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In Global Downturn, Sustainable Development Begins at Home · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Global Voices bloggers have been commissioned to liveblog the OECD Global Forum on Development in Paris on April 4-5, 2013. Leading up to the meeting, our team is submitting posts about development issues that help serve as weekly online discussion topics on their website (#OECDgfd)
Preparing a new thatched roof in Mali. Photo by Jean-Marc Desfilhes on flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
As Western economies struggle with rising debt and unemployment, their approach to development and cooperation with low-income countries and emerging markets has taken a twist. It is becoming more clear that sustainable development should not be based on external wealth or redistribution, but must instead be generated at home.
Foreign investment and remittances have long been identified as a crucial source of revenue for poor populations in countries like Mali or Cape Verde. Entire villages have been built out of remittances in Mali, for instance, mainly from immigrants to France. However, this does not mean that these countries are being helped to develop sustainably.
For most African countries, the positive ability to attract capital is often negated by lenient fiscal policies towards foreign investors that strip countries of public revenues to build up their economies. This trend seems was still on the rise worldwide in 2007 according to an OECD report “Tax Effects on Foreign Direct Investments”.
A report by Matthew Martin and Nils Bhinda from Development Finance International shows that in Tanzania, for instance, the influx of private capital from global mining companies increased the volume of gold and diamonds sales. However, this failed to produce the expected social benefits, such as increased government revenues or public investment in social infrastructure. In fact, various tax exemptions and fiscal incentives ended up  costing Tanzania $140 million USD from 2005-2008.
Remittances: Money at what cost?
A  growing number of poor households worldwide are subsisting on remittances, according to the World Bank. Still the question remains: can these seemingly successful flows of migrants and money secure sustainable development and reduce poverty in the most affected countries?
Remittances from abroad to Mali amounted %3.7 of the countries GDP for the year 2005-2006, and according to some estimates remittances significantly decreased the number of poor in Mali and also reduced inequality. Cape Verde is another nation that has seemingly benefited  from emigration as the country with the highest per capita remittances of any African country. With remittances amounting to 8% of the country's GDP, it has even overcome the challenge of establishing banking institutions for the poor on its many islands thanks to  financial capital from migrants  in Portugal, Brazil and the USA.
Because of such statistics, many international development institutions have attempted to design development policies based on remittance flows, by trying to convert this “subsistence” money into capital for infrastructure. There are some caveats to consider though.
Despite the growth of remittance flows, one should keep in mind that the very concept of remittances originates from a major outcome of global poverty: economic migration. Those who choose to leave their country are often exposed to risks and dangers during the transition (illegal border transfer, human traffickers, social and cultural isolation).
Moreover, remittances from migrants are highly dependent on the economic growth of the host countries. When unemployment in host countries rises, it frequently affects the type of labor available to most immigrants, putting both them and families back home at further risk of precariousness.
Finally, the peer-to-peer nature of remittances is both a blessing and a curse. As Hein de Haas writes in an article for Third World Quarterly in 2005:
The much-celebrated micro-level at which remittances are transferred is not only their strength, but also their main weakness, since this also implies that individual migrants are generally not able to remove general development constraints.
Because of the lack of incentives for locally-produced added value, it appears that remittances based on value created abroad can never be the sole base of a sustainable development strategy for low income countries.
Good measures for sustainable development
There are some measures that can be implemented to support foreign direct investment and remittances towards a more sustainable world.
First, transparency and accountability. With respect to foreign investments, governments should offer proper projections of the benefits for public finance, or projects should not be allowed to take place. Financial policies should encourage a permanent check and balance system for both private and public flows with an obligation of transparency for the source of the revenues and their further use. Transparency, in the form of regular and mandatory publications to civil society should be mandatory.
Low income countries often resort to the setting up Industrial Free Zones (IZF) to spur industrialization and create jobs in strategic locations with mineral resources. The creation of these zones have often led to economic and social instability through a constant race to lower costs, geographical mobility and low-quality production. Therefore if a government chooses to implement an IZF, it should also plan for a rapid conversion of labor and production capacity to evolve with markets.
This concept is all the more important because so far there has been no concerted effort to integrate local products of low income countries and services in global trade. Inter-regional trade should remain the main goal because it provides geographical proximity and reduces vulnerability to the whims of highly mobile multinational companies.
With respect to migration and remittances, a drawback of global inequality is the tendency of qualified students from low income countries to remain in richer countries to pursue careers, a phenomenon also known as the “brain drain“. As the recession takes its toll on employment in Western countries, a “reverse brain drain” effect has emerged for Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco and other countries where there are competitive salaries and working conditions.
It would make sense for policymakers worldwide to start to embrace a simple idiom to ensure sustainable development: the creation of wealth through added value and redistribution must start at home. Policies based on short term incentives, social inequities or external wealth injection might spur growth temporarily, but it is doubtful that they will sustain poverty reduction in the long run.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Iran’s ‘Oldest’ Blogger Passes Away · Global Voices
Farid

Ahmad Falsafi, an 82-year-old dentist and blogger who wrote in his blog for about eight years, has died. Many considered him as the oldest blogger in Iran.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Farid


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Myanmar Now Sells Cheap SIM Cards  · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

Great news for mobile phone users in Myanmar. Authorities from different divisions and states will start selling[my] mobile SIM cards for CDMA and WCDMA network at only 1500 kyats or about 2 US Dollars. Just five years ago, a SIM card in Myanmar could cost more than $2000.

author: Chan Myae Khine


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Peru: Attack on Radio Sparks Clashes · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Protest in front of Radio La Karibeña, Plaza 28, Iquitos. Photo shared by Juan Morales on Facebook.
A radio station [es] from the city of Iquitos was surrounded by workers of the Regional Loreto Government (GOREL, for its initials in Spanish) who were protesting against a radio journalist who had called them corrupt. The journalist in turn called for a counter protest, sparking clashes. A recent investigative report [es] revealed irregularities in agricultural loans extended by the GOREL.

author: Juan Arellano


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Philippines: ‘Save Manila Bay’ Campaign · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Various groups in the Philippines are petitioning the Manila City government to cancel a contract that would allow the reclamation of 148 hectares covering three islands in Manila Bay.
The fabled Manila Bay sunset view
Manila Bay is a famous destination to view the sunset. An online petition was initiated urging the public to support the campaign:
Sunset on Manila Bay is a spectacular experience, and is free for all to enjoy. But not for long, if developers have their way.
But this is not just about the sunset. We all know that the present aggressive development of the area cannot be supported by the existing infrastructure, and extreme pressure is being placed on already inadequate water and power supply, traffic, sewage and sanitation — problems so far not solved, which can only worsen with reclamation
Dr. Kelvin S. Rodolfo lists three reasons for opposing the reclamation. The first issue is the sinking of Manila:
The first problem is that Metro Manila is subsiding rapidly – several inches every year – due to over-extraction of groundwater by its rapidly growing population.
The People’s Network for the Integrity of Coastal Habitats and Ecosystems demands the restoration, not reclamation of Manila Bay:
What the national and Manila City government should focus is to restore the previous pristine environment of Manila Bay and surrounding communities.
Synchronized sunset viewing to stop the reclamation project. Photo from @jmaxwell88
Beyond the sunset view, Leon Dulce asserts that the real beauty of Manila Bay is its marine wealth:
…its beauty goes beyond the picturesque views and bird watching hotspots: advocates have long explained the significant role of the Manila Bay ecosystem to lives in the area connected all the way up to the global big picture.
While infamous for its scores of floating garbage and bouts of red tide and fish kills, large parts of Manila Bay are still teeming with sea life. Home to diverse marine ecosystems of coral reefs and sea grasses, it remains as one of the most important suppliers of fisheries in the country.
The real beauty of Manila Bay lies in the unseen: despite the pollution and abuse from development aggression, it remains a highly important source of life interconnected to various ecosystems across the country.
The developer, Manila Gold Coast Development Corporation, claims that the project will not block the sunset view of Manila Bay. It also insists that the project will not pose a threat to the marine ecosystem:
…it will not deprive Manilans, much less Filipinos, of the fabled Manila Bay sunset.
The development project, envisioned to abide by world-class best practices and standards, and with the use of state-of-the-art green reclamation technology, will not impact adversely on the environment. It will not cause any disruption of whatever nature to the bay’s marine ecology, not when studies conclusively show the absence of marine life – even sponges and ascidians that are tolerant to turbid and polluted water – in the project site and contiguous areas.
It will not cause floods and will, in fact, reduce the occurrence of floods like other reclamation models all over the globe.
The campaigners have been using the #savemanilabay hashtag to promote the cause.

author: Mong Palatino


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Talking about Cuba with Ellery Biddle and Elaine Díaz · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

