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Why July 25 Is a Tragic Date in Puerto Rican History · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

Headstones commemorating two young independence activists, Carlos Soto Arriví and Arnaldo Darío Rosado, killed by the police on July 25, 1978, in Cerro Maravilla in the town of Villalba. Image taken from Wikimedia Commons, uploaded by Ratzer1 under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0).
July 25 is a day full of meaning for Puerto Ricans. Officially, the government celebrates Constitution Day to commemorate when that document was adopted in 1952. But there are two other historical events remembered on this day. One is the United States invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898. The other is the murder of two young pro-independence activists at the hands of the police, designed and concealed by the highest levels of the government in 1978.
July 25, 1898: The invasion
Although the United States invaded Puerto Rico in 1898 during the Spanish-American War, its interest in acquiring a stronghold in the Caribbean dates back much earlier, to at least the early 19th century. The intent behind the decision to take Puerto Rico was to establish naval bases that would maintain access to the proposed interoceanic canal, which would eventually be built by the United States in Panama.
July 25, 1952: The Constitution of the Commonwealth
This is the official anniversary celebrated by the government of Puerto Rico, and one that holds great importance for the People's Democratic Party (PPD) for being closely linked to its origins, to the point of being one of its founding pillars. The PPD was the party in power during the drafting of the Constitution and the establishment of the Commonwealth.
The date chosen to proclaim “the end of colonialism” in Puerto Rico was not chosen randomly, but was rather a conscious attempt to change the meaning of the date that marked the beginning of the U.S. colonial period in the country. With much fanfare, it was announced that Puerto Rico had achieved a form of non-colonial government, and this was presented to the international community as a “pact” or “agreement” between Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Nonetheless, Puerto Rico's sovereignty still remained in the hands of the U.S. Congress and the Puerto Rican Constitution only entered into force after being approved by the U.S. Congress. Among the conditions imposed by the U.S. Congress were the elimination of Article II, Section 20, which established the right to work and to obtain higher education, among other rights; the requirement that any amendment to the Constitution be subject to approval by the U.S. Congress, and that no future amendment could alter the relationship with the U.S., as defined in the Federal Relations Act.
The ratification of the Constitution occurred in an atmosphere of state repression. Act 53 of 1948, better known as the Gag Law, was enforced during this period. The law penalized any public expression in favor of overthrowing the government of Puerto Rico with a sentence equivalent to that of committing murder.
The Gag Law suppressed two fundamental rights of any democracy: freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. As Dr. Ivonne Acosta Lespier, a blogger and scholar of the Gag Law, explained in a podcast for La Voz del Centro:
Más terrible era haber escrito, vendido algún libro donde se fomentara la revolución, que hacer la misma revolución.
Having written something or selling a book where the revolution was encouraged was more terrible than actually sparking the revolution itself.
As such, the pro-independence sector was criminalized with the intent to prevent it from massively participating in elections. This marked the beginning of the weakening of the independence movement as an electoral force, and it has not been able to recover to this day. For these reasons, many Twitter users, like Vivien Mattei, a communications professor at the Universidad Interamericana in Ponce, posted these comments on July 25:
Hoy es un dia para recordar, no celebrar #PuertoRico. Invadido, vendido, asesinado. — VMattei (@Vmattei) July 25, 2014
Today is a day to remember, not to celebrate #PuertoRico. Invaded, sold, murdered.
July 25, 1978: The case of Cerro Maravilla
The reference to murder in Professor Mattei's tweet alludes to the assassination of two young pro-independence activists, Arnaldo Darío Rosado and Carlos Soto Arriví, at the hands of the police in Cerro Maravilla in the town of Villalba, south of the central highlands of Puerto Rico. The police claimed they fired shots in self-defense, and the official version of the events labeled the young men as terrorists.
The Puerto Rican Senate's investigation, however, found that the young men had been executed. This investigation also found that there was suggestive evidence of a cover-up by the Puerto Rican police, the Department of Justice, and the executive branch. The FBI and the federal government's Department of Justice, who also investigated the case, were guilty of negligence, according to the report.
Then-Governor Carlos Romero Barceló, a member of the New Progressive Party (PNP in Spanish), called the police responsible for the murders “heroes”, something that Romero Barceló now denies. Nonetheless, he agreed earlier that he had in fact said it, when questioned by the press.
To remember one of the darkest chapters of Puerto Rico's history, the digital magazine Latino Rebels gathered a few videos that provide a good summary of the events in an article published on July 25.
The Senate hearings were broadcast on television nationally. This made the Cerro Maravilla case one of the biggest media events in Puerto Rico with a profound impact on the future of television, journalism, and the public sphere. The radio program “Te cuento,” aired on Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, dedicated a program on the importance of the televised hearings of the Cerro Maravilla case:
So, is there something to celebrate on July 25? Perhaps the answer to this question comes from the lawyer, blogger, and LGBT activist Amárilis Pagán:
Por más que lo maquillen, el 25 de julio sigue siendo un día en el que hay que denunciar la infamia. #CerroMaravilla http://t.co/FS7f77CQRJ
— Amárilis Pagán (@AmarilisPagan) July 25, 2014
The more they continue to dress it up, July 25 continues to be a day during which we must denounce infamy.

author: Ángel Carrión


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Weighing the War Against Boko Haram After an Attack Leaves 31 Cameroonian Elites Dead or Kidnapped · Global Voices
Dibussi Tande

Cameroonian Special Forces during training. Can they defeat Boko Haram? Image released in the Public Domain by U.S. Africa Command.
Cameroonian President Paul Biya promises “total war” against Boko Haram, the Islamist sect that has terrorized Nigeria and now threatens Cameroon. Biya made the announcement before West African leaders at a security summit in Paris last May. After the conference, Cameroon deployed about 1,000 soldiers to the country's north, including elements of the Battalion d'Intervention Rapide (B.I.R.), the country’s rapid intervention force.
Initially, Cameroon seemed to be winning winning the war against Boko Haram, killing or capturing its militants and destroying the group's bases. In recent weeks, however, the tide has turned. The number of Boko Haram's cross-border raids into Cameroon is rising again, bringing up the death toll with it. In July alone, the group launched major attacks on northern towns such as Fokotol, Amchide, Niakari, Zina, Bonderi, Bargaram, and Limani.
Growing alarm at Boko Haram’s cross-border attacks reached its apex on Sunday, July 27, 2014, when it launched its most brazen attack yet on Cameroonian soil. Over 100 heavily armed assailants attacked the border town of Kolofata, targeting the home of Cameroon’s powerful Vice Prime Minister, Ahmadou Ali, killing family members and kidnapping his wife. The Sultan of Kolofata was also kidnapped, along with his wife and children. Ali himself was not among the dead or kidnapped because he was delayed on his way to Kolofata, where he planned to celebrate the end of Ramadan with his family. According to a French-language article in the bilingual government daily Cameroon Tribune, the assailants killed 14 people, took 17 hostages, and seized numerous vehicles during the attack.
Boko Haram's ability to strike at the heart of Cameroon’s ruling establishment — a feat the group hasn't yet achieved in Nigeria — has shocked Cameroonians, casting a shadow over the government's recent claims that it is winning the war. The incident also raises questions about the effectiveness of Cameroon’s security and intelligence apparatus.
In an interview with the Voice of America, Information Minister Issa Tchiroma responded to these concerns by saying:
The problem is we are fighting and asymmetric battle. Nobody knows who is Boko Haram, they have very much infiltrated here and there [and] it is impossible to know when they will attack. The government is going to take any measures to review our strategy and to find the right and best answer to tackle and curb this situation.
Despite the government's attempts to reassure the public, reactions on social media, where the attack was literally broadcast in real time, have been mostly despair and indignation at what is perceived to be the state's growing inability to match its triumphalist rhetoric with concrete actions.
Florian Ngimbis, one of Cameroon’s leading French-speaking bloggers, lamented on Twitter:
Où sont les grandes déclarations de paris? Même ce fameux droit de poursuite est resté une déclaration de bonnes intentions! #shame #BH
— Florian Ngimbis (@ngimbis) July 27, 2014
Where are the grandiose Paris declarations? Even the famous right of pursuit [beyond a country’s borders] has remained a mere declaration of intent.
Ngimbis later added:
On se fiche de Ahmadou Ali! Ya des civils tués et enlevés tous les jours par ces bandits de Boko Haram! c'est ça le vrai problème!
— Florian Ngimbis (@ngimbis) July 27, 2014
We don’t care about Ahmadou Ali! Ordinary citizens are kidnapped everyday by these Boko Haram bandits. That is the real problem.
Others wondered about Ali's apparent lack of preparation before entering a war zone. Ahmadou Ali, known as President Biya’s “Mr. Security,” is a former Secretary of State, and he now heads the national Gendarmerie. Ali is also a former Minister of State in charge of Defense. How could he have traveled to an insecure area without adequate protection? As one indignant commentator wrote on the French website Cameroon-info.net:
D’où vient-il que connaissant la situation qui prévaut une personnalité de la trempe de Amadou Ali décide d’aller passer les fêtes du Ramadan dans une région dont la situation sécuritaire est au ROUGE comme Kolofata. Ou il est totalement inconscient ou c’est une histoire prémédité et monté de toute pièce dont lui seul connait les retombées. Avec ses hommes politiques tout est possible.
How come a senior government official of Ahmadou Ali’s caliber decides to celebrate the feast of Ramadan in Kolofata, knowing full well the dreadful security situation in the region? Either he is totally reckless or he planned the whole thing from the start for reasons that he alone knows. Anything is possible with politicians.
Questions
Theories about an “inside job” have gained some currency, stemming from how well informed the attackers seemed to be about the Vice Prime Minister’s movements. As Jean-Francis AHANDA pointed out on Twitter:
@ETAMBA pas improvisé du tout et surtout bien renseigné de l'intérieur pour savoir quand Ali serait la car c'était lui la cible
— Jean-Francis AHANDA (@jeanfrancis) July 27, 2014
This was not a spontaneous attack at all; and the assailants were particularly well informed from within to know when Ali, who was the target, would be visiting Kolofata.
There are also questions about the attackers’ true identity. Indeed, some question if Boko Haram was involved at all. For example, French-speaking Twitter user Jean Luc asked:
Vous croyez vraiment que c'est #BH qui a enlevé la femme du Vice PM? Ce qui se passe au Nord du Cameroun finira par se savoir!
— Jean Luc (@lushkah911) July 27, 2014
Do you really believe that the Vice Prime Minister’s wife was kidnapped by Boko Haram? We will eventually find out what is going on in Northern Cameroon.
@IGC_Cameroon shares this skepticism:
So BokoHaram would kidnap peopl @ Amadou Ali's estate by surprise & unchallenged. For any1 who knows Kolofata that's not plausible #Cameroon
— Citizens Initiatives (@IGC_Cameroon) July 27, 2014
Adding weight to doubts about the Nigerian group's involvement, Rebecca Enonchong points out that the Kolofata raid does not bear the hallmarks of a typical Boko Haram attack:
#BokoHaram have not claimed Kolofata #Cameroon attack. There were no bombs and attack and kidnappings were targeted. #wanda
— Rebecca Enonchong (@africatechie) July 28, 2014
The French language news website, Cameroon Voice, goes even further, claiming that the attack may have been a ransom deal gone bad. According to the site, the attack may be the work of those who kidnapped the Moulin-Fournier family, in retaliation for an unpaid ransom.
The reputable newspaper, L'Oeil du Sahel, tells a different story, however. According to that publication, Boko Haram targeted Ali because of his successful campaign to stave off the sect’s recruitment efforts within his Kanuri ethnic group. The paper says the group was also responding to dozens of recent arrests of Boko Haram militants, captured thanks to Ali’s network of informants.
Intelligence Failure
Whatever the reasons for the attack and/or the identity of the attackers, there is widespread belief that the scale and success of the Kolofata attack was massive intelligence failure. As former Edouard Tamba, a former report for Le Messager newspaper pointed out on Twitter:
.@jeanfrancis tara, c'est aussi la preuve que le renseignement ne marche pas. Il telle attaque ne peut être improvisée vue les cibles.
— Edouard TAMBA (@ETAMBA) July 27, 2014
This attack is proof that intelligence gathering is not working. Such an attack could not have been spontaneous given the caliber of the targets.
The Government seems to share this view; barely two days after the Kolofata attack, President Biya fired two high-ranking military officials responsible for security in the region. The government has also increased threefold the number of troops on the Nigerian border.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Dibussi Tande


