text:
Interview with Rosaly Lopes, a Brazilian NASA astronomer and the first woman to edit the journal founded by Carl Sagan · Global Voices
Fernanda Canofre

Dr. Rosaly Lopes | Foto: Divulgação, used with permission.
Rosaly Lopes grew up in a middle-class family in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil watching Star Trek, fascinated by her school’s telescope and following all the news about the Apollo mission. When Apollo 13 had to return to Earth in April 1970, it was the story of Francis Northcutt, the woman responsible for calculating the spaceship's route home, that grabbed her attention.
“Just showing a woman, in Houston’s [Texas, United States] control centre, was a very great inspiration for me,” Lopes said in a telephone interview with Global Voices (GV).
Forty-eight years after the mission, Rosaly Lopes has become one of the world’s most important scientists. Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) department of planetary sciences, she entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2006 for having discovered the most volcanos, recording 71 on Jupiter’s moon while working on the Galileo mission.
Since 2002, Lopes is among those in charge of exploring Saturn’s moon Titan, the second largest in the solar system, with the probe Cassini. It is on Titan that she will begin searching for the possibility of life outside of Earth.
In 2018, Lopes became the first woman to edit the journal Icarus. Created by the famous astronomer Carl Sagan, the journal is a reference point in planetary sciences. She spoke with GV about her projects and the power of seeing women in important roles in science to help future generations.
GV: How did you become the first woman to edit the journal Icarus?
Rosaly Lopes (RL): Carl Sagan started Icarus because at the time there was no scientific journal to publish works exclusively on planetary science. The editors all came from Cornell University because at the time the submissions were all sent there and passed from one professor to another. There were few editors, I think three or four. The last one stayed for more than 10 years. He and the American Astronomical Society, which has a division for Planetary Sciences, started to ask who would like to be a candidate. I presented myself as a candidate and they chose me.
GV: What do you think of the ideas that question scientific data, facts, and research?
RL: It is a small part of the population which think this. But there are people who do not want to believe that it is human activity which is causing [climate change]. This is because there are a lot of people who are afraid that our mode of life has to change. I am optimistic, I think that we will discover ways of using energy that do not cause global warming. The problem is that the question has become more political than scientific.
Rosaly Lopes doing research in Vanuatu in the Pacific. Photo: personal archive, published with permission.
GV: In 2005, you received the Carl Sagan medal for your work on inclusiveness in public education, especially for Hispanic youths and women. Could you speak more about your view on this?
RL: Inclusion is important because science needs talent, it needs dedicated people, and it does not matter it they are men or women, of different ethnicities, or anything. It is important to have youths aimed at a career in sciences and technology because it is our future. Medicine is also very linked to the area of technology. Science has to be a field prepared to include all.
GV: For women, they say that the atmosphere in the field of science is more difficult, that they need to prove themselves more. Do you agree?
RL: I think that this is a little bit of a myth. I think that 50 or 30 years ago, yes. But, today, for example, in the area of Planetary Sciences, women constitute 30 or 35 percent. Now seeing a woman scientist is not a thing that people consider ‘different’. From the moment that you have 25 percent women in a scientific area, it starts to be something more normal.
GV: Did you ever encounter prejudice?
RL: No and I never worried much about this. People should not lose time worrying about this. I was always of the opinion that, if somebody has a prejudice, the problem is theirs, not mine. It is better to go forwards and do the work in the best way that you can.
GV: How did you start taking an interest in this area?
RL: I grew up with the Apollo programme and it was that which inspired me a lot. I wanted to be an astronaut, at first, but I saw that I was a woman, Brazilian, and very short-sighted. So, really, it was not going to happen. I decided that I was going to help the space programme as a scientist. I decided this very early and never strayed from this path.
GV: What did your parents think?
RL: Fortunately, they supported me a lot, because without this I could not have taken on anything. My mother was worried that I, as an astronomer, would not have a job. But she made a point of me learning English and French, for me to have a way of earning money, even if the profession did not give me money. They encouraged me a lot such that I studied abroad, they paid for everything, made sacrifices, because they saw that, especially at that time, there was no field of astronomy in Brazil. Now it is better.
GV: Is it common to see people from developing countries in this field?
RL: It is not very common, but it is changing. When I started, really, it was not at all common. But now I am seeing more and more people. There are opportunities, especially if you are very dedicated and study a lot. We need talents working in those areas, so it is important to encourage all the people who really like the field.
GV: A Brazilian magazine referred to you as ‘the Brazilian who succeeded at NASA‘. What do you think of that title?
RL: (laughs) I did not know about that title, interesting. Everything in life is effort and a little luck, take advantage of the opportunities that appear. I took on some risks. At 18 years old, I left Brazil to study in Britain and it was difficult. My English was good, but not excellent for university level and I had difficulties. My preparation in Brazil was lower than the British students, although I had attended good schools. Afterwards, I was in Britain with a good job with the government, I worked at Greenwich Observatory, but decided that it was not what I wanted to do, because there was no chance of doing research. I took a risk, left the job and went to the USA to participate in JPL [Jet Propulsion Laboratory] with NASA, with a scholarship for two years’ duration. Fortunately, it worked out, but it was a risk, because I knew what I wanted. My father said that the most important thing life was to have a passion, go after it and don’t give up.
GV: You participated in the Cassini Mission and became one of the world’s leading specialists in active volcanoes. Which of your projects did you most like doing?
RL: That is difficult to know. I think that my work on the Galileo Mission, on the volcanic moons of Jupiter, was what most stands out even today. But, I hope that my most important work, I have not done it yet. That I still have time ahead.
Photo: Rosaly Lopes from her personal archive, published with permission.
GV: What is your next project?
RL: I just received funding from NASA, a large project of mine was approved to study the moon Titan in more depth, which is a moon of Saturn. We want to do this study with a lot of researchers, spread over all the United States, in Hawaii, Chicago, Britain. We are conducting a study on the possibility of life developing on Titan.
GV: Do you think that we are close to the day when we can live outside of Earth?
RL: This is what we are going to study, not only the biological aspect, which already has a team of biologists in Chicago researching if life could develop in the ocean of liquid water underneath a layer of ice on Titan, but if organic material, which could serve as food for that life, that we know exists in the atmosphere and on the surface, could penetrate the ocean and after, with cryovolcnanism, ice-volcanic activity, if it could come to the surface and we could detect those signs of life.
GV: But do you think that we are close to the day when we could live in those environments?
RL: I am talking about the possibilities of microscopic life, which is one of the fundamental questions to know if life developed in other planets and moons. The possibility of colonization, there are now plans to make a base on the Moon, but I think that will take a long time. If I have an opportunity to go to Space, I will go. My dream of being an astronaut is still there.
GV: Icarus was created by Carl Sagan and he was the editor of it for some time. Did he become one of your references? Who are the others?
RL: I knew Carl Sagan personally, because when I worked on the Galileo Mission, he was also working on it. He did very important things, not only for the field of sciences, but for having been the first scientist who stood out for publicizing sciences in a big way. At the time that he started doing this, with TV programmes and everything else, the majority of scientists thought that it was not a good thing. ‘A scientist should not waste time doing those things’. Carl Sagan broke this barrier. He showed that he could be a great scientist and publicize science at the same time. I always did a lot of publicizing, because I think it is very important to inspire the next generation. He helped me to do this, I won the medal (with his name) for exactly this. There are still people who have prejudices, but it is reducing.
GV: Cosmos [Sagan's 1980 TV show] is still a reference for a lot of people.
RL: It is. But, when I was a girl in Brazil I had not heard of it. There were few books about astronomy at that time. My father gave me ‘The Universe’ by Isaac Asimov, and this was very important. I remember that when I was growing up, there was the mission Apollo 13, which had to return to Earth. The reports of two newspapers that I got in Rio de Janeiro talked of a girl Francis Northcutt. Her nickname was Poppy. She worked for a company for an airspace company, calculating orbits for spaceships and she had been helping the calculations for Apollo 13 to return. Just showing a woman, in the Houston control centre, was a very big inspiration for me. Funny, I never met her in person. She left NASA soon after, went to study law and become a lawyer. It is important for women scientists to raise awareness to inspire today’s girls.