At the last Global Voices Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, a number of video interviews were conducted with some of the bloggers that attended. One of the greatest hopes was to chat with the authors in charge of writing about Cuba, given the issues of connectivity and free flow of information that exist on the island.
Ellery Biddle, now also editor of Global Voices Advocacy, was, at the time, a volunteer author and worked for the Center for Democracy and Technology. With an interest in Cuba that came about quite some time ago, she has developed her own perspective towards the relationship between technology and activism in Cuba. We can appreciate some of this in the following excerpt from a post on her personal blog half-wired:
Ellery Biddle at RightsCon Rio 2012. Photo from Jim Killock on Flickr.
If digital rights advocates want to be supportive of on-island efforts to increase access to technology and information, they must listen carefully to Cubans in Cuba, and they must listen to a diverse range of individuals. The members of the fragmented dissident community, or those of the most combative corner of the nation’s diverse blogosphere, have important perspectives. But they are not the only Cubans bringing their ideas to the table, nor are they the only Cubans who are active online.
I do not defend the human rights record of the Cuban government, nor do I defend its abuses of Cubans’ civil and political rights. But I know enough about Cuba to say that I think it’s counterproductive and actually harmful to perpetuate such overly simplistic narratives. If advocates want to take a stand against government practices, they must understand how they work, where they come from, and what effects they really have on people. And they must think strategically about what kinds of pressure could bring change, and what kinds of pressure will do nothing but exacerbate the status quo.
But let's move on to hearing her speak out loud. In the following video she tells us about her relationship with Cuba, Cuban bloggers, the Cuban diaspora, and other related topics. [The video was subtitled by Qianqian and edited by Catalina Restrepo]
Elaine Díaz at the Global Voices Summit 2012, Nairobi, Kenia. Photo from @Rezwan.
Elaine Díaz is a journalist and professor at the University of Havana's School of Communication, who is a Global Voices volunteer contributor. Although she has currently sidelined blogging in order to pursue her own professional development, her blog La Polémica Digital remains online and we can still read her posts. In one of the last posts, she recounts how frustrating it is to read theories that are often woven outside of Cuba about what happens in her country, like the ones charging the Cuban state of replacing the world wide web Internet with the national Cuban network. When asked about it, she says [es]:
No considero que el gobierno cubano utilice la Intranet como alternativa de acceso a la Internet global. La Red Cuba, al ser un servicio que se provee desde servidores cubanos y con tecnología nacional es más fácil de generalizar que el acceso a la red global, que depende de la conexión mediante satélite o cable de fibra óptica. La implementación de servicios como el correo electrónico y los sitios web con información útil para los ciudadanos desde extensiones .cu pretenden aumentar las posibilidades de acceso a la información de los ciudadanos a la información en medio de una difícil coyuntura tecnológica. A mi juicio, Cuba no está intentando ni ha intentado nunca crear una Internet paralela y renunciar al acceso a los servicios globales; prueba de ello es que la mayor parte de los servicios mundiales más usados son accesibles desde el país, como Google, los servidores internacionales de correo electrónico, las redes sociales (Facebook, Twitter), los servidores internacionales de blogs, etc.; aunque están puntualmente bloqueados algunos de estos en varias instituciones.
I don't consider that the Cuban government uses the Internet as an alternative to access to global Internet. The Cuban Network, by being a service that is provided by Cuban servers and national technology, makes it is easier than to access the global network, which depends on a connection via satellite or fiber optic cable. The implementation of services like email and websites with useful information for citizens with .cu extensions aim to increase opportunities of information access for citizens amidst a difficult technological situation. From my point of view, Cuba is not trying, nor has ever tried, to create a parallel Internet and renounce access to global services; proof of this being that the majority of the global services most used are accessible from within the country, such as Google, the international email servers, social networks (Facebook, Twitter) international blog servers, etc.; but some are promptly blocked in various institutions.
In the following video, Elaine speaks about the problems she faces in covering events that happen in Cuba and the characteristics of the Cuban media and blogosphere, as well as the relationship between the two, in addition to some of the reactions she receives in response to the articles she writes. [For English subtitles, please watch video on YouTube and press translation caption button]
Global Voices’ coverage of Cuba can be found here. You will find posts from the bloggers interviewed above as well as from other sources, given that we cover what is written about Cuba not only in Spanish but in English as well. You can also follow the recently created Cuban Blogosphere Observatory [es].
Other related posts:
Matisse Bustos Hawkes, WITNESS and the power of video
Chris Moya, SpainRevolt and cyberactivism
Afef Abrougui, blogging from Tunisia
Talking to Rebecca MacKinnon about “Consent of the Networked”
A visit to Kibera [es]
The first day of the Global Voices Summit 2012 [es]


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Towards Better Support for French Entrepreneurs in 2013 · Global Voices
Laurent Delors

In 2013, the spotlight is on innovation and entrepreneurship. The plan that has been put in place by Minister Fleur Pellerin will stimulate these two pillars of growth as long as it succeeds in restoring confidence among entrepreneurs and giving them better support during the business start-up process.
Graphic of entrepreneurs in France by Eric
Ingargiola on Générations Entrepreneurs
The Minister Delegate attached to the Minister for Economic Regeneration, with responsibility for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Innovation, and the Digital Economy, stated in the programme that she announced to the Senate in July 2012, that she wanted to give priority to supporting SMEs, improving the fiscal and administrative environment of businesses, and encouraging entrepreneurial spirit.
She also emphasised the second part of this programme, innovation [Fr]. Innovation needed to be more firmly rooted in the territory, and action needed to be taken to finance it,  to provide better funding for the innovation chain and to promote and disseminate the innovation culture in parallel with entrepreneurship.
2013 is the time for taking practical steps. But before putting the tools in place, it was important to listen to what entrepreneurs had to say, so that the measures matched their needs as closely as possible. For this purpose, the Entrepreneurship Conference [Fr] was launched.
Frédérique Clavel, new President of APCE, (the French business start-up agency), who is leading this Conference's working groups, spoke of the need: [Fr]
Rétablir un dialogue sans biais entre les entrepreneurs et le gouvernement. Les Assises ont été lancées le 14 janvier par Fleur Pellerin et mandatées par l’ensemble des ministères, sous la tutelle de Jean Marc Ayrault. L’état d’esprit est d’entendre ce que les entrepreneurs ont à dire pour améliorer leurs conditions d’entrepreneur
To restore an unbiased dialogue between entrepreneurs and the government. The Conference was launched on 14 January by Fleur Pellerin and mandated by all departments, under the supervision of Jean Marc Ayrault. The idea is to hear what entrepreneurs have to say so that their conditions as entrepreneurs can be improved
Although it is still too early to form a clear picture of this Conference, the president expects the different working groups to send back proposals for concrete, feasible measures. This optimism offsets the mixed conclusions of the Court of Auditors’ last report, which criticises the lack of clarity with regard to start-up help and the APCE's unimpressive figures. According to that agency, the proportion of entrepreneurs receiving support is still too low today (39%).
Frédérique Clavel continues to put forward proposals for providing assistance for business start-ups: [Fr]
on parle de la création d’un Passeport Entrepreneur. Au-delà des mots, il serait bon de créer un outil pour guider le créateur, pourquoi pas un tag, un logiciel : peu importe l’outil, du moment qu’il facilite la vie des entrepreneurs !
there is talk of creating an Entrepreneur's Passport. Over and above mere words, it would be good to create a tool to guide the new entrepreneur, perhaps a tag, or a piece of software: it doesn't matter what the tool is, as long as it makes life easier for entrepreneurs!
(Video of
the interview with Fréderique Clavel at the Salon des Entrepreneurs)
For their part, business managers have joined forces to stimulate innovation. In his blog, Générations Entrepreneurs, Eric Ingargiola describes the current state [Fr] of entrepreneurship and job creation:
95 % des entreprises créées n’ont aucun salarié ; ceci s’explique en partie par la part importante des nouveaux auto-entrepreneurs (56%). Cependant, même hors auto-entreprises, seules 12% des nouvelles entreprises emploient un ou des salariés. Ces entreprises employeurs ont en moyenne 2,9 salariés.
95% of start-up companies have no paid employees; this is partly due to the high proportion of new self-employed entrepreneurs (56%). However, even excluding self-employed businesses, only 12% of new businesses have one or more paid employees. These employer businesses have an average of 2.9 paid workers.
The Réseau Entreprendre, the national business manager network, has been supporting project initiators since it was set up 27 years ago. In 2007, this network set up the InnoTec programme, which has enabled 115 innovative new businesses to be funded. The firm KPMG [Fr] became involved with the programme in 2013
as part of its advisory and support activities for innovative projects.
In particular, KPMG specialists in the “Technology growth companies” network will have to prepare an assessment of the projects selected by the 47 Réseau Entreprendre (business start-up network) organisations. Events for innovative businesses will be organised in various regions to discuss good practices regarding financing and developing innovative projects.
For president of Réseau Entreprendre's InnoTech programme [Fr] Pierre Violo:
Ce partenariat est un vrai plus pour nos entrepreneurs dans leur parcours au sein de nos associations. Le métier de conseil de KPMG est tout à fait complémentaire à l’œuvre d’accompagnement de Réseau Entreprendre.
This partnership is a real bonus for our entrepreneurs throughout their career within our organisations. The KPMG consultancy role fully complements Réseau Entreprendre's support work.
It is hoped that the groundwork carried out at the Entrepreneurship Conference will give rise to some solid opportunities for the improvement of conditions for entrepreneurs. The combined activities of the government and business managers should allow them to regain the confidence they have lost.

author: Laurent Delors


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28,000 Rivers Disappear from Chinese Map · Global Voices
Owen Guo

A popular Chinese folk song tells of “a wide river with strong waves, where the wind blows the fragrance of paddy fields to the banks.”
But such idyllic rivers in China may soon become a thing of the past. As public frustration brews over the country’s many polluted waterways, a recent nationwide water census seemed to reveal that some 28,000 rivers previously recorded in the government database have vanished.
The survey, released on March 26, 2013, is the country’s first conducted over the course of three years from 2010-2012. According to the census, the number of rivers covering an area of 100 square kilometers in the country currently stands at 22,909, a stark contrast to the 50,000 rivers claimed to exist in the 1990s.
Screen capture of CCTV's report on a dried river in Guizhou.
The water census comes only weeks after the newly installed Chinese leadership vowed to tackle the country’s deteriorating environment. Such a declining rate has riveted many, including one Chinese prominent environmentalist Ma Jun. In an interview given to the Times of England, he attributed the disappearing rivers to the over-exploitation of river resources.
Ma also added that large hydroelectric projects like the Three Gorges Dam might also have played a role.
However, the government blamed the lower figure largely on different research methods and climate change. Jiao Yong, China's deputy minister of water resources, noted that the old data of 50,000 was not accurate because cartographers in the past used traditional ways to locate rivers. He said [zh] to state-run broadcaster China Central Television:
过去都是90年代，我们专家依靠过去的老地图，老资料来进行统计计算的，而这次我们是运用国家1/5万（比例）的最新的地图，再加上遥感影像这些设备，一条河一条河提取出来的，所以它的准确度应该是更高。
In the 1990s, our experts depended on the old maps, old materials to calculate, but this time, we used the newest maps with the national standard of 1/50000 ratio, plus the remote sensing image equipment, we calculated rivers one by one, so its degree of accuracy should be higher.
Many Web users appeared to be unconvinced of the official explanation. Yami Laoliu [zh] from Beijing wrote on the popular microblogging site Sina Weibo:
雅米老刘：惊闻目前我国已有2800条河流从地图上消失。是天灾？是人祸？应该二者兼有，且人祸为主，事例很多，不胜枚举。剩下的河流和地下水水质令人堪忧……能源和粮食已经高度依赖进口，难道我们的子孙饮水也要进口？
I am surprised to learn that 28,000 rivers have already disappeared in the map. Is it natural disaster? Or man-made mistake? I think both played a role, and it was mainly a man-made mistake, there are many examples to illustrate the situation. The remaining water and underground water are worrisome….Our food and energy now largely depend on imports, could it mean that future generations will need to import their drinking water?
Wang Xuming, former spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, offered [zh] some words of wisdom to Chinese President Xi  Jinping on Weibo:
#给习总提建议#有 消息说中国流域面积100平方公里以上河流30年来少了2•7万条。口袋里的钱愈来愈多，身边的水却愈来愈少。2013年中国环保投入将比去年增加 18•8%是经济增幅两倍多。建议各地立即减缓发展速度，切实把环保作为第一大事抓，否则不予重用。真的把富有中国变成美丽中国！
Suggestions for boss Xi: Word has it that the number of rivers covering an area of 100 square kilometers has reduced 27,000 over the last 30 years. There is more money in our pockets, while water around us has become less and less. The investment China has made in environmental protection has increased 18.8 percent, twice the rate of the nation's economic growth [China's GDP is around 8%]. I suggest (government) at all levels immediately slow down their economic development, and make environmental protection their first priority, otherwise, officials shall not be valued. To make a rich China into a beautiful China.
Pan Wenda, who is from Shenyang city in China’s northeast province Liaoning, made an appeal [zh] to people asking them to leave comments about the status of rivers in their hometowns:
#逝去的家乡河流#在我国，不到20年，已有2万7千多条河流消失！这是一个很可怕的数字和现象，因为，水是生命之源，没有了水，一切生命都将消失！为了减少和避免河流的人为消失，为了子孙的健康延续，让我们为此呼吁，以引起有关方面重视。请大家在本条下面留言，说明你家乡河流的现状。
The passing rivers in our country, some 27,000 rivers have disappeared within 20 years, this is a horrific number and phenomenon, water is the source of life, without water, all life will be gone! To reduce and prevent the disappearance of rivers caused by humans, to ensure the continuing health of our children, let’s raise concerns so relevant parties can pay attention. Everyone, please leave your comments below explaining the state of the rivers in your country.
Even the state-backed tabloid newspaper Global Times let out a sigh [zh] this time on its Chinese editorial Weibo page:
据说中国每年消失上万条河流，想起去云南曾看到整片树被砍伐，山若斑秃；在西双版纳，山上原生树全被换成 橡胶树，同质化对树林生态伤害很大。发展一旦启动，其狰狞的一面也渐显露，它还会不断自我加速。但谁又能指责人们改善生活的努力呢？十亿计只想发展没有信仰缺少敬畏的人，是一股多么可怕的力量！
It’s said that some tens of thousands of rivers disappear every year in China. It calls to mind the forest being chopped down in Yunan last year, bare mountains: In Xishuangbanna, the original trees on the mountain were all moved to plant rubber trees, homogenization is very harmful to the ecology of forests. One development is activated, its ugly side will gradually show, and it will accelerate. But who can blame human efforts to make quality of life better? (If) a billion development-obsessed people lack faith and fear of nature, what a horrible force it would be!