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Gaza Blogger Tweets Harrowing Tale of Dodging Israeli Warplanes as She Crosses the Rafah Border into Egypt · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Nalan Al-Sarraj Twitter profile picture.
Taking advantage of the brief ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a group of around 70 Palestinian civilians escaped their homes and attempted to make it to Egypt through the Rafah border only to find it closed and deserted. The group was trapped between Egypt and Gaza up until a few moments ago when Egypt opened the border.
“We started praying and crying expecting to die any moment”
It just so happened that my friend blogger 23-year-old Nalan Al Sarraj, who has been tweeting about her experience living in Gaza ever since Israel launched another operation three weeks ago, was among those trying to escape. The daughter of a Libyan citizen, her mother, she hoped to make it to Egypt along with dozens of other foreigners.
Speaking to Mondoweiss’ Dan Cohen and The Real News Network’ Lia Tarachansky, she described the situation as such:
The situation over here is very scary. We’re more than 70 people, mostly women and children, and mostly they have foreign passports, half of which are Egyptian. I can see smoke and fire, and we can see the explosions very close to where we are. Israel has declared Rafah a closed area so we can’t even get out of this place.
Israel forces started heavy shelling in Rafah, targeting a hospital as well, 90-minutes after the 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire commenced in Gaza. Seventy Palestinians were killed and hundreds more injured in Rafah, bringing the total death toll in Gaza to around 1511, among whom 330 are children.
Nalan sent the following tweets as soon as she reached the Egyptian border with her mother, sister and a friend:
I lived the worst terrifying experience in my life today #gaza
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
I was leaving to #Egypt with my mother (foreigner) and @KayanAlSarraj and @deemameshal and we got trapped in between ! #gaza
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
The air striking and the shelling were so close, we started praying and crying expecting to die any moment
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
We were out of connection, open area between the two gates palestinian and Egyptian #gaza
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
Egyptian border closed because of the massive israeli attack on the area and rafah was dangerous to cross to go back to #gaza
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
We were trapped under fire and airstrikes.We were around 120 traveler . Mostly foreigners. Crying for help the whole day
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
Today i ask the world, to revolute over the inhuman system. I ask you to find your humanity and stop #Israel . #gaza
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
During all of that, we had to run on foot out of the palestinian borders because we got calls that it could be targeted any moment #gaza
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
We were running crying holding any child could be saved. In numbers towards the Egyptian border. The found out they evacuated as well
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
The horror we lived ! We reached that point were we hold each other praying expecting the next airstrike on us
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
Rafah is going through what al sheja'a and khoza'a went through ! A genocide . More than 100 martyrs less than a day #gaza
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
Luckily, Nalan may find some rest now, a luxury which the vast majority of Gazans cannot afford to have.
The Egyptians opened their border finally . We will be sleeping tonight at their gate hall. Safer than where we were
— Nalan Al Sarraj (@NalanSarraj) August 1, 2014
Since Israel launched a massive offensive against the 40-kilometer long coastal strip on July 8, more than 6,780 have been injured. Israel has bombed schools, a playground, hospitals, shelters and refugee camps. Three in four people killed in Gaza were civilians. On July 28, Israel attacked the only power plant in Gaza, plunging the congested strip of 1.8 million people into darkness. As Israel forces bombs residential neighborhoods, tens of thousands have been made homeless and are forced to take refuge in makeshift shelters.
This is Israel's third military operation in Gaza in 6 years. Excessive restrictions from Israel in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank is why most of the world and the United Nations considers this territory “occupied” by Israel.
Follow our in-depth coverage: #Gaza: Civilian Death Toll Mounts in Israeli Offensive

author: Elia J. Ayoub


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Global Voices is Looking For a Dynamic Leader to Shape Our Brazil Coverage · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

Graffiti on the walls in Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro reads, “Genocidal police loves FIFA.” 13 July 2014. Photo by Shay Horse. Copyright Demotix
Are you a Portuguese- and English-speaking expert on Brazil who values justice, equality, friendship across borders and can't seem to get enough of the Internet? Do you enjoy working from home? Global Voices is looking for you!
Our newsroom is unique — it's completely virtual, our writers are volunteers, our sources are multilingual and live on the Internet. Our newsgathering focus is on trending news, freedom of speech issues, online censorship, activism, and stories that are underreported or misrepresented in mainstream media.
The part-time Brazil will write and coordinate stories by volunteer writers and translators, while developing a robust set of sources to stay on top of regional social, political and activism trends.
Primary tasks:
Be responsible for our Brazil coverage.
Write, fact-check, and edit the most compelling and important stories from online sources in their region.
Add relevant context to stories for our global audience.
Keep on top of developing stories, buzz and trends across social media and citizen media the region.
Develop a database of reliable and vetted online sources across their region.
Manage volunteer writers.
Meet deadlines and posting requirements.
Stay engaged with virtual regional group, newsroom and larger community.
Carry out work in line with the Global Voices’ community, editorial guidelines, mission and culture.
Successful candidates will:
Be fluent in English and Portuguese.
Have a strong journalism and/or digital rights activism background.
Possess sound editorial judgment on regional issues.
Know who the credible social and citizen voices are in Brazil.
Understand mainstream media, local press and social media dynamics in Brazil.
Understand digital rights, freedom of speech, and activism-related issues and dynamics in Brazil.
Have proven sourcing and news writing ability.
Possess strong leadership qualities.
Have a strong and reliable Internet connection.
Be available 10 hours a week.
To apply:
Please submit a résumé and a cover letter that highlights your work and explains why you would be a great fit for Global Voices. Apply by emailing us at adminjob@globalvoicesonline.org with your name and “Brazil Editor” in the subject line.
Read 8 Solid Reasons to Work for Global Voices here.

