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Pakistan: Confessed Serial Killer of Gay Men Used Social Website to Lure Victims · Global Voices
Rezwan

Screen capture of a Samaa TV report. The 28 year old man confessed to the murders of three gay men during an interview with Samaa TV on April 26, 2013.
Last week's arrest of a 28-year old paramedic and father of two, accused of drugging and murdering three gay men in Lahore after connecting with them on a social website, has not brought a sigh of relief to Pakistan's LGBT communities.
After the arrest he confessed to the murders, saying he wanted to send a message about the evils of pedophilia and gay sex. Some activists fear he might be hailed as an “anti-LGBT” hero.
Homosexuality is complicated in Pakistan. Gay sex is illegal in Pakistan, and while the government doesn't overtly target homosexuals and rarely hands down the lengthy jail sentences that are allowed under the law, tolerance for out-of-the-closet homosexuality is low.
In the predominantly Muslim country, gay men and women face social stigma, disapproval, and discrimination in many areas. Some members of the LGBT community embrace their identity and are fighting for rights in Pakistan. But many men choose to live in the closet – they want the wife, kids and societal respect while having casual gay sex on the side.
The accused killer used the self-styled “gay social network” Manjam to connect with his victims, according to a 20-minute long jailhouse interview with Urdu-language Samaa TV, which drew ire online from activists for giving the accused murder a platform. The site is banned in Pakistan, and it has announced it will close its website to nonmembers in Pakistan until further notice.
During the interview, he confessed to the murders and said he was lured and raped when he was in 5th grade by an older student. He says he reported the incident to the police and his school, but the assailant was never charged because he came from a powerful family.
Here are some translated excerpts from the interview in Urdu:
“I have a cause, the evil that is spreading in our society because of these people. They have left the straight path and are ruining other people's lives. It's not because [they are gay out] of necessity. For them gay sex is recreation, they call it a sport activity” [04:13-31]
“Reporter: Did you not feel bad that you killed a living person?” “No, I cleaned the trash […] But I felt bad for his family members[…] My way was wrong[…]” [08:00-45]
“Because of gay sex lots of injustices are spreading in society. Someone does it with one guy, gets him in the habit then he forces himself on someone else.” [13:35-49]
“I don't think these people are garbage. I think their habits are garbage[…]” [14:45-54]
In response to his confession on Samaa TV, Pakistani LGBT rights activist Hadi Hossain wrote an open letter on Scroll.in, saying the case has unwittingly broken Pakistan's silence over homosexuality:
I want to respond to some things you said on that show. That is important for me because I am part of the “kachra” (garbage), the word you used to describe gay men.
[…]
You thought that your actions would instill fear of death in us. Community members initially panicked. Some existing online forums and groups were deleted. But you forgot our undying resilience which has motivated us since childhood. We have been bullied, abused, kicked, mocked, shoved, taunted, punished, violated. All our lives, we have been told by the zealots of this hetero-normative society that we need to change, or live in shame for being who we are, live in constant fear of being discovered and to remain guilty of what we do. What we have faced has been more fearful than death.
An anonymous blogger at Pious Sluts accused Samaa TV of making the accused killer a religious hero on their program:
Have you ever wondered that the guy who killed three other guys is a monster? What’s worst that you made a patient of necrophilia a hero! Wow! I must laud your efforts for actually shifting the blame onto victims. Isn’t it what this society told you? Like we have our national leaders and Islamist barons demanding that if a raped woman cannot bring 4 male eye-witnesses she must keep her silence or die!
The role of the media in Pakistan is often questioned in the debate over gay rights. A few months ago, a TV news reporter invaded the home of a couple, accused the men of having a gay relationship and handed them over to police while calling for tougher laws against homosexuality. The reporter for Samaa TV, however, didn't verbally pass judgement on homosexuality during the interview with the accused killer.
On Twitter, filmmaker Sana Haq observed the impact of the case:
Pakistan isn't ready for this conversation, but here it is regardless, in the form of three dead gay men. http://t.co/JNdqdJFyBt
— Sana Haq (@sanaattiqhaq) April 29, 2014

author: Rezwan


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South Korea’s Late-Night Gaming Ban for Kids Ruled Constitutional · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

A young kid at Internet cafe PC bang in South Korea. Photo by Flickr user Jens-Olaf Walter (CC BY-NC 2.0)
South Korea's Constitutional Court has ruled in favor of a controversial online gaming regulation, the so-called shutdown bill, that prohibits kids from playing online games at night.
The decision has sparked numerous jokes and mockery online, as well as serious concerns about the ruling's repercussions in the online game industry, students’ rights and net freedom.
The law, which prohibits kids under age 16 playing online games from midnight to 6 a.m., was introduced in 2011, but was met with severe backlash. Online gaming industry and digital content associations filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court questioning the bill's legality.
According to local report [ko], judges determined that the bill was constitutional because “considering online gaming's high popularity, addictiveness and [kids’] overindulgence [in it], it is not an overreaction to regulate gaming for kids under age 16.” They specifically singled out online games, adding, “Online games, as they are based on interactivity on the web, are more additive and easily lead kids to game for long hours.”
Bloter.com focused on [ko] the court's definition of kids – “Kids, unlike adults, lack the self-control over how much time is spent gaming” – and wrote that this reflects how society views young people, as merely immature. Other local reports voiced concerns [ko] that this ruling could set a dangerous precedent, tipping the scales in favor for the country's controversial addiction law, which treats online games just like other additive substances and activities such as drugs, alcohol and gambling.
Many Twitter users tweeted that anyone seriously considering children's health would worry more about the country's notorious study craze, which forces kids to attend private tutoring sessions and cram until late at night.
중독성이 강해서 게임 셧다운이 합헌이면, 치킨도 셧다운 대상인가요?
— 유정근(Xeri) (@byxeri) April 29, 2014
If the shutdown law was declared constitutional because of the game's addictiveness, then would chicken qualify for regulation?
수면권 보장을 위해 합헌이 되었다고 하면 밤잠을 설치게하는 드라마/영화/음악 기타 미디어 컨텐츠들도 셧다운 걸어주시죠. 이제 핸드폰에도 셧다운걸겠네
— HL (@namhyelynn) April 24, 2014
They say the law was declared constitutional in order to protect kids’ right to sleep. Then you should have shut down all entertainment including soap operas, movies, music and more, which hinder people's sleep. [If this logic continues] they could even consider shutting down my cellphone.
셧다운이 합헌이란다. 그러면 그 시간에 진행되는 학원교육은 왜 법적 제한을 가하지 않는 것인가 궁금하다. 똑같이 ‘수면권 침해'하는 것 아닌가? 둘 다 학생이 자율적으로 끊을 수 있는 게 아니지 않은가? 왜 다르게 적용하는거지?
— 안태호 (@athmtg1) April 25, 2014
They rule the shutdown law constitutional. Then how come there is no legal restrictions imposed on the Hagwon [after-hours cram schools] which happen within the same time window? They both violate the students’ right to sleep, and both cannot be stopped by students’ will. Why is this being applied differently?
‘게임 셧다운제 합헌’ 판결..법률적 정당성은 확인했지만 과연 실효성이 있을까. 부모 아이디든 뭐든 간에, 할 애들은 다 한다. 애들 위해서라면 학원, 과외, 야자 셧다운부터 해야한다는 주장이 훨씬 더 설득력 있음.
— 유종현 (@consline) April 25, 2014
The game shutdown law was ruled constitutional. Although they came up with a legal justification for this decision, I still doubt its effectiveness. Kids who really want to play games will find ways to do so, including using their parents IDs. Funny enough, some people's claim that they should first shut down the Hagwon, private tutoring and late-night classes, for kids sounds more persuasive.
셧다운제도 합헌 “헌재 재판관 7대 2 결정” http://t.co/kYCBRwpVtn + 이로서 16세 미만 청소년들은 자유의지가 없는 인간으로 딱 낙인을 받게 되었군요.
— B.C. (@leben98) April 24, 2014
By getting seven out of the nine votes of the constitutional judges, the shutdown was declared constitutional. With this decision, kids under age 16 were declared human beings without free will.
내생각에, 게임 셧다운 합헌이라 함은, 결국 인권의 제한을 두는게 아닌가하는 생각이다. 학생들의 자율과 창의를 막음은 물론이고 문화컨텐츠 산업에 장애를 불러내는 의미라본다. 공은 세게 튀기면 더높이 튄다. 사회적 저항을 국가도 예상했어야 한다.
— 이재현(Jason Lee) (@jasonreturns) April 24, 2014
Declaring the game shutdown law constitutional could lead to the restriction of human rights, as it could not only hinder students’ autonomy and creativity, but hobble the cultural content industry. When you throw a ball to the ground, the harder you throw, the higher it bounces back. The authorities should have been aware of the social recoil against this decision.
Blogger Mahler listed [ko] several reasons why the ruling could become a threat to web freedom and online content:
1) 이를 계기로 본인인증이 확대되면 웹상의 자율성을 침해할 수 있는 여지가 많아진다. 예를 들어 인터넷 접속 자체에 본인 인증이 필요하게 되면 상상하기도 무서운 상황이 된다. 2) 중소기업들은 본인인증 및 차단을 위한 조치(기술/장비)를 취하는 것이 엄청난 부담이다. 대기업 vs 중소기업의 문제에 더해 외국기업 vs 국내기업의 문제도 생긴다.[…] 3) 온라인 게임 못지 않게 오프라인 게임도 중독성이 강하다. [….] 나 게임 그렇게 하고도 유급 안 했다.
1) If this regulation is later expanded to a process of identify verification on the web, it is highly likely that such a situation would lead to the violation of web freedom. For example, when this law transforms into bills that force users to verify their identity whenever they login to the Internet, that would be horrendous. 2) For small and mid-size companies, preparing the logistics for the application of this shutdown law is a huge burden since they have to acquire the technology and devices for ID verification and such. Burdens can be felt differently according to the company's size, as well as the company's nationality. […] Lastly, I personally have never failed a class despite all the gaming I did.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Syria: Love in the Time of Tyranny · Global Voices
مرسيل شحوارو