author: Owen Guo


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Anonymous Hacks North Korean Sites, Reveals South Korean Users · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

As North Korea continues to escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula with the threat of nuclear war, hacktivist collective Anonymous hacked into North Korea's official Twitter and Flickr account and revealed the user registration list of the country's official website.
The group posted a warning on April 2, 2013, claiming to have stolen user records from the North Korean government website, and published the content two days later.
A majority of South Korean net users initially welcomed the news. But opinion quickly soured after it was reported [ko] that 2,000 among the 9,001 users in the registration list are believed to be South Koreans, including [ko] activists, labor groups, members of the media, and academics, fueling concerns over possible human right violations following this revelation.
Joining North Korean sites is considered a serious anti-state activity in South Korea and is punishable by law up to several years in prison.
As proof of the claim that the collective had hacked North Korea, the North Korean Twitter feed sent out tweets that read “hacked” with links to North Korea-related websites. One tweet said “Tango Down” and linked to North Korean Flickr account where an unflattering image of Kim Jong-un with pig ears and nose and a Mickey Mouse belly tattoo was displayed. Texts in the image criticized Kim for “threatening world peace with ICBMs and nuclear weapons”, “wasting money while his people starve” and “concentration camps and the worst human rights violation in the world”.
The image has since been removed, but there are screen captures of the image when it was live.
Anonymous later posted its video press release YouTube.
The collective also published the confidential user records of North Korean news and information website Uriminzokkiri.com in PasteBin site, exposing users ID, sex, name, email, date of birth and password which appears to be hashed.
An unflattering image that hactivist collective Anonymous allegedly posted on North Korea's official Flickr photostream.
Many raised concerns on social media that the list of usernames published by Anonymous could be used to “rat out” supposedly pro-North South Koreans:
@0103geeehyun: 회원명단 *상세하다… 해킹의 취지가 자꾸 도발하는 북한 위협하려는것이었을텐데 여론은 부차적으로 종북세력 척출해내는데에 초점..공개됨으로써 우,좌 대립은 더 세지겠군. 애니웨이 난 전쟁없는 나라에서 살고시퍼요
@0103geeehyun: The registration list is so f**cking detailed. The initial purpose of the hacking would be to blackmail North Korea who keep making provocations, but people seem to focus (not on the hacking itself but rather on) ratting out “pro-North” people in South Korea. By revealing this list, the conflict/division between the right and left side will grow deeper than ever. Anyways, on a personal level, I just want to live in a country with no war.
@jwmuzik_:  국제해커집단 어나니머스가 북한사이트 ‘우리민족끼리'를 해킹하여 9000여명의 가입자명단을 공개했는데, 그중에 상당수가 한국인이라는 소식. 대부분은 간첩과는 전혀 상관없는 평범한 사람들이고 일베충도 많던데 이메일도용당한 것으로 추정됨.
@jwmuzik_:  International hacker group Anonymous hacked North Korean site “Uriminzokkiri” and disclosed a list of 9,000 names who registered for the site and quite a lot of them were proven to be South Koreans. Most of them are believed to be innocent and irrelevant people and even few are users on the Ilbe site (extreme right-wing website taking a hostile stance against the North). It seems there have been email/identity theft.
Some conservatives as well as right-wing groups lavishly thanked [ko] Anonymous for disclosing names of people they believe either to be North Korean spies or pro-North South Koreans.
But many pointed out the naivete and ignorance of assuming that the collective had done something just to benefit the South Korean government, or any government for that matter.
@s_hunpark: 북한사이트 해킹한 어나니머스, 근데 우리나라 언론은 이들이 아나키즘적 성격의 해커그룹이란 것을 많이 강조하고 있지는 않은 것 같다. 심볼과 그간의 활동만 봐도 아나키즘적 성향이 매우 강한 해커그룹인데[…]
@s_hunpark: Anonymous hacked North Korean sites– what Korean local media choose to ignore is the group's anarchistic nature. Their previous activities and their symbols shows that they are an anarchist group (that doesn't believe in government of any kind).
More serious discussions have formed around the possibility of this data being used to investigate and monitor citizens. Influential Twitterati and lawyer Choi Young-ho (@Lawyer_Korea) answered [ko] the legal question:
@Lawyer_KOREA: […] 거기서 취득한 자료 자체를 국가보안법상 이적단체가입,방조의 증거로 사용할 순 없어도, 거기 나온 생년월일, 이멜주소로 특정된 2차 자료사용은 적법(대법원 판례)
@Lawyer_KOREA: According to Supreme Court precedent, (people can) use information from the Uriminzokkiri site, although this information would not be accepted as a legal proof of someone joining, aiding, and abetting an anti-state organization under our national security law. However, they can surely use the date of birth and email address as secondary sources in court.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Vietnamese Farmer Faces Murder Charges · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The family of Vietnamese soldier-turned farmer Doan Van Vuon who is facing murder charges for defending his land against government eviction forces issued an online appeal:
These were people who came to rob us of our land, and our defensive response was only normal.


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Turkmen Citizens Make Their Voices Heard · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

The Alternative Turkmenistan News (ATN) posted this photo on its Facebook page on April 5, 2013. The photo shows that even in the most authoritarian societies, citizens often find creative ways of expressing their discontent and making their voices heard. ATN is a public page dedicated to “bringing news from one of the most restrictive countries of the world”.
The writing on this building in Turkmenistan reads: “Governor (or Mayor), fix our roads”.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Ethiopia’s Ex-First Lady Claims Late PM Meles Zenawi Was ‘Poor’ · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

The widow of late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has ruffled feathers in the east African country with a claim that her husband lived on a meager monthly income of 220 US dollars, the equivalent of 4,000 Ethiopian birr, while in office.
Azeb Mesfin‘s remarks came during the 9th convention of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front on March 25, 2013 as she complained that the party's official eulogy for her late husband was missing important details. She claimed the late president was a simple man who did not have a bank account, a driver's license, or an ID card.
“Meles came to this world with nothing but ideas and he contributed these ideas to his fellow humans,” she told the convention. “His salary after tax and other contributions to his party was around 4,000 birr. He lived by that and for that we are proud of him. He never considered his family and what will happen to them in the future. He was an honest man who committed himself to his work.’’
Ethiopian netizens are making funny of remarks by the former First Lady. Image courtesy of @MahletSolomon
Many were skeptical and balked at her comments, some pointing to reports that Zenawi had a net worth of three billion US dollars.
Satire blogger Abe Tokichaw commented [amh] on his Facebook page:
አራት ሺህ ብር ላጥ እያደረጉ ደሀ ነን…
አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ በወር ተቆራርጦ የሚደርሳቸው ብር አራት ሺህ ምናምን ብር ብቻ ነበር ሲሉ ባለቤታቸው ሰሞኑን ሲቀውጡት ሰምተናል፡፡
ከንግግራቸው ሁሉ ግን ያስገረመችኝ እንደማንም ሳይስገበገብ… የምትለው ናት፡፡ ማነው የተስገበገበ…!? ደግሞም ቀጠሉ በፔሮሉ ብቻ የሚተዳደር መሪ ነው፡፡ አቶ ሃይሌስ በምንድነው የሚተዳደሩት ማለት ነው…? ሌሎቹስ…?
የወሮ አዜብ ንግግር ግን ከኮመዲያን ተርታ የሚያሰልፋቸው እንደሆነ ብዙዎች ተስማምተዋል፡፡ እኔም እስማማለሁ፡፡ ኮመዲያን ሀዜብ ሆይ እባክዎ በሳቅ አይግደሉን! በስንቱ እንሙት…
You are gulping down 4,000 Birr and yet want sympathy.
We have just heard that the widow of Meles Zenawi is creating a storm by claiming that her husband received a monthly salary of only 4,000 Ethiopian birr. From her speech, I was particularly impressed with her remark stating that Meles was never gluttonous like others! Say what? Are any of his peers gluttonous?! She continued…Meles was a leader who was being paid only from payroll. Here I ask again, do other officials got their income from other sources? Where does Prime Minster Hailemarim Desalegn get his salary? What about others?
Many have agreed that her speech made her look like a comedian! I couldn't agree more! I am asking your highness Comedian Azeb, please don’t kill us with laughter.
Blogger Seble Teweldebirhan summarised online commentary following Mesfin's remarks.
AddisNeger, one of news media sites blocked in Ethiopia under its Internet censorship policy, used their Facebook page to share the buzz created on Twitter following Mesfin's comments:
The Ethiopian social media particularly, Twitter is now ablaze with #SomeoneTellAzebMesfin campaign to challenge Azeb Mesfin's narrative that tries to picture her and her late husband as poor people. Samuel Larsson, a Swedish journalist who is actively following the campaign said the campaign “carries strong witnesses of real poverty”
Twitter users used the hashtag #SomeoneTellAzebMesfin to remind the former first lady that she is not poor.
Abiy Teklemarim (@abiyetk) wrote that Mesfin must be confused:
@abiyetk: #SomeoneTellAzebMesfin that she must have confused it with his poverty in political morality.
Mahlet Solomon (@MahletSomon) treated the claim with sarcasm:
@MahletSomon: #SomeoneTellAzebMesfin that I believe she is poor and that I have a vegetarian dog.
Gudu Kassa (@Gudu_Kassa) attempted to give Mesfin a dose of reality:
@Gudu_Kassa: #SomeoneTellAzebMesfin poor is the women who had to give birth in the woods because you sold their properties as farmlands.
Tamerat (@Tamefeyisa) reminded her what poverty really is:
@Tamefeyisa: #SomeoneTellAzebMesfin that you know you are #poor when you have to decide which one of your children should or shouldn't go to school
Mahlet Fantahun (@faantish) asked Mesfin to go on Twitter to know what is being said about her:
@faantish: #SomeoneTellAzebMesfin to come on twitter and go through #SomeoneTellAzebMesfin

