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Athletes’ mental health is neglected in post-Olympic phase, new study finds · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

“File:2006 European Championships in Athletics – Ullevi august 11th.jpg” by Vogler is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
With the Olympic Games and Paralympics finally over, some experts are raising concerns over how athletes fare once the competition closes. A new study by Nigeria’s Clifford C. Uroh and Celina M. Adewunmi from the University of Lagos titled Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Athletes found that professional athletes experienced high psychological distress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns. In addition, recent studies on mental health in sports among elite athletes reveal that compared to the general population, athletes are often under-diagnosed, due to the culture of “mental toughness” in many athletic circles.
Researchers have also discovered that athletes are disproportionately affected by anxiety and depression, estimating that approximately 33 percent of elite athletes experience symptoms of depression or anxiety globally, compared to only about 4–5 percent of the overall population.
In the African context, there have been quite a number of sports personalities across Africa who have dealt with mental health challenges on retiring from their respective sports. An article titled “After the Whistle: Mental health in South African sport“ from 2018 discussed athletes’ experiences retiring from their sports — be it from rugby, cricket, or the Olympics.
Former Olympian, New Zealand field hockey play Brooke Neal highlighted this phenomenon in a candid Instagram post where she penned an open letter to athletes about the unspoken isolation and tribulations that many face once the Games end.
I just wanted to pop in and check on you. So you might be a little confused right about now. You've just competed in the world's biggest sporting event and yet, this is one of the lowest times you've ever felt.”
You have been in this bubble, your own little world, with 10,000 athletes who are at the top of their game. You have poured blood, sweat, and tears to get there, but you weren't really prepared for the day after. For the week after. For the months after this huge spectacle. You weren't prepared for life to continue as if nothing happened.
In an article for The Conversation researchers, Courtney Walton and Andrew Bennie, posed the crucial yet daunting question for athletes: “what’s next?” Walton and Bennie published another research paper in May 2021 exploring athletes’ mental health by interviewing 18 Australian athletes who had competed in the 2016 Rio Games. The study also found that athletes and their well-being receive less attention in the post-Olympic phase (POP).
At the conclusion of their competition event, athletes at various career stages described how a sense of elation was often matched by fatigue. There were also challenges associated with the comedown from the Games matching the Howell’s and Lucassen description of “post-Olympic blues” — the study notes
The athletes interviewed said that having a plan for what they would do next is critical for their mental and physical wellbeing. The plans they suggested included starting or resuming studies, applying for a new job, getting married or going on holiday, or even training for a new athletic season.
The study also noted that some athletes often do not have clear plans, or are often uncertain about whether to retire or continue competing, according to the study, that’s when difficulties emerge. One athlete is quoted saying:
When you get home it’s really lonely […] It’s quite depressing, and it is a little bit overwhelming, starting from square one again.
“Forward Together” by IAPB/VISION 2020 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Another said:
[Athletes] come back from the Olympics and they haven’t had anything to do. So, they haven’t had university, they haven’t had work, they haven’t had a family, they haven’t had community engagement, they haven’t had a plan.
The study proposes that it would be helpful to have mental health professionals who will check on the returned Olympic athletes after the Games. Additionally, athletes need to work on building identities outside of sport that they can fall back on at the end of the competitive cycle and at the tail end of their careers.
The study also calls on the general public and media to be empathetic and supportive of the returned Olympians. Social media vitriol and abuse of sports personalities have been on the rise in the last few months, as reflected by the reaction to Simeon Biles's withdrawal from Olympic gymnastic events.
South African rower Lee-Ann Persse participated in several Rowing World Cups and Rowing world championships as well as two Olympic Games. Having started rowing at 16, she became a budding talent and secured a sports scholarship to the US, before being called up to the South African rowing team. Career-wise, the success was welcome though, at a personal level, it was a lonely place to be. She’s quoted saying:
Once I stepped away from the sport, I realized how much I missed out on in terms of my family. And I realized they kind of kept things from me to protect me because they didn’t want to get me down. They might think, ‘she’s in a good place, let’s keep her there.’
“Day 10 Hockey (24 Aug 2010)” by Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
For athletes participating in the Olympics, the so-called post-event slump often “hits hard.” Persse also indicated that managing the expectations of the personal and professional level where lines often become blurred, winning is increasingly valued above all else making it a recipe for disaster. She said:
When things aren’t going well, you question yourself. You wonder if it’s your fault, if it’s acceptable for you to feel this way, like you’re not coping.
Former field hockey player Sanani Mangisa decries the fact that there is not enough support to help athletes through the process of retirement — not in South Africa or elsewhere in the world. The athletes try to keep in touch with their former coaches and mentors to help ease the process but for many, the same is often not offered back as the coaches do not have time to maintain the relationship.
If you can inspire one person to be able to come out of their shell and be able to say, ‘This is how I’m feeling,’ the dialogue becomes more open and it becomes a natural thing.
Mangisa also hoped that governing bodies will be open to assistance with athletes starting these conversations before retirement. There is a need to appreciate participating in the Olympics but also the fact that there will be other rewarding moments and experiences beyond the sport.
When we have conferences at World Cups, we need to dedicate a section to mental health. And we all need to listen to each other.
In a ground-breaking book release in South Africa, Dr. Kirsten van Heerden interviewed 18  from across different sporting disciplines to provide some answers in a book titled, Waking from the Dream – transitioning to regular life after a career in elite sport. The book focused on how professional athletes need to consider a life beyond their competition and mitigate this while in their prime. It would be most appropriate in seeking to address the issue of mental health as identified both from an African and global sports personalities’ perspective.

author: Richard Wanjohi


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China as a cultural threat in Ethiopia: From food to cultural appropriation · Global Voices
Maria Repnikova

In Ethiopia donkeys are solely used for transportation and similarly to domestic animals like dogs and cats are not used for food consumption. Image by Rod Waddington is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Officially, China and Ethiopia boast a strong partnership. Ethiopia has attracted nearly seven hundred Chinese enterprises and is China’s second-largest loan recipient in Africa. Ethiopia’s fast economic growth combined with the embrace of manufacturing and industrial parks, built by and modeled after China, have even led some news outlets to describe Ethiopia as “the China of Africa.” Ethiopia’s main political parties, the Prosperity party, and prior to that, the EPRDF have maintained strong relations with the Chinese Communist Party. Ethiopia is also one of China’s key Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partners in Africa.
In Ethiopian popular culture, however, the Chinese presence is often seen as a multifaceted cultural threat. On the one hand, there are widespread concerns expressed through social media about the Chinese community as a bearer of exotic cultural practices, especially when it comes to eating habits. On the other, there are anxieties about Chinese cultural appropriation of Ethiopian traditional culture, such as cheaper versions of China-made Ethiopian crafts and garments in local stores and markets.
As in other countries that have signed onto China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the arrival of the Chinese migrant and business communities into Ethiopia created some friction. It is challenging to determine the precise numbers of Chinese residents in Ethiopia, but some estimates suggest there are at least 60,000.
These tensions on the Ethiopian side are often expressed through discussions of  Chinese residents’ eating habits. In particular Chinese residents are accused of violating the food customs of Ethiopia. Ethiopian cuisine largely consists of cooked vegetables and lentils, as well as spicy meat dishes and stews, all served on a sour flatbread made out of teff grain, injera. Meat is restricted to lamb, beef, and chicken, and seafood (with the exception of simple fish) is rarely consumed. Chinese residents, in turn, are often portrayed as voracious consumers of forbidden animals, like donkeys, and also of exotic and even illicit items like snakes, insects and rats.
Ethiopian social media commentators criticize Chinese willingness to eat donkeys. Some comments allege that donkey consumption by the Chinese is taking place at a mass scale. One piece asserts that up to one million donkeys have been illegally taken from Ethiopian farmers and sold to Chinese donkey slaughterhouses that use them to produce the traditional medicine ejiao. This medicine, made out of donkey skin, is used in China for improving blood circulation. The social media post expresses anxiety about donkeys disappearing within 10–15 years in Ethiopia if this mass sale and slaughter is not stopped. Some Ethiopian media, like the private newspaper, Ethiopian Reporter, also reported widespread concerns about donkey disappearance. Citing a study carried out by Brooke Ethiopia, one article notes that “the Ejiao producing industry in China is seriously endangering the lives and livelihoods of millions of poor Ethiopians.”
In Ethiopia, donkeys are solely used for transportation and — similarly to domestic animals like dogs and cats — are not meant for food consumption. In rural areas, donkeys are especially revered, as they are used to transport goods, particularly by women and young girls.
According to the Donkey Sanctuary, a UK non-profit, nearly 80 percent of Ethiopia’s population depend on donkeys. Ethiopian commentators point to the dangers posed by donkey slaughter and export to Ethiopia’s rural development, but also to its moral fabric. One posting, for instance, notes that an opening of the donkey slaughterhouse is against Ethiopia’s holy and religious traditions. Ironically, this commentator suggested it might be acceptable for the Chinese to open their own donkey breeding houses, as long as they don’t take away Ethiopia’s donkeys.
Other food-related commentaries offered sarcastic and dramatic exaggerations of Chinese eating habits. One Facebook post tells the following joke: “If Adam and Eve were Chinese… we could have been still in heaven. Because the Chinese Adam and Eve would have eaten the snake instead of the forbidden fruit.” Another post jokingly urges the Ethiopian government to turn to the Chinese community to deal with the locust crisis, but not by providing technologies, but rather by having them eat the locusts.
It is important to acknowledge the blurring of exoticized and racialized messages in these food-related comments. By deploying food tropes, Ethiopian social media commentators also appear to question the humanity of Chinese residents, portraying them as repulsive and distant “others.” In one video posting, this message is communicated more directly. The video features a group of famous Ethiopian actors at a Chinese restaurant, ridiculing Chinese food. As the Chinese waitress serves different ingredients for a hotpot dish, including seafood, the two actors make fun of the ingredients, especially the seafood. The comments about food, however, also transgress to Chinese people. When one actor goes into the bathroom and finds his friend still sitting at the table, he says: “If you marry her there won’t be any problem. You will send her to the house yard, she would eat anything she finds.” Echoing the commentary about a Chinese tenant eating rats, this remark portrays the Chinese waitress as wicked and almost dangerous.
These associations of Chinese people with exotic eating habits have taken on a new geopolitical significance in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Some online commentators attributed the consumption of prohibited foods to the initial COVID outbreak in Wuhan, suggesting that God was angry and punished Chinese people. Others are more direct in linking global suffering from the pandemic to Chinese food choices: “Chinese ate the food …and peoples in the world are washing their hands.”
Other than the differing cultural habits of Chinese communities, the topic of Chinese cultural appropriation has emerged in popular discourse about China in Ethiopia. The discussion on the Chinese production of Ethiopian traditional coffee pots is a notable example. Ethiopia prides itself on being one of the world’s largest coffee producers and is also known as the birthplace of coffee. The traditional coffee brewing technique uses elegant elongated black clay pots called jebena that are made by Ethiopian craftsmen. But recently, China-made jebena have appeared in Ethiopian markets and ceramics stores.
The public reaction has been mixed, ranging from some admiration of Chinese efficiency and even hopes for modernizing Ethiopian jebena production, to concerns that some Chinese are claiming jebena as their own invention, as well as critiques of its inauthentic features, such as its white color rather than traditional black. Some netizens claim that buying China-made jebena is disrespectful of the traditional product, and jeopardizes the income of Ethiopian craftsmen.
Chinese manufacturing of traditional Ethiopian garments is another heated topic of discussion. Traditional garments, made of delicate, thin cotton, typically used for religious ceremonies are often expensive and hand-made. This changed with Chinese manufacturing, which produces a much cheaper version made from typically synthetic materials. While these cheaper goods are sold and purchased at Ethiopia’s markets, Chinese production has been widely condemned, with some critics even targeting the consumers themselves. “We don’t wish a happy holiday for those who wear Chinese made cultural clothes!!!” reads a post on Facebook.
Other critical commentaries shame local officials, in this case in the Amhara region, for accepting Ethiopian traditional dresses made in China and using them during the Ashenda Celebration. Some comments address Ethiopia’s public more broadly for failing to develop Ethiopia’s hand-weaving industry into an exportable commodity, and instead, letting the Chinese appropriate and monetize the traditional Ethiopian clothing designs.
Public interest in Chinese exotic eating habits and in the potential appropriation of Ethiopian traditional culture speaks of the larger rifts in Sino-Ethiopian encounters. At the official level, the Sino-Ethiopian relationship appears to continue to evolve as a partnership. Recently, 300 thousand doses of Chinese vaccine were delivered to Ethiopia. Despite this gesture of China’s generosity, there are widespread societal concerns in Ethiopia with China’s growing presence masked as exotic and dangerous, and Chinese economic force as intrusive and unwelcome when it comes to “modernizing” Ethiopian culture.
Ethiopian officials will continue to celebrate Chinese loans, investments, and vaccines, but the flow of capital might not translate into deeper cultural encounters. If anything, economic engagement will continue to coexist with cultural fears and subtle expressions of resistance in Ethiopian society.
This story is part of a Civic Media Observatory investigation into competing narratives about China’s Belt and Road Initiative and explores how societies and communities hold differing perceptions of potential benefits and harms of Chinese-led development. To learn more about this project and its methods, click here.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Maria Repnikova


