some social movements.
Students painting walls and ceilings in a occupied school. Photo: O Mal Educado / Facebook
They soon created the Facebook page “Don't Shut Down My School,” which students are using to communicate with the rest of the country, and stories from the occupation started to spread. In one school, a whole room full of brand new school material was found, for the absolute surprise of the students, who claim the school's management was always complaining of lack of resources.
In another school, students even installed new showers in a bathroom, bought with their own pocket money.
As escolas ocupadas em São Paulo tem curriculo melhor que muita universidade por ai … #OcupaEscola pic.twitter.com/DBtL93o1BU
— Ana Rios (@Anavriosoficial) November 27, 2015
“The occupying schools have a better curriculum than a lot of universities… #OcupaEscola” [Class schedule: Photojournalism; Media and activism; Right to occupation; Refugees; Palestinian territory; Resistance slam; Resistance theater]
During the past month, in Whatsapp groups used by the students to communicate across different schools, students have shared a manual drafted in 2011 by secondary students in Chile, who that year occupied 700 schools in demonstrations for better public education.
Present at the meeting, and introduced to the group by Padula, was a man named Leandro—a member of the Movimento Ação Popular (Popular Action Movement), connected with the Sao Paulo-ruling Brazilian Social Democracy Party. While being recorded, Padula explained how Leandro would help coordinate the so-called information war.
Ação Popular was created in the beginning of this year and has participated heavily in anti-government protests. Presenting itself as a “student movement,” it says one of its objectives is “fighting for quality public education.” It publicly declares its support for the Sao Paulo government's reorganization of education.
Roney Glauber, the coordinator, told the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo that his organization has been visiting occupied schools and holding assemblies to “explain the reorganization” to demonstrators. On November 21, they created a counter-Facebook page named “Give me back my school.” So far, most of the group's posts claim the occupations are being orchestrated by a collaboration between the Worker's Party, the Federal Government, and leftist social movements.
Roney Glauber, from Ação Popular (Popular Action), with São Paulo state governor Geraldo Alckimin in June 2015. Photo: Roney Glauber/Facebook
Despite its official connection with PSDB, Acao Popular says that only “some members are affiliated to the party,” though its central committee is reportedly “indifferent to the position to the PSDB.” Roney Glauber himself, however, works at the party's directory in the city of Guarulhos and was elected president of the PSDB youth wing in 2013.
Students have reported how the government's tactics have been playing out on the ground. On the page “Don't Close My School,” activists are denouncing how some strangers entered the campus at E.E. Coronel Sampaio School, in the city of Osasco, and started setting fire to books and stealing computers:
A polícia chegou ao local pouco tempo depois, mas não impediu a ação daqueles que depredavam a escola. Ameaçados, os alunos não viram alternativa a não ser deixar o local. Pouco tempo depois, chegou a direção da escola e o chefe de gabinete da Secretaria de Educação, Fernando Padula Novaes.
The police arrived moments later, but didn't stop them from plundering the school. Students felt threated and had no alternative other than leave the place. Not long afterwards, the school's principal and the Secretariat of Education's chief of staff Fernando Padula Novaes arrived.
Later, on the 12 o'clock news, a broadcast at TV Globo presented a drastically different version of the break-in, theft, and arson, accusing students of abandoning the campus “voluntarily,” after which school officials entered the facility and supposedly discovered everything trashed.
On Facebook, activists insist that they can prove the students’ innocence:
Estamos convictos de que os alunos da E.E. Coronel Sampaio terão como provar, com fotos e vídeos de suas atividades, que sua ocupação apenas melhorava as condições da escola, como ocorre em todas as ocupações. Mais ainda, não vamos sossegar até que os verdadeiros articuladores da destruição de escolas sejam desmascarados.
We are convinced that the students at E.E. Coronel Sampaio will be able to prove, with photos and videos of their activities, that their occupation only improved the conditions of the school, as with all other occupations. Also, we won't rest until the true perpretators of the destruction are unmasked.

author: Taisa Sganzerla


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UN Atomic Agency Report Brings Iran Nuclear Deal Closer to Reality · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

The Iran Deal is announced by EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif at the venue of the nuclear talks in Vienna, Austria on July 14, 2015. Photo by EU External Action Service (CC BY-NC 2.0)
It's one of the many steps needed before the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released an assessment report based on four years of research and reporting that concludes there's no evidence that Iran has tried to develop a nuclear weapon since 2009.
According to the report, released on 2 December, Iran did lead initiatives related to developing a nuclear weapon under a program known as “AMAD”. However, the program ceased in 2003, with some related activities of “feasibility and scientific studies” continuing until 2009, after which no related programs continued:
The Agency has no credible indications of activities in Iran relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device after 2009.
[…] The Agency has found no credible indications of the diversion of nuclear material in connection with the possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme.
IAEA, which reports directly to the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, is an autonomous international organization tasked with the promotion of peaceful uses for nuclear energy and the inhibition of its use for military purposes.
This report is one of the many steps towards the finalization of the 14 July nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which aims to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon in exchange for relief from nuclear-related sanctions by the United States, European Union and UN Security Council.
According to an Associated Press report, the agency has left their findings as an “assessment” and would allow Washington and the IAEA's 35-nation board to decide whether to close the case on Iran's nuclear program. The IAEA board will meet on 15 December to decide whether to endorse the 14 July deal. If the board agrees, the IAEA investigation will end, fulfilling one of the key requirements of the deal before the removal of the sanctions.
In reaction to the IAEA report, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi criticized the IAEA for falsely reporting that Iran had past intentions and made efforts to create a weapon, however, welcomed the move towards closing the case.
#Iran DepFM Araghchi: #IAEA report says Iranian nuclear program never had a military dimension or activity.
— Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) December 2, 2015
#Iran DFM Araghchi: This is not a true claim & we don't accept it that Iran has done research related to nuclear bomb.
— Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) December 2, 2015
#Iran DFM Araghchi: #IAEA board of governors must decide on the report, but we believe that this report will result in closing the case. — Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) December 2, 2015
Araghchi seems calm, relaxed, w/ no stress in his interview on IAEA report, indicating his relative positive assessment of the report. #Iran — Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) December 2, 2015
Araghchi: We're moving according to the plan & have to reach implementation day in late Dec or early January. We guess early January. #Iran
— Abas Aslani (@abasinfo) December 2, 2015
According to Bloomberg News, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that “the IAEA has confirmed that Iran met its commitments to provide responses to the agency’s requests,” and explained there will be “assurance that these types of past activities cannot occur again. We’ll have that kind of transparency, that level of access.”
The release of the IAEA report has presented an opportunity for various reactions. Amongst right-wing US politicians, this was identified as a moment “to call Iran's bluff” on past dishonesty about the nuclear program:
.@IAEAorg rpt on #Iran #PMD proves history of deceit on weapons program. US must increase sanctions, not give relief https://t.co/5oiWxaWQJn
— Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) December 3, 2015
For others, like reporter for BBC Persian Service Bahman Kalbasi, this was an affirmation that sanctions, largely put into place after 2010 when Iran's work related to nuclear weaponization had ceased, were needless and vacuous:
And the most biting US sanctions on #Iran came in 2010! https://t.co/cNDEikTu3I
— Bahman Kalbasi (@BahmanKalbasi) December 2, 2015