author: Fernanda Canofre


text:
Trinidadian photographer Maria Nunes pays tribute to ‘Carnival dreamers and makers’ in new book · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Andrew Nicholas playing a Blue Devil in Paramin, Trinidad, 2014. Photo by Maria Nunes, used with permission.
Visit Trinidad and Tobago during its annual Carnival celebrations and you are sure to see certain characters —  Blue Devils, Fancy Sailors, Dames Lorraine, Moko Jumbies — and photographer Maria Nunes, playing just as integral a role as the rest of the Carnival cast by capturing it all.
Now, some of her best pictures (and the magic behind them) have come together in a spectacular coffee table book, “In a World of Their Own”, which honours the “Carnival dreamers and makers” that Nunes has had the privilege and joy of photographing year after year.
At the April 24, 2018 launch, Nunes called the book her “ode to Carnival” and talked about the “immense gratitude” she felt while chronicling the adventures of “the incredible people who dream and make Carnival”. Nunes describes her work as “seeing from the inside”, a perfect encapsulation of the book's achievement as an insider's guide to Carnival traditions.
In the poetic words of Shivanee Ramlochan, who penned the book's foreword, Nunes acts as both witness and historian:
To say these photographs have been snapped is to handle them carelessly: they have been made, fired in their own kiln of understanding […] The photographs listen. They contemplate. They return to the sites of Carnival innovation year in, year out. Then they record.
Many stalwarts of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival describe the festival as their “religion”; if so, Nunes has worshipped at its altar with awe, wonder and reverence, and her book allows us a peek into the splendour of the promised land. Global Voices sat down with Nunes to talk about “In a World of Their Own”.
Global Voices (GV): Prior to you taking photography by the horns and using it to chronicle some of the most compelling aspects of Trinidad and Tobago’s national festival, you were probably best known in the Caribbean as a golfer. How did a childhood hobby become your full-time job?
Trinidadian photographer Maria Nunes with her new book, “In a World of Their Own”; used with permission.
Maria Nunes (MN): I had been working in the golf world for ten years and reached a point where I thought it was time to move on, that I’d done what I could do. I’d played my part in some major projects while I was the General Manager of St. Andrew’s Golf Club and felt I’d made a real contribution; it was time to close that chapter of my life. I remember I had gone hiking one day, and taken my camera. The speckled light in the forest really made the photos come alive — that made a deep impression on me. Then, there was quite a specific moment in 2009 when someone I knew very well died in a terrible accident. That really shook me up and made me ask myself some hard questions. The outcome was deciding that I would head off on my own into self-employment in photography. It was a very scary thing to do at the time. I really didn’t know how I was going to make it work.
GV: Enter Carnival. What did it have to offer and what have you learned from photographing it?
MN: From the time I first photographed Carnival [in 2007] I was captivated by all the colour, the creativity, the energy. Most of all I think the energy, the spirit of Carnival quickly drew me in. Carnival is such a vast, layered world. There’s so much going on inside that world. It’s full of so many interesting people. This is the greatest thing that Carnival has to offer — the people who dream and make mas’ [short for ‘masquerade,’ the creation of Carnival costumes]. There is so much history to Carnival and this is one of the things that I was immediately fascinated by, to learn that history, to dig deeper and deeper into it. Photographing Carnival has most of all made me deepen my interest in people. It’s made me want to go beyond the surface and really get to understand just how important the traditions in Carnival are to the bigger story of who we are in Trinidad and Tobago.
The cover of Maria Nunes’ book, “In a World of Their Own”; used with permission.
GV: Tell us about the idea for your book, “In a World of Their Own”, and how it came about.
MN: Last year marked ten years that I’d been photographing Carnival, and I thought this was a good milestone to mark through publishing a book of my work — and to make the most of the opportunity it presented to offer some of the perspectives that I’ve developed about mas’ and the people who make it. The concept behind the book was to present imagery of the contemporary expression of what is defined as traditional mas’, and to focus attention on some of its key creators, not only through photographs, but also by juxtaposing their actual voices in verbatim text. I chose this approach because I have been moved by the remarkable people who dedicate their lives — many of them on a year round basis — to Carnival art forms. A significant part of my photography has become a conscious decision to bear witness to their commitment and creativity, which is often lost or overlooked within the wider canvas of Carnival as a whole. This book gives voice to these extraordinary men and women, takes the reader inside the mas’ to see Carnival through their eyes, and shares the deep wonder, admiration and respect I have for them.
GV: What was the process like?
MN: It was a collaborative process [with Robert and Christopher Publishers]. What was key was the decision that the book would tell a story. I’d shared the importance of place to me in Carnival, of certain streets in Port of Spain, of locations outside of the capital city, like Paramin and Couva. My publishers saw that would give shape to the book; still, it was very difficult to arrive at the final image selections. At times, it was hard to let go of some photographs I’m very attached to. Hardest of all was having to accept that some people wouldn’t end up in the book. When it’s people you know well, that’s really tough. The photos that made the final cut then went to the book's designer, Richard Rawlins. I think he did something really beautiful with the book, including drawing a most magical illustration at the very beginning that immediately establishes that special — and spacial — sense of place.
Anderson Gibbs playing Fancy Sailor, Queen Street, Trinidad, 2007. Photo by Maria Nunes, used with permission.
GV: The book is really a treasure map to the heart and soul of Trinidad and
Tobago Carnival — a veritable calendar of events that lets readers get deep into the belly of the thing. How do you achieve such intimacy in your photographs?
MN: It’s one of those intangible things. My camera has been my passport into the worlds that interest me. It’s made me take the time to get to know people. I think if you approach something with love and positivity, people respond to you with a lot of generosity. At times there might be some initial barriers, but if you take the time to listen to why their barriers are up, you learn so much. You have to take the time to build relationships with people.
Carlisle Jones playing Fireman, Victoria Square, 2010. Photo by Maria Nunes, used with permission.
GV: In the book, rapso artist Wendell Manwarren describes Carnival as “energies” — it’s a give and take. How do you navigate that forceful power between participant and spectator, and channel it into images that resonate?
MN: For me it’s about immersion. It’s about going all out, no half way business. Also, as a photographer I see myself as a participant too, not a spectator.
GV: The book's images and text allow your subjects to tell their own stories. There is wisdom in these pages. How important was it for you allow the mas’ makers to chart their course in these pages?
MN: It was vital to me that this book be an opportunity to hear voices that might not ordinarily be listened to. What they have to say is full of depth. From getting to know people who dream and make Carnival, who live and die for mas’, I’ve gained so much wisdom and insight. I felt this needed to be shared to help break stereotypes, to give respect where it is due.
Wire bending artists Winston “Weezy” Thorne and Narcenio “Senor” Gomez, Nelson Street, 2014. Photograph by Maria Nunes, used with permission.
GV: How does “In a World of Their Own” pay homage to mas’-making pioneers who have passed on?
MN: It means a lot to me to commit not just their photograph, but their names to the written record in this way. Some of them are well known and some not so well known outside the circle of hardcore Carnival people, but they are giants in their own right. It’s my way of showing deep respect and making my contribution to the record that future generations can reference.
GV: It's clear that the Carnival experience is a metaphor for life. What are some of your favourite life lessons that the mas’ makers shared?
MN: There are some real gems in the book. One that I love is from stilt walker [known as Moko Jumbies in Trinidad and Tobago Carnival] Kemoi Harper: ‘If you can’t take pushing, please learn to take it because it good for your own self.’ Traditional mas’ designer Tracey Sankar-Charleau acknowledged the deep roots of our Carnival tradition when she said, ‘These things are real, it’s not just folklore. We say it’s just a story, but it’s not. I firmly believe it was people who, at some point, were wronged — and it left its mark.’
Carnival mas’ designer Tracey Sankar-Charleau helps ready her son, Jude Sankar, for his performance as a Douen (a traditional folklore character), Murray Street, 2017. Photo by Maria Nunes, used with permission.
GV: Your book challenges the perception that traditional mas’ is dying by highlighting the people who show up for this creation ritual year after year. What's your response to the naysayers?
MN: Take the time to take a closer look at what people are creating every year off the beaten track. I hope the book offers an alternative perspective to the overused refrain that traditional mas’ is mainly the concern of an older generation. To be sure, some of the traditions face more challenges than others: Black Indian, for example, is one that is in the hands of just a few people today, but those few are committed to its survival. This book is a way of honouring that kind of commitment. There is a younger generation bringing new energy to mas’ and actively taking the mantle of responsibility for cultural vibrancy from their elders. Their creativity is a real-time response within the canvas of Carnival as a whole; their work is the marriage of new ideas with tradition. Their work is not dead, it’s very alive. What they are facing is the increasing marginalisation of what they do, and I hope my book helps to draw attention to the beauty and vibrancy of the traditions right under our noses if we would just take the time to look beyond the surface.
Narrie Approo applying face paint to play Black Indian, John John, 2018. Photo by Maria Nunes, used with permission.
GV: By your choice of subject, you have charged yourself with the responsibility of archiving an incredibly precious resource. How do you feel about being a custodian of our Carnival history?
MN: It’s my joy and privilege to commit myself to work that might have some lasting value. There’s so much to be done. I hope the book might influence more people to take up this work. I deeply believe in the importance of history, of actively working to substantially contribute to what is committed to the record for the benefits to be derived in the immediate here and now, and for the benefit of those to come long after we are gone. Each generation has to bear its part in this kind of responsibility. I find a tremendous amount of meaning in playing my part.
Obafemi Nkosi and Bernard Fonrose playing traditional sailor mas’ at the corner of Queen and Nelson Streets, 2012. Photo by Maria Nunes, used with permission.
GV: Are the internet and social media having an effect on Carnival's evolution — and is there room for the deep, symbolic traditions and the street party to coexist?
MN: I’d like to answer this with the words of Wendell Manwarren who is quoted in the book: ‘When we look back and we see how the Carnival has changed and what the arc of time will show, 30, 40 years from now, where will this arc end up? Because this will evolve into something else. We don’t know what it is. But we know sure as anything that the Carnival will not die, it will continue to claim itself.’ Social media is certainly playing a role in the way Carnival is evolving. It’s up to those of us active in the Carnival space to use its power to engage in what we believe in. Is there space for both genres to co-exist? Absolutely!
GV: Is there one photograph in this book (or a few!) that you think captures the core of Carnival?
MN: Carnival’s core is so big, so wide, so multi-dimensional, so beautiful that it would take many books, many photographers, many photographs…

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Will Dominica’s new environment minister address post-Hurricane Maria challenges? · Global Voices
Kori Tuitt