This post is part of a special series of articles by blogger and activist Marcell Shehwaro describing the realities of life in Syria during the ongoing armed conflict between forces loyal to the current regime and those seeking to oust it.
Heart gaming. Image by deviantART user ZedLord-Art (CC BY-SA 3.0)
They told me from the first day that her husband was in prison, and that the songs I have the habit of singing could trigger her sadness. I wasn't particularly touched by that. We have become accustomed to hearing about the families of prisoners, as if it were normal, in Assad's Syria, to be imprisoned, and those outside of prison—or who consider themselves as such—are the exception.
Over dinner, perhaps just to get to know her better, I ask her in private: “How was your husband imprisoned?”
“I was arrested at the army's Fourth Armored Division checkpoint on the way from Daarya to Damascus. When I told my husband, the crazy man drove his car to the checkpoint to ask about me, and was arrested as well,” she tells me, choking with sadness.
She sighs, then continues: “Don't assume he did this only to prove his manhood. My husband loves me a great deal. Ours is a love marriage.” Her eyes sparkle with wistful shyness.
And I find myself forced to ask about the strength of a love that would make a man drive to the checkpoint of the Fourth Armored Division, which is headed by Maher Al Assad, the younger brother of the president, and which is notorious for its brutality and harshness.
I try to hide my emotions as I ask her if they were ever able to see each other again after that.
She responds with a smile, understanding my adolescent curiosity: “I wasn't aware he had also been arrested until I saw him a month later. We ended up in the same vehicle as they were transferring us detainees to another location. He bore obvious signs of torture. Although the guard prohibited him from speaking to me, he bravely and defiantly asked me how I was doing. I was barely able to nod to indicate I was fine, when the guard yelled at him again. Since that day, about nine months ago, I haven't seen him or heard from him. I don't even know where he is.”
I believe I've apprehended the full extent of their love, when she surprises me by saying: “After seven months of prison and the torture I suffered, during which I thought only of him and my children, once I was released, without seeking advice from anyone, I secretly went to the air force security headquarters in Damascus.”
Awed by her statement, I couldn't resist screaming at her: “The air force? The Aqsa branch? Why did you do that? Are you crazy?”
Her eyes mist over with tears. She continues: “I heard that my husband might be there, so I had to go and ask for him. I demanded him back. I asked about him. I yelled. But they threatened to arrest me, so I thought about our children and returned home. When my family found out what I had done, they were so concerned about me they pressured me into moving to Lebanon with my children.”
“But I wasn't able to live in Beirut. It is so far from Damascus. I live close to the border and my eyes are awaiting my return home. Pray for him, Marcell. Pray that he is still alive and that he survives this.”
I jokingly ask: “Will you invite us to the feast?”
She replies, with hope in her voice: “Of course.”
Wherever I look among the details of violence, blood and death in Syria, I come across crazy stories of love, brave as a rose stubbornly growing, despite the weeds and thorns trying to suffocate it. There are love stories in the passageways, defying the snipers who divide the city into two. There are love stories between the city and the refugee camps, and the towns on the Turkish borders. And there are armed rebels from the Free Syrian Army with girlfriends they cannot see until the regime falls.
This is what living on the edge means. You touch death and ridicule it as you hold on to life, as you add meaning by seeking out the smiles of those you love.
My friend, the heroine, notices me daydreaming as I play with a necklace given to me by the man I love. She interrupts my thoughts: “What's his story?” And I answer her honestly: “I believe he deserves someone better than me. The least he deserves is a girl he doesn't imagine has been kidnapped by death and chased by anxiety. He deserves a girl who has the optimism and stability of tomorrow, upon which to build a family.”
She laughs at me and the silliness of my thinking: “Do you think my husband would have loved me if I was less revolutionary?” she asks. I find myself embarrassed at responding to a question for which I don't have an answer.
Love alone glues us to our land, our future and our freedom. Otherwise, our lives would be even more difficult, filled only with vengeance and hate.
With our love for Syria and optimism for tomorrow, we will overcome the tyranny of oppression. We shall win.
Marcell Shehwaro blogs at marcellita.com and tweets at @Marcellita, both primarily in Arabic. Read the other posts in the series here, here, here, here, and here.

author: مرسيل شحوارو


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The Pissing Tanker is on a Mission to Stop Public Urination in India · Global Voices
Rezwan

The lack of public toilets in urban areas is a major cause of public urination in India. Image by the author.
Public urination is a problem in many South Asian countries, especially India. Its not uncommon to see men urinating in public on walls, alleys and corners. The lack of public toilets is an issue, but poor understanding of hygiene and public decency also contribute to the problem. Blogger Udaas Priest has a hilarious perspective on why Indian men urinate on public walls.
There have been many attempts to solve this issue by activists and different organizations, including public campaigns in Delhi, cleaning and painting the walls and maintaining them, and shaming offenders in Rajasthan by drumming and blowing whistles. But those efforts have not made a visible impact.
The question remains: “How can India stop people urinating in public?”
The Clean Indian, an anonymous anti-public urination activist group, has come up with one possible solution to stopping public urination in Mumbai.
In the above video uploaded to YouTube by The Clean Indian, you can see their Pissing Tanker in action. The group, whose members wear masks to conceal their identities, patrols Mumbai city with their giant yellow water tanker and sprays water on those urinating in public.
Their action has been greeted with mixed reactions from Indian netizens. Some supported the effort:
good idea.. but how can they take action for not providing public toilets? The Pissing Tanker: http://t.co/RZCdJM2ODp via @YouTube
— Cable Sankar (@cablesankar) May 3, 2014
Wow, if true, this is one idea. Though India also needs public urinals. The Pissing Tanker: https://t.co/udhbE9IWhf
— Nishant Dahiya (@nprnishant) May 2, 2014
The Pissing Tanker “You Stop, We Stop”: http://t.co/NtOdFWXqqH honestly, I've wanted to see this done since I was like 7. Opinions?
— Shāmbhavi (@Shamwoo) May 2, 2014
But not everyone was happy:
The Pissing Tanker – You Stop, We Stop http://t.co/lB0vowFY7B Entertaining, but clearly crossing the line, into vigilante justice.
— Karthik Srinivasan (@beastoftraal) May 2, 2014
Stupid attention-seekers. As if a colossal waste of tanker water can stop all of India from pissing in public. Go… http://t.co/hUT92n6Xn2
— Bijoy Venugopal (@bijoyv) May 2, 2014
Blogger Manish Agarwal argued that the tanker is not the right solution to stopping public urination. He listed some drawbacks of the idea:
There have been interesting debates surrounding the topic, whether it is a cultural issue rather than hygienic, whether it is a problem at all and whether people should bother. Comparing Indian practices with practices in other countries will not help much in the search for a solution. However, keeping walls maintained as well as increasing public awareness of cleanliness and health and safety issues certainly can't hurt.


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The Price of Press Censorship in China  · Global Voices
Abby Liu

At the China Media Project, Chang Ping discusses the implications of case of Wei Yinin, who abused his power to control internet press. Chang believes that the case should prompt deeper reflection on corruption of the propaganda system itself. Chang says:
It’s probably difficult for most people even to imagine how a junior web control official can swallow millions in bribes. How much more is possible for a senior-level propaganda official with nearly boundless power? But the secret nature of propaganda work is such that no media would ever dare expose corruption among the commissars charged with keeping them in line.

author: Abby Liu


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Tragedy and Confusion in Odessa · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

The besieged Odessa Union building. A Molotov cocktail has just exploded in the top right corner of the frame. Dozens died in the ensuing fire. YouTube screenshot.
Ukraine's separatist problem turned more ugly than anyone could have imagined, and in the unlikeliest of places, when over thirty pro-Russian protesters died in a fire in the cheerful Black Sea port of Odessa on May 2. From YouTube videos it appears that the fire was started by a mob of pro-Ukrainian activists, many of them soccer fans, who assaulted the several dozen separatists occupying a local Union building. Allegedly, the separatists fired at the crowd, killing two [ru] and wounding several. The mob responded with Molotov cocktails, which set off the deadly fire.
Most RuNet users are incensed at the tragedy, their outrage fed by graphic photographs [WARNING, graphic image] of burned bodies, while pro-Ukrainian bloggers like the prolific @yyasyaa, many of whose tweets were re-tweeted by hundreds of people today, claim [ru] that Ukrainian activists who had surrounded the Union building had tried to help the separatists escape the blaze.
One blogger gave a detailed firsthand account of the inception of the conflict. According to Maxim Motin [ru], a Moscow municipal deputy, core fans of the Odessan and Kharkov soccer teams, which were scheduled to play on May 2, held a combined rally in support of Ukrainian unity. (“Ultras,” or committed soccer fans, were a major part of the Euromaidan protests during the winter.) The rally was attacked by a small group of separatists, which was beaten back. After the attack the crowd turned into a mob and moved to the separatist HQ “burning tents and beating up several people.” Motin called what happened a “provocation,” although he was unclear as to who he thought was behind it.
Whether provoked or not, the violence was deadly, and Internet turned quickly to talk of retribution. One series of images in particular has caused a disproportionate amount of anger — several teenage girls preparing Molotov cocktails, and then walking cheerfully with the deadly weapons:
Two alleged participants in May 2 violence carrying prepared Molotov cocktails. Faces have been redacted.
The photos spread through Russian and Ukrainian social networks, reposted [ru] by both sides of the conflict — one pro-Ukrainian blogger approvingly tweeted [ru] that it was “impossible not to fall in love” with them. The young women were quickly identified, their VKontakte and Facebook account links spread [ru] through [ru] Twitter [ru]. Within hours the accounts were deleted or closed.
At the same time that pro-Russian bloggers went off in search of the Molotov-makers, Ukrainian bloggers were spreading unsupported information [ru] that 15 of those that died in the fire were Russian citizens, another 10 were from Transnistria, and that “not a single person was from Odessa.” This was later refuted [ru] by Odessan police who said they had identified 8 of the bodies so far, and that all were residents of the city.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian politicians commented on the events through Facebook. The governor of the Odessa region, Vladimir Nemirovskiy, said [ru] that he considers “lawful” the actions of Odessans who tried to “neutralize armed terrorists.” Ukraine's nut-job ultra-nationalist MP Irena Farion was provocative as usual, writing [ru] “Devils should burn in hell. Football fans make the best rebels. Bravo.”
Whether one blames radical soccer fans, Russian secret agent provocateurs, weak central authorities in Kiev, or directly Putin [ru], for what happened in Odessa, one thing is clear — the situation is bound to escalate. As Moscow Echo's Alexey Venediktov tweeted [ru]: “the events have likely reached the point of no return.”