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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Iran’s Regime Likes the Washington Post’s Op-Ed Space, but Not Its Reporter · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Photo tweeted by Jason Rezaian's Twitter account on June 10 of Rezaian (left), wife Yeganeh Salehi (center) and celebrity chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain (right). “Great conversation w/ @Bourdain & @YeganehSalehi in Darband, Tehran. Looking forward to #partsunknown #iran episode”
When current Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's was running for office last year, a message of a more open society dominated western media coverage of his campaign. Three months after he won on a moderate platform of “prudence and hope,” Rouhani wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post explaining his approach to international relations.
Many Iranians had hoped the arrests of journalists and activists would decrease under Rouhani's leadership, but censorship and persecution continue. Jason Rezaian, the Tehran correspondent for The Washington Post, the very same paper in which Rouhani outlined his moderate views last year, was one of the latest to be arrested. He and his Iranian wife, Yeganeh Salehi, a journalist for the UAE newspaper The National, were detained with two other photojournalists on July 22.
Last month, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also penned an op-ed for the newspaper, this time about nuclear negotiations. Foreign policy journalist Ali Gharib pointed out the Washington Post connection on Twitter:
.@HassanRouhani & @JZarif have contributed op-eds to WaPo. Now their gov't has detained its #Iran reporter: http://t.co/VUSJ5Dfqgc
— Ali Gharib (@Ali_Gharib) julio 24, 2014
As one of few foreign correspondents in based in Iran, Rezaian’s reporting hardly breached the sensitivities that the Iranian ruling apparatus is known to crackdown upon. His last two articles for The Washington Post covered baseball in Iran (“In Iran, a spark of enthusiasm for America’s national pastime”) and coverage of the nuclear negotiations from Vienna (“World powers agree to extend talks with Iran”). He was arrested in his home, alongside his wife, upon his return from Vienna.
Diplomatic negotiations between the U.S., U.K, France, China, Russia, Germany and Iran over Iran's nuclear program have taken place for six months in Vienna, but official and back-channel talks have occurred since the secret nuclear program was revealed in 2002.
In the days before the arrests, The Washington Post ran several opinion pieces that advocated a strong-arm approach to the negotiations. As the deadline to reach a landmark agreement on June 20 drew near, The Washington Post's editorial board called on the U.S. government to “reject any attempt by Mr. Zarif to obtain concessions, such as increased oil sales, in exchange for an extension.”
The once promising negotiations reached a stalemate, but a four-month extension was agreed on two days before the deadline, which Rezaian reported.
Other recent coverage not by Rezaian included “Poll finds 61% of Americans favor cooperating with Iran to contain Islamic State militants” and “Sanctions on Iran cost the U.S. as much as $175 billion, study says.”
On July 29, one of the four was released, according to statements by the photojournalists family. On the same day, Rezaian’s mother made an emotional plea to the Iranian government for her son’s release. One Iranian journalist and activist working abroad, who wishes to remain unnamed, said, “I thought they would have been released by now, no one expected the arrest to last longer than a few days.”
It is unclear on what charges the Iranian-Americans are detained, as official state media have verified the arrests but not the reasons behind them. An unconfirmed report by Tasnim news website, associated with Revolutionary Guards, claimed the arrests were on suspicions of spying.
#BREAKING: #Iran arrests @washingtonpost’s correspondent in Tehran @jrezaian for ‘spying,’ Tasnimnews reports
— Shargh (@SharghDaily) julio 25, 2014
In a statement to the online news website Al-Monitor, Hadi Ghaemi, the director of the International Campaign for Human Rights, explained that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supported these arrests, along with those of numerous other journalists and netizens, as an effort to balance the rapprochement with the west in light of progress on the nuclear deal.
Reporters Without Borders places the number of jailed news providers in Iran at 65 with these latest arrests. Earlier in June, members of the group who produced a version of Pharrell’s viral hit “Happy” were arrested, and released a few days later.
An outpouring of support online followed Rezaian's arrest. Thomas Erdbrink, one of the few U.S. correspondents in Tehran along with Rezaian, immediately tweeted the following:
I strongly condemn the arrest of my friend and colleague @jrezaian and his wife @YeganehSalehi, and two photographers, also friends.
— Thomas Erdbrink (@ThomasErdbrink) julio 24, 2014
Rezaian’s personal friend and the director of research for the National Iranian American Council reached out to the international community in his personal plea for his release in a Huffington Post blog post. The U.S. State Department has already urged Iran to release Rezaian, and The Washington Post editorial board has written a strongly worded statement against Iran’s arrest of their Tehran correspondent.
Many activists and supporters have expressed sentiments of hopelessness in the wake of such arrests. Debate rages on what can be done in the face of the Iranian judiciary, responsible for the arrests, which has very little accountability to the elected government or the people when it carries out arrests. For now, the general reactions against these arrests are of outrage and confusion.
Detention of friends and colleagues Jason Rezaian and Yeganeh Salehi is unjustifiable. No official word on their whereabouts or condition. — Mohammad Davari (@modavari) julio 24, 2014
#Iran: However you slice it, 48 hours of arrest for Washington Post's @jrezaian and his wife @YeganehSalehi and 2 others is a VERY bad sign.
— Bahman Kalbasi (@BahmanKalbasi) julio 24, 2014

author: Mahsa Alimardani


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Should the Caribbean ‘Free Up the Herb’? This Attorney Thinks So · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Ganja at Bob Marley's House”, photo by Patrick Talbert, used under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.
The Caribbean is in the midst of a debate as to whether or not marijuana should be legalised.
This past May, when a video emerged allegedly showing Trinidad and Tobago's then minister of sport rolling a joint, discussion was rife as to whether he should be fired from his post. At the time, many social media users seemed to be more inclined to have him fired over his performance than the possibility of his being in possession of ganja. As it turns out, the minister resigned yesterday following public pressure over a corruption scandal.
At the other end of the Caribbean archipelago, the Jamaican government is seeking to decriminalise personal possession of up to 2 ounces of the substance by September — a move that garnered support from the country's Drug Abuse Council.
At the blog Groundation Grenada, attorney and activist Richie Maitland makes a case for decriminalisation of the herb by citing other countries that have made the decision to legalise its use. Grenada is not inclined to be among them because the government maintains that drug-related illnesses are a burden to taxpayers. Maitland's post challenges this argument (illustrated in his graph below) by examining hospital statistics — and he finds that alcohol-related problems far outweigh those involving marijuana.
Graphic showing the difference between alcohol and marijuana-related hospital cases in Grenada, created by Richie Maitland.
Much of the difference lies in public perception: alcohol is legal, marijuana is not. The post also dissects the argument that decriminalistion would be in breach of certain international treaties that the country adheres to:
You know what other international obligation Grenada has? An obligation to respect and affirm the equality of LGBTI people […] Governments hide behind international obligations as pretexts when they want to avoid inconvenient action while disregarding other obligations with impunity. Emphasizing international obligations is therefore a weak argument against decriminalisation.
But to address the substance rather than the hypocrisy of the argument, this issue has actually been determined by Caribbean international law expert – Professor Stephen Vascianne […] from Jamaica. Grenada and most of the rest of the Caribbean share the same drug prohibition international obligations as Jamaica. Vascianne concluded in a 2001 paper […] that it was possible to decriminalise personal ganja use in Jamaica without being in breach of international obligations, once cultivation and distribution of ganja remained illegal.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Did Someone from the U.S. Congress Just Call Putin a “Dickwad” on Wikipedia? · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Someone in the U.S. Congress is rolling out the welcome wagon for Russian President Vladimir Putin, sorta. Images mixed by author.
Someone with access to a computer in the U.S. Congress has a habit of trolling Wikipedia users. Last week, a Wikipedia administrator banned a congressional IP address for 10 days because of “disruptive” edits to several articles, including one about “moon landing conspiracies.” With the legislature's hands tied, Wikipedia users didn't expect any more congressional shenanigans until at least August 2. The moratorium on anonymous congressional Wikipedia edits, however, only applied to English-language posts.
Yesterday morning, July 31, the Twitter bot @Congressedits, which automatically logs Wikipedia activity by IP addresses in the U.S. legislature, reported a revision to a Russian-language article about the Russian national anthem. Someone using a congressional IP address replaced the musical notation of the real anthem with the lyrics and arrangement of a popular Ukrainian chant mocking Vladimir Putin (see below).
“Putin khuilo!” (translation: “Putin is a dickwad!”) sheet music, a popular anti-Putin chant in Ukraine. Wikipedia commons.
The title of this little ditty is “Putin khuilo!” which means roughly, “Putin is a dickwad!” The anti-Putin song has grown in popularity since Russia’s intervention in eastern Ukraine, becoming international news in mid-June, when Ukraine’s then-acting Foreign Minister, Andrii Deshchytsia, repeated the lyric in an attempt to pacify a crowd of protesters in Kyiv. Afterwards, Russian officials refused to deal with the Ukrainian diplomat, and Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev even suggested that Deshchytsia might be mentally unstable. Five days after the “Putin khuilo” incident, Deshchytsia was replaced.
Though it caused a stir, thanks to @Congressedits, the American government’s “Putin khuilo” zinger never actually graced the published pages of Wikipedia, as it failed to win approval from Russian moderators. (A public record of the attempted change still exists in the post’s edit history, however.) In fact, Russian moderators both rejected the congressional IP address’ suggested revision and banned the IP address for 1 day from making further anonymous edits on Russian-language articles. This means congressional staffers (or whoever it is in the U.S. legislature with such eagerness for Wikipedia pranks) should regain anonymous editing rights on both English-language and Russian-language articles on the same day, August 2.
In other words, August 1, 2014, marks a special occasion: the world's English speakers and Russian speakers are free from the U.S. Congress’ Wikipedia trolling for a day. But the anonymous congressional edits will return in roughly 24 hours. Enthusiasts of moon exploration and musical arrangement, brace yourselves.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Trinidad & Tobago’s Minister of Sport Resigns Under Duress  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Sport has been forced to resign following public dissatisfaction surrounding the corrupt LifeSport programme, in which millions of dollars were allegedly funneled out to fund criminal activities and contractors were reportedly paid huge sums of money without actually doing any work.
Wired868 republishes the full text of his resignation letter to the Prime Minister and her response, noting that the former minister was careful to “[admit] no wrongdoing”.