author: Endalkachew Chala


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Campaign Tackles Migrant Worker Exploitation in Lebanon · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Seven NGOs in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs have recently launched the “Fi Chi Ghalat” (Something is Wrong) campaign, denouncing Lebanon's controversial Kafala (sponsorship) System.
The way the system works is quite simple. All ‘unskilled laborers’ (domestic workers) must have an in-country sponsor responsible for both her or his visa and legal status. That sponsor is usually their employer as well. The system which, according to International Labor Organization senior Ms. Simel Esim, “creates total vulnerability and opens the door wide to exploitation” due to its dimension of complete dependency has created a large number of victims over the years.
Indeed, Nadim Houry, Senior Researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Lebanon, was quoted  as saying:
The two leading causes of death for migrants is suicide [and] dying while trying to escape from employers.
The situation remains grim in Lebanon. According to statistics compiled by AltCity and Migrant Workers Task Force, 99 per cent of migrant workers are denied freedom of movement; 65% work more than 11 hours per day; 52% are called derogatory terms such as Hmara (donkey); 34% are not given time off; 31% are not allowed to leave the house; 14% are physically abused; and 7% are sexually abused.
This campaign comes in addition to KAFA’s [Enough Violence and Exploitation] 24/7 helpline for all migrant workers who are victims of physical and sexual abuse (76090910), the Anti-Racism Movement’s campaign against racism in Lebanese beaches and the ‘Ethiopian Suicides‘ blog’s constant reporting of cases of abuse.
So what are they asking for? Migrant-Rights.org has the answer:
These organizations call for the replacement of the sponsorship system with a framework that guarantees:
the right to be paid on time
the right to quit job
the right to keep her passport and belongings
the right to a system that protects her well-being, humanity and labor right
the right to a set hours of rest, including a day off outside the house
The campaign is aimed at both the population and authorities [ar]:
لازم يتغير القانون وعقلية العالم وهيدا ببلش من الشخص وبعدين الحكومة. لازم نغير نظام الكفالة!
The law and the mentality have to change and that starts with the individual and then the government, we must change the Kafala System!
And as we were reminded on the campaign's Facebook page by a Nepali migrant worker, things have to change.
I did not even get enough food. sometimes I only had bread and tea. I worked all day, with only bread and tea. One day, I asked for my full salary and told madam not to send me to wok at the houses of her friends and relatives, and I said that, ” if you don't give me my salary I will not work at all”. After saying this, I was beaten right away. She even used shoes to beat me. My right hand was broken and there were bruises all over my body. I was only taken to hospital 10 days later. But Madam told me that if I was asked by a doctor or anyone else about what happened to me, I should not tell them that I was beaten. She told me to say that, “It happened because I fell down while I was working”
Amrita from Nepal

author: Elia J. Ayoub


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India: A Different Take on Syria  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

German Ulrike Reinhard links to a series of videos featuring Prem Shankar Jha, a well known journalist in India, who offers a different take on what is going on in Syria.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Jamaica: Could Buju Go Free?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

If…this new evidence results in a mistrial I hope Mr. Banton will consider lifestyle changes and…focus more on…bringing Jamaica and the world the music we love.
Iriegal is following the news that reggae star Buju Banton, currently serving a 10 year prison sentence in the U.S. for trying to set up a cocaine deal, may get a reprieve.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Jamaica: Rehabilitation History  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Active Voice says that a new film about an innovative rehabilitation programme that uses music as a tool, fails to acknowledge Jamaica's “rich history” in “cutting edge” prison rehabilitation methods, thereby missing an opportunity to “to provide some of the fascinating background to a restorative justice initiative that needs to be known more widely, both here in Jamaica and the rest of the world.”


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Jamaica: Tribute to Ebert  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A poetic tribute to Roger Ebert from Jamaican disapora blogger Geoffrey Philp.


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Judge Orders Arrest of Indecently Dressed Women in Zambia · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

A female high court judge in Zambia has directed police to start arresting indecently dressed women.
Women in Zambia are often subjected in public to taunts and in some cases stripping if they are considered to be indecently dressed, a subject this article's writer blogged about more than five years ago.
The order is allegedly an attempt to curb the problem, but some Zambians have accused the judge of indirectly blaming women for their own assaults.
The statement of Justice Rhoyda Kaoma, judge-in-charge of the Kitwe High Court, was first reported on the Facebook page of Flava FM 87.7 radio and immediately went viral:
[…] Supreme Court Judge Royda Kaoma has urged police officers to arrest anyone found indecently dressed to avoid escalating Gender Based Violence (GBV) cases.
Ms Justice Kaoma who is also Kitwe High Court Judge-in- charge said in response to a concern from one of the members of the public on what the police was doing about indecent dressing by some girls and women, that police should take up the role and arrest those found wanting.
So following calls by judge Royda Kaoma, the question is:
Should police start arresting women who are indecently exposed? […]
Madam Justice Rhoyda Kaoma, right, in the picture that appeared on James Mwape's Facebook page and used here with his permission.
Reaction in the wake of the judge's statement was fierce. Scott Davies commented on the radio station's Facebook report:
How moronic to blame the women for men who act!
This justice is so wrong.
This judge must be one hell of an i…t.
Why not making sure women are protected from call boys and other fools who think they are judge and jury and strippers of women.
Its close to rape as they grope and try and touch the women as well.
Another commenter, Kingsley King Kaluba, accused the judge of being dull:
The role of the judge to is merely interpret the law,clear ambiguities n pass sentece [sic] not directing police.that judge is dull.I can tell she got that position through..katwishi mwe (I have no idea).
But others such as Gerald Sandundu supported the judge’s directive:
if there is a precedent then the judge is ok and going through the zambian law reports the judge is very correct..at least we will be saved from these ladies who re [sic] walking almost naked in public […] bravo madamjudge [sic].
James Mwape reported in a Facebook post that Justice Kaoma was speaking at a Catholic Women’s League luncheon where she said:
Police officers should do something about indecent exposure and under the law there should be nothing like parents would plead for their children because just like manslaughter or murder cases, an offence is an offence.
Police should take up the role and arrest culprits, they should take even one example
Commenting on Mwape’s publication, Caroline Nenguke Phiri criticized the judge for focusing on women's dress instead of men's behavior:
Seriously misdirected energies & instructions!! Instead of telling women how to dress, tell the men to stop raping them!! Will we now pay for the sins of men who can't control themselves?? Really, are you for real??
On Twitter, the converstation continued. Muleya Mwananyanda Muleya Mwananyand (@MuleyaM) wondered why Zambian jurisprudence is so backward:
@MuleyaM: @senzian #GBV you gotta be kidding me right? which judge? which case? honestly why is Zed [Zambia] jurisprudence so backward?
One tweet, however, stated a woman’s legal organization was not aware of the judge’s comments:
@Manyanyato: the organisation “Women in Law & Development” is unaware of comments made by Judge Roydahkaoma with regard to women's dress and #GBV
It will be surprising, however, Zambian women's movements take the judge's directive lying down.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Madrid President Advocates Censorship of Embarrassing Photos · Global Voices
Chris Moya

[All links lead to Spanish-language pages unless otherwise noted.]
Madrid regional president Ignacio González voiced his support during a radio interview for establishing “certain limits” on the publication of compromising images in the media, saying that “you have to be careful of the damage to people and to institutions”.
González, who was interviewed on Radio de Libertad Digital (Digital Freedom Radio) on April 4, 2013, made the claim for censorship only days after Spanish newspaper El País published a series of 20-year-old photos in which the regional president of Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, appears alongside notorious drug lord and current prison inmate Marcial Dorado.
Both González and Feijóo are members of the conservative ruling Popular Party (PP).
Spanish newspaper El Confidencial printed Feijóo's statement on the scandal:
Dije siempre que detrás de esas fotos no había nada, y que esas fotos eran eso, unas fotos, y dije también que estaba dispuesto a seguir explicando y explicar todo lo que se me plantease. De hecho, el próximo miércoles voy a comparecer en el Parlamento.
It was this “type of compromising images” that the regional president of Madrid was referring to when he suggested censoring the media in favor of preserving the reputation of government institutions. This becomes the latest attack against freedom of the press in Spain, which has increasingly found itself the target of Spanish politicians.
Reaction on social media was almost immediate, becoming a trending topic on Twitter in a matter of minutes:
*Thumbnail photo courtesy of PP Madrid and reproduced under licence CC BY-3.0.

author: Chris Moya


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North Korea Nuclear Threats Draw Arab Laughs  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

