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Iranian Couples Are Increasingly Living Together Outside of Marriage · Global Voices
Center for Human Rights in Iran

A young couple sit atop a hill overlooking Tehran. Image from ICHRI.
This post originally appeared on iranhumanrights.org and is published here in collaboration with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
First they called it “white marriage”. Now it’s “black coupling.” But no matter how Iranian officials choose to label the growing trend of young unmarried couples living together, it’s becoming more and more common.
That’s because the phenomenon is directly related to socioeconomic disparities between Iranian men and women, a sociologist speaking on the condition of anonymity told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
For example, more women are choosing to live with their male partners outside of wedlock because men and women do not have equal status under Iranian law.
“Most of the conditions contained in marriage contracts are in favor of men,” said the sociologist, who specializes in women’s studies. “Men have more rights regarding divorce, or determining the place of residence, and controlling their wife’s travels, education and employment.”
Iranian men and women are also not exposed to many opportunities to interact with each other during their development due to gender segregation—imposed at the state and familial levels—so “white marriages” are seen as a way for couples to be together without bureaucratic entanglements.
“This type of lifestyle allows women and men to enjoy living under one roof together without any complications,” especially when official statistics show many marriages end up in divorce, explained the expert.
But the sociologist warned that the government’s growing opposition to so-called white marriages could endanger women in Iran, who already have less rights than men under the Islamic Republic’s constitution.
“If a woman is attacked by her male partner, she would have no legal protection,” the sociologist told the Campaign. “Instead she would be asked by the police and judicial authorities about her marital status, and if she is not legally married, she will be in a lot of trouble.”
Since co-habitation outside of wedlock is often kept secret from traditional Iranian parents, women could also become less willing to seek familial support even if they were being subjected to mental and physical abuse by their partners.
Under Iranian Sharia law, men and women are required to register their marital union. Those who choose not to do so are considered by the state as living in sin and committing adultery, an offense punishable by death.
But more and more young Iranians are choosing to take the risk.
Perceiving the growing trend as a threat to revolutionary ideals, state officials are condemning the lifestyle choice through words and actions.“The decline of marriage statistics is a serious threat, and unfortunately, many young people have turned to ‘white marriages,’ which is a new malady and a serious blow to the family,” says Seyed Reza Salehi Amir, an adviser to Iranian President Rouhani.
He added that compared to last year, marriages have declined by 6.5% and divorces have increased by 4.5%.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the few societies in which the pace of change is very fast and the fast-paced changes are worrisome,” he said.
The Young Journalists Club, affiliated with the state broadcasting organization, has attributed the rise of unmarried couples to the infiltration of “Western freedoms and modernity” in Iranian society.
The Judiciary’s cultural affairs deputy has also urged the media to “stop referring to this inauspicious phenomenon as a ‘white marriage’ and instead call it ‘black coupling.’”
During the summer of 2015, the government announced the implementation of the “Stable Family Promotion” project in Tehran Province, aimed at combating “white marriages” that were described as an “imported concept incompatible with the harmony and happiness of the Iranian family.”
Some Iranian academics are meanwhile publicly insulting and shaming women who choose to cohabitate with their partners.
Women entering “white marriages” only last as long as they are young and beautiful, sociologist Amanollah Gharaee Moghaddam told the conservative Entekhab newspaper.
“After that they will turn into prostitutes,” he said.

author: Center for Human Rights in Iran


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After Revealing Workplace Sexual Harassment, an Iranian Newscaster Says It’s ‘Time to Break Free’ · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Iranians on social media have been following the firestorm that ensued after newscaster Sheen Shirani, who works for the Iranian state's English-language network Press TV, came out with damaging evidence that her executives were subjecting her to sexual harassment.
On 5 February, Shirani posted a series of recordings from telephone conversations as well as messages from Facebook messenger and WhatsApp highlighting unsolicited advances by Hamid Reza Emadi, the broadcaster's news editor.
Emadi was added to a European Union blacklist for human rights violations by the European Court of Justice in 2013. Emadi was identified by Maziar Bahari, an Iranian reporter now living in exile, that Emadi took part in his interrogations and forced false confessions while locked away at Iran's Evin prison. Press TV aired a series of confessions by tortured detainees prior to Emadi landing on the EU sanctions list.
Shirani published the messages on Facebook. That same evening, she reported that Facebook had removed her post for not following Facebook's Community Standards. Emadi had sent her multiple requests to remove her recordings beforehand, but it is unclear whether there is a correlation between Emadi's objections and Facebook's removal.
Facebook has just removed three of my posts saying it does not follow the Facebook Community Standards. Earlier… https://t.co/Px0qHodNRR
— Sheena Shirani (@SheenaShirani) February 5, 2016
Shirani's Facebook post after she discovers the evidence she posted against her former Press TV managers was removed by Facebook.
In an video interview (featured at the top of this post) with Masih Alinejad, an Iranian activist journalist living in exile, Shirani further explained Emadi's physical harassment in the office.
She also accused Press TV studio manager Payam Afshar of sexual harassment. After rejecting his advances, Afshar reportedly subjected Shirani to unjustified targeting, asking other employees to report on Shirani's petty infractions, such as arriving a second or two late for her broadcasts.
Shirani said she turned to Emadi for advice on how to deal with Afshar. After the problem with Afshar was solved with Emadi's help, Emadi reportedly reasoned his sexual advances under the rubric of his professional support for her:
I’ve always helped you. I’ve always been there for you. Whenever you wanted something, I’ve helped you. I’m not asking you to kill someone. You can help me as a friend. You can have sex with me as a friend.
In the recording Shirani shared with journalist Alinejad, Emadi is heard requesting that Shirani go to bed with him because he feels restless. After she tells him to make these requests of his wife, Emadi reasons, “If I could find my wife I would not ask you.”
This case highlights the precariousness of women's roles in Iran's professional settings.
In reaction to harsh criticism on social media accusing Shirani that she had in reality engaged in sexual relations with Emadi, she told Alinejad:
If I wanted to engage in a relationship with Mr. Emadi rest assured I would have reached higher echelons of Press TV rather than working there as a simple woman without a contract; a woman without insurance; a woman running the risk of being made redundant..I would have accumulated a lot of wealth and I simply would not be worrying about my future either, nor that of my son.
According to a report by IranWire, Shirani has left Iran, and her whereabouts unknown. While employed with Press TV, she always wore a hijab, in line with the broadcaster (and country's) strict rules on women's modesty; however, following her departure and accusations, she has presented herself without the headscarf. It's “time to break free,” she wrote on Facebook.
Shirani posts about shedding her hijab and leaving a job that compromised her dignity while forcing her to maintain a Islamic dress code.
Press TV released a statement in Persian addressing Shirani's revelations. They explained they had suspended two employees while the investigation into the case continues, but did not indicate whether the two employees were Emadi and Afshar. They also claimed that no formal complaints were made inside of Iran, and the public allegations were part of a political conspiracy meant to undermine Iran's political system.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mahsa Alimardani


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Chinese Authorities Pressured a Bangladesh Art Summit Into Censoring a Tibet Exhibit · Global Voices
Rezwan

The covered art installation after protest by the Chinese Ambassador. Image courtesy: Facebook page of Wasfia Nazreen
The third edition of the Dhaka Art Summit took place 5-8 February 2016 and featured paintings, performance art, film screenings, and book launches. The annual event, hosted by the non-profit Samdani Art Foundation, showcases South Asian art and brings together hundreds of artists, scholars, curators and visitors from around the region and the world.
What's considered art in one place, however, can be seen as political heresy in another. Such was the case with one of the summit's multimedia installations. Created by Indian filmmaker Ritu Sarin and her artist husband Tenzing Sonam, a Tibetan living in exile in Dharmashala, the exhibit centered on those in Tibet who have self-immolated in protest of China's dominion over the region.
The installation, titled “Last Words”, consisted of facsimiles of five last messages along with their English translations written by people who self-immolated. These messages were part of a larger multimedia exhibit by Sarin and Sonam on Tibetan self-immolations in the past six years, which the duo inaugurated in Delhi last December.
Filmmakers and artists Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin at the Dhaka Art Summit with Wasfia Nazreen (middle). Image courtesy Wasfia Nazreen's Facebook page. 6 February 2016
Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang visited the exhibition on Saturday, 6 February and reportedly “exploded” at the sight of the Tibetan art installation, asking that they be removed immediately. Later, he sent the organisers a mail-in protest and requested that the works be taken down. The organisers obliged by covering up the five frames with white sheets with the artists’ consent.
In what was probably a subtle act of defiance, the artwork was covered up but left hanging on the wall.
Sarin expressed her frustration to newspaper The Indian Express:
This is bullying. The Chinese are asking for the works to be removed in a foreign country. We have just taken five letters that are actually available online; it is not even an interpretation.
The installation “Last words” by Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam as displayed on 5 and 6 February. Image courtesy Facebook Page of Wasfia Nazreen.
While mountaineer, activist, social worker and writer Wasfia Nazreen (pictured above) wrote on her Facebook page that the ambassador had “threatened dire consequences” if the pieces weren't removed. She continued:
Not surprised at the arrogance and bullying tactics of the Chinese government in shutting down any voice that disagrees with its official version of what is happening in #Tibet but, end of the day its about my own identity, as a Bangladeshi, a citizen of an independent country, i am sorry but you CANNOT capture our Spirit with force.
One of the letters in the installation reads:
I, Tsultrim Gyatso, the warrior of the snows, set myself on fire for the welfare of all Tibetans. The golden teardrops. Alas, tears. Heartbreak. Brothers, do you hear? Do you see? Do you hear? To whom shall I tell about the suffering of six million Tibetans? Precious human body engulfed in flames. I set myself on fire for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet, to free Panchen Rinpoche from prison, and for the welfare of six million Tibetans. May all sentient beings residing in the three realms be free from the three poisons and attain Buddhahood. May the lama and the Three Jewels hold dear those who are downtrodden and without refuge. Brothers and sisters of the Land of Snow, for the sake of Tibet’s unity, do not fall under the deceitful ways of the foxes.
Tsultrim Gyatso, 43, self-immolated on 19 December 2013 in Sangchu, Kanlho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. Image courtesy Wasfia Nazreen's Facebook page.
Tibetans accuse China, which incorporated Tibet into its territory over 60 years ago, of religious and cultural persecution. The region has seen several large-scale uprisings in that time, and dozens of people in recent years have self-immolated in individual protests against Chinese control. China keeps Tibet firmly in its grip by heavily censoring the Internet, controlling media and restricting access to tourists and international press.
This is not the first time the Chinese government has tried to shut down Tibet-related exhibitions. In 2009, Chinese pressure resulted in the closure of a photography exhibition on Tibet named “Into Exile | Tibet 1949-2009” organised jointly by Students for a Free Tibet–Bangladesh and Drik Bangladesh.
In an interview with Catch News, Sonam described what kind of message China is sending with this action:
Do not encourage or give a platform to any opinion, narrative or voice that runs counter to the official Chinese line, particularly when it comes to Tibet or Xinjiang.
The underlying threat to this message is: If you do not comply, we will cut economic ties or otherwise make it difficult for you.
Others published their outrage on Twitter:
I wld hv got if BD govt. was behind dis taking down #tibet installation. i just dnt undrstnd hw n ambassador can do dis in another country.
— Muktasree Chakma (@SathiChakma) February 8, 2016
On Facebook, Ehsan Rahman Zia commented defiantly:
white sheets of paper @ dhaka art summit can surely cover up tibetan artworks that depicted the oppression of china in tibet, but it can never shut down the voices of the movement…. #আলোআসুক (#Lettherebelight)

author: Rezwan


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Macedonia’s Former Prime Minister Threatens Revenge in Troubling Speech · Global Voices
Goran Rizaov

“On the 24th of April the people's punishment and revenge will come”, Gruevski threatened angrily while speaking in front of the Women's Union of VMRO-DPMNE on January 24. Screengrab from YouTube Channel vmrodpmne macedonia
Only several days after his resignation, the now former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski threatened in a speech that after early elections scheduled for April this year, “the people” will kick out everyone who he sees as enemies.
Critically thinking individuals in the country, including civil society representatives and journalists, took this as an open threat that if Gruevski's ruling, right-wing political party VMRO-DPMNE wins the elections, the current autocratic regime will become even worse and they will be in danger:
„Е сега, на 24ти април, доаѓа казната и одмаздата на народот. Доаѓаат неговите 5 минути. Тоа е ден кога овој народ, народот на Македонија, на сите ќе им покаже кој е кој во оваа држава, односно чија е оваа држава. Во април, народот на Македонија ќе си ја врати делумно одземената власт, и преку масовното гласање на изборите ќе ги избрка на клоци вештачки и насила насадените функционери…“ се закануваше Груевски со лутина во гласот говорејќи пред Унијата на жени на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ на 24 јануари.
“Well now, on the 24th of April the people's punishment and revenge will come. Their moment of glory will come. That will be the day when the people of Macedonia, will show to everyone who is who in this state, i.e. who owns this state. In April, the people of Macedonia will bring back the partially misappropriated government, and will boot out and humiliate the artificially and forcefully appointed officials through massive voting at elections…” Gruevski threatened with anger in his voice while speaking in front of the Women's Union of VMRO-DPMNE on January 24.
The online community reacted with rage and disbelief, mostly by tweeting to Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn and other European Union officials, who serve as guarantors of an agreement reached in July 2015 stipulating reforms in Macedonia, including Gruevski's resignation, following months of political crisis.
@JHahnEU more from Gruevski's delightful speech today, enjoy while we fear for our lives https://t.co/w4hCFHwOCg
— tania (@tanjatania) January 24, 2016
@JHahnEU are anywhere in Przino agreement words “punishment”&”revenge” mandatory, or it's freedom of interpretation? https://t.co/fd28vfDf6L
— АлиСеНеШали (@ferevski) January 24, 2016
The political crisis that led to the EU- and US-mediated deal was escalated by revelations that the country's intelligence services on Gruevski's order had illegally wiretapped government employees, politicians, journalists, activists and foreign diplomatic representatives. Dissenting Secret Service members leaked the recordings to Zoran Zaev, the leader of the opposition Social-Democrat Party, who brought carefully selected parts of them to the public's attention in early 2015. As Zaev himself claimed in his last interview, they chose to publish the recordings that indicate misuse of power and illegal activities.
“The whole set of obtained illegal surveillance recordings totaled up to more then one million phone conversations”, Zaev said, “and they were all submitted in the newly formed Special Public Prosecutor's office”.
The leaked audio seems to confirm long-held suspicions of corruption, electoral fraud, blackmail, extortion and political interference in the judiciary, among other misdeeds, in Gruevski's government.
Such backsliding on democracy, freedom of expression and rule of law could jeopardize Macedonia's candidacy for the EU.
Gruevski, who was in power for a decade, used his public speech (see a video here) to make threats against the country's Special Prosecutor who is in charge of investigating alleged crimes involving Gruevski himself, as well as against the representatives of the international community for helping the opposition:
Сите криминалци со политички амбиции кои во иднина ќе помислат дека преку поткупи, преку измами, преку монтирани снимки, ставања на земјата и народот во залог, држење под тензија на цела држава, активности со кои се одвраќаат инвеститорите и отворањето на толку посакуваните работни места, ќе се обидат да добијат нешто за себе, ќе добијат клоца од убедливото мнозинство народ во оваа земја и тоа на првите наредни избори преку масовно излегување и гласање на тие избори.
All criminals with political ambitions who might think that through bribes, fraud, false recordings, pawning the country and its people, they can raise tensions in the country, undertake activities that damage the chances of foreign investment and the creation of new jobs, which are so very desired, or try to gain something for themselves will get booted by the vast majority of the people in this country, through massive voting at the elections.
He then added that after these elections nobody will think again about “gaining political power through fraud, collaboration with foreign intelligence, criminals, Vanhoutes [referring to Peter Vanhoutte, the international mediator in the Macedonian political crisis], Katicas [referring to Katica Janeva, the Special Public Prosecutor investigating the surveillance bombshells] and scammers who try to blackmail businessmen.”
The Special Public Prosecutor's office reacted with a statement saying that they are “seriously distressed” and will increase the security measures following Gruevski's speech:
„Во однос на јавното обраќање на претстедателот на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ, сакаме да искажеме дека како јавно обвинителство сме сериозно загрижени, поради што ова јавно обвинителство одлучи да ги зголеми мерките за безбедност. Во оваа насока појаснуваме дека од Министерството за внатрешни работи е побарано да бидат доделени на работа на ова јавно обвинителство лица кои ќе работат и на лично обезбедување на јавните обвинители“, стои во одговорот од СЈО.
“Regarding the public speech from the president of VMRO-DPMNE, we want to express that as public prosecutors, we are seriously distressed and troubled, and have decided that the Special Public Prosecutor’s office will increase its security. In regard to this, we would like to clarify that we have requested from the Interior Ministry to assign people to work with our office and oversee the personal security of the prosecutors”, the SPP said.
An unnamed senior official from the European Union also reacted, telling independent news website Meta that Brussels was disappointed after Gruevski's speech and “his lack of respect for his political opponents”. Belgian facilitator Van Haute, on the other hand, described Gruevski's rhetoric with one sentence: “If you do not like the message kill the messenger”.
Xhabir Deralla, human rights activist from Macedonia. Photo: Civil (CC-BY-NC-ND).
Civil society activists were appalled by the former prime minister's speech. Among them, Xhabir Deralla from the NGO Civil wrote an article headlined “Gruevski – aggressive, enraged and full of hate“. Deralla argued there is no doubt that Gruevski “is prepared to do anything to escape justice, as well as to remain in power. At any price”.
There are no hidden messages in Gruevski’s speech. He presented all of his views in the manner of a fierce populist, who will not hesitate in his quest for power, who will not be stopped by any agreement mediated by international representatives, nor from laws or principles of a democratic and fair political competition.
Gruevski mentions “the people” in his speech so often that it becomes repulsive, and it is overly obvious that he is equating himself with “the people”. He is clumsily hiding his intentions behind the notion of “the people”. When he says that “now people are angrier than ever before”, it is more than clear that by this he is stating that he is angrier than ever before.
Mirjana Najchevska, human rights expert. Photo used with permission.
International law expert and activist Mirjana Najcevska wrote a blog post about the speech headlined “About the Speech, Women and the Black Devil”.
Прво, сигурна сум дека има некое многу добро објаснување зошто во овој говор кој е одржан пред Унијата на жени на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ не се зборува за жените, за родовата дискриминација, за разликите во платите меѓу мажите и жените, за отсуството на жените од раководни позиции во државата, за сиромаштијата на жените, за абортусот, за семејното насилство, и секако за оние 280.000 жени кои во статистиката се појавуваат како оригинална македонска категорија на “домаќинки“.
For starters, I am sure that there is some good explanation for why this speech, held in front of the Union of Women of VMRO-DPMNE, fails to mention any women-related issues. It does not mention gender discrimination, differences in wages between men and women, the absence of women from decision making positions in the state, women's poverty, abortion, domestic violence, and of course, those 280,000 women who all fall into the so uniquely Macedonian statistical category of “homemakers”.
One of Gruevski's controversial initiatives was to change how unemployment is calculated, resulting in a lower rate because, for example, unemployed women were then categorized as homemakers.
Najchevska noted that Gruevski used a proverb that implies terrible retribution: he said that the Devil himself will “claim his share” after the elections. “And the women, they were listening, admiring and applauding,” she concluded.
Alongside the more serious responses, there was no lack of mocking towards the former prime minister, including one video where “sliced, diced and glued” parts of Gruevski's speech were put to the music of American rapper Eminem's hit song “The Real Slim Shady”. The parody was published with the satirical title “The Real VMRO”.
Знам дека би сакале да ме снема, / знам дека / нè мразат или презираат. / Сакале вие или не, ќе ме гледате сè повеќе. / Уцени, местенки / ВМРО е тука / на клоци / Ќе чуете од мене / кој е кој во оваа држава. / Tолку многу години во подготовки за диктатура/ измамник и криминалец да ја води државата. / Тој одлучува во оваа држава / со валкани игри и со манипулации. / Погледнете / јас сум господар на оваа територија. / Сега ѓаволот си доаѓа по своето …
I know they would prefer if I disappear. / I know that / they hate us and despise us. / Like it or not, you'll see more of me. / Blackmail, setups / VMRO is here / to boot out and humiliate. / You'll hear from me / who is who in this state. So many years in preparation for a dictatorship / a deceiver and criminal to run the state. / He decides in this country / with filthy games and manipulations. / Look / I'm the master of this territory. / Now the Devil comes to claim his share …
Past reactions from the international community to troubling developments in Macedonia's return to democracy mainly used veiled diplomatic language, demanding responsibility from all parties without naming names.
This time, the US Mission to Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe issued a very explicit note: “Statements from one political party, VMRO-DPMNE, and its leaders attacking the work of the Special Prosecutor are another source of concern”. Not one to appear subdued, Gruevski responded with a kind of “conditional” retraction of his threat, claiming that his party also supports the Special Prosecutor, but “she should be careful not to allow influence from certain political parties and instead, work under the law.”

author: Goran Rizaov


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River Communities in Mexico Still Don’t Trust Their Drinking Water Following a Mining Spill · Global Voices
Mas de 131

Following the spillage of 40 million litres of copper sulphate into rivers Bacanuchi and Sonora, their waters ceased to be colourless, odourless and harmless. Picture: Mas de 131.
What is now considered the worst environmental disaster in the history of Mexico occurred a year ago when the mining corporation Grupo México contaminated the Bacanuchi and Sonora rivers in the northern state of Sonora. Since then, the affected populations have officially requested the protection of their rivers seven times so that they be returned to their clean state.
Francisca García is from Aconchi (which means “strong wall in the water”), a village filled with red chili pepper crops that have been affected by the mine's arsenic spill. According to the state's tourism commission, Aconchi, which was founded in 1636, is one of the “picturesque villages settled on the Sonora riverbank, which form a colourful route where men, culture and the magic of each corner of the course of river Sonora all interweave.”
Francisca does not need such marketing. She knows what it means to live on the Sonora. She longs for the days when as a pre-schooler she would run to bathe in the river. Today, it saddens her not to be able to drink from these waters as well as that the contamination is killing off the harvest of red chili peppers, pumpkins, corn, peanuts, and and injuring livestock.
The spill occurred in the Buenavista del Cobre mine facilities, a subsidiary of the Grupo México, which belongs to the second richest man in the country, Germán Larrea. Arsenic, lead and other metals were released into the river.
The residents of Aconchi recall that it was on 4 August 2014 that they noticed the Sonora river's current had an unusual colour and smell, yet at first they did not read too much into it. Moreover, they calculated that if that water was flowing by on the 4th, it meant that it had already been running for 24 hours, since when it rains in the highest part of Cananea, that is how long it takes for the water to arrive at Aconchi.
On 6 August, the colour of the water became an intense yellow. The alarmed residents began to alert others via telephone or social media, while some turned to their municipal or civil protection authorities, but no one informed them of what was going on, why the water was arriving like that and whether or not it was dangerous to drink it.
Neither the company nor the authorities involved would let them know what was happening. During the hours that followed, the wells from which people obtained drinking water were shut down. In that moment began a panicked wave of bottled water purchases, as Zoila López, a mother from the municipality of Baviácora, recounted.
Zoila began to feel pain in her body; at government certified clinics she was diagnosed with the flu, but her symptoms intensified to the point where she lost all mobility. She sought help at the Federal Commission for Protection of Sanitary Risk's clinic (Cofepris) and the doctor who saw her sent her to a psychiatrist.
According to the diagnosis, Zoila suffered from depression. Penniless, as her family lived off agriculture, livestock and the harvest, which they lost after the spill, Zoila borrowed money to see a private doctor. In fact, her symptoms were caused by the arsenic in her body, which damages the nervous system. Her husband and her three small children presented the same symptoms.
Without any clear information and angry that the authorities and company were not being held accountable while the river and crops remained contaminated, Zoila, Francisca and hundreds of other people united to defend their rights, forming the Committees for the Sonora River Watershed from seven coastal municipalities in Sonora.
The committees approached a civic organisation, The Project on Organising, Development, Education and Research (PODER), for an appraisal of the case. In the investigation conducted by PODER, researchers found 55 irregularities incurred by Buenavista del Cobre, a subsidiary to the Grupo México.
The first irregularity was the cause of the spillage: the mining company assures that it was due to the excess of rain, even though two facts point to the contrary. Firstly, the Bacanuchi climate station registered a minimum of rainfall (0.5mm) that day. Secondly, in the version of events that PODER reviewed via the System of Access to Information (Mexico's access to public information law), Buenavista del Cobre states that “the hydraulic system was being repaired and the dam did not have any kind of valve”.
The same investigation maintains that part of the mine where the spillage took place was 50% constructed; moreover, it did not have a detection system nor a control for leaks. This means that the company was operating without the minimum requirements demanded by the country's environmental law.
As a way of resolving the consequences of the leak, the governing authorities created the Sonora Trust  with the goal of serving as a source and means of payment to carry out measures of remediation, reparation and/or compensation for the damage caused by the leak to both the environment and citizens’ health, in accordance with the Remediation Programme, and as a payment mechanism for complaints of material damage caused by the spillage, as stated on their website.
Nonetheless, until July 2015 the Remediation Programme had only been approved for zone 1, where the mine is located; in the four remaining zones, where the affected populations are located, it had not. This means that “10 months after the event took place, both Semarnat and Buenavista de Cobre have not been held responsible”, states PODER. The Committees for the Sonora River Watershed filed an official request on the matter.
However, the communities’ complaints about the company’s behaviour didn’t begin with the spill. Since the mine began operations, they have seen their rights violated, particularly in their access to information and right to be consulted. Francisca says that they have never been asked about this project.
As such, part of the strategy of the Committees for the Sonora River Watershed is to file official requests and complaints. They have finalised seven so far, one being for the lack of adequate consultation; by law the populations residing in the villages have the right to be consulted by Mexico's environmental agency before any environmental authorisations are granted.
Another request concerns the quality of the water in the wells, since official Mexican regulations establish lower standards than the international norm. Consequently, the water available to populations that depend on these wells can contain high levels of metals, contravening the human right to brackish, quality water. Zoila is certain that drinking water from a contaminated well, which was first given approval by the National Water Commission and consequently shut down, was the cause of her own and her family's illness.
On 7 October 2015, the committees obtained an important victory: Sonora's first district judge ordered that the National Water Commission carry out new studies due to the risk that populations might drink contaminated water. The committees offered to create an oversight group to ensure that the authorities comply with the judicial order in the best possible way.
And in February 2016, two water treatment plants began operations to filter their drinking water of the heavy metals — 18 months after the spill.
The remaining requests go hand in hand with their demands: they want the Sonora river to return to a clean state, they want to be confident that the water is safe to drink and they want their crops, on which they used to work every day, to continue to grow and feed them.

author: Mas de 131


text:
The Power of Social Media in Uganda’s 2016 Elections · Global Voices
Prudence Nyamishana

Michael Niyitegeka, a respected authority on social media in Uganda. Photo from his official Twitter account, @niyimic
On February 18, Uganda goes to the polls. Like many countries around the world, social media has become part and parcel of political communication and conversation in Uganda. For example, social media played a significant role during the first ever presidential debate on January 15. The hashtag #UGDebate16 trended throughout the debate.
Ugandans like never before use social media tools to engage in election-related chatter. According to the Uganda Communication Commission, Uganda had over 11 million Internet users as of March 2015 and 1.8 million Facebook subscribers in the country of over 37 million as of Novembers 2015, while mobile subscriptions are estimated to be 19 million.
I spoke with Michael Niyitegeka, an accreditation consultant and an authority on social media in Uganda, to discuss the role that social media has played in this election season.
Prudence Nyamishana (PN): What has the role of social media been in this year's election in Uganda?
Michael Niyitegeka (MN): Social media has taken a role that nobody anticipated it would have. Out of the blue, there is a lot of attention from all the political actors and players. It's like they have woken up to the reality that social media is not something that they can take for granted. And so there has been a lot of investment, a lot of people hired to run social media campaigns and candidates’ pages. Therefore, the relevance and importance of social media in Uganda has gone to a different level. On the other hand, there has been what I can call amateurism because the people who hired and were hired to conduct social media campaign did not come up with clear strategies at the beginning of the campaign. As a result, some started strong and died out, others gained momentum as a the campaigns went on, but if they had planned in advance the aspirants would have had better mileage on social media.
Social media users in Uganda have also evolved and the number has increased. For example the number of people that have just joined Twitter during the campaign season is massive. Social media has claimed a position that it didn’t have in the beginning- it has become more important and more critical. People share real-time photos that caused some camps to ‘Photoshop’ crowds to give the impression to voters that they have support. Social media has elevated some political personalities and events such as the presidential debate, which was closely followed and intensely debated by Ugandans because of social media.
PN: Do you think Ugandans have successfully engaged with the presidential candidates on social media?
MN: From my observation, I think one or two presidential candidates are tweeting for themselves, the rest have hired social media teams. The candidates come up with a social media team, who come up with a Twitter handle and a Facebook page. They basically run the campaigns on behalf of the candidate. You don’t get the feel of the natural person, the actual candidate behind the Twitter handle but more of a robot tweeting on what the candidate is doing.
Have we been able to engage the camps from a machinery perspective? National Resistance Movement, the ruling party, has tried to organise Twitter chats but it’s also not consistent and people are not paying attention to them in terms of engagements. For instance, when the party hosted Hon Rebecca Kadaga, the first female Speaker of Parliament in Uganda, people were just tweeting what Kadaga was saying but it would have made more sense if Kadaga was the one tweeting and having a conversation with social media users. I am sure this would have been different. So social media engagement is something that political camps jumped on, but I don’t think that it is something that they seriously made strategies for.
A screenshot of the official Twitter page for Uganda Presidential Debate. The event was one of the most tweeted election-related event in Uganda's political history.
PN: What has been the place of social media as a propaganda tool in this election season?
MN: Freedom of expression comes with responsibility to it. There are instances of irresponsible reporting and commenting on social media. Candidates have an obligation to be mature and responsible enough when saying things because they are not just communicating to their supporters, but to wider audiences. So different political parties should be responsible when putting out information, For example, when the ruling party secretary was recorded saying that those that cause confusion would have their children killed, people recorded the message and shared it widely.
We, the users, should also be responsible and verify information before sharing it because unverified information can easily lead to chaos and political violence.
PN: How do we score in terms of freedom of expression online?
MN: I think Ugandans still enjoy, to a greater extent, freedom of expression online. And I believe we cannot reach the levels of countries like Thailand that suppress media freedom online. With the amount of liberty and freedom Ugandans enjoy on social media have, nipping it up would be a difficult task. You would just have to have shut down the Internet.
PN: What role is social media going to play in terms of monitoring and observation on election day?
MN: There is a side of me that thinks that the Internet is going to slow down. That’s just me. Because you see if you are the person in charge and things are not going on as expected, a couple of things might happen. But with this wide-spread Internet, it is going to be difficult to do anything stupid. For instance there is a police truck in Mbale, a town in eastern Uganda, that was ferrying ruling party supporters, I don’t think in their wildest imagination they would have taken a photo and shared it as netizens did. There was another incident when someone from the ruling party was trying to claim on Twitter that the opposition Forum for Democratic Change ferries people to its rallies but people came out and blasted him. To counter his claim, social media users displayed multiple shots of the incident which showed that there were in fact cows in the truck. So anybody who is participating in this election has to be extremely careful.
PN: What do you think will be the role of social media post-election, in terms of civic engagement?
MN: Social media is going to continue growing; the space is going to continue growing more than it was in the past five years. We are going to have more leaders being held accountable though online activism, more people will pay attention to citizens’ sentiments and concerns expressed online. So social media is going to be an accountability tool. I will see somebody doing something and I will take a photo and share knowing it will be picked up by many other concerned citizens.
PN: Do you have any final thoughts?
MN: As Ugandans on social media, we need to go beyond the semantics of followers, the semantics of the number of likes, we need to start digging deeper and deal with real issues in a more realist way and that is going to require much more than just having likes or followers. It is important for us to look at analytics, collaborations, create valuable content for our followers. We  know governments, businesses and brands pay attention to social media.

author: Prudence Nyamishana


text:
The YouTube Women: Delivering Hard-Hitting Digital Video Activism · Global Voices
Florencia Goldsman

Image taken from gallery of free resources of Witness (witness.org), an organisation that works for human rights through visual media.
Melisa Trad is a young Argentinian activist participating in the International Conference on Family Planning in Indonesia. The organisers of the event launched a competition for young people who wanted to demonstrate to the world — through the medium of video — the greatest issues facing their countries in terms of family planning.
Trad obtained a camera, chose her subjects and the locations in which to film them, and set to work:
Me enfoqué en crear un guión que combinara datos certeros y confiables con una sucesión de argumentos que pudiesen interpelar al destinatario desde lo racional por un lado, y lo emotivo, por el otro. Traté de apelar a la construcción de un mensaje creativo, desde las pocas herramientas técnicas con las que contaba.
I concentrated on creating a screenplay which combined accurate and reliable data with a series of arguments that would challenge the viewer on both a logical and an emotional level. I tried to appeal to the construction of a creative message, with the few technical tools which I had at my disposal.
In a short but conclusive video titled “A Story of Violence”, she shares what she defines as “the dream of an Argentina where we all have the freedom and resources to choose our own destiny.”
Melisa explains:
Considero que la planificación familiar debería ser siempre una prioridad a nivel de nuestras políticas públicas y espero que el gobierno actual no genere más retrocesos en un tema que ya ha sufrido demasiadas postergaciones por obstáculos religiosos e ideológicos.
I believe that family planning should be a priority of policymakers, and I hope that the current government does not generate further setbacks in an area which has already suffered too many delays due to religious and ideological hurdles.
Melisa's initiative is just one link in a chain of video-activism through which more and more women and LGBTIQ people are taking ownership of issues affecting their lives by delivering short, quick, hard-hitting messages.
Letícia Lopes, a student of the ‘Pós-Com’ postgraduate programme in communication at the Federal University of Bahia in Brazil and investigator of media platforms for the Gig@ group at the same institution, claims the potential of sites such as YouTube or Vimeo for promoting discourses of tolerance is almost limitless:
Primero por que el vídeo encarna el universo de quién habla y eso es importante para el activismo, pues muchos que les apoyan o se reúnen en una militancia y lo hacen por identificarse con ellos. Pensando así, el audiovisual es mucho mas rico en posibilidades simbólicas que otras formas de publicación. Otro motivo importante es que el vídeo es accesible en varios sentidos. Para producir no exige mucho – puede ser una cámara de celular y hoy hay varios softwares gratuitos que facilitan la edición; cualquier persona puede comprenderlo fácilmente – desde personas analfabetas hasta académicas; es fácil de divulgar – por lo menos en Brasil, donde tenemos una cultura fuerte de la oralidad, es mas fácil convencer una persona a ver un vídeo que de leer un texto.
Film embodies the universe of the speaker, which is important for activism; creating a persona that others can identify with is a great tactic to muster support. In this sense, digital media is much richer in symbolic possibilities than other forms of publication. Another important factor is that video is very accessible and can be understood by anyone from the illiterate to academics. It is not demanding to produce – it can be filmed on a smartphone camera and there are free programmes available which make editing a breeze. In Brazil at least, where we have a very communicative culture, it is easy to spread the message, and far easier to persuade someone to watch a video than to read an article.
What many self-made videos produced by women and LGBTIQ people around the world have in common is the clear intention to play with language and challenge the “boring” and “unpleasant” prejudices aimed at feminists.
Moreover, these videos generate an empathy that traditional media cannot, says Lopes:
Cuando los medios tradicionales abordan algo sobre los asuntos relacionados con las diversas militancias, las activistas ocupan el espacio de entrevistados, desempeñan un papel consultivo, no son ellas las que hablan sobre sí mismas. La internet permite que ellas sean protagonistas de sus producciones y eso cambia todo, por que es importante que esas personas tengan voz.
When the traditional media addresses the topics related to the diverse activisms, the activist is portrayed as the interviewee, playing an advisory role to someone else rather than telling their own story. The internet allows these activists to be the protagonists of their own productions and this changes everything, which is why it is so important that these people have a voice.
The videos produced by the feminist micro-space La Tuerka are diverse and creative interpretations of existing feminist messages, many laced with humour and irony.
The particular video below tackles the idea of the “Femi-nazi”, which the speaker says exists “only in the minds of patriarchal society”:
From an unspecified Central American location, video-journalists Catalina Ruiz-Navarro (@catalinapordios) and Estefanía Vela Barba (@samnbk) explain the concept of “mansplaining” via their “Latin American feminist pop” channel e(s)tereotipas.
“Mansplaining” describes a situation well known to women: when men insist on condescendingly explaining something that women already know perfectly well, which can include chiding them that “feelings alone don't hold much weight”.
This video finds multifaceted artist Alicia Murillo at her captivating best. Showcasing her corrosive humour, the video is called How NOT to run a campaign against sexism. Clue: avoid giving men the lead role.
For Portuguese speakers Canal das Bee, a group of LGBTIQ girls and boys who speak freely about topics that range from female masturbation to the challenges a lesbian couple faces when deciding to live together, is highly recommended watching.
For many Afro-Brazilian women, caring for curly hair is about more than just grooming. Rayza Nicácio's video “As you've never seen me before” is an account, shot in the intimacy of her home, of her transition from straightened locks to a sea of curls.
Letícia Lopes explains:
Creo que una medida de éxito para el media-activismo está en la apropiación del audiovisual como un complemento de su producción, algo que presente, de forma más sucinta, puntos importantes de la discusión mas profunda. Eso porque pienso que son importantes para la militancia los espacios de discusiones mas densos, como los blogs, los sites de periodismo independiente o grupos de debates, por eso el vídeo podría ser utilizado como una forma de pincelar temas discutidos en esos ambientes para despertar intereses o convocar nuevos individuos a la discusión.
I think a degree of success for digital activism is in the appropriation of the audio-visual as a complement of its production, something which presents, in a more succinct fashion, some important points in the greater debate. That is because I think the denser spaces of discussions, such as blogs, independent journalism sites or group debates are important for this activism. Because of this, film could be used as a way of painting topics discussed in these circles in a way to stimulate interest or summon new voices to the discussion.
Featured image: Photo by Jay Morrison, taken from Flickr under CC License BY-NC-ND 2.0.

author: Florencia Goldsman


text:
Ukrainian Artist Kseniya Simonova Shows Kazakhstan Through the Sands of Time · Global Voices
Akhal-Tech Collective

Kazakh history in sand from Kseniya Simonova's YouTube channel.
An amazing video has emerged showing ‘sand animator’ and 2009 winner of Ukraine's Got Talent Kseniya Simonova's depiction of Kazakh nationhood.
The sand narration commissioned by the Central Asian country's government was to mark anniversary celebrations for the capital Astana and shows Kazakhs making the journey from their past as nomads through snowy steppes and starlit skies into their present.
The final frame adds the figure of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been a fan of Simonova's work since they first met in 2010, overlooking a futuristic Astana.
This is one of just hundreds of performances Simonova has executed using a canvas, fine volcanic sand and unbelievably deft hands since she shot to fame after winning Ukraine's Got Talent seven years ago.
Her sand art in the final of that competition, narrating the story of a couple separated by World War Two, remains her most famous work, with close to 40,000,000 views on YouTube.
Oil-rich Kazakhstan's government has been emphasising historical themes in its propaganda after an off-colour remark in 2014 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said that the country “had never had a state” prior to independence from the Soviet Union.
Earlier this year plans were announced for a ten-part historical drama already being likened to a Central Asia-style Game of Thrones set around the time of the formation of the 15th century ‘khanate’ many Kazakhstanis see as the basis for their modern statehood.

author: Akhal-Tech Collective


text:
Viewers Complain China’s Spring Festival TV Gala Was Way Too Political This Year · Global Voices
Patrick Wong

Screen capture from 2016 CCTV Spring Festival Gala at 2:38:25
For decades, the Spring Festival Gala, produced by China’s state-owned Central Television (CCTV), has been must-watch programming for Chinese on Lunar New Year. Being such a high-profile media event, the program's producers usually manage to strike a balance between entertainment and political propaganda.
Not so this year. The gala in 2016, which is the year of the monkey, was arguably the most politicized in the show's history, and is now facing unprecedented criticism from the public.
The gala began with a rap, accompanied by an extravaganza, lauding last year’s achievements that Chinese gained under the leadership of President Xi Jinping.
The rest of the program fell in line with Xi’s ideological theories and policies: singing about the Chinese Dream; emphasizing the need to make the People's Liberation Army strong; promoting the 13th Five-Year Plan, or roadmap for the country's development; stressing the patriotism of overseas homesick Chinese; and educating viewers on the core values of socialism.
In one segment, singers standing in front of a backdrop of a bright red Communist Party flag belted “No Communist Party, No New China” — a line from the 1943 political propaganda song “Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China”. Another performance took the form of a revolutionary opera, in which a throng of dancers in red army dress reenacted how hard the red army trudged through a quagmire to build a communist nation.
The gala ended with a presenter saying, “Let us gather around the central Communist Party with the core principles of Xi.”
“Is this probably the gala with the strongest political climate ever?” one netizen remarked on Twitter-like Weibo.
This ideology-heavy gala is no accident. It's a result of President Xi’s political ambition: the consolidation of the Communist Party’s leadership under his set of political beliefs and policies.
Since stepping into the presidency in 2012, Xi has pushed the so-called Chinese Dream of revitalizing the nation—by invoking patriotism with an emphasis on the historic humiliation Chinese have suffered.
To purify the communist cadres, the ongoing anti-graft movement under Xi’s lead has put hundreds of corrupt officials into prison since 2012.
To cope with China’s slow economy, Xi’s tactics include promotion of domestic consumption, the “One Belt, One Road” plan to revive the ancient Silk Road as a modern Eurasian business corridor, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, an initiative to support the construction of infrastructure throughout the region.
But all this growth and development comes at a high price at home. Authorities have also increased Internet censorship, suppressed press freedom and hit at rights lawyers and activists. Fiery patriotism and nationalism is also on the rise—as seen in this year's meticulously designed gala.
The situation reminds some of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, who established a highly concentrated system that almost controlled every aspect of the country as well as a political culture of personality cult that led to 10 turbulent years of Cultural Revolution in which those deemed undesirable were purged from the Communist Party.
On Weibo, user YanxiaowuBOBO thought the gala should be recreational rather than political:
今年的春晚非常难看，感觉像看了一遍晚会版的新闻联播。 为什么不让文学和艺术纯粹一些？ 前几年的春晚本来做得很好，已经在刻意减少这些泛政治化的成分，今年的每个节目无意中又被冠以 政治上积极向上的内涵，而不再接地气。 春晚如果成为一种太过意识形态的宣传工具，而不是快乐的来源，未免令人遗憾。
The New Year's gala this year is awful, I feel like I’ve just watched a daily news broadcast but in gala form. Why not make literature and art pure? Galas in previous years are good and had played down the political elements. Every segment in this year's gala was purposefully injected with politically positive themes, and not welcomed by audience. It is regrettable to see the gala not being a source of joy, that it has been utilized as a tool for promulgating ideology.
Xi held a forum for literature and art in 2014, the only meeting on literature and art development since Mao’s political campaign “Hundred Flowers Blossom” in 1956.
In the meeting, Xi emphasized the “enhancement and improvement of literature and art under the Party’s leadership”:
党的领导是社会主义文艺发展的根本保证。党的根本宗旨是全心全意为人民服务，文艺的根本宗旨也是为人民创作。把握了这个立足点，党和文艺的关系就能得到正确处理，就能准确把握党性和人民性的关系、政治立场和创作自由的关系。
The Party’s leadership is the basic assurance for the development of socialist literature and art. The Party’s aim is to serve people with all its heart, and the aim of literature and art is to create works for the people. Seizing on this idea, the relationship between the Party and literature and art can be resolved in the right way; both the relationship between the Party’s principles and people’s character, political positions and freedom to create can be grasped accurately.
Both historical meetings implied that art should serve politics.
Lv Yitao, the general director of this gala, claimed in an interview that he was satisfied with how the Spring Festival Gala and “earned full marks on this test.” Still, netizens’ critical remarks have dominated on Weibo, to the extent that Lv has to close the comment option on his Weibo account, as did CCTV.
Chinese portal Sina took a poll on “How would you rate this year's gala?” Approximately 115,000 or 75 percent of voters gave the gala one star out of 10.
Many netizens thought the gala felt more like a mixture of stage performance and daily news broadcast on CCTV and quoted a mocking saying about what the network presents in its day-to-day coverage: “Leaders are always busy, people are forever blessed, and foreign countries are chaotic as ever.”
Weibo user “God blesses Yanming” remarked that the gala's swerve toward the overly political is a sign of a decline in art development:
2016年春晚完全变成了图解政策的舞台，十足的形式感掩盖不住人文内涵的严重缺失，意识形态的日益缩紧带来的只有干枯无力的假笑与假唱，禁不住想起来赵丹在1980年的一句话，“管的太具体，文艺没希望”，30多年过去了，文艺事业怎样发展的问题还是没解决好。
The 2016 Spring Festival Gala became a downright platform for explaining policies. Form does not make up for a serious lack of human connotation; the continuous strengthening of ideology produces only simpering and lip-syncing. I cannot help but be reminded of what Zhao Dan [an artist promoted by the government] said in 1980: “With too much control and too concrete of guidelines, [the development of] art will be hopeless.” Thirty years have passed, and the issue on how to develop art has not yet been resolved.
“Which one [among the 39 segments] do you like best so far?” asked the People’s Daily, a Communist Party mouthpiece, on Weibo an hour before the end of the gala.
“It is too hard to make a choice, none of them can be watched,” responded one netizen, Aj_Fu Butucao Huisixingren, summing up what many were probably thinking.

author: Patrick Wong


text:
An LGBT Blog Is Suspended Over Mention of Cuba’s 1960s-Era Labor Camps · Global Voices
Sandra Abd'Allah-Alvarez Ramírez

Proyecto Arcoiris banner.
Renowned Cuban blogger Yasmín Silvia Portales Machado announced on her Twitter account in early February that the Proyecto Arcoiris (Rainbow Project) blog had been censored by Reflejos (cubava.cu), the Cuban state-owned platform that houses it:
Hoy reclamo x #censura d #CubaVa a #blog #LGBT #Cuba @ProyectArcoiris 😾 #hijab @Negracubana @camiloglt @lrpbyzard pic.twitter.com/MC7WaXHeXO
— Yasmin S Portales (@nimlothdecuba) febrero 2, 2016
Today I'm calling out CubaVa's censorship of LGBT Cuba blog @ProyectArcoiris 😾 #hijab @Negracubana @camiloglt @lrpbyzard
The project was conceived in 2011 and has both informed and generated discussions about sexual diversity and other related issues. Arcoiris defines itself as “independent and anticapitalist,” with the aim of “fighting for the rights of people with non-heteronormative sexual orientations and identities.”
In a conversation with Global Voices, blogger and activist Portales Machado explained the reasoning that the platform's moderators gave for the censorship:
De acuerdo al Grupo de Monitoreo de CubaVa -anónimo-, el párrafo resaltado viola la sección 6a de las Normas de uso del portal, porque es difamatorio de la Revolución.
According to the CubaVa Monitoring Group, which is anonymous, the highlighted paragraph violates section 6a of the website's usage rules, because it slanders the Revolution.
The highlighted paragraph that Machado refers to is below:
It reads:
Coincido en que por aquellos años era muy común la homofobia, mas eso nunca justifica la creación de “campos de trabajo forzado”, ni la exclusión de personas a las universidades o los empleos por su orientación sexual.
Han pasado cincuenta años desde la creación de las UMAP y ni un solo responsable ha pedido disculpas al pueblo. Los máximos responsables aún permanecen vivos. El Ministro de las FAR en aquel momento es ahora el presidente del país.
Es momento ya de que pidan disculpas por ese acto de penalización, exclusión y castigo al que fueron sometidos miles de homosexuales y cubanos con una “conducta impropria”, como decían los llamados.
I agree that during those years homophobia was very common, but that never justifies the creation of “forced labor camps”, nor the exclusion of people from universities or employment for their sexual orientation.
Fifty years have passed since the creation of the UMAP [Military Units to Aid Production] and not even one person who was responsible has asked for the people's forgiveness. The higher-ups are still alive. The person who was minister of the FAR [Revolutionary Armed Forces] is now the president of the country.
It's about time that they ask for forgiveness for this act of penalization, exclusion and punishment, to which thousands of homosexuals and Cubans of “inappropriate conduct”, as it was called, were subjected.
The paragraph that led to the censorship of the blog, makes reference to the Military Units to Aid Production (UMAP in Spanish) camps that existed in Cuba from 1965 to 1968. Thousands of men were imprisoned under the command of these units, and one of the main accusations that led to their detention was homosexuality. Even today, the Cuban government has not publicly apologised for those events.
The censored fragment is part of the post “Con el perdón (o no) de Mariela Castro“, which translates to “With Mariela Castro's forgiveness (or not)” and was written by Arcoiris member and activist Jimmy Roque Martínez. In the post, Roque Martínez reviews an HBO documentary on Mariela Castro Espín, director of the Cuban National Centre for Sexual Education (Cenesex) and daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro. In the film, shown in last year's Habana Film Festival, Castro Espín refers to the camps which were operating whilst her father was the minister of the Cuban Armed Forces.
Machado said:
La notificación de que el blog “Proyecto Arcoiris” fue cerrado por segunda vez por violar la Sección 6 de las Normas de Participación, nos tomó por sorpresa. Sinceramente yo esperaba que se tratase de un error técnico.
The notification that the “Proyecto Arcoiris” blog was shut down for a second time for violating Section 6 of the Participation Rules took us by surprise. I honestly hoped it was a technical glitch.
And continued:
No se cómo eso “denigra a la Revolución”, de acuerdo a la sentencia que nos transmitió la funcionaria. Su única explicación fue que, aunque sean conocidos, no pueden ser publicados en el servidor http://cubava.cu.
I don't know how this “defames the Revolution,” as the judgment issued to us says. The only explanation given [by the civil servant who sent the censorship notice] was that although [the UMAP events] are well known, they cannot be published on the http://cubava.cu server.
Reflejos, which describes itself as “Cuban family blogs,” brings together blogs written from around the island and is the only one that provides this service in Cuba. It belongs to the Youth Club of Computing and Electronics (JCCE), an institution of the national Ministry of Communications. The platform has the aim of “functioning as a mirror in which Cuban people can unite in shared goals and interests.”
Reflejos is accessible from abroad, although it is not possible to create a blog from outside the island, nor is it possible to manage it from abroad even if it was created in Cuba. In order to keep a blog with Reflejos, one must access it from Cuba and reside in national territory.
Furthermore, the CubaVa Monitoring Group, which is responsible for the censorship of Proyecto Arcoiris, sent a notification to an email account that did not belong to Portales Machado. This error also brings the platform's data protection policy into question:
Subject: Notificación
From: Administración <cubava@cubava.cu> Date: 2/2/2016 12:05
To: yasmin@cubarte.cult.cu
Proyecto Arcoiris:
Una vez mas nuestras disculpas por haber enviado la notificación de violación a un correo que no era el del administrador sino el de un suscriptor que aparece entre los usuarios, con privilegios en su blog. Le aseguramos que tomaremos todas las medidas para que hechos como este no vuelvan a ocurrir.
Atentamente
Equipo de Monitoreo Reflejos
Subject: Notification
From: Administration <cubava@cubava.cu> Date: 2/2/2016 12:05
To: yasmin@cubarte.cult.cu
Proyecto Arcoiris:
Once again we apologise for sending notification of infringement to a non-administrator email. The email belonged to a subscriber that appears among the users with privileges in your blog. We assure you that we shall take every measure to ensure that events like this do not happen again.
Yours sincerely,
The Reflejos Monitoring Team
On the other hand, this is not the first instance of censorship of a Reflejos blog: the Monitoring Group has suspended other blogs that publish political content, as Portales Machado pointed out:
Están siendo expurgados de Reflejos, en el peor estilo del Quinquenio Gris: “La Jugada”, “Observatorio Crítico”, “Bubusopía”, ahora fue el turno de “Proyecto Arcoíris”. Mientras, la blogosfera evangélica publica montones de contenidos que contradicen abiertamente las políticas de los ministerios de Salud Pública y Educación, pero eso no preocupa al Grupo de Monitoreo.
They are being censored by Reflejos in a Quinquenio Gris fashion: “La Jugada,” “Observatorio Crítico,” “Bubusopía,” and now “Proyecto Arcoiris.” All the while, the divine blogosphere publishes thousands of posts that openly contradict the policies of the Public Health and Education departments, but this doesn't worry the Monitoring Group.
According to an announcement made by Portales Machado on Twitter, the Proyecto Arcoíris blog will be up and running again on 13 February 2016–without the censored text.
13Fb regresa #blog @ProyectArcoiris veremos x cuánto #bloguearenpaz #LGBT @Negracubana @TeteEmilio @camiloglt @CIDH pic.twitter.com/maF9RiasVW
— Yasmin S Portales (@nimlothdecuba) febrero 3, 2016
13Feb the @ProyectArcoiris #blog returns. We'll see for how long #bloginpeace #LGBT

author: Sandra Abd'Allah-Alvarez Ramírez


text:
Hilarious Animated History of Japan Gets Rave Reviews—Including From Japanese · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Screenshot of History of Japan by Bill Wurtz. From YouTube.
Video artist Bill Wurtz‘s catchy, compelling video History of Japan has gone viral, and has been viewed nearly 5 million times since being posted to YouTube at the beginning of February.
The video summarizes 40,000 years of Japanese history in just nine minutes.
The psychedelic video uses whimsical imagery to tell the story of Japanese history. While there are some complaints the video leaves out some key aspects of Japanese history, there is no way everything could possibly be covered in just nine minutes.
Japanese social media reaction to this treatment of their history has been positive so far. However the video, likely because it is in English, has not gone viral in Japan yet.
Mariko Oi, who reports for the BBC out of Singapore, writes:
Is it wrong that I kinda like this Japan's history in 9mins video? 略ししぎだろと思いつつ、思わず笑っちゃう日本の歴史を9分で説明するビデオ！https://t.co/1FwvaHQMyw
— Mariko Oi 大井真理子 (@MarikoOiBBC) February 6, 2016
[From Japanese] While it may leave out a lot, this video explaining Japanese history will make you laugh.
Rekishi Zatsudan, a popular site devoted to Japanese history says:
日本の歴史を9分でたどる動画。英語ですが面白いです。→　The Most Entertaining Video on Japan's History You Will See https://t.co/xcKwmqC9Tx
— 歴史雑談録 (@rekishizatsudan) February 5, 2016
[From Japanese] Japanese history explained in 9 minutes. It may be in English, but it's hilarious.
Blogger Cambodia Taro also enjoyed the video:
日本の歴史を、英語でサクッと伝える素晴らしい素材。 https://t.co/ScMCCTGpAz
— カンボジア太郎 (@Cambodiataro) February 4, 2016
This is an amazing resource that succinctly tells the story of Japanese history in English.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
‘Improving Social Cohesion’ Through Dance, Art, and Gwen Rakotovao · Global Voices
Rakotomalala

Gwen Rakotovao, during a performance. Reproduced with permission.
The temperature is pleasant for a February evening in Paris. We meet Gwen Rakotovao in a restaurant in the 14th arrondissement, where the manager is always in a good mood. He greets us cheerfully and asks if we would like an aperitif. The room is filled with the quiet, yet lively, strains of Malagasy songs. Gwen soon arrives. She has a big smile on her face, apologizing for being a little late and explaining that she's just finished an important rehearsal for her next collaboration with a Nigerian choreographer.
Gwen Rakotovao's whirlwind career as an artistic director, CEO, model, and author of children’s books has already taken her all over the world. She is used to living at breakneck speed, as her already accomplished career attests.
Rakotovao comes from a Malagasy family and was brought up in Normandy. From an early age, she wanted to “live life to the fullest.” As a child, she wanted to be a lawyer, but then she was swept off her feet by the dancing bug. At 17, with a baccalaureate in sciences under her belt, she left home to train as a professional dancer at the Rick Odums Dance Institute in Paris. Then she took off for New York City, where she joined the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater School.
Although she barely has time to sit down, Gwen agreed to talk to Global Voices about her vision of her role as an artist in an ever-changing world.
Gwen Rakotovao on stage. Reproduced with her permission.
Global Voices (GV): You are a dancer, choreographer, model, and an author. You lived for eight years in New York, where you formed your own dance company, the Gwen Rakotovao Company. When you look back at everything you have already achieved at your young age, doesn’t it make you feel a little dizzy? What motivates you to move so quickly all the time?
Gwen Rakotovao (GR): It is true that I have a wonderful career and that I have achieved a lot of things, but I rarely dwell on the past. Life as a dancer and choreographer can hold many uncertainties, so I prefer to concentrate on the present and the near future. As an artist, I have many things I want to say about the changes I would like to see in the world. That is what drives me to get up in the morning and carry on when obstacles get in my way. It is the desire to contribute to change that motivates me to create, dance, write, etc.
Gwen reminds us that she comes from a family of artists. She is related to the singer Bekoto, a member of the legendary Malagasy group Mahaleo. Below is a video recorded at a New York dance festival where the Gwen Rakotovao Company is dancing to “Lendrema,” a piece composed and sung by Bekoto.
GV: At the moment, you are working with a Nigerian choreographer. What is your view of the development of dance in Africa, and what are the important points or features of African dance that beginners are unaware of?
GR: Africa is a continent made up of many countries and diverse cultures, so there are many different styles and dancers, so it is difficult to give a summary in a few sentences.
One thing that is certain is that in Africa today there are many very talented young artists who want to push for and effect change so that they can be ambassadors for the continent. And it is always a pleasure to meet and talk with them.
GV: Your dance company’s style is influenced by different dances from all cultures. Is the theme of diversity something that you chose to highlight—is it your way of championing multiculturalism?
GR: It is not really a choice; it is who I am. I was born in France to Malagasy parents. I was destined to represent multiculturalism. My New York side has only served to enrich this multicultural aspect within me. Embracing three cultures is not necessarily an obvious move in a world where people prefer to belong to one group for fear of being rejected by others. From a very young age I had to choose to embrace who I am, a human being immersed in different cultures. And I am happy to do so, even if it isn’t always easy.
GV: “L'Amour, La Liberté” (Love, Freedom) is the title of one of your pieces. You have also founded a program for disadvantaged children and orphans from the Ketsa Centre in Vontovorona, Madagascar. You could say that you are a socially involved person. What are the social issues that you are passionate about, and what role could dance play in society today?
GR: Dance, I would even go far as to say art in general, is an essential cultural medium for change and plays an important role in our society. I think that the mission of any artist is to pass on a message. Mine is simply a message of hope for a better world. I hope that one day, despite our differences, we will be able to live harmoniously together. It is a utopia, but that is what I stand for and this is why I get involved.
GV: Is there a part of Gwen that the general public doesn’t know about and that you would like to share?
GR: I think the interview sums me up, but Gwen is a great dreamer [smiles].
GV: Thank you, Gwen, and good luck with all your projects!

author: Rakotomalala


text:
Incidents of Violence Spoil Trinidad & Tobago’s Carnival · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Security for one of the Carnival Bands, 2012 — Photo by Mark Morgan, used under a CC BY 2.0 license.
Trinidad and Tobago's 2016 Carnival is officially over, but despite the best hopes of the country's police force, the celebrations were not without incident.
The first negative experience to get the attention of social media was the behaviour of the security detail in one of the popular masquerade bands, YUMA. The fracas began when a man, who turned out to be a government councillor by the name of Jason Alexander, was ‘jumping up’ (dancing) in the band despite his playing mas (paying to masquerade) with another group.
For many years now, bands that parade on the streets on Carnival Monday and Tuesday offer an ‘all-inclusive’ experience, where patrons pay one hefty price for everything from their costumes to food, alcohol, music and personal facilities, such as toilets and air-conditioned rest areas. When the band is on the move, masqueraders are kept track of through a wristband identification system and cordoned off from spectators via ropes that are manned by security guards. The system is meant to control the influx of outsiders who would often converge on popular bands, take up space and ruin the experience that masqueraders had paid for, but some say the practice is getting out of hand.
The YUMA incident was a case in point. A video of Alexander's assault, carried out by the band's security officers on Carnival Monday, was soon making the rounds on Facebook. According to reports, Alexander either did not exit the band fast enough for security's liking, or intervened when security started harassing a female masquerader — either way, he became the focus of their violence.
In a public Facebook post, Naki Tuitt, one of the female masqueraders who witnessed the exchange, shared the video, saying:
This is the last end of licks the poor guy got today in YumaBand. Harmless. Because he wore an islandpeople band and was told to leave. He didnt leave fast enough. I asked them not to push him. Then they told me i could leave too. I told dem i paid so i dnt have to. Next thong [sic] u know i was slappped [sic] to the ground.
My girlfriend J railed up and she was immediately punched to the ground by a male punk calling himself ‘Yuma Extraction’.
When the male saw we were hit by a male security he immediatey [sic] intervened. He was greeted with a barrage of kicks cuffs batons to his face and head…to the groundddd near the moving truck. He was brutally assaulted by 10-15 Yuma toy cops. This end part is wherei got up n tried to cover him frm being possibly killed by dunceeeeeeeeeee fools who were power trippin. I want allllllllll my money back and charges laid for assault.
During Carnival 2015, a man was actually stabbed to death, allegedly during an altercation with band security. Facebook user Rhoda Bharath shared the news link to that story and commented:
So the behaviour from band security isn't new. A pattern developing.
YUMA quickly tried to ease the online uproar over the incident, issuing a statement that the members of the security team who were involved have been fired. In a post on the band's Facebook page, YUMA's administration also said:
We at YUMA have been made aware of the incident . We are in talks with our patrons as well as another affected person and have promised to give this our full attention as we've never had a reported incident like this in our history.
That aspect of our security and its extraction protocols are being reviewed. The members involved have been replaced.
Facebook users were soon weighing in on the whole exchange in public posts. Dawn Cameron thought that poor training of security personnel contributed to the problem:
There is controlled security and down right stupidity. […] If these special security personnel are from bona-fide security establishments well that tells you the companies we have and how they train them, if not and are contracted people from off the street these mas bands need to ensure proper training is had. Poor behaviour. Clearly a lesson.was not learnt from the death of a non masquerader at the hands of band security last year.
The blogger at Trini World Views, who has significant experience in the security field, contributed to the discussion about officer training:
There are approximately 400 security service providers in Trinidad and Tobago. […] Only 60-70 have a licence from the Ministry of National Security to operate as a legitimate Security Service Provider. The process is tedious and is only necessary for those who intend to operate as estate police […] the rest just operate as a regular Limited Liability Company. While there are companies both large and small who take training seriously, investing in their own internal training departments and centres, the majority take it lightly at best.
Facebook user Dane S G Wilson wondered whether race could have informed how the security guards reacted, asking:
If this was a tourist a WHITE tourist would they have reacted like a pack of hyenas?
A couple of Facebook users wondered whether the security officers were provoked:
I could surmise that the guy possibly looked for what he got. we don't know all the facts. the clip shows that he fired at least one punch. what could have taken place before that punch? […] notice too, one of the very Yuma security was trying to stop the others. what we see is not always the entire picture.
In sharing the video, Facebook user Maurice Frank Alexander concluded:
So much men taking advantage of one man, carnival is such a waste of money.
Meanwhile, Queens Counsel Farai II posted this message to the victim, Jason Alexander:
My brother and fellow Councillor Jason Alexander the way they beat you I swear you was a bandit. My advice is Sue YUMA Sue The Security Company, Sue them for Personal Injuries, Sue them for General Damages, Sue them for Special Damages, Sue them for Exemplary Damages, Sue them for Aggravated damages, Sue them for disparaging yah good name in the eyes of all your constituents, it is an election year and they have caused you great embarssment [sic]. SUE SUE SUE!!!
Alexander has not yet decided whether he will pursue legal avenues, but one attorney and opposition senator, Wayne Sturge, has said that Carnival bands have no legal right to restrain people from jumping up with whatever band they choose:
You can’t even exclude a non-band member from the band. What you can do is make sure that they don’t get something to eat or drink. If the man is chipping down the road, outside the judging point, you can’t exclude him. It is a public road, it belongs to all citizens. Until they pass a law saying that they (bands) have exclusive rights to the cordoned off parts of the road then they don’t have such rights. They have been acting illegally.
In an even more disturbing development, the body of a female masquerader was discovered on Ash Wednesday morning, under a tree in the Queen's Park Savannah — the location for the majority of Carnival events. Police were using social media to ask for the public's assistance in identifying the woman. It was later reported that she was a steel pan player from Japan, Asami Nagakiya, who was accustomed to coming to Trinidad each Carnival, when she would play with the Silver Stars Steel Orchestra.
However, Trinidadian pan player Mia Gormandy who is now the World Music instructor at Florida State University, published this plea on her Facebook page:
Please please please STOP spreading rumors about Asami Nagakiya. I am in direct contact with the police and other Japanese pannists and it is NOT at this moment confirmed that it is her. While there are lots of suspicions and rumors, at this very moment while I am typing this message, it has not been confirmed that the body found is indeed Asami's.
This has not stopped both mainstream media outlets and social media pages from reporting that it is. An autopsy cannot be carried out until there is a positive identification on the body; reports are that the autopsy is scheduled to take place this morning. If it does, that in itself will confirm that the body has been identified as Nagakiya's.
The two ill-fated incidents have brought this year's Carnival to a bitter end.
Update: Just after 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, autopsy results revealed that body was indeed that of Japanese pan player Asami Nagakiya, and that the cause of her death was strangulation. The police are now treating the case as a homicide.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Kremlin Censor Finally Brings Down the Hammer on the RuNet’s Pluckiest Freedom Advocates · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

RosKomSvoboda, one of the RuNet's most active online freedom defenders, might soon find themselves under lock and key. Images mixed by Tetyana Lokot.
Russian censors have finally decided to block the website of RosKomSvoboda, a Russian Internet freedom and human rights organization, by adding it to the Russian government's registry of banned online resources. The reason? A page on the website that educates users on how to circumvent online censorship and access blocked materials. RosKomSvoboda's activists say the blocking is absurd, since neither information about anonymizing tools, nor the services themselves are forbidden by current Russian law.
On February 10, 2016, several Russian media outlets reported that Roscomnadzor, the Russian government's media and Internet regulator, had issued an official warning to RosKomSvoboda that their website is being added to the blacklist. The group's official Twitter account later confirmed the news.
РосКомСвобода получила уведомление от Роскомнадзора о внесении в реестр запрещенных сайтов https://t.co/gUqhfLxsMb pic.twitter.com/b3Saj50q1M
— РосКомСвобода (@RuBlackListNET) February 10, 2016
RosComSvoboda has received a notice from Roscomnadzor about being added to the registry of banned websites. [Screenshot from the notice: “Description of forbidden information: Contains information about enabling access to banned websites.”]
За страницу “Инструментарий” по решению Анапского гор.суда по заявлению местного прокурора, который назвал её анонимайзером. Всё сложно :)
— РосКомСвобода (@RuBlackListNET) February 10, 2016
For our “Toolbox” page, according to the decision of the Anapa city court on the appeal of the local prosecutor, who called the page an anonymizer. It's complicated :)
RosKomSvoboda cites a court ruling from April 2015, when a judge in the Russian city of Anapa ruled to block part of RosKomSvoboda's website on the grounds that the page in question is an anonymizer—a tool that allows users to access content and websites that might be otherwise banned. The local district attorney asked the city court to block “http://rublacklist.net/bypass”—a section of the website owned by RosKomSvoboda that provides instructions on how to bypass geoblocking and access websites blacklisted in Russia. The court ruling claims that the webpage “is an anonymizer” that grants users “unlimited access to the prohibited content, including extremist content, through anonymous access and substituted user IPs.”
RosKomSvoboda's logo: a keyhole—a symbol of “access” and “finding a way.” Image from Twitter.
When the court announced its verdict, Artem Kozlyuk, the head of RosKomSvoboda, called it “absurd” and expressed surprise that the authorities were labeling the website an anonymizer, though it contains only instructions—and no actual instruments—for circumventing censorship. The group's legal team later issued an appeal, which another court promptly dismissed.
Throughout 2015, the very same Anapa court has also ruled to block several anonymizing services in Russia.
According to Russian law, after receiving notice from Roscomnadzor about being added to the registry, the website's owners must either delete the “forbidden” information in three days or be blocked by ISPs at the behest of the state censor. Traditionally, Roscomnadzor doesn't just add the URL of a specific page with “banned” content to the registry, but also adds the IP-address and URL of the whole website.
The website Roem.ru, which reports on Russia's Internet businesses, says Vadim Ampelonsky, Roskomnadzor's spokesman, stressed that the ruling against RosKomSvoboda created a precedent and could inform the future work of prosecutors and courts, when it comes to policing information that helps Russians circumvent censorship.
Прямого запрета в законе нет. Но прокурор, контролировавший исполнение антиэкстремистского законодательства, нашёл обоснование того, что эта информация создаёт условия для доступа пользователей к экстремистским материалам. Суд признал эту информацию противоправной.
There is no direct prohibition in the law. But the prosecutor who was in charge of enforcing anti-extremist legislation was able to prove that this information creates conditions for users to access extremist materials. And the court recognized this information as illegal.
Just a month ago, in January 2016, Ampelonsky told the news agency RBC TV that circumventing online blockings does not violate the law.
On February 11, RosKomSvoboda released a detailed statement about the blocking, stressing that the court decision was not based on existing legislation, since none of the Russian laws currently in force provide a definition for what an “anonymizer” or other circumvention tools actually are. Neither do they describe any norms prohibiting the use of such tools. RosKomSvoboda's lawyers also quoted a lengthy comment from the Russian Ministry of Communications, sent in response to their query about the status of anonymizers in Russia, and summarized the Ministry's response on Twitter.
Минкомсвязь:
“В законодательстве не существует положений, ограничивающих применение технологий «проксирования трафика» и «анонимайзеров»”
— РосКомСвобода (@RuBlackListNET) February 11, 2016
Ministry of Communications: “The legislation contains no provisions limiting the use of technologies for ‘proxying traffic’ or ‘anonymizers.’”
RosKomSvoboda's representatives say they will continue to appeal the decision, taking it to the Krasnodar regional court and then the Russian Supreme Court, if necessary. The activists believe the current verdict has few chances against their appeals, as it “has no legal grounding and was issued with multiple gross violations.”
RosKomSvoboda is an Internet freedom and human rights organization promoting self-regulation in the Internet industry. It provides legal advice and aid to Russian websites that have been blocked or threatened with blocking, by the Russian government. The project also monitors Russia's registry of blocked websites, tracking everything that's banned and providing regular reports about the scope of what's being blocked on the RuNet, as well as advice about how to bypass censorship.
Russian officials have debated restrictions on VPNs and anonymizers for quite a while. In 2013, the Russian media reported that the Federal Security Service was considering lobbying the State Duma with a bill banning “Tor and other anonymizing proxy servers,” but the idea never got out of committee. In February 2015, Leonid Levin, the head of the Duma's committee on information policy and communications, suggested that access to anonymization and circumvention tools such as Tor, VPNs, and proxy-servers needs to be restricted.
In 2014, the Russian Interior Ministry offered almost 4 million rubles (about USD $100,000) to anyone who could devise a way to decrypt data sent over the Tor network. Most recently, in July, the Russian media reported that the Kremlin commissioned a study of “possibilities of influencing the development of the Russian segment of the Internet.” The research included looking into methods of preventing anonymous activity online and developing ways to regulate and filter information posted anonymously, analyze encryption methods, and monitor encrypted online traffic.
RuNet Echo's own analysis from last year and more recent statistics published after the blocking of the RuNet's biggest torrent service, Rutracker, suggest that Tor use has been on the uptick in Russia, possibly in response to the Kremlin's efforts to regulate and censor content online.
Update, February 12, 2016: Roscomnadzor seems to have backed down on the blocking decision and said it won't ask ISPs to block the RosKomSvoboda website, but only on a technicality: RosKomSvoboda changed the contents of their page with circumvention instructions. It now contains their report on the court battle and the lengthy Ministry of Communications letter, which provides explanations for some of the circumvention tools that the page previously linked to and explained. The activists also moved information and links to some other anonymizing and encryption tools to a separate page for their Open RuNet campaign. It remains to be seen whether the state censors will attempt to block that page as well.

author: Tanya Lokot


text:
Local Trinidad & Tobago Mayor Sparks Outrage After Victim-Blaming in Masquerader’s Death · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain, where the body of the Carnival masquerader was found. Image by Georgia Popplewell, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
On the heels of the discovery of a female masquerader's body in the Queen's Park Savannah — the Mecca of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival — the mayor of Port of Spain, Raymond Tim Kee, has made a bad situation worse by saying “women have a responsibility to ensure they are not abused during the Carnival season.”
He made the point that even before this year's Carnival season was in full swing, he had warned about the ‘vulgarity’ and ‘lewdness’ of some female masqueraders, adding that “women did not need to behave this way to enjoy themselves”.
By early Thursday, police had not officially confirmed how the woman died, but media reports quoting anonymous police sources identified her as a steel pan player from Japan named Asami Nagakiya.
Social media users of both genders — men were as vociferous in women's defence as women were in their own — were immediately up in arms over Tim Kee's statements, which most people found irresponsible, and a classic case of victim blaming. Gareth Jenkins was astounded:
‘Women have a responsibility to ensure they are not abused’ – yeah, it's not like it's the police or the mayor's responsibility to protect people from being murdered. Or, I dunno, the responsibility of men to maybe STOP ATTACKING WOMEN IN THE FIRST PLACE. Vulgar? You take gold. So ashamed…
Melvina Hazard thought the mayor's statements were sending a dangerous message:
Irresponsible and tasteless statement by the Mayor of POS. This type of attitude is one of the biggest reasons why women are under constant attack at all levels.
In a public Facebook post, Samantha Rattan wrote passionately about the issue of victim blaming:
How recessed the thinking! Disappointed in these comments that hold women and girls accountable for any harm and abuse inflicted on their bodies. It only perpetuates the ignorance that ‘she mustbe look for it’. Strong men are born from boys who are taught respect and value, not just for others but for themselves. Not just for women but humanity. #ourlivesmatter
Cherisse Lauren Berkeley posted a graphic with the definition of victim blaming and said:
Why is it always that women are asking for their abuse and up to them not to be abused? Why is he protecting our attackers? Our government officials say things like the aforementioned, some support them and then we all have to face the backlash of spikes in crime, especially toward women.
Men catcall women and sexually harass us in front of police officers and that's accepted and there are no attempts to correct this behaviour, but instead we tell women not to act a certain way, or wear certain things. Hardly ever do I hear persons who hold public office saying, ‘women don't ask for their abuse, and no one is entitled to their body regardless of how they look and or conduct themselves.’
To think that in 2016 where technology is at everyone's fingertips and there is widespread discussion over gender roles, respect, and equality that someone in authority has had the bravery to utter such nonsense.
To the victim, she added:
More than anything, I'm sorry and ashamed of the words of the Mayor of Port Of Spain to you, and all other victims who have been triggered by his stupidity and ignorance in to even entertaining any thought that their abuse was their own fault. No one deserves to die or be found the way you did and then to be further disrespected in death to have any blame cast in your direction.
Sincerely,
Every Trinbagonian that knows better.
Dion Boucaud felt the same way:
Mr. Tim Kee, please be advised that our imagination and indeed yours will never reveal what happened. You cannot as an official, cast aspersions on a person's character nor can you blame the victim. You owe this young lady an apology for your crass and insensitive response to this unfortunate situation.
Andreas Stueven, on a comments thread about the topic posted “Ten Rape Prevention Tips” in which the onus was all on men to not interfere with women, adding:
This is the same ‘Is she own fault she get rape, why she dress so?’ Attitude… I don't agree at all, not this time or any time. While i disagree what carnival has come to, that still does not give anyone any additional rights aside from the fact that the cause of death is still unclear as far as i know. He actually implies that this was a rape gone bad and delivers a ‘mitigating reason’ for the Rapist one time.
Twitter was also awash with criticism:
Soo! Mayor Tim Kee! How many stupid salads did you eat before commenting about the pannist who was found dead? Insensitive idiocy!
— Patricia Worrell (@bytesdog) February 11, 2016
“It is a matter that she was jumping up in a costume”. Mayor Tim Kee, are you serious?!?!
— Rebecca (@Gishala) February 11, 2016
While some female netizens were demanding an apology by the mayor for his careless statements, others were calling for Tim Kee's immediate dismissal.
Mayor Raymond Tim Kee should resign immediately.
— Travys Artyst (@travysartyst) February 11, 2016
Facebook user Rejane DeFour wanted both:
Mayor Tim Kee, take back that statement. Then get out and stay out.
A protest outside City Hall is being organised for tomorrow; in the interim, an online petition is being widely circulated on social media to agitate for the mayor to step down.
Update: At around noon on Thursday, Mayor Tim Kee said that he “unequivocally apologizes to women and the national population who were offended by remarks attributed to him following the death of carnival visitor and mas player, Asami Nagakiya”, but maintained his position in advising women to “take responsibility and protect themselves as so many women are the victims of abuse at the hands of others.”