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Forgotten history: American aeronaut Jeanette Van Tassel lies buried in Dhaka Christian Cemetery · Global Voices
Rezwan

The balloon in which Jeanette Van Tassel rode in Dhaka on 16 March 1892. Photo by Fritz Kapp via Wikimedia Commons and Luminous-Lint. Public Domain.
The first manned balloon flight in present-day Bangladesh happened in 1892, and ended in tragedy. A Dhaka Nawab contracted a balloonist troupe from the USA and advertised that a daredevil woman from America would ascend in a balloon and fly over the Ahsan Manzil, the Nawab's palace by the river Buriganga, and descend via a parachute. People crowded to the nearby riverbanks, waiting to witness the rare spectacle. With the sound of a gun, the balloon's rope was cut, and, as the crowd cheered, the balloon ascended to the sky. Everything went as planned, until a strong north wind blew the balloon away from the landing site. Sensing trouble Jeanette jumped and deployed the parachute, but was also blown off course by strong winds and was finally stuck in a tree-top around 3 km from her intended destination. Injured while descending from the tree, she succumbed to her injuries a couple of days later. She was buried in an unmarked grave in the Dhaka Christian Cemetery.
Over the past few decades, several Bangladeshi researchers have dug out this information, which has led to several pieces in newspapers, and even a book published in the year 2000.
Traveller and writer Onu Tareq visited Van Tassel's grave in August 2021 and wrote about it on Facebook:
ঢাকাকে সর্বপ্রথম অনন্য উচ্চতা থেকে দেখেছিলেন এক মার্কিন তরুণী, ১৮৯২ সালের ১৬ মার্চ বেলুনে চড়ে ঢাকা দেখেছিলেন তিনি। ঢাকার নবাব আহসানউল্লাহ ১০ হাজার টাকা চুক্তিতে ঢাকার আকাশে ওড়ার জন্য একটি দল এনে ছিলেন, যার অন্যতম সদস্য ছিলেন মার্কিন পেশাগত জীবনে আকাশচারী ২৪ বছরের তরুণী জিনেট ভানতাসেল। উল্লেখ্য তিনি ৩০০ বার বেলুনে চড়ে ছিলেন, যার মধ্যে ৪০ বার প্যারাসুট এর সাহায্যে ঝাঁপ দিয়ে অবতরণ করেন। ঢাকার আকাশে বেলুন থেকে প্যারাসুটের সাহায্যে লাভ দেওয়া ছিল তার ৪১তম ও শেষ প্যারাসুট ঝাঁপ।
উল্লেখ্য যে বৈরী বাতাসে বেলুন অন্যদিকে যেতে থাকায় জিনেট প্যারাসুট লাফ দিলে সেই প্যারাসুট রমনা উদ্যান এর উঁচু গাছের সাথে লেগে তিনি ঝুলতে থাকেন, এবং সেখান থেকে নিরাপদে নামার জন্য দড়িসহ অন্যান্য সরঞ্জাম আনতে বলেন। কিন্তু সেখানে উপস্থিত একজন অতি মূর্খ গোয়াঢ় ইংরেজ পুলিশ তার বদলে তিনটি বাঁশের সাহায্যে তাকে জোর করে নামতে বলেন এবং খানিকটা নামার পর বাঁশ ভেঙ্গে সেই উঁচু জায়গা থেকে পড়ে তিনি মারা যান।
স্থপতি শামীম আমিনুর রহমানের প্রথম বই ছিল ২০০০ সালে প্রকাশিত ‘ঢাকার প্রথম আকাশচারী ভানতাসেল'। মূলত সেই বইটি পড়ে গতকাল নারিন্দা ক্রিশ্চিয়ান কবরস্থানে খুঁজে বের করলাম এ দুঃসাহসী তরুণীর শেষ বিশ্রামস্থলটি।
কোন নামফলক নেই।
The unnamed grave of Jeanette Van Tassel at the Dhaka Christian Cemetery, and the book ‘Dhaka's first aeronaut Van Tassel’ by Shamim Aminur Rahman. Image by Onu Tareq. Used with permission.
Dhaka [Editor's note: formerly known as Dacca] was first seen from above by a young American woman from a unique height. On March 16, 1892, she ascended [6000 feet] to the sky in a balloon. Khwaja Ahsanullah, a Nawab [the title of the head of largest Muslim Zamindar in British Bengal and Assam] of Dhaka brought a troupe from the USA paying Indian Rs. 10,000 to fly balloons in the skies of Dhaka. Twenty Four-year-old Jeanette Van Tassel had the experience of being onboard a balloon about 300 times, and she jumped around 40 times from the balloon and landed with the help of a parachute. Her 41st and the last parachute jump was on that fateful day. A sudden gush of wind pushed Jeanette’s descending balloon away from the direction of the drop point [the roof of Ahsan Manzil]. Noticing the danger, Jeanette jumped and deployed the parachute. She continued to drift away due to the wind and she ended up landing on a tree in the nearby Ramna gardens. While hanging from a tall tree in the park, she requested people to bring ropes and other equipment so that she could come down safely. However, a very arrogant British police insisted Jeanette get down with the help of bamboo poles instead. While attempting to descent, one bamboo pole broke and she fell down from a high branch and got severely injured. She died a couple of days later in a hospital.
The book ‘Dhaka's First Aeronaut Van Tassel’ was published by architect Shamim Aminur Rahman in 2000. After reading that book, I wanted to find the last resting place of this adventurous young woman here in the Dhaka Christian Cemetery in Narinda.
The grave had no headstone.
Jeanette Van Tassel was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the USA. She became famous in 1888 when she became the first female parachute jumper in Los Angeles. She was part of “Professor” Park Van Tassel‘s troupe from Indiana. Park Van Tassel is revered as an aeronautical pioneer from the US.
Ershad Ahmed, a retired civil engineer wrote in his blog Dhaka Daily Photo:
Park Van Tassel's balloon flying exploits began in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, on July 4, 1882. Over the next ten years, his team's travelling show took him throughout the western U.S., Hawaii, Australia, and eventually to Dhaka (now in Bangladesh).
A photo that is said to be of Jeanette Van Tassel. Some claim that this is the image of Jenny Rumary van Tassel, who might have been the mother of balloonist Jeanette Van Tassel. Image via Wikipedia. Public domain.
There is no photograph in the name of Jeanette Van Tassel available anywhere, only of a Jenny Rumary van Tassel. Some claim that she was Jeanette's mother, who is said to have accompanied her to Dhaka. Another report claims that her mother died before the event and Jeanette's name before her marriage was Jeanette Rumary and her father's name was George John Rumary.
Many reports describe Park Van Tassel, who was also in Dhaka, as her husband; however, others claim that he was neither Jeanette's husband nor father—all of his troupe members took the professional name “Van Tassel.”
Larry Lehmer, a writer in Des Moines, Iowa wrote in his blog:
Jeanette has variously been described as the wife of Park Van Tassel, the daughter of Jenny Rumary Van Tassel, a recent bride and in her late 20s. Regardless of her relationship with Park Van Tassel, she carried the family name and was said to have performed in many countries with the Van Tassel troupe.
Architect and writer Shamim Aminur Rahman wrote in the Bangla Daily Prothom Alo in 2015 about the eight years of research he undertook to write the Bengali book ‘Dhaka's first aeronaut Van Tassel.’ He first learnt about the Van Tassel's exploits in Dhaka from a journal kept by Ganiur Raja, the son of mystic poet and songwriter Hason Raja from Sylhet. Here is an excerpt from the English translation of the article:
The full story of Jeanette Van Tassel was not written anywhere. [..] I had to gradually build up her story by collecting pieces of information from different sources. [..]
The news of Jeanette's death was published in the Bengal Times on March 19, 1892. Image via Public Domain.
On 1 August 1989, an event took place by accident. Khaza Halim, an offspring of Dhaka’s Nawab family, had an old photograph of Dhaka in his possession which I came across. This photo is about a big half-swollen balloon surrounded by some Dhaka dwellers and Europeans. From this photo, we can find strong proof of the description of Ganiur Raja. [..] I went to the St Thomas Church in old Dhaka. There, I searched in their old death register. After searching a lot, Jeanette’s name and the date of her death were found. [..]
I went to the manuscript department of Dhaka University. I started searching the microfilms of contemporary newspapers reserved over there. The story started forming.[..]
Jeanette's grave in the Dhaka Christian Cemetery will soon be forgotten if it is not marked and maintained. Shamim Aminur Rahman holds that, in the interest of Bangladesh's history, Jeanette's grave should be protected and be given a headstone so that visitors can remember and pay their respects to the first monument of victory in the sky in Bangladesh.