North Korea's threats to attack US military bases, including those on the American mainland, drew laughs from a number of Arab netizens.
Palestinian Ola Anan tweets [ar]:
تعليق بابا على تهديدات كوريا: أيوة بقى خليهم يتلهوا في بعضهم شوية ويحلّوا عنا
@olanan: My father's reactions to [North] Korea's threats: “Yes, let them get preoccupied with each other and leave us in peace.”
Syrian The 47th jokes:
@THE_47th: If this North Korean nuclear threat to US happened when Bush was president, he would have already ordered an attack on Cambodia. #GodBless
SATIRE: @Heshoz shares this picture showing the Emir of Qatar cheering on the on-going war of words between North Korea and the US.
While Lebanese Liliane A. notes:
@FunkyOzzi:  The way I see it, #NorthKorea is the baby that lacks affection and just needs a hug.
Hadi Alabdullah, from Homs, Syria, adds [ar]:
منقول: الائتلاف الوطني السوري يدرس قرار تزويد الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية بأسلحة غير فتاكة وتقديم الدعم اللوجستي لها في حربها ضد كوريا :)
@HadiAlabdullah: The Syrian National Coalition studies a decision to provide the US with non-lethal weapons and logistical aid in its war against North Korea
Egyptian Ibrahim Elgarhi takes the opportunity to poke fun at his country's own president saying:
كوريا الشمالية تصدق رسميا على ضرب امريكا بالنووي.. وبكدة يبقى جونج تاني اعبط رئيس في العالم
@Ibrahim_Elgarhi: North Korea approves Nuclear attack on US and thus makes Kim Jong-un the second most stupid president in the world
Hesham Mansour shares this picture showing the Emir of Qatar cheering on the on-going war of words between North Korea and the US. Qatar, the home of Al Jazeera television, has played a role in supporting many Arab Spring revolutions, even sending forces to Libya.
And on Brother Please, a Facebook page, contributors shared hilarious pictures and memes of North Korea's threat against the US.
Here's one of them:
Kim Jong-un portrayed as a Jihadist on Facebook page Brother Please. The caption reads: We a coming to you with nuclear [weapons] without an agreement


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Filing Taxes Online in Thailand · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Thanya Kunakornpaiboonsiri is satisfied with the online filing of personal income tax in Thailand:
At that moment, I realised the true power of harnessing technology for government services — I filed my taxes without having to deal with a mountain of paperwork, queuing up in a mile-long line, and spending half a day waiting.


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Opening the Black Box of Governance: Alleviating Poverty With Data · Global Voices
Rayna St.

Global Voices bloggers have been commissioned to liveblog the OECD Global Forum on Development in Paris on April 4-5, 2013. Leading up to the meeting, our team is submitting posts about development issues that help serve as weekly online discussion topics on their website (#OECDgfd)
The constant rise of Internet and mobile phone use is an opportunity to enable more citizens to engage with governance. Technology can help improve citizen participation in decision-making and can re-energise participation in public life. Transparency and accountability is becoming a diverse and dynamic field for exploration worldwide.
Opening the data produced by public administrations is part of an effective approach to poverty alleviation. Incredible amounts of data are produced every day, by a wide range of stakeholders: governments, media, mobile operators, citizens themselves. Despite the huge potential for using data about a society or government for the public good, it is rarely released and shared for public use. Additionally, reliable statistics can be hard to come by or are still the exclusive property of government or corporate officials.
The benefits of citizen engagement are numerous, wide-ranging and significant for all stakeholders, as Striking Poverty, a World Bank initiative, illustrates:
For the marginalized poor, participation mechanisms can provide channels for shaping solutions and holding governments accountable for policies and services delivered. For organizations, governments, and funders, engagement with communities is beneficial in that citizens will support, adopt, champion, and eventually share in the ownership and success of programs.
Does Open Data work in developing countries?
Open Data endeavours in both rich and poor countries often come up against a shortage of technical and political skills that prevent citizens from actively engaging with them. There can easily be a gap between the goals of data advocates and citizens’ understanding of the data. Still, a huge number of creative approaches to collect and make sense of data related to public life show promise that this is the most straightforward way into civic engagement.
The Kenya Open Data Initiative (KODI), the first national Open Data project in Sub-Saharan Africa, was launched in 2011. The released data sets (over 400) provide data for socially-relevant domains from education to sanitation. Kenya is in fact the first developing country to have an Open Data portal. In greater Africa, Morocco was first to launch an Open Data platform. Tunisia followed in 2011 with Open Data Tunisia.
Open Government Data by Justin Grimes on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Seizing the potential of Open Data for developing countries and the growing number of national ventures, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched the Open Data for Africa portal, as a part of the Africa Information Highway initiative. It encompasses Open Data platforms for the following 20 African countries:
Algeria, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Although the challenges are numerous, multiple success stories show that the key to using technology for transparency and accountability efforts is to employ a collaborative approach and ensure that tools are user-friendly and quick to offer results.
A report by the Global Voices ‘Technology for Transparency’ initiative looking at citizen initiatives for transparency and accountability across the globe found that:
Data visualization and navigation tools are a key feature in more than half of the projects we documented, as are diverse forms of data collection from citizens. Approximately one third of the projects use mobile phones in some way, most commonly by allowing citizens to submit or receive information via text messages.
These observations illustrate that citizen initiatives are not only directed towards gathering data but also towards making sense of it for the wider community. The projects show great opportunity for well-managed data and related statistics released through open government data programs. The next milestone for governments in developing countries is to solve the problems of data quality and availability, as well as the technical and statistical capacity of staff and institutions.
Opening the governance
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched back in September 2011 when the governments of Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States took stance in favour of more transparent governance by signing the Open Government Declaration:
The Open Government Partnership is a global effort to make governments better. We all want more transparent, effective and accountable governments — with institutions that empower citizens and are responsive to their aspirations. But this work is never easy.
It takes political leadership. It takes technical knowledge. It takes sustained effort and investment. It takes collaboration between governments and civil society.
Shortly after, the World Bank recognized the importance of the foundational principles of the Partnership and declared its support to the initiative “by facilitating knowledge exchanges and helping to build the capacity of OGP member countries to elaborate and implement their plans to become more open and responsive.”
The OGP already has 50 members. Although several African countries have presented their action plans and three of them — South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya — have already delivered their commitments, Africa is still trailing in involvement.
The most recent OGP Africa meeting indicates that slow progress is being made, with Ghana and Liberia developing their respective ‘Action Plans’ in order to apply for membership at the Open Government Partnership.
New approaches, new challenges ahead
Is technology the panacea for developing countries? Definitely not. But it definitely paves the way for addressing open, socially and politically relevant questions. Even though the KODI has not had much impact on Kenyans, and very few African states rush to join the OGP, these dynamics are irreversible. The very existence of the endeavours described above is a solid step in the right direction.

author: Rayna St.


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Peru: Motorcycle Taxis Light Up Runway to Transport Sick Patients · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Some 300 motorcycle taxi drivers used the lights of their vehicles to light up the Contamana local aerodrome's runway, making it possible for a light aircraft flying three patients to take off. This token of solidarity has prompted positive reactions among Peruvian netizens.
Last Tuesday, April 2, 2013, at 6 pm., at the aerodrome of Contamana, a light aircraft was about to take off with three patients that had to be transferred to a hospital in the city of Pucallpa, in the Loretean province of Ucayali.
Hours earlier, a 31-year-old female patient arrived to a medical center in Contamana to deliver her baby. Some complications arose two hours after delivery and the mother and her newborn baby had to be transported to a better equipped hospital. Almost at the same time, a 17-year-old male patient arrived to a health center with symptoms of leptospirosis. The three patients required urgent medical attention, so doctors ordered their immediate transfer to Pucallpa.
By that time, all operations at the Contamana aerodrome and at the Pucallpa airport were closed for the day. The doctors and personnel from the Contama aerodrome, however, managed to arrange the flight and got the authorization to land in the Pucallpa airport.
Image from Flickr user Martintoy, used under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC 2.0).
But things were not completely solved yet, as the Contamana aerodrome's runway doesn't have lighting.
A local radio station made an appeal [es] and asked motorcycle and motorcycle taxi drivers to go to the aerodrome to light up the 800-meter long landing strip. Just a few minutes later, 300 motorcycles and motorcycle taxis arrived at the aerodrome and managed to perfectly light up the whole strip. The aircraft took off to applause from the bystanders.
Reactions on Twitter appeared a little later, and soon users started tweeting with the hashtag #Contamana [es] to voice their sentiments.
Juancho (@juanchong) [es] summed it up with three words:
@juanchong: Que bonita historia *.* #solidaridad #peru #esmiperu #contamana #loreto http://diariolaregion.com/web/2013/04/03/300-motocarristas-iluminan-aerodromo-de-contamana/ …
@juanchong: What a beautiful story*.* #solidaridad [solidarity] #peru #esmiperu [this is my Peru] #contamana #loreto http://diariolaregion.com/web/2013/04/03/300-motocarristas-iluminan-aerodromo-de-contamana/ …
User Luciana (@LucianaRArmijo) [es] talked about her optimism:
@LucianaRArmijo: Historias como las de #Contamana te alegran el día y la semana
@LucianaRArmijo: Stories like the one coming from #Contamana brighten up your day and your week.
Ricardo (@Ricardobarrveg) [es] quoted part of the lyrics of a famous song [es] and noted:
@Ricardobarrveg: #Contamana te vio nacer, con mucho placer. gracias a todos los que lo lograron!!
@Ricardobarrveg: #Contamana saw you when you were born, with great pleasure. Thanks to all people who made it [possible]!!
Meanwhile, Manuel Cisneros (@efimero_MC) [es] broke the news briefly:
@efimero_MC: #contamana “@rmapalacios: La avioneta se elevó entre aplausos. Desde aqui el mío. Esas son las noticias que te devuelven la fe en la gente.”
@efimero_MC: #contamana “@rmapalacios: The aircraft took off among applauses. My applause comes from here. These are news that restore your faith in people.”
And then he added:
@efimero_MC: Hay esperanza!! #contamana
@efimero_MC: There is hope!! #contamana
Lastly, Nidia Sánchez (@nidiasanchezg) [es] saw the news from a more realistic stance:
@nidiasanchez: El caso de #Contamana revela también los graves problemas para que las personas con menos recursos reciban una atención de salud de calidad
@nidiasanchez: The incident in #Contamana also reveals the serious problems people with limited means of support have to face to get quality health care.
Netizens also shared some reactions to the story on Facebook [es].
Update (5 April, 2013): Unfortunately, local media reported on Friday, April 5, that the 17-year old male leptospirosis patient has passed away.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Protests Against Arrest of Bloggers Charged with Blasphemy in Bangladesh · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