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On the Walls and the Web, A Venezuelan Art Collective Supports Socialism · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Mural by Army for the Freedom of Communication. Image used with permission.
Art is a notoriously powerful political weapon. In Venezuela, a group calling itself the “Ejército Comunicacional de Liberación” (the “Army for the Freedom of Communication”) is using graffiti and other forms of visual art to support the Bolivarian Revolution, a leftist social movement launched by late Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. The organization reappropriates urban spaces with paintings, reclaiming the walls of buildings for local communities.
The ECL promotes urban interventions on its blog, No Sabemos Disparar (We Don't Know How to Shoot), where the group says it pursues three main goals:
Ejército Comunicacional de Liberación es una fuerza en formación y reformulación constante; un puñado de jóvenes alzados en armas de papel quienes, mediante la comunicación popular, apuestan por el desarrollo de una nueva estética consciente y responsable en función de la promoción clara y efectiva de mensajes que contribuyan con procesos de transformación social y redistribución de la riqueza. Nuestra acciones y productos siguen tres líneas fundamentales: agitación, formación y sustentabilidad.
The Ejército Comunicacional de Liberación is a force of constant information and reformulation; a handful of young people taking up “paper arms,” who, by means of popular communication, are committed to developing new, mindful, and responsible aesthetics that will clearly and effectively support social transformation and wealth redistribution in Venezuela. Our actions follow three fundamentals: excitement, formation, and sustainability.
The ECL also conducts training activities in collaboration with other groups and communities around Venezuela. These exercises take place in public spaces, like the one pictured below in Elorza, in the state of Apure:
Elorza, March 2014
En el marco de las fiestas de Elorza 2014 tuvimos la oportunidad de rendir un humilde homenaje a el comandante eterno junto a los convives de SOU, SUC, Otro Beta y Nueva Casika, nos hubiese gustado hacer más, pero estamos seguros que vendrán nuevas oportunidades.
During the Elorza 2014 festivities, we had the opportunity to pay a humble tribute to the comandante eterno [the “eternal commander,” the late Hugo Chavez], and engage with the SOU, SUC, Otro Beta, and Nueva Casika [other art collectives that produce similar murals]. We would like to have accomplished more, but we're sure there will be other opportunities.
A tribute to late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.
The ECL's murals are spreading quickly throughout Venezuela, and many are now found in the country's capital. The mural pictured below is located in Maca, a district of Caracas. This particular painting was created to raise awareness about pollution, drawing attention to the local city council's failure to dispose of waste properly.
El problema de la basura aquí en Maca, es que los vecinos que viven en la parte de arriba aprovechan cuando llueve y lanzan la basura a la calle para que el agua las arrastre, esto hace que se ensucie la calle y se tapen las alcantarillas. Sería bueno que la gente botara la basura donde es y no en cualquier parte.
When it comes to trash disposal here in Maca, the people who live uphill, in the neighboring town, take advantage of the rain and throw their garbage into the streets for the water to wash it away, which leaves us with filthy streets and clogged sewers. It would be best if people threw their trash where they are supposed to and not just anywhere.
“Dispose of litter properly, don't just throw it away. Think of the rest of us.”
The ECL's blog features photographs from additional gatherings, as well, like an event to make bulletin boards about local news and events in Los Erasos and Santa Rosa, other districts in Caracas:
Putting together bulletin boards about local community news.
An ECL-produced bulletin board in the neighborhood of Erasos and Santa Rosa, in Caracas.
The ECL has also staged interventions on building walls in cities. One such action, shown below, took place in San Juan Parrish, Caracas:
A mural in the San Juan parish.
The group also weighs in on the protests that have rocked Venezuela over the past months. In the painting below, the ECL criticizes the basis of the demonstrations in East Caracas, which the artists argue are pointless and unfocused (the protests in question are part of a larger nationwide street movement, which has called for the ouster of President Nicolás Maduro. The mural reads, “They won't be back,” meaning that the political elites of the pre-Chavez era can never return.
A wall painted in the neighborhood of Chacao, Caracas.
Crítica a la irracionalidad de protestas sin objetivos. Intervenciones realizadas en las calles del este (Chacao y Altamira), donde supuestamente (los opositores) tienen el control absoluto, las paredes siguen siendo del pueblo. No volverán.
Criticism of the irrational protests that had no purpose. In the East, the walls still belong to the people, as actions are carried out in the streets (of Chacao and Altamira), where they supposedly (the opponents) have absolute control. They will not return.
The ECL's blog also contains artwork by similar groups located both inside and outside Venezuela. Videos of this content are uploaded to Vimeo, which the organizations use to underscore the highly visual nature of their social and political activism.

author: Laura Vidal


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Trinidad & Tobago Sports Minister Resigns Amid Alleged Corruption in a Programme for Disadvantaged Kids  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Protest in front of Trinidad and Tobago's Ministry of Sport earlier this week for the dismissal of former Minister Anil Roberts. Photo by Speak Out T&T, used with permission.
After massive public outcry over revelations of alleged widespread corruption in Trinidad and Tobago's Ministry of Sport's LifeSport programme, Minister of Sport Anil Roberts has resigned from his ministerial post. His resignation letter expressed a “desire” to resign both as minister and as parliamentary representative for the country's D'Abadie/O'Meara constituency “based on the inexplicable public furore that continued unabated based on misinformation in the public domain.”
The country's beleaguered prime minister confirmed the news yesterday at the weekly post-Cabinet press conference, and appointed Dr. Rupert Griffith, the current minister of science and technology, as interim minister of sport.
Bloggers have already dubbed the performance surrounding Roberts’ resignation the “tears of a clown” — and one well-respected member of the country's civil society, who preferred to remain anonymous, noted that Roberts constitutionally cannot write to the prime minister to resign from his parliamentary seat. This has to be done via the speaker of the House of Representatives — “so based on that alone, I don't think he intends to go anywhere,” the source said.
Roberts, a former swimming coach, television personality and radio talk show host, had come under pressure after a probe into the workings of the LifeSport programme, which was intended to give young people in disadvantaged communities access to sporting activities as an alternative to getting involved in crime, revealed gross mismanagement and wastage. Deputy Police Commissioner Glenn Hackett has announced further investigations into the programme for possible criminal activity. Roberts had insisted that since he had not been directly implicated in any wrongdoing, he should not be held responsible — an argument that Wired868 discounted last week by equating it with “a motorist pleading innocent to a fatal accident because he closed his eyes just before impact.”
In a country groaning under the weight of corruption and the social and economic fallout that naturally ensues, many view Roberts’ stepping down as an encouraging sign that the voice of the people still has power. Protesters, calling for Roberts’ dismissal, gathered in front of of the Ministry of Sport with their placards. There was also an online petition calling on the prime minister to fire him that received over 3,000 signatures.
The irony of the way in which the situation has played out has not been lost on anyone familiar with Trinidad and Tobago's politics. Anil Roberts was a controversial, polarising figure because of his brash, loquacious persona and his caustic criticisms of the previous government — his apparent double standard therefore drew strong reactions on social media. Diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch offered a line-by-line critique of Roberts’ resignation letter, completely dismissing the notion that the minister bore no blame for the outcome of the LifeSport programme:
The responsibility, not to mention the idea, was yours. Tell me, where and how did you (and your Cabinet colleagues) thought it was a good idea to pay criminals to play? What was the reasoning behind that? In no other country in the world, even in those riddled with corruption and despotic rulers, was such an idea ever promulgated. I mean Anil, you took ‘banana republic’ to a whole new level, and it wasn't pointing up, if you know what I mean.
On Twitter, reactions to Roberts’ resignation were swift, as anticipation had been building for at least a week:
Oh good! Anil Roberts has finally resigned. Best bit of news I've heard all day.
— Phoebe (@feebalinaa) July 31, 2014
Anil Roberts complained for years that no Govt built any Olympic size 50m swimming pool. He got in a position to correct that and failed
— Darren L. D (@fudgie8) July 31, 2014
In a reflection of diminishing public faith in the country's law enforcement and judicial systems, a few Twitter users were cynical about whether the investigation would lead anywhere:
why did Anil Roberts even bother to resign? It's not like if someone is going to get jailed, or we're going to get the money back.
— Republic of Anthony (@BissieSmalls) July 31, 2014
So yes, in all this hullabaloo, I wonder if the investigation into the #LifeSport programme would survive into next week.
— Joshua Ramirez W (@jramirezw1) July 31, 2014
SpeakOut T&T, an activist group, hoped that Roberts’ resignation does not mask the bigger and even more pressing issues surrounding the LifeSport programme:
It all sounds heroic doesn't it? Fit enough for a Campaign Trail Advertisement that shows how the PM acted relentlessly in the public's interest and stood up like no other Prime Minister has ever done before ‘as head of cabinet’ and demanded that those crazy bald-heads (NOT ANIL) were held responsible and brought to justice. Come'on Madam Prime Minister… Anyone with an iota of sense could see through this public relations gimmickry currently being thrown in our faces by your Government.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Electronic Witch-Hunts in Bahrain, Israel and the ISIS · Global Voices
Noor Mattar