Dominica's lush east coast in may 2006, well before the devastation of Hurricane Maria in September 2017. Photo by janinephoto, used with permission.
In the midst of rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Maria devastated the country in September 2017, the Caribbean island of Dominica has named a new minister of Environment, Climate Resilience, Disaster Management and Urban Renewal.
While Joseph Isaac has set forth a number of goals to rebuild the country, relieve victims and better prepare for the next hurricane season, many on the island are still struggling to cope with Maria's lingering impact and concerns have been raised about a lack of communication and information over relief and support services.
Isaac took his oath of office on April 13, 2018, having made the controversial move to break loyalty with his opposition United Workers Party (UWP) and lead as an independent under the ruling Dominica Labour Party.
When Isaac announced his departure from the UWP, he explained that Dominica comes first and all other things are secondary. In his new position as an independent member of parliament, Isaac has outlined a number of goals for the nation.
According to a press release on the Office of the Prime Minister's website, Isaac and his team hopes to address “key deliverables” as early as June 1, 2018. They include looking at the current housing situation in the country, stimulating the private sector, rehabilitating forests and more.
Isaac will be working to push legislation by the Climate Resilient Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD) launched last month. He also intends to harvest and use fallen trees for housing and furniture, reiterating that housing is crucial — especially with a new hurricane season imminent. Additionally, the new minister will address the issue of cleanliness and garbage disposal in the capital, Roseau.
During his swearing-in ceremony, Isaac said:
Our focus will be first of all on housing, and I was talking about Roseau Central, housing in the city and also nationally to ensure that we can meet our resilient targets and to ensure that people are protected from the elements.
Ella Mitchel commented:
Wonderful. We must also get rid of the hazardous chemicals that our farmers use on their farms. We have fertile land enough to be an ORGANIC FARMING NATION. MARIA cleaned us up, let's stay that way.
The National Hurricane Center's recently released Tropical Cyclone Report noted that Hurricane Maria caused 31 deaths on the island. Thirty-four people are still missing. Dominica also sustained at least US $1.31 billion in hurricane-related damage:
The agricultural sector was essentially eliminated. The once-lush tropical island was effectively reduced to an immense field of debris. In a Facebook post just after the hurricane hit, Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, described the damage as ‘mind-boggling’. The roofs of the majority of buildings and homes were either damaged or blown off. There was extensive damage to roads. Power, phone, and internet service was cut off, leaving the country almost incommunicado with the outside world.
Dominica has received both monetary and volunteer support after Hurricane Maria. The World Bank recently promised the island nation US $17 million for a geothermal plant. They also approved US $65 million for restoring agriculture, housing and more:
The Emergency Agricultural Livelihoods and Climate Resilience project (US $25 million) will help farmers and fisherfolks to restore their agriculture and fishing production and systems, and adopt climate smart practices. The Housing Recovery project (US $40 million) will focus on rebuilding houses and improving the application of resilient building practices. The total $65 million project financing for these two projects includes the US $50 million of grant financing.
Efforts will focus on rebuilding structures to better withstand future storms.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit posted the story of one woman who was gifted a home from the government. According to the post, the woman lost her mother, brother, two sisters, as well as her sisters’ children to Hurricane Maria. Netizens praised the prime minister and agreed the story was a touching one, with many suggesting the next step should be ensuring that the woman can financially support herself.
Facebook user Elsa Royer noted:
There are many stories like this one, very sad. I am very happy that she was able to secure Housing from the Government. The goal however, should be to make sure when housing is provided that she does not have to depend on the Government to continue taking care of her. There has to be a path to self Reliance.
Despite the success stories, social media users have expressed concerns about Dominica's progress since the hurricane struck. In response to a Dominica News Online article discussing World Bank funds, commenter Ibo France raised concerns about where and how relief funds get channeled to the right places after a disaster strikes:
Dominica has received a lot of assistance in cash and kind from donor countries, organizations and institutions. That’s very good. Implementation of the climate resilient plans are moving at a snail’s pace. Still, too many damaged roofs of houses and public buildings, roads, bridges , tracks and pathways. With the reconstruction of houses, buildings and roads, the revitalization of the farming and fishing sectors, the sprouting of new and better businesses and services, the economy should be red hot. Instead the donations are been used for electioneering.
While the commenter's accusation of misuse of funds doesn't appear to be supported by any publicly available evidence, nor has any reputable figure or organisation made such an accusation, many Dominicans say the aid and information they have received is insufficient. Ground Truth Solutions, an international non-governmental organisation focusing on post-disaster accountability, conducted a survey of nearly 400 Dominicans after Hurricane Maria struck. In its fourth round of surveys since the natural disaster, 95 percent of respondents whose homes were completely destroyed said their needs for “financial or material support for rebuilding homes and businesses” were not adequately addressed.
Cash support was the most important need for 69 percent of respondents, while 43 percent identified a crucial need for new housing. Alarmingly, 77 percent of respondents said they did not even know how to properly make complaints.
When asked if people are better prepared to face another natural disaster, 44 percent responded “not at all,” 23 percent said “not very much,” 18 percent answered “mostly yes,” and only 2 percent said “completely.”
The Ground Truth Solutions survey summarised:
The clearest message from the survey is the urgent need to step up information provision and engagement — not just consultation — with affected communities. At present, too many people on the island lack information about what they can expect from the recovery programme and when ‘building back better’ [a slogan coined after the natural disaster] will begin to make a difference in their lives.

author: Kori Tuitt


text:
Following pressure by security forces, Beirut Pride 2018 is “suspended for the time being” · Global Voices
Hassan Chamoun

Bracelets distributed by Beirut Pride. Source: Facebook page.
For the second year in a row, Beirut Pride, in collaboration with other groups supporting and advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, has organized talks and events against hate and discrimination based on gender and sexual diversity.
Beirut Pride 2018 was launched on May 12, with a brunch celebrating “parents who preserved their families, who did not reject their children when they came out as homosexuals, or at least, who sought for family to stay composed.”
But this year, Lebanon's General Security barred one schedule Pride event—a play reading—from taking place, alleging that it was being held illegally. This despite the fact that the theater had asked General Security, which lists ‘media censorship‘ among its official functions, if the reading required a review from the censorship office. General Security had said it didn't.
The cancelled event was set to take place in Beirut's Zoukak Theater. Members of General Security and the investigative branch of the police arrived at the theater and stopped a scheduled, free-of-charge reading of and Arabic translation of a French play, Yann Verburgh's “Ogres”.
One Beirut Pride organizer, Hadi Damien, was detained for the night, and after pressure from General Security, Beirut Pride decided to suspend its events “for the time being“.
Damien spent the night of May 14-15 in Beirut's notorious Hobeiche police station, known for instances of torture such as the one reported by the Lebanese francophone daily L'Orient Le Jour (OLJ), in which a gay couple was arrested, maltreated and tortured in Hobeiche and other detention centers in Lebanon.
According to police sources who spoke to OLJ, Hadi Damien was detained because of an order from Lebanon's public prosecution. He was given the choice of either signing a contract committing to stop the events of Beirut Pride or of having his case referred to a judge who would interrogate him on the basis of articles “pertaining to the incitement to immorality and to the breach of public morality for coordinating the activities”.
On advice from his lawyer, Damien decided that the best option was to sign the pledge, and the Beirut Pride coordinator was then allowed to leave the police station.
On May 15, Beirut Pride released the following statement:
تمّ إطلاق سراح هادي دميان المشروط وبيروت برايد آمنة. نعلّق في الوقت الرّاهن الفعاليّلات المُدرجة تحت عنوان بيروت برايد حتّى العشرين من أيّار ٢٠١٨. شكرًا لاهتمامكم ولتعاطفكم، ونرجو من الجميع إنتظار بيانًا مفصّلًا عند السّاعة التّاسعة مساءً وعدم إصدار تخمينات غير صحيحة تثير الرّيبة وتضلّل الرّأي العام.
Nobody is now detained, and Beirut Pride is safe. The events scheduled under the banner of Beirut Pride until May 20, 2018 are suspended for the time being. We thank you for your concern and empathy, and kindly ask you to refrain from speculating. We will issue a detailed statement by 9 pm to explain the happening.
The pressuring by the authorities was condemned by civil society organisations. Proud Lebanon, which works “to achieve protection, empowerment & equality to marginalized groups through community service activities”, condemned the silencing peaceful activities, adding that:
Lebanon has always been known for respecting diversity and claims to be an inclusive country for ALL its citizens, despite their differences. Yet in the past couple of years we are witnessing a total boycott of the LGBTIQ+ movement from expressing loudly and publicly its need of co-existence in a society that should be protective, inclusive and welcoming each and every individual.
In Lebanon, homosexual relationships are prohibited on the basis of being “unnatural”: Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal code prohibits “any sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature”. Between 2007 and 2017, however, four judges have found that the law should not apply to consensual sex between adults of the same sex.
But this hasn't stopped widespread abuses by the Lebanese government. Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently reported that gay men and transgender women in Lebanon have been beaten with electric cables and raped with iron rods. HRW found that while Lebanese activist groups have had some success in “shaming” the police service's Internal Security Forces by “documenting abuses and publicizing the accounts of victims”, General Security was “less susceptible to public pressure, which has made abuses against LGBT people by General Security more difficult to counter.”
One 2017's Beirut Pride event was also cancelled because of threats from the League of Muslim Scholars (Ulemas) in Lebanon (هيئة علماء المسلمين في لبنان). Members of a Christian Orthodox group were also asked to “pray against the threat of homosexuality”
On its website, Beirut Pride calls itself “a collaborative platform that takes a positive stance against hate and discrimination based on gender and sexual diversity. […] Beirut Pride is articulated around May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.”