This post is part of our Special Coverage Bangladesh's #Shahbag Protests
Bangladesh Police's detective branch detained four bloggers for their posts which allegedly insult Islam and the Prophet Muhammad and “hurt religious feelings”.
On the evening of Monday, April 1, 2013, Rasel Parvez, Mashiur Rahman Biplob and Subrata Adhikari Shuvo were detained and they were remanded for seven days the following day. On April 3, 2013 award winning blogger Asif Mohiuddin was also detained by the detective branch and remanded for three days.
Their laptops, mobile phones and other devices were also confiscated. MK Alamgir, the Home Minister of Bangladesh informed that the hunt is on to arrest seven more bloggers. Th arrested bloggers are associated with the Shahbag movement, which is demanding capital punishment for war crimes committed during Bangladesh's liberation war and calling for a ban on religious politics.
AmarBlog.com, a popular bloggging platform, has also been blocked in Bangladesh. The blog refused to provide information to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on certain bloggers who are accused of insulting Islam.
Blackout of blogging platforms and individual blogs in protest against the arrest of bloggers
Many popular Bangladeshi blogging platforms and individual blogs have blacked out their websites in protest over the arrests of bloggers.
The 84 accused bloggers
Different religious parties and Islamists have accused bloggers and online activists of published on blogs and Facebook words that insult Islam and Prophet Muhammad. During the peak of the #Shahbag protests they started labeling the bloggers as atheists. They  alleged that the #Shahbag uprising was instigated by Islamophobe atheist bloggers (because most of the war criminals under trial belong to an Islamist party). They soon launched a campaign against the bloggers demanding their arrest. Yielding to their pressure the government constituted a committee on 13 March to identify the atheist bloggers and take actions against them. On 31 March the committee met with Islamist intellectuals and clerics who handed over a list of '84 bloggers’ accused of being atheists and propagandists and urged action against them. The arrested bloggers are on that list. To build pressure, a radical Islamist organization called “Hefazot-e-Islam Bangladesh’ has also said it will march towards Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh on 6 April.
One of the arrested bloggers, Asif Mohiuddin was brutally attacked in February. Ahmed Rajib Haider, another blogger associated with the Shahbag protests was killed the same month. Now as bloggers receive this blow from the government, netizens expressed their outrage. There have been numerous human chains and press briefings in different parts of Bangladesh to protest against the detainment of the bloggers.
Monu Awal writes in Somewherein:
ব্লগারদের তথা মুক্তচিন্তার কর্মীদের উপর চলছিল হামলা, মামলা, সর্বশেষ যুক্ত হলো গ্রেফতার। মৌলবাদীদের শারীরিক আক্রমণের পাশাপাশি এখন শুরু হয়েছে রাষ্ট্র এবং সরকারের আক্রমণ। […] ব্লগার এবং অনলাইন লেখকদের বাকরুদ্ধ করে ফেলার চক্রান্ত শুরু হয়েছে।
So far the bloggers and free thinkers were being attacked and sued, the latest onslaught against them is arrest. The attacks by the fundamentalists are being supplemented by the government crackdown. [..] This is a conspiracy to muzzle online writers.
The way the bloggers were produced before the media was also questioned. Award winning blogger Ali Mahmed (BOBS Best blog Bengali, 2010) writes in Facebook:
আমি যখন খবরটা শুনি, বিশ্বাস করতে পারিনি। কিন্তু যখন ছবিটা দেখলাম তখন আমার সমস্ত ভুবন এলোমেলো হয়ে গেল। তিনজন ব্লগারকে যেভাবে দাঁড় করিয়ে ছবি তোলা হয়েছে, মনে হচ্ছে এরা একেকজন খুনি, ধর্ষক।
When I first heard I could not believe. But when I saw the picture the world rattled in front of my eyes. The way these three bloggers are lined up in front of police and photographed, it seems they are murderers, rapists.
The three alleged anti-Islamic bloggers stand with computers and police in the capital. Image by Rehman Asad. Copyright Demotix (2/4/2013)
One of the nominees at the BOBS 2013 award Nijhoom Majumder opines about the way the bloggers were photographed with their laptop/PCs:
[…] একজন ব্লগার হিসেবে আমি সিম্পলী লজ্জায় মাথা নিচু করে ফেলেছি এই ছবি দেখে।
As a blogger, my head went down in shame after seeing the picture.
Diaspora blogger Himu is worried about the security of these bloggers as they have been exposed by the media:
যে তিনজন ব্লগারকে আটক করেছেন, তাদের মুক্তি চাই না। তাদের আপনারা আটকে রাখুন। কারণ আপনারা তাদের নামধামছবি সব প্রকাশ করে দিয়েছেন। মুক্ত বাংলাদেশে এখন তাদের পিছু নেবে আততায়ীরা, যারা আপনাদের কল্যাণই এদের চিনে নিয়েছে।
I don't want the detained bloggers to be released. Please keep them detained. Because you have disclosed their identity and pictures. They will be chased by fundamentalist assassins, who have found them thanks to you.
The government has endorsed the #Shahbag protests from the beginning which focused on the maximum punishment for the war criminals. So blogger Sajal cannot fathom why the government is arresting the bloggers associated with #Shahbag movement:
যেটা বুঝা দুস্কর, মুক্তিযুদ্ধের নেতৃত্ব দেয়া দল আওয়ামী লীগ কেন এই মুক্তিযুদ্ধের চেতনাবিরোধী ধর্মীয় মৌলবাদীদের সাথে তাল মিলিয়ে নাস্তিক/মুক্তমনা ব্লগারদের উপর এই দমন নিপীড়ন শুরু করেছে!
This is hard to understand why Awami League, the party led the liberation war, has started oppression against the atheist/free-thinker bloggers in line with the anti-liberation forces – the fundamentalist groups.
Blogger Tutul thinks that they are being arrested because they are very active in the #Shahbag movement:
সবসময় তাদের উপস্থিতি ছিল শাহবাগে… সেটাই কি কাল হলো তাদের জন্য? এইসব মিথ্যাচার করে কি ব্লগারদের থামানো যাবে? আমরা কি থেমে যাবো? লেজ ঘুটিয়ে ঘরে বসে থাকবো?
They were in #Shahbag the whole time.. was this their crime? Can bloggers be stopped with all these lies? Should we stop? Sit inside our home and do nothing?
The politics of vote
In January 2014 the Bangladesh parliamentary election will take place. Many think that the current move by the ruling Awami League is a strategy to keep the Islamist parties as allies. So the arrest of bloggers for ‘hurtung religious sentiments’ was done to appease the Islamists and exploit their vote bank. But Himu thinks that they will not get the votes of the Islamists:
ভোটের জন্য? মোল্লাদের ভোট আপনারা পাবেন না। তাদের জুতা জিহ্বা দিয়ে চেটে সাফ করলেও পাবেন না। বরং যারা জামাতশিবিরের রাজনীতির মোকাবেলা করার জন্য আপনাদের ভোট দিয়ে ক্ষমতায় এনেছে, তাদের ভোট হারানো শুরু করবেন।
For vote? You will not get the votes of the Islamists. You won't even if you lick their boots. Rather you will lose vote of your followers who voted for you last time to tackle religious politics.
Many think that if the 13-point demand of Hefazot Bangladesh is met somehow then Bangladesh will become a fundamentalist country. Abidul Islam writes at Unmochon blog that the arrest of the bloggers followed after an agreement between the government and the Islamists was reached:
[…] আরেকটি হলো হেফাজতে ইসলামের সাথে এক প্রকার সমঝোতায় উপনীত হয়ে নিজেদের পরম ‘ইসলামবন্ধু’ রাজনৈতিক দল হিসেবে প্রমাণ করে আগামী নির্বাচনী বৈতরণী পার হওয়া।
Another way is that to cross the hurdle of the next election by posing themselves as an “Islam friendly’ political party with the help of an agreement between Hefazot and the government.
On April 3 the state-minister for law has notified that an amendment to the existing law is in effect where those who insult religion can be sentenced to the maximum punishment – capital punishment, which has irked many progressives. At present the punishment include maximum two years of imprisonment and/or 10 million BD Taka.

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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Twitter Turns Mexicans Into ‘War Correspondents’ · Global Voices
Periodismo Ciudadano

Reporting about drug-related crime in Mexico can be fatal. Journalists and citizens are threatened and even killed for reporting on the violence that has overtaken the country. In spite of the danger, many Mexicans are using civic media to inform the public about shootings, harassment, murders and arrests, filling the informative space that the country's mainstream media has abandoned.
Sara Plaza Écija summarized the findings of a new study of the role of citizen journalists as “new war correspondents” in Mexico in the website Periodismo Ciudadano [es] (Citizen Journalism). We're sharing Sara's article here, under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0).
Image base | Power_Surf under Creative Commons License (CC-BY-3.0), via Wikimedia Commons
An American study that aimed to analyze digital innovation found that Mexican Twitter users have become a reliable source of information about topics related to the country's drug trade, taking on the role of traditional mainstream media.
According to the document “The New War Correspondents: The Rise of Civic Media Curation in Urban Warfare,” Twitter users in cities like Reynosa, Monterey, Veracruz or Saltillo are in charge of informing the public about arrests, shootings and confrontations caused by the Mexican drug trade, thus taking on the informative characteristics and role of traditional forms of media and communication. This information has become increasingly influential for Mexican citizens as the nation's major media outlets continue to lose credibility.
The study, supervised by Microsoft Research, examines the means of information exchange between people living in the cities most affected by the war on drugs in Mexico. It describes the frequency with which citizens use social media to warn others about violence in their communities. The study also investigates the rise of civic media “curators”, or citizens acting as “war correspondents” in terms of spreading information. “This is a group of people, who we refer to as ‘curators’, who have a large number of followers on social media networks, which means they've gained the trust of their communities,” said Andrés Monroy-Hernández, one of the researchers.
The study has focused on the four cities most affected by drug violence: Reynosa, Monterey, Veracruz and Saltillo. The researchers looked for common traits among tweets, hashtags and the Twitter users who were sharing this information. The majority of tweets referred to a location, one of the cities and the word “shooting.” The tweets acted as a “public service announcement” that warned citizens to stay clear of certain neighborhoods. The “curators” are defined by a large number of tweets and followers. They are people who find and share information. “The study shows that 61% of Mexicans use social media, but only 20% use Twitter. About 4.2 % of the online population in Mexico has written something against drugs or the drug trade on Twitter,” added Monroy- Hernández.
Violence in Mexico has increased as a result of the war on drugs, and the media has become one of its targets, which has caused some of the country's media outlets to become much more cautious about reporting on these topics. Because of this, the “curators” have become necessary sources of information. The researchers tried to interview some of these new “war correspondents,” but many of them have remained anonymous in order to avoid the risks faced by traditional journalists.