A photograph from www.B4BH.com calling people who have any information about the child in the picture to share it in a campaign to reveal “traitors” in Bahrain. The website, part of the electronic witch-hunt which followed the Bahrain protests in 2011, is called “Pictures of traitors of Bahrain”
A witch-hunt is defined as “a rigorous campaign to round up or expose dissenters on the pretext of safeguarding the welfare of the public.”
Today, electronic witch-hunts are happening in Israel, Bahrain and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Historically, a witch-hunt refers to the trials in which the crime was related to suspicion of witchcraft or demonic acts. In his book “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds,” Scottish journalist Charles Mackay said that “thousands upon thousands” were killed in witch trials, which had an extremely low standard of evidence and were in many cases initiated as a way of settling scores among neighbors or associates.
The term was widely used during the McCarthyism era or the second red scare when U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy spearheaded a campaign to fight possible communism sympathizers.
These days, Israelis who have spoken out against the war on Gaza are being targeted. Tel-Aviv-based Global Voices author Elizabeth Tsurkov tweeted:
Right-wing militia “The Shadow's Lions” asking Israelis to send them photos of traitors [those who oppose the war] http://t.co/w0Nb9MeSmD
— Elizabeth Tsurkov (@Elizrael) July 28, 2014
It is also no surprise that Jihadist group ISIS, which has occupied swaths of Iraq around Mosul last month, started an online campaign to identify “apostates.” On a Twitter account claiming to speak for the ISIS, a picture was tweeted of people to be killed because they are apostates:
الدم الدم #حادث_الغدر_في_الشعيطات #الشعيطات #الكشكية #ولاية_الخير #الدوله_الاسلاميه #صور ← بعض المطلوبين (1) ↓↓ pic.twitter.com/DPsVR3QbC9
— الدولة الاسلامية (@AlDawlhislam) July 31, 2014
Vengeance, vengeance! The treason in Shaitat area of Alkhair district [what ISIS calls Dair Alzur of Syria] photograph of some of the wanted (1)
Another account that uses the same logo of ISIS and tweets in its support has published a list of 2,000 “apostates,” calling for them to be killed:
رابط باسماء ٢٠٠٠ عنصر سيتم القصاص منهم باذن الله تعالى #رتويت #الدولة_الإسلامية_في_العراق_والشام http://t.co/07bScRDsJQ
— فلوجة البغدادي (@fallujahRevolu) March 8, 2014
A link with the names of 2,000 people who will be retributed by god willing #Islamic_State_of_Iraq_Sham
In recent days, there has been a swarm of graphic videos coming out of Iraq featuring the beheading of people from minorities considered “apostates” by ISIS.
This modern witch-hunt that takes place in the virtual space has played out on social media before, resulting in the arrest and torture of scores of people in Bahrain. In 2011, the small oil rich island witnessed a popular uprising that was followed by a bloody crackdown. As part of the crackdown, people were asked to name “traitors” and share their photographs. During the witch-hunt, former member of Parliament Mohammed Khalid tweeted to his followers:
أرجو من شرفاء الفاتح نشر صور الخونة الذين ظهروا لنا في الحوار كأنهم حمائم سلام وكانوا بالدوار ذئاب تعوي وتنهش بوطننا..فلن يخدعونا #bahrain
— محمد خالدبوعمار #غزة (@boammar) July 11, 2011
I call on the noble people of Alfatih [a mosque that symbolizes pro-government crowds in Bahrain] to publish the pictures of the traitors who appeared to us as peace doves in the dialogue while they were howling wolves that ravaged on the country..they will not fool us
Many pages started posting pictures of protesters and calling for people to identify them. As a result, scores of people have arrested after their pictures were identified. Even the state TV took part in the campaign.
Explaining the situation, Bahraini MD Jalal Almosawi tweeted:
(معا لكشف الخونه) من لديه صوره لزميله في العمل يرسلها .. اين المروءه يا عرب ؟!!! مزاد الانحطاط الاخلاقي #Bahrain
— Dr Jalal Almosawi (@jmosawi) August 18, 2011
(United to disclose traitors)[A facebook page that was removed after many were identified and arrested via the page] Whoever has a picture of his work mate let him send it..where's your sense of honour? It's an auction for moral decadence
Web pages of “traitors pictures” are still up for people to identify them in Bahrain. No action was taken against those who started, promoted or participated in such campaigns. The electronic witch-hunt has evolved since 2011, spyware is now used to identify Twitter and Instagram users and arrest them.

author: Noor Mattar


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Indonesia Is Fighting Haze With a New Online Fire Monitoring Tool · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Main page of the Global Forest Watch-Fires online tool
The annual haze in the Southeast Asian region is caused mainly by forest fires and burning of palm oil plantations in western Indonesia. The haze pollution has also affected Singapore and Malaysia, which lie close to the Indonesian province of Riau, the ‘ground zero’ of the forest fires.
In order to allow firefighters to quickly respond to forest and land fire incidents, an online fire monitoring tool has been developed using real-time information.
The Global Forest Watch-Fires (GFW-Fires) online tool uses “real-time satellite data from NASA’s Active Fires system, high resolution satellite imagery, detailed maps of land cover and concessions for key commodities such as palm oil and wood pulp, weather conditions and air quality data to track fire activity.”
GFW-Fires can empower people to better combat harmful fires before they burn out of control and hold accountable those who may have burned forests illegally.
The tool was developed by the World Resources Institute, DigitalGlobe, the Indonesian government, Google, and Esri.
Screenshot of the online map showing forest fire cases in Southeast Asia
In an interview with FutureGov, Andika Putraditama of the World Resources Institute explained the uniqueness and value of the GFW-Fires platform:
While there have been other fire monitoring tools in the past, the GFW-Fires system is unique because it combines data, such as hotspots, wind direction, land shape and features, and concessions [forestry licenses], on a single platform.
The GFW-Fires has reportedly reduced the time it takes for firefighters to respond to fire outbreaks from 20 hours down to two to four hours.
Satellite image showing a burning palm oil plantation.
Nigel Sizer, James Anderson and Josh Winer discussed how using the Digital Globe imagery can help pinpoint the cause of the forest and land fires:
Access to this super-spectral, very high resolution satellite imagery provides us with rare insight into the fires. …You can see down to the individual tree level and even identify species…Even the flames of active fires can be clearly seen together with their smoke plumes and the resulting haze.
Hopefully, this tool which is now operational and available as open data, will greatly reduce the spread of forest fires and the haze pollution which have already caused a lot of damage in the environment, economy, and the health of millions of residents in the region.

author: Mong Palatino


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Political Implications on the Downfall of Security Chief · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced its investigation of Zhou Yongkang, a former senior member of CCP and headed China's security apparatus on July 29, 2014. China File invited Sebastian Veg, Roderick MacFarquhar and Taisu Zhang,  scholars from history and social science to comment on the political significance of Zhou's downfall.

author: Oiwan Lam


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The World’s First Dengue Vaccine Could Be Available in Southeast Asia Next Year · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

From the official website of the government of the Philippines.
A dengue vaccine being tested in five Southeast Asian countries has yielded encouraging results, prompting governments and researchers in the region to announce that the world’s first dengue vaccine could be available next year.
The vaccine was tested on 10,275 children (2 to 14 years old) in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines with an overall efficacy of 56.5 percent. After three doses, the vaccine reportedly reduced the possibility of a child developing dengue hemorrhagic fever by 88.5 percent. There was also a 67 percent reduction in the risk of hospitalization due to dengue.
First ever dengue vaccine to show efficacy against dengue fever & haemorrhagic fever http://t.co/TamyHaR4ao pic.twitter.com/zBfXG2bxIi
— VacciNewsNet (@VacciNewsNet) July 16, 2014
Dengue vaccine is just a year away, researchers say. http://t.co/qcgO8XThDT [http://t.co/bjpk80p3vL, 23 July 2014] pic.twitter.com/elWk7qGz9o
— University Of Malaya (@unimalaya) July 24, 2014
Dengue is a tropical virus carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito with no known cure. According to the World Health Organization, about 40 percent of the world’s population is at risk from dengue. Up to 100 million dengue infections are reported each year; about 75 percent of the cases are found in the Asia Pacific, especially in Southeast Asia.
Dengue outbreaks have risen in recent years in several Southeast Asian countries.
First dengue vaccine out by July next year http://t.co/07iPGWtIx5 | Charles Buban #health #science pic.twitter.com/FlSRuxvo9H
— Inquirer Group (@inquirerdotnet) July 19, 2014
Unprecedented spike of #dengue cases in Malaysia and 1 death due to dengue in #Singapore. Dengue is a war everyone must fight!
— Dengue.Info Asia (@DengueInfoAsia) July 31, 2014
Many attributed this to the rapid urbanization in the region. Virologist Datuk Dr Lam Sai Kit from Malaysia described dengue as an urban disease:
If you have a lot of people coming to stay in an urban area, then you have a population with a lot more people who are susceptible to infection. A lot of them can come down with dengue virus when they come into contact with it.
Last week, the governments of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand announced the successful vaccine testing that can prevent four strains of dengue and haemorrhagic fever, which is a symptom of the disease. Interestingly, the news is presented as if these individual countries are spearheading the research on the dengue vaccine.
It is drug company Sanofi Pasteur, in partnership with the five Southeast Asian countries, which has been conducting the study and testing of the Asian dengue vaccine in the past two decades. Their latest study is the basis of news reports announcing the final phase in testing the dengue vaccine. But the same study also mentioned the limitations of the vaccine. This was noted by writer Damian Garde:
Despite the vaccine's broad efficacy, however, a closer look at the data paints a more nuanced picture. Dengue comes in four serotypes, and while Sanofi's treatment did well against variants 1, 3 and 4, it charted just 34.7% efficacy in serotype 2, missing statistical significance in one of Asia's most common forms of the disease. Furthermore, the researchers note, the vaccine's efficacy increased with patient age, with the youngest patients deriving the least benefit.
The Asian Dengue Vaccine, if made available next year, will be a big boost in the global campaign to eradicate dengue by year 2020.


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Watch 3 Flamenco Singers Interrupt Andalusia’s Parliament to Protest in Booming Song · Global Voices
L. Finch

Screenshot from FLO6x8's protest in Andalusia's parliament.
Spain's southern region Andalusia is home to flamenco, a style of folk art known for its emotional music, powerful singers and seductive dance. Lyrics often speak of love and love lost, but also deal with pain, poverty and sorrow — topics that many Andalusians know all too well in recent years.
Spain has made painful cuts to spending as it has struggled with a devastating economic crisis in the last several years. The number of poor and unemployed has ballooned throughout the country, but Andalusia has been hit especially hard.
Protests are common, but one collective has made theirs uniquely Andalusian. In late June, three members of FLO6x8, a group of activists with ties to the flamenco world, interrupted the regional parliament one by one singing songs in the flamenco style that spoke out against unemployment, corruption and the crisis.
Each time, the protesters were removed from the public gallery shortly after they began to sing. The demonstration received some media coverage at the time, and an edited video of it posted to Facebook has since gone viral with more than 48,000 shares. Watch the protest performance with English subtitles below:
The first singer criticized the lack of jobs in Spain, which has forced many young Spaniards to leave the country in search of work elsewhere:
Pordioseando
quieres tú verme
o que emigre
Pordioseando
por un trabjao de mierda
mientras engordáis con EREs
y sois manijeros de la troika
Begging
is how you want to see me
or that I emigrate.
Begging
for a shit job
while you all get fat off layoffs.
And you all are lackeys of the troika.
Two-thirds of Andalusians are unemployed, according to the latest data from European Union statistics agency Eurostat. Poverty in the region, where agriculture and tourism are the main industries, grew 11 percent between 2007 and 2012 to 24.1 percent, one of the highest in Spain.
Andalusia asked for a bailout from Madrid in September 2012, becoming the fourth region to do so. Spain was given its own rescue package of $126 billion from the so-called troika — the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank — a few months earlier to recapitalize its ailing banking sector.
FLO6x8 has staged similar protests inside banks with singing, dancing and guitar. Take a look:
The group advocates the creation of a new constitution with the participation of all Spaniards. Until that happens, they promise politicians that “we will speak out in any public place where you show your venerable faces.”