author: Hassan Chamoun


text:
Japanese high school girls wear badges warning would-be train gropers: ‘I’m not going to take it! · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Poster: “Groping is out. Absolutely out. RED CARD. Let us all get rid of groping.” Poster uses Kansai dialect. Image by Wikimedia user Kyoww. Public domain.
A campaign in Japan aimed at high school girls provides special tin buttons for them to wear while riding the train to deter groping and other forms of sexual assault.
The Chikan Prevention Activities Center (痴漢抑止活動センター) organizes the campaign, which is in its third year. The word Japanese word “chikan” is used to describe both the act of groping as well as the gropers themselves.
The buttons feature a variety of messages that remind readers that chikan is a crime and that the wearer will not endure the assault quietly.
痴漢抑止バッジが目指すのは、意志の“見える化”。情報を見せて加害者に「痴漢行為をやめる」という行動を取らせます。傍観者には「守ろう」という意識が生まれます。https://t.co/PsijRI4LEi #立ちあがれJK pic.twitter.com/qaaM56bbcT
— 痴漢抑止活動センター＠公式 (@scb_info) May 10, 2018
The aim of the “chikan deterrent button” is show how much [the people wearing it] hate chikan. It's an effort to make potential chikans to understand they must stop sexual harassment and sexual assault.
For women who commute by train, chikan is unfortunately common. According to the Japan Times:
Figures from the Metropolitan Police Department show that 1,750 cases of groping or molestation were reported in 2017, of which 30 percent occurred between 7 and 9 a.m. during the morning rush hour.
More than 50 percent of groping cases occurred on trains, the report says, with a further 20 percent occuring in train stations.
According to the same police reports, nearly 30 percent of groping victims were teenagers. Generally, incidents of groping are prosecuted by police under Section 176 of the penal code as “forcible indeceny” (強制わいせつ). However, it is often reported that such cases are difficult to prosecute.
While police and railway companies launch periodic campaigns aimed at stopping groping on trains, the messaging is generally aimed at helping women defend themselves or preventing groping in the first place, rather than trying to change male behavior. Commentary typically tries to determine what triggers such behavior, and there's also a strong focus in the media about how men can avoid or deal with false accusations of groping.
Activist Matsunaga Yayoi, who represents the Chikan Deterrent Activity Center, says the idea for the buttons was first thought of by a high school student and her mother, who is Matsunaga's friend. Then in her first year of high school, the student had encountered chikan on a daily basis as she traveled to and from school:
その時、加害者の反省が全くなかったことから、
「2度と痴漢にあいたくない！」と考えた彼女は、
「私は泣き寝入りしません。痴漢は犯罪です！」と書いたカードを作り、
身につけて登下校するようになりました。
それ以来、彼女は、痴漢被害にあっていません。
“The perpetrators showed no signs of remorse at all. “I don't want to experience this ever again,” decided the girl. So, she created a card that read:
“I'm not going to put up with it! Sexual assault is a crime!”
The girl then pinned the card to her uniform, and took the train to school.
She never experienced groping again.
By 2015, Matsunaga reported the one-girl campaign had achieved some success on social media, and so the idea of creating tin buttons was born.
According to a 2016 Japan Times article:
Matsunaga started a crowdfunding project for the badges in November and managed to raise ¥2.12 million in just three months. To make sure the badges would attract young women, she collected 441 design ideas from 178 people and, ultimately, chose five. Matsunaga also established the Osaka-based Chikan Yokushi Katsudo Center (Groping Prevention Activities Center) in January to raise awareness over the issue.
The idea behind the button campaign is to empower the girls to call out assault and ensure that society sees chikan as something that's unacceptable:
［コンセプト］
・痴漢被害にあわない
・加害者が生まれない
・痴漢冤罪被害も起きない
The concept behind the buttons
[We wanted to ensure]:
-No one was groped by chikan
-No one would grow up to become a chikan
-No one would be falsely accused of being a chikan
Initially in 2015 the buttons were offered for sale over the internet at tarjk.com for 500 yen (about five US dollars).
They remain available there, but as awareness of the campaign has increased, the buttons are now sold at railway stations and in shops popular with high school girls.
スカート丈が長くても短くても。
ジーンズ穿いていても。
痴漢にあいます（ーー
イメージだけで、
「痴漢される側に原因がある」
というのはホントやめて！
https://t.co/PsijRHNaMK #立ちあがれJK pic.twitter.com/PLQOTX9cvi
— 痴漢抑止活動センター＠公式 (@scb_info) May 11, 2018
Tweet: It doesn't matter how long or short our skirt is, or if we're wearing jeans — we always encounter chikan.
We want the idea that “you must have been doing something to attract a chikan” to stop!
Button text: I'm not going to take it! Groping is a crime!
Officially, sexual assaults, which includes groping, are on the decline. However, Matsunaga and the Center believe that many cases are simply not reported, skewing the numbers.
So, for Matsunaga and other activists, it's important to give young women tools they can use to deter unwanted sexual contact on the train.
Wearing the buttons does seem to help. Seventy students at Uruwa Senior High School, which participated in a campaign to provide female students with strategies to protect themselves from gropers, were surveyed in 2016 about the effectiveness of the buttons. A total of 1.4% said they probably don't work, 4.3% reported no change, 32.9% said “I felt the button worked” and 61.4% said they noticed a difference.
The button campaign has resonated in other ways as well. In 2016, just over a year after the project was launched, Matsunaga published on a Twitter account affiliated with the Chikan Prevention Activities Center a note sent by an adult woman:
Mariさん。メッセージありがとうございます。私も子供の頃に痴漢にあっても誰にも何も言えずに今まできました。
大人になってようやく行動を起こせるようになりました。子どもたちに同じ思いをさせたくないと私も思っています。 pic.twitter.com/0MQmVoWyQQ
— 痴漢抑止活動センター＠公式 (@scb_info) July 6, 2016
Note: “I am a survivor. When I was a high school student I changed from going to school by bicycle to taking the train. I was really astonished when I started getting groped every day [on the train). There was no way for me to complain. While I regret what happened in the past, I just hope that fewer and fewer people will have this kind of experience. I sincerely hope more [girls] will be able to protect themselves!” -Mari, 39 years old
Tweet: “Mari, thank you for your note. I was also [groped by a chikan] when I was a child, and have never told anyone about it until now.
As an adult I've somehow been able to take action. I don't want any other children to experience what I went through.”

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Nepal’s Kami Rita climbs Mount Everest for a record 22nd time · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

Kami Rita Sherpa, 48, has climbed Mount Everest the most number of times by any human in the world. Image used with permission.
Sherpa mountain guide Kami Rita Sherpa summited Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, for the 22nd time, leaving behind Apa Sherpa and Furba Tashi Sherpa who have done it 21 times each. This is a world record.
Veteran guide Kami Rita started his summit push with nine other Chinese climbers on the night of Tuesday, May 15, 2018 and reached the summit by Wednesday morning, May 16.
Everest Tour company Seven Summit Treks, where he works as a Sherpa guide, announced his new world record:
This morning 8:30 AM Kami Rita Sherpa made 22 successful ascents of Mt. Everest as a part of Seven Summit Treks Everest Expedition!
Congratulations to Kami Rita Sherpa!
8:30AM on 16th May 2018(Nepal time), Kami Rita summited the highest peak Everest (8,848m) for 22 times and broke the world record titled “Most ascents of Everest – Male.”
Sherpa is the name of a Tibetan ethnic group who are native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal and who are highly skilled and experienced climbers. However, the term has come to be used by non-Nepali people to generally refer to guides or porters working in the Mount Everest area.
The job of a Sherpa guide includes preparing the route for climbers to follow, fix ropes in place, and carry the necessary climbing kit up the mountain. It's risky work, but can pay up to 6,000 US dollars a season, much more than the average income in Nepal. The government has made it mandatory for foreign climbers to hire guides.
Kami Rita is of the Sherpa people and hails from Thame village in Solukhumbu district. He climbed Everest for the first time in 1994, and while climbing the world’s highest peak is usually a once-in-a-lifetime ordeal for mountaineers and adrenaline junkies, it has been a ritual for him every year.
He worked for a long time as a professional guide for mountaineers for Alpine Ascents International, a Seattle-based commercial guiding company. Recently he joined Seven Summits Treks, one of a dozen Nepalese-run companies that regularly operate on Everest.
He has climbed most of the peaks above 8,000 meters in the Himalaya range, including K2, Cho-oyu, Lhoste and Annapurna, among others.
Before achieving his latest Everest record, he told me:
Summiting Everest? It's just like another daily chore. These days we've technology and weather forecasting service which has made climbing Everest much easier.
"Summiting Everest? It's just like another daily chore," says Kami Rita Sherpa, 21 times Everest summiteer. "These days we've technology and weather forecasting service which has made climbing Everest much easier." These days only those die who don't listen to their Sherpa guides. Otherwise, if you have will power and commitment, you too can do it! And Kami Rita is going to do it for the 22nd time. All the best Kami Rita, you're a legend! ——————– #everestsummit #everestsummiteer #kamiritasherpa #guinnessbookofrecords #willpower #courage #youcandoit #nepal #worldrecord #inspiration #meetingthelegend #instablogger #travelblogger #traveldiary #instalike #instapic #picoftheday
A post shared by  Sanjib Chaudhary (@sankuchy) on
Kami Rita wasn't the only Nepali making news. Compatriot Lhakpa Sherpa climbed as well for the ninth time, the most for any woman in the world, breaking her own previous record.
The other prominent climbers of 2018 till now are Australian Steve Plain who completed the seven summits in a record 117 days and Chinese double amputee Xia Boyu.
However, Kami Rita doesn’t want his children to follow his path as a Sherpa guide, mainly because of the tragedies on the mountain in recent years. Many of the deceased in the 2014 and 2015 Mount Everest avalanches were local guides and porters, including Sherpas.
More than 4,000 people have summited Everest more than 7,000 times. And every year, the majestic mountain lures hundreds of aspirants challenging them to test their limits.

author: Sanjib Chaudhary


text:
What were Global Voices’ readers up to last week? · Global Voices
L. Finch

Photo by Flickr user Rob McDonald. CC BY 2.0
At Global Voices, our community researches, writes, edits, and translates stories with a mission to support human rights and build bridges of understanding across countries, cultures, and languages.
We don't publish just to grab clicks or follow a news trend. We do, however, like to keep track of the ways in which our hard work has impact around the world.
To that end, one useful metric is how readers respond to our stories and translations. So let's take a look at who our readers were and what caught their attention during the week of May 7-13, 2018.
Last week, our stories and translations attracted readers from 207 countries! The top 20 countries represented across all of Global Voices’ sites were:
1. United States
2. Brazil
3. Japan
4. Spain
5. France
6. Mexico
7. Argentina
8. Colombia
9. Peru
10. Taiwan
11. Italy
12. United Kingdom
13. Bangladesh
14. Germany
15. Ecuador
16. Russia
17. India
18. Canada
19. Indonesia
20. Chile
But that's only a small slice of the diversity of our readership. Let's use the True Random Number Generator from Random.org and take a look at a few other countries on the list:
177. Iceland
61. Kazakhstan
111. Bahrain
49. Costa Rica
68. Cameroon
The English-language site is where the majority of original content is first published at Global Voices. The top five most-read stories of last week were:
1. Allegations of election fraud as Malaysia’s ruling party wins again (originally published in 2013)
2. ‘Peppa Pig’ has gotten too naughty for China’s censors
3. Social media platforms are ablaze as Turks say “enough” to President Erdogan
4. Hijabs and mini-skirts: What not to wear in Tajikistan
5. In Spain, the “la manada” sexual assault case verdict triggers mass protests
Lingua is a project that translates Global Voices stories into languages other than English. There are about 30 active Lingua sites. Below is last week's most-read story or translation on each active language site.

author: L. Finch


text:
Greece’s parliament passes bill allowing child fostering by same-sex couples · Global Voices
Maria Soulis