author: Periodismo Ciudadano


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Voluntourism and Child Abuse in Cambodia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Miranda Kerr writes how some voluntourism efforts lead to more cases of child abuse in Cambodia:
In ‘worst cases’ these children are ‘rented’ or even ‘bought’ from their families because they are perceived to be of more value by earning money pretending to be a poor orphan than studying and eventually graduating from school


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A Dishonest Election & A Divided Opposition in Russia · Global Voices
Daniel Alan Kennedy

Zhukovsky, a mid-sized city just 40 kilometers outside Moscow famed for its aerospace industry, last weekend became the site of a bitterly contested mayoral election, which was marred by reports of electoral fraud and vote-buying. The election was prompted last January, when mayor Aleksandr Bobovnikov resigned at the behest of the acting governor of the Moscow Region, Aleksandr Vorob'yov.
In the last year, Zhukovsky has witnessed a grass roots protest movement [ru] to protect the local Tsagovsky forest, after local authorities stripped it of protected status in order to construct a new road. The local reaction and protests [photo album], which include clashes with police and riot troops, have surprised the authorities, ultimately leading Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to intervene personally [ru] on the side of the protesters. Having drawn much of their inspiration and public support from the better-known environmentalist movement to protect Khimki Forest [en], many consider the protests to have been instrumental in removing Bobovnikov, who allegedly lost his post due to “the loss of the inhabitants’ confidence” and “the instability of the socio-political situation” [ru].
Eleven candidates appeared on the ballot, including Sergei “The Spider” Troitsky. Troitsky is the leader of legendary Russian metal band Korroziya Metalla [en] and had previously stood in the October 2012 mayoral election in Khimki. The real contest, however, was between the nominally independent Andrei Voityuk (a former official in the Ministry of Emergency Affairs with strong links to Vorob'yov and Shoigu) and Igor Novikov (a member of “opposition oligarch” Mikhail Prokhorov's “Civic Platform”).
The election itself was marred by suspicion and tension long before anyone went to the polling stations. Novikov's campaign website suffered a DDoS attack on March 23, 2013. A week later, activist Ilya Yashin tweeted a picture [ru] of an official notice forbidding any photo- or video-recording by anyone but “representatives of the media”:
Избирком официальным (!) решением запретил наблюдателям съемку на выборах в #Жуковский. Жулики. Совсем охамели.
The electoral commission has officially (!) forbidden observers from taking photos at the elections in #Zhukovsky. Swindlers. Completely egregious behavior.
While Zhukovsky has only about 80,000 registered voters, in order to ensure the election went ahead peacefully, the authorities brought in 600 police [ru] from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while an estimated 1,000 independent electoral observers [ru] monitored the proceedings.
Despite the presence of these monitors (or perhaps because of it), within hours of polls opening, videos emerged online purporting to show widespread, organized vote-buying on behalf of Voityuk. In the video below, posted by the independent Russian electoral rights group GOLOS [en], people are seen queueing to have papers with the name “Aleksandr [sic] Petrovich Voityuk” stamped by two young women.
The two women report that they are merely “taking note” of the proceedings and that “everything is being done officially,” but seem ill at ease when questioned. When the camerawoman asks those in line if they were “promised any kind of reward,” however, an elderly man in a hat leans forward and replies “of course.” When asked what he was promised, he replies “one thousand roubles” (roughly thirty U.S. dollars).
A similar video posted by youtube user Alex Flaxman showed a large queue outside a local vehicle inspection center.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aBUBUQR5p0
Moving towards the front of the queue, the cameraman asks several users how much money is being given out. Several reply that they too were promised 1,000 roubles. At the very front, the cameraman asks a man in a leather jacket if there is any sort of pass needed to receive money. The man removes from his wallet a copy of the same paper with the name “Aleksandr Voityuk” seen in the first video. He informs the cameraman that it was given to him by “United Russia.”
The liberal blogosphere reacted angrily to the reports of electoral fraud and to the news that Voityuk had been declared the winner of the election. The next day “в Жуковском” (“in Zhukovsky”) trended on Twitter in Russia and worldwide. User Sapojnik, in a LiveJournal post titled “1000 Roubles for a Vote,” wrote:
На самом деле никто во власти, конечно же, не собирался устраивать никакие «честные выборы». Наоборот: эти выборы руководством МО и даже, возможно, АП воспринимались как выборы «выставочные», «Химки-2». Жуковским власти хотели продемонстрировать urbi et orbi, что они полностью контролируют электоральную ситуацию и что «оппозиция не имеет никаких шансов».
Basically no one in power, of course, planned on staging any kind of “honest election.” On the contrary, the leadership of Moscow Oblast and even, perhaps the Presidential Administration took these elections to be “staged.” A “Khimki Part 2.” The Zhukovsky authorities wanted to demonstrate urbi et orbi that they are in full control of the electoral situation and that “the opposition doesn't stand a chance.”
In a Facebook post, Mikhail Fishman drew similarly depressing conclusions from the election:
Первый: выиграл Войтюк. Второй: нам показали, как “Единая Россия” (или ОНФ) будет выигрывать выборы в Думу. Третий: барьера против фальсификаций, обмана, жульничества любого рода больше не существует. Now it's official.
Firstly: Voityuk won. Secondly, they've shown us how “United Russia” (or the All-Russian People's Front [Putin's new social coalition]) will win the Duma elections. Thirdly, the barrier against falsification, fraud, [and] swindling of any variety no longer exists. Now it's official.
Twitter humorist KermlinRussia reacted to the reports with characteristic levity:
На выборах в Жуковском Единая Россия не стала воровать голоса избирателей и честно скупила их.
In the elections in Zhukovsky United Russia has stopped stealing the votes of the electorate and purchased them honestly.
Not everyone was content to lay the blame solely with the authorities. Some faulted the opposition for failing to win in a city home to a highly educated workforce that has long been a hotspot of anti-Kremlin sentiments. Writing on Twitter, opposition Duma Deputy Ilya Ponamarev pointed the finger at the protest movement's disunity:
В #жуковский все, как всегда – два главных оппозионера не договорились, взяли 30% и 25%, в итоге побеждает единоросс с 35%. Доколе?
In #zhukovsky it's business as usual – the two main oppositionists [Novikov and Communist candidate Andrei Anikanov] took 30% and 25% with the result that United Russia wins with 35%. When will it end?
Similar accusations were leveled by Twitter user iphone_mitko, who faulted the opposition for lackluster campaigning:
Кстати, #Химки и #Жуковский очень яркие примеры беспомощности “оппозиции”. Кричать и митинговать – да. Работать “на земле” – ноль.
By the way, #Khimki and #Zhukovsky are excellent examples of the helplessness of the “opposition.” Shouting and demonstrating – sure. Working “on the ground” – zip.
Such well-documented voter fraud shows that “managed democracy” (where the ruling elite uses its administrative resources to ensure desired electoral results) continues to be the defining characteristic of the Russian political process. If anything, that process has become cruder and more obvious in the last two years. The election also shows that the United Russia brand may be becoming a liability for the elite, as Voityuk ran as an independent, despite strong links to party figures.
But the main lesson from the Zhukovsky election is that over a year on since the Bolotnaya Protests [en] (probably the high water mark of the protest movement) the opposition has yet to make much of a dent in Russians’ widespread political apathy. Indeed, the official turnout in Zhukovsky was a mere 37.6% [ru]. Given the choice between the opposition and the elite, most voters chose simply to stay home.

author: Daniel Alan Kennedy


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China: Calling the Dead with QR Code · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

April 5 is the Qingming Festival, a time to pay respect to the ancestors by visiting their tombs. Shanghaiist highlights a new service to facilitate people to get  access to the Deads’ information with QR code.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Chinese on North Korean Propaganda · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fauna from ChinaSMACK puts together some comments from Chinese netizens on a North Korean propaganda video about Americans.
Screen Capture from a North Korean Propaganda video about poverty in the U.S.


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E-book on Digital Activism in Chile · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Chilean website El Quinto Poder has published an e-book on digital activism in Chile [es, PDF], as part of the project “Social Media and Citizen Advocacy: Towards a new political legitimacy?” [es]. The book analyzes different activism initiatives and it considers “the symbolic dimensions of the forms of discourse which are present in interactions between activists and their audiences.”

author: Juan Arellano


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Jamaica: Blog Action, Jamdown Style!   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica's version of Blog Action Day (the topic is Jamaican police abuses and brutality) will take place on May 23, to coincide with the anniversary of the country's state of emergency in 2010.


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Spain: The Eternal Fight to Dismantle a Fascist Symbol and Mass Grave · Global Voices
Carlos Almécija