author: Andrey Tselikov


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Brunei Implements Sharia Law Despite Worries of Human Rights Violations · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

On May 1, 2014 the Sharia Law took effect in Brunei which made it the first country in East Asia to implement the law at the national level.
Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque in the capital of Brunei. Photo by Santi Palacios, Copyright @Demotix (8/12/2010)
There will be three phases in implementing the law. The first phase, now operational, covers general offenses such as eating in public during the fasting month of Ramadan, failure to perform Friday prayers, and pregnancy out of wedlock. The second phase includes cutting of limbs for theft, and flogging for violations such as abortion, alcohol consumption, and homosexuality. The death penalty will be applied during the third phase which would involve stoning to death for adultery, and also capital punishment for rape and sodomy.
Brunei is a Muslim-majority country. It is a monarchy where the Sultan is also the Prime Minister and wields absolute power in the government and in Brunei society. Before May 1, the Sharia Law was restricted to personal and family issues.
In the past six months, the government has launched an information and education campaign about the rationale and content of the Sharia Law. One of the controversial and much talked about issues is the provision on ‘indecent clothing’:
The section, titled “Indecent Behaviour”, states that any person who commits an act of indecent behaviour in a public place is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.
An act is deemed indecent if it tarnishes the image of Islam, corrupts moral standards, causes negative influence or upsets eyewitnesses.
Asked if wearing a bikini in a swimming pool is a violation of the Sharia Law, a Religious Officer admitted that “the issue is not clear cut.”
Some enthusiastic supporters of the law have started confronting people for the crime of not wearing a tudong (veil), and the crime of wearing “indecent” attire like wearing of short pants.
Another question raised by the people is the provision on hurting another person during sports activities. Religious Officer Saadatul Nazaha Hj Saiful Ashur of the Islamic Legal Unit explained further:
Victims whose eyes get damaged in extreme sports activities could claim compensation against the accused. The compensations will then be evaluated and estimated by the Syariah Court, depending on the gravity of the injuries being inflicted.
The imam of Jame’ ‘Asr Hassanal Bolkiah, Haris Hj Suboh, urged the public to understand the importance of embracing the Sharia Law:
If they understand the law very well, then there should not be any problem for them.
The law itself (acts) as a guidance to Muslims to be more afraid of God’s wrath; punishments that are carried out in the world is different from the ones to be carried out in the hereafter.
Do not focus on the punishments prescribed by the law, said Attorney General Datin Hjh Hayati:
It’s crucial that we and the outside community understand these distinctions and not continue to focus on the punishments but shift it to the code’s strict and complex due process.
She even defended the Sharia Law to be less harsh when it comes to the penalty of caning:
It suffices that the hand is raised slowly and caning strike on the back is done evenly – not just on one area.
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah told his people to unite and ignore critics from other countries:
Do not pay any attention to what others say about us here in Brunei because they do not know the way we know what it is to be Bruneian and how it is in Brunei.
What is important is that we ourselves as Bruneians must truly be Bruneian, united as one regardless of ethnicity, race or religion.
Be a nation as how a Bruneian would, a government as how Bruneians are governed, a monarchy or lead as how a Bruneian can lead, with undivided loyalty and total devotion.
Earlier, he warned online critics that they will be punished for violating the Sharia Law:
They can no longer be given the liberty to continue with their mockery and if there is a basis for them to be brought to court, then therefore, the first phase of the Syariah (criminal) law this coming April will be relevant to them.
Many Bruneians have welcomed the passage of the Sharia Law:
Sharia Law is ONLY applied to criminals. There is no need to feel threatened. Unless you're a criminal….
— Amri J. Asari (@AsariAmm) May 2, 2014
I'm really grateful that the sharia law has started this morning. Hope it'll make Brunei's society a little more peaceful without violence.
— Matt Phab (@Mattphab) April 30, 2014
Groups shud dig deep n understand what #syaria law is all about b4 making degoratory #comments.. #brunei http://t.co/DPuEoy1fv3
— H3LMI (@Ero_sennin_) May 2, 2014
Noruzanna Sabeli, a clerk at the Ministry of Education, believes that the strong penalties in the law would deter people to commit heinous crimes:
The punishment for stealing is to cut their hand. Knowing this, people will be discouraged to steal.
If it is just a sentence to jail, people can just go to jail, free food then once they’re out again, they are free to commit the crime again.
But a civil servant is worried about the impact of the law on non-Muslims:
I know we are a country proud of its official religion and I’m sure this has been thought through but we still need to ensure it doesn’t bear too much implications on other things that are part of our national interest. I hope other religions and races would still be respected.
A Filipino catholic priest warned that baptisms could face restrictions:
There will be no baptisms. There is not a lot we can do about it. We will have to wait and see what happens.
Teaching of other religions is prohibited under the Sharia Law. Some Christian schools are already expressing concern about this provision.
Global reactions are not favorable to Brunei. Many questioned Brunei’s decision to implement the harsh aspects of the law which would violate human rights.
Some personalities such as TV host Ellen DeGeneres and Virgin CEO Richard Branson have supported a campaign to boycott hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei.
The Amnesty International said the “shocking new Penal Code will take the country back to the dark ages when it comes to human rights.” Rupert Abbott, Deputy Asia-Pacific Director at Amnesty International, added:
Brunei Darussalam’s new Penal Code legalizes cruel and inhuman punishments. It makes a mockery of the country’s international human rights commitments and must be revoked immediately.
The new code even permits stoning to death for acts which should not be considered ‘crimes’ in the first place, such as extramarital sexual relations and consensual sex between adults of the same gender.
Phil Robertson, Deputy Director for the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, also criticized the law:
Brunei’s decision to implement criminal Sharia law is a huge step backwards for human rights in the country. It constitutes an authoritarian move towards brutal medieval punishments that have no place in the modern, 21st century world.