Greek Parliament passed the bill allowing same-sex couples to foster children. Image: Shutterstock, Royalty-free, ID: 667410454
On Wednesday, May 9, 2018, Greece's Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity passed with a large parliamentary majority a bill allowing major changes to the country's adoption and fostering laws. The new legislation reduces the bureaucracy around the adoption process, and its Article 8 implements a historic change: same-sex couples in civil partnerships can now become foster parents.
Out of Greece's 300-seat parliament, a total of 264 deputies voted, with161 MPs in favor of the bill and 103 against. At the request of the far-right Golden Dawn a roll-call vote followed, which showed that two deputies from the leftist governing party SYRIZA had voted against the bill, while two from the right-wing ANEL (the second party of the governing coalition) and 4 from liberal-conservative New Democracy voted in favor.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke on the issue of child fostering, saying that:
Η αναδοχή προβλέπει ότι το παιδί έχει τη δυνατότητα να επιστρέψει στους φυσικούς του γονείς, οι οποίοι επιπροσθέτως κατά τη διάρκεια της αναδοχής θα πρέπει να έχουν επαφή μαζί του. Θα έλεγα χωρίς υπερβολή ότι η αναδοχή ως πράξη αποτελεί υπόδειγμα αλτρουισμού, αλληλεγγύης και προσφοράς για όσους το επιλέγουν.
Fostering provides for the child to be able to return to their natural parents who, in addition, should be in contact with them during this period. I would say without exaggeration that fostering as an act is a model of altruism, solidarity and offering for those who choose it.
Deputy Minister of Social Solidarity Theano Fotiou commented that the bill represents a lifeline for children in institutions:
Η Βουλή αγκάλιασε το νομοσχέδιο για την αναδοχή και την υιοθεσία, όπως όφειλε, καθώς πρόκειται για ένα νομοσχέδιο που είναι πραγματικά μία ανάσα για τα παιδιά στα Ιδρύματα, αλλά και για την κοινωνία, δηλαδή για όλους εκείνους που περιμένουν να ανοίξουν την αγκαλιά και το σπίτι τους για ένα παιδί.
The Parliament embraced the adoption and fostering bill as it should; it is really a “breath of life” for children in Institutions but also for the society, that is, for all those who are waiting to open their arms and their house for a child.
Some days prior to the vote, there was an intervention by 55 academics from Greece and abroad on the subject of fostering and adoption by homosexual couples:
H εμπειρική έρευνα δεν υποστηρίζει την αντίληψη ότι η ανατροφή από ομοφυλόφιλο γονέα επηρεάζει την ανάπτυξη της ταυτότητας φύλου του παιδιού, ενώ δεν υπάρχουν εμπειρικά δεδομένα ότι η παρουσία τόσο του αντρικού όσο και του γυναικείου προτύπου στο σπίτι προάγει την προσαρμογή και ευεξία παιδιών και εφήβων.
Empirical research does not support the perception that upbringing by a homosexual parent affects the development of gender identity of the child, and there is no empirical evidence that the presence of both male and female models at home promotes the adaptability and well-being of children and adolescents.
Athens Pride 2009. By Grzegorz Wysocki via Wikimedia, CC BY 3.0.
In recent years, Greece has introduced several laws aimed at ending discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation.
Civil partnerships between same-sex couples were legalized three years ago, and In October 2017, it became legal for Greeks 15 years and older to change their gender.
This newest legislation was condemned by the Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod, in a statement on the very next day, expressed its strong opposition to child fostering by gay couples and asserted its important role in Greek society:
Η Εκκλησία της Ελλάδος υπενθυμίζει προς πάσα κατεύθυνση ότι είναι ο πλέον μαζικός θεσμός του ελληνικού λαού και ως εκ τούτου έχει δικαίωμα δημόσιου λόγου, όπως και κάθε άλλος κοινωνικός φορέας, χωρίς να αξιώνει την επιβολή των απόψεών της στην Πολιτεία.
The Church of Greece reminds the public that it is the most crucial mass institution of the Greek people and therefore has the right of public speech, like any other social entity, without claiming to impose its views on the state.
On Twitter, Greek netizens reacted predictably, with most except the traditionally opposed expressing support for the new law.
Olympia Anastasopoulou, a member of Greece's Supreme Court and of the Potami party noted:
#αναδοχη απο ομοφυλα ζευγαρια: τη στηριζουμε & την ψηφιζουμε ως ευρωπαιοι πολιτες (αποτελει νομικη υποχρεωση της χωρας μας)αλλα και ως γονεις: τι θα προτιμουσατε αληθεια για τα δικα σας παιδια αν ο μη γενοιτο επρεπε να επιλεξουν μεταξυ ιδρυματος & οικογενειακης αγκαλιας;…
— OlympiAnastasopoulou (@OlympiaAnast) 7 Μαΐου 2018
child fostering by same-sex couples. We are supporting and voting it as European citizens (it is a legal obligation of our country), but also as parents: what would you prefer to have for your own children if, perish the thought, they had to choose between an institution and a family nest?
Twitter user Yponavarchos criticized the voting stance of Liana Kanelli, a deputy representing the Greek Communist Party, who has an adopted son and has been the subject of rumors about her sexual orientation:
να είσαι λεσβία με παιδί και να ψηφίζεις
παρών στο νομοσχέδιο για την αναδοχή
από ομόφυλα ζευγάρια
αυτό πάει να πει σκοταδιστικό ΚΚΕ
ΓΕΛΟΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΛΙ Η ΛΙΑΝΑ
— ΥποΝαύαρχος (@ftoovaskano) 8 Μαΐου 2018
Imagine being a lesbian with a child and, despite that, you declare “abstention” during the bill voting for child fostering by homosexual couples.
That's what it means to be an obscurantist Communist Party of Greece
LIANA, RIDICULOUS ONCE AGAIN .
User NoMoreLies opposed the bill and saw the traditional conspiracy theories:
Τώρα που πέρασαν οι Συριζαίοι την
αναδοχή παιδιών από ομόφυλα ζευγάρια,
μπορούν να πάνε σε εκλογές.
Εκτελέσαν τις διαταγές του Soros.
– Ισλαμοποίηση ✅
– Ανοιχτά σύνορα ✅
– Καταστροφή παραδοσιακής οικογένειας ✅
– Φτωχοποίηση του λαού ✅
Έλα να έρθει ο επόμενος….
— Όχι Άλλα Ψέματα!?? (@nomorelies_gr) 9 Μαΐου 2018
Now that the Syriza people passed the bill for child fostering by homosexual couples, they can proceed to elections.
They executed the orders of [George] Soros.
– Islamization✅
– Open borders✅
– Destruction of the traditional family✅
– People impoverishment✅
Giorgos Koumoutsakos, a deputy representing the conservative New Democracy and member of the European Parliament, explained his voting stance:
Είμαι μεταξύ εκείνων που ψήφισαν υπέρ του συμφώνου συμβίωσης, καθώς η Πολιτεία όφειλε να ρυθμίσει μια ήδη υπάρχουσα κοινωνική κατάσταση. Δεν θα ψηφίσω όμως την αναδοχή από ομόφυλα ζευγάρια. Μόνο και καταλυτικό κριτήριό μου ο σεβασμός των δικαιωμάτων των παιδιών.
— Giorgos Koumoutsakos (@GKoumoutsakos) 8 Μαΐου 2018
I am among those who voted in favor of the civil partnership agreement, as the state had to regulate an already existing social situation. However, I will not vote for child fostering by homosexual couples. My only and catalytic criterion is the respect for children's rights.
Prominent author and radio producer Auguste Corteau expressed horror at the stance of a number of Greek MPs during the hearing:
Οι πολιτικοί που σήμερα αντιτίθενται – πολλοί εξ αυτών με φρικαλέες ασχημονίες – στην αναδοχή και την τεκνοθεσία από…
Geplaatst door Auguste Corteau op woensdag 9 mei 2018
Politicians who today oppose – many of them with horrible impertinence – in child fostering and adoption by homosexual couples have already rightfully won a place in the darkened dusty depths of the history limbo.
Marina Galanou, a trans rights activist, highlighted the absence of the Minister of Justice, Stavros Kontonis:
Διαβάζω ότι ο Υπουργός Δικαιοσύνης, κ. Κοντονής, δεν ήταν παρών στη ψήφιση του νόμου για την επέκταση της αναδοχής….
Geplaatst door Marina Galanou op vrijdag 11 mei 2018
I read that the Minister of Justice, Mr Kontonis, was not present during the voting for the fostering extension. Any justification for obligations in his ministry has no value: the Minister for Justice and HUMAN RIGHTS can not be absent to vote for a law that (although he did not compose it) concerns human rights.
Rainbow Families, an LBGT parents advocacy group also criticized the Justice Minister and the general stance of political parties:
Όλες και όλοι εμείς στις Οικογένειες Ουράνιο Τόξο βγαίνουμε από αυτή τη διαδικασία με μια πικρή γεύση στο στόμα. Στον δρόμο για την ισότητα, πάλι μας άφησαν «πίσω» και επομένως δεν μπορούμε να «πανηγυρίσουμε» αλλά να συνεχίσουμε με περισσότερες δυνάμεις και σθένος τον αγώνα μας μέχρι να δικαιωθούμε.
All of us in the Rainbow Families come out of this process with a bitter taste in the mouth. On the road to equality, they again left us “back” and therefore we can not “celebrate” but continue with more strength and vigor our struggle until we find justice.
Journalist and LGBT activist Grigoris Vallianatos expressed his dissatisfaction in a personal account on Facebook, saying that the state still had much more work to do:
Εχουμε και λέμε. Είμαστε νόμιμοι αλλά όχι κι ισότιμοι. Μπορούμε να κάνουμε σύμφωνο κι όχι γάμο. Μπορούμε να κάνουμε σύμφωνο με πολίτες χωρών της ΕΕ μόνο. Μπορούμε να κάνουμε αναδοχή κι όχι υιοθεσία. Μπορούμε να χαρούμε το φύλο μας μόνο αν πετυχαίνουμε τα αντρικά και γυναικεία στερεότυπα. Είναι σαν να μας “σέβεστε”, απ τη μέση και πάνω. Η μήπως απ τη μέση και κάτω.
Here goes. We are legal but not equal. We can have a civil partnership agreement, not marriage. We can only have a civil partnership agreement with citizens of EU countries. We can foster children, not adopt them. We can only enjoy our gender if we achieve male and female stereotypes. It's like “respecting” us from the middle and above. Or from the middle [of our body] and below.