author: Rezwan


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From vaxxing to doxxing: The social media power of Nicki Minaj · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Nicki Minaj performs a medley of ‘Majesty,’ ‘Barbie Dreams,’ ‘Ganja Burn,’ and ‘FeFe’ at the 2018 Video Music Awards in New York City, USA on August 21, 2018. Screenshot by MTV International on Wikimedia Commons, under (CC BY 3.0).
The Nicki Minaj vaccine controversy, heavily covered by international media and responded to by the likes of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the United States’ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, British prime minister Boris Johnson and Trinidad and Tobago's health minister Terrence Deyalsingh, has taken an unexpected turn.
On September 17, after local reporter Sharlene Rampersad contacted Minaj's Trinidad-based relatives for an interview—a request that was allegedly declined—Minaj reportedly took to her Instagram account to share Rampersad's telephone number—an ironic choice of platform, considering that she recently claimed “it's not that easy [for Trinbagonians] to get on Instagram.” Within minutes, as a result of the harassment that ensued from “The Barbz,” as Minaj's fan base is called, the journalist had to fend off hundreds of phone calls.
.@CNN y’all are about to know how protective the barbz are towards @NICKIMINAJ and her family, you are not prepared. pic.twitter.com/UAJbTApj2h
— Fabio ?? (@onikamajestyy) September 17, 2021
The posts in question appear to have since been taken down, but local social media users wasted no time in reporting Minaj's stories to Instagram, and urging the reporter—however comically—to seek legal redress. Meanwhile, Rampersad has deleted her Twitter account.
What appears to have set Minaj off was the journalist's modus operandi. Regional news platform Loop reported that Rampersad asked Minaj's family for an interview via text message. Rampersad allegedly said that the Cable News Network (CNN) was in Trinidad pursuing the story—a claim that Global Voices has been unable to verify—and would reveal the family's personal information if they got an interview, whereas she would not.
Minaj allegedly shared screenshots from this correspondence to her IG Story, calling the reporter “a dirty hoe”; Rampersad responded that she would be taking Minaj to court.
Nicki Minaj says her family in Trinidad have been harassed and threatened by journalists. pic.twitter.com/s6AzYUN2lT
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 17, 2021
Doxxing, or the release of personal information, like phone numbers and addresses—usually online—is listed as an offence in Trinidad and Tobago's Cybercrime Bill, as it “can lead to actual physical harm” and irreparable damage to victims’ reputations and livelihoods. In the United States, where Minaj lives, the federal legislation against doxxing appears to apply to only certain categories of people.
Rampersad's employer, Guardian Media, quickly issued a statement, which the local Facebook page Newsauce found “quite weak”:
Sharlene Rampersad was following up on a legit story, and shouldn't have to face attacks…but blackmailing a potential source is poor form.
The company's statement failed to address the journalists’ tactics, as this tweet also pointed out:
Do you also denounce the threat of doxxing private citizens, their girlfriends, and any other people they know by your reporter? It appears that @NICKIMINAJ has the receipts showing that your reporter did that. https://t.co/fZCfJxPc5b
— GaelicKat ??✒ (@GaelicKat) September 17, 2021
Aaron Williams, the hip-hop editor for the popular culture website Uproxx, weighed in:
[This] reporter crosses a line by intimating that a competing outlet, CNN, is also pursuing an interview. The texter suggests that CNN would reveal personal information about the cousin — something against the journalistic integrity policy of any legitimate news outlet — and assuring that the Guardian would not. Aside from being the dirtiest of dirty pool, this sort of thing isn’t common practice at most outlets and is actually against the law in many jurisdictions. […]
While Nicki certainly has a right to be upset at the unsolicited contact, there’s 1. no proof that the texter actually is this person, and 2. absolutely no call to violate a person’s privacy to her 157 million Instagram followers, many of whom have previously shown a penchant for cyberbullying people […] However, if the person who reached out to her relations really is the named reporter, then shame on her as well for violating so many tenets of journalistic integrity in the pursuit of a quote. She should, however, be reprimanded by her employer, not terrorized by online vigilantes at the behest of an angry musician — especially not one distracting from the serious work being done to combat the spread of a deadly pandemic.
After Global Voices reached out to her by telephone, outgoing president of the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT), Dr. Sheila Rampersad (no relation to Sharlene Rampersad) called the Guardian Media statement a “welcome intervention”:
Nicki Minaj’s celebrity gangsterism towards […] Sharlene Rampersad, is textbook cyberbullying and intimidation of a free press in a young democracy. While Ms Minaj may be justified in calling for scrutiny of the journalist’s methods—that is, stoking the fears of an ordinary citizen caught, through no action of his own, in the maelstrom of an international story—the rapper’s doxxing and cussing are extreme reactions that should concern those closest to her.
Sensational as this story may be, it is but a global amplification of the relentless intimidation of [Trinidad and Tobago] journalists that has become routine. There is hardly a journalist or newsroom in T&T that has not been the subject of profuse cyberbullying, physical assault, ridicule, mockery, threats, police action, intimidation or trolling. The silence of institutions and the public has fuelled this danger, despite calls from MATT since 2015 for increased protection of journalists.
However, in a statement sent to us via WhatsApp, Dr. Ramperasd also suggested that beyond the surface of the social media brawl lies a deeper issue:
If one good can be realised from Ms Minaj’s meltdown, it is the international focus created by the rapper on questions about control of information, restrictions on free speech, and scrutiny of the mainstream media’s coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms Minaj’s original post resonates with anxieties of people around world who feel they are not being told the whole story about either virus or vaccine and who see the media as complicit in manipulating information. Public distrust is answered by mandates and other impositions, further alienating populations and generating greater distrust. The contribution of Independent Senator Anthony Viera in the Senate last Friday on Ivermectin makes the point in his question: ‘Why is information being distorted, suppressed and dismissed?’
This ugly episode touches many important issues in contemporary journalism, among them the role of journalists themselves in serving the public with diverse facts and perspectives.
Despite the journalist's questionable tactics, however, most Trinidad and Tobago netizens agreed with the saying that “two wrongs don't make a right”:
@NICKIMINAJ See why most of the population never like your head. How you go from always conveniently claiming a country as your home to making us a public spectacle (with no apology) to now doxxing and ridiculing a woman (the same women you said we need to protect a few days ago) pic.twitter.com/GI4d5zxcau
— Zoom link ?? (@CremaAnhydrous) September 17, 2021
Nevertheless, Minaj's supporters continued to be outspoken:
Good evening. This account supports Nicki Minaj doxxing new reporters who are harassing and threatening her family.
— Ivaniel (@IvanielReyes) September 17, 2021
1. nicki didn’t threat you. 2. doxxing isn’t illegal. you literally told nicki you were going to find her family and try to harass them for an interview.
— ???? (@onikaforeverr) September 17, 2021
Good luck with that ? I'm sure the judge will be very sympathetic to a journalist who tried to use duress on a private citizen? You literally told her family that CNN will be fully doxxing all of them and therefore they should “willingly” give the info to you.
— Rita ?? (@ZRidaRida19) September 17, 2021
They're going after Nicki Minaj for speaking the truth, she's smashing them straight back, doxxing the media ? pic.twitter.com/WEP4xVwqxB
— Adalia Brand (@BrandAdalia) September 17, 2021
One Twitter user, however, could not help but notice the incongruity of the whole affair:
@NICKIMINAJ doxxing a Trinidadian reporter saying the media is causing her family to have to hide out is laughable. You are being sued for harassing, intimidating and bribing your husband's rape victim causing HER to have to hide out. The irony of it all. #istandwithsharlene
— Thickchick (@Babygir95008441) September 18, 2021
Meanwhile, the social media war rages on.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Singapore’s The Online Citizen news website stops operating after government suspends its license · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Online Citizen ceased operating this week. Source: Facebook
Singapore-based news portal The Online Citizen (TOC) has temporarily closed its website and social media accounts after its license was suspended by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) for alleged failure to reveal its foreign funders.
IMDA’s order was denounced by media freedom advocates as another example of Singapore’s restrictive policy governing independent media.
TOC has faced threats from the government in the past but this is the first time that the news portal was forced to cease operating.
IMDA explained why it was important to ensure that political websites do not receive foreign funding:
This is to prevent such sites from being controlled by, or coming under the influence of foreign entities or funding, and ensure that there is no foreign influence in domestic politics.
We need to be cautious as the prevalence of the Internet and social media platforms makes it easier to influence large numbers of people.
IMDA is suspicious of TOC’s subscription model since it can be a method for foreign interests to influence the operations of the company:
One element of TOC’s subscription framework allowed “subscribers” to get specific articles written, in return for “subscription funding” received. This is a cause for concern as it could be an avenue for foreign influence.
On its now-deleted donation page, TOC offers subscribers the opportunity to pay for opinion pieces, investigative reports, and feature stories.
TOC editor Terry Xu clarified that the subscription feature of the website does not affect their editorial work. He insisted that this revenue generation model cannot be considered advertising:
In this case, you have patrons, subscribers, who are more supportive, going for that tier, and they could play a part in terms of the kind of stories that TOC would carry.
Lim Tean, a member of TOC’s legal team criticized IMDA for nitpicking on the subscription model of the news company:
You have tried to interfere with TOC's business model by alleging that their subscription model cannot be justified and therefore all their subscribers must be treated as donors.
Your stance on this issue is highly questionable and suspect. Even after our client provided exhaustive evidence to you of how their subscribers benefit from the subscription model, you continued to insist that there is no evidence to prove the authenticity of the subscription model.
Terry Xu added that IMDA’s actions reflected the government’s hardline approach in dealing with independent media outlets like TOC:
IMDA's actions are nothing more than means of harassment and intimidation of the free press in Singapore. With Singapore's firm grasp on digital financial transactions, it is impossible for the government not to be aware of where the funds are coming from.
The licensing regime is simply meant to strike fear in the minds of the would-be donors and subscribers to prevent them from supporting independent journalism in Singapore.
After the closure of the TOC website and its social media accounts, many Singaporeans expressed concern about the chilling effect of this incident. Journalist Kirsten Han acknowledged the role of TOC in publishing reports not covered by the mainly pro-government mainstream media websites:
TOC has provided space for issues that wouldn't have had space elsewhere. Its presence, its work, *has* shifted the needle. It's pushed the mainstream media to cover (or do a better job covering) issues like migrant workers’ rights, which is now quite commonly reported on.
— Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 (@kixes) September 16, 2021
Daniel Bastard of Reporters Without Borders noted that TOC is being singled out because of its critical reporting:
Let's not be fooled: the pro-government newspapers and news sites that constitute most of the Singaporean media are entirely exempt from the IMDA’s requests, unlike TOC, which is subjected to endless harassment. The site is clearly being made to pay for its editorial independence.
Terry Xu assured TOC’s followers that the website’s closure was just a temporary setback:
Contrary to expectation, there will be no sad statements of how TOC is being forced to close after nearly 15 years of operations as I assure you that this is just a temporary suspension of its operations and a time of reflection for TOC to look at how it can better improve itself in order to serve Singaporeans, its supporters and the greater public.
Through its legal representative, TOC has already asked the court to conduct a judicial review of the suspension order issued by IMDA.