author: Mong Palatino


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Crowdsourcing Ukraine’s Rebellion · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Ukraine's struggle to maintain Internet silence about troop movements in separatist-occupied areas. (American WWII propaganda poster. Public domain.)
Bloggers in Ukraine are turning to the Internet to publish the locations of troops in the country’s southeast, where the army is in the midst of a massive “counter-terrorist” operation against militants who have seized control of parts of major cities. A group called “Military Maps” on the Russian social network Vkontakte has created an application that allows any user to mark the location of soldiers and military hardware on maps of Ukraine. The service appears to be the work of separatist sympathizers hoping to provide rebel combatants with tactical intelligence.
Друзья! Не забываем! pic.twitter.com/bht8Thd8sA
— ЄВРОМАЙДАН (@euromaidan) April 17, 2014
“Friends! We won't forget!” [Image reads, “Attention: Ukraine's Ministry of Defense asks Internet-users to remain silent about the movements of Ukrainian army troops.”]
“Military Maps” logs Ukrainian troop locations in occupied Slaviansk.
The accuracy and timeliness of “Military Maps” is questionable, but some Ukrainian bloggers are taking the threat seriously, spreading a message from the country’s defense ministry warning against discussing online the army’s movements. As early as mid-March this year, the Ukrainian government has cautioned citizens against revealing such information on the Internet. In mid-April, the mega-popular Twitter account “euromaidan” disseminated the same message again (see above), collecting nearly 900 retweets and favorites. Now, as Odessa slips into apparent anarchy and Kiev’s soldiers battle their way into cities throughout the southeast, bloggers are again calling on people to avoid posting about troop movements.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Dominican Republic: Infant Dies After Drug Police Raids the Ambulance She Was In · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Headquarters of the National Direction for Drug Control. Image taken from Dominican newspaper CDN.
Due to suspicions that an ambulance was carrying a big shipment of drugs, antidrug agents of the National Direction for Drug Control [es] (DNCD, by its name in Spanish) in Dominican Republic stopped a vehicle that was taking a four month-old baby girl to a hospital. The ambulance was held up for a long period, and that delay was too much for the baby Carla Michel Ruiz Arias, affected by respiratory difficulties. The baby girl died from a respiratory arrest [es] on her way to Robert Reid Cabral Children's Hospital in the National District from Juan Pablo Pina Hospital in San Cristóbal.
Miguel Medina, spokesman for DNCD, explained that in Quita Sueño area, in Haina, an intelligence action was underway, where they were monitoring an ambulance that was carrying drugs, according to information the institution had. Medina called the event a “fatal coincidence” and also assured that the agents involved in the raid informed that the vehicle with the baby was briefly stopped, and that they gave the ambulance the order to go ahead when they noticed that it was carrying a very sick baby.
According to his statements, when the agents stopped the ambulance, with license plate 877-511, they found a casket without any corpse and license plates from Puerto Rico, elements they deemed as suspicious. The result was that the driver was taken into custody to the DNCD and the vehicle was retained.
Meanwhile, there are witnesses that claim that about 10 motorists violently stopped the ambulance in the Sánchez highway and that, in spite of being aware of the baby's condition, the agents took more than 30 minutes for searching some drug dealers they never found.
The news outraged Dominicans, as the blog Traspitoonline.net [es], that accounts the baby's funeral and notes that:
[…] Detenía Arias, madre de la occisa no pudo conversar con los periodistas y solo decía “Ellos me la mataron”, al referirse a los miembros de la DNCD actuante, que paralizaron la ambulancia por más de 15 minutos.
[…] Detenía Arias, mother of the baby, was unable to speak with the journalists and kept saying “They killed her”, when referring to members of DNCD, that held the ambulance for over 15 minutes.
Dominican legislator Tommy Galán described the “action by members of the DNCD as abusive, irresponsible for checking a duly identified vehicle that, in addition, was carrying a baby girl in a very serious health condition” and demanded a thorough investigation of the case.
On Twitter, users regretted the whole incident, mostly because of Carla Michel's young age:
Carla Michel Ruiz Arias no pudo aprender a sonreir, ni mencionar “mamá”, pues la DNCD no permitió vivir, para que aprendiera estas cosas..
— vision deportiva. (@franciscocasad8) Mayo 2, 2014
Carla Michel Ruiz Arias won't learn to smile, nor mention “mom”, as DNCD didn't let her live for her to learn those things.
Ojalá y se investigue el hecho de la muerte de #CarlaMichel y los responsables sancionados. #justicia
— Sandra Kurdas (@SandraKurdas) Mayo 2, 2014
I wish there is an investigation of the passing of Carla Michel and those responsible get a punishment. Justice.
@SandraKurdas usted sabe que aqui no hay justicia #CarlaMichel para nadie!
— Sandra Mercedes (@sandriviris1) Mayo 2, 2014
You know here there is no justice for anybody!
No hay palabras para consolar unos padres de la perdida de su hij@ #CarlaMichel x la negligencia de #DNCD !
— InDiRa CasTrO (@Lalindura1) Mayo 2, 2014
There are no words for comforting these parents for losing their child Carla Michel due to a negligence by DNCD!
@VGomezCasanova en la forma k murio la nina carla michel hoy como padre me siento indignado,cuando viviremos en un estado d drecho para tods
— herbbie vivaldi (@herbbie01) Mayo 2, 2014
Because of the way baby Carla Michel died, today as a parent if feel outraged. When will we live in a rule of law for everyone?
#CarlaMichel deja al descubierto un caso más de nuestra triste realidad: hija de una menor de edad, la mamá solo tiene 15 años.
— Nathalie Jerez (@Njerez) Mayo 2, 2014
Carla Michel reveals another example of our sad reality: she was the daughter of a minor, the mom is only 15 years old.
The chairman of the National Direction for Drug Control, Julio César Souffront Velázquez, assured that there will be a punishment for the agents involved with the intervention of the ambulance where Carla Michel was, if investigations reveal their actions were negligent.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Japan’s Citizen Media Meet at Mikawa Medifes 2014 · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

Screenshot of the Mikawa Medifes 2014 website
Citizen media makers in Japan are gathering in the Mikawa region of Japan's Aichi prefecture this weekend for the 12th annual citizen media conference Mikawa Medifes 2014 [ja]. Dozens of sessions about civic media will be held at the Kariya City Cultural Center from May 3 to 5, 2014.
Themed in “the media near you”,  the conference counts the participation of local media makers such as Kariya's citizen broadcasting station Channel Daichi [ja] and community radio station fm838 [ja]. Participants will share their case studies and practices in areas such as film production, hyper-local media, online broadcasting, remixing newspapers [ja] and student-produced radio programs.
Over three days, the conference seeks to exchange ideas and information about the relationship between civic engagement and participatory media for the future.

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Live Fire for Russian Historical Reenactor Spy · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

Military commander of the Slavyanks separatists, Igor Strelkov, is a historical reenactor, and, allegedly, works for Russia's military intelligence.
According to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov's Facebook [ru], Ukraine's security forces are currently engaged in an attempt to reclaim the center of Russian separatism in Eastern Ukraine — small towns of Slavyansk and Kromatorsk. So far they have been unsuccessful in their “anti-terrorist operation,” even to the point of losing two assault helicopters to ground fire. The stiff defense from the separatists, or “proponents of federalization,” as they are sometimes euphemistically called, may be due to the efforts of one man, their commander Igor Strelkov.
Strelkov may not be his name. At least, the Ukrainian secret police maintain that Strelkov's real last name is Girkin, and that he is a colonel in the GRU, Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate. Whether this is true or not, Strelkov is not an unknown entity. He is definitely Russian. One can, for example, read his memoirs [ru] about his time as a volunteer fighting for the Serbs during the Bosnian war in 1992. He is also a member of the Drozdovtsy, a monarchist organization commemorating the Russian Civil War General Drozdovsky. Finally, and perhaps ironically, Strelkov is an avid historical reenactor, with plenty of photographic [ru] evidence [ru] of his prowess at wearing historically accurate and dashing 1920s uniforms — his passion is the Civil War Era “White guard” movement.
Strelkov riding a “tachanka,” a carriage mounted machine gun used by both sides of the Russian Civil War.
It is also an established fact that Strelkov has a history with the Russian security forces. In 2010 he told [ru] his fellow reenactors on an Internet forum that he was currently serving in “unit 36391,” which according to blogger yadocent [ru] is the Federal Security Service's counter-terrorism department – not quite a colonel in the GRU, but still, nothing to scoff at. yadocent, however, says that he has inside information that Strelkov has since left government service.
Journalist Oleg Kashin begs to differ [ru]. He says that he recognized Strelkov as a man he saw in Crimea while reporting on the annexation last month. According to Kashin this “intelligent looking, mustachioed man dressed as a civilian” was calling all the shots on the ground in Simferopol and Sevastopol, discussing the terms of the Ukrainian Black Sea fleet capitulation. Local pro-Russian militia called him “an active GRU man from Russia.”
How does this square with posting personal information on public forums? Who knows! But the man seems to be fast acquiring mythical qualities. There are already unsubstantiated rumors of his death [ru] from sniper fire, that began through a tweet [ru] which was picked up by the Ukrainian media. Meanwhile, even though he is supposedly dead and/or surrounded by Ukrainian regular troops, Strelkov manages to send sit-rep missives which are then uploaded to a LiveJournal blog [ru]. One reader of the nationalist publication Sputnik & Pogrom has compared [ru] these tersely lyrical updates to Stannis Baratheon's siege at Storm's End (careful, potential Game of Thrones spoilers).
Here is an excerpt from Strelkov's last report [ru], posted just hours ago:
У нас в Славянске за день подразделением антиснайперской борьбы в районе севернее Соболевки (северная городская окраина) уничтожено еще 2 снайпера противника (предположительно – из ПС или ЧВК). За день потерь в гарнизоне нет. Вернулись еще на несколько ранее оставленных позиций. Сейчас пока тихо, хотя нас стращают очередным “штурмом” в 3 часа ночи. Если наконец соберутся – слава Богу! А то надоело безрезультатно гонять отряды за постоянно маневрирующими бронегруппами. Ждем-с!
In Slavyansk, during the day, the anti-sniper regiment destroyed two more enemy snipers (presumably from the Right Sector or a Private Military Company) just north of Sobolevka (the northern reaches of town). The garrison has no losses for the day. We have returned to several previously abandoned positions. Right now it is quiet, although we are being scared with news of a new “assault” at 3AM. If they get to it — thank God! I've grown tired of our troops ineffectually chasing the always-moving armored groups. We await!
Because of the nature of the RuNet, one can never discount the possibility that this might be a talented fake or a public relations feint on the part of Lubyanka's spooks. Perhaps Strelkov is already dead. Perhaps he never existed in the first place.


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Muslims Flee After Separatists Kill 32 in India · Global Voices
Rezwan