author: Maria Soulis


text:
Pakistan Chief Justice’s notice produces some hope for Hazara protections · Global Voices
Maisam Iltaf

A candle-lit vigil for the victims of sectarian violence in Pakistan. Image via Flickr by Daniel Schmidt. CC BY 2.0
April was a particularly grim month for the besieged ethnic Hazara community in the Pakistani city of Quetta.
It began with the targeted killing of Nazar Hussein, a taxi driver in the city. At the end of the month, two Hazara men were shot dead in their electronics shop in another attack based on sectarian logic. In total, the community suffered four separate “targeted killings” during the month. The killings triggered several protests, most notably a women-led hunger strike that was called off after strikers secured a meeting with Qamar Javaid Bajwa, the Army's Chief of Staff.
Read more: Hazara women end hunger strike against targetted killings
Given this background, the decision of Pakistan's Chief Justice to issue an unprecedented suo moto notice regarding the killings was significant and broadly welcomed by members of the community.
The killings, said Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on May 11 were tantamount to “ethnic cleansing.”
“We have no words to condemn the killings of Hazaras,” said Nisar, before adding: “We have to protect the lives and property of the [people of the] Hazara community.”
Appreciate the sou motu notice of CJP on hazara comunity target killing Quetta
— Sabahat (@Sabahat19766450) May 3, 2018
Finally voice of Hazara people heard. Army chief gives them assurance of security and safety. While Chief Justice Of Pakistan takes notice of the killing of Hazara people. Took us several years. Extremely shameful
— Hassaan Niazi (@HniaziISF) May 2, 2018
The notice issued by the Chief Justice means that various authorities in Balochistan, the eastern region of Pakistan where the city of Quetta is located, should now submit reports on the killings to the court.
Whether this will lead to any positive changes is unclear for the moment. The central government's control over Balochistan has long been weak. So has political will to protect the Hazara people.
Over the past 15 years, 190 attacks have taken the lives of 1,500 Hazaras, and over 3,500 have been wounded in a sustained campaign of targeted attacks and bombings across Balochistan, according to Daily Times.The most lethal suicide bombing against Hazaras came in January 2013, killing more than 96 people in a local snooker club. A month later, 84 people were killed in an attack on a crowded vegetable market mostly used by ethnic Hazaras. They have been killed in mosques, markets, snooker club, streets, shops, everywhere and anywhere.
The series of bombings, suicide attacks, and targeted assassinations has seen the community forced to dwell in two heavily protected enclaves on either side of the city: Hazara Town and Mari Abad. Human Rights Watch referred to this tendency as “ghettoization” in its June 2014 report, adding that ‘there is no travel route, no shopping trip, no school run, no work commute that is safe.’
Fearing further atrocities and with few opportunities in the country, 70,000 of the reportedly 900,000 Hazaras that live in Balochistan have taken a precarious migration route in a bid for a better, safer life.
The journey over the ocean to Australia has seen hundreds drowned along the way.
Lashkar-e Jhangvi, a militant extremist Sunni Deobandi group, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks on Hazara in Balochistan along with Pakistan Tehrek-e Taliban (TTP) Jaishul Islam and Sepeh-e Muhammad. In recent years, the so-called Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K) has also begun claiming attacks.
For these groups, it is mostly the overwhelming Hazara adherence to Shia Islam that mark them out as heretics deserving of slaughter.
The Hazara community in Pakistan has been there since the 1880s, after migrating from next door Afghanistan.
Hazara remaining in the old country have fared no better. Since 2015, the so-called Islamic State of Khorasan (IS-K) has orchestrated at least 19 big attacks against Hazaras, leaving 544 dead and over 1000 injured. The community was already a prime target for the Taliban, which is dominated by ethnic Pashtun and fundamentally anti-Shia.
The government in Kabul has restricted itself to “condemning in the strongest terms” such attacks, while the government's own discrimination against Hazara, particularly in education and employment, was flagged in a recent report by the US Department of State.
With the seemingly unstoppable rise of sectarian military groups in both countries, protecting Hazara rights will take the kind of strength and will that neither Kabul or Islamabad have shown in the past.

author: Maisam Iltaf


text:
Venezuelans who hope for government change face dilemma — to vote or not to vote? · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

“Venezuela in Crisis” by Kenneth Rodríguez. Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The following post has been written with the collaboration and assistance of Venezuelan communicator and political analyst Naky Soto and Global Voices contributor Luis Carlos Díaz.
As Venezuela approaches a controversial presidential election on May 20, many Venezuelans are questioning whether it is worthwhile to vote.
On the one hand, not voting means their displeasure with the current government won't be registered at the ballot box. On the other, even if they did vote for an opposition candidate, they have reason to doubt it would be counted correctly.
According to studies, the integrity of the Venezuelan electoral process has been compromised since 2004, when then-President Hugo Chavez — the man who ushered in an era of populist politics and centralized executive authority — survived a recall referendum.
At the same time, analysts inside and outside the country point out how current President Nicolás Maduro hasn't exactly respected space for the country's political opposition. His government blocked an effort to convene a recall referendum on his presidency in 2016, and the next year, the Supreme Court  (stacked with Maduro allies) suspended the opposition majority National Assembly. The court itself assumed the assembly's duties and gave Maduro more power over the legislature.
The move, seen by many inside and outside the country as a “self-inflicted coup” and an official end to democracy in the country, sparked a series of protests that faced violent crackdowns and resulted in a large number of people being imprisoned and tortured.
Despite the fact that protests are no longer as present in the center of international media attention, movement in the streets has not ceased. Albeit in smaller numbers than 2017, but with violent retaliation from the police and other armed groups, people are protesting unbearable economic conditions such as record numbers of children dying of malnutrition, a medicine shortage of around 85% and an inflation rate that is expected to soar to 13,000% among many other examples.
As the National Constituent Assembly (the institution created to substitute the National Assembly that was suspended in 2017) called for early elections that were later pushed to May, many human rights organizations denounce the lack of legal basis for the move and accuse the government of rigging the elections. In addition, other countries in the region and abroad have refused to recognize the results. José Ignacio Hernández explains it this way in the online media outlet Caracas Chronicles:
There are more than enough reasons to doubt the election will be fair. The clear violation of the Venezuelan Constitution by the fraudulent constituent assembly; the lack of independence of the National Electoral Council; the arbitrary political bans on political parties and leaders of the opposition; the political bias of the Supreme Tribunal; the absence of electoral accountability, and the supra-constitutional powers of the illegitimate constituent assembly: all of these are established. In addition, the international community, from the United States and the European Union to Colombia, Argentina and Peru, have already said that they will not recognize such elections. Even to consider participating in this blatant fraud of an election called by the ANC is outrageous.
At the same time, for analyst Felix Seijas and renowned writer Alberto Barrera Tyszka, the government capitalizes on the fractures that keep the opposition weak and at a disadvantage. According to Seijas:
Después de ser derrotados en octubre en elecciones provinciales que fueron consideradas como fraudulentas, la mayoría de los miembros de la coalición opositora MUD decidió no participar en el próximo concurso. La voluntad del gobierno de rellenar las papeletas, romper las reglas electorales y limitar a los votantes de la oposición a llegar a las urnas significa que casi no hay riesgo de que Maduro pierda.
After being defeated in October's local elections (that were considered fraudulent) most of the members of the opponent coalition MUD [Democratic Unity Roundtable] decided not to participate in the next contest. The will of the government to trick the number of ballots, break electoral rules and block the ways for opposition voters to get to the ballot box means that there's almost no risk for Maduto to loose.
Meanwhile, Barrera Tyszka looks at the structures that create unfavorable conditions for free and fair elections:
Las elecciones en Venezuela están diseñadas como una estafa perfecta. El gobierno elige a todos los candidatos, establece las reglas de juego, no permite auditorías ni ningún tipo de observación independiente, extorsiona a los votantes con comida y medicinas, mientras la población menos necesitada se debate moralmente entre votar o no votar.
Venezuela's elections are designed to be a perfect scam. The government picks all the candidates, sets the rules of the game, forbids any scrutiny or independent monitoring [and] blackmails voters with food and medicine, while the part of the population that is a bit less in need carry the moral dilemma of whether to vote or not.
Given the circumstances and the whole environment of these elections, those opposing the government find themselves inside a highly tense debate over whether to vote or not. Moreover, the contestants that oppose President Maduro, Henri Falcón and Javier Bertucci don’t seem to stand a real chance. For those who have decided to stay at home, not voting equals not collaborating with what they consider to be nothing more than a deceptive way for the government to hang on to power.
As usual, social media users (especially Twitter users) discuss the different ways that people view the election:
Las elecciones sin condiciones, Maduro está blindado por el CNE y el fraude electoral. Votar sin democracia, no te hace ciudadano, te convierte en cómplice del régimen. El 20 de mayo, ¡déjalos solos con su farsa!
EL 21 DE MAYO DEL 2018 VENEZUELA AMANECERA SIN PRESIDENTE RT
— JACKSSON76 (@avatar_jm) May 14, 2018
Unconditioned elections, Maduro shielded by the National Electoral Council and voter fraud. Voting without democracy doesn't make you a citizen, but an accomplice of the regime. On May 20th leave them by themselves with their fraud.
Elecciones #Presidenciales 2018 en #Venezuela. No es chiste. No da risa pic.twitter.com/MtHxRrF0k1
— María Ghersi. (@Machixblue) May 11, 2018
Presidential elections in Venezuela. It's not a joke. It's not funny.
Caricatura EDO: VOTAR: Un acto de resistencia y civilidad pic.twitter.com/1ON5rxZr7U
— EDO (@edoilustrado) October 15, 2017
A cartoon by EDO: VOTING: An act of resistence and civil duty
As said by analyst Fernando Mires through online media outlet Polis:
Para los partidarios de la no-participación, [votar] en elecciones bajo condiciones determinadas por la parcialidad del CNE, con cientos de presos políticos, con líderes inhabilitados, con miles y miles de exiliados a los que se ha arrebatado el derecho a voto […] significaría contribuir a la legitimación del poder dictatorial. […Sin embargo] No participar en las elecciones llevaría a los defensores de esta opción a entregar toda iniciativa a la dictadura, o lo que es peor, a regalar la elección sin oponer nada en contra.
For those supporting the no-participation choice, [voting] in elections under the conditions that have been set out by the CNE, with hundreds of political prisoners, [opposition] leaders disqualified to run for office, with thousands and thousands of exiled people to whom the right to vote has been taken from them […] would mean to bolster up the legitimacy of the dictatorial power. [However] not participating in the elections would bring those who support this option to leave all initiative to the dictatorship, or worse, to give away the election without any kind of resistance.
What seems clear is that supporters and representatives of chavismo continue to be a part of a united front in contrast to those of the opposition and its followers. Nevertheless, in spite of election plans and strategies, boycotts and protests, most Venezuelans continue to stand powerless in front of the massive crisis that continues to push thousands of people out of the country as they flee human right violations, food scarcity, and violence on both an urban and institutional level.