author: Mong Palatino


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Former Surinamese president Dési Bouterse convicted of murder for the second time—but will he go to prison? · Global Voices
Fausia S. Abdul

Memorial to the victims of the 1982 December murders, which took place at Fort Zeelandia in Paramaribo, Suriname, under the military regime of Desi Bouterse. Photo by Dan Sloan on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
In 2019, Dési Bouterse, the former president of Suriname, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after a military court found him guilty of the executions of 15 dissidents in 1982, a dark incident in the country's recent history that became known as the “December murders.” On August 31, despite an appeal by his legal team, the court re-sentenced Bouterse to the same fate for his involvement in the killings.
The 75-year-old Bouterse was not present in court for the verdict because of illness. So far, the judges have not ordered imprisonment, which suggests that Bouterse may not be detained.
If this does turn out to be the case, it will not sit well with many people in the small South American country and members of the diaspora, for whom—despite the recent furore over Surinamese author Astrid Roemer's description of Bouterse as “unforgettably brave”—view him as nothing more than a convicted murder.
Bouterse first rose to power in a 1980 coup d'etat that set the tone for an era of military rule during which he was accused of several human rights violations. On the heels of the 1980 coup came a series of killings that were confirmed by Amnesty International and other human rights organisations, including the December 7, 8 and 9 murders in 1982, in which 15 journalists, scientists and trade union leaders opposed to Bouterse's military regime were tortured and shot.
Despite being found guilty in 2019, Bouterse has consistently denied involvement, though he accepted collective responsibility as he was head of government at the time. Even in the face of a second conviction, however, he still can—and will—appeal. The basis of his defence is that the executions were part of his attempt to prevent an alleged invasion plot by their former colonisers The Netherlands, as well as the United States.
Much remains unknown about the period immediately following Suriname's independence from The Netherlands in 1975. The fact that documents containing state secrets regarding alleged Dutch ties to the Suriname coup will stay sealed in The Hague until 2060, makes it difficult to verify Bouterse's statements. Either way, the former president has been convicted once more. Even his claims of psychological stress, possible contraction of COVID-19, and other health issues did not sway the court's decision.
Lawyer Gerard Spong, who has been the legal face of the trials, predicted:
Het rechtsstatelijkse net sluit zich om Bouterse heen. Suriname is not niet klaar met hem.
The judicial system encloses Bouterse in its web. Suriname is not finished with him yet.
Still, among the Surinamese community, resentment of delayed justice has increased over the years. Via video conference, Global Voices interviewed Ramon F., a Surinamese father of three living in the Netherlands, who remembered what it was like living under Bouterse's rule:
I was a small boy when this happened and our family had just arrived in Paramaribo that school year. I remember the chaos at school. My older cousin came to get me and we ran straight home. Nobody had an explanation why our teachers disappeared and why we saw some of them taken away. I am still a young man, in my late 40s, and I don't think this should be forgotten. I will never forget the chaos on the streets and the fear. Our parents later said the cannon shots we had heard were to celebrate my sister's birthday.
In the meantime, a whole new generation of Surinamese has grown up—many of them abroad—with a far weaker connection to the December murders. Although some of their peers take the issue to the streets, most are more concerned with socio-economic problems. Others, like Dutch Literary Prize winner Astrid Roemer, openly support Bouterse for his decolonial stance.
Despite his controversial past, Bouterse became Suriname's democratically elected president after his National Democratic Party won the elections in 2010. It is a position he legitimately held until he lost the country's 2020 elections to current president Chan Santokhi.
Bouterse remains certain, however, that his “name shall be on the presidential election list again.” Suriname citizens, both at home and throughout the diaspora, may not be as convinced.

author: Fausia S. Abdul


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Saudi’s first batch of women military graduates encourages more debate on gender roles · Global Voices
Rahma Alattar