author: L. Finch


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Israeli Army Whistle-Blower Gets Arrested After Posting ‘Israeli Troops Killed Gaza Civilians in Revenge’ on Facebook  · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Eran Efrati
Former combat soldier and company sergeant of the Israeli army turned whistle-blower Eran Efrati, aged 28, was arrested by the Israeli authorities and questioned concerning his research regarding the use of illegal weapons in Gaza.
On Tuesday, July 29, Efrati announced on Facebook that he received information from sources within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealing what he claims to be the real reason for the Shuja'iyya massacre which occurred nine days prior on July 20: namely that civilians were targeted and killed by Israeli soldiers as punishment for the death of soldiers in their units.
In recent weeks I was on the border of Gaza and getting reports from soldiers in the Gaza Strip who leak information out to me. I am in the process of publication of two big stories in major U.S. newspapers, but there are some things I can share with you right now: Soldiers in two different units inside Gaza leaked information about the murdering of Palestinians by sniper fire in Shuja'iyya neighborhood as punishment for the death of soldiers in their units. After the shooting on the Israeli armored personnel carriers, which killed seven soldiers of the Golani Brigade, the Israeli army carried out a massacre in Shuja'iyya neighborhood. A day after the massacre, many Palestinians came to search for their relatives and their families in the rubble. In one of the videos uploaded to YouTube, a young Palestinian man Salem Shammaly calls the names of his family and looking for them between the ruins when he is suddenly shot at in his chest and falls down. A few seconds after that, there are two additional shootings from snipers into his body, killing him instantly. Since the video was released, there was no official response from the IDF spokesperson. Today I can report that the official command that was handed down to the soldiers in Shujaiyya was to capture Palestinian homes as outposts. From these posts, the soldiers drew an imaginary red line, and amongst themselves decided to shoot to death anyone who crosses it. Anyone crossing the line was defined as a threat to their outposts, and was thus deemed a legitimate target. This was the official reasoning inside the units. I was told that the unofficial reason was to enable the soldiers to take out their frustrations and pain at losing their fellow soldiers (something that for years the IDF has not faced during its operations in Gaza and the West Bank), out on the Palestinian refugees in the neighborhood. Under the pretext of the so-called “security threat” soldiers were directed to carry out a pre-planned attack of revenge on Palestinian civilians. These stories join many other similar ones that Amira Hass and I investigated in Operation Cast Lead. The death toll that continues to rise is steadily reaching the numbers of the massacre of 2009.
More than 1,100 have been killed in Gaza, at least 80 percent of them civilians. Today it is cleared for publication that at least 4 soldiers were killed by a rocket in a gathering area outside of Gaza, and another soldier was killed in Gaza. They join 43 soldiers that have already been killed. We know that more acts of revenge will come soon and it is important that we not stay silent. This is the time to take to the streets and to social media. Demand from your representative wherever you are to stop supporting this massacre and to immediately boycott the state of Israel until the occupation ends, the blockade is lifted and Palestinians will be free. We all want to be in the right place at the right time when history knocks on our door, and history is knocking in Gaza right now. You need to decide on which side you want to go down in history.
In addition to being arrested and questioned, Efrati had both his Facebook and email accounts blocked and apparently received death threats aimed at keeping him silent. He wrote:
The Shuja'iyya massacre took place during intense fighting between Hamas forces and the Israeli military. The killing resulted in the death of 72 Palestinians, among whom 17 were children. It also resulted in the death of 13 Israeli soldiers.
The video of the wounded Palestinian who was shot by a sniper was released by the International Solidarity Movement and can be viewed below. [Warning: The video is graphic, viewer's discretion advised.]
The massacre was described by Amnesty International as tantamount to possible war crimes:
The continuing bombardment of civilian homes in several areas of the Gaza Strip, as well as the Israeli shelling of a hospital, add to the list of possible war crimes that demand an urgent independent international investigation, said Amnesty International.
[…]
The Israeli military said that Shuja’iyyeh, a densely populated area with some 92,000 residents east of Gaza City, had been targeted because it was a “fortress” housing rockets, tunnels and command centres. Israeli military and government officials have repeatedly said that civilians were warned to evacuate the area days before it was attacked.
However, many civilians in Shuja’iyyeh and other areas did not evacuate because they had nowhere to go. All the UNRWA schools and other facilities opened as shelters are overflowing. Issuing warnings to evacuate entire areas does not absolve Israeli forces of their obligations to protect civilians under international humanitarian law.
“The relentless bombardment of Shuja’iyyeh and other civilian areas in the Gaza Strip, as well as the continuing indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israel, demand urgent international action to prevent further violations. The UN should impose an arms embargo on all sides, and all states should immediately suspend transfers of military equipment to Israel, Hamas, and other Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip,” said Philip Luther.
Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders accused Israel of indiscriminate bombing:
“While official claims that the objective of the ground offensive is to destroy tunnels into Israel, what we see on the ground is that bombing is indiscriminate and that those who die are civilians,” said Nicolas Palarus, MSF’s project coordinator in Gaza.
At the time of writing, Israel's “Operation Protective Edge” has claimed the lives of more than 1,650 and wounded nearly 9,000 Palestinians. Israel says the assault is targeting Hamas for firing hundreds of rockets across the border into Israel. Seventy-five percent of the Palestinians killed in this offensive have been civilians. Since the offensive started on June 8, 62 Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting in Gaza, and three civilians killed and around 400 injured in rocket attacks in Israel.
Besides being a member of Anarchists Against the Wall and the pro-BDS Boycott from Within, Efrati was a member of Breaking The Silence*, an Israeli NGO comprised of former IDF soldiers whose aim is “to raise awareness amongst the public about the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories.”
Here's a lecture he gave in Colorado as part of The Soldier and the Refusenik U.S. tour with Maya Wind a few months ago:
This is Israel's third military operation in Gaza in 6 years. Israel has bombed residential neighborhoods, schools, a playground, hospitals, shelters and refugee camps. On July 28, Israel attacked the only power plant in Gaza, plunging the congested strip of 1.8 million people into darkness. UN shelters are struggling to accommodate more than 250,000 Gaza residents who are fleeing the violence or whose homes have been destroyed by bombings. Six UN shelters have come under attack by Israeli forces. Excessive restrictions from Israel in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank is why most of the world and the United Nations considers this territory “occupied” by Israel.
[*Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said that Efrati is a member of Breaking The Silence. He is no longer involved in it and has not worked with this organisation for four years.]
Follow our in-depth coverage: #Gaza: Civilian Death Toll Mounts in Israeli Offensive


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With All Eyes on Ukraine, Russia Dumps Its “Toxic” Leftists in Prison · Global Voices
Sean Guillory