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Transgender Woman Elected to Venezuelan National Assembly · Global Voices
Carmen Victoria Mendez

Tamara Adrián, centre, during one of her tours to promote her candidacy for the National Assembly of Venezuela. Image taken from her Facebook account.
Update December 7, 2015. Yesterday, Tamara Adrián became the first transgender person elected to the National Assembly in Venezuela.
For Tamara Adrián, seeing her name written on the ballot of the parliamentary elections on 6 December 2015 in Venezuela is a milestone — not only for being acknowledged as the first transgender candidate in the electoral history of the country, which is already an achievement, but also for the fact that, at least on this particular document, her identity corresponds with her gender.
The same cannot be said for her identity card, passport or bank cards, in which she is still Tomás Adrián. This, despite undergoing a sex change in Thailand in 2002 and having applied to the Supreme Court of Justice two years later to have her new identity recognised.
More than a decade later, she is still waiting for a response.
Hers is not the only case, nor is it the most high-profile. It is a widespread issue in the South American country's LGBT community. Marriage equality, simple name and sex changes on identity cards and legal protection for couples are just some of the matters yet to be touched on in parliamentary debate.
Under the circumstances, the rise of a transgender candidate on the local scene is surprising. She is running with opposition party Voluntad Popular in the party-line vote for the Capital District.
“I've never belonged to a party before, but Voluntad Popular has welcomed us,” she reveals to Global Voices via Skype.
Adrián speaks of a “debt” that the Venezuelan National Assembly owes the sexually diverse minority.
La situación de falta de reconocimiento en Venezuela se hace más patente cuando se le compara con la realidad de los países vecinos. Toda América Latina reconoce la identidad de las personas trans. En el caso de México, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina y Chile, este reconocimiento es posible sin necesidad de operaciones genitales. Venezuela se ha quedado tan lejana en relación a la región. Sin embargo, fue el primer país de Latinoamérica en reconocer la identidad de personas trans en 1977”.
The absence of recognition in Venezuela is even more evident when compared to the reality of neighbouring countries. The entirety of Latin America recognises trans people's identity. With regards to Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, this recognition is possible without the need for surgery. With regards to the region, Venezuela has lagged behind. However, it was the first Latin American country to recognise trans people's identity in 1977.
Before 1998, 150 changes to identity documents were recognised, but none since then, Adrián says. “This happened under the standards of that time, after gender reassignment surgery,” she explains. Subsequently, a political change began in the country at the hand of Hugo Chávez. Some political and community associations within the government's circle attempted to include LGBT demands in the political debate, but they were disregarded by the ruling elite.
“Unfortunately, Chavism has misunderstood many modern aspects due to several traits such as militarism, evangelical overrepresentation, ignorance of human rights and the classical Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist training of some of its leaders. The above have trickled down to cause this lack of commitment to the LGBT community,” says Adrián, who trained as a lawyer in the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Venezuela and the Panthéon-Assas University in Paris.
In Adrián's opinion, the government's stance does not reflect the Venezuelan society's sentiments towards the rights of the sexually diverse community. She would also like to clarify that not all members of the LGBT community identify with the ruling PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela), but their political views are spread over more than one party.
El 97 por ciento de las reacciones de la gente en las redes sociales ante el trabajo que estoy haciendo con Voluntad Popular son positivas. Solo hay reacciones negativas de parte de algunos fanáticos religiosos del Opus Dei, grupos evangélicos o chavistas. Ven mi candidatura como una amenaza a la propaganda que ellos han tenido todo el tiempo, que asegura que el reconocimiento de nuestros derechos solo es posible ‘en revolución’. Esa propaganda funcionaba hace siete años cuando en la región no había derechos, pero que ya se ha agotado”.
On social media, 97 percent of people's reactions towards the work I am doing with Voluntad Popular is positive. There are only a few negative responses from a few Opus Dei religious fanatics, evangelical groups or Chavistas. They see my candidacy as a threat to their propaganda, which ensures that acknowledging our rights is only possible ‘through a revolution’. This propaganda might have worked seven years ago when the region had no rights, but they've already run out of options.

author: Carmen Victoria Mendez