author: Laura Vidal


text:
Yangon police and a group of ‘nationalists’ violently dispersed a peace march in Myanmar · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The peace march was organized to highlight the plight of residents displaced by ongoing clashes between government troops and armed ethnic groups. Photo by Aung Kyaw Htet. The Irrawaddy is a content partner of Global Voices.
A peace march in Yangon, Myanmar’s capital, was violently dispersed by the police and a group of ‘nationalist’ civilians on May 12, 2018.
The march, attended by almost 300 people, was organized by the Public Peace Movement Committee. It aimed to raise awareness about the plight of internally displaced people across the country as clashes continue to intensify between government troops and armed ethnic groups. The Myanmar government is currently negotiating peace with various armed ethnic groups which have been waging war for several decades already.
The police denied the organizers’ request to hold a rally at a busy intersection in Yangon, so they agreed to peacefully disperse. But according to activists, it was during this time when almost a hundred people wearing civilian clothes attacked the peace march, beating them and even arresting some of the participants, all under the watch of police.
Some journalists who were there at the rally identified the attackers as supporters of the army and the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion (Ma Ba Tha), a nationalist Buddhist group.
Nine members of the peace march were arrested by the police for violating the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law. They were released after posting bail on the same day. But the police said they will file more cases against 17 individuals for disturbing public order.
There’s no report if the police will charge the group of unruly ‘nationalists’.
Almost 400 civil society groups signed a statement condemning the violent dispersal of the peace march. They asked authorities to drop charges against the activists and “take actions on those who committed violent acts on protesters.”
AAPP calls on the Gov. to immediately release and drop all charges against protesters detained during the 12 May peaceful anti-war protest in Yangon. This is a clear and calculated attack on freedom of expression and right to assembly. #Burma #Myanmar
— AAPP (Burma) (@aapp_burma) May 15, 2018
AAAP refers to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners—Burma.
The embassies of Denmark and Sweden also issued separate statements urging the government to uphold the people’s right to peacefully assemble and express their opinion.
Nine activists were arrested during the peace march. Photo by Aung Kyaw Htet. The Irrawaddy is a content partner of Global Voices.
In an editorial, The Irrawaddy news website, which is a content partner of Global Voices, deplored the failure of the police to arrest the ‘nationalists’ who attacked the peace march:
We ask the authorities: Who were those self-proclaimed “citizens” and why did the police officers present turn a blind eye when they attacked? Apart from physically attacking the activists, these anonymous people cursed and threatened members of the media who were there to cover the protest. Again, the police simply ignored it.
Why do these thugs enjoy such impunity? Why did the police stand by and let all hell break loose? Did the police just decide to turn a blind eye because they were pro-military activists who were “countering” the anti-war protest?
Human rights groups also raised the alarm over the rising number of arrests made by the police against peace activists. Around 42 peace activists, including high schools students, had been slapped with various cases for participating in mass actions across the country in the month of May alone.
The protesters are planning to file a case against the police and the ‘nationalists’ who dispersed them on May 12.
For its part, the police denied that it hired civilian ‘thugs’ to arrest activists.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Hungary’s regime is exporting instability and propaganda to the Balkans · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Protest against the law aimed at closing down Central European University (CEU) and in support of civil society on 12 April 2017 in Budapest, Hungary. Photo by Open Society Foundations, CC BY-NC-ND.
An investigation conducted by independent Macedonian news outlet Nova TV has found that some of the media that drove right-wing populist propaganda in Macedonia during the tenure of the Russia-supported VMRO-DPMNE (2006-2017) administration were financed through Hungarian crony companies.
In an article titled “Orban in action to rescue Gruevski's ‘megaphones'” Nova TV editor Borjan Jovanovski revealed cash flow and ownership links between important Macedonian right-wing propaganda outlets like Kurir.mk, Republika.mk and Alfa TV, with Árpád Habony, the chief spin doctor of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, who has been called “Hungary's Steve Bannon”.
These outlets have recently been showing banner ads for websites owned by a Slovenian company, Ripost Založništvo d.o.o. Some of the ads redirect to RipostMk.com, a little-known Macedonian-language media outlet whose editors and staff remain anonymous. It's owned by Ripost, with a domain admin with an email address from the Hungarian consulting company netlight.hu.
Screenshot of the front page of Kurir.mk with two ads for Ripost websites, and a main article associating Macedonian PM Zaev with Greece in the context of the name dispute.
With help from Slovenian colleagues, Macedonian journalists obtained data from the Slovenian central registry showing that Ripost is owned by a Hungarian citizen, Péter Schatz. In July 2017 Schatz became a co-owner of Macedonia's Alfa TV, while in Slovenia he acts as a representative of a group of Hungarian companies, including Modern Media, which is financed mainly by the Hungarian government through ‘public interest’ media campaigns. Modern Media has received a large chunk of the 40 million euros spent by the Hungarian government on anti-Soros propaganda in 2017. (Editor's note: Global Voices is a grantee of the Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros).
“Orbán needed a mythical enemy which cannot really fight back and #OSF organisations have been consciously demonised,” said Atlatszo editor Tamas Bodoky | #Hungary #orbanland #pressfreedom https://t.co/uSlMyTlY3n
— Atlatszo.hu (@Atlatszo) April 20, 2018
In recent years, Macedonian media outlets benefiting from Hungarian ads and ownership have been linked to controversies regarding their often secretive ownership, transparency of their newsrooms and financing sources, and their lack of adherence to the Code of Journalists.
For instance, Kurir.mk is generally considered the unofficial mouthpiece of the Center for Communication of former ruling party VMRO-DPMNE. Most of its articles are not signed and allegedly written by party apparatchiks.
In the early years of its existence, Kurir.mk was mainly financed with Macedonian taxpayers’ money, through public procurement contracts for “audiovisual services” such as live streaming events for state institutions. These contracts were all just below the 5000-euros threshold that allows procurement through a public tender. State bodies and state-owned companies provided supplementary support by purchasing banner ads.
According to the investigative project Mediapedia, the original owner of the news site Republika.mk was an offshore company registered in Belize whose proprietors remain unknown. Ownership was inferred from the fact that the shell company was registered at the same address as other companies linked to powerful Macedonian oligarchs and government cronies. The outlet actively persecuted activists and independent journalists by publishing defamatory articles. The Directorate for Personal Data Protection confirmed that Republika.mk made use of personal data obtained illegally by state institutions, and that some of their intended victims sued the outlet in 2016. The courts are yet to pass judgment on the matter.
Alfa TV was founded in 2008 by a businessman affiliated with the then opposition as an urban television station and built its reputation on professional reporting, cultural coverage and high-quality film programming. After a hostile takeover in 2013, the station attracted a string of domestic and foreign (Serbian and Hungarian) owners, alleged proxies of the ruling party. The station shifted its programming to entertainment based mainly on turbofolk music and the original news staff were either fired or forced to resign.
Complaints against the media outlets above comprise a significant percentage of the decisions of the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia, an independent media self-regulation body that determines violations of journalistic standards. Of 124 complaints made against 42 media outlets and processed between December 2014 to October 2016, 14 % were about Kurir.mk, 6 % were about Republika.mk, and 2 % about Alfa TV.
Among the democratic reforms introduced by Macedonia's current government—and recognized at the highest levels of the EU— is the banning of government advertising in domestic media, which had been common practice during the tenure of the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE. It was, in fact, public outrage at pervasive high-level corruption, including electoral fraud, that resulted in a change of government in Macedonia in the elections of December 2016—though VMRO-DPME delayed transfer of power for almost half a year, bringing the country to the edge of civil war in April of 2017 by organizing a bloody attack on parliament. But popular support, the level-headedness of the then opposition and an EU-led political process prevailed and ended the long-term political crisis before it escalated too far.
Hungarians might not be so lucky in the short run. Prime minister Orbán’s Fidesz party used the full might of the state and the capital accumulated through cronyism to win the parliamentary elections in April 2018 and has started implementing its promised ‘revenge’ against all who espoused different opinions from them. Like VMRO-DPMNE, with which it has long-standing ties, Fidesz has blurred the lines between party and state, subjugating state institutions and resources to party interests and fostered an atmosphere of fear using polarization and nationalism as key propaganda weapons.
In Macedonia, such strategy included campaigns against refugees, the free press and “the West”, civil society organizations (CSOs) and the Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros, whose name has replaced “Rothschild” as the symbol of the implied ‘Jewish threat’ in the world of anti-Semitic hate speech and anti-Western conspiracy theories.
In Hungary, Fidesz's first targets have been Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) and Central European University, with the few remaining free media and the judiciary running a close second and third.
Alongside conventional philanthropic support, starting from 1986, OSF has invested over 400 million dollars in rebuilding democracy in Hungary during and since the fall of its Communist regime. They recently announced that OSF would move their offices from Budapest to Berlin, in anticipation of the enactment of “Stop Soros” laws by the Fidesz party's parliamentary “supermajority”.
In a manner similar to Russia in 2012, the new regulations impose heavy taxes on civil society organisations receiving foreign funding and legalize various kinds of harassment aimed at stalling their daily work.
The European Union has initiated legal action to investigate and tackle the erosion from democracy within its member state Hungary. In the past, such efforts have been stalled by political maneuvering by the right-European People's Party, but European center-right parties are becoming more vocal about the need to limit the power of populist forces.