Sergei Udalstov, center, at a protest in Moscow, October 23, 2010. Photo by Evgeniy Isaev, CC 2.0.
After a long trial, a Moscow judge has sentenced two leftist activists who were at the forefront of Russia's 2011-2012 protests, Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev, to 4.5 years in prison for organizing mass riots on the eve of Putin’s inauguration in March 2012. Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front, and Razvozzhayev, an activist and aide to parliamentarian Ilya Ponomarev, join 12 others jailed in connection with the Bolotnoe Case. Amnesty International has declared several of those jailed, including Udaltsov, to be prisoners of conscious. Among Russian Internet users, there are many different opinions about Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev’s politics, but there is a broad consensus that Amnesty International is right.
Originally, the charges against Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev included a third defendant: Konstantin Lebedev, who entered a guilty plea and reached a deal with investigators. Udaltsov has been under house arrest since 2013. Razvozzhayev wasn't so lucky: he's spent all this time in pre-trial detention. When investigators first charged him with planning to incite a riot in Moscow, Razvozzhayev fled to Ukraine, where Russian security agents abducted him off the streets of Kyiv and forcibly returned him to Russia. The third man, Lebedev, is now free on parole.
According to the Kremlin, the clashes between police and protesters at a protest in Bolotnaya square in 2012 were the result of a conspiracy to overthrow the Russian government. Federal investigators based much of their case on surveillance footage of the three activists meeting with the Georgian politician Givi Targamadze, who vowed to send the trio money to fund their plot. The video was part of an opposition-smearing documentary, “Anatomy of a Protest 2,” which aired on the Kremlin-friendly television station NTV.
During the trial, Udaltsov admitted that he did meet with Targamadze to discuss starting a liquor business. Many consider the footage faked and the plot a Kremlin concoction, but such suspicions did little to prevent Udaltsov’s and Razvozzhayev’s conviction. Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch called the trial a “mockery of justice,” adding,
This trial is meant to intimidate protesters in Russia. The sentences people have been getting, the fact they spent so much time in custody before trial, it's meant [to show] that the price of taking to the streets is very high.
The price is indeed high, as prosecutors have assured. Udaltsov’s and Razvozzhayev’s convictions couldn’t come at a worse time, as of the world’s attention is diverted from Russian domestic politics to the war in Ukraine. What is more, as radical leftists, Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev are problematic for many who sympathize with Russia’s opposition. In addition to his neo-Stalinism, Udalstov broke with many Russian liberals over Ukraine. He supports the annexation of Crimea and the “people’s republics” in eastern Ukraine. About Crimea’s referendum, he declared,
Я советский патриот, считаю разрушение СССР величайшей ошибкой и преступлением, поэтому расцениваю присоединение Крыма как маленький, но важный шаг в сторону возрождения обновленного Союза.
I am a Soviet patriot and consider the destruction of the Soviet Union the greatest mistake and a crime. Therefore, I regard the absorption of Crimea to be a small but important step towards the revival of a renewed [Soviet] Union.
Despite his leftism and views on Ukraine, Udaltsov and Razozzhayev have received a lot of sympathy from Russia’s liberals online. This isn’t to say that this support hasn't come without caveats. Many preface their remarks with a clear statement that they didn’t support Udaltsov’s politics, but agree that his trial was a travesty of justice, saying he and Razozzhayev are prisoners of conscience.
For example, v_fedotov wrote on LiveJournal:
Мне совершенно не близки коммунистические взгляды. Ни в теории, ни тем более в том виде, в каком они были у нас реализованы на практике. Я не хочу революции и с большой опаской отношусь к профессиональным революционерам в кожаных куртках (и с маузерами – так и хочется добавить). Трудно себе представить свободные выборы, на которых я был бы готов проголосовать за бывшего члена “Сталинского блока за СССР” и доверенное лицо Зюганова.
I’m by no means somebody with communist views. Not communism in theory or the way we experienced it in practice. I don't want a revolution and I'm very wary about professional revolutionaries in leather jackets (carrying revolvers, I should add). I have trouble imaging a free election where I'd be ready to vote for a former member of the Stalinist Bloc for the USSR,” or someone who was a representative for Zyuganov in his presidential campaign.
Nevertheless, v_fedotov continued,
Однако всё это не имеет никакого отношения к делу. Отныне Сергей Удальцов и Леонид Развозжаев – стопроцентные политзаключенные. Люди, которых приговорили к 4,5 годам тюрьмы ИСКЛЮЧИТЕЛЬНО за их политическую деятельность.
However, all this is irrelevant to the case. Henceforth, Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhaev are one-hundred percent political prisoners. They are people who have been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison SOLELY for their political activities.
Denis Bilunov echoed this sentiment on Facebook:
Удальцов и Развозжаев – несомненные политические заключенные, наш долг всемерно поддерживать их.
Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev are definitely political prisoners. It’s our duty to support them in every possible way.
Zoya Svetova, a writer for the liberal magazine The New Times, wrote on Facebook that she feels that the 4.5-year-sentence says the prosecution, which asked the judge for 8 years, failed to prove its case. If they weren't sentenced for the crime they were accused of, Svetova asks, what was their offense?
И все таки за что Удальцов и Развозжаев получили четыре с половиной года? За пьянки с неизвестными грузинами? За то, что пили за Сталина? Или потому что Удальцов был одним из самых популярных оппозиционных политиков?
Увы, при авторитарном режиме оппозиционерам приходится сидеть в тюрьме. Только хотелось бы понимать, за что они сидят. Понятно, что извалять в грязи и оболгать можно любого. […] То ли мы в декабре 2011 -ого были слишком наивными. То ли что то с нами пошло не так.
Was it for getting drunk with suspicious Georgians? For drinking to Stalin? Or is it because Udaltsov was one of the most popular opposition politicians?
Alas, under an authoritarian regime, the only place for oppositionists is in prison. It's just that I'd like to know why they are in prison. It’s clear that you can drag anybody through the mud and smear him. [...] Either we were too naïve in December 2011, or something went wrong with us.
Liberal activist Ilya Yashin, on the other hand, pointed out that Udaltsov had become politically toxic even for the Left. Reminding people that, just two years ago, there were rumors about Udaltsov taking over Russia's Communist Party, Yashin tweeted,
Помните, Удальцов был доверенным лицом Зюганова на выборах президента? Никто из лидеров КПРФ не пришел к нему на суд. pic.twitter.com/9yCF5w72nL
— Илья Яшин (@IlyaYashin) July 24, 2014
Remember that Udaltsov was Zyuganov’s representative in the presidential elections? No one from the [Communist Party] leadership came to see him in court.
And finally, in reference to Konstantin Lebedev’s deal with prosecutors, Alexey Navalny's Twitter account captured many people’s sentiment by writing,
А где-то сейчас мирно сидит, пьет чай скотина и провокатор Лебедев, который и посадил их
— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) July 24, 2014
Meanwhile, quietly sitting and sipping his tea somewhere, is that beast and provocateur Lebedev, who set up [Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev] and sent them to prison.

author: Sean Guillory


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Russian-French Opposition Activist Koblyakov Arrested in Bulgaria  · Global Voices
Ruslan Trad

Nikolai Koblyakov, Russian entrepreneur and opposition activist in Paris, is detained in Bulgaria on an extradition request from Russia
Nikolay Koblyakov, founder of the French NGO “Free Russia” (Russie-Libertés), which for years has organized protests against Putin's regime in defense of protest band Pussy Riot and in support of Russian opposition repressed by the Kremlin, was arrested at the international airport in Sofia, Bulgaria, on July 29, 2014. Koblyakov is both a Russian and French national, but now risks extradition to Russia from Bulgaria.
The French Embassy was notified and contacted Bulgarian authorities, but French authorities did have any other information or details about Koblyakov's case at this time.
On the evening of August 1, Bulgarian independent news site Bivol announced on their Facebook page that Koblyakov was released from custody, but is still under certain restraint.
On his personal Facebook profile, Bulgarian activist Asen Genov wrote that Koblyakov was arrested based on an arrest warrant issued by the Russian Interpol bureau in Moscow on April 1, 2014. The warrant seems not to have been a typical red international arrest bulletin from Interpol, but a direct request from the Moscow bureau.
Koblyakov appeared to be in good health and said he was treated well. His case comes amid renewed tensions between the European Union and Russia over Ukraine, a situation that has caused Brussels to slap a new series of sanctions on two of President Putin's close associates on July 30, 2014.
On August 1, 2014, a protest was organized in solidarity with Koblyakov in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, in front of the Sofia Courthouse.
A supporter of Koblyakov in Sofia brought a poster speaking against Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov
If only you had extradited Lavrov, they are searching for him somewhere https://www.facebook.com/atchobanov/posts/10154393853830510
A petition petition has been started by human rights activists, titled “No to extradition to Russia of Nicolay KOBLYAKOV, activist for human rights!”

author: Ruslan Trad


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A Sick Game: Bomb Gaza on Google Play Removed After Complaints  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bomb Gaza – a game on Google Play was removed after complaints
An Android game which allows gamers to carry out airstrikes on Gaza has drawn criticism and anger today. The game, which has since been withdrawn from Google Play, is called Bomb Gaza, and was released on July 29.
Online, users have described it as “disgusting,” “shameful” and simply “sick” – especially in the light of the horror stories coming out of Gaza as Israel continues its Protective Edge land invasion, now in its 30th day, which has so far left 1,865 Palestinians dead and more than 9,500 injured (Source: Palestine Health Ministry spokesman Dr Ashraf Alqedra's Facebook page).
All day, netizens pushed for removing the offensive game.
Occupied Palestine urges his 29.9K followers to flag the game:
Another sick game available for download on @GooglePlay . Flag and demand Google takes it down! pic.twitter.com/BRN6LMNKLO | #GenocideInGaza
— occupiedpalestine  (@occpal) August 4, 2014
Aysha asks them to report it:
Can everyone who has an android phone please report this! #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/EeT3PtgApY
— #FreePalestine (@ayshaaaaaaa_) August 4, 2014
And journalist Rania Khalek tells her 45.8K followers:
Games for download at Google App Store: Bomb Gaza, Whack the Hamas & Gaza Assault: Code Red http://t.co/yeztAMn85P Bc genocide is a game!
— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) August 4, 2014
The game has since been removed.
Palestinian Omar Ghraieb, from Gaza, asks his readers to remain vigilant for other such games online:
#bombGaza removed. Peeps plz keep on the look out 4 similar games on .@android, @AppStore, Nokia world & Microsoft store 2 get them removed.
— Omar Ghraieb (@Omar_Gaza) August 4, 2014
Since Israel launched a massive offensive against the 40-kilometer long coastal strip on July 8, more than 6,780 have been injured. Israel has bombed schools, a playground, hospitals, shelters and refugee camps. Three in four people killed in Gaza were civilians. On July 28, Israel attacked the only power plant in Gaza, plunging the congested strip of 1.8 million people into darkness. As Israel forces bombs residential neighborhoods, tens of thousands have been made homeless and are forced to take refuge in makeshift shelters.
This is Israel's third military operation in Gaza in six years. Excessive restrictions from Israel in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank is why most of the world and the United Nations considers this territory “occupied” by Israel.
Follow our in-depth coverage: #Gaza: Civilian Death Toll Mounts in Israeli Offensive

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Barrel Bombs in Syria Continue to Bring Death From Above Despite International Condemnation · Global Voices
Rami Alhames