A screenshot from the video published by the Ministry of Defense inviting women and men to enroll in the army.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia celebrated the graduation of its first-ever cohort of women military recruits, opening the door to a debate on the kingdom’s latest move to narrow the once-gigantic gender gap.
In loose and long military fatigues, with their heads and sometimes faces covered with veils that matched their attire, graduates of the Saudi Armed Forces Women's Cadre Training Centre paraded on September 2 in a military march before senior ranks, bearing arms and exclaiming military slogans.
They had applied to join the military in response to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense February invitation—the first time in its history—and were allowed to sign up through an admission portal alongside men.
#فيديو_الدفاع
تعلن #وزارة_الدفاع ممثلة بالإدارة العامة للقبول والتجنيد للقوات المسلحة عن فتح بوابة القبول والتجنيد (رجال ونساء) للالتحاق بالخدمة العسكرية على رتبة (رقيب) حتى رتبة (جندي). pic.twitter.com/VmTS9Gssjw
— وزارة الدفاع ?? (@modgovksa) April 23, 2021
The Ministry of Defense, represented by the General Administration of Admission and Recruitment of the Armed Forces, announces the opening of the admission and recruitment portal (men and women) to join the military service at the rank of (sergeant) up to the rank of (soldier).
This is seen by many as another milestone in Saudi women's path of emancipation.
Riyadh has revoked several legal and de facto social restrictions that have long crippled women: Saudi women can now drive, do sports in public stadiums, travel without the consent of a male guardian, and, more recently, live on their own without a male guardian's permission. This sharp turnaround in Saudi women's social and legal circumstances is cited as part of Vision 2030, the state’s radical developmental plan spearheaded by the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman.
As with each of these decisions, Saudi society was sharply divided between supporters and opponents.
A clip published on social media showed several women recruits praising the experience they gained.
منسوبات القوات المسلحة يتحدثن عن مشاعرهن بعد الانضمام للسلك العسكري.
-
pic.twitter.com/cmfQdhJ6hF
— أخبار السعودية (@SaudiNews50) September 2, 2021
Recruits of the Armed Forces voice their feelings after joining the military line.
In it, one recruit said:
Saudi women are strong. Saudi women are capable of confrontation. One Saudi woman joining the military service means the joining of future generations; generations of patriotism, love, belonging and loyalty.
Another praised the “great rulers,” thanks to whom, after God, “Saudi women were able to take a landmark step that matches society's culture, and the new era”. A third recruit said:
Such a great feeling, a feeling like no other, it is a mixture of happiness, pride, glory, fear of responsibility as well. From the moment I put on this military uniform, I no longer represent myself only, but represent a whole country, and responsible for all my actions and behavior, and I am sure I will be up to it.
Ibrahim Al-Munif, a Twitter user with roughly 68,000 followers, described those opposing women joining the army as either “ignorant or backward,” noting that Islamic history, and Saudi history, tells stories of women who fought alongside men:
He added:
هناك من يتحجج بأن الجيش لا يتناسب مع طبيعة الانثى!
وهذا الأمر مردود عليه..
هل الجيش يناسب جميع الرجال؟
طبعاً لا!
اذاً (الجيش قد يليق بفئة من النساء)، وعلى أي حال، الأمر غير الزامي على النساء كما هو غير الزامي على الرجال، ومن ترى في نفسها قابلية للانضمام، فهذه شروط التسجيل pic.twitter.com/icBwNFVwpt
— إبراهيم المنيف (@altamimi14) February 22, 2021
Some argue that the military doesn’t suit women’s nature! This can easily be challenged: Does the army suit all men? Of course not!
So (the army may suit some women).
In any case, the order is not obligatory for women as it is not obligatory for men, and whoever sees herself as capable of joining, these are the conditions for registration..
Many took this as an opportunity to hail Prince Mohamed as a defender of women’s rights.
هناك قادة يقرأون التاريخ .. وهناك آخرين يكتبونه!
سيذكرك الوطن برجاله ونسائه .. بشبابه وشيابه .. قائداً حازماً ومجدداً شجاعاً .. نصير المرأة .. ملهم الشباب .. مختصر المسافات .. ومُذلّل العقبات وفقك الله وسدد جهودك.#محمد_بن_سلمان_36_سنه pic.twitter.com/D9wM5mJwNP
— هند العصيمي♡ (@h_angel__) September 1, 2021
There are leaders who read history .. and there are others who write it!
The homeland will forever remembered by its men and women.. its youth and its elders .. a firm leader and a courageous innovator.. a feminist .. an inspiration for the youth.. shortening distances.. conquering obstacles.
Since rising to the centre of the tight ring of power in the kingdom following his father’s ascension to the throne in January 2015, Prince Mohamed has been the key driver behind decisions that empowered Saudi women to reclaim their civil and social rights. However, this positive and widely welcomed role was quickly overshadowed by grave human rights violations and crimes, which were linked to the Crown Prince, including the slaying of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, arbitrary detentions, and torture of dozens of businessmen and royalty over allegations of fraud and embezzlement, and the detention of prominent women’s rights activists, who have long led calls for Saudi women’s emancipation.
On the other hand, many found combat to be unsuitable for women’s physical build.
In response to Al-Munif’s aforementioned tweet, Thawab Al-Shatri, another Saudi Twitter user, wrote:
قد يناسبها بعض الاعمال كأ إداره وطب وتغذيه وتموين ومحاسبه
كلها تناسبها
وموجوده الان في كثير من الوزارات والاجهزه العسكريه كأ المرور وحرس الحدود ومكافحة المخدرات
والاوضاع مستتبه جداً
لكن ميدانياً اعتقد صعب عليها من حيث التكوين الجسماني
— ثواب بن دواس بن عايض الشاطري (@mgdafw13) February 23, 2021
A woman may be suitable for some work, such as administration, medicine, nutrition and accounting. All these fields fit her and are available now in many ministries and military agencies, like traffic, Border Patrol and Drugs Combat departments.
But to serve physically on the ground, I think it is difficult for her in terms of physical composition.
Others refuted the idea of female soldiers altogether. One Saudi Twitter user said:
الجيش غير مناسب لهم.. النساء مصانع الرجال صحيح ولكن الله خلق المرأة بتكاليف وطاقات وكذلك الرجل ومن سنين والمرأة في القطاع العسكري سجون وغيرها والآن زادت.. لكن الجيش غير مناسب بتاتًا البتة لهم ومحسسينا تعداد السعودية مليون ويبون يزيدون في عدد الجيش!
قرارات كهذه احس اعتباطية .
— . ? بدير الدهيميّٰ ? الأزدي (@i_Ezr) February 23, 2021
The army is unsuitable for them.. It’s true that women are the creators of true men but God created women with specific capacities, and the same for men. Women have been in the military sector for years, and they’re increasing. But the army is not suitable for them at all. It is like the population of Saudi Arabia is only one million and they need to increase the number of the army!
Such decisions, I feel, seem unreasonable.
Another person, who posted the disclaimer that “women are society's backbone,” said priority to recruit in the army should be given to unemployed men and called on authorities to instead open up medical and educational fields for the unemployed women.
Others rejected the idea purely on religious grounds, quoting Islamic clerics who follow an austere interpretation of the religion.

author: Rahma Alattar


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What’s threatening Tobago’s mangroves? · Global Voices
Cari-Bois News

Sargassum; photo by bibliomaniac15 on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
This article was written by Sean McCoon and originally published on Cari-Bois News. An edited version is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement with Global Voices.
A light but putrid breeze creeping through the mangrove forest of south-west Tobago's Petit Trou Lagoon set the scene for an early morning investigation by a team of environmentalists from the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Environment Tobago. Something had destabilised the area's ecosystems, causing the trees to die, and they wanted to know what it was.
Since August, the NGO has fielded several reports on the state of the mangrove forest; its investigation quickly revealed that the mangroves were suffering from a condition known as “dieback,” a disease affecting woody plants that is characterised by the progressive demise of twigs, branches, shoots, or roots, starting at the tips.
While the team found several factors threatening the health of the mangrove forest, including the dumping of solid waste from both domestic and commercial sources, as well as malfunctioning residential and commercial sewage containment operations, the overabundance of rotting sargassum, a brown, free-floating, fast-replicating macro-algae named for the Sargasso Sea in which it originates, turned out to be responsible for both the scent and the degradation. Large deposits of sargassum were piling up within confined spaces, rotting, emitting noxious gasses, and destabilising the ecosystem to the point where once abundant mangrove root crabs have now become a rare sighting.
According to Professor Mona Webber, director at the Centre for Marine Sciences at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica, sargassum accumulation in mangroves and seagrass beds becomes toxic when it begins to rot, producing hydrogen sulphide and killing these ecosystems.
In the case of Petit Trou, evidence of exposure to these gaseous emissions is seen in the discolouration of nails holding together the area's beloved boardwalk, which runs as a well-organised access network throughout the mangrove that borders the Tobago Plantations development, an expanse of various clusters of holiday homes and a golf course. The sight and smell of the decaying mangroves now stand in sharp juxtaposition with the surrounding luxury properties.
While the team at Environment Tobago believes that the ecosystems and environmentally sensitive areas in and around the compound should be looked after as equally as the rest of the property, the “harsh realities” of their site visit did not offer such reassurance. The lagoon’s location along the Atlantic coast exposes its mangrove forests to an annual influx of sargassum deposits. This barrage creates several effects, some of which are detrimental to the survival of the mangroves and the biodiversity that exists in the water-based areas of the ecosystem.
Mangroves represent a rich and high diverse natural resource and are home to a wide variety of uniquely adapted biodiversity. These forests provide a critical link between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, offering stability not just for the mangrove habitat itself, but also for other related coastal ecosystems, like seagrass beds and coral reefs, as is the case with the Bon Accord Lagoon, also located along the island's south-west coast.
These ecosystems play a significant role in replenishing various fish populations, for both coastal and lagoon fish species. The nutrients given to the lagoons as detritus from the mangrove ecosystems are carried into coastal waters by the tidal currents.
Taking a “prevention-is-better-than-cure” philosophy, Environment Tobago believes that Tobago's policy framework for addressing such issues is in dire need of review. Just as importantly, they are advocating for better enforcement of existing environmental laws on a national level, noting, “The time has come for stringent penalties on those found in breach of such laws.” The group also says that it's time to address the rampant dumping of solid waste from domestic and commercial sources into mangrove forests which, together with malfunctioning residential and commercial sewage containment operations, is “a major contributing factor to consider in any mission to save Tobago’s mangrove forests”:
Climate action through resilience building, conservation, and a keen sense of urgency to educate the public and all stakeholders not just within Tobago, but nationally and regionally, should be prioritised.
Tobago, being the smaller [island] of the twin island republic [of Trinidad and Tobago], is well positioned to be an example of what can become a climate resilient, protective and proactive society. However, Tobago also stands to lose from the fast-paced degradation and destruction of sensitive ecosystems. It is up to the authorities, civil society and the average citizen to understand their worth and to guard jealously what remains of nature’s gifts to us […]
A serious revisiting of our priorities is needed to properly understand how important sensitive ecosystems are for the longevity of not just biodiversity, but humanity as we know it on earth.
Tobago has, in the past, been very progressive with regard to environmental matters, having put things in place to protect its Main Ridge, the oldest tropical rainforest reserve in the western hemisphere. The area was recently designated as a UNESCO “Man and the Biosphere Reserve.” Thus far, however, we have been unable to get feedback on the mangrove forest report from the Tobago House of Assembly, the island's administrative body, or any other Tobago-based authority.