The northeastern state of Assam, India is severely gripped by ethnic violence. The tensions between the Bodo ethnic group and migrant Muslim religious minorities over control of land and settlements have been simmering for a long time. Image by Reporter#21795. Copyright Demotix (25/7/2012)
Ethnic violence erupted in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, leaving 32 Muslim villagers dead and prompting an exodus of the area's Muslims.
Armed Bodo separatists fired indiscriminately at Muslim settlers in three different attacks over Thursday, May 1 and Friday, May 2, 2014 in the Kokrajhar and Baska districts. The victims included children.
In one of the attacks, dozens of homes were torched before the gunmen opened fire.
Unconfirmed reports say the victims were targeted because of their voting choice in the recently concluded general elections. Police have arrested 22 people in connection with the violence.
Hundreds of Muslim villagers were seen fleeing with their belonging to nearby villages. The authorities tried to control the situation by calling in the army and imposing a curfew.
The Bodo tribe, which speaks the Bodo language, has long accused Muslims of sneaking into India from neighboring Bangladesh. The rebels belong to faction of the outlawed armed separatists group National Democratic Front of Bodoland, which wants a sovereign Bodoland for the Bodo people, who represent 10 percent of the population in the state of Assam.
Not only Muslim migrants, but also Hindi-speaking migrants from other states of India have also been targeted. In January 2014, seven civilians were killed by suspected National Democratic Front of Bodoland militants. They stopped four night buses coming from different parts of North Bengal, dragged out 13 passengers, lined them up and opened fire.
Militant Bodo groups have vowed not to let migrants live in villages that fall under the jurisdiction of the Bodoland Territorial Council, an autonomous body.
Journalist and blogger Habib Siddiqui provides some background on the conflict:
The Muslims that live in Assam are not immigrants from Bangladesh. Like many others, they have been living there for centuries, and at least before the time of Indian partition into Pakistan and India. Simply because of their Muslim identity and Bengali root, they are perceived as outsiders or new settlers in hateful Assam, which had her bloody history of pogroms against Muslims.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah suggested there was a connection between Prime Minister candidate for the Bharatya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance Narendra Modi’s recent speech criticizing Bangladeshi immigrants in India and the unprovoked killing of Muslims in Assam.
On Twitter, U.S.-based nuclear engineer Tanvir Salim explained the possible political motivation behind the attacks:
In Assam Muslim groups believe their community has come under attack because the rebels feel that it did not support Bodo candidates. Shame!
— Tanvir Salim (@TanvirSalim1) May 3, 2014
User Dipankar questioned the Bodo tribe's tactics:
The Army is there all over Assam, yet we have this gruesome carnage in Baksa. Why is d Bodo movement losing its way in anti-Muslim violence?
— Dipankar (@Dipankar_cpiml) May 3, 2014
Rohit Vats argued the violence had nothing to do with religion:
Usual suspects trying to give anti minority color to Bodo- Muslim clashes; religion is irrelevant to debate. Case of ethnic versus outsiders
— Rohit Vats (@KesariDhwaj) May 3, 2014


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Philippine Police Adopts e-Subpoena System · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

To prevent delay in the resolution of court cases caused by non-attendance of police witnesses, the Philippine government has launched an online-based subpoena system. The process will involve the court and the Philippine National Police (PNP):
The Courts, through its court administrator, will send the various subpoenas to particular PNP units in the PNP identified website or via e-mail. The assigned court personnel shall enter the details regarding a subpoena to be issued to police offices in the Data Base of the PNP using the computer-generated form known as e-Subpoena Form, which was prepared for the purpose.


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Trinidad and Tobago Stunned at Murder of Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal · Global Voices
Flora Thomas

Senior Counsel and former Independent Senator Dana Seetahal was murdered in Trinidad and Tobago early this morning, reportedly the victim of an organised “hit”. Police are working under the assumption that her assassination may be linked to her work as a prosecutor in the Vindra Naipaul-Coolman murder trial.
News of Seetahal's death spread quickly on social media, with many Facebook users referring to the assassination as a yardstick by which the state of the country can be measured. Most lamented the loss of a principled lawyer and independent voice.
The country's attorney general, who has been under public scrutiny over allegations against his office involving questionable business dealings between attorneys and inmates involved in prison litigation against the state, released a statement on Seetahal's death:
We have lost a titan.
She was a public spirited lawyer who served her country in many different capacities including assistant solicitor general, lecturer, magistrate, prosecutor, independent senator, president of the Law Association,  newspaper columnist and author. Hers was a truly unbiased, independent voice that helped shape public opinion. Everyone respected and looked forward to hearing from her. The wisdom of her counsel provided guidance to the nation on critical issues.
Dana had a piercing intellect and a wonderful sense of humour. She was an excellent advocate in the courts and the consummate professional who was never afraid of hard work.
In his statement, he mentioned that their last conversation involved “her column in yesterday's Express”:
It provided support for me in the present controversy over the letter from the solicitor general. She was one of the few who came out in my defence and supported my position. It is a powerful reminder of the strength of her independence as she was not afraid to voice her opinion even if it meant swimming against the tide.
The Ministry of the Attorney General has lost a critical support as Dana was assisting me with important and sensitive work on a number of legislative measures to help with the fight against crime and improve the administration of justice.
Her death will leave a void in society and the legal profession. These are big shoes to fill. She was one of a kind. May her soul rest in peace.
The blog Wired868 did not allow the attorney general's words to go unchallenged:
News about the shocking murder of former Law Association president Dana Seetahal SC, which occurred just after midnight today, was swiftly followed by a tribute from Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, who claimed a long-standing friendship with her.
‘In fact, we spoke this evening as she’d called to ask if I’d read her column in the Express over the controversy over the SG’s letter,’ Ramlogan told the Express. ‘I read it and called her back to thank her.’
The AG was referring to Seetahal’s column entitled ‘Investigate what exactly?’ which criticised ex-Solicitor General Eleanor Honeywall’s request to the Prime Minister for an investigation into certain ‘key office holders’ within the Office of the Attorney General.
Ramlogan, who got a second life as AG with the political death of former Justice Minister Herbert Volney, did not say that Seetahal’s last words were: ‘exonerate the AG.’ But Mr Live Wire noted that he did not not say it either.
The post accused the attorney general of “using this tragedy to discuss his own political health”:
Ramlogan went further:
‘She was one of the few people to step forward and be in my corner,’ he said. ‘I had even asked her if she would consider assisting the committee. And she’d agreed.’
It that how you earn selection on one of the AG’s investigating committees? By stating the outcome you expect to find in advance?
Mr. Live Wire turned his attention to the responses of the police and the Minister of National Security in the investigation of Seetahal's murder:
Meanwhile, the police said one of its two theories about the murder is Seetahal ‘allegedly was on her way home after spending some time in a casino’. Mr Live Wire has no training in police investigative work but is guessing that this theory is based on the fact that Seetahal had left a casino, was driving at the time of her murder and had a home to go to.
Mr Live Wire also has a theory that the police officer in question does not understand the meaning of the word ‘theory’.
For once, National Security Minister Gary Griffith offered the most dignified response to the assassination-styled killing. He gave no information, offered no solace or comfort to bereaved family members or the stunned public and, best of all, did not say that the people responsible were cockroaches running scared from his brilliant work as minister.
Griffith, eloquently, said nothing all.
The bar is set quite low these days.
Satire aside, the post contained an editor's note at the end, which said:
Wired868 offers heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of Dana Seetahal SC and would like to pay tribute to a lawyer who made the legal profession seem more accessible, sensible and relevant to most of us.
It would be a double-tragedy if the perpetrators of this horrific crime are not brought to justice.
Blogger Kris Rampersad noted:
Independent thought and action comes (sic) at a high price. Dana Seetahal is one of our most tirelessly independent minds and to have it snuffed out so casually is just another indicator of the little value given to the best that we can boast of. It is not only her incessant efforts to balance the scales of justice that lent value to knowing her, it was her rootedness in making this society a better place in which to live. Some warmth went out of this very sunny day. RIP Dana. #DanaSeetahalAssassination
The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago put out a statement calling Seetahal “fearless”:
The Law Association mourns the tragic and violent death of Ms. Dana Seetahal SC former President of the Law Association who was killed this morning and extends its deepest condolences to her family.
Ms. Seetahal SC has contributed significantly to the development of the criminal law, practice and procedure. She was a distinguished Senior member of the legal profession.
Ms. Seetahal SC epitomised fearlessness, integrity and independence and was a champion of reform of the criminal justice system.
The Association is concerned about the level of crime and strongly condemns the murder of Ms. Seetahal SC and calls for a speedy and thorough investigation into the matter by the Police.
Twitter was a magnet for updates and reactions to news of the murder. Journalists who were on the scene early this morning tweeted photographs of the law enforcement presence in the Woodbrook area, where Seetahal was gunned down:
Flashing blue lights & crime scene investigators outside Woodbrook Youth Facility, where Dana Seetahal was killed. pic.twitter.com/Xb0Q6nnRIk
— Jabari Fraser (@JabariFraser) May 4, 2014
Family/friends of Dana Seetahal SC speak with police at crime scene on Hamilton Holder Street, Woodbrook. Photo: AA pic.twitter.com/DelkQxtYKj
— Jabari Fraser (@JabariFraser) May 4, 2014
PHOTOS: Murder scene of Dana Seetahal, who was gunned down by unknown assailants in Woodbrook, around midnight. pic.twitter.com/sSPmksiLMJ
— Gerard Best (@GerardBest) May 4, 2014
These Twitter users were appalled at the level of lawlessness:
So Trinidad has finally turned into the wild Wild West ? Rip #danaseetahal … My goodness
— Iceberg Slim (@icequeentt) May 4, 2014
#DanaSeetahal OMG! Absolutely shocked! This country is degrading itself day by day!
— Aarti Jagmohansingh (@AartiJsingh) May 4, 2014
Another compared Seetahal's death with the 1995 execution of lawyer and former Attorney General Selwyn Richardson:
In case of #SelwynRichardson it was a subtle assassination. In case of #DanaSeetahal this is blatant show of force, a line in sand & warning
— Samuel Mohammed (@samuelmohammed) May 4, 2014
Others were fed up with the high occurrence of crime in the country:
Trinidad no this cannot continue. #DanaSeetahal
— Kimberly Philip (@kim_mimosa) May 4, 2014
Richard Lord wondered why Seetahal didn't have police protection:
Did the state fail #DanaSeetahal SC #RIP
— Richard Lord (@Lordrich6) May 4, 2014
Many Twitter users remembered Seetahal for her commitment and outspokenness:
Never knew her personally, but always admired her courage, passion and strength … #SAD #RIP #DanaSeetahal
— Joel Villafana (@JoelVillafana) May 4, 2014
#DanaSeetahal, fighter, stood up for her beliefs, T&T has lost a champion in the legal fraternity #lordhavemercyon mycountry
— Melisa Sammy (@Mineyredz) May 4, 2014
An amazing legal mind was lost this morning. One of the few females in our system I admired. Fair and just. Rip #DanaSeetahal
— Mrs. CEO™（`_ゝ´)┌∩┐ (@ShelzFynest) May 4, 2014
@tv6tnt This is so heartbreaking. I pray comfort for her family and justice for this unspeakable crime! #DanaSeetahal TY for updating us.
— Dahlia Bradshaw (@damishawblessed) May 4, 2014
An autopsy is, at present, being done on Seetahal's body. There is a one million Trinidad and Tobago dollar reward (just over $150,000 US) for information relating to her murder.