A screenshot of a YouTube video by SyrianZero reportedly showing barrel bombs dropped by the Assad regime.
While the world's attention focuses on Gaza, people continue to lose their lives in Syria, where the government drops barrel bombs in civilian areas held by forces who want to oust President Bashar Assad's regime.
The crude devices, made from large oil drums, gas cylinders and water tanks filled with explosives and scrap metal, have played a devastating role in the civil war in the Middle Eastern country. The DIY weapon wasn't invented by Syria, but the term barrel bomb only became a part of Wikipedia in November 2013, more than a year after the government began using them frequently.
Enab-Baladi, a group of citizen reporters based in Syria, said in early February that 100 barrel bombs were dropped over Darayya city in one week, killing 18 people.
Over 100 barrel bombs dropped on Daraya last week, acc to Daraya's local revolutionary newspaper, Enab Baladi pic.twitter.com/NuJycrq7UW #Syria
— abigail marshall (@Aemar_) February 6, 2014
Later that month, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution calling on all sides of the conflict to stop using barrel bombs. The Syrian government didn't listen — Human Rights Watch reported on July 30 that it has found 650 new damage sites since then consistent with barrel bomb impacts on parts of the city of Aleppo held by rebel groups. The website includes interactive images of the targeted areas before and after the bombings.
The European media director for Human Rights Watch, Andrew Stroehlein, tweeted a map of locations where the organization says the government has dropped the barrels. A list on Wikipedia also purports to show nearly 80 documented barrel bomb attacks in Syria.
#Syria govt barrel bombs civilians in defiance of UNSC: 650 major new damage sites documented http://t.co/khA8gBw9mq pic.twitter.com/c5U5Rr7y4V
— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) July 30, 2014
The bloody battle for control of Syria between forces loyal to President Al-Assad and the factions that are opposed to his rule entered its third year in March. More than 170,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which began with anti-government protests during the wave of Arab Spring demonstrations across the region.
The U.N. and human rights organizations have accused the government of launching indiscriminate attacks on civilians. Rebel groups have also faced the same accusation, but the Assad regime is unique in its use of barrel bombs.
On well-known blog Brown Moses, who has followed the Syrian civil war closely, Richard M. Lloyd, a warhead technology consultant at Tesla Laboratory Inc., examined the barrel bomb technology in a December 2013 post:
[…] The main objective of the Syrian barrel bomb program is to provide cheap and lethal damage on urban areas in Syria.
[…] These early barrel bomb weights are around 100-300lbs (45-140 kg) and are ignited using fuse wicks. The soldier lights the fuse wick using a cigar because the wind would blow out a match or lighter.
[…] The single-shot bomb probability of success is 37.5%, which means it would require five bombs to achieve one successful explosion.
[…] The Syrian government over the last year has significantly increased it's barrel bomb sizes from hundreds of pounds of explosive to 2000 pounds (900 kg) of explosive.
The video below posted by group SyrianZero on YouTube, subtitled in English and translated to Arabic, reportedly captures the moment when an Assad helicopter drops a barrel bomb on Darayya in January 2014. The footage also shows a rescue operation of one man trapped in rubble and rebels who threaten Assad with revenge [Warning: Graphic video, viewer discretion is advised.]

author: Rami Alhames


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Emancipation Day Sees New Triumph as Haitian-Born Dominican is Declared a National · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Emancipation Day, the anniversary of which is marked in several Caribbean territories on August 1, inspired two Jamaican bloggers to consider the occasion more closely. Nadine Tomlinson quoted Marcus Garvey on the importance of emancipating the mind, while her compatriot, Jean Lowrie-Chin, thought it significant that August 1 also marked the day that Juliana Deguis, a Dominican of Haitian descent, was finally declared a citizen of the Dominican Republic. There was widespread outrage across the region last year after the Dominican Constitutional Court made a controversial decision to deny citizenship to everyone born in the country to illegal immigrants as far back as 1929.


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“From the [Four] Compass Points of the Earth Arises a Mighty Cry — #FreeZone9Bloggers!” · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

Free Zone 9 Vigil, August 2, 2014. Martin Luther King Memorial, Washington, DC. Photo by EthioTube via Facebook.
“From the rising of the sun to its setting, from the [four] compass points of the earth, arises a mighty cry — #freezone9bloggers!” – @feathersproject
When Ethiopia’s Zone9 bloggers and their journalist colleagues were charged with terrorism two weeks ago, our community members put their heads together to decide how we might help the bloggers, four of whom are Global Voices translators.
Nigerian writer and GV community leader Nwachukwu Egbunike responded to the call with zeal. “Something just occurred to me,” he wrote to our mailing list. “The last Twitter Campaign was led by Anglophone Africa but had a global impact. Can we have a truly global campaign this time around, tweeting in various languages at a specific time for the #Zone9Bloggers? At least for starters: English, French and Portuguese Africa calling for their release, same day, same time with same hashtag!” After a few days of organizing local teams in as many time zones as we could cover — from Hong Kong to Islamabad to Cairo to San Francisco — a global, multilingual tweetathon was born. Nwach helped kick things off with a series of inspiring tweets for our global community:
Though tongues may differ, yet with many tongues we raise a mighty clamour for our common humanity, #FreeZone9Bloggers — Nwachukwu Egbunike (@feathersproject) July 31, 2014
Ethiopian bloggers and social mediaites in country and abroad were among some of the most prolific participants in the event.  Ethiopian women's rights activist and Vital Voices fellow Selamawit Adugna tweeted:
Dear zone9ers, I can never imagine what u going through in that prison just because you choose to care about your country #FreeZone9Bloggers — Selamawit Adugna (@selseladu) July 31, 2014
Human rights blogger @Bereket, who blogs at AddCafe urged followers:
The best way to pay homage to @zone9ners is to be like them: to care & speak out. Right now, l care & say out loud >> #FreeZone9Bloggers — Bereket (@Berehket) July 31, 2014
Former leader of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council Yoseph Mulugeta, a highly regarded expert on Ethiopia judicial system, tweeted:
19page fabricated charges but no mention of Zone9 by name.Not even once.The brand surely terrifies enemies of free speech #FreeZone9Bloggers — Yoseph Mulugeta (@YosephMulugeta) July 18, 2014
Exiled Ethiopian media expert and civil liberties advocate Fasiledes created another in a series of Storify roundups about the campaign, which have been widely shared since their April 25 arrest.
Although many participants come from Ethiopia or have direct ties to the situation, messages of support from around the globe flooded the hashtag. Mozambican journalism student Alexandre Zerinho tweeted:
Juntos contra o impedimento da liberdade de expressão. #FreeZone9Bloggers — Alexandre Zerinho (@Zerinho_b4) July 31, 2014
United against threats to free expression #FreeZone9Bloggers
Some tweeted images along with their messages of support:
Respect & Solidarity for @Zone9ners from Berlin @KonstantinNotz #FreeZone9Bloggers pic.twitter.com/V9KjDmCVZJ — Gruen Digital (@gruen_digital) July 31, 2014
Oiwan Lam, a Hong Kong-based media freedom advocate and China editor for Global Voices’ Advocacy project, tweeted:
埃塞俄比亞打壓互聯網言論的做法非常奇怪，因為這個國家61%成年人文盲，互聯網的滲透率只有1.5%，言論又怎可能對政權構成實質威脅？… 是「中國模式」作怪嗎？ #FreeZone9Bloggers http://t.co/wX9gQfjY0k — oiwan (@oiwan) July 31, 2014
Ethiopia's suppression of Internet speech is very strange, because adult illiteracy in this country is 61%, and the Internet penetration rate is only 1.5% [how can these remarks constitute a real threat to the regime? … Is the “Chinese model” doing mischief here?
Cuban blogger Sandra Abd’Allah Alvarez, who writes about race and politics from Havana, tweeted:
Liberen a los @Zone9ers… ¡porque bloguear no es un crimen! #FreeZone9Bloggers http://t.co/gQyCLBasqF
— Negracubana (@Negracubana) July 31, 2014
Free the @Zone9ers…because blogging is not a crime! #FreeZone9Bloggers http://t.co/gQyCLBasqF
Echoing many other tweets on the topic, Berlin-based open knowledge advocate Zara Rahman expressed shock over charges against the bloggers that condemned their use of “Security in a Box”, a digital security training tool used widely by human rights activists around the globe:
Speechless that charges against jailed bloggers in Ethiopia include “used Security in a Box” #freezone9bloggers http://t.co/mHszND2rwT
— Zara Rahman (@zararah) July 31, 2014
Sudanese blogger and human rights activist Dalia Haj-Omar challenged critics to acknowledge that authorities have violated the bloggers’ fundamental right to free expression.
@ageazib any government afraid of bloggers must be v weak, since all they have are their word #freezone9bloggers #Ethiopia @retweetethiopia
— Dalia Haj-Omar (@daloya) July 31, 2014
Ethiopian human rights advocate @Jomanex reminded followers that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met and chatted with detained Zone9 blogger Natnael Feleke at an Addis forum on development and innovation in 2013, and positioned this in contrast with terror charges issued by authorities under the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). He tweeted:
For Us & @JohnKerry he's the future of #Ethiopia for EPRDF he is a Terrorist. #FreeZone9Bloggers @bbczeinabbadawi pic.twitter.com/tNAcET08fl
— Jomanex (@jomanex) July 31, 2014
Just days after the bloggers’ arrest, Secretary Kerry visited Addis Ababa and publicly condemned the arrest, but to no avail. Argawn Ashine expressed disappointment with the inconsistent positions taken on the issue by different U.S. government agencies.
#USAfricaSummit Its sad to see @BarackObama rolling red carpet for dictators and criminals such as #Ethiopia/ n regime. #FreeZone9Bloggers
— Argaw Ashine (@argawnmg) July 31, 2014
Unfortunately, the position of the U.S. State Department is not the sole determining factor of U.S. policy towards Ethiopia, the second most populous nation in Africa. As its most stable ally in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia receives millions of dollars worth of military and economic aid from the U.S. government each year, in a partnership that human rights defenders believe trumps the priorities of other government agencies and media freedom advocates.
On Saturday, August 2, supporters in the United States gathered at the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington D.C., where they lit 900 candles to commemorate 100 days since the bloggers’ arrest. The event (Facebook page here) was poignantly named, “Zone Light”. Photographs and video from the event, recorded by EthioTube, can be found here.
Although their trial was scheduled to begin on August 4, state prosecutors have reportedly requested an extension of several days’ time — the trial has now been adjourned to until August 20. Meanwhile, Zone9 member Endalk Chala, who lives in the U.S., reports that five Ethiopian newspapers were issued criminal charges today:
So five #Ethiopia-n newspapers & magazines face criminal charges just today.Things are getting worse & worse by day #FreeZone9Bloggers
— endalk2006 (@endalk2006) August 4, 2014
On the ground, online and behind the scenes, the global effort to secure the bloggers’ release will continue in the weeks ahead. For updates on the case and campaign, visit the Trial Tracker blog and watch the #FreeZone9Bloggers hashtag on Twitter.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle