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Trinidad & Tobago’s ‘Pass-the-Buck’ Politics · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; Photo Credit: Juan Manuel Herrera/OAS, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, addressed the nation at 7:30 Monday night, three-and-a-half hours later than originally scheduled, to respond to the witness-tampering allegations surrounding Attorney General Anand Ramlogan. The PM also discussed the resulting police investigation into Ramlogan's alleged obstruction of justice, which David West, Director of the Police Complaints Authority, disclosed on January 29.
Netizens were already expressing their displeasure at the speech's hurriedly announced time change, but what Persad-Bissessar finally said provoked even more outrage. Yes, the attorney general, despite “vehemently deny[ing] the allegation”, tendered his resignation, but the PM added that Gary Griffith, the Minister of National Security who was allegedly involved in the fiasco (though he claims he was set up by the AG), also resigned. No sooner had the prime minister delivered her speech, than Griffith started calling in to various television stations to clarify his position: he did not resign; he was fired.
Many found astonishing the swiftness with which Persad-Bissessar moved on in her speech from the criminal investigation facing Ramlogan. She also questioned West's motives, calling for his resignation and saying he has a conflict of interest in this case. In her speech, the PM also managed somehow to blame Dr. Keith Rowley, the Leader of the Opposition, for aggravating the situation, pinning the whole debacle on his failure to communicate, while querying the timing of West's revelations:
What is also of equally grave concern to me, as it must be to the nation, is the compromised position of the Director of the PCA […] The question must arise as to why he did not make it known to me or to His Excellency President Anthony Carmona when the position of heading the PCA was offered to him in November. Further, why did he wait until now to make public this matter?
If the Opposition Leader also knew of the issue […] it would also have been obligatory upon him to have informed His Excellency. […]
Withholding such information has seriously compromised the appointment of the Director of the PCA. It is my view therefore, that the Director of the PCA should immediately resign and/or his appointment be revoked.
Social media immediately went ballistic. Facebook user Lara Quentrall-Thomas noted:
David West is a ‘victim’ in this case and should not be called on to resign as if he were the perpetrator. Appalling.
Rose-Marie Ingrid Lemessy-Forde agreed:
Why Kamla trying so hard to demonize David West??? Wants so hard to overshadow her own failed ministers.
Alyson Myers-Capstick, herself in the legal profession, thought the prime minister was deliberately shifting focus:
Less about David West and Keith Rowley and more about those two reprobates Anand and Gary. Stop trying to deflect the blame, your comments are not appropriate Madame Prime Minister.
Political blogger Rhoda Bharath said on her Facebook page:
Kamla take blame Rowley to new lengths tonight….something the PNM not even involved in…David West not even registered as a PNM member…and this is blamed on Rowley?
Keith force Anand to suborn West?
The fuck I really listen to tonight, boy?
Patricia Worrell added, tongue firmly in cheek:
A woman of principle!
The principle being: Whatever happen – is Rowley fault!
The prime minister went one step further than merely pointing fingers, saying:
I urge that an independent probe be conducted into these circumstances involving the Attorney General, the Minister of National Security, the head of the Police Complaints Authority and the Opposition Leader.
Bharath responded:
Kamla is so disgusting!
She is asking Carmona to revoke West's appointment.
Her whole speech is focused on West!
She mentioned The AG in one sentence…
She boof [Trinidadian term for reprimand] Griffith.
She boof West.
She Boof Rowley!
And aint mention && name once? […]
Wired 868, a website known for its slick political satire, summed up the whole situation in its usual cutting style, calling the press briefing “as bizarre as they come”. The post downplayed the PM's firing of the attorney general, noting that her admission that the whole affair might erode public faith in the AG's office would have been better received had it come three years ago at the time of the Section 34 controversy, a scandal known as “Emailgate” involving legislation that could have resulted in financiers of the prime minister's party escaping corruption and money laundering charges. Wired 868 wrote:
Oddly, Persad-Bissessar’s sharpest criticism was not for Ramlogan but for Griffith, Police Complaints Authority (PCA) director David West and Opposition Leader Keith Rowley instead.
Griffith was apparently supposed to tell the Prime Minister that Ramlogan allegedly asked West to withdraw a witness statement in a libel matter involving Rowley before West himself had officially reported the matter.
Whatever one might reasonably expect from Griffith, surely precognitive powers is not one of them.
Wired 868 writer “Mr. Live Wire” also took issue with the conflict-of-interest claims the prime minister leveled at West, saying, “That one needs careful examination”:
The AG allegedly offered him an inducement in exchange for the post of PCA director.
Now if West accepted the AG’s terms, he would obviously have been unfit for office. And, if he declined the terms and said nothing he would have concealed a crime and thereby been unfit for office.
But, according to Tanty Kams, if West declined the terms and reported the matter, he is still unfit for office for having reported a crime while working in a field that encourages people to do just that.
In some secret dungeon, Mr Live Wire is certain that Logic is being held captive and tortured nightly by this administration.
Many netizens thought it disingenuous of Persad-Bissessar to cite a conflict of interest in the first place, since she was one of the people named in Emailgate. Wired 868 also reminded readers of a few more instances in which the prime minister's behaviour flouted the very thing she was criticising:
Did Persad-Bissessar really accuse him of a conflict of interest for merely being a witness in someone else’s mess?
Is this the same Prime Minister who previously appointed Jack Warner as National Security Minister while he was under police investigation for possible money laundering due to his role in the Mohamed Bin Hammam scandal?
Or the Prime Minister who, at present, has Larry Howai as Finance Minister while he is implicated in alleged insider trading from his time at First Citizens?
Or the Prime Minister whose future Sport Minister Brent Sancho still has a legal matter pending against his ministry’s biggest sporting body, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA)?
The rest of Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar's speech was dedicated to fat-trimming. The Cabinet reshuffle, while expected, failed to instill much confidence in netizens. Many thought the mass revocation of political appointments played out like an episode of The Celebrity Apprentice, and of course, the videos and memes—often a good gauge for public sentiment—began to appear:
Carnival lovers poked fun at the firings by posting a meme of soca star Machel Montano, referring to his 2014 musical hit “Ministry of Road”:
Some observers, however, see the recurring Cabinet reshuffles as a sign of instability. Rhoda Bharath posted no less than 26 names of ministers who have been relieved of their posts during this government's tenure.
The meme below, which uses an image of the Speaker of the House, Wade Mark, refers to another recent controversy involving the speaker's decision to assign strictures to the debate of a no-confidence motion against Minister of Finance Larry Howai. The speaker erroneously advised that he was made aware, by the High Court no less, of a pending judicial matter between Howai and Jack Warner, the minister of parliament who brought the no-confidence motion against him. In fact, Howai was the one who brought the lawsuit to Mark's attention, resulting in the widespread perception that the speaker was partial in his ruling. There have been calls for Mark's resignation in the wake of the controversy, but he was spared the prime minister's axe:
Warner, himself no stranger to controversy on the world stage, has since referred to the prime minister's new Cabinet as “a glorified roti shop”. The public perception that the Persad-Bissessar Administration is not conducting sufficient due diligence before awarding ministerial portfolios gave rise to this meme:
After the speech, the blowback online was overwhelming against the prime minister and her People's Partnership. Wired 868 thought it was “musical chairs on the Titanic”; some social media users were tired of the constant political missteps, while others interpreted all the backbiting as the end of the coalition government.
The fact that the dismissed Minister of National Security's wife is the Chairperson of the Congress of the People (COP), one of the main parties in the governing partnership, does not auger well for longevity. Mrs. Griffith has stated that the COP's continued support of the current administration is untenable. This is in direct contrast to the position of COP leader Prakash Ramadhar, making the situation even murkier:
Prakash Ramadhar at diplomatic centre says he is now more comfortable in the coalition. Very confusing.
— V. O'Reilly-Ramesar (@globewriter) February 3, 2015
Some observers are even suggesting that a new political order may emerge out of the dismissals:
Plot twist: Gary Griffith becoming a PNM senator. #PPFEUD #Kamlageddon #PPSHUFFLE
— Minister of Pork (@Lex868) February 3, 2015
As things continue to play out, netizens are becoming more convinced that decisions are being made, contrary to the prime minister's claims, for political expediency rather than the public interest. Many want an election date to be announced now; Facebook user Dion Boucaud explained it this way:
Now it all comes down to this …. people laughing when tears are required, our country is in crisis. This Government has lost the confidence of all right thinking people […] As we race onwards to silly season one can only wonder what else will find the light. We are far more polarized as a society now than ever before. We just can't take anymore. Take one for the country. Call elections now.
Alyson Myers-Capstick added:
The Opposition needs to immediately insist on a vote of no confidence. Elections must be called as soon as possible, this government has collapsed.
Other Facebook users saw no merit in any of the country's current political choices, underlining the fact that the electorate must be its own gatekeeper. Rose-Marie Ingrid Lemessy-Forde claims not to be fooled by the smoke and mirrors of the PM's speech; she whittled the whole affair down to the issue of integrity in public office:
Well if we can get past the new appointments made by the Prime Minister so we can get distracted by all the name dropping…let's not forget that the AG and others in the cabinet should be facing jail time for witness tampering and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
This Twitter user was of like mind:
Dear citizens of T&T, do not forget that the origin of this whole #PPfeud was Section 34.
— Jax Yorke-Westcott (@TriniJax) February 3, 2015
The government, meanwhile, has been trying to stem the tide of any political fallout through a public relations campaign:
#kamlapersadbissessar #Leadership pic.twitter.com/J2ZKqXWxCR
— Kavie (@Sunrays25) February 3, 2015
Netizens, however, appeared to see right through the strategy:
Never see a Prime Minister fight so hard to not get back in power #KamlaPersadBissessar
— Jevon Johnson (@jay_horror) February 2, 2015
In the end, the onus will be on the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago to defend their democracy and prove this Facebook status update untrue:
Politics in Trinbago—where things keep happening at warp speed while the country remains in stasis.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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US-Cuba Policy Experts Discuss ‘Deep Differences’ on Human Rights · Global Voices
Elaine Díaz

“Cuba Posible” logo.
In late January, a group of politicians, diplomats, journalists, business people, and American and Cuban-American academics gathered in Washington DC, United States, to discuss the rebuilding of relations between the two countries. The group was convened by intellectuals and advocates involved in the Cuba Posible project — a Cuban forum for political debate — and the Cuba Research Center, a US-based non-profit organization.
According to the official Twitter account of Cuba Posible, key topics at the conference included “the diplomatic ties between both countries, the current political challenges on the island, the required improvement of democratic processes in Cuba, the performance of the press, and human rights.”
@cubaposible #sociedadcivil, retos democráticos y económicos en #Cuba y participación de la diáspora; temas a discutir en Washington
— Cubaposible (@cubaposible) enero 26, 2015
@cubaposible #sociedadcivil, democratic and economic challenges in #Cuba and diaspora engagement; topics to be discussed in Washington
One of the most complex and controversial topics over decades of negotiations between the US and Cuba has been the issue of human rights. During talks that began in Havana on January 22, delegations from both countries stated that they maintain “deep differences” on the matter.
According to Michel Fernández, one of the speakers and a lawyer living in Havana, “topics such as the single party system [and] the limitations of political and civil rights, [tend to] leverage criticism against the Cuban system, and even [raise the question of whether] human rights exist in Cuba.”
Lo cierto es que Cuba tiene un orden constitucional, tiene reconocidos la inmensa mayoría de los derechos que hoy existen, con instrumentos de garantías para estos, y se participa en los mecanismos internacionales de protección de los derechos de los que Cuba es parte.
The truth is that Cuba has a constitutional order, recognizes the vast majority of rights that exist today, with instruments that guarantee them, and is involved in the international mechanisms for the protection of rights of which Cuba is a participant.
But Fernández then acknowledged that “many constitutionally defined rights (such as freedom of speech and press, church-state relations) refer to laws for their enforcement, and in many cases these laws have never been enacted, therefore, we face the phenomenon of rights whose limits and form of exercise are not clearly defined.”
During a recent presentation of the annual Human Rights Watch world report, Latin America director Daniel Wilkinson called on Latin American countries to demand that Cuba respect  human rights in the context of the reconciliation between Cuba and the US. The report highlights the increase in short-term arbitrary detentions of dissidents and independent journalists in Cuba.
Roberto Veiga, one of the founders of Cuba Posible, stated that “the issue of human rights in Cuba is a topic that many people incorporate as a condition for developing bilateral relations (…). However, in doing so we must consider thecontext created by the circumstances that have influenced it. Otherwise, judgments could be wrong and potential solutions more difficult [to come by].”
“The reality is that only without the obstacles emanating from a hostile climate between Cuba and the United States, could we achieve the internal stability needed to cope successfully with the amplification of freedoms, an adequate political openness and a serene setting of national institutions,” says Veiga.
Lenier González, coordinator of Cuba Posible, stressed that “in Cuba, a heterodox and flexible Act of Association that would accommodate the plurality of actors of Cuban society is becoming imperative. In a détente scenario with the United States, the Cuban government has a moral and political imperative to become guarantor of all political and ideological pluralism of the country.”
The debate on human rights in Cuba necessitates, at the same time, a thorough review of the model of democracy in this country. Julio César Guanche, lawyer, researcher and member of Cuba Posible, pointed to outstanding debts:
el reclamo de un mayor espacio jurídico y político a los ciudadanos para crear decisiones políticas y controlar y disputar las ya existentes, una concepción interdependientes de los derechos, un mayor peso del derecho (…) y del derecho a resistir el derecho cuando su aplicación resulta ilegítima, la democratización del acceso a la propiedad, y el fomento de valores e instituciones que favorezcan prácticas de reconocimiento y tolerancia.
the demand for a greater legal and political space for citizens to make political decisions, and monitor and dispute the existing ones, and an interdependent conception of rights, a greater rule of law (…) and the right to resist the law when its application is illegitimate, the democratization of access to property, and the promotion of values and institutions that favor the practices of acknowledgment and tolerance.
The event program also included a gathering with Alex Lee, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Author Elaine Díaz participated in this event, which was closed to the public. All individuals mentioned above gave express permission to be quoted by Global Voices.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Elaine Díaz


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Sinai Residents Pushed Out of Their Homes, as Egyptian Forces Fight “Terrorism” · Global Voices
Global Voices MENA

A sign which reads: “No entry. Anyone entering this area will be shot.” This sign was put up outside security posts in Al Arish, Sinai, on January 31, according to @Cairotoday. Photo source: Twitter
The conflict between the Egyptian armed forces and jihadist groups in Sinai has reached a new level in violence after a series of explosions and gunfire left over 25 security forces and civilians dead in the peninsula last Thursday.
Jihadists in the area used car bombs and mortar rounds in the largest attack on military property in the country since the ouster of the former Egyptian president Muhammed Morsi. The State of Sinai, a jihadist group that was previously named Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis (ABM) before announcing its allegiance to ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attacks in the Sinai cities of Arish, Rafah, and Sheikh Zuweid in a statement posted on its Twitter page.
The attacks targeted a checkpoint and a military compound for the 101st brigade in Arish, checkpoints and military camps in Sheikh Zuweid, and two checkpoints in Rafah. According to the statement, the attack on the military compound in Arish involved three car bombs and two suicide-bomb infiltrators. The attacks involved approximately 100 jihadists, according to the statement.
According to Egyptian journalist based in Sinai Muhamed Sabry, civilians whose apartments are located near the security headquarters that were attacked have begun leaving their homes.
تم رصد رحيل بعض الأسر تماما من العمارات السكنية المجاورة للمقرات الأمنية التي تم مهاجمتها والتي تضررت وتضرر ساكنيها بشكل كبير #سيناد
— Sinai سيناء (@muhamedsabry) January 30, 2015
Some families have been seen leaving residential apartment buildings, neighboring the security headquarters that were hit, for good after they were severely affected by the events.
In a statement following the attacks, the Egyptian military spokesperson said the attacks came as a result of the successful military and police hits on terrorists and terrorist pockets.
The Egyptian General Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a statement the following day. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi cut a visit to Ethiopia for an African Union summit short on Friday and met with the SCAF on Saturday.
El-Sisi formed a new joint command for the area east of the Suez Canal and placed it under the command of Field Marshal Osama Rushdie Askar, according to a statement issued by the SCAF following the meeting.
In a televised address, standing with a group of military officers, el-Sisi blamed the Muslim Brotherhood, the political group that rose to power following the January 25 revolution in the country before being ousted in 2013, for the attacks despite the Sinai State’s claim of responsibility.
The Sinai State, ABM, and ISIS
The Sinai State was previously an independent jihadist group named Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis (ABM – which translates to Supporters of Jerusalem) that carried out attacks ranging from Israeli-Egyptian pipeline sabotages, during the transition period in which the SCAF was in power, to assaults on Israeli troops on the border with Egypt during Muhammed Morsi’s time in office.
No ABM attacks against Egyptian security forces have been reported from the ousting of Muhammed Morsi on July 3, 2013, until the Rabaa Massacre on August 14, 2014, which left hundreds of pro-Morsi protesters dead. An air strike killed four ABM members on August 10, 2014, with conflicting reports on whether the strike was carried out by the Egyptian army or Israel. In retaliation, ABM launched a rocket aimed at Eilat, Israel. The rocket was intercepted by Israel’s anti-rocket defense system.
ABM has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Egyptian forces since the Rabaa Massacre, including a failed assassination attempt on the life of Muhamed Ibrahim, the Egyptian minister of the interior, on September 8, 2013, and a number of bombings in the border city of Rafah that left six soldiers dead three days later.
ABM announced its allegiance to ISIS in a YouTube video in November. Prior to the announcement, Reuters had reported in September that a level of cooperation existed between ISIS and ABM.
The situation in Sinai
In August 2012, the Egyptian army began an operation against ABM and other militant groups in the peninsula after a series of attacks by unknown assailants left a number of Egyptian security forces dead. According to a BBC News article published in October of last year, “residents say that no distinction is being drawn between militants and civilians” in the military’s efforts against armed groups in Sinai.
The village of al-Lafitat in the northeastern area of the peninsula has been largely destroyed by military forces. According to Middle East news and analysis site Al-Monitor, a man by the name of Suleiman expressed one reason behind the increase of armed groups in Sinai. “The army is fighting terrorism with terrorism, or even creating terrorism,” he said, referring to the army’s indiscriminate shelling of al-Lafitat, bombarding the village “with more than one hundred shells” in one week.
The military has systematically shut civilian communication systems in Sinai during its operations. Comparing the Egyptian military’s communication blackout in Sinai with Israel’s strategy during its offensive in Gaza, award-winning blogger and political activist Wael Abbas wrote:
اسرائيل بتضرب غزة لكن سايبالهم الانترنت … سيناء برضه بتنضرب بس كل الاتصالات مقطوعة ومش عارفين ايه اللي بيحصل هناك :(((
— Wael Abbas (@waelabbas) July 1, 2014
Israel attacks Gaza but leaves their internet services . . . Sinai also get attacked, but all communication is cut and we do not know what is happening there.
During his time in office, former Egyptian President Muhammed Morsi took a more diplomatic route to solve the problems in Sinai. In October 2012, he held a meeting with Sinai tribal leaders and provided them with a list of promises which included a retrial of people in the Sinai who received guilty verdicts in various cases in absentia and the establishing of a legal framework that would allow Sinai natives to purchase land in the peninsula at cheap rates. According to Sky News Arabic, Morsi visited Sinai twice in one week in August of the same year. (The second visit followed a militant attack on an army base that left 15 Egyptian soldiers dead.)
The current military operation isn't the first time the Sinai Peninsula has dealt with violence. The peninsula, home to about 550,000 people, has served as the gateway for trade between Asia and Africa throughout the ages, switching hands various times. The Ottoman Empire governed the area from 1517 until the end of World War I in the early 20th century, when the peninsula was handed over to Egypt.
Egypt lost the peninsula to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. Six years later, Egypt launched an offensive in an attempt to regain the peninsula. Following the signing of the US-brokered Camp David Accords in 1979, Israel agreed to return Sinai to the Egyptians.
The area has witnessed a number of attacks on tourist sites in recent years. In October 2004, three blasts in three different tourist destinations killed dozens, most of whom were Israeli citizens. At least 88 people were killed about three months later when bombs blasted throughout Sharm El-Sheikh, a famous destination along the shores of the Red Sea. Bombs killed over 23 people in April of the following year in Dahab.
The Economist, in an article published in 2010, stressed the Egyptian government’s indiscriminate campaigns of arrests at the time after the bombings that took place earlier. An estimated 3,000 people were arrested and some languished in jail without charges. “The brutal policing campaign has left lingering bitterness, which erupted earlier this year in strikes, protest marches and scattered attacks on government facilities,” said the article.
Sinai has suffered a sense of detachment from the Egyptian mainland for decades. According to a report by crisis-prevention non-profit the International Crisis Group, published in 2007, “Sinai has long been, at best, a semi-detached region, its Egyptian identity far from wholly assured.” The report went on to discuss the Egyptian government’s lack of care regarding development in the peninsula, stating:
The government has not sought to integrate Sinai’s populations into the nation through a far-sighted program responding to their needs and mobilizing their active involvement [ . . . ] The government has done little or nothing to encourage participation of Sinai residents in national political life, used divide and rule tactics in orchestrating the meagre local representation allowed, and promoted the Pharaonic heritage at the expense of Sinai’s Bedouin traditions.
In April, Wael Abbas criticized the Egyptian government’s continuous disregard for the demands and needs of the people of Sinai by tweeting a satirical twist on the national Sinai Liberation Holiday that commemorates the complete Israeli withdrawal from the peninsula:
#عيد_تهميش_سيناء
— Wael Abbas (@waelabbas) April 24, 2014
#Sinai_Marginalization_Day
The Egyptian military began establishing a buffer zone along the Egyptian border with Gaza, demolishing hundreds of homes and forcing over 1,000 families to leave following an attack by ABM in October 24th, 2014 that left over 30 security forces dead.

author: Global Voices MENA


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Who Do We Lose With Internet Censorship and Control? · Global Voices
Cameran Ashraf

Tehran sunset. Photo by Hamed Saber via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
In 2011 I asked an Iranian human rights activist in Tehran to search some simple terms, part of a test for Internet filtering. I forget it now, but the term was something like “American football”. He replied that he was scared. He couldn't do it.
But aren't you curious?, I asked. No. Not any more. I'm not curious at all. I don't ask questions. I don't even ask questions about things I want to know. It doesn't matter. That time is past.
And he disconnected. We never spoke again.
I began studying Internet censorship in 2009. Since that time much has been made of the lost revolutionary stifled by online censorship or the opportunities for political and social change that are lost when the Internet is controlled. This idea drives millions of dollars in funding, documentary films, and countless articles in global media each year, all of which envision the Internet as a vehicle for freedom of expression, an opportunity to express ourselves and know others and in doing so to create meaningful political change. But my friend's last words show there is someone missing in this story, and it's not the political activist or democratic idealist. The person missing has little to do with politics. His last words forced me to ask myself: Who do we lose with Internet censorship?
In 2006, the personal search histories of more than 600,000 AOL users were leaked. The search history of one of these users, number 711391, became the subject of a fascinating series of short films titled “I love Alaska.” The search queries of a lonely, religious, married woman in the American south are the central narrative of the films. She searches for personal meaning, desperately seeks intimacy in her marriage, and ventures into infidelity, with sojourns through regret, Internet addiction, and a longing to escape her life and move to Alaska.
The films pull the viewer away from the “big data” lens. Instead, we see a human being exploring parts of herself in one of the few intimate environments in which we can be utterly ourselves: the Internet. Removed from social pressure and the judgment of others, user #711391 reveals how the Internet allows us to engage in a mode of self-exploration and research, a way to wrestle with the parts of ourselves that we may be scared to explore with others — parts that we feel safer in exploring through an anonymous search engine. User #711391 had no sense that the Internet she knew was censored, monitored, or controlled. She felt able to ask questions of an intensely personal nature in place where she would find no judgement. Some of her searches:
2006-05-09 i thought i could handle an affair but i couldnt
2006-05-09 god can heal affairs
2006-05-12 i feel so damaged inside from an affair i had
2006-05-15 how can you tell if your spouse put spyware on your computer
2006-05-16 how to get him back
For my friend in Tehran, Internet control paralyzed any sense of self-exploration – he wouldn't ask any more questions about anything that could get him in trouble. A deep and unknown part of his self would lay hidden. How much of a young man in his twenties still remains undiscovered and unknown to himself? While certainly there are other means to explore ourselves, not all questions can be explored openly, especially those with strong social or cultural taboos. Perhaps some of these questions are familiar: Am I homosexual? Does God exist? Am I a bad person? Is there anyone else like me? Is it okay to be myself? Why does my partner hit me?
There are those of us who ask these questions through the Internet, using search engines to ask the same questions we may have once privately asked of a god. But we ask these questions of ourselves, to seek out connection and understanding of who we are and to understand our place on earth, especially when such understanding is absent in our daily lives or societies. For a brief moment, finding some small element of self-acceptance or understanding online can be the difference between a life of vitality and spirit and a life of bare existence. And a life of spirit is nourished through regularly knowing one is accepted and loved precisely for who they are.
Through Internet censorship and control we lose an ability to be our own secret human – the one we are when nobody is around, sometimes late at night before we go to bed – and the type of human we are entitled to be by simple virtue of our birth. We can be within our existence and within our world most fully when we are most ourselves.
In an ideal scenario, this should carry no limits. One might be interested in learning more about a prohibited religion, their eternal questions unsatisfied by what they have access to. Perhaps another person sees something metaphysical rather than political in democracy, a form of self-liberation rather than political liberation, but will never know it because the word “democracy” is censored. It could be that an “indecent” photograph would be part of someone's journey to heal the wounds of domestic abuse, or that they could search about domestic abuse in the first place, but any avenue to explore and make peace in private is utterly shuttered, controlled, and monitored.
I spoke with an Iranian activist refugee in Amsterdam later that year. I mentioned the fear of the Internet. I didn't need to say more, as she understood immediately. She said I couldn't understand it, but I was on to something. It was scary to wonder and ask. Not worth it. Even in Europe she had blocked off parts of herself which yearned to be known through Internet searches: uncertainty about her sexuality, her marriage at a young age to a man she barely cared for, and trying to reconcile her religion with human shortcomings.
But after the 2009 protests and Internet clampdown she became scared of searching for an answer – she knew the government was monitoring the Internet. Our last coffee together was heartbreaking: she was too far committed to the person she had invented as a means of survival to change. She had become the undiscovered person through an internalized fear of self-exploration.
For some, Internet censorship and control is a political tragedy, one that represents the stifling of the democratic dream by building walls in the global flow of information. But it also builds walls inside ourselves, against ourselves. For me, Internet censorship has brought an undue end to the time for self-wonder, replacing it with a new era in which we ask no more questions about ourselves because the risk is just too great. This is the great personal tragedy of Internet censorship and control: young men and women who believe the time for questions has passed.
How we learn to relate to and explore ourselves doesn't end when our geography or circumstances change. It has been learned and adopted through being instilled with varying degrees of fear and terror, something which can take a lifetime to face.
The last time we spoke, the young refugee in Amsterdam taught me how these learned behaviors follow us wherever we go. She looked at me, speaking in a voice which sang beyond herself and her time and said: “I want to fly out of this life. Fly out of Amsterdam, out of everything. But I can't. I wanted to learn this, but in some way I forgot how.”
This essay won first prize in the #GV2015 Summit competition, “How Do Internet Policies Affect Your Community?” Cameran Ashraf is an Iranian-American digital rights activist and social entrepreneur who is currently completing his PhD at UCLA on the geopolitics of the Internet.

author: Cameran Ashraf


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World Leaders Mourn Saudi Oil Monarch as ‘Strong Advocate for Women’ · Global Voices
Nada

London, United Kingdom. 7th January 2015 — Flags at half mast on the roof of the Ministry of Defence which has had close ties to Saudi Arabia — Flags on UK Government buildings were at half mast to mourn King Abdullah, head of the controversial theocratic regime in Saudi Arabia, who died. Saudi Arabia's human rights record has been regularly criticised by campaigners. Photograph by: Andy Thornley. Copyright: Demotix
Saudi Embassies around the world are asking western leaders to moderate their tributes a bit, ‘just to sound credible’.
— Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) January 23, 2015
This tweet by satirist Karl Sharro doesn't sound too far fetched considering the outpour of seemingly unmitigated praise for King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who died on January 23, 2015.
Most notably, Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), called the late King, who held four of his daughters in captivity, a “strong advocate for women” in an interview to Reuters. In a statement, she also adds:
He was a global statesman who was admired not only in Saudi Arabia, but around the world. He strongly believed in global cooperation and worked hard toward this goal. At home, he implemented many important and difficult changes that have strengthened the economy of Saudi Arabia. He leaves a considerable legacy.
In a White House statement, US President Barack Obama said “King Abdullah's vision was dedicated to the education of his people and to greater engagement with the world”, while Secretary of State John Kerry mourned him as a “revered leader” in a tweet.
King Abdullah was a man of wisdom & vision. US has lost a friend & Kingdom of #SaudiArabia, Middle East, and world has lost a revered leader
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) January 23, 2015
However, the most unexpected and bizarre message came from none other than actress Lindsay Lohan who reportedly posted, then deleted, an Instagram photo of the King along with a message in Arabic that said “I love you” and “you are my whole world”.
Several Arab countries have announced a period of mourning. In the UK, government buildings, with the notable the exception of Scotland, the Union Jack was even flown at half-mast.
#بريطانيا تنكس أعلامها إلى نصف الصاري، حداداً على #وفاة_الملك_عبدالله. pic.twitter.com/Cd2stX5yMj
— Saudi Embassy UK (@SaudiEmbassyUK) January 25, 2015
The United Kingdom flies its flag at half mast to mourn the death of King Abdullah
Such a sign of deference sparked the outrage of many including British Member of Parliament Sarah Wollaston (@drwollastonmp), who tweeted:
Flying the Union Flag at half mast is hugely symbolic. #NotInMyName given the appalling human rights abuses in Saudi
— Sarah Wollaston MP January 24, 2015
English author and politician Louise Mensch added:
It is so unacceptable to offer deep condolences for a man who flogged women, didn't let them drive, saw guardian laws passed, & STARVES THEM
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) January 23, 2015
Human rights activist Peter Tatchell wrote:
Shame on @David_Cameron & @BritishMonarchy for deferring to #Saudi tyrants & showing respect for dictator #KingAbdullah >>> #NotInMyName
— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) January 25, 2015
Women are not allowed to drive and cannot leave the country without permission from their “guardians” in the conservative kingdom whose distressing record of human rights violations includes the public flogging of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who is deemed “guilty” of founding an online forum for public debate and for “insulting Islam.”
World leaders and high level officials from across the globe flocked to Riyadh to pay their respects. The Prince of Wales and David Cameron landed in the Saudi capital on January 25.
Prince of Wales and PM @David_Cameron in #Riyadh to pay tribute to late #KingAbdullah. pic.twitter.com/1aeB2Lilvw
— Saudi Embassy UK (@SaudiEmbassyUK) January 25, 2015
And US president Barack Obama cut short a trip to India to visit the Saudi kingdom.
President Obama will go to #SaudiArabia Tuesday to pay respects to King Salman bin Abdulaziz & family of late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz
— @NSCPress (@NSCPress) January 24, 2015
King Abdullah's successor is his half-brother, 79 year-old Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, who has changed his Twitter handle from @HRHPSalman to @KingSalman on the day of his predecessor's death.
رحم الله عبدالله بن عبدالعزيز وجزاه عن شعبه خير الجزاء، وأحسن عزاء الشعب السعودي في فراقه.
— سلمان بن عبدالعزيز (@KingSalman) January 23, 2015
May Allah have mercy on Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and reward him and help the Saudi people on his loss
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, 90, who came to power in August 2005, after the death of his half-brother Fahad bin Abdulaziz, is now succeeded by his other brother Salman bin Abdulaziz, who is 79. They are all the sons of King Abdulaziz, who founded Saudi Arabia in 1932, and have been ascending the throne in succession over the years. Abdulaziz had 45 sons of whom 36 survived to adulthood and had children of their own.

author: Nada


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Activists Demand Release of Palestinian Activist Abdallah Abu Rahme · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Abdullah Abu Rahmah's sentencing, Ofer Military Prison, West Bank, 15.9.2010
Photo by Oren Ziv via ActiveStills.org
Activists from Palestine's Popular Struggle Coordination Committee are using online petition website Avaaz to demand the release of political prisoner Abdallah Abu Rahme, due to be sentenced on February 8 in an Israeli military court. The petition is directed at Nitzan Alon, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) commander in the occupied West Bank.
Abu Rahme is a schoolteacher and coordinator for the Bil’in Popular Committee, which for years has organized weekly peaceful protests in Bil’in against Israel's separation wall, whose construction annexed more than half of that West Bank village's land for nearby Israeli settlements.
He was arrested in May 2012 while at a protest in support of Palestinian detainees and prisoners near the Israeli Ofer Military Prison for standing in front of bulldozers bringing concrete to be used as road blocks and defenses, according to Amnesty International. He was released on bail a few hours later, but was summonsed in February 2013 on charges of obstructing a soldier in the line of duty. Abu Rahme faces up to five years in prison.
The military order used to sentence Abu Rahme is the infamous “Military Order 101: Regarding Prohibition of Incitement and Hostile Propaganda Actions”, which has been described as illegal under both international and Israeli law by Israeli Human Rights NGO B'TSelem. Furthermore, Frank La Rue, the UN's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, after visiting Israel and the occupied territories in 2012, said the order has been used by Israeli authorities to restrict freedom of expression in the occupied territories since 1967, when it was first enacted.
When Abu Rahme was convicted in 2010 under the same order in a different case, Human Rights Watch called it “an unjust result of an unfair trial”. Amnesty International even named him a “Prisoner of Conscience” in December 2014.
In 2010, Abu Rahme was chosen as “Person of the Year” by known left-wing Israeli/Palestinian website +972Mag. They explained their decision as such:
Because he has become the face of the grassroots, unarmed resistance movement to Israel’s security barrier; because he is the person who has raised international awareness not only of the devastation caused by the barrier, but also the existence of a well-organized, non-violent grassroots opposition movement – one that brings together Palestinians, Israelis and international supporters in a joint struggle. Because he is the answer to the question, “Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?” (answer: there are many; and they are languishing in Israel’s jails). Because he has never wavered in his commitment to non-violence – not even after his cousin Bassam Abu Rahmah was killed by a high-velocity tear gas canister shot by Israeli soldiers directly at his chest; nor after his cousin Adeeb Abu Rahmah was arrested and imprisoned for participating in weekly demonstrations against the barrier that separates the people of Bil’in from their own farmland.

author: Elia J. Ayoub


text:
Barack Obama and Russia’s Puppet Assassin · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Obama's bad “puppet luck.” Images edited by Kevin Rothrock.
First they planned to kill him onstage. Now they’ve arranged to burn him in effigy. However you slice it, US President Barack Obama is having a rough go this month in Russia’s Altai Republic, where local organizers of the Maslenitsa festival keep finding ways to murder him for children’s entertainment.
Obama’s problems started on January 30, when Aleksey Golovin, director of a local cultural center and the frontman for a folk music group, and his bandmate Evgeny Golovin announced in a radio interview (audio here) that this year’s Maslenitsa festival (set to begin on February 16) will feature an “anti-sanctions” puppet show, complete with a public execution of a Barack Obama doll.
Unintentionally or not, Golovin’s plan provoked strongly negative reactions in the Russian media, leading him to cancel the performance. In comments to Echo of Moscow radio station, Golovin said he backed down because of the resulting media frenzy.
On February 3, however, Altai’s Maslenitsa show returned to news headlines, following revelations that the festival will now include a burning of Obama in effigy. Making the story evermore ludicrous for many social media users, Altai Governor Alexander Karlin defended the plan to burn an Obama doll, telling reporters:
Всегда на Масленицу жители весело сжигали чучела зимы, и она на нас за это никогда не обижалась. Никто никогда здесь не усматривал политической подоплеки. Я бы не создавал из заявления организаторов, что они намерены сжечь чучело конкретного человека или поставить спектакль, фактора большой политики или нашей агрессивности. Это наша народная реакция. Может быть, кому-то она покажется жесткой, но на самом деле она доброжелательная.
Our people have always had fun burning winter effigies, and winter’s never taken any offense. No one has ever sensed any political subtext in this. I wouldn't make the organizer's statement—that they intend to burn an effigy of a specific person or put on a performance—into evidence of big political aims or any wider aggressiveness. This is just the people responding [to current events]. Maybe it seems hostile to some, but it’s really all quite friendly.
Russian social media users met with suspicion Karlin’s claim that a plan to burn the US President in effigy “lacks any political context.” When the Governor’s comments were first reported, many online simply retweeted summaries of his statement, highlighting its apparent absurdity, without adding additional commentary.
Writing on February 2, in the wake of the canceled Obama puppet show, Altai blogger Yury Krasilnikov expressed his anger that organizers bowed to “Russophobic” pressure to cut the Obama skit. According to Krasilnikov, Golovin’s group didn’t plan to murder Obama in its play; he would only be beaten with a stick and banished.
Evgeny Golovin's folk music group, “Canarybird.” Photo by Yury Krasilnikov, LiveJournal.
Petrushka, a stock character of Russian folk puppetry, was supposed to mete out this punishment. Krasilnikov explains that Petrushka traditionally appears in children’s parables, both as the recipient and giver of justice. In the final act of his plays, Petrushka typically appeals to the audience, asking “What should we do with him?” at which point viewers yell back “banish him!” or, in other circumstances, “let him apologize and make amends!”
With this in mind, Krasilnikov offers the following advice to those in the media whose frenzy supposedly stifled Golovin’s performance:
Я бы посоветовал тем читателям и журналистам, кто хочет спасти Обаму, прийти на представление и требовать там «понять и простить», а потом написать в своих СМИ и блогах то, что вы видели своими глазами.
I’d advise all the readers and journalists who want to save Obama to come to the show, where they can call on [Petrushka] to “understand and forgive” him. And then they can write in their newspapers and blogs about what they actually saw with their own eyes.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Don’t Let ISIS Crisis Hobble Free Expression in Japan: Petition · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Kazuhiro Soda; Image courtesy Kazuhiro Soda
An online statement in support of freedom of expression in Japan started by journalists on January 31 has attracted more than a 1,000 signatories so far.
The declaration, called “A Statement in Opposition to Self-Restraint” (“翼賛体制構築に抗するという「声明」”) was drafted by New York-based Japanese documentary filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda.
The statement, and request for signatories, came during the recent hostage crisis that confronted Japan in late January. Violent militant group ISIS threatened to kill Japanese nationals Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto unless the Japanese government paid a ransom of $200 million.
Yukawa and Goto have since been murdered by ISIS.
Soda and others in the media became alarmed after any discussion critical of the Japanese government's approach to resolving the crisis was met with severe criticism, both in social media and from the government itself. The calls for “self-restraint” reminded Soda and others of Japan's wartime atmosphere, where no dissent was permitted at all.
In response, Soda drafted and posted the following declaration which was posted on this blog, urging his like-minded readers, many of whom are journalists, writers, filmmakers and commentators, to sign the declaration themselves by emailing:
hanyokusan@gmail.com
声明文（案）
私たちは「ISIL」による卑劣極まりない邦人人質惨殺事件を強く非難し、抗議するものである。また、この憎しみと暴力の連鎖の帰結として起きた事件が、さらなる憎しみや暴力の引き金となることを恐れている。
同時に、事件発生以来、現政権の施策・行動を批判することを自粛する空気が日本社会やマスメディア、国会議員までをも支配しつつあることに、重大な危惧を憶えざるを得ない。
「このような非常時には国民一丸となって政権を支えるべき」
「人命尊重を第一に考えるなら、政権の足を引っ張るような行為はしてはならない」
「いま政権を批判すれば、テロリストを利するだけ」
そのような理屈で、政権批判を非難する声も聞こえる。
だが、こうした理屈には重大な問題が潜んでいる。
まず、実際の日本政府の行動や施策が、必ずしも人質の解放に寄与するものとは限らず、人質の命を危うくすることすらあり得るということだ。であるならば、政府の行動や施策は、主権者や国会議員（立法府）やマスメディアによって常に監視・精査・検証され、批判されるべき事があれば批判されるのは当然の事であろう。
また、「非常時」であることを理由に政権批判を自粛すべきだという理屈を認めてしまうなら、原発事故や大震災などを含めあらゆる「非常時」に政権批判をすることができなくなってしまう。たとえば、日本が他国と交戦状態に入ったときなどにも、「今、政権を批判すれば、敵を利するだけ」「非常時には国民一丸となって政権を支えるべき」という理屈を認めざるを得なくなり、結果的に「翼賛体制」の構築に寄与せざるを得なくなるだろう。
しかし、そうなってしまっては、他国を侵略し日本を焼け野原にした戦時体制とまったく同じではないか？ 70数年前もこうして「物言えぬ空気」が作られ、私たちの国は破滅へ向かったのではなかったか？
実際、テレビで政権批判をすると、発言者や局に対してネットなどを通じて「糾弾」の動きが起こり、現場の人々に圧力がかかっている。
問題なのは、政権批判を自粛ないし非難する人々に、自らがすでに「翼賛体制」の一部になりつつあるとの自覚が薄いようにみえることである。彼らは自らの行動を「常識的」で「大人」の対応だと信じているようだが、本当にそうであろうか？私たちは、今こそ想像力を働かせ、歴史を振り返り、過去と未来に照らし合わせて自らの行動を検証し直す必要があるのではないだろうか？
日本国憲法第21条には、次のように記されている。
「集会、結社及び言論、出版その他一切の表現の自由は、これを保障する」
日本国憲法第12条には、次のようにも記されている。
「この憲法が国民に保障する自由及び権利は、国民の不断の努力によって、これを保持しなければならない」
私たちは、この日本国憲法の精神を支持し尊重する。そしてこの精神は、「非常時」であるときにこそ、手厚く守られ尊重されなければならないと考えている。
なぜなら「非常時」にこそ、問題の解決のためには、様々な発想や見方、考え方が必要とされるからである。
私たち言論・表現活動に携わる者は、政権批判の「自粛」という悪しき流れに身をゆだねず、この流れを堰き止めようと考える。誰が、どの党が政権を担おうと、自身の良心にのみ従い、批判すべきだと感じ、考えることがあれば、今後も、臆さずに書き、話し、描くことを宣言する。
Declaration
(Translated into English by Nevin Thompson)
As signatories to this declaration, we have all strongly protested and condemned the cowardly murder of two Japanese men, Kenji Gogo and Haruna Yukawa by ISIS.
We are concerned that what has been an escalating pattern of violence might trigger even more violence and cruelty.
At the same time, as events have unfolded in recent weeks, there has been strong societal pressure in Japan for broadcasters and others in the mass media to practice “self-restraint” (“自粛”, or jishuku) and avoid any criticism of how the government has handled the hostage crisis. This societal pressure has extended even to the level of attempts at controlling how elected National Diet members question government policy.
This level of control of public discourse is deeply worrying for our democratic society in Japan.
“In such extreme times it is important for each and every Japanese person to wholeheartedly support the government's policies.”
“If you value human life, you must never attempt to obstruct the government.”
“If you criticize the government at this time, you are just aiding and abetting terrorism.”
Using this logic, attacks are being made on voices criticizing the Abe government's handling of the ISIS hostage crisis. However, this logic obscures a bigger issue.
First of all, the actual policies and actions of the Japanese government do not necessarily contribute to resolving the hostage crisis.
And even if the policies were always beneficial, it is only natural that the government's policies and activities should always be monitored, carefully examined, and carefully evaluated by the electorate, elected legislators and the mass media.
As well, when we use the term “extreme circumstances” (非常時) as its logic for calling for “self-restraint” when criticizing government policy, it would also include such extraordinary circumstances as nuclear accidents and massive earthquakes and other natural disasters.
As another example, if Japan were to enter armed conflict with another nation, using the current logic of “self-restraint”, the argument could be made that “at this time any criticism of the government only serves to help the enemy's cause. In extreme times such as these the national polity must unite as one to support the government.”
As Japan entered the Second World War, this same logic was used to impose the concept of “self-restraint” on Japanese society and stifle dissent.
During those years of military government in Japan the concept had a name: 翼賛体制 or “yokusan taisei,” a “system in support” of the war aims of the Japanese government.
By accepting “self-restraint” aren't we as a society embracing the very wartime thinking that allowed our nation to invade other countries, eventually leaving Japan as a burned and blackened wasteland?
By creating subjects that are taboo to speak about, are we not leading our country on to ruin once again?
In fact, we know there are some actual cases recently where pundits or broadcaster criticize the government, and a throng of voices on the Internet and other media are quick to blame, pressuring dissenting voices to be silent.
The problem is, those who are quick to attack any criticism of government policy are barely aware that they themselves are in the vanguard of a new, unquestioning “system in support” (翼賛体制, “yokusan taisei”) for the Japanese government.
To these people, calling for “self-restraint”, it's all a matter of “common sense” and “acting like a grown-up.” But is this really correct?
Isn't it vital that we use our imagination to compare what happened in the past to what might happen in the future?
Article 21 of the Japanese Constitution says:
Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed.
Article 12 of the Japanese Constitution says:
The freedoms and rights guaranteed to the people by this Constitution shall be maintained by the constant endeavor of the people, who shall refrain from any abuse of these freedoms and rights and shall always be responsible for utilizing them for the public welfare.
We must support and maintain the spirit and intent of the Japanese Constitution, especially in such “extraordinary times.” We must keep a firm, protective grip on the spirit of the Constitution, which guarantees our right to express our opinions freely.
This is because when we as a society experience extraordinary circumstances, we need to hear from a variety of different perspectives on how to solve the problem. This way of thinking should be paramount.
We, as people who exercise our right to freely express ourselves, now declare to resist at all costs the threat of conforming to “self-restraint” and avoiding criticizing the government.
No matter what party holds the reins of government, each and every one of us will follow only our conscience. We make a personal pledge to never hesitate about what we write, speak, draw or otherwise create.
Anyone in the world can sign the declaration by sending an email to hanyokusan@gmail.com.
Soda and the other organizers of this declaration do ask that anyone signing the declaration use their real name.
So far there are about 1,000 signatories to the declaration, including:
A press conference will be held on Monday, February 9, from 5 to 6 p.m. in Room B 104 at the House of Councillors building in Tokyo.
For more information, see: http://hanyokusan.blogspot.jp/2015/02/blog-post.html

author: Nevin Thompson


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Elections Are Coming Up in Nigeria. Here Comes the Mudslinging · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

A screenshot of a YouTube video of Chukwuma Soludo addressing members in 2009.
Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, former governor of Nigeria's Central Bank, recently rattled the two dominant political parties in Nigeria ahead of the presidential elections on February 14.
Soludo did so in an article titled “Buhari vs Jonathan: Beyond the Elections” which was published late last month, decrying the lack of “issue based debate” by the two contenders to Nigeria's presidency. Current President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is running against former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari for the top seat.
Soludo regretted that neither the opposition party, All Progressive Congress (APC), nor the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has addressed any concrete issue in their campaign:
Let me suggest that the fundamental challenge for the next government on the economy can be framed around the goal of creating twelve million jobs over the next four years to have a dent on unemployment and poverty. The challenge is to craft a development agenda to deliver this within the context of broken public finance, and an economy in which painful structural adjustments will be inevitable if current trends in oil prices continue. Most other programmes on corruption, security, power, infrastructure, etc, are expected to be instruments to achieve this objective. So far, neither the APC nor the PDP has a credible programme for employment and poverty reduction.
Naturally, this post drew flak from both parties. The APC in a post written by Dr. Kayode Fayemi stated that “APC does not promise Eldorado. Neither our candidate nor our manifesto has made such promise.” But emphasized their commitment to “job creation”. The ruling party, PDP, through Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, accused Soludo of being “confused” and to have “lost touch with reality”.
Since Soludo's article raised some economic queries, the ministry of finance responded via a statement by Paul C Nwabuikwu, spokesperson of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, coordinating minister of the economy and finance. Nwabuikwu stated that Soludo “has failed twice in his attempts to be Governor of Anambra State and Vice Presidential candidate of various parties” and is now trying to make a “desperate search for power and relevance in Nigeria”. Therefore, Soludo lacks the both “the character and wisdom” to question the nations finances:
So let it be noted for the record books that Soludo’s single-handed mismanagement of the banking sector led to an incredible accumulation of liabilities that will cost tax payers about N5.67 trillion (being the total face value of AMCON-issued bonds) to clean up. Let it be noted also that this amount, which is more than the entire Federal Government 2015 Budget, constitutes the bulk of Nigeria’s “contingent liabilities” mentioned in Soludo’s article. It is only in Nigeria where someone who perpetrated such a colossal economic atrocity would have the temerity to make assertions on public debt and the management of the economy.
This statement drew the ire of ex-apex banker, who stated that his “deep respect” for Dr. Okonjo-Iweala meant he “never called her by her name: I call her Madam”. Yet he went mudslinging against Iweala, who he said “cried like a baby begging OBJ [former President Olusegun Obasanjo] to still allow you remain in the Economic Management team — barely few weeks after the debt relief?” The ping-pong continued with Soludo's accusations against Iweala:
Next, Madam, I was really embarrassed for you to read that one of the reasons for declining forex reserves is ‘oil theft’. Under you as Minister of Finance and coordinator of the economy, the basket of our national treasury is leaking profusely from all sides.[…]
Now add the ‘missing’ $20 billion from the [Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation] NNPC. You promised a forensic audit report ‘soon’, and more than a year later the Report itself is still ‘missing’. This is over N4 trillion, and we don’t know how much more has ‘missed’ since Sanusi cried out. How many trillions of naira were paid for oil subsidy (unappropriated?) […]
I do not want to talk about other ‘black pots’ that impinge on national security. My estimate, Madam, is that probably more than N30 trillion has either been stolen or lost or unaccounted for or simply mismanaged under your watchful eyes in the past four years. Since you claim to be in charge, Nigerians are right to ask you to account.
The ad-hominen conversation between the finance minister and the former central bank chief ignited a firestorm across the country. Some Nigerian politicians and commentators chided the finance ministry, while others took the middle ground, and some doubted the authenticity of the figures raised by Soludo. However, a news report shows that government just recently “received the forensic audit report of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) carried out by PriceWater House Cooper”. This counters Soludo's claims that the reports are “missing”.
Welcome to the murky waters of Nigeria's politics. The long and winding articles, rejoinders, claims and counter-claims above only illustrate the rather complex and opaque milieu associated with government business. This is made more complicated with the heated political climate ahead of the general elections slated later this month. Although Nigeria has a Freedom of Information Act, this does not easily translate into free access to information. Thus, it is difficult to really capture the truth behind conversations like this — especially in an election season. Every actor in this drama and/or their statement is viewed through highly-charged partisan lenses.
This fight between the two world-class economists has pitched Nigerian netizens into different camps. Those in support of Soludo:
Wait, they say Okonjo stole 30 trillion Naira? Egbe e! :D :D :D
— Amara Nwankpa (@bubusn) February 2, 2015
Chiemela thinks that Soludo took Okonjo-Iweala to the cleaners:
Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo is wicked!!! See finishing… — Chiemela (@oskinton) February 2, 2015
B insists that the finance minister is yet to answer the main thrust of ex-Central Bank chief's post:
Prof Soludo's first article asked a question about the plan for economy given the collapse of oil price, NOI still hasn't answered. — B (@bbellgam) February 2, 2015
This Twitter user made fun of Dr Okonjo-Iweala:
Ah ah? Why did Soludo accuse Ngozi Okonjo of dancing atilogu to keep her job? Would he rather she danced shoki? — #TheRealBuhari (@AktivIngredient) February 2, 2015
Atilogu is a traditional and vigorous body Igbo youth dance and acrobatics while Shoki is a contemporary Nigerian hip-hop dance step.
These users were not in support of Soludo's post (GEJ is the abbreviated form of Nigeri's president's name):
GEJ doesn't have to win d election but Soludo's current playing to the gallery insults our sense of history. He messed up in CBN. Period — Magnus Inspire (@magnusinspire) February 2, 2015
Ilyas claims that Soludo has a personal animosity against Okonjo-Iweala:
Soludo shouldn't follow the El rufa'i line, please. Looking intellectually out-of-place because of hate or angst against someone.
— ILYAS (@BexiBecks_) February 2, 2015
Lawal says it's a case of pot calling kettle black:
It's however a case of “kettle calling pot black” perhaps Soludo thinks Nigerians re oblivious of his activities during his reign as CBN Gov — Lawal Oladimeji M. (@Lawal990000) February 2, 2015
Abednego was just hilarious:
Reading That Soludo's Article In This Heat Was A Very Wrong Move.
— Abednego (@MONSIEURBLAC) February 2, 2015
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said she will no longer join issues with Professor Soludo because “you don’t join issues when things don’t make any sense.”

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


text:
Filipinos Ask ‘Where Is the President?’ After He Skips Arrival Honors for Slain Police · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

“RETWEET if you think PNoy should've attended the arrival of honors instead of that Car Plant event. #NasaanAngPangulo” tweets @BobOngWords.
The hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo, which means “where is the president” in Tagalog, became the top trending topic on Twitter worldwide as Filipinos expressed their outrage at President Noynoy Aquino for skipping the arrival honors for elite policemen killed in a special operation.
Aquino graced the opening of Mitsubishi Motor Corporation’s new car factory in Laguna (province south of Manila) rather than attend the police ceremony. The coffins carrying the remains of the dead policemen arrived at Villamor Airbase after being flown all the way from the southern Philippine town of Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
Forty-four members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) were killed in a botched-up counter-terror operation which became an 11th-hour pitched battle between state forces and Moro secessionist rebels operating in the Mamasapano area.
They were part of a 400-member police operation sent to capture the alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings who was said to be hiding in the area. The US government has placed a $5-million bounty on suspect Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan.
A series of memes ridiculing President Aquino’s absence from the arrival ceremony were widely circulated on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Filipino netizens recalled how President Aquino was quick to looking after big corporations and attending celebrity events while being absent in many of the big tragedies that befell the nation.
Attendance of our president! #NasaanAngPangulo pic.twitter.com/yh7hCmaGh7
— PAPA JACK ® (@PapaJackQuote) January 29, 2015
#NasaanAngPangulo okay pic.twitter.com/MT2gjNbTiS
— Ariane (@arinormously) February 4, 2015
Many also pointed out how the president said “I don’t attend wakes of people I don’t know” when asked why he didn’t visit the wake of transgender woman Jennifer Laude, who was allegedly murdered by a US serviceman last year.
Writer Katrina Stuart-Santiago contrasted the importance given by other heads of state to the honoring of the dead to President Aquino’s no-show at the honor ceremony for the slain elite forces in a Facebook status:
When the bodies of the MH17 crash victims arrived in The Netherlands, the Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, and the rest of the Dutch royal family, along with government officials sat and watched and cried and mourned with nation as the coffins were brought from planes to hearses. Nothing was more important than that ritual for the dead.
President Aquino gave a speech during the necrological services for the slain policemen a day after their coffins arrived. But the president was again put on the spot for being late and thus putting the rites on hold to wait for his arrival.
Aquino’s speech during the service also became the butt of online jokes for being more about himself than the fallen cops. A meme pointed out how Aquino always begins his speech in the vein of George Lucas’ Star Wars.
From the Facebook page of Jason Valenzuela.
The president’s spokesman has defended his absence from the arrival honors for the dead policemen, saying this was not part of his schedule. He also belittled criticisms by netizens in a Palace briefing, pointing out that this was not the majority view.

author: Karlo Mongaya


text:
Last-Minute Pleas Pour In to Stop Indonesia’s Execution of Two Australian Drug Smugglers · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Keep Hope Alive – courtesy Amnesty International Australia
Time is quickly running out for convicted Australian drug smugglers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, who face execution in Indonesia. They are part of the Bali Nine, who were arrested in 2005 in Denpasar. Pleas for presidential clemency and judicial reviews have been rejected.
The Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he has done everything he can but will not engage in “megaphone diplomacy”, according to the Jakarta Post. Many are not convinced:
Not objecting to the execution of your own citizens is, itself, a form of megaphone diplomacy.
— Sir Newt (@NewtonMark) February 5, 2015
An opinion poll taken in Australia is also the centre of controversy. It asked, “In your opinion if an Australian is convicted of drug trafficking in another country & sentenced to death, should the penalty be carried out?” with 52% answering yes in the phone poll. The sample size and method have been criticised.
In addition, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) radio station Triple J has copped criticism over the poll:
Bit of a stretch @DailyMailAU that a @triplej poll could lead to the execution of Sukumaran and Chan. http://t.co/VYPloxErXB #Bali9 #media
— Steve Williams (@randomswill) February 4, 2015
The Indonesian government has been using the poll to justify their decision:
Indonesia using Triple J poll to justify Bali Nine executions – 9#Au http://t.co/weGQliIPAM #Aust
— Tweeting Roo ™ (@TweetingRoo) February 4, 2015
Public opinion is certainly divided within Australia. Artist Ben Quilty has been organizing against the death penalty for the pair. He is calling for the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to go to Indonesia:
http://t.co/HqVjshO9ZS @JulieBishopMP please go to Bali.
— Ben Quilty (@BenQuilty) February 4, 2015
Radio presenter Garry Linnell opposed a candlelight vigil on 29 January and had supporters:
“Bali 9: Why I won't be lighting a candle for Sukumaran and Chan” – gutsy piece from Garry Linnell: http://t.co/XTnqe8tlXU via @smh
— Leo D'Angelo Fisher (@DAngeloFisher) January 29, 2015
Academic Patrick Stokes has discussed arguments for and against the death penalty in the Bali Nine case, and how not to argue for the death penalty, concluding:
Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika has said that the executions should take place – just not in Bali. It seems it’s OK for things like this to happen, so long as they don’t happen here, where we have to confront the full reality of what is done when the state ends a life, of what it is to shoot a man tied to a stake.
Sadly, many Australians seem to agree.
While PM Abbott was drumming up support for new data retention laws, the role of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in tipping off the Indonesian authorities was questioned:
With Abbott standing next to AFP for PR terror stunt why not ask for investigation role of AFP into Bali9 given over to Indon, death penalty
— suemazzy (@suemazzy1) February 4, 2015
The Twitter hashtag #IStandForMercy is another online focus of support:
With my daughter lighting candles for mercy. #IStandForMercy #keephopealive @MercyCampaign pic.twitter.com/nyeQNNGUDR
— Verity Firth (@VerityFirth) January 29, 2015
Nobody deserves the death penalty, no matter what crime has been committed.#IStandForMercy. @jokowi_do2 http://t.co/lwyx6buEgW
— Janet Rice (@janet_rice) January 29, 2015
Some on Twitter have wondered about a possible racial element amongst those who criticise the campaign to save the two Australians:
Wonder how these Bali 9 dudes on Death Row would be viewed if they were white?
— BRIGGS (@BriggsGE) February 5, 2015
Meanwhile the vigils continue:
Join us at a vigil tonight to abolish the #DeathPenalty and #KeepHopeAlive http://t.co/7ewm29Bo3V http://t.co/fW8TbIddwZ #IStandForMercy
— NSW Women's Network (@AmnestyWomen) February 5, 2015
A rally is planned for Sydney’s Martin Place, scene of the recent siege and deaths.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Serbia’s Prime Minister Drags Investigative Journalists Through the Mud Over Corruption Article · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

Serbia's PM Aleksandar Vučić giving a speech at a panel discussion in Berlin with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, where both spoke about the “Restart to Brussels – Serbia on the path to the EU”, with members of the Serbian cabinet and German Economics. Photo by Theo Schneider, copyright Demotix, June 30, 2014.
Social networks in Serbia have been buzzing since early January when the country's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić took another public swing at already pressured investigative journalists in the country.
At a press conference on January 9, when asked about a recently published investigative piece indicating possible corruption and irregularities in a large government-funded project, Vučić called the investigative journalists “liars” and accused European Union officials of paying select journalists in Serbia to slander the Serbian government.
The investigative piece in question was produced and published by Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) in collaboration with the Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) as part of a project titled “Strengthening of Media Freedom in Serbia” that was funded by the European Union and the National Endowment for Democracy (a fact noted in a disclaimer published with the article).
Both BIRN and a European Commission spokesperson have denied the prime minister's claims. EC spokesperson Maja Kocijanić reminded the public that “grantees have full editorial independence” and stated that “governments should in turn be ready to act on such criticism in a constructive and transparent fashion, rather than trying to stifle it.”
The piece pointed to possible evidence of corruption and several irregularities in the procurement and implementation of the state-funded project to pump out water and repair damage at one of the country's main energy sources, the Tamnava-West Field coal pit, after floods hit the Balkans in May 2014, damaging the mines enough to put them out of commission.
BIRN published the piece in the first days of January 2015, just days after Prime Minister Vučić held a high-profile inauguration of sorts at the re-opened Tamnava coal pit on December 26, 2014, calling it a successful recovery project, although the mine in question was reopened to work at only partial capacity and repairs are still underway.
In the press conference, Vučić went after BIRN's journalistic credibility:
“Jel’ to rekao BIRN? Aha, kažite to važno je da ljudi znaju ko su. To su ljudi koji su lagali oko Er Srbije. To su oni koji su dobili pare od gospodina Devenporta i Evropske unije da govore nešto protiv Vlade Srbije. E tim lažovima recite da su opet lagali! To je sve što imam da vam kažem
Did BIRN say that? Oh, then say it, it's important for people to know who it was. Those are the people that lied about Air Serbia. Those are the ones that got money from Mr. [Head of EU Delegation to Serbia Michael] Davenport and the European Union to say things against the government of Serbia. Well, tell those liars that they lied again! That's all I have to tell you
Only months earlier in August 2014, Vučić had questioned BIRN's intentions over an an unrelated investigation that included draft agreements between the Serbian government and the UAE's Etihad Airlines regarding the purchase of JAT Airways and joint formation of the new Serbian national carrier, Air Serbia. After BIRN's analysis of the drafts was published, Vučić made parts of the actual contracts public at a press conference and criticized the journalists for not having the right versions. BIRN maintains they contacted Vučić for response for months before publication, but were ignored.
The core topic of the investigative report — possible corruption and irregularities in the process of procurement and implementation of repairs at the Tamnava mines — seems to have been placed on the back burner for now, and an online discussion regarding the prime minister's attitude toward EU officials and pressure tactics on media has taken center stage.
Internet users seem to be confused by the prime minister's accusation that EU officials are “against the government of Serbia”. Once a right-wing politician during his days as a member of the Serbian Radical Party, Vučić has since presented himself as a pro-EU leader who likes to emphasize the support that EU officials have shown for his government's reforms and actions as the country prepares to join the union.
A Serbian firefighter and EMT Dušan Zukić tweeted:
Ne razumem otkuda sada EU protiv vlade Srbije kad su to #Vucic evi prijatelji? http://t.co/RjUdoY4Nqj via #BIRN
— Драгиша Зукић (@dragishaz) January 10, 2015
I don't understand where this EU being against the government of Serbia now comes from when those are #Vucic‘s friends? http://t.co/RjUdoY4Nqj via #BIRN
Another Twitter user from Serbia also raised the question:
Ova EU što dala pare #BIRN da pljuje #VladaSrbije, jel to ona ista EU što razume i ushićeno pozdravlja reforme #VladaSrbije bolje od Srba?
— Moje mame ćerka (@tisov_sumarak) January 9, 2015
This EU that paid #BIRN to spit on #VladaSrbije [the government of Serbia], is that the same EU that understands and excitedly supports the reforms of #VladaSrbije more than Serbs do?
Some users asked for Davenport's rebuttal, while others found the irony of the situation and ask that Davenport “keep funding” investigative journalism in the country:
Gospodine @DavenportEUSrb, molimo, nastavite da finansirate @BIRNSrbija i da podržavate nezavisno i istraživačko novinarstvo u Srbiji. Hvala
— Vino i gitare (@SinTwi) January 10, 2015
Mr. @DavenportEUSrb, please, keep financing @BIRNSrbija and supporting independent and investigative journalism in Serbia. Thank you.
BIRN and other journalists in Serbia have been targeted before by Vučić and his government. In response to the recent accusations, BIRN Director Gordana Igrić told Global Voices:
BIRN has always been transparent in regards to its work and financing, including sources of funding that Prime Minister Vučić's government also accepts funds from.
This is not an isolated incident, but a part of a longer campaign by this government against BIRN and investigative journalists throughout Serbia. BIRN will not be requesting any reaction from partner organizations or anyone else. We will just continue to do our jobs.
The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia also condemned the prime minister's accusations. The association's official statement calls Vučić's statement “unacceptable for a democratic society and a state that, as Aleksandar Vučić himself often claims, wishes to become a part of the European Union.”
Small independent online media began republishing BIRN's investigation into the coal pit project after the prime minister's statement on the matter. Independent news site Južne Vesti (Southern News) was one of those who printed a portion of the extensive BIRN article, titled “Pumping out the pit and the budget”. The site explained in a disclaimer under the headline that while it normally only publishes topics directly related to the south, “the general censorship of media in Serbia compels us to use extraordinary measures.”
Mainstream media in the country initially did not report on BIRN's investigation, but in the days and weeks after Vučić's statements, pro-government outlets accused the organization of everything from “espionage” and “inciting revolution” to insinuations of sexual consorting with foreign officials in the country. BIRN has since begun keeping record of the public attacks in a “Chronology of attacks on BIRN” timeline.
BIRN Regional Network Director Gordana Igrić at a panel titled “Media in Serbia at a Crossroads”, July 2011. Photo courtesy of Media Center Belgrade, used with permission.
Online news and opinion site E-novine lobbed a series of sexist and insulting remarks at BIRN Director Gordana Igrić, calling her a “pole-dancer” for Head of EU Delegation Michael Davenport. A January 27 E-novine article focused entirely on Igrić, titled “The English Patient”, describes the BIRN director as a flirty bottle blonde willing to do almost anything for money and avoids the topic of BIRN's investigative report entirely. The article, with no author signed to the piece, begins by saying:
Ako se neko usudi da piše o Balkanskoj istraživačkoj mreži palanačkih intriga pod moćnom zaštitom Delegacije EU u Srbiji, onda su to, po Devenportovim evroskeptičnim kriterijumima, napadi na BIRN koji eskaliraju do ataka na direktorku i urednicu Gordanu Igrić. Kada, međutim, istraživačice u mrežastim čarapama pišu o drugima, onda je to istraživačko novinarstvo nepismenih novinara koje zavređuje stotinak hiljada evra godišnje.
If anyone dares write about Balkan Investigative Network of Peasant Intrigues under the powerful protection of the EU Delegation in Serbia, then they are, according to Davenport's Euro-skeptical criteria, attacks on BIRN that escalate to attacks on Director and Editor Gordana Igrić. When, however, investigative journalists in webbed stockings write about others, then it is the investigative journalism of illiterate journalists that deserves some one hundred thousand euros per year [in financing].
E-novine is led by editor-in-chief Petar Luković, who was once lauded for his journalistic pieces criticizing Slobodan Milošević‘s authoritarian regime, but who has since taken a much different stance.
Readers and social media users in Serbia, having had very little access to the BIRN investigative piece that started this media war, have been confused from day one as to what the issue is in the first place. Miloš Subotić, a lawyer from Kosovska Mitrovica, in reference to both Vučić's statement and the lack of support for BIRN and CINS in Serbian mainstream media, said on Twitter:
Sacuvaj me Boze srpske solidarnosti. Svi su Charli, a niko #BIRN? Ne moras sa puskom uci u redakciju, da bi ucutkao nekoga! #Vucic #cenzura
— Milos Subotic (@miki028s) January 10, 2015
God save me from Serbian solidarity. Everyone is Charlie, no one is #BIRN? You don't have to go into a newsroom with a rifle to silence someone! #Vucic #cenzura
— Milos Subotic (@miki028s) January 10, 2015

author: Danica Radisic


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With the Falling Price of Petrol, Pakistan Plunges Into a Deeper Fuel Crisis · Global Voices
Aisha

There is a huge fuel shortage in Lahore and in other cities of Pakistan and people are waiting in long queues for gasoline. Image by Iftekhar Ahmed. Copyright Demotix (15/1/2015)
A shortage of petrol — a basic commodity to which the price of many other commodities are linked — across Pakistan is adding further misery to the country's energy situation, long plagued by power and gas shortages.
The shortage of imported oil began in mid-January 2015, mainly due to poor supply management from the authorities facing a debt crisis. Pakistan State Oil, which supplies around 80 percent of the country's fuel, ran out of money and banks have refused to extend the company any more credit, so it decided not to initiate imports in December 2014 without coming up with a way to meet the local demand in the coming months.
People were seen pushing their cars to petrol stations and forming long queues. Some came with Coke bottles in hand to fill up on the limited supply of petrol. This has brought transport in affected areas almost to a grinding halt.
The recent worldwide decrease in fuel prices has deepened the crisis. Pakistan reduced its petrol price a few separate times to tackle the situation. The current price is at around 78 Pakistani rupees per litre, down from 103.59 per litre — a 25% reduction in three months.
Petrol shortage emerges in various cities after price slashed http://t.co/NH3wLDviHP pic.twitter.com/PV9457n9sv”
— Gladiator (@FarahGladiator) February 1, 2015
#Petrol #Shortage emerges in various cities after … – #Pakistan #Pricecut #Punjab – #NewsInsight pic.twitter.com/0n6xEUq7GN
— Gleam Info (@GleamInfoBlog) February 1, 2015
Haroun Rashid, a businessman, tweeted sarcastically:
Drastic price drop causes shortage instead of massive surplus. Only in Pakistan #PetrolCrisis
— Haroun Rashid (@HarounRashid2) January 21, 2015
There has been serious failure on the part of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), which did not keep an accurate check on the level of stock the oil manufacturing companies were keeping. As the oil prices across the world plummeted, the Pakistani government lowered the price of fuel. Often the decrease in price was announced in advance by the government in order to give the nation, a good news. It was not a good news for the oil manufacturing companies who had stocks procured at a higher cost and had to sell at a lower cost announced by the government. They are supposed to keep reserves of 20 days in their inventory which they did not. Some are speculating that the oil companies in the country created an artificial shortage in order to reduce their inventory loss due to the price cut. This resulted in increased panic among the people and the demand for oil increased. Allegedly the petrol pumps exploited the situation and sold petrol in black market from 300-500 Rs – which is more than five times of the official rate.
This has put pressure on the government too. Some found it an appropriate time to question the competency of the government.
Naz Baloch, vice president of opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, tweeted:
1 word for PMLN govt “incompetent”, they are blind to see the suffering & miseries of people. NS must step down #PetrolCrisis
— Naz Baloch (@NazBalochPTI) January 20, 2015
Facing the crisis, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif cancelled his World Economic forum trip  to Geneva and has apologized to the nation for the acute shortage of petrol. He immediately suspended four top bureaucrats for failing to deal with the crisis and ordered a probe. Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbassi said in a press conference:
I accept responsibility and I am ready to tender resignation if there is any solution in it.
However, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar absolved himself of the responsibility and called the petrol shortage a conspiracy against the government.
Ministry rules out reports of petrol shortage in the country http://t.co/U0MIiwpkeF #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/aLnr8agXDF
— BreakingNewsPakistan (@BreakingNewPak) February 1, 2015
Junaid Qaiser, a writer,journalist, and coordinator of the Pakistan People Party social media from Punjab, mocked the crisis:
Now order Pizza delivery in queues at the nearest petrol pumps http://t.co/XGDn2D6mBZ #PetrolShortage #PetrolCrisis #PMLNPetrolChor
— Junaid Qaiser (@JunaidQaiser) January 21, 2015
It is also expected that with further reduction in the worldwide price of petrol in February, the price in the country would be further slashed and the crisis would get worse.
The government has asked the citizens not to panic, and some are rejoicing at the falling price of petrol:
Petrol prices are falling in international market but there's been more reduction in Pakistan than in other Asian countries. Credit to Govt.
— Ashar Jawad (@AsharJawad) February 1, 2015
Pakistan is the only country in the world, which is providing petrol to its people at the cheapest prices: Information Minister
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) February 1, 2015
It is feared that if the prices continue to fall in the coming months, there will be a shortage worse than this one. But instead of seriously trying to solve the situation, concerned departments are playing the blame game. Will this make things even worse?

author: Aisha


text:
37 Finalists Selected for the 2015 Social Impact Media Awards  · Global Voices
Morgan Meaker

Screenshots from 2015 film finalists. From the SIMA website.
Thirty-seven stories from 35 countries have made it through to the final round of judging in this year’s Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA). Subjects include the trans-community in Puerto Rico, unrest in Haiti and tracing the migrant trail from Nigeria to the Netherlands.
Daniela Ko, SIMA Founder and Chief Executive says: “These filmmakers and activists re-imagine socio-political filmmaking, they set new standards for transparency, integrity and creativity, while transforming their camera, their narratives and by extension, their audiences, into vehicles for social justice”.
Finalists are entered into the SIMA Collection and Travelling series, a platform which works to showcases the documentaries around the world.
The winner of last year’s Best Feature Documentary award was ‘A World Not Ours’ by Mahdi Fleifel – a portrait of statelessness and frustration in a Palestinian refugee camp in South Lebanon.  Now in its third year, SIMA has grown to become an international film program and  collection, curating and distributing the best impact cinema from around the globe.
Global Voices is a partner of SIMA 2015. SIMA is sponsored by the Creative Visions Foundation, G technologies, and the Angel Station.

author: Morgan Meaker


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Crimean IT Industry Wilts Under Western Sanctions · Global Voices
Sergey Kozlovsky

Images mixed by Tetyana Lokot.
For the last few months, Russia has been the target of Western economic sanctions over its involvement in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Crimea, a region Russia annexed from Ukraine in March of last year, has borne the brunt of the punishment.
The banking industry came under fire first, with Visa and MasterCard removing support for bank cards in the region. Then, in the middle of January, Apple began to send out notices to developers whose accounts were registered in Crimea, informing them their accounts would be blocked.
Привет от эпл девелопер крымчанам. pic.twitter.com/PFWzBKgRDD
— Yuri Tkachenko (@yuritkachenko) January 17, 2015
Hello from Apple to Crimean developers.
Apple also ordered retailers to stop all shipments and sales of its products and services in the region. At the end of the last month, iOS users in Crimea reported that downloads of both free and paid apps from the App Store was no longer available.
Доброе утро. Не смог обновить и бесплатные приложения #Apple #Крым #санкции. Покупки недоступны /att @tjournalru pic.twitter.com/1loAQ0W29p
— Антон Лучников (@sioburn) January 29, 2015
Good morning. Wasn't able to update free apps either. Purchases unavailable.
[Text in screenshot: Purchase is not available in your region according to the European Council’s Regulation (EU) No. 1351/2014 and the U.S. President’s Executive Order No. 13685.]
Android users soon suffered the same fate: Google is now also acting to block the use its products and services in Crimea. The company has already ceased Google Play services and has blocked AdSense and AdWords accounts in the region. Free services like Gmail, Google Search, and Maps remain available for Crimean citizens. Two more US companies—Valve, who runs the online video game market Steam, and the PayPal payment system—have followed suit and blocked access to their services from Crimea.
The companies are complying with the sanctions under a US presidential order imposed on Crimea in protest at Russia’s annexation of the peninsula. According to the executive order, US companies should stop any import or export of “goods, services, or technology” to or from “the Crimean region of Ukraine” before February 1.
Local users have already found an easy way to counteract the Google and Apple block by simply changing the location in their profile settings. So far, this seems to work for the App Store and the Google Play store. Things are much more complicated for developers, because virtually all of them had been involved in outsourcing, or working for US or European countries from Crimea. Local IT entrepreneurs, like Pavel Berman, an ex-producer at IT-firm “Sloboda,” told Apparat this was killing the IT industry in Crimea.
Пока непонятно, на чём блокировки остановятся. По сути, IT в Крыму если не мёртв, то бьётся в конвульсиях
It is still impossible to tell how far the situation with blockages will go. In essence, the Crimea’s IT-industry is in its final death throes, if not dead yet.
Crimea, which at one point was a sort of Mecca for freelance developers, who moved here for better jobs, competitive salaries, and the seaside climate, is now seeing disillusioned professionals unsure of their future. The developers are faced with only a few choices if they wish to continue their work: move away from Crimea, move their work to servers outside of Crimea (e.g., to Russia, which comes with its own set of problems) or use Tor and other VPN tools to manage computers in Crimea. None of these are ideal for people who have been nurturing a local business or a software outsourcing company.
Beyond the circle of IT-professionals, citizens in Crimea don’t seem to overly care about the tech-related sanctions. The mobile industry in the region is underdeveloped, so Apple and Google services are not in high acclaim, Berman said. Developer Dmitry Boychenko also said he thought rising prices and other everyday issues were at the forefront of people's minds.
Думаю, что санкции именно интернет-компаний для большинства оказались малозаметными. На общем фоне, когда есть трудности с транспортной логистикой и неадекватные цены, выросшие в два-три раза, это всё мелочи.
I think, that Internet sanctions in particular were insignificant for most of the people. Overall, when you have troubles with logistics, transportation, and unbelievable prices that have grown two-three times, this [sanctions] means nothing.
Even before the latest crunch of sanctions, Crimea had become a closed region. With its annexation, the peninsula has lost access to alternative sources of information, with Ukrainian media taken off the air or blocked online. The latest sanctions, taking away even more Internet and online service accessibility, will undoubtedly make the isolation worse.

author: Sergey Kozlovsky


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Macedonians Plan to Use Freedom of Information Act to Fight New Freelance Law · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Image of protesters from the first march of part-time and freelance workers in Macedonia, December 2014. Photo courtesy of Akademik.mk, used with permission.
Almost 1,000 people in Macedonia have signed on to participate in a second protest of part-time workers and freelancers, scheduled for February 6. In the first protest in December 2014, several thousand people took to the streets of Skopje, marching against additional taxes and fees imposed by new government regulations, effective as of January 1, 2015.
Due to ambiguities in the new regulation and lack of coordination between government agencies in implementing the new law, payment of fees for part-time and freelance work for certain categories of workers were blocked in the last days of January. META.mk news agency recently reported:
In the longest month of the year, freelancers who have fees higher than 9,590 denars [178 US dollars] will be left without income. Copyright agency “Berin” said that they received a notice from Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIOM) asking them not to pay fees higher than 9,590 denars until information on how the calculations would be made is not published on the website. As stated in the notice, the reason for this is the lack of coordination of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, PIOM and PRO regarding the new law, which provides freelancers to also pay pension and disability insurance.
What sets this new organized protest apart from others is that it uses innovative tactics: participants are preparing to ask the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy about the law's ambiguities using Freedom of Information Act (FOI) requests. By submitting requests for access to information as to the reasons for the delay in payments, protesters aim to show the bureaucratic inefficiency of the ministry under what many say is an absurd pretext and absurd regulations.
Ајде хонорарци да одиме во МТСП и да си ги побараме одговорите што ни ги должат!
Цел јануари многумина од нас не добија хонорар, АЈДЕ ДА ПРАШАМЕ!
На некои им прекина авторскиот договор АЈДЕ ДА ПРАШАМЕ!
Не не прашуваа кога решаваа во лето да сменат 5 закони, ајде сега НИЕ да ги ПРАШАМЕ!
Петок, 6 февруари 11.00часот. Министерство за труд и социјална политика.
Имате формулари.
Имаме ПРАВО на одговори!
ДЕТАЛИ ЗА НАСТАНОТ
Секој хонорарец поднесува барање за информација од јавен карактер до министерството по што им се придружува на останатите кои стојат пред министерството. Поднесувањето барања се планира да трае два часа.
Урнекот на барањето за информации од јавен карактер можете да го преземете од коментарите. Прашања можете сами да поставите или можете да преземете некое прашање од листата што исто така ја имате како коментар.
Come on freelancers, let's go to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and demand the answers they owe us.
Many of us didn't receive pay during January, let's ask them why!
Some of us had our contracts discontinued, let's ask them why!
They didn't ask us when they decided to change five laws last summer, let us ask them now!
Friday, February 6 at 11:00 p.m. Ministry for Labor and Social Policy.
Use the forms enclosed.
We have the right to answers.
EVENT DETAILS
Each freelancer will submit a FOI request to the ministry and then join the rest who will stand in front of the ministry. The submission process will take about two hours.
The template for the request is enclosed within the comments of this event [available in Macedonian and Albanian]. You can choose your own questions or copy some of the list which is also enclosed.
According to Macedonia's Law on Freedom of Access to Information of Public Character, state bodies are under obligation to respond to written FOI requests within 30 days. Those who submit the request in person orally should receive responses within five days. More information about the FOI law is available on the website of Commission for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information and the informative civil society portal “Right to Know.” Several hundred, if not more, FOI requests are expected to be directed at Macedonia's government through this protest.

author: Filip Stojanovski