author: Flora Thomas


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Vietnam: Aerial Footage of Saigon  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The beauty of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam was captured by a drone camera. Below is the video uploaded on YouTube:


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When Is Imperialism Actually Imperialism?  · Global Voices
Rakotomalala

Whether it is in the context of the conflicts in east Ukraine or in the Central African Republic (CAR), observers are quick to denounce imperialistic behaviors on both sides.
For instance, European and US leaders accuse Russia of imperialism in Crimea and the eastern region of Ukrainian, where pro-Russian rebels are taking over buildings and other ares, while Russia says that Westerners forcing their views on the rest of the world is akin to cultural imperialism.
In a similar fashion, a few African observers accuse France of imperialism for its military interventions in the conflicts in Mali and the CAR.
Each superpower seems set on accusing one another of being imperialist, but what does that actually mean?
A survey of the concept
Nowadays, imperialism usually refers to cultural imperialism, when a country imposes an ideology or a way of life onto other countries. As such, the concept is a sensitive one and is not to be used lightly.
On the Global Voices website, the word imperialism appeared 200 times between 2008 and 2014, and all continents have mentioned the subject at least once.
Worldwide, Google Trends’ search statistics on imperialism give the following results:
Countries where the search for imperialism is done most frequently.
And here are the words most frequently associated with imperialism:
Most frequent word associations with imperialism on Google
In French, Google Trends shows that unsurprisingly, searches about imperialism are related to news items from Europe. The most popular news headlines on imperialism in recent years are:
It also appears that among French-speaking cities, the residents of Dakar, Senegal are the most intrigued by the question of imperialism:
Cities that have searched for “impérialisme” (in French) most frequently, according to Google Trends
Imperialism according to region
Accusations of imperialism have recently been flung back and forth in reference to Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine. European media have discussed at length Russia's interference in the country following the country's ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovych and the successful referendum in Crimea to leave Ukraine and join Russia.
Quentin Baker, the co-founder of the Association for the Promotion of Territorial Cooperation in Northern Europe, warns against a simplistic read of the situation in the region as pro-European versus pro-Russian ideology [fr]:
La révolution actuelle n’a pas été initiée par des questions de politiques étrangères mais bien par des motifs internes. Il s’agit d’une opposition entre un large spectre de la société et un gouvernement kleptocratique, corrompu et abusif. Ce n’est pas l’est contre l’ouest et Monsieur Ianoukovitch n’est pas coupable d’amitié avec le Kremlin mais bien d’abus de pouvoir.
The current revolution has not been ignited by foreign policy issues but by domestic motives. It is an opposition between a civil society and a plutocratic government, corrupt and abusive. It's not east versus west, and Mr. Yanukovych is not guilty of being friendly with the Kremlin but first and foremost of abuse of power.
Observers in other parts of the word have denounced the hypocrisy of condemning the imperialism of Russia [fr] while ignoring Western imperialism elsewhere. Make no mistake, Russia's behavior smacks of imperialism, but Crimea's desire to maintain a privileged relationship with Russia is undeniable and cannot be ignored.
In the Central African Republic, the intervention by French military forces was desired by many. It succeeded in slowing down the violence, but the intervention seems stuck in a complicated situation in which no one is blameless in the continuation of the conflict.
Jean Batou, a blogger from Bangui at Contretemps, explains why the French intervention is fraught with chances for mission creep [fr], or the expansion of a mission's original goals:
Rien ne serait plus trompeur que d’envisager l’impérialisme français en Afrique au seul prisme de ses « chasses gardées postcoloniales », même s’il est par ailleurs prématuré de pronostiquer l’extinction de la Françafrique. Les autorités hexagonales ont ainsi commandité pas moins de trois volumineux documents sur les perspectives stratégiques de la France en Afrique. Le plus récent des trois annonce clairement la couleur : « L’Etat français doit mettre au cœur de sa politique économique le soutien à la relation d’affaires du secteur privé et assumer pleinement l’existence de ses intérêts sur le continent africain »
Do not make the mistake of seeing French imperialism in Africa through the prism of its “privileged post-colonial network” alone, even though it would be also premature to say that the era of Françafrique is over. French authorities have commissioned no less than three detailed reports on the strategic outlook for France in Africa. The newest of three clearly says it all: “The French government must put the heart of its economic policy in supporting the business relationship of the private sector in Africa and fully assume the existence of its interests on the African continent”
The military intervention in Mali already raised many questions from observers, like this one from Mireille Fanon-Mendes-France [fr], a UN expert and head of the Frantz Fanon Foundation:
Il s’agit de profiter de la déliquescence d’Etats sous domination continue depuis les indépendances pour réintroduire directement une présence militaire camouflée derrière des armées locales dont nul n’ignore l’insigne faiblesse. Dans ce jeu géostratégique, le Mali devient otage d'une volonté des Etats impérialistes et de leurs soutiens.
It seems to me that France is taking advantage of collapsing states that have been under continued domination since their independence. France can reintroduce its armed forces behind the front of local armies, which are famously weak. In this game of world politics, Mali has become hostage of the will of imperialist states and their alleged support.
Malian author Aminata Traoré agreed with that analysis [fr], and added:
Aujourd’hui la militarisation pour le contrôle des ressources de l’Afrique fait parti de l’agenda. Ce qui se passe aujourd’hui au Mali est l’illustration d’une nouvelle étape de la politique de mainmise sur les ressources du continent, notamment les ressources énergétiques, sans lesquelles la sortie de crise, la croissance et la compétitivité ne sont pas envisageables par l’Occident.
Today, militarization of the region in order to control resources in Africa is part of the agenda [of superpowers]. What is happening today in Mali is an illustration of a new stage of political control over the continent's resources, including energy resources. Without these resources, the economic recovery, growth and competitiveness of the west is just wishful thinking.
All the analyses of imperialism seem to forget an important driving factor in these events: whether in Crimea, the CAR or Mali, a non-negligible part of the population have benefited directly from foreign military interventions in these regions. After all, as the well-known Gerald Seymour phrase explained, “One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter”.
In today's world politics, we may have the 2.0 version of that phase: One man's imperialist might very well be another man's freedom fighter.

author: Rakotomalala


text:
Zimbabweans Mock Suspended Opposition Leader on Twitter · Global Voices
Madalitso Mwando

Morgan Tsvangirai with Elizabeth Macheka cutting the wedding cake at at the Glamis Arena. Photo used with permission from nehandaradio.com
As former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) implodes amid infighting for the party leadership, Zimbabweans took to Twitter and found humour in what others have described as a “Greek tragedy.”
Rebels within the party led by MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti suspended Morgan Tsvangirai and other senior officials accusing them of resisting leadership change and failing to oust president Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai says that he is still the party leader.
Zimbabweans, who call themselves “Twimbos”, had a field day suggesting titles for an imagined book about Tsvangirai, and the wisecracks came fast and funny.
@fingerray started the Twitter conversation that inspired some creativity among Zimbabwe’s Twitter users with the challenge:
#Twimbos I dare u to come up with a #TitleforMorgansBook after ths mess @SirNige @263Chat @deltandou @CynicHarare @RangaMberi @ConorMWalsh
— Ray Ndlovu (@fingerray) April 30, 2014
Playing on both the movie “12 Years a Slave” and Tsvangirai’s tenure at the helm of the MDC, @fingerray tweeted:
@phirimarko @SirNige @263Chat @deltandou @CynicHarare @RangaMberi @ConorMWalsh @nematombo @teldah @cchabikwa @ChrisNqoe 15 years a slave
— Ray Ndlovu (@fingerray) April 30, 2014
He wrote again:
@fingerray @SirNige @263Chat @deltandou @CynicHarare @RangaMberi @ConorMWalsh #titleformorgansbook They said I was like Mandela
— John-Paul Matenga (@jpmatenga) April 30, 2014
@ConorMWalsh suggested:
@fingerray @263chat @cchabikwa @chrisnqoe @cynicharare @deltandou @phirimarko @rangamberi @sirnige @teldah “A Series of Unfortunate Events”
— Conor Walsh (@ConorMWalsh) April 30, 2014
@phirimarko wrote:
@fingerray @SirNige @263Chat @deltandou @CynicHarare @RangaMberi @ConorMWalsh The Man Who Wouldn't be King
— marko phiri (@phirimarko) April 30, 2014
@jpmatenga suggested a self help book:
@fingerray @SirNige @263Chat @deltandou @CynicHarare @RangaMberi @ConorMWalsh #titleformorgansbook how to lose friends in 10 days
— John-Paul Matenga (@jpmatenga) April 30, 2014
@__The_Duke came up with:
@fingerray My Lifestory:From The Frying Pan To The Fire. #TitleforMorgansBook
— Guzzler (@__The_Duke) April 30, 2014
@George_Ruzv wrote:
@deltandou @cchabikwa @fingerray @SirNige @263Chat @CynicHarare @RangaMberi @ConorMWalsh @TVYangu “The End.”
— GEORGE (@George_Ruzv) April 30, 2014
@DeltaNdou joined in:
@cchabikwa @fingerray @SirNige @263Chat @CynicHarare @RangaMberi @ConorMWalsh @TVYangu “Being the face of the struggle & butt of every joke”
— Delta Milayo (@deltandou) April 30, 2014
@RickyEMarima wrote:
@ConorMWalsh @263Chat @CynicHarare @deltandou @fingerray @RangaMberi @SirNige The Great Betrayal. Volume 2 #TitleForMorgansBook
— RickyEM (@RickyEMarima) April 30, 2014
@Cchabikwa played on the name of the MDC headquarters, Harvest House:
@fingerray @SirNige @263Chat @deltandou @CynicHarare @RangaMberi @ConorMWalsh @TVYangu came up with #HarvestOfThorns
— Cynz (@cchabikwa) April 30, 2014
@RickyEMarima wished the title Things Fall Apart was not taken:
@ConorMWalsh @263Chat @CynicHarare @deltandou @fingerray @RangaMberi @SirNige Too bad Things Fall Apart's already taken #TitleforMorgansBook
— RickyEM (@RickyEMarima) April 30, 2014
@designartistic posted:
#TitleforMorgansBook To Kill A Morgan Bird
— Design Artistic (@designartistic) April 30, 2014
@ChrisNqoe suggested:
#TitleforMorgansBook Lord of the Riggings : the return of Nikuv
— EverybodyHatesChris (@ChrisNqoe) April 30, 2014

author: Madalitso Mwando


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A Poet Opens Her Eyes In the Metropolis: Juana M. Ramos in New York City · Global Voices
Carlos Esteban Cana

Juana Ramos. Image used with permission.
Its impossible to not be excited by New York City, in all of its magnitude, particularly if one comes from elsewhere in the world. Amidst the barrage of people who constantly fill its trains, streets and avenues, the crowd often moves as though it was the one with the ball and the play necessary to score the winning goal.
But in the midst of this wild, giddy, aggressive race, there are those who stop, in the middle of the great metropolis, to open their eyes. For there is no other way to understand the metropolis and to understand themselves in the middle of exile.
This was the impression given by the Salvadorian poet Juana Ramos, professor of Spanish and Literature at York College, at the public university of City of New York, during a conversation with Global Voices on what it means to live this lost closeness and gained distance, an experience which she described in her book “Multiplicada en mí” (“Multiplied Within Me”) of which Artepoética Press has just published a second, extended and revised edition, this past February.
Carlos Esteban Cana (CEC) -Let's talk about Multiplicada en mí, this book which you published with Artepoética Press, the publishing house of fellow poet and cultural ambassador, Carlos Aguasaco. First of all… why “Multiplicada en mí” What is the writer talking about when she names her collection of poems in this way?
Juana Ramos (JR): El título del poemario lo “encontré”, “me llegó”, tan pronto terminé de organizarlo. Me di cuenta de que, por una extraña razón, le había dado un orden cronológico a los poemas. Y digo extraña porque no era esa mi intención original. La primera edición de Multiplicada en mí consta de cuatro partes. La primera abre con poemas que escribí en los años 90. La última parte cierra el libro con los poemas más recientes hasta ese momento. Al leer de nuevo el texto, precisamente en busca de un título, me embistió, de súbito, la frase multiplicada en mí, porque pude ver a lo largo del libro diferentes voces de un mismo sujeto poético. Si te fijas bien, en los once poemas de la primera parte hay una voz bastante fragmentada, incluso caótica, que insiste en los adverbios, en calificar de alguna manera “la acción” que se pasea por cada poema. Es una voz más visceral porque el tema que recorre esos versos así lo requiere. Conforme te adentras al poemario, la voz va cambiando, va buscando otros espacios en los que les da cabida a otras cuestiones. En la primera parte del poemario me visualizo enredada en lo más profundo de mí.
Juana Ramos (JR): The title of the collection, was something I found, which came to me, as soon as I'd put it together. I realised that, for some strange reason, I had given the poems a chronological order. I say strange, because that was not my initial intention. The first edition of Multiplicada en mí consisted of four sections. The first opened with poems which I'd written in the 90s, The last part ends with the most recent poems up to now. Reading the book again, precisely looking for a title, the phrase “multiplicada en mí”, all of a sudden came charging at me, because I could see across the book different voices of the same poetic subject. If you really look at it, in the eleven poems of the first section there's quite a fragmented voice, even chaotic, which insists on qualifying with adverbs in some way “the action” that walks through each poem, it's a more visceral voice because the topics that run through those verses require it. Likewise. the deeper you get into the book, the voice changes, it goes looking for other spaces which make room for other questions. In the first part of the book, I saw myself tangled in the deepest part of me.
CEC:The impression that I got on reading is that I was reading three different notebooks or profiles that were very well defined. In broad strokes, a first notebook which invokes and conjures the farewell amongst, let's say, turbulences which intensify when love and disagreement come crashing into each other; another marked by distance, homeland and exile inside of a vertiginous metropolis; and a third notebook which is like the sun in the morning announcing through another encounter, an epiphany. What can you say about this?
JR: Sí, esta impresión que te dejó la lectura del poemario es precisamente lo que te decía anteriormente, a propósito del título, el cual anticipa el contenido del libro. La primera parte es una manera de lidiar con la pérdida que provoca que el sujeto poético se desmorone y ese desmoronamiento es del que habla el aparente caos de imágenes acumuladas y, a veces, herméticas, y la impotencia ante ese “otro”, a quien la voz apóstrofa en reiteradas ocasiones. Una vez solventadas las despedidas, la pérdida, la impotencia; aparece “la niña”, arremetida por el abandono. Ahora bien, el exilio, de diversas naturalezas, es una constante en el libro, y es por tanto, consecuencia de la pérdida de espacios familiares, no solo espacios físicos, sino emocionales, espirituales. Como espacio físico, ya lo dijiste, la patria. Es interesante cómo esta gran urbe, Nueva York, me abrió los ojos y me hizo verme, también multiplicada al concebirme salvadoreña, centroamericana, latinoamericana. El exilio representa, además, una toma de conciencia, una recuperación de la memoria histórica, porque la “cuestión identitaria” no es simplemente una mera nostalgia por la comida, los amigos y la lengua. El libro es muchas voces que se desprenden de una sola y que buscan unidad y unicidad. Es, diríamos, el resultado de un proceso dialéctico, la voz poética que recorre el libro está hecha de esas voces que representan etapas que van cerrándose, pero que no se quedan en la nada. Lo aprendido en cada uno de esos “tramos” se incorpora al siguiente. Estamos hechos, en realidad, de fragmentos de lo que hemos sido.
Yes, this impression that you got on reading the book is precisely what I was telling you earlier about the title, which anticipates the content of the book. The first part is a way of struggling with the loss which causes the poetic subject to fall apart, and that is collapse is the space from which both the apparent chaos of accumulated, at times inscrutable images, and the impotence before this “other” speak, and which the voice addresses on several occasions. As soon as the the farewells, the loss, the impotence, are resolved “the child” appears, assaulted by the abandonment. Having said that, the exile from various natures is a constant in the book and it is as a consequence of the loss of familiar spaces, not just physical spaces, but emotional, spiritual ones. Regarding spiritual spaces, I already mentioned the homeland. It's interesting how this huge urban centre, New York, opened up my eyes and made me look at myself, also multiplied, in conceiving myself as Salvadorian, Central American, Latin American. Exile also represents a gaining of consciousness, a recovery of historical memory because the “identity question” is not simply a nostalgia for food, friends and the language. The book is many voices which become detached from a single voice and seek unity and uniqueness. It is, let's say, the result of a dialectical process; the poetic voice which runs through the book is composed of these voices which represent stages coming to an end, but which do not come to nothing. Whatever is learned in each one of these “sections” is incorporated into the next. We are made, in reality, of fragments of who we have been.
CEC: The focus of this perspective, critical, scrutinising, whether of official history or institutionalised concepts, also has its place in the poetic texture of Multiplicada en mí. . . without this perspective, I suspect that even the poet would not exist.
JR: No, no existiría. En realidad, era necesaria, como necesario era salir de allá para poder tomar conciencia y, paradójicamente, mirar a mi país y su historia muy de cerca desde la distancia.
No, no she wouldn’t exist. In reality, it was necessary, like it was necessary to get out of there, to be able to become aware and, paradoxically, to look at my country and its history up close, from a distance.
CEC: From a distance, how do you see, almost five years later, Multiplicada en mí? These poems inside this book of poetry, do they still represent you; do they still represent the poet Juana Ramos?
JR: Después de casi cinco años lo sigo viendo como cuando lo di a luz, como el primer paso de una larga caminata en la que todas esas que he sido, acompañarán a la que soy ahora. Y sí, cada uno de esos poemas sigue representando a esa que era en el momento en el que los escribí, por tanto, son una parte de mí. Claro está, la voz se afinca, encuentra una textura, un punto en el que se siente cómoda y desde donde me permite hablar de todo lo que me rodea. A propósito de la relevancia que el poemario sigue teniendo en mí, en febrero de 2014 salió una segunda edición, revisada y ampliada. Tiene una sección nueva que consta de 32 poemas cortos. Artepoética quiso sacar esta segunda edición en vista del recibimiento generoso que tuvo la primera.
After almost five years, I still see it as when I first created it; as the first step of a very long road on which all of the people who I have been accompany the one who I am now. And, yes, every single one of these poems continue to represent the person who I was in the moment in which I wrote it and therefore they are a part of me. Of course, the voice settles, it finds a texture, a point in which it feels comfortable and from which I can allow myself to speak about all that surrounds me, As for the relevance that this book of poems still has for me, in February of 2014 a new edition, revised and extended was released. There is a new section consisting of 32 short poems. Artepoética wanted to release this second edition in view of the generous reception that the first one received.
CEC: And finally, how did Juana Ramos end up doing poetry? How did you become the writer you are today?
JR: Empecé a escribir a los 12 años. Escribía todo aquello que no me atrevía a decir, sobre la situación familiar que estaba viviendo. Soy de muy pocas palabras, nunca he podido “hablar”, decir a bocajarro lo que siento, por lo que la escritura ha sido terapéutica, un ejercicio catártico. Pero más allá de ello, tomo conciencia de la escritura misma, de la necesidad de decir, trabajar y decantar la palabra. Tiendo a ser muy económica con el lenguaje, a expresarme en pocas palabras, las justas, las necesarias; tal vez por ello es que me siento más cómoda con la poesía.
I started to write when I was 12 years old. I wrote everything I dared not say, about my family situation that I was living through. I'm a person of very few words; I could never “speak”, say straight up what I feel, and that's why writing has been therapeutic to me, a cathartic exercise. But beyond that, I became aware of writing itself, of the necessity of speaking, working and decanting words. Tending to be very economical with language, expressing myself in few words, the right ones, the necessary ones; perhaps this is why I feel more comfortable with poetry.

author: Carlos Esteban Cana


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Alternative Voices Speaking For A Secular Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bangladeshi liberal humanist, free-thinker and award winning blogger Asif Mohiuddin has been invited to speak at the World Humanist Congress 2014 in Oxford, UK. He was arrested multiple times for his alleged ‘anti-state’ and ‘anti-religious’ writings, attacked by fundamentalists, and is living with death threats. Here is an excerpt from the translation of his Facebook status in Bengali on 3 March 2014 about being invited to speak at the Congress and how Bangladesh should be perceived on the global stage:
Bangladeshi doesn’t mean South Asia’s Islamic fundamentalist – Pakistan’s little brother. There is religious fundamentalism in Bangladesh, but there are also voices raised in protest against it, much like in the United States and Europe.
We just need to get our voice to the international stage. We need to make our position clear. If we don’t, the outside world will always see us as illiterate, religious fundamentalist, far right nationalist, misogynist, anti-gay, backwards-thinking and we will keep being seen as a mini-Pakistan, mini-Afghanistan, mini-Saudi Arabia. It’s time to change these perceptions.
We want to change from a moderate Muslim country to be secular Bangladesh, where there is free speech and equal rights for all. We are marching towards that future and hopefully the outside world will see us.


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#BringBackOurGirls: Statement from Concerned Nigerian Bloggers  · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Nigerian bloggers have added their voice to the #BringBackOurGirls campaign:
We, the under signed Nigerian bloggers, view with grave concern the continued detention of the innocent school girls who were abducted from Chibok on April 15, 2014. We are of the strong view that no amount of social grievance either against the government and or the people of Nigeria can justify such an act of violence against school children. We therefore condemn the abduction in very strong terms.
The also called on their government to expedient action in getting back the abducted high school students from the Boko haram terrorists:
We also call on the government of Nigeria to do everything in its power, even if it includes involving an international security agency, to bring the girls back from the hands of those who currently hold them, and restore a sense of security to the country as soon as possible. Elections are coming up next year. Citizens want to be able to feel safe wherever they are. Democracy thrives best when citizens feel empowered to pursue their daily chores without fear or threat to their lives and property.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


text:
Caribbean Joins Fight to #BringBackOurGirls · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

If our own children were to go missing we would want the world to come to a standstill and help us find them. We…ask that…you consider why so often women’s bodies become the battlefields upon which wars are fought. This is not a problem that involves a small town in Nigeria, this involves all girls everywhere.
Tillah Willah sends a letter to Goodluck Jonathan, asking that he treat “the disappearance of the 234 school girls in Chibok, Borno…with a bit more urgency.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
China is a Fan of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ After All · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

“The Big Bang Theory.” From the series’ Google Plus public account.
Like other young people around the world, the Chinese are fans of U.S. TV shows, with the comedy “The Big Bang Theory” one of the more popular.
But American TV viewing in China hit a snag on April 26, 2014, when three major online video platforms, Sohu, Youku and Tencent, received notice from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) to take down “The Big Bang Theory” along with “The Good Wife”, “NCIS” and “The Practice”. Many believed that the ban was related to the “Cleaning the Web 2014″ campaign, which targets vulgar online content such as pornography for censorship.
“Big Bang Theory” producer Chuck Lorre wrote a tongue-in-cheek response to the news in his official production log:
The government of China has decided that “The Big Bang Theory” is not appropriate for viewing. I have to assume there was some sort of formal process involved in this decision. In all likelihood, a gaggle of communists sat in a darkened room and watched a few episodes. I like to think they took notes that were later used to formulate an official document that detailed the corrosive cultural effects caused by the shenanigans of Sheldon, Leonard, Penny, Wolowitz, Koothrappali, Amy and Bernadette. I like to think that during these screenings one of them laughed out loud and was promptly sent to re-education camp on the outskirts of Urumqi. I like to think one of them was reassured by how often the characters on the show eat Chinese takeout. I like to think there's a Chinese word for shenanigans. Regardless, the whole affair makes me very happy. The overlords of 1.3 billion people are afraid of our sitcom. Exactly what we were going for!
Lorre's American-style humor comes off more like harsh criticism of Chinese authorities when compared to Chinese-style sarcasm. Chinese netizens used the Chinese Communist Party's ideology to argue for the need to show popular American TV shows. Here is one argument for “The Big Bang Theory” via Sina Weibo user “Pretending to be in New York” (@假裝在紐約):
《生活大爆炸》讲述了四位科学青年由于错误地投身资本主义科研事业，最终导致大龄未婚，买不起房长期蜗居在不足150平的房内以垃圾食品为生，尚有一名印度裔口舌残疾患者长期蹲坐在地上进食的惨象。深刻揭示了西方社会种族歧视、社会不公、女性生活腐朽的现实，对我国大批盲目寻求移民的青年有極強的警示作用。
“The Big Bang Theory” is about four young scientists taking the wrong path in the career of capitalist scientific research. Eventually, they are too old to get married and cannot afford to buy an apartment. They are forced to live in a 150-square-meter house and survive on junk food. It is best represented by the pathetic scene of the stammering American Indian having a meal on the floor. [The series] exposes the racial discrimination, social injustice and decadent lifestyle of women in western society and serves as a strong warning for a large number of young people who blindly seek to migrate out of the country.
Soon after the online ban came the news that state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) will import “The Big Bang Theory”, but dub it using censored “green” translations of the original dialogue.
Bridge blogger Bill Bishop believed that the CCTV used its party connection to obtain a higher audience rating by cracking down on other online shows:
Online foreign video “crackdown” may be as much/more about ratings & ad $$s than ideology 分享网易新闻:「消息称央视引进”生活大爆炸”」 链接 http://t.co/SKjMv4fyKf
— Bill Bishop (@niubi) April 28, 2014
Online foreign video “crackdown” may be as much/more about ratings & ad $$s than ideology. Sharing NetEase news: “Source said CCTV will cast “the Big Bang Theory”. Link http://m.163.com …
But Vanessa Hung from Weibo believed the “green” version is to manipulate cultural exchange:
如果真的不想老百姓受西方文化影响，就干脆现在开始不要学英语了，彻底断了文化交流。这难道就是走向全世界？
If they don't want ordinary people impacted by western culture, they should ban English education altogether and cut out all cultural exchange. This is how they enter the world?
Weibo user “Jilian mountain foot” came up with an allegory to describe the “green” version:
让我想到了一对科学家夫妇生了一个孩子，怕孩子感染细菌，只给他喝蒸馏水，结果不久孩子夭折了。有感于央视删减绿色版《生活大爆炸》
A scientist couple gave birth to a child and they were worried that the baby would be infected by bacteria. They only let the baby drink distilled water. Their baby died soon after. A story to express my feeling towards the CCTV green version of “The Big Bang Theory”.
A news website editor Ge Jia wrote that the ban is related to a new regulation announced by SARFT:
事情的起因并非由于“清网行动“，这几部剧也并非由于内容不健康遭遇处理，而是由于上个月广电总局发布的新管理规定，为了强化网络视听节目的审核，今后所有美剧及英剧将实行”先审后播“的规定。被下架的几步剧，虽然几家视频网站各自拥有从正规渠道获取的版权，但均未经过广电总局的审核，此次下架有可能是要履行必要的程序。
The reason is not related to the “web cleaning”. The content of the banned series are not unhealthy. The ban is related to the new regulation announced by SARFT last month. To strengthen their control of online audio/visual content, all American and British shows have to be approved before being broadcast. Although the video-hosting platforms have officially gained the copyrights to stream the taken down dramas, they haven't obtained approval from SARFT. The takedown is procedural.
A commentary from communist party mouthpiece Global Times newspaper also said the move was due to SARFT's regulation, and further explained that the policy is to protect local TV production.
If the regulation is to be used to the full extent, @xiaodonghhu's nightmare that online platforms could only show the “green” version as approved by SARFT may become real:
前几天的事情，伤心不能平息，特此发泄。。。。生活大爆炸的遭遇不仅意味着美剧、英剧、韩剧甚至日本动画片在国内网站同步播出的历史可能终结，假如相关规定被严格执行，网络正版影视甚至可能重归“译制片”一统天下的时代。
Though the ban happened a few days ago, I am still disheartened. I have to write this to express my feeling… What happened to “The Big Bang Theory” does not only imply that US, UK and Korean TV series and Japanese cartoons can no longer be shown online immediately [soon after they were distributed in the original T.V networks]. If they exercise the regulation to its full strength, all online video streaming platforms will return to the era of unified dubbed series.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
China President Xi Jinping’s Xinjian Tour · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tea leaf nation reviewed China President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Xinjiang, a province troubled by ethnic conflict. The post read into state media's coverage of the 4-day tour and the train-bombing incident and found both hard and soft political messages regarding the central government's ethnic policy.