author: Cari-Bois News


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A sweeping spate of murders rivals COVID-19’s ‘third wave’ in Jamaica · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Police in a Jamaican community taken during the country's state of emergency in 2010. Photo by BBC World Service on Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.
On the nightly television news, there are tears and recriminations from family members as curious neighbours gather to stare at the scene of yet another murder. While Jamaica fights its way through a daunting “third wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic, another insidious, seemingly intractable trend continues: a rising homicide rate.
Throughout a recent series of three-day lockdowns to combat the increasing number of COVID-19 infections—over the period August 22 to September 14—violent crime continued unabated. According to the latest police statistics, murders have increased by 10.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2020 and, at 991 up to September 11, the island is about to reach the 1,000 mark for murders committed this year.
Three police divisions, two in the capital, Kingston, and one in the St. James area of Montego Bay along the country's north coast, have logged the highest numbers this year. According to police, as many as 72 per cent of the murders have been gangland killings.
The regional crime investigative reporting organisation Insight Crime reported that Jamaica had the highest murder rate in the Latin America/Caribbean region in 2020, at 46.5 per 100,000, ahead of Venezuela and Honduras.
Every time there is a spike in the murder rate or a high-profile crime—as was the case when four family members were killed recently—Jamaicans express deep concern about the soaring rate of violent crime. One Jamaican tweeted:
We really need to do something about crime. We're gonna keep acting like this is normal?
— Gee (@PinkGia7) September 14, 2021
Public commentator Kevin O’Brien Chang shared some disturbing numbers during a Twitter discussion:
Why not?
We have been doing it since 1965.
When our murder rate was 30% lower than in US.
Now 20 times as high. pic.twitter.com/iCPXcBa25c
— kevin o'brien chang (@kevinobriencha1) September 13, 2021
The government has taken a range of measures to combat crime in recent years. These include Zones of Special Operation, which parliament extended in five communities this past July for 60 days. At the time, Minister of National Security Horace Chang said that this approach had “positively impacted the lives” of community residents. However, murders and gang activity linger in some of these areas.
A National Consensus on Crime—an agreement among government, the parliamentary opposition, private sector, and civil society, which set out a road map for strengthening crime and anti-corruption legislation—was signed off on in mid-2020. An oversight committee, chaired by the head of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, has however expressed concern that the June 2021 deadlines for several targeted actions have been missed.
Meanwhile, Minister Chang has promised to introduce several pieces of new legislation in the current parliamentary session to combat crime.
This sudden surge in murders—24 in one week, and 18 over a 48-hour period—prompted a press briefing by Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson on September 15. Pointing out that 92 per cent of those killings involved guns, the Commissioner emphasised the need for reform of Jamaica’s gun laws, calling the gun the “tool of death.”
One young Jamaican commented on Twitter:
18 murders in 48hrs…
Not a civil war taking place btw.
— ??凯马尔?? (@Kemar_A_Brown) September 13, 2021
According to an opinion poll published in early September, 27 per cent of respondents felt that crime had surpassed COVID-19 as the top problem facing the country. Participants in another major opinion poll conducted in February/March this year believed that more soldiers should be employed to tackle crime, as the perception is that they are more trustworthy than the police. Jamaicans have a complicated relationship with its police forces, stemming from a lack of trust based on past instances of police brutality and abuse of power.
Meanwhile, poverty, lack of economic opportunities and lack of social cohesion are often cited as the root causes of crime in areas such as West Kingston, where the infamous gang leader Christopher “Dudus” Coke once held sway.
At the press briefing, Commissioner Anderson stressed that the current non-custodial sentences imposed for the illegal possession of a firearm are no deterrent at all, adding:
They [the perpetrators] need to be in jail for a long time […] We have to take a different approach to the guns that are out there killing our people.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) tweeted an excerpt:
Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson highlights the need to have tougher consequences for gun-related offences during the Virtual Press Briefing held today. #AForce4Good pic.twitter.com/6BsJgASP0o
— Jamaica Constabulary Force (@JamaicaConstab) September 15, 2021
In response to a media question about ongoing crimes throughout lockdowns and curfews, the commissioner pointed out:
Lockdown is a COVID prevention measure, it’s not a murder prevention measure.
Speaking on radio with talk show host Cliff Hughes, Commissioner Anderson sounded even more forceful:
If laws are to act as a deterrent to crime, then there must be consequences for breaking them. Victims experience the consequences of criminal actions, yet so often, offenders face no real consequences. #RuleOfLaw#Respect4All#Force4Good pic.twitter.com/SvMyYAPHeG
— Jamaica Constabulary Force (@JamaicaConstab) September 17, 2021
While the police commissioner appeared to be indirectly pointing fingers at both lawmakers and the judicial system, public perception of corruption in Jamaica's police force persists. There have even been suggestions that the police are paid off to turn a blind eye to illegal parties taking place during COVID-19 lockdown periods.
Allegations of police misconduct, such as the recent alleged cutting  of a Rastafarian woman's hair at a police station, are investigated by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), which notes that it received 251 allegations of assault and unprofessional conduct by the police in the first six months of 2021.
Like many other organisations involved in the struggle against both COVID-19 and crime, INDECOM has a huge workload—and in the eyes of the Jamaican public, both issues are vying for the position of “top problem” on the island. For now, the long-term issue of crime is more pressing, since the solutions are complex and still appear somewhat out of reach.

author: Emma Lewis


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Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy union coalition to disband, cites threats to safety · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

HKCTU's press conference on September 19, 2021. Photo taken by Kyle Lam / HKFP. Used with permission.
The following post was written by Candice Chau and published in Hong Kong Free Press on September 20, 2021. It is republished on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement.
Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy union coalition, the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), says it will disband because of threats to members’ safety. The group is the latest civil society organisation to shut down in Hong Kong in the wake of the 2020 national security law (NSL).
Members of the HKCTU had received messages in recent days making them feel they could face threats to their physical safety if they continue operations, chairperson Joe Wong said on Sunday, 19 of September 2021, when announcing the decision.
Wong denied claims by pro-Beijing media outlets that the HKCTU was an agent for foreign entities, a potential offence under the sweeping NSL.
He said the confederation had worked on some projects with the Solidarity Centre, an organisation under the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, on the promotion of labour rights and collective bargaining which did not involve any political activities.
The HKCTU had stopped working with the centre before July last year, when the security law came into effect.
Wong also refuted another claim by Hong Kong’s Beijing-controlled newspaper Wen Wei Po, that the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to which the Hong Kong confederation belongs was a political organisation under the guise of a transnational union.
The chairperson said the ITUC was the world’s largest union confederation. The Beijing-recognised All‑China Federation of Trade Unions had hosted a visiting group from ITUC, and was invited to attend its international meetings as an observer. Wong stressed:
Workers’ movements always stressed international solidarity. The HKCTU cooperating or connecting with unions in other regions is natural and justifiable, the government never said in the past 30 years that this is in violation of any laws… The regime, through state media, has described participation in international unions as colluding with foreign forces. This is a great interference with workers’ rights to participate in unions.
Founded in 1990, the HKCTU until recently represented almost 100 affiliated organisations with around 145,000 members. But around 10 member organisations have dropped out recently.
HKCTU’s executive committee passed a motion on September 16 to begin disbanding, and a vote will be taken at a special members’ meeting on October 3.
All but four executive committee members have resigned, with Wong, vice-chairperson Leo Tang, treasurer Chung Chung-fai, and general secretary Lee Cheuk-yan still in post. Lee is currently serving jail sentences over protest-related charges.
Mung Siu-tat, the HKCTU’s chief executive, told his friends on Facebook on September 18 that he had already resigned and left Hong Kong:
The situation in society has worsened drastically, and the political risks [I] face personally are imminent. Based on safety considerations, [I] had to make an emergency decision to leave Hong Kong. A strong power has forced me to make a painful and resigned decision between my two roles of being the chief executive and a father.
The HKCTU’s labour law consultation hotline and monthly donations have ceased operations and the confederation said it had stopped handling new cases for affiliated members.
The HKCTU became just the latest major opposition group in Hong Kong to disband, after the city’s largest teachers’ union, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, and protest coalition Civil Human Rights Front last month announced their decision to shut down.
Wong thanked Lee and former chairperson Carol Ng, who is in custody awaiting trial in a national security case, for their contributions to the confederation and to the Hong Kong’s workers’ movement and apologized for the disbandment decision:
I would like to apologise here to the affiliated members and Hong Kong people, that the HKCTU cannot hold out.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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COVID-19 pushes Armenian families into poverty · Global Voices
Chaikhana.media

Photo credit Artem Mikryukov. Used with permission, Chaikhana Media.
This article by Narek Kirakosyan was first published on Chaikhana Media. An edited version has been republished here under a content partnership agreement.
Artyom Avetisyan, a father of two from Gyumri, Armenia, lost his job when the pandemic struck. Over the past 19 months, his family of four has skirted homelessness and struggled to pay for the medication and treatment his seven-year-old son, Felix, depends on.
Before COVID-19 struck Armenia, Avetisyan says a steady stream of construction and day labor work kept his family fed and housed.
“I had a lot [of work] before the virus but once the virus spread, I stopped getting calls for work,” he said. “I had a [monthly] income of about 150,000 drams (just over 300 US dollars), which my family lost.”
While Avetisyan earned below Armenian’s median wage of 400 US dollars a month before Covid struck, the sudden loss of employment has affected his children’s lives on every level. Today, Avetisyan and his wife, Anna Davtyan, worry they will lose their apartment because they can no longer afford the 35,000-dram (75 US dollars) monthly rent.
The family has also struggled to pay for Felix’s medical therapy and treatments. Felix, a third-grader, has cerebral palsy. Before the pandemic, the family was able to pay for his treatments (a total of 152,000 drams a month, about 307 US dollars), in part due to the generosity of local charities and philanthropists.
But raising the necessary funds has been impossible since the pandemic started. Today the family is limited to the monthly disability assistance Felix receives from the state (roughly 50 US dollars).
While the lack of income is a constant concern, the family is also struggling to make sure Felix and his older sister, nine-year-old Donara, don’t fall behind in school after missing months of online classes since the family didn’t have a computer or smartphone.
The Avetisyan family is far from alone in the struggle to survive following the economic collapse caused by the pandemic. An estimated 720,000 Armenians slipped into poverty due to the pandemic ($5.50 2011 PPP poverty line).  The Armenian economy contracted by eight percent in 2020 due to COVID-19 and the lockdown measures that were imposed to slow the spread of the virus, according to the World Bank.
“The short-term impacts of COVID-19 on household labor and nonlabor incomes could substantially increase poverty rates in Armenia,” the World Bank noted in a report published in February 2021.
The report found the poverty rate could increase from 33.6 percent to 46.6 percent due to the pandemic, with the number of people living in extreme poverty increasing from one percent to seven percent.  “The economic shocks from COVID-19 could impoverish 370,000 Armenians. Over 720,000 (one in four) Armenians could suffer downward mobility, shifting to a lower-welfare group in 2020,” the report stated.
The Armenian government provided several one-time payments to help people survive the pandemic lockdown in 2020.
The assistance was allocated to specific groups that met certain criteria: each family received a single payment of 26,500 drams (53 US dollars) per child; the officially employed received 68,000 drams (136 US dollars) as compensation during one month of the lockdown; and business owners in hard-hit sectors, like retail and tourism, were given 10 percent of their 2019 fourth-quarter returns and their employees received the equivalent of half of one month’s pay.
As Avetisyan worked as a day laborer, he did not qualify for unemployment assistance. His family did receive the one-time payment allocated for children.
But months after that assistance ended, Avetisyan is still unemployed and has limited options until the economy recovers and he can find a job.
His situation is not uncommon for the Shirak region, where Gyumri is located. Even before the pandemic, the region had one of the highest poverty rates in Armenia — 48.4 percent lived below the poverty line according to the World Bank.
The situation is particularly dire for children in the region, where an estimated one out of every two children lives in poverty.
The pandemic has made things worse, as travel restrictions made it impossible for people to travel to Russia for work.
In Maralik, the Kirakosyan family lost their only source of income during the pandemic when the roads to Russia closed. For 7-year-old Davit, the lack of resources meant he couldn’t join online classes and he fell behind. Now a second-grader, he still doesn’t know all the letters of the alphabet and cannot read or write.
Vardan Ikilikyan, the head of Azatan, one of the largest communities in the Shirak region, says that although technically it is possible to get to Russia now, the burden of PCR tests and high travel costs effectively means people are stuck at home.
“About 30 percent of the population of Azatan go abroad for work, mainly to Yakutsk, Moscow, Sakhalin, Vladivostok, where most work in construction. Due to the coronavirus, the workers here were unable to leave,” he said, estimating that around 300 families were affected in Azatan alone.


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Dissenting artist Ai Weiwei on Hong Kong: art would not be art if it cannot be done in the face of tyranny · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Ai Weiwei. Photo: Ai Weiwei Studio.
The following post was written by Rhoda Kwan and published in the Hong Kong Free Press on September 20, 2021. It is republished on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement.
Leading Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei believes that Hong Kong artists can still find ways to express themselves despite the challenges posed by growing political censorship.
After years of delay, Hong Kong is set to open its M+ museum, on November 12. The project — touted as Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture — is part of the government’s campaign to become a global arts and culture hub.
But fears of increasing censorship under the 2020 national security law have cast a shadow over the launch. Already, pro-Beijing voices have called for controls on any artwork that may endanger national security and artists have left the city, citing the need for greater freedom.
The museum’s online collection currently features 28 of Ai’s works, donated by Swiss collector Uli Sigg. One photograph from his ‘Study of Perspective’ series, which shows the artist’s middle finger pointed at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, is currently under ‘government review’.
Ai Weiwei – Study of Perspective, Tiananmen, 1995-2010. Photo courtesy of Ai Weiwei.
The artist is not surprised by the Museum's arrangement. He told HKFP in an email interview:
Censorship of artworks is nothing new… It is more common under an authoritarian regime…[but] it is important to remember that political censorship does not happen under authoritarian regimes exclusively. It is not only in China and Hong Kong that my works encounter restrictions, but also in mainstream film festivals or exhibitions in the West.
Jitters among Hong Kong’s artistic community about the security law, which critics say has stifled political dissent, have prompted at least one high-profile artist to leave the city. Almost one-third of the directly-elected committee members of the government-funded Arts Development Council have resigned.
Ai said he still believes Hong Kong artists can rise to the challenge and find a way to create amid the uncertainty and obstacles:
Freedom of expression needs to appear amid struggles. I believe that Hong Kong’s condition today gives Hong Kong artists and their artistic expression a new challenge. Artists who can face this kind of challenge would be real artists. When contemporary Hong Kong artists amid the struggles today find their own language, this would [be] the emergence of their artistic expression.
He elaborated on the relationship between ‘expression’ and ‘struggle':
Freedom of expression is the first and foremost condition for art being art, but freedom of expression itself is about looking for an outlet in the midst of struggles. Art would not be art if it cannot be done in the face of tyranny… Those that cannot be done will die out. We can clearly see that the artworks which fight for freedom are precious efforts of the human spirit.
When the mass anti-extradition bill demonstrations broke out in mid-2019, Ai had hailed the protests as ‘beautiful’ and the many young protesters as ‘clever and brave’. He later documented the city-wide pro-democracy protests in his film Cockroach, in reference to the derogatory nickname police used for the black-clad protesters.
In response to the protests, in June 2020 Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law which authorities insist was necessary to restore stability. The law has since been used to arrest and charge scores of pro-democracy politicians and activists, many dozens of whom have been denied bail pending trial.
Ai saw Beijing's reaction as the ‘irrational’ nature of authoritarianism:
If Hong Kong’s 2019 protests attest to people’s awakening, the aftermath manifests authoritarianism’s extreme irrationality, and rejection of any negotiation or discussion
He nonetheless still believes that those who demanded democracy in the face of what he calls tyranny have already won:
They have pushed this historical progression and political demands to a very high position. Hong Kong citizens and their movement have won, but authoritarianism is unscrupulous, whose response has proven that Hong Kong made them feel afraid.
When asked how Hongkongers can keep fighting for democracy in a climate of fear, Ai described the cause as an ‘eternal struggle':
It is exactly because of the existence of the Chinese government, or any authoritarian regime that individual or collective fight becomes a meaningful act. These are inseparable. While fighting for democracy and freedom, there is no one who wins outright. It is an eternal struggle, democracy against authoritarianism, and individuals against power.
More than 10,250 people have been arrested since the protests broke out in June 2019. The artist and activist had a message of hope for those behind bars:
I want to say to those who are falsely and unjustly charged that they are standing on the right side of history. The authoritarian regime will not be able to erase their glory. Every bit of their efforts has defended the principles of justice and fairness, not only for themselves, but also for the weak and the forgotten, whom they do not know in person. I am very proud of them.
The ‘eternal struggle’ between democracy and authoritarianism continues to inform the artist’s life and work in exile. Ai, who fled China to Germany in 2015, four years after being secretly detained for 81 days without charge and having his passport confiscated by Chinese authorities, is still subject to Beijing’s influence.
Last week, he revealed the Swiss bank Credit Suisse had decided to close his foundation’s accounts because of his ‘criminal record’ in China. Earlier this year, the bank’s chief financial officer said it would increase its onshore presence in mainland China.
Commenting on the sudden closing of his accounts, Ai recounted his time in Chinese detention when they created a number of false accusations including tax evasions and ‘inciting subversion of state power’. He said ‘they also told me clearly that they were going to ruin my reputation’.
While Ai was not surprised by the Chinese Communist Party's false accusations, he was astonished by the bank's decision:
What surprised me was that a supposedly neutral bank in Switzerland closed my account which I have had for a very long time, under the pretext of this false accusation. […] they did not give us an opportunity to explain although we argued that I was never legally arrested or prosecuted in China. Even my arrest was illegal. It was a secret detention.
During his detention in China, Ai began working on a memoir of his life and his father, the revered poet Ai Qing, during the Cultural Revolution. The book, 1,000 Years of Joy and Sorrows, is set to be published in November 2021.
For Ai, the party’s oppression caused him to become the artist he is today:
The policemen who interrogated me in China also asked me right before the end of my 81-days of detention… ‘Ai Weiwei, without us, would you become so famous today?’ My answer to them was that a fighter is considered a fighter only when they face a disaster or a monster. As a matter of fact, it’s this country’s politics that created me. Without them, it is very likely that I would be a good for nothing.


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France blasts Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine deal with US and UK as ‘duplicity’ · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Australia to acquire nuclear submarine fleet as part of partnership with US and UK — Screenshot ABC News video
When the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS) announced a new ‘enhanced trilateral security partnership’, they probably expected the most strident reaction to come from the Chinese government, whose rising maritime and military might partly spurred the new agreement.
However, China’s criticism has been somewhat muted compared to the loud condemnation and diplomatic reaction from France.
While tensions have been building between Australia and China, its largest trading partner, for some time, they peaked in 2020 when Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
Though the recent partnership announcement did not mention the People's Republic of China directly, AUKUS is clearly hoping to contain Chinese ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. The joint statement by the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) on September 17, referenced the PRC's ‘expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea’. The Chinese government criticised their ‘obsolete Cold War mentality':
“Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the alliance risked “severely damaging regional peace… and intensifying the arms race”.” | Aukus: China denounces ?????? pact as irresponsible #ausdef https://t.co/0Dy6CY2Xws
— Natalie Sambhi (@SecurityScholar) September 16, 2021
The Global Times, a Chinese state media newspaper, was blunt in its editorial:
Australian troops are also most likely to be the first batch of Western soldiers to waste their lives in the South China Sea.
The agreement would allow Australia to purchase armaments from the US and UK. The big-ticket sale involves eight nuclear-powered submarines, which will replace an existing 90 billion Australian dollar (65 billion US dollar) program with France for 12 diesel/electric boats. The subs are to be partly built in South Australia with the help of US and UK technology and expertise.
The costs have not yet been determined but are likely to exceed the French contract price. It could be more than two decades before the subs are delivered to the Australian navy.
The French government claimed it was ‘blind-sided’ by the deal, which was a ‘stab in the back’. France has recalled its ambassadors from both Canberra and Washington — a highly unusual action for a close ally. The UK similarly received a strong rebuke from the French:
A nice little put-down of the administration of @BorisJohnson by the French ‘Just a junior partner of the US and Australia'! #r4today
— Andy Birss (@1957AJB) September 18, 2021
French officials openly scorned the deal, referring to Australia’s ‘duplicity, contempt and lies’ and to the UK as ‘a spare tyre’ in the deal.
Australia’s Defence Minister, Peter Dutton dismissed French criticisms, noting there had been ongoing issues over the contract, with his Defence head flagging possible alternatives earlier in the year and PM Morrison warning the French company to meet deadlines.
At the same time, Minister Peter Dutton announced closer military ties with US troops and airforce personnel, hinting at an increased American military presence on Australian soil.
Morrison stated that the fleet would not be nuclear-armed and that Australia would not set out to establish a civil nuclear capability.
Although the deal was endorsed by the Labor Party opposition, they slammed the government for mishandling the deal and wasting money. After the announcement, Former Labor prime minister, Paul Keating, expressed concern about potentially losing national sovereignty:
This AUKUS arrangement would witness a further dramatic loss of Australian sovereignty, as materiel dependency on the US would rob Australia of any freedom or choice in any engagement it may deem appropriate, writes Paul Keating | OPINION #AUKUS https://t.co/ex8CuyqE1m
— The Age (@theage) September 16, 2021
There was also criticism of the apparent flip-flop by the government regarding its preferred sub-type:
The political class are engaged in rewriting the truth of the French deal to make it appear that we ditched French diesel subs in favour of US nuclear powered.
The French subs are nuclear. We were paying to have them converted to conventional diesel.
— Dr Sheep Devil Person (@noplaceforsheep) September 18, 2021
The furore was met with a good dose of humour down under, which included the popular satirical website The Shovel:
The Australian government has spent about $4 billion so far to get zero submarines. If they’d asked us we would’ve done it for half that.
— The Shovel (@TheShovel) September 19, 2021
The diplomatic conflict has been a cartoonist’s delight all week:
Here's how our cartoonists saw yesterday's huge announcement. All your submarine questions answered: https://t.co/YPhErIRC41
Cartoons: Warren Brown, Brett Lethbridge, @Broelman #TheAdvertiser pic.twitter.com/Z3ddpR9FSC
— The Advertiser (@theTiser) September 17, 2021
This week’s cartoon, by @jonkudelka: https://t.co/MNQGHrOVy6 #AusPol
— The Saturday Paper (@SatPaper) September 17, 2021
To add insult to injury, US President Biden appeared to forget PM Morrison’s name during the joint press conference, calling him ‘that fella down under’.
This just made my day. Thank you Joe.
#ThatFellaDownUnder pic.twitter.com/KtRwzLvydv
— ?Ray™ (@Ballyerra) September 15, 2021
Australia’s Greens leader, Adam Bandt included this blunder in a wider attack on AUKUS:
The greatest threats to Australia are the climate crisis, the housing crisis, the mental health crisis & COVID.
We urgently need to spend $$ on what actually matters.
Not subs to fuel the warmongering fever dreams of a PM whose name Joe Biden doesn't even remember.
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) September 16, 2021
Bandt had earlier called the boats ‘floating Chernobyls’ in reference to the nuclear reactors onboard.
Some Aussies underlined the deterioration in Australia/France relations:
Message from a French friend in Paris: “I wanted to underline the level of anger that exists here in France at the moment. Your government is an embarrassment, you already know that – but the damage regarding the Australian image here is huge.”
— Nick Feik (@NickFeik) September 19, 2021
Meanwhile, French officials intensified their criticism of the AUKUS nations and proposed halting negotiations over a European Union free trade agreement with Australia:
France is throwing down the gauntlet to the other EU countries, who have to decide whether to help a humiliated Paris weaken China’s main rival in the Indo-Pacific, a region the EU has newly devoted itself to. https://t.co/gZe534yDPk
— Stuart Lau (@StuartKLau) September 19, 2021
Writing at The Conversation, academics Romain Fathi and Claire Rioult addressed the long-term implications of the new partnership:
Left in the dark about Australia’s sudden change of mind, France and the European Union more broadly now face a dramatic re-think of their diplomatic and military doctrine in the Indo-Pacific region on very short notice.
…France proposed a genuine strategic alliance with Australia, one based on mutual respect and common values that would have bolstered Australia’s sovereignty in the long term and diversified Australia’s partnerships to reduce its dependence on those “great and powerful friends”.
However, the French-Australian partnership is unlikely to be salvaged anytime soon given the public humiliation France has felt.
Australia will have a national election in 2022 and Michael West was one of many who saw the partnership in cynical political terms. He said online that the deal was intended to ‘win an election at the expense of good diplomacy’.
Former diplomat Cavan Hogue seemed to sum up the thoughts of many Australians online:
…this deal will cost us a lot of money, a substantial loss of sovereignty, a lowering of our reputation in the world and the potential to get dragged into a war we should avoid.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Germinda Casupá, a Chiquitania native fighting fire and machismo · Global Voices
Muy Waso

Germinda Casupá during an interview for Muy Waso. Photo: Esther Mamani
This is an excerpt from the original text written by Esther Mamani and published in the digital magazine Muy Waso.
The Bolivian Chiquitania is the largest and most biodiverse tropical dry forest in the world. For almost a decade, forest fires have left millions of animals dead, millions of hectares burned and thousands of families affected every year. Forest fires have increasingly become an issue in Bolivia in 2021.
In the face of the environmental and humanitarian catastrophe, Indigenous women like Germinda Casupá take on the defense of their territory.
Germinda, 45, wears jeans, a cotton T-shirt, and sneakers and keeps her dark hair in a bun. To protect herself from the sun, she always wears a hat, also made of fabric. The long walks she must take in the communities are not hard for her; as a young girl, she played football, basketball, and volleyball.
The two-hour journey from San Ignacio to Santa Anita, two different communities where Germinda works, is along a gravel road. During the trip, despite being stifled by the dust and heat in the taxi cab, Germinda smiles and is cheerful.
Upon arriving in the community, Germinda greets local leaders and reviews their work plans, as the slash-and-burn season is coming up.
Dirt and gravel road between San Ignacio de Velasco and Santa Anita. Photo: Esther Mamani
Chiquitania is the largest tropical dry forest in the world and, until 2019, was also the best preserved. Most of this territory is in the central department of Santa Cruz.
During the burning of land (chaqueo) season which starts between July and August, the spread of the fire is a nightmare that repeats every year. This practice is traditionally done for the preparation of agricultural soils, but for more than a decade it has become ecocidal.
Those who practice chaqueos explain that the fires clean cultivation areas belonging to small, medium, and large producers of soybeans, corn, and beans.
According to a report by the Tierra Foundation, 26.3 percent of the area burned in Santa Cruz during 2019 corresponded to the land of large and medium-sized agricultural companies. Only 4.9 percent corresponded to communal properties and barely 2.7 percent to small properties.
Uncontrolled fires caused by the agro-industry, which extend to even public lands and protected areas, affect the safety of smaller communities.
Yet, in 2019, many smaller communities paid fines for the fires in their territories. The sanctions reached up to 80,000 Bolivianos, or 11,500 US dollars.
Arlena Algarañaz, Germinda Casupá's best friend, remembers with anger the long hours spent in the offices of the Forest and Land Inspection and Control Authority. They were trying to explain to officials that the fires were not caused by local communities.
Arlena recalls that “Germinda was one of the most active participants in the women's empowerment workshops we did with the Ombudsman and the Platform for Comprehensive Family Care.”
Despite her determination and effort, Germinda still had a hurdle to overcome: her ex-husband, whom she married when she was 16 years old.
He did not agree that Germinda should study and work at the same time. Whenever she went out, he harassed her and was violent with her under the pretext of “jealousy.” For many years he beat and insulted her.
More than five years ago, the cycle of violence reached new heights. He told her to “save money to buy a box” (referring to a coffin). Germinda understood the gravity of the threat.
So, 2015 became a year of change for Germinda. Not only did she break it off with her husband, but she began her career in Indigenous leadership.
Removed from that relationship, it became easier for Germinda to continue her training by attending workshops and holding positions where she demonstrated her temperament: strong but conciliatory, committed, and responsible.
Classrooms of a school in the community of Santa Anita. Photo: Esther Mamani
In 2018, she founded the League of Women Community Defenders. This organization is a community alert system for situations of violence against women in the region.
“Germinda is always attentive to help her peers. If we know of a case of violence, we report it,” explains Elena Guasese, a resident of Sañonama.
Germinda has many critics, most of them being male leaders. Upon entering one of the communities that Germinda regularly visits, one of the community leaders says they do not recognize her as an authority.
In addition, they describe her as someone supported by large NGOs. This is a pejorative way of saying that she only works with foundations or non-profit organizations.
“Why does a woman have to be going everywhere? Who appointed her?” asks a leader.
In 2019, Germinda was invited to speak at the hearing of the International Rights of Nature Tribunal in Chile to denounce the Bolivian state for ecocide. The local chiefs did not support Germinda's speech. However, she had been elected through the support of her female colleagues. After testimony from Germinda and others, the court determined that the Bolivian State was responsible for ecocide.
The 2019 International Rights of Nature Tribunal ruling was a victory for Germinda, but it meant the beginning of more tasks and responsibilities.
In 2020 and in 2021, the agricultural frontier continued to expand and fires returned to Chiquitania. These new fires demand more work from Germinda to put out the flames and protect the life of forests and their inhabitants.
Germinda is currently touring the communities to review the actions being taken to mitigate the effects of the burns.
The monitoring carried out by Germinda, among other things, involves updating the number of families in the community, checking if they have access to drinking water or if there are vehicles that have enough fuel for possible evacuations.
“We have to move from concern to action,” says Germinda before boarding a taxi to visit three communities around San Ignacio de Velasco: Sañonama, Santa Anita, and Espíritu.
Residents of Santa Anita. Photo: Esther Mamani
On her way to the community of Espíritu, Germinda talks with some firefighters working in the area. The fires restarted in Candelaria, San Matías, and Roboré, and the smell of burning causes terror again.
In addition to the fires, Germinda has another concern that forces her to speed up the tour: her youngest son is ill, he probably has a stomach infection. She has three children.
Although one of her relatives will help her taking care of her son, Germinda is restless: the tasks begin to accumulate.
“Sometimes I think about retiring from all this. Every year it is more difficult to battle with the fire,” she laments.
Germinda had arranged several meetings with the women of the community in Espíritu. She planned to talk about access to safe drinking water, education, and health.
But the dangerous spread of the fire takes over the conversations.
That day, after her last meeting, Germinda touches her forehead, fixes her hat, and ends her tour.
“It was very nice to present to the International Rights of Nature Tribunal,” Germinda recalls with a smile, “but here in the woods there is still no ruling to put out the fire.”

author: Muy Waso