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
In the fight against pro-Kremlin bots, tech companies are suspending regular users · Global Voices
Lawrence Alexander

Image: Jan Kristoffersen, Flickr, shared under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 // Collage by Runet Echo
With election interference investigations going full force in the US, social media companies are being pushed to find new, fast ways to identify government-linked bots and trolls on their platforms — Russian ones in particular.
On April 10, Reddit announced plans to publish a list of accounts that the company suspected of having links to Russia's Internet Research Agency, commonly referred to as a “troll factory”. Reddit's in-house “Trust & Safety” and “Anti-Evil” teams identified these accounts in cooperation with broader inquiries by the US Congress into electoral interference on social media.
Multiple users were then banned from the platform. But not all of these users had provable links to the Kremlin.
On April 12, one user who lost their account implored Reddit to check its work:
oi @reddit check your admin's inbox on the website. your recent list of 944 suspicious users has 3 of my accounts and none of them are “Russian bots” or “Russian trolls”. I just happen to be from Russia. UNBAN ME.
— ☆ (@ajcrwl) 12 апреля 2018 г.
Reddit's quick-fix approach to bot-hunting seemed to have dragged a number of innocent victims into its nets. For this user, it appears that the key “suspicious” thing about their account was their location — Russia.
What made this possible? Using custom Python scripts and open-source research tools, I decided to take a closer look at these accounts, in an effort to understand what led to this outcome.
At the outset, I could see that the distribution of their creation dates was typical of a troll factory's intensive output: an overall period of registrations ran from May 2015 to October 2016, with large peaks of activity from May to July 2015.
Histogram showing creation period of suspicious accounts on Reddit. Image by Lawrence Alexander.
This was an unsurprising finding, and a possible reason that the accounts might have triggered the system.
Next, I wanted to see whether the Reddit usernames had been re-used on other social media sites. I ran a script to query both Twitter and the Russian social network VKontakte (VK) for matching accounts. Although VK didn't return any of interest — only a couple that were likely coincidental hits — there were 106 common usernames live on Twitter.
On examining these Twitter accounts, two showed possible links pointing to the IRA troll farm of Savushkina 55 (in late 2017 their office moved to a different address in Saint Petersburg.)
First there was @shomyo, a sketchy profile with “john Doe” as a given name, following only six accounts, mostly Russian, including a Saint Petersburg football team. It was otherwise unused.
Twitter account @shomyo. Image by Lawrence Alexander
The second example pointed more substantively to the Internet Research Agency, but has been dormant since 2015. @rapitangnyy, with a linked pro-Kremlin LiveJournal account, tweeted links to similar patriotic blogs. Furthermore, this handle was included on a leaked list of IRA accounts from former IRA insider Lyudmila Savchuk released that year; it is quite possible that Reddit used this list to derive some of the indicators for their investigation. I published my own analysis of similar pro-Kremlin content on LiveJournal, also in that year.
rapitangnyy, an Internet Research Agency Twitter account. Image by Lawrence Alexander.
The matching rapitangnyy Reddit account (archive) was largely used to promote the Russian-language LiveJournal blog posts, most of them painting Ukraine and the West in a bad light. It has been inactive for two years. So this is, without doubt, a Russian troll factory account — but not one deployed against the US during the election.
Rapitangnyy – Internet Research Agency Reddit account. Image by Lawrence Alexander.
Perhaps the most noteworthy findings during my trawl through Reddit's “suspicious” users were those that likely weren't products of a troll factory at all.
Among the Russian accounts with a matching Twitter handle was @ajcrwl, a user giving their location as “Stuck in Omsk”. Their website was dedicated to digital art and graphic design.
I was intrigued — could this person be a remote employee of the infamous Saint Petersburg troll farm, industriously producing anti-American memes to order? Had their identity been revealed by their ill-judged reuse of the same username across multiple platforms? As previous work by RuNet Echo has shown, this would not be unprecedented.
After further research and verification, however, this prospect seemed less and less likely. Although the Reddit account /u/Ajcrwl was created in October 2016, during the broader troll activity period, the account itself showed no sign of any anti-US or pro-Kremlin activity; instead, there were posts concerning rose growing and the video game Dishonored 2.
ajcrwl, whom I noticed earlier tweeting at Reddit, was not acting like a guilty party. I contacted them a day later, curious to learn how they landed on Reddit's radar during the investigation.
“I don't think anyone from Reddit even bothered to check [my account(s)] outside of Reddit”, they responded.
When I asked whether they ever used a VPN, or interacted with the platform in an unusual way, they wrote:
Sometimes I use a VPN connection, and I think I've been flagged in January when I deactivated one of my Reddit accounts and immediately created another. There's a chance I logged into the third one back then as well. I've also been logged into two accounts from my phone.
ajcrwl willingly shared with me the AS number (a code that identifies a range of IP addresses used by a particular service provider) and VPN addresses (based in London, Poland and Atlanta) they had used before their ban. None of them matched with any of the infrastructure I have on file (my records, derived from open sources, are robust though not exhaustive) as being linked to the Internet Research Agency, RIA FAN, or the IP addresses of their associated forum trolls.
Rather, it seems more likely that ajcrwl's use of a VPN, in combination with activity involving three accounts, set off Reddit's tripwire.
On April 17, I returned to Reddit's suspicious accounts list and found that ajcrwl and three additional accounts had been removed from it, and unbanned. ajcrwl confirmed that two of the accounts also belonged to them.
The fourth account belonged to RobbyDelaware, an American based in the country of Georgia who was previously interviewed by VICE's Motherboard in November 2017 after his Twitter account, with an identical handle, was unexpectedly hit by the ban hammer.
Despite this publicity and apparent vindication, I noticed on May 9 that Delaware's Twitter account had been marked as restricted due to “unusual activity”.
Twitter account of RobbyDelware, marked restricted to due “unusual activity”. Image by Lawrence Alexander.
On that same day, ajcrwl also found — to their chagrin — that their Reddit block appeared to be haunting them on Twitter:
Twitter has just locked me for "automated behavior" for no reason at all.
Unlocked easily, but I thought I should log this.
— ☆ (@ajcrwl) May 9, 2018
Through further analysis I discovered that Twitter had taken similar action against nearly all of the 106 accounts with usernames matching those on Reddit's “suspicious” list, even @LGBTUnited, a now-inactive LGBTQ-themed promoter with no apparent connection to the troll farm page of the same name. Some other accounts marked restricted at time of writing included apparently real people with no obvious ties to Russia, such as @hcaner, a growth hacker from Brazil.
Yet some of the accounts that appeared to be fake or spreading spam, such as @Meepopeep or @LaserAthletics, escaped this fate. Twitter appeared to be using the first revision of Reddit's “suspicious” list as its primary indicator, with little or no verification.
I got in touch with Robby Delaware, explaining that his account @robbydelaware — which he hadn't tweeted from since October 2017 — had been restricted.
In this exchange, I learned that Delware was one of the first Twitter users to draw attention to an early attempt by the Internet Research Agency to manipulate American audiences in 2014, actions which may ultimately have contributed to his blocks on both platforms.
When he noticed some unusual activity on the hashtag #ColumbianChemicals, he notified Twitter's security team:
.@twittersecurity There's a bogus #ColumbianChemicals tag (along with others) flooding twitter about fake chem. plant explosion.
— Robby Delaware (@RobbyDelaware) September 11, 2014
Bot and troll activity on #ColumbianChemicals was revealed the following year by the New York Times as an IRA-linked campaign. But Delaware had called it out right as it hit the web, even setting up a Pastebin of his sleuthing efforts (he also posts as iPad_App_Bugs).
This is me. I wrote down some of this stuff in a PasteBin post in 2014: https://t.co/J3H7hHPqv2 The goofy videos were from that day.
PasteBin post has around 100 Twitter accounts that were involved also.
— iPad Mini Bugs (@iPad_App_Bugs) March 2, 2018
Delaware has the rare distinction of being banned on Twitter then reinstated; banned on Reddit then reinstated; and then being censored once again on Twitter, apparently for attempting to draw attention to a pro-Kremlin campaign.
He received no explanation from either company, simply an acknowledgement from Reddit that they restored his account.
Notification from Reddit to Robby Delaware of his ban being overturned. Image courtesy Robby Delaware.
Unlike ajcrwl, Delaware told me he had never used a VPN, but a regular internet service provider in Georgia, his country of residence. It is possible that a Georgian IP, in combination with activity around a hashtag associated with a troll farm campaign, set off Twitter's algorithms — but a cursory manual inspection would made it clear why Delaware had used hashtag in the first place. He told me:
I do believe that Twitter used the most basic methods of automation to flag my account. I believe that the Columbian Chemicals hashtag, along with 3 tweets in Russian language, caused my account to be flagged.
Delaware in fact posted seven tweets in Russian from his original account — as indicated by ‘ru’ in the language field of his tweets’ metadata — but they were satirical or politically neutral, not genuinely pro-Kremlin. He also re-tweeted a tweet by pro-Kremlin Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist Dmitriy Smirnov showing a meeting between Vladimir Putin and former Former President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev. But context is vital — this alone is no indication that Delaware was sympathetic to his politics.
These two case studies suggest that while some counter-disinformation efforts by Reddit and Twitter appear to have been largely successful, their approach has brought significant collateral damage for a seemingly small group of regular users.
One can see many reasons why Reddit and Twitter would share such information, applying automation, or using the same sources to derive indicators of suspicious activity. But it is surprising to think that they might do so without critically interpreting this information with additional technical analysis, manual verification or open-source research. With such a relatively small number of accounts, individual perusal by human investigators would be feasible.
This strategy would lower the rate of incorrect bans and increase user confidence in the fight against disinformation, while reducing the risk of pro-Kremlin media capitalizing on these minor errors and presenting the investigations as baseless or illegitimate.

author: Lawrence Alexander