The esplanade at the Valley of the Fallen, Madrid. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Madrid's Valley of the Fallen, the ostentatious memorial monument built by fascist dictator Francisco Franco, is perhaps the biggest symbol of Francoism and the biggest mass grave in Spain. Almost 40 years after the death of the dictator, marking the start of democracy in Spain, the exact figure regarding the number of victims from the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) is still unknown. Many of them have been laid to rest alongside their executioner. In 2010, the Spanish government had identified 33,833 [es] but there could be many more.
On 19th March 2013, the national Catalan television channel aired the documentary “Avi, et trauré d'aquí!” [ca] [“Grandfather, I will get you out of here!”], which set off comments on the social networking sites about the mausoleum. According to what was published on the webpage [ca] about the programme, it generated more than 2,600 tweets and the hashtag #ettrauré [ca] [#Iwillgetyouout] was ‘trending’ on Twitter throughout the programme and well into the night.
Built between 1940 and 1958 with the help of political prisoners, the Valley of the Fallen is still today a symbol of the victory for the fascist troops over the forces that were defending the Second Spanish Republic, proclaimed in 1931. The death of Franco in 1975 and the end of his forty year dictatorship gave way to the Spanish democratic state. It was a smooth transition from dictatorship to democracy which took care to not reopen old wounds between the opposing sides from the Civil War. Despite the Historical Memory Law, passed in 2007, the relatives of the victims from the losing side in the war and Franco's dictatorship fought via civil society organisations, often passively criticising successive governments, so that the bodies of the buried relatives could be recuperated from the mass graves and so that justice could be done.
The historian Queralt Solé (@qbru), who also appeared in the documentary, explains, in her article [ca] on the Centre for International History Studies‘ blog [ca], published by the Catalan history magazine Sàpiens [ca], the process that the regime used in order to stuff the human remains in Franco’s mausoleum:
El procés es va realitzar amb absoluta transparència, es van publicar als principals diaris estatals i en els butlletins oficials de totes les províncies anuncis oferint la possibilitat de la inhumació al Valle de los Caídos. Però la resposta per part de familiars de víctimes franquistes de la guerra no va ser ni molt menys la que el règim esperava. Les sol·licituds individuals dels familiars dels “màrtirs” van distar tant de les previsions, que es va decidir incrementar les exhumacions de fosses de soldats franquistes morts al front, així com afegir-hi l’exhumació i trasllat de fosses de soldats republicans sense, en aquest cas, informar els familiars.
The process was carried out with absolute transparency; announcements were published in all the main state newspapers and official bulletins within all the provinces offering the possibility of burial in the Valley of the Fallen.  But the response from the relatives of the pro-Franco victims in the war was similar to what the regime was expecting.  The individual requests from the relatives of the “martyrs” was so far from what was predicted that it was decided to increase the grave exhumations of Franco soldiers who died on the front as well as exhuming and transferring the graves of Republican soldiers without, in this case, informing their relatives.
Within a few hours, Twitter was filled with critical comments driven by the political motive of historical memory under the hashtag #ettrauré.
The Independent's collaborative Twitter account (@LaIndepe) criticised [ca] the lack of resoluteness from the successive governments led by the Spanish majority parties; the People's Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE); in relation to the crimes committed during Franco’s dictatorship. The similar positioning of both the parties has given way, in recent years, to the ironic and informal use of the acronym PPSOE, which refers to the two parties at the same time.
El Valle de los Caídos és un parc temàtic del feixisme emparat pel PPSOE #ettrauré
The Valley of the Fallen is a fascist themed park protected by the PPSOE #ettrauré
Many other Tweeters cast doubt on the democratic spirit of Spain, like the editor and bachelor of Law Quim Torra (@QuimTorra) [ca] or the journalist Jordi Finestres (@jordifinestres) [ca]:
Fins que Espanya no es posi davant del mirall i es jutgi a ella mateixa no serà mai una democràcia #ettrauré
Until Spain stands in front of a mirror and judges itself, it will never be a democracy  #ettrauré
Mentre manin els néts dels que van fer construir el #valledeloscaidos Espanya no serà mai una democràcia #ettrauré
While the grandchildren of those that constructed the #valledeloscaidos [#valleyofthefallen] are in charge, Spain will never be a democracy #ettrauré
Comparisons with the social and legal treatment in Germany and all that can be considered to justify Nazism were recurrent. David Martí (@davidmarti) [ca], a university professor; Èric Fornós (@fornoseric) [ca], a law student, and Lluís González (@focfollet) [ca], a philologist and linguist, commented:
#ettraure Us imagineu Hitler enterrat en un mausoleu públic a 60 km de Berlín envoltat de jueus i gitanos gasejats pel règim? Doncs això.
#ettraure Can you imagine Hitler being buried in a public mausoleum, 60km outside of Berlin, surrounded by jews and gypsies that were gassed during the regime? Exactly.
Exaltació del nazisme a Alemanya, 40 anys de presó. Exaltació del franquisme a Espanya, total llibertat #ettraure
Praising Nazism in Germany: 40 years in prison. Praising Francoism in Spain: complete freedom #ettraure
Alemanya va fer la neteja que Espanya no ha fet mai. Certs partits, entitats, associacions o webs hi estarien prohibides. #ettrauré
Germany did the cleansing that Spain has never done. Certain parties, entities, associations or websites would be forbidden there #ettrauré
Others relate to the Catalan independence movement. Moisès Trullàs (@CalDirHo), who expresses his desire for Catalonia to be independent from Spain on his profile, said [ca]:
Hem de treure els cossos dels nostres morts de El Valle de los Caídos i els dels nostres vius d'Espanya. #TenimPressa #ettrauré
We have to take the bodies of our dead out of the Valley of the Fallen and those of our living out of Spain #TenimPressa [#WeAreInaHurry] #ettrauré
On the same topic, the sociologist Marta Rovira expressed herself in her opinion column [ca] for the online newspaper tribuna.cat [ca]:
“Cal recordar també que l'Estat espanyol és l'únic estat de la UE que no ha dut a terme una política de persecució i reparació dels crims contra la humanitat comesos durant el segle XX. I no només això, sinó que les víctimes i els seus familiars continuen patint la indiferència, la negació i sovint la incomprensió de les institucions públiques espanyoles.
Avui encara, el franquisme és una dictadura sense condemna pública (amb símbols, monuments i un dels mausoleus més gran del món —el Valle de los Caídos— intactes), un sistema criminal sense judici, una font de patiment sense reparació, i un persistent fonament antidemocràtic del sistema polític espanyol. Per això, el dolor del passat és la vergonya del present.”
We must also remember that Spain is the only state in the EU that has not carried out a policy to persecute those responsible and to repair itself following the crimes against humanity committed during the 20th Century. And not only that, but the victims and their relatives continue to suffer from the indifference, denial, and often lack of understanding from the Spanish public institutions.
Still today, the Franco era is a dictatorship that hasn't been publicly condemned (with symbols; monuments; and one of the biggest mausoleums in the world, the Valley of the Fallen; still intact), a criminal system without justice, a source of suffering without repair, and a persistent antidemocratic foundation for the Spanish political system. Because of this, the pain of the past is the shame of the present.

author: Carlos Almécija


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Taiwan Independent News Academy Hits at Corporate Media · Global Voices
inmediahk.net

The media landscape in Taiwan has become a corporate battlefield in the last few years, with the independence of the island's press the biggest casualty.
News outlets are bought and merged with so-called “red” capital, or money with ties to mainland Chinese business, staining the news with communist influence. Media groups take political sides in line with their owners, becoming mouthpieces for the Taiwan's two competing political camps, the Pan-Green Coalition and the more conservative Pan-Blue Coalition. But as mainstream media has corroded in Taiwan, citizen journalism has been on the rise with the blessing and participation of mainstream professionals.
Shirley Ho's article, which originally appeared on Hong Kong-based inmediahk.net on March 25, 2013 in Chinese, introduces the Academy of Independent Media, the latest cooperative effort in Taiwan to change the media environment. The trimmed English version has been translated by Cheung Choi Wan and republished as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Members of the Academy of Independent Media rallied on September 1, Taiwan Journalist's Day.
Last spring, a group of independent journalists and academics in journalism and communication began to plan a school for independent journalists, the Academy of Independent Media. We interviewed Chen Shun-Hsiao, an associate professor at Fu Jen Catholic University in the journalism and communication studies department and one of the founders of the Academy, about its mission.
Taiwan's monopolized media landscape
Chen described the Taiwanese people's discontent and at times outrage with the island's commercial media.
“We have been witnessing traditional media, such as newspaper and TV, turning towards sensationalism one after another because of difficulties in making a profit,” he said. “In some cases, the media even sell news such as embedding commercial and political propaganda in a news report. The government has become their biggest client as the government contracts advertising and marketing services to buy news and influence public opinion.”
He continued: “What the people find more worrying politically is the fact that advertisements paid for by the Chinese Communist Party are found embedded in Taiwan's news. People are also worried about media monopoly in recent years due to merger cases such as the attempt of Want Want China Times Group to acquire the cable TV services operated by China Network Systems; the Next Media merger case; and the failure of the Public Television Service to establish a new board of directors.”
Faced with this depressing mainstream media environment, scholars, students, journalists working for traditional media, and independent online journalists decided to come together to change the swing toward partisan, corporate media.
In the past two years, the civil society has mobilised against media mergers and professional journalists advocated for democratic newsroom as well as defended diversity in news reporting and in speech. Now the Academy wants to build a diverse media ecology by advocating independent journalism.
A fifth estate
The mass media is often called the “fourth estate”. Through fair, objective, and balanced reporting, mainstream media is supposed to monitor government and financial institutions and speak up for disadvantaged social groups.
But when the mainstream media is monopolized by those in power politically and economically, they can no longer play the role of watchdog. Instead, they should be monitored and critiqued by citizens who can make use of the Internet to develop their own media, a “fifth estate”.
The rising influence of citizen journalism in Taiwan gives Chen hope.
He pointed out that “the impact of independent media and citizen journalism on major social issues, such as the Anti Guo-Kuang Petroleum Plant Movement which was ignored by the mainstream and covered mainly by citizen and independent media outlets, has already surpassed that of the mass media. Besides, independent media professionals have been winning important awards in journalism. Recognition for their contribution and professionalism is growing. More and more young people now want to join the rank of independent journalists.”
He continued: “The establishment of the academy is to provide training to people who are interested in becoming independent journalists and to build an ecosphere of independent journalism for a two-pronged assault to resist the monopoly of media by financial groups.”
However, he also pointed out that training is not the only way to support independent citizen journalists. Good reporting needs a new non-commercial form of organisation, community building, and a common space for the accumulation of experience. “The Academy of Independent Journalism will not only teach journalistic skills, but it will also act as an incubator for citizen media organizations and communities, offering workshops and mentoring programs,” Chen explained.
Screen capture of the Taiwan Academy of Independent Media homepage.
The independent and citizen media movement in Taiwan, which emerged with the rise of the Internet, is diverse. Coolloud [zh], which is mainly concerned with socially disadvantaged groups and labour rights, was established in 1999, its slogan being “media movement, movement media”. There is also the Taiwan Environmental Information Centre [zh], PeoPo Citizen Journalism [zh], PNN PTS News Network [zh], Four Corners [zh] which targets new immigrants, New Talk which aims to expose the relationship between media and political power, and News & Market [zh] which was set up last year.
Various journalism associations now have awards for outstanding independent reporting. Independent media professionals have more opportunities than ever to demonstrate their talents, the Association of Taiwan Journalists has claimed, due to the mainstream media's partisan intimacy with political parties and financial institutions.
The Academy of Independent Journalism plans to strengthen and connect this growing media sector by setting up an Association of Independent Journalists that also provides advice to new independent media organizations and Chen envisioned that “in the long run, the academy aims to set up a ‘free news agency’ composed of independent journalists in different areas of reporting. The vision is that the agency will one day become a journalist-centered platform for news production and dissemination.”


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Tajikistan: ‘High Heels for Higher Learning’ · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Emma Sabzalieva writes about the controversy surrounding a dress code introduced recently at a university in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. The dress code requires that female students wear high heeled shoes and single-block color clothes to classes. The blogger asks:
Could it really be that the rector believes that ordering such a dress code <…> will enhance female students’ learning experience? Will it make them smarter or better equipped to learn?